Chapter 28
Katana watched the backs of Mark and Maple as they left the lake, heading back towards the city. It was nearly midnight and the half moon overhead provided the only light. The Leafeon-girl had been completely exhausted hours ago, but she pushed herself through the pain and the fatigue. It was the last chance they had, after all.
"What do you think, master?" Katana asked Aurum, who was gathering up their gear, including nearly thirty discarded potion bottles, "can they win?"
The old man didn't answer, right away. He thought carefully, weighing their strengths and weaknesses. They were stronger, Aurum had made that possible, but he was far from finished with them. Whether they won or lost was of little concern to Aurum. He would continue training them either way.
"It doesn't matter," Aurum admitted, "that's up to them. We've done all we can."
"I know," Katana shrugged, "still…I think I do want them to win."
"Oh?" Aurum stopped what he was doing to peer at Katana through the half-light of the moon, "looking for a new rival?"
"Hardly," Katana smirked, "she's good, but she's no Tempest. Not by a long shot."
"Then why?"
"I don't know…" Katana considered, "I don't see why I should be worried."
"You care about them," Aurum pointed out.
"Well, sure, but…" Katana shook her head, "it feels like I should be out there with them."
"You can't," Aurum said sternly, "I forbid it. Not because you're my follower. But they need to do it themselves. If you help them now, then everything they've worked for won't mean anything. Win together or lose together, it doesn't matter which. As long as they do it together."
"Right…" Katana nodded, her thoughts already far away, "I wish we had stayed together."
"It couldn't be helped," Aurum said much too fast.
"I wonder…" Katana had lost too many friends to let the matter drop easily, "master, is it too late to go back? I know you miss them, too. Couldn't we at least see them, again?"
"We will," Aurum said, "but only when they're ready."
Katana nodded. She followed Aurum back through the Kieru Forest, electing to stay outside of her Pokéball for a bit longer. She hoped that he was right. About everything.
Mark paced the empty locker room of the Himitsu Island stadium. Maple was concealed inside her Pokéball. That had taken quite a bit of convincing, but it was standard practice for all human Pokémon to start the match inside their Pokéballs.
But it was very unsettling for Maple to not be at his side. More than ever, he wanted her to be right next to him and encourage him. The plan would work, had to work. He had to keep telling himself, afraid that if he didn't, the magic of it would be lost. It had been a brilliant idea the day before, but here in the quiet, sterile loneliness of the locker room, he really wanted Maple to reassure him.
He wanted to tell himself that there was nothing more to worry about, both he and Maple would be strong enough or they wouldn't. The time for preparation was gone. Still, he couldn't sit still.
Of course, why should he be so worried? Maple was the one that was going to do all of the fighting, after all. And she was locked inside the Pokéball that she hated and was just as alone as he was. What was she going through?
Mark jumped when the stadium attendant finally appeared to let him know that it was time. He followed the attendant to the door leading to the field. Light poured in from outside, illuminating the dark stadium interior. Mark hesitated, taking a few deep breaths and wringing his hands, before stepping through the light onto the field.
Squinting against the bright sun, he looked around at the packed stadium. The field had been repaired since Aurum's match. The trench and the gaping holes in the ground were gone. The grass was even full and vibrant. However, Mark didn't have time to wonder about how. Besides, how the field looked was the last thing on his mind.
The cheers that he remembered when Aurum took to the field were all but non-existent. Instead, it was more of the excited whispering that had followed his fight with Alex the day before. But, to Mark's relief and delight, a few cheers sounded from the front row. There sat Kim, Volt, Billow, Flurry and Ian all clapping and cheering. Ian whistled loud enough to disturb the dozing Aurum sitting next to him. Katana sat next to her master, silent, but eager to watch Maple, her new apprentice, test her skill. Mark smiled and waved as he made his way toward the center of the field.
He had friends and they were cheering for him. For a few moments, he forgot all of the uncertainty and all of the pain that he and Maple had endured to get to this point. What did it matter next to the feeling that they gave him?
Ian's whistling was drowned out in a mixture of cheering and booing as Tristan entered from the opposite side of the stadium. Obviously, Tristan had a mixed reputation with the other human Pokémon trainers. Mark had met him for just a brief moment, but it had been enough. Tristan was not a normal trainer. He wondered what it was about Tristan that made him so unstable.
Tristan paid no attention to the crowd as he entered. His gaze remained fixed on Mark as the two trainers came to the center of the stadium to shake hands.
Mark hated that look. He felt like he remembered it, but he couldn't place it. Images and faces from his childhood came to mind. Childish bullying, perhaps? But thinking about it got him nowhere. It was something that he had forgotten…or chose not to remember.
"Ah, you again," Tristan grinned as he crushed Mark's hand in his death-grip, "I thought I remembered hearing your name somewhere before. So, all you've got is that Leafeon…"
"That's how it looks," Mark said, guarding his secret without outright lying.
"Haha, I like you," Tristan squeezed just a little bit harder before releasing, "you get what all this is about. You gotta stay in charge and stay in control. Otherwise people will come from all over to take it away from you."
"Right…" Mark answered, ignoring the pain throbbing in his hand.
"Anyway," Tristan turned towards the red platform, "make this last a while, would you? My gang's been waiting a long time for this. I don't want to disappoint them."
Mark didn't bother responding, but just walked towards the green platform. He went over the plan again. If the Persian came first, then Maple could take her. If not…
Well, sure it's legal, Mark remembered what Kim had told him, it's just that nobody's ever done it. It's basically suicide.
Suicide or not, Mark didn't have any other options. And who knew? Maybe suicide was exactly what he needed to try…as crazy as that sounded.
"Welcome one and all to this year's seventh match! We've already seen six spectacular matches and now we're ready for more!" The announcer's over-enthusiastic voice boomed throughout the stadium.
"How's it going over there?" a small intercom to Mark's right crackled and he recognized Tristan's voice. It wasn't until then that Mark remembered that the platforms had speaker systems and microphones built in for the competitors to "interact" during the match. Basically, it was encouraging them to taunt each other.
"Doing just fine, Tristan," Mark replied coolly, "you ready to hit the dirt?"
"Tough words now that you're so far away," Tristan clucked his tongue, "let's get it on, then."
"Ready when you are," Mark reached down and felt for the Pokéball at his belt. Both trainers threw out their Pokéballs simultaneously.
Apollo appeared, stretching his wings out to their two-meter wingspan. He smirked at his opponent across the field and then he furrowed his brow in confusion.
Mark's Jolteon stood in the spot where Apollo had expected to see the Leafeon-girl.
"You screwin' with me, man?" Tristan was just as confused as his human Swellow.
"It's not illegal," Mark smirked, "the rules don't forbid the use of regular Pokémon. Come on, Tristan. Or are you afraid?"
"You're crazy, man," Mark could practically hear him shaking his head, "whatever. Take it down, Apollo, Brave Bird."
"Thunderbolt!" Mark commanded. Apollo shot into the air, quickly rising a few meters off the ground. Pointing his head forward, he launched himself at the Jolteon as it built up energy for the attack. Apollo closed the distance in moments, slamming into the Jolteon, but it was just a little too slow and Jitter managed to hit Apollo before it dropped.
Yellow streams of electricity arced out of Jitter's body and surged into the human Swellow. Apollo gritted his teeth against the pain, but still flew straight. He connected with the Jolteon, slamming his shoulder into its side. After it was done, he dropped to the ground as the remnants of the Thunderbolt dispersed. He glared up at the trainer on the green platform. Below him, Jitter had fainted, collapsing onto the grass, and would fight no more.
"Good job," Mark recalled Jitter. It was over quick, but it had gone better than expected. Jitter had been lucky to get off an attack, and despite the fact that Apollo didn't appear badly hurt, Mark knew that every little bit helped. If the human Swellow went down, then they stood a chance.
Brave Bird, Mark thought, good. He thought about the attack that Apollo had used. It was a powerful attack that many bird Pokémon possessed. The user launched themselves at their target at blindingly fast speeds and rammed into it at full force. The resulting impact did excellent damage, but the user paid the price as well, taking a small amount of damage, in the process.
Four more Pokémon, before Maple.
"Eclipse," Maple's older brother took to the field. If Jitter had been fast enough to inflict some damage, then just maybe Eclipse would be tough enough to survive a hit.
"Please, man, this is pointless. Brave Bird, again," Tristan ordered. Apollo flapped his wings, taking to the air just a tiny bit slower this time.
"Toxic," Mark instructed.
Once again, Apollo slammed into his target at full speed. The close range made the attack devastatingly effective.
But Eclipse managed to stay on his feet and he countered by spitting a globule of purple liquid at Apollo. The goo hit him directly in the chest and soaked through his shirt. He stared at it in disgust, not realizing that the poison was already taking effect.
"Dammit, Apollo! Finish the stupid thing!" Tristan roared.
Mark didn't bother with an order, since it was already over. But Eclipse had done his job and Mark wasn't the least bit surprised when he had to recall his Umbreon.
Apollo possessed so much power. The gap between the regular Pokémon and the human ones was overwhelming. Still, Mark took great pride in raising his Pokémon. They were strong, and as long as he used them right they could beat Apollo.
"Hercules," Mark called out his Heracross. Against a bird Pokémon a Heracross would just be a kamikaze. Mark would have to repay him somehow. But right then, he needed Hercules' strength, even if all he could do was bait Apollo into defeating himself.
Another Brave Bird hit and Hercules tumbled over backward. He slammed into the base of Mark's platform before fainting. He never even got an attack off.
But that was when the first sign of victory appeared. Once Mark recalled Hercules, he looked down and saw Apollo cough up a mouthful of blood and groan as the poison grew stronger.
"Son of a…" Apollo groaned, gripping his stomach, "boss, what's going on?"
"How should I know?" his trainer responded, "just keep taking 'em down. You're doing great."
Hardly, Mark thought. True, three of his Pokémon were already gone, but the plan to defeat Tristan was already going extremely well. Everything would add up. The poison from Toxic was building strength, the damage from Apollo's Brave Birds went right back at him and Jitter had even scored a real hit.
Still, Mark wasn't stupid enough to count on his regular Pokémon to win the entire match. They just needed to take out one. If Apollo went down, the stage would be set. Maple could defeat two, but it was up to Mark to get everything ready.
Two more Pokémon before he had to rely on Maple. The least he could do was make sure that she only had to fight two. His Pokémon were dropping like flies in the face of power like this, but he was making progress. Five on one, if Mark could do that, then there was still hope.
"Tanker," Mark's Donphan was the next out. He's hurting…just a little bit more.
Apollo was becoming more and more sluggish whenever he took to the air and came down again. Normally, he'd probably stay in the air for an entire match, but he was too weak and he needed rest in between attacks.
"Ice Shard," Mark ordered. No matter how fast Apollo was, an Ice Shard should get there first. Shot from Tanker's tusks, the sharpened ice-dagger caught Apollo's wing and he lost his balance. Nevertheless, he hit his mark, right in between Tanker's tusks and the expertly aimed attack made the Donphan go down.
Last one, Mark thought. He looked down at Apollo. The human Swellow looked positively miserable. He was groaning and clutching his stomach as the poison grew even stronger. He coughed up another mouthful of blood and he barely had the energy to wipe it off of his mouth. I think we got him. Mark couldn't help but smile.
"Volcano," Mark's last Pokémon, before Maple, appeared on the field, roaring defiantly at the human Swellow.
"End this shit," Tristan commanded, "Brave Bird, now."
"Mach Punch," Mark almost felt sorry for Apollo when Volcano shot forward and punched him squarely in the jaw. Careening backwards, Apollo tried to flap his wings, but he was too weak to get into the air. Coughing up another mouthful of blood, he tottered forward and fell on the ground, unconscious. Volcano screeched in triumph as the red light claimed Apollo.
That's one, Mark thought, now, who's next?
"Cleopatra," Tristan said, dropping the Pokéball with the human Persian inside. She appeared across the field, stretching and meowing.
"Mach Punch," Mark commanded. It would be Volcano's last attack, but Mark just wanted it to hit. He had already accomplished more than what he thought he would. Everything was in place for Maple to finish the job.
"Fake Out," the Infernape was fast, but he was nothing compared to the blur of the human Persian as she launched across the field. The two met halfway, but Cleo was the only one that hit. She slapped Volcano across the face, dazing the Infernape for a few seconds. A moment later, without waiting for an order, Cleo flexed her hand. It was replaced with a cat-like paw and three-inch long claws extended from the ends. Her Slash attack raked across the Infernape and he was finished.
Mark recalled Volcano.
Had it really been enough? Mark still didn't want to throw Maple into this fight. It had taken five of Mark's best Pokémon to take down just one opponent. But there wasn't anything more he could do on his own. He needed Maple, now.
He needed her and she would need him. They only stood a chance if they were together. Since coming to Himitsu Island, he had learned that much. Now was the time to see if it was enough.
"Maple."
AN: so that's part 1 of this fight.
Yep…that's it…
thanks for reading!
