Pokémon: Sandstorm Sovereign

Chapter 88: Heatproof

"You've already raised a second Pokémon?" Hoffman's face lit up with joy, but it quickly fell.

Based on the training skill Basalt had displayed so far, his second Pokémon was likely no slouch. The problem was, Basalt had only recently earned his Novice-Rank license. In other words, his second Pokémon couldn't have been in training for very long.

And where were they? This was the Metro City training camp, a gathering of the region's top talents. Pitting a newly trained Pokémon against a genius from the upper tier of Group B... the odds of victory were not worth mentioning. Hoffman was not optimistic. After all, even a trainer as skilled as Luna was only in Group C. It was clear there were no weaklings in Group B.

Although Basalt could read Hoffman's thoughts, he didn't bother to argue. He just smiled. "Supervisor, the opportunity is right here. I can't just waste it, right? I have to at least try."

"You're right about that," Hoffman nodded. Basalt's performance had already met his expectations. Even if he lost this next battle, it wouldn't be a loss for Hoffman.

"Alright, choose one of the trainers from Group B's upper tier."

Hoffman led Basalt to where the Group B members were gathered. There were two of them, both boys. Perhaps because of their confidence in their own abilities, or perhaps because they saw that Basalt had switched Pokémon, neither of them seemed afraid. In fact, they looked eager for a fight.

"You," Basalt said, pointing to a boy in a black short-sleeved shirt.

"The name's Finch. A pleasure," the boy said with a grin, revealing a row of pearly white teeth. He had a bit of a roguish air about him.

"Hi, I'm Basalt."

After they shook hands, they each walked to their respective command posts. Drilbur, like Ash's Pikachu, stood by Basalt's side, its claw now wrapped in a gauze bandage.

"Go, Bronzor!" Basalt threw the Poké Ball.

"It's a Bronzor! That's a rare Psychic-type!" someone in the crowd remarked with surprise.

"Rare, my foot! Out in the world, Psychic-types might be valuable, but how many do we have here in the training camp? It's not like any of us are short on cash!"

"True! There's an Abra, a Jynx, a Meditite, a Girafarig, and an Exeggcute right here. And that's just on the surface. Now that everyone's starting to raise a second Pokémon, I bet there will be even more Psychic-types."

Hearing the dismissive comments about Bronzor, Drilbur smiled to itself, agreeing wholeheartedly. It seems there are some smart people in this camp after all. But thinking about Bronzor's strength, it felt a little annoyed. Such a good opportunity to show off, and Bronzor gets it! Damn it, it's all that stupid crocodile's fault. Thinking of the injury to its claw, Drilbur's teeth itched with anger. If it weren't injured, with its stamina, it could have taken on at least three more opponents.

Seeing Bronzor on the field, Finch was first surprised, then he burst out laughing. "Basalt, your luck is terrible. Because my Pokémon... is this!"

Finch threw his Poké Ball. A flash of red light revealed a pitch-black dog with two bone-like protrusions on its back. Its belly and snout were orange, and it had bony cuffs on each ankle and a short, stubby tail. It looked like a hound from the underworld.

"A Houndour?" Basalt's brow furrowed, his heart sinking. Houndour's Dark and Fire types were perfect counters to Bronzor's Psychic and Steel types. From a type-matchup perspective, Bronzor was completely outmatched. Most damningly, the Dark type was immune to Psychic-type damage. Bronzor's only non-Psychic damaging move was Gyro Ball.

Talk about a bad start. This was the definition of a bad start. Lady Luck seemed to have abandoned him.

"Both trainers, ready! Battle, begin!"

At the referee's command, the battle officially began.

"Houndour, Smog!" Finch's eyes narrowed, a smirk on his lips.

At almost the same instant, Basalt also made his move. "Bronzor, Hypnosis!"

A little-known Pokémon fact: the Dark type is immune to damage from Psychic moves, but not to their status effects. Therefore, Hypnosis could still put Houndour to sleep.

Houndour crouched low, and a thick cloud of blackish-purple smoke spewed from its mouth and nostrils, instantly enveloping its entire body.

Fwoosh!

Bronzor's eyes glowed with a golden light as it launched the Hypnosis beam. But unfortunately, the beam was blocked by the thick smog and couldn't penetrate it. As Bronzor's psychic energy made contact with the smog, it felt a searing heat. The smog contained not only Poison-type energy but also hidden Fire-type energy.

This Houndour's Fire-type affinity is outstanding!

Bronzor's psychic senses couldn't penetrate the smog to locate its opponent. As expected, trainers at the Group B level were no joke. Their Pokémon had effective strategies and ways to defend against status and debuffing moves. They wouldn't be so easily caught.

"Awooo~"

Just then, a howl like a wolf's echoed from within the smog. The presence of the Houndour inside began to rise steadily.

Howl, a move that raises the user's Attack stat.

"So this is the strength of a Group B upper-tier trainer? Impressive," Basalt said with a slight smile. It was because his opponent wasn't weak that this was interesting. For the first time in a while, Basalt felt a sense of pressure.

Putting aside everything else, this Smog, which contained both poison and searing heat, was no less tricky than Luna's Icy Wind. In fact, in terms of difficulty, it was even worse. You could dodge Icy Wind, but this massive cloud of smog covered the entire battlefield. How could you possibly avoid it? Even if you were underground, the smog could seep into the tunnels. It was effective against both air and ground.

"Bronz..."

Faced with the fire-laced smog, Bronzor instinctively wanted to retreat. It hated Fire-type energy. But as it sensed the smog more carefully, it realized the burning sensation wasn't as intense as it expected. It wasn't unbearable.

What's going on? Bronzor was confused. At this temperature, my old self would have been burned by now. Could it be... because of that metal?

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