The long battle continues, and with no end in the near future. Both trainers simply love fighting too much! The question is, what will they be doing next? How many ways ARE there to have fun in a battle? Well, I'm sure they'll go through them all, I find myself looking forward to what they'll come up with next!
Rowlets and Oshawotts: It helps that Anabel actually has control of it and isn't experiencing the negative side effects. They simply love battling, and that's something that harmonia works with quite well. Elaina could pick up some tips about how to fight without hurting others, that's for sure.
KedharS: It's quite an interesting dynamic. Not quite a love triangle, but definitely something enjoyable to watch.
Aquahaze675: Metronome is pretty wild. Hopefully Snorlax doesn't inadvertently blow himself up.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 607
Alden blinked, a little surprised. He'd been so caught off-guard by the floundering Snorlax that for a moment he forgot to give Eifa any orders.
"…Eifa use psyshock."
"Espeon," Eifa said, nodding, releasing a bolt of psychic energy.
"SNORLAX!" Norton cried, flailing from being zapped.
"Yowwiee!" Anabel did the same.
But Anabel didn't let their temporary setback get the better of them. Relying on metronome time after time was fun for a little while, but they were going to be a little less reckless about this. "Norton! It's okay, but let's try something a little bit smarter, 'kay?"
"Snorlax," Norton nodded. Anabel focused their harmonia and sent it to their partner, directing most of it into Norton's legs. Then, the massive pokemon did something that the Commander wouldn't have ever thought possible.
He jumped.
"Something that big and fat can actually get off the ground?" Cynthia said, her jaw dropping.
"Snorlax!" Norton bellowed, using a powerful body slam attack. He smashed down upon Eifa… but was stopped by her reflective barrier.
Anabel grinned.
"Your reflect can stop most physical moves, Alden!" They called out to him. "But trust me, you won't be able to stop this one! Norton weighs 1014.1 pounds! I think that's just a little bit more pressure than that force field can handle!"
"1014?!" Alden gasped in shock.
".1! 1014.1!" Anabel huffed in indignation. "That .1 is very important, you know! Don't mock it!"
Indeed, to Eifa and Alden's horror, they could see that the barrier was starting to creak under the immense weight of the pokemon lying down on it. Cracks began to form across its surface, getting larger and larger as the force of Norton's body began to press down harder.
Then, the barrier shattered to pieces.
"Espeon!" Eifa was quick enough that she just barely managed to leap out of the way before the massive Snorlax came crashing down upon her, avoiding being mashed into a purple pancake by the skin of her teeth.
"Eifa, psyshock again," Alden ordered.
"Espeon!" Eifa's ruby flashed and she released another blast of psychic electricity that shocked Norton as the bulky pokemon was trying to rise to his feet. He let out a groan of pain and Anabel was right there with him.
"Youch! Those electric attacks sting!" Anabel wailed, still twitching a little. Alden was relieved that they weren't hurt, but it was also frustrating; Eifa had incredible special attack, and she was striking at the Snorlax's much lower physical defense, and yet for some reason, it seemed that Norton just wasn't taking lasting damage.
That pokemon must have incredibly high HP, Alden assumed, stroking his chin. The question was whether or not Eifa would be able to wear it down. "Eifa, use calm mind."
"Es," Eifa nodded, closing her eyes. Her ruby began to shine as a red aura wrapped around her, boosting her special attack and special defense.
"Yep, Norton's got an incredibly high HP stat," Anabel confirmed, as though they could read Alden's mind. "Think you can break him? Well, let's see about that! Norton, use metronome!"
"Snorlax!" Norton rose up and raised his finger, swirling it around until a bright light began to shine. Then, the light grew brighter and brighter. Norton brought his finger down and struck the ground, and the battlefield split open. Eifa gasped in surprise, falling into the abyss carved into the floor, which promptly shut closed, smashing her. She was knocked out by the crushing force and landed in front of the Commander.
Alden's jaw dropped. Anabel's jaw dropped. Everyone's jaws dropped.
"What… what was that?" Cynthia asked, rubbing her eyes. Seconds ago, Eifa was totally fine. Then in the blink of an eye she'd been knocked out.
"That was fissure!" Vic exclaimed. "What's with that, huh?! Using fissure! So unreasonable! This is a battle for fun, you know, who would use a one-hit KO move in a battle like this, huh?! Only a coward, that's who!"
Vic was taking such pleasure in trashing Anabel that she ignored that the Commander himself had tried to use a one-hit KO move against Raizer and his Zeraora during the Phantom Cup. It was more important to talk down to her perceived rival.
Anabel blinked, regaining their composure faster than Alden, who was so in shock he hadn't even recalled Eifa back to her pokeball.
"That, um… that wasn't supposed to happen," Anabel admitted sheepishly. "I swear, I wasn't trying to do that, it just, well… metronome's unpredictable, you know? Hehehe…" Anabel looked at him sadly and sighed. "Oh, well, I guess you can't fight chance."
"It's fine," Alden assured them with a smile, finally snapping out of his fugue and returning Eifa. "These things happen. Don't think I'm going to give in so easily because of something like that! Finn, come back out and use earthquake!"
"Swampert!" Finn roared, emerging from his pokeball. As he landed on the ground, the battlefield began to shake, sending massive tremors that hit Norton hard.
"Oof, those are some strong ones!" Anabel said, bracing theirself against the shockwaves. "But Norton won't go down that easily! Come on partner, I'll give you all the power you need to boost your defenses!"
"Snorlax!" Norton roared, hunkering down and withstanding the shaking as it struck him.
"Brace yourself if you want, but it won't make a difference," Alden assured them with a grin. "Let me show you some real power, Anabel! Finn, use high horsepower!"
"Swampert!" Finn growled, lowering his head and shooting forward like a rocket. He slammed into Norton's stomach, sending massive ripples of flab shaking as he buried his shoulder deep into the pokemon's gut. Snorlax was a difficult pokemon to move, no one could doubt that. But as Anabel doubled over in pain as a searing ache shot through their stomach, they felt that Norton was starting to weaken. He tumbled back, the impact from Finn enough to knock him off balance, and his massive bulk did the rest.
Norton hit the ground with a mighty thud, the entire room shaking.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Alden grinned. "Now, Finn! Hammer arm!"
"Swampert!" Finn leapt up and landed on Norton's protruding stomach, using it as a springboard to launch him up into the air. He raised his hands up, clasping his fingers together, and brought his hands down in a mighty blow aimed straight at Norton's head.
"Norton!" Anabel cried, thinking fast on their feet. "Use hyper beam!"
"SNORLAX!" Norton opened his mouth wide and fired a massive beam of white-orange light from his massive maw, the blast smashing through the light screen with ease and hitting Finn square in the chest. The Swampert was launched up, up into the air, the hyper beam so powerful that it pressed him against the ceiling for a good few seconds before running out of energy, Finn plummeting towards the ground and hitting hard.
"Swampert…" Finn groaned in pain, stumbling up to his feet. He was shaking, bad wounds scarring his chest as he glared angrily at the Snorlax, letting out a roar.
"A powerful hyper beam," Cynthia winced.
"Snorlax don't have very high special attack stats, but that move was still powerful," Ross mused with a smirk. "It really speaks to the strength of hyper beam itself."
"Luckily, it has a drawback," Maddi murmured. "Right now, that Snorlax is stunned, unable to move. If Finn can shrug off this pain…"
"Yeah!" Cynthia cheered. "Go get 'em, Finn!"
"Swampert!" Finn roared, charging forward as though he were surprisingly following Cynthia's orders, though he was really just acting on his own initiative.
"Now's your chance, Finn! Go for it!" Anabel called out, much to the Swampert's confusion, as well as his trainer's.
"Uh… yeah, what they said, Finn," Alden said, not at all understanding why Anabel would be rooting for his pokemon… then again, it made sense, considering how much they just loved the rush of the battle itself. Alden grinned. "Go, take him down with another hammer arm!"
"Swampert!" Finn raised his hands, not going to the trouble of jumping theatrically this time. He needed to unleash his barrage on the Snorlax before the side-effects of the hyper beam could wear off. He slammed his fists down on Norton's face, striking the stunned pokemon with a powerful Fighting type move that had backlash of its own on the Swampert, Finn finding it difficult for him to keep up the assault due to his weakened speed.
"Keep going, Finn! Push through it!" Alden shouted, seeing that even with Norton's heft, the pokemon was slowly being worn down. A few more blows of that magnitude would hopefully do it! "Now, let's show them what a real powerful move is like!"
"Oho?" Anabel asked, raising their eyebrow. Alden grinned.
"You remember my fight against Gerard, right? Finn, hit him with your low kick! Let's show Anabel how a Snorlax looks when he's flying!" Alden cheered.
"That sounds like a challenge!" Anabel smiled, their face brightening. "Honestly, I'd like to see that myself!"
"Oh man!" Cynthia gasped. "Low kick! That's right! That does a ton of damage if the pokemon is really heavy, right?"
"I believe your Snorlax is 1014 pounds, right?" Alden asked. "Oh, excuse me, 1014.1 pounds! Now go, Finn, use low kick!"
"Swampert!" Finn roared, crouching down low. He swept his foot in a powerful arc, hitting Norton at just the right angle to send the massive pokemon flying up into the air, to the gasps of surprise of everyone.
"Now get back Finn, this is probably gonna be a big one!" Alden warned. Finn nodded, jumping back as the Snorlax fell back down, hitting the ground hard enough to basically make an earthquake attack himself, the shockwave actually knocking Finn off of his feet. A sizeable dent was made in the metal battlefield, which was impressive in its own right.
"Snorlax…" Norton groaned, finally free from the stunning effects of the hyper beam. He stumbled up, panting, badly injured.
"Hey, Norton, that was a painful one, huh?" Anabel winced in pain. "But it's okay… let's show those two what we can really do… with another metronome!"
Anabel's face brightened and they winked at Alden. "Can't beat a winning strategy, after all, especially not one that's this fun!"
"Snorlax!" Norton bellowed. He raised his hand and began wiggling his finger, light shining. The light grew brighter and brighter, and spread across his entire body. Norton himself began to glow, surrounded by light… no, he was drawing in light itself into his body, from all around! Alden immediately recognized the move, and so did Anabel.
"So, he's gonna use solarbeam!" Anabel noted. "Yeah, that's great, Norton! Here, take all my energy that you've got!"
Anabel concentrated their harmonia and directed it towards Norton, boosting his special attack to make this solarbeam be especially devastating against the Swampert. Alden knew just by looking at Finn's condition that even without the harmonia, a solarbeam attack would probably be a lethal blow. Which meant they had to finish this fast.
"Finn!" He shouted. "No time left! Let's give them our best showing! Take him out with one more low kick! Go!"
"Swampert!" Finn charged forward, keeping low to the ground and dashing on all fours. He stopped in front of Norton, who was still gathering in light to unleash the solarbeam, and swung his leg out, kicking hard at Norton's stumpy little feet, knocking him off his balance again. Norton sent out a cry of pain as his own weight was used against him, and he crashed hard against the ground, the energy he'd been gathering dispersed with his defeat.
"Oh, darn," Anabel sighed, feeling their connection with Norton fade. "I was so sure that Norton would have had the strength left in him to endure one more of those before hitting you with that solarbeam, but I guess not. We were so close, too!"
"Yeah!" Vic cheered, jumping from her seat. "There you go, Commander! That's the way to do it! Take their pokemon down!" As expected, Vic was taking great pleasure in Anabel's pokemon being knocked unconscious.
But Anabel's disappointment lasted a fraction of a second more as they brightened, recalling Norton to his pokeball. "Oh, well! Next up, come back out Margie!"
"Mismagius!" Anabel quickly switched out their Snorlax for their Mismagius, the ghostly pokemon floating up into the air and glaring down at the weary Swampert.
"No kicking that one," Alden grinned.
"Earthquakes won't work either!" Anabel chortled. "I've been feeling all tingly since Norton fought, between the psyshocks and the earthquakes, I think I've got the shakes! But Margie here has got some fun in her, don't you Margie?"
"Mismagius," Margie cackled, her lips curling into a smile. Her eyes flashed red and the ruby necklace she wore began to shine as she created leaves of magic that glowed crimson, flying in a wave towards the injured Finn.
"Finn, withstand it and use flip turn!" Alden ordered, capable of judging how much Finn could withstand. Finn charged into the torrent of leaves, water raising up around him as he began to glow bright blue, his torrent triggering. He slammed into Margie and knocked her backwards, returning to his pokeball. Alden grinned, and sent out his next pokemon to counter before Margie could regain her balance. "Jaune, it's your turn!"
"Vikavolt!" Jaune buzzed, emerging from his pokeball, electricity crackling around him as he flapped his wings and flew towards Margie, who was still recovering.
"What was that you were saying about not wanting to get the shakes anymore?" Alden teased. "I think Jaune might have something to say about that!"
"Promise?" Anabel cooed, pulling their lips back into a smirk. "Margie, you good?" Their Mismagius needed to regain her balance, but she did it quickly, her higher speed allowing her to respond before Jaune could do anything.
"Mismagius!" Margie's eyes flashed red and her rubies began to glow, crimson flames appearing in the air around her.
"That's right, Margie! Get him with your mystical fire!" Anabel cheered. The flames danced up and spun towards Jaune, the Bug type too slow to really dodge the magical flames. But that was fine, he didn't need to.
"Jaune, double team," Alden quickly ordered. "Let's see how these two like playing a game of target practice!"
"Vika!" Jaune nodded, flapping his wings and moving from side to side, creating multiple copies of himself that spread out across the battlefield, filling the sky with a swarm of insects.
"Oh! That does sound like fun!" Anabel agreed. "Okay, Margie! Change of plans, call off you mystical fire!"
"Mag," Margie nodded, the flames dispersing.
"Great, now, let's try some power gems!" Anabel ordered. Margie's ruby necklace began to glow, and large rubies made of energy floated in the air around her.
"Now, by my count, there are about, oh, 100 Vikavolts?" Anabel estimated. "Well, we've got twenty rubies, so let's see if we can hit the real one with a one in five chance!"
"Mismagius!" Margie sent the rubies flying out in a circle around her, hitting twenty of the Vikavolt. All the copies were smashed through, but not one of the stones hit the real Jaune.
"Sorry, better luck next time!" Alden called. "Now, Jaune, time to strike back! Hit her with your thunderbolt!"
"Vikavolt!" A chorus of Jaunes buzzed, electricity building up around them. Jaune focused his electricity into the large mandibles in front of his mouth, the extended jaws surging with energy that he released in a powerful bolt aimed right at Margie. All the copies did the same, bathing Margie in a field of lightning even if only one of the bolts actually did damage.
"MISMAGIUS!" Margie cried out in pain.
"Not again!" Anabel wailed, though their voice held a tone of levity, like they were laughing. They quickly shrugged off the shocks. "Margie, you feel that? There's our incentive to hit the target next time! Our odds are down to one in four, let's see if we can't improve them! Aim for making as many gems as you can!"
"Mismagius," Margie nodded, shrugging off the electricity. She concentrated, building up here energy, and this time managed to create 23 rubies instead of the 20 she made before.
"Now that's what I'm talking about, Margie!" Anabel cheered. "Go!"
"Mismagius!" Margie fired the barrage of stones at the floating Vikavolt, Jaune taking care to keep all of them still and hovering in the air, to make the game a little more fair. The stones smashed into more copies… and this time Jaune himself took a hit! The other duplicates all disappeared now that the attack was broken, Jaune crying out in pain.
"Now that's what we're talking about!" Anabel cheered, pumping their fist into the air. "Good work, Margie! Nice instincts!"
"Jaune!" Alden shouted.
"Vika!" Jaune shook off the blow and turned his attention towards Margie, creating an electrical current in his mandibles. He released the stored up energy in a powerful bolt of lightning that shot straight for Margie, but now she knew where it was coming from and thus was able to dodge. She created a burst of mystical fire that she launched at Jaune, hitting him hard and burning away some of his special attacking stat.
"Jaune, shake it off," Alden called. "Now, volt switch!"
"Vikavolt!" Jaune coated his entire body with electricity and he shot right for Margie, releasing a blast of electricity that struck the Mismagius, causing her to cry out in pain, while he returned to his pokeball. Alden recaptured Jaune and thought for a moment.
"So, your Swampert wasn't up for it, your Vikavolt wasn't enough, but come on, come on!" Anabel said, squirming in place with excitement. "I can't wait to see who you're going to use next, Commander! Please, send someone out, now!"
Alden grinned. He suddenly had a great idea.
"Well, if you say so, Anabel, I think I have fun game we can play!"
Anabel blinked for a second, interested, and then their lips curled up in an excited smirk. "Ooh, promise? I can't wait to see what you've got up your sleeve!"
So, who will the Commander send out next, to take care of this Mismagius? This battle is finally getting serious, and pokemon are actually fainting now! But luckily, both trainers are able to keep going, knowing that it's all in good fun.