Now, the first battles of the tournament could commence. A few rounds of battles had already started. The kid with the Garchomp has stomped all over their opponent's Pokemon, to absolutely no one's surprise. Alex had fought and won decisively, using Kadabra's Psychic powers to mess up his opponent's Gloom. Then came the girl with the Chansey, who had won without her partner but with a Beautifly through a hard battle against her opponent's Geodude, But, now, it was Harry's time to shine. He stepped out onto the stadium floor with a burning desire for victory.
The other trainer walked into the open air, skipping as if she was completely unaware of the gazing eyes upon her. She was just happy to have made it to the tournament, especially at her relatively young age. The bug trainer gripped a premium net that housed a lone Pokeball that bounced with the netting around. But, then, they both turned their attention to the woman who was going to be dictating the match, the referee. She emerged from a platform from deep underground and the battlefield that they were fighting on rose with her.
"You are going to be fighting on..."
The battlefield was revealed to be one of more mountainous terrain, dry without any sort of greenery. Rather, it had been replaced by sun-scorched and cracked earth, with the occasional pile of stones or rocks scattered around the battlefield. Perfect for what Harry had chosen to be his Pokemon.
"You will only use one Pokemon and there will be no time limit. However, you are not permitted to use any items. Now, please throw out your selected Pokemon!"
Both trainers had selected their Pokemon prior to the match so that they couldn't make any judgements based on what they knew that their opponent was using. They could, however, search through databases for the trainer's Pokemon and make a guess as to what Pokemon they would use. But, for Harry, his job was rather easy, given that the trainer opposite to him was carrying exclusively bug Pokemon. So, he decided to pick his best Pokemon to be an exterminator of the insects.
"Numel, time to fight!", Harry shouted as he launched the Pokeball far across the battlefield. The bug trainer looked at Numel with fear, having flashbacks to when they had to fight skin and teeth to get through Flannery's gym. It was something that she didn't want to go through so early into the rounds of the tournament, but it just came with being a bug trainer, having to deal with the Pokemon best suited to deal with bugs. She composed herself and selected her Pokemon of choice,
"Dustox, I believe in you!"
A bug type that looked akin to a moth flew into the air rather sluggishly. Clearly, speed would not be Dustox's most prevalent trait. However, just from appearance, it was clear that it had some sort of tactics that it could clearly go for. Its wings looked to be encased in a coat of poison powder ready to be unleashed onto its enemies and its bug eyes appeared to be attracted to the sun, although it shook its head and was reminded of its purpose when it looked to the bubbling bright mountain of lava that was Numel. Harry had done a little research and knew about the deadly coating of poison powder but figured that it wouldn't affect Numel much. He wasn't concerned.
"Battle begin!"
"Numel, use Flame Wheel!"
Numel combusted into flames, a rotating ring of fire sprouting around that allowed Numel to roll forwards towards Dustox at high speeds. Dustox fluttered in the air calmly, awaiting the command to attack from its trainer.
"Poison Powder.", she called out. The Dustox began to flap some toxic purple-coloured dust over towards Numel, carrying a poisonous touch. Numel charged forwards regardless but was then stopped by the suffocating poison. Numel began to splutter, but Harry had a plan.
"Amnesia!", he yelled, and Numel's pupils suddenly began to dilute and become grey in colour. Its face became blank of emotion and it was almost as if Numel's entire brain had been shut down for a moment. Then, suddenly, Numel was revitalised with life and sped forwards using the Flame Wheel. The bug trainer was shocked to see that Numel could shrug off the effects of the poison powder, but Harry knew that it would work. Forgetting the effects of attacks was a great way to get Pokemon to keep battling. Now, the bug trainer had a panicked look and yelled out thoughtlessly,
"Tackle!"
Against the Flame Wheel that Numel was conjuring, there was no way that Tackle would've ever worked. But, maybe out of stubbornness, maybe out of ignorance, Dustox flew into Numel at top speed, only to be sent flying away as soon as its meagre attack had been beaten by Flame Wheel's fiery power. Numel clearly sent a message to Dustox there. If you get in close, you're not winning that fight. So, the bug trainer needed a way to stay away from Numel while still fighting back against it. And, the solution was in the air.
"Use Poison Powder while flying over the battlefield!", the trainer called out and Dustox followed her command.
"Amnesia!", Harry repeated himself, and the same thing happened as before. Numel forgot the effects of the Poison Powder, slowly taking the memory of the hurt that the poison inflicted and throwing it into the deepest depths of its mind. But, as Numel's pupils became dilute and unresponsive, the bug trainer took it as a golden opportunity to strike when Numel was weak.
"Psybeam!", the trainer called out and Dustox created a psychedelic chain of energy, formed into a condensed beam that struck through the air and struck Numel in the torso. Now that was certainly a hit that no Amnesia could help Numel forget. Numel blasted away from the force of the blow, crying out in pain as it toppled as soon as the beam stopped. Numel whimpered as it rose once again, clearly in pain from the blow that it had suffered.
"Lava Plume!", Harry yelled with no hesitation, too focused on the battle to see the poor condition that Numel was in. But, Numel obeyed by spewing molten lava out of its hump into the air. Bursts of boiling lava plummeted down towards Dustox, and the bug trainer called out,
"Use String Shot to stop their momentum!", Dustox fired out long beads of string to try and gain control of the lava. But, it only leads to the strings catching fire and turning to ash in almost an instant. Dustox panicked and quickly abandoned the string shot plan, flying around in a frenzy of panic and fear from the lava. It only took occasional glances up to try and gauge where it was, then quickly duck out of the way of any oncoming lava. But, as soon as a tiny drop splashed onto Dustox's wing, the bug Pokemon began to be pelted with even more droplets of lava. One turned to two, two turned to four, and four turned into pain. So much so, that Dustox's wings began to give up and it slowly began to flutter to the ground, before picking up momentum and crashing into the floor. Dust erupted from the stone-covered battlefield and the bug trainer was distraught, letting out a shrilly shriek,
"Dustox!"
The dust cleared, and a defiant Dustox stood proudly against Numel, breathing out heavily while staring down Numel. The bug trainer had sparkles in her eyes as she saw that Dustox was continuing to fight, and Harry had to admit that Dustox was putting up a good fight for a Pokemon that was at such a disadvantage. But, his admiration wasn't going to stop him from grasping victory tightly in the palm of his hand.
"Tackle!", Harry commanded while Numel was still recovering from the Lava Plume and the energy it had taken to spew the ashes and lava out. But, a momentary head shake was all that was needed to get Numel back into the game and moving through forwards towards Dustox. But, this time, String Shot seemed to be the best choice.
"String Shot!", the bug trainer shouted and Dustox spewed out balls of string that wrapped around Numel's legs, tripping it over and sending Numel crashing into the floor. Now, Numel was very open to an attack. Dustox came even closer to the ground to align itself with where Numel was standing. Dustox lined up a Psybeam to try and nail Numel right in the head, but Harry smiled as his brain brewed with a counterplan.
"Bulldoze!", he called out and Numel stomped into the floor. Vibrations flowed through the earth and began to crack the stone all around, cutting through the string around Numel's legs. But, more importantly, Dustox was thrown off by the Bulldoze, the cracked earth distracting the bug type and making the Psybeam shoot in a completely different course than expected. Then, the shockwaves began to slowly subside, leaving Dustox able to use Psybeam once again. But, as soon as Dustox looked at Numel, the bug type found that Numel was rushing Dustox down head first like a bull.
"Tackle!", the panicked trainer yelled out, using Tackle as a quick panic option against Numel. But, Harry knew as Dustox came rushing forwards, that the battle was over completely.
"Flame Wheel!"
Numel's body became a bonfire as it rushed into Dustox, sending the moth Pokemon soaring into the air, landing at the feet of its trainer with distinct swirls in its eyes. An assortment of burns and wounds became apparent all across Dustox's wings and body, so much so that the referee called it off as soon as she took one quick glance at Dustox's wings.
"Dustox is unable to battle! Numel is the winner!"
Numel jumped for joy, jumping up and down and then running over to Harry. Harry awarded Numel with small amounts of praise followed by a quite hearty pat on the head. Meanwhile, the bug trainer, distraught and distressed, sobbed over her fallen Pokemon. She was frustrated, not in her Pokemon, but more in herself. Harry saw the bug trainer sobbing in the distance and simply walked away. He wouldn't make anything better. And, it wasn't his problem, after all.
Notes:
Hey everyone, I updated on time. Yay! Also, I just wanna see the next two chapters are some of my favourites that I've written. You're gonna want to look forward to them! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you in the next chapter!