Hello everyone,
Life comes at you fast I guess, wasn't able to get a chapter done yesterday for Courage. Sorry about that, no excuses this time. Lets just jump straight in there, yeah?
Authors note at the bottom.
Follow me on instagram at wtmcdonaldauthor!
Reminder of pokemon and names:
Hashirama aka Hashi - Hariyama.
Minato - Hypno.
Madara - Arcanine.
Shika - Absol.
Asuma - Ursaring.
Tobirama aka Tobi - Gyarados.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
I arrived in Goldenrod, four hours after I boarded the Magnet Train.
I was supremely impressed at the speed the train moved at. If the brochure was to be believed, the train moved around three hundred and fifty miles an hour, meaning Saffron city was around thirteen hundred miles from Goldenrod. Wrapping my head around that made me wonder just how much of this world is unexplored.
I was very tired when I stepped into Goldenrod, so tired I didn't even bother looking at the massive city. It was honestly nothing special, concrete everywhere and skyscrapers. You couldn't even see the stars.
I decided then and there that I much preferred the 'country', or at least anything but living in the city. It just felt wrong as a trainer. I couldn't even have my pokemon out with me.
So I made up my mind, and set my feet to the north, where Route 35 waited for me. It was around seven-thirty at night, although it felt like midnight. My body hurt, and I was still trying to forget about the events of the day.
My mind trailed to my pokemon as I walked. I was beginning to notice something in my battles. Shika lacked… something. Something that the rest of the team had.
I pulled out my pokegear and pulled up her page, and scrolled to the description. I had already read everything there was to know about her species in the pokenet, and was looking for something specific.
As my eyes scrolled through the information, my mind continued it's train of thought. In battles, it seemed as if she was just following orders. The heart that I could feel in my other pokemon just wasn't there.
'...It normally dislikes fighting in the first place.
Many have attributed this to its sensing disaster all of its life. Is it any wonder that such an intelligent creature would dislike causing harm, when all it senses is tragedy?
Sightings of the pokemon are rare, and only in time of need. Once caught, they prove to be obedient pokemon that the average trainer will excel with. However, I wonder if a truly driven trainer would ever be satisfied with the pokemon.' - Mollie, Pokemon Coordinating Grand Champion.
I wasn't sure what to make of that the first time I read it, and nothing has changed. The part of me that loved my pokemon with all my heart said that she did have the same drive as me. The logical part of my mind started to remember her soft side.
Most of the memories involved her being the mother hen of the group. Madara would run off, and Shika would herd him back to our group and make sure he didn't get lost. Sometimes she would just follow him, to make sure he made it back on time.
Flashes of us sitting on Professor Oak's porch played in my mind.
She was not a champion level pokemon.
Fuck it, that's perfectly fine with me. She doesn't have to be champion level for me to achieve what I need. I'm not letting her go.
I shook my head and tried pushing the issue to the back of my mind. It refused to stay there. I barely read the signs in the city that pushed me towards Route 35. It took me an hour and a half to make it to the edge of the city.
I've never been the one to let a problem eat at me. I normally face a problem head on and don't run from it. Deal with it now.
When I released Shika, and only Shika, I wished I would have run from it.
She looked up at me curiously, wanting to know where everyone else was. I bent down and hugged her.
"I almost lost you today girl." I said as I continued to pet her.
She sent feelings of reassurance through the link that Minato kept up almost all day everyday. I sent a command to cut out everybody else but Hashi. Maybe I should have kept the rest of the guys in the conversation but I felt like we needed some privacy.
I sent her a question, it was so simple and yet so complex that I didn't use words, only feelings. It was the usual mushy stuff that sent a pain through my chest in fear of the answer.
Do you want this? Are you willing to do what it takes? Please be honest. I won't get rid of you know matter what.
So many thoughts and feelings projected with our bond. It made things so much harder that I got cut off from her own emotions. There was a link still there with us, but she was only allowing the bare minimum of a connection with Minato.
It was another reason why I was doubting myself. She had complete control over how much she let me see, because of her dark typing. Minato had skill, but Shika's was so dominant over him because of the typing, and her own understanding of psychic type moves. It was another reason why Sabrina's Alakazam was so impressive, being able to power through her defense of my mind.
Shika didn't physically move away from me, but she did stare at me, through me. I waited patiently while I petted her beautiful frame.
It took way longer than I expected to get an answer.
I don't know.
That's what it all boiled down to. Shika didn't know if that's what she wanted.
That was all the answer I needed. It was all but confirmation that her goals didn't line up with ours. I know I should have known that she wouldn't want to take down Mewtwo. She had almost zero attachment to Tsunade after all. But it did take me by surprise that she held no drive to reach the top and take on Lance, as she did when we first met.
"Just let me know what you want to do, and I'll do whatever it takes to help you." I told her as I stood up.
The sadness from the answer was swiftly replaced by anger. It wasn't at her, it was at the fact that I hadn't seen it coming. There were almost no signs that I would have normally led me to this conclusion.
I should have seen it. When she joined the team, she was one of the stronger members, immediately. Now that everyone has grown up, she has fallen behind. Her coverage has definitely improved, but other than that there has been little improvement. That's just a lack of motivation, plain and simple.
"Think about it, love. Don't worry about the battle tomorrow, you've earned some rest." I told her as I recalled her into her pokemon.
Once my hand dipped to my belt, I grabbed Madara's ball and released him. When he materialized into the world and saw no threat, he turned around with his tongue out, happy like always. It cheered me up a bit.
I took off my backpack and took out the saddle that Professor Oak gifted me. Soon I was on his back.
Originally, I planned to pay for a flight to Blackthorn. Now, I felt like getting my mind off of everything. Focusing all of my attention on staying on Madara's back while he runs to Blackthorn sounded like a good way to do that. Plus, I wouldn't mind the workout it provided.
Madara rocketed off almost as soon as the straps were in place.
It was amazing how fast a landscape can change when you're riding an Arcanine.
A part of me wanted to ride all night, but we barely made it half an hour before I made Madara stop for the night. My challenge wasn't until the afternoon, so I knew I would make it in time.
I set up camp, cooked dinner and went to bed.
Shika curled up next to me that night. Both of our minds were racing. Eventually I went to sleep, I wasn't sure if she did or not. She woke me up as the sky was starting to lighten.
I wasted no time in getting on the road.
We made it to the mountains by noon, and I had to throw on some extra clothes as the weather was about to drop the further I got up the mountain that housed Blackthorn City. The trainers and pokemon we passed barely got a glimpse of the majestic Arcanine racing past them.
The trees became pine. The temperature dropped twenty degrees, and there was this feeling of someone always watching me. It wasn't oppressive, more like a kind dragon keeping watch over the mountain.
Route 44 was, perhaps, one of the most peaceful Routes in the regions. I knew that it was a facade. I was sure that the further you got off of the beaten path, the more dangerous the wild pokemon.
This mountain was home to dragons, after all. Dragons were bred off of conflict. It was natural the area would be the same. Ace training stations were placed every two miles along the Route, and were heavily manned. The league worked hard to keep the path safe from the dangerous pokemon in the area.
Apparently, the Ace Trainers didn't take kindly to an Arcanine racing to the home of the Champion of the Indigo Plateau.
I figured that out whenever the entire route broke off and a part of the earth began to float. Somebody had a steelix, and wasn't afraid to use it.
So after a pissed off Captain Ace Trainer cleared my credentials and reason for going to the city, I was back on the road.
Blackthorn had only one rule when it came to pokemon being out of their ball. Only one of your team could be out. They didn't care if it was a dragonite, or a pidgey. I knew it was a slight power play. There were very few trainers who could walk into the city, and challenge the residents so in their mind, they didn't care.
Madara was my choice. For a moment, I thought that Tobi would be an impressive sight lumbering alongside me, but there were few people who knew that I was in possession of a gyarados. He was registered to my trainer I.D., but it took some weight to get access to those records. Enough weight that most wouldn't bother with a five badge trainer. So I decided I would keep that a secret for a little while longer.
When we finally reached the city, I was not prepared for the thirty foot wall that surrounded it.
The route into the city was surrounded by a forest that cleared as you made the last bend. Once you got past the bend, the city came into view. And it was beautiful.
It was nestled in a small valley beneath the route. There was a mountain on one side of it, and the other side a thirty foot wall that protected it from the outside.
Most of the cities in the pokemon world have already torn down their walls to support growing populations. The walls are a remnant of a time when routes weren't secured, and wild pokemon ruled unchallenged.
With technology, and an overall increasing competence of trainers, it has become much safer. Beedrill swarms are redirected in most cases, and exterminated in others. Rhydon stampede's are easily controlled.
Rampaging charizards are met by their better trained kin in the skies.
Gyarados are put down with extreme brutality.
Most threats are handled by Ace Trainers and Gym Leaders before they ever become a problem. This only became possible in the last one hundred years. My father's generation could be considered the equivalent to the boomers of the mid twentieth century. Hard working and innovative.
But Blackthorn sat on the edge of civilization. And they were surrounded by the single biggest population of dragon-types of the known world to the north. Blackthorn Clan was winning the battle, and slowly gaining more and more ground in the north, but it was much slower going than say Pewter City, which used to be a very remote outpost before the emergence of the Gym. Brock's father and grandfather had all but dominated the wilds over the past fifty years. Kanto almost doubled in size over that time. Coincidense? I think not.
I was still surprised to see the massive walls and opened gates of Blackthorn City. I was even more surprised about the pokemon mural that graced the front of the gate.
Rayquaza, a perfect rendition, sat on the gate, staring out into the wild. It was the first time, in this universe, that I had seen such a prominent legendary depicted. In fact, most people pretended they didn't exist.
I thought we had just forgotten. Not about them in general, but rather what they are capable of.
Lugia hadn't been seen in decades. Ho-oh feathers popped up here and there, but no sightings were ever reported. The rest of the legendary birds are mostly peaceful.
I wondered if this was what the normal pokemon experience was about when you weren't a protagonist. Red, Brendan, Ash, etc. All of them encounter the legendaries on their journeys. But what about Lance? Or Oak. Extremely strong trainers, but no records of them catching or even seeing legends. At least not in this world.
"Out of the way, kid."
The comment broke me out of my thoughts as I stared at the gate of Blackthorn City. I looked to the guard of the gate to see that he was the only person on the streets not marveling at the arcanine beside me. I nodded to him, before continuing on my journey.
Blackthorn was not a large city, compared to Saffron or Goldenrod, but it was bustling. It was obvious, now that I was inside the city, that the walls have been expanded multiple times in the last century, getting further and further out. If you really looked at the architecture, you could see how the roads were perfect barriers between the different districts, where walls used to stand.
I traveled the city a while. I begrudgingly admitted that it was a beautiful place, with good people, and good food. I could see myself settling down in the city, but I knew I wouldn't.
I had enough time to grab a power nap before my match. When booking my match, I learned that if you were trying for your sixth badge and up, the time-slots moved towards later in the day. The main reason being that it was televised. Most trainers announced themselves to the world this way.
I would be no different.
"Brawly." I told the absolute massive man sitting at the receptionist desk in front of me.
He had blonde hair and blue eyes and must have been six foot seven. He had a barrel chest that was shown off by his attire. This was a fucking mountain man, and he was at a receptionist desk.
"Ah, the dumb one." The man said with his surprisingly normal voice. He chuckled at his own joke. "You've got some fucking balls showing up here kid."
"Thanks." I told him. Mentally I was wondering how many people knew of Lance's dislike for me. Apparently, it was not a secret in the gym. "Is it well-known?" I asked curiously.
"No." The mountain man answered. "But the Clan gossips. We know of you."
Great, I made enemies with the whole of the Blackthorn Clan.
The man stood up from his seat with an order. "Follow me."
I did as he said and followed the man to where a girl stood, guarding a door. She slid aside quickly for us. Her eyes roamed my form hungrily.
I really have walked into the dragon's lair.
"Maybe I should have gone with Falkner." I joked with the bear as he led me through a couple of hallways.
"No." He responded evenly. "You'll get a lot of respect with this with the Clan, regardless of the outcome."
"I wouldn't have expected that." I told him truthfully.
"We are many things, but cowards we are not. Nor are we hypocritical. We value respect, over everything. Every respectable clan member would have done exactly as you have. Just for trying, you will be more respected." The trainer answered.
"I'll do more than try."
I said that last part more for myself than for him. I needed to hear myself say it. Over the past few months, I hadn't been nervous for nearly any battle. I have been extremely ahead of schedule for the league's standards of a normal trainer.
But now I need to achieve Ace Trainer, and I have until tomorrow to do it. It added so much pressure on my shoulders. Pressure I wasn't used to.
"We'll see about that." The man said as he pointed to a doorway.
I could hear the crowd on the other side. It was a full house. I moved to the door, with a fake confidence.
Truth be told, I wasn't sure if I was worthy of a sixth badge.
"Good luck kid." Was the last thing I heard when I walked through the door.
Inside of the door, was a locker room. A twenty year old girl waited for me. She had black hair pulled into a tight ponytail, aristocratic features, and wore black pants with a black jacket. I saw a white shirt peak out underneath the jacket.
"Is this your first time challenging for a sixth badge?" She asked in a no nonsense way.
"We both know it is." I told her.
She rolled her eyes. "I have questions to ask, trainer. Let's not make it more difficult. You may choose a locker and change into any attire you wish, provided it's league appropriate. Let me know when you're ready."
She moved to turn around and leave the room, but I didn't let her.
"I'm ready." I said.
There was no way I was leaving my backpack in a locker, in the gym of the hometown of the current champion, who I just so happened to kick in the face. Call me paranoid, at least you won't call me stupid. I was taking no risks with the league either.
The woman stared at me for a second and I thought she was about to have a stroke or something because her eye literally twitched. Like some anime shit.
"Ok." She said before she reached for the microphone in her ear piece. "Contestant ready." She mumbled.
She paused as if someone was talking to her, and when they were done, she turned to me one last time before heading out of the door.
"Twenty minutes, when you hear your name, walk out that door."
That was the longest twenty-minutes of my life.
I had butterflies in my stomach the entire time. The first thirty seconds went by the slowest before I decided to review my strategy.
I paced around the room for the next fifteen minutes.
Then I stood in front of the door for the rest of the time.
Eventually I heard an announcer begin to speak.
"Tonight, we have a special treat for the residents of Blackthorn City. Brawly, a Hoenn native…"
Cue the boos.
I rolled my eyes at region pride, although I did understand it.
"... has rocketed his way through Kanto and has decided to pay Clair a visit!"
A roar sounded out from the crowd as Clair was name dropped.
"Brawly boasts an impressive 5-0 record in gym battles! That's not even the best part, he's only six months into his journey as a trainer!"
The gym quieted as they processed the information. That was nearly unheard of. Nobody moved up as fast as I have. There are limits on pokemon growth, or at least in their minds there is.
"Welcome him to the stage…. BBBBrrrrrraaaawwwwllllyyyy!"
I reached for the door handle and turned it before pausing for a moment. I took a deep breath to center myself, and walked forward.
I stepped straight on to the podium. Once I did, it activated and rails popped up on all four sides of it before it rose me into the air in full view of the stadium. Very few people clapped for me, or even cheered. I didn't mind, it was normal for a newbie. Or at least, that's what I told myself.
"Now!" The announcer said as the lights dimmed in the arena.
The crowd went wild as everyone knew that Clair was about to grace the field. I crossed my arms as to look more intimidating before I dropped them deciding that I looked stupid. Then I crossed them again because I didn't know what to do with my hands. My father crosses his arms when he wants to be intimidating.
"Welcome to the stage! Blackthorn Cities very own Blessed User of Dragon Pokemon Cccccllllllaaaaiiiiirrrr!"
The sound the crowd made was similar to how the crowd reacted when I walked off the stage in Saffron after defeating Sabrina. It was deafening.
Spot lights began to flash around the arena, and I was reminded of a 90s era Chicago Bulls entrance. Eventually they all started to flash on to where Clair stood on her podium opposite of me.
She didn't have eyes for anyone else in the stadium, she stared straight at me, even though I was in the dark and there were no lights on me. I made it a point to meet her eyes and not be intimidated.
The crowd had not lessened in volume when all of the lights finally landed on her.
"Tonight, we give you Clair versus Brawly! The referee will now take over the microphone for a few moments." The announcer broadcasted to the crowd.
When he finished, the light changed again and my podium, along with the field below us lit up perfectly while keeping the crowd in the dark, relatively.
"This will be a five pokemon match, standard league rules!" The referee told us.
The ref wore official league gear and had a microphone on his ear that extended to his mouth. The gear consisted of black pants and shoes, with a white and black striped shirt. It was very standard and made me think of professional sports in my last life.
"Challenger, do you understand?" He asked me.
I nodded at the ref.
"Leader, do you understand?" he asked towards Clair.
Clair nodded at him while we continued our stare down. Her hand dipped to the pokebelt on her waist. I took the time to actually look at her.
She had blue hair that was so close to my own color of hair it was ridiculous. Cape, blue dress with blue spanks on underneath, and knee high boots that matched her gloves. Then there was her absolutely amazing thighs and ass. I had to shake my head and focus.
"Choose your pokemon!"
My hand grabbed a pokeball that I knew I was going to lead with just as Claire released her own pokemon.
I wasn't sure what was louder, the crowd or the roar of the garchomp that graced the field.
"Wow folks! Clair is giving us a rare glimpse of her garchomp. We should be in for a treat today." The announcer yelled throughout the stadium.
"Challenger, choose your pokemon!" The referee berated me for waiting too long. I will admit that the garchomp intimidated me a little bit.
I grabbed the pokeball I wanted and pushed the release button.
Tobirama, my gyarados, landed on the field and let out his own roar. When he saw his opponent, he let out a second roar that was matched by the garchomp across from him.
"Oh my goodness! It's a gyarados!" The announcer exclaimed.
"Begin!"
The roar of the crowd was drowned out as adrenaline kicked in. I was pretty sure the announcer was talking also, but I couldn't hear him.
Suddenly, two rocks were hurled through the air towards Tobi from the garchomp. At the same time it acted like the ground beneath it's feet was a swimming pool and fucking dove into it. The ground parted for the garchomp and welcomed him into it. I couldn't focus on the garchomp swimming through the fucking ground because I was giving Tobi commands.
Water started coalescing on Tobi's tail and with one swipe, he knocked all of the rocks out of the air in front of him.
I was ready for the garchomp to hop out of the ground, and so was Tobi.
As soon as the pseudo-legendary came into view, he was hit with a dragon pulse.
The garchomp roared as it was knocked twenty feet away from my gyarados. I smiled as I knew what was coming next.
Dragon Dance.
Tobi redirected the dragon type energy inside his body, and jumped.
Ever seen a gyarados fly, folks?
What happened next couldn't be considered truly flying. Tobi snaked around the air about six times, for about ten seconds as the dragon energy melded with flying and he maneuvered to where the garchomp was getting off of the ground from the dragon pulse. It was obviously young for it's kind because it did not take the attack well.
Tobi sent a dragon's breath as he descended from the heavens, intent on barreling into the garchomp. The garchomp stomped on the ground in front of him and an earth power rose to block the dragon's breath.
I gave Tobi a command that wound up saving his ass because the garchomp stomped again, and the earth power broke off into massive boulders that started flying towards the falling gyarados.
Tobi was already powering up what was supposed to be a hurricane. The problem is that he is still fairly young, and, while well trained, still has a problem switching between energies fast. The hurricane became a twister.
Luckily the twister was powerful enough to change the trajectory of the rocks and sent them flying in other directions while uprooting the garchomp and sending him flying about fifty feet.
When the garchomp got up, it was to an aqua tail smacking him into the wall of the gym, knocking him out.
Mentally, I noted the brutality of Clair letting her pokemon getting knocked out instead of recalling. I couldn't help but recall the conversation I had with the receptionist about respect. I bet she had to keep her garchomp's respect and let him fight till the end.
The garchomp dematerialized as the referee made a call. "Clair's garchomp is unable to continue!"
The announcer cut in after that. "I can't believe what I'm seeing! I'm sorry I'm repeating myself but that gyarados just flew!"
Clair glared at me once again, and grabbed another pokeball, except this was one that was at the end of her belt. I prepared myself for the real fight to begin.
That garchomp was way too weak for it to be one of her main pokemon.
Dragonite graced the field.
Fuck.
"Begin!"
The crowd and announcer didn't reach my brain as I sent commands to my gyarados.
Everything happened really fast after that. Any hope I had of the dragonite not knowing extreme speed went out the window.
Tobi's tail glowed a silver color and he shoved it into the ground beneath him just as the Dragonite appeared in front of him with an electric covered fist.
The first punch made Tobi seize up slightly, but the electricity was grounded. The dragonite disappeared again. Tobi lashed out to the other side, as I told him to, with ice forming in his mouth.
Tobi's massive jaws latched on to the tail and left leg of the dragonite, piercing it and causing blood to splatter all over the ground beneath it.
The dragonite roared in pain, but had enough discipline to finish the attack. Tobi was no longer grounded because he couldn't keep the iron tail and ice fang up at the same time, and took the thunder punch full force to his neck. It happened so fast I couldn't recall my pokemon in time.
Tobi's mouth relaxed as the lights cut from his eyes. He fell to the floor of the stadium with a crash, and somehow I managed to hear the crowd go quiet.
"Oh no folks…"
I didn't hear the announcer because I was busy pushing the recall button on his pokeball. I can't express how relieved I was when he dematerialized into a red light, signaling he was still alive.
I'm tired of this shit, I could have easily killed that garchomp, and I didn't. I'm tired of giving people the benefit of the doubt.
I grabbed the next pokeball and released my only pokemon capable of going up against a dragonite right now.
Madara landed on the field with the most intimidating look on his face. Normally he was a hyperactive puppy in an arcanine's body, but now he was an apex predator on the prowl for his prey. He must have picked up on my mood and knew we were now out for blood.
Don't stop being a good person, because someone else was a bad person.
It was my mother's voice. It was a quote she used to tell me when I was younger. There is a conundrum when raising a kid who knows how to fight and fight well. How do you teach him not to pummel any kid who gets on his bad side? Well that's easy, get my mother.
I sighed and took away my kill order from my arcanine. The dragonite across from him was about to drop anyway. Tobi would have killed him if that ice fang had hit the right places, and it lashed out to protect itself. I couldn't hold that against the dragonite.
Plus Tobi was alive.
"Begin!"
Despite the dragonite leaking blood out of the sky in front of it's trainer. It still managed to react first and dove towards the ground.
When it landed, it touched the ground with it's hand, and for the second time in this life I experienced an earthquake. I had Madara jump immediately as I remembered how deadly the move was the last time someone used it.
That was exactly what Clair wanted.
I could not perceive everything that happened next with my normal eyes and brain. The only reason I processed what happened is because of my hypno's enhanced mind connecting me to my arcanine.
The dragonite abandoned the earthquake immediately and moved into extreme speed now that Madara was in the air, the dragonite's territory.
Madara actually tracked the dragonite the whole way, giving me enough time to react and give him orders. The dragonite had water surrounding its tail, and was threatening to hit my arcanine with full force right out of an extreme speed.
It quickly abandoned the plan when it recognized the electricity that surrounded my arcanine's form, courtesy of wild charge.
The dragonite abandoned the plan and flew out of harm's way from my arcanine.
When Madara landed on the ground, he moved into an attack immediately. The light around his form warped from the heat coming off of his frame and blue flame appeared in his mouth.
When Madara launched the sacred fire, it was the biggest I had ever seen him produce.
And then my connection with him was lost. It was like Minato couldn't find his mind on the field.
A hurricane rose up to meet the sacred fire in the air. Most would expect the hurricane to blow the fire away, or at least back to it's opponent. But this mystical blue flame continued to defy expectations and moved straight through the hurricane as if it wasn't even there.
I can't find him! Minato's voice rang out in my head.
I began to panic.
The dragonite abandoned it's move and once again moved to extreme speed. The two pokemon on the field blurred into flailing limbs and mouths. I couldn't keep up with what was happening. I didn't know if Madara could handle himself without my guidance.
A pair of eyes appeared on the field, staring straight at me. I heard the eerie laughing of a ghost type pokemon, and I knew exactly what it was. Somehow I knew that nobody else could hear the laugh, or would see the pair of eyes on the field.
Gengar.
There was a gengar interfering with my match. Fuck the league.
I had been planning on saving Madara's latest move until the very end when I faced Lance, but I wouldn't take any chances not having a psychic link to him. The dragonite could kill him without me being able to react.
"Play rough."
I said the words calmly, but they carried to the ears of my arcanine. The fight changed from a mostly even slugfest, into the dragonite roaring in pain within a second.
All of a sudden both pokemon paused.
Madara stood on top of the dragonite, with his mouth latched around the throat of the pseudo-legendary dragon. The dragonite was still alive, and refused to move because it could feel it's death would result from it.
Madara was growling the entire time, daring the dragonite to move and allow him to rip it's throat out.
"Clair's dragonite is unable to battle!"
"Holy smokes people! WE HAVE GOT OURSELVES A WAR ON OUR HANDS!" I had to give props to the announcer, he was a beast. "Brawly is showcasing skills far outside of what he should! WILL HE TAKE DOWN CLAIR?!"
I've got him. Minato told me as I felt the link with Madara reappear.
I commanded my arcanine to let go of the dragonite and come back to my side of the field. At the same time, I noticed the gengar's eyes disappeared.
Madara limped over to my side of the field. His front right leg had a very very deep cut right at the shoulder, and the limb didn't move. There was a gash along his nose, although it didn't look very deep. Other scratches and missing patches of fur covered his form.
He was beat up pretty bad. I grabbed his pokeball and returned him without hesitation.
Clair released a druddigon onto the field.
I released Hashi.
"Begin!"
The two pokemon raced towards one another.
This was, perhaps, Clair's biggest mistake. She assumed that her very physical dragon could go toe to toe with my hariyama. Maybe somebody else's hariyama, sure! Not mine.
The druddigon sent out a bulldoze towards Hashi as they got closer to each other.
Hashi jumped over the bulldoze and straight towards the druddigon, who tried to swipe a paw at Hashi in the air with a dragon claw. Hashi's fists became enclosed with ice and he spun in the air. With one hand he smacked the dragon claw away from him, and as he completed the spin, the other hand chopped down on the druddigon's head.
The druddigon faltered slightly as the ice type move damaged it significantly.
Hashi landed behind it, just as it's tail was about to smack the ground into what I believed would be an earthquake. Instead, Hashi used low sweep, and kicked it's legs out from underneath it.
From there, it was as simple as three ice punches to finish the dragon off and knock it out.
Compared to the dragonite, the fight didn't even compare.
I didn't hear the referee or the announcer that time. All I did was stare Clair down as she released yet another pseudo-legendary onto the field.
It was the first time I had ever seen a salamence before.
Wow, she's pulling out all the stops huh?
This was not the best matchup for my starter. He may have counters for flying types, but this was a pseudo we were talking about here. This wasn't a pidgeot or something like that.
"Begin!"
The Salamence dove towards Hashi immediately. I couldn't help but notice that it's wings were much much bigger than I expected. Salamence actually looked like a proper dragon.
Hashi's fist turned to steel and he redirected the wing attack with one hand while moving into an ice punch with the other. It barely clipped the tail of the salamence, who just shrugged the glancing blow off.
Then the salamence floated right there in front of Hashi, and swung wing attack after wing attack towards him. Clair stared at me, content with the strategy.
I thought it odd, getting up close and personal with a hariyama that had just dismantled your other physically attacking dragon. Especially when Salamence was a very good special attacker. Keep your distance in the air, and bombard Hashi with flying type, or really any time moves.
It was a little suspicious, when Claire didn't react to Hashi finally getting a chance to attack.
The Salamence lashed out with it's mouth, providing the opportunity. Hashi shoved a steel fist inside the mouth, and let the salamence bite. With that leverage, he pulled the salamence into the ice punch heading for it's throat.
Hashi didn't let go, and started wailing away at the dragon. It was so fucking tanky that it sat there and allowed him to pummel it while trying to get it's own attacks in.
The wing attacks hit Hashi a couple of times, and he tried his best to ignore it.
I didn't expect the outcome. The salamence fell limp in Hashi's arms, but Hashi was covered in scratches and cuts from the sharp nature of the wing attacks.
I had to recall him.
I knew what Clair's next pokemon would be, Kingdra. I really only had one answer to that monster. I just hoped it was a special attacker.
I also knew that I would not be Asuma, or Shika for this fight. Asuma was just too young for this level of fighting. With the brutality that Clair was showing, it was obvious he would get seriously injured to me. I had already given Shika the night off. So that was out the window.
Minato was my only shot.
I released him at the same time that Clair released her own pokemon.
I was tired.
The battling was taking its toll on me, there was no doubt. In fact, my eyes seemed very sleepy.
There was something nagging at me in the back of my head.
My eyes snapped open to see that Minato was floating around the field, not teleporting. He already had a couple of marks on his body, almost like he had been hit a couple of times.
Then an absolute geyser of water smashed into him and he hit the wall beneath me. The kingdra across from him looked untouched.
Minato was on the brink of unconsciousness. Our link was barely established, and it was muddy. Like Minato was very far away.
"What is Brawly doing?" The announcer said in my mind.
I heard the laughing of the gengar once again in my mind, but not my ears. That pissed me off, and made me snap out of whatever was happening.
Clair was waving to the crowd, as the roared their approval of her win. The only problem with that, was that the fight wasn't over yet. The ref hadn't called it.
"Minato!" I commanded.
It was like a switch flipped in my hypno. Suddenly his head snapped up.
Gengar first.
I was planning on persevering through whatever the league was throwing at me, but I was past taking the high road for the night. It was time to expose some shit!
Minato appeared right beside me, with a shadow ball in his hand. He shoved it into a blank spot in the air.
The gengar appeared for all of the world to see. Minato didn't even pause to admire his handiwork and teleported again. This time it was to the other side of the field, where the kingdra was preparing another hydro pump.
Minato embarrassed it.
Electric punch, teleport, ice punch, teleport, Shadow ball. Rinse and repeat. It was no wonder that Clair looked so confident with letting her Salamence get worked. She wanted me to bring out my psychic. She thought the match was over as soon as I recalled Hashi.
Because if we were being honest, the Kingdra would have swept the rest of my team. All except my hypno. So why not get a Gengar to interfere in the match? An obviously powerful gengar if it managed to get through all of my defenses. Like at least a gym leader level gengar.
My mind produced two options. Agatha, and Morty.
The gengar to my right shrieked, as the shadow ball made it appear in the world. It managed to survive the shadow ball, and when it did, it was obviously injured and fled the arena through the roof.
It was a psychic that finished the kingdra off, by flinging it into the wall and knocking it out.
Minato teleported, and appeared floating in front of me. He was damaged, but victorious. I counted five pokemon.
"Brawly of Dewford Town, is victorious!"
A/N: Boom!
Here you guys go a longer chapter than normal.
I didn't want to drag this out, or split the battle up between chapters. This needed to be done in one chapter, because the aftermath of this is going to be enormous.
Who do you guys think interfered in the match?
And in general, how did you think the gym challenge went?
Brawly was very very close to losing, and getting kicked out of the Mega Program. There are going to be some pissed off fathers soon…
Anyway, let's talk in the reviews!