Despite my confidence the night before, I spent most of the next morning mulling over my team choice. It wasn't that I didn't have any good choices to do battle on the grass field but more that I had too many options to choose from.
There were the obvious choices of grass-types to go on a grass field, being Sceptile and Abomasnow. Then there was the other type that excelled on the grassy fields: bug. I had a couple of those too. There was also Steelix and Fraxure to consider, all of whom were neutral on grass fields. Then there were those pokemon that held advantages over the commonly used pokemon for these types of field. Staraptor and its flying-type was hard to turn down and could Charizard really ever be a bad choice? Gengar had a poisonous second type which held an advantage over grass pokemon that could be useful. The only pokemon I could for sure rule out were my water, ground and electric pokemon.
Dylan and David didn't seem to be struggling as much with their decisions as I was. Or maybe they were just internalizing it better. I knew they had to be nervous because there was just no way that they weren't. David hiding his emotions was not a surprise; the guy could be as emotional as a wall sometimes. Dylan was just able to project a cool exterior, often going overboard to demonstrate how relaxed about things he was. I had no issue showing that I was nervous. Everyone knew it, so why hide it?
The weather was cooler this Sunday morning than it had been the previous few days. I donned a light jacket when I left the hotel although I still opted for my trusty khaki cargo shorts. I'd worn them in my first two matches (and washed them after) so now they were possibly borderline lucky, if you believed in those kinds of things. Dylan said that he made his own luck. I responded that I did too but preferred to cover all my bases.
Dylan's match started at eleven-thirty so we arrived at the arenas by ten-thirty. He immediately left us for the ice field. Although we would've liked to watch, the regulations that demanded we get to our matches early wouldn't allow for it. David and I were both battling at noon and had to be ready in our locker rooms by eleven. There was a chance we'd get to catch some of it on the televisions that were provided inside but by that point we'd probably be deep into our match preparation.
Although I did sit near the television in the locker room lounge, I hardly noticed it. Since I had to register my pokemon before entering the lockers, I now had to finally focus on my strategy since my team was now final. I felt like I had really covered my bases with this team and would be able to match up well against most pokemon.
I nodded to the guy who had just come off the field. He rolled his eyes like I wasn't worth his time and left the room. When I was fuming about what an asshole he was, I realized I knew who he was. He was the trainer David had pointed out to me as the one who only used a machamp. He actually was as big of an ass as we had thought.
The big digital clock on the wall flashed to my name and I hustled out to the field. I received a nice ovation when I emerged from the tunnel. The urge to play to the crowd was tempting but I forced myself to stay focused. I had read up on my opponent last night. Just looking at his picture, I had known that we would not have been friends in high school if he had attended at the same time as me instead of six years previous. I had been an average, blend in with the crowd kind of guy. This guy, Zak, had a Mohawk seven inches high that wouldn't allow him to blend in anywhere. He was a Punk with a capital P. The way his profile read was that both he and his pokemon were supposedly incredibly aggressive. I was curious to see how that would work against me, someone who was also fairly aggressive.
When Zak came out, he looked exactly like I expected. Whereas I had nice khaki shorts, he had long, ratty cut-off black jean shorts. My t-shirt was plain and unmemorable. His had some giant logo that drew attention to him. The Mohawk of black hair was spiked just like in his picture. We were practically mirror opposites of each other. He probably was a nice guy but I still thought he looked like a dope.
Up on the big display screen, the colored wheel spun and landed on red to declare that I would send out the first pokemon.
I made a split-second decision and grabbed a poke ball. "Staraptor, I choose you!"
Staraptor's and my relationship had evolved these past few months, the events at the Pokemon Sanctuary presumably being the catalyst. We had come to the understanding that we would never be best friends, never as close as I was with Charizard and Sceptile. What we had developed was more of a working relationship. Staraptor got to stay primarily at Oak's campus where it was allowed to live and train at its own pace. In return, the pokemon would assist me in battle whenever I called upon it. I had offered to free the pokemon again but it had turned me down. It had puzzled me at first but I had finally determined that Staraptor felt indebted to me for risking my life to defend the Sanctuary. It wasn't the perfect relationship but it worked for us.
Zak eyed my pokemon circling in the sky for a moment before picking his own pokemon. "Venomoth, go!"
There's no real way to sugarcoat it: venomoth are ugly. Huge creepy eyes, six little creepy legs and big wings, all of it a weird light purple/gray color. It darted around in an unpredictable way that I didn't particularly care for. It was essentially the antithesis of my butterfree. I wished I had a porch light to turn on to draw it in and keep in one location.
Being that I was the first trainer to send out a pokemon, the battle couldn't start until I issued the first command so I got things started. "Staraptor, use quick attack!"
"Ok, we got this!" Zak declared. "Sludge bomb!"
Venomoth unleashed a barrage of nasty globs of gunk. Staraptor had already began to pick up speed and swung around them. Leaving a streak behind it, my pokemon blew right through the bug pokemon. Venomoth dropped a few feet in the air but maintained its flight.
"Another quick attack!"
"Ok, we got this!" Zak said again.
I was really hoping this wasn't going to be something he said every time.
"Quiver dance!"
Venomoth began swirling in the air in an intricate dance but vibrating intensely at the same time. It finished its dance with a flash of light. It was just in time to swoop out of the way of Staraptor. That was not what I wanted to see.
"Aerial ace!"
"Counter with zen head butt!"
Staraptor maneuvered in a tight turn and came back around at Venomoth, white energy streaming off its beak and body. As it closed the gap, the three prongs atop Venomoth's head glowed blue and I could see the air in front of it distort. Staraptor suddenly slammed into a wall of resistance. It tried to force its way forward but was eventually thrown back.
"Yeah, we got this!" Zak cheered drawing a groan from me. "Sludge bomb!"
The barrage of sludge bombs was much larger this time around having been enhanced by the quiver dance. Staraptor was barely able to avoid them.
"Quick attack!" I shouted. "Get out of there!"
Staraptor took off like a shot. With quiver dance boosted speed, Venomoth followed right behind it. The bug pokemon was losing ground but not fast enough for my taste. A sludge bomb clipped Staraptor and the flying-type pokemon slowed slightly allowing Venomoth to get closer.
I had one of those weird flashbacks that seemed to come out of nowhere that are kind of relevant but not really. "We'll hit the breaks and he'll fly right by," I quoted quietly to myself. "Slow it up Staraptor!"
The pokemon spared me a glance that clearly indicated it was wondering if I knew what I was doing. It was enough of a distraction to cause the pokemon to slow just enough.
"Now!" I shouted as I pulled an imaginary brake lever. "Aerial ace!"
Staraptor snapped up into the air and back around in a tight circle that brought it right down into Venomoth. Being boosted by quick attack, there was no chance for the bug pokemon to try and counter. Staraptor drove Venomoth into the ground.
I raised a fist. "Close combat!"
Using the tips of its wings, Staraptor began to pound Venomoth into the ground. I knew the move had greatly diminished effectiveness due to typing but it was still a strong enough move to do some damage.
"Bug buzz!"
Venomoth's wings became a blur and a red sound wave slammed into Staraptor. A second and third hit, completely clearing my pokemon away. The extra power Venomoth's special attacks had picked up from the quiver dance was starting to become an issue. A fourth sound wave managed to tag my pokemon before it got completely out of range.
I looked up at my pokemon as it righted itself in the air. It was clear that it was hurting. Purple sparks crackled around Staraptor and I realized for the first time that one of those sludge bombs that had hit it must've poisoned my pokemon. No wonder it was looking so winded. Venomoth wasn't looking much better even without being poisoned. The super-effective aerial ace it had taken had done a lot of damage.
"You ready?" I called up to the pokemon. I got a caw and a nod in return.
"Yeah, we got this!" Zak announced. "Quiver dance again and then bug buzz!"
Venomoth was already dancing away before I could even think to counter it. Instead, I'd attack. "Brave bird!"
Staraptor pulled its wings in and dove at Venomoth. The pokemon erupted into flames that blew away as it extended its wings back out, its whole body now engulfed in a shimmering blue aura. Venomoth had finished its dance and was now beating its wings. The first red sound wave slammed into Staraptor, barely slowing it. Venomoth's eyes got huge and it beat its wings even faster. Sound wave after sound wave slammed into Staraptor but the flying-type pokemon slashed through them all, absorbing their damage before smashing into Venomoth. The two pokemon disappeared in the resulting explosion. It took just a heartbeat for the two pokemon to fall from the fireball.
"Venomoth and Staraptor are both unable to battle!" the ref declared. "This round is a tie!"
"That didn't go quite according to plan," I muttered as I recalled my pokemon.
This time it fell to Zak to send out the first pokemon. I was pleased with how good I was getting at identifying pokemon now as I recognized the big, four-legged body and leaf-like wings. I hadn't seen a tropius in quite some time but it was a pretty distinct pokemon.
And best of all, I had the perfect counter. "Abomasnow, go!"
My little snover was now a hulking beast. A big, bulky white body with patches of bushy fur complemented by long arms that were tipped in green just like its legs. There was a stubby green tail and a quartet of little green spikes on its back. Best of all, it still had its same ability. Dark clouds formed above us and a fog rolled over the battlefield. The temperature drop made my sweaty shirt uncomfortably cold.
"Get in the air!" Zak yelled, finally forgetting his catchphrase. "Use double team!"
Suddenly there were multiple flickering copies of Tropius flying around the battlefield. Tropius' wings snapped sharply and discs of wind energy shot out at my pokemon.
"Air slash, eh?" I said to myself. "Blizzard!"
Abomasnow crossed its arms over its chest as it took in a huge breath. Upon exhale, a huge blast of icy wind rushed across the field. The wind carried small chunks of snow and ice with it that consumed the air slashes. The blizzard swept across the field, destroying Tropius copies until it finally slammed into the real thing and brought the pokemon back down to Earth. When the flying-type pokemon rose back up to its full height there were ice crystals forming on its wings.
"Quick Abomasnow!" I shouted. "Energy ball!"
"Leaf storm!"
Tropius' wings glowed a bright green and a huge vortex of glowing leaves erupted from them. They pounded into the energy ball, stopping it in its tracks. The smaller grass-type attack detonated and the leaves continued on to pound into Abomasnow.
"Return, Tropius!" Zak called. "Toxicroak, you're up!"
Now this was more like the pokemon I had expected Zak to have: big and nasty looking.
"Toxicroak, use poison jab!"
"Block it with wood hammer!"
Toxicroak raced in, arm pulled back and its red claw now growing purple. Abomasnow's dark green arm was now glowing a bright green as it swung forward. The two attacks slammed together to force a standstill. Both pokemon pulled up their free hand and executed their attacks again. Now they were locked together, neither of them able to let up.
"Headbutt!" I shouted.
Abomasnow pulled back and slammed its face into Toxicroak's. The poisonous pokemon staggered back and Abomasnow had a free shot. It buried its wood hammer into Toxicroak's stomach and hurled the pokemon back. Green sparks were playing over my pokemon as I drew it back into its poke ball.
"I've been waiting for a moment like this," I said aloud and it was true. I had been looking forward to a match-up like this since I had first entered the Tournament. "Go!"
"Heracross!" The bug pokemon formed out of energy in the air and dropped to the ground in a dramatic fashion. The allure of pitting two powerful fighting-type pokemon against one another was too much to pass up. Toxicroak gave a small, barely perceptible shudder as it looked my pokemon up and down, appraising the challenge. The snowstorm that Abomasnow had brought with it slowly faded away, taking its damaging hail with it.
"Toxicroak, use bulk up!"
The poisonous pokemon crossed its arms over its abdomen and the muscles on them bulged out to enormous proportions. They sank back to normal but the message was clear: the attack power of Toxicroak had just gone way up.
"Now use brick break!"
"Dodge it, Heracross!"
Toxicroak launched at Heracross, both forearms flashing white. Heracross shuffled to the side to avoid the first strike and then with a flurry of its wings, drew back from the second. Toxicroak kept coming and Heracross kept bobbing and weaving.
"Close combat!"
Heracross swung to its left to let Toxicroak's fist go by and then grabbed onto it with both its claws. With a grunt, the bug pokemon pivoted and hurled the poison pokemon over its shoulder. Toxicroak hit on its back but to its credit, it rolled through the fall and back up to its feet. Heracross was already in midair by that point. It spun and drove one foot into Toxicroak's chest and then continue to the spin to plant the other in the same spot. This time the toxicroak went down. Heracross leapt into the air and attempted to drive a fist down into Toxicroak's face but it was blocked by a brick break. Like some kind of break-dancer, Heracross spun on multiple axis and drove a kick into the side of Toxicroak's head. My pokemon grabbed Toxicroak's foot before the pokemon could bounce away and swung it around, tossing it across the ring. Then Heracross bent its knees, drawing lower to the ground, stuck one arm out straight and bent the other up over its head.
I groaned and face-palmed. Apparently I should've listened to Professor Oak about not letting Heracross watch old kung-fu movies. How was I supposed to know? At any rate, the crowd was absolutely eating it up.
"Toxicroak, venoshock!"
Toxicroak rolled back onto its shoulders and neck before launched back forward and up to its feet. When it was back up, I saw the pouch at its neck pulse before it spat a stream of gooey green liquid all over Heracross. Heracross staggered back as the liquid sunk in, the move not having much effect. Purple sparks flickered over my pokemon and it hunched over in pain.
"It's poisoned!" Zak cried out in glee. "Venoshock again!"
This time the green goo knocked Heracross right off its feet. I was flabbergasted. The same attack had just seemingly doubled in power despite nothing happening.
"Confused?" Zak taunted. "Venoshock doubles in power when it's used on a target that's already poisoned! How about them apples?"
"I got a surprise of my own," I shot back.
Heracross jumped back up to its feet. "Hera-CROSS!" Red waves of energy began flowing off the pokemon. A red glow filled Heracross' eyes and then vanished as the last wave of energy shattered.
"Know what ability Heracross has?" I asked, failing to fight off a smirk. "That's right: Guts."
Zak didn't have a response for the fact that he had inadvertently raised my pokemon's attack power.
"Toxicroak, venoshock!"
"Not this time!" I pointed at the opposing pokemon. "Stone edge!"
White specks swirled around Heracross before forming into pointed stones. Heracross threw its arms forward and the stones shot towards Toxicroak. It took three stones to soak up the venoshock and the rest slammed into the poison pokemon. More stones were needed than I would've thought to knock down Toxicroak.
"Toxicroak, return!" Zak had apparently decided that his pokemon had had enough for now. "Tropius, air slash!"
"Heracross, mega horn!"
Wings buzzed to life as a white energy washed down Heracross' horn. The bug pokemon shot into the air as the glow on its horn intensified. The blade of air shattered when it came into contact with Heracross and the pokemon kept going. Shocked by the ineffectiveness of its attack, Tropius didn't even try to avoid Heracross. Heracross plowed into Tropius and forced it into a direction change to drive it into the ground.
"Heracross, return!" I shouted, as purple sparks continued to play over the pokemon. I hated to ruin my momentum but the poison was really starting to affect Heracross. "Abomasnow, blizzard!"
A well-aimed air slash zipped through the blizzard and smashed into Abomasnow's chest. My pokemon staggered back. Its blizzard went awry but the snowstorm that it had brought with it onto the field tagged Tropius with its hail.
"Tropius, body slam!"
Two flaps of its wings took the flying grass-pokemon into the air. It got a dozen or so feet above Abomasnow before tucking its wings away. Tropius landed with its full weight on my pokemon, squishing it to the ground.
"Wood hammer!"
Dark green turned to bright green and Abomasnow drove its forearm into Tropius, separating the two pokemon. With surprising speed Abomasnow was back on its feet and delivered another wood hammer to Tropius. Green sparks played across my pokemon as the recoil damage caught up with it. Luckily, the two attacks had done more than enough damage to Tropius to keep things even, or more likely, tipped in my favor. The two pokemon stared each other down, both breathing heavily. Hail shattered against Tropius, knocking it slightly off-balance. I started reaching for my poke balls, since the switch was inevitable.
"Use air slash!"
My eyes had drifted from the field but they snapped back now. The first two slashes slammed into Abomasnow's chest, the third missing as the pokemon twisted away. I couldn't believe it. No trainer in their right mind would have left their pokemon on the field. I fumed at myself for underestimating just how aggressive this trainer was.
"You ok Abomasnow?" I called to the pokemon. It huffed a reply as it steadied itself on its feet. "Ok, let's finish this-"
Zak cut me off. "Tropius, use leaf storm!"
"Sonofa- blizzard!"
The two storms slammed together. Snow, ice and leaves were blown everywhere.
"Energy ball!" I shouted. "Lob it over the storms!"
Abomasnow held a distinct advantage over Tropius: its hands were free. Tropius needed its wings to create its leaf storm which prevented it from using any other attacks. Abomasnow, however, had a free hand to form the energy ball and then toss it over the two stalled attacks. It wasn't a good toss. It didn't even hit Tropius but it was close enough to knock the pokemon off-balance just enough for its concentration to waiver. The blizzard overtook the leaf storm and swept over Tropius. Tropius was quickly encased in a thick block of ice.
"Tropius is unable to battle!" the ref announced. "Abomasnow is the winner!"
"Good job Abomasnow," I said as I recalled the pokemon. There was no doubt in my mind that the pokemon could still battle but I wanted to hopefully call it a day for Abomasnow. Technically this was its first appearance as an abomasnow and only its second official battle. I wanted to make sure it left with a good taste in its mouth.
"Toxicroak, bulk up!" Zak yelled.
Toxicroak flexed its already considerable muscles and charged at Heracross, poisonous claws extended. Heracross made to dodge but a wave of poison washed over it causing the pokemon to cringe and slow. Toxicroak drove a poison jab so hard into Heracross' midsection that I half expected it to burst out my pokemon's back. It struck with the other claw, sending my pokemon skipping across the field.
"After it Toxicroak!" Zak was apparently sensing blood now. "Brick break and poison jab!"
"Heracross, close combat!"
Heracross had spun back up to its feet by the time Toxicroak arrived, one arm flashing with light and the other baring the poisonous talon. The bug pokemon ducked under the first strike and delivered a one-two combo to Toxicroak's midsection before dancing away from a poison jab. Jumping into the air, Heracross spun and drove a stiff kick into Toxicroak's chest. A brick break nearly knocked Heracross off its feet but it countered with a spinning backfist that staggered the big poison pokemon. Toxicroak stumbled back, turning itself around briefly before coming back to face Heracross. Heracross lunged forward, ducking its horn under Toxicroak's arm and then the bug pokemon threw its arm across the chest of Toxicroak and latching it over the other pokemon's shoulder.
"Oh no," I said, knowing what was coming and hiding my eyes.
Using its immense strength, Heracross hefted Toxicroak into the air and falling forward, slammed the pokemon into the ground on its back. The bug pokemon spun around and back to its feet to stand over Toxicroak's head.
"No!" I yelled and pointed at my pokemon. "No! If you use the People's Elbow, I will lock you in your poke ball for a month!"
In addition to watching kung-fu movies, I had forgotten that I had stumbled across Heracross watching professional wrestling. It had apparently watched a match with The Rock because it had just delivered a Rock Bottom to its opponent. I was either going to have to not let the pokemon watch television or at least make it watch mixed martial arts or something.
Still on the ground, Toxicroak's throat pouch began to swell.
"Get out of there!" I commanded my pokemon. "In the air!"
Heracross sprouted wings and shot into the air. A spurt of green goo followed it up but the pokemon outraced the venoshock attack. Toxicroak lurched back up to its feet but it was too slow to strike at my pokemon.
"Let's finish this!" There was still one attack that I had kept under wraps until just now. "Aerial ace!"
White energy poured off Heracross' horn as it rocketed back down. Toxicroak pulled back an arm to counterattack but Heracross kicked it into another gear. Heracross plowed right through Toxicroak, dropping the poison pokemon like a rock. Boosted by Heracross' Guts ability, aerial ace was all I needed.
"Toxicroak is unable to battle!" the ref declared. "Victory to Heracross and the red trainer!"
"Hell yeah!" I fist-pumped and walked over to Heracross. "We need to work on your TV choices. Definitely no more wrestling."
The pokemon just laughed. I shook my head and put it back in its ball.
Once I had gone back through the locker room and gotten back outside, I fired off a text message to Dylan. He should've been done quite a while ago and would have hopefully figured out where the best matches to watch were going to be. I didn't get an immediate response so I found an unoccupied bench and relaxed for a few minutes.
Someone made a snorting noise as they walked by. I looked up to see the guy I only knew as the one who used the machamp. He was rolling his eyes at me.
"You got a problem?" I asked. I leaned back on the bench and extended my arms out along the back. Hopefully I looked cool and relaxed.
"You're terrible," the guy said, stopping. "You barely won."
"That's debatable. I still had two pokemon left."
"If you were any good, you'd have all your pokemon left at the end." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Like me."
I lowered my head in a mock bow. "Clearly you are the superior trainer. Oh please, O Great One, teach me more!"
He made a rude hand gesture and walked away. I waited until he was well away before I let out a sigh. That guy was way bigger than me. If he had actually wanted to fight, I had no doubt I would've been destroyed.
My phone buzzed and I saw the text from Dylan: Grass field 3. David in trouble.
I jumped off the bench. I was outside of Field One and would need to hustle if David really was in trouble. Taking off at a run, I managed to maneuver my way through the crowds. I had misread my map though. Instead of arriving at Grass Field Three, I ended up at Grass Field Two. After dropping a few choice four-lettered words I took off running. I was worried that the battle would be over by the time I got there but there were still pokemon on the field, including one that I recognized as David's torterra.
"What'd I miss?" I asked as I dropped into the seat Dylan had saved for me. "It doesn't look like he's in trouble."
"You missed the good stuff," Dylan replied and nodded towards the field. "Lenny is all David has left. His rufflet and scyther got manhandled."
"So is it three-on-one?"
David's opponent looked remarkably similar to him. Both had close-cropped black hair, a scruffy beard and piercing blue eyes. From a distance they looked like they could be twins with the most obvious difference being that John, David's opponent, had a large sleeve of tattoos running up his left arm.
"It's two-on-one," Dylan corrected. "They managed to take down John's probopass before they went down. Now he's switching between a flareon and whatever the hell that thing is down there. I've never seen anything like it."
I squinted and tried to figure out what exactly I was looking at. It had a basic humanoid configuration but that was where the comparison to a human ended. A round yellow head had almost like a bonnet of leaves backing it and sheltering its big red eyes. The upper body was very slight with two arms that came out of it which appeared to actually be made out of leaves. If you looked further down the body of the pokemon a yellow thorax stuck out behind it, sheltered by leaves. Two pointed legs let it move with surprising quickness.
"Although now that I think of it… do you remember that thing at the tournament for the Fivers?" Dylan was leaning forward to look at the pokemon. "Remember that thing called like sewaddle or something like that? Kind of reminds me of that a little bit."
I had to think about it for a moment but I had to agree. "What was that thing? A bug pokemon?"
"I think it was actually a dual type bug/grass."
"Oh damn, I can see why that's causing issues." I looked closer. Lenny the torterra was looking a little tired. "Has Lenny been alone against these two or did David's other pokemon do some damage first?"
On the field, the weird pokemon we couldn't identify was dodging a barrage of seed bombs.
"Whatever he named his scyther, Shini-something, tangled with that grass/bug thing but got smacked pretty hard by the flareon. Have you seen a flame charge before? It's like a weak version of a flare blitz without the recoil but it ups the pokemon's speed. The guy's been using that to great effect."
Once his pokemon had successfully avoided the seed bombs, John shouted, "Leavanny, X-scissor!"
At least we had a name now. Leavanny crossed it glowing arms over its body and flew at Lenny. David was ready for it though. Using an earthquake to disrupt Leavanny's progress, Lenny grabbed an arm using crunch and tossed the smaller pokemon away.
"Lenny, use leaf storm!"
The storm of leaves pounded into the flying, flailing pokemon. It was right then that I began to realize why David was having such a tough time now. The only attack his torterra had that didn't hit for reduced damage against the leavanny was crunch. John was probably planning to use his leavanny to wear down Lenny as much as possible since his flareon would be weak to the earthquake Lenny could summon.
"Get up Leavanny!" John shouted. "Use X-scissor!"
"Earthquake!"
Lenny rose up on its back legs to slam down its front legs. Leavanny had been trying to charge but the trembling ground made it tough going. The pokemon stumbled more than a few times.
"Leaf storm!" David yelled.
Leavanny thrust out its X-scissor to try and combat the hail of leaves. With already unstable footing, the pokemon was slowing being forced backwards. The X-scissor was doing an admirable job of deflecting the leaf storm, with only a few stray leaves passing by to do damage.
"Now's our shot!" David announced as he pointed to the sky. "Seed bomb!"
The tree on the back of his torterra, already glowing green, flashed. Eight small glowing orbs launched from the tree, arcing over the leaf storm. Leavanny looked up and shouted in alarm. It got caught trying to decide which attack was going to be more deadly and didn't block either. The seed bombs exploded against the grass/bug pokemon and then the leaf storm overtook it. Leavanny came flying out of the explosion though. It slashed a shadow claw across Lenny before being caught in a crunch and slammed to the ground.
"Leavanny is unable to battle!" the ref declared. "Lenny is the winner!"
"One more to go," I muttered.
Flareon quickly demonstrated its flame charge for us. It would stomp its feet until a cloud of dust enveloped it before shooting out, coated in fire. David had gotten wise after seeing it a few times apparently. While Flareon was stomping the ground, Lenny was firing seed bombs into the air. The bombs were timed nicely and started impacting the ground right as the fire pokemon was advancing. It avoided the first few but the flame charge didn't seem to help much with maneuverability. Four or five direct hits were enough to grind the fire attack to a halt.
"Earthquake!" David shouted.
Still recovering from the seed bombs, Flareon didn't have a chance to do anything about the earthquake. It had to absorb the full force of the attack. David seemed to decide that his best chance of defeating this fire-type was to string attacks together and give it no chance to recover. He ordered his torterra to fire another round of seed bombs and then ready for a leaf storm.
"Flareon, use hyper voice!"
Sucking in wind, Flareon looked to the sky. A blast of white wind enveloped turquoise rings as the pokemon let out a loud shout. As the rings slammed into the falling seed bombs, both exploded. One attack taken care of, Flareon whirled around and unleashed a flamethrower at the oncoming leaf storm. The flames pushed back the whirling leaves.
A tremor shook the ground. Not a strong one but still recognizable as an earthquake. Flareon staggered slightly to one side. Lenny burst through the fire, a fearsome sight as trails of flames traced its outline in the sky. The huge grass-type landed above Flareon and its huge bulk shielded the smaller pokemon from view. Now the ground shook violently from Lenny's impact. I caught a glimpse of a red limb or tail occasionally as the fire pokemon was bounced around on the ground.
"Crunch!" David yelled.
Moving quickly for a pokemon of its girth, Lenny pivoted around to reveal a dazed Flareon. With glowing white jaws the grass pokemon snapped up the flareon by its tail and hurled it across the field. Lenny then unleashed another leaf storm to batter the tossed pokemon. From the way its massive legs were quivering, I was pretty sure the torterra was going to pass out from exhaustion soon if it didn't win the match shortly.
"Another earthquake!"
Lenny rose up on its back legs and roared. "Tor-terra!"
The earthquake was timed well. The shockwave that ripped through the ground hit Flareon just after it finished being battered by the leaf storm. There was no chance for it to recover and ready any kind of defense.
"Flareon is unable to battle!" the ref declared. "Victory to Lenny and the red trainer!"
"Man, that was close!" I said as I felt relief for my friend. As if to emphasize my point, Lenny slumped down to the ground. It barely had enough energy to raise its head up when David walked over to it to give it a thankful pat on the head and say a few words.
"That's three down, one to go," Dylan said, referencing the amount of fields we had to battle on. "Tomorrow's the big day."
It occurred to me then that I hadn't ever even asked Dylan if he had won his match. His statement made it clear that he had but I asked anyway just to be polite. As we made our way out of the stadium, he elaborated on his victory. Like David and myself, he had been taken to his limits before claiming victory.
We waited a surprisingly long time for David. When he finally emerged from the locker rooms, his black hair was wet.
"I was, uh, really sweaty," he explained. "I figured I should probably clean up a little."
As we walked off, I tried to covertly sniff myself. I didn't seem to be too ripe. I was probably presentable in public for the time being.
"Hey, who the hell is that guy?" Dylan asked later when we were sitting in a café not far outside the arena. He indicted someone over my shoulder with a nod. "He's been giving you the evil eye since we got here."
There was no way to be smooth about it so I just turned completely in my seat. At first I didn't see anyone. Then I saw him. I knew he was despite still not actually knowing his name. It was the trainer with the machamp that I'd had a verbal exchange with earlier. He gave me the finger and left.
"What was that all about?" David asked. "Wasn't that the machamp trainer?"
"Yes and I don't know," I replied. I told them about our earlier exchange. "He's just kind of an asshole."
"Or maybe he knows something you don't," Dylan said and pointed up.
Like almost every restaurant around the area, there was at least one television mounted to the wall. It was currently tuned in to, what else, Pokemon League coverage. The anchorman was updating the audience on what match-ups had already been determined for the next day. I didn't understand why Dylan had pointed this out at first. Then I saw my picture and next to it was the machamp trainer's picture. We were going to be doing battle tomorrow on the second ice field. I felt a tremble of anticipation run through me. I had the chance to do what every other trainer here probably wanted to do: shut this guy up.
During the meal, I was less than conversational. I spent the majority of the time with my pokedex out and trying to form a plan. I was determined to come up with a flawless plan to really take this guy, Jordan his name was, down a notch. Running through all my pokemon and all their potential attacks took me the entire dinner but I finally gathered my ideas into what I thought was the perfect plan.
"Hey, I need your help," I said to Dylan as we were standing to leave. And then to David, "Yours too."
Dylan looked puzzled but David knew exactly what I had in mind. "You're planning to take him down a notch."
I simply nodded. I started to lead the way but I turned back to Dylan. "Bring Gigalith."
"Gigalith?" my friends repeated in unison. Clearly they didn't understand how a rock-type pokemon was the key to my plan to defeat a powerful fighting-type.
"Trust me. It'll all make sense."
It took some time for us to find an isolated location where I could explain my plan and start training the necessary pokemon. Their jaws dropped when I unveiled the pokemon we'd be working with but once I explained my plan in full, they were onboard albeit with some reservations.
Evening turning into night and night into twilight. Once I had gotten what I needed from David and Dylan they stuck around until around midnight but left to devise their own strategies for their own matches. I stayed in my training area until almost four in the morning until I was certain everything was perfect. My match wasn't until six in the evening so I was still able to get a good amount of sleep.
I had been placed in one of the prime-time match time slots I had come to realize. It was Monday and most people had to work but the tournament had to keep going. People wanted to see the overpowering machamp against the scrappy underdog. I wasn't sure if I really qualified for the "scrappy underdog" label but I was willing to run with it.
The hours just seemed to run together and the next thing I knew, I was standing in my trainer's box on the ice field and watching the colored wheel up on the screen determine who sent out the first pokemon. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jordan not watching the wheel at all. He was still staring at me in what I assumed was his attempt at mind games. I ignored him. The wheel landed on red. Red was me.
I took a second to look over the field again. The ice gleamed in the sun. Small pillars of ice seemed to grow out of the ground, almost like reverse icicles. None of it mattered though. My plan was already decided.
I took a deep breath and cranked back my arm to throw the poke ball. "Jigglypuff, I choose you!"
There was a rumbling in the crowd. I had just sent a small, normal-type pokemon out onto the field against someone who was known to specialize in fighting-types.
"Are you kidding me?" Jordan exclaimed. He was laughing a high-pitched hysterical laugh. "Do you know what you've done?! Do you study at all? Machamp, destroy this thing!"
He was every bit as predictable as I'd hoped. Clearly not once did he consider that I wanted this or had prepared for this.
"Jigglypuff, use stealth rock!"
Jigglypuff became outline in a white, sparkling energy that exploded off of its body like dozens of tiny rockets. They each disappeared as the hit the ground. At first nothing seemed to happen but shortly after large, pointed rocks began to fade in and out of existence just waiting for a new pokemon to be switch in. I silently thanked Dylan and his gigalith for helping Jigglypuff learn the attack.
"Oh no!" Jordan cried, feigning horror. "Now I'll be hesitant to switch pokemon. Whatever shall I do?"
"Jigglypuff, use sing!"
The pokemon swayed back and forth as it sang sweetly. The melody was slow and pleasant but because it was being focused on Machamp, it didn't bother me at all. There were actually faint outlines of musical notes swirling through the air and absorbing into the big, four-armed fighting pokemon. Jigglypuff hadn't gotten through more than a few bars when Machamp slumped down to its knees. All four arms were folded nicely in its lap. The big crested held lolled to one side.
Jordan through his hands up in mock distress. "Oh no! Now my pokemon's asleep! It might not wake up before your jigglypuff is exhausted from attacking!"
Right about then my determined look melted into a sadistic smile. Jordan's laughter faltered.
"Dream eater!"
"Wait, what?"
A shadowy image of Jigglypuff shot out across the field. It slid right through Machamp but the pokemon snapped back like it had been hit with an enormous force. In its sleep condition it wavered in the air before slouching down to one side. If David and I had estimated Jigglypuff's strength correctly, each super-effective dream eater should be taking away at least a quarter if not almost a third of Machamp's health away.
"Again!" I roared.
Now Jordan was yelling at his pokemon to snap out of it. The shadowy Jigglypuff ran right through the machamp, spinning it around on the ground. I was pretty sure Jordan could see the predicament I'd put him in now. Any pokemon he could switch to would immediately take damage from stealth rock. If he left his Machamp in much longer, it would suffer the indignity of losing to a jigglypuff. The paralyzing indecision was exactly what I'd hoped for.
"Dream eater again!"
This time the phantom Jigglypuff arced out wide to come in at Machamp's side. It dipped low and then came up, lifting the fighting-type off the ground with its impact. Machamp wasn't defeated yet though. It still snoozed peacefully, apparently unaware of the psychic beating it was taking.
"Finish it!" I yelled. "Dream eater!"
The image of Jigglypuff shot across the field.
Machamp's eyes snapped open. The Jigglypuff image faded from existence.
"Yes!" Jordan screamed. "Now kill that jigglypuff!"
"Hyper voice!"
Machamp was slow to its feet, only know realizing the beating it had taken. It was up to one knee when the column of wind and turquoise rings slammed into it. Machamp staggered backwards and was completely unable to get to a steady position with the battering of sound waves.
Here was where Jigglypuff's lack of battling might come back to bite me. "Sing and hyper voice together!"
The loud noise that Jigglypuff was using for its attack jumped rapidly in pitch. I shied away as it became painful to my ears. The turquoise rings changed though. Instead of solid rings, if you looked closely, they were rings of small musical notes. Machamp fought back but was eventually claimed by slumber once more.
"No!" Jordan was raising his poke ball now.
Jigglypuff was faster.
Dream eater slammed into Machamp before its sleeping form could fall. Its body looked like it had been hit by a truck as it flew backwards.
Even the ref was stunned. It took him an extra beat to announce, "Machamp is unable to battle. Jigglypuff… is the winner!"
The crowd loved it.
I crossed my arms over my chest and fixed Jordan with the same evil glare he had been giving me since yesterday.
"Puff!" On the field, Jigglypuff mimicked my stance. I liked to think I was the more intimidating of the two of us.
Jordan was shell-shocked now. It wasn't a rule that you had to announce the pokemon you were entering into battle but it was considered good form. He said nothing as he threw his poke ball onto the field. I barely got a look at his pokemon before three rocks materialized out of thin air and smashed against the pokemon, creating a shower of rubble. White claws attached to blackish-blue arms dug out of the pile of rubble. I didn't even need to see the feather-like appendages on the back of the pokemon's head to know that it was a sneasel.
I smiled. David had been right. The previous night he had accurately predicted that Jordan's second pokemon, which no one had ever seen, would be something that could combat a fighting-types two main weaknesses of psychic and flying. Sneasel's dark- and ice-types took cover both of those. However, while it was immune to Jigglypuff's primary attack of dream eater, it was weak to the stealth rocks it had laid down.
"Well done Jigglypuff!" I boomed. "Return! Go, Charizard!"
Like I was going to go through this entire first round without using Charizard.
"Let's make this quick Charizard," I called, confidence now flowing through me. "I've got places to be! Focus blast!"
Charizard pulled a three-clawed arm back as the light blue orb formed at the tip of its claws. Sneasel started gathering energy for an ice but it was clearly an underutilized pokemon. The response to Jordan's command was lagging. Charizard hurled the focus blast. It moved strangely through the air, almost like a knuckleball but it still slammed into Sneasel and the pokemon was lost in the detonation.
"Flamethrower!"
My pokemon poured fire into the waning explosion. It was pretty academic. Jordan had relied so heavily on his machamp for so long that he had neglected his other pokemon to a criminal level. I actually felt a little guilty as Sneasel was laying there, facedown in the ice.
Jordan was beginning to recover his wits, for all the good it was going to do him. "You haven't won yet! Go, Aggron!"
I raised my eyebrows at this. Huge and armored with sharp horns. This was not a pokemon that had been neglected. Aggron had to evolve from a lairon and did so at a fairly high level. Perhaps Jordan wasn't as one-dimensional as I had previous thought. The stealth rocks slammed into the pokemon, reminding me they were there, and Aggron shook off the impact.
Then I remembered I had Charizard on the field and none of that mattered. "Charizard, focus blast!"
Charizard hurled the blue orb. Aggron responded quicker to Jordan's command than Sneasel had but it was still too slow. And just like with Sneasel, focus blast was doubly super-effective.
"Iron head!" Jordan yelled.
"Flamethrower!"
Encapsulated in silvery-white energy, Aggron launched itself at Charizard. However Charizard was no longer where it had been. The fire pokemon was now circling high above the field. A pillar of fire slammed down into Aggron's back, driving the pokemon down into ice. Aggron spun around in the crushed ice to bring its jagged jaws to bare, a flash cannon forming, only to be greeted with another focus blast. The explosion threw light and ice shards into the air.
Less neglected or not, Aggron had nothing on Charizard.
"Aggron is unable to battle!" the ref declared. "Victory to Charizard and the red trainer!"
Just like that, I had advanced to the next round.
Across the field Jordan gave me a reluctant nod. Despite myself, I returned it.
As I was heading back to the locker room, I was unsurprisingly stopped by a reporter. She politely asked if she could have a few words with me. I wasn't sure if I was actually allowed to say no even if I had wanted to.
She did the usual preamble and then asked, "That was a pretty big risk using your jigglypuff, why take such a risk?"
I paused for a moment before saying, "My entire professional career has been built on risk, so why stop now?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well… I mean just starting out was a risk. I'd had my pokemon for about a week before my friend Dylan and I made the decision to start challenging Gyms. I've only been at this for a year so even coming to the League Tournament was a risk."
"You seem to be holding up pretty well for someone who's only been at this for a year. What do you attribute that to?"
Now my pause was longer and hopefully not viewed as awkward. I had to judge just how much I could say on this subject. "Let's just say… I got more than my fair share of experience in my travels."
The reporter smiled. "No hints?"
"Tell you what," I said with a laugh. "If I make it to the finals, you can come back and ask me then."
"I'm going to hold you to that. Good luck in the next round." She moved off to the side of the field where she had been sitting before and I headed back through the locker room.
Back outside of the stadium, things seemed different. The sun seemed a little brighter. The air smelled a little cleaner. The grass looked extra green. Nothing had changed but at the same time, everything had changed. Dylan and David had won their matches earlier in the day which meant we had made it to the next round.
The round of sixty-four awaited.
