The battle moves towards a rather interesting proposition! A match between Alakazam and Cinderace, both pokemon with the Libero ability, both pokemon changing the typing of themselves to reflect their moves, trying to get the upper hand, it's definitely going to be an exciting exchange! The only question remaining, is what's going to happen when it gets resolved?
Another note! Last year, we had a little contest to determine who was the "best girl" in the series. And I think it's time to hold another competition! There have been a lot of female characters we've been introduced to since then, or gotten to know much better than we had back then. There may even be girls who have fallen out of favor for better prospects since last year, sad as that might be. So let's find out! Let's put it to vote again! For those who remember from last year, there was a Nomination Round, followed by three month-long rounds; an Elimination Round, which narrows the girls down to the five that will make it to the main competition, also known as the Semi-Final Round, where those five girls will be voted for to determine the top three that will move on to the Final Round, where each person votes for one girl of the three finalists. Last year, Ayame won the title of Pokemon Academy Best Girl, let's see if she'll be able to defend that title!
So, we'll be starting the Nomination Round again. I want each person to nominate their top 3 choices for the role of Best Girl. Any girl who gets a nomination will be included in a poll on my profile for the Elimination Round! The Nomination Round will last until August 1st, when we move to the Elimination Round, so that leaves just over two weeks to get those votes in! Choose your Best Girls wisely and show your support for your favorite!
KedharS: Definitely a fun thought process.
Aquahaze675: Maybe, that's definitely a plan they might use.
Rowlets and Oshawotts: Definitely weird and definitely wild, that's for sure.
Just a Bad Writer For Fun: Your idea is pretty similar to what I was going for, only with Blake as the compromise between the two and not Ian.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 610
Maddi had a fairly decent appreciation of pokemon battles. Mainly, though, she liked fighting them, not watching.
It wasn't that she had a PROBLEM with watching pokemon battles, of course. There was certainly enjoyment to be found in them, it's just that she preferred to be the one doing the fighting, if the choice was up to her. It was one of the few things she could bond with Cynthia over, both trainers liking a good fight, even if Cynthia was a lot less… reserved about it.
Right now, though, Maddi was more excited to watch a battle than she'd ever been. Normally, one would expect Cynthia to be the one at the edge of her seat watching this exchange (and, much to Maddi's relief at the redhead's change of mood, she was) but Maddi herself was leaning in intently, unable to keep her eyes off of the battle.
After all, this was the kind of notion that couldn't help but arouse Maddi's curiosity. As a student of pokemon type combinations, strengths, and weaknesses, the Libero and Protean abilities had always held her with fascination. The notion that a pokemon could change its type at will, to reflect the move they were using so that they could always get a boost from using an attack of the same type, while also shifting their weaknesses and resistances, the Commander proved just how effective a tactic it was in battle.
And right now, Maddi couldn't help but watch, this was a battle unlike none that she had ever seen before. Two pokemon with Libero fighting against each other? This was something that she wanted to see so badly she surprised even herself.
"Ready, Alden?" Anabel grinned.
"Always," Alden replied. "Tracey, you start! Hit him with your quick attack!"
"Cinderace!" Tracey nodded, dashing forward at high speed and hitting Casey in the face. Casey scowled, barely even flinching. That wasn't the kind of move he'd been expecting.
"All that to become a Normal type? Come on Alden, we were expecting more!" Anabel laughed. "Casey! Use foul play!"
"Alakazam!" Casey's eyes turned dark and shadows burned across his spoons. He pulled one hand back and slammed the head of the spoon into Tracey's stomach, sending her flying backwards. Tracey rolled across the ground, panting, the pain of having her strength used against her was rough.
"Tracey!" Alden cried.
"Now that's what I call an attack," Anabel grinned, their eyes flashing with excitement. "So now Casey's a Dark type! Your move, Alden!"
Casey remained where he stood, glaring at Tracey. Tracey glared back, but she wasn't reckless enough to go charging in. As excited as she was, she knew that this was the kind of match that required some serious thought.
Clearly, Anabel is trying to goad me into using a Fighting type move to take advantage of Alakazam's Dark typing, Alden figured. Do they really think I'd be so gullible? I won't fall for a tactic like that. We don't have any Bug or Fairy type moves, so we'll have to resort to less traditional methods of attack. Right now, their Alakazam has their natural physical defense stat of 45, so we should be aiming for special attacks, even if they aren't Tracey's specialty.
"Tracey!" Alden ordered. "Use flamethrower!"
"Cinderace!" Tracey opened her mouth and fired a large stream of flames at Casey, taking advantage of her distance.
"Well, so you weren't baited, lovely!" Anabel grinned. "Casey, fire punch!"
"Alakazam!" Casey growled, raising his hand and covering it with flames, turning into the Fire type himself. He punched the flamethrower attack, dispersing it. Even as low as his special defenses might have been, with a resistance to fire it was nothing.
"Great job! Now then," Anabel smiled, wiggling their eyebrows conspiratorially and raising their finger, "this is where the fun begins."
Alden had about two seconds to realize what Anabel was about to do.
"Oh, sh-"
"Metronome!" Anabel cheered, waggling their finger back and forth as Casey did the same.
"Ala… Kazam!" Casey moved his fingers and fired off his next attack, a massive blast of large rocks that came tumbling towards Tracey.
"That's amazing!" Cynthia gasped, her eyes bulging out at the idea of a pokemon with the Libero ability using metronome, changing its typing at random. In spite of her standard attitude, she was a fan of strategies in battle, but she still had a great appreciation for some random, fun elements like this. This entire battle had opened up new ideas, new avenues, things that Cynthia had never even considered before, and she was loving it! So caught up in her excitement that her worries about Blake had completely slipped her mind by this point.
"Tracey, evasive maneuvers with agility," Alden quickly ordered.
"Cinderace!" Tracey nodded. She dodged around the incoming rock blasts while making sure to keep some distance between herself and Casey, looking for the perfect opportunity to strike.
"Well done!" Alden nodded. "Now, use iron head!"
"Cinder!" Tracey ran right for Casey, her powerful legs carrying her fast as she lowered her head, her fur beginning to shine a bright silver.
"Nice!" Maddi cheered. "It might be too risky to use Fighting type moves, but as a Rock type Alakazam is now weak against Steel type moves as well. It's a very safe maneuver."
"Alakazam!" Casey cried in pain as Tracey slammed into his chest with a painful headbutt, Anabel clutching their chest in sympathy. But neither was down.
"You took the first super-effective hit, well-done," Anabel applauded through short gasps as they raised their hand over their head, Casey doing the same. "But you've opened yourself up to another alley of attack! Drain punch!"
"Alakazam!" Casey brought his fist down on the back of Tracey's neck, the Cinderace crying out from the super-effective hit. Casey began to drain away some of Tracey's health, though not very much of it. The blow might have hit Tracey's weakness, but Casey's physical attack was still quite meager.
Alden grinned.
"Not bad, Anabel!" He called. "But we're not done yet! You tasted a little bit of our iron head, now how about we show you what else Tracey can do when she puts that head of hers to good use? Tracey, zen headbutt!"
"Cinderace!" Tracey's body began to glow with a blue aura, turning into a Psychic type pokemon as she focused mental energy into her head, pushing against the ground with all her strength. Driving her skull further into Casey's chest, she sent the Fighting type Alakazam flying backwards with a powerful burst of psychic energy, Casey rolling across the ground.
"Smart! But not enough! Casey, shadow ball!" Anabel quickly ordered. Casey hopped up to his feet and crossed his spoons together, gathering ghostly energy together into an orb of darkness as he changed into the Ghost type.
Alden had been counting on that.
"Tracey! Sucker punch!" Alden ordered. Tracey shot forward, hitting Casey in the jaw with a powerful Dark type move that took out a massive chunk of the Alakazam's health. Anabel's chin instinctively shot to the side, causing them to wince. Casey still fired his shadow ball and it still hit Tracey directly, but due to her newly-acquired Dark typing the attack didn't do much damage even with Alakazam's incredible special attack.
"Casey!" Anabel said, wiping their cheek. "Dazzling gleam!"
Casey crossed his spoons, bright golden light radiating off his body and shooting out in all directions, blinding rays striking Tracey before she could fight back.
"Cinderace!" Tracey cried in pain, the attack doing a lot of damage. She fell back, panting, and Casey prepared to attack again.
"Tracey, quick attack, fast!" Alden ordered. It wouldn't give her the ability to resist the move, or even hurt the Alakazam all that much, but Casey was already releasing a second one and there was no time. Tracey couldn't take many more super-effective attacks. Tracey quickly dashed to the side, not able to avoid the attack, but enduring it decently, kicking Casey's leg.
"Ala?!" Casey gasped in surprise. Still not used to hand-to-hand combat, he was caught off-guard by the quick leg sweep, falling back against the ground.
"Nicely done, Tracey!" Alden cheered. "Now, hit him with iron head!"
Tracey jumped up, pulling her head back, steel energy focusing through it as she slammed it down towards Casey's gut in a painful headbutt.
"Oh, no you don't!" Anabel shouted.
"Alakazam!" Casey's eyes flashed golden as Anabel took full control of his body, swinging his fist up. Flames lit up around his hand and he hit Tracey in the face, knocking the Cinderace off of him.
"Cinder!" Tracey spat, rubbing her eyes as Casey rose to his feet and held his spoons together, beginning to focus energy, a golden orb appearing at the crossing point of his two spoons.
"Focus blast!" Anabel shouted, focusing all of their harmonia into the attack, firing a powerful Fighting type move right at Tracey.
"Tracey, shadow ball!" Alden grinned, glad that Anabel took that course in the exchange. Tracey pulled her leg back and created an orb of ghostly energy in front of her foot, kicking it at full force, the ghostly orb flying past the golden one, the two attacks striking their targets.
But only Casey's attack passed right through without doing any damage. Tracey's shadow ball struck, knocking Casey backwards, but his own focus blast had no effect on the Ghost type Cinderace, Tracey taking the opportunity to charge for the stumbling Alakazam.
"Nice job, Alden!" Anabel grinned. "Turning into a Ghost type to avoid getting hit by a Fighting type move!"
"Zen headbutt," Alden ordered, Tracey lowering her head and lunging at Casey.
"Oh, no you don't!" Anabel shouted. "Teleport!"
Casey glowed gold and disappeared, Tracey passing harmlessly past where he was. Casey reappeared across the battlefield, lifting his spoons.
"Time for a shadow ball of our own, Miss Psychic Type!" Anabel said, Casey firing an orb of ghostly energy at Tracey.
"Tracey, quick attack," Alden ordered, Tracey dashing quickly towards the Alakazam and turning into a Normal type as she did, the ghost attack passing harmlessly through her.
"Not bad," Maddi noted. "They're both making exceptional use of their pokemon's type resistances, and getting in good hits. They seem to have a good grasp on the tactics necessary for a fight like this. It's really an amazing exchange…"
Maddi wished that she had a pokemon with the Libero or Protean ability, but they were exceptionally rare.
Anabel definitely understood Maddi's amazement. They were amazed, too! This was one of the best exchanges they'd ever had, after all. Casey was making exceptional use of his new ability, and Tracey was no slouch, either, matching him point for point. Both pokemon were wearing each other down, and it wouldn't be long before one of them would be the victor. Anabel was giving Casey as much harmonia as they could spare, but it still wasn't enough!
I'd like to use recover, they admitted, but I can't even reliably do that! After all, if I try to restore Casey's health, he'll become a Normal type. And if that happens, one of those powerful Fighting type moves is going to hit, and hit hard!
Anabel was overflowing with excitement.
This is the best ever!
"Casey! Energy ball!" Anabel ordered, much to Alden's surprise.
It was an odd choice, but one that made sense to Anabel. Of course, Casey's best recourse would be Psychic type moves. But if he used one, then Alden would counter with sucker punch, nullifying the psychic move and striking back with a super-effective blow, so Psychic type moves were out of the question. If he used a Ghost type move, the same thing, unless Alden chose to nullify it completely with a Normal type move. No Fighting type moves, either, because then he would use shadow ball.
It was such a conundrum! Anabel wanted to get things back onto a more conventional track, with elemental moves like energy ball, a Grass type move, one that would likely bait Alden into using a Fire type move.
Which, of course, was what he did.
Casey fired an orb of greenish energy at Tracey, who opened her mouth and smothered it with a blast of flames, countering it easily.
"Alright Casey! Use hidden power!"
"Hidden power?" Alden asked, surprised.
Anabel smiled.
"We've been saving this one special!" They said. "Go, Casey!"
"Oh! Clever!" Maddi said. "Hidden power could be any type of move, so until they use it, Alden won't know what type that Alakazam is turning into, which means he won't know how to counter attack until it happens!"
"But that'll only work once," Cynthia reminded her. "He'll know what to do next time."
"Careful, Tracey," Alden warned. Tracey narrowed her eyes, waiting in anticipation for what Casey would use next. Casey lifted his spoons, and orbs of light began to spin in a ring around them, widening until they circled his entire body. With a flick of his spoons he sent the orbs flying towards Tracey, who moved to dodge them, but they were too fast.
Then, halfway to her, the orbs turned bright blue, hitting the Fire type directly and causing her to let out a wail of pain.
"It's a Water type move!" Anabel revealed with a grin. "Now Casey, hit her again!"
"Alakazam!" Casey said, his eyes flashing gold as he prepared another hidden power.
Now that Alden knew it was a Water type move, though, he knew what to do. Tracey didn't have any moves that would let her resist the Water type, but she could certainly turn into a type that wouldn't be too badly harmed by it, and Alden knew just the one. If Casey wanted to use water, then he would fight with electricity!
"Tracey electro ball!" Alden ordered. Tracey pulled her foot back and gave a strong kick, firing an orb of crackling electricity at the Water type Alakazam. The two attacks collided in midair in an explosion of water and lightning, Tracey dashing in after it.
"Cinderace!" Tracey prepared another electro ball, ready to strike Casey before he could respond. But unfortunately, Anabel had plans of their own. With a smirk, Anabel raised their finger, and began to wiggle it back and forth as Casey did the same.
"Alakazam!" Casey opened his mouth… and a burst of string shot out, the thick webbing wrapping around Tracey and tying her up, much to everyone's surprise.
"String shot, huh?" Anabel said. "Not quite what I had in mind, but nice going, Casey! Now, while she's all tied up, hit her with your fire punch!"
"Alakazam!" Casey lumbered forward, raising his fist, turning into the Fire type before Tracey could take advantage of the natural weakness of Bug types to Fire type moves. Casey punched the entangled Cinderace in the gut, causing her to gasp in pain. The attack wasn't super-effective, but due to the very flammable sticky string that was tangling her up, it still did a lot more damage than a normal fire punch from an Alakazam would.
"Tracey!" Alden shouted. "Quick! While he's still a Fire type! Use counter!"
"Cinderace!" Tracey took all the damage from that fire punch and focused her energy into her leg, waiting for the moment when the flames ate through enough of the string shot to where she could move.
And move she did! Ripping her foot free, she brought it up and kicked Casey in the stomach with all her might, knocking the Alakazam off of her and sending him tumbling across the room, Casey quickly picking himself up, panting.
"So you finally became a Fighting type, huh?" Anabel noted, ignoring the pain in their side with a smile, wiping the sweat from their brow. "…Nice. Nice."
"Well?" Alden grinned. "Your move, Anabel."
Tracey waited, panting, watching Casey carefully. She was a Fighting type now, and Alden had set things up so that they were in the same situation as they had been at the beginning of this little exchange of tactics, only now the situation was reversed. Now it was Casey who was standing still, baiting her opponent into using a super-effective move, and more than ready to strike back with a sucker punch the minute that Alakazam came after her with the Psychic type attack that they both knew he was just dying to use.
But just like Alden, Anabel was not someone so easily goaded. They cracked a smile, beaming ear to ear, and shook their head.
"You really are something else, Commander," Anabel said. "You and that Cinderace of yours. No, all your pokemon. You're all so amazing. This has really been an excellent fight. And I can tell that neither one of our pokemon is able to keep it going for much longer."
Alden nodded, he could see what they meant. Tracey and Casey had both been fighting their hardest, and both only had a little bit of health left. One more well-placed move, and that would be the end of things, for either of them.
"So, what say you, we make this interesting?" Anabel asked. "I know that Tracey's preparing a sucker punch, and I say go for it. Casey's got the strength to tank one more of those. Supposing, of course, that it's a neutral hit, or a resisted one. But if it's super-effective, well, that's it for him, even with my harmonia. I can feel that much."
"So what are you saying?" Alden asked, sensing that Anabel was getting close to making a point. Whenever they did this, it was usually an idea that he liked.
"So I think it would be a smart idea… to let fate decide," Anabel said, raising their finger to emphasize their meaning. Alden nodded. They were talking about metronome. Anabel continued to explain, "so metronome can use any move at all. But I don't know which. And sucker punch will strike first. But not if it's a status move. So if metronome gives up a status move, well, that'll be the edge I need to finish things, I hope. But maybe you'll be able to respond yourself, and win. At the same time, maybe it'll be an attacking move. If it's a move that's super-effective against your Dark type, well, that's definitely going to be it. And judging by your Cinderace's health, even a neutral move might be enough, if it's the right move."
Anabel let out a sigh.
"But if it's a Ghost type move, or a Psychic type… well, that's it for us. We'd be done. Narrow odds of victory for you, I know. But like I said, it's all up to fate. Maybe you win, maybe I win, maybe it's a status move and we stalemate…"
The widest grin Alden had ever seen stretched across Anabel's face, and their eyes lit up with excitement.
"But no matter what, I know it will be amazing! So what do you say, Alden?! Let's leave it all up to chance, sound good?!"
"What a ridiculous wager," Vic scowled. "The Commander can just defeat them normally, there's no sense in this.
"I think that sounds like a great idea!" Alden nodded. His Sense was telling him that this would be perfect, that this was an amazing chance! Neither he nor Tracey believed for a second that luck would turn against their will to win, they could both sense that this was going to go in his favor. And only a fool would go against their Sense.
"That's a great idea, Commander," Vic crowed. "I'm sure you'll be able to come out the victor!"
"Thanks, Vic, I'm sure too," Alden murmured, resisting the urge to laugh.
Maddi rolled her eyes and Cynthia snickered.
"Then let's do this thing!" Anabel said, wiggling their finger back and forth.
It all comes down to the wiggle of a finger! It won't end the match, of course, both trainers still have pokemon left over. But it will certainly be the end of this little exchange of Liberos, that's for sure. What will come after it? Well, we'll just have to find out!