Blake's been getting his pokemon crushed left and right by Kanone and his powerful Samurott! First Maria fell, then Tara! Now he's got Ruru, who's a little stronger, and she's putting up a good fight! For now, though, he's got a bit of an edge since Ruru has a type advantage over both of Sammy's types, and has a lot of power as well. Not only that, she's slowed down Sammy with sticky web, and the Samurott is already losing health from poison and leech seed. With this, there might just be a chance of Blake winning, we'll have to see!
KedharS: It would certainly be nice if Ruru could finish Sammy off. But I don't think it'll be that easy to take her down.
Hyphenman: I don't imagine it'll go on for much longer. Blake's already down two pokemon, and his third has taken some damage already.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1281
"Look at the force of that electricity!" Lila exclaimed.
"That's an amazing attack!" Darla marveled. "Kanone's Samurott must have really been hurt by that one!"
Sammy had been blasted off by Ruru's discharge attack. Electricity was still crackling around her. But it wasn't enough to do her in, not by a mile. She flipped through the air and landed on her feet, roaring furiously.
"No way! I can't believe she withstood that!" Nick exclaimed.
"It's Kanone," was all Alcea needed to say. The look on her face was grim.
"Nice try, little brother," Kanone said, narrowing his eyes. They were flashing with harmonia. "But it's going to take a lot more than that if you want to defeat Sammy and I."
"Ruru and I have more to spare," Blake growled. "Ruru! Use screech!"
"GAAAAAL!" Ruru opened her mouth wide and unleashed a loud shriek that stunned Sammy, but wasn't enough to daunt her. Sammy charged forward, ignoring the defense drop, and slashed at Ruru with a powerful razor shell.
"Agility to dodge," Blake ordered. His Galvantula scurried out of the way and evaded the attack. "Now, use bug buzz!"
"Gal!" Ruru nodded, opening her mouth wide and preparing another shriek. Before she got the chance, though, Sammy appeared in front of her with her sword raised, and brought it down on the Galvantula's skull.
"Sucker punch is more than enough to close the distance," Kanone smirked. "And now that we have, we can take her down! Sammy, use razor shell!"
"Samurott!" Sammy roared. Water swirled around her shell blade and she swung with all she had, slashing diagonally down Ruru's side as she leapt around the large bug.
"GALVANTULA!" Ruru screamed in pain as she lost her balance, falling to the ground. Her legs began to twitch as she tried to stand.
She won't withstand another one of those, Blake noted. "Ruru! Use screech!"
"G-Gal," Ruru nodded weakly. She put all the strength she had into one final scream. "GALVANTULA!" She screeched at the top of her lungs, nearly shattering glass. Sammy winced, feeling the pressure from the scream, but didn't back down. Even with her defense dropped, she still lunged forward and raised her shell, striking the Galvantula with a thrust that pierced her in the side.
Ruru succumbed to the attack, slumping over unconscious.
"G-Galvantula is unable to battle!" Lila announced.
"Pretty brutally, too," Olivia winced, shaking her head. "This is why I can't stand pokemon battles, they're all so barbaric."
"Even with the type advantage, Blake's Galvantula wasn't strong enough to take down Kanone's Samurott," Darla said, frowning. "This is a really bad situation for him. He's lost half of his pokemon already."
And the worst part was that Sammy didn't even look that injured. Sure, she was having her strength drained from her by the leech seed, and her fur had a slight discoloration from the poison and the acid, but even with all the abuse Blake's three pokemon had piled on her, she wasn't even close to being knocked down.
It was a rather discouraging sight if you were someone hoping for Blake to win.
"This isn't good," Sango mumbled, shaking her head. "Kanone is too powerful. Can Blake really pull out a win here?"
She didn't see how it could be possible. She had no idea what he was supposed to do.
"He will," Cynthia said, holding her head up high. It was meaningless faith, and sounded completely empty, but she said it with scuh confidence that Sango couldn't help but believe it.
Still, as stubborn as she was, she couldn't just let the assertion stand unopposed.
"How can you be so sure?" She demanded. "You saw how powerful Kanone's Samurott is! I'm not even a trainer and even I can see that Blake's losing this badly! Some of his strongest pokemon were taken down in a few hits!"
"But not Cory!" Marion reminded Sango. "His Crawdaunt's really powerful! And I'm sure that's who Blake's going to use next!"
"I-I guess," Sango mumbled. As a fellow Water/Dark type, Cory would resist some of Sammy's strongest moves. But that x-scissor still frightened her. If a pokemon with such a massive type advantage like Ruru had lost so handily, would Cory really be able to make much of a difference?
"And don't forget, he has his Salamence," Julia reminded them. Kitty tensed at the mention of the ferocious beast.
"Y-Yeah, that's right!" She stammered, nodding. "Sarah's a really powerful pokemon! Kanone's Samurott is going to be in for a real struggle!"
"Assuming he chose to use that pokemon, of course," Sylvia murmured.
Serefina scowled and turned around in her seat. "Must you rain on everyone's parade?" She demanded. "We're trying to have some hope, here!"
Sylvia snorted, rolling her eyes. "There's hope, and then there's stupidity," she replied. "Blake wouldn't use a pokemon as reckless as his Salamence in a crowded stadium full of students. Can you imagine what would happen if that beast went on a rampage?"
Kitty turned pale.
"She… Sylvia may have a point," she mumbled.
"Of course I have a point," Sylvia snorted.
"Well, we'll see," Cynthia snapped. She was in no mood for Sylvia's games. No right now. This was a critical point in the battle between the two of them.
"Cory, go!" Blake shouted, sending out his Crawdaunt.
"Craw!" Cory shouted. When he landed on the sharp shards, he winced in pain.
"Your pokemon really must be careful where they land," Kanone smirked. "Those little shells will be the end of you."
"Blake's fourth pokemon is his Crawdaunt!" Lila announced.
"A powerful choice, but will it be enough to deal with that Samurott?" Darla wondered.
"I doubt it," Olivia scowled. She might have been rooting for Blake, but she didn't see how he was going to win.
But that's not important, she thought, glancing up at the private boxes overlooking the stadium. What matters is that she's watching this.
Alone in Olivia's private box, Ayame Toujou stared down at the battlefield.
She was only watching this because Olivia had asked her to. Her best friend had practically begged her to watch Blake's battle against his brother, all alone in her private box.
Ayame knew why, of course. Because Olivia wanted her to restart her relationship with Blake. But even knowing that, she had acquiesced. Some things were more important than others, and it was clear that this battle meant a lot to her friend.
Even though nothing would come of it, it was the least Ayame could do to humor the other girl. She watched carefully, waiting for the battle to continue. And she ignored the pangs in her chest as she looked at Blake, and the memories tugging at the back of her mind.
"Cory, use retaliate!" Blake shouted.
"Oh, quite a move!" Kanone marveled.
"Crawdaunt!" Cory shot forward like a bullet, ignoring the sharp shells beneath his feet. He scuttled towards Sammy, who was unable to properly dodge; the sticky webs put in place by Ruru limited her mobility, leaving her a sitting duck for the Crawdaunt.
Cory pulled back his pincer and swung it at Sammy. Sammy raised her blade to try and parry the strike, but Cory was too fast. His pincer arced down and swung up, striking Sammy in the gut, and launched her into the air.
"Whoa, look at the power of that move!" Olivia gasped.
"That's the strength of retaliate," Darla noted.
"Really? What does it do, Darla?" Lila asked curiously.
Darla was happy to explain. "Retaliate is a powerful attack that doubles its strength if the pokemon it's used on knocked out the pokemon before. It's a move that's perfect for getting revenge, and perfect for a situation like this, where Kanone can't switch his pokemon out."
"So that's why he had Ruru use screech!" Reiner grinned. "He softened her up so he could counter with this!"
"It's an excellent play," Akira nodded. "He took advantage of the fact that Kanone's Samurott would slice through his pokemon like firewood."
"But it won't be enough," Maddi scowled. And indeed she was quickly proven right because Sammy landed on her feet, glaring at Cory.
"Retaliate is never as powerful the second time," Kanone noted. "You used up all your anger and revenge on that blow, and it wasn't enough."
He was saying that, but Blake could see weakness in his brother's eyes. That attack had hurt.
Just a little more, Blake thought, glaring at Kanone. We just have to keep pushing him like this. There's no time to stack things up like swords dance. No, we just have to keep pressing the attack and do as much damage as we can.
It was all going according to plan. The poison was wearing Sammy down faster by the second and at the same time, Cory was absorbing health from her due to the leech seed. He had already healed himself from the shards of shell left over from ceaseless edge, and was preparing his next attack.
"Cory! Use bubblebeam!" Blake ordered.
"Crawdaunt!" Cory raised his pincers and opened them wide, filling the air between the two pokemon with a cloud of bubbles.
"Why would he use a move like that?" Maddi demanded. "Is he stupid or something? Using bubblebeam, with Crawdaunt's terrible special attack stat? Against another Water type pokemon, no less?"
"Is he trying to lose?" Reiner groaned, feeling the same way.
"It's going to be fine!" Marion chirped. "This is all part of the plan!"
Mirar raised his eyebrow. "How would you know? You weren't there when we were working out the strategy."
Marion gave him a cheeky smile. "Because I know things, of course!" She giggled. "You think you can keep the knowledge of what a fishy friend like that's going to do?"
"By setting up bubblebeam like that, Blake's created a buffer," Cynthia explained. "It won't do a lot of damage if the bubbles are triggered, but it will still slow Sammy down, and that's the goal. Drag it out as long as possible so her strength will be weakened."
Sango bit her lip, unconvinced by Cynthia's words. "Well… if you say so," she mumbled.
"If you're trying to buy time, it won't work," Kanone promised. "We'll smash right through these bubbles. Sammy, use hydro pump!"
"Samurott!" Sammy roared, opening her mouth wide and firing a massive blast of compressed water at Cory. The water blast smashed through the bubbles, setting off a chain of explosions through the battlefield.
"Craw!" Cory leapt to the side just in time, avoiding the blast. He glared at Sammy. "Crawdaunt!" He growled.
"Calm down, Cory," Blake advised. "Use leer."
"Crawdaunt," Cory nodded, glaring intensely at Sammy. Sammy flinched, her defense dropping, but she charged forward regardless.
"Lowering our defense won't do anything," Kanone warned. "Use aqua cutter!"
"Samurott!" Sammy swung her sword, sending blades of water out that sliced through the bubbles, puncturing them. More explosions shook the battlefield but Cory was surprisingly agile, evading the slashes while continuing to leer.
"Craw!" Cory used leer a second time, dropping her defense even more.
"That makes six drops to Samurott's defense," Darla noted. "Whatever Blake has prepared, it's going to be powerful!"
Blake cracked a grin. "Perfect, Cory! Now go! Charge in!"
"Crawdaunt!" Cory nodded, charging at Sammy and lowering her head, preparing to strike.
Kanone narrowed his eyes. "Don't think it will be that easy," he growled. "You have no idea the extent of our power, Blake."
He concentrated his harmonia, building up a mass of strength in Sammy's blade. The shell sword began to glow with blinding light.
"Here it comes," Alcea breathed.
"What?!" Kate asked frantically. "What's happening?!"
Everyone looked to Alcea for confirmation.
"A move he used in the Orre Region," Maddi said grimly. "One of Samurott's strongest attacks. I don't know if his Crawdaunt will be able to withstand it."
Cynthia said nothing, watching the fight in grim silence.
"Samurott!" Sammy raised her shell sword and charged at Cory, ignoring the bubbles popping against her in a chain of explosions. Her focus was entirely on the charging red pokemon preparing to attack.
"Superpower!" Blake ordered.
"Craaaaaw!" Cory swung his claw with everything he had, even though he knew the move would drastically reduce his offensive and defensive power.
But his strike didn't connect, because Sammy turned her blade, deflecting it effortlessly. And now Cory was left wide open.
"This is it!" Darla gasped.
"She's going to finish it!" Lila winced, shielding her eyes.
Olivia bit her lip and watched intently.
"Sacred sword!" Kanone shouted.
Sammy swung her light-infused sword, aiming straight for Cory's exposed carapace. There was nothing the Crawdaunt could do to dodge.
And he didn't want to.
Blake smirked. Sammy's sword smashed into Cory with enough strength to knock the Crawdaunt unconscious. But Cory didn't fall. He withstood the attack with everything he had, glaring defiantly up at Sammy. Then his body started to glow.
Cynthia's lips curled up into a smirk.
"Focus sash," she stated, and that was more than enough.
"No way!" Sango exclaimed, springing up from her seat.
Maddi couldn't help but grin. "Your best trick, huh?" She said, laughing incredulously.
"What? What's she talking about?" Kate asked, confused.
"Cory's a tough pokemon, but he doesn't focus much on defense," Cynthia smiled. "Blake figured that he would probably be knocked out in a single hit from Kanone's Samurott. So that's why we came up with this little plan. By giving Cory a focus sash, he'll withstand the attack with one health. And then… it's time for endeavor."
"So Samurott will be reduced to one HP!" Nick gasped.
"It won't matter how much harmonia Kanone has," Cynthia smirked. "At only one HP, this match will be over in a flash!"
"CRAWDAUNT!" Cory shouted, building up the energy from endeavor and preparing to unleash it on Sammy, dropping her down to the same health that he was at right now, just barely holding on with one HP.
It would mark the end of the match.
"It's so bright!" Lila wailed, shielding her eyes.
"What a brilliant move," Darla nodded, smiling.
Olivia was still tense. Kanone didn't seem fazed in the slightest.
And in a second she figured out why.
Faster than lightning, Sammy swung her other blade, striking Cory in the chest. The Crawdaunt's energy buildup dispersed and he slumped over, unconscious.
"Endeavor plus focus sash, huh?" Kanone said quietly, staring across the battlefield at Blake. Blood trickled from his nose.
"…Yeah," Blake nodded.
"It was a good trick," Kanone murmured. "Quite a trump card to keep up your sleeve. If I hadn't anticipated it and given my all with harmonia, we never would have had the time to get off a second attack before succumbing to your efforts. But as it stands… it just wasn't enough. Your Crawdaunt fell because Sammy was that much faster."
Sammy was struggling to catch her breath, barely able to stand. But she was enduring. She glared at Blake and let out a triumphant roar. Blake winced.
"Blake's lost four pokemon now," Lila said. She couldn't keep the sadness out of her voice, even though she was supposed to be rooting for Kanone.
"It's not over yet, though," Darla said. Will Blake use his Salamence? She wondered.
She wasn't the only one asking that question.
"I can't believe that Samurott managed to overcome the focus sash + endeavor combo," Cynthia said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I mean, I know we planned for that possibility, but still."
"Was that the plan?" Sango scowled.
Cynthia nodded. "It was the first step, yeah. Wear him down with those first three pokemon, to force his harmonia up to a level where his Samurott could oneshot Cory, and then counter with endeavor and use aqua jet to finish things, or bullet punch from Weiss if Cory somehow fainted after the endeavor. But Sammy was able to smash through it with pure power."
"Harmonia is dangerous," Elaina said grimly. "Tricks like that won't be enough to overcome the raw power of someone like that."
She understood it perfectly now. She'd never had a chance. If she'd fought against Kanone back then, he'd have destroyed her as handily as he'd destroyed Gerard.
"So what do you think?" Kitty asked quietly. "Will he use his Salamence?"
"He might have to," Akira nodded. "I'm guessing that's all he has left to rely on."
"No!" Dakota said, shaking her head. "He still has Weiss! He's still got something up his sleeve! I believe in him!"
She wanted an interview with a winner so badly. She wanted to be the one who got to boast about Blake overcoming his brother in her article.
"We'll see," Sylvia said ominously, glaring down at the battlefield. She had a smile on her lips that didn't reach her eyes. "But I can't help thinking… that Blake's still hiding something."
"Really?" Sango asked, raising her eyebrow. "What's he hiding?"
Sylvia shook her head. She had no intention of answering the other girl's questions. "Let's just leave that to the match, shall we?"
Blake's been pressed pretty badly! He had an amazing strategy in play with Cory, but Kanone was able to break through it! With that, he could have cinched up the whole thing, but now he's in a tough bind. Who will he use for his fifth pokemon? Weiss? Then Sarah as his sixth? Or could he have something else up his sleeve? We'll have to see!