Megan's POV
The next day, I couldn't help but feel a brief sense of deja vu as I sat in the waiting area alongside April and the rest of our little group in anticipation for the second battle round. The previous day had been fairly relaxed and uneventful once the battles for that day had finished, and we weren't currently expecting anything big on our schedules once today's battle round ended. But even so, nothing changed the fact that today's battle round would probably be just as intense and exciting as yesterday's...possibly more so, since today we'd be doing double battles.
"So...I take it you're still looking forward to today's battles?"
I looked at April, who was directing an amused grin at me as if she'd noticed the half-nervous and half-determined look on my face.
"You could say that." I chuckled.
"I certainly hope so." Amber stated, shuddering briefly. "Believe me, we all need to be at the top of our games if we're going to make it into the top 16. Especially with Adam and our families watching."
"No kidding." Christina agreed. "For what it's worth, I do hope that my mom's keeping her word and watching me. I mean, I think that I might have caught a slight glimpse of her in the audience yesterday during my battle, but I wasn't able to get a good enough look to know for certain."
"I'm sure that she's watching in some capacity or other." Skye said. "And as long as you keep doing well, she'll have every reason to be proud of you."
"If you say so..."
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" Sofia's voice suddenly announced.
We all straightened up in our seats, eyes wide as we intently looked at the nearby screen. Who'd be battling who today? And in what order?
"The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived! Let's see who's battling who today!"
The matches started getting arranged on the screen, with the order being fairly similar to what had happened yesterday via Ramsey being one of the very first coordinators to do battle today, with Ashlyn taking the stage a few battles after him, then April and I having our own respective battles in the lead-up to the intermission, then the rest of our group all getting their battles handled in the second half of today's battle round, complete with Adrian himself taking part in the very last battle for today.
So it would all start with Ramsey's battle, where he used his Swellow and Hippowdon against a girl who was using a Bellossom and Heliolisk. Naturally, Ramsey was the winner. From there, it wouldn't be long before the rest of us got our time in the arena.
... ...
And so, two battles later...
"On my left, we have Ashlyn." Sofia announced as she gestured towards Ashlyn, who was standing opposite a girl with ruby red hair and rather intimidating red eyes to match. "And on my right, we have Cora. Five minutes on the clock...and begin!"
"Dewgong, Cloyster! Spotlight!" Ashlyn yelled as she summoned her two Pokemon.
"Pyroar, Serperior! Curtain!" Cora shouted as she summoned her own two Pokemon.
Ashlyn nodded her head, presumably taking note of how this was looking like a potentially easy match, due to the type advantage that she had, but also knowing better than to get too cocky, in the event that Cora was skilled enough to work around the type disadvantage.
All things considered, I certainly couldn't blame her. After all, Cora's Serperior was just as capable of dealing major damage to both of her Pokemon with its Grass attacks as they were of dealing major damage to it with their Ice attacks.
If I were Ashlyn right now, I'd definitely place highest priority on defeating Serperior first. I thought to myself. After all, with the mutual type advantage it and her two Pokemon both have against each other, it's definitely the most immediately dangerous.
"Cloyster, fire at Serperior with an Icicle Spear!" Ashlyn yelled. Cloyster opened his mouth and started spewing out the sharp ice shards.
"Pyroar, block that with Flamethrower!" Cora yelled. Roaring, Pyroar opened his mighty jaws and spewed out a jet of flames that crashed into the Icicle Spear.
"Serperior, jump over all of that mayhem and strike at Dewgong with Aerial Ace!" Serperior coiled up like a spring and then jumped into the air, a white aura already starting to form around it as it readied itself in mid-air for its planned Aerial Ace.
"Dewgong, fire at Serperior with Aurora Beam!" Dewgong fired off the rainbow-colored beam from her horn, which crashed into Serperior while it was still high in the air, and sent it crashing back down to the floor.
"Not bad." Cora admitted. "But don't get too comfortable. Pyroar, put Dewgong in its place with Noble Roar!" In a flash, Pyroar let out a very loud and regal sounding roar, the beam of almost literally fiery-looking red and gold noise waves rushing right at Dewgong, who cringed and whimpered as the noise waves engulfed her.
Amber whistled silently was she watched this unfold on the screen alongside the rest of us, saying, "My dad told me about this move. A move once believed to be exclusively used by Pyroar and Litleo, it's designed to intimidate enemies enough to weaken the strength of their attacks."
"And for my next trick," Cora stated confidently, "Serperior, let Cloyster have it with Leaf Storm!" Hissing, Serperior reared its upper body up towards the sky and a massive volley of glowing green leaves materialized into view and started to spin around Serperior in preparation for launch.
"Iron Defense!" Ashlyn yelled, well aware that she wouldn't have much time to call for a dodge. Cloyster obediently closed his shell and hardened it as much as he could, just in time for the Leaf Storm to come rocketing against him, sending him spinning around off-balance for a couple of seconds.
"This battle could easily go either way, everyone!" Sofia declared.
"We'll see about that! Serperior, Dewgong's still looking pretty healthy. Get it to share some of that health with Giga Drain!" Cora yelled. Serperior raised its glowing green tail skyward before thrusting it forward, sending a beam of green energy flying at Dewgong.
"No you don't!" Ashlyn yelled. "Counter with Ice Beam!" Dewgong opened her jaws and charged up an icy blue orb of light before lightning-shaped beams of blue light flew at the Giga Drain beam in time to engage in a dual for dominance. In a stroke of luck, the Ice Beam swiftly overpowered the Giga Drain, pushing it back before eventually hitting Serperior, who became completely encased in ice.
"Good job, Dewgong!" Ashlyn yelled confidently. "Now hurry up and strike Pyroar with Aqua Tail!" Dewgong coated her tail with swirling water and then lunged at Pyroar, smacking him right in the face with her watery tail.
"Beat that!" Ashlyn yelled.
"Oh, I will! Pyroar, hit Serperior with a Hyper Voice!" Pyroar roared at Serperior with Hyper Voice, the resulting noise waves crashing into the frozen Serperior just hard enough to crack the ice so that Serperior could break free.
"Now give yourself a nice boost with Coil!" Hissing, Serperior coiled himself into a shape similar to a small pillar of tires, with an aura of purple light forming around his coiled up body.
"That just raised his strength, defense, and accuracy." Amber whispered under her breath.
"Three minutes still on the clock!" Sofia announced, clearly feeling very excited.
"Pyroar, teach Dewgong some manners with Hyper Voice! Serperior, give Cloyster a good beating with Aerial Ace!"
"Dodge that, Dewgong! Cloyster, block with Iron Defense!"
Dewgong and Cloyster did as asked, with the former successfully jumping aside to avoid getting hit by Pyroar's Hyper Voice, and the latter closing up his shell and hardening for Iron Defense just in time for Serperior to ram against the newly-hardened shell with his Aerial Ace attack. But Ashlyn wasn't about to let her newfound momentum stop there!
"Hurry, Cloyster! Use Razor Shell!" Cloyster encased the spikes on his shell in golden light and then opened his shell to cause the resulting 'blades' formed around the spikes to smack into Serperior in an x-shaped slash that sent the Grass Pokemon briefly off-kilter, despite it not being all that effective. But Ashlyn still wasn't finished!
"Your turn, Dewgong! Use Take Down!" Serperior was sent reeling as Dewgong rammed against him with Take Down. And while Dewgong winced and became briefly encased in voltage as a result of the recoil, Ashlyn didn't let this bring any pause to her efforts. For as it turned out, she now had Serperior exactly where she wanted him!
"Back to you, Cloyster! Use Icy Wind!"
"NO!" Cora screamed.
But it was too late, and Serperior could only hiss in pain and fury as the resulting burst of Icy Wind fired from Cloyster's mouth fully engulfed him and sent him skidding right back to his starting position by Cora. As Icy Wind finally finished and dissipated, the very weakened Serperior collapsed.
"Serperior is unable to battle!" Sofia yelled. "And with two minutes left, will Ashlyn wipe the floor? Or could Cora make an unexpected comeback? Let's find out, everyone!"
"Oh, this won't be an uneven match for long!" Cora yelled. "Pyroar, use Hyper Voice on Cloyster!" Cloyster screamed as Pyroar's Hyper Voice plowed into him and sent him crashing into the wall, right behind Ashlyn!
"Cloyster!" Ashlyn yelled in surprise. "Are you okay?!"
Cloyster groaned before collapsing onto the floor, completely out cold.
"Cloyster is unable to battle! Ashlyn and Cora are once again neck-and-neck! Who will win?"
"Let's not keep them waiting." Cora stated.
"Agreed. Ice Beam! Now!"
"Now you're just making this too easy. Block that with Flamethrower!"
Roaring, Pyroar spewed out a burst of fire from his mighty jaws in time for it to collide with Dewgong's Ice Beam directly above the center of the stage. Both moves began to engage in a duel for dominance.
"You're only delaying the inevitable, you know. Ice attacks can't win out against fire." Cora said.
"That's precisely what I wanted you to think." Ashlyn smugly said with a grin on her face.
"Now, Dewgong! Jump over and slam Pyroar with Aqua Tail!" Dewgong jumped into the air, with the Flamethrower crashing harmlessly against where Dewgong had been sitting, and she dove down with Aqua Tail at the ready, which slammed into Pyroar with a loud splash!
"Don't worry Pyroar." Cora said, trying to comfort her Pyroar. "We can still salvage this."
"Not for long! Dewgong, finish this with Take Down!" Dewgong charged up her Take Down and then rammed into Pyroar, who roared in pain and rage before collapsing to the floor and sliding over to Cora, completely out cold.
"Pyroar is unable to battle!" Sofia yelled excitedly. "And with 30 seconds to spare, Ashlyn wins!"
... ...
My turn to battle came immediately after Ashlyn's. I found myself positioned opposite a silver-haired and black-eyed boy with a black streak dyed across the center of his hair.
"On my left, we have Megan." Sofia announced. "And on my right, we have Octavian. Five minutes on the clock...and begin!"
"Showtime, Zangoose and Kirlia!" I yelled as I released my Pokemon.
"Gurdurr! Escavalier! Bring the noise!" Octavian shouted as he released his own Pokemon.
It took all my willpower not to visibly wince. The presence of Gurdurr alone would have been enough to make things difficult, due to its Fighting attacks making it more than capable of dealing serious damage against a Normal Pokemon like Zangoose, but Kirlia at least had a type advantage over Gurdurr as a Psychic Pokemon.
The Escavalier, on the other hand, was what truly guaranteed my need to be extra careful, due to the fact that it was a Bug and Steel Pokemon, meaning that it would be incredibly resilient to Normal, Bug, and Psychic attacks...all of which just happened to be the only attacks that Zangoose and Kirlia had in their repertoire!
And worse, in the event that this Escavalier had the Shell Armor ability, I wouldn't even be able to deal any critical hits! Quite frankly, the only advantage that I could think of potentially having was that Escavalier would perhaps be slow enough for Zangoose and Kirlia to dodge its attacks, so long as I paid sufficient attention and got my reaction time right. After all, even if I didn't defeat Escavalier, I could still at least cause Octavian to lose points by making Escavalier's attacks miss.
But in that moment, my focus on forming a strategy was enough to convince Octavian to make the first move!
"Let's get the show on the road, Escavalier! Use Bug Buzz on Kirlia!"
"Dodge that, Kirlia!"
Kirlia jumped aside in time to just barely avoid getting hit by the burst of red noise waves that Escavalier launched from its mouth. And while this cost Octavian some points, I wasn't about to let myself get too comfortable.
"Zangoose, keep Escavalier busy with Fury Cutter!" Zangoose lifted her bright green glowing claws and then bolted at Escavalier and repeatedly slammed her claws against it.
But Octavian was now smiling smugly, as if he'd been hoping that I'd do something like this.
"Right into my trap! Gurdurr, use Rock Slide!" Gurdurr caused rifts of white energy to appear in a circle in the sky around Escavalier's position, no doubt with the intention of Zangoose getting crushed under the boulders that would fall from said rifts. Fortunately, I already knew exactly how to counter his current idea.
"Now's your chance, Kirlia! Use Psychic on the Rock Slide and throw it right back at Gurdurr!" I shouted.
"PULL BACK! PULL BACK!" Octavian shrieked, visibly alarmed at the realization of what he'd just set himself up for.
But Gurdurr had already started letting the Rock Slide fall from the rifts, allowing Kirlia to use Psychic on the rocks before throwing them right at Gurdurr, who snarled in pain as the multiple boulders went crashing down on it. And all while, Zangoose finished the last of her Fury Cutter strikes, then hurriedly scampered back to her starting position.
Octavian nodded his head, a look of grudging respect on his face.
"Not bad." he admitted. "But you got lucky this time. Gurdurr, use Bulk Up. Escavalier, use Swords Dance." Both his Pokemon got to work on increasing their strength, with Gurdurr lifting its girder up as high as it could while encasing its entire body in a burning red aura that tensed up its muscles and expanded its size and strength, while Escavalier engaged in its frenetic dance to increase its own strength.
"Be ready for anything, girls." I said to my two Pokemon while well aware that Octavian was likely already planning for his next moves to be extra painful for them. And sure enough...
"Alright, boys! Bring the pain with Hammer Arm and X-Scissor!" Both of his Pokemon lunged towards my Pokemon, with Gurdurr's girder glowing with white light as it was drawn back to slam down on Zangoose, and Escavalier's lance-like arms glowing with purple light as it crossed them together to slash at Kirlia.
But I wasn't about to give up. And so, working as hard as I could to avoid showing visible signs of my rising nerves, I called out my next attacks.
"Zangoose, defend Kirlia with your own X-Scissor! Kirlia, blast Gurdurr back with Psybeam!" In a flash, Zangoose lunged at Escavalier and slammed her glowing light blue claws against Escavalier's still-crossed arms with enough force to halt its momentum and send it falling back to the floor. Around the same time that Zangoose fully got herself in just the right position to be out of Kirlia's way, Kirlia fired off her Psybeam at Gurdurr, who howled in surprise and pain as it was sent rocketing back to its starting position.
"Would you consider this another stroke of luck on my part? Or am I actually better than you thought?" I boasted.
"Oh, just you wait!" Octavian growled. "Enough games, Escavalier! Show Kirlia some manners with Iron Head!" Escavalier crouched threateningly, its armored helmet glowing with solid white light, and then lunged headfirst at Kirlia. But in doing so, it had thrown itself right where I wanted it!
"Use Psychic, Kirlia! And throw Escavalier into Gurdurr with all your might!"
"NO!" Octavian screamed.
But it was too late. Escavalier found itself encased in psychic energy and forcibly brought to a halt in midair before suddenly being sent rocketing into Gurdurr with all of the telekinetic might that Kirlia could muster!
"Now that looks like a real knockout, everyone!" Sofia declared, seeing the large dust cloud that burst into existence as a result of Escavalier's Psychic-assisted impact against Gurdurr. And when the dust cloud cleared, Gurdurr turned out to have, in fact, been knocked out!
"And it is! Gurdurr is unable to battle!" she announced.
"That's it!" Octavian snarled, clearly less than pleased with the current development as he returned Gurdurr. "Bug Buzz! Now!"
And just like that, the battle intensified. For what felt like an hour, I was pushed to my limits making sure that Kirlia and Zangoose were able to dodge and defend sufficiently enough against Escavalier to prevent my points from going lower than Octavian's. And eventually, right as I noticed Kirlia and Zangoose starting to become noticeably tired...
"Time's up!"
Eyes widened, we all looked to the scoreboard...
"The winner is Megan!"
It took all my willpower not to audibly gasp in relief as Octavian begrudgingly nodded his head and returned his Escavalier. And I had to admit, I'd really been lucky to win with so many type disadvantages.
... ...
With my battle finished, one other battle unfolded before it was April's turn. My sister found herself in the arena standing opposite a purple-haired girl with hazel eyes.
"On my left, we have April." Sofia announced. "And on my right, we have June. Five minutes on the clock...and begin!"
"Minun and Roselia, charm up!" April yelled as she summoned her Pokemon.
"Golem and Farfetch'd, showtime!" June yelled as she summoned her own Pokemon.
"This could certainly go either way." Adrian stated in concern as he looked at the screen with the rest of us.
I nodded my head in agreement. After all, with the current type match-ups between their respective Pokemon being used, April and June currently looked evenly matched. It would all depend on the decisions that June and my sister made during the battle.
"Minun, use Quick Attack combined with Agility on Farfetch'd! Roselia, keep Golem occupied with Petal Dance!" April shouted. Roselia and Minun quickly did as asked, with Minun swiftly slamming into Farfetch'd while Roselia showered Golem with a rapid-fire volley of pink petals.
"You're off to a good start." June admitted. "But now it's my turn! Farfetch'd, give yourself breathing room with Leaf Blade!" Farfetch'd smacked Minun away with its now-glowing green leek. And by sheer luck, Minun landed right in front of Golem!
"Send him home with Rock Blast, Golem!" Minun shrieked as he was sent flying back at April, getting hit by the first of the rocks that Golem fired at him.
"Ouch, that can't have been pleasant." Sofia said.
"Use Air Slash, Farfetch'd! Knock Roselia off her game!"
"Block that with Energy Ball!"
Both Pokemon fired off their attacks, with the wind from Farfetch'd's Air Slash and Roselia's bright green Energy Ball colliding together and exploding in a shower of wind gusts and green light particles.
"Golem, use Earthquake! Now!"
"Dodge that!" April yelled at both of her Pokemon. "Then blast Golem with Magical Leaf, Roselia!"
Roselia and Minun thankfully managed to successfully jump in time to avoid getting hit by the shockwave that resulted from Golem's earthshaking stomp of its right foot, with Farfetch'd not even bothering to dodge, thanks to its Flying type nature allowing it to harmlessly absorb the shockwave portion that hit it. And when she and Minun landed, Roselia obediently fired off her Magical Leaf attack, with Golem growling in pain as it got hit with the full force of the attack.
"Not bad. But I'm not done yet! Farfetch'd, ready yourself with Swords Dance! Golem, show Roselia who's boss with Double Edge!" June cried. Roaring, Golem charged at Roselia at deceptively high speed, a golden trail of light forming behind it as it moved, before it tackled into Roselia with considerable force before April even had the chance to try to have Roselia dodge or Minun intervene.
"Lucky for me, my Golem has the Rock Head ability. So I can have him use Double Edge whenever I want without him needing to worry about recoil!" June revealed.
"True." April admitted. "But at this range, you'll definitely need to worry about him getting hit. Roselia, use Energy Ball!" The Energy Ball slammed into Golem and sent him flying. And when the dust cloud that resulted from Golem's landing finally cleared, the mighty Pokemon was revealed to have fainted.
"Golem is unable to battle!" Sofia announced. "At this time, April is back in the lead with 3 minutes to spare!"
"Farfetch'd, it's time to hit Roselia where it hurts with Brave Bird!" June shouted. Farfetch'd took to the air, its body becoming encased in an aura of fiery orange light. Then it dove down, beak-first, straight at Roselia, managing to slam right into her and send her flying. The earlier Swords Dance had made the attack even more damaging!
"Ouch! That's gotta hurt!" Sofia announced with a visible wince of sympathy on her face.
"But now you're right where I want you. Minun, this has gone on long enough. Let's end this with Discharge!" April screamed. And just like that, Minun unleashed the devastating Electric attack before Farfetch'd had any chance of dodging. The air was promptly split with Farfetch'd's pained squawk as it was sent flying by the bolts of blue lightning that engulfed and charred it. And when Farfetch'd finally landed, it was no surprise to see that it had fainted.
"Farfetch'd is unable to battle! April wins!"
... ...
After the eighth battle, plus a short half-hour break, the battle round resumed with Skye battling first. She was standing opposite a boy her age with dark green hair and dark brown eyes who had a baseball cap on his head.
"On my left, we have Verne." Sofia announced. "And on my right, we have Skye. Five minutes on the clock...and begin!"
"Arbok, Swampert, curtain!" Verne yelled excitedly as he released his Pokemon.
"Xatu, Breloom, spotlight!" Skye yelled equally excitedly as she released her own Pokemon.
"Making me work for a chance at the top 16, huh? I like it!"
"Flattery will get you nowhere. Xatu, show that Arbok that you mean business with Psyshock!"
"Counter that with Ice Beam, Swampert!"
"Block it with Light Screen!"
Fortunately, Xatu had been given the new command in time to switch away from Psyshock and use Light Screen instead, thus allowing himself to successfully be shielded from the Ice Beam.
"Not bad. But don't forget about your Breloom! Arbok, use Acid!" Arbok spewed out a stream of dark purple acid from its mouth at Breloom.
"Dodge that!" Breloom hurriedly jumped aside in time to avoid getting hit.
"Not bad." Skye stated, the fact that she'd just echoed Verne's earlier statement not lost on her. "But now it's my turn! Breloom, teach Swampert some manners with Seed Bomb!" Breloom fired off Seed Bomb at Swampert, who was struck hard by the super-effective attack.
"But your Xatu's vulnerable now! Arbok, use Crunch!" Arbok snapped its teeth upon his right wing.
"We can salvage this, Xatu! Use Psychic!" Xatu used Psychic to force Arbok to let go of his wing and then throw it against the wall behind Verne. And judging by the pained hissing from Arbok upon impact, plus how dazed and battered it looked when it got back up from its subsequent landing, Xatu had managed to do decent damage.
"Good job, Xatu!" Skye said proudly. "Now finish it off with a Psyshock!"
"Muddy Water!"
Xatu squawked in surprise as he found himself caught in the wave of muddy brown water that Swampert unleashed.
"Breloom, I'd say a nice Mach Punch should do the trick!" In a flash, Breloom dashed at Swampert, whose Mach Punch pounded it right in the jaw!
I couldn't help but wince, with the rest of our little group watching also wincing in mild sympathy.
"Oof! That can't have been comfortable!" Sofia announced, clearly having similar thoughts to what we were thinking.
"Swampert, knock Breloom away with Brick Break!" Verne yelled.
"Get back!" Skye yelled.
But it was too late. Breloom was sent flying backwards by Swampert's Brick Break. And Verne wasn't about to stop there!
"Now's your chance, Arbok! Hit Breloom while he's down with Poison Tail!" Arbok lunged at Breloom, its tail already glowing purple in preparation for slamming against Breloom, and possibly even poisoning him.
But Verne had just made the same mistake as Skye, in forgetting the other Pokemon that she had in action!
"Xatu, blast it back with Psyshock!" Arbok was sent rocketing into the sky by Xatu's Psyshock, right as it had been halfway to reaching Breloom. And quite fittingly, when Arbok finally landed at Verne's feet, it was completely out cold.
"Arbok is unable to battle!" Sofia announced. "It's now two against one!"
"Not for long!" Skye yelled. "Xatu, use Future Sight!"
"Mud Shot!" Verne yelled.
Swampert turned its head to Verne, its eyebrow raised in confusion as if to say, "Are you sure that's what you want me to do?" At which point Verne clenched his eyes and gritted his teeth in embarrassment at his obvious mistake.
"Duh, of course it won't work on a Flying Pokemon." he muttered, before pointing at Breloom, who was still getting back on his feet. "Never mind. Use Ice Beam on Breloom before he's finished recovering!"
"Dodge it!"
By sheer luck, Breloom had just enough energy to jump out of the way before the Ice Beam could strike him.
"Now's your chance!" Skye yelled. "Use Seed Bomb again!"
"Deflect it with Mud Shot!"
This time, there was no hesitation from Swampert, who successfully impeded the Seed Bomb from Breloom and sent it harmlessly to the ground with the yucky mud that it spat from its mouth.
"Now use Ice Beam on Xatu before-"
"Too late." Skye said with an amused grin.
At that very moment, Swampert cried in surprise and pain as it was engulfed in the giant burst of energy that came with the successful activation of Future Sight. Once the energy faded away, Swampert was still standing and seemingly capable of continuing to fight...until a closer look at its eyes revealed that it had fainted standing up. And then, Swampert collapsed flat on its face upon the floor.
"Swampert is unable to battle!" Sofia announced. "The winner is Skye!"
Verne nodded and returned both of his fainted Pokemon, saying, "You did good, boys. Take a long rest."
He then nodded his head at Skye with a respectful smile on his face.
"T'was a good fight. Milady." he said before winking at her with a gleeful grin on his face. "Hope to see you again soon."
Skye let an amused smile form on her face and stated, "Flattery will get you nowhere."
Nonetheless, she curtsied towards Verne in respect before she returned her Pokemon and she and Verne both departed from the stage.
... ...
Amber and I didn't have long to think about Skye potentially having a particularly interested "fan", due to only one battle unfolding after Skye's before it was Amber's turn on the stage. She found herself standing opposite a tanned skin girl with jet black hair and green eyes.
"On my left, we have Ella." Sofia announced. "And on my right, we have Amber. Five minutes on the clock...and begin!"
"Chandelure, Heracross!" Ella shouted as she summoned her Pokemon. "Charm up!"
"Absol, Pidgeot, spotlight!" Amber yelled as she summoned her own Pokemon.
"Showtime, Heracross! Hit Absol with Pin Missile!" Heracross reared his head back, the tips of his horn now glowing in preparation for the Pin Missile, then thrusted his head forward to send a stream of white "pins" flying at Absol.
"No you don't!" Amber yelled. "Pidgeot, deflect that with Gust!" Pidgeot squawked as she took to the air and rapidly flapped her wings. The resulting powerful gust of wind caught the Pin Missile and blew it harmlessly aside before it could reach Absol.
Amber looked at Ella with a confident smirk on her face as she said, "You won't be taking me out that easily!"
"Evidently not." Ella stated. "Change of plans, Chandelure! Use Inferno on Pidgeot!"
"Dodge that!"
Pidgeot darted to the left just in time to avoid the gigantic burst of purple and blue flames that Chandelure launched from the top of its head.
"That was way too close!" Amber yelled. "Absol, show Chandelure that we mean business with Night Slash!" Absol snarled, his claws already encased in crimson light as he crouched in preparation for a pounce. Then he lunged and dealt a vicious blow to Chandelure.
"Score one for Amber, everyone!" Sofia yelled as Absol subsequently leaped back to his starting position.
"Not bad." Ella admitted before a cruel smirk came onto her face. "But what's this I see?"
Amber had just enough time to raise her eyebrow in confusion before Absol snarled in discomfort and what appeared to be small flames materialized onto Absol's back.
"Flame Body." Ella revealed, the cruel smirk still on her face. "A very useful ability to burn enemies dumb enough to touch you. And even better? Now's a perfect time for my next trick! Use Hex!"
My eyes widened as I realized exactly what Ella had in mind.
"Hex's power is doubled when it hits a target with a status condition!" I exclaimed.
And judging by the look on Amber's face, she'd figured that out as well!
"Dodge that!" she screamed. And while Absol being a Dark Pokemon did give him a high resilience to Ghost attacks like Hex, the increased power that would come from Hex hitting him while he was inflicted with the burn was not something that she wished to take any chances with. Fortunately, in the time it took for Hex to finish charging up, Absol had just enough time to dodge the burst of shadowy energy that Chandelure fired.
"You got lucky that time." Ella stated. "Heracross, use Mega Horn!" Heracross went zooming after Absol, his horn now glowing with multiple shades of vivid green and yellow light.
"Pidgeot, block that with Aerial Ace!" Pidgeot managed to obey this command just in time to collide head-on against Heracross as he was seconds away from slamming into Absol, resulting in an almost comically oversized dust cloud exploding into view from the impact. When the dust cloud finally faded away, both Heracross and Pidgeot were floating around in circles in the air, looking visibly disoriented from the high speed collision. However, Heracross looked far more affected, due to his Bug and Fighting typing making him incredibly weak against Flying attacks like Aerial Ace.
"Talk about a lucky save, ladies and gents!" Sofia cried.
Ella growled, visibly irritated at this turn of events, and screamed, "Enough of this! Chandelure, fire another Inferno at Pidgeot!" Pidgeot was unable to dodge, due to being disoriented from her dizzying collision with Heracross, and was engulfed by the ensuing jet of purple and blue flames. And to add insult to injury, she was revealed to have joined Absol in suffering from the burn status effect once the Inferno had finished.
"Things are not looking good for Amber right now, everyone!" Sofia announced.
"True enough." Amber begrudgingly admitted. "But I'm not giving up yet! Pidgeot, use Gust again!" Pidgeot was in mild pain from the burn, but nonetheless obeyed, sending another Gust rushing across the stage to send Heracross rolling towards Ella as well as leaving Chandelure briefly off-balance.
"Don't stop now, Pidgeot! Time to really sweep them off their feet with Twister!" Pidgeot rapidly flapped her wings once more to summon a mighty tornado that flew right at Heracross and Chandelure, causing them both to get sucked in. And once the Twister finally ended, Heracross was revealed to have fainted. Chandelure, however, was still able to fight, despite looking incredibly weak and battered.
"Heracross is unable to battle!" Sofia announced. "And with only two minutes left, does Amber have victory in the bag? Or could Ella pull off a miraculous turnaround?"
"Oh, you won't have to wait long," Ella growled. "Make this count, Chandelure! Get Absol out of the way with Shadow Ball! Then finish off Pidgeot with another Inferno!"
"Pidgeot, interrupt that with Aerial Ace!"
Pidgeot coated herself in a white body aura that came with use of Aerial Ace and dove right at Chandelure, slamming headfirst against it and knocking it off-balance while also throwing off its concentration on its planned Shadow Ball.
"Now, Absol! Finish this with Night Slash!" With a snarl of rage and triumph, Absol lunged at Chandelure and slashed his crimson red glowing claws across its face. With one last exhausted moan, Chandelure crashed to the floor, completely out cold.
"Chandelure is unable to battle! Amber wins!"
... ...
Another two battles unfolded before it was Christina's turn. She found herself standing opposite a blonde boy with green eyes.
"On my left, we have Christina. On my right, we have Jesse." said Sofia. "Five minutes on the clock...and begin!"
"Lombre, Dustox, curtain!"
"Ampharos, Carnivine, showtime!"
I nodded my head, feeling very pleased to finally see that Christina's Lotad had evolved into Lombre.
"Alright, Lombre!" Christina yelled, evidently choosing to take the initiative for the first move of the battle. "Use Energy Ball on Ampharos!"
"Deflect that with Electro Ball, Ampharos!" Jesse shouted.
Both Pokemon fired off their respective energy orb attacks at the same time, resulting in an impressive firework-like explosion above the center of the stage. The sight of this caused Amber, Skye, and I to nod our heads with visibly impressed looks on our faces.
"You're gonna have to try harder than that." Jesse said with a confident smile on his face.
"Evidently so." Christina admitted. "Dustox, use Whirlwind!" Dustox rapidly flapped her wings, sending both Ampharos and Carnivine tumbling backwards while Lombre got onto his belly and dug his finger claws into the arena floor to avoid getting blown away himself.
"Not bad." Jesse admitted. "But you're not the only one who can use the winds to their advantage! Carnivine, trip 'em up with Leaf Tornado!" Carnivine did a handstand and started rapidly spinning around, with a deceptively large tornado of light green leaves materializing into view directly above its legs that it then tossed at Lombre, who found himself blown about in circles at dizzying speeds before being slammed down hard as the tornado eventually crashed down onto the stage floor.
"Not bad. But I can do better! Lombre, get some sweet revenge with Mega Drain!" The green Mega Drain beams fired from Lombre's fingertips coiled around Ampharos and started draining energy from it.
"Hurry, Carnivine! Interrupt that healing with Seed Bomb!" Carnivine snapped its jaws open in time to spit out a rapid-fire round of large explosive seeds. Dustox was able to dodge, but Lombre was sent flying onto his back by the impact of the seeds that landed near enough to affect him.
And while Christina could take solace in that Jesse had also lost some points as a result of Ampharos having been forced to take damage from the Seed Bomb as well, that was a small comfort compared to the number of points that she herself had just lost.
"Alright, Ampharos! Sorry about the Seed Bomb, but now's your chance to turn things around! Blast that Dustox with Power Gem!"
"Block it with Psybeam!"
Dustox fired the beam of energy from her mouth just in time for it to collide with the beam of dazzling orange energy that Ampharos fired from its hands. Both beams began pushing against each other in a duel for dominance and for about thirty seconds, the two beams looked evenly matched...but then the Psybeam began to slowly gain ground against Power Gem. And before long...
"OH!" Sofia yelled as Ampharos was engulfed in a burst of smoke as a result of getting successfully caught in the resulting blast. "That's gotta hurt!"
"Not a bad turnaround, huh?" Christina asked, chuckling.
"Indeed." Jesse grumbled. "But this ain't over yet! Carnivine, lunge at Dustox with Crunch!" Dustox cried out in pain as she found herself caught in the painfully tight grip of Carnivine's vicious teeth.
"Power through that, Dustox! Make it let go with Confusion!" Dustox did as ordered, forcing Carnivine to release her.
"Now, Lombre! Give us some breathing room with Mist!" Lombre placed his hands atop his lily pad head and concentrated with all his might, causing massive clouds of white mist to form from the water inside and billow out to completely cover the entirety of the area where he, Dustox, and Christina were positioned.
"Be ready for anything." Jesse told his Pokemon. "Attacks could come from anywhere in that mist."
"Dustox, use Sludge Bomb!" Seconds later, Carnivine was mercilessly splattered with a volley of globs of sludge that came flying out from the mist.
"Carnivine!" Jesse yelled in shock as he saw his Pokemon getting hit. But it was too late, for once the Sludge Bomb finally ended and Jesse could get a clear look at Carnivine once more, it was clear that the Grass Pokemon had fainted.
"Carnivine is unable to battle!" Sofia announced. "Two minutes left for either a victory from Christina, or miraculous turnaround from Jesse!"
"And for a little bit of fun," Christina's voice then said from inside the mist, "Give Ampharos a nice bath with Hydro Pump, Lombre!" Lombre sent a massive jet of water spouting from out of the mist, right at Ampharos.
"Defend with Thunder Punch!" Ampharos slammed its voltage-encased right hand against the Hydro Pump as the water jet was about to slam into it. The voltage rode along the Hydro Pump's water and engulfed Lombre.
The Mist finally came to an end at around the same time, revealing Lombre collapsing to his hands and knees, visibly panting and gasping from the unexpected electrocution.
Christina gritted her teeth in anger and said, "Dirty trick."
"But it worked, didn't it?" Jesse replied with an amused smirk. "And since you were so eager to have a little fun by hitting Ampharos with an attack that wouldn't have been all that effective against him, I'll gladly allow your Lombre the irony of getting finished off by an attack that really wouldn't make any difference against him if he were at higher health! You hear that Ampharos? Put Lombre out of his misery with Power Gem!"
"Not gonna happen!" Christina yelled. "Lombre, defend yourself with Mega Drain!"
Weakly, Lombre just barely managed to fire off the energy beam from his fingers in time for it to collide with the Power Gem, swiftly overpowering the Rock attack and coiling around Ampharos, who could only bleat in pain as he was, once again, subjected to the energy draining effect of Mega Drain. By the time Lombre was finished, not only was he standing back at full height on his feet without difficulty, but Ampharos collapsed to the floor, and with only 30 seconds left to spare!
"Ampharos is unable to battle!" Sofia announced proudly. "The winner is Christina!"
... ...
About five to six minutes later, the time finally arrived for Adrian's battle to close out today's battle round. So we all watched as he stood opposite a boy with electric blue hair and almost hypnotic-looking purple eyes. Rather interestingly, the latter boy was dressed in an outfit that I could vaguely remember having seen in one of my mom's fashion magazines, showing designs from Kalos.
"To my left, we have Adrian." Sofia announced. "And to my right, we have Luka! Five minutes on the clock...and begin!"
"Kadabra, Ninjask, showtime!"
"Hydreigon, Gigalith, charm up!"
"Luka certainly means business." I stated.
"No kidding." April said, with a mildly nervous look on her face. "Adrian's really gonna have to be careful if he wants to make it to the top 16 with Pokemon like those up against his Kadabra and Ninjask."
I nodded my head in agreement, well aware of just how big of a threat Luka's Hydreigon and Gigalith would potentially be against Adrian's Kadabra and Ninjask. For starters, Hydreigon was partially a Dark Pokemon, which meant that it was not only capable of dealing severe damage against Kadabra, but also completely immune to Psychic attacks. This naturally meant that Ninjask, the one Pokemon Adrian currently had in action that stood a fighting chance against Hydreigon, would have to do all of the legwork in defeating Hydreigon. But at the same time, Ninjask was insanely weak against Rock attacks, which naturally meant that she'd have to be very careful in order to avoid getting taken out by Gigalith.
Luka chuckled with a confident smirk on his face as he evidently felt like he had an easy victory on his hands.
"Gigalith, get rid of Ninjask with Rock Blast! Hydreigon, give that Kadabra a taste of what's to come with Nasty Plot!" Gigalith opened its mouth, the crystals on its head glowing bright orange before it started spitting out a series of boulders encased in glowing orange light at Ninjask, who quickly dodged. Hydreigon, meanwhile, rammed its left and right heads together (similar to a human pounding their fists together) while its central head directed a narrow-eyed glare at Kadabra.
"That can't be good." I muttered as I saw Hydreigon's behavior on the screen.
"Yeah, Nasty Plot helps strengthen a Pokemon's energy-based attacks by a nightmarish degree. And the fact that Luka's already having Hydreigon start the battle with that move can't mean good things for Kadabra." Amber agreed.
Fortunately, Adrian appeared to be remaining calm, even as Ninjask barely managed to successfully dodge all of the rocks that Gigalith had spat at her with Rock Blast.
"Just stay calm, everyone." he said. "And be ready for anything."
"Show that Kadabra who's king around here, Hydreigon! Use Dark Pulse!"
"Dodge that with Teleport, Kadabra!" Adrian yelled. "Ninjask, let Hydreigon have it with Fury Cutter combined with Agility!"
Kadabra timed his Teleport just in time to avoid getting hit by the beams of black and purple energy rings that Hydreigon spewed from all three of its heads. The instant Kadabra vanished from sight with Teleport, Ninjask buzzed while her body briefly glowed with a silvery white outline before she rocketed at Hydreigon from various directions while slashing at it with her glowing crimson claws. Hydreigon roared in pain from the merciless assault!
"Wow! What a comeback!" Sofia yelled in excitement.
"You know what they say," Adrian said with an amused smile on his face as he looked towards a somewhat ticked-off-looking Luka, "Don't count your Torchics before they hatch!"
"Gigalith, playtime's over! Get rid of that Ninjask with Meteor Beam!" With a roar of rage, Gigalith reared its head upwards, its mouth open as a glowing ball of yellow light materialized right in front of its face.
"But you forgot that my Ninjask isn't the only Pokemon that I have in action!" Adrian declared before looking to where Kadabra had reappeared.
"Kadabra, block that with Psyshock!" Kadabra jumped into the air with his spoon at the ready, just in time for the beam of purple energy he fired to collide against the destructive yellow light beam that Gigalith attempted to fire at Ninjask.
"Hurry, Ninjask!" Adrian yelled. "Use X-Scissor on Hydreigon while Kadabra has Gigalith busy!"
"No you don't!" Luka growled. "Hydreigon, knock that away with Throat Chop!"
Hydreigon drew its right-most head back, as if in preparation for a bite, with that head glowing with dark purple energy. Then it sent that head thrusting forward in time to bite at Ninjask, right as she was about to unleash her X-Scissor, sending her careening back. And while the Dark attack didn't seem to cause her too much damage because of her being a Bug Pokemon, she nonetheless appeared somewhat disoriented.
"Hydreigon, strike Ninjask with Dragon Rush before it recovers! Gigalith, keep Kadabra busy with Rock Blast!" Hydreigon and Gigalith both roared in unison, with the former coating itself in a sky blue dragon-shaped aura, and the latter opening its mouth and causing its head crystals to glow while charging energy for Rock Blast.
April and I both gritted our teeth and clasped our hands together with nervous looks on our faces. Things were not looking good right now! But Adrian, rather shockingly, didn't look the least bit worried.
"You're about to hand over a free weapon for me!" Adrian revealed.
Luka raised his eyebrow in confusion, asking, "How so?"
But at that moment, Gigalith finished charging up its attack and it promptly started spitting out a series of glowing orange boulders. This ultimately proved to be exactly what Adrian had been waiting for.
"Now, Kadabra! Use Psychic on that Rock Blast!" Adrian shouted. Luka's eyes widened in horror as Kadabra brought the Rock Blast to a halt with Psychic, clearly realizing just what Adrian likely planned to do next.
"HYDREIGON, STAY BACK!" Luka screamed. But it was too late. Hydreigon immediately sent itself flying at Ninjask with Dragon Rush, right as Luka had been shouting its name. And in that moment, Kadabra sent the halted Rock Blast flying in time for the attack to slam into Hydreigon instead, and mercilessly enough to effectively cancel its Dragon Rush.
"Kadabra may not have been able to grab Hydreigon itself with Psychic," Adrian chuckled as he directed a glance at the half-humiliated and half-outraged Luka, "But that doesn't mean that he can't use Psychic to have it get hit by an object that actually will hurt it!
"And speaking of hurting it, now's your chance, Ninjask! Use another Fury Cutter combined with Agility! Once that's done, finish things with an X-Scissor!"
"NO!" Luka roared.
But it was too late. And just like that, the disoriented Hydreigon found itself roaring in pain as it was mercilessly assaulted by the rapidly flying Ninjask. Before long, Ninjask finished her Fury Cutter-Agility combo and flew up as high as she could, directly above the extremely disoriented and hurt Hydreigon's back with her grasping claws glowing with silver light and positioned in an x-shaped cross, clearly ready for the planned coup de grace!
"Hurry, Gigalith! Use-"
But the command came too late. Ninjask zoomed down like a rocket, slamming her attack straight against the center of Hydreigon's back with enough force to send the multi-headed Pokemon pounding down against the floor with an impact strong enough to kick up an epic-sized mushroom cloud of dust! And once the dust cleared...
"Hydreigon is unable to battle!" Sofia announced. "Looks like things are really starting to look up for Adrian this battle!"
"We'll see about that!" Luka snarled as he returned Hydreigon. "Gigalith, use Meteor Beam!"
"Interrupt it with Aerial Ace!" Adrian yelled.
In a flash, Gigalith snarled in surprise and annoyance as Ninjask rammed against the side of its head with Aerial Ace. And while the Flying attack didn't really hurt the Rock Pokemon all that much, it did have the desired effect of throwing off its concentration enough to cancel the Meteor Beam.
"Good work, Ninjask! Alright, Kadabra! Ready yourself with Calm Mind!"
"Two can play at that game! Gigalith, use Iron Defense!"
Both Pokemon engaged in their respective moves, with Kadabra strengthening both his attack power and defense while Gigalith raised its own defense.
"Only a minute and a half left, people!" Sofia stated. "Whatever Adrian and Luka have in mind had best be done quickly!"
"Sounds like a plan! Ninjask, keep Gigalith occupied with Double Team!" Adrian ordered. Ninjask did as requested, making it effectively look as if an entire swarm of her species was flying in circles around Gigalith. Gigalith snarled, visibly annoyed at this.
"You're only delaying the inevitable." Luka hissed in bitter annoyance at being toyed with.
"Not anymore!" Adrian yelled triumphantly. "Now, Kadabra! Finish him off with Psyshock!" Gigalith could only roar in pain as it was blasted by the newly-empowered Psyshock. When the resulting beam of energy finally dissipated, Gigalith had just enough energy to groan in exhaustion before collapsing to the arena floor, completely out cold.
"Gigalith is unable to battle!" Sofia yelled triumphantly. "And this, combined with a visible lead in points for good measure, makes Adrian the winner!"
"YAY!" April squealed in delight, hopping up and down with her fists raised toward the ceiling. "I knew that he could do it! Never doubted him for a second!"
"Sure you didn't." Amber chuckled, an amused smirk on her face as she remembered just how nervous April and I had both looked throughout the battle.
Christina clearly had similar thoughts, as she also chuckled and directed an amused smirk at April.
But in that moment, I didn't care whether my sister was telling the truth about her confidence in Adrian's chances. For in that moment, I had a giddy smile on my face.
We'd all made it into the top 16. And while there would be no further battles today, I already had a feeling that the next few days would only get more and more exciting!
Author's Note: Megan, her sister, and all of their friends survive another round and move on to the top 16 in the Grand Festival!
But there can only be one winner in the end, and it's only a matter of time before they'll have to inevitably battle each other.
The Grand Festival continues in the next chapter of Pokemon NG!