Episode 6: All or Nothing! Noibat vs. Sharpedo!
Tossing the Poké Ball out, Grimsley summoned Liepard, the cat-like Pokémon giving a meow of elegance. Dylan let Aurora take the stage, the Lucario letting aura flow across her hands.
"Before the battle truly begins, allow me to tell you the rules of my challenge," Grimsley said. "Observe: the arena around is like a giant roulette table. Once every minute, the wheel will spin and a Voltorb will land in a hole. That will activate a random effect on the field. So then, let the wheel of fate lead us to a glorious battle!"
The wheel spun, a Voltorb rolling out into the wheel before landing on a fossil space. "It's an Ancient Power Boost!" called the referee.
Energy spun around Aurora and Liepard, giving them a boost in all of their stats.
"Let's end this round quickly," Dylan said, "Aurora, Aura Sphere!" The Lucario nodded, aura forming around her hand as she readied an attack.
Grimsley chuckled, then snapped his fingers. "Liepard, use Fake Out!"
Liepard rushed forward, becoming a blur before slapping Aurora right in the snout. Ack, that stings! Aurora groaned, rubbing her nose.
"Follow up with a Snatch!" Grimsley commanded.
Liepard tripped Aurora, sending the Lucario to the ground before sapping energy off of her. Liepard meowed as it's stats were raised even higher.
"Darn! That Fake Out gave Dylan a big disadvantage," Kris said.
Ashton closed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, Aurora doesn't have Inner Focus or Steadfast, so she can't negate the effects of moves that cause flinching."
Aurora shook her head, recovering and using Force Palm to push herself back upright. Time for the fight to truly begin, she stated. Dylan, how should we do this?
"Stay back and wait for the wheel to spin again," Dylan said. "While we have the type advantage, the random element of this battle could make or break us."
"You can run, but fate doesn't pick favorites," Grimsley said. "Liepard, keep up the offensive with Night Slash and Dark Pulse!"
Aurora was kept on her toes as she stayed on the move, avoiding Liepard as it tried slashing and sending out waves of darkness. The Lucario couldn't avoid every attack and took enough damage to start feeling fatigue. Aurora huffed out a breath, holding onto an Aura Sphere as a deterrent for Liepard to try and attack her again.
"Feeling the strain of playing the long game?" Grimsley questioned. "Then let's let the wheel spin again!"
The Voltorb was dropped into the wheel again, this time landing on a leaf symbol. Green energy raced over the field, with grass sprouting out of the ground. "Grass grows to cover the battlefield. It's Grassy Terrain!" the referee called.
Dylan smiled. "With the terrain active, we can lick our wounds, so now's our chance. Aurora, go for Meteor Mash!"
Aurora coated her arm in yellow energy, punching with the force of a shooting star. While it missed Liepard, Aurora kept using Meteor Mash, perusing her target until it made contact. Liepard fell over as the attack it, swaying slightly as it saw stars.
"My-my, that attack seemed to have made quite the impact," Grimsley noted. He brought a hand to his chin and smirked. "Do I sense some trickery here?"
"No tricks, just strategy," Dylan said. "Aurora has the ability Justified, which means that taking all of those Dark Pulses and Night Slashes boosted her attack!" He took a serious face. "Now that we've done some damage, let's end this phase with an Aura Sphere!"
Aurora brought her paws together, gathering aura at her side. Aura… SPHERE! She launched the ball forward, perusing Liepard before blasting it away, bouncing across the floor before landing at Grimley's feet defeated.
"Liepard is unable to battle!" the referee called.
Grimsley gave a hum, returning Liepard and pulling out another Poké Ball. "So that round goes to you. Well then, let's move on to another favorite of mine. Go, Sharpedo!" The ball opened to reveal the Brutal Pokémon, the arena flooding slightly so that the Water/Dark type could move around safely.
I think I'll be staying out of the water for this one, Aurora said, hopping onto part of the stage that wasn't submerged.
"Then let's switch this up," Dylan said. "Return Aurora and go Vex!" The Lucario went back into her Moon Ball while Vex came out of his Premier Ball.
"Interesting. You send out an unevolved Pokémon against my fully evolved Sharpedo," Grimsley said.
"Don't underestimate Vex. He's stronger than you think," Dylan said.
Vex gave a cry, flapping his wings and sending out a Gust attack. Sharpedo barely moved from the attack, speeding through the water and jumping out for a Crunch. Vex avoided the attack, then shouted out a Boomburst, disrupting the water around Sharpedo.
"Why didn't Dylan keep Aurora in?" Kris questioned. "She had the type advantage."
"I'm not so sure either," Ashton admitted. "Dylan went and did some special battle training during high school- it was something called the Ferrum League or whatever- but he rarely battles so I don't know what tricks he has planned."
The Noibat and Sharpedo went at it, neither having the advantage over the other. While Sharpedo could tank Vex's weak attacks, the Noibat was fast enough to see where Sharpedo would come from and avoid the Brutal Pokémon's attacks. This went on for five minutes, with the roulette wheel making various things from Sunny Day to Poison Spikes to both Pokémon becoming confused happen.
"It seems like we're at an impasse," Grimsley said as Sharpedo recovered from its confusion.
"Then why don't we stop holding back," Dylan said, Vex also losing its status condition. "I see that Mega Stone on your finger. Show me your true power right here, right now."
Ashton and Kris gasped. "Is he crazy? My thing is being the reckless one," Ashton said. "Vex will get shredded by a Mega Sharpedo!"
Grimsley hummed, holding up his hand and looking at his Mega Stone. "Are sure that's wise. What are you planning?"
"I just want us to go all out," Dylan explained. "As a Trainer, my dream is to form a bond with every Pokémon that joins my team. I teach them how to be the best they can be, and in turn they help me understand a little bit more about this world. We learn from each other, and that means we don't hold back ever." He smiled. "So what do you say? An all-or-nothing battle between Vex and Sharpedo."
Grimsley smirked. "The risk is high, but what is life but a series of chances we take every day? Sharpedo, go past your limits with Mega Evolution!" He held up his ring, shining with energy as Sharpedo was covered in the same energy. It crystalized around the brutal Pokémon before bursting out, revealing Sharpedo grew more spikes and scars.
"Mega Sharpedo looks so metal," Ashton said in awe.
"So, what's your secret?" Grimsley asked. "What have your bonds given you with your Noibat?"
Dylan tapped the necklace hanging around his neck, which was a diamond-shaped teal stone. "I was given this crystal in a fateful encounter, and I found out later that it's what's known as a Synergy Stone. I trained in the Ferrum league to learn more about Synergy Stones and found out that this one specifically resonated with Vex." He clutched the stone, bringing his other hand up to his earpiece. "With it, the two of us can push beyond normal bonds and perform SYNERGY BURST!"
Vex was surrounded by rainbow energy, letting out a cry as his bond with Dylan reached it's peak. The Sound Wave Pokémon then began to change, growing bigger and fiercer until with a different cry, it revealed itself to have evolved into a Noivern, its body surrounded by the Synergy Stone's energy.
"No freaking way!" Ashton shouted.
"Vex not only evolved, it's power is off the charts!" Kris shouted, looking at her Pokégear readings.
Even Grimsley showed some signs of surprise. "Is this your ace-in-the-hole?" he questioned.
Dylan grinned widely. "This isn't some standard evolution; this is something entirely unique to us. This is Synergy Evolution!"
Noivern let out a cry, then swooped down at Sharpedo with Absorb, meeting the Brutal Pokémon's Liquidation head on. The Mega Sharpedo dove underneath the water, then jumped out with a Waterfall attack, hitting Vex on the underside. Noivern cried out in pain, but then recovered and used Dragon Pulse. It hit Mega Sharpedo as it fell back into the water, making the shark give a big splash on touchdown.
"I feel like this is coming down to the final play," Grimsley said, flinching at the power at play on the field. "The bond you have… does it match Mega Evolution?"
"The final roulette is here!" the referee called. The Voltorb rolled, landing in an Electrode square. An explosion suddenly hit the stage, making the audience look away from the blast. Vex and Mega Sharpedo remained standing, but both of them took most of the blast head-on. "That explosion brought both combatants down to an even level of damage!"
"Then let's not delay the inevitable," Grimsley stated. "The final clash it here!"
"I couldn't agree more," Dylan said. "Vex, use Boomburst!"
"Sharpedo, Aqua Jet!"
Mega Sharpedo rushed forward with water energy surrounding it, running right into the Boomburst Vex produced from his ears. The Brutal Pokémon was held in place, the two moves creating a standstill as neither side refused to back down.
"Come on, you can do this," Kris whispered.
"You've got more than luck, Dylan," Ashton said.
"Let's push our bond to the limit," Dylan said to Vex. He raised his hands; mirroring Vex as the Sound Wave Pokémon closed his wings. The two raised their arms outward, the bond giving them the extra push to overtake Aqua Jet, slamming Mega Sharpedo down and creating a geyser from the force. Sharpedo rose to the surface of the water, reverted to normal and swirls in its eyes.
"Sharpedo is unable to battle, which means that Challenger Dylan is the winner!" the referee announced.
Dylan looked down, then looked forward and smiled, giving a thumbs up as Vex roared behind him and Aurora crossed her arms and nodded. "Victory is ours."
Grimsley smirked, then laughed as he slowly clapped. "What a great battle! The surprise moves, the high stakes! It's everything I look forward to in gambling!" He reached into his pocket and tossed a badge over to Dylan. It depicted a red and black casino chip. "Take this Casino Badge. You've more than earned it here."
Dylan studied the badge, patting Vex on the head as the Synergy energy faded, reverting the Noivern back into a Noibat. The start of a new adventure, Aurora commented.
"And it's only the beginning," Dylan replied.
[***]
"Dude, what was the Synergy stuff?" Ashton asked. "Why didn't you tell me about it!?"
The trio were sitting in their hotel room, enjoying refreshments after the Gym Battle. Their Pokémon enjoyed food and drink as well.
"You never asked about it," Dylan answered. "If I recall, when I got back from training in the Ferrum League, you only asked about if I got stronger. Which I did."
We should look into getting some TMs for Vex to learn, though, Aurora said. Or even a Move Tutor.
"Synergy Evolution…" Kris mused. "I heard about something similar that happened in the Kalos League. There was a Trainer with a Greninja that had a unique form made through bonds as well. But a temporary standard evolution is unheard of."
"Yeah, that's some Digimon-level stuff," Ashton commented.
"Well, Synergy Stones bring out the abilities in Pokémon, and there was a Machamp there that changed color when it used Synergy Burst," Dylan said. He looked at his necklace. "This stone that Keldeo gave me all those years ago, it's what makes my connection to Vex so strong. I can only wonder if that means anything."
"I would study it, but I can tell it means a lot to you," Kris said. She then stood up and stretched. "So, where do you guys want to go next?"
"We should continue going west," Dylan said.
"Then let's go to LA," Ashton suggested.
Oh, I've always wanted to see Hollywood myself, Aurora said.
The other two nodded in agreement. "Then we'll take the next bus there tomorrow," Ashton said. "Our next badges are waiting for us to come and get them!"
Author's Note
Seeing as the anime likes to give Ash special Pokémon, I thought it was appropriate for Dylan to have a special Mon as well, in this case being Synergy Burst Noibat. I also just really like Pokken so I had to bring that in here somehow.
And yes, Ashton did make a Digimon reference. I imagine that since in this world Pokémon are real, Digimon was able to become more mainstream as a brand since it didn't have to compete with Pokémon on a popularity level. It's the little things that would change if Pokémon were in the real world that I like to think about, such as which media franchises would be more or less popular without having to be in Pokémon's massive shadow.