Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
Thanks again for reviewing, Nauran!
As it turned out, Ash had nothing to worry about regarding the second round.
Iris demanded that Ash use Gible again, but he gently reminded her as they took their positions on the red side of that battlefield that they had to use different Pokémon each round, and that those were the rules.
Iris pouted for a while, but accepted it without further complaint.
With that restriction in mind, she chose Emolga, while Ash called upon Bayleef. It took a little time for him to convince his Pokémon to get out on the field as opposed to hugging him, but it eventually acquiesced.
Emolga curiously observed Bayleef's behaviour, wondering if it would be worth trying the same with its own trainer.
Their opponents on the blue side decided to use the same tactic as before, only this time with a pair of Poliwrath.
These Poliwrath turned out to be – physically at least - the same as each other.
Exactly the same.
This included gender; both happened to be male.
So when Iris had Emolga open the battle with Attract, both of the Tadpole Pokémon immediately became hopelessly in love with their electric/flying adversary.
The bemused blue team attempted at first to order, then plead, then beg their Pokémon to obey, but they stood rock solid, captivated by Emolga's "beauty", and took the Razor Leafs, Discharges, Vine Whips and Hidden Powers that promptly flew in their direction.
If anything, it was remarkable that they lasted more than twenty seconds under the massed barrage of thunder and grass type attacks, but both eventually went down. Ash and Iris left the field after thanking their dejected opponents, though to far less cheering than they had in round one. They weren't being booed, but the crowd seemed a little unsatisfied with this victory, as if it had been a little too easy.
It reminded Ash of his battle against Clay back in Unova in Driftveil City, and his shame at the gym leader's rage at losing one round to Snivy's Attract.
In any case, at least they won, and Attract was Emolga's favourite battle strategy, Volt Switch hardly counting as a viable strategy.
Dawn and Misty had the last battle in the round, and they faced a Delibird and a Golem. The grandfather and granddaughter who comprised the red team used the same strategy as they had in the first round, only with different Pokémon; this time, the Golem did the heaviest hitting, while the Delibird focused on support using Present to heal – despite the supposedly high chance to explode.
Said plan of action succeeded for nearly five minutes, and Dawn's Togekiss and Misty's Staryu were beginning to become worn out by the need to evade Golem's powerful attacks and still try to chase down Delibird.
What brought the battle to a close – in Dawn and Misty's favour – was, ironically, Present backfiring. The Delivery Pokémon plucked another gift out of its sack and tossed it at Golem after a particularly powerful Aura Sphere from Togekiss. Golem caught the Present, which promptly blew up in its face, taking it out of the fight.
Misty wasted no time in ordering a Hydro Pump from Staryu towards the shocked team-killer, who was knocked down and easy prey for the following Air Slash.
The second round was over, and both pairs of trainers were through.
"It still sucks that we can't use the same Pokémon twice." Iris grumbled as they walked back onto the makeshift battlefield. "I'd have used Dragonite now and in the final."
"Pretty confident then, huh." Ash commented wryly.
"And you aren't? Gah, Ash, you're such a kid…" Iris turned away, shaking her head.
Ash bit back the retort he had prepared for such an inevitable retort as they were able to take a look at their blue team opponents.
They had been involved in the last battle of the second round, a match that stretched out longer than Dawn and Misty's Delibird related clash. All four trainers in the previous battle had used defensive Pokémon; two of which – Metapod and Kakuna, ironically on different teams – had no offensive moves at all, though their defences certainly proved not to be subpar. The other two Pokémon in that battle were a Geodude – with Kakuna - and a Cloyster - with Metapod, and in the end it came down to the greater power that the evolved water/ice dual type could bring to bear, which allowed it to win the match for its team.
Shell Smash helped quite a lot, too.
Cilan brought out Crustle to watch after Cloyster used the move the first time, curious as to what his Pokémon would think of Cloyster's interpretation of the move.
Crustle hardly responded much, and instead crawled over to Brock, Misty and Dawn, the former of whom was preparing a constant stream of food to give to the various Pokémon in turn. The former Pewter City gym leader was enamoured by the rock type, though Misty was put off by its dual bug typing, even though she managed to hide it well enough.
Cilan ended up deciding that the Cloyster's trainer had evidently done a good job with raising it, judging by the quality of its moves and the combinations it was able to pull off, and declared that Ash and Iris would face a tough challenge in their upcoming battle.
"Ready to lose, kids?" The blue team facing them took their positions too. They appeared to be twins; their blonde hair in delicate reflective symmetry as they stood side by side, brown eyes staring out like a hawk towards Ash and Iris.
"Hey, he's the only kid here!" Iris jerked a thumb towards Ash as she shouted back across the grass.
"Yeah! Hey, wait, what…?"
The announcer's voice flared up again, interrupting conversation once more and driving the assembled crowd to near silence.
"Welcome back after that short break to this exciting Tag Battle Tournament!" He bawled, having finally appropriate a proper microphone and sound system to project his voice over the crowd. "Well, I know I'm excited to see some more epic battling between our remaining trainers. How about the audience, are you guys excited?" He held the microphone towards the largest section of the crowd.
All around him, the observers cheered, combining their voices into a thunderous roar that ceased only sometime after the man with the microphone waved for silence.
Rhetorical questions. Gotta love em when trying to play a crowd. He mentally acknowledged.
The number of people actually watching the event had swelled since the end of the second round and the short intermission thereafter, so much so that, even with everyone sitting down, it was hardly possible to see out of the throng from the inner area.
The sunlight beamed down, lessened from its midday zenith but still intense enough that licensed drinks sellers – and a few opportunists - were able to make excellent sales as they navigated their way through the mass of bodies.
"Excellent, excellent!" He declared as the noise died down once again. "Well, let's get right back to it, then! In the third round – the semi-finals, I might add, we have eight trainers in four teams remaining to test their Pokémon against each other. In the first battle of this round, we have the red team of Ash and Iris against the blue team of Casey and Carol!"
More cheers, especially now that several battles had gone by and the audience – those that had been there a while, at least – were beginning to pick favourites. Ash and Iris were particularly known for their first round defeat; the crowd wanted to see more of that kind of rough battle style, and less of the tactics that they had used in the second round regarding Attract.
"Now trainers, please reveal your choice of Pokémon!"
All had already chosen, after all, and had merely been waiting for confirmation.
Four balls soared briefly into the sky once more, and four Pokémon emerged onto the battlefield once again.
"Well now, you don't see one of those every day!" The announcer's impressed tone at Iris' choice carried even through the distortion of the microphone. "Iris chooses Excadrill, and Ash goes with Kingler, while Casey and Carol call out Dewgong and Sandslash respectively!"
Kingler stretched and cracked its massive, heavier pincer and danced around, keep its feet still but its legs moving in anticipation.
Dewgong seemed to have a happy-go-lucky attitude, given the way it clapped its flippers and flopped its tail enthusiastically towards its adversaries.
Sandslash and Excadrill stared at each other, each arranging their features harshly in the face of their current competition. Both raised their claws at the same time and flexed them menacingly, Excadrill having the height and size advantage overall.
"Another Unova Pokémon, again, with its' trainer a long way from home! Anyone else here from Unova?"
Only Cilan and Iris called out in affirmation.
"Huh. Anyone here from Kanto?" The announcer smirked.
The cheer was nearly as loud as those that had come before it, echoed by Ash and both of the members of the blue team.
"Looks like the blue team have got a little bit more of a home field advantage than the red, but I guess it hasn't stopped Iris yet, so let's see how we go! Begin!" He declared.
"Sandslash, start things off with Dig!" Carol ordered, throwing an arm out and disrupting the symmetry.
"Do the same, Excadrill!" Iris countered.
"Stop it with Ice Beam!" Casey quickly commanded of Dewgong.
Sandslash, with a few seconds head start, made it into the dirt first. Excadrill joined it moments later, narrowly avoiding the chilling beam emanating from the Sea Lion Pokémon.
"Send Brine right down Sandslash's hole, Kingler!"
Kingler collected itself, drawing on its power, and launched a massive rush of shimmering blue water down into Sandslash's entrance in the ground. Dewgong, still confused at Excadrill's impressive escape, made no attempt to stop it.
"Kingler must've learned that back at Oak's lab." Misty noted.
Seconds later, the ground-type pushed out from the pitch in a separate place, frantically attempting to escape Kingler's attack.
This delay gave Excadrill the opportunity it needed to execute its own Dig; it leapt out from beneath the surface, sending mud and grass flying as it ascended above Sandslash and used a claw to strike it down again.
"Excadrill definitely has the advantage in power, and it seems about the same speed as Sandslash too." Brock commented.
"Dig is also the least of its attacks." Cilan added. "Iris has still got a lot more up its sleeve, but that Dewgong could be a problem.
"Sandslash, get up!" Carol ordered as her Pokémon struggled to rise. "Sis, we need to go for strategy number two!"
"Right!" They both flicked a strand of hair out of their face, and Carol extended a hand. "Dewgong, freeze the field completely with Blizzard!"
"Huh?"
"What?"
Sandslash leapt up as Dewgong drew back, then breathed out a cloud of ice onto the pitch in front of it. Kingler and Excadrill had no time to even try to dodge, but took little damage from the attack that they either resisted or were neutral, and after all it had practically dissipated by the time it reached them – not that it was aimed in their direction in any case.
Excadrill tapped a bladed claw onto the ice tentatively, then looked around at its trainer and shook its head.
"A bold strategy, it has to be said!" The crowd were muttering as the announcer spoke, confused but intrigued by the twins' plan. "They seem to intend on depriving Excadrill of its ability to sneak attack from underground… but how will Sandslash fare without being able to do the same?"
"Well, we'll just go for the direct approach, then! Kingler, hit Sandslash with Crabhammer!"
"Yeah, up the centre it is! Get in there, Excadrill, and use Metal Claw!"
Both Pokémon raised glowing limbs and charged forward towards the Mouse Pokémon that had just landed back on the ground.
Kingler performed fine on the ice, but Excadrill misjudged its momentum and sped past its bemused target, crashing painfully into a far wall.
"Excadrill, no!"
"Dewgong, take that Crabhammer!"
With unsuspected speed, Dewgong successfully managed to interpose itself between the oncoming Crabhammer and its partner.
Kingler's massive strength inflicted some damage, but its might was stymied by Dewgong's resistant typing; certainly it had nowhere near the impact that a similar hit on Sandslash would have created.
"Sandslash, take advantage of the opening and use Swords Dance!"
Sandslash flicked out its claws and began crashing them together, pumping itself up for further carnage.
"Excadrill won't have taken too much damage from its crash, but it might have given the twins the opening to win the battle itself." Cilan worried. "Like a recipe spoiled by just one off ingredient…"
"Excadrill's up, folks and back on the right side of the field!" The Subterrene Pokemon had indeed carefully manoeuvred itself back to stand next to Kingler, nodding to its trainer that it was still ready for action, and glared at Sandslash, who taunted it back by flexing its now razor sharp claws. "I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of Sandslash's claws, though…"
"Get back in there with Drill Run!"
"Ca…" Excadrill jumped backwards and then shot forward, drill spinning quickly. "Drill!"
"Catch it, Sandslash!"
The two Pokémon collided, throwing up dust and flecks of mud from the damaged battlefield below.
When the obscuring cloud faded, Sandslash was holding Excadrill by the drill, small arms managing to keep the ground/steel type aloft and unmoving.
"Toss it at Kingler!"
Sandslash obeyed, and the Subterrene Pokémon found itself thrown like a ragdoll at its shocked partner. They collided with another fierce smash; Kingler clearly taking the worst out of it.
"Oh no!"
"An amazing display of Sandslash's newly enhanced strength!" The crowd were pumped up now by the spectacle of the heavy Excadrill being thrown around like it suddenly weighed a tenth of what it had before. "Could this be the end for the red team?"
Both Excadrill and Kingler were now clearly breathing hard and Excadrill had even stopped shifting its claws about as it normally would when anticipating conflict. In contrast, Dewgong was as jumpy as ever, bouncing happily around next to Sandslash, whose presence had seemed magnified after the Swords Dance.
"We need to get back on the offense, Ash!" Iris realised. "Keep the pressure up!"
"Right! We're not giving up!"
"I'd say you've already lost, hon." Carol sneered.
"Yeah, why not just give up now? You'd save your puny Pokemon from any more of a beating…" Her sister put in.
"Never!" Ash roared, and the crowd cheered at the tense banter. "Kingler, Crabhammer again!"
"Just throw it off course with a Sandstorm, Sandslash, don't even waste your time." Carol dismissed the oncoming crab with a single glowing claw.
Sandslash slammed its claws into the ground rapidly, throwing up a cloud of dust and dirt – on purpose this time – into the path of Kingler. Kingler continued on for a moment, then floundered as its eyes became clogged by the tiny particles swirling round in the haze, a problem exacerbated by the heat. It managed to stagger back to beside Excadrill, rubbing its eyes frantically in a vain attempt to clear them.
"This looks really, really bad." Dawn said on the side lines as the sandstorm rolled on to cover the whole pitch.
"They've got to find a way to pull through, but they can't even get a hit in…"
"Sandslash will be even harder to kill with its ability, Sand Veil, activated." Brock observed.
"Pika…"
"Nah, I'd say Iris has this all-wrapped up now." Cilan said offhandedly.
The others all turned to him.
"Huh?"
"But they've barely dealt any damage!" Misty said, baffled. "How can you think that they're in a good position?"
Cilan simply motioned with his head towards Iris, and the others turned back to look at her.
She was smirking, her eyes excited, smile wide.
"What are you smiling at, kid?" Casey asked, confused. "Your Pokémon are finished! They can't even hit Sandslash, and Dewgong's still going strong!"
"Oh, nothing." Iris said so sweetly and with such confidence that even Ash looked at her in surprise. The crowd was deathly silent now. "Ready to win, Excadrill!"
"'Cadrill! Ex…"
Excadrill didn't look like it had experienced some kind of second wind… It was still breathing hard, dragging its claws slightly.
"You're insane." Carol replied, shaking her head, and then raised a hand. "Sandslash, finish this off with Slash!"
Jumping through the whirling sand, Sandslash raised its empowered claws to knock out its wounded adversary and practically end the battle.
It almost hit Excadrill, too.
Almost.
One second, Excadrill was standing there, about to be slashed by the ground-type Mouse Pokemon.
Next, it was gone. Sandslash landed and looked around, confused.
Then Excadrill appeared behind it.
"Sandslash, look-" Carol tried to warn, realising the danger too late.
"Metal Claw, let's go!" Iris interrupted. With claws glowing, Excadrill laid into its opponent, the Sand Veil doing little to aid the stricken Sandslash given Excadrill's newfound speed.
"Amazing!" The crowd were roaring again, and the announcer had to fight to be overheard. "Look at Excadrill go!"
The repeated slashes forced Sandslash back, next to the shocked Dewgong, who stopped bouncing and took its eye of Kingler.
Big mistake.
"Kingler, quick, Guillotine!"
Kingler's claw glowed a deep red this time, as it scuttled through the haze of sand towards its unsuspecting adversary.
"Dewgong, watch out!" Casey panicked, and Dewgong turned back in time to see Kingler looming over it. With a quick crack, the pincer descended and closed, and Dewgong was down and out.
"I can still do this!" Carol cried as Casey ran out to comfort her unconscious Pokemon. "Sandslash, use your strength to Slash again!"
Sandslash flicked a claw out, but Excadrill was already gone.
"Excadrill, finish it off with Drill Run!" Iris shouted happily.
"Exxxxxx…" Excadrill jumped back again, only this time much more quickly, and shot forward at a blinding speed towards Sandslash, its drill spinning at a tremendous rate.
Sandslash had no time to recover and block. The Pokémon collided again, only this time Sandslash was the one to take the worst of the smash.
The Mouse Pokémon fainted as the sandstorm finally subsided. The audience erupted in glee at the eventful outcome of the match as the sun's rays shone through once more.
Excadrill, weary yet proud of its achievements, roared happily, flexing and crashing together its claws as Iris approached to congratulate it. Kingler settled for a hug from its ecstatic trainer.
Their opponents recalled their Pokémon and simply walked away, distraught at their sudden defeat.
"But how did Excadrill get so fast?" Brock, Dawn and Misty shared the same stunned expression.
"It was Excadrill's ability, Sand Rush." Cilan explained helpfully. "When Excadrill is exposed to the conditions of a sandstorm, its speed is temporarily doubled."
"So the blue team ended up being the cause of their own failure." Brock realised as Dawn snickered.
"Whatever, they won! It's great!"
"Yeah, now we've just got to do the same!" Misty went for a high-five, which Dawn accepted, and both walked down to the battlefield, passing and congratulating Ash and Iris on the way down.
Dawn and Misty had seen their opponents before, of course; battling in the first and second rounds and winning fairly strongly.
They still were not prepared for the reality of battling two very young, entirely serious looking, schoolboys.
"Hey! Old ladies! We're gonna beat you into the ground with our powerful Pokémon!" One of them bragged. They stared back in disbelief at the bold suggestion.
"Who're you calling old?" Dawn practically snarled, her temper flaring up.
"Do you have to be so rude?" The other grumbled, adjusting a pair of glasses across his face. "And they're not ours; they're our dads'…"
"Oh, shut up! I bet you have a crush on one of them already!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Wow." Misty sighed. "Why us?"
"It can't be that hard for them to beat those two, can it?" Ash looked down at the arguing red team. No-one replied.
The microphone's static cut across the chattering audience.
"Welcome back to the second semi-final, and I'm sure you're all hungry for more excitement after the thrilling conclusion to the first one!" The announcer basked in the cheers of agreement for a moment before continuing. "Now, we have the team of Dawn and Misty in the blue corner, and they're up against the team of Dennis and Tim comprising the red team! Let's give a big cheer for our competitors as they reveal their next Pokémon!"
Dawn chose Piplup and Misty went with Politoed, the latter happily grabbing the former and dancing energetically with him as they arrived on the battlefield.
Their opponents didn't so much choose their Pokémon as choose their Poké balls, judging by their reaction when the Pokémon emerged.
"Cool, Bellossom!"
"Lame, Miltank! I must've picked up one of my mom's Pokémon by mistake!"
"Dude, your dad does have a Miltank. I've seen him training it when I was around your house last."
"… I knew that. Well, what kind of lame Pokémon is that?" Dennis - the one with shorter hair and no glasses – asked, pointing, annoyed, at Bellossom.
"Hey, Bellossom's a cool Pokémon!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
The two Pokémon "owned" by the red team looked at each other sadly and shook their heads sadly as the arguing resumed.
"Boys, boys, settle down!" The announcer seemed a little embarrassed by their behaviour. "Save that energy for the battle! Now, begin!" He declared.
"I'm starting this!" Dennis snapped. "Miltank, use Rollout!"
Miltank curled up – an impressive achievement given its bulk – and built up speed to roll towards Piplup.
"Stop it with a Whirlpool, Piplup!" Dawn ordered.
Pipulp summoned a swirling vortex of water and tossed it at the oncoming Milk Cow Pokémon. Caught up in its rolling, there was nowhere to run, and Miltank was briefly trapped before being tossed back next to Bellossom.
"Gah! Help me, I'm your teammate!" Dennis snapped at Tim, who shrugged.
"Sunny Day, Bellossom!"
The Flower Pokémon waved its short arms around, knocking its own leaves to and fro as the sunlight intensified to nearly blinding levels.
The aforementioned opportunists immediately began selling sunglasses throughout the eager crowd.
"How's making the sun brighter going to help?" Dennis shouted at his supposed friend.
"You'll see."
Can't use water-type moves until that sun dies down… Dawn and Misty shared a glance, having come to the same realisation simultaneously.
"Politoed, get involved with a Headbutt!"
"Piplup, use Peck on Bellossom, let's go!"
Both water-types bounced rapidlyforward to attack. Politoed's Headbutt easily connected, sending the already-weakened Miltank sprawling. Piplup's Peck did not, for Bellossom was suddenly behind it, and moving quickly as its Chlorophyll came into effect.
"Piplup, watch-"
"Solarbeam!"
With no charging time necessary due to the oppressive sun, Bellossom unleashed a massive blast of power at Dawn's starter Pokemon.
"Pipluppppp!"
"Piplup, no!"
Unprepared for the speed at which the attack was executed and launched, Piplup had no time to prepare itself for the hit, and also unprepared for Bellossom's sheer might, fell to the ground already out cold.
"Alright!" Dennis cheered, while Tim looked smugly on. "I'll give you that. That was pretty smart."
The crowd were surprised but impressed by the early knockout and celebrated Bellossom's victory as Dawn gathered Piplup up from the battlefield and walked off to stand behind Misty.
"Sorry." She whispered as she passed her partner. "It's up to you now."
Misty nodded.
"One thing at a time! First, dealing with that sun!" She declared. "Politoed, Rain Dance!"
Politoed clapped its hands together and resumed its dance from before, only this time with a little extra… flair.
It took only a few seconds for what was essentially a localised storm to begin pouring down on the battlefield. While the sun's rays had certainly been annoying before, this sudden torrential downpour was far less welcomed by the assembled spectators.
"Quick, use Sunny Day again!" Dennis shouted to his partner.
"Right! Bellossom, use-" Tim began, but was cut off by Misty.
"Now, Swagger before Bellossom can make its move!"
Politoed winked flirtatiously at Bellossom, who blushed and seemed to grow in stature, only to become dazed and heavy on its feet at the same time.
"C'mon, Bellossom, use Sunny Day again!" Tim repeated, but Bellossom simply slapped itself.
"What's that silly Pokémon doing?" Dennis demanded. Miltank also turned to watch.
"It's not silly, it's-"
"Politoed, finish Bellossom with Hydro Pump!" Politoed dug deep and fired off a massive stream of water at the disoriented Flower Pokémon.
Despite the defensive type matchup, the rain empowered the attack and that, coupled with the damage from the confused attack earlier, allowed the attack to faint it.
"Way to go, Misty!" Dawn had retrieved her cheerleading outfit from the others in the crowd and now danced in it behind Misty, ignoring the drenching rain.
"Ugh, you idiot!" Dennis despaired as Tim returned it to its ball.
"Well, if you'd maybe have helped me instead of having Miltank just stand there."
"Are we gonna finish this battle or not?" Misty headed off another argument there.
"Yeah, and I'll be the winner!" Dennis pointed out at Politoed. "Miltank, Hyper Beam!"
His Pokémon stared at him for a moment and then shrugged.
"What? Why aren't you attacking?" He cried.
"Bet it doesn't know Hyper Beam." Tim suggested, shivering in the rain.
"Well, how about-"
"Politoed, let's just finish this up!" Misty had had enough. "Hydro Pump, one last time!"
"Tell Miltank to dodge, you idiot!" Tim screamed as Politoed took a deep breath.
"Uh, Miltank, I, uh, quick-"
Too slow. Though Miltank probably would have been too slow to avoid it anyway…
The attack connected and knocked Miltank down and out.
"And that's the second semi-final over!" The announcer shouted as the volume of the horde climbed up again. The precipitation summoned by Politoed ceased, and the clouds dissipated, the weather returning to the previous, glorious sunlight. "Misty and Dawn advance to face Ash and Iris in the final!"
Dawn ran out onto the battlefield and hugged Misty, joined as soon as he was able by her recovering starter, and then by the soaking wet Politoed.
Dennis and Tim had, perhaps unsurprisingly, started bickering again. Still, Misty went over to thank them for the battle and encourage them for the future, and they both went away blushing furiously after that conversation.
"Both in the finals, huh?" Brock chuckled, laying a hand on Ash's shoulder as they watched. "Who would've thought it?"
Ash gazed out onto the field until he found himself being dragged along by Iris. His eyes had been fixed on Misty the entire time, smiling happily as she did the same, waving her hand in a v-for-victory pose.
Who indeed…
"Begin!" The announcer had shouted, and the crowd went silent as the trainers made their first moves.
Some of the onlookers had departed, but many more had arrived, and by the time of the final there was no space in sight that was unfilled.
They had wished each other good luck and sent out their Pokémon.
Dragonite, for Iris. Having expected another Unova-native from the wild child, the spectators went wild at the presence of the Pokemon that the announcer had described as "Kanto's finest".
Infernape, for Ash. Misty had expected it, and Dawn was delighted to see an old friend again so soon.
Infernape and Dragonite briefly sized each other up upon entering the battlefield, but seemed to arrive at an understanding of sorts, as throughout the battle they focused their efforts solely towards their opponents.
Gyarados, for Misty. Ash had expected its presence; aware of the powerhouse on her team, but it was still an imposing sight.
Mamoswine, for Dawn.
It was interesting that all four would choose Pokémon that they had once had some trouble with, whether in concerns of loyalty or simple rage, but none dwelled on it.
They had a battle to win.
This would be a battle of power, and certainly turned out to be so.
The earliest stages of the battle were effectively the most brutal; a frantic melee in which Dragonite and Mamoswine and Infernape and Gyarados fought hand-to-tusk and fist-to-maw. That said, the first attack was an early, unexpected Flamethrower from Gyarados, removing any useful impact that Multiscale might have on Dragonite's chances of winning the battle.
Seeing that a close combat approach would not avail them against their opponents greater might, Dawn and Misty – in the red corner, this time – changed tack. They had Mamoswine rain down icicles from afar, bringing them crashing down on their adversary's heads, while Gyarados alternated between extended Hydro Pumps and Flamethrowers, keeping their foes dodging and away from where they could cause greatest harm – up close and personal.
Tiring them out, too.
To their credit, the blue team came to that conclusion with impressive expediency, and sought to beat their foes at their own game. Iris directed Dragonite to use Ice Beam as often as it could; freezing the Hydro Pumps where it could, while Ash had Infernape counter the Flamethrowers with its own variant, and melt the icicles that sought to end the battle so prematurely.
All this forced Gyarados back, and increased Mamoswine's desperation.
Just as Gyarados was a foot away from Mamoswine's tusks, still not tiring in its rampage at Misty's pleading, Ash and Iris played their trump.
Ash ordered Infernape to Dig to quickly get underground and come up from underneath their foes. At the same time, even as the red team processed that command, Iris had Dragonite use ExtremeSpeed.
Darting over glistening ice and streams of fire, Dragonite zipped towards Gyarados and made painful contact. At almost the same time, Infernape burst out under Mamoswine and sent it reeling away from the force of its power.
But it wasn't enough. Both Pokémon were still up, and Dawn and Misty went on the counterattack.
This time, they went in on the offensive.
Gyarados used Thrash to stand up to Dragonite's lumbering punches, and despite having superior defensive typing, the dragon/flying Pokémon sill suffered from the Atrocious Pokémon's rage.
Mamoswine caught Infernape off-guard by recovering from its attack so quickly, and launched a flurry of powerful ground and ice-type moves, eventually forcing Ash to rectify the situation with a hastily employed Counter Shield, which greatly impressed the crowd.
After that scrum, both sides disengaged for a breath moment of respite. Ragged breathing was universal across all four Pokémon, and the atmosphere was tense.
Then, just like that, two were out cold.
Dawn had Mamoswine charge toward Infernape again, intent on inflicting further damage.
Ash ordered a Flare Blitz to counter the assault.
The smoke cloud from their subsequent meeting took nearly thirty seconds to disperse entirely, but eventually did so to reveal that both had fainted; Mamoswine from the Flare Blitz, and Infernape from the recoil.
This left just Iris and Misty – and their Pokémon, of course – staring each other down on the battlefield.
"I think this has gone on long enough, Iris." Misty suggested lightly, as Dragonite glared at her Pokémon, which snarled and roared in response to its expression.
Not that the crowd wants it to end…
"Aww, but I'm just getting warmed up."
"Oh, I'll give you warm. Flamethrower!"
"Ice Beam!"
Though the typing of the attacks favoured Gyarados, the end result was a sparkling display of glittering moisture that filled the air and drew gasps from the crowd.
"It looks weak, Gyarados! I know you can do it, finish it up with Thrash!"
"We won't be beaten that easily! Dragonite, use Outrage now!"
Both Pokémon gave one, last, bellowing cry, then charged at each other. Gyarados went in with its mouth; Dragonite with its fists. Both slid past each other as they attacked, then turned to glare at each other for nearly twenty seconds, still holding on.
The crowd awaited the result with baited breath, the two defeated partners staring out tensely past their allies onto the battlefield.
Then it was over.
Gyarados fell down, stars in its eyes, and Dragonite roared, exhausted but triumphant, as the echoing roar of the crowd around them reached deafening levels. Iris ran in to hug it, followed by Ash, and eventually, after it had joined them
"We need to spend more days like this." Iris declared as the six trainers walked back to where they were scheduled to meet up with Cynthia for the ride home, having left the park behind a long time ago. The sun was low in the sky, the clouds returning, the shops slowly, but surely, beginning to shut.
They turned the corner and waved to Cynthia, who waved back, happy to see them again.
"Yeah," Misty agreed. "But not every day. Our Pokémon might have enjoyed the battles today, and I know I did too, but we've gotta be careful how hard we push them."
"True, but we all had a lot of fun today." Ash put the shiny stone that had been his prize back in his pocket as Iris proceeded to examine her new water stone for the umpteenth time.
Pikachu eyed both warily, suspicious of any elemental stones so similar to the thunder stone he so dreaded.
"Certainly seems that way." Cynthia noted all of their content expressions as they reached and piled back into the vehicle she had commandeered.
"How was your day, then?" Dawn asked as she shut the door and Cynthia started the engine.
Cynthia smiled so slightly that the others weren't entirely sure it wasn't merely an illusion of her reflection.
"Oh, you know." She said airily. "Same old, same old."
The announcer watched as his flunkies loaded the equipment from the day's work back onto the specially made truck. He reflected on just how smoothly the day had actually gone.
Financially, they had made an absolute fortune from sales during the tournament; as they always did, and as they always would. Sure, it cost a little to obtain permits for such events and to actually set them up, but nowhere near as much as the profit they made every single time.
But that wasn't the best result of the day.
The announcer flipped on his mobile and keyed in the special, direct number, then waited until he was put through to his boss's office.
"Well?" The boss was hardly known for his patience.
"It was done, sir." The announcer could barely contain his excitement. "We collected data on four of the members of the Primary Target's team, as well as four each of the members of three of the Secondary Target's team – all while remaining entirely undetected. I'm sending it to you now, along with our expenditure and profits for this project."
"Most impressive." The boss replied after some time. "Once again, you prove your usefulness, and the importance of your little scheme to our organisation. Well done, operative."
"Thank you, sir."
"You have my permission to begin preparations for the next event. See to it that you maintain your levels of efficiency and success. Good luck."
"Thank you, sir." He ended the call, and smiled as he entered the truck's cabin and ordered the driver to go. It felt good to be a part of something successful.
Hundreds of miles away, looking over the data that had been collected after the call had ceased, Giovanni smiled.
The corruption stirred the heavens above, awaking a shining champion.
- Victory's Herald, Mirrodin Besieged