Ash's POV
Ironic.
It's been three years since I left civilization, and almost six since the Lily of the Valley Conference, and I'm back here. Battling in a tag-battle alongside Paul. But this time, we're against Pokemon League Champions.
I was tempted to use Infernape just to spite him, but some weapons are best kept hidden.
Paul didn't hesitate to attack first though. "Froslass, shoot an Ice beam at Haxorus."
"Take it." said Iris, seemingly unphased as her ace was slammed with a super-effective attack.
I was slightly confused, but I wasn't going to let it ruin our momentum. "Pikachu, fire a Thunderbolt at Gardevoir."
"Light Screen." she said, surprising me. Champion Diantha is famous for her incredible ability to fully communicate with her Gardevoir via eye contact alone, so it's surprising to see her not utilize that in an exhibition match.
Regardless, the Electric-type attack easily crashed through the Gardevoir's Light Screen, leaving the Psychic-type at the mercy of Pikachu's thunderbolt.
Seems like training with Mimey paid off.
"Quick, Teleport." said a surprised Diantha. Pikachu's thunderbolt seemed to graze Gardevoir's shoulder, but she shook it off and reappeared at her trainer's side, avoiding the bulk of the attack.
"That was impressive, both of you..." Diantha commented, "But not enough. Gardevoir, Life Dew."
The world stood still as all four of us analyzed our situation. The once roaring audience now was dead as midnight, feeling the tension of some of the strongest trainers in the entire world. After several seconds of silence, I decided to start attacking again.
"You 'Champions' can't win on defense alone. Pikachu, close the distance on Gardevoir."
"Froslass, keep your distance. Cover it with Shadow Ball." Paul ordered briskly.
The champions did nothing.
As Pikachu quickly darted towards Gardevoir, a sly grin appeared on their faces.
"Shit. Call Pikachu back!" Paul shouted suddenly.
"Wha-"
"Checkmate. Gardevoir, Point Blank Dazzling Gleam."
"Cut through it with Iron Tail!."
"Catch it, Haxorus."
To my dismay, the 'Dazzling Gleam' was a bluff, Gardevoir teleported away, and Haxorus quickly caught Pikachu with his mouth.
Pikachu was literally in the jaws of the enemy.
What confused me is how Haxorus got so quick, but that's not a priority right now. Paul's Froslass fired multiple Shadow Balls, but Diantha's Gardevoir countered with Shadow Balls of her own, and ultimately, none connected with Haxorus.
(There's probably a "bols in yo jaws" joke in there somewhere, but I'll leave that to you.)
"Pikachu, try to free yourself with discharge," I said, hoping that a last-ditch effort could suffice.
"Crunch!" Iris commanded.
What I witnessed could only be described as Pikachu being tortured by the enemy Pokemon. I was about to fire a command, but I stopped myself. Pikachu looked barely able to survive, much less counterattack. It was almost baffling to me how powerful that Crunch attack looked. Even if it's a Critical Hit, there's no reason it should hit so hard...unless... Pikachu was doing everything to plan, but the pain Pikachu looked to be in made me question if we were even ready for this tournament. They say that Haxourus's tusks can crush steel. What they don't tell you is that they crush dreams.
The crowd seemed cringe at the thought of a cute pokemon like Pikachu being trapped in the jaws of a monster like Haxorus.
Then, it happened.
Electric sparks flew through the dragon's body, as he froze in place on the spot. I did a silent cheer in my head, before turning to Pikachu. He smiled and nodded his head, confirming the situation.
Haxorus was paralyzed.
Screw that 'Crush Dreams' stuff, Pikachu crushes...haxoruses...I dunno, I'm still working on a catchphrase.
Unfortunately, all was not well. Sure, Haxorus couldn't do anything, but Pikachu was still stuck in Haxorus's jaws.
He was a sitting psyduck, and both champions knew it.
"Fire a Shadow Ball at Pikachu." Diantha commanded, seemingly with no regard that Haxorus would also get hit in the process.
"Ice Shard." Paul said quickly, causing a fast-moving knife of ice to pop Gardevoir's Shadow Ball inches from Pikachu's (and Haxorus's) face. I didn't expect Paul of all people to stop someone from attacking their own teammate, but Pikachu and I definitely appreciated it.
The surprise seemed to lower Haxorus's guard, and Paul didn't hesitate to capitalize on this.
"Froslass, use Hex."
You see, Hex is usually a pretty weak attack. However, when the target has a status ailment, (like Paralysis, for no reason in particular,) it becomes one of the most powerful attacks a Ghost-Type can use.
The dragon's entire body looked like it was on fire, and Haxorus didn't have a fire extinguisher.
"Haxorus-" Iris shouted. Her pokemon was going through agony, and there was nothing she could do about it.
That's a shame.
Pikachu, who was unaffected by the Hex, seemed to be in a position to counterattack. Though I wasn't originally gonna go all out in this battle, I was having a blast, and Pikachu seemed to be enjoying himself as well. I missed battles like these, both the strategies and the raw power. After all, this is our first televised battle in three damn years.
So why not have a little fun?
"Pikachu, use Thunder!"
Like a mortar from the sky, Pikachu summoned a stormy bolt of vengeance to punish Haxorus. The Axe-Jaw Dragon writhed in pain, barely managing to keep standing. Naturally, his grip loosened for Pikachu to be able to counterattack, so I decided to make the most out of that.
"Iron Tail!" I shouted as Pikachu's tail turned to steel, escaping the dragon's demonic grip, somersaulting, and dealing the finishing blow by landing his tail of steel on Haxorus's forehead. Pikachu landed safely atop Froslass.
Haxorus fell to the ground, defeated.
"Woah- Champion Iris's Haxorus is una-"
"Gardevoir, use Heal Pulse."
We could only watch in dread as all the effort we put into defeating Haxorus was wasted in a single move. At least Heal Pulse doesn't cure Paralysis.
I glanced at Pikachu, surveying his injuries. "You alright buddy?"
"Pika chu pika."
I could already tell from the elated expression on his face, but his words confirmed my suspicions.
Pikachu was exhilarated.
However, his tired demeanor told a different story. We couldn't keep battling for much longer, no matter how much we really wanted to.
"How did that Crunch attack hit so hard..." I thought out loud. Paul turned to me with an answer.
"Dragon Dance."
"What?"
"When my Froslass attacked that Haxorus, it wasn't doing nothing. It was just concealing the fact that it was using Dragon Dance. That is why it reached your Pikachu so quickly and why its Crunch Attack was so powerful."
Lightbulbs lit up in both my and Pikachu's heads.
"Ohhhhhhh, so that's why it was able to break out of the ice so quickly."
"Precisely, though in its current state, Haxorus's paralysis severely limits its speed. If you're truly worried about your Pikachu, give it this," said Paul, handing me a Sitrus Berry.
How is this the same Paul that I battled in Sinnoh?
"Thank you..." I said, tossing the fruit over to Pikachu. Like a Gentleman, he split it in two mid-air with his Iron Tail and handed half to Froslass.
"No issues. We can't win the battle if your Pikachu doesn't pull its weight."
Now that's more like the Paul I know.
Well, not really, It's still a lot more generous, and less assholey, and generally not a terrible person. I guess I'm not the only one who can change.
"Excuse me, but if the CHALLENGERS have something to say, they can say it to the class. If not, let's resume the battle."
"Of course, now he's rushing..." Paul muttered under his breath. "We didn't ask for a pause. Just resume the damn battle."
"Alright finally! It seems like you two would've been talking forever."
"Can we get a new referee?" Iris asked, causing him to instantly start sweating.
"I assure you- I am GREAT at my job... whatever, Battle Resume!"
"Pikachu, use Agility," I said. Immediately, the electric mouse pokemon hopped off Froslass started running circles around the enemy team. Officially, I'm doing this to boost Pikachu's dodging capabilities, as well as... something I'll get to later.
Unofficially, I'm doing it to taunt Iris into making a mistake.
She may be a Pokemon League Champion, as well as an extremely dedicated battler. But she's still the same Iris I traveled with back in Unova.
Too hot-headed for her own good.
Paul didn't seem to understand my strategy... or human emotions in general... and honestly, I don't blame him. But he did seem to get that I was targeting Haxorus, and he's actually quite good at that. "Use Ice beam on Haxorus's feet." He said, gluing the dragon to the floor.
"Break free!" she shouted. To her dismay, however, Haxorus was too Paralyzed to even move, much less break free from Ice. I don't know why Diantha wasn't helping her teammate escape, but that's only helping my plan.
"Icicle Spear." Paul ordered, capitalizing on Haxorus's now total immobilization. Five massive spears of ice fired like bullets towards the helpless dragon.
Stab.
Stab.
Stab.
Stab.
Stab.
Likely sensing only one option left, Iris cracked her knuckles. "Haxorus, use Draco-Meteor!" She shouted, putting all her efforts into this last-ditch effort. A beam of pure draconic energy erupted from Haxorus and exploded in the sky to form flaming meteors, all headed towards our side of the battlefield.
A wide grin suddenly appeared on Pikachu's face. There was no need to usher a command.
Pikachu, now double the speed he used to be, leaped high into the air and immediately began climbing the smaller draconic meteoroids.
Iris looked baffled, while Diantha remained apprehensive as ever. Paul's expression was blank as plain paper... like usual.
They had no idea what was coming.
Pikachu swiftly reached the apex of the dragon-type attack as it headed towards our side of the battlefield.
"IS A CHALLENGER'S POKEMON OUT OF BOUNDS?!"
"Shut the fuck up. Pikachu, hit them!!"
Like celestial ping-pong balls, Pikachu hit the massive meteors with his Iron-Tail, accelerating their speed and redirecting them towards their creator. One by one, Pikachu launched the meteors away from us. Some of the smaller ones shattered on impact with Iron-Tail, but the larger ones were all launched towards Haxorus.
Both the dragon and the 'dragon master' stood mouths agape, accepting defeat. After all, what can a Paralyzed Haxorus do against its own attack?
Diantha was less easily defeated. "Gardevoir use Pro-"
"Astonish." Paul ordered, as his Froslass instantly appeared in front of Gardevoir, flinching the fairy-type.
Now, Pikachu and I watched, satisfied at the scene we created.
The meteors hit the battlefield right next to Haxourus. as wind and sand were sent rushing in every direction. As I covered my eyes and felt the sand from the battlefield beating against my skin, I was reminded so much why I missed League Battles. You can bond with your pokemon and bring out the best in both of you while other pokemon lovers watch.
Now, the entire world was watching.
As the dust settled, I scanned the battlefield to scout the situation. Pikachu was riding atop Froslass and Gardevoir was standing...floating... next to her trainer... but where was Haxorus...
Where was Haxorus?!