Author's note: I almost had writer's block on this one, though I eventually got better. . . . . so, enjoy the chapter. . . . .
Chapter 11
Tournament Arc IV - One Haruhi Limit
"Swoobat, I choose you!" Haruhi Kamisaka sent out a Swoobat.
"Electivire, go!" Haruhi Suzumiya once again sent out the same Pokemon that she used against Haruhi Fujioka.
Dawn remarked, "Haruhi Suzumiya is obviously at a type advantage."
Mikuru asked, "But why is that?"
"Electivire is an Electric-type Pokemon."
Cilan added, "That means Swoobat is obviously at a type disadvantage because it's a Flying-type."
"So that means Suzumiya is gonna win easily?" Mikuru wondered.
"However, that's just a bit too early to conclude though," Cilan replied.
"We'll make the first move. Swoobat, use Air Slash!"
"Electivire, use Thunderpunch!"
Haruhi Suzumiya's 'Electivire' smashed Swoobat's Air Slash with Thunderpunch.
"Dodge it!" Swoobat fortunately managed to avoid Electivire's attack.
"Now use Heart Stamp!"
"Electivire, Psychic!"
Haruhi Kamisaka's Swoobat manages to hit Electivire with its attack before the latter can use Psychic.
As a result, the effects of Swoobat's Heart Stamp caused Electivire to flinch.
"The effects of Heart Stamp caused Electivire to flinch!" O'Martian announced.
Kyon asked Brendan, "What does 'flinch' mean?"
The latter replied, "A Pokemon inflicted with flinching is prevented from attacking."
"That can't be right if the opponent Pokemon goes first, right?" Kyon asked.
"Yes, and that's when the effect happens," Itsuki added.
Kyon asked Itsuki, "How do you even know about flinching, Koizumi?"
"Those are one of the statuses a Pokemon can inflict in battle."
"Electivire, use Thunderpunch one more time!"
"Swoobat, Heart Stamp!"
Electivire's Thunderpunch clashed with Swoobat's Heart Stamp. But Heart Stamp was overpowered, hitting Swoobat dead-on and knocking it out.
"Swoobat, no!" Haruhi Kamisaka screamed.
"Swoobat is unable to battle. Electivire wins, and the victor goes to Haruhi Suzumiya!" the referee declared.
"And Haruhi Suzumiya is the next to enter the quarterfinals!" O'Martian declared.
"Electivire, return." Haruhi Suzumiya recalled Electivire back to its Poke Ball.
"Swoobat, you did a good job. Take a break," Haruhi Kamisaka did the same. After a handshake, the two then left the battlefield.
Haruhi Suzumiya went back to the sidelines.
"Here, thank you for lending me this Poke Ball," she said, returning the Poke Ball to Brendan.
The next battle of the second round was between Ash and Ladonia.
"Leavanny, use Energy Ball!"
With one hit, Leavanny manages to knock out Ladonia's Stunfisk. As a result, Ash proceeded to the semifinals.
The last battle of the second round was between Yuri vs. Dawn.
The two competitors went outside the battlefield.
"Let the battle begin!" the referee declared.
"Mamoswine, take the stage!" Dawn sent out Mamoswine.
"Go, Vanilluxe!" Yuri sent out a Vanilluxe.
"I wonder what was that ice cream Pokemon Yuri sent out," Kyon and Mikuru wondered.
Without Haruhi hearing her, Yuki replied, "It is called a Vanilluxe, an Ice-type Pokemon lifeform."
"And what about that Pokemon Dawn just sent out?"
Itsuki replied, "It is called a Mamoswine. That Pokemon evolves from Piloswine."
"Vanilluxe, Flash Cannon!"
"Dodge it, Mamoswine!" Dawn's Mamoswine dodged Flash Cannon.
"Now use Take Down!"
"Vanilluxe, Flash Cannon one more time!"
Flash Cannon hit Mamoswine before it could use Take Down.
O'Martian yelled, "And Mamoswine gets hit with an effective Flash Cannon!"
"Mamoswine, get up!" Dawn yelled.
Mamoswine eventually got up, just in time for Dawn to instruct it to, "Use Hidden Power!"
"Prepare to be surprised for Vanilluxe's next attack," said Yuri, "Use Mirror Coat!"
"What? It could use Mirror Coat?" Dawn asked in shock.
Vanilluxe used Mirror Coat to bounce Hidden Power back at Mamoswine, knocking it away.
"Now for the finisher. Use Sheer Cold!"
"Mamoswine, get up and dodge it!" Dawn yelled.
Mamoswine was helpless getting up to dodge Sheer Cold. Because of the nature of Sheer Cold to instantly knock out the opponent, it fainted in the blink of an eye.
"Mamoswine, no!" screamed Dawn.
"Mamoswine is unable to battle. Vanilluxe wins, and the victor goes to Yuri Nakamura!"
O'Martian concluded, "And Yuri is the last to go on to the quarterfinals!"
Iris frowned and said, "That was a resounding loss for Dawn."
"I conclude that Yuri Nakamura is packed with a lot of strong flavor in her," Cilan deduced.
Haruhi remarked, "That was a powerful Sheer Cold Vanilluxe just used."
"Yeah, but what's Sheer Cold?" Kyon curiously wondered.
Yuki replied to Kyon, "Sheer Cold. An Ice-type move that instantly knocks out the opponent's Pokemon if it hits."
"That can't be right," Kyon deduced.
He then thought, "From what Cilan just said, Yuri is that one strong trainer who might give Haruhi a run for her money. That can be a problematic if she and Haruhi were to battle one day."
"Mamoswine, return." Dawn recalled Mamoswine back to its Poke Ball and went back to the sidelines.
O'Martian announced, "Folks, we now have the 6 participants moving on to the quarterfinals."
The screen displayed cards showing pictures of Iris, Kyon, Ash, Trip, Haruhi Suzumiya and Yuri Nakamura.
Alder announced, "The quarterfinals will take place tomorrow right here. I suggest to all the 6 participants to take a rest."
That night, Brendan, Ash, Dawn, Iris, and the 5 members of the SOS Brigade went to the dining room to eat dinner prepared by none other than Cilan himself.
"That was delicious! Can I have some more of this food?" Haruhi asked Cilan.
"There is plenty of food. After all, it's all dedicated for you, Kyon, Ash, and Iris and your respective victories."
Cilan then prepared Pokemon food for Ash's Pikachu and Iris's Axew.
When Iris frowned, Ash noticed her and said, "Iris, what's wrong?"
"Well, it's about Dragonite. I wonder if Dragonite will obey me." Iris fished out Dragonite's Poke Ball from her pocket and stared at it.
Suddenly, Doremi Harukaze, Hazuki Fujiwara, Aiko Senoo, Onpu Segawa, and Momoko Asuka all showed up on the table.
"Why, looks like we have guests," Cilan said as he noticed the five.
"We actually came here because all the food in the cafeteria were sold out," Hazuki said.
"Sure, come and eat with us. The more people, the merrier," the Pokemon Connoisseur replied.
Doremi asked, "Is there steak in here? The five of us are all starving."
Cilan replied, "You five are just in time, because right now, steak is the main dish for tonight's dinner."
The Pokemon Connoisseur then served a plate of steak in the dining table.
Everyone took a slice just before Doremi could get one.
Doremi muttered, "Awww. . . . Why is the steak always gone?"
"Here, have a piece." Brendan transferred the remaining pieces of his steak in Doremi's plate.
When she took a bite, she remarked, "This steak tasted any better! I would like to thank the one who prepared it!"
Cilan remarked, "Well, thank you."
Suddenly, someone opened the door and it was Tetsuya Kotake.
"Dojimi, why are you and your friends dining with some strangers?" asked Kotake.
"It's not Dojimi!" yelled Doremi, "But why are you here?"
"Well, it's just. . . . . to eat dinner with you guys," replied Kotake.
Kyon asked Cilan, "Can I go and look for something to drink?"
"Sure, you can check it out on the cafeteria."
Kyon then left the room with Kotake wondering where he is going.
He was walking into a corridor when he suddenly noticed a familiar voice yelling inside a door. He then plugged his ear into the door to hear the conversation.
Inside the room:
"I'm sorry for disappointing you, Yurippe," Haruhi Kamisaka cried.
"That's unacceptable! You were supposed to make sure Haruhi Suzumiya gets eliminated from the tournament!" Yurippe yelled.
"I did my all, but -"
"No 'buts'! You are dismissed!"
Haruhi Kamisaka was ordered by Yuri Nakamura to leave the room. When she opened the door and ran off, she didn't notice Kyon hiding in the wall outside the room.
Otonashi asked Yuri, "How can we ensure that Haruhi Suzumiya gets eliminated from the tournament now that plan A has failed?"
Yuri thought, "It's complicated for the moment, since it's the quarterfinals, and Haruhi might be pitted up with one of the other four competitors. Looks like we have a long way to go before our plan materializes. Otherwise, we'll have to hatch a plan."
TK said, "Get chance and luck!"
Kyon quietly went back to the room.
When he opened the door, Haruhi was already asleep, making it the perfect time to explain Brendan, Ash, Dawn, Iris, Itsuki, Yuki, Mikuru, and Cilan about Yuri.
"I just had something to tell to the five of you," Kyon whispered.
"What is it?" Brendan quietly asked.
"It's about Yuri Nakamura. Ever since Kanade introduced herself to us in order to reveal Yuri's schemes against Haruhi Suzumiya, I thought that she was up to something bad, and I was eventually right," Kyon said reasonably.
Brendan said, "That's bad."
Dawn, Mikuru, and Iris both asked, "Who's Yuri Nakamura?"
Brendan replied, "If you can tell from her looks, she definitely looks like Haruhi. And if you can recall from earlier, she's the one who defeated me in the preliminary rounds."
When Dawn attempted to recall from her match with Yuri, she suddenly said, "Of course! She definitely looks like Haruhi to me!"
Kyon said, "That's why I was trying to tell Ash and Cilan that she's trying to defeat Haruhi from the tournament or even make sure that she loses."
"It's like you were doing wild mass guessing and suddenly, you ended up being right, Kyon," Dawn said.
Kyon, who was in a thinking pose, thought, "There has got to be a reason behind Yuri's motives."
"Yeah, I was wondering about that too," Iris added, "Besides, from what I've been thinking from Itsuki's explanation about Haruhi's powers, I'm thinking that closed spaces and celestials would possibly appear if Haruhi herself is in a bad mood for losing in the tournament, especially if Yuri defeats her."
"Kyon, from what you just said to Brendan, who's Kanade?" Iris asked.
"A friend of mine," Kyon replied.
The next morning:
O'Martian announced, "The quarterfinals of the Junior Cup is now finally here! On the screen are today's matchups."
The screen showed Kyon vs. Haruhi Suzumiya, Trip vs. Iris, and Ash vs. Yuri Nakamura.
Yuri thought to herself, "I thought Haruhi was going to be my next opponent. Oh well, I'll eventually face her."
Meloetta showed its presence, sitting on top of a beam.
"And now, the first battle of the quarterfinals between Haruhi vs. Kyon is coming under way!" O'Martian declared.
Haruhi said, "Kyon, looks like we'll get to battle against each other, what do you say?"
"Why do I have to battle Haruhi?" Kyon asked Itsuki.
"Like what I always said before, you have to make sure Miss Suzumiya is in a happy state of mind. Just make it a memorable one," the esper replied without Haruhi hearing him.
"Oh, brother," Kyon facepalmed, "This is going to be a bad day if I beat her."
Dawn and Iris cheered to Haruhi and Kyon, "Good luck to the two of you!"
Brendan approached Haruhi and said, "The Pokemon I will loan to you for today is Accelgor. The moves that it knows are Agility, Focus Blast, Bug Buzz, and Recover."
He then handed over the Poke Ball to her.
Brendan then went to Kyon and said, "Here's another Pokemon that I will hand over to you."
He sent out a Yanma.
"What is that Pokemon?" Kyon asked.
"It's called a Yanma. This Pokemon knows the moves AncientPower, Detect, Air Slash, and Bug Buzz."
Brendan said to Yanma, "You will be battling for Kyon today. He has yet to have a Pokemon, so I decided to let him borrow you temporarily." The Clear Wing Pokemon agreed.
He then recalled it back to its Poke Ball.
O'Martian announced on the microphone, "And now, the first battle of the quarterfinals is here, and it's between Kyon vs. Haruhi Suzumiya!"
"Let the battle begin!" the referee announced.
"Yanma, go!" Kyon sent out the Yanma Brendan loaned to him.
"Go, Accelgor!" Haruhi sent out the Accelgor also loaned by Brendan.
"I'll make the first move. Yanma, use Air Slash," Kyon commanded.
"Dodge it!"
Accelgor took advantage of its high speed to avoid Yanma's Air Slash.
"Now use Focus Blast!"
Suddenly, Kyon's 'Yanma' flew very fast, leaving a green trail of energy, avoiding Focus Blast.
"And Yanma activates its ability, Speed Boost!" O'Martian remarked.
"If Yanma keeps this up, it will be three times faster," Alder commented.
"So Speed Boost is what's making Yanma fly faster," Kyon and Haruhi both thought.
The latter said, "Accelgor, catch up with Yanma using Agility!"
"Use AncientPower!"
Yanma's AncientPower hits Accelgor for effective damage.
"Hey, no fair!" Haruhi yelled.
Suddenly, Yanma was imbued into white light, indicating that it evolved.
Kyon wondered, "Could that be?"
O'Martian remarked, "What do you have it, folks, looks like Yanma is evolving!"
Kyon wondered, "When did Yanma suddenly evolve?"
Haruhi replied, "It did because it learned AncientPower."
"How could a move trigger a Pokemon to evolve?"
Mikuru wondered, "I thought that Pokemon evolve if they are stronger."
Dawn replied, "However, there are other factors that cause a Pokemon to evolve. In the case of Yanma, it evolved by learning a specific move, and it was AncientPower."
"So what's it called if it evolves?" Iris wondered.
Dawn replied, "Yanmega." She checked out her Pokedex and it said, "Yanmega, the Ogre Darner Pokemon, and the evolved form of Yanma. When it beats its wings, it causes shockwaves that cause critical injuries on its foes."
Kyon wondered, "I wonder what shall I call to Yanma now that it evolved."
Haruhi yelled, "It's now a Yanmega, you idiot!"
"Yanmega?" Kyon thought and said, "Alright, Yanmega, use Air Slash!"
"Use Focus Blast!"
Yanmega's Air Slash and Accelgor's Focus Blast collided with each other, causing an explosion.
Yanmega's Speed Boost was once again activated, making it fly even faster.
"And once again, Yanmega, fresh from evolution, activates its Speed Boost ability!" O'Martian announced.
"Looks like Yanmega is speeding up. Accelgor, use Agility!"
Using Agility, Accelgor caught up to Yanmega's speed.
"Folks, looks like Agility caused Accelgor to run three times faster! And it's appropriately red in color!" O'Martian yelled on the microphone.
"It seems both Pokemon are raising their speeds to their maximum levels," Alder remarked.
"Yanmega, use Air Slash!"
"Dodge it!"
Unfortunately, Yanmega's Air Slash was avoided easily by Accelgor.
"Now use Focus Blast!"
Accelgor's Focus Blast hits Yanmega, sending it down to the field. Fortunately, the latter gets up, still flapping its wings.
"Use Air Slash!"
Yanmega hits back on Accelgor using its attack.
"Now use Recover!"
Accelgor regained health to alleviate the damage dealt from Air Slash and AncientPower.
Haruhi remarked, "You know, Kyon, you are doing real good. But I'm gonna win. Accelgor, use Bug Buzz!"
Kyon responded, "Yanmega, use Air Slash!"
Both moves created yet another explosion. However, Haruhi quickly thought and said, "Accelgor, use Bug Buzz one more time!"
Bug Buzz cleared the smoke from the explosion and hit Yanmega on the spot, knocking it out.
"Yanmega!" Kyon yelled.
"Yanmega is unable to battle. Haruhi and Accelgor are the winners!" the referee declared.
"And so, Haruhi moves on the semifinals!" O'Martian announced.
"That was a battle between the fast and the furious," Alder remarked.
"Accelgor, return." Haruhi recalled Accelgor.
"Yanmega, thank you for battling for me," Kyon said as he also did the same.
"I guess Haruhi won," he thought and concluded, "Oh well, at least I did my all."
The two then left back to the sidelines as Iris was up next to battle Trip.
"You did a great battle, Kyon," Itsuki said.
Kyon replied, "Well, you only said that because I lost."
"On the bright side, you managed to make sure the battle will be memorable for Miss Suzumiya."
On the other hand, Haruhi was being congratulated by Ash, Dawn, Cilan, and Brendan as the latter patted her and Kyon in both shoulders for doing well.
Brendan said to Kyon, "You and Haruhi did a great battle. I'd rather admit, I wanted you to witness Pokemon evolution, because that's how a Pokemon becomes stronger, you know."
"You did it on purpose?"
"That wasn't on purpose, Kyon."
Kyon muttered, "You've got to be kidding me."
"You know what Darwin's theory just said, 'Evolutionism, ho!'" Brendan said and cackled.
Kyon facepalmed and muttered, "Just why did he have to make such a video game reference?"
O'Martian declared, "And now, the second battle of the quarterfinals is between Trip vs. Iris."
Ash said, "Iris, I wish you luck."
"Thanks, Ash!" Iris replied.
Trip and Iris were now out on the battlefield.
"Alright. Battle begin!" the referee announced.
To be continued. . . . .
On the next chapter:
The Junior Cup moves on to its semifinal match, and that match is between Yuri Nakamura and Haruhi Suzumiya. Who among the two will move on to face Trip in the finals? Find out in the next chapter of The Best Wishes of Haruhi Suzumiya!
References:
Pirates of the Caribbean
TV Tropes
Mobile Suit Gundam (see the explanation below)
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
Author's note #2:
One of the main cameos for this chapter are the first five main characters of Magical DoReMi, also known as Ojamajo Doremi in Japan. It's pretty obscure when compared to other magical girl series like Pretty Cure, Sailor Moon, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica now that the show has ended a long time ago (though it has recently updated itself in a form of a light novel), but that's where the username Ojamajo Pokemon Master is named after, the other obviously being Pokemon.
This chapter uses the Japanese names for the first four characters of Ojamajo Doremi (Doremi, Hazuki, Aiko, Onpu) instead of the English dub names (Dorie, Reanne, Mirabelle, Ellie).
If you've been wondering from the previous chapters who is Ladonia, he is one of the micronation characters in Hetalia: Axis Powers. And why does he have a Stunfisk in this chapter? Anyone who has checked out Hetalia Bloodbath 2011 will get free points.
There's an obvious reference to Mobile Suit Gundam in the battle between Haruhi and Kyon. To explain the reference (to some people who don't know or know little about Gundam), Char Aznable (who is one of the main antagonists of the show) owns and pilots a red-colored Zaku (the mecha used by the antagonists) that runs three times faster than a normal Zaku. To elaborate furthermore, the Pokedex colors of Yanma and Accelgor are both red. The former has the Speed Boost ability, while the latter has a high Speed stat. Does it look hilarious when anything that's red is truly three times faster?