Before I begin, let me give a big thank you to all the new patrons that have pitched in to help support me since last update. It means a lot that people are willing to back me up in what's been a pretty rough patch in my life.
Ben's Team:
Ogrim - Golett
Dart - Beedrill
Cleo and Lacy/The Twins - Doduo
Gauss - Alolan Geodude
Chapter 20: Opening Impact
"Well viewers, it's been a fun week so far, but now the day of the main event has finally come! A gathering of hundreds of the best and brightest fresh faces to the world of Pokémon training has been narrowed down to the top thirty-two. After yesterday's day off they are back today, feeling refreshed and ready to show all of Kanto exactly what they're made of! Isn't that right, Surge?"
To echo the sentiments of Fern up in the announcement booth, it's finally time. I'm sitting in the back room of the stadium, waiting for the moment to come when they call us out to the field. Of course I'm not alone, there's another fifteen trainers back here with me. The other sixteen are waiting on the opposite side of the stadium, so that they can call us in from either end when the time finally arrives for the brackets to be announced.
"You'd better believe it, Fern! I told you all I was going to put on a show, and I meant it! These rookies may be new to battling, but they've still got what it takes to impress!" Surge declares, punctuating the statement by thumping a fist against his chest.
"They certainly do! We've seen as much first hand over the course of our preliminaries, and now that our top trainers have been decided we're going to be amping up the intensity. Koga, would you like to explain to our audience exactly what we've got in store?" As usual DJ Fern's bright and cheerful energy makes for a perfect middle ground between Surge's overwhelmingly powerful enthusiasm and Koga's quiet intensity.
"Throughout the preliminaries, each battle was conducted in a one on one single format. But to continue with such rules for the rest of the tournament would be… unsatisfying. Our original plan was to continue with one on one for the first few rounds of the main tournament. However…"
"BORING!" Surge interrupts, shouting with enough volume to prove without doubt that the people he hired to maintain audio team are clearly gifted with some sort of magical powers. "I don't know about you people, but I'm done with that single pokémon nonsense! I want to see some real battling! You with me, Kanto!?"
A roar echoes across the stadium with enough volume that I can practically feel it.
"That's what I thought! So, here's the deal! First three rounds of the tournament are going to be two versus two single battles, and our semi-finals and final matches will be three on three! Gotta keep those numbers low since you only needed to have three Pokémon to join; it is a rookie tournament after all! BUT! We're adding a twist! If both trainers agree before the match, you can go as big as you want! Three, four, hell if you've both got six Pokémon then feel free to go wild! Remember rookies, you're here to show the world what you've got, to make that big announcement to the world that you're here to take it by storm! So don't hold back!"
"Well, well! Looks like Surge has decided to play fast and loose with the rules people! Our competitors are finally allowed to cut loose! But what kind of battles will this lead to? Well, let's take some time to look at some of our competitors and see! It's time for a trainer spotlight! We've asked you, the audience, to tell us which trainers you think have the highest chance of reaching the top, now let's see what you all had to say!"
"Ranking in at number one, with a whopping twenty-six percent of the votes, we have… here's an unexpected twist, it's Zachary Faden!" Fern exclaims, "I was expecting to see a seeded trainer at number one!"
"It's not as odd as you might think," Koga says, as a graphic appears next to him with a picture of Zachary from one of his matches. "While the seeded trainers all certainly have the ability to go far in the tournament, Zachary's talent and background is by no means inconsiderable. His sponsor is Sabrina, long considered to be one of the most capable psychic-type trainers in the world, and from what he has shown so far he has clearly learned a great deal from her. What's more, unlike the seeded trainers Zachary has had no quick pass through the preliminaries, and so has had far more time to earn the admiration of the audience."
The viewpoint changes to a series of actual clips of Zachary battling, as Koga and Surge comment on his style in the background. Zachary is… frustratingly good-looking, honestly. The kind of guy who makes it look effortless. He's got an emerald green overcoat, deep blue eyes, a charming smile, and golden blonde hair that seems to be perfectly blowing in the wind in every photo that's been taken of him.
In fact… when I look across the room to where Zach is sitting, I realize that his hair is still doing that, even though we're inside! The man has perfect, movie model hair at all times! How is he doing that? Keith mentioned he was sponsored by Sabrina, does that mean he's using psychic powers to keep his hair perfect? I have never wanted psychic powers so badly in my life!
"Valeria," I comment, drawing the coordinator's attention, "You're some kind of fashion genius, right?"
"Some kind," She replies dryly, raising an eyebrow.
"You know what kind of trick Zachary's using to make his hair do that?"
"It's telekinesis," she replies immediately. She snorts at the surprised look I give her, "What, you think I'm going to let a guy with hair like that pass by without looking for tips? I asked him days ago. Apparently it's not even a conscious thing for him, he just does it automatically?"
"What the fuck, that's so unfair!" I groan.
"Aww, don't feel bad," Valeria consoles me in a mocking voice, "You still have the third best hair in the room."
"Third best?" I gape at her.
"Ben, if you think I'm going to rate your hair higher than mine you are clinically insane," Valeria states, her gaze daring me to argue. I sadly cannot. When she sees that I'm willing to concede though she relents a little, "Your hair does look pretty good though. Who's your stylist?"
"My doduo."
"Huh. They do good work," Valeria nods in approval.
"I'll tell them you think so," I reply with a smirk, "Pretty sure you three would get along like a house on fire." With about as much risk of danger to everyone in the vicinity.
"In fifth place we have Ben Wilson!" Fern's announcement draws my eyes back to the tv.
"Huh, I rated higher than I thought I would," I comment, "I've only really been in one proper battle."
"It was a flashy battle," Valeria says simply, "You also interview well. You, me, and Zachary are the only ones able to stand in front of a camera without falling to pieces. Keith too, I guess, though I'm not convinced his clowning around is as intentional as he lets on. Have you seen how some of the other competitors have acted when the reporters cornered them, though? Absolute disaster."
I think back to day two of the tournament and Leon's half-feral ranting at the camera and nod in agreement. "Not a lot of trainers have spent time thinking about professional image yet," I remark.
"Well they should!" Valeria scoffs, "What, do trainers all think that the people at the top of the world of pokémon battling just get up in the morning and happen to trip and fall into perfectly styled outfits? Image may not be as big a part of the game as it is in coordinating, but the biggest battlers in the world are all still paying attention to how they look. Well, except for Champion Red. Everyone knows he has Blue arrange his outfits."
"Naturally," I chuckle. Kanto's ever-silent Champion is known for being good at one thing and one thing only: battling. In all other things he will be the first to admit that he relies very heavily on the Elite Four and his boyfriend to keep his head on straight. Though since said boyfriend is the one translating for him at all those press conferences it's entirely possible that certain details are being embellished. Would certainly fit with what I know about Blue from the games.
"You laugh, but you could still stand to improve on that one," Valeria critiques, looking me up and down. Your hair is good, and your glasses help sell you as the tactician of your little friend circle, but your outfit… it's not, like, bad, but…"
I glance down at my clothes, "These are new. I bought them for the express purpose of not looking like a schmuck."
"The purple is good, a little color is always helpful, but the black jacket on top of it is…" Valeria frowns critically, "Look, neither are bad on their own, but put together the color scheme doesn't really fit well with your trainer persona. "
"Purple is my favorite color though," I say looking down at my shirt sadly, "And the jacket has sentimental value."
That latter point is only a half truth. I have an emotional attachment to the jacket, but it's not really this jacket I'm attached to. It's the same jacket I had when I first arrived in this world, which means it's one that the magic bureaucrat gave me. But that means it's a replacement for the jacket I wore back in my old world. That old jacket was a gift from my mother. It was a reliable thing; I'd worn it damn near constantly for more than a decade and it barely showed its age. So when it got replaced with a Pokémon World version I pretty much just transferred those feelings over and carried on like usual.
"Okay, well that's fine," Valeria says, not looking moved by my plea in the slightest, "But if you're going to wear purple and black together then you need something else to add to the mix too. Black and purple on their own just screams 'edgy and self-important.' You do not have the attitude to wear that well."
"...I have blue jeans?" I point out tentatively, "That's not self-important, right?"
"At least half the trainers in the tournament are wearing jeans, you might as well not exist from the waist down for all the statement that's making," Valeria looks me up and down, then nods to herself, "We'll keep it simple. You wearing anything under that button-up?"
"Black t-shirt," I shrug.
"Black, black, black, are you some kind of closet emo or something?" Valeria snaps irritably, "Yellow. Get yourself a yellow t-shirt the first chance you get after this and swap it for the black. After that all you need to do is undo a few buttons and it'll work as a good accent to offset everything else and make you look less like you hate your life. Not a perfect solution but it'll work well enough for a simple color fix."
"I want to go on record and say that I think you're way over thinking this," I comment, "But out of recognition for our friendship I will follow your advice anyways."
"Fuck off, we're not friends, you're just a charity case," Valeria snaps back. When I burst out laughing at that though she can't help but smile along. Well, more of a smirk really, but it still feels like a win.
"Alright trainers, fall in!" One of Surge's trainers barks out, his voice cutting easily through the chatter going on, "Wilson, Monokuro, Eglamore, Aina, Yamashita, you five to the front, in that order. After that, just-" He stops a moment as one of the other gym trainers whispers in his ear, then turns back to face us. "Scratch that, Faden, Surge wants you up here too, behind Yamashita." Once all five of you are up here, the rest of you can order yourselves however you like."
"Welcome to the big leagues, I guess," I joke as Zachary comes forward to join me and the other seeded trainers.
"Happy to be here," Zachary replies with good humor, "Though considering our battle records in the tournament so far, I can't help but wonder if I should be the one welcoming all of you."
"Touche!" I chuckle, before one of Surge's trainers calls for my attention. We all face the front, and at the signal, I lead them all out into the field.
It does not escape my notice that the cheering gets noticeably louder when Zachary emerges behind me. Maybe he really should be the one welcoming the rest of us. Meanwhile on the other side of the field Keith leads the way towards us, gleefully waving to everyone like the shameless attention hog he is.
"Here they are, everyone! The top thirty-two rookies in Kanto! All ready to show exactly what they've got! Let's hear it for them!" Fern announces, as the crowd goes absolutely wild.
Several of the stadium's rotom drones fly over and flank me as I lead the way forward, and while I don't make a big show of things like Keith and the other flashier trainers do, I do make sure to give the cameras a smile and a nod. Play it cool. I'm the mature, levelheaded one of the group, after all. Even if this attention is severely overtaxing my ability to overcome stage fright. I'm not the only one feeling that pressure either. From what I can see on the big screens, Mint seems to be doing their best to hide behind me. Lucky for them they're like, half my size.
Thankfully the drones pull back as Keith and I draw close to each other, letting the gym trainers step in and arrange us. We're all moved into three rows, with the seeded trainers in the front and the others in two rows of eleven. Putting Keith and I front and center, and also leaving a nice gap for Zachary to stand in the row behind us.
After my earlier conversation with Valeria I find myself thinking that has to be intentional. Three of the trainers the coordinator deemed the least useless in front of the camera placed in the best position possible. And… yup, here comes a rotom drone to perfectly capture all three of us standing at ease. They definitely know what they're doing.
Play it cool, Ben. Play it cool.
Thankfully I don't have to wait for long before Koga appears in the field before us in a burst of smoke. "Welcome trainers!" He says in his usual stern voice, "We have reached day seven of the tournament. No doubt this has been a trial in endurance for many of you. Those of you who feel that weariness dragging down on your body, consider yourselves lucky. This is a gentle introduction into the world of competitive battling. Should you reach the Indigo League at the end of the season this sport will ask far more of you than what you have endured so far."
How very uplifting Koga, thank you.
"Remember trainers, that regardless of what happens from here, your journey's are only just beginning. These difficulties you face now may seem daunting, but in time many of you may look back on this day and see it as a mere bump in the road. Whether an experience is bad or good depends entirely on how you choose to reflect on it. And so all of you, regardless of the results of these battles, have the potential to emerge from this tournament a winner."
There's a pause in the proceedings as everyone in the audience claps and cheers at the end of Koga's speech. I have to admit, grim as it started he definitely saved it in the second half. It doesn't change my opinion much though. Experience is valuable, certainly, but if that's all I walk away from this tournament with then it's really more of a consolation prize. No, I'm here for…
Hold on, what's the prize for this thing? I don't think I ever actually bothered to find out. Money and a technical machine? That… sounds right? Did I really never even hear anybody talking about this?
…Maybe I'm not the tactician of my friend group after all. Seems more likely that I'm the meatheaded battle maniac instead! Because apparently I got so caught up with thinking about my team and all the opponent's we'll be facing that I completely forgot to learn what I was actually doing all this battling for!
"Now that all that mushy feel-good stuff is over with," Surge hollers from his seat in the announcer's booth, "What do you all say we get this show on the road!? Here are our brackets for the tournament!"
The screens all change their display, and I immediately pore over the information that appears. Unfortunately it looks like my hopes for a full Koga sweep of the semifinals won't be happening; Keith and Axel are in the same quadrant, which means one of them will be my opponent in the semifinals provided everything works out on my end. The section after them has Katarina, Zachary, and Mint, but Katarina and Zachary are battling right away, with the winner not seeing Mint until the quarterfinals. And then in Sara's group we also have Ulu, Goh, and Valeria, in what will no doubt be the most heated part of the bracket.
Of course this isn't to say my quadrant doesn't come with contenders of its own. I'll have to beat Arthur in the quarterfinals if I want to get to Keith or Axel, and I've seen just enough of his battling to know that he's no pushover. And I'll likely be facing that jackass Leon before that. Though really, thinking of any of those guys is jumping the gun. I have a different opponent right now. As in, literally right now.
"Well would you look at that folks!" Fern calls out, "It looks like our first match is going to be an exciting one; one of our seeded trainers is already battling! It's Ben Wilson! And his opponent, Julia Kynes!"
I've seen Julia a few times in the past week. She's well within my ability to beat, but I still can't take her lightly. Her ace is an absolute unit of an eevee whose signature battle style seems to be just tanking its way through everything head on. Fire, electricity, stone, that crazy little thing pushed its way through all of it.
That said, she seems to be off her game as she steps forward. The other trainers are making their way back out of the arena, and she looks like she desperately wants to join them. There's something… panicky about her. I think the stress might be getting to her now that she's in the tournament for real. Or maybe the thought of facing a seeded trainer has her intimidated? Either way, she's not looking good.
"Trainers," Koga calls for our attention, "In all future matches this matter will be resolved behind the scenes, but for this first match the crowd shall witness your decision first hand. How many Pokémon will the two of you be battling with?"
"Uhh, I think I'd prefer two," Julia says, looking rather uncertain.
"Just two?" I ask, looking over at her, "I dunno, I'd rather go big. It's the first match of the tournament, let's give the people a show! Have some fun with it!" My proposal is met with a roar of approval from the audience, and a flinch from Julia.
"I… I guess three then," Julia says reluctantly, looking around at the crowd with an uneasy expression, "I can't do more than that. I only have three Pokémon."
"Is that your final answer?" Koga asks, staring at Julia intently. The girl looks unconvinced for a moment, but the crowd starts calling out encouragement, perhaps sensing how nervous she is. After a moment or two of this, she steels herself and nods her head.
"Alright folks, looks like both trainers have agreed to up the spectacle for our first battle! We have ourselves a three v three!" Fern calls out to the excitement of the crowd.
"Trainers, take your positions at the locations closest to the doors you each came in from," Koga instructs. "Fight well, and good luck."
By the time I've walked to my spot and turned back to face the arena, Koga has vanished. In his place, standing in the middle of an already fading cloud of smoke and looking extremely frazzled, is one of Surge's trainers looking… mostly ready to referee our match. I have got to figure out how that guy does that.
"Alright trainers, this will be a three versus three single battle with no switches!" The referee calls out looking between the two of us. "Trainer Kynes will be using their full team. Trainer Wilson, please select which Pokémon you will not be using!"
This is something we were all warned about in advance. It's standard practice for trainers to be required to designate which Pokémon they'll be using in battle ahead of time to ensure both trainers are on as even a footing as possible. I immediately get out my Pokedex, bring up the VS Seeker app, and make my decision. Ogrim's sitting this match out. Mostly because he's the only one who won't be upset about getting benched.
The referee looks at his own device and nods, "Trainer Wilson has made his selection! Trainers, ready your first Pokémon!" I grab Dart's ball, expecting Julia to lead with her ace and knowing Dart's been itching for a proper fight.
Julia and I release our first Pokémon. Dart comes out to the field, buzzing excitedly. And on the other side of the field Julia releases… a fletchinder. Shit. Crap. Balls. Not ideal. So far Julia's always led with her eevee unless she's got a clear type advantage. I thought the potential presence of Gauss and Ogrim would scare her off. Clearly she decided to mix things up by going outside her comfort zone. The look of sheer relief on her face tells me she was very unsure of whether it would pay off.
"The first matchup is beedrill versus fletchinder!" Fern calls out in excitement, "It looks like our seeded trainer is at a disadvantage already, and the battle hasn't even begun yet!"
"Nah, not a disadvantage," I comment quietly to Dart, "It'll take more than a bad type matchup to overcome what you bring to the table."
"Bee dree!" Dart shouts in agreement.
"Trainers, ready…" The ref looks to each of us, then throws his arms in the air, "Begin!"
"Take em down fast with acrobatics, Lon!" Julia shouts excitedly, "Let's get an early lead!"
"Disrupt with net, open fire when they've slowed down," I counter.
"Scratch that, Lon! Switch to flame charge!" Julia corrects smoothly as the string shot web fills the air in front of her Pokémon. Not a bad change on her part.
Unfortunately for her this isn't enough to throw me off yet. "Plaster."
Dart sprays a gooey mess at the fletchinder as it bursts through the web. It's not the same as a proper water attack, but it's wet enough that it at least takes a little while longer to burn than our other string shot variations. Fetchinder's intended blazing missile strike on my Pokémon becomes completely disrupted, and Dart capitalizes by blasting them with poison needles.
"No, Lon!" Julia gasps in shock as her Fletchinder screeches in pain, "You have to push through, we need to win this! Go for another acrobatics!"
Lon's screech of pain becomes one of determination as it performs a sharp aerial maneuver that carries it swiftly out of the line of fire. I can't help but be impressed at the skill this guy has at flying. Until they've fully evolved, fletchinder only really have one thing they're good at, but damn, they really do make the most of that talent. Fly fast, and hit fast. Straightforward in theory, but once you reach high enough speeds then the theories kinda stop holding up.
But unfortunately for Lon and Julia, fletchinder can only move at top speeds when they're in peak physical condition. By slowing the bird down long enough to get that hit of poison sting off, I managed to cut its speed by a lot. Which means that instead of the mind bendingly ludicrous speed fletchinder are usually capable of, this one is merely very fast.
There's a sharp sounding clash as Lon blurs towards Dart, only to be repelled by his stingers. The attack still has enough force behind it for Dart to let out a shocked noise, only barely managing to stabilize in the air. By the time he's located Lon again he's forced to parry yet another attack, and once more only barely fends it off.
By the third time, he's ready. Lon strikes once more with blistering speed, but this time rather than crash against Dart's stingers and break away, Dart manages to maintain contact. Rather than being sent spinning, Dart lets himself be carried along, the sides of his stingers firmly pressed against the fletchinder's shoulders. And leaving his jaws and abdomen free.
Lon squawks in pain when Dart strikes them in the belly, but manages to prevent a second strike by fending Dart's third stinger away with their talons. But while Lon's preoccupied with that, Dart spits up a mess of strings right in their face. There's a flash of light, a screech of pain, and Lon hits the ground unconscious, body spasming with electricity.
"Fletchinder is unable to battle!"
"Well I'll be damned!" Surge exclaims, "Looks like Wilson's taught his beedrill to use electroweb!"
I have indeed Surge, thank you for noticing. Part of this is the result of having my own electric type on the team, but for the most part it's the result of my efforts to understand type essence theory bearing fruit. Electric attacks are about speed and efficiency. The danger of electric moves is in the way they seem to leap at the target in the blink of an eye, so fast you don't even have the time to think about dodging.
Or, as Bianca put it, you have to make the energy jump. Honestly I'm still a little fuzzy on the logic at play here, but damned if it didn't work! "I'd like to dedicate that one to my teacher back in Unova!" I declare to the nearest rotom drone, "Bianca, I couldn't have done it without your guidance!"
"An appropriate move for a Unovan trainer to wield indeed," Koga notes, "The electroweb technique was first discovered there by trainers working with joltik and galvantula."
"There you have it folks, it looks like Ben's decided to show off a move from his homeland today!" Fern adds, "Now, how will Julia respond?"
This time it's eevee. Gotta be. She only has one other pokémon and it won't stand a chance against-"
"Nubs, come on out!" Julia calls out, a tremor in her voice. Her snubbull appears in a flash of light, growling gruffly at Dart.
What. The. Crap.
I've seen this guy fight in one of her matches. It's not a weak Pokémon, but against Dart it can't do anything! It has a wide pool of moves but pretty much all of them involve getting in close and hitting as hard as possible. It has no counterplay for flyers. And from the miserable look on Julia's face, she knows that already. Is… is she throwing the match?
"Beedrill versus snubbull, match begin!"
"Get some height on it, Dart!" I command, looking across at Julia as she flounders. I don't know what you're planning, but if you think I'm going to lose to you out of pity then I'll be happy to teach you otherwise. "Glue it to the ground and blast it until she surrenders."
And then, to my disappointment, that's exactly what happens. Dart throws enough string shot down to pin Nubs in place, and then just starts pelting them with poison. That isn't to say they don't do anything, Nubs does manage to burn the webs away with a good fire fang attack, but even once they're free the most they can do is jump ineffectually until Dart glues them again. Commence second volley of poison needles.
"Wait!" Julia finally cries out, "Please stop, I want to withdraw Nubs!"
Dart doesn't bother waiting for my order, immediately halting the attack. He looks thoroughly disappointed, all the joy and excitement he felt battling fletchinder having melted away over the course of this second match.
"Are you sure?" the referee calls, "There's no switch ins, if you recall your snubbull it will be counted as a loss!"
"I'm sure! Please let me call them back!" Julia pleads, visibly on the verge of tears.
"Julia has chosen to withdraw snubbull! Therefore beedrill is the winner!" The audience claps, but much like Dart their excitement from the start of the battle has drained away.
"Well, it seems a poor call on Julia's part has put her team at a serious disadvantage!" Fern says, desperately doing his best to try to keep the energy of the crowd up, "Will her last Pokémon be enough to make an incredible comeback, or is Ben about to definitively prove just how strong our seeded trainers can be?"
Julia doesn't look like she's ready to make a comeback. Right now she's just clutching Nubs' poke ball to her heart and frantically apologizing. Good to see despite that poor performance that there is some genuine love for her team. Still though, what was she thinking?
"Julia, your last Pokémon?" The referee calls, looking towards the girl with a concerned expression. "Are you still feeling fit to continue?"
"I- no, I- I mean, yes. Yes! I'm- I'm going to continue!" Julia replies, placing Nubs on her belt and grabbing her last team member with a white knuckled grip. She brings the ball up in front of her face and starts speaking, not quite softly enough for the nearby drones to miss it. "Please, please work with me, I promise whatever's going on we can get through this, I need you, please please please-"
"Trainer Kynes," Koga's voice suddenly rings out over the stadium, "I believe it would be wise for you to-"
"Ven, I choose you!" Julia shouts out before Koga can finish, throwing her final poke ball out. There's an impressive white glow as the shape solidifies… a shape which is definitely too large to be an eevee. A bright blue quadruped with rubbery looking skin and a powerful looking tail like that of a dolphin or whale. A vaporeon. She evolved her ace.
This could have the potential to go very badly for me… but then why wait this long to call her vaporeon out?
"Well now! It looks like Julia has been hiding an evolution this whole time! Will her ace be able to turn this match around?" Fern says excitedly.
"I have my doubts," Surge says, voice grim.
"Beedrill," Dart says, seeming to echo Surge's energy. He shakes his head in disappointment, flying back to me.
"Dart? What's wrong, bud?" I ask as he flies back.
"Beedrill!" Dart says again, buzzing with frustration.
"Uh, is Ben's beedrill now refusing to battle?" Fern asks, sounding uncertain.
"Not at all," Koga says, and his tone of voice immediately catches my attention. The last time I heard this tone of voice was when Koga was rejecting all of the trainers who abandoned their weedle during his exam. He's not just angry, he's outright furious, "It would seem that Mr. WIlson's pokémon has simply recognized that this battle is over."
I look back towards Julia and her new vaporeon. Sure enough, now that I look more closely I can't see any signs that this Pokémon is ready for battle. Its whole body is shaking, and its expression is downright miserable.
"Please Ven," Julia pleads, looking down at her Pokémon with desperation, "Please, you can do this, I know you can. We worked so hard for this. Please!"
Ven doesn't so much as twitch an ear in Julia's direction, still just shaking like a leaf. "Trainer Julia," the referee says, voice now hard, "Your Pokémon is unfit for battle."
"No, he can do this, I know it!" Julia responds, tears in her eyes, "He's so strong, I know he can do this! Please Ven-"
"VAAAAAAAAAAY!" Ven wails, a deep, miserable cry that silences Julia in an instant. Then, a moment later, it collapses bonelessly onto its side.
Koga appears at Julia's side with none of his usual theatrics. One moment Julia is pleading for Ven to get up, and the next he is simply there. Ven's poke ball is mercilessly ripped from Julia's hands, and Ven is called off the field in an instant.
"Julia Kynes," Koga says coldly, "You have been witnessed attempting to force a Pokémon that is physically unwell into battle. By my authority as head of Kanto's Pokémon Rangers I am placing your team into immediate protective custody. They will be receiving medical examinations, and your trainer's license will be subject to review. Come with me, now."
Julia is led from the stadium in tears. The crowd mutters with unease.
"That was… goodness," Fern says lamely, "What could have happened to the poor creature? He was as healthy as can be just two days ago!"
"I'm betting the evolution did it," Surge says, "Sometimes when a Pokémon evolves it can lead to health complications, especially if the evolution involves a change in type or body shape. Let this be a lesson, rookies: always, and I do mean always, bring your Pokémon for health checkups after evolution. It can save you a whole lot of misery later."
"Will that vaporeon be alright?" Fern asks, giving voice to the concern that no doubt much of the audience is feeling right now.
"Oh, absolutely," Surge replies immediately, "Evolution difficulties always sort themselves out with time. Typically just takes a bit of physical rehabilitation so their bodies can adjust to the changes. Mark my words, that vaporeon will be just fine in a month or two."
"Well that's a relief," Fern sighs. Then seems to finally remember that he's got a crowd listening to him right now and does his best to rally, "Well, there you go everyone! That vaporeon is expected to make a full recovery in no time! As for the match, well I think I speak for all of us when I say that was a turn of events that nobody was expecting, but the results are still clear! Ben Wilson will be advancing to the next round!"
The applause is muted of course, as Fern hasn't quite managed to draw the crowd's minds away from what just happened. I still make sure to wave for the cameras though, even if I can't manage a smile right this minute.
"Bee dree lee," Dart declares sadly, buzzing along at my side as I make my way to the doors.
"I know bud, that wasn't how either of us wanted things to go," I pat him consolingly on the head, "Don't worry, we'll get you that big challenge you've been waiting for."
"Beedrill," Dart replies, still unenthused.
"Hey," I say firmly, getting Dart's attention fully, "I'm proud of you, okay? You fought well. And you knew exactly when to stop. That's way more important than just being the strongest. That may not have been the battle you were hoping for, but you still set a good example for every Pokémon to follow. You can hold your head high."
"Beedrill," Dart nods. He's still subdued but from the tone of his voice I can tell he's feeling at least a little better now. I recall him to his poke ball feeling confident that he'll be able to bounce back to his usual energetic self in no time.
"Alright folks!" Surge calls out as I exit the field, "Our big VIP may be gone right now but we're not about to stop now! Our next battle starts in ten minutes!"
I don't head up to the VIP booth after leaving that mess of a battle behind me. Instead I make my way straight to the arena's built in Pokémon Center. As disappointing as the latter half of that battle was, Julia's fletchinder was well trained, and the birds are known to give off enough heat to burn with prolonged contact. Dart's stunt at the end of the battle was definitely enough to qualify.
Sure enough, when the nurse checks him over they find heat damage on his stingers and abdomen which he had been ignoring. He's gonna need to be treated with burn heal for at least an hour. I leave him in the nurse's capable hands and make my way back up to watch the next battle. Leon Drummond against Quinn Brilletta. It's the hyper-aggressive jackass whose hobbies include nursing a hate-boner for Koga and frothing in the mouth on national television! And his opponent: a woman who's made a point of doing everything she can to humiliate her opponents, a self proclaimed rookie crusher.
"So, who's winning, the psycho or the sadist?" I ask as I enter the VIP booth.
"The psycho's cleaning up now," Keith comments, glancing back at me, "The sadist didn't bring any good counters to electric types."
Sure enough, Quinn's golbat is on its last legs, flailing helplessly in the air. Its opponent, Leon's eelektrik, has latched onto its back and is shocking it into submission. "How'd that eelektrik manage to hit a golbat in a spot like that?" I ask, taking a seat next to Arthur.
"Combination of acrobatics and thunder fang," Arthur supplies.
"Acrobatics to dodge into golbat's flank, thunder fang to grapple," I nod in understanding, "Clever mix up."
"Leon certainly seems to think so," Sara mutters from Arthur's right, "He's been laughing like a maniac ever since it happened."
"Gross," I declare, watching as the golbat finally falls from the sky and the referee calls the match. "Can't wait to finally deal with this asshole."
"I'll bet," Keith comments, "Though I should warn you that if you lose to him we'll never let you live it down."
"Please, I'm gonna destroy him," I snort dismissively. I fully mean it, too. Leon's got some strong Pokémon, but he's arrogant as hell. The second he's on the back foot he's gonna fall apart.
"For your sake, I hope so!" Keith teases. We all sit in silence for a moment, watching Quinn have an absolute meltdown over her loss while Leon mocks her. When Keith speaks up again he sounds a lot more subdued, "Sorry about your match."
"The only person who should be feeling sorry right now is Julia!" Sara declares, looking outraged, "What was she thinking sending her pokémon out in that condition!?"
"I don't think she was thinking," I reply, suddenly feeling very tired, "She was panicking. I think she evolved her eevee believing it would be the boost her team needed to win, and when it had the opposite effect she freaked out."
"She should lose her license, honestly," Katarina says frankly, "That was extremely irresponsible."
"Isn't that too harsh?" Ulu asks, eyes wide with worry, "I know what happened here was bad but I don't think she's a bad person. She clearly cared about her pokémon a lot."
"If she really cared she shouldn't have sent him out in that state," Sara replies, "Clearly she cares about the prize more than her own team!"
"That's not it," somebody interjects. We all turn in surprise towards Goh, who is looking at Sara with a defiant gleam in his eyes. "She didn't send Ven out because she wanted the prize," he declares, "She sent him out because she wanted to believe in him."
Goh has never actually joined in with our discussions before. Hell, he usually doesn't even spend any time up in our booth. As a general rule he's either in a separate VIP booth with the professor he works for or not in the stadium at all. Probably spending his time trying to catch more Pokémon or something. I never watched him in the anime but I'm like ninety percent sure that was his deal.
"For the record, I agree with him," I raise a hand to draw everyone's attention back to me, "What Julia did definitely wasn't good, but I don't think it came from a bad place. She was just a panicky kid who was in a situation she wasn't ready for and started making bad calls."
"Maybe so," Katarina allows, "But I'd still say she should lose her license. Or at least that vaporeon. She's already proven she can't be trusted to look after him properly."
"That's way too much!" Goh protests, jumping to his feet, "You can't just take somebody's Pokémon away like that!"
"It's… not exactly rare," Keith points out. "Master Koga's confiscated Pokémon from trainers plenty of times before. And not just from criminals. It's an important part of a ranger's job, actually." Katarina nods along in agreement.
"That's awful!" Goh stares at Keith in shock, "Just because she made a mistake you think she should lose her pokémon?"
"I'm not saying that's what I think! I don't know nearly enough about Julia to make that kind of judgement!" Keith raises his hands defensively, "I'm just saying that sometimes it has to be done. Training a Pokémon is a big responsibility, and if you can't take care of your Pokémon properly… I'm all for seeing trainers grow and learn to work with their team better, but that can't happen if your Pokémon is getting hurt because you aren't treating them right."
"And this is clearly one of those cases," Katarina declares.
"Koga isn't going to just take that Vaporeon away from his trainer that easily," Arthur says, shaking his head, "As stern as he seems, he believes in second chances. I know that better than anyone."
"He'd better!" Goh exclaims hotly, "Elite Four or not, nobody should take somebody's Pokémon away like that!"
Keith scowls at that, but keeps his silence. Goh's comments might not be very well thought out but this isn't the place for an ethical debate. Keith's level headed enough to know not to get into any big fights up here where the drones can swoop in at any moment to cash in on the drama. Instead we just focus on the next match.
"Our next two competitors! From the western gate, Norma Mau, here to charm the competition with her feline friends!" The crowd cheers as a short young woman wearing cat ears comes running out with a grin from ear to ear. Norma's pretty popular with the crowd. She's not the strongest battler, but she's certainly not weak either. And she's sponsored by a charity group that works to rehome abandoned Pokémon, particularly smaller breeds like meowth, hence the ears. Being the face of a cause like that leads to a lot of audience popularity.
"And from the eastern gate we have her opponent, Taz Rhodes! The brainiac battler with a head for history!" Taz is sponsored by the company on Cinnabar island that revives fossil mons. Seems like a smart guy in general, but his battle style doesn't reflect that. His choices are all just a bit too simplistic, to the point where his lasting this long feels more like luck than anything. Norma should have this in the bag.
"Our trainers have agreed to a three on three battle, and their choices have been registered by the referee! Let's start the show!" Fern calls excitedly.
"Trainers! Release your first Pokémon!" The referee calls out.
"Oogie! Let's go!" Taz calls out, releasing his omanyte.
"Let's go Scruffy!" Norma shouts, letting a meowth out.
"Hold on, that's not the meowth she used in the preliminaries, is it? Looks different," Keith muses, leaning forward and peering down intently, "Stupid rotom drones, give us a close-up already!"
"I knew that the meowth in Kanto were different from the kind we have back in Alola, but I didn't know you had two kinds!" Ulu exclaims excitedly.
"They don't," I correct him, "That looks to be the Galarian breed."
"I see!" Ulu nods as the display finally shows a closeup of the rather ferocious looking cat, "They look very wild! Or is that because it is one of Norma's rescues?"
"Pretty normal, as far as I know. They tend to be pretty aggressive," I explain, "Rather than normal or dark the galarian breed is a pure steel type."
Ulu gives an appreciative gasp at the news, but Valeria cuts in before he can ask anything else, "Not that watching Ulu's worldview expand isn't just adorable, but could you two maybe put the lesson on hold when the battle's starting?"
Sara leans back in her seat to glare over at Valeria, but Ulu is already giving a hurried apology before she has a chance to say anything. I nod along with him and turn my attention back to the field.
The fight isn't much to look at, so far. Oogie the omanyte simply can't keep up with the agility and ferocity of this meowth. The little cephalopod is trying to set up a rain dance, but they don't seem to have a mastery of the move just yet. They keep getting interrupted by meowth's clawing strikes. Every once in a while they'll use a water gun attack to make a line of water that they can use to briefly get away, but that method isn't giving them time to call on the rain they need to really move properly.
In the end, while Oogie does manage to land several hits on the meowth, it simply isn't enough to keep the cat at bay. Scruffy seems to finally get annoyed enough with the experience that they simply bulldoze through a water gun by sheer force of rage. Oogie is pinned to the ground and left utterly helpless as blows rain down on their shell. Once cracks start appearing Taz immediately forfeits the round.
"Feels like a bit of a waste," Katarina comments, "All the work it takes to be able to train an omanyte and that's all he can do with it?"
"It's definitely not as well trained as his other Pokémon," Keith nods in agreement, "Though the training requirements are probably exactly why that omanyte is so weak. Taz must have only earned his omanyte license recently."
"I'll bet that they'll be a real terror once they learn rain dance properly though," Axel notes, "I imagine the battle would have been completely one-sided in the other direction if they had." We all nod along thoughtfully at that; it's no great secret that rain dance can turn even the most helpless fish on land into a serious pain to deal with.
"Well, guess I'd better get going," Arthur says reluctantly, getting out of his seat.
"Good luck in your match, dude. We'll be rooting for you!" I reach up to clap Arthur on the shoulder, but the guy's so tall I can only manage to reach his upper back.
"Thanks. Looking forward to when it's you and I down there," Arthur smiles down at me, then makes his way out of the room. The rest of us settle back down to watch the rest of the match.
Taz and Norma make for a fun pair to watch. Neither feel like they're on the same skill level as the real heavy hitters in the tournament, but they're still fairly talented and have a lot of positive energy throughout the match.
Scruffy the meowth makes a strong showing against Taz's baltoy by once again stubbornly pushing through several attacks to strike directly. The baltoy manages to bring Scruffy down in the end by increasing speed with rapid spin and then kiting the meowth around the arena. Only for Norma to surprise everyone with yet another meowth reveal, this time a member of the Alolan breed, named Sneaky. Sneaky quickly negated all of the baltoy's tricks by just using snarl. Just goes to show what a powerful edge sound attacks can be, especially at lower levels when most trainers don't have proper counters.
For a moment Taz was looking rather confident, despite being behind, as he released a machop to finish the match. The machop made quick work of the opposing dark type, and we all thought that a comeback might be taking place. After all, Norma's last meowth isn't much better at dealing with fighting types than Sneaky is… But then Norma sent out a skiddo instead and proceeded to slowly drain the machop into exhaustion with leech seed.
I don't think there's a single person in the audience she didn't fool with that fakeout. Just when you think she's got the full cat squad, she sends out the goat! We all had a good laugh about that one.
With that battle now over Taz and Norma shake hands and leave to the applause of the audience. The energy of the stadium is finally starting to feel back at the level it was at the start of my match. Nothing like a nice, fun, wholesome battle to help the crowd forget my opponent's fuckup and the two mean spirited assholes who came after.
And then Arthur's match comes. I find myself leaning forward in my seat as the man stalks towards the battlefield, looking physically imposing even from here. Arthur's always been one to watch out for, but now that I know he's most likely to be my opponent in the quarterfinals I need to make sure I'm watching that much more carefully. Which is harder than it sounds because even knowing what a sweet guy he really is he's like seven feet tall and has that heavy coat he's always wearing that makes him look more jacked than Bruno, he's honestly kinda terrifying.
His opponent is a man named Perry Mason. In contrast to Arthur he practically skips along, eyes bright and smile positively beaming from beneath a thick bushy mustache. He looks pretty unimposing with his khakis and pink polo shirt, but he's actually got a dangerous team. A fitting misdirect for a fairy type specialist.
The rules are announced. It's a two v two match. Arthur sends out his carkol, while Perry sends out a morgrem. A disadvantageous matchup for Perry at first glance, but not necessarily in practice. Fairy types are nothing if not tricky, and morgrem can put even the best of them to shame.
"The first round, carkol vs morgrem… begin!" The ref raises his flags in the air.
Carkol starts to immediately belch smoke into the air, quickly obscuring Arthur's side of the field in a black cloud. Morgrem on the other hand does… nothing. Just stands casually on his side of the field and watches as his opponent vanishes.
"Oh my, whatever could they be doing in there?" Perry gasps, "I shudder to think of it! Maybe we should call them over and ask, just to be safe?"
Morgrem makes a big show of raising a thoughtful hand to his face and then starts cackling wildly, his body starting to emit a sinister aura. His hand goes from cupping his chin to his mouth, and he shouts out something that sounds offensive even to me, and I don't even speak pokémon! It proves more than enough to draw carkol out of hiding in a full tilt charge, flames erupting from their entire body as they bear down on the gleeful morgrem.
And just as it looks like carkol is going to crash into their opponent full tilt they crash into something else instead, bouncing seemingly off of thin air and falling onto their side. It's a messy landing, but not enough to seriously harm a rock type. But the dark pulse that follows hits hard enough to send carkol tumbling once again, and this time it doesn't take the fall nearly as well.
Nasty plot, taunt, reflect, and dark pulse. An extremely dangerous chain of commands that Perry called out with a very innocuous seeming sentence. He gives his commands in code. Very simple codes, mind you, they're usually very easy to figure out in retrospect, but in the heat of battle it can throw an opponent off for just long enough.
"Oh no, that poor Pokémon! How tragic! How shocking! What is this world coming to!" Perry wails, clapping his hands to his face.
Tragic and shocking, huh? I'm predicting a fake tears attack, meant to weaken carkol's defenses and leave it vulnerable to those already empowered dark pulse attacks. And… some sort of electric move? Thunder wave, probably, to render carkol helpless against the final blow.
"Rapid spin!" Arthur calls out in response, his first audible command of the match. Carkol responds immediately, spinning its legs like wheels and skidding in a swift circle on its side. It doesn't do much to stop morgrem's fake crying from affecting them, but the spray of hot coals that go flying from carkol's back do manage to interrupt morgrem before they can move on to the electric attack.
"Now, flame charge again! Scout for walls with ancient power!" Arthur roars, emphasizing the order with a swipe of his arm.
"COAAAAAL!" Carkol bellows, body once more erupting with flames. They rush forward with a mighty roar, launching rocks forward and chasing in their wake as they bounce off the invisible walls morgrem has been placing. Morgrem hisses angrily as the flaming juggernaut barrels towards him, dancing aside and attempting to strike with electricity once more. The ancient power attack from earlier stops the attempt though, blocking the electricity and battering morgrem aside.
"Don't stop there! Faster! Overwhelm them!" Arthur shouts. Carkol shouts in acknowledgement, turning on a dime by calling a rock out of the ground and kicking off it to maintain momentum. Morgrem isn't able to dodge this time, still recovering from the pounding it just took. So instead of trying and failing to dodge, he raises a hand and blasts carkol in the face point blank with a dark pulse attack right as the runaway cart pokémon hits him.
Morgrem crashes to the ground and doesn't get up. Carkol staggers from the heavy hit it took at the end, but remains on their feet.
"Morgrem is unable to battle!" The ref raises a flag in the air.
The crowd roars in approval, and I take a moment to untense. "That was a close matchup," I say, letting out a breath.
"No kidding," Sara mutters, "That morgrem was vicious!"
"It should be over now though," Katarina declares, "Morgrem is the strongest member of Perry's team. No way whatever he's got left is going to be able to finish Carkol off and take on his other pokémon."
"Perry Mason, please send out your next Pokémon!" the referee prompts.
"Oh dear, please be gentler with this one!" Perry pleads, pulling out his next poke ball, "She's not nearly as strong of a battler. Togetic, it's playtime!" The little egg shaped fairy emerges with a cheerful cry, and immediately starts flying around and blowing kisses to the audience.
Another seemingly terrible matchup for Perry, but he's already proven that he has enough tricks to potentially turn the tables, even if he didn't quite manage it against carkol before. This still has the potential to get interesting.
"The next battle is carkol versus togetic! Ready… begin!"
"Flame charge!"
"Oh no, not another one!" Perry gasps in fear. "Careful Togetic, this carkol is so very strong! I think you might need to ask it for some help if you want to win!"
He's asking carkol for help… to defeat carkol? I'm honestly not at all sure how that one's supposed to be interpreted. Confusion maybe?
Togetic doesn't seem to be attempting any kind of confusion inducing move though. Instead she just floats there, staring at carkol with an adorable look of focus. She doesn't move even as carkol closes in like a fiery missile, until suddenly, she glows pink.
Then she vanishes. And carkol is sent sprawling as a wave of cheerfully pink fairy energy hits them from behind.
"Wait, what just happened?" Sara exclaims from next to me. "Did togetic just teleport?"
"Nope," Keith says, looking equally shocked, "She's just that fast."
"What in the world just happened?" Fern exclaims from the announcer's booth, "I've never seen a togetic move like that before!"
"Looks like Perry just pulled a pretty clever trick!" Surge compliments, "But we'll have to wait to explain it, this battle ain't over yet!"
It's true, carkol is still holding out, if only barely. That fairy move wouldn't normally be very effective, but carkol took a beating already, and had their defenses reduced by morgrem's fake tears. Another blow or two like that and it will be over.
Arthur snarls as he watches his carkol struggle to stay standing. "Not yet! Just a little longer! Full aerial saturation, Carkol! Then you can rest!"
"CAR!" Carkol roars, stamping their feet, "CAR! CAR! CAR! CAR! CAR!" The stamping continues, punctuating each shout. Carkol's breathing gets heavier, the coals on their back beginning to glow red with each inhalation.
"Hmm… Nope, I don't care for that!" Perry declares cheerfully, "Togetic, whatever they're doing, put a stop to it."
"Toge!" Togetic agrees cheerfully, sending another blast of fairy wind across the field. But rather than send carkol staggering the wind dissipates upon hitting the waves of heat emanating off of carkol's body.
"Well that won't do!" Perry frowns, "Use rocks instead, we'll need something with more punch!"
The rocks togetic calls on are big. Very big, to the point where I'd expect them from a far more experienced pokémon. It looks like togetic's power is as extreme as her speed. They fly forward towards carkol, who can only stand on trembling legs as the attack closes in.
The attack is explosive. Literally. It hits carkol at top speed and suddenly there's a pained bellow from carkol as the air fills with smoke. Rocks go flying through the air, and the entire arena is covered with another thick black cloud. There's a sudden flurry of activity as the referee pulls a silph scope from their belt and straps it to his face. And after a moment of peering into the smoke he raises a flag, this time in the opposite direction.
"Carkol is unable to battle!"
"Well that was quite a powerful blow!" Fern says, barely audible over the noise the audience is making. "Though the lack of response from Arthur is unusual. What do you suppose was the strategy there?"
"You're looking at it, I'll bet!" Surge replies. "That cloud of smoke is way too much for an attack like that. That carkol was probably storing up enough power to cover the whole arena in this smoke!"
"So Arthur's deciding to fight blind? Surely this is going to be a problem for him too!"
"That depends on which Pokémon Arthur sends out next. Of course, we might have to wait a while to see what he's got cooked up here!"
Arthur sends out his next Pokémon, and sure enough nobody can see a trace of it through all the smoke covering the ground. The referee focuses on the battlefield, still using the Silph Scope to look around. After a moment he seems to find what he's looking for, because he readies his flags once again. "Final match, begin!"
Huh, no callout of the competitors for this battle either. I guess the referees have some kind of policy about giving out information to the trainers like this. But that means we have no choice but to sit and watch the cloud of roiling smoke and hope something interesting happens that we can actually see.
What we get is Arthur stamping a foot and shouting, "My turn for playtime now! Run wild!"
Then the shrieking begins. It's not a constant thing of course, but it's certainly happening frequently enough to be unnerving. Pained cries from togetic, who can't seem to fight whatever is attacking it.
"Some fresh air would be lovely right about now, darling!" Perry calls out. Togetic answers with another pained cry, but still manages to let loose an air cutter that carves wide tears in the smoke. What's left is suddenly gathered up by a fairy wind technique and destroyed. Not sure how the wind is able to straight up destroy smoke like that but whatever, it's pokémon, they're always doing weird stuff like that.
But removing the smoke only serves to reveal that togetic is in even more trouble than we all thought. Because the smoke wasn't just hiding Arthur's second pokémon, it was also hiding an aerial minefield in the form of a massive stealth rock attack. Looks like carkol was spreading more than just smoke in their final moments.
"Well now!" Surge exclaims, "Looks like Arthur's carkol was spreading more than just smoke in their final moments! That's one heck of a minefield, and it means togetic won't be able to use any of that speed it showed off earlier without hurting herself!"
Of course, the rocks are an interesting reveal, but personally I'm more interested in seeing what Arthur's other team member is. I scan the battlefield eagerly, but there's no sign of them.
"Is it hiding amongst the rocks, maybe?" Goh mutters behind me, "Or could it be… the shadows?"
Come to think of it, isn't Arthur sponsored by the Lavender Town gym? A ghost type does seem like a safe bet. And Perry seems to agree, because he quickly has togetic fly down and use a flash technique, bathing the battlefield in a harsh white light for long enough to burn away all of the shadows and reveal a duskull lurking on the stadium floor.
"Look at who's been creeping around!" Perry declares, "It's time to shine a light on this sneaky fellow!"
Another blast of light comes from togetic, this time pink. Dazzling gleam, I'm sure. It hits the duskull, but rather than sending it flying the little ghost seems to vanish in a puff of smoke. Togetic stops her attack, looking rather alarmed at the effect her move had. And that's when another duskull darts out from the shadows on the underside of one of the floating rocks to punch her in the back of the blow pushes her forward to crash into a different rock, causing her to yelp in alarm.
"A substitute made out of ghost energy," Keith notes, "And he's used stealth rock to make light attacks completely useless. Clearly that gym he's working for has been teaching him a lot."
"I've really got to pay those guys a visit once this tournament is over," I say, a hand reaching down to toy with Ogrim's poke ball.
"The tricks don't seem to be having much effect in the long run though," Axel notes, "That togetic is as battle ready as ever."
Axel isn't wrong. Despite the beating she took in the smoke, and the surprise attack that just nailed her a moment ago, togetic looks as battle ready as ever. Barely so much as bruised. I'm starting to think she's some kind of monster. Stronger, tougher, and way, way faster than any togetic should be at our level. It's almost like she gave herself a full boost to her stats, but the only moves I've seen that could have that effect were only used by Arthur's carkol…
"Oh! I figured it out!" I gasp, "She used that move, what's it called, the one that copies the opponent's energy changes! The name's not coming to me!"
"Psych up," Goh supplies immediately.
"Right! That! Thank you!" I nod, "She used psych up on carkol before knocking them out."
"Hah! Leave it to a fairy type specialist to come up with a clever trick like that!" Keith grins, "All those flame charges and ancient power boosts carkol used are backfiring in a big way, huh?"
"Ancient power improves… everything, right?" Ulu asks uncertainly.
"It's not consistent, but yeah, when you get the power boost you're just stronger in every way," Sara replies.
"But if togetic copied that power increase, then can Arthur even win?" Ulu asks, looking nervous.
"Good question!" Valeria snaps over at us, "Why don't we all shut up and see, since, you know, the battle is still going on while you all keep talking!"
"...Sorry," Keith, Ulu, and I reply sheepishly.
True to Ulu's worries, Arthur's duskull is struggling. They dart in and out of the shadows, striking at togetic's blind spots, but the damage continues to be negligible. Meanwhile, Togetic is getting better and better at figuring out duskull's attack patterns. Duskull's movements are being hampered by blades of air and well timed bursts of light that seem to draw closer and closer to dealing serious damage. The shadowy cloak covering duskull's body grows increasingly burned and frayed.
"Come on man, switch it up," I mutter under my breath, "No way this is all you've got."
As if responding to my silent encouragement, Arthur chooses that moment to change tactics, calling out a new order, "Night shade."
There's the move I was waiting for. Thanks to my work with Ogrim, I've grown pretty familiar with night shade. It's a very basic ghost type move, but even the most simple ghost type moves are far from straightforward. Night shade is one of those techniques that remains a critical piece of a ghost pokémon's arsenal throughout their entire life. It's one of the best short range options most ghost types get, and also has the interesting ability to ignore any and all abilities their opponents might have used to strengthen their defenses.
So when duskull dives out of the shadows once more and blasts togetic with a wave of purple energy, togetic takes it very poorly. It doesn't send her flying or anything, the move doesn't have a lot of pushing power. It's more like the shadows seem to… seep into her. Her flight falters for a moment as her body seems to spasm uncontrollably, and she lets out a piercing shriek of pain.
"Stay calm, togetic!" Perry calls out, his face growing uncharacteristically serious, "We can still win. You have the power to carry on, you just have to want it!"
"How very encouraging," Sara says sarcastically.
Togetic seems to agree with the words, if not the sentiment, because she immediately perks up at her trainer's voice. She calls a ball of light into the air, which floats far beyond the floating rocks. Then she starts to focus. Ah, of course. Stay calm. Calm mind. Apparently Perry's decided that togetic isn't powered up quite enough.
"You think we're going to just sit here while you power up even further?" Arthur shouts indignantly, his duskull already racing forward with another armful of shadowy energy ready to fire.
"Nope!" Perry replies, suddenly brightening up.
Togetic snaps out of calm mind immediately, turning to face duskull, and suddenly the air around her seems to shimmer. She lets out a war cry that sounds… honestly not all that threatening. But the effects of that shout, I'll admit they scare me. Because every stone floating in the air around her is suddenly crushed into gravel and sent flying away, and the air suddenly fills with dust.
There's a gasp of pain from duskull, an airy, hollow thing that seems to carry throughout the stadium on the wind. Followed by another pained shriek from togetic within the dust cloud. And finally, a final cry from togetic, louder, more desperate, and cut painfully short.
"Togetic? Sweetie? What happened, what's wrong?" Perry calls out, looking very worried.
"We saw through your trap, that's what's wrong," Arthur replies, monolithic in his stance as the dust cloud washes over him, "It's over."
The dust clears a moment later to show the aftermath of whatever happened. Duskull floats in the air, shadowy cloak torn to shreds, the pitch black core of their true body largely exposed. One of their tattered sleeves is extended towards togetic, while the other holds a phantasmal nail impaled into their belly. Togetic floats in the center of the dust explosion glassy eyed, body pierced through with several more of those same ghostly nails. Togetic lets out a piteous moan, and falls to the ground unconscious.
"Togetic is unable to battle! Therefore the winners of this match are Arthur Dominic and his duskull!"
The crowd watches on in shocked silence for a moment, but swiftly erupts into excited applause. Up in the VIP booth things are no different, with all of us cheering wildly for the sudden explosive finish.
"Well that was certainly a spectacular finale to that battle!" Fern declares from the announcer's booth, "But I'm sure I'm not the only one here wondering just what the heck just happened! Surge, any insight you can give us?"
"You'd better believe there is! Lots to unpack with this one, now that I don't have to worry about giving away the strategies these two were using," Surge declares enthusiastically, "See, what we had here was a real technical showdown. Pretty impressive for a couple of rookies! On one side we have togetic, all powered up after using the move psych up to copy all of the crazy power charging Perry's carkol was doing in the first round. She was faster, stronger, and tougher than usual, and was using that to shrug off everything duskull could do to her. On the other hand we have duskull pulling out all of the basic ghost type techniques in the playbook to stay in the fight. At first glance, it looks like togetic has a clear advantage. Too tough to be hit, and too strong for duskull to endure."
"It sure looked that way for a while there," Fern agrees, "So what changed?"
"Couple of things. First of all, carkol's last act before togetic took them down was critical. That smokescreen and stealth rock combo did a couple of things. You already heard me talk about how it messed with togetic's movement, but it also set duskull up to take the initiative in the final round by giving Arthur a big leg up in the information war. And it left duskull with plenty of cover by filling the battlefield with shadows to jump in and out of. Thanks to all of that, duskull actually had the advantage in speed throughout that battle!"
"That's one big advantage gone, but that still left togetic with a clear advantage in power and defense, right?" Fern prompts.
"It sure looked that way at first glance, but Arthur had plenty of options, and he showed he knew exactly how to use them. First, night shade. Nothing to unpack here, it slips right through defenses, so togetic's power up didn't mean a thing. Good trick on its own, but the big thing it achieved was pushing Perry to make a move. Stopped him from sitting back and letting that power up carry him to victory. Now, credit where it's due, most rookies would have just charged in and rushed in on the offensive there. Perry didn't do that though, he decided to set a trap instead.
"He used wish first, that puts duskull on a timer. Basically, Perry was saying: 'If you don't move fast everything you've worked for is going to be undone and we'll be totally healed up again.' Then, once that pressure is on, he pretends to use calm mind. That's a real powerful technique, lets you strengthen both your offenses and defenses. Probably a bit too powerful for competitors at this level though, could be that's what tipped Arthur off that togetic was setting a trap. Then we have the moment when the trap was sprung, that big explosion togetic set off. That's a move called stored power. Channels your energy boosts into pure psychic power. Togetic had a lot of energy to channel into it."
"Well that explains the trap itself, but not the way Arthur and duskull turned it around like that," Fern says.
"That comes down to a critical error on Perry's part," Koga suddenly says.
"Holy-! I didn't realize you'd returned, Koga!" Fern yelps in surprise.
"Were you my student I would have little choice but to discipline you for such a lack of observational skills," Koga declares dryly. The crowd laughs. Keith undergoes a mildly traumatic flashback.
"While at first glance togetic's defenses seemed impenetrable," Koga continues, smoothly moving past his little joke as if it never happened, "In truth that applied only to her ability to stop physical attacks. Perry made a blunder that left his togetic wide open to energy based attacks: his morgrim's use of the move fake tears. That move created a weakness to energy attacks in carkol, a weakness that was copied by togetic even as she also adopted all of carkol's strengths."
"And Arthur knew that," Surge chimes in, "Which is why he waited for the perfect opportunity to take advantage of that weakness, and then BAM! He pulled out the strongest energy attack he had, a combination of curse and hex."
"Curse is a dangerous move which damages the user but places a lasting damage effect on the opponent," Koga clarifies, "And hex is a technique that reacts powerfully with foreign energy effects upon the opponent. The technique was costly for duskull to use, but by unleashing the combination at the right moment he managed to completely bypass togetic's defenses and strike a critical blow at the weakness she had unwittingly created."
"Well, there you have it folks! Arthur was in a tough spot, but he and duskull had the tactics and skill to pull through and strike at Perry's weak point and earn the victory! Let's have another round of applause for both trainers and their Pokemon, what a skilled performance!"
As everyone cheers one more time I feel my excitement turn into trepidation. Arthur is strong. Much stronger than I realized. He won his other matches handily in this tournament, but it's only now that I've seen him pushed that I understand exactly what I'm dealing with here. His carkol and duskull were both well trained pokémon individually, and carkol's support combined with duskull's skill in ghost type tactics made for an overwhelmingly oppressive combo. And duskull's part in the battle was carried out almost entirely non-verbally, which means Arthur has some sort of trick for hiding orders from his opponent that I'll have to figure out, too.
I'm going to need to be very careful when fighting him. If I let him set up one of those combos against me it'll take every trick I have to win. And that will leave me at a massive disadvantage in the rest of the tournament. Hopefully Perry's pushed Arthur far enough to put him in a similar position. I certainly learned a lot about Arthur from watching this fight…
"Alright folks, we're going to take a half-hour break to clean up this battlefield and prepare for the next challengers! But before we do, Koga, is there anything you can tell us about…" Fern trails off uncertainly, clearly not quite sure how to broach the topic of Koga's… departure.
"Much of the details regarding Julia Kynes and her vaporeon are now classified, as the situation is now a matter for Kanto's Pokémon Rangers to handle," Koga says bluntly, "However, I can say that preliminary examinations have confirmed that Ven the vaporeon is expected to make a full recovery."
"That's good to hear," Fern says sincerely, "Well with that load off our minds, everyone, let's enjoy the break and the battles to come!"
I had originally planned to cover more ground with this chapter, but the battle between Arthur and Perry may or may not have gotten out of hand. I had a lot of fun writing that one, lol. I know I can't be getting too carried away with this tournament, but I can't help myself sometimes. I just really like writing fight scenes.
So, life update time! I am still unemployed, but I can't say my time since last update hasn't been productive. After taking some time to examine my life since walking out on my shithole manager/job I decided to go back to school. Managed to get accepted back at my old university and convinced them to let me keep my credits (which is a big deal since I've actually been out of school for long enough that they should have expired). It's gonna be a big adjustment becoming a student again, but my mental health is a lot better than it was the first time around, so I'm feeling pretty optimistic. Feels like my life is moving in a much more positive direction than it was a few months back.
As usual, I'll conclude with the link to the Fanfiction Treehouse Discord: discord .gg/u89gs745fn
And here's a link to the Treehouse Discord's Pokemon fangame again: discord .gg/XgjABZJFjz
We are still very short on artists/programmers for the fangame so if you enjoy that sort of thing and want to check it out we'd love to have you.