While on a stroll through Titian City, Ash discovers that there is a dance going on in the town square. While the others are more than interested in going, Misty is not so sure....but a quick dance on the kitchen floor soon changes her tune!
However, the group's dreams of dancing the night away are soon shattered when Team Rocket comes and crashes the party! However, instead of panicking like everyone else does, Brock uses his wiles and his trusty fiddle to send Team Rocket dancing off to the slammer.
The group then returns to the arena the next morning to find Brawly and Shawna waiting for them, and in rush of romantic interest, Brock proposes a duel with Shawna for the third round in the championship!
Can Brock hold his instincts in check long enough to win the round? Find out!
The Heart of the Cards, part 20: Two Perfect Storms
Misty sighed. "I never knew that we would initiate our own third round duel..."
"Well, a duel is a duel, and Shawna looks to be a promising duelist..." Maya mused as the scoreboard blipped to life with the deck information: RUBY DEWFORD TEMPEST SAPPHIRE ROCK STORM.
"Let's just Brock doesn't go into romantic mode while he duels...this is serious stuff." Michael replied as the ref blew the whistle, signaling that Brock had won the toss. The scoreboard also updated with the HP count; RUBY: 3 3 4 53 200 SAPPHIRE 2 4 4 53 180...
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"Go for it, Geodude!" Brock commanded, flipping up his active card. A Geodude hurried into the arena, eager to battle.
"I choose...Meditite!" Shawna commanded, flipping up her active card. A Meditite twirled into the arena and struck a battle pose.
"Sapphire's turn!"
Brock started by attaching a Fighting Energy to his Geodude. "Geodude, Tackle the Meditite!" he commanded. The Geodude slammed into the unsuspecting Meditite with such force, it begin to teeter backwards. Thankfully, it recovered enough to assume a seated position, where it waited for an order from Shawna. Shawna's HP, however, went down by 10.
"Ruby's turn!"
"Meditite, Punch the Geodude!" Shawna commanded. The Meditite wound up and delivered a harsh jab to the Geodude's face, stunning it. Brock's HP went down by 10.
"Sapphire's turn!"
Brock set aside the Fire Energy he had drawn into his hand. "Better save this for Vulpix.." he thought as he attached a second Fighting Energy to Geodude. "Geodude, Rock Toss!" he commanded. The Meditite tried to dodge the oncoming avalanche, but was soon buried under the rocks. Shawna's HP went down by 20.
"Ruby's turn!"
Shawna quickly attached a Psychic Energy to Meditite, then commanded "Meditate on thoughts of winning!" The Meditite closed its eyes and began to hum thoughtfully...
"What's it doing?" Brock was confused.
"Oh, Meditate acts like a Pluspower by boosting Meditite's attack for three turns, and it also does damage too!" Shawna giggled. "So get ready to kiss your Geodude goodbye!"
Brock swallowed hard as the Meditite started to focus on a ball of red energy in its hands. After a few minutes, the pulsing crimson orb slammed into his Geodude, causing his HP to drop by 20.
"Sapphire's turn!"
"Don't get cocky just yet, for I have a secret weapon..." and Brock displayed Graveler lv. 32 to the audience. He overlaid that on top of the Geodude, making a Graveler appear in its place and boosting his HP to 200. "Okay! Rock Toss!" he commanded, motioning to the ref.
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"You were right, Maya!" Ash smiled. "Shawna IS a pretty good duelist..."
"Well, I've analyzed her bench and noticed she has something special..." Maya explained, turning the Pokenavi to where the others could see. "See this?" she asked, pointing out a lone purple dot against two brown dots on the bench.
"I know that the dots stand for types of cards, and brown and purple stand for Fighting and Psychic, respectively...." Ash noted. "But what's so special about that Psychic card?"
"It's a Psychic Baltoy, a special edition holo card you can only get in the Challenge Hall in Dewford Town." Michael explained. "Shawna must've either dueled a lot to get that card or gotten really lucky while looking through booster packs."
"And what's the difference between that and a normal Baltoy?" Misty asked as she watched Brock take one of his prizes.
"A normal Baltoy is a Fighting type..." Michael explained.
"Will Brock be able to defeat it if she brings it out?" Misty asked, pausing to watch Shawna place a Makuhita in the arena.
"Of course!" Ash replied, turning his cap back confidently.
"Huh?" The others turned to look at Ash, eager for an answer.
"See, as a little thank you to Brock for letting me borrow his cards in my duel with May, I let him have one of my spare Abras and Kadabras..." Ash explained. "So now we ALL have one!"...
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"Ruby's turn!"
"Makuhita, Fling Out!" Shawna commanded. She watched with a smirk as the Makuhita hoisted the Graveler in the air and tossed it back onto Brock's bench, bringing out an Abra lv. 10 in its place. The Abra brushed itself clean, then turned to look at Brock, expectantly waiting an order.
"Sapphire's turn!"
"Well, well...what an opportunity..." Brock smirked as he attached a Psychic Energy to Abra. "I don't think Shawna knows that Fighting is weak to Psychic...she'll DEFINITELY know when I unleash Kadabra next turn!" With that thought in mind, he commanded "Abra, Psyshock!"
The ref blew the whistle, getting everyone's attention. "Coin toss! If heads, Ruby is paralyzed!..." The coin went up...and landed on heads! The Abra, meanwhile, formed a pulsing blue ball of energy in its fingertips, then focused the power at the Makuhita, enclosing it in a ring of thunderbolts. Shawna's HP went down by 20.
"Ruby's turn!"
Shawna calmly attached a Psychic Energy to her waiting Baltoy. "Let's just see how his Kadabra fares against my special card..." she thought as she ended her turn.
"Sapphire's turn!"
Brock reached for the Kadabra lv. 38 Ash had given him, looked at it, and grinned. "Thank you, Ash...this victory's for you..." With that, he overlaid the Kadabra card into the arena, making a Kadabra appear in its place, and attached a Psychic Energy and a Defender to it, before ending his turn.
"Ruby's turn!"
"Makuhita, Fling out the Kadabra and let me finish off that Graveler!" Shawna commanded, arrogantly tossing her hair back as she watched her Makuhita try three times to lift the Kadabra, only to be blocked with a blue shield every time.
"Ruby's attack missed!" the ref announced. "Sapphire's turn!"
Brock smiled as he attached his last Psychic Energy to Kadabra, then commanded. "Kadabra, Super Psy!" The Kadabra summoned a glowing blue ball of energy, then hurled it at the Makuhita, defeating it!
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"Okay...Shawna's bringing out her Psychic Baltoy next..." Ash noted as Shawna placed the card in the arena, making a shiny Baltoy appear in the arena. He was about to say more when a purple mist went wafting through the room, making everyone cough.
"That's..." Maya started, but couldn't say more due to the coughing fit.
Michael was the first one to recover from the mist. "What Maya was trying to say was...Psychic Baltoy has an attack called Psymist...which is a slightly stronger version of Abra's Psyshock."
"Not to mention that it's nauseating to the audience..." Ash sputtered as he wiped his watery eyes.
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"Is everyone okay?" the referree asked as she waited for the sniffling audience to recover.
"I'm okay, but I'm not so sure about my opponent..." Shawna smirked confidently as she watched the still sniffling Brock waft away the remaining vapors of Psymist.
The ref waited for a moment, then announced "Sapphire's turn!"
"Whew...that was a powerful attack..." Brock thought as he regained his composure. Just when he was about to administer his next order, the low and labored breathing of his Kadabra snapped him back to reality. "Uh oh..." He quickly checked the scoreboard, only to discover that his Kadabra's HP was in the red zone!
Shawna, meanwhile, snickered at Brock's panicked expression. "While you were still busy sniffling and sneezing, the Psymist managed to weaken your Kadabra! And I'll bet that you'll still be suffering when you see him in your discard!"
"That's what you think!" Brock countered as he displayed a Super Potion to the audience. He laid the card in the play area, making a red bottle appear in the arena. "There you go..." he smiled as the Kadabra drank down the contents of the bottle, then kicked it away into the crowd and reassumed a battle pose behind the familiar blue shield of the Defender.
"Ruby's turn!"
"Baltoy, Psymist!" Shawna commanded, pulling up her shirt to protect herself as another blast of Psymist went flying into the room. However, neither Brock, the crowd, nor the Kadabra didn't even bat an eye.
"Sapphire's turn!"
"Kadabra, Super Psy!" Brock commanded, smiling confidently as the Kadabra fired a blue energy ball at the Baltoy. The attack proved to be too much for the Baltoy, so it fell, defeated!
Shawna was shocked! "Well, aren't you clever to defeat my lucky card...but I'm not through yet!" and she placed a Barboach lv. 18 in the arena.
"Ruby's turn!"
"Barboach, Mud Slap!" Shawna commanded, tossing her hair back as she watched mud splatter into the arena. The Kadabra began to wipe the mud out of its eyes in an attempt to focus on its next attack.
"Sapphire's turn!"
"Kadabra! Super Psy!" Brock commanded, swallowing hard as the blue energy ball went flying. The crowd braced itself at the loud explosion, then hushed as it waited on the ref's announcement.
After five excruciating minutes, the announcement came! "Game set! Sapphire wins!"
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"Well, I'm impressed!" Brawly began as the group assembled by the arena. "I've tried so hard to beat Shawna's Psychic Baltoy, but she keeps creaming me!"
"Yeah...what's your secret?" Shawna asked Brock as he proudly flashed the Thunder Crest before her
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore, now would it?" Brock replied with a wink. He waved goodbye as Shawna and Brawly disappeared into the crowd....
Can the Pokepals continue to advance? Stay tuned!