Chapter 6: A Motou Battle
lightningblade49: Your question is answered later in this chapter.
A/N: I'm so late with this chapter, I know and I'm sorry. Work is starting to peak now and it's hard to find time to write. Will try to get the other chapters up on time tho.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any other characters that you will recognize in this story.
"So… where are we?"
Ash's felt his question was valid, the Pokèmon trainer was forcing himself not to cringe as he peeked down, automatically correcting his stance as the… thing… they were in swayed dangerously on the seemingly thin piece of cable it hung on.
He was glad that the three new trainers and their Pokèmon looked as uncomfortable as he felt. There was something about standing on a glass floor a few thousand feet in the air with nothing but a downward sloping forest below that puts matters into perspective.
No matter what Crystal said about the 'bubble car' being tested for safety, he still had images of himself or the entire carriage crashing down into the forest before sliding further down the mountain to his death. The trembling Pokèmon on his shoulder told him that Pikachu had shared his fears.
"I told you Ash, this is the safest place on the whole battlefield, especially when Red and Green really go at it."
"This wouldn't happen to be the mountain area with the really strong Pokèmon you told me about, would it?"
"Red and Green are stronger. Now hush, they're ready."
As one, the trainers within the bubble car focused their pre-prepared binoculars on the duo facing off against each other from either side of the stream that cut across their battlefield. The speakers in the car clearly broadcasted Red's command from the mike around his neck as the Champion made the opening move, leaping back as he threw the first Pokèball of the match,
"Aero, let's go!"
"Wow…"
The Pikachu trainer couldn't help voicing his amazement as he watched Motou's Champion grab on to the talon of the Aerodactyl that had erupted from the Champions Pokèball, instantly rising into the air. In a daring but practiced move, the Champion released his hold on the talon as the flying type did a backwards roll, with Red landing on his neck, even as he shouted his first attack, the duo heading straight for Green,
"Wing Blade!"
The Gym Leader merely smirked as winged death flew towards him, before disappearing into the forest behind his green jacket melting into the foliage as the narrow gap between the trees forced Red and his Aerodactyl to pull up and circle from the air.
"He attacked Green!"
"Actually, he attacked Green's Pokèballs."
Ash felt Pikachu mirror his stare at the indifferent Professor, who didn't seem worried that one of her friends had launched a potentially lethal attack on the other as she focused her eye glass on the frustrated Pokèmon and trainer circling above the forest, or appeared to focus as she directed her next comment at the still staring teen,
"Stop worrying about opening moves and watch! Green's about to make his move."
The quick turn of his head was just in time to catch the swirl of petals exploding from the forest and forcing the flying duo overhead to evade, even as Green's voice echoed across the speakers for the first time,
"Petal Dance"
In his shock over Red's actions, Ash had missed the tell tale sound of Green summoning his first Pokèmon. However, no one could miss the pink storm that rose from within the forest, signaling his counter attack.
"Aero, use Gust!"
The wind called up by the flying type scattered the petals, even as it blew them back towards the forest. Just as quickly, Green's reply exploded through from a different angle, chasing the prehistoric Pokèmon as he descended back towards the stream.
"Razor Leaf!"
As the leaves cut apart the equally sharp petals, and were cut in turn, Ash saw the reason Red had bid his Pokèmon to escape the area as the sky above the forest became filled with knife sharp fragments of the two deadly attacks. Had the prehistoric Pokèmon stayed in the area, it would have been the equivalent of being hit by a thousand paper cuts for every wing beat.
Not that Red noticed any of this as he dived into the stream while sending Aero back into his Pokèball.
"Venusaur! Vine Whip before he summons…!"
Green's command was cut off as the two giant vines were frozen mid-movement, surrounded by the pink glow of what Ash recognized as a psychic attack.
"Good work Vee, now pull Venusaur out of the forest and into the open!"
As one, the every binocular from the bubble car focused on the two figures that had appeared on the other side of the stream. The dripping Champion was grinning as the Espeon at his feet frowned in concentration, the slow inching of the vines out of the forest and the appearance of a great foot, slowly dragged by an invisible source, showed the fruits of her efforts.
A fuming Green sitting atop the Venusaur showed how Red had outsmarted the Gym Leader, even as the grass type disappeared in a flash of red light and the still fuming trainer landed in a crouch, Pokèball appearing in his hand, only to be pushed out with another psychic blast. Unfortunately for Red, what landed as an empty Pokèball as he and Espeon were thrown back by a gush of water from an annoyed Golduck.
Up in the bubble car, Gold tutted as he studied the fight,
"Stupid. You can't give Green time to plan, that's asking for the tables to be turned."
His musing was cut off with a swipe from Crystal as she shushed the man,
"Red is Champion for a reason, now stop distracting us."
An explosion from below caught everyone's attention as they saw Green's Golduck get caught in a Dragon Rage with the sudden appearance of a Gyrados.
"How…?"
"You can give orders to your Pokèmon while they are in their Pokèballs. Red must have instructed Gyrados, before recalling Vee and releasing Gyrados in the same move."
Gold's eyes did not leave the scene, even as he explained the circumstances to Ash, not that the Pallet Town trainer blamed him, the sudden appearance of the water type and the quick attack had turned the tables again. Especially with Red's follow up move,
"Gyrados, now use Twister!"
As the gigantic water sprout headed towards the stumbling duck Pokèmon, ripping up trees from their roots in its wake. Ash noted that it served the dual purpose of blocking Green from Golduck, effectively stopping the other trainer from returning his Pokèmon to its Pokèball, not that the Origin Gym Leader was out of options,
"Golduck! Travel the water sprout using Aqua Jet!"
Instantly, the water type obeyed its trainers command, jumping into the sprout and activating the move, allowing it to gain momentum and power from his opponents attack. Unfortunately, Red had an ace up his sleeve,
"Now Gyrados, Thunderbolt!"
The gasps from the other two oldest occupents of the car informed the others that this was a new move for their friend's water type. Which meant that Green was unprepared for the results as his Pokèmon was fried within the twister, making Golduck the first Pokèmon to be knocked out during the battle.
"Golduck, return! Come on out, Porygon-Z!"
"Gyrados, Rain Dance!"
The tiny pink and blue Pokèmon that looked like a demented version of Porygon immediately shot a powerful Zap Cannon upon appearing from its Pokèball, not giving the water type a chance to dodge as it finished up its initial attack. As if a sign from the heavens, the rain showered down just as the electrical attack hit Gyrados, raising the damage of the already devastating attack and knocking out the bigger Pokèmon. Green had recovered from his shock and instructed the digital Pokèmon to prepare the blast while recovering his Golduck.
The belated rain fell as Red returned Gyrados back to his Pokèball, glaring at his opponent as he contemplated which Pokèmon to use. As if to mock him, Green held out his hand, slowly closing his fingers one by one. Before the Gym Leader could make a fist, Red held up a Pokèball, hiding his mouth as he continued glaring at Green before throwing it into the foliage behind him, the dense forest hiding the Pokèmon that appeared in a burst of red light. The Champion then smirked at his rival as he jumped into hiding alongside his unknown summon.
"Porygon-Z, return! Come out Venusaur!"
Green wasted no time in changing Pokèmon, not taking his eyes off the tree line his opponent had disappeared into. Tense, he barked out his next command,
"Venusaur, use Cut, then Vine Whip!"
The confusion the spectators of the match felt as the command came over the speakers were cleared as the grass type began to use its great vines to decimate the trees and rip up the bushes across the river, removing the cover that was hiding the in disappearing in a spray of roots and leaves.
As the mass destruction of the innocent forest cleared, no flash of human movement was seen in the subsequent wreckage. The onlookers could practically see the afterimages of Green's head as it whipped back and forth, trying to locate the missing Champion, worry starting to seep into his stance as his body unconsciously adjusted itself so his back was to Venusaur, who was picking up on his trainers nerves and shifting its stance as its eyes darted around faster than its could follow.
A sudden rumbling had all eyes turned upstream, only to see a wave of earth head downwards, straight for the Gym Leader and his Pokèmon, even as the earth under their feet began to shift alongside the pressure.
"Shit, landslide!"
No one knew if it was Crystal, Gold or Green himself who said the words, but the following events had Ash and the three new trainers glued to the windows, their binoculars straining to catch every moment.
"Venusaur, Leach Seed!"
As the seed flew and ebbed itself in the wave, the Green kept up his orders,
"Again! And again! Keep it up until you don't have any seeds left!"
The flurry of seed flew, releasing their roots as they buried themselves into the landslide, stopping the moving earth, only for the ground to collapse under the exhausted Pokèmon. The crash that arose from the hole could be heard even without the speakers in the bubble car, ensuring the grass type was definitely out for count.
The reason for the sudden destruction came over the speakers, audible to Green if the realization on his face was any indication.
"Dugtrio!"
"Nice work Dig!"
There had only been silence from Red's side before this, Ash realized belatedly, because the Champion had hidden underground, safe from the rain as Dugtrio used Dig to loosen the earth that had already been destabilized by Gyrados' Twister and Rain Dance. With the downward slope of the battlefield, it had not taken much for him to cause a landslide that would either take out Venusaur
This realization only took a second as Green jumped into the hole that had taken out Venusaur, calling out his next Pokèmon and attack as he went in,
"Rhydon, use Earthquake!"
"Rhydon!"
"Dugtrio!"
"Wha!"
While the actual battle could not be witnessed, the effects of Rhydon's Earthquake could be seen by the above spectators as the ground shuddered before seeming to deflate, filling up the tunnels Dugtrio had dug and probably dealing great damage towards the ground type due to the damp nature of the earth as the rain continued to thunder overhead.
"Mud Bomb!"
"Dodge it and use Drill Run!"
The rain begins to let up as the fight continues, with the spectators eyeing the ground for visual proof of what they were hearing through the speakers. It wasn't that they didn't want to come above ground, Ash understood at once, it was that they can't. Like how Brock's Onyx was weakened by the sprinklers during Ash's first gym battle, so both rock and ground types would be weakened if they were the first to come out into the rain, leaving the other free to attack from below.
The muddy underground battle finally came to a head as the rain pattered to an end,
"Rhydon, use Take Down!"
"Dig, use Magnitude, quick!"
"Rhydon!"
"Dugtrio!"
The crash across the speakers had the airborne group covering their ears, eyes closed as tears of pain leaked through from the sound. As the sound of the earth collapsing faded to the fainter sounds of scratching and digging, the occupants of the bubble car slowly pulled themselves up to look out the window, in time to see the two battlers emerge from the earth dirty and battered but still utterly focused on the battle.
That is when the rest of the mountain decided enough was enough and collapsed.
"Idiotic, brainless, utterly stupid harebrained ideas."
As the Crystal continued her almost poetic string of insults aimed in the direction of her friends, Ash focused his attention on the discussion at hand,
"That Petal Dance and Razor Leaf combo was deadly! It totally took away Aerodactyl's advantage of flight and maximized Venusaur's cover."
Pearl's gushing had the Kanto trainer nodding in agreement, along with Gold's follow up analysis,
"Using Aqua Jet on Gyrados' Twister was a stroke of genius, if it weren't for Thunderbolt, the advantage would have been Green's"
"I thought Green was amazing when he turned the tables using Leech Seed to…"
Ash's comment faded away as five nervous pair of eyes turned towards the fuming Professor as she raised her voice a level higher, no longer allowing the spectators to distract themselves from the furious woman as she berated the sulking pair on her medical beds. Unfortunately for the two, the Professor had every right to anger in wake of the landslide they had caused. It had only been due to the quick actions of both Crystal and Gold that their injuries were minimal and the blue haired woman was making sure the two knew that fact. It was only knowledge (and fear) of her temper that kept the two quiet at her onslaught, despite the mulish look in their eyes that spoke volumes over the interruption of their battle.
"Don't you give me that look!"
Unfortunately, Crystal seemed well aware of both their personalities and attitudes towards personal danger, and their stubbornness only added fuel to the fire. As her temper reached new heights, the other five humans and four Pokèmon in the room desperately sought a safe conversation topic that would not fuel the fury of the Professor.
Ash was almost grateful as Gold, who had been desperately looking around for a distraction, hit on an idea when his eyes fell on Piplup and Pikachu, "Hey Ash, now you know what a Motou battle is like, why don't you try challenging one of the three newbies here?"
Maybe not that grateful. With the memory of the dangerous and potentially lethal battle still in mind, the young trainer turned wide eyes on the other man. Mentally writing out his will as Pikachu huddled close to his side, he glanced at the two men now listening in, noting that even Crystal was distracted, just as Gold had planned.
Correctly reading his hesitance, Gold slapped the teen on his back as he shouted, fear of Crystal's anger forgotten,
"Don't worry! Those two always have high level battles but most of us, including the Elite Four, wouldn't destroy a mountain when we battle."
"He is right, you know."
All eyes turned to Professor Crystal at her words. The young woman smiled reassuringly at the group of teens, anger apparently forgotten,
"Just this once, you should listen to Gold."
"Hey!"
"These two idiots," at this, she shot a glare at the two on her medical beds, "were participating in a very high level battle. Most of us don't use landslides on a mountain battlefield. You and whoever you choose as your opponent will not be creating natural disasters, rest assured of that!"
"I would be delighted if you would be my first opponent Ash."
The Pallet Town trainer stopped his slow shuffle away from the Professor, who was regaining her former anger, at Platina's offer, Pikachu likewise peeking out around his legs to look at the heiress as she continued,
"You are obviously an experienced trainer, and I believe there will be great benefit for Piplup and I if we were to battle you and Pikachu."
"I wouldn't advise that." Green cut the heiress off, "Ash's Pikachu is obviously a high level Pokèmon and your Piplup is a water type. Even discounting the type advantage, it would take just one hit for Piplup to be knocked out."
Ash couldn't help but offer his view as he watched the heiress wilt under the gym leader's critism, sympathy and empathy for a fellow trainer prompting his words,
"I do have other Pokèmon you know. I mean, my other five are my stronger Pokèmon, and I wouldn't let you battle Charizard, Bulbasaur, Snorlax, Gibble or Pidgeot, but I have some newer, less experience Pokèmon back at Professor Oaks…"
"That would not be necessary."
Platina cut through Ash's offer with a confident smile, hands held demurely in front as her eyes blazed a challenge at the other trainer,
"I understand that I am at a disadvantage in both experience and type, but I would still like to battle Pikachu."
"Are you sure about this? Last chance to back out."
"I assure you Ash, I have will not change my mind. I believe that despite our inexperience, Piplup and I can put up a good showing."
Pikachu focused on the trade off between trainers as he looked at the starter across the field, ignoring the spectators as he wondered if the match would actually take place against the inexperienced pair,
"Alright Pikachu, she's made up her mind, so let's do this"
"Pika?!"
The yellow mouse looked over his shoulder at his trainer in question as Ash spun his hat to the back, the uncertainty on his face melting to a familiar look of determination as he eyed the girl across from him the way he had countless gym leaders from across the regions.
"She wants a good battle Pikachu, we wouldn't want anyone to hold back on us, we will not hold back on her."
"Pikachu."
With a nod of understanding at his trainer, the electric type fell on all fours, his full concentration now on the two in front of him. Across the battle ground, Platina smiled in gratitude, even as she cheered her new partner on,
"Piplup! I know we haven't battled before, but let us give them a good showing."
"Piplup!"
"Alright you two, this will be a one on one battle between Ash and Platina. The first Pokèmon to be knocked out, looses!"
Pikachu tuned out the Champion as the other man brought down his arm, signaling the match had begun,
"Piplup, before they move, use Growl!"
"Pikachu."
Even as the water type began the attack, her opponent leapt into action at his trainers command, long experience letting him know exactly what Ash wanted. Dimly noting Ash shifting for a better view, the electric type shook off the bit of the attack that had clipped him, as he flanked Piplup from the side, noting his trainers eyes flick down and back up to meet his own. Allowing a grin of agreement to cross his face Pikachu waited for Ash to give the signal, "Thunderbolt, now!" Before firing off a Thunderbolt, aimed at the water type's feet.
"Piplup dodge it!"
As the blue penguin leapt out of the way, its motion brought it head first into the Iron Tail that Pikachu brought down from above, effectively knocking out the water type and ending the battle.
"Piplup is unable to battle. The winner is Ash and Pikachu!"