Ch. 52
Final Round
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"Graveler, time to fight!"
"Electabuzz, stand by for battle!"
"Staraptor, I choose you!"
"Lopunny, go!"
Graveler and Electabuzz materialized onto the field with an earth shaking thud while Staraptor flew in place with a focus gaze and his muscles tensed. Lopunny once again opted for the less impressive entrance and simply walked out to the battlefield near her partner with her paws on her hips and her giant ears slightly curled.
"(Delia, have you seen Graveler fight before?)" Lopunny inquired causing the dragon tamer to let out a low growl and shake her head causing the bunny pokemon to raise a brow and get into a ready stance while keeping her eyes on the animate stone.
"Are you sure using Staraptor for this battle is the best decision, Ash?" Delia asked her partner causing the champion of the Orange League to narrow his eyes at the dragon tamer briefly before refocusing on the battle to come.
"With all due respect Delia, I don't think you have the right to ask whether or not I should use Staraptor considering your friend used a Kricketune against a Rhydon and Magmar," Ash countered causing the dragon tamer to snort under her breathe and cross her arms as she waited for the referee to give the go ahead for the battle to start.
"That's true, but I wasn't that worried considering Kricketune proved to be quite skilled in physical combat without needing Catherine to guide him. So tell me Ash, can Staraptor fight well without your guiding hand...or is he like most other pokemon doomed to be helpless like a baby without anyone giving instructions?" Delia retorted coolly causing the winner of the Battle Frontier to snarl under his breathe while Pikachu sparked his cheeks briefly before turning his head to ignore the dragon tamer which the battle ace was more than okay with.
"Staraptor can always count on me to have his back unlike you when you just throw your pokemon out into battle and hope for the best," Ash responded tersely causing the dragon tamer to raise a brow and let out a soft sigh before deciding to fully tune out her "partner" and shifted her full attention to Lopunny and her opponents.
"That's good; they're fighting with each other. We'll need all the help we can get," Catherine observed while Luka nodded at this analysis while Paul said nothing and just turned his head so he could stare at his partner causing the former heiress to raise a brow.
"Not really considering that I can fight on even footing with Ketchum and I'm sure I could so the same with Delia," Paul responded flatly causing Catherine to let out a sigh and slump her shoulders causing Luka to pat her girlfriend on the back before the brown haired girl stood up straight and shoved her hands into her pockets.
"Okay fine, I need all the help I can get," Catherine reiterated causing the Veilstone native to nod as the referee gave the go ahead for the battle to start and to the former heiress's surprise, Lopunny didn't immediately rush headlong into battle and just waved amiably at the living boulder.
Chuckling a bit, Graveler returned the wave and brought his hands up in front of him like a boxer as Lopunny cautiously moved forward with her paws and giant ears out in front of her like a shield.
"(So I know I saw you at that party we had a few days ago, but we didn't really get the chance to talk,)" Lopunny stated with a grin on her face as a leaf green energy encased itself around her paws as if it intended to drain the life force out of her opponents and let out an experimental jab causing the energy to rocket towards the living stone.
Focusing on the projectile, Graveler managed to pass the projectile away from his body and sidestep away from it where it safely fizzled out of existence long before it could impact either Catherine or Paul. However, the animate stone frowned when he saw Lopunny and Staraptor covered with a green, skin tight shield that protected them from status effects for a few minutes; minutes she would use attempting to pummel either him or Electabuzz.
"(Well, why don't we get better acquainted?)" Graveler responded as he seemingly conjured stones out of thin air in his palms and without moving his arms, the rocks hurtled toward the bunny pokemon at break neck speed, but Lopunny just calmly watched the projectiles flying at her.
As the boulders neared her, the bunny pokemon did the splits and stretch her chest towards one of her knees causing the projectiles to harmlessly pass over her head while smashing them to dust with her large ears before they could get to Staraptor. Nipping up to her feet, Lopunny scoffed at her foe and circle around him as Staraptor encased his wings with a solid, durable iron and batted away the arc of electricity Electabuzz sent at him with ease.
"Wait for it," Catherine whispered to her partner who nodded shortly and clenched his fists as he heard Ash order for his bird of prey to use agility which his partner followed to the letter and began moving around the battlefield at such a quick pace that he left copies of himself wherever he flew.
"Staraptor, use close combat on Graveler!" Ash commanded causing the bird that was previously moving too fast for the audience to see to fly towards the animate stone from the side causing Catherine to grit her teeth and clench her fists as Lopunny surged forward in the hopes to catch Electabuzz off guard.
"Graveler, now!" Catherine shouted as although Lopunny and Staraptor were moving at speeds that made them seem like blurs to the audience, the former heiress could barely see her two opponents in motion thanks to her training with Ursa which was something Graveler needed for the strategy to be successful.
Right at the last second, Graveler simultaneously twisted his body out of the way of his opponent's charge and using two of his hands, forcefully pushed the bird of prey forward while Electabuzz ducked underneath of Lopunny's attempted punches and gripped one of her arms all in one motion. Unable to stop her forward momentum, Lopunny gasped as she felt the ground underneath her leave as she was briefly lifted onto her foe's shoulders only to be flipped off his back to the side like a rag doll. Letting out a surprised gasp, Lopunny managed to twist in mid-air like a gymnast so she was facing forward in order to land on her feet, but widened her eyes when her ally was fast approaching her and trying to stop his forward momentum to no avail.
Lopunny wheezed as she felt the bird of prey crash into her gut like a runaway train and did her best to remain focused despite getting the wind knocked out of her while Staraptor shrieked when he felt as if the top of his skull slammed into a mountain and did his best to stay conscious despite tremors moving throughout his body. Staraptor and Lopunny awkwardly tumbled in the air before they unceremoniously crashed to the ground in a heap with the bunny pokemon lying on top of her partner while Paul and Catherine wasted no time to capitalize on this opportunity.
"Electabuzz, use thunder on Staraptor!"
"Graveler, use stone edge on Lopunny!"
With a grunt of exertion, Graveler conjured a multitude of stone slabs from out of thin air, similar to how Luka could summon spheres of aura whenever she wished, and forcefully flung them at his downed foes. Electabuzz in turn tensed his muscles while focusing on his helpless opponents as electricity sparked and burst around him before shooting a devastating bolt of lightning at his opponents with a war cry.
"Staraptor, use agility!" Ash shouted while clenching his fists causing his bird of prey to ignore the splitting pain in its head and worm its way out underneath Lopunny's bulk and desperately tried to take flight while the bunny pokemon knew this was a futile effort.
Lopunny opted to curl her giant ears around her body and tuck herself into a ball and braced for impact while Staraptor soon realized it wouldn't get away in time and quickly crossed his wings over his body in an x. Staraptor barely managed to turn his wings into iron when a hailstorm of rocks battered away at him and his ally like a never ending storm causing Lopunny to scream with each rock impacting her giant ears like a cannon ball. Staraptor howled and screeched as each rock brutally impacted his body and forced him back before the bolt of lightning mercilessly fell upon him and his ally.
Staraptor howled in pain as the electricity illuminated his skeletal structure and shocked every fiber of his being as a wave of electricity jumped to Lopunny and hit her with more force than the bird of prey was receiving causing the bunny pokemon to wail due to her muscles locking up.
"Staraptor no!" Ash yelled concernedly as the bird of prey continued to stand strong while being pelted with stones and being shocked to the core while Delia clenched her fists as she watched her friend being attacked with no way to get free.
"Lopunny, stay strong!" Delia shouted encouragingly to her friend who barely managed to hear her over the sound of her own screams, the jagged stones smashing against her body, and the electricity shocking every fiber of her being.
After what seemed like forever as some members of the audience began wanting the referee to stop the fight, Graveler and Electabuzz's combined attack finally ceased leaving a dust cloud with sparks of lightning bursting in their attack's wake.
"Graveler, stay on guard," Catherine advised her partner who nodded in turn and brought his hands up as he knew this battle was far from over while Electabuzz growled lowly and clenched his fists as Paul stared intently at the dust cloud for any sign of movement.
It was too quiet for Catherine's liking and Graveler too found the abrupt stopppage of noise on the battlefield off putting and if his body was capable of such a function, beads of sweat would be rolling down his face. Suddenly, a blast of scorching heat and a burst of chilling ice in the shape of Lopunny's fists hurtled out of the dust cloud at break neck speed toward Electabuzz who stood his ground with his arms by his sides.
"Electabuzz, use protect!" Paul ordered causing his loyal pokemon to grunt as fire fist slugged him across the face causing him to stumble, but managed to erect a green dome around himself to block the fist of ice that shattered like glass against the barrier.
"Staraptor, use agility to get close to Graveler and then use close combat!" Ash demanded causing his bird of prey to chirp and seemingly disappear from sight as Electabuzz was busy defending himself from the elemental fists Lopunny was exclusively firing at him while Graveler frantically looked for the bird of prey.
"I think he's coming from the front!" Catherine yelled to her friend who widened his eyes as he averted his gaze forward and to his surprise, he did find Staraptor dangerously close causing the animate stone to forcefully throw a stone at Staraptor...only for the rock to go through an afterimage of his opponent.
Before Graveler could even register his surprise, he hissed as something harshly struck him in the side causing him to back pedal and circle around his assailant while Electabuzz moved in a circle with him while blocking Lopunny's improvised projectiles. Staraptor's blows were coming at the living boulder fast and furiously like a boxer seeking to defeat a weakened foe, but Graveler, despite not having the martial arts expertise of Luka or Maris, defended himself well by slapping away or stopping blows in their tracks whenever they came near him.
"(Glad I have four arms,)" Graveler mused as he continued to back pedal in a circle forcing the bird of prey to expend more energy in order to keep the pressure on him while grunting when the occasional strike of the wing inevitably slipped past his defenses.
Electabuzz and Lopunny were having a long range battle as the bunny pokemon continued coat her paws and ears in the energy of one of the elemental fists and send them flying at the electric type with a simple punch. Electabuzz would either use protect to block the oncoming attacks or send a burst of lightning at the fists hurtling towards him so they exploded relatively near his two opponents in the hopes it would stun them. With much more force this time, Lopunny threw a cross that launched the fire encasing her paws at Paul's pokemon at a curve while Electabuzz fired off another powerful blast of lightning at his foe's projectile.
The two attacks collided in mid air and exploded violently forcing some members of the audience to cover their ears due to the deafening noise while Lopunny slowly walked out of the dust cloud the explosion created and glared at her opponents. Despite having a black eye, bruises, welts, and cuts on her body, the bunny pokemon was still more than ready to continue to fight as she lit up her ears and paws with burning hot fire and fired them at Electabuzz with a jabbing motion from her appendages.
"Staraptor, retreat and use roost!" Ash ordered while gritting his teeth causing his faithful bird of prey to strike at Graveler one last time which the living boulder blocked before disappearing from sight and flew high above the arena while breathing heavily.
"Shoot him down!" Catherine shouted causing her friend to conjure a stone into one of his hands and focus on the bird of prey's flight pattern before hurling the ball shaped stone at where he thought Staraptor was going to be at frightening speed.
"Staraptor, use steel wing on the boulder!" Ash yelled at the top of his lungs causing the bird of prey to look down only to find a boulder right in his face causing Staraptor to hastily bring a wing in front of himself only for it to smack him in the face when his block wasn't strong enough.
The bird of prey cried out and began quickly free falling to the ground while violently tumbling in the air causing Ash and Pikachu to widen their eyes in shock before the champion of the Orange League gritted his teeth and pleaded for his friend to regain focus to no avail.
"Catch him, Lopunny!" Delia shouted as the bunny pokemon fired off two jabs and a cross at her foes that sent two flaming fists straight at Electabuzz while a bone chilling fist hurtled towards Graveler in a half circle motion.
Electabuzz managed to block the first one by raising his forearm, but wheezed and doubled over when the other attack impacted his gut while Graveler tried to withstand the projectile in the shape of a fist coming at him, but due to his arms being bruised and worn out from Staraptor's assault it was a futile effort. The fist collided with his cheek forcefully causing the living boulder to stagger and collapse on his side while hissing as the kinetic energy behind the attack made a dent in his body while the ice began to erode at his form that quickly saw small bits of his body falling off. Focusing intently, Graveler was able to stop anymore of his body falling apart though this did briefly cause his vision to become blurry.
Groaning a bit, Graveler pushed off the ground and slowly climbed to his feet while trying to ignore the pain his body was in while Electabuzz growled angrily at himself for the slip up and smashed his fist on the ground before determinedly getting back up on his feet. Lopunny landed on the ground with most of her weight on one knee causing a small shake in the ground before letting go of her ally who nodded in thanks and ascended into the air while Lopunny grimaced as she got back up in order to fight.
"Ash, we must use their strategy of sticking together against them. It's our only hope of winning," Delia suggested to her ally who nodded at what she said and wracked his brain for a solution while Graveler and Paul and decided to press their advantage against their weakened opponents.
"Electabuzz use thunder!" Paul ordered causing his loyal pokemon to growl and fire off powerful electrical blasts at his two foes who managed to get out of the way, but felt their fur and feathers rise as the electric wave missed them.
Graveler began hurling jagged stones the size of one's palm at his opponents who now had to contend with dodging a flurry of rocks flying at them and bursts of electricity striking where they once stood if they hadn't gotten out of the way in time.
"Graveler, stop! Just focus on stopping any attacks Staraptor or Lopunny send our way for now!" Catherine advised her friend who ceased his assault and began chucking rocks at any elemental fist hurtling his way or repelling any dive bombing from the bird of prey by standing as resolute as a fortress.
"We got em on the run!" Catherine stated excitedly as she grinned and clenched her fists before she frowned as she noted that neither Lopunny or Staraptor were making any attempts at getting close to their foes.
"Paul, I think Electabuzz is getting tired. Why don't you let Graveler take over offense for a little bit while Electabuzz regains his strength?" Catherine suggested to her tag team partner who narrowed his eyes at his pokemon and snorted before shoving his hands into his coat pockets.
"No, Electabuzz can handle it. Just focus on defense," Paul refuted in a tone that was trying to sound calm, but it came out as his usual gruff voice causing the former heiress to raise a brow before giving a slow nod in response.
However, as the battle raged on with Lopunny and Staraptor continuing to dodge to their best of their ability, Electabuzz began to breathe heavily and after firing off another bolt of lightning that struck where he thought his opponents were going to be, he briefly slumped his shoulders before regaining focus.
"Ash, now!" Delia yelled causing the winner of the Battle Frontier to nod and order for the bird of prey to scoop up the bunny pokemon which Staraptor did by grasping Lopunny's shoulders in its talons and taking off high into the sky while avoiding any rocks or lightning sent his way.
When he got to a height somewhat high above the stadium, he released his grip on the bunny pokemon who had already focused a large amount of chi into one leg and fell towards the duo like a meteor coming down for a landing. Before Graveler or Electabuzz could respond, the bunny pokemon suddenly erected a giant, purple sphere with orange streaks running down it around herself causing Catherine and Paul to widen their eyes fearfully which was a sentiment shared by their pokemon as Lopunny now truly seemed like a meteor about to impact the Earth.
"Lopunny knows giga impact!?" Catherine shouted at the top of her lungs causing Paul to wince a bit at the sound of her voice, but ordered Electabuzz to use protect causing his pokemon to erect a barrier around himself leaving Graveler out in the open.
Catherine's surprise at the situation worsened as Lopunny, in an impressive display of energy control, redirected the chi in her leg for a jump kick into the enormous sphere and like a professional baseball pitcher, suddenly moved her way out of the orb and flung it at her foes with a war cry.
"Damn it, now or never. Graveler, use the new technique we worked on!" Catherine yelled desperately and as quick as a flash the living boulder crossed his arms into an x and began glowing an angry, violent red like he was going to explode.
Quickly, but carefully, Graveler redirected the energy needed for him to self destruct into his hand like a bomb before hastily aiming at the oncoming gigantic orb and flinging his volatile bomb at the enormous sphere with all his might. Things didn't go as Catherine or Graveler had expected as Graveler's bomb detonated prematurely long before clashing with Lopunny's devastating projectile causing Catherine and Paul to be thrown onto their backs from the force behind the explosion while Luka stood strong despite having to shield her eyes with her forearm. Thanks to his training, Graveler managed to contain the energy behind the explosion in the air where it couldn't hurt anyone in the audience, the referee, or any of the trainers, but this left Lopunny's attack unimpeded in its collision course with the living boulder and his partner.
Digging his feet into the ground and cross his arms into an x, the animate stone braced for impact as Lopunny's orb of death slammed into the ground and exploded into a colorful display of lights causing Catherine and Paul to shield their eyes from the blinding light. Lopunny, like Graveler, managed to localize the energy around her foes which took the shape of a giant, purple dome with red-orange streaks running down on it and leaving Catherine, Paul, the referee, and the audience members unharmed. Graveler and Electabuzz on the other hand screamed in agony as the dome completely consumed them leaving their trainers to watch on helplessly as they hoped their pokemon could hold out.
After a while, the dome finally ebbed away leaving a giant crated in its wake with Electabuzz kneeling down on knee with his arms crossed over his body in an x while Graveler was lying on his side and tried to get back on his feet, but could only get onto both knees.
"It's alright, sweetie. You gave it your all and now it's time for you to rest up," Catherine kindly told her partner and friend who grinned and nodded tiredly as he allowed his pokeball to break him down into a mass of light and transport him back inside the device safe and sound.
When the living boulder was back in his pokeball, she released him off to the side so Luka could heal him which the jackal did by placing a paw on his body and transferring some of her aura to him which managed to restore parts of his chipped, broken body.
"(Thanks Luka,)" Graveler told the aura pokemon who smiled a bit at what he said before finishing up restoring his body back to peak condition as they both sat down against the security wall and waited to see how the battle would continue to unfold.
They wouldn't have to wait long as Lopunny slowly slid down the crater with a wince and stopped a few feet in front of Electabuzz with her giant ears and fists poised to strike while Staraptor flew in place behind Paul's pokemon and was ready to attack at Ash's orders.
"(Give up, you're outnumbered-)"
"Electabuzz, thunder punch!" Paul shouted which cut off the bunny pokemon's order causing Paul's loyal pokemon to let out a roar and throw an electrified punch that crackled with energy at Lopunny that moved too fast for her to react to in her current condition.
Lopunny was slugged cross the face brutally causing a glob of saliva to escape her lips and land on the ground below while her head snapped to the side causing Paul's pokemon to smirk, but he didn't expect Lopunny's giant ears to suddenly strike him back at the same time. Electabuzz let out howl as his head snapped back from the blow and hit the ground harshly where he lay still while Lopunny hit the ground chest first and groaned.
"Electabuzz and Lopunny are unable to battle and since Paul and Catherine are out of usable pokemon this makes Delia and Ash the winners of the Hearthome Tag Team Tournament!" the referee shouted causing the audience to erupt in cheers while Luka rushed out to the field and began transferring some of her aura to Lopunny while Paul returned Electabuzz to his pokeball with an approving nod.
"(Thanks Luka; my jaw feels like a snorlax landed on top of it,)" Lopunny grumbled tiredly while rubbing her jaw as Delia approached the bunny pokemon and put one of her arms around her neck and helped Lopunny walk off the battlefield while Luka walked back to Catherine's side.
Paul and Delia's eyes suddenly met and to Delia's surprise, Paul nodded at the dragon tamer and walked away before the battle ace could return the gesture. Before he departed though, he did give curt wave over his shoulder to Catherine who grinned a bit at the gesture. Returning Graveler to his pokeball and thanking him for his efforts, the former heiress walked out into the middle of the field to shake hands with her two former opponents with Luka walking beside her.
"That was a great battle, Catherine. I'm definitely going to have to watch out for you in the Sinnoh League," Ash complimented the former heiress who blushed a bit from the praise and shook hands with the winner of the Battle Frontier before she let go of his hands as she grasped Delia's forearms with the dragon tamer doing the same.
"So you used Graveler knowing I haven't seen him fight before...ha, very clever," Delia stated with a soft laugh and grin on her face as the battle ace patted the former heiress on the shoulder and released her grip on Catherine's forearm with the brown-haired girl following suit.
Unlike last time, Delia and Ash turned their heads toward each other and gave a short nod to one another before walking away until they heard the announcer calling them up to receive their prize causing Delia to snarl as she reluctantly walked to the podium. Just as Ash was about to follow her, he heard Paul call out to him causing the Orange League champion to raise a brow and let his arms rest down at his sides as Paul approached him with one hand in his coat pocket.
"Ketchum...there's something I need to give you," Paul told his rival bluntly causing Ash and Pikachu to wonder what it could be until they both jolted a bit when they saw the Veilstone native take out Chimchar's pokeball out of his coat pocket.