Chapter 418: All You Can Battle

"Beheeyem is unable to battle. Ariados wins. Trainer, please send out your next Pokémon!" The butler referee declared without hesitation as he watched Beheeyem twitching from poison on the ground.

There was no denying that Trish had a natural talent as a Trainer. For a five or six year-old, her adaptability wasn't bad at all, but she still lacked true battle experience.

"Ariados, withdraw the poison." Since it wasn't a formal match, Sato chose to pause the fight to remove the poison from Beheeyem.

"Dos~Dos!"

Ariados responded and quickly skittered over to Beheeyem. One of its front legs lightly pricked Beheeyem's arm.

Soon, the purple toxin marks on Beheeyem's body began to fade rapidly. Its skin returned to normal, and it fell into a steady, unconscious sleep.

"Once it wakes up, just give it this Antidote. It's specially formulated to neutralize residual toxins from Ariados. Works like a charm."

Joseph stepped in and handed a vial of custom-made Antidote to the butler, earning a warm smile in return.

"Truly impressive. My Beheeyem was taken down in just a few rounds… no wonder you're the champion of the Vertress Trial."

Zillion showered him with flattery. Sato gave a slight smile, unmoved, simply waiting quietly for the next match.

"Daddy~ Use Escavalier! Use Escavalier!" Trish had somehow run over to Zillion, clearly intent on officially taking over the match.

"This is Daddy's battle, Trish, don't interfere." Zillion said, embarrassed.

"But daddy can't win! Trish is better than you and can help you fight~"

Pfft!

Zillion felt like an arrow had pierced his chest… but he couldn't deny it.

"Ahem… uh, Sato..."

"Anything's fine by me," Sato shrugged, fully cooperative.

"Yay yay! Daddy, hurry and send out Escavalier, quickly~" Trish jumped excitedly, urging him on nonstop.

"…Escavalier, I'm counting on you," Zillion muttered, weakly tossing out a Poké Ball. With a flash of red light, a very cool-looking Pokémon appeared in front of Ariados.

Escavalier: evolved through trading Karrablast and Shelmet. Its entire body was clad in armor, and both arms had become over one meter-long lances. Its attack power was devastating.

Its only flaw was its low speed. In fact, Sato felt a bit lucky. Since he'd spent time detoxing Beheeyem, the lingering Trick Room effect had completely worn off by now.

"Then… battle begin!"

"Escavalier, Drill Run!"

"Ariados, Electroweb."

Sato and Trish gave orders at the same time. Escavalier aligned its twin lances and began spinning wildly, transforming into a red-and-white spinning top, charging furiously toward Ariados.

Ariados spat out sheet after sheet of golden Electroweb, but they were shredded effortlessly by Drill Run, which never slowed down.

At the crucial moment, Ariados shifted to the side to dodge the attack. While Drill Run helped Escavalier compensate for its speed issue, it still lacked flexibility.

"Sticky Web."

In this first probing exchange, Sato was slightly at a disadvantage. Electroweb had been hard-countered by the Ground-type Drill Run, but that also revealed Escavalier's acceleration method; still worth it.

"Escavalier, tear through those webs with Twineedle barrage!"

Zzzrip~

A single Sticky Web was sliced clean in half by Escavalier, falling to either side of its body. Not a single thread had stuck to it.

But before Trish could retaliate, an overwhelming number of Sticky Webs came flying toward Escavalier from all directions.

Ariados's attacks had always been all-you-can-eat… especially web-type moves.

Zzzrip~ Zzzrip~ Zzzrip~

Plop!

After tearing through several more layers of Sticky Web, the already slow-moving Escavalier was finally caught. Its entire body was wrapped in sticky threads, and it could barely move.

"Ariados, Focus Energy, Night Slash."

"Dos~Dos."

Sato issued the command openly, and Ariados completely ignored the struggling Escavalier caught in the web ahead.

Ariados crouched slightly, its whole body emitting a faint white light that quickly shifted to black. Its front legs and head horn became wreathed in dark purple energy.

Night Slash!

Duang~

Escavalier, weighing over 30 kg, was knocked flat by Ariados and couldn't get back up despite struggling for quite a while.

Looking closer, there was a massive red mark on Escavalier's soft underbelly, its most vulnerable spot.

Focus Energy + Sniper Ability + Night Slash. Ariados had precisely found Escavalier's weak point and landed a critical hit.

"Escavalier, use Giga Drain!" Trish was clearly flustered. She hadn't expected Ariados to become so terrifying after powering up and now desperately wanted Escavalier to recover.

But she didn't consider: Ariados resists Grass… and it's Poison-type.

"Ariados, Toxic Thread."

Several green energy vines whipped toward Ariados, but Toxic Thread struck first.

…That one drain.

"Escavalier, stop Giga Drain! Use-"

"Ariados, Night Slash."

Bang!

Just as Escavalier managed to get back on its feet(?), it was struck again and sent flying, crashing hard into the ground.

"Escavalier is unable to battle. Ariados wins. Therefore, the victor is Trainer Sato!"

Trish stared blankly at the fallen Escavalier. She had confidently taken over the battle from her father… only to lose miserably.

It was a result she had never imagined.

Just as Sato began to feel a bit regretful for going too hard -after all, she was just a little girl- Trish suddenly grabbed Zillion' chubby hand with surprising seriousness.

"Daddy, can you find me a Teacher? I want to become a real Trainer!"

Then, after hesitating for a moment, she shyly raised her little hand and pointed toward Sato. "…I want to become a strong Trainer like Sato!"

"Hahaha! That's my little princess! Daddy will support you one hundred percent~" Zillion was overjoyed and immediately scooped her up, making Trish grab onto him in alarm.

"Stupid daddy! You scared me!"

Watching the playful father and daughter, Sato -who had the mental maturity of a man in his thirties- felt a tiny twinge of envy. 'Hmm… must be an illusion.'

After the battle, Sato had Ariados withdraw the poison from Escavalier as usual, while Joseph handed over another dose of special Antidote.

Steel-types may be immune to Poison, but if toxins seeped past the outer armor and into the body, they were still effective.

Using Giga Drain on a Poison-type… only someone with as little battle experience as Trish would issue such a command.

After all, natural talent as a Trainer and actual battle experience were two very different things.