Streams of white and gold began condensing around Blibly, the rampant energy then slowly began taking the form of a brilliant star, hurling straight at the surprised Arbok that was still midst bind.

Seeing a gigantic cobra being sent into the air was amongst many things I never thought I’d see in my life. The way it wriggled around midair trying to maintain balance almost made me chuckle a bit.

The entire building shook as Arby the Arbok thrashed around at the vinyl tile floorings where it made a large hole, struggling to get back on its feet (tail?).

The move Last Resort deals high damage, but could only be used after each of the other moves has been used at least once.

I’ve already fulfilled this condition way back then at the beginning of the battle and could’ve easily knocked out the Arbok by then.

But the problem is that Last Resort itself only has 5 PP.

If the vile grunt had half the amount of brain cells I presumed he had, there’s no way he’d have come here on a solo mission without bringing more than one Pokemon. Worst case scenario he has a full party of 6 (or maybe even more). By then, even if I lucked out and OHKO all 5 of his mons, that last one will still be a hassle to deal with.

My only other method of attack would be to use Struggle, which is something you could only use after all the other moves become unusable (by the way Last Resort also fails when it is the only available move). Since I know for a fact that the jacked up cobra couldn't deal any significant damage to Blibly, I decided to exhaust all my PP beforehand and only leave a few uses of Soft-Boiled.

This way I don’t need to spam Healing Pulse against a Pokemon that might give Blibly a lot of trouble once Last Resort is depleted of all its PP and Struggle becomes the only option. That said, I hoped to at least OHKO the Arbok so I could have enough uses to deal with the rest of his team before eventually having to rely on Struggle.

Hissing and cussing the giant cobra finally managed to straighten itself, but it clearly looked more weakened than before.

I guess two shotting it is also fine.

“What did you just do!? Ughh get up already Arby, I know you’re better than that!”

It seems neither Pokemon nor trainer wanted to give up just yet. But that goes for the both of us.

“This one’s for Fred! Last Resort again, Blibli!”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Accompanied by the rumbling of the hospital halls, the great Arby was no more after taking a second Last Resort squarely to its face.

3 more uses of Last Resort and 8 or so Soft-Boiled left before I have to resort to Struggle… let’s just hope the grunts in this world are as reserved as they were in the game.

“Ku… useless. I never should’ve brought you in the first place. Well no matter, good thing I brought this one along as well. Go! Machy!”

Arbok… Arby, Machoke… Machy…

Am I noticing a trend here??

A Pokemon’s nickname is like a special bond between them and their trainer and this guy just… But then again what bond would someone like him even have with his Pokemon…

And what bonds do I have at all…

A flash of red trail coming from the Pokeball was all it took for the massive Arbok known as Arby to dissipate into thin air. Such marvels of technology would surely shock even the leading engineers back on Earth. Sadly I am no engineer and frankly have zero interest in the concepts behind this sorcery. Not to mention there were direr tasks at hands here, namely the second Pokemon being a fighting type Pokemon specialized on the physical frontier.

“Bztt- Machoke, superpower Pokemon. Its muscular body is so powerful, it must wear a power-save belt to be able to regulate its motions.”

And it’s a level 40 Machoke… given a 8 level advantage, Blibly might actually have a chance against it. If I get lucky and land a crit maybe I can even OHKO before it can even inflict any damage.

“Kuku now… Machy… start off with a Low Sweep.” The lean and shady man said in a tone that could only be described as creepy, which was further accentuated by the difference in build between him and his Pokemon.

Though the mass of muscles of a Pokemon seemed quite unhappy with its trainer’s orders, it moved in for a kick nonetheless.

“Blibly, you know what to do, Last Resort!” I yelled at Blibly as the indigo hued blur approached.

Hadouken met with leg, the excess energy made the hospital rumble once more, although not as strong in magnitude as when Arbok tried to fly, it was still enough to alarm your everyday passerby.

And hopefully someone notices that frequently shaking hospitals are not a naturally occurring event, even better if that someone turns out to be a certain instigator covered in black. But an attack like that is bound to… as I thought… Blibly is…

A quick view at the Pokedex was all I needed to know that the situation wasn’t looking good. That Low Sweep just now took about 60% of Blibly’s HP in one hit, not to mention the damage she couldn’t fully heal from her previous battle and the lingering poison status. To make matters worse, Last Resort couldn’t even bring the Machoke’s HP to half.

This was further reflected by Blibly’s wobbly stance, with bruises and cuts all across her body. Though her eyes still shone with the same determined look, her body was not gonna last any longer.

I’ll have to bet it all on the next move and pray for a crit… there’s no other way… would I even outspeed him? Blain still hasn’t arrived and I… I don’t know what else I can do…

It was the feeling of taking an exam that you’ve poorly prepared for, the feeling of seeing a question on the test that you’ve never seen before. A problem that you have no idea how to solve or answer.

Even considering the best outcome that I get to land the hit first and luck out on a crit, there is still no guarantee I’ll have the same luck against God knows how many more Pokemon he still has… Would negotiating even work at this point? Will he just take me away without hurting anybody else…?

No… there has to be some other way… I can’t… I don’t want it all to end like this…

If only… there was something I could’ve done…

Ah…

How many times have I had this thought…

But I guess it’s different this time, I tried my best and it didn’t work out. I should just give up and… and…

No. I don’t want to give up just yet, if there is even a sliver of hope, I wanna fight to the end for it.

I’m sorry Blibly but… I’ll rely on you just a bit longer.

“Soft-Boiled… use Soft-Boiled Blibly…” I bit my lower lip as I uttered those words, my voice was weak and trembling but my mind was resolute.

Under the cover of the move’s bright light, I scurried over to a nearby partially shattered window and gripped something tightly within my dainty hands.