AN: a lot of words... a lot of battles... I'm emotionally exhausted. Anyway, let's get to those reviews.
GoAnimeGo, King Antasma, Dabber2121: Thanks for the support.
Sakra95: Thanks for the critique, but I'd still say whenever I put advantage or disadvantage, it can be interpreted to where it was correct. It's merely perspective.
Anyway, before I get to the chapter, I just want to say, there will probably be longer periods of no chapters during December, but I will be working on it. I just have a lot of projects to work on. There are A LOT of battles in this as I wanted to wrap up the tournament. That is sort of at the expense of time with Pokémon and friends but that will be compensated in the next chapter.
After my battle, I left and went to observe my competitors in the final 4. The semifinals would happen the next day and I wanted to be ready. I'm content with my last battle's performance, but my team needs to be perfect if I want the same result of victory. So, of course, I decided to spy- I mean spectate Isla's match. It seems that the Machamp trainer won his latest matchup, so the only strong trainer left for Isla was the rumored Dragonite trainer she talked about. It doesn't look like she's facing a Dragonite now though, which either means she already knocked it out or it's being saved for later.
Isla had a Gengar on her side while her opponent had a Golem. A strong heavyweight ball squaring off against a large dark smiley face, while a laughable sight, is not laughable in how much power those 2 can generate. Gengar alone has a move pool open to the most powerful ghost moves while Golem… rolls with the punches you could say. Nevertheless, Gengar probably has this in the bag.
Currently, the Golem was keeping the Gengar on his toes, making use of his shape with the offensive fast spin power of rollout. Gengar is so obviously winning though… Gengar is dodging everything that the Golem has to offer. If Golem were able to hit Gengar, maybe that would make this a more difficult matchup, but it seems that Isla is making sure to take advantage of Gengar's rather strong special attack. She's just waiting for the right opportunity.
"Golem, use stone edge while it's close!" While this is sound logic, the Gengar is definitely a Pokémon that's typing contributes largely in avoiding physical blows and when your Pokémon is tired already from taking earlier blows, it's simple how this is going to end.
"Gengar dodge it and fire a shadow ball, up close and personal." The events played out just as she planned. The giant stone pillar whiffed big time and the powerful ranged attack that is shadow ball fired in Golem's face, knocking it out. Moves that make a Pokémon fire attacks out of seemingly thin air, usually leaves the Pokémon unable to move a bit afterwards until the move is "finished". Of course, highly advanced trainers are the exception to this rule. Their Pokémon can withstand firing off powerful attack after powerful attack with general ease.
A few people in the crowd seemed to be in a conversation about the battle, so I directed my ears to listen in on the conversation.
"Man, I can't believe this James guy is getting absolutely dominated in this matchup. I thought for sure that Mantine would lose to the Dragonite, but it managed to squeak out a win. Don't even get me started about the way that Shiftry went out. I can't believe Isla would send out the Gengar with that one (out on) the field, let alone dominate 2 Pokémon!" That is very odd. To not only have a Mantine that can knock out a Dragonite and to have a Gengar that seems super powerful. I'll have to be on guard when I eventually battle her. I have no doubt she'll make it to the finals.
It seems that James, who I presume to be the Dragonite trainer, released a Grumpig to perhaps put an end to the Gengar's reign of terror. He held off on sending out a Pokémon that provides a type advantage for him, but in the end, he couldn't resist, huh.
"Grumpig, use psychic!" "With no hesitation, Grumpig released the signature attack, hitting its mark,". However, it seems the Gengar has more fight left in him. The only question is for how long? A few hits are exchanged. It didn't seem like Isla was worried though. Probably because her Gengar has that move.
"Gengar, use destiny bond!" Yes, destiny bond. The move that confirms her entrance into the semi-finals. Honestly, she should've used this earlier if she wanted to confirm her victory earlier, but I guess she was backed into a wall considering how powerful that Grumpig is and its typing versus Gengar's.
Thinking about how I'm going to handle destiny bond… is hard to say the least.
"I surrender." Yep, I don't blame the guy. Needlessly knocking out your own Pokémon wouldn't solve anything.
When the referee called the match, I had already turned back and made my way towards the Pokémon Center.
(-)
It was relatively late into the night when I was agonizing about my team setup for tomorrow's semi-final and final. All my Pokémon will be available to me. The only question is which team will provide the most coverage and will have synergy across battles.
"Tsk, you can't go wrong with Monferno and Electabuzz, but those 2 are super vulnerable to ground types. Maybe adding Torterra will balance it out?" Arrgh! Croagunk will be good against Isla's Gengar, but I don't even know if I'm fighting her! I'll only find out tomorrow."
Shaking my head, I put aside my pokeballs and commented, "I shouldn't even be thinking about this. It'll just distract and needlessly worry me. But... I need to make sure my mind is clear on this." My mind runs through the different parties of Pokémon that I have available. Ring. Since, I don't have to actually register which Pokémon I have planned for battle, I can hold as many party combinations as I want. I mean, my carry limit is 10 but even then, I'd rather keep only 6 or 7 Pokémon on me even if I'm hindering myself. Ring.
Arggh! I just wish everything could be simpler! Sigh Calm down. Calm down. It's clear which strategy will work the best. Ring. I'll just have to put it into practice. I just hope I can command them as perfect as Reggie ca- RING.
My alarm had gone off. It's the sight of an early 7:00 AM that greets me on my Pokedex. My mind is clear on what I want to do. I'm going to select 6 Pokémon and I'm going to end it there. I woke up early for a reason after all. Some last-minute pep talks are in order…
And with those thoughts, I'm off.
(-)
"Welcome trainers to the semi-finals of the Celestic Town tournament! We've gathered the best of those who have entered and today, we'll see who will go on to the finals and win it all!" The crowd roared with energy, pumped for the battles they were about to see.
The official waited for the crowd to calm down before he started talking again. "These four trainers have risen above and have shown their prowess as a trainer. Give it up for Isla Lawberg, Diego Weston, Hilda Touko, and Paul Shinji!" The official pointed to a large Tv monitor that showed out faces with what I assume to be our Pokémon Trainer ID pictures, but that isn't what I'm focused on…
Hilda, Hilda, Hilda… I've heard that name before when it comes to Pokémon. Her Pokémon Trainer ID shows a young girl wearing a cap and a ponytail coming out the back. I don't remember much, but I do know she'll be tough to defeat. What I do remember is that she's the trainer from Unova. Huh, guess I thought she was a guy from the way the rumors went.
The official went on. "For our first semi-final matchup, get loud for Mr. Paul Shinji and Ms. Hilda Touko!"
That was my cue to make my way to the stadium, but stray thoughts of how powerful Hilda took me back. My feet started walking but my mind was in another place. I know Hilda's ace. That's about the extent of my memories. Those memories. With a deep breath, I clear my mind of all doubts. No matter who it is, I'll beat them. Plain and simple.
I tuned out the noise of the crowd as I stepped up to the side of the stadium assigned to me. My attention was drawn to the other side as the confident gaze of Hilda hit my sight. It looks like she's bringing the pain and I will too.
The official from earlier is now our referee. He brings up the rules with us. "This is the semi finals match. As you both know with the semi-finals and finals, we like to bring more competitiveness into these highly skilled battles, so for these battles, the trainers are allowed substitutions and 5 Pokémon to battle with."
It seems that the referee doubles as the announcer for the tournament, so I'll probably tune him out while I'm battling. The ref ordered both of us, "Trainers, call out your Pokémon into battle!"
"With our hearts aligned, go Emboar!" The powerful roar of the Mega Fire Pig Pokémon permeated throughout the field. Well, we'll just match that energy!
"Staravia, stand by for battle!" Staravia's entry on the field was swift and quick with a trick of some fancy flying before landing, facing the Emboar.
The ref started again, "Now that everything is ready, let the battle begin!"
"We won't let your type advantage get the best of us, Emboar, use flame charge!"
"Dodge it!" Her plan isn't to get the flame charge to hit, but to make use of the speed boost. Not bad, but I'll make sure to keep her boost into account when I attack. "Return the favor with double team and aerial ace!"
Staravia covered the field as the energy of aerial ace covers the front part of the Staravia's beak as a flock of them surround Emboar and fly straight towards him.
"Defense curl, Emboar." Was she just going to take the blow? What was her plan?
When the real Staravia was nearing, Emboar, I noticed Hilda's eyes being right on him. She knows! And she's planning to take advantage of it!
"Quick, Staravia, fly ba-"
"Emboar, use rollout!" My late command couldn't be heard by Staravia as he neared and used his aerial ace, striking Emboar, but being met and ran over by the destructive force of rollout. Tsk. "With the added force of defense curl, rollout is definitely going to make Staravia feel the heat. I just wonder if he'll be able to keep on enduring it?"
"Oh, he'll be able to keep on going, right Staravia?" Staravia, hurt from the blow, but not out, gave a cry as his answer. "Don't underestimate us. We'll return you blow for blow!"
"Oh? Then you can back up those words now. Emboar, use rollout, once more!"
"Dodge it and use endeavor!" Our mistake in attacking was that we allowed her to anticipate our attacks. If we can keep on getting attacks off while she tries to get Hilda to finish the rest of the rollouts, we'll be golden.
Emboar's rollout is both a powerful move and a hindrance since it locks Emboar into a repetitive string of rolling attacks. Staravia easily swoops in from the side of Emboar with endeavor and flies away. The result is the visibly exhausted form of Emboar, taking the amount of damage that Staravia had earlier.
Hilda looked a little angry, but she kept the smile on her face and announced once more, "Emboar, time for the 3rd rollout!"
Emboar rolled into action which signaled to me, a chance to strike. "Staravia, use aerial ace!" The exchange between the two moves was Staravia flying closer to Embar, dealing a massive amount of super effective damage.
Emboar got out of the rollout looking damaged but that only seemed to motivate Emboar further to hit Staravia. We won't let that happen!
"Emboar, use rollout again!"
"Aerial ace!" While it may look like Emboar is the sitting duck, I am too. This is all I can do to keep the damage on Emboar. Emboar can definitely tank a good bit of blows before calling it quits, but Staravia can't. A few strong blows and he's out.
Emboar, again looked a little more motivated to hit Staravia, as she huffed and readied for another attack. Hilda and Emboar seemed to be in sync as she announced for the final rollout and Emboar responded by responding with fierce obedience.
This rollout seems different from the other ones. It's the strongest one yet, I know, but something about it is off. Should I just hold back? No! I have to take this opportunity to strike!
"Staravia, aerial ace, one more time!"
With those words, Staravia took off towards Emboar. This is supposed to be a safe attack. Nothing should go awry here, but why do I have this sinking feeling that something is going to go wrong. When Staravia approached from the side, I expected it to go like the other attacks did, clean hits with nothing else to them. Emboar's powerful rollout was approached by Staravia and when Staravia approached a little too close, Emboar stuck or maybe the correct terminology should be that Embar jumped. That jump attack struck Staravia cleanly, bashing him to the ground and knocking him out.
Damn it.
"Staravia is unable to battle. Trainer, call out your next Pokémon."
Embarrassment covered my body as I withdrew Staravia. He performed well, but my commands weren't enough to bring him the victory. Pushing aside those depressing thoughts, I pulled out another pokeball and tossed it out.
"Electabuzz, stand by for battle!" he took the stage with a battle cry staring at the large opponent. I stared at mine. Hilda had a confident smile on her face. It didn't seem arrogant, but more like she anticipated the last battle. It seems she's highly skilled with strategy. I'll keep that in mind…
"Electabuzz, use discharge!" A click flare of electricity should help quickly finish off Emboar. It seems that Emboar is toughing it out a bit.
"Emboar, use flame charge!" Fire wraps around Emboar as it charges fast towards Electabuzz.
If I wanted to defeat Emboar quickly, I would need to make some bold plays and that's exactly what I'm going to do. "Electabuzz, stop Emboar with your hands and use thunder wave!"
And he did exactly that. Electabuzz, whose maybe 30 kilos, stopped an Emboar that averages 150 kilos. This wasn't done without drawbacks though. Electabuzz was definitely pushed back from the blow and his hands are absolutely hurting from the burn of flame charge. But Electabuzz's feat right here just secured us Emboar's defeat.
"Electabuzz, use thunder full power!" With a jolt of electricity powering up, everyone's eyes were drawn to the amount of power Electabuzz was bringing.
"Emboar try to get out of there!" Hilda tried to get Emboar to escape, but not only was Emboar in Electabuzz's grasp, but he was also paralyzed. Emboar was done. The shock of lightning went up from Electabuzz and then back down into Emboar. Emboar roared with pain but eventually gave in and was knocked out. One down, four to go.
"Emboar is unable to battle. Trainer, call out your next Pokémon."
"I'm going to have to pay you back for that, don't cha know?" Hilda said, recalling Emboar.
"I could care less. I set out to avenge Staravia and that's what I did. You probably like the battle this way better anyway." A smirk made its way to my face. "After all, a challenging battle makes for the most fun."
Hilda, surprised by this comment, adjusted her cap before selecting a pokeball. "You're right. I'll just answer your challenge with my own!
"With our hearts aligned, go Eelektross!" When the EleFish Pokémon made its way to the stadium, my eyes widened in surprise.
Surprisingly, Hilda picked up on it. "What, don't think your puny Electabuzz can stand up to the awesome power of my Eelektross?"
"Oh, what? I don't think that Electabuzz can't stand up to your Eelektross, I know that he can stand up to it." I double negatived in confusion.
"We'll just see about that. Wild charge, Eelektross!"
"Make him feel pain for trying to strike you! Brick break!" The wild charge of Eelektross approached the cautious stance of Electabuzz as Electabuzz readies to strike when Eelektross gets close.
Right before Eelektross would strike Electabuzz, however, Hilda commanded, "Quick! Dragon claw, now!" Now instead of an ineffective electric attack striking a neutral fighting attack, it was a more powerful dragon slash attack against an inferior fighting blow. The result was Electabuzz and Eelektross locked between the attacks. Neither side would give in, so I had to do something.
"Electabuzz/Eelektross," both Hilda and I started our commands, "Use thunder wave/dragon tail!" Electabuzz prepared his other hand to emit the thunder wave while Eelektross backed off from the brick break only to turn around and smack Electabuzz across the body with the powerful force of dragon tail!
Electabuzz was pushed back significantly from the blow with dust flying erratically from the dust kicked up from the blow but a small smirk could be seen on his face. A few sparks trickling around Eelektross are what show Electabuzz's successful paralysis.
Electabuzz was hurt by the attack, but he can shake it off for now.
"Electabuzz, attack with- wait what!" Electabuzz had moved on his own, running straight for Eelektross before performing a sweep kick, knocking over the raised Pokémon. Even levitate couldn't stop the knocked over state of Eelektross.
"Alright, I get it! You were showing me low kick. Nice hit, Electabuzz!" Considering the average Eelektross is 80 kilos, that did a decent amount of damage since low kick's power scales with the target's weight.
"We won't let them get away with that! Eelektross, use crush claw!" Eelektross got up from being knocked over and slithered in the air towards Electabuzz
"Brick break now!" Instead of a stalemate of blows, it instead turned out to be an exchange of blows. Both monsters swiftly attacked and then stood away from each other, back facing back. After a moment of rest, Eelektross doubled over while Electabuzz clutched his side. Damn it. Crush claw managed to lower his defense. It didn't seem like the paralysis hindered him in any way. Electabuzz can't battle for long but with my guidance, he'll take another Pokémon down with him!
Eelektross is unable to battle. Trainer, call out your next Pokémon.
"You know, you're starting to get on my nerves." Hilda said while recalling Eelektross.
"You say that, but you have a wide smile on your face."
"Why of course! I'm having the time of my life right now! But don't get me wrong, you're losing this match up."
"We'll see."
Hilda giggled a bit and then adjusted her cap. Reaching for a pokeball, she firmly grasps it and smiles. She throws it and yells, "With our hearts aligned, go Braviary!" The valiant Pokémon flew onto the field with a large smirk on her face. Hmm weird pick to call out a flying type while Electabuzz is out and about. I better be careful. I don't like that smirk on Braviary's face.
"Start this battle by using hone claws, Braviary." Hmm, definitely going for one clean blow. I'll make sure to make every move of Electabuzz count!
"Electabuzz, thunderbolt the Braviary, now!" Electricity flows through Electabuzz as thunderbolt soars through the air towards the sitting Braviary.
"Braviary, dig!"
What!
Braviary, inexplicably, starts making a lot of use out of its talons by somehow using the to dig into the stadium.
"A flying type being able to dig? Whatever the case may be, I better anticipate that dig." Muttering my thoughts, my mind had already set the attack that Electabuzz would respond with.
Electabuzz was looking around, making sure to notice any disturbances in the ground.
"Now, Braviary, attack!" Hilda commanded the buried bird.
The Braviary rose from the ground and approached Electabuzz from behind him, but I was planning for Braviary to appear anywhere.
"Electabuzz, discharge now!" A blast of electricity flows throughout the field.
"Braviary, push forward and hit him with night slash!" Night slash? That's also a move Braviary shouldn't be able to use!
Like Hilda commanded, the Braviary used its talons and slashed the occupied Electabuzz square in the back, even with the discharge actively shining through the field. Electabuzz's discharge immediately stops and Electabuzz is knocked out. But Braviary's form warped around before stabilizing. There's something fishy about that Braviary and I think I know what it is.
"Electabuzz is unable to battle. Trainer, call out your next Pokémon. I recalled Electabuzz and muttered a good job to the fallen Pokémon.
Switching out pokeballs, I kept quiet as I didn't want to give away anything.
"Got nothing to say, huh? I'm disappointed. Make this fun!"
"I'll indulge your 'fun' all right… when I win." Throwing the pokeball, I cried out, "Monferno, stand by for battle!"
Monferno entered with a smirk of his own. He was ready for battle.
Hilda started first, "Braviary, use agility!" Another move a Braviary can't normally use…
I decided to respond with a similar tactic, saying, "Monferno, use flame wheel!" I wanted the speed of flame wheel to help me get in close. I only have a vague idea of what's going on with Braviary thanks to those memories. If I want to deal some damage, I know that that requires Monferno to get in closer
"Braviary, dodge it." Flame wheel was rolling in on a trajectory straight for Braviary. It was an easy sidestep of the talons that allowed Braviary the luxury of dodging. Weird to watch, but must be easy to actually pull off…
"Monferno, mach punch now!" Instead of stopping the flame wheel, however, Monferno kept going around, catching Braviary by surprise when he curled out of a ball and unleashed 3 blows to Braviary. 3 blows, while weak, were super effective against Braviary or should I say, Zoroark!
The illusion of Braviary fell through and the image of the smirking red and black fox Pokémon showed itself to the audience.
"Hm, so you managed to unveil Zoroark's illusion, huh. I'll give it to you, you're smart, but that won't make anything easier! Zoroark, use night slash!"
"Respond with fire spin!" Both attacks connected, leaving Zoroark in a state of constant damage done to her and Monferno being slightly hurt.
Just one more push and the accumulated damage will do the trick! "Monferno, hit her with a fire punch!" Running into the fire spin he made, Monferno, raised his arm to punch Zoroark.
"Zoroark, use shadow ball!" I was unable to see the clash of those attacks, but the booming noise that came from what that command was, showed that both parties had been hurt. Monferno went away from that brawl a little winded and scratched up, but Zoroark was knocked out. Even now, that Pokémon had that irritating smirk on its face.
"Zoroark is unable to battle. Trainer, call out your next Pokémon."
Recalling Zoroark, Hilda muttered, "You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Throwing another pokeball, she yelled out, "With our hearts aligned, go Gothitelle!"
Seeing the state of a relatively fresh Monferno, I didn't hesitate when I commanded, "Return Monferno." Switching out pokeballs, I knew my old friend would be able to hold out against Hilda's team. "Torterra, stand by for battle!" The large form of the continent Pokémon took to the stadium.
I decided to kick this battle off by ordering, "Torterra, use razor leaf." Just to scope out what the Gothitelle could handle, Torterra fired off several high-powered leaves.
"Gothitelle, dispel the leaves with psyshock!" A beam of psychic energy shot over, blasting through the leaves, and hitting Torterra. Hmm, 2 Pokémon that don't seem to move around a lot makes for an… interesting matchup. I'll have to switch things up.
"Torterra, use sunny day!" If I'm to fight this Gothitelle, I know that only the strongest ranged moves will make its way through the psychic waves of Gothitelle.
"Uh, uh, uh" Hilda waved her finger as if to scold me. "We're not just going to let you do that. Gothitelle, use psychic and flip Torterra, will you?"
Gothitelle affirmed she would adhere to her master's decision and the psychic force could soon be visible encompassing Torterra's entire body.
I wasn't going to let this attack go unpunished. It seems that flipping Torterra is taking a lot of mental strain on Gothitelle, so I should be able to counterattack before the Psychic attack is finished.
"Now with the sun's rays, Torterra use solar beam!" Even while he was halfway flipped, Torterra managed to absorb the sun's rays and fire a massive ray from above.
"Dodge it Gothitelle!" Shutting off the psychic link, Torterra was dropped from a sizeable height, landing on his back. While Gothitelle was left unscathed.
Maybe we should kick things up a notch. "Torterra, use leaf storm!" Even in his state, Torterra unleashed a fury of wind and leaves that actually managed to tip Torterra back right side up. Although, it only helped with that front. Torterra can flip himself actually, but it'd take longer.
The leaf storm rampaged towards Gothitelle. Hilda called out for a psybeam to try and direct it somewhere else, but it was too strong of a storm. It managed to pick up Gothitelle in its winds before letting her down, making her dazed and injured.
"Now let's try again, solar beam!" the powerful beam which was the result of the sun's rays fired directly at Gothitelle.
"Now don't let that hit keep you down, get in close and use hypnosis!" Gothitelle, again, dodged the solar beam completely and then managed to actually land the hypnosis as Torterra was busy with the solar beam. I misjudged this Gothitelle's speed completely. That mistake has cost me Torterra being awake. Now he's vulnerable to any move Hilda will order Gothitelle to do.
"Gothitelle, now that he's asleep, keep up repeated psychic blows!" The signature move of the type is one of the strongest ones of that typing and it is hurting Torterra as we speak.
Tsk, I can only wait through the blows. The world slowed down for me as I tried to think of ways to retaliate. Repeated blows were done to Torterra, as Gothitelle wailed on attacks. I was discouraged about what my options were on how to fight back. I mean, at this rate, the Gothitelle is going to dominate the match. I'm not sure if anything I have except Torterra can put up as good of a fight. So, the only choice is for Gothitelle to be knocked out here and now.
Suddenly, I felt it. Torterra had regained consciousness. It was my time to give the order. Sweat rolled down my face as the pressure built up. Time regained its regular motion when I ordered, "Torterra, use wood hammer!"
Torterra, in his dazed state, rammed into the surprised Gothitelle. Gothitelle was hit back and knocked out from that powerful blow. Torterra, seeing this, went out into unconsciousness as well. A double knockout.
"Both Pokémon are unable to battle. Trainers, call out your next Pokémon."
I recalled Torterra as Hilda recalled Gothitelle. I decided to speak up first by saying, "Your Gothitelle did a number on my ace. I'm impressed."
I had Monferno's pokeball in my hand. I was relieved by Gothitelle's knockout and I was assured of my advantage. I won't underestimate Hilda's final Pokémon, but I do hold the advantage in terms of amount of Pokémon.
"I'm more impressed by how you handled my ace! I'm not a rookie trainer, y'know?"
"Neither am I. You should just take the compliment."
"If I did take it, I wouldn't feel like I'd need to improve. So, while I appreciate it, I'd rather continue the battle."
"Well, if you insist." Throwing Monferno's pokeball, I called out, "Monferno, stand by for battle once again!"
Hilda responded by throwing her own pokeball, saying, "With our hearts aligned, make this count Braviary!"
Monferno was only slightly tired from his past battle, but he's more than ready to beat Braviary!
"I'll be kicking this fight off! Braviary, use tailwind and then sky drop!" Adding a speed boost to her, Braviary swiftly put Monferno in his grasp and pulled him into the sky. I was unable to give any commands to Monferno, but I knew that Monferno wouldn't do nothing while trapped in the air.
When Monferno was dropped from the sky, Monferno was a little roughed up from the landing but Braviary was left with a burn, surprisingly. Usually, a Pokémon wouldn't be able to attack while in the grasp of sky drop but Pokémon that can inflict status effects are the exception.
I can only assume that Monferno fired will o wisp in that exchange to get Braviary that burn effect. In any case, both sides took damage there. Time to fire my own big attack.
"Monferno, use flame wheel!"
"Match that flame wheel with superpower!" Braviary flew straight towards the rolling Monferno with his talons wide open, ready to attack with them.
"Monferno, now!" Monferno quickly uncurls from the rolled form of Flame wheel and jumps up over Braviary, landing on its back.
"Flamethrower and don't hold anything back!" A torrent of flames hit Braviary directly, burning Braviary in the attack. The excess flames went out the sides of Braviary, showing the ferocity of the attack.
"Braviary, shake him off of you and use brave bird!" Exceeding the limits of normal flying type speed, Braviary dived down and then went up, tossing Monferno away into the air. In the same motion, Braviary looped back down into the brave bird and hit Monferno, directly in the stomach.
That attack definitely did a number on Monferno, but I'm a little more interested in the recoil Braviary should've taken from that blow. Monferno is fine, took a few hits but fine. That Braviary though is tougher than I thought. That flamethrower should've been enough with how close it is, let alone a recoil attack being shrugged off.
In any case, this definitely shows the high level that Hilda has trained her Pokémon, that's for sure.
Well, we won't let up. "Monferno, get in close and use fire punch! Let's see how much punishment Braviary can handle!"
"Air slash him, Braviary!" Multiple ranged wind attack came from the talons of Braviary. Monferno easily leaps over the first one, but stumbles on the 2nd, taking some damage. He recovers quickly before ducking over the 3rd air slash before jumping, almost on Braviary."
"Finish this, Monferno!"
"Braviary, use crush claw!"
The two attacks collided. Monferno stood proud, smirking before falling into unconsciousness.
The Braviary stood opposite of him, in the air before dropping into unconsciousness as well.
Monferno really is similar to Electabuzz, huh. In more ways than I knew before.
"Braviary and Monferno are unable to battle. Since trainer Paul has a Pokémon left, that makes him the winner!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd as they were amazed by the battle that had taken place. I took a look at Hilda as I recalled Monferno. She didn't seem all that sad she lost. She seemed a little disappointed but more motivated than anything. Hmm, strange.
I looked at Monferno's pokeball. "I really can't believe anyone would throw you away like that. You're so much more powerful than even I deserve. Thank you for being a part of my team." Even though I'm not saying it directly to Monferno's face, I think he knows my feelings, or he wouldn't fight like he did.
I step down from the stage to hear the official/ref yell out "That was an amazing semi-final match! Both of them should be proud of the skill displayed there. They both showed their talent as an ace trainer!" He complimented both of us as the cheers roared louder in appreciation Then, the official/ref/announcer hybrid began to talk again after the cheering died down. "Now for your next semifinal match, get loud for Ms. Isla Lawberg and Mr. Diego Weston!"
I was going to make sure to watch this closely.
(-)
It seems that Isla was making quick work of Diego. Gengar made battling Diego's Machamp seem easy (although she did have the type advantage). The matchup there was very one sided but Machamp managed a few hits before throwing in the towel. Diego sent out a Chimecho to even the odds between the Gengar, but Isla switched out for her Magnezone. The Chimecho put up a better fight than the Machamp but in the end, it got beat by a fantastic lock on and zap cannon combo attack, ensuring a guaranteed powerful hit on Chimecho. In Chimecho's place, a Walrein was put in and Isla, yet again, switched out her Pokémon to put in her Mantine.
"Hey, Paul, right?"
Aurora beam and air slash collided and canceled out each other! But Mantine is maneuvering through the air firing off super sonic and it seems that Walrein got hit!
"Hey you!"
Someone shook me from the battle. Looking slightly down, I noticed it was Hilda. Why did she want to talk?
"What's up?"
She pouted a bit, "I just wanted to congratulate you on your win. You better not let either one of those 2 beat you or else I'll wonder why I let you win."
"You let me win?" She's surely exaggerating.
"Yep! Why of course I did! I was a rival to the person who beat Alder, the champion of Unova, y'know?" She seemed very proud of that fact.
"Hmm, from where I was standing, you were giving your all."
"U-uh, that is… I was just scoping out the competition in Sinnoh. You were decent, so I let you win!" She nervously reassured herself. Yeah, there's no way she let me win. That's just her pride saying that.
Ignoring her, I turned back to the match and asked her "What's your impression on this match? I was gauging what I'd have to go against if either one won before you came over to bother me."
"B-bother you? How rude!" The raging battle turned her attention away from the insult. "Hmm, that Isla trainer is definitely a scary trainer. Each Pokémon gets rotated out so frequently that it keeps them all fresh when they're rotated back in. I personally like allowing my Pokémon to go out for as long as possible, but hey, you can't deny her strategy working. Although it's not like that's the deciding factor in this match."
We both watched as Walrein unleashed a blizzard attack that hit Mantine directly. Mantine, while hurt from the blow healed up a bit of damage immediately with aqua ring.
"Her Pokémon seem to shrug off powerful blows easily or they have a move to help them do so. Isla's commands are quick and smart. She'll definitely be a tough opponent to go up against."
"Yeah, I can tell," I mutter as Walrein body slams Mantine as he uses take down, knocking out both Pokémon. Her first Pokémon that fainted was due to a double knockout. How scary.
The announcer/official/ ref hybrid called for another Pokémon to be added before adding his bit. "And with that, Isla has lost her first Pokémon but at what cost? Another one of Diego's Pokémon! This will be an uphill climb for Diego if he wants to win!"
Diego put on a strong front, but I could tell he was a little shaken up from how the match has been going. He recalled Walrein and got out another Pokémon. "I'll leave it up to you, Jumpluff!"
Isla sent out Gengar again. I had a feeling I knew where this would go, so I opted to pay more attention to Hilda. "Will you be watching the finals, or are you going to head out before then?"
"Hmm?" She perked up from that question. I guess she didn't expect it. "I'll stick around to watch you and Isla duke it out. I'm curious to see how you'll handle her strategies."
"A little bit of this and a little bit of that probably. If you traveled in Unova, how far did you go in the league challenge?"
Hilda looked surprised. "Well, aren't you suddenly curious about me. Well if you must know, I went as far as the semi finals before losing to my previously mentioned rival. I aim to make it farther in the Sinnoh league though, so you better watch out!"
"So, you lost in the same spot this time, the semi-finals."
"I-I guess," She stuttered out of embarrassment. "How far did you get in your league challenges. I doubt this is your first Pokémon battling journey."
"I was top 8 in both Johto and Hoenn and runner-up in Kanto."
"Oho? So, a bit more experienced than me, huh?" Her tone switched fast once she learned of my past adventures. "Well, I guess it's fine then for you to beat me if you've traveled for so long."
"Whatever." Shrugging off her teasing, I turned back my attention to the match. While Jumpluff did her best, Gengar is just too much for cottonweed Pokémon. Diego had already switched to his last Pokémon, Electrode. Isla switched out her Gengar for a Camerupt.
"Isla's Camerupt opens with a mighty earth power that Diego's Electrode manages to barely roll out of the way before firing off swift!" The announcer went on to commentate further. "A powerful eruption attack from Camerupt's back not only dispelled the swift but went further to hit Electrode!"
Seeing the direction that the battle was going to go, I opted to make my way to the Pokémon Center. They'll be a half hour between her match finishing and the finals, so I might as well get my Pokémon healed up and perhaps pull some old teammates.
(-)
The time for preparation was over. All Pokémon are ready for battle!
The ref called for both Isla and I as we made our way to the stage before the official announcement for the finals were called.
"Welcome to the Celestic Town Tournament Finals! These 2 trainers-" I tuned out the hype that the announcer was giving. I opted to stare at the person who became the biggest competition in this tournament. Her side ponytail swayed as the wind picked up. She seemed excited yet calm. It's weird since my initial impression of her was an airhead, but to think she was this skilled underneath that…
This will definitely be the hardest battle I've ever fought, even the league battles. Just from watching her other matches, I can tell that she's probably dominated every match she fought in.
Suddenly a few select words that I was listening for disturbed my thoughts. "This is the finals for the Celestic Town Tournament Finals. As to accommodate this fact, trainers are allowed substitutions and all 6 Pokémon, a full party, to battle with."
Taking a breath, the ref ordered both of us, "Trainers, call out your Pokémon into battle!"
"Let's go, Magnezone!" Buzzing into the stadium, the mechanical clanking of Magnezone shows itself to everyone.
"Nidoking, stand by for battle!" Nidoking gave a mighty battle cry before getting into a battle stance. My 2nd strongest Pokémon sure made an entrance, huh. Well, let's get started!
"Now, let the finals match begin!"
"Nidoking, use dragon pulse!" Kicking off this match with a powerful wave attack, Nidoking fired off a potent shock wave.
Magnezone, match that dragon pulse with mirror shot!" Magnezone fired the moderately strong steel type beam attack. The 2 beam attacks canceled out and a light gust of wind was what came from it, giving a light breeze to everyone.
"Nidoking, get in there and attack with double kick!" The drill Pokémon picked up a lot of speed running for such a large Pokémon and then attempted to hit Magnezone with its large legs.
"Magnet bomb. He won't get to you Magnezone, without getting damaged, right?" She gave a cutesy wink before becoming serious again as Magnezone prepared the steel blasts.
"Kick them back to Magnezone with your double kick, now!" Quickly before the bomb of the attack could go off, Nidoking jumped into the air and hit both bombs back towards Magnezone, who was immobile during that time.
"Follow that up with earth power!" The ground broke before Nidoking as it erupted with energy and made its way towards Magnezone.
"Magnet rise and then respond with giga impact!" Magnezone was lifted off the ground and then prepared itself to tackle Nidoking with all his might.
"Focus punch!" Anticipating the blow, Nidoking prepared his fist with the powerful fighting-type strike.
In an exchange that lasted seconds, Nidoking jabbed at Magnezone, damaging Nidoking, but taking a bit of damage due to the power of the attack.
"Magnezone, push beyond your limits and use lock on and tri attack!" Struggling at first to do so thanks to the drawback of giga impact, Magnezone ignored the aftereffects of them for now and then fired at Nidoking at close range.
"Nidoking, sidestep now!" Nidoking just barely dodged the attack.
We have to take this chance! "Now use megahorn!" Magnezone was hit back and was now severely injured thanks to megahorn. Nice. We just need to keep this momentum going.
"Get back, Magnezone. Go, Gardevoir!" A flash of light showed itself as Magnezone was switched out for another. In its place was the embrace Pokémon just as Isla called out. That was definitely a huge play. If things had progressed, Magnezone would've been defeated. To not only switch out but get Gardevoir, who Nidoking is weak to, made this battle a lot harder. Of course, Nidoking does have poison-type moves in his arsenal of attacks.
"Nidoking, can you still battle?"
"King!" Nidoking seemed up to go against Gardevoir.
There was something on the Gardevoir though. Some type of necklace of sorts. Oh no! It must be that. I might switch him out just to avoid that.
"Gardevoir, use future sight!" Making this even more difficult, Isla made it so Nidoking would receive super-effective damage unless he finishes this battle quickly, which is something I doubt will happen.
"Nidoking rush in with poison jab!"
"Stop him with moonblast!" showing off the fairly new typing of fairy, Gardevoir shocked a mystical orb at Nidoking.
"Nidoking sludge bomb the moonblast and keep going with poison jab!"
Throwing a quick blob attack, the attacks canceled out, kicking up a lot of dust. Out of the dust ran Nidoking as he jumped to attack Gardevoir.
"Gardevoir, now's your chance! Hypnosis!"
"From where you are, use sludge bomb again." Reversing the momentum, Nidoking deactivated his poison jab and instead delivered a direct blow with sludge as Gardevoir attempted a hypnosis that missed. The sludge bomb hurt Gardevoir with super effective damage, making the move huge in terms of the direction of the battle.
"Just a few attacks like that and we're golden." I muttered.
"I have a feeling if I don't go all out, I'll regret it." Isla started. Was she going to pull out that? "I didn't want to do this, but you've forced my hand." She was going to pull it out. Pointing her right hand towards Gardevoir, a bracelet shined as Isla said, "Gardevoir, go beyond evolution, megaevolve!"
The light of the mega evolution glowed brightly as the form of Gardevoir turned more elegant and fairy-like. Power seemed to radiate from Mega Gardevoir as she gave a battle cry. This was bad. I thought that was a mega stone on the necklace the Gardevoir had. Now Nidoking is not going to have a good time.
"Gardevoir, use wish!" In that one move, Gardevoir seemed to heal to almost full power. There was a little boost in that heal. Was that an ability? In any case, I have to do something about Mega Gardevoir while I still have Nidoking, my 2nd strongest, out and about.
"Nidoking, don't let her new form scare you. Use shadow ball!" Nidoking and Gardevoir are about mid-range from each other, making this attack fast approaching on Gardevoir.
"Gardevoir, use your hyper beam!" In those 5 words, I saw something quite terrifying. The most powerful hyper beam I've ever seen fired off rushing through, making the shadow ball seem insignificant as it disappeared into the attack. I was given mere seconds to give the order to dodge which I did, thankfully. Nidoking wasn't able to dodge it full though given the speed of the attack. He was hurt severely by that blow, almost to the point of fainting. He's not going to last long. There's definitely some sort of boost given. It seems to be associated with normal moves, maybe? In any case, I have to take my chance while Gardevoir has the aftereffects of mega beam active.
"Nidoking, get running towards Gardevoir and multiply yourself with double team!" This is a chance of large damage. A chance that I'll have to take. Nidoking stumbled at first thanks to the damage, but he found a rhythm of running and the clones mirrored the actions.
"Gardevoir, be ready for a psychic attack!" Isla knew that she can't do anything yet except prepare her Pokémon for the attack.
The Nidoking charged ahead and were soon there, jumping on Gardevoir, about to attack!"
"Nidoking, use shadow claw!"
"Gardevoir, use psychic on the middle Nidoking!"
Gardevoir had recovered and attacked the Nidoking that was front and centered to her. It disappeared. Isla had missed where Nidoking was. That's going to cost her!
"Now Nidoking!" Nidoking let the shadow claw loose as it connected with Gardenvoir, seemingly causing increased damage on top of the super effective attack, a critical hit in other words.
"Amazing job Nidoki-" I was interrupted as I saw Nidoking faint after that attack. The full force of future sight had just hit him. Damn it!
"Nidoking is unable to battle, trainer call out your next Pokémon."
Recalling Nidoking, I picked a Pokémon to battle next. "Ninjask, stand by for battle!" I already knew what was going to happen by putting in Ninjask.
"Get back, Gardevoir. Let's go, Magnezone!" Magnezone, once again, showed itself onto the field. He is still severely hurt, but if Ninjask isn't careful then one powerful electric attack will send him into a world of hurt. We won't let anything hit!
"Agility, now Ninjask!" We're going to need all the speed we can get.
"Magnezone, let out your discharge!" A powerful area attack that should hit usually, but just a look at Ninjask buzzing around, avoiding each spark that comes before it even approaches him is just goes to show you Ninjask's speed boost ability is no joke. Even now, Ninjask is getting faster and faster.
"Go through the discharge and hit Magnezone with X-Scissor!" Navigating through what would be impossible for larger Pokémon, Ninjask expertly flies through the blindspots of the discharge and slashed Magnezone twice with his claws.
"Magnezone, don't let up, use lock on!" She was going to make sure this next attack hit. I can't let that happen!
"Ninjask, fly in!" Ninjask didn't even hesitate. We're only just using a new move that was a last-minute addition to his move set. This is going to be close, but I'm sure we can pull it off!
"Magnezone, use zap cannon!" Magnezone had Ninjask in its sights while firing.
We weren't going to let it even touch him.
"Ninjask, baton pass now!"
"What!" Isla was shaken up by that move.
Ninjask instantly returned to his pokeball and in his place was my ace.
"Torterra, use crunch!" Coming in from the sky, Torterra was hit by the full force of Zap cannon, shrugging it off easily, landing with his full weight on Magnezone then giving a bite attack.
Magnezone, underneath the weight of a over 300 Kg Torterra, could not take any more damage and fainted. Magnezone had been defeated.
"Magnezone is unable to battle. Trainer, call out your next Pokémon."
With a weird mixture of disappointment and interest on her face, Isla recalled Magnezone and gave it a few of her words. She should be very proud of Magnezone's performance. She pulled out a pokeball and then looked at me. She was serious. I stared back with the same intensity. We both wanted to win this.
"Let's go, Glaceon!" The Ice evolution of Eevee gracefully stepped into the stage with a yawn and then a battle-ready stance. The shiny feeling of Glaceon's fur shows that it's definitely cared for and high level. We'll have to be careful here.
"Torterra, use razor leaf!" Firing off a premptive strike, Torterra tests Glaceon.
"Glaceon, tell Torterra to chill out with icy wind!"
Damn it. There's not really a way for Torterra to dodge it with how broad the attack hits. I'll just prioritize minimizing damage. "Torterra, use light screen!" Icy wind hit Torterra full force, slowing him down a bit.
"Torterra, use rockslide!" Hurling rocks at Glaceon, Torterra attempted to get the boulders to bury Glaceon.
"Glaceon, get moving and use ice shard!" With only those vague instructions, Glaceon decided to hop on the boulders hurled by rockslide and fire ice shard from a huge downward angle.
The light screen was still active so not as much damage would be taken, but I wasn't keen on taking unnecessary damage unless I had to and Glaceon was still vulnerable in the air.
"Torterra, use stone edge!" Rocks covered the field as pillars of spikes appeared, creating a pit of damage for Glaceon to fall in. A large pillar covered Torterra, leaving the ice shard only hitting rubble.
"Glaceon, use protect!" A shield appeared, covering any damage.
The pillars disappeared before my eyes as the stone edge's effect on the stage subsided. Glaceon stood in it all, unscathed. What a tricky Pokémon to defeat.
Isla seemed raring to fire back. "Glaceon, use hail!" Morphing the setting into a glacial wonderland, hail dropped from the snowy sky, bringing a chill to the entire field. I'm going to change things up soon.
"Torterra, rock slide again!" Now being more precise with his throws, Torterra decisively through boulders, boxing Glaceon in as if it were rock tomb, except with it not being rock tomb.
One boulder managed to slyly make it through the air and land on Glaceon as Glaceon had jumped and landed to avoid another boulder, making a direct hit. Glaceon came out of it looking moderately damaged from that powerful attack.
"Tsk, let's switch things up! Torterra return-"
"Glaceon return!" Both of us ended up recalling our Pokémon.
"Let's go/Electabuzz, Gengar/ stand by for battle!"
The wide smile of Gengar faced Electabuzz's grimace. I wanted to start this battle off instead of letting Gengar take the flow of the battle.
"Electabuzz, use thunder shock!" Having a cursory attack to see how she reacts, Electabuzz fires a weaker electric attack.
"Gengar, use sucker punch!" Avoiding the thunder shock completely through sucker punch's priority ability, Electabuzz was knocked off his feet as he took the full force of sucker punch.
"Electabuzz, use thunder punch!" Immediately regaining his footing, Electabuzz leans in as he punches Gengar right back. Both hits didn't have any special effectiveness, but they did have the force of each Pokémon behind them, which is almost just as important as effectiveness.
"Gengar, use dark pulse!" The aura-wave type attack flowed through the field.
"Electabuzz, use thunder!" My plan here was simple. While Gengar would control the dark pulse and hit Electabuzz, Electabuzz would be free to hit Gengar, an exchange of hits with Electabuzz dealing more damage. Thunder fell from the sky as it hit Gengar, seemingly stunning him with paralysis. Electabuzz took the dark pulse attack head on, coming out of it a little hurt, but good to go. I can just feel that Gengar losing now. He's not that far from fainting.
"Gengar, use sucker punch!" We're ready than ever for that.
As Gengar teleported in front of Electabuzz to jab his head, I commanded Electabuzz. "Use, discharge!"
Gengar had no way to dodge as he had just jabbed Electabuzz and the radius of a discharge effect is so massive. Gengar started to frown. He wondered what his trainer thought of his performance. He took a look over at Isla, who could be seen with a few tears going down her face. Gengar knew that she wasn't sad about Gengar's performance. She was disappointed with herself and her commands! Gengar wasn't about to give it up here for his trainer!
"Gengaaaar!" Gengar gave a battle cry thought the discharge to show his willingness to attack.
"Gengar…" With sad tears turning to happy tears, Isla yelled out, "Gengar, use destiny bond!"
In that one move, Gengar's wide grin returned to his face. He never wanted his trainer to give up and if she ever doubted herself, he and the others will be there to back her up. Every. Single. Time.
Out of that all that electricity lay Gengar, who fainted from the blow. Electabuzz, looked wide-eyed as he felt destiny bond run its course.
I'm sorry Electabuzz. I knew destiny bond was a part of Gengar's arsenal, but I was more worried about hypnosis ever being hit. Thankfully, they were never in a position to use it, but this meant you essentially defeating yourself.
"Both Electabuzz and Gengar are unable to battle. Trainers, call out your next Pokémon."
We're fairly equal, but I'm inching a bit on top, Pokémon by Pokémon.
"Monferno, stand by for battle!"
Isla, with a fire in her eyes, gripped her pokeball as she threw her pokeball. "Let's go, Mantine!"
This is… a very unfavorable matchup and with the backing of Mantine being able to take down a Dragonite.
Well let's get started. "Monferno, use dig!" Burrowing into the ground, Monferno disappeared from sight.
"Mantine, take this chance to use agility!" Mantine's speed was about to become dangerous to face against. Another thing to work around.
"Monferno, now!" rising to the side of Mantine, Monferno was out in the open, primed to attack. "Use will o wisp!" Mantine was caught by surprise and so was caught up in the attack. But Isla was not one to let that go.
"Mantine, fire your hydro pump!" While in the same instance of being burned, Mantine hit Monferno directly with the high-powered water attack.
Tsk. Monferno can't take too many hits like that. I'll have to be more careful. Monferno did accomplish his task of getting the burn off.
Time for our counterattack. "Monferno, get to moving with flame wheel!"
Monferno curled into a ball of flames, spinning, and gaining speed.
"Mantine, hit Monferno with a continuous hydro pump!" Showing his skill and power, Mantine fires off multiple hydro pumps, narrowly missing.
Monferno rolled around and around Mantine before rolling around until he's around a few feet higher, in a position to land on Mantine.
"Now use, fire punch!"
"Mantine, use bubble beam!" the torrent of bubble's pushed back Monferno, hurting him a bit in the process. Burn was still active on Mantine, and as noticed by Mantine's flinching, he was taking damage thanks to it.
I can't let Mantine heal with aqua ring, so even if Monferno is taking damage for it, I have to keep on going. Monferno's stamina will be key here.
"Monferno, keep going with fire spin!" producing a fiery tornado primed and ready to sweep up Mantine.
"Mantine, use hydro pump and get rid of that fire spin!" Firing off another torrent of water, the fire spin is reduced a lingering flares and winds.
But it was just the distraction we needed.
"Monferno, now use flame wheel!" right behind Mantine stood Monferno. And as he curled into a ball and rushed Mantine, I only heard two words from Isla.
"Aqua ring!"
Ugh, she ended up using it. That cuts the burn's damage in half. The flame wheel went through, striking Mantine directly, although not leaving a huge damage due to its ineffectiveness. Not a move that can show off Monferno's power but it's enough to chip away at Mantine's health.
"Mantine, use surf!" Conjuring up a big wave, Mantine surfed over the wave at it came crashing down.
"Monferno, dig quick!" Monferno managed to make his way underground before the surf could catch him.
After Mantine was finished with the surf. Isla looked around for a moment before looking like she had solved something. "I should've done this to begin with. Mantine, use earthquake!"
Damn it. Monferno can't dodge that now and that's double the damage with super effective damage.
After the earthquake had stopped, Monferno had popped up from the ground, knocked out from the powerful attack.
"Monferno is unable to battle. Trainer, call out your next Pokémon."
I had to send my ace back out to battle. "Torterra, stand by for battle!"
The continent Pokémon rose again onto the field. We'll take this battle back into our favor. "Torterra, use rockslide." It seems like the only smart play is to hurl rocks at your opponent. Perhaps this is a metaphor for life…
"Mantine, dodge it!" Mantine seems to be adept at flying-swimming around, avoiding each rock. Well, let's see him dodge this.
"Torterra, fill the whole field with your power. Use stone edge!" In a single step of Torterra's front legs, stone pillars covered the field, slamming Mantine with super effective damage. She was not ready for that, huh.
"Mantine, you can recover from this, use wing attack!" Mantine flew in, fast approaching with his arms shiny raring to attack.
That was a terrible, terrible mistake she just made. "Torterra, frenzy plant!" Massive vines showed themselves onto the field, curling around the entire stage. The vines grabbed Mantine out of the sky and then squeezed the remaining energy left out of Mantine. Torterra felt the aftereffects of that move, but it was worth it.
"Mantine is unable to battle. Trainer, call out your next Pokémon."
Isla was in the lead of Pokémon, but that now is slowly slipping the victory from her fingers. She does have a fresh and probably powerful Camerupt that hasn't battled yet, but most of my Pokémon are pretty fresh meanwhile Mega Gardevoir and Glaceon are more on the damaged side of things.
Isla raised her hand and threw her next pokeball saying, "Let's go, Camerupt!"
The volcano camel-like Pokémon stomped into the field, looking like he has a fire burning somewhere in him. So that was her last Pokémon… I'll have to act first!
"Torterra, use earthquake!
"Camerupt, use your own earthquake!" Unlike other moves that would cancel out, the earthquakes sorta meshed together and ignored each other in favor of their targets, our Pokémon.
I should take the lead in terms of health because of how super effective earthquake is against Camerupt.
Torterra shrugged off the blow. "Torterra, use rockslide again!" Just like before, the solution to all our problems is to throw a huge boulder at it.
"Camerupt, destroy the rocks with eruption!" Firing off a giant surge of fire from its volcano-like holes, Camerupt destroyed any rocks thrown with rockslide into rubble.
The Eruption was going even further though and was going fast towards Torterra.
"Torterra, dodge that eruption!" Torterra managed to barely dodge the powerful fire attack with some smart footwork.
You know what? "Return, Torterra." I recalled Torterra as this was going nowhere. Time to speed things up! "Ninjask, stand by for battle!" The fast flyer has returned.
"Ninjask, use agility!" Again, raising his speed to make sure nothing can touch him.
Isla was having none of it. "Camerupt, use fire blast!"
"Dodge it and hit him with X-Scissor!" With an easy dodge, Ninjask, speedily flew across the field, striking Camerupt across his face.
"Camerupt, use overheat!" Risky move. It's a bit like the fire equivalent to discharge, except Overheat is stronger and has a drawback to it.
"Ninjask, use leech life and get back." Flying a ways from Camerupt as to avoid the overheat, Ninjask left a little thing to keep the pressure on. Slowly Camerupt would be hurt, unless Camerupt is able to burn them off.
It seems like Isla was going to go for that. "Camerupt, use ember on yourself!" This was our chance.
"Ninjask, use X-Scissor again!" Flying in while Camerupt tried to free himself of the leech side, Ninjask slashed again at Camerupt.
"Camerupt, fire your flamethrower now!"
"Ninjask, one more X-Scissor!" Right before the flames of Flamethrower could go anywhere from Camerupt's mouth, Ninjask had silenced Camerupt. That flurry of blows had been enough for Camerupt and he fainted.
"Camerupt is unable to battle. Trainer, call out your next Pokémon."
Noticeable distress could be seen on Isla's face before she took a few breaths to calm down. She wanted to win, but it was my job to win instead.
"Let's go, Glaceon!" The elegant grace of the icy Eevee-lution showed itself once again.
"Glaceon, use icy wind!" Ninjask could avoid this unlike Torterra.
"Ninjask, avoid the attack and then use double team!" Duplicates of Ninjask appeared.
"Glaceon, use blizzard!" She was getting desperate now. You can tell with her frantic moves. It's a fatal mistake with experienced trainers. Don't lose your cool in a battle. Anything can happen.
"Ninjask, fly through it!" This was crazy, but I knew Glaceon was out right now. Isla was too shaken up during particular moments over the course of the battle and now is a big moment of her judgment getting clouded.
Ninjask flew straight towards the super effective attack, taking the full force of the blow, but kept on pushing forward. It was time for one of my Pokémon to make their appearance.
"Ninjask, use baton pass!" Not unlike what happened earlier, Ninjask disappeared in a light and in his place, was Croagunk.
"Croagunk, use revenge!" striking a blow to Glaceon while Isla was unable to respond at all to all of it, Croagunk had knocked out Glaceon with that strike, leaving Isla with one Pokémon.
"Glaceon is unable to battle. Trainer, call out your next Pokémon.
Isla steadied herself to command better for her final Pokémon as she threw out her pokeball. "Let's go, Gardevoir!"
It was almost laughable how Croagunk, who is pretty new to my team is about to go up against such a powerful Pokémon, but I think he can do a good job.
"Gardevoir, use wish!" She's trying to heal a bit from last time. We weren't going to let that happen without consequences.
"Croagunk, use poison jab!" Running quickly up to the healing Mega Gardevoir. It seemed though that Gardevoir was done healing.
"Gardevoir, use confusion, quickly!" Croagunk managed to duck under Gardevoir's confusion due to the size and maneuvering of Croagunk, not all too dissimilar to Ninjask. Croagunk was able to hit Gardevoir in the dress-like part.
"Follow it up with a poison sting!" Croagunk fired off the attack at close range, allowing it to hit easily.
"Gardevoir, counterattack with confusion!" Through the pain of the poison sting, Gardevoir grabbed ahold of Croagunk with a psychic hold and then slammed him into the ground, dealing super effective damage.
I need to keep up the heat of battle!
Isla got out a command before I could. "Gardevoir, use psybeam!"
"Dodge it and use mud bomb!" With a quick side-step, Croagunk hopped away from the powerful psybeam and fired off a plop of mud that hit Mega Gardevoir in the head, dirtying and blocking her vision. Now was my chance.
"Croagunk follow up with a poison jab!" Coming in while Gardevoir's vision was impaired, Croagunk approached Gardevoir fast, ready to attack.
"Gardevoir, use future sight!" In a smart foresight before the poison jab went through, Gardevoir fired off the powerful psychic attack. Croagunk's poison jab knocked mega Gardevoir off her feet but unlike Electabuzz, she didn't get back on hers. Mega Gardevoir had been defeated.
"Gardevoir is unable to battle, meaning Paul Shinji is the winner of the Celestic Town Tournament." The crowd roared with hype as they had just seen some action-packed Pokémon with fun twists throughout.
(-)
The ceremony went on, pretty standard in terms of tournaments I've seen on TV. They say a bunch of words that I ignore in favor of anticipation for the prize. I'm honestly overjoyed right now, but it's a bit hard to express that without coming off as smug, but hey, I guess everything went as expected… I take that back. This experience was something that gave me a wake-up call to battling.
I should not have won this tournament with my Pokémon as they are right now. They cannot put as much force behind their blows as others can. It was only through some planning and quick wit that gave me the edge over others.
As I ignored the announcer, he addressed me which I responded now in nods to respond back. He waved someone over and an egg was presented to me. It seemed to be sandy yellow with a rough red color. I'll be taking care of this one for a little while.
"Everyone give it up once again for Paul Shinji and everyone else involved in this tournament! This was amazing even for me, a commentator to commentate at!" Oho, another job for announcer/ref/ official/now commentator. Fun stuff.
Stepping down from the stage, I tried to avoid the bulk of the crowd as I made my way to Isla.
Isla tightened her palms as she got frustrated with herself. I can relate to some of her trouble even though I had an easier time with it. Through all the crowd's noise, I ignored everything as I addressed her. "That was a very hard battle I just fought.
She raised her head up to face me and responded, "Yeah, you did good, but I'll beat you next time." She bounced back from her sad state rather fast.
"Geez, you're just like Hilda."
"Who?"
"Congratulations, Paul!"
Ooof. I got tackled by something small and full of long, brown hair. I should've just headed straight for the Pokémon Center, huh.
(From a close by location in Celestic Town)
"Hmm, Paul Shinji." A blondie with one eye covered by her hair muttered.
"What an interesting trainer."
AN: Give me reviews and likes and whatever it is I'm begging for. Tell me which parts you liked... or if you hated it, idc. Hilda and Isla will be featured more because... well because I set them up for that. Hope you enjoyed whatever I wrote!