Chapter 122:

Smoke Screen

Pokémon List:

Luna (Kirlia)

Fay (Riolu)

Midna (Zorua)

Dragons are truly terrifying creatures.

In almost all of the stories dragons appear in, they were either feared or respected for their power. Regardless of wingspan or if they could breathe fire, when something was called a dragon that was enough to tell you not to fuck around.

This particular aspect of dragons rang true in the world of Pokémon as well, and although dragons were not the apex predators anymore, they were still considered one of the most dangerous Pokémon types around.

Clair's dragons really showed the strength that Dragon Types had. They didn't have many tricks up their sleeve like Dark types nor did they have great trap capabilities Bug and Grass types possessed.

Dragon Types had overwhelming power and presence and that was all they needed.

Clair and her Dragonair used the whirlpool they had created around themselves both as a shield and as an offensive tool they used to force their enemies to split up into smaller groups that were easier to pick off.

Meanwhile the shiny Druddigon used its speed to get into fights and leave them even faster, never staying in one spot for too long. Something that felt counterintuitive, considering its bulky body made me believe it should be a tank and not a speedster.

What would have been the tank last round, the Gyarados, was now replaced by a much more agile Salamence that used its ability to stay airborne and reign down his flamethrower.

A man riding on the back of a Haunter must have thought Salamence was distracted by the people down below because he ordered his Pokémon to shoot forward. The ghost and its rider sped off into a shadowy blur, aiming to catch Salamence at his flank. Whatever their plan had been, it was flipped on its head as Salamence suddenly spun around in the air, using the crescent shaped wings to spin around much faster than its size should allow it to and opened its jaw just as the two came close.

Salamence released a high pitched scream that rippled through the air. The soundwaves caught the Haunter and it knocked it out of the shadow state.

The Salamence lunged forward and crashed down with the haunter caught beneath it. With a loud crash they fell on the pavement, causing the stones to crack beneath his weight and by coincidence, also crushing an unlucky Lunatone and its trainer underneath it.

The Haunter had disappeared before it hit the ground.

Salamence reared its head and roared.

"Attack it!" Someone near it yelled.

A multitude of attacks hit it, most of them were practically shrugged off but bigger and hard hitting attacks were deflected by the wings that glowed with power. It used them to shield parts of its body while swinging its tail around to take out unsuspecting trainers.

After it decided it had taken enough damage it brought down its wings and sent a gust of air around him in all directions.

Only the ones that had shielded themselves or were too heavy avoided being knocked off their feet.

Taking advantage of this opening, Salamence flew up and spread its big mouth wide open and a torrent of flames crashed down.

It was frightening to see. All of Clair's Pokémon were brutally effective at taking down multiple trainers and their Pokémon on their own. When they found an opponent they couldn't take down they could just go for the unprotected trainers that were behind the first line of defenders.

The new arrival of Salamnece had not improved our odds much, maybe even made it worse. Gyarados was at least slow and easy to pin down.

I tried to make an estimate of how many people our side had left. At this point it was hard to say since everyone was so scattered. Almost half of our forces were eliminated.

That wasn't good. Although most of the Pokémon we lost were relatively weak, they were still useful as cannon fodder and distractions.

The green Druddigon was being backed into a corner near one of the restaurants. They didn't manage to kill it but they had cut off all of its escape routes and it was quite literally with its back to the walls.

On the other side of the battlefield Clair continued her fight. I paid close attention to her fingers. She hadn't called out a single command this entire time. Even at the start she didn't need to use words to convey her message.

I thought she was using either a psychic connection with her Draitini or body language and code.

She spun around and the saw blade shaped whirlpool followed. During her spin she pointed at the Druddigon and then retracted her fingers, like she was making a finger gun.

The green dragon responded immediately and opened its mouth.

A glowing orb appeared between its rock shaped teeth.

"Oh," Midna said dryly. She looked at the battlefield the same way a kid might look at a roadkill, both horror and macabre fascination drenched her voice. "He knows Hyper Beam too."

A shaft of energy escaped from Druddigons mouth and pushed through the defenders, splitting the group into two parts.

Nobody got evaporated by the blast. But when the light had faded away Druddigon had escaped its temporary prison and was back in action.

I had a front row seat for all the action. The best spot to witness it all.

Up in the space time tower I was relatively safe. Spiraling pillars and steel looking walls guarded my fragile body. And although this church-like construct didn't look the part, it served perfectly as a bunker.

That did not make me feel any better.

I knew it was not that important in the grand scheme of things. I really wanted to win the Sinnoh Knight Tournament. Maybe holding that sword reawakened the child fantasy of mine to be a knight, or maybe it was my pride and ego that wanted a title. I wanted to win.

But so far all I could do was watch Clair's dragons fight our side and hope someone on our side would figure out what to do.

Even if my Pokémon were stronger, I wouldn't be able to do much.

The scary thing was not even how fast Druddigon could move or how agile the Dragonite was.

The scariest part was that I could see how Clair's Pokémon were still holding back. Not in terms of power but in versatility. I had seen videos online of Clair's Salamence using earthquakes to uproot the entire battlefield, yet it hadn't used it once in this fight even though it would be the best way to take out most trainers at once. The rules never stated that Clair's team wasn't allowed to use those moves after all.

Similarly, none of them tried to alter or change their patterns too much, instead they each stayed away from each other and kept cycling through the same few attacks, never becoming overly aggressive or defensive but repeating the same tactics. As if they were providing us openings on purpose.

It reminded me of video game bosses, they were clearly trying to be hard hitting and fast but had relatively telegraphed attacks so they weren't impossible to beat.

That even made me feel worse because so far we had only managed to take down Gyarados and that hadn't even done anything.

"Okay, I don't think they're going to beat her like this." I said out loud. What did beating Clair even constitute?

"I think that we put too much faith in our teammates, believing they could best her." Midna dramatically sighed. "Turns out, if you want something done right you need to do it yourself."

Her sad expression turned back into a cheshire grin the next instant. "So Dust, go lead the charge. I'll be right behind you!"

"Fuck that," I muttered. "No, we need to play this smart. Think about it, this game was not meant to be beaten alone. We need a plan."

"I think they are a bit preoccupied with surviving," Midna made a disappointing clacking noise with her tongue. "Even if you have a plan, it will be hard to get people to listen to you."

"I know." I scanned the crowd. Trying to find the most useful combinations of Pokémon we still had left.

A particularly interesting contender was Bronzong who appeared to be working on a strategy that involved a trick room. It focused on Salamence who had descended near it.

As if time had suddenly slowed down around the dragon, its wings began to beat much slower and it was unable to dodge a sphere of dark energy flung its way. It moved forward but it was like someone played a video at only half the speed.

The effect shattered when a stray bolt of lightning arced through the crowd, dodging Pokémon, blockades and people on its unnatural path towards Bronzong.

The big Pokémon could turn around just in time to see the lightning explode.

Bronzong and its trainer disappeared with a flash and the Pokémon that shot that bolt, Dragonair, returned to its usual pattern of fueling the whirlpool. Clair already turned her attention away from the Salamence and faced her own challengers with a feral grin.

It was the same thing as before, we got the upper hand on her Pokémon Clair intervenes.

Focus. How do we clear this game?

"Midna, how's your smoke coming along?" I asked offhandedly.

She jumped away from the balcony and landed a safe distance from me. She took a deep breath before using Night Daze.

Dark red-ish energy gathered around Midna in a circular pattern. But where Night Daze usually blossomed outwards across the ground it now stayed around her in a small circle and rose up, pulling itself skyward with small tendrils that turned into a smoke-like substance.

It was almost enough to conceal her from all sides but the top. The downside however was that the dark energy stayed very close to her and only made her more noticeable. At best it could serve as a weak shield but unless we managed to evaporate more of Night Daze, a concealing smoke screen was but a feeble hope.

I kept looking. I saw multiple Pokémon that should be able to perform a Smoke Screen. Or at least something that had similar effects. But getting them to work together would be hard. This was our main problem from the start.

We had the fire power and tools to defeat all of Clair's Pokémon easily, in theory, but our coordination and structure was lacking. There were a lot of Pokémon that could be so much more useful if they were positioned somewhere else or had a different strategy. Instead we were all split up and working on something entirely different.

If I had Luna I could probably use her to communicate with the others.

I had to find a way to reach others, to get them to follow along.

My Pokédex was in my pocket. I flipped it open and looked at the screen. I didn't turn it on, instead I looked at the black mirror that reflected back the sunlight into my face.

Finally something useful.

I got closer to the window. I lacked allies so I instead opted to look for people I recognized.

Ash was nowhere to be found and besides him, I didn't really know anyone here.

My eyes focused on the girl with the dragonite. She was still chasing after Druddigon from above with Dragonite, albeit with little success. The grounded dragon was simply too fast to be pinned down, but on the flip side, thanks to her it didn't have much breathing room either.

The screen of the Pokédex faced the window. Immediately the screen reflected the sunlight and a bright spot appeared on the pavement outside. The reflected light was faint but still noticeable enough.

I readjusted the angle the light was being reflected at and pointed it at Alexandria. Trying to direct the beam into her face.

Getting the right angle wasn't that hard for me, I did it all day back in school, bouncing the light off calculators or watches into my fellow bored students to draw their attention.

This was just the same. Except the target was moving much faster and the light might just blind her and cause her to fall, or may not be noticeable at all.

Please notice me.

Alexandria winced when my beam of light passed over her but didn't pay it much attention. She shook her blond hair out of her face and took a breath. The pair hung in the air for a brief second, taking a short reprieve to oversee the situation. She analyzed the situation calmly, considering she was with the Hunt this probably was familiar territory.

She was sending warry looks to the Salamence that was also in the skies alongside her. For now Salemence was chasing after a Shedninja and a Yanmega that buzzed around it like flies. The duo kept distracting it but the beam of light that Salamence could spew weren't blocked and instead chaotically were fired in all directions, causing people to get caught in the crossfire and teleported away.

I again tried to gain Alexandria's attention. The focus of the light once passed her face and she winced, moved her face out of the light's way and glared at the direction the light came from.

I waved the light around and our eyes met. I put away the Pokédex and gestured for her to come over.

She gave the Druddigon a concerned look but left it nonetheless. She flew over the crowd and avoided all the attacks that were sent around.

The Dragonite came to a stop in front of the window. Alexandria's expression was thunderous.

"You're hiding here?!" Alexandria said accusingly. She looked over her shoulder to check up on the other trainers.

The situation hadn't changed one bit.

"I prefer strategically staying back," I retorted. "I need your help, can your Dragonite perform Sandstorm or Mist?"

She responded with the same angry and impatient tone. "What?!"

"I got a plan but I need more help to pull it off," I said, my eyes fixed on the battle below. We had lost over half of our forces and Clair was not slowing down at all. She tore through all who opposed the Dragon Queen. She was slowly going into the Space Time Towers' direction. For now she had her back turned to us but I knew that if Alexandria ordered her Dragonite to fire it would intercept anything we'd launch.

The Druddigon and the Salamence were closing in on each other as well as the amount of competitors began to dwindle.

If this was an example of what Flamera considered a fun game, the next round would have us beating each other to death with stones.

"You got a plan?" Alexandria repeated my words skeptically.

I ignored her attitude. "You've seen the Tattletail right? Once we take it the game ends, all the other factors are a distraction." I paused to see if she had any objections. She kept listening. "Clair's strategy is simple, she splits up the entire battlefield into 3 groups, preventing us from making any important moves and working together. Divide and conquer."

"I noticed." She sent the blue haired Gymleader a glare. "She can command her Pokémon without words. I know her type, she plays a bigger game than us. Everytime we gain the upperhand she interferes." The blond girl sighed in annoyance.

"Exactly. She's the keystone of this game. She holds everything together, luckily for us" I pointed at Midna. "She can get close."

Midna answered Alexandria's narrowed eyes with an enigmatic smile.

"A Zorua, of course you have one," She shook her head. "Okay so you can get close, why haven't you already?"

"Clair's too smart to be tricked that easily. This is a team game." The fight was chaotic and if Clair truly had a way to communicate with her Pokémon, fooling them wouldn't be easy.

Alexandria seemed to consider my words for a second, giving me and Midna a thoughtful look.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Plunge this place into chaos."

"What if getting the tag won't be enough?" Midna asked me. "I don't think I have enough power to eliminate her, not in this form."

I didn't let her words falter me. "Sometimes you have to take a gamble."

And I'm pretty sure I can hit here with a bullet from here.

The Tattletail thing was a big thing last game, losing the tag meant losing the game. It made sense that those same rules applied.

Alexandria flew over the crowd but instead of targeting Clair or any other Pokémon she whispered something into Dragonair's ear when they reached the middle.

Let's hope this works.

Dragonite began to beat its wings at a slower but more powerful pace. Strong air currents gathered around it and started to twirl and spin.

Below dust plumes began to stir up and spin around in a big circle. The first few seconds nothing happened but then the sandstorm began to grow exponentially. Dirt and sand grains from all over the place were dragged towards her and joined the soft yellow haze she created, plunging her part of the town into an orange mist. The wind picked up, sand scraped against skin, scales, fur and pointed its head up and spotted the Dragonite just before the sandstorm consumed it.

The fight did not stop. I could hear the sounds of battle continue, albeit at a slower pace. Some Pokémon and people wandered out of the storm, confused and blind while others remained in it to fight the dragon. I could hear Salamence blindly trashing inside it but nobody got teleported out.

From inside her own miniature whirlpool Clair gave the sandstorm a concerned look. She didn't look all too happy with the new development. The Dragonair next to her gave the cloud a blank look.

I smirked. The fact that her smile dropped told me that we were on the right track.

It was a sound principle. If we couldn't see anything, neither could Clair and she relied much more on sight than we did. She coordinated all her three Pokémon and protected them, preventing us from working together.

People and Pokémon alike glared at her as the storm whipped past people.

From atop Dragonite Alexandria shouted, "Cover the entire arena!"

Clair frowned and pointed at the duo fueling the sand storm. Electricity started to gather around Dragonair's tail.

That wasn't good.

A cloud of darkness suddenly exploded around Clair as a Wheezing near her started to release black gas from its tubes.

Clair whipped her head around and pointed at the smoke producing monster.

A trail of lightning left its tail and shot forward like a pole. It crackled and shizzled as it flew and was about to crash into Wheezing when a translucid plate materialized right in front of Wheezing.

The yellow lightning collapsed into the rainbow coloured obstacle that appeared right out of thin air. The creature that had summoned it, a Medicham, looked back at the Wheezing and nodded.

"Keep the smoke going," Medicham's trainer encouraged.

People didn't fully understand the plan but they noticed they weren't getting annihilated, they saw the reaction it got from Clair and that was enough to motivate them. People ordered their Pokémon to assist in the Smoke Screen. Bug Pokémon started to release purple plumes around themselves, Ground Pokémon expanded the sandstorm while Pokémon that couldn't help with expanding the fog took defensive positions to assist those that could.

Fog in all colors of the rainbow began to engulf the town square and rapidly expanded outwards like water, climbing up against the buildings while its tendrils reached out to the back alleys.

The sounds of battle still continued and through the gaps in the fog I could see the dragons rampage but their efforts met much resistance.

I studied Xatu's eyes for any teleporting. Its eyes kept flashing but the pace at which it had to teleport Pokémon and people out was much lower.

A deep guttural roar came from the fog.

The smoke was suddenly blasted away as a blue figure broke through it and took to the skies.

Salamence glared at the smoke screen. It gazed down and began moving its red crescent wings.

Multiple of our fliers headed for it but they were knocked away by a blast of wind.

Salamence kept at it and gusts of wind swept through the sandstorm around it, immediately dispelling the storm.

With two more swings of its wings it flew even higher and the wind generated by it tore through all the fog instantly, as if it was a knife cutting open clouds.

Alexandria's eyes widened as our smoke screen was penetrated.

Salamence opened its mouth and energy around its mouth gathered in a blinding re—

A blinding flash turned the entire world white for a split second. The sound came next, a deep boom that made my bones rattle followed by a sharp noise that sounded like metal being grinded to pulp.

Then came the smell of burned air.

I blinked while the white spots in my vision swam and I was forced to wonder what happened. I dampened my emotions to avoid alerting Luna while at the same time trying to figure out what caused that explosion.

I could hear panicked yells and screams. As it turned out I wasn't the only one who just got blinded. Good to know.

When I finally regained my vision again I saw the monster who caused this.

He was standing all the way near the edge, practically tucked away in a back alley. I found him because the ground around it had been burned black and trials of smoke fizzled from where he stood.

Pikachu gave Salamence a happy look.

The Dragon dropped dead from the sky, motionless and still. It's body smoking.

It was teleported out before its body hit the ground.

"Smoke!" Someone shouted.

All at once Sandstorms, mist, showers of colors and smoke screens began to spread. Not fast enough.

"Tear them apart!" Clair yelled.

The whirlpool around her exploded in intensity. Lightning generated by Dragonair began to arc around Clair in dangerous patterns.

Druddigon shot through the crowd, throwing people and Pokémon off balance again, this time it went for the Pokémon who assisted in the smoke screen, trying to take out the trainers who the Pokémon belonged to.

I saw Clair reach for another Pokéball. Alexandria spotted it as well.

The Dragonite shot forward to stop Clair but Dragonair met it halfway, psychic energy fizzled around its horn as it prepared to engage its evolutionary form into a battle.

Dragonite didn't respond to the call and grappled the airborne snake between its two paws as if it was a bearhug. With the Dragonair in its clutches they hurled themselves into the smoke below.

Around Clair the whirlpool dissipated all of a sudden as her Dragonair wasn't around to sustain it.

The second Pokéball Alexandria had reached for was thrown down into the ground. It exploded and from the white light came Clair's 5th Pokémon in this match: A Kingdra.

Clair was no longer smiling. She was biting her lip and moving her head from left to right, on guard.

Kingdra dispersed the fog around Clair's immediate vicinity with a flick of its tail.

Dragonair was tossed out of the smoke back into Clair's direction. The Dragonite and its rider chased right after.

The water used for the whirlpool was repurposed to form a waterfall between Clair's Pokémon and the Dragonite. Forcing Alexandria to retreat.

Dragonair skidded across the ground, looking hurt, but still in a fighting shape. It landed next to the Kingdra and the Dragon Queen herself.

Now.

A second Dragonair flew out of the smoke screen.

Clair's eyes widened, she turned around.

The Zorua leaped forward, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Clair moved back but with the element of surprise on her side Midna was faster. Her teeth clenched around the ribbon and tore it free from Claire's arm.

"No!"

Midna landed behind Clair, the Tattletail in her mouth and head held high, a mischievous grin had somehow wormed itself onto her face.

"Did we do it?" I couldn't help but to say it out loud.

Ping. The sound came from every Pokédex or device in the arena.

And just like that, the fighting stopped.

The smoke dispersed, revealing those that were still left.

Some people were bleeding from wounds on their skin, cuts and bruises scarred the competitors. Those not physically harmed were not saved from despair. Some trainers walked around with hollow looks in their eyes, others with tears from shock.

The number of people that looked fine could be counted on one hand. I luckily was one of them.

Clair laughed. A short breathed laugh that carried through across the plaza.

"Wow," She shook her head. "That was really cheap."

With a flash she disappeared. Followed by three consecutive flashes left behind by the Druddigon, Dragonair and the short lived Kingdra.

And with the Knight's interference the Dragon Queen was finally defeated. Congratulations to the contenders for making it to the final round. Flamera's voice echoed from dozens of speakers.

The finale will start tomorrow. Good luck.

A/N I hope I didn't scare you all too much on April Fools day.

And so the battle is won. My beta editor is very busy with his exams right now, so I beta read it myself. Best of luck to my editor and although this is the insane world of Pokémon.
Leave reviews, or favorite, or join the discord or have a great day. Whatever floats your boat.

Take a rest from this insane world of Pokémon. See you guys next chapter ;-)

-CaptainMoonShine-

Abyssal The Watcher: Once again, you come out of left field with yet another amazing fic. Love your work mate, keep at it!

P.S. any advice for writers who struggle to make engaging battle/tournament scenes? {Asking for a friend}

A: Thank you and my advice for writing tournament scenes is probably to avoid having the same rules apply to a match twice. If round one is 1v1, make round 2 involve a new element. Increase the stakes to make people wonder what comes next.

Arclight001:

Staying back from the lethal attacks when you know you are a blindspot for Xatu future vision? Sounds like the smart decision here.

Can Midna transform into a dito or something inside another pokemon and choke them like that? That would be a horrifying way to go and I am fairly sure Midna is all up for it.

A: I honestly had not even thought about that. Xenomporph style, that's horrible.

jacob marx: clair is a monster omg. no chill at all, good chapter btw. reminded me of the leviathan battle from worm. i think you did that on purpose, did not like that your mc was in the background the hole time but the battle was cool

A: I did indeed base it off Worm!