"Yay! We're going to see Ethan beat someone else!" A kid yelled excitedly as we followed the aforementioned protagonist to a certain spot, where the two of us were going to have our battle before the girls and I left for Mahogany town.
Accompanying us was a group of kids from New Bark town that apparently got into the habit of watching Ethan and Lyra train for the Silver Conference. The boys were all staunch supporters of Ethan, while the girls were all rooting for Lyra.
But not everyone was in a cheerful mood.
"Its not your fault." I told Lillie for what felt like the hundredth time.
"But they were there looking for me..."
"And? I also declared war on Team Rocket, and plan to declare war on just about every other criminal organization on the planet. It was something that was bound to happen eventually." I told her seriously. "Besides, its not as if you told intentionally told them where you were. Or rather, we still have no idea how they knew."
"..."
Lillie just pouted silently as we continued walking, making me sigh in exasperation as I recalled the events of this morning. Of course I HAD to tell the girls about what almost happened to my mom yesterday, but I waited to do so until AFTER May made her new video for May's Expeditions in an attempt to tell the Aether Foundation that Lillie and Cosmog were no longer in Pallet.
Seaking of the little swirling cosmic cloud, it was now happily playing with the kids accompanying us, as well as Chloe's Yamper, and even Vulpix despite her acting as if she wasn't interested.
But then I turned my attention to the other moody member of our troupe. Lyra.
Right before we left the inn, and a VERY upbeat Mom, we caught a special news report stating that the Ilex forest, right outside of Azalea town, was burning. The same Ilex forest where Lyra and Ethan apparently both encountered several of the pokemon that they trained over the course of their journeys.
Apparently numerous fire fighting teams have already mobilized with their pokemon to combat the blaze, but it was expected that the fire had already spread throughout the entiety of Ilex forest, basically destroying the forest and endangering hundreds, if not thousands of pokemon, along with dozens of people traversing the forest.
It was because of this fire that we altered our plans, which were to head directly west to Azalea town to challenge Bugsy, but now we planned to head northward to Mahogany town because of it. Even if the fire itself wasn't too hard to avoid by flying and going around, the skies of the entire area were bound to be filled with thick smoke, which would make flying a massive pain.
From there we would travel west to Olivine city so I could challenge Jasmine, then Chuck of Cianwood city, and then back to Azalea town since they would likely have the fire under control by then.
"We're here." Ethan suddenly said, drawing me out of my thoughts as I looked at what was to be our battleground.
"Nice place." I said while analyzing the place. We were currently standing on a rugged piece of terrain beside a lake, one marked with numerous signs of battle that showed just how much time Lyra and Ethan spent out here.
"It was where Lyra and I first battled after we got our starters from professor Elm." Ethan said as he moved to stand across from me.
"Cool. Any specific rules?" I asked while taking my own position.
"Six rounds, different pokemon each round, and no substitutions. The one with the most wins wins." Lyra said as she made to stand between us, as the most impartial officiator present.
"You got the pokemon you want to use?" Ethan asked as he held up his first pokeball.
"My carry limit was lifted after I beat Karen the other day, so I've got plenty to choose from." I replied, reading his mind as I did and making my choice based on the one he was about to send out. What was the point of having psychic powers if you didn't use them? And when your opponent was a protagonist at that?
"As long as you're sure! Scizor, you're up!" Ethan cried, sending out his first pokemon.
"Scizor!" The Pincer pokemon trilled as it appeared, it's red metallic exoskeleton gleaming in the sunlight as it hovered off of the ground.
"Cyndaquil, I choose you!"
"Cyndaaaaaaaaa!" Cyndaquil cried as he appeared opposite of Scizor, flames shooting from his back as he prepared for battle.
"..."
Ethan cocked a brow when he saw my little pokemon, and I could feel through his aura that he was somewhat disappointed that I sent him out instead of one of my other pokemon. But he didn't say anything.
"Begin!" Lyra declared once we were both ready.
"Scizor, use Agility! Then Double Team!" Ethan quickly began.
"Zor!" Scizor stated seriously, reminding me kinda of a knight as it 'saluted' at Ethan's command, before several copies of began to fill the area.
'You'll never match it's speed, so don't even try. Wait for it to come to you, and blast it then. Until then, use Smokescreen.' I mentally ordered Cyndaquil while also noting which of the dozens of Scizor was the real one.
At the same time, Cyndaquil opened his mouth and expelled a thick cloud of pitch black smoke that settled a couple feet over the ground.
"Trying to hide? Not on our watch!" Ethan declared cockily. "Scizor, use Gattling Punch!"
"..."
I cocked a brow at Ethan's choice of attack, which appeared to be a rapid fire form of Bullet Punch as each of the Scizor peppered the Smokescreen with dozens of attacks each second.
'Stay low, and get as close as possible without giving yourself away.' I ordered Cyndaquil while analyzing each of Scizor's attacks.
"Quil!" Cyndaquil replied within the smoke, following my mental directions as he weaved around each of Scizor's attacks without giving himself away.
'Now use Flame Wheel!'
"QUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIL!"
Screaming as he did so, Cyndaquil leapt out of the Smokescreen at my command while spinning in a deadly pinwheel of flame, right into the real Scizor's face.
"!!!"
The metallic bug type could barely even blink before it was slammed in the face by a rapidly rotating fire mouse, making it recoil in pain.
"Now a Flamethrower!" I yelled out loud, prompting Cyndaquil to unleash a torrent of powerful flames right in Scizor's face.
"Scizor!" Ethan called out worriedly as his bug/steel type took TWO flame type attacks in rapid succession. But then he smirked.
"Use Slash attack!"
"Scizor!"
I blinked as Scizor readily retaliated against Cyndaquil, Slashing him viciously and repeatedly with his lethal pincers.
"Zor! Zor! Zor!"
"Quil! Quil! Quil!"
Within a few seconds Cyndaquil had already taken well over a dozen hits, before Ethan gave Scizor one final command to end the barrage as Cyndaquil we sent flying back into a heap.
"Now finish this with Air Slash!"
"ZOR!"
Scizor roared as it generated a massive wind blade that sliced through all of the rock, earth, and even the remaining smoke as it carved a deadly path right for Cyndaquil.
"Meet it with a Flame Wheel!" I ordered Cyndaquil urgently, who had just barely managed to rise to his feet after the previous barrage of attacks. .
"Q-QUUUUUUUIL!"
Crying out with fury despite his injuries, Cyndaquil shot forward while curling into a ball, generating a powerful wheel of flames that met the Air Slash head-on.
*WHOOSH!*
Flames and wind clashed, the former being fed by the latter as Cyndaquil's Flame Wheel grew increasingly intense, all while the main force of the Air Slash tried to cut even it. But then...
*FWOOSH!*
Cyndaquil's attack grew even stronger and more intense for some reason, as well as growing significantly larger.
"LAVAAAAAAAA!"
With a fierce cry, both attacks broke as the flames and wind died down, reveal a much larger pokemon in Cyndaquil's place, one at least twice as large as he was before.
"Nice~!" I whistled as my gamble paid off in sending Cyndaquil out to battle Scizor, resulting in him evolving into Quilava. After all, what better way to power-level my pokemon and get them to evolve than by sending them to do battle against a protagonist getting ready to take on the best the League has to offer?
"I see now..." I heard Ethan mutter from the other side of the arena.
"There's nothing on the line in this battle, so you want to use it to push your pokemon further by battling powerful opponents, right?" He asked me with a wry smirk.
"Yeah, just about. But that doesn't mean I intend to LET you win!" I called back, fired up now that Cyndaquil evolved. And from the feel of it, he learned a few new moves as well.
"Quilava, give it all you got with Lava Plume!" I ordered him.
"LAVAAAAAAAAAA!" Quilava roared, before unleashing a powerful wave of scarlet flames that washed over the entire arena, even making the large rocks glow with intense heat while the smaller ones flat out melted.
"Scizor, go full speed and charge through while using Iron Head!" Ethan roared over the inferno, and his crimson Scizor charged right into the wave of intense scarlet flames without the slightest bit of hesitation.
*BANG!*
Before either Quilava or I could react, Scizor appeared directly in front of him and slammed it's thick metallic skull into his. Even as it's body glowed from the intense flames.
"Now finish this with a double Air Slash!" Ethan declared as Quilava recoiled from the hit.
"ZOR!" Scizor roared, creating a deadly X of windblades that tore through the arena before they impacted the still-reeling Quilava.
"QUUUUUUUUIL!" Quilava cried out, before collapsing into unconsciousness.
"Quilava is unable to battle! Ethan and Scizor win this round!" Lyra declared, signalling an end to the first round.
"You were amazing." I called to Quilava as I prepared to recall him, so he could rest. Before I could though, two figures ran out onto the heated battlefield.
""See! See! See! See!""
Two Chansey cried in sync as they appeared while carrying a stretcher, which they readily picked Quilava up and put him on it before retreating, where I noticed Joy setting up the Pokemon Center to treat him. And once they returned to her side, one of the Chansey immediately changed shape as it resumed the form of a normal Ditto, the same Ditto Joy caught back at Cerulean cave.
"You too Scizor. Go ahead and get looked at." Ethan said to his bug/steel pokemon, who undoubtedly took a LOT of damage during that battle.
"Zor." Scizor said while saluting Ethan, before following Chansey and Ditto as well.
"Round two?" Ethan asked as soon as Scizor cleared the area, which was still emitting steam from Quilava's attack.
"I thought you'd never ask." I said while reaching for the next pokemon I planned to use after reading Ethan's mind.
"Ursaring, you're up!" Ethan cried, as a towering bear-like figure appeared in the middle of the arena.
"URSAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" It roared intimidatingly while glaring down at me, as if DARING me to try something.
"I choose you, Whismur!"
"Whismur...?"
Compared to Ursaring's threatening roar, Whismur barely whispered as she glanced around timidly, before noticing Ursaring.
"Whismur whis!" She cried while pulling her ears down over her eyes, as if covering them would make Ursaring disappear. Or maybe she was the one who wanted to disappear?
"Its ok Whismur, you got this!" I tried to encourage her, but Whismur just began to shake even more out of fear.
"I almost feel bad for this... Ursaring, use Roar!"
"URSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Ursaring immediately let out a vicious Roar that made every one of us cringe, but none more so than Whismur. I even pulled out a set of earplugs I had on me and put them in, along with May, Joy and Chloe, who also offered a set to a confused Lillie.
Just in time too. Because as soon as Ursaring Roared at her, Whismur began to cry.
"Whis.....MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUR!"
"""!!!"""
ALL of us, even those of us with earplugs, cringed and cried out as Whismur's shrill cry echoed throughout the entire area. I'm sure they even heard it back in town.
"MUUUUUuuuuUUUUuuuuuuUUUUUUuuuUUuUuUuuR!"
Whismur cried, and cried, and CRIED endlessly in the face of Ursaring's scary figure. But even that was acceptable, since it could possibly eaither defeat Ursaring with her shrill voice, or make it give up out of sheer annoyance.
Or not.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Enraged by Whismur's shrill voice, Ursaring surged forward with it's claws glowing for a vicious Slash attack.
'Look out!' I tried to mentally warn her, but it didn't work since Whismur was too worked up to notice.
*CRASH!*
Whismur's cry was immediately silenced as she took a double Slash attack, which sent her flying backwards towards me.
"Are you ok?" I asked her worriedly.
"Whis Whismur..." She replied pitifully.
"You have to learn to fight back Whismur!" I told her seriously. After all, wild or caught, pokemon NEEDED strength just to survive.
"Whismur...?"
"Yes! You do!" I tried to encourage her.
"URSAAAAAAA!" Ursaring roared at that moment, before launching itself at us with enough force that it was creating shockwaves.
"Stop it Whismur!" I told her, as this was the do or die moment.
"Whis...." Whismur whispered as Ursaring got right in front of her, before her entire body began to glow.
"Finally..." I muttered under my breath, as Whismur grew notably larger.
"LOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUDREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"
A literal wave of sound assaulted ALL of us as Whismur, now Loudred, let out a powerful thundering wail.
"..."
Even when May tried to say something to me I couldn't understand a single word coming out of her mouth. I could read through her aura though that she had some choice words for the noise being produced by Loudred.
Ursaring however got the worst of it, being RIGHT in front of Loudred.
Even I felt sorry for the poor bear as it was blasted from point blank by a literal cannon of soundwaves produced from Loudred's mouth and large speaker-like ears.
The sound was so intense, that Ursaring was unable to take it and eventually collapsed backwards from the force of the soundwaves.
'Ok Loudred, that's enough!' I mentally told her, and Loudred FINALLY stopped producing noise as she quieted down.
"..."
Even as Loudred stopped yelling, All I could hear was a high pitched ringing in my ears even as the pokemon presumably celebrated her win by yelling and stomping her feet. But I couldn't hear ANY of that.
None of us could from what I could see and feel from their auras, making it borderline impossible for any of us to communicate. Unless I acted as the medium that was.
It took a few minutes, but soon all of us could hear again as Joy got some kind of spray from the Pokemon Center and sprayed it in all of our ears. Almost immediately the ringing began to dissipate, while my hearing slowly returned over the next couple minutes.
"Ursaring is unable to battle, Loudred and Ace win this round!" Lyra declared once all of us could hear once again, and Loudred continued celebrating as she stomped her feet.
"Loudred! Loudred! Loud!"
"That's enough Loudred. You did really well, but you also took some hits. Go and get looked at by Joy." I said while praising her performance, even as Joy's Chansey and Ditto returned with the stretcher to pick up Ursaring.
"Loud Loud!" She declared, following the two of them while stomping the entire way.
"So just what was THAT?" Ethan asked while still massaging his temples.
"That was probably Hyper Voice, which she only learned when she evolved." I answered.
"I never knew sound could be such a powerful weapon..." Ethan remarked, though I could also feel his excitement from the new knowledge.
"Time for round three!" Lyra stated, moving us along as Ethan held up his next pokeball, one that made me cock a brow curiously as I read his mind.
"Interesting..." I murmured while reaching for one of my own pokeballs.
"You're up, Wobbuffet!"
"Wooooobbuffet!" The big blue punching bag-looking pokemon cried as it appeared, saluting as it did so.
"I choose you, Deino!" I cried while sending out my next pokemon.
"Deino!" The Irate pokemon growled as he appeared. Surprisingly, I could feel his aura grow even more intense as he prepared to battle. Maybe losing to Karen before filled him with fighting spirit.
"The Irate pokemon versus the Patient pokemon, huh?" Ethan asked as he quickly scanned Deino with his pokedex. Probably to not be caught off guard like he was with Loudred.
"Begin!" Lyra declared once we were both ready.
"Wobbuffet, use Safeguard." Ethan immediately ordered as soon as the battle began, and his pokemon proceeded to cover itself in a veil of mystic energy.
"Start with Bite!" I ordered Deino at the same time, who charged in while I silently guided him with my aura due to his blindness.
"Counter." Ethan calmly ordered, right before Deino managed to latch his jaws around Wobbuffet's arm.
"Wobba!" Wobbuffet cried, as more energy encased it's body right as Deino attacked.
"!!!"
Deino was instantly sent flying back as twice the damage he would have inflicted to Wobbuffet was instead inflicted onto him, even worse since he was a dark type, and Counter was a fighting type move.
'So it has that quick of a reaction time...' I mused while analyzing Wobbuffet closely.
"Now use Dragon Rage!" I ordered as Deino recovered from the earlier attack.
"DeinOOOOOOOOOO!" Deino roared as he expelled a blast of draconic energy at Wobbuffet.
"Mirror Coat." Ethan said this time, and Wobbuffet once again coated itself with mysterious energy right before the Dragon Rage hit it.
"Ffeeeeeeeeeeeeet!" Wobbuffet cried as it sent double the energy flying back at Deino.
"..."
"Deino...?" The Irate pokemon uttered as the counter attack hit it, but nothing happened.
"I see....." I commented with a smirk. "So because Mirror Coat is a psychic type move, Deino is immune to it!"
"!!!"
Ethan's eyes widened as both he and Wobbuffet adopted shocked expressions from the realization.
"Deino, use Dragon Breath!" I immediately commanded the little dark/dragon type.
"Deino!"
With a bark-like cry, Deino bombarded Wobbuffet with Dragon Breath after Dragon Breath. But as one would expect ofa pokemon cretaed to be the ultimate wall, Wobbuffet was proving to have quite the endurance.
It was just a matter of time though, as Ethan could only either leave Wobbuffet out until it was eventually defeated, and try to come up with a plan until then, or he could recall it and forfeit this round since there were no substitutions.
But strangely, neither Ethan nor Wobbuffet appeared overly concerned.
"It's almost down! One more time!" I yelled to Deino.
"Deeeeeeeeein..."
"Destiny Bond."
"!!!"
"WAIT!" I called out to Deino, but it was too late.
"...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Deino expelled the strongest torrent of draconic energy yet at Wobbuffet, bathing it in the attack without no mercy. And once the energy died down, Wobbuffet collapsed to the side in unconsciousness.
"DEINO!" The Irate pokemon roared, pleased with his victory over his opponent. But then the Destiny Bond took effect, and he collapsed as all of the energy drained from his body.
"Both Wobbuffet and Deino are unable to battle! So this round is a tie!" Lyra declared, and I recalled Deino to his pokeball.
"It doesn't matter what the ruling was. This was YOUR win." I whispered to him, while Joy's Chansey and Ditto took Wobbuffet away for treatment. Deino on the other hand just needed some rest, as Wobbuffet's Destiny Bond drained nim of his energy instead of dealing actual damage.
"I never used Wobbuffet against a dark type pokemon, so it was surprising to learn that Mirror Coat wouldn't affect them. But we always have a plan, and now we know for the future." Ethan said to me from across the arena, his expression one of confidence as he palmed his next pokemon.
"One win between us, and a tie. Who are you gonna send out next?" I asked him, even as I read his mind, and grabbed the pokeball I intended to use.
"You're up, Typhlosion!"
"TYYYYYYYYYYY!"
What appeared across from me was the final form of Cyndaquil and Quilava, Typhlosion. Aka, the Volcano pokemon.
"Your starter, huh?" I asked wryly, even as Ethan smirked confidently.
"Well, then, I suppose its only right to face one Johto starter with another. I choose you, Totodile!"