Feel The Ground Shake (Pokemon - Ground-type specialist)

Chapter 31



Both Pokémon slam onto the field and orders are screamed out almost immediately.

"Earthquake! / Magnet Rise!" 'These are Wattson's best of the best! We aren't fuckin' around!'

Electrode: Lv. 61
Nature: Hasty
Potential: B-

Golurk: Lv. 43
Nature: Brave
Potential: SS

The arena ruptures and splinters just as the Electric-type whirlwinds itself into the air. A bed of sparks now floating under it that keep it airborne. "Magnus, get moving!" The red & white sphere starts pinballing around the field at incredible speed. Proving its deserved spot in the 'Top 10' list for fastest Pokémon species on the planet. A list where three of the other nine spots are taken up by Deoxys.

"Iron Defense!" 'Keep your eyes on the prize Simon. There'll be an opportunity any second now.' Golurk rumbles in assent as he does his best to track the opponent's movement.

"Bwaha! You know I've never seen that type of Pokémon there before." Wattson throws out what seems to be a friendly chat. "You aren't trying to sneak something by me that isn't actually Ground-type are ya?"

"Throw out a Shock Wave if you must." I keep my pupils focused on the bouncing orb. "No skin off my bones."

To the outside viewer, it may look like the bicolored sphere is already in control of the match's pace. The Golurk evolution has 20 more points in Speed than Golett and still Electrode is nearly triple of that. With the level disparity taken into account, Wattson's lead probably is more than three times us actually. And yet…I don't think we could have possibly had a luckier start.

'He can't hit us.' I focus on that truth as Simon and I sync up in tracking the Electric-type. Unless he's about to whip out Hidden Power-Ice or something then the Unovan Ghost is immune to literally everything in a Non-Hisuian Electrode's Special movepool. The species line barely functions outside of Electric and Normal type-energy. Which means eventually it's-

"Gyro Ball!" 'Going to come at us physically!'

"Hammer Arm!"

The swirling ball smashes into Simon's shoulder just as the coating of Fighting-energy manages to cover the limb. There's a grinding of the two pushing against each other. Friction sparks igniting as neither refuses to cede ground—until with a mighty push!—Golurk manages to sweep his arm out and deflect the spinning orb.

"BWAHAHA! So that thing's really not a Rock-type then!" Wattson comments uproariously. "I didn't think so, but I wanted to double-check! Switch out, Magnus!" he suddenly calls. "We'll get you back in later!"

The change out is quick. A pink Heal Ball is tossed into the ring before Electrode's even finished dematerializing.

"Raaaaiii!!"

Raichu: Lv. 62
Nature: Bashful
Potential: C+

The female mouse pumps up its fists, showing off its 'guns', and Wattson's arm sweeps out. "Give 'em the Grass Knot, Brigitte!"

Simon picks up on my panic even before the "Evade!" escapes past my lips. His hands turn to thrusters. He rockets himself backward and up to gain space while the Raichu races on all fours with a tail glowing green.

'Grass Knot deals more power depending on the opponent's weight!' "Shadow Ball to keep it away!" 'We absolutely cannot be hit by that!'

Golurk cups his reformed fists together, pulling them close to his waist and charging up a whirring vortex of purple and black. 'Note to Self: Simon now charges moves like he's a character from Dragonba-' "GOL!" The ethereal sphere explodes outward from between his palms, barreling down at Wattson's-

"Leap!"

-Pokémon who just fucking springs over it with absolutley zero difficulty. "Shield!" The Protect forms with not a heartbeat to spare and the Grass Knot gouges it. Raichu's tail is slowed -significantly so- but it's still somewhat terrifying to see the barrier get carved into so easily.

'A nineteen level difference is not a fucking joke.'

"Again, Brigitte! You're already close!" "Raiiii!"

"Punish it Simon!" I push an impression into his mind. I offer an infusion of aura to make it happen! "Dynamic Punch!"

Run the facts through any damage calculator and you'll see that the Grass Knot one-shots us. It's a move almost tailor-made to take down a Golurk. Super-effective. Special rather than Physical so our Iron Defense from earlier is ineffective. Max Base Power due to the golem being close to 1,000 pounds. Then there's that absolute chasm of level imbalance to consider.

Any Golurk would go down. There's no stopping it.

But Simon is not any Golurk. And he does not go down alone.

The Ghost falls down to a knee as the orange rat goes ragdolling. A horrific emerald scar is glowing diagonally across his body and a low groan of pain is echoing out as his eyes dim. "Simon, retu-" I hold out the Dusk Ball but a nonverbal signal across the bond tells me to wait.

Brigitte the Raichu rolls to a stop, the forced Confusion making it unsteady on its feet.

Golurk's aura briefly spikes…and then his clenched fist comes punching down with Magnitude.

"Endure!" Wattson makes his call but it lands on dizzy ears. The rat takes an upturned plate of earth directly into its chin and only then does Simon allow himself to be recalled.

Like the slowest falling statue the electric mouse collapses onto its back with eyes as KO'd swirls and the Gym Leader chuckles heartily at his misfortune. "Well hot damn! Looks like that makes us 1-1! I knew this was a good idea! My guys really have grown rusty against taking a proper hit!"

The man is laughing…he's laughing, and on my end of the field it's all nervous swallows and sweat beading down my neck.

I've got the greatest advantage the type-chart can offer...and after just one real hit I'm already down my newest powerhouse. 'You did awesome out there Simon.' I reassure to the barely conscious 'mon inside his ball. 'I couldn't ask for anything better.'

Though if this is the level that Wattson's best play at then…well shit I may have to count out K.Rool already too. I love the grouchy croc, but there's just no way I'd feel comfortable putting him up against this type of smoke. Not if he's going to be a whole twenty levels underprepared.

Wattson palms his next choice and my hand reaches for my belt to do the same. Two Great Balls spin onto the field and with two bursts of light disgorge their champions.

Manectric: Lv. 64
Nature: Serious
Potential: A

Ursaluna: Lv. 60
Nature: Serious
Potential: A+

'Hmm, a neutral Nature mirror match. I can work with that.'

"Thunderation! What in-" Wattson grips his podium and leans forward slightly. "Son, I know I already used this line earlier, but what kind of Pokémon is-" "HEADLONG RUSH!"

Orange-brown aura enshrouds Ma Ma and the she-bear breaks into a roaring sprint. The stadium floor rips up behind her with every gallop of her forelimbs and the Gym Leader straightens up fast. "Skӧll, Double Team!"

In contrast to how the evasive technique normally works -where illusionary copies spread out from the original in a line or circle- Wattson's Manectric seems to have developed its own unique twist on the skill. Yellow wolves leap out of the canine's body at seemingly random angles. A dozen perfect doppelgängers each landing in different snarling poses around the east side of the field. All without the "original" actually seeming to move. "Now, Heat Wave!"

The whole pack howls in unison right as Ma Ma prepares to obliterate the area where the initial Manectric is still standing and soon angry ember-filled winds begin sweeping across the arena. A crimson stormfront far different from the arid weather move I so love to use. "Switch to Bulldoze!"

Ma Ma offers a bellow of her own as she rises up on her hind legs, last minute repurposing the gathered Ground energy for another use. A question pings from her along the bond. 'She wants to try-?' But we haven't practiced- Well if you think you can do it girl, go for it! "Earthquake!"

Her full weight slams against the floor. The nearest illusions crumble within a blink. A visible ring of shattered earth is echoing out with the queen grizzly at its center…and the telltale sound of a hasty Substitute popping faintly pings within my ears.

'Tch, almost had him.'

When the move is settled, a very minorly scuffed Manectric is perched proudly on an upturned boulder, growling lowly at the ursus that's at least thrice his size.

'Well the execution wasn't quite perfect.' I grin to myself. 'But I'll still consider it a win.' Not bad for your first EQ baby girl. I'm sorry we didn't get the time to practice since your evolution.

The battle progresses into something of a standoff. Both Pokémon are cautiously circling each other from opposite sides of the ring while Wattson and I lock eyes in a nonverbal contest. Wordlessly trying to goad each other into making the next move.

'Get in close and try to Ice Fang us. I fucking dare you.'

A good-natured yet mischievous glint enters the Gym Leader's eye. "Volt Switch."

'Volt wha-'

Sparks bristle along the Manectric's fur. The blue-skinned hound jerks its head and with a flash of blinding light a new team member has suddenly replaced it on the field. An orange-bodied Pokémon wearing a far-too-innocent little smile.

…

…

No officer, my jaw isn't on the floor. What are you saying?

…

'Okay…' I pull myself together. 'Not at all how that move's supposed to work, but sure.' A contactless nigh-instantaneous Volt Switch. Why not? Why shouldn't the man's ace have some more tricks in its bag? 'Foolish of me to think that a fellow aura user wouldn't be playing with one or two cheat codes of their own.'

"You sneaky old fart," I finally respond after the long pause, giving the grandparent an impressed smirk. "Where the heck did you find one of those?"

Rotom: Lv. 59
Nature: Relaxed
Potential: B

And it's a goddamn Rotom-Wash too. How astonishingly annoying. Hydro Pump and Levitate? Get the fuck outta here with that shit dude. 'And I don't even know if it's Electric/Ghost like in Gen IV or Electric/Water from Gen V and up.'

"BWAHAHA! So you know this one, do you? That robs the wind from my sails a bit! Or should I say it short-circuits my charge! You surprised me a bit so I was looking to return the favor!"

Trailblaze. Night Slash. Crunch. I start mentally cycling through options in Ma Ma's moveset that might be Super-effective against the Electric/something-type before just deciding its best to play conservatively. "Come back, girl." I hold her Great Ball forward, initiating a recall of my own. 'We can't even risk going for a Normal STAB move. There's a coin toss chance that it would completely whiff.'

The Gym Leader hums openly at my response, rubbing his chin through his impressive facial hair and obviously waiting to see what I'll produce next. An action which does put a little bit of a guilty feeling in my gut. The man is clearly taking this whole event much more casually than we are and is purposefully ignoring opportunities that a more competitive sort would have capitalized on.

Had I been in his shoes, I definitely would have already fired off the Hydro Pump.

Ignoring the unpleasant things that no doubt says about my personality I gesture for Vlad to swoop down into the area. Something which the Gliscor does with a gleeful snicker, the flying scorpion having already mentally gleamed on what my plan is.

'The man doesn't deserve this.' I lightly berate myself. Electric Santa has been very nice to us since we've met him.

But alas, such is the name of the game.

"Vlad." At his name Gliscor flexes his dark colored wings, already laying the foundation of the specific type energies he'll need inside him. "Lay down a welcome mat."

Fun Fact: Outside of very specialized Move Tutor situations, the only non-legendary Electric-type that can learn Defog is Emolga. The only one that can learn Rapid Spin is Morpeko.

'Mr. Mauville likes to use lots of switchups in his matches?'

We're gonna shut that shit down hard.

It starts with a Taunt. A little insurance against the possessed Maytag machine from interrupting us halfway, something which instantly gets Papa Noel's suspicions to rise. The scorpion-bat wags his pincer in a 'nuh uh uh' fashion and the first Hydro Pump fires off like a cannon. The water pressure behind it is immense. It's huge. And immediately I feel vindication at my decision to pull back Ma Ma.

Oh, I've no doubt that the ol' gal could have tanked it, but dodging completely would have been a tall order for the big girl.

Vlad however, is an old hand at this game. Compared to the Drizzle-enhanced snipe shots aimed by the Politoed we faced oh so many moons ago, swerving around these oversized bursts is going to be child's play.

He bends to the left of the first one and gathers the necessary Ground-energy. He sails underneath the second and then casts his wings wide. Performing an impersonation of a vampire lord who's just dramatically tossed open their cape.

Large, jagged, numerous caltrops scatter and clink along the Gym Leader's side of the field.

Spikes layer one: Deployed.

Wattson's eyes narrow and for the first time an actual frown manages to briefly show on the jovial man's face. It was fleeting, but it was there. 'I think we may have found ol' Pop Pop's pet peeve.'

"Pivot to Swift!" The Rotom lowers its water cannon and then performs a single spin in-place. A quintet of glowing stars manifest above its crown and then fire off like an artillery line. Launching one after another with only a half-stagger between each one.

"Take 'em on a chase!" Vlad recycles the stone-like energy he was prepping for Stealth Rock and sharpens himself with Rock Polish instead. With Speed now doubled the Flying-type begins circling around the arena, bobbing and weaving as necessary while the homing never-miss attack nips at his heels.

Meanwhile the small pool of Poison energy he'd been gathering at the base of his stinger reaches the required amount. His tail flicks towards the ground below,

Toxic Spikes: Implemented.

Wattson's mouth tightens. "Ominous Wind!" Spectral waves begin filling the air, impeding Vlad's ability to steer and I decide to take a gamble.

'Sorry buddy, I know this will sting.' "Vlad! Take the hit and then go all out!"

The grey-skinned bat comes to a full stop. He visibly braces -I offer whatever aura I can to bolster his defenses- and then a small explosion erupts in the sky. The Swift stars crash home at nearly the same time Ominous Wind unleashes its damaging half and I feel Vlad's health get brutally cut down to nearly 50%.

A lesser Pokémon would plummet out of the grey cloud of smoke. Dazed. Stunned. Falling head first to the ground.

But the only thing that exits the obscuring smoke…is Stealth Rocks.

And Spikes.

And more Spikes.

Wattson growls. "Hyper Voice!" By this point the smoke cloud is no longer providing a cloaking effect, but evidently the Gym Leader isn't willing to risk us simply swerving around his attacks anymore. The Rotom forms its small mouth into an 'O' shape and a phantasmal wail starts to pitch over the field. More than one of the Gym employees who've been quietly watching from the stands winces and I scream my next order to Vlad through the bond. 'Dive!'

Glisor ejects himself from the cloud straight down at 90 degrees. One eye is wincing. His oversized and sensitive ears are laid flat -uselessly trying to block out some of the Rotom's screams- and I can sense a deep aggravation from him through the link. Even when he was still a Gligar and his ears weren't quite as acute, he's always hated that move.

"Power Whip!"

Twin pincers shove into the earth and massive stalks of living verdant energy rise from the broken floor to do their masters bid. 'Behold world! History's first Gliscor that can attack with a fucking Grass move!'

If only Wattson were able to recognize the occasion for its momentousness and not just see a golden chance. "It's landed! Hydro Pump, full power!"

Rotom-Wash may be a one-trick pony when it comes to Water moves but you'd be hard pressed to find a competitive battler who won't admit that one trick is just good enough. High pressure water collides with the gargantuan stalks and a herculean energy clash begins to take place.

The Rotom has us beat by two in levels. His Special Attack is higher than our Physical. He's still solidly at full health while we've certainly been knocked down to yellow. Oh, and there's a very real chance he's working with a STAB bonus as well. That's potentially four ways in which he has us beat.

Our advantages number only half that. Those being that Power Whip has a very slight edge in Base Power and that of course…Water moves are really rather terrible at stopping Grass ones.

A split occurs. One so fast that it's hard to consciously react to what's happened before the devastating results make themselves known. The Hydro Pump gets carved, partitioned into smaller jet-like streams, and then both moves surge forward onto their targets.

Rotom-Wash is pummeled repeatedly by an onslaught of towering green canes while one of the fractional Hydro Pumps collides with Vlad dead-center, sending him uncontrollably rolling across the stadium floor.

The referee who's been silently allowing the Gym Leader and I to conduct this match ourselves raises a 'hold' flag for the first time. An indication that he wants to make an assessment on if the battlers should be allowed to continue in their current state.

With a frustrated sigh I decide to do half his job for him. "I withdraw my Pokémon." I announce plainly. Gliscor still has enough fuel in the tank to stand…though that's about all I'd give him. Keeping him deployed after that last hit would just be desperation. 'Damn.' A hand scratches at my hair. 'I really hoped we'd get more done after the hazards setup. Was that aiming too greedy?'

On Wattson's side of the field the man is silently contemplating, though on the specifics of what I can only speculate. Rotom is still…sort of okay, but it's clear the Power Whip went at least two-thirds of the way towards a one-hit KO. If the Gym Leader pulls him out now, what with all the entry traps deployed, he'd likely have to keep him out permanently.

"Well shucks." The man speaks. "Up to you Edison! You want to stay in? Or should we let Faraday take a turn?" The Electric geist puffs itself up at the words. Showing a great level of self-directed indignance at its performance so far. "Bwaha! Some redemption is it? Alright! Ref, we'll be keeping this one in!"

My fingers twitch as I consider the best path forward. The match is technically 1-2 against us, though with all the hazards in place plus the minor damage on both Electrode and Manectric -not to mention the state of this Rotom-, it's not a major stretch to say our side is actually the one with advantage.

K.Rool's Level Ball finds its way into my hand and before I know it I'm chucking the yellow painted sphere out onto the field. 'It wasn't the plan, but Vlad set us a stage! If there's any chance to use him in this match, then it's right now!'

Krookodile: Lv. 41
Nature: Impish
Potential: A

The maroon-skinned crocodile dances into play and immediately starts ripping at the ground with his claws. No matter how the others may surpass him in levels or training, the Unovan reptile will always hold my team's gold medal when it comes to hastily using Dig.

"Well how about that!" Wattson slaps his knee. "Was that a Krookodile? I do know that one, but it certainly has been years! You still claim you're from Indigo, right?" Gliscor's Taunt effect has long fallen away by this point and the Gym Leader isn't caught slacking. "Nasty Plot, Edison! We'll surprise him good when he decides to come up!"

"Roar."

The word is spoken with a dead tone and the Gym Leader's face develops a pallor to match it. Like a whack-a-mole toy Krookodile's head pops up from the far side of the field and his jaws open with a screeching bellow. Rotom flinches at the shrillness and against its will is dissolving away back into Wattson's belt.

What happens in the next forty-five seconds of the match is distinctly…unfair.

Wattson elects to send out a Magnezone. Level 60. Calm nature. A solid B+ in potential. Likely the 'Faraday' he alluded to earlier. As a Steel-type it's immune to the Toxic Spikes, though not their mundane counterpart nor the Stealth Rocks. Some mysterious force of the Pokemon's entry causes the nearest hazards to come alive and harass the living magnet. Drawn into him as though they were a…well a magnet.

"Roar."

The Gym Leader attempts to disrupt the invisible waves through the use of Metal Sound. A tactic that I don't actually know if that works or not in this world -something to investigate later for sure- but I can say that this time it proves rather ineffective.

Next comes an Ampharos named Rachael. Docile. A-. Level 63. His strongest besides the Manectric. Once again the attraction effect happens and the sheared sheep reflexively fires off a medium-sized Discharge. Over a third of the incoming Stealth Rocks are blown to pieces but the summoned Spikes don't seem to care. The Poison status effect goes into place from the Toxic ones and the Light Pokémon positively glowers at us. At Wattson's command Signal Beam flashes out of the gem in its forehead, homing in at K.Rool with Super-effective Bug energy, but the croc just sticks his head underground again.

"Roar."

In the game series, this type of strategy is balanced by the fact that Roar and other 'force switch-out' moves are coded with something called 'negative priority'. That is to say, they should always perform second except for in niche situations. Here? That's simply not a thing. Positive priority moves still somewhat exist in that items such as Quick Attack or Bullet Punch can make your Pokémon move fast as fuck, but there's no purposefully slow opposite in techniques such as Teleport, Vital Throw, or Whirlwind.

At least Wattson gets to choose what he sends out. In the games it's random and unforgiving.

I expect to see Manectric again next. With its incredible dexterity it might be able to avoid some of the auto-triggered punishment and the Electric wolf also has Roar in its move tree. It may not win in the long-game, but it would temporarily hamper us.

Magnus the Electrode manifests out of the light and I cock my head. 'What could he- Ah.' "Don't tell me, Soundproof?" I venture a guess on the Ball Pokémon's Ability.

The traps stab, jab, and poison again and the Gym Leader shakes his head. "No. Magnus just has Static." Wattson snaps his fingers and the Electric-type rockets towards the newest hole K.Rool is poking out of. A trail of concentric rings break the air behind it and my eyes boggle as it somehow demonstrates even greater speed than what we saw against Simon.

"Roar! / Explosion."

An arm shields my eyes. The podium shudders. Safety fields flash yellow, then orange, and I feel the precise moment K.Rool blacks out from the effects of the blast wave. When the dots finally clear from my vision and I behold the state of the field I know it's time to update my encyclopedia of Pokémon moves again.

It seems that hazards can also be cleared from an arena by just blowing it the fuck up.

'Gonna have to remember that one for the future.'

"I feel like the two of us have somewhat strayed from the original goal of this match." Wattson notes from his side as the unconscious Electrode is returned to him. "My objective was to get my boys some exercise against Ground-types and now I'm going to have to cancel tomorrow's matches to let the repair crews fix the floor."

"I'd apologize, though it might come off a bit hollow." I reply without shame, recalling my own downed fighter. "As someone who started this match off with Magnet Rise though, I'm not sure how much room you have to complain about us 'straying' from that goal as you say."

"Ha! That's fair! A little underhanded it was, though I don't think it can compare to that scheme you were working on at the end there! Would you believe it's been eight years since I last had someone try more than one set of spikes against me?" I see Manectric's Ball reenter his grip and the man's good humor seems to be returning. "What say we go to one more knockout and then call it there?"

"Sure." I smile back easily. "I'm good with that."

The blue and yellow wolf remakes his appearance. Snarling. Growling. Ready for anything. A few broken hazards wobble at his entry, but don't actually move to injure him.

Coincidentally, Grundy's Moon Ball is also blue and yellow.

There are many reactions I've witnessed when people first behold the titanic Nidoking. I've seen fear. Dismay. Disbelief. Even pure awe.

Complete and utter silence followed by laughter is a first though.

"BWAHAHAHA!" Wattson lets loose his biggest, deepest, most full-bodied belly laugh to date. The man almost toppling over from how far he's leaning back. His hand is slapping his thigh over and over as he tries to control himself. "Well son you certainly played me good on that one! I concede!"