John's Team
Tyrant - Slaking
Vordt - Ursaluna
Smough - Snorlax
Klee - Blissey
Port - Mantine
Zephyr - Pidgeot
Klaus - Wyrdeer
Luna - Clefable
Pixel - Porygon2
Euphie - Sylveon
Ornstein - D-Linoone
The New Normal – 7-13 – Dark and Darker
Olivine city was packed to the brim with people, almost reminding me of the time when Team Rocket tried to escape on the ship. But at least this time I was reassured with the fact that they weren't about to launch an attack, not when they were mostly all locked up or on the run.
Instead, everyone had gathered here today for a much more pleasant reason – for the match between Karen and Sidney. Steven had worked hard to set everything up over the past week, renting out a stadium for the fight, and making sure that the tickets could be distributed and sold in time.
As per his earlier promise, for each donation milestone that the public reached, both Karen and Sidney would fight with one additional Pokémon. I should have known that they would have reached the 6v6 milestone fairly quickly – I think Steven put the donation goals too low and underestimated just how much people were willing to donate for this sort of thing, especially with the improving economy.
The audience stalls were stuffed full of people. Fortunately, I was invited to sit in the VIP seating area, alongside both Agatha and Steven. The rest of the Indigo Elite Four were invited, but they weren't able to attend for various different reasons. Even Lance was unable to come, so it was just the three of us sitting in the VIP zone.
"You hoping to learn something from this?" I asked Steven as we still a had a few minutes before the match was due to begin.
"Naturally. I know I've made no secrets of my plans and ambitions back in Hoenn, and with Sidney being my first major obstacle for me overcome, I intend to use this opportunity to see just how he handles himself at a higher level." Steven replied, "I heard that he's been stagnating recently, but I very much doubt that he'd be a weak opponent. Perhaps I can learn something from this match that may just give the advantage I need."
"Confident, aren't you sonny?" Agatha spoke up from her seat, giving Steven an inspecting look, "Most people would be quaking in their boots when talking about facing against a member of the Elite Four. But not you, arrogant as you are."
Steven shrugged off Agatha's stares, "If I let my fear rule me, then how would I get anything done?" He said rhetorically, "I have been assisting my father with his business for many years now. This is just yet another challenge in my path."
"HAH! The arrogance! Do you think being a good businessman makes you a good trainer?" Agatha mocked, but I could tell that there wasn't any heat in it. It was almost as if she was trying to take his measure.
And Steven seemed to realize that too, "I suspect that nothing I say will persuade you. But I shall let my actions be my proof." He responded confidently before letting the conversation drop, realizing there was no point wasting words against Agatha.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glimpse of a frown flash across Agatha's face as she failed to rile Steven up. I had to hold back the urge to snort – maybe Agatha was meeting her match in Steven.
After all, he WAS a future Champion in the making. And I could see why. His confidence was unshakable. But more than that, he knew how to handle himself even during difficult conversations. Even beyond the strength of his team, which I had no doubt was strong as well, that would prove very advantageous during his time in a position of power.
Perhaps he would be better at wrangling the ever-conflicted Hoenn Committee better than Wallace?
Before I could think any further, the announcer's voice boomed out through the speakers, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS AT DEVON CORP, WE ARE GLAD TO BRING THIS EXCITING AND UNIQUE BATTLE TO YOU! TODAY, WE HAVE QUITE THE RARE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN TWO FAMED DARK TYPE SPECIALISTS!" The crowd cheered wildly as the announcer hyped them up.
"AND LET US MEET TODAY'S CONTESTANTS! STARTING WITH SOMEONE WHO'S STAR HAS BEEN ON THE RISE! PLEASE WELCOME ELITE AGATHA'S APPRENTICE, AND THE DE-FACTO REGENT OF PEWTER CITY, KAREN!"
Karen walked onto the stage with a confident gait as she waved to the crowd, who cheered loudly at her entrance. She had an assured smirk on her face, seemingly sure of her victory. But as Agatha put it…
"She's nervous." She observed neutrally, "But I'll not disparage her for that here. She knows that her victory here would do wonders for her reputation. She needs to do well."
"At least she's staying calm." I spoke up, staring carefully at Karen's expression through the cameras, "I don't see any nervous twitching."
"Good. I didn't train her up this much for her to get a bad case of NERVES during a battle." Agatha grumbled, "And this is going to be excellent experience for her when she does fight against tougher opponents in the future too."
"…Those are some expectations you are placing on her." Steven remarked from the side, but Agatha just snorted.
"Feh! She knew what she was signing up for." Agatha replied, "This is just the price of ambition. You'd know that all about that, wouldn't you?" She said sarcastically, and Steven conceded the point and fell silent.
"AND IN THE OTHER CORNER, PLEASE WELCOME SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN A VETERAN OF HIGH-LEVEL POKEMON BATTLES FOR YEARS, MAINTAINING HIS POSITION IN THE ELITE FOUR AND HOLDING BACK THE SURGE OF CHALLENGERS! GIVE A HUGE ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE ONE OF THE FOUR ELITES OF HOENN, ELITE SIDNEY!" The announcer boomed out.
Sidney sauntered into the arena as he shot the crowd a grin full of teeth, his arms in his pockets. With his mohawk, he looked like the quintessential rebel, which I supposed was the point. I knew the cocky gaze that he had was just a ruse, but the crowd was loving it.
Despite not being in Hoenn, the cries from the crowd at Sidney's appearance was significantly louder than when Karen entered as the arena practically exploded with the cheers at his entrance. I guess that was not surprising; rising star or not, Sidney was still considerably more accomplished than Karen. And a member of the Elite Four that was known for being the greatest Dark type trainer in the world.
Although…that may change after today.
"THANKS TO ALL YOUR DONATIONS, THIS IS GOING TO BE A FULL 6V6 BATTLE BETWEEN THE TWO CONTESTANTS! HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL WHO DONATED! AND ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU TO DEVON CORP FOR HELPING SET THIS ALL UP!" The sound of cheering and clapping rose again, with the noise echoing around the arena. The announcer waited for the applause to die down before continuing, "AND NOW, LET US NOT WASTE ANY MORE TIME AND GET STRAIGHT TO THE BATTLE!"
"TRAINERS, ARE YOU READY?!" He shouted out, and both trainers nodded simultaneously, clutching onto their Pokéballs.
"THREE!" Both trainers leaned forwards as they prepared to release their Pokémon.
"TWO!" Karen's eyes narrowed into slits as she stared down at Sidney, who had lost his cocky grin in favour of a serious frown. They knew that this was not going to be an easy fight.
"ONE!" Both trainers threw out their Pokéballs.
"Umbreon! Start off strong!"
"Mightyena! Hound them!"
Two four-legged Pokémon emerged onto the arena. Although one shone in the sun with a fur of pure black, the other was an intimidating mixture of grey and black. Umbreon stood silent, yet alert, almost defensive in his posture, while the Mightyena snarled viciously as it prepared to savage its foe.
""TAUNT!"" Both trainers shouted out at once.
Both Pokémon fired off a shroud of Dark energy that quickly engulfed the other. Rage filled both their eyes as the powerful Taunt took hold, strangling both their Pokémon's attempts to use non-damaging moves and depriving both trainers of their favoured options.
"Fire Fang, Mightyena! Rush it down!"
"Double Kick, Umbreon! You can do it!"
The two Pokémon rushed down each other, both beginning to circle around the other as they tried to position themselves as best they could. But Mightyena proved the faster and more mobile Pokémon; it was clearly more used to forcing close-range engagements like this. With a savage howl, it ducked underneath a powerful kick from Umbreon and crunched down hard with its mighty jaws onto Umbreon.
Umbreon let out a cry of pain and threw out another spinning kick from the side, but Mightyena darted out of the way just in time for Umbreon's attack to go wide. Seeing the opportunity, Mightyena followed up with a quick Take Down, slamming into Umbreon with the full weight of its body and sending the Umbreon stumbling backwards.
"Take Down again, Mightyena! Keep on the momentum!"
"Hyper Voice, Umbreon! Blast it backwards!"
Sidney tried to capitalize on his advantage by committing Mightyena into yet another attack, but this time Karen was ready. As Mightyena charged in, Umbreon let out a deafening cry of sonic waves that pummelled the charging Mightyena, knocking it out of his charge and forcing it back.
"Quick Attack, Umbreon!"
Umbreon shot forwards in a burst of speed, hitting the Mightyena once again before it could recover from the Hyper Voice. Mightyena slid backwards from the impact, almost falling to the ground as it skidded across the ground. But that was far from enough to bring down the Mightyena, and Sidney seemed to have figured something out.
"Mightyena! Full offense! Rush it down and never let up!"
Shaking its head as it recovered from the attack, Mightyena let out a rumbling growl before it once again broke into a full sprint, cloaking itself with Dark aura. Umbreon once again released another deafening Hyper Voice in hopes of deterring the approaching Mightyena, but it simply endured through the sonic attack and pushed through, its menacing eyes locked unwaveringly on its target.
Continuing to be under the influence of Taunt, Umbreon was unable to make use of his disruption moves and was forced to rely on his inherent mobility to avoid the Mightyena. But Mightyena only seemed to be picking up speed, its aura of Darkness only seeming to grow stronger as it rushed down Umbreon.
Jaws were snapped. Kicks were dodged. Claws were slashed.
As more attacks were exchanged, it was clear that Umbreon's lack of raw offensive ability was punishing him greatly, because he was being outmatched by Mightyena's savage offense. For every one of his powerful Double Kicks and Hyper Voices, there were 2 or 3 attacks from Mightyena. Umbreon's overspecialisation on defense and support moves were really punishing him at the moment, and Mightyena was able to leverage that as it gradually got the better of their trades.
"That doesn't look good for Karen." Steven mumbled aloud.
"It doesn't." I agreed, "Her Umbreon wasn't much of a fighter. Being affected by Taunt has really stifled it. Though one good hit might change the tides."
Agatha stayed noticeably silent during our exchange.
The wounds were building up on both Pokémon, but Karen's Umbreon was very noticeably on the backfoot. I had no idea what that Dark aura surrounding Mightyena was doing, but it seemed to allow Mightyena to latch on to Umbreon and continue its endless Pursuit.
Mightyena continued pressing its advantage, leading a ferocious assault on Umbreon with a flurry of Crunches, Fire Fangs, and Take Downs. Umbreon tried to throw Mightyena off with a Mud Slap, but Mightyena was alert for such tricks and easily dodged out of the way and continued its savage beating.
Umbreon was utterly overwhelmed by his opponent, never being able to land a proper counterattack. Even with his superior endurance, the visible limp that Umbreon now possessed signalled that he wasn't going to last much longer like this.
But it was just that moment that the haze of rage was lifted from Umbreon's eyes. The Taunt wore off!
"THUNDER WAVE, UMBREON!"
Umbreon pivoted on the spot, sliding to a halt as a spark of electricity burst out from it. But just before the paralysis could take hold, Mightyena brutally slammed into the Umbreon with another ruthless Take Down, driving itself deep into Umbreon's side and Crunching down hard with its razor sharp fangs.
Umbroen let out a sharp cry of pain as he was thrown backwards, before collapsing into an unmoving heap. He wasn't getting up from that.
But Umbreon's final blow had done its job. The paralysis had taken hold and Mightyena's movements became stiff and inflexible, depriving Mightyena of its famed mobility.
"AND UMBREON GOES DOWN! ELITE SIDNEY SECURES THE FIRST KNOCKOUT OF THE MATCH, PUTTING THE SCORE AT 1-0!" The announcer declared, "BUT IT SEEMS LIKE KAREN'S LAST MOVE HAS PARAYLZED THE MIGHTYENA. LET'S SEE IF SHE CAN MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF THAT!"
"…The power of both their Taunts is remarkable. I expected both trainers to have trained their Pokémon to resist such mental attacks – especially considering how much they themselves rely upon it – but to see the Taunt last so long regardless is a true testament to the power of their Taunts." Steven commented as he rubbed his chin, "But it looks like Mightyena came out on top for that one."
"Feh! I always told her to train up her Umbreon to be more physically capable. Knew she wouldn't listen to me." Agatha grumbled.
"Umbreon would have done better against a non-Dark type that couldn't Taunt it." I defended. And it was true. Her Umbreon had the potential to bring down heavy hitters that weren't used to getting hit by Umbreon's plethora of status moves. But Mightyena was just a terrible matchup for it.
"To even be able to go toe to toe against one of an Elite's Pokémon is still quite the achievement, Agatha." Steven remarked with a smile, "You should look at things more optimistically."
"Bah. I leave optimism for the kids." Agatha snorted, "I'm too old for optimism."
"Optimism is also the basis for confidence." Steven smiled, "You won't get far being grouchy all the time."
I held in my laugh at the backhanded insult, not wanting to be the target of the glare that Agatha was giving Steven. I continued to be impressed by Steven's ability to not be riled up by any of Agatha's taunts. He was more patient and level-headed than I gave him credit for.
Before I could think on that any longer, Karen withdrew her Umbreon before quickly swapping out the Pokéball for another one.
"Spiritomb! Your foe is weak!"
A small stone was released onto the field, falling harmlessly onto the ground. Before anyone could wonder what a small rock was doing here, a vortex of ghosts exploded out of the stone, their haunting cackles filling the air as their ghostly form revealed themselves.
Not even waiting a moment, Karen went straight on the offense.
"Shadow Ball, Spiritomb! Bombard it!"
"Dark Pulse, Mightyena! Disperse them!"
With another frightening cackle, Spiritomb widened its ghostly maw even further as large orbs of pure shadow blasted forwards towards the paralyzed Mightyena. However, mustering its full concentration, Mightyena managed to break through the paralysis and released its stored Dark energy, forming a circular sphere around it that nullified any of the Shadow Orbs that came into contact with it.
But that was exactly what Karen had been waiting for.
"Shadow Claw! Slash it apart!"
Long shadows suddenly extended exploded outwards from Spiritomb's main form, stretching so far that they surrounded the lone Mightyena. Having just used Dark Pulse, it was unable to fire off another one in time to disperse the shadows as they creeped up on the lone Pokémon.
Crippled by its paralysis, Mightyena was helpless as huge claws of sharpened spectral energy emerged from within the pool of darkness, the ghostly tendrils exploding out of the ground and slashing and raking at the powerless Mightyena from all sides. Even though Dark types resisted Ghost, Mightyena let out a painful cry as its once splendid fur was mercilessly ripped and shredded by the ghastly claws.
"Get out of there, Mightyena! Crunch!"
Hearing the orders from its trainer seemed to refocus Mightyena as its eyes narrowed sharply at Spiritomb. With a defiant howl, it pushed itself forwards and out of the coffin of shadowy hands, struggling hard against the paralysis that was trying to lock up its body.
But Spiritomb only met its charge with another chilling cackle, almost daring the Mightyena to get closer.
"Night Shade, Spiritomb! Get ready!"
"Dark Pulse and disrupt it, Mightyena! Keep going!"
Spiritomb quickly withdrew all of its shadows back within itself before its maw opened frighteningly wide once again, this time expelling a flood of ghostly energy that rushed towards the charging Mightyena.
Mightyena tried to disperse it with another Dark Pulse, but its injuries meant that it was unable that the Dark Pulse that it fired was weak and ineffective. So, after that weak burst of energy, Mightyena dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the incoming wave of deadly spectral energy.
But then, so focused as it was on the Night Shade, it was suddenly caught by surprise as an unexpected ghostly fist emerged from within the shadow and crashed straight into Mightyena's shocked face. Then, as if to compound the surprise, Spiritomb's entire form came leaping out of the shadows, the vortex of ghosts that formed its body now morphed into a frightening arsenal of phantom claws, fists, and orbs, all of which descended on the surprised and vulnerable Mightyena.
Mightyena immediately wrapped Dark energy around itself for another Dark Pulse, but Karen showed off that she knew how a fellow Dark type Pokémon reacted.
"DISABLE!"
Spiritomb released another haunting cackle as its eyes flashed maliciously, and suddenly the burgeoning Dark Pulse was completely cut off. Before Mightyena could realize what just happened, a ghostly tendril painfully sliced through Mightyena's fur once again, leaving a painful cut across its face, before another spectral fist critically smashed straight into it.
Mightyena tried to retaliate with a Crunch, but the only thing it bit into was a Shadow Ball that detonated right in front of its face. As Mightyena reeled back, another spectral claw slashed painfully across its side, violently eviscerating what remained of its fur before another shadowy fist pummelled straight into its chin. Not giving Mightyena any chance to recover, Spiritomb's many tendrils mercilessly hurled a small avalanche of rocks and boulders that fell onto the Mightyena and buried it beneath them.
Mightyena didn't get up from that.
"AND MIGHTYENA GOES DOWN TO A GHOSTLY ONSLAUGHT BY KAREN'S RARE SPIRITOMB! THAT'S CERTAINLY NOT A POKEMON WE GET TO SEE VERY OFTEN, AND WHAT AN INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE THAT IT HAD!" The announcer cheered, "THIS PUTS THE SCORE AT 1:1. WILL ELITE SIDNEY BE ABLE TO TAKE BACK HIS LEAD!?"
"Hah! I taught her that!" Agatha boasted smugly, "See! She'd actually win if she listened to her elders." I rolled my eyes at her words.
Meanwhile, Steven was staring intently at Karen's Spiritomb. "I've not seen a Spiritomb in action before. It looks like quite the remarkable specimen, and I've seen plenty of rare Pokémon in my life." He remarked openly before turning to Agatha, "Any chance I can buy one off you? It's a hobby of mine to collect rare rocks, and I feel like this could barely qualify as one. Are you interested? I can guarantee that money won't be an issue."
"Bah! They're not for sale, rich boy. There are some things that money can't buy." Agatha mocked as her lips twisted into a snarl.
But Steven seemed to take that in stride as well, "Of course, of course." He said, waving her off, "I figured you would say no, but I might as well try. And you needn't worry about me, I know full well that money can't buy everything." He finished cryptically, just in time for Sidney to send out his next Pokémon.
"Come, Cacturne!"
A frightening amalgamation between a cactus and a scarecrow emerged on Sidney's side of the field. It stayed eerily silent, its creepy smile remaining eternally fixed on its face. It looked like something born out of a child's nightmare.
"Sandstorm, Cacturne."
"Will-O-Wisp, Spiritomb!"
Cacturne raised both its arms as sand began circling around, gradually picking up speed until a twister of sand formed in the arena that slowly engulfed the entire battlefield. Visibly instantly became difficult as the thick vortex of sand began to conceal the entire battlefield.
In fact, the gale winds of the sandstorm were so fierce that it completely dispersed the sinister blue flame of Spiritomb's Will-O-Wisp. Even the spectral flame could not keep itself lit in the face of such a powerful Sandstorm.
By now, visibility on the battlefield was rapidly starting to fall as the sandstorm grew harsher. It was then that I realized – it wasn't just a regular Sandstorm. Sidney had made it so that the Sandstorm was infused with Dark energy that reduced visibility even further.
The arena became shrouded by an unnatural cloak of howling sands, forming a curtain of darkness that was near impossible to see through with the human eye.
In an instant, both trainers were suddenly fighting blind. And I suspected that was what Sidney was going for. It was a strategy that was very fitting for a Dark type specialist that didn't like fighting fair.
After all, what better way to win a fight when your opponent wasn't able to properly direct their Pokémon? Furthermore, I guessed that the Dark-infused Sandstorm also served as a barrier, limiting the space of the arena even further, likely to Sidney's benefit.
Fortunately for us spectators, Steven seemed to not have cheapened out on the supply of equipment, and the cameras that were set up were actually specialized cameras that seemed to have come straight out of a laboratory, allowing us to still see what was going on.
"Thank Arceus that I chose to get cameras used to study Dark type attacks. Otherwise the audience would be staring at a blank screen for the next few minutes." Steven muttered, "It was a good strategy by Sidney, but he has to remember that this was a CHARITY MATCH! What's the point of a match that no one can see?!" He shouted a little frustratedly, losing a little bit of his signature composure.
Ignoring his complaining, I watched as Cacturne's figure disappeared from the arena, clearly having burrowed into it with Dig. On the opposite side, Spiritomb's figure remained still, with its shadowy claws randomly slashing around the arena with Shadow Claws as it hunted blindly for its target.
But then, Cacturne emerged from behind Spiritomb, slamming a fist into the vortex of ghosts with what looked like a Thunder Punch, causing Spiritomb's figure to flicker wildly from the sudden attack. A sudden extending shadow signalled an attempted counterattack by Spiritomb, as a claw shot out from the ground that slashed at Cacturne's figure, but that seemed to bounce off an invisible Protect shield that formed in front of Cacturne.
Cacturne followed up with another crackling Thunder Punch, this one sending Spiritomb's silhouette flying backwards. Then, Cacturne quickly dove back into the sand, burrowing itself once again as it concealed itself with Dig.
That seemed to be Catcurne's favourite tactic. Using the cover of the Sandstorm to manoeuvre around unseen and ambush its target from unexpected angles.
And this time, instead of appearing from behind, Cacturne leapt out of the ground from Spiritomb's left, its arm extended as it struck Spiritomb with another punch. But Spiritomb proved to not be so stupid as to fall for the same trick too many times, and it caught Cacturne off-guard with a small burst of flames that darted towards Cacturne, setting it on fire.
Now burning, Cacturne's attacks were now crippled as its attack was cut in half. With Cacturne momentarily distracted from the burn, it was Spiritomb's turn to go on the offensive.
A large shadow stretched outwards from Spiritomb, forcing Cacturne back as the destructive wave of spectral energy from the Night Shade narrowly missed it. But before its Night Shade even dissipated, Spiritomb's figure suddenly vanished from the cameras, only to reappear seconds later right next to Cacturne, slamming into it viciously with an explosion of Ghostly energy as Spiritomb smashed into it with an ambushing Phantom Force.
Stumbling backwards, Cacturne recovered quickly and began forming a ball of energy in front it. Once again, Spiritomb's figure vanished again as it readied another Phantom Force.
This time, both Pokémon remained patient. Cacturne kept the Energy Ball close to its chest, ready to fire it off at the first sign of its opponent. In the meanwhile, as if it was toying with its opponent, Spiritomb remained hidden, waiting for the perfect time to strike.
The standoff extended for some time, during which the Sandstorm began to slowly fade as Cacturne was unable to maintain it, bringing visibility slowly back into the fight.
However, before the sandstorm could fully dissipate, Spiritomb finally decided to make its move. An army of ghosts shot upwards from Cacturne's feet, all rushing towards their prey. But Cacturne did not flinch at their sudden appearance, instead calmly firing off its stored Energy Ball at the incoming wall of Ghosts.
Yet that was all just a distraction, as the real figure of Spiritomb abruptly popped up from behind Cacturne, a large ghostly claw emerging out of its vortex of ghosts that ferociously eviscerated and slashed at Cacturne's back, gouging deeply into it.
Cacturne stumbled forwards as it recoiled from the painful evisceration, but instead of going down, it threw an Energy Ball that it had been gathering up within its arms backwards towards the Spiritomb. A painful wail echoed across the arena as the stored-up Energy Balls detonated critically on the surprised Spiritomb, who had overextended by trying to finish the fight with another Shadow Claw, sending it careening across the arena.
By this point, the sandstorm had mostly gone away, and the sand dissipated to properly reveal the wounded figures of both Pokémon. Cacturne, on fire and full of injuries, was struggling to stand and was partially kneeling on one leg. Ghostly energies and wisps of flames still lingered across its body – the painful remnants of the many Ghost attacks that it suffered from Spiritomb.
Opposite it, Spiritomb was doing no better, with its vortex of ghosts no longer spinning as energetically as they used to. Nor was it cackling like it did before, instead its signature haunting cackles was replaced by a pathetic wheezing that was more pitiful than frightening.
And now, with both trainers now able to properly order their Pokémon once again, my gut told me that this was about to be the final exchange of the fight. The next blow was what mattered.
But Karen denied both of them the opportunity.
"Curse, Spiritomb. You did well."
With an acknowledging cry, Spiritomb let out one final weak cackle before it shrieked in agony as a ghostly aura settled painfully around it. The aura was erratic, becoming a twisted and growing thing that radiated with pure malice and cruelty.
Releasing this wicked spirit seemed to have consumed whatever remained of Spiritomb's health as it promptly fell unconscious.
However, that same painful spectral aura quickly descended on the surprised and injured Cacturne; the Curse had settled in. Already damaged and badly injured, Cacturne was only to put up a pitiful resistance as the terrible Curse ripped it from inside out. Cacturne, spasming in pain, collapsed to its knees as the Curse mercilessly tore and ravaged its body.
Cacturne let a howl of agony before it the Curse ripped itself free from its body, causing Cacturne to collapse like a puppet with its strings cut.
With a sigh, Sidney withdrew his Pokémon. And the booing began.
"…THAT….WAS NOT THE CLIMATIC FINISH I WAS EXPECTING, BUT THAT IS TO BE EXPECTED FROM A DARK TYPE SPECIALIST!" The announcer attempted to sound optimistic, but the booing of the crowd was doing him no favours. "REGARDLESS, THIS DOUBLE KNOCK-OUT PUTS THE SCORE AT 2:2. IT'S REALLY SHAPING UP TO BE A CLOSE MATCH!"
Despite the jeers being sent her way, Karen remained unaffected as she calmly returned Spiritomb into its Pokéball. But my attempts to psychoanalyze her expression was interrupted by the choking laughter of Agatha.
"THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO SEE!" She said in between her laughter, before falling into a fit of hacking coughs. With a sigh, I moved to pat her on the back but was waved off by her, insisting that she was fine.
Steven gave Agatha a look of concern for the moment before turning his attention back to me, "I have to agree with the announcer – that was quite anti-climactic. I was hoping for something more dramatic. Yet, in hindsight, I probably should have expected something like this." He ran his fingers across the armrest of his seat, a thoughtful expression on his face.
I shrugged, "Dark type specialists are like that. Why take a risk when you can secure an outcome?"
Steven nodded slowly, "Very true…I'll be keeping that in the back of my mind for the future." Then he turned back to the fight below as both trainers were about to send out their next Pokémon.
Personally, I felt that Karen had a rough start, but she was pulling it back now. I hoped she would be able to convert her small comeback into a bigger lead.
But I knew Sidney had his own bag of tricks ready and waiting as well.
A.N. This was incredibly difficult to write, so I hope it came out well. Yes, this is the beginning of the Karen vs Sidney fights, and a showdown between the two (and practically only) Dark type specialists right now. I hope it has lived up to your expectations since I wanted to show off their differences and similarities.
And yes, I know that Spiritomb doesn't traditionally learn Shadow Claw, but that's ridiculous. If it can learn all the other common Shadow moves, then it can learn Shadow Claw.
For those of you worried that this fight will take a long time, don't worry. Next chapter will be the finale. It'll be a long one!
This chapter is BETAed by Allute! Cheers! And to anyone who wants to support me, please check out my p atreon at CartecTNN where you can read 8 advanced chapters! Thanks to those who have supported me already!