CHAPTER 13 – STARS OF LIGHT
With a deafening roar, the blinding white form of Fraser's Drifblim erupted, an immense shockwave of light, heat and sound exploding outwards from its body in all directions. Tearing at the grass, the heavens, and the crowd all around it like an immortal demon freed from a millennium of sleep, the shockwave incinerated everything it touched, setting the very earth on fire as it swept over everything in its path. Nothing was spared in the split-second demolition, Drifblim's Aftermath ability reducing what was left of the grass field to a smouldering ruin in the blink of an eye.
Daring to poke his head out from the safety of his forearms, Ash braved a look at the destroyed field. His ears were ringing with the noise of the blast, and a loose coating of dust fell off his arms as he shifted them to get a better look. The scene before him was one of complete devastation. The explosion had eradicated every last shred of life from the once-grassy field. The shades of green and purple had been replaced with a blanket of dark grey ash. Spot fires provided the only acknowledgeable source of colour, the flickering orange flames a powerful reminder of the strength behind Drifblim's fail-deadly.
Ash was somewhat speechless at the chaotic field. He shook his head to try and dispel the ringing, and sent more of his namesake cascading to the scorched earth. Shakily, he regained his feet. As his eyes took in even more of the barren ground, they caught sight of some movement, darting over Drifblim's blackened body to see Fraser brushing a loose coating of dust off his sleeves.
Oblivious to the two trainers, the referee thrust both flags into the air. The crowd finally drew breath, a surprised gasp at her silent declaration. All it had taken was a sweeping glance of the field for her to deduce that neither Pokémon would get up. Muk wasn't even visible, presumably buried amongst the powderous debris. It's not like it was moving anyways.
"Both Drifblim and Muk are unable to battle!" she announced as Ash frantically searched the field for a sign – any sign – that Muk had retained consciousness.
"Hey not so fast!" he challenged loudly, even surprising himself at the audacity with which he was disputing the referee. Shocked whispers ran through the crowd like wildfire as the referee turned to Ash with contempt written across her face.
"Your Pokémon has not risen to continue the battle, Mr. Ketchum," she sneered, jabbing the red flag towards the field. "Therefore I have no choice but to declare this match a draw, and neither you nor Mr. Dent will receive—"
"Muuu…"
Were it not so quiet on account of the crowd's attentive silence, the noise would've been little more than a teardrop in a river. But it was just loud enough to capture the attention of the referee and freeze her mid-sentence. It drew her eyes and those of everyone one else present in the stadium towards it.
Then everyone saw the smallest of movements, halfway between Ash and the unconscious Drifblim. A shuffle in the grey blanket smothering the ground. A clump of ash shook and tumbled to the ground, revealing a black scorch mark. More shaking, and more of the loose grey dust fell away, the black patch growing until it reached the size of a computer screen.
"Muuuh…!"
"Muk?" Ash yelped, craning his head for a better look. The black mass twitched. At first, it looked like little more than a pebble tipping over. Then its surface began to ripple. Like a gentle fountain, it surged upwards, until it took shape like a breaking wave. A clenched fist formed out of the debris, straining skyward in the ultimate symbol of defiance and survival.
"Muuhhhhkk!" rumbled Muk, shaking the last of the ashes of its body to reveal itself to the crowd. Burnt completely black by the explosion of Drifblim's Aftermath, its eyes were screwed shut, mouth closed in an expression of grit, but Muk was still conscious, and its stance sent the crowd into hysterics.
"See, Muk's still good to go!" Ash told the referee, doing his best to keep his smugness from showing. She wasn't convinced.
"The rules state that any Pokémon that does not rise within a minute of an attack is declared unable to battle," she countered, an avalanche of boos and jeers falling upon her stubborn but uninterested ears.
"How would you know? You didn't even check your watch!" he said, desperate to overturn the decision. He wasn't even concerned about potentially being penalised for his outburst. If he didn't win this point right now, it was lights out for his tournament chances anyways.
"Give him the point, ref," Fraser interjected. Both Ash and the referee whirled around to see Fraser standing with his arms folded, his expression anything but amused. He was tapping his own watch with his opposite hand. "It took Muk fifty-four seconds to recover from Aftermath, and by your own admission that means it can't be declared unable to battle under the rulebook," he elaborated, tired of the biased argument. There was no way Ash was going to convince her. Not with her temper.
A nerve ticked in the referee's jaw in light of the new evidence. Nonetheless, and with the utmost reluctance at having been overruled by proper protocol, she raised her red flag and waved it in Ash's direction.
"Muk is still able to battle! Therefore Muk is the winner and Mr. Ketchum receives one point!" she said, trying to maintain her professionalism.
Rather than push the issue, Ash merely nodded and recalled Muk as the crowd voiced the pleasure at the decision. "You did great, Muk. Rest up for now while we get this last point, okay?" he said as his successful Pokémon joined Noctowl and the others on his belt.
Having finally gotten a taste of victory in the tournament, Ash had to admit that it felt a little liberating. He was on the board, on equal points with Fraser at the moment, both having claimed their solitary point in the last half an hour. He wasn't the only one aware of the match hanging in the balance; the crowd was salivating in their seats at the prospect of this final and decisive battle. Whoever lost this battle was essentially out of the tournament, and Ash would do everything he could to make sure that person wasn't him.
And unlike his match against Ari, he was now in with a shot to grab that all-important bonus point heading into the last battle, well aware of what it would mean for his chances.
He also had the crucial advantage of not having to send out his Pokémon first.
"Mr. Dent?" pressed the referee, growing impatient as Fraser pored over his four remaining options. After a few more seconds of careful deliberation, the well-dressed man nodded to himself and made his choice, flicking it into the air for everyone to see.
"Bastiodon, pull out the win!"
The field's dark coating of ash absorbed most of the PokéBall's flash, but it was punished for its crimes a moment later when the massive shape of Fraser's Bastiodon crashed onto the field. Landing with a muffled thump, the impact sent a nervous tremor through the stadium as the evolved fossil sank down a good three inches, the grey snow doing nothing to soften its arrival. The Rock-type's shieldlike face glinted under the sun's withering glare, a reflection of how polished and sturdy its dominant defence was.
"Dohhhhn!" growled the Shield Pokémon, stoking the ground with its front legs as it waited eagerly for Ash to send out its opponent.
"A Bastiodon, eh?" said Ash, perfectly happy with Fraser's choice. He'd battled a Bastiodon before, at the hands of the Canalave Gym Leader, Byron, so he knew how to deal with them. Didn't make the task an easy one, though. He knew he'd need some serious firepower to crack Bastiodon's impressive defenses. Thankfully, he had just the ticket waiting on his belt for such an occasion. He'd been expecting a defensive Pokémon ever since his talk with Ari.
Snaring the first ball on his belt, Ash ripped it from the fabric and hurled it skywards with a cry of, "Sceptile, let's go!"
One mirroring flash later and Ash's Sceptile dropped lightly onto the field. A look of mild disgust instantly jumped onto its face at the sight of the charred battlefield, having sensed that it once used to be vibrant with its fellow plant life. Producing a customary twig from its tail, Sceptile popped the twig into its mouth and stared down Bastiodon. It flexed its sharp claws and swished its bush tail across the ground, carving a cross-hatch into the ash as its bulbs lit up in sequence to photosynthesise.
Fraser frowned as the Forest Pokémon glared at Bastiodon. He'd heard rumours of its exploits in the Sinnoh League, being the only Pokémon out of dozens to have knocked out Tobias' Darkrai. Highly agile, extremely powerful, and always a threat with its Overgrow ability, Sceptile was a Pokémon that would require cunning to defeat, rather than brute force. Fraser knew that Bastiodon's defenses would be a match for Sceptile's offensive prowess, but the question that nagged away at him was whether defense would be enough to come out on top and keep him in the tournament.
He was about to find out.
"The final battle in this match will be Bastiodon versus Sceptile! One point will go to the winner of this battle, and that person will also receive the bonus point for winning the match! In the event of a tie, neither trainer will receive any points!" declared the referee, reciting the rules for both trainers. She silently looked between both trainers for confirmation, getting a pair of accepting nods in return.
Swinging her flags up for what she hoped would be the last time, she announced, to the joy of the five thousand fans packed into the stadium and the accompanying ding of the starting bell, "Begin!"
"Bastiodon—!" Fraser yelled, wanting to start the battle off on the right foot, "use Ancientpower!"
Bastiodon dug its feet into the hard earth, snapping its jaws open and charging a spinning ball of lustrous energy in front of its mouth. With a sweeping arm from Fraser and an order of "Fire!" Bastiodon reared up and brought its front legs crashing down again, using the momentum to forcefully propel the orb across the field.
"Sceptile, wait for it to get close, then cut it down with Leaf Blade!" Ash instructed.
Sceptile twitched its head in understanding and held an arm across its chest. The jagged protruding leaf quickly became bathed in green light, and Sceptile held that position with fearless determination as Bastiodon's Ancientpower threatened to mow it down. When the attack came within ten feet of Sceptile it lithely spun to the side, treating the Ancientpower like a matador would a bull and leaving the orb to plough recklessly through the open air.
A smirk stretching from ear to ear as it sailed past, Sceptile brought its glowing arm over its head and straight down through the Ancientpower. Like a samurai sword through a watermelon, Sceptile's Leaf Blade cleanly bisected the attack and left Sceptile completely unharmed. With nothing holding it together, the orb collapsed in on itself, exploding harmlessly behind Sceptile in a sparkling shower of particles.
"Great work, Sceptile!" Ash cheered, punching the air with a fist. "Now follow through with a Bullet Seed!"
Not missing a beat, Sceptile leapt into action, spraying a spread of glowing missiles across the field. They bombarded Bastiodon's tough carapace with masterful marksmanship, but the Steel-type unflinchingly held firm, deflecting the bullets into the ground with a flick of its head. The Bullet Seed ripped through the ash blanket like it wasn't even there, exploding against the ground and scattering debris up from Bastiodon's feet.
But neither the Bullet Seed nor the chunks of debris had done anything to their target. Bastiodon merely leered at Sceptile, its vast, edificial face betraying no indicators of pain or discomfort.
"It's gonna take a lot more than that to even put a dent in Bastiodon!" Fraser grinned. Sceptile narrowed its eyes at the man, a malicious scowl replacing its surprise at Bastiodon's stalwart effort, but Fraser simply laughed it off. "Sceptile, you need to chill out! Bastiodon, use Ice Beam!"
"You're kidding me!" Ash cried, his mouth falling open in surprise to mirror Bastiodon's action, only he wasn't firing a bolt of cold blue towards anything. "Dodge it with Quick Attack!" he blurted out, his mind moving quicker and recovering faster than his mouth.
To his relief, Sceptile easily sped away from the Ice Beam, a coma of white light trailing behind it as the attack crackled past its tail and speared into the ground. A sound like splitting timber erupted upwards as the wayward attack trapped the burnt grass remnants under a layer of thick ice, but Ash paid no attention to it as he ordered Sceptile forwards.
"Use that Quick Attack to get close enough for a Leaf Blade!" he said, drawing some confused murmurs from the crowd. His order made little sense since Bastiodon could easily repel just about any frontal attack, the more likely outcome being Sceptile hurting itself on Bastiodon's iron-hard faceplate. Its trust in its trainer unwavering, Sceptile raced towards Bastiodon, its progress only marginally hampered by the loose coating of ash on the field.
Unlike the crowd, Fraser caught on to what Ash was planning, and decided to give him no chance to pull it off. "Bastiodon, more Ice Beams! Don't let Sceptile get anywhere near melee range!"
Bastiodon nodded its vast head and entrenched its rear legs in the soft ground as best it could, using them to brace itself as it launched a blistering barrage of Ice Beams across the field. Sceptile barely had enough time to sidestep the first beam, changing course with its Quick Attack and streaking out to Bastiodon's left. But the Steel-type's reflexes were more than a match for Sceptile's incredible ground speed, and to prove it Bastiodon twisted like a turret to keep track of its foe.
No matter which way Sceptile moved, weaving between blue bolt after blue bolt, it just couldn't seem to get close enough to Bastiodon to land a hit. The Shield Pokémon's Ice Beams were coming out too rapidly to give Sceptile a window of opportunity with which to attack, and they were too accurate to even let it do anything other than keep itself from getting struck.
This was all part of Fraser's strategy, however, and before a minute had passed, his tactics paid off. Tired by the constant running and overuse of its agility, Sceptile stumbled through a deeper pile of ash than usual. Its handy footwork undone, the Forest Pokémon crashed to the ground, sending a spray of grey dust into the air that was immediately captured by one of Bastiodon's deadly Ice Beams. The technique froze the ash and the air around it into a spindly cage of ice, pinning Sceptile to the ground.
"Sceptile, no!"
"Iron Head!"
Bastiodon leapt forwards without hesitation, growling like an angry bear as it charged towards the struggling Sceptile. Cloaked in a white aura that gave it the appearance of an incoming comet, Bastiodon streaked through the ash with ease, its gigantic face making an effective snow-plough that pushed the restrictive dust to the side. Sceptile valiantly hacked at its icy prison with its claws, but without the aid of its arm blades, it couldn't free itself in time.
The prism shattered into a million glittering pieces as Bastiodon stampeded through, smashing into Sceptile with the force of a bulldozer. Sceptile was flattened against Bastiodon's large head as it skidded to a stop, the Grass-type tumbling into the ash at Bastiodon's feet.
"Alright Bastiodon! Let's bring the house down!" Fraser shouted.
"Sceptile, get out of there!" Ash yelled, fearful for what Bastiodon was about to do. However, Sceptile either didn't hear him, or couldn't get away. With a mighty effort, Bastiodon reared up onto its hind legs, looking like a dog begging for a treat before bringing the full weight of its body crashing down, letting gravity empower it and driving its front legs into Sceptile's chest.
If Sceptile could've screamed, it would've burst the eardrums of every person in the stadium. But Bastiodon's improvised Stomp had driven all the wind from its body. Sceptile struggled violently to try and free itself, but Bastiodon refused to budge, continuing to press its weight down on Sceptile's frail form. Sceptile lashed at Bastiodon with a pair of Leaf Blade attacks as its body was crushed under Bastiodon's weight. The first clanged harmlessly into Bastiodon's impenetrable faceplate and sent a flare of pain through Sceptile's arm. The second met a similar fate, it too repelled by the Steel-type's carapace.
The only difference between the two strikes was that when the second Leaf Blade bounced off, it snuck through the gap between Bastiodon's faceplate and left front-leg shield.
It was Bastiodon's turn to shriek in pain as Sceptile's Leaf Blade raked at the soft, unprotected patch of hide directly behind its faceplate. In a sheer reflex reaction, Bastiodon jumped back, freeing Sceptile in an attempt to get away from the Grass-type's blades. It was by not at all used to being struck in that spot, something that made the pain only that much worse as the cut dripped blood onto the ash.
Down in front of it, Sceptile continued to writhe in agony, forming a crude snow angel in the dust as it tried to overcome the pain. Ash got a glimpse of an enormous hoof-shaped bruise on Sceptile's front, and he glowered intensely at Bastiodon for having inflicted such a wound on his Pokémon. Across the field, Fraser was giving Sceptile the exact same treatment, sparing the Grass-type no compassion for the damage it had done to his Pokémon.
"Bastiodon, are you alright?" he yelled anxiously, trying to soothe his distraught Shield Pokémon. Bastiodon's eyes were screwed shut in pain much like Sceptile's, its injured front leg shaking from the shock of having been cut. Gradually, however, it blocked out the searing sensation, pushing past the pain for its trainer and focusing on Sceptile.
"How about you, Sceptile?" asked Ash as Sceptile finally managed to clamber to its knees and steady itself with an arm. It shot Bastiodon a look of intense hatred from under its brow, pulling its other arm away from its chest to show Bastiodon the battle scar it had forcibly branded it with. Drawing on its experience in harsh battles, Sceptile stood up tall again to the adulation of the crowd. "You good to go?" double-checked Ash, receiving a ginger nod from Sceptile, his Pokémon's eyes never leaving Bastiodon's.
"Bastiodon, Ancientpower!"
"Sceptile, Bullet Seed!"
Despite their injuries, both Pokémon reacted at once, each firing their attack across the field. Bastiodon's Ancientpower was several times the size of any of the Bullet Seeds, but the combined power of Sceptile's projectiles was enough to counteract the Rock-type attack. With a colossal bang and an explosion of smoke the two attacks met, destroying each other in a flash of bright light.
A few stray bullets managed to pierce through the resultant smoke cloud, falling just short of Bastiodon and exploding against its feet. Bastiodon gritted its teeth in pain as the explosions rocked against its fresh injury, twisting the proverbial knife and drawing more blood out onto the ash below.
"This is it, Sceptile! Charge up a SolarBeam!" shouted Ash, cupping his hands in front of his mouth to project his voice over that of the roaring crowd. Sceptile dropped to all fours, exposing as much of its back bulbs to the sun as it could. Like Christmas lights they all lit up and began absorbing the plentiful sunlight, Sceptile focusing the energy into a small golden orb in front of its open mouth.
Fraser knew full well that Bastiodon's Ancientpower couldn't compete with one of Sceptile's fully charged SolarBeams, and an Ice Beam would be too unwieldly, so he went with his next best option. "Bastiodon, charge Sceptile with an Iron Head! I know you can do it!"
Bolstered by the belief of its trainer and the fanatical crowd cheering its name, Bastiodon tentatively tested out its front left leg. A sharp twinge coursed through the limb, but it was weaker than anticipated. Fuelled on by its own belief now, Bastiodon gradually broke into a full-on sprint towards Sceptile as the latter continued charging its SolarBeam. A blazing white aura burst into existence around its hulking body, but Ash had other ideas for Bastiodon's fairy-tale finish.
"Fire the SolarBeam!" he cried. Sceptile grinned widely as it blasted an immense pillar of solar energy from its jaws, the SolarBeam cannoning into Bastiodon as the latter crossed the crater left by Drifblim in the last battle. A huge explosion sent dust, rock and heat scattering in all directions, obscuring Bastiodon from the view of the crowd, Ash, Sceptile and even Fraser. Ash jumped with delight at the direct hit. "Great shot, Sceptile!" he cheered.
"DOOHHHHHN!" thundered Bastiodon as it streaked through the cloud of debris, a determined fire roaring in its eyes. The crowd erupted with noise when it saw Bastiodon, the Shield Pokémon proving to be the immovable object it was made out to be.
"Dodge it!" screamed Ash when Bastiodon surged through.
Just like against Bastiodon's first Ancientpower, Sceptile swung itself to the side as Bastiodon's attack charged past, the Steel-type stampeding too quickly to change direction. With a flourishing twirl and a savage smirk Sceptile raked a glowing green forearm down Bastiodon's side. Once again the Grass-type connected with soft hide, and Bastiodon crumpled to the ground as the attack disabled a rear leg.
"Bastiodon, NO!" howled a horrified Fraser, his expression grim as Bastiodon tried and failed to regain its feet.
"Sceptile, finish Bastiodon off with one more Leaf Blade!" said Ash, victory at his fingertips. Sceptile nodded and leapt forwards again, but the moment its feet left the ground a dull orange light spread across the ground in front of Bastiodon. Knowing hesitation could cost Ash his spot in the tournament, Sceptile dropped down and swung its Leaf Blade towards Bastiodon's unprotected back.
With what remained of its strength, the Steel-type twisted around and fired its Hyper Beam.
Ash's yelp of shock was lost to the wind as an enormous spire of orange energy rocketed out of Bastiodon's mouth. In the split-second it had to react, Sceptile repositioned its Leaf Blade to take the brunt of the attack. A horrible screeching like steel chains being ground up emanated from the impact point as Sceptile's Leaf Blade buffered the Hyper Beam, funnelling it past Sceptile's sides and out into the open sky.
The beam's light temporarily dwarfed that of the sun, but the magnificent display was all for naught. Sceptile pushed through and slashed at Bastiodon with its outstretched, glowing arms, bringing the blades down on the great beast's back. But the attack didn't connect. Instead, Sceptile crashed into the ground as its blades swept through a red fog where Bastiodon used to be.
Ash stared dumbfounded at Fraser as the latter held a PokéBall at arms' length. "Why'd you recall Bastiodon?" he asked.
"Bastiodon was in enough pain as it was," Fraser answered unhappily. "If that last Leaf Blade had've connected, Bastiodon wouldn't be able to battle for a while. Besides," he added with a shrug, "you've earned this win more than I have. Take the two points."
"Fraser…" Ash muttered, completely thrown off by the trainer's selflessness. He wasn't the only one, either; the crowd had gone deathly silent at Fraser's decision to withdraw, and even the referee was looking at him like he was crazy. She didn't realise that she had to declare the result until an empty popcorn container hit her in the back of the head, courtesy of one of Ash's more vocal fans.
"Um, Mr. Dent has recalled Bastiodon, thus constituting a forfeit in this battle," she said, not masking her surprise. Ash recalled Sceptile upon hearing the result, knowing it made no difference. She cleared her throat and continued as both Ash and Fraser trudged through the debris to the centre of the field. "Therefore, Sceptile is the winner, and Mr. Ketchum receives a point! Also, since Mr. Ketchum won this match two battles to one, he will receive the bonus point!"
"Why?" was all Ash could manage to say as he shook hands with Fraser.
"I may be a competitive trainer, but I know my Pokémon's limits, and I can tell when a situation's hopeless," Fraser answered, giving Ash a reserved smile. "Just like how I can tell that my time in this tournament is pretty much over; I've only got one point from two battles."
"You've still got a chance to qualify for the next round, if everything falls right for you," Ash pointed out, but Fraser chuckled and shook his head.
"I know, but I'm a realist. There's no way I'm going to beat Ari three-nil," he said with a heavy sigh. "I'll just try to go out with a bang, I suppose!"
"Sounds like a good way to go," Ash smiled, nodding at the older trainer and wishing him his best. Fraser took it in good-spirits and nodded for Ash to go, presumably to prepare for his last battle later in the day. The two exchanged a last smile, then Ash turned to leave.
"Hey, Ash?"
"Yeah?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder to see that Fraser hadn't moved.
"Good luck against Hope," he said, his expression serious. "Because believe me, you're gonna need it."
Ash gave him a shallow nod. "Thanks for the tip," he said, waving farewell to Fraser and heading for the stadium exit as he mulled over the last few minutes. Buoyed on by his newfound hope in surviving to the next battle, Ash smiled to himself, making a mental note to pick Pikachu up from the Pokémon Center as he walked into the shade of the trainer tunnel.
It's been far too long between drinks for this story, so I'll apologise profusely for that. But better late than never, am I right?
Many, many, many thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed Crown during the extended period between updates.
As it were, I can't make a concrete promise over when the next chapter will be released, but keep your eyes and ears peeled, both here and on tumblr, for any information. One of those'll always be host to the latest update date.
As always, keep reading, and don't forget to review~