A/N: sorry for the late update. I have posted 5 chapters today.
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The moment the move connected, Shedinja disappeared with a puff of smoke, and one of the 2 substitutes near Gengar fired up 'Shadow ball' and it was flown away from the impact.
Gengar was shocked. It didn't know what had actually happened. It was sure that it had hit the real one. How was a fake one able to use any attack moves? It had seen many Pokemons use the move and knew everything about it. It was more than 100 yrs old so it was very sure about it.
Since 'Shadow ball' was fired up in close proximity, Gengar was hit very badly.
So how was Shedinja able to do it? How was its substitute able to use 'Shadow ball'?
The truth was completely opposite. Its substitute never had the power to use 'Shadow ball'. Only it can use it. However, it had mastered the task given by Axel just a week before.
###
Flashback, 2 months ago,
"Marcus, create only 1 Substitute for now."
"Shed…", it responded and another Pokemon, an exact copy of Shedinja appeared in front of it. The substitute had lower power than the original Shedinja.
'Substitute' was like a shadow clone version of Naruto world. It would take some amount of HP as a sacrifice and then create a new copy. The copy would have fewer abilities and power compared to its normal counterpart. It was mainly used to take hits from the opponent.
"Now, try to understand the new concept. This substitute is also a part of you. I want you to switch yourself with the substitute with the help of 'Ally switch'."
"Shed ????"
###
Yes, 2 months ago in Hakone city, Axel had told Shedinja about the possibility of 'Substitute' and 'Ally switch'. Since Shedinja could create 2 substitutes and there were 3 of them counting the original one, he wanted it to freely teleport between the substitutes.
It had finally been able to do it. This new move was called 'Switch'
So, when Gengar fired up 'Shadow punch' to Shedinja, it used its new move to teleport to one of its substitutes and attacked with 'Shadow ball'.
'Shadow ball' was a ghost-type move so it was supper effective against Gengar. It was flown away from the impact but it stood up to face them again.
It was hurt by the attack and from the fire attacks of Charizard but Axel could tell that it was an experienced elemental-ranked Pokemon.
"Gen… GenGAR..!!!", it shouted and used its own 'Shadow ball'.
This 'Shadow ball' was more powerful than Shedinja's. 'Shadow ball' was a powerful move but it was slow. The user would throw the 'Shadow ball' and it would take forever to reach the target. Since Shedinja had practiced the move for some time, its speed was acceptable, and 'Shadow ball' was a bit faster.
However, Gengar's 'Shadow ball' was much more faster than Shedinja's 'Shadow ball'. It didn't take even a second for Gengar to use the move towards Shedinja.
Alakazam was the savior. It used 'Confusion' towards Gengar and it was hit right on the spot. All of Gengar's focus was on Shedinja and Charizard. Alakazam was passive until now. Axel had kept Alakazam to act as a backup and he was happy with his decision.
The attack from Alakazam hit Gengar and the 'Shadow ball' flew in the air. Shedinja and Charizard were not idle. They started to use their moves too.
Shedinja with 'Shadow ball' and Charizard with 'Flamethrower'.
"Light, use 'Telekinesis' and then 'Psychic'"
Alakazam's eyes glowed purple and Gengar was lifted in the air. Such was the power of level 41 'Telekinesis'. It then used 'Psychic' and a strong power hit Gengar.
Shedinja also used multiple 'Shadow ball' and Charizard used 'Flamethrower'.
BOOMMMMMM
A huge blast occurred from the power of those moves. A couple of trees were destroyed by the impact of those attacks.
The dust settled and everyone could see Gengar lying on the ground.
It was not moving. It was dead.
Axel took a long breath after seeing the result.
"YAHHH"
"We won…"
"Damn! It was an interesting fight."
"Keep coming. We are not afraid."
The soldiers started to cheer Axel's victory. Everyone was silent during the fight. They were holding their breaths. They didn't want to disturb Axel.
This was their first victory against an elemental-ranked Pokemon.
The battle was strategic. Gengar had already lost a huge chunk of stamina fighting other Pokemons before Axel came along. With Shedinja and Charizard attacking it and Alakazam as their backup, there were able to attain victory.
Gengar was the leader of the night group. Now, with Gengar dead along with more than 90% of the Pokemon in a night raid, the pressure in the north zone had decreased significantly.
They had 19 elemental-rank Pokemons to deal with now.
Wars took lots of life but it also gave lots of rewards. The first was the body of Pokemon who have died in the raid. They could be used for various things like potions and research. This was one of the main reasons why young trainers want to join the military. They would rack up a lot of money from a single Pokemon tide.
"Sir, what do we do with Gengar's body?", asked Troy with anticipation.
There were a lot of dead Pokemon bodies and the income generated from them would be distributed to the soldiers based on their contribution.
However, a trainer could personally claim and sell the bodies of Pokemon from the elemental rank and above. So, technically, Axel could do what he wanted from it.
"Store it. We will sell it and I will get 70%. The rest would be divided among the troops based on their contribution. Focus more on the troops that had died. Send the money to their families.", replied Axel.
He did it to boost the morale of his troops. Troy gave him a military salute and then went on to do his duties.
It was cruel to sell Pokemon bodies for potions and research. However, the world doesn't work on fairy tales. If those bodies could save human lives then it was worth it.
Of course, the dead bodies of Pokemons and their trainers were buried. Humans had not gone so far as to lose their humanity.
###
Axel came to his room. He needed a good rest now. He saw a lot of missed calls from Mark, so he dialed his number to know the update.
"Hello"
"Hello, Axel."
"So, did the league agree?"
"Yes… They did."