Chapter 170 (Rewrite)

Author Note:

Chapter 171 will be up in a few hours, but I wanted to get something out right now. In the author's note at the end of the next chapter, I’ll be talking about the upcoming schedule as well as my plans from here.

(It should be good news. Due to the nature of the next few chapters, there’ll be more frequent releases until the end of the fiction. You’ll get more details about that alongside 171.)

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The air hummed with an electric energy, a coalescence of everything taking place. Muffled cheers from the current battle barely reached Sam’s dressing room, and chatter from his Pokémon brought forth nervousness and excitement in equal measure as they discussed their upcoming battle.

Though none of Sam's Pokémon wanted to tire themselves, the Gastly and Haunter from Sam’s shadow carried no such reservation. They buzzed around, casting dark shapes onto the walls, and swarmed Sam’s waiting Pokémon. They sent his core team members questions, compliments, and even some taunts.

That lasted until a soft cry of Typhlosion’s name saw them quiet down.

“Thank you, Typhlosion,” Sam said.

Both Annihilape and Trevenant gave her similar yet silent shows of thanks.

Above their heads, a television played the current match of a Houndoom expertly dancing around a frustrated Hypno. Drakloak stared at it intently with Mismagius beside her, and Gengar called over a few of the Gastly to point at the screen and laugh.

All the while, Sam’s mother sat on a stool and watched him rest. She was positioned in front of a mirror that showed a mostly empty room. Delcatty reclined in her lap, and Sableye hid behind her hanging legs. 

His mother’s eyes never left him, but Sam wasn’t paying attention to her. All of his attention was on the door to the room as he waited for the League staff member to knock and give him the sign that his battle was about to start.

Soon, his mother spoke up.

“Nervous?” she asked.

Despite the question, Sam found himself gaining a smile.

“I'm not. It's weird,” he said quietly to her. “I don’t know why, but I don’t feel nervous in the slightest. There’s so much riding on this battle, and I’m about to have this match in front of the entire world, but I kind of don’t care about that? The only thing I care about is how I’m finally getting the chance to fight Redi. All season, we’ve talked and prepared for this, and now we’re finally having our final battle right here in the middle of the actual Conference.”

Their match would be the culmination of everything they trained for. Both of them planned to show off everything their teams could do.

But, in exchange, only one of them would be moving on. Sam truly planned for it to be him.

“I’m glad,” his mother said.

“That Redi and I are fighting?” Sam asked.

“No,” she said with a titter, “I’m glad that you’ve had your journey. I’m glad that you’ve made such a close friend. And I’m glad that you made it here. Do you even realize just how much you’ve changed?”

“In a good way, I hope,” Sam quipped.

His mother laughed.

“Of course it’s in a good way,” she said with a soft smile. “There are so many little things about you that are different. You’re happier. Confident. There’s a sense of responsibility to you. In so many little ways, you remind me of—”

“Grandpa,” Sam finished for her.

But his mother just burst into laughter.

“Him? Not at all! Do you even know just how irresponsible he was? No, Sam. If there’s anyone you remind me of right now, you remind me of your father.” Her smile wavered as she calmed down. “But it’s alright. I understand why you thought of Dad instead of him. It’s been so long since he passed that you don’t remember...”

She went quiet, and Sam looked at the floor. He checked on his mother after a few seconds, but instead of looking sad, her expression was bittersweet.

“I’m going to win,” Sam said to her.

That was a promise.

“Yes,” she replied. “I know in my heart that’s going to be true.”

She sent him a slow nod, and Sam sat up in his seat, turning to bring his attention to everyone else in the room.

When he cleared his throat, everyone quieted down. Every Pokémon here looked at him, waiting for what he had to say.

“Listen up,” he said, recognizing that now was the moment for it. “With our battle so close, I want to talk about Redi.”

He doubted that Redi would have some extensive plan. He knew that she’d become much better at planning, but in-depth strategies still just weren’t her thing. She would have her clever moments, and she would have a few tricks, but the way she fought tended to see all of her counters built into her team. She wouldn’t have a complicated, overall plan, but she would have ideas for how to stop Sam from having one of his own.

If Sam had to describe the way she fought, she tended to have a very passive strategy for her very active team. He expected to be shut down, and he expected her to stop any tricks he pulled. But he didn’t expect her to set up many tricks for him to fall into.

No, even now, she still relied on overwhelming her opponents with raw strength.

“She won’t use many moves that weaken us over time. I expect her to stick to basic defenses, but defenses that are proven to work,” he told his team as his Pokémon gathered around. “She’ll have the appropriate moves that stop our own, but other than that, anything she has to stop us will already be built into the makeup of her team.”

“Just, for example,” Sam continued, “her Normal Types are immune to our Ghost Type moves. Ursaluna’s Guts means he becomes stronger instead of weaker when he’s burned. Her Kangaskhan can directly attack the Ghost Type thanks to its Scrappy ability and will wake up quickly if put to sleep due to Early Bird. And then, Dragonair can shed off any conditions thanks to its Shed Skin ability, and even Porygon’s Recover means it can last a surprisingly long time.”

Once again, he looked around, but despite his words, his Pokémon were confident. And he was in agreement, too.

He had to let out a short laugh, seeing all of their determined faces.

“Yeah,” he said to them. “You’re right. We’ve been preparing for this. No matter what she throws our way, we’ll know exactly how to react to ensure we come out on top.”

As he continued to speak to his Pokémon, a knock soon came at the door. Immediately, the room went utterly still as everyone braced for the expected words to come out. They hadn’t even realized that the muffled cheers coming from outside had quieted down; the last match had ended, and that meant—

“Samuel Greyson?” a voice asked from the other side of the door. “Be ready. You’re on deck to battle next.”

The arena was quieter, but that same electric energy persisted. Sam hopped up out of his chair to send one last look around at his team.

His mother spoke up for a final time.

“I'd wish you luck, but-”

“I don't need luck,” Sam said, finishing his mother’s statement for her.

From there, the many Gastly and Haunter dove back into his shadow, and one by one, his team members were returned. Dreepy and Drakloak were sucked into their Ultra Ball with a shared, excited squeak. Trevenant sent Sam a nod as he was recalled into his Pokéball. Mismagius carried a warm smile on her face as she disappeared, and Gengar let out cackles as he vanished into red light.

Annihilape, meanwhile, carried no reaction whatsoever as Sam brought him back, but that lack of response was just his way of expressing his absolute confidence.

And then, Typhlosion was the only Pokémon on Sam’s team still in the room.

“We’ll beat her,” Sam said.

Typhlosion’s flames crackled around her neck as she sent him a wide grin, and then she, too, disappeared.

It was silent, now. His Pokémon were all in their Pokéballs at his waist, eager and waiting for this battle to start.

The room was quiet. Controlled.

It lacked any signs of the Ghost Types lurking nearby.

Sam sent one last nod to his mother, and she waved goodbye. Delcatty meowed out a cheer, and even Sableye reluctantly said his name in support.

Then, Sam grabbed the door’s handle, twisting it to open it.

The light of the arena’s hallway shone into the room.

Breathing in, Sam stepped out, and he headed to the main battlefield. It was time for the start of his and Redi’s final match.

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The audience was in an uproar, because why wouldn’t it be? This late into the tournament, every match was a demonstration of extreme skill and force.

When Sam and Redi appeared out of their respective entrance tunnels, the noise of the crowd intensified even more. Between all of the eight battles taking place today, so many of them involved people who knew each other. But here, two traveling companions would be the ones to face off in what was going to be one of their very last battles of the season.

And, just about everyone here had seen the same thing. A certain reporter had interviewed them both at the same time.

Together, when Marilyn had asked them what their objectives in the battle would be, Sam and Redi had given the same answer.

“To win,” they had said in unison.

Yet, neither was moving to start the battle right away, and neither trainer looked to directly approach the field. No, both of them strode right to where the head referee was standing, locking eyes in surprise but coming to the agreement that, yes, they both wanted the same thing.

The referee turned off his microphone as they approached, and no one in the audience could hear the ensuing discussion. The talks were emphatic, and the two trainers all but pleaded. Eventually, the referee had to give in. He could at least offer them this chance if both sides of the fight were in complete agreement.

As they walked back to the field, the referee’s mic clicked on. His voice echoed for an announcement.

“There’ll be a slight warm-up before the battle,” he said.

The crowd cheered as Sam and Redi reached the trainer boxes on the opposite sides of the field, and worn Pokéballs flew through the air to send out the team members intending to have a “practice” bout.

A heavy Ground Type and a limber Fighting Type appeared across from one another.

Ursaluna faced Annihilape, and Annihilape faced Ursaluna.

From there, a growl was exchanged with a grunt, and without any further waiting, both Pokémon charged.

Immediately, upon meeting, Ursaluna reared up to swipe glowing claws down, and Annihilape ducked under one of the bear’s arms just to strike with a shadowy fist into the other. The impact was so immense that shockwaves seemed to crack the air. The amount of energy wielded by their moves was overwhelming.

But a Shadow Punch could never damage the Normal Type Ursaluna, and a Slash could never damage the Ghost Type Annihilape.

However, neither Pokémon gave up, and they drew back their limbs to go for another exchange. Though they used proper moves for this clash, no attack threatened to deal any damage as they stuck solely to moves their opponent would be immune to.

A set of Fury Swipes tore into Annihilape, but Annihilape retaliated with a powerful Shadow Punch. Another Slash flew over Annihilape’s head, and a Rage Fist caught Ursaluna in the gut.

These moves dealt damage through raw force alone: something Pokémon at this level were adept at handling. Swipe met punch met bash met counter. Neither Pokémon let up, and neither Pokémon received any specific commands from their trainers.

Then, after a while of just wailing on each other, one last exchange sent the two Pokémon sliding back. They were breathing heavily, but they weren’t tired. This might have been a warm-up, but it was also a test taking place between the two of them.

The Pokémon locked eyes. A vein throbbed on Annihilape’s forehead. He grunted, and then Ursaluna’s expression hardened.

There, the two of them drew back their arms, but this time, the mood was different.

Sharp, shadowy claws extended out of Ursaluna’s paws, and Annihilape’s arm tensed as it became enhanced with Fighting Type energy. Both of them had tested one another and found neither wanting, but now, they wanted to prove exactly what their full strength could do.

Lunging, they both threw out a potentially super effective move.

However, as the pair of attacks hurtled toward one another, with this clash threatening real, serious damage, the moves never landed. Instead, they came to a sudden halt as two simultaneous shouts came out at once.

“Stop!”

“Draw back!”

Only then did the referee whistle, his expression incensed at the sudden charge, but the noise he released had come ever too late.

“And that concludes the warm-up,” he announced, heavily emphasizing that last word.

Despite his tone, the two Pokémon didn’t bother to hide their shared amusement.

“Return, Annihilape,” Sam called out.

“Come back, Ursaluna!” Redi shouted over the field.

With that, the two immensely powerful, physical fighters were removed from the field. As the audience roared, the referee could finally exhale in relief.

“Good,” he said. “That concludes that. And now, let’s ensure this match can properly begin.”

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“Wyrdeer!”

“Typhlosion!”

Both sides would be using their full teams, and both trainers would have access to seven switches each.

But Sam wasn’t waiting. Neither was Redi.

The second the match-starting whistle came out, they yelled out their commands.

“Barriers! Move, Wyrdeer!”

“Smoke and burn, Typhlosion!”

Immediately, Wyrdeer took off in a dash, horns glowing for barriers to form around its sides. Typhlosion’s wisps shot out to slam against them, breaking apart only for their ephemeral embers to home in on Wyrdeer just as well.

But Wyrdeer was a Pokémon who excelled with barriers, and it didn’t need any special moves to stop this. Its protected charge safely brought it closer and closer to Typhlosion. She never let up her assault, and the ongoing psychic shield prevented anything she did from reaching it.

However, Wyrdeer’s shield was an active defense. Protecting itself in this manner required all of its focus.

“Exhale!” Sam ordered.

Her wisps didn’t give up, but she did breathe out right as Wyrdeer got close. A mighty plume of smoke poured out of her throat, and a curtain of darkness rose up around her to hide her position and allow her to dodge.

As she moved within her cover, Wyrdeer’s charge broke through the smoke with a swing of its antlers, but Typhlosion wasn’t there. Redi called for it to attack with a spin, and another swing and a kick of its legs only managed to push back the smoke around it.

Wyrdeer’s moves might not have hit Typhlosion, but they did reveal her. She was in front of it, and behind it, and to its sides in every cardinal direction. Illusory clones of her appeared in a ring around her opponent.

“Double Team, huh?” Redi said quietly.

Sam smiled, hearing the level of thought in her voice.

“Alright, if you’re going to play it like that, then hit all of them, Wyrdeer!” Redi shouted. “Just like Ursaluna taught you, use Earthquake!”

With that order, Sam was barely able to call for a Detect fast enough before slams from Wyrdeer’s hooves caused the field to crack and shake. Large breaks in the earth spread out in all directions, and each one sent fragments of the field up and out to catch and dissipate Typhlosion’s defensive Double Team.

One illusion jumped, revealing just which Typhlosion was real, and Wyrdeer’s eyes locked onto the form that broke through the top of the clouds.

“There!” Redi shouted.

Its lunge was impressive, and with Typhlosion’s Detect wearing off, the Psyshield Bash hit. Unfortunately for the Wyrdeer, its offense only carried so much defense alongside it, and the same trick that had once caught Xavier’s Poliwrath now caught Redi’s Pokémon.

Distracted, it could not stop the lingering wisps from burning its back.

“Great, Typhlosion!” Sam shouted out. “And now, return!”

In response, a scoff.

“Really? All of that just for a burn? Sam, Wyrdeer’s a Normal Type. You can’t even use Hex.” 

Her voice was half teasing, half legitimately questioning.

Sam, however, just locked eyes with his friend and replied with a sharp grin of his own.

“Of course Hex isn’t going to work,” he responded, “but can you say Psyshield Bash is going to be anywhere as effective while under a burn?”

Even with the state of her Pokémon, Redi saw the glint in his eyes, and she let out a laugh.

“As if that’s all we have,” she said in a counter. “Do you really think this is all we can do?”

Sam went on to release Mismagius. The bright lights illuminating the field did nothing to suppress her presence or the darkness she let pulse out around her.

The smoke was still there, with Wyrdeer still inside of it. However, only a small area around the center of the field carried that dark cover, and it was dissipating fast. The upper half of Wyrdeer’s body was visible as the smoke sank and spread to filter out. However, even with the Smokescreen’s impending disappearance, Sam knew Mismagius could make great use of the little that remained.

“Into the cover! Use Nasty Plot!” he ordered.

“Track it! Copy with Psych Up!” Redi shouted.

Wyrdeer didn’t give chase; instead, it jumped up and back almost like Typhlosion before it. A tint to its eyes saw it track the shadow that raced into the cloud, and it purposefully waited as Mismagius built her damage-inspired plan.

Psych Up would let it copy stat changes. If Mismagius was going to increase the damage of her special attacks with Nasty Plot, then Wyrdeer would do the same.

When Wyrdeer landed on the ground, the battle picked back up, with only seconds having passed. Here, Mismagius rushed forward, and she summoned highly familiar wisps. However, where her wisps were usually purple, these were a brilliant red.

After all, if she could already use wisps to attack with Hex and Will-O-Wisp, then why not learn an incredibly similar move and pick up Mystical Fire as well?

The pure heat of this Fire Type attack seared holes in the remaining smoke, and Wyrdeer could only bring up its Protect so fast. Its head snapped to the side as the burning, mystical embers slammed into its shield, and it glared right at Mismagius, who had followed to let her move to appear at its side.

It lunged again, and Psyshield Bash hit her. This attack was weakened due to the burn, but for Mismagius, any physical move was deadly.

Yet, she stayed up, and a grin stretched across her face as a Pain Split saw her health return. That Pain Split caused the Wyrdeer to cry out its name as half of its attack caused itself an injury.

With their health equalized, Wyrdeer was in a bad spot health-wise due to the nature of Pain Split, but there was still also the matter of the copied Nasty Plot from Psych Up.

“Aaaaaand... Shadow Ball!” Redi ordered.

Just as fast as it had lunged, darkness coated and then broke off of Wyrdeer's horns to form above its head. It did not share a Type with this move, building it slower than it could have, and that gave Mismagius just enough time to duck and hide back in the small bit of shadowy smoke lingering above the ground. However, as the attack missed and hit the ground, the strength of that Shadow Ball still pushed back all remaining cover to reveal just which shadow Mismagius was in.

The threat of that attack was clear; even if Mismagius was at full health, one strike of that super effective move would be it.

Given Wyrdeer’s Normal Type, there was little Mismagius could do in return. She could attack again or stall until its burn finished it off, but then she would be risking a retaliation, and then what position would Sam be in for Redi’s next Pokémon?

Redi watched him think, her eyes locked in challenge. Noticing that, Sam stared back, and he responded to the threat by pulling the still-conscious Mismagius from the field.

His second switch was used up here.

“Gengar,” he named.

As his Pokémon appeared, the battle did not continue right away. Redi watched Gengar hop up off the ground, but she chose to call out to Sam instead of her Pokémon.

“You sure that’s smart?” she asked.

“Yeah. We’re about to win.”

“But think about what you’re using just to get one knock-out. Is this really worth using so much? Going through two switches and three team members just for my first Pokémon?”

Sam remained silent, and Redi let out a short laugh. The battle resumed. Wyrdeer crossed the field to charge Gengar, and, once again, a Shadow Ball formed between its horns, the threat of that boost from Psych Up drastically increasing the move’s power. Yet, Wyrdeer was not trained to be a special attacker, and even as it got close, Gengar’s grin widened.

Using the obvious opening he saw, Gengar’s smile was put to full use as he pressed liquid acid against his teeth. His Acid Spray splashed out, catching the Wyrdeer in the middle of its charge, and though the weak move did not faint it, Gengar had just enough freedom to jump and phase straight through Wyrdeer to avoid the Shadow Ball.

That phase-through dealt no damage whatsoever, but it chilled Wyrdeer to the bone. With everything else going on, that was the final nail in its coffin. Suffering from the burn after that Acid Spray, it collapsed right there and then, securing Sam the first knock-out of the match.

“Three Pokémon. Two switches,” Redi repeated. She refused to look away from Sam’s eyes. “Again, that’s half your team and a third of your switches just to take out one of my Pokémon.”

“My Pokémon are all conscious.”

“But two of your Pokémon took damage,” Redi countered while grabbing a new Pokéball. “Come on, Sam. You don’t even recognize our trap, do you?” 

Sam frowned as he met Redi’s stare, and she laughed as her replacement team member was sent out onto the field.

She looked to be getting quite a kick out of this.

“Sam, I’ll tell you now that I’m never going to switch,” she yelled to him as her Kangaskhan readied its stance against Gengar. “That’s my strategy for this battle! A bad match-up might be bad, but we’ll always be able to pull something off! I know exactly how you win: returning an injured, burned, or paralyzed Pokémon is why all of your previous opponents lost. Trying to minimize the effects of those conditions is only ever a mistake. After all, your team is trained to clean up and finish off weakened Pokémon like that.”

“But me?” Redi said, continuing as she leaned forward and pointed her thumb at her chest. “I get that. I don’t just know how you fight, I understand how you fight. So I’m not going to let you fight on your terms. You’ll be fighting on mine.”

“To say what you should have said against Xavier, this is my battle to win!” she shouted.

The referee called for the battle to continue, and Redi’s Kangaskhan burst into a lumbering charge toward where Gengar had returned to wait on Sam’s side of the field. Sam recognized the threat it represented with Scrappy allowing for its powerful Normal Type attacks to hit Ghosts, and its Early Bird would limit the effects of sleep.

Knowing Redi, even a burn would likely be a mistake here. There was no way she hadn’t taught her Pokémon the move, Facade. Sam didn’t often need to worry about that attack, given it was a Normal Type move, but with a Scrappy Kangaskhan, a burn would see Facade’s potential damage skyrocket.

In a way, Kangaskhan was the perfect counter for Gengar, but Sam just watched it and carefully built a strategy in his head.

After a second of thought, he dramatically thrust an arm forward—he couldn’t resist—and he opened his mouth to begin a command—

But halfway across the field, Kangaskhan abruptly disappeared into red light, being returned just like that.

“Actually, nah,” Redi said. “That’d be too easy. You really think I’d want to win without a challenge?”

The crowd cheered and booed in equal measure to that remark, but Redi ate it all up. Sam stared at his friend before a short laugh left his throat.

“Hey. Take me seriously, alright?” he said to her.

“I am,” Redi replied, gaining a slight frown.

“With your taunts? With what you did there?” He shook his head. “Yeah, I’m your opponent, but I know you, Redi. Don’t think that mind games are going to work on me. Just like you understand my strategy, I understand yours. So give us a proper fight. Face us head-on! Stop with the mind games and give us a direct battle!”

Redi stared at him until she had to let out a laugh, herself.

“Same goes for you!” she countered. “Face you head-on, huh? So you’re telling me that I should open up my Pokémon to all the crazy strategies you have planned?”

Sam replied with a cheeky grin, and Redi’s laughter returned.

Once she quieted down, she sent out Dragonair to replace Kangaskhan. Sam took one look at the Dragon Type and decided to recall Gengar here.

This wasn’t the match-up either of them wanted for this part of the battle, and Sam was willing to use his third switch to recall his Ghost Type from the field. It was a fact that Ghost Types were great against fellow Ghosts, but much the same, if Sam wanted to take out a Dragon, then he needed to use a Dragon of his own.

“Drakloak,” he named.

His Pokémon’s tail whipped back and forth as she coalesced from light to face her opponent in the air. Dragonair lowered herself in challenge, and she and Drakloak locked their gaze.

Right now, for the two of them, this wouldn’t be just another match between Sam and Redi. Most importantly, this would be a match between Drakloak and Dragonair. These two were Dragon Types of similar power, and when faced with an apparent equal, a Dragon instinctively desired to prove its strength—to prove its superiority.

And, in a way, both Sam and Redi wanted the same.

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Author Note:

Chapter 171 contains a bit more rewritten content from the old Chapter 170, but the last half is all completely new.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Dragonair
Kangaskhan
Ursaluna
Wyrdeer

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