We've reached the climax! Cynthia and Caelia vs. Sango and Maddi! The battle draws to a close this chapter, which team will make it to the finals?
KedharS: Hopefully they'll be able to pull it out!
Rosealine gold: She's definitely going to give it her all, and hopefully that'll be enough.
Thunder Fire: Only going to get rougher.
JoshGamerV: Maybe she will, maybe she won't.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Well it will hopefully be engaging.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 387
Sango swallowed her anxiety. Sure, they were all down to their last pokemon. But in spite of the heal pulse, Caelia's Charizard was probably only at a little more than half health. Certianly, she would have liked for Sting to have made it to the point where Cynthia sent out her Breloom, so that he could poison him, but that wasn't a huge loss. She still had Bubbles, whose powerful play rough attack was certain to do some serious damage to Tristan, even if it woudn't have much effect on Caelia's Charizard. And Maddi had Cynder, who could fight off the grass type with her fire moves and use smokescreen for cover. It wasn't perfect, but…
Sango smiled. Cynthia, just watch! We've planned out perfectly how to win!
"Bubbles, go!" Sango sent out her last pokemon, Azumarill. The round blue pokemon bounced out onto the battlefield, her ears twitching in excitement.
"Cynder," Maddi called, sending out her Cyndaquil. The rain ceasing might turn that Charizard's fire moves back on, but it would let Cynder fight back against Cynthia's Breloom, too. The Charizard was going to be the bigger problem, the Breloom was handled. She and Sango had even prepared a trump card, giving their pokemon a chesto berry each to prevent them from falling asleep.
"Sango and Madison have both sent out their last pokemon!" Darla announced.
"A super-cute and adorable Azumarill from Sango, and a Cyndaquil from Madison!" Lila nodded. "But I wonder what Cynthia's going to use? What do you think, Darla?"
"Well, her ace has always been her Breloom! So I assume that's the third pokemon she registered to use," Darla reasoned.
"That should be interesting!" Lila nodded.
Cynthia smiled, playing with the pokeball in her hand.
"Those are some tough-looking pokemon, guys!" She called across the battlefield. "A fairy type and a fire type! It's almost like you two were scared of something, keeping those trump cards in reserve like that! Can't say I blame you, Tristan's a really tough one!"
A sly smile crossed Cynthia's face.
"Of course, no one said I was choosing Tristan for this battle."
Sango gasped, and Maddi's brow furrowed.
"Tristan's a tough one, sure, but I gotta keep the Commander's words in mind, remember?" Cynthia smirked. "Can't just rely on my best pokemon. So I figured I might try switching things up, relying on some of my other pokemon. And, well…" Cynthia narrowed her eyes, her smirk widening. "I just sort of thought, Maddi, who's seen me get lectured by the Commander about relying on my best pokemon too much, and Sango, who's always seeing me win my battles with my best pokemon… well, maybe they would think I'd be using him again. Maybe they would tailor their strategy around me using him as my trump card… and maybe, I would lock them into using certain pokemon that way, pokemon good for beating Tristan… but not so good for beating different pokemon I may be using?"
She shrugged her shoulders.
"…Maybe. Let's go, Elise!"
"Tailow!" Elise emerged from her pokeball with a flash, the small pokemon shooting across the battlefield.
"She's using Elise!" Sango gasped, knowing full well what that could mean. She squinted, but couldn't see any cloth anywhere on the pokemon. It seemed Cynthia wasn't relying on her trademark focus sash + endeavor combo, which was good, because it could have taken out both their pokemon.
…Wait, what was Sango thinking? This wasn't good at all!
"Rather than sending out her Breloom, Cynthia has chosen her Tailow for her last pokemon!" Lila gasped.
"If it's a psychological trick, it certainly seems to be working," Darla noted. "Sango and Madison both look shaken!"
"It's fine, Sango," Maddi said, getting her cool first. "Even if it's not her Breloom, her Tailow is weaker. If we keep our cool, we can still do this! But first, we've got to shift things to our advantage! Cynder, use your smokescreen!"
"Cyndaquil!" Cynder opened her mouth, a cloud of smoke billowing out and surrounding the battlefield, obscuring the vision of all four pokemon.
"Didn't you hear me earlier?" Cynthia called over the smoke. "I was expecting you to use your Cyndaquil, since I knew you'd be saving it for my Breloom! I already know what to do to beat her! Elise, use defog!"
"Tailow!" Elise nodded, flapping her wings hard. She created a whirlwind, the gust of air blowing the smoke away and uncovering the two pokemon.
"Kara!" Caelia ordered. Kara opened her mouth and sent a blast of flames towards Cynder. Cynder wouldn't take much damage because she resisted fire moves, but she still wasn't going to just take the hit, rolling out of the way.
"Bubbles, change of plans!" Sango said, following Maddi's lead. "Get that Charizard with your aqua jet!"
"Azumarill!" Bubbles nodded, slapping her tail on the ground. Water swirled up around her and wrapped into a veil. She shot forward at high speed, charging straight at Kara.
"Careless!" Cynthia shouted. A flash of dark blue and white shot past Bubbles' eyes, and she slammed headfirst into a barrier, stumbling back. "Have a taste of our quick guard! That super-fast aqua jet of yours is completely ineffective! But as for us…"
Elise shot forward, hitting Bubbles in the face with her quick attack. Knocked off balance, the blue pokemon stumbled and fell on her back.
"Cyndaquil!" Cynder opened her mouth, firing a stream of flames at Elise. But Elise was able to just barely dodge to the side, spinning out of the way of the fire and circling around to strafe the fire pokemon.
"Kara, burn them away," Caelia ordered. Kara flew out of range of the two pokemon and spread her wings, a wave of heat rolling over the battlefield.
"Yikes! Watch where you're throwing those!" Cynthia chastised. "Elise, rise above it on the air currents!"
"Tailow!" Elise spread her wings and let the thermals catch her, lifting her up into the air and high above the battlefield, looking down at Cynder and Bubbles.
"Can we even get her when she's that high up?" Sango asked, wiping the sweat off her brow.
"We can," Maddi assured her.
"Bubbles, use your bounce!"
"Azu!" Bubbles hopped up, slamming her tail onto the ground. The ball at the end of her tail inflated and coiled like a spring, launching her up into the air, straight towards Elise.
"Wow! Look at that height!" Lila gasped.
"That Azumarill is really flying, but will that be enough?" Darla mused.
"Welcome to the sky," Cynthia grinned. "But it isn't enough to just get up here! Elise, use your agility!"
Elise disappeared, shooting out of the way as Bubbles lunged at her, her high speed letting her avoid the attacking pokemon.
"Now, hit her with your air slash!" Cynthia ordered. Elise spread her wings and flapped hard, a blade of wind slashing at Bubbles' back.
"Bubbles, use hydro pump!" Sango ordered. Bubbles opened her mouth wide, and fired a pressurized blast of water from deep within her. The force of the water sent her flying backwards, crashing into the blade of wind and into the Tailow who had fired it, knocking her out of the air and sending both pokemon spiraling down towards the ground.
"How's that for maneuvering in the air?" Sango asked.
"Not bad, Sango! I'm having a blast! But not good enough, either! Elise, use your double team!"
Elise disappeared, replaced by a series of clones that littered the air, Bubbles falling towards the ground all on her own.
"Well, fine then," Sango frowned. "Bubbles, use defense curl to break your fall."
Bubbles curled up into a ball and hit the ground, her bouncy body minimizing the damage. She immediately sprung back up, launching herself at Kara.
"Now, aqua tail!"
Bubbles whipped her tail at the Charizard, coming straight at Kara from her blind spot.
"Kara! Your right!" Caelia shouted. Kara whirled her head around to see Bubbles coming right at her, preparing to strike. Kara raised her claw, fire surging through it as she prepared to counter-attack with a powerful fire punch.
"Cynder, use leer!" Maddi ordered, thinking quickly.
The two attacks collided, Bubbles striking Kara in the chest and Kara hitting Bubbles in the face. Bubbles cried out in pain, flying backwards, but Kara was the one who took the far more severe blow. She let out a roar of pain, falling to the ground.
"Kara!" Caelia cried, the most raw emotion she'd shown the entire match.
"Whoa! That was a fierce clash!" Lila gasped. "Fairy pokemon are strong, but not that strong! Even with that Azumarill's huge power, that was, well… huge power! What was that?!"
"Did you forget?" Darla asked. "That Charizard has been battling a lot already. Remember, she got hit by that Tentacruel's screech. And then Madison's Cyndaquil just got her with a leer attack. Her defenses are shot. Combine that with huge power, and-"
"And that Charizard just got wrecked!" Lila marveled.
"…Yeah. That." Darla testily finished, scowling at her partner in irritation at being interrupted.
"Char…" Kara picked herself up off the ground, panting, glaring angrily at Bubbles with her good eye. The extra health that Rose had bought her was completely negated by that last exchange.
"Keep pressuring her, Sango!" Maddi shouted. "Cynder, you too! Use your swift attack!"
"Cynda!" Cynder opened her mouth, sending a barrage of stars at Kara, the blades of light pelting her scaly hide as the pokemon shielded herself.
"Bubbles, are you okay?" Sango asked, her injured Azumarill picking herself up shakily. She might have resisted fire, but that fire punch had come with the added boost of two dragon dances, and it had done some serious damage.
"Azu…" Bubbles panted, nodding. Her confident face lasted for a moment before she groaned in pain from her burns.
"Uh-oh, that Azumarill may have done a lot of damage, but it looks like she didn't come out unscathed!" Lila wailed.
"Yeah, it looks like that fire punch from Charizard burned her," Darla noted. "Her attackin power has taken a crippling blow."
"But that's just physical moves," Sango reminded the announcers. "Bubbles, use your bubblebeam!"
"Azumarill!" Bubbles opened her mouth, shooting a blast of bubbles out. The bubbles shot towards Kara.
"Elise, now!" Cynthia ordered, Elise flying down at top speed and darting in front of the bubbles. She spread her wings wide, and flapped them hard, sending a powerful gust of air out in front of her. The wind struck the bubbles, and pushed them away.
"Wha…" Sango's jaw dropped.
"They might explode, but bubbles are bubbles," Cynthia reminded her.
"Indeed, bubbles are bubbles," Lila agreed, nodding her head.
"Yes, bubbles are certainly bubbles," Darla concurred, nodding as well.
"Cynder, rollout!" Maddi took advantage of the distraction. Cynder curled up into a ball and rolled forward, leaping off the ground and smashing into Kara, knocking her off her feet.
"Crap!" Cynthia scowled, whirling to look at Maddi. "Elise, watch out!"
"Tailow!" Elise nodded, flying for cover before Cynder came after her. But Cynder knew where she was going. Kara needed to go, now. She jumped up again, rolling straight towards the injured pokemon.
"Kara!" Caelia shouted. "Rip her down!"
"Charizard!" Kara began glowing red, her claws reaching out. They were glowing with draconic energy. She caught Cynder, enduring the pain from the rollout, lifting the pokemon up and smashing her into the ground.
"That Cyndaquil isn't a fairy," Lila winced in sympathy.
"You got that right," Darla grinned. "That was a full-force dragon claw she just took!"
"Cynder!" Maddi cried.
"Bubbles, get her!" Sango shouted. Bubbles was already on the move, running straight towards Kara, water gathering around her tail.
"Kara! This is the end! Burn it all away!"
The air in the stadium began to cook. It was the middle of winter, and yet the last traces of snow had finished melting, the stadium slowly beginning to flood. But the water was already evaporating as the air itself began to catch fire.
"What the heck is this?!" Lila wailed.
"I don't know, but it's definitely going to be big," Darla understood. "I think it's being powered by that Charizard's blaze!"
Darla's assumption was right on the money. Kara's blaze kicked in and her power soared to incredible heights. Both she and Caelia knew that she didn't have much strength left to continue fighting, and so she was going to put every last bit of that power to work as best as possible, with the strongest move in her arsenal.
"Blast burn," Caelia snarled. Kara opened her mouth, flames the color of hell erupting from deep within. She sent a blast of destructive power, glowing with such white hotness that the center of the compressed blast of flame was glowing a sunspot black, reddish-orange trails threading through it. The attack hit Bubbles directly and she was consumed by it, knocked unconscious from the blow and knocking Sango out of the fight.
"Bubbles!" Sango wailed.
"That was a blast burn!" Lila gaped.
"Where'd she learn a fire move like that?!" Darla gasped.
"What the…" Cynthia was as confused as everyone else. Caelia's trump card had always been fire blast, at least it was for the battles they had fought together. She had been keeping an ace like that up her sleeve the entire time?
What color was left in Caelia's face had drained away, leaving her looking as exhausted as her Charizard. Kara had burned through all she had with that blast burn, and now was feeling the aftereffects, completely immobilized from the shockwaves.
"Maddi!" Sango shouted, snapping Maddi out of her haze of shock. That blast burn had thrown her for a loop, but they had a battle to finish!
"Cynder! Rollout again!" Cynder continued her rollout, slamming into the stunned Charizard and knocking her unconscious.
"Caelia's Charizard managed to take out Sango's Azumarill, but it paid a steep cost to do it, getting taken out herself," Darla noted.
"But that an amazing display of power," Lila noted, applauding the pokemon. "Now, the match is a one-on-one!"
Both Sango and Caelia returned their pokemon without another word. Caelia turned and walked off the battlefield, much to the surprise of everyone else. It seemed she didn't care one way or another how the match ended now that she was no longer a part of it.
Sango sighed, staring at the pokeball Maddi had lent her. She turned and looked back at her partner. Sango had fought so hard to get to where she was. She'd learned more about pokemon battles in these last two weeks than she had in the entire semester of Pokemon Battling class, and it was all thanks to Maddi. And now she couldn't do anything but hope that her teammate would pull through. She had fought Cynthia and Caelia with everything she had.
Do your best, Maddi. However this goes, I don't have any regrets. Sango smiled at her partner and sunk to the ground, exhausted. She could climb mountains for fun, run for miles every morning, and bike up steep hills without breaking a sweat, but right now she was feeling more drained than she had in a long time. Silver floated down next to her and perched on her shoulder, smiling reassuringly to her. She nodded. This battle had been the most fun and exciting out of any of them.
"Heya Maddi!" Cynthia grinned. "I'm super-pumped! It's just you and me, ain't that right?"
Maddi didn't say anything, her head completely focused on the match. Cynthia's Tailow was flying overhead, watching Cynder roll across the field and build up her rollout. The Tailow had taken some hits, but Cynder was in worse shape.
"You're always such a sourpuss, Maddi!" Cynthia pouted. "Aren't you having fun right now?"
"…Not particularly," Maddi replied, glancing at her opponent from across the field.
"Oh, come on! Two friends, our tag partners both defeated, down to our last pokemon, ready to fight to the last health point to determine who advances to the tournament finals? I can't think of something that would be a bigger rush!" Cynthia grinned. "I put my all into this battle, and so did Caelia! Heck, did you see that last move of hers? Talk about giving everything you've got! Even your partner would agree that this battle was the absolute tops, right Sango?"
"She's not wrong," Sango had to admit.
"So why do you always have to be such a gloomy-guss?" Cynthia pouted. "Can't you just enjoy it as a battle between friends and rivals?"
"We aren't friends," Maddi replied. "I don't like you."
Well, Maddi wasn't being entirely honest. She didn't really see Cynthia as much of a friend (more like an annoyance) but she didn't hate her. She was just… fine in small doses. As long as she wasn't talking. Or making skin contact.
Or being there.
"Tell ya what? Why don't we make this interesting then, since you're so anti-fun?" Cynthia asked. "If I win, you gotta come on vacation with me and Sango!"
"No!" Maddi said incredulously. If anything this battle had made her want to spend even less time with Cynthia, if that was even possible!
"Wait, wait, but you haven't heard what you get if you win," Cynthia reminded her. "If you win, I'll give you a custom-made cheerleader uniform, perfectly tailored! Pom-poms and everything, free of charge! Sweet deal, right?"
Something inside of Maddi snapped a little.
"Cynthia-!"
"Don't lose your temper! Nope! Nuh-uh!" Cynthia held her arms up in a big "x" shape over her head, which she was shaking in refusal. "You gotta keep cool, Maddi. Otherwise we won't be having nearly as much fun!"
Maddi didn't want to admit that Cynthia was right. That notion made her nauseous. But as much as she found Cynthia annoying, she had a begrudging respect for the girl's combat prowess, as ditzy as she might have been. Maddi took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and resolved to smash Cynthia's phone with a brick when the battle was over.
"Cynder, go!" Maddi ordered. Cynder rolled towards Elise, preparing to leap and attack with a continued rollout.
"Now we're talking!" Cynthia grinned. But Maddi isn't a fool enough to come in without a plan! She's not gonna just attack me straight-on, Elise is way too fast for that!
"Smokescreen," Maddi ordered. Smoke began billowing out of Cynder, engulfing the battlefield in a noxious black cloud.
"Already dealt with this one once before, remember?" Cynthia grinned. "Elise! Use your defog again!"
Elise flapped her wings, blowing the smoke away. But as she did so, the area that Cynder was, she wasn't anymore.
"Huh?" Cynthia's eyes trained the clearing smoke, but Cynder wasn't where she should have been, not at all. And as fast as she was rolling, she couldn't have gotten far under the cover of the smoke, unless she was-
Just as Cynthia figured it out, Cynder erupted from the smoke cloud and shot towards Elise, her body covered in flames. Her blaze was at full force, a roaring inferno burning around her as she soared through the sky with her jump.
"So you used the smokescreen as a smokescreen to hide you were using flame charge to up your speed!" Cynthia grinned. "You're awesome, Maddi! But we're awesome too! Elise, agility!"
Cynder collided with Elise and sent the bird pokemon spiraling, but in spite of the serious damage Elise was quick to recover, shooting through the air so fast her tail was leaving streaks.
"Whoa, look at that speed!" Lila gasped.
"Madison was able to get a good hit in, but I don't think her Cyndaquil is able to compete with speed like that," Darla noted.
Maddi knew they were right, and that was what was frustrating. She had prepared Cynder to fight against Cynthia's Breloom, which, while fast, was able to be matched with Cynder's speed and firepower. But Cynder didn't have the range moves or the speed to keep up with a pokemon like Cynthia's Tailow, especially not when it was in the air like that!
Even now, you still won't do what I want, Maddi bitterly noted, leering at Cynthia. Her unpredictability was annoying, even if it was part of what made her such a good trainer. If she couldn't catch up with the Tailow the normal way, her best bet was…
"Swift," Maddi ordered. Cynder sent a surge of stars flying towards Elise. The fast pokemon darted around trying to evade them, but her speed wasn't enough as the stars followed her wherever she went. Se could outpace them, but she couldn't escape them.
Swift will hit, but without major firepower it won't be enough to bring that bird down, Maddi noted with a scowl. She needed to get in one good fire move. Cynder's health was low enough that blaze was active, the powerful flame charge that had hit Elise was proof enough of that. But the bird wasn't slow enough to hit with flames!
"Elise! It's okay if you can't dodge, just go right in on that Cyndaquil!" Cynthia ordered. Elise turned and shot like a bullet right towards Cynder, the trail of stars following her like a banner of light.
She's coming right at us? For a brief moment, Maddi considered having Cynder use ember, but she wasn't fool enough to believe it would hit. Cynthia was clearly playing a bizarre game of chicken, and she was probably fast enough to dodge. And even worse, she was probably trying to dodge and get Cynder caught up with the stars! But that wasn't how swift worked. The stars would avoid Cynder, and hit Elise like they were meant to. Instead, Maddi had a better idea.
"Cynder, flame charge again," Maddi ordered. Another corona of flame burst out of Cynder's back, wrapping around her as she charged at Elise, Cynder's speed picking up.
"I knew you had a sense of fun!" Cynthia chortled. "Let's dance!"
"Both pokemon are charging right at each other!" Darla gasped.
"Are they going to collide?" Lila cried.
They didn't. Cynder ducked under Elise, rolling past her, the stars flying around her. As Elise passed overhead, Cynder turned on her heel and the flames around her gathered in front of her, Cynder opening her mouth wide and firing a flamethrower at the pokemon from behind.
"It was a bluff!" Sango cheered.
Cynthia smirked, Elise disappearing from sight. The flame shot harmlessly past where she had been, the stars scattering, momentarily confused. They turned, and flew back towards Cynder, renewed with purpose now that their target had reappeared…
…Directly behind the Cyndaquil.
"Aerial ace!" Cynthia's shout echoed through the stadium, Elise slashing into Cynder with a powerful blast of wind, the fire pokemon letting out a wail of pain as she fell forward, losing consciousness. The stars flew past her and hit Elise directly, knocking the bird pokemon out of the air.
"Whoa, uh… what was that?" Lila asked, rubbing her eyes. "I blinked and I missed it."
"Both pokemon are down," Darla noted. "And it looks like they aren't getting back up."
"So it's a draw?" Lila gasped. "We can't have a draw!"
Darla cleared her throat. "This requires some deliberation."
The two girls whispered as Maddi and Cynthia collected their pokemon, picking the two injured pokemon up and holding them in their hands.
Darla and Lila separated, returning to their microphones.
"So, after proper consideration, we decided that Madison Whitmore's Cyndaquil was knocked unconscious before Cynthia Fafnir's Tailow was. It was only by a few moments, but Cyndaquil was rendered unable to battle first. Therefore, although this was a close battle and this may be a contested opinion, the team of Caelia Auburne and Cynthia Fafnir will advance to the final round!"
"Cynthia and Caelia might have won, but both teams put up an amazing fight," Lila said. "I think they all deserve a round of applause, don't you, Darla?"
"I agree, Lila!" Darla nodded, smiling.
Both girls applauded, and the audience did as well.
The first round of the semi-finals is finished, with Cynthia and Caelia moving on to the finals! Next round, Blake and Elaina vs. Kitty and Nikita! Which team will make it to the finals?