In this case I wasn't relying on the damage from the attack since normal type was weak to fighting and thus did pretty much nothing to the Hariyama. No what I was after this time was the disorientation and confusion that the move brought. The reason for this was that I wanted to heavily limit the sort of moves the Hariyama could use as it happened to have two moves that were problematic for Vulcan , brine and surf. Brawly frowned at the inflicted confusion but didn't seem to notice my awareness of his pokemons moveset.-

It wasn't all that surprising really as inflicting confusion is usually an advantageous tactic whether or not a moveset was understood or not. "Magma coat , keep it hot!" I commanded and Vulcan glowed red as it slammed into the ground creating a glowing molten floor but unlike normally when it cooled quickly this time it stayed hot. Brawly was clearly taken off guard by this unexpected custom move but immediately noticed a huge problem for his pokemon. See while thick fat may halve the damage taken from a fire type move and resist burn status affliction it by no means cancels them.-

It can easily be imagined then what sort of pain and damage one might be subjected to by having to play a game of the floor is lava with the floor actually being lava. The Hariyama screamed as it hopped around to try and stop the cruel heat from destroying it's feet while Vulcan wasted no time at all charging over to deal as much damage as possible. "Surf!" Brawly yelled in clear panic as he understood how dire the situation was. So long as the lava remained on the floor the Hariyama was on a timer before it was crippled by the damage isolated to it's feet.-

It was a cruel tactic but probably fit my ruthlessness perfectly in his mind as I forced him to expose his cards if he wanted any chance of victory. Just like trainers prepare for challenging gym leader so too did the leaders prepare for the challengers. My teams layout was public knowledge to the league so the fact that each of his pokemon for this challenge had inbuilt counters to my own came as no surprise. Still despite the confusion and pain the Hariyama grit it's teeth and glowed blue as water rapidly formed around it in large amounts.-

"Crunch!" I commanded and Vulcan blurred forward as dark type energy condensed at its mouth and it shot through the forming water and closed it's jaws around the ribs of the Hariyama. Surf as a move actually had two methods of being used. The first was to use a water source nearby to create a wave that slammed into the opponent. This method used the least amount of a pokemons energy and was nearly unavoidable. The second method was to create the water using far more energy and exploding the water outwards. This method however had a critical flaw in that majority of the damage could be avoided if the opponent charged through the water before it was released.-

Majority , not the entirety so Vulcan shuddered after going through the water in pain but avoided the majority of the damage in the process. Still the surf did forcefully cool and clear the lava on the floor but it was far too late as the damage had already been done to the Hariyama feet. Nick knew thanks to his poke medic skill that so much damage on the feet would take at least three weeks to heal and that was after considering generous use of medicine and potions.-

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In the middle of a battle like this however it was a devastating disability as any move or movement involving the feet would produce agony for the Hariyama. Fighting types were nothing if not stubborn however and the Hariyama glared at Vulcan banefully before punching it with a glowing reddish brown fist. This was followed by another and another as the Hariyama used the move close combat. 'Fuck!' I cursed mentally as that was very bad for Vulcan and shouted "Stomp to escape!" and Vulcan endured the hits to slam his paws that were glowing white into the Hariyama which sent it backwards from the counter force.-

"Retreat and flamethrower!" I called and Brawly wasn't just standing idly "Arm thrust followed by brine!" he commanded and our pokemon moved to obey us faithfully. Vulcan however trumped the Hariyama in speed at this point by a wide margin and thus left the range of it while charging a flamethrower. It released the attack in a cone of flame while a orb of water appeared and was launched forward by the Hariyama to clash in the middle.-

The water type move had the advantage in terms of elemental hierarchy but flamethrower was much more powerful even before considering that it was a legendary like Vulcan that used it. Add that on however and you get what happened next. The flamethrower clashed with the brine and rapidly reduced it to steam before shooting forward again and impacting the Hariyama that screamed in pain. "Hariyama is unable to continue!" the referee called and Vulcan cut off the attack to reveal the scorched and unconscious Hariyama. Brawly sighed before balling the Hariyama "I forfeit!" He called and now it was my turn to frown. -

"Are you certain you want to do this?" I asked seriously. Brawly smiled brightly "As much as I'd like to continue I know when I am in a hopeless situation. Like a tsunami you have crashed into and rolled over me despite having used a team that countered your own. And yet I have only managed to tie with one of your pokemon and give the other bruises despite the advantages I set up for myself. I won't stubbornly cling to something as useless as pride when the outcome is a foregone conclusion so I forfeit." he said honestly and I could accept that answer.-

There was no shame in understanding how helpless one was and gracefully bowing out without suffering unnecessarily. Perhaps if this were life or death he might struggle till the end but this was not that serious so forfeiting as a good move. "Release your Hariyama again and I'll heal it's injuries a bit." I said calmly and Brawly was taken back but did as I said. I walked over to the creature and knelt down next to it while using a burn heal and a super potion on it followed by my healing ability.-

"You are an odd one Alexander Drake." Brawly said as he watched me heal the gruesome injuries on his pokemon. I didn't reply to that as I knew what he was referring to and didn't feel like explaining myself. It was a sort of public secret in the league by now that I was a ruthless personality after my slaughter of the traffickers in Slateport so what could be more counter to that then the reveal that I also had the healing ability as well? Abilities tended to shape ones personality so it was difficult to reconcile the differences between my personality and the role of healing that I was "naturally" able to accomplish.

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It is with heavy heart that I must make an announcement that may not sit well with many of you. As the cost of living has recently gone up for me due to a string of unfortunate incidents I can no longer give away so many chapters for free. From now on my free posts will be limited to twice a week while my patrons will be continuing to receive a chapter roughly everyday. Once again I am sorry that this has been made necessary.

pat reon.com/pat reon_loskro Just remove the spaces between the T and R.