The battle begins! Gerard vs. Ian! Who will win? Will this match prove to be more than just the warm-up for the prize-fight match, the Commander vs. Raizer Volt?
KedharS: Or it could end very well.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: First Year: Sango Second Year: Sylvia (Well… she's good at baiting, anyway) Third Year: Ian Fourth Year: Celia
Rus0804: We'll learn more about Ian eventually, don't worry.
Aquahaze675: With Sylvia? Anything's possible. Let's take some bets. Which is more likely? A conversation about the time flute, or a conversation about Blake's "flute"?
JoshGamerV: Probably because "rumor mill" is an understatement lol. And yeah, we had to set up a sufficient final boss, and the Phantom fits the bill, alright.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 556
"Ian Davidson vs. Gerard Alkwest!" Lila announced. "They'll be fighting on Water Stage 1, Pool Field!"
The stadium began to shake, the system fixed overnight, and the battlefield was replaced with a large pool of water with a series of platforms for pokemon to stand on.
"Hello there, Gerard," Ian said, glancing across the water at the glasses-wearing student, who wore a scowl on his face.
"Mrrf." Gerard grunted, narrowing his eyes into a glare.
"To be honest, this wasn't the way I wanted this to go," Ian admitted, shrugging his shoulders and sighing a little. "See, I really wanted to fight all of the Eight Leaders in order from weakest to strongest, and then take you out for last. But plans have to change."
"I'm flattered," Gerard said. "Now then, let's stop blabbing and start, shall we? Archer, go."
Gerard tossed a pokeball up into the air, which a tiny Archen emerged from. The small bird flapped his wings and flew over the water, an odd trait considering that Archen were usually not very adept at flying, and this one was soaring like any other bird pokemon would.
"Gerard's chosen his Archen for his first pokemon," Lila noted. "I think that's an interesting choice, what about you guys?"
"Yeah, definitely interesting, considering it's definitely his weakest," Dakota noted. "What do you think, maybe he chose him because of the terrain? I can't imagine this field is very good for Rock type pokemon to fight on, you know, considering all the water."
Akira nodded, that was a very valid assessment. "I think that could be part of it," he agreed, "but at the same time, there are definitely other viable options on his team. I think he made this choice because he has a strategy with that Archen we'll have to see."
"I see, so you're using your Archen?" Ian smiled. Knowing Archen and their abilities… it's probably for the best that we soften it up with some status moves. And it will also help to start out with Fluorite so that he can weaken even more of his team with will-o-wisp and confuse ray. If we soften them up, those Rock types won't be a problem. "Go, Fluorite!"
"Phantump!" Ian's first pokemon was his Phantump, the small pokemon floating up and glancing at the other pokemon.
"Fluo! Let's start fast, use energy ball!" Ian ordered.
"Phantump!" Fluo opened his mouth and fired a green orb at the Archen, the small bird pokemon letting out a squawk and flapping his wings.
"Archer, dodge with agility," Gerard ordered. Archer dodged to the side, his speed picking up as the energy ball flew past him. Tucking in his wings he tilted towards the ghostly tree and flew as fast as he could towards it. "Now, use wing attack."
"Archen!" Archer raised his wing, swiping it at Fluo. But even with his speed, he couldn't stop the ghost from disappearing before the attack could strike.
"Phantom force," Ian ordered.
"Phantump!" Fluo reappeared behind Archer, striking him in the back with a ghostly blow that caused the dinosaur to cry out in pain, tumbling out of the sky. Fortunately, he angled his body well and hit one of the platforms instead of falling into the water, quickly picking himself back up and turning to the Phantump.
"Arch!" Archer growled angrily, flapping his wings and flying up quickly, shooting towards the Phantump.
"Confuse ray," Ian ordered. The easiest way to deal with a pokemon like Archen or its evolution, Archeops, was to disorient them with confuse ray to weaken them, and then while they had difficulty fighting back, reduce their health below half. It was well-known that due to their ability, defeatist, once they lost enough health they would give up on the fight and their stats would drastically drop, making it a pushover to deal with.
But unfortunately for Ian, Gerard was well-aware of this weakness, and Archer was fast enough to prevent Ian from exploiting it.
"Sandstorm to disorient!" Gerard ordered. Archer flapped his wings and a massive tornado of sand and dust whirled through the stadium, swallowing the pool whole and engulfing the entire battlefield, preventing the confuse ray from affecting Archer. The sand shielded his eyes, letting him fly around it without getting confused, Fluo wincing from being buffeted by the sandstorm.
"Great, now use your tailwind to get even more speed, and follow with crunch!" Gerard shouted.
"Archen!" Flapping his wings, Archer created a powerful gust of air that carried him through the storm, leading him straight towards the ghost pokemon as he dodged the confuse ray. With that problem dealt with, it was time to take care of the Phantump, immobilized by the blinding sand. Archer opened his mouth and bit down hard on Fluo, so hard that his wooden mask could be heard cracking.
"PHANTUMP!" Fluo wailed in pain.
"Fluo! Use wood hammer!" Ian cried.
"Phan!" Fluo could still feel the Archen's fangs biting down painfully on him, so he knew that the pokemon wasn't going anywhere. Turning slightly, wincing at the scraping of teeth against his spectral body, he slammed a powerful branch of wood down on Archer's head with as much for as he could muster, breaking the pokemon's grip and sending them both spiraling.
"Archen!" Archer landed in the water and immediately began flailing, his wet feathers making it impossible for him to get back into the air. And not only that, but the pokemon wasn't even able to really swim.
Not to mention that Fluo had quickly recovered, and was ready to take advantage of Archer's immobilization, and the fact that the powerful Grass type move had most definitely reduced the Archen's health by more than half… meaning that Archer was starting to struggle less and less, beginning to accept that he couldn't get out of the water, and ready to just sink…
"Phantump!" Fluo opened his mouth and fired an energy ball that hit Archer, the blast knocking him out of the water and slamming him onto one of the platforms. Archer let out a pathetic whimper before succumbing to the blow, losing consciousness.
"W-Wow," Lila gasped. "Um, Archen is unable to battle! Phantump is the winner!"
Gerard said nothing, recalling his Archen to his pokeball while everyone else began commenting on it immediately.
"Did you see that?" Dakota gasped. "Gerard had the first loss! That's nuts! Did you expect that, Aki? Because I sure didn't!"
"It was surprising, sure, but Ian sent out that Phantump for a reason," Akira noted. "So I figured he had something up his sleeve. Ian's a pretty talented trainer, after all, he's pretty prepared. So it isn't hard to believe he's giving Gerard a run for his money, remember, he was scouted to be a member of the Eight Leaders himself after all."
"But that doesn't mean he's out," Dakota reminded him. "After all, Ian might have won the first bout, but it's far from over! Gerard still has his Diancie, after all, and these mythic pokemon are really strong, haven't you noticed that with that Zeraora?"
"Yeah, I'm not saying it's gonna be a definite win for Ian," Akira said, rolling his eyes. "Just that Ian knows what he's doing. Besides, Gerard still has the sandstorm on his side. That's absolutely going to be an issue for Ian."
"Go, Burei," Ian said, sending out his next pokemon. His Kabutops emerged from his pokeball and landed on one of the platforms, raising his claws and scraping them together as he glared through the sand, ready to attack the Phantump.
"Fluo, just what we were thinking," Ian said. "He's using his Water type thanks to the terrain! Now we can take that one down early!"
"Phantump!" Fluo nodded, squinting through the sandstorm. He opened his mouth and created an orb of vital energy in front of him, preparing to fire at the Kabutops.
"So after his first loss, he's using a Rock/Water type against a Grass type pokemon?" Lila asked, confused. "Akira, that makes no sense, why's he doing that?"
"I think it's because he knows what he's doing," Akira said. "Kabutops might have a type disadvantage… but on this terrain? It might be the best option out of his team."
"And you can trust him," Dakota added with a smirk. "Because he knows all about Water types, after all! Mister Future Eight Leaders."
Akira rolled his eyes at Dakota's snark.
"Burei, aqua jet," Gerard ordered. Burei shot off the platform and landed in the water, wrapping the waves around him in a veil as he shot across the pool, his sharp claws propelling him forward like a torpedo as he easily dodged the energy ball, hitting far, far away from where he was.
"Look at that Kabutop's speed!" Lila marveled.
"And that isn't just from the aqua jet," Akira noted. "Gerard's Kabutops also has the benefit of the boost in speed from the tailwind that his Archen set up, as well."
"Kabutops!" Burei shot up in a water spout from the pool, raising his claws and slicing into Fluo, the small pokemon wincing in pain. But the attack wasn't enough to finish him, it didn't even do all that much damage.
"The problem is, a Water type move against a Grass type pokemon won't be that effective!" Ian reminded him. "Now, Fluo, use energy ball!"
"Phantump!" Fluo floated back and opened his mouth, preparing to hit Burei with another energy ball as Burei scrambled, falling back towards the water.
But Gerard didn't think there was any reason to panic.
"Burei, use ancientpower!" Gerard shouted.
As Burei fell, he turned to look through the sand at the Phantump, still preparing his attack. He raised his claws and they began to glow with ancient energy, a massive glowing stone appearing in front of him. He fired the stone forward and it collided with the energy ball in a massive explosion.
Burei tilted to land on the platform, staring up at Fluo with an angry glare.
"You forgot something important, Ian," Gerard reminded him. "Wood hammer had a bit of a backlash, didn't it? And your Phantump is still recoiling."
Ian scowled, he wasn't wrong.
"And not only that, our speed is quite something, thanks to the wind on our side. Now, Burei! Finish it with night slash!"
"Kabutops!" Burei lunged into the water, swimming towards Fluo. He leapt out and raised his claw, darkness surging through it, and sent a blade of shadows flying towards the Phantump with a swing of the sickle, hitting the Phantump before he could respond.
"PHANT!" Fluo wailed, the night slash dealing him serious damage. He fell out of the air and hit the water, before bubbling up to the surface quickly after, unconscious.
"Whoa!" Lila's eyes widened. "Phantump is unable to battle! Kabutops is the winner!"
"You thought that you could beat us with just some type advantages?" Gerard asked, adjusting his glasses and smirking. "Like we weren't prepared for dealing with a Grass type? It's reserved thinking like this that made you not a viable candidate for our position."
Ian smiled a little, his eyes flashing a challenge as he recalled his Phantump.
"As I remember," he mused, stroking his chin with a smirk, "I turned down your offer, not the other way around, or did you forget? I said I didn't want to be a part of the organization if I couldn't be the strongest member."
"And then you lost," Gerard reminded him. "You couldn't beat the previous Eighth Leader, so you tucked tail and ran away. That right there shows that you aren't suitable to be counted among our group."
Ian didn't have any comment on that for a while. Then he smiled.
"Maybe then," he admitted. "But right now? I'm a whole new trainer. I've been training, preparing, and now… I've set my target on you and all the others. To show what I've got and prove my skill, I'm going to beat all of you."
He shrugged, and his grin turned sheepish.
"I wanted to start with Callie and work my way up, but then I learned that Mirar isn't a member anymore," he admitted. "Instead, the Second Leader is… Sylvia Driscoll? Is that her name? So I was hoping to face her here, but that wasn't going to happen… and then, Dokukage dropped out…"
He sighed.
"So much for my hope of being able to defeat all of you in order. I guess I'll just have to settle with taking care of you, first, and then clean up the other six," he explained.
Gerard smirked.
"Well, let's see if you can 'take care' of me, first," Gerard replied. "Or even take care of Burei while you're at it."
"I'll certainly do my best," Ian grinned. "Lazuli! This is the perfect situation for you!"
Ian threw out his next pokeball, a dive ball. From within it, a fish pokemon with patterned scales of dark black and bright blue emerged, her large fins flashing with light as she landed in the water and swam forward.
"Oh! How beautiful!" Lila gushed.
"That's a Lumineon!" Akira noted.
"Of course you would know," Dakota said, rolling her eyes. "Like anyone who isn't a Water type fanatic would have any idea what that pokemon was off the top of their heads."
Somewhere across the planet, Marion rivers sneezed, her fishing pole jerking in her hands.
"You sure you should be using your aces so early?" Gerard smirked. "First a Grass type, next a Water type."
Ian smirked.
"Like you said, type advantage isn't anything," he replied. His voice turned serious. "And don't worry, Lazuli isn't one of my aces. But she is a perfect pokemon for fighting against a pokemon like yours, in direct water on water battle."
Gerard smirked back.
"You think that little fish can stand up to my Burei?" Gerard demanded.
"This 'little fish' of mine I caught special with the help of a good friend of mine," Ian replied. "And if there's someone who's an expert on fish pokemon, it would be her."
Marion sneezed again. What was up with her today?
"Burei, go," Gerard ordered, Burei leaping back into the water and swimming straight for the Lumineon. The sandstorm dissipated, no longer of much use now that they were fighting under the water. "Use slash!"
"Kabutops!" Burei bubbled, taking advantage of his speed boost from the tailwind to carry him right towards the fish. But both Lazuli and Ian were ready for such a maneuver.
"Lazuli, bounce," Ian ordered. Lazuli leapt out of the water before Burei could connect, hovering in the air, much to the surprise of Gerard and Burei, the Kabutops shooting his head up in surprise. That was the first time it had hunted prey underwater and the prey had just… jumped.
"Nicely done," Ian grinned. "Now, waterfall!"
Lazuli flapped her fins, water wrapping around her and covering her in a massive torrent as she descended upon the pool. Lazuli smashed into the water, sending a massive shockwave into Burei, large waves sweeping up and knocking water up over the sides.
"Whoa, that was some attack!" Dakota marveled.
"I didn't expect that pokemon to be so fast! Or to use a move like that," Lila said. "With how it looks I would have expected more…"
"Elegance?" Ian answered for her, Lila nodding obediently. Ian grinned. "Yeah, don't get me wrong, Lazuli is more than elegant in her own way! But most importantly, she keeps a cool head, even when she's trying to be the center of attention. If he wants to come in close, she and I are more than prepared for it. And if he wants to stay away…"
Lazuli swam quickly past Burei, and released a shockwave into the water. The water pulse slammed into Burei, causing him to wince.
"Not a bad move," Akira said. "Normally, waterfall is a move used for ascending, but that was a powerful blow as she fell. That's the thing with Lumineon, they aren't that remarkable in anything but their speed. Their attack and special attack stats are equal, so he's not wrong. He can use either strategy, a type of mixed attacker, even if lacking on the power front."
"Seriously?" Dakota asked, rolling her eyes in disbelief. "You're telling me that you know the stats of a pokemon like Lumineon, and you still expect me to believe that you aren't a Water type expert? I mean I know I'm just teasing, but come on, Aki. You're seriously taking this thing a little too seriously. You're making this so easy!"
Akira rolled his eyes and held up his phone.
"Marion Rivers has a blog on the campus site, moron," he smirked. "Thought you, of all people would get that, since you have one yourself."
Dakota huffed, turning back to the battle. Now was not the time for this.
Gerard's expression tightened into a glare. He wasn't about to let Burei go down so easily. "Burei! What are you waiting for? You seriously going to let that fish get the better of you like this?"
"Kabutops!" Burei surfaced, shaking his head. He sunk back into the water, swimming for Lazuli, his claws raised as he prepared to strike.
Ian smiled. This battle was starting to get exciting, he couldn't wait to show Gerard just what his pokemon could do.
Lila swallowed, her heart pounding in her chest. She was actually starting to get excited for this. Gerard and Ian weren't interesting at first, but she was starting to wonder if maybe she could be excited. After all, Gerard had that Diancie, and maybe Ian even had a Fairy type? Well, a girl could dream. A cute Lumineon like that was certainly nice as well. So she'd try to make the best of this, and hope that, at least, it would be over fast.
Now, if only her co-announcers would stop bickering.
The battle begins! They've dealt some good moves against each other, both have lost pokemon, but they're still feeling each other out. We'll have to see who comes out on top!