Chapter-13: The knight of steel
Hey guys,umm, how is it going? Okay, I am very sorry for the unexplained delay. The last chapter's AN was supposed to have this info that my college mini-semester(since we missed a lot due to covid, the sem is condensed to three months) is going to start and I might not upload once a week also. And man was I right? It has been two weeks since we started the sem and I already had to write two mini-exams. The only reason this chapter was done bcoz on saturday we only have one lab. Or else this would have taken even longer. The sem is jam packed and this is my first time attending this chaos offline and from an on-campus dorm. So, sorry for the future delays too. There was one more reason for the delay, but I will tell that in the AN at the end. So, please enjoy the story and let me know your thoughts if you can.
Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon. And this is true in every chapter.
Also, I nearly forgot, the review(s, hopefully next time).
Reader: Thanks for consistently reviewing the series. And yes, th was intentional but I think I went too overboard trying to show off that his other Kalos mons are also as strong as Greninja. And yeah, I originally wanted Malva to have Delphox as it isn't represented properly but at the end I couldn't. And again yes. Ash will only use his regional team and I am sure writing Unovan battles would be interesting to say the least. Also, thanks for the suggestion. I thought I made it clear in the summary but it seems not. So, from here on I made referee state the rules. Looking forward for your review on this chapter.
Without further ado, let's take off.
"How much do they even earn to maintain places like this?" Ash asked as he stared at the mansion, or rather a castle. Yep, a medieval castle, with four pillars on its vertices and sky-high walls. With a large drawbridge to top it off. Ash thought the battle chateau was exaggerating on its medieval aspects but compared to Wikstorm's 'office', it was quite normal.
This time though, Ash was lucky. As soon as he approached the drawbridge, it was lowered and he could see guards, in knight suits no less, coming out from the castle and escorting him inside.
"Welcome, Sire Ash. Lord Wikstorm is waiting for your battle." A knight has partly shouted at Ash, though Ash thought it was more of a declaration.
Pikachu, though, had no such restraints as he plugged his long ears with his chubby little paws, which effectively provided enough insulation.
Ash sighed and followed the knight.
The battlefield was similar to the one at Battle Chateau. Open field with no constructions on any side on it and elevated hard rock floor whose most surface was covered by the battlefield. Even though it was shiny and smooth looking, Ash knew that skidding across this surface would be very hot and painful. Thus, he needs to avoid it as much as possible.
"This is an official 6 on 6 battle between Lord Wikstorm of Kalos Elite four and Master Ash, Champion of Alola. Both trainers are allowed to substitute and when all pokemon on one side are unable to battle, the battle ends." The referee declared. "Let the battle commence."
Ash grinned at the commencement and threw his pokeball first, sending out his Noivern. Wikstrom sent out his Skarmory.
"Let's start. Skarmory, agility." Wikstrom ordered.
"Noivern, keep sharp and use acrobatics." Ash ordered.
Skarmory cawed as she let the psychic powers enhance her reflexes and speed greatly. She then became a streak of gray as she flew with Noivern trying to tail her, as he was using his sonar readings to find where Skarmory is. But the high speed made his sense useless as by the time he reached her, she was at another place.
At the end, Noivern has finally locked onto her location, based on her pattern. He hoped the boost Acrobatics provides would be enough to get to Skarmory and hit her strong enough. But as blue energy started to gather around Noivern, Wikstrom issued his command.
"Metal sound." Wikstrom commanded.
"Counter with hurricane." Ash countered.
Skarmory once again disappeared and appeared behind Noivern, who was prepared. As Skarmory released a sound wave of god awful noises, Noivern kicked up a hurricane behind him.
The metal sound was blocked by a hurricane, which became steady at one place due to clashing with metal sound.
"Steel wing." Wikstrom commanded.
"Fly into the hurricane and power it up." Ash countered.
Wikstrom raised his eyebrow as Noivern was once again covered in blue energy and streaked forward towards the hurricane. Meanwhile, Skarmory powered up her steel wings and flew circularly to get to the other side of the hurricane when she saw Noivern fly ahead and above her, a perfect opportunity to strike with force and surprise.
Skarmory straightened her wings and gilded with full force towards the unsuspecting Noivern from below, but before she could strike the pokemon, Noivern's wings became vertical as he flipped and soared faster than ever alongside the hurricane and most probably recklessly into the hurricane.
Skarmory thanked her heavy body and seed boost for helping her not get sucked into the hurricane and bear the force.
But unknown to her, Noivern used the acrobatics to enter the hurricane, getting to the center and stabilizing himself as he charged up his strongest boomburst.
"Skarmory, fly away from the tornado using metal sound." Wikstrom shouted. Skarmory was confused as to why but nonetheless followed her trainer as she prepared a metal sound and flew away from the tornado.
But as she was heading out, Skarmory watched the tornado suddenly bend and try to hit her, something from inside being aimed at her causing the distortion. She released the already prepared metal sounds onto the hurricane, which seemed to nullify the force from inside as she flew away, escaping being sucked into the tornado by a breadth.
"Full power, Noivern. Use boomburst." Ash shouted.
Noivern once again used his sonic reading to find the potential location of the steel bird. While it would have been hard, Skarmory is made of steel, thus most of his sonar waves don't return. Once he locked on, he released a string wave of boomburst, this time the hurricane completely breaking apart as soon as the attack reached the hurricane.
Skarmory was thrown off by the sudden dissipation of the hurricane but saw a wave of incoming sound waves. She couldn't react in time as the attack hit true and made her body vibrate violently. One could even say she was spasming. But the bird was a steel type, thus, she flapped her wings and cawed out viciously by revving and dissipating a steel wing, along with all the vibrations.
"Noivern, come back." Ash returned his Noivern as Skarmory's steel typing would eat away at Noivern's strength. "Talonflame, fire up."
The flame bird emerged as she cawed at the steel bird.
"Talonflame, flame charge." Ash commanded.
"Skarmory, metal sound." Wikstrom ordered.
Talonflame surrounded herself with flames as she flew towards the still spasming Skarmory who screeched that god awful metallic sound which made Talonflame stop in her tracks and also helped Skarmory get rid of the spasms. But still, Talonflame got the speed boost.
"Brave bird." Ash ordered.
"Steel wing, try not to collide." Wikstrom ordered. Ash could see that Wikstrom is trying to not to activate Talonflame's flame body, if she does have it. Which Talonflame does indeed.
Talonflame surrounded herself with pale blue energy as she gained momentum, with Skarmory on her tail. Then, in a blink, Talonflame disappeared from Skarmory's line of sight.
"Below you." Wikstrom shouted.
Skarmory turned in time to see Talonflame coming at her from below. Skarmory immediately brought the wings in front of her, the wings taking the flow. But due to lack of time, Skarmory couldn't strengthen the barricade. Talonflame bounced upwards from the attack, shaking her head due to slight ringing from colliding with steel and stabilizing her flight.
"Skarmory, come back." Wikstrom retrieved his steel bird, confirming that Talonflame has flame body. Gale wings would have given brave bird priority and speed, making it impossible to block. "Magnezone, enter the field."
Magnezone came out and floated as Talonflame was weirded out by the abomination in front.
"Talonflame, flame charge." Ash ordered.
"Magnezone, flash cannon." Wikstrom countered.
Magnezone roared as a beam of white shot from his antenna on his central head collided with Talonflame. The flames fought against the steel beam but at the end, both moves are equally powerful. Talonflame once again shook her head, the blinding light being the reason.
"Magnezone, charge beam." Wikstrom commanded.
Magnezone lifted his magnets as he charged a ball of yellow energy. Talonflame flew away from the low lying Magnezone as he shot the electric attack but Talonflame escaped thanks to the speed and reflex boosts from flame charges.
"Tri attack." Wikstrom commanded as soon as the sparks around Magnezone blended into an yellow aura, indicating the increase in special attack.
The three eyes of Magnezone glowed as they conjured an orb in front of them and blasted them forward towards Talonflame.
"Swap back the red one with steel wing." Ash commanded.
Using her extreme agile nature in air, Talonflame narrowly escaped the blue and yellow orbs which were centimeters apart and struck the red one back at Magnezone using her steel wing.
"Mirror coat." Wikstrom ordered. 'That is a well trained Talonflame. Even with speed boost, separately swiping at one of the tri-attack is very hard and requires quite the precision.'
"Flame charge." Ash commanded.
Magnezone formed a blue shield in front of him as the ball collided with the shield and promptly got absorbed into the barricade, which turned red as it shot back a concentrated beam towards Talonflame, who dodged the move with her boosted reflexes by ducking under the beam just in time.
But the maneuver was caught by the side eyes of Magnezone, thus the beam was moved down promptly and hit Talonflame hard.
'The knight of steel, a fitting name indeed. It seems this would be leagues harder than Malva. And leagues more enjoyable too.' Ash thought as he fixed his hat backwards and smiled.
"Talonflame, time to show them our full power. Here we go," Ash said as Talonflame cawed and Wikstrom held his breath, "Flame charge."
WIkstrom was seriously put off by the command, he expected a flare blitz or brave bird.
"Charge beam." Wikstrom ordered.
"Charge into fire blast." Ash ordered.
Talonflame shot towards Magnezone with strongly concentrated flames surrounding her body as Magnezone fired another yellow sparkling beam at her. But rather than face the move head-first, Talonflame took a U-turn and pushed the flames surrounding him as a concentrated fire blast. A very fast, strongly concentrated one.
When the attacks collided, the flames in the bird form erupted all over the place, exploding alongside the charge beam. Talonflame, thanks to the speed, dived upwards enough to dodge the rising hell, but Magnezone couldn't avoid the fiery hell that was brought on him.
Wikstrom had to raise his hand to guard his face from the incoming heat wave, his armor made of insulating material for his own safety.
"Flame charge." Ash continued before the flames died.
Talonflame flapped her wings down as she got wrapped in burning flames and she shot forward with all of her speed, entering the hell fires.
"Metal sound." Wikstrom ordered.
Magnezone heard the command as he released a weak metal sound to clear off the fire in his vicinity and uprighted himself, but just as he was about to attack, Talonflame emerged from the flames in front of him, with the flames around her inflated from the fire surrounding at incredible speeds and collided with the Magnezone. Magnezone had no time to even process the attack before he was knocked back.
Magnezone skidded across the rock platform, the rock not helping whatsoever in slowing him down. Magnezone stopped only after skidding along the ground, beyond the rock platform. Magnezone was badly bruised and had many scratches on himself, and as he got up, he was engulfed in flames.
"Magnezone, return." Wikstrom was quite impressed by Talonflmae's power. Magnezone was always his tank, bulky and quite the special attacker, due to his analytic paired with decently low speed and charge beam's potential special attack boost alongside Mirror coat, he was always a nightmare for many special attackers.
But he knew it wasn't Talonflame's power that gave Magnezone difficulty, it was the tactic. Tactic of 'raise hell' , as Malva would say. It was her tactic actually, using her last 2 pokemon, Torkoal and Houndoom. Torkoal would set-up the sun and surround the field with fire, which Houndoom takes in with flash fire and mega-evolves, using the sun to activate his solar power. Needless to say, many trainers' dreams were turned to Ash by that tactic alone. As after dealing with the hell of triple boosted Mega-Houndoom, they had to deal with drought Torkoal.
But Ash had not only risen above the hell, but also used the hell as his own. Converting the two stage complicated act into a one step, that makes flame charge equivalent to flare blitz. But Wikstrom just started.
"Skarmory, come out." Wikstrom called out for his own aerial pokemon. But Ash once again surprised him.
"Talonflame, time out."Ash called back his slightly panting Talonflame, "Goodra, it's your part."
Goodra is not only a pure dragon type, the species are not known for their heat resistance and Wikstrom is pretty sure you can cook on the rock floor. Which was confirmed by Goodra's contorted face.
"Goodra, rain dance." Ash ordered.
Goodra cried out to the skies and Wikstrom witnessed the fastest rain summons ever. As soon as the rain started, steam rose from the rocks, which masked the presence of Goodra and Goodra's hydration starting its work.
"If this is how you play, Skarmory, steel wing." Wikstrom shouted. Wikstrom hated those who hid, a trainer should always fight things head on, that is the only true way for a battle. That is the honor in a battle.
"Goodra, breaking swipe." Ash ordered.
Skarmory blew away the steam using her wings as she coated them in steel energy and when the most thinned enough, she drove forward towards the shadowy figure she saw moving in the mist.
But Goodra surprised Wikstrom and Skarmory by catching the move using his hands. With Skarmory's wings in her hands, Goodra swung her head as the tendrils on top of head got coated in purple energy and crashed down onto Skarmory's back. Skarmory crashed onto the ground, unable to move for time being due to the blow to his back.
"Skarmory, metal sound." Wikstrom ordered.
"Shut her mouth." Ash commanded.
Goodra's horn tendrils once again wrapped around Skarmory's beak, making her unable to shout. The bird tried to claw at the Gooey pokemon, but the slimy structure of her body made those claws ineffective.
'Goodra's horn tendrils are known for their strength to break through large boulders with a single sweep. That would mean Skarmory needs more time to rest.' Wikstrom thought. 'I need to switch.'
"Dragon pulse." Ash commanded.
Before Wikstrom could call out his switch, Goodra unleashed a powerful wave of dragon pulse to Skarmory's face at point blank range. Skarmory skidded across the platform as Goodra released her and blasted her with the attack. When the attack ended, Skarmory was unable to battle.
"Skarmory is unable to battle." The referee declared as Ash was surprised and looked at the referee who was just outside the rock platform.
'How do these guys even…. Nevermind.' Ash thought. "Goodra, come back. Noivern, I chose you."
'What is this kid even thinking? All of Noivern's moves are weak against Bisharp.' Wikstrom thought, before he remembered. Hurricane.
"Noivern, boomburst." Ash ordered.
"Dodge and go for low sweep." Wikstrom ordered.
Noivern blasted multiple boomburst towards Bisharp, but Bisharp dodged all of them as he charged forwards. Once he was near enough, Bisharp launched ahead and knee stomped Noivern who landed as he cradled his knee as blue aura around him indicated the speed decrease.
"Iron head." Wikstrom commanded.
Bisharp charged the blade on his head as he turned around and leapt towards Noivern.
"Meet it with Dragon rush." Ash ordered.
As Bisharp leapt towards him with an iron head, Noivern surrounded himself with blue energy in the form of dragon and met head on with Bisharp. Both attacks canceled out each other as Bisharp landed back and Noivern was flying.
"Now, hurricane." Ash ordered.
With surprising stamina, Noivern kicked up a storm that got Bisharp struck. Wikstrom was sure the rain should have ended by now, but he miscalculated and thus Bisharp was now struck in a hurricane.
Suddenly the rain stopped and so did the hurricane.
"Night slash." Wikstrom ordered.
"Now, Boomburst." Ash ordered.
Wikstrom was surprised by how fast Noivern can charge his attacks. Even after the speed drop, Noivern seems unaffected, but Wikstrom was sure Noivern has no such ability.
"Noivern, return. Hawlucha, come out." Ash switched to his Hawlucha who stood proudly with his mini cape fluttering behind him. Hawlucha then flew along the field and landed back in front of Ash as he took a crouching pose like a hero.
"A Hawlucha? It will be an honor to battle you." Wikstrom said as he bowed slightly. Even though Hawlucha isn't a steel type, which Wikstrom sorely wished for, their sense of pride and conduct had gained his respect. No matter the situation, Hawlucha(except those who were beaten to otherwise, which Wikstrom thought as a shame to trainers) do not bend to the situation and throw away their grace and stature, they win or lose with pride. "Bisharp, psycho cut"
Bisharp's hand blades glowed pink as they extended outwards and Bisharp leapt forward at Hawlucha, who got into a fighting pose. Hands held out at chest level, body slightly crouched forwards and eyes trained on the enemy, Halwucha looked like it was some hero in a movie.
"X-scissor." Ash commanded.
Hawlucha's hands glowed dirt green as he launched himself forward and clashed with Bisharp, both attacks clashing against one another with both pokemon showing off their skills.
"Circular mode." Ash shouted.
Hawlucha was in the middle of slashing at Bisharp, who had dodged it by pulling his central body inwards and at the same time throwing the psychic blade onto him from upper left. But following his trainer, Hawlucha bought his hands in as he spun. Bisharp was thrown off by the sudden spin as Hawlucha's spinning form came forward to crash onto him. But before that could happen, Bisharp pushed his blades against the spinning top Hawlucha formed.
"Bisharp, low sweep." Wikstrom ordered.
Bisharp pushed himself off the spinning Hawlucha as he jumped back, but as soon as he landed, he launched himself forward towards the spinning form's lower half.
"Deflect with cross chop." Ash commanded.
Hawlucha once again displayed his speed as he narrowly dodged the move by jumping at the last minute, his legs bent at his knees completely perpendicular, center slightly inwards face, trained on him and hands outstretched as they collected the fighting power.
While Bisharp was surprised at the incredible speed, Hawlucha pulled his lower torso, along with his bent legs back and pushed his upper torso forwards, spinning in mid air. Using the spinning momentum, he struck a powerful Cross chop to Bisharp's knees, as Bisharp's back was already ahead of his targeted area.
After striking the Cross chop, Hawlucha somersaulted as he rolled along the ground and stood kneeling and hands outstretched as he looked over his shoulders at Bisharp, who was smashed into ground from the blow.
"Assurance." Wikstrom commanded.
Bisharp coughed as he turned around, launched himself onto Hawlucha with incredible speed and palmed the fighting type with a strong assurance.
Hawlucha crossed his hands in front as he absorbed the blow and skidded backwards on his knees.
"Assurance." Ash ordered.
'Wait, what?' Wikstrom mentally questioned as he saw Hawlucha jump from his skidding using his knees and landed in front of Bisharp. Bisharp, anticipating the move, jumped back but Hawlucha seemingly rolled forwards and clawed at Bisharp with a strong uppercut to Bisharp's chin.
Wikstrom was beyond shocked, Assurance generally flinches the receiver for a small interval enough for the attacker to get back his breath. But it seems Hawlucha not only overcame the flinch but also took the dark energy and made it his own as he strikes back a vicious blow. One which sent Bisharp skipping on the broken rock platform like a stone on lake water.
"Psycho cut and stop yourself." Wikstrom ordered.
"Flying press." Unfortunately, Ash wasn't keen on waiting.
As Bisharp dug his psycho powered blade into the ground to stop him, Hawlucha let out a battle cry as he launched himself quite high. Wikstrom was amazed by the height jumped, but knew the descent would take far more time. Yet, surprisingly, Hawlucha twirled in mid-air as his descent started and he spread his wings and legs out as he made a midair prostrate and titled himself forwards, making himself more aerodynamic towards the now stationary Bisharp.
"Go on, psycho cut." Wikstrom ordered.
Bisharp once again elongated his blade with the dissipated psychic power as Hawlucha was coming on him full on spread out. As Hawlucha came near, Bisharp jumped up to slash at Hawlucha, but Hawlucha surprised him as Hawlucha grabbed the blade and twirled once again in air, yeeting him into ground. As he tried to get up immediately, he was crushed by the weight of Hawlucha's flying press.
"Bisharp is unable to battle." The referee declared after Hawlucha got up and revealed a fainted Bisharp.
"Bisharp return." Wikstrom knew Bisharp would be useful another time, so he shouldn't waste his energy. "Magnezone, come out."
"Hawlucha, cross chop." Ash ordered.
"Charge beam." Wikstrom ordered.
Hawlucha once again leapt and appeared in front of Magnezone and hit him on the head with a powerful cross chop. But unlike Bisharp, Magnezone wasn't fazed by Hawlucha's speed, he was more than used to seeing pokemon suddenly in his face.
After skidding a few feet back in the air from the blow, Magnezone unleashed a very powerful charge beam. Hawlucha was caught off guard by Magnezone's nonchalance and couldn't dodge the super effective and strong move. A yellow aura surrounded Magnezone, indicating his increase, followed by flames engulfing him.
Ash cursed himself as he saw Hawlucha struggling to get up. "Hawlucha return for now."
'That attack was not only a super effective move, but also had a 2 stage boost along with stab and Magnezone's heavy special attack. I am an idiot, this is the same thing that happened with Sawyer in the semi-final. I could have failed Hawlucha.' Ash took a deep breath to stop the panic and present train of thought. He couldn't worry about that in the middle of a battle.
"Talonflame, I chose you." Ash substituted his firebird.
Wikstrom thought as he resolved his decision.
"Magnezone, tri attack." Wikstrom ordered.
"Talonflame, flame charge." Ash ordered.
Talonflame once again surrounded herself in flames as she flew at blinking speeds towards Magnezone. Talonflame collided with Magnezone, but a sudden explosion took place. Magnezone once again skidded across the pavement, this time stabilizing himself far quickly.
When the smoke cleared, Talonflame was spasming with sparks midair. Ash' eyes widened as he realized what happened.
When Talonflame collided with Magnezone, Magnezone knew beforehand, his attacks would never land. So, once Talonflame was very near he made the two other parts of him fire the orbs. As expected, Talonflame easily dodged the orbs but didn't expect the third one being held back and when she was millimeters away she saw she was on collision course with the orb, the electric orb.
The paralysis drop may not be much and could be remedied with a flame charge. But the real risk is the temporary stunning. That time might be enough for Magnezone to fire a charge beam, which will make Talonflame faint for sure with its power level. But Ash was ready to take the risk. He learnt that if you don't risk it, you will lose it. You just need to know where the risk ends and idiocy starts.
"Talonflame, flame charge." Ash ordered as flames once again engulfed Magnezone and was hit by the bird again.
Wikstrom was sure Ash was planning on using the maxed out to overwhelm and hit Magnezone with a fire blast from a blind point. But Magnezone knows more than enough to watch out for such tactics.
"Brave bird." Ash ordered.
"Charge beam." Wikstrom ordered.
Talonflame used her super speed and dodged the beam very easily, even with the eyes looking out, they couldn't locate the bird precisely as it once again connected.
"Flash cannon." Wikstrom ordered, wanting a move capable of hitting the bird.
"Dodge it." Ash ordered.
Talonflame once again dodged the beams, even with one of the three eyes randomly firing up the move, there was no use.
"Tri-attack." Wikstrom ordered.
Magnezone launched the three orbs at Talonflame who flew away from them but couldn't get rid of the orbs. While the orbs are easy to lose, you need a surface for them to collide with. But the only one Talonflame has now is the rock surface and with her speed there is a chance she might crash on the rock pavement too.
"Steel wing, tear them up." Ash ordered.
Talonflame smiled as he slowed down enough for the orbs to hit her while she revolved at a very high speed with her steel wings stretched out, making a steel ring which dissipated the power in the orbs.
"Fire blast now." Ash continued.
Using the orbs' power and her own, Talonflame launched a very powerful fire blast onto Magnezone.
"Mirror coat." Wikstrom commanded.
"Brave bird, go through it." Ash conutered.
Wikstrom was pretty much confused about what Ash is thinking before it hit him. But he was already late.
Magnezone had already renounced the fiery attack with double power, the move quite literally capable of mostly OHKOing a non-fire type now. But Talonflame used her superior speed to tear through the center of the large fireball, larger than her, with a brave bird. As Talonflame exited from the other side, towards Magnezone, the ball collapsed and most of the flames erupted, trailing the brave bird in a strong veil of fire that collided with Magnezone.
When the attack connected, the resulting explosion and shockwave broke the entire rock pavement, which was heated and cooled very quickly before during Goodra's debut. Following this, the large fireball too blasted, coating the battlefield with hot air that further eroded the rock pavements by displacing them. Ash and Wikstrom held their jacket and hand in front and dodged any debris their way.
After the fiery explosions had done their work, both pokemon were unable to battle.
"Magnezone and Talonflame are unable to battle." The referee declared.
"Thanks Talonflame." Ash returned his fainted comrade to his pokeball. "Noivern, come out."
Wikstrom did the same as he sent out his Scizor.
"Noivern, acrobatics." Ash called.
"Double team." Wikstrom commanded.
Noivern moved first as he surrounded himself with blue energy and shot at the standing Scizor, who didn't have enough time to set-up a double team.
Or so they thought. As soon as Noivern came in contact with Scizor, he disappeared, like a clone of a double team.
'Scizor was able to set-up a double team without us ever noticing, that is some speed there.' Ash thought as he looked around and found 5 more copies of Scizor at various random sites across the platform.
"Metal claw." Wikstrom ordered.
Suddenly, Scizor appeared from above as he hit Noivern on the head and continued to drag him to the ground with his fist on top of his head.
"Boomburst." Ash ordered.
Noivern released a powerful burst of sound at the incoming rock-ground, completely shattering the remnants of the rock platform as ground below became perfectly visible. The blast provided enough impulse to throw Scizor off Noivern.
"Noivern return." Ash called back his Noivern once more as a red aura surrounded Scizor. He knew with his decreased speed, Noivern would only hurt himself more. Fortunately, Ash still isn't pushed into that corner, yet.
"Hawlucha, come out." Ash called out his fighter. Hawlucha came out, striking the same pose as before. "Hawlucha, be careful. Scizor is super fast."
Hearing this, Hawlucha narrowed his eyes as he carefully observed Scizor.
"Scizor, Aerial ace."
Scizor became invisible to the eye as he trained his Aerial ace towards Hawlucha, who was standing still and waiting.
"Assurance." Ash ordered as the next second, Hawlucha was hit with a strong cut to his left torso. Yet, Hawlucha caught onto Scizor's wings as he was dragged into the speeds of invisibility before Scizor appeared, skipping across the broken pavement, from what was a really strong Assurance.
"Cross chop." Ash ordered.
Hawlucha nodded as he jumped right onto the still sliding Scizor, with his arms glowing white with the power of Cross chop.
"Fury cutter." Wikstrom ordered.
Scizor turned around as he released a barrage of fury cutter on the broken rocks near him, all of them aimed at Hawlucha with incredible speed. Hawlucha used his cross chop to deflect most of them, but even he couldn't take out all of them as a few landed some good hits on him, knocking him back to ground.
But Scizor was not done yet as he leapt and landed a final blow of fury cutter on Hawlucha, punching him into a crater in the pavement.
When the dust cleared, Hawlucha was still standing, though barely. If Hawlucha didn't have the 4 times resistance to the bug move, Ash knew he wouldn't have survived and Ash will make use of it.
"Assurance." Ash ordered.
"Metal claw." Wikstrom countered.
Hawlucha was already charged with the dark move, knowing his trainer and his limits. As he leapt at Scizor, who charged his pincers with white energy and met him with the metal claw. Both attacks collided, but unfortunately for Hawlucha, Scizor had many upper hands as he once again knocked Hawlucha back into the crater. This time, Hawlucha couldn't continue.
"Hawlucha is unable to battle." The referee declared.
"Scizor, return." Wikstrom returned his Scizor as he grinned and threw another ball, "Aggron, time to battle."
It was then Ash understood the strategy. He knew Wikstrom always had three members on his team, along with another for sure position. His aces, Aegislash and Scizor, along with the ferocious Ferrothorn and bulky defender and attacker as Aggron or special attacker as Magnezone. But it seems Wikstrom went out of his way to include both of them now, which made the battle shift majorly. Even with a type advantage and burn, winning over Magnezone wasn't an easy job. But against an Aggron of similar power? It was going to be a rough ride.
"Goodra, come out." Ash switched to his tank, Goodra. "Dragon pulse."
"Break it with Iron tail." Wikstrom commanded.
Goodra cried out as she released a powerful draconic form onto Aggron, who roared as he spinned on one leg and slashed his tail against the draconic form, while placing both of feet on the ground for support. A single swipe from Iron tail had completely decimated the dragon pulse along with the impulse from Aggron completely destroying the pavement at his feet as Aggron rocked, which made Ash slightly worry.
"Rock slide." Wikstrom continued.
Aggron lifted his left leg and brought it down as the rocky pavement around him broke down even further, out of which multiple smaller projectile rocks, the size of Ash's elbow appeared. Aggron thrusted his hands forwards, as the rocks launched at Goodra.
"Breaking swipe." Ash ordered.
Goodra ran towards oncoming cloud of rocks, dodging a few by side stepping, some were decimated by a swipe from one of her coiled tendrils and some other being absolutely shaken by a swipe from her tail, which created shockwaves enough to deviate most nearby rock formations.
"Dragon claw." Wikstrom shouted.
While Goodra was slightly panting from the swipes and was in the middle of a dust cloud, Aggron sneaked upon her with a large draconic maw in hand. But missing a large draconic figure, attached to such a large figure is easier to detect to Goodra, thanks to her life long training on using her frontal horns, which doubled as sonar detectors for most of her life.
"Breaking swipe." Ash ordered.
Goodra reacted in time, coiling and unleashing her horn tendrils onto the incoming Aggron, sidestepping the claw and hitting Aggron squarely in the chest, like a boxer.
But surprisingly to both pokemon and trainer, the blow created a shockwave powerful enough to blow away all the dust cloud surrounding them and form a crater at the center of field, though not as big as one formed by Hawlucha at the edge, as rocks nearby broke and flew away due to the shockwaves. But Aggron just skidded a few feet back, one could 3 to 4 feet, and unfazed at that as he swiped the claw at Goodra. Even with her slimy body, the dragon claw had a blow strong enough to push her a few feet to the side.
"Goodra, rain dance." Ash said.
Goodra shouted as the rain clouds started above the field, but Aggron was unfazed.
"Rock slide." Wikstrom countered.
"Destroy them, concentrated dragon pulse." Ash commanded.
Goodra sang to the skies as a purple blue ball of energy collected at the tip of her nose and blasted powerful waves of energy onto the incoming rocks, decimating them and blasting at Aggron, who only had enough time to protect him by crossing his arms. While the blast was powerful, Aggron stood still in front of it and as the attack ended, Goodra was left slightly panting.
"Goodra return." Ash recalled his tank, not wanting to overexert. "Noivern, come on out."
Noivern came out, ready to battle.
"Aggron, rock slide." Wikstrom ordered.
"Dodge and go for hurricane." Ash contered.
Noivern cawed as he dodged all of the rocks by easily navigating through their gaps, folding in his wings whenever it was very thin. But after reaching half way through, Noivern started violently flapping his wings, which produced an even more violent wind that deflected all the rocks, some even turning back on Aggron.
But even as the winds turned into a vicious hurricane and attacked Aggron alongside the rocks, Aggron was not moved an inch. The rocks broke on impact, the winds seemingly doing no damage. But Ash still didn't give up.
"Boomburst." Ash ordered.
"Dragon claw." Wikstrom ordered.
Noivern blasted a very strong beam of sonic waves at Aggron, who once again dispersed them by slashing at them with a draconic claw, smaller than the one before.
"Noivern, acrobatics." Ash ordered.
Noivern was engulfed in blue energy as he sped through the distance between him and Aggron, who was once again waiting for him with hands posed to stop.
"Dragon pulse." Ash switched commands at the last second, but Noivern reacted quickly.
Using the speed in combination with draconic power directed at Aggron was deadly, if not for what happened next.
"Heavy slam." Wikstrom ordered.
Aggron suddenly jumped, the ground beneath cracking, not dodging the incoming move entirely as some of it still grazed his lower half but he was unfazed by the move and went on to slam on the panting Noivern, who was surprised in equal parts along with his trainer. Aggron descended upon Noivern and smashed him into the ground, when the dust cleared, Noivern was unable to battle.
"Noivern is unable to battle." The referee declared.
"Thanks Noivern, Goodra you are up." Ash switched back to his tank, with the rain still intact, this might be useful.
"Goodra, dragon pulse." Ash ordered.
"Cut through with dragon claw." Wikstrom ordered.
Goodra once again released a draconic maw onto Aggron, who swiped a large claw against the maw, decimating it.
"Thunder." Ash called.
Goodra cried out as she brought her hand down, thunder falling on Aggron.
But Aggron just held his claw against the thunder, the attack clashing with Aggron and once again breaking the ground at his feet.
"Breaking swipe." Ash ordered as soon as the thunder alongside rain dispersed.
As Aggron had just finished his counter against thunder, Goodra swiftly delivered another swipe to his face with her tendrils again with an uppercut, this time making him lose balance from the swipe before he stood back again.
"Heavy slam." Wikstrom ordered.
"Dodge it." Ash shouted.
Aggron once again jumped as he tried to slam upon Goodra, but Goodra was fast as she tried to sidestep the attack by pivoting on her leg. But due to the massive size of Aggron, even as she faced him from the side, she was partially affected by the move as Aggron's sides pressed down upon her belly. It was thanks to her slimy body that she was able to get out without critical damage.
"Breaking swipe." Ash commanded without missing a beat.
Goodra roared as she turned and brought her tail upon Aggron who was sprawled across the ground in front of her just like Skarmory.
"Iron tail." Wikstrom ordered.
Aggron roared as he swiped his massive tail, clad in steel energy, at Goodra, who tried to block the attack by crossing her hands in front and succeeded in reducing the blow, without getting up. But the damage was far less than Wikstrom thought as Goodra skidded only a few feet.
That was when the light red aura started surrounding Aggron became more evident, since there was no dust or debris to block it.
"Goodra, thunder." Ash ordered.
Goodra roared as a large blast of electricity attacked Aggron from her horn tendrils, the attack causing Aggron to twitch in agony. After the attack ended, Goodra fell onto her knees, the exhaustion catching up to her as she panted heavily to regain her strength.
Ash and Wikstrom waited with bated breath whether or not Aggron would get up.
The referee looked at Aggron and was about to declare Goodra the winner when Aggron moved. The armor on his back rattled. A low growl came from Aggron as he tried to stand up, but it was evident Aggron was standing on his last breath.
Wikstrom closed his eyes as he took in deep breath, because he knew Aggron wasn't ready to go down, yet. Magnezone didn't have enough strength due to the overkill fire attack, but if he did, he too would have done the same. That is why he would generally refrain from using both of them, neither were ready to give up until they had given their true 100 and protected their kin. He just hoped Ash would be able to deal with them swiftly if it comes, but he was wrong.
Wikstrom then looked forward at Goodra whose eyes were enlarged from fear, while she was continuously panting and Ash's hand darting to his back.
Ash was ready to take back Goodra and send in someone else. But as he brought out the pokeball and aimed at Goodra, Ash just couldn't. Because he knew Goodra wants to fight, Goodra was trembling but she was still trying to stand up. Her coiled tendrils explained she was fearful, her shaking frame showed her exhaustion, yet, Goodra was trying to complete this. And Ash didn't have the guts to take this victory from Goodra.
"Come on Goodra, let us give it all we got." Ash shouted as he put the pokeball back in its place.
Goodra finally stood on her two feet, the same time as Aggron. Both pokemon trying to end this once and for all, both trainers neither having the spirit but nor the will to dissolve their pokemon's wish.
"Rain dance." Ash ordered, Goodra might not heal from rain dance but the rain can restore any losses or deformations in her slimy body.
"Rock slide." Wikstrom ordered.
Goodra roared as the rain clouds gathered around, all the while Aggron charged at Goodra, completely abandoning his rooted and strong style for agile and swift style. As the rain descended, Aggron swiped his massive tail in front of Goodra. Many fallen rocks were suddenly propelled at Goodra, who was regaining her strength.
"Dragon pulse." Ash ordered.
Goodra roared as she let out a powerful wave of draconic energy straight at the incoming rocks, which were completely shattered.
"Iron tail." Wikstrom ordered.
Aggron immediately turned as he brought down his iron tail on the incoming pulse and slowly started edging towards Goodra. By the end, Goodra was just exhausted again as she fell down to her knees and Aggron gave a finishing blow to her face.
The blow didn't hold any real power, it was just a blow that barely produced a sound, but that was the state of both as Goodra fell down onto the ground from attack, followed by Aggron, who just huffed.
After another 10 seconds, when neither were ready to continue, the referee declared both fainted.
"You did your best, never doubt that you are a strong member on my team, and you have earned it." Ash said to his Goodra after he returned her to her pokeball, he knew he should have said those words at Kalos League finals, but that slipped his mind. And what happened now was a culmination of that guilt and Ash is very sure of it. "We will win this for you. Won't we buddy?"
"Pika" His trusty starter said as he climbed onto his shoulders.
Both Ash and Pikachu looked to the other side to see Wikstrom sending out his Scizor back to the battle.
'Scizor's speed is very dangerous, but the rain is still up.' Ash thought, "Sorry buddy but you to sit this one out buddy."
Pikachu nodded as he landed down and backed.
"Greninja, let us go." Ash sent out his Greninja.
"Greninja huh? Well, show me your everything." Wikstrom said as he tapped on the centerpiece of his armor, which popped open to show the keystone and touched it. "The heart of true knight, lend me your strength."
Many bending rays of light emerged from the keystone as they connected with the mega stone on Scizor, who was bathed in blinding light as he mega evolved in Mega Scizor.
Meanwhile Ash scouted the situation he was in. Broken battlefield with rocks scattered haphazardly, Scizor's speed in base form was equivalent to Greninja's, Scizor mega evolved and rain is still up, dampening the entire field.
"Metal claw." Wikstrom ordered.
Mega Scizor became a red blur as he circled around Greninja, slowly closing upon him. Ash though remained calm and had a plan.
"Double team." Ash ordered.
Greninja duplicated himself many times but many of them were dissolved as Scizor immediately attacked in a blur of red and black.
"Water shuriken, aim low." Ash continued.
Greninja nodded as he formed the shurikens and launched them near the feet of Scizor, always missing by an inch as the mega inched destroyed most of the clones and was now unto him with the elongated pincers glowing white.
Greninja rooted himself as Scizor came rushing onto him with the metal claw raised and swiped at him, but Greninja countered by clashing with a water shuriken. But the difference in power was slightly inclined towards Scizor as Greninja skidded back and was knocked by a rock. But before Greninja could fall, he fell into handstand and pushed him away from Scizor for the time being. Scizor was surrounded by red aura as his attack increased.
"Aerial ace." Ash ordered.
Greninja locked his target as he leapt off the rock he was standing on, breaking it completely as a pure white blade formed in his right hand.
"Counter with Aerial ace" Wikstrom ordered.
Scizor got in the stance of unsheathing a sword as he waited for Greninja to come near, which was only a second, before he too pulled out a blade and pressed it against Greninja's one. Both attacks clashed hard, but unlike before, this time Greninja was sent flying before he swiftly landed.
"Ok, here we go Greninja. Stronger together, let us unleash our true selves." Ash said as he came in sync with Greninja, many streams appeared out of thin air as they circled and shadowed Greninja in a water bubble. The bubble then compressed as it moved to Greninja's back, where it broke open into a large Shuriken, half the size of Greninja's new form, but with the center missing which was the size of orb as the rain stopped.
"Ash-Greninja, is it?" Wikstrom asked as Ash and Greninja nodded with serious expressions. In this form, the similarities between them is far more prevalent now that Wikstrom mused.
"Greninja, Aerial Ace." Ash said as he performed unsheathing an imaginary sword.
"Metal claw." Wikstrom countered.
Greninja too performed the unsheathing but he was too fast to observe for Wikstrom, but Scizor was able to keep up and clashed with metal claw. Yet, this time, both attacks matched as Scizor was pushed back an inch or so.
"Aerial ace." Wikstrom ordered.
Using his free left hand, Siczor unsheathed and slashed his pincer covered in white energy on Greninja, which Greninja easily side stepped.
"Double team." Both of them ordered.
Multiple Greninja and Scizor appeared on the battlefield as both pokemon searched for the real one.
"Aerial ace." Again, it seemed both were thinking the same.
All the copies unsheathed blades as they hopped across the field in a chaotic blurry of red and blue. Ash waited as the number of blurs decreased until suddenly, a clashing sound was heard as all the copies dissolved and two pokemon were clashing in the middle of the field backed down.
'Both pokemon have relatively the same but it seems Scizor is able to keep up with Greninja's massive attack power with weaker moves, but how?' Ash thought as it became apparent, 'Technician, an ability that raises the power of weaker moves by 50 percent. But the base Scizor's movements suggest Scizor has light metal ability. So, he changed abilities, confusing challengers even more.'
"Water shuriken." Ash shouted.
"Fury cutter." Wikstrom ordered.
Greninja brought his hands together and pushed them forwards repeatedly as many water shurikens were launched. Scizor's pincers were covered in yellow glow as he effortlessly tore through the barrage and leapt at Greninja, who dodged it.
"Greninja, water shuriken." Ash commanded louder.
This time Greninja reached for his back and whipped out a larger shuriken than before at Scizor, who once again dealt with them easily. But this time he couldn't tear through them as if they were air but had to deal with them as if they were stones.
"Night slash." Ash followed.
"Aerial ace." Wikstrom commanded.
Greninja folded his hands as knives of dark purple energy formed, with the pointed end away from Scizor as Greninja jumped towards Scizor, who pulled back his pincers as his right one was covered in white energy and rooted himself.
When they got near, Greninja combined both the knives into a spear on his left hand as he spun and brought the spear upon Scizor, who retaliated with his right hand covered in white energy at Greninja. Both the attacks collided and produced a strong shockwave that once again blasted away all rocks in vicinity, creating another small sized crater and kicking up a dust cloud.
"You hold great power kid. But we aren't the elite four for no apparent reason." Wikstrom said as his face darkened, "Scizor, time is up. Let us go."
Scizor yelled from the center of the crater, his aerial ace clashing with Greninja's night slash when suddenly Greninja was knocked back.
Ash wasn't sure what happened, but he felt an intense pain in his gut as he fell on his knees. Then the memory came, Scizor's right hand, covered in white energy, clashing with his dark purple blade, Aerial ace vs Night slash. Then came the command from Wikstrom, and Scizor yelled as Scizor's left hand too was covered in white energy and he was punched in the gut.
"Scizor can attack from both his pincers?" Ash asked as he returned to the present.
"That is the result of our intense training. A knight isn't one who depends only on one weapon, he should use both if he is capable." Wikstrom proudly declared. "Scizor, Fury cutter."
Scizor once again became a red blur as Greninja was once again knocked in the chest by a very powerful cut, which Ash too experienced. Ash never experienced this level of urge to pass out ever since he and Greninja started his training arc.
Ash took a deep breath as he calmed down and searched across the field using Greninja's senses. True, Scizor can attack with both hands, but they can be faster.
"Double team." Ash commanded.
Greninja cloned himself as Scizor came back with another Fury cutter, no doubt at double power than before. They need to dodge the move.
"Water shuriken." Ash ordered.
All the clones launched a multitude of water shurikens but all were decimated by a single swipe from the fury cutter. Ash was surprised to see Scizor throwing away such power; the fury cutter increases in power for every consecutive hit but resets if it misses, and not escaping the barrage of attacks.
"Water shuriken." Ash ordered as all the clones started disappearing.
"Double team." Wikstrom commanded.
Scizor bent forward and ran as he cloned himself into multiple red blurs, all closing in on Greninja.
'The final one. Use it.' Ash relayed his thought to Greninja, who nodded as all the clones started closing in on him, a few losing due to water shuriken barrage.
"Fury cutter." Wikstrom ordered.
All the clones of Scizor readied their attacks as they surrounded Greninja, who closed his eyes and focused. Greninja tried to see where the steps are coming from, double team can never reproduce steps, only cries and visuals.
But with Scizor's yelling it was hard and the time was short as he reached for the large shuriken on his back, and held it above him. The shuriken started spinning fast as the air around them spun along with, forming a circular blade. As the blade became big, Greninja felt it. Something tugged at him towards his back, as if that was where the real one hid. But the sensation, the tug wasn't his, rather it was what Ash felt.
So Greninja gave into no hesitation as he launched the massive spinning blade to his back, the blade connected with the Scizor image. Yet, all clones except the one who is fighting against the spinning shuriken vanished on contact with Greninja, proving it indeed was the real one.
But the victory was short-lived as Scizor had finally managed to tear through the spinning disk and launched onto Greninja.
Ash felt like there was no other way except to attack as if they fell on defense, the attack can connect easier.
"Aerial ace, full power." Ash shouted, but his thought went faster to Greninja. But instead of a white blade being unsheathed from the imaginary sheath attached to his imaginary belt, Greninja closed his fists and held them horizontal as blue spears emerged from them. The blue color was very similar to Greninja's shuriken at his back, but he didn't dwell on it more.
Greninja went forward and met Scizor's right pincer with right blade. Both the attacks collided but none gave in as the shockwaves spread once again. This time Scizor brought the left pincer faster than before onto Greninja's gut, before the attack could connect, it was rebutted by another blade in Greninja's left.
Both Ash and Greninja could feel it, the power that made their water shuriken go large and destructive, and have enough power to rival hydro cannon. It was now condensed into water blades Greninja was holding and if they can overpower Scizor with this, they will win.
With the single thought focused, Ash and Greninja went further in their bond. A line they never wanted to cross as it was dangerous for Ash and makes him faint but crossing it momentarily might not be the same, right? But they didn't have enough time to debate as both of them tapped into that power and released it in an outburst.
The blades grew in size as they overpowered the fury cutter and sent Scizor back. It was then Ash saw the opening, with Scizor wide open in the air and Greninja having a temporary boost in power, it was the chance. And Ash can't miss this, Greninja has to strike. The thought alone powered Greninja as he launched forward, with time itself seemingly freezing for both Greninja and Ash, who was more in Greninja's senses than his, as they slashed the dissolving water blade on Scizor.
The attack was really strong as it sent multiple shockwaves rippling through air and ground, kicking up a few rocks as Scizor skipped across the surface, occasionally hit by a few flying rocks. As Ash fell to his knees with the Ash-Greninja state evaporating into a vortex of water, Scizor came skidding near to Wikstrom's feet.
"Scizor is unable to battle." The referee declared.
Ash and Greninja wanted to celebrate but they still knew another pokemon is left, one that can be as strong as Mega Scizor without a mega evolution, Aegislash. They need to calm down.
"That was some unexpected speed there Ash. But it seems it took too much out of you. Can you still continue?" Wikstorm asked the panting teen, knowing about the proxy pain Ash gets due to the battle bond.
"I am okay, just out of breath is all." Ash said as he stood tall, "Return Greninja. It is your turn buddy." Ash said as Pikachu, who just hopped onto his shoulder, ran along with outstretched arm and leapt onto the battlefield on all fours.
"Aegislash, time for the showdown." Wikstrom said as he summoned his other ace, the royal sword pokemon, in shield form.
"Aegislash, shadow ball." Wikstrom ordered, seeing that Ash was waiting.
Aegislash released his sword from the shield and turned upside down, with a purple sparkling ball forming at the end of his sword and threw it at Pikachu.
"Now, quick attack." Ash ordered.
Pikachu pressed his limbs hard into the ground as he released all the quick attack power he was storing till now in secret and leapt above with incredible speeds. The burst of speed made him into a speeding bullet as he tore through the shadow ball with ease and aimed at Aegislash, who dodged the move by a hair's breadth.
"Electroweb." Ash ordered.
"King's shield." Wikstrom ordered.
Pikachu twirled in mid air as he launched the ball on his tail onto Aegislash from behind as Aegislash turned around and got back into his shield, just in time for the ball to explode against the barrier he put up. The electric web got caught onto the shield as it sparkled against the barrier.
"Quick attack and iron tail." Ash ordered.
Pikachu, who was still obliquely above Aegislash's barrier, used a quick attack to boost his fall towards the shield. When he was near enough, Pikachu twirled around again, powering up his iron tail as he crashed the tail on the electric web above the barrier.
The blow cracked the king's shield and pushed back Aegislash into the ground as Pikachu fell down and rolled into a ball, before stopping in front of Aegislash.
"Thunderbolt." Ash ordered. 'Just like I thought, the shield is breakable with two moves and wasn't able to drop Pikachu's attack since he attacked the electroweb on the shield.'
"Cut through with sacred sword." Wikstrom ordered.
Aegislash released his sword body from the shield as the sword was covered in white energy as he flew towards Pikachu, who stored up all of his electricity as he released into a thunderbolt at Aegislash.
Aegislash slashed his sword at incoming thunderbolt, trying to cut through the attack. But the thunderbolt wasn't easy to cut through as Aegislash was only able to defend and slowly inch along.
When the thunderbolt attack ended, Aegislash shot forward before he noticed Pikachu missing at his position.
"Electroweb." Ash ordered.
"King's shield." Wikstrom countered.
Aegislash immediately released his shield and was sheathing his sword into its place, but suddenly a yellow ball came in between, wrapping all around the shield from below as Aegislash got shocked from sheathing.
"Thunderbolt." Ash continued.
"Complete the move." Wikstrom commanded.
Aegislash gritted as he sheathed his sword, the barrier coming up just in time to stop the thunderbolt from reaching. It was then Wikstrom noticed that Pikachu was under a rock that was toppled over, thus Aegislash was unable to see before.
"Quick attack, get out of there." Ash ordered.
"Flash cannon." Wikstrom ordered.
Aegislash unsheathed once more as he held the shield in front of him and blasted a beam of gray white energy towards Pikachu. Pikachu used his buffed up speed from quick attack to dodge the move, but the uneven rocky structure was making it harder and harder.
"Strike back with Iron tail." Ash ordered.
Pikachu used the last of his quick attack as he sped into the small crater before him as he twirled around and landed with his iron tail. The tail bent under the momentum of Pikachu as the crater further broke and the flash cannon came towards.
Pikachu then leapt forward using his tail and jumped above the flash cannon, the move unable to connect.
"Thunderbolt, quick." Ash continued.
Before Aegislash could understand that Pikachu was off the ground and flying just an inch over the beam, Pikachu discharged his thunderbolt parallel to the beam.
The short thunderbolt connected this time as Aegislash withered in his sword form. With the flash cannon stopped from the sudden shock, Wikstrom and Aegislash were able to see that Pikachu was already halfway to Aegislash.
"Shadow ball." Wikstrom ordered once the attack ended.
Aegislash immediately shot forward a shadow ball from his free hand towards Pikachu who was still in midair and thus couldn't dodge the move.
"Keep on using Shadow ball." Wikstrom continued.
Aegislash nodded as he put both his hands behind the shield and raised it above as multiple shadow balls started forming. Pikachu fell to the ground from the previous attack and shook his head as he stood up with some difficulty.
"Pikachu, use quick attack and dodge them." Ash ordered.
Pikachu once again powered up his speed as he went on jumping rock to rock to dodge the shadow balls, but some unstable rocks gave some problems in between.
"Flash cannon, level this field." Wikstrom ordered.
Aegislash's shield once again glowed as he blasted the beam not towards Pikachu but drew a line with the attack in front of Pikachu. Pikachu spun around and tried to stop but the speed was too much and the surface was not at all helping, causing Pikachu to fall into the valley Aegislash created with his blast.
"Now, Shadow balls." Wikstrom ordered.
Aegislash formed multiple small shadow balls in front as he launched all of them towards Pikachu who was just shaking off his fall.
"Electroweb, full power." Ash ordered.
Pikachu jumped up as he spun around and released a sparkling ball from his tail, which exploded into an electric net as it encapsulated all the shadow balls.
"Cut through with Sacred sword." Wikstrom ordered.
Aegislash powered up his sword as he cut through the net with all the shadow balls, the net dissolving and the shadow balls cut into smaller parts aiming towards Pikachu.
"Iron tail into the ground and stand up." Ash ordered as Pikachu planted his iron tail into the ground and stood up on his tail, with his legs dangling in the air.
"Now, quick attack." Ash ordered as the shadow balls neared and he removed his cap.
Pikachu understood the strategy as he vibrated with quick attack's speed, causing the rocks to blast away from him, forming a shield against the incoming shadow balls.
"Aegislash, King's shield." Wikstrom ordered, anticipating another Pikachu bullet as before. And just like they thought, Pikachu was launched, although he was launched not towards Aegislash but towards the sky, where Wikstrom could see Ash's hat.
"Wait, when did it get there?" Wikstrom asked, confused before he remembered what was about to come, "Aegislash, don't let up the King's shield. Let us show them your full power."
"Then we will also show our full power." Ash declared as his bracelet started to glow in yellow light.
Pikachu caught onto the hat and fell down as Aegislash repowered his King's shield, the shield getting slightly bigger and thicker. Pikachu came down and bumped his fist with Ash and then slapped his tail with Ash's other hand as he landed.
"All right, much bigger than a thunderbolt. Much much bigger, Pikachu." Ash said as he performed the dance for the Z-move and powered up Pikachu who was flying upwards to gather the thunder from the clouds formed above. "Let us use 10 million volt thunderbolt."
Pikachu was surrounded with electricity as he launched multiple colored thunderbolts towards Aegislash from all sides. The King's shield retaliated and stopped the thunderbolts from all sides, Aegislash grunting to stop the Z-move.
"Here we go, Pikachu, let us show them our super full power." Ash shouted as he brought his hands together and pushed them forwards along with Pikachu. The move caused another yellow-white thunderbolt to strike towards the shield as Pikachu exerted all of his power onto the shield.
The power was too much for the shield to hold back as it broke into pieces and Aegislash was attacked from all sides with the remnants of Z-move, who gritted his teeth, staying in his shield form.
After the blinding attack had completed, the battlefield was looking like it was plowed over multiple times. Pikachu was still seen standing on his all fours panting from exertion while Aegislash laid on ground, motionless.
"Aegislash is unable to battle. Champion Ash is the victor." The referee declared as Ash went into the battlefield and hugged Pikachu in Joy.
Wikstrom too smiled as he returned Aegislash and praised him for the amazing battle.
"Thanks for the battle, Ash." Wikstrom said as he bowed in front of the teen who started to feel awkward from the action. "You have shown me how far I have come. I will work on and make sure Aegislash can hold against a Z-move."
"And we will get even stronger. Thanks for the opportunity Wikstrom." Ash said as he too bowed.
Oh my god, this monstrosity is done. In case you guys didn't notice, this colossal mess is 10k words long. I know that is too long, since my longest chapter, Ash vs Paul was only 6.5k. So, yeah this was madness and I hope I didn't lose you guys anywhere along the way.
Also, another reason for my delay in uploading is because of the last chapter. While the last chapter was good and was in tone with the series, it just wasn't an elite four level battle. The battle felt more like the aces were a team and others were just there as stand-ins. So, here, I searched for an ideal team for Wikstrom, according to the anime logic I built upon. You could see every pokemon has some role on the team, and they were doing it properly, just the same as Ash.
So, what do you think? The chapter is too long, the past format was good? Does the new format need any changes? Or are you wondering about what move Greninja used? Perhaps, thinking Ash cheated using two power-ups? Is the dialogue scene at the start unnecessary and I should jump directly into the battle? I would be happy to hear all your thoughts if you can tell me. Also, favorite if you liked my story. Until next time,
- Junior