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66.37% Pokemon: A life worth living / Chapter 73: C073 - Start of the Semifinals

Capítulo 73: C073 - Start of the Semifinals

AN: Some of you liked when I described the battles, so I'll do two or three chapters of that. But not the whole tournament, obviously. It'll start next chapter! Hope some of you are looking forward to that.

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With a long kiss for good luck, Pete left Jasmine at the contestant area and walked toward the waiting Whitney near the stage.

"Petey! Thank you so much for coming!" The pinkette gushed as she ran to him for a hug.

"How are you? Jasmine and Courtney just complained that you don't come over often enough. Your two Farigiraf have enough juice to jump over," Pete spoke with the gym leader still in his arms.

"Ah! Well, you know. Jasmine is going to be a gym leader soon, right? The last time we had a mock battle near your lake, her Steelix and Gabite easily won against my Miltank and Farigiraf. It was very humbling, but instead of crying, I wanted to simply get stronger! I caught a Teddiursa, an Aipom, and a Jigglypuff, and I've been training them as hard as I can. I'll beat her in a 6v6 instead where I have several pokemon who can deal with that monster of a Steelix," Whitney offered with a bright grin.

Pete didn't want to crush her mood and tell that she'd have even less of a chance in a 6v6, but he did offer some insights to her training if she came over to his farm. He'd even arrange for Jasmine to not be there so the gym leader could have a better chance. It was a little crazy how strong Jasmine's pokemon were compared to an 'established and successful' gym leader, all things considered.

"I admire your grit and integrity, but... you know you could have joined and simply trained with her, right? Not only because your Wigglytuff could benefit greatly from the many fairy pokemon living with me. We have so many pokemon on the farm doing mock battles and training with games, I think there's about six different battlefields and three sports arenas by now," Pete suggested.

"And how will I ever beat her if I do what she does but start later?"

"Alright, guess you got a point. Just know you'll have the option, always. Who's our third host today? Or is it just us?" Pete looked around but except the odd pokemon, a camera crew, and some staff.

"Oohhh, I got a friend to help! She told me you two knew each other," Whitney explained with a cheerful smile.

Suddenly, some sweat ran down Pete's back. Someone was glaring at him. He stiffly turned around and saw sky-blue hair.

'Shit! I managed to not cross her path in over 700 days! Ugh, so unlucky,' Pete cursed in his mind.

"Egghead Pete, so nice to meet you again," Clair greeted with a wide smile.

"Yeah, crazy how it took so long for us to meet again," Pete answered with a forced pleased look.

"Yeah, crazy indeed. Last time Elm met with Lance at your farm you mysteriously went out camping just minutes before and nobody could reach you~ Never even told anyone I would come along," Clair continued while her smile was starting to show her sharp canines.

"There were some wild pokemon close to hatching, and I wanted to be there when it happened," Pete explained sheepishly before resigning himself to his fate. "Haaa... I'm guessing you followed my advice? This outfit certainly works much better for you."

Instead of the usual 'wetsuit' that had a vertical cutoff at just below her butt which flattened and widened it, she wore a wetsuit that ended around halfway of her thighs. The suit was still glued to her person and showed less skin in total, but it looked much better with the turteneck that exposed plenty of shoulder and collarbone.

Much of it was hidden by her tattered cloak, but by pressing both hands on her hips, she showed her outfit to Pete just the same.

Oh, and she wore much nicer boots that didn't end in two thick rings just below her knee. These new ones had a slightly higher heel, but it somehow still looked like practical boots for explorers.

"Hmph! Don't think I'm unreasonable enough to hold a grudge for so long. You can make it all up by showing me that grass type dragon you got on your farm after this tournament is over. Lance and I didn't find him on your farm last time," Clair countered with narrowed eyes.

"Flapple doesn't like new people. The little guy likely hid in a tree and pretended to be a big berry," Pete pondered out loud.

"Huh, but didn't Flapple swoop down in front of me the first time I arrived at the farm after your Hoenn trip to eat a berry out of my hand?" Whitney asked with a tilted head.

"Haha, is that so? Maybe he just found you cute," Pete awkwardly offered as one girl's eyes' gleamed in mischief, while the others' gleamed in irritation.

"I have an offer for you later if you're interested," Clair said through gritted teeth and walked off to the panel they would sit later on. There, she released a Dratini and had it lie its head on her lap for petting and bonding.

"Ugh, did you have to do that? Clearly, she already held a grudge before," Pete asked in exasperation.

"I dunno what you mean," Whitney giggled before walking off to sit next to Clair.

A few hours later, the mostly boring tournament came into its heated phase: the semi-finals. Jasmine had easily reached it with one hit KO's and would fight a young man called Bugsy next. Pete naturally identified him as the next Azalea bug gym leader and not just because he had a Scyther and a Beedrill fighting for him.

The other two were well-known trainers, too, but Pete had to dig a little deeper to find out who they were. After all their roles in the pokemon universe weren't in Johto.

Well, one was easy because Iris, a dragon gym leader in Opelucid City in Unova and future champion, had a Fraxure and a Hydreigon out. The young, tanned girl was constantly looking over to Clair in challenge. Her pokemon were strong, there was no doubt. But she would clearly lose if these two were her strongest pokemon. Must be a weird dragon trainer thing if her stares were an actual challenge.

The other trainer looked to be the clear favorite, just matchup wise. After all, Hydreigon with the dark/dragon typing was doubly weak to fairy moves. And, that other trainer would become a fairy gym leader in Kalos' Laverre City. Valerie, the girl who wanted to become a pokemon, wasn't yet wearing a truly eccentric winged kimono like she did in the games.

Instead, she wore a flowery sundress with a deep cut on the side that exposed plenty of her long legs with every step. The dress also had a few ribbons that matched one of her pokemon, a Sylveon. Pete knew his weren't the only ones in existence, so he nodded in satisfaction. The Eevee was likely taught a fairy move by Valerie's second pokemon, a Mawile.

'Wasn't she a model or fashion designer in the games? If that dress is any indication, she certainly has the talent for both,' Pete thought after Valerie walked past the panel like she was on a catwalk.

"Are you about to ask that girl out? You're in luck. Whenever you're not looking, that Valerie brat keeps giving you the bedroom eyes. Just like you just did," Clair quipped from the side. It wasn't the first time she tried to rile him up today.

"What's it to you? That girl Iris is looking at you just as much."

"Hmph, that's because Iris is from Blackthorn City same as me and the little troublemaker is probably still angry that we 'offloaded' her to her second uncle Drayden in Unova after her father's death. Her dream became beating Lance and I so resoundingly that she can kick the both of us out of our home so that we can taste our own medicine. Poor girl has to train under one of the wisest, most experienced dragon trainers in the world, boohoo," Clair explained while wiping away a fake tear.

"Huh, is that Hydreigon a loan from him then? It's remarkably well trained and behaved for both a dark and dragon pokemon," Pete asked now that he had Clair talking about something other than his flaws and faults.

"Nope, that was her father's pokemon. It had just evolved before he died, so it's still young. When Drayden came to take Iris away, Iris' declaration to beat Lance and I made it acknowledge her as her trainer," Clair explained, leaving out that Hydreigon had even bonded with its old trainer's daughter that same day and the young girl unlocked one of the strongest initial dragon affinities the gym leader had ever seen. She even unlocked her dark affinity as well.

"Well, it's going to be hard for her to reach the finals, still. She was truly unlucky to find one of the only fairy trainers that have attended in the semis," Pete mused.

"Yeah, you really did us dragon trainers a solid by showing off all those fairy moves and pokemon," Clair said while giving him a stink eye.

Pete coughed awkwardly before saying, "Hey, I made it so you have actually challenging battles, no?"

"You two are too funny," Whitney mumbled with a big grin. Both Pete and Clair snapped their heads to her.

"Hey hey, continue! It was getting fun~"

"Nope. It's time for my Jasmine to reach the finals," Pete quickly said as he saw the announcement on the giant TV. In the distance, he saw Jasmine walking toward the battlefield entrance in the center of the gym.

Whitney wasn't done with her mischief yet and whisper-giggled so only Pete could hear, "Too bad~"


Capítulo 74: C074 - Jasmine vs Bugsy

"Semifinalist Jasmine certainly has her work cut out for her fighting two airborne bug pokemon with her ground pokemon lineup," Whitney said into her microphone when the introductions were over.

"Sure, but we've seen both her Excadrill and her Donphan use rock type moves to great effect this tournament. And, the heavy sandstorm they will likely use in the battle means her opponent Bugsy will have to be smart about finding the correct openings. After all, his pokemon are less tanky than Jasmine's," Clair countered with her opinion.

Pete stayed quiet at that because he was here more for colorful commentary than analysis. He had a critical eye for moves, so he could name them right when they are used, which a lot of commentators with lacking experience struggled with, and he knew a lot about pokemon abilities and typings.

"And the battle starts. Looks like Clair's insight was spot on, Donphan immediately used Sandstorm. Excadrill's Sand Rush and Sand Force abilities kicked in, and it immediately used the multi-attack Rock Blast in an attempt to catch Bugsy's pokemon off-guard," Pete said into his mic.

"Expecting such a move, Beedrill used Agility right off the bat and increased its speed enough to dodge. Scyther, however, seems to want to evasion tank the ranged attacks and used Double Team. We can see two after images in addition to the real pokemon. Bugsy is certainly a very promising trainer," Clair added.

"Oh, I hope Scyther can keep such a draining move up long enough for it to make a difference. Hopefully, they aren't on the backfoot for too long," Whitney said in worry.

"Oh? It looks like Beedrill has fallen back and uses Harden in rapid succession to bolster his defenses. Smart use of the battle start when Donphan and Excadrill aren't close yet," Pete described. "Oh? That gleam in its eyes looks like it used Laser Focus to increase the chances of a critical hit. Beedrills do have access to the ability Sniper for increased critical damage, so that move also made a lot of sense. Let's see why Jasmine's pokemon allowed Beedrill so much time for setup."

"'Seeing' is good. The Sandstorm increased in density and makes it very hard to see what Donphan and Excadrill are up to," Whitney complained.

"So they likely both used Sandstorm now," Clair added her opinion.

"Well, we're still seeing Rock Blasts coming out of the storm, but Scyther is doing an amazing job with the dodges. Not one hit yet."

"Is it smart to use the move while hidden in the sand? Scyther and Beedrill can pinpoint their location with that, defeating half the purpose of the storm," Whitney asked as she turned to Clair.

"Hmm, we've seen Jasmine's Excadrill use the dark move Fling with a jagged rock laying about in the arena earlier. It's reasonable to believe that it knows Hone Claws then and is currently setting up itself. With its secondary steel typing, it should have access to other setup moves like Iron Defense, too."

"And there it is, the first melee! Excadrill cut its setup short and used Dig to appear right below Scyther. With a big leap, it's aiming a Metal Claw aaaaaand misses!"

"The Rock Blasts have not stopped! It looks like Donphan is keeping the move together with Sandstorm, astonishing how well it uses rock type energy," Clair comments in admiration.

"Oooh, Scyther uses Air Slash, one of the few ranged attacks it probably knows to counter the exposed Excadrill in the air and lands the hit! It looks like it barely did any damage, though, because of the typing advantage. Excadrill lands and goes right back underground," Pete explained.

"After using Harden, Agility, and Laser Focus, it looks like Beedrill is out for some blood as well. It's rising high into the air above the Sandstorm and starts glowing a little," Whitney chimed in.

Seeing as she didn't seem to know what move the bug pokemon is about to unleash, Pete chimed in with, "Looks like this Beedrill knows Aerial Ace, certainly not a move any random Beedrill knows."

"Ah, while we were watching Beedrill's flight, Scyther was using Double Team with two afterimages and simultaneously used Laser Focus. Are they trying to use a pincer move on Donphan?"

"Nice bug pun, Clair," Whitney quipped with a giggle.

"And there they go! Beedrill dives down, and Scyther shoots forward!"

Most people in the audience held their breath, but just as Scyther reached the edge of the storm, Excadrill revealed itself from a hidden hole with a readied attack.

Pete was awed by Excadrill's wit and shouts, "Oooh, a boulder the size of Scyther itself shoots forward hidden from Beedrill's view! A point blank Rock Slide with no way to dodge! Excadrill follows up with a second Rock Slide on the flinched bug pokemon and Scyther faints!"

"Meanwhile, Beedrill lands a Poison Jab on Donphan together with the Aerial Ace move! It looks like the ground pokemon used a last second Defense Curl to avoid a critical strike to its face! The Sandstorm lessens and grants us visibility, but Beedrill already took plenty of damage, it looks like," Clair commented.

"And it won't let up on the curled up Donphan delivering what looks like the bug move Fell Stinger with its sting on the abdomen and the move Poison Sting with both arms," Pete added.

Whitney looked to him in contemplation as Beedrill flew back up to avoid a few Rock Blasts coming from Excadrill, "How do you know it was Poison Sting and not another Poison Jab, Pete? It looked the same to me."

"Poison Jab is more forceful, more physical. It's much faster in execution, and Poison Sting actually drips poison energy as it happens. The sting is more deliberate, as if calculating where best to poison the opponent."

Clair looked at Pete with an appreciative nod, and Whitney just smiled. She knew the difference but couldn't have put it as eloquently as Pete. But as the color commentator, she was doing rather well to have Pete explain the more technical aspect.

Clair lifted a brow at the happenings on the battlefield, "Oh? It looks like Donphan is angry at getting peppered with so many attacks and started Rollout! It's slowly picking up more speed as the Sandstorm, too, picks up speed again, concealing the movements of Donphan. Are Excadrill and Donphan planning to ground Beedrill to land the Rollout?"

Beedrill flew away from the Sandstorm and kept a decent distance from the ground to avoid the powerful moves of the two opponents. Things were looking dire for the bug pokemon, but it didn't admit defeat just yet.

All of a sudden, though, the ground shifted and formed a ramp pointing at Beedrill's location. It was a testament to the typing energy training the pokemon do on Pete's farm on a daily basis. Before Beedrill could react, Donphan shot out of the Sandstorm. It hit the ramp, and, like a car sized bullet, hit the bug pokemon flying in the air.

Both pokemon crashed on the ground as Donphan stopped the Rollout and looked to Beedrill, who was trying to beat its wings but failed with a pained screech.

Whitney, who should have been impartial, was over the moon for her friend's success and shouted into the microphone, "What a crazy combination! It looks like Beedrill's wings are no longer able to support flight! Bugsy forfeits, and the match is over! Jasmine Feelgood advances to the finals with a crazy doubles attack I have never seen before!"

As cheers rang through the stands and the two trainers balled their pokemon, a team of construction workers entered the battlefield to get rid of all the damage and sand this battle brought to it. It would take a while, so both trainers were invited to the commentators stand for an interview after the two took care of their pokemon with the help of a Nurse Joy who was attending.

Before Pete could congratulate his girlfriend on her victory, Bugsy shot forward with shining eyes and greeted the assistant professor on the stands, "Ah! Professor Lang! I wanted to speak with you for such a long time! I read your papers on the Yanma evolution and your 'move compendium'! I discovered the bug move Fury Cutter, which seems to be a signature move of my Scyther, and I was wondering if you could help me publish the discovery!? I would love it if we could share it with the world through TMs!"

"Hey, not a professor yet! Tell me about the move," Pete answered with a good natured chuckle.

All three women looked at the enthusiastic young man in wonder. He had just lost quite hard and was out of the tournament, but it didn't look like he minded much. The complete opposite was the case as it increasingly looked like Bugsy attended the tournament just to have a chance to meet with Pete.

The two completely forgot the interview and instead talked about bug pokemon and bug moves for three minutes before Clair coughed in her hand, "And congratulations to Jasmine for advancing into the finals."

The crowd laughed and cheered as Bugsy stiffened completely and turned to the giant screen that showed him talking to Pete like an excited kid. He forgot about the microphones and cameras and showed his nerdy side, which he usually hid.

Pete didn't mind, though, and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about them. Your knowledge on bug pokemon is worlds ahead of most. I'm sure if you keep it up, it isn't impossible for there to be a Professor Bug Bugsy in the future," Pete whispered while covering the mic and giving him a wink.


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