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Pokemon's name: Stantler (Age- 6 years)
Pokemon Nickname: NA
Pokemon Rank: Rare rank
Pokemon Type: Normal
Ability: Intimidate (60%)
Hidden Ability: Sap Siper (45%)
Potential: Purple (Advanced)
Health: 2800/2800 Attack: B+
Agility: B Defense: C++
Sp. Atk: D Sp. Def: E
Moves: Hypnosis, Stomp, Zen Headbutt, Double Edge, Psyshield Bash, Substitute, Hyper beam, Confuse ray, Endure, Earthquake, Wild charge, Work up, Illusion, Rest.
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Axel was confused while looking at its stats. Since he expected the difficulty to rise up, he didn't think that Stantler would be weaker than Ursaluna. Yet the stats were in front of him.
Stantler was far weaker than Ursaluna in almost all aspects. Its health was not satisfactory, its stats were lower and its move pool was also very confusing.
It had learned a variety of moves of different types. This was what confused Axel. Learning a move from different types would take more time than its own type. So, the Pokemons only learn necessary moves of other types. However, Stantler had learned a lot of moves that were not of normal type.
Confuse ray, Hypnosis, Zen headbutt, Psyshield bash, Earthquake, Wild charge, and Illusion. All of these were of different types.
He was concerned about this new move called Illusion. So, he looked at its move description.
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Illusion: While looking directly at its antlers and the black orbs, the user has the power to manipulate the mind of the enemy and can cause them to fall into illusions.
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Now this was a powerful move if Axel had no idea about it. But now since he knows about it, the move was basically useless.
'Aerodactyl, don't try to look at its black orbs and antlers. They will cause you illusions.', said Axel telepathically.
It would be a bit difficult to fight while not looking at its antlers but it was not impossible.
"Are you both ready for the battle?", asked the referee.
"Yes, I am."
"Yes, I am."
"Alright, Let the battle begin!!"
"Stantler, 'Work up'"
"Aerodactyl, use 'Sandstorm'.", said Axel.
The surroundings changed a lot in a matter of seconds. Stantler started to jump and get excited for battle. It was using 'Work up' while the stadium was filled with powerful gusts of sand.
###
"Wow, the power of the storm is commendable. It is surprising that it is only a rare rank Pokemon.", said one from the crowd. The man seemed to be some sort of experienced trainer.
There were some nods of satisfaction from the move 'Sandstorm'. The move had already leveled up past level 45 and it had become very powerful.
Stantler then proceeded to use 'Confuse ray' and 'Hypnosis' but due to the storm, Aerodactyl was easily able to dodge those. Aerodactyl was also not getting any good luck in hitting Stantler. One of the main reasons for that was due to it being unable to look at its antlers. So, it had to look down on its feet and then assume the attack.
Aerodactyl had already used 'Rock polish' to increase its speed but Stantler was also not sitting idle. It used 'Wild charge' and rushed towards Aerodactyl.
Even in such a fierce storm, its speed was commendable. The vision of Stantler had been compromised due to the storm but the same could also be said for Aerodactyl. Of course, it was used to such kinds of storms and could navigate very well but since it was looking down all the time, it was difficult for it to dodge the attack.
Seeing that Stantler was rushing towards it, Aerodactyl started to fly high in the sky to dodge the attack. But surprisingly, Stantler jumped high in the sky. The jump was really something else as it was able to hit Aerodactyl right in the face.
As it was going down, Stantler was hit by invisible pointy rocks and it crashed to the ground. Aerodactyl took advantage of it and used a full-power 'Hyper beam' right on its face.
Due to the storm, it was not visible clearly, but Axel could say that it was hit.
Aerodactyl didn't give it much time and it rushed towards Stantler to use the move 'Crunch'. Aerodactyl could literally hear a crunching sound when it bit Stantler. It waved its large mouth and threw Stantler in the air as it crashed to the ground.
Aerodactyl was now ready to end this battle. That move must have broken some of its bones and it might not be able to fight again. Aerodactyl proceeded to charge another 'Hyper beam'. It wanted to finish this battle in a style but then something happened. Something different and something it had not expected.
Since the dust had still not been cleared, Aerodactyl could only see a yellow-colored silhouette moving at a fast pace towards it. Aerodactyl knew that it could not dodge the attack cause the distance was not very far away. So, it gave a low roar and it looked like invisible rocks were striking at that yellow silhouette but that figure was still moving at a rapid pace.
BANG!!!
Aerodactyl was hit by the attack as it flew away and crashed to the ground. This was Stantler and it was using 'Wild charge'. Axel could not tell how it could use that attack when it was critically injured from the last move.
Many things were going on his mind as Aerodactyl was trying to stand up. It was an electric type move and it was supper effective against it.
Aerodactyl was able to move those invisible rocks as it had leveled up 'Stealth rock' recently.
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Stealth rock (Aerodactyl) (Level 40): Can use this move for 7 minutes. The rocks are more pointy and it is more hidden than before. Normally, a same-rank Pokemon would not be able to see it.
(Level 45): The user can manipulate and change the direction of the rocks as it wishes. However, consumes a lot of stamina.
---
But even that was not enough to get away from that attack. To be honest, Stealth rock was just to surprise the enemy. It didn't have high attack power and since the charge was so fast and strong, it didn't have any effect.
When Axel looked at Stantler, he found out that it was only slightly injured and it was ready to go. He then realized the reason for this.
"So, it used 'Substitute' as the meantime.", mumbled Axel. Ava was a very experienced and powerful gym leader. Very few trainers could train their Pokemons to use precise moves at precise moments.
Meanwhile, Aerodactyl was super angry. It could already be seen that Stantler was weaker than itself and was only winning due to better strategies.
It looked into the sky and gave a huge roar.
ROOOOOARRRR
Unexpectedly, it started to shine in a brownish and bluish color.
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Ding!
Aerodactyl's special defense has risen to S rank.
Ding!
Aerodactyl has fulfilled all the conditions for rank-up.
Ding!
Aerodactyl is ranking up.....
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Axel just could not believe it. It was basically ranking up due to its anger. He didn't know how its special defense rose up so suddenly but this was going to be very interesting. Now, he was confident that he was going to win this gym battle.
###
"OH MY GOD!! Aerodactyl is ranking up in the middle of the battle. It is a very rare sight to see. I hope that the viewers don't miss it.
Now, since it is ranking up, does that mean that Axel is going to win this round too?", said the announcer to entice the crowd.
The crowd was naturally excited to see this development. They needed more excitement and they got it.
On the other side, Ava was clicking her tongue in frustration. The rank-up would not only increase its power to a higher margin but also heal all of its previous injuries. This surely affects her battle strategy.
Ava started to make her own plans now.
'The rank up from rare to elemental rank is a major rank up. So, it would take some time for the rank-up process to be completed. Since Stantler cannot interfere with Aerodactyl during that time, I will have to make some plans.', thought Ava.
"Stantler, first use 'Substitute' and then use 'Rest.", said Ava.
Using the moves like 'Rest' might be catastrophic during the battle but since the battle has been paused for around 10 minutes, Stantler had the liberty to use it.
Another identical Stantler came out of nowhere and both of the Stantlers rested down closing their eyes. It was a surreal sight and Axel came to know that Ava had somehow modified the move 'Substitute'. This was going to be hard and he was getting all of it in Aerodactyl's rank up.
After resting for 5 minutes, both of the Stantlers looked full of energy and one of them used the move 'Dig' and went down. Axel could not tell which was the real one.
The one that was on the ground was using moves like 'Work up' to charge itself and after it used it multiple times, it started to use moves like 'Hypnosis' and 'Confuse ray' in the whole area. Axel was not getting really confused. What the hell was Ava trying to do?
Just when Aerodactyl came out of its rank-up process,
ROOOOARRR
It gave a huge roar looking at the sky. It felt as if every cell in its body had powered up to an unnatural degree. It could not believe that it could achieve such a power. It felt that it was at the top of the world and now it could dominate the whole world.
Axel could see that the rank-up had messed up its brain. So he hurriedly said, "Aerodactyl, control yourself. You are still in battle and don't look into its antlers."
'So you knew about the antlers.', thought Ava and smiled.
Even though Axel shouted, Aerodactyl was not listening to him one bit. It didn't feel that it needed to listen to him. Such was the rush it was feeling after the rank-up.
It looked Stantler directly into its eyes and gave a huge roar.
ROOOARRR
It flew high into the sky and proceeded to use 'Wing attack'. The wings looked like it had transformed into sharp long blades. Its speed had also increased as it went right towards Stantler and hit him with a powerful 'Wing attack'.
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Wing attack (Aerodactyl) (Level 40): The wings are now stronger and sharper from the compressed air. The speed of the user would increase while using this move.
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However, even though the attack was a hit, Stantler didn't look like it was affected as much. It was ready to strike again and this surprised Aerodactyl. It had thought that the move would be a finisher.
Aerodactyl then started to attack in all kinds of attacks but Stantler was not affected much. It looked like Stantler had somehow become the god of defense. Tanking all the hits and hitting Aerodactyl with more power than before.
The rush of rank up started to go down and finally, it was able to hear Axel's shout, and then suddenly everything changed.
The scene around it cracked like glass and crumbled into many pieces. The scene where it was dominating Stantler was now very different. First, it felt that its whole body was burning. It looked around and found out that there were many wounds on its body. Stantler was also not doing so well. It was also hurt and its stamina was also very low.
Aerodactyl realized what had happened. It was inside the illusion for 5 minutes of battle.
"Aerodactyl, can you fight?", asked Axel as Aerodactyl had multiple wounds on its body and its stamina was also very low. It had looked into the antlers of Stantler and fallen into the illusion.
It looked at Stantler, its eyes strictly focusing on its feet and then gave a huge roar.
ROOOOOARRR
It was not going down without a fight.