"So who're you betting on?" I asked. The battle would be between a steel specialist and an ice/fire dual specialist.
"Well, Scythe's younger, but he's more creative. Despite his disadvantages, I bet he'll find a way to beat Snowfire." Tristan replied.
Things were different. This would be the first tier VI battle I've seen, live or otherwise. Oak had told me not to bother, and I'd had plenty of other battles to watch in the meantime.
It would be exciting though. Supposedly, each tier was exponentially more powerful than the next. I had learned that the hard way, going from tier III to tier IV. It simply was another level.
"Would you bet on it?" I asked, seeing just how confident Tristan was with his assessment.
"Hell no. It's never a good idea to bet against Snowfire's Volcarona. That thing is a fucking powerhouse."
Cool. Volcarona was a powerful pokemon, and one of my favorites. It was sure to be quite rare too, so seeing it in action would be interesting.
"Well I'm excited to see what it can do. Do you think you'd stand a chance against any of these guys?" I asked.
In my own opinion, Tristan would likely struggle against many of the tier V battlers I'd seen. Despite being a decorated veteran ranger, this was competitive battling. People had been in this business for decades, and if you hadn't been preparing for this specific format, you would get stomped by anybody competent, no matter who you were.
"Hell no. Hurricane might be able to go toe to toe with one or two of Scythe's mon, and Gallade could likely do well against most of them, but Gallade wouldn't be able to take out more than two. Individually, he can probably beat everything except his Aegislash and Steelix, but he'd take significant damage from any single one of Scythe's pokemon. On the other hand, Hurricane might not even be able to deal with a single one of Snowfire's pokemon, just because of their inherent defenses. Gallade could probably deal with everything except Volcarona, but wouldn't be able to take out more than two in a single battle."
Interesting. Gallade was a hell of a pokemon. His ability to teleport for mobility, layer psychic defenses, as well as have a powerful offense with a wide range of potential attacks, he was a powerhouse. Hurricane was more limited in battles like these, although his speed would come in handy.
That being said, tier VI must be crazy if it was filled with people who have entire teams packing power like Gallade, with some having even stronger pokemon.
We got some snacks, beer in Tristan's case, and sat down. We'd timed it pretty well, and the announcer was just beginning the recap.
"Last week we had two Kanto natives, with Bruno, head sensei of Indigo Dojo, inventor of the quaking fist and scorpion technique, facing off against Shinobu, Ninja heiress of Fuschia."
On the left a floating fist slammed into the ground. Nearby another fist slammed into the ground, creating more shockwaves. Then, the floating hands whizzed around, flying through the air before clashing together in a massive fist bump. Air distorted as the force expanded out, making the fake barrier ripple. Where the two hands collided stood a man wearing a black tank top, flexing towards the crowd.
He bent his head back, a resounding laugh rumbling throughout the stadium.
Then, on the other side, dozens of cloaked figures ran through the treetops. They jumped from tree to tree, hands behind their backs. The ninjas wore black gear, and were hardly noticeable. They seemed to grow in number, they gradually began to combine back until there was only one remaining. With one last look towards the stand, kunai in hand, Shinobu got ready to battle.
Compared to Bruno's entrance, it was pretty tame, but not everybody has a need for theatrics.
"The battle was back and forth. Bruno's Lucario was taken out by Shinobu's Crobat, but not before his Hawlucha took out Shiftry. Shinobu struggled with Bruno's Kommo-o, losing her Greninja and Vileplume to it."
The simulation sped through key scenes of the battle.
I noted how beefy Bruno's fighting types looked, and how fast and dangerous Shinobu's dark and poison types were.
"The final lineup was Bruno's Mega Machamp along with his Heracross against Shinobu's Mega Arbok and Mega Houndoom."
The scene shifted to showcase the size of Mega Machamp. I'd done plenty of research on special mechanics like Mega evolution and Gigantimax. This was the first time I'd seen it in person though. Well, kind of in person. In a stadium while a simulation is played, so it kind of counts.
Anyway, Gigantimax and Dynamax don't exist. They are a large part of Galar's folklore, and very popular in lots of their media, but pokemon can't actually grow to those insane sizes. Which is good. Dynamax in the real world could make a Wurmple a threat to an entire city.
Gigantimax forms did exist, sort of. Mega Machamp looks about like what Gigantimax Machamp looked like. Glowing yellow hands, pulsing yellow veins that lit up with power. Absolute cannons for forearms.
The obvious next question was for how pokemon like Gengar, Charizard, Blastoise, or any other pokemon with both a mega and gigantimax form could turn into.
Oh yeah.
The big clincher for one of my earlier theories about evolution seemed to be proved by Mega evolution. I'd basically considered one of the potential ways evolution could make sense is by pokemon storing bits of energy, every time they expend it, somewhere inside of them. Once that energy reached acceptable levels, they would be able to evolve.
It's called the Heliochondria. But only pokemon that have the capacity to evolve have it. So once a pokemon reaches its final stage, it doesn't store any more energy for evolution. It lacks the biological organ necessary.
However, there is a certain object that serves as a substitute.
A mega stone.
Ridiculously expensive and rare. Volatile. They don't work half the time. Other times, if the energy wells up too much they'll just explode. The shards of the stone can kill the pokemon and whatever else is nearby. Really dangerous business.
However, if everything lines up, then your pokemon will evolve again. Mega evolution is permanent in this world. Considering the risks involved as well as the financial drain, mega evolved pokemon happen to be rather rare. Certain things like a pokemon having very powerful aura, being in-tuned with their trainer and self, as well as some environmental conditions have been theorized to help the process, but they are currently rumored to be unsubstantiated.
Whether or not certain mega stones only work for certain pokemon is not something I could find out, and I likely won't get my hands on a mega stone anytime soon to properly test anything, which is unfortunate.
Anyway, all it meant that this battle I was watching now, with Mega Machamp duking it out with Mega Houndoom, really showcased how powerful Mega's can be.
Another side note. Mega Arbok didn't exist in the games, so mega evolution beyond the ones I knew before is certainly possible. It is also fucking huge.
Mega Arbok had to be at least ten feet tall, even with half its body slithering along the ground to keep balance. It kept its purple scales, although they seemed darker than a regular Arbok's, and could change the coloring on its front coat to bright reds and yellows at will, disorienting and hypnotizing foes.
It's back cowl had black spikes that it could flare up. Those same spikes could shoot out pin missiles, toxic spikes, and more. Its tail now had a wicked sharp blade, like a Seviper's tail, that could shred anything into pieces.
It could shoot out venom at blinding speeds, with ridiculous precision over long distances. I don't know whether regular Arbok can do that, but this Mega Arbok certainly could.
"However, despite Shinobu's impressive dual Mega lineup, they simply couldn't stand against Bruno's impressive flying fist technique." The announcer continued.
Impressive was the wrong word. Terrifying was more accurate. Unfair was also good. Absolutely busted also works.
Machamp would shoot out punches at blinding speeds, its fists coated in thick brown martial aura, and the aura would continue on. The pokedex entries about Machamp being able to send out hundreds of punches in a second actually applied to Bruno's Mega Machamp.
The aura would stay in the shape of a fist, continuing on in the air at the same speed the Mega Machamp had punched. They would lose potency at range, but only barely.
Mega Houndoom covered itself in an inferno of flame, thirty feet wide, sweltering in heat. Mega Machamp took it out from afar with its flying fist technique.
Easily.
It looked like Mega Houndoom had been shot with a couple dozen sniper rounds in the span of a second. Its body crumpled under the blows, getting knocked back a couple feet with every hit.
Mega Arbok tanked more blows, its terrifying strength letting it close the distance despite being bombarded with earth shattering blows.
Every single one of those punches could have brought a Rhyperior to its knees. Arbok had to tank at least a dozen to be able to close the distance on Machamp. It sank its teeth into Machamp's shoulder, doing loads of damage and poisoning it badly, but getting close range with Machamp simply wasn't livable.
There was a reason Bruno was one of the top contenders in tier VI. It was terrifying to think that if rumors were true, he still hadn't even beat the first floor leader. Floor leaders are effectively the Elite Four of the region, and you have to beat each one before being able to challenge Taimu.
I couldn't fathom how I could ever begin to try and fight against Mega Machamp's flying fist technique. The drawback of such a powerful close quarters fighter was supposed to be in the name. They weren't supposed to be able to dish out the same power from afar.
It was simply unfair.
His Heracross or Pangoro could defeat any psychics thrown at him, and his Lucario or Kommo-o could likely deal with any fairies. Kommo-o, despite being a dragon and fighter, also possessed many impressive steel abilities.
Bruno was a monster. His pokemon could move mountains. Knowing how aura worked, he probably wasn't far off.
Shinobu was an extremely powerful trainer, who I also had no idea how I could defeat. She'd pulled out several wildcards and techniques I didn't know were possible, same as Bruno.
Tier VI was something else. And I'd thought tier V was insane.
"And with our recap done, who's ready for tonight's battle!" The announcer boomed. "As a reminder, this battle is brought to you by Galactic Enterprises. Reach for the stars!" He continued.
The simulation reset, falling to pieces before building back up again.
Snow began to drop from the sky, and frost covered trees and rocks sprouted up from below. There were random logs and bushes thrown about, but it wasn't too clear since everything was covered by snow.
"Oh and isn't this an interesting setting? Snowfire can utilize the environment with his ice types, but his fire types will struggle. How will our contenders fare in this weather?"
"Now for our battlers! On the left, the most dangerous alloy specialist known to man. His pokemon are so sharp they can cut diamonds! The Merchant of Evisceration, the knight in silver, give it up for Scythe!"
From the left a shadow loomed as something grew out of the ground. Then, it began falling, the massive blade pointing towards the ground. The scythe had to be at least fifty feet tall, with its blade the size of a school bus. It cleaved into the ground, sending snow flying.
Then, an unseen force pulled the scythe back, carving the ground in half. A large crevice was left in its wake, darkness filling in the gaps between the parted land.
Then, in the middle of the massive trench, a single bright silver spark erupted. An Aegislash carved a hole out of nothing, and a man appeared holding it, shield in his other hand. Then, he turned and sliced again, closing the hole in reality.
Holy shit that's how Tristan did the trick with the Hippowdon. Space cleaving ghost swords. Goddamn it how come Oblivion never did any of that sort of shit when I was in deep shit?
Scythe wore shining silver armor, and tore off his helmet to reveal streaming blonde hair. He waved to the crowd, flashing a charming smile.
"And on the right, a tale of fire and ice, burns and frostbite, the man who is both a fiery tornado and a cold blizzard, give it up for Snowfire!"
Amid the falling snow, a dome of swirling snow began to grow. The storm grew into a powerful blizzard, obscuring whatever lay within. Then, a spark of red light erupted into a powerful pillar of flame. The fire tornado spun opposite to the blizzard, the opposite forces somehow continuing to exist despite their impossible natures. Then, a black silhouette could be seen within the fiery tornado.
The silhouette raised its hands, feeling the warmth of the fire around it. It was merely a silhouette, but I could somehow tell that the person within was grinning dangerously.
Then, both storms collapsed, and the man within leapt into the air. Wings formed onto his back, one made of fire, one made of ice, and he flew towards his platform.
The simulation reset to the initial snowy conditions. The large gash in the earth from Scythe's entrance disappeared, as well as the burned grass beneath the snow from where Snowfire's tornado was.
"And with everything all set, let's begin! Trainers, release!"
On the left, a stout tiny ball-like figure with sharp silver spikes appeared on the snow. Its face resembled a mouse, and it had an accompanying tail. Next to it was a large powerful barbarian sword, wide as my torso, as long as I was tall, wide enough not to be flimsy, floating in the air. Attached to it by a long cerulean sash was a shield, resembling a Hylian shield, with delicate engravings and detail etched into it.
The Aegislash swept up into the air, waving through the air as if slicing an invisible foe. There was a shnnnk sound as it sliced through the air, displaying its sharpness. The Togedemaru next to it started to glow a soft yellow as it charged up electricity.
On the other side of the field two small pokemon appeared.
One was black with red feathers, claws as long as its forearms, a very lithe figure built for speed. Next to it was a red furred creature, resembling a cross between a cat and a dog, with a fluffy tail and coat and small black nose.
The Weavile gave a wicked grin with a glint in its eye as it doused its claws in void energy, eyeing the Aegislash hungrily. The Flareon didn't do anything to prepare, but small wisps of steam rose off its coat as the snowflakes were incinerated whenever they got close.
Less than a second after the pokemon had been released, the announcer yelled for the battle to begin.
Weavile virtually disappeared as it sprinted across the snow. It zigzagged, ducking between different kinds of cover while keeping low to the ground. A small black blur, hidden by the falling white snowflakes.
It was making its way towards the Aegislash, but the Togedemaru had no intentions of letting it close the distance. Despite its stubby limbs, the small steel ball like creature chased after Weavile, keeping up with its speed. The black blur was now accompanied by a silver one, the two pokemon exchanging blows before breaking off over and over again.
Weavile kept trying to break away to attack the Aegislash, but whenever it got too far Togedemaru boxed it in with pin missiles or charged itself up with electric energy, using Zing Zap to shoot towards Weavile. The icy clawed pokemon would be forced to dodge, and the chase would continue.
After months of experience in these battles, I now noticed a lot more. Before, the shower of sparks accompanying the two pokemon clashing wouldn't have meant anything to me. My eyes would keep up with the battle, straining already to be able to keep up with the fast attacks.
Now, not only could I see the movements, I could also do a lot more. I was able to keep up a list in my head of potential options the different pokemon could use, so any given moment only had so many potential interactions. It meant keeping up with the battle was a lot easier, since what happened could only be one of a couple options.
Plus, that shower of sparks now meant a lot to me. The green flecks of energy that surrounded Togedemaru held strong despite Weavile's void attacks. Some green aura was knocked out on each attack, but its spiky shield negated nearly all damage. Every time they clashed, I saw that green aura appear.
Weavile's attacks weren't just void attacks. There were brown flecks of energy in the sparks. Sometimes they were purple. It was using both martial and chaos attacks too.
Togedemaru's health was being chipped away, but at this rate it would take days before it was knocked out.
"OH, what a play! Weavile is paralyzed!" The announcer boomed. The Togedemaru had lured Weavile into a false sense of security, shielding every attack. Then, instead of bringing up its shield, it had charged up with electric aura and used Nuzzle, paralyzing the Weavile.
Its speed would be halved now. Considering speed was its main tool, this could prove trouble for Snowfire.
The other two pokemon were also faring similarly. Flareon was shooting off flamethrowers from afar. It was a far more powerful physical attacker, but Aegislash could rend it in half if it got close. Aegislash's shield could easily weather any attacks from afar, however, so no progress was being made on either side.
"And Snowfire uses one of his switches! Who will he send out next?"
The Flareon used its distance to send an orb of energy up into the sky, blasting the clouds away. Now, the sun shined brightly down onto the snowy terrain.
Purple spectral flames appeared floating with a ghostly metal apparition. The metal twisted as the pokemon moved, making a shrill metallic shriek as it moved about.
"His Chandelure enters the field! How will Scythe deal with these powerful combustion pokemon?!"
Chandelure summoned a dozen purple flames around itself, spinning them around itself as if warding off evil spirits. It sent them off, one by one, towards the Aegislash. They moved through the air eerily slow, unmoved by the air and wind.
Aegislash the blade erupted in purple aura, slashing through the flames one by one before they could burn it.
From the side, Flareon was sprinting towards Aegislash coated in violent swirling flames. The Aegislash hardly had time to bring its shield up to stop the flare blitz.
However, right before slamming into the shield, Flareon dug its heels into the snow, reaching the dirt beneath. The flames winked out, and its legs were coated in soft peanut brown energy.
Togedemaru ran in to support Aegislash, but dozens of shadow balls from the Chandelure warded it off enough for Flareon to shoot up a wave of dirt into the Aegislash.
The soft snow melting from Flareons heat made the dirt caked with water, and the mud splashed all over the Aegislash.
It clung to the spectral metal, covering the eye on the pommel of the sword.
A blazing inferno erupted around Flareon as it went in to finish the job. However, it met empty air as the Aegislash slashed a hole in reality, reappearing next to the Togedemaru.
A wave of heat and fire crashed into both of them from the side, courtesy of the Chandelure. Togedemaru's green shield negated some damage, but not anywhere near as much as it did before.
The grass aura likely failed to hold up perfectly against fire attacks. The fact it held up at all was impressive.
Covered in mud, blinded, and now worse for wear from the heat wave, Scythe returned his Aegislash.
His replacement shook the entire arena as it was released. The iron snake was as thick as a car, and long as a ship. Its mouth had room for three Tauros, maybe more. A single tooth in its mouth was bigger than Flareon.
"And Scythe reveals his cornerstone. Snowfire must have scared him pretty badly for him to release his trump card so early in the match! One flick of Steelix's tail will likely knock out any pokemon, so Snowfire will have to be careful!"
Mega Steelix. Rings of metal swirled around its form, held together by its own magnetic field. Light blue octagons lit up on some of its boulder-like structures. They looked like actual electromagnets. They pulsed as the Steelix redirected the metal around it, controlling the floating metal as if they were its own limbs.
Flareon ducked for cover as metal crashed into the snow around it. Each speck of blue tinged silver made craters in the ground. Chandelure melted into the shadows to avoid the barrage.
Then, the electromagnets on Steelix glowed a bright blue, and the metal retreated back towards its form. It pulsed different sections of its body with various energy, pulling the metal in different ways, making the steel debris dance through the air around it.
The training it must have taken to get that much fine control over the metal. So much constant mental calculation to be able to move the metal with that much precision. A Metagross I could see accomplishing such a feat. A Steelix, on the other hand, I wouldn't have expected. I guess it does have a rather large head. Maybe it's actually packing a brain too.
I wonder if its control over the electromagnets meant that Mega Steelix was actually an electric type too. It didn't light up with yellow aura when it used them. That meant whatever it was doing was internal. So the energies clearly didn't clash with its biology.
Or maybe it was augmenting its own steel skin with the electric aura?
I would have to do more research. Mega Steelix was damn cool.
Then I noticed that one of the pieces of metal debris looked a little bigger than the others. And rounder. And spikier.
Holy shit. Steelix could shoot Togedamaru like a goddamn cannonball. A yellow streak in the air shot like a comet towards Flareon. With dozens of other metal projectiles blocking every escape path, Flareon exploded into pixels as Togedemaru crashed into it at mach 2, juiced up on as much electric energy as it could muster.
It cost Steelix though, as Chandelure was able to tag it with one of its spectral flames, burning it. The giant iron snake roared in rage, then slapped its tail into the ground, pushing against the earth to shoot itself up in the air just a few feet, and then dove headfirst into the ground. Within seconds, the entire massive pokemon had disappeared underneath the surface.
Togedemaru was shaken up from the earth shaking as Steelix dug down. It hadn't even been an earthquake. Steelix hadn't imbued energy to shake the earth. It was just so damn big and powerful that basic movements created shockwaves.
Seeing that Togedemaru was taking damage from the Steelix, Scythe swapped it out for Aegislash, who appeared back on the field, devoid of mud.
Since the spectral sword and shield floated in the air using chaos energy, the aftershocks of Steelix rummaging around in the ground did nothing to affect it.
On the other side of the field, a pokemon normally in a weight class of its own, appeared with a crash. The ground shook, but it felt paltry in comparison to the Steelix.
Tusks, stark white and thick, not quite pointy but still immensely powerful shone in front of its face. Its hide was a thick brown fur, and its legs shot out of its large form like tree trunks.
"And Snowfire's Mamoswine makes a big entrance, creating a cascade of earthquakes to try and bring Steelix back up to play!"
Steelix's health bar was dropping fast. The earthquakes each did massive amounts of damage. Being underground meant that the earth breaking apart would shift and destabilize around you.
Steelix dropped beneath half health in seconds, and still wasn't rising to the surface.
Aegislash carved a hole in the air, causing a pause in the Earthquakes as Snowfire instructed Mamoswine to be on guard. Instead of reappearing next to Mamoswine, however, the spectral sword slashed through Chandelure's form from behind, shocking everyone in the stands.
Aegislash knew martial moves, as well plenty of other attacks that could cleave Mamoswine in two. Mamoswine's hide was thick enough to negate most damage, but Aegislash was one of the few pokemon strong enough and sharp enough to ignore that kind of natural defense.
Admittedly, getting the surprise attack on Chandelure instead was good, but then Mamoswine could continue… Why would he?
The ground underneath collapsed, leaving Mamoswine hanging in the air. Mamoswine typically leveraged its control over the earth through physical contact. After all, there weren't many pokemon capable of separating it from the ground, given its massive weight and size.
However, Steelix had leveraged its control over metal fragments, making a net of energy under Mamoswine, then using those metal pieces as a conduit for its ground aura. That way, Mamoswine wouldn't be able to notice the ground aura acting underneath it until it was too late, and the guillotine would be able to sever its tether to the ground.
Mamoswine let out a loud bleat as Steelix reappeared below it, mouth wide open. For a brief second, Mamoswine was stuck helplessly in the air, wiggling its legs to try and gain leverage on empty air, as Steelix's massive jaws approached from below. Each tooth was reinforced with glowing silver energy, shining bright like stars with incredible amounts of condensed aura.
Then, Steelix bit down, crushing Mamoswine into pixels despite its burn, only half a second after Aegislash cut Chandelure in two with a powerful slash powered up in ghostly purple aura.
"And a double knockout! Snowfire is down to three pokemon, while Scythe has yet to lose one! Remember, Snowfire's Weavile is paralyzed too! How will Snowfire respond to such a big deficit?!"
Two bug pokemon appeared side by side on the field.
One was a brilliant white. Its wings were nearly translucent, and it flapped in the air to hover with a beautiful elegance.
Next to it was a much larger pokemon. It also hovered in the air, using its four snow white wings to keep itself up. Its head had two large red curved horns, a contrast to the black coloring of its head. It had a red coat of fur around its torso, and six black pincer-like legs that clicked together in anticipation.
What the hell? I thought Volcarona had six wings. And the coloring is all off.
"And there we have it! Snowfire reveals his own trump card, Mega Volcarona! One of three in the entire world! Frosmoth may look small and frail in comparison, but don't count it out! Both of these bugs pack a lot of power, and Scythe may be in trouble!"
Frostmoth shot an icy blue orb into the sky, and the clouds reappeared with a vengeance. This time, however, instead of soft white snow, there were powerful shards of ice pelting down from above.
Both Aegislash and Steelix seemed unbothered by the sudden arrival of heavy hail. Volcarona, on the other hand, became a bright ball of flame. The hail didn't even get within ten feet of its form before burning away into steam.
The hail that dropped towards Frosmoth simply began collecting in a tornado of power around it. The Frosmoth lit up with icy blue aura as it willed the ice shards to move under its command. Each second added more shards to its arsenal.
Aegislash appeared behind Volcarona, ready to shred it apart with its spectral energy enhanced strike. However, the Volcarona flapped its wings, dodging with uncanny speed. The ball of fire zipped through the air, changing directions on a dime, dodging the steel projectiles coming from Steelix.
The four wings made it move like a dragonfly. Or a Flygon. They blurred through the air, flapping at blinding speeds despite their size. The Volcarona could stop and change directions without any difficulty, showing off its complete aerial dominance as it dodged Steelix's attacks. Aegislash opted to attack Frosmoth instead, but as its attack slashed through the bug from behind, Frosmoth exploded into ice shards.
The real Frosmoth appeared out of the hail like a ghost, lime green aura attacks splashing against Aegislash's shield.
That Aegislash was trouble. A nearly unrivaled attacking ability, able to shred through anything, combined with a nearly unrivaled defensive ability. It could float through the air relatively quickly. Its reaction speed lets it block nearly every attack. Its main drawback should have been movement, but it could cleave through space like it was nobody's business, appearing on top of opponents whenever it damn pleased.
Frosmoth, despite not being able to deal any real damage, was somehow keeping up. After all, dozens of Frosmoth flitted through the hail. Each looked identical, and Aegislash had no way of knowing which one was real.
Each Frosmoth collected hail as it dropped towards it, and two more copies were made anytime Aegislash broke through one.
The simulation zoomed in on Snowfire himself, who was perked up on a tree branch near Steelix. I couldn't hear the words, but it looked like he mouthed something.
Rain fire.
Volcorona stopped playing with Steelix. Up until now, it had merely been dodging attacks. It had still been plenty of work. Sometimes, the Steelix would summon Aegislash and use its magnetic abilities to swing Aegislash at ridiculous speeds. Aegislash could also mix it up, carving a hole in space to change its trajectory by appearing somewhere else, with the same speed.
The bugs had been in a state of caution, feeling out the opponents for their attacks, working on dodging. Now, they could go on attack.
The ball of flame surrounding Volcarona grew in size, and two massive wings made of white and blue flame appeared behind it.
Then, it circled the arena, like a fighter plane preparing for a bombing run. It flew forward, the massive wings of fire trailing behind it, and a wave of flame shot out under it.
The wave of fire was massive. Inescapable. Inevitable. Hot white flames incinerating anything in their path. Snow melted, the grass under the snow melted, leaving nothing but burnt ash. Trees wilted away into nothing in milliseconds. Rocks turned to slag.
Steelix tried to burrow underground, but was too slow. The steel skin began to shimmer and falter before Steelix finally dissolved into pixels.
Aegislash tried to flee, and then cut space to where the flames had already hit. However, the air was still so hot that it was still enough to damage the Aegislash.
All the hail had disappeared as it was burnt up. The air at ground level was so hot that the hail evaporated before it could reach the ground. It was still falling from the clouds, but none of it was pelting the ash below. It was eerie.
Frosmoth was hiding up above, surrounded by beautiful cerulean and turquoise lights. Like an aurora borealis, shimmering wherever the Frosmoth flew. The Aurora Veil winked out as the worst of the heat abated. It likely was a difficult and taxing technique.
Or maybe it had only stopped using it since it betrayed its actual position, and Aegislash was still in play. The sword and shield had less than a quarter health, but with its incredible defensive ability, it could still wreak havoc.
Scythe had to decide what pokemon to release, knowing that they would appear in the still sweltering flames. The air shimmered from the heat, and his army of steel types would turn to slag even in the aftermath of the attack.
Aegislash was only doing well since it was hiding in the sky, having carved another hole to move higher to escape the heat.
Volcorona didn't capitalize on the vulnerable Aegislash, on Snowfire's command. It likely had expended too much of its energy, and taking out Aegislash would warrant the exhaustion condition. With so many pokemon down, he couldn't afford to cripple his strongest pokemon like that.
Knowing it would be back to full strength after a small breather, it could simply return to its natural state to recharge. The fact that the white ball of intense flame still surrounded it meant that it didn't actually cost Volcarona that much energy, which was terrifying.
Scythe grit his teeth. He'd hoped to get an early lead, and force out the Volcarona. It was going to be tough to deal with no matter what, but he'd hoped the Aegislash Steelix magnetic combo would at least deal a little damage.
That thing was too damn fast.
His Skarmory would avoid the heat on the ground, and could take out the Frosmoth, but Volcarona was the real problem. It could sweep his entire team if he didn't do something about it. He also didn't want to use his vacuum feather technique this early. Empoleon might be able to avoid taking damage from the flames, but it would dry out its water reserves in the process.
Togedemaru was effectively useless against aerial opponents who could attack from afar, and that was if Scythe ignored how Togedemaru wouldn't last two seconds in the heat on the ground.
Excadrill and Dugtrio could dig deep enough to avoid the heat. It was unfortunate neither could use their mastery of the earth on flying opponents, as guillotine was one of Scythe's favorite strategies. However, they could still shoot out rocks at the two bugs. Neither of the bugs had any tools to block the rock shards, and if he could somehow hit Volcarona's wings that would ensure his victory.
Such a feat was no easy task. The thing was too damn fast. Ideally, Scythe would switch out Aegislash and get both Excadrill and Dugtrio out. They could try and trap Volcarona that way, setting up in different places and coordinating to pin the Volcarona down. However, Scythe had already used both of his switches.
Three pokemon left. He only had another second or two before he got a penalty for delaying the match.
Dugtrio appeared on the field. The mole pokemon's head bobbed up and down in the simmering heat before disappearing into the ground.
Volcarona retreated above the clouds, out of sight. Dugtrio remained underground. The battle between Frosmoth and Aegislash continued under the clouds, amidst the hail. Frosmoth clones made of ice began dive bombing the Aegislash, hoping to bring down its HP more.
Bug buzzes, energy balls, and ice beams hit the Aegislash from all over, but nothing did any significant damage. Its health continued to tick down, but only barely. Eventually the attacks decreased in number. Snowfire must have called off the Frosmoth, knowing only Volcarona could actually take out the Aegislash. It was just that tanky.
Would Snowfire just keep his pokemon high in the air, unable to be attacked by Dugtrio?
Small sifting of the ash every once in a while was the only evidence that Dugtrio was moving around. Every once in a while a singular rock shard would shoot into the sky. It was going too fast to follow, only the trail of shattered hail with sounds like glass breaking evidence of its path.
Volcarona finally seemed to recover its reserves, and one fire blast wiped Aegislash from existence.
Scythe released his Empoleon.
It immediately got to work, shooting a blue orb into the sky, changing the weather from hail to rain. Then, summoning water from its reserves, as well as taking the rain as it dropped around it, Empoleon surrounded itself in a surge of waves.
Its feet were coated in a frosty white aura, and a surfboard made of ice was formed out of some of the water beneath it. Bringing the waves along with it in a surprising show of power, the Empoleon began moving quickly along, surfing around on the waves, moving side to side to dodge energy balls from the Volcarona.
The water was held in such fine control that it didn't leak out past fifty feet from the Empoleon. The ground where Dugtrio hid wasn't being drenched. Well, it wasn't any more drenched than what was happening naturally from the rain.
Dugtrio used the distraction to try and hit the Volcarona with more rock shards, but it continued to dodge them with ease, even despite their speed.
The Empoleon summoned water from the waves below, forming a trident in its hand. It soon turned to ice as it coated it in a frosty aura. Then, the icy trident also gained a silvery sheen as the Empoleon imbued it with steel aura.
It spun the trident in the singular hand, a ringing sound chiming out, to block attacks from the Volcarona. All the while the titanic waves continued to surge all around it, and it managed to expertly weave around on the crashing waves with its makeshift surfboard of ice.
Volcarona swept across the battlefield, circling around as it readied another rain fire. It would evaporate all of Empoleon's water, likely taking it out with it, and Dugtrio would have to hide deep beneath the surface to avoid taking damage.
Scythe yelled a command. Empoleon and Dugtrio shared a look, for a brief second, all the way across the battlefield from each other. Then, the Empoleon pivoted, kicking the surfboard up from beneath it. In a display of acrobatics, the Empoleon twirled in the air to get behind the surfboard, delivering a powerful kick to the back end, sending it flying like a missile towards the Frosmoth.
The Frosmoth ducked beneath the surfboard, and then had to barrel roll sideways to dodge a rock shard. The trident of ice, still coated in silvery energy, crashed into its wing as the Frosmoth reoriented itself. Then, a rock shard hit its fumbling form, dissolving it into pixels.
Within seconds, Empoleon had made another surfboard and trident, limbs glowing with momentary ice cold aura.
How the hell was it not exhausted yet? It had been keeping up its control over thousands of gallons of water around it for minutes. On top of that, it had been using icy aura to make objects, and steel aura to reinforce them.
"Snowfire is down to his last two pokemon! With Scythe still having four, Snowfire is in trouble! Volcarona might still win it all though, if Scythe doesn't deal with it soon!"
Snowfire had to make Volcarona stop its attack, as Weavile wouldn't be able to do anything if the field was covered in fire again. Apparently, having fire and ice as a dual specialization wasn't quite the ideal combo, as it could box him in like this. He clearly did his best to make up for it, as his pokemon didn't solely rely on giant AOE attacks, and the dual typings managed to complement each other in a ferocious attack strategy. Even steel easily crumbled when quickly heated and cooled. However, given how powerful the Volcarona's fire was, nothing else was really necessary.
Empoleon finally released its control over the waves, and shot out a mighty ice beam all across the water. It froze, creating a thick icy terrain, waves frozen in time, stopping the tidal wave from drowning Dugtrio.
Weavile was released onto the ice, feeling at home with its sharp claws, flitting around on the ice easily.
Empoleon kept a small amount of water beneath it, enough to fill a bathtub, so that it could still move with its surfboard along the ice however it pleased.
Rather than a trident though, it had now formed shields along its forearms. They had already been beefy before, but now they looked like two Aegislash shields strapped to its arms. It coated the ice with steel energy, same as before, and moved to attack the slowed Weavile.
The Paralysis from the Togedemaru had halved the Weavile's speed, but it still evaded the Empoleon with ease.
Stray ice beams made obstacles in front of the Weavile to try and trip it up, but the Weavile was nimble enough to adapt on the fly.
The Volcarona tried to shoot fire blasts at the moving Empoleon, but couldn't get too close to the ground lest it be an easier target for Dugtrio. Each fire blast shredded through the ice layer and obliterated the ground below. Shards of ice and plumes of dust shot out on every impact, but the Empoleon went on unharmed and the chase continued.
Every once in a while, Dugtrio and Empoleon would switch targets, or target both at the same time. Empoleon would try to catch Volcarona off guard with a powerful hydro pump, and Dugtrio would try to catch the Weavile with a rock blast.
Weavile was chasing the Dugtrio, trying to cleave it in half with an icy slash of its claws anytime it popped up; having to avoid rock blasts and flash cannons strained its ability to dodge, especially since its speed was halved.
However, Weavile was no slouch. It lived for moments like these. Whenever the ground split beneath it, it seemed to have felt the rumble beforehand, jumping safely to the side every time. It would spin over the rock blasts, dodging by only however much it needed to. The rocks would brush against its hair, but fail to make an impact. The flash cannons would slip between its legs, or under its arm, or over its head. It tried to orient itself so a missed flash cannon could hit the Dugtrio instead, stunning it enough for Weavile to finish the job, but nothing seemed to line up.
Either the Empoleon knew, and was actively avoiding it, or the Dugtrio and Empoleon had been trained enough in team tactics to somehow intuitively stop themselves from ever hitting each other.
The battle seemed at a stand still, neither opponent able to gain purchase on the other. Whichever side had a pokemon that got exhausted first would win. Of course, Scythe still had Togedemaru and whatever pokemon he chose as his last.
Finally, the moment came where shit went down. Dugtrio sprouted up from directly underneath Weavile, knocking it off balance. Weavile responded by clawing it into pieces despite hanging upside down in the air. Its icy claws dissolved the Dugtrio into pixels, but while in the air it was unable to maneuver out of the way of Empoleon's powerful orb of steel aura, and disappeared in a puff of feathers and pixels.
"And Snowfire is down to one pokemon! One bug of fire, to face an army of steel."
Scythe released a Skarmory into the air. His only remaining pokemon after that would be Togedemaru, who happened to be injured. Togedemaru wouldn't stand a chance. These two would decide the battle. The steel avian whipped out some of its feathers, the long steel looking like knives. They rode the wind alongside the Skarmory, ready to intercept any target at a moment's notice.
Now that Weavile was out of the picture, Volcarona could do napalm runs, but it might not take out the Empoleon in one go. It would also tire it out. Instead, Volcarona took to the skies, avoiding a hydro pump, and began closing in on Skarmory.
The stage rumbled as Empoleon willed the ice to move. They began forming pillars, and Empoleon stood on one to rise into the air. From there, it could hop between the dozen pillars if it needed to dodge any attacks. With each pillar standing fifty feet in the air, it could try to shoot down the Volcarona from a closer distance.
Skarmory and Volcarona danced through the sky. Heat waves stung, each taking at least a tenth of the Skarmory's health, but Volcarona had to try and melt or dodge the steel feathers that whipped through the air, threatening to shred through its wings.
Scythe grinned. Their training had paid off. Skarmory could use its mastery over air to create a gap between the feather and the air. A vacuum. Vacuums wouldn't burn. Its control over the air surrounding the feathers also doubled as a way to control its trajectory.
Luckily, the fact that he still had unused pokemon had ensured Snowfire wouldn't use Mr Rime. His Bisharp could have made quick work of it. He'd been surprised that Snowfire hadn't used his monster of an Emboar, but he'd take any advantage that he could get. Snowfire probably hadn't anticipated that Steelix could take out his Mamoswine in one hit, especially with a burn. That had really been the turning point of the battle, forcing Snowfire's hand.
Now, he just had to follow through. All his pokemon were a part of him, same as the knives he wore on his waist. An extension of his will. Every single one he had honed with special care, ensuring their potential could be reached. They could all wield their own weapons, same as him.
One final trap.
Scythe watched as Skarmory's health dipped past half. One fireblast and that would be it, but Empoleon running interference made sure that Volcarona couldn't trap Skarmory despite its speed advantage. Instead, it had to utilize widespread heat waves and flamethrowers. They did damage, sure. Plenty of it. Considering how Skarmory could negate nearly any kind of attack with its iron hard carapace and steel feathers, and could cool down its iron skin faster than nearly any other alloy due to its mastery over air, the fact that it was taking so much damage was truly impressive.
That Volcarona was a monster. Through and through.
Scythe made the call, seeing the shot lineup. Empoleon shot out a burst of bubbles, directing them to be a minefield for the approaching Skarmory and Volcarona. Skarmory simply sped through the bubbles, taking any impacts with ease. In fact, the splashes of water did a nice job cooling its metal a bit.
Volcarona, on the other hand, continued its chase, but bobbed and weaved through the minefield with incredible speed and fluidity. The bubbles closed in, though, as the Empoleon sprung the trap.
Only one escape route had enough space for the Volcarona not to be hit, so it quickly blitzed through the gap. However, waiting for it, hiding behind bubbles, were two feathers coated in two layers of air. In between was a vacuum.
The feathers shredded through the Volcarona's wings, ignoring the powerful corona of flame it protected itself with.
One hydro pump followed, blasting the flailing Volcarona to the side, snuffing its flames out. A trident of ice slammed into its fur, right beneath its head. Then, two more steel feathers crashed into its other wings.
One final trident of ice crashing into its head took it out, dissolving the beast into pixels.
"And there we have it! What a finish! Volcarona truly held out for far longer than any pokemon I've ever seen! What a specimen! Truly a spectacle!"
"Scythe wins, continuing his hot streak! Watch out Bruno! With one more win, he can challenge a floor leader! Particle may finally have another new challenger! She must have been bored, only fighting Bruno and Lady Trianna these last two years. Now, after our combatants shake hands, let's move on to the preview for our next fight!"
As the combatants shook hands, I turned to Tristan.
"You know I kind of get why Oak told me not to bother watching tier VI battles. That's just another level."
"I know right! This time period is pretty cool." He replied, shaking his cup to check whether it was actually devoid of beer.
I looked back at the stage, seeing the avatars of next week's combatants line up.
"It's a battle of divas! On the left, we've got Terra, earth specialist. Her pokemon can crush mountains, or become them!"
A muscled woman appeared, pounding her fists together. Next to her was a tall Rillaboom, brandishing a bo staff made of wood. On her left was a powerful Garchomp. Behind them was a towering Rhyperior, alongside a flying Gliscor and Flygon. One large shadow loomed behind them, but before I could properly see what it was the simulation switched.
"And on the right, don't be mistaken by her name, she may be a woman, but she's no lady. Her fairies are more brutal and savage than anything I've ever seen. Her name is feared all throughout Champion's Hold. Sparkly death, mistress of madness, give it up for Lady Trianna!"
A Mawile appeared, facing away so it could brandish its mighty jaws. Next to it was a Grimmsnarl, grinning maniacally. A Gardevoir and Mimikyu appeared behind them, grinning savagely. A Togekiss appeared flying above, and finally a Mr Mime and an Azumarill appeared alongside a girl wearing a poofy white dress. She had a white top hat and a fluffy umbrella, and curtseyed for the audience.
Wait… I recognize that Azumarill. And that Mawile. And I recognize that face. I saw it yesterday, from the other side of my bed in my own apartment.
Tristan noticed my shock. "What? You catch a crush on Lady Sparkly Death?"
I shoved my face into my hands as the puzzle pieces lined up. This explained a lot actually. Goddamn it.
"That's my fucking girlfriend."
"You've got weird taste Red."
Well there you go. One extra battle scene. I haven't gone back and edited this so there are parts that aren't polished. It has some story pieces that don't quite hit without any of the buildup leading up to it, but I figure if I'm not going to release anything for a long while I'll throw you a bone in the form of a fun fight scene. If you were hoping for more story or silly pokemon scenes, I'll have plenty more in the rework I have planned.
I want to show the fun cuddly side of pokemon more before I go into the murdery death bits we saw in the Endless Forest. Gotta have a balance, you know.
Anyhow, I'll just reiterate my final thing. Don't expect the rework to be released anytime soon. I've got too much other shit I have to be doing right now. Hope you all are doing well. Make good decisions.