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The New Normal - 2-16
🕑 Added 2023-04-10 13:04:05 +0000 UTCThe New Normal – 2-16 – Wrath vs Gluttony
Sitting through the forced commercial break was an exercise in patience, and from my booth I could see that Smough wasn’t happy with the forced break either. He was repeatedly pacing up and down and fidgeting with his hands, and since he wasn’t allowed to do anything that would be seen as suspicious, he just had to stand there idly while they fixed up the arena and until the commercial break was over.
He wasn’t even allowed to take a quick nap! Because otherwise the officials might think that he was using a ‘healing’ move and subsequently disqualify Smough from the match.
Still, I tried to not allow my annoyance to distract myself from focusing on preparing for Drake’s next Pokémon. In a way, fighting with Smough was rather simplistic. No matter if he sent out his Gyarados, Flygon, or Salamence next, Smough really only had one method of battling against them, which was to get close and pummel them before they could do the same.
I forced away my distractions as I realized that the commercial break was about to end. I trusted in Smough to do his best and achieve victory, especially as motivated as he was, so all I had to do was keep my faith in him no matter the opponent Drake sends out.
“…AND WE’RE BACK FROM OUR COMMERCIAL BREAK! WELCOME BACK EVERYONE TO THIS INCREDIBLE MATCH BETWEEN OUR TWO ELITE FOUR MEMBERS!” Shouted the announcer, “SO FAR, ELITE JOHN HAS BEEN LEADING THE MATCH 3-2! LET’S SEE IF DRAKE CAN CLAW HIS WAY BACK!”
As soon as the announcer finished talking, both Drake and I were allowed back into the arena. I kept my gaze onto the Pokéball that Drake had clutched in his hand, and he grinned at me as he noticed my gaze.
“An impressive showing!” Drake yelled out to me, “But I’ve still got far more left in the tank!”
Before I could respond to that, Drake threw out his next Pokémon, which turned out to be his fearsome Gyarados. His Gyarados casted a long shadow into the ground and was littered with scars of previous battles. As it emerged from its Pokéball madly thrashing about, kicking up a small cloud of dust as its tail violently rampaged on the ground, I could tell that every inch of this horrifyingly remarkable Gyarados radiated pure anger and ferocity. I had seen plenty of ferocious Gyarados during my journey, but none like this.
Despite not being the target of its anger, I could still feel like the Gyarados was trying to rip Smough apart with its anger alone. It really was an Intimidating visage, and a lesser Pokémon would easily run away, terrified and in fear.
However, despite being the target of Gyarados murderous rage, Smough seemingly remained unaffected; perhaps he was just a little too unaware of such things. To Smough, a battle was just something he had to do in between meals. Of course, he still took it very seriously and would fight extremely hard like all my other Pokémon, but eating was always going to be his number one priority.
“LOOK AT THAT! DRAKE HAS REALLY UPPED HIS GAME AND HAS SENT OUT HIS TERRIFYING GYARADOS! BUT IS IT ENOUGH TO TURN THE TIDES AGAINST JOHN’S LEAD?! LET’S FIND OUT…AND BEGIN!”
“Smough, get close to it.” I began, knowing that this battle would be fought and won from a very close distance. Neither Snorlax nor Gyarados were known for their Special Attacks, so this battle would inevitably end up in a vicious brawl.
“Oh, you’re approaching my Gyarados?” Drake grinned as Smough started his steady approach towards Gyarados.
“Smough can’t beat the shit out of your Gyarados without getting closer.” I responded with my own grin, before I turned serious again and cut off the banter as Smough got close.
“Body Slam, Smough!”
“Waterfall, Gyarados!”
Both Smough and Gyarados charged forwards and rammed each other with great force, creating a minor shockwave that managed to blow up a small cloud of dust. Neither of them pushed the other backwards as they grappled with each other; Gyarados was wrapping its body around Smough while Smough was trying to smash Gyarados into the ground.
Both Pokémon were now too entangled with each other to move around freely, and the battle now truly devolved into an almost senseless brawl.
“Hammer Arm, Smough!” Smough lifted one of his arms before hammering it downwards into Gyarados’ skull.
“Aqua Tail, Gyarados!” But Gyarados took the hit with only a slightest flinch and responded by slamming his powerful tail into Smough’s side, the sheer force of which nearly knocked Smough over.
“Hydro Pump, Gyarados!” Trying to make use of Smough’s stumble, Gyarados began charging up a powerful Hydro Pump in its jaw.
“Rock Smash his jaw, Smough!” Smough managed to steady himself and crashed his fist straight into Gyarados’ jaw, cutting off the Hydro Pump and causing Gyarados to writhe in pain.
“Again, Smough!” Smough brought his other fist forward and tried to follow up on his first punch.
“Iron Head, Gyarados!” But before Smough could land another powerful hit into its jaw, Gyarados reinforced its head and bashed their heads together, pushing Smough back and causing him to flinch.
“Aqua Tail again!”
“Counter!”
Gyarados roared out in fury and smashed its tail into Smough’s side yet again, but this time Smough’s body became outlined in orange as he stored up the damage that he took and transferred it back with a vengeance as he landed a powerful return punch that found purchase into Gyarados’ body.
The two Pokémon continued fighting back and forth like this. There was no way to really see who was winning or who even had the advantage, as both Pokémon were just continuingly battering each other with powerful attacks over and over again and at such close range that it was nearly impossible to dodge the incoming attacks. I couldn’t even try out my planned Yawn strategy when they were this close together.
Unlike our previous battles, there was absolutely no strategy involved here. It was just two very strong and powerful Pokémon trying to see who could out last the other by continually pummelling the other Pokémon until they fainted.
It was at this moment that I regretted not training Smough in the use of the elemental punches. If Smough knew Thunderpunch at this moment, I’m sure that he’ll be able to deal a lot more damage than he was currently doing. Sadly, Smough wasn’t the most eager of learners and so I had unfortunately put off his training in the elemental punches until later, which I now regretted.
Nevertheless, it seems that Smough was still going strong despite the beating that it had taken from the Gyarados. Both were wounded, and both sported a litany of injuries, but they were still roaring to fight and still were ready and willing to beat the other into unconsciousness with the same enthusiasm and energy as when they first started.
As I watched the two continue trading blows, I thought that the battle would stay like this until one of our Pokémon eventually fainted. But suddenly, Gyarados started thrashing out wildly as it exploded in pure and uncontrollable rage and frustration. I watched as it started glowing and was surrounded by a deep blue aura as I could almost see the murderous wrath radiating off it.
It had used Outrage. And a quick glance at Drake’s uncertain expression told me that he didn’t order Gyarados to use Outrage either. It must have gotten too frustrated and enraged at the exchange of attacks between itself and Smough that it lost control of its temper and began its Outrage.
This did present an opportunity to me. If Smough could endure through Gyarados’ Outrage, then Smough could once again take advantage of his opponent’s resulting confusion and land a critical hit to knock it out.
However, that did require Smough to be able to endure the Gyarados’ Outrage, which was much easier said than done. Gyarados’ attacks were far more vicious and brutal now, and its attacks were now almost completely unpredictable. And I knew I couldn’t just try to stall using defensive moves like Iron Defense and Protect, as even a Protect shield would be quickly shattered by the ferocity of Gyarados’ attacks and an Iron Defense would leave Smough far too vulnerable and risked it being knocked out when it was still trying to set up the Iron Defense. Thus, I was only left with the hope of using Smough’s attacks as a form of deterrence.
I watched stoically as Smough blocked an incoming Aqua Tail with one of his arms, before Gyarados smashed their heads together with another Iron Head. Smough could barely raise his arms defensively before Gyarados slammed into him with its entire body, forcing Smough backwards as he skidded across the ground.
“Brick Break, Smough!” As Gyarados continued its onslaught of attacks as it surrounded itself with veil of water and rushed towards Smough again with another Waterfall, Smough caught it with a powerful chop to the neck as it approached. However, Gyarados simply shrugged off the Brick Break as it continued its unstoppable charge, and Smough groaned out in pain and stagged backwards as Gyarados once again ruthlessly crashed into him with a devastating Waterfall.
Despite being completely enraged, Gyarados still possessed its predatory instincts and was still coherent enough to take advantage of an opportunity. Seeing that Smough was currently exposed as it stumbled backwards, Gyarados savagely struck Smough in the side of the head with another Aqua Tail, landing a critical hit and knocking Smough face first into the ground. Before Smough could get up, Gyarados took revenge for Drake’s fallen Kingdra as it Earthquaked Smough while he was still on the ground, forcing Smough to take the full impact of the Earthquake.
Fortunately, it was at this moment that Gyarados’ Outrage wore off, and Gyarados nearly slumped over as it was suddenly hit with a simultaneous burst of exhaustion and confusion from its use of Outrage.
“OH! IT LOOKS LIKE JOHN’S SNORLAX WAS UNABLE TO WITHSTAND GYARADOS’ ASSAULT AND HAS BEEN KNOCKED DOWN!” The announcer commentated, “BUT IS IT KNOCKED OUT?!”
I kept the announcer tuned out as I watched uncertainly at Smough’s fallen figure, narrowing my eyes in hopes that it might help me see if Smough was conscious. I desperately hoped that he wasn’t, and that he could still get up and continue the fight. This was a critical moment of the battle, and I had long since put aside my earlier hesitation of not wanting my Pokémon to get injured.
I needed Smough to finish off the Gyarados while it was weakened.
“COME ON SMOUGH, GET UP!” Seeing no immediate reaction, I tried again with a more materialistic persuasion. “I PROMISED YOU THAT YOU’D GET TO EAT ALL OF THE BERRIES THAT YOU’D LIKE IF YOU WON! AND I BELIEVE YOU CAN KEEP FIGHTING! COME ON SMOUGH! DO IT FOR THE BERRIES!”
Fortunately, my belief in Smough was rewarded as he suddenly jumped upwards, eyes almost gleaming red as he charged towards the winded Gyarados with newfound determination and energy.
“SNORLAXXX! SNORLAX!!” I gave a wry grin and held back a laugh as I heard Smough’s roar. To those who didn’t understand Smough, it was as if his warrior spirit had reawakened in him and given him a second wind so that he could regain his lost glory. But, since I could actually understand what Smough was saying, I knew that he was just shouting out because he was determined to get his berries, and nothing in his way could separate him from his promised berries.
“OH, WHAT DETERMINATION! I COULD REALLY FEEL SNORLAX’S BATTLING SPIRIT AS IT CONTINUES FIGHTING THROUGH HIS INJURIES!”
Still, motivation was motivation, and I was definitely on board with taking advantage of Smough’s second wind.
“Giga Impact, Smough! Full power!”
“Fuck it! Gyarados, just Thrash!”
Knowing that Gyarados was still unable to snap out of its confusion, Drake decided to make use of the one resource that was in endless supply for any Gyarados, its rage. Despite how tired and confused it was, a Gyarados’ rage was so all-consuming that it managed to break through its tiredness and confusion by falling into a state of rage once again and it began thrashing around wildly.
However, even to the untrained eye, it was clear that Gyarados’ wild thrashes weren’t as strong as its initial Outrage. It was still vicious and powerful, but the Gyarados was slowly wavering even if it maintained its anger.
On the other hand, Smough was a force of nature as he determinedly ignoring his injuries as he started glowing orange and purple as he charged forwards and built up an increasing amount of energy for his Giga Impact. Despite Gyarados’ thrashing about, Smough remained undeterred as he tanked a wild Aqua Tail before crashing into Gyarados with all the gathered force in his Giga Impact.
Gyarados’ thrashing was forcefully halted as it was blown backwards across the arena by Smough’s powerful Giga Impact, crashing into and briefly cracking the psychic shields. The dust slowly settled, revealing a Gyarados that was so covered with injuries that, though it was still as angry and murderous as ever, it simply didn’t have the strength continue fighting. Smough met Gyarados’ unyielding stare with his own as he almost willed Gyarados to stay down.
Gyarados certainly wasn’t ‘knocked out’, but it really wasn’t capable of continuing to fight. It was one of those rare cases where a Pokémon’s fighting spirit, or in this case its anger, was so unstoppable that its body failed it first rather than its mind. However, Drake ultimately deemed that Gyarados could no longer fight and got out its Pokéball and returned it.
And just like that, I let out a sigh of relief as I watched the greatest Gyarados I had ever seen be retired from the battle.
“AND WITH THAT POWERFUL ATTACK FROM SNORLAX, DRAKE RETIRES HIS GYARADOS!” The announcer shouted, “JOHN IS NOW LEADING THE MATCH 4-2! INCREDIBLE!”
“SNORLAX! SNORLAX! SNORLAXX!” As soon as he saw Gyarados get engulfed by the signature red light from a Pokéball, he raised its arms into the air and began cheering. The crowd joined in, with many chanting out alongside Smough as they celebrated his victory. I laughed to myself as Smough wasn’t technically celebrating his victory, as all he was shouting was ‘FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!’.
Smough’s eternal gluttony aside, I wanted to go up to him and give him a big hug, only barely stopping myself as I remembered the match’s rules. Being able to defeat two of Drake’s Elite level Pokémon was definitely an incredible performance from Smough and he definitely deserved his promised reward, no matter how expensive I knew it was going to be.
Happy thoughts aside and cheering aside, Smough was wobbling slightly, and his roars had a distinct hoarseness to them that he usually lacked. He was battered, covered in injuries, and was clearly unfit to continue fighting. Also, to Smough, he probably already believed that he had done enough to earn his reward, so he might not be overly willing to continue fighting if I made him.
Which was fine, he had done enough, and I knew that he would be a poor matchup against Drake’s remaining Flygon and Salamence anyways. I raised his Premier Ball and returned Smough to his Pokéball and informed the announcer that I was retiring Smough from the battle.
“AND IT APPEARS THAT JOHN IS ALSO RETIRING HIS SNORLAX FROM THE BATTLE, MEAING THAT THE SCORE IS NOW 4-3!” The announcer commented, “NOW BOTH TRAINERS HAVE 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT THEIR NEXT POKEMON!”
I was starting to feel more confident now with the 4 to 3 lead that I had against Drake. Not only that, but I was betting on the fact that Drake would be leaving his Salamence for last, meaning that his next Pokémon should be his Flygon.
With that in mind, I had the perfect Pokémon to give Drake a nasty surprise. I took out their Premier Ball and waited for the announcer to start the next round.
“…ANDDD BEGIN!”
“Flygon, bring me victory.”
“Tyrant, go for it.”
Tyrant emerged from its Pokéball with his signature roar and locked eyes with the opposing Flygon, before immediately charging towards it without needing any prompting from me. He knew what he had to do.
“IT LOOKS LIKE JOHN HAS DECIDED TO BRING OUT HIS STARTER, SLAKING, TO FACE OFF AGAINST DRAKE’S FLYGON! AN UNEXPECTED DECISION THAT...OH LOOK AT THAT SLAKING GO!”
Drake’s eyes widened at Tyrant’s sudden charge, and he quickly started giving commands to Flygon.
“Flygon, to the air and Dragon Pulse!” Flygon buzzed out and started flying into the air while simultaneously charging up a Dragon Pulse in its mouth.
However, what Drake and his Flygon didn’t expect was for Tyrant to relentlessly chase after the Flygon and be able to leap into the air with such height that he was able to grab onto Flygon’s tail as it was trying to fly upwards. The audience gasped out in shock at Tyrant’s incredible jump height, and I inwardly smirked. While many looked down on Slaking for being lazy and unmotivated, they were almost unanimously taken by surprise whenever I showed off Tyrant’s surprising mobility.
And this time was no different.
Focusing back on the battle, Flygon was trying to desperately try to shake Tyrant off of its tail, but Tyrant held on with an iron grip and refused to be shook off and, using his weight and strength, pulled Flygon back down and slammed it ruthlessly into the ground, causing the ground to snap with an audible crack.
This was what I had spent a good part of the week practicing for. I had observed from Drake’s previous battles that while Flygon was certainly a capable flyer and was quick enough to dodge attacks while in the air, it didn’t tend to fly that high off the ground. Its flying style differed from common flying Pokémon, as they liked to fly high into the air, but Flygon only really chose to levitate a couple meters off the ground.
That would normally be enough for Flygon to remain out of reach for most Physical attacking Pokémon, but I made use of Flygon’s complacency and Tyrant’s unexpected mobility to force it back down onto the ground. Right where Tyrant wanted it to be.
“Ice Punch, Tyrant! Finish it”
“Dragon Tail and knock it away, Flygon!”
Flygon raised its tail and tried to smash Tyrant away from it so that it could pick itself off of the ground, but Tyrant blocked the tail with one of its arms before the other one critically bashed Flygon’s face. Not letting up, Tyrant then latched onto its extended tail with both arms, and then lifted Flygon off of the ground before brutally slamming it back down again.
“Boomburst, Flygon!” Drake ordered with an uncharacteristic degree of panic. He hoped that the powerful sonic waves would force Tyrant back and buy Flygon enough time to take into the air again.
But Tyrant was not one to let its prey go, and he muscled his way through the powerful sonic waves that Flygon screeched out before continuing his unrelenting assault by colliding another Ice-covered fist into its jaw, slamming its jaw shut and preventing it from continuing with the Boomburst.
Before Drake could issue another command, Tyrant pounced on top of the fallen Flygon, trapping it underneath him, and gripped tightly onto Flygon’s face, savagely lifted the Flygon by its head before pummelling it repeatedly and ruthlessly into the ground. Drake was forced to watch helplessly as Tyrant finished off Flygon by stomping downwards and firing off a point-blank Earthquake that rocked Flygon’s entire body, knocking it unconscious.
And then there was silence. A Dragon was felled by a Tyrant.
“SLAKING!” Tyrant broke the silence with a challenging roar to the skies, and I alone was the only one that cheered alongside him at his dismissive win. Eventually, the crowd joined in as they shook out of their collective shock.
I grinned despite myself, excited about how perfectly my plan worked out, knowing that with Flygon’s quick defeat, I had secured a massive advantage against Drake’s sole remaining Salamence with my three remaining Pokémon.
Victory was within my grasp, and I did not intend to let it get away.
Of course, I remained cautious about Salamence’s strength. It was strong, remarkably so, and was likely the strongest Pokémon I had ever faced in my career as a trainer. However, it was alone and isolated, and I was confident that even in the worst-case scenario where it was able to set up with multiple Dragon Dances, I would be able to wear it down and achieve victory.
“…FANTASTIC! AMAZING! WHAT A SURPRISING VICTORY BY JOHN’S TYRANT!” The announcer finally pulled himself together from his shock to continue his commentating, “WHO KNEW THAT DRAKE’S FLYGON, A POWERFUL STAPLE OF DRAKE’S TEAM, WOULD BE KNOCKED OUT SO QUICKLY?!”
While the crowd continued to cheer and applaud Tyrant’s win, Drake’s eyes remained locked and seemed to be appraising Tyrant. He must have expected that Salamence’s greatest opponent would be my starter, as it was commonplace to have a starter vs starter battle amongst trainers.
Unfortunately for both Drake and Tyrant, I had other plans for dealing with Salamence. Yes, I was tempted to challenge Drake with Tyrant, to prove to the world that my starter was stronger, but during my planning I coldly pushed down on my more excited impulses and remembered that I had a much better and far more suitable Pokémon for fighting against Drake’s Salamence.
Drake must have had plenty of plans and strategies in place for dealing with my Tyrant. And now I was going to flip the entire board over, refusing to give him the battle that he wanted. With that in mind, I fidgeted in anticipation with the Premier Ball on my belt.
Vordt was joining the fight.
A.N Hope you enjoyed the battle thus far! The next chapter is going to be the final chapter for the battle.
I’m sorry if some of you wanted to see a Starter vs Starter and Tyrant vs Salamence fight, but starter vs starter was getting so cliché that I really wanted to try to change it up a bit. I hope my justification for not using Tyrant is satisfactory next chapter, and I really hope you’re happy about the battle so far.
Also, I hinted during Gyarados v Smough that John wanted to fight a bit more tactically than that, but Gyarados was having none of it and forced a brawl.
Thank you all so much for reading and thank you to all my Patreons!
