Salutations people, author here. This is my first Pokemon fanfic based on a Pokemon Online Multiplayer battle experience I had. Couldn't get rid of it from my head, so I decided to write it down. Originally a 9000 worded one-shot, it's been expanded into a series. I'm a huge Pokemon fan since I was little and to this day I love using Pokemon I like to their best ability instead of what competitive formats say. This chapter, originally a one-shot, is sort of a fanletter to that. If you understand the game mechanics and lore, you'll understand that the "Power of Friendship" is just one of many factors instead of the main one that completely screws Pokemon physics, such as a certain Pikachu instantly beating a certain Onix with electric attacks. There will be smart play here but there will be times to try to adjust realistically to real physics. I hope you enjoy reading this and tell me what's great or wrong about this fanfic in the review section as I will be re-editing old chapters or the release of future chapters, starting with this one. Since I will re-edit/update old chapters and if your an older reader re-reading this, please tell me what you think of the changes, if you believe anything changed at all.
Further notes and info are at the bottom. Anyways, here is the story. Please enjoy.
Released: 10/14/17
Updated: 12/3/2017, 11/5/17
Important! (12/3/2017) - I have recently updated the first five chapters and I am beat. December is a real busy month for me so do not expect any more chapters until possibly after the 16th or 23rd. The first five updated chapters were originally going to be paired with the next chapter but that took longer than expected. I am really tired and I need time to work on other things.
Welcome to the world of Pokémon. A lush and beautiful world filled with many mysterious and magical creatures, across the sea, to the skies, roaming the landscape and even origins where you'd never think these creatures would lurk from the dark unknowns of space to the pockets of odd and bizarre dimensions. These creatures we call Pokémon, our friends and partners that people across the world journey together creating new life-changing experiences. In many regions, these Pokémon and there trainers bond together through various battles in the hopes of getting stronger together.
Searing ash spread throughout the skies as cheers and cries followed. A Pokémon trainer stood on one end of the field, smiling with determination on the very top of this volcano. He gazed across the stadium of rust and metal marked with a giant red "100!" in the middle of the floor as crowds cheered wildly. The white knit-cap trainer in his red T-shirt and black shorts threw a couple of red Pokeballs, sending out two Pokémon, Swampert and Mightyena, on to the field. The giant blue mudfish and the black canine looked ready and excited.
"Swampperrt!" Swampert uttered, stretching out its arms like a body-builder at the crowd.
"Mightyena!" Mightyena growled intimidatingly towards the other end of the field.
The crowd cheered wildly at the sight of these two Pokemon. The young trainer watched his grey-haired opponent in his navy blue jacket stood on the other end of the field, grinning, sending out two of his own Pokémon. There came the dark-type Eeeveelution, Umbreon and the psychic-type Eeeveelution, Espeon on to the field looking ready for battle.
"Esp." Espeon, the velvety feline-like creature gazed calmly at the opposite end of the field.
"Umbreon." Umbreon, the pitch black fox-like creature with glowing yellow rings on its sides and head, stood calm and ready for battle.
The audience felt the competitive atmosphere rising as both trainers respectively declared their attacks. Mightyena dashed towards the Espeon only for it to be struck by a flashing searing light in a split-second. It was Espeon's Dazzling Gleam, yawning as the Mightyena stumbled. The Espeon was prepped and ready for a final attack. A searing light beamed to the weakened canine only for Swampert to jump in and take the blow. Mightyena barely stood as the defending Swampert smiled defiantly, rubbing off that Dazzling Gleam as if it was nothing. Umbreon and Espeon noticed a colorful blue stone, in a necklace, around Swampert's neck gleaming brightly.
It is through the bonding of Pokémon and trainer that can help a Pokémon's power transcend to greater heights that even elude the understanding of today's scientists. No one knows why or how these mysterious circumstances happened, but we do know that it is through these bonds that help Pokemon and Trainer overcome many great obstacles together.
Swampert's trainer raised his right fist in the air revealing a ring around his wrist. The audience were in awe at the trainer as the beautiful stone inside the ring shined brighter than the magma flowing in and out of the volcano. The grey-haired trainer smiled at the sight of Swampert glowing almost like evolution. Emerging from that light, Mega Swampert proudly puffed up its bulky chest and raised its hulkishly large arms. Umbreon and Espeon were astonished at the sight of a much bigger Swampert staring down at them. The two eeveelutions were on the defensive as the Mega Swampert stampeded towards Umbreon with a glowing reddish-brown fist, a Power-Up Punch.
"KNOOOOOOCK-OUT!" the announcer yelled wildly as the crowd roared in excitement. The announcer continued, "That was an exciting fight folks but what will happen next? Find out in the next episode of "LEGENDARY BATTLES!"
However, we won't be telling these trainer's stories. Our story begins with a young boy at the age of 10 named Zack Forrester about to attend the Pokémon Academy in Holon City. Our story takes place in the Holon region, starting with once a vibrant little research community surrounded by wild life and other strange Pokémon blooming into a small metropolis surrounded by other towns and villages, one such town is Odella Town. There, Zack and his friends dream of being great trainers in a brighter future, determined to be the very best. What exciting tales will await him today?
It was quiet today, almost empty at Odella's only Pokémon Center. An employee yawned at the counter as a business owner drooled over his small stand near the tables, having a tough time keeping his eyes wide open for customers if there were any more as the waiting room nearby was filled with empty chairs. A newspaper with the words "Have you seen this Pokemon?" at the front cover breezed across the empty streets by the Center's window.
Behind that glass window, Zack, in his green and white jacket and navy-blue jeans, looked away from the TV, ruffling through his black hair as he looked at that table. "Why do they always split the finale into parts?" He spoke.
This was the year that his mother finally decided Zack should enter the Pokémon Academy before going on his Pokémon journey next year. The entrance exams were one week away but from what he heard, it wasn't actually that hard to get in but nevertheless they rank promising Pokémon trainers based on how good they did, win or lose. That didn't matter to him now. What matters now, was winning this Pokémon card game. His two friends, Todd, and Opal sat around the table watching Zack and Benny playing cards, drinking soda pops while waiting for Opal's mom to be done with work.
Benny, in his orange T-shirt and blue jeans, let out a wide grin as he took a look at the blue card he drew. "Yeah! I evolve my Croconaw to my all-time favorite, Feraligatr!"
He was always energetic, impatient, and careless since he and Zack were kids. He would often forget in a split-second, especially right now as Zack smiled at Benny's forgetfulness of the card he recently drew.
"Well then. I play Sylveon GX to the field!" Zack played a pink card onto the field.
"What!?" Benny gripped his rough brown hair in confusion. "I thought we agreed not to use GX cards. I mean it's basically like cheating. Those cards are overpowered like crazy."
"It's not cheating if it's legal." The curly-brown haired boy in his red T-shirt and brown shorts smiled.
Todd was not as energetic and impatient as Benny but he was always excited of taking new pictures of Pokémon with the camera around his neck.
"He's right you know. It's… I think it's legal in the TCG game." The girl with short red hair in her light blue dress extending down to a skirt past her waist to her black-bike shorts, talked softly.
"I'm sorry Opal? I didn't quite catch that." Benny drew a new card.
Finally there was Opal. She dreamed the idea of journeying with a Pokemon even though she didn't picked on a goal yet. She was a sweet girl but was also timid and shy, sometimes mumbling to the point no one could hear her.
"Um… never mind." Opal replied.
"I didn't quite catch that? What?" Benny played another card to the field.
As seconds passed, something just struck Zack's memory. He laid down his hand and looked at Opal. "Hey Opal? When's your mom finishing work?"
Opal's mom worked here at the Pokemon Center as a nurse, offering the kids a ride to Opal's house for dinner.
"While you were watching the ending of that match. I... I just got a message from my phone." Opal replied. "She said she's working late, so we can go walk to my place if that's what you want. I mean, if that's what you guys want right? Sorry about making you guys waiting so long."
"That's alright." Zack smiled. "We can go visit my mom's place on the way. Remember how I told you how my mom had this incredibly rare item back in her trainer days?"
Benny's eyes widened. "You mean that one item that can boost any move? Yes! Let's go see it on the way right now!"
"Well then. It's settled. To the Pokémon daycare." Todd said.
As the friends left, an older but young man with short black hair sporting a purple vest and black shirt sat there drinking coffee, looking at the four leaving the Pokémon Center. He thought "An item that can power any move? Could it be?".
Zack and his friends stopped by at his house. Behind the green house was a farm filled with different kinds of baby Pokémon frolicking through the flower fields, playing happily as there parent Pokémon watched from a calm distance. It was quite a peaceful life there for many Pokémon. Zack's family were known locally throughout town to be Pokémon breeders that ran a daycare business way back when the first science expedition brought many scientists and farmers to settle here. However when the kids entered, they noticed only Zack's mother, a chestnut-haired woman in her early 30s wearing a blue sweater and a long white skirt, on a stool, bored, sleepy, and drooling on the counter at this well-known daycare center and Zack's household.
"Hi Ms. Forrester!" Benny, Opal, and Todd happily greeted the woman behind the counter.
"Huh... Oh hi there kids!" Mrs. Forrester smiled, boredom vanished. "Did my little sweetie came over here for another play-date?"
"I'm not a little baby anymore." Zack blushed.
"Oh. I know. I'm just teasing you. So what are you all here for?"
"Were here to see that one item you said won you many competitions right?"
"Oh. I don't know about that. It's pretty precious to me." She replied.
"Please. Pretty please." Zack begged. Soon his friends followed suit, "Pretty please Misses Forrester!"
"Oh. Fine." She picked up a box underneath the counter, setting it on the flat wooden surface. She opened it revealing a purplish colored stone. The kids were in awe of it. "This is called a Life Orb. It boosts any Pokémon's move and I mean any move!"
"Any move?" Opal questioned.
"Yes. Any move at a price. Do you know why it's called the Life Orb?" Mrs. Forrester wore a sinister grin on her face
"Um… no. Why?" Benny's curiosity peaked.
"Cause for the price of its power… it sucks the life force out of you! Your very own soul."
"W…wait. Really?" A frightened Benny asked. Everyone but Zack froze in fear for a short moment as well.
"Nah. I'm kidding." Mrs. Forrester giggled. "For a little extra boost, it takes away your Pokémon's health away little by little. It doesn't actually takes your soul. Did you actually believe that?"
"N.. no. Of course not. An item that takes away souls? Of course that's baloney." Benny tried to laugh it off.
"Really?" Opal looked at Benny with unconvincing eyes.
"Of course!" Benny replied.
"That lie only scares toddlers, mom. My friends wouldn't believe such a lie." Zack said.
"Y…yeah… scares only toddlers." Benny tried to chuckle it off.
"Huh. So this is the life orb?" Todd grabbed the orb from the chest to take a better look at it.
Misses Forrester angrily swiped it back. "Hands off!"
"I'm sorry. I just wanted a better look at it." Todd apologized. "Could I take a picture of it? I heard of it but I've never seen such an item before and…"
Suddenly the doorbell rang. A young man, possibly in his late teens, barged into the daycare center. He looked like he determined, like he was after something.
"I know you." Todd recognized the stranger. "You're that trainer named Rex. A pretty strong Pokémon trainer in the eastern part of this region if I remember."
"That's great." Benny smiled. "Maybe we could battle sometime? I could borrow some Pokemon from my…"
"No thanks." Rex stopped him from finishing that sentence. "I am Rex Lascher and I fought my way to the Top 8 in three regional Pokémon Leagues and successfully beaten the Battle Frontier in the Johto region. I'd have more of a challenge battling a Delcatty than you."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Benny angrily clumped his hand into a fist.
Rex, instead of acknowledging he was here, spotted the Life Orb from a chest.
"The life orb!" Rex walked past the angry Benny.
"Hey you…"
"Now. Now Benny. I believe we can all be civilized people here." Mrs. Forrester calmly smiled.
"Yeah. Of course." Benny calmed down, still brimmed with wisps of anger on his face.
"So what is it you want young man?" Mrs. Forrester asked the young teen.
"I want that Life Orb. My family comes from a very wealthy family with many connections to all sorts of commodities. Rare Pokémon, Items, or perhaps money?" Rex stared at that life orb. He could see it in his hands soon.
"I'm sure you could get anything I could want but I'm sorry. I can't." Mrs. Forrester rejected his offer.
"Excuse me?" Rex's thoughts of the orb in his hands suddenly shattered.
"The Life Orb was given to me as a present from someone very dear to me, my husband, from the Kalos region. You can show me all the valuables in the world. I'm not parting with it."
Rex looked frustrated, slamming his fist onto the counter. "I will get that Life Orb one way or another."
"Not with that attitude you will." She replied.
The angry and unsatisfied teen walked passed Zack and his friends, again ignoring their presence.
"He didn't looked like he wanted to leave without it." Opal looked back at the door, the doorbell ringing less and less as time passed.
"Oh please. If he tried something, I'd kick his butt all the way to space." Benny boasted.
"Uh… guys." Zack looked at the house's clock. "Were late to Opal's house."
Suddenly everyone but Zack's mother looked startled.
"Oh no!" Opal said. "I promised my mom we be there soon!"
"What's this?" Mrs. Forrester wasn't sure what's happening.
"Sorry mom. We were meant to have dinner over at Opal's. See ya. Oh and don't forget to take your medicine!" Zack bolted through the door along with his friends.
"Youth these days. Filled with so much energy." Mrs. Forrester looked around the building again, already in a few seconds it felt quiet and empty again.
Zack, Benny and Todd were munching rapidly onto their meals as if they hadn't ate in years. Opal looked at them giggling with a smile as she began to eat her meal as well. Her tired mother smiled at the boys as well as she took a seat at the table.
Benny finally stopped munching and spoke, "This is the most delicious casserole I've had in a long time, Misses B."
"Thank you. It's good to have guests over." Opal's mother smiled. She turned to Zack. "Hey Zack? How's your family by the way?"
"It's good. My mom's doing fine despite her recent condition." Zack replied. "Actually the doctors said she might live a long and healthy life if she keeps eating, exercising, and taking her medicine on a weekly basis."
"That's good. Work was tough. Had to do surgery on a Scyther. That Scyther looked like it wanted to cut me into pieces after the surgery was over." Opal's mom looked so tired that she forgot to change from her nurse uniform. "Still, it's good to see a Pokémon healthy and alive. How was your day kids?"
"Great Opal's mom." Todd said. "We had some card games, watched the latest battle on TV, and stopped by Zack's place to see the life orb."
"The life orb? That's the item that boosts any Pokémon moves at the cost of some health right?" She recalled.
"Mhmm." Benny munched down a mouth-full of food. "Tht's tha won."
"I guess it's understandable that she has something like that. I don't know if you kids know but Zack's mom used to be a formidable trainer in the Kalos region. I heard she almost won the Pokémon League. Unfortunately she got defeated by her rival... and future husband." She laughed a little.
"That's true." Zack responded. "She was a very strong trainer back than who loved traveling with her Pokémon as partners."
"By the way? Does she still do some battling?" Opal's mom asked out of curiosity.
"Yeah from time to time." Zack said. "You want to see her battle? We can go over there right now! Much of her original team is back at that farm."
Opal's mom smiled in excitement.
The sun was setting as the day turned less and less orange. The daycare center remained opened at this time of day, Zack's mother reading a book to kill her boredom. As the bell rang, she put the book down. The door opened and Rex, the young man from before, entered the center.
"Hello again? If it's the life orb you want again, I'm sorry but no." She spoke in a bored sleepy tone.
"Yes. You made it very clear that you would never part ways with it but I have a proposition, a bet actually." Rex said. "My sources tell me you were the quite the trainer in your days."
"I don't know about that, I need to…"
"I wasn't. Asking!" Rex slammed a bright red Pokeball onto the counter.
Zack's mom's glared at the young man in disappointment.
"Fine." She replied.
As soon as the two left the daycare center, her phone on the counter alarmed "Time to take your medicine! Time to take your medicine!"
The sun was almost setting down as Zack, Benny, Todd, Opal and Opal's mom entered the daycare center. He found that his mom was not working at the counter, curious what she was doing at this time of the day. It wasn't like her to leave her duties like this, no matter how boring it could be.
"Mom! You here?" Zack shouted.
"Misses Forrester? You ain't dead are ya?" Benny yelled.
Opal nudged him in the arm with a bitter look to her face. "That isn't funny."
"Sorry."
"Hey Lissa? It's me Beth?" Opal's mom shouted. "Kids are back!"
A phone rang on the counter and Opal's mom slowly walked over to it. She picked up the ringing phone and noticed the phone reported Lissa's alarm system ringing for over twenty minutes.
"Hello?" Opal's mom answered the call. Zack and his friends waited as Opal's mom's expression grew more worrisome.
"Uh… who was that?" Opal asked.
Opal's mom hanged up and looked back at the kids. "It was some guy named Rex. We have to get to the local stadium in town! Now!"
"Wait? Rex?" Zack's eyes widened.
The kids hurried to the large front room of the stadium to find Zack's mom sitting at one of the rows of chairs. She looked frail and weak from a distance. As Zack and the group ran to his mother, he saw Rex grinning from the entrance to the stadium.
"What did you do?!" Zack angrily demanded an answer.
"I did nothing." Rex said. "I offered her a battle over the life orb and she lost.
"What!" Zack couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Tha… that's not true." Zack's mom laid her hand to her chest in pain.
"You lost three of your Pokémon to mine. I still had six. And at the end of it, you dropped to the ground? Might as well consider it a forfeit." Rex grinned, revealing the life orb in the palm of his right hand.
"Give it back! That's hers!" Zack demanded.
"No. I think I'll keep it. Would look great on my Pokémon." Rex grinned. "It'll be put to better use instead of a weak and retired trainer such as your mother."
"My mother would never lose to a trainer like you. She dropped to the ground because she has a heart condition." Zack angrily replied.
"Zack…" Zack's mother faintly replied.
"Why did you agreed to such a thing?!" Zack yelled at her.
"I didn't at first but he was so angrily persistent, so I wanted to teach him a lesson." Zack's mother answered. "He's strong but he uses his Pokémon like tools to victory. Not as friends or partners."
"Friends? Partners? That again?" Rex said. "All Pokémon are instruments of battle. You use a PC to get rid of Pokémon you don't need right? You breed Pokémon to get the right one with the right abilities, moves, and stats right? There tools that have no need of friendship. Only the weak think like that."
"Your… wrong." Zack's mother responded, very faintly. She slowly turned to Zack and revealed to him a belt of six Pokeballs attached in her hand. "Zack. Take my Pokémon and beat him for me. Teach him a lesson how powerful the bonds can be between Pokémon and there trainers."
"What? You want me to battle Rex?" Zack said.
"Him?" Rex chuckled. "What could he possibly do? He's just a little kid."
"Don't underestimate him, Rex." Benny turned to Rex.
"Y.. yeah. Yeah!" Opal followed.
"He's actually a pretty experienced battler even though he doesn't have any Pokémon of his own." Todd said.
"What? He doesn't even have a single Pokémon and he's already an experienced battler?" Rex thought Todd was bluffing.
"Yeah he is! He hasn't started his journey yet and already he's gotten a lot of experience." Opal spoke up. "He borrows Pokémon from his family's farm all the time!"
"Don't make me laugh." Rex dismissed this claim.
"Young man!" Opal's mom walked forward. "If what they say is true, imagine what he could do with a full set of highly trained Pokémon. In this case, his mother's, who was a great trainer long ago."
Rex gazed upon all of them, there bitter and angry faces all pointed to him. Than he looked at Zack's angry face. "Fine. I have nothing better to do tonight."
"But what about my mom?" Zack turned to Opal's mom. "She needs…"
"I will take her to the hospital." Opal's mom interrupted. "Your friends can cheer for you on in the stadium."
"Really?" Zack felt relieved.
"Yeah we will! Were your best pals!" Benny smiled.
"We've been there for you many times!" Opal smiled.
"I know we haven't been friends that long like Benny and Opal have but I will cheer you on too!" Todd smiled.
"Th.. thanks guys." Zack smiled with determination.
"C'mon. Let's hurry this up." Rex couldn't stomach all this friendship talk.
"Whoa!" Opal gazed across the field from one of the rows of seats. She was astonished how huge the stadium was. Thousands of seats on each side, each side carried rows of massive stadium lights, and right in the middle was of it was a massive display screen and flat grounded dirt covered in chalked lines formed into a Pokémon battlefield.
"What? You've never seen a Pokémon stadium before?" Benny said.
"No. This is my first time." Opal looked at the large stadium from the seats. Above the stadium, Opal could see the full moon piercing through the night sky. Opal saw Zack and Rex facing each other at each ends of the field. Suddenly the timid little girl burst out, "BEAT HIS POKEMON INTO SUBMISSION ZACK!"
Benny and Todd looked at her with surprise of how vocal she's being. Might as well join her they thought.
"Yeah you can do it Zack!" Benny added.
"Beat him Zack!" Todd added.
Zack looked backed at them with a smile. "Maybe I got this." He thought. "Maybe I can..."
"That's unfortunate." Rex interrupted Zack's thoughts. "They came to cheer you on. It's better not to as it will just make your loss feel all the more worst."
"I'm not going to lose someone like you. Besides I got my mom's ace team on my side." Zack said.
"Ace team? Your mom has nothing but weaklings." Rex boasted. "Half of her team were quite easy to beat from the last match before."
"She hasn't battled strong trainers in a long time and plus she needs her medication to even concentrate for an entire day. She wouldn't lose to a trainer like you in her younger days!" Zack said.
"Let's get this over with." Rex brushed off his claims.
Rex and Zack proceeded to decide who will be their first Pokémon onto the field. Zack already made his decision, picking an ordinary tiny red Pokeball from his mother's old belt. Zack enlarged the ball with a click of a switch and threw it onto the field.
"I choose you! Diggersby!" Zack shouted.
From the Pokeball, unleashed a giant rugged rabbit smiling with fists as ears.
"Him again?" Rex remembered the giant rabbit from the last battle with Zack's mother.
Diggersby spotted Rex, angrily remembered how Rex beat him. Than he notice his trainer from behind. Instead of Zack's mother, it was Zack himself.
"Diggersby?" Diggersby felt completely clueless of what is happening.
"I'm battling in her stead. You have to trust me Diggersby." Zack spoke to the giant rabbit.
Diggersby smiled back, seemingly okay with this as the giant rabbit gave Zack a thumbs up from one of his hand-like ears.
"It's a good thing she let me get to know and use her Pokemon all the time, otherwise Diggersby might not listen to me." Zack thought.
Rex enlarged his own Pokeball, an Ultraball of black color engraved with yellow-lines to be specific. "Well then. If you choose that over-sized rabbit. I choose the dreaded Dhelmise!"
Rex threw the Ultraball upon the field, unleashing a giant ghostly anchor covered in seaweed on to the field with a single piercing eye. Zack and his friends have never seen such a large Pokémon this close before.
"Whoa! Th... that's a Pokémon!?" Benny felt intimidated and puny, never seeing such a Pokmon that huge before up-close.
"H… how is Zack going to beat something like that!" Opal was shocked at Dhelmise's huge size.
"That's not just it." Todd looked worried over the situation. "Dhelmise is a Ghost and Grass type and Diggersby is a Normal and Ground type."
"Yeah… so?" Benny was clueless on the situation.
"Ground types are weak against grass types Benny! Normal types also have no effect on ghost types!" She looked at how bad the situation is already, and the match only started.
"That's not good. That's not good at all!"
The two trainers looked in each other in the eye, Rex grinned feeling this would be a breeze and Zack holding determination to beat him. The giant video screen outside the bounds of the marked field lit up showing the health bars of Diggersby and Dhelmise. Both trainers than called out their respective Pokémon to attack.
"Diggersby! Use shadow claw!" Zack shouted.
"Dhelmise. Power whip." Rex ordered.
Diggersby, using his massive strong hind legs, leaped from the ground and into the air with his right arm-like ear coated into a black-purplish claw. The giant rugged rabbit eyed the ghostly anchor but before Diggersby could even land a hit, a swift line of seaweed dashed across the field striking the Diggersby right into his gut mid-air.
"Diggersby!" Diggersby cried in pain.
The video screen displayed the rabbit's health bar already losing over half of its health as the large rabbit was sent crashing into the ground, pushed even further by Dhelmise's line of seaweed. It was almost as if the ghostly anchor was punching him. The ghostly anchor Pokemon retracted its possessed seaweed as dust shook from the ground. The dust settled and to everyone's surprise, Diggersby manage to withstand the powerful attack but barely on its two legs.
"Oh no!" Zack raised Diggersby's pokeball as the tired rabbit fell to one knee. It was pretty obvious Diggersby wouldn't be much use in this situation. He would only get hurt further if he stayed. "Diggersby. Return!"
From the Pokeball, a flash of red light hit the weakened Diggersby, returning to its ball.
"If you're going to switch out your Pokémon, so shall I. Dhelmise. Return." Rex raised his Ultraball, returning Dhelmise to his ball. He chose another Ultraball from his pocket and threw it to the field. "Go. Dragalge."
A beam of red light sparked out revealing a giant seahorse-like Pokémon in brown and purple scales, standing on its two fins.
"Drag..galge." Dragalge stood.
"A poison and dragon type huh?" Zack recognized the Pokémon, grabbing a net ball from the belt. "Well then. I choose you! Vivillion!"
Zack threw the netball, unleashing a red and white butterfly onto the field.
"Vivi!" Vivillion happily fluttered over the field.
"Why would he choose Vivillion?" Opal questioned this choice. "Bug types are ineffective against Poison types."
"It's Zack guys. He's got to have a strategy." Benny looked worried. "At least. I think he does."
Rex did not like Zack's choice. "I choose a mighty sea dragon of the depths and you fight me with a butterfly?!"
"This 'butterfly' is stronger than it looks Rex." Zack replied. "Vivillion! Use sleep powder!"
"Disappointing." Rex looked unimpressed. He then called out his next move. "Dragalge. Use sludge bomb."
Vivillion fluttered to the moonlight above the stadium as she swiftly dodged the many goops of sludge thrown towards her by the powerful but slow Dragalge. The butterfly Pokémon's wings shined brightly under the moonlight sending out a green powder across the field, putting the mighty dragon of the seas to sleep.
"Lucky from such an inaccurate move." Rex saw his Dragalge falling to the ground asleep. It looked so peaceful in its sleep despite the fact that a moment ago it tried to strike Vivillion with sludge bomb.
"Not lucky. It's Vivillion's ability Rex." Zack replied.
"What are you talking about?"
"I guess even an ace trainer such as you would overlook Pokémon that look small and weak." Zack said. "Her ability is compound eyes. Compound eyes raises the accuracy of all moves greatly!"
Rex grinned, looking a little impressed. "Huh… that's actually…"
"Vivillion isn't finished." Zack interrupted. "Vivillion! Finish Dragalge with Dream Eater!"
Vivillion with fierce determination in its eyes, aimed its wings at the sleeping Dragalge.
"Vivi!" Vivillion spread out its glowing wings. A thousand glowing balls of energy emerged, transferring from Dragalge to Vivillion. The mighty Dragalge was no longer sleeping peacefully but laid there unconscious and fainted at the hands of the butterfly.
"KO!" The video screen near them shouted as Dragalge's health bar hit zero.
"Alright!" Benny smiled.
"I didn't think Vivillion could be that strong." Opal looked surprised.
"There are lots of Pokémon out there that have particular strengths to them that most strong trainers don't know about." Todd responded. "I remember one time seeing a video where a Pachirisu successfully defeats a team of Pokémon with much greater attack and defensive power than most Pokémon."
"Not half-bad." Rex returned Dragalge to it's Ultraball. This time he picked out a diver's ball from his pocket. "Unfortunately this isn't going to end well for you. I choose the fearsome Tentacruel!"
Rex threw the diver's ball revealing yet another giant Pokémon. This time it was a giant blue jellyfish, with two red sparkling orbs on top of its head and blue pincers at the bottom.
"Another poison type?" Zack said. "But Tentacruel's stats are very average."
"Tentacruel." Rex called out to his Pokémon. "Use Toxic Spikes."
Tentacruel lifted its thousands of green tentacles creating a barrage of purple spikes across the battlefield. Zack's friends, except Todd, stood clueless of what happened and yet recognized that Zack himself looked worried over the situation.
"Hey. Todd. You travel a lot. What does toxic spikes do?" Benny asked.
"Toxic spikes is a hazard move that poisons any Pokémon that isn't Steel, Poison, or Flying type upon switching out." Todd looking at how dire the situation became with just one move.
"What? A move like that exists!?" Opal was shocked.
"Yes. Even worst, toxic spikes does not only poison Pokémon upon switching out, it slows down there speed. Zack is at a massive disadvantage here." Todd said.
"Vivillion!" Zack called out to his Pokemon. "Use sleep powder. Than go for dream eater!"
Vivillion, with the same determined look from before, spread its wings but this time, something was odd. Rex and his Tentacruel just stood there staring at Vivillion.
"Um… why isn't Rex doing anything?" Opal noticed Rex just standing there, not giving Tentacruel a single order to attack or move. It looked like he was just observing the battle.
"I'm not sure." Todd responded. "I'm not that familiar with every Pokemon and Zack clearly isn't either." He pointed out to Zack.
The friends looked on Zack as he looked suspicious of Rex's action, simply doing nothing about it.
Vivillion's sleep powder forced the lethal jellyfish into sleep. The jellyfish looked ever-so peaceful until the determined butterfly went for a dream eater. Still Rex did nothing as Tentacruel was drained of it's health, everyone could see Rex just standing there as orbs of energy were transferred towards Vivillion.
"Vivillion is draining its health like it's nothing. What is that brat Rex up to?" Benny was unsure what to make of this.
Todd looked startled. "Look at the screen." Todd pointed to the board.
The display board showed Vivillion's health bar reduced to half. The trio than faced there attention to Vivillion. To their surprise, Vivillion was sent crashing to the ground, badly weakened somehow.
"Vivillion!" Zack watched as Vivillion hit the ground. "I don't understand! What happened?!"
"You've clearly don't know Tentacruel's ability if you just went for sleep powder and dream eater again without a second thought." Rex replied.
"Tentacruel's ability?" Zack was confused.
"As soon as you drained Tentacruel's health, Tentacruel's ability, Liquid Ooze, is activated." Rex explained. "When you use Dream Eater against Tentacruel, you didn't just drained my Tentacruel's health but also drained Tentacruel's Liquid Ooze afterwards, severely damaging you're Vivillion and would you look at that? Tentacruel just woke up."
To everyone's surprise, Tentacruel eyes opened from its peaceful sleep, eyeing the weakened Vivillion on the ground, ready to finish off the Pokemon. Vivillion's dream eater did not finish Tentacruel off as only Rex expected.
"It survived Dream Eater too!?"
"Yes. My Tentacruel's stats might seem average but its Special Defense sure isn't!" Rex gloated. Now he ordered the Tentacruel for an offensive. "Tentacruel. Use hydro pump. Finish that annoying butterfly this instance!"
Tentacruel opened its blue pincers, sending out gushing amounts of pressurized water towards the weakened bug. Vivillion tried to move out of the way by flying but it was too weak to move from the liquid ooze soaring through its body. The powerful attack struck Vivillion, sending her flying outside of the field's boundaries, right next to Zack.
"Vivillion!" Zack dropped to his knees, holding the butterfly in his hands.
Knocked out and tired, Vivillion couldn't move any part of her body. Zack could angrily see Rex' grin and taunting in his head but instead he smiled back at the injured Vivillion in his arms.
"Vivillion. You were awesome. Get a good rest." Zack returned Vivillion to her Pokeball. He stood up, switching the net-engraved blue ball for a green ball, a nest ball. Throwing the ball onto the field, he shouted "I choose you! Dedenne!"
The nest ball unleashed a tiny yellow gerbil onto the field, looking fierce and determined.
"Dedenne!" Dedenne crossed his arms proudly.
"That Dedenne is cute but it does look like it loves battling." Opal noticed Dedenne's fierce and tough, yet adorable expression. Opal and her friends than gasped.
"Dede!" Dedenne was struck with poison from the toxic spikes laid out previously.
"Hang in there Dedenne!" Zack saw the pained Dedenne.
"First a rabbit. Than a butterfly. And now some gerbil?" Rex felt this battle was too much of an insult to him. "Cutesy little creatures are not going to win you battles. Your mom should've looked into fiercer more stronger Pokémon than this."
"My mom is a better trainer than you Rex." Zack angrily replied. "She understands the strengths and weaknesses of her Pokémon but she also forms a strong bond with her Pokémon than you ever could with yours and that is why you will lose!"
"Bonds with your Pokémon?" Rex grinned. "That's just stupid nonsense by weak trainers. Most tournaments these days are dominated by strong and powerful Pokémon. A weak Pokémon such as Dedenne is useless. You won't win."
Dedenne looked angry at Rex's comments. To everyone's surprise, even Rex stopped grinning at the sight of the gerbil, Dedenne stood tall, chest puffed out, arms crossed proudly, trying to shrug off the poison from the toxic spikes.
"This Dedenne is more powerful than it appears." Zack replied. "Dedenne! Use Thunder!"
"Dede!" Dedenne sparked electricity from its cheeks. "NE!"
The attack was the hugest electric attack Zack's friends have ever seen. With one electrifying strike, the electrified smoked Tentacruel was knocked out.
"Tentacruel. Return." Rex returned Tentacruel to its Ultraball. He then re-sent Dhelmise , the ghostly anchor from before, back to the field. "You got lucky with such an inaccurate move."
"Like I said. You're wrong Rex." Zack returned the poisoned but strong Dedenne to its pokeball. He than chose a dusk ball. "And I'll prove it to you. There are no such thing as weak Pokémon. Only how the trainer raises and bonds with them! Go. Avalugg!"
Zack threw the Pokeball releasing a large four-legged giant made of ice, Avalugg.
"Ava-lugg." Avalugg eyed Rex and it looked angry, recalling its defeat at the hands of a boastful Rex. Than Avalugg noticed Zack behind him.
"It's me, Zack. Avalugg. I'm taking my mom's place for this battle. You cool with that?" Zack smiled at Avalugg.
Avalugg nodded happily until poison struck the ice giant from the ground.
"Bear with me. Avalugg! Will beat Rex!" Zack told the ice giant.
"Lugg..." Avalugg tried to bear with the poison.
"I'm guessing you don't know Dhelmise's ability if you chose Avalugg. Or you're that confident?" Rex said. "Dhelmise's ability is steelworker, giving Dhelmise a whopping 50% boost to steel-type moves and I believe you already know that steel-types are super-effective against ice-types."
"So are ice-types against grass-types." Zack responded. "Avalugg! Use icicle crash!"
"Dhelmise. Anchor shot." Rex ordered.
Dhelmise launched a flying chained anchor of rusty steel across the field at rapid speeds towards the four-legged ice giant as it let out a monstrous roar, calling upon icicle spears formed from the sky, crashing towards the ghostly anchor. The clash caused smoke and dust to engulf the field. No one could see what happened. Everyone just stood silent until the dust settled. Zack's friends smiled as Avalugg stood strong and Dhelmise fell.
"It must've been a critical hit." Todd was shocked. "There both pretty sturdy Pokémon."
"Still. That's good." Opal sighed in relief. "I mean. Rex only had three Pokémon left. Zack still has five and..."
"Yeah! Get em Zack!" Benny interrupted Opal.
"Alright than. You're doing much better than I thought." Rex returned Dhelmise. He chose another ultraball, throwing it into the field. "That still doesn't change anything. Go. Conkeldurr."
The ultraball unleashed a light-brown heavyweight Pokémon with massively bulking arms carrying cylinders of concrete. It looked slow and heavy but quite strong too.
"Avalugg! Use rapid spin!" Zack shouted.
"Rapid spin?" Rex realized why he chose Avalugg in the first place. "Conkeldurr! Use mach punch!" Rex ordered.
"Mach punch!?"
Before Avalugg could even attack, the heavy-concrete wielding Pokémon punched the ice-giant with great and swift force at extreme speeds. The force was so great that the ice giant moved ten feet away from its original location.
"What!?" Benny said. "That Conkeldurr looks so slow! What happened!?"
"That's mach punch Benny." Todd said. "It gives priority over most moves, meaning it almost always attacks first."
Avalugg, could barely stand as he watched all the toxic spikes shattered and gone. No longer shall Zack's team have to deal with toxic spikes again.
"The toxic spikes are gone!" Benny said.
"That's what Rapid Spin does. It removes entry-hazards from the field." Todd commented.
"That's a relief." Opal smiled.
"Oh no." Todd looked at the struggling ice-giant.
The poison struck the ice giant again, finishing what the combined damage of Dhelmise's anchor shot and Conkeldurr's mach punch could not. Avalugg fainted.
"Avalugg return!" Zack smiled at the duskball. "You did great Avalugg. Get some rest." Zack went for another Pokeball from his belt. "Go! Talonflame!"
The Pokeball thrown unto the field revealed a red falcon with flame-like wings flew into the air.
"Talonflame!" Talonflame soared through the skies.
"Conkeldurr. Return." Rex returned Conkeldurr, pulling out a Timer ball this time. "I choose you! Skarmory!"
A metallic bird with blood-red wings came onto the field, not flying into the skies but standing onto the field looking unimpressed of the Talonflame.
"You chose a steel-type again a fire-type?" Zack said, thinking that was quite odd. Then again, choosing Tentacruel against Vivillion's dream eater was quite odd too.
"My skarmory's defense is incredibly high. Your Talonflame, no matter how super effective it will be, can't do much too it." Rex boasted.
"Will see about that. Talonflame! Use flareblitz!" Zack challenged his claims.
Talonflame went forward for the strike at amazing speeds, tackling the Skarmory with fury and fire. Unfortunately the attack didn't budged Skarmory one bit. It stood there, unimpressed, like Talonflame's supereffective damage did nothing. There was barely a dent on it's armor.
"What!?" Zack looked at the board. Skarmory's health bar went down very little.
"Skarmory. Counterattack it with aerial ace!" Rex ordered.
The Skarmory went on the offensive, engulfed in a streak of light wind, tackling the Talonflame in its reach. The Talonflame quickly distanced itself from Skarmory's reach, bearing the injuries of Skarmory's successful offensive.
"Talonflame! Return!" Zack aimed the pokeball at Talonflame, realizing it was meaningless to try and use flare blitz again. He chose the nest ball again. "Go! Dedenne!"
The proud Dedenne stood on the field again upon release but still felt the effects of the poison coursing through its body. Nevertheless it stood tall and proud.
"Skarmory. Return." Rex returned Skarmory. This time he picked a regular classic red poke ball. "I choose you my old friend. Garchomp."
"You manage to raise a Garchomp!?"
A shark-like dragon released onto the field as Rex grinned. "Oh? So you know what a Garchomp is? This is my oldest and strongest Pokémon, Zack. You should've kept your Avalugg prepped and ready as you might've had a chance instead of having it just remove spikes. Nothing you have left can beat my strongest Pokémon. Garchomp. Use earthquake!"
"Gar. CHOMP!" Garchomp looked at the Dedenne with fearsome eyes, stomping it's powerful foot to the ground, causing the ground to shake tremendously.
The ground shook so fiercely that even Opal, Benny, and Todd were losing balance where they stood and watch.
"Dedenne!" Dedenne looked troubled as it lost it's balanced. "Deden!" Dedenne cried out as a piece of ground rose up launching the little electric gerbil towards the sky. Dedenne waved his arms and legs in the sky, repeatedly crying out "DEDEDEDEEEE!" The Dedenne crashed to the ground, knocked out.
"Dedenne! Return!" Zack returned Dedenne. "You did great Dedenne. Have a good rest." Zack looked at his options and chose the first Pokémon he originally sent out. "I choose you! Diggersby!"
A red pokeball revealed the Diggersby from before. The giant rugged rabbit stood strong and determined towards the Garchomp, bearing the damage from its clash with Dhelmise.
"Oh. The Diggersby from before. I almost forgot you had it considering its failed attempts against Dhelmise." Rex smiled at the rabbit, still bearing it's heavy injuries from the last encounter. "Garchomp! Use Dragon Rush!"
Garchomp prepped itself on the ground, launching itself like a torpedo towards Diggersby. This caught the rugged rabbit off-guard, Diggersby froze in fear as he saw Garchomp's fearsome eyes staring into his soul. With one strike, Diggersby fainted.
"Dig…gersby." Diggersby fell to the ground.
"Maybe, you would have had a chance if it were at full health but you foolishly thought it would have a chance against Dhelmise."
"Diggersby! Return!" Zack returned the knocked out Diggersby. Looking at the pokeball, "You did your best. Get a good rest."
"Zack only has two Pokémon left!" Opal wondered what Zack could do in this situation.
"Let's not lose hope now. He's still got some fight in him left." Benny sweated.
"Yeah. I have seen battles turned around before and Zack is a pretty good trainer." Todd said. "He can turn this around!"
"I think your right!" Opal replied. "Zack could… will win!"
Even with his friend's confidence in him, Zack looked troubled. He only had two Pokémon left. What else could he do? Looking back at it now. How did his mom won all those tournaments long ago.
"Hey mom? Can you and dad help me decide a team when I grow up?" 6-year old Zack drew a bunch of Pokémon on a sheet of paper in his pajamas. It was almost bed-time and Zack loved to draw Pokémon all the time at the dinner table.
"Oh. Would you look at that. A Dewgong, Blaziken, Garchomp, a… Mimikyu?" Zack's mom wasn't sure what to make of that?
"What? No. It's a Pikachu?" Zack took another look at the poorly-drawn Pikachu.
"Well. When you get older, building a team is like solving a puzzle. Every Pokémon has an important role on the team." She said.
"Well. I'm going to get a Garchomp because he's the strongest!"
"Really? I don't know about that. Garchomp is pretty strong but with the right team, any Pokémon can be strong. Like my first Pokémon."
" According to the competitive Poke-builder website, that Pokémon stalls other Pokemon and he's not even that good."
"What?" Zack's mom gave her son a disappointed look. "Don't listen to websites for advice all the time. In fact, I would dare say that out of all the starters out there, mine is the best sweeper out there! An unstoppable force that makes even the best trainers shiver in fear! Ha ha ha!"
"But…"
"Remember that time he completely annihilated that annoying Skarmory-Blissey team when I successfully set him up?"
"Yeah."
"Remember that time my Dedenne one-shot a Swampert with grass-knot"
"Yup."
"And that time Diggersby defeated a Garchomp, the supposedly strongest Pokémon in the world, with just a sword dance boosted quick attack!" She smiled. "What does that say?"
"Any Pokémon can be great!" Zack smiled.
"Yup. Tell you what." She smiled. "Tomorrow. I'll show you how my strongest Pokémon, Chesnaught, was meant to be played according to its Pokedex entry! Not some Pokemon that stalls others but a sweeper defeating entire teams! An unstoppable tackler of tanks!"
"Really!" The little boy smiled in excitement.
"That's right!" Zack remembered. "Chesnaught is the key to defeating not just Garchomp but his entire team! But I need to set it up properly… if I can't. I lose. That Garchomp though. What if he destroys the set-up before it succeeds. No. I can't think that right now."
Zack reached out for Talonflame's Pokeball. "Go Talonflame!"
Talonflame was called out on to the field again, still healthy, fit, and alive despite Skarmory's attack.
"You're going to choose Talonflame again? I'm going to guess your last Pokémon can't do much. Garchomp return." Rex returned Garchomp. He then chose Skarmory's pokeball from before. "I choose you. Skarmory."
"Skarmory again?!" Zack thought with a nervous look on his face. Than he had a realization. "No! This could be the opportunity we need! Skarmory's attack power isn't that high. But what if it fails?"
Talonflame looked back to its trainer in worry and doubt. Zack noticed Talonflame's fears, "No. My Pokémon are losing faith in me…"
"YOU CAN DO IT ZACK!" Benny shouted, standing with one leg on the porch.
"Teach that brat, Rex, a lesson!" Opal shouted.
"Beat him Zack!" Todd yelled.
Zack looked at his friends cheering on for him. He smiled, his fears and worries gone. "I know I can do this!"
Zack than smiled back at Talonflame, his worries suddenly vanished as Talonflame smiled back to Zack as a sign of approval.
"Let's do this Talonflame!" Zack said.
"Your friends should've kept their voices down. You would've been let down much easier when you lose." Rex mockingly smiled. "Skarmory is practically the ultimate defense! Use roost!"
Skarmory stood there, once again unimpressed of Talonflame, coating itself in white light as the display bar showed its health bar back to full health.
"Even the 'ultimate defense' has its limits Rex." Zack said. "Talonflame! Use flare blitz!"
Talonflame coated itself in flames again, tackling the Skarmory, but still unable to deal enough damage to even hit past half of its health.
"I hope the damage is enough. Hopefully he won't roost again." Zack thought.
"Flareblitz again? Skarmory. Counter-attack it with aerial ace." Rex sighed.
Skarmory counter-attacked the fast but up-close Pokémon with a dash of air. The fierce Talonflame struggled to fly this close around Skarmory.
"Skarmory. Finish this with aerial ace." Rex ordered.
"Talonflame! Quickly! Tailwind!" Zack shouted.
This time Skarmory lifted off from the ground and into the moonlight sky revealing its blood red wings again to finish off Talonflame. Before Skarmory could land a hit, Talonflame used Tailwind. Skarmory struck the falcon finishing him off as out of nowhere a current of wind flowed visibly behind Zack while the fainted Talonflame fell from the nightsky.
"Talonflame! Return!" Zack returned Talonflame before it could hit the ground. He smiled at Talonflame's Pokeball. "You did great. Get some rest."
"Tailwind? What good will extra speed do you?" Rex questioned this move. "Unless it's a special attacker, it won't put a dent into my Skarmory's defenses and even if you could put a fair amount of damage, I could always roost and counter-attack aerial ace. If you do have a special attacker, my Garchomp or even my Conkeldurr has more than enough power to finish it off."
"You underestimate my mother's team for the last time Rex."
"Hurry up and choose your last weak Pokémon." Rex smiled.
"Even you must understand a team is like a puzzle and every Pokémon plays an important role." Zack smiled as he grabbed the last red Pokeball from the belt. Everything was almost ready. "Go Chesnaught!"
The red Pokeball unleashed a beaming red light. A giant chipmunk of great bulk encased in organic spiky armor stood tall and strong on the field, waving it's fists in the air as a sign of strength.
"Chesnaught? That Pokémon has fairly good attack power but it's not enough to pierce through my Skarmory's defense not to mention its 4x weakness to flying types. What good is a staller to dish out some residual damage in this situation?" Rex smiled.
"He would be in a dangerous situation if you had given your Skarmory the move Brave Bird over Aerial Ace. If you really wanted to ensure victory here and now, you wouldn't mind an extra little recoil damage to your 'ultimate defense' and trust me Rex." Zack smiled. "He's bulky but he's no staller. He's a sweeper."
"A sweeper? You plan on destroying the rest of my team with that? You're bluffing. His power alone is weak against my Skarmory's defense. Hurry up and use your last worthless move." Rex smiled.
"My mother's Pokémon has no worthless moves. Every move was carefully thought out and planned." Zack retorted with a smile. "But you are correct, Rex. Chesnaught's power alone doesn't seem much. However what Chesnaught does have is the colossal power of belly drum!"
"What!? No! It can't be! Chesnaught has access to belly drum!" Rex was in great shock, no longer bearing that mocking smile he had before.
"Um… why does Rex look shocked? Do you know what belly drum does Todd?" Opal asked and noticed an astonished Todd.
Todd looked at the Chesnaught as if he could barely speak. He answered, "Belly drum is the only move that can boost a Pokémon's attack stats to its maximum strength, a full whopping six stages!"
"What!?" Opal was surprised. "Zack's mom had something like that on her team!"
"However, it's at the cost of removing half of your Pokémon's health. It's very risky but very rewarding if successful." Todd said.
"But if he succeeds?" Benny replied.
"Then Rex is in really big trouble." Todd said.
"Now! Chesnaught! Use belly drum!" Zack shouted.
"I won't let you land a hit on my Pokémon! Skarmory! Finish Chesnaught with aerial ace! Quickly!" Rex shouted without hesitation.
The Skarmory, although heavily encased in metal, swiftly lunged towards the armored Chesnaught as it beats its belly like a gorilla. Six times Chesnaught glowed red as a sign of its attack boosted. The Skarmory came in close as Chesnaught quickly braced himself with his sturdy arms. The Skarmory's aerial ace was so powerful that dust and wind shrouded the stadium even more than previously, blowing a force of wind against Zack's friends as they too braced themselves. Even Rex covered his eyes with his right arm against the dust.
The trio of friends looked back to the field and saw the dust settling. Chesnaught lied there on the ground seemingly unconscious. Rex felt a relief through his bones as he sweated.
"Chesnaught… lost?" Opal gazed at the Chesnaught laying there on the ground.
"I'll admit." Rex smiled. "You actually had me a little scared there and…"
"Ches… naught." Chesnaught struggling to stand on one knee, weakingly grinning at the Skarmory before him from the brink of fainting. The Skarmory sweated nervously at the smiling Chesnaught.
"No… no way." Rex's eyes widened.
"Look!" Todd pointed at the display board.
"Whoa." Benny couldn't believe it.
"Amazing." Opal was stunned.
Chesnaught's health bar was left standing with one health point left.
"Chesnaught! Let's do this! Use Drain Punch!" Zack smiled.
"Drain punch too!?" Rex couldn't believe what was about to happen.
The Chesnaught raised its arm into a glowing fist and proceeded to attack Skarmory from below with maximum power. Skarmory's health bar on the video screen immediately went to zero almost instantly as Skarmory was sent flying to the other end of the field.
"Whoa!" Benny was surprised at the sheer force of Chesnaught's punch. "It.. it reduced that ultimate defense to nothing!"
"And it's health!" Opal looked at the board. She saw Chesnaught's health bar recovering immensely. "Chesnaught's regaining health to the point it almost looks like he didn't lose it in the first place!"
"Of course!" Todd realized Zack's strategy. "The tailwind increases Chesnaught's speed greatly. Belly Drum increases Chesnaught's attack to its fullest potential and Drain Punch, combined with those 6 stages and STAB, recovers so much health it will almost feel he didn't lose it in the first place.
"Ches… NAUGHT!" Chesnaught roared flexing its muscles like a body-builder as the Skarmory laid before Rex with hundreds of scratches and dents in it's armor.
"This can't be!" Rex's eyes widened even further as he returned Skarmory. He saw the Chesnaught no longer struggling but healthier and stronger than ever. The armored-chipmunk waved its arms in the air as a sign of strength as it grinned back at Rex. Rex put away Skarmory's ball in favor of a previous Pokemon from before. "Go Conkeldurr!"
Conkeldurr entered the fray. The bulky Pokémon from before that dealt great damage to Avalugg, an ice giant of a Pokemon, looked upon the tremendously powerful and smiling Chesnaught with great unease.
"Conkeldurr! Use Ice punch!" Rex desperately shouted.
"Chesnaught! Drain punch!" Zack ordered.
Before Conkeldurr could even raise its fist, the hulking Chesnaught rushed to the Conkeldurr at amazing speeds with one glowing punch sent right into Conkeldurr's face, slamming Conkeldurr's head into the ground causing the earth below Zack and his friend's feet to shake slightly. There Conkeldurr lied on the ground, fainted from one punch.
"Yeah Zack!" Benny cheered on. "You go…
"YOU GO ZACK!" Opal interrupted Benny.
"No! Conkeldurr! Return! This can't be happening. Chesnaught? A sweeper?! That isn't right! This isn't right at all!" Rex had a nervous look on his face. He returned Conkeldurr and chose the red pokeball containing his last Pokemon. "Go! Garchomp!"
The land shark, Garchomp, was unleashed on to the field and gazed at the one-punch Chesnaught with no fear.
"Garchomp! Poison Jab! Now!" Rex yelled.
"Chesnaught! Finish this with Drain Punch!" Zack shouted.
Both of the Pokémon dashed towards each other, Garchomp's claws glowed in a purplish ooze and Chesnaught's fist glowed in a brownish orange, but ultimately Chesnaught was faster thanks to the tailwind flowing from behind. Garchomp was close to strike Chesnaught from above but Chesnaught finished Garchomp off from below first, one-punch to the gut sending Garchomp flying, not to the end of the field like some of the other Pokemon from before but towards its trainer, Rex. Rex's eyes widened as he saw his oldest Pokémon thrown towards him.
The video screen shouted, "KNOOOCKOUUUUUT!"
"Zack… Just won." Todd looked at the triumphant duo, Zack and Chesnaught.
"He won." Opal felt relieved.
"YEAH! That's my pal!" Benny was in excitement.
Opal than noticed Rex over there. He just lied there confused. Not trying to get up or move even a little. He just lied there under the fainted Garchomp, confused and shocked.
"How… how did he defeated my team? Especially with a Chesnaught as a sweeper? His Pokémon aren't even considered competitively-viable by most sources..." Rex thought to himself, puzzled. Then he saw the ten year old boy standing over him.
"I hope you understand today." Zack looked at the confused Rex with Chesnaught tagging along behind him. "I hope you learned that any Pokémon can be strong and that through working together and adjusting to their strengths and weaknesses, not as a trainer using Pokémon as tools but as partners striving to be strong together that they can accomplish anything."
Rex just stared at him, unsure of his words, not sure what to say. The fainted Garchomp on top of him glowed in a red light as it returned to his poke ball underneath.
"Um… let me help you stand up." Zack reached out for his hand.
"No." Rex choosing to stand up on his own. "I need time to think."
"Hey Zack!" Opal shouted as she and her friends ran to him.
"Man. What a jerk. He could at least admit he's wrong." Todd looked at the troubled Rex heading to the exit.
"Still. You showed him Zack!" Benny gave him a proud thumbs-up.
"Yeah. We better head to the hospital. My mom's probably worried sick." Zack smiled back at his friends.
"Look what Rex left behind." Opal spotted a purple orb on the ground.
"The life orb!" Zack almost forgotten about why all this happened in the first place.
Zack and his friends rushed past Hospital rooms and doctors to the room where her mother was staying. There they saw Zack's mother chatting happily with Opal's mother.
"Hey. Mom… you. You alright?" Zack tried to catch his breath from all the running.
"Yes dear. What happened?" Zack's mom smiled at his son.
Before Zack could say anything, Benny budged in. "I'll tell ya what happened! It was the best battle I've seen in my life! Butterfly's, Rabbit's, and Gerbil's taking on dreaded monsters, bird vs bird action, and an old fashion knight slaying a dragon with one punch! It was the most amazing fight I've seen that wasn't on television, Mrs. Forrester. Zack won against that brat Rex!"
"He won? With my Pokémon?" She looked relieved.
"Yeah. It was… pretty amazing." Todd said. "It kind of left Rex shocked himself."
"You haven't even gotten your first Pokémon and already you've beaten a really strong trainer!" She said proudly. "You're definitely going to be a great trainer some day!"
"Oh. Stop. You're making me embarrassed." Zack blushed.
"Oh. That reminds me." Opal's mom said. "Are you kids ready to get your first Pokémon tomorrow and ready for the entrance exams for the Pokémon academy next week?"
"… Oh crap!" Benny responded. "We were playing cards, watching this awesome battle, wanted to see that life orb, eat dinner, and to top it all off, saw the greatest battle in my lifetime so far that we totally forgotten about that!"
"I better get things packing right now!" Opal followed.
"Me too!" Zack followed. Then he just realized something and turned towards Todd. "Wait a minute. What about you Todd? What are you going to do?"
"Me? Not going to get a Pokémon or go to the school. I think Pokémon photography sits well with me. In fact, next week. I'm going to try to take pictures of the mysterious Delta Species Pokémon I've heard about in the Holon Region.
"Delta Species? You'll have a better chance of taking a picture of Mew here than a Delta Species. It's really hard to tell them apart from regular Pokémon." Benny responded.
"Who knows? Maybe I'll not only find a Delta Species but also Mew too!" Todd smiled.
"Mew? Trust me. You're not going to find Mew in the Holon region." Opal's mom said.
"Why not? I've heard Mew lives around this region."
"Oh. He does according to a lot of scientific evidence, Mew may even be originally from the Holon region. However Mew is just that difficult to find." Zack's mom smiled.
The whole group smiled and chatted together as a blue floating cat-like creature looked curiously into the hospital room's window.
"Mewww." Mew flew away into the full moon.
Trainer Page/Themed Pokémon Teams
Lissa Forrester - A retired trainer from the Kalos region. According to some people, she came close to winning the Kalos League until losing to her rival, who she later married long ago. Her husband was the one who gave her the life orb as a gift. Zack Forrester, her son, would use this seemingly under-powered team against Rex Lascher and win.
Team: Kalos Rage - Simply revolves around Kalos Pokémon
Chesnaught/Diggersby/Vivillion/Talonflame/Dedenne/Avalugg
Rex Lascher - A famous trainer in the East Region of the Holon region with many connections, he does not have a high view of those who simply choose Pokemon they like rather than choosing Pokemon for strength and variability in different situations.
Team: Overpowering Might - The theme of this team centers around the competitive Smogon and VGC formats categorizing which Pokemon are strong, average or weak. Many of the Pokemon in Rex's arsenal are usually reasonable overrated Pokemon that can tackle different situations and can be quite overpowered to the unprepared.
Garchomp/Dhelmise/Conkeldurr/Skarmory/Dragalge/Tentacruel
Author's Notes: So what do you guys think of my story so far? Good? Bad? Constructive Pros and Cons are greatly appreciated. What did you think of the characters? Were the battles interesting or were they kind of boring? Do you have any suggestions that could help improve the story?
True story, the Belly Drum Chesnaught set is actually a viable and possible set capable of late-game sweeping. I recommend you pair it with Trick Room or Tailwind.
Also I decided to list the trainers info and there team theme's, similar to what the Pokemon Adventure manga does, listing and updating the main character's Pokemon team. Not going to list too much but if you have any suggestions that I should, feel free to tell me in the review section or send a mail.
Did you know facts?
Did you know the Holon region is an actual legit and official Pokemon region outside of the games? It's a region from the TCG where the mysterious Delta Species Pokemon roam and where Mew lives. Much of the region is settled by scientists, explorers, and farmers.
Did you know Todd is an actual Pokemon character from the video games and TV series who made his appearance in Pokemon Snap?
Did you know the two characters at the beginning of the story were Brendan of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire and Wes of Pokemon Colosseum?
Did you know that the "blue" Mew has been written in there purposely. It's not an error. There's an actual lore-based reason behind that.