DISCLAIMER: I do not own Poke, I do not own mon either… and I certainly do not own Pokemon.
MESSAGE TO READERS: My apologies for the lack of an update in the last month or so. As you can probably tell, I've been working on my secondary story "A Smeargle's Tale" quite a lot and neglecting this one. However, we're back in full swing now and I've finally managed to update this story with the next part of Jonathyn's thrilling battle with Mimi.
I'm really looking for reviews for both "The League Of Champions" and "A Smeargle's Tale" so please submit your opinions, good or bad! I love to know what other people think so that I know whether I am doing something right or whether there are things that I need to improve on! I can't stress enough how important this is to me as an aspiring author.
Without further delay, go grab a lemonade or something, kick back and enjoy!
THE LEAGUE OF CHAMPIONS
CHAPTER 41: JELLY AND PICASSO! TRANSFORMING WITH DETERMINATION!
As I pondered which strategy I would use this time to take out Mimi's two remaining Pokemon, I wondered to myself how to handle dealing with that Ditto's attacks. At least I knew what to expect, since it only knew the moves my Aggron did. But then again, that alternately-coloured Smeargle was a complete wildcard. I had no clue on what moves it could use other than that Volt Tackle it had used to eliminate Nidorino. At least it used a move that damaged itself in the process. And whilst in Aggron's form, the Ditto it would be weak to Houndoom's Fire Type attacks. Yet Mimi still maintained a confident, almost cocky smirk on her face. She had a reason to, as I still hadn't fully worked out a battle plan to deal with her Smeargle.
"I've got your number, Jonathyn," Mimi taunted. "Even though you managed to take out my Woody and Squawks, there's no way you can stand up to these two."
"We'll see," I growled, trying to pay no attention to her claims. "Aggron, use Iron Head on the other Aggron. Houndoom, use Faint Attack on the Smeargle." In its usual aggressive manner, Aggron charged forward, lowering its head. Houndoom ran alongside Aggron before fading into thin air.
"Jelly, use Iron Head back!" Mimi retaliated. I was quite surprised that she did not instruct her Smeargle to try and avoid Houndoom's Faint Attack, which quickly struck the nicknamed Picasso from behind. Aggron's head collided with that of its doppelganger, resulting in a tremendous struggle. Neither Pokemon wanted to give up, but eventually it was the clone that broke through the other's defences, sending my Aggron tumbling backwards. It shook of the cobwebs, holding its temple in discomfort. Mimi showed off another wicked grin, content with her Ditto's power. "My Ditto can copy any of your Pokemon and exceed their skills more than you can imagine," Mimi smiled. "I have raised it to a much higher level than my other Pokemon."
"Damn," I scowled to myself. "She can use my own Pokemon's powers again me and do them a lot better as well. I guess we'll just have to prove that WE are better than she thinks."
"I doubt that," she chuckled, overhearing my words. "Picasso, use Spore on Aggron." The strange coloured Smeargle armed itself with its tail, before waving it up above its head. A strange powdery substance floated through the air, slowly moving towards Aggron.
"Aggron, Protect!" I called. I knew full well that if those sleeping spores made contact with my Steel Type, I would be at a major disadvantage. And Houndoom might not be able to fend off both the Smeargle and Ditto all by itself. Fortunately, the defensive move was activated just in time as the spores blew harmlessly over Aggron's barrier. "Alright, now Houndoom use Fire Blast on the other Aggron." Houndoom snarled, before spitting a ball of fire from its mouth, expanding into a five-pointed star shape. Mimi simply seemed to chuckle at this move.
"Anything you can do, we can do better," she giggled. "Jelly, Protect. Picasso, Volt Tackle." The Smeargle weaved past the Fire Blast, which disintegrated harmlessly against the doppelganger's very own barrier. As the Painter Pokemon ran forward, another aura of electrical energy engulfed its body in the same way it had done to knock out Nidorino only moments ago. It slammed ferociously into Houndoom, which was still catching its breath. Houndoom was sent skidding backwards, but still managed to maintain a vertical base. "Give up yet?" Mimi taunted with a smile.
"Hardly," I frowned. "Houndoom, use Fire Blast again. Aggron, use Shock Wave on the Smeargle." I called. The Dark Fire Type quickly unleashed a second star of flame, as Aggron shot a burst of electricity from its horn. This time, both attacks connected. "Yeah!" I grinned to myself, happy that the attacks had hit their mark. I then glimpsed over towards Mimi, who looked rather unimpressed. This took me a little by surprise.
"Is that the very best you've got?" she chuckled, as both of her Pokemon did not even appear to have a scratch on them. I gasped. How on earth had she managed to raise their defense levels so high? "You can't keep using Protect forever," Mimi grinned, content with the predicament she had put me in. "Picasso, try Spore one more time on Aggron. Jelly, you use Shock Wave on Houndoom!"
"Aggron, Protect again!" I shouted, praying that the defensive move would not fail me. "Houndoom, use Flamethrower to burn that Spore!" I could see Houndoom hastily preparing to fire the stream of flame, but before it could the jolt of electricity struck it in the face, knocking it down to the ground. I could see that the light produced from Aggron's Protect was far less intense than before… so much so that it faded into nothing. I cursed beneath my breath as the sleep inducing pollen covered the Steel Type. Aggron thrashed its arms, attempting to blow the Spore away, to no avail. The Grass Type move's effects began to settle, as Aggron closed its eyes slowly. It was out on its feet. "Houndoom, Faint Attack that Smeargle!" I roared, the fact that my Aggron was completely immobile on the battlefield made me full of rage. Mimi seemed to chuckle at this, whilst winking at me in seductive mockery.
"Jelly, use Protect to counter that move!" Mimi instructed, as the doppelganger Aggron stampeded over in front of the much smaller Smeargle. I then grinned to myself.
"Have you forgotten that Faint Attack never misses?" I smiled. "Even though your other Pokemon is defending it, it isn't the target." With that, Houndoom emphasised my point by suddenly reappearing after fading into thin air and striking the Smeargle hard with the Dark Type attack. Although it was sent skidding along the surface of the metallic field, it still did not appear to take as much damage as I would have liked. It was also a problem that I was not allowed to withdraw Aggron until he had been defeated. Either that, or it would be deemed unable to battle anyway if I returned it into its Poke Ball in its current state.
"You're going to have to do a lot better than a Faint Attack to knock out Jelly and Picasso," Mimi taunted. "There's two ways we can do this. We can either take out your Aggron while it's asleep whilst holding off your Houndoom, or we can gang up on the Houndoom whilst Aggron is asleep. Ooh, decisions, decisions…"
"Well, while you're deciding…" I grinned. "Houndoom, Fire Blast on the Ditto!" Mimi suddenly pricked her ears up as Houndoom produced another of its five-pointed star shaped flames from its mouth. It shot straight towards the Ditto…"
"Protect!" Mimi shouted. I suddenly sighed and growled simultaneously… but both of which changed to ecstatic cheers when I noticed that Jelly's attempted Protect had failed it. The Fire Blast approached ever closer. "Picasso, intercept it!" Mimi shouted desperately. The green Smeargle obeyed, leaping in front of the star. It exploded on impact, knocking the Smeargle back. This time, I noticed that the attack had done a lot more damage than when it was launched before, so much so that the Smeargle was still smouldering a little. The smell of charred fur wafted past me… a sickening smell, at that. I grinned in satisfaction of the move. "Don't think that we're done yet," Mimi called, a small smirk appearing on her face. "Use Heal Order, Picasso!" she spoke, with a smirk that wiped my own off my face. The alternately-coloured Smeargle raised its tail above its head… from nowhere, a small swarm of Combee appeared, literally covering the Smeargle from view. After a few moments of this, they flew away, disappearing as fast as they had appeared. When I looked back at Picasso, it had been fully healed.
"Damn that move," I scowled, remembering the problems that that very move had caused during my Second Round Battle against Casey and her Vespiquen. That battle seemed like such a long time ago… then I remembered my other battles that I had fought… my first battle against Carl and his Rhyhorn that knew Ice Beam… the battle against Darkhan and his Weezing and Espeon… then the battle against Sandra... she had done so much to help me lately and now she was in a terrible state. I clenched my fist… I had fought out of much worse predicaments than this since my arrival at the Pokemon League and I would be damned if I was about to lose out to some harlot. "Let's give this our all, Houndoom!" I growled competitively in the same way as my Houndoom, which did the same in response. "Use Flamethrower on the Ditto!" I shouted, before looking down at my Aggron, who was still sound asleep. "Aggron, wake up!" I shouted to it, but it gave no response other than producing a small bubble of phlegm from its nostril. "That went well," I sighed, before noticing Houndoom's Flamethrower had been intercepted by another Protect.
"Picasso, use Spore on the Houndoom!" Mimi shouted.
"Faint Attack!" I quickly instructed. Just as the green furred Smeargle sent out another wave of pollen. Just inches away from my Pokemon, Houndoom faded from view, the Spore floating harmlessly past. Houndoom then reappeared right behind the Smeargle, hitting it just as hard as it had done before.
"Iron Head, Jelly!" Mimi suddenly called, disregarding the attack on her Smeargle. The Ditto lowered her head in identical fashion to my own Aggron, ramming it with its metallic skull. Houndoom let out a howl of pain as it struck its side, knocking it down to the ground. "Now Picasso, Spore it!" she called. The green Smeargle quickly sent out another cloud of pollen towards Houndoom… this time, there was no way for it to dodge. The Spore smothered Houndoom, which in turn quickly nodded off into a sound sleep. Mimi whooped with delight, but I was far from pleased with this… "Now both of your Pokemon are asleep, Jonathyn," she smiled sweetly, yet wickedly. "How are you going to get out of this one?" I did not give an answer. I was dumbstruck by this tactic. Both my Pokemon were asleep and completely at the mercy of Mimi's Smeargle and Ditto. "I'll put you out of your misery," she giggled. "Jelly, use Iron Head on the Houndoom. Picasso, take down Aggron with your Flare Blitz!" With that, both her Pokemon charged forward. Jelly quickly hit Houndoom with a second headbutt of steel, whilst Picasso surged forward, engulfing itself with a ball of fire, slamming into Aggron. I heard a roar of pain, as Aggron fell to the ground, before pushing itself back up onto its feet.
"At least you managed to wake up my Aggron in the process," I smiled. "And Houndoom won't be long behind with its Early Bird ability. Aggron, take these guys out! Use Metal Burst!" I shouted. Knowing full well that the Fire Type attack that the Smeargle had used against Aggron would boost Metal Burst's power, Aggron appeared to be as confident as I was. An amazing flash of silver light covered the arena, causing members of the crowd to gasp with awe as the reflection from the Steel battlefield shone over them. The Smeargle was sent hurtling back from the attack, wounded greatly once again. "Follow up with Shock Wave!" I shouted.
"Jelly, get a Shock Wave in before Aggron does!" Mimi ordered. Aggron, who was still a little weary from launching his Metal Burst could not launch the attack in time as the Ditto quickly summoned a Shock Wave of its own, striking Aggron in the chest. "Heal Order," Mimi called to her Smeargle, which quickly summoned the Combee once before by raising its paintbrush shaped tail into the air.
"Damn it!" I growled, growing more frustrated by the use of that move.
"Now then, Jelly… use Iron Head on Houndoom again!" she ordered. "Picasso, you use Volt Tackle!" Both her Pokemon quickly darted towards the prone Houndoom, but to my surprise it sprung into the air with great agility. Even I had not anticipated it awakening from the Spore's effects THIS quickly. Mimi's Ditto completely missed it's Iron Head attack, although her Smeargle had encased itself in a wild electrical flare.
"Aggron, intercept with Iron Head!" I called. The Steel Rock Type charged forward, it's head lowered. Both attacks collided, with Aggron not taking as much damage as I thought. The Smeargle however was sent hurtling as the Steel Type neutralised the electrical current. "Now Fire Blast, Houndoom!" I roared, as the Dark Fire Type produced yet another of its almost humanoid star-shaped fireballs.
"Protect!" Mimi shouted, as her Ditto in Aggron form jumped in front of the green Smeargle, it's metallic hide glowing a spectrum of light. The Fire Blast hit the Aggron, but it simply dispersed into nothing more than a puff of smoke. The crowd let out a wild roar, cheering for both Mimi and myself. Despite the problems that I have had dealing with the Smeargle and Ditto, I was still at the advantage. Particularly as I still had Gabite in reserve. I had also realised that Gabite would negate at least two of the moves being used against me, Shock Wave and Volt Tackle. Flare Blitz would be relatively useless since Gabite had a natural resistance to fire… but I daren't dawdle on this aspect for too long, since Mimi was preparing the next wave of attack. Already, she had ordered Picasso to use Heal Order during my wonderment session… "Jelly, Shock Wave on Houndoom!" she called, as the burst of electricity knocked the Dark Pokemon down. Although it was not out for the count just yet, I could tell that it was growing a little bit tired, as was Aggron who had been battling from the start. "Your Pokemon won't be able to last much longer Jonathyn!" Mimi called to me, tauntingly. "Why don't you just give up now and spare yourself the embarrassment?"
"As if!" I chuckled, almost in disbelief that Mimi would still even consider that to be an option. "Aggron, use Iron Head on that fake!" I shouted. Aggron stared down its doppelganger, before charging straight at it.
"Iron Head as well!" Mimi grinned as her Ditto also surged forward. Both her Smeargle and my Houndoom waited impatiently for their instructions, but both Mimi and I both seemed to be equally as interested in seeing which "Aggron" would come out as the stronger. They were approaching imminent impact! "Swerve!" Mimi suddenly shouted. Was that some sort of attack or something? I was proved wrong as her Ditto literally swerved in the direction of Houndoom, sending Aggron flying forward from its own momentum. It screeched to a halt, but there was nothing that it or I could do… "Volt Tackle!" Mimi quickly added, as her Smeargle gave chase to the Ditto, which slammed its skull once again into the side of Houndoom. It let out a tremendously agonised yelp of pain, but it was soon followed by an even worse as the Smeargle struck with it's Volt Tackle, literally knocking Houndoom unconscious upon impact.
"Jonathyn's Houndoom has been eliminated," the official declared quickly, raising one of his flags. I did not pay attention to which one. I was more concerned with Houndoom. I grabbed its Poke Ball out of my pocket, withdrawing it back into the comfort of the spherical device. As I retrieved it, I stared at the ball with the deepest of gratitude.
"Houndoom, thank you for you effort. Rest well," I smiled to the ball, before switching it the Poke Ball of my fourth and final Pokemon. "This is going to be our toughest battle yet and I need one hundred percent. I'll do my very best too. Let's go, Gabite!" I launched the Poke Ball forward, my dual Ground Dragon Type appearing onto the battlefield. It took a small glance over to Aggron, before noticing its opponents.
"I figured you'd use your Gabite eventually!" Mimi grinned. "I've got just the strategy to take it down! Picasso, use Spore now!"
"Oh, no you don't!" I smiled. "Gabite, use Dig!" Just as the Smeargle sent out its sleep-inducing pollen, Gabite swiped its elbow fins at the ground. Not even the surface of the hardened Steel Field could stop Gabite from penetrating it, as it quickly faded from view. "Aggron, use Iron Head on the Smeargle this time!" I called. Just as it did before, it rushed towards the opponent, although it had to lower its head considerably lower than it did before, since the Smeargle was a much smaller target. This time, Mimi was taken by surprise. Aggron had dug deep to pull out such a sudden burst of speed, catching Picasso off guard. I knew though that we would have to keep the onslaught going on the Smeargle, otherwise it would only heal itself with that darned Heal Order technique. "Come on up, Gabite!" I shouted as loud as I could so that my Dragon Type could hear me beneath the thick metal. It obviously heard every word as it burst through the ground and sent the Smeargle flying into the air.
"Spore, quickly!" Mimi shrieked, a little desperately. The green Smeargle quickly shot another of the Grass Type attacks onto the battlefield… unfortunately for me, Aggron was still recovering from the Iron Head and did not even see the Spore coming.
"Aggron, look out!" I bawled, but it was too late. Even Aggron knew so once he inhaled the spores. He staggered back to at least try not to leave himself exposed in the open. Instead, he fell backwards onto his hide, sat upright against my podium whilst snoring loudly. "Not again…" I growled, but this was no time to lose my focus. "Gabite, use Dragon Rush on the Smeargle!" I called. Gabite suddenly darted forward, its body leaving behind blue streamer-like streaks of energy.
"Jelly, Shock Wave to intercept it!" Mimi cried, which resulted in the Ditto, who somehow STILL managed to maintain Aggron's form firing a jolt of electricity at Gabite, which bounced off harmlessly. In her desperation, she had forgotten Gabite's Ground Type duality with the Dragon Type. And it is a well known fact that attacks of the Electric element have no effect at all on Ground Types. Mimi's eyes widened as Gabite's Dragon Rush struck the green Smeargle with incredible force. It fell limply to the ground. It tried to get back up to it's feet, but found great difficulty in doing so. Mimi's face was a picture… completely shocked, yet sad and angry all rolled into one face.
"Finish it with one more Dragon Rush!" I instructed with a smile, as Gabite darted further forward, once more a trail of blue light followed it, although it did not really fully fade from the first Dragon Rush. To my delight, it struck the Smeargle once again. This time, there was no way of it getting back up. I noticed the dazed look in its eyes, which the crowd cheered almost as loud as I did as the official raised his flag. I'm sure that he must have said that the Smeargle was unable to battle, but his voice was completely drowned out by the cheers of the crowd and also my own. Anyone would have thought I'd have won the whole match, but that was not the case just yet… there was still one more opponent to take down, that Ditto…
"I can't believe you beat my poor little Picasso!" Mimi whimpered, tears in her eyes. "I'll make sure you pay!"
"With just that one Pokemon?" I asked sarcastically. "You've got no chance. Your Ditto is identical to my Aggron in every way. And I know all the strengths and weaknesses of my Aggron. A copy is never a good as the real thing!"
"Really?" Mimi grinned slyly. "The real thing is sound asleep and my Jelly knows everything that your Aggron knows. And I know that it's more than enough to take out your Gabite. Jelly, use Iron Head on Gabite!" she shouted. Quickly, the Iron Head attack struck my Gabite with brutal force, so much so that it appeared to be a critical hit. I grunted as the move struck, growling at the fact that her Ditto was still able to cause damage to Gabite. "Face it, there's not a thing you can do."
"Oh yeah?" I snarled in response before an idea popped into my head. "Gabite, Dig!" As it had done before, it used its fins to slice through the steel base of the battlefield like a hot knife through butter. As it vanished beneath the surface, Mimi let out a squeamish, yet mocking laugh. I wondered what was so funny to her, but what confused me even more was that she did not even tell her Ditto to try and counter the move at all. "Well, if you're so willing to be beaten that you won't even evade it…" I chuckled. "Come on up, Gabite…"
"Protect, now!" she shouted, grinning at me cunningly.
"Oh, shit!" I cursed out loud. "How the hell did I not see that coming." Gabite popped up from beneath the ground, but the Ditto's protective barrier simply caused it to rebound away, the attack doing no damage at all.
"I thought you said the real Aggron was better than any fake?" Mimi taunted once again. I clenched my fist, shaking with anger. I knew that there would be one move that would be able to put an end to all this… and that was Earthquake. The only problem for me was the fact that the attack would also hurt Aggron, who was still fast asleep on the battlefield. Dragon Claw would be pretty much useless against the Ditto's newly acquired Steel Type attributes. Even Dragon Rush would be just about as futile. Dig could be countered simply by using Protect, since it took two separate turns to attack. Earthquake truly was my only option until Aggron woke up, but even Aggron itself would not be able to penetrate the Ditto's defences. I acknowledged what I had to do to win this battle…
"Aggron, return!" I called, not at all sceptical at this sacrifice. The crowd seemed to gasp a little, confused by my motives. Despite the fact that Aggron COULD technically still battle, there was no point it getting injured from Gabite's attacks. And I'm sure that Aggron would appreciate my consideration as well. "Thank you for your hard work, Aggron," I spoke to the Poke Ball which now contained my withdrawn Aggron. "Take a good rest, you'll soon battle again." I placed the ball back into my pocket, looking over to Gabite, who was glaring at the Ditto with what appeared to more than just competitiveness… it seemed to look grudgingly at it.
"That's a mistake you'll regret," Mimi once again sneered at me. "Jelly, use Iron Head!" she shouted. The Ditto stomped forward rapidly, attempting to headbutt my Gabite once again.
"Gabite, Earthquake!" I shouted. With that, Gabite quickly leapt into the air, evading the Iron Head attack, before stomping both feet onto the ground as it landed, rocking the entire arena as it had done in past battles. The Ditto began to wobble until finally a fissure erupted from the steel below, knocking the fake Aggron to the steel floor. I let out a small grin, knowing full well how much the super effective damage had affected the Ditto, since I had seen the effects of the attack on my own Aggron in the past. I knew this would not yet be enough to fully knock out the Ditto, but that time was drawing ever nearer. I could almost taste victory.
"Ah, I get it," Mimi smiled strangely. "You withdrew your Aggron so you could use Earthquake without knocking it out yourself. But in the process, you eliminated it from battle anyway… and Earthquake only powers up the strongest move in your Aggron's arsenal. Now, Jelly! Metal Burst!" I gasped, completely neglecting this possibility at the time, as the Ditto began to fill the arena with an even brighter silver light than when the Smeargle had used Flare Blitz on my own Aggron. The resulting explosion almost knocked Gabite right out cold in one hit. It skidded and screeched across the steel battlefield, before weakly pushing itself back up onto it's feet, glaring at the Ditto with what appeared to be pure venom. The Ditto itself had an incredibly smug expression on its face, matching the one of its trainer. "Your Gabite can't stand to the power of my Ditto whilst it is an Aggron…" Mimi giggled maliciously. For some reason, these words seemed to ring out in my mind over and over… somehow I could tell that Gabite was thinking the same thing. The determination in its eyes seemed supernatural, like nothing I had ever seen before… in fact, there was only one time previously, whilst Aggron was a Lairon right before it…
My train of thought suddenly went of the rails as Gabite let out an enraged roar that echoed ominously throughout the arena. Mimi shuddered, cowering in her podium. Even her Ditto appeared to be quite scared by this sudden outburst. Gabite still did not take its eyes off the Ditto, when my mind suddenly clicked as to what was going on…
"Aggron and Gabite… are rivals…" I gasped so that only I could hear. "Gabite must see this as a chance to prove it is better than Aggron, although its anger has probably blinded it from the fact that it isn't actually my Aggron he's facing…" I remembered to myself that despite my attempts for them to get along, they would always be at each others throats. Even when situations rose when they HAD to work together, the tension could still be felt between them. And now, Gabite saw this as an opportunity either to vent its frustration, or it truly believed that this was an all out battle between the two of them. Gabite, still roaring with fury had began to flash a little, a strange white aura surrounding its body… before finally, it's whole body was consumed by this light. The whole crowd gasped in awe, as the light seemed to expand into a much larger form. I could not believe what I was seeing! Slowly, the light began to fade, revealing that Gabite… was no longer a Gabite. I let out a small gasp, before smiling happily and contently with what had just happened.
"This is it, Mimi," I grinned. "Garchomp, Earthquake at full power!" The newly evolved Mach Pokemon quickly pounded the ground with its elbow fins, which had also grown much larger than before. The fissure that resulted was almost instantaneous. Mimi seemed to call an instruction, but no sound came from her mouth. Even the Ditto itself had frozen, whether it be in shock and/or awe. The Ditto was literally sent flying skywards, before crashing back down onto the solid steel below with such an impact that a crater of metal was formed. Gabite…or rather Garchomp simply stared contently with the damage it had done, as did I. This time, there was no way that the Ditto could get up. This fact was confirmed as the form of the Aggron began to glow slightly, before reverting back to the original state of a small pink blob…
"Ditto can no longer battle," the official announced. "The winner of the Fifth Round Battle is Jonathyn Christian and his Garchomp!" All my thoughts were suddenly distorted by an eruption of cheers from the fans nearby. I sighed with relief. For now, at least, the battle was over…
TO BE CONTINUED
Next Time: What response will Mimi give as a result of her defeat? Can Jonathyn hide the truth from Misty about that kiss? And what new conflict will occur between Aggron and Garchomp now that it has evolved?