16 Shining Gold (1/3)

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Sandshrew blurred forward, kicking up a huge dust cloud in her wake.

The sudden increase in speed surprised everyone but Izan, who had the biggest smile on his face.

He'd finally found one: An exploit.

Something that always bothered him about this world was its information. It was weird, in his opinion, that the people were informed about pretty much everything.

Mega Evolution was seen often. Fairy types were already an accepted typing. Certain obscure evolutions like Feebas' prism scale were common knowledge.

It slightly agitated him that his insider information was something you could pick up in a book or online.

But this was something no one really studied. Maybe Professor Kukui is secretly a slacker? The secondary effects of moves were a study barely looked into.

Sure they knew [Ice Beam] could freeze an opponent. That much was obvious. But did they know [Defense Curl] not only boosted [Rollout]'s damage but also increased its speed as well?

Not a chance in hell.

Vulpix whimpered in pain, flailing in confusion as she was hit with the force of a boulder, sending her flying through the air. There was a distinct look of confusion on her face, most likely from being unable to react to the attack.

Before she could hit the ground, Izan called out again. "Now let's finish her off, Sandshrew. Kick it into second gear!"

Sandshrew turned in her roll, another flash of brown emanating from her. And then she took off again like a jet, using a chink in the ground to angle herself upwards, straight to the falling Vulpix.

In hindsight, it wasn't terribly fast. But for trainers who were at this level? It was akin to being supersonic.

Izan's call snapped Aurora out of her stunned state. "Focus, Vulpix! Use [Tail Slap] on your way down!"

Vulpix, who was still flailing, heard Aurora's voice and steadied herself in the air. Flipping forward, her tails radiating white light, she slammed downward with her whole body.

Izan winced as the crowd leaned forward in interest. That was a bad move.

They clashed. A brief pause in the air as both sides opposed and pushed each other back. But the moment was just that, a moment.

*CRACK*

A loud snapping sound echoed through the battlefield as Sandshrew went through Vulpix's attack virtually unscathed. Her natural armor combined with Defense Curl just made it an unfair collision.

Landing on Aurora's side, she came out of her roll and slid on her feet smoothly.

Vulpix was sent flying even further, instantly fainting from the pain alone.

A collection of gasps and winces came from the crowd.

Izan blinked as she landed in front of him, her tail bent at an end. The damage was probably even worse considering Sandshrew steamrolled through her, but he didn't brood on it for too long.

'She'll be fine. Nurse Joy is here, and I've seen what Chansey can do.'

"Vulpix is unable to battle. For the sake of your Pokemon, please refrain from pushing them too hard, Ms. Stone." Joy's voice broke the silence.

Taking out the Heal Ball, Aurora returned Vulpix without fuss. She stared at the ball for a second as a glint formed in her eyes.

"I'll show you pushing too hard…" Izan barely heard her mutter.

He cringed. 'I'd know that tone anywhere. Saying she's pissed right now is an understatement.'

"Sandshrew get over here before she sends out her next Pokemon." Sandshrew obliged sluggishly. She wasn't used to fighting for this long, and all those moves were racking up on her energy reserves.

Taking out a Luxury Ball, Aurora wasted no movements sending out her final Pokemon, opting not to through the ball this time.

And with a flash, the temperature dropped a few degrees. The ground below its paws began to freeze. Its natural grace was matched by Aurora's cold fury.

Glaceon appeared.

Izan finally took initiative, wary of the canine. The power it had was enough to bridge whatever level gap was between it and Sandshrew.

"[Dig], Sandshrew. And stay under there until I say so."

Out of all the moves Izan wanted her to learn, that one was surprisingly easy for her to learn. Even easier than [Rollout], for some reason.

He figured it had something to do with her species.

Sandshrew was gaining confidence after defeating opponent after opponent. She made a throat-slitting gesture and pointed at Glaceon, quickly going underground right after.

"Freeze the ground, Glaceon. And follow it up with [Hail]." Aurora intoned.

A blast of freezing cold exploded from Glaceon, almost instantly freezing making a floor of ice where there was once dirt. Instead of hail, however, it began to lightly snow.

Either way, it was much colder than before. The warm air was nowhere to be found.

'I've seen [Hail] before in a league battle. This is nothing in comparison.' He shivered. 'I doubt Vulpix could've done this though. Glaceon's gonna be a problem, huh?'

The ice floor was actually a huge problem. Sandshrew's balance when using any move would be stunted, including the only supereffective move she knew.

She only had one other rock move but…

'Would that even help…? Worth a shot, I guess.'

"Now! And use [Poison Sting] on your way up!" Izan barked suddenly, breaking the lull in the fight.

From below Glaceon, a bulge instantly formed with a bang. Jumping back, she growled at it. Another bang later and Sandshrew flew out of the ground, her claw pointed upward.

'Gah dammit, the fucking ice blocked it!' Izan lamented internally.

Sandshrew landed on her feet but fell onto her rear, unused to standing on ice. Now that he could see her cold breath, he noticed she was panting pretty hard.

"Defensive mode, Glaceon. And then use [Tackle]. She's almost at her limits."

Glaceon let off a breeze of cold air, each strand of hair on its body becoming frozen. After a second, its fur stood up on end like needles, making it resemble an icy porcupine.

Getting low to the ground, it pounced toward Sandshrew, gracefully using the ice below to make it faster.

"Try and dodge it, Sandshrew!" Izan called out helplessly.

Glaceon slammed into Sandshrew as it tried to move away but failed and fell back down. A few scratches and holes in its body made themselves known as she was flung away.

Landing in front of Izan, she pitifully pushed on the ice below, standing up and pushing herself despite the clear exhaustion.

"Finish it off, Glaceon. [Freeze Dry]." Aurora commanded coldly.

For everyone else, it became a little warmer. But for Izan, who was right in front of the canine with a glowing blue orb of energy, it was downright frigid.

"Oi."

The cold from the area clumped up together, building up and concentrating into a single point of the Pokemon's maw. Frost began to spread on Sandshrew's body.

"OI."

Glaceon took the energy in its muzzle, holding it there with cheeks full as it built up the energy even further until it-

"Stop!" Izan barked at it, glowering with bright orange eyes.

The weight of the world resounded in his voice.

It yelped reflexively and drew back, stopping the attack completely. It positioned itself closer to the ground and put its tail between its legs submissively.

Sighing, he let out his brief anger and the feeling subsided. "Joy?" He questioned, looking over to the nurse.

"Huh? Oh." She looked confused until she looked closer at Sandshrew. Just like Snorunt, she'd passed out while standing up. Nurse Joy was beyond exasperated at this point.

"Sandshrew is unable to battle. Glaceon is the winner. The victory goes to F-Class trainer Aurora Stone."

The crowd didn't seem to notice Izan's brief outburst, clapping and cheering for the battle. Some were surprised he only had one Pokemon, expecting a longer battle.

Those few reevaluated their thoughts about Izan and Sandshrew, as they'd thought he was being foolish for not switching out.

Izan ignored them, returning Sandshrew to her Pokeball.

"Good girl," Glaceon growled. "Oh sorry, boy."

Crouching, he put a hand on Glaceon's head and rubbed its head as it sat on its haunches. Leaning into his touch, it sat on its haunches.

The Glaceon's fur was back to being normal, though a bit matted. It was calming nonetheless.

'Well, I guess two out of three isn't bad. Sandshrew isn't that injured, either.' He looked up to Aurora, who had a look of embarrassment mixed with confusion.

As the crowd slowly dispersed, a stern voice shattered his momentary peace.

"May I have a word with you two?"

His light smile froze as Nurse Joy called out to the both of them, the Glaceon becoming even stiffer than when he'd yelled at him.

Glaceon flashed red as she was returned to her Pokeball, Aurora walking next to him with a similarly blank look on her face. He'd had enough lectures in his life to know where this was going.

"What exactly was that?!" She began, enunciating more on the 'that'. He almost started talking, but she kept going. "This was supposed to be a casual battle, not a…"

Izan began to tune her out. Aurora did too, from the look of it. And when he glanced over, any sign of previous anger was long gone. She gave a slight smile that disappeared as soon as Joy turned her attention to her.

'Yeah, I'd say this was well worth it.' He figured, returning the smile. It was just a battle, after all.

---

->Random Question: What's your favorite Pokemon type? Despite the story premise, my favorite is actually Bug.

Random Fact: This battle in my plans was supposed to be a chapter and a half. Evidently, it was not.