Lana and Darla have been giving it their all, and even though Darla is a trainer specializing in a ferocious offensive type like the Dragon type, it seems that she's not above a little bit of underhandedness with her strategies! She make use of her words to wear down Lana's Sawsbuck, and now Cerelia's in a big pinch! Will Lana be able to turn this around and get back in the fight, or has she finally lost one of her pokemon?!
Leppyvstheworld: And not only that, it learns it naturally through level up.
Hyphenman: Questions like those will be answered eventually, don't worry. As for the Midnight question, I'd suggest going back and reading through again.
Arbiter8991: That would be a problem if Lana had a Fairy type. I guess we'll have to see. If she does, Darla might be in bad shape.
Aquahaze675: Welcome back! Can't wait to see your thoughts on all the new stuff!
KedharS: She's certainly a master of keeping everyone's attention on her, that's why she's such a good idol.
Tambry96bj: It's not… exactly flirting.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1178
"Cerelia!" Lana cried. Her Sawsbuck was in very bad shape. She needed to do something, fast. "Use aromatherapy!"
"Sawsbuck…" Cerelia panted. She raised her head, shaking, and released a sweet-smelling aroma across the battlefield. The soothing effects of the sweet scent purified the toxins coursing through her body, and while the move didn't heal her wounds or the poison damage she'd already taken, it ensured that no more of it ate away at her.
Darla scowled. "So you had that move ready to go, huh?"
"Aromatherapy is good for dealing with status," Lila nodded.
"If I had been thinking about poison, then we could have cured it immediately," Lana frowned. She was just as irritated as Darla was. All that health gone to waste because she was so focused on what Darla was doing that it hadn't even crossed her mind that the pain she was feeling had come from an infection.
And Cerelia had paid the price.
"Sawsbuck!" Freed from the effects of poison, Cerelia was doing much better, and was ready to attack with everything she had. She flung her horns forward, firing another energy ball at Rex.
"Rex, dodge it!" Darla snapped. She was through playing around. It was a good thing that her strategy of distracting Lana had worked, because if the other trainer had realized right away what was going on, then things would have been a lot more difficult.
But right now, Rex had the upper hand. And Darla was going to make sure he took full advantage of it before Lana did anything to turn the situation around on them.
"Rex, use rock slide," Darla followed next.
"Tyrantrum!" Rex stomped on the ground and sent a wave of rocks and dirt crashing down towards Cerelia. If she had still been injured then it would be almost impossible to fight back in this situation, but she wasn't poisoned any longer. The Sawsbuck began to run, using her long legs to gracefully dodge the falling boulders and leap over other ones, skillfully evading the rocks falling onto her.
But while she was doing that, she failed to notice that Darla's attacks weren't just coming from above her.
The tailwind blowing behind Rex had petered out already, but he was still very fast thanks to his dragon dances and rock polishes. And he'd used that speed to launch a second attack in the shadow of the first one.
And that second attack was rock tomb. When the boulders had settled and Cerelia thought she was safe, she leapt over the last of them and landed safely on the ground. But before Lana could congratulate her for navigating the falling rubble, the ground opened up and another rock rose up to engulf her, striking her tightly.
"Sawsbuck?!" Cerelia gasped in disbelief, struggling against the sharp stones digging into her. She tried to break free, but with all the damage from the poison she didn't have the strength to get out.
"Now you're trapped," Darla said. Her eyes were glimmering like those of a predator, and a wicked smile spread across her lips.
"No! Cerelia!" Lana cried. Her Sawsbuck didn't have the health necessary to use substitute, so there was no way she could get out of there.
"We can finish you off now!" Darla roared. "Rex, use fire fang!"
"Tyrantrum!" Rex charged at Cerelia with his mouth open wide, orange flames burning across his teeth. He raised his head and dropped it down on the thrashing deer, biting hard and releasing the full force of his fire upon her.
Cerelia didn't have the strength to resist. She collapsed, falling unconscious, and Lana was forced to recall her to her pokeball. It was the first loss of the match.
"Way to go, Darla!" Lila cheered. "You did it! You beat her first pokemon!"
"Thanks Lila," Darla nodded, smiling slightly. But her eyes never lost that savage gleam. She was in the middle of combat right now, and focused on only one thing- victory at any cost.
"It's okay, Lana!" Kiana said, trying to sound encouraging. "It's just your first pokemon! You can take her down with your next one!"
Lana took a deep breath and exhaled. That's right. She could. And she knew which pokemon she would need to do it.
"Drakon, come back out!" She shouted, sending out her Flygon again.
"Flygon!" Drakon cried, spreading his wings and taking to the sky. He winced in pain as the sharp stones dug into him.
Darla narrowed her eyes. She'd been anticipating the Flygon.
Rex may have been able to outmuscle Cerelia, but Darla could tell that even with his ferocious strength he was still in bad shape. He was still infested with leech seed, after all, and it was sucking away his strength at every opportunity. She'd kept him in against Cerelia because he'd had the power to do what was necessary, but against a pokemon like Flygon she knew that wasn't the case. She would need to call him back.
But it wasn't that simple, because Lana wouldn't let her.
"Drakon, use sand tomb!" She shouted. It was her first order and it came immediately, before Darla could even react.
Because Drakon had already known what his trainer wanted thanks to their bond from harmonia, he reacted instantaneously, crying out and spreading his wings, sending a cloud of sand billowing towards Rex. The sand wrapped around the Tyrantrum in a mini-twister, blocking any attempts from Darla to recall him to his pokeball.
"Tyrantrum!" Rex roared in pain. It didn't help that Ground type moves were super-effective against him, either.
"Oh, no!" Lila cried. "Darla, he's trapped, isn't he?! Then doesn't that mean you can't call him back to his pokeball?!"
Darla's eye twitched. "Yes, Lila, that's exactly what it means," she scowled, not needing the obvious pointed out to her. But she calmed herself down and took a few deep breaths, needing time to focus her thoughts. "Okay, Rex, this is gonna be really rough. I know the sand tomb and the leech seed are wearing you down, but we need to do as much damage to that Flygon as possible, alright?"
"Tyrantrum!" Rex snarled. He knew better than his trainer did what bad shape he was in, and that he probably wouldn't have the opportunity to take out any other pokemon. But at this point, he didn't care. He just wanted to rampage.
Darla was happy to accommodate. "That Flygon will take a ton of damage from Ice type moves, being a Ground/Dragon type! Use ice fang!"
"Tyrant!" Rex charged through the swirling sand and opened his mouth wide, the air freezing around his teeth into sharp, cold daggers. Chilly air wafted out of his mouth as he advanced on Drakon, trying to bite down on the Flygon's wings or tail.
"Drakon, dodge," Lana ordered. She wasn't a fool, she knew full well how much damage that Tyrantrum could do with those fangs. Drakon was one of her strongest pokemon, and she wasn't going to let him go down so easily.
Drakon tumbled through the sky, skillfully keeping out of range of Rex's attacks. Having the advantage of flight meant that he could stay out of reach for as long as he liked.
And he could attack with impunity.
"Flygon!" Drakon opened his mouth and began charging energy for a dragon pulse. Darla could already tell this was going to suck.
We could probably dodge it. But then what? Just let the leech seed slowly drain our health away and strengthen her pokemon? If it ends like that, then it's like Rex went down for no reason, Darla judged. No, that wouldn't do at all. The goal was to do as much damage as possible, even if it meant taking an otherwise-avoidable attack.
"Rex!" She shouted as the dragon pulse was fired. "Don't dodge it! Just use it to our advantage, understood?!"
"Tyrantrum!" Rex roared in agreement.
Lana was stunned. They weren't dodging? And what did she mean by "use it to our advantage"? What advantage was there in letting yourself get hit by a super-effective move?!
The answer to that was something Lana would have to see to believe. The dragon pulse struck Rex directly, setting him ablaze with howling fire and crackling lightning.
But the Tyrantrum didn't fall. He roared in anger and charged forward, caught in the inferno. And it was only getting larger.
Lana realized that the flames and lightning Rex was giving off weren't the result of Drakon's attack. This was something different!
"No one knows Dragon type pokemon better than me," Darla said, narrowing her eyes. "Your Flygon thinks he's cute because he can use dragon pulse? Well, we'll take that power and use it to spur our anger! Rex, use outrage!"
"TYRANTRUM!" The anger Rex had been bottling up all this time, since practically the beginning of the battle with Cerelia when he'd been infected with leech seed, was seeping out of him. He tore apart the air with a furious roar, burning up the sky and leaping up off the ground before Drakon could even react to the incoming attack.
Rex slammed into the Flygon with a brutal outrage, sending Drakon crashing to the ground. He crashed alongside him, but only one pokemon got back up.
"Flygon…" Drakon panted, trying to catch his breath. He absorbed the last slivers of health from Rex, but it was nothing compared to the pain he was in now.
Lana had fallen as well. The force from that charge had overwhelmed her, knocking her to the ground alongside her Flygon. Her sister rushed over to help her up, but she didn't need it. Samarra was killing her pain right now, and that was giving her all the focus she needed to stay in this fight.
I didn't expect her to reach us in the sky like that, Lana thought, scowling. But I guess that just shows how much more she knows about her dragons than I do. What a difficult person…
She was grateful that Darla had decided to pursue the Appeals Course. If she was in the Battle Course, Lana could picture her being one of the Eight Leaders already. Possibly even giving Alcea a run for her money as the strongest female trainer in school.
"Return, Rex," Darla said softly, recalling her Tyrantrum. Now that he had fainted, it was as if all the rage she'd built up on his behalf had dissipated.
But she still had plenty of her own rage to work with.
"Crescent!" She snarled. "Come back!"
"SALAMENCE!" Crescent roared, emerging from Darla's pokeball. He spread his wings and flew up to join Drakon in the sky, glaring down at him.
Lana felt a shiver run down her spine as Crescent's Intimidate lowered Drakon's attack. But in spite of that, she couldn't allow herself to yield. Drakon had gotten badly injured from Rex's outrage? Well, fine, Sari had done some damage to Crescent as well. As far as she was concerned, the two pokemon were evenly matched.
That was exactly what Lila thought as she watched the two dragons circle each other, looking for an opening. She shivered.
Anyone from Hoenn knew that there were two Dragon type pokemon that were famous from that region. Salamence and Flygon. They were both three stage lines that evolved from a small, grounded pokemon, and gained additional typing as they did so. Sure, Salamence remained a Dragon type throughout its evolutionary process and Flygon acquired the Dragon type after evolving from Trapinch, but they were both fierce dragons that were no joke to train or fight against.
Salamence from the mountains and Flygon from the desert. They were brutal, and they were facing off against each other right now.
And then there was Altaria, which was Lila's personal favorite, if you had to ask. But no one ever did, unfortunately.
"Come on, Darla, you can do it!" Lila cheered, hoping that her partner and friend would come out the victor. She knew in her heart that she shouldn't be worried, after all, Darla was a master of Dragon types! There was no way she'd lose against a dragon herself!
But she couldn't help but worry regardless, because that's the kind of girl she was. If Darla was fighting, she was going to be concerned, even if the outcome was a certainty.
"Drakon! Use dragon pulse!" Lana shouted. She would take the first move in this duel of dragons.
"Flygon!" Drakon opened his mouth and fired a shockwave of draconic energy at the Salamence in front of him.
"Crescent, use your dragon dance to dodge," Darla ordered. If Lana and her Flygon were going to focus on an all-out offensive then she would choose to go for speed and setup instead, boosting her pokemon's strength so that they could keep the advantage.
"Salamence!" Crescent flapped his wings and the air around him burned with energy. He spun into a barrel roll and evaded the shockwave, but that just gave Lana another opportunity to attack, and she was going to seize it.
"Drakon, they're not attacking! If they're going to set up on us, then we need to seize the initiative with a sandstorm!"
"Flygon!" Drakon nodded. He flapped his wings and the air around them began to churn. The wind picked up and a massive column of sand whipped across the sky, making it nearly impossible to see on the battlefield without special viewing lenses, which Flygon, being a desert pokemon, was naturally equipped with.
"I can't see anything!" Lila wailed. "It's going to be so much harder for Crescent to track down that Flygon in this weather! And now my dress is going to be covered in sand!" It was hard to tell which she thought was worse, the fact that Crescent was at a disadvantage or the fact that her clothes were going to be itchy and irritating.
Darla rolled her eyes, slightly amused at her partner's cries, but she wasn't going to take her focus off the battle. The sandstorm was certainly annoying, but it was nothing that Crescent couldn't handle, she was certain of it.
Darla loved all Dragon type pokemon, but she still believed that Salamence were stronger than Flygon, at least in a head to head. Drakon couldn't use his Ground type moves, after all, while Crescent could use whatever he wanted.
And right now, what he wanted was to show his enemy the difference between the two of them.
"Crescent, ignore the sandstorm," Darla shouted over the whipping wind. "Use aerial ace!"
"Salamence!" Crescent roared. He flapped his wings and disappeared into the sand, becoming even harder to see than Drakon. He reappeared behind the Flygon, still able to track him in this weather, and raised his claw.
The strike was fast and brutal, and Drakon tumbled through the air. Lana cried out in pain and clutched her shoulder, feeling like the skin on her back had just exploded outward. But she didn't let that feeling get the better of her.
"Drakon!" She snarled. "Use supersonic!"
"Flygon!" Drakon opened his mouth and released a shrill screech that harmonized with the roar of the sandstorm. Crescent couldn't tell which direction the noise was coming from, or even which way was up and which way was down. He stumbled, completely overwhelmed by the sonic assault that was confusing him.
"Crescent!" Darla shouted. Crescent's strength was phenomenal, but without a proper target it was meaningless. In his current state, she wasn't sure what he'd be able to do. He was too confused by the sound in his ears.
That was exactly the opening that Lana had been hoping for.
"Nicely done, Drakon!" She shouted out her encouragement with a smile. "Now, take him down! Use dragon pulse!"
Unlike Crescent, Drakon was easily able to track his opponent in the sandstorm. He opened his mouth and gathered draconic energy together, firing it in a shockwave at the stunned Salamence.
This time, Crescent was too befuddled to dodge. He didn't know where he was, but he certainly got an idea when the dragon pulse hit. The shockwave was painful and it hit him directly for massive damage, causing him to roar.
"Salamence!" Crescent thrashed in the sky as he dropped like a stone, unable to stay airborne after the scrambling of his thoughts and his body. He hit the grass hard and let out another roar, too weak to fly back up.
Making him the perfect target for another pass from Drakon.
"This is the opening we've been waiting for!" Lana shouted. "Drakon, he's wounded, get him with another dragon pulse, now!"
"Flygon!" Drakon nodded, opening his mouth wide and preparing another shockwave of destructive energy. He fired the compressed orb of fire and lightning at the grounded Salamence, hoping to finish him off.
"Crescent, use protect!" Darla snapped.
Drakon's hopes would go unrealized. A barrier of deep ocean blue light rose up around Crescent, shielding him from the dragon pulse. He may have been confused from the supersonic but he still knew enough to protect himself.
"You've bought yourself a little time, clearly," Lana said, trying hard to sound like she wasn't worried. "But I think you've realized just how strong Drakon is! Once that barrier goes down, then your Salamence is done for!"
Darla responded with a cool smile, which Lana could barely see over the sandstorm.
"I think you've got that backwards," she said, shaking her head. She narrowed her eyes.
"Once this barrier falls… your Flygon will be falling with it."
Her words were so certain it sent a shiver down Lana's spine.
Whoa, nice badass statement from Darla! The two girls are both using Dragon type pokemon, but one of them certainly has a lot more proficiency with the type than the other. Will Darla prove her supremacy as a dragon master and take down Lana's Flygon? Or will Lana overcome her with Drakon's power and skills, and take out another one of Darla's pokemon? The match is really heating up!