Midterm Exam: Round 1 – Timing Attacks
Copper stood there with his hands clenched, staring across the arena at Teal. Teal was stretching and then proceeded to do knee raises. Although there were exams going on in all four auditoriums, it seemed like most of the school was in Arena Yellow. A low chant of "Teal- Teal! He's for real!" went through the stadium.
"Ugh, I hate him," Copper thought. The computer monitor reeled as it randomly selected three Pokémon from the "Introduction to Battle Techniques" list.
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Copper was zoning out in the cafeteria as a group of students put up a banner that read, "Freshman Showcase 1 Month away." A few students from his class ran into the cafeteria in a ruckus, crossing right past him to a back table to join their friends.
"Hey did you hear? That first year Teal just defeated Sierra!" an excited boy shouted as he entered.
"Sierra? You don't mean the upperclassman from the Battle Team?" responded someone else from the group.
"Yeah, he wiped the floor with her during Open Gym! And now he is winning in a match against Bronze!"
"What! He is facing Bronze? But Bronze is a Senior!"
"And the Captain of the Battle Team!"
Copper rolled his eyes and continued eating lunch, pretending he couldn't hear the commotion over his headphones. The crowd ran from the lunchroom to witness another chapter of "The Amazing Teal Chronicles".
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"First move goes to the Red Corner," Professor Pine said pointing towards Teal. Teal reached for a Pokeball from the terminal and selected his first Pokémon.
"Go Shellder!" The purple bivalve Pokémon exploded out of its Pokeball and landed with a thud at the Red side of the arena. There were "whoops" from a group of girls in the auditorium.
Copper took off his headphones and put them on the terminal. The computer finished generating his three pokemon; Mankey, Doduo, and Bellsprout. "Go Bellsprout!"
Copper chose his Pokémon for the type advantage and waited anxiously for Teal to make his move.
"Icy Wind," Teal let out calmly and a cold breeze erupted from Shellder in a cone towards Bellsprout. The attack hit Bellsprout head on and Copper could see his Plant-Pokémon dig its roots in deeper to avoid being blown away. He remembered from Pokémon Ecology that this as a strategy that plants do in the wild to avoid being uprooted during storms.
"Bellsprout, relax your grip. Roll with it," Copper ordered. He knew that restraining against the attack would lead to Bellsprout taking more damage. He was considering the physics of the attack in his head and was calculating vector arrows. Bellsprout rolled backwards, relaxing his grip on the ground. The Icy Wind passed and it was time to counterattack. Bellsprout straightened itself out as the last of the Icy Wind spread, "Razor Leaf now!"
Bellsprout fired out a round of leaves from his sides.
"How textbook," Teal sneered as the leaves glanced off of Shellders shell. "Withdraw!"
"Keep up the Razor Leaf!" Copper thought back to classes. Razor Leaf is a Light-Attack, so it could be fired multiple times in succession where as Icy Wind was a Heavy-Attack that needed time to launch. Bellsprout continued to fire leaves as Shellder and Teal waited patiently.
The time between razor leaf hits was getting longer and longer as Bellsprout tired. Teal took his opportunity to attack. "Tackle!" he screamed as Shellder launched its body across the battlefield.
"Bellsprout move!"
"Icy Wind! Let's Go!"
Shellder flew across the arena faster than Copper thought was possible for a Pokémon without any legs. Bellsprout kicked out from under it with a vine whip attack to the ground. Shellder hit the ground with a thud, turned, and hit Bellsprout directly with another Icy Wind attack.
"Bellsprout is unable to battle," called the referee. "Shellder is the winner."
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There had been many Open-Gym sessions the weeks before the Freshman Showcase but Copper had not been taking full advantage. It wasn't because he was being lazy but more because he was embarrassed to have matches in front of his classmates. It was now one week before the Showcase and Copper decided he needed to put in some practice time.
Teal was finishing up a double battle with some upperclassman. He was laughing and having a good time. Teal looked to be in his element; confident and holding his own using high-level combinations. He finished his battle and shook hands with the opponents he defeated. All the while smiling his gigantic grin.
"Hey, excuse me Teal," Copper interrupted. "Would you be interested in a battle?"
"Oh umm… Hey," Teal said and paused. "I normally would be, but I have to get ready for the Freshman Showcase. There isn't a lot of time, so I really want to make sure that I work with students who are better than me. You know, to get better myself."
"Oh yeah! Yeah- yeah!" he exclaimed, unintentionally frantic. "No problem. I get you."
"Yeah. I kind of envy you," Teal replied. "You don't have to worry about the Showcase, since you are entering the Technology Program. We Battle kids have it rough!" He laughed.
"Haha, yeah." Copper faked a laugh back.
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Copper was frustrated. His first Pokémon was down and he barely put a scratch on Shellder. "Go Doduo!" he screamed as the two-headed bird Pokémon prepared for battle. He chose to go with speed to get around Shellder's high defense. He had a plan in his head to accrue speed bu using Agility and eventually get a fury attack going.
"Icy Wind again!"
"Agility!"
Doduo ran the length of the arena. Shellder positioned itself with a corner of the arena to his back, the textbook strategy when facing an opponent that is faster than you. Copper expected this and put his strategy into motion.
"Get behind it," and Doduo wedged itself between Shellder and the corner of the auditorium, but it was not Copper who had set up a trap. Teal had expected this strategy and already had Shellder turning, poised to attack the corner at close range.
Doduo, being a flying type was weak to ice. If Copper could kick himself, he would have. He was now down to his last Pokémon as Doduo went down to an Icy Wind.
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Copper knocked on Professor Pine's door. It was the last five minutes of her Office Hours, and she was packing up to go to her next class.
"Excuse me Professor, I was hoping to register for the Freshman Showcase."
"Hello Copernicus," Professor Pine greeted him. "You know the Showcase is only needed for students who want to enter the Trainer Program."
"Yes. I know. I put a lot of thought into it. I want to be a Pokémon Trainer."
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Copper's last Pokémon was Mankey. The squirrely monkey Pokémon jumped around the arena. The cheers for Teal were deafening. A chant of Teal's name started going through the Auditorium again. Copper could see Teal's gigantic grin from across the stadium as he waved to his fans.
Copper held up his last Pokeball and recalled Mankey, forfeiting the match. He ran out of the arena and into the hallway. Behind him, the announcer named Teal the victor. He found the first empty classroom that he could find. He reached into his bag for his computer and opened it up, more by instinct than anything else. He put on his headphones and plugged them into his computer. He didn't know what else to do with himself. His game opened up. His character stood there; tall, muscular, and good-looking holding a beautiful woman with Green-hair. He closed his computer screen and put his head down on it.
