Chapter 7: Breakout
"Good dodging Salazzle! Now use Sludge Bomb!" Klara commanded.
The flaming, poison salamander opened her mouth and launched her Sludge Bomb attack directly at Terri. Terri summoned her Stone Edge attack and used it to block the attack, just as she'd been practicing for so long. The stones spun around in front of her and the poisonous sludge was stopped from getting near her. Klara frowned in annoyance. Trust Sapphire to have the same idea as her for a Counter Shield strategy!
The battle had gone on longer than expected thanks to Salazzle's great speed. Terri's Earthquakes just hadn't been fast enough to hit her and so it was more or less a game of who could hit the other first. Salazzle tried another attack, aiming to hit Terri with Flamethrower this time. At least Terri's Stone Edge shield couldn't block flames! The fiery salamander hit Terri full on with Flamethrower but it wasn't much. The Krookodile took the blow effortlessly and shook off the attack as if it was nothing. Sapphire ordered Terri to retaliate by using Crunch. The crocodile Pokémon lumbered towards Salazzle with her jaws wide open and ready to chomp down on the poisonous reptile. Klara seized an opportunity to get the drop on Terri by ordering Salazzle to use Sludge Bomb and aim for inside Terri's mouth. Luckily, Sapphire reacted quickly enough to order Terri to close her mouth before the Sludge Bomb could hit. The purple sludge landed on her snout but none of it got in her jaws at least. Klara still saw an opportunity for she ordered Salazzle to attack while Terri was distracted. She ordered her salamander Pokémon to use Dragon Pulse before Terri could recover in time and attack again. Salazzle opened her mouth and blasted the crocodilian Pokémon with Dragon Pulse. Terri stumbled backwards, wincing from the attack. Dragon Pulse was a powerful move and although it had no additional effects, it was nothing to take lightly. Terri shook herself off and began to pant. Sapphire was feeling nervous. How was it she had a type-advantage and yet Salazzle was currently winning? Klara seemed to be reading her thoughts for she felt the need to suddenly boast.
"Helpful isn't it to have a speedy Pokémon that can dodge well and hit back before yours can attack?" she crowed, "Salazzle's my go-to girl for delivering punishment in the blink of an eye!"
"I'll give you credit, it's really well-trained." Sapphire complimented, the words tasting sour in her mouth as she gave Klara the compliment, "But it can only spend so long running away before Terri eventually tags it with an Earthquake, then it'll fold like wet paper."
"Not likely!" Klara declared, "Use Dragon Pulse again, Salazzle!"
Salazzle opened her jaws and fired another Dragon Pulse at Terri. It looked as if it would be another clean hit but then Sapphire turned the tables completely by ordering Terri to use Stone Edge as a counter shield. Terri conjured up huge stones and spun them around to block the Dragon Pulse attack. But that wasn't all. Terri then launched the stones directly at Salazzle after the Dragon Pulse attack finished. The huge rocks homed in on their target and crashed heavily into Salazzle. As a half-Fire type, she was weak to Rock attacks so the attack was super-effective and left Salazzle lying on the ground, wincing in pain and struggling to get up. Klara urged Salazzle to stand up again but it was too late. Just as the fiery salamander was standing up again, Terri used Earthquake and was finally able to land a clean hit. Salazzle just wasn't able to recover in time to dodge and was wiped out instantly by the blow. As a Poison/Fire type Pokémon with pitiful defences, Salazzle fell instantly to a single Earthquake or any strong Ground attack. Klara cried out in dismay as her beloved Salazzle collapsed onto her back and passed out. That was two Pokémon of her's down and out while Sapphire still had all six of her's left, but Bloom and Terri had taken a bit of damage at least so that might help her out. If she continued to weaken Sapphire's team, then she could hopefully wipe them all out with the rest of her Pokémon. All hope wasn't lost yet! She returned Salazzle as the students cheered for Sapphire once more. Cheer now, brats! They'd only be cheering for her instead!
"I can tell you've been working hard too, Sapphire. No wonder you reached the semi-finals this year!" Klara commented, "I can also believe you cleared the Gym Challenge with skills like this. But mark my words, I'll be the first Gym Leader to take you down! Your Pokémon are getting weaker as they battle me and soon I'll be able to turn the tides on you! Roserade, infect the opposition!"
She threw her next Pokéball and summoned the beautiful and graceful Roserade to the field. Sapphire remembered the rosy Pokémon from her battle with Klara in Warm-Up Tunnel. It was another fast opponent that had some good moves, including Dazzling Gleam. It would be foolish to keep Terri on the field as she was weak to Grass and Fairy attacks and this Roserade would have both to give her trouble. She returned her Pokémon and whipped out another Pokéball.
"Time for you to get a time to shine in your new body." Sapphire declared, "Dal, shining time!"
She brought forth her newly evolved Magnezone. Klara frowned, knowing exactly why Sapphire had brought this Pokémon out. As a half-Steel type, Dal had an immunity to Poison attacks and her Roserade's Dazzling Gleam would be useless! Nevertheless, she was willing to give it a go, especially as she had a surprise strategy that Sapphire wouldn't see coming.
"Use Sunny Day!" Klara commanded.
Roserade held up her rose hands and just like that, the sun grew a lot stronger and the temperature got much hotter than it already did. Sapphire wiped her forehead as she began to sweat profusely. What was going on? Why was Klara commanding Roserade to use a move like that? What good would Sunny Day do her? She decided to use a status move of her own.
"Use Light Screen!" Sapphire ordered.
Dal raised his magnets and conjured up a yellow holographic barrier around himself. Whatever strategy Klara had in mind, she could forget it. Light Screen weakened the power of Special Attacks and she knew for a fact Roserade wouldn't have any physical moves in her move set as Roserade were special attackers by nature. Roserade wouldn't be able to land a strong hit on Dal. Klara didn't seem too worried about that.
"Light Screen will only prolong your suffering, sweetie!" she taunted, "Now my darling, use Weather Ball!"
Sapphire's eyes widened in realization. NOW she understood Klara's strategy! Weather Ball was an attack that changed type depending on the weather. She'd used Sunny Day so Weather Ball would be a Fire-type move, which was super-effective against Steel-type Pokemon! It was lucky she'd put up Light Screen, otherwise Roserade would really put Dal in trouble! Roserade aimed with her roses and fired a ball of energy towards Dal. Every time she used it, it came out as an energy sphere and the colour would change depending on the weather. As Sunny Day had been used, the Weather Ball was orange in colour to signify it being a Fire-type attack. The ball hit Dal and he let out an electronic croak of pain as he was scorched by the attack. Thanks to Light Screen, he didn't take as much damage as he would've done. Sapphire could see that this battle was going to be trickier than she initially believed. True Dal stopped Roserade from using any Poison attacks, but the Sunny Day and Weather Ball combo gave her a super-effective attack to use against Dal and Dal had no super-effective moves of his own to use. Thunderbolt was useless against Grass-types and Flash Cannon and Tri-Attack would be better but probably wouldn't finish Roserade off quickly enough. She knew what to do instead. She returned Dal and exchanged him for Mysterio. The Alakazam appeared in Dal's place and raised his spoons. Klara could see what Sapphire was up to. As a Psychic type, Mysterio had a type advantage over Roserade's half-Poison typing. Well that would depend if he could actually hit her!
"Don't think that Alakazam will save you, Sapphire! Roserade will deal with him no problem!" Klara declared.
"With a type-advantage and additional help from Dal's Light Screen? I think Mysterio has this in the bag." Sapphire sneered, "Use Psychic!"
Mysterio held up his spoons and aimed at Roserade. He fired a wave of psychic energy at the Grass/Poison Pokémon. But then Klara put her secret strategy into action. She ordered Roserade to launch her Counter Shield move. Roserade dropped down on her back and fired poisonous fluid up into the air while spinning around at the same time. The poisonous fluid spiralled around Roserade and formed a protective wall that stopped Mysterio's attack from hitting her. Sapphire gasped in amazement.
"Hey, I've seen Ash and Paul use that strategy in their battle together in the Sinnoh League!" she cried in astonishment, "Where did you get the idea to try it yourself?"
"I thought it up myself!" Klara answered, "I'm surprised that I'm not the first to think it up but at least I'm showing it off now to keep you on your toes! However will you get to my darling Roserade when Mysterio can't even hit?"
Roserade continued to spin around on the floor, the poison barrier spiralling around her all the way. Sapphire took a moment to think. What would be the best way to get past that Counter Shield and land a clean hit on Roserade? She remembered that Ash had found a way past Paul's Gastrodon when it had used this technique to keep his Starraptor at bay. If he could do it, so could she!
Meanwhile, Zoroark had arrived at his destination.
Tentacruel were fast swimmers, easily able to make the journey from the Isle of Armour to Zeraora's prison and back in an hour as they delivered the food supplies to the guards, so Zoroark had arrived much quicker than he'd expected. He felt the box he was hiding in lurch as the Tentacruel carrying him climbed onto the Dynamax Den and lowered down through the hole with the box still on its back. Soon enough, the Tentacruel reached the bottom and it crawled into the den with the box. Volcarona was talking to a couple of Raichu as the supplies came in. She turned to see the Tentacruel dropping the boxes off.
"Thank you again, boys and girls." Volcarona said graciously, "Guards! Your food has arrived! Once the Tentacruel have finished dropping all the supplies off, we can eat."
All the guards were pleased to hear this. Not surprisingly, meal times were their favourite time on this job. For that brief moment, they could forget about Zeraora and just enjoy stuffing their faces with all their favourite foods. Zoroark had heard what Volcarona had said and he knew he couldn't hide any longer. One the guards came in to eat, they'd spot him and he'd be captured within seconds. A single Zoroark would have no chance against a whole platoon of guards. While the rest of the Tentacruel were dropping off the food supplies, Zoroark sneaked out of the box he was hiding in, making sure that nobody saw him open the box and creep out, and he slunk away into the shadows. He was still in his Pichu disguise but he knew that he could blend in with the guards by disguising himself as one of them. From his hiding place, he could see that the guards consisted of a bunch of Raichu, Emolga, Marowak, Salazzle, Drapion and Toxicroak. It would be easy to just use his Illusion ability to pretend to be one of them. He decided to disguise himself as a Toxicroak. His body changed from a Pichu to a Toxicroak and he stepped out of the shadows so that nobody would get suspicious if they saw him hiding. Indeed nobody took any notice of him as he walked on by casually as if he had every right to be here. He was just another guard, why would they have any reason to suspect he was anything but?
Soon the Tentacruel had finished dropping off the food and they retreated back out of the den to let Volcarona and the guards have their lunch. The guards all ran over to the boxes so they could eat. Zoroark saw his moment to slip away and find Zeraora now that the guards were eating. The only sounds he heard now were the munching and crunching of the guards as they opened the boxes and helped themselves to what was inside. Volcarona spotted Zoroark walking away and called out to him.
"Excuse me. Don't you want to eat as well?" she asked.
Zoroark stopped. He would only raise Volcarona's suspicions if he ignored her so he decided to answer her. He cleared his throat.
"I'm just gonna check on the prisoner, miss." he said quickly, "Just wanna make sure he's still secure, then I'll join you."
"Fair enough. Can't be too cautions down here." Volcarona agreed, "Make sure his capsule's still functioning while you're at it."
"Yes ma'am." Zoroark answered.
Volcarona turned back to her meal while Zoroark walked off. He could see the capsule containing Zeraora inside just up ahead. So that's where they were keeping him! At least he could get him out while the guards were occupied with their meals! He ran over to the capsule and gave it a quick look over. It looked very sturdy and he imagined it would be hard to break. He saw the generator nearby that stopped Zeraora from using any electricity from breaking out. Maybe if he destroyed that, the capsule would lose power and open up. He took aim with his claws, preparing to use Night Slash to break the generator to pieces. But just as he was about to do so, he heard a familiar voice cry out.
"Watch out! Watch out everyone! There's a Zoroark hiding in the food supplies!"
It was the messenger Emolga! Zoroark's heart missed a beat. How did she get out of the box he'd imprisoned her in?! He turned around as Volcarona looked up from her meal to see Emolga glide down in front of her.
"What do you mean Emolga? What's happening?" she asked.
"Abigail's Zoroark got out of his Pokéball and he's hidden in one of the food boxes!" Emolga cried, panting between words, "He's trying to break Zeraora out of his prison! He even trapped me in a box to stop me warning you but I broke out and got here! I hope I wasn't too late!"
"We haven't seen any Zoroark's hiding in here." Volcarona noted, "We've opened all the food supplies and found no one hiding in there. Unless Zoroark snuck out…and is pretending to be one of us!" she exclaimed.
The fiery moth Pokémon turned around and saw Zoroark, still in his Toxicroak disguise, near Zeraora's capsule. Now his decision not to join them for lunch made sense! She couldn't believe that she'd fallen for it and allowed a Pokémon that could use illusions to disguise itself get near their prisoner! Zoroark gulped. He hadn't expected that the guards would catch on that quickly. If only that Emolga hadn't got out and flown here!
"Stop! Get away from there!" Volcarona barked angrily.
Zoroark didn't move. He turned back to the generator and began clawing at it furiously with Night Slash, desperate to get Zeraora out before he was caught. He dropped the disguise as he worked. Why keep it up when they knew he was a fake anyway? The guards abandoned their food and stampeded towards Zoroark. But they were too late. Zoroark had smashed the generator to pieces, cutting off the capsule's power supply and causing the door to open. Because the power was door was open, the wires connected to Zeraora couldn't pump their drug into him to keep him sedated as they were meant to stop him breaking out. The door simply opening didn't mean a breakout. The guards stopped in their tracks, staring in horror as the capsule opened and out of it emerged the legendary Zeraora, angry and ready for revenge. He ripped the wires out of his arms and let out a roar that contained all the anger and hatred that had been boiling up inside him for twelve years. It felt good to let it all out at last.
Zeraora was a legendary Pokémon first discovered in the Alola region. They resembled cats in appearance and sported black and yellow fur. They had a long jagged tail that protruded from behind their shoulders, black lightning bolt markings on their forearms, black zigzag stripes around their thighs and lightning bolt shaped whiskers on either side of their face. They were able to levitate and move at high speeds while airborne due to possessing a strong magnetic field that allowed them to do so. They could create this magnetic field through their paw pads.
Despite usually being black and yellow in colour, this Zeraora had a different colouring. His torso, face, upper arms and lower legs were teal in colour and the yellow parts of his body were a beautiful snowy white colour instead of yellow. His eyes, lightning bolt whiskers, paw pads and the tuft of fur on his forehead were all yellow instead. This was Zeraora's "Shiny" colouration, an even rarer sight to see than an actual Zeraora.
Zeraora narrowed his eyes at Zoroark as he held his paws out to the side and gave a loud cheer of delight.
"You are free Zeraora! Praise Arceus, you are free at last!" he cried excitedly, "Now you can seek vengeance onto those that wrongly imprisoned you!"
Zeraora didn't move. His gaze remained fixed on Zoroark as if he was somehow offended that he'd broken him free. Zoroark gulped. He didn't understand. Why wasn't Zeraora happy with him? He continued.
"Don't you understand Zeraora? I've come all this way to break you out! You may not remember but I was there the day Mustard had you locked up!" Zoroark simpered, "I was still a Zorua at the time but I worked hard on evolving myself into a Zoroark so I'd have the strength, speed and intelligence to save you! I'm only sorry it took so long because I had to be dragged around by an annoying teenager who wanted to be my trainer. Well I got away from her and got here to free you! I can't tell you how glad I am to betray everyone on that stupid island." he grumbled, "That oaf Mustard doesn't teach us anything worthwhile and he still shows no remorse for how he's treated you! Now you're free, you can teach him a lesson he'll never…"
His last words died in his throat as Zeraora suddenly lashed out and clawed him directly across it. Zoroark gasped for breath as his throat was sliced open and blood gushed down over his chest, staining his fur. He tried to speak but all he could do was let out feeble strangled gasps as what little breath he had left dissipated. He collapsed onto the floor, dead and bleeding on the floor. Zeraora snorted in disgust at his saviour.
"I. HATE. Traitors…" he snarled venomously.
Zoroark was out of his mind if he seriously thought he would appreciate him betraying everyone for his sake. He had been hurt by betrayal himself too many times before and Zoroark's act was only a bitter reminder of how much he hated that. He stepped over Zoroark's dead body and stood before Volcarona and her guards as they prepared to stop him. The electric feline hissed furiously, warning them to back off now or he'd beat them all into unconsciousness. Emolga whimpered.
"Z-Z-Z-Zeraora's f-f-free!" she cried, "I-I-I've got t-to w-warn Mustard!"
"You're not going anywhere, and neither is he!" Volcarona snapped, "Guards, we've trained for this day and we're not going to let it go to waste! Zeraora does NOT escape from this den!"
The guards all braced themselves to attack. Zeraora just cricked his neck and bared his teeth. OK, they wanted to be idiots and challenge him like this? He'd be happy to let them know why that was such a bad idea! With electricity crackling around his paws, Zeraora lunged towards the guards with a savage roar…
Back at the Battle Court, Sapphire ordered Mysterio to try again with Psychic but Roserade's Counter Shield tactic once again stopped the attack from getting near. The spray of poison knocked away the psychic waves that threatened to sweep over and disorient Roserade as she spun on the floor. The other students hated to give Klara any form of credit, but they had to admit that she'd really stepped up her game since the last term she'd been here. The Klara they once knew certainly didn't fight like this! Mustard and Honey were equally as impressed with Klara's battle style.
"She's really proving that it wasn't necessary to try sabotaging the battle." Honey observed, "Without her cheating, she's actually putting up a really good battle."
"Yes, quite." Mustard concurred, "Hopefully this will teach the child that she should believe in her skills as a trainer and that underhanded tactics are completely unnecessary."
He still planned to punish Klara for attempting to cheat, even if he was impressed with how she was battling at the moment. For now, he watched Sapphire, interested to see how she'd overcome Roserade's Counter Shield technique. Sapphire thought for a moment. A direct assault wasn't going to help her get to Roserade as the Counter Shield would just keep blocking her attacks. How did Ash get past Paul's Gastrodon when it had used this same technique again? She tried to remember the battle that she and her sisters had watched together on TV. Yes…Ash had ordered his Starraptor to use Aerial Ace and aim for Gastrodon's underbelly. She should do the same!
"Use Psychic again but aim at Roserade's feet!" Sapphire commanded.
Mysterio aimed his spoons and fired another Psychic attack towards Roserade. But to Sapphire's amazement, Klara had expected the move! She smirked slyly as Mysterio's attack came close to her Pokémon.
"Did you REALLY think I'd practice this Counter Shield technique and not prepare for any flaws it may have?" she gloated, "Jump in the air while you're still spinning my darling!"
Roserade did just that, leaping straight into the air while continuing to spin. Mysterio's attack missed completely as a result and as the Grass/Poison type Pokémon spiralled through the air, Klara ordered her to attack. Roserade aimed her roses at Mysterio and drenched him with Sludge Bomb. The sludge splattered all over Mysterio, making him cringe at the smell and the disgusting texture of the sludge. But that was the least of his troubles. Not only did Roserade land a clean hit, but she'd managed to poison Mysterio at the same time with the attack! Mysterio yelled in pain as his body glowed purple and the effects of poison took effect. Although Light Screen had weakened Sludge Bomb's power, it wouldn't matter in the long run as the poison would just help finish Mysterio off anyway. Gradually, it would sap away his health and he'd fall unconscious, giving Roserade the win. Klara cheered.
"Terrifically toxic my poisonous pretty!" she cheered, "I really didn't need to try cheating after all as this is going great!"
She was feeling better about herself than she'd ever felt in a long time. For once, she was having a battle that might actually go her way! But Klara couldn't celebrate yet. She knew with Sapphire that it was stupid to claim victory now, not when Sapphire could easily turn this fight around. She still had a full team yet and although two were weakened and two had taken decisive hits, the last two were going in fresh with one of them being James Pond, a Pokémon that had way more experience than Sapphire's current team as he'd been through the entire Gym Challenge and the semi-finals with her. She had to keep it up and hopefully start whittling Sapphire's team down one-by-one. She ordered Roserade to use Weather Ball. Thanks to Sunny Day still being in action, Weather Ball's power was doubled so despite not being super-effective, it was technically Roserade's strongest attack she could use. To finish Mysterio off quickly, she was best off using that. Roserade aimed with her roses and fired the Weather Ball. The blazing ball soared towards Mysterio. It looked as if Roserade had fired a miniature sun towards her opponent. Sapphire was about to order Mysterio to dodge but she hesitated. No, why dodge when there was a better counter to this attack?
"Use Psychic and deflect the attack to Roserade!" Sapphire ordered.
The students chattered excitedly. That was a good plan. With Weather Ball being a Fire-type thanks to Sunny Day, Roserade would be weak to her own attack! Mysterio used his Psychic powers to stop Weather Ball and as ordered, he redirected the attack towards Roserade. The energy ball hurled towards Roserade, threatening to burn her alive once it hit. Klara yelped and frantically ordered her Pokémon to quickly use her Counter Shield to block the Weather Ball. Roserade spun around, spraying streams of poison to block the attack. The Weather Ball hit the poison and disappeared instantly. But that didn't matter as Sapphire only ordered Mysterio to use Psychic again and aim at Roserade's feet. The flower dancer Pokémon didn't have time to jump out the way and she cried out as Mysterio's Psychic attack hit the ground below her feet and sent her flying. Now she was airborne, Mysterio was free to hit Roserade with a clean shot. He used Psychic on her and with that single hit, he was able to finish the battle at last. Roserade's health dropped down to nothing as the psychic waves hit her and she collapsed onto the ground, disoriented and unable to fight any longer. Klara stared incredulously at her defeated Pokémon. That was impossible! How could she have lost despite that brilliant effort she'd put up?! Roserade surely had this fight in the bag! Everyone cheered for Sapphire, impressed with her pulling yet another impressive U-turn to win the battle.
"Excellent strategy there!" Mustard complimented, "Redirecting Roserade's attack to distract her long enough to land a hit of your own, you really know how to overcome your opponent's strengths, my girl!"
"It helps I've had plenty of practice, master." Sapphire said modestly.
She was pleased with how she was doing at the moment, but she knew this wasn't her time to relax yet. Mysterio was still hurting from poison and she only had two Pokémon yet that hadn't already fought yet while Klara had three Pokémon completely fresh to use. This battle could still turn against her if she didn't play her cards right. She returned Mysterio to his Pokéball at the same time Klara had returned Roserade. She frowned as she drew out her fourth Pokéball.
"I was hoping I wouldn't be down to four already…" she sighed, "You maybe winning Sapph, but as I weaken your team, I'll eventually turn this battle in my favour. I bet by the time I get to Slowbro, your team will be so worn out that she'll take them all out by herself!"
"My team's far from worn out, Klara." Sapphire insisted, "I assure you, this battle's mine and nothing you do will change that!"
"We'll see!" Klara sneered, "Scolipede, infect the opposition!"
She threw her ball and Sapphire found herself faced up with Klara's Scolipede for the third time since their rivalry had begun. The centipede like Pokémon reared up and let out a screech of fury, keen to have its chance to win a battle over Sapphire. Sapphire knew that Dal's Light Screen from earlier would be useless as Scolipede were Physical Attackers so no matter who she brought out, Light Screen wouldn't do anything to weaken Scolipede's moves. She was tempted to bring Kagami out and use her Fire Punch to finish Scolipede off but she remembered that Klara had a Dragalge still to come. She wanted to save Kagami for then. In the meantime, she decided to bring Dal out again. At least Scolipede didn't have any moves that would do any real damage to Dal. The Magnezone returned to the field, delighted to have a chance to really show off his stuff.
"SO-I-AM-A-GAINST-SCOL-I-PEDE-AGAIN." he acknowledged, "I-WILL-SIMP-LY-EX-TER-MIN-ATE-IT-A-SECOND-TIME-AND-SHOW-THE-SUP-ER-I-ORI-TY-OF-MAG-NE-ZONES!"
"You sure will, especially as Scolipede's attacks are useless against Steel-types like you!" Sapphire crowed, "Use Thunderbolt!"
"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" Dal boomed.
Dal aimed his magnets at Klara and blasted it with a terrific jolt of lightning…or he would've done if Klara hadn't called a move in time to block it.
"Protect!" Klara yelled.
Scolipede rolled up into a ball and conjured up a barrier around itself to block Magnezone's Thunderbolt attack. Scolipede was completely unharmed thanks to that move. Sapphire cursed in annoyance while Klara giggled.
"I made sure I had a Pokémon that knew Protect just to deal with your pesky attacks!" Klara gloated, "Scolipede may not have anything useful against your weirdo Magnezone, but hopefully it'll soften it up enough for my next two Pokémon to finish it off! Use Megahorn!" she yelled.
She thought using Megahorn was the best move to make as it was Scolipede's strongest attack. When using attacks that were useless against a certain Pokémon type, it made sense to at least use the strongest attack so they could do more damage. Scolipede aimed its horns at Magnezone and scuttled quickly towards the magnetic Pokémon. It speared Dal but of course, being half Steel type, the attack didn't even scratch him. It was nothing like Roserade's earlier Weather Ball where that at least did some real damage earlier. Dal shook off the blow and fired another Thunderbolt at Scolipede. This time, he'd attacked too quickly for Scolipede to use Protect so he landed a clean hit. Bug-types like Scolipede took normal damage from electric attacks so Dal's attack did more damage to Scolipede than its attack had done to him. Scolipede winced from the attack but that wasn't the only thing Dal had managed to do. The Bug/Poison Pokémon screeched in pain as electricity crackled around its body and made it seize up for a moment. Dal's Thunderbolt had paralyzed Scolipede! Now it would be slower in battle and less likely to land an attack as the paralysis would potentially stop it in its tracks. Scolipede's chances certainly looked slim now. Klara was determined to keep on going anyway.
"Don't let that pesky paralysis stop you! Use Megahorn again!" Klara cried.
Scolipede tried to but unfortunately, the paralysis was able to stop it from trying anything. The electricity in its body caused it to tense up and flinch on the spot, unable to launch an attack. This gave Dal an open invitation to use another Thunderbolt on it. The Magnezone took aim and fired again and to his good luck, he was able to score a critical hit so he ended up finishing Scolipede off much quicker than Sapphire had expected. Scolipede collapsed onto its side, a low groan coming out of its mandibles as it was unable to fight any longer. Klara grumbled irritably. Unlike the previous battles where she'd given Sapphire a tough battle, this one had been way too quick and easy for her! She had to step up her game and now! She returned Scolipede and drew out her fifth Pokémon.
"Well, I guess it'll be appropriate for me to say…time to unleash the dragon!" she yelled, throwing the Pokéball, "This one will definitely give you a tough battle!"
The ball opened up and brought out the most surprising and newest member of Klara's roster. Sapphire remembered Dragalge as if she'd only seen it yesterday, and it had actually been a few days since Klara had shown it off back in the Restricted Sparring trial! Dragalge was a Poison/Dragon type Pokémon first discovered in the Kalos region. It resembled a weedy seadragon, a rare type of seahorse that looked more like floating kelp than an actual creature. Dragalge looked very much like a seahorse with kelp stuck to its tail and head but Sapphire knew that despite its slender, frail looking appearance, it was nothing to sneeze at. It had been Klara's best Pokémon during the Restricted Sparring trial and had helped her score the three wins she needed to tie with Sapphire. They had great Special Attack and could learn a variety of moves. Sapphire knew Klara would bring it out eventually and she had a feeling it was going to be a tougher opponent than her other Pokémon. Dragon types were notoriously strong Pokémon after all. Before she returned Dal, she quickly ordered him to set up another Light Screen and then she returned him so he could exchange him for Kagami.
"Time for me to also unleash the dragon!" Sapphire declared as she threw her ball.
Kagami appeared on the battlefield with a mighty roar. This was certainly going to be a tough battle to watch now. Dragon vs. Dragon and both very well-trained Pokémon with a lot of power behind them. The audience held its breath as Sapphire and Klara prepared to give the first orders to attack…
One of the Raichu guards hurled through the air and crashed into a wall, the impact knocking it out instantly.
Zeraora had quickly been able to weigh up his situation and realize what he had to do to get past the guards. Mustard had handpicked these particular Pokémon to watch over him because they were mostly Pokémon that he had no type-coverage over. It hadn't been easy for Zeraora know TEN different moves, giving him a wide amount of coverage to handle as many different Pokémon as possible! His whole move set included Plasma Fists (his signature move), Close Combat, Outrage, Blaze Kick, Brick Break, Grass Knot, Play Rough, Hyper Beam, Iron Tail and Throat Chop, which gave him plenty of types to fight against but Mustard had been able to find a flaw in it. He had no Ground or Rock attacks and had no type-coverage against Fire types. This in turn made Volcarona and her Raichu, Marowak, Emolga, Salazzle, Drapion and Toxicroak guards the perfect Pokémon to watch over him as he had no super-effective attacks to use against any of them, except for the Marowak but Grass Knot was much weaker against lighter opponents like Marowak so it didn't make much of a difference. Also, to stop Zeraora using any electric attacks, the Marowak and Raichu guards all had the Lightning Rod ability. As long as they were conscious and in the battle, Zeraora couldn't use Plasma Fists on any of them as it was an electric attack and Lightning Rod nullified all electric attacks. Unfortunately, that just meant Zeraora knew who to take out first so he'd turned his attention to all the Raichu and Marowak guards so he could defeat all of them and get rid of their pesky Lightning Rod ability.
He'd already taken a few of them out with relative ease. Despite him having no type-advantage over the guards, that didn't matter to him as a Legendary Pokémon was still obscenely powerful, even without a type-advantage. Most of the moves he knew were also really powerful attacks too so he was able to hit hard and do the damage, even if he had no weaknesses to exploit. A Marowak ran towards him, its bone club in hand and raised high for a strike. Zeraora stopped it dead in its tracks by pouncing on it and pinning it down to the ground before it could throw the bone. Once he'd brought the Marowak down, he used Brick Break on its head to knock it out in one blow. As desperate as he was to escape, he didn't want to kill any of the guards. They were innocent in all of this, they were only doing their jobs. Hence he was aiming to knock them out as quickly as possible so they couldn't overwhelm him and also so he wouldn't have to make them suffer too much. That would be saved for Mustard when he saw him again! Two more Marowak tried to rush him together but Zeraora used Grass Knot to trip them both over and bring them crashing down onto their faces. He then grabbed both Marowaks and hurled them across the den into some more guards trying to land a blow on him. The guards bowled over like skittles as they were knocked down by the two Marowaks. Zeraora was about to attack again but he quickly had to dodge to one side as something shot up from underneath him. One of the Raichu had attempted to use Dig on him to take him down, a smart move as Zeraora's only weakness was Ground types just like most other Electric type Pokémon. But Zeraora had managed to dodge and he struck back at the Raichu with Iron Tail. His tail coated itself in steel and he swung it into the Raichu. Just before the Raichu could be sent flying away, Zeraora grabbed it by the tail and swung it into another Raichu nearby. He looked like he was throwing the hammer at the Olympics, only he was swinging the hammer into someone instead of seeing what distance he could achieve instead.
After knocking one Raichu down, he swung the Raichu he still had by the tail into a Marowak as it tried to use Bonemarang on him. The Marowak was knocked off its feet as its comrade slammed into it and as a result, its attempted Bonemarang was sent haywire as the bone spun through the air away from Zeraora and slammed into the face of a Drapion that was scuttling forwards to try and help. As Drapion were weak to Ground attacks, the Marowak's Bonemarang had done a lot of damage and left it weak. Zeraora then slammed the Raichu down on the ground, knocking it out and giving it the pleasure of no longer suffering from being used as a weapon by him. That had been the last Raichu he'd knocked out and there was only one more Marowak left to deal with. He heard it coming now and turned just as Marowak threw its bone club at him. It was trying to use Bonemarang again and unlike its comrade Zeraora had taken out moments ago, it wasn't stopped before it could throw the bone. But it did no good as Zeraora only used Brick Break to deflect the bone and knock it away. He then picked up an unconscious Marowak's bone club and ran towards the only remaining one. He clobbered it around the head a few times and then brought the bone crashing down on its cranium, cracking its skull mask and knocked it out in seconds. The Marowak crumpled to the floor and lay still. Zeraora still had the club in his paws and he used it to block an attack coming from one of the Toxicroak. It had tried to use Brick Break on him but he blocked the chopping strike with the Marowak's bone he still had. The Toxicroak tried to kick him but he blocked that blow too. He then clubbed the Toxicroak in the side of its face, throwing it aside and sending it spinning down onto its side. He threw the bone away, seeing no further need for it, and he allowed the pleasant feeling of electricity around his paws to crackle. Now he'd knocked out all the Raichu and Marowak earlier, their Lightning Rod ability was no longer stopping his Plasma Fists attack so he was free to use it as much as he liked. Plasma Fists was an attack only the Zeraora species could learn and it came with a side-effect of turning normal type moves into Electric-type attacks.
He used Plasma Fists now, punching the Toxicroak into unconsciousness and leaving it stinging from the electricity around his fist. One of the Drapion guards scuttled towards him and lashed out with its pincers, trying to grab him so it could subdue him. Zeraora picked up the unconscious Toxicroak and held it up so Drapion ended up grabbing it instead. The Drapion threw the body away and tried to grab again but Zeraora was too quick. He lunged forward and socked it in the face with Plasma Fists. The Drapion reeled back in pain but Zeraora didn't stop there. He used Blaze Kick to kick the Drapion away and send it hurling backwards into another Drapion that was rushing in to help. Four Toxicroak jumped in and all tried to kick Zeraora at once. Zeraora jumped up towards them and took every single one of them out with a single Plasma Fist attack. The Toxicroak all collapsed onto the floor together and croaked in pain. Two more Toxicroak advanced towards Zeraora but instead of getting in close, they decided to use a ranged attack. Both of them coughed up a Sludge Bomb at Zeraora, the purple poisonous sludge piles raining towards him. Zeraora used Iron Tail to block the attack. As Poison did nothing to Steel types, the Sludge Bomb hit his iron-coated tail and harmlessly slid away. The two Toxicroak attempted another move, this one being Focus Blast. They held their hands together and started charging up a huge energy ball that they were hoping would take Zeraora out and bring an end to his prison break attempt. They never got the chance to use it as Zeraora came hurling towards them with Outrage. He bowled them both over, stopping their Focus Blast attack and sending them hurling across the room. Zeraora used Outrage two more times, bowling over several guards before the side-effect kicked him and left him confused. But it didn't slow him down at all as he simply banged his head against the ground to shake off the confusion and leave his mind clear again. A bunch of Salazzle surrounded him and all of them attempted to burn him alive with Flamethrower.
Zeraora wasn't even threatened by the attack. He simply spun around on the spot like a top and cleaved his way through the flames as they tried to burn him. After getting through their Flamethrower ambush, Zeraora used Plasma Fists to knock out all the Salazzle that had tried to burn him. It was incredible to see that this Pokémon had been locked up for twelve years and his battle skills hadn't faltered in the slightest. Volcarona was starting to worry as Zeraora just continued to knock out guard after guard. She was amazed he hadn't killed anyone yet. Emolga was equally as nervous.
"It's no use! He's too powerful!" she whimpered, "I must warn Mustard now!"
"He hasn't got out yet." Volcarona insisted, "We can wear him down with our numbers! And I haven't had a chance to show my stuff yet so there's still a chance we can stop him!"
To give herself a power boost, Volcarona ruffled her fur and started to spin around on the spot while sprinkling insect dust everywhere. This was one of her signature moves, Quiver Dance. It was an extremely handy move for Bug-type Pokémon that boosted their Special Attack, Special Defence and Speed all at once. Volcarona was hoping that Quiver Dance would give herself enough of a boost to stop the rampaging Zeraora. Emolga watched with baited breath as the fire moth Pokémon joined in the fray. Some of the Emolga guards were gliding above Zeraora and attempting to take him down by bombarding him with Air Slash. Zeraora used Iron Tail to block every single blow and he clawed up a bunch of rocks from the ground. He threw a rock at all the Emolga trying to stop him and he took each of them out in seconds. Emolga were weak to Rock-types and even though Zeraora wasn't using an actual Rock attack, an improvised rock attack was still enough to take the Emolga down. One Emolga was able to sneak around from behind and Aerial Ace him across the back, but as Zeraora was an Electric-type, it hardly did anything to him as Flying attacks were ineffective against his type. Zeraora responded by pouncing up towards the Emolga that had sneak-attacked him and he used Blaze Kick to knock it down into the ground.
There weren't many guards left to deal with now and Zeraora barely even felt fatigued despite the hard work he was putting in to dealing with them. He could easily carry on going. But before anything else could happen, Volcarona swooped in and unleashed the full power of her signature move. Volcarona were the only Pokémon capable of using the attack known as Fiery Dance. It was a blazing hot move that had a 50% chance of raising the user's Special Attack. She'd already boosted her attack with Quiver Dance earlier so using Fiery Dance gave her a way to attack Zeraora and give herself a further boost as a result. Volcarona cloaked herself in flames, spun around in a dazzling dance and then flapped her wings to send the flames whooshing towards Zeraora. The Legendary Pokémon barely had time to dodge, the heat of the flames licking his body as they whooshed past him and barely missed. Unfortunately for Volcarona, some of the guards had been aiming for Zeraora at the time and because the electric feline had dodged, she'd hit them by accident and her boosted Special Attack from Quiver Dancer earlier had made her attack strong enough to knock them all out at once. The remaining guards all stepped back so Volcarona couldn't burn them as well. Volcarona aimed again and although Zeraora jumped aside once more, she was a fraction quicker than before and was able to skim him across the side with her Fiery Dance. Zeraora winced and staggered to one side as he landed. He clutched his side, which stung furiously from the burns he'd received. He could tell Volcarona's Quiver Dance had boosted her power immensely, enough to give even him some cause for concern. He had to take her down and fast!
But at the same time, he found himself with another problem to deal with. He saw that Ditto had decided to get into the fight at last and as predicted, it had transformed from its pink blobby appearance into a perfect copy of himself. To Zeraora, it'd be like fighting his own reflection. While Ditto could mimic his appearance and his moves, it would do Ditto no good as Ditto didn't exactly have the strength and power that he possessed. Ditto charged towards Zeraora, aiming to do heavy damage to him right away by using Close Combat. Zeraora simply used Close Combat in return to counter attack and because he was the real deal and not an ordinary Pokémon mimicking a Legendary, his attack was stronger. He pummelled Ditto furiously and sent it hurling across the room. His Defences dropped as a result of Close Combat's side effect but he wasn't worried about that. He knew he could still escape this den. Ditto got back to its feet and scampered towards Zeraora. At the same time as this, Volcarona appeared behind the electric cat Pokémon and unleashed another Fiery Dance attack at him. That was the biggest mistake she could've made for Zeraora simply dodged out the way and left her to roast Ditto alive. As Ditto had transformed into Zeraora, Volcarona didn't realize her mistake until her attack had knocked Ditto clean out. The transforming Pokémon fainted on the floor and transformed back to normal as it couldn't keep up its disguise while it was unconscious. Volcarona gasped in horror at her mistake.
"Oh Ditto, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, "I thought I'd hit the real Zeraora!"
She looked around for her Pokémon prisoner, only to suddenly get whacked in the face as a huge rock hurled straight towards her. Zeraora knew that Volcarona were Pokémon that had a double weakness to Rock types so once again, he felt improvising a rock attack would help him out. He'd thrown the rock at Volcarona while she was distracted and now the huge fiery moth Pokémon had been brought down by the hit. She was a particularly strong Volcarona so despite the double weakness to rock, she'd only just been able to take the hit and get back up again. Furious, Volcarona blasted Zeraora with Fiery Dance once again. Zeraora tried to dodge but Volcarona only followed him with her flames as he ran to one side. She was able to hit him at last and Zeraora screamed as he was engulfed by her deadly flames. Despite being a Legendary Pokémon, Volcarona's Quiver Dance earlier had given her the power to do real damage to him. Her constant use of Fiery Dance had also boosted her Special Attack a few more times so that plus Zeraora's drop in Defences from Close Combat earlier had her nearly take him down in one blow. Zeraora landed on his back and cried out in pain as the burns from Volcarona's attack stung furiously. He was very lucky to still be conscious, otherwise he would be going back in his capsule! He panted heavily and fixed his steely gaze on the fire moth as she and the remaining guards surrounded him. His situation looked pretty hopeless for the moment. There were still enough guards to subdue him and Volcarona had the power to wipe him out in seconds if he tried anything. It looked as if Zoroark's attempts to break him out were going to be in vain after all.
"Zeraora! You go no further!" Volcarona declared, "We're giving you one chance to get back in your capsule and accept your imprisonment! Don't make us have to use force to bring you down! Do you understand?"
Zeraora didn't reply. He just got back to his feet and took a deep breath. Then he opened his mouth. The guards recoiled. He was going to use Hyper Beam! Volcarona wanted to stop him with another Fiery Dance but the guards were too close and she risked blazing all of them alive too. She instead tried to use Psychic but Zeraora jumped away as the Psychic waves came towards him. The guards rushed in to try and take him down but they were too late. Zeraora blasted them all with Hyper Beam. His Hyper Beam carried all the power of the universe and swept everyone off their feet. Even Volcarona was sent hurling backwards and was unable to take the power of Zeraora's attack. It was like being faced with an explosion, only this one didn't vaporise them instantly like one would. The whole attack lasted a minute and by the team the light from Hyper Beam died down, not a single guard was left standing. Only Zeraora was still conscious. He felt exhausted after using the last of his energy to do that but he was still able to walk free at least.
He wasn't the only one still conscious after all that. The messenger Emolga had scrambled frantically out of the den to avoid being hit by Hyper Beam and now she was up top, panting for breath and scared out of her life. Not even the gentle sound of the ocean waves could settle her down right now.
"This is bad! This is so, so very bad!" she panicked, "What am I gonna tell Mustard?! He and his students are all going to be in very real danger!"
They weren't the only ones that were in danger. Emolga heard the sound of someone jumping out of the den and landing down heavily behind her. The electric flying squirrel Pokémon gasped in horror and turned around to see Zeraora staring down at her. His eyes were pure rage as if somehow, all of that hadn't been enough to settle all the anger in his heart. He grabbed Emolga and picked her up. The messenger Pokémon gulped and shook furiously in Zeraora's grip. She was certain she was about to die at this very moment. She was so frightened that she began to cry.
"P-p-please! D-d-don't k-k-kill me!" she sobbed, "I-I-I-I'm j-just the m-messenger! I w-w-wasn't a g-g-guard! Y-you h-have n-no grudge against me! P-p-please let me live!"
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she waited for her inevitable doom. But it never came. Zeraora didn't seem to want her dead despite her fears. If anything, he looked…kinder, almost as if he was seeing an old friend again. His gaze had relaxed and he exhaled heavily as if releasing what was left of the anger inside of him so he could be more chilled and settled with her. He raised a paw and gently stroked the terrified Emolga's head. Emolga whimpered, knowing that he could still kill her if he wanted.
"I'm glad you're here, old friend." Zeraora purred smoothly, "It's nice to have a friendly face come here for once. You've always been nicer to me, even during my imprisonment."
Emolga knew this was true. She'd always expressed hope that Zeraora could be freed one day so she imagined that was enough for him to spare her. But Zeraora had another reason to let her live. He held her closer to his face and flashed his sharp fangs in a sinister grin. Emolga gulped, not liking where this was going.
"Now little Emolga…I want you to fly back to the Isle of Armour so you can give my old master a message." Zeraora crooned, "I want you to tell him…his REAL Pokémon partner is coming home!"
His voice had dropped to a whisper as he said that last part. He threw his paws up to give Emolga a quick boost to get back in the sky. The terrified Pokémon opened her membrane and allowed the wind to guide her back to the island. As much as she was going to hate giving Mustard the bad news, she was glad to be getting as far away from Zeraora as possible. Zeraora watched her leave. He was going to stay put for a while to let himself heal from his battle with the guards and then he'd swim back to the Isle of Armour. He'd convince a Wailord or some other Water-type Pokémon to help him get back along the way. He sighed again, feeling at peace as the fresh air and the smell of the sea swept over him. How wonderful freedom felt and tasted to him! He thought he'd never feel the wind on his face again after twelve years in that capsule. He gazed out to the horizon. He could imagine the Isle of Armour just ahead of him despite it being miles away from where he was. The way home was a single straight line from the den to the island and it wouldn't take him long to get there.
"I cannot wait to see you again…old friend." Zeraora purred darkly.
He could see it now: his old master begging for mercy while he prepared to rip him apart for what he'd done to him! It had been twelve years coming for Mustard, and now his demise was all but guaranteed. No one, not even his precious Armour Warrior was going to stop him…
Sapphire and Klara's battle rages on but Zeraora is free! Will our heroes be able to stop him when he gets to the Isle of Armour? How long will it be until he arrives? Tune in next time as we finally get to see what "The Secret Armour" is...
Trivia: I have none for this chapter.