John's Team
Tyrant - Slaking
The New Normal – 10-16 – A Clash of Kings
With the meeting wrapped up, Wallace subsequently made an announcement to the public regarding the change in plan, declaring that the upcoming battle of Champions would be a 2v5 and that there would be a duel between Lance and I.
Naturally, the public lost their collective minds over this sudden change, in a good way. Like Lance had mentioned in our previous meeting, there had been a lot of debate within the Indigo battling scene about whether Lance or I had the stronger starter, and now it was finally time to settle the question.
After the announcement was made, I saw on the Pokénet that there were some even clamouring for Lance and I to take this one step further, for it to be a full 6v6 battle between us. But Lance was quick to shut that down in an interview that he gave.
"The purpose of this battle is to allow both of our starters to battle against each other; to determine who is stronger. I have always kept an eye on the power of John's Slaking, and I'm excited to see how Emperor would fare against it." He explained, "It is not meant to prove who is the stronger trainer."
"But is that not the same thing?" A reporter asked him.
"No. In a 6v6, there are many additional considerations that need to be accounted for that could tip the scales of a battle." He said, "For example, I could setup with hazards in advance, or make sure the weather is favourable for me, or even pass on a few buffs beforehand. That is different from a 1v1, where both Pokémon start on the same level playing field."
"Therefore – and I repeat myself – this is only to see which starter is stronger in a pure battle of strength and skill." He finished, "Nothing more."
His words helped set the scene for our upcoming battle, making it clear that this – beyond the strength of our starters – there should be no official considerations from this fight.
Besides the announcement and Lance's follow-up interview, the one other thing of note before my duel was that my parents had arrived in Hoenn alongside Karen and Whitney. I had asked if they wanted me to show them around Hoenn, but they all said that there was no need as they didn't want to distract me from my battle preparations.
"We'll only be doing boring stuff anyways, since we need to finally meet Mr. Stone's contact in person and check up on our new store for ourselves." My mom told me, "There's no need for you to waste your time with that."
"You could always help out after the battle, but focus on that first." My dad added, "This is a big opportunity for you. Your Slaking has grown so far from the lazy Slakoth stealing our bananas to eat. I know how strong your Pokémon are. Go whoop his ass, John. Be a Champion."
Similar sentiments and words were given to me by Cynthia, Karen, Whitney, and a few of my other friends and colleagues, who all expressed their best wishes and promised to not disturb me. In the meanwhile, Roxanne and the other Top 3 members all were in a separate meeting as they discussed how they would approach their fight against Cynthia and Wallace in their 2v5 matchup.
Despite having a three Pokémon advantage on the Champions, they all knew they were in for a hard battle.
With that in mind, I threw myself into some last minute preparations, even though I knew that I was just doing it to keep my mind off things. I wasn't exactly anxious, but I was definitely feeling the pressure.
Even though there might not be any direct or political consequences to losing – this battle was definitely Lance's battle to lose – this fight still represented the culmination of every bit of effort for myself and Tyrant to become the strongest Pokémon ever seen, which had been our goal from the very beginning.
I didn't know whether this was the ego talking, but I wanted to prove, to myself, to all of my friends and family that believed in me, and to the public, that Tyrant was truly deserving of the unbeatable reputation that he had gotten.
I did not want to fall short of that goal. I refused for my starter to be known as the 'second strongest'.
With my conviction reaffirmed, I let out a steady breath as I settled my emotions into one of determined calm. I was ready for the fight to come.
And between Emperor and Tyrant, there was only room for one to wear the crown.
The rest of the night passed by quickly. I had ran through Lance's previous fights again, reminded Tyrant of what was likely to come, and confirmed that there were no last-minute changes that we needed to make going into the fight. We both rested up early, making sure that we were properly energized.
Then, I quickly found myself alone in the waiting room. My fight with Lance was obviously scheduled first, and my Top 3 colleagues would be fighting right after me. They could have joined me in the waiting room, but they considerately gave me the space for me to settle my nerves and thoughts.
I almost didn't hear the announcement calling me to the podium, but a League official snapped me out of my thoughts and I promptly and silently made my way into the arena.
My eyes immediately locked onto Lance, who matched my gaze with one of his own. Neither of us said a word to each other. There was no need for any intimidation or jokes – just silence. We simply allowed the announcer to make his introductions.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! MANY OF YOU WERE LIKELY AS SURPRISED AS I WAS WHEN I HEARD THE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM OUR CHAMPION, BUT THERE TRULY COULD BE NOTHING BETTER TO ROUND OFF THIS FANTASTIC TRI-REGIONAL TOURNAMENT!"
"INDIGO'S VERY OWN ELITE JOHN IS NOW GOING TO FACE OFF AGAINST CHAMPION LANCE, IN A SHOWDOWN 1V1 THAT HAS BEEN GREATLY ANTICIPATED! THIS WILL BE A BATTLE OF SHEER WILLPOWER, STRENGTH, AND DETERMINATION. A BATTLE TO DEMONSTRATE WHO, TRULY, HAS THE STRONGER STARTER!"
"WILL IT BE CHAMPION LANCE, WITH HIS MONSTER OF A DRAGONITE THAT IS THE DREAM OF ALL YOUTHS ACROSS THE WORLD!? WHO'S DRAGONITE HAS POWERED HIS WAY THROUGH TO BOTH THE ELITE FOUR AND THEN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP POSITION!? THE DRAGON OF DRAGONS?!"
"OR WILL IT BE THE UNDERDOG, ELITE JOHN?! WHO'S AWE-INSPIRING SLAKING HAS SHATTERED MANY OPPONENTS OVER JOHN'S EXCITING ELITE FOUR CAREER! AND WHO NOW STANDS ATOP OF A MOUNTAIN OF FALLEN AND BROKEN FOES, WITH HIS STARTER SINGLE-HANDEDLY DELIVERING THE FIRST 6-0 VICTORY EVER SEEN AGAINST A CHALLENGER OF THE ELITE FOUR?!"
"IS TODAY THE DAY THAT WE SEE A DRAGON BEING DETHRONED!?"
The crowd exploded into a cacophony of different shouts, and many began chanting their support for us. Hastily created banners could be seen lining the audience stands with encouragement written all over them. But neither of us bothered to indulge in the adulation of the crowd.
We were both here for one thing, and one thing only – to determine who had the stronger Pokémon.
And we both believed it would be us.
"TRAINERS, GET READY FOR THE SHOWDOWN IN…THREE!...TWO!…ONE!...FIGHT!"
Our Pokémon both came out at the same time, and their combined presence immediately caught everyone's attention as their sheer strength dominated the battlefield. But there was no time for posturing as Emperor instantly began the fight by swooping into the air before coming charging down with incredible speed as he crashed into Tyrant like a descending meteor.
However, despite Emperor's incredible speed, Tyrant caught Emperor's fists in his grasp. Not waiting to see if Emperor could pull himself out of it, Tyrant quickly threw Emperor over his shoulders and suplexed him painfully into the ground, cracking the earth from Tyrant's raw strength.
Tyrant immediately tried to pounce on top of Emperor and brutally smashed a knee into his gut, but Emperor swiftly retaliated by unleashing a powerful Hyper Beam that blasted Tyrant straight in the face.
Tyrant recoiled backwards as he clutched his face in pain, but still managed to land an Encore on Emperor, forcing Emperor to fire off another Hyper Beam that was barely blocked by the Protect shield that Tyrant threw up. Another Hyper Beam immediately began being charged up by Emperor, but Tyrant exploded forwards in a blur of blazing orange.
Emperor roared out in pain as Tyrantslammed him hard with a ferocious Giga Impact, crashing into the Dragon type so hard that an explosive BANG radiated throughout the battlefield upon the impact. The vibrations from the resulting shockwave alone caused the psychic shields to flicker wildly as they struggled to contain the impact.
Yet Emperor was no measly Dragon that could be subdued by a single Giga Impact. Even as he skidded back from the force of the Giga Impact, Emperor held firm and PUSHED back against Tyrant, making use of his massive strength to hold Tyrant back before a fist came smashing into Tyrant's jaw, striking so hard that an audible crack could be heard.
"Extreme Speed, Emperor."
Tyrant stumbled back, and then Emperor suddenly disappeared into a blur of his own as he began dashing around the battlefield with Extreme Speed, moving so quickly that I lost track of him with my eyes, and causing Tyrant's counterattack to go wide.
A part of me regretted not trying to slow down Emperor with a Thunder Wave early in the fight, but I had done my research. Lance had trained up Emperor so well that most paralysis and confusions would do little to Emperor.
No, trying to Thunder Wave him would have been a futile effort.
In that moment, Emperor reappeared right behind Tyrant and, with his fists clenched together, struck down onto the back of Tyrant's head like a sledgehammer, striking with enough force that Tyrant's legs were buried into the ground.
Yet all Tyrant did was let out a grunt of pain before he swung around quickly, parrying Emperor's follow up attack with an Ice Punch that knocked the incoming Brick Break wildly off target. Tyrant then kicked Emperor hard in the gut while he ripped up a slab of rock from the ground and tried smashing it down on Emperor's head.
But Emperor slashed the rock apart with a Dragon Claw with almost dismissive ease. Tyrant tried to capitalise on this with another Ice Punch, but a Dragon Tail snuck up from behind and hammered into Tyrant's side, sending him staggering back to the ground.
Seeing his opponent falling to his knees, Emperor launched himself forwards in an explosive Dragon Rush, thinking that Tyrant wouldn't be able to block against it.
However, proving our training wasn't for nothing, Tyrant immediately recovered and shot off the ground like a rocket with his own devastating Giga Impact.
"DRAGONITEE!"
"SLAKINGG!"
The two of them roared out to the skies above as the two unstoppable brutes crashed into each other with an utterly destructive and colossal BANG.
It didn't matter that the arena received additional reinforcements in preparation for this match. It didn't matter that the psychic shields were made to be extra thick because they knew how destructive this fight was going to be. It didn't matter that there was a secondary psychic shield behind the first layer as emergency protection just in case the first one broke.
All these protections shattered the moment our two starters collided against each other, just from the resulting shockwaves alone. An enormous cloud of dust was kicked up, and rocks and other loose debris in all shapes and sizes were launched in all directions, ricocheting dangerously off the walls and bouncing all over the place.
It was as if a bomb had detonated in the middle of the arena, completely obliterating everything around it.
I coughed and had to shield my eyes from all of the dust, and I could barely make out the surprised cries from the crowd as they too were covered in dust.
However, as the dust faded, I bore witness to the complete annihilation that resulted from the attack.
The immediate surrounding area around the attack was just gone. The only thing that remained was a conspicuously large hole that was filled with nothing. Not even loose wires. In the meanwhile, the rest of the arena had shattered apart, with cracks spreading all across them like miniature fissures.
The 'reinforced' arena did not survive the impact. What remained was little more than chunks of loose rubble.
Yet in the face of such overwhelming destruction, both of our Pokémon were amazingly still in the fight. As a testament to their respective strengths, even despite the utter destruction from their respective attacks, they were far from out of the fight.
They were reeling, sure, and both of them were clutching onto their heads as they didn't come out unscathed from the raw, explosive power of their attacks, but it would take far more than this to take them down.
On cue, a figure blurred forwards once more, dispersing the lingering cloud of dust as the unstoppable Emperor unleased another powerful Dragon Rush towards Tyrant. But Tyrant simply tanked the attack and caught the incoming Emperor with his arms, before retaliating by LIFTING Emperor by his arms and then throwing him mercilessly onto the ground, cracking the arena even further.
Anticipating Tyrant's follow-up attack, Emperor instantly swung around with a sweeping Dragon Tail that would have punished any follow-up, yet his tail hit nothing but air.
Instead, Tyrant surprised Emperor by stepping back and firing a powerful Ice Beam that caused frost crystals to freeze over his face. Enraged by this deception, Emperor tried for a Fire Blast to interrupt the Ice Beam, but it was then that Tyrant roared forwards and brutally bashed Emperor further into the ground with a fist to the face, shattering the ground around them into dust.
The two fell into the hole that was just made, and just as Tyrant's fist was about to crash into his face again, Emperor Outraged.
An overwhelming amount of draconic energy exploded forth from within Emperor, causing a terrifying blue aura to surround his form as his eyes literally glowed with unrivalled power. Tyrant was immediately forced back, while at the same time, glowing blue orbs of raw draconic energy were formed in the skies above as the Draco Meteors rapidly began to descend like an incoming apocalypse.
"DRAGONITEEE!" Filled with insurmountable strength, Emperor burst forwards, ramming into Tyrant and driving his fist deep into Tyrant's stomach that nearly folded him in half. Tyrant tried to strike back with an Ice Punch, but with his Outrage, Emperor was an unstoppable entity of destruction as he didn't even flinch from the quadruply effective attack.
Worse, Emperor's attacks now came faster and with far more power. Tyrant, for all his strength, was not able to match this terrifying explosive increase in power created by the Outrage.
Emperor rained down blow after blow onto Tyrant. Each hit striking with enough force to break and shatter a weaker Pokémon, but Tyrant valiantly continued to block them with his arms, even if he was getting slowly overwhelmed as each hit from Emperor struck down like a hammer from Arceus.
Yet he wouldn't be able to tank through it for long – each destructive blow from Emperor caused Tyrant's arms to grow limper and limper as his endurance began to fail him. He even tried to sneak in a Thunder Wave in a desperate attempt to buy himself some breathing room. However, Emperor's Outrage-boosted strength was far too powerful, and the Thunder Wave was merely consumed and dispelled by the endless flood of Draconic energy radiating out of Emperor.
In his current Outrage-boosted state, I feared that one good critical hit from Emperor might be enough to bring down Tyrant, even despite my starter's immense endurance.
So far, over the course of the fight, I hadn't seen a need to give commands to Tyrant. The fight was enough of a brawl that my intervention would only muddle things. Nevertheless, with Tyrant being overwhelmed like this, it was up to me as his trainer to maintain objectivity and tell him when was the moment to strike back.
I watched Emperor's movements carefully, waiting for a single opening that would allow Tyrant to reverse the situation. My eyes narrowed as I saw the inherent wildness and lack of discipline from Emperor's strikes. In exchange for this huge burst of strength, the Outrage must have stripped Emperor of his technique as he succumbed to the primal wrath of a Dragon.
And then I saw it. A moment where Emperor had overextended on a Dragon Claw, and would need to reorient himself before attacking again.
"COUNTER!"
"SLAKINGGGGG!" Tyrant's body flashed orange just as the Dragon Claw slashed into him, leaving Emperor wide open. Immediately capitalising on the opportunity, Tyrant ROARED out as he converted all of that pent up rage from Emperor's beatdown and unleashed a single, critical Ice Punch that smashed down like a meteor.
This was the blow to topple an emperor.
Emperor's head snapped backwards with an audible crunch before another uppercut crushed his chin and sent him stumbling onto his knees. Not satisfied with just that, Tyrant spun around and delivered a deadly roundhouse Mega Kick to the neck which instantly sent Emperor crumbling to the ground, and Tyrant quickly pounced on top of him and unleashed a merciless Earthquake right on top of the fallen Emperor – but it was then that the Draco Meteors finally came crashing down.
Explosions ripped through the battlefield once again as the already-destroyed arena was broken down even further. The Draco Meteors detonated indiscriminately, hitting both Tyrant and Emperor and forcing both of them to the ground from the resulting shockwaves.
This attack would have completely annihilated a weaker Pokémon, and yet both of ours merely tanked through the attack with nothing more than a pained grunt. With Tyrant's Earthquake now interrupted, I was tempted to order a Protect, but Emperor denied that choice from me as he recklessly threw himself towards Tyrant, using the sudden opportunity to clothesline Tyrant, throwing him to the ground, before beginning to ferociously pummel down on him with a flurry of devastating blows.
It was the biggest demonstration of both of their endurance, and their ability to shrug off pain, that such a devastating Draco Meteor could be treated as a mere afterthought despite each detonation tearing a chunk out of both of their health.
But Tyrant was far from helpless. He wasn't just going to sit there and endure through this enraged pummelling. Roaring out in defiance, he infused his head with Fairy Energy and broke through an incoming Dragon Claw with his skull before savagely crashing their heads together. Emperor flinched from the attack, allowing Tyrant to tackle him with a full-powered Play Rough.
The Fairy energy forcefully broke through Emperor's Outrage, causing dizziness to set in. The situation was quickly reversed as Emperor found himself slammed ruthlessly into the ground once again, with Tyrant's hands gripped tightly around his head like he was trying to crush his skull within them.
"SLAKINGGG!" With a roar that symbolised all of his rage and frustration, Tyrant brutally pounded Emperor head first into the ground again and again. Each time Tyrant slammed down with so much force it was like he was trying to break Emperor's skull apart by cracking him against what remained of the arena.
And Emperor was feeling the hurt. Now that he was beginning to flag due to the overexertion caused by his earlier Outrage, he couldn't withstand being bashed into the ground over and over like this for very long, not with Tyrant's absolutely monstrous strength. Knowing he needed to break free, Emperor forced himself up as he swung around a Dragon Tail as hard as he could, but it was blocked and caught by Tyrant.
Still, Tyrant was forced to use two hands to catch the Dragon Tail, forcing Tyrant to let go of Emperor's head. However, Tyrant refused to give up the momentum, and improvised by lifting Emperor by the tail and mercilessly unleashing a Stone Edge right underneath himself and impaling Emperor in a pit of razor-sharp rocks.
The rocks shredded through Emperor, but before Tyrant could follow up with an Ice Punch that would have likely ended the fight, a sudden Hyper Beam shot out from Emperor – instantly disintegrating the rocks and incinerating Tyrant.
Tyrant instinctively raised an arm to shield his face, allowing Emperor to disappear into a blur once again as he charged forwards with another Extreme Speed as he rammed straight into Tyrant, thinking that Tyrant would be vulnerable.
That was until a Thunderbolt came crashing down from above, smiting down on Emperor and catching him completely by surprise as a painful amount of Electricity forcefully coursed through him.
Tyrant had anticipated his charge and perfectly timed a Thunderbolt.
The Thunderbolt broke Emperor's charge and caused him to deliver himself right in front of Tyrant. Before Emperor could recover, Tyrant's legs came lashing out as he swiftly tripped up Emperor with a Low Kick, kicking Emperor's legs from under him and causing the Dragon to fall face first before his face was bashed in by Tyrant's Fairy-infused knee.
Then another brutal Mega Kick whipped out from Tyrant that struck Emperor perfectly in the neck with a painful CRACK, striking with such force that it caused Emperor's whole body to spin through the air before collapsing onto the ground.
Tyrant once again pounced on top of Emperor and kept him pinned to the ground, but Emperor refused to allow this beatdown to continue. He forced out what remained of his draconic energy as his aura exploded outwards, sending out a powerful wave of force that caught Tyrant by surprise and sent him stumbling back.
It was another Outrage.
"DRAGONITEEE!" Emperor roared, pushing past his exhaustion as he smashed Tyrant with a bone-crushing Dragon Tail that shattered Tyrant's arms, breaking through Tyrant's attempt to block and sending him careening to the side. Not satisfied with just that, Emperor unleashed a blinding Dragon Pulse from his mouth that blasted the vulnerable Tyrant, pinning him momentarily to the psychic barriers.
But Emperor could not push his advantage any further as his exhaustion became too much for him to ignore, and he fell onto a knee in fatigue. His once radiating blue aura of draconic energies had considerably faded.
Tyrant was doing little better, as he barely managed to pull himself off of the psychic barriers. His indomitable strength had now left him, and his arms now hung limply by his side as Emperor's last attack had thoroughly crushed them.
I saw that the adrenaline was starting to fade from both Pokémon as their incredible amount of injuries made themselves known. It was a testament to the sheer strength of our team, their unyielding endurance, and their unwavering discipline, for them to be able to stand up and endure the raw brutality of attacks that just took place.
Still, even the unstoppable had their limits. Tyrant and Emperor had engaged in a violent beatdown of each other, pummelling the other with utter ferocity and with all of their monstrous strength. It had been a battle as close as the Legends themselves, for I doubted there had ever been a fight between two trained Pokémon this devastating and this destructive since the formation of Indigo.
Yet now both their energies were now expended. Their injuries were piling. Their bodies were failing them. But their spirit was as strong as ever. Their will still burned strong. And their determination did not waver. For victory was now closer than ever. And neither would fall before the other.
For this was a clash of kings – and there could only be one.
Ever the aggressor, Emperor rushed forwards one final time, putting his pride entirely on the line as he charged in with a final Dragon Rush. His blue aura flared up for a brief moment as he burned whatever embers remained of his draconic energies to ram into Tyrant and finish the fight, confident that Tyrant was now too injured to block his attack.
Unfortunately for Emperor, Tyrant had no intention of blocking. Rather than that, he fired off a sweeping beam of Ice that surprised and staggered the charging Dragon.
But Emperor did not allow a mere beam of Ice to stop him from achieving victory. Even as he growled out in pain, he pushed through his own exhaustion, pushed through his own injuries, pushed through the Ice Beam as he bulldozed straight into Tyrant – his fist came crashing straight towards Tyrant's face as he looked to end the fight with a final Brick Break.
Yet, instead of victory, Emperor found himself stunned as Tyrant reinforced his head with Fairy energy, dispersing just enough of the incoming attack before lunging at Emperor with a surprise Play Rough.
The two Pokémon tumbled to the ground, but since Emperor was the one to take the hit, it gave Tyrant just enough time to follow up with a point-blank Ice Beam that shot Emperor straight in the face. Ever defiant, Emperor struck back with an Iron Head, but even with limp arms, Tyrant continued to pin Emperor to the ground, tanking through the hit and refusing to lose the initiative.
Then, with what was likely the last kernel of energy that he had, Tyrant stomped down on the ground, releasing a final Earthquake right on top of the fallen Emperor. Now so exhausted that Emperor no longer had the strength to throw Tyrant off, he was forced to endure the entirety of that Earthquake.
But even then, even with ALL of the attacks that he had to tank through, Emperor refused to be knocked out. Even as his body was so marked by injuries that he couldn't even open his eyes properly, he let out a powerful roar filled with determination and vengeful pride, as if trying to will his body to grant him the victory.
Except pride could only make up for so much. Even if Emperor's spirit was unyielding, his body was a different story. At long last, Emperor's final roar began to fade out, and the Earthquake finally finished off the Dragon of Champions.
It was over. Emperor had fallen.
There was a moment of complete silence as everyone tried to process that. Yet my eyes were only on Tyrant, who was now slowly, and with great difficulty, pulling himself to his feet.
Then he stood – battered, near-broken, and with barely any strength left. But he still stood.
"SLAAAAAAKING!" Despite wobbling, despite his broken arms, despite the pain that he must have felt by nearly losing to his rival, Tyrant roared out his power for all to hear, as if he was getting Arceus itself to acknowledge his strength.
And the crowd granted that acknowledgement as they exploded into cheers.
And a new King was crowned.
A.N. Tyrant wins, showing once in for all that he is the superior Pokémon compared to Emperor. It was an extremely close battle, and the two were so neck-in-neck in strength that it almost could have gone either way.
Does that mean that John is stronger than Lance? Not necessarily, this fight only showcases a 1v1 scenario, and Lance's team are full of monsters. John is not guaranteed to beat Lance, but after this performance it's clear that his chances are more than average.
I hope you liked how brutal this fight was. It was rewritten many times as I felt that I tried to honour both Pokémon's strengths as much as possible, but after thinking it over many times, it could only have been a brutal brawl. For Pokémon like Emperor or Tyrant, it was simply the most effective way for them to fight.
Next up, the 2v5 between the other Champions! 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!