Incarnated Whisp
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Chapter 160
🕑 Added 2025-05-06 22:10:01 +0000 UTCAuthor Note:
Second chapter today!
Make sure you’ve read the chapter posted before this one!
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“I believe you, but surely a Pokémon can have two Types?” Will said. “It doesn’t only need to be a Dragon or a Ghost. It could be both at once!”
A shared exhale was released throughout the room, and Lance cleared his throat out of embarrassment. Just like that, the tension that had sparked up from Sam’s new species seemed to have broken all at once.
“You’re being facetious,” Morty said in his seat. “Of course it’s both. Lance was just being dramatic, like he usually—”
He stopped himself when he saw the smile on Will’s masked face. The corners of his mouth had quirked up, and he was staring at Morty, proud to have garnered that reaction.
Morty snorted and brought his focus back to the field. Below, the battle had already started, and the Mr. Mime was pressing its hands against the air, vigorously crafting a full wall of invisible screens.
Sam’s new Pokémon—Drakloak, the television stated—cried its name and darted to the side. Morty was genuinely surprised at just how fast it could move, and it sent a strange, tannish energy out that seemed to splatter against the Mr. Mime’s unseen defenses.
Yet, unfortunately for the mime Pokémon, the Drakloak’s energy seemed to creep around the screens like a mass of skittering insects. Though the attack’s momentum was slowed, when it soon reached the Mr. Mime, the move’s effects covered and sank into it, almost appearing as a swarm that crawled all over its body.
Frankly, Morty had never seen such a disturbing attack.
“That was a Bug Type move.” The comment came from the group of children—Bugsy, Morty was pretty sure. “It’s a new one. An interesting one. And if I’m right about how it works, it looks like that Mr. Mime isn’t going to be able to switch.”
Bugsy’s comment was proven correct when Nelson tried to return his Pokémon for a better match-up. However, his Pokéball’s light was broken by the squirming energy that covered his Pokémon.
Sam went on to order a Shadow Ball from his Pokémon, and Nelson was quick to adapt, calling for a rather ingenious play from his Mr. Mime that made use of angled screens. The Shadow Ball slid against them and was redirected instead of just breaking apart and weakening the screens if they had been used as a flat guard.
“I taught him that,” Will said proudly.
The Drakloak’s Bug Type move meant that the Mr. Mime shifted around uncomfortably. Something about the move’s effects was causing it to take ongoing damage. However, the Psychic Type doggedly continued to craft its walls.
The Mr. Mime didn’t need to attack; the Shadow Balls launched at it slid around and were redirected. Soon enough, the Drakloak was forced to avoid its own shots, and the barriers being placed across the field were limiting the total area it could use to dodge.
“He’s making a maze,” Bugsy said.
The Mr. Mime looked unreasonably smug.
From the side of the room, Whitney walked over, munching on a half-eaten scone in her hand. At the same time, Lance moved back to sit in his seat. He seemed unable to look away from the Dragon Type that was unknown to him.
When he spoke, everyone went quiet to listen in.
“That Drakloak. I know where it was acquired. There was a stir in my clan; a group of poachers tried to contact us about illegally captured Dragon Types. Of course, the poachers were arrested before the day was over, but many of the Pokémon they brought here escaped.” Lance shook his head. “Jasmine eventually reported that the problem was solved, but a handful of those Dragon Types joined trainers’ teams. I’ve seen a few of them in competition so far, but never did I think I’d see a Dragon Type species from so far away. Where is it from?”
“Galar,” Will answered, his confident voice surprising Morty.
Will then went on to provide background commentary, mostly speaking about Mr. Mime and how it was great at resisting unexpected Types. Mainly, Will had seen his own completely shrug off Dark Type attacks without blinking, and certain researchers were even suspecting that resistance was connected to an ability. Filter, they wanted to call it.
“But of course, if you look closely, young Samuel is not calling for any Dragon Type moves. When it comes to Mr. Mime’s immunities—”
A sharp grunt from Lance saw Will go silent. Below, the status of the field changed.
The Bug Type move from earlier wore off; it wasn’t permanent. The Mr. Mime was huffing and puffing from both exertion and chip damage. Rather than risk leaving it out, its trainer brought up a ball to see it be returned instead.
A Hypno replaced it.
The moment the new Psychic Type appeared, Sam pointed forward, and his Drakloak shot toward that Pokémon. Its opponent readied a swinging pendulum like a weapon, except—
“Ha!” Bugsy’s laugh pierced through the silence of the room. “That’s U-Turn!”
The Drakloak was faster, and it slammed into the Psychic Type’s chest. The super effective damage saw the Hypno recoil, and Drakloak was recalled to Sam.
According to the League’s current rules, the U-Turn meant Drakloak was returned without using one of Sam’s limited switches.
“Now then. What will you send out next...?” Lance mumbled.
Sam was quick to change his Pokémon; he likely didn’t want to give up his momentum. Thankfully, Morty found himself breathing out in relief when it was only a Gengar that was released.
This match-up would be simple.
The two Pokémon that were now on the field had similar goals: to inflict the other with a status. Hypno excelled when using moves like Hypnosis, and Sam had trained his Gengar to rely on similar conditions.
However, the same plan wouldn’t work for him; a Hypno could never sleep.
But instead of the exchange of status moves that Morty expected, Nelson looked as though he wanted to take advantage of his Mr. Mime’s lingering screens. His Hypno immediately went on the offensive, attempting to unleash a Psybeam from its pendulum, but Sam's Gengar hopped back with mist pouring out of its mouth.
“Haze,” Agatha unexpectedly named.
Gengar faded into that choking fog, but its Psychic Type opponent tracked it easily enough. Although it could not be seen, it could be sensed, but the Hypno didn’t even need to do that much given how easily it could follow the visible disturbances in the mist.
“Useless. Pathetic. To think a trick as simple as that would work,” Agatha muttered.
“I don't blame him for trying. Sometimes the simple tricks are the ones that matter.”
Morty checked on Agatha only to see her glaring at him with a single eye.
“You foolish boy. I am not speaking of Samuel. I’m criticizing his opponent for falling for such an inane trap.”
Gengar used that very moment to strike, revealing the disturbances in the fog to have been nothing more than careful manipulations of physical shadows. He burst out of the mist behind the Hypno, and his tongue swiped across its back to send it into a full-body shudder.
“Aaaand... it's paralyzed,” one of the kids said.
Morty saw two of the kids pass money between them.
Nelson grabbed a Pokéball, but he didn’t bother to return his Hypno when he saw Sam’s Gengar trap it with a Mean Look. Instead, now that Gengar was close instead at a range, he called for a Psychic to have his Hypno grab it.
And Gengar was grabbed.
Though this move dealt super effective damage, Gengar had intentionally allowed himself to be telekinetically grabbed here. He maintained a smile—a tense smile due to the pain—and his own eyes flashed.
The Hypno dropped its move, pulling back from whatever it saw in the illusions of Confuse Ray.
Gengar had free range to do whatever he wanted from there, and as his Shadow Ball knocked out the Psychic Type, Morty heard Agatha mutter something quietly under her breath.
“...A paraswag strategy. Of course.”
While it was obvious what that meant, Morty couldn’t say he had heard that term used before.
The Hypno’s faint meant it was the first knock-out of the match, and the audience’s cheers could even be heard in this sealed room, even as muffled as they were.
Nelson went on to replace his unconscious Hypno with a Kadabra, and he was also quick to have it use Teleport to flash away. Gengar tried to rush it, but its Teleport saw it change positions in a blink.
Here, speed would be less important. Due to the Kadabra’s instant mobility, a Pokémon’s ranged capabilities would be what sealed the match.
“I’ll say,” Will quipped. “I don’t know who to root for!”
Sam finally withdrew his Gengar here, using his first “official” switch of the battle. With the Ghost Type’s disappearance, Morty inched forward on his seat to try to see exactly what Sam was thinking.
He wanted to be the first to recognize the Pokémon he was hoping for.
Typhlosion, right? It’s finally time?
However, that was not the case.
Morty could not even begin to explain why Sam made this decision, but the Ghost Type trainer below sent out his close-ranged Primeape instead.
And the arena went silent.
The Pokémon’s presence alone seemed to push back the Gengar’s fading Haze.
Nelson went stock-still when he laid his eyes on it.
There was something seriously wrong with Sam’s Primeape.
“Hold on,” Whitney said, her mouth full. “That's not—”
“That's not a Primeape,” Agatha said, finishing the statement for her.
With half the arena stunned by the greyish Pokémon below, and the other half seemingly cheering their heads off, Morty checked on Agatha again; her reactions had been curious.
Never once before had he seen her surprised. She had been consternated, yes, and she was usually either annoyed or disappointed otherwise. But here, her gaze did not leave the field, and she seemed to actually be at a loss for words at the Pokémon that appeared.
Using her cane, she walked forward, moving down the short staircase next to the seats to stand at the window. Her eyes were wholly stuck on that grey Pokémon, and though worn habit alone saw her try to passively hide it, Morty could see that her expression was filled with genuine shock.
Such a wild sight helped Morty wipe his own gobsmacked expression off his face. He let out a nervous laugh.
He wasn’t sure what was going on.
The match hadn’t resumed, and everyone else was too busy staring. Morty was forced to be the one to grab the television remote from a nearby table and unmute the Conference broadcast.
“...name of the species,” the referee’s voice said from the television as the man finished speaking his orders.
“Annihilape,” Sam answered. “He’s an evolution of Primeape. I’d say more, but... It’s better if I show him off in battle, right?”
Sam smiled.
Across from him, Nelson looked pale. There was something about the wisps that drifted off the Annihilape’s head that made it appear as though it possessed an ascended level of power.
Nelson’s eyes kept flicking around, and he seemed to be at a complete loss for what to do against such an unknown foe.
With just this one species’s appearance, he’d been thrown completely off-foot for this match.
So he went with the safe option.
“R-return, Kadabra!”
“Tch. Coward. Not good in unexpected situations. Make sure to mark that down.”
Will nodded to Agatha and silently wrote what she commanded.
“Alakazam!” Nelson said, his confidence returning with his strongest Pokémon being sent onto the field.
But Sam just laughed.
“Really? Why would you do that? Now your best Pokémon is going to faint!”
“You don’t even know what we can do,” Nelson said through gritted teeth. “The match is resumed, right?”
The referee nodded.
“Then use Psychic, Alakazam!”
His Alakazam pointed a spoon at Annihilape, and Sam’s response was simple.
“Shadow Punch.”
An arm was thrown forward.
Credit to Nelson, his Alakazam was strong. Even at such an immense distance, Annihilape was grabbed in a blue light and squeezed. The pained grunts that left the Pokémon demonstrated that it was still a Fighting Type. It was just a Fighting Type that had managed to become a Ghost Type as well.
But even through the pain of the move, Sam’s Annihilape had been able to throw out its attack. It seemed that though an Annihilape was a physical fighter, this move solved what would have been a Primeape’s issues with range.
Classically, Shadow Punch was only ever used by Pokémon whose hands could leave the sides of their bodies, with Haunter and Dusclops being the prime examples. However, at high levels of play, Pokémon stopped requiring a physical medium to use their attacks. Rather than launch its fist, the Annihilape’s Shadow Punch sent out a copy of its fist. The projectile, cast in shadows, flew through the air and tracked the Alakazam down.
The Alakazam tried to avoid that incoming projectile with a Teleport, being forced to drop its Psychic to relocate. Morty noticed a subtle twitch in the Primeape’s arm, and the Shadow Punch curved to shoot off to change directions and chase the Alakazam.
Shadow Punch was known for its accuracy, as the move rarely failed to hit. The Alakazam did its best to try to avoid the Ghost Type’s attack, but Annihilape was relentless, and his attack chased it perfectly.
Eventually, the Shadow Punch slammed into the Alakazam’s arm, pushing up its shoulder and crashing into the side of its chest. Ghost Type energy pierced right into the Psychic Type.
Though Shadow Punch was not the strongest move, it was a move that had been sent out with all of Annihilape’s strength.
And Alakazam was not known for taking physical hits.
Truthfully, Annihilape was seriously hurt after that single Psychic, but he was healthy enough to last until he won with this single punch.
“So a close-ranged Fighting Type stands victorious over a long-ranged Psychic Type,” Morty mused.
Or, he thought to himself, I should say a Ghost Type stands victorious.
Nearby, Will cleared his throat.
“Should we start resolving the bets now, or....”
“Quiet,” Agatha snapped. “There's still one more.”
After the Alakazam, Nelson quickly sent out his Mr. Mime from before, trying to get it to reset its barriers. Unfortunately for him, that just opened it up to the Annihilape charging forward unopposed, and a Brick Break shattered through them.
A retaliatory Shadow Ball clipped the Annihilape’s side, but the evolved Pokémon was unrelenting. Another Shadow Punch, this one not needing to leave its arm, smashed into the Mr. Mime’s face to finally take it out.
But was that really Shadow Punch?
It lacked the usual flickering shadows.
Nelson only had one more Pokémon, and while Sam’s team had taken damage, none had fainted. It hadn’t been a perfect match for him so far, but Sam was undoubtedly demonstrating his team’s confidence and strength.
As Nelson brought up his last Pokéball, the audience screamed uproariously, and the Kadabra made its final appearance.
“Kadabra,” Nelson said. “It’s all on you, but you can do it. Most of his Pokémon are injured, and you've had time to analyze your opponent. You know what we're up against.”
The Kadabra tugged at its mustache. Its look was serious, and its gaze was firmly locked onto Annihilape.
Though it was not an Alakazam, this Kadabra was still a part of an eight-badge team. Annihilape had already demonstrated his strengths, and this Psychic Type was smart enough to have a counter in mind for Annihilape’s game plan.
But then Sam started to speak.
Even through the television, it was hard to hear him over the crowd.
“Well. This has been an interesting battle, but I’ve only shown off three of my Pokémon, and you got to use all four,” he said.
Nelson paled.
“W-what?”
He knew what was coming.
“To make things even, how about I send out my last Pokémon? For fairness's sake?”
“No, no. It's alright. You should just—”
“Return, Annihilape.”
Sam smiled as he grabbed a Pokéball. The cheers that came from the audience were nearly deafening.
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This wasn't a fight seen world round. The Johto Conference had been going on all day, and many people had tuned out. Others weren't bothering to watch until the end, when the real battles would start, and even more than them were just not interested at all.
But right now, more and more people were turning on the television, urged by family and friends to see this ongoing match. E-mails were exchanged. Phone calls were made. People were telling others about a new evolution and a bunch of fancy moves being used.
Yet, for the thousands of strangers watching this match, there were others, too, who were paying attention to the screen. They weren’t necessarily anyone that special, but they were people who personally knew the trainer and Pokémon fighting.
And there were a surprising number of them, too.
In a lone, northern cabin, a man surrounded by baskets of dried mushrooms sat next to his Parasect and cheered at his television.
Another man next to an old Fire Type could barely cover his ears in time before dozens of Fighting Types yelled.
Off in a prison, a certain person hidden by a disguise shook hands with a man in a uniform, and when walking away, he sent the sight being displayed on the television an unhappy scowl.
In three different Gyms, three different Leaders reacted in three different ways. A heavyset man led the cheers of a bunch of brawlers. A Steel Type specialist nodded slightly as if she knew something like this had been coming. A solitary man, alone in his office, listened to the radio’s descriptions and allowed himself the faintest of smiles.
At home, two Ghost Types cheered, much to the fright of the guest next to them.
In Olivine, an aunt smiled with a plate of cookies in front of her.
Someone in the main lobby of the arena stared at a massive, hanging monitor and clenched his fist in challenge.
And there was one more, far away in his cozy little ranch-side home, who sat in a small living room while surrounded by Pokémon and his years of research. He stared at his television, smiling to himself, and he whispered a short phrase.
“He looks so much like you.”
Finally, in front of them all, Sam tossed up a Pokéball, and a Pokémon appeared that he had known for basically all of his life.
“Typhlosion!” he named.
She was not a normal Typhlosion.
And the audience screamed even louder for it.
“Finish it!” Sam shouted.
His Pokémon attacked.
Dancing shadows, streaming darkness, and countless wisps poured out from behind the strange Typhlosion’s back. Questions were exchanged throughout Johto as a veritable parade—an infernal one—rushed her current foe.
The Kadabra tried its best to defend itself, of course. It teleported away, and then it attempted a Disable to no avail. It tried and failed to use Psychic to push back the flood. It conjured barriers in a useless attempt to block the incoming move. It tried to blast them with a Psybeam, intending to disrupt at least some of those wisps before they reached it.
Nothing worked.
Typhlosion had simply conjured too much too quickly for it to do anything to block this damage. Eventually, the Kadabra hunkered down with a Protect, and its entire being became consumed by the ghostly light.
But the move lasted for far too long for a mere Protect to defend it.
Eventually, when all of the wisps had passed it and began to fade away, the Kadabra became visible for the last time in this tournament. The Pokémon was no longer standing, and its eyes lacked any focus. It laid on the floor, utterly unconscious, and Sam’s second round match concluded.
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Author Note:
Nelson was a planner like Sam. He had counters prepared for every member of Sam’s team. Or, at least, what he thought was Sam’s team.
The reason Sam has been doing so well is because while his team is at eight stars, he’s actually at a high mid-eight stars. His last two opponents were at seven stars, and Nelson was only at the verge of eight.
Once Sam doesn’t have that power difference in his favor, his matches will become much more difficult.
Pokémon (and people) included in this chapter:
Kadabra / Alakazam
Dusclops
Hypno
Mr. Mime
Comments
Incarnated Whisp
The next chapter is going to be out a little later than usual today! It's ended up longer than I expected, and I want to make sure it comes out just right.
Steven
Thanks for the chapters
