CHAPTER 171

Abomasnow was a mass of frozen bark that looked almost impenetrable, but I could guess a few things about it from its body type and the way it moved. One, it was on the slower side of things. Two, it was inclined toward physical defense, so Buddy's attacks would actually penetrate past that armor. What worried me was actually his ice type moves, because Buddy was entirely made of water and he'd get frozen very easily. I didn't know how that would affect his regenerative capabilities, so I wanted to avoid getting hit with something like Icy Wind or Ice Beam at all costs. It seemed that it wasn't confident enough in its control to activate its Snow Warning ability out of fear of harming Chase or me, so we had that going for us. The best way to proceed forward was to play it safe and scout.

"Night Shade, keep your distance and harass him with Shadow Ball," I calmly said.

"Ice Shard—"

"Get in front of the shade!"

Buddy's Night Shades were still too frail to withstand even one attack, and being so close to the explosion would cause him a lot of harm.

A noxious shadow appeared next to Jellicent, who hurriedly pushed himself in front of the shade and got stabbed by too many Ice Shards to count. The ice buried himself inside of his body, but they only dealt a minimum amount of damage. His face twisted, sunk into itself and then bounced back like a spring as the few cuts easily regenerated, although slower because of the ice. The Night Shade finished forming, and both it and Buddy began pestering Abomasnow with Shadow Ball. The ghostly energy given form flew at high speeds toward Abomasnow, who braced himself.

"Get up close," Chase said.

Abomasnow took a deep, rumbling breath right before the first Shadow Ball hit. Buddy's were strong and quicker than his clone's, but two were still better than one. Abomasnow broke into a run that lightly shook the earth as he simply bore with the hits. It didn't even try to dodge.

"Keep your distance and fly up!" I ordered.

"Razor Leaf!"

Abomasnow brought his massive green hands forward and sharp leaves flew toward Buddy, who dodged with Water Sport. His clone wasn't so lucky though, and the purple, cold explosion engulfed both he and his opponent.

I smiled. It had taken six leaves instead of one. Steady improvements.

Buddy broke away from the smoke and immediately summoned another Night Shade. I heard Chase audibly groan on the other side of the arena.

"Poison Sting," I continued. I couldn't let him think. Chase was faster on his feet than I was. "Send the shade to the end of the arena and make it use Shadow Ball."

Dozens of sharpened rods flew out of Buddy's tentacles, but to our surprise, seeds broke through the smoke and stuck to his body. They broke apart, revealing snaking, thorny vines that wrapped all around his body and clung to him like a vice.

That was Leech Seed, and we couldn't have avoided it when Abomasnow was hiding within the smoke. I hadn't expected such an intelligent play without Chase's guidance.

"Good shit," he grinned. "Icy Wind, freeze it!"

"Run away! Harass him!"

The Night Shade suddenly stopped going away, instead opting to attack now. Abomasnow was so large and slow that he struggled to avoid most attacks, but he didn't appear to care. The ghostly smoke finally broke apart after he spat out an Icy Wind, revealing the purple darts covering his entire left arm and pumping poison into his body. My eyes narrowed at the speed of the Icy Wind. It was narrow and almost as fast as Louis' Ice Beam with Prinplup. The speed caught us so off-guard that Jellicent didn't manage to get away in time and half of his body froze over. The vines continued to squeeze the life out of him too, slowing him further.

"Now Razor Leaf! Finish it off!" Chase yelled.

Six leaves to blow up a Night Shade, I instantly thought. That's enough for Buddy to buy himself some time and then get out of the way with Water Sport now that he knows what to expect.

My thoughts were fast enough, but my voice was not.

"Use the Shade to—"

The leaves tore through Jellicent, destroying the frozen half of his body. In a way, that was a blessing in disguise. He'd be a lot faster that way. Buddy immediately sunk into the floor to retreat from further attacks, but the shade kept attacking. Abomasnow was getting close to his limit, but he still fought like he'd just been sent onto the field. His body was covered in purple bruises and his eyes were milky, but there was still a ferocity to them that I'd only seen in a few Pokemon.

"Blow up that shade," Chase said.

Another set of Razor Leaves blew up Jellicent's clone. This time, they were out of range of the explosion.

"Now start freezing the floor—"

"Get back up!" I yelled.

The ice type got on all fours, and frost began to seep into the earth and spread all throughout the arena. It took two seconds for Jellicent to emerge from the ground with his body half-frozen into some kind of weird slush, but he immediately hit Abomasnow with a powerful Hex. Smoke rose from his body, but he wildly turned with his eyes filled with determination and blew another Icy Wind at Jellicent. The water type solidified his body right away, gaining in weight, but also in constitution and he withstood the ice, hitting Abomasnow with another Shadow Ball.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Abomasnow fell to the floor, his eyes still open. Buddy wasn't doing much better. Leech Seed was slowly but surely draining his energy, and he had very little left in the tank.

"You did great," Chase said, recalling his Pokemon. There was no snarky comment, no complaints, just focus. He sent out his Zangoose and not his Vikavolt, which caused me to almost gasp in surprise. The normal type grinned as she walked toward the arena.

He'd caught me completely off-guard, and he knew it. Still, I didn't have time to hesitate.

"Whirpool! Trap her!" I yelled.

"Quick Attack."

Buddy released gallons upon gallons of water that began to twist and spin, but Zangoose was a lot quicker than I remembered. She circled the water, buying herself time with clawed attacks that could only have been Night Slash. I knew Chase's plan now. He wanted to finish Jellicent up in one attack, and luckily I'd caught a glimpse of it.

"Fly up and stay there! She's going for Night Slash!" I yelled.

Jellicent pushed himself upward with a weakened Water Sport, spraying Zangoose with water in the process. He began to direct the Whirpool toward her, but it was smaller than usual now that we had no water to source from. Moves like Surf and Whirlpool would always be weaker than usual in a dry environment. She jumped and managed to Night Slash two of Jellicent's tentacles. His eyes began to flicker.

He was almost out.

"Water Pulse," I said. If he was going down, then I needed him to deal as much damage as possible. "Corner her with Whirpool!"

Zangoose easily avoided the first two Water Pulses, but she couldn't escape the hastily drawn demarcation of the arena without being disqualified. Jellicent used his last ounce of strength, and the normal type hissed as the ring of water hit her. The Whirpool dissolved, Jellicent slowly sunk to the ground into a small pool, and I recalled him.

He'd been perfect. If I'd been better during that first fight, he could have fought longer still.

I smiled. This battle would be a nail-biter. I considered sending out Princess, but she would never be able to stand up to Lucario if she won the fight. What I needed was...

"Honey, you're up."

He whirred, flexing his muscles as he strode into the wet arena. I was going to need to keep Angel for last.

"She's quicker than you, but you're stronger," I warned. "Hit her with all you've got."

"We'll see about that," Chase retorted. "Crush Claw!"

What I had really meant by hit her with all you've got was Cross Chop. I was hoping to catch Chase off-guard, and I was glad my comment had rattled him too. Up until now, he'd been completely focused, but he was starting to slip, and I hoped that would cause him to make mistakes.

Zangoose was already quite close to Electabuzz, so she closed the distance in a flash, attempting to slash across his chest with her hardened claws. Honey barely managed to twist his body, so she cut his right arm instead, leaving herself open to a hit. His fist crackled with electricity, and all of Zangoose's hair puffed up until she quickly jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding a hit. Electabuzz turned to me and I nodded. He hadn't been in a position to use Cross Chop and opted for Thunder Punch instead.

"Keep threadin' the needle," Chase said. "Fury Cutter!"

An exchange of blows began. Zangoose quickly stepped forward but feinted hitting Honey's face, causing him to shield it with his arms and then slashed his torso instead. The electric type retaliated with a quick Thunder Punch, which Zangoose narrowly dodged again, but then exploded with a Discharge that engulfed her completely. She hissed, doubling in size due to her smoking fur standing on end and continued building up Fury Cutters, slowly growing her strength. We needed to switch the tempo.

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"Protect!" I yelled.

A thin barrier appeared mere inches from his body and Zangoose struck it with a loud clang. The Protect deflected her claws away, leaving Honey enough time to use Cross Chop. His arms bulged, lighting up with a bright white and he hit Zangoose right on the shoulders. The normal type coughed, clearly in pain and staggered from the attack.

"Again!" I quickly ordered.

Once again, Honey's arms flexed, but Zangoose surprisingly jumped and dropped kicked him away, sending him sliding across the wet floor. The normal type snarled, shaking her head to get back into the fight and extended her claws further.

A drop kick? With how powerful it was, I guessed that it had to be Double Kick. If I'd known, I wouldn't have gotten greedy. Chase being caught off-guard by Protect meant that he hadn't watched my gym battle against Fantina, so I could use that to my advantage. Just the move being there fundamentally changed how he'd battle and would stay in the back of his mind with every action.

But he couldn't play it too safe either. If he thought for too long…

"Thunderbolt," I said.

Electabuzz whirled his arms until a quick burst of electricity shot out toward Zangoose. The attack hit her dead in the chest, and she convulsed, unable to move until it ended. Before we could order another one, Chase already screamed at her to go in, and he was right. Playing it slow wouldn't work. Not when we had an advantage at a distance.

I hastily yelled out for another Thunderbolt, but Zangoose got on all fours to dodge. That didn't end her run, however. In fact, she didn't even slow. The normal type sped up, and now it was a matter of who would blink first. Me with Protect, or Chase by averting his strike. Zangoose kept running like there was no tomorrow, her eyes flashing with excitement as she jumped over another Thunderbolt. She slid across the floor and went back to get out of range of a Discharge, but then kept going.

She was too close!

I blinked first.

"Protect!"

Electabuzz summoned the barrier, but Zangoose did not hit it like before. She calmly waited for it to end, and the electric type strained to keep it going.

"Crush Claw as soon as Protect goes down," Chase ordered.

I only had a few seconds to think of a way to counter the barrage that was coming. Zangoose would get the next hit for sure, but it was a matter of controlling the situation. A quick Discharge was possible, but it would only delay the inevitable. What I needed was to create a situation to open Zangoose up to another Cross Chop, but how—

Time had run out.

"Discharge!" I yelled.

As soon as Protect went down, another Discharge burst outward. Zangoose took the hit, breathing a ragged breath as she immediately stuck back with Crush Claw. Her claws hardened like iron and she slammed them against Honey's head.

"Keep him on the backfoot!" Chase yelled.

And she did. Slamming her claws on every part of his body over and over again. This time, he was slower to retaliate, but he managed to do so with Fire and Thunder Punch. Still, at this rate, we'd lose. Zangoose was too quick to overwhelm.

But I had a plan. There was no need to overthink. All we needed was one more Cross Chop, but any good hit would do.

"Grab her!" I yelled.

In a second of clarity, Electabuzz snarled, flashing his sharp teeth and grabbed Zangoose's arms under the armpits. He awkwardly struggled with her, taking two hits from Double Kick.

"Thunderbolt!"

Both Electabuzz and Zangoose became nothing more than a flash of bright yellow lights. The sound of electricity drowned out any other noise, and the attack kept going for ten seconds. A memory flashed in my mind. Crobat's screams. It dying in the exact same conditions.

I shook my head and chased them away.

Honey let out heavy breaths as Zangoose dropped to the floor. I swallowed as Lucario immediately stepped forward, not even waiting for Chase to call out to him.

"Good shit, but we've got to work on your speed," Chase smiled as he recalled Zangoose.

It was Honey against Lucario now, but he was tired. I couldn't afford to get fancy and hope for a Cross Chop. The move would leave him open to all kinds of counterattacks.

"Thunderbolt," I muttered.

"Vacuum Wave."

His antennas twitched, and he sent out a quick flash of electricity toward Lucario. The fighting type punched the air with an open palm, sucking all the air in front of him until there was only a vacuum left. The electricity fizzled out into nothing. It needed air or a conductive material to propagate.

It couldn't work in a vacuum.

"Wait for him," I breathed out. I already knew what was coming.

"Get in there and Bone Rush!" Chase yelled.

I bit the inside of my lip. A bone glimmering with a pale blue light grew out of the fighting type's hand just like Cynthia's. Unlike hers, however, Lucario wasn't particularly fast, but he wasn't slow either. His evolution had slowed him, and even though I knew it would be temporary, it would still help us for this battle. If I had to guess, two hits from Bone Rush, and Honey would go down.

Lucario could probably do that in a second. I waited until he grew closer and smirked.

"Thunderbolt!"

Lucario's eyes widened as it failed to use Vacuum Wave a second time. Not only did it have less time to react, but no one would expect me to use the same move when it'd been countered so easily. Lucario grunted as the electricity consumed him, but he merely stopped for a few seconds.

"Wait… Protect!"

Once the steel type got close enough, Honey summoned a Protect, and the bone's impact rang out across the field. Chase and Lucario probably expected me to maintain it for as long as possible like I'd done the two previous times, but predictability was complacency.

"Drop it and Fire Punch!"

Unlike Cross Chop, Honey had known Fire Punch for months. It was his bread and butter, and Lucario's reaction time was slower than Zangoose's. His fists lit ablaze while Protect went down. He uppercut Lucario in the jaw, but he easily recovered with a backflip.

"Thunderbolt!" I yelled.

"Throw the damn bone," Chase said.

Lucario quickly threw his bone, which caught us completely off-guard. The two attacks crossed each other and both Pokemon dodged with a sidestep, but unlike Electabuzz, Lucario was still fresh. He quickly grew another bone and kept throwing it at him until one hit him in the arm, and that was all he needed. Honey took a few steps backward, but Lucario was too quick to run away from in this state. The fighting type ran forward and used Vacuum Wave to dissolve another Thunderbolt.

"Fire Punch!" I ordered.

My eyes narrowed when Lucario's palm lit up with that same blue color and a burst of aura hit Electabuzz at a range. It hadn't been from too far— just far enough to be outside of his reach. It seemed to be a modified version of Force Palm or something like it. Electabuzz fell to the ground and I recalled him with a soft smile.

"That guy's tricky as hell," Chase commented. "Good going, Ri."

"Thanks," I said. "Angel, you're up."

From every angle I could think of, Angel was at an advantage here, but I couldn't get confident. I needed to use everything at my disposal to win.

"Sunny Day," I ordered.

"Fuck that! Aura Sphere!"

A ball of blue energy flew out of Lucario's palm at high speeds and snapped Angel out of his focus. The damage was negligent, especially since it hadn't broken through his thick layer of vines, but it was enough.

"You do that every time she tries that shit," he continued. "Go in, but be slow. Vacuum Wave or use a bone every time it tries to grab you."

Use a bone? How would that even work?

I'd have to watch out for that, but either way, Sunny Day was out of the picture for now. I considered waiting for Lucario to make its move since the fact that it could counter vines rattled me, but Chase took the decision for me.

"Bullet Punch!"

This time, he was quick— quicker than we could even react. Lucario dashed toward Angel and punched him so many times so quickly that his fists were just a blur.

"Power Whip!" I yelled.

A vine burst from his body, hitting Lucario in the shoulder and then burying itself against the ground. The steel type finished its assault and placed a palm against Tangrowth's body. The same burst of aura hit, and it traveled through the vines like they weren't even there. All of Angel's vines wriggled as one as he squirmed in pain.

"Again!"

"Bind—"

"Get the fuck out of there!"

Lucario jumped back, but one of Angel's vine wrapped around his ankle and slammed him against the floor. He quickly sprung to action, growing an aura bone and slashing across he vine before Angel could smother him.

So that was what he meant, I thought. He had a way of hitting us up close with that Force Palm attack and two ways to counter Tangrowth's vine. Legendaries, he was tough. We'd have to try to brute force our way through to win, but Lucario didn't look tired at all. Only bruised in his jaw due to Honey's Fire Punch.

I took a deep breath. "Ancient Power in front and get in range!"

Earth rose from the floor, consolidated into a hard boulder and rolled toward Lucario.

"Cut it."

The fighting type slashed the rock down the middle, splitting it in two perfect halves. Angel was already treading forward, pushing himself with as many vines as he could. He was barely touching the floor with his feet.

"Bind him! Overwhelm him with vines!" I said.

Tangrowth redirected the vines he was using to walk toward Lucario, who summoned another bone and twirled it around like a baton. The vines helplessly washed against the bone.

"Go around!"

Another set of vines shot out from Angel's body, this time circling Lucario. He couldn't be everywhere at once—

"Go in now!"

He didn't even need to use Bullet Punch this time. Lucario's Force Palm hit Angel again, this time angled toward his face. The grass type hastily retaliated with a Power Whip, but that wasn't right. We needed to grab him instead of hit him.

"Bind and Mega Drain!"

I grinned. This time, there were too many to ignore, and he was too close. Lucario tried that same jumping trick, but we were ready. Tangrowth snaked a vine behind his back and killed his momentum, allowing him to finally wrap him with as many as he wanted.

I relaxed with a sigh.

"Vacuum Wave!"

And immediately tensed again. The air around Lucario's fists became a vacuum and some of Tangrowth's vines expanded, swelling uncontrollably before withering away like dust. It wasn't over, however. Lucario kept using the move, forcing Angel to replace his vines to keep a hold on him.

But then, disaster struck.

Using the slight lapse in time that Vacuum Wave bought him and us being taken off-guard, a blue bone slipped out of Lucario's hand. The fighting type twisted it upward and managed to cut apart almost all of Angel's vines, although he hit himself in the rush. One last Vacuum wave was enough to escape, and he slipped out of our hold.

I had learned a few things from that interaction. One, Vacuum Wave was annoying as hell, and if it hit Angel directly, then the sudden change would cause his vines to expand, then wither and die. It was almost a direct counter to us, and Chase had no doubt figured that out too. We were both terrible at physics, and we somehow hadn't figured it out until now. Two, Lucario was strong. Ridiculously so. Even beyond destroying the vines with attacks, Angel had to actually struggle to hold onto him, which had never happened with a Pokemon of this relative size.

I should have expected a fighting type to be like that.

Still, Lucario seemed to be tiring, but so was Angel, and we actually had to be on the defensive now that Vacuum Wave was a factor—

"Aura Sphere."

Angel didn't even have to wait for my order. A hastily built barrier sprung from the floor and crumbled to dust as soon as the attack hit. I craned my neck to the right to get around the dust and saw that Lucario was already moving.

"Another!" I yelled.

Lucario crashed head first into a boulder and calmly destroyed it with a Bone Rush. He was getting sluggish. Two minutes ago, he would have caught that. My eyes bulged when he threw the bone forward. Angel tried to stop it, but no matter how many vines he used, the bone simply cleaved right through.

Fighting an aura user was so unfair.

The bone lodged itself deep inside of Tangrowth, but it still stuck out. Lucario became a blur of motion with Bullet Punch. He stopped the attack midway through and smoothly transitioned into Force Palm like it was second nature to him and pushed the bone even deeper with the attack.

Tangrowth shut his eyes tight and lashed out half-hazardly with Power Whip. One of them hit Lucario, but it didn't matter. He slammed another palm, and a smaller vacuum wave destroyed all of the vines on the right side of his body, exposing his dark flesh. The bone that had stabbed him lightly turned to dust, and Lucario finished him off with one last direct Force Palm.

I wiped the sweat off my brow and my shoulders sagged. Even if I hadn't known how aura would interact with different moves, hiding Bullet Punch until I sent out Tangrowth had been a good play by him, and Chase was quick to take advantage of any weakness that he saw. Lucario bowed toward Angel in apology as I recalled him and then sat on the floor with a tired breath. For the first time since I left Hearthome, a trainer had managed to take down Angel. Lucario was just so damn slippery.

Chase had improved. He'd improved a lot. It stung to lose, but I knew that had been a possibility when I challenged him. I had learned a whole lot about aura and that would potentially pay dividends for my fight against Maylene.

"Good battle," I smiled.

"Right back at you."