Time for the battle between Cynthia and Austin to begin! Will she hopefully manage to win?
Phantom Knight21: Why Kate is Kate is one of the things that makes her a better character.
Jay Hayden: Yeah, I know most people hate Kate, but I hoped that the previous chapters made her a more sympathetic and understandable character.
ReallyRaichu: Hidden power is a move that's type changes depending on the internal values of the pokemon.
Darkhammer: Hopefully so.
Duskzilla: That's good. I'm glad people are feeling sympathy for her, Kate isn't so bad once you get to know her.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 33
"Lucy, go," Austin said, releasing a Houndour. The small black dog snarled at Cynthia, eyes narrowed into a growl.
"A dark type, huh?" Cynthia asked, smiling. "Perfect. Tristan, go! Tear that thing apart!"
Cynthia sent out her faithful Breloom, Austin shaking his head.
"You always send that one out first, you know?"
"No, I don't!" Cynthia said, frowning. "And even if I do, so what? He's super strong!"
"Tell me, Cynthia, do you know what type of pokemon I specialize in?" Austin asked.
"Huh?" Cynthia asked, confused. "Fire types, right? So what?"
"That Breloom of yours is your strongest pokemon," Austin explained, "which tells me why you favor it so much. Against someone else, it could certainly do some major damage to their party. But against a fire type master like me, you would have been smarter to use your other pokemon."
"Maybe, but that pokemon of yours is a dark type!" Cynthia shouted. "Which means Tristan has the advantage now!"
"And what about my next pokemon?" Austin asked. "Perhaps you should have started out with a water type, so you would have some breathing room to understand how I fight due to the type advantage. Flouting type advantage for stronger pokemon is only a smart move if you understand the situation, and you certainly don't."
Austin shook his head.
"I sent out Lucy, because I knew a dark type would be the perfect bait to get you to send out that Breloom of yours."
"Urgh, whatever! Shut up, dude!" Cynthia said, shaking her head. "All that matters is believing in your pokemon, right?"
"If you say so," Austin said, shrugging. "Lucy, ember."
Lucy opened her mouth and shot a stream of embers at Tristan, who evaded the fire attack. Tristan lowered his head and charged at the dog pokemon, running into the center of the smoldering wreckage on the battlefield.
"Tristan, use mach punch!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan pulled back his small fist and charged at Lucy, who jumped back.
"Smog attack," Austin said. Lucy opened her mouth and released a cloud of poisonous gas, which spread out across the field, obscuring Tristan's vision.
"Bre…" Tristan coughed, looking around for his opponent.
"Tristan, if you can't see her, then you need to be prepared for anything!" Cynthia shouted. "Just focus. Wait for her attack."
"Bre," Tristan called out through the smog.
"That only works if you're fast enough to respond," Austin said. "Lucy, use ember."
Lucy fired a burst of flames at Tristan through the smoke, injuring him.
"Thanks to Lucy's odor sleuth," Austin explained, "she can smell your mushroom pokemon even through all this smoke."
"Tristan, come on back! Get out of the house!" Cynthia called out. "You need to get out of that smog! If you can't see, you can't punch that little mutt!"
"Bre!" Tristan said, turning, running back towards Cynthia.
"Don't let her get away," Austin ordered. "Use faint attack."
Lucy charged after Tristan through the smoke, Tristan breaking free just through the doorway of the burned out house.
"Now!" Cynthia shouted. "Mach punch!"
Tristan whirled around and raised his fist, punching forward into the smoke. Lucy shouted out with a "yelp" and flew back, the sound of her crashing against a wall ringing through the smoke.
"Wow!" Darla exclaimed. "In a major counter, Cynthia managed to lure Austin's Houndour into a trap!"
"That attack was pretty cool, too!" Lila said. "She managed to get the upper hand!"
"How's that for smart?" Cynthia bragged. "Getting through the doorway means that there's only one way you can attack me, right?"
The smog attack cleared away, leaving a whimpering Lucy. The dog pokemon rose to her feet, growling at Tristan.
"Lucy, time for our next plan," Austin said. "You ready?"
"Houn!" Lucy barked, running toward Tristan.
"And you made fun of me for running head on into battle?" Cynthia asked. "Tristan, mach punch again!"
Tristan matched Lucy's charge and raised his hand, punching at Lucy.
"Fire fang!" Austin ordered. Lucy leapt into the air and opened her jaws, biting down on Tristan's small fist with a maw of fire.
"Bre!" Tristan cried out in pain, flames leaping up around his arm.
"Tristan! Fight through it!" Cynthia shouted. "Take her down! Maximum counter!"
"Breloom!" Tristan shouted, raising his fist. He slammed Lucy down onto the ground with a powerful counterpunch, the dog pokemon crying out in pain.
"Houn…" Lucy gasped, releasing her grip on Tristan's fist. Tristan stepped back, groaning, his fist badly burned. Lucy stood up, shaking, collapsing into the ashen covered ground.
"Return," Austin said, returning Lucy to her pokeball.
"In spite of the advantages of typing, it seems like Austin's fire types were the first to fall!" Darla announced.
"Austin was one of the favorites to win, but can Cynthia manage to pull off a victory?" Lila asked.
"Well, I must admit, I was not anticipating you being able to win the first battle," Austin said. "In fact, I was expecting you to lose."
"Well, that's what you get for underestimating me!" Cynthia bragged. "Tristan isn't going to go down so easily just because you've got a fire type!"
"Maybe not," Austin ceded. "I chose Lucy in order to bait out your Breloom, but it seems to have been turned against me."
"…Huh? What are you talking about?" Cynthia asked, confused.
"Weren't you listening?" Austin said, shaking his head. "I sent out Lucy to bait you. I thought that you might not send him out normally if you were dealing with fire types. But seeing a dark type…"
"Oh, right, that!" Cynthia said, laughing. "Nah, I was gonna send him out anyway. He's my strongest, after all!"
"She really is an idiot…" Sango sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Expecting you to think ahead for this battle… it seems I overestimated you too much," Austin sighed. "Now then, let's finish this off. Let me show you the mistake you made with that pokemon. Ellie, take care of things."
Austin sent out his Fletchinder, the orange bird pokemon flying into the air.
"Let's take down this bird with a few good punches, Tristan!" Cynthia cheered, Tristan nodding eagerly.
"Just try, if you can," Austin smiled, Ellie darting through the smoky field. "We've been training this move especially to maximize our battle technique."
"Mach punch! Wipe 'er out!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan charged right at the flying type, Ellie pulling to a stop.
"Aerial ace," Austin ordered. Ellie disappeared, flying at the speed of sound past Tristan, slicing into him with a cutting wave of wind. Ellie pulled into view high in the air as a long cut ripped across Tristan's body, the Breloom coughing out in pain and falling to the ground.
"No way…" Cynthia gasped, her face going pale.
"Tristan lost in speed?" Sango asked, surprised. "But mach punch is supposed to be one of the fastest moves there is!"
"A supersonic aerial ace attack wiped out Cynthia's Breloom in a single hit!" Darla exclaimed.
"But how is that even possible?" Lila asked, confused. "No matter how fast that Fletchinder might be, for aerial ace to outspeed a mach punch is just…"
"We saw a display of these blazing fast moves in the previous round," Darla said, "but at this speed, it can't be…"
"My Ellie is quite a fast pokemon," Austin informed Cynthia. "With gale wings, her flying type moves won't lose in speed."
"Well if you want to fight speed, then I've got the perfect pokemon for the job!" Cynthia said, returning Tristan to his pokeball. "Elise, go!"
Cynthia sent out her Taillow, the small bird pokemon flying up to face Ellie.
"It seems that Cynthia has matched flying type for flying type!" Lila said. "But will it be enough?"
"I wonder if her Taillow can stand up to the Fletchinder's speed, or her fire type moves!" Darla agreed.
"As a flying user, you should know that aerial ace can't be dodged," Austin said. "And Ellie can use it quite well. I know your pokemon are quite fast, but Ellie is simply out of their league. What will you do, I wonder? If my pokemon can out-muscle yours, it seems time for you to start using your brain. Ellie, aerial ace!"
"Fletch!" Ellie disappeared, shooting towards Elise.
"Elise, quick guard!"
"Tail!" Elise squawked, holding her wings out, a barrier of light appearing in front of her to block the flying move, Ellie flying back to increase the distance between the two in response.
"I figure if you can outrun mach punch, then this 'gale wings' or whatever it is can be stopped with quick guard, yeah?" Cynthia smirked. "Way to go, Elise!"
"Yes… if you can't dodge it or outspeed it, then blocking is what you would want to do," Austin nodded. "But how long do you think you can keep that up?"
"Long enough," Cynthia grinned. "Elise, just keep using quick guard until I tell you otherwise!"
"Tail!" Elise nodded, creating another barrier to block Ellie's next attack.
"Cynthia seems to have come up with a plan to stop Ellie's fast moves!" Darla said.
"But she's fighting a defensive battle…" Lila said worriedly. "Can she really win if she doesn't start going on the offensive?"
"Just a little more," Cynthia said. She could see that Elise's barrier was starting to weaken. One more attack would shatter it.
"Smash through that horrible plan with another aerial ace," Austin ordered.
"Fletchinder!" Ellie disappeared in a flash, shooting towards Elise.
"Elise, quick attack!" Cynthia shouted.
"Tail!" Elise's barrier faded, and the bird pokemon shot forward, smashing into Ellie with her beak. The two flying pokemon collided at top speed, falling out of the sky. They plummeted toward the ground and spread out their wings, the updraft from the hot battlefield catching them with a jolt and lifting them enough to stop their descents.
"What?" Austin said, shocked.
"My Elise is a lot faster than you gave her credit for!" Cynthia bragged. "Now, go, use quick attack again!"
"Ellie, aerial ace!" Austin countered.
"Tail!" Elise shot forward and slammed into Ellie before she could begin the flying type move, knocking the bird pokemon backwards.
"What's this?" Darla exclaimed. "It seems that Fletchinder's speed has drastically decreased!"
"Yeah, way to go, Elise!" Cynthia cheered. "Keeping pushing! Let's see your aerial ace attack now!"
"Ellie, aerial ace," Austin ordered. Ellie and Elise both disappeared, and a blast of sound echoed through the arena. Ellie fell first, Elise panting as she came into view.
"What's wrong, Austin?" Cynthia asked. "It seems your Fletchinder has gotten a lot slower all of a sudden."
"That quick attack…" Austin said, frowning. "I see… I underestimated you. You figured out that gale wings is only active so long as Ellie is at full health."
"Oh, really?" Cynthia asked, surprised.
"You didn't know?" Austin asked incredulously. "Then why did you risk that quick attack, if not to turn off her ability?"
"Simple!" Cynthia said. "I knew that no matter what, there was no way we were going to win unless we attacked with everything we had! So we had to fight against her at full speed, to see if we could manage to match you!"
Cynthia looked proudly at Elise.
"And like I thought, no one can compare to Elise's speed!"
"So, the bravery of the idiot, is that right?" Austin said, frowning. "It seems that your headstrong nature is worth something, but that doesn't compare to real strategy. Ellie, time for a change in tactics! Flame charge!"
"Fletch!" Ellie began burning red, her feathers coated in crimson flames as she flew towards Elise.
"Elise, use quick attack to dodge it!" Cynthia ordered. Elise dodged from side to side and up and down, trying to avoid the flames. Ellie was still fast, however, and her flames managed to singe the edge of Elise's wing.
"Tail!" Elise landed on the ground, her wing injured, Ellie turning in the air and speeding towards her.
"Having lost at speed, Austin has switched to his more conventional fire moves!" Lila said. "Oh no! It looks like the Fletchinder has picked up speed again!"
Ellie struck Elise head on, knocking her into the air, badly burning the bird pokemon. Elise quickly flapped her wings to pull away from the fire type, increasing her speed in spite of her injuries.
"It seems that Cynthia's Taillow has been badly burned!" Darla said worriedly. "Could this be it?"
"Elise!" Cynthia shouted. "Don't give up! You can win this! You've got to keep going! Aerial ace one more time!"
"Tail!" Elise turned and shot towards Ellie, disappearing.
The two bird pokemon collided again, but this time Elise was the one falling out of the sky, Elise's flames dying down as she turned back toward the injured Taillow.
"Finish her off," Austin ordered.
"Elise!" Cynthia cried. "Please!"
"T-Tail…" Elise murmured, rising up on shaky legs, desperately flapping her wings as she glared defiantly towards the approaching bird pokemon.
"You might be faster," Austin said, frowning, "but Ellie is far more powerful. This is what a backup plan looks like."
"We won't give in!" Cynthia said. "Elise is way stronger than you can imagine!"
Hearing her trainer's words, Elise's eyes ignited with fiery determination. Her body began glowing with an orange light, and she flew towards Ellie.
"That's…" Austin said, his eyes narrowing.
"It seems that Cynthia's Taillow has regained her fighting spirit!" Darla shouted. "Oh yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!"
"How amazing!" Lila cheered.
"Aerial ace!" Cynthia ordered. Elise vanished in a flash and sliced into Ellie, the fire type crumpling in pain and falling out of the sky.
"Whoa…" Cynthia's eyes went wide, staring at her glowing Taillow. "What was that? Elise… how did you…?"
"The guts ability!" Darla announced. "An ability that can trigger when a pokemon is afflicted by a status condition, such as Taillow's bad burns! Now, her power has reached incredible levels!"
"Wow, that's such a cool ability!" Lila said. "She's literally fighting with increased spirit! Go! Go!"
"Are you serious?!" Cynthia exclaimed, her eyes widening. "Elise, you are just so totally cool! Go for it! I know you can do it!"
"To have something like that…" Austin said, frowning. "Not a problem. Ellie! Get back up!"
Ellie's eyes snapped open and she flared out her wings, braking in midair to pull herself up, spinning back towards Elise, coating her body in flames.
"Elise! Double team!" Cynthia ordered. Afterimages of several Taillow appeared around Elise, flying in a flock toward Ellie.
"We can find the real one quite easily," Austin said, frowning. So she managed to luck into a power boost… so what? I refuse to accept that someone like her can defeat me… someone who can't even think of a simple plan, someone who runs head in without thinking… I won't lose to the reckless attacks of an idiot.
"Ellie, keep a close look on their movements!" Austin ordered. "The real one should be moving before the others!"
"Aerial ace!" Cynthia shouted. Suddenly, all the Taillows, real and illusionary, disappeared. They shot through the air at high speed, Ellie unable to find the real one. The real Elise appeared behind her in a flash of speed, slicing into Ellie with her talons.
"…Fletchinder…" Ellie sputtered, the taxing battle finally forcing her to succumb, and she plummeted out of the sky, unconscious.
"Return," Austin said, returning Ellie to her pokeball.
"Way to go, Elise! That was amazing!" Cynthia cheered, Elise flying down to her.
This girl wasn't even aware of her pokemon's ability… she sends her pokemon out with just cursory thoughts to how they match up, believing in their "will to win?" Austin thought. I refuse to accept that such an asinine attempt could ever be successful. It seems I'll have to use him…
"I'd been hoping to save this one for later rounds," Austin said. "You've forced my hand. But don't think I'm just improvising or coming up with some random idea. I'm not so foolish. Rather… I didn't want things to come to this. Whisper, let's end things."
Austin tossed out a pokeball, which a Chandelure emerged from. The ghostly lantern pokemon floated out into the burning building, leering at Elise.
"Austin has finally sent out his Chandelure!" Darla exclaimed.
"He's refrained from using his ghost type pokemon the whole tournament, but he's bringing him out now!" Lila added. "Does that mean that Cynthia is that strong of an opponent?"
"Well, he is behind two pokemon to one," Darla considered. "So that could be why…"
"That guy isn't a problem, Elise!" Cynthia said, her eyes brimming with confidence. "Take him down with a super powered, gutsy aerial ace!"
"Tail!" Elise nodded, flying toward the Chandelure at high speed.
"Heat wave," Austin said.
"Chan!" Whisper moaned, his body glowing orange and his flames increasing in intensity. It released a powerful blast of heat across the field, Elise slamming into it at full power.
"Tail!" Elise exclaimed, crashing to the ground. The fire attack was at a level of power incomparable to the previous Fletchinder's flames, and seemed to seer the power directly out of Elise's small body.
"Elise!" Cynthia cried out.
"What a powerful fire move!" Darla said. "Even Taillow, who fought with so much power, couldn't manage to endure it!"
"I could feel that heat wave even from here!" Lila exclaimed, wiping her brow.
"Return…" Cynthia said, returning Elise to her pokeball.
"What will you do now?" Austin asked. "Whisper is my strongest pokemon. I've trained him to account for any contingency, he's my best partner. Will you come up with some half-baked plan to try and get the better of him? Or will you send out some pokemon and try to muscle your way through with sheer guts?"
"You…" Cynthia growled.
"Well, it doesn't matter, in the end. No matter what you come up with, Whisper and I are prepared. We'll smash your so-called 'plan' into the ashes," Austin taunted her.
So, what will Cynthia do? Will she come up with a plan to defeat Austin, or will this be the end of things for her?