Ian and Chloe's battle continues, but things aren't going well. Ian's lost the first pokemon in this matchup, so Chloe's taken the lead with her Fletchling's Gale Wings ability! It's difficult, dealing with such a fast pokemon, does Ian have another strategy he can think of to defeat her? Hopefully he can deal with Phenex before the little guy causes more damage!
KedharS: It definitely looks like he's in bad shape. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes, that's for sure! But he's probably got some sort of plan, the match is young!
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Donoma's just saying it like it is, that's the thing. Chloe should stop being a stalker.
Hyphenman: I'm glad you've come around! I put a lot of effort into these battles, and it's good that people are appreciating them! I hope this fight can live up to your expectations as well!
Tambry96bj: Well, Chloe's pretty good at keeping how she feels to herself, so I don't know what it would take to make her snap.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1143
Most of the time, Ian was a pretty positive person. He focused on fighting with his pokemon and aspired to become a better trainer, but most of all, like the Commander and so many others in the Battle Course, he just genuinely loved pokemon battles.
Right now, though, he couldn't focus on enjoyment. Or even on his dream of becoming a Pokemon Master. This was a fight just to keep his own individuality, and rescue one of his schoolmates as well. He couldn't treat this like an ordinary fight.
…Which was pretty bad, because right now he was wishing it WAS an ordinary fight. He could feel the pressure building up against him, and even though he didn't know the specifics, even he could tell he was in a pretty tough position. Sure, he'd only lost one pokemon, but Sapphire was probably the only pokemon he had who could go toe to toe with that Fletchling in terms of speed. Without her, he'd need to rely on his bulkier pokemon that could withstand the bird's attacks and fire back.
He had a few pokemon that could fill that role, but Iron was the best at it. Only problem was, that strategy was exactly what Chloe had wanted him to do in the first place.
I don't know what she's planning… but she seems to be refusing to yield, even after what her Fletchling has gone through, Ian noted. Because of the overheat Phenex had fired to turn the tide of the fight, his special attack had harshly dropped. No more flames from him. Which meant that taking down the physically defensive Iron would be even more difficult, what, with the poison starting to wear him down already.
So why were Ian's instincts screaming at him that this was a bad idea?
No, I have to trust myself, Ian thought, calming down. Iron is a strong pokemon. I don't want to risk him carelessly, not when I don't know what other pokemon Chloe has at her disposal. Like she said, this is a battle of information, and in the end I just don't know enough about what her and her pokemon are capable of.
"Hey, Ian!" Donoma's sharp call broke through the cloud of thoughts swirling around in his skull. He turned to look at her.
"If you keep standing there thinking, even your stalker's going to get bored, you know," Donoma said with a smirk.
"Stop calling me that!" Chloe screeched, her face lighting up with fury. That joke was really starting to get old.
Ian sighed and shook his head. When he'd first met Donoma, she seemed like a sweet and considerate girl with a good head on her shoulders for pokemon battles. And while he could still see those parts in her, it seemed that there was a more mischievous side to her as well.
Well, he couldn't bring himself to be concerned with that. He had to focus on the battle in front of him right now.
"Lazuli! Come back out!" Ian shouted, sending out his Lumineon again. The fish pokemon landed in the river, but as she entered the water the sharp stones hovering around it sliced into her scales, injuring her even more.
"Are you sure that's a wise choice?" Chloe asked. "How much more damage do you think she'll be able to take?"
Ian just smiled. "Lazuli can take more than you think," he assured her. "Plus, now that the water's clear, she has a lot more room to swim!"
He was right about that. The electric terrain had cleared away, revealing the grass and the river bank. Things were open for Lazuli to take advantage of the wide-open space and get to swimming. Against another Flying type pokemon, she'd have a pretty good advantage.
But Phenex had Gale Wings, which meant that speed was a nonfactor in his attacking prowess.
"Well, fine," Chloe said, shrugging. "Far be it from me to stop you from making a mistake! Phenex, use dual wingbeat!"
"Fletchling!" Phenex flapped his wings and shot through the air, fading into a blur. He appeared in the center of the cage of stealth rocks, poised to strike Lazuli before she could strike back. Swinging his wings, he struck her hard in the back.
"Lumineon!" Lazuli cried in pain, splashing frantically in the water. But then she smiled. And Ian smiled too.
"There's a reason I chose Lazuli," Ian informed Chloe, "and it wasn't just because of the speed of her ice beam attack. I've been paying attention to how your Fletchling battles, you know. He relies on Fire type moves for long-range assaults, but all his Flying type moves require him to get in close to land an attack, isn't that right?"
Chloe narrowed her eyes. "So what's your point?"
"That's the reason I chose Lazuli," Ian explained. "Because to attack her, Phenex would have to come close to the water, and that's precisely where we shine!"
"Lumineon!" Lazuli nodded in agreement.
"Just take a look at your bird!" Ian pointed at the Fletchling, who was struggling to stay in the air. His wings were soaking wet!
"Phenex!" Chloe gasped. "What did you do?"
"I have Lazuli soak him in water," Ian replied. "Using soak, he turned from a Normal/Flying type into a Water type pokemon! So even though his Gale Wings ability gives priority to all his Flying type moves, he won't be able to get a boost from those moves being the same type any longer!"
Chloe scowled. "But that means he'll take less damage from your Water and Ice type attacks as well!" And that wasn't the only issue. All she'd need to do was call Phenex back to his pokeball for a little while to let his wings dry out. Since stealth rock was only set on one side of the field, there was no disadvantage in doing that.
"Phenex, return!" She said, reaching up to recall her Fletchling.
"We won't let you escape!" Ian snapped. "Lazuli, use whirlpool!"
Now that Phenex wasn't attacking, with his wings weighed down from the water he was exceptionally slower than his opponent. That meant Lazuli had the chance to strike with a move of her own! The water in the river rose up to circle around her, forming a spout that engulfed the bird pokemon as well. It didn't do much damage, but the swift and strong current kept the light of the pokeball from reaching its target.
"No!" Chloe groaned in frustration.
"And now that he's immobilized, we can hit with u-turn!" Ian ordered. This wasn't an aerial battle anymore. Now Lazuli had the advantage in the water, and she was making full use of it. She swam at top speed towards the trapped bird, tackling him directly.
"Fletchling!" Phenex wailed in pain as he was knocked back. Without his Flying type resistance the Bug type attack did neutral damage.
Ian recalled Lazuli to her pokeball as Chloe seethed, feeling the pain her Fletchling was in.
I must have underestimated just how much reserves Lazuli had left, Chloe rationalized, chastising herself for her recklessness. She must have taken less damage from that thunderbolt than I thought. But still, if he keeps switching her back in, the stealth rocks should still wear her down.
It all depended on what pokemon Ian chose next, and the choice was a surprising one.
"Fluorite, come back out!" Ian ordered, sending out his Trevenant.
"Seriously?" Donoma was surprised. "Dude, you know that you can use more than three pokemon, right?"
"It's fine," Ian assured her with a grin. "This is all part of my strategy. Right, Fluorite?"
"Trevenant!" Fluorite bellowed, ignoring the sharp rocks scraping against his bark.
"Oh, hey," Donoma said, mildly surprised. "He doesn't seem to be that slow anymore."
"Hey, yeah!" Tommy was surprised as well. With the other two battles having come to a close, more people were flocking towards Ian to see how he was handling things. "So what gives? Didn't that Raichu paralyze him?"
"Fluorite's ability is Natural Cure," Ian explained. "That's part of the reason I switched him out. So now that he's back in action, his paralysis is fully healed!"
"Nice!" Keya cheered.
"But is this still a good matchup?" Vic wondered. "Even in that state, the ability of that Fletchling is nothing to scoff at. Your Trevenant will still take some serious damage from Flying moves."
"Aerial ace!" Chloe ordered, as if trying to prove Vic's point. Phenex disappeared, slashing into Fluorite before the Trevenant could even respond. But the bulky tree held his ground well.
"It's definitely, an issue, but not a major one," Ian admitted. "That's not why I switched him out in the first place. As a Normal/Flying type, that Fletchling could resist just about everything Fluorite could throw at him, but now…"
"Now he's a Water type!" Marion gasped, knowing better than anyone here what that meant. A broad smile crossed her face.
"That's right!" Ian said, nodding to his friend. "Go, Fluorite! Use grass knot!"
"Trevenant!" Fluorite raised his arms, sending power into the grass beneath his rooted feet. The grass began to glow, stretching up and reaching for the Fletchling like so many countless tentacles. It was a testament to Phenex's speed that he wasn't caught immediately.
"Fletchling!" But he couldn't get away forever. The grass wrapped around him, holding him tight. The attack didn't do much damage considering how light Phenex was, but it was excellent for holding him immobile.
"Phenex, get out of there!" Chloe shouted. "Use ember to burn away the grass!"
"Fletch!" Phenex spat out burning embers onto his bonds, but with the reduction to his special attack he couldn't get a fire hot enough to burn to burn it all away. More blades of grass rose up to take the place of the ones he burned away, and it soon became apparent how helpless the bird really was.
"Without your speed and agility, you can't do much," Ian said. "Fluorite, finish this with your horn leech attack!"
"Trevenant!" Fluorite lowered his head, sharp branches jutting out of the wood. He charged at the struggling Fletchling.
"Use overheat again," Chloe ordered, even though she knew how futile it was. She tapped into her harmonia and directed it all into special attack, hoping to leave the tree pokemon with at least a little bit of a stinging reminder of their fight.
The white-hot flame that erupted from Phenex's beak couldn't compare with the last overheat attack the Fletchling had used. It hit Fluorite directly, but barely slowed him down. The Trevenant slammed into Phenex at full force, sending him flying out of the grass. The rest of Phenex's strength was drained from him as Fluorite recovered his health.
Chloe winced, feeling her pokemon fall. The snap of the harmonia connection severing was rough. She recalled Phenex to her pokeball, and considered her next option.
This battle wasn't going the way she'd planned at all. Chloe had been expecting Phoenix to be the perfect counter to Fluorite. But that was back when he was still a Phantump. He was a Trevenant now, and had handily beaten the bird pokemon with the help of the rest of Ian's team. And now she found herself in a situation with few good options.
She took out her premier ball. "Chiyome, it's up to you!"
With a snap of her wrist, she sent out her Greninja. The frog pokemon stood crouched in the grass across from Fluorite, her sharp eyes studying the tree pokemon carefully. Unlike most Greninja her tongue was not wrapped around her throat; rather, an actual scarf made out of purple cloth was there instead.
"So she just lost one pokemon due to it becoming a Water type, and her solution is to send out another Water type?" Donoma asked, raising her eyebrow and smirking. "That doesn't sound like a bright idea if you ask me."
"You weren't here when the Children of the Oracles attacked, so you don't know," Tommy said, scowling. "But that Greninja… she's a force to be reckoned with."
"Hmm…" Donoma hummed absentmindedly. Well, I suppose if she has the Protean ability then it doesn't really matter what her type is, does it?
"Chiyome, double team!" Chloe ordered.
"Greninja," Chiyome nodded, holding her fingers in front of her face in a hand sign. Several copies of the frog pokemon appeared out of thin air.
"Well, I suppose it's expected for a ninja to know the shadow clone jutsu," Ian admitted. "It must have seemed fun when I did it, huh?"
Chloe wasn't smiling. "Now, night slash!"
"Gren!" Chiyome ran forward and raised her hand, creating a blade of dark energy. But she wasn't the only one. A whole swarm of frogs were coming Fluorite's way.
"Fluorite, will-o-wisp," Ian ordered.
"Trevenant!" Fluorite summoned several orbs of ghostly fire that hovered around him in the air, and flung them at the approaching wave of pokemon. Several of the orbs passed through copies, but one of them was severed before it could hit. That was Fluorite's target!
"Nice work tracking down the real one," Ian smiled. "Now, horn leech!"
With his target locked on, Fluorite charged into the crowd of Greninja, lowering his head and lashing out at the frog with his sharp branches. But he never hit the real one.
"You tracked down Chiyome's location, but you forget, she's far faster than you are," Chloe reminded him. "She can easily evade your slow Trevenant."
And that was precisely what happened. Chiyome leapt to the side, deftly evading Fluorite's horn leech, and slashing down at him with her shadow blade.
"Trevenant!" Fluorite roared with pain, tumbling over from the attack. Chiyome had scored a critical hit! And she wasn't done there.
"Now, before he can recover, use dark pulse," Chloe ordered.
"Greninja!" Chiyome leapt back, putting some distance between herself and Fluorite, and focused her blade into an orb of darkness. She released the shadows in a compressed blast that struck Fluorite as he tried to stand, knocking him over again.
"Fluorite!" Ian shouted.
"Your Trevenant may have gotten stronger after evolving, but that doesn't change the fact that out of all your pokemon he still has the lowest level," Chloe said. "He's still a weak point. And we'll hammer that weak point until it's smashed into wood chips! Chiyome, finish him off with your specialized dark pulse attack!"
"Greninja!" Chiyome nodded. She held up her hand and focused more dark energy in her palm, but this time, she didn't fire it. Rather, she began to sculpt its shape, forming it into a gigantic shuriken made of darkness.
Ian winced. That didn't look pleasant.
"Fluorite, use double team to dodge!" He ordered. Fluorite nodded, creating countless copies of himself across the battlefield.
But Chloe wasn't deterred at all.
"Sweep through all of them," she coldly ordered. Chiyome focused her power into the shuriken, which ballooned in size thanks to her trainer's harmonia. With a roar, she swung her arm and flung it into the horde of Trevenant.
The shuriken sliced through them like a wheat thresher through a field. Countless trees were mowed down as the dark pulse spun, radiating energy as it flew through the air.
And then, to Ian's horror, it hit its mark. Before, when Fluorite had used double team, he had been confident in his new form and stood at the front of the pack to fool the Raichu. But on his last slivers of health and dealing with an opponent that was as powerful as Chiyome, he had regrettably lapsed back into old habits, hiding for cover at the rear of the crowd.
That was exactly where Chiyome's attack found him, and the dark pulse struck true. The sharp blades of darkness dug into Fluorite and the Trevenant howled with pain, falling backwards and crashing onto the ground.
This time, he didn't get up.
The dark pulse arced back to Chiyome like a boomerang before disappearing into a wisp of shadow. The Greninja stood proudly over the vanquished Trevenant, her face as unreadable as that of her trainer. Another of Ian's pokemon had been defeated.
"Sorry, Fluorite," Ian apologized, recalling Fluorite to his pokeball. That Greninja was really powerful. All of Chloe's pokemon were! While Ian had a diverse party specialized for any number of roles, it was clear that Chloe's team was very focused in one area. Her pokemon were very fast, and they all hit like tanks. It was a difficult matchup for him, with his ace pokemon being as slow and bulky as he was.
Samarra knew what she was doing, pitting Chloe up against me, Ian thought. It isn't just that she knows how I fight, her party is a perfect counter to mine. Of course, it had been his decision to fight her, but given the way things had shaken out, he wondered how much of that was really the case.
Either way, it was too late to back out now. The battle had started, and all Ian could do at this point was win, or get possessed by Samarra. There wasn't any other recourse.
So he would have to find some way to win.
Ian's lost a second pokemon! That's two back to back chapters that have ended on one of Ian's pokemon being defeated by Chloe! Things aren't looking good for him! Hopefully he'll be able to come up with some way to win, because if things keep going like this, it looks like Samarra is going to be making a new friend!