Awakening
Chapter 36: Battle Royale
Ashimi found herself at Mount Silver, standing at the summit across her grandfather. "This time we battle for real, I expect that you've trained enough to bring a better challenge than last time. There's no need to hold back here. The rules are up to you."
Ashimi was surprised by the opportunity, and thought about what kind of rules she wanted. Nothing too complicated, she had enough to watch out for as it was. "Six pokemon," she finally replied, that should maximize her chances of victory. Though Giovanni would also have the same number of pokemon at his disposal at least she had more choices and the chance to come up with a long term strategy. Then an idea occurred to her. "At the same time."
Giovanni considered her words and a grin spread across his face. "A battle royale," that would be interesting indeed. "Very well then, go," he signaled for the female Persian that stood beside him. Purry stood between the two trainers and was soon joined by five others who emerged from red beams of light out of their pokeballs. The male Persian, who was Giovanni's lifelong companion yawned and sat comfortably at his master's feet to watch the battle. A Rhyperior, a Machamp and surprisingly a Porygon-Z materialized, but that was just the beginning. Aerodactyl appeared, followed by a pokemon that seemed to be a cross between Kabutops and Genesect. It was Giovanni's version of the armored pokemon, which retained noticeable features from the original form, such as the scythes.
'No digging,' Ashimi thought. She had seen what Giovanni's earthquakes could do outside of the gym and this was no ordinary gym battle, the tunnels would collapse too quickly, crushing the pokemon inside. She'd have to come up with an effective defense though, and having all her pokemon out at once made that a little easier.
"Rhyperior, poison jab on the Pikachu," Giovanni began the attack.
"Clefable, telekinesis, Lightning, volt tackle Kabutops!" Ashimi responded. Clefable lifted Lightning over Rhyperior and set him at a course with his target.
"Kabutops, flash cannon!" Giovanni defended.
"Telekinesis! Smoke screen!" In her rush, Ashimi didn't specify who the orders were for, but she didn't really need to. Clefable hurried to get Lightning to safety, while Chari covered his retreat. The beam from the canon was massive and Lightning just barely got out of the way.
Kabutops still retained his original appearance for the most part, but he had the power of Genesect. "Icy wind!" At Giovanni's command, Kabutops called forth a freezing wind that blew away the smoke and chilled his opponents.
"Heat wave!" Ashimi countered. Chari tried to warm the area, while Kabotops continued to chill it. "
"Persian, shadow ball, on all of them," Giovanni commanded. Purry let out a series of attacks in rapid succession. The male Persian sitting beside Giovanni grunted from the sidelines, a bit jealous of his mate. He was supposed to be Persian, she was just girl, as Giovanni never called her by her original nicknamed of Purry from when she was Pixel's pokemon. Albeit the male Persian could understand the reason for the distinction, Aerodactyl was a girl too after all, it still bothered him.
Ashimi knew that simply dodging would be useless. Purry's ruby horn was glowing and the shadow balls flew around in unusual patterns as if homing in on their targets. It was time to increase the defenses. "Everyone, fall back, Clefable, light screen!" The pokemon retreated to surround Clefable and become enveloped in her protection. "Lightning, thunder wave! Golbat, super sonic!" The pulses of electricity disrupted the shadowy projectiles and the super sonic waves interfered with their signal source, Purry. "Clefable, hang back and alternate between light screen and reflect as needed."
So far Ashimi had put on some very good defenses, but Giovanni was determined to break through them. There were several Porygon-Z in Team Rocket's control that were linked to satellites. They all had different code names for distinction. This one was made for battle, "Maverick, satellite beam!"
Ashimi's eyes widened as the skies lit up, "everyone, charge!" She shouted, pointing across the designated battle area. All the pokemon rushed forward and chaos broke loose. Yet it was the only way to keep them safe from the satellite. A large laser beam crashed into the mountain top, leaving a crater in front of Ashimi, where her pokemon stood not long ago. She had to take out that Porygon-Z, and until she did, she had to stay close to the opposing team, so that the weapon would backfire if it was used.
"Machamp, close combat! Persian, night slash! Rhyperior, stone edge! Aerodactyl, iron tail! Kabutops, super power! Maverick, gravity!" Giovanni called out in a hurry, as Ashimi's whole team rushed forward to avoid the hit from the satellite's laser beam.
Being the strongest physically, Chari didn't think twice before charging towards the imposing Machamp. She didn't need to be told what to do, as she had practiced it before. She moved closer, and as the Machamp attacked, she used her wings to quickly propel herself in a back flip and hit Machamp with an iron tail uppercut that made the fighter stagger back.
Furball saw this as an opportunity to prove himself. He had battled his mother before, but she always won with ease and kept telling him to train harder. Yet the Meowth knew he had no advantages. Purry, being a Persian, was bigger, stronger and more experienced, with sharper claws and a ruby horn, rather than a flat gem like Persians normally had. "Furball, toxic and don't stop moving!" The feline took off at his trainer's voice, releasing purplish toxic mist as he went. Purry was quick to give pursuit.
"Double thunderbolt on Purry!" Furball released his electricity just as Purry caught up and tackled him. She was hit with a double charge of electricity, the other attack coming from Lightning, but resisted, yet it was enough to weaken her stance. "Hydro pump!" Wartortle shot a strong beam of water that freed Furball from Purry's grasp and threw her a few feet back. "Keep using toxic, Furball!" With no worries about who got caught in it, Furball continued to spread his poisonous mist.
As sharp stones began to protrude from the mountain, those who could fly took to the air. Clefable scrambled to dodge despite the gravity slowing her movements. It wasn't so bad, since they had trained in high gravity before, but due to the speed of the powerful attacks, Clefable was still unable to dodge and fight back at the same time among the chaos.
"Golbat, shadow ball Rhyperior!" The bat did so continuously until Rhyperior's attack ceased and Clefable caught her breath. Due to the proximity of the combatants, Furball's poison inevitably reached everyone, but he knew that wouldn't be a problem, since Clefable was there to heal their allies. "Clefable, heal bell! Golbat, back her up with shadow ball!" Clefable began to heal her allies of the poison, leaving only the opposing team to suffer its effects.
Aerodactyl dove into the heat of battle and swung her massive tail, which had taken a metallic texture as she attacked. The pokemon on the ground tried to move out of the way of the incoming attacks, but the heavy gravity that came because of Maverick, made it require more effort that it normally would. Even if they were doing alright for now, Ashimi knew that it would all pile up.
"Wartortle, hydro pump and ice beam, on Maverick!" The water pokemon alternated between the attacks, aiming at where Ashimi was pointing, though the Porygon-Z was not in his line of sight, due to the chaos that separated them. With the water being rapidly followed by the freezing beams, sharp shards of ice were formed. The cold projectiles traveled across the battle field, opening up a path towards the target. It was a small opening, but it was enough.
"Golbat, aerial ace!" The bat speedily rushed forward, dodging stray attacks from the chaotic battle royale until he reached Maverick. "Acrobatics and steel wing!" Golbat remained continuously on the move with his fast acrobatics, his wings were covered in a metallic texture as he continued to attack Maverick.
Giovanni shifted his focus to the Porygon-Z. "Maverick, defense curl!" The battle royale was more challenging than he thought, and to top it all up his pokemon were poisoned. Ashimi's pokemon were clearly used to training together and she never really changed her main team, which made them get used to each other. That minimized accidental attacks on allies among the fast paced chaos and increased their opportunities to successfully help each other. Giovanni knew that he had the advantage in power, but Ashimi's defenses had certainly improved.
Since Clefable had finished her part of using heal bell and no longer needed Golbat to watch her back, she could defend herself and contribute to the battle. "Clefable, meteor mash! Chari, smoke screen!" The smoke Chari produced covered not only the area where she fought Machamp, but also where Clefable had rushed in to face Kabutops as he chased after Lightning, rapidly swinging his scythes. Kabutops didn't see the attack coming and it was a direct hit. The prehistoric pokemon angrily blew the smoke away with an icy wind, but went on the attack at the first hint of movement before the smoke had cleared enough to actually see what it was. The sharp tip of his scythe reached Machamp, who angrily fought back. Above them, Chari flew, holding Clefable out of reach as they both chuckled.
"Kabutops, Machamp, stop this instant!" Giovanni's scolding voice made the two pokemon back away from each other. He continued ordering attacks among the chaos.
"Wartortle, spin and use aqua tail!" The move cleared the space around the water pokemon, making the attackers back away momentarily. "Hydro pump, spread it out nicely!" The strategy may seem puzzling at first, as spreading the attack would diminish its power. "Furball, water pulse! Watch his back Lightning." Pretty soon the combatants were all wet. "Retreat!" The pokemon backed away, back towards the crater where the satellite struck before.
Giovanni thought that the opportunity was too easy, but he tried to take it anyway. "Maverick, satellite beam!"
"All out super sonic and double thunderbolt!" Ashimi called out in a hurry. Before Maverick could activate the weapon in the atmosphere, Lightning and Furball went all out with their electric attacks. Golbat joined in with super sonic waves to which the opposing pokemon were more susceptible while being electrocuted. Ashimi sent more pokemon on an all out attack before the opposing team could recover. "Chari, fire blast! Golbat, gust!" Chari's flames blanketed the battle field as she released a series of powerful fire blasts. Golbat's gust fanned the flames, making the attack inescapable.
Through the flames and all, Giovanni's pokemon were still following his orders, attacking relentlessly and charging into the crater. "Satellite hologram!"
The satellite activated again. The pokemon were all too close to each other for the laser attack to be effective without hitting both sides, but it could still be used as a distraction. Holographic images of Maverick, Purry, Rhyperior, Aerodactyl, Kabutops and Machamp appeared, creating confusion with the fake doubles.
"Golbat, super sonic, give it all you have!" Golbat released his super sonic waves as per Ashimi's counter strategy. The holographic images flickered with the interference. The pokemon could tell apart the fakes, but Golbat was kept busy in his efforts.
Giovanni decided that keeping up the hologram wasn't worth it just to keep Golbat busy and Maverick could be put to better use joining the battle along with the other pokemon. "Maverick, electro web!" The Porygon-Z shot electrified nets to try to entrap the other pokemon. He didn't have a clear path to all of them from the ground and Golbat was still disrupting the satellite signal. Accessorizing pokemon with satellites and advanced armor was seen as illegal in official battles, but this wasn't as much an official battle as it was a test, though a badge could still come out of it.
Maverick's electro web shot out towards Golbat, who speedily dodged it. The virtual pokemon then shot at Wartortle, who was too busy fighting off Kabutops to dodge, and instead withdrew into his shell and used iron defense to minimize the damage of the electric web wrapping around him. Kabutops tried to pound on his shell to make him come out, though Giovanni saw a better strategy. "Kabutops, flash canon!"
The armored prehistoric pokemon aimed his canon at the opening on Wartortle's shell. "Lightning, give Wartortle a light shock to free him! Clefable, telekinesis on Kabutops!" Clefable jumped back and focused her psychic powers on Rhyperior and Kabutops at the same time, defending Wartortle and herself. Lightning and Furball had stayed close to compliment each other's attacks. Furball faced Purry, who had been chasing them, to give Lightning some time to free Wartortle. The delay in Kabutops' attack thanks to Clefable was enough for Wartortle to regain his bearings. "Hydro pump!" His head popped out of his shell and he assaulted Kabutops with a strong hydro pump point blank, that pushed him back several feet.
Furball had become trapped and was squirming to escape Purry. 'I can't go easy on you,' she reminded.
'I know,' Furball replied, 'and I'm not asking you to.' He was just as feisty as his mother, though he hadn't been through the battles she had. Dark pulse, water pulse, thunderbolt, nothing worked to free himself.
'Train harder,' Purry advised. She released and electric attack that overtook Furball's senses, but he refused to faint.
Furball heard Ashimi saying something, but he couldn't make out her words. Lightning was there, aiming his thunder attack at Purry. The Pikachu was getting closer in an attempt to free his friend, who remained pinned to the ground. Purry batted Lightning away with an iron tail attack. Ashimi looked across the battle field, everyone was busy, but she couldn't be the first to lose a pokemon, numbers and complementary attacks with team work were her only chance.
"Golbat, use shadow ball, then steal wing and aerial ace on Purry!" The bat hurried off on the attack. The shadow balls were little more than a distraction, then Golbat flew in combining steal wing and aerial ace to collide with Purry with great force, despite the thunderbolt she released as a counter attack. It was enough to make her lose her grip on Furball, and the Meowth hurried to escape.
Golbat dizzily landed, sore and unable to take off fast enough. Purry recovered quickly and used night slash. Golbat was hurt badly, and though Ashimi was urging Lightning and Furball to help him, she knew that reaching him among the chaos was no easy task. "Double thunderbolt!" Lightning and Furball released their full electrical power on Purry, who responded with the same element. Golbat took the opportunity to snap out of the pained daze and take to the air.
Seeing this as an opportunity to get rid of the interfering bat, Giovanni commanded, "Persian, horn attack on Golbat!" Hearing her master's voice, Purry ceased the counter attack despite the electricity still directed at her and jumped to an impressive height that Golbat couldn't have anticipated. Her ruby horn stabbed into the center of the bat's body, glowing with a light water pulse that Ashimi didn't think made sense.
The energy was pushing outward, the water softly rippling out with gentleness that didn't match the attack. Then Ashimi realized what it was. Purry was lethal, but this wasn't a fight to the finish. She was purposely dulling her attack, to make it effective, but not deadly. Golbat fell in defeat, fainted. 'No...' Ashimi thought, she had lost a pokemon and had not been able to eliminate any from the opposing team yet. "Golbat return!" She recalled him before he was trampled in the chaos. "You did well, your efforts won't be in vain."
Purry looked quite at home in the chaos. That was how it was in her time as a Meowth. She was left scarred with even her coin-like charm being broken on one side and sharpened. Yet what past injuries didn't kill her made her stronger after she met Pixel and followed her for the sake of being closer to her secret crush, the Rocket boss' pokemon. Evolution left her looking regal and flawless, except for the deformity of the ruby on her forehead that was a horn instead of a gem. A freak by the standards of a wild Persian, but a rare beauty by human standards and also in the eyes of a more refined pokemon of her kind.
Furball was shocked to the point where Lightning had to nudge him to get him to react. The Meowth wanted to prove to his mother and to everyone that he was strong. Yet his mother's level seemed so unreachable as she fought among the chaos looking like a mythological combination of lioness and unicorn. 'I know it's a high goal to reach, but you can do it,' Lightning encouraged.
'Right, I won't give up,' Furball was determined. He knew that Lightning could relate to him, given who his parents were, and if his friend wasn't giving up, neither was he.
"Maverick, holograms! Aerodactyl, dragon claw!" Giovanni continued the attack. The flying prehistoric pokemon clawed at the combatants below. Lightning and Furball dodged left and right, but Aerodactyl was relentless.
Ashimi was thinking about how she should respond when she realized she shouldn't. She couldn't just fight back, she had to take control of the battle and lead the effort. First she would take out the satellite's controller and get rid of those confusing holograms. The real pokemon were so close to the projections that it was hard to determine which was giving off the living presence, as her aura sense wasn't that precise yet. "Lightning, quick attack on Maverick! Furball, shadow ball on Aerodactyl!"
The Meowth tried to keep the flying dinosaur busy by shooting a shadow ball whenever he wasn't too busy dodging the predator's claws. At the same time, the Pikachu slipped away and dodged the other fighters as he progressed towards the Porygon-Z, making good use of his speed.
"Maverick, zap canon!" The Porygon-Z shot several beams that Lightning speedily dodged. Even the holographic double was shooting and the Pikachu wasn't taking any chances on miscalculating which attack was real. He could figure it out by attacking, but he didn't want to slow his pace.
"Thunder wave!" As Lightning got closer to his opponent, he released his electricity and disrupted the hologram, while creating an opening to attack the real Maverick at close range.
"Zen headbutt!" Giovanni reacted quickly, calling for a change of tactics. Maverick fought back, trying to hit Lightning.
"Careful, Lightning, keep dodging!" Ashimi had seen her grandfather battle before and watched many videos with her pokemon, so his pokemon's movements in close combat were not unknown. She watched for an opening as Lightning made good use of what he had learned in his recent training. "Thunder iron tail!" Lightning flipped suddenly and simultaneously released his electricity while hitting Maverick with his now metallic tail. The attack was very strong and the Porygon-Z was thrown back and didn't get up.
"Aerodactyl!" Giovanni called out. The fossil pokemon noticed what had happened and ceased her pursuit of Furball. She picked up Maverick and set him on the sidelines, then returned to the battle.
'Why not just recall him?' Ashimi quietly wondered in confusion. She didn't have much time to dwell on it though, as the battle was still progressing and she had to decide what her next target would be.
Kabutops was a danger, Ashimi knew he had not shown his full power. It would take all her remaining pokemon to take him out, but if they had to deal with the others at the same time that would make the task even more challenging. Aerodactyl had the air advantage, flying high and low at intervals to attack while staying out of harm's way. Chari could battle her in the air one on one. "Chari, air slash up to Aerodactyl!"
The Charizard took to the sky when Aerodactyl's altitude had increased. The fossil pokemon went higher trying to dodge. "Dragon claw!" Both Ashimi and Giovanni called out at the same time. Chari and Aerodactyl began to claw at each other wildly, the battle was truly fierce!
'I have to be the one to make the first move, to control the pace of the battle, it's the only way I stand a chance,' Ashimi thought, but it would not be easy. "Wartortle, hydro pump and ice beam at Machamp!" The water pokemon's first two attacks didn't quite make it through the chaos of the battle field to hit the target fully, but he now had an ice spear that he could break into a rain of shards or use as a weapon. "Charge!" Using the ice spear to open a path, Wartortle made his way forward to Machamp.
Giovanni switched between looking up and to the area in front of him. Though the pokemon fought and dodged constantly, it was those instances of directly guided battles within the war that made a big difference. "Kabutops bubble beam and scald!"
The arena was flooded with bubbles that made dodging and even seeing beyond them difficult. Then the boiling water attacks came. "Clefable, reinforce the light screen, focus on that! Lightning, watch her back!" By then Wartortle had made it to Machamp, but nothing was left from his ice spear.
Ashimi was taking the lead and soon Giovanni realized that controlling so many pokemon at once wasn't so easy when he had to counter, rather than just make a move. "Machamp, dynamic punch!"
"Wartortle withdraw and hydro pump at the ground!" The turtle pokemon went flying like a rocket and hit Machamp on the face. "Aqua tail!" He turned around in mid air and his tails emerged from his shell, spinning to hit Machamp again. "Chari, fire blitz!" Up in the air, the Charizard began a series of fast fire attacks combined with fighting moves.
"Aerodactyl, iron head!" Aerodactyl went on the offensive again, trying to knock Chari out of the sky.
'That's it, divide your attention, don't focus too much on Kabutops,' Ashimi thought. If she kept up the battle in the sky, Giovanni would be compelled to look up every now and then, and she could use that time to overwhelm with a series of quick strategies on the ground. "Chari, smoke screen and dragon rage!"
"Aerodactyl, blow that smoke away and use aerial ace!" Giovanni called out, but when the smoke cleared, Chari was nowhere to be seen, then in a split second the Charizard dove from above and attacked with a relentless force.
The battle in the sky was the perfect distraction. By all logic the pokemon that was alone would need the more help from the trainer, but the way Ashimi saw it, all of Giovanni's pokemon were fighting alone. They were on the same team and working towards the same goal, but they weren't used to battling together and didn't know how to complement each other like her pokemon did.
"Furball, regroup with Wartortle!" That meant that Purry would go along, since she had mostly been chasing Furball, trying to push him to battle harder, while he mostly dodged. "Lightning, thunder on Aerodactyl!" The electric bolt flew up and caught Aerodactyl, who was kept quite busy by Chari. "Chari, fire blitz!"
"Aerodactyl, giga impact!" Giovanni tried to end the sky battle as quickly as possible, so he could focus on what was happening on the ground. "Rhyperior, hammer arm on that Pikachu! Kabutops, flash canon the Charizard!" Giovanni ordered in a rush.
As Furball charged in, Machamp was still a bit dazed from Wartortle's attack and tried to punch the Meowth away. Furball jumped higher than the Machamp expected. "Iron tail!" Furball spun in mid air, his metallic tail hitting Machamp on the face. The fighter still threw punches at random though the Meowth was landing behind him. Purry ducked to dodge the incoming attacks, though Machamp still cut his knuckles as the punch reached the tip of her ruby horn. The fighter growled and the feline hissed. "Night slash!" Furball didn't give Machamp time to recover before attacking again.
"Lightning, quick attack on Kabutops!" The Pikachu was on the move again, speedily crossing the battle field towards the armored fossil pokemon. "Volt tackle!" Lightning sped up even more, surrounded by electricity and tackled Kabutops just as he was using a flash cannon. The electric mouse scurried between Kabutops' legs and dashed off. Rhyperior tried to chase after him, but Lightning was faster.
The flash canon was thrown off course and hit Aerodactyl instead of Chari. She was knocked out of the sky and crashed into the chaos below. 'The sky battle was a good distraction, I didn't mean to end it so soon, but I guess I might as well.' "Finish Aerodactyl! Chari, fire blast! Lightning, thunder!" Aerodactyl was further assaulted before she could recover and finally knocked out.
"Machamp, get Aerodactyl!" Machamp immediately stopped his current feud and hurried to follow Giovanni's command. He placed Aerodactyl on the sidelines and rejoined the battle.
'Why?' Ashimi wondered in confusion. 'Why hasn't he recalled any pokemon?' She didn't get it, but she had a feeling that it wasn't done in vain, nothing Giovanni did was without a purpose. "Furball, toxic!" Ashimi reinforced the poison to continue weakening her opponents. Again, inevitably some of her own pokemon were caught in the poisonous mist as well, but that was quickly resolved. "Clefable, heal bell!"
Giovanni couldn't believe Ashimi was in the lead, and that poison wasn't helping him either. He needed to end this fast. 'Focus,' he thought, he couldn't allow the chaos to distract him, or the fact that a part of him was proud that Ashimi took to it without being overwhelmed. 'My next target is Clefable,' he reminded himself. Clefable was boosting the others' defenses, with her gone, the rest of the team would be easier to take out. "Kabutops, flash canon at Clefable!"
"Keep the defense up, Clefable! Lightning, thunder at Kabutops!" Ashimi called out in a rush.
"Machamp, focus blast on Clefable! Rhyperior, earthquake!" The ground shook violently, making it difficult for Clefable to stand and lowering her concentration. Machamp's blasts came at random, though Lightning tried to defend his teammate.
"Wartortle, hydro pump on Kabutops!" Ashimi knew that losing Clefable's defensive boost would be very bad, so she tried to defend the psychic pokemon. As Lightning and Wartortle attacked Kabutops from each side, the revived and upgraded fossil took to the skies with a jet pack that emerged from the back of his armor.
"Flash canon!" Kabutops crashed into Clefable's psychic shield after being missed by Lightning and Wartortle's attacks. The fossil cyborg attacked relentlessly until Clefable's shield couldn't hold out anymore.
'I can't allow myself to lose another pokemon!' Ashimi thought. Chari was flying, shooting fireballs at Machamp and Rhyperior. Furball was busy trying to evade Purry's attacks as if they were having a private mother son training session. "Lightning, Wartortle-"
"Explosion!" Giovanni's voice echoed across the battle field, drowning out all other sounds. The flash of light and subsequent release of sound waves and chunks of metal was massive.
"Clefable!" Furball was far enough to take cover and not suffer damage beyond scratches, minor burns and a pounding headache accompanied by ringing ears. Chari retreated high up at the last second and managed to escape the blast unharmed. "Lightning! Wartortle!" Clefable would surely have fainted when the smoke cleared, maybe even Lightning and Wartortle since they were so close. Yet when the smoke cleared out only Clefable was unconscious. Lightning and Wartortle were several feet away from where they had stood, looking refreshed.
Clefable was bruised, beaten and bloody. Ashimi soon realized what must have happened. "Clefable, return! You really made a big difference with your quick thinking." Clefable used her telekinesis to push Lightning and Wartortle away. Then in her final moment of consciousness, she used healing wish to sacrifice what little energy she had left to heal the teammates within her reach, splitting the energy between them. That left her even more exposed to the attack, but she knew she wouldn't be able to resist it anyway, so she gave the last bit of her strength to her companions.
'Kabutops used explosion, so I'm still ahead,' Ashimi tried to focus on the positive. To her surprise something emerged from the rubble next to where she had recalled Clefable. 'Looks like I don't have the number advantage after all.' Kabutops stood up without his armor. There was a certain glow to him that indicated he had used a strong version of harden right before the explosion. The explosion itself had been produced by the armor, which he could fight without, although he would lose the moves exclusive to Genesect.
Giovanni had used a strong move that he wouldn't be able to repeat in the remainder of the battle, but he had substantially weakened Ashimi's defenses and brought the match back to a draw. His pokemon were still weakened by the poison, but they were strong and could resist it. It would be too risky for Ashimi to reinforce the poison again in this close combat, since she didn't have Clefable to heal her own pokemon if they got caught in the toxic mist. "Machamp, brick break on the Wartortle!" The water pokemon had tough defenses that Giovanni thought he better break through as soon as possible.
"Wartortle, withdraw and use hydro pump from inside your shell!" It was a seemingly perfect counter strategy, but thing were never simple.
"Rhyperior, hammer arm!" Rhyperior knocked Wartortle's shell away, causing the hydro pump to miss. "Kabutops, night slash!" The prehistoric pokemon leapt on the attack slashing nonstop with his scythes to no avail, as Wartortle's shell protected him.
"Chari, fire blast!" The Charizard flew over the other combatants, using her fire to defend her teammate.
Giovanni glanced at Purry. "Get in there, girl." She ran towards the intense battle, leaving a tired Furball to wonder what she was planning to do. Surprising Ashimi, the daring Persian charged right in with a horn attack, except there was something different about it, the horn was glowing.
"Wartortle, hydro pump!" Nothing happened and Purry dashed right into the shell, squeezing inside in a way only a cat could. Ashimi's eyes went wide as Wartortle's shell rolled around due to the battle taking place within. She realized too late what the ruby horn's glow meant, 'she can use disable.' It was unusual, but then so was the horn and there were ways to teach pokemon moves that their kind could very rarely learn. "Try a different move, water gun, ice beam, anything!" Purry jumped out of the shell and Wartortle didn't come out. Ashimi could sense his low energy as if he were asleep, but she knew what it really meant, he had fainted. "Wartortle, return! You put up a good fight."
Giovanni didn't waste another second, this battle had gone on long enough. "Machamp, rolling kick on the Pikachu."
"Dodge it, Lightning! I'll tell you when to use volt tackle." Ashimi watched for an opening.
"Rhyperior, rock wrecker, on the Charizard!" Rhyperior continuously threw boulders at Chari, who dodged them in the air and responded with fire blasts. Giovanni knew he had to get her to come down, but she had no reason to at the moment, unless the rest of the team was in danger of being knocked out and she went to defend them. "Cross chop! Brick break! Rolling kick! Dynamic punch!" Giovanni coached Machamp move per move, but Lightning kept dodging as if he knew exactly what was coming. Then Giovanni realized it, of course he knew, Ashimi put his notes to good use after all.
Lightning felt like he was back in the hologram room, training with Ashimi. He knew her voice would come even before he heard her, "volt tackle!" He tackled Machamp with everything he had, throwing the larger pokemon back several feet. "Furball, shadow ball Rhyperior!" Furball was flailing around in the air, Purry had used her own tail to pick him up by the tail and hold him out of reach, but he still managed to shoot a shadow ball in Rhyperior's direction.
The attack bought enough time for Chari break away from the battle for her next attack. "Seismic toss!" Before Machamp could recover, Chari picked him off the ground and gained altitude again.
"Kabutops, hyper beam, knock that Charizard out of the sky!" Giovanni was losing his patience. He had to put that Charizard out of the battle. "Rhyperior, rock wrecker!"
Chari dove full speed, dodging the boulders and beams of energy while Machamp struggled to get free. The seismic toss left the fighting pokemon in a crater on the ground as dust flew up in a thick cloud. Ashimi knew she couldn't take any chances. "Furball, shadow ball at Rhyperior! Lightning, thunder at Kabutops! Chari, fire blast at Machamp!" Ashimi knew there was a very good chance that Rhyperior and Kabutops would dodge, but it would still work in her favor, as her true intension was to keep them busy, so they wouldn't get in the way of Chari's attack, which Machamp wouldn't be able to dodge. The smoke and dust cleared, and sure enough Machamp had fainted.
"Quit playing around!" Giovanni snapped at Purry. She immediately smashed Furball against the ground, still holding him by the tail with her own tail. The Meowth was dazed, but he still continued to flail. He attempted to shoot a shadow ball at his mother, but she shook him in the air so much he missed.
'Machamp is still in that crater, but there are less combatants now, so he's less likely to get caught in the battle,' Ashimi thought. 'I still don't get it, why haven't any of them been recalled?'
"Rhyperior, mega horn on Pikachu!" Giovanni continued on the attack, refusing to give up the lead of the battle. They were at a draw once again, with three pokemon each. Rhyperior went on the attack, Lightning was faster, but he was tired. "Kabutops, sand storm!" Kabutops began to spin as he ran his scythes through the ground in tornado patterns. The dust began to fly until it covered the arena. "Kabutops, hyper beam on the Charizard!"
"Be careful, Chari, go higher!" Chari couldn't see where the beams were coming from on the ground, but at least if she gained altitude, she had more time to dodge. That also meant having a harder time trying to hit any targets on the ground with her fire, but she couldn't see them through the sand anyway, so they were relying on luck and instinct.
Purry smashed Furball on the ground again and yawned. The effects of the poison were getting harder to resist and she was feeling lightheaded. None the less, she withstood it. She knew the poison always felt worse when it was about to fade away, so if she could resist it, she would feel better soon. 'You're really stubborn, aren't you?'
'Almost as much as you,' Furball dizzily replied.
'I bet your father would have already been long since knocked out,' Purry teased.
An indignant hiss came from the sidelines next to Giovanni. 'I heard that!' The male Persian protested. He made a mental note to start training again. He couldn't deny that he had become lazy over the years and he had to remedy that.
"Kabutops, stone edge on Pikachu!" Giovanni shifted tactics.
"Chari, dive!" Ashimi called out in a rush.
"Rhyperior, fire blast on Pikachu!" Lightning was trapped between the two attackers. Chari dove into the area and grabbed Lightning, protecting him from the stone edge attack. The fire blast came from the other side, behind her. She blocked it with her tail and though it still hurt, her flame burned very brightly.
"Night slash!" Kabutops charged at Chari with his scythes at the ready.
"Iron tail!" Chari swung her tail at Kabutops, it was covered by a metallic texture that glowed red as it burned. "Lightning, iron tail Rhyperior!" Kabutops was knocked off his feet and fell back. Lightning went on the offensive, preventing Rhyperior from interfering. "Blast burn!" Chari went all out attacking Kabutops point blank until her tail flame was dim and the prehistoric pokemon had fainted.
Purry continued smashing Furball against the ground. 'Get knocked out already, you stubborn kitten,' she grinned at how strong her son had become, even if she was relentless in her attack.
'No way! I won't give up!' Furball struggled with everything he had, just to remain conscious.
'Looks like Rhyperior's alone against those two, I better join in.' Purry harshly smashed Furball against the ground one last time and ran off to join Rhyperior.
Furball was barely conscious, too dizzy to do much at the moment except lie there. "Furball, I knew you could keep Purry busy, well done!" Ashimi commended. "Stay there and try to recover for now." She turned her attention to the other combatants. They were all tired, Chari and Lightning had just made a great effort, but Rhyperior and Purry had been suffering from poisoning for most of the battle, but it had diminished and faded away by now. Ashimi knew she needed to buy some time for Furball to recover and join in, then it would be three against two. "Smoke screen and retreat!" Chari gave them some cover and they ran off.
"Stop stalling! Persian, Rhyperior, finish this!" Giovanni called out impatiently. "Rhyperior, blizzard!" The cold wind and snow began to blow the smoke away, but when it cleared, there was no one there. Giovanni automatically looked up, guessing that the pokemon would take to the sky. Sure enough, the Charizard was hovering overhead with the Pikachu and Meowth on her back. She was fast to have time to pick them both up. "Rhyperior, throw Persian up there!" Purry jumped, landing on Rhyperior's arm and he threw her as high as he could. "Thunder!" She released a powerful electric attack in the air, which Chari tried to dodge, but wasn't able to. The static clung to her wings and rendered them paralyzed. It was hard just to keep them open to soften the landing. "Rhyperior, stone edge!"
"Chari!" Chari stepped back and jump trying to dodge the attack, but it all came too fast. "Lightning, Furball, double thunder!" They jumped towards Rhyperior and attacked together.
"Persian, night slash!" Purry jumped towards the attacking pair, claws out.
"Fire blast!" Though Chari had not yet fully recovered, she shot a strong flame that knocked Purry away from Lightning and Furball, leaving her with burns. "Dragon rage!" The fire pokemon charged forward full force, unconcerned for the dimness of her tail flame, though Ashimi was certainly worrying. Yet it was now or never, "fire blitz and another double thunderbolt!"
"Rhyperior, hyper beam!" Chari didn't deviate from her target despite the direct hit. Smoke came from her tiny tail flame and she fainted, but Purry had fainted as well.
Giovanni's male Persian watched the intense fight from the sidelines. 'I really do need to start training again,' he quietly thought. He didn't realize just how far behind he had fallen.
"Chari, return, you did great, super brave as always." Ashimi recalled her. She realized that the battle could go either way at this point.
"Earthquake!" Giovanni went on the attack again, not wasting the opportunity to make the next move.
The ground shook violently, preventing Lightning and Furball from making any moves. "C'mon, focus!" They tried to regain their balance with great difficulty. "Lightning, give Furball a boost." Furball hopped on Lightning's back. The two were about the same size, but this way Lightning would withstand the earthquake so that Furball could gain enough balance to jump on Rhyperior. "Water pulse!" Furball landed on Rhyperior's head and attacked with all he had. He was tired, dazed, and barely registered what was going on around him. By the time Rhyperior managed to pry him off, Furball had already fainted. "Furball, return! Lightning iron tail! You did great, Furball, you've gotten very strong." Lightning charged in before Rhyperior could fully recover from the water pulse and hit him with every bit of strength he had left. Rhyperior stumbled back and fell, exhausted and barely conscious. "It's almost over, one more attack!"
"Everyone hyper beam!" Giovanni's sudden command took Ashimi by surprise, as all the pokemon got up shakily to attack one last time. They had rested for a while, so it wasn't all that unbelievable that they would wake up from their fainting, the shocking part was that they were attacking despite their weakened state. Rhyperior struggled to get up and joined in.
Lightning tried to dodge the hits, but there were too many and he couldn't dodge them all. The effort made Giovanni's pokemon faint again as they had not recovered enough to battle. However, Lightning also fainted. "Return!" Giovanni finally recalled all his pokemon.
Ashimi recalled Lightning as well, as he would be a little more comfortable in his pokeball due to its standard healing mechanism that all pokeballs had by default. "You fought to the very end Lightning, it was a great battle." She sighed and walked across the mangled terrain of the battle field. "I guess I wasn't strong enough after all. I should have trained harder during the holidays..."
"Yes, you should have, but you still earned this." Giovanni gave her an earth badge.
"But it was a draw," Ashimi only stared at it unsure.
Giovanni placed the badge in the palm of her hand. "It was only a draw because I used illegal tactics to see how far I could push you. Take it, you've earned it."
"Thank you..." A smile formed on Ashimi's face. "My final badge... I'm going to the Indigo League!" She cheered.
To be Continued
Epic long battle! x.x The Dragon Ball Z mention wasn't just a reference to how timeless it is, but a sign that an epic long battle was on its way. XD I hope it wasn't too confusing. If it was animated in real time, the screen would have to be split to show everything happening at the same time.
Though Giovanni isn't one to usually name his pokemon, it's kind of a necessity with the Porygon-Z, since there are several that interact with the Rocket virtual systems and it makes it easier to identify them, plus they might need a 'filename' for some of the more technical stuff. Maverick was named after the term used in Megaman X for a rogue robot, though he is in fact well trained and loyal to Giovanni.
The last mini-bio, (or last for a while?) probably the last. XD Frosty Von Snowman: A 22 year old hacker and video game programmer who joined Team Rocket in hopes of being able to do both. He has white hair, blue eyes and very pale skin.