Another big thanks to all my followers and reviewers who enjoy this story! I promised a Pokémon battle before, and I present it to you now :)
"Let the battle begin!"
The words shouted by Prof. Akagi signaling the match's start were ringing in Shinji's head. This was it, the battle had begun! The crowd was cheering, the competitors were pumped, and he couldn't be more excited! What was going to happen? Who was going to make the first move? What...
What the heck was he supposed to do?!
'Oh man oh man oh man!' Shinji's hand was shaking now. In his eagerness, he hadn't even pondered exactly how to battle. Sure, he'd seen matches on T.V before, but he never had to call the shots before!
"HEY!"
He cringed at Asuka's sudden yelling, snapping out of his trance of panic. Looking ahead, he saw Toji's Oshawott charging towards Riolu, its scallop in hand and ready to attack. The little Fighting-type looked at his master expectantly, desperately waiting for a command.
"I don't know what to do!" Shinji flailed his arms in frustration, receiving an eye roll from Asuka.
"You idiot…" the girl pointed to own Pokémon, "Torchic! Cover Riolu!"
The Fire type obliged and leapt into the Oshawott, knocking it away with a Peck attack. As the Water type skidded away, Aida's Bulbasaur whipped its long vines at Torchic, keeping the little bird away from its partner. Riolu nodded in thanks to his teammate and returned his gaze to Shinji.
"Whazza matter, Prof?!" Suzuhara yelled from across the field, "Need yo girlfriend to battle for ya?"
Ignoring Toji's jabbing with a groan, Asuka grabbed Shinji by the wrist and shoved the Pokégear attached to it in his face. "Just aim this at Riolu and tell him to use a move! Now!"
"Okay, okay! Jeesh…" Ikari pressed a small button on the side of the Pokégear. The device began to power up, and a light blue hologram menu beamed up from its center yellow circle. Deciding to stare at it in awe later, Shinji pointed his wrist towards Riolu and watched as the hologram traced over his Pokémon's form. Charts and lists began to open in front of his eyes, showcasing the Fighting type's many attributes from his base stats to his Pokédex entry. His eyes scanning over the technical material, Shinji caught sight of a square area illuminated in white near the bottom of the screen; within it were the moves and ability of his Riolu.
'Let's see,' Ikari pondered, quickly looking over the Pokémon's techniques, 'His Ability is Steadfast, and his Moves are Quick Attack, Endure, Counter, and Bullet Punch… Wait, isn't that Scizor's move?' He remembered seeing a match on T.V the other day with the red Steel-Bug type using that fast-punching move against an Avalugg, sealing the match in its trainer's favor. How did his Riolu know such a powerful attack? 'Well, no harm in using it…'
"Riolu!" the boy commanded, "Use Bullet Punch on Oshawott!"
The Pokémon nodded at his master and leapt towards his target, his fists turning a deep silver. Before Oshawott realized what was happening, Riolu released a barrage of metal punches unto his body. To Shinji's surprise the otter Pokémon took the assault quite well, showing almost no signs of damage other than a few light bruises.
"I- it barely hurt him!" Ikari said dumbfounded, "Why?!"
"Learn the type chart, Baka-Shinji!" Asuka snapped, annoyed by his stupidity, "Steel type moves suck against a Water type, you idiot!"
"What?!" Shinji started to answer until he saw Aida's Bulbasaur begin to make a move towards his Pokémon, "Riolu, look out!"
'Wha- Whoa!' Riolu could barely react as one of Bulbasaur's vines wrapped around his leg and yanked him off his feet, dragging him across the ground. Seeing that Shinji had no idea of what to tell his Pokémon, Asuka took command of the situation.
"Torchic! Use Ember on Bulbasaur's vines!"
To Soryu and Ikari's surprise, Kensuke was pleased with her command, adjusting his glasses with a sly smirk. "Heh heh heh… Right into our trap."
Suddenly, the Bulbasaur released his hold on Riolu, flinging him a good ten feet away and sending him rolling across the ground. As Torchic was distracted by his tumbling partner and failed to use Ember, Toji's Oshawott dashed in front of the fire bird, now standing almost nose to beak with him.
"Yer Pokémon's got a short attention span, Soryu!" Suzuhara taunted, "Oshawott, use da Water Gun in his face!"
With a quick wink, Oshawott opened his mouth and shot a hard stream of water right at Torchic. The powerful burst of H2O knocked the Fire-type off his feet and into the air. As Torchic hurdled in the air, Bulbasaur released an odd green powder from his bulb into the bird's path of suspended travel.
"That dust!" Shinji exclaimed, "Is that-"
"Sleep Powder!" Asuka snarled in anger. So that was those two punks' strategy: divide and conquer! They knew they were no match for her greatness, so they decided to gang up on her first and pick off Baka-Shinji afterwards! She could only watch as her Torchic flew through the powder, breathing in the dust and falling into an immediate deep sleep in midair. "No!"
The crowd lets out a gasp, and broke into a small applause at Toji and Aida's successful strategy. Even Prof. Akagi was impressed at their teamwork; they were doing much better than their opponents who could barely keep up.
"Yer applause is much obliged," Toji waved to the crowd like a president to his people, "Me an' my colleague are truly an' deeply honored."
Kensuke couldn't help but succumb to Toji's arrogant speaking. "Now watch as we pull off a clean sweep of these lesser trainers."
"Those idiots!" Asuka growled, stomping her foot, "How dare they belittle me!"
"Don't you mean us, Asuka?" Shinji tried to correct. He soon regretted it as Soryu slapped him upside the head.
"Shut it, Baka-Shinji! This is all your fault anyways!"
"Wha- My fault?!"
"If you weren't stupid and didn't have your stupid Pokémon Bullet Punch Toji's stupid Pokémon, we wouldn't be losing right now!"
"How was I supposed to know Steel isn't any good against Water?!"
"Oh, I dunno, why don't you look at a freaking Type Chart for once?!"
"I don't even know what that is!"
"For the love of-!"
"Asuka watch out!"
Before she even realized what was happening, Asuka felt herself falling towards the ground as a stream of water shot above her head. Opening her eyes, she saw Shinji lying on top of her in a… suggestive position, to say the least. His hair, not to mention his entire body, was soaking wet from the Water Gun meant to douse her instead. A drop of water from his bangs landed right underneath Asuka's eye; if her skin matched her emotions, the cold liquid would've sizzled on contact.
"Such chivalry, Prof!" Suzuhara pointed and laughed, "Takin' a hit fer ya girlfriend! How knightly!"
Groaning at his friend's childishness, Shinji looked down on Asuka. "You okay?"
The girl blinked and stared at him for a few fleeting moments. They'd never been this close before; their faces were only a foot away from each other. And in this position, no less…
"Get off me!" Soryu shoved Ikari onto his back, erasing all of those disgusting thoughts from her head, "How dare you touch me like that, you pervert!"
"I was just trying to-"
"Just shut up, Baka-Shinji!" Asuka folded her arms and looked away; he didn't need to see her blushing. "Let's just finish this stupid battle and kick their asses."
"…Alright." Shinji sighed, looking back to the battle field and studying it. Oshawott and Bulbasaur were laughing at their little scuffle, just like their trainers were. Torchic was still asleep with a snot bubble inflating and deflating from his nostril, temporarily out of action. In the background Riolu was getting back to his feet and soon connected his eyes with Ikari's.
'I hope you have a plan, Shinji,' Riolu wiped the dirt from his mouth, 'Preferably a better than the one your friend devised.'
'Let me think…' Shinji communicated as he looked at the moves displayed on his Pokégear. It then dawned on him that a strategy was lying in the moves themselves. 'Yeah, that might just work!'
"What is it, Shinji?'
'You'll see. Toji and Kensuke not being able to hear my commands gives us a pretty big edge with this. Just keep reading my thoughts and follow them carefully, and we might actually win this.'
'Understood.'
Having finished laughing at his opponents, Suzuhara clapped his hands to get Shinji's attention. "Hey, wat's da holdup? Quit starin' at yer Pokémon an' come an' lose ta us!"
Shinji just smiled back at him politely. "Hate to break it to you, Toji, but I don't think Asuka and I are going to be losing anytime soon."
'…What're you up to, Baka-Shinji'? Asuka thought as she gave her partner an odd look; this sudden burst of confidence seemed very off for him, 'You really think you can win this without me?' Deciding to find out for herself, the redhead snuck away quietly into the lab to find something to bring Torchic back into the battle in case things went awry.
"Wha- Why you smug little punk!" If not for Aida quickly restraining him, Toji would've charged across the field and decked Ikari one, "Oshawott, take dat Riolu down with a Tackle!"
The otter Pokémon let out a battle yelp and charged towards his target. Riolu took stance and concentrated hard on Shinji's mental commands.
'Don't move an inch, Riolu! Use an Endure and let him hit you, then go for a Counter while he's in range!'
Taking note, the Fighting type clenched his fists and breathed in as Oshawott's Tackle connected with his torso. Riolu felt the damage flow through his body; it was quite painful, but his using of Endure gave him enough willpower to still stand. Shinji smiled as his strategy played out before his eyes.
'Now, Riolu! Counter!'
A pulsing sensation flowed through Riolu's muscles; the little Pokémon could feel the damage he had just taken copy itself and double within. The contained energy rushed to his fists as the spikes on his hands began to glow a bright, pale blue. Before Oshawott realized what was going on, he was hit with a punch that sent him shooting backwards across the entire battle field, landing in a cloud of dust in front of his trainer. The crowd gasped once again at this second surprisingly clever tactic.
"Da hell was dat?!" Suzuhara shouted, waving his arms in the air like an idiot, "Ikari's pumped dat Pokémon up wit steroids!"
Kensuke took the whole thing a little more in stride, adjusting his glasses. "That was quite the strategy, Shinji. Using Endure to ensure withstanding a powerful hit, then following with Counter for high damage… And I thought you knew nothing about Pokémon battles."
"We're just doing our best," Shinji said sheepishly, taking note of the vine slowly wrapping around Riolu's leg, "And that trick isn't going to work, either."
"Wha-?!" Before aida could finish his Bulbasaur was yanked off his feet by his vine by Riolu, who swiftly pulled on the Grass-type's appendage. Bulbasaur's face connected with the ground and gained a mouthful of dirt in the process. The Fighting type smirked at his foe.
'Haven't you ever heard the human saying: Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me?'
Enraged by the taunt, Bulbasaur growled angrily and released a flurry of Vine Whips at the bipedal dog. Riolu narrowly dodged the assault with a backflip, but was unaware of the returning threat coming in from the rear.
"Riolu!" Shinji called, "Behind you!"
When Riolu turned to see Toji's Oshawott rushing towards him, there was no chance to avoid the incoming Tackle. The Water type dove his body straight into Riolu's side and knocked him right into Bulbasaur's storm of Vine Whips. The plant tendrils stung like bees as they struck the Fighting type over and over.
"It's over, Prof!" Toji boasted, arms folded, "Any moment now an' yer Pokémon's gonna fall victim ta our flawless combination!"
Kensuke leaned up on his friend by his elbow. "Next time, you really shouldn't think you can outsmart expert strategists like us."
"No!" Shinji winced, clenching his fists. His Pokémon was helpless under the assault; there was basically no opportunity to strike back. Riolu wasn't even communicating with him right now! All hope of victory was gone now. To come this far on his own and lose… 'Maybe I really wasn't cut out to be a Trainer in the first place…'
And it was then in his despair that his knight in shining armor came to the rescue.
Suddenly, a burst of flame shot out of nowhere right into Bulbasaur's Vine Whips. The intense heat scared the wits out of the Grass type, and he retracted his tendrils in pain. Almost a second later, Oshawott was struck by a blur of orange and tumbled off his feet.
"What the-?" Ikari stammered before looking to his side, "Asuka!"
Soryu was standing tall beside him, giving him an annoyed look. Shinji noticed an empty silver canister behind her back; she must've snuck an Awakening from Prof. Akagi's lab when he was busy battling. "You really couldn't do it without me, huh, Baka-Shinji?"
"I was doing fine until now. They ganged up on me!"
"Don't give me your lame excuses! Asuka snapped before returning attention to her Pokémon, "Torchic! Scorch those weeds again with another Ember!"
'Time to bring the heat!' The Fire chick let out a squawk as he shot a second burst of flame from his beak, this time connecting directly with the Bulbasaur. Riolu managed to roll out of the way of the Ember, and gave his partner a nod.
'Have a nice nap, friend?'
'Hey, don't give me that crap, man,' Torchic replied in his own language, 'My owner was smart enough to steal something to wake me up with.'
'I'm surprised you actually woke up,' Riolu snickered back.
The bird's eye twitched in annoyance. 'Just wait until your part Steel type, buddy. Then we'll see whose laugh- Oh, crap!' Torchic ducked his head as a Water Gun by Oshawottbarely missed his crown of feathers.
"Hey!" Asuka stomped her foot, "Pay attention to the battle!"
'Yeah, yeah…' Torchic groaned and rolled his beady eyes. The Fire type then sped towards Toji's Oshawott in a kick of dust and drove a Peck attack right into him, knocking him into his Grass type partner. As he watched Asuka's Pokémon completely dominate the opposition, Shinji noticed the bird had gotten faster than he was earlier. He wasn't the only one to notice, however.
"Wat's up wit dat thing's speed?!" Suzuhara shouting was aimed not so discreetly towards Prof. Akagi, who was standing in the front row of the crowd, "Soryu and Ikari gotta be cheatin' fer sure!"
Ritsuko chuckled to herself before answering the boy's question. "That isn't any old Torchic you're facing. It has its Hidden Ability, after all."
"Wat da heck's a Hidden Ability?!"
"Every Pokémon has an Ability that helps them in, and sometimes out of, battle," the blonde explained, "For example, the majority of Torchic have Blaze, which powers up Fire type moves in a bad situation. However, some Pokémon have an Ability uncommon to their species, like Asuka's here. Instead of Blaze, it has Speed Boost. That means, the longer a battle goes on, the faster it gets."
"How's dat fair ta us?!"
"It's not…" Aida sighed, accepting premature defeat, "Remember when I told you about how certain Blaziken had been banned from the Avia Regional?"
"Yeah, wat about it?"
"This is why…"
"… We're screwed, aren't we?"
"Yup."
Seeing that their trainers had seemingly given up the fight, Oshawott and Bulbasaur gave each other a quick glance before the former pulled a white flag from seemingly out of nowhere, waving it at the oncoming Fire-type with a shaky smile. Riolu and Torchic looked back at their own trainers, not sure if to attack or not.
"Asuka," Shinji pointed a crooked finger at the opposing Pokémon, "I think they're surrendering. Maybe we should… Asuka?"
"Stupid, stupid Baka-Shinji…" the girl shook her head with a victorious smirk, "There's no backing down in a Pokémon battle. If that's how they wanna go down, then its fine with me!" Taking a dynamic pose, she gave her Pokémon one final command. "Torchic… Finish them!"
'Right!' With fire ready to burst from his beak, Torchic charged at his opponents at maximum speed. Oshawott and Bulbasaur held onto each other and screamed as the hot flame passed over them. Once the smoke cleared, both Pokémon were charred black and frozen. Each blinked twice before falling onto their backs, defeated.
"We won…" Shinji whispered in shock, "We… We won! Asuka, we won!"
The crowd broke into a roaring applause as Ikari unofficially declared victory for his team. Hats were tossed into the air as townsfolk rushed to hoist the victors onto their shoulders. Riolu and Torchic were not left out, as women flocked to pet and hug the adorable winners much to the two Pokémon's dismay.
'Please, don't hug me...,' Riolu grumbled silently as the females hovered above him. His Fire-type comrade was already inside of a squeeze induced hell created by a small toddler with bows in her hair.
'Asuka!' the bird cried, 'Where are you! Make them stop! ASUKA!'
"Thank you, thank you!" Soryu paid no attention to her Pokémon; she was bathing in the people's praise, her ego at sky-high levels, "You've just witnessed the first ever victory of your future champion!"
Shinji sighed at his friend as he politely asked the townsfolk to put him down. On his feet he called for Riolu, who rushed to him from in between the towering legs of the woman prison where Torchic was currently suffering.
"You did great, buddy," he said, ruffling the hair on Riolu's head, "Next time we'll win one by ourselves, okay?"
The Fighting dog nodded with a smile. 'We will indeed, Shinji.'
Defeated and humiliated, Toji and Kensuke withdrew Oshawott and Bulbasaur into their Pokeballs and went over to Shinji. Suzuhara extended a hand out to his opponent in sportsmanship.
"Dat was a damn good match, Prof," Toji said, "I guess you an' Soryu were da better team afta all."
Aida patted Shinji on the shoulder and winked. "I gotta agree with Toji, even though she did kinda carry you at the end. But with a Pokémon like hers, she's gonna be winning a lot more battles in the future. You and Riolu did pretty good against both of us on your own, however. How did you two do it? Giving orders without talking, I mean."
Shinji rubbed the back of his head as he shook Toji's hand, "Well, uh, that's just going to be a secret for now. I can't give away my only edge, now could I?"
"Aw, come on, Prof!" Suzuhara pressured, "Ya gotta tell us da secret to yer success!"
"Now now, boys," Prof. Akagi approached the trio from her position in the crowd, "Let Shinji here enjoy his victory; he's had enough pressure for one day. Congratulations on the win, by the way."
"Thanks," Shinji stood up and looked to the group of people surrounding Asuka. He knew she was at the center of it bragging about her superiority, and it made him smile. "But I technically didn't win it myself."
The blonde laughed, humored by Ikari's lack of confidence. "A win is a win, Shinj, no matter who deals the final blow."
"You are most certainly correct, Professor Ritsuko Akagi."
The woman froze at the sound of the heavily distorted voice coming from somewhere in the crowd behind her. Silence fell as others heard the bizarre speaking as well, murmurs running rampant between the confused townsfolk. Put off by the strange occurrence, Asuka hurried over to Shinji with Torchic scurrying at her heels, finally free from the binding hugs.
"What the hell's going on?" Soryu asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I don't know…" Shinji gave Riolu a quick look; the Pokémon appeared to have been rattled by the voice and was standing in a fighting position.
"Who's there?!" Prof. Akagi shouted, her eyes darting around the surrounding area, "Show yourself!"
"If you insist…" the voice replied monotonously. Then, from out of nowhere, a figure jumped down into the center of the former battlefield, his body cloaked in a pitch black hooded robe. All of his features were concealed within the cloak, bar the outline of his abnormally broad shoulders and long arms hanging from his sleeves. His face was covered as well by a pure white beaked mask, eerily similar to that of a crow. "Though I am not a fan of being in the light. My appearance is… unsettling to many."
"What… what are you?" Shinji stammered, frightened by the figure's intimidating appearance.
"My designation," the stranger replied calmly like he was answering a superior's order, "Is Special Agent Number Three of Team Seele. Codename: Sachiel."
"Team Seele?" Asuka whispered. She had heard about these so-called righteous organizations before. They seemed to pop up from out of nowhere from around the globe. There had been Team Rocket in Kanto and Johto, Teams Magma and Aqua in Hoenn, Team Galactic in Sinnoh, Team Plasma in Unova, Team Flare in Kalos… and now Team Seele in Avia? What could these creeps want with the world now?
Prof. Akagi took a step forward towards Sachiel, placing herself between him and the children. "We don't want any trouble here, especially from the likes of you and Team Seele. Leave this town immediately!"
"I am afraid that is not possible," Sachiel answered flatly, "My orders were to not leave Merganser Town without Artifact 316. I was informed that it was in your possession, Professor Ritsuko Akagi."
Ritsuko's eyes narrowed, "I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about."
The Profesor took the words right out of Shinji's mind. What was this Sachiel guy talking about? However, the boy had a feeling that the Professor did know something about this artifact, and it worried him deeply.
"Your insolence is a flaw, Professor," Sachiel reached into his cloak and pulled out a strange looking Pokéball. It was coated in a deep chrome red with a cryptic eyed triangle embossed on the top half in black: the symbol of Team Seele. "I will give you one more chance to comply. Otherwise…"
Sachiel tossed the Pokéball into the air and watched as his beast of destruction emerged from within. The large dinosaurian Rock-Dark type landed on the ground with a rumbling thud and let out a roar of pure rage. Akagi, Shinji, Asuka and everyone around them stared at the Pokémon with dread in their minds, knowing fully of this monster's pure destructive power: exactly what Sachiel wanted them to feel.
"I will have my Tyranitar wipe this town from existence…"
Next Stage:
Enter Team Seele!
Sachiel's Threatening Ultimatum!
