章 17: Vs. Blake
...And then, the pressure was gone. Nova let out a heavy breath he didn't know he was holding and fell to his knees. He was breathing raggedly, on high alert after that feeling of extreme danger.
Then he realized that while he was freaking out, something had changed. He couldn't quite catch it, but Absol had moved, and it was walking back to its place near Sol again.
When Nova looked around, wondering what the hell just happened, he saw Nisei just standing there. Headless.
He blinked. And then he blinked again.
'Honestly, I'm not surprised.'
Although Sol was very accommodating to guild members, and usually wouldn't harm a hair on their heads unless they were causing trouble, she still had a very violent past.
For anyone to annoy her enough to make her kill them is just survival of the fittest.
His blank staring was interrupted by her voice calling out to him.
"Grant wins. Nova, you're up against Blake."
Nova walked into the battlefield while silently trying to compose himself after everything that just happened.
His opponent, a woman who was the embodiment of the punk aesthetic walked opposite him. Earrings, a half-shaven head, dark clothes, a choker, the whole shebang.
Despite her slightly above average looks, the only thought that was running through Nova's head was-
'Weak.'
Just from the way she walked and carried herself, he knew she was shy and insecure. She might look confident on the outside but she had obvious tells of a person who was faking it till they make it.
He thought it was admirable that she was pushing herself out of her shell, but alas, she was still currently weak.
Apparently, that didn't stop her from talking to him though.
"O-oi! What're ya doin' here, kid? How a-about you run home to mommy and I might not have ta' kill ya." She half shouted.
"I'm fairly certain my parents are dead. I'm pretty sure most people here don't have parents in their life, actually. And even if I did have parents, did you really think I would just walk away because you said to?" He deadpanned back at her.
False bravado was one thing, but that mommy comment was just plain rude.
"Oh, right, sorry I wasn't thinking clearly, my bad, I didn't mean anything by it. I don't even have any parents myself, or an accent really, I just always wanted to say that line. Again, sorry I-" She started to mumble back before being interrupted by a sharp 'HA' and subsequent laughter.
Coming straight from Sol.
"That was, the absolute worst pre-battle banter I've ever heard. No, no, don't stop for me, keep going," Sol suggested with a face that screamed amusement.
'At least she's less annoyed. I don't want to end up like Niseko or whatever his name was.'
"...Can we just start already? My opponent is gonna faint from all the attention," Nova counter suggested, the shy girl's face getting extremely red as she fidgeted in place.
"...Fine. Ruin my fun, why don't you? Whatever, Begin." Sol conceded to the fainting point. Still, there was a small smile on her face.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his Pokeball while Pawniard stood and watched from the sidelines.
First up was Hoppip.
"Hoppip, use Grassy Terrain to start off," Nova commanded upon entry.
The moment the battle started, Blake's shyness seemed to take a backseat, as she had a look of intense determination.
Throwing out her canine Pokemon, she countered Nova's field advantage immediately.
"Don't let that happen Poochyena, Fire Fang the shit out of the ground!" She boldly yelled, seemingly in her element.
The small patches of grass that were growing from the dirt lit up in flames, quickly burning to cinders. Noticing this development, Hoppip aborted its Grassy Terrain to save energy.
'Damn, I didn't even think of that. And if I use Sunny Day it'll just boost its fire fang putting me into even more trouble.' Nova realized in the heat of the moment.
"Don't let it try anything else, rush it with an Ice Fang!" She continued, not letting him stop and think of a strategy.
'Oh fuck that.' He thought, knowing that an Ice-type move would shred Hoppip to pieces. It would be 4x effective against the grass-flying type.
"Hoppip, use Bounce to get into the air and stay up there." He ordered, needing a few seconds to think of a new strategy.
There was a ripple of air as Hoppip propelled itself straight up, before staying up there while floating still. A good portion of its training was focused on not being controlled by the winds.
The Hoppip line was known for getting blown away randomly because they were so light. Thus, they prepared for it.
'I'm glad that paid off, but what do I do now?' Nova pondered. The entire plan with Hoppip relied on Grassy Terrain, so if it didn't work he didn't have much left.
It was then that he remembered a key stipulation of this match.
"Don't worry up there, just use Cotton Guard as much as you can and keep yourself elevated!" He yelled to his shiny Pokemon. He only had one shot for this.
Hoppip glowed white before puffs of cotton poofed into existence around it. After a few seconds, the cotton disappeared and Hoppip's glow changed to blue, signifying its defense increase.
Blake didn't understand what he was going for, but she knew what Cotton Guard was and didn't want to let him have the physical advantage.
"Howl Poochyena, we'll just have to counter their defense with our offense!" She said, intently watching Hoppip's every slight movement.
Poochyena looked upwards and released a mighty howling sound, or as mighty as a puppy could be, a red glow appeared around it to signify its increase in attack.
While she was distracted by the floating cottonweed Pokemon, Nova looked around before picking up a sizable rock. Tossing it up and down, he nodded.
"Alright, Sunny Day up there where they can't touch you!" He commanded, he just needed to wait for the right moment for him to initiate his plan.
Hoppip raised its two leaf appendages straight up and released multiple golden rings into the sky, causing the sun to seem brighter.
Blake still didn't notice anything wrong, watching closely for Hoppip to make a move. It was impressive how hawk-like her gaze became.
Sadly, they wouldn't help her.
"Use Bounce when I give the signal!" He said in advance, getting a nod from Hoppip as it spun a little in the air.
Alarmed by that vague command, she took her eyes off Hoppip for a moment and glanced at Nova, seeing a rock fly straight at her face.
He figured it most likely wouldn't kill her, with normal humans being able to take a rock or two and all. He'd bet that she, a human of the Pokemon world, would be able to take a rock thrown by an eight-year-old.
No matter how much that eight-year-old worked out.
The rock knocked her square in her jaw and made her topple over. The battleground went silent besides the ruffling of clothes from Nova running forward.
Even some of the people in the audience were surprised despite watching him from the sidelines. It wasn't every day a child suddenly threw a rock at someone in the middle of a battle.
Poochyena stared at its crumbled trainer, dazed and confused. It was quickly starting to bubble in outrage, but that rage didn't have the chance to make itself known.
As it too was distracted, Nova sprinted up to it and kicked it upwards as hard as he could. A whimper could be heard as Nova's kick wasn't weak by any means.
Plus, he kicked it straight in the snout. A place that was extra sensitive for canines.
"Now!" Nova barked upwards.
While Poochyena was still suspended in the air, Hoppip hurled himself into it with its heavy defense and a boosted speed due to the Chlorophyll ability.
After all, Chlorophyll doubled the user's speed in bright sunshine. Hence, Sunny Day.
A loud bang resounded as Poochyena was slammed into enough to badly hurt it. It still had plenty enough willpower to continue battling, but it wasn't smart enough to fight tactically without its trainer.
"Hold him off with Seed Bombs, Hoppip. Use Bounce to go faster if you have to," Nova said offhandedly as he looked over to Blake.
Hoppip followed his command without fail, appearing in front of Poochyena at high speeds, pushing it back with Seed Bomb.
Ignoring Poochyena's aggressive snarls and growls towards him, he rushed to Blake's flailing body. She wasn't dead or even knocked out, she just wasn't expecting a rock to hit her and was rolling around groaning in pain.
"Sorry about the rock, I just couldn't afford to lose this opportunity." Nova started, examining her body.
She didn't respond, just staring at him with hurt eyes.
"You were doing well though, I probably would've lost if this was a normal battle. Sadly, it's a deathmatch," He complimented her, appreciating how quickly she changed tune when she had to actually battle.
It took a few seconds for him to find what he was looking for, but it was in the most obvious place. The Pokeball on her waist.
Taking it from her, he returned Poochyena and locked the ball, staring her in her eyes. At this moment, she could've sworn Nova's eyes began to glow a sinister violet, but it was probably just the brain-rattling and fear for her life.
"So surrender. Or die," His emotionless voice rang out, silencing any doubt he'd kill her if she refused to surrender.
Still, she hesitated, not wanting to give up this opportunity, "I… surrender," But her life was much more important than a training gig.
There was a moment of shared awe at how quickly the battle went, most still in disbelief at how the tides turned in a mere few seconds.
That moment was broken by a certain silver-haired 'boss lady'.
"Well, I'll be damned. Nova wins."
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A/N: If you're interested, I just posted the first two chapters of my DxD fanfiction. It has gamer/system elements if you're not into that though.
On another note, I have a question: Was this battle better than the previous ones? What do you think needs to be added to it to make it more interesting?
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