Beyond the Battlefield: Production
by neptunesxdaughter
PITCH PERFECT AU
ø,,ø¤º°°º¤ø,Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ,ø¤º°°º¤ø,,ø
A/N: Hello, loves! Sorry this update took so long. Things have been crazy for me lately due to school just finishing, applying for uni and a lot of dcotor's appointments. But here I am, nonetheless, with a new chapter. I apologise in advance if there are any errors in regards to the actual battle itself or any grammatical mistakes. I haven't bothered to check over it - I just wanted to upload it as soon as it was done.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Please consider leaving a review, they do mean a lot to me and I appreciate any constructive criticism.
The cheering eventually began to die down as everyone held the breath as the two trainers on the field gripped their pokéballs. Misty and Thorton glared at each other as they waited for the computer to decide for who to go first. The spotlight above Misty seemed to brighten. Her photo on the screen zoomed to cover the span of it.
"Misty has been chosen to go first. Now what Pokémon will she choose first?"
The redhead grinned down at the metal sphere, throwing it up into the air.
"Misty calls Corsola!"
After dragging out the word 'calls', the blinding light of the pink and blue water/rock type being released from its portable home soon faded away to reveal it. "Cor, corsola!" It cried out happily, waving its horns about.
"I knew you were going to call out Corsola! You have a good match-up with you." Thorton called over from his side of the field, fiddling with a strange, blue device in his hand. "Even the numbers are on your side with your match-up. Just not for this round! Now, Ursaring, I choose you!" Soon enough, a large, brown bear with a golden ring on its furry belly. It let out a loud roar, bending its knees and throwing its head back to let out the incredibly loud noise.
It seemed to tower over Misty's tiny coral pokémon, staring down at both Corsola and her with determination.
"And Thorton has released an ursaring! Ursaring looks ready to battle, everybody! Ursaring also has an advantage over Misty's corsola because of speed and height, but we don't know, Misty's corsola may surprise us!"
The former gym leader thrusted out her arm with a confident grin. The adrenaline rush that she used to get while battling was surprisingly making a quick return. She could picture her younger self standing across the pool at the Cerulean Gym, commanding one of her older pokémon into a victory instead of handing a Cascade badge to her opponent. "Alright, Corsola! Let's start off with a Spike Cannon to test Ursaring's defenses!" she called loudly.
Thorton merely remained calm as "Ursaring, use Shadow Claw!" left his lips, eyebrows raised as his bear pokémon's claws glowed purple and lengthened, teeth gritting in preparation as it began to charge forward. Corsola, by this point, had already changed its form so that its body was white, its horns extending slightly as well. Suddenly, sharp spikes were suddenly sent hurdling in the direction of its opponent.
Ursaring swiped its arm across its body to help defend itself from the attack. "Whoa, that Shadow Claw is strong..." Misty muttered with a blink. While Spike Cannon was not a particularly strong attack, it was often used by Misty as a distraction for the other trainer, a strategic way to use it to test stats of an opponent or to use it as a final way to bring the other pokémon down. It was shot down easily today.
"Misty, focus!"
She glanced momentarily over her shoulder at her teammates. Jessie was practically clutching her hands together for dear life while the rest were cheering loudly, fists pumped high in the air as they cheered the redhead on. Corsola remained still as it waited for its trainers commands. "Corsola, Power Gem!"
The pink pokémon began to slowly drag out its name, glaring at the ursaring in concentration. The horns above its head began encase themselves in an amber glow, raising it's body on its tiny legs to that the light would be aimed towards its opponent.
"Ursaring, charge towards Corsola before it can fire the attack at you!" Thorton responded, but it was almost to no avail. The furry monster began to run towards the tiny coral pokémon, who was trying its hardest to build up enough power so that it could send the attack towards the ursaring. It may have had an above average attack stat, but it looked like Thorton failed to increase its speed, neglecting it in favour for improvement of another stat type. Its weight, which was causing small vibrations to be sent through the ground with each step it took, seemed to hinder the pace it was taking as well. Its teeth were barred and claws were out ready and smothered in a violent purple hue from the Shadow Claw attack still being in place.
Finally building up enough energy, Misty's corsola shot the attack towards its large opponent, the amber glow that surrounded an array of stones, hurdling them towards Thorton's ursaring. "Great job, Corsola!" the former gym leader cheered, raising her fist into the air triumphantly.
Ursaring's eyes were closed tightly at the impact of the amber rocks towards it, the Shadow Claw that it had previously been activated now evaporating from the ursaring's long claws. "Are you okay, Ursaring?" Thorton said, raising his odd, blue device and aiming it towards his pokémon. It made a few beeping sounds before he began typing into it, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. Ursaring merely forced itself to stand back up fully, allowing a small to growl to escape from its lips as it stared down at its tiny opponent in annoyance.
"Alright, let's continue! The statistics haven't changed much so there's still a chance for us to make a comeback!"
Corsola was taking a moment to catch its breath. While Misty's pokémon all had well-rounded attack stats from her spending an equal amount of time training them, there was no doubt that there were certain stats of a higher number than the other. Corsola usually had a lot of stamina in battle and could take a long fight due to it being one of Misty's oldest and most trusted battling partners, but the Power Gem must have taken a lot of energy. It seemed as though the water/rock type wanted to finish off this battle as quick as possible due to the size difference and the advantage Thorton's ursaring had over it.
"Get ready for our turn, Misty! Ursaring, use Earthquake!"
The former gym leader's eyes went wide at the attack, cursing silently as the attack was announced. A ground-type attack, that was all she needed. Considering Corsola's weakness to ground-type moves, and Earthquake being the strongest attack of that type, there was no doubt that was she was beginning to become panicked. Her mind raced for a strategy, any strategy, that would save her pokémon attack that she knew would be devastating in terms of losing.
Using its weight to its advantage, Thorton's ursaring raised one of its legs and slammed it hard against the ground, causing it to shake. Misty stumbled, barely able to keep herself from falling over. She tried to keep her oceanic eyes trained on Corsola, who was struggling not to allow pain to be etched onto its tiny face as to not disappoint its trainer. The impact of attack was so severe that even the ground had begun to crack from where Ursaring's foot had struck the tough floor.
Everyone in the stands were gripping the seats in front of them, or in the case of Indigo University's Girls Battle Team, they had their fists curled tightly under their chairs to try and remain composed. If Misty could barely stay balanced, then there was no chance for her corsola. Even Thorton, who had been the one to initiate the attack, had his feet planted firmly against the ground as to remain standing as his ursaring roared pridefully at seeing its attack affect people so easily.
"Cor!"
At the sound of that cry, the redhead hurriedly grabbed Corsola's pokéball from her belt, the blue and red metal cool against her hand as she gripped it tightly. The small pokémon was soon thrown from the ground as the last shock wave from the Earthquake attack came into play, crashing against the ground with a heap.
"Corsola is unable to battle! Ursaring is the winner! The round goes to Thorton!"
"Shit, Corsola!" Misty called out, quickly aiming the red beam from the device in her hand so that it encased the water/rock dual-type and returned it to her person. The referee had a green flag lifted in the direction of Thorton and Ursaring to finalise the win.
Cheers erupted from the crowd, people standing from the seats as applause and screams began to echo through the arena. Ursaring had both of its arms out above its head, muscles flexed to emphasise the amount of strength it had just displayed. Thorton was grinning and jumping around in excitement, the blue device he had been holding clattering to the ground.
Corsola hadn't been able to display any of its strength. Now, it seemed as though Misty was a complete pushover. Bringing the pokéball to her lips, she began to whisper quietly against the metal. "You did an amazing job, Corsola. I know this was your first time getting back into battling properly since we stopped officially, so just shake it off. Get some rest." she said quietly before shrinking the ball down once more and putting it away and to also retrieve another one.
"Misty's corsola suffered a lot of damage from Ursaring's devastating Earthquake attack and is now down for the count! We could feel that from up here in the announcer's box, folks! What a strong pokémon! Now, let's see who Misty will choose next."
The redhead sighed as the realisation sank in properly, turning towards her teammates with a solemn expression. They all had small smiles on their faces, even Jessie who had surprisingly remained quiet through the whole ordeal. She raised her hands so that they were in view, displaying her crossed fingers. She nodded her head, glancing around the crowd who were now starting to stop cheering and clapping. She could see Dawn right in the front row with her piplup and buneary, waving pom poms and dressed in cute little outfits, with the blunette continuing to yell out her name in encouragement.
Seeing her friends there supporting her, she could feel her confidence being sparked up once more. She could almost hear Brock backstage, her best friend May who was still residing in Hoenn and even her sisters back home in Cerulean City - all of them cheering her on as well.
Turning around to face her opponent once more, she pursed her lips for a moment before speaking.
"You're a great trainer, Thorton." she spoke across the field.
"Thanks, Misty!"
At this, her smile turned sly.
"Oh, I wouldn't thank me just yet!"
Showing the pokéball she had reached for when putting Corsola's away, she raised it to her lips to press them against the cool metal for luck. If she wanted to win this, then she needed to prove why she had been named one of the best Gym Leaders in her region up until she had resigned and turned the position over to Daisy, why she was hailed as a Water pokémon trainer prodigy. And to do this, she needed to pull out the big guns. Ursaring was strong, and definitely needed someone that would be able to match its immense physical prowess - which was why she had chosen this particular pokémon.
"Gyarados, I choose you!"
Being incredibly ferocious and powerful, plus intimidating, was the reason why she had chosen her water serpent. It mirrored her personality well and the two trusted each other with their lives.
A large spurt of water shot outwards from the red and white sphere, a long, white snake following with an extremely loud roar. Eventually, the white faded away to reveal the tall, water/flying type with its fins flared outwards and its sharp fangs out for everyone to see.
"For her second pokémon, Misty has chosen her gyarados!" the announcer chimed in. "It is well-known here in the Kanto region as being a monster and one of Misty's best pokémon!"
As Gyarados was ridiculously long, its tail was right next to where Misty was standing, giving her the opportunity to pat its scaly body. "We need to win this one, okay?" she murmured, looking up at her the serpent. It was looking down at her, nodding its head in agreement. That familiar glint was in Misty's eyes, it noticed, the shine she got when she was really into a battle. Was she finally getting it back?
Considering how terribly the first round went for her, Misty was determined to make up for it with Gyarados. Even if she had asked her corsola to use Recover, there was no way it was strong enough to gather enough energy to even use the move in the first place.
Thorton looked slightly nervous now, bending down to pick up his blue device and beginning to frantically press buttons on the small box. What was it, anyway? It was almost like a computer. Due to her pokémon's Intimidate ability, Ursaring was now looking nervous. It stared up at Gyarados with an apprehensive expression, ears pricked as it waited for its trainers orders.
Not that it had a chance because Misty was the first one to act first.
"Gyarados, use Hydro Pump!"
Rearing its head back slightly but keeping its eyes set on Ursaring, Gyarados took a deep breath and as pushed as much air out as it could, followed by a strong jet of water that barreled straight into the normal type pokémon. Misty cheered from where she was standing, arms in the air as she yelled out praise towards the giant serpent. "Nice one!"
Ursaring was pushed back as the powerful attack hit in square in the stomach, forcing it to collapse in a heavy heap on the ground. Thorton finally looked up as he heard the sound of his pokémon hitting the ground. "Ursaring!" he cried out in worry, watching as the referee hurried over with his flags trailing behind him. The referee stopped before the brown bear, lifting the green flag in the direction of Misty.
"Ursaring is unable to battle! Gyarados is the winner!"
Thorton sighed sadly, taking out one of the pokéballs from the blue bag clipped to his belt and enlarging it so that he could return Ursaring to the metal sphere. "Ursaring, return!" he said, as the crowd cheered for the result of the quick battle. People knew that Misty's gyarados was strong, but it defeated Ursaring with one attack (if you didn't count the damage it had taken from its battle with Misty's corsola. "You did great, buddy. Rest easy - the statistics haven't gone to her side yet, so don't worry!"
"Thorton and Misty and both down one pokémon! After the defeat of his ursaring by Misty's gyarados, Thorton will now choose his next pokémon!"
The black-haired boy nodded at the announcer's words, switching Ursaring's pokéball for another one that had been in his bag. He twirled it around in his hands a couple of times, as though he was tentative with his next choice, but sometimes, risky choices were the best ones.
"Tyranitar, you're up next!"
As Thorton called on his next choice, there were murmurs of surprise coming from the crowd, and Misty couldn't blame them. Why send out a rock-type if you knew that majority of her team consisted of water-types? As the pokéball opened and revealed a large, white shape that eventually formed to look like Armour pokémon. It was looming over them, and while it did not match Gyarados' height as well, the tyranitar was definitely a giant and towered over Misty's frame by over a foot. It let out a large roar, as though declaring a challenge towards its opponent. Gyarados merely growled back slightly in response.
Stretching out its arms as it roared, everyone's field of vision was suddenly hindered by a harsh breeze picking up, with particles of sand being blown along with it. Tyranitar's ability was Sand Stream - one of which allowed the user to send harsh specks of sand around the field without getting hurt itself. It was extremely similar to the move Sandstorm. Lifting her wrists to cover her face and squinting her eyes so that she would still be able to see through the sand flying around, Misty glanced around slightly to see her large water/flying type cringing slightly. While Gyarados was strong, it had no particular way to defend itself from something like this.
Thorton had placed a pair of goggles over his eyes, obviously carefully planning this out when he picked out his pokémon, looking around in a bored manner. Ah, so that was why. He was still holding onto his blue device tightly, a slight grin adorning his lips. The small computer was like a way to help people strategise or something of the sort.
"Gyarados, are you alright? Did you want to take a break?" Misty called out, readying her pokéball in case the serpent agreed with her. Her last pokémon would probably have a better chance of withstanding the affects of Tyranitar's ability, but she also knew how stubborn her team was. They had all taken after their trainer in that respect. The blue dragon turned around to look back at the redhead, shaking its head with angry eyes.
"You're not gonna get away from this, Misty! My tyranitar is super strong and had raised the statistics so that they lean towards my side! Tyranitar's ability had already begun to make Gyarados' HP lower without even attacking!"
"Nicely done, Thorton, but we're not gonna give up that easily!"
The black-haired trainer grinned in response, giving her a thumbs up as he got ready to command his pokémon. "Tyranitar, let's start off with Crunch!"
The green and blue dinosaur began to race towards Gyarados. If there was one thing Thorton had forgotten when it came to putting together his team, it was that all of his pokémon were large and slow, forgetting how low their speed stat really was. While it should have given Misty and Gyarados the advantage, the sand had begun to pick up as Tyranitar began to move.
"Gyarados, Flamethrower!"
At the sound of its trainer's voice, the water/flying type immediately sprang into action. Ignoring the sharp particles of sand that were slicing at its tough skin, Gyarados let out its own roar and drew its head back once more. Similarly to how it performed all of its powerful attacks, the pseudo-dragon drew in a deep breath before pushing out a stream of flames towards Tyranitar. However, this all seemed to be in vain due to the opponent's high defenses. It seemed to just flow right off its strong belly.
"It... It bounced right off!" Misty gasped in surprise. Wasn't Tyranitar at least partly weak to fire-type attacks? Rather than keep wasting Hydro Pump due to it having a limited use and it having quite a high chance of it missing, she didn't want to take that risk. Especially since it was the only water-type attack that Gyarados knew. Tyranitar's defenses, she knew, were naturally high but this was on another level. The announcer was commentating something about it, but she drowned them and the crowd out, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to decipher a new strategy.
Her opponent grinned at her confused expression, watching as she tried to calculate to counter his powerful pokémon's high defenses. He already knew two of Gyarados' attacks. As the strongest on her overall team, Misty's gyarados looked incredibly diverse at this point, as though she had prepared for battles like this. As far as he knew, her and Gyarados had been partners for a while now, and the only person it would trust to battle with it was Misty for unknown reasons. Not even her sisters could handle the giant water/flying type.
"Tyranitar's defenses are really high! Good luck getting past that!" he yelled out excitedly. "Dark Pulse!"
The room seemed to go dark and cold at the moment Thorton yelled the command for the attack. An eerie aura began to fill the air around them, with the audience shivering slightly from the unusual feeling. Gyarados' let out a loud, piercing roar that seemed to echo in Misty's mind for hours on end, especially when she looked over at it and saw how much pain it seemed to be in. "Dragon Rage!" she called out, sounding almost desperate because of how much pain was etched on its face.
It flinched at her tone, most likely still under the effect of Dark Pulse. While it was most likely to cause mental strain, it was physically draining, as she could see Gyarados panting for air.
"Dragon Rage, now!"
The redhead's tone was more commanding this time, Gyarados' eyes snapping open at the sound. As Professor Oak had stated multiple times in his documentaries and books on pokémon that they had the innate ability to sense the feelings of others, especially their trainers. Now that she thought about it, it made sense as to why the pseudo-dragon hadn't listened to her the first time.
It forced itself up so that its body was up straight once more, albeit tired, and began to form a small ball of light than began to grow and flash occasionally as it gradually grew bigger. and the orange becoming deeper in shade. As soon as it was the size of a beach ball, with a deep breath, Gyarados sent the attack hurtling towards Tyranitar's face.
With its weakened state, Gyarados' Dragon Rage wasn't as strong as it normally would be but it was enough to at least force Tyranitar back and call of the attack. The large, green pokémon was forced back slightly, its foot sliding back to destroy its sense of balance it had initially had. Misty squared her shoulders slightly as she watched on, having the utmost trust and confidence in her partner. They had an unspoken bond between them that had developed after an attack on the Cerulean Gym a few years back and always seemed to know what the other was thinking. They were like Batman and Robin, but pokémon and trainer.
"We need to tire out Tyranitar! It's bound to have a lot more power up its sleeve!" she called. Thorton was once again typing into his little computer again. "Keep going!"
While this wasn't normally the way it would perform the attack, it seemed to be enough to at least send a barrage towards Tyranitar. Gyarados tended to work in packs, at least in the wild, and attack ships if they ever felt threatened and performed Dragon Rage by forcing the water upwards in cyclone and back down towards their opponents. Her own Gyarados often opted for this version as well, obviously it being smaller due to the fact that it was the only gyarados the Cerulean City Gym owned.
Gyarados began to shoot small blasts towards its opponent, the force enough to continue to push Tyranitar backwards slightly so that it wouldn't be able to perform any more physical attacks. it also kept it distracted enough for Misty to quickly think up a new strategy while reducing its HP in the process. However, each idea that came into her head resulted in her having command her pokémon to use Hydro Pump, which was still a massive risk.
Gyarados suddenly stopped its barrage of attacks, having momentarily worn itself out. Looking over at Tyranitar, though, it didn't look much better. It had its short arms cradling its body, eyes closed in pain. Gyarados must have aimed them at different points rather than on one singular point around its belly. Misty couldn't help but grin slightly as it glanced over at her, both of them nodding their heads.
"Hyper Beam!"
"Tyranitar, you use Hyper Beam too!"
Misty's oceanic eyes widened in surprise, as did the audiences, as they prepared themselves for the powerful onslaught. Her partner was already worn out more than Tyranitar was, so would Gyarados be able to hold out?
With loud roars from both ends, mouths fell open as the room lit up as two, bright streams of energy propelled forward towards each other. A crashing sound echoed through the stadium as the powerful beams collided head on and caused a small explosion, smoke beginning to fill the vision of the patrons. Both Misty and Thorton were staring desperately, trying to get even a glimpse of their pokémon being okay.
The smoke began to clear, at least enough for Misty to catch a glimpse of blue atop the black cloud.
"Hydro Pump!"
"A-and Misty has called her pokémon to use the powerful water type move! It's risky in its own right, but to have it performed surrounded by smoke?" yelled the announcer through the speakers, having murmurs of agreement coming from the audience. However, they were all silenced as an extremely high-pressured stream of water was shot forward, pushing a large body out of the confines of the smoke.
Cringing when a crashing sound was heard from the other side of the battlefield, the onlookers watched on in surprise at the collapsed heap of Tyranitar on the ground. The smoke had cleared to reveal Gyarados swinging back and forth, eyes hooded and only half-open. It was struggling to stay up, obviously tired.
Tyranitar was dripping wet, obviously from being hit dead on by the Hydro Pump. It made sense as to why it hit directly - as Gyarados had time to aim the Hyper Beam from earlier and must not had moved as both its and its opponents attack had collided the first time.
The referee rushed forward once more, and stood over Tyranitar's form, observing its state. "Tyranitar is unable to battle! Gyarados is-"
At the announcement, Gyarados began to sway even more. It's almost like its head was way too big for its body at that moment. "Move out of the way!" Misty yelled out towards the referee who was directly in line of where her pokémon's body could land. He let out a panicked yell, beginning to hurry away once more as another loud crash sound began to echo.
The referee swallowed nervously as he hesitantly approached Gyarados as well, checking to see if there were any signs of it getting back up. Misty and Thorton, as she could see out of the corner of her eye, were both waiting in anticipation so that they could rush over to their pokémon. Both knew the rules - they weren't allowed to run out during an official match or it would cause the match to automatically go to the other trainer.
The referee raised both of the flags he had been holding, expression grim as he spoke. "Both Thorton's tyranitar and Misty's gyarados are unable to battle! This round is a tie!"
The trainers yelled out their pokémon's respective names, hurrying over to the two monsters and kneeling down beside them. Misty rounded herself so that she was face to face with the water serpent, gently stroking the scales near the crown above its eyes. Gyarados slowly opened its eyes, letting out a small, solemn growl as though to apologise for losing. She laughed slightly in response, a small smile gracing her lips. "There's no need to be sorry. I'm so proud of you. You and Corsola did great." she answered, nuzzling her face against its nose. "Just leave the rest to us."
She proceeded to pull out Gyarados' pokéball, stepping back slightly so that she would be able to aim it properly. "Gyarados, return." she said, watching as the red beam encased the dual water/flying type and drew it back inside the metal sphere. Making her way back towards the square where she was supposed to be standing, she was able to watch the exchange between Thorton and Tyranitar. He really loved his pokémon, she had to give him that. She waited patiently for him to go back to his station as well, the announcer giving a quick rundown to the audience, listeners and television viewers of what had just happened.
"Both trainers tied this round! Tyranitar was defeated first after being hit with a powerful Hydro Pump and Misty's Gyarados collapsed from exhaustion before the referee could finish announcer it as the winner! It's a draw so far, folks, and each trainer is down to the last pokémon! Let's see who they call upon!"
Reaching into her belt to unclip the last pokéball, Misty lifted it to her lips and kissed it softly, as though a sign for luck.
"I choose you, Starmie!"
"Misty's last pokémon is her starmie! It is known for being her oldest and most trusted pokémon on her team, and is often showcased with its trainer on posters for the League in the Kanto region! It is also her signature pokémon! Her star, if you will! Oh, I'm so funny..."
The crowd seemed to groan loudly at the pun as Starmie appeared from the white glow. Despite it having no facial features, Misty could almost sense the determination radiating off it as it focused on the trainer on the opposing side of the battlefield. Its red core was shining under the bright lights, ready to battle alongside its trainer as though they had never stopped.
Thorton threw his pokéball into the air with a grin, calling upon his next choice.
"Go Ledian!"
Wait... Ledian?
A bug-type?!
The redhead's eyes widened as the red and black bug came into view, arms spread wide so that its cream coloured belly was visible. Her eyes began to water and she began to shiver. Misty's eyes immediately closed as she began to shake and Starmie remained still, waiting patiently for its trainers command.
"No moves have been made yet! It seems... Has Misty frozen up down there? It almost looks like she's paralysed!"
She could almost see Brock sighing in embarrassment because of her phobia of bugs. Being her best friend allowed him to know these kind of things about her and laugh over when it was something like a caterpie around, but an official match like this was the worst time to freeze up. Her sisters would be shaking their heads as they watched on TV and call her later just to make fun of her and who knew what everyone else was thinking? She felt like she was about to burst, opening her eyes as she stared at Ledian.
"Bug!" she cried, taking a couple of steps back.
"Misty, you have to stay!"
"Misty, fight!"
"Don't you dare step out of that square!"
"Her teammates are encouraging her to go on! Let's see what Misty decides to do." the announcer continued. She swallowed thickly as the words registered, knowing that if she turned back to face her teammates, it would be like she was letting them down. Thorton was staring at her curiously, as was Ledian, but Starmie remained still and didn't turn even the slightest, knowing its trainer's fear well enough to remain calm and grounded and act on its own if need be.
Starmie was her most trusted pokémon. It was presented to her as a staryu by her mother before she and her father passed away, and had been with Misty since she was ten years old. After receiving a water stone from her sisters for her eleventh birthday, Staryu evolved into Starmie and became her first proper friend before she began building up her team further by capturing her second staryu and Goldeen.
"Ledian, start off with Agility!"
Ledian immediately jumped into action. Misty's eyes darted left and right, only being able to catch a glimpse of the bug/flying type. Its wings fluttered faster and it leaned forward to gain speed every time it moved. She didn't know how Starmie remained so calm. Despite it having no face, it still had the ability to feel.
"Focus Punch!"
With the combined effect of Agility, there was no doubt that it would strike forward very quickly with its arms forward. As it sped forward, Starmie spun sideways, narrowly missing collision with Ledian by barely an inch. "Keep up with the Agility, Ledian! You're doing great!" Thorton continued with a large grin on his face as Misty continued to cower backwards.
"Brock, what are you doing down here?" came Lucy's voice, sounding incredibly panicky. Misty whirled around in surprise at the mention of her best friend's name, eyes wide as she turned around to face him, gasping in surprise. He wasn't alone, which made things even worse. Dawn and Ash were with him. Brock hurried towards her, a stern expression on his face.
"Wait, you can't just go onto the field!"
Ledian must have stopped moving as well due to the confusion of Misty's friends coming to join the Battle Team in supporting her. "You should know better than to let this stupid fear of yours get the better of you." Brock said with a sigh, shaking his head. "You can't let Starmie do all the work. You've done great so far, and you're gonna let a bug pokémon hinder your chances of winning the match? What would May say?"
She swallowed thickly, eyes dropping to the ground in shame. He was right. Her shoulders tensed slightly as she nodded in response. "I know, Brock, but you know how i am around bugs!"
He was about to answer, but it was Ash who interrupted this time.
"Who cares about a fear? You seem so fearless, and you're scared of a little bug?"
"Bugs are three of the most disgusting things in the world!"
"...Misty, people don't always think the same thing as you do." Brock interrupted, noticing how Ash looked offended at her words. She glanced over her shoulder to look at Thorton's ledian again, shivering at the sight.
Ash was frowning at her now, but seemed to push his own beliefs aside to help Misty out. "Your starmie looks more than ready to fight for you." he said, earning a surprised glance from the redhead. "Aren't you letting it down by not battling alongside it? You seem to love your pokémon a lot, from what I can tell. So, prove it."
She blinked in shock. "I... Yeah." she began, unable to speak because of how right he was. "You're right. Thank you, Ash."
His cheeks flushed slightly at her statement of gratitude as she turned her back to face the battlefield. Brock was giving a knowing smile to his teammate who merely brushed him off, the two now moving to go back to where the rest of the Boys Battle Team was. Dawn decided to stay, seating herself down next to Iris on the edge of the bench.
"You ready to finish this, Misty?" Thorton called out from across the field.
She nodded slowly, rubbing her arms in encouragement, trying to swallow back the urge to cry out. "Yeah," she forced out. "Let's do this."
"Alright! Ledian, Agility!" he shouted, hands outstretched as he spoke the command. "Keep it up until you find an opening!"
Starmie immediately leaped into action without taking any orders from Misty, using its psychic powers to spin its body around like a frisbee at a fast pace in order to confuse the bug-type that was after it. Ledian held the advantage over Starmie in terms of typing, but due to how well it was trained, there was no doubt that Thorton's pokémon would have a hard time defeating the water/psychic type.
Misty took a deep breath, forcing herself to keep her eyes trained on both her partner and Ledian. "Starmie, use Ice Beam!"
The star-shaped creature paused its speedy movement, pushing forward one of its points and aiming a strikingly cold beam of ice towards Ledian. It was clear that it was futile, however, due to how quickly the fully-evolved pokémon was moving. "Ledian, Focus Punch!" Thorton called, with the bug-type obeying by arching its back to spin around and dodge its opponents attack. As it maneuvered around it, it began to charge up the attack before finally forcing it against the hard texture of Starmie's body and pushing it backwards. As Starmie was jostled backwards, its spikes scraped against the ground, dusting pooling slightly.
Seeing as it couldn't make any noise like a pokémon that took on the appearance of appearance of a creature with four legs or , it didn't grunt or cry out in pain at all.
"Thunderbolt while it's still!"
Misty's response was immediate. Starmie understood, and forced itself to stand properly, and began to move but in a strange way; instead of spinning like it normally would when it was traveling, it spun form its central body like a spinning top. It began to draw friction from its body and project it more with its psychic powers.
"Wait... What is this? Misty's Starmie knows how to use electric-type attacks? That is one clever trainer right there, everyone!" the announcer said, sounding very impressed.
"I can't take all the credit," Misty answered, a grin on her face as she listened to the announcer. It was almost like she had forgotten her fear of bug-types because of the sudden ego boost. "Rudy, a member of the Orange Crew, taught me that one!"
"I'm impressed, Misty." Thorton admitted, just in time for Starmie's body to begin giving off sparks and project the bolts of lightning towards Ledian.
Ledian cried out in pain as the shock waves encountered its body, shooting them through it. It shook slightly from the effects, finally stopping when Starmie called off the attack. Its trainer cheered loudly while Thorton's face hardened in contrast. "Ledian, are you alrght?!" he questioned, watching as the red and black pokémon struggled to stay hovering around. It was starting to slowly flow towards the ground. The steady pace was almost suspenseful. Ledian allowed a small groan of its name, bowing its head slightly in a nod.
"Okay." Thorton replied. He swallowed thickly, licking his dry lips as Ledian forced its wings to move strongly once more. Its movements were slower, clearly showing signs of exhaustion. "Supersonic!"
Ledian's brow bone furrowed, focusing its strength to hypnotise Starmie enough to be confused. Stamie looked unaffected, though there was no real way to tell if it had fallen under a confused spell. Misty gritted her teeth, closing her eyes slightly because her eyes kept moving towards her opponent's pokémon. She remained quiet in an attempt to remain calm and think of way to work around this. It had been in direct aim of Ledian's use of Supersonic, status being changed from healthy to confused. Of course, this was just her luck. She was afraid of the opposing pokémon and now her partner was confused.
'Think, Misty, think!' she yelled at herself mentally, opening her eyes to focus on Starmie. It had remained still, as though unsure of how to continue onwards. There was a mutual trust between the water type and its trainer and wouldn't dare to move unless Misty said something. 'Okay, since it was in direct view of the status changing move, the confusion probably won't wear off for a while. And since I can't use any items, this is going to be difficult.'
"Psychic!" she called out without realising. Thorton's expression remained smug as his opponent's partner hesitated slightly, its gem showing hints of lighting up. Ledian suddenly stopped in its tracks, blinking in bewilderment. The eyes of the audience immediately went over to Starmie, the jewelled core lit up. The moved were tentative, clearly, with its confused state, as though calculating and trying to figure out what was real and what was not. Being confused in terms of battling was different to how it was outside of battling.
Ledian's form was surrounded in a red aura to match the one emitting from the Starmie's jewel, slowly being lowered so that it was closer to wear the star-shaped creature was standing.
"That's it, Starmie! You're doing great!"
"Ledian, you have to try and break free!" Thorton tried, his pokémon perking up at the sound of its trainer's words. It tried to struggle against the hold its opponent had on it, its movements only showing slightly because of the tight constrict Starmie had on it because of the attack.
"Ice Beam!" Misty called, hands curled in fists. Nails were being pushed into the skin, not that she cared at that moment. Her focus was on the battle in front of her. The audience seemed to be on the edge of their seats because if this attack missed, the match would be over. Starmie's movements were already slow and calculative because of the confusion and Ledian's status was still normal and healthy.
Everything, for her team, was on this one attack.
A/N: I literally blew out a huge sigh of relief after finishing this chapter. I've been working on it for almost two months now but have been so busy that I only finished the last few paragraphs within the hour. I haven't even had a chance to read over what I've done properly.
I'm also working on the next one now so hopefully that update won't take too long.
As I stated earlier, please consider leaving a review. :) I really do appreciate it.
Word Count: 6,926