The battle between Gerard and Ian continues, and Gerard is a step behind! But Ian isn't perfect, right now
KedharS: It's entirely possible. They're roughly at the same level, after all.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: It would be too hard to determine who the most popular characters in-universe are, because so many of them are split up into factions. The Eight Leaders are all pretty popular, as are the Daevas, and some local celebrities like Lila and Darla and Ayame, and Ian. But I will say this, I'm not the only one who runs a "best girl" contest about the characters at the Pokemon Academy.
Aquahaze675: Maybe. Which I'm saying "maybe" to, I'll leave to your discretion.
Rus0804: Definitely.
Yonas813: Add another one lol.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 560
"Tank, go," Gerard said, sending out his Bastiodon. Tank landed on the platform with a heavy thud, the platform cracking a little, worrying Lila.
"Another one, huh?" Ian frowned. "Quite a heavy pokemon, and it's immune to poison as well, I see. Not taking any chances."
"Don't need any chances to deal with something like that," Gerard replied.
Ian couldn't switch Diamond out. If one of Gerard's pokemon set up stealth rock again, Diamond would faint immediately. He needed to make use of his Haxorus's speed to do some damage fast, as fast as he could, and as much as he could. Unfortunately, Bastiodon had incredibly high defenses, so any attack from Diamond would barely even do anything.
Every little bit helps, he acknowledged. "Diamond! Use dragon rage!"
"HAXORUS!" Diamond threw back his head and roared, firing a stream of violet-red flames threaded with gold at Tank.
"Bastiodon!" Tank braced himself on the platform and lowered his head, blocking the flames with the large plate on his face, his makeshift shield. The flames streamed out around him, and he withstood them well, but that didn't stop them from hurting. The flames of dragon rage had a special characteristic, after all.
"That's a good move to use in this situation against a pokemon with the defensive ability of Bastiodon," Akira noted. "Dragon rage is a move that does a set amount of damage, no matter how powerful the defenses of a pokemon. So even though Bastiodon are bulky, and Haxorus don't have that powerful of a special attacking stat, it will still do a decent chunk of damage."
"Oh, nice!" Dakota cheered.
"Wow, dragon rage really is useful!" Lila said. She vaguely remembered something Darla had told her this morning about dragon rage, about how it was a move that was starting to become particularly useful in the current climate. Something about Shadow Pokemon and fixed damage? But Lila wasn't sure what it meant.
"Not a bad trick, but that won't save you," Gerard smirked. "Tank! Metal burst!"
Tank began glowing bright silver and released a blast of metallic energy out of his body, the shockwave hitting Diamond before he could react, knocking the Haxorus backwards. Dia cried out in pain and fell into the water, no longer having the strength to keep himself above the surface. He lost consciousness, drifting down.
"Return, Diamond," Ian said, recalling his Haxorus before the pokemon spent too much time under the water.
"Haxorus is unable to battle!" Lila declared. "Bastiodon is the winner! Now, both trainers have lost three pokemon each! That means they will recall their pokemon, and we will change the stadium to a new stage!"
Gerard recalled Tank, and the battlefield began to rumble as the screen lit back up with a selection wheel, spinning to select the new stage.
The roulette spun, before stopping on a big pile of dirt.
"Ground Stage 1," Lila announced. "Sticky Quicksand Field!"
The stadium rumbled and shifted some more, and the large pool of water was soon replaced with an equally large pool of runny, muddy sand that had a strange-looking texture, and seemed to almost be swirling.
"This stage is quite an interesting one," Lila noted. "The sinking quicksand will hinder the movements of the pokemon standing in it as it tries to suck them down! Heavier pokemon might be at quite a disadvantage in this situation!"
She paused, and gave a comforting smile.
"Oh! But don't worry about your pokemon drowning in the quicksand or anything, it's not that deep! No, it should only suck them down enough where they can barely move, don't worry about a thing, okay?" She quickly added. Not the most reassuring statement in the world, that was for sure. Dakota had to resist from snickering.
"It's true that heavier pokemon might be at a disadvantage because they're getting sucked in, but a lot of heavier pokemon are Rock, Ground, and Steel types," Akira reminded her. "Who are probably used to desert terrains and moving through quicksand. Particularly Rock and Ground pokemon."
"Good point," Lila noted. "Now, though, I wonder what our trainers will send out to fight on this field? It's going to be a challenge, that's for sure!"
Gerard snorted. As though he would let the quicksand stop him from pulling ahead in a situation like this?
"Tank, go," Gerard said, sending out his Bastiodon again.
"And Gerard's decided to stick with the same pokemon as he fought with before, his Bastiodon!" Dakota said. "What do you guys think, is that a good move? Personally I'm not so sure, just look at how heavy the dang thing is!"
Dakota pointed at the Steel type, who was already sinking in the quicksand due to his incredible weight, even as he tried to move forward.
"True, Bastiodon are heavy and slow," Akira considered what Dakota was saying. "But that doesn't necessarily mean that choosing to use it now is a bad idea."
"That's right," Lila agreed. "After all, it's not like he'll sink all the way down! He'll be fine!"
"…Yeah, but a pokemon who can't move very much isn't exactly in great shape," Dakota mumbled. Lila was being a little too positive. At least Akira made good points… not that he was sharing them. He must have been thinking something, though.
Akira was probably thinking the same thing that Ian was.
By sending out Bastiodon, that checks one of my best pokemon for this field, Ian noted. He couldn't use the airborne Sapphire to fight against the Steel type, because Sapphire's poison moves would be completely useless. Which left him with really only two viable pokemon left, Iron and Opal. And neither one was necessarily a good fit for this. Iron would face many of the same problems that the Bastiodon was facing, and besides, he probably would need Iron to deal with that Diancie.
"Opal, go," Ian said, sending out his Miltank. The cow pokemon landed in the sand, stumbling a little as she felt the stickiness start to suck her down.
"Miltank?" Opal looked back in confusion, not sure what to do.
"Sorry, Opal, this field's a little weird," Ian said. "But it's a lot better than the last one, trust me." Ian didn't want to imagine Opal trying to roll around and hop from platform to platform. But he did, and then he imagined her rolling across the water somehow, and had to resist snickering. He needed to treat this seriously.
"Anyway, Opal! Let's do this!"
"Miltank!" Opal nodded, clapping her front hooves together and getting excited. She turned towards the Bastiodon across from her.
"Tank, use stone edge," Gerard ordered.
"Bastiodon!" Tank roared, stones ripping up out of the ground around the battlefield and flying towards Opal from all directions.
"Opal, protect!" Ian cried.
"Mil!" Opal nodded, and a pink barrier appeared around her, the stones smashing against the force field and shattering into chunks of rock.
"Nicely done. That attack might have been strong, but it looks like Miltank is no slouch on the defense, either!" Dakota cheered.
"True," Akira agreed. "But the question is whether or not she'll have the power to break through that Bastiodon's defenses. This could be quite a slog if you ask me."
"Miltank!" Opal raised her hooves, the force field dropping. Electricity began to crackle between her horns.
"Thunder wave!" Ian ordered.
Opal released a wave of electricity that hit Tank, freezing him up paralysis. Tank was already immobilized, so he didn't have a prayer of dodging. But now his attacking speed would be slowed down to boot. At this point, Gerard acknowledged that his Bastiodon was more like a big wall sitting motionless on the battlefield for all the maneuverability Tank would have.
"Tank, flash cannon," Gerard ordered.
"Bastiodon!" Ignoring the paralysis, Tank opened his mouth, and fired a concentrated beam of light at Opal.
"Opal, double team," Ian called, Opal creating multiple copies of herself that spread across the quicksand, giving Tank a multitude of targets to aim for. But only one was the real thing.
Gerard smirked.
"You'll need to use your brain a little more than that," he called out. "Tank! Flash cannon! You know the one!"
"Bastiodon," Tank nodded. He turned and opened his mouth, firing another laser that hit Opal directly, knocking her backwards into the sand.
"Miltank?!" Opal cried out, her copies disappearing. She squirmed and struggled in the quicksand, managing to sit upright again, stunned that the Bastiodon had found which one was her.
"No way! How did he know?!" Lila gasped, confused. She looked to Akira for confirmation, but he was as stumped as she was.
"I know how," Dakota replied, narrowing her eyes. "Nothing escapes my eyes."
"Your duplicates were perfect copies," Gerard explained, "but they were just images. Illusions. Which means they couldn't copy something in particular… the real Miltank was sinking into the sand. So Tank and I just had to look at her feet, and see where she was standing and that she was sinking down, while the others were standing on the sand as normal! Your double team is useless!"
Ian hadn't considered that, and he wasn't pleased.
"This isn't good for Ian," Akira noted.
"Why? Because double team failed?" Dakota asked, rolling her eyes. "Look Aki, I know it's a good move, but-"
"The problem is the distance," Akira said. "Bastiodon might be slow. But unlike Miltank, it's easily capable of using ranged, special attacks. Which means that while Miltank tries to close the distance on this impediment of a terrain, that Bastiodon can take shots at her the whole time and wear her health down by a lot."
"That isn't good," Lila said worriedly.
Ian smiled. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that, right Opal?"
"Miltank," Opal said, shaking her head.
"High horsepower!" Ian ordered.
Opal growled, leaning down and kicking at the sand, pointing her horns towards the Bastiodon. Focusing all the strength she had into her legs, she flung her round body across the battlefield with all her might, breaking free of the quicksand. She was moving so fast that each step didn't have time for her to hold her down or suck her in, Opal lashing out at Tank.
"Tank, iron defense!" Gerard shouted.
"Bastiodon!" Tank lowered his head and braced himself against the Miltank's charge, his large shield shining bright silver as it hardened. Opal struck the shield with all her might, the brunt of her blow actually strong enough to push the ancient pokemon backwards, denting Tank's large, bulky shieldplate with the impact, much to the surprise of everyone there.
"Bastiodon?!" Tank cried out in pain, not expecting such a powerful strike.
"What was that?!" Lila sputtered, shocked. "That attack was so fast and so powerful, was that really a Miltank's attack?!"
"That was high horsepower," Akira said. "It's a move that uses all of the pokemon's energy to launch a fast and brutal attack. It's a Ground type move, so it's especially effective against a Rock/Steel type like Bastiodon."
"Awesome!" Dakota cheered. "Did you see how much damage she did?! Even though that Bastiodon healed himself, she still did so much damage!"
"Yeah, that's actually surprising," Akira said, nodding. "I mean, yeah, even knowing how powerful high horsepower is, Miltank doesn't get STAB because they're Normal type pokemon. And Bastiodon are naturally bulky with absurdly high defenses, and not to mention that Bastiodon use iron defense as well to boost his defenses even more. So yeah, that attack would do some damage, but that much damage is surprising."
"It's simple," Ian grinned. "Opal's been training hard. That's all. I knew that her high horsepower and her brick breaks would be necessary moves for taking down your team, so we've been training her attack stat to be able to get the job done."
Gerard scowled.
"Well, if that's how you want it, then fine. We'll focus on defense. Tank, use iron defense again!"
"Bastiodon!" Tank nodded, beginning to harden his shield again.
"Oh, I don't think so!" Ian shouted back. "We've gotten in close now, after all! Opal, go! Use brick break!"
"Miltank!" Opal lumbered forward and raised her hoof, but she didn't attack directly. Unlike before, when she had just shot forward like a cannon ball, this time she was close enough where she could make more efficient attacks. Taking advantage of the fact that Tank's speed was drastically lowered due to his paralysis and the quicksand made it almost impossible for him to move, Opal moved around his large head and attacked him in the side, slamming her powerful hoof into his scaled stomach.
"BASTIODON!" Tank roared out in pain. Opal was by no means a fast pokemon, but compared to the Bastiodon's speed, it was no surprise that she was able to land the hit before the bulky pokemon could fully muster his defenses.
The force that Opal hit him with might have been enough to move the bulky pokemon once more, but this time, the sand held him in firmly. Even with Tank's defenses starting to improve, Gerard could see that this was a problem. Tank wasn't in a very good position to fight back against the Miltank, now that she had gotten in close. But that meant he needed to take more creative measures.
"Tank!" Gerard ordered. "Use earthquake!"
"Bastiodon!" Tank bellowed, sending a shockwave of energy into the ground that caused the entire stadium to start shaking.
"Not a bad move!" Akira said, his voice shuddering a little due to the tremors. "By making the ground shake with earthquake, combined with this quicksand, it's going to be very difficult for Miltank to get a firm, stable footing on the ground! And without that, her attacking power is going to be pretty limited, I'd say."
"And that's not all, earthquake itself is a pretty powerful move," Dakota agreed. "Which means that Miltank is taking some real damage."
"Even I know that," Lila agreed.
Ian was well aware of that himself. Hence why he was about ready to try something else.
"Opal, return!" Ian said, lifting up his pokeball and calling back Opal before the shaking got her. "Now, Sapphire, come back out!"
"Crobat!" Sapphire flapped her wings and emerged from her pokeball, swooping through the sky.
"Saph, taunt," Ian ordered.
"Crobat!" Sapphire nodded, cackling. She flapped her wings, flying in close to Tank, taunting him with the ineffectiveness of his ground moves against her. Tank growled and thrust forward, trying to slap her with his faceplate, but Sapphire was far too agile to be hit by a move like that. She ducked and turned away from the large pokemon, laughing, compelling him to attack her head-on.
"Damn," Gerard scowled.
"So many people have been using status moves in this tournament, so I thought it would be smart to prepare," Ian explained. "So I bought a TM for Taunt. Though you aren't the opponent I was expecting to use it against, of course. Pity that Dokukage had to drop out."
Ian had wanted to save the knowledge that Sapphire knew taunt for when Gerard sent his Diancie out again… for what would have hopefully been the last time. He wanted to use this strategy to take her out for good. If he had known that she could use heal bell, that would have been his move in the first place. But now, he had tipped his hand. But it was necessary.
Gerard scowled. Tank was a bruiser, but it would be beneficial to have access to his full suite of moves, that was for sure. He moved to recall his Bastiodon, but Sapphire was way ahead of him, and much to quick.
"Mean look," Ian ordered next. He wasn't going to give Gerard a chance to snake his way out of this, either. "Another little trick we've been practicing on, in preparation for Dokukage. Nice to see it works here, though."
"Crobat!" Sapphire growled, glaring angrily at Tank, freezing the Bastiodon in place with her piercing eyes. Tank wasn't going to retreat now, not with the paralytic effects of the attack. He ignored Gerard's beams attempting to pull him in and struggled through the quicksand, moving towards Sapphire as best as he could.
"You aren't going anywhere," Ian replied. "Not until we've had our fill."
"Nicely done!" Akira applauded. "By using mean look and taunt, Ian's forced Gerard into a predicament! He can't switch out his Bastiodon, and he can't use his Bastiodon's status moves. Now, Gerard's stuck with his Bastiodon forced to use only offensive moves."
"I didn't want to send out Sapphire immediately," Ian explained. "I wanted Opal to soften you up first, to test what your Bastiodon's defenses were capable of. And now I know. Now, Sapphire, let's weaken those defenses up once again, use haze!"
"Crobat!" Sapphire opened her mouth, a black smoke billowing out and surrounding Tank, the Bastiodon coughing painfully as the choking haze drained away his status buffs and dulled his sheen, reducing his defenses and allowing Sapphire a juicier target.
"So that was your strategy, reduce our defenses," Gerard growled.
"Just to start," Ian taunted.
"Then we'll smack you out of the sky! Tank, use smack down!" Gerard ordered.
"Bastiodon!" Tank growled, a large slab of rock tearing itself out of the ground and slamming down towards Sapphire, trying to knock her into the quicksand and suck her up. But Sapphire wasn't going to let that happen.
"Double team!" Ian ordered. With a flap of her wings, Sapphire created dozens of copies of herself that filled the air, blocking out the setting sun with a curtain of fluttering wings. The stone slab smashed through several clones and landed helplessly in the sand, not hitting the original one. Sapphire cackled, and she swooped in close.
"Screech," Ian ordered.
"CROBAT!" Sapphire opened her mouth and released a loud and painful shriek that dropped Tank's defenses, the chorus of her clones causing the sound to become a stereo.
"Ow!" Lila wailed, holding her hands over her ears. "Ow ow ow!"
"Yeah, this is unbelievably painful," Dakota groaned, one screech was bad enough.
"This is… necessary…" Akira winced, putting up with the sting in his ears as best as he could. It wasn't very nice. "To wear down… the Bastiodon's defenses…"
Gerard was close enough, and even he was starting to hurt. Tank must have been going insane.
Soon enough, Sapphire had used enough screeches to reduce Tank's defenses as much as she possibly could. Even then, the Bastiodon still had a massive amount of health.
"Tank, stone edge," Gerard ordered, not about to let Sapphire get in close enough to attack. Normally, Tank would have fired stones up into the sky right at the bat, but this time he was having them hover around, like a stealth rock, preparing to attack the pokemon as it moved close. So of course, Ian would take that into account. He still had to worry about Sapphire getting injured, and there was still a lot that could go wrong. Sapphire didn't have the physical strength to take out the Bastiodon, so he had to figure out a different method.
Or a different pokemon.
"Now, Sapphire! Tailwind!" Ian ordered. Sapphire flapped her wings and sent a gust of wind out that hit Gerard in the face. She flew forward and divebombed the Bastiodon with her clones, Tank flinging stone after stone at Saph, but the swift bat was too quick to be hit. "U-Turn!"
"Crobat!" Sapphire hit Tank directly, barely doing anything due to the pokemon's defenses and resistances, even as drastically dropped as they were. She took the initiative to return to her pokeball, giving Ian the perfect pivot to continue attacking.
"Go, Opal! High horsepower!" Ian shouted, sending out his Miltank to attack before Tank could respond, Opal charging through the quicksand at a blinding speed, her body building up with power as she crossed the battlefield in seconds.
"Miltank!" Opal bellowed, slamming into Tank at full force. Tank raised his head to block, but he didn't have nearly the defenses to withstand. Whereas Opal's first hit had dented his faceplate and pushed him back, this blow hit him so hard he was flung out of the sand. Tank flew through the air and crashed into the ground outside of the battlefield, knocked unconscious in a single hit.
"Mil…" Opal panted, having expended quite a bit of energy. But she stood triumphantly, giving a victorious pose. "Miltank!"
"B-BASTIODON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!" Lila shouted over the ringing in her ears, the microphone kind of shorting out. "MILTANK IS THE WINNER!"
Gerard muttered something that thankfully everyone was a little too deaf to hear, recalling his Bastiodon to his pokeball.
Gerard has lost another pokemon to Ian's strategy! He's really finding himself pressed into a corner! But Ian shouldn't get too lax, he still has Gerard's Diancie to deal with, after all, and Diana is pretty powerful herself.