Pokemon - The Biggest Wish

Chapter 21 - From The Ground, To The Sky

 “Leaf Blade!” I yelled, Grovyle surging forward. Marcus countered accordingly, ordering Lucario to use Aura Sphere. The attack burst forward, an undodgeable ball of energy. “Cut through!” I blurted. Grovyle immediately brought his arm round, slicing the Sphere in half like a knife through warm butter.

“Huh, to be honest, I never expected that.” Bonnie muttered from the stands. From two seats away, Ethan leaned forward. “Well, from what I've seen, Toby never does anything you'd expect.”

This made everyone giggle, including myself as Grovyle smacked Lucario to the ground. “By the way,” Holly began “Who are you? Why are you here, if you don't mind my asking?”

This was obviously directed at Ethan, and come to think of it, Holly had never been acquainted with anybody other than Bonnie and I, not even with Jake. “Oh yeah, my name is Ethan Fuller.” Ethan explained. “I saved Toby from the Valentines festival, and I'm sticking around for a bit.”

Jake nodded, and he, Ethan and Holly went into deep conversation.

Meanwhile, Lucario had picked itself up from the attack and was now summoning a shining blue bone. “Grovyle, dodge the Bone Rush!” I called. What followed was a classic 'Cat and Mouse'. Lucario swung the bone round in big arches, wielding it like a sword, whilst Grovyle nimbly tried to hop backwards, narrowly avoiding the deadly weapon each time. One of them had to get tired soon. Eventually, it was Lucario who faltered. The burn on its chest seared its fur, causing Lucario to kneel forward. Now was Grovyle's prime time. With no order, Grovyle threw caution to the wind, turning and slamming his foot into Lucario's chin. Marcus' Pokemon was sent flying, coming to a complete halt at his feet. “You're a tough kid!” Marcus groaned. “Already three Pokemon down... Ok, here I go!”

Marcus' next Pokemon was Mienshao, a cat-like fighter. “Mienshao, use Doubleslap!” Marcus ordered.

“Get in there with Leaf Blade!” I retaliated. Surprisingly, Grovyle was the only one to act, screaming through the air to his target. It wasn't until too late that I realised what was going on. As Grovyle brought his arm down like a hammer, Mienshao slapped it away, momentarily paralysing my Pokemon. Then, with tripled force, Mienshao launched its second Doubleslap, smashing Grovyle in an uppercut motion. Grovyle flew from the ground, to the sky, smacking his head on a girder supporting the roof. With a desperate urge, Grovyle flung his arms out, managing to catch the girder he had hit, saving himself from the fall below.

“That's gotta hurt!” Etienne winced.

“You're not safe up there!” Marcus roared. “Mienshao, Hi Jump Kick!” Mienshao leapt through the air, perhaps a metre a second. “Grovyle, swing!” I muttered, because it was the only thing I had time to say. As if in slow motion, Mienshao twisted its body, thrusting its foot up. If Grovyle were slower, it would have hit, but he had grabbed the girder tightly and flung himself off. The motion caused Grovyle to arc below the girder, swinging like a monkey in the trees. At the last minute, he lashed out with his own foot, slamming it into Mienshao's backside. With a yelp, Mienshao crashed into the girder and began its descent, where it would soon slam into the floor. “No!” Marcus whined. “If we go down, you go down! Mienshao, grab Grovyle's leg!” He roared. Grovyle was still clutching the girder when Mienshao latched onto his foot. The weight was too much, and the pain on Grovyle's face told me enough. “Grovyle, let go! There's no use in straining yourself!” I yelled in reassurance. One hand slipped off the girder. “Grovyle!” I roared. Grovyle didn't want to, he didn't want to take a fall for the team, but with one last breath, he allowed himself to let go, plunging himself and Mienshao down to the ground.

Needless to say, both Pokemon fainted. When we returned them, Bonnie spoke. “Four down, two to go. And only Piplup left.”

With no reason to hesitate, Marcus threw a PokeBall into the air.

“Blaziken, go!”

At that moment, a chime went off in my head. Piplup could do this easily, it was just the last Pokemon that mattered! “Go Piplup!” I called, my little penguin blossoming onto the stage.

Whilst Blaziken was superior in size, Piplup had the type advantage. Little did I know, Blaziken had many other advantages as well. “Use Blaze Kick!” Marcus roared. A plume of red hot flames spiralled around Blaziken's legs, which it then shot towards Piplup's head.

“Dodge and use Drill Peck!” I ordered. Barely making her way over the fire, Piplup spun around, slamming her razor beak into Blaziken's chest. The Pokemon shrieked and fell, lashing out with its fists. Unfortunately, the tip of Blaziken's left knuckle impacted with Piplup's chin, and although the force was weak, it was still enough to knock Piplup into the air.

“Great! Blaziken, stand up and use Sunny Day, followed by Solar Beam!” Marcus intimidated. Everybody in the crowd gasped, and I swear even Darkrai and Riolu made a noise.

“S-Solar Beam!?” I stuttered. Piplup was almost levitating in mid air, and the whole room seemed to move in slow motion. Sunlight poured in through the windows, and it was only a matter of seconds before Blaziken would fire its beam of energy into Piplup. Marcus had obviously taught the move via a TM. Technical Machines are used to teach a Pokemon a variety moves that they couldn't usually learn during their level phase. “Piplup, use Whirlpool and Drill Peck!” I called anxiously.

Blaziken's mouth opened and a bright green light of life erupted from deep within, despite Blaziken's body probably being unable to cope. Just before the attack hit, Piplup covered herself in a shield of water and began to spin as if our badge depended on it, which of course, it did. To everybody's surprise, there was no explosion. Piplup simply tore through the energy, presumably because the Grass type attack was launched from a Fire type, substantially weakening the move. And suddenly, Blaziken was overwhelmed by a torrent of water, and then the spinning pressure of Piplup's beak. And lo, Blaziken screamed across the floor, digging its claws in at the first given moment, which effectively saved it from slamming into a wall. “Aaaaah... That was close!” Marcus sighed.

I wasted no more time. As soon as Piplup was ready, she struck like a ninja. “Piplup, hit Blaziken with Bubblebeam!” I shouted. Piplup took one step forward, and with all her might, bombarded Blaziken with a stream of bubbles, knocking it out before it even left the ground. When Marcus managed to contain himself, he wrenched his head forward and his eyes danced with a flare of confidence. “That's it. Time to bring out all the stocks!” The man roared, returning Blaziken and lobbing his last PokeBall onto the field. “Here we go...” Etienne gasped, biting his nails in anticipation, even though he knew what Pokemon would appear.

The noise was atrocious. Like the sound you hear when a shot is taken from a whole unit of an army. The room seemed to darken, until a silhouette appeared, lighting the field of combat. The Pokemon seemed quite small, and a horn was protruding from its forehead, which was emitting a strong light. It was too small to be one of the three...

Marcus roared from the deep of his chest, screaming the Pokemon's name aloud. “I give you the legend that is... KELDEO!”