Chapter 50 – the battle for vengeance

"Manectric will be fine," The doctor was saying to James, "You had him on arthritis medication?"

"Yes," James said, relieved.

"Well," The doctor said, "It has helped, however the pokémon has also developed osteoporosis, the problem here, which has resulted in weak bones."

"Does that… mean anything?" James asked him.

"Well," The man sighed, "Like I said, Manectric will be fine, but I cannot allow it to participate in any more battles in the pokémon league," James knew that this meant Manectric would be disqualified from the competition, "And I have to recommend that it doesn't battle any more. At all. Its far time that old dog became a house pet. We'd like to keep it for now, we'll call you tonight."

James didn't feel like battling, however the match had only been postponed, and sooner or later it would have to continue. Matt, the Lugia trainer, was at an advantage. With Manectric out of the running permanently, James would of course not be able to use it against his opponent. Pokémon League rules dictate that, in the event a battle should be stopped in an emergency and continued later, all pokémon able to battle would still be able to battle when the match was restarted. Manectric would be deemed 'unable to battle', however Sableye, who caused the damage, had been able to battle then and therefore would still be in the match when it was resumed. James was going to have to face his greatest opponent yet, starting with one pokémon down.

"And here he is," Scott Johnston said as James walked onto the pitch. "His Manectric obviously lacked proper training; James Millan wasn't in the right to even send it out to battle."

James was suddenly filled with anger at Scott, who he had always hated. Even though it wasn't top of his list, Scott getting his name wrong again also added to the mood.

The grass field was up, the umpire was holding the flags high. Matt threw a ball high, and with a crack it released the cursed Sableye. James reached to his belt and pulled off a pokémon. "Matt's strategy", Aria had told him, "is to work out a way to defeat every pokémon used by the trainers he faces. He finds out those pokémon by watching videos of gym battles, so all you have to do is use pokémon you haven't used in any gym battles and he'll be lost."

"Pidgeot!" James shouted. With a flash the flying type appeared above them, and James was pleased to see a look of surprise cross Matt's face. Trading pokémon in the middle of the competition was perfectly legal, and there were even trade machines in the main pokémon centre. The problem was that once a trainer has used a pokémon for a long time, the pokémon starts to perform better as it becomes familiar to a trainer. Therefore, trading in this sort of high level competition was often not a good idea. Pidgeot however had been around James so often it was used to him, and he had even battled with it in the past, just for fun of course.

"Begin!" The umpire said.

"Shadow Ball!" Matt said. James said nothing. Pidgeot, soaring across the sky, didn't attempt to dodge, and allowed the attack to hit. The ghost type move did nothing against a normal pokémon.

"Good thing those attacks are ineffective," Scott was saying, "Otherwise James would have been in trouble-"

"He knew it wouldn't do anything," The other commentator said, "That why he didn't move Pidgeot."

"Now its our turn!" James said, "Pidgeot use Mirror Move, barrage the ground!" Pidgeot flapped its wings, a large amount of down fell from Pidgeot, and from between them a collection of Shadow Balls shot toward the ground. Sableye leapt, attempting to dodge, but was caught up in two different Shadow Balls, taking damage.

"Air Slash!" James said. Pidgeot flapped its wings and sent a blade of wind spiralling down toward Sableye. Surprised to be on the receiving end of its own attack and still recovering from the hits it took, Sableye couldn't dodge in time.

"Sableye is unable to battle!" The umpire said.

"Yeah!" Said the second umpire, who had clearly taken James' side.

"Lucky shot-" Scott started to say.

"Maybe," The second commentator said, "But that Sableye has never been taken down in the history of this competition, and its Matt's most used pokémon."

"Tyranitar!" Matt said, "Use your Thunder!"

"Quick Attack!" James said. Pidgeot sped under the lightning attack and struck Tyranitar in the belly, before retreating. "Another one!" James said.

"And that," Scott said, while Pidgeot rushed forward, "Is one thing you never do: physically attack an opponent straight on when nothings distracting it."

"Stone Edge!" Matt said.

"Mirror Move!" James shouted. An instant before hitting the stone spike that had sprung out of the ground around Tyranitar, Pidgeot flapped its wings, and more shot out, straight into Tyranitar from close range.

"Critical Hit!" The second commentator laughed, as Tyranitar flew backward.

"Quick Attack!" James said. Pidgeot shot after Tyranitar and struck it hard, sending it rolling into the dirt. Then it flew upward.

"Air Slash!" James said. Pidgeot dropped the attack from above, and it fell to Tyranitar.

"Thunder!" Matt said. The lightning shot upward in a heartbeat, connecting with the blade of wind and blowing it up. Through the smoke Pidgeot fell. It grasped Tyranitar with its talons and threw it backward. As the monster fell backward, Pidgeot launched itself into the air once more.

"Tailwind!" James said.

"James' Pidgeot is already dominating the battle with its amazing speed," The second commentator was saying, "And now with Tailwind its set to be even faster!"

"Quick Attack!" James said. Pidgeot flew upward as fast as a bullet, and the momentum when it finally connected with Tyranitar magnified the attack.

"Tyranitar is unable to battle!" The umpire said.

"Yes!" James said, hands in the air.

"Two pokémon down on Matt's side!" The second umpire was saying, "A feet that has not been done before this early in a match."

Matt recalled Tyranitar. With the exception of Lugia, Tyranitar was supposed to be the heavy weight of his team – this Pidgeot had brought it down easily. Sableye had been caught off guard, and Tyranitar had been outrun. His reputation as the impossible trainer was being flushed down the toilet – it was time to get serious.

"Lugia!" He called. There was a flash of purple, and his master ball opened and Lugia erupted from it. Dark feathers, purple pointed eyes, ten metres tall, Matt's Lugia was the spitting image of a nightmare.

"Now the real battle starts," Scott said. James couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Come on Pidgeot, let's do this!" James said.

"Aero Blast!" Matt said.

"Quick Attack!" James said, "Dodge it!" The bird pokémon flew to the side, but Lugia's mighty beam caught up with it and blasted the pokémon from the sky.

"Pidgeot is unable to battle!" The umpire announced.

"Awe well," James said, "You did really really well, buddy," As he pulled off his third pokémon, James wondered how Scott could rate that as a real battle.

"Swampert!" James said, throwing his heavy weight forward. With a flash Swampert appeared.

"Begin!" The umpire said.

"Aero Blast." Matt said.

"Protect!" James shouted. The shield sprung into place just as the beam of energy hit. James however knew he was on borrowed time – Swampert was one pokémon Matt knew about, and would have a strategy for. From the look of things, Lugia wasn't about to stop the onslaught soon – Matt's plan was to simply wait for Swampert's strength to fail. It was so simple, that it was annoying how stuck James was. Swampert couldn't attack without breaking the shield, in which case the Aero Blast would crush any attack and knock Swampert out. Then the most obvious answer came to him.

"Swampert, return!" James said. The poke ball's light struck Swampert from behind, where he had dropped the shield, and the pokémon was successfully recalled. The shield gone, the Aero Blast smashed into the ground, throwing dirt high in the air. James pulled an Ultra Ball from his belt – another new pokémon would temporarily confuse Matt, so James would have to act quickly to achieve maximum effect, and the flying dirt would act as cover.

"Abomasnow!" James said, throwing forward his newest pokémon. "Sheer Cold!"

Matt's surprise didn't last long.

"Aero Blast!" He shouted. Lugia's attack met with Abomasnow's beam of absolute zero, and for a second it looked like the Aero Blast was freezing. Then the energy shattered, sending huge icicles of energy raining down to dissipate on contact with the ground. Lugia, its attack broken, dodged out of the way of the Sheer Cold. The ice attack grazed its side, and a growth of ice crystals appeared. Lugia, obviously hurt by the glancing blow, roared and flew toward Abomasnow, ignoring Matt who was telling it to use Psycho Boost.

"Blizzard!" James said. Abomasnow send a storm of ice and snow toward Lugia, but the legendary pokémon simply burst through it to ram Abomasnow with its head. Hard. Abomasnow flew backward and landed hard on the dirt.

"Abomasnow is unable to battle!" The umpire said.

"And that's the end of the first round," Said the second commentator.

Down in the locker room, James was itching to get back out and battle. Lugia had taken a hit from Sheer Cold. Not a direct one of course, but even a passing blow would have done extreme damage. The longer he waited the longer Lugia had to recover. The half an hour break seemed to take forever. James withdrew Pidgeot and Abomasnow, and congratulated them for their effort. Pidgeot had knocked out two of Matt's pokémon. Abomasnow, with its spectacular effort against Lugia, could have won James the match for him.

"All right, folks," The second umpire was saying, "The second half is about to begin." James and Matt changed sides, and the concrete field slid away, to be replaced with a water one.

"Just to remind everyone," Scott said, "The score is 3-2 to Matt, and his Lugia is still in the battle-"

"Though physically injured," The second umpire cut in, "And lets not forget that, since this battle was started with James one pokémon down, he has done a spectacular job of knocking out two of his opponent's pokémon and injuring a third."

"Send out your pokémon!" The umpire said. He looked at James – it was his turn to bring out the first pokémon.

"Swampert!" James shouted, throwing the pokémon forward. With a splash, the mud fish pokémon landed in the water. This field, as usual, was comprised of a very deep tank of water, taking up the entire field. Floating on the surface were a few sheets of ice, to be used as platforms for land pokémon. If these were destroyed, new ones would suddenly rise up from the bottom at a moment which wouldn't influence the battle. Swampert, perfectly happy in the water, was bobbing about.

"Lugia!" Matt called. James supposed that seeing Lugia again was good – it gave the pokémon less time to recover. However, James now had to battle the impossible titan again – and he was running out of pokémon.

"Begin!"

"Dive!" James said.

"Aero Blast!" Matt said. Lugia blasted the water's surface with the beam of energy, causing spray to reach twenty metres in the air. Swampert however had escaped at the last moment. Lugia landed on a icefloe, turning around to survey the water around it. As it turned, it winced slightly, and James noticed a red graze from where the Sheer Cold had struck.

"Blizzard, on its side!" James said. From under the water came a gale of cruel wind, which burnt away at the red mark, making Lugia cringe with pain.

"Now, Hammer Arm!" James said. With a huge splash Swampert cleared itself of the water, its hand glowing white, and punched Lugia in the face with all its might. The diving pokémon fell backward, into the pool, displacing a huge amount of water. As the liquid flowed up and over the sides, Swampert was pulled up with it.

"Psycho Boost!" Matt said. Before Swampert could swim away it was thrown into the air, then slammed against the water's surface again. The sheer force of hitting the water was nearly enough to make it pass out. Swampert darted to the icefloe, hiding beneath it. James looked from Swampert, under the water and clinging to his only hiding spot, to Lugia, standing on top of it, and had an idea.

"Earthquake!" James shouted. Under the water, Swampert slammed against the ice, and the tremors were enough to shake Lugia from its perch, making it fall into the water again. Now, as the water was the danger zone, Swampert clung to the ice and flipped it, so that now he was above the water.

"Quickly, freeze the surface with Blizzard!" James shouted. Swampert shot forth a gale, and a moment later the water field was hard as stone. As it was freezing, Lugia broke the surface, and for a second James feared the worst, but then the lake froze around it, sealing the diving pokémon in. Lugia roared with anguish.

"Psycho Boost, break free!"

"Don't let it!" James said. Swampert skidded toward Lugia and began to pummel its head with Hammer Arm. Standing behind it, Swampert was out of the line of fire, and completely safe. Lugia, taking damage, roared in frustration, and suddenly span around in the water, shattering the ice around it and rising up in a Whirlpool. The tank water was sucked up with the twister, and Swampert with it. Suddenly Lugia broke free from the Whirlpool, which immediately collapsed, dropping Swampert to the ground. As the water fell back into the pool, it was clear that Swampert had passed out.

"Swampert is unable to battle!" The umpire said.

Damn. James thought, recalling his pokémon. The worst part about that defeat was that Matt had nothing to do with it – Lugia had been using its own initiative when it broke free. And now James only had two pokémon left, to combat Matt's four. Lugia however, looked utterly exhausted, although obviously still strong. Still enough to deal with any regular pokémon.

Good thing his reserve was no regular pokémon.

It had never once failed to save James at his hour of need, often fighting off legendary pokémon to do so. Hopefully he was up to the task once again.

"Go, Latios!" James shouted, throwing his Master Ball forward.

The crowd let out a gasp, then a cheer as the eon pokémon took to the air.

"And James also own a legendary pokémon!" The second commentator said with glee, "And he's saved it up till now! Lugia doesn't stand a chance!"

"Lugia is much bigger and more powerful," Scott pointed out, "And in any case, James has left it too late – even if he defeats Lugia, he would still have too much ground to cover."

"Oh shutup." James sighed. The crowd laughed, as did the commentator. Scott's angry retort however was drowned by the umpire signalling the start of the match.

"Aero Blast!" Matt shouted. Lugia gathered its beam and blasted it toward Latios, but by this time the lightning fast eon pokémon had already disappeared.

"DragonBreath!" James said. Latios swooped down and sent a burst of fire into Lugia's side; it had obviously seen its injury. Lugia roared with pain, and swiped out with its wing. Latios, already too far away, responded to James' instruction and shot a burst of Psychic energy into Lugia.

"In the air!" Matt ordered, "Use Psycho Boost!"

"Psychic!" James said. Lugia soared into the sky, before sending a wave of energy at Latios. The eon pokémon concentrated, and met the attack with one of its own. The two psychic type moves connecting in the air made it seem that the universe was tearing apart around them.

"Luster Purge!" James said. In the middle of the stalemate, Latios suddenly burst with white light, breaking apart both attacks and causing Lugia to fall.

"Whirlpool!" Matt shouted. Lugia curved away from its nosedive and started spinning, collecting the water from the pool and flying up toward Latios. The eon pokémon flew away, but was sucked back into the twister, which suddenly broke. Before anyone could react, Lugia blasted the stunned Latios with a close range Aero Blast, sending it into the bottom of the tank. Water collapsing around it, Latios struggled to take wing.

Before being slammed back down by Lugia.

Latios hit the water hard, and sunk beneath the surface, before recovering slightly and bursting free again. However that last Aero Blast had been a direct hit from close range, and Latios was visibly flying slower. Ignoring Scott Johnston staying that this was it, James ordered Latios into the air again. It complied, flying high above the battlefield.

"Just wait there," James said, hoping his plan would work, "And dodge anything Lugia throws at you."

"Whirlpool." Matt said, smiling. If it had sucked Latios up before, it was bound to do it again. Lugia scooped up the water and spiralled toward Latios.

"Now!" James shouted, "Draco Meteor!" Latios shot a golden meteorite down toward the Whirlpool slicing straight through the eye and slamming hard into Lugia's unsuspecting head. The Whirlpool broke as Lugia fell, to land hard on an icefloe.

"Lugia is unable to battle!" The umpire said. The crowd roared.

"THIS IS THE FIRST TIME!" the commentator was yelling "THAT MATT'S LUGIA HAS EVEN BEEN HURT, LET ALONE TAKEN DOWN!"

Latios flew down, and James gave it a rub.

"Thankyou." He whispered to it, before recalling the exhausted legendary.

"Sharpedo!" James shouted, throwing his final unused battler out.

"Weavile!" Matt said, throwing forward his pokémon. The Sharp Claw pokémon landed on the icefloe, and Sharpedo began swimming around it.

"Ram the ice." James said. Weavile, perched unsteadily on the only land in the arena, nearly fell in as Sharpedo slammed into the icefloe from below. However it managed to stay above water by clinging onto the side.

"Hit it with Skull Bash." James said. Sharpedo leapt from the water, flying at Weavile. As they connected however, Weavile swiped out with a Night Slash. Both pokémon received full damage from the other's attack, Sharpedo falling to one side and Weavile being thrown into the water.

"Crunch!" James said. Lighting quick on land, Weavile was pathetic in the water. Sharpedo surged toward it, gripped it in its teeth and lacerated it, before letting it fly. Weavile flew high, before landing with a splash several metres away.

"Get to shore!" Matt shouted.

"Skull Bash!" James said. Sharpedo surged forward again, toward Weavile who had just made it to the icefloe. However it was unable to climb up the ice. Instead it watched its attacker, and attempted to move to the side, so Sharpedo swam headlong into the ice. The brutal pokémon was too smart to fall for it though, and changed course to match its opponent's movement, slamming into Weavile and crushing it against the ice. Sharpedo picked up its sinking opponent gingerly in its huge teeth, and flipped it onto the ice.

"Weavile is unable to battle!" The umpire announced.

"What a display of sportsmanship." The commentator who liked James was saying. At this Scott immediately began berating on how Sharpedo was attacking a fainted opponent, but James was no longer listening.

They now both had two pokémon left.

"Shedinja!" Matt said, throwing forth his pokémon. At this James nearly laughed. Shedinja was immune to all types but those super effective to it. Sharpedo knew a dark type move – super effective.

"Crunch!" James said. The brutal pokémon swam forward. Matt did nothing, until Sharpedo was right underneath.

"Explosion!" Matt thundered. Shedinja blew up, pushing Sharpedo under the water as a shockwave rippled through the tank.

James had forgotten, of course, that Matt had planned for every one of James' pokémon he had seen.

Sharpedo surfaced closer to James' side of the arena and shook itself off. It had taken damage from the blast, however it still had some distance at the time of the Explosion. Most of the damage had come from the shock wave ripping through the water.

Across the field, the smoke cleared to reveal Shedinja, still fine and floating above the surface.

What?

"Incredible!" Said the umpire who rooted for James, "Shedinja seems to have used its ghost characteristics and ability to receive no damage from its Explosion attack!"

At least he wasn't bias.

"We gotta be careful this time," James said, "Sharpedo, Crunch!" Sharpedo swam forward, then under and down to the very bottom of the tank. From there it rocketed upward, shooting out of the water. Shedinja readied itself for an Explosion, however Sharpedo was too quick for it. The brutal pokémon had already gripped the bug in its jaws when it blew up, and the close range explosion knocked Sharpedo from the conscious world

But it took Shedinja with it.

"Both pokémon are unable to battle!" The umpire said, holding up both flags.

"One pokémon each!" Scott was saying, "But of course, Matt has the advantage, his pokémon not being tired from battling-"

"Latios!" James shouted, and the resulting scream from the crowd drowned Scott Johnston out.

"Cacturne!" Matt said. The grass type took Weavile's place on the icefloe. James couldn't help smiling.

"DragonBreath!" he said.

"Faint Attack!" Matt said. The DragonBreath, perfectly aimed, somehow missed, and Cacturne suddenly landed a kick on Latios, high in the air. It landed back on the icefloe, but missed its footing and fell over.

"Again." James said. Latios flew up then nosedived, shooting fire down as it went. The flames encased Cacturne, but it didn't stop the pokémon from jumping up and landing a Needle Arm when Latios had come too close. The eon pokémon flew a few metres away, and shook itself off. James had to admit that Cacturne was good – but it was too little, too late for Matt.

"Draco Meteor!" James said.

"Bullet Seed!" Matt said. The seeds were blown away by the comets coming from Latios, which knocked it off the ice. Latios swooped down, pulled the kicking Cacturne from the water and threw it onto the floe, before blasting it with fire again.

"Cacturne is unable to battle!" The umpire announced, holding up James' flag, "Latios and James are the winners!"

That was it – he had beaten the impossable trainer.