Dark Mirror: Tournament of Vengeance chapter 25

“Charizard, Dragon Breath!” Ash called up to his Pokémon. Charizard complied and sent another powerful beam at Electivire, this one tinted a rich purple. Electivire leaped back at the last moment and was only clipped by the attack.

“Electivire, use Thunder!” Paul commanded.

The two antennae on Electivire’s head vibrated with static as the ends became surrounded by electricity. They charged the attack for only a moment before an incredibly powerful yellow beam shot forth and hit Charizard with enough force for the muscles in its wings to seize, and it was sent careening towards the arena floor. Its body began to twitch uncontrollably and despite Ash’s pleads for it to get up and strike back at its foe, Charizard couldn’t move.

“Finish it off, Electivire! Thunder Punch!” Paul shouted at his strongest Pokémon, who nodded and charged with considerable speed towards its downed foe. It reached back as its fist was surrounded in the same yellow light its antennae’s had just been. Charizard, using all of its remaining strength, managed to turn around and grab Electivire’s hand with its own, but it couldn’t hold the attack back for long. The attack hit it square in the jaw and Charizard gave one last roar as its head snapped back and it was thrown to the ground.

Ash complemented Charizard for a job well done and returned it to its Pokéball. After mentally listing off the Pokémon he had left, he made his choice. Paul was going to be in for a nasty surprise at the end of this…

“Alright, go, Sceptile!”

Both Pokémon squared off, sizing each other up. Ash knew that Electivire outclassed Sceptile in terms of raw physical power; he had to rely on Sceptile’s superior speed and special grass-type moves to help even things up.

Wasting no time, Paul called the first move. “Thunder, now! On the arena!”

Electivire’s ever-present grin widened as it slammed its fists to the arena floor and sent its twin tails into cracks in the ground. There was a loud hum of energy as it charged its attack, followed by a surge of light that temporarily blinded the audience. A split second later Thunder was released.

Electric moves were not supposed to have any effect on Ground, but Electivire had the raw power to alter the rule. Paul made sure of that…power could overcome any rule. Thousands of volts tore through the earth, breaking up the dirt and sending chunks of rock flying through the air.

Sceptile raised its arms, trying to shield itself from the debris. Unsure of where to move to escape the rapidly approaching onslaught, it waited for Ash to make the call.

It came not a second too soon. “Sceptile, jump! Use Leaf Storm!”

The lizard-like Pokémon immediately shot up into the sky. Its yellow eyes searched the ground below, eventually spotting their target. Its body cleared the focus of the electrical blast with ease – but Sceptile could not dodge it completely. One of its legs just brushed the edge of the surge. It was enough for a severe shock to jolt through its body. Crying out, the Pokémon twisted in the air, losing the lock it had on Electivire. Nonetheless it fired the glowing leaves from its back frantically, hoping to score a hit.

It did. Electivire yelled as powered up leaves bombarded the striped Pokémon, momentarily blocking its vision. When the dust cleared both Pokémon were standing on the opposite side of the arena with their backs to each other.

“Sceptile, Leaf Blade!”

“Electivire, Thunder Punch!”

At their trainer’s behest, the two powerful opponents wheeled around and charged at each other. When they were halfway across, Ash suddenly called out for a Bullet Seed. Small hard seeds were shot in rapid fire from Sceptile’s mouth and they peppered the ground right in front of Electivire, causing it to hop backwards and try to veer around.

Its concentration broken, Sceptile was consequently the first to land a hit. The leaves on the sides of its arms had begun to glow and harden before it struck. Electivire cried out as it was hit but was still able to retaliate with a well thrown punch. Currents of electricity surged up Sceptile’s body.

“Leaf Blade again!”

“Brick Break!”

Once more the Pokémon took wild swings at each other and once more powerful blows were dealt to both parties. They each were pushed back a good few feet once their attacks landed, heavily damaged by the physical fighting. Both trainers could see their Pokémon were very tired. Paul didn’t care.

“Electivire, Thunder! Let’s finish this!” He yelled.

“Sceptile, Leaf Storm!” Ash called out, a bit more quietly but no less firmly.

Yellow and green surged towards each other. The two attacks were equal in strength but behaved very differently in action, thus when they met they did not cancel themselves out. Thunder’s power was one single beam – direct and to the point, harsh and beyond taming – that shot directly to Sceptile. The Leaf Storm was a flurry of smaller points of energy; barely contained chaos that simply swirled and danced around the other attack as it neared Electivire. Both managed to strike their targets dead without being disrupted.

Electivire and Sceptile cried out in unison before all was silent. Their legs were shaking and they looked up at each other wearily. They did a good job of staying upright for a few moments, despite the fact that they were wavering dangerously on their feet. It was when they tried to take a step towards one another that they fell.

“What an amazing battle! That’s the second tie so far! Now Paul is down to one Pokémon, while Ash has two! It’s gonna be a close one!” The announcer’s words, despite his own excitement, were nearly inaudible next to the excitement of the crowd. Three people in particular were bellowing out their support of Ash louder than all the rest.

“Ursaring, let’s do this!” Paul sent out his last Pokémon, not even bothering to cover up the fury on his face. Ash, meanwhile, looked on with a smile. Upon seeing Paul’s last Pokémon, and knowing which two he had left, he knew it was time to make his move. Paul was never going to forget this as long as he lived…

“Buizel, go!”

Buizel and Ursaring faced each other, the much larger bear Pokémon bringing its paws to its face and roaring as it brandished its long, white claws. Buizel, though much smaller, was largely unfazed.

“Alright, Bulk Up!” Paul directed his last Pokémon. Ursaring roared again and appeared to grow larger as it tensed its muscles.

“Buizel, use Sonic Boom!” Ash asked after mentally noting his own Pokémon’s move set. He wanted to keep Buizel away from Ursaring for the time being.

Buizel let out a high pitched shriek that formed into a wave, rippling through the air and hitting Ursaring in the chest. Ursaring shrugged off the attack with little discomfort as Paul was left wondering what exactly Ash was doing. Wasn’t he taking this seriously? Or had his confidence gotten the better of him? Maybe this wasn’t over…Of course this wasn’t over.

“Use Slash!”

Ursaring extended its claws and rushed at Buizel, who on Ash’s command jumped nimbly out of the way. Ursaring came at it again, this time with Hammer Arm, while Buizel squirted it in the face with Water Gun. Angered, Ursaring roared as it brought down its arm, and Buizel was finally hit. It yelped and skidded back a ways before coming to a halt. The attack had only grazed Buizel but Ursaring’s strength meant the little Pokémon had to be careful if it was going to last long.

“Now, use Faint Attack!” Paul’s order was met with a resounding growl from his temperamental Pokémon as Ursaring came at Buizel’s left side with unnatural speed. Buizel turned to face it, but failed to see that Ursaring had feinted back behind it to strike from its right. As the attack hit Ash called out his next move.

“Ice Punch, quickly!” At his words Buizel’s fist glowed icy blue and it struck Ursaring on its backside, straight forward from its chest to maximize power. Ursaring cried out as the cold hit caught it by surprise, and slowed down considerably as the ice began to take hold. Not long after the attack had landed Ursaring stood frozen.

“Good hit, now use Sonic Boom!” Ash’s grin faded as he saw that Paul did not look at all put out by the fact that his Pokémon was immobilized. A second later, after Sonic Boom hit and the ice around Ursaring had already begun to crack, Ash understood. All he had done was power up Paul’s Pokémon, failing to realize that his Ursaring had Guts.

“Ursaring, Slash!” Paul was smirking scornfully now, but at his command all of Ash’s worry went away. He now knew Ursaring’s entire range of moves and they fit perfectly with his plan. At his command Buizel once again dodged Ursaring’s attack, and it was then that he returned Buizel to its Pokéball. Normally he would not have done this so late in the fight, but Paul’s contemptuous look when he believed he had Ash beaten had changed that.

“Go, Gengar!” Ash called out, smirking at the surprised look on Paul’s face. The purple ghost came out with its usual ghastly grin, its eyes glowing red ever so slightly as it stared down its foe.

“Ursaring, Faint Attack!” Paul ordered, his eyes narrowing.

“Gengar, stay close,” was Ash’s only reply. It’s not like he could do much else at the moment – in all his time battling he’d never seen Faint Attack miss.

Gengar did as it was told, staying in its place even after the super effective attack landed, though it did close its eyes and cringe at the impact.

“Disable!” Ash called out right after the attack had hit. Gengar opened its eyes and slammed its face right into Ursaring’s. Its eyes glowed so bright that Ursaring’s world was thrown into monochrome for a few moments. When the afterimages faded Ursaring felt very much the same as it had before, but when Paul angrily commanded it to use Faint Attack again it merely stared at Gengar blankly before turning back to its trainer and cocking its head questioningly. Ash grinned over at the dumbstruck Paul, satisfied that his plan had gone accordingly. It’s about time Paul got that smug look off his face.

“Gengar, use Curse.” He spoke calmly, his voice much lower than usual. Gengar heard him clearly however. Some sort of long, rusty nail appeared in the air before the ghost Pokémon. Looking straight at Ursaring, Gengar proceeded to shove the nail into its own body. Despite the damage it was taking the eerie smile never left Gengar’s face as it stared its foe down. Ursaring couldn’t help but shudder at the other Pokémon’s actions. Soon after, however, that shudder turned into a light shaking, which turned into full blown spasms as Ursaring’s body was suddenly wracked with pain. It cried out and fell to its knees, afraid in that it didn’t know how or why it was taking damage.

The trainers knew why. Curse was a strange attack indeed, especially when performed by a ghost type. Ursaring would continue to take damage until it was switched out or until it fainted. And due to being Paul’s last Pokémon it obviously couldn’t be switched out. The only option Paul had was to attack with everything he had and hope Gengar went down first. He could have done it too, what with Ursaring being a strong physical fighter and Faint Attack being such a reliable move. That was, until it had been Disabled. Ash smiled in the face of Paul’s clear disbelief and rage.

Ash was tired of Paul’s antics. Tired of the constant, overbearing attitude. Tired of putting up with everything he had been going through the last couple of days. Most of all he was tired of feeling like he always had to be on his toes, always no more than a few steps away from defeat. No more. Now Paul would be the one to know what it felt like to be powerless.

“Ursaring, Hammer Arm!”

Ash felt a little sorry for the bear Pokémon. It tried, it really did. But when it got close enough to land a hit its arms went right through Gengar and it was sent toppling to the ground. Gengar laughed at Ursaring before disappearing from the arena. Paul looked around frantically for the purple spectre, before realizing that some people in the audience were laughing and pointing. At HIM. He spun around.

Sure enough, Gengar was behind him. He couldn’t help but jump in surprise. As if to add insult to injury, as soon as he did this Gengar laughed again and stuck its tongue out at him.

He screamed furiously and commanded his useless Pokémon to use Faint Attack, but it couldn’t. Instead, Gengar released the black ripple of energy that was Dark Pulse. Ursaring was hit again and again as it stumbled about; occasionally cringing in pain as it still felt the effects of Curse. Gengar remained unharmed and made a game of appearing and disappearing in front of both Ursaring and Paul to taunt them mercilessly. Ash winced a little at it’s cruel glee, but then again, it was the least Paul deserved.

A few rounds into this game Ursaring’s memory started to return to it. This gave Paul a glimmer of hope. If his Pokémon could just hang in there a bit and get a few hits in –

It was then that Ursaring was hit with a supremely well timed Dark Pulse; it struck at the exact same time that the convulsions from Curse returned. The double whammy was too much for it.

To Paul, Ursaring seemed to fall in slow motion. One hit. He’d only gotten one hit in on what was, thanks to Ash’s switch earlier on, his opponent’s second last Pokémon.

He’d LOST. To ASH. And it hadn’t even been close. He’d never tasted the lead. He’d never had the advantage. All his training, all his talk, all his boasts and threats had amounted to absolutely nothing. Paul could feel his entire world crumbling around him as the cheers for Ash became louder and louder.

He could hear their voices above all of the noise.

He could feel her smirk.

“Ursaring is unable to battle! Paul’s last Pokémon is out and you know what that means, folks! Ash Ketchum has won the Lily of the Valley tournament! Let’s hear it for this year’s Sinnoh Champion, Ash Ketchum!”