Critical Resolve
"Throh, nooo!" I smirk to myself as the red Fighting type falls before my Sigilyph. It was a simple battle, something us trainers tend to do. It wasn't anything special. I saw her while exploring Reflection Cave. There was a fire to her eyes, an eagerness to battle that I was only too glad to meet. After all, I had just gotten my second gym badge. I was feeling on top of the world, like I could take on anything and win.
And the battle with Grant had been a hard fought one. But I had the advantage. The son of two archaeologists, I had a deep understanding of ancient Pokemon, and of Rock Pokemon in general. When he had sent out his Amaura and later his Tyrunt, I probably knew more about them than any other trainer who had faced him up to that point. My Lileep, a fossil Pokemon from somewhere overseas, sent to my parents and then gifted to me, wrecked his team. So I was still running on my badge-gained high.
"Return Throh, you did good. Alright, then let's see how you fare against… Hawlucha!" The fiery fighter across from me sent out a curious Pokemon, some type of masked bird creature with arms spread and legs bowed. The feathers adorning its arms is enough to tell me that it must be a Flying type. Thanks to my time at the Trainer's School in Santalune, I knew that Flying is weak to Ice and Rock. Sure, my Sigilyph could probably take it down. But it would do me no good if he got all the experience in fighting, then none of my other partners would know what to do when it came to their turn to fight. Luckily, I had just the thing for my foe.
"Good job, Sigilyph," I say as I return the cycloptic Pokemon to his ball in a beam of ruby red light. "That's an interesting Pokemon you got there. I don't think I've ever seen it before."
"Oh, like you're one to talk," the lady retorts. "At least you can tell what mine is, how would you even describe that thing you just used?"
"OK, you got me there, Sigilyph isn't exactly the most relatable Pokemon. But that can be a good thing. I can at least tell that your… Hawlucha you called it? Rare as it may be, it's clearly at least part Flying. With that being said, Amaura, it's your time to shine!" In another beam of light, I send out my most trusted partner. The small light blue dinosaur comes out with a gleeful cry and gets ready to fight herself. But… was that girl chuckling? What was she laughing for, my Ice type had the clear advantage over her hawk.
"What's so funny? Come to accept your defeat?"
"You wish! Hawlucha is Flying, yes. But he's also a Fighting type. Now you tell me, smarty-pants, what is Ice weak to?" Sweat beads on my brow as realization hits me. Ice is weak to Fighting, as is Rock. My poor Amaura was at a big disadvantage to this new foe. But I feign confidence. She may be able to hit Amaura hard, but my Amaura can hit nearly as hard.
"You won't have the time. My Pokemon has gone through a lot of training, I'm sure she can endure. Besides, your Hawlucha isn't sitting too pretty either."
"Well we'll see, now won't we? Hawlucha, Karate Chop!" Its speed is surprising. In an instant, it's on the saurian and bringing its talon down in a vicious chop. I wince as Amaura lets out a pained cry and her legs waver. From the way she instantly bruises up, I can tell she's been hit hard. Another blow like that and it'll be a trip to the Poke Center for her. All this I see in seconds as I plan what to do. Pokemon battles are quick events and you have to be on your toes to stay with the game.
"Way to take a hit, Amaura! Now hit him hard with Ancient Power!" She nods her head as medium sized rocks begin floating off the ground. Just as the Hawlucha backs away to avoid retaliation, the rocks rocket towards him and send him rolling. But he gets up too soon. I rack my brains as I try to think of why he isn't down for the count. This sort of attack is right in her element and he should be taking massive damage. The answer comes as a chill running up my spine. His Fighting half must cancel it out. He was hurt but no more than if any number of moves had hit him.
I quickly try to formulate a new strategy. There's no way she can survive another attack like that and he's too fast to hedge my bets on her striking first. Maybe he would use a non-damaging move. If he tries to weaken her, or maybe heal or strengthen himself, then I might have a chance. No, it's too much a risk. She may not get as much time in battle as she needs but better for her to survive than for her to try to take another blow.
"Once more, Hawlucha! She can't take another hit like that." I was too slow. The girl had noticed much of what I had and had leapt on the opportunity to strike again. And while I was busy trying to think of a good way to come back, all she had to do was issue the order. I watched with terror-filled eyes as the bird once more descended on Amaura.
I teared my eyes away but couldn't block out the sound of her crying out in pain and her body hitting the ground with a 'thwump'. It was too much to bear. I hadn't been with the Amaura long, only having received her from the next town over. But we had bonded so much in that little time. As the first Pokemon that I had excavated myself, I had immediately grown attached with her. I had lavished love on her, feeding her by hand and playing with her constantly. To be honest, I was surprised my other team members weren't more than a little jealous of her. I loved the way she cooed when you scratched her behind her sails and how her brilliant blue eyes would light up whenever I fed her a mocha Poke Puff, her favorite. Seeing her fall almost hurt on a physical level.
Just as I was pulling out her Pokeball, however, I saw her leg twitch. I watched in amazement as the dinosaur struggled back to her feet. She must be in a great deal of pain from those two powerful blows, but even now she was fighting to get back to her feet. The look of defiance she shot the Hawlucha was only matched by the look that we shared. Separated by our language barrier, I could still tell that she was doing this for me. She wanted to continue fighting… just to impress me.
The Hawlucha and its trainer were just as surprised as me. Believing it had won this battle, the Fighting type had calmly been walking back to its trainers' side. The two were stunned by how it had weathered the hit. I saw my chance here and I had the perfect move to finish them off.
"That's my girl. Let's finish this off with Avalanche." With a look of confidence, the Ice type caused a massive amount of snow to materialize above the avian. And thanks to having taken a blow beforehand, there was much more there than there otherwise would've been. She unleashed the mass of ice and let it bury the Hawlucha. When it didn't rise again, I knew we had won.
I'm pretty sure the look on my opponents face would've been priceless. After all, she had just seen a Pokemon with a clear type disadvantage shrug off two attacks that should've left it unconscious. Only for the Pokemon to rise again and KO her own Pokemon, and her last one to boot. But that's not what I saw. My eyes were only for the Amaura in front of me. A Pokemon who, against the odds, managed to pull victory from the jaws from defeat and win the battle. My little trooper.
A/N: This is actually based off of something that happened in-game. Of course some of it was changed, but that's mainly just the character backstory and the first Pokemon I used. And naturally my thought process wasn't entirely as described. I made a couple of mistakes and paid the price. But my Pokemon really did survive an attack like that to come back and win the battle. Comments and Reviews appreciated.