Part 23

Hours after the battle between Barry and Stephan died down Barry exited the battle filed through the tunnels and met up with Paul who was spectating in the stands. "Hey Paul," Barry called. "Did you see how totally awesome my Pokémon and I were? They might as well hand over the trophy right now."

"Getting cocky over one victory at the start of the tournament isn't going to do you any good. Why don't you just relax?" Paul said.

"Oh, come on. You have to admit that was some world class battling from my Pokémon," Barry said with his hands on his hips.

Paul shook his head in disbelief. "Whatever. Here comes Trip."

"Oh, well I'll tell you about that later," Barry said, taking a seat next to Paul. Finally the battle between Trip and Calem was about to commence.

"Good evening and welcome all to another long awaited fixture, it's Trip and Calem, and we've got a classic confrontation here. A Unovan native and a Kalosian native will go head to head here tonight," Freddy announced on the microphone.

"Without further ado let's look at our trainers' lineups for tonight," Don George added.

"Based off Trip's selection of Pokémon I think it's fair to say he's got quite the powerhouse of a team here," Freddy analyzed.

"Yes indeed. We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out. Trip is more commonly known for his defensive style of battling these days as opposed to the old days when he would go all out with raw power and strength," Don George added.

"I'm interested to see how having two dragon types will play out. I'm sure he picked both of them for completely different reasons. Maybe one for offense and the other for defense perhaps?" Freddy said.

Trip and Calem walked out of the tunnels and into the battle field with the referee walking between them. They stopped in the center of the battlefield as the referee began explaining to them what they already knew.

"Absol, that's the one capable of Mega evolution. Could we possibly see our first Mega evolution battle action?" Freddy said.

"Man, this is boring me to tears," Barry complained. "I'm gonna go get some munchies. I'll be back." Paul Just shrugged him off and focused on the two trainers below. They both shook hands with the ref and then each other before taking their respective sides of the battlefield.

"Okay, Vaporeon go!" Calem called.

"Vaporeon!"

"He's going with his Vaporeon first... Okay Serperior Let's go!"

"We're at a clear disadvantage here, so let's not waste anytime Vaporeon. Use Hyrdo Pump!" Calem commanded. Vaporeon began charging up a large amount of water ready to launch at Serperior.

"Intercept it with Solar Beam," Trip said calmly. Serperior gathered some energy, taking some time since the sun was not out at the moment. Serperior released the Solar Beam towards the incoming Hyrdo Pump. Both move collided causing a huge explosion in the center of the field.

"Woah! What was that?!" Barry shouted, taking a seat after getting snacks.

"I'm trying to watch the battle here. Relax," Paul responded.

"Right, right. Oh, here ya go bud. I got you this bag of Nachos," Barry said, handing him the bag.

"...Thanks."

"Serperior Leer!" Trip called. Serperior gave Vaporeon a very intimidating glare lowering its Defense power.

"Oh my. Using Leer will lower its Defense. A simple yet effective move," Freddy announced.

"Mmm. I forgot to mention Trip is also a trainer who goes by the basics. He could use the most basic strategy known and still win a battle. I think that's his most impressive trait for me," Don George commented.

Vaporeon was feeling very uneasy now as Serperior continued to stare it down.

"Use Solar Beam Go!" Trip commanded. Serperior once again gathered energy for its Solar Beam attack. Seconds later it released the powerful beam of energy right Vaporeon making direct contact.

"Vaporeon is unable to battle, Serperior is the winner!"

"Trip grabs the first knockout. A quick one at that. We didn't have to wait long for that one," Freddy said.

"Vaporeon return. Don't worry, we'll get 'em back for you," Calem spoke, returning his Vaporeon.

"Serperior you return too," Trip said. "Chandelure, you're up next!" Trip released his Fire/Ghost Pokemon next as he awaited Calem's choice.

"Absol, you're up!" Calem's next choice was a dark type.

"Hmm, we could potentially be at a disadvantage here... Alright Chandelure let's execute this plan!"

"Absol Knock off!" Calem shouted.

"Dodge! Get away!" Trip called. Chandelure dodged not letting Absol get anywhere near it. It moved with fast pace and precise movement. Absol was starting to get frustrated as was Calem which was all part of Trip's plan.

"As you can see Chandelure is not allowing Absol any sort of contact. He is very precise with his defensive tactics as Trip," Don George said.

"There's always risks to this sort of tactic but when you pull it off as good as Trip does, there's nothing to worry about," Freddy added.

"Chandelure Use Fire blast Now!" Trip commanded. Chandelure obeyed Trip's command as it launched a huge blast of fire directly to Absol which made direct contact causing a huge dust cloud to come up. When the dust cleared Absol was still just about standing but with a burn effect.

"Ohhh more problems for Absol and Calem here as Absol sustains the burn effect from Fire blast, one of the most powerful fire type moves out there!" Freddy exclaimed on the microphone.

"I wonder if he's going to use the same old tactic as before," Paul mumbled to himself.

"Hm? You said something Paul?" Barry questioned.

"What? No. Pay attention to the battle you fool!" Paul retorted.

"We need to take down that damn Chandelure... before that burn effect finishes Absol..." Calem stressed. "Alright Absol, Use shadow ball!"

Trip smirked expecting that exact reaction from Calem. Once he was put under pressure from the status effect he knew he would try to close out the battle that much quicker. "Protect," Trip responded calmly. Absol hurled the shadowy blob towards Chandelure which would be super effective if contact was made. However, Chandelure was quick to protect itself with the bright blue light appearing just in time.

"I knew it. So he is using that tactic after all..." Paul confirmed.

"Paul, What are you talking about? What tactic?" Barry inquired.

"He's doing the classic status effect stall strategy. For example, if a Pokémon is paralyzed, he'll take advantage by out speeding the Pokémon every time. In this case, Absol is burned which will eventually take it out with enough protect stalls," Paul explained.

"Hmm... I don't know how I feel about that one. Isn't there certain risks to this sort of tactic? Like if a Pokémon has a certain ability like say 'Mold Breaker' then wouldn't Trip's strategy go completely out of the window? Barry Asked.

"Yup, that's exactly right. But Trip isn't stupid either... again he's a trainer who goes by the basics so practically anyone knows about this strategy these days. It's just a matter of how Calem deals with this."

"Absol, get in close and use Night Slash!" Calem called.

"Protect!" Trip commanded. Again Chandelure's precise protect move was too fast to let Absol make any contact. Finally after repeatedly using the same move a dozen times Absol finally fainted after the burn effect became too much.

"Absol can't battle, Chandelure is the winner!"

"You know, I think Trip can count himself a bit lucky that in all of those moves Protect didn't fail once. That's the biggest risk their is when executing this strategy. That Protect fails and the opposing Pokémon manages to make contact, it's over," Paul commented.

"Yeah, I guess it is. Like you said Trip isn't stupid. I bet he practices this strategy precisely and so that's why his Pokémon are able to pull it off so fluently," Barry added.

The rest of the battle was history after the halftime interval passed. Calem really just had no answer in the end to Trip's protect stall strategy. In the end, the battle ended 2-0 in Trip's favor earning him three points. Just about the perfect start for his Junior cup campaign.