Chapter 64:
Cheren's Final Battle
Location: Victory Road
I had made my way to the Pokémon League in order to find Cheren. After all, if I could take on Bianca for potentially the last time, then I could do the same with Cheren. Well, with Cheren it might not be the last time; I didn't know what his plans were. But I knew he was a strong Trainer, and I wanted to test that strength again.
I was at the end of the Pokémon League path on the cliff that overlooks the Unova region. It still got me every time and took me back to the anticipation of the incoming Elite Four battle, something that was about to happen again. In a sense, it was like seeing a calm before a storm.
I wasn't alone here because, to my surprise, Marshall was there. He was training with two Pokémon. One was light blue with a red balloon-like thing on its neck.
Toxicroak (ドクロッグ)
454 (National)
Poison/Fighting Type
Toxic Mouth Pokémon
4'03" (1.3 m)
97.9 lbs (44.4 kg)
It has a poison sac on its throat. When it croaks, the stored poison is churned for greater potency.
Croagunk -Lv 37- Toxicroak
The other was a green mushroom-like Pokémon with a long tail and two stubby red arms.
Breloom (キノガッサ)
286 (National)
Grass/Fighting Type
Mushroom Pokémon
3'11" (1.2 m)
86.4 lbs (39.2 kg)
Its short arms stretch when it throws punches. Its technique is equal to that of pro boxers.
Shroomish -Lv 23- Breloom
"Oh, Hilbert. Nice to see you," Marshall said.
"Cool new Pokémon!" I said. "Now you can give me an even greater challenge!"
Marshall smiled. "That is correct. Master Alder told me to do some training for our rematch, and I'm taking that to hand. I even took out these two friends that I caught during swarms of these Pokémon around the region."
They did indeed look strong. All of Marshall's Pokémon from beforehand were pure Fighting Type, and now he had two Dual Types on his team. I would need to think of some new strategies.
"Have you seen Cheren?" I asked.
"He's in there," Marshall said. So we walked in together.
Cheren was indeed inside. He was standing there in a stance that I knew meant that he was ready to take me on.
"Marshall," he said. "Thanks for taking Hilbert to me."
"It's okay," he said. "Hey, I'm going to be watching two of the strongest Trainers in the region fight! If that's fine with you of course."
I nodded; it was more than fine! Having a member of the Elite Four watching me battle sounded like a lot of fun.
"Thanks Hilbert. Travelling with you and Bianca has helped me come such a long way. I have seen Pokémon big and small, even if I knew a lot about them. My rambling may have been annoying, but I just couldn't help myself. I had only seen these a lot of these Pokémon in things like encyclopaedias, on the internet and on TV. The fact that I've not only seen some with my own eyes, but am training some, is amazing. I would like to test them once again. You up for it!"
Of course I was!
Hilbert Vs. Cheren
"Liepard, go!" Cheren said, sending out his Dark Type.
"I choose Excadrill!" I replied. "Let's give it our all!"
"Fake Out!" Liepard clapped in front of Excadrill. It did barely anything, but it did cause a flinch on Excadrill. "Now Liepard, Night Slash!" Liepard swiped Excadrill which wasn't very effective either.
"X-Scissor Excadrill!" Excadrill slashed Liepard in an X formation, doing lots of damage.
"Another Night Slash!" Liepard slashed at Excadrill again, once again not doing much.
"One more X-Scissor!" Excadrill swiped Liepard one last time, finishing it off.
"Good strategy. Let's see how you take on Simipour!" Cheren sent out his Water Type. Deciding that a Ground Type was not a good matchup, I switched things up.
"I choose Zekrom!" I shouted. "Use Fusion Bolt!" Zekrom rammed into Simipour fully charged for so much damage that Simipour was almost taken down in one.
"Use Ice Beam!" Just then, Simipour fired a cold beam at Zekrom. When it hit, Zekrom was frozen.
"Oh no!" I shouted. But Zekrom wouldn't break free; it could just about wiggle its right index finger.
"Another one!" Another Ice Beam came firing at Zekrom, and it was almost finished.
Thankfully, Zekrom thawed free the next turn. "Great! Now use Zen Headbutt!" Zekrom's head started glowing, then it headbutted Simipour. It was the final blow.
"No!" Cheren yelled, recalling Simipour. "The power of Zekrom is truly unbelievable. Okay Haxorus, go!" he shouted as his most recent member came out.
"Dragon Claw!" I yelled as Zekrom swiped Haxorus for Super Effective damage.
"Use Earthquake!" Haxorus made the entire ground shake. This was a Super Effective hit on Zekrom, and it was finished. Cheren's first knockout was my Legendary.
"Okay Scrafty, come out!" I yelled. "Start with Head Smash!" Scrafty headbutted Haxorus with all its power, leaving it clinging on for dear life.
"Use Outrage!" Haxorus started covering itself in blue energy. I saw something glow on its tail.
"It's a Dragon Gem," said Marshall. "It powers up Dragon Type moves a single time."
Haxorus, now completely covered in the blue field, savagely ripped at Scrafty. It wasn't even a Super Effective move; Scrafty was down in one.
"No!" I yelled. At least Haxorus was almost down. Haxorus however was still under the effect of Outrage, and no longer had a Dragon Gem.
"Excadrill, go!" I shouted. Haxorus came charging in with another Outrage, and Excadrill took it.
"Use Rock Slide!" Excadrill made rocks fall from above onto Haxorus. It was down.
"Good one Hilbert. Unfezant, I choose you!" Cheren sent out his Flying Type. "Use U-Turn!" Unfezant flew into Excadrill, then came back. Gigalith was then sent out and took Excadrill's Rock Slide. Well, it would have if Rock Slide didn't miss.
"Nice one. Okay Excadrill, Earthquake it!" Excadrill made a giant Earthquake. It would have taken down Gigalith, but the stupid rock had Sturdy.
"Use an Earthquake of your own!" Gigalith made a large tremor that tore away at the rest of Excadrill's HP.
"Nice one. Okay Gothitelle, come out!" My Psychic Type went into the field. "Use Psychic!" Gothitelle lifted up Gigalith with its mind, then slammed it down on the ground and finished it.
"Unfezant, go!" Cheren shouted. "Use Air Slash!" Unfezant swiped the air and it hit Gothitelle, forcing a flinch. "And again!" Another Air Slash was fired at Gothitelle.
"Use Thunderbolt!" Gothitelle fired a bolt of electricity at Unfezant, doing lots of damage to it. In fact, it was also paralyzed! "Let's fire another!" Gothitelle used one more Thunderbolt, and Unfezant was down.
"Down to my final Pokémon it seems. Go Serperior!" Cheren shouted. It was his first and strongest Pokémon. "Use Leaf Blade!" Serperior's tail started to glow green before swiping Gothitelle for a Critical Hit finale.
"Thanks, Gothitelle, you're the best. Okay Chandelure, go!" I knew I had this; a Fire Type against a Grass Type. It was a no brainer.
"Dragon Tail!" Well, unless that happened. Serperior's tail started to glow blue. It whacked Chandelure and it was forced to switch back. Samurott came out.
"We can still make the most of this!" I shouted.
"Leaf Storm!" Serperior started creating a flurry of leaves which it fired at Samurott. It survived with just 1HP left; talk about a close call.
"Counter with Megahorn!" Samurott's horn started to glow green. It then jabbed Serperior for lots of damage.
"Use Leaf Blade!" Serperior swiped Samurott, finishing it.
"Chandelure, you're up last!" I yelled. I knew my Fire Type could do it.
"Dragon Tail!" Serperior hit Chandelure with its blue tail once again, but the match had essentially been decided.
"Flame Burst!" Chandelure fired a flame at Serperior, burning away the rest of its health.
"Impressive," Cheren said.
Marshall nodded. "That was a good match from both of you," Marshall said. "Okay Hilbert. I'll see you tomorrow."
I wasn't sure if I was ready, and I didn't have time to respond; Marshall was already walking away.
"You know," Cheren said. "I've enjoyed this journey. And yes, I've heard about Bianca. It's great news! But I've been thinking about my next path to."
I wasn't quite sure what he meant by this. What was he going to do?
"I've decided that I will put the knowledge that I have used on this journey to good use. I… want to teach people how to battle somewhere. In essence, I'll still be a Trainer. But, I don't know. What should I do?"
The two of us walked out of the cave over to the lookout cliff. "What am I to do?"
I clicked my fingers. "You could become a teacher!"
That peaked Cheren's interest. "Really?" he asked.
"Yeah! Think about how well you did at the Striaton School! It would be a perfect job for you! You could use that big brain of yours to good use! Otherwise, you could become a Gym Leader to put your battling skills to good use! Just don't go on rambling."
Cheren smiled. "We'll see." He looked up at the Pokémon League. "Tomorrow is the day then. You will fight to become Champion, properly this time. Good luck." He got on his Unfezant and flew away.
With Cheren and Bianca going on their separate paths, I knew it was time to continue mine. Tomorrow might just be the most important of my journey. Well, okay aside from saving the Unova region. I have big times ahead of me. In fact, we all do.
