Disclaimer: If I owned pokémon, I'd have maids to clean up the computer room. It's filthy.
Author's Note: Meh. I played around with chapter one a little, and it's somewhat better. So, here's chapter two. Yay.
Full Potential - Chapter Two: Rivals Know Best
Liz Terri eyed her opponent warily. She saw how Sydney's fingers twitched and she rubbed her shoulders. She knew Sydney was uncomfortable, then, and likely to make a mistake or freeze up. She idly ran her fingertips over one of the balls clipped to her belt and waited for the referee.
"Trainers ready? This will be a three-on-three battle, with no time restraints." He paused for a moment, and a heavy silence settled in. "Begin!"
Liz quickly grabbed her pokéball and threw it into the stadium below them. "Mightyena, go!" The pokéball opened and the wolf-like pokémon emerged with a snarl. Its yellow eyes stared up at Sydney as she threw her own pokéball onto the grassy, flat arena.
"You're up, blaziken!" Liz cocked her head curiously at this; she knew Sydney liked fire types as well as dragons, but didn't suspect she'd acquire a blaziken for her team. This also put her at a type disadvantage.
"Mightyena! Strength!" she ordered, not wasting any time. The mightyena leapt forward, his muscles bulking up beneath his coarse coat. Blaziken tensed and awaited a command from his trainer; Liz waited along with him.
Finally it came, just before the dark type slammed into its opponent. "Dodge it, blaziken. Then follow up with a sky uppercut!" Blaziken's powerful legs carried him out of safety just in time. Mightyena turned on his heels, his claws digging into the thick grass, and snapped at the bird's ankles.
His teeth sunk in and blaziken fell, shrieking in pain. Immediately, he turned and kicked his other foot out, hitting mightyena in the chest. The dark pokémon yelped and let go, coughing. "Strength again, mightyena!" Liz called, wrapping her fingers around the rail of the trainer's box.
Mightyena barked viciously as blaziken stood. "Fire punch!" Blaziken was swifter in executing the attack; the flames around his wrists expanded to engulf his clawed hand even as he pulled his fist back. When mightyena jumped up towards blaziken's chest, the fire type released his fist and sent the other pokémon flying back with a high-pitched whine of pain. He rolled and rubbed his muzzle with his forelegs in an attempt to soothe the burnt fur on his muzzle and cheek, but succeeded only in making it worse.
As mightyena struggled to relieve himself of his burn pains, he only managed to irritate and bloody his scorched fur and skin. "Mightyena, stop!" Liz called. He could only make things worse by worrying his wounds, and the distraction gave Sydney the perfect opportunity to attack.
"Blaziken, use blaze kick! Hit its side!"
Liz swore to herself and tightened her already firm grip on her pokéball; after it was thrown into the arena and the pokémon released, pokéballs always returned immediately to the trainer. "Dodge, mightyena!" Just as blaziken drew back one powerful leg, the limb aflame, the wolf cracked open an eye to peer up at his attacker. He let out a low snarl of surprise and took his paw from his face.
"Dodge it!" Liz ordered again, much more firmly now. The trainer barely contained a squeal of delight as mightyena first dropped to the ground with a soft thud, ducking under the blaze kick attack, and then rolled and stood to blaziken's left. "Crunch!"
Mightyena lashed out with such speed that neither Sydney nor blaziken could react; the wolf pokémon's teeth sunk into his hip with ease. As the fire type cried out in pain, despite his type advantage, mightyena released him briefly, only to close his powerful jaws around his foe once more.
"Get it off, blaziken! Flamethrower!" Mightyena's eyes snapped open and he jumped away to flee, but blaziken was faster this time. His beak opened and he inhaled deeply, his own eyes narrowed in pain and fury. The stream of fire hit mightyena on his chest and shoulder, the pressure enough to slam him into the foot of Sydney's trainer box.
Mightyena howled pitifully and collapsed under the amazing heat and powerful attack. Liz saw Sydney peering over the rail of her platform to gaze at the fallen pokémon with a sort of grim curiosity in her eyes.
Damn it! That blaziken is powerful, Liz thought. "Get up, mightyena!" She knew it was unlikely her pokémon would be able to comply, however. The ground surrounding mightyena was nothing but charred dirt, and it had only gotten the "aftershock" of the attack. Still, her loyal friend struggled to stand, despite his burns and his heavy panting. He got to his feet after a momentary fight, albeit shakily. He refused to put any weight on his injured leg—blaziken also favored his uninjured hip—and his head was lowered.
Liz frowned; if mightyena thought his deep growl would intimidate blaziken, it was failing. His raised hackles, lowered ears, and bared teeth only seemed to egg the fighting type on. "Quick! Try strength one more time!" The wolf pokémon launched himself clumsily at his opponent.
"Sky uppercut!" Sydney ordered from her side of the arena. Blaziken easily sidestepped mightyena, his fist already drawn back. When he threw his powerful arm up, his fist hit its mark on the underside of the dark type's jaw. Once again, the wolf whined in pain as he flipped in the air and landed on his back. The judge leaned forward, analyzing the fallen pokémon.
"Mightyena is unable to battle," he announced, raising his red flag. "Blaziken wins the match." Liz swore under her breath at how poorly she had handled that match.
"Return." The dark trainer thrust out her arm and the pokéball absorbed its occupant in a beam of red light. "Good job," she cooed to the recuperating pokémon. From above them came a loud bing from the big screen; mightyena's picture was darkened to signify his fainted status to the crowd and television audience. That didn't hurt her too badly, however.
Liz's hand glided over to her greatball then pulled it from the belt. "Banette, you're up!" she yelled as she released the pokémon into the arena.
Banette, Liz though, were fascinating pokémon. Originally, it was said, banette was nothing more than a stuffed plaything for a young girl. As that girl continued to play with her toy, and the love she felt for it increased, a spirit began to develop within its soft body. Eventually, the plush toy developed a soul so pure in nature, the toy could move, and perhaps, her mother had told her, even speak. As time went on, however, the little girl lost interest in her plush toy, as young girls often do. The plush began to long for the little girl, and slowly grew jealous of the newer, better toys she played with. The plush's soul started to decay and lose its innocence. Over the years, its body transformed into the ghostly and evil form it bore today—and the zipper that held its mouth shut was to keep its evil contained within its body.
From the look on Sydney's face, Liz could assume the other trainer was familiar with the history of this uncommon ghost-type. A twinkle of fear and doubt shone in her hazel orbs, and she rubbed her shoulder briefly. "Banette, shadow ball!"
"Dodge it, blaziken!" As dark energy formed in a heaving, pulsating sphere between the banette's outstretched limbs, blaziken crouched to leap. Instead of being carried to safety by his powerful legs, his injured hip crippled painfully and he collapsed to his knees. "Get up, please," Sydney pleaded, her eyes locked on banette's shadow ball.
Blaziken tried to stand, much like mightyena had before him, but unlike the dark pokémon, he remained on his knees. Banette slinked closer to the blaziken in a manner that, under any other circumstance, Sydney would have found humorous. Now, however, she only saw fear in the eyes of her loyal blaziken. "Fight back! Flamethrower!" she ordered.
In the time it took blaziken to breathe in and ready the flame pouch in his body that harbored the power needed for fire-type attacks, banette was throwing her shadow ball—now roughly the size of the pokémon herself. Blaziken panicked and tried to attack without utilizing his pouch completely, but it wasn't enough. Banette's 'ball sliced through the flames and connected with the fire-type's face.
Blaziken cried out in shock and blinding pain as his body whipped backwards flew through the air until the trainer's box stopped him none-too-gently. However, a few tendrils of flame grazed and licked at banette's body, dealing her some damage in the process. A wisp of smoke drifted lazily into the air from his beak as he lay, unconscious, against his trainer's platform.
"Blaziken is unable to battle. Green wins this match," the judge confirmed, raising his corresponding flag.
"Return, blaziken." Once the pokémon was safely nestled within his ball, Sydney took in a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She had fought and beaten ghost-types before, including banette—Liz knew this, as she had been there for about three of those battles. She watched Sydney critically, eyeing the pokéballs at her hips.
Finally, Sydney chose and threw the ball into the arena. With a flash of white, a tall pokémon materialized there. Liz nearly did a double take, and had to laugh, later, when a friend from her neighborhood said she looked like something out of old cheesy cartoons. Floating before her banette was a gardevoir, one of the most elegant pokémon Liz had ever seen. A tomboy like Sydney didn't seem like one to train such a psychic-type—but then she also didn't seem like the kind to train blaziken.
Banette and gardevoir faced each other, their eyes locked. Gardevoir towered over Liz's banette, but the ghost pokémon was still a competent contender. "Psychic, gardevoir!" Liz chewed her lip before issuing her own command:
"Night shade!" Gardevoir's bottom, which always reminded Liz of a sundress because of the way it moved as the pokémon floated along the air, swirled around its feet as it moved forward. It raised its thin, long arms, and its body took on a dim glow as it utilized its psychic energy. Banette's eyes turned pure white and the air surrounding her distorted before the nightshade attack darkened the space it came in contact with. The aura around gardevoir suddenly transferred to banette, gripping it tightly and cutting its contact with the nightshade off.
"Throw it, gardevoir!" Sydney ordered, her confident disposition settled back in place. Banette cried out in surprise as she found herself unable to move and her nightshade rendered useless. Gardevoir's blue eyes met the ghost pokémon's own fiery red orbs and he lifted his long, slim arm slowly. As banette hovered at his eye level, her zippered mouth working as if she was trying to speak, gardevoir bent his elbow in one quick, violent motion. Banette's body followed his hand's lead, bypassing the painted line that indicated the boundary of the arena.
"Sydney, I'm surprised at you. I never thought you'd stoop so low as to settle for a ring-out," Liz mumbled. Ring-outs applied only in the preliminary rounds of the League, to help prevent matches from lasting any longer than they needed. That didn't mean, however, they were the ideal in terms of winning a match.
"Ring-out," the referee called, announcing the obvious. "Gardevoir wins!" The red flag came up again.
"Return, banette." The pokémon disappeared from her place on the grass outside the arena and materialized in her ball. I'll have to be sure to get a rematch with that gardevoir, Liz thought.
"Gardevoir, return." The pokémon who committed the ring-out, to keep things fair, had to be called back and its status would be counted as "fainted."
"All right," Liz began to herself, "If you want fire-types… Go, houndoom!" Liz shouted the second half of this and the pokéball sailed through the air. Houndoom crouched, snarling, much like mightyena had. His tail swayed behind him, and his talon-like claws ripped into the ground.
"Charizard!" Liz smiled as the fire lizard emerged from his pokéball, his own tail thrashing and wings flexing-this pokémon she knew. He was Sydney's very first, and her very favorite. Liz knew how her rival battled, to some degree at least, when charizard was on the field.
The fire-types stared each other down, their teeth bared as they snarled their challenges. It's fitting one of us should lose while our best pokémon battle, she mused. "Faint attack!"
Charizard's body tensed when houndoom's body disappeared before his eyes and roared when the hound slammed into him from behind. Just as houndoom landed on his massive paws, charizard turned and raked his own wicked claws across the other pokémon's neck. Houndoom barked as he bled, but retaliated swiftly by clamping his jaws down on charizard's arm.
"Dragonrage!" A large stream of thick, misty green fire escaped the dragon's mouth, slamming pointblank against houndoom's ribs. "Good! Dragonbreath now!" The flames took on an orange tint and houndoom wailed in pained fury.
"Push it off! Flamethrower!" Liz yelled at the panicking pokémon. Houndoom complied, expelling the fire from his own fire pouch into and through charizard's dragonbreath. "Good!" she encouraged. At this, houndoom grew more confidence and turned his flames on charizard, hitting his throat just under his chin. The dragonbreath attack ceased instantly, and charizard lost his balance for a moment.
After regaining his composure, the pokémon extended his great wings and flapped them hard against the ground, leaping at the same time, and launched himself from the smoking grass. The charizard's large body seemed to float into the air and out of the reach of houndoom's flamethrower.
"Fire blast, houndoom!" Houndoom was up on his heavy paws in a matter of seconds, and gathering more fire from his pouch that would have made a magmar jealous. Charizard turned to look down at houndoom, his fire pouch heating and producing his own attack. With another flap of charizard's wings, both pokémon exhaled identical, searing attacks. The flames met somewhere in the middle with a loud hiss and a white-hot flash of fire.
"Get behind houndoom," Sydney ordered. The winged pokémon maneuvered around the sizzled out remains from the fire blasts' meeting and swooped in to meet houndoom's head with his shoulder. Charizard snarled in pain when the dark pokémon's curled horns sliced into his skin and drew near-black blood, but he landed and flexed his claws, wings fluttering, as houndoom fought to shake his dizziness.
"Crunch!" Liz hoped a good attack would relieve houndoom's daze, but could do only that: hope. Houndoom shook, as if spraying water from his fine fur, and started at a trot towards the menacing charizard. Charizard snarled at him and the greenish flames filled his mouth again. Blood might have been trickling slowly down his chest, reaching for his slightly pudgy tummy, but that did nothing to douse his desire to win.
Houndoom picked up speed and bared his crushing teeth, then ran full out at the other pokémon; charizard, however, was having none of it. The blast of green fire shot from his mouth again and hit houndoom the chest. The hound pokémon slid backwards, but leaped over the flame and to the shocked charizard's side. Again, houndoom jumped up towards charizard, this time pouncing on his torso and closing his jaws around the spot on his neck the flamethrower attack had burned raw. The dragon screamed in pain and dug his claws in houndoom's side, trying to pry him off. Houndoom growled, but refused to let go.
"Seismic toss! Get it off!" Sydney must have known there was no way charizard could have turned his long neck to use a flame attack when he had houndoom's teeth digging in right below his jaw, Liz supposed.
Charizard cried in pain when the dark pokémon repositioned his jaws and drew more blood, and then pierced his chest with needle-like claws. The fire lizard raked his claws against houndoom's sides, but houndoom merely flinched as his blood stained his fur a bright red. Finally, charizard gathered up enough sense to slash houndoom's face, cutting dangerously close to his right eye. The hound pokémon released him immediately and howled as his eye closed reflexively.
"Fly, charizard!"
"Go after it with shadow ball!" Charizard was up in the air once more and houndoom had a pulsating ball of dark matter forming before his nose. Both pokémon were becoming sluggish in their movements, and blood stained the grass rapidly, but neither wanted to give up so easily. Charizard trained his gaze on houndoom as he circled the arena, puffs of smoke blowing from his nostrils as he breathed, while houndoom snarled and added more and more energy to his attack—Liz could tell Sydney was worrying about how charizard would pull off his attack without harming his shoulder or neck further.
The shadow ball formed faster than banette's had, and when houndoom fired it, it sliced through the air at a much faster rate. Charizard performed a series of twists that might have impressed Olympic judges, but still just narrowly evaded the ghost attack. It had grazed his protruding tummy, making him whine in discomfort, but he was able to fly just was well as before the shadow ball. As he moved closer and dove towards the ground, houndoom crouched and snarled threateningly; charizard still approached.
"Bite!" Charizard shifted to attempt a side attack, but houndoom jumped onto his back and impaled the joints of his wings with his claws. Rendered useless, charizard cried in pain and fury as he collided with the ground and skid, pinned under the hound pokémon on his back. Struggling and squirming did nothing to free the angered charizard, and his somewhat stubby arms weren't helping to give him leverage. His frustration increased as houndoom bit his injured shoulder, reopening the scabbing wound and adding pricks from his fangs to the fray.
With a howl, the fire-type managed to roll over and pin houndoom underneath his bulk, forcing him to release his shoulder. Both pokémon were panting now, and houndoom wheezed from the pressure on his chest. Scratching and nipping at charizard seemed to do little to make the larger pokémon move, so he released a merciless flamethrower directly on the back of his neck. Charizard roared and rolled off houndoom, shaking his head and neck to cool his burnt skin.
Houndoom rolled over as well and moved to sink his teeth into this newly weakened flesh, but charizard roared and snapped his jaws in such a way that the dark-type backed away for a moment. This gave charizard enough time to lash out and give houndoom a matching scratch along his left cheek, just below the eye again. Houndoom whined and the winged pokémon unleashed his own flamethrower. As the heat penetrated the wounds on his face, houndoom let out a pitiful screech of pain and fell to his side just to get away from the flames.
"Try another shadow ball, houndoom," Liz prompted, sensing how weak the pokémon were. Houndoom grunted and rocked back up to his feet, shaking and blinking blood from his eyes.
"Dragonbreath, charizard! Finish this!" So Sydney knows this is almost over, as well, hmm? Charizard didn't even bother to stand from his paws and knees. He turned to glare at houndoom, watching the shadow ball (Liz fancied she saw him suck in his fat tummy a little), as his green-orange fire formed in his mouth. Houndoom was faster than before in gathering the ghost-type attack, but charizard was right behind it. In a split second, it seemed, both pokémon initiated their attacks, miraculously avoiding each other. Liz flinched when she saw the dragonbreath knock houndoom onto the ground once more, but gains a little confidence when charizard screamed in pain. This confidence faltered when the dragonbreath's flames increased in a final burst of energy and connected with houndoom. Charizard fell, his eyes half-lidded and his chest heaving. The flame on his tail wasn't as strong or as bright as it had been before, but it was certainly not close to dying out.
The judge moved, as if analyzing the situation. Houndoom blinked at him before his eyes closed lazily, and charizard met his gaze weakly. Then, all of a sudden, the fire-type snapped and grumbled at the judge, snarling at him as if informing him just how capable of continuing he was. The judge frowned, as he wasn't sure he liked this saucy charizard grumbling at him, but he raised his flag regardless. "Houndoom is unable to battle. Charizard and Sydney Getz win the battle."
Nearly an hour later, Sydney Getz stretched out on her bed in the pokémon center. A friend who lived in Pallet had taped her match and brought it to her to watch her victory. It seemed a little silly, now that she was watching just how it had unfolded while eating a bowl of sugary cereal in her pajamas, how gut-wrenchingly nervous she had been. As she brought more marshmallows shaped like hearts, stars, and horseshoes to her mouth, that friend of hers, one Kitti Morgan, frowned.
"I thought you said you weren't going to settle for ring-outs," she said, turning to Sydney. Sydney merely shrugged, picking up a red balloon and popping it in her mouth.
"I panicked, I guess." Kitti stared at her for a moment, shrugged, then turned back to watch the match for the second time that day.
"Have I told you how sexy charizard is when he's pissed off?" Kitti teased.
"Yeah, you do it quite often. He'll never get tired of hearing it though," Sydney answered. Both girls snickered for a moment, but this quickly transformed into loud, teary outbursts of laughter that left them red in the face and unable to catch their breath for several minutes.