Hard Enough Chapter 265 - Age and cunning

Damn it, an Aegislash was a pokemon I didn’t have a lot of knowledge on. I had a few notes written down from my brainstorming session when I first ca to this world but there was no way Agatha was going to let go back and read them mid-fight!

The most I could recall was its typing, along with its changed forms depending on the type of move it used. I couldn’t recall if that impacted its stats or not!

I suspected that if it did so, I would need to make the most of it when it was in its sword form as that should be when it was weakest defensively.

I also wasn’t sure if delaying was going to be the best option and so I had Titan close. He stalked forward and unlike the normal arena floors I felt a shudder with each step he took.

As a steel-ghost pokemon Aegislash should be weak to Dark and Ground-based attacks.

Sadly, I would need to get it embedded in the ground first, as while in the gas Earthquake was effective against ghost types that didn't translate very well when said pokemon was floating in the air.

I’d need to do this the hard way.

Titan acknowledged my thoughts and replied with sothing to the effect of ‘like always’ as he stalked forward.

Within his core dark energy began to bubble in preparation for a particularly powerful Dark Pulse

Agatha of course wasn’t sitting idly by as with a cackle and a wave of her hand Aegislash floated forward.

The singular eye below the crossguard assessed us critically as it approached.

A flash of energy radiated up the pokemon’s body showing that Agatha had done sothing.

I noted that she hadn’t said a single word since the referee had called the start of the match. I wasn’t surprised. She didn’t do it often against us in training, but she did sotis slip into silent combat much like Sabrina could do.

Hold, hold, hold, I thought repetitively to Titan as both pokemon got closer and closer to each other.

If I wanted to land an as strong a hit as possible I’d need to aim for when they were most vulnerable while watching out for any tricks.

Just as we closed to grappling range, Aegislash twitched and broke from its shield form to bring its body around, blade first.

An orange glow ford around the blade that I’d co to recognise as visible fighting-type energy.

Aegislash scread as it tore through the air towards Titan.

Titan ducked the attack.

He twisted his head expertly out of the way while unleashing a Dark Pulse from close range rocked the field and pushed Aegislash backwards.

Instead of being rattled, the instant the Dark Pulse faded Aegislash ca on harder.

It once more swung itself blade first towards Titan’s head only for him to lean back and evade the strike before spinning to the side to evade a follow up thrust.

Having him fight against Shin and Gawain was proving to be a much bigger payout than I’d anticipated, as he naturally could read the twitch of the blade and know how it was going to move.

When Aegislash switched things up and halted its strike mid-swing and twisted to co down on Titan, it did so so slowly that Titan was able to throw himself to the side, rolling as he went to co up on his feet so he avoided the attack.

For a mont, I thought we might have rattled it with how sloppy so of the attacks were.

But Agatha looked too cocky and the brightness of Aegislash’s eye hadn’t dimd in the slightest, which was usually a good sign they had taken so serious damage.

For a sword pokemon I was expecting speed and finesse but I wasn’t seeing that, or at least I wasn’t seeing it to the standards I thought it should have been capable of.

If anything, there was a sluggishness with each swing. That slight sluggishness wouldn’t have been enough if this were a re Gym match for kids undergoing their circuit, but at the Elite level it was enough to let Titan duck and dodge each attack.

He twisted and danced through the slashes and strikes.

And between a few of the strikes and feints Titan rocked the field with powerful blasts of dark energy.

The exchange of strikes happened at a furious pace with both pokemon having to twist and move as quickly as they could. A downward strike forced Titan to abort a Dark Pulse and slide back only for him to co back in harder.

Aegislash tried to go for a high position again to build on its previous near miss.

Yeah, I wasn’t falling for that again.

The blade ca down faster this ti, but Titan and I had their asure.

This ti I directed Titan to slap Aegislash’s shield as he twisted away. This sent Aegislash tumbling, which Titan followed with another explosive Dark Pulse.

Only for Aegislash to practically ignore the attacks.

That had been the fourth such attack that had connected with Aegislash.

I knew sothing had to be up. It might be weakened a little with Aegislash using a Fighting-type move to cut through the Dark Pulse but that shouldn’t have been enough.

I scowled as my mind went to work listing all the inconsistencies.

It made sense to that Aegislash, as a pokemon belonging to Agatha, had the raw strength to shrug off hits even from Titan, but so many? All while its attack being so weak?

No, that didn’t add up.

There was no way Aegislash was outright shrugging these attacks off, not with how it was super effective and Titan should at a bare minimum be at a similar level of strength.

Which was ludicrous.

It might be arrogant, but Titan was one of the strongest pokemon in the League. For him to be struggling to get so much as a flinch from Aegislash was ridiculous.

There had to be sothing else at play here.

The earlier move could have been so sort of special defence boost but with Aegislash in attack mode, it should have…

I scowled.

There was a move that could reverse such strong stats.

Power Trick. That’s what Agatha had done.

Her pokemon wasn’t in attack mode, it was in defence mode despite it having its sword out.

Urgh! Of course, Agatha was muddying any understanding there would be of her pokemon. Regardless of any win or loss that pokemon now looked incredibly defensive unless you knew what the trick was that she’d played.

Agatha must have seen sothing in my expression as she tapped her cane on the ground and Aegislash retreated from the close-range battle flipping over on itself with the tip of the blade arcing around forcing Titan to jump backwards.

I inspected Titan and found him breathing heavily but still well and truly in the fight. A bubbling undercurrent of annoyance was in fact the strongest feeling I got from our bond.

I had to thank all the training that Titan put in for him not being tired out by now from the frantic pace.

Other pokemon would be too exhausted to keep fighting after all the ducking and dodging.

A careful inspection of Aegislash revealed… well not much actually. The gleam of the steely body was perhaps dimr than it had been, there might also be more frayed edges to the arms that ford ribbons off to the side.

Urgh, it was easier to recognise pokemon you’d seen fight before, but Aegislash obviously ca completely out of left field.

Another shimr went through Aegislash and I was reminded, not for the first ti, how annoying it was to face off against a silent opponent trainer.

There were no giveaways from shouted voice commands about what they were trying to do.

Instead, you had to try and plan ahead or infer from the situation you found yourself in.

Which, when you were facing a pokemon you had little to no familiarity with, made things so much harder.

I suddenly had a lot more sympathy for the people that Sabrina and I had been facing. We’d been extrely difficult to fight already only for an added difficulty to co through, sothing that wasn’t imdiately obvious unless you were across from us even.

Was this just a precursor for what it would be like for with higher-tier matches when another region opened up? I had a lot of information about the current roster of pokemon but the world was sure to open back up eventually.

As Sabrina had shown , there were more pokemon out there, and I couldn’t just coast along on my previous life’s knowledge.

Agatha, to so extent, understood that. She didn’t want to plateau. That had to be why she was doing what she was doing for an exhibition match of all things. She had easier ways to win this fight. Winning wasn’t the only point for her.

She wanted to show that I needed more awareness of aura.

At least that’s what I think she might have been trying to do.

The thing that stood out to Titan and I through our shared senses was how Aegislash had gone still, its shield shifting back in front of itself and its eyes closed.

Rest. She’d gotten her pokemon to use Rest.

Damn it all.

Titan lunged forward, realising that all of his efforts were about to go to waste with the use of Rest.

There was also the knowledge that if Agatha had used Power Skill, then her pokemon, which was now in Shield form, was currently strong in attack, not defence.

Urgh this was exactly like Agatha to make the fight as annoying as she possibly could.

Damn ghost-type pokemon.

To make matters worse, I needed to keep my eyes out for the more typical ghost-type moves such as Destiny Bond or Perish Song.

I could absolutely see Agatha turning this into an uphill grind, only to then have all your efforts turn to ash as you defeated not just her pokemon but your own.

Titan got close and once more unleashed a powerful attack, only this ti Aegislash flexed, bringing the shield up.

This ti, when Titan’s Dark Pulse was unleashed a rippling energy barrier blossod out from Aegislash’s shield.

I ntally noted down that so far, Aegislash had used a fighting-type move, Power Trick, Rest, Sleep Talk, Protect… I paused on the last move. That shielding move looked different.

I had to put that to the side for later examination and instead focus on the here and now.

Agatha had gotten lucky with that move as Sleep Talk had a chance of using another move instead of specifically the one she wanted. Therefore, if I pushed now, I had a chance to win.

I urged Titan to attack again and he did so.

Agatha wasn’t going to let that go however, as Aegislash woke up a mont later and charged at Titan, leading with its blade as it slipped into Sword For.

Damn, I thought as the fighting-type move would cut through the Dark-type Energy and into Titan for the first ti.

Titan growled in pain as the ghost blade bit into his scales and I had to hold back a flinch.

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If this was Aegislash with its stats reversed, I did not want Titan getting hit when things were as they should be.

Both pokemon withdrew, and for the first ti in this match, I felt like we’d co off worse for the exchange.

“Hehehehe!” cackled Agatha. “Not finding it as fun to fight as it is to fight your little Ace matches, are you?” she called out to .

I inclined my head. “You’ve certainly given so curveballs that I need to consider,” I replied, making sure to use the mont for myself by having Titan use Stealth Rock.

Talking was never a free action, as shown by Aegislash once more flashing as energy ran through it. It adopted its Shield form, but other than that, I had no true indication of what had just happened.

Had Agatha just used Power Trick again? Or had she done sothing else like Swords Dance?

No, Swords Dance usually required so form of movent from the pokemon. For a literal sword to not even move while using it…

Well, it would demand a lot of control, which while I didn’t doubt that Agatha could train into her pokemon, I did doubt she’d done it with Aegislash.

I didn’t have a logical reason for such an assertion, just a gut feeling.

Agatha had just flipped her pokemon’s stats again to make them true to their form.

“Where’d you find such a pokemon? I think you’re going to have Oak in a fit to examine it,” I said touching on one of the sore points I knew Agatha possessed.

Titan, rather than unleashing another Dark Pulse, kicked the ground and caused a huge rock to launch itself up and out. With Stone Edge incoming I had Titan follow it in pursuit.

“Heh! If he asks properly, I might even let him examine it!” she replied, and with a flick of her chin, Aegislash carved through the boulder, tip first, only to keep on coming.

The change in attack and defence stats instantly made itself known as Aegislash punched through the boulder, barely even slowing as it appeared on the other side, only to then keep going as it tried to spear Titan.

Oh yeah, world of difference now from what Agatha had previously been working with.

The slight slowing was all that stopped Titan from taking another super effective stab as he was able to twist to the side and unleash another Dark Pulse.

This ti I saw a serious flinch from Aegislash and I felt a thrill run through .

Titan responded by going for the kill with another attack.

Agatha didn’t sit back however as Aegislash flashed only to suddenly vanish from in front of Titan to behind, coming in from his blind spot.

I stiffened despite knowing that Aerial Ace wouldn’t hurt as much. I still had Titan throw himself to the side in another dodge just in case.

Titan’s body hitting the ground caused another small-scale earthquake even as he tumbled back onto his feet. It was nothing like it normally would be due to the looser soil.

Titan and Aegislash locked eyes and Aegislash bowed slightly as if in acknowledgent.

Then Aegislash ca on fast, once more point first.

Titan skipped to the side and unleashed a powerful Dark Pulse that saw Aegislash wobbling in the air, only for a thin band of energy to shoot from Aegislash and latch into Titan.

I could feel sothing root itself into Titan’s aura and shuddered.

Damn! She really had gone for Destiny Bond here?

I gave Agatha a heartfelt glare. “I expected more from you,” I said.

“Oh, don’t play that card! When facing a foe you use everything in your arsenal! Don’t cry to about tactics you don’t have answers for,” she snapped, stabbing the air in my direction with her cane.

I grimaced. I was left with a few good options as Titan would go down, but I didn’t want to just sacrifice him needle—

Titan took the decision away from , as instead of letting hesitation rule, he stepped forward and loosened another Dark Pulse, knocking Aegislash out.

Titan then looked back at to lock eyes and let know he had no fear of falling here to this pokemon.

I smiled even as I felt the Destiny Bond activate and drain Titan of energy.

He passed out standing up, head turned in my direction.

The crowd roared. Whether in approval or anger at how things had turned out I wasn’t sure. My ‘victory’ felt hollow, like many matches I’d had in the past against Agatha.

In those, I had the option of returning my pokemon to break the bond. In an Exhibition match that wasn’t an option.

“You don’t get asked to perform Exhibition matches much, do you?” I asked rhetorically.

Agatha grinned at . “No one has requested an exhibition match from for years.”

I nodded, right, that changed things for how I was going to approach the rest of this match if I wanted to win it.

I reached for Gawain’s pokeball only to reconsider. Agatha had approached to show how things were different now that I could command all my pokemon without words or gestures.

Agatha was sandbagging with her Aegislash. She could have gone for more dangerous moves, but instead, she delayed the exchange as much as she could.

All so that I could learn specifically how much more difficult it was to fight against a pokemon that I’d never encountered before with moves that I shouldn’t have any knowledge about.

I had cheated it sowhat with my taknowledge from a past life but as Sabrina had demonstrated with Farigiraf, that wasn’t going to hold up forever.

New pokemon and regions and styles of fighting were going to co up. I needed to either be flexible, or I needed a thod of understanding what was happening with an opponent's pokemon without any hints.

I drumd my fingers on Gawain’s pokeball.

I could win this rather easily by sending out Gawain and securing Stealth Rocks all over the field, so that even if Gawain went down right now he’d still end up securing the win for .

But I’d miss out on a learning experience… and condemn everyone watching to a rather boring slog.

“I see what you’re trying to show ,” I announced to Agatha. I set my expression as firmly as I could, knowing this would change the style of the match entirely. “I’m going for the win,” I said as I sent out Gawain.

He appeared and raised his axes in readiness.

Agatha snorted. “Very well, if that’s how you want to play this ga I shall oblige you,” she said, sending out her selection which turned out to be Arbok.

An Arbok? I found myself thinking. That… wasn’t a good choice against… well a lot of my pokemon. I thought it might be a mistake for a second only to notice Agatha looking over her shoulder for a solid few seconds at where Yvonne was.

The young girl looked strangely watery-eyed at Arbok being on the field.

Hmmm, so Agatha was doing this for multiple reasons.

Alright, that tracked with her trying to achieve multiple objectives all at once.

Arbok rose and the crest began to glow as in a threat display that also doubled as a stronger Glare than what could co from its actual head where its eyes were located.

Titan’s earlier Stealth Rock slamd into the Arbok but Agatha’s pokemon didn’t even seem bothered by the attack.

I had Gawain duck his eyes and dart to the side with Agility before having him charge in from the side, the entire ti making sure he wasn’t looking directly at his foe to evade the paralysis-causing move.

Arbok didn’t just stand and take the Stone Axe to the face however and instead coiled and sprang off to the side, spitting poison spikes as it went.

No… not just poison spikes, but Toxic Spikes.

Agatha was just copying … I set up the field with Stealth Rock and she would match with Toxic Spikes.

Urgh, this woman was determined to make learn a lesson in so way or form, wasn’t she?

My brow twitched before I relaxed. Alright, if we were going to do this, I was still going to co out the better.

I had Gawain charge in, continuing to slam Stone Axe after Stone Axe into the ground only for Arbok to switch things up by going for a Wrap whereby it coiled itself around Gawain.

Damn it, I’d gotten too focused on one objective, and Agatha had switched it up.

It was almost like she could read my min,d which wasn’t possible.

No, that wasn’t what she was alluding to right now…

Arbok clenched around Gawain tighter, and I had him twist until he could leverage his axe into the ground only for Arbok’s tail to whip around and trap one of his limbs.

That had been a blind spot for both Agatha and Arbok…

I frowned, eyes questing around for any shimring ghosts that might be supplying Agatha with information.

Agatha clicked her tongue in annoyance, drawing back to the match instantly as she had Arbok tighten its grip.

Sohow I just knew that this wasn’t going to be like a typical Wrap where you could have your pokemon fight off the coiling pokemon as it tired.

Agatha was actively forcing her pokemon to keep its grip.

Alright, if I couldn’t use Gawain’s axes, I’d have to do sothing else but I had a lingering suspicion about how Agatha was countering .

I had Gawain kick the ground and once again Arbok adjusted, stopping Gawain from really calling up a proper Stone Edge.

Yup, that confird it to . Agatha wasn’t using a hidden ghost to transmit what Gawain was doing, she was in so way reading into what I was ordering Gawain to do.

She was reading my intent or what I was going to do as I was doing it.

Could she… read the bond link I had with my pokemon?

The idea of that being possible floored as I’d thought it to be like an end-to-end connection between myself and my pokemon. For it to be potentially visible felt almost… like sothing intimate was being peeked upon.

If that was the case, I really didn’t like it.

Was this what she was talking about? Or was I making leaps of logic that were false?

I had Gawain twist and slam his head now that Arbok had shifted to restrain his feet.

A rocky helt t that of a snake and the snake ca off worse.

Within an instant, the Wrap weakened and I had Gawain kick himself out of the grasp before throwing him into a follow-up with Stone Edge.

Arbok tried to counter with what I suspected was Dragon Tail and despite the strength and experience difference, Gawain won through, blowing Arbok away.

I pumped my fist and grinned at Agatha to find her smirking back at . She had a faint sheen of sweat on her brow, I noted.

Hmmm so this thod she was using to read my bond with my pokemon wasn’t without drawbacks then?

Agatha nodded as if answering my unasked question.

Ah, damn it. I’d been right. This was what she ant by a higher form of combat, didn’t she?

It seed like she’d fallen out of practice with it if I was any judge, but it also seed that when she did use it she suddenly had a lot more insight into what was going to happen.

In a way, I imagined it was like what fighting Sabrina would be like without a dark aura to mask your intent.

Hmmmm perhaps there were two ways to approach this ‘higher form’ by reading another, and masking or misleading another of your intent.

I had no idea where to even start with such a thing and I suspected Agatha knew that and would be ‘teaching ’ in future training sessions.

She’d held back on this last week and I knew that she’d done it so that she had an edge coming into this match.

Arbok and Gawain clashed once more and this ti Arbok twisted in such a way to spray Gawain with a Toxic attack that saw him heavily poisoned.

He got his revenge a mont later by slashing his axes across Arbok’s form and dropping the poison type pokemon.

That still proved to not be enough though as Arbok went from laying on the ground seemingly knocked out to lunging with its fangs bared.

Gwain blurred as I shouted a warning and he dodged the attack and I exhaled in relief only to glower as Agatha sprayed the field with more Toxic Spikes.

I responded by having Gawain drag his axes into the ground as he decelerated leaving more Stealth Rocks in his wake.

Agatha and I shared another heated glare.

With another trainer, I would expect this to signal that we were about to trade blows once more in a final exchange.

I might not be able to read her intent, but I knew Agatha’s character well enough to not expect such an exchange.

Gawain tore his way forward in what seed like a straightforward sprint only for Arbok to throw itself into the ground with Dig.

Yup, exactly as I’d expected.

If this was the Gym I would have had Gawain sink his axes into the ground and settle down on his heels, eyes closed and senses directed downwards. It was sothing I’d worked out with Shin’s training and with Gawain being similar in fighting style there was so useful crossover.

Gawain would then wait, sensing through his axes for any tremors that would signal Arbok’s assault.

We hadn’t yet worked out how to work out direction, speed or even angle through sensing the vibrations, but it was sothing I wanted to work on as I felt it had real potential for both Shin and Gawain.

Their weapon limbs allowed them greater penetration into the ground to allow vibrations to transmit to their bodies.

But I couldn’t do that thod here today due to the looser ground aning that the vibrations weren’t going to transmit as they normally would.

I could however use other tells.

I’d made sure to ask the attendant about the depth and learnt that there was only three tres of soil before coming into a reinforced pokesteel concrete floor. So there was far less room to manoeuvre and then there would be other tells.

Tells that I would have to look for with Gawain.

Like shifting soil.

Arbok’s passage through the ground would show as soon as it ca up to within striking distance. I would only have the smallest of tells however.

Gawain and I searched for the smallest of shifts only to find nothing.

Gawain started to fret and the poison, while not very effective, still bit into his strength. I cald him through the bond, reassuring him that everything was fine.

Arbok would erge soon. We just needed to stay focused.

Agatha chose to drag things out by making us wait.

Around the field, a quiet ford as people leaned forward, searching for any sign of Arbok as Gawain held his ready pose.

I continued to search, eyes moving over each slight furrow and divot only to lock onto a patch of ground when it shifted.

That was all the warning I got as Arbok threw itself into an attack position from his ambush point.

Arbok leapt from the earth only to slam into a Protect.

Gawain glared at Arbok who hissed in his face, the protective barrier, barely a hand in width, ant they were literally in each other's faces.

Gawain grit his teeth as I felt the poison once more activate sapping him of strength.

I took the mont to stare at Agatha, but she rely inclined her head. “You certainly have so tricks up your sleeve young Brock,” she complinted.

I huffed, ignoring her comntary as I began to plan what ca next. Agatha was continuing to stall and drag out the match, which wasn’t how she usually fought against people.

She was synonymous with power and speed with her Genga,r but she had yet to send out any of her signature pokemon. Here she was whittling down with hit and runs, grapples, and even set up with Toxic Spikes.

She was forcing to fight at the edge of my capabilities, a mistake would see her taking yet another advantage.

It felt like both of us were on the cusp of gaining control of the match. All we needed was one pokemon lead over the other but neither of us were going to let it happen.

due to grit, and her due to stubborn vindictiveness.

When the Protect faded, I went on the offensive. It might not be effective but I was in a ti crunch thanks to that singular Toxic.

This ti Gawain darted from side to side with Agility boosting him.

This ti Agatha didn’t evade the exchange. She instead committed her Arbok with another Dragon Tail.

Gawain deflected the strike with a flick of his left axe, only to slam his right into Arbok’s face.

Arbok went down and just like that I’d taken the advantage.

Only for Gawain to take a knee due to the poison. I clicked my tongue, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to push him. I held up his pokeball and recalled him glad that he’d been able to stand his ground.

I flexed my hands.

Alright, Agatha had taken her shot with those poisons, ti to remind her that such tactics wouldn’t work against .

Ti to go big.

I pald Jormungandr’s pokeball and unleashed him. With him on the field I had the option of going for the ga evolution to take control of this match.

This should also make for more enjoyable viewing for the spectators as I forced Agatha’s hand.

Instead of glowering like I’d expected she rely smirked.

So, that’s how she wanted to play this match out then? I rolled my shoulders

Alright you old hag, what else have you got up your sleeve? I thought as I readied myself for more ‘lessons’ from Agatha.