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The New Normal - 10-9
🕑 Added 2024-06-21 11:00:16 +0000 UTCThe New Normal – 10-9 – The First Match
As soon as the announcements were over and we were allowed to leave the arena, Roxanne and I broke off from the rest of the group to get some more training in.
I was happy to see her determination. It was clear that she was putting a lot of effort into winning this Tournament, and she recognised what an opportunity these battles served for her.
Not only did it allow her to show off her talents on what was likely the largest stage that she would ever set foot on, but it also allowed her to hone her strength against opponents that she would rarely, if ever, be able to fight against. And while not to praise myself too hard, I also felt that I was a good mentor that was able to spot out her weaknesses and guide her on how best to improve herself.
All in all, this week promised her the potential to grow explosively, so long as she was willing to reach out with both hands and seize the opportunity before her. And she seemed like she was.
We trained hard into the night, though we allowed our Pokémon to rest early as our preparations were mostly focused on making plans for the upcoming battle, and she spent much of it asking good questions about how we could improve our teamwork and how best to catch our opponents off guard. I ended up sleeping on some random couch in the Gym to maximize our training time.
Which was why, come our battle against Will, I was feeling confident.
Not just in my own strength, but also in the strength of my partner. We were going to win this battle.
However, come the very next morning, it seemed like my partner did not share my confidence.
“…This is what I get for giggling at my students when they get nervous for a class presentation, isn’t it?” She mumbled anxiously to herself as she tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down. It wasn’t working.
“I think this is very different from a simple class presentation.” I deadpanned. The two of us were in the waiting room as we waited for the stage to be fixed as the last battle came to a conclusion. Since our match was just before lunch, a few teams had already been eliminated.
Single eliminations were pretty scary.
“Hahaha…yeah…” She laughed uncertainly, “It’s just that I’ve never fought on a public stage like this and now I’m getting all anxious about it. How did you even manage to fight Drake last year without getting nervous?”
“Oh I was definitely nervous, don’t be mistaken about that.” I replied, “But once the battle began, I just lost all that nervousness simply because I couldn’t focus on it. I had to focus on the battle in front of me. I didn’t have time to be distracted by other feelings.”
I patted her on the shoulder, “So don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll be the same for you too. And hey, if you screw up, you can be reassured that I’ll step up and help you. So make sure you stay the same for me!” I shot her a bright smile.
She returned it, “I’m sure you wouldn’t ever need your help. Besides, would your Pokémon even listen to me?”
“Some might not.” I admitted, thinking of Wraith and Ornstein. They were my more rowdier Pokémon and would not randomly obey another trainer in the middle of battle, “But my more senior Pokémon definitely will – so long as your orders aren’t blatantly idiotic.”
She let out a small chuckle, “That’s good to know.”
I clapped my hands, “Okay, enough of the self-deprecation and anxiousness. We have a battle to win. We’ve trained plenty; surely we couldn’t have spent all that effort just to lose at the first hurdle. So chin up, Roxanne. Let’s win this.”
She nodded, “You’re right.” The determination reigniting in her eyes, “We have a fight to win.”
And so the two of us fell into a comfortable silence as we patiently waited for the battle to begin. Our plans had already been made, and the strengths and weaknesses of both Will and Flannery were already thoroughly discussed, so it was only a matter of executing our plans.
Of course, the plan was deliberately flexible so that we wouldn’t become too tunnel-visioned trying to stick to it. But after sharing what we knew about them, both Roxanne and I agreed that their teamwork was likely to be their biggest weakness. Not because they were rude to each other, but simply because they were both TOO passionate, which influenced their fighting styles.
The call from the League official snapped us out of our thoughts. It was time.
I gave Roxanne one last reassuring nod before we entered the stadium. I saw Roxanne falter slightly as the crowd roared to life at our appearance, but she steadied herself and followed after me, swallowing her fear.
Giving a quick wave towards the crowd, my eyes snapped to my opponents. Will and Flannery almost swaggered onto the stage; even at this distance it was easy to spot the enthusiasm brimming in their eyes.
We didn’t exchange anything beyond a mere nod. There was no need for banter. It was time for a fight.
“Just as we planned.” I whispered once more to Roxanne, and she nodded as she grabbed a Pokéball from her belt. I did the same.
“AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE MATCH BETWEEN WILL AND FLANNERY VS JOHN AND ROXANNE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! GIVE IT UP FOR YOUR FOUR TRAINERS!” The crowd screamed their approval at the announcer’s words.
“NO TIME TO WASTE! LET’S GET RIGHT TO IT! TRAINERS, ARE YOU READY?!” We all nodded.
“THEN THREE…TWO…ONE…FIGHT!!”
“Go! Ornstein!” “Get them! Golem!”
“Time to shine, Camerupt!” “Dazzle them, Gardevoir!”
Our Pokémon emerged onto the field, staring down at each other. Ornstein instantly broke out into a dash, rushing down Will’s Gardevoir and immediately firing off a Taunt.
But Gardevoir Teleported out of the way, creating distance between herself and Ornstein and avoiding the Taunt. However, we had predicted Gardevoir’s movements correctly, and Golem let out a roar and unleashed a surprising Stone Edge that targeted a location far away from itself – which was exactly where Gardevoir had Teleported to.
Gardevoir let out a pained cry as the jagged rocks ripped into her, but she had the mental willpower to Teleport out before any further follow attacks came.
In the meanwhile, Camerupt reminded the world of its presence by launching a devastating Eruption towards the charging Ornstein. Molten rocks rained down around him, crashing into the ground and melting the ground with their searing heat.
But Ornstein had been training for these kinds of scenarios. With his speed, he leapt, dodged, and rolled out of the way of the incoming Eruption as he continued rushing down Gardevoir. Despite having his eyes locked on to Gardevoir, he had the presence of mind to dexterously evade the falling molten rocks.
Golem also moved to intercept, firing off a barrage of rocks at Camerupt with a Rock Blast. Camerupt grunted, and retaliated with its own volley of rocks that smashed against each other.
Neither were able to use Earthquake for fear of tripping up and hurting their own teammates.
“Keep Taunting it, Ornstein.”
The Taunts kept coming Gardevoir’s way, always in pursuit of Gardevoir as she continued to Teleport around. Ornstein was simply waiting for a single opportunity for Gardevoir to be caught with a Taunt, and he had seemingly limitless energy as he picked up speed.
They were playing a game of Persian and Rattata.
The fight ended up stalling. Gardevoir was not at all lacking for Psychic power and managed to maintain her steady stream of Teleports, keeping her distance as Ornstein continued his dogged pursuit after her. Gardevoir had the time to retaliate with a few Moonblasts, but Ornstein was too fast for Gardevoir to hit with her slow-moving Moonblasts.
At the same time, Camerupt and Golem continued to exchange blows, with Fire and Rocks being slung at each other, but neither were able to do more than superficial damage against each other. Especially since Gardevoir managed to get both Reflect and Light Screens up, blocking even more of the incoming damage.
The arena ended up being split in half by Camerupt’s and Golem’s exchange of attacks as a solid trench of burning rocks and molten flame tore through the centre of the arena; the fiery aftermath of their respective attacks creating a no-man’s land of hostile terrain.
It seemed like neither side was able to gain an advantage against the other. We were on the offense, but we weren’t able to apply enough pressure.
However, this situation was what we wanted. Unbeknownst to Will and Flannery, Golem had been repeatedly setting up with Rock Polishes between his attacks, secretly boosting up his speed so that he was no longer than slow and lumbering Rock type everyone thought he was. With his speed boosted to the max, he was able to briefly match Ornstein’s base speed.
Then, Roxanne subtly tapped my arm, signalling to me that the trap was set. Now it was only a matter of waiting for the right opportunity.
Ornstein had been continuously pursuing after the Teleporting Gardevoir, never letting his prey escape him as he matched her mobility with his incredible speed. And then it happened – Gardevoir Teleported near Golem, thinking that Roxanne’s Rock type was still busy trading attacks with Camerupt.
We sprung our trap.
“NOW, GOLEM!”
Golem spun around like a ball, ignoring the flaming rocks crashing against its back as it shot off like a rocket, leaping into the air and rapidly closing the distance between itself and Gardevoir with its eyes blazing with vicious determination.
The burst of speed took Gardevoir completely by surprise, and the Psychic type couldn’t react in time before Golem caught her in its powerful arms.
“GO GO GOLEM!!” It roared, crashing their heads together in a brutal Iron Head that caused Gardevoir to reel backwards. The Reflect barrier rippled, blocking some but not all of the attack. Thinking that its surprise attack had succeeded, Golem’s fist crackled as it readied a follow-up Thunder Punch.
“Flash Cannon, Camerupt! Stop it!”
Unfortunately for us, Gardevoir was spared from Golem’s follow-up as it was interrupted by a Flash Cannon from Camerupt that detonated harshly against Golem’s back. The Rock types tumbled forwards, grunting in pain as the supereffective attack cancelled its attack, which gave Gardevoir just enough space to recover and Teleport out of Golem’s reach.
But in her haste, Gardevoir forgot about Ornstein. Appearing from behind, Ornstein finally caught Gardevoir with a Taunt, cutting off her ability to Teleport around.
“Night Slash, Ornstein! Bring it down!”
“Dazzling Gleam, Gardevoir!”
As soon as its usual Teleport shenanigans were cut off, Will moved to take control of the fight once again. Ornstein’s attempts to eviscerate Gardevoir with a Night Slash was interrupted as Gardevoir moved quickly, unleashing a powerful wave of Fairy energy that blasted him backwards, sending him skidding across the ground.
“ENERGY BALL, BEHIND YOU!”
Proving herself to be an Elite Pokémon for a reason, Gardevoir wasted no time spinning around and firing off a barrage of Energy Balls straight towards the charging Golem, blasting it just in time before the Rock type could reach its target and sending it crashing backwards into the psychic barriers. As Golem fell, Camerupt let out a roar as an Earth Power violently erupted from the ground.
For all its famed defenses, Golem was not able to withstand against the double punch of powerful Special Attacks, succumbing to its injuries as it fell unconscious.
I let out a small frown as I watched Golem fall. That wasn’t what we had planned to happen – we had expected that our surprise trap for Gardevoir would have instantly brought down the Psychic type, but Gardevoir proved more resilient than we gave her credit for. Plus, with Golem out of the fight, Roxanne was only left one Pokémon. And Ornstein wasn’t in a very good condition either.
I felt the worry radiating from Roxanne, but I was quick to calm myself. We weren’t out of options yet.
I realized what I had to do.
“Ornstein, Parting Shot the Gardevoir! Get out of there!”
“Sudowoodo! Time to step up!”
Ornstein let out a mocking snarl at Gardevoir, releasing a cloud of mocking darkness that was blocked by a Protect shield from the Psychic type, though it did nothing to block Ornstein’s return to his Premier Ball.
“WRAITH! YOUR TURN!”
Not wasting any time, I had him instantly replaced with Wraith. I had to take full advantage of the fact that Gardevoir was still Taunted to bring her down. If she could recover from the Taunt, it would be painfully difficult to catch her again.
I could have had Wraith disguise himself as another one of my Pokémon, but that wasn’t necessary at the moment. The priority now was to get close to Gardevoir as quickly as possible.
A powerful bolt of Psychic came his way, and Wraith was sent flying backwards like a ragdoll flying through the air, before collapsing onto the ground like a puppet that had its strings cut. In the heat of battle, Gardevoir instinctively turned to refocus her attention on the new Sudowoodo, not thinking too much about the strange ‘frailty’ of Wraith.
It was a terrible mistake.
“ZOR!” Dropping the illusion, Wraith appeared right in front of his opponent as he unleashed a savage Shadow Claw that ripped into Gardevoir’s exposed back, causing her to cry out in pain as she fell to the ground. While both trainer and Pokémon were equally surprised, Wraith showed no mercy – having trained himself for this exact moment, and tore into the fallen Gardevoir with a flurry of ferocious Shadow Claws.
The frail Gardevoir proved unable to withstand against Wraith’s ruthless assault and had her health ripped to shreds.
“Lava Plume, Camerupt! Save your partner!”
“Rock Slide, Sudowoodo! Protect him!”
Camerupt tried desperately to intervene, but Sudowoodo was quick to stop any attempts from interfering as it blocked the incoming plume of molten rocks with a thick wall of stone. Trying to switch tactics, Camerupt desperately attempted to charge up a Solar Beam but that too was swiftly interrupted by a decisive Stone Edge from Sudowoodo.
In the end, Sudowoodo accomplished what it set out to do. With Camerupt unable to interfere, Gardevoir could little more than fire off a few futile Psychics that Wraith easily shrugged off as he continued eviscerating the helpless Psychic type with his razor sharp claws. At this range, Gardevoir was little more than prey for Wraith, and Wraith was never one to let his food escape.
Gardevoir didn’t stand a chance, and was promptly knocked out.
Will looked like he wanted to say something as he withdrew his unconscious Gardevoir, but seeing the battle rage out between Camerupt and Sudowoodo may have caused him to hold back his words. Instead, he just sent out his final Pokémon.
“Hypno! Hypnosis!”
A dizzying ray of circular pink lights chimed forth from its ever-swinging pendulum of the newly emerged Hypno. Wraith ignored this, charging towards the new Hypno as he Snarled, sending out a bolt of Dark energies that crashed against the incoming Hypnosis.
Both attacks nullified each other out. Therefore, thinking that Hypno was now vulnerable, Wraith leapt forwards – only to rush headfirst into a trap as Future Sights detonated right in his face, sending him staggering backwards.
Hypno took the opportunity to Teleport next to Camerupt, before its eyes flashed blue as it clapped its hands together with a Helping Hand.
“ERUPTION, NOW! AS WE PLANNED!”
“CAMERUPTTT!!” Camerupt released a deafening roar as its entire body glowed with power – a clear demonstration of the sudden surge of power that it just received from Hypno – as the flames around its body exploded out with power. Then, an enormous ball of flame launched upwards from its back, soaring into the air before breaking apart into a rain of molten rocks that came raining down like a volcanic apocalypse.
Watching the incoming doom heading our way, Roxanne and I shared a look for a brief moment before we both nodded, knowing what we had to do.
“Rock Throw to form a shield, Sudowoodo! Block it!”
“Use Sudowoodo as cover, Wraith! Protect and ambush!”
A huge wall of rocks formed around our two Pokémon, forming a protective shelter just in time for the rain of molten rocks to impact the ground, causing a huge wave of flame to rush out in all directions.
The arena was drowned in a ocean of flames, and a thick smoke filled the battlefield, obscuring all vision.
It took a moment for the flames to clear, but once it did, it revealed an arena that had been completely scorched black by the flames, and there were even some lingering embers scattered across the battlefield. With one attack, the battlefield had been turned into a wasteland.
It spoke volumes of the sheer boost that Hypno was able to provide to Camerupt.
What was more important was the lone figure of Sudowoodo, still standing tall despite the overwhelming display of power. Its’ defenses were not for nothing, even if it was now Burned. Yet, next to it was a knocked out Wraith, his entire body covered in painful burn marks as he twitched helplessly on the ground.
In the meanwhile, Camerupt collapsed in exhaustion as it expended most of its energy with that devastating attack, having used up all of its borrowed power. But now that it was a 2v1, our opponents were all too happy to maintain their distance, moving conservatively as they blasted Sudowoodo with a Psychic and Flash Cannon respectively.
…That was, until Wraith came leaping out of the ground with a Dig, ambushing the surprised Hypno and slashing downwards with a ruthless Shadow Call.
Like I had hoped, Wraith had used Sudowoodo as a rock shield to keep itself mostly safe while he tricked his foes with another illusion.
While Hypno was considered the second strongest of Will’s team, that was more due to its supportive and disruptive capabilities, which meant nothing against the brutal assault of attacks from Wraith – who specialised in close range takedowns like this.
“Shadow Claw, Wraith! Take it down!”
“Get away, Hypno!”
Now desperate, Hypno instinctively fired off another Hypnosis, but the hypnotising beam of light was slashed in half by a Shadow Claw before Wraith unleashed his full vengeful wrath against his target, overwhelming Hypno’s flimsy defences just like he did with Gardevoir.
In just a few seconds, the fight had been completely reversed. From what looked like our team being on the verge of defeat, to Hypno crumbling in the face of Wraith’s overwhelmingly aggressive assault – once again proving that a simple illusion was a huge trump card against those who didn’t know to expect it.
I sincerely doubted Hypno would have been so easily taken out otherwise.
However, Wraith’s victory was very short lived. The moment Hypno was brought down, Wraith was smashed face-first by a fist of scorching rocks, sending the already-injured Wraith flying through the air.
This time, Camerupt didn’t hit an illusion.
Knowing this, Camerupt roared and fired off an Earth Power, just as Sudowoodo came exploding out from the ground with a Dig of its own, but it came too late. While Sudowoodo managed to land a devastating Head Smash against the distracted Camerupt, it wasn’t in time to stop the Earth Power from ripping through the health of the fallen Wraith, knocking him out of the fight.
And now it was down to two very injured Pokémon. Both badly injured, and one even burnt.
“Iron Head, Camerupt!”
“Wood Hammer, Sudowoodo!”
The two Pokémon charged forwards, looking to exchange what was likely their final moves against each other. Camerupt smashed down hard, bashing their heads together with a savage Iron Head. At the same time, Sudowoodo swung a violent Wood Hammer that crashed powerfully into Camerupt’s side.
The attacks caused both Pokémon to crumble and collapse against each other in a picturesque double knockout.
It was down to me and Flannery, with each only having one Pokémon remaining.
Furthermore, on paper, I was at a disadvantage. Ornstein had already been revealed and was injured, giving Flannery the opportunity to choose a Pokémon that could counter my own, while also having it be fresh from battle.
However, I did not let my disadvantage show on my face, instead choosing to stare down Flannery with a blank and calm expression – as if daring her to fight me. My intimidation worked, and I saw a minute flinch from the less experienced Flannery.
But nervous or not, she still sent out her final Pokémon.
“Blaziken! Beat them up!”
“Ornstein, back into the fight! Rush in!”
Hoping to take full advantage of her nervousness, I immediately ordered Ornstein to go on the assault. Yet, Flannery didn’t allow her nerves to dictate her actions. Despite the obvious nervousness and slight hesitation on her face, she kept her calm and gave orders to her Blaziken as it readied itself as Ornstein charged its way.
Ornstein crashed into Blaziken with a fully powered Double Edge, only to be blocked by a Protect shield from Blaziken before it counterattacked with a Low Sweep that almost tripped up Ornstein. He stepped to the side and rushed forwards with another Slash, but Blaziken raised its arm to block it before retaliating with a Fire Punch that narrowly missed – only lightly burning Ornstein’s fur. Another attempted Shadow Claw was interrupted as a Blaze Kick whipped through the air in front of him, forcing Ornstein to retreat as the strike missed.
The two continued to exchange blows, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that Ornstein just wasn’t able to land a good hit on Blaziken.
I grimaced as I realised what the issue was. Due to his size and strength, I had trained Ornstein to be an evasive and mobile fighter, fully relying on his strong ambushing potential and speed to secure knockouts. However, Ornstein never really had any way of blocking attacks, as relying on his flimsy Protect shields was too much of a risk, and was why I tried to avoid sending out Ornstein against close range attackers. He couldn’t block with his small arms and legs – that was never going to be practical.
Even against his rival Smough, Ornstein never was able to trade hits with him. He was always forced to dodge. Against a much slower Smough, this wasn’t a huge issue, as Smough’s slow speed still afforded opportunities for Ornstein to land hits. However, against the faster Blaziken, this wasn’t the case.
While Blaziken was able to block and counterattack simultaneously, it was also just fast enough so that Ornstein wasn’t able to hit the Fire type.
What was worse was that even I could see that there were many openings for Ornstein to exploit. Blaziken was nowhere at the level of the many other close-range fighters I had been up against, and I knew that Ornstein was far more skilled than it.
However, Ornstein was not able to take advantage of those openings, even if he was faster. The simple fact that he wasn’t able to properly block attacks due to his size was a humiliating reality check for my Dark type.
I could see the frustration beginning to set in as he continued to circle around the Fire type. This was a battle that he should be winning. He had the speed. He had the technique. He had the agility. If only he was bigger. If only he was just stronger. If only he could just EVOLVE!
And then it happened. As Blaziken dove forwards with his fists alight with flames, a blinding white light suddenly flooded the battlefield.
It was finally happening.
Blaziken wasn’t able to cancel his own attack in time, and instead of punching down on a small and tiny Linoone, it found its fist ensnared by Ornstein, now evolved into an Obstagoon, with a malicious grin on his face that promised pain and retribution. As Blaziken slowly realized the terrible situation it was in, Ornstein even had the audacity to extend his tongue, taunting it with an evil smile.
A shocked gasp of surprise came from the crowd as they took in Ornstein’s new form. Even the current battlers, except me, were no exception to this. No one knew that Linoone had a hidden evolution.
But that was for later. We had a battle to win.
Blaziken immediately tried to break free from Ornstein’s iron grasp by unleashing a Blaze Kick that hammered in from the side. But rather than smashing into Ornstein’s side, it instead was blocked as Ornstein raised an arm that formed a barrier of Dark energy that seeped into Blaziken’s body upon contact.
I grinned. Ornstein had instinctively known how to use Obstruct. It was another excellent move in his arsenal.
“FINISH IT, ORNSTEIN! BRICK BREAK!”
Blaziken’s eyes flashed with panic as it realized that its defences were harshly dropped, but it didn’t have time to process that as a painful Brick Break smashed into its face. Seeing his opponent stumble backwards, Ornstein lunged forwards, releasing all of its frustrations in a single blow as he brutally Body Slammed the Fire type straight into the ground.
A critical hit!
Yet Ornstein wasn’t done yet, and proving that his bigger frame didn’t mean that it was any slower than before, he immediately pounced over Blaziken’s fallen body. Slamming down a knee as he pinned the Fire type beneath him, his smile widened sadistically as his fist began crackling with lightning, and a merciless rain of Thunder Punches came pummelling down on the fallen Blaziken.
Ornstein was determined to end the fight here and now.
“BREAK FREE, BLAZIKEN! YOU NEED TO GET UP!”
However, despite its’ trainer’s words, the harsh defence drops from the earlier Obstruct had truly crippled Blaziken, and now each punch it took was another dangerously crippling blow to its health. If it was more disciplined, perhaps it could fight through the pain, but Blaziken unfortunately did not possess the mental willpower to ignore the pain.
Ultimately, its desperate struggles proved futile, and it was unable to throw off Ornstein before a final Thunder Punch cracked the ground and bashed the Fire type into unconsciousness.
The battle was won. Victory was ours.
The crowd roared at our victory, but I ignored them as I shot Ornstein a proud smile. He just stuck out his tongue at me, but I knew he was equally as pleased as I was. He flexed his new and powerful muscles to me, and I laughed as I saw how much he enjoyed his new form.
However, now was not the time to inspect his new body. I turned to Roxanne, who was had an ecstatic smile on her face, “We did it!”
“That we did.” I grinned, “But we should speak to our opponents first. We can celebrate later.”
“Of course, of course.” Roxanne quickly nodded, and immediately rushed off to comfort the sullen Flannery. As she did so, I approached Will, who was staring at the ground with a complicated smile on his face.
“Thank you for the battle.” I said as I approached, “It was well fought.”
He sighed, covering his face with a hand, “I was hoping for a better performance than this in the Tournament. To think I would be knocked out in the first round.”
Realizing what his words might have sounded like, he quickly corrected himself, “Not that I’m unhappy with Flannery’s performance or anything; some might say she did even better than me as I was knocked out first.”
“That’s because you were the bigger threat.” I reassured, “You took us by surprise with your Gardevoir; I honestly didn’t expect her to be able to handle the Taunt nearly as effectively as she did. And don’t get me started on your Hypno and its ridiculous Helping Hand boost. That was the strongest Eruption I’d ever seen, and I doubt Flannery could achieve that without your help.”
I knew for a fact that I had gotten lucky with Hypno; having been spared from dealing with its usual arsenal of moves. Wraith’s quick takedown likely saved our fight.
He let out a bitter chuckle, “And I wasn’t expecting your Linoone to evolve. Seriously, what in Arceus is that?”
I just shrugged and stayed silent, causing him to snort, “Nevertheless, I appreciate your words, even if it’s cold comfort. It doesn’t look good for a member of the Elite Four to be knocked out in the first round, even if I know I won’t be the only one.” He sighed again, “I’m already on shaky ground for not having won a battle since I entered into the Elite Four. This will only put more fuel on the fire.”
He was right. Will’s strength as an Elite Four was under some scrutiny due to his lack of official battles, which only would be made worse due to this loss. His early knockout from the Tournament – in the first round even, would all but guarantee that he received an official challenge from someone soon.
“That’s a problem for the future. It’s good that you know about it. So now you can work hard to prepare to secure your support.” I tried to reassure him, “Besides, even if you lose, you can always try for a rechallenge.”
He took a calming breath, “…You’re right. I haven’t lost yet. I still have time – I doubt any official challenge will come until the Indigo Conference is concluded.”
He stood up a little straighter, “I guess I’ll just be using my extra free time to train up.”
I patted him on the shoulder, “That’s the spirit. And I wasn’t kidding about you taking us by surprise. You’re strong, Will. I wouldn’t lie about that.”
He smiled back and made a show of shaking my hand. It was mainly for the crowd, who couldn’t overhear our conversation, to know that there were no bad feelings between us. I just smiled - he was ever the showman.
But this was one fight down. There were still many more to go.
A.N. The first round! 2v2 battles are hard to write, and this one had gone through many revisions, but I hope you enjoyed.
And yes, Ornstein FINALLY evolves into an Obstagoon. In this battle specifically, I wanted to especially highlight the strength of Wraith’s illusions and Ornstein’s newest evolution, and how tough it is to fight against both when you aren’t expecting it. H-Zoroark and Obstagoon are strong Pokémon.
Unfortunately, for every winner there must be a loser. Will lost, but he’s come far from the prideful showoff he was at the start. He’ll bounce back, and I hope he made a good showing regardless.
Comments
Vtec
That's a fair opinion - and likely an outcome of me trying to keep it relatively balanced for both teams. However, in my head when I was writing this, I felt like I had more moments where John and Roxanne worked together than Will and Flannery. For example, there were several moments in the fight where Roxanne's Pokemon covered for John's, buying time for John to take out a key threat many times over the course of the fight. Then you had that ambush setup with Golem and Ornstein (even if it ended up not working out). And you also have the moment where Sudowoodo acted as a meatshield for Wraith to hide behind. Therefore, I'd like to *think* that I wrote in enough coordination between John and Roxanne. Perhaps it was the big Helping Hand + Eruption moment? That was the one big moment of teamwork between Will and Flannery. Still, this is just my opinion. Glad you enjoyed the chapter regardless though!
The Tallest Tree
It felt like Will and Flannerys teamwork was better than John and Roxanne... that being said I liked how Ornstein came in clutch and Wraith's good showing. I guess I'm a bit confused because the fight was too close given that John and Roxanne should've had the type advantage and coordination, you know?
KT Thompson
Amazing chapter! I loved seeing Wraiths illusions, tho these were simple they were super effective! I can’t wait to see some of the Aizen like battles John and Wraith continue to create with their ingenuity and chemistry!
