Kobayakawa Sena (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
swiftasacoursingkawa) wrote2021-11-21 11:50 am
swiftasacoursingkawa) wrote2021-11-21 11:50 am
[azume] post-game unovadventures part 4
i wrote four pages of battle and then decided that was long enough for a snippet. post-battle explanations and shenanigans can be in the next one. writing sena battles is hard but fun.
Enter your cut contents here.-----
Hilbert and Cheren trailed after Sena and N, both interested in seeing how this battle would commence. Cheren was largely focused on Sena, wondering how someone who had had their Pokemon Journey in another region would battle, but Hilbert found himself glancing at N. What kind of battle would he show with a partner that had clearly been with him for years, perhaps decades? Perhaps his whole life? It made the battles he had with him before feel...lacking.
It was irrational for Hilbert to feel this way, he reasoned to himself. After all, he’d barely started on his own journey. And N clearly had some kind of agenda that didn’t require relying on old friends, or that Zoroark would have been with him from the start. He’d been clearly surprised on seeing it, so it wasn’t like N had been intentionally holding back on him.
Still. It hurt, knowing that he wasn’t enough of a trainer to properly answer this strange man. Maybe watching this battle would give him answers. Understanding what N wanted, what made Sena go weirdly quiet and thoughtful at times, what Hilbert himself wanted from his own journey.
Or maybe it would just leave him with more questions.
When they found an appropriate space to battle, both trainers stood on opposite ends of the field. On one side, N and Zoroark, both towering presences on their side of the field. They stood almost the same way - tall, proud, but also hunched, hands (claws) poised to strike. On the other side, Sena and Shell, both almost diminutively small compared to their opponents, but standing tall just the same. Sena bounced lightly on the balls of his feet while Shell mimicked the motion, bobbing slightly in the air. They looked ready to dart at any moment, to move as soon as the signal started.
Said signal was set to be given by Cheren, standing at the side of the field acting as referee. Hilbert opted to stand opposite him at the other end of the field, so both of them could get an unobstructed view of the match.
“This is a one-on-one battle between N and Sena, which will go until one opponent faints or surrenders. Is that clear?”
“Yes!” Both N and Sena responded, each of them tightening their stance.
“Then...begin!”
“Start with a Focus Blast!” N declared, starting the match off on the offensive. Sena responded with a tight smile, as if he’d already expected what N had done. He didn’t even flinch as the Zoroark gathered a large amount of aura in its hands, before launching it at impressive speeds.
“Charge in and post, Shell!”
The Pokemon did as instructed, diving straight into the attack with reckless abandon. It disappeared into the orb of light as it exploded, and while the two newbie trainers stepped back in alarm, both N and Sena didn’t seem fazed at all. Hilbert himself wondered at N not expressing any rage at his opponent blatantly ordering his Pokemon to throw themselves into harm’s way, but N was staring at the explosion with a laser-sharp focus, eyes calculating.
With that kind of response, Hilbert should have been less surprised as he was to see the bug-like creature emerge from the explosion unscathed, closing in on the Zoroark at a rapid pace.
“So it really was a Ghost-type…” N muttered, nodding to himself.
“Ghost types are immune to fighting moves…!” Cheren realized, before narrowing his eyes. “Even so, why did he charge in like that, he’s left himself open to…”
“Night Slash!”
A counterattack, Hilbert realized, the Zoroark lashing out with claws brimming with dark energy. He’d lured Sena and Shell in with an easy to dodge attack, before setting up an ambush. So there were ways to battle thinking this far ahead…? But why didn’t Sena seem worried? At the range those two were at, there was no way Shell would dodge in-
“Shrraaaaah!”
With that eerie rattling cry, Shell suddenly veered off course, making a sudden cut to the right just as the Zoroark brought its claws down.
“Good work, Shell!”
How…? It was like Shell had already known to dodge, even without Sena telling him. Had they already predicted N’s reaction ahead of time? Was it able to battle without his input? Or was there something else to Sena’s directions that Hilbert hadn’t grasped? He looked across the field at Cheren, who looked equally stumped. Not even N seemed to know what had happened, but he didn’t allow it to rattle him, throwing his hand out in another command.
“A lucky dodge. It’s still close, my friend! Another Night Slash, to your left!”
“Slant!”
Another strange command from Sena, snapped immediately out almost the moment the command left N’s lips. Whatever it meant, Shell seemed to understand: it was moving the moment Sena shouted out, and it once again dodged under Zoroark’s claws, easily evading the attack.
“Fast…!” N breathed out, before gritting his teeth. “It’s still within range, Zoroark! Nothing can outspeed you when you’re serious! Hone Claws, then repeated Night Slashes!”
Hilbert frowned, wondering how Sena would get out of this one. With the increased accuracy and power from Hone Claws, Shell would surely have a harder time avoiding the attacks thrown at close range. Would he have the Pokemon retreat further back…?
“Curl! Zig out! Post! Hook, and...Slide!” Sena barked out more strange directions as Zoroark moved, and with each command Shell ducked, dodged and weaved around Zoroark’s body. Hilbert glanced over at Sena and noticed that his eyes were constantly moving, tracking Zoroark’s movements. His eyes would lock onto Zoroark’s shoulders, then its legs, trail up the torso and then finally to the claws, for every attack launched without fail, before snapping a command. One hand was thrown out like a conductor’s baton, tracing out patterns in the air - the very same patterns, Hilbert suddenly realized, that Shell was moving in. So these strange words weren’t calls for attacks, but rather directions to move around the battlefield? But how could he make such snap decisions that quickly, and communicate them to his partner fast enough to execute them? Shell was responding to them so fast, it was almost like the two of them were moving simultaneously. Was this the kind of skill an experienced trainer could achieve?
“ZrrrRRAAGH!” The Zoroark grew increasingly angry as it continued to miss hitting the strange ghost, frustrated enough to leap back and sharpen its claws once more, desperately trying to boost its accuracy with Hone Claws without N’s order. This did nothing to help, however, as Sena continued to shout out commands that had his Pokemon dodging, dodging, dodging, but never attacking.
“What is he even playing at…?” Cheren wondered, adjusting his glasses to get a better look. “He can’t win a battle by just dodging…”
Hilbert nodded his agreement, wondering the same. He watched as N’s impatience grew to match his partner, before he snarled out the next attack.
“Night Daze!” Hilbert heard Cheren suck in breath through his teeth, and wondered just what kind of move this was, to get Cheren to react like that. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end as dark energy gathered around the Zoroark. The wind rustled around the battlefield, swirling around as it was drawn to the fox at its center. The presence of that attack, it felt so deep that everything around them was getting sucked in, like the Zoroark had summoned some kind of black hole - even Shell was drawing close, homing in on Zoroark’s face. At the rate things were going, it looked like it would finally get struck -
“Now, Shell! Devil’s 4th Dimension!”
What.
“What?!” N and Cheren yelped, almost simultaneously. Sena’s only response was to grin, his face almost looking wild in excitement. Zoroark, on the other hand, hadn’t seemed to hear any of the exchange, instead roaring out furiously as it moved to slam the dark energy down onto Shell’s form.
And the little bug, despite all the pressure focused on it, darted back, the Zoroark’s claws missing it by inches. The attack wasn’t finished, however, as its claws continued to slam down into the ground, releasing the dark energy in a large burst that rippled across the entire field. The ground tore up around its feet, expanding outwards as dark purple light streaked outward, blinding everyone temporarily. As the attack faded away, and Hilbert blinked stars out of his eyes, he was left in awe at the crater left behind from the attack. It had engulfed the entire field, so surely it had managed to hit Shell this time around. But why did the Zoroark look so agitated, why was it turning its head back and forth, around and around, snarling…?
A quick glance around the battlefield showed that Shell was missing. Had it perhaps gotten blown away…? No, Sena was smiling, so that surely couldn’t have been the case. But then, where…
His Oshawott squeaked in alarm, and Hilbert followed its gaze down to the Zoroark’s feet, where its shadow seemed to be...moving? Was that…?
“Go!”
Zoroark and N both turned at Sena’s cry, only for the Zoroark to be suddenly blindsided as Shell burst out of its own shadow, chartreuse-colored energy forming as it moved. The ghost slammed into Zoroark right under its jaw, making it stumble back with a yelp of pain, and as it flew back to Sena’s side Hilbert could spot the Zoroark rubbing its jaw in pain. The fur there had been cut, and an X-shaped welt was slowly blooming on its skin..
“What...what kind of attack was that?!" N demanded, one hand on his own throat in a silent empathetic gesture, apparently feeling the Zoroark’s pain as his own. He looked about as shocked as Hilbert felt, while Cheren’s expression indicated that he was in deep thought, clearly thinking over what he had just witnessed. “I haven’t heard of that kind of move before!”
“Really? Well, we’ve got more where that came from!” Sena laughed, his Pokemon hovering silently at his side. “Show ‘em your sweep, Shell!”
The rattling the strange ghost let out as it charged almost sounded like buzzing as it darted forward, and N bit his lip as he considered his options.
“Flamethrower!”
The Zoroark leaned back, sucking in breath, before exhaling flame that spread out in a wide arc. Cheren had briefly explained some things about Zoroark to Hilbert on their way to the battlefield, how Zoroark could learn a wide variety of moves to use when they disguised themselves as other Pokemon, but it was still surprising to see the dark-type suddenly breathe out fire.
“Continue your sweep, then go into a Devil Bat Ghost!” Another one of those strange attack names. Hibert watched as the bug became two bugs, then four, then eight, and continuing to multiply more and more until there was a whole row of little brown bugs that extended the entire length of the arena. This move, at least, Hilbert felt confident he could identify: it looked like Double Team. But why use such a strange name when he could just call out that attack? There must have been more to it, Hilbert reasoned, and so he wasn’t entirely surprised when all the copies were engulfed in fire, only to reveal an empty field yet again.
“Where did it go this time?!” N snarled, and he and his partner both looked down at its shadow, only to find it unmoving.
Then Zoroark yelped as a blur slammed into its side, knocking it to the ground. Another X-shaped welt bloomed where it had been struck, and it propped itself up on all fours, growling as Shell reappeared near its fallen form.
“Don’t let up, Shell! Fall back, and get ready for a Devil Cross!”
“A what?!” N recoiled at the sound of yet another strange technique, but Shell didn’t bother waiting for any reaction, instead immediately pulling back to perform another Double Team, this time only splitting into four copies that began to dart around the field in blurs almost too fast for the eye to see. Dust kicked up as they zoomed around, further obscuring them from view. Both Zoroark and N tried to track Shell’s movements before seemingly giving up and declaring another strategy.
“Don’t let them outspeed you! Use Agility to catch up, then Night Slash!”
With a loud cry, Zoroark blurred into motion, leaving afterimages in its wake as it darted after Shell. It soon caught up to one of the floating bugs and ran alongside it, keeping pace for several tense seconds before slamming a claw filled with dark energy into its back. The image of Shell vanished, revealing it to be one of the copies.
“It’s fine! Keep goi-”
N’s words were cut off as Zoroark let out a yelp, two of the remaining three Shells having slammed into its midsection nearly simultaneously, one after the other. They’d come at it from almost a perfect 90 degree angle from each other - almost like a cross, Hilbert realized a few moments later. Two more X-shaped bruises appeared on its midsection, leading Zoroark to stop in its tracks and hold its stomach in pain.
“How…?!” N recoiled in shock, while Hilbert winced at the brutal blows that came one after the other. How was this possible, how could Sena’s Pokemon not take a single hit even as it charged in so recklessly?
“So that’s what he’s doing!” Cheren breathed out, one hand pushing up his glasses as they slipped down his face. Hilbert made a note to ask his friend later, in the unlikely event that he didn’t interrogate Sena immediately after this match was over. N seethed as the remaining three Shells continued to hover, darting about faster than the eye can see. He adjusted his cap, clearly thinking hard.
“If we can’t catch up to them, we’ll slow them down! Use Extrasensory to stop them in their tracks, Zoroark!”
A good call, Hilbert thought. If they had been moving around so much, they must have been trying to avoid taking a hit for some reason. And besides, something needed to be done to stop Sena and Shell’s momentum. They had taken full control of the battle and were slowly pulling N into their own pace, whether he realized it or not. They were like a Pokemon using Rollout - slow to start, but once they really ramped up speed it was hard to stop them.
Zoroark’s eyes glowed bright blue, and the air around the field visibly distorted. Hilbert found himself blinking stars out of his eyes as he saw the field in front of him twist and turn, and he shook his head to keep from getting dizzy. As expected, the two remaining clones of Shell could not stand up to the area-wide attack, and they winked out of existence the moment their image began to warp. Shell itself froze in place, its outline glowing blue, and for a brief moment Hilbert thought that N had finally managed to catch the evasive Pokemon.
Then, against all expectations, the bug gave a ghastly rattle and charged, the blue aura around it shattering into nonexistence. Before either N or Zoorark could let out more than a shocked yelp, it bodily tackled the vulpine Pokemon in the stomach yet again, sending it tumbling backwards across the arena.
As Zoroark stood up on shaking legs, N was mumbling to himself over the revelation that Shell was apparently immune to psychic moves.
“So, it’s a Dark type as well…? But that Focus Blast wasn’t able to hit it earlier either, so...Ghost and Dark? But that bug-like appearance…” He brought a hand to his chin, contemplating, unknowingly mimicking Cheren, who was doing the same over in the judge’s box. Hilbert himself wondered if N was making the right conclusion here. It was the obvious deduction to make, after seeing that Shell took no damage from either of the aforementioned attacks, but...he couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else going on here. Sena had been an alarmingly disorienting opponent, but behind all the strange code words, the befuddling tactics, the blinding speed, his strategy was surprisingly straightforward. Dodge attacks you couldn’t take, strike your opponent when they were most surprised, face your opponent head on in a clash of wills. If Shell had been part Dark type, Hilbert had a feeling Sena wouldn’t be having Shell dodge those Night Slashes every single time. No, he’d most likely drive Shell into a direct clash whenever possible, having him dive into the attacks like he did with that Focus Blast at the very beginning of the battle. Hilbert hadn’t watched Sena battle before this, but from what Sena had said before…
“I mean, I used to be the kind of person that would run away from even the slightest chance of getting hurt. But that’s not something me, or my Pokemon, want to run from anymore - we’re facing forward, as a team.”
Sena was…a pretty straightforward guy at heart, Hilbert thought. He was always looking forward without hesitation, and Hilbert was sure that Sena battled the same way, too. The way he used disorienting speed was most likely him just leaning into his own strengths rather than trying to intentionally be misleading. But could N see the same thing that Hilbert saw? Could he see the truth behind Sena’s battle? If he couldn’t, then...Sena had this match won.
“What’s wrong?” Sena shouted, bouncing on the toes of his feet. He was still smiling, but his face reflected more of that strange, wild excitement that Hilbert couldn’t place, couldn’t find a name for. What sort of feeling was Sena experiencing when battling, and how did it make him and his partner so strong, so hard to reach? “Are you done, then? Is that all you’ve got?”
“Of course not!” N snapped, while Zoroark hissed alongside him. “We still can go on!”
“Then show it to us! Your resolve!” Sena laughed, throwing a hand out. “Let’s go, Shell! Another sweep!”
“Night Daze!” N ordered, even before Shell started splitting into numerous Double Team copies once again. Maybe N was starting to see the pattern now, going straight for wide area attacks and nothing else. Maybe he’d actually get to catch Shell this time, especially since it was too far away to counter with that strange technique from last time, that...fourth dimension whatever. But Sena still didn’t seem alarmed, so…?
“Intercept ‘em, Shell!” Shell, surprisingly, stopped in its tracks, the copies doing the same. They all watched, in one straight line, as Zoroark once again gathered energy into its front paws, raising it above its head to slam into the ground.
And once the energy had been fully gathered, Shell and its copies let out a loud, continuous, unearthly rattle, all of them building up on each other and combining into an ear-splitting Screech attack that had everyone on the field covering their ears. Zoroark let out a pained cry and stopped forming its attack, holding its head in pain. Hilbert could easily imagine what the Pokemon was going through - thanks to holding Oshawott, he could only use one hand to cover his ears, and could swear that the rattling was echoing inside his skull. He’d wondered how an attack called Screech could lower an opponent’s defense before this, but on seeing it now...Zoroark did look truly defenseless, even more so when the copies stopped their attacks and charged forward once more. An unrelenting line, all of them charging up more chartreuse colored energy to attack once again.
N was still holding his ears when he sent out his next command - a Grass Knot attack, to try and trip up Shell and the copies.
Zoroark swayed in a dizzy motion, steadying itself, before slamming one paw on the ground. Innumerous vines burst from where it struck, overtaking the field as they reached up to entangle the oncoming wave of incorrigible bugs. The copies vanished.
And Shell itself continued forward, the vines bouncing off its carapace harmlessly.
“What?!” N yelped out, recoiling backwards in shock. Cheren whipped his body around to look at Sena and Shell so violently his glasses nearly flew off, and even Hilbert nearly dropped Oshawott in alarm, this unexpected resistance catching him off guard. It wasn’t affected by Grass type moves, either? That couldn’t be right, there weren’t any types that completely negated grass moves, so maybe he had used a command to secretly order Shell to use Protect? But no, the only thing Sena had told Shell to do was a sweep, which had seemed to only be a straightforward charge, so...that “intercept” command? But that was just to interrupt that Night Daze, wasn’t it?
Everyone on the field was so stunned by the reveal that they all realized too late that Shell was still charging forward.
“Finish this, Shell! X-Scissor!”
This was the first and only straightforward command Sena had given all match. Like he didn’t see the need to think of strange commands or snap decisions, making the final blow a straightforward clash between him and his opponent.
Like he was already declaring his victory.
“Zoroark! Hurry and-” N panicked, looking up from whatever internal monologue he’d been caught in, but it was too late to even warn his partner. The vulpine Pokemon struck out once with a hastily formed Night Slash, which Shell easily dodged under to slam itself right into its chest, driving them both into the wall behind N. Dust kicked up around them, causing N to cover his face and cough, unable to see the inevitable result of the attack. As the dust cleared and Shell flew out back to Sena’s side, N turned behind him in panic. “Zoroark!”
There was an X-shaped crater in the wall where Zoroark was currently lying in. Bits and pieces of brick were still crumbling off, clattering to the ground unceremoniously as Zoroark slumped forward, before collapsing to the ground in a heap, its eyes in dizzying swirls. Cheren ran out from the judge’s box to get a closer look, before declaring the result.
“Z...Zoroark is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Shell and Sena!”
Hilbert mutely watched as Sena cheered out a “Touchdown!” in that accented voice of his, before taking Shell into his hands to bump heads with it. The strange Pokemon let out a soft rattle, clearly happy with its victory as it accepted Sena’s praise for a well-fought match. On the other end of the battlefield, N gently soothed his own partner, helping it back up to its feet as it shook dust and gravel out of its fur. He looked just as conflicted as Hilbert felt, the entire momentum of this battle having thrown them both off from the beginning. There was...so much to wonder about, to consider.
This battle did give some answers, Hilbert reflected. But as he expected...it brought up so many more questions. About Sena, about N, about himself and his own journey.
He wondered if he would ever find the answer.
---
wonder armor sure is a bitch, huh
the final confrontation about sena what the fuck is up with your weirdass eldritch bug and also what the fuck did you do will be next snippet!
Enter your cut contents here.-----
Hilbert and Cheren trailed after Sena and N, both interested in seeing how this battle would commence. Cheren was largely focused on Sena, wondering how someone who had had their Pokemon Journey in another region would battle, but Hilbert found himself glancing at N. What kind of battle would he show with a partner that had clearly been with him for years, perhaps decades? Perhaps his whole life? It made the battles he had with him before feel...lacking.
It was irrational for Hilbert to feel this way, he reasoned to himself. After all, he’d barely started on his own journey. And N clearly had some kind of agenda that didn’t require relying on old friends, or that Zoroark would have been with him from the start. He’d been clearly surprised on seeing it, so it wasn’t like N had been intentionally holding back on him.
Still. It hurt, knowing that he wasn’t enough of a trainer to properly answer this strange man. Maybe watching this battle would give him answers. Understanding what N wanted, what made Sena go weirdly quiet and thoughtful at times, what Hilbert himself wanted from his own journey.
Or maybe it would just leave him with more questions.
When they found an appropriate space to battle, both trainers stood on opposite ends of the field. On one side, N and Zoroark, both towering presences on their side of the field. They stood almost the same way - tall, proud, but also hunched, hands (claws) poised to strike. On the other side, Sena and Shell, both almost diminutively small compared to their opponents, but standing tall just the same. Sena bounced lightly on the balls of his feet while Shell mimicked the motion, bobbing slightly in the air. They looked ready to dart at any moment, to move as soon as the signal started.
Said signal was set to be given by Cheren, standing at the side of the field acting as referee. Hilbert opted to stand opposite him at the other end of the field, so both of them could get an unobstructed view of the match.
“This is a one-on-one battle between N and Sena, which will go until one opponent faints or surrenders. Is that clear?”
“Yes!” Both N and Sena responded, each of them tightening their stance.
“Then...begin!”
“Start with a Focus Blast!” N declared, starting the match off on the offensive. Sena responded with a tight smile, as if he’d already expected what N had done. He didn’t even flinch as the Zoroark gathered a large amount of aura in its hands, before launching it at impressive speeds.
“Charge in and post, Shell!”
The Pokemon did as instructed, diving straight into the attack with reckless abandon. It disappeared into the orb of light as it exploded, and while the two newbie trainers stepped back in alarm, both N and Sena didn’t seem fazed at all. Hilbert himself wondered at N not expressing any rage at his opponent blatantly ordering his Pokemon to throw themselves into harm’s way, but N was staring at the explosion with a laser-sharp focus, eyes calculating.
With that kind of response, Hilbert should have been less surprised as he was to see the bug-like creature emerge from the explosion unscathed, closing in on the Zoroark at a rapid pace.
“So it really was a Ghost-type…” N muttered, nodding to himself.
“Ghost types are immune to fighting moves…!” Cheren realized, before narrowing his eyes. “Even so, why did he charge in like that, he’s left himself open to…”
“Night Slash!”
A counterattack, Hilbert realized, the Zoroark lashing out with claws brimming with dark energy. He’d lured Sena and Shell in with an easy to dodge attack, before setting up an ambush. So there were ways to battle thinking this far ahead…? But why didn’t Sena seem worried? At the range those two were at, there was no way Shell would dodge in-
“Shrraaaaah!”
With that eerie rattling cry, Shell suddenly veered off course, making a sudden cut to the right just as the Zoroark brought its claws down.
“Good work, Shell!”
How…? It was like Shell had already known to dodge, even without Sena telling him. Had they already predicted N’s reaction ahead of time? Was it able to battle without his input? Or was there something else to Sena’s directions that Hilbert hadn’t grasped? He looked across the field at Cheren, who looked equally stumped. Not even N seemed to know what had happened, but he didn’t allow it to rattle him, throwing his hand out in another command.
“A lucky dodge. It’s still close, my friend! Another Night Slash, to your left!”
“Slant!”
Another strange command from Sena, snapped immediately out almost the moment the command left N’s lips. Whatever it meant, Shell seemed to understand: it was moving the moment Sena shouted out, and it once again dodged under Zoroark’s claws, easily evading the attack.
“Fast…!” N breathed out, before gritting his teeth. “It’s still within range, Zoroark! Nothing can outspeed you when you’re serious! Hone Claws, then repeated Night Slashes!”
Hilbert frowned, wondering how Sena would get out of this one. With the increased accuracy and power from Hone Claws, Shell would surely have a harder time avoiding the attacks thrown at close range. Would he have the Pokemon retreat further back…?
“Curl! Zig out! Post! Hook, and...Slide!” Sena barked out more strange directions as Zoroark moved, and with each command Shell ducked, dodged and weaved around Zoroark’s body. Hilbert glanced over at Sena and noticed that his eyes were constantly moving, tracking Zoroark’s movements. His eyes would lock onto Zoroark’s shoulders, then its legs, trail up the torso and then finally to the claws, for every attack launched without fail, before snapping a command. One hand was thrown out like a conductor’s baton, tracing out patterns in the air - the very same patterns, Hilbert suddenly realized, that Shell was moving in. So these strange words weren’t calls for attacks, but rather directions to move around the battlefield? But how could he make such snap decisions that quickly, and communicate them to his partner fast enough to execute them? Shell was responding to them so fast, it was almost like the two of them were moving simultaneously. Was this the kind of skill an experienced trainer could achieve?
“ZrrrRRAAGH!” The Zoroark grew increasingly angry as it continued to miss hitting the strange ghost, frustrated enough to leap back and sharpen its claws once more, desperately trying to boost its accuracy with Hone Claws without N’s order. This did nothing to help, however, as Sena continued to shout out commands that had his Pokemon dodging, dodging, dodging, but never attacking.
“What is he even playing at…?” Cheren wondered, adjusting his glasses to get a better look. “He can’t win a battle by just dodging…”
Hilbert nodded his agreement, wondering the same. He watched as N’s impatience grew to match his partner, before he snarled out the next attack.
“Night Daze!” Hilbert heard Cheren suck in breath through his teeth, and wondered just what kind of move this was, to get Cheren to react like that. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end as dark energy gathered around the Zoroark. The wind rustled around the battlefield, swirling around as it was drawn to the fox at its center. The presence of that attack, it felt so deep that everything around them was getting sucked in, like the Zoroark had summoned some kind of black hole - even Shell was drawing close, homing in on Zoroark’s face. At the rate things were going, it looked like it would finally get struck -
“Now, Shell! Devil’s 4th Dimension!”
What.
“What?!” N and Cheren yelped, almost simultaneously. Sena’s only response was to grin, his face almost looking wild in excitement. Zoroark, on the other hand, hadn’t seemed to hear any of the exchange, instead roaring out furiously as it moved to slam the dark energy down onto Shell’s form.
And the little bug, despite all the pressure focused on it, darted back, the Zoroark’s claws missing it by inches. The attack wasn’t finished, however, as its claws continued to slam down into the ground, releasing the dark energy in a large burst that rippled across the entire field. The ground tore up around its feet, expanding outwards as dark purple light streaked outward, blinding everyone temporarily. As the attack faded away, and Hilbert blinked stars out of his eyes, he was left in awe at the crater left behind from the attack. It had engulfed the entire field, so surely it had managed to hit Shell this time around. But why did the Zoroark look so agitated, why was it turning its head back and forth, around and around, snarling…?
A quick glance around the battlefield showed that Shell was missing. Had it perhaps gotten blown away…? No, Sena was smiling, so that surely couldn’t have been the case. But then, where…
His Oshawott squeaked in alarm, and Hilbert followed its gaze down to the Zoroark’s feet, where its shadow seemed to be...moving? Was that…?
“Go!”
Zoroark and N both turned at Sena’s cry, only for the Zoroark to be suddenly blindsided as Shell burst out of its own shadow, chartreuse-colored energy forming as it moved. The ghost slammed into Zoroark right under its jaw, making it stumble back with a yelp of pain, and as it flew back to Sena’s side Hilbert could spot the Zoroark rubbing its jaw in pain. The fur there had been cut, and an X-shaped welt was slowly blooming on its skin..
“What...what kind of attack was that?!" N demanded, one hand on his own throat in a silent empathetic gesture, apparently feeling the Zoroark’s pain as his own. He looked about as shocked as Hilbert felt, while Cheren’s expression indicated that he was in deep thought, clearly thinking over what he had just witnessed. “I haven’t heard of that kind of move before!”
“Really? Well, we’ve got more where that came from!” Sena laughed, his Pokemon hovering silently at his side. “Show ‘em your sweep, Shell!”
The rattling the strange ghost let out as it charged almost sounded like buzzing as it darted forward, and N bit his lip as he considered his options.
“Flamethrower!”
The Zoroark leaned back, sucking in breath, before exhaling flame that spread out in a wide arc. Cheren had briefly explained some things about Zoroark to Hilbert on their way to the battlefield, how Zoroark could learn a wide variety of moves to use when they disguised themselves as other Pokemon, but it was still surprising to see the dark-type suddenly breathe out fire.
“Continue your sweep, then go into a Devil Bat Ghost!” Another one of those strange attack names. Hibert watched as the bug became two bugs, then four, then eight, and continuing to multiply more and more until there was a whole row of little brown bugs that extended the entire length of the arena. This move, at least, Hilbert felt confident he could identify: it looked like Double Team. But why use such a strange name when he could just call out that attack? There must have been more to it, Hilbert reasoned, and so he wasn’t entirely surprised when all the copies were engulfed in fire, only to reveal an empty field yet again.
“Where did it go this time?!” N snarled, and he and his partner both looked down at its shadow, only to find it unmoving.
Then Zoroark yelped as a blur slammed into its side, knocking it to the ground. Another X-shaped welt bloomed where it had been struck, and it propped itself up on all fours, growling as Shell reappeared near its fallen form.
“Don’t let up, Shell! Fall back, and get ready for a Devil Cross!”
“A what?!” N recoiled at the sound of yet another strange technique, but Shell didn’t bother waiting for any reaction, instead immediately pulling back to perform another Double Team, this time only splitting into four copies that began to dart around the field in blurs almost too fast for the eye to see. Dust kicked up as they zoomed around, further obscuring them from view. Both Zoroark and N tried to track Shell’s movements before seemingly giving up and declaring another strategy.
“Don’t let them outspeed you! Use Agility to catch up, then Night Slash!”
With a loud cry, Zoroark blurred into motion, leaving afterimages in its wake as it darted after Shell. It soon caught up to one of the floating bugs and ran alongside it, keeping pace for several tense seconds before slamming a claw filled with dark energy into its back. The image of Shell vanished, revealing it to be one of the copies.
“It’s fine! Keep goi-”
N’s words were cut off as Zoroark let out a yelp, two of the remaining three Shells having slammed into its midsection nearly simultaneously, one after the other. They’d come at it from almost a perfect 90 degree angle from each other - almost like a cross, Hilbert realized a few moments later. Two more X-shaped bruises appeared on its midsection, leading Zoroark to stop in its tracks and hold its stomach in pain.
“How…?!” N recoiled in shock, while Hilbert winced at the brutal blows that came one after the other. How was this possible, how could Sena’s Pokemon not take a single hit even as it charged in so recklessly?
“So that’s what he’s doing!” Cheren breathed out, one hand pushing up his glasses as they slipped down his face. Hilbert made a note to ask his friend later, in the unlikely event that he didn’t interrogate Sena immediately after this match was over. N seethed as the remaining three Shells continued to hover, darting about faster than the eye can see. He adjusted his cap, clearly thinking hard.
“If we can’t catch up to them, we’ll slow them down! Use Extrasensory to stop them in their tracks, Zoroark!”
A good call, Hilbert thought. If they had been moving around so much, they must have been trying to avoid taking a hit for some reason. And besides, something needed to be done to stop Sena and Shell’s momentum. They had taken full control of the battle and were slowly pulling N into their own pace, whether he realized it or not. They were like a Pokemon using Rollout - slow to start, but once they really ramped up speed it was hard to stop them.
Zoroark’s eyes glowed bright blue, and the air around the field visibly distorted. Hilbert found himself blinking stars out of his eyes as he saw the field in front of him twist and turn, and he shook his head to keep from getting dizzy. As expected, the two remaining clones of Shell could not stand up to the area-wide attack, and they winked out of existence the moment their image began to warp. Shell itself froze in place, its outline glowing blue, and for a brief moment Hilbert thought that N had finally managed to catch the evasive Pokemon.
Then, against all expectations, the bug gave a ghastly rattle and charged, the blue aura around it shattering into nonexistence. Before either N or Zoorark could let out more than a shocked yelp, it bodily tackled the vulpine Pokemon in the stomach yet again, sending it tumbling backwards across the arena.
As Zoroark stood up on shaking legs, N was mumbling to himself over the revelation that Shell was apparently immune to psychic moves.
“So, it’s a Dark type as well…? But that Focus Blast wasn’t able to hit it earlier either, so...Ghost and Dark? But that bug-like appearance…” He brought a hand to his chin, contemplating, unknowingly mimicking Cheren, who was doing the same over in the judge’s box. Hilbert himself wondered if N was making the right conclusion here. It was the obvious deduction to make, after seeing that Shell took no damage from either of the aforementioned attacks, but...he couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else going on here. Sena had been an alarmingly disorienting opponent, but behind all the strange code words, the befuddling tactics, the blinding speed, his strategy was surprisingly straightforward. Dodge attacks you couldn’t take, strike your opponent when they were most surprised, face your opponent head on in a clash of wills. If Shell had been part Dark type, Hilbert had a feeling Sena wouldn’t be having Shell dodge those Night Slashes every single time. No, he’d most likely drive Shell into a direct clash whenever possible, having him dive into the attacks like he did with that Focus Blast at the very beginning of the battle. Hilbert hadn’t watched Sena battle before this, but from what Sena had said before…
“I mean, I used to be the kind of person that would run away from even the slightest chance of getting hurt. But that’s not something me, or my Pokemon, want to run from anymore - we’re facing forward, as a team.”
Sena was…a pretty straightforward guy at heart, Hilbert thought. He was always looking forward without hesitation, and Hilbert was sure that Sena battled the same way, too. The way he used disorienting speed was most likely him just leaning into his own strengths rather than trying to intentionally be misleading. But could N see the same thing that Hilbert saw? Could he see the truth behind Sena’s battle? If he couldn’t, then...Sena had this match won.
“What’s wrong?” Sena shouted, bouncing on the toes of his feet. He was still smiling, but his face reflected more of that strange, wild excitement that Hilbert couldn’t place, couldn’t find a name for. What sort of feeling was Sena experiencing when battling, and how did it make him and his partner so strong, so hard to reach? “Are you done, then? Is that all you’ve got?”
“Of course not!” N snapped, while Zoroark hissed alongside him. “We still can go on!”
“Then show it to us! Your resolve!” Sena laughed, throwing a hand out. “Let’s go, Shell! Another sweep!”
“Night Daze!” N ordered, even before Shell started splitting into numerous Double Team copies once again. Maybe N was starting to see the pattern now, going straight for wide area attacks and nothing else. Maybe he’d actually get to catch Shell this time, especially since it was too far away to counter with that strange technique from last time, that...fourth dimension whatever. But Sena still didn’t seem alarmed, so…?
“Intercept ‘em, Shell!” Shell, surprisingly, stopped in its tracks, the copies doing the same. They all watched, in one straight line, as Zoroark once again gathered energy into its front paws, raising it above its head to slam into the ground.
And once the energy had been fully gathered, Shell and its copies let out a loud, continuous, unearthly rattle, all of them building up on each other and combining into an ear-splitting Screech attack that had everyone on the field covering their ears. Zoroark let out a pained cry and stopped forming its attack, holding its head in pain. Hilbert could easily imagine what the Pokemon was going through - thanks to holding Oshawott, he could only use one hand to cover his ears, and could swear that the rattling was echoing inside his skull. He’d wondered how an attack called Screech could lower an opponent’s defense before this, but on seeing it now...Zoroark did look truly defenseless, even more so when the copies stopped their attacks and charged forward once more. An unrelenting line, all of them charging up more chartreuse colored energy to attack once again.
N was still holding his ears when he sent out his next command - a Grass Knot attack, to try and trip up Shell and the copies.
Zoroark swayed in a dizzy motion, steadying itself, before slamming one paw on the ground. Innumerous vines burst from where it struck, overtaking the field as they reached up to entangle the oncoming wave of incorrigible bugs. The copies vanished.
And Shell itself continued forward, the vines bouncing off its carapace harmlessly.
“What?!” N yelped out, recoiling backwards in shock. Cheren whipped his body around to look at Sena and Shell so violently his glasses nearly flew off, and even Hilbert nearly dropped Oshawott in alarm, this unexpected resistance catching him off guard. It wasn’t affected by Grass type moves, either? That couldn’t be right, there weren’t any types that completely negated grass moves, so maybe he had used a command to secretly order Shell to use Protect? But no, the only thing Sena had told Shell to do was a sweep, which had seemed to only be a straightforward charge, so...that “intercept” command? But that was just to interrupt that Night Daze, wasn’t it?
Everyone on the field was so stunned by the reveal that they all realized too late that Shell was still charging forward.
“Finish this, Shell! X-Scissor!”
This was the first and only straightforward command Sena had given all match. Like he didn’t see the need to think of strange commands or snap decisions, making the final blow a straightforward clash between him and his opponent.
Like he was already declaring his victory.
“Zoroark! Hurry and-” N panicked, looking up from whatever internal monologue he’d been caught in, but it was too late to even warn his partner. The vulpine Pokemon struck out once with a hastily formed Night Slash, which Shell easily dodged under to slam itself right into its chest, driving them both into the wall behind N. Dust kicked up around them, causing N to cover his face and cough, unable to see the inevitable result of the attack. As the dust cleared and Shell flew out back to Sena’s side, N turned behind him in panic. “Zoroark!”
There was an X-shaped crater in the wall where Zoroark was currently lying in. Bits and pieces of brick were still crumbling off, clattering to the ground unceremoniously as Zoroark slumped forward, before collapsing to the ground in a heap, its eyes in dizzying swirls. Cheren ran out from the judge’s box to get a closer look, before declaring the result.
“Z...Zoroark is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Shell and Sena!”
Hilbert mutely watched as Sena cheered out a “Touchdown!” in that accented voice of his, before taking Shell into his hands to bump heads with it. The strange Pokemon let out a soft rattle, clearly happy with its victory as it accepted Sena’s praise for a well-fought match. On the other end of the battlefield, N gently soothed his own partner, helping it back up to its feet as it shook dust and gravel out of its fur. He looked just as conflicted as Hilbert felt, the entire momentum of this battle having thrown them both off from the beginning. There was...so much to wonder about, to consider.
This battle did give some answers, Hilbert reflected. But as he expected...it brought up so many more questions. About Sena, about N, about himself and his own journey.
He wondered if he would ever find the answer.
---
wonder armor sure is a bitch, huh
the final confrontation about sena what the fuck is up with your weirdass eldritch bug and also what the fuck did you do will be next snippet!