"Ignis, get rid of this rain—use Sunny Day!" Lance said. Charizard roared, and for a short moment William could spot the glint of the blinding Sun through the rainy clouds. But that was all it was—a short moment. Just as quickly as the sun appeared it had disappeared once again.
Taddy and Grace were at a safe distance—constantly keeping the rain up. Without it, he was sure he would lose.
Lance looked up, growling at the rain. He looked towards Charizard to try again, but just like the last time, it failed.
"Juggernaut, throw Britney!" His Palafin grabbed his Toxapex, stretching its shoulder and arm backwards as it threw Britney like a Major League Baseball pitcher.
"Baneful Bunker!" Britney turned into a living ball of a poison spiked fortress as it accelerated through the air at an astonishing speed.
SWOOSH
Charizard's wings flapped through the air, moving to the side, narrowly missing one of the spikes on Britney's shell, but in the next moment—
Juggernaut appeared, using the attack as a screen to launch an Aqua Jet directly into Charizard. He was slammed backwards.
"Ignis, use Slash!"
Charizard roared, slashing Palafin and creating three large cuts in the center of its chest. Juggernaut was sent flying back down to the waters.
"Ancient Power, Raptor!" Lance commanded. Tactically, he was losing due to the rain and the disadvantage in numbers—but his Pokemon made up for it by being strong.
"Dodge it, go underwater!" William said, seeing the large rock make its way towards all of them.
"Ignis, Blast Burn! Nimbus and Raptor, Flamethrower!" Three separate streams of fire exploded onto the surface of the water. William's eyes widened.
Shit, he's trying to overheat the water!
"Leviathan, Blizzard!"
"Cotten guard Nimbus!" Lance roared. The protective cloud-like substance surrounding Altaria immediately began to grow thicker and more pronounced.
And then a chilly, overwhelming blizzard swept through the battlefield. Lance, who had remained mostly stationary atop his Dragonite—giving out orders like a general atop his horse, barely flinched as frost started forming on his cape.
Altaria's protective clouds, along with its boosts, shielded it from the icy weather—while Charizard ignited an expertly controlled flame around Aerodactyl to protect it from the ice.
Despite the inherent weakness to Ice across his team—aside from Charizard—, it was almost as if he had prepared for this a million times. He remained unaffected—throughout the entire fight, he hadn't shown a single sign of fear or anxiety. He had not even moved from his Pokemon ride.
It was the kind of confidence that came from someone who knew he was strong and was almost certain of victory.
I'm going to change that look on your face, William thought, clenching his fists.
"Ignis, Thunder Punch!" Charizard set off like a ballistic missile, heading straight towards Leviathan. William wasn't sure if Leviathan could survive it.
"Hydro Pump!" William roared.
The Charizard spun and dodged in something akin to a barrel roll. It maneuvered through the air like a seasoned pilot, its fists radiating lightning.
"Britney, protect Leviathan! Baneful Bunker!" William called.
"Go through with it!" Lance shouted.
The Charizard slammed into Britney with a fist of supercharged lightning. Britney flinched, but managed to stay strong.
"Now, Seismic Toss."
It grabbed Toxapex, ignoring the poison that took effect, and pulled it close to its chest as it flew upwards.
"Venoshock!" William called, but the Charizard had already flown upward, ignoring any form of struggle and attack Britney managed to produce.
And then it began its descent. It slowly picked up speed, turning into a warhead. The air warped around his body—the Charizard spinning and spinning, gaining speed and inertia, until—
"Throw it!" Lance called to his Charizard. He then turned to Aerodactyl. "Raptor, Giga Impact."
William knew what was going to happen, but he was powerless to stop it. He could only watch in horror.
Utilising its momentum from flying downwards at an astonishing speed, Charizard threw Britney with all of its strength, sending her straight toward the path of Aerodactyl, who had turned into a great ball of energy charging upwards.
"Protect!" William called.
Britney did all in her power to defend herself, but the built-up momentum combined with the Giga Impact shattered both layers of defence—the Protect and the Shell—leaving Britney to fall into the water, defeated.
William wordlessly watched as his tank was defeated with a single attack. This was truly the difference and strength between his and Lance's Pokemon.
William withdrew her before she could land.
"Nimbus, use Sing."
William opened his mouth, ready to command his Pokemon to dodge, but the words immediately died in his throat as he realised the attack wasn't meant for him—it was meant for his own Pokemon.
He was replacing Poison with Sleep.
A soft bed produced by the cotton-like material from the Nimbus caught the two Pokemon before they could fall into the water. They lay motionless, snoring away without any of the poison Britney had worked so hard to give them.
"Eos, Tailwind!" Lance called to the Dragonite he rode on. A quick current of wind enveloped his Pokemon and spun around them.
William bit his lip. As long as Altaria was alive, it would continue to support both Charizard and Aerodactyl. I need to take care of it.
"Leviathan, Juggernaut—use Hydro Pump! Target Altaria!" Two powerful blasts of water erupted from the mouths of his attackers. Beams of water surged throughout the air, carrying the blunt damage one would expect from a cannonball.
Altaria floated in the air, dodging both attacks with a grace William had never seen before.
"Vortex, Psychic—now!" Vortex let out an inhuman cry, surrounding itself in a pink psychic aura. A moment later, Altaria was engulfed in it as well. It wrapped around her and stuck to her like a shadow.
"Lock her in place!" William shouted. "Now, Raiden—use Thunder!"
"Eos, stop that creature!" Lance barked. The Dragonite let out a Hyper Beam—not as strong as the one fired by the other Dragonite before, but still dangerously powerful.
"Juggernaut, use Aqua Jet—block that attack!" William pointed toward the incoming Hyper Beam. With an invigorated manner, Juggernaut let out a confident cry, jumping out of the ocean and surrounding itself in a protective layer of water as it launched upwards to meet the attack.
CRACKLE.
The sky suddenly exploded with lightning—gray clouds forming from above—and a moment later, a great bolt from above struck the immobilized Altaria. It was left smoking, wings limp as it flailed helplessly towards the ocean.
"Leviathan—constrict it with your body!"
Leviathan jumped out of the water with surprising speed for its size—grabbing the Alteria as it fell, crawling and curling across the unprotected parts of Altaria in an attempt to choke her out.
"Wake up!" Lance screamed, and almost as if they had heard his call, both the Charizard and the Aerodactyl woke up from their slumber— no longer affected by any poison.
"Thunder Wave, Leviathan! Paralyse the Altaria!" William commanded. He then turned to the rest of his team. "You guys, protect Leviathan!"
The Charizard and Aerodactyl swept in without delay. Their wings flapped with a renewed and restored energy—both of them letting out inhuman shrills as bloodlust radiated from their bodies.
A massive wave of fire swept across the battlefield, causing the air to shimmer and dance from side to side. William felt the temperature from up above where he stayed flying on Valkyrie.
Vortex and Raiden both retreated underwater, while Juggernaut—driven by pride—met the attack with one of his own. Vortex and Raiden both emerged a moment later, sending out attacks of their own.
The blanket of heat obscuring William's vision finally cleared, and this time, he noticed it immediately.
Aerodactyl had vanished again. With Tailwind still active, it had practically glided across the ocean under the cover of Charizard's fiery diversion.
William's eyes darted around—then he saw it. The ancient Pokemon was heading straight for Leviathan, who still had the struggling Altaria trapped in its grasp.
It was closing in fast. Its jaws opened wide, preparing a Thunder Fang. If Altaria managed to live here and Leviathan succumbed, then it would be a 3v3, and he would no longer have the advantage in numbers—and he would no longer have any chance of winning.
William had only a moment to act.
Across from them, red, pink, and yellow energies circled around each other, battling against the incoming blasts of fireballs and dragon pulses and air attacks.
"Raiden!" he called to his Pokemon. Eelektross turned to look at him. "Use Thunder!" William said, pointing at Leviathan.
Raiden gave him a confused look. William nodded, his face neutral.
In an effort to take out Altaria and Aerodactyl, he would sacrifice his own Pokemon.
Just as Aerodactyl closed in on the pair, a great zigzag of yellow shot down from the heavens. William covered his eyes as the lightning struck with a blinding light and shattering sound.
A moment later, the lightning struck.
The thunder roared loudly, seizing everyone's attention on the battlefield. All eyes turned toward the rising smoke, slowly dissipating into the wind.
Altaria— fainted.
Leviathan—fainted.
Aerodactyl—conscious. Unharmed from the attack. He had gotten out of the way just before the attack had hit.
William frowned, withdrawing Leviathan back into his Poké Ball. "I'm sorry, buddy. It had to be done." he said quietly to the ball.
Lance withdrew his Pokemon as well.
It was now 2v3.
Aerodactyl circled back around, cutting his Pokemon off in a pincer-like attack.
"Vortex, you take Aerodactyl. Juggernaut, you take Charizard. Raiden, support them both." William said.
"Raptor, use Ancient Power!"
"Vortex, use Psychic! Crush up the rocks and throw them back!"
A massive rock immediately hurled its way towards Vortex. However, it was surrounded in a pink energy, and its momentum slowly halted until it came to a complete stop. That pink energy slowly crushed it into miniature pieces before being thrown back towards the fossil Pokemon.
The rocks swung in perfected arcs, attacking from each and every different angle. Aerodactyl was caught off guard—too busy flying forward—and it paid for it. It was hit with a dozen flying rocks, causing it to screech out in pain.
"Psybeam!" William said.
"Get in close!" Lance called. Both of their attention was now on the current fight. In the distance Juggernaut and Charizard were locked in a battle of their own.
Utilising its incredible speed—combined with Tailwind—, Aerodactyl closed the distance almost immediately. Its jagged but sharp razor-like teeth—which had gained a yellow hue of lightning—dug into Vortex.
The jaws pierced skin, digging deeper and deeper—but in the next moment, Raiden appeared, firing off a Thunderbolt from its mouth which caused Aerodactyl to separate from its supposed prey.
"Well done!" William said in approval. But in the next moment, Juggernaut let out a pained scream from across the battlefield, and Raiden's attention was brought elsewhere.
They were losing the 1v1s—of course they were, it was an Elite Four level trainer, but thankfully Raiden was alive and well to provide support when each of his teammates began to struggle.
Although not his strongest Pokemon he was certainly one of the most valuable pieces on the board— especially since all of Lance's Pokemon had the distinct Flying type, so all attacks would either deal neutral or super effective damage depending on the Pokemon attacked.
The fight continued, but no matter what Vortex did, Aerodactyl was simply too fast for Vortex to hit him. Aerodactyl closed in again, but instead of trying to prevent it, he let it happen.
A Thunder Fang was the move of choice once again, but this time, there was something to prevent it.
"Protect!" William called. "Then Confuse Ray!"
The jaws bit down on the protective barrier—like a knife scratching against glass—and although it slightly cracked, it managed to remain steady. Next, a small ray of light left the red core of Vortex and swirled itself around Aerodactyl. His eyes turned into spirals, and the Pokemon began to grow dizzy.
"Raptor, get out of there!" In its defence the Pokemon tried, but it was too confused. Its senses were all over the place—with no bearings around its surroundings to fly away.
A way to counter a fast physical attacker was to simply make them unable to attack at all.
"Vortex, use Psychic, send him to the bottom of the ocean!" William shouted, taking advantage of the confusion.
"Raptor!" Lance's voice boomed across the battlefield. It wasn't a desperate cry for help—it was closer to a command to snap out of the confusion and get it together.
But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't.
Aerodactyl struggled, clawing and slashing at Starmie as a pink, psychic energy surrounded it. It was sent upwards—like a ragdoll—then sent flying back down, crashing into the ocean. The ocean weakened the psychic connection, but Vortex remained steady, concentrating all of its power as it pushed Aerodactyl further and further down into the ocean.
It never emerged. Lance withdrew it.
Just as Starmie was beginning to recover—its body filled with scratches, slashes, and bite marks—Charizard glided slightly above the ocean floor, arriving at a terrifying speed.
"Dragon Rush!" It surrounded itself in a powerful blue energy, using its speed and momentum to slam into Starmie with invigorating power.
"Fuck!" William spat out. Starmie floated on the ocean floor, unconscious. The battle with Aerodactyl had brought it to its last legs.
2v1.