PWT Arc: Evil Surprise
The next morning, the two almost missed the start of the next round. Both were lucky that Jacky woke up in time half an hour before the start and chased Mari out of bed. At lightning speed, they got ready and rushed to the grandstand- they skipped breakfast to make it in time. Chris and Laslow were talking to each other quietly.
"Hello", Mari called out to them. They looked up and waved back. "Here I thought you'd miss the round!" Chris laughed. "I was getting worried!"
Soleil looked back at them. "Ah, you're the tailenders of this tournament, right?", "Tailenders?" Mari growled. Chris gave Soleil a warning look. "Hey, don't be rude.",
"We're not the last ones!",
"Oh, right. Almost the last." She smiled.
"Soleil." Chris shook his head. "Stop.",
"Lordy, what a shame. As high as you've risen on the mountain of success, you'll fall into the gorge of failure. Three points out of ten is already a hard hammer blow from the judges of fate. Now then..." She snapped her fingers. "Witness the power of my Pokémon and me, that this result may shimmer and shine like the sun in this arena."
Chris would have loved to kick her shin bone to interrupt their theatrical wordplay, but instead, he just sighed and turned away. "Just ignore her... She's babbling nonsense anyway.",
"That's not nice of you to blaspheme about it!" Mari hissed at the blonde-haired girl. "Blaspheming was not my intention, sorry." Soleil shook her head and took Mari's hand. "I hope for a battle blessed by the patron gods, with grace and brilliance of a thousand stars, our partners shall dance across the battlefield and win over the entire world.",
"Uh..." Jacky stood behind Mari and rubbed her neck questioningly. She hadn't understood a word of what Soleil was so happily philosophizing about. Mari also frowned questioningly. "Um... Yes", she said awkwardly. "I hope... that too. Um... I also hope we get along well... and stuff..."
Jacky looked around. Chris had dropped into his seat and quickly shoved a donut into his stomach. Laslow next to him was calmly taking a sip from his water bottle. Mia climbed onto the stand, and shortly thereafter, Kattlea sauntered over and dropped into a seat. "We weren't even the last ones to emerge today", Jacky realized, "Viv's missing."
Just as she said that, the black-haired hirl with the white streaks rushed up to the stand and sank down on one of the seats panting like she's been running a marathon. Soleil let go of Mari's hand. "Oh well, let this be a cordial rivalry then!" She chuckled. Mari nodded at her and sat down as well when the stadium commentator's loudspeaker announcement sounded. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for gracing the PWT with your presence today!" The display screen lit up, showing the pictures of the remaining participants. "Today we're going into the second round! Trainers will compete with two Pokémon. If both of a participant's Pokémon can no longer fight, they are eliminated from the tournament! And now, the pairings will be drawn!" The images of the remaining participants began to rotate again and were shuffled, and silence spread through the hall until the images remained rigid.
Jacky turned pale when she saw who her picture had stopped next to. "In the first fight, Laslow and Kattlea will face each other! The second fight will be Viv and Mari! The third fight will be Soleil and Mia, and the last fight will be Chris and Jacky."
Mari bit her lip. "Ouch."
Jacky's legs went all wobbly. "Oh. No", she whispered, "I'm getting kicked out today...",
"Don't be like that... You have to give it your all, you hear me?" Mari implored to her.
"Um... Mari... I don't think I have... the slightest chance."
Mari gritted her teeth. She didn't need to say anything to make Jacky understand that she equally didn't believe she would win the battle. The only Pokémon that had an advantage type-wise against his powerful Tyranitar was Medicham, and it was down for the entire tournament. Things were really not looking good for her.
"I'm not going to give up without a fight, of course... But still..." Jacky swallowed quietly and fixed Chris.
"I really feel sorry for you", Mari said.
Chris turned around to her and could instantly spot her resigned look. "Hey. Cheer up", he said. "Looking like you've bitten the grass before the round even started ain't justified.",
"Chris... I'll get my butt handed to me by you today. Don't act like it's any different.",
"Well, you wouldn't know before you tried, would you? Don't look upon that battle in this way. No one lost yet."
Kattlea and Laslow had already left the stands. They were standing opposite each other on the field. Laslow used his Gothorita against Kattlea's Deerling, who double-kicked at its opponent. Gothorita jumped away. "Future Sight", Laslow commanded. "He's using the same technique again..." Mari muttered. Deerling kept attacking and Hypnomorba dodged. "Jump Kick, Deerling! We have to enter the offensive!",
"Psychic." As Deerling jumped off, Gothorita's eyes lit up and an invisible force hit the grass-type Pokémon, smashing it to the ground. The Future Sight crystals appeared in the air above Deerling and hailed down on it. Badly hit, it remained on the ground and was unable to continue the fight.
"Another one-hit K.O... How strong is this guy? He's almost as insane as Chris, even without crazy overpowered Pokémon", Mari noticed, puzzled.
"Apparently, he's pretty strong too... Burgh wasn't lying..." Jacky was nervous. "Masquerain, we're moving on!" Kattlea shouted, and her second Pokémon appeared on the field. "A Masquerain? Against Laslow?" Mari raised her eyebrows in puzzlement. "Uh... That doesn't look good for her...",
"Quick Attack, Masquerain!" In a flash, the Pokémon shot forward, and for the first time ever in this tournament, Gothorita was hit by an attack. It backed away. "Future Sight, Gothorita!" Laslow ordered.
"Intercept with Bug Buzz!" Heavy shock waves hit Gothorita and it held its arms in front of its body, but it didn't help at all. Badly hit, it staggered back. Its concentration had evaporated. They fought on fiercely and Laslow made a fabulous comeback as Gothorita managed to land several hits with Double Slap, but in the end, it was overwhelmed by Masquerain and succumbed to its bug-type weakness. Laslow withdrew it.
"Um... I think we really underestimated Kattlea...",
"Looks like it..." Mari muttered in response. Laslow reached for the next Pokéball. "...Let's continue on, Seadra." He sent his next Pokémon onto the battle field. "Lets start with Smoke Screen, Seadra!" He stretched out his arm and black smoke distributed in the arena. "Now, continue with Focus Energy!" The Pokémon's body briefly lit up.
"Use Bug Buzz!" Kattlea shouted inbetween a heavy coughing fit. Laslow went more on the defensive now, biding his time while waiting for a great opportunity to strike. He made it really hard for Kattlea's Pokémon to hit his Seadra at all and countered with a critical hit through Dragon Breath, which one-shotted Masquerain like the Future Sight attack one-shotted Deerling. This guy was a machine gun, no joke. "Okay, he took control of the battle again real quick after his Gothorita fainted..." Mari noticed. "Poor Kattlea got utterly destroyed down there... And now, it's my turn...",
"You can do it." Jacky patted her on the shoulder. "Don't panic.",
"I'll make an effort." Mari took a deep breath and then went back along with the man who took her downstairs to the door. There, she waited for the announcement before entering the arena, trying to block out the jeering of the crowd. "Okay, focus..." she reminded herself. Viv called out to her Lairon, who was pawing the ground with one foot. "Gabite, I choose you!" Mari sent her dragon onto the field. It bared its teeth menacingly and narrowed its eyes. "The battle begins!" the referee shouted.