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Rafa Valentino Episode 3. Ursaluna’s Pressure
(Side note: Before reading, please note that this will connect to Professor Cherry! And also this one is pretty long, but that's more entertainment right? Now enjoy!)
We walk on to the field of Artazon. I see Trevor across from me. No emotion, just thinking and wandering eyes. We walk up to eachother in the center of the court to shake hands.
"My name is Dan and I will be your judge. This is a doubles battle, four Pokémon each. Introduce yourselves and shake hands."
"Im Trevor. Trevor Gladys." He has a tight grip.
"Im Rafa Valentino."
The judge speaks up
"Anything else you'd like to say to eachother?" Dan sounds like he's yelling, but its just a loud bark.
Trevor speaks up "Its not smart bring only four Pokémon to the field. It let's me read you like a book."
"I like to challange myself what can I say? And plus, I know what you're gonna use. Ursaluna, Alolan Ninetales, Porygon2 and Kingambit. Right? The perfect counters."
"Doing your homework isn't gonna help you in a real life battle. Let's see how this goes."
We turn around and I hear him say
"Dishonorable Win!"
Well see what happens.
We're at our spots.
"Trainers, get your Pokeballs ready."
3
2
1
"Battle Begin!"
Turn 1
Trevor sends out Alolan Ninetales and Porygon2, as expected. Alolan Ninetales manifests on the field, its cellular biology instantly triggering its Snow Warning ability to plunge the stadium temperature below freezing and condense the air into a thick snowstorm. This could be a pain for Rillaboom and Garchomp later on...
I respond by sending out Rillaboom ans Incineroar counter-positioned to project a primitive, dominant psychological aura; this automatic Intimidate triggers a brief fear reflex that constricts the muscles of Trevor's Pokémon and lowers their physical Attack stats by one stage.
"Rillaboom! Fake Out Porygon!
Rillaboom lunges forward with immediate priority, executing a Fake Out attack by clapping its massive palms together at hyper-sonic speed to unleash a concussive shockwave into Porygon2. The impact inflicts a minor ~5% damage and completely overloads Porygon2's digital processing arrays, forcing its system to flinch into a temporary reboot.
In order to get immediate damage, Incineroar ignites its internal thermal belt and transforms into a molten comet, executing a devastating Flare Blitz that slams heavily into Alolan Ninetales for severe, melting damage while Incineroar winces as a violent shockwave of recoil damage ripples back into its own muscle fibers.
Despite taking that heating head-on, Alolan Ninetales successfully exudes a freezing, protein-rich mist that locks with the falling snow, performing an Aurora Veil move that forms a shimmering, micro-crystalline lattice across Trevor's side of the field to create a flexible kinetic barrier that halves all incoming damage.
Because its system was forced into a hard reboot thanks to Rillaboom's flinch, Porygon2's computerized brain fails to execute its non-damaging Trick Room spacetime distortion program this turn.
Turn 2
Rillaboom aggressively presses the momentum, swinging a dark-energy-infused fist to strike a malicious Knock Off directly into Porygon2's hardware frame.
"Nice job Rillaboom!"
The strike inflicts ~20% damage—heavily cushioned by the active Aurora Veil—and physically detaches its held Eviolite, stripping the digital Pokémon of its data-boosting protective armor.
Alolan Ninetales capitalizes on the howling snowstorm to unleash a sweeping, sub-zero vortex Blizzard that pelts both of Rafa's Pokémon with jagged ice crystals, inflicting heavy, biting chip damage to their organic tissue.
"You see the power of Ninetales? The relentless beast caught on Mount Lanakila in the Alola Region. I caught it after enduring hard cold nights, sub-zero temperatures, and...!"
Incineroar utilizes Trevors stupid monologing and its tactical retreat by letting out a fierce, psychologically draining Parting Shot roar that installs a temporary software lag to lower Porygon2's Attack and Special Attack stats by one stage. Incineroar then safely retreats to its Poké Ball, allowing Rafa to pivot Gholdengo—his solid gold, coin-matrix platform—directly onto the field as a replacement.
"Talking seems like a bad choice right now Trevor. You might get distracted." I say with a smirk
"Haha! Oh Rafa... You should take your own advice. Trick Room!"
With its system clear of the previous turn's disruption, Porygon2 finally projects high-density psychic waves from its computerized brain to execute Trick Room, completely distorting local gravity and spacetime so that slower masses now update their physical coordinates ahead of faster ones. This could be bad. He might switch out. Most likely Ninetales but this puts me in an awkward spot.
Turn 3
Trevor makes a tactical switch, withdrawing Alolan Ninetales to the safety of its Poké Ball and deploying the massive, lumbering Ursaluna directly into the freshly inverted trick dimension. Man, now this is really bad. Upon materializing, Ursaluna’s held chemical matrix ignites, causing a Flame Orb activation that inflicts a localized internal burn and triggers its Guts ability, flooding its muscular system with a massive adrenaline surge that hyper-amplifies its raw physical Attack power.
"How ya like them apples?" Trevor says with a grin.
Moving early under the altered physics of Trick Room, Porygon2 runs a defensive self-repair program called Recover, restoring a significant portion of its structural health.
I try to tell Gholdengo to seize control by liquefying its golden structure into a sweeping Make It Rain downpour of coins that washes over Trevor's team, but the micro-crystalline Aurora Veil severely dampens its kinetic impact, and the intense energy expenditure leaves Gholdengo structurally fatigued, lowering its Special Attack stat by one stage.
Ursaluna channels its burning pain into a berserk frenzy, charging forward with immense mechanical momentum to strike Gholdengo with a catastrophic Facade attack that brutally fractures the golden entity's metallic chassis, leaving it in critical condition.
Turn 4
Trevor performs another switch, withdrawing Porygon2 to deploy Torkoal, whose internal volcanic furnace immediately erupts with intense heat to trigger its Drought ability. The sudden blast of solar energy instantly vaporizes the falling snow and bathes the battlefield in a harsh sunlight weather condition.
Operating first under the warped gravity of Trick Room, the adrenaline-fueled Ursaluna lunges forward to deliver a crushing follow-up Facade, completely shattering Gholdengo's remaining metallic core to secure a decisive knockout. Because its structural integrity was completely deleted by Ursaluna before its turn in the speed order arrived, Gholdengo's shadow-energy matrix collapses completely, failing to execute its intended Shadow Ball attack.
Rillaboom drives a heavy, dark-infused blow into the newly arrived Torkoal, inflicting moderate Knock Off damage and forcibly stripping away its held Charcoal, which dampens the tortoise's future fire-producing efficiency. Torkoal capitalizes on its full health and the harsh sunlight, venting its volcanic core to unleash a massive wave of magma across the pitch via Eruption, severely charring Rillaboom's organic tissue and leaving it badly weakened.
"Just forfeit Rafa! You've already lost!"
"Honorable loss. Remember?"
He's star struck. He seems agitated.
Turn 5
I send Garchomp onto the field as a roster replacement for his fallen Gholdengo. Ursaluna maintains its absolute Trick Room dominance, out-speeding the entire field to lunge onto the heavily injured Rillaboom and using its immense mass to completely flatten the gorilla with a crushing Facade strike, securing a clean knockout.
"Your down two pokemon back to back! Two less pokemon! I win next turn!"
I say with a straight face "Im more of a team half full kinda guy."
"Just wake up! You were never meant to win! You were doomed from the start! "Alicia" should've taught you that. Right?"
"Oh right... Alicia... she's not.... no..."
Garchomp attempts to retaliate by slamming its heavy tail into the ground to trigger a violent seismic Earthquake shockwave. However, because Rillaboom's Grassy Terrain is still actively pulsing bio-electric energy through the earth, the ground-type vibrations are absorbed and cushioned, halving the attack's damage against the grounded targets.
Torkoal vents its fiery core once more, exhaling a raging wall of flames via Eruption that washes over Garchomp to bypass its scaling defenses and inflict devastating, critical thermal damage. Sensing the end of the Trick Room cycle, Trevor executes a quick tactical switch to withdraw his burned Ursaluna, pivoting Mamoswine onto the field to prepare the final offensive pincers.
Turn 6
"Very well Valentino. It's too late to spare their pain."
I bring my final Pokémon, Incineroar, back onto the pitch, and its imposing presence activates Intimidate for a second time, projecting a fierce neural threat that successfully constricts Mamoswine's muscle fibers to lower its physical Attack stat by one stage.
Despite its lowered muscle efficiency, Mamoswine capitalizes on the remaining Trick Room distortion to move first, conjuring a massive, razor-sharp spire of ice and driving it straight into Garchomp with an Icicle Crash attack. Garchomp's dual Dragon- and Ground-type biology carries an extreme, catastrophic weakness to freezing temperatures, and the sub-zero spike completely shatters its scaling armor for an immediate knockout. Because Mamoswine's ice execution struck first and completely deleted its health, Garchomp's neural pathways fail, and its intended Dragon Claw attack never executes.
Incineroar pushes its physical limits in a desperate counter-attack, igniting its thermal core to slam into Mamoswine with a blazing, super-effective Flare Blitz that inflicts massive melting damage, though Incineroar's body is further depleted by the explosive recoil.
Torkoal finishes the exchange by exhaling a sweeping, sun-boosted wave of scorching air via Heat Wave, and the intense thermal pressure completely overwhelms Incineroar’s remaining physical energy, causing the tiger to collapse into a final knockout.
"Good game, Rafa Valentino." He's not smug. He's not upset. He's just... there. Being himself.
"Good game." I dont really have an expression. Just a blank stare. I shake his hand and leave the battlefield. I head back to the locker rooms hanging my head down low. Not in shame but... im just thinking. About leaving college. But im not gonna move back with her. Absolutely not! I look in the mirror, stare back at myself and smile. I say in the mirror.
"I kinda wanted to lose. Just a little bit."
I haven't smiled like this in a while. But im glad i am. Ill keep doing it. Until my name is on a plaque that says either 1st or 2nd. I promise.
Comments
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Kinda thought you might be interested in this
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I was wondering if anyone would notice!
In an actual battle from a video game view, yes. That would be ineffective. But when I was writing the battle, I ultimately decided that a more scientific and biological view would be more accurate.
Gholdengo isn't really technically a ghost, its a spirit inhabiting 999 gold coins. So an attack like a boosted up facade would do damage to the coins.
But i appreciate the feedback!
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