A/N: Not me forgetting to upload on Friday, nope. Can't be me. Next update will be on Tuesday! See you then! ...I won't forget this time lol
15: The Tournament – The First Round – II
Pikachu
Sometimes when I battle against a tough opponent, I don't know whether or not I should be excited or nervous. Half the time I'm so thrilled to fight against someone at our level, I get a goofy look on my face that Blastoise says it makes me look like a psychotic little mouse that would Volt Tackle anything in my sight—I still don't believe that for a second.
While Blue didn't have that same exact look, I knew how happy he was to fight someone strong when I saw his toothy grin. He was even risking the battle by keeping Machamp out to fight a psychic-type. He knew well enough that Gardevoir was more than capable of taking down his beloved fighting-type but I had no idea why they both insisted on fighting her.
Maybe the thrill of battle caused them to have that psychotic moment or maybe it was their shared love of fighting against others completely opposite of their typing—or maybe they just shared a single braincell, I don't know.
Whatever the case, Machamp jumped forward with a delighted yell and with two of his four hands, he managed to strike Gardevoir with Knock Off. She looked more annoyed than hurt as she jumped away to avoid another Knock Off. "Gardevoir, use Calm Mind!" Diantha said.
Gardevoir let out a soft hum and Blue glanced at her with a confident smile. "Use your special combo!" he told Machamp.
I had no idea what that special combo was, Blue always came up with wild ideas for his pokemon. Whatever his 'special combo' command was caused the fighting-type to smile again and then let out a shout as he shot for Gardevoir with Bullet Punch.
Although Gardevoir dodged it, I watched as Machamp followed her with reflexes faster than he could think. Each fist burst to life with the bottom two covered poison and fire while the top ones were encased in ice and electricity. The four separate moves on each arm were already poised to strike before he finished turning to face her once more.
I saw White's mouth pop open from the corner of my eye and I mirrored it. Poison Jab, Fire Punch, Ice Punch and Thunder Punch all at the same time?!
Even I didn't use that many moves all at once, it was difficult enough with just two, let alone four!
"Wow! We've never seen anyone use four moves all at once! This just goes to show what champion material really is!" One suddenly exclaimed over the excited cheers.
Gardevoir and Diantha were taken by surprise and Gardevoir let out a painful shout when she was struck in the stomach. The sheer power of all four of the punches sent her flying towards the wall but she managed to use Psychic to catch herself from crashing into anything. Her eyes continued to shimmer from where she was and let out a loud cry as Diantha commanded, "Psychic!"
The Psychic immediately ensnared Machamp when he was sprinting after her and without a way to deflect it, he was helpless to do anything and was slammed into the ground and tossed far from her back to his side of the arena. Gardevoir then looked up above her and spread her arms apart. She let out a ringing noise and a blast of power came out of her and into the sky until it disappeared just above the stadium. I knew a Future Sight when I saw one and Blue looked at Machamp. "You all right?" he asked.
Machamp panted as he got back up to his feet. "Never better," he answered and nodded at Blue.
"All right. Bullet Punch!"
Just like before, Machamp shot forward with blinding speed with all four fists ready to strike her again. Gardevoir allowed him to get close and seemed to smirk before she disappeared entirely with Teleport. Machamp didn't have time to turn around when she reappeared behind him and Diantha shouted, "Moonblast!"
Gardevoir rose both arms up and a circular ball of pinkish white light formed between them only to be thrown straight into Machamp's back.
"Machamp!" Blue shouted as he was thrown into the ground. His eyes betrayed his worry as Machamp struggled to get back up and I saw his hand twitch towards his pokeball so he could recall him.
I ignored the announcers as I watched as Machamp narrowed his eyes at Blue, panting from exertion and shook his head. I don't know why he was fighting so hard, but I saw the determination in the fighting-type's eyes and also noticed Red watching him with respect. He and Blue seemed to both understand what he was doing and I looked between them before I looked at my trainer again. "What do you two see that I don't?" I muttered and returned my attention to the field.
Gardevoir seemed surprised he was still standing as well but she smiled at him as she prepared another Moonblast. When she threw it at him, Machamp watched it, sucked in a breath and just as he was about to get hit, he jumped to the side to dodge it and let the attack smash into the wall. He avoided one more Moonblast as he leaped out of the smoke and ran straight for Gardevoir one more time.
"Dynamic Punch!" Blue commanded.
He rose his fists when he got close and just like before, the psychic-type teleported to avoid the attack. She reappeared behind him and I believed he wouldn't have the energy to turn around and block whatever attack she would send. She was simply faster, especially with the Teleport she was using.
Machamp continued to surprise me when he dug a foot into the ground and used his momentum to suddenly swing his fists around and slammed two of them into her.
Gardevoir let out another cry as she was hit and was flung away as a familiar shine appeared just above Machamp. She hit the ground as he was hit by Future Sight, where he collapsed and Blue finally recalled him.
"Machamp has fainted! Things don't look so hot for Champion Blue, not with a mega evolved Gardevoir on the field!" One suddenly shouted.
I heard Ethan scoff. "This is why I don't like announcers or whatever," he complained. "Have a little faith in him, he can beat her!"
"Gardevoir is tough, he'll have a hard time," Serena told him and smiled as he glanced her way. "Have faith in Diantha, too!"
Ethan was quiet for a moment. "You know what? I hope she beats him—that'll give me more of a chance to fight Red!"
Red just sighed at them as Calem objected and said something about having to go through him first.
Down below, Blue threw another pokeball out just after he had recalled Machamp. "Gyarados! Dragon Dance!" he shouted. Gyarados appeared out of his pokeball, already bursting into a vortex of red and black light. His scales seemed shinier than usual and he even seemed to have grown physically stronger.
As Gardevoir wavered on her feet in confusion from Dynamic Punch and fought to regain her focus, Gyarados took this time to use Dragon Dance again and with two Dragon Dances on his side, I knew there was an unstoppable angry water lizard already looking pissed at Gardevoir. Was he pissed about Machamp falling in battle? Why would Machamp even wait until Future Sight hit him?
Gyarados let out an ear-piercing roar to use Rain Dance and Gardevoir wobbled on her legs in her confused state. I figured out why Machamp had decided to stay out against a pokemon that was clearly against his typing.
Machamp was extremely protective of his team, despite how much he and Alakazam argued or his and Pidgeot's mildly tame rivalry. He was the kind of pokemon to take a hit in order to save his teammates from harm and if that meant he fell so they could win, he would do it without question. Maybe that was why Red and Blue had been staring at Machamp with admiration, they recognized it without him even saying anything.
Two's voice suddenly rang out, "Just as quickly as Machamp fell to Future Sight, Gyarados has taken its place on the field!"
Diantha grunted and looked at Gardevoir as the psychic was still confused, somehow managing to use Magical Leaf against herself. "Gardevoir! Use Wish!" Gardevoir managed to hum a calming noise and a little light came to her arm in a star-like shape. It shot up to the sky and disappeared and she looked at Gyarados, squinting at the large water-type before her, her confusion finally ebbed away.
"Gyarados, use Aqua Tail!" Gyarados' tail became encased in water before extending his very large body and slammed his tail into her before she could teleport away.
The sheer force of the attack caused her to crash into the ground and broke it even further and sent large pieces of the hard ground into the air. The ground fell around her and she shook while she took her time to get up again. She winced and when she wobbled up to her feet, the star shot back from wherever it had disappeared and floated right above her. It crumpled into millions of tiny little bulbs and fell on top of her, healing her minor scratches and restoring a little energy.
She smirked and Diantha shared that look. "Moonblast!" Diantha ordered.
Blue looked up at Gyarados and nodded at him, signaling another one of their many tricks.
As Moonblast was shot at them, Gyarados' tail suddenly rose and he hunched over—
And then jumped.
Everyone stared at the dark clouds of Rain Dance with astonishment. Hardly anyone had ever seen a tame gyarados, much less seen one jump. We had seen Gyarados jump before, but never that high up into the sky!
No one seemed to notice that Moonblast hit the ground where Gyarados had been and Gardevoir looked up, trying to find her agile opponent.
"Wait, Gyarados can't fly!" Rosa exclaimed.
"What the hell was that?!" Nate shouted.
Rosa shot a glare at him. "Language!"
"How the hell did he get so high?" White asked and stared up at the dark clouds.
"Holy shit—that was just a Bounce," Brendan said, his eyes wide.
"Why didn't you 'language' Brendan?!" Nate demanded his twin.
I shared Red's proud look. Gyarados had been working on his Bounce for so long and at first, it hadn't been anything special, just a normal Bounce. Up and then back down. For some reason, he was obsessed with getting higher and higher into the sky only to get frustrated at the limited height Bounce could give him. I think he was salty that I called him an overgrown fish and he wanted to prove that he, too, was not just a water-type, but also a flying-type.
Then Gyarados defied my expectations and learned how to use Hurricane.
"Gyarados disappeared in the Rain Dance!" One yelled.
Two shared his surprise as she said, "That was either the strongest Bounce we've ever seen or the world is finding out that Gyarados could actually learn Fly!"
I watched as the powerful blast of wind finally struck the ground and Diantha covered her head with both arms as her coat blew violently from the wind. Blue had also covered his face with a single arm and the hood of his own jacket kept hitting the back of his head. Gardevoir caught the brunt of the Hurricane but she was too busy trying to block the powerful lashes of wind to see that Gyarados was out of the clouds and diving straight for her.
She looked up as the Hurricane stopped bombarding her only to see him turn in the air so that his tail slammed into the earth next to her.
Aqua Tail had simply damaged the field.
Bounce absolutely demolished it.
Gardevoir was flung into the air along with parts of the ground itself. Large chunks of rock from the battlefield flew up into the air all around her and she tried to correct herself in the air to use Dazzling Gleam Diantha had shouted.
"You got this, Gyarados! Thunder!" Blue said.
Dazzling Gleam struck Gyarados the same time Thunder hit Gardevoir. They both shouted but it was Gardevoir that fell, finally knocked out. Her body was encased in the multiple lights of the mega stone and she returned to normal.
As she was recalled and the little pebbles continued to fall, One and Two both exclaimed, "Gardevoir has been defeated!"
Gyarados let out a roar of victory and the rain clouds disappeared, giving way to the afternoon sun once again as Diantha reluctantly recalled the fainted Gardevoir.
Ethan grinned and stood up. He turned to face us and as he motioned towards Gyarados, he said, "I saw him do that in training a few days ago." Then he lost his smile and shuddered. "It's actually really scary up close."
White was staring at the field and then looked up at Red. "Has he always been this strong?" she asked him as Diantha struggled to pick which one of her pokemon to send out next.
I looked up at Red as he shook his head but he looked proud.
She just looked back at the field and grinned. "I want to fight him."
Diantha grabbed a pokeball after a few moments and shouted, "Aurorus! You can do this!"
Aurorus appeared while shaking the two frills on his long neck and I swore I saw a little ice at his feet that didn't even melt when he moved a little to face Gyarados confidently. I watched as Blue rose a brow but he didn't ask whatever he wanted to even as Diantha commanded a Light Screen and Reflect.
Blue didn't command the Earthquake Gyarados used, the larger pokemon simply roared and exerted a power that shook the ground when his tail slammed into the ground.
Aurorus stumbled on his four legs as the already broken ground shattered even more, leaving what little untouched ground on the field there had been unrecognizable. The Earthquake wasn't enough to take him out and he shot a glare to Gyarados as Diantha rose a hand in the air. "Aurorus, use Thunder!" she shouted.
"Dodge it, Gyarados!" Blue immediately commanded.
Aurorus' frills suddenly sparked and he rose his long neck up into the sky with a loud cry, electricity formed above Gyarados and shot straight down. Gyarados managed to dodge it by a thread and Blue smirked. Without Rain Dance, Thunder was risky, even for me. It was unpredictable where it could land, sometimes it would just strike the ground far away from the target and leave the user and trainer disappointed.
"Gyarados! Finish it with Aqua Tail!"
"Freeze-Dry!" Diantha shouted.
Blue's eyes widened and Aurorus let out a cry as Gyarados barreled for him with Aqua Tail. In a burst of white fog, I heard both Aurorus and Gyarados' attacks both hit the other and I didn't know who was still up after they had both gone quiet. The cold air drifted up towards the box and I shivered briefly before the ice cold disappeared as quickly as it had come.
When the fog cleared, I looked back down to the field and grinned when I saw Gyarados still remaining upright. He looked exhausted, injured but he had a proud look and roared victoriously as the audience cheered for him.
"Aurorus has fainted!" Two exclaimed over the cheers. "It isn't looking good for Champion Diantha! She has two pokemon left while Champion Blue still has five!"
Diantha smiled, the look of unwavering determination in her eyes were clear as day as she took her second to last pokeball. "I haven't had this much fun in a while," she said to Blue. She then threw the pokeball. "Go, Goodra!"
Goodra came out with a cry, a bit of slime falling off of her arm and onto the ground next to her foot. The long horns on her head uncurled and stretched out a bit and returned to their normal position as she glanced at Blue, eagerly awaiting her opponent's move.
Blue grinned but didn't answer Diantha. If this were a normal battle, he would be gloating about the win he believed he was sure to get even if he was in Diantha's position and we were in Blue's.
I chuckled to myself. He was finally growing up—took him long enough if you asked me.
"Goodra, Dragon Pulse!" Diantha said. She sounded desperate and I felt a little guilty for thinking that Blue was just going to mow through the rest of her team with Gyarados if she didn't have a counter for him.
As Gyarados countered the beam with a Hydro Pump, I noticed Black stand and stretch. "I'm going to get ready for my match," he said. He looked at Brendan and grinned. "I'll see you down there, Brendan." I tilted my head and watched him leave the area. Why was he leaving so early? Did he think the match was going to end so soon?
Brendan returned the challenging smirk, clearly ready for a challenge.
"I'm rooting for you! No cheating!" White shouted.
"I don't cheat!" came Black's retort from the hall.
I had to tilt my head when I got confused. What did she mean by cheating? How could someone cheat in a live match viewed by thousands of people—or more for those watching on television?
When the door shut, she turned back around in her seat and crossed her arms across her chest. "You're nice and all, Brendan, but my brother's gonna kick your butt."
Brendan scowled at her. "We'll see about that!" he retorted and shot to his feet. Red rose a brow at him as he put a hand on his hip. "I'm pretty strong myself, and I intend on winning this tournament."
"We all do, and look what happened to me," Nate said bitterly.
"Just because you got your ass kicked doesn't mean I will." He walked out the doors as I heard an explosion come from the field, followed by a cry of pain from Goodra and cheers.
"What do you mean by no cheating? Is Black a cheater?" Ethan asked. He frowned and looked at her, a disapproving look on his face. "I don't see how he could cheat his way into being a champion."
White laughed. "No! I mean that he can't use Zekrom, is all. He promised me he wouldn't."
"Oh, yeah, I remember that! What'd you mean by that, anyway?"
She leaned back in her seat to get comfortable again. "Unova has a really famous story revolving around two brothers that became heroes. Black came into contact with Zekrom and became the Hero of Ideals—that's when he fought N and Ghetsis a few years ago. Then Rosa met Reshiram and became the Hero of Truth. Since they're both legendary pokemon, Nate and I made them promise never to use them in normal battles and I just like to constantly remind Black about it." A mischievous look came to her eyes. "He always gets annoyed when I do."
"It annoys me too, sometimes," Rosa admitted and let out a quiet sigh as White laughed.
"I'll make sure to always remind you too, then."
Nate smiled. "Another button to press!" he suddenly shouted.
"Don't!" Rosa snapped at him as he cackled at her.
I looked between them, just as confused as Red and Ethan were. "Is that what having a sibling is like?" Calem asked them quietly.
Red shrugged. None of us had siblings either but I had seen Daisy and Blue together and they enjoyed annoying each other, sometimes for no reason.
"Gourgeist and Gyarados both fainted!" Two was suddenly shouting, causing us all to look at the field with surprise.
"Wait, what?" Serena blurted. While she was quiet, she too had been paying more attention to the conversation than the actual match going on just like me.
I hadn't even heard Gyarados defeat Goodra or when Diantha had brought out Gourgeist. The mangled field was practically unrecognizable as Blue recalled Gyarados and looked at Diantha as she brought out Gourgeist's pokeball and recalled her as well.
One's voice then said, "Champion Blue is the victor with four remaining pokemon! He will move onto the next round! The next battle is Champion Black versus Champion Brendan in just a few short minutes!"
Blue stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked out the way he had come in as Diantha did the same, but I could see his excitement with his victory. I knew that in a few short minutes, he was going to come barging in and start bragging to us about it and while I was happy that Blue had won, I didn't really want to hear him gloat about it for the next few days until we had our own match.
"I'm bored," Mew's voice suddenly said.
Without skipping a beat, I replied, "Hi, bored, I'm Pikachu."
I could practically hear her eyes roll when she answered sarcastically, "Ha, ha, so funny."
"At least I don't make morbid jokes."
"Dark humor is the best humor!"
Red couldn't hold back a sigh.
White looked up at him with a worried face. "Are you okay?" she asked.
He nodded.
She didn't push it and returned her attention to the field. "I've always wondered how they fixed the arena before the next match," she said as she stood up and leaned against the railing. "I mean, Blue and Diantha pretty much destroyed the entire thing and now look at it. It's practically back to normal already."
Red stood up and set me down onto the seat to join her. He leaned against the railing and peered down at the field to watch the little robots and people quickly working, all the while ignoring the fans that were close to us that quickly took notice of them.
"It's really impressive, don't you think?"
The door burst open suddenly and we all looked back as Blue waltzed in, a huge smile on his face. "I told you I'd beat her!" he practically shouted. He glanced at Calem and Serena. "That mega evolution was something else, though. Still wasn't enough to beat me!"
Ethan's eyes lit up as he smiled. "Gyarados was definitely the MVP!" he said. "Took down half of her team by himself!"
"We've been training a lot together, of course he's strong!" Blue looked at Red, pointing at him. "You better beat Serena—we are long overdue for a rematch!"
"Oh, here we go again," White sighed as Ethan huffed.
"No, I challenged him first!" he retorted.
"Hey, I'm right here!" Serena said, scowling at them. "And I'm the one who's going to move onto the next round!"
"Serena, please stop," Calem sighed.
She looked flabbergasted. "Wha— I didn't even do anything!"
Calem ignored her as she huffed and crossed her arms and then he looked at Nate as he motioned towards Red, Blue, Ethan and White. "Are they always like that?"
"All the time," Nate answered and ran a hand over his face. "It gets really old really fast."
I ignored the bickering when I saw White look up at Red and heard her ask, "Want to get something to eat? I'm starving and I need a snack before the match starts."
He quickly nodded, anything to get away from the bickering. He didn't flinch when I suddenly jumped onto his shoulder as he followed White out of the loud box and I frowned slightly as he rubbed his forehead. I poked his cheek with my paw and he glanced at me as I said, "Are you okay?"
Headache.
"You need to sleep more," Mew's voice said. She wasn't wrong about that.
"Where even are you?" I asked her.
"I'm right here!" I felt something poke my tail and heard her giggles soon after. "I wanna watch a battle!"
"You look so distracted," White's voice suddenly interrupted. We all looked at her and she smiled when she finally had our attention. "Are you sure you're okay? You're even quieter than usual."
Red rubbed the back of his head, looking a little guilty. "It's nothing, just a headache."
"Drink some water, then. That usually helps me."
"You need to drink more water if that helps you."
"Yes, Mom." She laughed as Red rolled his eyes.
"He needs more sleep!" Mew told her.
White clearly hadn't expected to hear her and she jumped, startled. I laughed as she relaxed quickly. "Does that happen all the time to you?"
Red nodded.
"Arceus, no wonder you get so jumpy sometimes." Then she blinked. "I can hear her, but I can't see her. Where is she?"
He tapped the top his head where Mew was.
"I got bored so I poofed here," she told us.
"I see that." She blinked. "Actually, I don't see it, but you get my point."
Red smiled and nodded as he opened the door to the snack bar. We quickly got our snacks after we heard One and Two's voices over the intercom give a small recap of the previous match, which meant that the battle was about to begin.
I watched as one of the chips in White's box mysteriously float up and disappeared, making her scowl immediately. "At least ask before you steal my nachos!" she scolded Mew.
"I'm hungry, too!" Mew answered through her chewing.
I laughed at White's annoyance and happily took one of Red's chips before he could stop me. I wanted a nacho, too! They hadn't gotten anything for Mew and I—maybe that's why Red got the larger size instead of the small one. He didn't seem as annoyed with me when I took another one when we opened the door to the box, just in time to see the doors where Brendan and Black would step onto the field open up.
"Whew, that was close," White said and sat down in her spot again.
"You got nachos and didn't get me any?!" Ethan complained. He pouted as Red locked eyes with him and ate one of the chips. "You aren't nice."
I laughed and grabbed another one of the nachos as the intercoms blared with life.
"Welcome back to the Pokemon World Tournament here in Driftveil City, Unova!" Two exclaimed.
"This is our final match of the day, so please welcome Hoenn Champion Brendan and Unova Champion Black!" One shouted.
White leaned forward in her seat a little to watch her brother take his place on the field. She suddenly set her chips down and hopped over to the railing, leaning forward as she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Kick his ass, Black!"
Black couldn't hear her over the crowd, but he did glance her way and adjusted his hat with a tiny smile on his face, a silent sort of communication going between them as she returned the grin.
One interrupted anything else White would shout as he said, "You probably already know the rules—this is a six-versus-six battle! Switches are allowed and held items are allowed. No other items are permitted. Now please send out your first pokemon!"
Brendan sent his out first and a tiny gray pokemon appeared, floating in the air with a loud yawn and shook itself out to grin at his opponent. His trainer didn't say anything and clipped the pokeball back onto his belt.
Black smirked and threw his pokemon out next. I gulped when I saw the human-sized golden pokemon appear and four dark arms came out of it. White shivered as she returned to her seat. "I don't like Cofagrigus," she mumbled. "Creepy as hell."
I completely understood why she and Nate didn't like being around Cofagrigus. I'd seen many ghost-types in my time, but a coffin pokemon hadn't been on my list of things to see before I died. Red didn't seem too keen on it either and he scratched my head to distract himself from staring at Cofagrigus for too long.
"That's what a cofagrigus is?" Serena asked. She didn't sound nervous at all, in fact she looked more fascinated by it. "He looks like a mummy!"
"He looks like a sarcophagus, not a mummy," Calem told her, keeping his eyes on the field to ignore her annoyed glare.
"You know what I mean."
As usual, a quiet fell over the spectators, waiting with baited breath for the match to begin.
I could almost see Two's smile as she purposely waited a little bit longer than usual before she suddenly yelled, "You may begin!"
Black immediately commanded, "Mean Look!" Cofagrigus' red eyes glowed and soon Castform glowed a ghostly purple hue, though he only shook it off and Brendan didn't look worried at all. "Now use Shadow Ball!"
When Brendan grinned, I was confused. Why wasn't he saying any moves or even telling Castform dodge? I was just as startled as Black was when Shadow Ball went straight through Castform. I had no idea Castform was a normal-type, and it was clear that Black hadn't known either. He narrowed his eyes in a little annoyance as Castform let out a giggle. "I'm sorry, but ghost-type moves won't work on me," he said to Cofagrigus.
"It seems like we weren't the only ones who didn't know what type of pokemon Castform is!" One said.
"Sunny Day!" Brendan shouted. Castform rose higher in the air and let out a hum as the sun brightened above the field. I was in awe when I saw Castform's head mimic that of a sun and smile brightly as the transformation stopped. "Now, Weather Ball!" A ball of white-orange light almost twice the size of the tiny normal-type gathered in front of him.
"Counter it! Energy Ball!" Black responded. Cofagrigus was quick to obey and a ball of green light formed in front of him. The two attacks were slung forward at the same time and crashed in the middle in a bright and nearly blinding explosion that caused the two trainers on the field to shield their eyes. Then I noticed something purple come out of Cofagrigus and slam itself into Castform during the confusion, seeping into the small pokemon's body. Was that a Toxic? When did Black command it?
Brendan noticed after the fact and frowned. Unable to switch out Castform because of Mean Look, he said, "Don't give up, Castform! Fire Blast!"
"Protect!"
The two pokemon traded and countered moves for a while, and I knew that all Black was doing was stalling for time to let Toxic begin to deal real damage.
"Damn, Black's really good," Ethan muttered. His eyes darted between Castform and Cofagrigus. "Castform seems strong, too. Sucks that he can't switch for someone better."
As the bright sun faded away, Castform returned to normal and one eye closed from exhaustion. "You know, Black could've used ghost-type moves when Sunny Day was active," Blue suddenly said.
I looked up at him in surprise as he watched the match with a critical eye. How did he know that? He didn't sound like he was throwing out wild accusations, he sounded very confident. I almost facepalmed myself. Who was I kidding? He was always very confident whenever he spoke, even if he was wrong about something.
He knew the others looked at him as well and he answered before anyone could ask anything, "Brendan had the advantage. Castform changes types in different weather." I blinked a few times and looked up at Red as a tiny smile appeared on his face. Sometimes we forgot how smart Blue actually was.
"How do you know that?" Rosa asked.
Before he could respond, Brendan shouted, "Rain Dance!" Castform performed its final move and just as the rain started to fall and his body changed again, Cofagrigus was already moving to finish their fight.
"Finish it with Energy Ball!" Black said.
Castform let out a pained noise and collapsed, the toll of Toxic and other moves finally taking its toll on him.
"Cofagrigus has defeated Castform! Champion Black is now in the lead with six to five!" One said among the cheers.
Brendan smiled a bit as he returned Castform. "You did good, Castform," he said as he clipped the pokeball back onto his hip. He pulled out another pokeball, throwing it out before the announcers could say anything else. "Go, Manectric!" What surprised me was when he grinned just before the pokeball opened. "Electric Terrain!"
Black look surprised as a flurry of electric sparks appeared alongside Manectric's appearance and coated the ground in a dim yellow light. He quickly recovered and said, "Will-O-Wisp!" Cofagrigus' arms went in front of him as a purple flame started to form between them.
"Dodge it and get close with Agility!"
I heard someone let out an impressed whistle but didn't care to look and see who it was when Manectric shot forward, easily dodging the Will-O-Wisp when he seemingly teleported right in front of the ghost-type.
"Use Crunch, Manectric!"
"Protect!"
A clear shield suddenly appeared in front of Cofagrigus and Manectric's attack bounced off of it harmlessly, snorting with irritation. "That's a cheap move!" he accused.
Cofagrigus didn't answer but he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the electric-type.
Brendan didn't miss a beat after Protect faded. "Thunder Wave!"
As the sparks of Thunder Wave faded, Cofagrigus was left paralyzed when Black tried to command a Shadow Ball to keep Manectric from landing a powerful Crunch. I felt my mouth open when Manectric flung the larger pokemon up into the air by the shadow arm that was in his mouth. How much strength did that jaw have? Cofagrigus didn't seem like he was a lightweight by any means.
Black seemed surprised as well but his eyes widened as if he figured out what Brendan was trying to do. "Cofagrigus—!" he shouted.
"Thunder!" Brendan yelled before Black could finish the command.
In the Rain Dance and helplessly in the air, there was no dodging the powerful electric-type move. Cofagrigus let out a loud shout of pain when he was hit. I had to double-check to make sure that move had just been a Thunder as Cofagrigus fell to the ground, knocked out. Electric Terrain faded away, leaving the Rain Dance and a victorious Manectric on the field.
"Brendan's really good, too," Serena said as Black frowned and recalled the ghost-type.
"I was wondering when he would bring out the big guns," Ethan said and smiled. "Rain Dance plus Electric Terrain equals really strong Thunders!"
White grinned as she watched her twin recall Cofagrigus with a scowl on his face. "He's pissed off already," she said and laughed. "And he gets onto me about my temper!"
"Because you're the one that's usually angry over nothing," Nate told her.
An annoyed tick appeared on her forehead and she shot him a glare. "No, I'm not!"
He rolled his eyes. "My point exactly."
"Champion Brendan has evened the battle!" Two cried out. "But can he keep it up?"
Black tossed his second pokeball onto the field. "Two can play that game. Leavanny, Get rid of the rain! Sunny Day!" he shouted.
Just as Leavanny appeared, the rain disappeared and the sun brightened just as quickly as the last of Rain Dance's clouds faded. Leavanny looked at his opponent, then brought the tip of his leafy arm to his mouth, trying to hide a smirk. "I'm sorry, were you hoping to Thunder me as well, sparky butt?" he asked.
Manectric let out an annoyed growl. "A little Sunny Day won't stop us, bug boy!" he retorted.
"Ooh, sassy, I like them," Mew said to me.
"You know that a little trash talk is normal in matches, right?" I replied.
"And then you're all friends after, I don't get it. Why don't you just keep kicking each other's butts? That's even more fun!" She continued on, not seeing that I was trying and failing to ignore her. "I mean, no one wants to see a battle where you're all friendly—"
Black interrupted her when he said, "You know what to do, Leavanny."
Leavanny nodded and used Swords Dance as Manectric began to move.
"Fire Fang!" Brendan ordered.
Manectric's jaw opened wide as flames licked the electric-type's teeth and startled, Leavanny was barely able to react and jump out of the way. There was the sound of Manectric's teeth chomping onto thin air and Leavanny jumped backward as he charged forward again. Black smirked once Leavanny was close and said, "Solar Beam!"
With Sunny Day still active, Leavanny didn't need to take the time to charge the attack. Manectric tried to avoid it but ultimately, he wasn't able to avoid the powerful beam. Solar Beam slammed into Manectric's chest so hard that I even winced when he yipped in pain. I watched him get sent flying past Brendan and bounced off of the ground before he finally slid to a stop near the wall.
"Manectric!" Brendan shouted. He spun around, a flash of worry on his face when he didn't get back up.
It wasn't uncommon for pokemon to get seriously injured and luckily, none of us on my team had ever been so injured we required help from the Chansey or other nurses on standby. Luckily, Brendan deemed him well enough to recall him but he turned narrowed eyes towards Black.
"And just like that, Champion Black has the lead again!" One shouted.
I stared at Brendan as he took another pokeball into his hands. He had a look that didn't seem to match his personality and it reminded me of Ethan. The frown that settled on his face didn't look right and he threw the pokeball. "Sceptile, go!"
Sceptile appeared in a flash with a scowl that matched Brendan's. He didn't say anything as Brendan lifted his arm that had the silver band around his wrist. How didn't I see the tiny keystone embedded into it?! He then shoved his hand towards the grass-type. "Mega evolve!"
For the second time that day, I grinned as I witnessed a mega evolution—it would never get old watching it happen. Once the light surrounding Sceptile faded, Leavanny lowered his arm and his eyes went wide when the other grass-type was directly in front of him. "Acrobatics!" Brendan shouted.
Just as quickly Leavanny had taken Manectric down, he fainted from the single hit before he could even react. Black's eyes went wide but then he recalled Leavanny and grinned as he grabbed his next pokeball and threw it out without a word.
"Holy shit, I didn't really expect Brendan to keep up with Black," White said over the announcers when Braviary appeared.
"What do you mean?" Serena asked curiously as Rosa scolded White, "Language!"
"I mean… look at him!" She motioned towards Brendan as he commanded Sceptile to dodge a Brave Bird. "He's a softie!"
"You really shouldn't judge a book by its cover," Ethan said in a sing-song tone.
"I'm not trying to, it's just Black has a squeaky clean trainer record! He's never lost an official battle before!"
My train of thoughts came to an abrupt halt. Had I heard that right? He's never what?
Red's eyes went wide and whipped his head towards her in shock. We hadn't heard of any other trainers that had a record like that!
Blue suddenly barked out a laugh, "I would love to see a battle between them!"
Nate looked as confused as the others. "Uh… between who?" he asked.
He jabbed a thumb towards Red. "This guy has a squeaky clean record, too. Never lost a single battle!"
The Unova trainers all swiveled their disbelieving faces towards us. Red's face quickly returned to its normal impassiveness to hide his shock.
"You're not serious, are you?" Calem asked Red, his blue eyes wide in surprise. Next to him, Serena was quiet and she looked incredibly nervous all of a sudden as Red nodded to confirm Blue's statement.
"Neither of you have ever lost a battle?" White asked. She looked impressed and returned her attention to the match. "Yeah, I'd pay to see a match between you two, too."
I heard Mew snicker and felt her tail brush against me as she moved to get closer to White. Whatever she was thinking, Mew was obviously reading her mind and saying something that caused her face to turn slightly pink.
I jumped when there was a loud explosion on the field and saw Sceptile shaking as he struggled to get up to his feet again. Braviary, on the other hand, seemed just fine and was preparing one last move to take Sceptile out. "Brave Bird!" Black shouted.
Sceptile gritted his teeth and looked up at Braviary as he soared into the air to gain momentum for the attack. "Sceptile, Detect!" Brendan shouted.
Braviary dove down and with the help of Detect, Sceptile narrowly avoided the attack and watched as the flying-type flew back into the air. As he went back up, Sceptile covered his face from the sudden gust of wind that followed Braviary upwards. It took all of two seconds for me to realize it was from a Tailwind, and my eyes followed Braviary as his body took on the glow of Brave Bird once more.
Sceptile held his hands in fists, waiting for Braviary to come back down and get close enough for him to strike. "Hold it," Brendan said softly to Sceptile.
Black's brows furrowed a little with confusion but nodded at Braviary without a word. Braviary suddenly dove and with Tailwind on his side, he was little more than a blur of feathers and raw power when he struck Sceptile.
"Now, Septile! Thunderpunch!" Brendan sounded worried as he looked up at the sky when Sceptile grabbed onto Braviary instead of allowing himself to be thrown. I knew that Sceptile was close to fainting—Braviary looked like he could pack a punch and then some.
Braviary let out a cry when he was struck with the electricity and looked annoyed as he turned his eyes onto the mega-evolved started. He twisted in the air and as Sceptile startled, he grabbed onto his leg with both sets of talons and then folded his wings close to his body. Braviary dove and before they hit the ground, his wings snapped open and he threw Sceptile none too carefully into the ground. Dust and pebbles flew into the air and I saw a familiar flash of light as Sceptile returned to normal and lay still.
"Sceptile has fainted! Black is in the lead again with four pokemon still able to battle!" Two shouted.
"It's an intense battle, and a close one at that! Who will come out on top?" One added dramatically, causing the crowd to roar excitedly.
Brendan whispered something to Sceptile's pokeball that I couldn't hear and clipped it back onto his belt. He then tossed out another one. "Milotic, finish off Braviary! Ice Beam!"
"These two have a habit of knocking one out and being low on health so they're an insta-knock-out when the next one comes out, huh?" Mew's voice murmured as Braviary collapsed and was recalled. My ears twitched when I heard a loud crunching noise coming from her direction.
"Are you eating nachos?" I asked.
"Yep! Cheese tastes like plastic, though."
I didn't answer, my eyes locked onto the field as Black threw his third pokemon out. "Let's go, Samurott!" he yelled. "Retaliate!"
The instant the light of the pokeball faded, Samurott was already on the move and closing the distance between the two large water-types. Milotic was startled and tried to duck away, but was too slow to avoid it.
I heard someone whistle in awe as Milotic already struggled to get back up. "Samurott's gotten a lot stronger since last time, huh?" Nate mumbled.
"That's what happens when Black goes into 'ultra-training' mode," White answered. She didn't seem as impressed, but she didn't take her eyes off the match as Brendan called for Aqua Ring. "He doesn't focus on anything else when he gets like that."
"Sounds like a few other people that I know," Blue said and stole a glance towards Red and I. "You're probably the worst, though, and then it's Ethan. Workaholics, both of you."
Ethan snickered. "Only sometimes," he answered.
Black's voice cut off the rest of their conversation. "Samurott, get up close! Mega Horn!" Samurott used Aqua Jet to get to Milotic and the horn on his head seemed to extend slightly with the bug-type move.
"Milotic, deflect it! Dragon Tail!" Brendan was smiling, looking like he was having the time of his life but I sensed worry coming from him, especially when Milotic was barely able to clash against the Mega Horn.
Both large pokemon were quiet, save for the occasional grunts of effort. Samurott reared back and attacked again with Mega Horn and again, Milotic's tail rose with another Dragon Tail to block it. He shook with effort and then opened his jaws to gather a purple-white light. "Dragon Pulse!" Brendan said.
Samurott immediately jumped back, disengaging from their battle of strength to avoid the powerful attack. "Focus Energy, Samurott. We can take Milotic out with a few more hits, just play it like we practiced."
"Understood," the water-type finally said.
Samurott took a deep breath as Milotic threw Confuse Ray and barely dodged it, much to Milotic's frustration. "You've been well trained," he said.
"As have you."
Mew didn't seem impressed by their impromptu conversation between the different moves being thrown at each other. "What is this fancy schmancy talking they're doing?" she demanded. "They're complimenting each other in the middle of a battle!"
I rolled my eyes as Samurott and Milotic sent powerful move after powerful move. "Some of us actually enjoy battling each other for sport, like Venusaur."
"Then how come you do it?"
"Do what?"
She let out an annoyed huff. "Battle, duh."
I let a smile slip. This sounded awfully familiar, didn't it? "'Cause I'm an adrenaline junkie. Plus I like seeing the looks on people's faces when they see a pikachu instead of, say, a raichu instead and still getting beaten."
"I was expecting something angsty."
"You would—" I stopped talking the moment I noticed Milotic fainted and crashed into the ground. "Wait, what happened? You distracted me!"
"Me? I would never do such thing," Mew said innocently.
I was disappointed that I didn't see what happened, but when Brendan recalled Milotic and sent out a dark-type canine, I blinked. Why would he send Mightyena out, knowing Samurott can use Mega Horn? Did he not have anything that could counter Samurott?
The rest of their battle went by in a flash. Mightyena was able to deal some damage but ultimately, fell to Mega Horn and while Brendan's last pokemon, Metagross, was able to hold his own against Samurott, he, too, fainted after a few moves.
I gulped as I stared at the victorious Samurott. Samurott stood proudly on the field when Black smiled and jumped to his side and gave him a pat on his shoulder. He said some words to him that was easily drowned by the crowd and recalled him. Brendan met him in the middle of the field and although disappointed, he smiled and shook his hand.
White was also proud and shot up to her feet as One said, "We have our first victors of the Champion Cup! Champions Dawn, Blue, and Black will be moving onto the second round!"
Two spoke up and said, "On Wednesday, who will join them? We are excited to find out!"
I shuddered with excitement. That was our day to battle and I let Red pick me up as he stood. "Finally! It's almost time for our battle! I'm so excited!" I couldn't help but shout.
My words made my trained blink and glance at me as I climbed onto my spot on his shoulders. We don't battle until Wednesday? His thoughts sounded unsure but I snickered.
"Still, I'm excited. Aren't you? Mew, you'll be watching us, right?"
"Of course!" Mew said, taking her place on Red's other shoulder. "I'll be your personal cheer leader!"
White appeared beside us as the others started to filter out of the box. "Hey, I'm going to go meet Black and take him out to eat or something to congratulate him for moving on. Wanna come?" she asked.
Red shook his head. "Need to train. We've… been busy," he replied.
She snorted. "That's an understatement. Okay, then, when you're done training then, text me. See you later!" She waved and practically sprinted out.
I glanced at Red. How was he so good at getting people's numbers without us noticing?
Ethan appeared beside us and was silent for a moment before he looked up at Red. "So, how did you get a girlfriend before me?"
Red walked away without a word.
-x-
"Everything hurts. My paws can't hold myself up anymore. Please, end my pitiful existence here and now!"
"Stop being so dramatic, Pikachu." Venusaur sat on the floor of our hotel room, letting Red take a cloth to wipe his sore muscles.
I groaned instead, laying flat on my back next to the table. Everything did hurt and the muscles that I thought I didn't have were pounding with every heartbeat. We'd been training the moment the battle was over until well past sunset—so much for just a couple hours on the beach. Red didn't let Charizard fly us back to our hotel room, not wanting to overwork him as much as he already was and had carried me the entire way back.
"You should all help me and Mew get Red on a real date then," Espeon said to us.
"I'll pass," Blastoise mumbled from inside his shell, no doubt exhausted.
"What if we lock them in a broom closet and the only way out is for them to kiss each other?" Mew suggested, her tail swinging back and forth as she floated in the air beside Espeon.
"Ooh, I like that."
"Please don't do that," Venusaur sighed. Snorlax grumbled in his sleep from beside Blastoise, but to me, it sounded like he was agreeing with the grass-type.
The two psychics voiced their disappointment but didn't push the idea anymore.
I raised my head as Red stepped away from Venusaur and tossed the towel away. Venusaur caught it mid-air with a vine and scowled at him. He made sure Espeon was translating before he scolded, "Don't just throw it anywhere, put it in the bathroom so it doesn't stink up the place."
"Blastoise is the strict one, huh?" Espeon said and giggled as Red took the towel to the bathroom anyway.
"Red, the fur on my tail hurts, I want a hot towel or five too," I whined.
He blinked. "Five towels?"
"Yes. I want to be a burrito. Forever."
Red just rolled his eyes and ignored my whining.
I went to bed that night without my wishes being granted.