Downfall Of A Legend

CHAPTER 7

"We can't lose anymore," Brock stated solemnly.

"He used to always think of Ash as a mentor and best friend..." May said gently, giving the man a warm smile. "...If anyone can pull out a win, especially in these circumstances, it's Max."

"You may begin when you're ready," Leader told them, his chin leaning on his fist with a smirk.

"Just because you are a child, don't expect me to go easy," Trevor said plainly, holding a pokeball.

"I am not a child! And I wouldn't want an opponent going easy on me!" Max shouted back, gripping his pokeball tightly. Both trainers tossed their spheres at the same time, bursting open on the field and releasing their fighters. Trevor's pokemon was an elegant white swan, and Max's was an elegant woman-like figure.

"You may have the first move," Trevor said politely, looking expectantly at the younger trainer. Max frowned.

"Gardevoir, Psychic!" the psychic-type's eyes flashed blue, the bird feeling its weight intensify, barely holding itself on its feet.

"Swanna, Bubblebeam," the swan released an array of bubbles, but they stopped and burst before reaching its opponent.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Max called, smiling. "Gardevoir, Charge Beam!" the elegant figure held out its open palm, a bolt of electricity suddenly forming and targeting the bird.

"Endure, then Aqua Ring," the bird struggled to hold its chest up, managing to hold its own as the bolt drew closer. It struck the bird's chest, the pokemon wincing as the electricity weakly entered its body. As the bolt cut off, the bird extended its wings out, two rings of water forming around it.

"What?! Charge Beam should have been more than enough!" Max gasped, surprised as the bird was still standing.

"One, Aqua Ring is a self-restoration move. Two, your electricity hit the seashells on Swanna's chest," the bird nodded, holding its chest high. "Our training has improved that into a shield from electric powers."

"Not bad...I'll have to move around that somehow..." Max muttered, watching the bird intently. "...Gardevoir, Shadow Ball!"

"Dodge, then Bubblebeam," the bird extended its wings, taking to the air. As the purple sphere passed under, the bird opened its beak and released a stream of powerful bubbles.

"Charge Beam!" the psychic-type released a bolt of electricity, bursting quickly through the bubbles.

"Dodge," the bird barrel-rolled, avoiding the attack. "Now Aerial Ace," moving directly out of its roll, it dived towards the ground and lifted, advancing on Gardevoir at a high speed.

"Psychic!" the bird became outlined in blue, feeling itself slowed down.

"Rotate and Bubblebeam," resisting the psychic energy, the bird spun its body being held in place, releasing a jet of bubbles from its beak.

"Not gonna- What?!" Max gasped, surprised at the turn of events. From the influence of spinning, the bubbles propelled outward, creating a tunnel from the bird to the psychic-type. Gardevoir debated which bubbles to stop, but was surprised as each bubble moved back inward, striking the pokemon's stomach.

"Gardevoir!" the psychic-type winced as the bubbles burst on its chest, glaring back at the bird. Shocked, the swan's wings were extended before its beak passed its head, feeling a wing slammed into its stomach. Gardevoir called in pain, feeling itself lifted into the air. The swan held on its wing, throwing it back at the ground with a painful collision. "Gardevoir, are you okay?"

"Water Pulse," the bird formed a sphere of water between its wings, throwing it down at the pokemon. The water spread around it, enveloping it in a larger sphere of rushing water, before exploding and being sent roughly back to its side of the battlefield.

"Gardevoir, you have to get up!" the psychic-type struggled to its feet, wincing from the sudden rush of attacks. "Alright! Let's win this!"

"Take to the air and give a spinning Bubblebeam," the bird flew upward, spinning and releasing a spiraling vortex of bubbles down on the psychic-type. "Draw in for an Aerial Ace."

"You stopped it before, you can do it again!" Max encouraged his pokemon, the Hoenn pokemon's eyes glowing blue as it burst each bubble individually. Each bursting rapidly after the other, the bird glided along the ground in the middle of the tunnel.

"Brave Bird," Max and Gardevoir's eyes widened, the swan suddenly becoming cloaked in a blue shine. The bird giving a call, it gained speed and crashed into the psychic-type's stomach, its body jolting backwards and slamming into the wall.

"Gardevoir!" Max shouted, looking back in shock. The psychic-type fell to the ground, its eyes closed.

"I guess that's my win," Trevor remarked, recalling the bird. Max frowned, calling back his pokemon. Both drew another pokeball.

"I can't lose..." Max's grip tightened, his anger rising. "...I choose you!" both pokeballs soared into the air, bursting down in a blue light and taking form. The match was a blue figure with a long tail against a black and grey-furred wolf. "Mightyena, Take Down!"

"Vaporeon, Hydro Pump," the blue figure opened its mouth, releasing a powerful blast of water on the charging wolf, stopping it in its tracks. "Change to Aurora Beam," the water cut off, replaced by a rainbow-colored beam.

"Shadow Ball!" the wolf formed a purple sphere in its mouth, exploding against the colorful attack. "Give 'em a barrage of Shadow Balls!"

"Get to the left and zero in with Iron Tail," the wolf fired several purple spheres into the smoke, clearing through and parting it. Looking around for the water-type cautiously, it appeared on the left side of the field. The wolf snapped its head towards the left, but it was gone. Surprised with a grunt of pain, it felt a hard and powerful tail slammed into its neck from the opposite side, sending it sliding back on its claws.

"It's that fast...?" Max looked intently at the water-type returning to its side. The wolf shook its head, bearing its teeth. "We won't be able to get close without backfiring...So we'll have to..."

"Vaporeon, Aurora beam," the colorful beam advanced on the Hoenn pokemon.

"Shadow Ball!" the attacks exploded on contact. "Now stand perfectly still."

"Right, advance with Iron Tail," the dog closed its eyes, useless to look forward with the smoke and sides with its speed. Focusing, it heard the light tap to the right from the water-type's feet hitting the ground.

"Shadow Ball on the ground!" launching several purple spheres down, they exploded beneath the dog, sending dust into the air. The water-type closed in, swinging its tail around through the smoke, cutting it in half. Surprised, the dog was gone.

"What?" Trevor looked up, his pokemon getting a suspicious feeling and also looking up cautiously.

"Now, Mightyena! Crunch!" the water-type's eyes averted at the ground, where a hole was forming beneath it. It gave a pained cry as the dog's teeth sank into the water-type's side. "Change to Thunder Fang!" its teeth suddenly sparked with electricity, the eeveelution crying louder from the super-effective shock.

"Vaporeon, Hydro Pump!" the water-type released a powerful blast of water on the dog, but felt a stronger surge of electricity enter its body, giving another pained scream. "That can't be..."

"When I'm using a physical electric-type attack, using a water-type attack is a big mistake," Max called, grinning with his arms crossed. "You hit Mightyena with water, which only served as a stronger conductor. The electricity travelled up the water, giving another entry point in Vaporeon's body for the electric attack."

"Clever...But I'm afraid, not enough to defeat me," Trevor told him, smirking. "Vaporeon, Iron Tail on the ground," the water-type swung its shining tail into the field, propelling the pair upward. "Now, shake and strike it," the water-type shook its body in an attempt to release the dog's teeth, readying its silver-gleaming tail.

"Mightyena, one more blast then let go!" the dog intensified its bite, releasing another surge of electricity into its opponent before letting go. The water-type gave a pained cry, looking angrily at the dog before swinging its tail around. "Counter that!" the Hoenn pokemon's own tail flashed silver, bringing it up against the water-type's. "Shadow Ball!"

"Aurora Beam," both pokemon charged their mouth-based attacks, looking determined at their opponent. Just as both were about to fire, both pokemon suddenly cut off their attacks and increased pressure in their tail, bearing their teeth.

"Seems we both had the same idea..." Max frowned, looking disappointed. "Oh well. Give it everything you got, Mightyena!"

"You too, Vaporeon!" both pokemon nodded, a passionate flame lit in their eyes. "Hydro Pump, send it to the ground."

"Thunder Fang!" the intense blast of water struck the dog, but not before it opened its mouth, focusing an electric power in its teeth. The water grazed the side of its mouth, the sparks traveling off its teeth and entering the water tunnel, traveling up rapidly and entering the water-type. It gave a pained cry, surprised at the sudden shock. The power cut off from its tail, the dog overpowering it and slamming into the water-type's neck. "You can do it!" the dog gave a howl which seemed to echo, pushing both their bodies to the ground. The figures crashed into the ground with debris rising in a cloud.

"I fell for it...Again..." Trevor muttered, shaking his head with his eyes closed. As the dust parted, both figures were standing defensively, their legs weakly shaking. They stared each other down, before the eeveelution gave way, closing its eyes.

"We won! Mightyena, you were great!" the boy hugged the dog happily, who smiled back. Both trainers recalled their pokemon, the boy wearing a smile as he pulled another pokeball. "One more and this match is mine."

"I'm afraid that was only a fluke, boy," Trevor called, tossing his pokeball, the burst of light forming a beautiful water serpent.

"Then I guess I'll take off the gloves!" Max called back, his pokeball releasing a large ape figure. "You can go first this time!"

"Regretful, but I accept. Milotic, Hydro Pump," the serpent released a powerful stream of water.

"Block it, Slaking!" lying on its side, the ape lazily extended its palms, the water hitting it but being stopped. "Now, Earthquake!" its hands turned to fists, crashing down into the ground and sending a crevice towards the water-type.

"Dodge, then Aqua Tail," the serpent slid to the side, the crevice passing harmlessly as the serpent moved quickly along the ground towards the ape, its tail giving off a swirl of water.

"Hammer Arm!" the ape's arm glowed a dark shade of red, swinging it into the ground. Upon collision, a small pillar of stone rose up from the ground.

"Break it," the serpent swung its tail over, crashing through the stone and coming down on the ape. It lifted its glowing arm, blocking the attack. "Ice Beam, then Hydro Pump," the serpent fired an icy beam at the ape's lower half, freezing it to the ground. Retreating from its attack, it fired an intense stream of water at the defenseless ape.

"Slaking, break that ice!" the ape grunted as the water struck its stomach, flexing its lower muscles and shattering the ice. It got to its feet, pounding its chest. "Now Earthquake!"

"Ice Beam again, then Aqua Tail," the serpent froze the ape's feet to the ground, advancing quickly with its tail surrounded by a watery aura.

"Break free and Focus Punch!" the ice shattered again, the ape drawing back its red-glowing fist. The tail and fist collided, the ape reaching out with its other hand and grabbing the serpent. "Slam it down! Then Hammer Arm!" it swung the serpent over its head, colliding painfully with the ground. The ape brought its arms back over its head.

"Milotic, Hidden Power," the ape brought its arms down with a grin, but was surprised as small green spheres suddenly formed around the serpent, each exploding. The ape stumbled back, catching its balance. "Hidden Power again," the serpent raised its head, grinning as several more green spheres formed around it, darting at the ape and exploding on its chest. The large figure fell on its back, shaking the field slightly as its eyes remained closed.

"What?! We lost to only one attack?!" Max shouted in disbelief, eyes wide as he stared at his defeated ape.

"The number of attacks is meaningless, it's the power and strategy of how it's used," Trevor told him, grinning as he recalled his graceful pokemon. Max gritted his teeth, recalling the ape. "My victory."

"...This time," Max muttered, glaring at the trainer before turning and returning to his friends. Trevor returned to the throne's side, taking his position by Leader again.

"The boy had you running," Leader told him, smirking.

"I assure you, it was only a show to raise the boy's expectancy," Trevor replied, his expression remaining neutral.

"Sure..." Lexi rolled her eyes, smiling innocently while looking in the opposite direction. Jack smirked to himself, arms behind his head as he stood with his eyes closed.

"You were great, Max," May told him, giving a reassuring smile while patting his back.

"I lost, there's nothing more to it," Max replied, looking at N. "When you battle Ash, you have to win. If he's defeated, the others will fall with him."

"When he's defeated, Max," Brock told the boy.

"I will battle to my fullest, Max. We will defeat them," the oldest man told him, holding a hand over his chest. Max nodded, a solemn expression on his face.

"Now, the next two trainers will take the field," Leader called, pressing a button by his side. The electric board flashed, showing the faces of the next two trainers while the battlefield switched to an undamaged version.

"Good luck," Brock said, the girl moving down to the field. The two girls stepped into their separate trainer box, each wearing a smile.

"I've been looking forward to this, Dawn."

"Me, too. But this top coordinator isn't losing, Lexi."

END