Chapter 9:
"Ah, what the Hell?" Thomas cries out and sits up.
"Thomas, get up," I say.
"Why?" he asks.
"You've got a big battle coming up soon, you need to sober up," I say.
"I'll be fine, I know what I'm doing," he says and waves dismissively.
"I'm not convinced, put these on," I say and hold out his glasses.
I watch as he grabs the glasses from my outstretched hand and tries to put them on his face. He struggles as the glasses are upside down so they slide off. I pluck them from him again and twist them the right way up before slotting them into place.
"You can't even put on a pair of glasses, you're in no fit state to battle," I say angrily and thrust the bottle towards him, "Now, drink."
"Don't mind if I do," he says. His eyes light up as he recognises the bottle. He snatches it from my hand and starts to gulp it down. He stops drinking rather abruptly and spits some of the water out.
"What is this, have you spiked my drink?" he asks.
"It's water," I say, "Now, shut up and drink it."
"Fine mum, but only because I love you," he groans and starts to drink from the bottle again.
I sigh and look to the others. Rhianne is snickering away while Daedalus just glares at Thomas. I do what I can to try and get Thomas to sober up, but it seems to have little effect by the time he has to go to his battle. Raymond comes to tell the two trainers that it is time for them to make their way to the arena. Daedalus instantly heads for the tunnel. Thomas, on the other hand, has a bit more difficulty.
Slowly, Thomas gets to his feet. He groans and holds his head with one hand and the bottle with the other. Suddenly, there is a loud thud as Thomas falls flat on his face. I rush over to be at his side. Rhianne gets out of her seat instinctively to help but pauses. I take the bottle from Thomas and put it aside. It clearly isn't going to make much difference at this point.
He tries to get back to his feet but struggles. Eventually, I lift his arm over my shoulders to support him. He is a lot bigger than me, but I can just about manage to help him up. It seems I have to help him walk out of the room.
"Are you serious?" Daedalus asks as we stand next to him in the tunnel.
"Where's the fun in letting you win by default?" I ask. Thomas grunts something that sounds approving.
"Next up, fighting for a semi-final match against Holly… It's Daedalus Marlowe against Thomas Byrne," the announcer declares.
This is our cue. Somewhere between leading and dragging, I walk Thomas out of the tunnel and into the arena. This is definitely not what the crowd were expecting to see. There are a mix of reactions from all sides as I guide Thomas to his place at the end of the battlefield.
"Are you going to be alright to stand on your own?" I ask.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Thomas says without even a trace of confidence in what he's saying.
I slide out from beneath Thomas' arm and let him stand freely. He stays upright to my relief. The referee asks the trainers to activate their Battle Gears. Thomas is more than a little confused by this so I grab his wrist. His Battle Gear looks damaged. The screen is coming loose from the strap and there is a crack in the casing.
"What have you done to this?" I ask. Thankfully the device still works.
"Uh, fiddled about," he says.
"Ok, select three Pokémon," I say to him.
"Miss Wexler, please vacate the battlefield so the trainers may begin," the referee says to me.
"Sorry, looks like you're on your own," I say to Thomas and step away from the battlefield.
Thomas looks at the screen in front of him and scratches his head. He taps at the screen a few times. I wonder if he has managed to put any thought into his selection. The referee calls for the battle to begin and Thomas reaches for his Poké Balls. His Battle Gear informs him of invalid selections until he grabs the correct ball for his first Pokémon.
"Who do you think you are turning up to battle in this state?" Daedalus asks.
"Oh, I have a thing for that," Thomas says and reaches into his jacket pocket. He pulls out a slip of paper and reads from it, "Uh, Thomas Byrne."
Daedalus snorts at the response and continues to glare. Thomas stuffs the paper back into his pocket and they begin.
"Come on Flygon, let's show him a thing or two," Daedalus says and sends out his first Pokémon.
"Uh, go," Thomas says awkwardly. It seems he doesn't even know what selection he's made. An Exploud bursts from the Poké Ball. "Ah, Romulan, yes. Good choice."
"Dragon Claw," Daedalus orders.
"Boom, boom, boom!" Thomas shouts and stretches his arms out into the sky.
I am confused. Is Thomas ordering an attack? Flygon surges forward with claws outstretched and glowing in a mysterious aura. Exploud doesn't even think of moving. It prepares itself and then unleashes something I am not prepared for, Boomburst. The sound that comes from Exploud's mouth can only be described as an explosion. I have to plug my ears and I am not even facing the brunt of the attack. Shock waves tear through the air and throw Flygon back across the battlefield. Daedalus covers his ears and digs his feet into the floor to stay standing. His glaring has turned to a look of horror as he watches Flygon crash to the ground.
"Flygon, come back," he says and holds out a Poké Ball as the noise dies down, "Go, Scizor."
Flygon looked far from beaten. I assume the switch is an attempt to better deal with Boomburst. If Thomas were sober, I would think that he's in a pretty good position. As it is, the battle seems impossible to call.
"That was silly, Romulan knows Fire Blast," Thomas says.
It certainly didn't sound like a command, but Exploud responds to it. I can only assume Thomas' Pokémon are actually used to this sort of thing. Exploud prepares itself, breathing in with the pipes on its back, and then throws its mouth open. Thankfully, there is no painful noise this time. A torrent of flames explodes from Exploud's mouth and heads directly for Scizor.
"What?" Daedalus cries out in horror.
The metallic bug is consumed by the fire. I suspect that ordinarily Scizor would have been able to avoid the attack. However, Daedalus and, by extension, his Pokémon seem to have been caught completely off guard by Thomas' ability to battle in his current state. Scizor collapses, its body glowing from the heat. In a single blow, it is unable to battle. This appears to be a wakeup call for Daedalus. He can no longer be so complacent.
Flygon returns to Daedalus' side of the field. I can see Daedalus thinking hard now. A strategy is formulating itself.
"Flygon, Earthquake," he calls.
I brace myself, having been toppled the last time this attack was used in my presence. Flygon slams itself to the ground intentionally and the battlefield shakes. I manage to hold my balance. Thomas wobbles all over the place but manages to stay on his feet. Exploud is knocked over by chunks of the earth that erupt from beneath it.
"Sandstorm," Daedalus says to follow up quickly.
Flygon's wings beat furiously to whip up the wind. The wind carries the dust from the battlefield and soon the arena is a sandy blur. I have to cover my mouth so I don't breathe in the sand. Thomas shouts something but I don't hear what. I am distracted by shrieks from the crowd as the people in the first few rows retreat up the stands away from the sandstorm.
I can't see Flygon through the storm, but I can make out Exploud as it is still close to Thomas. It picks itself up and prepares to attack again. However, when it tries to launch whichever attack it was planning, it coughs out clouds of dust. This is Daedalus' strategy in action. Filling Exploud's air intake with sand stops it from attacking.
"Dragon Claw," Daedalus calls out. This is all he needs to do now. Unless Thomas has the sense and coordination to switch, Daedalus just needs to rain attacks down on Exploud until it is defeated.
Flygon slices through the storm and deals a devastating blow to Exploud. Daedalus doesn't need to rain attacks on it. That will do. The referee, who is barely visible from where I stand, has to prompt Thomas to recall his defeated Pokémon and send out another.
"Oh hey, it's Raldo," Thomas says as a Donphan appears. His face lights up. It seems he's had an idea. "Maybe Rapid Spin can clear the sand!"
It sounds like Thomas is starting to get into the battle. I'm not sure I would have ever thought of his idea or actually used it, but it almost seems crazy enough to work. Donphan curls up into a ball and begins to spin on the spot. The sand around Donphan starts to follow its spin. Soon the entire storm is circling with Donphan. It isn't clearing the storm, it's controlling it.
Donphan catches on to what is happening and, without a command, moves to attack. It controls its spin to move towards Flygon. As Donphan gets closer to its target, Flygon is sucked inside the vortex. I breathe in the clear air that has returned and watch as Flygon tries to escape. Suddenly, Donphan stops spinning and the sandstorm loses all of its momentum. Flygon is freed unexpectedly and plunges to the floor. The sand slowly circles before falling on top on Flygon and Donphan, burying the two.
There is a cheery trumpeting as Donphan's trunk sticks out of the pile of sand. The rest of its body soon follows. Flygon stays buried and is declared defeated. Incredibly, Thomas is winning. Daedalus is down to his final Pokémon.
"Come forth, Greninja," Daedalus says and his final Pokémon emerges. It seems different to most Pokémon. There is something about it, a determined expression that suggests it is battle hardened. If anything can turn the tides of this battle then it is this particular Greninja.
"Oh, I have one of those, hold on," Thomas says and reaches for his Poké Balls again.
Amazingly, Thomas knows which ball his last is and he knows what is inside it. Has he been making out that he is in a worse state than he really is? He successfully switches Donphan for a Greninja of his own, Froggo as he calls it.
"Bounce," Daedalus orders. In a blink of the eye, his Greninja vanishes. I tilt my head up to see it hovering in the sky, preparing to strike its opposite number down.
"Ice Beam," Thomas responds. He is definitely more sober than when the battle started. Perhaps the atmosphere and the battle are bringing him to his senses.
Thomas' Greninja stretches out a hand and a light blue beam fires from its palm. The other Greninja moves with lightning speed to avoid it, but in doing so misses its own target.
"Dark Pulse," Daedalus says.
"Mat Block," Thomas counters.
Daedalus' Greninja prepares itself to attack and Thomas' Greninja responds by kicking at the floor. The dust on the battlefield at its feet rises up to create a barrier.
"Feint Attack," Daedalus says suddenly.
His Greninja hadn't even launched its Dark Pulse when it switches its attack. It darts forward with a palm stretches out. It bursts through the other Greninja's protection and smacks it directly in the chest. Thomas watches his Greninja get thrown back and hit the floor.
"Water Shuriken," Daedalus calls out.
"Yeah, that," Thomas says and points.
Daedalus' Greninja raises a hand and stars made of water appear at the ends of its fingers. With a flick of the wrist, it throws the stars at Thomas' Greninja. Thomas' Greninja has only just got to its feet but holds out its hands and manages to catch every shuriken. It then adds its own and throws them all back. Daedalus' Greninja tries to avoid the onslaught but is caught by several of the stars.
"Let's tie him up and finish 'em off!" Thomas says.
I have no idea what he's on about. His Greninja seems to be attacking somehow, then a pair of oversized blades of grass suddenly grow on the battlefield. They wrap themselves around Daedalus' Greninja's legs and tie up in a knot. With its legs tied together, Daedalus' Greninja can't move and falls over.
"Break it with Water Shuriken," Daedalus says.
However, Thomas' Greninja is already on the attack. It moves in close and launches a powerful Hydro Pump. There is nothing Daedalus can do. Everyone is stunned as Thomas is declared victorious. Against all odds, he gained a commanding lead while drunk and managed to sober up enough to finish in style.
I remember hearing the television while trying to sort him out for his battle. While never winning a tournament, Thomas Byrne has never failed to reach the semi-finals. I have now seen first-hand why he has such an impressive record and I have to face him next.