NSO Chapter 9
I don't own Pokemon.
Kurt staggered as his horn hit the hard walls of the battle arena, the jarring feeling jolting through his body. Somehow, Zenith had dodged at the last second, moving swiftly to one side to avoid the attack. Kurt turned towards the Umbreon, shaking his horned head from side to side to rid himself of the minor headache he had brought upon himself. He swung a heavy hand in a wide arc in Zenith's direction, but Zenith was now a black blur, his blue rings a streak the outlined his every movement. Nimbly leaping over Kurt's clenched fist, Zenith started planning his next move. As his feet touched the floor, two fully charged Dark Pulses appeared in his paws in an instant, both dark orbs pointed in the direction of Kurt, who was looking around to see where his opponent went. Their eyes met for a split second, and the paw Zenith had outstretched towards Kurt twitched subconsciously, as if daring the Nidoking to come at him.
Kurt was starting to get mad. The 'Shiny' freak that stood before him had dashed all hopes of a quick match, and was now taunting him! The Nidoking could feel his temperature rising as he got angrier and angrier, the emotion washing over him like a wave of warm water. Anger fueled his hatred towards his opponent, seeping into Kurt's brain like a poisonous fog, clouding his mind as he stared at Zenith, all rational thought leaving his mind, leaving a single, simple instruction.
KILL THE FREAK!
All of Zenith's senses were on full alert as he watched Kurt's face grow a darker shade of purple, the Nidoking somehow managing to look even more menacing than before.
Is it me, or does he look bigger than he was before?
Indeed Kurt was larger, the anger coursing through his bloodstream like a deadly enhancer. Kurt left no time for Zenith to ponder the change in size, lashing his tail at the Umbreon at breakneck speeds. As for Zenith, he avoided getting his own neck broken as he leapt into the air again, the thick tail whipping the air beneath him so fast that a loudcrack could be heard. However, the sweep of Kurt's tail still flung him through the air, Zenith's light body unable to resist the powerful winds generated. Soaring through the air, a loud, guttural roar was the only indicator of the incoming attack. Kurt gave Zenith no time to land. He rushed towards the falling Umbreon at alarming speeds despite his bulky stature, lashing out with a flurry of Double Kicks. It was only with time powers that Zenith was able to dodge most of the attacks, body twisting in midair to manoeuvre around the limbs flying towards him. However, a few slipped through his guard, forcing Zenith to watch as an unavoidable foot flying towards his chest in excruciating slowness, with nothing he could do to get out of the way. Zenith flew a good distance backwards as the one-clawed foot caught him in the chest, flinging him a good distance away. He grunted in pain as he hit the floor, air knocked out of his lungs from the raw power behind the impact. The Dark Pulses dissipated, disappearing from both of his paws.
I'm starting to think that he's out of control.
Really? Why would you say that?
Well, firstly, he's screaming like a maniac. Secondly-
Sarcasm!
Well, SORRY Zenith, if I, DIALGA, a GOD, can't understand SARCASM.
Fine, fine! You know, I still loathe you, time powers or not.
Okay, then let's see how well you fare without them!
No, wait- Zenith cried out telepathically, but there was no answer as towered over him, a foot dramatically raised over his body, determined to finish him off. Feeling like there was no way to get himself out of this jam, Zenith considered just laying there and getting beaten up. Without time powers, there seemed to be no chance of winning against the enraged beast he was facing up against. But as he scanned the sea of spectators, a single, worried face caught his eye. Cleo. Zenith was suddenly reminded about the reason why he was even in this arena in the first place. He was here, partially for himself, but mostly to defend Cleo's honour. Even though he did volunteer himself into this mess without Cleo's consent, there was no way he could just give up and let Cleo down. Surprisingly, this thought gave him strength. With newfound energy coursing through her veins, Zenith pushed off against the ground, rolling to the side, narrowly avoiding the foot that slammed down on where his head once was, stuffing flying out from the damaged, mat floor. Getting back onto his paws, Zenith faced Kurt once more, the Nidoking even angrier that his opponent had escaped again.
Well, this is it. No powers, just plain old ordinary Zenith, facing the biggest bully in school, armed with only pure instinct and skill. I just hope I have enough of both to survive.
Back in the Hall of Legends, Dialga watched the two Pokemon slowly circle one another, his expression unreadable.
Loud footsteps could be heard as Kurt broke the stare between them, making the first move, charging at the Umbreon like before. Zenith charged up another Dark Pulse, slamming it down on the floor at the exact same moment when Kurt reached him. The Dark Pulse detonated as it was pressed against the floor, exploding outwards in a small, powerful shockwave that threw both Pokemon backwards. Kurt, caught unaware, toppled head over heels, falling to the ground with a loud crash. Zenith managed to stay on his four paws as the shockwave pushed him back, paw pads burning from the friction as he skidded against the floor. His eyes shone a bright crimson as he made a small, dark sphere between his paws, a ball devoid of all light. With all his might, Zenith hurled the Shadow Ball at Kurt, the ball moving so fast that it was just a black blur.
Kurt was getting back up on his feet when the Shadow Ball struck him, hitting him square in his white chest plate. The small sphere contained more power than he expected, pushing him back slightly and throwing Kurt off balance, his tail whipping around wildly. As the Nidoking staggered, stumbling backwards, Zenith ran towards him, leaping onto Kurt. The Umbreon's paws landed on Kurt's chest for a moment, pushing back as he jumped off quickly in an arcing backflip. The additional force finally toppled the wobbly Nidoking, Kurt landing on his behind with a painful thump.
Zenith growled, a low rumble of annoyance as Kurt pulled himself back up onto his feet.
Can't this guy just give up?
Zenith charged a Dark Pulse in his jaws, studying Kurt intently to try and anticipate his next move. However, Kurt just stood there, panting heavily, his face scrunched up in concentration. Zenith considered attacking, but his cautious side warned him to stay back, to conserve his energy. Testing the waters, Zenith flung the Dark Pulse towards Kurt, only for the Nidoking to swat the ball aside, exploding against the curved arena walls. The bully's eyes were now filled with cold anger and grim determination as he stared down at Zenith, creeping the Umbreon out immensely. With paws and jaw empty, Zenith felt defenseless, wishing that he hadn't thrown his Dark Pulse. Mind racing, Zenith tried to remember all the moves that Kurt had. Poison Jab, Megahorn, Double Kick... what else?
Lost deep in remembrance, Zenith didn't notice Kurt stomp his feet on the arena floor, and it was only the ripping sound of fabric that caused him to look up. The impacts from the stomp sent cracks spreading outward from under his feet, spraying up spongy stuffing as the ground started to tremor.
Earthquake.
The cracks were spreading quickly throughout the entire arena. The hard stone beneath the soft gym mattresses were exposed, thrown up into the air by the vibrating ground. As Zenith struggled to keep his balance and footing on the increasingly uneven ground, he noticed the cracks spreading quickly towards him. Zenith wanted to sigh, realising what he was going to have to do in order to survive this attack, but he had no time. He leapt up from his spot just as the cracks reached him, the ground crumbling into pieces where he once stood.
Kurt smirked in self-satisfaction as he watched Zenith jump. The only solid, uncracked piece of land left was under his feet, the remains of the arena sharp, jagged pieces of stone. That Shiny scum would have to come down from his jump, and when he did, he would be in the Nidoking's domain. He would finally be obliterated.
Zenith noticed the victorious smile on Kurt's face and smiled slightly to himself. He knew what the Nidoking was thinking, and it was time to bust out one of his own moves, one that he had been practising on for quite a long time.
At the peak of his jump, Zenith charged up a Dark Pulse, placing it beneath his paws as gravity took over. As he dropped towards the ground, the Dark Pulse was detonated. The move did not damage its user, but the explosion shockwave still pushed him upwards, extending his airtime. He repeated the action again and again, effectively 'bounding' around the arena in mid-air, waiting for the Earthquake to end, while scouting out a safe spot to land on. Zenith also found the look of astonishment on everyone's faces enjoyable to look at, especially Kurt's.
The Nidoking's face was turning so purple with anger that the shade almost matched the colour of his plates. The fact that the Shiny was still alive was enough of an insult. Even though none of his close-range moves could hit the scum, he could certainly think of a way to still hurt, maybe even kill him.
Kurt started to stomp his feet repeatedly. Each stomp sent an additional tremor across the arena, causing the broken floor to shake, dislodging large chunks of stone, which were now flying into the air with every stomp. Lashing his tail, Kurt struck each chunk of stone within range, whipping at them that they flew in the direction that he wanted, with so much force that the stone shattered into smaller fragments against the domed arena wall.
Zenith was fully relying on instinct now as his only tool to avoid the stones. Finding enough time to charge up more Dark Pulses was starting to be a challenge as Kurt continuously sent stones of all sizes speeding towards him. Thinking on his feet, Zenith improvised, leaping on and off the slower moving, larger stones that were whipped at him, charging up Dark Pulses in between jumps. The stones were still large enough to avoid, but the fragments they broke into were much harder. Zenith was able to dodge most of the projectiles zipping past him, but his luck couldn't last forever. A small stone grazed the length of his flank, its sharp, jagged edges drawing blood, which was welling out of the long cut. The cut stung, and Zenith gasped from the sudden pain. His head was starting to swim from the sudden injury, slowing his movements and reflexes. Zenith dropped, smashing into the rock he had planned to leap off. It was literally all downhill from there. Stunned from the impact, Zenith's body dropped with nothing to counteract the pull of gravity. It bent this way and that as multiple rocks were now able to hit their target, slamming into various parts of his body. As he plummeted to the ground, Zenith managed to regain some semblance of control, rolling as he hit the arena floor to try and lessen the pain. Another squelch, and Zenith gasped again, the tiny spikes of broken stone that lined the floor shallowly impaling his curled back. On the bright side, the ground was no longer shaking, the Earthquake seemed to have ended.
Laying on the ground, Zenith realised how fast he was breathing, his body trying to take in as much oxygen as possible. The creation of so many Dark Pulses had taken a lot out of him, and his multiple wounds were still bleeding, seeping out of the multiple red lines criss crossing his body, arms and legs to create a small puddle around him.
Outside the arena, Cleo watched Kurt walk slowly towards a downed Zenith, horrified of what the Nidoking would do to him. Even though she had felt some sort of attraction towards the Umbreon from the moment she entered Kingdra High, this seemed to only be Zenith's first day of noticing her. And yet, the normally shy, nervous Umbreon still willingly jumped into a battle just to try and stop Kurt from insulting her. She wanted to jump into the fight right now, to try and help, but the thought of having so many eyes on her rooted her to the ground. Hating her timidness, the most she could muster was a soft whisper, the words unheard to even those around her but still full of emotion.
"Come on, Zenith. Get up. I believe in you."
Even though Kurt looked tough as he neared Zenith, close enough, Zenith found that the Nidoking was not that different from him. Even though he was not as injured as the Umbreon, Kurt was in the same situation as Zenith, chest heaving heavily as well. A large amount of energy was put into the Earthquake, and a lot of energy was exerted through stomping and hitting the heavy rocks. Although Zenith was unaware, unable to see through Kurt's tough facade, the Nidoking's health was low as well, the Umbreon's attacks actually doing massive damage even through his tough, armored skin. The two Pokemon had taken a lot of damage from one another, and were tired. If any of them were to take another direct attack, the other would win. Realising this, Kurt pushed his exhaustion to the corner of his mind, pushing towards Zenith, the phrase repeating in his head so much that it was basically his mantra by now.
KILL THE SHINY.
KILL THE SHINY.
Coating his claw in a purple glow, Kurt sliced downwards towards Zenith, trying to finish him off with a Poison Jab.
But just as the claw was about to hit its target, it was stopped mid-swipe. Confused, Kurt looked down to see all of Zenith's four paws pushing against his claws, holding back its deadly advance. Kurt tried to attack with his other hand, but he was so exhausted that it was needed as support, pressed against the ground to prevent him from toppling.
The two Pokemon seemed to be at an impasse, but not for long.
Zenith strained as Kurt started to lean on him, barely able to suppress the slowly crushing force that was his enemy's body mass. His muscles ached and screamed out in pain as they bore the strain of the weight. He might have a bit more energy than his opponent, but he wouldn't be able to last much longer if this kept up. His back, slick with a mixture of sweat and blood, was slowly sliding backwards against the broken arena floor. Zenith gritted his teeth as more stones dug deeper into his flesh, grit and gravel entering widened wounds, the pain stinging and unbearable, racking his body in spasms. He looked up, and immediately regretted his decision, the image of Kurt's leering face now unforgettable by his mind.
His limbs bent another inch, tiring, and Kurt's claw moved closer. Looking away, Zenith's eyes scanned the crowd, darting around fervently. Were these the Pokemon who were going to watch him meet his end? A now seemingly inevitable demise, as his struggle to keep Kurt at bay increasing in difficulty with each passing second? The faces of his classmates were a blur as he skimmed over them, only one worried face standing out from the rest.
Cleo. Of course it would be Cleo.
Timid like him, but possessing an impulsive side he did not share, the Vaporeon had shown up today morning to save his ass from being kicked by Kurt. And now here he was, in some cruel ironic twist of fate, his ass was being kicked by Kurt again. Why did he even challenge the Nidoking in the first place? A moral obligation to defend her from insults? To try and repay her good deed earlier? A stronger, emotional reason that he could not make out? Whatever it was, Zenith couldn't bear to imagine the look on Cleo's face as he was being beaten into mincemeat by the waste of space that he was trying his hardest to hold back.
I can't let Cleo down.
I WON'T let Cleo down!
I WILL NOT LOSE!
Well, that escalated quickly.
With these thoughts came a sudden burst of energy, coursing through and rejuvenating his fatigued limbs. He had no idea where it came from, he had been totally drained from the fight, but he wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste.
Kurt had a wide grin on his face as he continued to lean on Zenith. He was sure that he would win. The Umbreon beneath him was too weak to throw him off and would be crushed under his weight, ending the Shiny's pitiful life and crowning him the winner.
"No fish-dog here to save your pelt this time, freak," Kurt whispered menacingly into Zenith's ear. Zenith stiffened upon hearing those words, and struggled to push his anger down to maintain his defeated facade. He needed all his strength to seize this moment properly, and he would not let rash actions caused by anger ruin it. It was now or never.
Pushing with all his might, Zenith managed to heave the heavy claws upwards. They hung in the air for a fraction of a second before slamming downwards again, leaving Zenith barely enough time to roll out of the way, back into a standing position. He ignored the pain. There was no time to lose as Kurt looked around, stunned by the sudden turn of the tables. Zenith's flank was pressed against the wall of the arena, the Umbreon distancing himself as far as possible from his opponent, getting ready to put all he had into this one move.
Kurt had gotten over the surprise of the Shiny slipping away from his grasp once more, the emotion turning back into fury as he detected Zenith's dark shape standing out against the pale blue walls. Kurt noticed a small white ball of pure energy forming in Zenith's mouth, slowly increasing in size. Recognising the move, Kurt charged at Zenith, horn glowing green again as he tried to finish him off first. However, as he neared, he knew that he had no time to accomplish her objective. The Nidoking's eyes widened in fear, but he couldn't stop himself, body already committed to the motion of rushing into his own failure.
As the move was unleashed, and Kurt was engulfed in the bright light, he could hear Zenith mutter some words.
"Don't ever disrespect Cleo or me ever again."