The battle between the Commander and the Phantom begins! The final match of the Phantom Cup, what tricks will they have up their sleeves? What will their pokemon do? We're pretty familiar with what their teams are capable of, and now we'll get to see them fight against one another! Hopefully, the match will be a worthy climax. Remember to review!
KedharS: Hopefully the start will be good. It's a tough match, after all, and they both need a strong start to figure out who will take the lead.
Hellraiserphoenix: Hopefully it will be good.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Those are some interesting thoughts. I suppose we'll have to see how it all shakes out, won't we?
Thunder Fire: A Mega Stone is quite an interesting way to think.
Aquahaze675: Definitely. They're both really tough.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 588
"Do you mind if I start?" The Phantom asked, giving a courteous smile to the Commander, his expression cold.
Alden grinned. "Be my guest!"
"Excellent. Glint." Valon sent out his first pokemon, his Sableye. The small pokemon landed on the black metal of the battlefield and cackled, his gem-like eyes shining with excitement as he raised his clawed hands and scraped them against each other.
"The Phantom's first pokemon is his Sableye!" Lila said.
"With Sableye's Prankster ability it makes for a powerful starting pokemon," Darla noted. "It can quickly prevent any attempts at an early setup with its priority moves."
"Sableye!" Glint laughed, a choking dark aura pouring out of him.
"…Urhglgh…" Kitty's stomach began grumbling and she felt a wave of revulsion, squeezing her eyes shut and lowering her head. She couldn't stand the sight of that thing, the malevolent aura coming out of it made her feel like she was swimming through sewage.
"Kitty, are you good?" Julia asked, touching her friend as gently as she could.
Kitty mumbled and nodded, but she clearly wasn't okay. She gripped the armrest tightly and raised her head, not letting this feeling of nausea get the better of her.
"Ow!" Maddi gasped, holding her hand over her left eye, which had begun to burn with intense pain, even though it had been normal for days.
"Maddi!" Cynthia cried, Sango whirling her head to look past Blake and Ayame at her friend as well. "Are you okay?"
"Maddi?" Sango asked worriedly.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, just a migraine," Maddi said, shaking her head, dropping her hand and forcing a smile to her face. It would have fooled other people, but Cynthia and Sango knew better.
Maddi smiling? That didn't mean she was feeling better, that meant she was probably going to hurt something. She was trying way too damn hard, and that was way too big of a smile. But both girls silently agreed to drop the topic, since Maddi clearly didn't want to make a big deal out of it, and it certainly made a lot of sense, considering the fact that she was around several strangers, including a reporter and the leader of a group of students at odds with her own leader.
Maddi herself was facing a lot more serious concerns than issues of student politics, though. Right now, even if the pain in her eye was starting to abate, the underlying problem was abundantly clear. She could still see the Shadow Pokemon. That dark miasma oozing out of that Sableye… it was as clear as the pokemon's shadow. Maddi had hoped that because she hadn't felt any connections to pokemon, that she didn't have harmonia. And that would mean that she wouldn't have to see any of those shadows from the Shadow Pokemon, and what had happened in her battle with the Phantom was just some freak accident.
But no, there was no denying the darkness coming off of Shadow Pokemon in front of her, and the nausea that the horrific sight brought with it.
What… what's wrong with me? She wondered fearfully, trembling a little. She was starting to get seriously worried.
"Your Sableye, hmm?" Alden mused. "I see… well, then, I guess the best course of action… would be Eifa!"
"Espeon!" Eifa emerged from her pokeball, the ruby on her forehead shining brightly.
"The Commander is using his Espeon?!" Lila gasped, stunned. "Why would he do that? Sableye is a Dark type pokemon, none of Espeon's moves will be effective against him!"
"That's true, Lila, but using Espeon comes with its own advantages," Darla reminded her. "After all, Espeon has the Magic Bounce ability, remember."
"Oh, that's right, Darla!" Lila gasped in mock-realization. Of course she hadn't forgotten that, it had only been a day. But it was expected for "Lila" to be confused by these sorts of things, so that's how she was going to act. "I forgot! …What does Magic Bounce do again?"
"Simple, Lila," Darla explained, "when a pokemon has the Magic Bounce ability, that means any status move used against them is redirected at the user! And that means that it's an effective way to nullify Sableye's Prankster ability, since all his attempts to take advantage of his status moves will result in them being flung back in his face!"
"Whoa!" Lila gasped. "That's so cool!"
"Not a bad trick," the Phantom smirked. "But tricks will get you nowhere. Glint, use fake out!"
"Sableye!" Glint dashed forward, his body sinking into the shadows. He emerged and smacked Eifa across the face, knocking her back. Eifa let out a gasp, flinching.
"Considering that your pokemon is filled with tricks, that's rich, coming from you!" The Commander laughed. "Eifa! Use reflect!"
"Espeon!" Recovering from being startled, Eifa's eyes flashed and her ruby began to shine bright red, a large red barrier appearing around her.
"You can play your tricks all you like," Alden said. "But that won't be enough to break through our defenses!"
"Glint, nasty plot," Valon ordered. Glint began cackling, his dark aura flaring up and mixing together with the choking shadows oozing out of him and he dashed forward, his Prankster ability letting him boost his special attack before he could Eifa could even respond. "Now… use shadow ball!"
Although the name was similar, shadow ball was not, in fact, a Shadow Move. Rather, it was just a normal shadow ball. Which, as a Ghost type move, was still going to do a lot of damage to Eifa. Glint raised his hands up and shaped an orb of darkness between his claws, which he quickly flung at the Espeon.
"Eifa, light screen," Alden ordered next. Eifa's eyes flashed, and a second red barrier appeared in front of her. As shadow ball was a special move, Eifa's natural speed advantage over Glint allowed her to create her barrier before the shadow ball could hit. It struck the light screen hard enough to dent it, cracks spreading across it, but not enough to break through.
"Not enough, huh?" The Phantom mused. "Another nasty plot, Glint!"
"Sableye!" Glint cackled, his special attack rising even higher as he plotted ways to smash through the barrier and strike at Eifa, preparing another shadow ball that would be able to break that light screen and hopefully wipe her out in one hit.
"Eifa, use psych up!" Alden ordered.
"Oh, nice!" Darla cheered. "That's a great way to take advantage of his opponent having Prankster! Now he can copy the extra boost in special attack from Sableye as well!
Eifa's eyes flashed red and her ruby began glowing brightly, her body covered in a red aura as her special attack rose four stages to match Glint's boosts. But unfortunately, she lacked the typing to really score a hit that mattered.
"Sableye!" Glint flung his shadow ball at Eifa, who dodged out of the way, but not good enough. The shadow ball smashed through the barrier, even though it didn't hit Eifa directly. Eifa skidded across the battlefield, putting as much distance between herself and the Sableye as she could as she prepared her next move.
But Glint was quick. Without even needing to be ordered, the Sableye sunk into his shadow and shot across the battlefield, barely visible over the darkly colored floor. He emerged behind Eifa and raised his claw, striking at the Psychic type. But while the light screen had been broken by the powerful shadow ball, the reflect was as strong as ever, the Sableye's physical attack not even making a scratch. But it certainly showed that he could catch up to Eifa without much trouble.
Eifa can put off the debilitating moves, but she doesn't have a good method of attack, Alden acknowledged. This wasn't an advantageous fight for her. But it was a fight that Eifa still had more than enough in her to keep fighting.
Alden smirked. Time for her trump card.
"Glint another shadow ball," Valon ordered. Glint raised his hands and spun a shadow ball together between his claws, flinging it at Eifa. But it never reached her, because Eifa had a move of her own to counter with.
"Dazzling gleam!" Alden shouted.
"Espeon!" Eifa growled, her eyes flashing the same shining red as the ruby on her forehead. A bright crimson aura wrapped around Eifa, growing brighter and brighter until it was blinding, sharp rays piercing through the shadow ball and suffocating it with light so bright that it ate away at the shadows coming towards her, pushing past them and swallowing Glint, dispelling the corrupt, shadowy miasma oozing off of him and sending him flying backwards, crying in pain.
"Sableye!" Glint wailed, scrabbling against the ground as he writhed in pain, the attack dealing a serious amount of damage.
"Geez, how tough is that thing?" Lila gaped. She didn't have much experience with battles, but she knew that Sableye were weak to Fairy type moves, and that Espeon had an amazingly high special attack stat- one that had just been boosted by four levels thanks to the stat buffs she'd managed to steal from the Sableye. "It was able to survive that?"
"Shadow Pokemon are really tough," Darla said, frowning. "It looks like that Fairy type attack did massive damage, but not enough to wipe out all of that Sableye's health. He's tough, even if Sableye are naturally powerful."
She glanced at the pokemon writhing on the ground, barely able to pick himself up, and mused, "though I can't say I have that much optimism for his prospects at continuing against an Espeon of that level of power."
The Phantom had the same though, pissing him off though it was.
"Return, Glint," he said, recalling his Sableye before Eifa could finish him off for good. He shrugged, giving the Commander a smile even though the look in his eye was menacing. He wasn't pleased about it, that was for sure. "I'll let you have the first exchange, Commander. As a testament to your skill as a fighter. But don't worry. I'll take care of you just fine. Lamp, go."
The Phantom tossed another pokeball into the air, replacing his Sableye with a Chandelure. The eerie chandelier pokemon hovered over the battlefield, his violet flames burning and mixing together with his shadowy aura.
"So the Phantom has chosen to match an Espeon's high special attack with a Chandelure's high special attack!" Darla noted. "Quite a bold move, considering how fragile Chandelure are. One good hit of psychic from an Espeon that buffed should do some serious damage."
"So why'd he do it then?" Lila asked.
"Because it's a Shadow Pokemon," Darla reminded her. "So it's a little tougher than one might expect, I'd reckon."
"That's one way to think of it," the Phantom agreed. "Here's another. Shadow sky."
"Chandelure!" Shadows spurted from Lamp in every direction, and the afternoon sun was quickly blanketed by a layer of dark fog, dancing in the wind and spreading toxicity and corruption in every direction.
"Ugh, I hate this move!" Lila wailed, coughing.
"Don't worry, Lila, it's fine," Darla assured her. She pressed a button underneath the table they were sitting at, and a glass screen rose up around the announcer's box, shielding them from the cloying black smoke. "There, better?"
"There's a screen?!" Lila sputtered.
"There's one in the Eon Stadium too," Darla said. "You know, to protect us from stuff like this?"
Lila glanced away sheepishly, her face flushed with embarrassment. That one she couldn't blame on her persona.
"So this is that dark fog I've been seeing," Alden said, holding his hand over his mouth. "I must say *cough* standing in the center of it… *cough, cough* …It really gets your blood pumping!"
The Phantom scowled. The Commander wasn't supposed to be happy about any of this.
"I've been looking forward to seeing what kind of an opponent a Shadow Pokemon was," Alden laughed. "But somehow through this whole tournament, I keep missing my shot! Misato didn't use any, and of course, Zera wasn't one. I thought Gerard might use them, considering how buddy-buddy you two are, but no, none of that, either. But now, here we are! That Sableye was tough, but it was fighting like a normal Sableye would! But this, this is what I was looking for! A fight against a real Shadow Pokemon, to face off with it for real! Eifa, use psychic!"
"Espeon!" Eifa's eyes began to glow, psychic energy arcing towards Lamp, a red aura wrapping around him as he roared in pain, feeling the strain of Eifa's mind.
But it wouldn't be nearly enough to take out a Shadow Pokemon.
"Lamp, hit her with shadow storm," the Phantom ordered.
"CHANDELURE!" Taking the pain inflicted on him from the psychic attack and using it to focus his destructive urges, Lamp sent the miasma of shadows wrapped around him out into the black fog, the wind increasing as the shadowy sky swirled around into a massive tornado of destructive shadowy power, roaring angrily and tearing across the battlefield towards Eifa.
"Eifa, set up your light screen!" Alden ordered. Chandelure were powerful, but with how strong the light screens Eifa set up were, it wouldn't be enough to break through it. Lamp didn't have Glint's buffs to his special attack.
"Espeon!" Eifa's eyes flashed and the ruby glowing on her forehead projected out another powerful barrier.
But to the shock of both Eifa and the Commander, along with audience, the tornado roared right through the barrier and hit her, sweeping her up in the painful shadowy winds.
"Espeon!" Eifa shrieked, the dark winds filled with shadow battering into her as she struggled, unable to understand what had happened. Her light screen should have been able to protect her against attacks like this, it didn't make sense!
"How come the light screen didn't work?!" Lila demanded, confused. She turned to Darla for clarification, Darla holding her finger to her lips in contemplation, biting her fingernail. She was lost in thought.
"…It must have the Infiltrator ability!" Darla realized.
"Infiltrator? What's that?" Lila asked, confused.
"It's a special ability that certain pokemon possess," Darla explained. "Pokemon with that ability, their moves are special. They slip right through things like light screen and reflect, even moves like safeguard and substitute."
"So that Chandelure has that ability?!" Lila gasped. "That's not good!"
"Eifa!" Alden shouted, the tornado of shadows flinging Eifa to the ground, causing her to cough out in pain as she picked herself up, badly injured from the blow. That attack hadn't just been super-effective, it had dealt a severe blow to Eifa's health due to Lamp's massive special attack.
The Commander could already see this wasn't going to go well. Eifa was strong, but she was fragile. A lot of her endurance came from her ability to set up light screens and reflects. He had replaced her light clay so that her barriers were at their strongest. Brick break was a common move he had encountered that people had tried to use to break through them, and that was why he had Mimi on his party. But this was the first time he'd come across an opponent who could simply slip right through like this. Eifa wasn't going to last long, no matter how strong her attacking power was. And he might need her magic bounce to fight off against status moves in the future.
She couldn't faint here!
"Chandelure!" Eifa had barely made it to her feet when she saw that Lamp was firing a shadow ball at her.
"Baton pass!" Alden ordered. Eifa nodded, glowing red, and was recalled to her pokeball, and Alden replaced her with Finn.
"Swampert!" Finn roared, landing on the battlefield, the stadium beginning to shake. But before he could get his bearings, the shadow ball struck him in the chest. He let out a roar of pain and stumbled back, coughing up black smoke as the shadowy miasma infected him.
"He sent out his Swampert!" Lila marveled.
"A good choice for fighting against a Fire type, I'd say," Darla nodded, smiling.
"Sorry about this, Finn, but we've got something major up! You ready?!" Alden called. "This is what we've been waiting for, a real Shadow Pokemon to fight with our full strength! And you've got a nice little present from Eifa to help with that!"
"Swampert!" Finn growled, regaining his balance and charging at Lamp, opening his mouth wide. A blast of compressed water shot out in a powerful hydro pump, but Lamp was a little too fast, managing to dodge to the side just in time. He might have been a Shadow Pokemon, but even so taking an attack like that would have been it.
"It seems he's a little too quick for your hydro pump, Finn, let's try something with a little bit more kick to it!" Alden decided. "Or at least a little harder to dodge! Use muddy water!"
"Swampert!" Stompting his feet on the ground, Finn turned and swept his arm, a massive tidal wave of bracken water springing forth and crashing across the battlefield, churning straight for Lamp and threatening to swallow the Shadow Pokemon whole.
"You think some waves will be enough?" Valon snorted. "Lamp, shadow storm!"
"Chandelure," Lamp hissed, shadows shooting out of the flames on his body and wrapped around him, swirling through the fog and forming into a massive tornado of destructive dark energy that tore forward, pushing the waves aside as it approached Finn.
A wild looked crossed Alden's face as he saw the pillar of swirling darkness approach.
"So, you think that's something we're worried about?!" He cackled. "Let's show him just how little something like that matters, Finn! Use high horsepower!"
"SWAMPER!" Finn roared, stomping his feet on the ground. He leaned forward, putting his arms on the soaked battlefield, focusing all of his strength. Normally, a pokemon would be terrified by the aura coming from the shadows, but Finn was far too lost in the rush of the fight to give a damn about something like that! Putting all of his energy into his legs he shot forward like a bullet, pushing through the oncoming tornado that battered against him, his shoulder raised in an offensive tackle as the shadows sliced into him, not letting the tornado pick him up off the ground. He howled, ignoring the pain, and erupted from the other side of the tornado, much to the Phantom's surprise.
"Your Shadow Pokemon are tough enough to withstand attacks, but we're tough, too!" Alden grinned. "Finn!"
Finn barreled into Lamp, sending the spectral pokemon rolling back, crashing into the ground with a clatter. Lamp tried to float back up, but before he could right himself the muddy water finally caught up with him, crashing down with a massive boost of power courtesy of Eifa.
"Chandelure…" Lamp weakly gurgled out as he was washed away by the tidal waves, flung off of the battlefield and landing on the other side of the stadium, unconscious.
"Chandelure is unable to battle!" Lila declared.
Darla added, "Swampert is the winner!"
"We don't need you to 'let' us have the first exchange, Phantom," Alden said, his eyes wild with the thrill of the battle. "My pokemon and I are perfectly capable of seizing victory for ourselves, as you'll soon find out. Those Shadow Pokemon, quite an opponent. Send out the next one! I'm looking forward to taking it down!"
The Phantom glowered at him, recalling his Chandelure. The pokeballs on his belt were shaking, shadowy aura spreading around them as he prepared his next pokemon.
It looks like the battle between the Commander and the Phantom is off to a great start! The Commander is seizing the initiative, but will the power of the Phantom and his Shadow Pokemon be able to take back the advantage? Or will the Commander continue to dominate? It's going to be a tough battle, that's for sure.