This chapter was actually really hard to write, so I imagine it might be really hard to follow. The basic problem as I ran into it is that text isn't a good medium for chaotic battles, especially team-on-team ones. The original draft even had Marita in there too, but I cut her involvement because it just made things too messy. That's also the reason there isn't much in the ways of Protect, Stealth Rock, Spikes, that kind of thing—it just makes things too hard to follow, so I sacrificed complexity for readability (even though realistically a master vs master battle would be so full of that kind of stuff that it'd be impossible to follow... but that wouldn't be fun to read). Still, I think it's interesting to see what happens in high-level battles where the gloves are off. It really shows how restrained even type A battling is, and how being extremely powerful isn't always an advantage because you suddenly have to start checking your strength.
I also think it's a little amusing that Marita was stated to have titans on her team, but Raleigh's team is named after the actual titans.
Chapter 34 - Too Far
Sam strode down the brightly lit corridor of the Neo League headquarters. Marita led the way by a few paces, and Sam imagined that if she could’ve seen Marita’s face, she’d have seen a downright intimidating, steely resolve.
Marita rounded a corner, Sam right behind her. They were almost to the conference room where Raleigh was meeting with Neo League officials and Idaman politicians. What his goals there were irrelevant. Any questioning would be a formality, little more.
They reached the conference room moments later, and Marita threw open the wooden doors without so much as knocking first. Sure enough, Raleigh was inside, seated at a circular table. An Idaman man in a suit stood by a blackboard, making some kind of presentation or another, which was halted by their arrival. Everyone stared at the two Pokémon Masters as they entered.
“Raleigh Camulus,” Marita announced. “Come with us.”
Raleigh looked around with facetious incredulity on his face. “Why?”
“In the interest of saving face, I suggest you come with us first and question us later.”
Snorting in amusement, Raleigh said, “I have nothing to hide.”
“Very well. I’m taking you into custody on suspicion of being a Team Rocket executive.”
The mocking smile faded from Raleigh’s face. “Team Rocket?”
One of the men sitting to Raleigh’s left eyed him oddly. “Perhaps you might do well to explain your… political connections. I think Ms. Gartner’s confusion stems from a very basic misunderstanding.”
“There’s no misunderstanding,” Marita assured the man. “But sure, I’ll listen to what you have to say.”
Sam glared at Raleigh. “First, I’d like an answer to one simple question. Do these connections of yours involve a longtime Team Rocket colleague named Roland?”
Raleigh’s eyes widened considerably. Mere heartbeats later, he was on his feet, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a small pistol. He aimed a quick shot at Marita and dashed out of the room as Sam drew a pokéball.
“Go, Ishtar!” Sam shouted as she threw the ball. “Chase him down! Don’t let him get away!”
Ishtar the Garchomp was off before Sam could finish her order. Ishtar was a well-trained Pokémon. She didn’t need to know anything other than the fact that she was to pursue a fleeing enemy.
Sam spared a glance at Marita, who was leaning against the wall. Marita didn’t seem too badly injured. Sam didn’t have enough time to help Marita, so she set off, taking out another pokéball as she ran. Raleigh wasn’t a fool—he’d have his Pokémon guarding his escape path, and they’d be strong enough to stop Ishtar in her tracks.
“Go, Gilgamesh!” Sam shouted as she ran. “Follow Ishtar! Don’t let Raleigh escape!”
Sure enough, Ishtar was entangled fighting a Ferrothorn and a Skarmory only a hundred metres or so away. Gilgamesh the Dragonite didn’t stop to fight them, instead charging through both opposing Pokémon with a blazing aura surrounding him. Sam took the opportunity to slip by as Ishtar leapt upon Ferrothorn, slashing and biting it ferociously.
Sam caught up with Raleigh a minute or two later, near the entrance to the rear training arena. It made sense for Raleigh to head there—it gave him a defensible position near an exit, perfect to discourage Sam and Marita from pursuing and allowing him to fight the both of them on even footing should they catch up.
As if to prove that point, Gilgamesh seemed hopelessly outnumbered against a Tyranitar, Blissey, Gliscor, Magnezone, and Heatran. The five Pokémon circled around Gilgamesh, each hesitant to make the first move. Finally, the Tyranitar leapt at Gilgamesh, provoking the start of what would certainly have been a gruesome defeat.
Time to even those odds.
“Go, Enkidu! Sin!” Sam shouted, throwing two pokéballs. Enkidu the Salamence and Sin the Hydreigon materialized in front of her. Sin didn’t have to wait for orders, instead rushing off to aid Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh, wrestling with Tyranitar, was unable to defend himself against a thunderbolt from Magnezone, nor a subsequent flamethrower from Heatran. A well-aimed pulse from Sin’s left mouth struck Tyranitar in the face, knocking it away from Gilgamesh and giving the Dragonite a precious moment to recover.
“Enkidu, Draco Meteor!” Sam shouted. As Enkidu took to the air, Sam grabbed Gilgamesh’s pokéball and withdrew him. A second later, several meteors struck the battlefield, dazing the opposing Pokémon but knocking out none of them.
“Cronus, Hyper Beam her!” Raleigh shouted.
Sam barely had time to run out of the way as Cronus the Tyranitar spewed a beam of energy directly at her. It hit the wall behind where she’d just been, causing it to explode into a burst of shrapnel, some of which struck her, cutting into her. She felt the heat convection from the beam along her right arm, blisters and burns forming on her skin.
Most Pokémon battles were highly ritualized, kept within strict rules that ensured both trainers and their Pokémon would remain safe. Sam and Raleigh were free from such hindrances, which meant that attacking the other trainer directly was the quickest route to victory. It was battle at its most raw, its most brutal. Sam could almost appreciate the freedom to unleash her skills to their fullest.
“Go, Gilgamesh!” Sam shouted. “Extremespeed Blissey! Sin, Dragon Rush Gliscor!” She hesitated a brief moment before adding, “No quarter!”
The only restriction on type A battles was that you couldn’t kill your opponent’s Pokémon. This simple rule altered strategy in ways not even masters could fully understand until they’d fought free of that restriction. Her goal wasn’t to tire out Raleigh’s Pokémon, to make them yield, to cause them to faint. She was free to kill every single one of them if it meant capturing Raleigh, and they were free to do the same.
Sam was undisputedly weaker than Raleigh at type A battling, but the question remained: Did that advantage carry over to their current battle? He certainly had the numerical advantage. Even if Ishtar returned, she was outnumbered over two to one against Raleigh’s entire team.
“Hyperion, Zap Cannon that Dragonite!” Raleigh shouted. This was his first mistake, and Sam didn’t even need to capitalize on it—everything was set up in her favour already.
The blast of electricity caught Gilgamesh hard on his left flank, throwing him off the wounded Blissey. Raleigh’s Heatran was busy with Enkidu, however, and with Raleigh’s attention focused on Gilgamesh, Sin had the time required to deliver the first fatal blow of the fight.
A loud, screeching cry came from behind Sam, but she couldn’t afford to turn to see what it was. Against every one of her instincts, she forced her focus to remain on Enkidu. That Heatran would give him more trouble than Hyperion would give Gilgamesh.
Rather than give Heatran a chance to cause any unnecessary damage, Sam recalled Enkidu. “Gilgamesh, Fire Blast!”
Gilgamesh inhaled deeply and breathed a torrent of fire at Hyperion the Magnezone. Despite that Hyperion was made of metal, it was overall less durable than Gilgamesh, which was made apparent as Gilgamesh increased the intensity of his flames, heating Hyperion’s metal body so much it began to glow.
“Blizzard!” Sam shouted. As she did, she felt a gust of wind from behind her, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Ishtar run by, headed towards Blissey. Heatran couldn’t get to Blissey before Ishtar sunk her claws into the happiness Pokémon’s soft flesh.
The icy blast from Gilgamesh’s wings froze Hyperion’s heated metallic body, contracting the metal fast enough that it audibly snapped in parts. This wouldn’t necessarily kill Hyperion, but it would take it out of the fight.
“Thea, no mercy!” Raleigh shouted, enraged at the permanent loss of another Pokémon and the temporary loss of another. “Magma Storm! Cronus, kill that Hydreigon!”
Sam snap-recalled Ishtar before the swirling fire could engulf her. She winced at the effort it took to move her right arm. Switching Pokémon left-handed took more time than doing it right-handed, and that time could easily cost her. “Go, Enkidu! Dragon Dance towards that Heatran and Outrage!”
Enkidu flapped his wings several times and took to the air, swirling and rolling, building up speed and momentum. He dodged another swirl of fire from Thea the Heatran, and Sam turned her attention towards Sin, who was keeping his distance from Cronus, periodically shooting ineffectual pulses of energy at him from various mouths.
“Go, Ishtar!” Sam said. “Dig under the arena and hit that Tyranitar from below.”
Sam would just have to trust that Sin could hold his own until Ishtar joined the fight. She watched as Enkidu sped directly through a wall of flame and struck Thea over the head. He followed by tearing his claws through Heatran’s iron hide.
“Enkidu, Hyper Beam!” Sam shouted.
“Cronus, Earthquake!” Raleigh yelled. As the tremors shook Sam and probably slowed or even stopped Ishtar from surfacing, he returned his attention to Thea and swore loudly. He tried to recall the Heatran, but Gilgamesh blocked the beam. Swearing some more, Raleigh dug out two more pokéballs. “Go, Tethys, Themis! Save Thea at all costs!”
Tethys the Cloyster stayed near Raleigh and shot wave after wave of spikes at the enemy dragons while Themis the Lucario dashed towards them. Gilgamesh took several spike hits directly, one even piercing his hide at the shoulder. Sam winced as she saw this, but Gilgamesh succeeded at buying Enkidu the time he needed to end Thea.
The Hyper Beam tore through Thea’s wounded hide, sending chunks of iron and flesh flying. Thea howled in agony, a deep roar that chilled Sam with how much suffering it conveyed. Had this been a type A battle, Sam would have simply ordered Dragonbreath, and Enkidu would have known to hold back. Now, however, her Pokémon were free to hit as hard as they felt like, and with that came the freedom to inflict horrible amounts of pain. Exercising this freedom was a terrible thing.
After several more tries, Raleigh was able to shoot a recall beam past Gilgamesh, removing Thea from the battlefield. Themis reached Gilgamesh and leapt up, aiming a kick at the dragon’s face. Gilgamesh beat his wings and flew back and upwards, dodging the blow. Themis landed easily in front of Enkidu, who was temporarily too tired to take advantage of Themis’ tactical blunder.
“Gilgamesh, Double Team!” Sam shouted. “Enkidu, rush that Cloyster! Hit Raleigh too if you can!”
“Oh no you don’t,” Raleigh grunted as he threw another two pokéballs. “Go, Phoebe! Psychic! Mnemosyne, Ice Beam!”
Phoebe the Espeon’s eyes glowed brightly, and one of the illusory Dragonites around Gilgamesh faded away. Mnemosyne the Starmie shot a beam at Sin, striking the dark dragon from behind. Sin roared in pain and spun around, firing a snapshot energy pulse at Mnemosyne, which was blocked by a shimmering barrier.
“Cronus, Stone Edge!” Raleigh shouted, seeing the same opening Sam did.
With Sin’s attention away from Cronus, he couldn’t stop the bigger, heavier Pokémon from rushing at him at exceptional velocity, tackling him to the ground. All three of Sin’s heads screamed at once, shocking Sam to the point that she fumbled Sin’s pokéball. Sin took a hard blow to the back of his primary head before Sam could recall him. That hesitation meant she couldn’t send Sin out again, lest potential brain injury result in his death.
That left Gilgamesh and Enkidu alone for the time being. Again, Ishtar’s return wasn’t something Sam could rely on. Was it time to summon Shamash?
No, Sam thought.
I can still pull this out of the fire without relying on a god.
“Enkidu, point-blank Draco Meteor!” Sam shouted. “Gilgamesh, send a second wave of meteors immediately after!”
Enkidu was barely off the ground before he summoned a wave of meteorites that struck the ground evenly around him. He was barely out of range of the shrapnel from Gilgamesh’s meteors when they hit. Themis was able to escape in time, but Tethys wasn’t, one of the meteors even striking her shell directly.
As the smoke cleared, Sam saw Phoebe lying on the ground, unmoving. Tethys’ shell was closed, which meant the shellfish wouldn’t have been injured. Well, one out of two wasn’t bad, although it meant Enkidu was dangerously close to Cronus.
“Enkidu, up and out!” Sam shouted. “Dragon Dance!”
Enkidu managed a nearly ninety degree upward turn, spinning as he ascended. Sam was thankful that Ishtar had already taken out Raleigh’s only flying Pokémon, since flight was the only tactical advantage she had. Everything else came from raw strength, thorough training, and trust in Sam’s orders.
“Mnemosyne, shoot an Ice Beam at that Dragonite!” Raleigh shouted. “Cronus, stay close to me. Themis, Swords Dance! Prepare for Salamence’s descent! Tethys, watch for that Garchomp’s re-emergence!”
The corner of Sam’s mouth twitched in annoyance. She’d hoped Raleigh wouldn’t dedicate a Pokémon entirely to watch for Ishtar, as that meant Ishtar would be ambushed the moment she came out of the ground.
No time to think about that now, Sam thought as Gilgamesh narrowly dodged the Ice Beam. “Enkidu, Outrage!”
“Themis, High Jump Kick!”
Being far larger and more massive, Enkidu would have knocked Themis aside easily had their collision been head-on. Instead, Themis leapt to Enkidu’s side, delivering a sharp axe kick to the dragon’s wing joint. Enkidu crashed into the ground, and was immediately struck by an Ice Beam.
“Gods
damn it,” Sam muttered as she recalled Enkidu. This was serious now. She reached for Shamash’s ball, but Raleigh’s shout stopped her cold.
“Themis, kill Ms. Lindstrom!”
Only the sudden emergence of Ishtar from the ground in front of Sam saved her life. Several of Tethys’ spikes bounced off Ishtar’s hide as she clawed and bit at Themis, who was barely fast enough to dodge. Themis held his hands out in front of him, a glowing aura sphere growing around them. The sphere then shot at Ishtar, knocking her backwards slightly and exposing her underside, which was promptly pierced by several more spikes. None went deep enough to be fatal, but they’d restrict Ishtar’s movements to the point where she’d be useless in combat.
Sam ignored the searing pain shooting down her burnt right arm, recalling Ishtar at the same time as she drew a master ball with her good left arm.
All right, that’s enough, Sam thought. She was hesitant to call out her final and strongest Pokémon, hoping that she could win without needing to rely on the power of a god, but such a victory was looking increasingly remote. She held the master ball tightly in her grip for several lengthy heartbeats, and then threw it in front of her.
“Go, Shamash!”
A giant white dragon materialized in front of Sam, shining feathers and plume adorned by the blazing aura surrounding it. It roared as it took in its surroundings, bright eyes keenly observing every detail of the battle.
“Blue Flare!”
Shamash the Reshiram opened its mouth and shot a blue-white flame at Themis, too fast for him to dodge. The blast incinerated the Lucario too quickly for Raleigh to recall him.
“Gilgamesh, withdraw to me!” Sam shouted. “Shamash, break up their defensive line! Fusion Flare!”
The blazing aura around Shamash coalesced into a great sphere of fire, tearing across the battlefield. Mnemosyne the Starmie leapt in front of the attack, a shimmering barrier in front of it. The barrier withstood the Fusion Flare for a moment, then shattered under its intensity. Raleigh recalled Mnemosyne before it could be incinerated like Themis.
“Go, Oceanus!” Raleigh shouted. This was his final Pokémon unless he had any that defied his naming scheme. Oceanus turned out to be a Tentacruel, which Sam figured might be able to withstand an attack from Shamash, maybe two. Raleigh smirked and nodded to Cronus. “This is what we’ve been waiting for. Bring down that Reshiram!”
Cronus roared and began to charge. The ground shook with every step he took, and radiant energy crackled around the spikes on his back.
“Shamash, Flamethrower,” Sam ordered. Shamash breathed flames in front of it, which burned and smouldered on the arena floor. As Cronus burst through them, Sam followed this order with, “Blue Flare!”
The jet of fire hit Cronus’ rocky hide like a blowtorch, and though Cronus staggered from the force of the impact, he retaliated with the single brightest Hyper Beam that Sam had ever seen from any Pokémon, including her own. It struck Shamash in the chest, halting its attack and eliciting a brief cry of pain from the god.
Cronus’ chest glowed reddish-yellow from Shamash’s attack, but this didn’t hinder his movements in the slightest as he ran at Shamash, tackling it with a Giga Impact.
Sam ducked away from Shamash, bidding Gilgamesh to follow her. Once she was a safe enough distance away, she shouted, “Shamash, Draco Meteor!”
Unlike her other Pokémon, Shamash didn’t need to take flight in order to summon a meteor strike. Also unlike her other Pokémon, Shamash only summoned a single meteor, albeit one significantly larger than any she’d seen even from Gilgamesh. The meteor hit Cronus in the back, snapping several of his spikes and pinning him to the ground. He rolled away with alacrity a creature of his mass shouldn’t have had, and with another roar leapt again at Shamash, biting the god’s wing and attempting to tear away feather or even flesh. Shamash flapped the wing contemptuously, shaking Cronus free.
He’s got to give me an opening soon, Sam thought.
Shamash is just going to sweep him otherwise. Not even Cronus is going to win in the long run.
The only question was whether or not Raleigh had truly expended all his Pokémon. If he had, then Oceanus moving away from him would leave him open to a counterattack from Gilgamesh. If he hadn’t, then he could easily call out another Pokémon to block her dragon’s advance and probably take one or both out of the fight.
Raleigh looked between Gilgamesh and Shamash. “Oceanus, Hydro Pump that Reshiram!”
A rush of elation surged through Sam. This was it. Oceanus would have to move away from Raleigh to get to the optimal distance to shoot from, which gave Gilgamesh a perfect opening. It was a calculated risk on Raleigh’s part, and now a calculated risk on Sam’s. If Oceanus was able to get back to protect Raleigh before Gilgamesh could reach him, there was a strong probability Oceanus would take down Gilgamesh. If that happened, she’d be defenseless.
But she had to try.
“Gilgamesh, Extremespeed!
Now!” Sam shouted.
Gilgamesh’s feet left the ground not even a half second later, and he flew at Raleigh with blinding speed. Raleigh couldn’t react except to widen his eyes slightly, and Oceanus was too slow in moving to protect him. Gilgamesh struck Raleigh at full speed, lifting him up off the ground. Raleigh flew back from the impact, and for a brief moment Sam thought he was going to be okay, right until he landed. Raleigh’s head jerked back and rebounded off the ground and his body went limp. As Sam had feared, Gilgamesh couldn’t help but apply excessive force, even when he tried not to.
The shock stunned Oceanus for several seconds, long enough for Gilgamesh to leap into the air, summon several meteors to strike him, and land with an Outrage attack that cracked Oceanus’ shell. A blow from Gilgamesh’s tail sent Oceanus to the ground.
Cronus wouldn’t be going down so easily. Battered, broken, and burnt, the Tyranitar still had every bit the rage and fury he entered the fight with. He had an indomitable spirit, which meant Sam had no choice but to have Shamash kill him. Oceanus might surrender. Cronus wouldn’t.
“Blue Flare!” Sam ordered again. She wasn’t going to be charitable or sporting. Blue Flare was Shamash’s most powerful attack, and she’d have Shamash use it over and over again until Cronus was defeated. “Gilgamesh, make sure Oceanus doesn’t get back up, but don’t kill him unless you have to.”
Shamash’s fire glanced off Cronus’ side, melting the rock armour on his left shoulder. Cronus howled and stomped his foot on the ground, raising broken shards of the arena floor into the air. Eyes glowing, Cronus shot a beam of light at Shamash, which barely caused the god to flinch. The glow didn’t leave Cronus’ body.
“Again!” Sam shouted.
Cronus charged through the fire, good arm raised, electricity crackling around it. This time, the fire burned through the armour on his right midsection, but again wasn’t enough to stop his advance. He leapt forward and punched Shamash, tendrils of electricity erupting from the impact point. Grabbing Shamash one-handed, Cronus hefted the god to the ground, and struck it with its tail.
“Again,” Sam said.
Lying on its back, Shamash easily aimed another Blue Flare at Cronus, this time catching him full in the chest. Cronus staggered back, and Shamash got up easily.
“Again,” Sam repeated.
This time, the Blue Flare penetrated Cronus’ chest armour, striking his innards. Cronus roared defiantly one last time, energy crackling in his mouth as if preparing a Hyper Beam. However, his injuries were too great, and he finally collapsed to the ground, dead but not defeated. Even at the end, his spirit had been unbreakable.
Sam leaned back against the arena wall. She cocked her head at Oceanus. “You’ve got two choices, Oceanus. Surrender and I’ll make sure you’re not put down. Or try your luck against Shamash.”
Thankfully, Oceanus didn’t try to call Sam’s bluff. Killing in the heat of battle was one thing, and Sam could live with that, but executing a combatant after the battle was over was beyond her. Killing someone who couldn't fight back was unthinkable. Oceanus wasn’t responsible for anything worth punishment, anyway. He was simply a Pokémon fighting at his master’s command. He and whatever other survivors were in Raleigh’s pokéballs were too valuable to put down.
“You did good, Shamash,” Sam said with a feeble smile, and recalled the Reshiram. She slid down the wall, finding herself unable to stand, and sat against it for what felt like forever, though realistically, it couldn’t have been more than ten or fifteen minutes.
Several police officers led by an Officer Jenny emerged from the rear entrance. They were followed by Eli Howe, another of the Pokémon Masters in Vientiane. Officer Jenny surveyed the scene for a moment, then sent one of her men back out. He returned with several paramedics a moment later.
Eli was the first one to reach Sam, and he extended a hand to her, which she took and let him help her to her feet. “I’m just gonna be blunt,” he said. “What happened?”
Sam nodded at Raleigh’s corpse. “Marita and I discovered he was a Team Rocket operative. When we confronted him, he fled, and when I caught up with him, he tried to kill me. I… acted in self-defense.”
“Gods among us,” Eli swore. “This is a real mess, you know that?”
Sam shrugged. “If I hadn’t done this, we’d never have caught Raleigh.”
“I believe you,” Eli said. He nodded over his shoulder to Officer Jenny. “But I’m afraid you’re going to have to answer a few questions first. Then we’ll take you to the station so you can make an official statement.”
So you wanna be a master of Pokémon? The lyrics to a pop rock song Sam enjoyed listening to in her early teens floated through her head.
Understand the secrets and have some fun?
“Yeah,” Sam said distantly.
Put myself to the test to be better than all the rest, Sam thought. She’d certainly done that much. Would she have chosen to pursue her adolescent dream of becoming a Pokémon Master if she knew this is what it would entail? Probably not.
The real world never did live up to adolescent fantasy.