The battle between Blake and Dokukage is heating up! Will Blake's preparations beat Dokukage's tactics? Or will the shinobi overwhelm him? This battle is just getting started, and while Blake may be off to a strong start, it's hard to see a path forward for him!
KedharS: Definitely. Will he be able to get his way out of it, I wonder?
Aquahaze675: If he was just a stoic ninja he might be kind of bland.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Dokukage isn't 100% comic relief, he's still a very competent trainer and fully deserving of his skills. He just so happens to not be the stoic badass that everyone thinks he is.
Hellraiserphoenix: Don't worry, we'll be seeing more of Dokukage.
Rus0804: Trust me, if Dokukage was just going to be a one-note character I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of revealing he had another side to him if I was just going to drop him, don't worry.
Epifanio Therion: He was probably peeing himself a little.
Thunder Fire: I think Sylvia has proven that someone can both be funny and competent at the same time, just because Dokukage has a funny quirk doesn't make him less of a threat.
JoshGamerV: Yep. I purposefully kept from giving Dokukage too much focus so I could let his funny side have more of an impact, so that people would like him more.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 544
"If thunder wave won't work, we need to try a different tactic, Ruru!" Blake called. He shook his head to clear the doubts from his mind. He was overcomplicating things, even he could tell that. The first thing he had to do was hamper that Scolipede's movements. "Use spider web!"
"Gal!" Ruru nodded. She began to spray webbing out of her rear, connecting the steel buildings together with strong, sticky cables until the cityscape was covered in a massive spider web. Venomark tried to move, but as fast as she was, Ruru was decently quick as well, and could shoot her webbing pretty far. So while the poison pokemon managed to escape from being bound up, she was quickly running out of places to run, and soon enough the stickiness of the webs she was running over was starting to slow her down.
Use the terrain to your advantage, huh? Blake thought, a shaky smile spreading across his face. Well, we can do that, too!
Dokukage narrowed his eyes. He'd expected that tactic. The webs would be very difficult for Venomark to move through, and now he couldn't even call her back since she was bound by the spider webs. He would have to count on her ability to fight her way through.
"Venomark, poison tail," he ordered.
"Scolipede!" Venomark coated the blades on the end of her long body with a corrosive poison, and sliced at the webs, cutting through them to free herself. Ruru had expected that, though.
"If we can't use electricity directly, then use electroweb," Blake ordered.
"Galvantula!" Ruru began crackling with electricity, and sent a powerful discharge of lightning through the massive spider webs she had covered the battlefield with, the steel buildings no longer absorbing the electricity now that it was traveling on a different course.
"SCOLIPEDE!" Venomark cried, feeling the electricity begin to shock her.
No! Dokukage caught his voice, not letting his worry out. He had tried to have Venomark keep her distance to take advantage of the terrain, redirecting the electricity, but Blake had found a method of channeling his electricity long-distance anyway. That meant he would have to switch things up. Because he couldn't recall Venomark and didn't know when she would be able to use status moves again, he would have to press for time.
"Venomark, rollout," Dokukage ordered. Venomark curled her long body up into a large ball and pushed forward, her legs pulling herself free of the webs. Increasing in speed, she began to tear through the webbing as she barreled for Ruru.
"Oh, nice! Dokukage is making use of his pokemon's rotations to prevent her from getting caught in the webs," Akira noted. "That kind of thinking is the sort that would come from an expert on Bug types and their abilities!"
Yeah, as long as it keeps holding, Dokukage dryly thought.
"Ruru, your speed isn't a match for hers right now, so use agility to dodge!" Blake ordered. Ruru nodded and quickly scurried out of the way, taking advantage of the web-covered battlefield to scuttle up the side of one of the large buildings, turning and staring down at Venomark as she rolled past. Blake had another idea. "Now, use gastro acid!"
"Galvantula!" Ruru belched up a wave of sticky clear fluid that landed on Venomark. Blake had been hoping to use the acid to suppress Venomark's ability, but unfortunately he didn't have much luck. The Scolipede was rotating so fast the acid was getting pushed off before it could really get the chance to sink in.
"Now, rock climb," Dokukage ordered.
"Rock climb?!" Blake gasped. Venomark turned and slammed into the large building Ruru was perched atop of. But before she crashed, she unfurled her body, slamming her tiny legs into the webs, bracing herself momentarily before shooting upwards the side of the skyscraper like a rocket, much to the surprise of Ruru and Blake.
"Aww, yeah! That Scolipede is climbing that building just like in Naruto!" Cynthia cheered, Dokukage resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
"You aren't the only one who can climb," Dokukage plainly stated as Venomark slammed into Ruru with a powerful headbutt. She tilted her head forward and tucked her horn-like antenna under the spider pokemon's body, and with a fling backwards she pulled Ruru from the webs and flung her out into the sky.
"Ruru!" Blake cried.
"Galvantula!" Ruru was quick to gain her bearings though, and shot a long thread out behind her, hitting one of the other buildings. Angling her body to swing, she slowed her fall and began retracting the silk thread to pull her back to safety.
"Awesome! Nice job! Now, use charge beam!" Blake cheered. Ruru began to crackle with electricity, opening her mouth and firing a compressed beam of shining light right at Venomark.
"Scolipede!" Venomark winced, the laser hiding her squarely in the back. But that was just the first part of Ruru's attack.
"Now, use electroweb!" Blake ordered.
"Venomark, jump!" Dokukage called. If she stays there, she'll get electrocuted. The problem is that his Galvantula was able to cover the field with so much spider webs so quickly, and now we're pressed in. That's something we'll have to deal with.
Venomark leapt off the building as a strong current shot through the webs, the entire battlefield coursing with electricity. But Venomark was safe in the sky. The problem was, she was falling fast, which meant Dokukage had to think fast.
So much for using the terrain to our advantage. All webbed up like this, these skyscrapers are more of a hindrance than a help. It will make things difficult in the long run if we leave these webs up, and it could seriously impede my pokemon's tactics in the next fights. A small sacrifice for a major gain. Dokukage judged the situation quickly and made his choice. "Venomark! Use bulldoze!"
"Scolipede!" Venomark growled, energy surging through her body, building up in her as she fell towards the ground. She hit the ground hard and sent a blast of energy pulsing through the stadium, the shockwave striking the tall buildings and knocking them over one by one, the entire battlefield beginning to shake.
"Galvantula!" Ruru cried, shaking along with the skyscraper she was perched on top of, feeling the ground start to give out under her.
"Whoa! Because Galvantula was using the terrain to her advantage, Dokukage had his Scolipede completely destroy it!" Lila marveled.
"She's destroying the entire battlefield, knocking over all the buildings!" Dakota gasped.
"This could be good and bad for both of them," Akira judged. "It will open new modes of attack, but it will also limit movement in a different way…"
"Galvantula!" Ruru luckily managed to land on her feet, panting, turning to Venomark, who continued to stomp on the ground, sending more shockwaves out. Ruru was knocked off her feet by the attack and then slammed into the ground, Venomark's bulldoze attack stomping the battlefield nearly flat, all of Ruru's webs buried and flattened in rubble.
"Thanks to Galvantula's typing she was able to withstand the ground move, but right now there's less areas for her to hide. Which could be good or bad," Akira explained.
"Now that there aren't any more buildings around, we can use your electricity to the max again!" Blake shouted. "Ruru, use thunder wave again!"
"Galvantula!" Ruru shot an electric wave out through her body, hitting Venomark as she stopped using bulldoze, Venomark crying out at the electric current paralyzing her.
Not good. I figured that would happen, now Venomark is paralyzed, Dokukage judged with a sigh. No matter. Without the spider web, we can regroup.
"Venomark, return," Dokukage said, recalling Venomark to her pokeball. Time to switch to a different pokemon, one that could fight against the Galvantula without having to risk being paralyzed. Unfortunately, he didn't have a Galvantula himself.
In that case, we just need to outspeed her.
"Higurashi, go," Dokukage said, throwing out his next pokeball. From the pokeball came a small black and gold bug, hovering in the air with the help of its tiny wings flapping so fast they were practically invisible.
"Dokukage's next pokemon is a Ninjask!" Lila reported.
"Oh, look at how fast that pokemon is! But will it be able to fight against an Electric type?" Dakota wondered. "It looks like it would crumple in one attack!"
"Yeah, but that supposes that one attack hits," Akira said. "Watch."
"Ruru, use thunder wave again!" Blake ordered.
"Galvantula!" Ruru began building up electricity into her body, and sent it out in a shockwave. Dokukage smirked behind his mask as the wave of crackling electricity approached Higurashi.
"Have you forgotten our best trick?" He asked, raising his eyebrow. "Substitute!"
"Ninjask!" Higurashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced by a log of wood that took the current directly, Higurashi escaping to safety.
"Now that he can use status moves again, Dokukage immediately had his pokemon use substitute!" Lila gasped.
"And not only that! Look at how FAST that Ninjask is!" Dakota said, her eyes wide. "It disappeared before I could even blink!"
"Because it's a ninja," Akira explained. "Dokukage might be using Bug type pokemon like a ninja, but Ninjask themselves take inspiration from ninjas in their movements. Their speed is absurdly high, and with their speed boost ability it gets even higher. But you're right, Dakota. One good hit would be enough to defeat it… supposing you hit."
Even with an agility buff, he was fast enough to outspeed Ruru? His speed must be incredibly high, Blake scowled. "Ruru! Use charge beam!"
"Galvantula!" Ruru opened her mouth and fired a beam of compressed light at the wooden stump, aiming to destroy it.
"Higurashi, baton pass," Dokukage ordered. No one could see what he did, but he swapped Higurashi for another pokemon as the charge beam hit the log.
"It's begun!" Lila gasped.
"So he's relying on his baton pass strategy now that he isn't sealed by the taunt, huh?" Dakota scowled. "This is going to be bad for Blake."
"If he switched to a Ground type pokemon to intercept Ruru's charge beam, things are about to go really bad for Blake," Akira added, frowning.
That would be real nice, if I had a Ground type, Dokukage had to admit. Instead, he had switched to a different pokemon entirely.
Ruru's charge beam smashed the log to pieces, and hidden behind it was revealed to be… Dokukage's Scolipede, freshly switched back in!
"Wait, what?" Lila said, confused. "He… didn't he just change his Scolipede out, though? Why would he go to all that trouble and then bring it back? That makes no sense!"
"It makes a whole lot of sense," Akira said, shaking his head. "Because right now, there's something that's a lot different from moments ago."
Lila turned to him, not sure what he meant.
"Venomark, use toxic spikes!" Dokukage ordered.
"Oh, no!" Kate gasped, realizing immediately what that meant.
"Scolipede!" Venomark reared back on her legs, ignoring the electricity crackling through her, and fired a barrage of caltrops out over the flattened battlefield, filling it with sharp spikes coated in a painful poison.
"Gal!" Ruru gasped, realizing what had happened.
"Oh, no!" Blake knew toxic spikes well, he'd seen Kate use it a lot, and had fought against it himself. Now, Ruru would have to be incredibly careful with her movements, and not only that, any pokemon he sent out would be afflicted with a painful poison.
Right now, there were bigger issues to worry about, though. He couldn't let that Scolipede keep setting up, otherwise things would go poorly.
"Ruru, return," Blake said, recalling Ruru to her pokeball. Or trying to, anyway.
"Venomark, pursuit," Dokukage ordered. Venomark shot forward, hitting Ruru with a parting blow before she was recalled, much to Blake's irritation.
"Blake's in a real tough spot right now," Akira frowned.
"Really? Why?" Lila asked, pretending not to know the answer.
"Whatever pokemon he sends out to deal with that Scolipede, they'll be poisoned by those spikes littering his side of the field. Dokukage swapped around his team just to serve this purpose, so he could set up toxic spikes and maybe even cripple Blake's entire team," Akira explained, more for the audience's benefit than Lila's. "He has to find a way to deal with them, and fast."
Blake did have a way to deal with them. The problem was, now wasn't the right time to use it. He had to take care of that Scolipede first. And that meant he had a different pokemon he had to use, even though it would be painful for him.
"Cory, go," Blake said, sending Cory back out. Cory landed on the ground, a little taken aback by the drastic change in scenery since he had last been out of his pokeball. More worrying though were the painful toxic spikes that dug into his carapace, infecting him with an incredibly painful poison. He let out a cry of pain, but stood strong.
"He sent out his Crawdaunt again?" Dakota asked. "But didn't he switch that pokemon out before?"
"Yeah, he did!" Lila nodded. "What's up?"
"Necessity," Akira said. "He needs to use Cory's taunt to cut off the baton pass change. And besides, things are different now. That Scolipede is paralyzed, and her health is a lot lower than it was the last time he fought her."
"Cory, use taunt!" Blake ordered.
"Crawdaunt!" Cory narrowed his eyes and snapped his claws, irritated by the poison and itching for a fight. Venomark was happy to oblige him.
"We might be paralyzed, but you're poisoned," Dokukage noted. "And that will be far worse."
For a moment, he considered the fact that he could just switch out to a different pokemon. But if he did that, then Blake would probably just taunt that pokemon, and wear that one down, too. That would start to get annoying. He needed to take care of that Crawdaunt so it wouldn't be able to taunt any more of his pokemon.
Venomark will make that sacrifice. "Venomark! Use venoshock!"
"That's not good," Kate said. "Blake, you need to dodge!"
"Yeah, I'm not stupid," Blake said, rolling his eyes. "Cory, use aqua jet!"
"Crawdaunt!" Cory scuttled forward, covering his body in a veil of water. Venomark reared back and sprayed a blast of toxic sludge at the poisoned pokemon, but Cory's speed was too high for it to have a chance of hitting. While the venom doused the spot on the ground he had been standing on, he ducked around to the side and hit Venomark in the side with his claw, the Scolipede crying out in pain.
"Alright, Cory!" Blake cheered. "Now, use crabhammer!"
"Crawdaunt!" Cory pulled back his pincer, water gathering around it, and punched Venomark as hard as he could.
But his attack didn't hit. Venomark twisted herself out of the way, much to the water pokemon's surprise, and swung her tail, hitting him in the chest with a powerful poison tail, knocking Cory off balance.
"Craw!" Cory cried out in pain, the poison beginning to drain his strength away. The powerful strike only furthered the infection.
"I didn't expect it to move that fast still when she was paralyzed," Blake admitted. "It seems speed boost and baton pass are nothing to scoff at."
"And now you can't dodge. Venoshock!" Dokukage ordered. Cory was still trying to gather himself when Venomark opened her mouth, spraying him with painful blades of toxin that hit his open wounds, intensifying the harmful effects of the poison.
"CRAWDAUNT!" Cory wailed in pain, thrashing around desperately, trying to knock Venomark away and scoot back from the bug pokemon.
"Venoshock is a dangerous move," Akira said. "Its power doubles when used on a poisoned foe. And now, Cory is right where that Scolipede wants him to be."
"Venomark, use mega horn!" Dokukage ordered.
"Scolipede!" Venomark raised her horns, and lunged forward, driving them right at Cory.
"Cory, protect!" Blake ordered. Cory stood up, glaring at the Scolipede, and raised his claws, a large blue barrier appearing in front of him. Venomark's horns struck the barrier and bounced off it without doing any damage, Venomark losing balance. The paralysis struck, her body twitching and immobile.
"Now, Cory! Crabhammer!" Blake shouted.
"Crawdaunt!" Cory raised his pincer and swung as hard as he could, a powerful torrent of water swirling around his claw as he struck Venomark dead-on this time, the massive Scolipede letting out a painful wail as she fell backwards, slamming against the ground.
No! Venomark! Dokukage wanted to cry out, but he couldn't afford to lose his cool. Venomark struggled to get up, but Cory wasn't about to let that happen.
"Cory! Crabhammer, one more time!" Blake shouted. Cory leapt up, raising his pincer, and driving it down on the paralyzed pokemon, Venomark letting out a choked gasp of pain as she thrashed against the attack before finally crumpling over, unconscious.
"Scolipede is unable to battle!" Lila announced. "Crawdaunt is the winner!"
"Return, Venomark. You did the best you could," Dokukage said. Inwardly, he was relieved. That Crawdaunt was worn down a lot more than he had expected Venomark to be capable of. It wouldn't be much effort to take care of the rest. "Now, Ame. Go."
Dokukage sent out his Masquerain next.
"Dokukage's next pokemon is his Masquerain!" Lila declared. "I wonder how Blake will handle this one?"
"Masquerain!" Ame glared at Cory, the intimidating pattern on her wings startling the injured pokemon and causing his attacking power to weaken, much to Blake's frustration.
"Cory, shake it off!" He cried. "Now, use taunt to prevent any more of that setting up that his team likes to do!"
"Craw!" Cory nodded, preparing to taunt his opponent the way he had consistently been doing. Dokukage had expected that, of course, knowing that with Ame's speed she'd only be able to get off one status move, so she would have to make it count.
"Ame, use sticky web!" Dokukage ordered.
"Masquerain!" Ame opened her tiny mouth and fired a blast of thin webbing from within, the webs widening as she spun more silk, falling all over Blake's side of the battlefield, blending in with the toxic spikes.
Blake narrowed his eyes.
"I see you're aware of this move," Dokukage said. "I know, because I've seen you use it before. Sticky webs that slow down any pokemon that switches in. As a shinobi, we will take any measure to sabotage our opponents. If I can only use one move, then I will have it be that one."
As Cory taunted Ame and the Bug type pokemon flew towards the Crawdaunt in a rage, Blake felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead. He was stopping Dokukage from using his baton pass strategy efficiently, but the shinobi was far from a one-trick Ponyta. He had all sorts of tactics to get the better of Blake, and Blake had to hope he and his remaining pokemon would be prepared for them all.
Blake's in a tough spot! Dokukage might not be using his usual tactics, but he's still pressing Blake into a corner! Will Blake be able to pull through? He's ahead in terms of pokemon count, but Dokukage has definitely started to weaken his overall team with his traps! This battle is going to be interesting, to say the least!