Sabrina recalled her injured Espeon and sent out Slowbro next. The bulky Water/Psychic-type Pokémon materialized on the field and immediately suffered from the Poison Spikes left behind by Gliscor.
Slowbro winced visibly as the toxic spikes activated, delivering a steady dose of poison.
'Alright, now that she has used her two switches, it would be a less tricky fight for me. But I can bet she can get away with the two switches by using Baton Pass, and that is why she is not reluctant to using both her switches this early into the fight,' Gladion thought.
Gladion knew that Sabrina being a Psychic specialist has taught all such moves to her Pokemon as she had to focus on teaching all her Pokemon mostly the same moves compared to a General Type trainer.
"Dark Pulse!" Gladion ordered.
"Counter with Water Pulse!" Sabrina commanded.
The two energy balls of different elements collided in mid-air with a loud splash and crack. Dark energy met water energy in a bright explosion that sprayed mist across the battlefield.
"Another Iron Tail!" Gladion said.
Nyx used Teleport, which she had copied from Espeon earlier, and appeared next to Slowbro. She delivered a powerful Iron Tail, knocking Slowbro back several steps with a heavy thud.
"Surf!" Sabrina said.
A huge wave of water erupted around the arena, threatening to devour everything in its path. Slowbro rode on top of the wave, looking completely comfortable in the water environment. Nyx used Copycat to create her own Surf. The two massive waves collided, and the arena was soon filled with churning water.
Gladion realized why Sabrina had used Surf. Slowbro was a Water-type Pokémon and a much better swimmer than an Umbreon. It used the water waves to arrive swiftly at Nyx, who struggled to swim properly in the turbulent water.
"Zen Headbutt!" Sabrina ordered.
Slowbro's head glowed as it charged forward and hit Nyx hard, sending her flying into the water. After a few seconds, Nyx emerged unconscious, floating on the surface.
"Would you look at that, folks? Sabrina has made it 2 to 0. Have you ever seen that against Gym Leader Gladion? He has been pushed on the back foot," the announcer said excitedly.
"Let's go, Mystique," Gladion said as he sent out his Milotic next.
Milotic appeared gracefully in the middle of the arena. The battlefield was originally a forest but was now half-submerged in water. Mystique's long, elegant body moved smoothly through the water, her scales shimmering beautifully under the stadium lights.
Slowbro started by firing a powerful Hydro Pump. The jet of water rushed toward Milotic at high speed. Mystique countered with her own Hydro Pump.
The two water attacks met in the middle and exploded into a massive spray that covered the field. Slowbro followed up with a Zen Headbutt, charging through the water with its head glowing.
Milotic dodged gracefully and responded with a Dragon Tail. Her tail glowed with dragon energy as she slammed it into Slowbro's side, pushing the pink Pokémon back.
Slowbro recovered and used Ice Beam. A freezing ray shot toward Milotic. She created a protective barrier with Light Screen to reduce the damage, but the cold still affected her.
She retaliated with a powerful Dragon Pulse. The blue beam of dragon energy hit Slowbro hard, making it flinch. The two Pokémon traded blows back and forth. Slowbro used Psychic to lift Milotic out of the water, but Mystique broke free with a strong Twister, creating a spinning column of water that slammed into Slowbro.
The battle continued with both sides refusing to give an inch.
Finally, Milotic landed a decisive hit. She used Dragon Tail once more on a frozen Slowbro after hitting it with an Ice Beam of her own. The powerful tail strike sent Slowbro flying out of the water and crashing onto a dry patch of the field. Slowbro struggled but could not get up. It was defeated.
"And you can't keep Gladion out of the fight for long. He has taken down the first of Sabrina's Pokémon," the announcer shouted.
Sabrina then sent out her Espeon again. The elegant psychic cat appeared on the field and immediately suffered from the Poison Spikes. It winced but stood ready.
As soon as Espeon saw Mystique, its eyes glowed as it used a move. Gladion narrowed his eyes. 'What move did she use? Some debuff move?'
As he saw Sabrina smirk, he knew that she had done something he would not like. He quickly thought of all the moves Slowbro could use. 'There should not be a move that is detrimental to Mystique… wait… don't tell me.'
"Mystique, use Life Dew!" Gladion ordered. He wanted to confirm his suspicions and also heal back Mystique, who was injured from her fight with Slowbro.
Mystique gathered her energy and used the healing move, but nothing happened. No soothing water droplets appeared. Mystique looked at herself in confusion as her wounds remained.
Gladion grimaced. Mystique looked back at him, equally confused. 'She has used Heal Block on Mystique, preventing her from using her speciality which is healing moves and thus she could not heal herself,' Gladion thought as Sabrina gave him a knowing smile. She knew that he had figured out what was happening.
And she knew that he was not liking the situation one bit.
-----Author Notes------
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