648: A Real Rival Rouser!
Dodgy Synopsis
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654: Gekito Furu Batoru! Satoshi tai Shinji!
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Buizel is caught in Drapion's Pincer, and it's Sonic Boom is negated when another pincer catches its tail. Ash is concerned but only for a moment when he remembers Buizel's sack (wait, what?) and tells Buizel to inflate it! The Buizelster knows when to Buizel up, brother, and inflates the flotation boa around its neck, causing Drapion's grip to loosen, and a Water Gun quickly blasts it clear of the other Pokémon. Cynthia is impressed (the highest praise there is!) while Team Rocket is continuing to watch from the stands and NOT sell food to the crowd. James thinks even Paul might have been taken aback by that move, but looking over he sees that Paul's frown hasn't shifted an inch, and he deadpan orders Drapion to use Toxic Spike like everything is just going to plan.
Drapion blasts Toxic Spike into the sky which then lowers down all over the arena floor, and when Buizel lands it gets caught up and paralyzed, unable to avoid the quick Pin Missile that comes next, knocking it out. Ash has finally lost a Pokémon, and Toxic Spike stays on the field! Brock notes to Dawn that Paul seemed to know/plan for Ash figuring out a way to escape from Drapion, something that Reggie back home watching on television agrees with, still convinced that Paul is the puppetmaster pulling Ash's predictable strings.
Ash sends out Staraptor to avoid Toxic Spikes, but certainly Paul would have predicted this. He orders a Pin Missile which Staraptor dodges, getting up in front of the sun before launching an Aerial Ace... and Drapion prepares to intercept with its big pincers.... then ducks down and uses its tail to grab Staraptor instead! Paul immediately orders a Cross Poison that strikes Staraptor hard, then Drapion's tail smashes Staraptor into the ground where it is affected by Toxic Spike and.... Ash loses another Pokémon!
Ash's next choice is Torterra, and Paul actually smiles (eek!), claiming this is just what he wanted. Watching at home, Reggie warns.... well, nobody.... that this is just what Paul was expected, while back at the Arena Torterra is affected by Toxic Spike. Drapion launches itself at the big Pokémon with Cross Poison, but Torterra counters with an Energy Ball and then a Leaf Storm, smashing Drapion both times.... but it comes back with a massive burst of Pin Missile and the two attacks cancel each other out. Torterra smashes the ground up into rocks and uses Rock Climb, but is intercepted by Drapion's pincers which catch it and hold it in mid-air, leaving it open to an attack of Poison Fang that sends Torterra crashing back down the rocks it just smashed up. Torterra gets back up and uses Synthesis as the rocks crash down and Drapion returns to the same level, using Pin Missile on Torterra before it can launch a Counter Attack.... and it's out!
Barry is surprised to see that Torterra went down after Synthesis, and Brock tells him and Dawn that the move was very carefully designed to take out Torterra AND massively shake Ash's confidence. Paul follows through back on the field as he shouts out to Ash that he still has Gliscor, then grumpily explains that he has Ash's entire strategy and battle technique figured out thanks to sacrificing Aggron and Gastrodon earlier in order to figure out exactly what Ash would be doing/how he would be battling. Returning Drapion he tells Ash that he's been able to figure out every last one of Ash's moves before they came, and Ash replies by saying there's nobody like Paul.... then smiles and proclaims THAT is why he is going to win!
Paul is momentarily startled, then smiles back and tells Ash that he has it the wrong way round. He sends in Ninjask against Ash's Gliscor, air to air combat the rule of the day - but Ninjask has a massive speed bonus over Gliscor, which starts to freak out till Ash tells it to relax and use Stone Edge. But sending a 360 degree burst of stone shards out still can't hit the quickly speeding Ninjask, which starts smacking Gliscor around with Fury Cutter. Gliscor tries to score a Fire Fang but Ninjask gets behind it and smashes it down towards the ground, crashing down and taking a shot of Toxic Spike. Ash quickly recalls it, telling it to rest up and he'll give it a chance to get its own back later, then sends in his heavy-hitter, Infernape!
Suffering a shot of Toxic Spike, Ash wonders how to negate the Toxic Spikes.... and gets an idea, he has it dig down under the ground..... while Ninjask is in the air! It darts about in the sky as everybody wonders where Infernape is, and then Ash orders a Flare Blitz! It burns through the dirt and explodes upwards, hot air knocking Ninjask backwards as the Toxic Spike is burned up and Paul actually freaks out for a change, having not expected it at all despite his earlier claims of having Ash's strategy completely mapped out.
Infernape lands back above ground as it steams and smokes, the twerps and Team Rocket in the stands cheering excitedly for Ash while back home Reggie notes that he didn't expect that move at all. In the Arena, Paul actually does the unthinkable and pays Ash a compliment, the move WAS unexpected, then orders Ninjask to use Giga-Drain. Zipping above Ninjask's head, everyone notices that it isn't moving as fast as before, it can't seem to use Speed Boost anymore, perhaps due to the damage from the Flare Blitz knockback.... but it still hits Giga-Drain! Infernape has power sucked out of it, but Ash tells it to ignore that and keep a close eye on Ninjask and then... Mach Punch! He smashes it right in its gut (wait, does it have one?) and sends it flying backwards, bouncing along the ground and.... knocked out!
Ash recalls Infernape and Paul sends in Froslass, and Ash sends Pikachu in to deal with the Ice Type. It opens with Hail, singing its name as it lifts up and surrounds the arena with fog.... wait, fog isn't hail! From the twerps' point of view in the stands though they can see hail coming down, and it is starting to hit Pikachu with annoying little blasts which it tries to Thunderbolt through.... but the hail diverts and breaks up the attack which can't score a shot on Froslass despite how close it is.
Froslass throws down a large Ice Shard towards Pikachu, which fails to get clear and is knocked back. Froslass continues to float in and out of the fog, and Ash goes back to the tried and true with a Volt Tackle.... and Paul sneers that he's pathetic as Pikachu travels right through the other Pokémon. Froslass zips in behind Pikachu and pulls up to score another Ice Shard, but Ash proves that his basic instincts serve him well as he calls for Pikachu to jump up with Iron Tail, Froslass left completely open and exposed to a smash of Iron Tail directly into the forehead! It smashes backwards, at least concussed if not knocked out as the Hail finally clears. Froslass does manage to get back up (slowly) and hits Pikachu with an Ice Beam, Pikachu trying to block with one fat arm but unable to move due to the Freezing effect of the Ice Beam. Froslass prepares another Ice Shard, and Pikachu.......
Oh snap! Volt Tackle's not so pathetic now, eh Paul?
Froslass has taken a smash to the head and now the gut, it has no brain and no lungs, and Pikachu gets the victory! But while Ash is now ahead of Paul, Pikachu has taken some damage and Brock points out that one of Paul's Pokémon still hasn't battled at all. Elsewhere in the stands, Team Rocket are exhausted from all this watching the battle, and Jesse takes a drink before James and Meowth shout at her to stop and she freaks out, realising that she's become a profit guzzler.
Paul recalls Froslass as Ash calls Pikachu back to his side to get some rest, and they wait to see who Paul's last Pokémon is.... but he sends Drapion back in, leaving it still a mystery.
Ash sends out Gliscor which is still hurting from earlier, but he tells it to show off what it learned in training with the Air Battle Master. Ash believes he knows Drapion's battle style now and has Gliscor avoid Pin Missile, but its own Stone Edge attack is destroyed by Cross Poison.... but the smoke creates a shield it can score Giga-Impact from. Paul watches the smoke carefully and warns Drapion when he sees the attack coming, but it doesn't get clear in time and isn't able to intercept, taking a direct shot of Giga-Impact and easily getting clear of Drapion.
Gliscor is very pleased with itself, spinning about happily high in the sky above Drapion after its training showed it how to avoid the momentary paralysis that follows Giga-Impact. Watching from home, Reggie is delighted that Ash has changed things up on the fly and that Paul can't predict his attacks anymore, because now he gets to see how Paul reacts. He pays Ash another compliment by saying the Stone Edge got his attention, and then orders another Pin Missile. Gliscor avoids the attacks and moves in closer to hit an X-Scissor...... and then what happens? You'll find out next week, Gentle Dodgers, because this one is....
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