A Hero's Rebirth
Chapter Sixteen: Two Sides of a Coin
Ash gazed up at the glass building before him, reflecting the early morning rays of sunlight off them and onto the still-wet grass on either side. He could see the aquariums inside, teeming with water Pokemon being maintained by their caretakers which he took as a good sign that the gym was open.
Ash and Raichu shared a glance with each other and then spared one more to the area around the building before entering, getting the attention of everyone else in the building almost immediately. Ash recognized Marlon immediately; still tanned and shirtless, still lugging around a fishing net of Pokeballs with only the bottom half of a skin-tight blue wetsuit and flip-flops as clothing.
"You're Marlon, right?" Ash asked, sticking out his hand. Marlon took it and shook it enthusiastically.
"I am. And you're Raidyn? Here for a gym battle against my personal team?" Marlon replied.
"Guess I gotta to get a new line or something." Ash scratched his cheek in embarrassment. Raichu only smirked his agreement.
"I think it works. Short, to the point and tells you everything you need to know." Marlon chuckled. "Let's get started. We'll battle outside today because it's so nice."
Just like that, Marlon lead Ash out back of the gym where the outside field was built. There was a wooden dock-like ring built above the ocean, fencing in a portion the size of a regulation battlefield, and placing a few platforms for non-aquatic Pokemon to utilize during battle. There was already a ref in place, standing between the two risen platforms on either side. Marlon began moving to one side, so Ash mirrored him, walking over to stand on the opposite side.
"This is an official gym battle between Marlon, leader of the Humilau City Gym and the challenger, Raidyn Stark!" The ref started. "This battle will be three-on-three, with the winner being decided when all three of either sides Pokemon are unable to battle! Additionally, only the challenger will be able to substitute Pokemon and neither trainers Pokemon may leave the boundaries set by the above-water trainers boxes!" He paused, raising his flags. "When ready, both trainers may select their first Pokemon and start the battle!"
"Quagsire, to the water!" Marlon cried, taking a Pokeball out of the net he was carrying with him and lobbing it forward.
"Quag." Quagsire said calmly as it materialized. The blue Pokemon's mouth stretched wide, as if it were exercising its jaw movements, while it padded from the platform it landed on into the water surrounding it.
"Quagsire, huh? 'Kay, then I'll start with you, Seismitoad! I choose you!" Ash decided, throwing forth his own Pokeball.
Another blue Pokemon came out, slightly bigger than Quagsire, and landed on the platform in front of Ash.
"Alright then. Challenger, the first move is yours. Battle, begin!" The ref waved his flags, letting them fall to his sides again.
"Start off with Sludge Bomb!" Ash yelled enthusiastically.
"Swim away, Quagsire, and use Aqua Tail!" Marlon countered.
Seismitoad tried to hit Quagsire with the many globs of dark brown sludge that fired from his mouth, but it proved useless as Quagsire ducked underneath the platform that Seismitoad was standing on. Before Ash or Seismitoad could react, it was flipped over from underneath, sending Seismitoad into the water.
"Go for Mud Bomb!" Ash cried quickly.
Before Quagsire could even hit the water again after breaching during its assault on the platform, Seismitoad turned and prepared a giant glob of light brown mud from its mouth to strike back with.
"Quagsire, the same!" Marlon reacted just as quickly.
Quagsire countered as quick as it could, shooting another ball of light brown mud down to counter Seismitoad's. Despite being slightly smaller, gravity helped Quagsire's Mud Bomb hold off Seismitoad's assault long enough to fall back into the water, unharmed.
"Seismitoad, can you tell where it is?" Ash asked.
Marlon couldn't help but watch with intrigue as Seismitoad's speaker-like bumps seemed to start vibrating. Seismitoad nodded quickly, the vibrating never ceasing.
"Then go after it and use Hyper Voice!" He followed up.
Seismitoad ducked underwater and disappeared for several seconds, but Marlon still didn't believe it knew where Quagsire was. He was proven wrong moments later when he noticed waves of light blue energy traveling across the pool, following quickly by hearing something slam roughly into the ocean floor, probably Quagsire.
"Earthquake!" Marlon shouted out.
Ash was confused for a moment, until he realized that Marlon was using the thrashing around of water to throw off Seismitoad and make swimming harder.
"Go in for an Aqua Tail!" Marlon cried again.
Ash flicked on his aura, using it through his eyes to identify the shapes under the water more clearly. He saw Quagsire swimming rapidly at Seismitoad, still trying to right himself underwater, with its tail surrounding in a small swirling vortex of more water.
"Catch it and use Ice Punch!" Ash shouted suddenly, just as it was too late for Quagsire to turn around.
Seismitoad's bulbous hands slammed together on Quagsire's tail, grimacing at the act but willing itself to continue and letting out a deep rumble that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle at the look on Quagsire's face. Then, both its fists lit up with an icy blue energy as they came down harder on Quagsire's trapped tail.
"Quagsire, you've got to get away!" Marlon cried.
Quagsire was usually a very slippery Pokemon, not many could keep a grasp on it this long, so it was very unused to taking physical punishment like this. Plus, how was Seismitoad able to keep its grip on Quagsire while it was squirming, especially underwater?
"Try a Scald!" Marlon continued to resist against Seismitoad's seemingly endless ability to apply pressure.
Quagsire fired a stream of water, slightly lighter than the water they were swimming in, at Seismitoad, but Ash was faster on the counter.
"Vibrate, as much as you can!"
Marlon watched with fascination as Seismitoad, without hesitation, vibrated every bump on its body as hard as it could've. The results were staggering, as the Vibration Pokemon caused enough movement in the water around them to disperse the Scald. It simply got interrupted by underwater waves, being added into the water of the ocean before it could do any damage to the challengers Pokemon.
"Hyper Voice, again!" Ash continued.
Seismitoad growled again. Rings of light blue energy traveling quickly and powerfully from Seismitoad's mouth to slam against the defenseless Quagsire who was released in time with the last hit, sending it flying back as the Vibration Pokemon surfaced again.
"Focus Blast, then surface with Ice Beam!" Marlon was unwilling to give up just yet.
Ash didn't have time to call out before a giant orb of yellow energy was flung through the water at Seismitoad's underside, hitting him out of the water and letting Quagsire surface to fire an Ice Beam.
"Scald!"
Even upside down in midair, Seismitoad reacted to Ash's voice and shot a bubbly, steamy stream of water at full-force down at Quagsire, colliding with and starting to melt Quagsire's ice-type attack. Scald quickly melted through the Ice Beam and forced Quagsire to abandon the attack and duck underwater to escape again as Seismitoad landed with a thud on the platform.
Marlon was starting to feel the pressure, Ash was certain. If he wasn't, then he would be soon. Ash had just come up with the way to win this round.
Paul unknowingly mirrored Ash in Undella Town as he started across the battlefield at his own opponent, Soledad.
Mere moments after exiting the Pokemon Center this morning, he had seen her down training on the beach with her Slowbro. The timing couldn't have been better if he tried, so he got her attention by challenging her to a battle. Of course, she was quick to accept.
"I'll be using Slowbro this time." Soledad told him, motioning for Slowbro to walk onto the field.
It did so, slowly and Paul nodded.
"I have a new Pokemon I've been wanting to use against you. Turtonator, stand by for battle!"
The Blast Turtle Pokemon appeared in a flash of light, looking as ready to battle as last time. Soledad's eyebrows quirked, eyeing the Pokemon with interest. She quickly looked down at her orange Pokedex for guidance against the unfamiliar opponent.
"Turtonator, it's a fire and dragon type. Supposedly it's from a faraway region." Soledad reported back with. "Where did you find one of those while on a ship?"
"Traded for my Aerodactyl. Are we gonna battle or talk?" Paul stuffed his hands in his pockets as Soledad merely smirked.
"Eager today, aren't we? Okay Slowbro, attack with Water Pulse!"
Slowbro wailed out its cry as it quickly charged a sphere of clear blue water in its palms and thrust forward, sending it sailing towards Turtonator's shell.
"Dragon Pulse." Paul's reply came.
Turtonator quickly fired a beam of multicolored energy at the water sphere. It loosely changed shape to that of a dragon just before impact, creating the image of a dragon biting down on the Water Pulse. A wave of water pulsed outward, halting the Dragon Pulse for seconds before it pushed through. Paul didn't miss the blue sparkles that now rained down around them.
"Water Pulse again." Soledad didn't seem worried in the slightest, causing Paul's eyes to narrow slightly.
Water Pulse and Dragon Pulse collided again, this time the dragon-like shape couldn't burst the water-type attack and began losing ground to it. Just when it looked like they were both about to burst, the Dragon Pulse gave out entirely and the Water Pulse, with nothing keeping it back and because it was pushing so hard, flew at Turtonator at three times the speed and slammed into its shell, covering it in a wave of water.
Paul watched, stone faced, as the water evaporated off Turtonator's hot skin.
"What happened to starting your battles off with unmissable moves?" Paul inquired, calmly.
"No surprise you would've noticed. That's only to help me see how they react to pressure. What good is it when I already know? Best to switch it up then, especially when your opponent suspects your strategy." Soledad said, crossing her arms proudly.
"Bullshit, that's all that Water Pulse was. You used a weaker one to draw in the attack and see how I would respond when the second, much stronger one broke through." Paul countered. Soledad's smile faltered for just long enough for Paul to know he was correct. "Turtonator, Curse."
Turtonator grunted and summoned a light purple ring around its feet. Despite being solid, globs of plasma the same color floated upwards at a random rate. After a few moments, the ring disappeared and Turtonator glowed bright red, showing off its modified stats.
Soledad, unwilling to waste more time, instead chose to issue her next command.
"Psychic, Slowbro."
Slowbro's eyes glowed light blue as it looked over at Turtonator, who became surrounded by an aura of the same color. Turtonator was slammed into the sand a few times below before being thrown to the side and into the nearby ocean. Not out yet, Turtonator easily stood up for Paul to grunt out the next command.
"Incinerate."
Turtonator shot out a beam mixed reds, oranges and yellows highlighted with black fire out of its snout aggressively towards Slowbro back on the beach. Slowbro took its own initiative and countered with an Ice Beam. The three-pronged attack held off the fire-type attack despite the type disadvantage, impressing Paul.
"Switch to Flamethrower."
The torrent of fire seemed to straighten itself out, becoming more streamlined as the oranges and blacks faded leaving only reds and yellows in the attack. Flamethrower, being a higher base power than Incinerate, began to quickly overpower the ice-type attack. It pushed the last few feet very quickly, breaking through and covering Slowbro's torso and head in its flames.
When the flames passed, Slowbro stood unbothered by the attack and its top half was glowing slightly pinker and seemed to be embroidered with small hexagonal shapes.
"Light Screen." Paul's face scrunched up. She had adapted to using it differently to it looked like armor on her Pokemon, but the attack was unmistakable. "Close in with Rapid Spin."
Turtonator pulled its limbs into its shell before it started to spin, moving quickly towards Soledad's Pokemon. Slowbro's Light Screen faded just in time for it to receive its next command.
"Aqua Tail!"
The Shellder on Slowbro's tail glowed blue and was surrounded in swirling water as the pink Pokemon swung its tail to intercept Turtonator's spinning head on.
"Shell Trap." Paul smirked when he heard Soledad curse across the field.
Turtonator's shell glowed a vibrant red-orange color just before Aqua Tail could make impact and proceeded to explode, creating a massive cloud of sand and smoke.
"Repeat Charge Beam." Paul continued.
"Light Screen, quick!" Soledad bit her lip. She wasn't sure if Turtonator could even see Slowbro through the smoke, let alone hit it, but it was better safe than sorry. "Clear the smoke with Confusion!"
The smoke cloud became outlined in purple at Soledad's command and moved entirely off the battlefield. Paul noted the presence of Light Screen on Slowbro again as Turtonator fired a beam of yellow electricity from the orb at its mouth. It crashed into Slowbro, but the damage seemed insignificant despite the type effectiveness. As the attack stopped, Turtonator glowed red again.
Soledad narrowed her eyes. She would have to be careful, there was no telling how many of the previous Charge Beam's had raised Turtonator's stats as well.
"Water Pulse, full power!" She threw her arm out, pointing at the Blast Turtle Pokemon.
"Catch it with Heat Wave, spin it back around." Paul ordered.
Turtonator spat a wind of flames from its snout, behaving like real wind and pushing against the water-type attack.
"Catch it with Muddy Water, send it right back!" Ash cried out.
Seismitoad released spiraling brown water from around his body, throwing his arms forward to send it all moving forward. Seismitoad's attack quickly engulfed Quagsire's Mud Bomb, absorbing it into itself and adding power to the Muddy Water.
The wave came and went with Marlon shouting out in alarm and watching as Quagsire was engulfed by the attack. Once the wave washed over, Quagsire was clearly down and out.
"Quagsire is unable to battle! Seismitoad wins this round! Gym Leader, send out your next Pokemon!" The ref announced while Marlon returned Quagsire.
"Those were some pretty clever moves; you adapt really fast just like the water. But can you adapt fast enough to win again? Cloyster, to the water!" Marlon cried confidently.
Marlon's Cloyster appeared on the same platform Quagsire had been recalled off, it's hard purple shell looking as hard to penetrate as any others.
"'Kay Seismitoad take a break. You did great, so rest up for later." Ash substituted Seismitoad's ball for another. "Alright Talonflame, I choose you!"
Ash's bird Pokemon appeared in the sky above the arena in a bright flash of light, leaving Marlon confused.
"I get wanting to fight from the air, but don't you have any flying Pokemon that aren't part fire-type?" He sounded both amused and serious while asking.
"Don't worry about us, we know what we're doing." Ash waved him off.
"If you're so confident then we'll take the first move. Cloyster, Spike Cannon!"
Cloyster's purple shell glowed a faint white color as it closed shut, resembling a clam, and firing a barrage of spikes off its shell at its airborne opponent.
"Razor Wind!"
Talonflame's large wings glowed light blue as she flapped them aggressively, sending out multiple light blue crescent-shaped energy disks that each collided with a wave of spikes. Marlon's eyes widened at the pure speed; he had never seen a Razor Wind get launched so fast!
"Aurora Beam on the water!" Marlon pumped his fist into the air.
Cloyster shot a blueish green beam from the horn on the top of its shell and into the water, kicking up a huge splash that obscured it from Talonflame's view. In the second the splashing took place, Cloyster dove into the water.
"Hydro Pump!" The water seemed to respond to Marlon's order as what seemed like a geyser of powerful water shot vertically out directly underneath Talonflame.
"Move right!" Fortunately, Ash was quick enough to react and Talonflame barely got her feathers wet by the attack. But when they kept coming, Ash cried out again. "Serpentine maneuver and use Agility!"
Talonflame proceeded to dodge the rising pillars of water even as they chased her as she flew around the battlefield, dodging left, right, and left again while glowing white. The Scorching Pokemon gained speed with every flap of the wings.
"Use Razor Wind while spinning!" Ash commanded.
Talonflame's wings lit up again as she spun maintaining her path and maneuvers. The spinning sent out more crescent-shaped disks in many directions, cutting down the Hydro Pump ahead and opening craters in the pool below.
"Forward right, use Heat Wave!" Ash noted Cloyster's most likely position based on the string of Hydro Pump's for Talonflame.
The fire bird stopped one attack in favor of another, flapping her wings where Ash directed and sending out bursts of heat shaped like waves.
"Ice Beam!" Marlon countered.
Rather than try to ward off the attack directly, Cloyster used Ice Beam from inside the water still despite Talonflame's attack leaving gaping holes big and deep enough to see the bottom. The result came as the water being frozen in its current state in front of Cloyster, creating a wall of ice for the fire-type attack to collide with. By the time it melted Cloyster was already gone, and the water had filled in again, leaving the battle field normal.
"Aurora Beam!"
"Flame Charge!"
Cloyster shot another blueish green beam from its horn as it jumped onto a platform but Talonflame, cloaked in orange flames, moved just enough to avoid the blast before following its path to slam directly into the Bivalve Pokemon. Taking matters into her own hands, Talonflame quickly turned back around to hit Cloyster from behind as well.
Unfortunately, Cloyster rolled with the hit right back into the water.
"Underwater Rapid Spin!" Marlon stomped his foot.
Ash's brows furrowed as he looked out, watching as the water swirled and picked up speed, stacking into itself and creating a twister full of water. Talonflame flew to avoid it, but the funnel moved to follow as the Scorching Pokemon flew across the field.
Ash looked on in worry as Marlon could not help but smile, feeling the effects of his near victory. Another thing that he couldn't help being the sinking feeling in his stomach when Raidyn seemed to glow with excitement.
"Talonflame, climb above the twister!" Ash's fists clenched in anticipation. His eyes moved carefully, but quickly, following Talonflame's movements the whole way up.
Raichu seemed to already know what his trainer was planning and watched the cyclone's movements as it whipped around the arena. Ash spared a glance down to his partner and felt two taps on his leg from Raichu's tail.
'Two taps. Counterclockwise.' Ash nodded, allowing a smile to form.
"It's right above you, Cloyster, add in a Hydro Pump!"
"Spin counterclockwise and dive straight down with Brave Bird!" Ash's shout nearly knocked Marlon over in shock.
Even still, it was thrice as surprising when Talonflame followed the near-suicidal command without a seconds hesitation. Shrouded in a light blue aura, Talonflame tucked her wings in and dove beak-first through the top of the twister, rotating along with the wind and water to gain speed and limit resistance.
Marlon could see the blue dot that was Talonflame's attack inside the cyclone as it shot straight as an arrow to the bottom into Cloyster, causing an explosion of steam, water, and smoke all at once. The twister came crashing back down to the water, spritzing Ash and Marlon with droplets just as Talonflame swooped out from the water and landed on a platform in front of Ash.
She was panting, scratched up and her beak looked burnt, but she was standing. Her eyes were scanning the surface of the water for movement in case Cloyster was going for a sneak attack. But Ash could tell by Talonflame's condition the outcome. All the damage inflicted on Talonflame was the recoil of Brave Bird, a third of the total damage done to Cloyster.
Sure enough, triple Talonflame's condition was unconscious, proved when Cloyster floated to the surface in no condition to battle. The ref waited just a beat to be sure Talonflame wouldn't go down as well but she stood tall, so the call was made.
"Cloyster is unable to battle, Talonflame wins this round! Gym Leader, send out your last Pokemon!" Cried the referee.
Marlon exchanged Pokeballs quickly, casting a look out at his opponents. They were strong, but he would not let this be a shutout.
Turtonator and Slowbro stood glaring across the beach at one another. Turtonator's last attack had been semi-countered with Rain Dance, weakening the power of Heat Wave but strengthening the power of the Water Pulse it was carrying right back into Slowbro's face.
"Slowbro, Beach Cyclone!" Soledad's next command came.
Slowbro's eyes glowed again, signifying the use of Psychic, and it wasn't targeted at Turtonator. Instead, Slowbro started to swirl around the sand and water surrounding them and twist it together, creating a twister that towered over even the houses in the distance back in Undella Town.
The Beach Cyclone accelerated towards Turtonator, picking him up with surprising ease and trapping him in the vortex. Paul could just barely make out the Blast Turtle Pokemon's shape through all the debris as it was carried up and down the funnel.
Turtonator seemed to be trying to spit out flames as a defensive instinct, Paul noticed. He squinted and the corners of his mouth tightened, but the gleam in his eyes betrayed the sternness of his face. He had an idea and Soledad knew it.
"Use Incinerate and Gyro Ball at the same time." Paul's command came out with an urgency the pinkette hadn't heard from him before.
Turtonator seemed confused and hesitant, if the sputter of flames was anything to go by, but it seemed ready to attempt the strange technique quickly enough. Soledad could only watch in awe as her beautiful Beach Cyclone began to dismantle itself from inside out as Turtonator spun its way down the funnel, the edges of its shell glowing with fire rather than the telltale metallic white of Gyro Ball.
Within seconds, Turtonator's flames were evaporating the water in the spout and burning away the dust particles of sand, leaving nothing but mild winds that were easily counteracted by the force it created while spinning. With the spout mostly gone, Turtonator accelerated faster down towards Slowbro who couldn't hide the panicked expression on its face when Paul gave his next command.
"Switch to Shell Trap."
Both attacks fizzled out at the same time, replaced instead with the familiar red-orange color just before Turtonator's shell slammed into the top of Slowbro's head and created an explosion that seemed to dwarf even the Beach Cyclone.
After the smoke cleared, both Pokemon were heavily scratched up and panting, but standing up. Soledad glanced at Slowbro then at Paul and smirked. Paul could only watch with intrigue as she untied the red jacket from around her waist, revealing a matching color belt with a stone-fashioned belt buckle. Soledad placed two fingers over the buckle and became surrounded in a glow.
Out on the field, Slowbro mirrored its trainers glow. Only then did Paul notice the stone that was attached to the Shellder on its tail.
Mega Evolution.
Paul knew at that moment he couldn't win, but even still he wasn't about to just roll over for her. Like hell.
"Carracosta, to the water!" Marlon sent out his third and final Pokemon.
Carracosta appeared on the floating platform closest to Marlon in all its glory. It had blue skin, some of which was covered in deep blue rock-like structures much like the shell on its backside. It stood on two legs and raised its flipper-like arms into the air, inviting a challenge from Ash's Talonflame.
"We'll keep going for now." Ash told Marlon, sharing a glance with the Scorching Pokemon.
"In that case," Marlon smiled, "Carracosta, use Ancient Power!"
Carracosta's body glowed white in response. The white outline shifted forward to create a see-through afterimage of Carracosta that began to distort, as if spinning, until it condensed into a white orb held between Carracosta's flippers.
"Dive and use Steel Wing!"
Talonflame dove from the clouds to dodge under the orb and swiftly righting herself to fly at Carracosta, wings shining white.
"Rollout!" Marlon countered.
Carracosta glowed with a light green light and leapt into the air as its body changed into a make-shift circle and headed off, speeding across the waters' surface to collide with the Scorching Pokemon. Talonflame took the hit to the chest, but still attempted to strike back with Steel Wing, which seemed not to phase the Prototurtle Pokemon.
"Again!" Marlon interjected eagerly.
Carracosta had only just bounced away from Talonflame but it, still in a ball, picked up speed again and took off.
"Tuck and spin!"
Talonflame's glowing wings put themselves to the side, shaping her like a torpedo as she barrel rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding Carracosta's next Rollout onto to be hit by the next one. Immediately, Carracosta turned around to collide with Talonflame again.
"Use Me First!" Ash cried out as Carracosta tried to strike for the fourth time.
The green circle surrounding Carracosta seemingly split, following along a glowing dotted line all the way back to Talonflame's hovering form. Now surrounded in a similar green ball, Talonflame barreled into Carracosta and each Pokemon prevented the other from rolling further.
Marlon's eyes jolted up in surprise at the counter strategy. Raidyn had Talonflame use Me First to acquire the power of the fourth Rollout, skipping the need for the buildup of power during the first hits and used it to hold off the worst of the damage Talonflame could have sustained. It was genius, really. But Raidyn wasn't done yet apparently.
"Spin with Steel Wing, send it down!"
Talonflame's green ball suddenly rolled to the other side, spinning sideways. Before Marlon or Carracosta could respond, a Steel Wing came from above and slapped Carracosta's rollout straight down underwater using the momentum from both their Rollouts to create as much distance as possible.
"Stone Edge!" Marlon replied.
Through the deep blue water, equally blue stones spiked through rapidly. One stopped just under Talonflame, causing the bird to flap up and back only to be struck by the next pillar in the line.
"Cut them down with Razor Wind!" Ash's counter came fast. Talonflame's wings glowed even as she spiraled near out of control, sending out the slashes of white light at the attacking pillars until they were nothing but huge floating chunks of rock.
"Catch it all with Whirlpool and hit that bird down!" Marlon shouted eagerly.
Carracosta quickly formed a large spinning vortex of water between its flippers and launched it forwards. It seemed to grow from the ocean beneath it, skipping across the surface to collect more water and growing exponentially in size until it collided with the Stone Edge debris and begun slinging them around as well.
"Fly straight to the top and use Overheat straight down!" Ash clenched his fists together in worry for his Pokemon.
Talonflame climbed the tower of water and stone, avoiding as many jets of water and clumps of stone as she could on her way up before hovering above the spout of yet another tornado. Talonflame glowed with a red aura, formed a ball of fire in her beak and let out a mighty shriek along with a beam of spiraling white fire that tore straight down the funnel of Carracosta's Whirlpool.
The heat pulverized the rocks and evaporated large amounts of the water and tore its way straight down to Carracosta, who turned to take the attack with its shell. If it hadn't also been underwater, protected by large amounts of the pool around them, Marlon wasn't sure if Carracosta could've continued. As it was, he had to hope for the best.
"Aqua Jet!"
"Meet it head on, Flame Charge!"
The swiftness of the two attacks spoke volumes on the experience of both trainers. Carracosta, for being such a bulky Pokemon, executed the priority attack with the grace of a tiny Basculin while Talonflame grew faster with each passing moment, invigorated by the flames ignited on her wings. Blue and Red bullets collided again and again in the sky, glancing off each other only to circle back for more.
"Talonflame, fly into the water!"
"Follow it!" Marlon's reply came reflexively only, because just a second later his eyes bulged from his head. "What?" He nearly exclaimed at Raidyn, unable to close his mouth in surprise.
Raidyn could only offer a smirk.
"Rapid Spin, knock it off center." Paul told Turtonator.
Turtonator tucked into its shell again and took off spinning, almost hugging the ground on its way to slam into Mega Slowbro's tail that it used to keep itself balanced now.
"Psychic!" Soledad commanded.
Rather than attacking Turtonator, Slowbro lifted itself off the ground with its psychic powers to simply float over Turtonator's attack. Unfortunately for it, Paul expected as much.
"Smack Down and Shell Trap."
Exiting its spin, Turtonator pointed its cannon-like mouth up at Slowbro and quickly shot a golden metallic orb out and quickly turned to take the attack once again with its shell glowing red-orange. Slowbro, hit by the gravity-inducing attack couldn't remain airborne despite its psychic abilities and was roughly brought back down to earth, right onto Turtonator's explosive-ready shell.
Smoke and sand kicked up again, obscuring the two large Pokemon from everyone's vision. It took a few seconds, but Turtonator became visible first, being slowly pushed out of the cloud by a powerful Hydro Pump. He held his ground so well that Slowbro was loosing ground as well from pouring so much power into it.
"Turtonator, Dragon Pulse." Paul ordered.
Turtonator angled its mouth away from the torrent of water and formed a ball of colorful energy, flinging it towards Slowbro with a wince as it turned into the Hydro Pump stream again. The Hermit Crab Pokemon was forced to disengage its effective attack to dodge the dragon-shaped attack hurtling towards it, to Soledad's dismay.
"It's been a while since anyone made Slowbro look so unpolished, your Turtonator is impressive, Paul. Maybe even more impressive than your Ursaring." She noted with a quirk of her lips.
"Heavy Slam on the ground." Paul ignored the bait.
Turtonator panted heavily but pulled itself to its full height as it called upon a yellow aura and jumped into the air, crashing down directly on the spot it had been standing. More sand kicked up as Turtonator presumably dug deeper and deeper into the sand beneath them.
"Dispel the sand with Psychic again, Slowbro!" Soledad's voice was raised just a little with the command.
Her worries were confirmed when there was merely a giant hole where Turtonator once stood, and she had no idea where it would resurface or what Paul was planning.
"I can't believe I'm about to do this," Paul muttered. "But use Overheat while underground!"
Everyone was caught of guard when the entire ground started to glow orange, then red, then white before it erupted in a giant square of blazing fire, completely enveloping Slowbro and the ground it stood on.
"Surf!" Soledad's eyes were nearly the size of her head as she called for her attack.
The ocean beside them seemed to respond to the sound of her voice rather than Slowbro from inside the fiery vortex as it pulled back just enough to form into a wave a few stories tall, swamping over the whole field and creating a layer of steam so thick it wouldn't have been out of place inside of Mt. Coronet.
The audience they had amassed and chased several meters away looked out with bated breath, while Paul and Soledad stared into the smoke. Neither could see each other through the thick steam, but each stood unmoving.
As the steam cleared, it became clear that both Pokemon were a lot worse off than they had been just a few moments ago. Slowbro laid keeled over, supporting itself on its arms as best it could while Turtonator was only feet away, overturned on its shell and trying not to spazz out to right itself up.
It was nearly over, then.
"Underwater Flare Blitz!" Ash cried out, and Marlon nearly lost his mind in surprise.
The water above Talonflame quickly changed color to a deep red, but it didn't stop there; it quickly moved around over the entire field before, with a loud cry from Talonflame, it all seemed to erupt at once like a volcano. The super-heated water all burst at once, colliding with Carracosta and throwing it off to the side while Talonflame sank to the floor of the now-waterless arena.
Carracosta was roughly thrown into the log pillars supporting Marlon's dock platform and collapsed on the ground, landing on its flippers to pull itself up. It glared up at Talonflame before bursting into flames, surprising Marlon. A Burn?
Could the Flare Blitz really have turned his pool water into a make-shift Scald?
"Talonflame, do you want to rest or finish this up?" Ash asked his regional bird.
The Scorching Pokemon defiantly pushed herself up on her wings while Carracosta tried to do the same while feeling the effects of the burn once more.
"'Kay, then use Heat Wave!" Ash commanded.
As the scorching winds sailed towards Carracosta, Marlon made a snap decision.
"It's time Carracosta, use it! Hyper Explosion!"
Ash watched carefully as Carracosta's body became surrounded in purple, light a Giga Impact or a Hyper Beam before the energy was unleashed outwards like an Explosion attack. The wall of light quickly plowed back against Talonflame's Heat Wave and crashed into her while utterly blinding both trainers for a few seconds.
As the light died down, Ash took a few seconds to reflect on what had happened. Marlon had made up for Carracosta's lack of ability to use attacks like Self-Destruct and Explosion by taking another pair of monstrously powerful attacks like Hyper Beam and Giga Impact and channeling the energy outward in a new way. Alone it could only be as powerful as one could be but learning to stack them together could eventually create an attack strong enough to match that of Explosion.
He couldn't help but be impressed even as he searched worriedly for Talonflame, undoubtedly defeated. Whether or not Carracosta had withstood the attack or not, Ash knew Talonflame was in no condition to continue. Fortunately, the ref made the call before he could look across the field.
"Both Talonflame and Carracosta are unable to battle, this round is declared a draw! As Raidyn Stark has defeated all three of the gym leaders Pokemon with two remaining, Raidyn is the winner!"
Ash smiled widely as he located Talonflame, attempting to stand up. Instead, Ash recalled him to save his strength.
"Thanks a lot, Talonflame, you were amazing out there. I couldn't have asked you to take that attack head-on, but we won anyways! That's thanks to you, ya know? Get some rest." He spoke to his Pokeball while Marlon approached him.
Raichu jumped onto his shoulder as the duo looked Marlon in the eye, both grinning widely.
"Thanks a lot, to you too! That was a ton of fun, Marlon. You really got us at the end there with that improvised Explosion." Ash stuck out his hand, and Marlon couldn't help but grin back.
"What can I say, you brought it out in me. I've been trying to figure that one out for a while, never thought I'd need to use it before the Champion's League came around." Marlon shook Ash's hand. "Thanks for the amazing battle Raidyn. I look forward to a rematch during the League."
"You bet!" Ash said, hands moving to his hips. "I gotta get going now, though, I'm supposed to meet a friend for a phone call soon. Catch ya later!"
Ash sprinted away while Marlon looked out at the damage done to his marine battlefield and sighed. Oh well, he thought, the damages were worth such a thrilling battle. Probably.
"Grass Knot!" Slowbro, from its position on the ground still, let its eyes glow green and summoned two thin, giant leaves by the overturned Turtonator. It knew what Soledad meant, since its opponent was already tripped, and used them to tie Turtonator down to the ground.
"Water Pulse Barrage!"
Slowbro was entirely relying on its psychic abilities now, creating Water Pulse after Water Pulse and keeping them circling above with Psychic, moving them in a large circle until there was a dozen of them. The crowd seemed to really adore the show this put on as Slowbro got ready to have them collide into Turtonator from every angle.
"Explosion." Paul commanded suddenly.
Turtonator's body glowed all white and seemed to give off bits of sparks and steam for just a second before exploding violently. The attack blinded everyone looking and forced them to look away. For the best no doubt, with all the sand kicked up from it again.
The attack was powerful enough to destroy the Grass Knot and every Water Pulse being held together by Slowbro's Psychic, leaving Turtonator unconscious on the field. Paul, though, was focused over on Slowbro's form. It was still, but he could see the tell-tale rainbow barrier of Reflect coating its figure, like Light Screen had before it.
Sure enough, moments later the Hermit Crab Pokemon stirred, and Paul let out a sigh, recalling Turtonator with a quick grunt of thanks.
"I must say, you've impressed me yet again." Soledad said approaching him, having recalled Slowbro. "It's not every day I'm forced to Mega Evolve Slowbro. And to keep up still after that? Forget about it."
"We've still got a lot of work to do." Paul grunted back. "Thanks for the battle." He turned away from her, ready to walk away when a new voice called out to him.
"Hey, Paul!" Great. Just who he needed. He turned to see who other than Ash Ketchum/Raidyn Stark, swooping onto the beach from on top of his mighty Charizard, drawing out even more of a crowd.
"About time." He grunted in response, not bothering to stop and wait before walking towards the Pokemon Center.
Ash quickly dismounted and recalled Charizard, gave a quick wave towards Soledad and the crowd before rushing to follow Paul's lead. No sooner than he passed through the center's doors did it happen.
Paul's phone began to ring.
Yikes, it's really been a while this time, huh?
What can I say except ~my bad~ guys. 2020 and 2021 have really kicked my ass hard, I gave you guys a bit of an update before at the end of last chapter but it's been really hard to get back into Fanfiction and writing in general. But it's not something I want to quit so easily, so I hope there's people out there who will put up with me for a while longer and keep reading my stories!
This is a chapter I've struggled on how to depict for a while now, there was a lot of snags on the way, but I think it came out fairly good. I wanted to show how similar Ash and Paul are because the status quo is gonna be changing soon for this story. After Ash moves on from Unova, we'll see a lot less other perspectives now that some of the world has been established outside of Ash and I can spend some time showcasing Ash's development, his other Pokemon, some of how he's trained to get so strong, more on Giovanni and Flare, and of course, more exciting Gym Battles!
Thanks for sticking around guys, here's what I have to say back to my reviewers.
Lightningblade49: I'll definitely find some way for it to happen again, I find writing double battles so much fun!
Krusader Kris: Thank you! I try my best to be as true to both the anime and the games as I can, which doesn't always come easy since a lot of game-mechanics are impossible to just directly apply to the anime. I'm glad you enjoy my interpretation of how battles and moves would work in a real-world(ish) setting.
BlackPsych: When I tell you that I was BEYOND excited at your review I don't even think that does it justice. I never expected anyone on here to think twice about my name, let alone know what I was referencing. Truly, thank you! I hope things aren't moving too slowly for you though, I'm not sure exactly how many chapters until Ash drops his façade, but he WILL be meeting Cynthia very soon.
Mark Andrew: I feel like I do, I have a much better handle on a path than I did before. I was so young when I wrote a few of these chapters that I admit I'm guilty of just including a lot of ideas I thought sounded cool and fun before I asked myself it they would've fit better elsewhere, but hopefully I think I can manage everything well going forward. And yes, don't forget about Mewtwo! He DID show up in the prologue for a reason.
RagingSceptile: I'm glad you liked the surprise! As I said, I'm a huge fan of double battles so this was super fun to me and something I've been wanting to write for a long time. I'm sorry there wasn't any Gary here, I'll make it up to you soon!
Im Not a Hoe: Thanks so much! I plan to update that story too; it got a lot more hits than I thought it would when I just posted it to help relieve some people's boredom during lockdown. I admit I have a soft spot for Pokeshipping myself, but pairing Ash with a traveling companion wasn't something I wanted to do in a story like this, so thanks for sticking around anyways!
Vital Info: Welcome back! I'm happy to see your review here once again. I'm still working on how to differentiate between Ash and Raidyn considering the emphasis I made that I didn't want to just turn Ash into a dark and edgy OC, I'm glad that it can kind of come through when around familiar people. Thanks for your continued support, I hope you let me know what you think about this one too!
Closing the door once again, guys, this was a fun one! Sorry again about the wait.
I hope the wait won't be as long next time for Chapter 17: Prepare For Trouble, Make it Double!