CH63 (677), First Gym Battle (10)

'Water Gun,' I directly ordered and Ryujin/Gyarados released the move nearly instantly. Just as I expected, Ryujin's Water Gun, being both mastered and the recipient of both a STAB as well a rain bonus, was powerful enough to destroy Bisharp's Air Slash. In fact, it even continued on to Bisharp, forcing it to dodge out of the way of the attack.

"Thunder Punch," Stephanie countered which forced Ryujin, who had been about to shift his head to hit Bisharp with his Water Gun, to abort his attack. 'Dragon Breath,' I countered the counter, and Ryujin switched the moves just as Bisharp attempted to punch the Water Gun in hopes of shocking Ryujin.

That ended up with Bisharp's fist being bathed in Dragon Breath, which made it withdraw its arm in pain. There was obviously no way that Ryuji would simply let it get away like that and he tilted his head to the right to let the Dragon Breath follow and hit Bisharp.

"Flash, then close in, and Fury Dance," Stephanie ordered as soon as Ryujin switched up his move and I could not help but wonder what kind of combination Fury Dance was. I suspected that Fury Cutter was part of it but the second part left me blank since any non-offensive moves were still blocked by Taunt. "Breaking Swipe," 'then follow up with Dragon Pulse,' I ordered out loud before finishing the order telepathically.

Bisharp briefly blocked the Dragon Breath with Flash Cannon, before rushing toward Ryujin, its arm blades shining in green, which had me confirm that one of the components of Fury Dance was Fury Cutter. Shortly before Bisharp made it to Ryujin's side, Ryujin made his move and performed a Breaking Swipe, and just as Ryujin's tail was about to hit Bisharp, it jumped over the tail. Bisharp even did a half pirouette in the air and slashed at the tail as it passed underneath Bisharp.

The hit/slash caused Ryujin's tail to jerk a bit causing it to deviate from its original course, and I noted the greenish energy becoming bigger once the arm blade connected. Nonetheless, just because the Breaking Swipe missed, did not mean that Bisharp was safe, and it learned that nearly instantly when it got a faceful of Dragon Pulse while it was still in the air.

Well, calling it a faceful was not correct since Bisharp managed to cross its arms in front of its face before the Dragon Pulse hit, so while it got hit and sent flying by the move, it managed to keep its face safe. "Dark Pulse," Stephanie ordered directly when Bisharp was sent flying, and I naturally followed suit. "Surf," I ordered before doing a telepathic follow-up, 'then once it's soaked, use Blizzard'.

Bisharp fired off a Dark Pulse as soon as its feet touched the ground and it had secured a proper balance. Meanwhile, Ryujin's Surf was already heading toward Bisharp, and it had no choice but to try to use Dark Pulse to keep itself safe. Dark Pulse cut/forced open a gap in front of Bisharp, saving it from getting submerged by the wave, though some water still splashed onto it as the wave passed by its sides, and while that did no damage to Bisharp, it did meet the reason why Ryujin used Surf in the first place. Ryujin naturally directly followed up with Blizzard and Bisharp had no way to counter the freezing snowstorm, at least not that I knew of.

"Spin, and keep up Dark Pulse," Stephanie immediately ordered and just as Bisharp's limbs started to frost over, it began to spin in place. It then began to release Dark Pulse while it was spinning, creating a dark pseudo shield that kept the Blizzard away from it. Not only that, but its consistent spinning ensured that the cold caused by Blizzard did not affect it as well since the Dark Pulse was unable to stop that part of Blizzard.

I had to admit that this was a clever counter from Stephanie, but this was not going to stop us. Not if I could help it. 'Stop Blizzard and switch to Whirlpool but make sure the Whirlpool spins in the counterclock direction. Once Bisharp is caught in Whirlpool, freeze the whirlpool into an ice block,' I instructed Ryujin to perform something akin to a pseudo-Sheer Cold.

Ryujin stopped sustaining the Blizzard and began building up the Whirlpool. The Blizzard persisted for another 4-5 seconds even after Ryujin stopped feeding it any energy, so Bisharp had to keep spinning even if they noticed the Whirlpool that Ryujin was brewing.

Anyway, 4-5 seconds was enough time for Ryujin to produce a decently sized Whirlpool, so just as Bisharp was freed from fending off Blizzard, it got submerged in Whirlpool, and since the Whirlpool was spinning counterclockwise while Birsharp was spinning clockwise, Bisharp and the Whirlpool were forced to a brief stop or rather a deceleration by the contradicting forces of their spins. While this weakened the force/might of the Whirlpool, it also allowed the water to pass through Bisharp's dark shield and submerge it, which was crucial if we wanted to properly freeze Bisharp.

The Ice Beam that Ryujin released straight after Whirpool hit the center where Bisharp was located at the exact moment both parties slowed down and while Stephanie was calling out "Switch to Flash Cannon" the water around Bisharp was freezing up. I noticed the energy around Bisharp changing from black to greyish-white, but it got encased in ice in short order regardless. Ryujin only stopped using Ice Beam once the whole Whirlpool was frozen up, sealing Bisharp in roughly 9 to 10-meter-thick ice. Well, 4 to 5-meter-thick ice if we took into account that Bisharp was imprisoned in the center of the ice block.

"DD, while Bisharp is immobilized," I instructed knowing that the referee would not end the battle since there was some light coming from within the ice which meant that Bisharp was still struggling. 'Start charging a Draco Meteor after the fourth Dragon Dance, but don't release it until I tell you to,' I followed up telepathically and Ryujin initiated his first Dragon Dance right after I finished.

There was nothing else he could do that would not accelerate the destruction of the ice prison he created, so boosting himself while charging a super-strong attack was better especially since I was planning to have him follow up with a Dragon Rush once Draco Meteor was successful.

My estimation ended up being a bit off since the ice began shaking just after Ryujin completed his first Dragon Dance, with slight cracks appearing by the time he finished his second Dragon Dance. The ice block also kept getting brighter and brighter while this happened. I chose to adjust my previous order at this point. I told Ryujin to start charging Draco Meteor after completing his third Dragon Dance.

The ice block broke apart just as Ryujin started to charge Draco Meteor. Actually, breaking apart was not the right description. The ice practically exploded, sending ice shards in all directions, with some of them crashing into Ryujin, who flinched but otherwise ignored them in favor of charging Draco Meteor.

"Taunt, then T Chop," Stephanie swiftly ordered after her Bisharp regained its freedom. The Taunt succeeded proving that Ryujin's Taunt had expired while Bisharp was frozen. Either way, Taunt did not stop Ryujin from charging Draco Meteor, so he ignored it. I kept a close watch as Bisharp rushed towards Ryujin, its arms glowing an ominous black.

'Aim for Bisharp. Fire now,' I ordered once Bisharp reached critical closeness. Ryujin immediately fired the Draco Meteor at Bisharp, and the big clump of draconic energy flew at Bisharp, impacting it without giving it any time to react. The Draco Meteor exploded on impact, sending Bisharp flying backward. 'Now Dragon Rush it,' I ordered and swiftly Ryujin followed after Bisharp while clad in draconic energy.

"Guillotine," Stephanie ordered moments before Ryujin hit Bisharp. Bisharp raised its arm and took Ryujin head-on as he slammed into it, bringing its arm down upon impact. Ryujin dragged Bisharp along the ground for a few more meters, and we all saw both Pokemon struggling to regain their bearing after their latest clash. I was once again thankful that the game's one-hit k.o moves were not real Ohko moves here while I watched Ryujin wheezing. Bisharp on the other hand was shaking all over.

"Hydro Pump/Hyper Beam," Stephanie and I ordered simultaneously. Despite their bad states, both Pokemon executed the moves without hesitation. Hydro Pump and Hyper Beam clashed with neither side giving in to the other. Both Pokemon gave it their all, but eventually, Ryujin's Hydro Pump began to overwhelm Bisharp's Hyper Beam and slammed into Bisharp.

When Ryujin finally ceased his attack, everyone was able to see Bisharp on its knees, struggling to stand back up. Just as I was about to speak up, Bisharp's arms gave in and it fell face-first onto the ground. Yet, it still clung to its consciousness and tried to move its body in an attempt to stand back up. Sadly, all it managed to do was to wriggle on the ground.

"Mark, you've done well," Stephanie first addressed her Bisharp before raising her hand. "I'm forfeiting Mark. He's done," she declared, and the referee accepted her concession. "Gym Leader Stephanie has forfeited her Bisharp, so Gyarados is the victor," the referee announced, and Ryujin actually slumped after he said that. Ryujin was still conscious, but he obviously was in no shape to keep fighting.

"I'm forfeiting Ryujin as well," I declared after raising my hand and no one seemed surprised by my decision. "You've done a great job,' I then praised Ryujin before recalling him. I did not bother having Ryujin cancel the rain that was still going on. "Since the challenger has forfeited his Pokemon, both parties will send out their next Pokemon at the same time, and the battle will start as soon as the Pokemon appear on the field," the referee declared before addressing both of us.

"Please ready your PokeBalls," he said before giving us a few seconds to take out the Pokeball of our next fighter. I naturally took out Stan/Gyarados' ball and I saw Stephanie taking out her next ball as well. I was pretty sure that it contained her Scizor. "You've made it to the last step. Try not to falter at the last moment," Stephanie said. "I won't make it easy for you until the very end," she declared.

"I did not expect anything else," I replied with a smile. "Are you ready?" The referee asked after allowing our little exchange, and we both confirmed that we were ready. Following that, the referee began the countdown, and upon receiving the starting signal we both released our Pokemon.

"It's the final waltz, Ronin," Stephanie declared as she released her Pokemon, which as I expected ended up being her (low) platinum-stage Scizor. "DD, Stan," I kept it simple and Stan appeared on the field. His Intimidate triggered as soon as he did, offsetting part of the Sword Dance that Scizor performed as soon as it appeared. Intimidate activated on its own, and did not interfere with Stan's Dragon Dance.

"Take off/Q Slash," Stephanie and I ordered simultaneously. Scizor and Stan, who finished their dancing moves roughly at the same time as well, directly followed our orders. Scizor rushed towards Stan at increased speed and tried to Slash him. However, it failed and passed below Stan who took off into the air using Fly.

"Hydro Pump," I called out and Stan shot the move at Scizor from above. "Double Team," Stephanie ordered at nearly the same time, and Scizor split into multiple Scizor, effectively dodging Stan's Hydro Pump, which hit one of the copies. "Surf," I followed up to get rid of all clones and reveal the real Scizor.

"Up, squeeze through with F Cannon," Stephanie reacted as soon as I said Surf. Once the order was given all Scizor rose into the air, aimed their arm up, and fired off a Flash Cannon toward the water/wave that was falling down. The beam cut an opening into the water and Scizor flew through the hole it opened up. The whole thing happened rather quickly since the water fell down while Scizor concurrently headed up.

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