Big thanks to SaltyVigilante for being my first supporter at the patron place! If you'd also like to support me look for howling armadillo on that website they don't want me to talk about!
Ben's Team:
Ogrim - Golett
Dart - Beedrill
Cleo and Lacy/The Twins - Doduo
Alolan Geodude
Chapter 16: Gauss
"Hello battle fans, and welcome to Vermilion's first ever Pokémon tournament, here at the newly opened Vermillion Stadium! I'm your host DJ Fern, from Kanto's favorite radio show Let's All Sing, and I'm here with my co-hosts, two top tier trainers who need no introduction. But let's give them one anyways! To my left, Vermilion's very own Gym Leader, the man responsible for organizing this tournament, the Lightning Lieutenant, Surge!"
"That's right, make some noise, because I've put in a lot of effort to make sure we've got one heck of a show for you all!"
"Promising words from a man known for quite literally bringing the thunder in his battles! And to my right, we have another of Kanto's very best, Koga of the Elite Four!"
"I look forward to seeing the potential of Kanto's newest trainers."
"Don't we all? Now, we have a lot of ground to cover for our opening ceremony, but before we get into the details of how this little tournament is going to go, let's give the audience a sneak peek at what's to come! They may be new to the training scene, but we've gathered together all of the best and brightest of Kanto's up and comers. So join me in welcoming our competitors to the field!"
The crowd roars as trainers march into the stadium en masse, entering from every entrance simultaneously. Surge's gym trainers, distinguishable by their bright yellow armbands, all move about like herdier, working to keep the veritable mob in line as they assemble. More than two hundred trainers have gathered for their shot at the prize. Once the gym trainers have them all assembled the stadium, built to handle full 6v6 battles at the elite level, looks positively cramped.
And they haven't even brought out all the trainers yet.
"What an impressive showing! You certainly brought in one heck of a crowd, Surge!"
"This is just what happens when a trainer with my kind of history calls an event like this. It's only natural that all these rookies would want to show what they're made of! These newcomers are fresh on the scene and ready to prove themselves! We'll see how well it really goes for them!"
"An imposing challenge from our host! Do you think these trainers have what it takes to rise to the occasion, Koga?"
"Only time will tell. But I expect many of these trainers will surprise us."
"How very promising! Of course, with who we have left to call to the field, I suppose it's only natural that you'd have high hopes! Ladies, gentlemen, and others, we promised you the best and brightest, and to prove it we've hand-selected the most promising trainers we could find to present them to you here today. These ten trainers have been chosen for their guile, their skill, and of course their impressive teams, to act as our top seeds for this tournament! If we've called for the best then these are the best of the best, here for you today!"
I straighten up in my place in line, doing my best to keep the nerves from showing. It's okay, just think of it like the gym battle in Fuchsia, only… bigger. Much bigger. We'll be just fine!
All around me the other seeded trainers look like they're psyching themselves up as well. Sara's waving her arms as if trying to shake the worries out. Keith is doing a handstand and muttering to himself. A towering, familiar-looking man near the front of the line is muttering constantly in some sort of meditation. The only one of us who doesn't look concerned is Axel, performing his trademark move of not seeming to give a shit about anything.
"Starting with our tenth seed, we have a regular Pokémon catching savant! Representing the Cerise laboratory here in Vermilion, give it up for Goh Yamashita!"
Wait… Goh?
I watch the seeded trainer at the front of the line clap his hands to his cheeks and run out with a serious expression. This is… yeah, it's definitely the guy from the new seasons of the anime, Journeys or whatever the heck it's called. Obviously he looks different since he's not ten years old or animated, but the name matches, he looks similar enough, and I'm pretty sure that the Cerise laboratory is in that season. It all fits!
I'm very thankful for the tension distracting everyone else in the room right now, because I definitely fail to keep my expression calm as the revelation hits me. Apparently finding out that you're in a tournament arc facing a legit anime protagonist will do that to you. Might have to be careful around this guy. Power of friendship is a legit thing in this world, who's to say plot armor isn't as well?
Though he's only the first of the trainers I need to keep my eyes on. I take a moment to regain my cool and start focusing on the other seeded trainers properly as they're waved out into the stadium.
"For our ninth seed, we have a visitor all the way from the tropical beaches of the Alola Region! Here to serve up one heck of a battle, it's Ulu Aina!" This one's an interesting looking fellow. He looks like some sort of combat chef.
"Moving on to our eighth seed, this imposing trainer has the skills to match his stature! Representing Lavender Town's new Pokémon Gym, we have Arthur Dominic!" The largest man in the room steps forward resolutely, hands tucked into the pockets of a long, heavy looking coat, and I realize suddenly where I recognize him. Arthur was one of the trainers that got eliminated at the end of Koga's challenge. He'll definitely be one to look out for, if memory serves Koga said he was a tough battler.
"Our seventh seed is here under Kanto's Pokémon Ranger Trainee program! Let's give it up for Katerina Stewart!" The girl who walks out looks unassuming, most of her presence coming from the bright ranger reds of her uniform. Considering the profession she's aiming for though, I have a feeling I'd rather not face off against her. She'll be much tougher than she looks.
"Next up, this beauty of a trainer is actually aiming to be a professional coordinator, but don't let that fool you! Her skills are as sharp as her outfits! Representing the Lavender Radio Tower, put your hands together for Valeria Eglamore!" In stark contrast to the previous girl, Valeria looks like she's here to kick ass and take names, and make everyone else look like chumps while doing it. Her short hair is styled into a delicate wave, and she wears an outfit that looks less appropriate for pokémon battling and more appropriate for a prince at a fancy ball. She marches into the stadium with her head held high, as if telling the competition that she's above them all.
"This next trainer is definitely one to watch out for! They're the latest big trainer to come out of Pallet Town, and we're already seeing signs that they're looking to live up to their hometown legacy! Everyone give a warm welcome to Mint Monokuro!" The trainer in front of me looks back, gives me a tight smile, and walks stiffly out the door. No doubt there's a lot of pressure on Pallet Town trainers these days, and Mint looks like they're pulling right from the same playbook as the biggest Pallet trainer of them all. Even their outfit looks like a color swapped version of Champion Red's classic trainer outfit, with red swapped out in favor of pale green… or mint, I guess. Yeah that makes sense, doesn't it? Out of all the seeded trainers, they look to me like they want to be here the least, taking their place in line and looking like they desperately want to throw up right now.
I can kinda sympathize right now, to be honest.
"Wow, what a wide assortment of brilliant trainers, folks! There's no doubt they'll be giving us one heck of a show. But our last four seeded trainers are the most exciting of the lot. Brace yourselves, because our four top seeds are the trainers personally sponsored by Elite Four Koga himself!"
The crowd cheers loudly enough that the sound coming from the stadium briefly drowns out the announcer's booth. I can't help but take a step back in spite of myself. This is the kind of fame that comes with being one of the Elite Four, and my name, no, all our names have been attached to that. When I go out there I'll have that attention on me; attention typically reserved for the best trainers in the world.
When the gym trainers wave me towards the exit I take a moment to recenter myself. A nice, deep breath to regain my cool. Only for Sara to nudge me forward right as I'm about to move and distract me. I shoot her a glare and jog out onto the field, and am bathed in the bright glow of floodlights.
"Our fourth seed is a tactician in training with a head for unconventional strategies. He's the oldest trainer in the tournament, but don't let that fool you: this man's young at heart! All the way from Nimbasa Town in Unova, it's Ben Wilson!"
Since I've been taking note of everyone else's appearance as they appear on the big screen, I suppose it's worth noting that I've cleaned up a bit myself to prepare for this thing. Keith basically forced all of us through a fashion boot camp a few days ago. I'm actually pretty pleased with the results; I settled on a nice collared purple shirt that really pops out under my usual black jacket. My hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and my facial hair looks less like the messy result of several months neglecting it due to travel and more like something that's intended to be there.
Apparently the crowd thinks I look alright too, because they let out one heck of a cheer as I walk out into the light. The noise is deafening, but I push on regardless. I wave my arms for the crowd with my best grin, making my way over to where the other seeded trainers are lined up.
"This lovely lady aims to be an iron wall for her enemies to fall against. Hit her with all you've got, she'll brush it off like it's nothing! From Fuchsia City it's Sara McLain!" Sara settled on a heavy looking vest and cargo pants for her look, making her frame look bulkier in a way clearly intended to intimidate whoever she gets paired up against. She walks out with a beaming grin, showing nothing but confidence, but when she looks my way I see the question in her eyes. The two of us had a bit more in-depth of an introduction that everyone else so far…
"He may look peaceful, but it's all a ruse. Behind that expression is a brutally powerful battle style! He's the calm, and his team is the powerful storm that follows! From Boyleland in Almia, Axel Guiness everyone!"
Yeah, the four of us are all having our battle styles revealed for the competition. God damnit Koga, you couldn't let us have one tournament before our battle styles were being picked apart?
"Do you suppose Koga wrote these himself? Or did he just give Fern some points to work off of?" Axel asks, shouting to be heard over the crowd. He's dressed the most simple out of our group, opting for a simple blue turtleneck and rolling up the sleeves, though he did spike his hair a little.
"Probably wrote them himself," I yell back, "You heard all those speeches during the licensing exam. For how serious he acts he definitely has a flair for the dramatic!"
Axel laughs and nods at my point, and the two of us straighten up as Fern starts Keith's introduction.
"Last but certainly not least, our first seed! He's been honing his skills in the arts of ninjutsu and Pokémon training since childhood. A man who's been training under Koga for nearly as long as his own daughter! His dazzling speed and skill will take you out of the fight before you even know what hit you! From Fuchsia City, it's…" DJ Fern trails off, staring in confusion at the entrance the rest of us came in through.
This is because the entrance is now pouring purple smoke out over the field. The cheering of the crowd quickly dies as everyone watches the doorway in confusion.
"Did Keith really arrange to get a special entrance?" Sara asks, watching the exit with an expression of extreme annoyance.
"Somehow," I say drily, watching several gym trainers run out of the smoke coughing, "I don't think he arranged this at all."
"I don't know which show I'm looking forward to more," Axel says, "Seeing Keith's big entrance, or seeing the chewing out he'll get later."
Personally I'm looking forward to the latter the most. But before I can say as much Keith comes flying out of the smoke. He doesn't just leap out of course; the flashy idiot could never settle for something so mundane. No, the bugger is doing midair somersaults, spinning so fast I can only really recognize him by the telltale red of his shoes.
There's one intrepid cameraman who braved the smoke to keep filming, so Keith is in full display on the big screen as he hits the ground in a perfect three point landing. He then spins on the ground as he rises to his feet, twisting like a dancer. His display ends with him pointing dramatically at the camera, his mask as usual doing nothing to hide the cocky smirk on his face. "Hello Kanto!" He declares, "Thrilled to be here!"
"Keith Baxter, everyone!" Fern calls out. Upon learning that this lunatic is the trainer they were waiting for, the crowd goes ballistic, as Keith bows and blows kisses to the camera.
"Koga is going to destroy him," Sara says, giving the ninja clown a very unimpressed look, "He's going to destroy him and I want to be there for every single minute of it."
"Hopefully," I agree as Keith makes his way over to the rest of us, "It'll be a wonder if anyone even remembers us after that."
"How was that for an entrance?" Keith calls out to the rest of us, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
"Very flashy," Axel says, with all the patience of a saint.
"Oh yes, very impressive," I snark, "Axel, why don't you show the man how impressed I am, I can't reach him from here."
"Perhaps once we aren't on international television," Axel replies, giving me an amused look.
"I suppose that would be the smart way to do things," I laugh, settling myself into my place in line and pretending to ignore Keith as he gasps dramatically at our reactions. DJ Fern starts talking about the rules to the tournament, but I only half listen, having heard the gist from Koga already.
Instead, I spend some time just absorbing the atmosphere of this place. The roar of the crowd, the floodlights so bright I can practically feel the heat coming off of them, the vast open space of the arena. And of course, the knowledge that soon everyone here will be watching to see just what my team and I can do.
I think I could get used to this.
"First matchups just came in," Axel reports, waving his pokégear to catch our attention.
Sara immediately scrambles to check for hers, but I keep focusing on my task. "Does somebody want to check mine for me?" I ask, gesturing towards the large bird I'm currently tending to, "I'm a little preoccupied at the moment."
The three of us are currently relaxing out on the balcony of the suite, watching the distant lights of the boats out in the harbor. We're also taking advantage of the fact that this is the only place we're allowed to let any of our Pokémon out. Though in my case it's just the Twins; the hotel has a policy against allowing hazardous types out of their balls, which means the rest of my team is off limits. Still, I felt like spending some time with my Pokémon outside of training, a rare thing as of late, so I'm taking the opportunity to connect with the girls in a way I don't usually get to.
Grooming Cleo and Lacy is largely unnecessary. Bird Pokémon naturally take care of cleaning themselves without any real need for assistance, since much like the birds I'm more familiar with they use their beaks to preen their feathers. But while they don't actually need my help to keep clean, it does make for a good opportunity to bond. The two of them are never ones to turn down a bit of attention.
Of course, the task also requires no small amount of delicacy on my part. If I ever accidentally tug too hard on a feather the girls do not hesitate to make their feelings known. They won't go so far as to draw blood, but their beaks still hurt like a bitch. I've had to become skilled at tending to the two very quickly for my own sake.
The others have been enjoying their time with their own teammates, the ones that are allowed out, at least. Axel's much like me, only having one Pokémon allowed out that won't violate the hotel policy. Shizu the slowpoke doesn't seem to register much of what's going on around her, but I'm sure she's happy in her own way. From Sara's team comes Poppy, the big wigglytuff bouncing around the balcony happily, her giant eyes seeming to drink in the distant nightlife.
Sara also released Roper earlier, but we all determined rather quickly that had been a bad idea. Expensive deck furniture and fancy hotel balcony flooring do not mix well with ferroseed spikes.
We'll… be waiting until later to mention that little addition to the bill, I think. Koga continues to be in a rather bad mood, judging from the sound of his voice coming from inside the hotel room and how loudly Keith is complaining.
Fresh air sure is nice.
"I'm in the first round of battles," Sara says, pulling my mind back to the tournament. She looks apprehensive as she glances back up to us, "I'm the only seeded trainer, too."
"That seems to be a trend," Axel says thoughtfully, scrolling through the match listings, "Of the initial round of battling we have all been spread out relatively evenly. Ben is in round five. I am in round eleven. And Keith is in round sixteen. The same goes for the other seeded trainers. We've all been placed at least two rounds apart. And Mint's been placed in round twenty two to finish the first round of preliminaries."
"Makes sense," I muse, gently teasing a clump of dirt out of the girls' feathers, "Like I said before, we're the money-makers for this tournament. We're the closest thing this tournament has to a real media draw. The more spread out we are, the better we can serve to keep people from getting bored."
"I see. Since this is a rookie tournament there is little guarantee the competition will manage to entertain enough to maintain high international viewership. Especially once the Unova League begins in a few days. It will make for stiff competition in media attention on the battling scene," Axel hums thoughtfully as he absentmindedly pats Shizu on the head, "One must wonder why Surge chose this time to run a tournament."
"Been wondering about that myself," I comment, "Hard to say though, really. Maybe he's got other things going on that would have got in the way. Maybe he had a stadium burning a hole in his pocket and just couldn't wait to cash in. Maybe he thought out of all the Leagues he could potentially compete with he had the best chance of stealing viewers from Unova. Maybe some Unovan bigshot trainer just pissed him off back in the day and now he's got a grudge."
"Whatever's going on, all this grandstanding makes me feel… gross," Sara mutters, "All this talk about media coverage and all the focus on marketing feels so… Galarian. I've always thought the reason we haven't let them join with the Pokémon League was to escape that kind of battling culture."
"Sorry to disillusion you Sara, but there isn't a region out there where marketing isn't a big part of Pokémon battling," I shrug, "The Galar may be a lot more gaudy with how they go about that stuff, but the marketing aspect is always there, no matter where you go."
"Yes, the only reason the Pokémon League and the Galar League are separate entities is because the Pokémon League refuses to have anything to do with dynamax battles," Axel adds, "Too many potential liability issues."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Sara groans, a sour expression on her face, "Ugh! I thought you were supposed to be the one living the childish fantasy Ben, not me! I feel dumb now."
"Sorry to say, being a jaded bastard comes naturally with becoming an adult," I chuckle, reaching over to pat Sara consolingly on the shoulder, "I had plenty of years working boring miserable jobs before I became a trainer to reach an appropriate level of cynicism."
"I guess I get that. I just thought training might be a bit different," Sara sighs.
"Being a trainer is still great, as far as I'm concerned," I shrug, "But even the best job in the world has its ugly side…" I trail off for a moment, thinking about my friends back in Unova, all being forced to confront that part of Pokémon training at its absolute ugliest. "I came here instead of training at home for a reason," I eventually say.
Axel nods knowingly, apparently not one to avoid keeping up on global news. Sara doesn't share the same expression of understanding, but I know she remembers the grim conclusion to my chat with Hilda a few weeks ago. They both know on some level that things in Unova aren't great right now.
"While Ben is correct to say that one should keep their expectations for this profession realistic," Koga says, reclining on a patio chair nearby, "I encourage you all to look at the commercial side of this business as an opportunity rather than a detriment."
We all take the usual moment to blink in surprise and gasp at Koga's ability to appear out of nowhere, this time with the added spice of Poppy nearly falling off the balcony in surprise. We've only just managed to rescue her when Keith slams the patio door open, an elaborate Koga body double under one arm, looking extremely frazzled. "Literally HOW!?" He exclaims, "I was staring at your feet the whole time!"
"Perhaps if you had been looking at my face instead it would not have taken you so long to realize you were bowing at the feet of a wooden puppet," Koga replies, guilelessly sipping at a cup of tea, "Your powers of observation seem to be degrading, apprentice."
Keith can only stand there stammering. Koga turns away from him and back to the rest of us, "Remember what I told you all before. This is but a taste of the lifestyle you will face if you continue down this career path. The attention you receive now is essentially my own. You do not have reputations as trainers, not truly. It is my reputation that caused the crowd to cheer when that announcer called your names. But if you continue down this road that will not remain the case. Depending on how you conduct yourselves in this tournament there is a chance it will already cease to be the case by the end. Even Keith's stunt, reckless and stupid as it was, has served to distinguish him in his own way."
"You think so?" Keith asks hopefully, snapping out of his bewildered state.
"Indeed. You have been distinguished as a cocky, empty-headed fool concerned more with his ego than with displaying good sense," Koga replies severely.
"Aww…"
"Ben, your own reputation shows signs of shifting as well," Koga continues, looking my way.
"It does?" I blink in surprise, "I haven't done anything to stand out though…"
"In your case it is your age that distinguishes you," Koga replies, "In the upper echelons of Pokémon battling your age would be nothing special, but to be starting Pokémon training while approaching your thirties is rare. You are the oldest participant in this tournament, with the next oldest being four years younger than you. This is not enough to build a reputation on its own, but it does mean a good bit of attention is already on you and your team."
Lacy clicks her beak at that, straightening a little. Not surprising, I suppose. Attention is her favorite word, after all. Cleo on the other hand looks thoughtful at Koga's proclamation. She looks back at me, seeming to assess me, and then starts prodding at me with her beak.
"Uhh, Cleo…" I say uncertainly, starting to lean away from her beak.
"Wark!" Cleo snaps irritably, rapping the other side of my head with her beak and forcing me to sit up straight again.
"Ow! Okay, stay still, got it!" I yelp, trying as hard as I can not to move as Cleo starts her manhandling again. After a moment or two Lacy notices her sister's actions and leans in on my other side.
"Are they… preening him?" Keith asks, looking torn between confusion and amusement.
"Looks like it," Sara replies, tilting her head in assessment, "They're actually pretty good at that."
"I do have a lot of hair to work with," I say, watching as the twins arrange said hair so that it's falling just right around my shoulders, "Though I feel like I should remind you both that I usually tie my hair up when I battle so it doesn't get in my face."
The girls stop at that. "Kweh!" Cleo snaps irritably. Then after a moment of thought they seem to decide they're already invested in this little project of theirs and go back to fixing my hair.
"Guess you're not getting out of it that easily," Axel says, chuckling at the antics of my Pokémon.
"I suppose not," I reply, also laughing at the twins' actions, "Well let's make sure to get some pictures when they're done. It'll make for a good PR photo, I'm sure."
We all continue to sit and chat as the twins play hairdresser with me. And once we get some pictures of their finished product (aka: me) we agree to head to bed and rest up for the battles tomorrow.
Which is about when Keith realizes that Koga has long since disappeared. With the body double he'd been holding. His outraged shout can probably be heard from halfway across Vermillion.
The first day of the tournament proper sees some real ups and downs, but thankfully my little group of friends is staying strictly on the up side of things so far. Sara's first match, the first match of any seeded trainer, receives the pyroar's share of the attention in the first round of battling, with the cameras being almost entirely focused on her battle and ignoring the others save for a few small highlights.
Sara handles the attention well though, starting off with Stat, her fastest and flashiest Pokémon. The opponent tries to fight back with a stantler that seems relatively well trained, but it can't hope to keep up with the speed of a jolteon, and can't manage to pin him down with mental attacks either. The crowd cheers in approval as Stat runs literal circles around his foe, and handily dominates both the battle and the media attention.
Though that actually leads to some problems of its own. Each round of the preliminaries has a grand total of ten trainers battling in Vermillion's massive stadium all at once, with the massive field made for full league matches splitting up quite neatly into much smaller affairs more suited to rookie trainers like us. That means that when Sara takes up most of the focus of the first round there's another eighteen trainers that don't get very much attention at all, and nine of those trainers are sticking around to give her some very dirty looks.
That problem only intensifies in round three. The seeded trainer that round is Valeria Eglamore, and she dominates the camera's attention even more than Sara did. Because there is nothing a camera likes more than a Pokémon Coordinator. Her and her staravia completely monopolize the camera's time with an elegant display of cool beauty that gives everyone battling at the same time as her an inferiority complex.
And then she laughs at them. Because Valeria is apparently some manner of girlboss. I definitely feel kinda bad for the other trainers, but having watched their battles in person I can't say they were really doing much to compete with her so… sucks to suck, I guess.
But yeah, the bad blood between the seeded trainers and everyone else looks like it won't be going away any time soon. Especially since I plan on doing the same thing. My opponent is about to have a bad time. He's got it coming. Dumb looking kid with his hat on backwards thinking he's gonna be the next bigshot. We're not in the nineties, kid, wearing your hat backwards stopped being cool a long time ago!
I guess in the world of Pokémon wearing your hat backwards was a fad in the 840s instead of the nineties, thanks to the whole 'capture era' thing, but whatever, same principle still applies.
Anyways, the real question is: what kind of beatdown am I going to unleash? The twins are out, of course. They have no patience for having their time wasted with a subpar battle; I'll need to wait to use them until later in the tournament when my opponents are more likely to be actual threats. That leaves me with three choices.
In the end I decide which of my team members based on what kind of impression I want to give. Koga said last night I already had a reputation, and he helped things along by telling the competition our battling styles. Sara chose to use that to her advantage by using Stat, the outlier on her team, to throw off the opponent's expectations and keep people guessing what she's really capable of. But I figure it's better for me to do the complete opposite. Koga had me introduced as a tactician; so I'm gonna use the most tactical Pokémon I've got!
The referee for our battle arena gestures for us to release our Pokémon, so I toss the ball forward, "Gauss, on my mark!"
Yup. I named Geodude Gauss. Seemed the appropriate choice for a magnet using genius. Apparently the physicist was a thing in this world as well, which really blew my mind. They still named the unit of measurement after him and everything. Only real difference is in this world he apparently got started on his magnetic experiments by working with the magnemite line and working out his mathematical theories with their help. Pretty neat stuff. But I digress.
My opponent sent out an eiscue, a weird penguin Pokémon from Galar with an ice cube for a head. Interesting choice. He looks like a generic Red wannabe, but maybe there's something more to him than I thought. We'll see if it's enough to overcome my type advantage.
"Gauss, that block on its head can defend against your shots," I call out, "And if you break it it'll get much faster. Don't go for the head shot unless you have a follow up ready."
"Geo," Gauss nods, clearly thinking over my intel carefully.
The ref gives us the signal, and things immediately kick off in a big way. The eiscue opens up with a wave of water that rushes over the field. A surf attack. Pretty sure that's an advanced technique for eiscue. Impressive stuff.
"Gauss, use rock tomb to break the waves and then get off the ground!" I call out, watching the coming water with trepidation.
Gauss doesn't hesitate, slamming a fist into the ground and calling a big rock in front of him to act as a shield. The water crashes into the stone but fails to break it, and the water is forced to flow around it instead with much less force. By the time it reaches Gauss he's floated in the air well above where the water can reach it.
"He's using the water to approach," I call out, tracking the eiscue as it rides the wave.
Gauss scoffs dismissively at that, reaching out with one hand and sending a thundershock crackling into the water Palpatine style. The eiscue spasms in the water, letting the surf attack die out, and waddles backwards with a guarded stance.
"Wow, I've never seen a geodude do that before!" I hear DJ Fern exclaim.
"That's because you're not just looking at any ordinary geodude," Surge replies, "This geodude is from Alola, and the whole species there is part electric type! The perfect thing to catch a rookie who hasn't learned about regional variants off guard."
"Indeed, it would seem that Mr. Wilson's opponent failed to realize he was not dealing with an ordinary geodude, and now he is paying the price," Koga says gravely.
Ah, so my opponent didn't know he was facing an electric type, did he? Well, let's capitalize on that confusion. "Gauss, keep driving them back! Rock throw!"
Gauss grabs a rock the size of a baseball out of the ground and pitches it high speed into the eiscue's gut. Then he hurls another. And another. The traditional method of using the move still isn't something Gauss is the biggest fan of, since he isn't a huge fan of techniques that fail to show off his mental prowess. But our… alternative measure takes a bit too much prep time to be able to fire off in rapid succession, so he's forced to do things manually for now.
The eiscue is groaning with pain as the stones smash into it, until finally it manages to defend itself by creating a wall of solid ice. The stone hits it hard, but doesn't break it. The next stone puts a crack in it, but it still stays strong.
This seems to be another one of those cases where physics is taking precedence over Pokémon logic. Rock type beats ice type, but in real life a solid mass of ice can be far stronger than stone under the right circumstances. That said, these don't seem to be those right circumstances, so I doubt it will take much more to finally break that shield.
Gauss lets out a thoughtful hum, lining up a shot that hits a point in the ice block far from where he just hit. For a moment nothing seems to happen, prompting the geodude to let out a frustrated huff. But then a moment later the crack in the ice suddenly extends to reach the point he just hit, and the whole wall suddenly splits in half. "Geodude," Gauss says, sounding very satisfied with himself, as he picks up another rock.
"A precise blow, aimed in just the right way to exploit the vulnerabilities in that icy defense," Koga comments, sounding impressed, "But the eiscue has not been spending its time idly."
As the ice crumbles and I get a good look at my opponent I can see that Koga is right. The eiscue seems to be looking healthier now, with whorls of water flowing around its body like a vest. That's gotta be the move aqua ring. So my opponent plans to wall up and heal until all our damage is gone, huh?
"They can't heal that fast Gauss, just hit them again," I call out, unbothered by the development.
The eiscue doesn't wait to let Gauss get any free shots off this time though, calling up yet another wall of ice to block Gauss' rocks. "Hmm…" I frown, not liking how quick it was to reestablish that defense, "Maybe we do have a bit of a problem here."
Gauss though… Gauss disagrees. Rather than attempt another pinpoint strike at the structural flaws in eiscue's frozen barriers, he decides to take a more straightforward approach to the problem. He throws yet another punch at the ground, this time calling the rock tomb attack directly underneath the edge of the ice wall. The whole thing is lifted at an angle, and topples over to reveal the startled eiscue behind it.
Despite the eiscue's technique proving less viable by the second, the trainer seems to double down. Eiscue retreats further, and starts calling up another ice wall. When Gauss breaks this one as well it starts retreating again, this time blowing a powder snow attack across the field as it runs to a new position. Gauss doesn't exactly enjoy that added tactic, but it doesn't really do any damage at this distance. More of an annoyance, really.
Looks like annoyance is going to be something I have to deal with for the foreseeable future unless something big changes. My opponent seems determined to turtle up until he's completely recovered, content in his barely maintained stalemate. I have no patience for this shit; looks like I need to go for the big finisher. "Gauss, it's time!" I call out, smirking in anticipation of what's to come.
"Geodude!" Gauss cries, bursting into action. He slams his hand into the ground, calling up a large rock. He looks at the cowering eiscue for a moment, then grabs the rock and tosses it straight up in the air. That is… not at all what I was telling him to do, actually. What is Gauss doing? It is suddenly taking a whole lot of willpower on my part to keep my smile in place. Remember the cameras, Ben! Remember the cameras!
Thankfully Gauss' next actions are far more in line with what I was planning, as he starts to channel electricity through his arms and places a rock in his mouth. He holds his arms up in front of him, watching the cowering eiscue carefully. Electricity courses through his body, visibly crackling off of him as he lines up his shot. His teeth are gritted against the stone, his ever intense eyes narrowed in focus.. A channel of electricity jumps from one of Gauss' arms to the other, crossing right through the stone held in his teeth.
From there everything happens within the span of a couple of seconds, and despite knowing… most of what Gauss is doing, I still have trouble following it all. But the basic play by play goes like this…
The rock explodes out of Gauss' mouth with a deafening crack of thunder.
The stone Gauss threw earlier touches down behind eiscue's barrier, startling the unfortunate penguin pokémon and shattering its frozen helmet.
Gauss' cannon shot punches through the ice wall like paper, slamming into eiscue's now unprotected head and sending it flying through the air..
And as a grand finale, what's left of the ice wall explodes into dust, causing the air to sparkle as eiscue flops to the ground. A beautiful finish to an extremely technical attack, fit to make any coordinator nod in approval.
Do not let your jaw drop Ben. Remember the cameras. This was all according to plan. All of it. Just keep smiling. Smile, and maybe stick your hands in your pockets because they seem to be spasming right now. Yup, theeeeeeere we go. We are the picture of fucking confidence right now. Look at us go.
"Eiscue is unable to battle, the winner is Ben Wilson and his geodude!" The ref calls out, waving a flag in our direction.
"What an attack!" Fern shouts as the crowd cheers, "Did that geodude just spit that rock through the barrier?"
"Nah, that was an electric technique!" Surge explains, "He charged his arms with electricity to create a magnetic force that fired that rock like a bullet from a gun!"
"A highly technical attack, aimed perfectly to take advantage of the weak points in that eiscue's barrier," Koga continues, "Let this be a lesson for any aspiring ice-type trainers out there: the ice type can be surprisingly flexible with its defenses, but only if one possesses a proper understanding of the structure of their creations. Mr. Talbot failed to account for this, and so his eiscue's walls possessed critical flaws that lead to their defeat."
"Wise words Koga, wise words indeed!" Fern exclaims, "Meanwhile, over in battlefield four it looks like things are heating up…"
As attention pulls away from our victory and back towards the other ongoing battles, Gauss bounces his way over to me. His expression is, of course, as serious as ever, but there's a satisfied glimmer in his eyes that gives him away. Gauss isn't one for patting himself on the back but he knows he did a damn good job just now.
"As debut battles go, I daresay that was completely exceptional," I comment, grinning down at my newest teammate.
"Dude," Gauss replies, allowing the smallest hint of a smile to creep across his face at my praise. I beam back at him as I return him to his ball, and make my way off the field. Once I'm safely out of sight of the cameras I pull out my Pokégear and look to see all the messages I've been getting. Apparently with a couple days to go until the Unova League begins my friends have had time to watch my first match.
There's a brief text from Cheren, praising Gauss' accuracy and congratulating me on my win. There's at least a dozen texts from Bianca that say about the same with far more enthusiasm. Glad to see she's talking to me again.
And last but not least is Hilda, with a play by play breakdown of the fight that she was almost certainly typing up as she watched. She concludes by lightly teasing, "Pretty good, but you've got a long way to go to catch up yet! I'll show you what a real battle looks like in a few days."
I smile at the taunt, but it feels bittersweet. She knows as well as I how real the stakes will be getting before long. Our time in the spotlight is fun for now, but she'll have the weight of the world on her shoulders all too soon.
And the more I think about that, the more a small part of me can't help but wonder if leaving all that trouble behind was a mistake.
Alright, that's another chapter down! Lots of buildup for stuff to come, lots of new characters to be expanded on later, lots of preparation for the big TOURNAMENT ARC!
...Odd, those words seem to be stuck in all-caps. Oh well.
Gonna just take a moment to shill the patron thingie some more before wrapping up here. I'm really hoping to get that off the ground and start improving my financial situation. Eventual goal is to get to the point where I can start working part time and use the extra time and energy to work on my fanfics at a much faster pace. Emphasis on the energy, because that's definitely the biggest hurdle I'm fighting right now. I'll get home from work and want to write but I'm so tired I'll just sleep for four hours, and then I've only got a little time to work on my stories before I have to go to bed so I can wake up early and do it all again. Happened to me literally every day this week. So yeah, any support would be appreciated. I want to go back to the good old days of monthly uploads, I miss those times!
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, please feel free to leave a review, and I'll see you all next time!
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