AN: Readers beware, some swearing appears this chapter.
After many hours of hard work, Genma was able to fashion a back brace for Light out of bamboo, allowing him to at least be able to stand up.
"How are you going to beat Mach in your condition Light?" Genma asked.
"I use my head and level the playing field." Light replied. "Last time I let my ego get the best of me and payed for it. It won't happen again."
It better not happen again or it'll be the end of the New Age Alliance. Light thought.
"I understand the logic behind your strategy but how are you going to take away his speed?" Genma asked.
"I have it all worked out." Light said. "All I need you to do is go and deliver a message to him for me."
"You want me to do WHAT?!" Genma cried. "That's suicide. I'm already on his bad side after challenging his authority and after helping you escape, he'll kill me."
"He won't." Light said calmly. "He knows I'm injured badly and if he kills you, there is no possible way of finishing our match."
"So I'm important enought to keep alive?"
"Correct."
"But what if they already found you before I deliver the message?"
"Then Mach WILL probably kill you." Light replied coldly.
"You want me to risk my life just to deliver a message?!"
"It's the only way I'll beat Mach and take the city." Light explained. "If I fight him under the same conditions as before, even with my new frame of mind, I'll still lose. I have to have more control over the battle this time, And this message will do that."
"Hrr, I'm still not sure about this." Genma grumbled.
"Just keep in mind what you will gain." Light said. "If I win, the city is yours."
"Fine, what's the message?" Genma submitted.
Light then whispered the message into Genma's ear and sent him off to Fortree.
OK Mach. Let's see if you can avoid the same mistakes I made.
In Fortree
"Where is Light?" Mach said to himself. "It's been almost twenty hours since I told him about the army laying in wait near Fallarbor. He should be hear by now."
"He would be here but you roughed him up pretty bad." Genma said, emerging from the forest.
Mach then rushed over and unleashed a Mach Punch on Genma, pressing him up on a nearby tree.
"Where is Light, the bastard?" Mach spewed, clearly furious that the fight was interuptted.
"Whoah slow down man." Genma replied. "Light is prepared to finish your fight but can't return to the city."
"Why the hell not?!" Mach yelled directly into Genma's face.
"As I said before, Light is hurt pretty badly. That last Sky Uppercut tore up his back and he can barely even stand."
"If he can barely stand, why does he want to finish the fight?" Mach asked calming down, and loosening his grip on Genma.
"I don't know." Genma said. "If it were me, I'd crawl under a rock and wait for the entire thing to blow over but he's determined to save his friends or something like that."
"Honor and friendship keep him from submitting, how cliche." Mach replied. "Now take me to him so that I may finish the job."
"As you wish Mach." Genma said and proceeded to lead them into the forest.
Scene Change
"Are we almost there?" Mach asked. "We've been walking for almost 20 minutes."
"Yeah we're almost there. Just wait another minute and you can start your fight." Genma replied.
After another five minutes of walking, the lake where Light was waiting came into view.
"So this is where you've been hiding." Mach said snidely.
"Only under protest, I assure you." Light replied. "I didn't ask the big lug to save me"
"HEY!" Genma yelled in protest.
"I would've wanted to finish our battle after the first bout. But he just had to come and save me." Light continued.
"If you were that eager to finish the fight, LETS GET STARTED!" Mach yelled as he stepped into the lake and launched a Mach Punch.
When Mach closed in on Light, he twisted out of the way of the punch and counterattacked with a Slash attack.
"Grr. That had to have been a fluke. Close Combat!"
Mach came charging back in again, while Light peppered him with Shadow Balls. Just before the attack hit, Light dove under the water, dodging the attack.
"How are you stopping my attacks?" Mach asked as he hit the surrounding water with random Mach Punches. "Even before you got injured, my attacks were quick enough to hit you."
"It's quite simple." Light said as he came out of the water with a Fury Swipes attack. "Since your feet are in the water, your speed is naturally decreased, putting us on equal ground."
"It doesn't matter if we're on equal ground in terms of speed." Mach yelled as he began to parry the Fury Swipes. "I still hold the advantage in strength and stamina. You can't possibly win."
"That's right, let your ego take control." Light said under his breath. "It will be your undoing."
Once it became clear that his Fury Swipes were no longer making contact, Light broke off the attack and the two combatants began a fierce staredown. Mach stood confidently at one end of the lake while an obviously worn Light stood at the other, panting heavily.
"Time to use a technique I just picked up." Light declared. "Saotome School Special attack: Howl of the Demon Dog!"
"New technique." Mach replied. "That's just the useless technique that moron tried to use on me."
"Hey!" Genma cried.
"You don't get what I'm trying to say here do you?" Light said calmly. "I don't even have to use good techniques in order to defeat you."
"Grr. I'll KILL you!" Mach yelled as he once again rushed in to attack Light.
As Mach angrily swung his fists at Light, Light reflected on the irony of what had just occurred. The purpose of the Howol of the Demon Dog is to make the enemy angry and make mistakes. Most of the time it is utterly useless but it's because of it's uselessness that it was able to succeed here.
With his anger clouding his judgement, Mach was unable to land any solid hits on Light and was instead forced onto the defensive. I have to regain my advantage. Mach thought. I need to get rid of the water. The next opportunity, Mach created some distance between himself and Light and prepared his next move.
"You showed me a new technique so in return, I'll show you a new one of mine. Solarbeam!"
Mach then launched a huge beam of energy a short distance from the surface of the lake, parting the water. Light was able to dodge the Solarbeam but couldn't dodge Mach's next attack. With the water parted, Mach could utilize his speed to its full potential and was pummeling Light with a Close Combat even as the lake's water crashed back to normal around them.
"That looked like it took a lot of energy." Light said, still trying to provoke Mach while parrying some of his blows.
"It was worth it just to be able to do this!"
Suddenly Mach changed his attack pattern. Instead of trying to attack Light from various angles, he began to strike at one spot continuously with increasing intensity.
"Can't think of anywhere else to hit?" Light yelled as he was pushed back by another one of Mach's many punches.
"Nope." Mach replied. "I'm hitting exactly where I want to. Time to make my play. Sky Uppercut!"
The next punch launched by Mach had much more power than any of his previous attacks and launched Light into the air.
No. Light thought as he finally realized what Mach had been planning. When Light came crashing to the ground, the force of the impact was enough to break his hastily made back brace and leaving him sprawling in the water at the complete mercy of Mach.
With his opponent incapacitated, Mach took his time walking over to his body in order to gloat.
"I've done it! I knew I could do it!" Mach exclaimed. "I have defeated the head of the beast. With Light gone, the New Age Alliance will fall and I will have claimed my rightful place in history."
Mach then began to hit Light with all of his strongest attacks like Drain Punch and Mach Punch.
"It's over Light." he said as he stopped his onslaught. "When I return to the city I'm going to give the order to begin the attack on Fallarbor. You lose."
As Mach began to walk away, Light said "Is that what you think?"
"Of course, I've beaten you within an inch of your life. I'm clearly the winner."
"As long as I can still fight, there is a chance for a comeback. Now, Thunderbolt!"
"AHHH" Mach screamed as the lake carried the current of the electricity all around his body.
"You may be able to absorb electricity sent directly at you, but looks like you have trouble when you're being assaulted from all directions."
"Ahh" Genma said, not impressed by Light's explanation but of the number of perfectly roasted fish appearing at the surface of the lake.
"I can still win." Mach said desperately, as he grit his teeth and raised his fist once more and walked slowly but steadily toward his defenseless opponent. Just as he reached Light and was in range to throw his punch, Mach fell unconscious.
I did it. Light thought. A little too close for comfort, but I did it. Time for a little rest.
Light then fell unconscious himself, leaving Genma to carry Light, Mach and a sackful of fish back to Fortree City.
Scene Change
Light awoke two days later in a medical facility in Fortree.
"Where am I?" He asked groggily. "What happened after I passed out."
"I'll tell you what happened." Genma replied in a huff. "I had to carry both you and Mach's sorry asses back to Fortree by myself. Do you have any idea what you two weigh?"
"Sorry, we both have a lot of muscle on our frame, it's what makes us good fighters. Speaking of which, where is Mach?"
"He regained consciousness yesterday. He gave the order for his troops to retreat from Fortree and left for deep Pokemon territory."
"Any parting words?"
"Only this, he said that while he was powerful, there are much more powerful enemies lurking in Hoenn alone."
"A cryptic warning. I would expect nothing less from Mach for his parting words." Light said. " But, Congratulations Commander Genma, this city is now yours."
"Thank you Light." Genma replied. "As my first act as Commander I'm going to request some troops from the NAA."
"Really so soon?" Light replied confused.
"Yeah 'so soon'. We're the only ones in the city right now." Genma cried. "The rest of the NAA doesn't know you won the battle or the deal we made."
"That's right! I have to fill the others in." Light said. "If you could just hand me my communicator and step outside for just a moment."
"Of course." Genma said as he complied with the order and left the room.
"This is Light reporting in. Can anyone hear me?"
"Light!" Came a trio of voices from the other side obviously belonging to Momo, Nate and Grunt.
"What have you been doing for the past couple of days? The entire Alliance was getting worried." Momo asked.
"Sorry, the fight with Mach took longer than expected and knocked me out of commission for a couple of days otherwise I would have called sooner."
"So? Don't leave us in suspense man, Did you win?" Nate broke in.
"It was a rocky start, but Mach has been defeated and Fortree is now ours."
"Yeah!" All three leuitenants said into their communicators. Light could also hear Hi-Fives being given in celebration.
"However.." Light began.
"However is never a good way to start a sentence after giving someone good news." Momo said, knowing bad news was coming.
"I made a deal during the battle with Mach to a third party that was integral to my victory."
"What didja promise them?." Grunt asked. "It can't be that bad."
"I promised Genma the command of Fortree City."
"Genma?!" Momo cried. "The same Genma we fought in Fallarbor Town? Can we even trust him?"
"I have that covered." Light replied. "All we have to do is send some powerful officers to keep him in line and one more thing as an insurance policy."
"What do we have to do?" Nate asked.
"Find his family." Light replied. "He seems scared to death of his wife. If we can locate his family we can hold that over his head and insure his loyalty."
"I guess that could work." Momo said, still pondered the implication of having their former enemy commanding s base in the NAA.
"Oh, I can't believe it took me this long to ask but how did the battle for Mauville go?"
"Mauville is now ours as well." Momo responded.
"Just like your battle it was a little rocky at first." Nate began.
"But I guess you could say we braved the elements." Grunt broke in.
The communicators all went dead silent for a few seconds.
"No. Just No." Nate said. "Not funny."
"I thought it was clever." Said Grunt.
"I don't understand." Light said confused.
"We'll explain it to you when you come to Mauville for the next strategy meeting." Momo said.
"OK. Sounds like a plan." Light responded. "I'll see you then."
AN: Thus ends the Mach storyline, but fear not! the next storyline will explore the Battle for Mauville with another submitted OC!
Feel free to leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter or to submit an OC of your own! I'm still accepting OC's and all the details are in chapter 10. Until next time!