So, I just found out that I accidentally published chapter 87 twice instead of chapter 88. I've fixed it now. Anyway, here we are at last, at the two-parter of this half of Hoenn. This is a scene that I've had planned from damn near the start, back when May was originally in love with Brendan before I remembered Drew and changed it, if anyone here was around long enough to remember that. Anyway, welcome to my first attempt at writing a 6-on-6 battle. Fun fact I had to scour my house for Pokémon Alpha Sapphire in order to remember what team I had when I played it, so I could give that team to Brendan. But enough about that, let's get on with it.
Chapter 95:
Admin Bannai enters the building, with Max and Bonnie following close behind him, staying out of sight as much as possible. They follow him as he heads towards the lift. Just as they're about to curse their luck, he walks right past it and heads towards the stairs. "He must be trying to sneak up," Max ponders. "Must be going after Brendan." Bonnie nods in agreement, then they sneak after him. Neither of them try to take him out or jump on him. He's twice their size and could easily overpower them and take Max's notebooks if he hadn't left them at home.
They continue to sneak up several flights of stairs, trailing after Admin Bannai. Having to crouch walk pretty much constantly causes them to begin to tire out. They need a method of catching up to him, and maybe overtaking him so they can warn Brendan that he's coming. Fortunately for them, they run into Steven Stone as they continue following Bannai. "What are you two doing here?" he asks, before Max quickly shushes him. "We're following a Team Terra Admin," Max replies quietly. "We think he's going after Brendan." Steven looks shocked by this. "I didn't see anyone pass by before you two," he replies. "Are you sure?"
Instead of arguing, the two kids urge him to follow them. They creep along the corridors of the tower, quicker this time to catch up to Bannai. Eventually they do, as he's quietly peeking around corners to avoid being spotted. Steven stares at him in shock. "How did he get in here?" he asks. "We think he's been using the attack as a diversion to sneak in here," Bonnie replies. "There's something here he wants, and we think Brendan might have something to do with it." Steven nods at this. "Ok," he says, standing up. "You go ahead and warn Brendan about this. Take the lift to the top floor. I'll stay here and stall him for as long as I can." Neither of them like this idea, but choose not to argue about it. So, they run back to the lift, just as they hear Steven Stone shout, "Stop right there!"
Neither of them know what happened after that. They both jump into the lift and hit the button for the top floor. As the lift ascends, the two of them stand in an uncomfortable silence. Now that he's alone with her, and there's nothing going on, he becomes very aware of how close their hands are to each other. His hand twitches, as he thinks about holding hers. Just as he decides not to do that, she holds his instead. Max's brain practically fizzles out at the touch of her hand. When he looks at her quizzically, she says quickly, "I'm just nervous, that's all. What do you think they want with Brendan?" Max shrugs, suddenly finding himself hoping this lift ride won't end. "I don't know," he replies. "But whatever it is, we won't let it happen!" Bonnie nods at that, then lets go of his hand, as the lift doors suddenly open. Silently cursing them, Max leads the way in.
The champion's room hasn't changed at all from the last time he and Bonnie were in this tower. Brendan is standing by the large window, looking down at the carnage below as he talks in a radio. "I think it's about time I join the fray," he says. "I can't just stay here and direct the battle from above, I need to be in there!" "We can't have that sir,replies a voice from the radio. "If we lose you in this chaos, who knows what could happen to the region!" "This is ridiculous!" Brendan snaps back. "I'm coming down to help, and that's final!"
"No don't!" Max cries, revealing himself and Bonnie. Brendan stares at them for a few seconds, before saying in the radio, "I'm going to have to go off air for a bit. I've got company." Then, he shuts the radio off. "What are you doing here?!" he demands. "The city's under attack!" Despite the situation, Max can't help but respond with, "So much for Team Terra will never attack Larousse. How does it feel to be the one trapped in the tower?" Brendan rolls his eyes. "Ok, I can see where you're coming fro ," he admits. "But that's besides the point. Team Terra are attacking the city! Why are you here?" "To warn you!" Bonnie replies. "Admin Brodie is on his way up here now! This whole attack was a diversion to let him get to you!"
Brendan looks shocked. "How did you get here first then?" he asks. "Steven Stone stalled him," Max replies. As once, Brendan pulls his radio back out. "Steven! Come in Steven!" he calls. "Are you there?" Nothing but static answers for a bit. Then, a voice. "Champion!" says Steven, who sounds really weak. "Run! He's... coming! Get... out of there! Now!" Then, the radio goes silent. "Steven? Come in Steven!" Brendan shouts.
"I'm afraid that Steven Stone is no longer available," says the voice of Bannai. Max and Bonnie quickly dart behind the Champion's throne as the lift doors open and Admin Bannai steps into the room. He pulls his mask off his head, revealing the face of Brodie beneath it. "What did you do to him?" Brendan demands. Brodie chuckles as he drops the mask to the floor. "He put up a bit of a fight and managed to destroy the stairs before I could climb them. So, I had to deal with him." At this, he pulls a gun out from his belt, which was still smoking a little.
Brendan stares daggers at Brodie as he returns the gun to his belt. "What do you want from me?" he demands. "It's simple really," Brodie replies. "I need your title." Brendan stares for a few seconds, then starts to laugh. "You think that I'd give up my title just because you attack the city?!" he asks, incredulous. "You must be more insane than I realised! If you want to take it from me, you could've just entered the League." Brodie laughs at this, then fishes something out of his pockets. "Oh but you see, I did." Then, he puts on a blond wig, blue contacts, and a pair of glasses, then he says, in a completely different voice to his own, "I was the blond guy who lost in the quarterfinals." Max and Bonnie stare at him. He's the one who defeated her in the Hoenn League!
It's clear that Brendan also recognises him, which makes him laugh. He removes his disguise, before saying, "You see, I was originally planning on tackling you properly. But, I was defeated by this year's winner. Still, our goals require the title, so I'm here to take it." Brendan scoffs at this. "Well, the only way to take it is to beat me in a Pokémon battle, six-on-six." He pulls out one of his pokéballs at this. Brodie grins and does the same. "Challenge accepted," he replies. "Let's see what you've got." Brendan only grins. "I don't know what you people want with my title," he says. "But as long as I'm around, you will not have it!" Brodie laughs. "We shall see about that," he says, before they send out their Pokémon.
Brendan's first Pokémon is Armaldo, while Brodie sends out a Crobat. Crobat immediately goes in with Wing Attack, but Armaldo avoids it. Then, it uses Rock Throw, bringing Crobat to the ground. It still manages to strike Armaldo with Gust. Armaldo takes the hit, then retaliates with Rock Throw again. Now pinned down with two big rocks, Crobat struggles to get an attack in. Armaldo takes the opportunity to use Rock Tomb, completely burying Crobat. Crobat still tries to break free, but before it can, Armaldo uses Hyper Beam. It blows the rocks apart, sending Crobat flying backwards. As it flies away, it sends out two Air Cutters, doing a bit more damage to Armaldo before it faints.
Brendan can't help but smirk. "That was a good warm up," he taunts. "Now, give me a real challenge!" Brodie scowls, then sends out his second Pokémon, Machamp. Max briefly panics at this, but Brendan returns Armaldo to its ball, and sends out a Salamence instead. Brodie curses at this, before ordering Machamp to use Thunder Punch. Salamence flies out of the way, then uses Dual Wingbeat, which hits Machamp dead on. Machamp growls, then charges in with another Thunder Punch. This time, it strikes Salamence. It howls in pain, before swiping at Machamp with Dragon Claw. Then, it swoops in with Ariel Ace. Machamp catches the attack, then covers its fists with electricity, using Thunder Punch twice in a row. Salamence reels from the pain, but throws Machamp against the wall, before using Dragon Breath, knocking it out.
Brodie returns Machamp and sends out Mightyena. Brendan, seeing his Salamence has become weak, moves to return it. But before he can, Mightyena leaps into the air and sinks its teeth into Salamence's wing with Thunder Fang. Salamence roars, and tries to throw Mightyena off. But Mightyena lets go of its wing and leaps at Salamence's face, using Assurance to finish it off. Brendan returns Salamence and thanks it, then sends out his own Mightyena. The two Bite Pokémon face off, before they both charge in at once. They bite and scratch at each other, trying to bring the other down. Eventually, Brendan pulls out his trump card and uses Play Rough, doing massive damage to Brodie's Mightyena. Then, he has his use Fire Fang, before one last Paly Rough, defeating Brodie's.
By now, Brodie is starting to become visibly angry. This is definitely not how he planned this. Still, he returns Mightyena and sends out a Wigglytuff. Brendan quickly returns Mightyena and sends out his Steelix. Brodie gets even more annoyed at this, but doesn't comment on the choice. Instead, he orders Wigglytuff to use Body Slam. Steelix takes the hit, then strikes back with Iron Tail, which does a lot of damage. Wigglytuff is lef dizzy from the blow to the head, allowing Steelix to strike it with Iron Head. Wigglytuff, now severely weak, tries one last time to hurt Steelix by using Pound. It hits, but doesn't do a lot of damage. Steelix merely shrugs it off and uses another Iron Tail, finishing Wigglytuff off.
Brodie is now visibly fuming. "How is this possible!" he demands. "I trained my team perfectly for this. How are you beating me?!" "Because I'm the Arceus-damn Champion of Hoenn," Brendan replies. "My title wouldn't be worth shit if it could be taken from me by some two bit thug." Brodie flushes red with anger and pulls out his 5th ball. "Well, I still have 2 Pokémon left. I can still turn this around!" Then, he sends out his Dugtrio. Brendan smirks at this, then returns Steelix, before sending out his Swampert.
Dugtrio immediately uses Dig and burrows under the ground. Swampert doesn't wait for it to emerge from the ground. He just races towards the hole and sprays the hole with water. Nothing happens, except Brodie started laughing. "Do you really think I didn't think of that?" he asks. Brendan does a mock laugh, before having Swampert use Earthquake instead. This manages to knock Dugtrio out of the ground. Now out in the open, Swampert uses Water Pulse, striking Dugtrio in all three of its faces. The moles barely have time to recover, before Swampert uses Surf, covering them with water and finishing them off.
"One left Brodie," Brendan teases. "What are you going to do now?" Brodie sneers as he returns Dugtrio to their ball. "I do have one last Pokémon in mind for this," he says, before sending out his last choice. A Ditto emerges from the ball, and locks eyes with Swampert. Before Brendan can make the switch, Ditto morphs, transforming into Swampert. "Now, things will get more interesting," says Brodie. "Unless you have a grass type in your arsenal, things may finally turn around for me." Brendan just chuckles as he returns Swampert to his ball. "I don't have a grass type unfortunately," he replies. "But I do have this." Then, he sends out his final Pokémon, a Walrein. Brodie's smug look vanishes quickly.
He tries to start the battle off with an Earthquake, which doesn't do much to Walrein. Walrein retaliates with Blizzard, which does a lot of damage. The Ditto reels from the attack, especially when it starts hailing. Brodie swears again, then orders Ditto to use Rock Throw. Walrein takes the hit, which does a lot more damage, but it's able to withstand the hit. Then, it hits Ditto with Ice Beam. Before Ditto can recover from that, Walrein uses Blizzard once more, then another Ice Beam. Ditto, now on its last legs, tries for one more Rock Throw. This hurts Walrein more, but it's still not enough. Walrein uses one more Ice Beam, and Ditto goes down.
Behind the Champion's thrown, Max and Bonnie silently celebrate Brendan's win. Brendan returns Walrein, pulls all of his Pokéballs off his belt and thanks all of them for the great battle. Brodie meanwhile looks absolutely furious. "Well, I won," says Brendan. "So, you need to clear off!" Brodie laughs at this. "Now, when did I ever agree to that?" he asks. Brendan looks at him in outrage. "We made a deal!" he argues. Brodie laughs again as he picks his mask up. "No we didn't," he replies, placing the mask back on. "You came to that conclusion by yourself. I thought I already told you that I'm here to take the title from you. And I will do that, even if it's by force!" And with that, he presses 2 buttons on his gloves. Then, he clenches his fists, and rolls his head as electricity covers his gloves, and seems to travel up to his mask. Then, he laughs, and charges at Brendan, practically disappearing from view.
In case it wasn't clear, whenever I use the Admins' Japanese names, they're wearing the masks, and if I use their English names, they aren't. But yeah, that was a fun battle to write. I know that there wasn't much tension in it, since Brendan was kicking Brodie's ass, but I just thought it would make more sense if Brendan didn't have much trouble. But now, the fight turns to Brodie's element, physical. Join me on Saturday for the second half.