Swords Dance. Because of course her opponent would have an actual set up move, she hadn't really prioritized anything like that on her part because she thought it wouldn't be necessary for a while but she was clearly wrong.

'Chuck had already tried to use Rain Dance on me back then too,' she thought grimly as she tried to find a way to get around her current problem.

Nitro and Slicer's stats were even right now thanks to the two harden her Pokemon had used prior but even those weren't enough.

The stat that a Beedrill and Scyther specialized in were attack, not defense and using Harden would do nothing but increase the effectiveness of Nitro's blocks which was Virah's plan when she was making him set up earlier in the fight.

But now that Bugsy revealed his Scyther had Swords Dance, she might need to genuinely gamble.

She still had Diox and Jet in the back burner, but Bugsy also had another Pokemon in reserve, and she didn't want to risk anything.

Right now, every single possibility, bad or good, is fair game and exercising caution to the best of her ability is the way to go.

Virah closed her eyes and thought things through, 'I'm definitely going to have to make actual sacrifices for once,'

Would reducing Nitro's health be risky? It was, it always was, but his health was a price that could possibly reduce the Scyther's speed if he managed to land a String Shot or better yet, Electro Web.

It was a risk that Virah thought was worth taking.

Diox also had a move that did this, he even had something better, but Virah didn't want to turn him into a sacrifice and if she could help it, she'd rather let him play a role in the battle. Something beyond "buying time" or "risking himself for the team" because those ideas didn't sit right with her.

And besides, Nitro is more experienced, so him succeeding would mean that he could possibly live against the Scyther's attacks, there's no need for sacrifice right now, at least not a direct faint…

"Quick Attack then Aerial Ace!"

Virah blinked out of her thoughts and quickly issued a counter command, "Nitro! String Shot! Hold it!"

Virah patiently waited as the Scyther's blurry form neared Nitro, she kept her eyes on the trees next to her Pokemon and calmly prepared her next step.

When the Scyther finally got close enough, she set her plans in motion, "Nitro, Fury Attack! Block it!"

"Keep going Slicer!" Bugsy doubled down on his prior call, "his set up is defensive!"

Slicer revealed himself bending down on the trunk of the tree in a sideways position, his tough claws, which were buried in the bark, loosened as his muscular legs released the coiled tension in his joints.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Slicer sprung out, he positioned both his scythes on the right side of his body in preparation for a powerful swing, the balded edges of the natural began to glow and Slicer yelled as he slashed sideward, aiming directly for Nitro's chest.

The Beedrill blocked Slicer's blades with two drills, both glowed in molten-white as Normal Type energy coursed through their metallic frames.

"Good job!" Bugsy grinned when he saw Nitro get pushed back, "now use Dual Wingbeat!"

Another exchange of blows came and this time, it was clear that Slicer had the upperhand.

Virah provided her Pokemon with her Poison Type Aura as he met the Scyther blow for blow, her provision paid off when Nitro added an extra Fury Attack and forced Bugsy to make his Scyther use Dual Wingbeat again.

"Nitro! Fire it!" Virah yelled, her Aura flaring to life.

Slicer got enveloped in thick ropes of webbing as Nitro spat out String Shot, finally slowing him down.

"Nitro! Electro Web!" Virah felt the adrenaline coursing through her veins begin to affect her, the tunnel vision she was looking through right now was the least of her problems however, nor was the beating of her racing heart.

"Slicer! U-Turn! Get out of there!" Bugsy called for retreated.

Now it was a game of who was faster but with String Shot still enveloping the Scyther, he moved after Nitro successfully electrocuted him.

Virah didn't know if there was paralysis just now but she hoped there was, U-Turn should be affected by Type Energy interactions too…

"Well, that should have been expected by me," Bugsy said with a sigh.

Her opponent talking got Virah to realize that she should take a deep breath and calm herself down.

Virah inhaled, "I guess so," she shrugged, "but you didn't,"

"I didn't, no," Bugsy shook his head, "I'll make sure to be prepared next time," he grabbed the remaining Pokeball from his belt and tossed it, "Crusher! Go!"

The Pokeball that Bugsy tossed popped open and a beam of red light shot out from the center of the sphere and into the floor of the arena.

The Pokemon that materialized was a beetle with brown skin, a sideways mouth, two gigantic pincers growing at the top of his head, and a bulky body to compliment its natural weapons.

"Pincer!" Crusher yelled out in the telltale fury of his species, it stomped around when it couldn't find an opponent, "Pin! Pin! Pin!"

'It's almost comical,' Virah thought as she palmed Jet's Pokeball and tossed it into the air, her Zubat materialized and quickly took to the skies, circling steadily irritated Pincer glaring at him.

"Wing Attack," Virah started off the fight, knowing full well it was Jet who had the advantage in this instance.

Jet's wings began to glow and he turned stationary, he bent his body in a way that the Pincer was at the center of his two tails, as though he was aiming with his appendage, with a screech, he flapped his wings and shot out a tornado at his opponent.

"Crusher! X Scissor! Break it!" Bugsy waved his hand, "now Rockslide! Take that Zubat down from the skies!"

"Quick Attack, then Aerial Ace," Virah, now back to being calm, watched the exchange unfold in silent observation.

First, it was the Pincer that moved, with its namesake glowing in a toxic green, it used its short legs to jump from the ground and slice the incoming tornado, it landed with a spin while up above, Jet began to pick up speed.

The Zubat's colors slowly began to shift from white to light blue followed by him dive-bombing with Crusher as his target, before long, his blurry figure turned into a white streak and like lightning raining down from the skies, he quickly struck the Pincer, lowering its health in the screen by a massive amount, then disappeared as though nothing happened.

The only signs of Jet's attack happening was the angry stomping of the Pincer he was circling.

"Swords Dance!" Bugsy ordered.

Virah's wait finished and she retaliated, "Aerial Ace,"

Before Crusher could execute the move, Jet was upon him, hitting his back and stopping him from continuing his dance any further.

Stat increases were futile, Virah knew that because she planned on playing things safely, using only Supersonic and Wing Attack while in the skies and Aerial Ace to attack the much slower Pincer whenever he used a move of his own.

Bugsy had unfortunately caught on to her plan after Virah's second call of Wing Attack and he quickly ordered a switch, recalling his Pincer and sending out his Scyther.

Unfortunately, Slicer didn't get paralyzed by Nitro's Electroweb and was as fast as ever.

"Slash," Bugsy had lost his upbeat attitude and was now glaring at the arena.

Slicer used its speed to jump from tree to tree, picking up momentum that both Jet and Virah couldn't catch with their eyes, once it had built up enough, it used a branch to catapult itself at Jet.

"Fly around him Jet! Then Wing Attack from behind!" Virah quickly yelled out.

Even after killing most of its speed by using a branch to launch itself, the Scyther was still fast, just enough for Virah to catch up to it, but that didn't mean she had enough time to plan her next move while doing so.

Jet stopped flying and fell, he spread his wings once he was below the Scyther and swiftly made his way behind his opponent.

Once he was safe from Slicer's trajectory, his wings began to glow in a telltale sign of his usage of Wing Attack.

"Slicer, turn around, then Quick Attack and use Slash," Bugsy's calm tone made Virah start to worry.

She didn't know how a Scyther could turn around in the sky, that was simply impossible wasn't it? But she had a feeling that somehow, it wasn't. What was she forgetting?

"Scyther!" With a yell, Slicer flapped his glowing wings and rotated in the air, he flapped them again and in a blink, was upon Jet's position, he slashed downward struck the Zubat to the ground.