Pride of Your Soul
Chapter 14: The Difference in Power
AN: I'm alive! I swear I'm not dead!
Yeah...I owe you all one hell of an apology. I mean this time I really have no excuses except for college being a massive dick like always. And then I got distracted by Persona 5, then the Sun and Moon demo, then BlazBlue Central Fiction (I still need to write that one fic about it btw), then the SuMo leaks happened, then college began to be an even bigger dick, and Sun and Moon is gonna release in three days so either everyone's gonna be busy for like a month or two, or this community's gonna get flooded by Sun and Moon fanfics within a week or so. So basically procrastination and writer's block got the best of me.
By the way I'm gonna write a Sun and Moon story myself, but after I finish Fidelity (XY) for, plot reasons.
So yeah, Sun and Moon's gonna be out in like three days, so fucking hype! And don't expect to hear from me for like one to two months. But then again i'm pretty sure you're all used to that by now, hehe...I'm so sorry.
But let bygones be bygones, I finally update this thing right before SuMo releases and takes over my life, so there's a plus.
Okay so 5 months and two chapters previous is enough to generate reviews up the butt, so let's reply to them so I don't have to deal with them in the end:
Pale1357: I mean I guess you can get that vibe.
TheDarkMaster4000: Well I'm glad you liked how I did the Q&A. Yeah poor Nate, but then again, he's kind of an asshole. I am planning on making a story for ORAS, but not now. there's too much stuff on my plate to try and make another story. Fidelity kinda suffered cuz I tried to do too much at once, so I don't want to repeat that. And yeah, Leaf deserves some love.
Oh shit, thanks for the spellcheck. If I hadn't changed it by now, then I'll go fix it.
kanrisha-san: Thanks! Oh Rosa, what are we gonna do with you tho...
xQEAx: Thanks.
BreadNotDead: Okay so I wasn't the only one who experienced that. Thought I was finally going insane. And glad to see that you and a bunch of others like how I designed Dawn.
StoryLover04: No, Dawn doesn't require a sacrifice. Otherwise things would get way more messier than they need to be.
flashyhero: Well actually I do plan to make a story for FRLG and HGSS, but not for a while. Need to finish what I already started first.
Unpropro: Thanks!
Guest (Jun 22): A lot. A lot happened.
Eris: Oh my, that's a lot of errors. Thanks for pointing them out. I'll go fix them assuming they haven't been fixed yet. Yeah I figured I should finally give Rosa some limelight and give her a buff. Also no, giving her an amoonguss wasn't because Whi-Two had one, but purely for a team composition standpoint. Her team centered around bulky attackers, so having a bulky Grass-type like Amoonguss fitted well, especially with the utility it provides. But I guess you can think that though.
Well let's just see how things unfold with our favorite little tyrant and the two fangirls. Oh yeah and Red has a role in here. You'll find out later.
And referring to your latest review, glad you like the Q&A. And it's alright, no worries! And maybe I'll make another Q&A in the future, since everyone seemed to like the first one, so you can ask then!
I M Poik: Oh well I'm sorry, but I'm glad you liked the Q&A at least. No it's not canon, but Dawn kinda reached a level where she can bend the rules in her favor, so make of that what you will. At least Nate and Hugh don't remember anything.
Guest (Jun 24): Unfortunately I'm not too interested in the Pokemon Ranger series, and am too uninformed of the series to try and attempt to write a story about it. Sorry!
ARSLOTHES: I mean it's an option, but let's just see what happens.
BlackKuro23: Lol, yeah you're right.
Guest (Jul 15): Heeey, you spotted something important. And thanks :)
BLACK-BIRD76: Thanks! Glad you like the story! And kudos for noticing a key plot point regarding Schwartzer...don't tell anyone though.
Guest (Aug 27): Yep.
Kirsch: Oh it's no worries. People have been starting to theorize who Schwartzer is anyways, so it's all fun WMG until I reveal it properly in the story. No harm done.
Tg10110: Not dead yet. I'm still kicking, just struggling.
Okay now done with that. Onto the actual content!
"Chandelure, Energy Ball!" Bianca yelled.
Chandelure swiftly avoided the opposing seismitoad's Hydro Pump, before launching an Energy Ball at the toad, blasting it with the Grass-type attack.
"And the seismitoad takes a hefty attack from Bianca's Chandelure!" the announcer commentated. "Can Ace Trainer Ryan pull this one back?!"
The ace trainer grimaced as his seismitoad got back up. Chandelure, meanwhile, floated back to Bianca, giggling mischievously as if to mock him. Ryan thought he had this one in the bag. This 'Bianca' chick, while certainly hot, didn't seem to look like too much of a challenge. She looked ditzy at best. When they both revealed their Pokémon, she had the Fire-type Chandelure, while he revealed his Water/Ground-type Seismitoad. That alone brought him a major advantage. This should've been a relatively easy win.
Or at least it should've, if Seismitoad actually managed to hit the damn thing.
Her chandelure was surprisingly evasive, dodging all of Seismitoad's attacks with ease, before shooting the vibration Pokémon down with a Shadow Ball or an Energy Ball. It was a miracle that Seismitoad was even lasting this long. It was through all of this where Ryan knew that he had sorely underestimated this otherwise seemingly harmless woman. But that wouldn't mean he would give up.
"Seismitoad! We're not done yet! Earth Power!" Ryan yelled.
Seismitoad roared as it summoned several pillars made from the earth, before they all began to converge at Chandelure.
"Overheat!"
Before the Earth Power could converge, Chandelure created a giant fire ball and shot it above himself, blasting through the Ground-type attack with ease. Seismitoad had to brace itself for the resulted explosion and force.
"Damn...!" Ryan muttered as he endured the force as well. "But Overheat greatly reduces the user's special attack...so Chandelure should be much weaker now..."
"Energy Ball!"
From the smoke, an Energy Ball shot straight through it, nailing the Water-type and blasting him off the arena.
"Seismitoad!" Ryan cried, shocked that the Energy Ball still had that much force.
The smoke cleared, where Chandelure floated around. Bianca merely smiled as Ryna glanced over to see that Seismitoad was knocked out.
"And the Energy Ball takes it!" the announcer yelled. "Ace Trainer Ryan's Seismitoad goes down, and Bianca Belle is the winner and will proceed to the quarterfinals!"
"Damn..." Ryan gaped.
"That was a nice battle," Bianca said. "Your seismitoad's pretty well trained."
"Thanks..." Ryan muttered. "How was your chandelure able to hit that hard even after using Overheat? Its Special Attack should've been weakened."
"White Herb," Bianca replied as Chandelure floated next to Bianca. "Chandelure consumed it right after using Overheat."
"Of course...!" Ryan exclaimed. "White Herb restores any stat that's been weakened..."
"Uh huh," Bianca smiled. "Well, I better get going. Don't wanna hold the other battles up. Let's fight again next time!"
Bianca recalled Chandelure and left the arena, before returning to the backroom, where Cheren was waiting for her with a water bottle in hand.
"Nice job out there," Cheren said as he tossed the bottle to her which she caught.
"Thanks," Bianca said as she opened it and drank from the bottle. "So, you're next?"
"Yeah," Cheren nodded as he stretched out his arms. "Finally too. I was getting pretty bored having to wait for everyone else to battle."
"Right, you're the last match of the day, right?" Bianca asked.
"At this rate, I might as well be the last for all the days of this tournament," Cheren sighed. "Alas, that's what happens when you get the last block in the bracket."
"Let's begin the last match of the day!" the announcer said. "Will the next competitors please head to the arena!?"
"Looks like it's time," Cheren said as he prepared to leave.
"Good luck out there, Cheren," Bianca smiled.
"Of course," Cheren smiled back as he headed off.
Unbeknownst to the duo, Schwartzer had been watching them from his own corner with interest. The black-cladded man snorted amusedly, before returning his gaze to the monitor.
"And now, the last battle of the day shall commence!" the announcer boomed. "Will both competitors step up to the arena!?"
At the cue, Cheren, along with his opponent, Clay, stepped up onto the arena, facing against each other.
"Well, well, it's been a while since we could rumble on the arena like this," Clay smirked as he took out a pokéball.
"...Indeed..." Cheren nodded, revealing his own pokéball.
"I do hope ya haven't been slackin' since the last time we fought," Clay said.
"I'll have you know I have been honing my skills ever since I became a gym leader...!" Cheren shot back.
"Trainers, get your Pokémon ready...!
And BEGIN!"
The two gym leaders both released their Pokémon at the same time upon the signal. From Cheren's side, a large blue jellyfish-like Pokémon floated onto the field, while from Clay's side, his excadrill was summoned to fight.
"Oh, well it's been a while since I've seen that feller," Clay said. "Alright, let's see if ya improved since then!"
"Jellicent, Will-o-Wisp!" Cheren swiftly commanded.
Jellicent created several blue wisps of fire and launched them at Excadrill, who narrowly dodged the fires.
"Alrighty then, Drill Run!" Clay yelled.
"Scald!"
Excadrill brought his claws together and shot at Jellicent like a rushing drill, where Jellicent shot scalding water in retaliation. The water hit Excadrill head on, but it wasn't enough to stop the attack, as Excadrill got to drill into the jellyfish. Jellicent was pushed back by the drill, but Excadrill fell to the ground, wincing in pain as he glanced at a burn mark on his arm.
"Tch, already got burned, huh," Clay clicked his teeth. "Excadrill! Show'em some guts! Swords Dance!"
Growling in retaliation against Jellicent, Excadrill summoned several swords that circled around him, before they were all disintegrated and were absorbed by the mole, boosting his attack power.
"Scald while he's setting up!" Cheren yelled.
Jellicent shot scalding water at the incoming Excadrill, but the mole this time dug into the ground to avoid the attack.
"Tch..." Cheren clicked his tongue as Jellicent darted his eyes around, trying to see where Excadrill would emerge. "Recover."
The jellyfish nodded and closed his eyes, allowing his body to heal itself. Fortunately, he was able to heal enough to withstand the incoming Excadrill who shot out from below. Jellicent was able to wrap his tentacles around Excadrill during the exchange, keeping ahold of him.
"Now, Scald!" Cheren yelled.
As Excadrill tried to escape, Jellicent blasted the Ground-type with a zero-range Scald attack, blasting his face with the burning water attack. Once Jellicent was done, he threw Excadrill down to the ground. As Jellicent floated back down, Excadrill struggled to get back up, panting heavily.
"He should be weakened enough now..." Cheren muttered, narrowing his eyes.
"Well now, this ain't good," Clay muttered. "One last shot! We need an opening! Bulldoze!"
"Stop it with Hex!" Cheren yelled.
As Excadrill was about to slam his claws into the ground, Jellicent's eyes glowed a vibrant purple and red and a shadowy aura exerted from him. Excadrill suddenly stopped, as a similar shadowy aura surrounded him. The mole began to gag and choke, falling to the ground in pain and agony.
"Excadrill!" Clay cried.
"And this is checkmate," Cheren said coolly. "Scald!"
Jellicent released the Hex and shot one more Scald at Excadrill, who had no time to recover and got hit by the Water-type attack once more. Unable to withstand all the punishment, Excadrill promptly fainted.
"WOW! What a swift and dominant match!" the announcer yelled. "With that, Cheren Heilian wins the match and will be the last qualifier to the quarterfinals!"
Cheren sighed in relief as Jellicent floated back to his trainer.
"You did well, Jellicent," Cheren congratulated him as he recalled the jellyfish. "Take a nice, long rest."
"Ah dang it," Clay muttered before he went over to Excadrill. "Ya did well out there, ole buddy. Take a rest."
As Clay recalled the mole, Cheren walked up to the fellow gym leader, offering a hand.
"That was good match, Clay," Cheren smiled. "As expected from you."
"Hehe, ya got stronger," Clay smirked, returning the handshake. "That's more like it. I would've been on yer case if ya hadn't improved in the two years you've became a gym leader."
"That would've been bad," Cheren chuckled uneasily.
"But damn, to be knocked out of my own tournament," Clay muttered. "Ah well! It's fine! Being able to see all this new and powerful blood is just as good!"
"And with this, all the second rounds have finished! Here is the bracket for the quarterfinals!
Nate vs Hugh Matis
Ace Trainer Alex vs Colress
Schwartzer vs Bianca Belle
Cheren Heilian vs Veteran Trainer Lloyd
And with that, this concludes Day 1 of the 3rd Driftveil Tournament! Thank you all for coming! Make sure to come back tomorrow, 9 AM sharp, where we'll wrap up the rest of these soon-to-be exciting battles!
Make sure you all stay safe when leaving and have a good night!"
With the first day over and dusk falling, everyone left the building, all headed back to where they were staying for the night. Cheren yawned as he stretched his arms, glancing around until he spotted his blone childhood friend running up to him.
"Cheren!" Bianca called out as she caught up to him.
"Good work," Cheren said. "C'mon, let's go to the hotel we booked for the night."
"Right," Bianca said. "Oh! How bout we go get something to eat first? I heard Driftveil has some REALLY good seafood restaurants!"
"Hm, I don't see why not," Cheren nodded. "I'm feeling famished anyways."
Bianca smiled, blushing slightly, before noticing Nate and the other younger competitors grouped up together. "Hey, isn't that Nate?"
"Hm?" Cheren asked, before noticing them as well. "Yeah it is. Wait, where's Rosa?"
Curious, Cheren and Bianca decided to walk up to them, where they noticed Nate grumpily shoving his Xtransceiver back into his bag.
"Is everything alright?" Cheren asked Nate.
"Ah?" Nate grumbled, glancing to Cheren. "...Rosa disappeared during the middle of the competition."
"What?!" Bianca gasped, where Cheren looked shocked as well. "I-Is she alright?!"
"Yeah, she's fine," Nate replied dryly. "Tch, troublesome woman..."
"You all have a place to stay for the night?" Cheren asked.
"We're crashing with Dragon Girl and Punk Girl," Nate shrugged. "They apparently booked two rooms."
"There's plenty of room anyways," Iris shrugged. "Rosa, Roxie, Yancy and I can crash in one room, and the boys can crash in the other room."
"Sounds like a plan, I suppose," Cheren said. "Well, be careful you all."
Nate grumbled under his breath as he made his leave, with the others following after him. Cheren sighed, before chuckling at the sight of Nate.
"...He's changed," Cheren said. "He's different from the thief that tried to steal food from the Aspertia Academy."
"Yeah," Bianca smiled as well. "It's nice to see that he's making friends. He's starting to resemble Hilbert a lot more now."
"Yeah..." Cheren said, although his smile faltered slightly. "Whether that's a good thing, or a bad thing however...that's still hard to tell..."
In the midst of seeing the kids off, the two veteran trainers failed to notice the man cladded in black take his leave, after having watched the whole debacle.
Rosa nervously glanced to her Xtransceiver to note the time, before looking up to the hotel she was waiting in front of to make sure she was at the right place.
"He said the hotel next to the pokécenter, right?" Rosa mumbled as she glanced to Nina, who stood next to her.
Nina nodded in response, which gave the trainer some relief. She really didn't want to have got the wrong hotel. Who knows what would happen if that were the case.
Fortunately for her, all her worries were dealt with once she saw a rather annoyed Nate approach her with the others.
"I want answers, Bunhead," Nate muttered as he approached her, clearly not in a good mood with her. "So where've you been this whole time?"
"Well, I wanted to get some fresh air, and then things happened..." Rosa mumbled, twiddling her thumbs together.
"Uh huh..." Nate muttered, clearly not amused, before he saw Nina. "...When the fuck did you evolve?"
"-Oh! This nice lady helped us catch an amoonguss, and then she gave Rosa a thingy that made me evolve when I touched it!-" Nina barked happily.
"...Uh huh..." Nate said, before turning back to Rosa. "You were talking to strangers now? I thought you knew better than to take candy from random strangers, they could be degenerates for all you know."
"I didn't take any candy," Rosa rolled her eyes. "You probably got the gist of it from Nina. I ended up catching a new member and evolved her. That's it."
Nate raised an eyebrow at the girl, still somewhat skeptical, but decided to leave it at that. There was no point in bugging her about it any further.
"...So you caught an amoonguss, huh?" Nate asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah!" Rosa replied as she released her new member. "This is Gustav!"
Everyone else gathered around the mushroom, who glanced back at all of them.
"An amoonguss, huh..." Hugh said. "That's interesting. Figured you'd go for something more offensive...I don't know something like a deerling."
"Hmph, well excuse me for wanting something more defensive," Rosa huffed.
"Well it's pretty smart of you," Nate said. "Getting something that's pretty bulky, knows Spore...does this have Regenerator?"
"His hidden ability? Yeah," Rosa confirmed.
"Well then, you have a pretty good tank on your team then," Nate said. "That's actually pretty smart of you. Props to that."
"Eh?" Rosa asked, blushing lightly, before smiling in delight. "Th-thanks..."
"Wow, that's pretty cool," Yancy commented, kneeling down to pet Gustav.
Gustav blushed slightly, somewhat embarrassed, but clearly enjoying the attention he was getting. Rosa's smile instantly fell upon the sight.
"We should head into the hotel," Rosa said bluntly, recalling Gustav abruptly.
"Eh...?" Yancy blurted, surprised at Rosa suddenly recalling Gustav so suddenly, before said bunhead headed into the hotel first.
"What's with her?" Roxie asked.
"Wait up! You don't know where the rooms are!" Iris panicked as she gave chase after her.
As Roxie followed Iris in, Nate and Hugh glanced at each other.
"...You got any idea?" Nate asked, questioning Rosa's sudden change in tone.
"...Dunno," Hugh muttered, shaking his head. "...She has been acting strange lately though..."
"Uh...did I do something...?" Yancy asked timidly.
"I don't think so," Nate said. "...Eh, don't worry about it. I'm sure it'll blow over."
"I hope so..." Yancy mumbled, since she was sharing a room with Rosa.
"C'mon, let's go in and get something to eat," Nate said. "I'm starving."
"After doing nothing and eating all those burgers and fries after your round?" Hugh asked amusingly.
"Hey, that was lunch," Nate shot back. "I need actual dinner. And this is probably one of the few times dinner isn't a fucking sandwich or fried basculin. Aah, rich people food..."
"You eat that way too much dude," Hugh muttered as they walked into the hotel.
"Hey, it tastes good," Nate defended his appetite. "That, berries and stolen food got me through 10 years."
As the two boys chatted with each other, Yancy followed behind Nate, still worried about Rosa.
"OOOH AN ACTUAL BED," Nate moaned ecstatically as he let himself crash onto one of the beds in the hotel room. "AAAH my body feels better already."
"Y'know, you could've always used one of the beds whenever we stopped at a center," Hugh pointed out as he placed his belongings next to the other bed.
"There's only two and you and Bunhead keep taking them," Nate retorted. "Besides those are cheap. This is what you call a true bed."
"Your standards are pretty low, not gonna lie."
"Can it, City Boy."
Hugh shook his head as he examined his team in preparation for tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
He had to fight Nate for tomorrow's first quarterfinals match. Now that he thought about it, he never battled Nate yet before. Well if you count that one time Vibrava fought Luca just to help him improve on close quarters combat, but that didn't really count, considering Luca was holding back. Other than that, he never properly fought Nate. It did not help that Nate never spars with him or Rosa, usually going to himself and having his own Pokémon spar each other. Hugh only had what limited information there was solely from observing Nate's team.
His team was extremely diverse (if you ignored the fact that he had three Fighting-types), suitable for any kind of opponent and generally had the answer to any kind of situation. In regards to the members themselves, they generally tend to be very aggressive in nature; always making the first move and always the one attacking. Playing aggressively against them would only lead to them forcing you onto their pace, while playing defensively will only lead to them ruthlessly attacking away at you, either breaking your defenses brutally or forcing you to go on the offense.
While Nite and Buzz were two Hugh knew quite well and was confident enough that they can be dealt with, Brav, and especially Luca were two that he feared would be the end of him. Both are veterans that share the closest bonds with Nate, meaning that they knew how he thought, so between the braviary and the lucario, Nate could pull off some outright treacherous feats. Their match against that one rich boy was proof enough. And Hugh didn't even know what to expect from Deo and Zoro; the former a mythical Pokémon and the latter a former Team Plasma member.
"What's wrong with you?" Nate asked Hugh, snapping him out of his train of thought. The blunette looked at Nate, who snickered at him. "What? Coming up with some surefire way to beat me tomorrow?"
"Can't help it, considering you're my opponent," Hugh muttered.
"Hm...I guess," Nate shrugged. "Well, don't worry about it for now."
Hugh sometimes envied Nate. The trainer could be so damn lax whenever he can, while Hugh himself was fretting over what to do against him and how to prepare against him. He didn't have to worry about the battle tomorrow.
"Y'know, we've never actually properly battled before, have we?" Nate asked Hugh.
"Huh? Well yeah," Hugh replied.
"Then I guess there's something to look forward to then," Nate smirked. "Knowing you, you'd definitely put up a good fight."
Hugh glanced at Nate, somewhat surprised that the boy actually considered him a worthy adversary. While touching, this meant that Hugh needed to give it his all. It was the least he could do considering how much Nate did for him.
...At this point, it wouldn't matter too much what Hugh planned out. Nate would surely adapt to it and counter it in his own way. Hugh needed to see that coming and adapt to it himself.
"...Right," Hugh replied, feeling more at ease than before. "...I'm gonna go get a drink. You want anything?"
"Oh! Whatever that brown syrup-like stuff was, get me that!" Nate replied rather enthusiastically.
"Cola? Sure," Hugh chuckled as he left the room.
Once the boy was alone, Nate found himself deep in thought as he blankly stared at the white ceiling.
"Tomorrow...huh..." Nate muttered to himself, contemplating on the possibilities that could happen tomorrow.
"Tomorrow...huh..." Yancy mumbled in the hotel room she was in right now.
"What's up with you?" Roxie asked. "You thinking about your crush of yours?"
"Huh?! No!" Yancy blurted startled by Roxie appearing behind her. "...Wait...what do you mean...?"
"You know who I'm talking about," Roxie said with an exasperated look. "Nate."
Yancy's face instantly blushed, as Roxie smirked at her friend.
"What? You have a crush on Nate?" Iris asked from behind Roxie.
"I-I-Well..." Yancy stuttered.
"Oh please it's so obvious, only a brick wouldn't be able to see it," Roxie scoffed. "You've been love-struck since day one."
Yancy mumbled under her breath as she hid her flushed expression under her hat as Roxie continued to tease her about it. Rosa, on the other hand, ignored their shenanigans with a scowl as she was examining her team.
"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm looking for someone. My sister. She ran away from home, and I'm kinda looking for her. Our dad's really angry and worried that she left, and so am I, so I was wondering if you do manage to find her, you could let me know."
"As for descriptions...well, whenever she goes out, she's usually wearing a white and hot pink panama, white short-sleeved shirt over blue long-sleeved shirt, blue skirt...so I would assume she wore that when she ran away. She has light pink hair and blue eyes. Oh, and her name's Yancy."
The bunhead girl recalled Curtis telling her that a few hours ago. Yancy was his sister that ran away from home. That would explain why Yancy was so desperate to join up with them back at Nimbasa. But why though? What reason did she have to run away with them?
...She needed to know.
"Hey, can I talk to you?" Rosa asked Yancy as she walked up to her. "In private?"
"Huh? O-Okay..." Yancy mumbled as Rosa led her out of the room.
"Huh? What do you think is up with them?" Iris asked Roxie.
"Hell if I knew," Roxie shrugged.
Outside of the room, Rosa led Yancy to the vending machines, a good distance away from the room.
"Alright, there shouldn't be any problem with eavesdropping now..." Rosa muttered.
"Uh...is...everything alright?" Yancy asked.
Rosa glanced back at Yancy, before crossing her arms.
"I met Curtis today," Rosa said, earning a shocked look from the pinkette.
"Eh..." Yancy blurted.
"He said he was looking for his sister who ran away from home," Rosa continued, eyeing Yancy suspiciously. "He also said that Yancy isn't exactly a common name."
Yancy didn't respond, opting to glance away from Rosa's harsh glare instead out of shame and fear.
"Look, I'm not trying to scare you or anything like that," Rosa said. "I just want to know why you ran away from home."
"Well...uh..." Yancy mumbled uncomfortably. "I don't really feel comfortable talking about it..."
'Considering it'll blow my cover, then it's probably not the best idea,' Yancy thought.
Of course, Rosa didn't know that, so she assumed the pinkette simply wished to not talk about it.
"...Well, fine I guess," Rosa muttered. "If you have your reasons, then...fine...sorry about that."
"I-It's alright," Yancy tried to say, but she couldn't help but say it uncomfortably.
"I won't pry it out of you if you don't wanna talk about it," Rosa sighed.
"O-Okay...thanks..." Yancy said uncomfortably. "C-C'mon, let's head back..."
"Right," Rosa muttered as Yancy went on ahead. Once the girl was out of earshot, Rosa slammed her fist against the wall in frustration. "Damn it!"
The bunhead growled in frustration as she leered at the door to their room.
"...This isn't over," Rosa grumbled.
Meanwhile Yancy rushed past Roxie and Iris, scavenging for her Xtransceiver.
"Yancy? Is everything alright?" Roxie asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah everything's alright," Yancy told Roxie. "Don't worry about it..."
Roxie didn't look exactly convinced, but she let it go for now, leaving Yancy to herself as she found her Xtransceiver. She scrolled through the contacts list, before spotting 'Curtis' on it.
"Curtis..." Yancy muttered under her breath. "So...does that mean Dad cares...or...?"
Yancy sighed before she put the thing away.
"What do I do...?" Yancy mumbled to herself helplessly. "I don't want to go back there, but..."
As Yancy looked conflicted, she failed to notice Roxie giving her an examining gaze, almost leer.
The next day came, and the Driftveil Pokémon World Tournament stadium was roaring with life once more.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to the 3rd Driftveil Tournament!" the announcer boombed amidst the roaring audience. "Now let's start with our quarterfinals! Remember, from here on out, the remainder of the matches will be 3 on 3 battles. The competitors can choose three Pokémon from their current party. Whoever has all three of their Pokémon knocked out will lose. Will the first two trainers step up to the field?!"
Upon the calling, Hugh and Nate emerged from the opposing sides of the arena, stepping up onto the field opposite of each other.
"From the blue side, overcoming type disadvantages left and right and never giving up! We have the up-and-coming young tactical genius, Hugh Matis!"
"The hell..." Hugh muttered, embarrassed by his title call as the audience applauded loudly. "Well this is what I get for beating type disadvantages I suppose..."
"And from the red side, making an EXPLOSIVE name for himself from the get-go! Perhaps the most brutal of the competitors here, we have the Mad Dog of the Tournament, Nate!"
"Yeah...that sounds about right," Nate nodded as the crowd cheered for him, albeit there was a detectable amount of fear within the cheers. "As much as I care for at least."
The boy glanced over to Hugh, before smirking and tossing up a pokéball in his hand.
"Now then," Nate grinned. "We've been traveling together for a month now...You should've gotten at least strong enough to keep up with me."
"I guess we'll have to find out, huh," Hugh managed to smirk.
"Keh! That's more like it!" Nate flashed a feral smirk. "Come at me, Hugh!"
"You don't have to tell me twice, Nate!" Hugh declared.
"This outta be a match to remember!" the announcer boomed.
"Trainers, get your Pokémon ready...!
And BEGIN!"
Both sides released their Pokémon, with Nite coming out from Nate's side, and Tirtouga came out from Hugh's side.
"...Well at least the type matchup is even," Hugh said.
"-ALRIGHT! Let's do this!-" Nite roared.
"-Someone's fired up,-" Tirtouga deadpanned.
"Aqua Jet!" Hugh yelled out, making the first move.
"Dodge and retaliate with Focus Blast!" Nate yelled.
Tirtouga surrounded himself with water, before shooting at Nite like a bullet of water. Nite was able to dodge the attack, before creating an orb of energy and shooting it at the turtle. The orb managed to hit Tirtouga, breaking him out of the Aqua Jet.
"-Agh!-" Tirtouga grunted as he fell to the ground.
"Tirtouga!" Hugh yelled. "...When did Nite learn Focus Blast...?"
"Flamethrower!"
Nite didn't relent, spewing a stream of intense flames from his nose at Tirtouge, who had to recede into his shell to avoid taking damage.
"He learned Flamethrower too?" Hugh commented. "...Looks like Nate decided to make a last-minute moveset change...spin around and use Brine from the shell!"
Tirtouga did as commanded, and began to spin rapidly from the safety of his shell, shooting out salty water from all holes. Nite immediately stopped attacking, before jumping back to avoid the Brine attack.
"Now, Stone Edge!"
Tirtouga stopped the Brine attack, before emerging from his shell and summoning several jagged rocks around him and shooting them at Nite.
"Focus Blast!" Nate yelled.
Nite stepped back and shot a Focus Blast at the incoming Stone Edge. The two attacks collided, causing smoke to cover a part of the field, covering the fire pig.
"-Tch!-" the turtle clicked his tongue as he tried to spot Nite.
"What's he gonna do now...?" Hugh asked himself. "Nate clearly changed his moveset..."
When the smoke cleared, to their shock, Nite was gone, but a hole was clearly visible where the Fire-type once stood.
"Oh my! It would appear that Pignite used the smoke as cover to set up its next move!" the announcer gasped.
"Dig?!" Hugh gasped. "But...Nite shouldn't be able to learn that..."
"Shouldn't you be focusing on the battle in front of you?!" Nate yelled, catching Hugh's attention.
Before Tirtouga could react, Nite shot out from right under him, nailing a mean uppercut from right under Tirtouga's head.
"-Ggh?!-" Tirtouga gritted as he tried to withstand the blow.
Tirtouga landed back onto the field, more worn out, while Nite landed back on his feet, sporting a rather vicious smirk.
"Nate's Pignite is on a rampage!" the announcer yelled.
"The hell's going on...?" Hugh muttered. "Pignite shouldn't be able to learn Dig...but then..."
Hugh shot a glare at Nite, who was currently snickering at him. Hugh then noted the feral smirk Nite had. While the Fire-type was rather boisterous and excited, he never sported a smirk that seemed so malevolent. Nite seemed to be acting differently too; usually he would constantly try to close the gap between him and his opponent and duke it out. Even with the apparently new moveset, it was as if Nite completely dropped all sense of physical combat for ranged combat, which was uncharacteristic for him.
It was almost as if Nite was acting like a different Pokémon completely.
"Wait...don't tell me–!" Hugh gasped, making a huge realization.
"You're too slow!" Nate yelled as Nite charged for Tirtouga; a dark orb created between his two front hooves while a crimson aura was surging around him.
Tirtouga reacted quickly and shot a Brine at Nite. The Fire-type took the Water-type attack without flinching, before slamming the orb of darkness in front of Tirtouga, releasing a huge crimson aura that engulfed Tirtouga, blinding Hugh from the sight. The blue-haired boy had to cover his face to withstand the force of the attack. Once the aura cleared up, Tirtouga was found knocked out, while in place of Nite was now Zoro instead.
"What's this?! It would appear that Nate's Pignite was in fact a zoroark in disguise!" the announcer gasped.
"...No wonder 'Nite' could use Dig..." Hugh muttered. "You hadn't changed his moveset at all. It was just Zoro disguised as Nite using his 'Illusions' ability."
"Now what'cha gonna do?" Nate asked as Zoro sniggered at Hugh.
Clicking his tongue, Hugh sent out Heracross, hoping for a comeback. Zoro narrowed his eyes a little, but took a fighting stance regardless.
"Flamethrower!" Nate immediately yelled.
"Megahorn!"
Zoro spewed a Flamethrower at Heracross, who flew above it and charged at Zoro; horn poised to strike him down. The fox ducked underneath, letting Heracross fly above him, but the beetle fighter quickly turned back and charged at Zoro. Hastily, Zoro dug back into the ground to avoid the pursuit.
"Into the hole and drag him out!" Hugh yelled.
"Oh no..." Nate muttered.
Heracross nodded and made a nosedive for the hole, crashing into it.
"What's this?!" the announcer gasped.
The ground began to rumble slightly, before the tremor became more violent. Heracross then suddenly shot out from the arena, dragging Zoro out with him, who had the full brunt of the attack jabbed into his gut.
"-GAH?!-" Zoro gagged.
"Flamethrower!"
Zoro managed to grab Heracross, before shooting a Flamethrower directly at him, covering the beetle in intense flames. Heracross cried in pain, before hastily flinging Zoro back onto the ground, before falling down himself. Heracross managed to get back up, albeit heavily burned from the attack, while Zoro laid in front of him, unable to battle.
"What a dynamic chain of events!" the announcer exclaimed. "Hugh's Heracross went for a bold move to drag Nate's Zoroark out, but didn't go out without a fight!"
"Eh, figured that would happen," Nate said as he recalled Zoro. "Nice job, Zoro. Now then..."
Nate immediately swapped out Zoro for the real Nite, who immediately charged for Heracross.
"And here's the real one..." Hugh muttered. "Brick Break!"
"Flame Charge!"
Heracross lunged at Nite to smash his head, but the Fire-type zip around and tackled Heracross while being ignited on fire. Heracross cringed in pain as Nite knocked him down, while Nite jumped back to safety.
"Damn it, Rock Tomb!"
"Rock Smash into Flame Charge!"
Heracross slammed his claw into the ground, where several boulders shot out from the ground and rained down upon Nite. In response, Nite smashed through the rocks, before jumping back into the air.
"Stop him!" Hugh hastily cried.
Heracross quickly charged into the air to intercept Nite, but the pig was already descending upon him as a burning fireball. Heracross tried to stop him by charging at him, but the pig managed to shift himself above the horn, before ramming into Heracross, sending both him and the beetle into the ground, smashing Heracross against it. Nite got up, while Heracross was knocked out, unable to withstand the Fire-type attacks anymore.
"And as quickly as Heracross took out Zoroark, Pignite avenged his fallen comrade and swiftly took out Heracross!" the announcer yelled. "This is looking to be a speedy battle! Can Trainer Hugh make a comeback?!"
Hugh gritted his teeth. He fell right into Nate's plan. The trainer lured Hugh into a bad position using Zoro's Illusions to fool him into thinking Hugh had the matchup, and then proceeded to answer accordingly as the blunette was forced to try and bring himself back into a good position. Nate had grabbed the momentum right before the first move, and by the time Hugh realized it, Nate was already a step ahead of him.
'Damn it! I need to get the momentum back on my side no matter what!' Hugh thought as he released Flygon; the dragon roaring as he rose into the air.
"And from Hugh's side, Flygon will be his last Pokémon!" the announcer declared. "Will it be enough to turn this match around?!"
"Oh...?" Nate smirked as Nite pounded his hooves aggressively.
"Stone Edge!"
"In the air!" Nate yelled.
Flygon summoned several sharp rocks before shooting them at Nite, but the pig jumped into the air, avoiding the rocks altogether. Nite then bulleted towards Flygon and tackled him, but Flygon was able to grab him before Nite could do anything.
"Dragon Claw!"
Flygon hurled Nite back into the air, before flying after him with azure claws. Nite tried to meet it with Rock Smash, but Flygon was too fast, and was able to nail Nite in the gut with Dragon Claw. Nite gagged as Flygon hurled Nite back to the ground.
"Before he can do anything else, Bulldoze to finish him off!" Hugh yelled.
"Tch! Rock Tomb!" Nate growled.
Flygon nosedived to the arena, while Nite struggled to get back up. Right as Flygon got back and was about to slam his tail onto the arena once more, Nite hastily punched the ground, summoning boulders from it and shooting them at Flygon. The boulders hit Flygon, but it wasn't enough to stop him from using Bulldoze, causing another earthquake on the arena and catching Nite in it. Once the tremor died down, Nite fell on his face, unconscious from the attack.
"And Pignite is down!" the announcer yelled. "What will Trainer Nate do now in response!? Will Hugh be able to bring this match back or does Nate have an answer to stop Hugh's chance at a comeback?!"
"Let's see now..." Nate mused as he recalled Nite. "Good job."
As Nate decided on what Pokémon to go with next, Hugh was tense. The fact that Nate doesn't seem to be fazed by the turn of events must mean that he does have an answer to Flygon, which honestly doesn't surprise him. Would he go Brav to match Flygon in an aerial battle? Or would he just go Luca to finish the battle? Flygon was the best answer to either of them, anyways, so Hugh could only that it was one of them, which were the more logical choices in this matchup.
Nate glanced at Hugh, before smirking and tossing another pokéball into the air. Out from it, Deo appeared onto the field, landing on the ground and glaring at Flygon.
"What is this!?" the announcer gasped. "Nate has revealed the mythical Pokémon Keldeo as his last fighter!"
'He chose now to use Deo?' Hugh thought. "Be careful, Deo's a strong opponent. Fly back and see what he does."
Flygon nodded as he flew back to create distance between them and then proceeded to see what Deo does. To Flygon's confusion, Deo simply glared at Flygon as the dragon flew around.
"Oh? It would seem that Keldeo isn't making a move," the announcer said. "Could this be some kind of plan?"
"Wait, why won't he...?" Hugh asked. He thought that Deo would at least shoot a Hydro Pump or Scald by now.
Hugh glanced at the horse with a confused look, but then noticed Nate's trademark malevolent smirk and confident gaze. The boy didn't look troubled at all. As if, he was comfortable and confident in this match.
Wait. Flygon's moveset was Bulldoze, Dragon Claw, Stone Edge and Flamethrower.
Stone Edge and Flamethrower would do nothing to the Water/Fighting-type. So either Bulldoze and Dragon Claw would be the right choice. But then Flygon would have to get close–.
Hugh widened his eyes. So that was Nate's game. Force Flygon to come in close and challenge him to close quarters. A matchup that Deo is much more proficient at than Flygon. If Flygon tried to fight Deo up close, then Deo would gain the upper hand.
"...Damn it...I have no other choice..." Hugh muttered. "Dragon Claw!"
Flygon nodded, before descending back to the ground and charging at Deo with azure claws ready to strike.
"Sacred Sword!"
Deo's horn turned into a large blade of light and parried off all of Flygon's Dragon Claws with ease, before striking at him with his sword several times. Deo slammed the Sacred Sword across Flygon's chest, sending him flying into the wall.
"FLYGON!" Hugh cried out.
Flygon threw up a little as he fell out of the wall, glaring at Deo, who simply glared back unfazed.
"Damn it..." Hugh muttered. "Try Bulldoze!"
"Stop him!" Nate ordered.
Flygon tried to slam his tail to the ground to cause a tremor, but Deo immediately rushed up to Flygon and jabbed his sword at Flygon, stopping him from the attack, before flinging Flygon into the air.
"Hydro Pump!"
Deo jumped after Flygon before the dragon could recover and slammed his hooves onto him, before shooting violent torrents of water at Flygon. Flygon slammed onto the ground, before the Hydro Pump blasted him further. Once the torrents ended, Deo landed back onto the field, while Flygon was completely drenched and knocked out, unable to battle any further.
"AAND IT'S OVER!" the announcer declared. "After an intense and close battle, Nate takes it over Hugh! He will be moving onto the semifinals!"
The crowd roared out in approval as the battle ended. Hugh sighed as he went over to Flygon and knelt down to comfort the dragon.
"...Looks like that's it," Hugh sighed. "You did well, Flygon. We still got a lot of work cut out for us."
Flygon nodded, smiling weakly as Hugh recalled Flygon.
"Yo," Nate said as he went over to them. "Good battle."
"Nate..." Hugh said.
"You did better than I thought, not gonna lie," Nate said, before turning to Deo. "Yo good shit, Deo."
"-It was nothing,-" Deo shrugged.
Nate nodded as he recalled Deo, before turning to Hugh.
"Yeah, you're strong," Nate said. "You were pretty close in taking the battle back. If Flygon hadn't gotten hit by Rock Tomb, then it could've kept up with Deo."
"...So that's why you had Nite shoot it at Flygon last minute," Hugh said, remembering Nite's last attack before Flygon finished him off. "To lower Flygon's speed and make him more manageable."
"Pretty much," Nate said, before extending his hand to him. "Alright then, let's get out of here."
Hugh glanced at the hand with a somewhat surprised look, before smirking and accepting it, letting Nate help him stand back up.
"And what a great act of sportsmanship from Trainer Nate!" the announcer exclaimed. "Let's give a round of applause for these two!"
The crowd did just that and applauded for the two trainers as they headed back to the backroom. Everyone else was there to greet them back.
"Welcome back," Yancy said happily.
"Yo," Nate said. "So who's next?"
"Colress," Roxie told Nate. "He's up against some ace trainer, I don't really care. And then it's Bianca versus that Schwartzer guy, and Cheren."
"Colress..." Nate muttered as he glanced to the screen. "...Oh you better win...we still have a score to settle..."
"Nate...?" Yancy asked, looking a little concerned.
"Huh? Ah, don't worry about it," Nate assured the idol. "Just a little rivalry is all."
"If you say so..." Yancy mumbled.
As Nate snickered at Yancy, the boy didn't notice Rosa directing a disapproving glare at the duo.
"What's up with you?" Hugh asked, noticing Rosa glaring.
"...Nothing," Rosa muttered.
Nate noticed this time, glancing over to Rosa and Hugh.
"You alright?" Nate asked Rosa.
"Huh?! No I'm fine..." Rosa stuttered as her cheeks became somewhat red.
"You sure?" Nate asked, somewhat concerned. "You still thinking about what happened yesterday?"
"I'm fine, you idiot," Rosa grumbled, hiding her red cheeks.
"If you say so," Nate muttered. "Yo Hugh, let's go heal our mons."
"You're not gonna watch Colress's battle?" Hugh asked as he noted how the announcer was calling for Colress and his opponent.
"There's no way he's gonna lose," Nate said as he headed out the room. "I'll look over the match later."
Hugh shrugged, but nodded regardless before following Nate out of the room.
"Uh...Rosa, are you alright?" Yancy asked Rosa.
Rosa leered at Yancy, before muttering 'I'm fine', and then walking away. Yancy looked a bit disheartened, but Roxie watched the exchange with a narrowed gaze.
"So that's it, huh..." Roxie mumbled to herself.
By the time Nate and Hugh got back, they looked at the screen to see that Colress was already taking on his opponent's last Pokémon. Magnezone effortlessly deflected the Dark Pulse aimed at it from the opposing liepard, before blasting the leopard down with a Thunderbolt, instantly frying the feline down and rendering it unable to battle.
"AAAAND THAT TAKES IT!" the announcer yelled. "Colress delivers a clean and swift sweep with his magnezone alone, and will be moving onto the semifinals!"
"Told you," Nate said. "And from the looks of it, there wasn't anything to look into. He just swept with his magnezone."
Hugh simply sighed, before checking the tournament bracket.
"Huh, the next match is Bianca against that Schwartzer guy," Hugh noted.
Nate perked up at the mention of the next match as he looked up to the screen. Already, they were preparing for the next battle as the contestants for the next battle were already heading up to the stage.
"Oh, it would seem that I made it in time," Colress said as he entered the room.
"Damn it, why couldn't you use anything else other than Magnezone?" Nate grumbled.
"Because my opponent was too weak to warrant a switch," Colress shrugged in response.
"Savage..." Roxie muttered.
"Now then! The third semi-finals match will begin!" the announcer declared.
"From the blue side, she she may look adorable to many, but she packs a mean punch in her battling! The ace trainer cutie from Nuvema, we have Bianca Belle!"
The crowd erupted into cheers and was notably louder and more enthusiastic than during Hugh's and Nate's intros as Bianca stepped up to the stage, blushing slightly from embarrassment.
"Who writes these intros again?" Nate asked.
"Hell if I knew," Hugh shrugged.
"And from the red side, perhaps the most dominant combatant so far! Sweeping the competition with just his haxorus, we have the black knight of the tournament, Schwartzer!"
From the opposite side, the black-cladded man stepped up onto the field as the crowd roared in cheers (not as loud as Bianca's notably), looking imposing compared to the blonde trainer.
"And here's the big one," Rosa muttered as she stepped up to look at the screen.
"The hell were you doing?" Nate asked.
"Nothing..." Rosa mumbled, her cheeks still red.
Nate arched his eyebrow in confusion as Yancy timidly walked up next to him. Rosa instantly glared at the pinkette, making her falter slightly.
"...You two get into a fight or something?" Nate asked the two girls.
"N-No, it's nothing to worry about," Yancy mumbled.
"Yeah, nothing..." Rosa muttered.
Nate narrowed his eyes at them, but decided to leave it be for now, before turning to the watch the battle.
"I'd never thought I'd run into you in bracket," Bianca said as she readied her Pokémon. "Kinda nervous."
"From the look of that smile on your face, I'd assume the opposite," Schwartzer said, noting the smile that was indeed on her face.
"Teehee, I guess I'm also excited to be able to fight someone as strong as you," Bianca giggled. "It's not everyday such a chance happens. Your shiny haxorus also intrigues me too."
"I see then," Schwartzer chuckled. "Then I better meet your expectations."
"Trainers, get your Pokémon ready...!
And BEGIN!"
Both trainers revealed their Pokémon; Bianca with a mienshao, while Schwartzer goes with his shiny haxorus.
"Dragon Dance," Schwartzer immediately commanded.
"While he's setting up, Aura Sphere!" Bianca yelled.
As Haxorus began to pace in a circling motion, Mienshao immediately shot a blue orb at him, blasting the dragon in the face. Shiny Haxorus, meanwhile, didn't seemed fazed by it, and finished his dance, boosting his attack and speed.
"Drain Punch!" Bianca yelled, unfaltering.
"Dual Chop," Schwartzer reacted.
Mienshao lunged for Shiny Haxorus, while the twin blades of Shiny Haxorus turned into blue scythe-like blades. Mienshao shot his fist at Shiny Haxorus, but the dragon met it with one of his blades, parrying the punch and then striking Mienshao with the other blade, slashing his face in return. As Mienshao jumped back in response, Shiny Haxorus lunged straight for Mienshao, before kicking Mienshao straight in the gut.
"-Guah!-" Mienshao gagged as Shiny Haxorus kicked him straight into the wall behind his trainer.
"Mienshao!" Bianca cried out.
"Swords Dance."
Not even wasting a moment, Schwartzer already made his next move, as Shiny Haxorus sclosed his eyes to summon several swords to surround him. As Mienshao got back up, the swords dissipated one by one into red mist that flowed into Shiny Haxorus to power him up.
"Rock Smash."
"Kh! Hidden Power!"
As Haxorus ran up to Mienshao, the ermine quickly released a wave of energy at the dragon, blasting him with it. Shiny Haxorus actually flinched from the attack, but nonetheless powered through and slammed his tail into Mienshao's gut, knocking him out.
"And Mienshao is down! Schwartzer's Haxorus once again shows a dominant performance!" the announcer boomed.
"Hidden Power...and it actually affected Haxorus..." Schwartzer muttered. "Ice...?"
"You did well, Mienshao," Bianca comforted him as she recalled him back to his pokéball. "Take a nice rest."
Bianca put away Mienshao's pokéball and took out another one, replacing Mienshao with Stoutland.
"And Bianca's second Pokémon will be Stoutland!" the announcer declared.
"Intimidate, huh..." Schwartzer mused, noticing how Shiny Haxorus slightly shuddered while Stoutland made a rather intimidating face.
"Ice Fang!"
Stoutland pounced at Shiny Haxorus, his fangs coated in a sheet of ice in the process. Shiny Haxorus simply jumped back, letting Stouland land on the spot where he previously was.
"Rock Smash."
Shiny Haxorus swung his tail at Stouland, who caught it with the Ice Fang. Shiny Haxorus growled in pain as Stoutland sunk his fangs into the tail, slowly freezing it.
"Interesting..." Schwartzer muttered. "Slam him onto the ground!"
Shiny Haxorus managed to withstand the pain, before flinging Stoutland up and smashing him onto the floor while the dog was hanging onto his tail. Stoutland ended up letting go of Shiny Haxorus's tail, which allowed the dragon to kick him away, making distance.
"Swords Dance!"
As Stoutland winced in pain, Shiny Haxorus summoned another set of swords to power him up.
"Stop him! Return!"
Stoutland growled and charged at Shiny Haxorus as he finished his dance. The dog crashed into Shiny Haxorus, pushing him a fair distance, but Shiny Haxorus was able to withstand it. Shiny Haxorus growled, before smashing his head into Stoutland, slamming him into the ground hard enough to make a small crater. The head-butt was enough to take out Stoutland, who laid on the ground unconscious.
"And what a brutal way to take out another one of Bianca's Pokémon!" the announcer gasped. "Schwartzer's Haxorus has taken out two out of three of Bianca's Pokémon! Can her last Pokémon save her in such a tight spot, or will Haxorus go for the clean sweep!?"
"His attack must be really high after all those boosts...well, it's my fault for letting it happen," Bianca muttered as she recalled Stoutland. "Thanks Stoutland. You deserve a good rest."
Bianca took out another pokéball, before releasing a bulky, bipedal boar-like Pokémon with burning flames covering the front of its neck and shoulders.
"And Bianca's final Pokémon is Emboar!" the announcer yelled. "Can this fighting expert be the key to save Bianca?!"
"Let's find out then," Schwartzer said. "Dual Chop!"
"Meet it with Hammer Arm!" Bianca yelled.
Shiny Haxorus brandished his two blue scythe blades and charged at Emboar, immediately braced himself for the attack and met the blades with his arms. The boar tried to push Shiny Haxorus back, but the dragon had become far too strong to lose to him. Emboar refused to give in, however, and kept pushing forward to stop the dragon.
"Even with all the attack boosts, he's able to keep Haxorus in a standstill..." Schwartzer commented. "...Not bad. But..."
Shiny Haxorus glared at Emboar, before growling and stomped the ground for footing. Shiny Haxorus then proceeded to fling his head up, pushing Emboar away.
"Not good enough..."
Shiny Haxorus then proceeded to lift Emboar with his head, before hurling him into the air. Before Emboar could react, Shiny Haxorus had already jumped towards him.
"Hammer Arm!"
As Shiny Haxorus got above Emboar, he swung his tail downwards onto the Fire-type, but Emboar was able to smash his fist into the dragon's face, before the dragon slammed Emboar down to the ground. Shiny Haxorus landed on the ground, as the smoke cleared to reveal Emboar, unconscious on the field. Shiny Haxorus snorted, before proceeding to fall onto one of his knees panting.
"AAAAND IT'S OVER! After a brutal sweep, Haxorus takes it!" the announcer yelled. "Schwartzer will be moving onto the semifinals!"
As the crowd applauded, Schwartzer walked over to Shiny Haxorus.
"Nice job," Schwartzer congratulated his partner. "That was pretty close."
Shiny Haxorus nodded as his trainer recalled him to his pokéball. Schwartzer then walked up to Bianca, who was tending to Emboar.
"You did great out there," Bianca comforted her starter. "Take a nice rest."
Emboar managed to crack a smile, before Bianca recalled him into his pokéball. The black-cladded man extended a hand to Bianca.
"That was a good battle," Schwartzer complimented. "You almost managed to faint Haxorus there."
"I guess..." Bianca giggled before accepting the hand. "Although I shouldn't have let him set up like that."
"Still, it was a good battle nonetheless," Schwartzer said. "You were the closest to have beaten Haxorus. Had Emboar landed one more hit..."
"He would've fainted," Bianca finished. "...But then he'd have to face the rest of your party."
"At the very least you beat Haxorus," Schwartzer shrugged. "But still, good game. You are indeed strong."
"Thanks," Bianca smiled. "You're really strong too. I hope we can battle again."
"I do hope so too," Schwartzer nodded. "Now then. We should probably leave so that they can get the rest of the matches going."
"Right," Bianca agreed. "Cheren outta be starting to get a bit impatient."
The girl bowed to Schwartzer out of respect, before heading back to the entrance from her side. Schwartzer, nodding, turned around to leave the arena from his side.
"...You've grown strong ever since then...Bianca..." Schwartzer muttered as he left.
"Stone Edge," Cheren commanded, as Gigalith shot more jagged rocks at the opposing bouffalant.
Sometime after Bianca's match with Schwartzer, Cheren was immediately ushered into his quarterfinals match. While he was somewhat sad that Bianca didn't win, he was still proud of her for her performance nonetheless. She essentially retired from being a trainer, yet she was able to reach top eight in a tournament that was decently stacked. It was expected for someone of her caliber, but it was still impressive. Her loss being against the enigmatic Schwartzer was perfectly understandable and nothing to be ashamed of, given that no one knows what his other Pokémon was since he won all his matches using only his haxorus.
"Bouffalant, stay strong!" Veteran Trainer Lloyd yelled. "Superpower!"
Ah, the veteran trainer was starting to get impatient. Good.
The buffalo charged at Gigalith, rushing into to defeat out the rock goliath. Gigalith glanced at Cheren, waiting for his trainer's instructions.
"If he wants to defeat you so badly, why don't we give him his wish then?" Cheren asked.
Gigalith nodded, understanding the implications of his trainer's advice. Gigalith glanced back to Bouffalant, who smashed into Gigalith, and lifted him up with his horns.
"Now, slam him down into the ground!" Lloyd commanded.
"Explosion," Cheren commanded calmly.
As Bouffalant was about to move, Gigalith's body began to glow, before the rock behemoth suddenly exploded, blasting the buffalo with an explosion he had no hopes of escaping.
"Wha–Bouffalant!" Lloyd cried.
Once the smoke cleared from the sudden explosion, everyone spotted both Gigalith and Bouffalant, lying on the ground out cold.
"AAAND IT'S OVER!" the announcer yelled as the crowd cheered. "What an explosive way to finish the last quarterfinals! With one Pokémon left, Cheren takes the match over Lloyd, and will move onto the semifinals!"
Cheren sighed in relief, before he went over to Gigalith.
"Nice job," Cheren smiled as he took out Gigalith's pokéball and recalled him.
"That was a smart move, boy," Lloyd congratulated as he approached him. "Making Bouffalant come to you, and finishing him off with Explosion, where Bouffalant couldn't escape or defend himself."
"I guess," Cheren replied. "I'm not a teacher for nothing after all."
"Hm, impressive. I bet your students are blessed to have such a competent and powerful trainer as their teacher," the old man smirked. "Great battle! I hope we can battle again!"
"Count on it," Cheren smiled as the two battlers shook on it.
"And with this, the quarterfinals have all finished!" the announcer announced as both competitors left. "Here are the semifinal matches:
Nate vs Colress
Schwartzer vs Cheren Heilían
The semifinals will begin after a short intermission. Don't go anywhere folks! These will be sure to be some intense and exciting battle!"
"Well that's to be expected," Nate shrugged as he took a bite out of his burger, having watched Cheren's battle.
"So you know what you're gonna do against Colress?" Hugh asked.
"At this point, all we've seen is that he has a magnezone, a beheeyem, and a metagross," Nate said. "At this point I just pray he doesn't have anything stupid in the back and go with my strongest members."
"I guess..." Hugh shrugged. "Although I don't expect it to go well..."
"Hey, have a little faith," Nate jabbed at Hugh playfully.
"I'm being realistic," Hugh retorted. "We barely beat him when it was 3 vs 1, and that was before Iris intervened."
"I did what now?" Iris asked, popping up from behind.
"Nothing important, don't worry about it," Hugh said.
"Okay~" Iris said cheerfully as she walked away.
"I mean there's no use worrying about it now," Nate said.
"If you say so..." Hugh said.
"Why do you doubt him now?" Rosa asked as she and Yancy walked up to the duo. "He's already proven to somehow muscle his way past anything at this point. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"His opponent now is a different story," Hugh interjected. "He's one of Plasma's top dogs. I'm telling him to be careful."
"Nate's strong," Rosa argued. "He'll definitely pull through."
"And the semifinals will begin shortly! Will Nate and Colress proceed onto the arena?"
"And there's my cue," Nate said as he got up. "Alright, time to get this over with."
"G-Good luck," Yancy said.
"Will do," Nate replied as he left the room.
"...Y'know, while we're at it, why are you suddenly acting so clingy to him all of a sudden?" Hugh asked, turning to Rosa.
"What? What're you talking about?" Rosa asked.
"Don't play dumb," Hugh retorted. "You've been acting a lot closer to him all of a sudden. You haven't been acting like your usual cocky self."
"Maybe I changed then," Rosa huffed, looking the other way.
"...Are you still thinking about that loss against that rich idiot?" Hugh asked. "If so, then don't let it get to you–."
"No. That's not it," Rosa shot back somewhat hastily.
Hugh arched an eyebrow at his childhood friend, and was about to ask some more but the announcer interrupted them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the first semifinal match is about to begin!"
Rosa walked away to watch the match, where everyone else gathered around the screen. Hugh glanced at Yancy, before walking up to her.
"You have any idea why she's been acting strangely all of a sudden?" Hugh asked. "You...have been acting a bit uncomfortable around her recently. Is everything alright?"
"N-No everything's alright," Yancy assured him. "Thanks for the concern though, Hugh."
"...If you say so," Hugh sighed. "Just remember, you can talk to us if you need to."
"Right, thanks," Yancy nodded as Hugh walked away to watch the match. The pinkette glanced down to the ground, still conflicted about her current conundrum. Sighing, she walked up to the screen to watch Nate's battle. There wasn't much she could do about it. Maybe she could talk to her about it, and figure out what she wants.
For now, though, she might as well put it aside. She should cheer Nate on.
Maybe watching him win will put her nerves at ease.
"Well now," Nate muttered as he cracked his knuckles. "Figured it'd be a matter of time until I run into you in this tourney."
"It would seem so," Colress said, pushing his glasses up. "I do hope you gotten stronger since the last time we fought."
"Keh! Of course," Nate drawled. "I wouldn't slack off training if it meant I could beat you down to the ground."
"Oh, how violent," Colress chuckled. "But...if that will bring out the best potential out of your Pokémon, then by all means, do as you please."
"Hmph," Nate huffed. "Alright then, you better be careful with what you wish for..."
"And the first semifinals match will begin!
Trainers, get your Pokémon ready...!
And BEGIN!"
Nate and Colress both revealed their first Pokémon at the same time. From Nate's side, Luca landed onto the field, growling at Colress. From Colress's side, Magnezone floated onto the field.
"Oh a rematch," Nate mused. "Bone Rush!"
Without hesitation, Luca created her blue staff between her paws, before grabbing it and lunging at Magnezone.
"Pull her in," Colress commanded.
As Luca got close, Magnezone lifted up one of its magnet arms. Luca suddenly felt all control of her body being lost, before being forcibly pulled in towards Magnezone, being stuck on to its magnet.
"Thunder Wave."
Magnezone emitted a powerful electric shock, zapping Luca who was stuck onto it.
"-AAAAAGH!-" Luca cried out in pain.
Once it was done, Magnezone then aimed Luca at the ground, before blasting her back by repelling her away using the magnetism that it used to pull her in, lodging her into the ground.
"What's the matter? This is just like last time," Colress chided. "Magnezone, Hidden Power."
Magnezone aimed its magnets at Luca, charging energy into them as the dog struggled to get back up.
"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" Nate asked. "Aura Sphere!"
Luca managed to shove something into her mouth and ate it, where suddenly the paralysis was cured.
"What?!" Colress exclaimed.
Luca then quickly charged an Aura Sphere, before shoving it into Magnezone, letting the blue orb explode in front of it, blasting the magnet Pokémon away.
"Now, Bone Rush!" Nate yelled.
"Tch, Hidden Power!" Colress yelled back.
Luca proceeded to strike at Magnezone, who in return shot the Hidden Power it had charged up. The attack blasted Luca, but she was strong enough to take it, before slamming the Bone Rush straight onto Magnezone's main eye. Magnezone cried in pain as it flew away, trying to tend to its damaged eye.
"Finish it off!" Nate growled.
"Volt Switch!" Colress commanded.
As Luca went for the kill, Magnezone shot jolts of electricity at Luca, who dispelled it with her staff. Before Luca could land the blow, however, Magnezone was covered in electricity, before being promptly swapped out. In its place, Metagross had been summoned, taking the Bone Rush from Luca much more comfortably than Magnezone did. Nate clicked his tongue as he beckoned Luca to fall back.
"So you had a berry," Colress analyzed. "For just in case of Thunder Wave, I presume?"
"Was it that easy to figure out?" Nate asked.
"I knew you'd prepare a countermeasure for cases like that," Colress said. "Especially considering our last encounter."
"Well isn't that flattering?!" Nate growled as he swapped Luca out for Nite. "Flame Charge!"
Nite gritted his teeth and lunged at Metagross while being covered in intense flames.
"Going to match Metagross's speed, eh?" Colress asked. "Agility!"
Metagross suddenly vanished before Nite could reach it. Nite then suddenly jumped to the side, avoiding Metagross slamming its arm onto the pig.
"Don't stop!" Nate yelled.
And thus began the speed match between Nite and Metagross, the former doing his best to reach the metal titan, while the latter was doing its best to play keep-away with its pursuer.
"A speed battle between two unlikely brutes!" the announcer yelled. "Who will win the competition?! Folks, this is just starting to get ecstatic!"
"Zen Headbutt!"
"Tch, Heat Crash!"
Metagross suddenly turned around from its chase and lunged for Nite while being covered in a blue energy. Nite in response jumped into the air, avoiding the attack, before crash landing into Metagross as a burning fireball. Despite the damage and super effective hit, Metagross was able to withstand it, before flinging Nite off of it.
"Heat Crash, while a strong move, does damage proportionate to the user's weight versus the target's weight," Colress said. "If your target is heavier than you, then surely it wouldn't do too much damage in spite of type effectiveness."
"Flame Charge!" Nate growled, not listening to Colress's ramblings.
Nite refused to give up, proceeding to charge at Metagross once more.
"Earthquake."
Right as Nite was about to touch Metagross, the metallic spider swiftly moved to the side, before slamming its arm into the ground, causing an earthquake that slammed into Nite.
"-AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!?-" Nite cried out in pain.
"NITE!" Nate cried out in genuine concern.
Once the earthquake ceased, Nite had fallen to the ground, battered and unconscious from the powerful Ground-type attack.
"AND PIGNITE GOES DOWN!" the announcer yelled. "After that intense speed match, Metagross finds an opening and finishes off Pignite with a bang! And that was just the FIRST Pokémon!"
Nate gritted his teeth as he recalled Nite, before replacing him with Deo.
"And Nate's third Pokemon will be the mythical Keldeo!" the announcer reported. "Nate has shown his hand, but what about Colress? Does he have something up his sleeve?"
"Oh, so you did catch Keldeo," Colress commented. "What a fascinating creature. I've seen his performance against your friend Hugh. Simply wonderful, and effective, might I add."
"Hydro Pump!" Nate growled, not in the mood to go along with Colress's charades.
Deo immediately shot violent torrents of water from his hooves at Metagross, but the Steel-type quickly avoided it as expected.
"...Spin around using Scald!" Nate yelled as he ducked down.
Nodding, Deo dropped onto his back, before proceeding to spin around aggressively, shooting Scald from all four of his hooves and covering the entire arena. Colress had to duck as well, but Metagross had no such luck, hastily trying to avoid all the attacks, before eventually being shot down by a stray Scald. The steel spider crashed onto the ground, finding itself burned from the attack.
"Oh..." Colress mused.
"Sacred Sword!"
Before Metagross could get back up, Deo's horn turned into a bright blade of light, before the colt jumped up and smashed it into Metagross's head. The metallic spider was crushed into the ground from the brute strength of the attack, which was enough to knock it out.
"And Metagross goes down after a swift and overwhelming counterstrike from Nate's Keldeo!" the announcer yelled.
"Impressive..." Colress said as he swapped Metagross out for Magnezone. "Thunder Wave."
"Sacred Sword!"
Magnezone shot a jolt of electricity at Deo, but the colt was fast enough to avoid it, before slamming his sword down upon the magnet, swiftly taking it out.
"And just as quickly, Magnezone, after taking such a beating from Nate's Lucario, goes down as well!" the announcer yelled. "Can Colress's last Pokémon save him from this predicament!?"
Nate and Deo glared at Colress, waiting for him to send out his last Pokémon, before the scientist began to chuckle.
"The hell? Did you finally lose it?" Nate snarled.
"I figured you would put up a good challenge, but this is beyond my expectations," Colress grinned as he recalled Magnezone. "Indeed, you. You're such a trainer I've been waiting for. Now is finally the time for me to test you out."
"What...?" Nate asked, before his instincts suddenly flared up to life, giving him a foreboding sensation.
"Now! Come forth, MKI!" Colress boomed as he revealed his last Pokémon.
Landing in front of Colress was a bipedal, insectoid Pokémon with a metal body and a saucer-shaped head with large red eyes. The insectoid let out a primal roar, shaking the entire arena.
"Wha...what is this?!" the announcer gasped. "I've never even seen such a Pokémon before?! Could this be the discovery of a brand new Pokémon?!"
"Genesect..." Nate mouthed, his eyes widened in shock., before he gritted his teeth. "So you've still had it this whole time..."
"-You…!-" Deo said, before the colt began to snarl viciously. "-You're the thing that separated me from my masters two years ago!-"
"-Target identified...-" Genesect, or MKI said in a cold monotone. "-Scanning...scanning...scanning complete. Target identified: Dex Number 647: Keldeo. Target data acquired. Enhancing appropriate offense attributes.-"
MKI proceeded to emit a red spark around him in response, as Deo took a fighting stance.
"-Nate! He's mine!-" Deo declared. "-I'm gonna turn that thing into scrap metal!-"
"He's all yours," Nate snarled. "Hydro Pump!"
"Thunderbolt," Colress simply commanded in response.
"Deo shot more violent Hydro Pumps at MKI, who proceeded to shot an intense bolt of electricity at the incoming attack. The Thunderbolt easily ripped through the Hydro Pump, before electrocuting Deo.
"-GAAAAAAAAAH!?-" Deo screamed in pain.
"DEO!" Nate cried out.
Deo fell onto his knees after being electrocuted, before falling onto his side, unable to fight any further.
"Incredible!" the announcer gasped. "With just one Thunderbolt, the new mystery Pokémon was able to take out Keldeo who hadn't taken a single hit ever since he got here!"
"...Enhancing appropriate offense attributes...?" Nate mouthed, before gritting his teeth. "Download..."
"Now then," Colress beckoned as MKI readjusted itself. "More! Show me more! Surely you aren't done yet!"
Nate growled in anger as he swapped out Deo for Luca. "Break that machine!"
Luca nodded as she prepped a Bone Rush staff and charged at MKI.
"Flamethrower!"
MKI leaned down, before the cannon on its back spewed hot flames at Luca. The Fighting-type immediately stopped in her tracks before shooting an Aura Sphere to block it. Much to her surprise, the Aura Sphere wasn't enough to completely stop it, and was forced to jump back to avoid the attack.
"Full Charge!" Nate yelled.
"-Try this!-" Luca yelled as she charged an Aura Sphere to the absolute max, before firing it straight at MKI.
"Iron Head!"
MKI suddenly folded its limbs and connected its head to the cannon on its back, assuming into a flying saucer-like form, before jetting towards Luca. MKI ripped through the fully charged Aura Sphere, before slamming straight into Luca.
"-AUGH!-" Luca yelped in pain as she was blown back from the attack.
"Luca!" Nate yelled out in concern. 'Am...am I losing...?'
"Flamethrower!"
MKI didn't stop the assault, transforming back into its previous form, and shooting another Flamethrower at Luca, who was forced to run to the side to avoid it. MKI didn't stop there, and relentlessly kept shooting more Flamethrowers at Luca, who desperately avoided them like the plague.
"What kind to type is this thing...?" Nate asked. "It took Aura Sphere with ease...so is it not weak to Fighting? But it looks Steel...but it knows Flamethrower..."
"Ice Beam!"
MKI kept shooting Flamethrowers, before suddenly changing it up and shooting a beam of ice at where Luca was going to run to, catching her foot and freezing her to the ground.
"-Wha–?!-" Luca yelped, before finding her foot frozen to the ground.
"It knows Ice Beam?!" Nate gasped. "What kind of monster is this thing?!"
Luca tried to break out of the ice, but to no avail with her strength alone. MKI began to walk up to Luca, which sent alarms to the canine and prompted her to frantically slam her staff into the ice in a desperate attempt to break the ice.
"Looks like this is checkmate," Colress declared as MKI aimed its cannon at Luca. "Flamethrower."
"LUCA!" Nate screamed.
Luca snapped out of her frenzied desperation to find MKI up close to her. In one last desperation, she slammed her staff at MKI, but the insectoid didn't even finch, before proceeding to blast a Flamethrower right in her face. Nate couldn't find any words to form in his mouth as the Flamethrower lit up the arena. Once MKI finished its attack, Luca was completely charred and burned, with no traces of the ice at all, before falling down, completely unconscious.
"AAAAAND IT'S OVER!" the announcer boomed as the crowd roared in cheers. "After a reverse sweep with this new Pokemon taking out both Keldeo and Lucario, Colress takes it over Nate, and will move onto the finals!"
To be continued
AN: Welp, Nate lost for the first time. And Genesect was still a thing apparently. Oh the things that'll unfold now...
So yeah, that should be a good place to stop; enough battles to satisfy your action needs, a good amount of plot to not feel filler, and oh my, Rosa's onto Yancy's case. This can't end well.
Also before some of you might complain that the battles feel rushed, yes I can admit they may be shorter than the usual battle scenes, but then again A) I didn't cut them up like I usually do to fit enough in so that the tourney doesn't drag on as much, B) the length should be enough considering how many matches I have to cover, and C) You have people like Colress and Cheren who clearly outclass their opponents, and up until the quarterfinals it was one v ones, so it outta be shorter than usual. And for Schwartzer v Bianca, have you been on the receiving end of a Haxorus at +5 attack? That shit hurts, you know. Especially if they also have +2 speed.
I still hope the battles were good enough though, and I plan to expand the last two battles of the tourney in the next chapter some more since there's only those two tourney matches to worry about, before we move on with the actual plot. Cheren vs Schwartzer and then Finals, where Colress faces off the winner of the former matchup.
Pretty sure that's enough for now. And current teams:
Nate: Luca (Lucario) / Nite (Pignite) / Buzz (Electabuzz) / Brav (Braviary) / Deo (Keldeo) / Zoro (Zoroark)
Rosa: Eve (Eevee) / Ottavia (Dewott) / Nina (Arcanine) / Mandi (Mandibuzz) / Gustav (Amoonguss)
Hugh: Flygon / Servine / Magmar / Tirtouga / Heracross
Yancy: Audi (Audino) / Teddi (Ursaring) / Snor (Snorlax) / Toge (Togekiss)
And that's it for now. Thank you for waiting so patiently and sorry for the massive delay. Hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you think, and I'll see you all next time, when Sun and Moon isn't taking over my life.