Inyssa had a camera shoved onto her face as soon as she walked past the Canalave Gym doors. Which, first of all, rude. Though it wasn't anywhere near the most surprising thing she saw at that point.
Past the enormous lens of the camera, she noticed the stands around the arena a lot fuller than she had expected. Like, almost overflowing with people. Not to mention the reporter-looking woman in front of them, looking at Barry and her like a hungry Braviary.
"Huh?" Barry mumbled.
"Inyssa Dawn and Barry Paladino!" exclaimed the woman behind the camera, her tone boisterous. "I am Selena Viper from Sword&Pen Daily, here to ask you a few questions and film this long-expected, spectacular spectacle of a battle! Do you have a minute to spare!?"
Inyssa mumbled out a few unintelligible words before finally finding her voice. "I… we… agh." She lifted a palm in front of her face, squinting. "Could you move back a bit? I'm…"
"Ah, we're gonna be on T.V!?" Barry immediately took a step forward, almost pressing his noise against the camera. "Hi mom! Can you see me!? I'm still sorry for messing up that park… oh, and sorry to all the people of Canalave too, I guess. We didn't mean to do that."
Selena perked up excitedly. "So you admit it then? Such nerve! The rumors about you two are true, I assume!?" Her voice became louder the more she spoke, to the point where it was starting to give Inyssa a headache. "After last week's incident, not to mention your previous accomplishments, the entirety of Sinnoh cannot stop talking about you two! What do you say, trainers!? Are you truly as skilled and compassionate as some make you appear, or are you simply an Association plant? Do you truly expect people to believe youngsters like you have what it takes to become the Ch-!?"
"That's enough!"
Inyssa had almost entered her fight or flight mode by the time Byron's voice echoed all throughout the Gym.
"What do you think you're doing?" the mountain of a man asked Selena, frowning. "The kids are here to challenge me, not to give an interview."
"Ah… Byron." Selena hoisted the camera over her shoulder, pointing it at him. Her voice made it very clear his interruption wasn't appreciated. "A pleasure. I'm sorry to keep you, I just wanted to ask the contestants a few questions before the beginning of their fight. I believe that it will give the audience a much more… unbiased look at these two."
Without missing a beat, Byron lifted the shovel from his shoulder and stabbed it forward until it was pointing straight at Selena's camera. His square jaw was set.
"You can question them as much as you want later," he said. "But this is my turf, and if I tell you to scram, you scram. Am I clear?"
There was a moment of silence. Selena glared daggers at him.
"Crystal."
Inyssa unconsciously looked down as Selena headed for the stands, her cheeks heating up a bit. God, why hadn't she said anything, like Barry? Why did she always have to embarrass herself when confronted by people she didn't know? Was that the attitude of a Champion? Of someone the entire region would put their trust in?
You have to bounce it back, she told herself. You gotta show them why you're the right person for the job.
"Sorry 'bout that," she heard Byron say. "Fuckin' reporters… give them a hand and they'll chomp right up to the shoulder bone."
Inyssa let out a laugh. "I'm guessing you're not very popular with the press."
"I don't need to be popular," he shrugged. "I just gotta be a good Gym leader. Speaking of which…" He hoisted the shovel over his shoulder once more, standing up proud and confidently. "You two ready? I've been looking forward to fighting ya'."
Both of them smiled in unison, hands going to their belts.
"We're more than ready," said Barry.
"Yeah, hopefully you're a better challenge than your son," Inyssa added.
Byron raised an eyebrow amusingly, his expression and posture confident enough to make even a Tauros flinch. Dear god he was tall, and built like a dump-truck on top of it. Inyssa felt like a Bellsprout facing a Machamp.
"Let's hope you're as good as people say." Byron grabbed the shovel behind him with two hands, almost leaning against it. "The fifth badge… that's where you either make or break a trainer, ya' know. This is the point where a lot of people end their journey."
Inyssa nodded, feeling a clump in her throat. She'd heard all about it. The 'fifth badge curse' as some called it, though she knew it wasn't something as silly as that. Simply put, it was the point in a trainer's journey where everything became immensely more difficult in order to truly test them. Before that, Gym leaders would usually restrain themselves in some way –like not using proper defensive type coverage or pulling their punches– in order to give their opponents a fighting chance. Starting with the fifth badge, however, things changed.
That's the part where the Gym leaders start throwing everything they have at you, she remembered Shadi's words, back when she explained it to her. You have to either be flexible enough to adapt, or be strong enough to take it head on and counter it. There is no other choice.
Inyssa bit her lip, looking past Byron toward the stands. So many people, including Selena, stared intently at them, expectant. Waiting to judge her. She needed to show the world what she was made of, come hell or high-water.
"I'm ready," she finally said, looking up at Byron with a burning gaze. "I'll fight you first."
----------------------------------------
Two Pokeballs flew through the air, releasing explosions of light on each side of the arena. Kuro emerged in front of his trainer, lifting his chin dismissively. Sparks and bolts of electricity ran through his jet-black fur, eyes gleaming a red full of malice. He looked behind him, locking eyes with Inyssa.
Their opponent materialized on the other side, hovering in mid air. Inyssa didn't need to squint to recognize it. Three metal balls with one eye each stuck together, the U-shaped magnets at the sides of its body spinning frantically as it shot sparks through the air. It's eyes moved independently in all directions, as though looking for something. Then, after a moment, they spun to focus on her and Kuro, and a low metallic whir was heard. Inyssa struggled not to wince, feeling the horrible noise inside her bones and teeth.
"What… in Sinnoh's name is that thing?"
Oh, right, Uxie. She'd been so focused on the upcoming fight that she'd forgotten about its presence.
Hm? Oh, it's called a Magneton, she said inside her mind. Silph Co. created them about forty years ago to help in energy plants, but they were apparently too unruly for that. It's one of the first man-made Pokemon, actually.
"... You humans never cease to amaze me."
She chuckled. Is that a compliment?
"It's a statement."
Oh well. To be fair, Magnemite and Magneton had always creeped her out too, though she couldn't place her finger on why. Not that it mattered. She finally had the chance to beat one up.
Steeling herself, she focused on what was in front, letting the noises of the audience fade. The floor of the arena was made of sturdy rock, sprinkled all around by pieces of pure metal of varying sizes jutting out of the floor, some of them twice as tall as her and quite wider. Perfect.
"Now I'm not the kinda guy who puts much importance on words," Byron's voice reached her from the other side. "So I'm just gonna say this: show me why you deserve to wear my badge, girlie."
"…With gusto." Her arm flew forward, cutting through the air as she yelled. "Kuro; like we practiced! Electric Terrain!"
Kuro jumped to stand on his hind legs, lifting his snout in order to howl. The black of his fur turned a bright, crackling gold. He slammed his front paws onto the ground with all his strength, sending forward an explosive shock-wave of electricity which coiled around each piece of metal, arching back and forth as it covered every inch of the arena.
The Magneton's eyes moved all around, curiously, though it didn't seem perturbed one bit by its opponent's move. Byron simply chuckled.
"Thanks kiddo. Ion here really needed a bit of tickling to wake up," he said.
Inyssa glared at him. "Kuro's gonna do much more than that in a second."
"Let's see it then!" Byron drove his shovel into the ground, smiling like a madman. "Flash Cannon; widespread!"
Magneton's three eyes widened in recognition. It began to move from left to right at an incredible speed, its magnets spinning with enough force to send small gusts of wind all around. Then, to Inyssa's shock, all six of them detached from its body.
"What!?"
Each magnet flew off in a different direction, only connected to their cores by a thin, yellow thread of energy. Too many and too fast to keep up. They surrounded Kuro from above and below, and once they had locked onto their target they began to glow with a blinding white light.
"Behind there!" she yelled, pointing at one of the bigger chunks metal right of Kuro. "Jump and hide!"
There was a flash as three of the magnets shot a beam of light at Kuro, but he was gone before they could connect. A black and yellow blur was seen, and he appeared a stone throw's away. The three remaining magnets aimed and shot as well, but only hit the large piece of metal as Kuro hid behind it.
Inyssa squinted past the bursts of light. The metal where the attacks had connected was dented, badly. There was no way Kuro could endure more than a few of those hits. And while his speed and the electric terrain would help him dodge for now, she had a feeling Byron had a way to counter that. They needed to be on the offensive.
"They're not gonna stop chasing you!" she yelled. "Just dodge them and go for the main body!"
Kuro's expression seemed to say 'Easier said than done' as he zigzagged through the arena, dodging beams of light from all directions while making his way toward his opponent. He used the electricity on the ground to jump higher, slapping one of the magnets off the air as it fired. Two others soon joined. Kuro arched back as he fell, barely avoiding one, but the other hit him right above the shoulder. Eyes squinting in pain, Kuro landed and jumped forward once more, trying to ignore the scorching pain.
"Move around, Ion! Don't let him catch you!"
Magneton's main body spun on itself as it flew through the air in a circle. Unfortunately, its speed seemed hampered by the fact that it also had to concentrate on controlling its six magnets as they moved and fired attacks, which meant Kuro had little trouble catching up to it.
"Hit it off the air!"
Four magnets fired. Kuro stopped himself and jumped backwards, avoiding them and putting himself out of range of the remaining two. Seeing his opportunity, the Luxray smiled. He absorbed some of the electricity running through the ground and jumped like a bullet toward Magneton, paw wound back.
A sound like the gong of a bell was heard and Magneton flew back a few feet, eyes squinting in pain. Three small dents appeared on its top head.
"Dammit Ion, fight back!"
Kuro had no time to celebrate as all six magnets closed around him once more. The battlefield became a blur of white and yellow as beams were fired and Kuro ran as fast as his legs allowed him, darting through attacks and trying to make his way toward Magneton once more.
"Keep it up!" she yelled. "Don't give it a second to think!"
She heard Byron laugh. "Not a chance, lass! Sorry to say but if you're having this much trouble with my softest Pokemon then you're probably not cut out to fight the rest'a my team!"
Inyssa did her best to ignore him The ensuing struggle lasted for less than a minute, though it felt much, much longer to Inyssa. While Kuro dodged and got a few hits in where he could, she nervously glanced at the arena itself, biting her lip, anxiously waiting. How much longer was it gonna take? It had to happen soon, right? She just had to wait a little more…
Unfortunately, Byron was tired of waiting.
"That's enough! This ain't gonna go anywhere if we keep prancing about like a buncha fuckin' Mankeys!" He thrust his shovel up toward the ceiling, smiling. "Ion, let's make sure the next one hits! Lock-on!"
Inyssa's hands balled into fists. She saw as all six of her opponent's magnets returned to its body and began spinning in a circle in front of it. There was a gleam as all three of its eyes flashed red. Then, immediately after, three bright red spots appeared on Kuro's back. Heart in her throat, Inyssa shouted the first thing that came to mind.
"Quick; behind that pillar!"
Kuro obeyed reluctantly, his body turning into a blur of sparks as he ran. All three of Magneton's eyes followed his trajectory without trouble, the magnets spinning in front of it beginning to take on a blinding white gleam. A series of electronic beeps sounded through the arena, like a bomb counting down just before exploding.
"Flash Cannon!"
Even at his fastest, Kuro could barely get behind the pillar before Magneton fired. The beam was massive, easily matching the girth and power of the Hyper Beam attacks which that Golurk had constantly fired at them during their trial at Hearthome. Inyssa squinted at its brightness and saw as it smashed through the pillar of metal as though it were made of plastic, falling upon Kuro not a second after.
Kuro's wail of pain was heard even through the impact and the cheers of the audience. Her chest tightened. Mentally crossing her fingers, she squinted to find him through the cloud of dust and debris. There. A dark figure, slumped and barely moving. He'd been thrown pretty far; a streak of dust and ash followed all the way from the arena toward the wall separating it from the stands.
Shit, she thought, biting her lip. He began pushing himself up to his paws, but he didn't look good. The fur on his back and all around was smoking and his sturdy legs shook like a willow in the wind. Kuro snarled as he walked back toward the arena, eyes squinting from the pain. He couldn't take another hit like that.
Come on, it's gotta be already…
A gasp escaped her as she turned to look at Magneton. It was hard to tell, what with all the dust in the air and it spinning so much, but there it was. Its magnets were moving slower. They spun in a more erratic manner, almost… almost looking as though Magneton was having trouble keeping them close.
She looked toward the nearest metal pillar, and smiled. Thin arcs of electricity jumped from it to the other pillars and the pieces of metal sprinkled throughout the floor.
"That all you got, lass?" she heard Byron say, a smug look on his face. "Gotta say, I'm a little disappointed. Now Ion, finish it with…!"
"Kuro!" She yelled out, pointing forward. "Now's the time! You've still got a bit of electricity left, don't you?"
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As funny as Byron's offended expression was, she looked away and focused on her partner. The Luxray took a couple of deep breaths and scoffed, shaking his head. The look on his face was as clear as water: 'Do you even need to ask?'
"Then come on: Discharge!"
Kuro let out a ground-shaking roar, as though wanting to expel the pain from his body with that alone. In an instant all the electricity inside his body coated his mane, turning it a brilliant gold, before being expelled in a powerful explosion all around him, sparks and tendrils of electricity flying in all directions. It washed all over the arena, including Magneton, leaving it all crackling violently.
Byron scoffed as soon as the attack vanished. "That's it? You expect to beat Ion here with a little bit of electricity?"
"Not really," she smiled. "I was hoping the pillars would do that for me."
There was a pause. "…What do you-?"
It happened so suddenly that even Inyssa jumped. All six of Ion's magnets shot away from its body, flying like bullets to the nearest pillars or pieces of metals and sticking to them. Magneton looked around, letting out distressed beeps. Its eyes squinted as it tried to summon its magnets back, to no avail. They lifted up from the pillars for a moment before returning to them.
"The hell?"
"You know, for having named your Magneton that you don't seem to know much about positive and negative charges." Inyssa tapped her forehead with one finger, grinning. "Sorry, but your partner just got… ionized."
Kuro moved before Byron or anyone in the audience had time to process that horrible pun. Using the momentum of his running, he gathered his remaining strength on his hind legs and jumped, landing on top of a distracted Ion. The Magneton let out a high-pitched beep and moved his eyes in all directions, now even more confused than before.
"What!? Shit! Ion, shake him off!"
"Not so fast! Kuro, like we planned!"
Unable to call on to his magnets for help, Ion simply began to fly all around the arena, moving as spastically as it could in an attempt to shake Kuro off. However, the Luxray had dug his claws in and the look on his face made it clear he wasn't going anywhere. He focused his gaze on a nearby pillar, and frowned. He might be out of power himself, but the electricity now running through the arena had come from him. Concentrating, he called out to it and formed an arc between himself and all four of the metal pillars.
The sudden pull was so strong that he almost fell off. His opponent was thrown like a bullet toward the nearest pillar and, positioning himself correctly, Kuro guided it toward it and felt as the impact reverberated all throughout its body. Ion let out a shriek of pain as its face was slammed into it.
"Wha– how'd you…?" Byron mumbled, eyes wide in shock. "Ion, try to…!"
"Again!" yelled Inyssa, interrupting him.
Kuro concentrated once more, this time focusing on the pillar closest to Byron, at the northeast corner of the arena. The magnetic pull was, once again, almost too strong. He barely had time to lean back and raise his opponent's face toward the pillar before they slammed into it.
The process repeated a couple more times while Byron tried –unsuccessfully– to tell Ion to break free. Inyssa could see the dents starting to form and exacerbate all around the Magneton's body with each impact, bringing them closer and closer to victory.
She smiled. Admittedly, she wasn't sure her plan would work at all, and was more than a little relieved. Kuro seemed to be having fun, too. He rode his opponent's face into the pillars over and over again, cackling to himself with an expression which seemed to say: 'Welcome to the rodeo, motherfucker!'.
Or maybe that was just her seeing things. It wouldn't be the first time.
"Come on Kuro; one or two smashes more and we'll be done with that ball of screws!" Inyssa bellowed, a huge smile on her face.
Byron glared daggers at her, but inexplicably there was a smile on his face.
"Ya' caught me off guard, I'll give you that," he grumbled. "But Ion ain't gonna go down without a fight, I assure you!"
"Yeah? And what's it gonna do without its magnets; beep Kuro into submission?"
"Heh. I was thinking more of a boom than a beep, but ya' got the right idea."
Inyssa's smile froze, her eyebrows joining over the bridge of her nose in confusion. A… boom? What did he mean by…?
Realization dawned on her just as Byron yelled out:
"There's one thing it can still do without its magnets! Ion; Explosion!"
Inyssa could barely get out a 'Son of a–' before it happened. All three of Magneton's eyes closed; its metallic body lit up like a light-bulb and it sounded as though air were being sucked toward it. Kuro froze, a hint of fear tinting his expression.
She felt the explosion in her bones. Arms crossed in front of her face, Inyssa had to lean forward in order not to be knocked back by its force. Dust and small rocks flew all over, falling over her and the stands around them. Then, there was silence. Inysa swatted the dust with one hand, squinting, feeling her heart in her throat.
Kuro lay a few feet from her, completely immobile. His breathing was shallow. Inyssa looked up; Ion's body had fallen in the middle of the arena, blackened by the sudden release of energy.
Both of them were out of commission. Inyssa clicked her tongue, feeling a pang of regret as she returned Kuro to his ball. Byron did the same a moment after, looking slightly more proud.
"It was a nice try. But you ain't gonna get one up on me so easily."
She scoffed. "Oh please, you had to result to a self-destruct move just to secure a tie." Her arm wound back, fingers pressing strongly against a silver Pokeball. "I won't let you do something like that again."
The two Pokeballs opened at the same time, light pooling out as their Pokemon materialized on each side of the arena. Red and blue danced in a spiral around Bret as he took a step forward, scattering his petals with a determined look on his face. He didn't falter as his opponent's massive shadow towered over him, the ground shaking under its weight.
However, Inyssa was taken aback. She didn't recognize Byron's Pokemon, which was strange considering how distinctive its appearance was. A living bulldozer, or at least that's what she thought it was at first. Twice as tall as Bret even when on its four legs, and at least eight times as wide, with dark, sturdy-looking stone growing around its legs, spine and stomach, like some sort of armor. And then… it's face… it was like someone had stuck a castle wall to it. Thick grey spikes jutted out of the bridge of its nose and its lower jaws, forming what looked like rudimentary eyebrows and teeth.
It was, by far, the strangest Pokemon Inyssa had ever seen. Without thinking she took her Pokedex out and raised it forward.
"Bastiodon: The Shield Pokemon – Rock/Steel type. A prehistoric Pokemon recently revived from a fossil. The bones of its face resemble a castle wall and, due to their shape, were once believed to be its spine. They boast one of the highest defense amongst all Pokemon; it is said that any frontal attack against them, no matter how powerful, will be easily repelled."
Well… that made things complicated. Not like she didn't know how to deal with defensive Pokemon; that had been the whole point of that week's training, but there was a slight difference between defensive and completely fucking impenetrable.
"I see that look on your face lass, and you're absolutely right!" exclaimed Byron, looking at his Pokemon with pride. "I see that ya' chose a nice little grass type, so I'm guessing you're probably not counting on type advantages to win this fight. But if what you want is a battle of endurance then sorry to say, but you chose the worst possible opponent for that. Iudex here is my main girl; that flower wuss of yours ain't gonna be able to take her down."
"I'll decide that for myself," she snapped back. "Bret; plan hasn't changed! Come on!"
Like he had done many times before, Bret fell to one knee and wound his arms back, ready to place them against the ground. An order was heard just before he made contact.
"No chance! Iudex; use Heavy Slam!"
Okay, that big fucker could move a lot faster than Inyssa had imagined. With a strong stomp of her hind legs she pushed herself forward, covering half the arena in only a couple seconds. All the rock on her body lit up; a white, metallic sheen trailing behind her as she ran directly at Bret, fully intending to turn him into a living pancake with her face.
"Sorry square face, but I prefer waffles," she muttered under her breath, knowing that Barry would probably divorce her if he heard her. "Bret, now!"
Bret closed his eyes, dark green tinting his forehead as he concentrated. Small cracks were heard as the ground erupted beneath him, at least four dozen vines blooming in a circle around him. They moved in unison, attaching to one another and swirling around Bret until they covered him completely. It looked as though a giant flower bud had swallowed him whole.
"Brrhaaaw!"
Bastiodon crashed into it with all the strength she had, severing the vines with incredible ease. There was a gust of air, and she passed right through. Bret was nowhere to be seen. Both Byron and his Pokemon shared a similar look of bewilderment as they looked up, noticing the dozens of tiny seeds falling from the ceiling down, result of the previous impact having thrown them skyward.
Both of them snapped back to reality as another crack was heard. A clump of vines broke through a few yards in front of Byron, lifting Bret up as he made his gallant return. Sweat dotted what little could be seen of his face, and his breathing had become shallower.
"Ah…. I see." Byron ruffled his hair, lips curling into a smile. "Substitute, eh? Clever. Too bad your little flower's gotta leave a lot of his energy behind to execute that move. You ain't planning on running forever, are ya'?"
Inyssa crossed her arms, fulminating him with her eyes. "How about you wait until the end of the battle to criticize my strategies?"
"Ha! Fair enough, fair enough." Once again he raised his shovel, pointing it forward. "Iudex, give her what she wants! Heavy Slam one more time!"
Another wave of dust and rubble burst behind the Bastiodon as she stampeded forward, face leaning down and pointed directly at Bret. Another flash of light, another burst of power all over her body. She wasn't far now; only a couple seconds before impact.
"Again!"
To Byron's utter confusion, Bret slapped his bouquets against the ground and made himself be swallowed by vines once more, disappearing underground just before the impact came. Another pile of shredded vines, another shower of seeds all around the arena.
Another cracking sound. The Roserade climbed his way out of the dirt, though considerably slower this time. As he stepped foot into the arena, his legs wobbled for a moment. His eyes were narrowed in pain.
It wasn't hard to notice Byron's face turning red, the edges of his eyes crinkling in irritation. Inyssa saw this and smiled.
"I guess you could call that an… Olé," she said, bowing to the man. "Is that all you got, Byron?"
"Tsk. Making fun of me, eh?" Byron lifted his chin and spat at the ground next to him. "A'ight, that's enough playing! Iudex; Earthquake!"
A rush of panic burst from Inyssa's stomach outwards. This was it. The chance she'd been waiting for. Byron must have realized that the best way to stop an opponent from escaping underground was to simply use an attack that affected even the ground beneath them. Ideally, she would have liked to have Bret use Substitute one more time to increase the chance of her plan working, but oh well. This would have to do.
An earsplitting roar boomed through the air. Iudex jumped up, standing on her hind legs and ready to slam the ground with every ounce of strength left in her. Inyssa threw her hand forward as she yelled.
"Now! Grass Knot!"
Even now, after having seen it about a dozen times, it still shocked Inyssa just how incredibly fast Bret could will his vines to move. He raised his hand and all of the scattered seeds opened up. From within grew dozens and dozens of tentacle-like vines, becoming thicker and more powerful as they absorbed the moisture from the floor.
A few of them wrapped around Iudex' front legs, leaving her standing on her hind ones. She whined and shook and roared but there was little she could do as more and more vines coiled around the rest of her body, slowly lifting her up. Only a few feet up; not strong enough to do more than that. Still, enough to keep her immobilized.
"That seed trick never gets old," she smiled to herself. "Bret; in position, now!"
"Don't let him! Use Flash Cannon!"
Flash Cannon? Shit, she hadn't expected a Pokemon so big to have ranged moves, but it made sense the more she thought about it. This wasn't the little leagues anymore. Byron was trying his damnedest to beat her; a varied move pool was to be expected in all his Pokemon.
Iudex inhaled deep, a ball of blinding white energy forming within her maw. It grew in size until it was half as big as the Bastiodon's head, and just before it fired Inyssa yelled:
"Down!"
Everything turned white. Even with her eyes closed and her forearm covering her face Inyssa could still feel the brightness of the attack, as well as the tremors as it connected with the ground.
However, when she opened them again she was relieved to see that Bret was gone. It took Byron a second longer than her to realize that; which was just the time the Roserade needed. The ground broke upwards at Iudex' side and from the hole emerged Bret; throwing himself high up with one of his vines. As he spun in mid-air he pointed both of his bouquets down, frowning.
"Dammit Iudex, shake him off!"
But there was little she could do, what with about forty vines wrapped around her body. She whined and struggle immensely as Bret landed on top of her back, both bouquets pointed straight at her spine. There was another glow; both Bret's petals and every single vine wrapped around his opponent began shining a soft green. It formed an outline around Iudex as well; little by little it absorbed the residual energy around her body and re-directed it toward Bret. The ball of light forming in front of his bouquets grew and grew, making the air shake more powerfully with every second that passed.
Inyssa grinned. Absorbing half the necessary energy from his opponent meant that Bret's attack would take a lot less to charge. Which was good, considering what attack it was.
"Now!" she yelled. "Solar Beam!"
To say there were traces of excitement in her voice would have been putting it lightly. Solar Beam had always been her favorite attack, ever since she was a child, and seeing her own Pokemon cup his hands together as he charged it, then throw them forward and shooting it point black at his opponent's back… the feeling was nothing short of euphoric.
Iudex' cry of pain was lost in the jet engine-like roar of the Solar Beam swallowing her whole. The spire of light shot upwards right after, swirling on itself. Inyssa could see it past the open ceiling, parting clouds as it dissipated high above in the skies.
Presentation? I'd say that's a ten out of ten, she thought with a smile. Now for the execution…
She squinted, trying to make out the result. The outline of both Pokemon was visible through the dust; Bret was down on one knee, supporting himself with one bouquet against the back of his collapsed opponent. The vines that had held Iudex had been incinerated by the beam and now the behemoth lay flat on her stomach, eyes tightly closed and tongue lolling out of her mouth.
Inyssa breathed a sigh of relief. Then she saw Iudex open her eyes and wished that she could suck it back in.
"Shit! Bret, finish her off!" She swiped at the air with one hand, tone panicked. "Magical Leaf!"
Bret hurried to move, but he was too weakened, too slow. By the time he rose to his feet and pointed both bouquets at Iudex' back, the beast had fully woken up. With a furious roar she rolled to the side, throwing her opponent to the ground. Bret's fell hard, too exhausted to react properly. Eyes closed, he placed a bouquet against the ground and tried to push himself up, feeling the tremors of Iudex' steps coming toward him all throughout his body.
"Come on; one last time!" Inyssa pleaded. "I know you can do it!"
Both Pokemon stared at each other, eyes squinted, barely able to keep themselves conscious. Inyssa couldn't believe it. Yes, she knew that Bastiodon were incredibly sturdy, even if she'd only learned it a few minutes ago, but that had been a point-blank fucking Solar Beam! Nothing should have been able to resist that.
Bret, despite his clear exhaustion, managed to lift one of his arms and aimed at his opponent, ready to attack. Then, out of nowhere, Iudex began to glow.
"That's it girl!" Byron cried out. "Finish that flower boy off with Metal Burst!"
The flash of light that exploded from Iudex' face as he said that wasn't a beam or an explosion, Inyssa could tell that much. More like… a wave. It shook the air with such intensity that it actually made her feet slip from under her, forcing her to take a little jump and almost land on one knee not to fall face-first to the ground. Through the chaos and panic she barely noticed Bret flying through the air. His body, now almost completely charred black, crashed against the opposite wall of the arena with such force that it dented the metal sheet, earning a yelp of fear from Inyssa.
"Bret!" Her voice came out a lot shakier than she would have liked, but that was the last thing on her mind right now. "Are you okay!?"
She ran as fast as she could, kneeling at her Pokemon's side and placing a hand on top of his chest. Still breathing, thank Mew. Though if the state of his body and the scattered blue and red petals all around him were any indication, he was not in good shape. She needed to get him to a Pokemon Center as soon as the battle was over.
Breathing in deep, she whispered thanks to Bret before returning him to his Pokeball. The sweetness in her voice vanished soon after, however, as she stood up and glared at Byron with a fury hot enough to melt iron. The man seemed to notice, judging by the way he gulped and almost took a step back.
"Sorry lass, but I ain't here to hold your hand through these battles any longer," he exclaimed. "These are the big leagues. I ain't gonna pull my punches in the slightest."
Her gaze never moved as she walked back to her spot, producing a new, silver Pokeball on her hand and gripping it so tightly the edges of her fingers turned even paler than normal.
"Then I hope you won't mind if we don't either."
There were no cheers or applause as Shadi entered the field, the light from her Pokeball dissipating like mist around her. There were a couple gasps. A lot of confused looks from both the audience and Byron himself as well, though Inyssa might have imagined some of that. The Kricketune looked surprised too, for a moment at least, before looking over her shoulder and meeting eyes with her trainer.
Inyssa held her breath, and nodded. Her own nervousness was reflected on her Pokemon's face like a mirror, but there was something else too, outweighing it. Trust. Shadi returned the nod, turning to her opponent soon after with a rather calm look on her face, all things considered.
"Well… I gotta hand it to ya', takes some stones to send a bug type against someone who specializes in steel types."
"And we're not done surprising you yet. Shadi; Swords Dance!"
Unlike the last time she had executed the move, urgency and panic covering her form head to toe, Shadi simply let her shoulders fall and placed the edge of one of her scythes against the other, as though she were holding a violin. Sharp music flooded the air of the stadium in ribbons of sound as she rubbed her scythes together, a dark-red aura materializing around her body. Growing stronger and stronger with every note being played.
"Oh no you don't!" bellowed Byron. "Run'er over, girl! Heavy Slam!"
Iudex might have been weakened, but that didn't mean she couldn't still throw herself at her opponent like a train running toward a flimsy Surskit. A smile crossed Inyssa's lips. Unfortunately for that two-ton pile of rock and steel, she wasn't up against a Surskit, but something much more dangerous. No orders were shouted and Shadi didn't move an inch as Iudex came straight at her. Tension built in the air like a drawn bowstring. The audience held its breath, some people even covering their eyes as to not watch the ensuing impact. Selena held her camera passionately, filming with a huge smile on her face.
Shadi opened her eyes, the aura flowing around her now thick enough to cover her completely. As calmly as a leaf falling, she lifted both arms and crossed her scythes in an X in front of her; not a hint of fear or nervousness in her eyes. Everyone but her braced themselves for an impact that never came.
There was no crash, no sound, no gust of wind. Less than an inch from her opponent, Iudex simply… stopped, and the momentum of her charge stopped with her. The Bastiodon blinked confusedly, then looked down at her feet and up again at Shadi's face, right in front of her. The thick of Shadi's mustaches curled up as she smiled.
In the middle of the bewilderment covering the gym, Inyssa threw her hand forward and gave her command.
"Shield style!" she yelled out. "Amber A Capella!"
The now erratic aura of energy spiraling around Shadi turned a deep black as she closed her eyes and concentrated. It washed from over her toward Iudex, like a changing musical note. Then, with the delicacy of a kiss, she pushed her scythes slightly forward and barely touched her opponent.
Iudex flew back as though pulled by a rope. Though to be fair, it wasn't as impressive as Inyssa had imagined. Instead of flying through the air like a bullet and crashing against the opposite wall of the arena she was simply thrown back a few yards and landed on her back with a strong thump, the ground shaking beneath her body.
I guess it's to be expected, she thought. That thing probably weighs a couple tons.
That disappointment was soon replaced by a tingly feeling in her chest, rising up toward her lips as she smiled. Half of it was pride. The image of Shadi standing proud and powerful in front of such an imposing enemy could have made her cry if it weren't for the other half; Byron's hilariously shocked expression as he tried to come to terms with the fact that a mere bug type had knocked out one of his strongest companions.
Inyssa crossed her arms and shot him a smug look. All according to plan.