Booth and his team rest for over an hour after getting to safety. Once everyone is ready, they talk about their strategy.
Beyond the Mismagius' ridiculous attack power, there are a couple things that led to the Mismagius being so dominant in the earlier encounter. Damon explains his ideas first.
"Mismagius definitely seemed like an overwhelming foe. It twisted Booth's attacks. Acted weak when it was strong. And even managed to disappear right in front of us. Any trainer would feel uncomfortable with a foe like this." Damon is serious as he continues, "Except so much of it was a bluff. Twisting the attack around was impressive, but it was just a trick made with Psychic. While the disappearing act was just a Phantom Force."
"So when it took the attacks from you and Booth?" Ben asks.
"It was a calculated move. It acted hurt to lure us in and make us lower our guard. In reality, it could heal our attacks with power at any time. Don't get me wrong, Mismagius is quite impressive, but not something we can't beat."
Booth agrees with Damon in his head. 'Mismagius picked an amazing time to join the battle. Right when we were finishing the battle with the Linoone it appeared to rush us. It's plan worked like a charm. We got impatient to defeat the Linoone, and ended up giving the Mismagius the momentum for the rest of the battle.
It's acting was also perfect. It did a great job making us feel uneasy with slow and confident movements in the beginning. And acting scared of physical attacks to make us approach later on.'
Booth shares his thoughts and adds. "It knew how we were going to react, and used that knowledge to take advantage of our mistakes. Its clever actions combined with its strength as a Chieftain make it tough to beat, but the same tricks won't work a second time. "
Booth's team puts together everything they learned from the Mismagius to plan their attack. After some discussion, they decide to attack right away.
It's starting to get late, but it's not quite sundown. The biggest reason for attacking now is that the team is worried the art stone will be used before the next day. After the trouble they went through, no one on the team wants to go back empty handed.
As the group gets closer to the art stone, they stop to get their pokemon ready with their integrators. The pokemon can feel the determination from their trainers as the integrators activate. Damon's Morgrem licks its fingers, clearly excited to have another go. Ben sticks with Buizel because he's more comfortable with it. While Booth switches to Magnemite in order to support his team better.
They come up on the art stone and find Mismagius waiting. Its eyes are closed, focusing on something. Suddenly, it opens its eyes and looks in the direction of Booth and his team.
'We are still a ways away and it was able to notice us! I guess we won't be able to sneak up on it.'
Damon motions the team forward and everyone gets into their positions. Ben and Damon lead with their pokemon, while Booth follows from behind.
Mismagius doesn't stand just waiting and uses Power Gem. It creates four ruby colored gems from out of thin air. The ruby gems are quite stunning to look at. And from the core of each gem, a light shines. The lights spawn multiple beams that fire at the team.
The team moves around and dodges the attacks. The beams can do little at such a distance, but without much cover the beams make it hard to approach.
'I should open up a path to get things started.' Booth thinks.
Booth takes command of Magnemite's power organ and puts together a Thundershock. He uses a Fluid power up as well adding it to the Magnemites power. The extra strength allows Booth to increase his range and launch an attack on the Power Gems.
The Thundershock destroys each of the Power Gems and makes contact with the Mismagius. Its expression contorts in discomfort.
Damon and Ben use this opportunity to close the distance. Damon boosts himself forward with power. He uses a Sucker Punch directly into Mismagius' right side, and guards himself immediately after.
Mismagius lights a Mystical Fire as if the previous attack meant nothing. The five fireballs wiggle around and fly towards Morgrem. Damon defends the attack as much as he can, but there's little he can do against so many flames.
A Water Gun from Ben extinguishes one of the flames following Damon before hitting the Mismagius. Booth moves his Magnemite forward as fast as he can and zaps Mismagius with another Thundershock. Although weaker than the previous one, the Thundershock conducts well on the soaked Mismagius.
Mismagius strikes back each time, but Booth's team keeps its ground. Mismagius takes another round of attacks before becoming aware of its position. The Mismagius is covered from the left and right by Ben and Damon, while Booth hangs back and fires Thundershocks to drain its stamina.
Booth's link finally goes through, which makes things look even worse for Mismagius. Booth immediately uses a Solid power up and focuses on defense.
Mismagius sees its current strategy isn't working, and makes a change of tactics. Instead of launching another attack, Mismagius makes a different move.
Booth senses a sudden change in stamina as Mismagius comes in contact with Magnemite. A faint sense of pain spreads into every part of his body. Damon comes to help Booth as soon as he sees Mismagius going for him, but Mismagius has already started a second move.
Mismagius takes its scarf like appendages and cranks it around its neck while squeezing hard. By its creepy grin, Booth can tell that it's on purpose. Damon and Booth each get a similar feeling as the mysterious move is used.
Booth and Damon struggle to move as Mismagius' power tightens inside them and saps a part of their stamina. Booth's body is filled with a terrible pain, like his body is being crushed by its own weight. Mismagius' move runs rampant inside him making it hard to even stand. Booth looks up to see that Mismagius is struggling as well.
When the move eases up, Booth reacts to the situation. 'The first move must have been Pain Split. It targeted me because it knew I had the most stamina left. While the second move is probably Curse.
It must have realized a long battle like the one we want isn't going to work. It traded a lot of stamina to use Curse, but unlike us it can recover its stamina with power over time. It's trying to force us to take some risks.'
Booth takes a deep breath and considers his options. After making his own judgment he asks Damon to change the plan.
"I think we should pick up the pace. It's significantly injured already, if I join in as well, I'm sure we can take it."
Damon seems to have similar thoughts and agrees, "Alright. Be careful."
Mismagius uses another Power Gem and hides behind them. Booth quickly uses Thundershock and eliminates the floating gems. While Ben uses Stone Splitter and Pursuit to prevent Mismagius from escaping.
Mismagius is hit and knocked back, at the same time a purple energy leaks from its injury. Buizel's paw is covered in this weird energy. Ben shakes off the energy, and it quickly dissipates. Mismagius is shocked and chases after Buizel for revenge.
Booth runs Rebound, and Damon swings a Sucker Punch at the Mismagius. Oddly, both of them experience something unexpected. Damon's attack somehow passes through the Mismagius. From Morgrem's eyes, the attack clearly should have hit. Damon quickly suspects the Curse.
"Booth, the Curse is messing with our pokemon's senses. Don't rely on your pokemon senses too much." Damon says hurriedly.
Booth acknowledges Damon's words and continues to run Rebound. He also adds a Solid power up for stability. As his energy starts to circulate, Booth finds something interesting. Mismagius' Curse slowly crumbles away under Rebound. The Curse isn't destroyed, but it gets weaker by the second.
'That's much better. It feels like a heavy load has been taken off my back.'
Booth's body becomes lighter than ever as the Curse is replaced with his own power. Booth grows more bold as his power makes him feel like he is supercharged. Feeling confident, Booth uses a move with Rebound. A flashing light flickers as Spark swells with powerful electricity.
Mismagius feels the pressure coming from the other side and forgets its recent grudge with Ben's Buizel. A noise like thunder rumbles and Magnemite lets itself loose. Magnemite soars like a bullet. Mismagius dives to one side, but Magnemite follows it like a magnet. Mismagius gets a sinking feeling.
"Chssss!" White electricity hisses like a snake and tears through the clever ghost's stamina. Booth activates the secondary effect of Rebound and wrenches himself away.
Mismagius takes the initial impact plus some extra from Rebound. Mismagius is thrown against the ground with a loud thump. The Chieftain's appendages quiver greatly.
With more stamina left than the others, Booth launches another attack. He fuels as much of Rebounds power into a tackle. The Chieftain can't muster enough energy to move out of the way and is hit by the charge.
Magnemite crashes into Mismagius and bounces off slightly with Rebound. Mismagius' eyes roll back and it grows still. Booth doesn't let down his guard until he receives the Chieftain's power up.
Since the first time he had discovered the new energy, Booth had never felt as happy as he did now to receive a power up. His lips shape into a smile. Booth remembers Ben and Damon are waiting and shares the news.
"It fainted, and I got its power up." Booth states as he pulls out a pokeball for the Mismagius.
Ben lets out a sigh of relief and replies. "I think I got something as well. Did you get anything Damon?"
"No, you must have gotten lucky. I heard that some gifted pokemon give out multiple power ups. Our Chieftain must have been one of these pokemon." Damon says.
"Well, it's still pretty good. We got a Chieftain, multiple power ups, and an art stone!" Ben cheers.
Booth just smiles and places the pokeball on the fainted Mismagius. It is sucked into the ball without a fight. The ball vibrates oddly, but a satisfying click reassures him of the ball's success.
'It was an exciting battle. The Chieftain this time showed much better technique than the Granbull from before. In particular, the Mismagius prepared attacks quicker than any pokemon I've seen so far.
I have a lot to learn from the battle even now. Thankfully we'll be in Redwater for a few more days to hunt, so I should be able to get some more practice. For now I'm just curious what the art stone has to offer.'
Booth drops the Mismagius' pokeball into his backpack and takes a look at the art stone. The stone is covered in a red glow and the marking is shining brightly. Damon and Ben are already looking at the art stone, admiring the soft and steady light that the stone gives off. Booth gazes at the light for a few more seconds before announcing.
"The art stone is ready!"