Disclaimer on Chapter on
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Everyone was stunned, Trainers and spectators alike, as they watched the Regal pokémon tail slam the Iron Leg pokémon with such force that the strain on the boardwalk planks was too much to bear sending the pokémon down into the drink and nearly the Trainer also while the assailant landed lightly a few feet away.
"He…He actually got them" Lucario's Trainer stated in disbelief.
"He's left Serperior wide open" Zai noted seeing as how the grass-type pokémon had her back turned to her proper opponent.
The gang leader seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Zai as he looked pointedly to the Trainer of the Zangoose practically glaring at the Trainer to quit standing around doing nothing and striking now while he had the chance. Somehow picking up on what his boss was telling him, the Trainer who was supposed to be battling Alastor jumped into action. No way was some blue haired Trainer showing them up.
"Zangoose, attack with X-Scissor!" The gang member ordered actually grinning as if he could taste the victory and recognition he would be getting the moment the battle was over.
Yet, it was not going to be the way he had envisioned despite his pokémon leaping into the air at the unsuspecting snake's back with claws ablaze of crimson.
"Intercept with Wring Out!" Alastor called out calmly despite the situation seeming to be against him and Serperior.
Twisting her head around enough just to see Zangoose in her peripheral vision, Serperior, like a tightly wound spring, sprung at her opponent with such speed her opponent had no time to react before finding itself trapped in her coils and crushed to the point where it had fainted long before being tossed down to the ground below.
"Incredible…" Dragon could not help but awe as he watched the snake pokémon land gracefully in front of her Trainer.
Zai could not help but agree. This was definitely one pokémon he did not want to be on the wrong side of especially after seeing the crushing power of its coils. Aden barely batted an eyelid at the battle having seen Alastor and Serperior in action already during the Unova Pokémon League but was now more motivated than ever to become stronger if just to close the gap between him and Alastor.
"What are you idiots doing?! He's just one Trainer!" The gang leader snarled at his underlings clearly infuriated with the way their latest battle seemed to be going.
Snapping out of their stunned states at seeing two pokémon beat within seconds of each other- one belonging to their boss-, several of the gang pulled out pokéballs intent on defeating Alastor's Serperior through sheer force of numbers seeing how the Regal pokémon bested an opponent attempting to sneak up on her.
Their plan was foiled before they could even initiate it when a tornado of green foliage kicked up right behind them catching them all unawares and sending them tumbling across the pier with their pokéballs rolling and bouncing away from them in all directions.
"That was a Leaf Tornado!" Zai noted quickly recognising the move but still looked puzzled regardless.
"But…Serperior didn't even move and wasn't ordered to either" Dragon spoke up equally as puzzled as to how the attack had been launched.
"That's because it wasn't Serperior" Aden supplied for them gesturing not at Alastor or Serperior but to the little green pokémon suddenly darting over to the two and leaping onto the Trainer's shoulder.
"Good work. You actually surprised me for a second there" Alastor praised causing the little pokémon to beam at him.
Not wanting to have Zai tell him who that pokémon was, Dragon quickly whipped out his pokédex and aimed it at the mysterious pokémon.
Snivy- the Grass Snake Pokémon. By absorbing the suns light through the leaf on their tails, they use photosynthesis to improve their speed and movement considerably. The handheld console beeped while showing a picture of the aforementioned pokémon. Snivy is one of three starter pokémon for the Unova region alongside Tepig and Oshawott.
"But, it looks like an unevolved form of his Serperior…So how…?" Dragon asked staring at the two grass-types ahead of him.
"Just because it's a starter doesn't mean it can't be found in the wild" Aden pointed out.
"He's right. In Johto, there's a valley where Charizard's reside while somewhere in Kanto, members of the Bulbasaur evolution line gather in a secluded garden forest to evolve into their evolved forms" Zai added before he could stop himself. "Even my Treeko I caught while trying to get through one of the forests in Hoenn"
As if hearing his name being mentioned, the Wood Gecko pokémon suddenly poked his head out of Zai's oversized knapsack looking slightly groggy but curious all the same about what was being said. Then again, it never did like travelling via Wailord and would always hide in his Trainer's bag until they reached land again.
"Hey, that's cheating!" One of the gang members yelled bringing the conversation to a halt as they remembered what was currently happening.
"Yeah, you're using another pokmon!" Another of them snarled.
"Look who's calling who a cheat" The Trainer of the Shiny Gyarados scoffed to which many of the speculators agreed.
Alastor himself mentally agreed as he stared coolly at his opposition. "Yeah, Snivy is my pokémon but I didn't call her out or order her to attack. She's still young and…unpredictable, I guess you could call it" He pointed out causing the gang to clench their teeth in frustration.
From the side lines, Zai could not help but agree as he looked closely at the pokémon on the blue haired Trainer's shoulder. While he had read that Snivy and their evolution line were similar to that of the Treeko line, all calm and collected if a tad arrogant and snobbish, this Snivy appeared to be more rebellious and tomboyish the way she held herself and acted. Not only that but she had launched an attack without her Trainer's say-so despite the fact that those she had sent flying were about to gang up on her Trainer and brethren.
While it was true that not everything was how the books and pokédex described them, this pokémon was definitely a black Mareep of her kind.
"Anyways, what right have you to decide what's fair and what's not? From what I can see, there can't be much of you with able pokémon given a good portion of them were beaten by these two" Alastor continued jerking his thumb at the two Trainers who had been battling previously. "Why don't you just give up and go back to whatever alley way you crawled from before the proper authorities show up?"
With solid truth to his words coupled with the scary fact that their leader's pokémon had just been sent ploughing into the waters below, most of the gang started to feel unsure about their strength in numbers compared to the people backing the Trainer. Several of them were about to make a break for it there and then before Metagross suddenly burst through the planks of the boardwalk dripping wet and seemingly unscathed from the attack Serperior had dealt to it.
Not to mention rather cross at being dunked in salt water a bane of all metals whether pokémon or inanimate.
"Well that was quicker than I'd expected" Alastor grumbled irritably noticing the sudden rise in morale amongst the gang at the sight of their leader's pokémon returning and ready for more. "Was hoping your pokémon would show up a little later on than now"
"What's he going on about?" Dragon asked confused once more by the new turn of events.
"He knew Serperior's attack on Metagross would barely affect it. From the looks of things, he was hoping that, by catching them off-guard- Metagross especially- he would be able to force the gang into running away before Metagross came back" Zai speculated looking back on how Alastor had showed up and played along right up to the point where the battle commenced.
It seemed like a good plan now that he thought of it. By going along with the gang's tirade, Alastor managed to catch everyone napping when his Serperior attacked Metagross. There was the question of whether or not the blue haired Trainer had a more suited pokémon for the battle although given that, as far as Zai was aware, it could not learn any moves that would be highly effective against the steel/psychic-type hence making it the perfect candidate for the battle.
"Did you actually think you could beat Metagross with such a lousy attack?!" The leader mocked suddenly becoming all high and mighty now that his pokémon had returned from its impromptu bath.
"To be honest, I'd have been very surprised if Serperior had managed to beat Metagross so easily" Alastor admitted. "Does this mean you guys won't take up my suggestion of leaving while you can?"
"Here's a hint- Metagross, wipe out his pokémon with Meteor Mash!" The leader ordered pointing at Serperior.
Lunging forward, Metagross swung at Serperior with a fist covered by an image of a shiny meteor. Striking with all its might, the image exploded scattering star shaped particles all around mixing in with the gravel and stone sent flying from when the attack missed and hit the ground instead.
"He's wasting his time" Aden muttered as he watched Serperior slip away from the follow up strike with ease. "I may not be much of a researcher, but I've seen enough Serperior's while here in Unova to know that their speed and evasiveness are their greatest strengths"
Zai and Dragon quickly found themselves agreeing as they watched on as Metagross continued to attack Serperior with poor results. Whenever it looked like Metagross attack was going to hit, Serperior suddenly disappeared leaving the blow to devastate the ground instead. From the looks of things, Serperior was going to win this just by waiting for Metagross to collapse from exhaustion.
Becoming impatient with his pokémon failing to deliver their victory, the gang leader ordered Metagross to stop using Meteor Mash and instead switch to Gyro Ball a smart tactic given how the move's dynamics used the opponent's speed against them.
Tucking in its arms, Metagross began spinning rapidly in place before speeding towards Serperior.
"Jump to the right!" Alastor called out.
Heeding his order, Serperior swayed and darted left yet was still unable to avoid collision with Metagross sending her across the ground while her assailant made a wide U-turn before homing in on her again.
"Again! To the right!" Alastor told her to which Serperior obeyed yet still got struck despite her speed and reflexes.
"Why is he making her go right all of the time?" Dragon asked wincing as Metagross made a third consecutive hit to Serperior's left side as it shot passed.
"Because Metagross is spinning anti-clockwise" Zai explained. "When evading an oncoming attack, most pokemon reflexively dodge to the left using their left side as a makeshift shield while preparing a counter offensive with their right- for those with arms, obviously"
Just t"hink of the attacker and evader like two vehicles coming towards each other from opposite ends of a straight road" Aden cut in before the researcher went off on a tangent. "The force of impact depends on the speed of both vehicles before collision. Gyro Ball works by spinning anti-clockwise then striking from the opponent's right where the speed of rotation against the pokemon's evasive maneuver are at its greatest"
"So, by having Serperior dodge to the right…" Dragon started as he began to understand things.
"Alastor is minimising the damage she takes until she can fully avoid Metagross when it comes at her" Aden finished off.
Sure enough, on Metagross' fifth and final assault, Serperior skilfully evaded the attack despite the injuries she had taken to her left flank her left eye almost closed after the fourth blow grazed her head en pass.
Finally tiring from it's assault, Metagross extended its arms and landed gouging the ground as it skidded to a halt not far from its Trainer who was smirking at Alastor as if victory was in his grasp which may be likely even if Serperior still held herself ready for the next round.
"Your snake's not looking too good!" The gang leader sneered.
"Your walking brainbox isn't much of an opponent to her" Alastor retorted glancing confidently at his pokémon. "Let's wrap this up, okay, Serperior?"
(Lets) Serperior agreed ignoring her injuries and rising to her full height upping her intimidation factor as she glared at her foe. (I grow tired of this fight)
"Oh, this is gonna be wrapped up alright!" The gang leader declared. "Metagross, use Hyper Beam!"
Opening it's iron maw, Metagross unleashed a devastating beam of purple energy at Serperior who, despite her injuries, dodged it with ease. Left wide open for attack after using powerful move, Metagross was unable to defend itself against the next attack.
Only, it was not from Serperior from which the attack came.
"Get 'em, Jin! Flame Charge!" The female Trainer from before yelled out right before her Growlithe ploughed forward and struck the Metagross while awash in red hot flames.
Fatigued both from using Hyper Beam and it's assault against Serperior, Metagross was unable to endure the attack and collapsed in a dead faint at its Trainer's feet who was shocked and surprised at the sudden reappearance of the girl from earlier.
"You little brat!" The gang leader snarled angrily before the sound of distant sirens could be heard approaching.
"I took the liberty of calling the police while you and Blue were going at it" The girl smirked at him. "You may wanna run back to your mommies now"
Gnashing his teeth in frustration, the gang leader let out a shrill whistle informing the gang to scatter to which they quickly obeyed. As he vacated the port himself, the gang leader looked round to glare at the Trainer who had cost him his match.
"Next time we meet, I won't go easy on you, brat!"
"Yeah, yeah…" The girl waved off crouching down to catch her pokémon as he barrelled towards her happily. "Good job, buddy! We sure showed him, didn't we?!"
"Not to steal your thunder, toots, but you weren't exactly doing much of the showing up, if you get my drift" The Trainer of the Gyarados spoke up as he approached her. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you wiped the smirk off his face and all, it's just…"
"You just kinda showed up at the end and stole that guy's battle out from under him" The Trainer of the Lucario finished off knowing that his friend could never be properly direct in front of a girl even one as tomboyish as the girl with purple hair in front of them.
While slightly ticked off by their words, the grin did not slip from her face as she faced the two Trainers who had been battling the gang before she had first shown up.
"Okay: firstly, don't call me 'toots' if you know what's good for you. My name's Yulie so call me that if you wanna be on my good side; secondly, Blue interrupted my battle with those punks so I was just returning the favour" The girl stated confidently while her Growlithe yipped in agreement. "And this is Jin, my partner- just so you know"
"I'm Leonard and the womaniser here is Caesar" The Lucario Trainer introduced jerking his thumb at the braided Trainer beside him who just winked flirtatiously at Yulie.
"Thanks for the heads up…" Yulie thanked them taking a half step back from Caesar in case he tried to do more to her before looking around only to frown when she saw the retreating form of Alastor walking towards the ship bound for the Velgander Archipelago.
"If you were hoping he would compliment you, you'll be sorely disappointed" Aden spoke up as he approached them noticing where she was looking.
"You sound like you know him" Yulie commented as she turned to look at Aden, Dragon and Zai as they approached.
"Nah- I just happened to be participating in the same league as him" Aden replied scratching at his nest of brown hair.
"Uh- not that this is conversation is boring or anything but… if we're all here for the same thing, shouldn't we all get on-board first then continue before the boat leaves without us?" Dragon spoke up.
"He's right. We're all here for this tournament after all" Zai agreed with his Treeko nodding in agreement.
"Here-here! Onwards and forwards, fellow Trainers!" Caesar whooped as he led the way along the pier towards their objective.
Rolling her eyes at the Trainer's enthusiasm, Yulie followed along after the group her mind focused on matters far exceeding that of the tournament she was invited to.
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This was supposed to have been out before the end of the month along with a couple other pieces but I procrastinated too much. Ah well, c'est la vie…
Review if possible & until next time
Watch this space & peace out!