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 – 8-6 – A Display of Power
I didn't need to wait long, because Cynthia quickly made up her mind as she fished up her last Pokéball. I leaned forwards instinctively, waiting to see which of her Pokémon she had chosen.
"Lucario. Defeat them."
And her Lucario was her answer, which came sprinting out of its Pokéball in a blur as it immediately charged into the fight. Before Smough could even brace himself, Lucario suddenly exploded forwards in a burst of Extreme Speed and delivered a critical volley of strikes towards Smough with a barrage of Mach Punches.
Smough let out a groan of pain and instinctively reacted with a swift jab, but Lucario instantly parried it with an arm and smashed another fist into Smough.
"Hammer Arm, Smough! Fight back!"
"Close Combat, Lucario! Keep going!"
Smough let out a roar as he raised his arm threateningly into the air, looking to slam Lucario with a devastating Hammer Punch. Smough's arm came down with surprising speed, but Lucario was faster.
Instead of moving to dodge, Lucario fully committed to its attack, following up with a brutal assault of punches; each punch from Lucario landed with an audible thump and left visible indents into Smough's body that sent Smough reeling back in pain. Short grooves were formed in the ground as Smough skidded back from the force of the assault.
"Protect, Smough!"
"Low Kick, Lucario! Trip it up!"
Trying to buy time, I had Smough try to set up a Protect shield to halt Lucario's offensive momentum and give Smough a chance to reorient himself. But before the Protect shield formed, Lucario had already rushed forwards and lashed out with a strong kick, striking decisively at one of Smough's legs and causing the heavy Pokémon to let out a surprised groan as he tripped over himself.
"Brick Break! Combo it!"
"EARTHQUAKE, SMOUGH!"
Thinking Smough was vulnerable, Lucario's arms started glowing a powerful white as it prepared to chop down with what would have been a painful Brick Break. However, Smough was not as helpless as Lucario expected, and retaliated by slamming into the ground with his full body weight and letting out a powerful Earthquake that caused the already destroyed arena to break apart entirely.
The ground exploded from beneath them; what remained of the arena was little more than small islands of rocks barely joined together.
Lucario let out a cry of pain as it fell to its knees, failing to dodge away in time from the sudden eruption of explosive tremors.
"Body Press, Smough!"
"Extreme Speed and Force Palm!"
"SNORLAXX!" Leaping off the ground, Smough let out a ferocious roar as he tried to squash the smaller Lucario beneath the full weight of his body. However, recovering quickly, Lucario dashed out of the way with another Extreme Speed, and Smough suddenly found himself being smashed with an upright palm to the face that struck with such force that it created an audible BANG.
The force of the attack was so great that, despite his weight, it still sent Smough flying through the air. And unwilling to leave things at that, Lucario rocketed forwards in a blue and black blur as it dashed after him, driving into him with a hard High Jump Kick that sent Smough spinning through the air straight into the psychic barriers.
The crowd went wild as Smough smashed limply into the barriers, cheering out their support for Lucario's brutal performance.
After all, my Smough had a reputation of victories against very well-established and powerful trainers. So to put up this good of a fight against him was far beyond many of their expectations for Cynthia. But Lucario was doing more than 'putting up a good fight'. It was overwhelming Smough with its ridiculous speed.
I knew I needed to deal with Lucario's insane speed advantage over Smough, or else he would not last much longer. There was still a limit to how much punishment Smough could take.
Nor could I reuse the method that I used against Karen's Weavile. Trying to set up with Belly Drum right now would be idiotic, as with Lucario's power, Smough would find himself quickly finished off before he could even make use of his boosts. Furthermore, relying on his self-healing moves would only be delaying the inevitable; Lucario didn't seem like it could be worn down like that.
I only really had one recourse.
"YAWN!"
"Aura Sphere, keep your distance."
We both ordered our Pokémon at the same time. Cynthia must have thought that I would have tried to catch Lucario off-guard with a surprise attack and played it safe with a barrage of Aura Spheres instead. Despite it being the weaker of the two choices, the attack was no less devastating as a barrage of orbs exploded before Smough even landed on the ground.
However, for a fraction of a second, Smough managed to land his Yawn on Lucario, and the Fighting type suddenly stumbled over as drowsiness began to set in.
Cynthia frowned, but so did I. Lucario falling asleep would be utterly detrimental. It would be completely helpless to whatever attack Smough could fire off; and it was very likely it would not be able to endure through it. Its offense might have been very impressive, but I suspected the same could not be said for its defenses.
On the other hand, Smough was in a terrible state. He had barely managed to pull himself up from the ground, his arms shaking as he did, and it was clear that the previous onslaught of attacks had really done a number on him. It was never a good sign when your Pokémon was heaving for breath and standing uncertainly.
He looked like he was already on his last legs. How hard did that Lucario hit?
It had been a very long time since I saw Smough completely outclassed like this. There couldn't have been a worse matchup for him. Worse, I couldn't tell if Cynthia's frown was a bluff or not; did she have some way of dispelling the Yawn that I wasn't aware of?
However, I did not have the luxury to think of what my next best move would be, as Cynthia went back on the offensive.
"Extreme Speed into Close Combat, Lucario. Finish it off."
"Counter, Smough! Punish it!"
Lucario disappeared once more as it rushed forth with Extreme Speed, doing its best to suppress the forced drowsiness. In the meanwhile, Smough began glowing orange as he prepared to Counter any attack Lucario made, ready to retaliate with the full amount of energy absorbed. I could only remain confident that Smough could withstand the attack.
My confidence was instantly put to the test as Lucario reappeared directly in front of Smough, striking with a flurry of explosive punches that caused Smough to groan out in pain. But just like I hoped, Smough endured, and with burning rage filling his eyes, he transformed all of that absorbed energy into his arms as he smashed down with a cataclysmic Hammer Arm that would shatter all in its wake.
However, with reaction speeds that bordered on precognition, Lucario perfectly manoeuvred out of the way of the attack, causing it to go wide and merely strike the air next to Lucario.
It was a perfectly executed Detect.
And as Smough's rage turned to horror as the realisation of his missed attack, Lucario leapt into the air and delivered a head-snapping High Jump Kick to the back of Smough's head.
The attack landed with an audible CRACK, causing Smough's entire body to twist briefly through the air as he was sent crashing painfully into the ground. Not letting anything up to chance, Lucario crushed whatever defiance remained in Smough by driving a merciless Cross Chop straight into Smough's neck, cracking the ground around it and knocking out my Snorlax.
It was only after my Snorlax fainted, and the adrenaline had begun to run out, that the earlier effects of the Yawn began to settle in. Lucario wobbled in place as its eyes drooped, and I could tell that it was using whatever willpower it could to ensure that it did not fall asleep.
I could have immediately returned Smough to his Premier Ball and send out my final Pokémon while Lucario was still trying to fight off the effects of the Yawn, but that was far too unsportsmanlike – especially for a battle that was meant to endear the Sinnoh public to the idea of international cooperation.
So instead, just like the rest of the crowd were doing, I waited patiently to see if Lucario had the mental strength necessary to ward off the sleep.
At some point, Lucario began glowing a bright blue as it channelled its internal aura in a last-ditch burst of willpower in an attempt to steady itself.
Yet even then, it still wasn't enough. After all, I hadn't trained up Smough's Yawn for nothing.
Despite all its efforts, Lucario eventually succumbed to the effects of the Yawn and collapsed to the ground, fast asleep.
It was only then did the referee speak up, "…AND THAT PUTS THE MATCH AT 2-2, WITH JOHN'S SNORLAX GOING DOWN TO A POWERFUL COUNTERATTACK FROM CYNTHIA'S LUCARIO! AND WHO WAS EXPECTING THAT LEVEL OF POWER FROM OUR CHALLENGER?! TO BE ABLE TO BRING DOWN THE POKÉMON THAT WON AGAINST DRAKE'S GYARADOS! INCREDIBLE!"
I finally decided to withdraw Smough to his ball, giving an acknowledging nod to Cynthia in recognition of her skills to be able to train her Lucario to this extent. I took a moment to think about who I wanted to use next.
If I wanted to ensure my victory, then Vordt or Tyrant were the most obvious options. But using one of those to defeat a sleeping Lucario would not be in the spirit of things. I knew the crowd wanted an exciting fight full of back-and-forths, so a one-sided victory would not be very interesting to them.
The most important thing about this match was to get the public on our side, to give them a memorable fight between a representative of Indigo and a trainer of Sinnoh. To use Vordt and knock out a sleeping Lucario with a single Earthquake would NOT be conducive to this.
Furthermore, I reminded myself that this was an opportunity to learn. To test out and evaluate the strength of my weaker Pokémon. Winning was not everything here.
Therefore, with that thought in mind, I selected my next Pokémon.
"Klaus, show off your new training!"
I released Klaus onto the field, his magnificent horns gleaming brightly in the sun. He stood tall, looking down regally at the sleeping Lucario, his eyes shining with Psychic power. Ever since my last battle with Bruno, I had done much to train up Klaus, and I wanted to use this battle to show it off.
"Calm Mind, set yourself up."
Though I was holding back, I wasn't going to sandbag to the extent that I would ignore the advantage of a sleeping opponent. Thus, I had Klaus start buffing up his own Special Attack and Special Defense while Lucario continued to snooze unaware on the ground.
"WAKE UP LUCARIO! OR ELSE YOU'RE IN BIG TROUBLE!"
"Agility, Klaus."
Unfortunately, despite Cynthia's shouting, Lucario remained fast asleep – though the slight twitch from his arms told me that it was only a matter of time before he woke up. All the while, Klaus continued to channel his internal energies as he now began buffing up his speed; a necessary action considering just how fast Lucario was. Klaus may have been naturally faster than Smough, yet Lucario's Extreme Speed was on a whole different level.
Eventually, with the first round of buffs settled in, I didn't feel like taking the risk that Lucario would wake up on its own accord. So I decided to start the battle on my own terms.
"Earth Power, Klaus! Give it a nice wake-up call!"
The ground erupted with power, and the arena was already so utterly destroyed at this point that it couldn't be any further damaged. Yet Lucario was suddenly jolted awake with the tremors exploding from underneath its sleeping form, pain coursing through its body as it was rudely and painfully awakened by the supereffective attack.
It let out a surprised yelp, but its focus instantly returned as it retaliated by firing off a quick barrage of Aura Spheres towards Klaus.
"Light Screen and Psychic, Klaus!"
"Extreme Speed and Drain Punch, Lucario! Move quickly!"
"Teleport and Psychic!"
With impressive discipline, Lucario shrugged off the pain and rushed forwards with another Extreme Speed, one of its fists raised threateningly as it readied to deliver a powerful Drain Punch into Klaus. However, making use of his Agility boosts and all his previous training, Klaus suddenly disappeared into a shimmer of light and reappeared a slight distance away, and behind, Lucario.
This was what all that training had been for. The ability to Teleport in battle, as Will demonstrated in his spar against me, was an excellent thing to have. All of a sudden, Klaus' mobility was upgraded by a significant degree as he was now able to appear and attack from practically any angle on the battlefield. He was still not able to Teleport long distances at the moment, but I thought that, with such a surprising move, Klaus would be able to surprise and land a successful hit on Lucario.
To my OWN surprise, it did not work out that way.
As Klaus' flashed into existence behind Lucario, it reacted as if it had eyes on the back of its head. Moving by pure instinct and experience, Lucario dove to the side into a forward roll, creating just enough distance to narrowly dodge out of the way of the incoming Psychic blast, an explosion detonating on the ground where Lucario was in previously.
Disgruntled or offended by Lucario's dodging skills, Klaus immediately tried to follow up with another wave of Psychic, one powerful enough that it tore up the ground as it travelled, which this time caught Lucario with a glancing blow as it couldn't quite move out of the way in time.
This was the moment. I had to shut down that speed.
"Thunder Wave, Klaus!"
"Vacuum Wave, Lucario!"
However, Lucario moved first, firing off a twisting wave of Fighting Energy that caused Klaus to stumble back, hitting him with just enough force to interrupt his Thunder Wave.
"Stone Edge, Lucario! Use the broken arena!"
"Teleport and Psychic!"
The repeated use of Extreme Speed was visibly taking a toll on Lucario as its stamina was rapidly burned, but its eyes still flashed before huge chunks of the arena began being ripped out from the ground and thrown like javelins towards Klaus, leaving giant gaping holes in the ground in their wake.
Klaus immediately Teleported out of there just before the stones crashed and destroyed his previous position, repositioning slightly away and prepared to fire off a retaliatory burst of Psychic.
"EARTHQUAKE, LUCARIO!"
However, as if Cynthia had anticipated this, Lucario once again caught Klaus by surprise by unleashing a wide earthquake that caused the ground to shake and rumble once again. However, even as exhaustion began to take hold within Lucario, the Earthquake still managed to rip apart the arena.
Klaus' Psychic was interrupted as he fell to his knees, stumbling from the Earthquake.
"Bullet Punch and Meteor Mash, Lucario!"
Trying to push the advantage as much as possible, Cynthia ordered Lucario forward once again. It rushed forwards, forcing itself to close the distance with Klaus as it readied a ferocious flurry of Steel punches that would have pummelled and devastated a vulnerable Klaus.
Yet Lucario was too tired. It no longer had the overwhelming speed it once did, though it was still very fast. But Klaus was not on my Elite team for nothing, and that slight drop in speed was all that Klaus needed.
"Thunder Wave, Klaus! Paralyze it!"
Before Lucario managed to get in close and deliver its pummelling, Klaus released a paralytic wave of electricity that forced itself into Lucario.
The paralysis immediately set in, and Lucario's muscles began to lock up. Yet Lucario preserved. Before its muscles could fail it, it drove itself forwards with those final few steps and smashed a savage Meteor Mash that collided deeply with Klaus' face. A follow-up Cross Chop to the throat cut off Klaus' grunt of pain and another Force Palm sent him skidding back.
Lucario tried to take another step forwards to continue his assault before the paralysis could really take effect, but a quick Psychic from Klaus blasted him back and halted his assault.
I wanted to fire off another Earth Power to capitalize on the Psychic, but the blows that he had repeatedly taken to the head had caused Klaus to become disoriented and dizzy; his head falling limp as he struggled to regain his concentration. Though Lucario was no better as it collapsed onto its knees; its heavy wounds and the paralysis causing its muscles to refuse to obey and move.
I frowned as I observed the state of the battle. On the one hand, Lucario was exhausted, paralysed, and practically on its last legs from its injuries. However, Klaus was little better, and though he had far less injuries, he was dazed and disoriented because Lucario simply hit REALLY hard - the fact that he dominated Smough was enough of an indicator of its strength. Klaus' health advantage wasn't as much of one as it was on paper.
In that moment, I ended up coincidentally locking eyes with Cynthia, and we both knew that the battle was about to be over.
"EXTREME SPEED, LUCARIO! FINISH IT OFF!"
"PSYCHIC, KLAUS! FULL POWER!"
Using whatever remains of the energy that it had left, Lucario burst forwards for the final time – fully committing itself to its last Extreme Speed. Its face was twisted with both exhaustion and conviction, with its teeth grit HARD as it willed itself to move forwards – his entire form began glowing a bright blue as it did so.
There was nothing but the pure, blazing determination of a Pokémon that had seen the perfect opportunity to win, and who was willing to do anything to follow through for the victory. Paralysis or not, Lucario was. Charging. FORWARDS.
Thus, in less than a second, Lucario reappeared like a blur in front of Klaus with a Cross Chop that came straight for Klaus' neck. Right at the same time, Klaus' eyes flashed blue as he unleashed a huge wave of dangerous Psychic energy that caught Lucario head on.
There was no way for either Pokémon to dodge, even if Klaus had already been simultaneously channelling a Teleport – it was already too late. It all came down to who's attack landed first.
The Cross Chop came slicing down like a guillotine straight onto Klaus' neck. It was an attack of perfectly targeted precision. A deadly critical hit. And without a cry or even a grunt of pain, Klaus wordlessly collapse onto the ground.
It was the perfect execution. A coup de grâce.
At the same time, Lucario was helplessly launched backwards as it took the full brunt of Klaus' vicious eruption of all of his accumulated Psychic energy. Not having any way to Protect itself against it, Lucario crashed helplessly onto the ground, its body twitching from the lingering effects of the paralysis.
But twitching was all it could do, for Lucario had been knocked out as well.
That was it. The battle was over.
A moment of silence descended on the battlefield as everyone stood there, stunned at the outcome of the match. Until it was interrupted by the voice of the referee, "…I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! JOHN'S WYRDEER ACTUALLY GOES DOWN TO CYNTHIA'S LUCARIO, BUT IT BROUGHT THE LUCARIO DOWN WITH IT! YET CHALLENGER CYNTHIA HAS DONE IT! PULLING OFF A COMEBACK TO SECURE HER MATCH INTO A TIE! THE SCORE'S 3-3!"
The crowd went crazy at the outcome, cheering and roaring in approval at the exciting match that they just watched. I smiled – this was exactly the kind of reaction I hoped to receive. Even if today's match ended in a draw, I had set out what I accomplished to do. The hype generated from this battle would do wonders for the public's perception of Indigo.
"…I SERIOUSLY CAN'T BELIEVE IT! BUT WHAT A PERFORMANCE FROM CHALLENGER CYNTHIA!" The referee declared, and the crowd exploded further into rapturous cheering and applause.
And I couldn't agree more with the referee's words. Even if I was holding back, the match wouldn't nearly be as exciting if it wasn't for Cynthia's magnificent performance. She was every bit as incredible as I hoped she would be.
Would my reputation take a hit for achieving a draw against a so-called 'unknown' trainer? Sure, but only to those who didn't know better. I wasn't Will or Lorelei. I was more than confident that my strength was solidly entrenched in the minds of the public.
No, this was Cynthia's time to shine. This was her first step into the spotlight.
Especially considering how the fight started, with me completely dominating Cynthia's Spiritomb with Luna. Only to have her Lucario achieve an effective 2v1 against my own Pokémon. That was an incredible comeback.
Speaking of Cynthia, she had been giving polite smiles and waves to the crowd, though her eyes revealed her true elation. I moved to withdraw Klaus, making sure to pet his Premier Ball comfortingly in reassurance as she basked in the attention for a moment.
"…An excellent fight. Truly." She said as she approached, "I know that if I had chosen anything weaker than my Lucario, it would have been my crushing defeat. If I was honest, I wanted to see how Lucario would have matched up to the likes of your Ursaluna or Slaking, but I knew Lucario likely would have lost."
"I'm sure your Lucario would have put up a good fight either way." I praised, "But yes, it was a very good fight. I certainly learnt more than I expected to; it's not often when I can afford to not fight with my all to secure victory."
"Though if you could satisfy my curiosity for a moment, how much were you holding back?" I asked.
She tapped her finger on her chin, "With Lucario? Not at all. I consider him the second strongest Pokémon on my team." She admitted.
"I wanted to show off his new training with the Teleports, so I thought that this was an excellent opportunity for it." I replied, "But…well, maybe I overestimated its effectiveness."
"I wouldn't say that. I'm just very experienced at fighting against Pokémon that make use of Teleport." She said matter-of-factly, not a hint of boasting in her voice. "And if I may be so bold, there were better ways to use Teleport. I could tell your Wyrdeer was still new to using Teleport in battle, but why don't you try to have him practice Teleporting directly onto one of those psychic platforms I know you like to use. That way you can have Klaus appear in more unexpected locations during battle."
"And since your platforms can form anywhere in the air, that means you can easily stay out of range by Teleporting to a platform that is really high up. Then you'll have the natural advantages that Flying types do."
I nodded. That was some good advice, though it was surprising that she managed to think of that on the spot.
"…I will take that into consideration." I responded, "Though I have my own suggestion for you. It's something I picked up from my training against Bruno. Watch my battle against him, and you can see that his Fighting types are able to break through Psychic moves with some very precise channelling of Dark type energies. Maybe you can do the same."
"…I DO remember seeing that." She nodded slowly, "…Yes, that's something I'll look into."
"Perhaps we could discuss more about this battle soon?" I suggested, "I personally have plenty to ask."
"Same here." She replied, "I find that I learn the most after a good battle like this. And I did note that I definitely need to spend more time practicing against Fairy types. My Spiritomb's performance was far more underwhelming than I hoped for."
"But first we have to deal with the crowd." I responded sarcastically, "How much do you want to bet that there will be headlines reporting about how I drew against you?"
"It's your first draw, is it not? At least, since you became Elite Four?" Cynthia asked, and I nodded in return. "Hm…I hope I haven't caused you any trouble then."
I shook my head, "It was bound to happen one day. If anything, I felt that you were a worthy opponent to have drawn against. I greatly anticipate what you would do next, if your team is this strong."
She laughed, "I'll try to not let your compliment go to my head." Then the two of us turned to face the crowd and prepared for the upcoming slog of interviews.
As the horde of reporters made their way towards us, I took a moment to reflect on how I felt after this battle.
I acknowledged that this had been a great learning opportunity for me. As Cynthia had pointed out, just because I had learnt a new move doesn't mean that the move could be successfully utilized. It was a timely reminder to not become too tunnel-visioned into relying too heavily on surprise and new attacks.
It was better to have learnt this lesson now, when they were still no consequences. The next time might not be so forgiving.
A.N. And that concludes Cynthia v John! Yes, they were both holding back – John more than Cynthia, but I wanted to portray that even if something is new and shiny, doesn't mean that it can always be put to good use. John will learn from this.
And of course, Cynthia's Lucario is no joke. As you would expect. Plus, Cynthia is certainly no average trainer to be underestimated, and her ability to think on the fly and adapt to new situations is incredible. Hope you enjoyed the fight!
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!
EDIT : Thanks to all your comments, I have subsequently edited this fight to hopefully make it more in line with my original vision of the fight and to make it more balanced and reasonable. I hope it's better!