Battle Chronicles: Chapter 1 – Martial Arts Mayhem
Today's Match-up: Mienshao vs Gallade
Mienshao took a deep breath as she stretched alone in the preparation room. Although the room was made to block out as much noise as possible, the rumble of the crowd still reached her ears. She punched the air a few times, trying to calm the adrenaline surging through her body. Her ears perked as she heard a knock on the door. A woman nervously peered in.
"Umm, we're going live in about 5 minutes," the woman stammered out.
Mienshao nodded, not bothering to answer the human. The door creaked shut, and Mienshao decided to take the last five minutes to relax. She counted her breaths until she heard another knock on the door. Wordlessly, she walked over, opened to door, and followed the staff down to the arena.
The crowd was deafening now. Chants and screams can be heard but not understood. Above all the racket, she could hear the announcer's voice through the speakers.
"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, Pokemon of all species. Welcome to the finals of the Pokemon Martial Arts Competition!"
The crowd erupted, causing Mienshao to wince. Despite the amount of rounds she fought in this arena, the volume still managed to get to her.
"For those of you who still don't know the sport and are just tuning in for the finals, let me remind you of the rules," the announcer was saying. "The fight is to be a one versus one Pokemon battle of any species. No moves are allowed, and trainers are not allowed to give any communication to their Pokemon. The Pokemon must win by knocking out their opponent by technique and skill alone." The staff had left Mienshao at the gate of the arena. She gaped at the size of the crowd, her stomach turning a little. She had never seen so much life and energy in a single place.
"With the rules set aside, let me introduce to you the two finalists of today. Our first finalist is one we are all familiar with. The defending champion of the competition, Gallade! And watching from the break room is her trainer, Maylene!"
Fog filled the opposite gate. Mienshao could see the outline of her opponent, and once Gallade stepped out of the fog, the crowd erupted. Mienshao steeled herself as she observed her opponent. She had seen several of his fights from the break room in the previous rounds. Nearly all his victories were one sided. The fights during the quarterfinals and the semifinals were much closer, but Gallade still stood victorious. He was, by far, the strongest Pokemon here.
And she loved a challenge.
"On the other side, a completely new face to this competition! She may not have a trainer but she had definitely proven her place in this arena. Welcome to the final stage, Mienshao!"
Fog engulfed her, and she bravely walked through the fog and into the arena. The crowd cheered, but the difference in volume was noticeable. Mienshao winced to herself as she heard a few boos as well. Steeling her nerves, she emerged through the fog, standing in front of her opponent.
The announcer continued to hype up the crowd. The two Pokemon in the arena took the moment to size up each other. Mienshao tuned out the crowd, the roar turning into a background noise that she paid no heed to.
"I'm surprised that you beat Wake's Floatzel," Gallade spoke up. "He nearly took me down last year."
Mienshao instantly felt sore as she remembered the fight. The fight had lasted nearly half an hour instead of the normal ten minutes thanks to Floatzel's defensive posture. Mienshao herself collapsed from exhaustion just minutes after Floatzel went down. "It was a tough fight." She smirked at her opponent. "But I had no intention of losing. The same can be said of this battle."
Gallade matched her smirk. "I am the victor of this tournament twice in a row. You can try, but you will be defeated."
Mienshao was about to retort when the announcer interrupted her.
"Contestents, please bow." Gallade lowered his head; Mienshao copying his motions. "Take your stances." Gallade shifted sideways, covering his face with his arms. Mienshao sank low, bending her knees and arms. "Begin!"
Gallade acted first, lunging forwards and whirling, lifting his leg to kick. Mienshao quickly rolled underneath the airborne leg. As she got back on her feet, she jabbed at where Gallade was, only to feel herself hitting nothing as Gallade swiftly shuffled out of reach. Mienshao straightened out before quickly approaching Gallade, readying her arm for a punch.
Gallade moved his elbow up, but Mienshao quickly sank low and swept her feet at his legs. However, Gallade had already shifted his center of gravity, and while Mienshao connected her kick, Gallade did not even stumble. Mienshao also realized too late that she had put herself in a vulnerable position.
Gallade's leg slammed into her side, sending her spiraling across the arena floor. She scrambled to her feet and put up a defensive posture, expecting Gallade to continue his assault. She wasn't wrong.
Gallade was already onto her when she got back onto her feet. An arm slammed into her elbow and a kick hit her thigh, causing her to stumble. Through the pain, she saw a fist rapidly closing in on her face. In a fluid motion, she used her arm to knock the approaching blow downwards, shifted her body so that the fist grazed her stomach, and used the momentum to throw Gallade over her shoulder. Mienshao stumbled backwards, catching her breath for the first time in what seemed to her like hours.
Gallade had gotten back up onto his feet. Mienshao noted, with some glee, that she had managed to knock him to the ground, and was the first to do so this tournament. Gallade shifted forwards, though now with more caution than he showed before. The circled each other, Gallade observing her for any openings, Mienshao simply trying to buy more time to rest.
Without warning Gallade stepped forwards once more, throwing a fist at her stomach. She quickly deflected the blow, and raised her other arm just in time to block his other arm coming for her head. Before Gallade can continue his assault, Mienshao jumped feet-first forwards. She planted both feet on Gallade's body and leapt away, spinning midair so that she still faced Gallade after landing. Gallade stumbled back, the wind knocked out of him.
Mienshao surged forwards, wanting to push her advantage. She unleashed a flurry of jabs and kicks, not bothering to try to feint him out. Gallade blocked most of the blows, slowly moving backwards. Gallade's arm slipped down, and Mienshao immediately threw an arm at his exposed head.
Gallade's hand grabbed her arm out of the air. She barely had a second to see his grin as he yanked her forwards towards him. She twisted and lifted herself up, using his arm as leverage, trying to avoid the incoming blow. She half-succeeded. The full force of his punch slammed into her left thigh instead of her stomach, and she managed to twist herself out of Gallade's grip. She limped backwards, pain starting to fog up her brain.
Gallade seemed to realize this too, as he stalked towards her without a hurry. Mienshao grit her teeth as he moved forwards. She awkwardly stumbled sideways, her injured leg dragging on the arena floor.
Gallade immediately took the opportunity, spinning and sending a kick aimed at her leg. Her left arm dropped and grabbed the leg midair, but felt herself dipping towards the leg as Gallade kept spinning, lifting his other leg, this time using her as leverage for his kick. She lifted her elbow up to soften the blow of the kick.
Mienshao blacked out for a second as the kick connected with her arm with such force that her arm flung backwards into her head. She lifted herself onto her hands and knees, before shakily standing up. Her left leg screamed in protest as it supported her weight. Her right arm dangled by her side. Gallade was standing where he had kicked her, shaking his leg. Through her pained thoughts, she realized that he must have kicked full force into her elbow. Sure enough, as Gallade moved towards her once more, his left leg moved shakily. Not enough that the crowd would notice, but close up, Mienshao could tell it probably hurt.
"You could give up you know," Gallade called out just loud enough to cross the distance between them. "Get your injuries checked out before it gets worse."
Mienshao grunted. "Fight's… not… over," she hissed. A small grin crept onto her face despite the pain. "If your left leg's too hurt, you're free to surrender yourself."
Gallade shrugged as he approached her. "Have it your way." He launched himself forwards, throwing out punches and kicks. Mienshao did her best to absorb and block the blows, but with every hit she felt her conscience fading. As a swing came to her head, she dropped like a sack of rocks to the ground. Gallade immediately stopped his blows, glancing down at the Mienshao. She winked at him as she rolled over, raising her good leg so that her heel slammed into her injured leg. She heard Gallade grunt and fall onto his injured knee as she rolled away. She stood back up, trembling all over. Gallade was still on one knee, glancing back at her with a raised eyebrow. She smirked back, before falling forwards and blacking out, and not in that order.
When Mienshao came to, she was laying on a bench. Two identical Nurse Joys were bandaging her wounds. One of them quickly realized she was conscious.
"Don't move yet, okay?" the nurse said. "We're almost done."
Mienshao nodded, wincing from several sore spots and aches. As she laid there on the bench, the fight came back to her. Despite her attempts to stop the tears, a few squeezed through. One of the Nurse Joys saw it.
"Oh, are the bandages too tight?" she asked.
Mienshao shook her head.
"Alright. If anything hurts, please tell us okay?"
Mienshao nodded. She didn't win, but she did get to the finals. And without a trainer. Soon, the Nurse Joys finished their job, and helped Mienshao sit up. Her head throbbed in pain.
"They're delaying the awards ceremony for you," one of the Nurse Joys said. "Do you feel good enough to join the ceremony?"
Mienshao nodded again. She flexed her left leg and attempted to stand up with the help of the one of the Nurses. The other handed Mienshao a crutch. Mienshao immediately tried to push the crutch away.
"No arguments, Mienshao. You need to keep your weight off that leg."
Mienshao sighed and took the crutch. After a few awkward hobbles, she began to move comfortably. With the help of the staff, she walked out the door and back to the arena.
She heard the roar of cheers periodically as she limped through the hall. As she approached the arena, she realized that the arena had been darkened. On four large screens on each side of the arena, highlights of the tournament were being shown. She hobbled in and moved over to the other fighters. Some gave her fist bumps and congratulations as she mingled. Finally, she found a comfortable spot to sit and watch the highlights. The staff let her know where to find them, and let her sit. The peace lasted only for a moment as she felt another presence next to her.
"You're holding up alright I see," Gallade's voice spoke in the darkness.
"I'm not looking at you, because I want to imagine that you also have a crutch and I don't want to ruin that image," Mienshao replied. "Congrats on the win."
"Thanks," Gallade replied. "You put up a good fight. I really wanted a rematch with Floatzel, but I suppose that was a decent enough battle."
"Don't get too cocky," Mienshao grumbled. "I still got a few years of this in me."
Gallade glanced over. "We'll see."
The replays ended, and the tournament concluded. After a few parting words, the contestants departed from the arena. Mienshao was convicted to stay in town for a bit to recover, and was given a necklace that would deflect Pokeballs as a reward. After a week, as Nurse Joy went to check up on Mienshao, she would be greeted with an open window and an empty room.