Whew, this was a long one. But I managed to wrap up the conclusive battle between Blake and Cynthia! Don't forget to review to show your support, as well as give some feedback! I put a lot of effort into this one, and would love to hear whatever you have to say about it!
Darkhammer: Sounds about right.
Superblal: Well, hopefully I managed to pull it off with this chapter.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Right now, I'm only accepting submissions for seniors. If you want to submit a character other than a senior, I can't say when I will be able to incorporate them into the story.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 71
"Blake has taken an early lead, but this match isn't over yet!" Darla said.
"That's right, Darla, I wonder what Cynthia's next move is gonna be?" Lila asked.
"Okay!" Cynthia said, smiling. "We'll go with you! James!"
Cynthia tossed a pokeball into the air, which her Loudred emerged from, letting out a loud howl.
Cory is in bad shape, Blake considered. But I don't know how much use he'll have if I switch out…
"Cory, I'm sorry to ask this of you, but fight until you give out, okay?" Blake asked.
"Cor!" Cory looked back at him with a fire in his eyes and nodded, pumping his pincer into the air eagerly. He whirled around and scuttled across the ground toward James, raising up his pincers and firing a barrage of bubbles.
"James, use echoed voice!" Cynthia ordered. James opened his mouth and his ear speakers enlarged, firing a shockwave of sound out from his body. The amplified sonic blast shattered the bubbles before they got close and covered the battlefield in a wall of sound, buffeting Cory and slowing his advance. Cory winced, the sounds injuring him, but he continued to press forward.
"No point in reporting with this volume!" Darla shouted into her microphone. "Just hold your ears, everyone!"
Just like Akira's battle against Dakota, my orders won't get through to Cory with this sound echoing around the battlefield… Blake frowned. But Cory doesn't need my orders to fight. He'll attack full-out, whether he can hear me or not!
As though proving his trainer right, Cory coated his body in a veil of water and leapt off the ground, shooting toward James at high-speed with an aqua jet, barreling through the barrier of sound.
"I saw that one coming!" Cynthia smirked. "Of course if he can't hear you, Cory would go for a head-on charge! James! Pound him from below!"
"Loud!" James nodded, narrowing his eyes. He lowered his arm and waited until the instant Cory was about to collide with him, and swung his fist up. James' fist broke through the water and struck Cory from below with a powerful pound, diverting the aqua jet and knocking him into air.
"Just goes to show you, Blake! It's easy to deflect moves like that if you know what you're doing!" Cynthia chortled.
"Cory!" Blake shouted. Cory's eyes snapped open and he turned over in the air, pointing one of his pincers at James. He let out a bubblebeam attack straight at the normal pokemon's face.
"James!" Cynthia shouted, James a step ahead of his trainer and already releasing a sonic blast to detonate the bubbles before they could get close.
"Sorry, Blake, but we were just a little too fast! Now, James, use echoed voice again!" James lowered his head and directed his speakers towards Cory, sending out another sonic wave over the battlefield at the injured Cory.
"Cory, use bubblebeam on the ground!" Blake ordered. Cory lowered his pincers and fired twin blasts of bubbles underneath the shockwaves, the bubbles hitting the stony floor and exploding well before they ever collided with James.
"Oh, nice move!" Darla noted.
"Whoa, Corphish threw up a smokescreen by blowing up the battlefield and knocking dust into the air!" Lila noted.
"Trying to hide so you can sneak up on us, huh?" Cynthia asked. "Well, sorry, but that won't work either! James! Amplify your volume!"
"LOUDRED!" James howled, his ears straining even more, the soundwaves amplified and causing the entire stadium to shake from the echoes. The normal pokemon inhaled, storing up air inside of his powerful lungs, and then released it in a massive sonic blast that struck Cory's ears, blowing him backwards even behind the cover of the smoke. Cory landed on his back, struggling helplessly before finally succumbing to the poison in his system.
"Sorry, pal," Blake said, returning Cory to his pokeball. "You weren't able to even land one blow. But it's okay."
"And with that, Cynthia has managed to even the score!" Lila cheered.
"What will Blake counter with, I wonder?" Darla asked.
"Rogen! Go!" Blake said, tossing out a pokeball. His Boldore emerged and landed on the ground, raising his pincers and slamming them on the ground menacingly.
"Well, that's not a fun party," Cynthia huffed. James won't be able to do much damage with his normal attacks.
"Return!" Cynthia returned James to his pokeball. "Ruby, come on back!"
Cynthia sent her Mawile back out, the steel pokemon glaring intimidatingly, gnashing the jaws of her false mouth.
"And Cynthia's Mawile makes a return appearance to counter Blake's Boldore!" Lila said.
"Will Blake make a rotation as well, or will he stick with the unfavorable matchup?" Darla wondered.
Rogen won't do much against Cynthia's ace, Tristan, Blake noted. But if I can use him to weaken her Mawile, then the rest of my team will have a better shot…
"Rogen! Use stealth rock!" Blake ordered. Rogen raised his pincers, rocks shooting up from the ground and hovering over Cynthia's side of the field.
"Oh, how clever," Cynthia said, smiling. "With stealth rock to damage my pokemon, I won't be able to use Elise's endeavor strategy!"
"I'm counting on it," Blake grinned. "Now, Rogen, use rock blast!" Rogen held up his pincers in front of his body, creating a large rock in front of him, firing it at Ruby.
"Ruby, iron head!" Cynthia ordered. Ruby's fangs began glowing with metallic energy, and she opened them wide, gnawing through the stone with a powerful bite. She ran backwards, gnashing her fangs as she charged at Rogen.
"Rogen, use rock polish," Blake ordered. Rogen scraped away at his body with his pincers, shaving off excess material and smoothing over his rough edges, increasing his speed. He jumped to the side, avoiding the small pokemon's massive jaws, increasing the gap between them.
"Ruby! Use faint attack!" Cynthia ordered. Ruby disappeared into the long shadows cast by the dark crystals, and reappeared behind Rogen, striking him in the back with her long fangs, biting down hard on him.
"Rogen! Use iron defense to increase your resilience!" Blake ordered.
"Bold!" Rogen agreed, his body glowing with a metallic sheen as his defensive power increased.
"Don't let that stop you, Ruby!" Cynthia cried out. "Break through the iron defense with your iron head!" Ruby's fangs began glowing with a metallic sheen of their own, increasing their destructive power to match up against Rogen's hardened surface.
"…Well, this just got real boring," Darla sighed after about a minute of this stalemate.
"But… but it's so passionate!" Lila proclaimed. "Blake's pokemon is getting harder and harder, while the grip of Cynthia's pokemon just increases in intensity and power!"
"…Please don't say it like that," Darla groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Why not?" Lila asked, confused.
"Now, Ruby!" Cynthia shouted. "Use all of your power to lift Rogen up… and then fling him real hard!"
"Maw!" Ruby nodded, gritting her teeth and bracing herself against the ground. She strained her muscles as hard as she could and tried to lower her head, Rogen's body begin to move, just nudges and tremors at first, but finally she was able to lift him off the ground, holding the heavy rock pokemon over her head. With a twist of her neck, she flung him into the air, sending him flying through the sky.
"Rogen!" Blake cried out.
"Now, swing at him at full power with your iron head one more time!" Cynthia cheered.
"Mawile!" Ruby shouted, running forward. Rogen hit the ground hard, digging a big crater in the stony floor, sending shards of crystal into the air. He was quick to leap up, though, and held up his claws, the crystals glowing with energy as he shot them at Ruby, pelting the steel pokemon as she advanced.
"Don't let him get away, use faint attack," Cynthia ordered. Ruby disappeared and struck Rogen from below, knocking him off balance, the heavy pokemon falling backwards. Ruby leapt into the air and raised her fangs up high, preparing to bite down on Rogen with a powerful iron head.
"Sandstorm!" Blake ordered. Blasts of sand erupted from Rogen's body as a tornado of dust and debris whirled up around him, temporarily blinding Ruby and swathing the field in a massive dust devil. Ruby wiped the sand from her eyes and looked around, momentarily disoriented by the whirling sands.
"Ruby! Can you find him?!" Cynthia asked.
"A massive sandstorm has covered the battlefield!" Lila gasped.
"Boldore has complexly disappeared from sight!" Darla said.
"Ruby might not take any damage from the sandstorm, but with her visibility temporarily impaired, now's our time to strike!" Blake ordered. "Rogen, use rock tomb!"
Rogen, seeing perfectly through the dust thanks to his protected eyes, slammed his claw into the ground, rocks shooting out of the battlefield and surrounding Ruby, slamming down on her from all sides and trapping her within the stones.
"No, Ruby!" Cynthia shouted.
"Now, use magnitude!" Blake ordered. Rogen slammed his claws into the ground and sent a shockwave through the ground, the powerful tremor shattering the rocky prison and transferring the force of the tremor into Ruby's body. Ruby landed on her feet, trembling, swaying dizzily around from the force of the attack, and collapsed.
"Mawile is unable to battle!" Lila announced.
"Return," Cynthia said, returning Ruby. "Well, Blake, I might have underestimated you! I thought for sure that Ruby would be able to take down Rogen, but I guess I'll have to settle for badly wounding him!"
"Well, if you were looking for a sure thing, then maybe you should send out Tristan, huh?" Blake suggested. "He'd be mighty helpful for turning the tide of this one!"
"Hah! I'm not falling for that one," Cynthia laughed. "This is my precious rematch, after all! I'm fighting you with every trick I've got up my sleeve this time, so just watch! Tristan will come out when he's good and ready! In the meantime, Chris will just have to do!"
Cynthia sent her Spheal out, the pokemon hit by a double whammy of a sandstorm to the face and a pummeling from stealth rocks hovering around him.
"For starters, why don't we have a change of scenery!" Cynthia grinned. "Chris, use hail!"
Chris released a blast of icy energy into the air, gathering in the atmosphere and creating a cloud overhead, hail pelting the battlefield and clearing the sand away, barraging Rogen's body.
"Rogen, use rock blast," Blake ordered. Rogen fired a blast of massive stones at Chris, the small seal pokemon curling up into a ball and rolling out of the way.
"Brine!" Cynthia ordered. Chris uncurled and shot a blast of water up into the air, raining down on Rogen with massive power, the barrage of waves breaking against his hardened surface and causing him to crack up.
He won't last long, Blake noted. "Rogen! Now's the time!"
"Boldore!" Rogen shouted, compressing energy into his body. He released the energy in a massive explosion, shooting out across the battlefield. Chris was flung backwards and crashed onto the ground, unconscious.
"It's a double knockout!" Lila called.
"Now Cynthia has lost three of her pokemon, while Blake still has four left to use," Darla announced.
The two returned their pokemon to their pokeballs, Cynthia frowning in irritation.
"Rose, it's your turn!" Cynthia ordered. Rose emerged from her pokeball, smiling widely, holding her small hands up in the air to shield herself from the barrage of stones.
"Ruru! Go!" Blake sent Ruru back out, the small spider pokemon chittering eagerly as she scurried toward Rose.
"Thunder wave," Blake ordered. Ruru held up her pincers, creating a field of electricity that she released in a shockwave at Rose.
"Rose, teleport!" Cynthia ordered. This is a pretty bad matchup… but all that training wasn't for nothing. We need just a little more experience…
Rose disappeared, the shockwave harmlessly passing through the air. She reappeared above Ruru and fired a blast of psychic energy, knocking Ruru into the air.
"Okay, that's good, Rose! Come on back! We don't want to show off all your tricks just yet!" Cynthia returned Rose to her pokeball, even knowing she'd be hit by the stealth rock attack the next time she came out.
"Switching out after suddenly sending her out?" Lila asked, surprised.
"Strange…" Darla agreed.
"James, come on back," Cynthia ordered. She sent out her Loudred for a second time, the normal pokemon getting hit by the rocks.
"Sorry Cynthia, but this isn't a great matchup for you," Blake said, smiling. "Ruru, get down real low, and use string shot!"
James launched another echoed voice attack, but Ruru ducked down, scurrying across the ground to dodge the soundwaves. Ruru spun around and fired a thick string at the big pokemon. The string wrapped around James's legs to trip him up, but James wasn't having any of it. He swung his arm down and ripped the threads apart, putting an end to Ruru's attempts to slow him down.
"Try thunderwave next," Blake suggested. Ruru released another wave of electric energy across the field in an attempt to paralyze James.
"James, that attack sweeps down below, so dodge it by jumping up!" Cynthia ordered. James leapt into the air, enduring the rocks that dug into him, the thunder wave harmlessly passing below him.
"Now, use spider web!" Blake ordered. "He can't dodge in the air!"
Ruru spun around and fired a thick web out from her backside, the webbing spreading out to wrap around James.
"Hyper voice!" Cynthia ordered. James inhaled deeply and fired a massive sonic attack, the shockwave blasting the webbing apart, the threads landing harmlessly on the ground. James hit the ground, letting out another howl. He looked around eagerly for Ruru, stomping at the ground to try and smash the small spider. But Ruru was far too quick to be caught by the heavy pokemon, easily staying out of his reach.
Huh… Blake thought, frowning. Cynthia isn't giving out any orders… I wonder why…
His eyes widened as he realized what was going on.
"Ruru, get away from James, and then send a string shot into the air!" Blake ordered. "And make it really obvious!" Ruru scurried back, and fired a long stretch of silk up into the sky. James whirled to see it and charged in that direction.
"What's going on?" Lila asked, confused. "What is he doing?"
"I'm not sure," Dakota said, frowning.
"Now, get right underneath James with your agility! He won't notice you!" Blake ordered. "Then, use electro ball to catch him from below!"
"Jolt!" Ruru chittered, running down underneath James and creating a large orb of electricity, hitting him from below, the orb exploding and sending a shockwave of electricity through his body, James stumbling back and letting out a cry of pain.
"Darn…" Cynthia frowned, gritting her teeth.
"I almost forgot," Blake said. "When Loudred expend too much sonic energy, they can't hear for a period of time afterwards! Right now, James is as deaf as can be! So he can't hear Ruru, he has to rely on sight! Ruru, use double team!"
"Jolt!" Ruru created several copies of herself, spreading the copies out around the battlefield to distract James from seeing them.
James still needs more time to recharge before his hearing returns and he can use a full-power hyper voice, Cynthia frowned. Nothing I can do… but I can't return him yet, either. I can't send Tristan out until Blake has used Weiss! There's no way we can win if Tristan goes into that battle injured! But I can't send Rose out again, either! James is my best bet. Ruru is weakened right now, but James isn't doing so hot, either. We've got to hold out until his powers return, then we'll take her out with a single attack!
"Ruru! Use electroweb!" Blake ordered. Ruru shot a barrage of webbing from among her duplicates, and though only one of them was real, James had not idea which one. The webs entangled around him, wrapping him up in a cocoon, sending a current of electricity through his body.
"Loudred!" James cried out.
"James!" Cynthia cried. "Come on, stay strong big guy! You can do it! Just a little bit longer!"
"Loudred!" James shouted, glancing back at Cynthia.
He can hear me! Cynthia grinned. "That's what I've been waiting for! James! Use hyper voice!"
"Ruru! Jump back!" Blake shouted.
James inhaled, storing air up in his body, and let out a powerful howl that shook the stadium, hitting Ruru from behind and scattering her clones into the air, the tiny bug pokemon falling onto the ground. James ran after her, the decimated threads torn away from his body as he lifted up his leg.
"Ruru! Get away!" Blake shouted. Ruru struggled to her feet, but she didn't have any energy left to run, having been badly battered by the powerful hyper voice. Instead, she gave in and fell down, James bringing his foot down on her with a powerful stomp.
Blake returned the unconscious Joltik, frowning.
"Okay! That's it!" Darla announced.
"Both Blake and Cynthia have lost three pokemon!" Lila continued.
"Now, the arena will change it up! How will this affect the second half of the battle?!" The two shouted, turning to the screens, the large wheel up top beginning to spin.
Cynthia returned James to his pokeball as the stadium sunk into the ground, the wheel pulling to a stop on a blank space.
"Normal Stage 1! Tile Field!" Darla announced. The new stadium rose back up, revealing a large blank field covered in tiled flooring.
"What a perfect final setting," Cynthia grinned, sending James back out. "I'm super-pumped now, Blake! Aren't you?"
"…Yeah," Blake said, nodding. But he wasn't as enthusiastic about this as Cynthia was. He was feeling pretty troubled. This isn't good. Losing Ruru like that… I've been pressed into a corner. Uni isn't strong enough to take down any of her pokemon by herself, which means that this matchup isn't as even as it seems… But I can't… I can't lose here! I need to win… I need-
"Well, you don't look it," Cynthia huffed, interrupting Blake's turmoil of thoughts. "Come on, you're still all frowny! Are you that worried about losing that much, huh?"
"I need to win this," Blake said, frowning. "There's someone that I have to defeat in this tournament. And to do that, I need to fight her."
"…" Cynthia's expression turned sour.
"So I guess I'm just an inconvenience then?" Cynthia growled, Blake flinching.
"No, that's not what I-"
"Listen, Blake, I don't give a damn about what your reasons for fighting are, but right now you need to get your head in the game! I'm the only opponent you should be worried about beating, you got that?! So don't go thinking about other girls while you're in the stadium with me! If you do, then you'll be in for a nasty surprise!"
Cynthia held her hand out, jutting her thumb up, and jamming it into her breast.
"I'm focusing on you, only on you!" Cynthia shouted. "Right now, you're the one who I want to defeat! And if you aren't willing to give me the same level of respect, then my team is going to tear you to shreds! So what's it gonna be, Blake? You gonna give me the fight I'm looking for? Because if after all this and you don't satisfy me, then you and me are gonna have some words! I've been waiting for this for so long, and I'm not gonna let you ruin it for me!"
"…" Blake looked down, his frown deepening.
"I don't know what she's talking about, this match has been really intense," Nick commented.
"Yeah, Blake's performance has been standard, but something's still off," Sango noted. "He still seems troubled, like his head isn't in the game."
"I haven't noticed that," Julia said. "I guess you must have been watching him pretty closely, huh?"
"I-I don't know what you mean," Sango said, shaking her head.
"I've been fighting you the best I can," Blake said. "I don't know what you want from me!"
"I know you are," Cynthia said, frowning. "But where's your joy, huh?"
"Wh-what?"
"Remember our first battle?" Cynthia asked. "That was a blast! But right now, you're all sulky, and I'm just not feeling it! It's not the same! So put your heart into it, or I'm not gonna be having any fun!"
Cynthia's expression turned serious.
"You're thinking about Elaina, aren't you?"
"What?!" Lila gasped.
"Elaina? Why?" Darla asked, confused.
Blake's eyes widened, and he nodded reluctantly.
"…Yeah."
"And what are you trying to show her, then?" Cynthia asked. "Because I gotta wonder if the sulky serious Blake I'm fighting against will even be able to land a scratch!"
"…" Blake bit his lip, glancing down.
"I don't know much about this harmonia or whatever," Cynthia continued, "but I do know that that Elaina girl seems to be full of anger and rage, and can't get any joy from her battling. So if you want to reach her… I think we both know how you need to be fighting, right?"
Blake didn't want to admit it, but she was right. He was so caught up in worrying about Elaina's fall into the darkness and trying to stop it, that he'd completely forgotten about how he would try to reach her. And he knew that Cynthia was right, and that the answer wasn't to mope around and focus solely on winning."
Blake smiled. And unlike the previous smug smiles he'd given off in the battle, this one was happy.
"Okay, Cynthia! If you want me to fight wholeheartedly, then that's what I'm gonna do!" Blake grinned. "Weiss, go!"
"Yeah!" Sango cheered, standing up in her seat.
"Go Blake!" Kitty called out, Ryoko echoing her cheer.
"Come on, both of you!" Julia shouted. "Let's see a battle worth watching!"
"Do your best, both of you!" Nick cheered.
Elaina sat in her waiting room in silence, the monitor showing her the battle and the preceding conversation.
"…Blake… Show me what you are capable of."
"That's what I've been waiting for!" Cynthia grinned. "James, use echoed voice!"
James send a shockwave of sound toward Weiss, who flapped his wings, flying backwards, his legs skidding against the tiles as he raised his pincers up to point at James.
"Weiss, go!" Blake shouted. Weiss fired a pair of flash cannons out from his pincers, the beams of metallic light shooting out and hitting James in the leg.
"Loud!" James groaned, clutching his knee, badly injured from the light beam as he fell onto the ground. Weiss leapt into the air and flapped his wings, taking to the sky, and soaring toward James.
"Bullet punch!" Blake ordered.
"Sci!" Weiss snarled, raising his pincer and firing a barrage of punches that hit James over and over, pushing him backwards.
"James, use hyper voice!" Cynthia ordered. James inhaled and began storing up air in his lungs to unleash a powerful sonic blast. Weiss's eyes narrowed as he spotted his moment, stepping back.
"Now, Weiss, go!" Blake shouted.
"Scizor!" Weiss shouted, swinging his pincers down in a powerful X-scissor, knocking James backwards as his razor pincers dug deep into the pokemon's purple flesh, drawing deep, thick gashes in his skin. James gasped out in pain, releasing the stored-up shockwave, knocking Weiss back as he fell to the ground, losing consciousness.
"Loudred managed to get in some final hits, but he still couldn't defeat Blake's strongest pokemon," Darla said, frowning.
"So now Cynthia only has two pokemon left," Lila said, shaking her head.
"Excellent! Way to go, Blake!" Cynthia grinned. "This is going just as I thought it would!"
"Oh?" Blake asked, surprised.
"Yup! I was expecting this from the very beginning! Remember how I said I was waiting for the perfect moment? Well, now that moment has finally arrived! Tristan! Let's finish him off!"
Cynthia sent out her Breloom, and Tristan came out and fired off a mach punch immediately, shrugging off the impact of stealth rock. Weiss raised his pincer and shot a high-speed punch back in response, the two pokemon's fists colliding in a series of swift blows.
"Weiss, get back!" Blake shouted. Weiss leapt back as Tristan swung his tail, the steel pokemon just barely avoiding the attack.
"Quite fast, Blake! But you won't get away! Tristan, use bullet seet!"
Tristan puffed up his cheeks and fired a barrage of seeds at Weiss, the glowing seeds rattling like machine gun fire as they shot towards him.
Weiss raised his pincers, and let loose a flurry of punches, knocking the seeds out of the sky with a swift array of bullet punches.
"Blake and Cynthia's strongest pokemon are duking it out!" Lila cheered.
"Neither one is giving any ground," Darla nodded. "It's probably not an exaggeration to say that the result of this matchup right here will be the deciding factor of the battle!"
The biggest thing to look out for is that spore attack, Blake frowned. "Weiss, use double team!"
Weiss created multiple copies of himself, a move Cynthia had seen many times, and was fully prepared for.
"We've been training, you know! No way that's gonna work on us," Cynthia grinned. "Tristan, pinpoint Weiss's position with mind reader!"
"Bre!" Tristan nodded, narrowing his eyes as he sensed Weiss's mental signals, locating the steel pokemon. He charged forward, raising his fist, and swinging a powerful mach punch at Weiss.
"Bullet punch!" Blake ordered. Weiss countered Tristan's mach punch with a bullet punch, the two pokemon exchanging blows once again as the remaining duplicates dispersed.
"Don't give any ground, Tristan, you got it?" Cynthia ordered. "Press forward!"
"Breloom!" Tristan nodded, increasing the force of his attacks.
"Weiss!" Blake shouted. "You, too! Keep up the attack!"
"Scizor!" Weiss agreed. The two pokemon closed the distance between each other, more attacks striking the bodies of their opponents, rather than their fists. But neither pokemon scored a decisive blow, their strikes only glancing off their opponents.
Tristan's eyes narrowed, and he spotted an opening with his mind reader, his claw slipping under Weiss's arm, hitting him in the stomach at the same moment Weiss caught Tristan in the face with a powerful bullet punch. The two pokemon pressed forward, putting their full bodies into their attacks, and Weiss was knocked backwards, clutching his gut as he skidded across the battlefield.
"In our first match, when our pokemon traded attacks like that, Weiss sent Tristan flying, remember?" Cynthia asked. "Well this time, Tristan managed to knock Weiss back!"
Blake nodded, smiling.
"Don't think that's gonna be enough to score you the win, Cynthia! So you've managed to train Tristan up a little more, but we still won't go down so easily! Weiss, use flash cannon!"
"Scizor!" Weiss raised his pincer and fired a beam of light at Tristan, the mushroom pokemon lowering his head and dodging to the side, the flash cannon striking the ground harmlessly as Tristan closed in on Weiss.
"Sky uppercut!" Cynthia ordered, Breloom swinging his claw up aimed straight for Weiss's jaw.
"Iron defense!" Blake ordered, Weiss's crimson skin taking on a metallic sheen as he raised his arms to block the strike, Tristan sending him skyward. Weiss spread his wings and hovered in the air over Tristan, panting. He wiped sweat off of his brow and stared down at the grass pokemon, trying to regain some energy.
"Blake, I know what you're planning, you know," Cynthia called across the battlefield.
"Huh?" Blake asked, confused.
"I've noticed you aren't taking a lot of initiative in your attacks. You're trying to keep Weiss at a distance unless I'm the one doing the attacking, right?" Cynthia asked.
"I know you so well," Blake grinned. "You aren't the type to sit patiently and wait for anything, after all. I'd much rather you come to me."
"You always do play hard to get," Cynthia chuckled. "I guess some guys just love being chased! But I gotta tell you, I'm an antsy sorta girl, I can't wait around forever! So if you don't buck up and show some signs in return, I'll have to give up and start chasing some other guy!"
"Would you please? It would make my day!"
The two chuckled like the good friends they were.
"This battle won't last much longer, you know. We're in the endgame." Cynthia narrowed her eyes, her smile widening. "Whoever wins, no hard feelings, right?"
"As long as you don't burst into tears when you lose this time!"
"I never cried!"
"Really? But you certainly ran away in a hurry!"
"That was for dramatic effect! But enough about that! Since our friendship won't end with something so simple, we can really put our best foot forward! Tristan, sky uppercut!"
"From that distance?!" Lila gasped.
"No way!" Darla gasped.
Tristan lowered his body and clenched his claw together, raising his tail. He leapt into the air with his mighty legs, twisting his body, and slamming his mighty tail against the ground. The impact combined with his strong jump and shot him into the air faster than Weiss was expecting, striking the steel pokemon in the face with a powerful blow.
"Weiss!" Blake cried out.
"Scizor…" Weiss gasped, falling out of the sky.
"That's what we were hoping for, shoryuken!" Cynthia cheered, giving an uppercut of her own in victory.
"With that strike, Breloom has knocked Scizor out of the air!" Lila gasped.
"This could be the finisher!" Darla noted.
"Now, use your spore and put this one under wraps!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan's mushroom stretched out, green spores shooting out from his cap and washing over Weiss.
"No, Weiss!" Blake shouted. Weiss raised his pincers over his mouth as he hit the ground. He stood up, shaking, covering his face with his pincers as he wobbled forward, the cloud of spores settling over him. He took a few steps forward, trying to resist inhaling the spores, but he lost control of his legs, falling to the ground as he fell fast asleep.
"No way…" Sango gasped.
"That should do it," Julia frowned. "No way Cynthia will let this opportunity slide."
"Poor Weiss, sleeping like a baby," Cynthia sighed. "Let's end things, Tristan! Dynamicpunch!"
Tristan raised his claw, focusing massive power into a single point. He stepped over the sleeping Scizor, raising his fist into the air. Cynthia raised her hand to stop him, savoring the moment. The stadium fell silent in rapt anticipation, awaiting the final blow. Cynthia shot her hand up, and Tristan released the attack as he punched at Weiss.
"Now!" Blake shouted. Weiss's eyes snapped open and he jumped up, swinging both of his claws and striking Tristan at point-blank with a powerful X-scissor as he shot past Tristan, the grass pokemon falling to his knees.
"Amazing!" Lila gasped.
"What a turnaround!" Darla said, her mouth agape.
"How… how…?!" Cynthia's mouth was also wide open, staring in shock at the two pokemon. "He should be sleeping! That spore attack was a direct hit!"
"You weren't the only one who came prepared," Blake grinned. "A good friend of ours had a little hand in helping me and Weiss overcome your spore attack."
"…What?" Cynthia asked, her eyes widening in realization. "Sango! She…"
"Oh!" Sango gasped, holding her hand over her mouth.
"What?" Julia asked, glancing at her.
"Yesterday, Blake asked me about the different kind of berries I knew about and what they do, so I told him a few," she explained.
"Before the battle, I made Weiss hold onto a chesto berry," Blake explained. "When Weiss held his pincers up to his mouth, it wasn't to hold his breath and stop inhaling the spores, he was eating his chesto berry to wake him up when the spore knocked him out. Then, it all came down to you trying to finish him off, so he could strike back with a powerful counterblow! What do you think?"
"…Pretty good, Blake!" Cynthia said. "But Tristan is still standing, and that little berry of yours will only work once! So don't think it's over just yet!"
"Breloom!" Tristan nodded, turning to Weiss, echoing his trainer's statement. Although very worn down, there was still a fire in Tristan's eye that said he wasn't finished yet.
"Weiss…" Blake said, looking his Scizor in the eye.
"Scizor." Weiss said, answering the unasked question. He turned and faced Tristan, injured but still surging with energy.
Weiss shot forward, raising her pincers and opening them wide, the sharp points glistening brightly. Tristan charged toward him, lowering his head. Weiss swung down with a strong X-scissor attack, Tristan spreading his legs wide and bracing against the attack.
No attack? Blake's eyes widened. "Weiss! Jump back!"
"Too late! Tristan, counter attack!" Cynthia shouted. Tristan ducked down and swung his tail over his back, using the momentum from Weiss' strikes to spin forward, bringing his tail into Weiss's face, knocking him backwards. Tristan righted himself and charged forward, hitting Weiss in the stomach with a powerful dynamicpunch.
"Weiss!" Blake shouted.
"Sci… zor…" Weiss coughed, Tristan panting as he dug his claw deeper into Weiss's gut. Weiss raised a shaking claw and struck Tristan in the side of the face, knocking him over. Weiss clenched his stomach and doubled over, coughing, as Tristan shakily rose to his feet.
"Finish him, Tristan!" Cynthia shouted, desperation clear in her voice.
"Breloom!" Tristan shouted, bringing his claws together and slamming them down on Weiss's back, knocking him down into the tile, shattering it with the force of the blow.
"Scizor…" Weiss panted, struggling to stand back up.
"Don't let him!" Cynthia cried, Tristan unleashing a barrage of mach punches on Weiss's back, pounding him back into the ground.
"Weiss…" Blake winced in pain as he saw his Scizor struggle to withstand the attacks Tristan was levying on him. "That's enough."
Blake recalled Weiss before he took anymore damage, the Scizor no longer able to continue the battle.
"Scizor is unable to battle!" Lila announced.
True, but Breloom has sustained massive injuries," Darla noted. "How much more can he take?"
"Whoa…" Julia gasped. "I was certain that Weiss would be able to pull out the win after that chesto berry!"
"Cynthia is really doing her best…" Kitty nodded.
"Come on, Blake, it isn't over yet!" Sango shouted. "Hang in there! You still got Uni and Tara, right?!"
"Wow, Sango, you're rather… eager," Nick laughed.
"Sango is correct!" Ryoko shouted, pumping her fist into the air. "Blake! Do your best! Fight the best that you can!"
"Sorry to have to ask you to do this," Blake said, shaking his head, pulling a pokeball off of his belt, staring at it. "But please, do your best, Uni!"
Blake sent out Uni, the small green pokemon floating cheerfully in the air.
"Okay, Tristan, just a little bit more," Cynthia encouraged her weakened Breloom. "I know you can do it!"
"Bre…" Tristan said, panting, holding his side to staunch the blood seeping out.
"Uni! Use psybeam!" Blake ordered. Uni focused psychic energy into her body and shot it in a beam at Tristan, who was frozen in place from his injuries.
Tristan dodged to the side, the beam shooting past him and into the air as he zigzagged, inflating his cheeks.
"Bullet seed!" Cynthia ordered, Tristan firing a blast of seeds from his mouth at the psychic pokemon.
"Reflect," Blake said. Uni created a barrier of light in front of her, the seeds bouncing off of it harmlessly.
"That's going to be tricky," Cynthia frowned. "Tristan, we need to heal you up a little! Use mega drain!"
Tristan began glowing, drawing energy from Uni, Tristan's wounds lessening as he restored his health, running toward the small pokemon.
"Uni, get back and use psyshock," Blake ordered. Electrical energy began crackling through the jelly-like membrane surrounding Uni's body, and she floated backward, firing off twin bolts of electricity at the charging pokemon.
"Feint!" Cynthia shouted. Tristan shot forward at a fast speed, dodging under the electricity, shifting from side to side as his evasion distracted Uni's attention, giving several swift blows as he closed the distance between the two pokemon, pounding Uni backwards and shattering through the barriers.
"Solo!" Uni wailed, spinning through the air as Tristan fired another wave of bullet seeds, hitting the small pokemon directly.
"Uni!" Blake cried. "Use recover!"
"Sol!" Uni bobbed up in agreement, glowing brightly as she began restoring her health.
"Don't let her, Tristan! We've got to slow her down! Use stun spore to paralyze her!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan spread his mushroom out and sent a cloud of golden dust over the battlefield, washing over Uni and paralyzing her.
"Strange, I would have expected Cynthia to use spore," Lila pondered. "Instead, she paralyzed the Solosis!"
"She must be expecting to not be able to finish off Solosis before she wakes up?" Darla theorized. "Maybe Breloom isn't doing as good as we thought."
Darla's assessment was right on the money. Even with some of his health restored, Cynthia could tell that Tristan was on his last legs. Weiss had done some serious damage with those consecutive X-scissors. He was ragged and out of breath, and from her point of view he was barely still standing. One good hit from Uni would be all it would take to knock him out.
We've got to work on our image of victory, Cynthia thought. Tristan might defeat Uni, but he won't be able to beat Tara. Not in this condition. So we're going to have to set things up for Rose to sweep through! She just needs a little bit more experience… and then we'll be able win!
"Uni, use psywave to sweep across the battlefield," Blake ordered. Uni began storing up psychic energy, but she froze, stymied by the paralysis.
"Just what we've been waiting for, Tristan! Seed bomb!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan launched seeds from his mouth into the air, the seeds raining down onto the battlefield and exploding in a series of explosions that rocked the poor green pokemon, Uni trembling in pain, collapsing to the ground.
"Uni!" Blake cried. "Are you…"
"Sol!" Uni cried, hovering up, trembling, shaking back and forth.
"Drat! If Tristan had a little more energy he could close in! But he's slowing down!" Cynthia said, biting her lip. "Tristan! Mach punch!"
Tristan coughed, raising his claw, and charged at Uni.
"Uni, dodge!" Blake shouted.
"Solosis!" Uni refused, shaking back and forth. She began storing up psychic energy into her body, the film around her crackling with psychic electricity. Tristan slammed his claw into her, pushing forward, Uni wailing in pain but refusing to give in. She released the electricity stored in her body in a powerful psyshock, electrocuting Tristan.
"Tristan!" Cynthia cried.
"A direct hit!" Darla gasped.
"Breloom isn't moving!" Lila announced.
"Sol… losis…" Uni panted, floating up, her body battered but she was eager to keep going.
"Uni…" Blake's eyes widened.
"Uni wants to keep fighting," Sango said, smiling, clapping her hands.
"Isn't that usual?" Kitty asked, confused.
"Yeah, I guess," Sango said, nodding. "But before… she was always so shy, and not very passionate about fighting… in fact, she even seemed scared… but it looks like she's not anymore."
"Maybe seeing Blake's other pokemon doing their best has inspired Uni to fight her hardest, too," Sango beamed. "Do your best, Uni!"
"Solosis!" Uni shouted, shooting a beam of psychic energy at the unmoving Breloom, striking him head-on. Tristan took the full brunt of the attack, shaking his head in confusion, and fell forwards, unconscious.
"Return, Tristan," Cynthia sighed, smiling sadly. "You really tried hard. You did your best. Leave the rest of it… up to good old Rose!"
Cynthia inhaled, clutching Rose's pokeball in her hands, smiling. This is it. Our last chance. You've taken some hits already… but you're almost there. I believe in you.
"Do your best!" Cynthia tossed the pokeball into the air and Rose emerged, the stones gouging into her again.
Rose held her hands up, and immediately conjured an array of rainbow-colored leaves that she fired in a barrage at Uni.
"Light screen, Uni," Blake said, Uni creating another force field to protect herself from the special attack, blocking the leaves rather easily.
"Now, Rose!" Cynthia shouted, Rose using her teleport attack to disappear and reappear within Uni's barrier, preparing another attack.
"Now!" Blake ordered, psychic electricity shooting out from Uni's body, electrocuting Rose. The psychic attack didn't do much damage to the small pokemon but it threw her off-balance, Rose stumbling backward.
"You beat Reiner with that little trick, isn't that right?" Blake grinned. "We knew it was coming."
"Aw, the thing I hate to be is predictable," Cynthia grinned. "But Uni's not looking so hot. Paralysis is a real pain, ain't that right? Rose! Calm mind!"
Rose closed her eyes and increased her concentration, strengthening her psychic powers and amplifying her special stats. She snapped her eyes open and let out a cry, firing a disarming voice attack at Uni. The soundwaves traveled through the barrier and struck Uni, causing her to shiver.
"Uni, are you okay? Use recover to restore your health," Blake suggested. Uni nodded up and began glowing, Rose running toward her.
"That's right, Rose, don't give her the time to heal! Let's make that paralysis work for you!" Cynthia grinned. "Magical leaf!" Rose pelted Uni with a tornado of leaves, the small blades digging into the coating over Uni's body and causing her to cry out in pain. Rose concentrated her psychic powers again as she built up another calm mind, and generated a powerful beam of psychic energy that she fired at Uni.
Uni floated to the side, panting, the attack just barely managing to graze her.
"Wow, Cynthia is really going at it!" Lila cheered. "Ralts' barrage of attacks is barely giving Solosis a moment to breathe, let alone recover!"
"That's true, but she's also sustained some hits," Darla reminded. "Even if she wins, will she be able to stand up to Blake's last pokemon?"
"Her special defenses are too high," Blake noted. "We'll have to use psyshock to target her physical defense!"
"Sol!" Uni agreed, building up a field of electricity around her, when suddenly she shivered, the electricity dispersing as her body was immobilized from the paralysis.
"Now, Rose! Finish her off!" Cynthia cheered, Rose firing another psybeam, this one hitting Uni directly. The psychic blast struck her mind, disorienting her, Uni spinning around in confusion before plopping onto the ground, unconscious.
"You did really good, Uni, you can return." Blake said, smiling. "I guess now… it's all up to Tara." Blake reached for Tara's pokeball, when something about Rose caught his attention, and his eyes widened in disbelief.
"I was right," Cynthia beamed, smiling proudly at her glowing pokemon. "You were so close, Rose. Just a little more experience was all you needed."
"Kirlia!" The light around Rose faded and she held her hands up triumphantly in her new form, a big, bright smile on her cheery face.
"Whoa!" Lila gasped.
"In the eleventh hour, Cynthia shocks all of us with a surprise evolution!" Darla proclaimed.
"Rose evolved!" Sango cheered.
"Oh man, I thought Blake might have this one in the bag, but now I don't know," Julia pondered. "It's anyone's game now!"
"It really evened things up," Nick agreed.
"You don't think she planned it that way… do you?" Kitty asked.
"You're gorgeous, Rose!" Cynthia cheered. "Absolutely stunning! Now, let's take Tara down, and go home as champions!"
"Kirlia!" Rose cheered in agreement.
"It might have been unexpected, but we won't let that get to us, right Tara?" Blake said, throwing out his Snivy's pokeball. Tara emerged, glaring intensely at Rose, ready to fight.
"One pokemon each, Blake!" Cynthia grinned. This is our final match, so let's make it a good one, ey?"
"Sounds good to me," Blake nodded, smiling. "What do you think, Tara?"
"Sni!" Tara nodded in agreement.
"Okay, Rose! Use psybeam to take her down!" Cynthia ordered.
"She's trying to keep us at range," Blake said. "Her special defenses have been raised. If we want to do this, we gotta get close. Think you can do that?"
"Sni," Tara nodded. She charged forward, keeping low to the ground. She swung her tail, sending a tornado of leaves spinning toward Rose as a cover for her attack.
"That won't distract us," Cynthia grinned. "Magical leaf!"
Rose created a flurry of leaves and flung them forward, slicing through the leaves effortlessly thanks to her boosted special attack. The remaining leaves chased after Tara, coming at her from behind as she ran toward Rose.
"Kirlia!" Rose held her hands over her head, creating a psychic beam that she fired at Tara.
"That's tight, but it's nothing we can't handle! Leaf blade, Tara!" Blake called out. Tara held her hands out, leaves shooting out from her hands, tightening into swords. She swung them behind her, slicing the leaves to shreds as she jumped into the air, dodging the psybeam as she lunged at Rose.
"Kirlia!" Rose smiled, teleporting out of the way as Tara swung at her, reappearing across the battlefield and firing another psybeam at Tara.
"So she teleports whenever we get close, huh?" Blake said, Tara jumping back and returning to his side, putting some distance between the two. "We've got to pin her down!"
"Snivy!" Tara nodded, glaring at Rose. She smirked, and pulled her eyelid down, sticking her tongue out. She waved her tail mockingly, and sent out a leaf tornado. Rose knocked the leaves away with a magical leaf attack, but the wind struck her, causing her skirt to flare up.
"Kir!" Rose gasped, pressing her hands over her skirt to preserve her modesty, not used to her new, more revealing outfit. Her face was flushed and she looked at Tara, enraged, the taunt attack working like a charm.
"Well, due to some rather… perverse methods, it seems Kirlia is going on the offensive," Lila commented as Rose angrily fired off another couple of psybeams at Tara, who easily dodged them.
"I'd probably do the same," Darla admitted.
"Now that she's only attacking, it should be a little easier to get closer," Blake nodded.
"Snivy," Tara agreed, charging into the storm of psychic attacks, firing a blast of leaves at Rose. Rose countered them with her own leaves, but she was unable to stop Tara from advancing. Rose leapt back, but Tara was far faster, and sliced into Rose with a powerful leaf blade.
"Rose!" Cynthia cried out.
"Kirlia!" Rose moaned, jumping up, pushing Tara back with a wave of psychic energy, forcing the grass pokemon to keep her distance.
"Rose! Psybeam won't be enough! Use psychic!" Cynthia ordered. Rose sent a blast of psychic energy that struck Tara in the head, sending her flying backwards from the force of the attack. Tara hit the ground, breaking through the tiled floor, repulsed by Rose's increased psychic powers.
"Tara!" Blake shouted. "That was powerful, but that won't be enough to finish you, right?"
"Snivy!" Tara nodded, smiling, jumping up, firing another barrage of leaves, which Rose sliced through with her magical leaves, sending another pulse of psychic energy at Tara, pushing her down with psychic force.
"Tara, trip her up!" Blake ordered. Tara resisted the psychic energy that was baring down on her, swinging her arm and releasing a vine from her wrist that wrapped around Rose's leg. With a tug, Tara pulled Rose to the ground, retracting her vines and dragging the disoriented pokemon towards her.
"Kirlia!" Rose snarled. She twisted her body to face Tara and held her hands up, psychic energy flowing through them. She fired a psybeam at Tara as the snake pokemon leaped into the air, pulling herself toward the psychic type.
"Ssss!" Tara hissed, the psybeam hitting her in the face. She flew backwards, but kept her grip on Rose's leg, jerking her back towards her opponent. He used the added momentum to add a spin to her approach, raising her tail up. The leaves on her tail began glowing with a metallic sheen and she hit Rose upside the head with a powerful iron tail, sending her into the air as she released her vines, the two pokemon crashing to the ground.
"Whoa, both Snivy and Kirlia are pounding into each other with some powerful moves!" Darla exclaimed.
"This match is really heating up, I don't know who's going to win!" Lila said, sitting on the edge of her seat.
"Snivy…" Tara growled, standing up, clearly disoriented and worn down from the repeated mental attacks. Rose didn't look much better, having taken some serious damage from the iron tail's super effective hit, which left her standing on very shaky legs and bleeding from a deep gash in her cheek.
"Kirlia…" Rose panted, raising her hand and channeling psychic energy through it, firing a psybeam at Tara. The attack was rather slow, but Tara barely had the energy to move, let alone dodge, and the weak attack hit her in the chest, pushing her back. She rose to her feet and swung her tail, sending a tornado of leaves flying toward Rose, knocking her into the air.
"Tara!" Blake cried. "Keep going! Just a little more!"
"Come on, Rose! You can do it!" Cynthia cheered.
Badly injured and drained of energy, the two pokemon exchanged another barrage of attacks that sent them both to the ground, but their injuries proved to not be critical enough to keep them down for good. Shaking, both Rose and Tara forced energy into their limbs, willing themselves to stand back up in spite of the serious damage they had sustained.
"Look at them…" Kitty frowned. "They're both trying so hard…"
"The heart of a pokemon is to do the will of their trainers," Ryoko said. "When the will of trainer and pokemon is united, the strength of both reaches its peak. Either one of them should fall from the injuries they have taken, but they will not. For the sake of their trainers, both pokemon desire nothing short of victory."
"Rrrr… come on, both of you!" Sango shouted. "You can do it!"
"Neither one of them look like they can go much longer," Cynthia said, glancing to Blake. "But they're still trying their best."
"Agreed," Blake said, nodding. "It looks like we'll have to settle this with a final, decisive strike."
"Looks that way," Cynthia agreed, grinning. "You know, Blake… win or lose… this was a great match, wasn't it? Of all my battles here so far… this one was absolutely the best! You're the best rival a girl could ever ask for!"
"Yeah, it was pretty good," Blake said, smiling. "But we won't give in, right Tara?"
"Yeah… forget about win or lose! We're gonna win!" Cynthia said. "Let's go, Rose!"
"Snivy!" Tara said, running toward Rose, narrowing her eyes as her tail began glowing.
"Kirlia!" Rose said, holding her hands up, psychic energy glowing in the palms of her hands as she compressed it into a beam of rainbow-colored light.
Tara charged straight into the psybeam attack, gritting her teeth as she braced against the damage, raising up her tail and slicing through it. She leapt forward and spun around, swinging her tail at Rose. The battered pokemon didn't have any strength left in her to avoid the attack, taking the full brunt of a powerful iron tail as her psybeam sent Tara flying, the two pokemon hitting the ground hard.
"Whoa!" Lila exclaimed in the wake of the collision. "That was a big one!"
"Yeah, but which pokemon is still standing?" Darla questioned, waiting for the dust to settle. When the stadium cleared, the answer was neither. Both Tara and Rose were laid out on the battlefield, not moving.
Lila and Darla glanced at each other, uncertain of the outcome.
"So… it's a draw?" Lila asked.
"I… I guess…" Darla said, but she didn't seem too sure.
"Wait, look," Kitty said, pointing at the battlefield. Both Tara and Rose began to stir, their eyes warily opening as they looked at each other.
"Well… neither one of them seems to be in any shape to battle…" Lila said.
"…But it looks like they're still willing to continue…" Darla added.
The audience by this point, having been worked up from the heat of the battle, were cheering the two pokemon on as well. Rose and Tara pressed against the ground, willing themselves to stand back up for the sake of victory.
"Tara!" Blake cried.
"Rose!" Cynthia echoed.
The two pokemon stood, shaking, staring at each other as they tried to muster all the strength they could just to remain standing. Both pokemon took an unsteady step toward the other, but only one of them fell forward after taking that step, drained of all her strength and losing consciousness, leaving the other as the final pokemon standing.
Lila and Darla glanced at each other again, nodding, the victor clear.
"Snivy is unable to battle!" Lila announced.
"Cynthia Fafnir will advance to the semi-finals!" Darla declared.
So, the battle finally ends! It was long and grueling, and I don't just mean writing it. Only one more match before the semi-finals!