Dokukage managed to defeat Keahi by the skin of his teeth, and with the help of a lot of luck. It's a good thing, too, because Keahi was a pretty dangerous foe. But thankfully, that's one problem solved. But Keahi isn't the only tough opponent here. There are other trainers who are under Samarra's influence, and they all have to be defeated. Let's move onto the next match!
KedharS: A true ninja must be able to make luck work for them.
Epifanio Therion: Yeah, I'm sorry Keahi ended up getting the short end of the stick there, he really tried hard, but in the end he got beat by luck. It's a shitty situation, but what are you gonna do? Hopefully he takes his loss well.
Arbiter8991: I imagine the next thing he'll do will be to throw a tantrum.
Venoms Cross 2: Yeah, I try to make all of Dokukage's battles exciting and funny, while still keeping the tension.
Tambry96bj: I imagine he'll need it if he wants to defeat those two.
Hyphenman: Yup, it was completely ridiculous, absurd, the kind of bullshit that never should have happened, and it was exactly what Dokukage would do.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1162
"Come on, Gwen, keep up with me," Val said, turning back to her so-called comrade. The two girls were hiking through the woods, heading up the mountain. Gwen was clearly not used to this much physical exertion, but she followed Val regardless. That was her duty, after all. She was given explicit orders that she was not to separate from Val under any circumstances.
For someone like Gwen, who had difficulty in determining what others meant, even she knew how to follow orders that specific.
There were several questions rattling around in her head. Where were they going? Why? What did Val want? But she didn't ask any of them because she didn't know if that would be appropriate. It was her job to follow orders, so that's what she would do.
She wished that she didn't have to walk, though.
The two girls reached a particularly-steep part of the hill. Val turned and extended a hand to Gwen with a smile on her face, but the other girl didn't take it. Even if she were the type to make physical contact with other people, she couldn't recognize what Val was offering her.
To Gwen, an extended hand was just that- an extended hand. She couldn't recognize the social cues that suggested Val was offering to help her up the mountain. So because the hand meant nothing to her, she ignored it. If Val wanted her to consider it, then she would have spoken to her directly, right?
It must have meant nothing.
"Do you want some help?" Val called.
Who was she talking to? Was she talking to her? No, Val would have used her name. And help with what?
While Gwen was struggling up the mountain, Val suppressed a smirk. That had been deliberate on her part, of course. Even if Gwen didn't show it, she was having difficulty deciphering Val's words, so she dismissed them.
One of the few ways Val had to amuse herself on this climb was by taking advantage of Gwen's inability to understand what was going on.
"Careful, the ground there is unstable!" She warned, knowing full well that Gwen would ignore anything not directed to her in particular.
And indeed, Gwen placed her foot on the same unstable rock that Val had nearly tripped over, and slipped, falling back in the dirt.
Dirt and mud. Disgusting. Gwen wanted to scream. She hated this so much. Why did she have to put up with this? Why wasn't her big brother here? Blake never would have let her fall like that!
She stumbled to her feet, ignoring the ache in her ankle.
"Do you want me to look at that?" Val asked, her tone helpful and good-natured. But of course, Gwen didn't respond. And she never would.
It may have been bizarre, deriving so much fun from something like this, but with such limited access to amusement on this hike, Val was certainly working hard to get her thrill.
Just a little bit longer, she thought, glancing over her shoulder to where the hiking trail leveled out. And then I'll be able to really enjoy myself…
The girls were heading to Agate Village. Val didn't tell Gwen that, of course, and lacking any ability to derive context, Gwen hadn't thought to ask. Which suited Val's needs perfectly. This was one of the few positives that came from traveling with someone who had so much trouble interacting with the world like Gwen did.
No annoying questions.
If Gwen was capable of thinking like an ordinary person, she would have gotten suspicious about Samarra stepping out of the cave to have a little chat with Valon and Misato the other day. She would have been curious what they were talking about, and she would have asked why Val's plans suddenly changed.
But Gwen would never ask something like that. She wouldn't even think to do so.
And she definitely wouldn't have imagined what was waiting for them up in Agate Village, either. There were far worse things than a Shaymin to deal with.
According to the boss, Gwen was traumatized by her sister when they were very young, Val mused. After the mess in Agate Village, Val had called their leader for clarification of what to do, because her partner was having a meltdown.
She was really trying to subtly ask permission to "restrain" Gwen, but that permission had not been given. What a pity. She was really looking forward to what would happen when she used her trump card against the other girl.
She did learn something very good in exchange, though. Val had gotten a more comprehensive view of the trauma Gwen had been through when she was younger, directly from the mouth of Shaw himself. Having a unique insight into Gwen's psyche, he explained that, as a child, Gwen's sister Samarra had abused her so much that Gwen had suppressed the memories of their time together to keep from breaking down completely.
Well, whatever that purple-haired girl had done, it seemed that mental block was gone now, and those memories had come flooding back.
It was delightful! What a brilliant idea! She had to congratulate that strange woman on her sadism, forcing Gwen to relive all those painful moments. Val couldn't have done better herself!
…But it wasn't good enough. It wasn't nearly good enough. Gwen had, somehow, managed to pick up the pieces of her damaged psyche and gather herself into some semblance of sanity. At least, relative to how she usually was, of course. Even in the best of times Gwen couldn't be considered mentally healthy by anyone with a working knowledge of psychology.
But that wasn't really what Val was concerned with right now.
Valon had revealed that Samarra would likely be attacking Agate Village. He'd intended this as a warning, to keep Val and Gwen away.
…Or what if he didn't? Maybe this was exactly what he wanted to have happen after all. That thought left a bitter taste in Val's mouth. She enjoyed manipulating others to suit her own twisted desires, but she loathed being manipulated herself.
But the prospect of what could occur was too juicy to let something like personal distaste cloud her judgment. So she'd decided to set out with Gwen to Agate Village to get a front row seat to this little show.
And the role of "villainess" would be played by… well, it should be a surprise to the cute little blonde trailing behind her, that was for sure.
What would happen if Gwen ran into Samarra? How much further would she fall? Val wondered if the damaged girl would break for good, then, her mind so shattered she'd never be able to regain some sense of sanity again.
The thought of seeing that first-hand made her stomach get all tingly inside.
The pokeballs on her belt burned hotly. If Gwen really did lose it, then she had the authority to crack down hard on the other girl.
She couldn't WAIT to see the look on her face when THAT happened!
It was moments like those that made Val appreciative of these little corporate bonding trips.
While Dokukage was breaking down fighting Keahi, not too far away down the trail, right in front of the Carver house, another battle was about to take place.
"Gabrielle," Alcea said quietly. "So you've been taken over by Samarra, is it?"
She'd heard the truth from Alden and the others, but she hadn't wanted to believe it. Gabrielle was her rival, and in a lot of ways, Alcea considered her a friend. But there was no spirit of camaraderie in the girl standing across from her, or even a healthy rivalry glistening in her eye. Gabrielle was here for one reason and one reason alone, and that was to fight.
"That's right, Alcea," Gabrielle nodded. Gone was the reserved, quiet girl who secretly trained to defeat her. She was twisted by Samarra into someone who only cared about fighting and achieving victory. "Send out your pokemon."
"Froslass," her Froslass nodded in agreement.
"Oui, it seems I have no choice," Alcea agreed. To save her comrade, she would battle, just as she did with Olivia. "Rosetta!"
"Roserade!" Alcea's Roserade emerged in a flurry of flower petals, raising her bouquets in attack against the Froslass.
"You always start with the same tricks," Gabrielle snarled. "Don't you have anything new? Froslass, use ice beam!"
"Froslass!" Froslass opened her mouth, firing a beam of ice at the Roserade.
"Petal blizzard," Alcea ordered.
"Rose!" Rosetta spun her hands, and a tornado of flower petals rose up around her. The curtain of petals blocked the ice beam,keeping it from hitting anywhere close to the Grass type pokemon.
"You'll have to do better than that, is it?" Alcea said, raising her eyebrow.
"That won't be a problem," Gabrielle assured her. "Froslass, ice shard."
"Froslass!" Froslass raised her arms, and created several crystals of ice that she fired at the Roserade. These chunks of ice were much faster than the beam, flying through the air and breaking against Rosetta's skin, knocking her backwards.
"Shrug it off, Rosetta," Alcea ordered, knowing how much abuse her Roserade was able to take. "Now use sunny day!"
Rosetta shook off the pain from the ice shard and raised her bouquet, her entire arm glowing bright orange. She released a burst of light into the sky, illuminating the sunlight.
"We've had this match before," Gabrielle scoffed. "Froslass… snowscape!"
"Froslass…" Froslass raised her arms, and the sky darkened overhead as clouds formed around the intense sunlight, blotting it out. The clouds opened up to drop a mound of snow down onto the battlefield, much to Alcea's surprise.
"Snowscape? A new move, is it?" Alcea asked. She'd never seen a move like that before. It wasn't a hailstorm like she was used to Gabrielle conjuring, this was just snow.
"'Oui'," Gabrielle sneered, her voice twisted in a mockery of Alcea's accent. "Snowscape is a move I've been developing. Do you remember the Phantom Cup, where you and I fought it out over the weather? You with sunny day, me with hail. Back then, I let you control the flow of things, but not anymore. Snow is a new type of weather condition, one that boosts the defense of Ice type pokemon by fifty percent. But if you'd like to use sunny day again… we'd be happy to set up the hail instead."
"So that's it, is it?" Alcea said, narrowing her eyes. "You've engineered the perfect strategy to overcome our weather, is it?"
"That's right," Gabrielle nodded. "With snowscape and hail, I won't lose the advantage of the sky to you ever again."
Alcea was, begrudgingly, impressed. Even though Gabrielle had been twisted by Samarra, it was clear that her rival had been studying in secret, trying to develop strategies that would let her beat the other trainer.
"I lost to you in the Phantom Cup, and then again in the Miss Pokemon Academy Contest," Gabrielle reminisced, not with a trace of fond nostalgia in her voice. "I won't let that happen again. My Ice types are more capable than ever before."
"Oui, that's clear to see, is it?" Alcea nodded. "But you should remember, Gabrielle, it is not only sunny day that my pokemon benefit from, is it? Rosetta, use grassy terrain!"
"Roserade!" Agreeing with her trainer, Roserade ignored the snow, focusing on the other strategy Alcea had developed. She raised her bouquet once again, and a green light emanated from the red flowers. She brought the bouquet down and released the energy it had built up into the ground, covering the field with a green aura that caused the grass to grow.
"…Ah, yes…" Gabrielle mused, lazily looking over the new field. "Grassy terrain. Your other strategy. This one did give me a bit of a struggle back then."
"You may keep the sky all you wish," Alcea said, narrowing her eyes. "But we will take the ground. Rosetta, use grassy glide!"
"Roserade!" Rosetta shot across the battlefield towards Froslass, raising her bouquet.
"Have you forgotten Froslass' main ability so quickly?" Gabrielle asked. "With Snow Cloak, you'll find her a difficult foe to hit!"
Indeed, Froslass seemed to blend in with the snow itself. But that didn't matter to Rosetta. At her current speed, even though she missed with the first strike, she was able to easily turn on her heel and make a second, catching the Ice type pokemon in the back with a powerful hit that sent her sprawling through the high grass.
"We shall hit you regardless, is it?" Alcea said, narrowing her eyes.
Gabrielle smiled. A trickle of blood rolled down her lip. "…I suppose that counts as a hit."
"Gabrielle!" Alcea gasped. "Your lip!"
"Yeah, it's blood," Gabrielle said, wiping it off with her sleeve. "I felt that one too, you know."
"So you have harmonia as well," Alcea said. It was the only logical guess. She'd seen the other battles Samarra had led, and it appeared that Gabrielle was affected by the same power.
"Samarra gave me this power in the hope that it would be enough to defeat you," Gabrielle said simply. "Everything… it's all for that purpose. All so I could win… finally win against you."
The atmosphere had changed since the match began, and it wasn't just because Gabrielle had dropped the temperature to a nice and brisk 25 degrees. The snowstorm wasn't the reason Alcea was shivering at the moment.
There was something about her rival and almost-friend that unnerved her, something that felt familiar. The way Gabrielle was staring her, that single-minded determination, it almost reminded her of Olivia, during their battle.
Is this intensity a result of being influenced by Samarra? Alcea guessed. Or could it be something else, something worse?
She wasn't quite sure, and didn't like the fact that she felt so unsure. But what she knew was that she had to win either way.
"Rosetta, take advantage of this grass!" Alcea shouted. "Use terrain pulse!"
"Roserade!" Rosetta absorbed energy from the grassy terrain, and began to glow green. She raised her bouquets, and released a shockwave of grassy energy at her opponent.
"With the effect of grassy terrain, terrain pulse's power increases from 50 to 100, and it becomes a Grass type move," Alcea revealed. "And that is not all! In addition to that boost, it receives a 30% bonus from the effect of grassy terrain as well!"
With the snow coming down instead of intense sunlight, terrain pulse had become Rosetta's strongest offensive move. The only move she had that was stronger in this situation was petal dance, and Alcea wasn't about to use such a risky move so recklessly. No, it was better to use the terrain equivalent of weather ball.
She hoped that the power of terrain pulse would be enough to knock some sense into her opponent, or at least damage Gabrielle's confidence.
But Gabrielle smiled. It was a rare moment when that happened, and unlike her usual smiles this one didn't mean anything good.
"But without the grassy terrain… it does nothing, isn't that right?" She said quietly. Her eyes flashed with determination. "Froslass… use ice spinner!"
"Ice spinner?" Alcea gasped. Again, it was a move that she didn't know. She braced herself for what was to come, but she couldn't have expected what would happen next.
"Froslass!" Froslass raised her hands and began to spin, sticking them out to the sides like a top. A burst of freezing aura shot out through the ground around her, smashing into Rosetta from below. The Roserade was knocked off her feet and Alcea nearly was as well, staring in shock at what the Froslass had done.
"The grass-! It… it-!" Alcea's jaw dropped. Froslass' ice spinner had sent a freezing aura down into the ground, not only hitting Rosetta, but freezing the very grass itself! The green glow of the grassy terrain had been frozen in its tracks, and with it, the light from terrain pulse fade from a bright verdant sheen to a dull white.
Froslass didn't even have to dodge. As the attack reverted to the Normal type, it passed harmlessly through her spectral body.
The Froslass giggled.
"You… you cancelled my grassy terrain…" It didn't seem real to Alcea. When she'd changed her strategy to prioritize grassy terrain, she'd done so because it was much harder to overwrite. Like the sun, one would need another type of terrain in place to overcome it.
But Gabrielle had smashed right through her strategy with a new move of her own.
"When you used that terrain against me in our last match, I knew that if I wanted to defeat you, I couldn't just sit by and let your new strategy flourish," Gabrielle said with an icy tone in her voice. "So I studied. I developed new strategies, new techniques, new ways that I could seize whatever advantage I could over you. And this is what I decided on."
She smiled. It was a cold smile, devoid of joy. She held out her hands with a flourish as though they were on a stage once more.
"What do you think of my solution, Alcea Vermeil?" She asked. "I have not just taken the sky from you, now even the ground beneath your feet will serve my purpose!"
Alcea didn't have a response to that. She just shivered, staring warily at her opponent. It seemed that Gabrielle had become a truly terrifying foe indeed.
Things are shaping up to be rather difficult! Not only is Alcea facing off against Gabrielle again, but it seems that the Ice type trainer has developed even more strategies to overcome hers! And unlike Dokukage, I don't think Alcea can count on ninja luck to get her out of this one. And if that wasn't bad enough, it seems like Val is planning something with Gwen! Introducing something like that can't be good for anybody. Except her, of course.
