William
Lochness - Swampert(ACE)
Leviathan - Gyarados
Juggernaut - Palafin
Vortex - Starmie
Riptide - Froakie
Britney - Toxapex
Raiden - Eelektross
Valkyrie - Skarmory(RIDE)
Support:
Taddy - Politoed - Rain Dance
Grace - Lapras - Rain Dance
Lance
Ignis - Charizard
Aether - Dragonite(ACE)
Raptor - Aerodactyl
Nimbus - Altaria
Eos - Dragonite(RIDE)
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William's hand desperately moved towards his Pokebelt. He had not brought his full party due to the annoyance of running around with 10 Pokemon—and because he didn't believe anything would happen. Well, anything of this magnitude He was facing right now.
In one quick motion, William grabbed three of his PokeBalls through the slits of his fingers and threw them out.
"Lochness! Leviathan! Vortex!" William shouted. "Ice Beam! Hyper Beam! Hydro Pump!"
A concatenation of ice, normal, and water energy swirled together into an amalgamation of elemental power. It clashed with the Hyper Beam, and both of the attacks battled for supremacy, but neither of them budged a bit.
They fizzed through the air, back and forth, back and forth.
It was a perfect stalemate.
The fact it took three attacks to stop one of his worries me the most, William thought.
In another quick motion, he sent out the rest of his team: Britney, Juggernaut, Valkyrie, and Raiden. Fuck! he really wish he had bought more than seven Pokemon. Kirby and Bond would have helped him greatly in this ordeal.
"Juggernaut, hide in the ocean nearby, I will recall you soon."
Next, he turned to Shelly. "I need two of your Pokemon."
"What?"
"I need two of your Pokemon that can keep the rain up! If I want any chance at winning…at escaping, I can't constantly be worried about keeping the rain active. Give me two of your Pokemon which can keep the rain active, and I will keep them safe from harm." he explained. Without the rain boost his chances of winning were zero.
"I'll just fight with you, the team can fight with you!" Shelly shouted over the noise. The crew was moving desperately. All hands on deck, as they called it.
William shook his head, "No, it won't work. The more people means more people in the way. The more Pokemon means less cohesion and space for me to do my thing. I need strong Pokemon I can work with with and the freedom to do it to the best of my abilities."
Most of the Pokemon here couldn't even deal a scratch on a Elite Fours Pokemon. They would just be a waste of space. The less Pokemon and trainers the less unknown variables he needed to manage. To get out of this he needed his deck of cards in his own environment.
"I just need two of your Pokemon though. They won't fight at all." William clarified.
"Do you promise to keep them safe from harm?"
"I promise," he nodded.
Shelly handed him two PokeBalls. William tried to grab them from her hands, but Shelly kept a tight grip on them. She glared at him through his mask.
"If any harm comes to them…"
William nodded, "I know, I know." he was well familiar with the bond between trainer and Pokemon.
He withdrew Juggernaut and sent him back out. His Hero form materialised on deck, and he puffed out his chest and flexed his muscles with no fear in the world. Next, he jumped on Valkyrie—his trusty Skarmory ,and took to the skies. The rest of his Pokemon followed and jumped into the water below him.
The Team Aqua ship began sailing away.
Lance had crossed the distance quickly—almost too quick. He was riding atop one of his Pokemon while the other four flew right beside him. He stopped, eyeing William with narrowed eyes.
"Hand everything you stole back, and you may get lenient sentences," Lance said, his stare piercing into him.
"Sorry, that ship belongs to us—and so do the items on it," William replied. On the outside he was calm, but on the inside his mind was running through countless possibilities, preparing for the upcoming battle.
"You think you can sail into my region and just steal from it?" Lance asked.
"Yeah."
"Actions have consequences, and I'll show you them right now. I have no qualms about killing terrorists." his grip tightened against the neck of his Dragonite.
"That explains why you sound like one."
Lance ground his teeth. "I'll show you the true might of dragons. I'll show you the true might of our region. Hoenn may not be strong enough to take care of you, but I am. I'll ship your dead body back to the region as a gift to Wallace."
Wow, that man's pride has pride, William thought. His grip on the metallic body of Valkyrie tightened as he prepared himself for battle. Lance had five Pokemon if you count the Dragonite he rode on—though what was most intriguing was the fact he didn't send out any of his other Pokemon despite how serious he was.
Is he saving them? No…that doesn't sound like him…
He seemed so serious in his intent to defeat William, so why had he not sent out all of his Pokemon? The only plausible answer was these were all the Pokemon he had on him. Good, the more numbers he had the more he could make up for the difference in individual Pokemon strength.
They were completely different levels to Juan. Back then he had been a big fish in a small pond—now it was the complete opposite.
Still, it was the equivalent of a small lifeline in a situation he didn't have a good chance of living. Lance would kill him if he lost. That was honestly the preferable choice—he would sooner die than bow his head in defeat and see all he had worked for go up in flames.
His only strengths were his numbers. 7v4. 8v5 if you counted the ride Pokemon. He also had two Pokemon supporting him from the sides, constantly setting up and maintaining rain in an environment the water type Pokemon already benefited from.
He had his best team in his best environment with the rain up. Deep breaths William, you can do this. It isn't that bad when you take every variable into account.
15 Pokemon on the battlefield, 10 of them his.
The realisation dawned on him that this was how trainers used to fight in war. No silly rules, just a battlefield where you commanded all of the Pokemon in your arsenal. The thought that people had done this before—had come out on top of it before despite probably overwhelming odds brought a small sense of calm within him.
His quickened breath and heartbeat suddenly slowed. His breathing was controlled and precise like the waves of the sea, and his heartbeat was now steady. This battlefield would soon turn into a war zone, and he was already ready for it.
Lance's voice cut through the tense silence. "I'll end this right now, in one attack."
"Draco Meteor."
Through the soft clouds of constant rain, hot rock meteors surrounded in a dark blue draconic energy broke through the barrier of the grey and surged down towards the ocean below—to William. Lance had already retreated outside of the range of attack, but William was not so lucky—he wouldn't have the time to escape the oncoming barrage. It covered such a large area.
They passed through the atmosphere one by one by one in commanded, marching intervals, each of them sounding like ballistic missiles honed in on their target. Each of the rocks were enormous—the gravity pushing them down faster and further causing them to turn into raging blue and red and brown fireballs of death raining down from above like judgment from a God. An angry god.
It was terrifying.
"Go under!" William ordered his Pokemon. He was ashamed to admit the thought of jumping down with them crossed his mind—to swim as far down as he could—but that would leave his Valkyrie abandoned in the face of looming death, and without a trainer to help it through the attack.
He would never do that. William would never abandon his Pokemon the way his father abandoned him.
"Let's get through this girl, follow my lead." William patted the metal on her back. "Agility!"
He tilted his body, gesturing to Valkyrie to fly upwards and gain some speed and momentum. They were flying straight to hell. He felt the hot, searing, scorching rocks fly past his face. Spatters of flame stuck to his clothing before dissipating harmlessly against the raging wind and rain.
He pulled leftwards, and Valkyrie made a sharp turn as it maneuvered past one of the meteors. Explosions echoed below him, sending water drafting up like a spurting volcano. The danger wasn't over, as another was already heading their way.
He ducked his head, pushing down both of his hands as Skarmory responded to his trainer's commands and did a sharp nose dive.
William tried to breathe, but the heat made it hard as the hot air clung to his throat through his mask like toffee. His head was now pulsating and his ears were ringing, the world felt blurry in his eyes, Skarmory struggled to fly from the heat in the air melting away at its body.
"Roost!" William commanded through the fog in his brain. He shook his head, forcing himself to concentrate.
Another meteor. William reacted almost instantly—fight or flight kicking in. Valkyrie followed his command.
"Keep flying upwards!"
Another meteor came. It brushed the wings of Valkyrie, jerking its body to the side, but it quickly managed to regain control in time for the next one.
And the next. And then another. And then…Clouds.
They were free.
William took a deep breath, stroking Valkyrie's metal back. And now, retaliation.
He didn't relish in escaping the near-death experience, instead knowing if he hesitated here, he would actually die. William pushed forwards on Valkyrie, shaking off the clinging heat on his body and sharpening his focus.
"Dark Pulse!" William shouted, and a ray of black energy twirled around each other into a beam, making its way towards Lance.
The contrast in the two opening attacks was laughable. But that was the thing: Lance had started with his strongest attack, whereas William had started with one of his weakest attacks—in order to set something up.
In the next moment, a great tidal wave of water rose from the ocean at an astonishing speed, travelling upwards and upwards towards the apex of the sky. It was a combination of multiple Pokemon—all of them aside from Raiden–-combining their power and using Surf.
William had not only just trained his Pokemon individually and for individual one-vs-one battles. No, he had prepared his Pokemon for fights like this—knowing that in life-and-death situations, sending out Pokemon one at a time wasn't really ideal for either party.
In life or death stakes—which he would find himself getting into a lot due to him being a criminal—all of his Pokemon would be sent out at once.
William had trained his Pokemon to act as a cohesive unit: assigning them different roles, combining attacks, and making up for each other's weaknesses with their strengths.
Lochness was something of a Brawler, while Juggernaut and Leviathan were damage dealers. Vortex and Raiden could hold their own in a fight but could also be delegated to supporting roles. Britney was a through and through tank with poison abilities.
As the tidal wave rose, Lance moved upwards with the Dragonite he rode on, getting out of the way just in time with a quick burst of speed. His Pokemon followed, but not all of them were fast enough.
The tidal wave hit Altaria full force, and a moment later, the tidal wave was transformed into a glistening case of ice, trapping Altaria in its cold grasp.
His Pokemon emerged from deep below.
"Light Screen, then Reflect Vortex!"
"Ignis, use Flamethrower," Lance commanded, nodding towards the ice crystal.
"Stop him!" William shouted. All of his Pokemon released their ranged attacks in an effort to prevent the ice from being unfrozen, but a thick frame flew in front almost immediately, a white protective barrier surrounding its body as it absorbed all of the attacks.
Dragonite. Not the one Lance rode on—the weaker one, he could just tell from its appearance—but the stronger one, the strongest one here.
How strong was its Protect for it to not break?
He looked at the Dragonite protecting against all of the attacks, the Charizard slowly melting the ice, and the other Dragonite, which Lance rode on, and then realised…
Where was Aerodactyl?
William's instincts kicked in almost like a sixth sense, ducking just in time to prevent a sharp wing from decapitating him.
Aerodactyl turned, pivoting around again for a second chance to try and kill William.
"Britney, Baneful Bunker!"
Just as Aerodactyl closed in on him with a second Aerial Ace, Britney launched herself out of the water, appearing directly in front of Aerodactyl's path of destruction.
It slashed into the protective shell of Toxapex, sending Britney flying backwards.
The ancient Pokemon probably thought nothing of it, but in the next moment it slightly staggered as the poison took effect.
"Ice Beam, Britney!"
Britney opened its two front limbs, and a freezing beam of ice was released from its core—its face. It shot towards Aerodactyl, creating a sudden chill in the air.
It tried to dodge, and it almost succeeded, but the beam clipped its wings, frosting it over.
It retreated. Two near death experiences in the span of a couple of minutes. Lance wasn't kidding.
William turned his attention back to the battle. By now, the big mountain of frozen ice had thawed out, and so had Altaria.
Well there goes my opening.
His Pokemon had been throwing everything in their power to stop it, but the Dragonite had been keeping them at bay.
Juggernaut's Jet Punches, Leviathan's Hydro Pumps, Lochness's Mud Shots, Raiden's Thunderbolts, Vortex's Psybeams—the Dragonite effortlessly deflected them with a mixture of well-timed Protects and attacks of his own. The battlefield had turned into a rainbow of attacks.
Although the information booklet Giovanni had sent him clearly stated Lance was a member of the Elite Four, this was a Champion-level Pokemon, and it remained in a different league compared to the rest of his companions—his soldiers.
"Let's speed this up, Aether!" Lance called to the same Dragonite. "The best way to break someone down is to get rid of their strongest link. Destroy them."
Dragonite nodded, eyes burning with fury—moving from left to right, up to down, scanning William's Pokemon like they were cattle. It locked eyes with Lochness—neither backed down.
With a massive BOOM!, Dragonite launched itself towards Lochness. In a split second it grabbed him by one of its arms and dragged it along with him, sending Lochness skidding across the water like a skipping stone.
"Lochness, hold him off!" William shouted, but they were already gone, the Dragonite having already dragged him to its own area of ocean where they would fight one-on-one.
He couldn't worry about Lochness, not right now—he would just have to trust his starter to hold that monster off while he dealt with the rest of the team. But even with his complete faith in his starter—William had no reservations about him actually winning.
The Charizard spat out a gentle flame toward the Aerodactyl, removing the frost from its wings. The war zone fell into a slight lull, a contrast to the chaos from a moment ago.
William analyzed the situation.
Four Pokemon in the skies compared to his six Pokemon. 2 extra Pokemon on his side supporting him with rain.
If he were a betting man he would go for those odds, but the problem was those three opposing numbers covered up 90% of the fucking roulette board.
None of his Pokemon down there could fly without the use of external moves, so what he needed to do was drag them down into his environment—make them play in the mud, crash land the war planes into enemy territory.
And once they crash landed, he would destroy them before they could even leave the plane.