"Let the battle begin!"
On the referee's cue, my opponent, Ryan Lowe from Rustboro sent out his two pokemons as I sent out mine. From what I found out from his previous battles that were being recorded, he is a Steel Specialist.
An aggron the size of a small house made its appearance known with a loud roar and its partner, a bisharp, made a screeching noise by sharpening its bladed arms together. I can see why he chose to use a bisharp, it would be a good choice to use it against Dolly thanks to its part dark typing.
Dolly and Kel stood on our side of the arena as they stared down at their foes who are bigger than them in size. I decided to use the both of them simply because they work well together. I could have chose Flamel and Toothless to counter the steel types, but sending Toothless out now will be showing my hand too early and Ryan is known for using his aggron repeatedly in his previous battles. Despite the steel type disadvantage, aggron is also a rock type and his aggron is shown to be very proficient in rock type moves as well even if it hardly uses it, hence sending out Flamel will not be the correct choice. Dolly is tricky and vicious, and combined with Kel's cunning, the two of them can bring down almost anyone together as long as the difference in power isn't too big. I have faith in them.
"Aggron, Autotomize! Bisharp! Swords Dance!"
Powering up right off the bat? It's not a bad tactic. Autotomize can increase the speed of the user by reducing its own weight and bisharp can hit really hard if given an attack boost. However, they are facing Kel. Any form of power ups will be negated by her soon enough. There's no need to use Taunt on them just yet, I will just use their own power against them.
"Kel, use Prediction but don't attack yet. Dolly, Calm Mind."
Bisharp was the first to finish its power boost and rushed for Dolly who simply faded into the shadows before it could reach her. Kel hid herself with Double Team by creating numerous illusionary copies of herself that multiplied all across the arena. Among my team, Kel has the best proficiency in this move alongside Rena. The only way you can find her is if the opponent have a move that never misses or if you use a widespread AOE attack and even then, Kel has protective moves like Detect and Protect. She can be very elusive.
Aggron gave a roar before heading in with a Smart Strike, a move that never misses. Like I expected, Kel simply use a Detect to get out of the way before continue to hide herself with Double Team once more. Ryan's pokemons need to do better than that if they want to catch her.
The matchup for this battle is interesting, but ultimately I still don't feel as worked up as I felt in my gym battles. I can already see a few ways on how I can win this battle. Ryan's very first mistake was to let his pokemons use power boosting moves in front of Kel. In fact, his bisharp and aggron are still boosting their attack and speed even further.
"Kel, Psych Up on bisharp, then Punishment on aggron."
Psych Up copies the foe's stat changes. In this case, bisharp's attacks have already been boosted to insane levels as I let it continue to do so. The same for aggron's speed. However, Kel and Dolly are already speedy enough, they don't really need the extra speed. Having so much extra speed without knowing how to control it will not be good, it's like the problem Flamel faced when trying to master Agility. But having an overdose of attack power? No one will complain about having too much of those. With Psych Up, Kel will receive the same degree of attack boost that bisharp experienced.
The best part? Punishment is a physical move that punishes its foe for boosting its powers. Aggron have been trying to boost its speed since the start of its match, the amount of boost it received is substantial enough for Punishment to hurt. A lot.
"Aggron! Get out of there!"
"Dolly, Skill Swap and Screech on aggron!"
Dolly appeared right beside aggron and Screeched right in its face, causing it to roar in pain from the noise and stopping it in its tracks. I saw a faint psychic glow that signified the use of Skill Swap and I grinned. I don't know if this aggron has the Sturdy or Rock Head ability, but Dolly's ability is Insomnia. Both Kel and Dolly are unable to use any moves that put their foes to sleep, so our opponents having Dolly's ability will be equivalent of having a useless ability in battle since we won't be able to put them to sleep in the first place. I am secretly hoping for aggron's ability to be Sturdy, it will make taking Dolly down so much harder. Dolly's Screech also have the extra benefit of lowering aggron's defense. Let's take a step back and see the bigger picture: bisharp had repeatedly used a few Swords Dance to boost its attacks which was copied by Rena. Rena used Punishment, a physical move that is able to take advantage of the copied stat change and it has the effect of having extra damage based on how much aggron had boosted itself. Now, Dolly used a Screech on aggron to lower its physical defense. Just how much damage is aggron going to take from all the mixture of buffs and debuffs combined with Punishment's unique effect?
I cannot wait to find out.
Kel bashed her horn against aggron and sent it flying to the other end of the arena. Aggron's use of Autotomize had reduced its weight significantly and it only made it easier for Kel to push it away from her. Bisharp had tried to save its comrade, but Dolly sent Thunderbolts at it to force it to back off.
To my surprise, the aggron is still able to get back up even if it is struggling to do so.
"Unleash Prediction!"
On command, Kel released a large wave of Razor Winds and Future Sight at aggron. Bisharp managed to give Dolly the slip and stood in front of the huge waves of wind and psychic energy. It coated the blades on its arm with dark energy and proceeded to slash at them with repeated use of Night Slash. It sent beams of Dark Pulse that forced Dolly and Kel to run and back off as Aggron went to sleep with Rest.
Or it tried to go to sleep with Rest, but its ability is now Insomnia thanks to Dolly's Skill Swap. I didn't plan for this to happen either, but I will take what I get. Come to think of it, can we use this newfound discovery to prevent our opponents to heal themselves up with Rest? We need to test this out later in our next training session.
With its access to a recovery move lost, Aggron sent a Flash Cannon at Dolly who went to hide in the shadows once again. Bisharp tried to seek her out with a Feint Attack but was intercepted by Kel who sent a Shock Wave at it. In my opinion, I would want to take aggron down first as its species are capable of learning a wide variety of moves, even more so than the bisharp species. While at first glance bisharp looks like the bigger threat thanks to its use of Swords Dance, its attacks need to make contact with either Kel or Dolly first for it to deal significant damage. Kel and Dolly are not making things easy for bisharp as they dodged or blocked each of its attacks.
"Dolly, Shadow Wisp barrage on Aggron."
Aggron screamed in pain from Dolly's attacks and bisharp tried to use this opportunity to hunt Dolly down, who had turned tangible to attack aggron in the first place. Kel thwarted its attempt once more with a Shock Wave and stood in its way before using a Flamethrower that caused the bisharp to yell in pain. Aggron roared in rage and used a Power-Up Punch but Kel dodged it once again with Detect.
"Bisharp, Sandstorm!"
A massive sandstorm brewed and it blocked our vision of Bisharp and Aggron. The two of them would not be affected thanks to their steel typing, but the sandstorm will slowly whittle down Kel's and Dolly's health. We need to do something about it, aggron and bisharp will be attacking anytime soon. Aggron will not be able to hold on for much longer thanks to the burn from Dolly's Shadow Wisp barrage and not being able to recover its lost health with Rest. Dolly had countered him hard and cut off most of its options.
We are not able to see the two steel types in the sandstorm and waiting for them to come out is simply a bad idea. We are giving them too much time to prepare. Time to heat things up and flush them out of there.
"Kel, Incinerate. Dolly, fan the flames with Ominous Wind. Flush them out."
With a cackle, Dolly flew behind Kel as Kel unleashed a huge wall of flames that would have made Flamel and Toothless proud. Dolly fanned the flames with Ominous Wind and a firestorm was produced from their combination attack. The flames washed over the other side of the arena where aggron and bisharp were hiding at. They two steel types could either come out of their own accord, or get themselves cooked in there. There's no other option that I can think of that they could take.
We waited for a while and my senses screamed to me that something is amiss. The steel types are taking too long.
"Dolly, Kel, hide yourselves!"
It was just in time too as aggron burst out from underneath the ground where they stood with bisharp riding it. They had hid themselves underground with aggron's Dig. Dolly vanished in a Phantom Force just before bisharp reached her and Kel hid herself with a Double Team once again. Aggron tried to seek her out with a Smart Strike but it was suddenly blasted with a Hex from Dolly who was hiding in the shadows. Bisharp used a Feint Attack to find Kel but was deterred once again by her Flamethrower. Rocks suddenly floated in the air and they swiftly launched themselves at Kel. I have no doubt that this is aggron's work. Kel simply used a Protect to surround herself in a protective sphere of energy to defend herself as the rocks crashed harmlessly into her shield. I can see Ryan getting desperate. On top of the Punishment that took down most of his aggron's health, it is still suffering from the burn Dolly inflicted on it and now it is a matter of time before it went down. He is in a battle against time. I, on the other hand, am perfectly fine with waiting it out. For a trainer to command the pokemon that they sent out to battle to its full potential they need to fully understand the characteristics of the typing of that pokemon and make full use of the strengths of the pokemons' type. This is not even considering the need to understand the quirks and peculiarity of the species of pokemon they are using. From what I can see, Ryan is supposed to be a Steel Specialist, but not once did I see him taking full advantage of the defensive capabilities that steel types boast. Not even an Iron Defense from aggron to defend itself from Kel and Dolly. Kel and Dolly do not boast much offensive power but I made use of their trickery and cunning to push Ryan's pokemon as far as they did. Trickery and cunning are the characteristics that their typing embodies. If we cannot take bisharp and aggron down with brute force, we will just put them at a disadvantage and then play the waiting game to tire them out. It is working.
Ryan still has a long way to go before he calls himself a Steel Specialist. He is talented and strong, but the way he is training his steel types is just… I won't say that what he did is wrong, but it definitely isn't the best way to go about doing it. I don't have a steel type myself, but even I can tell where his problems lie.
Kel disappeared with another Double Team the moment aggron finished its assault and I can see Ryan getting frustrated with his futile attempts in trying to catch either Dolly or Kel. It won't be long before he is forced to do something drastic.
"Bisharp, Protect! Aggron, Earthquake!"
See what I mean? He is as easy to read as an open book.
Bisharp shielded itself with a Protect just as aggron slammed down onto the ground forcefully. Nice try, but that still will not be enough.
Dolly exited the shadows before Earthquake was used and simply followed bisharp's example in using a Protect. Even without being able to see Kel's face, I know for sure that she rolled her eyes lazily (her favourite gesture and default reaction to anything) as she used a Detect to escape aggron's attack. With Protect, Detect, and Double Team at her disposal, it will take a lot for anyone to even hit Kel. Anyone facing her will be annoyed at how hard it is to pin her down.
Ryan even have to face Dolly alongside Kel. Poor guy.
Ryan must have know by now that I am playing the waiting game to wait for aggron to succumb to its burns. So unless he have a few more plans up his sleeves, his aggron is going down.
"Aggron, Endeavour!"
Aggron roared and charged at Kel and she leapt away gracefully to escape aggron. Bisharp stood in her way and cut off her escape route by firing small bursts of Focus Blasts around her. She is trapped.
"Kel, Substitute!"
Kel creates a copy of herself just right before aggron hit her with Endeavour. Aggron's Endeavour hit Kel's copy instead and now he is in close range with Kel.
Big mistake.
"Kel, attack aggron with Superpower!"
Kel gave a howl as she boosted her strength before slamming into aggron with great force, bringing it down into the ground and their collision created a huge crater from the impact. The super effective move finally knocked aggron out as it remained motionless on the ground.
One down, one more to go. It's time to end this, even I'm getting bored. In all honesty, I expected more from Ryan's aggron. This battle is kind of disappointing. I had thought that trainers with eight badges are stronger than this.
Bisharp took this opportunity to hit Kel with a Brick Break. Kel hissed in pain from the attack when the attack connected and shot a Flamethrower at bisharp. Bisharp used a Protect to block the attack before heading in with an Iron Head. Kel used another Double Team to get out of the way just as Dolly reappeared and used a Thunderbolt on bisharp, causing bisharp to cry out in pain.
"Metal Sound!"
Bisharp produced a sharp screeching sound that forced Kel and Dolly to retreat from the unpleasant noise. What is Ryan planning?
"Aim for the absol, Focus Blast!"
Another big mistake.
"Kel! Me First!"
Kel beat bisharp to the punch as it conjured a Focus Blast faster than what bisharp could manage and returned the stolen move back to bisharp with an even greater power. Bisharp tried to get out of the way but Dolly simply held it in place by blasting its immediate surroundings with Thunderbolts and trap it in an electric cage while standing in its way. The Focus Blast whizzed through Dolly harmlessly thanks to her ghost typing and found its mark on bisharp, and the impact sent bisharp to unconsciousness.
"Winner: Velda Vera from Petalburg!"
Another win for me and my team.
Both Ryan and I made our way down to the arena to shake hands as per the long standing tradition of the conference. It is basic sportsmanship to shake hands and thank your opponent for the battle after it ends, a tradition passed down in our region since the Ever Grande Conference was first founded. I'm not sure if other regions insist on it, but Hoenn does.
Kel walked up to me looking battered from the Brick Break she received from bisharp but still able to walk around perfectly fine. I'm surprised that she actually withstood that move without fainting, bisharp had used quite a number of Swords Dance prior to using Brick Break and Brick Break is super effective on her. Dolly floated up to me with not a single scratch on her as per usual and chattered excitedly while flying in circles around me.
"It was a good battle." Ryan said gruffly as we shook hands, and it is obvious that he is at least a little sore at how easily his pokemons were defeated. "I didn't know that your absol was as highly trained as your banette. Are you a Mind Arts Trio Specialist like what the other participants said? I'm kind of confused as to what you really specialise in."
What? So now I am a Mind Arts Trio specialist instead of a Ghost Specialist? And Kel is highly trained? She dislike battles for crying out loud! I'm surprised that she even agreed to participate in the conference. Just wait till I introduce the battle-hungry trio of my team into the fray, then maybe they will change their minds that Kel is highly trained.
Even if my mind is forming all sorts of retorts and feeling a serious need to facepalm at how wrong the other participants are at guessing my specialty, I still managed a polite smile and reply Ryan.
"That will be telling, wouldn't it? You can find out more if you stick around and watch the remaining matches."
Ryan stiffened a bit as Dolly floated a little too close to him for comfort right at that exact moment. He's one of those with superstitions about ghosts?
"I... will consider it." He replied quickly before politely excusing himself and bolted out of the area.
I shook my head as I recalled Kel back to her pokeball, it would be best for her to move as little as possible until I got her injuries checked at the pokemon center in the stadium. Dolly floated by my side as we made our exit.
This battle is a disappointment. I had truly expected more from my matches.
What a letdown.
Flamel watched as the other members of their team went about doing their own stuffs in the training field. Vel had ended their training early today and allowed them to do whatever they want as long as they contain their damage to within the field itself until their time in the training field is up. Currently the battle-hungry trio (Kratos, Toothless, and Snap) are having a three-way fight with each other that took up at least half the space of the training field. They have been wanting to let out some steam for awhile. Vel had told them not to go all out, she doesn't want to send any one of them to the pokemon center for emergency treatment because they are unable to tone down their attacks and critically injure each other by mistake. Dolly is having a fun time playing hide-and-seek with Fuzzy in a huge castle made of rocks that was built by Bigblue. Lily is swaying under the light in her own little corner nearby. Kel, Rena, and him are currently resting in a corner with Vel who is in a half-asleep state, lying down on the ground and leaning against his body to take a nap, but failing to truly fall asleep. Her body has been acting up again since this morning and it is making her more lethargic. Thankfully, that is the extent of the difficulty she is facing now. Her medicine is doing a great job in ensuring his trainer's continued health.
Flamel turned his attention back to Vel from where he is currently lying on the floor with her leaning against his large body from where she is lying on the ground. This is not the first time that they are spending time in this manner. Such occurrences are common when Vel is young and he is all she had. Even back then, she could have spent her time recuperating from her sickness in her own room, but she prefers to spend more time outside with him and the other pokemons on the farm whenever she can. Sometimes it is because she cannot stand the suffocating atmosphere of being alone in her room, other times it is because she does not want to worry her family. There are times where it is also because she just wants to spend time with him.
Flamel will never forget how Vel writhed in agony from the sudden bouts of pain she experienced whenever they are alone together. The pains come at random times and there is nothing anyone can do for her. Part of the reason why Vel likes to spend time in the farm instead of being in her room is also because she does not want to worry her family any further whenever her body acts up. At times like these, the only thing he can do is to be there for her. He is glad that his presence during such times is able to bring comfort to Vel.
"Do you want to go out for battle next, Flamel? I think it is time we start to reveal myself as a Generalist. The battles are getting harder. Dolly, Kel, and Rena may not be enough to handle everything and people are starting to think of me as a Mind Arts Trio Specialist now. Bunch of idiots." Vel said softly as she absentmindedly raised a hand to pet him on the side of his face with her eyes still close. Flamel snorted as a form of reply. He doesn't really care whether he gets to battle or not. He is perfectly fine with sitting out of the entire conference if the team doesn't need his help.
"I take it that you don't mind then." Vel mumbled as Kel nudged her, wanting Vel to pet her as well.
According to Vel and Dolly, the team had finished the battles for the top 256 and 64. The first double battle they had was against an Ice Specialist and Vel had sent out Rena and Dolly for battle. Rena had complained that the battle was very uninteresting, to the extent that she allowed Dolly to do most of the work and toy with their opponents. One of their opponent was a part-ice, part-ghost as well, but it is too weak to pose a threat to them. According to Rena, the ice-ghost was a little distracted by Vel's presence in the initial stage of the battle even if it recovered its bearings quickly. Still, Dolly only needed a few Shadow Balls to take it out of the battle. The other one was even less of a threat. The last battle the team participated in was against a Steel Specialist where Dolly and Kel had took part in. Kel was nearly took out in one hit due to her carelessness, but the team still won the battle. If only Kel, Rena, and Dolly were sent out thus far, Flamel can understand why the other trainers mistook Vel as a Mind Arts Trio Specialist even if according to Vel, such Specialists are very rare. But why did no one suspect, or even consider the possibility that his trainer may be a Generalist?
Humans can be so stupid at times. They fail to think of the larger picture and other possibilities, restricting their thinking to a small little box they set up for themselves without even knowing it.
To be honest, Flamel cannot wait for the conference to be over already. He does not really enjoy battles, but neither does he dislike them. It's just that he prefers to explore and wander across various places together with Vel. It's in his blood to journey across the land, his species is born that way. Even if they can fight decently well, they are not known for their combat abilities, but highly valued by humans for the utility they provide to them. Since thousands of moons ago, their species have helped humans ferry them and their goods, transporting them from one place to another. They provide good company for humans and all they asked in return was for companionship, food, and shelter. Flamel wasn't expecting Vel to be a trainer when he was taken from his herd, his entirely family before him were known to help humans in transporting their stuffs or to provide companionship. He was delighted that Vel is willing to use his help in travelling to wherever she wants to go. The trait of their species was the reason why he was chosen by Griff to be her starter in the first place since Vel is too sickly to travel for long periods of time without help. Vel's dream coincides with what he enjoys most, and he will do his utmost best to ferry her around to wherever she desire until his legs don't work anymore.
When Vel was younger, she always show a different side of herself whenever she is alone with him and lying under the shade of Whiskers's great oak tree, a linoone that he never met since it was dead before he was Vel's. It's hard to pin down what kind of side that Vel is showing exactly, but Flamel thinks that it is a more honest side of her, where she says and complains about things with more snark and sarcasm than usual. Things that she can only say without any other humans around, even her human family. Flamel knows that all she needs is a listening ear, and he is more than happy to provide it to her.
Being Vel's starter comes with responsibilites even if he doesn't need to bear them most of the time. It isn't in Flamel's nature to talk much and he doesn't speak unless it's necessary. The members that made up their team thus far are amicable to each other and they feel like a big family even if it can be a little rowdy at times. They are perfectly fine without him needing to keep an eye out on them constantly. They are only a few times where he needed to step up and whip some of the members into shape, like when Kratos first joined the team and he have to be the voice of reason so that the team don't eat him up straightaway for his rude attitude, or when Toothless was feeling guilty after Vel nearly died in Lilycove. As Vel's starter, he feels that it is his job to maintain the peace and harmony within the team so that Vel has less to worry about, and to keep an eye out for the well-being of the members. Vel can understand them most of the time, but ultimately, she doesn't speak their language. Without Rena acting as a translator there's no way for Vel to understand what they are trying to tell her with perfect accuracy. Hence, it will be easier if Flamel can help her handle any pokemon-related problems that he can help solve by himself.
The battle-hungry trio had finish their little fight and Toothless flew down from the air and landed beside Vel. He forcefully shooed Kel away from Vel using his large body, much to her annoyance, and gently placed his snout on Vel's lap for her to pet. Vel simply laugh at this childish display and indulge Toothless. Toothless began to poke Vel gently with a single claw once again.
"Yeah, I know. Our next opponents don't look like they can put up a good fight though. I think you might be disappointed. Besides, the team we are facing next will be a team of electric types. You will be at a serious disadvantage there and I know you don't like getting zapped."
Toothless gave a whine and the entire team gave him an eye roll for his childish behaviour. Toothless may be a big, bad fire-breathing lizard. But in Vel's presence he can throw a tantrum even bigger than a newborn growlithe pup for the sake of the smallest and the most redundant of things.
"None of that right now. I promised you that I will send you out if we chance across a suitable opponent for you, didn't I? It won't take very long now. Just be patient, alright?"
Toothless gave a huff and went to curl himself up beside Vel, but purposely showing his back to her to let her know how displease he is at this arrangement.
"Toothless."
There wasn't a reply but Toothless went to curl himself up even tighter, hiding his face from view with his wings.
"Ah, such a shame." Vel said as she dug through her bag and fished out something. The sound of plastic ripping got Toothless's head perking out from his wings and Flamel can see that he is trying very hard not to turn around.
"I wanted to share this with you too. But since you don't want it." Vel popped one of the sugary goodness into Flamel's mouth. It is not as nice as the sugar cube Vel feeds him occasionally, but marshmallows are still a good enough substitute. "I guess the rest of the team can take your share if you don't want them."
Fuzzy jumped at this opportunity and began to dig into the bag of marshmallows and chewed in an obnoxious manner, purposely making it loud enough for Toothless to hear. Kel and Rena began to eat a few pieces too and Vel herself popped a few pieces into her mouth. Kratos opened his mouth wide and Vel took the cue and threw a few pieces into his opened mouth from where she is lying down on the ground. Similar to Fuzzy, Kratos purposely snapped his mouth in an exaggerated manner to prompt a reaction out of Toothless.
Vel was about to pop another marshmallow into her mouth when Toothless scurried back to her side and opened his mouth wide. Vel gave a smirk and threw the marshmallow in her hand into his waiting jaws instead.
'Whipped. Toothless is whipped.'
'I respect him a lot, y'know, since he was the first one to train me when I first joined. But seeing him like this kind of take out the respect I feel for him.'
'You haven't seen him when he was younger, Kratos.'
Vel had emptied the packet of marshmallows into Toothless's mouth by now and he is now munching happily on the snacks, his previous displeasure forgotten in favour of his favourite snack. He gestured for more, but Vel sent him a disapproving stare.
"No more, Toothless. Unlike Macky, you can get fat from eating too much sugary stuffs. It's not healthy for you."
Toothless gave another whine but he shut up the moment Vel sent him a glare.
"We need to leave soon." Vel said as she stood up and dusted herself. "Kratos, you mind returning the field back to its original state?"
'Eh, I do, actually. I'm feeling lazy today. Why don't you ask Snap or something?' Kratos grumbled as he gave a yawn to try and shirk off the job assigned to him.
'I was the one who fixed it up the last time we were here. It's your turn now, lazy ass.'
Vel wouldn't understand what they are grumbling about since she don't talk pokemon-nese, but Flamel does.
'Go and do your job, Kratos. Stop being lazy. Being the strongest here doesn't automatically give you the right to slack off.'
'Alright, alright. Geez, you can be even stiffer than Rena sometimes. You sure you are not a part psychic, Flamel?'
Kratos ignored Rena's scowl as he commanded the rocks and sand underneath the ground and the damage to the field was repaired in a matter of seconds, a testament to his mastery over rock type techniques.
'Not good enough. You left out a spot.'
Bigblue shifted his feet slightly and immediately the ground look different even if there weren't any obvious changes. Somehow, the ground seemed smoother now.
'Bet none of you can make it shine like I do.'
'One day I will find out what you did to make it shine, Snap. Just you wait.'
'The day that happens is the day Flamel becomes a joker like Fuzzy. Not happening.'
'Hey! You guys love me and you know it! Everyone loves the awesome, wonderful, charming, extraordina-'
'Shut. Up. Fuzzy. You are making my head hurt with your Echoed Voice. Stop using it to broadcast your words to everything within a one mile radius. It's too loud and annoying.'
'Kel~~~ How else will the world know how awesome I am otherwise?'
'Stop dallying. We need to leave now and Vel isn't feeling very well in the first place. The only reason she came here is so that we can stretch our legs and enjoy ourselves without anyone spying on us. Let her go back to the room to rest.'
With those words, Flamel had succeeded in getting the group's attention. If he allows them to carry on their conversation they will still be arguing in this spot for Arceus-knows-how-long. If there is one thing the team can agree on, it will be about Vel's well-being. She is precious to them.
Vel recalled most of the team without much fanfare, only leaving out Fuzzy, Dolly, Kel, and Rena since they had already took part in battles and their identity was made known. They don't need to stay in their pokeballs to hide their identity any longer. What was surprising is that she hadn't recalled him yet.
"I need a lift, Flamel. Still feeling a little tired."
Flamel lowered his body slightly so that it will be easier for Vel to climb onto his back. He will never reject a request from Vel for him to give her a ride.
He will be Velda's legs for as long as he live.
I guess it was a good choice for me to send out Flamel and Fuzzy instead of Dolly today. Our opponents today may be a little troublesome for Dolly to handle.
A vikavolt and a heliolisk entered into battle on the opponent's side just when I send in Flamel. Fuzzy hopped off my shoulder and did an impressive acrobatic flip in midair before landing on Flamel's back dramatically. There were people from the audience who actually clapped at the display.
"And will you believe that! Trainer Velda from Petalburg sent in a pachirisu! A pachirisu! Ladies and gentlemen! A pokemon that is usually more often seen in pokemon contests or found stealing the berries in your backyard! Just what is the Ghost Mistress planning by sending in pokemons that are not ghost types? Just what is she planning on using pokemons that are not her specialty or from the Mind Arts Trio? Is she so strong that she can afford to hide her true power as a Ghost or Mind Arts Trio Specialist by using pokemons that are not under the category of her specialisation? Will she lose her standing in the conference by sending in a pachirisu?"
I ignored the comments from the commentator of this match. They are still on about me being a Ghost Specialist? Are you kidding me?! It's obvious by now that I am not a Ghost Specialist! Or a Mind Arts Trio Specialist! I didn't even know there were Specialists known as 'Mind Arts Trio Specialists' until recently since people started to call me as such! Please tell me that they are doing this just to hype up the match.
Judging from the confused expression of the opposing trainer, they probably haven't made the connection that I am in fact a Generalist. Oh well, whatever. It means more surprises for me to capitalise on at the later stages of the conference.
Heliolisk immediately starts off with an Electric Terrain and vikavolt started to increase its speed with Agility. I don't know much about both species of pokemon due to their rarity in Hoenn, but I know enough to know what to expect when facing them in battle.
"Flamel, Agility and Sunny Day follow up by Incinerate! Fuzzy! Into the skies!"
The two of them immediately jumped into action as Flamel matches vikavolt's increase in speed with his own and bathed the opponent's side of the field with scorching hot flames. Fuzzy flew into the air with Magnet Rise while squeaking loudly and I can hear the surprise gasps from the audiences from the sight of a flying pachirisu.
"My word! Will you look at it! Velda's pachirisu is FLYING! Ladies and gentlemen! A flying pachirisu! This must be a new record of some kind! How did the pachirisu achieve flight capabilities?!"
Fuzzy is going to be famous after this.
Vikavolt charged out of the flames by opening a path with a Light Screen and heliolisk followed behind Vikavolt. Vikavolt shot out a Charge Beam at Flamel which he disrupted with a Flamethrower. Heliolisk used a Bulldoze to kick up a huge amount of sand to snuff out the flames and damage Flamel at the same time, but Flamel dodged it by jumping into the air with Bounce.
"Battering Ram!"
Flamel crashed into the ground with a Protect surrounding him at vikavolt's and heliolisk's location and forced them to scatter. Fuzzy sprayed star-shaped rays of Swift and it nailed his targets thanks to Swift's unique properties of never missing its targets. Flamel used a Fire Blast on vikavolt, wanting to take it down as soon as possible only for vikavolt to destroy his attack with a combination of Charge and Thunderbolt.
A Thunder Wave sped towards Flamel but Fuzzy intercepted it with a Shock Wave from above. Vikavolt had apparently decided that it should go and take down Fuzzy before he proves to be an even greater annoyance and sped off into the air towards his direction. Heliolisk sent a massive Thunderbolt at Flamel but he got out of the way with another use of Agility and returned fire with Flamethrower. I was surprised when heliolisk braved through the attack without a scratch. It must have used Electrify to turn Flamel's attack into an electric type before it made contact, reducing the damage from Flamel's Flamethrower. Electrify is an attack that is only found in its species.
Huh, that Electrify was a smart move.
Vikavolt and Fuzzy are speeding around in the air. Vikavolt's aerial maneuvers are impressive and I have no doubt that it had undergone rigorous training to achieve such proficiency in aerial battles. Vikavolt shot out attacks from its strong jaws but Fuzzy evaded every single one of them. Fuzzy slammed a barrage of hard seeds onto vikavolt with Seed Bomb which does nothing other than to knock it off balance for a little while. However, that short amount of time is what Fuzzy needs to land on vikavolt's back and use a Super Fang on it, causing vikavolt to scream in pain.
The scream got heliolisk's attention and it attempted to rescue vikavolt but Flamel cut off its escape route with a well-timed Fire Spin, trapping it in a swirling wall of hot flames. Heliolisk immediately conjured a temporary Sandstorm in his immediate surroundings to extinguish the flames but Flamel used this opportunity to charge in with a Flare Blitz and rammed heliolisk, sending it flying into the psychic barrier. Vikavolt had also somehow managed to get Fuzzy off its back and used Bug Buzz but Fuzzy countered the sound-based move with Echoed Voice, fighting noise with noise.
Heliolisk charged back in with a Surf and Flamel have no choice but to escape into the air with Bounce once more. Vikavolt took this chance and sent out beams of electric attacks at Flamel but Fuzzy got there in time and stood between Flamel and vikavolt's attacks before using Protect to shield the both of them. Fuzzy followed up with a Follow Me to focus vikavolt and heliolisk's attention on him as Flamel landed back safely onto the ground. I watched as Fuzzy expertly dodged all of vikavolt's and heliolisk's attacks in the air and I commanded Flamel to bring back the sun with a Sunny Day and to prepare his flames.
"Ally Switch then Overheat!"
Flamel suddenly replace himself into Fuzzy's position and unleashed the white-hot flames of Overheat onto vikavolt who screamed in pain from the sudden attack. Heliolisk tried to use Thunderbolt to attack Flamel in an attempt to save vikavolt but it is still under the influence of Fuzzy's Follow Me and attacked Fuzzy instead, who simply side-stepped the attack. Vikavolt managed to nimbly strike Flamel with Acrobatics and sent him back to the ground and followed after Flamel while firing its attacks but like heliolisk, is under the infuence of Fuzzy's Follow Me and hence directed its attacks to Fuzzy instead. Flamel got back up, a little bruised but otherwise still ok, and used Morning Sun to heal himself with the effects being boosted by Sunny Day.
From what I can see, both vikavolt and heliolisk are good at long-distance battle but is pretty average in a close quarter fight if their skirmish is anything to go by. Flamel and Fuzzy can win if they can close the distance.
Flamel separated vikavolt and heliolisk with a Fire Blast and charged in with a Flame Charge. My opponent finally had the sense to block out the sun by commanding the heliolisk to use Rain Dance and increase the potency of his team's electric type attacks.
"Flamel, High Horsepower on heliolisk!"
Flamel began attacking heliolisk aggresively, who was too slow in getting out of the way. Vikavolt took to the skies once more and I can see it charging up a Thunder, taking advantage of the rain clouds in the sky as the entire arena began to drizzle.
"Fuzzy, Lightning Rod!"
Vikavolt summoned a huge column of lightning down upon Flamel but it was suddenly redirected into another direction and zapped towards Fuzzy's location on the ground with his tail high into the air, glowing a metallic sheen due to his use of Iron Tail. Fuzzy abandoned the use of Iron Tail and pulled off a Protect at the very last minute, blocking the attack and saving Flamel from a possible knockout from vikavolt's Thunder. Heliolisk tried to nail Flamel with a Thunderbolt but Flamel defended himself with a Protect before forcing heliolisk to keep its distance with a Double Kick.
Vikavolt tried to heal itself with Roost but Flamel used Hypnosis, a move he took a few weeks to learn from Holly, and put vikavolt to sleep before it can heal itself. Heliolisk woke vikavolt up violently by sending a zap of electricity to the electric bug pokemon. Flamel charged in with a Drill Run and heliolisk barely had the time to scramble and get itself out of the way as Flamel began to engage it in close combat by kicking with Double Kicks and Stomps or try to jab it with his horn with Megahorn and Poison Jab. Heliolisk sent out a large flare of electricity with Parabolic Charge in an attempt to seriously injure Flamel but he simply block it with a Protect before rushing in again, maintaining the ferocity of his attacks to keep up the pressure and forcing heliolisk to run and keep its distance instead of trying to attack. Fuzzy is also doing a wonderful job in distracting vikavolt and dropping attacks of his own whenever he can as they both flew in the air and engage in aerial combat.
Heliolisk and vikavolt are well-trained, but ultimately they excel in long-range combat instead of close quarters from what I can see about their battle styles thus far. So, the easiest way we can win is if we can force them to fight us on our terms, to prevent them from gaining distance from us by bringing the fight to them up close.
As I expected, heliolisk slipped up after a while and Flamel managed to hit it with his horn with Poison Jab. To my delight, heliolisk was also inflicted with the poisoned status.
An Iron Tail from Fuzzy sent vikavolt careening towards heliolisk and vikavolt slammed violently into its comrade. This is the best chance we are going to get.
"Flamel, Sunny Day and Overheat!"
The sun rays immediately broke through the rain clouds and Flamel unleashed another wall of white-hot flames onto his targets. They both screamed in pain and tried to get out, only for Fuzzy to cut off their escape route with a large barrage of Swift and send them flying back into the raging inferno of flames.
"Heliolisk, Surf!"
A huge wall of water rose up from underground and came crashing down onto the wall of flames, extinguishing it immediately and both vikavolt and heliolisk sent out a huge blast of electricity at Fuzzy and Flamel. The two of them only just managed to pull off a Protect to shield themselves when vikavolt suddenly rushed in with a huge amount of electricity forming in front of its opened mouth just when the shield of Protect dwindled.
It must be trying to bring down at least one member of my team with a sudden unexpected sneak attack. The best defense Flamel and Fuzzy are able to utilise is Protect and it is hard to ensure successful consecutive uses for Protect, this is the best time for my opponent to bring Fuzzy and Flamel down since their best defense is not an option right now.
However, there are still ways to stop vikavolt.
"Flamel, Swagger on vikavolt!"
The sudden move managed to catch vikavolt off guard and inflicted a confused status on it. To my delight, vikavolt's attack had dissipated from its confusion. Flamel took this chance to head in with a Flame Charge and the force of that blow took vikavolt out for good.
"Fuzzy, engage heliolisk!"
Fuzzy squeaked in acknowledgement and dashed towards heliolisk with a Quick Attack. Heliolisk retaliated with a Bulldoze but Fuzzy managed to somehow get out of the way with an impressive display of acrobatics. Heliolisk was poisoned from Flamel's Poison Jab prior to this so it cannot last for much longer. We can bring it down.
"Take the both of them out with Surf! Full power!"
Ah dammit.
"Flamel, dodge with Bounce! Fuzzy! Endure!"
Fuzzy is way too close to heliolisk to dodge that Surf attack and I'm not sure if Flamel can pull off another Protect so soon after its previous use. Flamel had never been the best at using defensive moves and he don't have a wide variety of those in his arsenal as well. It is usually better for him to dodge attacks than to block it or take it head on.
Flamel leapt into the air with his powerful legs and Fuzzy endured the huge wall of water crashing down on his small form with Endure. Somehow, Fuzzy managed to hold his position without getting swept off by the torrent of water. It might just snatch us the win.
"Fuzzy, Flail!"
Flail is an attack that gains more power the lower the health of its loser. It's the perfect move for Fuzzy to use now.
With a desperate attack, Fuzzy slammed heliolisk on the head with his tail and sent him into the ground in a brutal manner. The force of the blow was big enough to form a small crater on the ground where heliolisk lay motionless.
We won our last double battle.
"Winner: Velda Vera from Petalburg!"
With the referee's announcement, our win became official and the crowd who was watching in anticipated silence erupted into a huge round of applause for me and my pokemons. The commentator began to speak again but I tuned him out, I'm more concerned with Fuzzy's well-being.
Fuzzy jumped and landed on my shoulder the moment I reached the arena and chattered excitedly despite the fatigue that I know that he must be feeling right now. Flamel trotted up to my side and nuzzle me gently to tell me that he is fine.
"That was a good match."
My opponent, a guy from Mauville who went by the name of Cole Gibbs, walked up to me and we both shook hands, thanking each other for a great match.
"Man, I regret not sending out the stronger members of my team. I was so sure that you will be sending out your banette too, that's why I decided to send out my heliolisk since it is also a normal type." Cole said this as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I wasn't expecting your pachirisu to fly of all things. That was achieved with Magnet Rise, right? I thought you are supposed to be a Ghost Specialist or a Mind Arts Trio Specialist? I wasn't expecting your companion pokemons to be that strong."
Wait. What? Companion pokemon? I can understand if they mistook Fuzzy as a companion pokemon, but Flamel?
Cole somehow missed the confused expression on my face as we both walked out of the destroyed arena and continued speaking.
"Rapidashs are only known for their speed and their usefulness in ferrying people around and not for their combat abilities. The only person I know that use a rapidash in battle is Blaine, the gym leader of Cinnabar in Kanto, and he don't use it often. From what I know, usually he only use his rapidash to ferry him around. My brother told me that when he was in Kanto for a few years. If your companion pokemons are that strong, I don't know how strong the members of your main team are. What type of Mind Arts Trio pokemons do you use anyway? Absol, espeon, and banette are not exactly common pokemon to be used in battle. It is hard to find their species in the wild and even fewer trainers are willing to use them in a high level battle such as this one." He stopped talking for a moment and looked at me as his eyebrow rose higher and higher. "Are those three even from your main team? Just WHAT exactly do you specialise in?"
Well, if he wants to continue thinking that I am a Mind Arts Trio Specialist, I don't mind letting it remain that way.
"I think what I specialise in is pretty obvious by now." I replied with a half-truth. As of now, the members of my team that I revealed have known typings of ghost, psychic, dark, electric, and fire. If that is not a strong enough indication to the other participants that I am a Generalist, I don't know what is. It's just that I hope to solidify the impression that I am a Mind Arts Trio Specialist with the way I phrase my words. The longer the other remaining participants are in the dark about my strength, the better it is for me and my team.
"True." Cole conceded. "You are obviously a Mind Arts Trio Specialist with two super strong companion pokemons. You actually make me want to go catch a pachirisu right now just to see if I can train it to fly."
"Let me know when you do, maybe we can even compare our notes."
"Dolly, dodge it!"
Dolly zipped around the field as our opponent's hydreigon tried to blast Dolly to pieces with a variety of attacks. To make it worse, each of its three heads are able to act independently and fire their own attacks. Right now, a Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse, and Flamethrower are trying to find their mark on Dolly.
I had never expected for the very first pokemon my current opponent to send out to be something as strong as a hydreigon. This is the battle for the top 32 and it will be a 6 vs 6 single battle. The strength of the opponents that I will be facing from now onwards will get exponentially higher.
I know enough about the hydreigon species since I was in charge of training Chewy for a short while, but that doesn't make things any easier since it is a hydreigon we are talking about. I know my current opponent is a Dark Specialist and that most of Dolly's ghost type attacks will not be very effective. However, she have a wide range of other moves in her arsenal and her main task is to hinder and scout the strength of our opponent, not to damage them. I just didn't expect for her to face a rampaging hydreigon right off the bat.
There's no way Dolly can face a hydreigon without taking drastic measures such as Destiny Bond or Curse, and there is no point in doing so. My opponent, Max Boyer, have a pretty good win streak thus far and I suspect that he might have more pokemons on the level of his hydreigon. We might need Dolly's strength then.
Besides, he's not the only one with a pseudo-legendary. I have one on my side that is able to go toe-to-toe with it.
"Dolly, Dazzling Gleam!"
Hydreigon gave that fairy type attack a wide berth and it bought us enough time for me to safely recall Dolly into her pokeball. I palmed another pokeball in my other hand and I cannot help but give a smirk. On the very first day that I received him from Vance, I still remember that Dad had said that this guy won't lose to even a dragon when trained properly. Time to test the validity of that statement.
"Rise and shine, Kratos." I whisper to the pokeball that houses the strongest member of my team. I know that he can hear me when I speak to it in such a manner.
I let his pokeball soar into the air and he was released from his pokeball at the apex of the flight of his pokeball. Kratos announced his appearance on the battlefield with a deafening roar and I saw many people covering their ears from the noise. The ground shook slightly the moment Kratos appeared and even hydreigon tensed at Kratos's sudden presence. The sands around Kratos's feet started to swirl, and I know that his Sand Stream ability is starting to kick in. The crowd started to go wild at the excitement from the thought of being able to witness a rare fight between pseudo-legendaries. Pseudo-legendary pokemons are rare in the first place, and a fight between pseudo-legendaries are even rarer. This is the perfect battle for Kratos's debut.
Kratos and hydreigon eyed each other warily and I can see the two dark types sizing each other up. Their growls and snarls grew more bloodthirsty with each passing second and I know this battle is going to be a brutal one. They are both dark types after all. They are not known for being kind to their foes.
I see Kratos giving me a glance and I nod my head to give him the go-ahead. He is strong enough to handle himself with minimal help from me. All I need to do is to help him watch out for any attacks from hydreigon that he might miss and give him directions only when necessary.
"Go wild, Kratos. Show the world how strong you are. Show them why you are King."
The only response I got from Kratos is an earth-shattering roar as the sands rose from the ground around Kratos and formed a huge wall of sand that reached the maximum height of the psychic barriers before they rushed towards hydreigon like a massive tsunami wave. Kratos's ability with rocks is no longer limited to pebbles. He is now able to even manipulate individual grains of sand, something that even Bigblue, Snap, and Lily did not manage to achieve. Kratos's Sand Stream ability is fine-tuned to the extent that if he wishes it, he can choose whether he wants to manifest it in a massive sandstorm by letting the sands go wild or to take absolute control like what he is doing right now.
Among the few pokemons that are given the title of 'pseudo-legends', only the metagross and tyranitar species are non-dragon types. Thanks to this, many people have the misconception that dragons are the strongest species of pokemons out there in this world since most of the pseudo-legendaries are dragon types. I will prove them wrong. I will remind the world once again why Kratos's species is so feared. I will show them that not only dragons can achieve the title of 'pseudo-legendary'.
I will show them why Kratos is King.
AN: I wanted to hold onto this chapter and post them at a later date to check for any further errors. However, my recess week had ended a week ago and I don't think I will be posting anything on FFnet until around May since I have many projects and homeworks to finish. Hence, I decide to post this chapter first for you guys to enjoy before going MIA at the risk of potential grammar and spelling mistakes.
I hope that the double battles don't disappoint. I wanted to make it more exciting, but the opponents at that stage cannot be too strong. The hard part is that I have to make the battles exciting while making sure that Velda don't crush them straight away. It is hard to find the perfect balance, to be honest. I don't want to write all three double battles from the top 256 to top 64, it will be too repetitive and boring, so I omitted the battle for top 256 and write for two double battles instead.
You guys were also right to say that I should give Flamel a little more screen time since he is Vel's starter, so I included his pov in this chapter as well. When I first created Flamel's character, I wanted him to be the silent, loyal type that will be there for Vel no matter what. That's the reason why he spoke so little throughout the story. I think I may have overdone it a little, and it made it seem as if the screen time was taken up by other members instead.
I also have to confess that I made an error in my previous chapters. This EGC should be the 528th, not 527th. In chapter 1, the EGC that Griff participated in should be the 501st, not 484th. I had mixed up his birth year or something for the year he participated in the conference. The mistake had since been corrected, but I thought that I should let you guys know.
Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I will try to bring more exciting battles to you guys for the EGC arc.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 12, Female, Pokemon Trainer, Reincarnated Soul (to be kept a secret until the day she dies again)
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male