Surging Tides: The Indigo Conference Finals

“Making Waves as the youngest Indigo Conference Finalist, Please Welcome the heir to the Cerulean City Gym, the budding Water Type Master, Alex Waterflower!!”

I was dressed in a dark blue suit along with a loosened aqua blue tie that matched my eyes. With messy silver hair, I cut quite the dashing figure if I do say so myself. The family symbol was embroidered onto my breast pocket acting as both a symbol of my heritage and advertisement for my sponsor, the Cerulean City Gym. I stepped onto the podium and made sure to wave to the crowd and give them the most charming smile I could muster.

The resounding cheers from the crowd were proof that my work in cultivating my popularity throughout the years had not been in vain. I had also tried to make the best possible use of sites like BattleNet in the process. That in addition to my numerous wins in local tournaments and a top eight finish in the Sinnoh Lily of the Valley Conference had cemented my position as an up and coming prodigy well before this Indigo Conference. There were a number of advantages that came with being popular and well liked. The fact that the majority of my fan base consisted of girls did not hurt either.

“Hailing from Sandgem Town in Sinnoh and taking the Conference by Storm, Give it up for The Bringer of Lightning, The Electric Type Specialist Henry Wyatt!!”

A tall and thin man with yellow hair and a full beard appeared from the other side. He walked with confident steps and had his eyes locked onto me. He wore a black duster which had quite a few company logos, the most prominent of which was Poketech. He paid the crowd no heed even as many of them cheered for him.

From what I had researched, he had just turned twenty eight a month ago and this was his fifth conference appearance. He had managed to reach the top 4 at the last Hoenn Conference and was considered a very talented electric type trainer especially considering he did not come from any prominent background. With his starter and ace being an elite level Ampharos, he would be a tough obstacle to overcome.

After he took his place on the opposite podium, the battlefield was revealed, and the protection barriers flared to life. The battle ground was a standard league field with the addition of a pond in my right corner.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the Indigo Plateau Conference Finals.” Thunderous applause filled the arena. “This will be a Six Vs Six Pokémon match to determine this year’s champion. No switches are allowed. The finalists are to release their Pokémon on the count of one. Count together with me.”

“THREE”

The voice of the entire stadium crashed upon me. I retrieved the pokeball from my waist, ready and eager to get this started.

“TWO”

A brief flicker of doubt entered my mind. What if he sent his counter first and prevented me from maximizing the advantage my choice would bring me. No, he had no way of knowing I wasn’t going to start with my starter, or Milotic like I had throughout the tournament. I had made my choice and now I had to make sure that it paid off.

“ONE”

I released him near the center of the field trying to get him as close to the opponent’s Pokémon without crossing the halfway divider line.

An amphibian-like Pokémon with a bulky frame and four thick limbs, emerged roaring his name and trying to appear as intimidating as possible. My Swampert knew that this was his moment to shine, and he glared fiercely at the Pokémon on the opposite side.

My opponent had chosen to start with his Ampharos. As much as I wished he had chosen his Raichu or Jolteon instead, I knew that this was far from the worst-case scenario. Ampharos being an elite level pokemon was clearly stronger than Swampert who was a Peak Professional level Pokémon, on the verge of breaking through the Elite stage. However, that would not deter us from winning.

Ampharos released a dragon pulse and tried to set up an electric terrain without receiving any instructions from my opponent.

“Complete Electric Offense” I instructed not wanting to waste any time.

Swampert sent a water pulse and volley of mud shots in a well-practiced motion wanting to intercept the dragon pulse and interrupt Ampharos from setting up Electric Terrain and started closing the distance.

The Dragon Pulse collided with the water pulse in a specular fashion while the mud shots continued on undeterred.

“Use Dragon Pulse barrage and Confuse Ray instead.” Henry ordered.

Amaphros gave up on setting up electric terrain to deal with the attack since it couldn’t afford to take too much damage at the start of the fight. The pokemon in question fired off back to back dragon pulses to deal with the mud shots.

However, before it could launch the Confuse Ray, Swampert had reached close enough and unleashed the devastating Earthquake it had been building up since he started closing the distance.

Both Ampharos and Henry were taken completely off balance, not expecting a non-elite Water-Ground Type from a young water type specialist to be so proficient in the difficult Ground type move. However, he showed his experience and remained calm ordering Ampharos to use Cotton Spore and prepare dragon tail.

Ampharos tried to regain his bearing quickly, but he had to use a dragon tail instead of cotton spore as Swampert was already descending on him with a Hammer Arm.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Swampert, hearing no contradictory command, continued with the plan. He unleashed a Hammer Arm which overpowered Ampharos’s Dragon tail and sent him crashing into the barriers.

“Use Scald, then Muddy Water and Mud Shot barrage.”

Neither Swampert nor I wanted to give our opponent an inch and allow them to snatch the momentum from us. He spat out the stream of boiling water and unleashed a wave of muddy water followed by numerous mud shots.

“Protect”, yelled Henry loudly with a hint of panic. Protect may be a very energy intensive move but it would allow him time to regain control of the fight. This was not something I could afford.

Ampharos managed to unleash a Protect only after tanking Scald as the rest of the attacks crashed into the hexagonal shields without much impact.

“Swampert, Charge Up Earthquake and unleash it when Protect dies.” I got a “Pert” in reply as he readied himself.

I could see that Ampharos had used Cotton Guard and was preparing a Focus Blast within the Protect demonstrating just why he was an Elite pokemon. The only sign of strain visible was him breathing heavily.

The Protect ended and both pokemons unleashed their respective attacks. The ground shook and the white beam of Focus Blast closed the distance.

Ampharos tanked the Earthquake while Swampert was sent flying back by the impact of the focus blast and crashed onto the protective barriers as they flared to life.

It was here that the gap between the elite and non-elite Pokemon was highlighted. Despite being hit by numerous moves including two Earthquakes from a Pokemon who had STAB, he had, by my estimate, only lost a little over eighty percent of his health. On the other hand, Swampert had lost over forty five percent of his health from a single focus blast and neutralized dragon tail unleashed by an electric type.

Henry wasted no time to capitalize on this and ordered a Hyper Beam.

The two words sounded like a death knell for Swampert for I knew there was only a small chance he would not become unconscious after that hit.

Swampert got back to his feet as Ampharos started charging up the orange beam that might take him out of the fight.

Still, all was not lost. We had prepared for such scenarios.

“Rock Hyper Defense.”

On hearing those three words,Swampert instinctively executed three continuous rock slides to block the path of the Hyper Beam and started gathering energy for Protect.

Ampharos unleashed the Hyper Beam soon after. It tore through the first two layers of rocks like a knife through butter. The third wall offered better resistance but was similarly no match for it.

“Protect Now.”

Swampert could detect the urgency in my voice and the green hexagonal shields of Protect formed just in the nick of time.

Swampert poured as much energy as he could into the Protect. The devastating sound of the orange beam of Hyper Beam trying to breach the Green barrier resounded in the arena.

Ampharos continued pouring energy into the Hyper Beam. Cracks started forming and I didn’t know how much longer the Protect could last. Fortunately, Ampharos started showing signs of fatigue and the Hyper Beam ended.

Neither Henry nor I was expecting Swampert to survive that assault but now I had a chance to end this fight and I wasn’t going to waste it.

“Come on buddy, you can do this. Scald and Finish this with Stomping Tantrum”, I exclaimed in my loudest voice.

Although Ampharos was visibly exhausted after the successive usage of Energy Demanding moves, he was still able to sidestep the slow Scald from my Swampert.

To the spectators, this slow and easy to dodge scald was no doubt a sign of the exhaustion of Swampert, and honestly they would not be entirely incorrect. That Protect had drained my Pokemon. But both me and my Pokemon knew that the true power of Stomping Tantrum became apparent only after a wasted move.

Ampharos tried to retaliate with a Dragon Pulse but Swampert was faster and the Stomping Tantrum was unleashed. The attack with double power overwhelmed the exhausted electric type and put it on its back.

Henry shouted a few encouraging words to his ace but it was all in vain as Ampharos was already unconscious.

“...devastating Stomping Tantrum, turns the tables. Swampert is the Victor. What a way to start off the Finals. Alex has taken the lead in this gripping match. With the defeat of his starter, how will Henry respond?”

Swampert roared in victory and turned back to face me. My joy was reflected in his eyes. All my pokemon knew the importance of this match and were pumped to win this as well.

The Referee declared to my opponent, “You have 10 seconds to release your next pokemon.”

I looked up to see Henry’s stony visage. The match up had not gone his way and his starter going down without taking a single pokemon down should have been shocking. However, all I could see in his eyes was an unwavering resolve to win this…something I am sure was also reflected in mine.

He then released the only Pokemon he had trained not of his type speciality. I thought of it as the counter because it was meant to do exactly that…counter the ground types his pokemon were weak to.

A large, bipedal Pokemon covered in shaggy, white fur and pale purple eyes with bushy eyebrows and long strands of fur covering its mouth emerged. It remained silent and watched my Swampert.

The Abomasnow was not hindered by the ground type of Swampert like Ampharos had been. On the contrary, its grass type moves would be four times effective against my already weakened pokemon.

Swampert’s chances of winning this matchup were low but that did not mean he would go down quietly.

After confirming that I would not be withdrawing Swampert from the match, the referee shouted “Begin.”

“Rock Slide” I instructed Swampert.

Abomasnow unleashed a number of magical leaves and started closing the distance.

The avalanche of rocks and boulders fell on to Abomasnow who tanked it with only a grunt of pain.

“Dig and follow it with Hammer Arm”

Swampert followed the instructions and prevented the damage from magical leaves.

“Abomasnow Tank it and unleash Wood Hammer”

Abomasnow stopped in its place and started gathering energy for Wood Hammer.

As soon as Swampert emerged and attacked with a Hammer Arm, Abomasnow tanked the damage and retaliated with Wood Hammer. Swampert bellowed in pain and landed near me. Dig may not have been the best choice there given my inability to communicate with my pokemon in that state.

I knew Swampert was on his last legs and I was determined to have him make the most impact. Abomasnow had taken damage from the Hammer Arm and was regaining his bearings.

“This is it, Swampert. Give it your all. Rock Slide!”

“Energy Ball. End this!”

Swampert prepared and unleashed the Rock Slide as Abomasnow did the same with an energy ball. Abomasnow was clearly taking damage as huge boulders fell on him with a fury. The damage it had accumulated was clear for all to see.

However, the energy ball was the last nail for Swampert as he fell to the ground exhausted. I returned him to his ball and whispered my gratitude and praise for his splendid performance.

“And with this the score has been tied to one all. Swampert goes down after a valiant effort.”

I looked at the Abomasnow who had clearly taken a beating. Ice/Grass was truly an unfavorable typing for me. But I had trained for such scenarios. Decision made, I released an unusual choice against an Electric Specialist.

“GYARADOS!!”

The roar reverberated throughout the arena and signified the arrival of an Apex Predator. The injured Abomasnow clearly took a step back as my Gyarados began sizing him up. He was one of my strongest and oldest for a reason, after all.

Henry, on the other hand, remained calm and quickly order “ Icy Wind and set up Blizzard”

“Gyarados, Hurricane and End this Ice Type”

The Hurricane quickly overpowered the icy wind and hit Abomasnow before he could set up Blizzard and sent him flying back. Gyarados hearing the phrase “End this Ice Type” knew just what strategy I wanted him to employ.

He closed the distance while Abomasnow was trying to get back on his feet and unleashed the devastating Flamethrower he had prepared. The already weakened Pokemon stood no chance and quickly succumbed.

Stunned silence was all that followed. It had been generally accepted that no fire type could learn water type moves and vice versa. This is exactly the kind of advantage my other me’s knowledge gave me. There were no such things like TMs yet and thus no one knew the various unlikely moves a pokemon could learn. Half the battle of teaching my Gyarados Flamethrower had been assuring him that yes he could produce fire.

“Did that Gyrados just breathe Fire? How is this even possible?”

The commentator did not remain stunned for long.

“In the most surprising fashion, Alex has defeated Henry’s second Pokemon. What other tricks does he have up his sleeves? Ladies and Gentlemen, we are currently witness to a historical match. A water type pokemon just unleashed a Flamethrower!!”

I knew that I had other avenues to defeat Abomasnow but revealing this had been a calculated risk. Every two years an Indigo Conference was held and a new winner was declared. They would learn about Gyarados being capable of Fire Blast and Flamethrower in the near future anyway.

However, by unveiling this in such a fashion I had hoped that this Indigo Conference Final would stand out and set me apart.

Henry however was not thrilled. The anger visible on his face was the first time he showed any emotion at all. The match was apparently not going according to his plan.

My only response was a smug smirk which seemed to rile him up even more.

On the referee’s encouragement, he released his next Pokemon.

“Raichu, Crush that overgrown Sea Serpent!”

----------------------------------------

Please write in the reviews and comments if you liked the battle up till this point. I really disliked it when the trainers waited for their opponent before making another move, gave their opponents time to recover or only gave one move per command. I mean these highly well trained Pokemon should be able to dodge on their own, follow multiple commands, and make decisions on their feet (paws). I tried to incorporate these points into the fight.