Hi guys - I made a minor typo in the previous chapter that I didn't notice until I was about to publish this chapter (said typo has been resolved) - I used Grovyle instead of Buizel to start off the match even though the actual challenge I had written up had Buizel start the match, then Grovyle.
Pokémon speech in Pokémon language = "Pokémon speech in Pokémon language"
Human Speech = "Human Speech"
Pokémon Thoughts/highlighted text = 'Pokémon thoughts/highlighted text'
Human Thoughts/highlighted text = 'thoughts/highlighted text'
Chapter 013 – Thank you for flying with Air Dragon Tail
"Ready. Battle BEGIN!"
"Buizel! Rapid fire water pulse!"
"Ice Beam Vaporeon!"
The ice beam kept the water pulse barrage at bay, though it didn't stop the subsequent sonic boom attack. Vaporeon, however, dodged it with ease.
"Get in close with Aqua Jet!" fired off Ash, hoping to close the gap between Buizel and Vaporeon to land a few close-quarter hits.
But Violet wasn't a Gym Leader for nothing - "Vaporeon! Hidden Power!"
And with that move, a beam of what was clearly an Electric-Type struck Buizel head-on, knocking the water type off course and crashing into one of the stone pillars.
Hidden power was now a dangerous card in the mix – Ash knew that while Buizel could tank a few hits (Vaporeon's hidden power had nothing on Pikachu's thunderbolt), it would slow him down.
"Buizel, try getting in close again with Aqua Jet!"
In response, Violet decided to go with a field-wide attack "Use Blizzard Vaporeon!"
"Don't let that stop you Buizel – let's turn that into an Ice-Aqua Jet!"
"An interesting response – dive and then hit Buizel with hidden power!" countered Violet.
"Dive in after Vaporeon and use ice punch!"
And as both Pokémon dove underwater, Vaporeon went deep, preparing to fire off what would be a point-blank hidden power. But underwater, Buizel could swim pretty fast with his tail, landing an ice punch/ice-aqua jet combo right in Vaporeon's face just as hidden power was charged up.
Moments later, two figures surfaced, one leaping onto a rock structure, panting with exhaustion and giving off weak sparks while the other floated out cold.
"Buizel is unable to continue. Challenger – bring out your next Pokémon.
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"Ash lost Buizel…" muttered Misty.
"Vaporeon is a tough opponent to face, even more so on an aquatic battlefield thanks to its speed. Buizel's fast, no doubt, but most of his opponents in the past have been bigger than him, allowing for hit-and-run tactics, mainly on land.
And sure, he is faster underwater, and his Water-type moves do get boosted, but that does little against another water type. Add in the fact that his move set isn't very diverse and doesn't have anything remotely damaging against other water types save for sonic boom, and this battle wasn't exactly in Buizel's favor."
"But then why use Buizel in the first place – Ash isn't an idiot and would've known that before the match even began?"
"My best guess is that he doesn't really have a choice – outside of Pikachu, very few of his other Pokémon on hand are good against powerful water types on a water battlefield. Pokémon like Bulbasaur have good movesets, and a few of his Tauros do know electric-type moves, but both can't do anything on a battlefield where they don't have much space to work with.
Pokémon like Glalie could freeze the entire battlefield with enough power and nullify the benefits it offers your sisters and make way for some of Ash's other Pokémon to have an advantage, but he's still among the missing Pokémon.
Right now, all we can hope for is that Ash has a plan."
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"Thanks, Buizel, you did a good job," said Ash, recalling the water type.
'Ok. Vaporeon is fast, and right now, the best way to take it out would be with super-effective damage. But at the same time, I need to be able to deal with the water…' thought Ash, running through the various plans that he and Pikachu made for this Gym challenge.
"Ok. Grovyle. I choose you!"
"Ready. Match continue!"
"Grovyle! Bullet seed!"
"Ice Beam Vaporeon!"
"Quick attack and leaf blade!"
"Dive!"
Vaporeon's ice beam stopped bullet seed in its tracks, but as fast as Grovyle was, the water type was in its element (literally!) and Grovyle could not strike unless the water type surfaced, which was only when an ice beam attack was fired back.
Ash knew that dodging wouldn't get him anywhere. And at that moment, he noticed that the roof was open. Revealing the warm summer sun above. Maybe…
"Grovyle! Race around the battlefield with quick attack and fire bullet seed everywhere!"
"Stop Grovyle in its tracks with ice beam!"
And while Vaporeon fired ice beam after ice beam, Grovyle swiftly dodged, the rock structures providing decent footing to move around, though that was shrinking with more of the available land covering up with slippery ice.
"Grovyle! Charge up solar beam!"
"That won't help you – fire off weather ball!"
"Wait for it…wait for it…" muttered Ash, watching the weather ball, clearly a fire-type attack with the sunny weather, surge towards Grovyle.
"Now! Use frenzy plant!"
All over the battlefield, massive vines sprung up, growing and spreading across the battlefield, turning it from a lake into what could only be described as a web of thick vines wrapping all over the battlefield. Several struck Vaporeon and threw the eeveelution into the air, while a few sprung up to stop the weather ball heading for Grovyle. And from the scorches of the intercepted attack came a solar beam, scoring a direct hit on Vaporeon.
"It's not over yet! Vaporeon! Blizzard!"
"Grovyle! Protect yourself with frenzy plant and grab onto Vaporeon with frenzy plant's vines!"
Frenzy plant on its own was difficult to pull off once, let alone twice along with a solar beam thrown in-between. But for Grovyle, the impossible became possible with the sheer luck of it being sunny outside, which gave solar beam a boost and cut down the energy needed for the move on Grovyle's part, along with the water battlefield keeping the frenzy plant vines healthy beyond the usual minute that they were viable in most battles.
"That won't stop us! Vaporeon – aurora beam!"
"Grovyle – dodge and use bullet seed!"
Both attacks fired off at the same time, crossing paths toward their respective targets mere moments later. Bullet seed struck Vaporeon head-on. But Grovyle was finally feeling the effects of using multiple powerful moves in succession, taking a face full of aurora beam. The end result was both Pokémon out cold.
…
"Both Grovyle and Vaporeon are unable to continue. Gym Leader Lily – step up for the next battle.
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"The match is now at 4-3 in my sisters favor, which isn't good odds." muttered a worried Misty.
"True, but it's still pretty early in the match – we haven't seen what Pokémon your sisters will pull out, and I'm all but certain that at least one of Ash's remaining Pokémon will take out two of your sisters Pokémon and even out the odds." replied Brock.
"You are correct Brock." spoke a new voice.
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
"Professor Oak?" remarked Misty, recognizing the Pokémon Professor.
"Hello Brock, Misty – sorry I'm late – I was hoping to catch Ash's Gym challenge before a lunch conference, and it looks like it's already gotten quite interesting.
And in regard to Ash's odds, he is still in a good position – I have seen several Cerulean gym challenges in the past, and the current odds are not too bad; we will just have to wait and see."
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
Back on the battlefield…
Stepping onto the other end of the battlefield was Lily, the second of the Waterflower sisters.
"Hey Ash! Let's see if you can make it past me! Dazzle the crowd with your strength Cloyster!"
"Cloyster huh. Then…Heracross! Come on out!" appeared the bug-fighting type, hovering in midair, ready to battle.
"Ready. Battle BEGIN!"
"Heracross! Let's hit hard and fast with focus punch!"
"Iron defense Cloyster!"
Heracross landed a direct hit, though was suddenly sent flying when Cloyster switched to rapid spin right as focus punch struck.
"Get close and throw Cloyster into the air!
"Water pulse – rapid fire!"
"Dodge it!"
While Heracross was reasonably fast, bobbing and weaving to avoid the incoming water pulses, a few landed their mark, sending the Bug-Fighting type crashing into a rock structure. But as Heracross climbed up, a sudden wave of poison damage struck Heracross, forcing said Pokémon to his knees.
"Heracross!"
Over in the stands…
"What happened?" asked Misty in concern.
"Hmm…Violet just made the rest of the match a fair bit more difficult for Ash." remarked Prof. Oak.
"Toxic spikes!" swore Brock.
"Indeed. I presume that when Cloyster used rapid spin, the water-ice type was trained to throw out toxic spikes, now forcing Ash to work with less time on hand."
"But Heracross has the ability Guts, so wouldn't that help?" asked Misty as she noticed that Heracross was suddenly enveloped by an eerie green glow.
"True…" replied Prof. Oak.
Back on the battlefield…
"Heracross! Are you ok?"
"I'll be fine!" growled the Bug-Fighting type.
"Ok then. Focus blast followed up by mega horn!"
"Aurora beam, then dive!"
"Dodge and use that on the water!"
And as Heracross avoided the incoming ice-type move, a powerful strike from focus blast sent a shower of water everywhere. And by mere chance, Cloyster was close enough to get thrown into the air, where a powered-up mega horn attack struck.
"Cloyster! Use aqua ring!"
"Stop Cloyster with focus punch!" commanded Ash. But to his shock, Heracross fell into the water, a wave of poison damage affecting him.
'Damm' thought Ash. 'If this keeps up, Cloyster will be back to full strength and Heracross will be out thanks to toxic spikes. And I can't even purge it. Now what…maybe that could work!'
"Heracross return!"
Back over in the stands…
"Ash recalled Heracross?" asked Misty.
"He didn't have much of a choice. Heracross can't land super-effective attacks fast enough to take out Cloyster and poison damage just weakens him. Cloyster is a very defensively capable Pokémon; thus, it would take several powerful attacks to take it out." remarked Prof. Oak.
Back on the battlefield…
"Riolu! Come on out!"
Riolu appeared on the battlefield, though immediately felt a small jolt of poison damage, the beginnings of the effects of toxic spikes.
"Battle Continue!"
"Riolu! Double team!"
"Cloyster. Water pulse!"
"Now use Force Palm!"
Riolu swiftly dodged the barrage of water pulses, most of which struck his copies and landed a force palm attack on Cloyster's side.
"Again Riolu!"
"Stop Riolu with Gyro ball!"
Gyro ball unfortunately threw Riolu back, tossing him into the water, where the fighting type surfaced and attempted to climb back onto the rock structures, a fresh wave of poison affecting him.
"Let's end this with ice beam!"
And the ice beam struck true, Riolu unfortunately dazed and lightheaded from the effects of toxic spikes, freezing the fighting type in a solid block of ice.
"RIOLU!"
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
Over in the stands…
"This is bad – Riolu already took some damage from the effects of toxic spikes and that gyro ball attack hit hard…" swore Brock.
"Don't worry Brock – when the going gets tough Ash always pulls through" spoke Misty with hope in her voice.
Back over on the battlefield…
For a moment, Ash was worried that Riolu wouldn't pull through. But Ash immediately threw that thought right out the window – he would not give up on Riolu and neither would Riolu give up.
"Come on buddy…you can do it…" muttered Pikachu by Ash's side.
Focusing on Riolu, Ash willed Riolu to break free, pushing his aura to the fighting type, just like he did with him back when he was a Lucario, and they pulled off Mega-Evolution.
"Riolu! You can do it!"
After fifteen seconds, the referee called out "Riolu is unable to- "
But before the referee finished his callout, the ice started cracking, before exploding outwards, revealing the emanation Pokémon glowing with the light of evolution.
Riolu gained height, his limbs lengthening and gaining muscle density and strength. Bones turned to steel and his ears grew longer, metal spikes forming on his chest and paws. And as the glow died down, it revealed a now evolved Lucario.
"Father…I feel incredible!"
"Riolu! You evolved into Lucario!"
"I did? I did! I'm back to my former strength! Though I do miss the comforting presence of my Mega-Stone…" muttered the Aura Pokémon.
"I don't know about that…" remarked Pikachu.
"Huh?"
"We'll see…" trailed Pikachu.
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"Riolu evolved!" cheered Misty.
"And as a bonus Lucario is immune to toxic spikes thanks to his new steel typing." remarked Brock.
Back on the battlefield…
"Father…I am ready."
Agreeing, Ash focused on his aura and connected with Lucario.
And unnoticed by all but Pikachu, both Ash and Lucario's irises glowed with the power of aura.
"Evolution won't win you this battle! Cloyster! Water pulse and Gyro ball!" commanded Lily.
"Aura sphere!"
Charging up Aura sphere, Lucario launched it at the rapidly approaching spinning Cloyster. And when it struck, an explosion of power rocked the battlefield, throwing the water-ice type into the water, where moments later, it floated to the surface, unable to continue.
"Cloyster is unable to continue. Gym Leader Daisy, step up for the rest of the match." called out the referee.
Over in the stands…
"That was an impressive display of power." remarked Prof. Oak.
"But now comes the hard part, beating Daisy and her three Pokémon. And Ash at the moment has only three Pokémon, though Heracross is down to his last legs." answered Brock, as pragmatic as always.
"Don't worry! Ash will beat Daisy – I know he can!" cheered Misty.
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Intermission: Krookodile's Adventures – Part 1
Krookodile was not having a great time. Because somehow, he was now a newly hatched Sandile instead of a Krookodile, which was a question he didn't even know where to start getting answers about. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the luxury of pondering over this as he was squat middle in the nest of a herd of Aurorus, where he was promptly blasted with several dozen powder snow attacks from the startled Pokémon.
But while he was in the body of a newborn, his mind was still that of a fully evolved tactical commander of Team Ketchum. And in less than a second, he had taken stock of his environment and was ready to implement Operation Lunch Run.
Said operation was him dodging the powder snow attacks and promptly chomping down on the neck of a baby Amarua right next to him, ripping it off and instantly killing the newborn.
It was a well-known but unspoken fact about Pokémon was that there were both herbivorous and carnivorous Pokémon. And while both types could live off berries, nuts, and other non-living sources of food, the latter in the wild were in most cases hunters, whose main food source consisted of Pokémon lower in the food chain. One example of such hunters was the Krookodile line.
And right now, he was in a nest full of baby Amarua, which for a starving baby Sandile was a buffet. Not an ideal one being part ice types, but compensated by them being part rock as well.
The next few minutes were basically copious usage of bite to rip off the fleshy parts of the Amaura and stone edge to defend against the incoming powder snow attacks that rapidly changed into ice beam and fairy wind attacks once the nest was littered with the dead corpses of baby Amaura.
But just as an ice beam clipped his tail and fairy wind started burning the scales on his back, his claws plowed through the snow below him and finally caught solid ground, paving way for a speedy dig exit.
Nearly an hour later, he was nestled in a small passageway leading to a large cavern, sleep taking over him as he finally took in the exhaustion and injuries of his escape.
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"Kingdra! Come on out!" summoned Daisy.
"Hmm…Kingdra huh. Ok then – Lucario, come back for now" commanded Ash, Lucario promptly returning to his side.
"Pikachu! I choose you!"
Pikachu, by sheer luck, leaped onto the battlefield and landed on a small ice float, one of the few solid surfaces untouched by toxic spikes, something that Ash was fortunate for.
"Battle BEGIN!"
"Pikachu! Thunderbolt on the entire battlefield!"
And before Daisy could mount an offensive, arcs of plasma struck the entire battlefield, both the water and the land surfaces. Kingdra took a direct hit in the face from the Electric-type move and was instantly paralyzed. An additional effect was that the effects of toxic spikes were purged from the battlefield by the sheer energy behind the thunderbolt, a bonus in Ash's eyes.
"Kingdra! Push through paralysis and use dragon pulse!" countered Daisy.
"Dodge with quick attack and close in for iron tail!"
Kingdra was able to push through the paralysis and fire off dragon pulse, but that took far longer than it would without paralysis, time that was more than enough for Pikachu to get in close and land an iron tail attack.
"Kindgra! Try aqua ring and then use hyper beam!"
Aqua ring was a sound strategy, healing Kingdra up and giving the Water-Dragon type the stamina to fire off hyper beam. Unfortunately for said Pokémon, Pikachu had other ideas.
"Pikachu! Use thunder!"
One powerful zap from the skies later, an out cold Kingdra was left floating on the water.
"Kingdra is unable to continue. Gym Leader Daisy, please bring out your next Pokémon."
"Well then…let's go all out! Gyarados my Magnificent! Come on out!"
And on the battlefield appeared the Atrocious Pokémon, one that was at least ten, maybe fifteen feet larger than Misty's if Pikachu wasn't mistaken. Nevertheless, he had a double-type advantage – how hard could it be? Famous last words…
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"Battle continue!"
"Gyarados! Hydro pump!"
"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"
Hydro pump, through sheer force was able to bring thunderbolt to a standstill.
"Follow up with iron tail!"
And with a burst of speed. Pikachu raced around the battlefield, only to leap into the air and strike Gyarados in the face with an iron tail.
"Now use electro ball!"
"Use rain dance and follow it up by stopping electro ball with hurricane!"
And eerily similar to Ash's battle in the past with Misty, rain dance and hurricane combined were able to snuff out electro ball with ease. But it didn't stop with electro ball, with Pikachu losing his grip from the sheer force of hurricane and being sent airborne.
"Send Pikachu flying with dragon tail!"
"Oh no you don't! Pikachu, use gravity to power up volt-tackle!"
High up in the air, Pikachu rightened his body before diving downwards, pulling into a spin to boost the force behind volt tackle. But as Pikachu was but a few feet away from his target, Gyarados's tail swooped out of nowhere and sent the electric type flying straight upwards, well beyond the roofline of the gym.
But to the denizens of Cerulean who looked up at the sky that moment, they would be perplexed by the sight of a twinkle in the afternoon sky, very similar to that of a twinkling star at night and near identical to the result of a familiar trio blasting off.
"Pikachu!" cried out Ash, worried about his starter. But upon realizing that he was well beyond the hearing range of his partner, he switched to their mental link.
'Pikachu! Can you hear me?'
'Yeah Ash, loud and clear! And I'm still gaining altitude! – oh, and I can see all of Cerulean City, a rather lovely view – wish I had a camera right about now…wait, now I'm falling…I'M FALLING!'
'Buddy! Calm down! You're high up in the air. Now, I want you to use your current height to power up volt tackle's momentum with a spin, just like before. But before you hit Gyarados, I want you to use thunder as soon as you're within the effects of rain dance. Ok?'
'I like the sound of that plan. One Pika-Power missile, comin' right up!'
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Meanwhile…
"Is Pikachu outside the battlefield?" asked a concerned Misty.
"Technically no, assuming he's flown straight upwards – League rules for any official battle state that there is no ceiling for a battlefield. There are a few conditions that need to be met, but unless Pikachu lands outside the Gym, the battle isn't over." answered Prof. Oak.
"I hope Pikachu is ok…" muttered Misty.
But moments later, her concerns were unfounded as a boom exploded from above with a thunder-volt-tackle combo missile that struck Gyarados with enough force to shake the entire gym.
But Gyarados was far from out and shot the electric Pokémon that was now momentarily dazed and airborne like a baseball with a bat known as dragon tail.
Pikachu's thought process just before dragon tail struck him was 'Oh shit.'
But as he was sent flying, he quickly used a weakly powered iron tail to catch himself at the last minute, securing himself to a large rocky arch, exhausted and now really feeling the recoil effects from two volt-tackles in a row.
'Ash. How the fucking hell is Gyarados still standing after taking on a direct hit from an attack with the power of a cruise missile?'
'I don't know buddy. But are you ok from the recoil of volt tackle and the hits from dragon tail?'
'No, I'm not, coz right now, I'm exhausted – I've never used so much power before in a span of just a minute. And I'm definitely feeling the effects of Newton's third law…'
'Do you want to switch out for a break?'
'As much as I want to, it wouldn't do us any good – Heracross is for all intents and purposes out – at best he might land one attack before passing out from the effects of toxic spikes and Lucario for the most part is a close quarters fighter with no type advantage.'
But before Ash could formulate a response to his starter, Daisy called out from the other end of the battlefield.
"Hey Ash! You have definitely made an impression with your skills and your Pikachu packs one heck of a punch. But all you've done is made Gyarados mad. So, I think it's time I kick things into high gear!"
And with that statement, Daisy flicked something on her wrist, specifically a watch that Ash and Pikachu both noticed. And before their eyes, she flipped it with its backside facing up, revealing an embedded keystone.
"Gyarados! My indomitable Knight! Mega-Evolve!" commanded Daisy, raising her hand and touching her keystone.
Several arcs of light appeared, emerging from both the keystone on Daisy's wrist and a now-revealed Gyaradosite embedded in Gyarados's forehead. And with a flash of blinding light, Gyarados transformed into Mega-Gyarados with a massive ear-shattering roar, now double in size.
"Ash. I change my mind – I wanna swap out now!" gulped Pikachu.
X - - - X - - - Chapter End - - - X - - - X
Yeah...so Pikachu momentarily experienced being blasted off, and we've got Lucario on the scene. And this is so far the first gym I've got split over two chapters, so give me ur two cents on whether you prefer it or a gym challenge in one chapter.
Also, take a moment to think about what group of Pokémon Aurorus fall under when compared to the majority of other Pokémon species, and you just might figure out what's going on with Krookodile...
And as always, I welcome your feedback - it help's me make this fic as crazy and exciting as it can be.
