"Trainer Green, release first."
The referee was on a podium near the middle of the arena. On one side was a giant rock face with rock structures at its base. The entire left side had rocks strewn about. The right side had a lake near the wall, but no other obstructions. Overall the middle of the arena was just flat dirt. This environment let different Pokemon play to their strengths or weaknesses. I approve.
It was random which trainer had to release their pokemon first. It gave the second trainer an advantage, but didn't change things too much. This battle was a simple 2v2, with one switch allowed for each side. So I could potentially switch out if things were too unfavorable, but the other trainer could just then copy to do the same. For low level matches like these, there was a thirty second buffer where you weren't allowed to switch if a switch had just been used. Which would be enough time.
Overall, when picking my first pokemon, I was tempted to go with Zuko. He was likely unknown to rookie trainers, so they wouldn't know what pokemon to use as a counter. Plus he could easily take down any pokemon at this level.
But it was just that. He would want to fight both pokemon, and while it wouldn't tire him out, I did want to save his strength for later battles.
So I'd go with Azula. She had lots of coverage with her ranged options, plus she was good defensively. She was able to get physical, mostly just as a byproduct of being the only sparring partner available for Zuko. Well, beside Will's Shiftry. But Zuko couldn't really contend with a tertiary evolution that was a veteran Ranger.
"Trainer Green, release a pokemon or you will be disqualified."
I threw a red and white pokeball onto the field. Azula appeared on the field. She had her arms hanging harmlessly at her side and idly looked around the room.
"Trainer Yellow, release your pokemon."
I had to give it to her. Azula was putting on a good act. The other trainer was snickering at Azula's unassuming stance, and likely had deemed her an easy win already.
He threw a pokeball onto the field.
The ground rumbled a bit as something heavy landed. Four sharp and stout limbs with a thick spiky body. On its triangular head was a sharp big horn.
This wasn't good. Azula's flames were hot, but a Rhyhorn could shake them off pretty easily.
"Start!"
The other trainer yelled for Rhyhorn to charge. It began walking slowly, to loping, and eventually was at a full on sprint headed for Azula.
Azula was picking at a rock by her feet, completely unworried. I could tell that she was watching Rhyhorn in her periphery. But she could dodge it with ease. She had practiced every single day with something far faster than that lug of rock.
"Shower it with flame. Grab onto its back."
Azula immediately snapped her head towards Rhyhorn. She sucked in some air and then bathed the ground with flames. She could focus her flames very well now. But instead of a sharp cone to pierce, these flames were widespread and harmless.
But they succeeded in blinding the Rhyhorn. It couldn't stop in its charge now. So when faced with a curtain of flames, it just tucked in its head and charged faster. Rhyhorn didn't need to see its prey to kill it. It had known where it was before. So it would just charge there.
Azula crouched her legs as the Rhyhorn neared. Right as it got to her she jumped, dodging the deadly horn. Instead, she snagged onto it, gripping it.
"Sustained flamethrower, keep it blinded. You know where to steer." I smirked.
Azula was at ease on Rhyhorn's back. She had remained seated while a Salamence was doing evasive maneuvers. This was nothing. She opened her maw and kept a continuous widespread flame over the Rhyhorns head. She also started leaning right, pulling on the Rhyhorn's horn, forcing the Rhyhorn to turn so it wouldn't tip over.
The Rhyhorn tried to slow down, but usually when it charged, it naturally slowed down by hitting its target. It couldn't see anything but red due to the flame. It's trainers' calls were drowned out by the sound of combustion as the deluge of fire washed over its head.
So Rhyhorn had no choice but to continue forward, blinded. Any attempts to buck off its rider were fruitless. Azula was holding on tight to its horn, and any attempt to knock her off also threatened to knock Rhyhorn over.
Rhyhorn bucked and bucked, but its rider just wouldn't give. Until finally it did. Rhyhorn only had the momentary chance to wonder why that buck in particular had done it. It wasn't stronger than any of the others. But the flames blinding it also disappeared with the rider.
Rhyhorn didn't even have a second to react as saw the rock wall appear right in front of it. It slammed its legs into the ground, but it was still going too fast.
From my side I laughed as Azula used one of the Rhyhorn's bucks to launch herself to safety. The Rhyhorn tried to stop but just left gouges in the dirt as it skidded into the rock wall.
With a crash, the Rhyhorn slammed head first into the rocks. The wall crumbled, toppling onto the Rhyhorn.
Knowing what it was made of, I was not worried. It likely wasn't even injured. The other trainer returned his pokemon with his head hanging. Admittedly Rhyhorn could have kept battling. It probably could have dug its way out of the rocks. Azula could have just kept a sustained flame into the rocks, making it an even longer battle, but I respect the other trainer for just calling it there.
Azula gave me a thumbs up as she walked back towards the center of the arena.
"Trainer Yellow, release your next pokemon."
On the other side of the field appeared a fox-like pokemon with a spoon on its hand.
"Begin!"
"Psychic on the rocks! Take out that Charmander!"
The Kadabra followed its trainers orders, picking up small pebbles by focusing with its spoon. Rocks were enveloped in pink light and zipped towards Azula.
Honestly it wasn't a bad move. If the Kadabra had used psychic on Azula, and slammed her into the ground, she probably would have weathered it with ease. Rocks on the other hand, were far lighter than a pokemon. And therefore could be sent flying with much greater speed. The smaller size would allow for higher piercing potential, especially when dealing with the hard scales of a Charmander. And the number of projectiles would be difficult to deal with.
"Alright Azula, Form III."
Azula dropped into stance. She focused on her claws, they lengthened and gained a metallic sheen.
The first rock was shattered as Azula slashed it aside with metal claw. The next two rocks met the same fate.
"Enough Kadabra, full turret!"
Dozens of rocks rose in the air and started pelting towards Azula. Some were the pebbles, others the size of my hand.
Azula began leaping through the air, dodging as she slashed along. But we had not trained for this amount of projectiles.
The pebbles that hit broke into dust on contact with the hard scales. Bigger rocks had a hefty impact, knocking Azula off balance. Once one hit, more piled on as she stumbled to regain her balance. One particularly sharp rock pierced her scales at her shoulder, making her cry out in pain.
I grit my teeth. This was not ideal.
The Kadabra began panting, and the projectiles stopped. There was sweat gleaming on its forehead.
An opening.
"Azula, smokescreen, nimbus." The degree of intensity for how much smoke Azula put out would depend on that final command. There were small screens that would just cover her, or even other screens projected towards the opponent. Nimbus was the command to use full power. To cover as much area as she could, with as much smoke as she could.
A haze of black smoke began to cover the arena around Azula.
I no longer could see anything on the battlefield. But I knew that Azula was slowly closing the distance on Kadabra.
"Guerilla tactics, flashfire." Azula now knew that she would be attacking in short bursts. To run in, blast Kadabra with a dense cone of fire, and then retreat back into the smoke.
I saw a flash of light in the dark smoke, and then a wail of pain following from the Kadabra.
"Enough Kadabra, blast the smoke away!"
A pink explosion of energy blasted the smoke back, creating a ring of clear air around the Kadabra. Azula was exposed, standing on a rock nearby. She immediately ducked for cover behind it.
"Psywave, knock it out!"
I quickly returned Azula as the rock she was hiding behind exploded. She did well, but this Kadabra was clearly trained. She likely could have won in a battle of attrition, given how hard her scales are, but with her shoulder already injured I didn't see any reason to push her further.
That Kadabra didn't have the best endurance, given how it got tired from throwing rocks, but I imagine that was a test of sheer concentration for it. Holding onto more than a dozen rocks at once would take more focus than it would raw firepower. The fact it's psywave destroyed that rock with ease was testament to that. Azula would probably have to tank at least one of those to win this match. An unnecessary risk.
I threw my other pokeball.
The ball opened to show a yellow lizard with red eyes. The red pouches on its forearms flared up like fins as it began charging energy.
"Begin!"
The second the referee yelled his command, I casually talked into the air. "Blitz."
A flash of yellow light and Zuko was gone. Dust flew up from being kicked at immense speeds. Not even half a second after the referee had started the match, the Kadabra was launched to the other side of the room. A thunderclap followed the collision, the sound having taken its time catching up to my sight.
The opponent stared forward with wide eyes, staring at the black spot on the ground where Kadabra had stood only a moment before. In its place was Zuko, sitting on his rump. He casually examined his claw and began licking it. Stray strands of electricity leaked out of his body, sizzling against the dirt.
The trainer turned his head slowly, following the trail of smoke in the air. Eventually he reached the Kadabra, passed out against the wall, with a still smoking black electricity burn on its torso. He returned his pokemon without a sound.
The referee hastily signaled my victory, raising a green flag into the air.
I whistled Zuko over to me.
I walked to the middle of the arena and shook hands with the other trainer. He had no words, simply staring down at my yellow Charmander with shock.
The referee directed me where to go to heal my pokemon. He also told me that the front desk would have my new assignment for the tower, whenever I was ready.
I looked back to the singed black ground and smirked.
One level down.