Weathering The Storm... (A Pokemon OC Story)

Chapter 59: The Chains Grow Heavier...

Marshtomp was knocked across the battlefield by the sudden power of the blow striking its body. Ellie gasped as she saw Marshtomp begin to roll over and over, before eventually coming to a stop, face flat on the floor. Marshtomp attempted to get up, falling onto one leg in its effort, then fully getting back up. Although, the instant that it got up from the earthy battlefield, it was clear that Zen Headbutt has been a very hard hit from Metang.

"Are you okay, Marshtomp?", Ellie called out, to which she was met with a hearty cry from Marshtomp. She thought it over for a second, then called out, "Water Pulse!"

Marshtomp formed a sphere in its palms and then pushed forwards with the Water Pulse accelerating at a rapid speed towards Metang. But, Capri decided to counter the move with one of his own.

"Psychic!", he called out and Metang's psychic energy sprang from its nose all around its body. Then, that energy was projected forwards onto the Water Pulse. Marshtomp's attack pushed through with pace, but the Psychic began to wear down the speed of the Water Pulse as Metang gained more control over it, It came closer to Metang but by the time it was in any danger of hitting Metang, it was under Metang's complete control. Metang had the opportunity to return to sender. At least, it should've.

"Mud Shot!", Ellie called out and Marshtomp shot a quick, small projectile towards the Water Pulse. The two attacks collided and the subsequent explosion caused Metang to let out a cry as it was knocked back by the sudden explosion. Ellie smiled and got a little more confident, but knew that it was not over. Not by a long shot.

"Water Gun!", she called out as Marshtomp began to sprint towards Metang, spraying a stream of water over to Metang, aiming to strike it with the condensed shots of water. But, Capri remained calm and collected, commanding,

"Zen Headbutt!"

The Pokemon's psychic power spread from its nose again and went throughout its entire body, a detail that was keenly noted by Ellie. Metang closed its eyes and simply let the water pass over Metang's body without any issue, then the steel-type opened its razor-sharp eyes and struck hard into Marshtomp with a Headbutt. Marshtomp was once again knocked back, except this time it was knocked back into a rock that almost smashed as soon as Marshtomp's back hit it.

"Marshtomp!", she cried to her partner. Marshtomp's back lay upon the rock, and a clear pained expression came upon its face. Each breath looked to be one of exhaustion, yet Marshtomp still had a burning urge to fight. It sluggishly returned to its feet. Marshtomp relaxed its breaths, then a chilled blue aura washed over Marshtomp. No doubt about it, Torrent had activated. There was definitely more energy that Marshtomp could use and Ellie immediately put it into action.

"Charge forwards!", Ellie told Marshtomp and her partner sprinted as quickly as it could towards Metang. But, Capri saw absolutely no need for any concern with Marshtomp's aggression.

"Psychic!", he shouted to Metang, who used the psychic power generated from its nose to stop Marshtomp in its tracks, holding Marshtomp in the air firmly. Ellie sought to get Marshtomp out of the situation quickly, as the Psychic appeared to be slowly breaking Marshtomp's will to battle. Then, she came up with an idea quite out of the blue.

"Marshtomp, use Mud Shot and aim for Metang's nose!", Ellie shouted and Marshtomp fired a concentrated shot of mud that pierced through the psychic barrier like it was paper. It was like a bullet streaming through the air, hitting with pinpoint accuracy on Metang's nose. It smothered its nose with mud and suddenly Marshtomp was put back in control. And, Ellie quickly capitalized upon the opportunity.

"Water Pulse!"

Marshtomp fashioned a Water Pulse using its own two hands, then threw a valley of water from its mouth to make the Water Pulse balloon in size. Then, Marshtomp let it fly and it moved at stunning speed towards Metang. But, the confidence found in Capri never wavered. He commanded quickly,

"Zen Headbutt through!"

Metang attempted a Zen Headbutt, However, the mud clogged the power from reaching around its body, leading to Water Pulse hitting its target with incredible power. A giant clank could be heard as Metang was thrown back by the Water Pulse, landing on the floor before sluggishly ascending again. It tried to use its psychic abilities again but it was to no avail. Now, it couldn't rely on half of its moves and was forced to make do with the moves that still worked.

"Take Down!", the trainer yelled at a bit of a loss as to what to do. Metang burst forwards at the highest pace it could possibly put into its rushdown. Marshtomp was ready to fight back though.

"Hold your ground.", shouted Ellie confidently. Marshtomp smiled and held its arms in front of it firmly waiting for when Metang would burst into Marshtomp's grip. The attack came and Marshtomp clenched onto Metang, nullifying the attack and now holding it in an extremely tight grip. Metang was in an extremely bad position. One hit away from fainting, and in the tight grip of its opponent.

"Rock Smash!"

Marshtomp's foot stamped into the ground as Metang was thrown into the earth. The ground ruptured as it began to crack under the weight of Marshtomp's mighty strike, and Metang was dealt a crushing blow from the earth, being sent up into the air from the force of the sudden cracks and then pelted with debris that appeared from the floor. Metang's body clanked and clunked as each rock dented its metallic body until the Pokemon could no longer take it and fell to the floor with swirls in their eyes.

"Metang is unable to battle! That means that Marshtomp is the winner!"

Ellie grinned and ran onto the shattered battlefield (almost tripping in the process) where she was given a tight hug from Marshtomp. Ellie laughed and then said quite honestly,

"Still not used to you being as tall as me."

Meanwhile, Capri sat next to Metang, giving it a gentle rub on the head in an attempt to revive it from its damaged state. But, it didn't work. He let out a pained smile as he tightened the chains around his wrists until they clenched uncomfortably onto his skin. He then took out the Heavy Ball that Metang called its home. He tapped Metang on the head with the Pokeball and then went over to Ellie. He hid his pained expression with absolutely no effort. However, it appeared to be a heavy effort to just extend his arm with the chains.

"Very good battle. Even if I'm out in one round, I'm happy that it was a good battle against a strong trainer."

"Oh, thank you.", Ellie responded in a bubbly mood. She shook his hand and his chains rattled as he gave her a hearty shake despite the extra weight being added to his arm. Ellie was shocked to see such strength in someone just around her age and asked with shock, "Those chains must be heavy. How do you even manage that?"

"It improves work ethic and the drive to be more efficient.", he responded in a quite robotic way, as if what he said had been drilled into him for quite a while. Then, the cogs in his head began to move again and he began to walk away, waving and shouting, "Well, I hope to battle you soon! Take care!"

Capri walked back into the darkness, clenching one hand in the other as he walked away. Ellie looked at him, with a sinking feeling in her stomach. But, she shook the thought from her head and turned around to face the tunnel that she had come out of. She jumped onto the trainer's platform and walked closer to the tunnel, to find the shape of a trainer standing in the tunnel. He had a warm glow about him, which Ellie was quite familiar with. Lucas held out a high five and Ellie took it eagerly with a fire in her heart from the rush of battle.

"Go show them what you're made of!", Ellie exclaimed as she walked away, leaving Lucas to battle on his own. He wasn't worried though. He could win the first round.

Right?

Notes:

Hey everyone, thanks for reading. Got this one out on time as well, woohoo! So, there's finally something to talk about! Ash's exit from the anime. I'm going to be completely honest here, I'm kinda glad that they're finally allowing Ash to rest. Now, that he beat Leon and he finally became a Pokemon Master, I don't see where else they could take him. So, I'm kinda glad that they're allowing someone else to be the main protagonist for the next anime. I just hope we get to see Ash's companions meet up again to just have some more interactions before Ash officially leaves the anime as the main character. But, that's my opinion, I'd love to hear yours in the comments. Also to anyone who's just heard about this news from these notes, you live under a rock :)