A.N. Please forgive my overextended absence! I had to move and my mother passed away and I'm not entirely sure I am completely back to my usual self since the past two years have been one shitty event after the next. I am going to start writing as I see fit, so I'm not entirely sure that I will have future polls, rather, surprise you guys.
I hope you understand this and I especially hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm sorry in advance if you are disappointed because one would think (I sometimes myself would hold this belief, too), "Hey, if you have taken over a year, it must be perfect." But I definitely vie to update more frequently.
I am also working on "What a Wonderful Lost".
Oh yeah, this story contains breaking laws of physics. But it's Pokemon, so why should this be mentioned? xDD
Ash could feel his heart beating heavily in his throat, his emotions were overwhelming as he glanced at the towering water serpentine Pokémon. Everything that had happened in the past totally was supported by Gyarados; Erika's clandestine behavior, the roaring in the distance sounded exactly like this Gyarados. The memories of being temporarily crippled left a feeling of pain in Ash's foot, but not as much as the feeling of...betrayal of Erika. No. Maybe betrayal was too strong of an emotion to feel considering all of her benevolence. Erika was literally the only friend-human, at least-along this journey, so it would not be beneficial at all to harbor a grudge on her. Ultimately, the feeling that was left inside of him was sheer disappointment that she did not mention this any earlier...Ash could have understood better if Erika had told him, but...
Caroline was astonished at the Pokemon that her sister had selected. Never in her wildest dreams would she expect her little sister to capture something so...powerful and not in her range of specialty. Caroline was honestly a bit surprised that her sister even had a Ludicolo and was prepared to use the primarily grass types that she predicted her to use to her advantage with Flareon. Caroline gulped at this predicament but shrugged it off. Even her Pokemon were pretty much left stupefied as they looked over at the towering aquatic Pokemon.
Erika smirked and said in a particularly snide tone, "What's the matter? You look pretty scared right about now."
"I-I do not!" shot back Caroline as she clenched her fist tightly at Erika's taunt. "I just never thought you would ever deviate from your pathetic grass types. But no matter. I'll still win. Because I trained them and that's all that matters in the end."
"Training countless hours each day doesn't make you a better trainer if you don't show your Pokemon any love!" shouted back Erika. "They'll grow up knowing that fighting is the only way to live. A Pokemon is more than just a tool used for battle, and you know that."
Ash began to take in all of the words that Erika had been shouting at Caroline. The more he thought about it, the more he began to wonder: was compassion truly responsible for all of his winnings? Or was it that everyone else around him was extremely arrogant like Caroline and it eventually led to their downfall, hence, allowing him to win? He had to win for Erika's sake and also to potentially resolve the conflict that divided these two sisters. Ash never had the chance to have a sibling and he didn't like what he was seeing unfolding to his best friend. What strategy could he use to overcome the two Pokemon who had an obvious weakness to water? That was more than likely the most obvious tactic that Caroline would expect from Erika, at least. Could Ash surprise her and try to defeat Nidoqueen and Flareon with bubblebeam?
"Flareon, use shadow ball on that Dragonair!" commanded Caroline as she finally decided to be the one to break the silence. Ash and Erika focused on the fire type who was conjuring a ball of ghoulish spirits and launched it towards Dragonair without any hesitation.
"Dive under the water, Dragonair," commanded Ash, "then counter it with your dragonbreath attack!" Ash did not have an elaborate plan at the moment but he had to avoid losing. Dragonair dove into the river and managed to avoid the shadow ball that left a small crater in the ground. Dragonair popped out of the water once the attacked ceased and released the blast of teal energy towards Flareon.
"Combat with sludge bomb, stop that dragonbreath!"
"Gyarados, stop sludge bomb with flamethrower!" ordered Erika as Ash gasped at this command. This, too, caught Caroline off guard as crimson flames began to fire off towards the large filth orb. When the two collided, it caused the flames to disappear and all but a small portion of the sludge bomb pretty much disintegrated into nothing.
"Okay, Dragonair, hit Flareon with your slam attack!" ordered Ash. This was currently just a strategy to see how Flareon and Nidqueen would behave. Dragonair coiled her body much like a spring and used the force to "fly" towards Flareon with her lanky body with the attempt of pounding Flareon.
"Flareon, push back Dragonair with quick attack!" shouted Caroline. Just before Dragonair made contact, Flareon moved with lightning speed, causing the dragon to impact the ground hard, then Flareon followed up with a swift tackle which knocked Dragonair a few feet back. Erika knew that it was her turn to attack, and she would use something that Caroline would probably not have predicted.
"Gyarados, use your ice fang on Nidoqueen!"
Gyarados' viciously sharp fangs began to turn a light blue and he lounged forward towards the bipedal Pokemon. Caroline knew what to do and said,
"I'll end this battle early and tell Nidoqueen use thunderpunch!"
"Dragonair, use wrap on Nidoqueen and stop them from hitting Gyarados!" ordered Ash. Ash felt that if Nidoqueen hit Gyarados with an electric attack, the battle would end very shortly due to the fact that said attack would do four-times more damage than usual. At least if Nidoqueen struck Dragonair, it wouldn't do a substantial amount of damage thanks to Dragonair's resistance to electricity. Dragonair managed to spring over to Nidoqueen and wrapped herself around the poison type, causing Nidoqueen to fall over and the attack missed. Gyarados' fangs made contact with Nidoqueen, encasing the poison Pokemon with a layer of ice on her abdomen. Gyarados immediately pulled back after doing so, roaring in pain. Nidoqueen was left temporarily immobilized from the frozen prison.
"Oh...he's been poisoned," commented Erika with worry. "I didn't realize that Nidoqueen's skin can sometimes cause the target to become poison with direct contact."
"Such an mistake is something that only an amateur would do," stated Caroline. "I was hoping you would remember that before you made your Gyarados attack."
"Hmn." Erika reached into her pocket and said, "I suppose since we're allowed to use items, I'll let you have this pecha berry, Gyarados!" She tossed the tannish-pink berry towards the gigantic serpent who caught it and devoured it with one gulp. To show that the berry worked, Gyarados roared with triumph and took a battle position.
"Good," said Ash. "Let's be more careful next time. Now let's try to figure how to take them both down."
"Nidoqueen won't last for long in her frozen state," advised Erika. "So we should try to focus on taking down Flareon since there will not be any threat for the time being."
"We should try to use special attacks on Nidoqueen since we don't want to get poisoned," Ash recommended. "Dragonair has shed skin, but it's not a good strategy to use regular attacks."
"Hmm, I see your point," agreed Erika.
"Flareon, use ember on Nidoqueen to defrost the ice!" ordered Caroline with the highest level of confidence. She knew that there would be a strategy like this, so she decided to get one step ahead of them.
"Dragonair, stop Flareon with thunder wave!" shouted Ash, causing Dragonair's body to be surrounded by an electrical charge. A small bolt of electricity was hurled towards Flareon, but Flareon hid behind Nidoqueen, zapping her instead but doing nothing. Flareon let loose a few small flames onto the ice which then turned into water droplets afterwards, freeing Nidoqueen in the process.
"This isn't working," sighed Ash as he started to think carefully. The water was the most useful thing to use against the two types of Pokemon that Caroline was using, but that was the most predictable strategy. Thunder wave wouldn't slow down Flareon because Nidoqueen would more than likely slip in the way and the electric attack would have no effect on the ground type. Maybe Dragonair wasn't the best selection for this battle? But Ash had already selected and couldn't switch out. He had to make do with the situation and figure out a way to slow them down. Maybe if Ash could use dragonbreath on Nidoqueen and paralyze her, it would be significantly easier.
"If I can distract one of them, then maybe you can use Dragonair to slow the other one down," suggested Erika.
"It's worth a shot. I don't really know what to do at this moment." Ash knew that he would still retain any dignity after this battle even if he lost. He wasn't going to let it bother him even though he had major luck at all the other gyms. This would not affect anything.
"Gyarados, use your flamethrower attack on Nidoqueen!" shouted Erika with enthusiasm. A few months ago, she never in a million years thought of commanding a Pokemon that could use a fire-type move. But some of the words that Caroline had said in the past really hit her hard and decided that this was the most opportune moment to show how she's changed.
"Flareon, prevent Gyarados' attack from hitting by using a shadow ball!"
"Dragonair, aim your dragonbreath carefully," advised Ash. "Maybe we can paralyze Flareon and make this an easier fight." Ash watched as the Gyarados, the Pokemon whose fin sliced his foot badly, began to inhale deeply and aimed the attack instead at Flareon, completely disobeying Erika's command. Flareon had already conjured the shadow ball and it was heading straight for Gyarados, but the ball had got caught in the flames and exploded on contact, hindering the visibility of the battlefield with smoke.
"Dragonair, release your dragonbreath now! You're bound to hit one of the two!" ordered Ash. Ash knew that this move was a gamble because more or likely it could accidentally hit and paralyze Gyarados. There was a chance it could even hit Caroline! Maybe this was not the best-thought course of action, but Ash was concentrating on victory too much and was getting a bit careless in his planning.
"Ash, why did you do that?" questioned Erika as she turned to him. Ash merely shrugged and responded with an "I don't know." The smoke cleared away and no sign of any damage to the Pokemon. Just as they focused on another attack, Ash saw that one of the large boulders of the field was badly cracked. Another attack to it would easily cause it to break and Ash has begun to thought of a way to use this to his advantage. It made him think of a strategy that he used in Pewter City, except it would involve a little bit of a different twist.
"Your attacks did nothing!" taunted Caroline as she eyed the battlefield. The crack of the rock could only be seen from the position that Ash was standing from, so it was highly unlikely that Caroline was going to use it for her gain. After all, a rock attack would do a lot of damage to Gyarados, but would that really be necessary if Nidoqueen could use thunderpunch? No. Most likely not. "You two are pretty bad at team coordination."
"Well, it was worth an effort," said Ash.
"Your words mean nothing, Caroline!" yelled Erika as she was at the verge of losing all patience. "At least I have friends."
"Friends mean nothing if they are weak and you can't depend on them," remarked Caroline. "My only friends are my Pokemon, whether you believe it or not. Now, Flareon, use your iron tail on Dragonair!"
Was this the proper moment for Ash to make use of his plan? Maybe. "Dragonair, use your agility to get onto that rock!" he ordered as he pointed to the one that was on the verge of collapsing. With blinding swiftness, Dragonair rushed to the indicated position and Flareon gave chase. With a glowing tail, Flareon attacked Dragonair but not before she leaped into the air, evading the attack and causing the rock to crumble into about twenty medium-size rocks.
Good, this should hopefully work, thought Ash.
"Hmm, your Dragonair has been adequately raised," said Caroline. Ash didn't know whether this should be a compliment or not since her tone didn't sound entirely sincere. "Now attack Dragonair with your ice punch, Nidoqueen!"
"Gyarados, use flamethrower again!" commanded Erika. Gyarados was weak when it came to special attacks, but it was not worth using physical due to the fact that Nidoqueen would likely poison Gyarados.
"Flareon, stop Dragonair!" ordered Caroline. "Use iron tail again!"
"Dragonair, dodge it!" commanded Ash. "Then use twister by the rubble!" The rocks were lying in the sand and Ash was planning of creating a twister made up of sand and rock and fling it at Flareon. Since Flareon would be weak due to be a fire attack it would be a good use of the land and a good strategy overall. Hopefully.
Flareon jumped in the air and slashed the air with a metallic tail. Dragonair was able to duck and evade the attack and began to spin around really fast in order to create the twister. A vortex was forming on the ground around the rocks and a huge column of wind shot upward to the ceiling of the gym.
The tornado had picked up the rocks and the swirling column of sand and rocks was heading directly towards Flareon.
"Flareon, use fire blast on that tornado!" commanded Caroline.
"What do you hope to gain out of th-" started Erika and soon gasped upon the sight that was unfolding in front of her jade eyes. The sand of the tornado was solidifying and turning into glass! The tornado stopped and was now a large column of glass with rocks inside of it. It was honestly an interesting sight to behold, but disappointing at the same time that things weren't going according to plan.
"No way!" exclaimed Ash as he saw what happened. His entire strategy was ruined, but that didn't mean the battle was over. Maybe there was some way to use the glass column.
"Pretty interesting sculpture," chastised Caroline. "I shall call it 'Whirlwind of Failure: Lost in Time'."
"Don't be so certain that we're losing, Caroline!" shouted Ash. "The battle can change really fast!"
"You're right! Flareon, use fireblast on the water! Turn it into steam! That will take away Gyarados and Dragonair's advantage of water!"
Before Ash or Erika could even react to Caroline's plan, Flareon was already spitting out red-hot crimson flames from his mouth towards the water, causing the water level to recede gradually.
"It will be just like a fish out of water," laughed Caroline. Erika facepalmed at the terrible pun and said,
"If you wanna see a fish out a water, then watch this! Gyarados, earthquake!" Gyarados dove deep into the water completely hidden from view. He remained underwater for about ten seconds and Caroline laughed.
"So what's the big deal now-now...oh my..." Everyone, that included all the Pokemon on the field, Ash, and Caroline, gasped as they saw Gyarados leap out of the water and was about fifteen feet in the air. After Gyarados obtained that maximum height, gravity did its work and he fell to the ground, causing a gargantuan rumbling of the entire battlefield. Dragonair jumped into the air to avoid taking any damage and Flareon and Nidoqueen both lost their balance and fell to the ground, badly getting injured in the process. The three humans fell down themselves and Gyarados retreated into the river while Dragonair gracefully landed back onto the ground. The glass column shattered into about ten major chunks which then broke off into some smaller pieces.
"Crap. That was the last move I ever expected you to use, Erika!" laughed Caroline who was surprisingly very impressed with her sister. "But the battle isn't over. My Pokemon may be shaken, but they aren't down quite yet!"
"They look pretty exhausted, Erika," pointed out Ash. "That was a smart move. I never would've guessed that."
"I'm full of surprises today, aren't I?" joked Erika with a sweet smile on her face. "But it's not time to celebrate yet. The tide of the battle can unexpectedly shift."
Caroline stood there completely stunned at how the battle has shifted into their favor. What could she do to ensure her victory? She knew one thing was for sure. She was not going to go down without a fight, especially against her little sister of all people!
"Nidoqueen, you have the potential to end this battle with horn drill!" commanded Caroline. "It's not over until both of you have fainted!" Nidoqueen began running towards Dragonair with her large horn ready to pierce Dragonair's flesh.
"Use bubblebeam, Dragonair!" shouted Ash.
"Flareon, you combat Dragonair with shadow ball!" barked Caroline. "Don't let them gain the upper hand!"
The large orbs of water and the ghastly sphere of spirits collided and exploded upon impact, creating a damp smoke that filled the area, although not as heavy as the previous smokescreen.
"Erika, watch out for Nidoqueen's horn drill!" advised Ash as he caught sight of Nidoqueen running through the smoke.
"Dive underwater and press Nidoqueen back with hyper beam!" ordered Erika. She knew that this move was a gamble, but she had faith in her decision. Gyarados retreated beneath the surface of the water and Nidoqueen's attack failed. In fact, she was unable to decrease her speed, so she accidentally fell into the river with Gyarados.
"Oh!" gasped Erika and Ash, but Caroline was not entirely shocked as the two of them were.
"Need I remind you that Nidoqueen can learn Surf?" pointed out Caroline. "Not that I have the HM for it, but Nidoqueen are capable of swimming well in the water despite their being a ground type. I bet you were trying to figure out a way to use the river against Nidoqueen, but I saw that through."
"Maybe Flareon still has that water weakness," said Ash. "What should we do?"
"Well, Gyarados has a better advantage in the water than Nidoqueen," pointed out Erika. "It's possible that they could prolong their battle until Nidoqueen comes to the surface. There is no telling what will happen, really."
"In the mean time, we can use rest. Heal yourself, Flareon!" ordered Caroline.
"We can stop Flareon with thunderbolt!" commanded Ash. Flareon's body was already beginning to glow with a bright green aura. This was the time to attack with one swift move before Flareon could fully heal. A spark begin to emit from Dragonair's body and the electricity was discharged towards Flareon.
"Sleep talk!" she ordered.
"Sleep talk?" questioned Ash.
"Yeah, Flareon will randomly use a move he knows in order to attack," said Erika. "A powerful although risky move."
"Well, it could be shadow ball or quick attack," said Erika. "Or any other move that Flareon moves. We haven't seen all his moves yet, so exercise caution."
Ash was really nervous about the outcome of this battle. Nidoqueen and Gyarados were both still underwater and Flareon was regaining health. If horn drill connected, Gyarados would lose, and if Flareon used a powerful move, it could make Dragonair faint. But Ash remembered the large column of glass and rocks. Twister wouldn't do any good to it. And Erika's Gyarados wasn't there to help out, either. It was really him against the world, so to speak.
I put a poll if you didn't already see it and I need your opinion via vote and not review. Should I stick to super long chapters or shorter ones? Shorter ones, imho, will be significantly easier.