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

[Greatazuredragon]

Nice chdpter good work.

 

[Arkon]

Did I hear something about Garchomp.

Spoiler: Image

 

[Go_Magikarp]

Silly commenter. Vlad isn't the team flyer. Gliscor can very famously Not use Fly.

That's what Golurk is for.

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Golurk spouting rockets out of their legs will never not be funny to be. People always meme about Garchomp being a beast on the ground, water or air, but Golurk isn't far behind.

 

[LordVishnu]

If Bradley saw a legendary/mythical Pokemon, what would it's potential show as? Would the legendaries even have a potential stat considering the sheer strength and I assume mastery they would have over their own typing?

Click to shrink...

So this is just me talking off the cuff, don't take it to be gospel. But something along the line of

S- Low tier Legendaries
SS- Big Boy Legendaries
SSS- God Legendaries
EX- Arceus

Edit: Actually, now that my mind is actually on the subject, I might not even go above A for the 'below 600' base stat gang. I don't see myself giving S to a Regi or something similar.

 

[SIMPDESTROYER1]

So this is just me talking off the cuff, don't take it to be gospel. But something along the line of

S- Low tier Legendaries
SS- Big Boy Legendaries
SSS- God Legendaries
EX- Arceus

Edit: Actually, now that my mind is actually on the subject, I might not even go above A for the 'below 600' base stat gang. I don't see myself giving S to a Regi or something similar.

Click to shrink...

Only SSS off the top of my head is Dialga, Palkia, Giratina. Would Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, and/or Xerneas Yveltal count as gods? Regigas would probs be SS even though bro was literally moving continents.

 

[Wyxlan]

"See!" Ace Trainer Alton grins in victory, perhaps a little too smugly for my taste. "So what do you say?" He extends his hand. "Call it a draw?"

You know, Clarissa warned me that Day Two was supposed to be rougher and yet I didn't send out a single Pokémon.

I feel kinda gypped.

Click to shrink...

I hope the next chapter shows that SI!Bradley had thoroughly wiped the ground with this guy.

 

[gammoregan]

The narrative suggests the next Peat Block he gets will evolve his Ursaring. I wonder how he's going to obfuscate that from Team Rocket. If they give him a Peat Block and the next day he has a never before seen pokemon evolution, I think they'll be able to connect the dots. And then they'll be the only ones with knowledge of where exactly the peat came from, and have a monopoly over it. I know Bradley hasn't been avoiding helping Rocket, but I don't think he desires their advancement unless he personally gains from it either.

 

[PanzerFrame]

The narrative suggests the next Peat Block he gets will evolve his Ursaring. I wonder how he's going to obfuscate that from Team Rocket. If they give him a Peat Block and the next day he has a never before seen pokemon evolution, I think they'll be able to connect the dots. And then they'll be the only ones with knowledge of where exactly the peat came from, and have a monopoly over it. I know Bradley hasn't been avoiding helping Rocket, but I don't think he desires their advancement unless he personally gains from it either.

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Even worse, like most of team rocket would just get a strong evo but because they don't really train and all that it isn't that big of a deal just a bit harder to beat them, but for people like, let's say, Ground type master Giovanni, well

 

[LordVishnu]

If they give him a Peat Block and the next day he has a never before seen pokemon evolution,

Click to shrink...

There is still the Full Moon requirement. And I think Bradley has demonstrated enough of a brain cell to obfuscate things at least a little bit.

 

[Arkon]

So this is just me talking off the cuff, don't take it to be gospel. But something along the line of

S- Low tier Legendaries
SS- Big Boy Legendaries
SSS- God Legendaries
EX- Arceus

Edit: Actually, now that my mind is actually on the subject, I might not even go above A for the 'below 600' base stat gang. I don't see myself giving S to a Regi or something similar.

Click to shrink...

What I'm understanding is that Simon could grow up and be someone who can fuck up legendaries.

 

[gammoregan]

There is still the Full Moon requirement. And I think Bradley has demonstrated enough of a brain cell to obfuscate things at least a little bit.

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Yes, I expect him to obfuscate things. I'm just wondering how he'll do it - I guess we'll see when we get there. As for the moon, that might be a little tough but considering Ursaluna has a giant full moon on its face I don't think that part will be too hard to figure out.

 

[ApiLol123123]

"Baltoy and Trapinch." I counter with. "That's what I'm looking for. Baltoy and Trapinch."

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Yaaasss Flygon's on the team lets gooo! Thanks for the chapter!!

 

[Random Anon]

~A Tale of Two Trainers~
-A Children's Story, Part: 2

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So, given that Quagsire has 4x weakness against grass, I assume this Quagsire was an absolute monster? And something, something the Quagsire hurt/killed another pokemon/trainer?

 

[Vanargandr]

Remembering Comic Jumper at the same day I discovered this fic its pretty funny

The fact that Brad is just oozing with that smug devil may care aura doesn't help either

Comic Jumper - Brad's Theme

Official Comic Jumper Music Download: http://e1.simplecdn.net/comicjumper/Music.rarTheme song for Brad. Because Brad is awesome.Music by ChainsawBrad rington...

www.youtube.com

Still even with Ma Ma and Grunty Quagsire's still an 'ace' in the hole? What the actual fuck is with that thing

 

[doomqwer]

"Hells yeah!" Red hair confirms. "And a lot of the citizens want to join 'em! It's almost like a state-approved cult. Even one of their Elite Four is a member! But listen! That's not even the most important shit I found out over there. They got these crazy ass stones right-"

Click to shrink...

Ah yes those people who want commit genocide for no godamn reason.

"No no no, don't you see?" The Ace Trainer across from me speaks again. "You're undefeated, I'm undefeated. We're both 4-0 right now. If we battle it out, one of our records becomes 4-1 and while that probably makes Top 8 anyway, it's safer just to draw. With four wins, one draw and zero losses, we're both guaranteed to make the cut. Besides, why take the risk of exhausting our teams right? Just save it all for tomorrow."

I take a glance towards the ref who audibly sighs. It seems he's encountered this type of talk before. "Though some feel it is unsporting towards the other competitors, that is in fact how the scoring works." he confirms. "Wins are worth three points, draws are one each, and losses count for zero."

"See!" Ace Trainer Alton grins in victory, perhaps a little too smugly for my taste. "So what do you say?" He extends his hand. "Call it a draw?"

You know, Clarissa warned me that Day Two was supposed to be rougher and yet I didn't send out a single Pokémon.

I feel kinda gypped.

Click to shrink...

So do I man so do I.

 

[Pkbwgsc]

So, given that Quagsire has 4x weakness against grass, I assume this Quagsire was an absolute monster? And something, something the Quagsire hurt/killed another pokemon/trainer

Click to shrink...

My guess is the rivalry mattered more to the kids than it did to a poor old Wooper that was getting itself eviscerated every week. It got strong enough, but not enough to overcome an 8x difference; then the 'you can do it boy' pulls a Damien.

So this is just me talking off the cuff, don't take it to be gospel. But something along the line of

S- Low tier Legendaries
SS- Big Boy Legendaries
SSS- God Legendaries
EX- Arceus

Edit: Actually, now that my mind is actually on the subject, I might not even go above A for the 'below 600' base stat gang. I don't see myself giving S to a Regi or something similar.

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It's funny because with the lore the regi quality would be based on how skilled Regigigas happened to be at that point. C rank potential Regice that was made with yellow snow when Gigas got drunk anyone?

Also this kinda implies that Nidoking is not in fact rated on its own Alpha scale, since you'd expect legendaries to kinda shuffle around standard scale as well for similar reasons.
At least makes me wonder about Totem Pokémon shenanigans. Or even if Ultra Beasts might be substantially different or unreadable due to lore.

 

[Artful Lounger]

Eh, Ultra Beasts are still Pokemon. Just pokemon from a Region much further away than normal. They should be readable. Not that it'll matter, there's no Ground types among them.

And yeah, if there's no separate scale for Alphas/Legendaries/whatever then 70 might just be Grundy's cap. His Alpha status either let him get there faster, gave him base stats far exceeding a normal pokemon of that level, or both.

 

[Hickity]

Nice chapter, more Quagsire lore baby~ Also interesting, we've got a rocket agent returning from infiltrating Team Flare?

As much as we all like Flygon, I'm a bit more interested in what the protagonist will do with a psychic type. There's also a possibility for garchomp in his future, another bullshit ground dragon that can fly.

So this is just me talking off the cuff, don't take it to be gospel. But something along the line of

S- Low tier Legendaries
SS- Big Boy Legendaries
SSS- God Legendaries
EX- Arceus

Edit: Actually, now that my mind is actually on the subject, I might not even go above A for the 'below 600' base stat gang. I don't see myself giving S to a Regi or something similar.

Click to shrink...

Neat, this is cool to know even if it's prone to change. Though I do wonder about unique legendaries/mythicals and ones that canonically have a bunch (shaymin, latias and latios, etc) as well as how pokedex entries factor in. If there's a pack of shaymin running around I wouldn't be surprised if some of them had relatively low potentials.

I wonder what this implies for Simon. Golurks stats are pretty good but will it allow him to contend with lower legendaries? I look forward to finding out.

And yeah, if there's no separate scale for Alphas/Legendaries/whatever then 70 might just be Grundy's cap. His Alpha status either let him get there faster, gave him base stats far exceeding a normal pokemon of that level, or both.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I don't think alphas get their own scale. I think Grundy's about reached his cap but all that extra mass and power gives him stats well above his level.

I wonder how early he got him actually. Level 70 and found as a nidoran yet has the lowest potential on the team...

 

[Artful Lounger]

From the sounds of it, he found Grundy pretty early. That said, Alpha must be one heck of an EXP boost to get to Level 70 without hitting the Gym Circuit or serious tournaments until now. They must have hit up some nasty places abroad to get that strong while remaining off the radar in Johto.

The big question is just what the scale really is, level-wise. They went into the depths of Mt. Mortar, which is noted as the third most dangerous place in Johto, and the biggest thing they found was Level 45.

Here at the tournament, we got a level 47 Skarmory held by a Blackthorn, and a couple of Level 40's held by a kid with six badges.

If its game standard, forget about it. Grundy is 100% a Pokemon that any Champion would be proud of. Depending on the game, Level 70 is around what you'd expect a Champion to bust out on a REMATCH. And it is worth noting, that in the games a Level 40 Seaking is the most powerful thing you can find in Mt Mortar. So we just might be going by Game Standard levels.

 

[Hickity]

I think maybe Grundy just fought enough due to his bloodthirsty nature that he hit level 70 before everyone else. Pushing himself and surviving because he's a big, tough, prideful bastard. Looking forward to seeing more of his backstory... And the rest of the poem lol.

Iirc Vishnu said that Lance's best dragonite was A+, implying his other pokemon might not even all be A. Which kinda makes sense, just because you're champion doesn't necessarily mean you can guage potential, I bet even Pyrce didn't realise just how monstrous that swinub could become but he's old enough to probably be one of the best at naturally gauging such a thing.

That is to say, I'm thinking the e4 and champion are at closer to rematch levels. 60-70 with some possibly being higher if they have A+ potential. Grundy might just count as something like a raid boss, I'm really curious how many people actually know Bradley has him.

 

[LordVishnu]

Chapter 12

Lake of Rage, Quarterfinals, 2nd match

"OH! And what a stunning knockout!" a voice practically screams over the intercoms. "Despite the type advantage, Victoria's Kingler just can't handle the heat! She's down 1-2 now, with her back against the wall, what Pokémon will she send out next! Is this the end of her rising star?"

"Definitely a tough spot for her, Ted." his co-announcer Lewis chimes in, albeit much more lax. "Though I think she might surprise us yet. She's got a fire in her, that's for sure."

"She'll certainly need it if she hopes to match the flames of this Arcanine! What's this? She's made her choice...she winds it up…and OH! A Golduck takes the field! Will this second Water-type be able to bring it home?"
'You know, if nothing else, at least the announcers are having fun.' I spot a third figure trapped in the box. A certain Ice-type Gym Leader who's sourly watching the match without a word of commentary. 'Well, most of them.'

The first match is already done, with the second one about to wrap up here shortly. I'm slated for up next with my opponent being a portly mountain man named Russel. That's not me playing me with my words either. I mean he literally lives in the mountains south of Blackthorn City.

He is also, in effect, my mirror match.

All the Pokémon we each revealed during the preliminaries are listed next to our profiles up on a big electronic scoreboard. Between his five matches, Russel revealed a full roster, two-thirds of whom -in true Hiker fashion- are Ground-types.

Graveler, Sandslash, Machop, Marowak, an unruly Donphan that I don't think even I would want to mess with, and most amusingly of all…a male Ursaring.

I wouldn't say he's "me but worse" as that's quite rude…but I'll think it. I'll think it reeeaaal loudly.
"WHAT'S THIS! Could it BE?!" the announcer booms. "It is! Victoria and Golduck are popping their Water Gem! If you're in the first row folks, be wary of the splash zone, because this Surf may just be one to remember!"

"A smart move on her play, Ted." Lewis adds. "This Arcanine's already proven its got the speed to dodge more focused moves like Hydro Pump. The question is, how will Trainer Monique respond?"

"Arcanine! Burn Up! Let's blast straight through that wave!"

"Ar! Ar!"

As the heat in the stadium rises several notches I can't help but snort. 'Honestly, a Protect would have served just as fine. It's only the quarterfinals, is this really where you want to be pulling out the big guns?'

These matches aren't like the ones of the previous days. You'll get maybe two hours of recovery time between your first battle ending and the winner standing right there in the arena again for the semi's. Which isn't enough if you spent your first fight firing off Hyper Beams and Fire Blasts. Pokémon recoup their internal energy fairly quickly but not that quickly.

If your goal is to go for the gold you typically want to strike a healthy balance between saving your true heavy hitters for later while also not fielding 'mons so weak in the first round that you get knocked out straight off the bat.

Of course, if all you're after is just a halfway decent prize then 'blowing your load' early on and bullying your way into a Top 4 spot with your three best Pokémon is also something a person could do. That's not exactly a common strategy you'd see a trainer employ, too much pride and all that, but they could do it.

'Speaking of which.' My eyes drift over to the large clothed table that's been set up to the side. Do you recall back when I signed up, the advertisement read that in addition to a large prize pool of money there would also be additional items to be revealed 'later'?

It is now 'later'.

A King's Rock, a Thunderstone, a 10x pack of Max Potions, five random TMs, a Pokéball variety gift basket that has at least eleven or twelve types of balls in it, an extra 30,000 Poké Dollars in cash straight up, the Held Item Light Clay, and finally…a Sun Stone. 'Still as useless as when I saw it in Goldenrod.'

Disbursement of prizes is pretty simple. Eight prizes for eight contestants. The winner picks what they want first. The runner-up picks second. All the way down to eighth who gets the last thing left on the table. 'Personally, I'm hoping to go for the TMs. I'm willing to bet at least two of them are junk but who knows? There might be a diamond hidden in that rough. If I can't get that one though, my second pick would be…I dunno, the cash probably. Nothing wrong with staying flush.'

"Unbelievable! Do my eyes deceive me, that Double-Edge's recoil makes it a double knockout! With a score of 3-2 trainer Monique advances to the semi-finals! Let's give a round of applause for an OUT-standing battle!"

'And there's my cue.' Fifteen or so minutes to reset/clean up the field, an extra five or six to let all the audience members get back from the restroom or the concession stand and then, "Game time."

---

Russel strikes me as a pretty upbeat fellow despite the scraggly beard and roughworn demeanor. Real outdoorsman mixed with a 'world's best dad' type of vibes. A large green backpack is strapped tightly over his shoulders and four Pokéballs a piece are resting within the two arm straps.

Now I know what you're thinking regarding the math on that. So let me be as unequivocally clear about this as possible.

The six Pokémon carry limit? Not a thing.

6v6 is the highest you can get in tournament play. It's the format of the Silver Conference and six is the most you're allowed to bring towards a Gym battle or an Elite Four challenge. This is what is meant by the term 'full roster'. But there's no magical teleportation technology that whisks your captures away to "Bill's PC" or some stabling ranch or whatever just because you happened to catch a seventh or eighth Pokémon.

If you catch it, you're responsible for it. You don't get to foist feeding and caring for it off on some Nurse Joy or a Professor somewhere. If that sounds expensive, sounds like too many mouths to manage, then keep a smaller team. That's what most of the trainers in this world do.

In short, people often never going above six isn't due to some legal limit, but usually a financial one.

"Welcome back folks! For those of you just joining us via radio, my name is 'Call me Ted' Theodore and this is the Johto Mid-Season Summit! Hosted north of Mahogany this year at the absolutely B-E-A-utiful Lake of Rage! I'm joined today in the booth by my longtime partner Lewis and Mr. Ice-Cold, the 'Winter Trainer' himself, Gym Leader Pryce!"

There's an annoyed grunt over the speakers.

"Good introduction there Ted." Lewis takes over. "We're just about to get underway with the third match of the quarterfinals here and there's two faces down on the field of which we're not familiar. Care to tell us who our competitors are?"

"Ab-so-lutely! In the red half of the field we have a native son of Mahogany itself, a once-upon-a-time Gym Trainer who's finally out on his own journey, it's trainer Bradley!" A breath as he shifts over. "And in the blue half we have the jolly giant, some know him as the 'Doorman of Dark Cave', it's mountain man Russel!"

"Should be an exciting match Ted. Now correct me if I'm wrong here, but Bradley's a bit of an unexpected contender here in the Top 8 today. With only four Badges to his name, on paper he's less experienced than his opponents who each have six or seven is that right?"

"How right you are Lewis! Don't be fooled though, trainer Bradley managed to get through the preliminaries without the loss of a single Pokémon! Could it have been dumb luck or is there something more to this young man than meets our eye?"

I focus up, tuning the commentators out as the ref signals with his flags. Russel picks his first ball and I do the same. If I had to bet…I think he's gonna go with Machop. It's either use his only unevolved 'mon right here in the first round or don't use it today at all. Luckily I got a glimpse of the not-so-little guy on one of the video feeds during Day Two. It's got the Hidden Ability Steadfast, boosting its Speed any time it flinches.

Props to the man for finding a rare specimen like that, but it's not going to be terribly relevant against me.

The flag flies down and two Pokéballs fly out! Simon manifests on the field and immediately adopts the new battle stance he's come to favor. Sliding one foot back and holding his two fists up like a boxer. My little man still doesn't like to fight. He'd very much rather just be friends with everyone. He even gets noticeably uncomfortable if he starts to win too hard, as shown by that scrap against the Nidorina outside of Mt. Mortar.

But he will fight. It's something he's seemingly accepted that he has to do sometimes. Part of me feels bad about that. Like I destroyed some small bit of innocence left in the world. Another part tries to rationalize it away under the umbrella of 'we all have to grow up sometime' but I wonder if that's just my inner pessimist taking the wheel.

Golett: Lv. 34
Nature: Docile
Potential: S

On Russel's side there's a…well it's not a Machop. 'I've always been shit at predictions anyway.' But it's not exactly a 'mon that's got me concerned.

Sandslash: Lv. 34
Nature: Calm
Potential: E

'Heh. Been a while since we've had a fight where the levels match up.'

This may be off topic but, I do feel some modicum of pity for low potential Pokémon who get picked up by trainers. If my thoughts on rank affecting growth speed are true then they probably have to work their asses off just to keep up. Whereas if instead they had just remained out in the wild, they could have had a peaceful -albeit ordinary- life without all that struggle. 'Maybe someday I'll meet a 'Rock Lee' type who will blow my preconceived notions out of the water and I'll be subject to the receiving end of some righteous comeuppance. But until that happens…winning tournaments just isn't in the cards for Pokémon like this.'

There's a large amount of chatter among the crowd at Simon's appearance. Almost no one recognizes him for what he is. Even the bombastic overly-energetic announcer is shouting out the iconic line of 'WHO'S THAT POKÉMON?', though I'd put money on the table that that 'ignorance' is just a part of the character he's playing.

Russel doesn't recognize Golett, that's for sure. He's scanning it up and down trying to deduce it's typing.

If Vlad were out, this would be a beautiful opportunity to get a free setup move in while the enemy trainer's confused. Unfortunately Simon seems to have a rule about not going first. Another little compromise he's made inside his mind regarding this 'fighting' thing.

Golett's aren't terribly fast anyway, so I'll allow it.

For now.

Russel finally seems to shake it off. "Sandslash, Dig!"

'Ooph. And a major misplay right off the cuff!' "Simon! Magnitude!"

My opponent's eyes widen at his error. "Sandslash, reverse!" He tries to order but it's too late. "Gol!" Simon smashes down into the ground with one fist, sending a ring of Ground energy rumbling out under the arena.

There's a pained mewl from the Sandslash as it almost makes it back out but instead of celebrating the double-damage I click my tongue. 'Tch. Only Magnitude 6? With a better roll we could've cleaned this up in one shot.'

"Might not be a Rock-type then.." I catch Russel mouthing under his breath. "Defense Curl into a Rollout!" An injured Sandslash leaps from the same hole previously dug and immediately curls into a spiky brown ball.

'Hoh hoh? He was making a guess that Simon was Ghost/Rock?' Sorry friend, you were close but no dice. Do let me know if you find one though. "Iron Defense Simon! Then catch that Pokémon!"

"Gol!" A suped up Rollout begins tearing across the field, tearing up rocks and dust as it does so, and Simon bends his knees like a wrestler waiting for impact.

"Bounce up!" Sandslash goes airborne a few meters before the collision, going from a straightforward spiky brown death ball to now a falling one. Gotta get that gravity on your side you know?

"Simon! Coat your hands! Like we practiced!" Twin Ice Punches frost over Golett's palms at the last second and then its a small maelstrom of different energies as the meeting finally happens.

Ice is Super-effective on Ground. But Sandslash is currently covered in a layer of Curl enhanced Rock energy which is Super-effective on Ice. However, Rock is also not very effective against the Steel energy of Golett's Iron Defense nor the intrinsic Ground-type Simon is beneath it.

Who knows what'll happen?

"Gol.." Simon mutters as he takes a step back.

"You've got 150 lbs on him Simon! He's got the momentum, but you've got the weight! Just hold it!"

Sure enough, the spiky ball begins to slow and both me and Russel see the chance to move. "Mega Punch center mass!/ Sandslash, switch into Drill Run!"

Sandslash goes bouncing back like a punted pinball at the same time Simon goes sliding on his feet, one hand cradling the swirl on his stomach where Russel's Pokémon tried to dig in with its claws.

My little man is the first of the two to recover though.

"Simon! Night Shade! Finish it off long range!"

"Gol! Gol!" His hands jut forward, building up waves of ethereal Ghost-energy that travels outward just as Sandslash gets to his feet.

"Set up a Stealth Rock!"

Pointed stones take up position around the field even as the heavily beat Sandslash finally taps out. 'A little parting gift for my next Pokémon huh? Guess he knew Sandslash wasn't winning this one. The Magnitude at the beginning set him behind too much.'

Let's see. He won't use the Machop now, I'm certain that window is past. Graveler is likely out too considering what I've demonstrated. If he pulls out that bruiser of a Donphan I'll probably be forced to switch but considering that's his ace I think it's more likely he goes for- "Marowak! Time to pick up some slack!"

Marowak: Lv. 38
Nature: Impish
Potential: C-

"Bonemerang!"

I click my teeth. 'Damn! No wasting time eh?' "Sink into the earth to dodge! We need to get closer!"

Strictly speaking, this is a hella risky play, but I'm going to gamble that this Marowak can't punish us with Earthquake. It's one of the few Ground-types out there that can't naturally learn it and the TM for that one in particular is expensive. I'm talking go down to one kidney expensive. Trust me I would know. There's a reason the best Ma Ma has right now is Bulldoze.

Leaning into his Ghost-type, Simon sinks straight through the floor and the tossed club twirls straight through where he was just standing. The club that I'm just now realizing is unusually large for a Marowak.

'Aww fuck. I really have no idea how Thick Club works as a Held item in this world. It's such a niche thing I never looked into it!' Does it even count as a Held Item? What if you caught your Cubone/Marowak in the wild and it already had it? Would you even need or think to register it as your 'one' per round? Everyone already expects Marowak to be holding a bone.

The weapon boomerangs back into its owner's grip and Russel jumps into action. "Marowak, Focus Energy! Be ready for it!"

"Rise Simon! Recover with Drain Punch!" Golett phases through the ground in a way something only of his dual-type could and nails the Bone Keeper Pokémon right in the stomach! The enemy Ground-type gets launched back but for some reason Russel grins.

"Fling!"

Dark-type energy coats the heavy bone in Marowak's hand with a pitch black aura and it launches it like a throwing axe straight into Golett's face. Simon cries out from the direct high power Super-effective blow and goes ragdolling. Tumbling and sliding over the dirt before landing face-down almost all the way back to me. The bond floods with pain and distress and I can tell that hurt worse than anything Vlad's ever put him through.

Meanwhile the twirling bone reloads itself right back into Marowak's grip before she even hits the ground.

What. The. Fuck.

That's not how that move's supposed to work.

'Looks like another entry for the books on things that are different! And I can't even be sure if this is just a unique circumstance of combining Marowak with Fling or if it works that way every time!' I eye Simon in concern as he unsteadily pushes himself up. 'Shit. I think if we didn't have the Iron Defense up that would've knocked him straight out. It's lucky we connected the Drain Punch.'

"Bonemerang again! It's almost down!" With a shout of its name Marowak launches its weapon again, the item cutting through the air in wild circles.

'Time to gamble.' "Simon, use Astonish! Target the bone midair!" A smack of Ghost-energy, not terribly strong, but so fast it's near invisible to the human eye nicks the bulbous end, throwing the club just a bit off course.

"Charge in! Rollout to get there faster!" Simon tucks in, accelerating towards Marowak at a speed a bit quicker than his stubby legs would normally be able to take him.

"Detect! And then reload!" A spark of precognition gleams in the Ground-type's eye as Golett approaches. The wayward bone comes back on its return arc and embeds itself like an arrow in the earth a meter or two to Marowak's left.

"Maro!" The Pokémon sails over Simon, hopping past him like a game character over a barrel and goes for its signature item.

"Break now Simon!" Golett pops out of his ball and pivots. "Ice Hammer!"

Marowak's hand grips the club. "Brutal Swing!"

I do the math in my head as forces collide.

Ice Hammer, no STAB, power of 100. Plus 20% for Iron Fist and then doubled for Super-effective. End result: 240.

Brutal Swing, no STAB, power of 60. Doubled for Super-effective and then potentially doubled again for Thick Club. End result: 240.

A tie.

Only Marowak's base stats are a little bit better.

And Golett is way more hurt.

Simon, my beautiful little boy, manages to shoot me a thumbs up after he slides away…and then promptly passes out. Having done just about everything he could.

I raise my ball to recall him...when I notice the ref hasn't raised the flag yet.

His eyes, as well as everyone else's, are on Marowak. A massive freezer burn is spread over her left side and she's got her bone death gripped in her right, using it as a cane to stand.

'Ah, he's waiting to see if he needs to call it a double-knockout.'

Russel takes the decision away when he loudly sighs. "Man, Ghost types are rough to deal with." he mutters. "Difficult to be versatile when so many of our moves are Normal or Fighting. Hey ref," he gets louder. "I'm recalling Marowak. She's done."

The referee nods and two flags go up. "Both Pokémon are unable to battle! The score is 1-2 in favor of the red corner! Both trainers, select your next Pokémon and release on my mark! Four…three…two…one…Mark!"

Twin identical columns of light. Twin thumps of paws hitting the arena floor and twin roars as Ma Ma and her male counterpart hit the field at the same time. A small barrage of Stealth Rocks hone in on my side but my girl doesn't even flinch. She takes the chip damage without a huff of annoyance or even a sign that she felt it.

Ursaring: Lv. 43
Nature: Naive
Potential: B

Ursaring: Lv. 58
Nature: Serious
Potential: A

'Ha! Now that's fuckin' funny. No Donphan huh? I know it's smart to want to keep your gold saved for later but when you're down cleanly 1-2, you don't send out your silver medalist. You got to play the best card you got.'

I'm about to issue the order for Ma Ma to tear this lesser bear a new one…when I notice something odd happening on the field.

Russel's Pokémon is seemingly having a full blown panic attack. Sweat is pouring down its face in rivulets and it's backpedaling away from the center.

From through the bond with Ma Ma I feel…familiarity…amusement...and ardor?

Oh ohhhhhh shit. I think these grizzlies know each other. What did the announcer say Russel's sometimes known as? The 'Doorman of Dark Cave'? 'That WAS the place where I caught her. But that's one hell of a coincidence though.'

More concerning than that, based on the feelings I'm getting from Ma Ma I think…oh boy…I think she…I think Ma Ma used to dominate this bear. If you can catch what I'm putting down. Please don't make me explain it.

Ma Ma grins with a mouth full of teeth and blows a kiss to the male Ursaring across the way who promptly…oh christ almighty…who promptly sits down on the field, faces away from her and hugs his own knees to his chest.

I...don't know how to handle this.

Russel argues with his own Ursaring for a moment. There's a lot of talking, pointing, and objecting from both but eventually he turns to the referee with his mouth in a thin line. "My Pokémon cannot fight this opponent. May I swap out for another?"

I almost speak up, saying I'm fine with it if he wants to do so but the ref shakes his head in a very firm negative. "My apologies. The rules are fairly ironclad on this. The moment you sent out your third Pokémon, your choice was locked in. To give you a chance to switch to a fourth, after seeing the selection Trainer Bradley made, would provide you with an unfair advantage."

Russel looks at me with resignation in his face.

"Uhh…Good Game?" I try weakly.

 

[Hans Bloodsmith]

Jesus Christ on a stick, Big Ma Ma must be freak in her youth if she even traumatized a full grown Ursaring.

 

[Alucard925]

That Naive nature putting in some work with this poor boy, wonder if Russel will be down for a trade?

The sheer shenanigans and hilarity of these two bears interactions is needed, either as a running joke or an omake.

On a less serious note, would their Teddiursa be born with high potential or low? Ursaring is a decently strong powerhouse, so I can't help but wonder if it's worth it?

 

[Moran]

EDIT:

I think these grizzlies know each other. What did the announcer say Russel's sometimes known as? The 'Doorman of Dark Cave'? 'That WAS the place where I caught her. But that's one hell of a coincidence though.'

Click to shrink...

How did MC met and caught Ma Ma, I wonder?

Ma Ma grins with a mouth full of teeth and blows a kiss to the male Ursaring across the way who promptly…oh christ almighty…who promptly sits down on the field, faces away from her and hugs his own knees to his chest.

Click to shrink...

Ma Ma: Wanna go for another round?

Male Ursaring: Oh, Arceus. The things I rather forget are coming back to me…!

 

[T4ndoris]

Big Ma Ma finding her ancient harem member she used to bully in the arena x)

On a less serious note, would their Teddiursa be born with high potential or low? Ursaring is a decently strong powerhouse, so I can't help but wonder if it's worth it?

Click to shrink...

Maybe the medium grade between both parent ? Here it would be either A- or B+. Add to that the evolution 'potential boost' would make the child ursaring same grade as Big Ma Ma

 

[Hans Bloodsmith]

Big Ma Ma finding her ancient harem member she used to bully in the arena x)

Maybe the medium grade between both parent ? Here it would be either A- or B+. Add to that the evolution 'potential boost' would make the child ursaring same grade as Big Ma Ma

Click to shrink...

Pershap it's kinda works similar like in game where some of the IV (or potential if you will) is randomized. I wonder tho, if both the parent with good potential do the...dirty tango, while holding Destiny Knot, will it grant higher chances of creating a progeny that inherit their potential.

 

[Artful Lounger]

Good chapter. Poor Russel. And Brad moves on to the Semi-Finals down Simon, who was probably never gonna get used after this anyway even if he swept, and a little chip damage on the Ursaring. He's got two hours before the Semis, that'll buff right out.

Interesting level split though. 34, 38, and 43, with the 43 noted to be this guy's second best. That's not much better than the fire kid from round one. Depending on how you look at it, its worse consider that was a 37, 40 and 42. The trick would be that Donphan which would, given the description, break fire boy in two. For a guy who has six or seven badges, its looking more and more likely that Brad has the Silver Conference in the bag unless some freak of nature shows up.

 

[FTR2017]

Simon did his best, and boy did he pull off one win and one double knock-out while at it!

I also couldn't help but cackle at the fact that Ma-Ma and that other bear knew one another ... and the male surrendered while at it! Top comedy, that one!

As for the prizes, wouldn't the King's Rock be worth taking if only to have as an 'investment' for anyone willing to trade a good 'mon in exchange for the required item to get a Slowking?

Or is the item itself not rare enough to be worth the hassle?

Thanks for the chapter, it was quite fun!

 

[Xodarap]

Big Ma Ma finding her ancient harem member she used to bully in the arena x)

Maybe the medium grade between both parent ? Here it would be either A- or B+. Add to that the evolution 'potential boost' would make the child ursaring same grade as Big Ma Ma

Click to shrink...

Remember all those Piloswine a couple chapters ago?
That came from our boys beast of a mon and most of them were below C

 

[T4ndoris]

Remember all those Piloswine a couple chapters ago?
That came from our boys beast of a mon and most of them were below C

Click to shrink...

Yeah but again Bubble (Mc's mamoswine) was only B- and the piloswine waifu harem should have been worse (around in the D ~ C range) so it kinda go in my explanation direction ? Note that it could also be influenced by level for all i know :/