"Kamo!" Mushu grunted in annoyance as Nova once again healed up some of the damage he'd dealt with Slack Off and Leech Seed. They'd been at each other's throats for the last three minutes. While Hakamo-o had a large advantage in power, Nova had fully set herself up with Curse and healed at every opportunity.
Unfortunately for us, Hakamo-o had Soundproof as at least one of his abilities, which took out Nova's best moves for the battle: Disarming Voice and Alluring Voice. He also made use of Protect every single time Nova tried to Yawn him into sleep. I just counted myself lucky he didn't have Drain Punch and that Nova's Unaware ability straight up ignored his boosted defense.
As a result of the drawn-out round, Hakamo-o was burned and had several nasty bite marks all over his torso and tail, almost all of them deep enough that I could probably stick half my hand into each mark. His face was brimming with frustration, matching Korrina's expression. I hadn't had time to look at his family until now, but they were entirely locked in. Two Kommo-o sat stone-faced, barely moving at all. The other was sneering like they expected Mushu to lose. The Jangmo-o… seemed awe-struck. They stood at the edge of the battlefield, waiting expectantly for the match to continue.
Despite all the healing, Nova's face was nearly as bad as when she ran into the Pangoro before I caught her. Her lungs rattled with each breath, and her tail didn't move with her body like it normally did.
She refused to switch out, though. He pissed her off after punting her across the battleground like a soccer ball, and she wanted vengeance.
Mushu the Hakamo-o moved again, his limbs glowing in what I now recognized as Close Combat. "Yawn!" I called out, mentally kicking myself as another plan forming in my mind.
"Protect!" Korrina responded, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. We'd done this several times already, and each one hadn't resulted in much for anyone. My team had one advantage over most other teams at this point: we had an Infiltrator. I just needed to make sure to set up the battle for our win.
The energy of the status move splashed uselessly against the translucent barrier. "Temper Flare!"
"Block it!" Korrina's eyes widened, probably knowing how much damage it could do with the failed Yawn. Just as I'd hoped, she was still limiting the moves he could use and had him block with Rock Throw to mitigate as much damage as possible from the explosive attack.
Except, she didn't know Nova couldn't use Temper Flare.
"Chomp his leg!" I shouted as Nova sped toward the Dragon Type. Korrina looked confused at first. As Mushu created a circle of rocks for him to throw, Nova closed in for a Crunch. Mushu picked up a couple of rocks and threw them, his legs completely open. Nova slid underneath and clamped down on Mushu's right leg, earning an outright terrifying howl of pain and rage.
I watched as Korrina's face twisted into a scowl. I saw the two Kommo-o, whom I suspected were Mushu's parents, narrow their eyes. The other grimaced and curled up a scaly fist tightly. One of the Jangmo-o glared at us and shouted frantically. It was a dirty tactic, but Nautilus needed all the advantages he could get. The other Jangmo-o sat there, completely focused on Nova.
The Hakamo-o snarled in rage as he lifted his leg and grabbed Nova by her head.
"Mushu! Don't-"
I called Nova back into her ball. She didn't need to receive that hit for me to know she was done. "I'm retiring Nova from the fight!" I watched as all but the Jangmo-o watching Nova snarled with distaste.
Grant nodded. "Marco, release your final Pokémon."
Nautilus floated over without hesitation. He looked confident, but I didn't miss how his tentacles trembled ever so slightly.
Win?
He asked me telepathically, as if he didn't know if it was actually possible. To be fair though, neither did I. Mushu was still standing tall and strong. He was breathing deeply, and the burns and Leech Seed were visible affecting him now, but I knew he could keep going for a while.
'Yes,' I thought back. 'We're going to win.'
He nodded and curled his tentacles tightly.
"Begin!"
Despite his bad leg, Mushu used the strength of his other leg to turn into a comet. I barely had time to react, but I didn't need to. Nautilus' transmitters flashed brightly and slowed the dragon to a stop, inches away from Close Combat range. "Hypnosis!"
"Protect!"
I smiled. Korrina smacked her forehead as the Hypnosis slipped through the barrier and but the monster to sleep. Korrina immediately went into alarm mode, trying to wake her Pokémon up.
Nautilus went to town while he could. He unleashed a storm of Aerial Ace, Pluck, Psybeam, and Psyshock, trying to do as much damage as he could. It didn't take long for the sleeping dragon to wake up and smack Nautilus away with a Dragon Claw. That single hit left Nautilus bleeding and clutching his side with two tentacles.
'Fuck.'
Instead of chasing after him, Mushu tried his barrage of Rock Throw, Vacuum Wave, and Aura Sphere to overwhelm Nautilus. Nautilus moved like water, using Telekinesis to change the trajectory of attacks he couldn't dodge completely on his own or, in the case of Aura Sphere, detonate early.
"Disable!" I cried out. Nautilus responded with a proud chirp, using the move to remove Aura Sphere from the barrage. Now he could get close, and with Infiltrator, Mushu had no way of avoiding being put to sleep.
"Dragon Dance!"
"Disable!"
"Gah, you're so annoying!" Korrina called out. "Mushu, don't hold back. Aerial Ace into Nightmare Claw!"
"Hypnosis and Psybeam!"
It was my turn to look on with a scowl as Mushu once again sped forward on one leg as his right claw amassed energy in terrifying quantities. The violent indigo of Dragon, the gleaming silver of Steel, the controlled orange of Fighting, and the mysterious violet of Ghost energies crackled menacingly. It tore through the Hypnosis and Psybeam, meaning Dark-Type Energy was part of the amalgamation of energies contained in the attack. "Protect and Hypnosis!"
Nautilus tried to use the transmitters again, but they seemed to have no effect as Mushu brought the claw down. Luckily, the transmitters weren't an actual move, and he was able to gather the energy for a Protect just in time to block most of the hit. Nautilus let loose another Hypnosis just as the Hakamo-o's claw, containing the residual energies, slashed across Nautilus' mantle. My squid screamed in pain, but he used that to fuel his follow-up attacks as he condensed Dark-Type Energy into a ball and slammed it into Mushu's face. The Dragon Type woke up, but Nautilus gathered Psychic Energy and headbutted the dragon.
*ding*
*ding*
Before I could check my phone, Nautilus took advantage of the flinch he caused and continued to deliver. He alternated between Aerial Ace and Psybeam, continuously zipping his small body around to keep the pressure up even through the Protects his opponent mustered.
He couldn't continue it forever, though, and Mushu the Hakamo-o soon found himself tired of getting thrashed. With a mighty roar, unleashed a wave of pressure, and his whole body lit up. Korrina's face lit up with joy, while Grant's was full of relief. Mushu's parents nodded in acknowledgement as he finished his evolution and returned themselves to their PokéBalls. The other Kommo-o grunted in annoyance before doing the same. Both Jangmo-o were celebrating Mushu, but one kept stealing glances at me and Nautilus.
Before Grant called the battle, Mushu snarled in frustration and rushed at Nautilus.
"Mushu, stop!" Korrina shouted, but he ignored her. In the time it took me and Korrina to grab our respective PokéBalls, Mushu was squeezing Nautilus so hard I thought he was going to pop. His eyes bulged and he couldn't even get a sound out. In the blink of an eye, Mushu smashed Nautilus into the floor headfirst. Mushu was recalled just as he reached out again, and Korrina locked his ball.
"I am so sorry, Marco," she stated, staring at Mushu's ball as I rushed past her. "I knew he was getting frustrated with the match, but he's never gone berserk-"
A bright light erupted from Nautilus' unconscious form as Grant kneeled next to me. His body widened, the tentacles lengthened in a writhing mess, and four fins grew out from his mantles to turn into his arms and legs. He was hardly breathing, but I felt a familiar brush against my mind.
Win?
"Yeah, buddy. We won," I whispered, tears streaming. "Let's get you healed up so we can celebrate."
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A/N: This chapter was hard to write. I had the battle planned out, and when I started working on this chapter, my mind just blanked. I couldn't remember at all what I was trying to go for until yesterday, but I'm not sure if I'm happy with it the way it is. That being said, I've had a lot less motivation to write in general these last few weeks. I'm settling in the job and apartment just fine, but my attention and energy hasn't been on this story for a while now. I think I just want to live a little during the weekends now that I have them free, if that makes sense. I'm still going to write, but I'm not going to be focused on finishing chapters just to upload them on a schedule. I think that's when I write best. I can't write anything when I'm not motivated to do so, but the words just flow when I am. Maybe I'll take writing more seriously when I eventually get to some original projects. For now though, I wanna have fun with this fanfiction. I hope you enjoy the chapter!