With a savage display of power and ferocity, Diamond was able to demolish Chloe's Druddigon! But the match isn't over just yet. Chloe still has two pokemon that are capable of fighting, and Ian's Haxorus is clearly on his last legs! And if Diamond falls, then all he'll have left is Iron. Will that be enough to defeat a trainer of Chloe's level?
KedharS: That's right, this fight isn't over quite yet.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: It wouldn't be wrong to say that this is the beginning of Ian's counterattack. At the same time, however, Chloe might not even care. She might even be prepared to deal with something like that. We'll just have to see.
Hyphenman: Dragons are pretty powerful pokemon, that's for sure.
Tambry96bj: Yeah, they're definitely pretty brutal, that's for sure.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1147
"HAXORUS!" Diamond roared his supremacy, towering over the vanquished Vritra. Ian was stunned, and he wasn't the only one.
"Whoa… I mean… I know Haxorus are strong and all… but I didn't really expect him to win, you know?" Tommy said, shaking his head. "To think, he was able to beat that Druddigon, even through the Rough Skin, and without any boosts to his stats."
"That thing's really powerful," Ross nodded in agreement. "I don't really remember how Ian beat me… but I'm pretty sure that monstrosity had something to do with it…"
"Way to go!" Donoma cheered. "I just KNEW you'd be able to take down that stalker's Druddigon, Ian! You're the best!"
Hearing the word "stalker" again was enough to snap Chloe out of her shock. "Sh-Shut up!" She shouted, recalling Vritra to his dusk ball. "This… I haven't lost yet! This isn't over!" I still have two pokemon left who can fight, you know!"
She calmed down quickly. It was alright… things were still going according to plan. While she'd wanted to have three pokemon at her disposal for taking down Ian's Aggron, it wasn't necessary. Not when you considered the pokemon that she had left. Keeping Vritra around until Iron came out would have been nice, but it wasn't necessary for her plan. He was able to cripple Ian's Haxorus, and that was enough for now.
"Okay, Chiyome! His Haxorus is really weak now! It's up to you to take him down!" She shouted, sending out her Greninja again.
"Greninja!" Chiyome shouted, emerging from the premier ball in a puff of smoke.
Diamond glared at Chiyome, feeling his strength waning. He didn't have the same energy he'd had when fighting Vritra.
"Why's he slowing down so much?" Keya asked. "I thought he'd keep going and fight that Greninja too, isn't she a strong pokemon?"
"You said it yourself," Vic said. "'She'. That Haxorus has the Rivalry ability. The means his strength gets a 25% boost when fighting a pokemon of the same gender, like that Druddigon. But Chloe's Greninja is a female. That means his power just got cut by 25%."
"Seriously?!" Callie gasped. "That's not good!"
"It's not," Alden agreed. "Ian should recall Diamond back right now. But you know… I don't think Chloe's going to give him the chance."
"Diamond, return," Ian said, reaching for Diamond's pokeball. But his speed couldn't compare to the Greninja's.
"Water shuriken!" Chloe ordered. Chiyome sculpted a shuriken of water and flung it at the injured Haxorus. "Now, freeze it with your ice beam!"
The blade of water spun at high speed across the battlefield, aiming right for Diamond. But halfway there, Chiyome fired a beam of ice at the shuriken, causing it to freeze over. By the time it hit the Haxorus, the blades were completely frozen solid, causing immense damage to the already-injured Dragon type.
"HAXORUS!" Diamond roared in pain. He had been too injured to dodge, and since his opponent was female, he couldn't summon the same fighting spirit he had before to withstand the attack. But it was fine, right? He'd done the best he could, and taken down two of her pokemon. That was more than enough to make Ian proud of him. He fell forward into the water, losing consciousness with a savage smile on his face.
"…Nice job, Diamond. You were amazing," Ian said, recalling his Haxorus. "I mean it. Fighting like that, defeating not only her Raichu, but her Druddigon as well… I wouldn't expect anything less. You went above and beyond, my friend."
He turned to look at the Greninja, standing on the rushing river and posed to strike.
"…But now, I'll leave it all up to our last partner. Iron! It's all on you!"
Ian had been saving his trump card until the very end. Now was the time to see if it was worth it. He knew that it wouldn't be easy, though. From the moves she'd used so far, that Greninja was clearly a special attacker, not the best opponent for a physically defensive Steel/Rock type pokemon to face off against.
But he didn't have a choice.
"Aggron!" Iron roared, emerging from his pokeball. The river practically flooded over the bank when the heavy pokemon dropped down into it. The sharp stones shattered when they scraped against Iron's metal armor, barely doing chips at his health. But it was fine. Chloe didn't need those pesky things anymore.
Ian only had one pokemon left, after all.
She smiled.
"Just as I expected! Your final pokemon! And it's going to be your last," she promised.
"…Yeah," Donoma said dryly. "That's what 'final' means."
"Qu-Quiet!" Chloe sputtered, her cheeks flushing behind her mask. "I was being dramatic!"
Donoma rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you were…" She turned to Ian. "Ian, the last move she used was ice beam! With Protean, she's now an Ice type! Which means she'll be weak against Steel type moves, just saying!"
"Yeah, I know how types work," Ian said. He also knew there was no chance of Iron getting close enough to that Greninja to use an iron head. "But this will work too! Iron, flamethrower!"
"Aggron!" Iron opened his mouth wide, firing a burst of flames from his giant maw, engulfing Chiyome in an inferno.
"Yeah, now that's more like it!" Callie cheered. "Even with Aggron's low physical attack, a Fire type move should do some real damage!"
But when the flames died down, Chiyome looked almost uninjured.
"What? Did she use substitute to dodge?" Keya guessed.
Chloe smirked behind her mask. "What was that supposed to be?" She asked. "A little hot air?"
"That's odd," Anabel noted. "If her Greninja has the Protean ability like Alden's Cinderace has the Libero ability, then her type should have changed to Ice."
Alden blinked. "…Yeah, but she doesn't."
"Wait, what?!" Callie exclaimed. Alden looked her way with a confused expression on his face.
"Yeah, no, Chloe's Greninja has the normal ability Torrent that most Greninja have. I know because I fought her before. You guys thought she had Protean?" He asked, surprised. Then he laughed, of all things.
"I don't believe this!" Donoma groaned. "I thought for sure she'd be using Greninja because of her Protean ability! Sorry, Ian, that's my bad!"
"No, no, we shouldn't have assumed," Ian said.
"Yeah, but the Commander over here could have volunteered that information!" Callie snapped, shooting Alden a death glare.
"How dare you?!" Vic exclaimed, stepping between Callie and Alden. "If he didn't reveal her pokemon's ability, then it was out of a sense of fairness! Indeed, the Commander is truly an admirable pokemon trainer, willing to even lend his foes the courtesy of not revealing their strategies!" Vic had tears in her eyes. "Rather, he trusts that Ian would be able to defeat Chloe all on his own, without any advice from him!"
"…No, I just forgot that I hadn't mentioned it already," Alden corrected her. "I thought I had, but that was my bad."
Callie smirked at Vic, whose cheeks flushed slightly. But she quickly regained her haughty air. "Indeed, the Commander is so modest he had no qualms with acknowledging when he's made a mistake! I'm so proud to work for you, sir!" She gushed. Callie rolled her eyes.
"Sure thing, Vic," Alden said, not even looking at her. He couldn't take his eyes off the battle for even a second.
"Now that that's been settled, it's time to show you what Chiyome is capable of!" Chloe shouted. "Chiyome, use scald!"
"Greninja!" Chiyome raised her hand, forming an orb of steaming-hot water. She began to sculpt it into the shape of a shuriken, and flung it at Iron.
"Going for a burn, huh? I suppose I should have expected that," Ian said. He had a suspicion that was what she'd wanted to do with her Fletchling earlier as well. "Iron, use protect!"
"Aggron!" Iron roared. A silver barrier of light rose up around him, and the shuriken smashed into droplets against it.
"Nice! It doesn't matter how strong the attack if he's behind that barrier!" Donoma cheered. But she wasn't going to be such an idiot that she blindly believed this was a good thing. Behind that barrier, Iron couldn't do anything to attack. And Chloe's Greninja wasn't a pokemon that could be given an edge so easily like this.
"Chiyome, use rain dance," Chloe ordered. She wasn't about to waste an opportunity. Setting up the rain was vital for defeating Iron, she planned to overwhelm the Aggron with an all-out water assault, after all.
The sky opened up and rain dropped down upon the battlefield, rolling off Iron's barrier and flooding the river around him.
"Iron, ignore it," Ian ordered his Aggron. "While you're protecting yourself, use autotomize to raise your speed!"
"Aggron!" Iron nodded, sharpening his armor. He burst out of the barrier with a new, sleeker look, his hulking armor now more streamlined and shiny. And not just due to the reflection of the rain that covered it, either. He charged at the Greninja through the water.
"It doesn't matter how much you raise your speed," Chloe said. "The fastest Aggron in the world couldn't catch Chiyome! Now use scald again!"
"Greninja!" Chiyome easily kept out of Iron's range, forming another shuriken of boiling water and flinging it at Iron. The blade spun through the air, picking up water from the downpour and growing in size and power.
Ian could see this was going to hurt. There was no way they could avoid it.
"Iron, plow right through it with double-edge!" He ordered.
"Aggron!" Iron lowered his head and picked up speed, ignoring the burning water that splashed against him. He pushed through the attack and collided with Chiyome, who disappeared in a puff of smoke. A log was smashed to splinters in her place.
Iron pulled back, growling. He was injured from the scald, but due to his Rock Head ability he hadn't taken any recoil damage from the double-edge.
"Greninja." Chiyome landed on the grass several feet away, panting. Chloe winced. That had been really close.
So his Aggron is a little faster than I expected. And he was able to take that scald a lot better than I imagined, too, and keep attacking anyway. But that's not important. What matters is that Chiyome's still capable of fighting, she quickly thought. Even if Iron was a terrifying foe, Chiyome had the edge. They could win this as long as they kept a cool head.
"What's wrong, stalker?" Donoma called over to her. "Didn't you study that double-edge while you were stalking?"
Chloe clenched her fist. That woman was really pissing her off!
"Calm down," Samarra said, suppressing Chloe's irritation. "I won't let you jeopardize our victory over some petty grudge."
With Samarra's help, Chloe was able to keep her calm. "Chiyome, use water shuriken. If we can't break him with brute force, we'll use a bunch of smaller hits."
"Greninja," Chiyome nodded. A blue aura rose up around her as she formed another shuriken in her hands.
"That light!" Marion gasped. "Her Torrent is activating! That last substitute she used must have been enough to push her over the edge!"
Chloe smiled. Between Torrent, the rain, and the mystic water she'd given Chiyome to hold, her Greninja's Water type attacks would be a force to be reckoned with. So long as Iron was weak to water, there would be little hope of him making it through this unscathed.
"Iron, autotomize again!" Ian ordered. Their only hope was that Iron would be able to somehow get fast enough to dodge the attacks.
It was a thin hope, but one he wanted to bet on.
But Chloe was proven correct. No matter how fast Iron became, his speed couldn't compare with Chiyome's. The Greninja launched her assault, and massive glowing water shuriken rained down upon Iron as he tried desperately to dodge. The blades cut into his metallic hide, and chunks of his sleek and sharp new armor were carved off, piece by piece.
"Iron! Go!" Ian shouted. In spite of the damage his pokemon was taking, he and Iron refused to yield. That was what Chloe could see in their eyes. Trainer and pokemon were united in purpose, and neither was going to yield so easily.
"Argh, that Greninja only has a sliver of health left!" Tommy groaned, stomping the ground in frustration. "One more hit and she's done for! This is so stupid!"
"…Says the guy who doesn't know the first thing about strategy," Vic dryly responded. "That's exactly the point, you idiot. Whether that Greninja has full health or only a single hitpoint left, it doesn't make a difference if Ian's pokemon can't hit her. That's the benefit of having such a fast pokemon on a battlefield like this."
"Speed and evasion are really something," Alden agreed. He narrowed his eyes. "But Ian's got more tricks up his sleeve."
Ian did have more tricks up his sleeve. The problem was, Chloe knew exactly what they were.
Go on, she urged him silently. I know you want to use thunderbolt.
Flamethrower wasn't the only surprise Iron had. Flamethrower, thunderbolt, ice beam, he knew several special moves that would come as a surprise from an Aggron. Ian had taught those moves specifically to catch people off-guard, and patch up several of Iron's many weaknesses.
But at the moment, he wasn't going to fire off attacks wildly.
Knowing her, she's expecting me to use thunderbolt. This wasn't like a normal pokemon battle against someone Ian had barely met. Chloe had studied him thoroughly, so she knew exactly what his team was capable of. He'd be a fool to use thunderbolt recklessly.
But he didn't really have another choice at the moment.
"Iron!" He shouted. "Use thunderbolt on Chiyome, now!"
"Aggron!" Iron roared in agreement. His horns began to crackle with electricity, and he formed a powerful bolt of lightning that he launched at the Greninja.
"Yeah! Now that's more like it!" Donoma cheered. But internally she was on a similar line of thought to Ian. Chloe would undoubtedly have seen that move coming.
"Just as we'd hoped! Chiyome, use water shuriken!" Chloe quickly ordered. "Aim for that thunderbolt attack!"
"Greninja!" Chiyom quickly formed a water shuriken, flinging it at the incoming lightning bolt. The spinning disk collided with the attack. While thunderbolt should have been able to overpower a Water type move, the fact that it was being used by the specially-weak Iron meant that it wasn't nearly as strong as it could have been. Because of that, the water shuriken remained intact, spinning through the electricity and dispersing it.
"No way!" Callie gasped in shock.
The water shuriken had done a lot more than just counter the thunderbolt. It had absorbed the electricity from the move, and turned into a spinning disk of charged water that was headed right for Iron!
If this hits, he'll be paralyzed! Chloe was sure of it. Iron had boosted his speed decently, but if he became paralyzed that was the end. There'd be no chance of Ian forming a counterattack.
"Iron! Ice beam!" Ian shouted.
"Aggron!" Iron opened his mouth and fired a beam of chilling ice. Just like when Chiyome had used ice beam before, the water shuriken froze immediately, and the electrical current it carried froze with it. But while the force of Chiyome's ice beam had pushed the water shuriken even faster towards Diamond, this time the move was coming from the other direction, so the opposite occurred. Iron's special attack may not have been that high, but it was enough to stop the momentum of the water shuriken, causing it to plummet out of the sky and smash harmlessly in the grass.
"He did it!" Callie cheered. Everyone else relaxed slightly.
Chloe was stunned. Iron fired off an ice beam that fast?! I've been underestimating the speed boosts from autotomize. …But it should be fine. He still won't be able to catch up with Chiyome directly, after all!
"Iron, use rock tomb!" Ian ordered. That last exchange was vindicating, now he was sure that they could start going on the offensive!
"Aggron!" Iron stomped on the ground, and a pillar of rock erupted from the grass, trying to swallow Chiyome. It was only by jumping at the last possible second that the Greninja was able to keep from being hit by the attack.
"Aargh, come on damn it!" Tommy and Callie shouted at the same time. As fans of the "hit it until it stops moving" style of pokemon battles, a slippery pokemon like Greninja was a real annoyance to deal with.
Chloe clicked her tongue in frustration. "Trying to slow us down? Won't work!" She kept up a strong exterior, but she knew that if Chiyome was hit by one of those, she'd be finished. Iron was just that powerful.
"Chiyome, we need to be careful," she told her Greninja. "That Aggron's done enough damage already, let's finish him for good! Smokescreen!"
"Greninja!" Chiyome opened her mouth, a thick cloud of smoke billowed across the battlefield, swallowing both pokemon.
"That's not good," Donoma winced. Iron was already at a disadvantage in this fight. With his visibility reduced, would he even stand a chance?
That's a very good question. And one we'll get the answer for in the next chapter. Ian's been pushed pretty hard so far, and thanks to Chloe's strategy he's found himself paired up against a pokemon that is an advantage over his trump card in every way. He'll have to play every trick he has to keep Chiyome from overwhelming him completely. But will he be able to win even then?