Night 5

As night fell again in the Cerulean Cave, the remaining competing trainers took up defensive positions, whether they were deeper inside the cave or near the arena rooms. The walls of the cavern would shake with the rumbling of Pokemon battles later that night.

Ruby was, once again, on the small island he had claimed for himself in the middle of the underground lake.


He was just lounging around, getting himself a nice rest before inevitably the mysterious trainer would stop by with new Pokemon for his Tentacruel to defeat. Sure enough, right on cue a shadowy figure appeared, and shouted across the lake at Ruby.

“YOU! Prepare yourself!”

“Back again? Tentacruel, let’s go!”

“Your overconfidence will be your downfall. This time, your fate is sealed! Go, Alakazam!”

VS

Alakazam stood at the lake’s edge, while Tentacruel floated in the waters some ten yards away. The two Pokemon stared at each other briefly before their trainers barked orders.

“Ice Beam!”

“Psychic attack!”

Tentacruel attempted to fire an Ice Beam, but it was quickly brought to a halt when Alakazam lifted up its spoons, glowing with Psychic power. Using telekinesis, Alakazam immobilized Tentacruel and lifted it out of the water. Then, with great force and precision, it hurled Tentacruel at a spike on the wall to the side. Tentacruel struck the spike and then fell to the solid ground below.

“BAHAHAHAHA! Now that I’ve got your Tentacruel out of the water, this will be child’s play!”

There was truth in the mysterious trainer’s words. Tentacruel tried to mount a defense, but on dry land it was only able to flounder about on its tentacles. It couldn’t move quickly enough to get to the water’s edge in time.

“Alakazam, use Shock Wave!”

Alakazam opened up a conduit of electricity from its spoons, and shot the thunderbolt straight at Tentacruel. Unable to dodge the attack, Tentacruel was struck head on and electrocuted viciously.

“No! Tentacruel!”

“Now, finish it off! Psychic!”

Alakazam lifted Tentacruel again, and proceeded to smash it up and down between the floor and the ceiling of the cave. When Alakazam was finished, Tentacruel had been knocked unconscious.

Ruby returned Tentacruel, and looked unsure of himself. Tentacruel had beaten five opponents before, but after this one loss, he would be forced to rely on only Manectric to protect him. Ruby threw the Pokeball over to the mysterious trainer’s side.

“Go, Manectric! Use Thunder Wave!”

VS

As soon as it landed, Manectric unleashed an electromagnetic pulse that blasted Alakazam. Although Alakazam was not physically harmed by the electricity, it was paralyzed and its movements slowed.

“Discharge!”

“Match it with Shock Wave!”

Manectric and Alakazam both launched powerful electric attacks, but Manectric’s capacity for the creation of electricity was much greater than Alakazam’s. Manectric’s current canceled out Alakazam’s and still had enough strength left over to blast the Psychic Pokemon off its feet.

“I’ve had enough of this… use Hypnosis!”

Alakazam began staring into Manectric’s eyes and emitting Psychic waves into its brain. Manectric was immobilized, unable to look away, and it soon fell into a deep sleep as Ruby could only watch in frustration.

“Now use Dream Eater!”

Alakazam began draining the life energy from Manectric as it slept, and using it to heal the damage it had taken to its own frail body. In less than a minute, Manectric was completely drained of energy, and it did not wake back up.

“No! Manectric!”

Ruby returned his Pokemon, threw a Smoke Ball, and dove into the water. When the smoke cleared, the frustrated trainer could not find him anywhere nearby.

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Steven had found himself a wide-open space deep in the cave, which was glittering with glowing gemstones.


Among the more conventional jewels, Steven was sure he would find several evolution-inducing stones down here, such as a Moon Stone or a Water Stone. But more importantly, this deep into the ground Steven was certain to find fossils of ancient Pokemon. Both of these prospects interested the curious trainer deeply, and he was rather annoyed when an uninvited visitor dropped in to battle.

“Steven. Any last words before I destroy you?”

“You haven’t even battled me yet, and I’m at full strength! Go, Aggron!”

“Excellent. Just the move I was hoping for. Go, Machamp!”

VS

Normally, Aggron’s thick hide of rock and steel was a huge asset, but it would severely impair it in this battle, and Steven quickly realized the mistake he made in sending out his Pokemon first. Machamp would have greater mobility, and besides that fact its four powerful arms were principally trained by smashing rocks and tearing apart iron.

“Machamp, use Earthquake!”

Slamming the ground with its powerful arms, Machamp created tremors in the ground. Several gemstones came dislodged from the walls and ceiling and fell to the ground.

“Aggron, Protect yourself!”

Aggron held up its guard and concentrated on standing its ground. It was totally unaffected by Machamp’s attack.

“Get in there and use Low Kick!”

While Aggron was withstanding the tremors, Machamp rushed forward and swept low with its foot, succeeding in tripping Aggron the manual way. The heavy Pokemon fell flat on its face and struggled to get back up.

“Cross Chop!”

Using its four arms, Machamp deliver four devastating karate chops to Aggron’s body, inflicting massive damage. The force of the blows was such that Aggron was barely able to stand.

“Now finish it with Seismic Toss!”

In an incredible display of strength, Machamp lifted Aggron and hurled it straight at Steven. Luckily, the master trainer ducked, but Aggron kept on flying into the wall, which it struck with a thud. Aggron did not regain consciousness.

“Well… you succeeded in tricking me there, but I hope you’ve got a good strategy for the rest, because it won’t be nearly that easy to defeat me! Go, Metagross!”

VS

Metagross made a deep, metallic screeching sound, and then began approaching Machamp slowly.

“Cross Chop!”

Machamp rushed forward and tried to hit Metagross with the same tactic it used against Aggron, but it was stopped abruptly mid-charge. Metagross’s eyes glowed menacingly, and it lifted Machamp off the ground with Psychic power. Then Metagross proceeded to fling Machamp around the room like a rag doll, smashing it into the walls and ceiling, which were interspersed with sharp gemstones poking out. When Metagross finally released Machamp, it was in no shape to be battling.

The mysterious trainer grumbled and sent out another Pokemon.

“Go, Typhlosion!”

VS

The flame vents around Typhlosion’s neck flared up dangerously as it prepared itself to fight. Metagross remained stoic in its disposition.

“Use Flame Wheel!”

Typhlosion got a running start, then rolled up into a ball. It spun quickly enough that when it flared up its flame vents, the fire spread to cover its entire body. As Typhlosion picked up speed, it began zipping around the battlefield as a literal wheel of flame. Metagross, unable to turn around quickly enough to anticipate its attack, was struck directly in the back. It was hurt, but it knocked Typhlosion away with a Psychic pulse.

“Hit it with Meteor Mash!”

Metagross levitated itself into the air stretched out its legs, and then began spinning around. Its four taloned legs spun like a series of deadly fan blades. Metagross had a wide enough leg-span that Typhlosion was not able to easily leap around it, and it was struck by the attack.

“Now, Hammer Arm!”

Immediately, Metagross stopped spinning, and instead proceeded to batter Typhlosion with a heavy steel leg. Typhlosion was knocked to the ground and got up slowly.

“Metagross, finish it with Hyper Beam!”

“Dodge it!”

Just in time, Typhlosion leapt out of the way to dodge the powerful blast of energy that Metagross released. Typhlosion had a few free seconds to attack while Metagross regained its strength.

“Overheat, now!”

Typhlosion got up close to Metagross, and then began burning intensely. The air around the two Pokemon heated up dramatically, until it was hot enough that Metagross’s steel body could start to melt. The metal Pokemon roared in pain. When Typhlosion couldn’t hold up the heat blast any longer, Metagross fell to the ground, unable to fight.

“No way! How could you beat Metagross?”

Steven was worried now. Metagross was the one he always turned to when the situation became dire.

“Fine then. Go, Cradily!”

VS

“Do you really expect this one to even be a challenge?”

“Cradily, use Rock Slide!”

Cradily caused a stream of rocks and gemstones to fall from the ceiling. Typhlosion spun into a Flame Wheel and dodged around all of the stones before smashing into Cradily.

“Let’s finish this. Use Flare Blitz!”

Typhlosion coated itself in flame and then charged full-force into Cradily, engulfing it in an inferno. Cradily fell to the ground, scorched and knocked unconscious.

The mysterious trainer looked around for Steven, but he had seemingly disappeared. He was about to leave, frustrated, when a beam shot from Steven’s Pokeball near the single entrance to the gem cavern, returning Cradily to him. Before the trainer could give chase, Steven bolted and faded out of sight.

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Lance was sitting outside the arena dormitories.


He intended to serve as protector to any who stayed there during the night, but in truth he probably derived just as much safety from the other trainers as they did from him. Perhaps, with the mindset of a Champion, he felt it his responsibility. He certainly felt it his responsibility when he heard roaring from the arena.

“Go, Charizard!”

VS

Lance couldn’t see very well in the unlit arena, but there was no mistaking that roar. Lance looked at his opponent’s Pokemon, only to see:

“Garchomp?”

Garchomp raged, and began dueling with Charizard, the two dragons exchanging blows.

“It couldn’t be…”

Lance shrugged whatever doubts he had in his mind away and focused back on the battle. Garchomp was larger than Charizard and had greater reach, but Charizard had the advantage of speedy flight.

“Use Flamethrower!”

Charizard fired a long jet of flame from its mouth, which struck Garchomp all over its body as Charizard circled around it in the air. The attack did not look as if it damaged Garchomp terribly, but it left burn marks all over the dragon’s skin.

“Strike with Outrage!”

Garchomp began firing powerful energy beams at Charizard, but it was fast enough to see them coming and dodge them with swift aerial dives and swerves. After the fifth or so beam, Garchomp was starting to become tired and disoriented.

“Now’s your chance! Use Dragon Claw!”

Swooping by with great precision, Charizard stretched out both of its claws and slashed them along Garchomp’s side, scoring deep cuts. This, combined with Garchomp’s burns and fatigue, caused it to collapse to the ground.

“No matter. I have more. Go, Gallade!”

VS

Gallade struck a fighting pose, but Charizard was already way ahead of it and soaring through the air. It fired bursts of flame from its mouth, hoping to burn Gallade as it had with Garchomp.

“Detect!”

Gallade was able to use its Psychic powers to easily predict, detect, and sidestep all of Charizard’s attacks. It continued to hold a defensive stance.

“Use Air Slash!”

Charizard whipped up an air current that ripped away at Gallade’s defenses, knocking it to the ground. Charizard flew in close for a melee attack.

“Catch it with a Charge Beam!”

Leaping to its feet, Gallade fired a beam of electrons that struck Charizard straight in the chest. The electric attack caught Charizard off-guard, and it plummeted out of the sky, sliding roughly into the ground.

“Psycho Cut!”

Using its arm blades, Gallade slashed at the air and fired blade-shaped Psychic blasts at Charizard which hurt it even more as it tried to get up and fight back.

“Finish it! Close Combat!”

Now Gallade rushed forward and actually began slashing Charizard with its blades. After only a few hits more, Charizard was in no shape to battle, and it fell to the ground, fainted.

Lance looked disappointed, but not worried.

“Return, Charizard. Go, Sceptile!"

VS

Sceptile and Gallade faced off, each practically beckoning the other to come by for a duel.

“Psycho Cut!”

“Leaf Blade!”

The two Pokemon locked blades. Each Pokemon began swiping, slashing, and dodging attacks, but neither was able to score a direct hit on the other.

“Go faster! Use your Agility!”

With enhanced speed, though, Sceptile could easily handle Gallade. It managed to slash the Pokemon about seven times before Gallade could escape to a safer part of the arena.

“Gallade, you have to hit it hard!”

“Leaf Storm, Sceptile!”

Sceptile reared back, and launched a veritable storm of razor-sharp leaves at Gallade, making it impossible for it to dodge them all. Gallade was caught by the force of the blow, and knocked several yards backwards. Gallade tried to get back to its feet, but fell midway and then fainted.

The hidden trainer cursed the luck that was given, and sped out of the room as quickly as possible. Something was still bothering Lance after the battle.

"That Garchomp... it couldn't have been... could it?"

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The next morning, the trainers returned as usual- minus two. The announcer spoke, in an almost apologetic voice.

“Greetings, trainers. It is unfortunate, but Ruby and Steven have no usable Pokemon left, and must be eliminated from the competition. Let the voting begin!”

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Competing: 7
Askthepizzaguy
Double A
Jolt
Secura
Seon
Yaseikhaan
Zack

Eliminated: 10
Yaropolk
robbiecon
B_Ray
autolycus
Renata
Thefluffyone93
Death is yonder
Saregona
Chimpyang
Captain Blackadder


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Begin Day 6

Gonna make it like 36 hours to get us back on track. It ends 12:30 PM Saturday.