Chu Baen's Story

The large-breasted woman on the other side of the battleground let out a deep sigh. Every battle was a war in and of itself recently. A former Champion, reduced to such things! Pah! But she wouldn't go out unless it was after a win!

"Leading with a Dragon-type. How quaint! Let's go, Ulysses!" An Empoleon hit the field to oppose the man's Dragonite. That Gold had taught her at least one good thing. She had to stop denying the fact that she was scared out of her wits. She had to work with it, accept it, use it as an ally to enhance her perception of the situation. Sure, Huntress would outspeed, but she was better used to come back from a hole. This battle, she intended to get the first kill and actually hold the advantage!

"Ulysses! Hit him with Ice Beam!" The freezing cold of its home waters was channeled into a thin line of energy that shot froth from its beak, strafing vertically to try to chill Riley from head to tail.

The Empoleon stood tall across the arena, and shortly after it was released, it shot forth a devastating Ice attack. Surely, this would hurt Dragonite exceptionally, given the type disadvantage. "Quick, Flamethrower!" Riley threw his head back as if to let out a mighty roar, but lurched forward and spewed searing hot flames from deep in his belly. The geyser engulfed the Ice Beam in a large shroud of steam, a loud hiss screeching through the battlefield.

As the mist settled, Riley could be seen wincing for a brief moment, clearly not all of the Ice Beam had been negated, and the agonizing cold managed to clip him on the shoulder. Being 4x weak against Ice based attacks, even the smallest hit could be a nuisance. "Rrrrrr-Bow~! Riley shook it off, glaring at the opposing Empoleon.

"Riley! Are you alr-" Riley shot his trainer a glance, his lip almost curling into a snarl. Chu sighed. "Right, should've known."

Titania put up an arm as the flames washed over Ulysses as if to protect herself from the wave of hot air. There...right there. Chu's bond with Riley wasn't that strong. And with a Pokemon that took as long to raise as a Dragonite. This could be exploitable.

"Hah! There's a reason I raised an Empoleon! It's not weak to fire like other steel-types are! Finish it with another ice beam!" Now that Multiscale was down, surely the dragon wouldn't be able to take another blow like that. Dashing forward and belly-sliding through the steam cloud to deny Riley time to react, Ulysses reared up and fired another arctic ray, this time at its flank where the wing met the rest of the body.

It wasn't often that she got the luxury of attacking first, as steel-types as a whole weren't very fast. All the more important to make the most of it!

Just as Empoleon dashed forth, Dragonite snapped his attention back to the battle. Without his trainer's command, he cocked his fist back, and a small spark played across his claws as he prepared a thunder punch, though it was too late.

Riley howled as the Ice Beam struck his flank, stopping his fist, quite literally, cold, as the spark disappeared. He stumbled backward a couple of steps before suddenly lurching forward and collapsing onto the stadium floor, unconscious.

Chu held out Riley's PokeBall with one hand, while his other clasped the bridge of his nose. "So reckless" He muttered, as the white light engulfed his heap of a Dragonite, removing him from the battlefield. He talked the PokeBall back into it's slot, reaching for the sixth PokeBall on his belt. With a click, it expanded to full size, gripped firmly in his palm. "Yeah, Empoleon's tough, that's for sure, but this guy here... He paused, allowing a weak chuckle, "He's tougher." He tossed the PokeBall forth, another brilliant light springing forth.




Machamp stood tall in the center of the field. It's upper arms flexed vigorously in bicep curls as his lower arms played out the palm punching bit. "How you feelin' today, pal?" He called out, to which both Machamp's right arms shot out in a 'Nice Gai' thumbs up pose, to which Chu nodded.

Grr. Machamp. This was going to suck...Titania needed to see what this thing was capable of. Preferably in a way that preserved her 6-5 lead.

"Ulysses! Quick, use Substitute!" Empoleon channeled some of its energy into a decoy of itself to take whatever was coming next. The question in Titania's mind was, did this Machamp prefer the confusion of Dynamicpunch, or the power of Close Combat? Or maybe he'd try to switch it up with some kind of ground attack? In any case, Substitute was the perfect tool to get a peek behind the veil and into this backpacker's mind. For too long she had been the one breaking down under the pressure...now, with a lead, perhaps she could break this one's spirit for a change. After all, if Empoleon was able to outrun Dragonite, surely she had the level advantage.

"You really think I'm scared of that? No matter how hard you hit, you gotta get through the decoy first! Ulysses, hit him with a Scald!" A recently discovered water-type move, this one used boiling liquid to burn the crap out of foes. And the one type that was immune to the side effect? Yep. Fire-types were weak to it. Ulysses fired the steaming spray in a high arc, over the Substitute and giving Lightweight the hottest shower of his life.

"I've seen lots of boys flex at me." This was true...getting through trade school wasn't easy with the rampant sexism in the industry. "It's less important how they look than what they can do...and if your Machamp gets a burn from this, it will slowly succumb to damage if my other attacks don't get him first!"

---

The attack shot over the substitute, splashing down on Lightweight, steam spewing forth from his skin as it reddened from the hot water. He spat a small amount of water out of his mouth, with a menacing smirk playing across his face.

"See, that's the problem right there, you've seen boys flex at you. I think you'll find we're of a different caliber. Alright, no more hiding! Get rid of that decoy with Earthquake!"

Lightweight assumed an almost sumo wrestler-like stance, before slowly raising his right leg in front of him, pausing for a split second before driving it back to the ground. The tremor exploded forth, shaking a large patch of the stadium as the attack rippled along the surface, decimating the the path it took, before collapsing the ground around the substitute.

Titania stumbled as the quake rocked the arena, easily dissipating the substitute but leaving her friend Empoleon unharmed. "Ulysses! We can't let him stay in like this!" Wait, no...Roar would let the Machamp get in a decisive blow, and she couldn't switch Bomber into what was surely a huge hit unless he went for Earthquake again. There was a massive punch or ten coming...

"Give him another Scald!" Another steam bath spouted forth, releasing vapor as it went and splashing down onto Chu's side of the field. It was already bulked up once, so at this point whether it got the attack boost from a burn was academic--it still had the raw strength necessary to slug the heroic water-type into next week. At least it was still damage.