~ Chapter 69 ~
Battle Royale, Part the Third
"We'd done battle in a myriad of different ways. We'd done double battles, four on four, triple battle free-for-alls, and even traditional one versus one battle. But we'd never done three on one. Or at least, we'd never thought about it before. It was unorthodox, but not impossible—probably not even unheard of somewhere in the world. I'm sure we were the first to come up with this, but it made sense. Niya wasn't training for anything, Jeremy needed to make himself stronger to be a Pokémon Ranger, and Alyssandra, while still training for future contests, needed a different kind of battle training for her profession. I was the only one who needed to strengthen their Pokémon up for the Pokémon League, and I took every opportunity I could to get stronger."
Sam was on the ropes early on.
He had led with his Rampardos. She was doing a wonderful job keeping three Pokémon at bay, but her one flaw was she wasn't that fast—but she hit like a truck. She was near to downing the three Pokémon she was going up against—Jeremy's Floatzel, Niya's Glameow, and Alyssandra's Eevee—but they had also devised a plan where after Rampardos would attack one of their Pokémon, the other two would go in for strikes from behind Rampardos before she could fully turn and retaliate.
Rampardos was good at charging in one direction, but the turning wasn't her strongest suit.
Sam needed to thin fast, or Glameow, Eevee and Floatzel were going to bring Rampardos down before she could make a dent in the battle.
Sam had a disadvantage against Floatzel; the Water Type Pokémon was strong against Rampardos's Rock typing. But he could easily handle the other two—Niya's Pokémon were stronger than his or Lyss's or Jeremy's, but the Normal Typing didn't do much damage, even at a higher level.
He needed to think of something, fast, or he was going to be short a Pokémon early.
"You thought of something yet?" wondered Aurelio, keeping an eye on the match, watching Rampardos slam itself into Eevee as it took a strike from Glameow in the back, causing the Pokémon to roar out.
"Working on it!" Sam hissed under his breath.
Then, something came to him. It was half-assed and risky, but it was better than nothing.
"Rampardos!" cried Sam, "Flamethrower around yourself, put up a wall of flame, then charge at Eevee!"
Rampardos obeyed, belching flames around the indoor battle arena that was conveniently on this boat. It was Pokémon League certified, allowing it to resist the damage a Pokémon Battle might cause normally.
The other Pokémon couldn't strike through the flames, and by the time Floatzel had put the flames out. Rampardos had trampled Eevee with Zen Headbutt and knocked the Pokémon out.
Sam had Rampardos turn its next attack on Glameow. His next plan involved belching flames as it charged, enveloping itself in fire so that nothing could touch it physically. Even as Floatzel struck Rampardos with Aqua Jet, hoping to douse the flames, all it did was unleash a thick, dense curtain of steam—something that worked to Sam's advantage.
Glameow was soon trampled, incapacitated by a Zen Headbutt.
Finally, Rampardos turned its attention on Floatzel, both of them hidden and buried deep within the steam.
Few could see through the steamy room, though it was starting to clear.
Sam had a small window with which to strike. He needed to take that now.
Sam sent Rampardos in for a Brick Break. The floor started to shake as Rampardos's heavy girth slammed against the ground at top speed.
Floatzel felt Rampardos coming, and the two clashed. Brick Break versus Aqua Jet.
The steam cleared as the strike reverberated through the air.
In moments, both Rampardos and Floatzel were unable to battle, and the next round of fighters was being chosen.
All Pokémon recalled, the four teens threw their next Poké Balls into the ring.
Sam released his Luxray.
Jeremy, his Torterra.
Niya used her Combee.
And Alyssandra used her Roserade.
Luxray was faster than Rampardos, and though it didn't hit as hard, it still had a decent Attack stat, and its Special Attack was better.
Torterra started off by letting out an Earthquake. The dirt battleground shook and rumbling, cracking and raising as the very ground was overturned with Torterra's power.
Combee flapped its wings, sending out gust of wind with Gust attack, blowing dust towards Luxray.
Roserade used Magical Leaf, sending purple glowing leaves of doom flying as if possessed towards Luxray.
That was quite the combo to dodge.
A synchronized attack from below, in the air, and and all around.
Luxray's speed would come in handy here.
As the ground cracked and tried to swallow Luxray whole, Luxray jumped between the highest points of the ground, moving just before it folded over again.
The floating Gust attack and whirlwind of dust and debris that flew towards Luxray was a little harder to dodge, because of the wide net, and because the Magical Leaf was trying to chase Luxray right into the whirlwind.
Sam called out for a Thunder attack, causing bolts of lightning to slam into the ground across the arena.
Sam was careful not to hit Torterra, as he was immune, but he was able to fry the Magical Leaf attack, strike Roserade, and disrupt the Gust attack by changing the air patterns with the force caused by the lightning strike.
The bolt of lightning that struck nearby Combee and clipped the Pokémon in the wind, wounding it, and doing some damage to the Pokémon in the progress, allowing Sam a brief moment to strike.
Luxray lashed out at Combee, the closest and weakest Pokémon. Combee tried to strike back with Ominous Wind, but Luxray broke through it, and chomped down on Combee with a Crunch attack.
Luxray shook its head violently, tearing into Combee—though not breaking flesh—and threw the Pokémon aside, unconscious.
Combee were stronger in groups, and even stronger with a Vespiquen to lead them. Sam knew Niya had trained her Combee well, but he had a suspicious it was better at contest battles than Pokémon battles—a shame, because Sam would've loved to have seen Combee at its full strength, and full potential, for it would've been a beautiful sight indeed, he knew.
Next, Luxray had its attention turned towards Roserade. Torterra had the type advantage, and was the harder fight; Sam figured he'd deal with the harder job in a bit, but first he needed to take out Roserade.
As Luxray charged towards Roserade, Torterra unleashed another Earthquake. This time, Luxray was caught off guard, and tripped.
Sam, with Aurelio spurring him onwards, was able to get Luxray up and out of the way before the earth beneath swallowed him. He wasn't able to get it out before it took damage though.
Torterra was going to close the lead Luxray had—Sam had to act faster.
Sam sent Luxray at Roserade.
First an Iron Tail, which was countered with a Magical Leaf; Luxray dodged and skipped back a few paces, knocking back the leaves with its tail.
Then, a Thunder attack to stagger the opponents, and while Roserade covered its eyes from the flash of light and crack of thunder that split the air.
As Roserade flinched, Luxray went in for another Crunch and while Roserade was able to dodge the majority, Luxray, in its entire feline prowess, managed to snag Roserade's left arm bouquet. Once more, Luxray shook its head, and tossed Roserade around like a rag doll.
When Luxray was done, Roserade was unable to battle.
Then, Luxray turned its attention to Torterra.
Torterra charged in for a Bite, Luxray countered by slamming an Iron Tail right into Torterra's open mouth. Torterra bit down, only to find a world of pain as its jaws ached.
With his tail, hard as steel, and Torterra clamping down, Luxray unleashed a jolt of electricity straight into Torterra.
Normally, Torterra's thick shell and Ground typing grounded the Pokémon and prevented Electric attacks from being effective. But with a conductive surface inside the Pokémon, Sam was able to strike the Pokémon from within.
It wasn't as strong as it would've been against another Pokémon that wasn't Ground Type, but it was better than striking it from the outside.
Torterra shuddered as the electricity ripped through its body.
The Pokémon froze for a moment as the electricity stopped. Its body smoking. Then its jaws fell open, and it fell over with a crash.
"You've become a ruthless battler," muttered Aurelio, both in awe, and a little worry, "If your intentions weren't the Pokémon League…let's just say it's a good thing you're one of the good guys."
Sam merely grunted.
He was a tough battler; he didn't have time to be soft. Not even on his friends. If he held back in a fake fight, he wouldn't be able to go all out in a real fight. Especially when that real fight could decide whether or not he would defeat the five strongest trainers in the Sinnoh region.
"He takes no chances," stated Niya, her face grim and serious, "He may actually take down the Pokémon League at this rate. No emotion, just strategy. It's like battle my aunt Fantina."
"Such power," added Jeremy, "The way his mind finds ways around obstacles. If he doesn't take the Champion's job, Sinnoh will be missing out."
Alyssandra just smiled.
Sam had lived up to their expectations as a trainer, and had smashed their expectations of his performance in this battle.
But it wasn't over just yet.
Alyssandra was ready to throw out her next Pokémon, as was Jeremy. Sam had already unleashed his Garchomp on the field. There was a sharp and predatory focus that was clear on the face of the Dragon Pokémon.
But Niya called the match, raising a small kerchief and tossing it on to the middle of the ring as she stepped out of her trainer's box.
"I yield," she stated matter of factly, "And the rest of you should too. Sam's can't go easy on us, and we don't need our Pokémon completely incapacitated for our duration on Iron Island. The Pokémon there are enough to worry about. I won't put my Pokémon through unnecessary defeats."
Jeremy and Alyssandra look puzzled, but as they thought over what Niya said, they followed suit.
"You did good, Sam," smiled Niya, "You're almost ready for the Pokémon League. I'll be honest, I don't think any of us could take you on and win at this point."
"But that doesn't mean I'm ready to beat Valentina yet," added Sam, "I need to keep training. Get stronger. I might be Gym Leader ready, but not Elite Four ready. I'm sorry I didn't hold back…I hope I didn't hurt your Pokémon too much…but if I hold back now—"
"We get it," smiled Alyssandra, "It's just training. At this level, it's what you have to expect."
"That girl is wise beyond her years," nodded Aurelio sagely, "Your skill outmatches your friends right now—no dishonour in that. You're training for higher stakes after all, so you battle with higher stakes."
Sam thanked his Garchomp and returned her to her Poké Ball.
"So what do we do now?" asked Jeremy, "We've still got the rest of today, tonight and part of tomorrow before we reach Iron Island."
"I'm going to nap," shrugged Niya, "I'm tired, and my Pokémon are tired."
Niya walked from the room, stretching as she yawned, her mind only on her beauty sleep.
Jeremy frowned. "Well, I'm hungry," he stated, "I'm going to go see if Cookie can't make something."
Jeremy too left, leaving Sam and Alyssandra alone.
The two looked at each other. Each turned a light shade of peach. "Do…you want to take a walk above deck with me?" asked Alyssandra.
"You two have been getting closer lately," smirked Aurelio, "Do you want me to leave you alone?"
"Why is that even a question?" laughed Sam, replying to both Alyssandra and his grandfather, "Of course!"
Aurelio smirked and faded into nothing, leaving his grandson alone in the battle room with Alyssandra.
The two then walked out towards the deck, lapping the outer edges of the decks by the cabins, walking, and talking, and discussing everything from the weather to their plans for the future.
