Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Pokemon Quest ❯ Sevanne vs. Sampson ( Chapter 44 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Pokemon Quest
 
This was it. If Sevanne couldn't defeat Sampson, her family would continue to live in poverty. She needed to win this one battle to at least ensure a good future.
 
However, in his last two battles, Sampson easily trounced his opponents with only one Pokemon. Nobody knew its weakness, but as Anna had discovered, such a task was impossible for this mystery Pokemon had no weaknesses.
 
The girl gulped and pulled out a Pokeball shouting, “GO BLAZIKEN!!!!”
 
At that moment, a tall bird-like Pokemon emerged from the ball. It had strong legs covered in brilliant red feathers with yellow on the bottom. With a sharp face reminiscent of a tribal eagle mask and long flowing white feathers that resembled hair, this was the mighty Blaziken.
 
“Not bad,” Sampson said as he hurled his own Pokeball into the area. Out emerged a wolf-like creature.
 
Everyone was shocked to see a Pokemon that wasn't the mystery partner. For once, Sampson had chosen something else. This wolf had white fur and what looked like a gray scythe coming out of the side of his head. He also had a sharp gray tail and a gray face. This was known as Absol.
 
Sevanne smiled at the sight of this and thought, 'This is good. I may actually be able to win.'
 
However, Izy and Anna were both suspicious about this. Why had Sampson chosen a Pokemon with a weakness this time around? Let alone that fact, Absol was weak against fighting moves, and Blaziken had fighting type attacks.
 
“START THINGS OFF WITH DOUBLE KICK!!!!” the girl shouted as Blaziken nodded charging towards the wolf.
 
However, this wasn't the smartest move. Sure, Blaziken was fast, but Absol was fast as well. When the bird sent a series of rapid kicks towards the wolf-like Pokemon, Absol simply leapt to the side and shifted his head quickly to the side releasing a powerful wind known as Razor Wind.
 
Blaziken flew hard into the wall, a few drops of blood coming from her torso. Nevertheless, she ignored the pain and charged at him with her beak out and wind surrounding her body.
 
Sampson smiled briefly when the Brave Bird attack landed on Blaziken's prey, Absol skidding backwards a bit and cringing. The crowd clapped and applauded the young girl. So far, Sevanne's was the first Pokemon to actually land a successful blow on one of Sampson's.
 
However, Absol was still standing and not ready to let up as he let out a war cry followed by a group of energy swords surrounding his body. This was a move known as Swords Dance and what this did was raise the user's strength.
 
Sevanne had to take advantage of this. While Absol was bringing his stats up, moving would cancel its effect, so she had a perfect opportunity to get him now. And she needed to be quick. After all, Blaziken had also taken in damage from the previous Brave Bird attack.
 
While Blaziken rushed towards Absol, her fist glowing, the wolf's Swords Dance technique had taken effect, but rather than taking this opportunity to dodge, Sampson gave Absol a nod as the wolf's eyes glowed, a blue aura surrounding the bird's body. This was its Leer move and it lowered the opponent's defense.
 
After doing so, Absol took in a powerful uppercut from Blaziken and flew into the air. He had just taken in Sky Uppercut, a fighting type move.
 
The crowd cheered for Sevanne as Blaziken leapt up towards the airborne Absol, but despite all the damage Sky Uppercut must have dealt, Absol recovered in a matter of seconds, pointing his body downward with his mouth open, jaws soon latched to the bird's head.
 
Blaziken cried out in pain as a small bit of blood squired out of the sides, using all her force to pry Absol off of her head. Absol would not allow Blaziken to keep hold of him, so he kicked the bird in the chest leaping away from her while the scythe on the side of his head started to glow.
 
The crowd was impressed by what happened next. Absol spun his body around as dark blades came from the side of his head and went straight for Blaziken. The bird did all she could, dodging five of the incoming blades, but unfortunately, one managed to slash her leg as she fell to the ground, her leg now bleeding and took in the remaining blades.
 
“OH YEAH, FINALLY!!!” Miles spat as the other gym leaders looked at him with wide eyes, the man turning to them and saying, “What? There's been barely any bloodshed throughout this whole thing.”
 
Now, this attack was known as Psycho Cut. While Blaziken may not have been weak against most of Absol's attacks, she was weak against psychic moves, which Psycho Cut was. And unlike Absol, who survived the move he was weak against, Blaziken was unable to move as her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out.
 
“WAIT!!!” Moro called out as the crowd sighed. Moro looked over at Nurse Boredom who was fast asleep by now.
 
The man groaned and whacked her on the back of the head as her eyes widened, the woman mumbling, “Don't worry, I'm up Mr. President. What do you require of me?”
 
Moro glared at her and pointed at Sevanne's Blaziken. The nurse sighed and got up unenthusiastically before leaping into the battle area with the skills of a master gymnast. The crowd applauded her as Moro's eye twitched. How could someone with such a lack of enthusiasm pull that off?
 
The woman examined the bird closely and said weakly, “It's okay. She's still alive.”
 
Sampson sighed and replied, “Now, why would I kill my opponent's Pokemon?”
 
Nurse Boredom simply leapt back up into the judge's seat as Moro's eye twitched more. He just didn't understand this woman.
 
At this moment, Kevin's suspicion of Sampson started to lift. Seeing the boy surpass his limits while still following the rules was truly a display of honor. Perhaps he was wrong to accuse Sampson of something sinister.
 
Sevanne sighed, returning her Blaziken as she said, “You did a great job. We might stand a chance thanks to you.”
 
The girl proceeded to send in another Pokemon. It was her Medicham who she'd used in the previous battle. That may have been a bad choice for Sampson's mystery Pokemon, but against Absol, Medicham was a great choice.
 
“START US OFF WITH HI JUMP KICK!!!” she shouted, but she failed to realize that this was a bad idea, Sampson feeling a tad disappointed by this rash decision.
 
Nevertheless, Medicham went through with the command as Absol simply leapt to the side. The big flaw of Hi Jump Kick was that it couldn't be controlled and the user could not stop himself until he hit something. As such, Medicham flew towards the wall, his eyes wide open as Sevanne started to panic.
 
Medicham flew straight into the wall hurting himself in the process. The psychic fighter started to stumble in a vain effort to regain focus, miniature Pidgeys flying around his head.
 
Absol took full advantage of this, starting off with his leer technique. Like Blaziken, Medicham lost some of his defense before succumbing to the might of Absol's blade, which slashed open the Pokemon's shoulder, blood dripping down from it.
 
Sevanne's eyes widened with fear as Sampson sighed explaining, “You're lucky I didn't have Absol put full force into that. With the size of Medicham's arm, Absol could have easily sliced it off.
 
As Absol rushed towards Medicham to deliver another Slash attack, Sevanne shouted, “USE DETECT!!!” as her partner nodded and an aura surrounded his body, the Pokemon easily sidestepping the attack.
 
Detect was a fighting type move that allowed the user to dodge all incoming attacks. However, the chances of it failing increased each time it was used.
 
Nevertheless, Sevanne only needed it to work once. Sampson had to admit that he was impressed when Medicham took full advantage of the situation to land a Force Palm on the side of Absol's face. That Force Palm did it. Absol had finally been defeated as he fell on his side, unable to recover.
 
The crowd cheered wildly as Sevanne let down a tear of joy. She was the first to defeat one of Sampson's Pokemon. Granted, her opponent had been a much more fair one, but nevertheless, she had won.
 
However, Sampson was not the kind to simply throw a victory away. Even if he knew what her reason for being in the tournament was, he wasn't going to let her walk all over him. And this showed as he sent out his mystery Pokemon, Sevanne now starting to lose all that confidence she had before.
 
Luckily, Medicham wasn't completely useless in this battle like some may assume. He did have three attacks that could effect this mystery Pokemon.
 
'Please, Medicham, don't fail me,' the girl thought as she shouted, “MEDICHAM, HIT HIM WITH FIRE PUNCH!!!!”
 
Medicham's fist burst into flame as he charged at the mystery Pokemon, but before he could even attempt to hit his opponent, the flame grew too intense as Medicham tripped, rolling around doing all he could to put out the flame.
 
'No...' Sevanne thought with her eyes wide open, 'He's still not ready to use that attack...'
 
“This isn't good,” Izy said with a worried look as Anna said, “Sampson's Pokemon would have countered that anyway.”
 
Izy hated to admit it, but Anna did have a point. A frontal attack like that could have very well been countered.
 
Sampson was now disappointed. He had seen so much potential in Sevanne, but that display was just pathetic.
 
Medicham let down a tear as Sevanne said, “Don't worry, Medicham. We can try something else. How about your Ice Punch?”
 
Medicham nodded as a field of ice surrounded his fist, but just before he could resume charging towards his opponent, the ice became too cold and froze his hand in place.
 
The crowd started to sigh, some saying, “I knew it was too good to be true.”
 
Medicham was now furious. Over the past, he and Sevanne had worked hours to try and teach him the elemental punches, but no matter how hard they tried, the Pokemon just couldn't use any of them without hurting himself in the process.
 
But this was important. Sevanne's family was at stake. Medicham had to win for his owner's sake.
 
An angry expression crossed his face as lightning surrounded his fist. This was known as Thunder Punch.
 
Sevanne's eyes went wide as for once, Medicham didn't feel any pain from the attack and charged towards Spiritomb. Sevanne let down a tear of joy, her eyes sparkling as she thought, 'He finally did it. He finally used one of the elemental punches.'
 
However, Sampson saw immediately a huge flaw in this plan. Medicham was heading straight towards his partner, not even attempting to confuse him.
 
The mystery Pokemon grinned wickedly as a shadow formed from underneath his keystone. The shadow proceeded to creep up behind Medicham and just before the Pokemon could land his Thunder Punch, the shadow latched its arms around his waist holding it in place.
 
Medicham's eyes went wide as the electricity faded. Sevanne's eyes went wide as the shadow leaned backwards, driving Medicham's skull hard into the ground, the Pokemon coughing up a bit of blood.
 
Izy cringed as Anna had a look of disappointment, which was another rare sight. She had really hopes that Medicham would win.
 
Sevanne returned her Pokemon with a sigh and asked, “What kind of move was that?”
 
“That was Shadow Sneak,” Sampson replied, “It's a rarely seen ghost type move that involves a Pokemon attacking an opponent with his shadow. The shadow sneaks up on the opponent before dealing damage, hence the name Shadow Sneak.”
 
The audience was truly amazed by this. Izy may have hated this Pokemon of Sampson's, but she did find the attack interesting. Anna's eyes even sparkled for the first time since the tournament had started, which was a surprisingly long amount of time.
 
Even the gym leaders were surprised that such a move existed, Moro grinning nervously and saying, “Well, I certainly knew what that attack was,” pulling on his collar and letting down sweat.
 
Nurse Boredom was still not interested but had the decency to let out a weak, “You're bad at lying, Moro...” before heading off into a deep sleep.
 
Sevanne saw the situation she was in. There was nothing she had that could defeat this mystery Pokemon. It just seemed impossible.
 
She was just about to give up when Sampson held a hand up and said, “Don't even think about it.”
 
Sevanne gasped as the man looked her in the eyes and said, “The reason I'm talking to you is because unlike my last two opponents, I see you as a smart trainer. If you were smart, you wouldn't give up just because the situation seems helpless. To the best of your knowledge, you could pull off something miraculous, but you'll never know unless you try.”
 
The crowd applauded the man, the stadium breaking out into heavy cheers. Sampson was clearly a smart and kind trainer. While everyone had feared him before, they now respected him, even Kevin who had no trust in the man at first.
 
Sevanne blushed and said, “Thank you, Sampson...”
 
She wiped a tear from her eye and continued, “All my life, I've always been a nervous wreck. Even before all those gym battles I won, I never entered a battle completely confident in my abilities. But somehow, hearing you say that has helped me. You've given me confidence I never thought I was capable of having.”
 
Sampson let out a sigh and said, “You're welcome. Now, can we please continue? These people came here to see a battle.”
 
The crowd cheered upon hearing this as Sevanne nodded and sent out her last Pokemon for the battle, a tall frog-like Pokemon blue scales. He also had a large red sphere under his chin sharp spikes coming from the middle of his fists. This was Toxicroak.
 
'I need to come up with some way to hit that thing without my Toxicroak taking in damage,' she thought as she remembered a move she had unintentionally taught him once.
 
“TOXICROAK, USE DIG!!!!” she shouted as the frog nodded, sinking under the earth's surface.
 
Izy and Anna both smiled wide at the sight of this. It was clear to everyone that the mystery Pokemon couldn't move, so there was no way for him to dodge an attack like Dig without a move that effected Pokemon underground, and let me tell you, there were little to none that could.
 
Sampson grinned feeling rather satisfied. He knew Sevanne was smart opponent and it was showing.
 
The ground below the mystery Pokemon opened up as Toxicroak emerged, sending a fist upward hard in the keystone and sending the mystery Pokemon a few feet back. Since Dig was a ground type move, it had an effect against this Pokemon.
 
“Excellent work, Toxicroak!” Sevanne shouted, feeling more alive than ever before, “Now hit him with Poison Jab!” as the frog's spike turned violet, Toxicroak charged towards his opponent.
 
Everyone in the area was truly amazed by what they had seen, even Sampson himself. Not only had Toxicroak landed a hit on the mystery Pokemon, it actually managed to deal damage. Something about the mystery Pokemon having a look of pain of his face was satisfying for many audience members.
 
However, just as the frog was about to hit his target, Sampson's Pokemon recovered the previous move, now able to respond. It was too late for Toxicroak to respond to this as the mystery Pokemon grinned wickedly, a dark wind coming from his body known as Ominous Wind. Normally, this move wouldn't have been powerful enough to take a Pokemon who had received no previous damage out, but for some reason, Toxicroak just couldn't stand up to this move as his eyes went wide and he passed out.
 
All was silent as Sevanne dropped to her knees and started to let down tears. After all her efforts, she had lost.
 
The crowd sighed as Sampson's victory was confirmed. Sure, they had respect for the guy now, but they still hadn't wanted to see him win again.
 
Sevanne was about to cry when Sampson walked over to her, wiped a tear away and said, “Sevanne, don't cry. You were my first worthy opponent. You should be proud.”
 
Sevanne looked up at him and bit her lip before saying, “You just don't understand. I had to win this battle.”
 
Sampson's eyes went wide as he said, “You really needed that money, didn't you?”
 
Sevanne nodded as the man reached into his pocket and handed her a bag saying, “Here, take it.”
 
The girl gasped in shock and said, “I-I can't,” but the boy placed it in her hands and said, “When I'm the champion, I'll have far more than that. Use it to help your cause, alright?”
 
Sevanne wiped her tears, her face redder than an apple as she said, “Thank you for everything, Sampson.”
 
And thus the battle had come to a close and it was time to continue the tournament.