Icirrus Arc: Escalation
Absol lowered its head. "Razor Wind!" Jacky ordered. Absol whipped up a huge gale and sent blades at its opponent, yet Sceptile managed to fend them off with Leaf Blade. "Slash!" Absol went right in and aimed its claws at Sceptile's chest, but it was blocked by the reptile's left arm as well. Then, it went for a counterstrike with its right arm, but Absol managed to block it with its own sickle. "Double Edge!" Jacky commanded. Absol pushed Sceptile's arm away and threw itself against it, sending it to the ground.
"Dig!" Laslow shouted and Sceptile went underground again. Absol waited a moment and then jumped backwards as Sceptile came out again, trying to strike at it from beneath but failing. "Psycho Cut!" Absol sent out a new attack that hit Sceptile in a critical hit. "Keep going!" Jacky shouted and Absol's sickle lit up, unleashing a Razor Wind at the foe. Sceptile dodged the blades this time, creating more and more distance between them. "Slash!" Jacky shouted and Absol lunged at it. "Toxic and Leaf Blade!" Laslow shouted. Sceptile dove away under Absol's claws and its poison-infused blade grazed its shoulder. Absol growled and made a Psycho Cut crash against the grass-type Pokémon's ribs. It gasped for air as Absol turned around and its next Slash struck Sceptile's leg, taking it down. Jacky was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but at that moment, the poison took its toll on Absol, tearing it down as well. Two to four. This was not going to end well. Laslow's Gothitelle had already taken a huge amount of damage from Absol's Double Edge before, but even with that taken into account, he still had two completely unscathed Pokémon he could send in, while Jacky had to choose her last one now. And she had only one option left. Luxray. Her Budew was in no way, shape or form able to fight. She sighed with clenched teeth and cramped her hand around Luxray's Pokéball. Yet Laslow sent his Pokémon in first. "Kingdra, go!"
This was a Pokémon of his Jacky had not yet faced before, but she did see him use its pre-evolution Seadra against Kattlea in the tournament. She remembered that a huge part of his tactic back then was blinding the opponent with Smoke Screen while using Focus Energy for more damage output. But that could've changed at this point, considering it evolved. She didn't know what to expect, but she did know Kingdra had gained the dragon type, making it way more resistant to electric. But at this point, she had no choice, anyway. If only she hadn't wasted the first round like that... Now, Luxray had to stand against three Pokémon to even consider winning this fight and against Laslow, that was already a case of near impossibility. But she was lucky he didn't send in his Mismagius. Yet. Should he have resorted to the Perish Song tactic again, she would've been absolutely done for. But it was still possible for him to do just that... Should he even need to. The possibility that Luxray would not win against his Kingdra was, unfortunately, very real. She sent it in.
"Your last Pokémon", he realized.
"Yes..." She nodded meekly. "This is my very last chance.",
"It is, indeed. You may lead."
She nodded, thankful he gave her the chance to act first but internally very convinced it wouldn't help her in the end. She also had to be careful with overusing Wild Charge. The recoil damage was not to be underestimated. If she used it too often, she would open herself up to a quick finish. But that would wildly impair Luxray's strength, as Wild Charge was the strongest move it could serve with. So she had to be daring yet careful here. She closed her eyes and then clenched her hand to a fist. She had only one chance. If Luxray managed to paralyze Kingdra with Discharge, she might have a realistic prospect of success. But that was a matter of luck. And did she really want to rely on luck...? Although luck had saved many a fight and swung the outcome in unexpected directions. "Alright... Luxray! Use Discharge!" Her Pokémon roared loudly and unleashed a massive amount of electricity that hit Kingdra head-on... but the hoped-for paralysis failed to occur. Damn it. The attack hadn't done very much in the grand scheme of things.
'I know that Luxray can see through objects', Laslow reminded himself. 'So going with Smoke Screen will not be of any use here, since it would be able to see effortlessly anyway. Playing around would just waste my time, so I'd better go straight to business.' He stretched out his arm. "Water Pulse, Kingdra!" The counter-attack engulfed Luxray and it lowered its head as it took the hit. Jacky knew that this attack could cause confusion, and if that happened, she was done for. Another factor of luck. She had to hope that her paralysis would come, and, at the same time, hope that the confusion would not. Luxray shook itself and seemed to be fine.
'No Smoke Screen... He probably knows that it's useless against Luxray. His Seadra is male, where Luxray's Rivalry ability comes into play... I just have to be careful not to let it get hit too many times. Paralysis, please...!'
"Now Ice Beam!" Laslow shouted. Kingdra shot an icy cold beam at Luxray, but it ducked and the attack shot over its head. "Discharge!" Jacky screamed, her voice almost rolling over. Luxray released another shockwave and...
...
... paralyzed Kingdra upon contact. When she realized her plan had worked... or rather, her luck had struck, she cheered. "Yes, it worked! Finally something happens in my favor!" Laslow folded his arms. "Aimed for that, huh?",
"Yes. And it worked! Go, Luxray! Wild Charge!" With a roar, Luxray threw itself at Kingdra, knocking the Pokémon to the ground. Laslow folded his arms. "Aimed for that, huh?",
"Yes. And it worked! Go, Luxray! Wild Charge!" With a roar, Luxray threw itself at Kingdra, knocking the Pokémon to the ground. "Great! Keep going with Thunder Fang!" Luxray bit down and flung the Pokémon away. Kingdra could barely move and floated awkwardly in the air. "Dragon Pulse, Kingdra! Go!" Laslow shouted, and a counterattack followed, which Luxray easily dodged. "Swift!" Jacky shouted and the attack hit. Kingdra tumbled in the air. "Keep it up, Luxray!" she cheered, and her Pokémon dashed toward Kingdra. It jumped off and was ready to strike again with Thunder Fang, but Laslow ordered his Pokémon to use Water Pulse. The attack hit Luxray head-on mid-air and knocked it back. It somersaulted and landed on the ground. "Now Ice Beam!" The following Ice Beam froze Luxray solid due to the water it had been hit by previously. Jacky gritted his teeth. "Oh no!" She panicked. Laslow noticed that and said to her: "Keep calm! Don't lose your mind, think about how to get out of it!"
She looked to him and he nodded encouragingly. If this had been a serious battle, he wouldn't be trying to calm her down. "Take a deep breath," he said in his warm, gentle voice. She nodded and took a deep breath to counteract her nerves that were acting up. "Thank you..." she murmured softly. Laslow did not attack her during the time she was trying to regain her composure. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, determination flashed in her eyes. "Free yourself with Discharge, Luxray! Blast the ice off!" Lightning flashed around the frozen Pokémon's body and a huge explosion blew the ice away from it. Luxray hissed and reared back. "Now Swift and then Thunder Fang!" she shouted at it. Luxray attacked and defeated Kingdra. "See? There you go." Laslow smiled at her as he withdrew his Pokémon. "You could do it."
She laughed in relief. "For a moment there, I thought I was seriously screwed!",
"Haha... Well, it wasn't that bad. I can make use this opportunity to show you my new Pokémon.",
"I can't wait!",
"Okay." He still smiled at her, then threw the ball. "Breloom! Show yourself!",
"Wow! You have a Breloom?",
"That's right." He nodded. "I caught it a couple of days back and invested a lot of time into training. I'm pretty confident we can put up a good fight. Well then! Let's start off with Mach Punch!"
Breloom jumped forward faster than anyone would have expected and landed the first hit.
"Thunder Fang!" Luxray snapped back at Breloom but the target dodged the attack swiftly. "Leech Seed!" Breloom dropped seeds on the ground, from which thick tendrils suddenly shot and wrapped around Luxray. It hissed and roared in the vines, but it didn't help. It was mercilessly drained of energy. Furious, it bit into one of the vines with Thunder Fang and tried to tear it away from itself. "Now Sky Uppercut!" Laslow shouted. Breloom quickly sprinted across the vines and delivered a well-placed blow to Luxray's shoulder. It yelped in desperation and reinforced its efforts to free itself, but the vines wouldn't give in even the tiniest bit. Breloom jumped to the ground again, following its next command: "Giga Drain!"
More tendrils wrapped around the entangled Luxray and stole even more of its energy. "Grrr...!" Luxray narrowed his eyes, growling weakly. Breloom had already taken away a lot of its power already.
"Mach Punch again!" Breloom pulled back the vines of its Giga Drain and a blow thundered against Luxray's temple. The electric Pokémon barely had any power left. "Rrrrrgh...!", "Come on, Luxray! Don't give up!" Jacky shouted, but it seemed like it was powerless- unable to do anything. Then suddenly, however, its body glowed. "RrrrAAAAWWR!" The sky darkened and a bolt of lightning shot out of the sky like a harbinger of the storm, striking Breloom with unrestrained might. Laslow's Pokémon shrieked in surprise.
"...That was Thunder", Laslow muttered. "So in a last attempt to win, it learned to use the power of a new move. Interesting." Luxray viciously bit into the vines again, finally able to rip them apart. Jacky looked at her Pokédex. "Thunder... indeed... it replaced Discharge... Wow..." She smiled. "Alright, let's wrap this up then, Luxray! Go, Thunder Fang!" Luxray roared and charged towards Breloom. "Sky Uppercut, Breloom!" The opponent attacked as well and they crashed against each other, but in the end, Luxray managed to defeat Breloom with a follow-up Swift attack. Laslow nodded in recognition. "Not bad, not bad. Now, there's a tie between us. We each have one Pokémon left." He sent his Gothitelle back onto the field.
"All or nothing now, Luxray!" Jacky got her fire back and Luxray roared in agreement. "We can still go for the win!",
"Future Sight, Gothitelle", Laslow commanded and Gothitelle started off as usual. 'Now, it's a race against time', Jacky thought to herself. 'If I manage to defeat Gothitelle before the attack strikes, I win.' She clenched her hand to a fist. "Thunder, Luxray!" Another ginormous bolt zapped down from the sky. "Hold it off!" Laslow shouted and Gothitelle's psychic powers braced themselves against the lightning. "Wild Charge, Luxray!"
Luxray lunged at Gothitelle and threw it back like a ragdoll. Its psychic powers dissipated and the lightning struck the ground.
"Psyshock!" Laslow shouted, and Gothitelle retaliated by assembling shards around Luxray that rained down. Luxray shook itself and staggered. "Swift!" Jacky ordered. Gothitelle couldn't fend off this attack and it held its arms in front of its face. "And now- Thunder!" With this final attack, Luxray struck Gothitelle down.
Jacky laughed softly as Luxray jumped at her after its victory and she lost her footing. It pressed its snout against her face. "Hahah... Hey, stop! Luxray, you're-" She pushed the Pokémon's head away. Laslow came over to her after withdrawing his Pokémon and held out his hand. "Thank you for this fight. It did take a surprising turn at the end there.",
"I...thank you too..." She hesitantly reached for his hand and he pulled her up. "It was close... and I was lucky...",
"A little maybe, but victory is victory and I don't begrudge it to you." He let go of her hand and smiled warmly. He was closer to her than usual and Jacky immediately blushed. "Uh... Th-thank you... I hope we can have a battle again next time.",
"Me too. I'd at least be happy to.",
"Me too..."
Suddenly, a certain demon girl emerged from the Pokémon Center's exit. "Hey, Bluefish!" They both turned to her and Laslow's smile immediately faded. "...",
"Bluefish?" Jacky frowned. "What exactly is your problem? We were just battling.",
"So what?! I'll stomp you into the ground, you blowhard! YOU stay away from him, GOT ME?!" Jacky looked at Laslow, who was silently glaring at her.
"Coward!" Mari's voice suddenly spoke up. The black-haired girl stood in the doorway of the Pokémon Center and looked at Aria. "Challenging someone whose team was already severely weakened by the previous battle... Stooping to a new low, I see. Aren't you ashamed of yourself?",
"What do YOU want?" Aria sneered at Mari and tossed her hair back. "This is none of your business, bitch!",
"Yes it is, because you're about to mess with my best friend. Ain't gonna happen on my watch.",
"You really don't have to get involved, Mari. We got this", Laslow tried to calm the situation, but Aria went full-on rage mode. "SHE IS TRYING TO TAKE HIM FROM ME!" She pointed at Jacky. "SO STAY OUT OF IT, YOU FILTHY LITTLE-",
"Aria, hold it!" Laslow shushed her angrily.
Mari stepped next to Jacky. "Listen here, you hag. You're pretty much overstepping the mark right now. So back off and leave.",
"Instead of blaming him for something that's not his fault at all...", Jacky spoke up and looked at Aria as well, "...you'd better be careful not to run your mouth too fast, Aria. Your brain can't keep up. Make sure your makeup doesn't smudge when end up crying in the corner. One of us has to be the adult here, after all, and it sure as hell isn't you." She tossed her blue-dyed hair back in an exaggerated fashion after that immense burn, the same way Aria had done it before. To assert dominance or something. "Laslow. Belongs. To me", Aria hissed. "I'll show you, you conceited side-kick!",
"Laslow is not an object, alright? He doesn't belong to anyone at all, and certainly not to you.",
"Stop talking to me like you're a know-it-all, you stupid slut-",
"ARIA! THAT'S ENOUGH, DAMN IT!" Laslow suddenly yelled at her, and Jacky almost winced as she had never heard him get this loud before. Even when he was arguing with Aria before, he kept his voice firm, but calm. But at this point, he surely had lost all of his restraint. Everyone just... froze in place and no one even dared to breathe.