Ch.50
With Great Power
af10573: Thank you, it makes me happy that Dmitri and Maris are liked by the audience and the two do have the dynamic of balancing each other out. In the bonus chapter, it was explored of what could have happened if Dmitri had indeed died during the battle against the Scolipedes and without Dmitri, she's hearing a voice in her head that's blaming her for the death of her friend and saying she's weak, but she is still friendly towards her loved ones and is willing to continue to get stronger in order to honor her fallen friend.
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Without a second's hesitation, Lopunny surged forward toward her selected foe at breakneck speed and although Lopunny's counterpart was caught off guard by her opponent's quickness, Conway just smirked causing Delia to frown.
"Alright Slowking, do your thing," Conway calmly told his pokemon while adjusting his glasses causing the dual type to chuckle softly and erect a light green barrier around him and his partner just as Lopunny struck the barrier with both of her giant ears.
The barrier managed to hold steady, but noticeably Slowking had to put some effort into keeping it up as he was knocked off of his feet while Dawn's Lopunny widened her eyes upon seeing her foe's attack being repelled. Hissing and rubbing her paws, Lopunny jumped back to her starting position near her partner while Conway took this time to grin confidently and turn his gaze to Dawn.
"You can focus on attacks; Slowking and I will handle defense," the bespectacled teenager informed his causing Dawn to widely grin and point at Delia's Lopunny who was still nurturing her wounded paws.
"You weren't careful," Delia deadpanned causing Lopunny to shot her partner a glare, but after a moment just sighed in a defeated tone and opted to move in carefully like Dragonite did at the start of his battle with his mother.
Hearing Dawn call for an ice beam, Lopunny watched as a chilling, thin line of ice hurtled toward at her at a respectable speed, but after grueling months of training with Delia's dragons, Lopunny thought the attack was moving at a jogger's pace. Right before it hit her, Lopunny easily leaned her body to the side causing the frigid ray of ice to harmlessly pass by her, but Grotle wasn't so fortunate. Unable to move as fast as his previous form, all Grotle could do was dig his feet into the ground and clench his teeth as the chilling wave of energy struck him like a runaway train.
Howling in pain, Grotle continued to try to endure it until Dawn's Lopunny would let up her attack, but fortunately his partner encased her ears in a burning blaze of fire and with a quick strike, dissipated the beam of ice. Seeing Ash was justifiably glaring at her, the dragon tamer sighed and called out to her pokemon causing Lopunny to turn her head reluctantly.
"It seems Grotle was Dawn's true target; try to be more careful in the future Lopunny," Delia coolly informed her partner who briefly glanced back at the burly grass type with her eyes concernedly before nodding slowly in response.
"Grotle, energy ball!" Ash shouted causing his dutiful pokemon to yell in affirmation and far quicker than anticipated by Delia's friends, gathered the energy of nature around him and shot it at Slowking which took the form of a giant sphere of destruction.
"Slowking, you know what to do," Conway said to his longtime partner who smiled at the incoming attack and formed a barrier once again to protect him and his partner, but just like last time although the barrier held, Slowking was forced back from the energy behind it.
Seeing a dust cloud kicked up due to the attack, Lopunny fearlessly jumped in causing Delia to blankly watch on while Ash ordered Grotle to advance toward Slowking and like a tank, Grotle took thunderous step after thunderous step toward his opponent. Out of the dust cloud, Dawn's Lopunny flew out and forcefully impacted the ground with a thud where she lay in a small crater as Delia's Lopunny jumped out of the dust cloud high above her opponent.
Coating her ears and paws in either the scorching heat of flames or the arcing sparks of electricity, Lopunny let out a war cry and thrust her appendages forward causing the elements encasing Lopunny's paws and ears to rocket towards Dawn's Lopunny at frightening speed.
"Very creative Lopunny," Delia praised her friend as Dawn's Lopunny rolled out of the way of the incoming attacks and jumped back towards Slowking just as Lopunny came crashing down onto the ground with her knees extended causing debris to scatter in all directions.
Glaring at her foe from the debris field, Lopunny forcefully kicked one giant boulder towards her reflection with finesse that made her trainer grin, but just like before, Slowking just raised a barrier to defend himself and his partner causing the boulder to shatter on impact. Delia frowned as Slowking still held that same confident smirk he had since the start of the battle while she and Lopunny had yet to make any headway. Delia didn't want to outright break Slowking's barriers with sheer brute force; that would just leave both Lopunny and Slowking exhausted and would leave the bunny pokemon at the mercy of Dawn's partner.
"Grotle, use vine whip!" Ash shouted the moment Slowking allowed his barrier to ebb away and unable to process the change in situations fast enough, Conway's partner felt heavy, thick vines wrap around him like a desperate, starving Arbok trying to quickly crush its prey while the bespectacled trainer widened his eyes in shock at this.
"Now pull!" Ash commanded with a grin on his face and obeying his trainer, Grotle yanked Slowking towards him like a ragdoll being carelessly tossed around by a small child while Conway furiously calculated how he could get his pokemon out of this predicament.
"Grotle, use rock climb when Slowking gets close!" Ash ordered causing Grotle to narrow his eyes in focus and just at the moment Slowking neared him, the turtle like pokemon effortlessly conjured two stone columns that one would mistake for giant hills.
It was two hit combo; the column lifting up Slowking at a nauseating pace harshly slammed the dual type into the second giant pillar causing Conway's pokemont to hiss and clench his teeth as he tried to free himself to no avail.
"Wow, Grotle easily summoned two columns the size of a skyscraper!" Dmitri commented in awe of the power Ash's friend possessed while Maris scoffed at this and folded her arms while Tomoe just narrowed her eyes at this display of strength.
Like a truck, Grotle charged at his trapped opponent while still keeping his vines around Slowking's waist which effectively trapped the Royal pokemon's arms against its sides.
"No you don't; Lopunny get up there and use ice beam to stop Grotle in his tracks!" Dawn frantically shouted causing her dutiful pokemon to leap up high into the air to get in front of her partner, but wheezed violently when Lopunny suddenly appeared out of nowhere and forcefully rammed her knee into her gut.
"Wide open," Delia's Lopunny scolded her counterpart who spat up some saliva and tightly wrapped her arms around her foe's thigh upon receiving the vicious blow all while trying to desperately get air back into her system.
"This isn't looking good for Dawn and Conway; they need to find a way to turn the situation around fast or they're done for," Brock said while clenching his fists as he hoped his friend could somehow turn the battle back into their favor.
"(GAH!)" Dawn's Lopunny painfully wailed as like Piplup before her, she hit the ground like a car falling from the top of a building as she was brutally sandwiched between the ground and her opponent's knee causing her grip to tighten on Lopunny's leg to alleviate some of the pain.
"Slowking, use protect!" Conway desperately cried out just as Grotle was neared the Royal pokemon who managed to erect a barrier just in time as the turtle like pokemon crashed into the barrier with all his might causing Slowking to grit his teeth as hard as he could while trying to keep his shield up.
Unfortunately for the royal pokemon, brawn would win out this day as Grotle, with a determined yell, plowed through the shield and crashed into his foe and rammed him though the second stone column causing large chunks of rock to rain down onto Lopunny and her opponent. Grabbing her foe's shoulders, Lopunny rolled backwards which saved her and Dawn's pokemon from being crushed and when she was at the apex of her roll, lifted her knee up while thrusting it into the direction of her momentum which flipped her foe over her head. Dawn's Lopunny gasped and with surprising skill, righted herself and gracefully landed on her feet in a three point stance causing Delia and Lopunny to raise their brows before a thunderous crash broke their concentration.
Turning their heads, Delia, Lopunny, and Dawn's Lopunny saw Grotle standing on top of Slowking triumphantly with his head held high while the royal pokemon groaned miserably causing the turtle like pokemon to sheepishly sigh and step off of his defeated foe.
"This didn't go according to plan, but we'll do better next time old friend," Conway assured his partner who tiredly grinned at what his trainer said as he allowed himself to dematerialize and be transferred into his pokeball while Lopunny, sensing malicious intent behind her, wheeled around and barely managed to bring her arms up to defend against a vicious roundhouse kick that sent tremors up her arms.
Hissing, Lopunny jumped backwards and shook her arms a little to get some feeling back into them, but her foe would give her no reprieve as she continued to press the assault. Dawn's Lopunny spun around to gain momentum before delivering another roundhouse kick like a lumberjack swinging an ax at a tree causing Lopunny, whose arms were still trying to regain some feeling, to twist to the side like a ballerina just out of reach of her foe's kick and deliver her own to her opponent's head.
Dawn's Lopunny hit the ground hard as her momentum from the kick combined with the force behind her enemy's blow sent her crashing to the ground where she awkwardly landed on her leg causing it to twist a little in the opposite direction. Dawn's friend tried to get up, but fell back to the ground in a heap and just sucked in precious amounts of air while trying to regain her strength.
"Lopunny is unable to battle making Ash Ketchum and Delia Shiina the winners of this battle!" the referee shouted causing the audience to erupt in cheers while Ash, who had Grotle hang back due to not wanting to gang up on Dawn, to ask his friend to heal the downed bunny pokemon.
Dawn's Lopunny gritted her teeth and tried to get up once again, but found a single giant ear being extended to her causing her to look away with a blush, but hesitantly grasped the large ear with her own and felt herself being pulled to her feet. Lopunny dusted off some debris still on her reflection and respectfully patted her on the shoulder before walking back towards the dragon tamer while Dawn's Lopunny stared down at the ground long and hard as she felt some vines wrap around her.
Turning her head, Dawn's Lopunny saw Grotle give her a happy grin and began transferring some of his energy into the vines causing a soothing, warm energy to flow throughout her being which also healed her injuries she accumulated in the battle. Seeing her trainer jogging towards her, Dawn's Lopunny kept her head down while trying to avoid eye contact with the coordinator, but felt Dawn put a hand on her shoulder and bring her in for a hug.
"It's okay Lopunny, you tried your best and that's all I ask from any of my pokemon," Dawn assured her friend who nodded slowly at what her trainer said and spared a brief glance at her counterpart before allowing herself to be sucked into her pokeball as all four trainers participating in the battle walked out to the middle of the battlefield to shake hands.
"Conway, you had a sound strategy, but battle plans never go the way you want them to so you have to adapt to the situation in order to overcome it," Delia said sagely while shaking the bespectacled trainer's hand causing Conway to nod at this advice and thank the dragon tamer for it while waiting for her chance to shake Dawn's hand.
"Dawn, you and Lopunny need to communicate better; Lopunny shouldn't have attacked Delia's pokemon without getting the go ahead from you and that left her a much easier opponent to deal with," Ash chided the coordinator, but this advice caused both Delia and Lopunny to scoff causing Ash to narrow his eyes at the dragon tamer while the coordinator stared at the Unova native confusedly.
"Ash, with all due respect, Dawn's Lopunny took advantage of my friend's lapse in concentration and if she had waited for Dawn to order her to attack, she would have wasted a great opportunity to turn the battle in her favor," Delia explained stoically causing Lopunny to nod in affirmation and gave the coordinator a wide grin for what her partner did while Ash snorted and shoved his hands in his pocket.
"Dawn, as the trainer you need to teach your pokemon everything they need to know so that way you can trust them to make the right decisions on the battlefield, but you must also step in when necessary to command them to tip the battle back into your favor," Delia wisely stated to the young coordinator who bowed her head respectfully at this advice and with that being said, the dragon tamer, her pokemon, and Ash walked away from one another with no words or signs of acknowledgement from each other.
Pov shift
"(The Dragon Tamer and the Chosen One are on the same side, but they do not fight as one,)" Tomoe pointed out while folding her arms causing Dmitri to sigh and lean forward in his chair so he could prop his head with his palms against the rails.
"(Tell me about it; both Lopunny and Grotle kept getting in each other's way and the battle could have ended a hell of a lot sooner if they just worked together,)" Maris added causing the samurai otter to narrow her eyes at the martial arts pokemon before slowly nodding in response to this as Dmitri leaned back in his chair with his hand on his chin.
"I think this is for the best; since Ash and Delia have such a differently battling style, it would make strategizing with each other nearly impossible," Dmitri analyzed causing Maris and Tomoe to raise their brows at this theory, but nodded after thinking it over a little causing the martial arts pokemon to playfully punch her boyfriend in the shoulder while Tomoe bowed her head curtly.
"Wait, wait! Say that again!" Catherine suddenly shouted as she unexpectedly jumped into Dmitri's lap and grasped the hand rails of the chair tightly while leaning her face so close to Dmitri's that their noses were touching while peering directly into the battle ace's eyes.
"Uh…I said that since Ash and Delia fight so differently from each other, they can't really come up with any sort of plan together," Dmitri awkwardly responded as the former heiress continued to stare directly at him before breaking out into a wide, ecstatic grin and triumphantly threw one arm into the air.
"Luka, I know how we're going to beat Ash and Delia!" Catherine exclaimed happily causing her girlfriend to give a slight grin at this and leaned against the railing before soft cough from Dmitri caused the former heiress to look back at him.
"That's great Catherine, but can you please get off me now?" Dmitri politely requested causing the former heiress to awkwardly turn her head and laugh sheepishly as Maris was furiously glaring at her with her demonic aura flared up while Tomoe narrowed her eyes at the blue eyed girl.
Rubbing the back of her head, Catherine seemingly teleported from Dmitri's lap to being behind Luka who shook her head and rolled her eyes with the small smile still on her face as she pulled the former heiress closer to her.
"(Catherine, you do realize that you and Paul have the same problem right?)" Luka pointed out causing the brown haired girl to nod thoughtfully at this and pat the jackal pokemon on the back causing Luka to raise a brow.
"I know, that's why we're going to have to work on our separate strategy with Graveler in order to take down whoever Delia and Ash decide to use," Catherine replied with a confident grin causing the aura pokemon to gaze into her girlfriend's eyes before nodding causing the former heiress to tightly hug the aura pokemon.
Luka grunted and gritted her teeth when she felt the sudden pressure around her waist due to be taken off guard, but adjusted to it quickly and embraced her trainer before she felt Catherine grab her wrist.
"Luka and I are going to get to work! Tell Delia I said hi!" Catherine exclaimed and quicker than anyone expected, one moment she and Luka were standing there, the next moment they were already at the exit with Catherine dragging Luka by her wrist.
"Did she just…" Alex trailed off with her eyes widened while Dmitri rubbed the back of his head as Maris just tried to contain her laughter while Tomoe still tried to process how Catherine managed to be standing in front of her one moment to the exit in another while dragging Luka with her.
"Yeah, she's faster and stronger than she looks," Dmitri finished as he suddenly stood up and stretched his limbs causing Alex to sigh and stand up as well as the battle ace walked down the steps to meet up with the dragon tamer.
Pov shift
Stephanie, with her eyes narrowed into slits, stopped a blow from Excadrill with her razor sharp tail dead in its tracks while using her thick vines to coil around other vines with barbs on them being swung towards her head like a flail and tugged causing the vines to straighten out. Glowering at her two foes who tried to free their weapons, Stephanie followed Excadrill's momentum whenever it tried to twist its blade free while Ferrothorn pulled on its organic weapons with all its might, but the powerful python's grip was like iron.
The barbs hurt Stephanie, but she paid the pain no mind as she suddenly snaked her tail around Excadrill's neck and blade arms pinning them against his body and with great ease, tossed him into Ferrothorn who couldn't get out of the way. Excadrill forcefully crashed into its partner knocking the wind out of the mole while the barb pokemon erratically spun in the air before righting itself while Stephanie still kept a grip on the flails Ferrothorn had.
With a grunt, the grass snake pulled the barb pokemon closer to her instantaneously and channeling the energy need to smash rocks into her throat, released into a deadly, concussive plume of energy from her mouth right down onto her opponent's body causing it give out an inhuman wail. Smacking her foe away with a flick of her tail, Ferrothorn landed next to Excadrill who had just got up and saw the rather large crack extending from the center of its body to the edges of it causing the mole to shoot an angry glare at the mighty python while kneeling down next to its partner.
"(She'll live, she just needs some rest, some iron ore, and some sunlight so her body can heal. Take her somewhere safe…and just forget about Bisharp's cause. If we were the monster he was making us out to be, do you really think I or any of my comrades would have let any of you live?)" Stephanie asked her enemy thoughtfully causing Excadrill to stare down at the ground long and hard before tenderly picking up Ferrothorn in its arms before walking off into the forest with his partner to parts unknown.
Watching the mole pokemon disappear into the tree line, the floral serpent turned its head to find her allies easily taking care of the random Herdiers and Watchogs acting as soldiers for the rather powerful duo. Stephanie watched as Rhyperior and Karen finished off the rest of the grunts and let them retreat into the woods with their tails tucked between their legs before reconvening with her rather large team.
"(Do you really think that Excadrill and Ferrothorn will leave Bisharp's army?)" Rhyperior questioned the grass snake who shook her head and glanced at all of her allies who were looking through the destroyed camp to see if there was anything of use.
"(Not likely, but what I said will most likely sow doubt into their minds about us,)" Stephanie responded simply with a shrug of her vines causing the massive rhino to snort as she and Stephanie began turning over large stones that use to be part of a barrack to see if there was anything of use.
"(True Steph; the wounds inflicted on Excadrill and Ferrothorn will take them out of action for a while, depriving Bisharp of much needed lieutenants, and the soldiers retreating will run into the patrols the gym leaders have set up so our enemy's army will further decrease in number)" one of the gigantic Scolipedes assured the duo causing Rhyperior to sigh and effortlessly lift up a giant rock the size of car up into the air with her hand before letting it drop to the ground with a thud when nothing seemed to be of use.
Suddenly, a high increase in the in the air in front of them caused Stephanie and her allies to turn their gazes skyward and seeing a figure rapidly flying towards them with the sound barrier behind it caused the grass snake and the others to prepare for combat. Karen, Hope, and Malakai however looked up at this and simply raised a brow at the approaching figure.
"It can't be reinforcements if it's just one pokemon," Karen pointed out as she relaxed a little and waited for the being in question, but kept her guard up nonetheless while Malakai and Hope calmly stood next to their teams with their arms folded.
The being in question, rather than just hit the ground like a meteor, slowed its descent long before hitting the ground and gently landed on the grand where it flapped its wings a bit before slowly bowing its head toward the former champion causing Stephanie and Rhyperior to narrow their eyes at the being.
"(I did not come here to fight, Lady Long. I was merely tasked by your mate and allowed to grace the material plane once more by Arceus to be your humble guard,)" the being stated as it bowed its head in reverence for the Battle Academy's best teacher causing Karen to raise a brow suspiciously and the being, seeing it was now surrounded by members of Karen's team, kept its head down.
"(I do not sense any deceit or malicious intentions from him master,)" Lucario told his trainer, but that didn't stop him from keeping his guard up as he pointed his paw at the being with the latent energy within metals emanating from his paw in the form of a bright, silver globe.
"So you say old friend, but I want to hear what he means by saying that my beloved has sent him considering he's been dead for fifteen years," Karen responded calmly as she glowered at the being in question who felt every person from Karen's group eyeing him warily causing the bird to sigh and look up at the former champion with its one good eye.
"(I know my claim is suspect, Lady Long, but I do have proof to support my claim,)" the avian coolly stated while trying to not seem threatening as it lightly nipped on the zipper on the bag around its neck and pulled in the opposite direction.
Reaching inside the bag with its beak, the avian slowly stepped forward while trying to not make any hostile moves towards Karen's team and handed the former champion a torn, worn out picture. Blankly, Karen slowly reached out and took the picture from the bird's beak and upon seeing it, the former champion's eyes widened and her breathe hitched as she put a hand on her head to calm herself.
Karen hurriedly reached into her own pocket and clumsily pulled out her wallet as she took out a picture, the very same picture of her, her beloved, and her son at the Big Stadium and frantically switched her gaze between the two photos. Slowbro tenderly patted her friend's leg to help calm her down which did little as the former champion looked between the photos before nearly collapsing on her butt, but luckily Slowbro caught the teacher and gently set her down onto the ground.
"This is so surreal; Darris actually sent you?" Karen stated incredulously and put a hand to her forehead as Slowbro sat in the former champion's lap and nuzzled close to her, Lucario put a paw on her shoulder and pressed his forehead against the back of her head, and Electivire put a giant hand on her leg.
"(Yes, and I assure you your son is being protected by my best soldier...in fact my only soldier left of my unit,)" the guardian sent by Karen's husband said with its eyes downcast and spared a glance at the scars marring it's thick, heavy wings causing the former champion to look at the bird with empathy.
"I'm sorry to hear that Braviary; please understand that my friends will be wary of you for a while, but you're welcome to join us in our fight against Bisharp's army," Karen responded causing those like Hope, Malakai, N, and Touko to exchange glance with one another before looking back at the scene in front of them while those like the Scolipede family and the other pokemon teams narrowed their eyes at the bird of prey suspiciously.
"(Thank you Lady Long; I promise that I will do my best to guard you and hopefully the war that I and my last remaining soldier fought in can finally come to an end,)" Braviary said solemnly causing Karen to nod slowly at this as she turned to her entire group gathered around the destroyed camp and put a hand on her hip while looking up at the sky with a slight grin.
"Thank you beloved; even in death you still find a way to watch out for me," Karen thought to herself happily as she ordered her group to fall back to the Battle Academy as her new guard perched himself onto her shoulder while keeping a lookout for threats while Slowbro's dopey eye's shined blue as she intently, yet subtly studied every movement of Braviary.