The Phantom is in a losing position in the battle, but I wouldn't put anything past him. He's a clever guy, and he must have a gambit or two left, another card up his sleeve to play. If anyone thinks that this is the end for Richard Valon, you're in for quite a shock.
Rowlets and Oshawotts: Maddi's condition will be made apparent eventually. It certainly doesn't look like a natural thing.
Aquahaze675: It's a sheet of cloth and a stick, I'M surprised it can be poisoned.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Interesting that you brought up Rui. As for the battle between the Commander and the Phantom, well… never underestimate your opponent, I think that's something both trainers could stand to learn a little bit more about, if you ask me.
KedharS: No, but it would be a good thing.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 592
Alden considered his options. Eifa and Tracey were both in bad shape, but he knew them well. They would still be itching for a fight. Right now, though, they weren't the best options, not against the Phantom's strongest pokemon. Jaune was an option, and he could probably use his thunder wave attack to paralyze the Shadow Pokemon, but he wasn't sure that the Vikavolt would stand much of a chance against the power of the Gengar.
He only had one pokemon he could reasonably rely on.
"Corin, go," Alden said, sending out his ace, his Lucario.
"Lucario!" Corin growled, landing on the ground and glaring at the Shadow Pokemon across from her. Her eyes widened and the fringes on the back of her hair began to glow blue, sticking up. Her growl turned from a warning to an angry hiss. She whipped her head around to look at the Commander, grimacing.
"…So you can sense it," Alden frowned.
"Lucario," Corin nodded, turning her attention back to the Gengar. As Alden had suspected, her aura sensing power gave her ability to sense the pokemon's shadowy aura, allowing her to discern the difference between a normal pokemon and a Shadow Pokemon.
"Whoa!" Lila gasped, her eyes wide. "The Commander has sent out his strongest pokemon! And… and that Gengar! That's the Phantom's strongest pokemon!" She turned to Darla, tugging on her sleeve excitedly. "Darla! Darla! That's just amazing!"
"It's a good move, certainly," Darla said, leaning forward. She was intrigued, interested in seeing how this match would go. But there was something needling at her, making her worry. The Phantom seemed too calm. She'd seen that Lucario decimate entire teams before, she had fought Zeraora and won, and decimated Gerard's Diancie.
But the Phantom didn't even seem worried.
No… it's probably nothing, she decided.
"Wooo!" Cynthia cheered, jumping up in her seat. "Yeah, way to go, Corin! Show that stupid Phantom what's what!"
Callie clapped in agreement, nodding along. "You said it!"
More people in the audience were cheering for Corin, they'd come to watch the Commander's strongest pokemon take on the Phantom's. Before, the atmosphere in the stadium had been a mixture of roaring excitement of great battles and the building anticipation towards the climax, teetering on the edge between the two. But with Corin's emergence from her pokeball the atmosphere had pushed solidly over the edge and into the territory of "roaring excitement." Both trainers had more pokemon than these two, but the students were pumped up like this was the climax, it was the decisive battle that they had been waiting all afternoon for, even though the sun was just beginning to sink past the horizon. It made sense, of course. These were the two trainers' strongest pokemon, which meant that whichever one emerged the victor, well… that would be a sign of who would more likely than not win the entire match.
"Oh man! Aki, Aki, Aki, Aki!" Dakota was giddy, taking as many pictures as she could with one hand while shaking him back and forth with the other. "This is it! This is so great! Can you imagine, Aki?! We're seeing the actual, factual match between the Commander and the Phantom's strongest pokemon! Lucario vs. Gengar, isn't that great?!"
"It's awesome," Akira agreed, for once getting swallowed in the same furor that his girlfriend was in. He was sitting on the edge of his seat in excitement, his eyes shining.
Even Alcea couldn't help the smile that curled across her lips, much to Olivia's chagrin. Of course, the Commander was making her excited, that was just fitting wasn't it?
But more pressingly, Olivia was picking up on the same thing that Darla was, the fact that the Phantom didn't exactly seem bothered. She knew him the best out of everyone here, she knew the kind of man he was. And he wasn't someone who would face the Commander's strongest pokemon in a losing situation like this if he didn't have a plan.
But Olivia wasn't exactly one to kill the mood. In the first place, she wasn't exactly invested in pokemon matches, so she didn't really feel a need to bring up what she suspected.
"So you've finally decided to rely on your Lucario!" The Phantom smirked. "Excellent! That's just what we were hoping for! Now, I'll get the pleasure of defeating your strongest pokemon, and let you see just what despair looks like! You were complacent with your early victories, Commander, and now you've paid the price. Shade, use shadow panic to confuse him!"
"Gengar!" Shade cackled, holding his hands up as his aura flared, releasing the shadowy aura in a wave towards Corin.
"Lucario," Corin scoffed. She closed her eyes and her aura flared up, a curtain of blue light wrapping around her. Shade's shadowy aura struck hers, and dispersed against it, not even close to a match to Corin's aura.
"An aura move against a Lucario?" Alden grinned. "Come on, Ricky! You can do better than that! Corin's detect would let her aura easily nullify that attack!"
Now it was the Phantom's turn to smile.
"That's what we were hoping for! This wasn't about confusing her! Shade, use shadow hold!"
"Gengar!" Shade raised his hands, shadows shooting out across the ground and wrapping around Corin's arms and legs, holding her down and trapping her in a swirl of darkness that would prevent her from escaping.
"Now you're trapped," the Phantom said, his green eyes shining. "That Lucario of yours can't escape now! Sure, I might not have seen the shed shell coming, but I still know you well enough, Commander. You aren't the type to concern yourself with Corin escaping or retreating. She's just like you, after all. She'll fight to the end if you let her, even if her health is reduced. Isn't that right?"
"Fair enough, I didn't plan on switching her out," Alden admitted. "I only had the one shed shell, so I gave it to the pokemon who needed it most."
A coy smile crossed his face.
"But we're far from unprepared. Corin, copycat time!"
"Lucario!" Corin flashed blue, and raised her hand. She winced in pain, her blue aura turning dark like the shadows around Shade.
"Oh?" The Phantom had a plan that he was working on, but his scientific curiosity made him put it on hold momentarily. This was something he hadn't considered, and he wanted to see what the result would be.
"What's going on?" Lila asked, confused. "Lucario, she looks… she looks like she's in pain."
"I think… he said she's using copycat," Darla reasoned. "Copycat is a move that makes the user copy the move last used, and the move that the Gengar used last was a Shadow Move. So I think… she's trying to copy it."
"Endure it, Corin!" Alden cried. "I trust that aura of yours!"
"What's happening?" Cynthia asked, worried about the state that Corin was in.
"That pokemon…" Kitty looked up from where she was curled up on the ground, shivering. "That Lucario… its aura… it's like… she's becoming a Shadow Pokemon…"
Cynthia gasped. She leapt up and shouted, "Commander! Don't! It's not good!"
"Lucario!" Corin thrust her hand forward, the shadowy aura leaping off of her and wrapping around Shade, holding him in place with a torrent of shadows that matched the one that was wrapped around her.
"Whoa!" Lila gasped. "She did it!"
"So Shadow Moves can be copied like that?" Darla asked, surprised. "Wow, that's amazing!"
Corin panted, the shadows having left her completely, she wasn't infected with the aura anymore. Alden sighed with relief.
"Okay, so much for that," he decided. "We're never doing that again. Let's switch to offense, Corin! Now that that Gengar can't escape either, we can begin having a real fight! Use nasty plot!"
"Lucario," Corin smiled, her aura flaring back up, the same bright blue as always, much to Alden's relief. She boosted her special attack by two stages, preparing to attack.
"Now, agility!" He ordered. Corin broke free of the cloud of shadows and charged at Shade, raising her paws, he speed increasing.
The Phantom stroked his chin. That was intriguing. If he saw what he thought he saw, then that meant it might be possible to infect pokemon with the aura Shadow Pokemon had, just through splicing Shadow Moves onto them with moves like copycat and mimic.
It was something to consider when he got back to the lab, but for now he had more pressing matters to focus on.
A smirk crossed his face. She could move perfectly fine, but the shadows were still there. The Commander's Lucario couldn't escape.
Which meant she was finished.
"Shade, use perish song!" He ordered.
Lila and Darla gasped at the same time. Even Lila knew what that move did, and Darla knew it full-well herself.
"No!" Alden cried in realization.
Shade began to sing. A horrible, mournful tune that sent waves of revulsion and nausea out through the stadium, several students following Kitty's lead and beginning to throw up. Even Olivia, always the pinnacle of decorum, felt a little green around the gills.
Corin fell to her knees and clutched at her ears as Alden cried out to her.
Only the Phantom was smiling, because he'd seized his victory.
"I'd suggest you and that Lucario of yours make your peace with defeat, Commander!" He called out over the horrid melody, cackling. "In a few scant turns, she'll be gone!"
"But so will your Gengar!" Alden shouted back.
Valon rolled his eyes.
"Please. You think that matters? He's a tool to secure my victory. Sacrificing him to take care of that Lucario of yours for good? There could be nothing better," he smirked.
"Corin!" Alden cried.
"Lu… cario…" Corin groaned, rising to her feet, panting.
"Oh, no…" Lila said, her face going pale. "That… that's not fair… that perish song… Lucario's going to faint and she can't even switch out, because of that shadow hold move…"
"It's unfortunate," Darla admitted. "The Phantom really had that one planned out."
"Can… can he win without his Lucario?" She asked.
"…He'll do his best," was all Darla could bring herself to say.
"No…" Cynthia sunk back into her seat, looking down sadly.
"You said that I underestimated you? That you use your brain?" The Phantom scoffed. "Maybe you do. But it doesn't matter, because all you do is charge in like a fool, wanting to get the best fight that you can get! But this isn't a fight, Commander. You should understand that by now. It's a war. And it isn't the strongest fighter that wins the war, it's the person who can plan things out properly. I admit, I don't think any of my pokemon could beat that Lucario of yours in a fair fight. So, of course, that doesn't leave me much incentive to fight fair, now does it?"
The Commander glared at him, shaking his head slowly.
"You might as well lay back and relax, give that Lucario of yours some space to breathe," Valon said. "After all, there's no need. Nothing she can do to escape. But in the meantime… well, let's just say maybe 'space to breathe' might not be the best thing. Shadow sky!"
"Gengar!" Shade raised his hands, the aura of shadows wrapped around him and surged out, filling the sky with a swirl of dark fog, Corin and Alden starting to cough.
"You think there's nothing we can do?" Alden asked, narrowing his eyes. "You're right. Corin doesn't have long. We know that full-well, right, Corin?"
"Lucario," Corin murmured, nodding in agreement.
"But that doesn't mean we'll just lie back and not put up a fight!" Alden shouted. "Our Sense won't be satisfied with just meekly giving up! Until we can't go any longer, my pokemon and I are going to keep fighting! We'll show you our steel resolve! Corin, laser focus!"
Corin took a deep breath, ignoring the choking shadows filling her lungs. She focused her aura, narrowing it into a single, concentrated point, preparing to release it.
"So little time and you waste it meditating?" The Phantom said, rolling his eyes. "…Fine. If it's a pointless skirmish you want, we'll oblige you. Shade, use shadow bolt."
It didn't matter to him, but Valon could humor the fool.
"Gengar!" Shade cackled, building up black electricity through his body. He released the charge in a powerful bolt right for Corin.
"Corin! Steel beam!" Alden shouted.
"Lucario!" Corin's aura flared to life, and she compressed it, gathering it together in the palms of her hands in a tiny sphere. She planted one leg forward and the other behind her, holding both of her palms up, her aura burning brighter and brighter and brighter until it reached a blinding blue that couldn't be seen, the hot beam piercing through the darkness. The shadow sky was blown away by the aura explosion, the beam blasting through the lightning as well, and hit Shade directly.
"GENGAR?!" Shade exclaimed, the light burning away his shadowy aura. The massive blast grew brighter and brighter still, everyone shielding their eyes as the massive explosion of light blinded nearly the entire stadium.
By the time the light from the steel beam died down, the sun had set and darkness filled the sky. The stadium's lights switch on, everyone blinking as their eyes readjusted.
Shade had been knocked unconscious by the steel beam, completely decimated in one hit. And Corin was still standing, panting, her body having burned through a lot of her health with that move.
"It… it was a critical hit, and… Gengar is unable to battle," Darla noted.
"So, um… Lucario is the winner?" Lila asked.
The crowd sat stunned for a moment and then went wild. The Commander had destroyed the Phantom's strongest pokemon in a single hit! The light from the steel beam attack was so powerful, it had completely destroyed the shadows!
The Phantom was surprised, but it didn't matter. He recalled Shade to his pokeball. Corin was still held by the shadows, even with that blast of aura just now. She couldn't escape. And she only had seconds of consciousness left.
"Curse, go," he said, sending out his Cofagrigus. The stealth rocks broke against the solid gold sarcophagus as it landed on the ground, standing tall, shadows swirling around it. The golden pokemon rose up, his body cracking open to reveal the formless shadow inside. Curse's arms waved out menacingly as he cackled, his aura flaring up menacingly.
"Ugh," Olivia snorted, rolling her eyes. "Cofagrigus. How gaudy. Ridiculous. Compared to my Rooney that hideous pokemon is… ugh."
"That's your issue?" Blake asked, looking over his shoulder. "Not the whole thing just now with trapping the Commander's Lucario, or the fact that he's using a Shadow Pokemon? But because he has a Cofagrigus?"
Olivia shrugged. "It seems there's no accounting for taste with you." Her face softened and she turned and gave Ayame a smile. "…With some notable exceptions, of course."
Ayame blushed a little and Blake turned red as well, dropping the topic. He turned back to the battlefield to see what the Commander would do next.
Kate scowled, planting her feet on the back of Blake's chair, pushing against it almost like a kick. It wasn't intentional irritation about his flirting with his girlfriend. Probably.
"If you want to go out fighting, you're certainly doing a fine job," Valon scowled. "But there's no point! That Lucario of yours is going to faint! There's nothing you can do about that! Curse, use iron defense to harden your defenses while we wait for-"
Curse had begun to harden his body, but Alden wasn't about to give him the opportunity.
"Again, Corin! With all the strength you have left! Use steel beam!" Alden cried.
"Lucario!" Corin howled, raising her paws up and a curtain of aura wrapped around her, building brighter and brighter. Once more, the stadium was engulfed in a blinding light, Corin compressing her aura into a massive beam of light that she fired at the Cofagrigus as the Shadow Pokemon desperately hardened his shell, the light smashing through the shadows and blasting him backwards, the golden sarcophagus bouncing and skidding around. It wasn't enough to finish the pokemon off, but it was still a massive blow.
"Co… Cofag…" Curse's sarcophagus pulled open with a cough, his arms spreading out and pressing off of the ground, pushing him back upright as his aura flared back to life.
But Corin's aura was gone. She fell to her knees and pitched forward, struggling to maintain consciousness. She had put everything she had into the attack, both of them, and now she was done. But as she fainted, she did it with a smile on her face. She had gone out fighting, not due to the effects of that accursed wail.
"Well done, Corin," Alden said solemnly, recalling Corin to her pokeball. "You did the best you could. You deserve a nice rest."
"Lucario is unable to battle!" Darla declared.
"Cofagrigus is the winner!" Lila continued. "…Kind of."
The Phantom couldn't help but agree. Curse was a powerful Shadow Pokemon, and he had been at full health when he had sent him out. Now, though, he had taken serious injury. His aura was sputtering, not fully formed, and Valon wasn't sure how well it could keep up the fight. Which was quite a problem, as Curse was a defensive pokemon to begin with. Weakened as it was, he wasn't sure that he could keep doing his job.
No, no, you're overreacting, Valon assured himself. The Commander had planned for that Lucario of his to fight through all of my Shadow Pokemon if it had to. And while it might have knocked out Shade, Shade was done for anyway. Nothing to be done about that. The second blow, taking out so much of Curse's health, that I hadn't accounted for. But it won't be enough for two injured pokemon and a single Vikavolt to defeat my last two Shadow Pokemon. That Lucario was his last trump card, and he played it and failed.
"You rely on your Lucario too much, Commander!" He called out. "Without her, there's nothing left you can do! Curse, use shadow sky!"
With no Lucario to pierce through the dark clouds, the Phantom could finally turn this back into the kind of battlefield that was suitable for him. Curse raised his arms, the shadows dispersing from around his body and filling the sky with dark, toxic fog, the lights of the stadium blotched out and filling the battlefield with shadows.
"There's one thing left," Alden replied. He had lost his partner, but he hadn't lost the battle. Not even close. And that's why he smiled. "There's still me, after all! And it's time I show you how I fight this war of yours!"
So, in a shocking twist, the Commander's strongest pokemon has been suddenly defeated! Corin was able to take out the Phantom's Gengar and weaken his Cofagrigus, but will that be enough for the Commander's weakened team to pull out a victory?! This battle is really getting intense now, I think the Phantom has MORE than made up for his disadvantages with that move!