6:30 P.M. July 1, Wednesday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event)
Events: The Joint Kanto and Johto Indigo Summer League is at its climax; the grand final for each bracket of the Summer Round Robin Cup is here, where Trainers from each Tier will be named Seasonal Best, and at 6:30 P.M. the momentous event to determine the fate of Vermilion Gym—Saria Surge vs. Visquez—will begin.
Our girl started her journey on the 9th of June—she’s been a Trainer for 22 Days (21 officially; 22 since getting Maya and Nova).
Match start, Minli exited her pokeball to hover over the neutral field of Silver Stadium, bright lights and barriers obscuring the crowd as her shimmering crystals painted small rays of dazzling colors, preparing for battle.
She’d been nervous about entering such a Battle Tier, given Saria’s leading team was far more experienced than her, yet her Trainer insisted she would be a star; so, Minli diligently built her strength to be of use for Saria’s expectations for this day.
Saria’s voice filled her spirit with courage. “You’re amazing, Minli; we’re all here with you!”
“Yeah!” Zaneeta roared, burning with anticipation. “We’ll be right behind you!”
Addie’s calming, smooth tone followed. “I know this is terrifying, but remain calm and stick to your training, Minli; Inja and I will pick up the slack. Just focus on your opponent!”
Conviction setting into her bright blue eyes, Minli’s focus settled on her opponent as Visquez’s own Pokemon exited—just as Saria predicted—Rassha, a Heat Rotom.
I—I’ll do my best!
“What a shocker! Saria Surge starts the match with a Carbink; first we’ve seen of Minli in Saria’s battles in this tournament! Visquez with a Heat Rotom, likely attempting to counter Zaneeta, Saria’s Mawile! Still, Rotom is a powerful starter; can our little Carbink’s Stats keep up with the top-tier Pokemon?”
Hoving to the left and leaping into the air with her energy, Minli shimmered, speed sharply increasing as Rassha rapidly expanded, rushing her at incredible speed. Knowing he couldn’t move that fast and having greater distance, she managed to throw up a Safeguard before the Astonish hit, dealing minor damage.
“Good, you got the Safeguard! That was the hardest part!” Saria praised. “Visquez loves using Status Moves and Hex; it was her only chance at taking you out before Zanny comes in.”
With her vision blocked by the colossal Rotom, Rassha took advantage to mask his location, now dozens of the Pokemon covering the field to surround her; however, they’d managed to block her initial Status Hex play.
Rassha hung back, its clones all glowing as the heat in the area increased; he was powering up in preparation for Zaneeta coming out. If they could take out the Mawile, a colossal threat would be brushed off the field, and it was her job to prevent that.
Spinning in a tight circle after Astonish sent her further into the air, hundreds of jagged rocks scattered across the field to damage anyone who tripped the mines, now sinking into the earth; Visquez loved fast battles, and they’d stalled out her rush play, yet it would only increase in pace as they went on.
Barriers cycled around the Rotoms, preparing for the physical damage, and smiling as she fell, Minli’s heart blossomed with pride; she’d done her part, and now all that was left was to chip down the Electric-Fire Pokemon as much as possible.
Glittering gems sparkled around her for a rain of jewels to spray the doubles in her search for the real Rassha for a sun-enhanced supernova to erupt from the Rotom to meet the jewels.
It mitigated some of the gems, given the power difference, yet it also showed her where Rassha was; charging right through the flames, stone body resisting the heat as a screen of light came into being before her to further mitigate damage, an orb of metallic gold spinning in front of her.
Rassha’s eyes flashed pink, and as she neared her target, a force shoved her into the air, causing the blast of Rock energy to miss and flatten a large area behind the Rotom; still, she was close to him—until she wasn’t.
The Rotom faded as if an illusion to appear several meters to her right, eyes closed as a sinister aura flared around him; he’d managed to trick her to prepare for her next entry, knowing he couldn’t do much to her without the ability to Status or change her Stats while having his damage heavily reduced.
Unable to get her Smack Down Stomping Tantrum combo, brown rays illuminated the flaring sky for colossal stones to fill the heavens and collapse around them.
Unable to block it, Rassha took the brunt and, with him distracted by the vanishing boulders—solidified energy dissipating—Minli snuck in close for a large box to enclose them, yet just before the slow-acting shell activated, he managed to send a wave of electricity along the entire field.
Good luck, Zaneeta!
“You did great, Kid! Keep him busy there, and I’ll keep them off your Wonder Room!”
* * *
Zaneeta flew out of her pokeball, electricity dancing around her feet as the timer for the next addition arrived; Drowlo, Visquez’s Magnezone, sparked with energy as he exited to meet her. A smile lifted her lips, and power flooded her veins.
“Let’s do this, Zanny!”
They’ll feel this!
Rainbow light exploded around her, growing with the second mouth that split from her first as she mega evolved. Her dominating aura erupted across the field, incredible strength filling Zaneeta’s blood; Hyper Cutter, Sheer Force, and Huge Power—she was a juggernaut—she couldn’t be stopped.
Zanny’s smile increased as Drowlo utilized Analytic with the support of Electric Terrain and Magnetic Pull to force her into the air and put her at the Pokemon’s mercy; it failed.
A radiant pink aura exploded around her to blow the sparking ground away, overpowering most of the field before the Magnezone could try and counter her—Fairy Wish—unlike Fairy Terrain, this zone sharply increased her already incredible damage.
Zanny was stronger than Drowlo, and being in her mega form, she could overwhelm any Field Effect, especially if she only focused on her immediate area instead of trying to maintain it on a wider area.
Realizing he was being overwhelmed, Drowlo shot for the Wonder Room as the Rotom and Carbink continued to battle in their isolated space; Minli was taking a good beating from the the STAB Electric Moves and considering she had to maintain the shell, yet so long as it wasn’t destroyed from the outside, she would be fine.
Throwing out her hand, a bright blue sword formed in Zanny’s fingers, and doing what she’d practiced in the Dream World, flames sparked in her jaws while shadows encased her.
Appearing above Drowlo, darkness coating her fist and zone overpowering his terrain, she lashed out with both Sun-enhanced flaming jaws closing in on the Magnezone’s sides—it was over.
Electricity arched around the Magnezone, pulsing lightning making Zanny wince as the Steel Pokemon launched at incredible speed for Minli’s Wonder Room.
Jaws unfortunately missing, her shadowy punch wouldn’t be denied, carrying her a second time through darkness to send the Pokemon rocketing into the earth before reaching her teammate’s walls.
Explosions erupted from the crater, Stealth Rocks activating to deal further damage, but Drowlo’s attributes kicked in.
Muk…
Sparks sent the dust cycling away, the Magnezone managing to tank the powerful hit due to its typing and ability for an enhanced swell of magnetic waves to reach for Zanny; Terrain flipping, pink mist surrounded her as the energy threw her back across the field, and like her, the Pokemon had used two Moves at once—Misty Terrain prevented the paralysis from setting in.
Flipping around in her flight, she gathered enough energy to send a massive specter at the Pokemon, breaking through the swirling mist to surprise Drowlo; its beam of charging power collapsed, temporarily stunning its ability to use a Move.
Landing on the charred earth, she forced a grin upon feeling the lingering heat lick her defensive matrix, yet took the chance to form a second sword, further increasing her strength.
Minli’s strained voice entered her mind. “Z-Zanny… I can’t hold out much longer… His electricity is doing more damage than I thought, and he’s good at dodging my Power Gems.”
Saria had been giving her advice, focusing on helping the Carbink instead of concentrating on her fight, and their Trainer’s enthusiastic tone put Zaneeta’s heart at ease.
“You’re doing great, Minli, and you’ve still got some fight in you! Keep up the Safeguard and Light Screen—Sand Tomb to dampen his fire and block his sight from the Sunny Day. You can’t dodge a huge AOE Move like Overheat; focus on mitigating the damage.”
“He keeps dodging my Smack Down! I can’t get the combo on him!”
“Don’t panic; you’re doing good. Double Team—the more he wastes Visquez’s energy, the better—Mirror Coat, and keep him defensive! Once he gets in close—there—Gravity!”
“I—I got him! Uh-oh…”
The Wonder Room broke, flames blistering the air and filling the ground with the indignant Rotom; Minli was blown back, smoke rising around her as Saria called the Carbink back to her pokeball.
As Drowlo and Rassha prepared for their third member to join them and recover, Zaneeta took the distraction Minli provided to vanish in the obscuring mist as Rassha tried to blow it all away with an Overheat.
The Magnezone sent a pulse of magnetic waves to draw her away, but it was too late; her dark-charged fist came down on the fire-illuminated Rotom—a transparent shell surrounded him only to shatter since he’d used it before against Minli—and she pounded Rassha into the earth for the hidden mines to erupt around them.
Half into the strike, Zanny was swept away by the forces Drowlo emitted, and when she landed, her team cheered; a beam of red light connected with the Heat Rotom, returning to his pokeball—the most frightening piece was out of play—one for one.
The announcer roared his excitement with the crowd. “Can you imagine it, Folks! A Master-tier Pokemon doing that much damage to a High Master; superb use of Moves on Saria and Minli’s part, stalling that battle out!
You did good, Kid… Fighting on a High Master stage as Master-tier is no joke.
“She really did,” Saria chuckled, watching Drowlo reinstitute the broken Electric Terrain. “Be careful; Visquez probably wasn’t expecting Rassha to go down this early; she will pull out some unorthodox strategy to make up for it.”
We have our own plan… Right, Brix?
The light flipped for their third member to join, and the Klefki shot out of his pokeball next to her to promptly slide into place around the base of her left horn; Zanny had her shield.
“I’ve got your back, Lady Zaneeta!”
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Zanny’s lips tightened as Tismra became their next opponent; this would be tough considering her speed—the Electrode gave her a lifted eyebrow and grin, arcs dancing around her in the Electric Terrain Drowlo maintained—and immediately, the Magnezone began spraying electrified webs all across the barrier, acting as lightning rods to further spread the charge.
Light pink hexagrams enclosed Zanny, defending against any Status Moves and allowing her to return to Fairy Zone to break up the Electric Terrain; it wasn’t quite as dominant with the webbing beginning to fill the area, yet would follow her and prevent Drowlo from doing a lot of his annoying magnetic tricks that came with the terrain.
Unfortunately, Brix couldn’t use Magnet Rise on them both until the annoying Magnet Area Pokemon was dealt with, which meant they were at a severe speed disadvantage with Tismra in the battle.
A red target shone on the Elecrode’s body, Brix marking her to make sure all of his attacks wouldn’t miss, and Tismra rose into the air, lightning arcing around her.
“Long time no see, Tismra,” Zaneeta grinned, holding up a hand and motioning to her with a smug grin, her other crafting a third shimmering sword to disperse. “Ohh, Girl, you better run, run, run…”
“I can charge for—mmgm, hmm-hmm-hmm… Taunt, really? Come on—pfft, two Steel-Types? You’re practically asking to be thrown away; I’m in no danger so long as I stay close to Drowlo.”
She launched a thunderbolt, the Magnezone spreading more webs; Zanny countered by throwing a hail of stones across the field, allowing Brix to complete his preparations since he couldn’t launch Moves as fast as them.
Rocks exploding into fragments, she smirked as Drowlo groaned. “Ugh… my head still hurts from that blow you gave me before. When did you get so good at dealing with magnetic fields?”
“Buying time?” Saria asked. “I don’t have unlimited energy to keep you in Mega, and Inja needs it, too.”
Naturally, and I know they’re up to something, but if we can wait for Inja to join, then we’ll be set.
“Be careful,” the Gardevoir warned.
“Yeah, yeah… This is a Stadium battle, though! We need to make things exciting!”
“Ooh, you’re right, and with Diantha and Alizée watching… Let’s do the Chatoyant Quasar Strat!”
Okay! Are you crazy?! I’m all for a show, but that plan… I’m not with that plan!” she gasped as Inja offered her own insane thoughts that put a shiver through Zanny; Inja was a little psychotic sometimes, even if she didn’t look it.
“Hmm… No, I think we go with that.”
Huh?! Uh… Just so you know, I’m against this, Saria! Brix?
“I will do my best, Madmoizelle!”
That’s not what I was asking!
“Oui-oui.”
And that’s not an answer! Oh, please don’t die…
Zanny launched forward, spinning in a short circle to dodge a bolt and send a blast of wind in the pair’s direction.
“My Lady Electro Ball,” Brix’s Kalos accent thickened while clearing his throat and spinning with Zanny’s swift actions. “You may be able to set your Moves in order, yet so too shall we! I would not look down on our Steely appearances, Ma’am! Though… we may not have met as of yet, I have been carefully selected to handle your zippy-speedy tactics!”
Tismra giggled, easily rolling in the air to avoid Zanny’s distance attacks. “Oh? Well, aren’t we the confident one; my dear, you have yet to even reach High Master… Allow me to show you what that looks like.”
Webs filling the sides of the stadium, Tismra sparked and became a streak of light, moving faster than Zanny had ever seen the ball manage, charging through the air and using the electrified silk like a spring to blaze a dazzling trail in her wake.
“Uh-oh… Brix!”
“I am trying to lock onto our target, Madmoizelle!”
Zanny grimaced. Well, in the meantime, ugh—ack, can she stop hitting me for half a second!
She covered her face and bolstered her defenses. Drowlo did the same with Brix and her being distracted; blows came from nearly every angle, the pair knowing that if she used Special Moves, Brix would counter it.
Forget attacking; Zanny couldn’t even follow the Electrode’s actions; it didn’t do much damage, but every collision against her body chipped her shield away little by little—at least Brix’s Reflect was helping.
“Hmm…” Saria seemed to be glaring at Visquez. “She’s trying to whittle down my Fortitude before showing her aces; I think Mac will come out next… I wanted to send out Addie, but you’re probably right on needing to pull out all the stops Inja.”
“I will leave them with quite the dazzling display of sound!”
“This isn’t a Contest, Inja! Okay! Brix?”
“I have her!”
A fearful grin split Zanny’s lips as her defensive shell hit 46%. Perfect… Is it enough?
“What’s wrong, Zan-zan?” Tismra called out, using Drowlo’s magnetism to further launch herself at increased speed. “So, you’ve prevented a lot of our normal tactics with all those Status shields, but did you really think you could even hold a candle to…”
“Next Pokemon!” The announcer yelled.
A pillar of lightning beamed out of Drowlo’s panicked body to force Brix to use Mirror Coat, yet shadows took Zanny, carrying the keychain with her to appear above the streaking electro ball.
“Gotcha!”
“Huh…”
Tismra’s eyes widened in shock as pink chains exploded around them to bind her in the air, Zanny looming over her with a big grin, fist plunging toward her eye with the Klefki spreading more Misty Terrain.
A blast of sparks flashed out of the corner of Zanny’s vision before a glowing Raichu’s dead-serious shiny black eyes met hers—Mac, moving at incredible speed the second he entered the battle to save his comrade, raging red energy surrounding his fist—Focus Punch struck her jaw, sending her flying back for Zanny to spontaneously be on the grass.
* * *
Swapping places with Zaneeta, a burst of energy came from Inja as her power skyrocketed, and with both grouped opponents hanging in the air before her, a sweet smile touched her lips. “Too hasty, Mac… I hope you enjoy my fading song.”
Fairy Zone and Misty Terrain still lingering in the area, and strength flooding her veins, Inja watched Mac’s ears suddenly pull back, realizing the trap he’d just run headfirst into.
“Aww, fish sticks…” he hissed.
Light erupted from Tismra, trying to destroy the chains and escape, but it was utterly useless, given all the multipliers Inja stacked, nothing would be left.
An effulgence of light and sound flared from Inja as she waved at her opponents—silence took the stadium as the mist drew into her to detonate into a dazzling swell of all her gathered power, nuking the entire field.
* * *
Light Screen! Wonder Room! Protect! Hurry! Inja just wants to show off to her idol! Zaneeta cried, running to the opposite corner as her teammate became a living fulmination.
“I am building the energy, Madmoizelle! It is…”
Inja’s playful and bright voice interrupted. “Why are you running, Zanny; didn’t you say you could take a fully charged Misty Explosion yesterday?”
Her heart stopping and gut churning, Zanny saw the whole world tint pink—the end was nigh—the flood of destructive force forming behind her like an erupting volcano.
“Brix!”
“Hohoho!”
Turning her head as the Gardevoir chortled, fear gripped Zanny’s belly as a blast strong enough to level all of Silver City took up her entire vision, and she stood near the edge of the barrier, watching it engulf everything with the insane Fairy Pokemon at its center.
“Done!”
A tight box of squares enclosed her, followed by a layer of screens, and both used Protect for everything to be stripped away, the warm Fairy-Type force embracing them as the shockwave carried Zanny against the barrier.
“Ugrmgm…”
“You… okay, Madmoizelle?”
Ugh… Not when Saria and Inja try to kill us… Gah, my shield was down to 36%... I’m .3% now, and that’s after all the barriers!
“It worked!” Saria forced a chuckle. “I know it was a little last second, but Inja really wanted to turn into a supernova since you could set everything up for her.”
Struggling to her feet, Zaneeta examined the utterly annihilated field; they were now over twenty meters below where they’d originally stood, standing on the bottom of the barrier.
Even this, one of the most potent barricades technology could produce, was scarred with coral, turquoise, and lilac streaks from the most powerful Fairy-Type Move that rivaled Z-Moves; done fully charged, under Fairy Zone, and with a Mega Gardevoir’s colossal Special Attack… it could overpower a Z-Move.
A red streak flew out from Saria to connect to Inja, limply falling to the barrier with shimmering rays surrounding her while returning to her normal state; their Trainer looked magnificent, staring at Visquez across the colossal stadium, yet the strain of that attack had hit her Fortitude.
Tismra was nearby, having been blown away with the others scattered in various directions; Zanny half expected Mac to struggle back to his feet with a smirk on his face, but the Raichu seemed to have only barely escaped the fatal blast radius, carrying Tismra with him.
Inja had taken out three High Master Pokemon in a single attack in a show that reminded them of the battle style they were forced to use in the Ultra War; they’d used this very tactic at one point to turn the tides of a battle—not nearly as powerful—yet having similar results.
Beams of light went to Visquez’s Pokemon as she returned them to place them in the onsite teleporter that would bring them to a Center for treatment, and Zaneeta lifted her head to see Giovanni, Janine, Sabrina, Blaine, Chuck, Morty, Jasmine, Pryce, Clair, and her father standing, appearing to be clapping as the crowd soon joined them.
Saria’s voice was a little melancholy as she looked at her father. “Not every Gym Leader will approve of that tactic, but it is something they teach… We could have really hurt Visquez’s Pokemon had Mac not been swift enough to break Brix’s chains and carry Tismra to a safe distance…
“That’s what my father taught us to do, though… We are war tools, and we have to show we can do what it takes to protect those under our care. This isn’t just a battle for honor or position… It’s to show the people we’re looking after that we can make the hard decisions to win on their behalf.”
“Amazing, Folks… Misty Explosion, and on a level I’ve never witnessed—just so you know—without this barrier, none of us would be here right now! What a dazzling—what’s this?”
Visquez spoke, voice mixed with emotion. “I… didn’t think you had it in you, Saria… Not to go that far in an official match… I underestimated your determination. I won’t give up, but you’ve proven that you are not taking this lightly. What do you say to ending this?”
Walking to the head of the barrier to look up at her Trainer, Zaneeta could tell she didn’t want Inja to do that but accepted it as the best chance they had to overpower Visquez, given she’d saved her Fortitude for her final two; even if taking Inja—their strongest teammate—out of play, taking Mac and his strong presence away from the opponent, and on their terms, was a huge victory.
“Hehe… Thanks, Visquez. It’s been a ride, predicting what you might do.”
“Yes, a Carbink… was not something I expected, and I figured you didn’t have anything to answer Rassha with. As much as I hate to admit it, I did take you lightly, Saria, and this is proof. Ready to end this?”
“I’ve been working for this since I was a child, watching my dad from the sidelines.”
“... I learned a lot about you in this battle. Thank you, Saria.”
Zaneeta strengthened her mind, turning to face Visquez, far above them and across the vaporized field, its elements melding into the shell with the pressure Inja generated.
“Start!” the ref yelled.
Two pokeballs fell near Brix and her to release Addie and Trox, their Mr. Mime partner; he’d been there as a backup to support Inja when she needed to focus on attacking instead of support.
Visquez sent their last two opponents, an Ampharos, and to all of their surprise, a Low-Key Toxtricity; if Visquez had been able to get these two out with the rest of her team, they would have been in trouble.
“Plus, Mold Breaker, Static for Ampharos… combined with Minus… with Punk Rock and Technician—on top of being Poison to counter all of you… When did she raise up a Toxtricity? He would have kept you on the ropes while Mold Breaker ruined our own synergy. Heh, she wanted you off the field, Zanny, since you can destroy that Toxtricity… She did plan accordingly but got unlucky I found a counter for her Heat Rotom.”
Watch out for the Electric attacks, guys, Zaneeta warned, Addie following her statement.
“If it hits you, you’ll be locked out of your Ability for a bit. Get ready; here they come!”
Flowers bloomed around Addie as she healed Zanny, throwing out an endless stream of support with her powerful Ability and spiraling in the air to dodge the rain of thunder that sparked across the field from the Mega Ampharos.
Zanny couldn’t dodge those swift bolts, yet she didn’t need to with her floral friend’s healing buds continuing to enclose her, Trox and Brix supporting them, and a Fake Out from the Mr. Mime made the Toxtricity flinch; their numbers simply overwhelmed the pair.
Electricity sparked around her with Brix lifting her off the ground and shooting straight for the Toxic Pokemon, eating bolts of electricity while being protected from the Status conditions by the Klefki’s critical Move, and Trox lifted the bipedal lizard into the air to stop it from escaping.
The Mega Ampharos tried to use Magnetic Flux to push him away, but without Analytic, it didn’t have the same strength and flipping to the ground, Zanny used raw force to propel past it; Huge Power and Sheer Force disabled by Mold Breaker, she only had her maxed Attack Stat to rely on.
Dual Iron Heads came down on the Toxtricity, yet her mouth opened in shock as in that precise moment, Visquez Syncro-Bursted, the released energy shoving them away and bringing the Pokemon to the ground.
Electricity discharging around him, he moved at incredible speed to rush past her, globs of poison launching with skillful accuracy at Addie, yet Trox managed to block it.
Seconds from bypassing the barrier, the world changed for Zanny to take Addie’s place; the Mawile’s jaws illuminated a silver hue as she fell to meet the Toxtricity’s poison coated hand—a field of gray light encompassed them as Brix used Steel Wish—utterly canceling out the toxin, Iron Head connected, shattering his energy matrix in a single blow as the short reprieve returned her abilities.
Swapping places with Addie again with the Floral Pokemon’s swift actions, it didn’t take long to end it with two Play Roughs, enhanced by Fairy Wish; they’d won!
Collapsing on the ground as the crowd roared, Zaneeta felt tears coming to her eyes, Addie still trying to restore her energy matrix. We did it… We actually did it… And you’re engaged!
“Wow… And, hehe, Zack flashed his aura so I could see him in the crowd… He saw us win… We won… I’m a Gym Leader and a bride…”
Aww…
Addie, Zanny, Trox, and Brix closed around Saria’s spirit as she tried to hold back tears. Aren’t you supposed to be happy? Zanny teased.
“I… I am… This is just… the happiest day of my life…”
C’mon, you blubber-butt! Zanny mumbled, trying to keep her own tears in check as Addie uncharacteristically broke into tears, returning to his pokeball to not embarrass them. We got a ceremony to do.