Authors Notes: Now the clash of the Grandmasters really gets into full swing.
This'll be my first time really writing out a Pokémon battle. (I can't really count the little matches I've written and showed) Let's see how it goes.
About delays: (Expect them, but not always)
To make it easier on me, I'm writing this arc in a different way from the rest of the fic. Whereas normally I wrote the story in chronological order, this arc I'm writing as I get ideas. Since it's mostly battling anyway (and I've divided the entire match across chapters) I can afford to jump from chapter to chapter in terms of writing order. A later chapter is already almost completely written with others having various scenes written already.
I cannot promise an update rate that has anything even resembling consistency, (like I've ever been any kind of consistent) but know I am working, and writing down ideas for the rest of the story still. Yet reality demands my attention far more than I'd like and I have to devote resources to keeping my life on track.
Note while I do write in a random order, I'm only posting chronologically. Sorry people, but if you're gonna tell a story you gotta do it right.
Contest: No winners yet, but I have some important details about it at the end of the chapter.
About my underlined speech Text: (You're going to see a lot of it in upcoming chapters.)
It's meant to put into words Ash otherwise could not express. (we all know expression's not his strong point) To take all that complex, screwed up jumble of feelings and quantify it. I could write long sentences describing his feelings depth (we all know how long I can go on), but I prefer to have it expressed through voice, picture his when you read them. The voice of his subconcious. I like the dramatic effect. Though I fear it may be lost on everyone but me. Story of my life; I can picture epic, but can't express it to save my ass.
Oh well, on with the story!
Soundtrack: (yes this arc has a soundtrack. Songs that inspire the chapter's fight sequence anyway.)
Raintime: Beat it
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Over a year ago...
Ash and Pikachu sat alone upon a hill, Ash looking over his Unova badge case. Two slots had already been filled, and he was already on his way to getting his third. He figured he'd reached their destination by nightfall, but for now they was taking a break. Next to him a glass container, with an orange lid contained a Pokémon egg, which he currently wasn't paying attention to.
-clink- His head turned, watching for a second-clink-. He blinked, was the egg hatching? -clink, clink-
Ash removed the lid, pulling out the egg and placing it firmly upon the ground, a curious Pikachu standing close to the egg. Its thrashing only continued, until finally it started to glow.
With awe, both watched as the egg glowed only brighter and brighter before the light eventually faded, revealing "Scrg...gy?" The newborn looked mildly confused.
Ash certainly was. He dug into his pocket for his Pokédex, pulling it out to get some identification. As soon as he got the name he closed the Pokédex, not bothering to learn any more about his new Pokémon. "Hi Scraggy. I'm Ash, nice to meet you."
"Scraggy!" The newly-hatched Pokémon nodded.
"Pi!" Hi! Pikachu held out his hand, and in a further attempt to be friendly he closed his eyes. Big mistake. The new hatched Pokémon only gave Pikachu a leer before he pulled his head back and-
-WHAM!-
"KAAAAAA!" Pikachu gripped the front of his face.
Scraggy pulled back his head, shooting his glance in all directions as Ash tended to Pikachu ("Are you okay?", "KA!" NO!). The electric mouse Pokémon quickly got over the blow, and just in time to see the little hoodlum running off. "Pikapi!"
Ash's eyes followed Scraggy, seeing he was running towards a passing wild Pokemon Ash could not name. He could, however, guess what Scraggy was going to do. "Wait, Scraggy, don't!"
Scraggy leap from the ground, shooting head first towards his opponent.
"Scraaaaa-!"
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"-fty!"
Scrafty's face collided with Nidoking's, which forced the Poison Pin Pokémon back a step, before "SCRAF!" Still in mid-air, his foot collided with his target's face as well, another step. Scrafty fell to the ground.
"Dark Pulse, Scrafty!"
"Scraf!" He opened his mouth, a violet darkness forming before "Tyyyy!" The darkness emerged, in the form of countless spiralling rings, slamming into Nidoking's face like the last two attacks and exploding.
Another step back, and nothing more.
Scrafty growled.
Ash felt his body tremble from the sheer thrill. This was just what'd he'd expect from one of his predecessor's Pokémon, of Nidoking epically, Quentin tended to use him in most battles, even in the public appearances he'd make now and then (relating to duties Ash had spared no mind to), and it'd proven many times over it would never be easily defeated. Now Ash thought about it, two of his rivals had owned Nidokings, neither he'd ever faced. No matter, he didn't need to, it was easy to predict what would happen pretty quickly if those Nidoking went up against this one, even two on one. Most would be happy just to have knocked this behemoth off his feet, never mind actually defeating him.
Scrafty wasn't most.
Ash looked before him fondly. Yes, now this was a real battle. Interesting, how it had only been mere weeks since his last real fight, yet now it felt like it'd been an eternity since then. Fighting such...weak opponents, it was like being drenched in filth. No, such weakness could not compare to this. An opponent who could challenge him, could force him to fight, it was enough to make him forget everything.
It could wash his sins away.
He could feel the side of his face, alive with a dull, pulsing sting as his wound continued to leak, though less so than it had before. He didn't feel the need to address it, and it'd be to him, at this point, absolutely insane to even consider stopping this battle.
"The more dangerous the battle, the better it is." Ash smiled.
Nidoking, even after those blows, under which most would have already crumbled into defeat, seemed barely affected. Now how to inflict some serious damage...
He could try and use the arena as a weapon, but how? Collapse the ceiling atop him? He looked up. No, it was mostly open sky, the peak was like a stone funnel in its way. It wouldn't work, not without endangering everyone inside and all Nidoking would really need to do to avoid the brunt of it was stand near the center of the battlefield. He looked at the edges of the battlefield. The water, he could have Nidoking pushed into it. However, he doubted that would really be that effective. All it'd really do is get Nidoking soaked, even from such heights. Even in such deep water...
He shook his head. He'd do this the old fashioned way: By force.
Scrafty so much preferred that method anyway.
Nidoking shook the ground as he affixed his stance. Quentin took a good look at his Pokémon, noting the lack of visible injury. "Is this all? I would have expected more." He turned his gaze on Ash. "Even from a false Grandmaster."
Now that struck nerve, and not just Ash's. "You want more you got more!" That being said, facts had to be accepted. Nidoking had just taken a beaten and seemingly shrugged it off. A direct assault wasn't working very well. He could try distance, but Scrafty didn't have much of an arsenal for that kind of thing. He was more of a head-to-head (literally) kind of Pokémon.
They'd have to...improvise a little. "Scrafty, aim Dark Pulse at the ground in front of Nidoking!" Scrafty opened his mouth again, bringing forth a stream of violet rings, and their aim was true.
Both Nidoking and Quentin (who was only just behind his Pokémon) were briefly rendered blind and deaf to whatever lay beyond the scope of the attack, but they could still see and hear perfectly on their side.
"Charge forward Nidoking! If you see him use Flamethrower." Nidoking roared and charged, passing through the cloud without hesitation. Quentin expected to feel the temperature go up instantly, but nothing. He didn't have to wait long to ascertain why. The first blast settled, but that was just one problem gone...
Dust, over most the arena there was a cloud of it, and it only grew in density every few seconds as another blast sounded out. Clearly Quentin's order needed some adjustments. It was near impossible to see through the cloud. He listened, sometimes hearing a faint noise of what he guessed was movement. "He's using Feint attack to move around. Almost no traceable noise that way. He must be as blind as we are." He took careful look at the height of the cloud. "Maybe not." It came to just below Nidoking's head. Now he just had to devise a countermeasure-
"Drain Punch!" Nidoking glanced desperately all around him, but -PACK!- all he got for his trouble was a hit somewhere in his mid-section. "Again!" -PACK!- This time it was in the back, and Quentin saw the tell-tale flash of green.
"Nidoking, Jump!" Nidoking kicked from the ground with all of his might, which when pinned against his weight was left the clear victory. Nidoking rose high above the arena, the cloud and the entire battlefield itself. "Slam into the ground with your full force!" Nidoking's arms flexed, his claws pointed upwards as he fell, spreading his legs a she did so. -BOOM!- He landed, and around him the cloud dissipated, then the area beyond that, and beyond that, in seconds the entire arena had been cleared of dust by the shock wave, and three sets of eyes quickly turned to a single point. Scrafty had been exposed.
Scrafty blinked. "Ty, scra."
"Your little game is over, Ash. Nidoking, Thunderbolt!" Nidoking's horn briefly glowed yellow, before electricity burst forth from it.
"Dodge it!" Scrafty ran, with impressive speed, the lighting always a step behind as he ran, ducked and dived away. The lightning quickly ceased coming. "Focus Blast!" Scrafty stopped, building a sphere in front of himself before it shot off like a cannon.
"Evade it." Nidoking shifted his body, just narrowly evading the blow. It passed him by, blasting into the wall beyond.
Light. A hole had been blown into the wall, on Quentin's 'corner' of the arena. Ash could see beyond, and just as there was another peak behind himself outside the arena, there was another behind Quentin. What was this place?
That would be a question for when Ash really cared, so not in the middle of the battle. Both Nidoking and Scrafty came to a stop, both awaiting orders as their trainers took a moment to consider the situation. They reached the same conclusion, at the same time, both unknowingly mirroring the thoughts of the other.
Distance wasn't going to work.
New plans would need to be devised. Yet that would come in its own time.
Ash stood, his arms spread under the sky as he breathed deeply. "I really am home." He took one more breath, smiling. "So this is what it's like when Grandmasters fight." Ash couldn't keep still, every part of him seemed to be moving in some way. "Wow. Way better than it looked on video."
Quentin raised his hand, wiping dust from his shoulder, all with the air of disinterest. "There are no Grandmasters here, Ash. Just a retiree, and a faker."
That got him to hold still. "I'm no fake, Quentin! I won fair and square!"
There it came again, that smile Ash was not so familiar with. That derisive, superior smile. "Not against me."
Those words could taken as a challenge, and Ash's grin meant he'd taken it as such. "Let's see if I can! Scrafty!" The hoodlum rushed forward."Use your speed and sizet! Evade him and beat him with Iron Tail! Use what Feraligatr and Sceptile taught you!"
"Ty!" Scrafty jumped, and a surprised Nidoking struck without order. He punched, but Scrafty grabbed the top of the fist coming at him, and quickly jumped towards his true target as his tail started to glow.
It became Iron, and he turned his body to deliver-PACK!- Nidoking was forced to look sideways, and his other arm swept in to sweep him out of the air. -PACK!- He jumped over it, before twirling in the air and-PACK, PACK!- He grabbed Nidoking's head, flipping himself and bringing the tail down one last time.
-PACK!- Nidoking gave way under the tail, his form leaning down.
He growled.
He shot back up, a shocked Scrafty being knocked off by the force of the blow. Before Scrafty could recover Nidoking grabbed his tail, tightly. Quentin smiled. "Word of caution, Ash. You are easy to provoke. Nidoking, throw him to the ground and use Sludge Wave."
The sides of Nidoking's mouth started to leak something foul-looking. With a mighty throw he tossed Scrafty across the arena, slamming him into the ground. Scrafty managed to turn around just in time...
Like a Hydro Pump the attack burst forth. A wave of a shade of violet that could only be called vile as it hit the ground, sweeping forward like a tidal wave. "Scrafty!" The tide rose above him. It fell.
Scrafty was gone.
All anyone could do was watch, watch as the tide finished its journey, most of it merely dissipating when it finally stopped, some falling beyond the ring, to be diluted to the point of erasure by the water below. Eventually it was all gone, and Ash's eyes briefly, franticly searched for something.
He found something. There something was. A figure, curled up, its feet indented in the ground, but Ash needed to take a second glance to register what he was seeing.
While it was only logical that the figure could only have been Scrafty, the sight was well, odd. Scrafty had pulled up his 'pants' and put the remains of his time as a Scraggy over his head. Which, for all of its strangeness in appearance, seemed to be a highly effective defence. Scrafty was definitely one of Ash's stranger Pokémon.
Yet that defence had come at a cost. Nidoking was already right before him. "Crush him, Nidoking." His foot came down, right on top of Scrafty. "King-?" His leg raised up. "Nido-!"
"Scraaaaaaaaa!" The hooded Scrafty held both arms against Nidoking's foot, pushing up with all of his strength. "Scrafty's strong but he can't hold out forever. Nidoking'll crush him under that-under! That's it!" "Scrafty, use Dig to get out of there!"
He just blinked. "Scraf?" His face then suddenly lit up in realization, and he lowered his arms, Nidoking's foot baring down. Scrafty eventually stopped pushing with his hands, letting the foot come down on his back as his hands went to work.
Nidoking's foot quickly hit solid ground.
Scrafty quickly emerged elsewhere, taking his place a distance from his opponent.
Quickly Quentin chose to continue the assault. "Rock Climb."
Nidoking's feet were now glowing white, and he slammed his left foot into the ground hard. In mere blinks of an eye a glowing white crack had grown across the arena, connecting Scrafty and Nidoking. Before Scrafty had a chance to process what the hell was going on the ground literally shot up. "Scra?!" He stood firm, if confused as below him a hill was growing. Quentin didn't wait more than a second.
"Now ram him with Megahorn." Nidoking rushed forward with deceptive speed, and with amazing strength kicked into the hill, intending his foot within its wall before his second did the same, and so on it went, intending himself in the hill to run up its side, his immense strength being enough to not even slow him down. His horn glowed white and extended, its tip aimed for Scrafty. Ash had to think fast. He could not let that attack hit!
"Dark Wave! Aim for his feet!"
"'Dark Wave'?"
Scrafty's tail was briefly covered in darkness, before that black was shrouded in violet. Scrafty forcefully turned on the spot, swinging his tail in Nidoking's direction.
The darkness left his tail, spreading across the air like its name would imply, a wave of darkness. The wave reached and exploded at Nidoking's feet. While not strong enough to hurt his target, it did something far more useful. His footing gone, Nidoking fell through the air, and as soon as he started falling he forced his form to flip backwards in the air, aiming his feet at the quickly approaching ground.
He landed on his feet, and the instant he did the hill started to regress into the ground. "Jump Scrafty!" The Hoodlum nodded, kicking the ground with all of his power, launching himself from the peak. Scrafty was high in the air, almost close to escaping the tip of the ceiling of the arena, he clutched against the first part of the wall he could grab. The hill quickly finished its regression, and finally it was gone.
Quentin looked up. "Original attack huh?" Quentin smiled. "You're not the only one who has a few original tricks up his sleeve, Ash. Nidoking! Steam Bomb!"
Nidoking's tail raised itself, quickly shrouded with flowing water. He moved the tip to the side of him, the water flowing almost instantly to form a sphere. He opened his mouth, hitting the sphere with a blast of blue from his mouth.
It became ice.
He grasped the giant sphere with a single arm, raising it to the ceiling and delivering a mighty punch to it. The sphere shot off to the sky as Nidoking opened his mouth again, fire gathering within. With a roar the fire was released, taking the form of a symbol that took Ash way back, to his first battle with a Magmar...
"Scrafty! Move!" The Hoodlum let go, kicking himself off the ceiling.
"Too late."
The superheated blast met with the sphere, and it became clear it really was too late. Like a water balloon exploding, the ice became an explosion of steam, which enveloped Scrafty in a heartbeat. Ash shielded his face. Though the steam was high above, the heat of it could be felt even below. It was a handful of seconds before he could look to find-"Scrafty!"
He was falling, head first, headed right for the arena. "Scrafty!" Falling, only falling, still as a pond in the quietest night as he fell with force. "SCRAFTY!" His hand twitched, yet he did nothing to prevent his falling.
Did nothing, until the last second. "Scraf-!" His from flipped in the air. "-ty!" With a mighty slam his feet hit the ground, the area around him giving way under the pressure applied as Scrafty looked up, his form now laden with remnant moisture and various red patches.
"He used fire blast to turn that sphere into steam to burn Scrafty? Whoh."
He should have seen this coming, or something like it, but somehow this little detail had been hidden away from conscious thought. Quentin's unique talent.
Now Ash wouldn't say he was 'educated' in the matters of the workings of Pokémon attacks, despite having some considerable creations under his belt. If he was asked he'd just say, in whatever choice of words, that he had ideas and found ways to make them happen. Quentin on the other hand was very educated, and as Scrafty had just directly learned, he'd found a very useful and effective application for that knowledge.
Ash was in for the battle of his life.
He pointed at Nidoking. "Get him!" Seemingly unaffected by his wounds, Scrafty quickly rushed in.
As Scrafty came close to reaching him..."Brick Break, Nidoking."
The glowing fist quickly closed in. "Detect!" Scrafty's eyes started glowing blue, and with serene grace quite unbefitting of a thug, Scrafty expertly evaded the blow, and as if by some divine grace evading the shards of stone that rose up from the ground. "Foul Play!"
Scrafty jumped, pulling back his right fist, the backlash wind from the last attack seeming to wrap around it before darkness formed, Scrafty's fist was coated a shining black. The dark fist slammed into its targets' face. Knocking Nidoking's head upwards, knocking his body upwards. Knocking even his feet upwards, they left the ground for an instant, leaving Nidoking slightly airborne.
Then his feet simply...
...pressed back onto the ground.
Ash and Scrafty's faces formed mirroring looks of surprise. Scrafty still hadn't knocked Nidoking down! What was it gonna take?!
Quentin seemed to sense Ash and Scrafty's shock, and his words were chosen quite deliberately. "The strongest you have ever faced are the Champions. But let me warn you, Ash..." Somehow his dark green eyes suddenly seemed to shine. "None of them match the likes of me! Nidoking! Let's show them the strength of a true Grandmaster and his Pokémon!" Nidoking roared, pride heavy in his cry.
Scrafty's response was to knick against the ground, not unlike a Tauros ready for the charge. He prepared to kick again before he suddenly flinched, his body briefly glowing in two colors. Red coming from the patches on his body, and the one that shrouded his body...
Violet.
"Scrafty's been poisoned. From punching Nidoking?" Only now did he notice the sheer number of red patches. "And he's burned." Ash didn't know if he should smile or shake in fear. Scrafty wouldn't even think of backing down. The only way to stop him fighting was to knock him out or...well Ash wouldn't let it go that far. He reached a hand for his belt.
"Ka." "Don't."
Ash stopped, and turned to Pikachu. "Scrafty can't keep this up."
Pikachu shook his head. "Pi kapi chu." He can do it. "Pika chu chu pi." Just believe in him.
Ash's hand shook slightly, and he moved closer to his belt, yet his hand fell short of it. He raised his hand, formed into a fist, to the front of him. He had to show Scrafty he still believed. "Don't give up, Scrafty!"
Scrafty nodded, taking a stance. "Scraf!"
"Get him!"
He'd have to try another method, exploit a weakness. Nidoking was big, there was a way to use that to Scrafty's advantage, Ash was sure of it. Was there a way to knock such a big Pokémon off-balance-?
Wait, that was it! He waited for Scrafty to close in...
"Try Rock Climb!" As Nidoking's had before, Scrafty's feet started to glow white, and he slammed one into the ground, quickly forming a white crack. It would have reached Nidoking as well, had Quentin not given an order a fraction of a second after Ash.
"Earthquake." Nidoking slammed his fist into the ground, and the ground started to crack from the collapsing that was happening from under it. The white crack was shattered as the ground cracked further. "Shadow Claw." Nidoking raised his second claw, violet vapor forming around it in the shape of a more sinister claw. It swiped. Scrafty stepped back to avoid it, but his foot stepped on a crack, his other foot quickly found ground to compensate, but that brief lapse in balance was an opening, and Quentin wasted no time to exploiting it.
"Thunder Vice."
Nidoking's arm slammed into the ground, and before he could respond the ground seemed to rise up on either side of Scrafty, wedging him between two giant slates of stone. Nidoking's horn sparked yellow, then his body followed, and the air seemed to quake for just an instant before. "NIDO!"
"TYYYYYYYY!"
Scrafty couldn't move, he was trapped as the Thunder struck at his entire body, the two slates of earth only grasping him tighter. Nidoking's attack was unrelenting, cruel, and efficiently effective. Made more so by the remaining moisture on his body. The slates started to crack under the force of the attack, and Scrafty never stopped screaming. To Scrafty it was not just a scream. It was a war cry. When the attack came to its end Scrafty turned his sight on his foe, his droopy eyelids somehow given his eyes a gaze that would freeze the hearts of many.
Quentin was not among that many. "Superpower." Blue fire suddenly seemed to radiate from Nidoking, as he pulled his arm back, then slammed it into the trapped Scrafty, shattering his prison. Scrafty's form flew through the air, before arriving near Ash's feet with a slam.
A sudden burst gave birth to a giant cloud of dust.
When it cleared Ash looked down at Scrafty. He was laying face down, unmoving, electricity crackling all over his body. "Scrafty!" Ash reached for his belt again, dammit he'd let this fight go on too long. Scrafty was too young for this! Now he was-
"Tyy." Scrafty's fingers scraped across the ground. The second did the same. "Scraaa..." He pushed himself, his head looking to his opponent with rage building in his eyes. He flinched, violet and red briefly shining on his body but still he did not waver.
Ash felt a foreboding feeling creep down his spine..."Scrafty..." His hand fell back to his side. He knew Scrafty's actions were no façade.
He could still fight.
Ash would not stop him.
"Scra, scra, scra, scra, scra," His head tensely raised up and down. "Scra!" His head stopped, his eyelids shot up, no longer droopy as he began to generate a red glow. "SCRAAAAAAAAA!" The ground under him shattered, countless shards rising up around him. "TYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" They were shattered further, into nothingness as he turned his attention towards Nidoking.
He charged, his every step cracking the ground beneath. He reached Nidoking quickly, the Outrage shining even in his very eyes. Ash needed to press this advantage, and fast. Scrafty got furious sometimes, but this was the first he'd used Outrage. Clearly he'd learned a thing or two since evolving. It was true, Scrafty was young, but there was one fact about young Pokemon.
They grew quickly.
"Hi Jump Kick!" Scrafty got just in front of Nidoking, breaking the ground under him as he kicked off from it with all the force he had, half of that force suddenly flexing upwards. Nidoking's head shot upwards, as did he, and his feet were knocked further off his feet this time, and though he did not fall, Ash grinned.
Scrafty's strength had shot through the roof!
The second Nidoking found his feet again, "Superpower once more, Nidoking!" Again Nidoking was ignited blue, and his fist shot down like a bullet.
"Evade and slip under him!" Scrafty dived, the punch just barely missing him as it intended itself in the ground. He flipped his body to land on his back and skid across the ground. Without needing order to do so Scrafty kicked out, smashing into the back of both of Nidoking's legs, almost knocking him to his knees. "Aim higher!" Scrafty jumped, raising his leg and bringing it down on the back of his target's head just as he freed himself. "Focus Punch, Scrafty!" Using only the strength of his leg, Scrafty flipped forward over Nidoking's head, and upside down he stared his target in the eye.
"Scraf-" A red/white glowing punch shot forward. "TY!"
Nidoking was shot back, skidding across the ground quickly as he flinched. Even so he would not fall, and quickly his eyes opened again, his tail quickly brought him to a stop. Yet even his strength only just kept him from toppling over his master.
Scrafty too was sent back by the force of the blow, flipping through the air with decidedly un-Scrafty-like grace. Scrafty landed, his back turned to Nidoking, but he was off balance. Quentin nodded. "There." He raised an arm, casting a finger at Scrafty. "Hyper Beam!"
"Nido-!" Nidoking's mouth fell open, as sphere of light rapidly grew inside, growing larger and larger-"KING!"
The Hyper Beam was born, making its way across the arena in a large stream of pure power, the largest Ash had ever seen from this attack. It's target; Scrafty. Ash's mouth opened...
Quentin could no longer see his opponent side of the battleground, the light from the powerful Hyper Beam covering it completely. He just waited, a few seconds before the light became as an inferno of light. The force of the blow was vicious, Quentin's trench coat billowing wildly in the backlash of the attack. He merely watched, as the beam expressed its wrath, one thing clear in his mind.
"He won't get up after a blast like that."
The explosion of light was still ongoing, yet as it faded certain things could be made out. The ground, lose stones, a shadow. Quentin's eyes followed the shadow, finding the figure which cast it. The form was still standing, even as the residual light of the Hyper Beam burned the air around it. "Impossible!" Then, like it was made of paper, the figure started to crumble away...
"That can't have-!" He took a sharp breath. The blast cleared, and all Quentin could see was Ash, his arms guarding his face from the tidal wave of dust, Pikachu hiding behind his leg. The wind died down, and Ash lowered his arms to look at the remains of his Pokémon...
At least he should have, but that was not the face of someone looking at remains of a friend. Ash was grinning. Quentin then realized...
He'd been tricked. "NOW SCRAFTY!"
The trap was sprung. A glowing-red Scrafty burst from the ground beneath Nidoking, his red/white glowing fist aimed in an uppercut. "SCRAFTY!" -WHAM!- Like a rocket the fist collided with the underside of Nidoking's jaw.
Finally, the beast was knocked off his feet.
His form fell to the ground on his back as Scrafty only sailed higher, before he flipped in the air and came back down, his right foot glowing white. "SCRA!" His foot slammed into his target's face, before Scrafty removed it, pulling his head back as it started to glow blue, becoming brighter so the head beneath the glow appeared black and white...
"TY!" His head violently slammed into Nidoking's, making the latter's' bash briefly against the ground before-"TY!" Another, he quickly pulled his head back, and-"TY!" The onslaught of Outrage-infused Head Smashes continued to rain down upon Nidoking, who had neither the energy nor time to counter. The bashes began to quicken. "TY! TY! TY!" Scrafty pulled his head back further, his twin auras glowing even brighter before "SCRAFTY!" The strongest smash yet, so hard that the back of Nidoking's head was indented into the arena. Scrafty took a few deep, heavy breaths before he slowly pulled himself off of Nidoking, who didn't react.
Nidoking was out cold.
Scrafty raised his head up, roaring out the first part of his name, rebounding the syllable off every single wall as his glow seemed to quiver for a moment, before fading. His eyes remained that crimson red, and suddenly he threw out a fist in a random direction, then a foot in another, continuously screaming out as if he was trying to attack something only he could see.
"Scra!" A high roundhouse kick to his right. "Ty!" He threw a head-butt in the same direction, briefly jumping. He landed turning around and swiping a fist at the same spot. "Ty!" He pulled his fist back. "Scra..." He suddenly stumbled. "Ty..." He threw it, but it seemed to lose his vigour somewhere on the way. "Scraf..." He pulled his head back. He threw it forward. "Ty..." He fell forward. It was a few seconds before it became clear.
He'd fainted.
Quentin raised a Pokéball "Return, Nidoking."
Ash did the same. "Return, Scrafty."
Quentin looked down at his withdrawn Pokémon, placing his other hand over the top of his ball. "You fought well, Nidoking." He swiftly returned the ball to his belt, placing the ball with the other four which lay there. A finger from his left hand trailed to the bottom button of his coat, unhooking it with a precise sway of his finger.
Ash looked down at his ball with a smile. "Great job, Scrafty." He reached his hand to his belt, returning one ball and finding another.
Just as Quentin chose his. "He knew a direct battle was impossible to win. So he used Scrafty's condition as part of a diversion strategy. Clever, but costly. I can see why the champions couldn't stop him."
Ash raised his Pokeball. "That was an awesome opening. Looks like I can match you, Quentin." He smiled. "Guess I'm a true Grandmaster after all."
Quentin frowned. "No, Ash. A true Grandmaster is defined by more than strength or skill. Anybody can go out and attain power, but very few ever find the other qualities needed."
Ash looked at Qunetin for a moment, as if he was trying to find something, before he just closed his eyes and shook his head. "He doesn't understand."
They cast their next Pokéballs.
"But I finally do."
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End of Chapter
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Author's Notes: And the first round is over! A glorified draw! (as far as I care. Either way both are down a Pokémon)
Didn't think I'd make Quentin a typical (but extremely strong) trainer now did you? Oh ye of little faith. I had to give him an edge. You don't get to be the Grandmaster without having something special up your sleeve and Quentin's method of blending attacks has yet to show off its full extent. Now can Ash's tenacity continue to keep pace with Quentin's skill? Or will he be overwhelmed?
The best is yet to come!
Next Chapter: The Hunger
(Yes I've decided to show the titles ahead of time, only for this arc though)
Trivia: I originally included Scraggy/Scrafty in Ash's team due to his unique typing. (I was trying to make Ash's team as diverse and interesting as possible) However, after watching a few episodes focusing around him I know I couldn't have chosen a more awesome Pokemon. As far as I'm aware he's not shown what his ability is in the anime, so I decided to just go with shed skin. (A diversion tactic just seemed more Ash to me. He has shown some subterfuge talents a few times)
A Pokémon that deals with someone having a crush on him by head-butting embodies epic. (not sure what kind of epic but epic is epic) Plus I think that might make him the one character in the entire Pokéverse stupider than his trainer. (Okay I'm probably pushing it there)
Now imagine if Ash dealt with everything the same way...
Episode one would be so interesting. Imagine, if you will, the outcomes of these segments
Gary: "I got my starter Pokémon already!"
Oak: "We're out of starter Pokémon Ash."
Pikachu: "Pi pika pikachu chu." I'm not obeying you.
Misty: -slaps Ash-
Of course he'd be arrest by episode 2. I doubt Jenny would take kindly to being head-butted. Now imagine the trial...
Contest: Not as many competitors as I'd hoped for (rather disappointed actually), but just in case some of you are concerned; you can take a shot at this more than once, as long as you obey the rules (outlined a bit further down).
Now, I must clarify something.
The exact answer I am looking for has not been written anywhere in this fic. It's something you have to figure out from the hints I have left you, and the precise hints that will lead you to the answer are there.
Now, I may have been a too vague about the question, so let me clear some things up.
Since it seems to be obvious already I will say it; Yes, the answer does relate to Ash's Grandmaster title. I want a specific detail about Ash holding it.
The precise detail I want answered: the hint giving that away was first revealed in chapter 7. It's also been in another place since. It'd be no fun to just come out and tell you what I want now would it? This is where the hardcore fans are separated from the light readers. (not that this fic can be considered 'light reading')
As I said, the hints to that answer are laid out already. You're not getting any more.
Rules!:
First: One attempt at answering per new chapter. This way everyone gets a fair shot.
Second: To prevent cheating (eventually all of you are gonna figure out exactly what detail I'm asking for, and then the guessing game starts), I am adding one more condition to victory: I want you to explain your justification for your answer; how did you come up with it?
Thanks to Fortune Hunter for inspiring this rule. While I can't say if you're close or a million miles away from the true answer (and question itself for that matter, can't give it away), I really did enjoy the in-depth answer itself. I figure since I'm writing this fic, which seems to entertain the lot of you folks I think I'm entitled to a little bit of entertainment in return, and it turns out what people can interpret from my work entertains me greatly (I have an ego, and it requires feeding), so come on people!
Also, I highly doubt anyone could make a plausible lie for finding the true answer.
The more you do post your views the more/faster I write. Interest begets interest. Show it to my work, and I'll be more interested in writing it. Which also means this fic gets finished faster. I have pretty much the rest of the story completely laid out already. (with some blanks to fill in here and there) If you want it sooner rather than later, then motivate me!
The contest will remain open until the end of this battle, unless it's won before then of course. The winner (if there is one) will be announced in the top author's notes of a new chapter, so check every new chapter.
Good luck!
P.S: I lied. I am continuing to drop hints. One is in this chapter somewhere. All upcoming chapters will contain a hint.
Meanwhile, in the real world: Nintendo announced a new generation of Pokémon games! Looks like they finally ran out of colors.
You know, as much as I love the franchise (I'm writing a damn fic ain't I? Plus I have two others done.), it really, really is starting to take the piss on how long it's going on now. (Part of any great franchise is knowing when to stop before you get stale) Well we all know the routine of this generation in respects to the anime now don't we?
(Ash wont age...I still find that unforgivably illogical. It's one piece of the cannon I gladly wipe my ass with*)
Though I will say this for the new games: The graphic style looks awesome. As long as they don't change the mechanics of the game much other wise (the wild Pokémon encounter system cannot change!) then it should work out well.
Also: Nintendo's aiming to release the game worldwide within the span of a month. If they can pull that off then hat's off to Nintendo.
(I should probably buy a hat)
*Like it's the only cannon I've wiped my ass with. The mere existence of this fic is an affront to the cannon. Its low quality is just an insult to the franchise.