He hadn’t been terribly impressed by Harry’s first Pokemon, but Flannery’s Arcanine was a strong one, the grandchild of his own Arcanine and Arcy’s speed had made the obvious Bug type at a disadvantage with what Moore assumed to be a reliance on speed and maneuverability as its main defensive strategy. Against one of Flannery’s less mobile Pokemon it would probably have done a lot better.
The Gardevoir that had followed him into the Gym though, Moore could tell that it was strong. He’d been flung, thrown and tossed around enough times by Psychic types to know what he was looking at.
The Gardevoir seemed to float past her trainer with her dress trailing behind her and a stern expression on her face that was at odds with what you’d normally see on one of that species. Moore watched with interest.
The Arcanine, as dopey as his grandmother, barked a greeting at the other Pokemon, who nodded back in reply. Arcy had received a bit of damage before but he still had plenty left in the tank. They were both ready for battle.
“Begin!” Moore called out.
“Use Flamethrower!” Flannery ordered immediately.
Harry didn’t give an order as the fire approached his Pokemon. Moore wasn’t terribly surprised when with a hum of sound and a dim flash of light the Gardevoir disappeared.
Not many Psychic types could learn Teleport and it was notoriously difficult for a non-Psychic type to learn it, even if it had been proven to be possible with Wattson’s Electrode. Using it as a battle technique though was what made it impressive here. Moore felt a moment of nostalgia for Liza’s old Alakazam. He had used the same move in much the same way against Moore once or twice. This would be a good obstacle for his granddaughter to try and overcome.
“Psychic!” Was Harry’s order, right at the same time as his granddaughter cursed softly. She hadn’t anticipated the teleportation, which indicated she needed to study up a bit more on what moves certain Pokemon could learn.
The Gardevoir raised her hands, forming a triangle shape with her forearms and fingers not quite touching just beneath her chin. The Pokemon’s chest horn started to glow.
The Arcanine hadn’t been able to see the Gardevoir disappearing with its flamethrower blocking his vision and had barely cut off his attack when he found himself picked up, glowing pink and purple energy covering his form. The Pokemon yelped in surprise and immediately began flailing, trying to disperse the Psychic energy.
“Impressive,” Moore admitted to himself. Psychic as an attack was primarily about the psychic damage it dealt on the mind of the opponent, an extension of the move Confusion which did the same albeit on a lesser scale.
Depending on the intent of the user, Psychic could also allow the Pokemon to levitate their opponent off the ground telekinetically. Sometimes it was a passive effect of using the move and other times it was deliberate.
Telekinesis in general was harder and harder the heavier or larger the object being lifted was and trying to combine it with the psychic assault just made it harder. That wasn’t to say it was useless, but the real damage that could be dealt was always through the mental component of the attack. So many trainers focused solely on that psychic component of the attack, disregarding the benefits of partially disabling their opponent through telekinesis like now.
So dividing her attention between telekinesis and the damaging psychic effect was again impressive and spoke of good training, assuming this was all deliberate on the Gardevoir’s part.
While Moore had been thinking about the attack, Arcy kept trying to struggle free, even as he whined in pain at the mental assault.
“Come on Arcy! use Flamethrower again!” Shouted Flannery in a panic. Moore felt a bit of sympathy for her. The previous matchup had been strongly in her favour, but Arcy just wasn’t prepared for a strong Psychic. If he had chosen to allow substitutions then Flannery might have been able to recall her Pokemon, but then Harry would have substituted out his own Pokemon too.
The Arcanine kept struggling though and managed to twirl himself around a bit, resisting the Gardevoir’s hold, who seemed to be struggling slightly to keep the Arcanine in the air. Arcy’s bulk and personal strength was definitely working in his favour here, factors which made it harder to use Psychic abilities on an opponent.
Was it going to be able to break free? Moore wondered as the Arcanine managed to flail himself around enough to be able to look at the Gardevoir. Her strength and control were not enough to keep him perfectly in place. If she could have managed that against what had to be at least a near peer opponent, then Moore would have been incredibly surprised.
It might not matter, because the Arcanine immediately released a burst of fire from his mouth, heading right for the Gardevoir!
Only, it teleported again, once more appearing behind the Arcanine as he fell to the floor in a tumble as the Psychic attack cut off.
“Leah, use Dazzling Gleam!” Called out Harry, and the Gardevoir immediately began to form the attack between her hands.
“Use Extremespeed Arcy!” Flannery shouted back.
The Arcanine, looking much worse for wear, managed to get back on his feet just in time to dodge the attack with Extremespeed. The Gardevoir was taken by surprise, her attack having missed and she was body checked by the bulky Arcanine a moment later. It was a solid hit, so Moore was very surprised to see the Pokemon disappear through another Teleport before she hit the ground.
“Keep it up Arcy, catch it with Extremespeed!” Flannery called out.
“Teleport to evade and get ready for another attack!” Harry ordered.
The two Pokemon then engaged in a cat and mouse. The impossibly fast Arcanine trying to catch up with the Gardevoir who could teleport anywhere in the arena in moments.
This was highly impressive, maybe better than Liza’s Alakazam could achieve. Moore watched in awe until finally the Arcanine’s injuries caught up with him. He had to stop to catch his breath and it was then that without needing an order the Gardevoir shot a Dazzling Gleam and the Arcanine went down.
“Arcy is down! Flannery prepare your next Pokemon.”
“Grrr,” Flannery grumbled, recalling her Pokemon with one hand and bringing forth another Pokeball with the other. “Go Honey!”
Her Houndoom took the field. It was a Dark type, a very useful Pokemon to have when up against a Psychic and the Pokemon Moore would have used in this situation too.
The Houndoom found her opponent and her hackles immediately rose. Moore knew Houndoom had strong noses. She must have figured out her partner, the Arcanine, had just been beaten.
“Begin!”
“Alright this’ll put your Gardevoir down!” Flannery shouted. “Use Dark Pulse!”
The Houndoom braced herself near the ground before releasing the attack. Dark purple energy burst out in a ring around herself. It was the perfect move for this situation, one that dispersed Dark type energy around the arena and it would disrupt the Gardevoir’s teleporting using the Psychic move. At least until the energy dissipated enough for the Pokemon to be able to break through.
Okay this was good. It was what Moore would have done in the same situation with Flannery’s Pokemon at his disposal. Spreading Dark type energy through Pokemon moves was the only real counter to this Teleporting strategy that didn’t rely on luck or incredible skill. Maybe Flannery actually had been doing some studying when he wasn’t looking or perhaps she’d simply figured it out entirely on her own.
The old trainer’s heart swelled with pride. This next generation was going to surpass the ones before it. Well, at least his granddaughter would!”
“Use Dazzling Gleam and cut through it!” Harry ordered.
The expanding ring of Dark type energy shattered as the beam of light shot forward. Moore’s eyes widened as the Houndoom wasn’t quick enough to react and was sent tumbling back, the Dark wave having been broken apart by the more concentrated pink beam of light.
That didn’t matter though. Honey’s attack had done its job in spreading Dark energy around the arena elsewhere and now the Houndoom could do what it’d no doubt been raring to do from the start.
“Again!” Harry ordered quickly.
“Dodge it Honey! Get in close with Crunch!”
The Houndoom’s jaws became encased in Dark type energy and she ran around, not entirely dodging the Dazzling Gleam but also not being slowed too much either.
But the closer it got, the harder it was to dodge the attack. The Houndoom dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the next Dazzling Gleam and leapt with jaws wide and ready to catch the Psychic/Fairy type.
Then the Gardevoir used Teleport, reappearing on the other side of the arena.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“What?” Moore asked with surprise, rearing back in confusion. There was no way that Pokemon had been able to use Teleport so easily with all the Dark energy about.
Flannery was just as surprised.
“What gives!” She shouted as her Houndoom landed in the Gardevoir’s previous position. “Dark Pulse should’ve stopped you teleporting!”
“I suppose I’ll give the secret away,” Harry replied. “Dazzling Gleam does exactly what you think it should. The Fairy type energy disperses the Dark energy and lets Leah stop that countering strategy cold. You’ll have to try harder if you want to catch her!”
Fairy type energy dispersed Dark type energy?
Before, the only types that affected Dark type energy were Bug and Fighting type and they weren’t one of the spiritual types. They weren’t types that could easily be dispersed in the environment through field moves or other effects. But as had just been demonstrated, Fairy types were. Moore had obviously read the new type interactions that were being verified across the world, but he’d not thought about this specific interaction whatsoever.
It didn’t make a big difference to the battling scene, but for those who were near the top this would definitely lead to a lot of experimentation with Fairy types.
But the real difference would be the criminal community, Moore thought as Flannery bit her lip, trying to figure out what to do. Criminals might now have an easy way to bypass or break through Dark emitters and other security measures for Psychic types.
“Honey, keep using Dark Pulse and try and get closer!”
The Houndoom started running, releasing bursts of Dark Pulse as she did so. Harry immediately ordered his Gardevoir to start bombarding it with Dazzling Gleam.
The Houndoom was agile, jumping and twisting, doing her best to dodge the smaller bursts of the Fairy type attack. A few still dealt glancing blows however and using Dark Pulse repeatedly like that had to be tiring. But constantly keeping up the attack was all Flannery could do to ensure the Gardevoir couldn’t use Teleport easily and Moore couldn’t think of a better idea either. Moore could tell that if the Houndoom didn’t close in quickly then she would be left unconscious just like the Arcanine.
“Come on Honey, you can do it!” Flannery shouted earnestly.
Harry only crossed his arms, watching the battle with a serious expression but it was clear that he was worried the Houndoom would make it.
The Houndoom managed to close the distance, taking a great deal of damage as she did so. She was close enough to make one final leap and without needing the order from her trainer Honey’s jaws opened, Dark energy coalescing into a Crunch attack.
Instinctively, Leah raised an arm to ward off the attack and the Houndoom’s maw closed around her arm.
Harry shouted out in concern for his Pokemon but he needn’t have worried overmuch. The Crunch attack had landed but a split second later the Gardevoir’s other hand came up with the glowing pink energy of Dazzling Gleam which released and struck the Houndoom point blank!
Moore could see the moment the energy of the Crunch attack dispersed, the attack failing the same moment the Houndoom was knocked out. Honey fell limply to the floor at the Gardevoir’s feet, leaving Leah breathing heavily, cradling her injured arm but most importantly still standing.
“Honey is unable to battle!” Moore announced.
“Good job Honey,” Flannery said, although her heart clearly wasn’t in it. She’d clearly hoped to beat the Gardevoir with her Houndoom’s Dark typing disrupting the Psychic attacks.
After seeing Harry’s own counter strategy to using Dark type energy, Moore thought her optimism had been a bit too high if she’d thought that her Houndoom would be able to win on its own. Regardless, she’d come up with a strategy to stop the Gardevoir being able to teleport and dealt a strong blow. Now Moore’s Granddaughter would need to figure out her next Pokemon and Moore honestly didn’t think there were any good choices here. She didn’t take long coming to a decision.
“Go Melly!” Flannery called out, summoning her Camerupt.
A Camerupt would be much harder to affect with Psychic, at least telekinetically on account of its size. So Flannery wouldn’t be having the same problem as she had with her Arcanine. But it wouldn't stop the Gardevoir from using the attack outright either and Flannery’s Camerupt didn’t know any Dark type moves. Moore wasn’t sure they even could learn Dark types attacks.
“Alright before we start again, what’s your beef with me? Why’d you insist on battling me?” Harry asked Flannery.
Moore looked towards his granddaughter, just as interested in the answer as the other trainer. When both Leah the Gardevoir and Melly the Camerupt turned to look at the trainer Flannery realised she was entirely the centre of attention and a blush came to her cheeks as she looked away uncomfortably. Then she seemed to regain her confidence and with fury in her eyes she pointed at the other trainer.
“You killed Claudia!” She shouted and the seriousness and sincerity of the accusation caught Moore by surprise again.
He did what?! Moore turned to look at the man opposite Flannery. Harry had killed some girl called Claudia? It wasn’t a name Moore recognised, but it wasn't like he knew everyone his granddaughter was friends with. Moore hadn’t thought the man would be the type to have committed murder of all things but his granddaughter wouldn’t lie about such a thing either.
Looking at him, Harry’s expression was one of confusion at hearing the accusation, which turned to surprise and realisation and then the man palmed his face as he looked between Flannery and Moore.
“Claudia is a fictional character,” he explained to Moore. “She died trying to save Alex, one of the protagonists of Trainers Colliding, the series I’m writing.”
“She didn’t have to die!” Flannery shouted indignantly. “You could have let her live. She and Alex were made for each other!”
It was Moore’s turn to palm his face this time as he figured out what his grandaughter and the young man were on about. Those books she sometimes read weren’t something he’d paid much attention to. Moore was interested in poetry, not fiction.
“I always planned for her to die,” Harry replied, which clearly only made Flannery more upset with him. “It was part of his character arc.”
Meanwhile between the two trainers their Pokemon were speaking quietly. Flannery’s Camerupt shook her head and shrugged in response to whatever the Gardevoir had just asked, clearly having been unaware of her trainer’s motivations for this battle.
“Flannery, you’ve got to be careful about making those kinds of accusations,” Moore chided weakly, to his granddaughter’s chagrin. Moore was impressed with her spirit at least, but really?
“This is one of the reasons why I chose to use a pseudonym,” Harry said. “Well, not quite because of this specifically…”
Moore felt a burst of humour erupt and he barked out a laugh.
“Okay,” the older man said. “Let’s just continue. Are you both ready to continue battling?”
“Yes!” Flannery replied and Harry gave a gentle nod, mirrored by his Pokemon and the Gardevoir and Camerupt took positions in front of their trainers.
“Begin!”
“Use Earthquake!”
“Brace for it Leah and use Psychic!” Harry ordered.
The earth trembled and Moore had to brace himself to stop falling over. It was good that Flannery’s Pokemon was trained enough to limit the area of effect. The building was built to resist Pokemon moves but not entirely. A lot of the structure was built to resist fire specifically and otherwise so that it would be cheap to repair if there was any damage.
The Gardevoir wasn’t knocked down and she still managed to retaliate by initiating the Psychic attack. The Camerupt wasn’t lifted up off the ground this time, but she did have to brace against the mental assault.
The Camerupt wasn’t exactly quick. Flannery had a tendency to favour either high defence or high speed with her Pokemon. Melly the Camerupt was trained to handle receiving a lot of hits and dishing out more damage in return and by using Earthquake Flannery made sure that the Gardevoir wouldn’t be able to dodge and attack at the same time with Psychic. Teleporting into the air might be a strategy but ti would be a tiring one and would provide plenty of opportunities to put the Gardevoir on the back foot. But while this was a sound strategy here and now that would work in an arena, it wouldn’t be as effective in a real world scenario, as Moore knew personally.
Harry didn’t seem to have an answer for it either and the two Pokemon traded their attacks back and forth. Neither of them had a better attack to use.
This had to be enough, Moore thought. Surely the Gardevoir wasn’t going to be able to outlast the Camerupt after already taking damage before.
But hold on it did.
“Come on Leah, you can do it,” Harry encouraged passionately.
His words had an effect, making the Gardevoir steel herself. Her legs wobbled through the Earthquake and she brought her hands to her head, concentrating hard as she retaliated against Flannery’s Pokemon. Moore was once again impressed. Harry’s Gardevoir was strong, strong enough to last against three of Flannery’s Pokemon, two of whom had been fresh and it seemed like she was winning against the Camerupt too.
Despite Flannery’s encouragement, the Earthquake attack faltered and the Gardevoir had beaten another of Flannery’s Pokemon.
“Flannery’s Camerupt is out of the battle,” Moore announced as the Gardevoir wobbled on her feet, clearly still off balance and really Moore was sure that a stiff breeze would probably knock her over after her battle of endurance against the Camerupt.
“I’m choosing to withdraw Leah,” Harry spoke up as Flannery withdrew her Camerupt.
Leah turned around and looked to be about to respond when Harry shook his head at her.
“No, he denied her. “You’ve done enough. Come on back, Leah,”
The Gardevoir looked slightly Mudbrayish about it but acquiesced to her trainer’s orders. Harry pulled her into a hug and muttered something to her which seemed to mollify the Gardevoir who leaned against her trainer’s side.
Harry hadn’t withdrawn her into a Pokeball, which was a mild surprise. Moore knew there were plenty of Pokemon that preferred to be outside their Pokeballs even if they were in the minority.
“Harry has chosen to retire his Gardevoir. Both of you get ready to release your next Pokemon,” Moore declared and both trainers obeyed, holding out a fresh Pokeball.
“Alright then,” Harry said. “Come on out Kira!”
A Pokemon Moore had never seen before appeared before them. It was quadrupedal with pink and white fur and a number of prehensile ribbons came out from around its collar. There was also an adorable bow around its throat.
Then it turned around and leapt at its trainer. A moment later some of those ribbons were reaching out to wind their way around the trainer but Harry began to bat them away.
“Kira, this is a battle. We can cuddle later.”
Pouting, the Pokemon Harry had called Kira turned away from it’s exasperated trainer and faced in the direction it was supposed to be facing. Moore chuckled quietly. Seeing overly affectionate Pokemon never stopped being entertaining.
It was also interesting. Moore had lived a long time and travelled to a few places around the world and he had never encountered one of these Pokemon before. So this would be an interesting experience. He still had full confidence that his granddaughter’s Torkoal could handle whatever the unknown Pokemon might throw her way. Shelly was both Flannery’s starter and her strongest Pokemon.
“Well you’ve shown me your starter so now I’ll show you mine!” Flannery declared. “Go Shelly!”
Her Torkoal took the field opposite the other Pokemon and heat was already radiating from the Torkoal’s shell. Shelly let out a puff of white smoke from her nostrils as Kira took a battle position opposite it.
Seeing both trainers were ready, Moore brought his hand up and chopped down once again.
“Begin!”