The battle between Dokukage and Keahi continues, and neither trainer is willing to budge! This is a pretty intense match, with both trainers relying on strategy to stay ahead of the other. But whose strategy will prove superior? Will Dokukage's baton pass and buffing tactics beat Keahi again, or will his countermeasures be enough? We'll have to see!
KedharS: It's not that easy to run away from a match with Samarra.
Epifanio Therion: Yeah, Keahi kind of got the short end of the stick against Dokukage in their last match, so I wanted him to have a good showing here.
Tambry96bj: Yup, I wanted a really exciting, even match.
Hyphenman: Shima and Shinobu both left Agate Village. The only Children of the Oracles left to deal with at the moment are Val and Gwen, and who knows where they are right now.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1155
"DURALUDON!" Ku's roars of anger shook the peaceful village. Shadows erupted from his body, smashing through the log decoy and knocking Kagemusha backwards.
Dokukage silently shielded his face from the outburst, but inside he was panicking. What the hell was up with that power?! He was feeling overwhelmed. But he couldn't lose his cool or panic. They needed to win this.
"Kagemusha, withstand!" He ordered.
"Gol," Kagemusha said with a sharp nod, realizing what his trainer was planning. He made a fighting stance as the shadows spread through the sky, before forming a massive tornado in front of the enraged Ku.
But before Ku could unleash the shadow storm, Kagemusha shot across the field at incredible speed, catching the dragon in the jaw with a sucker punch. Dokukage knew that was the most he could count on Kagemusha to do right now.
With a roar, Ku unleashed the tornado of shadows that slammed into Kagemusha, lifting the Golisopod into the air. Kagemusha was flung through the dark sky, but before he could hit the ground he was recalled to his pokeball.
"With Kagemusha's Emergency Exit ability, he can regroup himself to keep from being overwhelmed in battle," Dokukage said. "Now Venomark, settle this!"
"Scolipede!" His Scolipede hissed, emerging from her pokeball. She reared up and extended her long body, her horns twitching towards Ku.
Keahi smirked. "You're using a Poison type against my Steel types? That's rather bold of you. Though I suppose it's to be expected, given that you only have six pokemon to work with."
"And it's different for you, I would guess?" Dokukage asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Of course," Keahi said. "I have multiple pokemon. In fact, my Duraludon and Revavroom were obtained not long after our match. I knew I would need more pokemon to diversify my team, if I wanted to handle your strategies."
Dokukage raised his eyebrow. Curious. Keahi had acted like losing to Dokukage hadn't been that big of a deal before. But apparently he was as petty as Dokukage had imagined.
"That's the beauty of Shadow Pokemon," Keahi continued to boast. "I didn't need to waste my time bonding or getting to know them. The minute I caught them, I turned them into Shadow Pokemon, the perfect weapons."
"And you don't care one bit for the bonds of your pokemon, then?" Dokukage asked.
Keahi's answer was a derisive snort.
"You haven't been listening to a word I've said, have you?" Keahi sighed, shaking his head. "Dokukage, in just a few short months I was able to add two powerhouse pokemon to my team. It would have taken half a year under regular circumstances to just train one of them up to the level they'd need to be! Don't you get it? With Shadow Pokemon, things like bonds and teamwork become irrelevant! When you're fighting to win, the only thing that matters is having the strongest pokemon for the job, someone as pragmatic as yourself MUST understand that much!"
Samarra could definitely see the merits in Keahi's way of thinking. But it still struck her as problematic. After all, since her goal was to make as many friends as possible, it almost felt wrong that one of her friends cared so little about the bonds with his pokemon.
Well, there's no accounting for taste, I suppose, Samarra admitted to herself, unable to comprehend that the "bonds" she valued were as worthless as the ones Keahi formed with his pokemon.
"I can't say I understand your point of view," Dokukage said, shaking his head. "While it's true that my people put great value on our pokemon as weapons of war and espionage, that doesn't mean we treat them as tools. I've had these pokemon since childhood, and it's because of that bond we've become as strong as we have."
Well, that was fine with Keahi. It's not like he gave a damn if Dokukage agreed with him. "Whatever," Keahi snarled. "Ku! Use shadow storm!"
"Duraludon!" Ku roared, unleashing a devastating tornado of shadows that tore violently towards Venomark.
"Venomark, dig," Dokukage quickly ordered.
"Scol!" Venomark dug into the grass, slithering underground before the attack could hit. The shadowy tornado roared harmlessly past the hole as she tunneled towards Ku.
"Now attack!"
Venomark erupted from the ground behind Ku and slashed at him with her horns. But they bounced off the Duraludon's iron defenses, and only made him angrier.
"Ku, shadow fire!" Keahi shouted. Ku turned towards Venomark and spat black flames at the bug, but Venomark was too quick. She turned and twisted her body to avoid the flames, while coiling around the Duraludon.
"Now use your iron defense!" Dokukage ordered. Venomark's scales hardened to be as tough as steel as she constricted around Ku, holding the thrashing pokemon in place. But she wouldn't be able to keep him bound for very long.
"Shadow rave!" Keahi ordered.
"Duraludon!" Ku stomped on the ground, releasing a dark aura into the grass. His shadow spread out around him and sharp spikes of darkness erupted, driving into Venomark from all sides.
"SCOLIPEDE!" Venomark wailed, releasing Ku and scuttling away to safety. But Ku wasn't going to let the bug escape that easily. He followed the shadow rave with another blast of shadow fire at the retreating pokemon.
"Venomark, protect," Dokukage ordered. His Scolipede curled up into a ball and a barrier of purple light appeared around her, deflecting the flames.
"Keep hiding all you like, it won't make a difference," Keahi said, shaking his head. "Even behind that shield, the shadow sky will still drain you."
He wasn't wrong. When Venomark created her barrier, she'd also trapped some of the toxic fog in with her, and right now it was wearing her down.
"Hang strong, Venomark!" Dokukage shouted. He knew it wasn't like him to shout words of encouragement to his pokemon, but he didn't care if Keahi got a peek behind the mask at this point; he was more concerned with winning.
When the barrier finally dropped and Venomark emerged, it was clear that she was in pretty rough shape. She was coughing and looked a little weary, but she could definitely take a lot worse than that, Dokukag was certain.
He just hoped that she wouldn't have to.
"Venomark, use earthquake," he ordered.
"Scoliped!" Venomark stomped on the ground, raising her long body up and down, and the grass started to shake. Ku was thrown off-balance, and nearly toppled over. But he managed to hold onto his stance, and let out another roar.
"Use metal sound to weaken that Scolipede, then finish it with a shadow storm," Keahi ordered.
"DURALUDON!" A screech like clanging metal echoed across the battlefield, and Venomark's resistance to special attacks was lowered. Which was the perfect opportunity for Ku to launch another tornado of darkness at her.
But like last time, the tornado missed Venomark by a mile. Not because she dug under it, but because she was deceptively fast for being such a long pokemon. She skillfully weaved around the incoming cyclone, darting for Ku.
"You'll have to do better than that," Dokukage declared. "Venomark's ability is Speed Boost. The longer this battle goes on, the more her speed will rise, and there's nothing you can do about it. Now Venomark, use bulldoze!"
"Scolipede!" With a screech, Venomark threw her body into Ku, knocking him flat. The force of the shaking ground was enough to keep him on his back as well, lowering his speed due to how difficult it became to stand.
"Rrrgh!" Keahi ground his teeth but there was nothing he could do. Dokukage and Venomark had the edge.
"Fine then!" He spat. "Ku, use shadow rave again!"
Ku slammed his claw on the ground, and another blast of shadows erupted, hitting Venomark from below. The Scolipede let out a pained roar and stumbled back, giving Ku enough ground to stand back up and fire another blast of shadow fire at the stunned Scolipede.
"Sludge bomb!" Dokukage shouted.
Venomark spat a blast of poison from her mouth. While it wasn't going to have any effect on the Duraludon, it still made an excellent counter for the flames, snuffing them out with a wave of toxic sludge. Which opened the door for Venomark once more.
"Swords dance!" With Venomark safe for the moment, Dokukage could start boosting her attacking strength. They'd need all the help they could get if they hoped to break through the Duraludon's powerful defenses.
"Ku, don't let them attack again!" Keahi shouted. "You need to use shadow rave!"
"Duraludon!" Ku released a blast of shadow spikes that ran straight towards Venomark. But Dokukage had seen this move enough to know how to counter it by now.
"Dig under the attack, Venomark!" He ordered. As the spikes rushed towards Venomark, she dug under the ground, evading them flawlessly. No matter how wide the area of attack from the ground was, it couldn't do anything if she was beneath it. She tunneled up towards Ku once again, and emerged with a roar.
The ground began to shake as Venomark slammed into her foe, unleashing a powerful earthquake that toppled the mighty pokemon.
And this time, Ku didn't get back up.
"No!" Keahi roared in frustration, recalling his Duraludon. It was the first loss of the match, and of course it had to be his pokemon that had fallen.
"You use Steel types," Dokukage said calmly. "Of course I would use the pokemon I have that know Grouund type moves."
"Well, you might think that would be enough, but you'd be wrong," Keahi snarled. "Papa! Come back out and run this freak down like a bug on a windshield!"
"Revavroom!" Papa roared, reemerging from her pokeball with a cloud of exhaust. She was shiny and clean now, without a speck of mud to reduce her accuracy. And now that she was ready to fight again, she rolled straight for Venomark.
"Earthquake!" Dokukage ordered. If he was lucky, Venomark would be able to get off a powerful attack that was four times effective before the car could use magnet rise. And he was right on the money! The ground began to shake as Papa took serious damage, but it wasn't enough to keep her from rolling forward. And when she floated up into the sky, it was clear Dokukage would need to rely on another strategy.
"Using Ground type moves against Papa is what you'd want to do, of course," Keahi admitted. "But she won't be beaten by them. Her ability is Filter, which reduces the power of super-effective attacks. And that's precisely why I taught her magnet rise! Now Papa, it's time to taunt this pesky bug!"
"Revavroom!" Papa howled, letting out a taunting laugh to goad Venomark into attacking.
But Keahi knew exactly what was up, which was why he'd taken advantage of Venomark's speed to give her another order, before the car could start taunting.
"Baton pass!"
Venomark had already defeated one of Keahi's pokemon, which was more than what Dokukage had hoped for. She could rest for now, while another pokemon finished this new foe.
It was time for Dokukage's trump card.
"Muramasa!" He shouted, sending out his Scizor.
"Scizor!" Muramasa emerged from his pokeball, gnashing his pincers.
"A little early for him to make an appearance, don't you think?" Keahi asked, raising his eyebrow. Not that he really cared one way or the other.
"You're using a Poison type pokemon, it's only reasonable to send out my Steel type," Dokukage said. "I would have thought a Steel type user like yourself would see the logic in that?"
He was taunting Keahi, hoping that would be enough to keep the other trainer on his toes. But all it served to do was irritate him more.
"You think that matters?" Keahi snarled. "It seems you're not as smart as you act!"
Nope, I'm definitely not, Dokukage silently agreed.
"If you were, then you'd remember that the true strength of Shadow Pokemon is the fact that nothing can resist their Shadow Moves, not even the Steel type! Papa, use shadow break!"
"Revavroom!" Papa roared, charging through the air like a shadow-covered missile. He barreled straight for Muramasa, who began to sway back and forth.
"A move like that only works if you hit the target," Dokukage reminded him. "Muramasa, use double team."
"Scizor," Muramasa nodded, his swaying increasing in speed until he made several copies of himself, filling the shadow-covered field with countless duplicates. Papa collided with one of them and sailed right through, and continued plowing through the rest.
"It doesn't matter how many of you there are," Keahi shouted. "Papa, use shadow mist!"
The exhaust pouring out of Papa increased, forming a sticky black mist that crept over the already-darkened battlefield. It swirled through the duplicates, causing them to disperse, before settling down on Muramasa and pinning him in place.
"With this, no more evading," Keahi promised. "And just in case you were getting any bright ideas, Papa, use taunt!"
"Revavroom!" Papa cackled, taunting the Scizor to strike. But Dokukage thought fast on his feet.
"Muramasa, use iron defense," he ordered. He'd already received a buff from Venomark, but against a pokemon this powerful Muramasa would need all the help he could get. So while his pokemon's red scales hardened to be stronger than steel, he braced himself for the charging car.
"If you boost your defenses, then we'll just raise our attack!" Keahi declared. "Papa, use shift gear!"
"Revavroom!" Papa kicked it into a higher gear, sharply boosting her speed as her attacking strength increased as well. She covered her body in a veil of shadows and charged at the stationary Scizor, colliding right into him.
"Muramasa! Counter!" Dokukage ordered.
Muramasa took the full force of a car slamming into him, but he refused to fall. Papa pushed him back, back, right up into a tree, but he kept standing. And as he did, he gathered his strength from the forceful attack and raised his claw, slamming it right into the eye of the Revavroom.
"REEEEEEEEEEEEEVVV!" Papa howled in pain, backing up quickly. Her engine cracked and popped and she grew enraged, the shadows around her increasing in size and ferocity.
"Ah!" Keahi gasped.
"Hyper mode, I see," Dokukage said, narrowing his eyes. Normally it would be problematic if a pokemon got such a massive boost in destructive power, but in this instance, it was actually a good thing. When a Shadow Pokemon entered Hyper Mode, it was impossible for even their trainer to control them. All Papa could do now was rampage, and that suited Dokukage's purposes just fine.
"Muramasa!" He shouted. "Now's the chance to strike! Brick break!"
"Scizor!" Muramasa wound back his claw, swinging it at Papa with everything he had.
"Papa! Use iron defense!" Keahi snapped. But the Revavroom ignored his orders, charging right for Muramasa again.
Well, it was a car. And while Dokukage knew very little about vehicles, he didn't think they were all that intelligent. Muramasa hit Papa directly and sent her spinning out. The vehicle crashed into the ground, roaring in pain.
She managed to get back onto all four wheels, however, and charged right for Muramasa again. She didn't learn, it seemed.
"So your pokemon has stopped listening to you?" Samarra asked. She wasn't impressed.
"There's nothing I can do," Keahi replied angrily. "When a Shadow Pokemon enters Hyper Mode… it just goes wild."
"Well, let me try something," Samarra said, seizing control of Keahi's body. While the sight of these Shadow Pokemon made other harmonia users nauseous, the sensations Samarra experienced when witnessing them were intriguing. So she had no qualms about trying to connect to the rampaging pokemon.
It didn't work very well. The door to the Revavroom's heart was sealed tightly shut, and there was no way of getting through.
So she relied on brute force instead. Like when she made friends with other people, she used her powers to force the Revavroom to calm down, and the intense shadows receded until Papa was able to hear Keahi's voice again.
With sheer willpower, Samarra had managed to suppress Hyper Mode, and not a moment too soon!
"Dodge!" Keahi shouted, and Papa managed to swerve out of the way just in time to avoid another brick break delivered by the Scizor. She skidded around him and put some distance between the two of them with a cloud of exhaust.
"That was too close…" Keahi growled. "Don't think we're that easy to take down!"
Dokukage frowned. In later parts of the match, he'd hoped to be able to trigger Hyper Mode and reduce Keahi's options. But it appeared that the other trainer had found some way of suppressing Shadow Pokemon's greatest vulnerability.
Fuck! This is so not fucking good! Shit! What the hell am I supposed to do now!? He cursed internally, while maintaining an aura of calm tranquility on the surface.
Well, we finally got our first loss of the match! Keahi's Duraludon put up a good fight, but Dokukage was able to overwhelm him with raw power! But that's just the beginning. Keahi still has other Shadow Pokemon available, and Ku was more than enough to do some serious damage to some of Dokukage's pokemon. Will our ninja be able to keep up, now that Hyper Mode can be broken?