Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.
Chapter 24: Divergence
They really had terrible luck, Danny thought for about the sixteenth time in the last twenty hours. Last night, the schedule for the round of 128 had gone up, and not only did Linda, Max, and he himself all have their battles at roughly the same time, it was also a dinnertime set of battles, and Max was one match before Linda in Stadium C, while he was stuck all the way at the other end of town.
Danny could have used the support.
His opponent was the same one Keith had lost to, two rounds back. Maria something-or-other from Altomare in Johto was one of the long shots to win the tournament, and a professional Trainer. Not just some teenager like Danny and his friends – even if she was only eighteen – but a professional battler with a top 4 finish in Kalos under her belt.
Well, he wanted to get to the round of 128. Now to hopefully lose with some dignity intact.
A knock echoed through the room, jolting Danny from his thoughts. The previous battle had barely started, so it couldn't be the officials retrieving him. "Yeah, come in."
The door opened, and in walked the eighteen year old Danny had just been thinking of. "Ah, found you, good." Maria sat down opposite him, looking Danny straight in the eyes. "You look nervous." Danny gave a small shrug, one that prompted a soft smile. "C'mon, you can talk, right? We're both Trainers here."
"Sorry." Danny tried to smile, but it felt forced and weak.
"Right, so, Danny, look at me, will ya?" He obliged. "Are you nervous because I'm a professional battler?" Silence answered her question, and Maria took it as an affirmative. "Why? From what I know, you're well on your way to becoming one yourself."
"What?"
Maria raised her right hand, starting to count on her fingers. "One, you're twelve, and not thirteen for two months, so you got your badges in at most nine months. Probably less because of your travel partner. That's pretty fast." The thumb went down. "Two, you got some pretty good Pokémon already, and a good head for Pokémon-specific strategies and teamwork." The index finger went down. "Three, you already got Gym Leader praise for helping to take down a crime boss." Down went the middle finger, leaving her ring finger and pinky upright, wavering slightly. "Four… I don't actually have one. Didn't think this through too much, apparently." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Still, that's a lot of stuff already. I'm pretty sure I wasn't as good when I was your age."
Was this how Max felt whenever Danny showered him with compliments? Felt like it alright. "Thank you," Danny said softly, hoping that the burning sensation in his face would go away soon.
"I'm serious Danny. That strategy in the round of 512 was inspired, and the way you minimised the damage in the round of 256 was impressive. You earned your place to be here fair and square, and for someone with only ten months of experience – even if you're the Professor's family – to be in this round without getting plain lucky is great already."
On TV, one of the Pokémon was ruled out, Danny noticed. "Left after Max's birthday," he corrected. "Got eighth badge end of September."
Maria smiled widely, standing up as well, stretching. "You got eight badges faster than I did. I came here after the February Kalos Conference, and didn't get my eighth badge until October." She held out a hand for Danny to take, and as soon as he took it, she lifted him to his feet with surprising strength. To his further surprise, Danny was taller than his opponent by about an inch. "And sure, you probably had the easier Gym fights, but you still earned your place in this round. The only luck you had was the luck you made yourself."
"Probably ran out of it now."
His opponent smiled in a 'what can you do' manner. "Well, I'm certainly planning to beat you. That doesn't mean you shouldn't give it your all. Fight until the last, and don't be led like mareep, that is the way of good Trainers." She put her hand on Danny's shoulder. "That's the way we roll. Now come. We have a match coming up. Let's make it a good one."
"Yeah, let's," Danny agreed, following Maria out the door.
His small support group, consisting of his parents, his uncle, and Keith, was easily located in the stands, having found seats close to the arena's level at Danny's side of the field. Max and Linda had Max's parents and sister, Jane, and Alice in attendance. Paul had left before any of them met up that morning, and he hadn't been seen since. Alice said Paul just needed a bit of time, and Danny figured she knew best.
He did a quick scan of the rest of the audience in that stand, wondering if his previous opponents were in attendance. He found none of them, but he did spot two other people in the audience.
Phoebe noticed him looking and gave a salute from the upper rafters, standing underneath one of the lights. Drake beside her was impassive as ever, arms crossed.
Maria gave a thumbs up from the other end of the field as the referee called for the Pokéballs to be shown. Danny returned the gesture before taking his own Pokéballs from his belt.
This time, he did catch both of the Pokéballs he threw, which meant he saw Maria send out her Pokémon. As he'd expected, she wasn't sending out anything simple like he'd faced so far. This was the real deal: raichu and nidoking would probably make short work of whismur and dusclops.
Time to stop that from happening.
"Echoed Voice!" Danny ordered as the battle got under way.
Waves of sound went down the field before meeting a weak jolt of electricity, which disrupted the attack just enough for nidoking to move through unhindered. The Drill Pokémon lowered his head, and the horn started glowing as he ran straight for dusclops.
"Protect, Echoed Voice!" Danny ordered, and dusclops threw the green shield up at the last second, not only making nidoking bounce off, but also blocking a Thunderbolt that raichu sent her way. Meanwhile, the second Echoed Voice slammed into nidoking, forcing him back a tiny bit. "Shadow Ball!"
The nidoking lit a Shadow Claw on his right hand and sliced right through the orb. At the same time, raichu sent a blue bolt into the sky, prompting small raindrops to start falling, and some rumbling to start overhead.
"Supersonic!"
Whismur moved sideways, a cone of sound missing dusclops, but annoying nidoking enough to make him clamp his hands over his ears, though the sound was too weak to stop raichu, who was standing far back. Nidoking was all Danny could really focus on.
A Shadow Ball hit nidoking just in time, his Shadow Claw coming too late to block the projectile, but Danny's attention was diverted by the raichu starting a run. Nidoking turned around, giving dusclops a free Shadow Ball and whismur a free Echoed Voice, but the nidoking gave raichu a huge boost, sending it straight up into the sky, over the wall of sound, as yellow started to spark around it.
"Protect!" Danny cried desperately as the raichu summoned the electricity from the clouds above, unleashing two gigantic bolts of Thunder, lighting up the evening sky to an almost unbearable brightness and engulfing both of Danny's Pokémon and their Protect shields.
Whismur's shattered, and nidoking was on her immediately, slamming his tail into her, sending her flying, right at where raichu had landed after using Thunder. The Mouse Pokémon was waiting with an Electro Ball on its tail, ready to slam it into whismur the moment Danny's Pokémon landed. "Dusclops!"
A quick and weak Night Shade intercepted most of the Electro Ball, but instead of whismur being hit by electricity, it was now flung back again as the attacks met and exploded. Raichu wasted no time, moving, escaping most of the explosion as it retreated back a bit, sending a quick jolt of electricity dusclops's way.
It was unavoidable because nidoking was already on dusclops, hemming it in with Shadow Claws that were just a tiny bit off every time. "Fire Punch!"
The Ghost-type took one of the Shadow Claws, but endured it to land a Fire Punch on nidoking's midsection. It didn't do what Danny had hoped: the nidoking just kept on attacking, and soon, dusclops was back to narrowly avoiding every attack.
He chanced a glance at whismur, who hadn't been knocked out just yet, but she was off to the side, dodging some long-range attacks from raichu, with no real way to counter.
There had to be a way for whismur to join… "Get closer to dusclops, then a wide Echoed Voice. Dusclops, Protect!"
As he ordered, so it happened, and dusclops fell back as well, and the two Pokémon met up behind a green shield. The shield withstood a Shadow Claw and a Thunderbolt before breaking, but that was enough time for whismur to summon the fourth Echoed Voice of the battle, forming a wall of energy that expanded to be about half the arena's width, and about as high as nidoking was.
Nidoking had no chance of dodging it, and actually looked a bit winded, but raichu easily jumped over the horned Pokémon, and upon landing, golden electricity flared around the Electric-type as it pushed off in the direction of Danny's Pokémon. The aura grew bigger and bigger, and raichu itself appeared almost black and white inside the cocoon. Danny had seen this attack before. Once, months ago. "Night Shade!"
The Night Shade landed, but it did squat. Raichu jumped straight into dusclops, and sheer kinetic energy made it and dusclops fly into whismur, who flew past Danny, into the back wall with a harsh thud. Dusclops only skid to a halt next to Danny, and she looked as knocked out as whismur probably was.
Well, he tried, and got royally beaten. Danny returned his Pokémon, not even waiting for the referee to rule officially, and thanked them for doing their best.
He felt tears trying to well up, but he dabbed at his eyes, telling himself 'no'. He had fought, and Maria was better. It happened, and it was only his first League.
Then, suddenly, Maria was at his side, clamping both of her hands on his shoulders. "That was a pretty good fight. You did well, and you should be proud."
Danny wasn't sure he could manage proud right there and then, but he could smile, however fake, as they walked off the field. Maria was waving at everyone, and prodded Danny to tell him to give a few waves. The audience gave them a thunderous round of applause.
Danny met up with Keith and his family outside, and after the requisite hugging and telling him he did great by his family – paired with amused faces on Keith's end as Danny's mother nearly smothered him – they started walking to the next stadium over.
They arrived just in time to see Linda lose as her golett was knocked out by a yanmega; the overlay telling them that nidorino and a metang had already been ruled out, but there was no result of previous matches to be seen anywhere. "Do we just call them?" Keith asked. "Ask what Max did?"
"I'm certain they will be here momentarily," Danny's Mum replied. She put an arm around Danny's shoulder, but he squirmed out from under it, and if she felt bad about that, Danny didn't care. He was too old for repeated doses of public parental affection, thank you. "We agreed that everyone should meet up here after all was said and done."
It was another good ten minutes – thankfully filled with some battling on the big screen in the latter half, or else Danny would have been bored to tears – until someone Danny knew appeared. "Knew you would be here!" he called to Ash as the teenager saw them and started moving towards them. "How have you been?"
"I've been great!" Ash replied with a big smile on his face, pikachu agreeing on his shoulder. "Caught a new Pokémon last week, caught a lot of battles here. It's weird to be here and not take part, but watching is fun as well."
"Well, I'll be doing that for the rest of the tournament," Danny replied, and Ash's face fell a tiny bit. "It's okay. She was better."
"Still, sorry to hear that," Ash said, and pikachu added something that sounded similarly consoling. "Ah, there they are."
Max was talking to Linda, whose head was bowed, shoulders slightly slouched. Danny could understand that: it looked like it had been a close battle, and losing like that always felt bad. On the other side of the adults, Alice and Jane were talking about something: probably drawing, which was a hobby they shared. May was talking to her mother, and Max's Dad was talking on his Pokénav, but he clicked it shut before the two groups met.
Danny moved over to Linda and gave her a fierce hug, unasked for, but she returned it immediately, gripping him tightly, and when she raised her head, Danny saw that her eyes were red-rimmed. "Than' you," she said. "'m sorry about this."
Keith also joined them, and after hugging Linda, he spoke up. "So, both of you are out as well?"
Linda and Max looked at Danny, who shrugged. "Maria was way better. Turns out raichu are pretty powerful." On a whim, he turned to Ash. "Sorry pikachu, but it's true."
Pikachu reacted exactly like Danny had hoped he would, blowing a raspberry and making Keith and Alice chuckle, and even Linda managed a smile.
"Actually..." Max broke in softly, instantly capturing Danny's attention. Their eyes met in the lamplight. "I… I won. I'm in the Victory Tournament."
Pure, unrestrained joy filled Danny, even as Keith's surprised yell hurt his left ear. "You did it. You actually did it!" They exchanged a double high five. "Told you you could do it."
"Yep, you did." Max's grin was as wide as Danny had ever seen, and he knew his own was at least as wide. "Tough battle, but manectric came through in the end."
"He was amazin', that's what," Linda added softly, her voice still raw. "Kinda feel like you been goin' easy on me in sparrin' now."
"I do not!"
"Regardless," Norman interjected. "Let's go and celebrate. Max?" The Gym Leader's son looked up. "It's your win. Where do you want to go?"
The pizza parlour staff was a bit taken aback when the group of eight teenagers and five adults shuffled in, but two tables moved somewhat close together worked well enough, along with the adults sitting at their own table.
The chatter was great, and the pizzas were even better. The parlour added drinks free of charge when they found out why the group was there, and if other people were bothered by the loud laughter coming from the teenager table, they at least didn't say it.
Nearly all of the teenagers were eating ice cream when Keith suddenly put his bowl down. "Hey Max?" he asked, prompting Max, and most of the others too, to look at him. "Do you want some help with training tomorrow? I'd be bored all day if I had nothing to do." There'd be no battles tomorrow, to give everyone in the Victory Tournament a day to recuperate.
"Sure," Max said, shrugging. "It'll have to wait until after the draw, though."
"The nine o'clock in the morning draw," Keith clarified. "Better you than me, Max. Better you than me," he said, to general laughter. "I found a perfect spot to train. Call me when you're done with the draw, okay?"
"And me too," Jane added. "We Petalburg kids have to stick together."
Danny saw Alice and Paul exchange a brief glance and a nod. "Paul 'n me too."
"Of course I'll help my little brother," said May, and the two siblings exchanged silly looks. "Maybe he'll listen to me now," she added with a wink.
"I'm in too," said Linda from Danny's left, leaving her message at that in order to resume devouring her massive sorbet. Where she found the room for that gigantic thing, Danny didn't know. His stomach felt queasy just looking at it.
"And I was going to come along already," Danny said as the next in line. "Going to be a bit busy there, Keith. Hope your spot is good."
"It is!"
"I can't help you, Max," Ash said, and Danny saw a hurt look or two from across the table, though Max wasn't among those. "You seem to have enough help already, and I'm stuck meeting someone tomorrow. League Champion stuff." That explanation soothed the hurt looks.
All eyes turned on Max, who abandoned whatever he was thinking about in order to respond. "Well… thanks guys. Just… thanks."
"Don't thank us now. Maybe we'll all hinder you," Keith broke in, winking to tell everyone that he was kidding. "But it's like that book says. All for one..."
"And one for all!" the four other Petalburg School children finished in varying degrees of loudness. "I had to read that too," May added when Keith and Jane gave her weird looks. Neither responded, and everyone went back to their dessert.
It was past ten when they walked into their hostel room. "You're coming with me to the draw, right," Max asked as he closed the door behind him.
"Probably," Danny agreed as he threw his shirt in the hamper, "but if you want me to, I'm going to bed now."
"Go ahead. I'll stay up for a bit." Max smiled sheepishly as Danny grabbed his toothbrush. "Still a bit excited," he added, not that Danny had expected anything else.
Sleep came quickly.
~~§~~§~~
Despite the short sleep – he had gone to bed far past midnight, when his body finally told his brain it was past time to do so – Max woke up before the half past seven alarm, as rested as he'd ever felt.
He still had some trouble believing what had happened. Sure, he knew some rookies made it to the later rounds of any tournament: it happened every three or four Leagues. Morrison, despite being Ash's age, had been one of those. Ash himself had done the same in his first tournament, winning four battles before losing the fifth thanks to Team Rocket and charizard, against another first timer to boot.
He hadn't expected to join them in that list, but at the same time, he didn't even feel like it was luck that got him through the last battle. It had been tough for sure, but vulpix and manectric never made Max feel like he was in trouble against a miltank and a noivern. The Kalos Dragon-type hadn't been too much of an issue after the first minute and a Thunder Wave-Hex combination, even if it took some more time to be knocked out. Miltank was a bit more resilient, but she fell before manectric ran out of electricity. That was probably a good thing: miltank had a lot more weight and strength to throw around.
Their alarm went off while Max was in the shower, and when he exited the bathroom, Danny was waiting for him, towel in hand. "Morning."
"Morning," Danny returned, not a hint of drowsiness in his voice. "What time did you go to bed?"
"Past midnight."
"You're going to pay for that," Danny teased him before moving past, into the bathroom.
Danny was probably right, but Max would enjoy it while it lasted.
The main Pokémon Center lobby was quite full of Trainers in various stages of wakefulness, or lack thereof, Max noticed as he walked in, alone. Danny hadn't been allowed in: only Victory Tournament participants were given access, no exceptions.
Another thing that he noticed was that he was by far the youngest there. Pretty much nobody else he saw looked a day under 14. It was logical – he knew he was the only first time participant to make it through – but knowing it and seeing it were two different things. It was weird.
The draw itself was boring. Just five minutes of listening to a speech and then about ten minutes waiting for the draw to resolve on a large screen. Max ended up in the bottom half of the schedule, which meant his match was in two days, giving him a bit more time to train.
With the draw over, Max patiently waited for his turn at the computer for a glimpse at the online profile of his opponent. He knew the name – Ryan Reilly – but that was it. Max hadn't watched any of his matches, and he hadn't been the one to beat Linda or Jane either.
Just as he was about to sit down at the chair, someone tugged on his arm, turning him around. "Huh. So you're the pipsqueak I have to beat," said a tall, black-haired teenager in a purple koffing hoodie. "Just give up now and I won't send you home crying for Mommy."
"Nice to meet you too, Ryan," Max said, stepping back so he didn't have to look up, the back of a chair pressing against his spine. "I—"
"Yeah yeah," Ryan interrupted, moving closer until he towered over Max. "No need to wish me a good match. It'll be one alright. Easiest match I'll have all tournament." He pushed Max aside hard, forcing the younger boy to grab hold of someone else not to fall over. "Oh, look, you do have six Pokémon. Wasn't expecting that."
"What's your problem?"
"Problem?" Ryan let out a short and harsh laugh. "There is no problem. I just got handed a ticket into the round of 32 on a silver platter.." Another laugh. "Later, loser."
Max watched him walk off, glaring for a second before he realised that wasn't going to do anything. He walked the few steps back to the computer he'd been waiting for and quickly checked Ryan's data. Third League, after Vertress and Indigo, sixteen years old, fifteen eligible Pokémon… That was all Max really wanted to know for now. He walked off, but before he could exit the lobby, someone tapped on his shoulder. "Yeah?" he said, turning around and recognising the teen opposite him as the one he'd grabbed to stay upright. "Oh, right, sorry about that."
"It does not matter," said the blonde teen, a Kalosian accent obvious in his words. "I just wanted to wish you good luck against him. I think it would be most… appropriate for him to lose now. Wouldn't you agree?" he added, smiling at Max.
Max shrugged. "We'll see what happens. I'd love to beat him, sure, but…"
"Your age and experience might be a factor?" He didn't wait for Max to answer. "You forget, it's not just that. It's also what's in here," he said, pressing a finger into Max's hair, "that is important. And he's going to underestimate you. That is a great advantage."
That was true, Max supposed. "Thank you..."
"Nicholas. I'm from Lumiose in Kalos."
"Thank you Nicholas, and good luck in your own match."
"The same to you."
He met Danny outside, his friend looking up from the Pokénav as Max walked up. "Checking the draw out?"
"Uhuh. Tough opponent you got, but there aren't any easy ones left."
Max shook his head. "Not really, no. And my opponent is a turd."
"Let me guess. He thought you're going to be a walk-over."
"Yes. How do you know that?"
"Guy in a koffing hoodie walked by, loudly telling a friend he was as good as in the round of 32, and his face looked a lot like the picture of your opponent," Danny said. "I think I know what you want to do today and tomorrow." He clipped the Pokénav on his belt and turned around. "C'mon. Keith and Linda are already there, and they said they'd call the others."
~~§~~§~~
Small microphones and shields dampening outside sounds were new from the time Ash had stood here, Max knew, but after an incident in the previous Ever Grande Conference involving a high-pitched whistle and an arcanine, the Conference had given in. He could hear the audience's enthusiasm, and he could make out some of what the announcer said if he focused on it, but otherwise, he and Ryan were in their own bubble, ready for their mid-day battle in the round of 64.
They'd start out on a Water field, followed by the Rock field once three Pokémon on one side fell. Max wasn't too happy with the Water field, mainly because he knew Ryan's Pokémon included a seadra and a tentacruel, and poliwag just couldn't brawl with them.
Ryan had to send out his Pokémon first, and a wartortle appeared on one of the platforms. Not nearly as threatening as some of the other Pokémon Max was expecting. He thought for a second, debating whether it was a good idea to show manectric now, but then he discarded the idea. Not enough room to move around for manectric. "Natu, come on out!"
His most recent capture appeared, chirping once. Max knew his male Tiny Bird Pokémon could hop from platform to platform, and he was okay with that. It'd be a small field with not a lot of room to dodge, but natu didn't need a lot of space either. "Begin with Hidden Power!"
The attack was never going to hit, but Max figured he'd use it anyway to force the wartortle into the water. Better to have Ryan react to him than the other way around. "Wait for it to emerge, then Confusion."
Wartortle popped up to natu's right, but the Psychic-type quickly grabbed it, flinging the Water-type away right at a nearby platform as a few bubbles hit him. The wartortle managed to let its shell absorb most of the impact, but it was a good warning shot, and it bought natu time to hop away, widening the gap with another two platforms.
Max saw wartortle tense its legs. "Ominous Wind," he ordered, and natu whipped up the attack as the wartortle flew through the air, engulfed in white energy as it tried to hit a Skull Bash.
Then wartortle experienced the same thing Max himself did a month and a half back, crying out in distress, losing focus slightly. If it hadn't it might have been able to hit natu after sticking the landing, but it didn't now, and natu had been free to hop away another platform, sending a Hidden Power at the fallen wartortle for good measure. It wouldn't do too much, but every little bit helped.
Ryan ordered a Water Gun, and Max just smiled. Diverting Water Guns had been most of natu's practice the day before, helped by marshtomp, poliwag, Keith's staryu, and Jane's wingull, often multiple at a time, though from the same direction. Shoving this stream of water to the side was easy. "Keep it up natu. You're doing great."
Another Bubble, another Confusion-induced throw. Sure, the bubbles hit natu, but wartortle hit a wall head-first, sliding into the water afterwards. Unless Ryan pulled out another move or returned his Pokémon, he wasn't going to get anywhere.
Blue light spread through the clear water, evoking a bit of fear in Max. Torrent was always trouble. "Follow the light. Ominous Wind."
Natu's timing at releasing the attack was perfect. The Ominous Wind hit wartortle as the shelled Pokémon jumped out of the water, and even though it had a lot of speed and passed through the haze quickly, it was still a good hit.
Then Max saw the wartortle retreat in its shell, the blue glow intensifying. "Shit."
The shell started spinning, unleashing a humongous amount of water from each of the four openings, and with how close it was to natu, there was no dodging. Natu was swept away by the water, hit the wall himself, and wartortle slammed itself into him on the downward part of his arc out of the water. It was too much for natu. "Good work natu. Time to rest."
Wartortle stayed in the water, hiding outside of Max's sight, but the blue glow was diminishing quickly. "Poliwag, you're up!"
Max's Tadpole Pokémon dove into the water as she came out, surfacing to show the referee she was ready. Wartortle did so too, at the other end of the field, but as soon as the referee lowered his flags, both Pokémon dove again. Max shifted his attention to one of the big screens showing the underwater battle.
Poliwag started by firing a Water Pulse warning shot, but wartortle dove under it, trying to get in closer. It was the faster swimmer, but poliwag was fresher, and actually had ranged attacks. Everything wartortle could do from range that Max had seen would only end up helping poliwag: she did have Water Absorb. That left just Skull Bash, and wartortle needed a solid object to push off for that. "Water Pulse when it's near a pillar or the wall," Max said loudly, hoping that the poliwag could hear him from seven feet under the surface.
Judging by what happened, she had, or she had the same idea. Either option worked. Wartortle tried to use Skull Bash, but was intercepted by a Water Pulse that knocked it out. Poliwag jumped out of the water, and wartortle dissolved into red energy.
Max didn't have to wait long for another Pokémon to appear, but he did have to check what that Pokémon actually was.
Cryogonal, the Crystallising Pokémon. They are born in snow clouds, and use chains made of ice crystals to capture prey.
An Ice-type made sense to send out. "Water Pulse, let's go!"
Ice Shards pierced the ball, and the little water that hit the Ice-type froze almost on contact. The Ice Shards were similarly useless by the time they reached Max's Water-type. "Into the water, poliwag."
Poliwag dove in, easily avoiding an Ice Beam that created a narrow ice floe that lasted about two seconds before a Water Pulse from below shattered it, and the ice and water that was sent up blocked Max's sight for a bit, and cold water lapped at his shoes.
Cryogonal fired off several bursts of Ice Beam, creating more floes, but nothing that poliwag couldn't break through if she wanted to. For now, she didn't appear to want to do it anyway, instead firing rapid-fire Water Pulses from an arc in front of cryogonal. Some of them were blocked, while others hit: Ryan's Ice-type didn't seem inclined to move out of the way, and it took longer than Max expected when firing Ice Beams..
The cryogonal started charging an attack, undeterred by a Water Pulse hitting it in the face, and at first, Max thought it was just a more powerful Ice Beam. It looked the same, only charged, not fired nearly immediately.
Then, hints of white and purple appeared in the ball. "Out!"
Poliwag heard Max, but Max's order only ended up hurting her more. The Freeze-Dry attack hit the water's surface near where poliwag was planning to jump out, and the water, supercooled by the attack, turned from helpful to painful in an instant. The Tadpole Pokémon left the water with a cry, flopping onto the platform as a second round of Freeze Dry descended on her, scoring a direct hit.
Max was surprised when he saw his poliwag stumble up. She looked shaky, but willing to fight. "Water Pulse again!"
Even tired, poliwag was quick at forming a regular Water Pulse, and it slammed into the Ice Beam that cryogonal fired close to the Ice-type's body, creating an explosion that didn't move the floating Pokémon at all. It did give poliwag the time to escape, jumping away onto an ice floe that had been formed earlier.
That was a mistake.
The ice floe broke under poliwag's weight, plunging her into the icy water, prompting a shrill "Poli!" as it happened. When she jumped out, cryogonal was waiting with a flurry of Ice Shards that were unblockable and unstoppable. Poliwag landed harshly, tried to get up, but had to give up.
Max ran through his options. Manectric, and vulpix too, had the problem with not enough mobility, while grovyle and ninjask were weak to Ice. He really should have seen this coming, and he could slap himself for the problem with his line-up, but it wouldn't change anything.
Type-wise, Max knew he should pick vulpix, but it seemed too obvious. Many Ice-types learned some Water-type move, and even Rain Dance would just be plain bad for vulpix. Or falling into the icy water: that was never a good thing for any Fire-type...
"Mr. Maple, your Pokémon?" the referee interrupted Max's musings from his position thirty meters down.
Max decided to go with the Pokémon he had originally planned to use as his third Water field Pokémon, but he didn't like it. "Ninjask, it's your turn!"
He'd done it before, using ninjask to defeat a type advantage, but it was risky. Then again, nothing wagered, nothing gained. "Ninjask, Double Team and Shadow Ball, go!"
Ninjask zipped off upwards, copying itself until about a dozen of him flew into the low sun, the copies moving sort of independently from one another. All of them turned around, flying at the Ice-type, but three of them stuck lower than the rest.
The three lower ninjask got blasted by an Ice Beam, but none of them were real, which was revealed to be the one furthest away from Max, and a Shadow Ball hit the Ice-type.
It didn't do much. So much for that plan.
"Fury Swipes!"
Ninjask dove low, skimming the water's surface so closely a trail of water vapour appeared behind him, adjusting his path just enough to avoid the Ice Beam and Ice Shards that would ruin the attack. The turn up towards cryogonal was almost a right angle, crossing the five feet nearly instantly, and the ninjask started his attack, putting an extra burst of energy into it.
Once, twice, three, four times he was able to rake his claws across cryogonal, turning so tight Max knew it would tire ninjask a bit, but that was the way Fury Swipes worked. The Ice-type had started forming Ice Shards as it was hit for a fourth time, and ninjask instead sped off straight up, lazily avoiding the shards by going horizontal instead of vertical, and avoiding an Aurora Beam – that one was new – by banking down again, claws glowing crimson in a Fury Cutter.
One.
Ninjask flew off without issue. Cryogonal was just too slow to respond, even with Ryan motioning hard.
Two.
Max's Bug-type flirted with danger, rolling around an Aurora Beam sent after it before plunging straight down, aiming for cryogonal's back.
Three.
Max saw Ryan shout something, and the Ice-type started charging another attack; another Ice Beam from the looks of it. The ball wavered, but didn't falter, as cryogonal cried out in pain as another set of pincers raked across it.
Four.
Ninjask came in hard and fast, flying at top speed, ready to deliver the finishing touch to the tired cryogonal. In fact, the cryogonal fell from the air already, as if it lost the ability to… hov… "Ninjask, abort!" Max yelled as he realised what was about to happen.
Five.
Cryogonal hit the water, displacing quite a bit of water with its weight – upwards of three hundred pounds. At the same time, it unleashed its Ice Beam, instantly freezing the displaced water, creating a spiky barrier a few feet high to protect itself from the ninjask, who was coming in at an obtuse angle.
Ninjask had enough kinetic energy that he broke the barrier, but he also lost control of his flight, and the light Bug flew into something about twelve times its weight, hitting it right in the face and forcing both Pokémon into the water.
The still icy-cold water.
Ninjask floundered in the water, trying to get out, but before it could do so, cryogonal was upon him, spinning, slamming its body into him. This did cause ninjask to leave the water, but uncontrolled, and the Aurora Beam follow-up was spot-on, both bathing ninjask in an Ice-type attack and adjusting his trajectory just a tiny bit, right into a wall.
"Ninjask is unable to battle. There will now be a five minute break to switch fields."
"You came close. Good work ninjask," Max said, returning ninjask and taking a good look at the overview currently on one of the big screens. Three Pokémon knocked out to one, and even if cryogonal was visibly on the ropes, it wasn't knocked out yet, and that meant it remained a threat.
Max walked down the stairs to the Trainer's box and took a left, towards where Danny, Ash, and Linda had managed to take seats three matches back. He caught a bottle of water, freshly cooled too. "Thanks."
"Tough break there," Danny said as Max opened the bottle, draining a quarter of it in one go. "Good attempt, though. Should be able to knock it out."
"That's not the problem. The problem is doing so without getting hit."
"Details, details," Danny said, waving his hand nonchalantly, but Max felt Danny's heart wasn't into it. "You went with the six we talked about last night?"
"Yup. And I'm not planning to give up without a fight." They lapsed into silence, Max thinking about how to proceed. He had noticed at some point that Ryan's Pokémon only attacked when he ordered them to, but Max couldn't exploit that with a Smokescreen or something.
"You can still win," Ash spoke up suddenly, and the younger teens, as one, turned to him. "Just stick with your style. It took you this far, and you're not going to win if you switch it up." He smiled, softening his words. "Stick to what you know and keep at it. You'll get him."
The one minute warning echoed through the stadium, and Max handed the half-empty bottle back. "Let's kick this arrogant jerk back to Unova."
"That's the spirit," Ash said, and pikachu concurred from his position on Ash's shoulder. "Good luck!"
"Good luck!" several others, not just Danny and Linda, echoed as Max started walking back to the raised rocky field.
Ryan was already waiting for him in the opposite box, mimicking falling asleep as Max put his microphone back on. Cryogonal was still out, and Ryan wasn't making any move towards replacing it, even though it still looked very tired. Ninjask must have pushed it even more than Max had thought.
"Manectric, show him what you've got!"
There was no time to waste. Max needed the Ice-type gone before it could hit manectric or freeze half the field. "Open with Fire Fang!" Manectric broke into a run, slipping from rock to rock for cover against the Ice Beam the cryogonal was creating, but the Ice-type held it. "Show yourself for a bit longer!"
Max's four-legged Pokémon did just that, and cryogonal fired the Ice Beam, completely missing the mark as manectric jumped to the side, pushing off against the rock, launching herself at the cryogonal with mouth aflame.
Mission accomplished.
Max held a hand on his belt. If Ryan had selected his marowak, he'd use it now, and Max would put grovyle in.
It was an arcanine who came out, the choice also making Max flirt with switching for a second, but he dismissed that option. Arcanine outweighed vulpix, and all vulpix had to work on the Fire-type was Hex, assuming the arcanine had Flash Fire. It was all up to manectric now.
The fight started out slow. Manectric tried a Thunder Wave, and arcanine tried a short Flamethrower, but both attacks passed the other by without issue, completely missing either Pokémon as they had moved out of the way.
The two Pokémon started circling each other, arcanine moving in a slow prowl, manectric jogging a bit more to minimise her profile against the arcanine.
Ryan broke first, ordering arcanine to charge in with a Flare Blitz. The Fire-type went from slow to fast in an instant, cloaking itself in flame, but manectric was faster, using her smaller frame and greater speed to dodge the arcanine, letting it shatter one of the many rocks that littered the field.
It was like the cryogonal fight. Arcanine looked slow, but hit hard, while Max's Pokémon were faster, and, up until now, not as heavy hitting. That wasn't the case now, though. "Close, Discharge."
Manectric blurred into action, nimbly weaving around another Flamethrower while charging a powerful Discharge. She didn't stop moving while unleashing her Discharge either, though she did slow down. Arcanine wasn't prepared for that, and while its initial dodge was on point, manectric's movement landed her a solid hit.
Arcanine shrugged the electricity off, sending another Flamethrower manectric's way. The fire came uncomfortably close to manectric, but the smaller canine dropped to the ground, head sideways, to avoid the flame, which split upon one of the rock formations.
Arcanine thought to take advantage of manectric lying down by going into another Flare Blitz, but that worked exactly like it had the first time. Max's Pokémon was too slippery, and she launched a quick and weak Thunder Wave at the recovering arcanine after it demolished yet another rock.
Ryan recognised that this wasn't going to work, and ordered his Fire-type to Dig.
Manectric broke into an erratic run, trying to avoid her opponent, and her moving paid off. She did flinch a tiny bit when arcanine popped up six feet away, but she wasn't hit fully, and that gave her just enough time to jink away from the descending arcanine trying to flatten her with its weight.
What was more important was that arcanine didn't stick the landing. "Thunder Fang!"
In a flash, manectric bit down on arcanine's tail, to audible annoyance of the Fire-type, who tried to retaliate with a Flamethrower. By the time it had turned around, however, manectric had jumped up, onto the arcanine's back, biting down into the fur with another Thunder Fang, pushing electricity into arcanine's system.
Ryan was definitely losing his cool at the other end, but the battle wasn't over yet.
Manectric jumped off just in time to avoid arcanine setting itself on fire with Flare Blitz, which it then broke off, replacing it with a subtle red aura. "Quick Attack out!"
The Outrage was a sight to behold.
Arcanine charged after manectric, snarling, barking, uncaring about obstacles or the Thunder Wave manectric pushed out. One rock was obliterated, and arcanine didn't care. Another rock cracked when arcanine jumped onto it, using it as a launch pad for a lunge at manectric, though it missed. A third rock was also shattered, and the debris from that actually hit manectric on the head, stunning her for perhaps half a second, which was more than enough for the hot-on-her-heels Fire-type to ram into her, sending her flying off.
Miraculously, manectric was able to recover without too much issue, getting up nearly immediately and jumping into the tunnel arcanine had made when it used Dig earlier. Arcanine went after it, Outrage blinding it to other options, but the Electric-type traversed the tunnel faster, emerging from the other end already sparking.
The Discharge was well-timed and spelled the end of the Outrage, though a vague haze remained in arcanine's eyes. "Now's your chance! Finish it!"
Manectric started her run over the rubble-strewn field, quickly slipping into a circling Quick Attack motion as arcanine shot Flamethrowers in every direction, including down, but none came close to the running canine as she made the circle smaller, giving arcanine less room to move around.
Then, she lit the Spark, and turned on a dime, slamming herself into arcanine's right hind leg, bodies parallel to each other. Her mouth was somewhere near the arcanine's midriff, and she bit down on it, creating another point for the electricity to flow into the Fire-type.
Ryan's canine went to its knees, and they buckled a moment later as manectric pushed more electricity out, lighting up the arcanine. Small debris crackled and popped around the two Pokémon.
Arcanine keeled over, and Max's eyes shot to the referee, instantly.
"Arcanine is unable to battle!"
Max couldn't resist a fist pump as manectric jogged up, tongue out. She was panting slightly as Max knelt by her. "Great work girl. Can you do some more?" The bark and lick that made up manectric's reply were very enthusiastic. "I don't know why I ask. C'mon girl, time for round 3."
Ryan's fourth Pokémon was another Unova Pokémon. This one, Max did know, thanks to Roxanne. Then, electrike had lost to a boldore, tired as she was after defeating a lairon. Now, manectric was tired, but she also had much greater speed and more power to use against the immobile Rock-type.
Boldore started by charging its crystals, firing them off in a Rock Blast, but dodging large and relatively slow-moving objects was easy for manectric. The follow-up Stone Edge was a lot harder to avoid, and two or three of them grazed the canine on her flank.
That was a signal for boldore to start launching a lot of the debris that manectric and arcanine had made, though manectric was nimble enough to keep dodging nearly all of them. "Discharge!"
The Discharge was as powerful as the first one that manectric had used, but it did take her longer to generate that same strength attack. Boldore couldn't do much about it anyway: the Stone Edge rocks disintegrated when faced with the Discharge, and two Rock Blast projectiles connected, but those were too late to stop manectric.
Crackles ran over boldore's body. "Spark!" Max ordered, seeking to press his advantage.
Manectric jumped on the boldore to deliver her electricity, taking a Rock Blast to the torso as she did that. The attack threw her off boldore, and the Rock-type clearly wanted to follow up on it, but couldn't thanks to its muscles locking up.
Manectric made her way over to Max, putting distance between her and her opponent. She looked a lot worse than before, and suddenly, he wasn't so certain about her being able to beat boldore. One good hit probably would knock her out, and with the amount of debris boldore was capable of using – most of the field had been reduced to rubble by arcanine's Outrage – such a hit was inevitable.
Max nodded to himself. He didn't like it, never had, but it was the best plan he had. "One last attack. Give it everything you have."
Once again, manectric charged up her Quick Attack and Spark combination attack, ignoring any Stone Edge rocks that hit her. She had one goal: to weaken boldore as much as she could, and Max knew she would do her utmost best in doing that.
The suicidal rush was successful, and while it clearly knocked manectric out without boldore's help, Ryan's Rock-type didn't exactly come off unscathed. Several of its legs stopped working, and from this distance, Max was unsure if it was because it was nearly defeated or because it had issues with electricity causing spasms.
Not that the difference was relevant.
"Take a long rest. You were amazing," Max said as he returned manectric, clipping the Pokéball on his belt before taking one of his remaining two Pokémon. "Grovyle, there's work for you!"
Max's starter took the field, crouching as he came out, taking stock of the field and his opponent.
Was it his imagination or did he hear a satisfied cry?
"Leaf Blade," Max said as the referee lowered his flags for the… eighth time? "Start right!"
Grovyle shot right, drawing out a Rock Blast, at which point the Grass-type jinked left, and left again after a second Rock Blast, almost approaching boldore from the side. The Rock-type turned on instinct, wanting to follow its opponent, but that was when grovyle moved in, lighting up the Leaf Blades and pressing both of them into boldore's front.
Grovyle used the Leaf Blades and his legs to push himself up onto boldore, and immediately, he pressed his hands on boldore's body, gripping it tightly despite the Rock-type trying to Rock Blast him off, but failing miserably at all but one attempt. The energy absorbed by Max's Pokémon probably allowed him to shrug it off.
From being two Pokémon down, even if one of them was nearly completely spent, Max had managed to bring it back to a tie.
At the other end, Ryan was not happy. At all. Max heard vague words shouted his way, and they weren't exactly complimentary. The referee actually had to remind the formerly cocky teen that they were on television and that there were children in the stadium.
Suddenly, the match looked very, very winnable.
Ryan sent out a woobat: another Unovan Pokémon Max had seen before. It had popped up in his Gym Battle against Tate and Liza, losing to baltoy thanks to Ancientpower. It wasn't the best match-up perhaps, but Max trusted his grovyle to get the job done.
That trust received a boost when Max saw a Confusion connect, yet grovyle seemed to have no issues interrupting it with a Bullet Seed that hit woobat right on the nose, breaking its concentration. "Move closer."
Grovyle started running, scooting right to avoid two blue slashes – Air Cutter – and shooting a short burst of Bullet Seed slightly above the woobat. The ploy worked, as woobat reacted by dropping down, allowing grovyle to lunge in with Leaf Blades lit.
The hit was glancing, but it was a hit, and grovyle blindly dodged out of the way of an Air Cutter sent at its back with a forward roll, picking up debris as he did, before throwing the rock in woobat's direction. It barely missed.
Ryan yelled something just unintelligible enough, and woobat unleashed a psionic pulse into the air before flying off, gathering speed as it darted around the arena.
Grovyle remained calm, tracking the woobat carefully, following its movement for a spell before suddenly launching a Bullet Seed when the Psychic-type was closest to him. One or two seeds hit before woobat could get out of the way, and it flew up, gaining a blue outline.
Then, the woobat, leaving an afterimage in its wake, changed direction, heading straight for grovyle, who had maybe a second's worth of warning before the attack connected. Woobat slammed into grovyle several times, mainly aiming for the torso, but it overstayed its welcome.
X-Scissor flared on the Grass-type's arms, and bringing his left arm up made the Bug-type move connect with woobat mid-swoop, instantly interrupting the attack and sending the woobat tumbling through the air, crashing into the ground away from grovyle as heavy wind started up.
Wait a second. Heavy wind, Psychic-type. "Grovyle, get ready to dodge," Max ordered, breaking off a second Quick Attack – grovyle having sent the woobat flying more with the first one already. "Future Sight incoming!" A glimmer at the far end. "Right!"
Grovyle dodged the diagonally moving globe, but some of the debris it picked up in its wake hit him. It wasn't too annoying, and Pokémon and Trainer turned their eyes back to the opponent.
An opponent who was having trouble getting off the ground.
The woobat tried to fly up, but its left wing didn't want to participate fully, its flaps lagging behind the right one. It managed to go airborne, about two feet off the ground, using Psychic energy to lift itself, but the Air Cutter that it sent out only delivered one slash, and prompted it to drop to the ground again.
Grovyle weaved around the blue energy, and he had just enough time to adjust his plans, placing his foot under the woobat and kicking it up before slamming another X-Scissor blade into it, following it up with a Bullet Seed for good measure.
"Woobat is unable to battle."
A part of Max felt sorry for the woobat: grovyle had probably broken one of the wing bones when he'd lashed out. Another part felt it served Ryan right.
Then he realised he was actually in the lead, two Pokémon to one. Grovyle and vulpix against a hitmonlee. The Fighting-type let loose a few warm-up kicks on the flat field before bowing to grovyle.
The referee brought down his flags once more, and both Pokémon closed the distance as soon as he did. The hitmonlee lashed out with a Blaze Kick as an opener, jabbing his foot at grovyle. The Grass-type rolled to the side, using his smaller profile to dodge the kick.
Hitmonlee walked up, taking a quick few steps before launching a head-high roundhouse kick with its left foot. It whizzed through the air over grovyle's head as Max's starter ducked barely in time, but the moment hitmonlee's left foot landed, his right lashed out, slamming into grovyle's side.
Grovyle took a small tumble, but got up in time to see the hitmonlee charge in, his left shoulder first. "Left, Leaf Blade."
Ryan's Pokémon tried to ram grovyle, but Max's starter took a few steps, knelt, and lit a Leaf Blade that he didn't even need to move to hit. It raked across hitmonlee's right shin, but the Kicking Pokémon retaliated with a quick kick back, slamming a foot into grovyle's.
"Go in. Focus the legs," Max ordered, and Leaf Blade met kick after kick as the Pokémon started trading blows.
The gaps in grovyle's defences that had nearly caused him to lose against a gabite were still there, if a little less obvious, but hitmonlee spotted them, snaking a foot through grovyle's guard to land a solid hit in his stomach, but the Grass-type had grabbed the offending left leg, draining energy with one hand before bringing down a Leaf Blade with the other arm.
He paid for it as hitmonlee lit up a Blaze kick on his left leg, scorching grovyle's hand and forcing him back, right into a low sweep that knocked the Grass-type off his feet. The prone Pokémon wasn't quite fast enough at rolling away, and the front of hitmonlee's foot raked across grovyle's side.
Grovyle got to his feet faster than Max expected, but the green glow explained that. "Go in."
Hitmonlee didn't try to block the slashes grovyle was unleashing on him, choosing instead to dodge; a feat not made any easier by his larger size and grovyle's nimbleness, but he traversed the first barrage with only a glancing hit on his shoulder.
Then, grovyle switched from large, hewing strikes to quick cuts; from attacking the torso to the legs, and that was more successful. A Leaf Blade sliced into hitmonlee's leg before the Fighting-type realised grovyle's change in strategy, and the higher rate of attack made dodging infeasible, as two more quick slashes proved.
So instead, the hitmonlee went for a counter, jumping up even as he took another slash to the lower right leg. His foot glowed, and it was aimed straight for grovyle. "Dodge!"
The attack was never meant to hit grovyle.
The Earthquake shook the ground, sending grovyle sprawling to the floor, and hitmonlee took advantage, delivering a fiery kick as if he were playing football into grovyle's midriff, who flew back several feet, skidding into the debris of the last remaining rock – one that the Future Sight had destroyed – and not getting up, Overgrow fading.
"Amazing work grovyle," Max said, returning his starter and taking a moment to calm his thoughts. Now was not the time to succumb to nerves. "Let's finish this. Vulpix!"
"The winner of this round wins the match. Begin!"
"Confuse Ray."
Hitmonlee immediately sprang into action, closing the distance in a straight line. Unfortunately for him, that meant the Confuse Ray was nearly unavoidable, and the purple energy hit when he was a few strides away from Max's Pokémon.
Still, hitmonlee continued, lashing out with a low sweep at vulpix, who took the kick, flying off to the side and landing on her feet.
And then the confusion started working. Hitmonlee lashed out at an imaginary foe to his left, ignoring the vulpix in front of him. "Flamethrower!"
A reddish light overtook the Fighting-type just before Flamethrower scorched it, and when the attack had passed, hitmonlee was still standing, smoke wafting off its body. The confusion had cleared, and it wasted no time in going in for a High Jump Kick.
But its earlier kick had been too successful in creating distance. Vulpix had enough time to recuperate, jumping off to the side to avoid the hitmonlee trying to crash into it, and instead, the ground was hitmonlee's target. He cried out in obvious pain as his more fragile leg met the arena floor.
And then he keeled over, Max's order of Ember dying on his lips, though vulpix sent a short burst anyway.
"Hitmonlee is unable to battle," the referee stated as cheers started filtering through the shields. "Mr. Maple and vulpix are the winner!"
The explosion of sound as the shields dropped nearly deafened Max.
~~§~~§~~§~~§~~
Dear Lord Cavendish,
I have completed my inquiry into the matter we spoke of on the night of September 1st. It is probably more convenient if I were to share them with you in person, just to explain everything fully. I am currently at this year's Ever Grande Conference, and I am aware you are out of the country on business, but perhaps we can find time to meet up after both of us have some free time again?
Yours faithfully,
Gym Leader David Atalanta
Author's Note: Continuing the Double Battle immunity shenanigans from last chapter, this time used against a protagonist. And a Full Battle, which is the sole reason this chapter is so much longer than the others.