Blake's team is in rough shape. He lost his Galvantula and his Crawdaunt, and now he only has a limited number of pokemon left to fight with! He has to somehow overcome this beast of a Samurott with only two pokemon, after she already carved up four of them! Will it be enough? Or will Sammy destroy whatever pokemon he has left? We'll have to see!
KedharS: It's not going well for him, Kanone's Samurott is just too powerful! Hopefully he has some more tricks up his sleeve.
Arbiter8991: Yeah, Weiss just needs to land some more hits and finish her off!
Hyphenman: Unfortunately, Cory wasn't able to land the endeavor attack in time, so Sammy still has a good chunk of health remaining.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1282
"This is really bad, isn't it, Darla?" Lila asked, looking tensely at her partner. Darla had an equally grim expression on her face.
"It is," she said plainly. "Blake's lost four pokemon already. And as injured as Kanone's Samurott is, I don't think she's on her last legs yet. Olivia? What do you think?"
But Olivia wasn't paying their questions any mind. She looked up at the viewer box that Ayame was sitting in.
Aya… what are you thinking about right now? She wondered.
Ayame was watching the match intensely, feeling her chest constricting at the predicament that Blake was in.
Why do I feel this way? She asked herself, biting her lip. Why does seeing him lose like this hurt me so much?
She knew the answer, of course. Because part of her still cared about Blake. But she couldn't allow that answer to take root in her.
If it did, who knows if she'd ever be able to get it out again?
"Blake only has two pokemon left," Sango said, biting her lip anxiously. She'd already forgotten how upset she was with him, at this point she just wanted him to win. But it was looking less and less likely that was going to happen. She had never imagined that Kanone's Samurott could move so fast she could bring Cory down to one HP and then finish him off before he even got a chance to unleash an endeavor in the interim.
With the situation what it was, Sango wasn't sure he'd be able to win. That Samurott seemed like an unbeatable foe.
"Blake's two pokemon are probably his Scizor and his Salamence," Nikita said. "They're both really strong… that should be enough, right?"
"You'd hope so," Akira nodded. "But I'm not so sure. He definitely needs to give it everything he has if he wants to win."
"He doesn't have his Salamence, actually."
Everyone gasped. Heads turned to see Erik standing in the aisle with a grim expression on his face, watching the battle.
"Sarge?!" Sango exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"
"I'm doing security," Erik explained calmly. "This is a pretty tense fight, after all, and with the strength of Kanone's pokemon we need to make sure that everything is under control. We can't have an incident like last time, with you two."
He glared at Elaina and Akira. Akira winced, looking down, and Elaina was practically petrified with guilt. She had no defense for her actions, she could only stare at the floor while Erik's piercing gaze shot through her like a bullet.
"Forget that!" Reiner exclaimed. "What do you mean Blake doesn't have his Salamence? That's like his strongest pokemon!"
"Yeah!" Dakota nodded vigorously. "I was so certain that this match would come down to a duel between Samurott and Salamence! I've even got some rough drafts made! Why didn't he use his pokemon?!"
Akira rolled his eyes. Of course Dakota would be concerned about that.
"I don't know why," Erik shrugged. "But he never came to speak with me about using his Salemence in this battle."
Without elaborating further, he continued his rounds. Meanwhile, Sango was starting to panic, and she wasn't the only one.
"Sarah is Blake's strongest pokemon," Kitty shivered. "Can Blake even win without her?"
"Which other pokemon does that leave him with?" Nikita wondered, biting the nail of her thumb nervously.
"It'll be fine, guys," Cynthia said, assuring them with a smile. "I believe in Blake. He's definitely got something planned. Don't worry."
Sango was shocked Cynthia could be so calm about this. But then, she did help Blake train, so maybe she knew more than she was letting on.
"You helped him train, didn't you?" Dakota asked suspiciously. "What do you know? What other pokemon are Blake using?"
She held a tape recorder out in front of Cynthia.
"Talk, Red!"
Cynthia batted the tape recorder away and rolled her eyes. She winked. "Don't worry. He's got a bit of a surprise planned," she promised. "He still has one trump card left."
Sylvia grinned. "Now we're getting somewhere," she laughed, leaning back in her seat. "And here I was, worried that this match would end up becoming boring and predictable! But Blake's certainly proving me wrong!"
"Weiss, go!" Blake shouted, sending out his Scizor. Weiss winced as he landed on the sharp shells, feeling them stab up into his feet.
Sylvia frowned. "…Or maybe he isn't, never mind."
Blake using his Scizor fifth was exactly the move she expected from him.
"Weiss, use double team," Blake ordered immediately. Weiss had the edge in speed over Sammy, and Blake intended to use that to his advantage.
"Scizor!" Weiss nodded, creating several duplicates of himself. He filled the field with Scizor, surrounding Sammy immediately.
"You'll need to do better than that," Kanone scoffed. "Sammy! Use aerial ace!"
Sammy disappeared in a flash, and as she did, the copies of Weiss began to disappear as well. Her blade sliced through them, unseen to the naked eye, and soon was headed right for the real Weiss.
"Weiss, counter with your aerial ace!" Blake ordered.
"Scizor!" Before the wave of disappearances reached the real Weiss, the Scizor disappeared, claw raised, and the air split open in a shockwave. Weiss caught Sammy's shell blade within his pincer and the two attacks were nullified, leaving the pokemon glaring at each other alone on the battlefield.
"That's good enough, Weiss!" Blake shouted. "Get back and use defog!"
"Scizor!" Weiss flapped his wings, leaping back and blowing the sharp spikes away, sending them flying towards Sammy. Sammy, of course, easily parried them with her shell sword, charging after Weiss even as the wind pushed back against her.
"Nice!" Lila cheered. "Blake's Scizor is really holding his own against Kanone's Samurott! At this rate, he might really be able to pull it off!"
"Yeah, that Samurott has taken a lot of abuse," Darla agreed. "She's really been weakened from all the cumulative effects of Blake's pokemon's efforts. I think Blake really has a chance to win. He just has to have his Scizor keep up the pressure!"
"Weiss, use hone claws," Blake ordered. "Then use agility to keep your speed up!"
"Scizor!" Weiss nodded. He began scraping his pincers together while he flapped his wings, circling around Sammy to keep out of her line of attack.
"Why's he using hone claws?" Julia scowled. "Come on, Blake! We know your Scizor knows swords dance!"
"That's true," Nick nodded. "A double attack boost is vital for this, and hone claws only raises his attack stage by one. Why would he limit himself to such an extent?"
"Maybe he's going to try using a move with low accuracy," Nikita guessed. "He would need to raise his accuracy a little to accommodate."
"Weiss, use bullet punch!" Blake ordered. A barrage of the small punches wouldn't do a lot of damage to a Water/Dark pokemon under most circumstances, but given how low Sammy's defenses had dropped, it would have a significant effect.
"Scizor," Weiss nodded. He shot forward like a bullet and unleashed a series of punches at Sammy faster than the eye could see.
"Sammy, dodge with an aqua jet," Kanone ordered. "Then use aqua cutter!"
"Samurott!" Sammy nodded. She covered her body in water and leapt back, dodging around Weiss's punches. The few she couldn't evade completely she countered with her sword, and then swung a blade of water out at Weiss, striking him in the stomach.
"SCIZOR!" Weiss howled in pain, clutching his stomach. He used his wings to steady himself as he tumbled back, nearly losing his balance.
"Oooh, that one had to sting!" Lila winced.
"It seems it's not as easy as Blake would like it to be," Darla mused.
"We aren't done yet!" Blake snapped. "Weiss! Pick up your speed once more with another agility! We're going to overcome Sammy's attacks!"
"Scizor!" Weiss nodded. He sharpened his claws and his speed increased even more to the point where it was hard to make out how fast his wings were flapping.
"So that's why he wanted to use hone claws," Reiner realized as Weiss used the move a second time, boosting his power and accuracy.
"Huh? Why?" Nikita asked, pushing her glasses up her nose.
"Kanone's Samurott has her speed and agility lowered due to the sticky webs still clinging to her legs, see?" Reiner said, gesturing to the webbing covering Sammy's feet. "And in spite of that, she's STILL able to move as fast as she was with that aqua jet and evade all of Weiss's punches. Blake needs the accuracy boost if he wants to hit her. If he just waits for the passive draining from leech seed and poison to wear her down, then she'll wipe out his pokemon long before she succumbs."
Julia hated agreeing with Reiner, but he was right. "Yeah," she muttered. "That Samurott is a monster. Blake is in really bad shape, even if his Scizor manages to land some hits. Did you guys see how much damage he took from that aqua cutter?"
"Weiss, hone claws again," Blake ordered. "And while you are, use agility to pick up your speed even more!"
Weiss had turned to a red blur as he sharpened his claws, trying his best to keep out of Sammy's range. But even as he evaded the aqua cutters with his speed (and a small assist from Tara reducing her accuracy) he could feel the blades coming closer and closer.
Sammy shouldn't have been able to speed up, but somehow she was.
"Now, Sammy!" Kanone growled, narrowing his eyes.
Sammy let out a roar and disappeared from sight.
"Oh no!" Lila exclaimed. She'd completely forgotten about rooting for Kanone at this point. Blake's underdog story was just too tantalizing and she'd been swept up into it.
"She's going for aerial ace again!" Darla cried.
"That speed is unreal. I guess this is the power of harmonia," Olivia said, biting her lip.
"Samurott!" Sammy reappeared behind Weiss, and slashed with everything she had. Weiss cried out in pain and flew forward, but he spread his wings wide to brake, and then righted himself, turning on the Samurott.
"Now, Weiss!" Blake shouted. "Use x-scissor!"
"Yes!" Cynthia cheered. "If this connects, that's it!"
"A powerful Bug type move with four boosts to his attack should take care of that Samurott for good," Akira agreed. "But unfortunately, when it comes to harmonia, the amount of raw power just isn't enough sometimes."
Elaina flinched, feeling the accusation in his words even without him meaning to. After all, it made sense that Akira would be sensitive to the overwhelming power of harmonia given the conclusion of their last fight.
I shouldn't have come here, she realized. This is too stressful for me.
Even if Sango had invited her as a friend, even though her relationships with the others had improved slightly due to their trip to the Hoenn Region, that didn't make Elaina friends with everybody. People like Akira who she had brutalized would probably still hate her. And the same went for someone like Julia. Even after their trip, she still felt like the black-haired girl was hostile towards her.
But Elaina was shaken out of her spiral of self-loathing by the sight of Weiss shooting towards Sammy with his claws raised, swiping down on her from the sides in a brutal "X" shape.
"X-scissor!" Kanone roared in counter.
Sammy drew her jagged swords and swung up with all she had. Just like how Weiss had nullified her aerial ace earlier, Sammy was able to nullify his x-scissor. The two moves struck harmlessly off each other, leading to a stalemate.
"So close," Kanone clicked his tongue, narrowing his eyes. "But not close enough! Sammy, use hydro pump!"
"Samurott!" Sammy opened her mouth wide and fired a blast of water at point-blank range. Weiss leapt to the side, trying to evade the blast of water, but the impact was massive and he was thrown backwards. He rolled across the battlefield and hopped to his feet, panting.
"That was close," Blake said, sighing in relief slightly. Sammy had managed to get off the hydro pump fast, but Weiss's boost to speed allowed him to evade the attack even faster, and now he was at the perfect distance to keep up the offensive.
"We're still having trouble landing hits!" Blake shouted to Weiss. His voice was loud enough that Kanone picked up on it. "Use hone claws again!"
"He's using that move for a fifth time?!" Lila sputtered in disbelief. "How many boosts to his accuracy does he need?!"
"Considering he hasn't really landed a good blow on that Samurott?" Darla asked, raising her eyebrow. "I'd say he needs at least one more."
"Scizor!" Weiss sharpened his claws as Sammy continued her assault. The Samurott unleashed a barrage of aqua cutters that tore open the air. As Weiss boosted his attack he used his maximized speed to evade each of them, taking care that they didn't hit. The next course of action was dealing with the tidal wave that came crashing down immediately after them.
"This shouldn't be a problem, Weiss!" Blake said confidently. "Smash through it with air slash!"
"Scizor!" Weiss nodded. He raised his pincer and swung, cutting through the air itself and splitting the surf attack in half. Because the move used his special attack, it was performed with none of the boosts from hone claws. This was Weiss's own level of power, and it cleaved the wave in two, continuing on and striking Sammy in the chest, carving a bloody gash into her fur.
"SAMUROTT!" Sammy roared in pain.
"With the accuracy boost from hone claws, it doesn't matter if Sammy can dodge," Blake said, narrowing his eyes. "She can't dodge the wind itself!"
"Tricky, tricky," Kanone smiled, his eyes flashing dangerously. "So you weren't trying to raise his attack at all. You were focused on boosting his accuracy, so you could make pinpoint attacks with air slash like that!"
"Something along those lines," Blake said, a crooked grin spreading across his face. "That's what we have going for us, Weiss and me. We won't lose to you, or Sammy! We'll take you down together, right?"
"Scizor," Weiss nodded in agreement.
"It's a nice sentiment," Kanone agreed, nodding. "But do you really think it will go as simply as that, little brother?"
Blake flinched. "Wh-What are you talking about?" He asked.
"I understand that you have a bond with your Scizor, really, I do. I was there the day you caught him, remember?"
"What's your point?" Blake scowled.
"My point is that just having a bond with your pokemon isn't enough," Kanone said, shaking his head. "Sammy and I have a bond that can't be compared to the bond you share with your pokemon. And yet, not even that was enough to defeat Gwen and her Gallade."
"It's different," Blake spat. "I'll save her! I'll defeat Lancelot and save my sister!"
"Then show me you can!" Kanone shouted. "Because a pitiful air slash like that isn't the way to do it! You want to see what a real slash looks like? Sammy!"
"Samurott!" Sammy roared, swinging her blade with everything she had. The sky tore itself open as a massive gash ripped in the air around the battlefield, slicing through the wind itself to hit Sammy's target.
"SCIZOR!" Red spurted everywhere across the battlefield as Weiss stumbled and fell. The air slash cut through everything, faster than he could have imagined.
"That's real power right there," Kanone said quietly. "The power of the bond formed between me and Sammy. Do you really think your bond is something strong enough where you can overcome that?" He demanded.
"You bet it can!" Blake shouted. "I'll show you the power of my bonds! Bonds I could only form as a result of coming here, to the Pokemon Academy!"
Blake turned and jabbed his finger at the sky, pointing right at the viewing box where Ayame was seated. She flinched.
It's like… he's looking right at me…
"Always so theatrical," Kanone said, shaking his head. "What do you think big gestures and dramatic speeches will do, little brother?"
Blake smirked. "They bought time, didn't they?"
Kanone's eyes slid down to Weiss, and he gasped. The Scizor wasn't collapsed on the ground, defeated, like Kanone had thought. He had crouched, and while he was crouching, he was sharpening his claws once again.
"Weiss has honed his claws to the maximum," Blake noted. "Boosting his attack and his accuracy as high as they can go. And with his speed at the maximum as well, it'll be enough to take down Sammy, big brother."
"You think a few status buffs can get you through my harmonia?" Kanone asked.
Blake nodded. "I've learned a lot, coming here," he replied. "And a lot of my learning has been outside of the classroom. My friend Dokukage taught me the value of buffing your pokemon, and how those buffs can be used to overwhelm an opponent that far surpasses their power. And we'll show you just what we've learned from him, right Weiss?"
"Scizor!" Weiss nodded. His legs were shaky, but he held up his pincers, ready to strike.
"I see," Kanone nodded thoughtfully. "So that's the sort of 'power' you got from your bond. Power taught to you by someone else."
"Friends ARE power, Kanone," Blake replied. "It's not enough to just befriend your pokemon, you have to make human friends, too. That's what I'm going to teach Gwen. It's why I'll be able to beat her, and why I'll be able to beat you. Because of my friends."
Kanone narrowed his eyes. "We'll see about that! Sammy! He's coming! Finish him with a razor shell, now!"
"Samurott!" Sammy roared, raising her sword and sharpening it into a glowing blue point. At the same time, Weiss shot across the battlefield at incredible speed, his pincers raised and ready to strike.
"Oh man, this is it!" Lila cheered, sitting at the edge of her seat.
"Will Blake's Scizor strike Kanone's Samurott before she can wipe him out? Or will the Samurott overwhelm him with the power of her sword?" Darla was on the edge of her seat as well, excited to see this climactic exchange.
"Come on," Olivia whispered, clutching her hands together.
Sammy's sword dropped as Weiss swung his claw. Then, seconds before the razor shell connected, Weiss started to glow. Then he disappeared.
Sammy's razor shell passed harmlessly through the air as Weiss returned to his pokeball in place of another pokemon.
Dokukage, watching from the leader box, smiled beneath his mask. "Baton pass," he murmured with a nod. "You've learned quite a lot, Blake."
"Now go!" Blake shouted, sending out Weiss's replacement, and his third trump card.
Cynthia grinned with pride.
"Tristan!"
"Breloom!" The Grass/Fighting type pokemon emerged right in front of Sammy, who stared at him in shock. The dinosaur lunged forward with his claw raised, taking all the power he'd inherited from Weiss, and delivered it into Sammy's chest with the dynamic punch to end all dynamic punches.
WHOA! I don't think anyone saw THAT coming! Blake's trump card wasn't his Salamence after all, he used Cynthia's Breloom for the final exchange! By sending out a pokemon with another double type advantage over Sammy, he was able to get the drop on the Samurott and hit her with an incredible attack! What will the result be? Is this just the turning point Blake needs to seize victory?!