Gygantimax Orbeetle hovered, a colossal flying saucer in the air above the stadium that eclipsed the sun and cast a looming shadow across everything and everyone beneath him. Marnie swallowed hard at the sight, clenching her fist tightly as she stilled the nerves building within her.
This is what it's been all leading up to, she thought to herself. Time to make it happen.
"It all comes down to this", Marcus said, his eyes locked onto the field with critical anticipation.
"Let's go, Marnie!", Hop shouted. "Take that creep down!"
Marnie nodded confidently to herself, her eyes narrowed and focused on the arduous task that lay before her. "Alright, Morpeko", she called, "we're nearin' the end of the line. Time to show this clown what we're made of."
Morpeko turned back and nodded in agreement to her trainer. Hunger Switch kicked in, and Morpeko quickly switched into her notorious Hangry Mode, her pale-yellow skin turning pitch black and her wide eager eyes now burning with a crimson red glare of determination. Whether this transformation was due to her insatiable appetite or brought on through conscious effort and choice in anticipation of the upcoming battle wasn't entirely clear, but Marnie planned to make full use of the opportunity.
"Morpeko looks like she's really raring to go!", Hop noted eagerly.
"Yeah", Marcus agreed with an excited grin - it seemed as if the hype that Morpeko and Marnie were displaying was contagious. "With her speed and her immunity to psychic, Morpeko's got a lot working in her favor, for sure!"
"Bring it home, sis!", Piers cheered loudly, all of Team Yell following his example.
"Commence the assault, Orbeetle", Weston shouted. "Use Max Flutterby!"
Bright glowing-green energy began to surround Orbeetle in the air, spiralling like a whirlwind before breaking off into smaller pieces. Those fragments began to take a butterfly-like shape as they sailed rapidly through the air towards Morpeko.
"Here we go, Morpeko", Marnie called out, "Aura Wheel, let's go!"
Morpeko quickly broke into a full-sprint towards the oncoming attack as dark energy began to rotate around her, spinning faster and faster as she continued to run. The energy attacks from Max Flutterby approached Mopeko at breakneck speed, but the speed she was building from the Aura Wheel coupled with her small frame allowed her to nimbly avoid each and everyone of them as she continued her dauntless charge forward.
"What!?", Weston gasped.
As the tiny Two-Sided Pokemon continued to weave through and around the barrage, she swiftly made her way up a large rock in the ground, using it to vault herself into the air. Still running along her Aura Wheel, she rapidly ascended like a cannonball towards Orbeetle, tearing through the air as she continued to accelerate. Aura Wheel struck the giant bug square between the eyes. Even the colossal Orbeetle couldn't help but wince at the pain, giving tell to the super-effective damage it had just been dealt. Meanwhile, Morpeko bounced safely away, rolling backwards towards the ground as she awaited the next step of her trainer's plan.
"Yes! Direct hit!", Hop cheered gleefully.
"POGs", Marcus shouted to Piers, allowing himself to fully immerse in the energy of the crowd he surrounded himself with. "Piers, we need more POGs!"
Piers nodded before turning to Team Yell. "POGs! We need to hear more POGs!"
"Quick Morpeko", Marnie followed up, "give 'em a good Bullet Seed!"
Morpeko completed one final flip before facing back towards Orbeetle. As she continued to descend to the ground, she slapped her cheeks and unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of Bullet Seeds.
"Defend, Orbeetle", Weston shouted. "Max Guard!"
A massive gleaming barrier appeared in front of the hovering Orbeetle, completely protecting it from Morpeko's attack. Morpeko landed back on the ground, a glare reserved for her adversary still fixed upon her face.
"We can't let up now", Marnie yelled. "Aura Wheel, again!"
Morpeko surged forth at lightning speed - far faster than she was before - as the dark energy of her Aura Wheel began to envelope her.
"This could be it…!" Hop shouted with anticipation.
Weston grinned. "Underestimating you", he began, "is something that I can no longer afford to do. Orbeetle, G-Max Gravitas!"
"Huh!?", Piers shouted, utterly flabbergasted. "That's a Psychic move, that won't have any effect on a Dark-Type like Morpeko! What's this kid doin'!?"
"You think he finally lost it and just called the wrong attack?", Hop inquired.
Marcus looked out towards the battlefield. Weston… what is he up to now?
Rings of light emerged from Orbeetle's belly and descended towards the ground in a funnel-shape. Within the rings, a much broader, much brighter ray of energy shot to the earth, using the funnel-shape figure of the rings surrounding it to guide it downward. The energy consumed the stadium in a blinding aurora for several seconds before its intensity began to diminish. All hearts were racing in the stadium stands, all breathing came to a nervous cease as the audience's eyes slowly readjusted to the normal lighting of the arena to bear witness to the outcome of the attack.
Morpeko continued to charge, carrying on and accelerating rapidly towards Orbeetle as if nothing had even happened.
"This kid go off the deep end?", Piers asked.
Hop looked on, dumbfounded. "That attack didn't do anything at all, what was the point?"
Marcus looked closer to the field and noticed Weston's signature grin - things were going exactly as he'd planned and exactly how he'd wanted them to go. "No", he interjected. "Something's going on here…"
"Take off, Morpeko", Marnie shouted. "Hit 'em hard and bring 'em down!"
Morpeko charged towards a rock and vaulted herself off top of it, poised and aimed straight for Orbeete's head.
Something unexpected happened, however. To the surprise of everyone in the arena, Morpeko fell face-first to the ground with a thud almost instantaneously, as if she were a boulder sinking to the bottom of the ocean. She lay there in the dirt, struggling to stand back up.
"Morpeko!?", Marnie exclaimed. "What's goin' on here!?"
Weston cackled. "It's common knowledge that Psychic attacks deal no damage to Dark-Type Pokemon like Morpeko. However, my intent was never to inflict any damage with that attack!" He sneered. "G-Max Gravitas - the signature Gygantimax move of Orbeetle, and a particularly useful one, at that. For you see, its use alters the force of gravity over the entire battlefield!"
Marnie's eyes widened in astonishment as she looked to her Pokemon, who continued to pick herself up off the ground.
"Right now, Morpeko is feeling a force of gravity nearly four times greater than normal Earth-gravity", he continued. "Your Morpeko won't be able to make her running jumps to reach my Orbeetle now, she can't even bring herself to stand back up with how heavy she feels!"
"Morpeko", Marnie called, "you gotta get back up!"
Morpeko slowly began to inch her way back up to her feet only to collapse back down onto all fours, the force weighing down on her being too great for her to bear.
"It's not going to happen", Weston mocked. "Orbeetle, finish this up with Max Flutterby!"
A familiar glowing green energy began to concentrate around Orbeetle before breaking apart into butterfly-shaped projectiles that swiftly hurled themselves forward towards the immobile Morpeko. The projectiles hit their mark spot-on, culminating in a pale-green explosion that devastated the battlefield, leaving a massive crater in its wake.
"Morpeko, no!", Marnie cried.
The ensuing shockwave sent Morpeko flying towards Marnie, where she hit the ground and rolled, her Hunger Switch kicking in and reverting her back to normal form just before she slipped into unconsciousness.
"Morpeko is unable to battle! The winner is Orbeetle!"
Marnie swallowed hard, a sinking feeling building in her gut.
"Darn it", Hop jeered with a stop of his foot, "she almost had it!"
"G-Max Gravitas changes everythin'", Piers remarked. "The increased gravity out on the field's got her boxed in. She can't get in close enough to attack close-range, and Weston can just use Max Guard to protect against any ranged attacks." In that moment, Piers couldn't help but think about the Spikemuth Gym, the city, the worst-case scenario. "Weston's got her locked down… I haven't a clue how she's gonna pull this off…"
Marcus nodded. "Me neither…" He smiled. "...but I'm sure pumped to find out!", he shouted enthusiastically. "You've got this Marnie! Take 'em down!"
Hop nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's go, Marnie!"
Piers snapped out of his funk as the words of her friends resonated with him. Yeah… this ain't over yet. He rose to his feet and stood on his feet, facing all of the Team Yell members that sat behind. "Listen up, everyone! We're in the final stretch of it now, this battle's gonna decide the match. Marnie needs our support now more than ever, so give it everything you have! All of your cheers, all of your energy, your praise, every last ounce of it! If you've got even a single word of encouragement to share with our girl, Marnie, scream it at the top of your lungs and make it heard!"
"Come on, Marnie!"
"We believe in you!
"You've got this in the bag!"
"Steam-roll this punk!"
Chanting and cheering ensued from Team Yell, who were now even more energetic and passionate than usual. Their comradery must have been contagious, for their enthusiastic praising traveled across the audience like a wave skating across the surface of the sea. Everyone seemed to be rooting for Marnie at that moment.
And it was all that she needed to keep going.
She smiled to herself as she clutched her last Pokeball. "Let's do this", she said to herself quietly as she threw the ball forth. "Umbreon, let's go!"
Umbreon's return to the field was admittedly a bit of a clumsy one - the increased gravity over the field made her lose her center of balance immediately. It took a few seconds of struggling for her to pull herself back up to her feet.
"Heheh, poor thing", Weston snickered. "She can barely even stand under the weight of G-Max Gravitas. I wonder how long she'll last…"
Marnie's eyes shot up to Weston, her gaze focused, adamant, unbreakable. "You can slow us down", she replied, "but you'll never stop us."
Umbreon turned back to Marnie and nodded in agreement.
Weston chuckled. "Why don't we put that to the test then!"
Time seemed to stop under the weight of the anticipation of the battle to come. The final round, the decisive match-up, had finally arrived, and who was to come out on top was anyone's guess.
Marnie took in one last deep breath as the afternoon breeze drifted past her, releasing the air from her lungs along with the rhythm of the wind.
Time to end this.
"Shadow Ball, Umbreon!", she called.
Dark and ghastly energy proceeded to concentrate into an black orb at Umbreon's mouth before she launched it forward at Orbeetle with all of her might.
Weston grinned. "Wasted effort. Orbeetle, Max Guard!"
Orbeetle projected a massive protective barrier around itself. The Shadow Ball exploded on contact, causing zero damage.
Marnie grit her teeth. This is gonna be tough, alright.
"Use Max Flutterby!", Weston shouted.
The butterfly-shaped energy projectiles quickly synthesized around Orbeetle's carapace before rapidly descending towards Umbreon.
"Gravity's keepin' us from jumpin' or dodgin'", Marnie noted aloud, "so let's try goin' under. Umbreon, Dig!"
Umbreon wasted no time in beginning to tunnel into the dirt at her feet. The increased force of gravity pushed her down a little faster, allowing her to submerge herself underground quicker than usual, thus avoiding Orbeetle's attack.
"Intercept with Max Guard!", Weston ordered.
As Umbreon tunneled upward for an attempted strike against Orbeetle, the Max Guard returned to his defense. The momentum of Umbreon's attack was not only halted, but completely reversed upon itself, creating a shockwave that sent the Moonlight Pokemon flying backwards along the ground. Umbreon fell to the dirt, encumbered by the overwhelming force of gravity and unable to move.
"No, Umbreon!", Marnie shouted in disquiet.
"This looks like trouble", Hop said as he sat on the edge of his seat.
"Come on, Umbreon, get up!", Piers shouted.
Weston laughed out loud. "Hail to the king!", he cried. "Time to cement my rightful place as Gym Leader at last for all of Galar to see! Orbeetle, Max Flutterby!"
The pale-green aura that began to build around Orbeetle meant trouble. Everybody knew the truth of the matter - if that attack landed on its mark, that was it; game over.
Marcus clenched the guard rail in front of him tightly. You can do this, he thought to himself. I just know you can.
Marnie tensed as she prepared for the worst, Umbreon still struggling to stand. There's no way to reach 'em… that barrier blocks any attack that comes even close, and he can attack from long-distance…
Then she was graced with an idea, one that was so crazy and unorthodox, it would either go off without a hitch or fail miserably. But as things were currently looking, the loss of the battle was beginning to appear as a very real possibility. She'd just have to chance it.
"Umbreon", Marnie called out, "ready for one last round?"
Umbreon managed to barely pick herself up off the ground before turning back to Marnie with a nod of affirmation.
Marnie gave a small smile. As much uncertainty as the young gym leader felt in that moment regarding their situation in the battle and her plan to try and overcome it, the reassurance she received from Umbreon's willingness and loyalty gave her all the strength she needed to push onward. "M'kay, we're gonna take their strength and make it ours, got it?"
Orbeetle's energy began to break off into pieces, taking the forms of butterflies before sailing breakneck speeds.
Weston watched with a wide anticipating grin, eagerly awaiting the attack to make contact. It's all over now - you've nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and there's nothing you can do…
...I've won!
"Umbreon, Detect! Climb up to Orbeetle using Max Flutterby!"
Umbreon's ruby eyes seemed to flash as she became hyper-aware of the approaching Max Flutterby and its properties - its velocity, its distance away from herself, its elevation from the ground, etcetera. Working past the constraints of the added force of gravity, she took into a sprint, fearlessly charging straight for the oncoming attack. With one strong leap, Umbreon managed to jump just high enough into the air to get above the lowest flying projectile, placing her feet down upon it as it continued to fly by and using it as a passing stepping stool before leaping onward to the next one, and the next one after that. Marnie's strategy was working - Umbreon was now climbing the Max Flutterby, and was rapidly approaching Orbeetle.
"No way! Wha- how!?", Weston shouted in utter astonishment. "You can't do that! Can you actually do that!?"
The cries from the stadium were a mixture of amazement, bewilderment, and joy as Umbreon seemed to be executing an inconceivable strategy before their eyes.
"Are you seeing this!?", Hop exclaimed in disbelief and awe. "That's the coolest thing I've ever seen!"
"Yes!", Piers shouted as he led Team Yell in their montage of overwhelming praise and adoration. "That's my sister, doin' the impossible! Give it up for Marnie!"
Marcus joined right in on Team Yell's overbearing enthusiasm. It certainly wasn't a practice he was used to - as introverted as he was, Marcus could usually never even bring himself to approach close proximity with loud and, usually by association, unruly crowds, let alone participate with them in their acts. But right now, he just couldn't help himself. He'd never had any doubt in Marnie's ability to overcome the adversities she'd be facing in today's battle, but to see her do so in such spectacular fashion was too much for him not to express his hype over it all. In his mind, Marnie had just cemented herself as one of the greatest trainers of all time, and his rivalry with her for the championship title was bound to continue being a fierce one - a prospect that made him as excited as it did nervous.
"Take that clown down, Marnie!"
Marnie smirked wide, overcome by a combination of adrenaline from her plan continuing to work out and disbelief that it even worked to begin with. There was no turning back now, it was time to take it home. "Umbreon, Crunch!"
As soon as Umbreon was in close enough proximity, she made the jump from the Max Flutterby she'd most recently landed on and springboarded off of it towards Orbeetle, latching tightly onto the side of his carapace with her razor fangs.
"No! Orbeetle!", Weston cried. "Shake her off, quick!"
Despite being over ten times Umbreon's size, Orbeetle felt the super-effective damage of her Crunch across his colossal body as he struggled in vain to shake her off of him.
"Time to take it home", Marnie announced. "Shadow Ball!"
While still gripping onto Orbeetle with her teeth, Umbreon charged and fired one final orb of ghostly energy - the most powerful one she could muster - at point-blank range. The explosion that followed pushed Umbreon off of her target and sent her plummeting towards the ground. She managed one backflip in the air before making landfall on her feet - the intense gravity field made for a less-than smooth landing, but she managed to endure. Meanwhile, another explosion erupted from Orbeetle in the air, loud and massive. From within the black cloud of smoke that now surrounded him, the Dynamax energy that maintained Orbeetle's Gigantimax form began to destabilize, causing him to shrink down to his original form. And with the absence of that energy, the intense weight of gravity that had lingered over the field was at once relieved, as Umbreon now found herself being able to stand a little taller and a little prouder.
At last, this decisive battle was over.
AN: The fight is over at last!
I took a lot of inspiration from the anime as I wrote this battle, specifically the Sinnoh League battle between Ash and Paul. It was difficult trying to convey the kind of imagery that the anime provides without the wordplay becoming redundant or uninteresting, but I hope I was able to do it some justice. Let me know what you think!
This battle ended up being much longer than I expected, and was by far the most exhausting part of this story to write. I don't foresee myself writing another Pokemon battle of this scale again anytime soon without explicit requests to do so.
Slice of life content resumes in the next chapter.