The Coolness Competition gets going to a strong start! Our first match is between Sango and Ayame, which of our two tomboys will emerge the victor? Luckily, Sango has quite an ace with Kanone's Samurott, maybe it will be enough!
KedharS: She does know a considerable amount of battle tactics due to her games and some help from Maddi.
FRIITA: Welcome! Glad you liked the chapter!
Guest: Sango's going to do her best. Hopefully that will help her come out on top!
Thunder Fire: Kanone isn't one for half-measures.
JoshGamerV: It's totally fair though.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 749
Cynthia was astounded by what she saw as she walked into the stands. She had expected to hold her head in disappointment, feeling apologetic for not arriving in time to give Sango a pokemon to use for the competition. But when she got there, she saw something that had astounded her, and made her confused.
Sango was fighting already! And not only was she fighting, she was doing an excellent job of fighting as well, with a pokemon that was a lot stronger-looking than any of Cynthia's pokemon, loathe as she may have been to admit it.
Cynthia didn't understand what was going on. She kept an eye out as she made it back to her seat, sitting down between Maddi and Claire.
"What's going on?" She asked, searching her friends' tense expressions for answers. "Sango's fighting? Where'd she get a pokemon?"
"I'll tell you what's happening," Blake said in amazement. He was shaking his head, still not able to believe it. "Sango's fighting against Aya using my brother's Samurott, that's what's going on. He loaned her a pokemon for the Coolness Competition, and right now…"
Blake let the comment hang there. Sango's performance was speaking for itself. Both he and Cynthia were skilled enough battlers to know that Sango was doing quite good, especially as she made the pivot from offense to defense.
"Go, Sammy! Use razor shell!" Sango ordered, preparing to strike Snows with everything she had. She didn't realize that Snows had dropped her special defense to boost her defense with Moody, considering the condition that the pokemon was in, but she was going to tell her rented pokemon to fight with everything she had regardless.
Sammy was perfectly fine with that.
Sammy raised her shell, which was shimmering sharply. Water danced around the tip. With a slash, she brought it down upon Snows' head, smashing the Ice type into the ground.
"Glalie!" Snows cried out in pain.
"Snows!" Ayame cried.
"That's a taste of razor shell!" Sango smiled. "Now, follow it with your superpower!"
"Samurott!" Sammy nodded. She gathered strength into her body, focusing her energy and preparing to smash Snows into diamond dust. Her muscles flexed and she strained herself, raising her shell sword and swinging it at Snows.
"Snows! Double team!" Ayame shouted. Luckily, Snows' Moody ability had lowered his special defense while boosting his speed, allowing him to move fast enough to create several copies of himself, keeping Sammy from landing a solid blow. "Now, Snows, use bulldoze!"
"Glalie!" Snows gathered up energy and began rolling, surging forward and dropping onto the ground. The speed of his rotations sent a shockwave through the ground that strck Sammy, bearing down on her and reducing her speed.
But even with the speed reduction, Sammy wasn't about to let herself be overcome by something like that… even though it wasn't up to her. If Sammy was fighting to her full potential, then that Glalie would be settled in a couple of hits. But Sammy wasn't interested in winning the battle for Sango. Her duty was to fight, certainly, but fight to aid Sango, not replace her.
She would hollow the trainer's orders, not act on her own. Whatever Sango wanted, that's what she was supposed to do, even if it was the wrong choice for the situation they were dealing with. That was her duty as a pokmon.
Luckily for Sammy, Sango knew quite a bit about what she was capable of, and had a good idea for what to do next.
"Hydro pump!" She ordered. Sammy reared back on her hind legs and opened her mouth, firing a massive burst of compressed water at Snows.
"Dodge it, Snows!" Ayame quickly ordered. Snows flew to the side, avoiding the blast of water, which smashed through several of his copies. But that brief movement was enough for Sammy. She could see where the Glalie had escaped to, trying to hide behind his replicas, but it was futile. Now that she knew where he was the Ice type wouldn't get away from her.
Of course, even though she knew that, it didn't mean that she would do anything with that information. It fell to Sango to tell her what to do, after all. And if Sango didn't know where the Glalie was, then there was nothing Sammy could do. Her instructions were very clear, she wasn't meant to win the battle for her, but serve as an obedient tool for the battle to help Sango grow.
"Sammy, use smart strike!" Sango ordered. Sammy blinked, pleasantly surprised. Smart strike was a move few knew she possessed, and was the type of move perfectly suited for this situation. It was a move that relied on Sammy's wisdom to find her opponent and their weak spots, tracking them perfectly and allowing her to strike, hitting them every time.
By ordering her to use smart strike, Sango was making a bit of a smart strike of her own, and Sammy was happy to oblige, lowering her horn and charging the Glalie.
Sango let out a sigh of relief. This was exactly what she had been hoping for. Sammy was a skilled pokemon, and she trusted her experience to know where the opposing pokemon had escaped to, because Sango honestly had no idea. And indeed, Sammy was preparing to strike, plowing through the Glalie clones and lunging for the other pokemon.
"Protect!" Ayame ordered. An icy blue shell formed around Snows, protecting him from the attack. Sammy's horn bounced off the barrier, and she sruck it again, desperate to break through even though it was futile. But she was no fool, further attacks wouldn't make a difference. Sammy leapt back, putting some distance between herself and Snows, which worked out perfectly for the Glalie.
Snows was in great condition. Even though his physical defense had returned to normal due to Moody, his attack had received a major stat boost in turn. And that was just what Ayame needed to deal a devastating blow.
"Now, Snows, hit her with return!" Ayame ordered.
"Yeah, it's return!" Blake cheered. None of his friends begrudged him for rooting for Ayame over Sango; after all, as hard as Sango was trying and as admirable as it was that she, someone who was a novice at pokemon battles, was nevertheless doing her best and trying to win, Ayame was still Blake's girlfriend, and that meant a lot.
Of course he wanted her to win, not even Sango could blame him for something like that. So everyone else may have been split, but Blake was holding his head up high and cheering on his girlfriend, hoping she would come out victorious.
Maybe the reason he was being so aggressively supportive though was because deep down inside he still harbored his doubts about whether or not Ayame could actually win against Sammy. Even though Kanone wasn't the one doing the fighting, Blake knew better than most people here just how powerful the Samurott was, and he was right to be worried that the pokemon would be a devastating foe that Ayame would have difficulty overcoming.
But he was going to supportively cheer her on regardless. "Come on, Aya!" He shouted. "You can do it! Take her down!"
Sango thought she heard Blake's voice in her ear, cheering Ayame on. That made her heart sting a little, but she figured that was just her imagination. Stress from the situation she found herself in piling up, not that he was actually rooting against her, even though she knew that he probably was given how he felt about Ayame.
She shrugged things off, and called out to Sammy. "Sammy! Protect!"
Sammy raised her swords to guard against the boosted attack, but Ayame wasn't going to let herself be discouraged. As Sammy created a large barrier to protect herself, Snows continued bashing against it, and boosted his speed stat even higher at the cost of his special defense next.
"Return again!" Ayame shouted. Snows pulled back, gathering strength, and flung himself at Sammy with everything he had once again. This time, Sammy couldn't raise her guard fast enough to protect against it.
But that was fine with Sango. She was counting on it, actually, knowing what was needed in order to defeat Ayame and her Glalie.
"It's okay, Sammy!" She shouted. "Withstand the attack as best as you can!" This was risky. Time was counting down quickly, and she had to make sure this attack landed in time for the timer to catch it, but not too quickly lest she give Snows a chance to score a counterattack. Sango wasn't sure how "cool" she had battle so far, but she had to assume that they were just about equal. And she needed to make sure that they could pull ahead, rather than stay behind.
"Glalie!" Snows bellowed, hitting Sammy directly with a powerful tackle. Between his boosted attack stat and his affection for the trainer who so devotedly cared for him and trained him to be the best, his return attack was seriously devastating.
But that level of power was what Sango was hoping for.
"Sammy!" She shouted. "Use revenge!"
"Samurott!" Sammy roared, feeling very pleased with the trainer. She knew as well as Sango did, more even, what was needed to be done to win. Sammy reared back and raised her swords, her muscles flexing as she took all the damage that had been inflicted upon her, and brought it to bear upon the opposing pokemon in a powerful slash filled with vengeance.
As Sammy struck, Sango watched the clock anxiously. This wasn't good! The attacks had come too fast, she wasn't able to run out the clock in time! That meant Ayame and Snows would be able to strike back with a counterattack that could tilt things in their favor, end-
"SAMUROTT!" Sammy's roar was even louder than Sango had expected. The sound of her shell striking Snows echoed through the dome, and she smashed Snows down into the ground with a powerful strike. The Ice type pokemon didn't stand a chance, having been completely knocked out by the blow, lying motionless on the ground.
Sango's jaw dropped in surprise. That had… not been what she had expected.
"…Well, so much for being worried about a counterattack," Sango muttered, seeing just what state Snow was in after that exchange of blows. He was lying on the ground, unconscious, unable to fight back long before the timer ticked down to zero.
"Well, it looks like the first round of the tournament is a decisive victory for Sango Akana!" Lukas proclaimed. "Ayame certainly did her best, but her Glalie couldn't withstand the aggressive revenge attack from Sango's borrowed Samurott! But she did manage to get some good blows in, the question now becomes will Sango be able to recover her Samurott's strength in time for the next rounds, or did Ayame succeed in weakening her enough?"
Ayame didn't care about though. She recalled Snows to his pokeball, beaming at Sango. "Sango!" She called from across the battlefield. "That was amazing! You really know what you're doing when it comes to pokemon battles!"
Sango blinked in surprise, blushing a little as she recalled Sammy for a good rest. "Thank…" her voice cut out, "thank you, Ayame!"
"Good job, Sango!" Blake called. Even though he had been rooting for Ayame to win, he had no qualms with cheering Sango on after her victory, both girls had done their best.
"Yeah, way to go, Sango!" Cynthia called down.
"Nice work." Even Maddi was getting in on the cheering, though nowhere near loud enough for Sango to hear.
All of her friends were cheering her on with support, which helped her stand a little taller as she walked off the stage.
"Well, that was quite a nice match between our two first competitors!" Lukas chirped. "They certainly put on a fierce battle that I hopewill set the tone for this Coolness Competition! Now, here come two more girls who will hopefully give us an even more impressive performance! Darla Drake and Lila Seelie!"
As the audience cheered, Darla and Lila walked out onto the stage, staying silent as they looked at each other. Lila was smiling, but Darla wasn't.
"Now this is quite an exciting situation to be in," Lukas said, cracking a grin. "These two lovely ladies are the partner idol duo Grimm Fantasia! But while they often work in perfect synergy, today they find themselves facing off against one another! Who will win?! Darla Drake, the cool beauty, or Lila Seelie, the adorable fairy lover? Let's begin this exciting second match!"
"Wow, Darla, I'm super nervous!" Lila admitted, cracking a smile. "I'm not used to pokemon battles after all!"
Darla didn't say anything. She quietly fumed, and sighed. "Okay, Lila, if that's the game you want to play, then let's go with that. Melody!"
Darla threw her pokeball into the air, which her Altaria emerged from, flying into the air.
"Melody!" Lila brightened, waving at the large bird. "Heya, Melody! How are you doing?"
"Altaria!" Melody chirped, her face brightening as well as she saw the girl across from her. She had to look back at Darla to confirm once again that Lila was her intended opponent.
"Yup, that's who were fighting," Darla sighed. She didn't like battling against Lila on principle, since the girl was her close friend and partner. But even if they were strangers, Lila's team of Fairy types made things between the two of them… complicated.
"Okay, who should I use?" Lila asked herself, tapping her finger against her chin. "Oh! I know! Come out, Vivy!"
Lila tossed her pokeball into the air. The ball capsule flashed, and her Ribombee emerged in a swirl of pollen, a sweet scent filling the stage.
"What do you think, Darla?!" Lila called. "Isn't Vivy just the cutest? She's definitely the best pokemon for fighting against Melody, because they're both so soft and cuddly and fluffy, right? This is going to be os much fun!"
Darla's eye twitched in irritation. "Lila, use realize Bug type pokemon are weak against Flying types like Melody, right?"
Of course she knew that. Babies knew that, it was one of the first pokemon facts that people learned, birds eat bugs. But of course, Lila's role meant she was supposed to come across like a complete and total idiot.
"Eh?!" Lila gasped in shock. "No way, seriously? …Oh, well, not like I can do anything about it now!" She laughed, shrugging her shoulders. "We'll just have to do our best!"
"…Yeah," Darla muttered, not amused in the slightest by her performance. "…'Do our best' huh… Melody! Hit her with your flamethrower attack, now!"
The timer was already ticking down, and Darla didn't have time for games.
"Oh no, flames!" Lila gasped. "Quick, Vivy! Use powder!"
"Ribombee!" Vivy buzzed. He flapped her wings and sent a gust of powder across the battlefield quickly, before Melody could get off her flamethrower. The powder settled down, filling the air around Melody with a thin cloud. And when the flames left Melody's beak, the powder detonated.
A chain of explosions shook Melody, the Altaria crying out in pain.
"Seriously, Lila? Powder?" Darla hissed. "You don't think you're blowing your cover a little bit with that one?" She whispered through gritted teeth. No way would an "idiot" like Lila know anything about the interaction between a move as obscure as powder and a move like Melody's flamethrower attack.
Lila blinked, flashing an innocent smile. "No? I don't know what you're talking about, Darla!" She giggled, shrugging her shoulders.
"…Oh, great…" Darla sighed, slumping her shoulders. That was no ordinary smile Lila was wearing, Darla knew that look well.
Lila had not come to play games.
"Now, Vivy! Use, um… Darla, what was that move? The one that boosts us really good?" Lila called to her partner.
Darla wanted to scream. Instead, she shouted back "Lila, I'm not going to help you, you have to figure it out yourself!"
"Okay!" Lila called back. She shrugged her shoulders. She had intended to give Darla a chance to play things up and stay in character, but if her partner didn't want to play along there wasn't much she could do about it, was there? "Vivy, use quiver dance!"
As Melody recovered from the chain of explosions, Vivy dance through the air, picking up speed and boosting her special stats.
"Now, Vivy, hit her with stun spore!" Lila ordered.
Vivy darted forward and flapped her wings, spraying a wave of pollen upon Melody.
"Oh, no you don't!" Darla shouted. "Safeguard!"
Recovering, Melody created a reflective barrier around her body. The stun spore landed on her, but due to the magic barrier it slid off her cottony down without paralyzing her even slightly. Darla wasn't just going to roll over and let Lila get the better of her.
"Now, Melody, use hurricane!" Darla ordered. She'd chosen to rely on Melody because the pokemon's Flying type moves would be the perfect counter to Alcea's Grass types, but they also allowed her to have quite an edge of Lila's Ribombee as well.
Assuming, of course, that Lila wasn't fighting all-out. No such luck.
"Altaria!" Melody called, flapping her large wings and creating a massive tornado. The raging storm roared across the battlefield, tearing towards Vivy, who fluttered about like a helpless little bug before the storm, even though Darla and Lila both knew otherwise.
"Vivy, light screen," Lila quickly ordered. A large barrier of pink light appeared around Vivy, the wind striking against the barrier. Normally, an attack of that power would have completely blown the tiny bug pokemon away, but Vivy was nice and safe from the raging maelstrom from behind her cute little force field.
"…Yeah! That's the way to do it!" Lila winked to her pokemon. Her cheering fans in the audience went will in support, Lila certainly knew how to play to the crowd.
Darla held her tongue to keep from grunting in frustration. That wasn't how they were supposed to act, of course. Exasperation, sure, but not frustration. She kept a cool look on her face, playing her part, not letting Lila get to her. She was a professional, after all.
"Now Vivy, use moonblast!" Lila ordered.
"Riiiiiii!" Vivy buzzed, raising her tiny hands. She gathered light in front of her, sculpting it into a sphere of fairy energy. With a simple push she sent the orb of fairy energy flying across the battlefield, slamming into Melody and knocking the dragon pokemon out of the air.
"Altaria!" Melody cried.
"Sorry, Melody!" Lila called, winking at the dragon she adored. "But we're doing the best we can, don't get mad at us!"
Lila was simply giving it her all! She couldn't be blamed for that!
So Sango won her first match, against Ayame! And next is Darla vs. Lila! Will Lila come out the victor? Or will Darla's experience let her take the lead? We'll have to see!