Both Jacky and I chatted with each other as we waited for the nurses to finish checking up and healing our pokemon. Rena's and Kel's checkup had already been completed since they did not suffer any damage from their battles. All the nurses did was to give them a quick physical examination before letting them return back to me.
Rena wasted no time in bounding back to me with a skip in her steps and jumped on my lap to snuggle there. Kel simply lay down beside where I was sitting.
Jacky and I talked about poison types and our battle while his toxicroak just stand beside him and stare at the two of us without blinking, the only other thing it did was the occasional croaking sound. If it wasn't for Jacky's reassuring presence, I might have found it creepy.
"Ah, don't mind my toxicroak. That's just how his species spend any idle time they have. They like to stare into nothing until something breaks them out of it. Sorry if he creeped you out. This tends to happen."
"It's fine." I waved off his concerns. "I'm just curious about your toxicroak. This is my first time seeing one up close."
"This bad boy here is supposed to counter your tyranitar, you know?" Jacky mused as he laid back on the couch that we were both sitting on and tossed his toxicroak a few treats from his pocket, which it took without blinking and gobbled in a split second before returning to its blank stare. "Wasn't expecting you to not be using it at all."
"I'm actually glad that I didn't send him out. Your toxicroak looks capable enough to demolish him." I said as I look at toxicroak with an appraising eye. It is definitely well-trained. Kratos's main weakness are fighting type pokemons, the only way he could win them is either through overwhelming them with his attacks, or not allowing them to get close to him at all.
"Nidoking and venusaur are able to handle your tyranitar too, but your cradily needs to be taken down, so I sent nidoking out early. Your cradily might have lost to that ursaring, but I know it can be very hard to fight against if I don't take it out as soon as possible. I saw how it healed itself."
"Your nidoking is a monster." I replied in a deadpan. "No one had took Toothless's Blast Burn like that and still be capable of fighting. Even Kratos get out of his way whenever he uses that move and Kratos is a rock type."
Jacky gave me a toothy grin.
"What can I say? I am a very capable trainer." His gaze then trailed down to Rena, who is lying comfortably on my lap. "Until your espeon totally destroyed me and my team. I think I might have suffered some trauma after that display."
Rena lifted her head up a little to give Jacky a smug grin.
"Well, I should have picked up sooner on what your absol was doing." Jacky mused as he looked at Kel, who is resting on the floor and totally ignoring our conversation as she curled up to sleep. "I use the same tactic with my scolipede but somehow it just didn't click for me that you were planning on using Baton Pass. I didn't even notice your absol using Calm Mind."
"Kel is one of the most elusive members of my team." I replied with pride as I glanced at Kel's sleeping form, although I know that she is definitely awake. She just didn't want to bother with Jacky so she pretended to be asleep. "She is very reliable when it comes down to it."
"My friends are going to laugh at me for that." Jacky grumbled. "My own tactic being used against me and I didn't even notice it."
"Same here. Your crobat's Taunt totally threw Dolly off her tempo."
"You don't have a poison type on your team, right?" Jacky said as he looked at me curiously. "You should get one. Poison types are awesome. I can give you some recommendations if you need them. I have seen many poison types on my journey and I'd like to think that I am good enough to give sound recommendations."
"Not too sure about poison types joining my team." I admitted. "My body is actually really frail and I'm not sure if interacting with poison types will be detrimental to my health. The only poison type I interact with is a gengar and it has enough control over his body to make sure I don't breathe in his fumes."
"Get a pokemon with a secondary typing in poison then. Like my venusaur." Jacky commented. "These poison types aren't as toxic as the others, and they don't really produce poisonous fumes all the time. In fact, you know what? If your charizard or tyranitar ever have offsprings of their own, consider contacting me. I will trade you a suitable poison type for one of them. I may be a Poison Specialist, but I appreciate the strength of other pokemon types as well. Any offsprings from your charizard and tyranitar are too strong to pass up."
"… I will consider it." I answered after a while. "I never considered about the possibility of my pokemon having offsprings of their own for some reason. But if they are fine with it, I don't see why not."
My shadows suddenly moved, and I can see toxicroak visibly tensed at the unnatural movement. Macky suddenly appeared from within it in a loud cackle that scared the wits out of Jacky and me.
"Macky!" I half-admonished, half-exclaimed with a little bit of happiness in my voice. "Don't scare us like that!"
Macky continue to cackle with a naughty look on his face before floating down and allowed me to pat him, much to Jacky's surprise.
"Gengar allows you to touch him? I have seen a few trained ghosts before and none of them allowed their trainers to even touch them."
"Macky here belongs to my brother. He watched me grow up." I said as I passed Macky a pecha berry from my bag. If Macky is here, Vance shouldn't be too far behind. "We are close despite him not being my pokemon."
"Hmm… I should get myself a gengar too." Jacky said as he looked at Macky with a thoughtful expression on his face. "They are poison types too, and I think a ghost on my team would be a great idea."
"Be careful when trying to find one for yourself. Macky is very tame for a ghost, but the ones in the wild are absolutely vicious. Try catching yourself a gastly instead, it will be easier to break it into your team instead of a haunter or a gengar. Make sure that your pokemons are fully prepared too when you go about finding one, ghosts are very unpredictable and they will do anything to win, even at the cost of their own life. It's in their nature."
Jacky gave me a teasing look.
"I will take your advice to heart, Ghost Mistress."
"Ugh. Stop calling me that." I shuddered at hearing that particular moniker. "I'm nowhere near being knowledgeable about ghosts. I only know the basics, and my knowledge largely stagnates at dealing with banettes and gengars since I deal with these two species regularly. Whoever gave me that stupid name obviously doesn't know enough about ghosts."
"I beg to differ. Your knowledge about ghosts is already miles ahead of anyone that I know. Your banette is proof of that." Jacky said as he tried to feed Macky with some treats of his own, but Macky don't really seem interested in it and looked at it with wary eyes instead.
"These treats don't interest you, huh? Poison types usually love these." Jacky mumbled before taking out a different type of treat and tried to feed Macky with it, only to fail in his second attempt too.
"I think Macky is just cautious. He doesn't trust anyone else that he just met. He usually gobbles up any food he sees and is not really a picky eater."
"Ah, glad to know that then." Jacky said as he noted down what I just said using his phone before looking up at me. "Anything else I should know about ghosts before I go ghost hunting?"
"Just be careful and watch for the shadows. With a few exceptions, most ghosts love to hide in them no matter the species."
"Got it." Jacky continue to write down what I said before passing his phone to me.
"Mind putting your number in it? It's hard to find someone who knows what they are doing with ghosts. If you ever need someone to advise you on poison types, you can call me anytime as well."
"Sure." I took the phone and quickly typed in my number before passing it back to Jacky.
"Vel!"
I turned and saw my older brother walking to me with my parents behind. He quickly plopped himself down in between me and Jacky in a rather exaggerated manner, shoving me to one side.
What was that for?
"Hey there, name's Vance. I'm Vel's brother." Vance said as he offered Jacky his hand, which he accepted and shook it, although it looks like Vance is applying more force than needed.
"Nice to meet you, Vance. Name's Jacky." Jacky responded in kind before turning his attention to my parents and standing up to greet them politely.
"Both of you must be Mr and Mrs Vera. It's nice to meet you."
Dad gave a nod in acknowledgement before turning his attention to Jacky's toxicroak.
"That toxicroak is yours? Haven't seen such a fine specimen in such a long time."
"Thank you for your kind words, Mr Vera. It's reassuring to have someone who is as knowledgeable as you to reassure me that I am raising my toxicroak right." Jacky replied politely just as the nurses called out his name. "It seems that the nurses are done with healing my pokemon. I will see you sometime later, Velda. Don't lose to your next challenger, you hear me?"
"I got it." I replied as Jacky waved me goodbye before he went to collect his pokemons, his toxicroak following behind.
"What was that for?" I growled out as I pinched Vance with my fingers on his waist the moment Jacky left, eliciting a yelp from him. "He was being nice and polite. We were having such a fun discussion about pokemons too."
"Hey, no one comes and flirt with my little sister." Vance replied as he nursed the area where I had pinched him. "You are still too young to be dating!"
"The only thing I did was to talk to him, you moron." I said as I gestured for Macky to hit Vance on the head, which he did. I tossed Macky another pecha berry as his reward. "I am only twelve. Why will I be dating at this age?"
"Going to be thirteen soon." Vance grumbled before yelping in pain as I pinched him again.
"Vel is starting to hit the age where she will start to notice boys." Dad said as if in deep thought before looking at me with a serious look.
"Vel, if any boy catches your eye, make sure to bring him home first so that we can get a good look at him, alright? You are not allowed to date any boys until we approve of him."
"Dad!" I whined. "I'm only twelve!"
"Soon to be thirteen." Dad reiterate Vance's words before continuing his monologue. "Chewy should reach his final form by the time you found a boy for yourself. No boy is allowed to date you if he cannot defeat all three of my pokemons in a three on three battle."
"Whatever boy that catches Vel's attention must go through me as well." Vance stated with his arms crossed as he nodded in agreement with Dad's words.
"No kissing or touching too. And the boy needs to send Vel home before ten every time they go out for a date." Dad added on.
"And he needs to give an hourly report on where they are and what they are doing too. So that we know that she is safe." Vance said as he slung an arm around me and pulled me closer to him. I covered my face with a palm and tried to melt into the floor. This is so embarrassing!
"Come on now, Vel is allowed to date if she feels ready for it. She is definitely mature enough to do so."
"No way, Mum." Vance said as he pulled me closer to him and hugged me protectively as I tried to make myself as small as possible and invisible to the world. Already, there are passers-by who are watching the strange dynamics and interactions of my family.
"There's no way some stupid boy is getting his grubby hands on our Vel. She deserves the best of the best. That guy better be able to at least defeat me and Dad in a battle before he can even think of coming near her. And don't you give your number to any random stranger, Vel!" Vance said that last part at me. "Who knows? That guy might be a creep!"
"Vance!"
"I need to make sure Chewy reaches his final evolution soon. I need to up his training when we get back home." Dad mumbled on, totally ignoring what I am saying as he got himself lost in his own world.
"I would be a wrinkly old lady by the time someone manages to defeat the both of you!"
"Good. Then no boys can get their hands on you."
Someone save me from the overprotective males of our family.
"Come on, why the long face?" Vance said as he pinched my cheeks and pulled them sideways and upwards. "Smiiiillle."
"Quit it." I slapped his hands away and gave him a glare. "I'm trying to think on how to defeat the next guy. You are distracting me."
Day had quickly turned into night after my family's run-in with Jacky earlier in the afternoon. The League Competition Committee had just released the match-ups for the semi-finals, and I am visualising all the possible ways I can use to defeat my next opponent in my head. Our family is on the way to find someplace to eat. Vance had taken some time off from his ACE duties until the final match is over. From what he said, he had purposely shifted all his duties to the earlier period of the month so that he can be free to watch the later matches where he is sure I will make my way to.
It's touching to see that my family has so much confidence in my ability to reach the semi-finals.
My next match will take place two days later and I am able to use the training field as often as I liked now since there are only four contestants left to use all the training fields available. I will get my team started on training first thing tomorrow morning.
"Don't fret too much. Fire Specialists are a lot easier to deal with than Poison. If you handled that Jacky guy and came out on top, then you should be fine with dealing with the next one."
"He made it to the Top 4, just like me. Our battle is not going to be easy. I definitely have to use Bigblue and Snap for the next match too."
"You have Snap, Bigblue, Kratos, and Toothless. These four alone can handle any fire type. See? Don't worry too much about it."
I ignored Vance in favour of plotting on how to win my next match as my family finally found a restaurant to have our dinner and sat down at an empty table. I frowned as I tried to think of ways that can help me win the next battle. My goal was to reach the Top 4, and I somehow made it against all odds. Since I had already climbed this high, I might as well set my sights higher and aim for the Top 2.
I don't think I can reach there though, no matter how optimistic I tried to be. For a trainer to qualify for the Top 2 in a conference would mean that he or she has some mad skills. Skills that I don't think I possess yet, or if I will ever possess at all. My ultimate goal isn't to be the strongest. Having those skills is kind of optional for me, I just need to be strong enough to defend myself against most threats.
Fang gave me a playful shove on my legs to break me out of my thoughts.
"Vance is right. Stop worrying about your coming match. You will do just fine." Dad said as he passed the menu to me.
I petted Fang absentmindedly as I looked through the menu. I can tell that the food here is expensive just by looking at the first few items on the menu.
But we are Veras. We are loaded with money. We don't dine lavishly often anyway, pampering ourselves occasionally is fine.
Fuzzy jumped onto Fang's head as the two of them went to tumble around nearby in a playful manner. Rena gave them a disapproving look but didn't say anything. Kel just lazed around beside my chair as Holly floated not far from where Mum is. Macky and Dolly should be somewhere nearby.
The dinner turned out to be a session of Mum showing off all the photos she took of me and my team during my match with Jacky earlier. I have to say, Mum does have a talent in photo taking.
"Look! My baby sister looks so beautiful in this picture!" Vance exclaimed as I kicked him under the table to lower his voice. He needs to stop embarrassing me in public. People are looking at us already damn it!
"This picture of her looks fine too." Dad said as he pointed at another picture that Mum had shared in our family's group chat. "Maybe we should print it out and frame it in our living room."
"No. I refuse."
"I think this one looks better, dear." Mum said as she pointed at another photo instead.
They are totally ignoring my opinion.
I looked through the photos Mum had taken of my pokemons instead. I think I would prefer printing those out and framing them as compared to displaying pictures of me. Maybe I should make a photo collage for my team? Our participation in the Ever Grande Conference is a milestone for us after all. We need something to remember it by.
Yup, that's what I will do the moment the conference is over.
If I thought the crowd was wild in the previous matches, they had nothing on this one.
They went insane the moment me and my opponent, Ajika Ulaha from the Alola region, appeared on our respective sides of the arena. The noise from the crowd is deafening and seeing such a huge crowd spectating my battle makes me want to hide in a corner. I don't really enjoy being the centre of attention of anything.
Still, I have a battle to compete and finish.
The pre-battle preparations were completed in a blink of an eye as the portraits of me and Ajika appeared on the big screen on the side of the arena. The crowd went wild once more the moment the psychic barriers were erected and both me and Ajika palmed and prime a pokeball in our hand. The dark-skinned teenage boy gave me a gentle smile, which I returned in kind.
It's time to introduce the dragon on my team to come out and play.
Ajika released a talonflame out for battle as I sent out Snap, who roared enthusiastically the moment he appeared, happy that it is finally his turn to shine.
"Sandstorm!"
With just a single flap of his wings, a massive sandstorm brewed and drastically reduced the visibility of the arena. The crowd cheered at seeing another member of my team finally making itself known.
A red flare of fire burst through the sandstorm and flew towards Snap, who began to fly away from the talonflame and blast at it with Dragon Pulses.
The talonflame used a Tailwind to boost its speed even further. Not only that, the wind increased the ferocity of its flames as it coated itself with fire with a Flare Blitz, zooming straight for Snap.
"Rock Slide!"
Snap rained rocks down onto the talonflame, which knocked away every single rock it encountered using only the sheer speed and force of its flight.
"Screech-sonic!"
Snap released an ear-splitting combination of Screech and Supersonic that disrupted talonflame's flight as it tried to shake off the effects. Snap wasted no time in unleashing a massive Dragon Pulse on the talonflame and sent it careening into the ground.
"Bury it!"
Snap used his powers over the ground and let the talonflame sink into the ground with an unnatural quicksand. The talonflame tried to get out, but beams of Dragon Pulses from Snap kept it in.
"Destroy it! Laser Beam!"
Snap briefly glowed with the use of Laser Focus before charging up a massive Hyper Beam in a second and shot it at the talonflame in a massive explosion. The talonflame lay unconscious on the ground the moment the smoke cleared.
This is a little too easy. Is there something that I am missing out on?
The next pokemon that Ajika sent out is one that I only saw a few times on TV before.
An alolan marowak appeared for battle with ghostly flames surrounding it. I have no idea what this particular species of marowak is capable of.
"Flame Wheel, stop the sandstorm!"
The marowak threw its club spinning in huge amount of its ghostly flames towards the centre of the arena. The vortex of fire grew larger and larger and began to suck in the entire sandstorm that Snap had previously called upon.
"Explode!"
The flames exploded in a ghostly shade of green flames that rocked the entire stadium. The flames were so huge that Snap had to use a Protect to defend himself from getting burned.
That is one overpowered marowak alright. It is also a ghost type, I need to get this ghost type out of our way. I don't have much knowledge about alolan marowaks and I don't want to find out now what it is capable of.
"Snap, return! Dolly, Suicide!"
Dolly placed a Curse and Toxic on the marowak, who hissed in pain at the unexpected move. The marowak attacked Dolly with a Shadow Bone but Dolly simply disappeared with Phantom Force and slammed the marowak away from her the moment she reappeared.
The marowak flipped itself in the air before landing on its feet. It lit itself on fire before charging right back in with a Flare Blitz.
"Shadow Ball Barrage!"
Dolly shot a huge amount of Shadow Balls at the marowak, who batted every single incoming Shadow Ball away expertly with its ghostly bone while continuing its charge. Dolly disappeared once more with Phantom Force and reappeared in the air this time, firing a huge beam of Dark Pulse at the marowak. The marowak skidded and turned around upon finding that its target had disappeared. It spun its bone at high speed to create a shield that blocked off Dolly's Dark Pulse. Its other paw starts to charge up a massive Shadow Ball before it fling the attack at Dolly, who simply evaded it.
"Sunny Day, then Flame Wheel!"
"Stop it!"
Dolly reappeared right beside the marowak with a Shadow Sneak and blasted a Hex at it, forcing it to stop whatever it is doing in favour of getting rid of Dolly. It used a Flame Charge that succeeded in hitting Dolly away from it. Too bad Dolly couldn't use Pain Split on marowak since it is a normal type move. This would be a lot easier otherwise.
The marowak seemed to be on its last legs given how much damage it had taken from Dolly's attack and the combination of Curse and Toxic being inflicted on it. We should be able to get it down soon. Dolly needs to be careful though, she is running on fumes as it is. Each of marowak's attacks that hit her did significant damage.
"Fire Blast!"
"Sucker Punch!"
Dolly disappeared and punched marowak in the gut, sending it flying away from her and crashing into the psychic barrier, taking it out.
We really got lucky with that one. The only reason why our battle progressed so smoothly is probably because Ajika didn't know I had Snap. He must have thought that my only fliers are Toothless and Fuzzy, and none of them are really capable of catching his talonflame in the air. Snap's Screech-sonic combo was instrumental in pulling off his sneak attack and grabbing us the first and easiest win.
We need to make full use of the momentum that we had gained now.
The next pokemon that appeared is another pokemon native to the Alola region, a salazzle.
I don't really know much about this pokemon other than the fact that it is a fire and poison type, that this particular one is a female since only the female of its species can evolve into a salazzle, and that salazzle has the ability to harm even steel and poison types with its poison.
In short, it is definitely a troublesome opponent. It might be better for Dolly to bring it down with a Destiny Bond, but I don't want to resort to that just yet. Destiny Bond is a last resort.
The salazzle released a huge cloud of poisonous fumes with Poison Gas, which Dolly immediately dispersed with Ominous Wind. The salazzle used that chance to get closer to Dolly and erupted the entire battlefield with a Flame Burst, turning it into a fiery hell in an instant.
The salazzle used a Nasty Plot before starting to shoot large cones of flames with Flamethrower. Dolly began to run and dodge the attacks as she started a Rain Dance to try and quell the flames while shooting her Shadow Balls.
"Dolly, Double Team!"
Dolly immediately multiplied in the air, but the salazzle merely narrowed its eyes slightly before unleashing a massive Heat Wave that can match Toothless's own, destroying every illusionary copies of Dolly.
Pain Split is also not an option here. It is too dangerous to even get close to the salazzle. Dolly has no way of healing herself.
The salazzle then used a Taunt. Damn it! There goes our option to use Destiny Bond!
"Dolly, Thunder!"
I need to get this salazzle down asap, or to weaken it as much as possible if Dolly does go down in battle against it.
A huge roaring thunder crashed into the salazzle from the rain clouds but the toxic lizard pokemon somehow withstood it and retaliated with a Dragon Pulse, taking Dolly out. I sent Rena out next, hoping that her psychic attacks is able to bring down the salazzle since it is part-poison.
"Rena, Psychic!"
Rena unleashed a huge blast of psychic energy which the salazzle physically destroyed with a powerful Knock Off. Just how strong is this lizard?!
"Torment!"
I physically cursed in my mind at that move. Now Rena is unable to use her most powerful moves repeatedly. She can't even use Calm Mind repeatedly now.
"Psybeam!"
Rena sent in psybeams at the salazzle instead, who destroyed her attacks in the same way as it did previously. The salazzle sent a massive Fire Blast at Rena, who mitigated the damage with a Light Screen.
The salazzle then began to make its way towards Rena again as Rena tried to keep her distance from it. Rena prepared a Future Sight as she tried to stop salazzle's advance with a Shadow Ball, but the salazzle is too nimble and dodged Rena's attacks and destroyed her Future Sight with dark type moves.
"Rena, Yawn!"
The salazzle began to act in a drowsy manner from Rena's Yawn, but not before going out in a huge blast of fire before the forced sleep kicks in.
"Overheat!"
The unexpected counter from salazzle bathed the entire arena in white hot flames. Rena had not been able to keep its distance from the salazzle and got the full brunt of it. I quickly returned Rena back to her pokeball, there's no way she can keep fighting after that.
I wasn't expecting Ajika's salazzle to be this powerful. It is an oversight on my part.
"Kratos, finish it! Stone Edge!"
Kratos appeared for battle and bashed the sleeping salazzle with a huge rock, finally taking it out.
I wasn't expecting Ajika to send out a volcarona to fight Kratos after he returned his salazzle back to his pokeball. Isn't that pokemon extremely weak against rock type attacks?
The volcarona immediately started off with a Quiver Dance, a move I know that absolutely cannot be allowed to use if we want to win.
"Stop it with Taunt!"
Kratos managed to stop volcarona from powering up even further although we were a little too late in doing so. The volcarona starts to engulf the entire area with flames by using a Fiery Dance, and Kratos immediately commanded the sands to snuff it out.
"Melt through it! Overdrive!"
The volcarona used a combination of Heat Wave, Fire Spin, and Fiery Dance together with Hurricane to produce the hottest and largest inferno of flames that I had ever saw in my life. Kratos's greatest attack and defense was rendered useless by the flames as it melted anything in the way.
Including his sand and rocks.
Kratos's rocks are not going to be of any use here. They would melt before they can even go close. I can see why Ajika is confident that his volcarona can bring Kratos down.
But Kratos is not a King without reason.
"Rain Dance! Then Kirin combo!"
I'm going to make full use of the heat the volcarona is giving out.
The storm clouds formed in an instant thanks to the heat and Kratos immediately started to direct Thunders after Thunders at the volcarona, each of them finding its target with ease. The volcarona retaliated with a Bug Buzz that somehow managed to critically injure Kratos. Its repeated use of Fiery Dance must have increased its offensive powers to very high levels.
"Get the tyranitar! Overdrive Flare Blitz!"
The volcarona immediately began charging at Kratos while still bathing itself in those extremely hot flames. There's nowhere else Kratos can go. The underground would be too hot with all the flames the volcarona had been releasing all these while. Kratos can't fly, at least not yet. I haven't got him to ride platforms of sand as how Gaara from the Naruto series did. The best he can do right now is ride on a wave of sand, which will not be of much help here.
The only way now is forward.
"Dragon Dance and Giga Impact!"
Kratos acknowledged my command and charged to meet the volcarona after powering up. A large explosion occurred at the point of impact that caused the psychic barriers to flicker erratically and everyone, including Ajika and me, to crouch down and find cover. The battle is simply too destructive.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the outcome the moment everything died down. Kratos, the strongest member of my team, has been brought down.
This isn't part of the plan.
The only good thing is that Kratos had managed to bring the volcarona down as well. This is a double knockout, but this outcome had screwed my plans over. I was banking on Kratos to at least take out a few more of Ajika's pokemons before going down, if that was ever happening. I had never thought that Kratos would lose. It had never crossed my mind. I had severely underestimated what a Fire Specialist can do.
They melt and burn through all opposition. A very straightforward and direct way of battling, but a very effective way too if you have the strength behind it. Even water evaporates if the flames are hot enough.
Fire is an unstoppable force of nature if wielded right.
Ajika immediately released a turtonator for battle next and I sent out Snap. If my experiences from this conference tells me anything, it is that battles of the higher levels tend to be very fast paced and you hardly have anytime to react and give commands to your pokemon. Most of the time, a few moves are enough to knock a pokemon out of commission as the attacks are just that strong. Jacky's battle with me is a very good example.
Snap is fully capable of handling himself even without my guidance. I can trust him to battle on his own.
Turtonator seems to be a dragon type too, if I recall my facts right. Typing wise, I probably have the advantage, although I won't be counting on it. Ajika's volcarona did managed to bring down Kratos with it somehow despite the type disadvantage it faced.
Flygon led in with a Sandstorm followed by a Dragon Pulse which the turtonator responded in kind. Every ranged attack that Snap threw at it is deflected or blocked off by turtonator's own as it slowly heated up the battlefield. We cannot allow that to happen.
"Screech-sonic!"
"Heat Wave! Blow the air away!"
Snap's Screech-sonic combo didn't reach turtonator at all as the hot air from turtonator blew the winds in our direction, not allowing turtonator to hear Snap's vocal attack. I didn't know Heat Wave can be used in this manner, this is something that I need to take note of in the future.
This turtonator's battling style is slowly forcing Snap to engage it in a close-up fight. A fight that I am not sure if Snap can win. Close up fights is not Snap's forte even if he is good enough at it.
I don't have any other choice though.
"Snap, Fly and Dragon Dance!"
Snap flew high up in the air as he began a Dragon Dance to boost himself with power. Ajika grinned, which immediately sent warning bells ringing in my head.
"Draco Meteor!"
Oh shit.
"Snap, run!"
Large number of meteors imbued with draconic energy rained from the sky as Snap immediately went on the run to escape from the attack. He blasted any meteors that got too close with his own attacks and used a Protect to defend himself from the worst of it. However, he is now too close to the ground.
"Get the flygon!"
The turtonator's shell exploded and the turtonator charged towards Snap, the explosive force propelling it forward like a missile. Snap roared in challenge and rammed at the turtonator with a Dragon Rush, who had somehow turned around in time and used its shell to defend itself.
"Activate Shell Trap!"
The entire area exploded again with turtonator's shell as the origin of the explosion. Snap got himself caught up in it and immediately distanced himself from his foe although the flames had already gotten to him. What the hell is that attack? Is it an attack unique to the turtonator species?! I had never seen anything like this before!
Snap's health is now brought down to dangerously low levels. He can use Roost to heal himself, but I doubt the turtonator will give him that opportunity. Snap will probably lose here. I could recall him right now, but he is the best candidate in bringing down this turtonator. I need him now.
If Snap is going down, then we will go out in a blaze of glory.
"Snap, finish it with Meteor Rush!"
Snap acknowledged my command and rushed at the turtonator with another Dragon Rush, a large amount of draconic energy forming at the front of his opened jaws. The turtonator tried to turn around to use its shell to defend itself once more, but Snap isn't stupid. There's no way the both of us will let it use the same trick on us twice.
The turtonator is now unable to turn around as it is quickly sinking down in quicksand.
"Overheat! Take down the flygon!"
Turtonator unleashed massive flames of Overheat as Snap pushed past it and emerged from the flames, battered but determine to at least injure the turtonator as much as possible before going down.
"Draco Meteor!"
Snap's Draco Meteor was unleashed right in front of the turtonator and another massive explosion occurred, blasting both pokemons away from each other and slamming into the psychic barriers on the edge of the arena. The turtonator managed to get back up on its feet, heavily injured but still able to continue going. Snap, however, had succumbed to his burns and laid unconscious on the ground.
He might have lost to turtonator, but his performance was still spectacular.
Both Ajika and I have two pokemons left. I still have another powerhouse in the form of Toothless, but sending a fire type out against a Fire Specialist probably is probably a bad idea. Ajika could possibly think of a hundred ways to bring Toothless down in the same time I try to come out with one to defeat his. Thankfully, his turtonator is on its last legs. I just need to bring it down as fast as possible just in case it is able to heal itself back up.
Only one option then.
"Bigblue, drown it!"
An extremely large wave of water erupted from below the ground and approached the turtonator like a tsunami the moment I sent Bigblue out. The turtonator tried to disperse the waters with a Flash Cannon, but the wave of water is too big for his attack to have any visible effects.
There's nowhere for it to run.
"Brave through the waters! Take out the swampert with the biggest flames ever!"
Biggest flames ever? What is it this time?
The turtonator charged through the waters using the explosive force produced by its shell and flew straight towards Bigblue before glowing a blindingly white.
Explosion. That's what he's planning.
The stadium rocked from the impact of another explosion for the umpteenth time that day. Bigblue just remained at his previous spot untouched and unfazed as his shield of Protect defended him from harm. The unconscious form of turtonator lay beneath his feet, taken out by his own kamikaze attack.
The crowd roared at the display and Ajika took out the pokeball that contains the last member of his team that he will be sending out.
A blaziken appeared for battle and the crowd definitely went insane this time round. A battle between Hoenn's regional starters. I can already imagine the reporters writing the headlines of tomorrow's newspapers.
"Quick Attack and Sky Uppercut!"
Blaziken moved as a blur as it approached Bigblue. Blaziken is largely a physical fighter, which can only mean one thing.
Its defeat is imminent no matter how strong the blaziken can be in close combat. The only way it can face Bigblue on equal ground is only if it has some tricks on its own to fight a long-distance battle. Bigblue had grown to be a force of nature ever since our Sootopolis gym challenge. He is equally capable of long and close-range combat and able to adapt to almost any kind of circumstances.
"Bigblue, you know what to do."
Bigblue bellowed and immediately used his powers over the ground, rocks, and water to battle against the blaziken.
The ground of the entire arena immediately liquified, which almost tripped blaziken as it sank knee-deep into the mud. The multiple explosions of our battle thus far had made it extremely easy for Bigblue to turn the rocky ground into mud. Bigblue isn't done yet, and conjured a massive Whirlpool that caged the entire arena and washed blaziken in it, throwing it around like a ragdoll.
Bigblue had now changed the domain into his own natural habitat: a swamp.
The blaziken tried to get out of the trap that it is still sinking into by producing a large amount of fire on the bottom of its feet to propel itself out of there, but Bigblue disrupted its every attempt with a Water Pulse. Bigblue raised countless rocks and rained them down on the blaziken which steadily whittle down its health.
"Dry up the ground with Flame Burst!"
"Hydro Pump!"
Bigblue sent a massive vortex of water from his mouth and crashed it into the blaziken, who have no other means to defend itself since its greatest asset, its speed, is being disabled. The blaziken was sent flying into the air and is now greatly injured from Bigblue's attack.
"Now, Solar Beam!"
Bigblue raised wall of rocks that blocked the Solar Beam from the blaziken, who is now simultaneously using its flames to dry the area around it so that the ground is now hard enough for it to run on. It is sticking to ranged moves since it is wary of Bigblue catching it again in his domain if it got too near.
"Rain Pulse!"
Bigblue used a Rain Dance that immediately summoned the rain clouds. What is unique about this Rain Pulse combo is that it won't be simply raining water.
It will rain Water Pulses.
Large amount of Water Pulses dropped down from the sky instead of raindrops as the blaziken is now trying to frantically defend itself from the attack. Bigblue took this time to increase the area of his swamp and slowly encroach onto the area that blaziken is standing at, giving it lesser space to work with.
Bigblue excels at playing the waiting game as long as the domain is set in his favour. Blaziken never stood a chance. This blaziken is strong, no doubt about it, but it got itself matched with the wrong opponent.
Ajika was simply unlucky that I have Bigblue on my team. The secrecy that I was so adamant on had paid off in spades. Ajika didn't have the time to plan a way to counter Bigblue simply because he didn't know Bigblue exists and what he is capable of.
And because of that, we will win this battle.
"Bigblue, hold blaziken in place, then Hydro Cannon."
Bigblue commanded the swamp as it now moved like a living being under Bigblue's control and wash towards blaziken in a wave of mud. The blaziken tried to defend itself from it on top of the rain of Water Pulses, a combo that Bigblue and I had spent an extremely long time devising and perfecting with Juan's help. I lost count on how many phone calls I had made to him when trying to present my crazy idea to him.
The mud wrapped itself around the blaziken, who is now lighting itself up with a Flare Blitz to dry the viscous mud and then break free from it. However, it won't be fast enough.
A humongous watery blast impacted against the blaziken and washed it out of the arena. The blaziken lay there defeated. Even the crowd had gone silent after Bigblue's display of power.
Bigblue gave a loud bellow that broke the crowd out of their silent reverie, which then began to erupt into a deafening cheer. A smile slowly broke across my face.
I did it! I made it to the Top 2!
I ran down to give Bigblue an excited hug, which he returned. He is still as reliable as ever. I'm so proud of him!
My big and blue swampert, the one which have been with me ever since the start of my journey. He just singlehandedly turned the tide of the battle! Quite literally too!
I am just so happy!
AN: I think the portion of this chapter towards the end is a little lacking due to how Bigblue fights, but I think this is a more realistic way of how Bigblue will handle any foes that mainly deals physical damage given what he is capable of since he was introduced in chapter 2.
I remembered someone requesting in the reviews to have a blaziken in the matches quite sometime back, and it inspired me to have Vel face a Fire Specialist. So here it is, although I feel kind of sorry for making blaziken underwhelming. However, I honestly think that a close-range fighter like blaziken would not stand any chance against Bigblue, one of Vel's best fighters.
The next chapter probably won't come out so soon, since my internship will be starting tomorrow. Expect much slower updates after this chapter, although I will still be actively writing.
In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
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