DVa vs Hanzo
Numbani was more crowded than usual. Despite unity day being 2 weeks away, the preparations were already in full swing, with the current tournament not easing the crowd either, which Overwatch had taken temporary ownership of a hotel and stadium to facilitate.
There was a commotion going on around the entrance of the hotel. Hanzo Shimada was a few meters ahead, making his way towards the stadium, but he could not help but take a look.
A small korean girl in a pink bunny-themed jacket was flanked by a pair of burly bodyguards, signing a few autographs as she made her way out of the gate. The name was emblazened on the sleeve.
"Hmmph, paparazzi. Looks like I'll be facing the streamer today."
As if DVa could read his thoughts, she shot Hanzo a glance. The Japanese archer looked away and continued walking.
*Half an hour later*
The stadium was packed more than usual. DVa fans were everywhere, raising banners and flags to cheer their idol on. It didn't bother Hanzo one bit.
DVa walked into the arena, giving the crowd a finger-bang and a peace sign, earning a loud cheer from the spectators.
Hanzo looked to the competitor's seats, and saw his brother giving him a thumbs-up. Hanzo smiled.
"Competitors, send out your first pokemon."
"I choose you, Decidueye."
"Go, wishiwashi!"
Hanzo's decidueye pulled its leafy hood over its head, cooing with understanding. Wishiwashi leapt into a stream, raising its head above the water. The arena had changed to a dense woodland bisected by a wide river.
"Fight together, wishi! School form!"
The river bubbled as shadows danced beneath the surface. Wishiwashi's eyes glowed, and more of its kind threw themselves at it, forming a growing mass that elongated, sprouting pronged fins as it began to levitate. A heartbeat later, the small fry pokemon had turned into a monstrous fish, setting its sights on decidueye.
From up in the champion's chamber, Reinhardt looked closely. "Oh yes, now this will be a good fight."
"Go wishi! Ice beam!"
A ball of energy formed in wishiwashi's collective mouth, and a beam of blue light shot out, causing decidueye to take to the air. The beam hit a tree behind it, freezing it solid.
"Aim for the eyes, decidueye! Spirit shackle!"
Quick as a wink, decidueye plucked a quill and fired it while airborne. Wishiwashi saw this, and the mass of fish shifted, forming a hole where the eye once was to allow the arrow to sail right through, thudding into the river.
"Leaf blade, quick!"
Before wishiwashi could reform its eye, decidueye plummeted down, blades of leaves jutting from slots in its wings. It made a few solid slashes, causing unconscious individual wishiwashies to fall from the school and back into the river. Wishiwashi retaliated as soon as it could, landing a point-blank hydro pump that blasted decidueye away.
"It can't leave the stream! Spirit shackle, again!"
Drying itself, decidueye plucked another quill and fired it at wishiwashi's other eye, dodging an ice beam that froze another tree. The arrow hit home this time, but with the assistance of wishiwashi's schoolmates, was plucked out and dropped into the water. The injured wishiwashi moved to the centre of the school, allowing another of its kind to take its place.
Ana was impressed. "He's a good shot, Reinhardt, isn't he?"
"Ice beam!"
Another beam of ice shot from wishiwashi's mouth, this time persisting and chasing decidueye though the trees, and eventually the sky. Decidueye suddenly dropped, and fired another spirit shackle, the quill lodging itself in wishiwashi's mouth. Its ice beam ceased, and decidueye hit the ground with a combat roll.
"Keep shooting, decidueye!"
The arrow quill pokemon shot another spirit shackle, lodging into wishiwashi's tail. The small fry pokemon roared collectively, as the arrows dropped from its body and another ice beam was launched. Decidueye feigned left, then ran right, where less trees were frozen, nailing another spirit shackle in wishiwashi's flank. The beam eventually caught up to it, stopping short of freezing its tail feathers.
"Ugh, it's too fast, wishi! Use earthquake!"
Wishiwashi pounded the ground with its tail, causing the arena to shake. The frozen trees snapped at the roots, toppling down all around decidueye, who was flying at terribly low altitude avoiding this deadly obstacle course. The DVa fans cheered her on, hoping for a critical strike on decidueye.
Via his visor, Jack looked at the battle in infrared view. He could see decidueye's figure dodging left and right, stopping erratically here and there, looking for an opening. It was getting trapped.
However, the arrow quill pokemon made it out of the collapsing foliage and sped straight towards wishiwashi, two quills and leaf blades at the ready on each wing.
"Brave bird!"
Decidueye fired the arrows, and slashed right through the school with its velocity. Dozens of unconscious wishiwashi, quills or leaf shards in their flanks, fell from the school and into the water. The school reformed with its remaining individuals, now facing the arrow quill pokemon flying away from it. With one precise ice beam, the school shot decidueye out of the sky.
Hanzo ran to his pokemon's side, surveying the damage. Fortunately, the arrow quill pokemon had not been frozen, and it stood up gingerly. The arena had significantly less trees left to use for cover, and spirit shackle was running out of PP, so Hanzo knew this was the time to go all out.
"Trust your feelings decidueye, I need you to hit both its eyes, with your last two arrows."
Decidueye squawked, drawing its bowstring with its last two spirit shackles. A ball of icy energy collected in the smaller school of small fry pokemon, taking aim at decidueye.
Decidueye closed it eyes. It released the quills.
A pair of thuds and a shriek of pain.
Amelie gasped from the crowd, her hand flying to her mouth. "Excellent shot…"
Hanzo smiled proudly at his pokemon. Now was his only chance, as the school of wishiwashi squirmed, blinded. He raised his ungloved hand, revealing a z-ring. Tapping on the insignia, he commanded decidueye.
"Release your full strength, decidueye! Sinister Arrow Raid!"
With a ghost of a smile, decidueye took to the air. What had been an empty quiver seconds ago now brimmed with arrows, flaring out in a ring around decidueye. The sunken quills in the river glowed, from a point of view as high as the champion's chamber, the Elite Four and Champion saw that it spelled out a letter Z.
"This is new," Gabriel stated flatly.
Decidueye want into a nosedive, its arrows following closely behind. Wishiwashi's vision came back just in time to see all its comrades pinned by quills, as decidueye descended straight onto the heart of the school. Extending a leaf blade from its hand, it made one swift, decisive chop at the original wishiwashi.
The school dissolved. Wishiwashi was recalled to its pokeball, as the spectators let out a loud "Aww…", disappointed.
"Wishiwashi is unable to battle. Hanzo gets a point."
"You've trained them well. I'm surprised how they managed to get past Numbani's sewage systems and join your wishiwashi in battle."
"No time for small talk, dragon guy, I've got a battle to win! Go, lopunny!"
Without any delay, DVa sent out the rabbit pokemon, earning another cheer from the crowd. DVa held aloft a console controller with a key stone set in it.
"Lopunny, Mega Evolve!"
Energy coursed from the key stone and lopunnite, and lopunny's figure became surrounded in harsh light. The crowd went wild as lopunny's ears became longer and segmented, its arms growing outwards and its legs becoming more fluffed at the end. Upon its transformation, mega lopunny performed a showboat, beckoning decidueye to attack. Hanzo, however, was not impressed.
"Do your fans ever consider their obsession with you? Decidueye, leaf blade!"
The arrow quill pokemon sprung into the air, landing on lopunny with leaf blades in both its wings. The rabbit pokemon parried with ice punch, retaliating hard and fast. Its ability, scrappy, allowed it to bypass decidueye's ghostly guard, forcing the arrow quill pokemon to produce more leaf blades to protect itself.
Genji watched from the competitor's seats, the green leaf blades reminding him of his own katana. He studied decidueye's form as it blocked lopunny's punches, and slashed with its own blades, its cloak billowing menacingly behind it.
Lopunny avoided a vertical slash, and just as decidueye's other leaf blade came in for a horizontal one, lopunny ducked, grabbing decidueye's wing with an icy fist as the blade wooshed past. The battle quickly turned, as lopunny followed up by breaking decidueye's wing and punching it square in the face.
Torbjorn looked away momentarily. "That'd hurt for sure!"
"Finish it, lopunny! High jump kick!"
Lopunny threw the incapacitated decidueye to the ground, jumping high in the air. The arrow quill pokemon could do nothing as a kick connected with its head, causing a shock wave and a crater in the ground, knocking it out cold. The crowd erupted into applause.
"Decidueye is unable to battle. DVa gets a point."
"Still confident of your chances of winning, dragon guy?"
"So much so that I'll reduce it for the sake of entertainment. Go, charizard!"
The flame pokemon landed on the ground, the Charizardite X gleaming in the collar around its neck. Hanzo raised his Z-ring once more, sliding the insignia back to reveal a key stone.
"Charizard, mega evolve!"
Charizard roared as its flames turned blue from the energy influx, spilling out on its cheeks, its wings spreading outwards and growing more pointed. Reinhardt watched the transformation with nostalgia, remembering the trainer with a similar Charizard he had met on a mission across the rift a year ago.
"Fight with honor, Charizard. Dragon claw!"
Blue flames flickered around charizard's wrists, solidifying into sharp, jagged claws. The flame pokemon advanced on lopunny from the air, making it retreat towards the remaining trees. Lopunny parried charizard's slashes with its arms and ears, but DVa could see that her pokemon was tiring.
"Around the tree, lopunny! Lose its line of sight!"
Lopunny disengaged, grabbing a branch with one of its ears and pulling itself through the canopy.
"You cannot let it escape! Flare blitz!"
Engulfing itself in blue flames, charizard uprooted the tree, crushing it to cinders, only to see lopunny diving down from the skies, its leg outstretched.
"High jump kick!"
The kick landed on charizard's chest, slamming the flame pokemon to the ground. Taking advantage of the momentary stun, DVa went in for the attack.
Right hook. Left jab. Scissor kick. Uppercut. DVa commanded lopunny like it was a video game avatar, landing a deadly chain of hits up close. Throwing charizard into the air, lopunny landed another high jump kick, slamming its opponent into the river.
Genji sighed. "I never imagined you losing hand-to-hand combat like that."
While DVa smiled confidently, blowing kisses to the adoring fans all over the stadium, a crack appeared in the ground. It shook, expanding and snaking towards lopunny, forcing the rabbit pokemon to go airborne. Charizard rose slowly from the water, its new dragon typing nullifying its weakness to water. Roaring a challenge at lopunny, its blue flames glowed brighter than ever before.
"One more, lopunny! High jump kick!"
Lopunny plummeted towards charizard, but this time, the flame pokemon was ready. Jumping into the air, it grabbed lopunny savagely in mid-air, its tough claws holding the rabbit pokemon tight. Surrounding itself and its victim in blue flames, charizard plummeted back to the ground, putting lopunny ahead of itself so that it would bear the brunt of the fall.
"Flare blitz!"
A deafening explosion engulfed the arena, making everyone, save the elite four and champion, shield their ears and eyes. When the dust cleared, what once was a forest was either completely burnt or frozen from wishiwashi's ice beams, and charizard was peeling itself from lopunny's unconscious body, roaring victoriously.
Gabriel and Junkrat chuckled from their seats.
"Now those are fireworks."
"Lopunny is unable to battle. Hanzo gets a point."
"There's no way I'm losing! Go, torterra!"
The continent pokemon landed on the barren arena with a loud thud, its shell complete with pink highlights and even sponsor stickers all over it.
Hanzo looked at his pokemon, bearing all sorts of bruises and cuts from the battle so far. Charizard's flame often glowed brightest in the final reserves of its strength, he had to finish the battle quickly.
"Don't hesitate, charizard! Flare blitz!"
Flames burning bright once more, charizard hurled itself from the air at torterra, the latter's huge landmass and slow speed making it a hard target to miss.
"Stone edge, torterra! Shoot it down!"
Slamming the ground, multiple pillars of stone rose into the air. At torterra's command, the pillars fragmented and were sent flying towards the flame pokemon.
Charizard dodged and weaved in the air, pausing its assault to use dragon claw to destroy the bigger chunks or rock. The barrage kept coming, some sharper shards digging into charizard's flank and wings. After a gruesomely long 20 seconds, torterra tired. Grasping the opportunity, Charizard rushed in recklessly for the finishing blow, its blue flames enveloping its entire body.
"Now, torterra! Earthquake!"
Right before the flaming meteor of a dragon made contact, torterra stomped the ground with its forelegs, forming a fissure in the singed earth with spurs of rock jutting within it. Charizard could not change its course. Dragging along the barbed fissure, it crashed into torterra still, slowing to a stop after a long drag and throwing up lots of dirt. The blue flames died, save the one on its tail which glowed dimly.
"Very well. You did well today, charizard. Return."
The continent pokemon stood gingerly as its opponent was recalled. Suddenly, one of its legs collapsed, causing it to topple like a broken chair. The tree on its back caught fire, which spread to the rest of its body, incinerating all the sponsor stickers pasted on its shell. With a final roar of defeat, it sank to the ground, unconscious.
"You know what they say," Reinhardt mused, "the bigger they are, the harder they fall."
The spectating DVa fans muttered amongst themselves. Their idol had been bested by a nomad recently recruited to Overwatch. In a 2v3.
"Charizard and torterra are unable to battle. Hanzo gains the final point and wins the match."
"No fair! He had the type advantage on torterra!"
Hanzo chuckled. He remembered the times of his youth, when his brother used to argue with him like that. He gave Genji a thumbs up, before stepping forward to address DVa.
"Your partners fought honorably alongside you. It was a pleasure to face you in battle."
The korean streamer begrudgingly bowed to the archer, who bowed back.
"You were a toughie. Your pokemon would make a good boss battle. GG!"
Stowing away the pokeball containing Hanzo's last pokemon, the two competitors made their way out of the arena, chatting of their previous adventures along the way. Genji watched them go, satisfied at how his once lonesome, serious brother had learnt to brighten up and interact with society over the years.
*That night*
Hanzo laid his Z-ring on the pedestal on his desk. On the wall above it, his storm bow rested, though he hoped that he never had to use it through the course of this competition.
There was a knock on the hotel room door. Opening it, Hanzo saw Genji outside.
"You fought well today, brother. I can see clearly the fruits of your training. May I meditate with you tonight?"
Hanzo smiled, welcoming his brother. Genji stowed his katana on a stand in the room, and the two brothers kneeled together on a mat that Hanzo had laid out on the balcony, overlooking the green streets and many towers that made up the cityscape of Numbani.
"It was a full moon yesterday, Hanzo. Did you see it from your room? Mine didn't have a very good view."
"Yes Genji. I rarely miss such beautiful natural phenomenon. It reminds me of our childhood, when we were inseparable, carefree as the wind."
Genji smiled, looking momentarily at his brother. "The world has changed so much, brother. I am honored to be by your side again."
"I thank you too, brother, for opening my eyes to the true purpose of this life. For reaching out to me when I needed it most, all those years ago."
Under the light of the past-full moon, the two Shimada brothers meditated in silence. Unbeknownst to them, their spirit dragons looked towards the moon, communicating with their dragon-type brethren, embracing the tranquillity of the moment before another heated battle ensued the next day.
Author's note: Hey guys, Fyre here. Whew, that's another chapter down, leaving the Shimada Bros (who have made up at this point in the story) meditating in the moonlight. Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, if it has already taken turns that you dislike, my apologies, but I do hope that you guys are looking forward to the next chapter.
I will be slightly more free for the next week, so you can expect the next chapter a little sooner. There's gonna be a bit more expansion of the plot and the results of the battle in the next match may surprise you. Make sure to leave a review if you really like the story or if there's a critical mistake that you think I should take care of. Until then, see ya!