Enough
Chapter 37: Dowlas
Candice scanned the field once more. Despite the predicament, she could afford to continue the trading. Being one pokemon ahead meant that keeping her options open guaranteed her a win, should she play it right. In order to do so, however, she needed to take a risk. She had taken out a tank and a scout of the opponent, and exposed what seemed to be something aimed at trading. Her abomasnow did its job of setting up hail, and it was enough.
Going against her natural instinct of switching out the masmowine, Candice left the mammoth in for the next round. It puffed for battle and swayed its tusks. She recognised the lack of speed as well as health, and opted to go for a weaker but guaranteed move. Ice blocks formed overhead and bombarded the skunk's position. The skuntank took the hit face first, but suffered minimal damage. Trajectory unaffected, it propelled forward and landed on top of the masmowine. Claws bore, it stabbed through the thick fur with great vigour. Veins of poison opened under its skin, transmitting directly into the enemy. The mammoth tried its best to shrug off the attacker, but proved too slow. The poison had spread through its system, and knocked it out within the next instance.
Returning the fallen pokemon, Candice took no break in continuing the battle. Yet another ice-type enter the field in the form of glalie. The spherical, ice-armoured rock flaunted its daunting fangs, and edged backward, allowing the black horns to position forward. Despite being slower, it was tough enough to take a hit from the toxic rodent, while being strong enough to finish it.
Barry narrowed his eyes. Glalie wasn't a bad choice by any means, but he still wondered why Candice chose to send it out now. He knew her team, and this wasn't the best nor safest answer. A hint of doubt plagued his thoughts, and made him even more nervous.
Jupiter's hand cut through the air.
"Explosion," she uttered.
The skuntank curled into a ball of light, as Barry sweated. He didn't expect that sort of spell to be in its arsenal. Such a suicidal move would have plenty of damage to take out any pokemon on Candice's team for free, guaranteeing a great trade. Turning to the other side, he barely caught his friend's movement. The Snowpoint gym leader was already in the process of something else. It was too fast to be reactive, and could only be explained as a foresight move. The glalie, without seeing any action, returned to its pokeball. In its place came a kimono-donned, bow-tied, floating ghost of a pokemon. Jupiter could not retract her order, as the skuntank exerted all of its energy into a flash of kinetic energy that ruptured the ground in its wake. The shockwave engulfed the battlefield, causing ice particles from the gymnasium ground to fly across the room. The humans scrambled for cover, save for the ever-standing Cyrus. A stray shard ran across his cheeks, drawing blood, but the man refused to budge an inch. His attention was unshakeable.
The field cleared presently. On one side, the skuntank had sacrificed all of its energy, and had to be recalled. On the other, the froslass made no attempt to acknowledge the attack, completely unscathed. It was at this moment that Barry realised his friend's plan. Candice, through whatever channel, anticipated this last resort outburst, and prepared a completely immune pokemon to take the blunt of it. The two crossed gazes, and she gave him thumbs up and a smirk. He, still on his back after the barrage, stared at it incredulously for a moment, before returning the gesture.
Jupiter stayed silent still, and called in her fourth pokemon: her own ghost, bipedal and dark purple, sableye. Its eyes of azure gems rotated squarely within the sockets in the most unnerving yet innocent way. From beneath its head, a smile stretched up, sharp and threatening. Those teeth slid into each other from top to bottom, row to row, into an array of intertwining blades across the jawline. The sableye's dark and ghost type posed an obvious advantage over its opponent, but Candice's positivity didn't fade.
The next turn started almost immediately. The froslass spun into a dance of petals, as the lights converged onto its centre stage. Paths of icy wing turned into a ray of mist, covered the swirling flares at the pokemon's wrists. The ray shot through the battlefield straight at the opponent, creating a faint bond between them. Sableye's turn came just a little late. Its hands came together, and caused the red gem on its chest to glow. The six short, stubby fingers moved apart, conjuring a giant red crystal, which was promptly thrown at the froslass. The strength of the super effective foul play proved too much to bear, as the icy ghost fainted immediately. However, the connection it previously established with the enemy began to pull viciously. The sableye clutched its chest in despair, before subsequently collapsed under the destiny bond.
Barry witnessed both sides retracting their pokemons at once, more confident than ever. The fact that Candice was going toe to toe against Team Galactic's leader was a huge motivation for him. If he could imagine, Cyrus would not stand by the side line forever, and he would need this boost of confidence in order to face him.
"Go get 'em Candice!" He found himself blurting out.
He expected the girl to reply with the same enthusiasm, but she didn't even seem to be paying him any mind. Strangely, she looked far more nervous than before. Following her gaze, he could understand the reason. Jupiter's stance had completely shifted. The woman's legs were no longer crossing, hips diagonal. Instead, she stood firm, arms crossed the chest, and exuded an air of lethality.
"How precious," she chuckled, "you actually think she's winning."
"Of course she is!" Barry retorted. "You're at a clear disadvantage."
"Look at your friend." Jupiter pointed out Candice's uneasy posture. "She doesn't even believe."
"Jupiter," Cyrus interjected, his voice impatient. "No more fooling around, end this."
"Yes, Master Cyrus." She did a quick bow, before turning to her opponent. "You heard him."
Candice kept silent still, and on queue revealed her next pokemon. The glalie appeared once again, in all of its circular slipperiness. She intended it to be a scout, and was something she willed to lose without much fuss. Barry was technically correct: she had three pokemons left to her opponent's two. However, the ones still left didn't have the luxury of a setup turn, all being quite vulnerable. It was the risk of running an all ice type team, but it's too late to worry. She watched Jupiter's move intensely, and her heart sank as the slimy, dark teal form of the poison frog emerged from the summoning fog. Jupiter's toxicroak flexed its muscle, with an expression just as smug as its owner.
The descent began.
The toxicroak proved merciless. Its mediocre speed trumped the competition by just a hair, enough to guarantee the first move every time. The power of brick break against Candice's ice type were simply too much to handle, as all of remaining pokemons fall one by one to its overwhelming force. She cursed her own lack of foresight as her glalie went down. She regretted severely the decision to give up her only counter, froslass, in an aborted attempt to facilitate an useless advantage, as her glaceon failed to stand up to the hit. She knew nothing left up was her sleeve, as her weavile waved in futile indignation, and Candice had no choice but to surrender.
Men of Team Galactic swarmed the gym following her defeat. The first thing they did was to handcuff the gym leader.
"Let me go," Candice protested to no avail.
"Can't let you go around causing trouble, girly." Jupiter motioned an underling to put a gag around the girl's mouth. "The master is speaking."
On prompt, Cyrus stepped forward, and the men ran into a circle surrounding him and Barry.
"What do you want?" The boy clutched his fists and gathered his fighting spirit.
"I told you, boy." Cyrus looked down at him in pity. "You have something of mine."
"I do." Barry, for all of his stammering, knew what was going on.
"I want it back." Cyrus put his hand on his belt. "Either you return it to me, or I'll take it from you."
Barry backed off a few steps before hitting the wall of men. Chivalry was the only thing that even prompted Cyrus to give him a choice, and he knew that. The two, face to face, understood. This kind of matter wasn't something of which one could talk out. Giving up was an impossible solution as well.
"Battle," he declared.
"Excellent."