Chapter 3: Helios Entrance Exam 2

[Helios Academy - Battle Stadium]

Tail Whip is a usually useless move, most people would look over it, but in this battle, it can allow a usually weak Pokémon a chance to unleash devastating damage.

My eyes go back to normal and my thinking slows back down.

"Spike, use Quick Attack to dodge incoming attacks while using Tail Whip repeatedly!"

The Dragon Pulse is launched and Spike manages to dodge it. Spike begins running around, repeatedly using Tail Whip in order to lower the Goodra defense.

"You're so annoying, smack him away Goodra," Damian commanded.

However, no matter what Goodra did, Spike dodged all the hits. It's not easy to hit a tiny target after all.

"What is he running around for?" Kaito asked. "He can't win this battle no matter what he tries."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Aether responded.

"What do you mean?" Kaito asked.

"Just keep watching the battle." Kuraki smacks Kaito's head.

"Fine."

'This cat-and-mouse chase went on for a while but now I can end this.'

"Spike put everything you've got into this attack. Double Edge!"

A white aura surrounds the Eevee as it charges up its attack.

"Not good," Damien said, rather scared. "Goodra, use Giga Impact!"

Goodra covers itself with a ferocious white aura and starts charging toward the Eevee.

The two Pokémon charge at each other, but Spike runs around the dragon at the last second and rams into it from behind.

"No way!" Damien shouts in shock.

Spike slams itself into the Goodra, pushing it hard before slamming it into the wall of the stadium. Dust covers the collision area and everyone awaits the outcome in silence.

Once the dust dissipates, on top of the fallen Dragon is a damaged, but proud Eevee.

The ref sticks out his hand. "Goodra is unable to battle, which means the winner of this battle is Blake Hiiro!"

The crowd shouts in excitement. The applause from the crowd filled the stadium.

"Incredible!" the announcer shouts.

"What an unexpected outcome," A spectator said.

"That was so cool!" A little kid said.

'That, was, awesome!' I thought as ran towards Spike to give him a hug.

"I lost, and to an Eevee of all things," Damian said, still incredibly shocked at the outcome of this battle. "Marcheline is going to kill me."

"Blake won!" Kuraki said while shaking Kaito around.

"How'd he win?" Marcheline asked in shock.

"Not only that, how did he one-shot the Goodra?" Kaito asked. "There's no way an Eevee did that."

"Tail Whip," Aether answered. "He used Eevee and Goodra's size difference to his advantage by dodging all of the Goodra's hits, lowering its defense in the process, and then finishing it off with a single Double Edge."

"See, I told you. He's gotten stronger," Kuraki said, smacking Kaito's head some more.

"Ouch, I get it. Blake got stronger, whatever." Kaito holds the back of his head in pain. "His luck won't last long though."

Aether was rather pleased with the unexpected outcome, but Marcheline was livid.

"I knew Damien was useless," Marcheline muttered in anger, clenching her fists. "Embarrassing the Allard name is atonable only by death."

'I actually won against the little brother of one of the greatest geniuses in the world!'

Spike was very pleased with his work.

"You did great Spike," I said to it as I returned it back to its Pokéball.

Turning back to my opponent, I couldn't help but feel bad for him.

'Losing in the first round must suck a lo-.'

Before I could finish my thought, I noticed the look he had in his eyes. Not one of anger and disappointment that he lost.

It was fear.

"Are you okay?" I asked the fearful Damien.

Damien clenches his fist. "Are you happy?" His fearful look starts being engrained into my mind.

"What do you mean?" I asked taking a step back.

"Are you happy about ruining my life?!" He asked again, his eyes turning into a look of anger.

"How did I-" Before I could say anything, Damien starts walking out of the battlefield.

'What was that about?'

….

"The second round is about to begin soon, you think you're ready?" Yutaka asked.

"Of course, it'll be a piece of cake," I said. My confidence has been boosted because of that last match.

"What Pokémon do you plan on using?" Yutaka asked.

"Good question, I was going to use Darmanitan in the first round but Eevee popped out before I got the chance to send him out."

"Just use Darmanitan then, I'm sure it's itching for a battle now," Yutaka answered for me.

"Good idea!" I said with a smile while I hold Daru's Pokemon.

Unbeknownst to the two of us, a green-haired teen was eavesdropping on our conversation.

….

"Blakes battling again now right?" Kuraki asked the announcer.

"Let me check. He is," The announcer answered.

"That guy again? I hope he loses this time." Marcheline said, still mad about what happened earlier.

"C'mon, don't be like that March," Kuraki teased while patting Marcheline's head.

"I told you not to call me that," Marcheline said as she pushed Kuraki away.

"Don't fight now, the battle is about to start," Aether said.

"I'd rather watch them fight," Kaito remarked.

"Look, they're walking up now!" Kuraki exclaimed excitedly.

"On one side is the unexpected prospect who managed to defeat Damien Allard in a single hit, Blake Hiiro!" The announcer shouts.

The roars and cheers from the crowd sting my ears once again, at least the noise is for me.

"On the other side is a gifted swordsman and battler who's also finished off their first opponent in a single hit, Touma Sword!"

An equally loud roar is heard from the crowd for the swordsman.

"So you're the new talk of the town, Blake Hiiro," Touma said.

"Guess so," I said nonchalantly. "You ready to lose?"

"That's my line, you can't use cheap tactics against me," Touma answered, unsheathing his sword and grabbing his Pokéball.

"Your right, but it's not like I'll need to," I answered arrogantly, the confidence from winning against Damien flowing out as I speak.

"This will be a one-on-one battle, the battle ends once one side cannot battle. Let the battle begin!" The ref shouts.

"Go!" Both of us shout as we send out our Pokémon.

Emerging from the Pokéballs are two powerful Pokémon, Samurott and Darmanitan.

"A Samurott?!" I said in shock.

Touma slashes his sword 3 times, and Samurott unleashes a powerful Hydro Pump at Daru.

"Shit, dodge it!" I shout to Daru.

Daru uses its strength to hop up high over the incoming Hydro Pump.

"Use Flamethrower from the air!"

Daru shoots a powerful Flamethrower attack that the Samurott isn't able to dodge.

'A direct hit! Now just a bit more of that and I'll finish this easy.'

Samurott however was unaffected by the attack.

"Ha, did you seriously think that would do anything?" Touma asked, smiling.

Touma slashes his sword 4 times, and Samurott launches another Hydro Pump in the air.

'Shit.'

Daru is shot out of the air and lands on the ground hard.

"Daru!" I shouted worriedly.

'He's using Aura Bonding right now to communicate with his Samurott.'

'How the hell do I deal with that?'

Daru managed to get back up but it doesn't seem like he could take many more attacks.

"Looks like the Eevee kid is about to lose," a spectator said.

"I guess that first battle was just a fluke, nothing more," another spectator adds.

"What's wrong, I thought you said you were going to win, right? Where's that confidence now?" Touma asked arrogantly, his Samorott making a similar expression towards Daru, probably because of the aura bond they share.

"Ugh," I grunted.

'This isn't good at all. I was arrogant, and now I'm on the verge of losing this battle.'

'Think, think, think! How do I deal with this? It's not like I'll be able to activate whatever that aura thing I used against Damien was again.'

Touma slashes his sword 5 times, and Samurott begins to charge at Damanitan as it surrounds itself with water.

'Shit, shit, shit! Think faster, think faster, think faster, think faster!"

I manually try and think faster and faster, as I do that my eyes begin to glow white again as an aura flows from me and Daru, and time slows down as my thoughts begin to speed up again.

'I did it! Now I can think of a way to win this battle!'

'It looks like the Samurott is charging up an Aqua Jet attack. If I get hit by that, it'll deal some serious damage to Daru and will prevent me from winning this battle.

'Darmanitan knows Flamethrower, Hammer Arm, Fire Punch, and Ember. How do I make use of any of these?!'

I start panicking.

'Arrgh, this isn't good at all! How do I deal with this.'

Suddenly an idea came to my head.

'A fire tornado.'

This may be a stupid idea but it's worth a shot. The problem is that Darmanitan doesn't know Fire Spin.

'I should've taught it Fire Spin'

'I guess that idea is out of the picture, Darmanitan isn't fast enough to create a tornado of fire, especially with Samurott approaching at such a fast speed.'

Thinking a little more, I managed to come up with something.

'Darmanitan is a strong Pokémon, what if I just have him use Hammer Arm to punch the Aqua Jet?'

When two forces collide, the stronger one will prevail and push the weaker force back.

As my eyes lose their white glow, I shout to Daru.

"Use Hammer Arm to counter the Aqua Jet, put everything into the attack!"

Daru's arms begin to glow red as he throws a max-powered punch at the incoming Samurott. The force of the attack blows Samurott back far.

"Oh my, a devastating his from Darmanitan!" the announcer shouts.

'Think more, think more, think more, think more.'

Once again, my eyes begin to glow white and an aura emits from both me and Daru, I think I've managed to control this strange phenomenon now.

'I've definitely dealt a lot of damage to Samurott, problem is that Touma probably won't use close-range attacks anymore, so I'm going to have to close in the distance.'

There is a major problem though.

"Each use of Hammer Arm slows the user's speed, so Daru won't be able to dodge as easily. If he were to launch a Hydro Pump after I close the distance a bit, Daru will be hit.'

When situations like this arise, the simplest solution is probably the right one.

'Water is water, so just slap the away. I made sure to practice using Hammer Arm in this way against Blastoise for a reason.'

Seiichi was right about making me train, I wouldn't stand a chance otherwise.

'Darmanitan will definitely take damage but it's the best thing I can do as Samurott's Hydro Pumps carry a shit ton of power.'

The eyes lose their white glow and time begins to speed back up again.

"Samurott are you okay?" Touma asked as Samurott slowly got back up.

Samurott give Touma a nod.

"Good, let's finish this battle," Touma said as he got ready to do his sword slashes.

"Daru, you remember the training we did with Blastoise over these four months?"

Daru looks at me confused for a bit before nodding.

"Close in on him, once he shoots a Hydro Pump at you use Hammer Arm to slap the attack repeatedly."

Daru begins to run on all fours toward Samurott. Touma slashes his sword 3 times this time and Samurott shoots a powerful Hydro Pump.

"What is he doing?!" Kuraki shouts. "He's going to get hit."

"I guess we'll see," Aether responds.

Once Daru gets close to the Hydro Pump, his arms glow red as he opens his palms–bracing for the attack.

"What?!" Touma shouted in confusion.

Daru begins slapping away at the Hydro Pump rapidly, managing to push the jet of water back more and more.

"What the hell?!" Kaito shouted. "That shouldn't be physically possible."

"Darmanitan would've had to practice this a lot in order to pull this off, Blake really is amazing!" Kuraki exclaimed.

Daru begins to close in on Samurott more and more and he continues to slap away at the Hydro Pump. However, some bits of water continue to hit Daru because he hasn't mastered this technique yet.

"This is the stupidest idea I've ever seen!" a spectator exclaimed.

"But it's somehow working?!" another spectator exclaimed.

"No way!?" Touma shouts. "Put your all into this Samurott!"

Samurott begins to increase the power of the Hydro Pump, slowly pushing Daru back.

"Daru! You can't give up! Put your all into this!" I shouted.

Daru's veins begin to pop out as Daru starts putting his all into slapping the Hydro Pump away. More and more water splashes onto Daru, damaging it, but he continued to push through the damage.

"Go!" I shouted with all my might.

Daru manages to reach Samurott and unleashes a barrage of hammer palms at the weakened Samurott, sending it out of the battlefield.

Samurott tries to stand back up but falls back down, he's unable to battle now.

Daru roars in triumph.

The ref sticks his hand out. "Samurott is unable to battle, so the winner of this nail-biting battle is Blake Hiiro!"

'I actually did it. I actually won!'

The crowd cheers after witnessing an awesome battle.

Kuraki jumps with excitement. "That was awesome!"

Kaito smirks. "As much as I want to hate on him, that was a great battle, unlike his first one."

"A great battle?" Marcheline scoffed. "That was such a brutish battle."

"I can't believe I lost," Touma said angrily. "I even knew what Pokémon you were going to use, and yet I still somehow lost."

"You knew?!" I said in shock.

"Yeah, I heard it when you were talking with that friend of yours," Touma said.

"Ha, you cheated yet you still lost," I remarked. "Karma is a bitch after all."

"Shut up!" Touma shouted.

'That was a close one for sure.'

….

The entrance exam had finally ended. There was one more thing that I had to do, however.

The Entrance Tournament is a tournament where the 8 prospects who've passed this year's exam will battle. The winner will receive a Dratini, a Pokémon that I've always wanted to have.

The headmaster wants us 8 to be on the battlefield now to explain more about the tournament and reveal the 8 contestants to those who don't know.

"Congrats on passing!" Yutaka said with a smile.

"Thanks," I respond as I give him a high five.

"We're late so we better get to the battlefield quickly," Yutaka suggested.

"Yeah, let's go." The two of us run out to the battlefield where the other 6 contestants are standing.

Once we get into our positions, the headmaster begins to speak.

"These are the 8 gifted students who'll be participating in Entrance Tournament," Aether said to the crowd. "These students each have their rank, the lowest being the 'weakest' and the highest rank begin the 'strongest' prospect."

I'm definitely going to get last.

"We'll announce from the highest rank to the lowest, rank 1 belongs to Akari Shiratori, the cold-hearted battle demon!"

An elegant, girl with black hair tied in a ponytail steps forward.

Akari Shiratori, I've never met her before, but I have heard of her. She's the little sister of Kaito and Kuraki and is apparently a cold-hearted demon. At least that's what the rumors say.

"Rank 2 belongs to Alonzo Alberici, the battle prince!"

Stepping forward is a very rich-looking noble, his aura is so strong that you can see it, a beautiful yellow glow. His yellow hair matches his almost godly golden eyes.

Don't know who he is, but it's hard to look at him. It's like he has a golden aura constantly radiating from him.

"Rank 3 belongs to Haiiro Shiima, the arrogant knight!"

Haiiro steps forward.

"Should've given me a better title, old man!" Haiiro shouted.

'God I hate that guy.'

"Rank 4 belongs to Akuma Dearil, the devil!"

A black-haired teen with a similar hairstyle as me, red eyes, and glasses stepped forward.

'That's a scary title, but it's so cool at the same time!'

"Rank 5 belongs to Ricarda Sigurd, the battle-hungry warrior!"

A brown-haired girl, who also has her hair in a ponytail steps forward.

My mind drifts off a bit upon seeing her.

'She's pretty, like very.'

I slap my face. 'Stop thinking like that.'

"Rank 6 belongs to my beloved granddaughter, Lux Helios."

A black-haired girl with golden eyes stepped forward.

"Why does he always have to be so embarrassing," Lux complained.

"Rank 7 belongs to a fiery spirit that entertains the crowd no matter what kind of battle it is, Yutaka Hoshizora!"

Yutaka hops forward, he looks very excited.

"And finally, rank 8 belongs to the underdog trainer who uses unorthodox strategies in order to turn the tides of battles, Blake Hiiro!"

I step forward to look at the crowd.

"Tomorrow these trainers will battle it out, this tournament is going to be one for the record books," Aether stated. "You will not want to miss this."

The roars of the crowd ring through the stadium, I've managed to get used to the absurd loudness of the crowd by now.

[Helios Academy - Male Dormitory]

Luckily (or unluckily) each person gets their own dorm room, so I finally have a chance to take in what happened today.

'I'm finally here, I can't believe that I managed to get here.'

One of my childhood dreams that I threw away a long time ago somehow came true.

'I wonder if I could win that tournament.'

I pull out a notebook to journal down the events of today.

/ September 5th: Today was absolutely crazy. First of all, I made it to Helios Academy. Second of all, I've discovered that I can use some sort of weird power that allows me to think so fast that time appears to have been slowing down. Third of all, there is a tournament going on tomorrow where I'm going to have to fight some incredibly gifted battlers. Fourth of all, I've gained a crush on this girl named Ricarda. My mind is filled with a few questions right now. 'Can I win this tournament?' 'What is this mysterious power that I've used?' I'm sure I'll find more answers to these questions tomorrow. /