I spent the night with thoughts running through my mind. Was I ready? Had I prepared enough? I knew my pokemon were strong, but I wasn't so sure about myself. After all, strong pokemon had lost to weaker ones when their trainer allowed himself to get tricked. It went without saying that strategy was essential to every battle, and I hadn't spent any time this month training that.
I didn't know when exactly I went to sleep. All I knew was that I woke up the next day feeling like I hadn't even managed to get a wink of sleep. I did my morning rituals and left the room as quickly as possible. I stopped at the hotel's restaurant to grab a cup of coffee. The pokemon centre was the next destination, and from there, I went to the stadium on the outskirts of town that I'd watched being built. Built was a strong word since much of it was simply 3d printed into existence. The level of technology that this word could boast of still surprised me at times.
I arrived with most of the other trainers. I wasn't the only one who loved showing up early for such occasions. I simply sat with my thoughts as the trainers around me introduced themselves and started small talk with each other. About thirty minutes later, the stadium had filled itself to the brim. I looked around the trainer's seats but couldn't find my quarry.
Had Sabrina decided against showing up for the tournament? I was sure she would show. The rewards alone were enough of a draw, not to mention the publicity. Pokemon training has always been an expensive profession, and it has become even more costly as our society developed. Highly nutritious pokefood, rare candies, TMS, all these things were costly for the average person. Even the cost of hosting pokemon on a ranch could go as high as a hundred thousand pokedollars a month.
That's why sponsors were so important. They'd cover all these costs for the trainers, and the trainers would, in turn, improve the sponsor's popularity and brand recognition. It was a symbiotic relationship, and companies always sought trainers to sponsor. There was no shortage of strong trainers in the region, so sponsors didn't just pick strong ones. Strength was a requirement, of course, but perhaps a more critical condition was popularity.
Sponsors were now more interested in sponsoring trainers that were in the public eye. Hence, participating in tournaments was essential to securing a good one. Most would expect something like sponsorship to matter little to me since I was the son of a former champion, but those people didn't know my father very well. He sponsored exactly three trainers every year. I wasn't one of those three trainers since I hadn't made high enough marks in the license qualification exams to be worthy of the honour.
Speaking of Oak sponsorships, I could see all three of the trainers Oak had chosen to sponsor this year. Sansa, Arya, and Theon. They'd been the top three in examination scores, and the original Donnell had resented them for having what he couldn't. I didn't share his feelings, but I still wanted to test my mettle against them. Battling against people that had started their journeys around the same time I did would be invaluable for seeing how far I'd come.
A hush spread across the crowd as the President of Silphco approached the stage. I was surprised to see him hosting the tournament because he should be busy heading the most successful company in the world.
"Good day, Everyone, and welcome to the first annual Silph Tournament" He paused, and the applause threatened to burst my ear drums. I was surprised to see a corporate executive being so popular, but that wasn't the weirdest thing I'd noticed about the pokemon world, so I put it out of my mind.
"I'm sure it must have been a surprise for most of you to find us hosting a tournament at this time of year. Silph has normally been reluctant to host such events, but circumstances have forced our hands this time. There's been a lack of good, proper entertainment in recent times and Silph exists to solve problems. This is another problem for us to solve: sit back, relax and be entertained!" The applause was louder. I couldn't quite find the point since he hadn't said much of anything in his speech.
"Now, for the trainers, I welcome you all and thank you for taking us up on our offer. One of you, the best of you, will be ending this week with a unique and rare pokemon attached to their roster. Along with sponsorship from Silphco itself." The last part of his sentence sent a bolt of excitement through the trainer's stands, and I couldn't deny feeling a bit of that excitement myself.
Silph sponsorships were the holy grail when it came to sponsorships. They came with a virtually unlimited list of perks. One of which was an unlimited silph card to spend on circumstances. Silph trainers had access to the best supplies, health care, and equipment. Even rare Technical Machines were within their grasp.
I'd wanted to win before I stepped in here, but the stakes just increased. I no longer wanted to win. No, I needed it. I zoned out for the rest of his speech, caught in my thoughts. I got the gist of it, though. The tournament would last for a week. Two hundred and fifty-six trainers had signed up for the tournament, and that number would be halved and then again today in a series of one-on-one duels.
I watched as multiple more miniature battle stages were set up in the stadium. It was an enormous stadium, so ten battles could happen simultaneously. The president left the scene, and the announcer took over. He announced some names for the first duels, and I was disappointed when my name wasn't even called.
I settled in to watch some of the duels, and I started thinking about which one of my teammates would use for this battle. There was no use deceiving myself, though. It would be either Snorlax or Broly. Snorlax didn't have many weaknesses, and even fighting types would have a tough time breaking through his defences, and Broly was my starter. He'd improved by leaps and bounds in the past few weeks, and I was sure there would be no one who would take us out at this stage.
No need to be complacent, though. I'd go with Snorlax. While Broly had adapted well to overcoming type advantage, he still lost out to Kisame more often than not. No need to risk running across a water-type master. This only mattered if I was forced to send out my pokemon first. If I released last, I'd simply select the best type combo for handling my opponent.
I watched as one trainer's Pidgeot was knocked out by another's electabuzz. It hadn't even been close. The duels seemed to go by rapidly, and few of them were truly interesting. The only stand out was a trainer with a Dragonair of all things. The pseudo-legendary in the making showed off its tremendous power by blowing away another trainer's Ampharos with a massive dragon's rage. Looking at the move reminded me that I'd neglected to improve on both Kisame's and Igneel's dragon-type moves in favour of working on their control over their respective elements.
It was a wise choice, but I'd have to correct that oversight sooner rather than later. Eventually, I heard my name called, and I practically bolted out of my seat to head to the field. My heart was beating incredibly quickly, and I tried to calm it during the short walk to my own stage.
I arrived and nodded at both the referee and my opponent. He was short, very short. The referee didn't say any words and simply gave us significant looks.
"Heads," The man in front of me said in a deep baritone. The referee looked at me, and I nodded. He flipped the coin, and it landed Heads. He showed it to both of us, and I sighed resignedly.
I lost. Of course, I did. At least I didn't have to spend too long thinking of my choice of pokemon. I sent out Snorlax, and he appeared on the field with a broad smile of excitement on his face. I counted the blessing of finding a battle-hungry Snorlax as the best thing to have ever happened to me. My opponent didn't even flinch at having one of the scariest pokemon in indigo staring him down and simply sent out a Brawly Machamp.
Of course, he did. This was just an unlucky day, all things considered. How did I get matched up against a person who had the fighting type of fighting types on his team? No use feeling sorry for myself, though. I watched as the Alakazam by the side raised a barrier around the stage. I felt for my connection with Snorlax to start issuing orders.
"Begin," The referee said and the Machamp wasted no time rushing straight for Snorlax. It wasn't swift, and Snorlax had enough time to jump up and stomp the ground. He channelled ground-type energy into the move and set off an Earthquake. The stage was racked with tremors, and the Machamp lost its balance for a second. The second was all Snorlax needed to send a quick hyper beam at it.
I watched in shock as one of its hands managed to reach the ground and rip off a boulder to shield itself. The earthquake subsided after a few seconds. Snorlax hadn't put in as much power as he could have into the move since it was nothing but a stalling tactic.
The machamp picked up another rock and hurled it straight at Snorlax. Snorlax blew through it with a single mega punch, but the Machamp had followed right behind the rock and was waiting with a fist it sent sailing at Snorlax's head. Its tactic would have worked if I hadn't warned Snorlax ahead of time. Being able to communicate like this was such a baller.
Snorlax caught the fist like he'd seen it from a mile away and took advantage of the Machamp's shock to pull it closer and land with a mega punch to its stomach. As the Machamp was sent reeling, Snorlax dragged it back with the hand he had wrapped around its fist and issued another punch to its head.
The Machamp managed to break out of Snorlax's hold after that, and my normal type jumped back as I'd trained him to. He'd never be able to run with any manner of speed. His biology simply didn't allow that. What we'd found was that he had no issue jumping, and his legs were more than strong enough to send him flying through long distances. He triggered another earthquake with his landing that made the Machamp stumble again.
My opponent's deep voice rang out, "Long distance." I watched as the Machamp shifted its stance before sending orbs of green blasting at my normal type. Snorlax's protect weathered the first storm of focus blasts with little difficulty. The Machamp sent another volley rocketing towards Snorlax that the protect came through unscathed. Another jump and a more powerful earthquake prevented the Machamp from firing its next volley and made the blasts it'd been preparing explode in its hands.
With the Machamp so distracted, Snorlax's hyper beam went through uncontested and blasted it on its back. It wasn't knocked out, and I had Snorlax build up another Hyper beam as a silent threat. The man opposite me understood my point and returned his Machamp. I smiled at him and nodded my head in recognition. He just turned and walked away without looking back. Huh. Was that how that felt?
I nodded at the referee in respect before I made my way back to the stands. The wait for my name to be called the second time was even shorter than the first. So far, the most exciting thing I'd seen was Sansa's battle against a trainer with dark hair (I didn't get his name). She'd used her Charmaleon against his Magmar. He was clearly more experienced and decided to toy with Sansa and her pokemon.
This world proved to be a proper anime world when the Charmaleon evolved in the middle of the battle into a Charizard that defeated the trainer's Magmar with ease. I could see the disappointment on his face, and I blamed him for his own stupidity. I had no doubts he'd chosen that pokemon with the single purpose of mocking the seemingly amateur trainer.
I hadn't gotten to watch either Arya's or Theon's battles, and I was excited to see how far they'd come. It seemed my wish would come true sooner than later since my name was called along with Theon's. I made my way to the stage we were set to battle in and took my place.
Theon walked over and opened his mouth before I could even get out a single word of greeting, "If it isn't the disappointment to the name, Oak. I hope your father still isn't expecting too much from you. Isn't there a minimum badge requirement for these things? I doubt you managed to gather up to four badges" His lips had curled up into a disdainful sneer, and I could only look at him, shocked.
I remembered he and Donnell not being on the friendliest of terms, but I wasn't expecting to be insulted like that off the bat. The referee ignored the words and asked us to choose sides for the coin toss.
"Don't bother about it. I'll release my pokemon first." He said with an air of arrogance that made me grit my teeth, affronted. Who did this fucker think he was?
He sent out a Blastoise. So he'd managed to evolve his starter. Impressive but nothing noteworthy. I'll humble this idiot was the only thought in my mind when I released Kenpachi from his Pokeball. I didn't really care about the tournament anymore. My goal in this second was to embarrass the hell out of this boy.
I could have done it with either Broly or Igneel. Still, they were much too powerful for this idiot, and I'd instead save the shock factor of their presence for the later rounds. Kenpachi was different. His slow evolution made him the weakest member of my team, and while I loved him as much as the others, I didn't think he'd see much use in the later rounds.
"Hah. A rock type? You don't even know the basic type chart. What a fucking disappointment" I let his words flow around me as I turned to the referee with a significant look. He shrugged and waved his flag down to start the match.
Kisame executed my orders perfectly, and the stage started rumbling before breaking into pieces. The Blastoise could only escape the devastating move by withdrawing into its shell.
"Attack" my opponent shouted in that annoying voice of his. His Blastoise sent air jets flying out of the various holes in its shell. It somehow used the air's pressure to float into it and then came rocketing towards Kenpachi.
Kenpachi grabbed numerous boulders off the ground and smashed them against the Blastoise's approaching form to slow down its momentum before using a protect to absorb the rest of the force. The Blastoise went rocketing off the protect with another blast of power and spun around the arena before attempting the same attack. This time, Kenpachi angled the boulders he threw to send the Blastoise rocketing past him and into the ground.
"Abandon. Hydro Pump" were the following words I heard from my opponent. His Blastoise came out of its shell before sending blasts of pressurized water from its shoulder and arm cannons at Kenpachi.
'Evade. Look for an opportunity, then snipe with hyper beam' were the subsequent commands I issued through the bond. Kenpachi showed the experience he'd gained with using his new form in the last few months. He weaved around the Blastoise's attacks with ease while moving around the arena for a better vantage point. The Blastoise's attacks followed Kisame everywhere he went, and finally, the event I'd been waiting for happened. The Blastoise flagged for a second. It was a typical mistake trainers made with the pokemon. Blastoise didn't store as much water as some other water-type pokemon, so when they ran out of that water, they had to switch to creating their own water, which caused a bit of a delay in their attack.
The hyper beam Kisame sent was weaker than usual because he'd barely gotten to charge it up, so the Blastoise was able to tank his attack with little difficulty.
Kenpachi followed the beam with several boulders he ripped up from the ground. The Blastoise cut through them with its hydro cannon and sent more attacks at Kenpachi. Theon finally realized that this tactic wouldn't work and gave his next orders. "Aqua Jet," He commanded with a shout.
The Blastoise became covered in a water whirlpool and flew off the ground with a blast. It weaved through the boulders Kenpachi sent and moved at my pokemon. 'Abandon the rock throw. Use Hyper beam,' I ordered through our bond. Kenpachi dropped the boulders he was preparing to send at the Blastoise before concentrating.
As the Blastoise was about to land its attack, Kisame sent out a massive hyper beam. The attack tore through the water shield of Aqua jet and sent the Blastoise blasting towards the ground. Shockingly, the pokemon wasn't knocked out yet. It was dazed, though, and Kenpachi didn't need any orders from me to end the battle.
He concentrated power into his jets and flew at the Blastoise with the power of a jet engine behind him. His tackle sent the Blastoise sinking deeper into the crater it had formed with its landing. I waited for the dust to settle and saw my rock type hovering above the Blastoise's unconscious form.
Theon returned his pokemon with a sad smile that caught me off guard. I couldn't dwell on that for too long because something I hadn't expected happened next. Kenpachi was covered in bright light and began to scream.
I watched in shocked amazement as the light began to get even brighter. His legs were the first things I saw. Massive and green. The rest of his body began to form before my eyes, and after a minute, the light died down, and I beheld my pokemon in all his glory.
He looked at me before turning his head up into the heavens and screaming, "Tyranitarrrrrr." The ground shook at his proclamation. He turned to me again and began to approach. I watched in amusement as the referee fled his place in the middle of the field in fear. I turned to Kenpachi and watched him come without moving.
I felt no fear at his approach. This was my pokemon. He wouldn't harm me. We were family. Some of my thoughts must have shown on my face or in my aura since I saw his eyes soften as he kept coming. Eventually, he stood in front of me and stretched out his fist. The fist stopped a few inches before me, and I bumped into his fist with mine. He let out another roar.
"You were amazing, Buddy. What do you say we get out of here and take your new form out for a spin?" I asked, and he roared out his agreement. I'd have to get used to that or invest in a pair of earmuffs. A few weeks of that, and I doubted I'd have any hearing left.
I returned Kenpachi to his Pokeball and turned to leave. I'd barely completed my turn before my attention was drawn to something I'd been ignoring. The audience. There were fewer people in the crowd than at the start of the day. That meant little since all their eyes were locked on me.
I felt myself freeze before someone wrapped a hand around my shoulder and pulled/dragged me out of the stadium. It wasn't until we were well out of the stadium that I turned to my saviour. I was surprised to see Theon smiling down at me from my side.
"For the record, I'm sorry about the things I said in there. I was only trying to rile you up to get you to make a mistake," He said with a smile, and I just stared at him silently.
"I thought I succeeded when you sent out that Pupitar. Jokes on me, huh? To think your dad would gift you a pseudo-legendary of all things. Some people have all the luck. Guess he was proud of you after everything." He continued with a smile.
I was forced to remember how Theon and Donnell knew each other. They'd both gone to the same pokemon academy in Viridian, and he knew more of Donnell's home situation than most other people. They'd been friends before Donnell pushed him away out of jealousy.
I didn't blame Donnell for that, though. Watching someone you were friends with getting everything you wanted had to hurt. It took a bit for the entirety of his statement to kick in and
I shrugged off his hand and turned to face him directly.
"My father doesn't give me anything. I've made it this far by my own effort. My team and I have been through a lot and it's disrespectful for you to just assume that we get handed everything." I took a deep breath to calm myself from that outburst and turned to leave before I did something I'd regret.
I heard footsteps behind me, and Theon was in my face again. "I'm sorry about that, bro. I didn't mean to put down your efforts. Didn't think you and your dad were still…..you know?" I simply raised an eyebrow.
"Like how you are, you get…." He trailed off at that as I couldn't keep the smile off my face. "You're an asshole, you know that, right?" He asked with a smile, and I finally broke down laughing. He punched my shoulder, and I started walking off to a clearing out of town. I needed to check out Kenpachi's new form and figure out what he could do.
Speaking of that, I pulled out my Pokedex to check out what moves he'd learned with his evolution. It was a small list but a valuable pair of moves. Shadow ball and Bide. Bide would be especially useful with him. Tyranitar had armour that could weather even the strongest of blows, and being able to deal that damage back to his opponent would be helpful in some situations.
I arrived at the forest and noticed that I could still hear Theon's footsteps beside me, and I turned to him in confusion. "Don't mind me. You were saying something about bide?" He asked teasingly.
Fuck. Ino had pointed it out weeks ago, but I'd never cared enough to bother trying to stop it. I'd picked up the awful habit of saying my thoughts out loud. Spending so many months alone in a forest without human contact could have mental effects.
I gave him a scowl. "Why are you still here?"
"Oh, no reason. Just felt like we should catch up. I never heard anything from you after we left Pallet town, only to find you here of all places. I even heard more from Sansa and Arya than you. Sansa and Arya. Sisters from Cinnabar. They were the others that Oak had deemed worthy of his sponsorship.
"I've been alright. Just travelling about. Catching pokemon, training pokemon, earning badges and all that." I spoke, being intentionally vague. Donnell might have known this boy, but I didn't. I wouldn't trust him till I had reason to.
"Wow. Are you sure you aren't sharing too much?" He asked sarcastically. "Well, If you're not going to tell, then don't expect me to either," He said with a comical pout.
I turned back to my thoughts, ignoring him in the meantime. If he had something to say, he'd say it. I released Kenpachi and winced as he let out a roar as he arrived. He looked at me, and his face fell. I didn't need our aura connection to figure that he felt guilty for what just happened.
"It's alright, bro. I understand you're excited. Maybe tone it down a bit in future." He nodded thoughtfully, and I had trouble swallowing my laughter. His larger form made his mannerisms look ridiculous. I was tall for a teenager, but I was nowhere near his height. He dwarfed me thoroughly.
I patted his body, and I spoke again. "Let's see what you can do with your new form." He let out another roar at that and cringed immediately afterwards. I just smiled and moved back. We started with simple things. Movements like walking, jumping, punching, and moving that tail of his.
Like every pokemon I'd ever encountered, he showed a prodigious amount of control over his form. I knew Oak had been attempting to study the phenomenon for a while before he shelved the project for a new study of Gardevoirs.
The next thing I had him do was use his moves. Every single one of them had seen a notable increase in power. I held off on having him use earthquake or hyper beam for now because we were still relatively close to the city. After we'd run through everything, I had him attempt some actual running.
That provided a sight I'd never forget. Tyranitar were never a fast species, and Kenpachi wouldn't be the exception. Altogether, I was satisfied with his new evolution. I returned him and turned around to look at Theon. He was staring at the place Kenpachi had just occupied with a look in his eyes that I couldn't place.
It vanished quickly, and he was back to his easy-going smirk. "I still can't believe you have a Tyranitar of all things. A real-life pseudo-legendary. Arya won't know what hit her." He said in excitement. Arya had been the strongest of us when we'd set out.
In our first battle, she'd managed to beat Growlithe and Donnell with an untrained Bulbasaur. That was the last bit of shame that motivated Donnell to try his hand at capturing a Scyther.
"I'm heading back to my hotel room. Do you have anything better to do than follow me around?" I asked with a significant look at him. I still didn't trust him. Definitely not enough to show him to my room or the other team members.
"Fine. Fine. I have to go check if Sansa's done with her battle either way. Did I mention that we've been travelling together?" He asked and then spent the rest of the journey into the city telling me about their time together.
I was sure most of it was exaggerated, but he was a good storyteller, so I didn't complain. Eventually, we arrived at the point where our paths would diverge, and we exchanged numbers before separating.
I took a deep breath to be out of his presence. Something about Theon just didn't sit right with me. It might have just been my paranoia, but something told me something was off about Donnell's friend.
I returned to the room and packed up supplies for lunch for the whole team before I had Ino teleport me to the plains we'd used for our training. My team had grown too large to all be released indoors, even in a hotel room as luxurious as this one.
I released everyone first and then released Kenpachi so I could see all their faces simultaneously. They were all suitably shocked and excited. I could tell Broly also felt melancholy to see Kenpachi now fully grown.
He was proud, but he felt the kind of feeling a father would when their child finally left home. I allowed them to socialize as I got to work preparing the meals. Snorlax's high-calorie rice was the first thing I got ready since I could see the look of pure hunger on his face. We'd skipped breakfast, after all. I did Kenpachi's and Broly's high mineral meals next, and then Kisame's seafood. Igneel had a high protein meal, Ino ate the psychic feed Oak had provided, and Magnezone fed on electricity from a pair of solar batteries I'd bought from the department store.
I relaxed while snacking on a protein bar and watching my family. This was peace. True peace.
Name; Donnell Oak
Age; 15
Hometown; Pallet
Next of Kin; Samuel Oak
Account balance; 17000 Pokedollars
Pokemon.
· Kleavor (Nickname; Broly)- Male. Bug/Rock type
Moves; Signal beam, agility, fury cutter, quick attack, slash, swords dance, protect, stone axe, ancient power, hyper beam, and rock throw.
· Milotic (Nickname; Kisame)- Female. Water type.
Moves; Brine, ice beam, hydro pump, dragon breath, dragon pulse, water gun, protect, recover, hyper beam, iron tail, blizzard, and bubble beam.
· Charizard (Nickname; Igneel)- Male. Fire-type.
Moves; Ember, dragon breath, scratch, bite, growl, metal claw, flame thrower, protect, sunny day, solar beam, hyper beam, swift, blast burn and dragon rush.
· Tyranitar (Nickname; Kenpachi)- Male. Rock/Ground type.
Moves; Tackle, rock throw, bite, crunch, bide, shadow ball, leer, hyper beam and protect.
· Gardevoir (Nickname; Ino)- Female. Psychic/Fairy type.
Moves; Teleport, psybeam, psychic, confusion, hypnosis, dazzling gleam, draining kiss, moon blast, and recover.
Trevenant (Nickname; Hashirama)- Male. Ghost/Grass type.
Moves; Sunny day, solar beam, protect, hyper beam, wood hammer, shadow claw, and destiny bond.
Snorlax (Nickname; Nil)- Male. Normal type
Moves; Mega punch, belly drum, hyper beam, protect, sleep talk, rest, and snore.
Today's battles were going to be two-on-two engagements instead of the one-on-one we had yesterday. With 64 participants left, everyone would get two battles to cut us down to 16.
Silph's president didn't show up for today's ceremony, so the announcer started calling names for battles after welcoming everyone and explaining the rules for today. I searched through the crowd of trainers and noticed several familiar faces. Some people I'd battled against before were even in the crowd. I'd never expected to see them again, but it's truly a small world.
Sansa and Arya were seated to my left and conversing with each other heatedly. I turned away when Arya looked in my direction and focused on the first set of battles. They hadn't reduced the number of stages, so there were still ten battles simultaneously.
The only notable one for today was the trainer with the Rhydon. I watched her overwhelm her opponent's Mankey with superior defence and then duke it out against an Aggron.
The Aggron was a credit to its species, and I enjoyed watching it nearly overwhelm its foe with superior tactics and move spread. The Aggron knew moves that surprised even me. Its Flash cannon and mega horn were phenomenal to watch, but it proved to be fruitless at the end of the day. The Rhydon's trainer had truly mastered the art of simplicity.
I watched it use a protect to weather all the Aggron's attacks and then step out of the protect when the Aggron had tired itself. The Aggron's punch was caught and countered with a blow to its steel armour that echoed across the stadium. The Aggron moved back, and the Rhydon stepped into its guard. I wasn't the biggest fan of the species, but I was reminded of why I'd wanted one so badly when the Rhydon knocked out the Aggron with less than five punches to its head.
I joined the crowd in offering my applause to both trainers. The man's Aggron was good, but the girl was something else. I waited excitedly for the next round and almost facepalmed at what I saw. It was a stereotypical anime battle in every way that counted.
The two trainers, James and John, made the most ridiculous poses to start with and then moved from there to even worst battling. When I heard one of them shouting at his Nidoran to dodge, I actually facepalmed. When the same Nidoran defeated its opponent, an Ekans, shortly before losing consciousness, I was happy to see it over.
Their next pokemon were even more evenly matched. A Golbat and a Fearow. The pokemon weren't bad, but the trainers activated every cringe instinct I had. "Fury cutter", one of them would shout, "dodge it" the other would retaliate as if there was a single pokemon alive that needed a reminder to dodge incoming attacks.
I thought it was over when the Fearow managed to use aerial ace to smash the Golbat into the ground, but it wasn't an anime battle without the power of friendship. I watched in stunned awe as the Golbat's trainer shouted some sort of speech at it that made it stand up and evolve. A fucking Crobat, great.
I couldn't even muster up any shock when the Crobat somehow overcame all the odds and defeated the Fearow, even though it should have already been out for the count. The pokemon had been on its last legs before evolving and all Oak's studies on the process never even hinted at pokemon receiving some sort of second wind from the process.
Pure anime bullshit. I was so overjoyed to hear my name next that I practically ran out of the stands to get to the stage. I arrived to find my opponent waiting for me. A blond girl. She looked exactly like Astrid Hofferson from the How to train a dragon movies.
With that comparison in mind, I couldn't unsee it. She styled her hair the same way and had a scowl reminiscent of the one the Viking warrior had for much of the first movie.
The referee turned to us and offered the coin. "Heads," I said before she could open her mouth. I was feeling lucky today. He flipped the coin, and it landed tails. Fuck.
I sent out Kenpachi, and my displeasure disappeared after seeing my evolved partner. He and Snorlax were the only pokemon I'd shown off in the tournament so far, and I was going to try to stick to that.
She sent out a Nidoking of all things that had me re-evaluating her. No one knew about evolving pokemon with catalysts, so if she had a Nidoking, she'd most likely captured one in the wild. This girl was dangerous.
I wasn't worried, though. As dangerous as she was, we were worse. I allowed her the luxury of the first move as I relayed my strategy to Kenpachi through our bond. The Nidoking rushed forward with immense speed and the light of a mega punch shining on his fist.
Kenpachi took the hit directly to his head. He stepped back, and the Nidoking continued to wail on him. Kenpachi could feel the hits, but devastating punches felt more like taps with his armour. Eventually, the Nidoking realised it was having no effect and tried to gain distance to try a different move.
Kenpachi chose that moment to pounce. He stepped inside the Nidoking's guard and lashed out with his newest move, bide. The dark-type attack unloaded the force the Nidoking had been dishing out straight back at it. The poison-type pokemon flew backwards and landed on the ground.
Kenpachi let out a roar of dominance and turned to the pokemon before charging up a hyper beam. The Astrid lookalike chose not to return her pokemon, and I ordered Kenpachi to fire. I wasn't even surprised to find the Nidoking under a protect when the smoke of the attack died down.
"Ice beam," my opponent ordered her pokemon, and it started sending out blasts of blue energy at Kenpachi. They broke against Kenpachi's protect like water, and I wondered what she was hoping to achieve when she told her pokemon to continue firing.
It took four blasts for me to figure out what she was doing. Her Nidoking had frozen the front of the shield to eliminate Kenpachi's visibility. I calmed my pseudo-legendary pokemon with my aura and told him to wait for her next move.
The Nidoking started charging up a hyper beam, and I figured out her gambit. It's a shame it wouldn't work in this situation. Aura was so broken.
She expected Kenpachi to drop his protect so he could see the battlefield and would then have her Nidoking snipe him the moment he left his shield. I could wait her out by having Kenpachi stay calm and patient, but protect was a draining move, and I still had 3 more pokemon to fight today.
Kenpachi dropped the shield but twirled to his left the moment he did. The hyper beam flew right past him, and he ran across the battlefield as quickly as he could to slam into the exhausted Nidoking with a tackle. The Nidoking went down, unconscious, and Kenpachi drowned out the stadium with his roar of victory. I simply smiled and gave him a thumbs up while whispering my congratulations with my aura.
He turned to wait for his next pokemon, and the Astrid lookalike across from me bit her lips in thought before sending out an enormous Magmar. I was quite certain this was her strongest pokemon. It looked old and experienced. Not just old. It was aged. Its red fur had even begun to grey. I doubted it could even battle, but since she released it here, I had no doubts there was something I was missing at this stage.
The fire-type wasted no time in rushing at Kenpachi. I switched up our strategy for this fight, and Kenpachi swept out with his tail to prevent it from getting close and used earthquake to destabilise its footing and shatter the ground. The Magmar jumped backwards to escape the tremors. It was experienced enough to know that the tremors were more intense the closer you were to the pokemon using the move. Impressive.
It aimed its hands at Kenpachi and sent out two enormous streams of fire that Kenpachi stood still and tanked while manipulating the rocks in the arena to rise and hurl themselves at the fire-type.
The Magmar was forced to abandon its attacks to punch through the boulders flying towards it. I watched and waited before giving Kenpachi my next orders. He summoned two shadow balls in each of his fists and sent them flying at the fire type. The magmar ignored its trainer's orders to dodge and timed one of its punches on an incoming boulder, so the fragments of that boulder were what the shadow balls hit.
I could only gape in shock at the feat. There was no way the girl that looked to be about my age trained this pokemon herself. That kind of experience was unbelievable.
The Magmar seemed to take a deep breath before doing something that shocked me even more. I watched the arena explode into fire around it. There was only one move this could be, and for the first time since the fight started, I felt worried for my pokemon.
The referee also realised what was happening and waved a black flag that brought two more alakazam teleporting in to strengthen the barrier. I bit my lip and ordered Kenpachi to use protect.
All I could do now was hope for the best. The fire around the Magmar continued to build up as it approached a crescendo. After a few seconds, the move built to its critical point, and the arena exploded. There was fire everywhere.
After a few seconds, the smoke cleared, and I sighed relief at seeing my rock type still standing. His armour was smoking, and he even had some patches I recognised as burns. I turned my eyes to the exhausted fire-type and felt nothing but respect for the pokemon.
We'd send it off with respect, at least. Kenpachi charged up a hyper beam much slower than he did earlier in the fight and sent it rocketing at the exhausted pokemon. I was shocked when it managed to get up a protect. It was futile, though. As tired as Kenpachi was, the Magmar was even worse.
Kenpachi's hyper beam broke through its shield and sent it to the land of Morpheus. I allowed Kenpachi to enjoy his victory for a bit before I returned him to his Pokeball. I looked around for my opponent and couldn't find her.
A shame. I'd wanted to find out more about that Magmar. A pokemon like that had to be a legacy, and I wondered who she could have received such a powerful pokemon from. Even as old as it had been, it had pushed Kenpachi very hard.
I walked back to my seat to applause from the crowd. At this point, I'd had two impressive battles already. Tow battles I would have lost if I'd played to the stereotype of starting with weaker pokemon first. I couldn't think of any of my teammates that actually counted as weak. Even Magnezone could be a terror with the right motivation.
I found my seat and noticed Arya staring at me. I turned to her and stared. Silently willing her to look away. She didn't. Not until her name was called, at least. Good. I'd finally watch her battle and see what was up with her team. I was curious about what kind of team she'd gathered in the past months.
Her opponent was a young blonde man with a black beard. Dyed hair? That wasn't actually as common as one would expect in an anime world like this one. It wasn't frowned upon or anything, but dyes were expensive. It's a holdback from the days when getting dyes was perilous, so they were rare.
I waited for the battle to start in anticipation, and the blonde didn't disappoint by releasing an Espeon. Impressive. Eevee was one the rarest pokemon alive today. They'd been hunted mercilessly by poachers for the large prices people were willing to pay for them.
Arya sent out a Crobat that looked more impressive than every other flying type I'd seen. I'd have loved to see Quicksilver match up against it. My heart twinged at that thought. The referee started the battle, and the Espeon shattered the stage around her with a blast of psychic power that had me gaping.
It started sending the rocks up at the Crobat, and the poison-type pokemon did its best, but it was clear that that wouldn't be enough after a few minutes. The Espeon never flagged. Didn't slow down for even a second. The crobat flew like a bat out of hell to escape the persistent attacks.
Eventually, it started looking like the crobat would fall soon. Arya shouted some words I couldn't quite pick up, which turned to the attack. It started using steel wings and shadow balls to break the balls as they arrived. Good idea, but too little too late. Even when the Crobat tried to attack the Espeon itself, the pokemon used protect to great effect to avoid even the most powerful of moves.
Eventually, the Espeon did something I'd never even seen before. It levitated a boulder in front of itself and, with as flex of psychic might, shattered it into fragments that it sent flying at the Crobat like bullets from a gun.
Arya recognised her defeat when the Crobat went down and returned it before it could suffer any additional damage. The next pokemon she sent out was one I was curious to see- her Venesuar.
It was a lovely specimen of its species. Nothing like Erica's, but still very impressive. She had it use solar beam and dig its vines into the ground. I was surprised the trainer with the Espeon allowed it set up like that, but that cleared up when his Espeon started firing solar beams at the stationary grass type.
I see. Allow your opponent to set up and then use the set-up against them. Nice idea. The Venesuar was no slouch, though and managed to block the moves with rocks it could lift with its vines. The bud at the back of the venesuar opened up, and a grey cloud started to cover the field.
I couldn't recognise the colour as belonging to any of the more well-known poison-type moves, but this was the power of Venesuars. They excelled at making new poisons in those buds of theirs.
The Espeon looked at ease with the rapidly approaching poison, and I knew why when its trainer returned it before replacing it with an Aggron that simply lazed in the cloud. I couldn't see Arya's face very clearly from her, but her body language told me enough. She was frustrated.
Her Venesuar reacted to her displeasure and threw everything it could at the Aggron. It made no difference, though. This was one of the most feared steel-type pokemon for a reason. It broke through the vines that tried encircling it and obliterated every boulder the venesuar sent at it with a massive flash cannon that had me blinking spots from my eyes.
When my vision cleared, I saw the Aggron in front of the Venesuar with a glowing fist cocked back. The Venesuar's instinctive protect shattered after the first hit and the second punch smashed it into unconsciousness.
I took a deep breath in shock at the display of power and savagery. The trainer. His name was a mystery to me, but I noted him down all the same. He was dangerous. More dangerous than I'd expected with his looks. He wore a three-piece suit and looked like he'd be more in place at a business meeting than at a pokemon battle.
He proved me wrong, though, and from the whispers I heard around me, it wouldn't be out of place to say he'd proved almost everyone in the crowds wrong.
I couldn't afford to dwell on his thoughts for too long because my name had been called again. I walked out with visible excitement. This battle was going to be phenomenal, at the least. We'd finally been cut down to 32 participants.
I wasn't disappointed when my opponent sent out a large Mamoswine on the field. The Ice/ground type pokemon was even larger than Kenpachi.
I hummed in appreciation while considering the pokemon I should use. Igneel, Kisame and Hashirama seemed like obvious choices, but I'd been trying to avoid giving away most of my team composition ahead of the later rounds. I slapped myself for my stupidity when I felt myself reach down to Snorlax's ball.
Turning down such an obvious advantage because of my desire to gain an advantage in future battles was stupid. I had no idea how strong this pokemon was. Could I risk that all for the element of surprise? The referee coughed pointedly, and I released Igneel to the field.
He'd been getting antsy either way. A battle would be good to settle him. I watched my opponent, a tiny girl that looked even younger than me narrow her eyes at Igneel before giving her first orders. "Blizzard" She screamed at her Mamoswine.
Igneel roared in irritation from his position in the skies when his visibility disappeared. I couldn't even see through the blizzard either, so I couldn't help him how I'd helped Kenpachi earlier.
Noises started coming from the icy cloud, and every few seconds, I'd see a bolt of red that showed Igneel was giving a good fight. I didn't have a pokemon's senses, and Igneel couldn't communicate with me the way I communicated with him, so I had no way of telling how things were going in the blizzard.
All I knew was that Igneel was still going strong. I couldn't even give orders because I feared I'd distract him from his battle.
I gritted my teeth as I heard Igneel roar in pain. The Mamoswine was supposed to be less of a threat with its Ice typing, but I'd forgotten to include one key variable in my calculations.
Igneel was a dragon-type pokemon. His official typing mattered little. He had all the traits of a dragon and was even the offspring of a champion-level Dragonite. I was the asshole who had neglected that part of his nature in training and battling. I couldn't wait for the tournament to be over so I could rectify that oversight.
My thoughts were blown away by what I could feel from Igneel. He was in pain. It tore at my heart to leave him in there, but this was what he needed. He'd grown too confident in his power. I hated the thought of losing more than anything else, but perhaps something useful could come from this loss. That was my hope, at least.
Things were getting even worse, and I couldn't resist the urge to give Igneel orders anymore. 'Fly up. Use sunny day and then blast burn the entire field. Full power.'
It wasn't the best plan, but it was the best I could think of at the moment, and when I saw the sun get even brighter and hotter, I knew Igneel had listened. I waited patiently for the next part of my plan, and I felt it more than I saw it. Heat washed across me. His Blast burn had managed to heavily damage the barriers, and while my opponent nor I had been hurt, it was a bit close.
The icy winds of the blizzard cleared out first, and then the smoke of Igneel's attack followed. When I could see the field clearly, I almost sobbed. Igneel was hurt. Badly so. One of his wings was bent at an angle, and only prodigious skill with flying-type energy kept him afloat in the air. His body was littered with scratches and bruises. He looked like he'd fought in a war, not just the ten-minute battle he'd actually participated in.
His opponent somehow looked even worse than he did. Igneel's blast burn had put it on its last legs, and it was barely holding on to consciousness. Its hairy body was burned heavily in some places, and it had several bruises on its body. One of its tusks was broken off, and the other was shorter than it had been at the start of the battle.
Both pokemon weren't giving up though. Even before my eyes, both straightened up and looked ready to continue. I looked at my opponent. She looked worried for her pokemon, and I understood the feeling.
"One attack. Let's end this in one attack. Give it your all, and I'll do the same," I shouted at her. I watched her expression shift from worry to excitement.
"Sure. You're on." Her voice filled the stadium in a way that belied her appearance. I had Igneel move from the sky to the ground for this final move. I could have sworn I heard a hush across the crowd as we both triggered our attacks. "Giga Impact" We both shouted at the same time.
Both our pokemon were surrounded by orange auras and started to approach each other. They started walking, and their speed grew as they got closer. At almost the last second, Igneel's aura turned from burnt orange to a fiery red as he channelled fire-type energy into the move.
They slammed into each other with an impact that shattered what remained of the barrier and sent the referee flying. I kept my balance by lowering myself to the ground and willing myself not to budge. When the winds died down and I could see the field, I smiled with pride. Igneel prevailed. His roar was loud enough to deafen me, but I laughed happily. We'd done it.
My opponent returned her pokemon with a smile and gave me a significant look. "Igneel, buddy. You've been marvellous. You can rest now." I said as I returned him to his ball. There was no way he'd be fighting again after that display.
She sent out her next pokemon, and I almost smiled. She was clearly a budding ice-type specialist. She'd sent out a terrifying Frosslass. I'd lost my best counter for an ice-type pokemon, but I had the perfect reply to the Frosslass' peculiar typing. Kenpachi appeared on the field with excitement. Even after his battle earlier today, he was still raring to go.
I updated him on the situation as quickly as I could. We didn't have a well enough code to say it all through aura, so I had to talk out loud. "Igneel's been taken down. Be careful. That pokemon is strong."
He straightened up at my words and stood in the rudimentary stance he'd chosen to adopt since his evolution. Arms ready at his side and legs far apart to give him a stronger base. His tail swivelled behind him, ready to do damage as required.
I turned and gave the referee a nod before he brought down his flag to begin the battle. Kenpachi tore apart the field even further with a full-power earthquake. I couldn't feel it from here since the Alakazam sustaining the barrier had been joined by two more of his species, and they were fully on top of things.
The move didn't affect the Frosslass as much as we hoped. Like most ghost types, they floated above the ground. I'd considered using Snorlax or Hashirama since the former would be immune to the ghost-type moves in their entirety, and the latter would have more moves likely to damage the ghost type. There were problems with both of those choices, though. Snorlax's move library consisted of almost entirely normal type moves, and Hashirama would be weak to the Ice part of the Frosslass' typing.
'Wait for them to approach', I communicated crudely to Kenpachi with our aura link. He settled back into his stance and kept his head on a swivel. My opponent's next orders had me growling in annoyance. "Blizzard" She shouted at her pokemon.
"Shadow ball" I did the same. This one wasn't as fast or well trained as the Mamoswine, so they spent more time trying to summon the blizzard than their predecessor. During that time, Kenpachi let loose with three shadow balls that the Frosslass had o move to avoid. That broke their focus, at least.
'Rock throw. Keep it on the ropes.' I ordered next. I watched in anticipation as the Frosslass was chased by rocks everywhere they went. Not even a second of respite was given to the Ice-type pokemon. Eventually, they tried shattering the approaching boulders with shadow balls and Ice beams, but even that didn't work after a while. It all came to a head when one rock smashed into the Frosslass from behind while another hit them right in the head.
This seemed like the last straw since the pokemon wailed in frustration. I had to cover my ears from the guttural sound. Kenpachi's situation was even worse. He thrashed about the field in pain as the Frosslass finally got the time to use their blizzard.
I watched Kenpachi disappear from view with frustration on my face. I was beginning to gain a new appreciation for the ice-type move. Like Igneel, I had full confidence in Kenpachi's ability to overcome a pokemon like this one, so I settled down to watch.
Unlike Igneel, Kenpachi's moves didn't cause as many visible displays of light that I could see from my position. Things finally came to a head when the blizzard began to die down after ten long minutes. I'd felt Kenpachi's frustration as the battle went on, and I'd felt his elation a few seconds ago. Something had changed.
The winds cleared up enough, and I whistled at the sight. Kenpachi looked unharmed as I'd expected. His armour was just too hard for most pokemon to breach. The Frosslass was much worse for wear. They didn't look particularly injured, but Kenpachi's tail around their throat told me that could change very quickly.
Even as I thought that I watched him lift his tail and slam the Frosslass into the ground repeatedly. I considered calming him down, but the battle wasn't over. Not yet, at least. I turned to my opponent and gave her a significant look. I tried to convey the sentiment that Kenpachi wasn't going to stop, and I wasn't going to stop him.
I must have done something right since she held her Pokeball and returned the pokemon. Kenpachi roared his victory, and I smiled at him before returning him to his own ball.