"Go, Monarch."
"Juggernaut, you're up."
Simultaneously, both Pokemon were released from their balls. On Juan's side was a large, imposing Pokemon with a regal aura, as its name suggested—a Kingdra. On William's side, however…
Juan covered a little chuckle with his hand. "That's the Pokemon you're fighting with?" he asked, slightly bemused.
Compared to the serious, king-like Pokemon, William's Pokemon was a Palafin—a cute-looking dolphin with a friendly smile on its face.
The two Pokemon were in complete contrast to each other.
If Kingdra was a king, then Palafin was the court clown. Not for long. He was about to be the hero.
"Looks like I made a mistake," William said, purposely taking his time. For Palafin's ability to activate he needed to wait a bit with his weaker form outside of his pokeball.
"Monarch, end it quickly! Go in close—Outrage!" Juan capitalised on it.
With its Swift Swim active, Kingdra rushed towards Palafin at blinding speeds.
"Flip Turn!"
Faster than one would expect, Palafin turned into a rush of water and slammed into Kingdra before Outrage could activate. It went back to his pokeball.
William returned the Pokeball to his side and seemingly put it away. However, in reality, he kept hold of it, immediately sending out Palafin again—in his great evolved form.
"That's more like it," Juan said, though his words did nothing to mask his caution.
He had most likely never seen this Pokemon before, given that it was from all the way in Paldea—and by his look of confusion.
The rain still bled into the sea, though it wouldn't last much longer. The problem was Kingdra's swift swim ability. He could already tell from the way it effortlessly swam in the water it was going to be a problem. He needed to find a way to cut off that mobility through some method.
"Dive, Juggernaut!" William commanded. Palafin quickly dove below the water. He hadn't been with the hero Pokemon long, but long enough to teach a few tricks. whenever he told juggernaut to dive, what it was meant to do was:
Dive under - Bulk Up - Submerge on Opponent.
Juan, however, had different plans, "Whirlpool!"
William slapped the water three times—a signal to quickly submerge, but for Kingdra—a Pokemon known for creating whirlpools—this attack was no pushover.
A deadly spinning storm of water began to form. It spun rapidly, and at the center of it, a vortex of high spinning water hurting everything in its path formed, with Juggernaut right there.
"Escape! Shoot water out of your blowhole!"
Juggernaut nodded, twisting backwards to face the sea before shooting a steady and powerful stream of water—out of the blowhole on his head—to propel itself upwards and out of harm's way of the deadly whirlpool.
Kingdra being Juan's ace combined with its ability to create strong whirlpools and the rain, it was a devastating combination.
During this time, Kingdra hadn't remained stationary. Instead, it had used the time to set up a Dragon Dance. However, judging from the increased size of Palafin's already bulging muscles, it had also managed to get off a Bulk Up before being caught up by the whirlpool.
"Dragon Pulse, Monarch!"
"Dodge it! Get in close!" William ordered.
Utilizing its speed, Palafin leaped across the ocean, dodging the beam of draconic energy coming its way.
"Now! Ice Punch!"
An iced fist was headed full force towards Kingdra, however it simply utilised its speed to move out the way, rendering it completely useless.
"Tch!" As long as that rain was up he was at a disadvantage. He was stuck using non-water-type moves for proper damage— because of Kingdra's 1/4 resistance toward water—despite the rain. Kingdra was also in a completely different speed class with it up. As expected of his Ace.
Should I switch? William thought. He looked at Palafin, before shaking his head. Juggernaut was strong, but he hadn't had nearly enough time to practice with him and gain some chemistry. This would be the perfect time for it. He needed to trust his Pokemon.
"Now! Dragon Pulse barrage!"
"Dodge it!"
Draconic energy surged towards Juggernaut at flying speeds. Juggernaut—who was standing on water with the use of its seafoam limbs—jumped to the side, dodging the attack. But Kingdra was already on the move again.
Without giving Juggernaut a chance to breathe, Kingdra swam through the water almost as if there was no resistance at all, positioning itself in Juggernaut's blind spot, stopping for a moment, and firing off another deadly dragon pulse.
"Behind you! Punch it!"
Palafin's muscles bulged and smashed the Dragon pulse head on, dissipating the energy into thin air. But the barrage kept on coming.
Kingdra continued its attack, as wave after wave of dragon pulses was sent at Juggernaut from all directions. Kingdra seemed to ride off the barrage—its momentum steadily increasing before reaching a crescendo as Juggernaut was bombarded with dozens of blue bombs of draconic energy.
The full extent of the damage was revealed when the dust settled. Kingdra—slightly exhausted—watched as the dust clouds slowly dissipated. Along with its trainer, they seemed certain of their victory.
But to their sudden surprise, Palafin stood amist the wreck—damaged, yes, very damaged—but still very much conscious, and judging by the look in its eyes, very much in fighting condition.
"Are you still there buddy?" William asked. He certainly wasn't expecting that, Juan's chemistry with his Kingdra was amongst some of the best he had seen.
Like he had just won a boxing match, Palafin raised one of his fists before thumping his chest. He assumed a fighting stance.
William smiled, "Do you trust me?"
Juggernaut looked back, smiled, and nodded.
"Good, then wait for my signal of attack. Don't attack before then."
William looked up. By now the rain had slowed down quite a bit. He had been keeping track of it, how long it had stayed up, and the rate in which it was decreasing. If he timed it right…
"Juggernaut, close the distance!"
"Don't let him get close! Monarch, use Hydro Pump, end it!"
A powerful blast of water made its way towards Palafin, but with a simple dive underwater as though he were a swimmer, the attack turned out relatively harmless. Juggernaut continued to advance, but every time he got close Kingdra simply utilized its speed to move out of the way.
"Trail him!" Juggernaut stuck to kingdra like a parasite, always slightly behind because of the speed difference, but certainly always there.
"Wait for it…" William muttered. Then, as though a flip had been switched, he shouted, "NOW! Jet Punch!"
Kingdra tried to dodge, but in that exact moment the rain had stopped and any form of speed boost stopped along with it. The sudden reduction of Speed in such a crucial moment had made the Kingdra freeze up, and a large water shaped fist smacked into it. It had barely done any damage, but that wasn't the point. That was just the starter.
"Dodge, and then Double Team!"
"Follow it up with Aqua Jet! Then Drain Punch!" taking advantage of the disoriented Kingdra, Juggernaut turned into a great arrow of water and rushed into Kingdra. Now they were in Palafins domain. With one hand he grabbed the Seahorse like Pokemon by the neck, and with the other his fist begun to glow brown.
His fist slammed into Kingdra's side. It let out a cry of pain.
"Monarch, use Yawn!" a puff of smoke hit Palafin. It resisted the urge to yawn, and continued to punch Kingdra.
It punched again, though with much less vigor. Juggernaut's eyes flickered. It was already barely holding on after the barrage attack. Sleep must have felt so enticing…
Its eyes flickered again, and his grip on Kingdra loosened. It closed its eyes, ready to fall asleep…
"Juggernaut, use Focus Punch! Don't fall asleep!" The command hit him like a train. Palafins eyes suddenly shot wide open and gained a sharp edge. The ability to focus had staved off the inevitability of sleep.
Juggernaut honed his focus, gathering energy in his fist. The air grew tense. With a devastating impact, the focus punch hit Kingdra, rendering it unable to battle. However, as the Kingdra fell down to the ocean floor, it gave one last look of defiance, and then the meteors came.
Juan withdrew his Pokemon just as the meteors descended. Juggernaut—bless his heart—swayed from side to side, exhausted and drowsy, but still very much ready to fight the meteors heading his way. The odds looked almost impossible to fight against. Juggernaut was done, William knew that.
So he simply withdrew him. And the meteors hit nothing but water, sending bits of water geysering upwards into the sky. As the rocks floated into the ocean, the water bubbled from their heat.
"Wha–" Juan said. It wasn't proper etiquette in the league to withdraw your Pokemon just before it was about to be hit by an attack. Idiots.
"What did you think I would let my Pokemon—who can barely stand—get hit by that?" William chuckled, "How stupid do you think I am?"
"We agreed to 6v6 standard League rules!"
"I agreed to a 6v6, which is simply standard league rules. I never agreed to any of your other stupid rules or typical league agreements. This is a real fight, not a performance to impress the crowd. My Palafin is as good as out, it's not as though I could bring him back in. I'm not risking my Pokemon's life over respect to some stupid rules." He explained.
Juan didn't respond.
They both locked eyes with each other, and then, at the same moment, reached down and grabbed a pokeball each. Williams' hand hovered towards a specific one.
"Looks like it's finally your turn…Britney."