Chapter 16: The Long-Awaited Duel—Skylark Vs. Celia
"Oh good God…" Skylark muttered softly. The announcement had just gone over the intercom for him and Celia to go out onto the court. The final battle was now inevitable. He slowly stood up, his stomach weak and his knees wobbly. Bulbasaur ran from the healing center and stopped at his feet, eager to battle. He brought forth a small smile, but it quickly faded. He turned to the door, which slowly opened, leading out to the arena.
After gathering up the courage, he reluctantly walked out onto the game floor. The crowd was wild; this was the battle they had waited all night for. Many were chanting his name while the other members of the crowd shouted for Celia. It seemed as though it was half and half. Celia stood on the other side of the battle zone, showing no signs of wavering.
"Alright you two, listen. This battle will decide the winner for this tournament. The winner will be sent to Kanto to compete in the International Beginner Tournament." The announcer announced. "The same rules from the past will apply to this game too. Any questions?" Skylark and Celia stared at each other, and Skylark shook his head as did she. "Alright then. You two know what to do. We'll base who starts with our point and win system." The announcer turned around and looked at a TV hanging above the door leading to the rec room. "For those of you who don't know, we have a point system based on who won against who and how fast they won the battle. The faster, the more points. If they defeat an enemy with points, they absorb those points too. And it looks like…Celia will be starting. You may begin!"
"Cyndaquil!" She shouted with pride as her treasure ran out onto the field. "Let's get this started! Use Ember!" Cyndaquil ran forward, the flames on its back roaring like a wild fire. It spun around, and from its back it shot forward hundreds of small little embers.
"Dodge!" Skylark shouted back. Bulbasaur hopped out of the way, barely escaping Cyndaquil's deadly flame. "Now, let's use Bullet Seed!" Without hesitation, Bulbasaur shot out dozens of small little seeds. Cyndaquil naturally tried to dodge, but was hit with a select few, lowering her HP barely. "What was I thinking? Grass barely works on fire types!" Skylark thought to himself furiously.
"Now, Cyndaquil, let's counter that with a Quick Attack!" Like a car going from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds, Cyndaquil was off as he slammed straight into Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur was thrown backward, but she wasn't out of the game yet. She was larger than Cyndaquil and had was able to take the hit easier than other Pokémon.
"While you have him there use Tackle!" Bulbasaur heard the command and sprang into action, attacking the Cyndaquil head on. The tackle threw him back, but he was still in for the game.
"Cyndaquil, let's use a Smokescreen!" From his mouth, many small pellets flew out onto the battle field. A wide screen of smoke covered the field, preventing the crowd and Bulbasaur from seeing.
"Uh, Bulbasaur! Let's use a Bullet Seed!" Skylark foolishly shouted. Bulbasaur, unaware of what she was doing, shot of dozens of bullets, aiming nowhere. Bullets flew all over the field, some flying into the stand and almost hitting someone. But luckily, by the time the seeds flew up there, the wind had slowed them down enough to where they wouldn't do much of any harm. Amazingly, however, was the fact that a few more seeds actually hit the hidden Cyndaquil. But again, it did little damage.
"Cyndaquil! Track Bulbasaur down and use your Ember!" Bulbasaur looked around, confused as to what direction she was facing, but soon found out the hard way what was happening. Dozens of embers flew into Bulbasaur's body, burning her and causing a major drop in HP. It was about this time, however, that the smoke started to lift. Some smoke was actually sucked in by the embers, being used as a form of fuel to keep it burning. No one had thought of it, but the smokescreen pellets were actually small oil balls that exploded into smoke. The oil served as a form of fuel, making the embers burn even longer.
"Bulbasaur!" Skylark shouted. "Let's counter that with a Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur unwillingly brought out her whips and started whipping furiously. She smacked Cyndaquil about seven times with her whips, but Cyndaquil managed to dodge the other whips. While Skylark was getting hits, most of the attacks were grass based, which barely damaged the Cyndaquil.
"Cyndaquil, Tackle back!" Cyndaquil jumped forward and smashed straight into Bulbasaur, throwing her backward. Skylark was battling surprisingly well in his eyes, but it soon faded. His brain, again wrapped around Celia, kept him distracted from actually attacking.
"Let's do another…Vine Whip!" Skylark commanded, but the crowd began to boo. All these grass attacks on a fire type? The crowd grew tired of his stupidity. The whips hit Cyndaquil again, but it didn't hurt too much. However, Skylark was on to something. Even with all of his grass attacks and small damage dealt per attack, it slowly did do its damage on the enemy. The tackles were great HP takers too.
"Cyndaquil, Ember!" Cyndaquil turned around and shot embers from her back, aiming at Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur frantically hopped out of the way of some, but a few did manage to hit her. She landed on the ground and lost hold of her footing due to burns and fell down. However, she quickly got back up and prepared for her next attack.
"Bullet Seed!" Again, Bulbasaur shot dozens of her seeds again, all of which hit Cyndaquil. They did damage but it wasn't much.
"Quick Attack!" Cyndaquil was off, tackling straight into Bulbasaur's side. The battle dragged on for a while, with a bunch of weak grass types and tackles, and a few embers that Bulbasaur barely dodged. If Skylark was in the game, many believe he would have won early on. But he's so wrapped up in Celia that he wasn't thinking about strategy.
Finally, the end of the battle drew near. Bulbasaur was low on HP with only 6 left. Likewise, Cyndaquil was down to 6. All the tackling and weak grass moves Bulbasaur did ultimately weakened the Cyndaquil, and the embers and quick attacks did a number on Bulbasaur was well. Finally, however, it was time. Whatever the next move was, it would decide the winner. To Skylark's dismay, it was Celia's turn. The next move would decide it all. If only Skylark had thought about it, he could have won the battle!
"Cyndaquil!" She commanded. Skylark's stomach twisted and turned because he knew what was going to happen next. "Use your Ember! Full Force!" Cyndaquil's back puffed up with flames as she ran forward, ready to burn the Bulbasaur to pieces. Skylark was in dismay, but something allowed him to think about something. She made her move, why couldn't he?
"Bulbasaur! Quick! Tackle!" Bulbasaur obeyed the command and ran to the Cyndaquil, ready to attack. The crowd gasped. The way the two would meet, Bulbasaur would burn before he even hit Cyndaquil because of the embers. But Bulbasaur ran, gaining momentum, anyway. Finally, the two collided in the middle of the arena. Cyndaquil shot embers, some hitting the stage and creating a large amount of dust and some hitting Bulbasaur head on. As Bulbasaur fell and began to faint, however, she gave one last push and smashed straight into Cyndaquil's back. The tackle was a critical hit.
The dust covered the field, making it hard to see the outcome of the battle. The crowd held their breath, as did Skylark and Celia. Slowly, the smoke rose. Hidden under the smoke lay Bulbasaur and Cyndaquil, both on the ground. They had both fainted at the same time. "Uh…" The announcer slowly spoke. "We'll converse with the refs real quick and work out what will happen. Please stand by." The announcer walked off the field, leaving the crowd, Skylark and Celia hanging.
It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that he came back out with a card in his hand. He walked out onto the center of the battle field, and spoke into the microphone. "Well, for the first time in Championship history…it appears we have a tie game." The crowd made a ruckus, demanding to know what this means. "Please, silence yourselves! We'll tell you what all this means. Are we all quiet now?" The crowd hushed, as did Skylark and Celia. They stood behind the announcer, who would soon decide the future of both of them. If Skylark won, he would go on to compete for his dream. If not, he would be devastated. If Celia won, she'd go on to compete for her dreams. If not, she'd suffer the same fate as Skylark.
"Going on to the Kanto Region Tournament will be…
Both Celia and Skylark!"