CHAPTER 8 – FOOL'S MATE
"Ari DeVarro," the other trainer said, smiling as he held a hand out for the traditional pre-match handshake.
"Ash Ketchum," replied Ash in kind, gripping Ari's hand tightly with his own and scanning his face for something – anything – that could be a tell as to his strategy. Alas, Ari gave Ash absolutely nothing to work with, a tactic he'd developed over many years competing in tournaments like this one, and so Ash promptly dropped the handshake and walked back to his side of the field. Ari did likewise, his meaningful steps leaving puffs of dry dust in his wake.
Alright, Ash, get your act together, Ash told himself as he turned to face Ari again, now with the two of them separated by easily a hundred feet of flat, featureless dirt. He certainly seems tough, but you can take him. Just play smart and don't panic.
"Pii," Pikachu murmured, patting the side of Ash's head. Ash cast Pikachu a sideways smile and nodded at the Electric-type as their referee, a plain-looking man with thinning, greying hair launched into his pre-match explanation of the rules.
"This match will be comprised of three one-on-one single battles in elimination style," the referee explained, holding his flags at attention and pointing them at Ash and Ari respectively. "For each individual battle, you will receive one point for knocking out the other trainer's Pokémon. In the event of a tied battle, neither trainer will receive a point. At the end of the match, whoever has scored the most KO's will be declared the winner and will receive a bonus point. Do you understand?" he asked the two trainers, receiving shallow nods from both in return.
"Mr. Ketchum, you will select the first Pokémon," he instructed, waving his red flag at Ash as the crowd leaned forward in anticipation, curious as to the Kanto trainer's first choice.
"Right!" Ash said confidently, turning to his first Pokémon and smiling. "You ready, Pikachu?"
"Pika pi!" replied the Mouse Pokémon, cheeks crackling with electricity as it bounded onto the stadium floor amidst a chorus of fanatical cheering.
On the other side of the field, Ari merely sighed and shook his head. "You're not very bright, are you, Ash? Sending out a Pokémon I knew you'd have on you as your very first option isn't exactly a smart move," he commented, much to Ash's annoyance.
"Taunting Pikachu isn't a smart move either, so send out a Pokémon and let it do the talking," he fired back, his many fans in the audience backing up his words with more cheering and a smattering of jeers aimed at Ari.
"If you insist," Ari said, all traces of kindness evaporating at the tone in Ash's voice as he plucked a PokéBall from his belt and launched it skyward. "Electivire, engage!"
One blinding flash of white light later, and Ash couldn't help but grit his teeth in frustration. The Pokémon standing before him and his Pikachu was easily six feet tall, and covered from head to toe in shaggy yellow fur. A bulky Pokémon, with arms like tree trunks and a pair of cord-like black tails whipping around behind it, it looked like a cross between a yeti and a grapefruit. But Ash had seen plenty of that kind of Pokémon before, and he knew he'd played right into Ari's hands by sending Pikachu first.
The referee took one look at the two Pokémon and raised his flags. "The first battle will be Pikachu versus Electivire. Begin!" he announced, his words quickly accompanied by the ding of metal on bronze as the starting bell rang.
"Pikachu, let's get things started with a Quick Attack!" Ash ordered, and his faithful Pokémon bounded forwards with incredible speed, sending dust flying out behind it as it homed in on Ari's Electivire.
"You heard him, Electivire!" grinned Ari, and Electivire raced forward with speed to match Pikachu's, enveloped in a shroud of white light as it slammed its considerable mass into Pikachu's and sent it flying back towards Ash. Electivire didn't even appear fazed by the impact, bouncing Pikachu away as though it were little more than a tennis ball.
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled in concern as his Pokémon tumbled to a stop just feet away from him. Pikachu slowly clambered back to its feet after being winded by the strike, glaring at Electivire with its front paws curled into fists. "That's the way, buddy! Now, try for an Iron Tail!" Once again, Pikachu bolted towards Electivire on all fours across the dusty ground, its lightning bolt-shaped tail gleaming with energy as it pounced.
"Piikaaa…pika!" cried Pikachu as it swung its body around, bringing the full power of the attack crashing down on Electivire's head.
Or so it would've, if Electivire hadn't thrown up an arm to block the attack.
In the moment that Pikachu found itself dropping to the ground after the failed attack, he could only watch on in disbelief as the Thunderbolt Pokémon gave a sinister snarl, its huge body taking up Pikachu's entire field of vision before it brought its free fist crashing into his cheek with the force of a freight train. The smaller Electric-type only got a glimpse of the shimmering appendage before he was knocked aside, and not even a split second later Pikachu crashed with a loud crack into the boundary wall more than forty metres away.
Ash stood still with shock, his mouth agape from the brutal power delivered by Electivire with its last attack. It was by far the most powerful Mega Punch he'd ever seen. And it looked like it had just knocked Pikachu out with one hit. The crowd had instantly jumped to the same conclusion, and those who weren't cringing in their seats or nervously willing the unmoving Pikachu to get back up were cheering wildly for the sheer power of Ari's Pokémon.
"P… Pikachu?" Ash stammered, frozen in horror. Pikachu weakly responded with a pained, quiet yelp as he rolled over onto his stomach. His eyes were screwed shut, an expression of agony carved onto his yellow face as he tried to get back up, his defiance sparking a fresh chorus of cheers from the salivating crowd. Ari and Electivire were content to watch, but they were made to wait for a long time as Pikachu's trembling arms struggled to push itself off the ground. "Pikachu!" Ash yelled out, trying to encourage his Pokémon.
"Put them out of their misery, Electivire. Thunderbolt," Ari said. Ash clenched his fists in anger, Pikachu stood up on wobbly legs, and Electivire flashed with yellow light as it charged up a Thunderbolt.
"Pikachu, try and block it with your own Thunderbolt!" Ash cried out.
Cheeks crackling with electricity, Pikachu braced himself against the ground and discharged the bolt, sending a spear of lightning racing across the arena. Grinning maliciously, Electivire held back, cancelling its Thunderbolt and letting Pikachu's strike its yellow fur dead-on. Ash's mouth fell open in mute resignation as he grasped Ari's ploy, the full scope of the situation sinking in as Pikachu's Thunderbolt activated Motor Drive.
The thick yellow fur coating Electivire's body bristled as Pikachu's Thunderbolt coursed around it, and the Pokémon itself let out a triumphant roar as the excess electricity surged through its body, priming its nervous system for action. Electivire growled viciously and jabbed its twin black tails into the dusty earth, grounding the overcharge as Ari calculated his next move.
"Quick Attack," he ordered.
Ash could only manage a strangled cry of "Pikachu!" as Electivire streaked across the field. In the state he was in, Pikachu felt Electivire before seeing it, his world turning black as the massive yellow blur crash-tackled him and crushed his small body against the boundary wall with a sickening crunch. Pikachu was left to fall limply to the ground as Electivire pulled back, but an outraged cry rang through the stadium when Electivire gave the unconscious Pikachu one last punch for good measure.
Ari folded his arms, as still as Ash or Pikachu, expression unsmiling and unwavering. His brown eyes were firmly trained, not on Pikachu, but on the back of his Electivire as the crowd jeered and booed its poor sportsmanship. He gave a sharp whistle and beckoned for his Pokémon to come back, and Electivire dutifully trudged over to its trainer as the referee raised his green flag.
"Pikachu is unable to battle! The winner is Electivire, and Mr. DeVarro receives one point!"
"What was that?" Ari fumed as Ash ran to the boundary and picked up his unconscious Pokémon, cradling him in his arms as he stalked back to his square with his head down. Electivire timidly glanced at the ground and gave in to the urge to massage its hand, which was still aching after that colossal Mega Punch.
"I asked you a question," Ari pressed scathingly.
"Vire eelek lek vi eelekvire!" protested Electivire.
"I don't care about that," he fired back, tensing his jaw and waiting for his Pokémon to retort. Electivire wisely decided to bite its tongue, and Ari recalled it in a flash of red light. "You and I are gonna have a long talk after this battle," he muttered to the PokéBall as he stowed it on his belt.
"Mr. DeVarro, please send out a Pokémon so we can continue this battle," the referee said, twitching his head towards the anxious crowd.
"Hang on a second, please," he politely told the official, turning back to Ash. "Hey Ash, I'm sorry about my—"
"Don't be," Ash said, finally tilting his head up. Ari was honestly surprised that Ash wasn't at all angry with him. "These things happen in battles, y'know? All that there is to do is move on in the battle, otherwise we can't enjoy them as much as we want to."
"Well said," Ari smiled, putting Electivire's transgression to the side for now. "I'm assuming it'd be unreasonable to let you win this next battle, wouldn't it?" he asked as he took his second PokéBall in his hand.
"Of course it would," answered Ash. "But then again, I don't need your sympathy to be able to beat your Pokémon," added the Pallet Town native, and Ari didn't miss the competitive glint in his eyes, bright enough to scorch the ground between them.
"So be it. Magmortar, engage!" Ari yelled, opening the PokéBall in a second flash of white light. The crowd burst into a thunderous chorus of cheers as Ari's Pokémon stomped onto the field, the crown of flames atop its head flaring up in the sunlight.
"A Magmortar, eh?" Ash grimaced, remembering the particularly difficult battle he'd had against Paul's at Lake Acuity a few months ago. He quickly pushed the memory out of his head and refocused. He needed to win this battle to get a point and put himself in with a chance to win the match and the bonus point. Magmortar are pure Fire-types, and thankfully I've got something here that can handle Fire-types…
"Don't even think about going easy on me in this battle, Ari! Because you're the one who needs to be worried!" he called out as his fingers closed around the fourth PokéBall on his waist. Double-checking that Pikachu was safe at his feet, he ripped the orb off his belt and threw it high into the air. "Gliscor, I choose you!"
"Not bad, not bad," Ari mused as Ash's Ogre Scorp Pokémon caught a gust of wind and drifted down to the ground, standing on its barbed tail and hissing venomously at Magmortar. It wasn't the most powerful Gliscor he'd ever seen, but it looked riled up by the fact it was facing his Magmortar. Indeed, Magmortar seemed restless to get the battle underway, too, having already begun heating the air around it.
"Tell you what," he said, catching Ash off-guard, "for this battle, I'm not going to issue Magmortar with any orders. He'll battle alone. How does that sound?"
"Hey, I just told you not to go easy on me!" Ash replied sourly as he crossed his arms, offended that Ari wasn't taking him seriously.
Ari laughed off the comment, much to Ash's surprise. "Believe me, Ash, I'm not going easy on you. Magmortar's had plenty of experience battling without orders to be able to give you a fair run for your money." As if taking cue from his trainer's words, Magmortar assumed a battle stance and retracted the claws in its arms, revealing the empty cannons they concealed.
"The second battle will be Gliscor versus Magmortar with Mr. DeVarro leading Mr. Ketchum one point to zero! Begin!" exclaimed the referee, once again raising his flags as the bell sounded for the battle's commencement.
Before Ash could even open his mouth to give Gliscor its opening order, Ari's Magmortar aimed an arm-cannon dead straight at Gliscor's torso and shot a huge fireball at it. "Dodge it!" was all he could say as the projectile rocketed closer, and Gliscor barely evaded the missile by darting to the right at the last second, the fireball dissolving into the air behind Gliscor in a puff of black smoke.
"Told you so," Ari said, a smile playing on his lips as Magmortar lowered its cannon.
Ash ignored the taunt and turned to the offensive. "Gliscor, get in close for an X-Scissor!"
Gliscor bared its fangs once more in a horrible smirk, shooting forwards in the wind sock left by Magmortar's fireball with its claws spread wide. It wound a wide arc to its left, riding the strongest air currents to pick up more speed as both claws were enveloped in pulsing energy, its yellow eyes never leaving Magmortar's.
At the very last second before impact, Magmortar aimed a cannon below Gliscor and loosened a jet of searing air into the ground, propelling it away from the strike. Gliscor's attack ploughed through empty air inches from Magmortar's head, but the Blast Pokémon felt the attack even from that distance, reflexively shooting a fireball from its other arm at Gliscor's face. As if it were expecting the attack, Gliscor slashed at the fireball with what remained of its first attack, shredding the fireball into oblivion. In a heartbeat Gliscor readjusted and swung again, this time feeling its claw score a true hit against Magmortar's chest.
Seeing Magmortar take a backwards step from the strike, Ash pushed his advantage. "Great work, Gliscor! Now use Screech!" he cheered, buoyed on by this first successful attack as noises of surprise and jubilation poured in from the gargantuan crowd. Giving its opponent no time to recover after its X-Scissor, Gliscor swooped, opening its mouth wide and loosing an ear-shattering volley of shockwaves.
Magmortar wasn't as fazed by the last hit as Ash or Gliscor had hoped, and promptly went on the defensive, a glimmering green shield appearing out of nowhere to block the Screech attack. The shockwaves raged against the protective cage, unable to penetrate the bubble before they were buffered away from it, leaving Magmortar unharmed from the intense attack. The ground beneath the two Pokémon strained and shook as it was battered by the deflected waves, and when Gliscor changed pitch it gave in, cracks spearing in all directions and spraying debris everywhere.
"Darn, it knows Protect," Ash growled in agitation, recognising the attack as the same one Paul's Electivire made extensive use of. However, as Conway had demonstrated in their tag battle way back when, there were ways around a Protect manoeuvre. "Gliscor, keep up that Screech! Magmortar can't hold that Protect forever!"
Taking heart from its trainer's encouragement, Gliscor turned its Screech attack up to eleven, the whole stadium beginning to vibrate as Magmortar's Protect stood firm and channelled the attack into the foundations. A ferocious stalemate followed in the ensuing seconds, only permeated by the swelling crowd as they awaited the resolution. Gliscor's irresistible force seemed more than a match for Magmortar's immovable object, but the question was which would come out on top.
"Gliscor certainly seems to be holding its own out there, doesn't it?" commented a slender girl with short purple hair and a gold-trimmed white blouse, high up in the stands of Stadium 17 as she watched the struggle between Gliscor's Screech and Magmortar's Protect. Her friend let out a raucous laugh as he unstuck a collared, sleeveless white shirt from his chest.
"That's because Magmortar's fired off all of two attacks, and neither of them had any real power behind it," he said, running a hand through his blond hair to spike it up more. Even though he was slouching in his seat, he still sat taller than the purple-haired girl, and was probably twice her weight, too, on account of his strong athletic build. "Though I do have to admit, good work on Trash's part to provide us with some vibrating chairs for the battle, eh? Maybe we should try and talk the PLC into installing some."
"His name is Ash," the purple-haired girl corrected, casting her friend a filthy look and turning back to the battle as Gliscor poured more power into its attack, trying to break Magmortar's resistance.
"Anabel, he's battling Ari. His name's pretty irrelevant to the outcome of the battle. Unless of course his name was something like, say, Leoric—"
"Have I ever told you how much I hate it when you refer to yourself in third person?" Anabel asked, lavender eyes darting between the two trainers down on the field to gauge their reactions. Ash was standing with curled fists, silently willing his Pokémon on between gritted teeth. His attention was completely devoted to his Pokémon's plight, evidenced by his unwavering gaze. Ari had his arms folded across his chest, but he was much more relaxed than Ash. He seemed to be more concerned with the rapidly deteriorating field than with the current state of the battle.
"I wonder…" muttered the person on Anabel's left; a man in his thirties dressed entirely in blue to match his messy hair. Anabel and Leoric both turned away from the battle to hear what he had to say as he propped his flipflops against the chair in front. "Did Ash do any research on Ari before this battle?"
"Not by the looks of it," Leoric smirked, receiving another reprimanding glare from Anabel for his comment. "Oh, come on, Anabel! I put that as nicely as I could have." A raised eyebrow from the girl prompted an explanation. "Think about it. He sent his Pikachu out when he had to choose first. If he'd even looked at Ari's profile, he'd know Ari had an Electivire and that it'd be suicide to send an Electric-type – let alone a Pikachu – out under those circumstances."
"I know," Anabel groaned, burying her face in her hands. Ash had started terribly in the match, and compounded with Ari opting for his top roster, things looked very bleak for him. She took a fraction of comfort from the fact that Gliscor seemed to be faring better than Pikachu, at any rate. Poor Pikachu…
"…You don't want Rash to win, do you?" Leoric asked in bemusement.
"Ari's deliberately making it hard for him!" she replied, ignoring his belittlement.
"He's testing him," said the blue-haired man, making Leoric whirl around in surprise. Before he could elaborate any further, the crowd surged forward with fresh cheers, forcing them to divert their eyes back to the field. Down on the stadium floor, Magmortar's Protect bubble was shuddering under the continued force of Gliscor's Screech, which had only seemed to strengthen in the last minute.
"Is that Gliscor beating Magmortar?" Leoric burst out wildly, not believing his eyes. Sure enough, the moment the words left his lips, Magmortar's Protect shattered into a million pieces as the crowd dissolved into hysterics around him. The three of them jumped out of their seats for a better look, craning their heads over those of the people in front as they watched Ash order Gliscor forward again.
Magmortar clamped its arms over its ears in a desperate attempt to drown out the reverberating remnants of the Screech attack, oblivious to Ash ordering Gliscor forwards. Baring its large fangs, the Ogre Scorp Pokémon grinned horribly as it zoomed in, tail writhing in anticipation of a victory. With the noise of ten thousand fans cheering it on, Gliscor swooped and sunk its fangs deep into Magmortar's left arm, releasing a lethal charge of electricity directly into the limb. Magmortar let out a tortured scream as Gliscor's Thunder Fang paralysed the arm, driving all feeling but pain from it until numbness set in.
"Told you he didn't do his research," said Leoric simply, dropping back into his seat with all thoughts of a victory for Ash forgotten. "I give Gliscor ten seconds – at most – before it's face down in the dirt with its head between its legs."
"Leo!" Anabel barked, outraged by the tone in his voice, but she couldn't turn away from the scene before her as it unfolded. Ash whooped with delight and cheered Gliscor along with his thousands of fans, but the more knowledgeable members of the audience either shifted back in their seats or started booing Ash for the last move.
And in a flash it became evident why.
A second scream erupted from the stadium floor, but this time it belonged to Gliscor, enveloped in a raging tempest of heat and blistering winds with Magmortar at its core. The Fire-type was shining with orange light as it vaporised almost everything around it with its internal body heat, and the two Pokémon quickly began to resemble a pair of flaming torches. The only difference between them was that Gliscor wasn't one voluntarily, instead being subjected to the full effects of Magmortar's attack as its own body was superheated.
With its prey not letting go, Magmortar intensified the onslaught, and the ground beneath it melted into a bubbling pool of lava. The skin on Gliscor's face and torso was seared black as Magmortar pushed the ambient temperature beyond three-thousand degrees, Gliscor struggling to detach itself from the Blast Pokémon before the intense heat took its toll. A dangerous smirk played on Magmortar's lipless mouth as it unleashed even more heat, watching as it slowly burned Gliscor's skin a deathly black.
An anguished cry of "Gliscor, no!" echoed up to the crowd's ears, Ash taking a panicked step closer to the spectacle and shouting for his Pokémon to get away.
"Gotta hand it to Gliscor, though, being able to stand up to it for more than a few seconds," mused Leoric, completely unsurprised that Magmortar had opted for the attack. It was quite energy-consuming, but Magmortar was as tactically brilliant as many trainers, and at that close range the technique was almost a guaranteed KO.
The reason it wasn't a guaranteed KO was revealed a second later as Gliscor finally escaped from Magmortar's purgatory, screeching in agony as it tried to make sense of its surroundings. Both Leoric and Anabel could tell that it was in almost unbearable pain, and even something as gentle as the cooler winds it was flying into would hurt it. But nonetheless, the blackened and burned Gliscor turned back to face Magmortar with its fangs bared.
Only for its world to go dark as a gargantuan pillar of orange light crashed into its chest.
Like Ash down below, Anabel started in surprise and horror as Magmortar's Hyper Beam drove the hapless Pokémon into the boundary wall with a sickening crunch that left little to the imagination. After a moment of stunned silence, the crowd erupted into rapturous applause, praising the efforts of both Pokémon; Magmortar for its offenses and Gliscor for its resilience. Anabel turned to Leoric, and was at the very least thankful that Leoric hadn't joined in with the applause, even if the people around him were going berserk and chanting Ari's name.
On the field, the referee didn't even need to double-check Gliscor's condition, raising the green flag once more. "Gliscor is unable to battle!"
Well there you have it; Ash's first glimpse of battling in the Conference. And he's off to a fantastic start, by the looks of it.
I bet none of you can wait to see how this battle will finish, and you're in luck, because you only have to wait three days for it! Chapter 9 will be released on Thursday, December 8th, and will feature the end of Ash's first-round battle with Ari. But before that, I can't wait to hear your thoughts over this, the first proper battle of the tournament.
While I'm at it, a big thanks to Shuffleveryday and (anonymous) JuicemeisterZ, for reading and reviewing every chapter of Crown in the space of a single day. Cheers for the comments, you two~
Until next time, keep reading, and don't forget to review~