April Fools! Normally, you would think I would do something for April Fools day, probably something involving Sylvia, but no! No April Fools Day today, we're going to keep things serious this time, and finish the battle! April Fools to all those who expected otherwise! Anyways, Maddi's struggle against the Phantom continues! Shadow Pokemon are dangerous and scary, and she's already got the baggage of knowing about the Phantom piled upon her as well. Will she be able to pull off a victory in spite of all that? Or will the Phantom overwhelm her with his devastatingly powerful Shadow Pokemon?
Rosealine gold: Don't worry, I think you're going to like what I have planned.
KedharS: Yeah, even if she loses it's not going to be without a fight.
Aquahaze675: It should be good, I hope.
BigEater: The odds are definitely stacked against her, but that doesn't mean that Maddi is completely out of the running.
JoshGamerV: It's quite an interesting theory, to be sure. We will learn more about the elusive Phantom as the story continues.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 506
Kitty was lying down in a waiting room, her blurry eyes slowly clearing up. Her headache was starting to ease off and she didn't feel as hot anymore, her fever letting up as well. She had thought that leaving the stands would have eased off her sickness, but no, even when she wasn't looking at the Shadow Pokemon anymore, she could still feel the nausea from seeing the miasma in the first place. She didn't even want to know what it would have been like if she had stayed in the stadium.
"Hey there, how are you doing?"
Kitty blinked, sitting up a little. She was lying on a couch. She turned her head to see Ayame had pulled up a chair and sat down beside her, looking at her tenderly. It was odd to see the cool, stern-faced Ayame looking so nurturing.
"I'm still a little… urgh…" Kitty burped a little, holding her hand over her mouth as she fought the urge to throw up.
"Those Shadow Pokemon are really that bad, huh?" Ayame asked. "It looked like you were in even worse shape than you were over break…"
"It was awful," Kitty whimpered. "I don't want to see one ever again…"
She suddenly gasped, springing up into a seated position. The match! What had happened with Maddi? She turned to Ayame, and opened her mouth, but the words weren't coming out.
"What? What is it? You gonna throw up?" Ayame asked. As a victim of occasional bouts of nausea herself, she had already brought over a waste bin for Kitty to vomit into, and she reached for it immediately.
Kitty shook her head, Ayame sighing in relief.
"The… the battle. How's it going?" Kitty asked quietly. "Did… did Maddi win?"
"…I don't know," Ayame admitted. She nodded towards the large television in the room, which was turned off. "I didn't want to watch, in case you woke up and it made you feel even worse. So I only saw as far as you did."
"Oh…" Kitty drooped, flopping back down and turning in to stare at the back of the couch. She took a deep breath, smelling the upholstery, and sighed.
"You… um… you can turn it on," she whispered, shaking a little. "It's okay."
"What? No, fuck that," Ayame said, shaking her head.
"Maddi is my friend," Kitty said. "…Kind of. She's kind of my friend, I mean, I think we're friends, but… no, she's my friend. So… I want to know how she's doing."
"Dude, I don't care," Ayame snapped, her voice no longer that of a nurturing mother, but that of a mother yelling at her child not to run into the street. "I'm not going to make you sick again by turning the match on, your health is more important."
Kitty was grateful for that, and it wasn't like she actually wanted to watch, either.
"I can't see the TV like this," she mumbled into the couch. "I can just turn around and not watch anything and you tell me what's happening. It should be fine if I can't see the Shadow Pokemon, and I don't even know if I'll feel the same way through the TV anyway, so…"
Ayame sighed. Kitty was really stubborn when she wanted to be.
"Okay, okay, if that's what you want," she said, shaking her head. "But if you start feeling sick then I'm turning it off, you fucking get me?"
"…Yes'm," Kitty chirped, enjoying Ayame fawning over her a little more than she probably should have, considering her condition right now.
Ayame fumbled for the remote and turned the TV on, set right to the fight, of course.
"Shade, shadow fire," Valon ordered.
"Gengar!" Shade opened his mouth and fired a blast of flames dyed a violet-black at Obstagoon. The swift pokemon dodged the flames and dashed towards the Gengar on all fours, preparing another night slash.
"Obstagoon!" Obstagoon snarled, slashing at the Gengar. Shade was knocked back by the night slash, grunting out in pain, but he continued to laugh all the same, the shadowy aura around him growing in size and intensity.
"Gengar," Shade rasped, raising his hands and placing them on the ground, his shadow growing larger and sneaking forward.
"Obstagoon, jump back," Maddi ordered, pulling her shirt back down now that the fog was gone. Gengar were skilled in the use of shadows normally, and she didn't want to know what Shadow Moves would do to amplify that. Obstagoon was immune to ghost moves but certainly not Shadow Moves.
Obstagoon leapt away from the shadows, opening her mouth and letting out a snarl to strike Gengar again, reducing the pokemon's special attack once more.
"That's not going to help you," Valon said, shaking his head. "Shade, use shadow hold."
"Gengar!" Shade cackled. The shadows on the ground sped up, creeping across the ground even faster, shooting up and wrapping around Obstagoon's arms and legs, pinning her in place as she was locked in place by a series of shadow chains.
"Madison's Obstagoon has been restrained!" Lila gasped. "Will she be able to break free?"
"Don't worry about the shadows for now, Obstagoon!" Maddi called. "Use snarl again!" Obstagoon might have been pinned, but that didn't mean she couldn't fight back. The Gengar had already been hit by two snarls, and if Maddi had anything to say about it she would reduce the pokemon's special attack even further.
"Obstagoon," Obstagoon snarled, sending another wave of debilitating sound at Shade. This time, though, the Gengar was fast enough to avoid, dodging to the side with his hands over his large protrusions that looked like ears.
"I told you, reducing the special attack of my pokemon won't stop me from defeating you," Valon said, shaking his head. "Shadow Pokemon have many tools at their disposal. Allow me to show you a great example of one. Shade?"
"Gengar…" Shade began to snicker and giggle, the shadows around his body turning from just an unnoticeable aura to an actual pulsing wave of energy dancing around him. The aura shot out from around his body in needles of ominous energy, the blades striking Obstagoon, piercing through her fur and flying out and around into the sky. Obstagoon groaned in pain and began to crumple, the energy draining from her body.
"Obstagoon!" Maddi cried.
"What kind of move was that?" Dakota asked, confused.
"I'm not sure, but look at that Gengar," Lila said, pointing at the ghost pokemon. "He doesn't seem to be in very good shape, either."
"Gen… gar…" Shade panted, his smile turning down slightly and his eyes narrowing, his body freezing up as he began to wilt a little, looking almost as injured as Obstagoon was.
"It's called 'shadow half'," Valon explained. "A nice little move that cut the health of every pokemon on the battlefield in half. Yours, mine, anyone's. But if I had used it in the battle royale, I would have become a target immediately. So no, it's much more useful to use a move like this in a battle such as this, when I can just cut down your pokemon without even lifting a finger."
"But you just weakened your own pokemon!" Maddi sputtered, confused why Valon would use such a move that would handicap his own pokemon as well. Shade was strong, the pokemon probably didn't need to use a move like that to win, so why would he?
"And?" Valon asked, shrugging his shoulders. "What does it matter? Weakened or not, my pokemon's health is immaterial. Your moves won't do enough damage to finish him off. How much suffering he goes through to the end of victory thus doesn't matter. A pokemon's health is a resource, Whitmore. If I can take advantage of my pokemon's health to reduce yours, if it will further my own victory, then why would I not make that move?"
The look of horror on Maddi's face told Valon that she couldn't understand the logic in his statement, and it looked like no one else could, either.
"That's horrible…" Lila whimpered. Akira hardened his face and nodded while Dakota just looked away.
She had tried similar tactics herself against Akira before, and while she understood the logic behind it, she had still cared for her pokemon's health. She had trained with her Gourgeist to master the move, and she had made sure that Pumpernickel would be okay with stuff like self-destructing before she actually made him do it.
But the Phantom seemed like he didn't have any care for his Gengar at all. The way he was speaking about the pokemon, it was like he saw the Gengar as a tool for victory, and not as a living creature with his own personality and feelings.
Dakota bit her lip and swallowed the bitterness welling up in her gut. She had read the files that Mirar had found, the same files she gave over to Maddi, detailing the nature of Shadow Pokemon and how empty they were, how they followed orders absolutely, except when they lost control and went on a rampage. The Phantom was treating his Gengar like a tool, because, in a way, that's what Shadow Pokemon were meant to be.
And the thought of it made Dakota sick to her stomach.
"Obstagoon," Obstagoon managed to shake herself free of the shadows and landed on the ground, panting, snarling angrily at Shade, who was still frozen in place, not moving a muscle. Apparently, the move had more of a backlash than just draining away the health of the user as well.
"Obstagoon, now's your chance!" Maddi shouted. She was aware that she might be getting baited right now, but Shade wasn't moving, and Maddi wasn't about to abandon the perfect opportunity to get an edge up and take out another pokemon.
"Obstagoon!" Obstagoon rushed over to Shade, raising her claws, dark energy filling them. She slashed into Shade with a powerful night slash, knocking the Gengar backwards. Shade hit the ground and bounced, skidding across it. His body was still trembling, and he wasn't standing back up. Apparently, he was still stunned.
"Apparently, the Phantom's Gengar isn't fighting back!" Lila gasped. "The backlash of that move must have been worse than what we thought!"
"Indeed, that is the downside of this move," Valon admitted. "Using it will freeze up the pokemon who uses it for a significant period of time. Which makes it easy for the opponent to get hits in. Hence why it isn't a suitable move for battle royales. But the question is, can you truly take advantage of that and finish Shade off, I wonder?"
"Come on, Obstagoon! You heard him!" Maddi shouted. "Keep going with night slash!"
"Obstagoon!" Obstagoon ran to where the Gengar was still lying frozen on the ground, preparing to unleash another night slash. But she was a fraction of a second too slow. Shade regained control of his body, rolling to the side just in time to dodge Obstagoon's downward slash. Jumping out of the way, Shade placed his hands on the ground, covering the dirt with shadows.
"Shadow rave," Valon ordered. Before she could get out of the way, the shadows at Obstagoon's feet erupted in a torrent of blades that slashed into Obstagoon, causing the pokemon to let out a howl of pain. She stumbled back, wailing, taking significant damage in spite of how much Shade's special attack had been reduced.
"Obstagoon, quick, obstruct!" Maddi shouted. Obstagoon raised her arms to guard against the next attack, flinging her arms out to disperse the shadowy flames flying her way. But while she was able to block the first attack, she had no defense against the second. A bolt of shadowy lightning erupted from Shade and struck Obstagoon in the chest, knocking Obstagoon backwards. Obstagoon rolled across the battlefield and grunted out a painful whine, slumping over.
"Madison's Obstagoon is unable to battle," Lila determined, seeing Obstagoon try to stand back up but eventually collapse, unable to rise. Maddi winced, raising her pokeball and returning Obstagoon to her pokeball.
"One pokemon left, Whitmore," Valon mused. "Have you come to understand just how powerful Shadow Pokemon are? It was just a lucky break that your Obstagoon managed to defeat my Spiritomb, Shadow Pokemon are simply that great of a weapon against trainers like you, who rely on their pokemon and their typing."
Maddi spat in response, switching to her last pokeball. She was feeling exhausted. This fight had taken a lot more out of her than any previous pokemon fight had. That shadowy fog in particular. She had inhaled a large amount of it, and she wasn't sure what sort of effect it had. But what she did know was that her body was kind of numb, her head was throbbing, and her vision was starting to blur. She wanted to sit down, or maybe lie down, or maybe throw up. But she had a battle that she had to win, and she wasn't going to just roll over and give up.
"Vee! Go!" Maddi cried, sending out her final pokemon.
"Eevee!" Vee landed on the ground, growling at the Gengar as menacingly as the tiny pokemon could.
"And Maddi's last pokemon is her Eevee," Lila declared. "Will this little guy be able to stand up against the Phantom's Shadow Pokemon?"
Maddi hoped he would. Vee wasn't on her Normal Type team, he was one of the pokemon that she used personally. The third pokemon on the team was a Raticate she had raised since a Ratatta, which she had intentionally switched out since the pokemon wasn't well-equipped at fighting against ghost pokemon like the Phantom's team. But Vee had shadow ball, and she had to hope that that would be enough to win.
"Vee! Shadow ball!" Maddi ordered. Vee opened his mouth and fired a shadow ball at Shade, the Gengar dodging to the side.
"Shade, let's wear that Eevee down," Valon ordered. "Use shadow sky."
"Gengar!" Shade cackled, shadows erupting from his body and filling the sky with a black fog, the shadows swirling around ominously once more.
"Oh, no! The Phantom's Gengar has brought that disgusting shadowy smoke back!" Lila cried, grateful for her Aromatisse while at the same time panicking out of worry for Madison.
"Vee!" Maddi cried out, coughing as the dark fog returned. She tucked her shirt back over her mouth and nose, but not before she had inhaled it, and the brief breaths she had gotten made her feel even more woozy.
"Eevee…" Vee winced, but shook his head, regaining his bearings. He ran towards Shade, growling, and opened his mouth, firing another shadow ball.
"Gengar!" Shade groaned in pain as the orb of ghostly energy hit him in the chest, stumbling back. It had dealt a serious blow, but due to the Shadow Pokemon's unnaturally heightened stats it wasn't enough to do him in.
"Ee!" Vee coughed, the smoke smothering him. He quickly shook his head, not about to let the shadows get the better of him, and prepared another shadow ball.
"Shade, shadow rave," Valon ordered. The ground was covered with shadows once again.
"Vee! Down!" Maddi called. Vee dropped his head and fired a shadow ball at the ground, blowing a hole in the stadium that displaced the shadows. "Now, use quick attack!"
Taking advantage of the momentary disruption of the shadows, Vee leapt into the air with his quick attack, launching himself in the direction of Shade. He opened his mouth, preparing another shadow ball, but it wasn't enough.
"Shadow storm," Valon ordered. Shade raised his hands and spun them, turning the shadow sky with his fingers and sculpting the fog into a powerful maelstrom, sweeping Vee up in the tornado, flinging the small pokemon into the ground.
"Vee!" Maddi cried out. But Shade wasn't done yet. Shade sunk into the shadows and shot forward, erupting from the ground right behind him, raising his hands.
"Eevee!" Vee quickly leapt to his feet and turned around, opening his mouth and firing a shadow ball point-blank at Shade. But when it struck the Gengar… it passed right through his body.
"…Eevee?!" Vee gasped, surprised. More Gengars began to appear around him, Vee looking around frantically, not sure where to attack from.
"Shadow panic," Valon's voice echoed through the mist, an ominous tone swirling into Vee's ear as the Gengars raised their hands, aura swirling around into Vee and driving him wild with fear. Vee looked around and cried out, not sure what to do.
"Vee!" Maddi shouted, but her voice wasn't getting through to the panicked pokemon, Vee completely confused by the shadowy aura running through him.
"Now, use shadow down, and follow it with shadow half," Valon ordered. Vee, still disoriented by the terror that was confusing him, was then struck with another blast of shadowy aura, his defense sharply cut by the move. Then, needles of shadow pierced him from every side, his health cut in half as well, along with Shade's health once again.
"Poor Eevee, he just can't get his bearings," Lila said sympathetically, feeling bad for Madison, who was frantically calling out to her partner. Maddi had pulled her shirt down so her voice was louder, ignoring the black smoke she was inhaling, and calling out to Vee as loudly as she could, coughing and hacking through her pleas.
But Maddi's words fell on deaf ears. Vee was confused, coughing out in pain, the shadowy smoke filling his lungs as well, Vee slumping over as his health continued to drain. He fired off shadow balls helplessly into the smoke, but he was so confused he couldn't even see Shade, much less land a blow on the Shadow Pokemon, even though Shade was currently stunned from using shadow half once more. One more blow would have probably been enough to take down the Shadow Pokemon, but unfortunately for Vee, he was so stunned he couldn't have landed that last blow no matter how hard he tried.
Valon smirked, seeing that Shade was now capable of moving again.
"Shade, finish it with shadow break."
"Gengar," Shade nodded, his cackle weakened by his pained state, but he pushed past the pain, it was immaterial. The only important part was that his master wanted him to win, and so that's what he would do. He faded into the shadows, appearing above Vee, his body oozing out a shadowy aura that increased in intensity. He slammed into Vee, the Eevee letting out a painful whimper as the Shadow Move landed true, his tiny body crumpling from the force of the attack as he lost consciousness.
Lila took a deep breath, reluctant to announce it but unable to deny it either. As the shadow smoke dispersed, revealing to the stands that Shade had beaten Vee down, she sighed and announced, "Madison's Eevee is unable to battle! The Phantom's Gengar is the winner! That means that Richard Valon is the winner of the second match, and will advance to the next round."
Maddi was shaking, barely able to recall Vee to his pokeball. She was having trouble standing. So much today, she was overwhelmed… and to top it all off, she was defeated as well. She coughed, black smoke escaping her lungs, and stumbled, trying to turn and leave the stadium. But she never made it that far, her head throbbing in pain and her body heating up, she felt like she was somewhere else completely, watching from outside of her body as she fell over on the battlefield, coughing.
Poor Maddi. That battle was rough on her, and everything she learned about before the battle even began, the poor thing just couldn't win. The Phantom and his Shadow Pokemon are quite a menacing threat, can anyone beat them? Or are they the perfect weapons like he proclaims?