DISCLAIMER: Take a stab in the dark at what the next sentence will be, I dare you. I do not own Pokemon.
THE LEAGUE OF CHAMPIONS
CHAPTER 27: STILL FIGHTING DRAGONS! BATTLE OF TWO GABITES!
She seemed to have totally underestimated it's power. It might be the most intelligent Pokemon in the world, but it definitely gave her a scare when the attempted Aqua Tail attack did nothing at all to it. It was almost as though it was that dim that it did not even acknowledge the pain. Either that or it had a higher defense level than I first thought. She had now brought out her Flygon to try and take out my Quagsire, although I still had not revealed it's knowledge of the Ice Beam technique that could be the one thing that will turn the battle in my favour.
"My Dragonair's attacks can't penetrate your Quagsire's defense," Sandra admitted to me. "But I know my Flygon can. Flygon, Fly up high and absorb some sunlight!" With a single mighty flap of it's diamond shaped wings, it rose several feet into the air. It was completely out of range of a physical attack, so Focus Punch would be no good at all. And one of Quagsire's unorthodox Body Slams would also prove pointless. Would it be time to unveil Ice Beam? Not yet it wasn't…
"That can only mean one thing," I thought aloud. "It's going to use Solarbeam. But it takes time to charge that move up." I prayed that this next attack would work. "Quagsire, Yawn!" I called to it. Quagsire closed its eyes and its already gaping mouth widened as it let out a long yawn. A large bubble began to float up, not as quickly say as any other sort of attack. "Come on… please hit it before it fires that Solarbeam…" I wished to myself. The bubble floated higher and higher. It was not far from Flygon now.
"Fire!" Sandra called. With that, Flygon launched the Solarbeam, which popped the Yawn bubble before it could reach its target. It hurtled towards Quagsire at an ominous pace, yet Quagsire watched it like a child looking at a toy.
"Jump in the water, Quagsire!" I grinned, even though the colossal Solarbeam was about to engulf it. But it jumped into the water, leaving the solar powered attack to strike the podium, with my Pokemon sustaining no damage at all. "Your Solarbeam took so long to fire that Quagsire had plenty of time to dodge it. And your Flygon being so high up didn't help either. Now it's our turn to attack. Quagsire, time to show them an Ice Beam!" Quagsire's head popped up just above the surface of the water, forming a small blue ball in its mouth. The freezing cold beam flew skywards, directly at the Flygon.
"Sandstorm!" Sandra shouted, as another twister of sand and dirt suddenly appeared with a mighty flap of the dragon's wings. The Ice Beam clashed with the Sandstorm, stopping it dead in its tracks. I let out a small scowl of frustration, as Sandra looked over to me with the smuggest of grins. "You didn't think that I hadn't expected some sort of Ice attack, do you?" she chuckled. "As the World's Greatest Dragon Breeder, I know that all Dragons detest the cold. So I've trained each and every one of my Dragons to counter all sorts of Ice attacks." Upon hearing this, I scowled even deeper. How could I have not thought that she wasn't expecting the Ice attack?
"We'll just have to try a different strategy then, won't we?" I sneered back to her. "Quagsire, use Yawn again." A second drowsy bubble bulged from Quagsire's mouth, floating up towards the Flygon.
"Don't make me laugh," she cackled back to me. "Flygon, burst their bubble with Dragonbreath!" The dragon spat another river of reptilian breath to pop the bubble before it even came closer, when I noticed that it had now lowered itself considerably since missing the Solarbeam just before. Now was a perfect chance to really stun it.
"Dodge and use Focus Punch!" I called. The Dragonbreath narrowly missed Quagsire this time, as it surged up from beneath the water, it's fin-like hand balling into a fist. It swung with considerable force, striking the insect dragon beneath its jaw. "Ice Beam now!" I begged, as Quagsire was now right next to it. Quagsire fired the freezing beam of ice straight into its long neck, causing the dragon to roar in agony. It began to fall from the air back towards the water, having taking heavy damage from my Focus Punch and Ice Beam combination. Sandra seemed a little bit unsettled by this, but only barely. All I could do was wait for the Flygon to crash back down to the water below.
"Steel Wing," Sandra smirked. The Flygon's eyes widened, almost with an enraged gaze. Just inches from the water, it stopped itself and darted back up towards Quagsire, thrusting a silver wing across its face. Quagsire slammed into one of the pontoons, which simply showed the power that Flygon was now using. But to my, and everyone elses' surprise, Quagsire simply sat up with the same gormless smile across its face. It jumped into the water and began to splash around playfully. Thankfully, it did not know the move "Splash" itself… It seemed to be enjoying its time frolicking in the water, when I suddenly caught on to what it was doing… "Flygon, Solarbeam!" Sandra competitively roared, as the Flygon began to ascend into the sky.
"Yawn as fast as you can!" I urged to Quagsire, who launched the bubble whilst still playing in the water. The bubble began to rise higher and higher. Flygon was still charging the Solarbeam attack.
"Fly around it and fire the Solarbeam right up close to it!" Sandra shouted. The bubble loomed ever closer, but just as it had been instructed to do the Flygon swerved past it, still storing light energy. It was flying straight towards Quagsire, who could not stop cavorting in the pool. "Do it!" Sandra whooped, as Flygon managed to get right in Quagsire's face. Quagsire simply looked up at it.
"Yawn again!" I called, hoping that Quagsire's next Yawn could hit right before the Solarbeam fired. The bubble popped right in Flygon's face, causing it to shudder and flinch. It fired the Solarbeam way off course, the light energy heading straight into the sky. It dropped gently into the water, with its eyes closed. It was snoring quite lightly. "Now your Flygon's fast asleep and completely helpless," I grinned, knowing that this was the end of her powerful Flygon. "Wrap this one up with Ice Beam!" I called. Quagsire smiled, before launching the Ice Beam right at the Flygon. It managed to freeze it within a large block of ice as it still slumbered. The ice quickly shattered, leaving the Flygon unconscious on it's back floating in the water.
"Flygon can no longer continue," the official announced, raising a flag to confirm Flygon's defeat. "Quagsire has won this round." Sandra called back her whitewashed Dragon, apparently thanking it once it had returned into the comfort of its Poke Ball. She pulled out another ball in its place.
"Flygon may be one of my most powerful Dragons," Sandra began, "But that doesn't mean I haven't got other strong ones too. Now I'll show you just why I am the World's Greatest Dragon Breeder. Gabite, I choose you!" she launched the Poke Ball forward. The Cave Pokemon appeared on a pontoon just in front of where Quagsire was still splashing around. "What is that thing doing anyway?" Sandra titled her head at the Fish Pokemon's strange behaviour.
"Water Absorb," I replied. "It heals itself when it comes into contact with water."
"I see. Then I guess that I'll just have to get rid of that Quagsire using other methods," she glared over to me cunningly. "Gabite, use Attract!" The shark-like dragon held its hands close to its chest, just as I had seen it do so when we first met. A small golden heart appeared in front of its hands. It thrust them forwards, sending a shower of golden hearts towards Quagsire. The hearts dispersed over Quagsire's head. It looked around, a little bemused before continuing it's splashing session in the pool. Sandra's jaw dropped when she noticed the attack had no effect. I too was surprised. But I couldn't help but wonder whether this was due to the fact that Quagsire was fortunate enough to be the same gender as her Gabite, or it was that dim witted that it didn't know what was going on.
"You'll have to try something better than that," I smirked, almost disbelieving just how much of an advantage I was gaining through the use of this one Pokemon. Sandra simply grinned at me as she had done before.
"Gabite, Swagger," Sandra called. I blinked a little at this, as the Gabite let out a long sigh, swaying from side to side. For some reason, Quagsire's smile turned from that of glee to one of a little more frustration. It was almost as though her Gabite had awoken some power from with it. Upon noticing this, I thought it would be the perfect time to attack.
"Thanks for the boost, Sandra," I called over to her mockingly. "Quagsire, show it your Focus Punch." Quagsire clenched its fist and swung it with even more force than it had done against the Flygon. However, the crowd winced along with myself with its own attack struck it across its jaw. What had just happened?
"Worked like a charm," she chuckled. "Quagsire is confused… not that it wasn't before."
"Don't make fun of my Quagsire," I snapped. "Besides, there's a simple solution to that tactic. Quagsire, Return!" I recalled my destructive Quagsire back into its Poke Ball for now. It was a shame too, as it had been on a roll up until that point. Now it was down to which Pokemon to use next… Aggron or Gabite? I knew that Gabite would instantly fall for the other one's Attract. Aggron? I didn't know, but if it did then I knew that I'd be in serious trouble. And even if it wasn't affected by Attract, she would more than likely use Swagger again to confuse it. This could well be one of the biggest gambles of my Pokemon League experience yet.
"Time to fight fire with fire," I snarled. "Gabite, show them how it is done!" I tossed the Poke Ball forward, as my own shark-dragon Pokemon emerged. It stretched its narrow arms, letting out a snarl as it locked eyes with it's female doppelganger. I could not help but wonder how this tactic would turn out, but I knew I would have to act fast to prevent Sandra causing too much stress with her Attract technique. Sandra herself had her eyes fixated on her prize.
"It's nice to see that you're so willing to let your Gabite be mates with mine," she beamed uncontrollably. "Down to business! Gabite, Attract!" The words I did not want to hear came straight away. The heart was beginning to take form in front of her chest. In order to keep my battling dream alive, I had to act now!
"Gabite, into the water!" I shouted, knowing that this was the only way to avoid the attack effectively. Gabite dived to one side, as the hearts began to scatter themselves across the arena. They popped upon coming into contact with the surface of the water. "Now Dragon Rush!" This could work quite well, as the translucent water could camouflage Gabite, especially with its blue scales. A blue streak of light suddenly burst up from beneath the waves, crashing against the female Gabite who cried out in pain as my own Gabite's attack landed super effectively. I let out a smug grin, but Sandra simply shook her head at me.
"Anything you can do, we can do better," she seemed to sing as she focused her mind on the next instruction. "Dragon Rush back!" she called. In almost an identical fashion, the female Gabite burst forward with the powerful attack, striking my own Gabite with deadly force. Gabite let out a long cry, clutching the area of its body where the attack had connected. "Follow up with Attract!" Sandra ordered, a sudden eruption of small hearts filled the arena, heading straight for Gabite.
"Into the water again!" I shouted, beginning to realise how much trouble this technique could cause. Narrowly, Gabite avoided the infatuating hearts.
"Aerial Ace!" Sandra called. My eyes widened, unsure as to whether or not I had heard her properly. Gabite seemed to fly through the air, somersaulting down and smacking into Gabite's skull. Once the waves had finished crashing, there was complete silence for just a moment, before something burst out of the water… in fact, there were two of them. Both Gabites had somehow managed to get back out from the water and back onto a floating pontoon. There was a short stand-off, as the crowd eagerly watched on with incredible anticipation.
"I see what you mean by Dragon Breeder," I murmured loud enough for Sandra to hear. "You've taught your Dragon Pokemon all sorts of different moves. Your Gabite knows moves to immobilize the foe, before hitting with either great power or an unmissable move."
"You're observant, I'll give you that," Sandra smiled. "Battling is not just about strength and fancy moves alone, it's the combination of which you use them. But I've got to hand it to you, you've trained all of your Pokemon exceptionally."
"Thanks," I appreciatively nodded. "But don't think you can sweet talk me into losing, this battle isn't over yet!" Sandra smirked, as I decided on my next form of attack. "Gabite, use Dragon Rush one more time."
"Swagger quickly!" Sandra almost interrupted me before I could even finish ordering my attack. Her Gabite began to use the confusion inducing move, as Gabite hurtled towards it like a missile, enveloping itself with blue streaks. It began to rock a little in mid-flight, the effects of its confusion becoming evident. Despite this, it miraculous veered straight into the side of the female Gabite, knocking it straight into the water. Sandra gasped at the ferocious impact. My Gabite managed to skid to a stop on the pontoon, although it was wobbling a little due to the confusion. It shook its head a few times, before focusing entirely on where the female Gabite was in the pool. "It snapped out of confusion quicker than I expected," Sandra confessed. "Aerial Ace, Gabite!" The Gabite shot out of the water, turning in mid air and propelling itself directly at my Gabite. I tried to think of what I could do to avoid it, but I could not think quick enough. Sandra's Gabite slammed into mine with a lot of force, knocking it down on the podium. "Pin it down!" she grinned, as the Gabite stood on mine's elbow-like fins. Gabite tried to wriggle to get itself free, but her Gabite did not allow any form of escape.
"Gabite, try using Crunch!" I called, hoping that it could force the other dragon off of it. It lunged with its neck, but the female simply adjusted her body so that she was just out of range of the crushing attack.
"Attract!" Sandra gurned on looking pleased with what was happening. A rain of hearts dispersed over Gabite's body. The look in its eyes turned almost into heart shaped themselves. It's jaw hung open, a droplet of drool began to trickle from its bottom lip. The female Gabite leapt off my Gabite, landing on a separate podium just a few feet away.
"Gabite, use Dragon Rush!" I called. Gabite simply hunched itself, it's eyes locked with the female's figure. It was completely hopeless. "Gabite, snap out of it!" I shouted to it, trying to get its attention again. From the other side of the Water Field, I could see Sandra chuckling to herself, delighted that she now had the upper hand.
"Take a good look, Gabite. That's your future mate!" Sandra tauntingly smirked. To which Gabite in particular she was talking to, I did not know. "Show him some love! Dragon Rush, let's go!" The female let out a growl, covering herself in another blue aura, before bursting towards Gabite. Meanwhile, my own dragon would not even move.
"Look out!" I cried desperately. Gabite suddenly spread its arms and prepared to take the attack. It struck, but upon closer inspection I suddenly realised that it was doing something more than that. It's fins were glowing, as though it was about to perform a Dragon Claw attack. The female's Dragon Rush was just moments from striking, before Gabite thrust its fins forward, slashing the female across her torso. The blue aura faded, as she limply splashed into the water.
"How did it do that!?" Sandra gasped in disbelief.
"I don't think it meant to do that," I called back in response. "But I really wish it did!" We all waited for the female Gabite to reappear from the water, not knowing whether it would emerge defeated or still ready to battle onwards. Much to my frustration, it was still looking to battle. "Persistant things, aren't they?" I sighed to myself. "Gabite, use Dragon Claw again!"
"It won't work this time," Sandra boasted. "That last attack was a lucky shot. But it's head over heels in love with my Gabite. And I'm going to secure the victory this time. Gabite, Swagger!" The confusion inducing move was performed once again. Now Gabite was in serious trouble. Not only was it infatuated, but now confused as well. But I knew that it could still win and refused to switch it out even in these extreme circumstances. Gabite began to power up the Dragon Claw that I had ordered it to use, but it fell flat on its face, the perplexed Pokemon doing more damage to itself than anything else. "It's over, Jonathyn!" she taunted me yet again. "Finish it with Dragon Rush!" I felt helpless as the Dragon Type Move headed once again straight for my prone Gabite. It wobbled a little, before staring at the imminent striking attack. To my astonishment, it began to do exactly the same as it had done before, preparing to embrace it whilst charging up a Dragon Claw. Both moves connected at the same time. Both the dragons went flying backwards landing in the water. Sandra and I watched, both praying that our respective Gabite had survived the collision. Mine was the first to surface, completely annihilated. I could not believe that Gabite, despite battling with severe disadvantages had managed to do so well. But it was defeated. I went to let out a sigh, but stopped when I saw that Sandra's Gabite was in the same condition. They had both knocked each other out!
"This battle is a draw, as both Gabites cannot continue the battle!" the official announced, raising his flags high into the air. Even though Gabite had not necessarily won the battle, it had not lost either. I called it back into it's Poke Ball, acknowledging what a great feat it had achieved in this fight.
"You were awesome, Gabite!" I spoke softly to it. "Now you can relax!" I wondered what to do next. We were both down to two Pokemon each. I still had Aggron and Quagsire left, although Quagsire had already battled once already. Sandra on the other hand still had her Dragonair and one Pokemon that was yet to be revealed. I rapidly tried to think of what other Dragon Pokemon there were that she might possibly have… maybe a member of the evolutionary chain of her previously used Pokemon, like a Vibrava or perhaps a powerful Dragonite. Even a Garchomp could appear. Then there were other Pokemon that were still to follow…
"I'll take my freshest Pokemon out next!" Sandra shouted. "I choose you!" She threw her next Poke Ball from it. As I slightly expected, the Dragonair did not appear. Instead, a strange blue-scaled creature appeared. It floated with half it's torso and head above water level. It had a long, thin snout and two "antennae" like horns that almost resembled fins of some sort. On its back, a small pair of "wings" could be seen. All in all, it was a strange shaped Pokemon. The closest thing that I could think of it to resemble was a seahorse. The Kingdra looked more intimidating that the way I described it. Although it remained silent, the look in its eyes seemed to show that it had incredible ability.
"If you're starting fresh, then I guess I should too," I grinned. "Aggron, show them your power!" It's Poke Ball yawned open, as my powerful Aggron appeared on one of the podiums.
"Bad move, Jonathyn!" Sandra smirked at me. "Your Aggron is limited to the pontoons, whereas Kingdra can easily swim anywhere it likes in water. Not to mention that it has a weakness to water, which my Kingdra specialises being a Water Dragon Pokemon."
"Damn…" I scowled to myself. "The only moves that would do severe damage to it are Dragon moves. Not even Quagsire's Ice Beam would be as useful as it would be against her other Dragons." Aggron and Sandra's Kingdra stared each other down, as the official waved his flags to signal the beginning of the match.
"Kingdra, go beneath the water and use Dragon Dance!" Sandra called. In a fluid movement, the Kingdra sank beneath the surface and seemed to perform some sort of dance, as the name of the move would suggest. Purple electrical charges seemed to scatter across the water as it's dance neared completion.
"Aggron, Shockwave!" I instructed. Aggron scattered some sparks of its own across the water, striking where Kingdra was bobbing in the water. It emerged, apparently unharmed at all.
"It might be a Water type," Sandra began with a smile, "but Kingdra's Dragon status prevents electrical attacks from doing much damage. Nice try, kid! Kingdra, another Dragon Dance." Still beneath the surface of the water, more purple electrical charges shot across the surface of the water. Although they were no threat to Aggron, I wondered just what she was up to.
"If it's just going to keep on dancing, it'll never win the battle. Aggron, use Shockwave again!"
"Another Shockwave?" Sandra shook her head smugly. "Is that the best move you have?" The electric current struck the aquatic dragon once again but did little damage to it. "Alright then, Kingdra. From beneath the water, use Water Pulse." I could hardly see where about in the water the Kingdra was, but then saw a sudden ripple of water powering towards the pontoon where Aggron was. The ripple shot out of the water and slammed into Aggron's torso, doing incredible damage and even knocking the giant creature onto its back. It looked as thought it was in great pain.
"The power…" I gasped, as Aggron winced and groaned as it got back up to its feet. "…it's amazing."
"Hee hee," Sandra gleefully giggled. "Kingdra's Dragon Dance dramatically increases both its' attack power and its speed! At full power, it can knock out almost anything in just a couple of hits."
"Aggron can't win this using Shockwave alone…" I sighed to myself. "It's Steel Type moves won't do much either. Sorry, Aggron. Return." I withdrew Aggron from the battle. "I know you must feel annoyed about not battling," I spoke to the ball. "But you will battle again soon, I promise." I placed Aggron ball to one side, bringing out Quagsire's to replace it.
"A poor choice from the start," Sandra sternly said to me. "You've hardly done any damage at all to my Kingdra, yet I have been able to boost its attack and speed already. And switching Pokemon only allows me more time to increase it even more. Dragon Dance now!" I had not even brought Quagsire onto the battlefield, yet the Kingdra had already begun to use the move.
"Quick, Quagsire! Come on out and use Yawn underwater!" I called, throwing the ball forward. Quagsire landed straight into the water with the same gaping smile. It began to swim towards the Kingdra, blowing a bubble beneath the waves. It bobbed slowly towards the dragon, not floating upwards as I thought it might do."
"Dragon Pulse!" Sandra shouted. A dark green and purple coloured blast surged through the water, bursting the bubble created by Quagsire's Yawn.
"Dodge it!" I shouted quickly. Quagsire managed to avoid the move, which created a small explosion at the side of the pool upon impact. It was the same move that I had seen Cynthia's Lucario use in her previous battle against Darkhan… I suddenly remembered what Sandra and I had spoken about before the battle. She knew something that I didn't about the mysterious swordsman. I had to find out what it was. She had refused to tell me before, but if I win the battle then she would finally spill the beans. "Sandra, you may have powerful Dragon Pokemon, but my desire to win this battle surpasses that. Once I win, you will tell me the truth!"
TO BE CONTINUED!
Next Time: The battle continues to rage on. Now down to two Pokemon each, can Jonathyn defeat Sandra once and for all? This explosive battle concludes in the next chapter!