Perryapsis

Chapter 5 - Suicide Burn

This chapter will be focused a bit more on battles. Thanks to Wubking97 for reviewing! Oh, and I know that Shaymin isn't actually that bad competitively, which is why I felt Shaymin was just so fitting for the role. Also, I snagged the last line in this chapter from another popular book franchise. You get ten pieces of cheese if you get it!

Sorry this chapter is late, I was a little busy this week and it took a while to get this chapter right, I'm terrible at writing battles. Coding was so much easier...

Disclaimers: I don't own Pokémon. Also, the ten pieces of cheese offer is a lie.

"Who da mon?!" yelled Sam victoriously, earning a couple of exasperated sighs from Perry and April. April realised she was supposed to reply; "You da mon!"

It was a little late, and very cringy.

But Sam was bathing in it. He unsheathed one of his scalchops and swung it around, adoring the attention he was getting. "Okay, okay, attention pig, the day's not over yet," remarked Lucy, who had decided to come and sit behind the three, "But I have to admit, you are kinda cute with the shell-sword thing."

"Wait, you already recovered?" said Sam, sheathing his scalchop with a flush.

"Well, perhaps you should've learnt Attract, and my injuries would have been more permanent," said Lucy flirtatiously. Sam furiously blushed at this, making April giggle and even making Perry smirk a little.

"Okay, the next battle will be between Abbigail Dark and Ferdinand Cane," announced Mr Shank. Everyone watched as a bulky Infernape stood up and strutted to his position in the arena. At the other side of the stands a little Shaymin bounded down to the arena. Mr Shank looked quite confused for a few seconds, but then nodded his head in understanding. She simply smiled, not intimidating or intimidated. Ferdinand shot her an unfriendly glare, the flames on his back flaring up. "Is this the opponent I get?" he growled indirectly at Mr Shank.

"And begin!"

Ferdinand immediately began his battle with a Mach Punch, launching himself straight towards the out-of-place Shaymin. Three-quarters of the way to Abbigail he suddenly switched into a Flame Wheel, using his immense inertia from the Mach Punch to accelerate his rolling attack. But somehow the tiny Shaymin gracefully leapt away with unbelievable speed, releasing a small pulse of energy that penetrated the ground. Suddenly some deeply embedded plant roots appeared from the ground, snagging Ferdinand's legs, causing him to trip up and smash into the ground. Abbigail took the opportunity and released a dark-coloured ball of energy. It slammed into Ferdinand's chest and launched him a few metres.

"What the-"

Abbigail then flew head-first at the Infernape and shadowy blades lashed out at him and scythed across his skin. Ferdinand was sent reeling again, but quickly picked himself up. He suddenly split into dozens of flickering copies of himself with a Double Team and tried to confuse the unusually powerful Shaymin. He then discreetly started using Focus Energy so his next few hits would count, but then Abbigail began to sweep the arena with a huge Flamethrower that scorched the air, destroying all the Infernape copies. How can that punk use Flamethrower?! Ferdinand thought. He was getting dominated at the moment by a Shaymin. Embarrassing. He barely avoided the wave of heat that she was producing. She then darted straight towards him with an Aerial Ace attack and smashed into Ferdinand's right shoulder, sending him to the ground, landing on his side.

The audience was roaring.

As the Infernape desperately struggled to get back on his feet, Abbigail simply smirked victoriously. Ferdinand shrouded his body in a blazing fire and charged straight towards her with a Flame Charge, but out of nowhere, she leapt several metres up into the air and slammed back down, a dark, almost three-dimensional shadow filling the entire arena. Ferdinand was plucked off his feet as if by the hand of Arceus. He came crashing down, completely dazed by the shock wave. She then fired a huge Hyper Beam straight towards him, which he barely dodged. The shaft of energy left a deep scoring that ran like a laser burn in strange lines and patterns around Ferdinands general position. He was beginning to catch a whiff of what was happening. Many large puffs of dirt rose from the arena's scars and began to drift around. He frantically looked at the Shaymin and realized his opportunity. He flew straight towards the small, fatigued Grass-type with a Mach Punch and nailed her against the opposite side of the arena. He then took a few paces back, before his arms and legs went up in flames. He dashed forwards and struck the Shaymin hard with a Blaze Kick-Fire Punch combo.

Just then, she began to flicker and shimmer. The three-dimensional image of a Shaymin was replaced with that of a strikingly beautiful Zoroark with a purple mane. Little purple pulses of energy began to enter her body, before blasting away from her, throwing the Infernape off of her. "Payback," she muttered. She then slammed her forepaws into the ground and a dark shockwave spread out around the arena at tremendous speed. Ferdinand jumped at just the right moment to avoid the Night Daze, but the air suddenly began to feel dry and he felt a little... dazed. He had to beat the Zoroark fast.

He stomped all four limbs on the ground, causing an Earthquake. The attack made any last dark waves vaporize and it knocked Abbigail off of her feet. She scrambled onto all fours and seemed to vanish for a few seconds. Ferdinand quickly engulfed his body in flames and stood his ground as the Zoroark materialized behind him, making him stumble a little. He snapped round and rocketed into her with a Flare Blitz and drove her into the wall of the arena then Blaze Kicked her into the air. He followed her into the air with a huge leap and before they began to fall his body began to radiate immense thermal energy. Abbigail smouldered a little as she fell. She hit the ground hard and small puffs of fire appeared on her fur. Ferdinand landed next to her in a crouching position. She was knocked out.

"And there I was, thinking you were a little cunning," mocked Ferdinand ungraciously, "And I admit, you were. But your punyness is on a whole different level." He was supposed to help his opponent up after the battle and escort them to the medical centre, but he walked off without a care. Instead, a bunch of Audino and Chansey had to bring her a stretcher.

"Even after the element of surprise was used against him, Ferdinand was still able to crush her," said Perry with a frown.

"Yeah, that worries me," agreed Sam,

"Well, looks like you're not in the spotlight anymore, Sam," said April.

A couple more battles took place, none of which were particularly exciting. The match-up for the final battle was to be announced, however...

"All the names of the combatants have been crossed off," stated April, "So somebody's going to be battling again."

"I wonder who," said Sam, noticeably void of his trademark sarcasm.

There was a minute wait, then Mr Shank made an announcement; "So, the judges-"What judges?"- want to see just one more match-up this afternoon before we finish. Please can we have Ferdinand Cane and Perry Salyut!"

Oh no... no, no, no, no, no...

Perry was terrified. He noticed Ferdinand was no longer nervous around Perry, and actually gave a dark smile. The crowd itself seemed to echo their emotions. Perry quickly walked to the arena floor whilst Ferdinand took large, firm steps. Perry knew that he was fast and was easily more nimble than his opponent in their last engagement, but much can change in six months. He decided he would use as many ranged attacks as possible.

"Begin!"

Perry cupped both his paws and held them about fifty centimetres apart. He focused his inner energy and a shimmering blue ball of aura formed between his paws. He released his focus and thrust his paws forwards, releasing a well-practised Aura Sphere. The powerful attack homed in on Ferdinand's aura and he desperately tried to dodge, but the attack was unavoidable. Ferdinand braced himself and dropped onto all fours, sliding back a few metres, but was relatively unharmed. He decided to let Perry make the next move to test his power.

Perry quickly made a mental list of all his feasible ranged attacks and thought about his most advantageous. Alright, I got this, he thought calmingly. Perry planted his appendages in the ground and released a deadly storm of leaves from his mouth, but Ferdinand unleashed his own ranged attack; the Flamethrower attack simply incinerated all the leaves. Perry needed to up his game. He dug his legs in the ground and started to vibrate his arms incredibly fast. He cupped his paws again and this time created a large sphere of deep blue. He added a little force with his aura and sent the Water Pulse flying. The ultrasonic attack travelled straight towards his opponent. Ferdinand had little chance to prepare for the super-effective attack as he was expecting another Aura Sphere, and it hit him square in the chest, engulfing him in a massive bubble, starving him of oxygen and leaving him to the mercy of the psychotic waves. Perry could just about sense his opponent's emotions via his aura that accelerated the attack, and what he was feeling is often associated with various expletives which most would refrain from using in public.

Ferdinand had to act fast, or he would become delusional, not to mention his injuries. He formulated an idea which might be able to turn the attack around. He started to Overheat, weakening the bubble. His Overheat was nowhere near as strong as usual, due to his weak position, but the power was enough. It drained him of his specialized energy. The bubble burst and Perry was momentarily dazed as his aura was linked with it. Ferdinand surged forwards with a Mach Punch. Perry barely dodged and desperately materialized a bone for a Bone Rush defense. He lashed out in a panic, but Ferdinand slammed into him and sent him flying, the aura bone clattering away before dissolving into blue particles. Perry fought to get back on his feet, but was met with a flurry of punches and kicks with no regard for defense. Perry had no choice but to counter with Close Combat of his own. He managed to match most of Ferdinand's strikes with his own small paws and feet, one or two of Ferdinand's punches managing to connect with Perry's torso. The attack actually ended up as a bit of a reprieve for Perry, allowing him to re-focus and calm his mind. He scraped the backs of his paws together and let off a terrible sound of scraping metal that made Ferdinand recoil a little, before leaping forward with his tail sharpened into a Leaf Blade. He chopped at Ferdinand's arms and torso a couple of times, but then Ferdinand managed to grab the tail somehow and fling Perry many metres away. Perry then leapt back and then planted his four limbs in the ground, causing a violent, yet incredibly controlled Earthquake. Ferdinand launched himself temporarily into the air, but the Aerial Ace wouldn't last forever. He launched himself downwards at Perry and slammed into his chin, making his head snap back. Perry tried to counter it or turn the attack around, but to no avail. Ferdinand pounded Perry with punches and kicks, making Perry weaker by the second. He still had one option, however.

His eyes turned red for a second, and he released a deadly Dragon Pulse from his jaws which exploded violently sending both combatants sprawling across the field.

Perry's vision was badly distorted and he could barely see a thing. Whenever he blinked, his vision would go bright purple and blue as his visual cortex was still filled with the image from a few seconds ago. He could barely move due to the shock. He caught a couple of vague glimpses of Ferdinand getting up and advancing on him. Nearly sauntering. Perry could just about hear voices from somewhere behind him, telling him to get up. He realised he was focusing on a Quilava's voice and mentally kicked himself for it. Well, I just set off an explosion in my own face, so a little kick's not going to be too bad, he thought, referring to both his personal rebuking and the intimidating figure that was closing on him. He managed to push himself up into a sitting position and got onto all fours. He charged forwards with a weak Extreme Speed. Ferdinand grabbed onto him as he tried to jump to the side and punched him with a flaming fist. Perry got badly burned by the attack and he was getting weaker and weaker. Perry quickly laid down a Facade, the charred particles of his skin strengthening the nervous impulses throughout his body as he tackled his opponent. Ferdinand lost his balance when he took the hit and this gave Perry an opportunity to pound him with his tail. Just before Perry could withdraw and strike again, Ferdinand recovered from his daze and struck Perry round the head over and over. Perry Poison Jabbed Ferdinand's arm, an infectious fluid seeping into Ferdinand's bloodstream and slowly wearing him down. Perry's body then began to glow slightly red, his eyes like brake lights on a car and he tackled Ferdinand, forearms first. However, Perry could feel his Frustration attack was far less powerful than usual. Why was that so weak? He bounded back and took a defensive stance but his right leg collapsed from his burn the previous day. He tried to haul himself up, but Ferdinand crashed into him with an extremely powerful and accurate Mach Punch that sent Perry reeling. He scrambled into a crouched position, allowing his leg to at least have a bit of a rest and fired off several Aura Spheres and Energy Balls in rapid succession. They each found their mark, one after the other, bringing Ferdinand to his knees. Perry half-crashed into, half- kicked Ferdinand's chest and opened up a barrage of kicks and punches with every limb but his right leg. He then began to charge a focused ball of orange energy and slammed it into Ferdinand's right shoulder. He collapsed to the ground, face in the dirt. Perry had won. He limped over to the downed Infernape, but as he did so he could kind of feel a terrible aura radiating from his opponent's body. He must have been thinking up a dark, Nasty Plot.

"The victor of the final round is-"

At that moment, Ferdinand stood up impossibly quick, and stamped his feet as his body went up in flames. Several blasts of fire erupted from the ground in lines straight towards Perry, launching him several metres in the air, flying away from where he was initially struck by the Blast Burn, and he landed nearly at the other side of the arena. He was knocked out cold, ironically.

"-erm, is Ferdinand Cane," Mr Shank finished awkwardly, stuttering in shock. Ferdinand strolled towards Perry, much to their audience's surprise, and helped him up.

"See, not such a badass anymore," whispered Ferdinand cruelly, "Looks like I need to re-establish myself." He dragged the much smaller belligerent of their heated battle over to the medics, and dropped him without a care in the world.

"That should not be allowed!" exclaimed April with a frown.

"Yeah, what the actual-"

"Hey, look, the Neandertal is right there," cautioned Lucy, referring to the terrifying Infernape as one of those hulking mythical creatures from an alternate universe.

"Alright everybody, this has been an exciting evening of battling, and we will be making our decisions about who is to join the team by the end of the week, when we will inform your form tutors. Now we wouldn't want to keep you waiting, but we need all the participants sign out on the digital registers at the lower end of your column. If you need to, please allow any combatants still in the medical centre another five minutes before you go to see them. Thank you, everyone, and good-bye!" said Mr Shank with his amplified voice.

"Five minutes," said April.

"Yeah, but why do you want to see him?" said Sam with a frown.

"Well, why do you want to see him?" said April, wearing a playful smirk.

"You see, I'm his friend."

"Well, there ya go!"

"I'll come too. He was an impressive battler, and he seemed like a nice guy," said Lucy.

The three of them walked to the medical centre and waited outside for the remaining two minutes, before they were allowed to enter. Only six Pokemon were still here, despite the amount of battles that had taken place, including Perry. He was lying on a bed, with copious amounts of Rawst juice slathered all over his body. A carton of Sitrus juice was sat on his bedside table, squeezed of all its contents, next to a Potion bottle. "Worse than a Sticky Web," commented Lucy with a slight smile. Perry shook his head to attention and groaned.

"Ugh, you mean the juice? Yeah," Perry said.

"What did the nurse say, Perry?" asked April.

"Umm, she said I need to wait another twenty minutes before it's all settled."

"But it's already quarter-to-seven," said Sam, "Your dad will be expecting you."

"Huh, -cough- I guess. He probably won't murder me." The other Pokemon gave him worried looks. "I was joking, it's fine."

"Well, I need to pick up my brother, Miles, from the youth club," said April.

"By all means," said Perry.

"No, no, it's fine. I'll wait."

"Yeah, we all can, don't worry," said Lucy, who Perry couldn't see, because she was stood behind his head.

"Oh, well, thanks guys."

"I just want to say, Sam and you are impressive battlers," she complimented, "But I came pretty close in our battle, Sam."

"Perhaps," mumbled Sam.

"Remember what I said. If you want, I could buy you a Tutorial Medium," taunted Lucy.

"I don't need TMs, thank you very much! I learn all my moves legit," Sam huffed.

Lucy giggled. "But anyways, Perry, your battle was pretty unfair. He was knocked out, and Mr Shank was just about to announce you as the winner. He just managed to quickly recover."

"No, it was all part of his plan," Perry explained, "He pretended to be knocked out to get a chance to make a Nasty Plot."

"But still, you totally owned him," said April.

"Yeah, that was a dirty trick," added Sam.

"Ugh, just get over it. Not everyone's gonna fight fair, you know."

"Well, Sam, next time, we're battling on equal terms," said Lucy, flirting again with Sam.

"Oh could you cut that out? I'm dying here!" said Perry, barely containing his laughter, unlike April who nearly broke down in tears.

They did stop laughing... eventually.