Chapter 48: Toxic Times

Mike decided to leave the gym, and go up against Jessica the next day, so he can come up with a strategy against her. The gang went to the Pokemon Center to sleep, but Mike stood up all night thinking of a strategy. Jessica met the group of 3 across the Pokemon Center and decided to treat themselves to a breakfast at a small diner in town. It had been 5 minutes since the waiter have served them, and Mike hadn't touched his food yet, until suddenly he had thought of the perfect strategy. Mike gobbled down his food in a second, and ran off somewhere.

About 20 minutes later, They found Mike, who had won against a trainer. Mike claimed that his strategy is amazing, and he would be sure to beat Jessica. Jessica claimed that she had seen every strategy in the book and that she would most likely have a counter to it. A Couple hours later, Mike decided to have his fight now. The lights turned purple in the gym, just like before, and now Mike sent out Lampent. Jessica said she had 4 pokemon, and she sent out Nidorino. Mike was allowed unlimited substitutions, while Jessica was allowed none. The battle had begun.

Lampent used Will o Wisp, which burnt the Nidorino. Nidorino used Pin Missile, which hit 4 times, but did not do a lot of damage. Lampent used Fire spin, which damaged Nidorino. Nidorino used Poison jab, which knocked down Lampent, but it went back up like a champ. Lampent used it's newly learned shadow ball, which brought Nidorino down to low health, Nidorino used Poison Sting, which poisoned Lampent, but Nidorino shortly fainted to it's burn damage. Lampent shortly took poison damage, but lived on a few HP. Jessica sent out her next pokemon, Beedrill. Beedrill was super fast and could easily avoid attacks. Mike ordered Lampent to do a 360 ember, in which 2 of the many embers hit Beedrill. Beedrill then finished off Lampent with a Fury Cutter. Jessica said that she underestimated Mike, and she was looking forward to more of the battle.

Mike sent out his next pokemon, Zoroark. Zoroark was known to be Mike's fastest Pokemon, so the speed was now even. Zoroark used Night Slash, which hit Beedrill hard, but Beedrill came back with a Poison Jab. Zoroark then used Hypnosis, Beedrill instantly fell to the ground and started sleeping. Zoroark then used Dream eater, the arena went dark and a bunch of pink waves were coming out of Beedrill, Zoroark kept using Dream eater, until Beedrill woke up. Beedrill then used Toxic Spikes, before it perished to Zoroark's Night Slash.

Jessica was impressed, she then sent out her 3rd pokemon, Toxicroak. Zoroark used hypnosis, but Toxicroak was able to dodge it, and finished off Zoroark with an powerful Close Combat. Mike sent out his ace, Decidueye to go up against Toxicroak. Decidueye was instantly poisoned from the toxic spikes. Decidueye used Spirit Shackle, which did a moderate amount of damage, because Toxicroak's defenses have lowered because it had previously used Close Combat. Toxicroak used Bullet Punch, which damaged Decidueye. Decidueye had taken more poison damage than normal because of its weakness to poison. Mike had decided to try his strategy now. Mike had taught Decidueye the move refresh, which cured it of its poison. Mike then ordred Decidueye to blow off the spikes to the side using it's wings. Toxicroak used Earth Power, which did a decent blow to Decidueye, Decidueye then finished off the Toxic Mouth pokemon with a spirit shackle arrow to it's poison sac throat.

Jessica sent out her ace, Toxtricity. Toxtricity was sparking when it came out of it's Great Ball. It was fully recharged and strong. Toxtricity used Discharge on Decidueye, which left it on low health. Decidueye used Leaf Blade on Toxtricity, which made a dent, but Mike's ace went down to Toxtricity's signature move, Overdrive. Mike only had 1 pokemon left. Mike sent out Lucario. Lucario was lucky enough to be immune to poison types. Lucario used Bone Rush, which was an extremely effective move against Toxtricity. Toxtricity then used Spark, which damaged Lucario and paralyzed it. Lucario was going for an aura sphere, but couldn't due to it's paralysis. Toxtricity used Overdrive, and left Lucario barely alive. Lucario used Reversal and left Toxtricity barely alive too. Then, in the heat of the moment, Lucario used Aura Sphere, and Toxtricity used Electro Ball at the same time, colliding. The battlefield was smoky, The trainers couldn't see a thing. After 30 seconds, the smoke had cleared, and both Lucario and Toxtricity were fainted.

Mike and Jessica had no Pokemon left. The battle had ended in a tie. Jessica stated that according to Pokemon league rules, there must be a 1 v 1 tiebreaker against both teams. Jessica said that the tiebreaker would happen later that day. She also claimed this was the first ever tiebreaker of her career as gym leaders. Mike then exit the gym thinking on what Pokemon he will use in the tiebreaker.