Ange's got an incredibly powerful Tauros. With the amount that she's boosted up the pokemon's strength, the Tauros should be able to destroy anything in her path! Alden was able to counter by sending out his Mimikyu, who was able to counter Tauros' stab moves, but will she be enough to defeat this monster of a pokemon? We'll have to find out.
Hyphenman: Ange has a very distinct personality and has a lot of conviction. Given her origins, that shouldn't be a surprise.
KedharS: True, for now he has the advantage. We'll have to see how long that can last.
Gilgamesh50: That's what they would do if they were decent people.
GymNatty321: They won't let me stop, send help.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1124
Ange's Tauros was a monster. Alden could tell that a single hit from her and Mimi would be finished off. She was fast, but she wasn't THAT fast. He'd have to think things through and decide what to do. And it wasn't like Ange was giving him a lot of time to think.
"Mimi, use play rough," Alden ordered. He had to count on Mimi's small stature making her a smaller target. Mimi charged forward, ducking around Sati's hooves, and slammed up into her stomach with her wood mallet, causing the Tauros to let out a pained cry. Sati stumbled back, but only grew more enraged.
"Nice work, Mimi," Alden congratulated her. "Now, use play rough again!"
"Mimikyu!" Mimi chirped, striking at Sati again. But to her surprise, Sati jumped back. Alden was startled by that as well. Until now, the Tauros had been fighting by charging forward, but now she was evading the attacks!
Ange smirked. "Nicely done, Sati!" She called. "Now use stomping tantrum!"
Having avoided the Mimikyu's strike, Sati was prepared to strike at the pokemon. Mimi was wide open and Sati slammed right into her, smashing her flat beneath her hooves.
But Ange wasn't happy about it. Her smile turned into a scowl, because she knew what had just happened. And her Tauros did, too.
"Sati, prepare yourself," she ordered. "That attack didn't hit anything substantive."
Mimi had switched into a substitute, allowing Sati to tromp a piece of worn cloth flat. That meant that she'd evaded the attack. She reappeared again, gathering her power, and struck Sati from behind with her play rough attack. Sati roared with pain and slapped at Mimi with her tails, but she passed right through her.
"Mimikyu!" Mimi scurried away before Sati could strike back with something substantive, and the Tauros charged after her. That was exactly what she'd been hoping for, however, because the Mimikyu began to move from side to side, creating multiple copies of herself that allowed her to evade the Tauros' charge.
"Good work, Mimi," Alden encouraged. But he knew that they still weren't playing the odds. Sati was still mostly healthy, and was still using stomping tantrum; one misstep, and Mimi would be finished off for good.
…Or will she? Alden stared at his Mimikyu. Mimi was in pretty good shape. She hadn't taken any damage herself yet. And that Tauros might have incredible strength, but Mimi's defenses weren't nothing, either.
It would be risky, but there was still a chance.
If we're wrong, then we're about to get seriously hurt, Alden thought, biting his lip. But there was no time for doubts. "Mimi!" He called. "Go and use baby-doll eyes!"
"Mimikyu!" Mimi appeared from her forest of copies and batted her tiny eyes, drawing Sati's attention. Enraged, the Tauros charged at her, unleashing the full might of a stomping tantrum on her tiny little foe.
"No!" Rui cried. What was Alden doing? That attack must have slaughtered Mimi!
"Mi… mikyu…" Mimi wheezed. Sati had smushed her flat, and she just barely managed to get back up, in really bad shape.
"Mimi, are you okay?!" Alden asked. It was a dumb question, he could see that Mimi was in bad shape. Her health was down to a couple of slivers.
"I see, so that's what you did," Ange said. "Using baby-doll eyes, you were able to make a chink in Sati's attacking strength. So your Mimikyu wasn't knocked out."
"She's still around," Alden said, nodding. To prove his point, Mimi bobbed her flopping head in agreement.
"Maybe she is," Ange admitted. "But that doesn't mean you'll be able to do much with her! Sati, finish her off for good!"
"Tauros!" Sati bellowed, returning her attacking strength to the maximum with work up.
"That's fine with us," Alden replied. "Mimi! Time for pain split!"
"Oh!" Anabel brightened. "Hey, yeah! That's what she can do!"
"What's going on?" Rui asked, confused. "What's pain split?"
Vic was the one who provided the answer. She was smiling herself. "Pain split is one of Mimi's best attacks," she said. Using her ghostly powers, she can combine her health with her opponent and redistribute it between them. Basically, she can add that Tauros' health to her own, and then cut it in half."
"Really?" Rui asked, her eyes widening. "But isn't Mimi almost out of health?"
"That's why it works so well," Vic said proudly. "In her present condition, Mimi will take almost half of that Tauros' health, to add it to her own."
"Rrrgh!" Ange clenched her jaw to resist from screaming in rage as she felt Sati drained of a massive amount of her health. "Don't think you can get away with something like that!"
"Oh, I think we can," Alden said. "Your Tauros had a decent amount of health left, and Mimi was almost dead. Now they're both about the same."
Indeed, Mimi got stronger as Sati weakened, and the Mimikyu was the happier of the two. With a roar, Sati charged angrily at the Mimikyu, on a wild rampage.
Mimi cackled, raising her hammer to release a powerful play rough to knock the attacking Tauros unconscious.
"If we hit, you'll still faint!" Ange reminded him. "Smart strike!"
Alden was caught off-guard by that. "Wait, what?!"
Sati smirked. Her horns sharpened and began to glow, and she increased in speed, dancing around Mimi's attack, taking her by surprise from behind.
"Mimi!" Alden cried. Sati drove her horns into the Mimikyu's back, and she yelled out in pain. Hitting the ground, Mimi sank into the floor, deflating like a worn rag. She lost consciousness immediately.
"And it's over," Ange said. She wasn't about to admit how much that attack had caused her to sweat. She hadn't thought that Alden's pokemon would do that much damage. She'd expected Sati to knock her out easily. But unfortunately, she was too wild with her stomping tantrums. She'd been forced to overwrite what Sati wanted to do with her own will.
If that was a normal fight, it never would have happened. Sati would have kept rampaging until she lost consciousness. But her new harmonia gave her the luxury to assert her will, and that's exactly what she did, making her pokemon use smart strike to win.
She couldn't let the Commander see her sweat. "Alright, Commander, send out your next pokemon," she said, waiting for him to recall Mimi back to her pokeball. Alden said nothing as he returned her, knowing she'd done her best.
That Tauros is an absolute beast… She'd almost taken out Finn, and HAD managed to defeat Mimi. And even after the injuries she'd sustained, it didn't look like she'd be going down anytime soon. It was a really difficult position he found himself in.
"Jaune, I'll have to count on you," he decided, sending his Vikavolt back out. Jaune had done a great job paralyzing Mami and Belle, and he hoped that he would be able to do something about the Tauros as well. Sati was a major threat, and Jaune was one of his few pokemon with the agility to evade her and the power to take her down.
"Vika!" Jaune buzzed, emerging from his pokeball.
Ange rolled her eyes. "I assume you'll be trying for thunder wave again? Do you think my Tauros somehow doesn't know façade?"
"We'll see," Alden shrugged. He was counting on Jaune either way. Hopefully the Vikavolt could match the Tauros.
"Well, fine then," she scoffed. At least Sati has enough sense to not go wild with stomping tantrum against a pokemon with levitate.
"Tauros!" Sati bellowed, charging at Jaune. She was moving like a freight train, and Ange already anticipated that Alden's response would be a thunder wave.
So when it didn't come, she was caught off-guard.
"Jaune, use double team," he ordered, and his Vikavolt moved from side to side to evade the attack, creating several copies of himself that Sati plowed right through. But of course, the charging bull could only go in a straight line, meaning she wasn't even close to hitting the real thing.
"Nicely done," Alden cheered. "Now, hit her from behind with sticky web!" He ordered.
"Vika!" Jaune appeared from the cluster of decoys and opened his mandibles, firing a burst of webbing out from his jaw and striking Sati from behind. Bellowing, Sati struggled against the webs, trying to break free, but she couldn't.
"Ugh…" Ange could feel the sticky webs clinging to her skin, and swatted against them involuntarily. It didn't help, she still felt tingly and gross.
"Great job!" Alden nodded. Now Sati was bound and couldn't get away. "Now use volt switch and come on back!"
"Vika," Jaune buzzed, building up a current of electricity around his body. He flew towards the struggling Tauros and released it in a burst, striking the Tauros and returning to his pokeball at the same time for another pokemon.
"Now Finn, come back out!" Alden quickly replaced Jaune with Finn, sending out his Swampert to get some revenge.
"Swampert!" Finn roared, emerging from his pokeball and charging at the stuck Tauros.
"Sati, break free!" Ange shouted. She strained against the imaginary threads, feeling Sati's rage building up more and more as she couldn't get out. The webbing was just making it worse for them both, and Finn was capitalizing on it.
"Finn, liquidation!" Alden ordered. Torrent was active, and without hydro pump liquidation was the strongest Water type move Finn had at his disposal.
"SWAMPERT!" Finn roared, coating his body with water as he increased his speed, charging at the stuck Tauros. He lowered his head and drove his shoulder into the Normal type pokemon, pushing her loose from the webs and knocking hr across the battlefield.
Ange was nearly knocked off her feet herself. She felt pain blossom across her chest and started gasping for breath. Sati was filled with rage and frustration as she struggled to her feet, but even her wrath couldn't overcome the damage inflicted to her.
"Taur… ros…" Sati rasped, stumbling forward. But she collapsed onto the ground, losing consciousness before she could move forward.
Ange sighed and recalled her Tauros to her pokeball. Sati had done the best she could, but all the power she'd built up hadn't amounted to much.
"Beel, you're next," she snarled, sending out a bulky Snorlax next. Alden had gotten a tiny sneak peak at what the Snorlax was capable of thanks to Mami's assist attack, and he suspected that this would be another troublesome target, especially considering how close to defeat Finn already was. He could easily imagine the Snorlax overpowering his Swampert, which meant that he had to take Finn out of the battle fast.
Luckily, Jaune had helped in that regard. By using sticky web, he hadn't just limited the movement of Sati, he had also covered Ange's side of the field in a thick, sticky substance that made it hard to walk over. That thread had already gotten tangled around the Snorlax, rendering her in a condition where she was finding it hard to move.
Alden was still suspicious though. He suspected that he'd probably be doubtful of any pokemon Ange sent out, at least until her Zoroark was defeated.
Nothing he could do though, other than attack.
"Okay, Finn! Jaune gave us this opportunity, so let's not squander it!" Alden said. As his Swampert was faster than the Snorlax, this was the best move at his disposal. "Use flip turn!"
"Swampert!" Finn nodded. He coated his body in water and charged at the Snorlax, slamming into her with his shoulder. Using the bulky flabs on her stomach as a springboard, he leapt back and returned to his pokeball as Alden switched him out for Jaune again.
"Vikavolt!" Jaune emerged already crackling with electricity, aimed right at the Snorlax. Tangled up in the sticky web, there wasn't a lot that Beel could do. And due to her size, she was the perfect target to aim for.
"Jaune, zap cannon!" Alden ordered. Jaune spread his mandibles and created a throbbing orb of black energy. It was electricity so compressed it was practically a solid mass. Using the long protrusions as a barrel from a gun he fired the electric attack at the Snorlax.
It moved incredibly slowly, but even as Beel struggled to dodge, she couldn't do much with her legs gummed up by the sticky web. All she managed to do was trip over her tiny legs, flopping onto the ground with a massive belly flop.
The effect was instantaneous. The hulking pokemon hit the ground and the entire tower shook, nearly collapsing it felt like. And now Beel was really stuck. Even as she tried to get out of the webs, there was nothing she could really do, and the zap cannon struck her in the back.
"SNORLAX!" Beel bellowed painfully, and Ange winced as she felt the electric current run through her. But she'd taken a lot worse back in the day, this much was nothing.
"We won't give into something like this…" Ange snarled. But her body felt heavy and sluggish, like her muscles refused to work. There was nothing she could do.
"It's paralysis!" Vic smirked. "Nicely done, Jaune!" She was very proud that Alden's pokemon was so successful in paralyzing Ange's pokemon; even if they had façade, it was still a very positive turn of events.
Ange was quick to accommodate, however. "Beel, use rest," she ordered, having her Snorlax fall asleep immediately.
"Snorlax…" Beel yawned, going right to bed, much to Alden's surprise. Zap cannon had done damage, but not THAT much damage. And if it was just to get rid of the paralysis, it's not like Ange made things much better for herself when her pokemon was fast asleep. Unless she could fight while sleeping like Corin could, but he doubted that was the case.
Then, to his shock, Beel sprang up awake with a yawn, tearing free of the webbing. Alden didn't know what to make of that.
"Well… that's certainly a surprise," he mumbled, shaking his head. "So you woke up that fast, huh? Interesting."
"It's nothing so special," Ange said, shaking her head. "It's due to the effect of the chesto berry. Beel is rather gluttonous, you see, like all Snorlax. She couldn't resist devouring some delicious berries in order to wake her up from her nap."
"Well, that's certainly something," Alden admitted. "But that'll only work once! Jaune, paralyze her again with thunder wave!"
"Vikavolt!" Jaune built up more electricity, releasing it in a shockwave that slammed into Beel and paralyzed her.
"Beel, recycle," Ange ordered. Beel yawned and scratched her belly, ignoring the paralysis. She pulled a chesto berry out of somewhere Alden didn't even want to know, and devoured it immediately. "…And rest."
…And Beel promptly went back to sleep, curing her paralysis. Then she woke up due to the lingering effects of the chesto berry she'd eaten, fully healed.
Alden could see where this was going, and he didn't like it at all. "Jaune, you've got to stop her!" He ordered. "Thunderbolt!"
"Vikavolt!" Jaune buzzed, building up electricity to fire at the Snorlax.
"Recycle again," Ange finished, and Beel created another chesto berry as the thunderbolt landed on her. The special defense of the Snorlax was such that a move like that didn't do much damage to her, but it was still really bad for the situation Alden found himself in.
"This really isn't good," Anabel said, biting their lip. They had a Snorlax themselves, and knew what this situation meant. "Snorlax are really bulky and hard to deal with normally, but this is something else altogether. By restoring her health with rest and recycling her held berry, that Snorlax has created a situation where defeating her is almost impossible!"
Vic didn't like to admit it, but they were right. "The best thing the Commander can do is burn through all that Snorlax's rest attacks, but that's not exactly a great strategy… damn it! Why won't you fight fair, you bitch?!"
Ange ignored Vic's scornful words, focusing her attention on the Commander. "Come on, Alden," she taunted him. "What do you have to deal with Beel's colossal appetite?"
Jaune scowled at her, but didn't answer her question. There was still one thing he could think of doing, and hoped it would work.
"Jaune, guillotine!" He ordered. It was a very risky move, but the only one he really had left. If his Vikavolt could knock out that Snorlax, then everything would be perfect.
"Vikavolt!" Jaune buzzed, spreading his jaws wide and flying right for the Snorlax. He clamped his mandibles down on the pokemon's throat, trying to knock him out with his attack. Snorlax let out a roar of pain and Ange found it hard to breathe for a moment, but that was it.
Ange smirked.
"Is that really all you have?" She asked scornfully, as a shadow crossed Alden's face.
So guillotine wasn't enough to beat her… meaning that Snorlax must be an incredibly high level, he judged.
It was a given that Ange's pokemon were strong, but his brother's Zeraora was the only pokemon he knew that could take a guillotine from Jaune and not flinch.
"I must admit, that clamp stings a bit," Ange admitted. "With as thick as Beel's neck is, it's rather hard to breathe. But that's really it. And while we're on the subject… gunk shot!"
"Snorlax!" Beel belched, and fired a blast of sludge from her mouth that hit Jaune at close range. Crying in pain, Jaune let the Snorlax go, flying back to put some distance between them.
"So not only does she have incredible resilience due to her rest+recycle combo, but she's also got offensive power," Anabel said, narrowing their eyes. "This isn't good. That Snorlax is a real monster, just like that Tauros!"
Rui started to sweat. At this point, she wasn't sure if any of Ange's pokemon WEREN'T monstrous!
So Ange's used her latest trump card, an incredibly powerful Snorlax whose gluttony allows her to keep going forever with the power of recycling chesto berries. An incredibly annoying and persistent strategy that I used myself back in the day, though not to nearly as great an effect as here. But what can I say? I was feeling nostalgic and wanted to give the combo some shine.