Intimidate

Author's note:

Bonus Chapter! The previous one was pretty much the scene from the anime with a few changes.

Folker frowned as he looked at Starmie's figure. Magnemite's attacks were canceled out by Starmie despite the type disadvantage. Although Magnemite was able to force Starmie into just defending and dodging, it could be said that Misty was just waiting for the right opportunity to attack.

"Magnemite, come back" Folker said as he recalled Magnemite back to its pokeball. He then grabbed another pokeball and called out the pokemon inside it.

"My turn" Lucario said in telepathy as its lips curled up.

Misty was taken aback by Lucario's dashing figure.

'This is probably... Riolu? So that's its evolved form' Misty thought to herself as she sized Lucario up.

Folker decided to switch Magnemite out since its moves were neutralized. As for whether Misty was actually forced or was just waiting for the right moment to launch a barrage of attacks, he didn't want to find out.

Her policy is usually an all out offensive with her water type pokemon but when in a type disadvantage or another kind of disadvantage, she switched to smart tactics to neutralize type disadvantages.

So far, despite just dodging and defending, Misty was actually the one in control of the battle.

'However, that's about as far as her control goes' Folker inwardly said as he looked at his dependable Lucario.

Back then. when it was just a Riolu, it was weak to Psychic type moves. However, with its newly added Steel typing as Lucario, this weakness was now neutralized. Lucario can now fight on even grounds with Starmie, both without type advantage.

"Lucario, use [Work Up]!" Folker said with a smirk on his face. Lucario then roused itself up and increased its attack and defense.

"Starmie, use [Psychic] to drown it in the pool" Misty said as she pointed towards the pool. Starmie then used [Psychic] and took advantage of its telekinetic power to drown Lucario in the pool.

However, Lucario just calmed its breath while continuing to rouse its muscles. Lucario fell underwater but it didn't flinch.

Suddenly, it opened its eyes.

"[Aura Sphere], now!" Folker said as he raised his right fist. Lucario then whirled its fists and conjured [Aura Sphere]. It then launched it towards Starmie's figure and struck its body. It was pushed back from the impact and fell underwater.

Lucario then swam upwards as it surfaced and climbed on the platform with a confident smile.

"Use [Quick Attack] as soon as it shows itself!" Folker shouted. Lucario then closed its eyes and tried to sense Starmie's location underwater. Although it can see Starmie through the pool, Lucario decided to lean more towards its aura senses.

Misty waited for Starmie to surface on the water. There are only a few pokemon who can hear voices underwater and Starmie isn't one of them.. yet. There are methods to command submerged pokemon but Misty doesn't have one of those.

Most water type gym leaders train their pokemon to be able to accurately judge for themselves when submerged underwater. However, currently, Misty was just acting as the Cerulean City Gym Leader, and it was just her first time.

She didn't have the time to train for such situations yet so she can only wait for Starmie to surface.

As for Lucario, it was able to hear Folker's commands through its aura senses. In addition, Folker himself is also an aura user, which made it easier for Lucario to understand.

Although Folker can use the power of aura to talk with Lucario, it requires Folker to be in deep meditation, at least for now. He's not at the level wherein he can telepathically talk to pokemon without meditating, yet.

Starmie then surfaced from the pool but Lucario greeted it with a [Quick Attack], pushing it back underwater. Lucario then rolled over and used the impact from its punch to jump back on the platform.

Misty grit her teeth as she looked at Folker. She realized Folker's strategy for this battle.

'It wasn't obvious but he noticed it and took advantage of my inability to command submerged pokemon' Misty thought to herself .

"Use [Aura Sphere] while it's still down!" Folker said with a confident smile as he just put his hands on his hips. Lucario then located Starmie's figure underwater and launched [Aura Sphere] towards it.

However, [Aura Sphere] seemed to have been slowed down underwater, allowing Starmie to dodge, whose speed sharply increased underwater.

'I'm so stupid!' Folker inwardly said as he facepalmed himself.

"Greet it with [Quick Attack] again!" Folker hurriedly said. Lucario once again used [Quick Attack] on Starmie as soon as it surfaced. It then fell on the bottom of the pool, unable to move.

The referee then closely looked at Starmie's figure as he waited for 5 seconds.

"Starmie is unable to battle!" the referee declared.

Misty just sighed as she recalled Starmie back to its pokeball. She then looked at Folker's figure with a bitter smile.

"No wonder our little sister fell for that guy" Lily said with a smile.

"He's so.. like.. handsome and cool, aside from his battle gestures" Daisy said with her hands on her hips.

"He's cute with those gestures though" Violet said as she looked at Folker's figure.

Naturally, Folker didn't pay attention to their comments as he looked at Misty's figure while secretly trying to come up with a tactic against her next pokemon.

"Well, for my next pokemon, Misty calls.. Gyarados!" Misty shouted as she called out her next pokemon.

A gigantic piscine Pokémon with a long serpentine body covered in slightly overlapping scales appeared on the platform as it let out a loud cry that was heard by all living beings within the gym.

"Gyarados!"

Lucario was taken aback by Gyarados' intimidating appearance and looked at it warily. Unbeknownst to Lucario, its attack stat was decreased by half through Gyarados' sheer intimidating appearance.

This is Gyarados' ability, [Intimidate] cuts attack stat of all pokemon that sees it by one stage

Folker's face was sweating bullets as he looked at Gyarados' figure. However, despite the sweat that covered his face, his smile never disappeared.