Chapter 8: Triumph! Three Genius Pirates
As attacks were exchanged and Pokemon faced off against both swordsmen and trainers alike, the two leaders behind the entire conflict found themselves in a moment of tranquility as Mercury led Luffy out onto the base's main battlefield- an expanse of flat, barren terrain that was marked with white rectangular borders painted onto the ground and a line which split it horizontally from the trainers' perspectives and formed a Pokeball emblem in the middle. It was part of the base that had remained since the days that it was as a Gym, and Mercury walked over to one end of it, while Luffy stood himself right on the Pokeball emblem in the middle, having not said a word since they made their way out back here.
They were joined by Walter and Floatzel, who hurried after the two of them so that they could take their places standing a distance away from the battlefield where they would have a good view of all the action, but as Walter saw Mercury and Luffy staring each other down, just about to fight, he quickly shuffled over closer to the field, where he stood by the side of the center. Floatzel remained where he was standing, though was ready to jump in at a moment's notice if his trainer got himself into any trouble.
"THIS BATTLE IS BETWEEN TEAM STEEL LEADER MERCURY AND PIRATE CAPTAIN-!" Walter announced in a booming voice, only to be cut off.
"What are you doing?" Luffy asked, tilting his head as he gave the old man a weird look.
"Huh?" Walter said.
"What are you doing?" Luffy repeated.
"I'm… I'm officiating the battle!" Walter explained, "Announcing the trainers, refereeing the whole thing, and then calling the winner! It was, uh, a gym thing."
"That's stupid." Luffy said bluntly, "I'm not a Pokémon trainer, and I'm gonna win anyway! I don't need you to tell me that, and Mercu-lady won't need you to tell her that because I'm gonna beat the crap out of her."
Mercury let out an irritated grunt at his remark.
"Is it too much for this feeble, elderly man to ask to try and feel relevant?" Walter said heatedly, "I'm forced to watch some foreigner brat- not even the brat I've had some hand in training- avenge my son and save my island! No sympathy for me?"
"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Mercury snapped, "MEDICHAM, MAKE HIS BLOOD GO COLD WITH ICE PUNCH!"
Holding her Pokeball in front of herself, Mercury's Medicham burst out and materialised on her end of the battlefield, doing a little dance as the light died down before charging towards Luffy. It zigzagged, hopping from left to right in order to try and make its movements more unpredictable, while it clenched its right fist. The temperature around that fist- not that anyone else could feel it from where they were- plummeted, as small pieces of ice began to form around it.
"FOUL! RED CARD! FALSE START!" Walter bellowed while scurrying several steps further back to make sure he was well out of the way of the fight that had just properly started, and despite all his whining and yelling he found himself with a grin that just wouldn't go away. He watched as Medicham raced towards Luffy, throwing its icy fist out in an attempt to strike him. Without even saying anything, and with the casualness of a person batting away an irksome insect, Luffy weaved around Medicham's fist, turning himself around to stand perpendicular to the Pokémon as its attack moved past him, before reaching out to grab its arm and hold it in place as he repaid the attempt in kind.
"GUM-GUM… PISTOL!"
Stretching his free hand back, Luffy's fist snapped forwards in order to strike Medicham cleanly in the face. The Pokémon's head jerked back with the blow, and he quickly released its arm just as the attack landed so that Medicham could be knocked back. It actually managed to tank the force of the blow pretty well, being knocked a couple of feet back and them stumbling another couple before managing to regain its footing.
Luffy began vigorously rubbing the hand which he had grabbed Medicham's attack arm with, occasionally puffing hot breath onto it as well, as he tried to warm it up in the aftermath of its proximity to the ice attack. In doing so, he took his eyes off of Medicham completely, which only served to aggravate both Pokémon and trainer, who had matching veins pound in their foreheads.
"Yeesh! That was cold!" Luffy commented to himself.
"Treat us like a joke, will you?" Mercury growled, "MEDICHAM, MAKE HIM SUFFER WITH A FORCE PALM!"
"CHAM!" Medicham nodded, charging forwards and thrusting an open palm out straight into Luffy's chest. The yell served to snap the pirate to attention, who attentively watched Medicham's palm slam into his chest with a tremendous Pure Power fuelling the Pokémon's attack.
Monkey D. Luffy's body stretched.
Like pressing a hand into sponge or sand, the area of Luffy's chest that Medicham's attack had actually made contact with formed an impression shaped by the Pokémon's palm. While still standing in place, completely unphased by the attack, Luffy's chest pressed about an inch inwards and held there for a couple of seconds. Then, his rubbery skin snapped back into place and forcefully ejected Medicham's hand back in the direction of its own palm thrust, resulting in the Pokémon essentially backhanding itself with a force equal to its own Force Palm. A Force Backhand, if you will.
"Medi!" Medicham cried out in surprise.
"Shishishi!" Luffy snickered at the antics, before looking past the Medicham in order to address Walter, who was watching the battle go down with baffled amusement, "Hey, old guy! You can officially eat this battle or whatever if you really want, but I still think it's dumb! And I already know I'm gonna win, so no need to tell me when it happens!"
"HOHOHO! I appreciate the consideration." Walter said, "Now hurry up and win so I can announce it!"
"Hurry up and die is more like it!" Mercury said, "USE ZEN HEADBUTT!"
Around the top of Medicham's head, a blue glow appeared. The glow was shaped like a dome, almost like a helmet that the Pokémon was now wearing, and it raced towards Luffy. Leaping forwards, it sailed through the air towards him, with the pirate jerking to the side to try and move himself out of the path of attack, but Medicham predicted such an action, and it kicked its legs out to wrap them around his arm and use the limb as an anchor with which it was able to pull the two of them together. Medicham's head slammed into Luffy's, and his neck was stretched a good distance back in the direction of the blow, while Medicham released its hold of his arm.
The attack had not hurt Luffy very much- or really, at all. At least, it didn't hurt him in the physical sense. It had struck the centre of his forehead, which had been squished somewhat, and his neck had flown back with the momentum from the impact, but blunt force trauma was something that was far from an issue from him, at least in this stage of his journey through the Grand Line. Yet despite the fact that the attack had not hurt him, Luffy had gone completely silent the moment that it struck him, and his face was now scrunched up with a mix of confusion and thoughtfulness. Being released by Medicham, he allowed himself to fall backwards, landing on his back and staring up at the sky while his neck was still stretched.
"ICE PUNCH!"
Mistaking the state that Luffy was in as him flinching, Mercury ordered another attack, but Luffy's body kicked up and flew backwards. Pulled along by his neck retracting to its original length, the body went to the head instead of the other way around, which pulled him out of the way of Medicham's icy fist striking the ground where his body had been just a moment ago. Despite that, he continued to stare up at the sky, and continued to look awfully confused and thoughtful at the same time.
"USE ZEN HEADBUTT AGAIN!"
"CHAM!"
"The square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides." Luffy droned, with his comment being mostly drowned out by Mercury and Medicham's combined yelling. The Pokémon dashed towards him, a blue mass of psychic energy once again glowing around the top of its head. Leaning its head back, it leaped forwards and slammed its head forwards directly into Luffy, causing his neck to stretch once again. This time, though, his head came flying right back with the same amount of force that had sent it flying back, and his forehead smashed into Medicham's, sending the Pokémon stumbling back just as its feet touched the ground. All the while, Luffy had a blank stare on his face.
"The volume of a sphere can be found by cubing the radius and multiplying it by four thirds of Pi." Luffy said, droning again just like before. Rather than try to attack Medicham, he just stood in place.
"What the hell is this kid babbling about? Did those Zen Headbutts brain damage him?" Mercury said.
"Cham, Cham. Medicham!" Medicham said, glancing back to its trainer and giving her a shrug.
"Why is he babbling about pie? Is it because he's hungry?" Walter said.
"How fascinating." Luffy said, "The concentration of mental energy applied directly to my cranium appears to have overcharged my brain's functionality. My emotions have been suppressed by logic and information. Interestingly, this logical overhaul has also inhibited my ability to fight, as instead of dodging or counterattacking, I can't help but overthink every attack that is directed towards me. The fact that I just admitted this in the middle of a fight may be another symptom of this condition, or it could be that I have retained my habit of thoughtlessly saying things that cause trouble for myself and those around me."
The word vomit that had just escaped Luffy's mouth earned him stares from both Walter and Mercury, as well as Medicham, none of whom appeared to have any words for the ridiculousness of the situation. Well, other than Mercury's next set of orders for her Pokémon.
"Alright then! So you can't fight anymore? Okay! Medicham, use FIRE PUNCH!"
"Medi… CHAM!" Medicham yelled, as a raging fire suddenly enveloped its fist.
"Using the extension of my body to determine the strength of the blow, and assuming durability and strength to be interchangeable, this Pokémon shouldn't have been able to withstand my previous attack with such a minimal reaction." Luffy mused, seemingly paying no mind to Medicham's oncoming attack. It ran towards him and reared its flaming fist back, punching him across the face with such force it knocked him into the ground and sent him skidding back.
"Pokémon appear to exhibit extreme and varied elemental abilities, almost like Devil Fruit abilities." Luffy continued, which made Medicham take a step back in shock.
"He's just standing around and letting Medicham attack him, and not even showing any signs of getting hurt?" Mercury muttered, "What kind of freak is this brat?"
"Taking into account Pokémon's type-based affinities and categorisation, it would stand to reason that Pokémon would be able to resist certain types of damage based not only on their strength and durability, but also on their type." Luffy said, rising to his feet, "The hypothesis is thus: Medicham possesses a specific resistance to my standard repertoire of blunt force attacks, making it more difficult to defeat it. The plan to overcome this obstacle will be…"
Hurrying over to the white markings which lined the battlefield, Luffy crouched down and began scratching something into them.
"What's he doing?" Walter said.
"FIRE PUNCH AGAIN!" Mercury roared. Medicham nodded, and its fist was once again swallowed up by a ball of fire. Running towards Luffy, it jumped up into the air, swinging its fist out as it descended upon him from above.
"Done." Luffy said, just before his eyes suddenly widened and he shook his head fervently, "Man, what the heck was that?! That felt weird! Huh, it looks like there's something written here…"
Focused on reading the message that he had just left for himself, Luffy only felt the searing heat rapidly descending towards him and reacted at the last possible moment. Rolling out of the way, he watched as Medicham's flaming fist crashed into the ground where he had just been, and the fire burned away the white paint which the message had been scratched into.
"GGFG?" Luffy said to himself confusedly, "I wonder what that means."
Medicham snapped to its feet, the raging flame still burning around its fist, and threw itself at Luffy. The pirate's brow was furrowed, still thinking over those four letters that had been scratched into the paint, as he ducked and weaved and bobbed around every Fire Punch that was thrown his way. With every missed blow, the speed and ferocity of Medicham's attacks increased, and each punch became more feral than the last.
Then, all of a sudden, Luffy's fist shot out and struck the Pokémon right in the stomach. In an instant, the fire around its fist died out, and it doubled over Luffy's fist with its eyes bulging out slightly.
"GUM-GUM… BAZOOKA!"
Pulling his fist back, Luffy allowed Medicham to stagger a couple steps away, still bending forwards slightly, while he reached back with both hands. His arms stretched far back, all the way to the end of the battlefield, before snapping forwards and sending both his palms rocketing forwards in order to slam right into Medicham and send it flying into the air completely. Mercury's head whipped around, following Medicham's trajectory as it crashed into the ground just behind her, looking dazed but still in fighting shape.
"Man, that Medical thing of yours is pretty tough!" Luffy commented, watching Medicham get back on its feet and dust itself off as it walked past Mercury back onto the battlefield.
"Medicham isn't the only one." Mercury said, eyes narrowing at the pirate, "You just completely shrug off every attack that manages to hit you, and then hit back even harder than almost any Pokémon I've ever seen. It's a good thing that the smarter version of you is worthless in a fight, apparently. ZEN HEADBUTT!"
"Oh man, I don't wanna end up like I did before!" Luffy said, grimacing as he watched Medicham amass psychic energy around its cranium once again and come dashing across the battlefield towards him. Spreading his legs slightly, he braced himself against the ground and threw both his hands forwards, extending his arms in order to grab Medicham by both its arms before it could get within headbutting distance of him. Twisting his body around, he swung the Pokémon, lifting it up off its feet and slamming it headfirst into the ground around him, with the Zen Headbutt attack gouging out the path he swung it in. Once Medicham reached the furthest distance from him that its trajectory would take it, he let go of it and his arms snapped back to their normal length.
The blue dome of psychic energy had completely dissipated after being redirected, but Medicham once again got back on its feet, though it did have to plant both hands against the ground to use as leverage in order to rip its head out of the trench Luffy had used it to dig in the battlefield. It looked thoroughly ticked-off at the whole ordeal, and some scrapes and grazes were beginning to show on its body, but it was still in prime fighting condition.
"FIRE PUNCH!" Mercury ordered.
"Fire… Hmm…" Luffy said to himself, clutching his chin thoughtfully as flames ignited around Medicham's fist, "Fire… FFFFFFire… Oh, I get it now!"
Without another word, he threw his hands out, but not in the direction of Medicham. Running hurriedly to the side to put some distance between him and Medicham, which had just rushed towards him with its flaming fist, he grabbed hold of the shirt which Walter was wearing, with both hands grabbing separate handfuls of the fabric.
"Er, is something the matter?" Walter said confusedly at being grabbed all of a sudden.
"Float?" Floatzel said, similarly confused. That confusion, from trainer and Pokémon alike, turned into wide-eyed bafflement as they both watched Luffy tear the shirt apart with his bare hands. His arms snapped back once again, yanking the torn shirt from Walter's body as the old man flushed and tugged his vest closed over his chest, and Luffy wrapped the two pieces of cloth around his fists.
"C-Cham…?" Medicham mumbled, the sight of Luffy stripping an elderly man being enough to briefly stop it in its tracks, while the flames of its Fire Punch continued to burn.
"Is that… supposed to be some kind of distraction?" Mercury said, angling her head to the side and raising a hand to shield her view from the half-naked Walter.
"I'm terribly sorry, but did you really need to rip apart my feeble, elderly shirt like that?!" Walter called out.
"Sorry, old guy, but I needed it for something!" Luffy responded. Throwing his hands out, his cloth-wrapped fists brushed against the sides of Medicham's flaming fist, lingering in proximity to the fire for just a second before retracting back to their original lengths, with the addition of the cloth now having caught on fire. Such an action snapped Mercury and Medicham out of their stupor, with the latter's eyes widening and it beginning to rush towards Luffy again, while the former's eyes narrowed.
"Hold on, he couldn't be- there's no way!" Mercury said. Luffy just gave a D-shaped grin as he watched Medicham come running towards him.
"GUM-GUM…"
Rearing back both fists, Luffy allowed Medicham to come almost close enough for it to strike him.
"FLAME GATLING!"
Just like before, the two flaming fists which Luffy pelted Medicham with became four, and then eight, and then sixteen as the air around the pirate melted into a blur of flame and rubbery flesh. Blazing blows struck the Pokemon brutally and then bounced off only to barrel forwards and blast it again, so fast that they felt almost simultaneous from Medicham's perspective. Mercury watched the whole affair with gritted teeth, knowing there was no use in issuing any further orders. The only sound that echoed out across the battlefield, joining the distant medley of Zoro and Spruce's respective fights, was the crackle of flame and the striking of burning cloth against Pokemon flesh.
Finally, Luffy brought his attack to an end and lowered his hands to his sides. The flaming scraps of cloth wrapped around both his fists unfurled themselves and fell to the ground, and he stepped forwards to avoid being burned by them, paying no mind to Medicham as he did. The Pokemon remained upright for a couple of seconds after the attack, almost as if its body was catching up to the state it was in, but as soon as Luffy stepped past it, it collapsed to the ground with a pair of swirly eyes.
"MEDICHAM IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!" Walter declared after a brief pause that was spent coming to terms with what had just happened. He also gave silent thanks for the weather not being too cold or breezy today.
"Tch. I'd call it worthless, but that wouldn't be too fair after I got blindsided by your weird powers too." Mercury said, returning the fainted Medicham to its Pokeball and grabbing a replacement from her belt, "Don't expect your weird-ass powers to get you through my other two Pokemon, though."
"Shishishi! Bring it on." Luffy challenged.
"Something up, Sanji?" Usopp asked, making his way over to sit to the side of the cooking station. He rested his chin atop his interlaced hands, while his elbows pressed into the tops of his thighs. Vivi, Nami and Tiffany were all chatting a few feet away from the two men, with both Carue and Sableye listening in as well.
"Just thinking." Sanji said. There was no cigarette poking out from between his lips at the current moment. Perhaps his break allowed him to register such a detail, because right after he spoke he had already reached into his pocket in order to find a replacement, which he took a long drag of once one end was lit and the other was in his mouth.
"About Luffy and the others' fight?" Usopp guessed.
"Moreso about what comes after." Sanji said, "I went through most of the berries and other ingredients just cooking for the villagers. Plus, Luffy hasn't had anything but a light snack for lunch, so he's going to come out of this fight with an even bigger appetite than usual."
"We're, uh, not gonna have to starve to feed him, right?" Usopp said nervously.
"You won't need to worry about our stock of food as long as you've got me." Sanji reassured him, "I can ration everything out accordingly if we start running low. No, it's just that I would have liked to prepare some additional dishes for the people in the other villages. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth that I might have to leave this island with entire villages of people left hungry."
"At least you'll leave knowing they'll be able to feed themselves?" Usopp said.
"It'll be something of a comfort." Sanji nodded. He took another long drag of his cigarette and turned around, going to grab one of the remaining berries in order to get back to cooking, only for his foot to suddenly catch on something behind him that had not been there before, and the chef found himself tripping and stumbling and ultimately falling flat on his rear end in a rather unceremonious fashion. Luckily, his body hit only the ground, and not any of the benches that had been set up for him to cook on. Had his fall ended up knocking any of the ingredients onto the ground, then the consequences for the culprit would undoubtedly have been far harsher.
"Huh? You alright?" Usopp said, confused at the sight of Sanji seemingly falling over nothing- at least from his perspective of things. As well as the sniper, the commotion drew the attention of the chatting ladies, with Vivi hurrying over in order to offer Sanji a hand back onto his feet.
"Goodness! Are you alright?" Vivi asked, concern clear in her voice.
"I'm alright now that I have such a kind and beautiful young woman as yourself caring for me, Vivi-dearest~!" Sanji gushed, overflowing with love as Vivi took her hand in his to help him stand back up, "I'm truly blessed to be able to feel the warmth of your divine hand around mine!"
"He's fine, alright." Usopp muttered at the antics.
"So that's how he talks to all women, then?" Tiffany said, a hint of resignation in her voice as she observed the whole interaction.
"Pretty much." Nami said.
"Er, alright." Vivi said, slightly uncomfortably, and tugged her hand away from Sanji as soon as he was standing, "What happened? It seemed like you just fell down out of nowhere."
"My foot caught on something." Sanji explained, frowning as he thought back to what had just happened himself, "It's weird, because I don't remember there being anything there. What did I trip over?"
Both chef and princess turned their attention towards the part of the ground where Sanji had tripped over, where it appeared that of all things, a tree had just spontaneously grown out of the ground. More accurately, a tree sapling had sprouted out of the ground. It was one that neither of them had ever seen before, having a somewhat bulbous trunk along with three ball-shaped growths around its top.
"Is that a tree?" Vivi said, which prompted Usopp to peer over the bench at the sapling.
"Looks like one. Must be native to the island or something. It wasn't there this whole time, was it?"
"If it was, I would have set up somewhere else." Sanji said, "I don't understand, but it must have sprouted out of the ground recently while I wasn't paying attention."
"There are some weird plant species that grow in the Grand Line, and some I'm familiar with." Vivi said, "Though considering where we are, I'm not so sure this is just a tree."
All this pondering over the nature of the sapling had gotten Timothy's attention, as he shuffled over to see what everyone was talking about. It only took him one look to be able to provide the Iron Island newcomers with a blunt explanation.
"That's not a tree, it's a Bonsly. They disguise themselves as trees."
"BONSLY!" The 'sapling'- really a Bonsly- cried out, and a pair of yellow eyes with black pupils opened up with which she was able to look up to see both Vivi and Sanji staring at her. While the former had an inquisitive look upon her face, the latter appeared much more irritated, though his demeanour would have been far harsher had his tumble caused any food to be spilled and wasted.
"And just what was one of these things doing hiding around me?" Sanji said irritably. His eyes narrowed at the Bonsly, which recoiled away from him, though her eyes couldn't help but drift from him to where some of the food he'd prepared was laid out, ready to be handed off to a certain hungry captain when he returned. Sanji noticed the movement, and following the direction of the gaze clued him in pretty quickly to why Bonsly had been there, which only served to worsen his demeanour. Before anything could come of it, though, tears sprang up in the Pokémon's eyes.
"BOOOOONSLYYYYYY!" Bonsly wailed melodramatically, fountains of tears spurting out from her tear ducts and spraying the ground around her as she hopped up onto her feet and began running around in a circle. The show of distress brought Sanji simmering down in an instant, and he took a step away from Bonsly with an uncomfortable look on his face, while seemingly wrestling with himself as to how he should approach the situation. Usopp wasn't any better suited either, silently backing away from the whole debacle, which left just Vivi to kneel down in front of the crying Pokémon.
"That's enough of that." Vivi chastised Bonsly gently, bringing her to a grinding halt and stemming the flood of tears from her eyes, "Throwing a tantrum like that isn't going to accomplish anything, you know."
"B-Bons… Ly?" Bonsly murmured, some moisture still gathered around her eyes which clouded her vision. Viv reached over to tenderly wipe it away with a serene smile on her face.
"Those fake tears of yours were awfully convincing." She added, "But I've had enough experience throwing tantrums of my own to see through that kind of act."
"That was all fake?" Sanji muttered.
"Had me fooled." Usopp said.
"Bon… Bonsly?" Bonsly said awkwardly, carefully avoiding eye contact with Vivi.
"If you just wanted to try some of Sanji's food, you should have just asked." She said, "I'm sure he would have said yes! But because you thought you had to steal from him, you've made things significantly harder for yourself, and you caused him to trip over you as well."
"Bonsly…" Bonsly mumbled.
"First, I think you need to start by apologising to him for the trouble." Vivi instructed.
"Uh, that's really not necessary…" Sanji said.
"Go on, tell him you're sorry." Vivi pressed. Bonsly bowed her head slightly and turned to face the chef.
"Bon… Bon, Bonsly." Bonsly said apologetically.
"It's, uh, alright." Sanji said, really not sure how he was supposed to feel or react to having a talking baby tree just apologise to him.
"Great!" Vivi said brightly, clapping her hands together and flashing a dazzling smile, "Now, if you just want to try some of the food, then all you need to do is ask him if he'll let you. Sanji, could this Bonsly try some of your food, please?"
"Go… ahead." Sanji said, "It can have that plate there."
Vivi grabbed the plate which he had been referring to, and held it out in front of Bonsly. On the plate there were several slices of different berries which had been lightly grilled and skewered together. She slid the skewer out and placed it to the side, allowing Bonsly to eagerly dig in and gobble down the food with gusto. It didn't take long, and Bonsly was soon beaming at the princess as she held the empty plate.
"Bonsly! Bon-Bonsly!" Bonsly said, bouncing up and down from one foot to the other a little bit.
"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Vivi said, looking over to Sanji with her bright smile still on her face, "Thank you for your generosity, Sanji!"
The double-whammy of the smile and the gratitude in her voice was too much for the chef, who staggered back at the two-pronged attack of love, clutching his heart and falling flat on his rear.
'She… loves me?' Sanji thought, his mind racing.
"It was my… pleasure." He choked out.
"Bon-Bonsly! Bon-Bonsly!" Bonsly gushed as she scampered off, heading back in the direction of the Eterna Grove. Vivi watched Bonsly depart fondly, while also ignoring Sanji's antics.
"You handled that pretty diplomatically." Usopp commented, "Guess that comes with being a princess, huh?"
"Really? I felt more like a mother." Vivi said, chuckling sheepishly, "The roles aren't that different, now that I think about it, though I doubt I could get away with talking to other royals and diplomats like that."
"For a second there, I was kind of expecting you to end up taking that thing with you." Usopp said, "Seemed like things were going in that direction."
"I was… actually thinking about that possibility as well." Vivi admitted, "It was a rather cute little creature, but it's alright if it doesn't want to come with me. I've already got the perfect partner in Carue, after all!"
Suddenly being mentioned, Carue gave a start, but then let out an embarrassed quack at the praise.
"SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"
Even knowing what the attack meant, Zoro was barely fast enough to move the swords in his hands away from the one in his mouth and instead cross their blades in front of his abdomen, managing to block the blackened claw of the Toxicroak from striking him. The muscles in his arms tensed as he shoved Toxicroak's limb to the side and brought his head down, trying to swing Wado Ichimonji into the side of the Pokémon's head, but Toxicroak ducked under the attack.
"POISON JAB! ACHOO!"
Using its other hand, Toxicroak imbued the claw with poison and thrust it out, stepping to the side and standing up to its full height as it did. Rather than direct the attack at Zoro's body, however, Toxicroak chose to jab at the blade of Wado Ichimonji, trying to knock it out of his mouth. Seeing the attack, his jaw gripped the hilt of the blade even tighter as the attack struck, managing to hold it steady.
While still using Sandai Kitetsu to hold Toxicroak's other hand away, he thrust the tip of Yubashiri out into Toxicroak's sac, knocking the Pokemon back and creating an opening for him to raise and cross both swords in front of Wado's blade. Darting forwards to close the distance he had just created, he swung both swords in a downwards slash straight into Toxicroak before Copper even had a chance to yell out another attack. Just like with every other instance of the blades raking across Toxicroak's body, however, the damage seemed utterly superficial, with the skin still not being split.
"VENOSHOCK! ACHOO!"
Toxicroak's sac bulged, inflating out right before it opened his mouth and released a stream of viscous, purple liquid. The stream blasted Zoro right in his face, splattering all across it and striking with such force that he was actually thrown backwards, but he managed to raise both swords in front of himself in order to block the flow of poison and divert it around himself, reducing the potency of the attack. Still, though, he was left with a face doused with poison, including his eyes, which were shut tightly.
It wasn't ideal, but Zoro leaped back, distancing himself from Toxicroak as he reached up to grab Wado Ichimonji and take it out of his mouth, allowing him to spit out a glob of poisonous liquid onto the ground. His eyes were still closed, to prevent the poison from getting into them, so it was fortunate that he was fighting an opponent who had no choice but to yell out every attack he wanted to use.
"I finally found something that tastes even worse than the stupid love-chef's cooking." Zoro muttered, wiping the poison off with the back of his arm.
"Then how about some seconds? VENOSHOCK AGAIN! THEN LOW KICK! ACHOO!"
Repeating the attack from before, Toxicroak fired a stream of poison straight at where Zoro was standing, but he managed to duck and roll to the side to avoid it this time. With his face cleaned off, he opened his eyes just in time to see Toxicroak charge towards where he was crouching. Rearing a leg back, it swept the limb out, aiming to strike Zoro from the side, only for the swordsman to block the kick with Sandai Kitetsu and swing it away, knocking the Pokémon's footing out from under it. Without wasting any time, Zoro brought the swords in his hands together to hold them parallel to each other.
"HAWK-!"
"SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"
Suddenly overcome with a burst of speed, Toxicroak kicked a foot against the ground in order to throw itself at Zoro as it threw a brutal punch straight at him. A blackened claw struck him, slamming into the center of his chest, and Zoro was knocked into the ground while Toxicroak tumbled past him, scrambling to right itself and get back on its feet.
"The level of resilience you are showing is astonishing." Copper remarked, as Zoro rose to his feet at the same time as Toxicroak, "Not even the previous Leader was able to endure that many Pokemon attacks and continue fighting like that. If the same experiences that honed your strengths were applied to a Pokemon, I shudder to imagine how strong that Pokemon would be. ACHOO!"
"I don't need some pet to be strong." Zoro retorted, right before whirling around and crossing his swords in front of him to slash Toxicroak diagonally across the sac. Meeting the attack directly, Toxicroak met the slash with one of its claws, with the tip of the claw pressing into the exact point where the two blades crossed over so that the attack was stopped in its tracks.
"Toxi… Croak?" Toxicroak said, a distinct teasing lilt in its voice which Zoro thought almost sounded like some kind of challenge. Twisting its claw around slightly, it caught the top of where the swords were crossed and swung its hand down, twisting the swordsman's grip on the two hilts so that the tips of the blades were pointed to the side in opposite directions. Zoro scowled and spread his arms, slashing out right in front of him with both blades, but Toxicroak ducked under the attack.
"LOW KICK! ACHOO!"
Its leg shot out, sweeping Zoro's feet out from under him. Falling to the ground, he splayed one palm against the ground to balance himself, while swinging the other hand out to once again try and slash at Toxicroak with the sword in that hand, but the Pokemon jerked its body out of the way of the slash. Planting his feet against the ground once again, he wrapped the splayed hand back around the hilt of the sword that had been in it and pushed off, rolling back across the ground into a crouched position and quickly rising back to his feet.
'This thing's way too resilient, and there are no signs that I'm managing to wear it down with my attacks either.' Zoro thought to himself, his gaze darting between Toxicroak and its trainer, 'If I could attack sneezy, that might take away its ability to attack strategically, but that Sucker Punch attack seems to have some way of countering any amount of speed I fight with.'
"VENOSHOCK! ACHOO!"
Darting to the side, Zoro was able to preemptively avoid the stream of poison which Toxicroak spat at him. Spinning both swords in his hands in a circular motion in front of him allowed him to deflect the rest of the attack as Toxicroak turned its head to follow his movement. While the stream of poison was still ongoing, Zoro lunged forwards through the attack and, just as it finally subsided, stopped spinning his swords in order to slash at Toxicroak with all three of his blades. The attack didn't get the same kind of special reaction that Hawk Wave had before, but the sheer power behind the attack was enough to send Toxicroak flying into one of the berry trees. It slammed into the trunk and slid down it, while a couple of heart-shaped, pale pink berries tumbled out of the tree to the ground.
"Three-Sword Style Secret Move: Three Thousand Worlds." Zoro said to Copper after the fact, "Or more like fifteen-hundred, since I half-assed it."
"A ferociously powerful attack." Copper observed, "I should count myself lucky that I am not the one who is being struck by all these techniques. ACHOO!"
"Your time's coming." Zoro retorted darkly.
"Not today, though. POISON JAB! ACHOO!"
Toxicroak shook away the wooziness from Zoro's last attack and stood back up. This time, the poison energy it channeled was imbued into both of its claws.
"Croak." It drawled. Zoro smirked at it in response, and the two charged at each other. The poisoned thrusts and jabs were parried and blocked, clanging loudly against the steel of Zoro's blades as both sparks and droplets of poison flew through the air. The swordsman was mostly on the defensive against Toxicroak's venomous onslaught, with his occasional slash or stab being dodged by the frog, and he was more preoccupied with trying to determine an effective strategy rather than attacking pointlessly.
"LOW KICK! ACHOO!"
His reaction was even faster this time. Toxicroak had barely begun to move its leg when Zoro thrust Sandai Kitetsu downwards, sliding the blade beneath its limb and leveraging it to add to the momentum of the Pokémon's attack. Stepping back as he did so, the Pokémon's kick took its own footing out from under it, and he yanked the sword back and held it parallel to Yubashiri but-
"SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"
-but Toxicroak became a blur once again. Slamming its foot against the ground, it whirled around and nailed Zoro with an ebony uppercut. His head snapped back as the attack knocked him back on his rear.
"VENOSHOCK! ACHOO!"
Kicking off the ground again, he rolled back and out of the way of the stream of poison as he sprang back up onto his feet and spun his swords in front of himself to block when the attack was aimed back at him. He didn't try and turn the defensive move into an attack this time, though.
'There must be some reason why he's not using that Sucker Punch attack constantly.' Zoro thought, 'It could be that he doesn't want me figuring out the best way to defend against it, but there must be something more than that. Think…'
Turning his attention away from Toxicroak over to the trainer that was commanding it, Zoro stopped spinning his swords as Toxicroak stopped blasting poison in his direction, and he watched the way that the trainer watched him in turn. He thought back to how the fight had played out so far.
'The first time he used that attack, he goaded me into attacking first. And the other times he's used it have always been as a reaction instead of the initial attack… that's it!'
"Since I put on such a poor showing earlier, I'll show you how it's really done." Zoro called out, adjusting his stance slightly and beginning to spin his swords in front of him yet again, "Three Sword Style Secret Move…"
"No shot! SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"
"Toxi…!" Toxicroak began, winding back its right hand expectantly, only to falter as the black energy that usually came with a Sucker Punch failed to manifest in its fist. It looked from Zoro, still spinning his swords, back to its unpowered hand, and then looked over to Copper and shook its head.
"Huh? What?!" Copper said, "What does that mean?! ACHOO!"
"Figured." Zoro said smugly. He stopped spinning his swords, only to instead hold them parallel to each other and swing them outwards, hurling a mass of wind straight at Toxicroak. Before the attack even connected, he began spinning his swords again. As the wind slammed into Toxicroak, Zoro rushed forwards and immediately followed the attack up- before it had even moved from where it was hit- and slashed it with the momentum from the rotation of the blades.
Overwhelmed by the combined attacks, both super-effective and not, Toxicroak skidded back across the ground and went entirely still, while Zoro also came to a stop, being bent forwards from the attack he had just used. As he straightened back up, Toxicroak collapsed, with swirly eyes signifying its proper defeat. Copper looked on with grim resignation.
"A very impressive showing, I can't say anything else." Copper admitted as he returned Toxicroak to its Pokeball, "But you've only defeated the weaker of my two Pokémon. Shall we see how you hold up against an even stronger foe?"
"Tempting, but… ONI GIRI." Zoro said. Copper's hand had barely grazed the surface of his second Pokeball when the swordsman burst across the garden over towards him and slashed across his body with all three of the blades in his possession. The eyes of the Team Steel Admin went wide and his mouth opened to allow a silent gasp to escape. Blood flew from where cloth and flesh alike was split by cold steel, and his hand dropped limply from the Pokeball.
Zoro came to a stop behind Copper, and didn't even watch as the trainer fell, instead sheathing his three swords and reaching up to remove the bandana from around his head. Once that was done, though, he did allow himself a glance back, and smiled in satisfaction at the sight of the blood that was pooling beneath Copper's body.
"That's what a sword is supposed to do when it cuts someone." Zoro said approvingly.
"SUDO… WOODO!" Sudowoodo exclaimed in a high-pitched voice as it took its place standing between Ria and Brass, doing a little jig and shaking its hands as it fully materialized. It was much closer in size to Ria than Golem had been, being a bit shorter and far narrower, though it still towered over her, which was a fact that only seemed to excite the canine Pokémon as she stretched her neck and rolled her shoulders, starting to hop up and down from one foot to the other.
"Most people see me battle and assume that Golem is my ace Pokémon." Brass remarked, gazing upon Sudowoodo proudly, "As if a losing piece of trash like that could ever be my Pokémon! Sudowoodo's not going to have any problems picking apart that entire team of yours! Not even that shiny Gyarados is going to be enough to take us down!"
"You'd better think twice if you think you've got a chance against Ria!" Spruce retorted hotly, "Even if we can't beat Mercury until she cries, that's what we're gonna do to you!"
"RIOLU! LU!" Ria nodded, standing still on both feet and pumping her fists.
"I'm about to show you just what the difference is between some feral brat like you, and a seasoned trainer like me!" Brass said, "USE STONE EDGE!"
"DODGE IT!" Spruce barked, "THEN USE ROCK SMASH!"
"Sudo-WOODO!" Sudowoodo nodded as it raised its hand up. The green balls took on a bright blue glow as it slammed its hand down into the ground, causing a slight tremor which was quickly followed by an explosion of stone bursting out of the ground. Pointed rocks, glowing the same shade of bright blue as Sudowoodo's hand, arose like a wave which raced across the ground towards Ria.
Narrowing her eyes, Ria threw herself to the side just as the jagged stones burst out from the ground beneath where she had just been standing. Almost immediately, she whirled around and jumped towards the glowing stone, grabbing onto a ledge on the side of it to hurl herself up and climb up near the top, from where she was able to scurry across back in the direction of the source. Sudowoodo, having heard the order for her to attack, kept its eyes peeled on the ground around her, as its own Stone Edge attack had obscured its view of her.
After a couple of seconds, the stones began to collapse back into the ground where they dissipated into nothingness, with the collapse following the same wave-like movement as the attack had. Just as she was halfway towards Sudowoodo, the stones in front of Ria receded into the ground, and so she quickly darted down the front of the stone she was on- which itself was quickly shrinking- and leaped off of it towards Sudowoodo, which was just now seeing where she was. Brass, too, was just now getting the canine Pokémon in his sights.
"COUNTER WITH WOOD HAMMER!"
"SUDOWOODO!"
Shooting through the air towards Sudowoodo, Ria drew a glowing fist back, and Sudowoodo mirrored the action by winding up its own glowing hand. Whereas Ria's glowed orange, though, Sudowoodo's glowed green, and both limbs snapped forwards as the Pokémon came within striking distance of each other. Rock Smash met Wood Hammer, and the attacks held for a couple of seconds, before Sudowoodo's strength came out on top. Its hand knocked Ria's fist back right before the attack slammed into her, sending her flying back to skid across the ground. She came to a stop lying on her stomach, grazed and with matted fur, and there was a pained grimace on her face as she pushed herself back onto her feet.
It wasn't a nice sight to see his partner taking a brutal hit like that, but Spruce's focus was on the Sudowoodo more than Ria. Watching the green glow disappear from Sudowoodo's hand, the Pokémon didn't appear any the worse for wear after such a destructive attack- which didn't make any sense. Brass noticed Spruce's brow furrowing from across the site of the battle, and he smirked.
"I bet you're wondering why Wood Hammer didn't inflict any recoil damage!" Brass called out smugly, "That would be because of Sudowoodo's ability Rock Head! It completely negates recoil damage from attacks, meaning Sudowoodo's free to use full-power moves like that without any consequences. That's what makes it the kind of foe you've got no chance of overcoming!"
"Rock Head…" Spruce muttered to himself, 'Even without a Grass-Type boost, a powerful move like Wood Hammer's going to be incredibly difficult to overcome, and an immunity to recoil damage means it can completely control close-quarters combat, which is what Ria's whole move set is built around.'
"Finally realising you're in over your head?" Brass said, "ALRIGHT SUDOWOODO, USE MIMIC!"
"WOODO!" Sudowoodo nodded. A white glow overtook its right hand, which quickly faded into an orange glow that matched the same glow as Ria's previous Rock Smash. Dashing towards Ria, it reared the limb back.
"DODGE, THEN METAL CLAW!"
"LU!" Ria said. She lurched to the side just as Sudowoodo brought its attack crashing down towards where she had been standing, smashing apart the ground which it struck instead, while Ria quickly pounced on it. A glowing silver claw emerged from her paw, and she raked it across the side of Sudowoodo's body, landing behind the Pokémon only to swiftly whirl back around and slash it across the back with the same attack.
"WOOD HAMMER!"
"DODGE!"
The Metal Claw attack knocked Sudowoodo forwards, making it stumble slightly, but it hastily steadied itself in order to swivel around on its feet and throw its hand out, swinging towards Ria. The hand glowed green once again, and though Ria tried to leap backwards to avoid the strike, it just managed to catch her with the attack, smashing her in the side with it. A pained cry escaped Ria as she was knocked away by the attack, but she had enough control over her own momentum in order to land on her feet this time.
"Getting close is too much of a problem with that Wood Hammer attack…" Spruce commented to himself, a little louder than he normally would have, "RIA, GET MOVING AND PUT SOME DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU!"
"Riolu!" Ria nodded, jumping a few feet further back from Sudowoodo and dashing to the side, beginning to run in a circular motion around it while maintaining the space between the two of them.
"Heh, running scared now, are we?" Brass smirked, "We can fight from a distance too, don't forget! USE STONE EDGE!"
"QUICK ATTACK INTO ROCK SMASH!" Spruce called out less than a second after Brass had issued his instructions, and the Admin's eyes widened as he caught onto Spruce's play once again.
In order to carry out the attack it had been told to use, Sudowoodo raised its hand up, imbuing it with a powerful blue glow, and drove that hand into the ground. However, in the miniscule interval of time between the hand being lowered and the hand actually making contact with the ground, Ria's body became a blue of blue and black. A faint white aura appeared around her as she took off across the ground like a bullet and rammed into Sudowoodo.
Even at such breakneck speeds, the attack barely did anything. She bounced off of Sudowoodo without it so much as flinching at the contact. Still, despite her having suddenly closed the distance between them, Sudowoodo continued on as it had been, striking the ground with its hand and causing jagged stones to burst out of the ground in the direction which Ria had come from. But with how close she now was, she was able to step to the side and avoid the attack altogether. Hopping up, she hurled her fist into Sudowoodo's face, striking it with a brutal Rock Smash that smashed the Rock-Type.
The roar of fist shattering stone resounded all across the battlefield for both trainers to hear as Sudowoodo's face was driven into the ground by the force of Ria's attack. A web of cracks running across Sudowoodo's body joined several chips as decoration for this stage in the battle, matching the grazes and scrapes and matted fur that Ria was sporting after all the hits she had taken. Though the Rock-Type's face wasn't currently visible, as it had been knocked face-first into the ground, Ria was sporting a violent grin.
"YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT, SUDOWOODO! PUNISH THEM WITH WOOD HAMMER!"
"BRACE YOURSELF!"
'Again?! Dammit, what's his play this time?!' Brass cursed internally, though hindsight couldn't do anything to change his command.
Exploding to its feet, Sudowoodo returned Ria's grimace with an enraged scowl that was almost comical given the Pokémon's rather goofy face, but which she knew better than to judge like so after the attacks she had taken from the Pokémon. Still grinning, she gritted her teeth and crossed her arms in front of her face to shield herself as Sudowoodo's Wood Hammer struck her upside the head. The attack knocked her off of her feet, and she sailed up into the air before crashing back down into the ground.
Brass scowled as he watched Ria silently, not calling for any more attacks just yet. Even the attack she had just taken hadn't been enough to knock the grin from her face, though the grin was as much a pained grimace as she forced herself onto her front. Her arms trembled as she tried to push herself off the ground and back into a standing position. Despite the condition she was in though, Spruce's attention seemed focused on Brass rather than his own partner.
"You know, moves like Wood Hammer are as much of a danger to the user as they are to the opponent!" Spruce called out, "You can't just use them carelessly because of how that damage can be turned back against you!"
"Weren't you listening you idiot?!" Brass replied, "Rock Head negates recoil damage!"
"I wasn't talking about recoil damage." Spruce said quietly.
Ria rose to her feet a little shakily, still not having lost her grin, and stared down the Sudowoodo, which glared back at her. She took a step towards it, and it raised its hands in front of itself defensively as both Pokémon waited for their trainers to command them. She took another step, and this time she stumbled a bit, almost falling down to her knee but managing to remain upright. Sudowoodo relaxed its stance slightly.
"USE COUNTER!"
'NO! NO GODAMMIT!' Brass screamed internally, and then externally, "DODGE IT NOW!"
"RiiiiiiooooolUUUU!" Ria screamed. Her entire body snapped to attention, with all the shakiness and the stumbling in her movement disappearing. A burning blue flame ignited around her fist, and with a swiftness that almost rivalled her earlier Quick Attacks, she threw herself at Sudowoodo and reared the burning fist back in order to throw it forwards and strike the Pokémon right in the centre of its body. The fist connected, and the blue flame exploded out from the fist in order to flow over Sudowoodo's entire body like a wave before dissipating entirely, leaving Ria standing there with her fist pressed against her opponent.
A second passed. Neither one of them moved.
Air exploded out from Sudowoodo's back, as if launched directly through its body from the point where Ria had struck. With the explosion of air, the cracks around its body shot outwards to cover most of it, and several small bits of chipped rock fell from its body to the ground. Ria lowered her fist and allowed Sudowoodo to fall backwards with swirly eyes. Still grinning, she panted with exertion, and Spruce rushed forwards in order to scoop her up off the ground and into his arms.
"YOU DID IT! YOU DID SO GOOD!" He praised, spinning around with his Pokémon held out in front of him and sparkles in his eyes while Brass was left to just stand in the distance and stare at his fallen Pokémon.
"Riolu!" Ria gushed. Her grin changed into a bright smile, and then changed again into a slightly forced smile as Spruce pulled her in to a tight embrace. Despite how her own injuries were mildly aggravated by the contact, she nonetheless gave him a supportive pat on the shoulder.
"Dammit, Sudowoodo." Brass said, returning said Pokémon back to its Pokeball and placing the Pokeball back with Golem's, "How could you let some damn brat crush you like that? Crush us like that?! A Team Steel Admin can't afford weakness like this!"
"You're damn right that we can't! AIR SLASH!"
With the sudden arrival of a new voice- and one that was calling for a Pokémon attack especially- Spruce's head whipped over in the direction the voice had come from, and his eyes widened as he saw not only a bright blue blade of wind slam into Brass and knock him to the ground, but who it was that had just called for that attack in the first place.
"You're-!"
They were joined by Walter and Floatzel, who hurried after the two of them so that they could take their places standing a distance away from the battlefield where they would have a good view of all the action, but as Walter saw Mercury and Luffy staring each other down, just about to fight, he quickly shuffled over closer to the field, where he stood by the side of the center. Floatzel remained where he was standing, though was ready to jump in at a moment's notice if his trainer got himself into any trouble.
"THIS BATTLE IS BETWEEN TEAM STEEL LEADER MERCURY AND PIRATE CAPTAIN-!" Walter announced in a booming voice, only to be cut off.
"What are you doing?" Luffy asked, tilting his head as he gave the old man a weird look.
"Huh?" Walter said.
"What are you doing?" Luffy repeated.
"I'm… I'm officiating the battle!" Walter explained, "Announcing the trainers, refereeing the whole thing, and then calling the winner! It was, uh, a gym thing."
"That's stupid." Luffy said bluntly, "I'm not a Pokémon trainer, and I'm gonna win anyway! I don't need you to tell me that, and Mercu-lady won't need you to tell her that because I'm gonna beat the crap out of her."
Mercury let out an irritated grunt at his remark.
"Is it too much for this feeble, elderly man to ask to try and feel relevant?" Walter said heatedly, "I'm forced to watch some foreigner brat- not even the brat I've had some hand in training- avenge my son and save my island! No sympathy for me?"
"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Mercury snapped, "MEDICHAM, MAKE HIS BLOOD GO COLD WITH ICE PUNCH!"
Holding her Pokeball in front of herself, Mercury's Medicham burst out and materialised on her end of the battlefield, doing a little dance as the light died down before charging towards Luffy. It zigzagged, hopping from left to right in order to try and make its movements more unpredictable, while it clenched its right fist. The temperature around that fist- not that anyone else could feel it from where they were- plummeted, as small pieces of ice began to form around it.
"FOUL! RED CARD! FALSE START!" Walter bellowed while scurrying several steps further back to make sure he was well out of the way of the fight that had just properly started, and despite all his whining and yelling he found himself with a grin that just wouldn't go away. He watched as Medicham raced towards Luffy, throwing its icy fist out in an attempt to strike him. Without even saying anything, and with the casualness of a person batting away an irksome insect, Luffy weaved around Medicham's fist, turning himself around to stand perpendicular to the Pokémon as its attack moved past him, before reaching out to grab its arm and hold it in place as he repaid the attempt in kind.
"GUM-GUM… PISTOL!"
Stretching his free hand back, Luffy's fist snapped forwards in order to strike Medicham cleanly in the face. The Pokémon's head jerked back with the blow, and he quickly released its arm just as the attack landed so that Medicham could be knocked back. It actually managed to tank the force of the blow pretty well, being knocked a couple of feet back and them stumbling another couple before managing to regain its footing.
Luffy began vigorously rubbing the hand which he had grabbed Medicham's attack arm with, occasionally puffing hot breath onto it as well, as he tried to warm it up in the aftermath of its proximity to the ice attack. In doing so, he took his eyes off of Medicham completely, which only served to aggravate both Pokémon and trainer, who had matching veins pound in their foreheads.
"Yeesh! That was cold!" Luffy commented to himself.
"Treat us like a joke, will you?" Mercury growled, "MEDICHAM, MAKE HIM SUFFER WITH A FORCE PALM!"
"CHAM!" Medicham nodded, charging forwards and thrusting an open palm out straight into Luffy's chest. The yell served to snap the pirate to attention, who attentively watched Medicham's palm slam into his chest with a tremendous Pure Power fuelling the Pokémon's attack.
Monkey D. Luffy's body stretched.
Like pressing a hand into sponge or sand, the area of Luffy's chest that Medicham's attack had actually made contact with formed an impression shaped by the Pokémon's palm. While still standing in place, completely unphased by the attack, Luffy's chest pressed about an inch inwards and held there for a couple of seconds. Then, his rubbery skin snapped back into place and forcefully ejected Medicham's hand back in the direction of its own palm thrust, resulting in the Pokémon essentially backhanding itself with a force equal to its own Force Palm. A Force Backhand, if you will.
"Medi!" Medicham cried out in surprise.
"Shishishi!" Luffy snickered at the antics, before looking past the Medicham in order to address Walter, who was watching the battle go down with baffled amusement, "Hey, old guy! You can officially eat this battle or whatever if you really want, but I still think it's dumb! And I already know I'm gonna win, so no need to tell me when it happens!"
"HOHOHO! I appreciate the consideration." Walter said, "Now hurry up and win so I can announce it!"
"Hurry up and die is more like it!" Mercury said, "USE ZEN HEADBUTT!"
Around the top of Medicham's head, a blue glow appeared. The glow was shaped like a dome, almost like a helmet that the Pokémon was now wearing, and it raced towards Luffy. Leaping forwards, it sailed through the air towards him, with the pirate jerking to the side to try and move himself out of the path of attack, but Medicham predicted such an action, and it kicked its legs out to wrap them around his arm and use the limb as an anchor with which it was able to pull the two of them together. Medicham's head slammed into Luffy's, and his neck was stretched a good distance back in the direction of the blow, while Medicham released its hold of his arm.
The attack had not hurt Luffy very much- or really, at all. At least, it didn't hurt him in the physical sense. It had struck the centre of his forehead, which had been squished somewhat, and his neck had flown back with the momentum from the impact, but blunt force trauma was something that was far from an issue from him, at least in this stage of his journey through the Grand Line. Yet despite the fact that the attack had not hurt him, Luffy had gone completely silent the moment that it struck him, and his face was now scrunched up with a mix of confusion and thoughtfulness. Being released by Medicham, he allowed himself to fall backwards, landing on his back and staring up at the sky while his neck was still stretched.
"ICE PUNCH!"
Mistaking the state that Luffy was in as him flinching, Mercury ordered another attack, but Luffy's body kicked up and flew backwards. Pulled along by his neck retracting to its original length, the body went to the head instead of the other way around, which pulled him out of the way of Medicham's icy fist striking the ground where his body had been just a moment ago. Despite that, he continued to stare up at the sky, and continued to look awfully confused and thoughtful at the same time.
"USE ZEN HEADBUTT AGAIN!"
"CHAM!"
"The square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides." Luffy droned, with his comment being mostly drowned out by Mercury and Medicham's combined yelling. The Pokémon dashed towards him, a blue mass of psychic energy once again glowing around the top of its head. Leaning its head back, it leaped forwards and slammed its head forwards directly into Luffy, causing his neck to stretch once again. This time, though, his head came flying right back with the same amount of force that had sent it flying back, and his forehead smashed into Medicham's, sending the Pokémon stumbling back just as its feet touched the ground. All the while, Luffy had a blank stare on his face.
"The volume of a sphere can be found by cubing the radius and multiplying it by four thirds of Pi." Luffy said, droning again just like before. Rather than try to attack Medicham, he just stood in place.
"What the hell is this kid babbling about? Did those Zen Headbutts brain damage him?" Mercury said.
"Cham, Cham. Medicham!" Medicham said, glancing back to its trainer and giving her a shrug.
"Why is he babbling about pie? Is it because he's hungry?" Walter said.
"How fascinating." Luffy said, "The concentration of mental energy applied directly to my cranium appears to have overcharged my brain's functionality. My emotions have been suppressed by logic and information. Interestingly, this logical overhaul has also inhibited my ability to fight, as instead of dodging or counterattacking, I can't help but overthink every attack that is directed towards me. The fact that I just admitted this in the middle of a fight may be another symptom of this condition, or it could be that I have retained my habit of thoughtlessly saying things that cause trouble for myself and those around me."
The word vomit that had just escaped Luffy's mouth earned him stares from both Walter and Mercury, as well as Medicham, none of whom appeared to have any words for the ridiculousness of the situation. Well, other than Mercury's next set of orders for her Pokémon.
"Alright then! So you can't fight anymore? Okay! Medicham, use FIRE PUNCH!"
"Medi… CHAM!" Medicham yelled, as a raging fire suddenly enveloped its fist.
"Using the extension of my body to determine the strength of the blow, and assuming durability and strength to be interchangeable, this Pokémon shouldn't have been able to withstand my previous attack with such a minimal reaction." Luffy mused, seemingly paying no mind to Medicham's oncoming attack. It ran towards him and reared its flaming fist back, punching him across the face with such force it knocked him into the ground and sent him skidding back.
"Pokémon appear to exhibit extreme and varied elemental abilities, almost like Devil Fruit abilities." Luffy continued, which made Medicham take a step back in shock.
"He's just standing around and letting Medicham attack him, and not even showing any signs of getting hurt?" Mercury muttered, "What kind of freak is this brat?"
"Taking into account Pokémon's type-based affinities and categorisation, it would stand to reason that Pokémon would be able to resist certain types of damage based not only on their strength and durability, but also on their type." Luffy said, rising to his feet, "The hypothesis is thus: Medicham possesses a specific resistance to my standard repertoire of blunt force attacks, making it more difficult to defeat it. The plan to overcome this obstacle will be…"
Hurrying over to the white markings which lined the battlefield, Luffy crouched down and began scratching something into them.
"What's he doing?" Walter said.
"FIRE PUNCH AGAIN!" Mercury roared. Medicham nodded, and its fist was once again swallowed up by a ball of fire. Running towards Luffy, it jumped up into the air, swinging its fist out as it descended upon him from above.
"Done." Luffy said, just before his eyes suddenly widened and he shook his head fervently, "Man, what the heck was that?! That felt weird! Huh, it looks like there's something written here…"
Focused on reading the message that he had just left for himself, Luffy only felt the searing heat rapidly descending towards him and reacted at the last possible moment. Rolling out of the way, he watched as Medicham's flaming fist crashed into the ground where he had just been, and the fire burned away the white paint which the message had been scratched into.
"GGFG?" Luffy said to himself confusedly, "I wonder what that means."
Medicham snapped to its feet, the raging flame still burning around its fist, and threw itself at Luffy. The pirate's brow was furrowed, still thinking over those four letters that had been scratched into the paint, as he ducked and weaved and bobbed around every Fire Punch that was thrown his way. With every missed blow, the speed and ferocity of Medicham's attacks increased, and each punch became more feral than the last.
Then, all of a sudden, Luffy's fist shot out and struck the Pokémon right in the stomach. In an instant, the fire around its fist died out, and it doubled over Luffy's fist with its eyes bulging out slightly.
"GUM-GUM… BAZOOKA!"
Pulling his fist back, Luffy allowed Medicham to stagger a couple steps away, still bending forwards slightly, while he reached back with both hands. His arms stretched far back, all the way to the end of the battlefield, before snapping forwards and sending both his palms rocketing forwards in order to slam right into Medicham and send it flying into the air completely. Mercury's head whipped around, following Medicham's trajectory as it crashed into the ground just behind her, looking dazed but still in fighting shape.
"Man, that Medical thing of yours is pretty tough!" Luffy commented, watching Medicham get back on its feet and dust itself off as it walked past Mercury back onto the battlefield.
"Medicham isn't the only one." Mercury said, eyes narrowing at the pirate, "You just completely shrug off every attack that manages to hit you, and then hit back even harder than almost any Pokémon I've ever seen. It's a good thing that the smarter version of you is worthless in a fight, apparently. ZEN HEADBUTT!"
"Oh man, I don't wanna end up like I did before!" Luffy said, grimacing as he watched Medicham amass psychic energy around its cranium once again and come dashing across the battlefield towards him. Spreading his legs slightly, he braced himself against the ground and threw both his hands forwards, extending his arms in order to grab Medicham by both its arms before it could get within headbutting distance of him. Twisting his body around, he swung the Pokémon, lifting it up off its feet and slamming it headfirst into the ground around him, with the Zen Headbutt attack gouging out the path he swung it in. Once Medicham reached the furthest distance from him that its trajectory would take it, he let go of it and his arms snapped back to their normal length.
The blue dome of psychic energy had completely dissipated after being redirected, but Medicham once again got back on its feet, though it did have to plant both hands against the ground to use as leverage in order to rip its head out of the trench Luffy had used it to dig in the battlefield. It looked thoroughly ticked-off at the whole ordeal, and some scrapes and grazes were beginning to show on its body, but it was still in prime fighting condition.
"FIRE PUNCH!" Mercury ordered.
"Fire… Hmm…" Luffy said to himself, clutching his chin thoughtfully as flames ignited around Medicham's fist, "Fire… FFFFFFire… Oh, I get it now!"
Without another word, he threw his hands out, but not in the direction of Medicham. Running hurriedly to the side to put some distance between him and Medicham, which had just rushed towards him with its flaming fist, he grabbed hold of the shirt which Walter was wearing, with both hands grabbing separate handfuls of the fabric.
"Er, is something the matter?" Walter said confusedly at being grabbed all of a sudden.
"Float?" Floatzel said, similarly confused. That confusion, from trainer and Pokémon alike, turned into wide-eyed bafflement as they both watched Luffy tear the shirt apart with his bare hands. His arms snapped back once again, yanking the torn shirt from Walter's body as the old man flushed and tugged his vest closed over his chest, and Luffy wrapped the two pieces of cloth around his fists.
"C-Cham…?" Medicham mumbled, the sight of Luffy stripping an elderly man being enough to briefly stop it in its tracks, while the flames of its Fire Punch continued to burn.
"Is that… supposed to be some kind of distraction?" Mercury said, angling her head to the side and raising a hand to shield her view from the half-naked Walter.
"I'm terribly sorry, but did you really need to rip apart my feeble, elderly shirt like that?!" Walter called out.
"Sorry, old guy, but I needed it for something!" Luffy responded. Throwing his hands out, his cloth-wrapped fists brushed against the sides of Medicham's flaming fist, lingering in proximity to the fire for just a second before retracting back to their original lengths, with the addition of the cloth now having caught on fire. Such an action snapped Mercury and Medicham out of their stupor, with the latter's eyes widening and it beginning to rush towards Luffy again, while the former's eyes narrowed.
"Hold on, he couldn't be- there's no way!" Mercury said. Luffy just gave a D-shaped grin as he watched Medicham come running towards him.
"GUM-GUM…"
Rearing back both fists, Luffy allowed Medicham to come almost close enough for it to strike him.
"FLAME GATLING!"
Just like before, the two flaming fists which Luffy pelted Medicham with became four, and then eight, and then sixteen as the air around the pirate melted into a blur of flame and rubbery flesh. Blazing blows struck the Pokemon brutally and then bounced off only to barrel forwards and blast it again, so fast that they felt almost simultaneous from Medicham's perspective. Mercury watched the whole affair with gritted teeth, knowing there was no use in issuing any further orders. The only sound that echoed out across the battlefield, joining the distant medley of Zoro and Spruce's respective fights, was the crackle of flame and the striking of burning cloth against Pokemon flesh.
Finally, Luffy brought his attack to an end and lowered his hands to his sides. The flaming scraps of cloth wrapped around both his fists unfurled themselves and fell to the ground, and he stepped forwards to avoid being burned by them, paying no mind to Medicham as he did. The Pokemon remained upright for a couple of seconds after the attack, almost as if its body was catching up to the state it was in, but as soon as Luffy stepped past it, it collapsed to the ground with a pair of swirly eyes.
"MEDICHAM IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!" Walter declared after a brief pause that was spent coming to terms with what had just happened. He also gave silent thanks for the weather not being too cold or breezy today.
"Tch. I'd call it worthless, but that wouldn't be too fair after I got blindsided by your weird powers too." Mercury said, returning the fainted Medicham to its Pokeball and grabbing a replacement from her belt, "Don't expect your weird-ass powers to get you through my other two Pokemon, though."
"Shishishi! Bring it on." Luffy challenged.
-O-
For the first time since his return from Team Steel's base earlier today, not counting when he had been so rudely interrupted by Nickel's arrival, Sanji set down the ingredients and utensils in his hands down on the bench before him and just stared at them while reaching up to idly run a hand across his chin. The chef's brow was furrowed with thought, and the suddenness of his actions didn't go unnoticed by those around him. All of the villagers had been fed by now, of course, as he would never have dreamed of stopping otherwise, but his work was far from being finished.
"Something up, Sanji?" Usopp asked, making his way over to sit to the side of the cooking station. He rested his chin atop his interlaced hands, while his elbows pressed into the tops of his thighs. Vivi, Nami and Tiffany were all chatting a few feet away from the two men, with both Carue and Sableye listening in as well.
"Just thinking." Sanji said. There was no cigarette poking out from between his lips at the current moment. Perhaps his break allowed him to register such a detail, because right after he spoke he had already reached into his pocket in order to find a replacement, which he took a long drag of once one end was lit and the other was in his mouth.
"About Luffy and the others' fight?" Usopp guessed.
"Moreso about what comes after." Sanji said, "I went through most of the berries and other ingredients just cooking for the villagers. Plus, Luffy hasn't had anything but a light snack for lunch, so he's going to come out of this fight with an even bigger appetite than usual."
"We're, uh, not gonna have to starve to feed him, right?" Usopp said nervously.
"You won't need to worry about our stock of food as long as you've got me." Sanji reassured him, "I can ration everything out accordingly if we start running low. No, it's just that I would have liked to prepare some additional dishes for the people in the other villages. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth that I might have to leave this island with entire villages of people left hungry."
"At least you'll leave knowing they'll be able to feed themselves?" Usopp said.
"It'll be something of a comfort." Sanji nodded. He took another long drag of his cigarette and turned around, going to grab one of the remaining berries in order to get back to cooking, only for his foot to suddenly catch on something behind him that had not been there before, and the chef found himself tripping and stumbling and ultimately falling flat on his rear end in a rather unceremonious fashion. Luckily, his body hit only the ground, and not any of the benches that had been set up for him to cook on. Had his fall ended up knocking any of the ingredients onto the ground, then the consequences for the culprit would undoubtedly have been far harsher.
"Huh? You alright?" Usopp said, confused at the sight of Sanji seemingly falling over nothing- at least from his perspective of things. As well as the sniper, the commotion drew the attention of the chatting ladies, with Vivi hurrying over in order to offer Sanji a hand back onto his feet.
"Goodness! Are you alright?" Vivi asked, concern clear in her voice.
"I'm alright now that I have such a kind and beautiful young woman as yourself caring for me, Vivi-dearest~!" Sanji gushed, overflowing with love as Vivi took her hand in his to help him stand back up, "I'm truly blessed to be able to feel the warmth of your divine hand around mine!"
"He's fine, alright." Usopp muttered at the antics.
"So that's how he talks to all women, then?" Tiffany said, a hint of resignation in her voice as she observed the whole interaction.
"Pretty much." Nami said.
"Er, alright." Vivi said, slightly uncomfortably, and tugged her hand away from Sanji as soon as he was standing, "What happened? It seemed like you just fell down out of nowhere."
"My foot caught on something." Sanji explained, frowning as he thought back to what had just happened himself, "It's weird, because I don't remember there being anything there. What did I trip over?"
Both chef and princess turned their attention towards the part of the ground where Sanji had tripped over, where it appeared that of all things, a tree had just spontaneously grown out of the ground. More accurately, a tree sapling had sprouted out of the ground. It was one that neither of them had ever seen before, having a somewhat bulbous trunk along with three ball-shaped growths around its top.
"Is that a tree?" Vivi said, which prompted Usopp to peer over the bench at the sapling.
"Looks like one. Must be native to the island or something. It wasn't there this whole time, was it?"
"If it was, I would have set up somewhere else." Sanji said, "I don't understand, but it must have sprouted out of the ground recently while I wasn't paying attention."
"There are some weird plant species that grow in the Grand Line, and some I'm familiar with." Vivi said, "Though considering where we are, I'm not so sure this is just a tree."
All this pondering over the nature of the sapling had gotten Timothy's attention, as he shuffled over to see what everyone was talking about. It only took him one look to be able to provide the Iron Island newcomers with a blunt explanation.
"That's not a tree, it's a Bonsly. They disguise themselves as trees."
"BONSLY!" The 'sapling'- really a Bonsly- cried out, and a pair of yellow eyes with black pupils opened up with which she was able to look up to see both Vivi and Sanji staring at her. While the former had an inquisitive look upon her face, the latter appeared much more irritated, though his demeanour would have been far harsher had his tumble caused any food to be spilled and wasted.
"And just what was one of these things doing hiding around me?" Sanji said irritably. His eyes narrowed at the Bonsly, which recoiled away from him, though her eyes couldn't help but drift from him to where some of the food he'd prepared was laid out, ready to be handed off to a certain hungry captain when he returned. Sanji noticed the movement, and following the direction of the gaze clued him in pretty quickly to why Bonsly had been there, which only served to worsen his demeanour. Before anything could come of it, though, tears sprang up in the Pokémon's eyes.
"BOOOOONSLYYYYYY!" Bonsly wailed melodramatically, fountains of tears spurting out from her tear ducts and spraying the ground around her as she hopped up onto her feet and began running around in a circle. The show of distress brought Sanji simmering down in an instant, and he took a step away from Bonsly with an uncomfortable look on his face, while seemingly wrestling with himself as to how he should approach the situation. Usopp wasn't any better suited either, silently backing away from the whole debacle, which left just Vivi to kneel down in front of the crying Pokémon.
"That's enough of that." Vivi chastised Bonsly gently, bringing her to a grinding halt and stemming the flood of tears from her eyes, "Throwing a tantrum like that isn't going to accomplish anything, you know."
"B-Bons… Ly?" Bonsly murmured, some moisture still gathered around her eyes which clouded her vision. Viv reached over to tenderly wipe it away with a serene smile on her face.
"Those fake tears of yours were awfully convincing." She added, "But I've had enough experience throwing tantrums of my own to see through that kind of act."
"That was all fake?" Sanji muttered.
"Had me fooled." Usopp said.
"Bon… Bonsly?" Bonsly said awkwardly, carefully avoiding eye contact with Vivi.
"If you just wanted to try some of Sanji's food, you should have just asked." She said, "I'm sure he would have said yes! But because you thought you had to steal from him, you've made things significantly harder for yourself, and you caused him to trip over you as well."
"Bonsly…" Bonsly mumbled.
"First, I think you need to start by apologising to him for the trouble." Vivi instructed.
"Uh, that's really not necessary…" Sanji said.
"Go on, tell him you're sorry." Vivi pressed. Bonsly bowed her head slightly and turned to face the chef.
"Bon… Bon, Bonsly." Bonsly said apologetically.
"It's, uh, alright." Sanji said, really not sure how he was supposed to feel or react to having a talking baby tree just apologise to him.
"Great!" Vivi said brightly, clapping her hands together and flashing a dazzling smile, "Now, if you just want to try some of the food, then all you need to do is ask him if he'll let you. Sanji, could this Bonsly try some of your food, please?"
"Go… ahead." Sanji said, "It can have that plate there."
Vivi grabbed the plate which he had been referring to, and held it out in front of Bonsly. On the plate there were several slices of different berries which had been lightly grilled and skewered together. She slid the skewer out and placed it to the side, allowing Bonsly to eagerly dig in and gobble down the food with gusto. It didn't take long, and Bonsly was soon beaming at the princess as she held the empty plate.
"Bonsly! Bon-Bonsly!" Bonsly said, bouncing up and down from one foot to the other a little bit.
"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Vivi said, looking over to Sanji with her bright smile still on her face, "Thank you for your generosity, Sanji!"
The double-whammy of the smile and the gratitude in her voice was too much for the chef, who staggered back at the two-pronged attack of love, clutching his heart and falling flat on his rear.
'She… loves me?' Sanji thought, his mind racing.
"It was my… pleasure." He choked out.
"Bon-Bonsly! Bon-Bonsly!" Bonsly gushed as she scampered off, heading back in the direction of the Eterna Grove. Vivi watched Bonsly depart fondly, while also ignoring Sanji's antics.
"You handled that pretty diplomatically." Usopp commented, "Guess that comes with being a princess, huh?"
"Really? I felt more like a mother." Vivi said, chuckling sheepishly, "The roles aren't that different, now that I think about it, though I doubt I could get away with talking to other royals and diplomats like that."
"For a second there, I was kind of expecting you to end up taking that thing with you." Usopp said, "Seemed like things were going in that direction."
"I was… actually thinking about that possibility as well." Vivi admitted, "It was a rather cute little creature, but it's alright if it doesn't want to come with me. I've already got the perfect partner in Carue, after all!"
Suddenly being mentioned, Carue gave a start, but then let out an embarrassed quack at the praise.
-O-
"TIGER HUNT!"
"SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"
Even knowing what the attack meant, Zoro was barely fast enough to move the swords in his hands away from the one in his mouth and instead cross their blades in front of his abdomen, managing to block the blackened claw of the Toxicroak from striking him. The muscles in his arms tensed as he shoved Toxicroak's limb to the side and brought his head down, trying to swing Wado Ichimonji into the side of the Pokémon's head, but Toxicroak ducked under the attack.
"POISON JAB! ACHOO!"
Using its other hand, Toxicroak imbued the claw with poison and thrust it out, stepping to the side and standing up to its full height as it did. Rather than direct the attack at Zoro's body, however, Toxicroak chose to jab at the blade of Wado Ichimonji, trying to knock it out of his mouth. Seeing the attack, his jaw gripped the hilt of the blade even tighter as the attack struck, managing to hold it steady.
While still using Sandai Kitetsu to hold Toxicroak's other hand away, he thrust the tip of Yubashiri out into Toxicroak's sac, knocking the Pokemon back and creating an opening for him to raise and cross both swords in front of Wado's blade. Darting forwards to close the distance he had just created, he swung both swords in a downwards slash straight into Toxicroak before Copper even had a chance to yell out another attack. Just like with every other instance of the blades raking across Toxicroak's body, however, the damage seemed utterly superficial, with the skin still not being split.
"VENOSHOCK! ACHOO!"
Toxicroak's sac bulged, inflating out right before it opened his mouth and released a stream of viscous, purple liquid. The stream blasted Zoro right in his face, splattering all across it and striking with such force that he was actually thrown backwards, but he managed to raise both swords in front of himself in order to block the flow of poison and divert it around himself, reducing the potency of the attack. Still, though, he was left with a face doused with poison, including his eyes, which were shut tightly.
It wasn't ideal, but Zoro leaped back, distancing himself from Toxicroak as he reached up to grab Wado Ichimonji and take it out of his mouth, allowing him to spit out a glob of poisonous liquid onto the ground. His eyes were still closed, to prevent the poison from getting into them, so it was fortunate that he was fighting an opponent who had no choice but to yell out every attack he wanted to use.
"I finally found something that tastes even worse than the stupid love-chef's cooking." Zoro muttered, wiping the poison off with the back of his arm.
"Then how about some seconds? VENOSHOCK AGAIN! THEN LOW KICK! ACHOO!"
Repeating the attack from before, Toxicroak fired a stream of poison straight at where Zoro was standing, but he managed to duck and roll to the side to avoid it this time. With his face cleaned off, he opened his eyes just in time to see Toxicroak charge towards where he was crouching. Rearing a leg back, it swept the limb out, aiming to strike Zoro from the side, only for the swordsman to block the kick with Sandai Kitetsu and swing it away, knocking the Pokémon's footing out from under it. Without wasting any time, Zoro brought the swords in his hands together to hold them parallel to each other.
"HAWK-!"
"SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"
Suddenly overcome with a burst of speed, Toxicroak kicked a foot against the ground in order to throw itself at Zoro as it threw a brutal punch straight at him. A blackened claw struck him, slamming into the center of his chest, and Zoro was knocked into the ground while Toxicroak tumbled past him, scrambling to right itself and get back on its feet.
"The level of resilience you are showing is astonishing." Copper remarked, as Zoro rose to his feet at the same time as Toxicroak, "Not even the previous Leader was able to endure that many Pokemon attacks and continue fighting like that. If the same experiences that honed your strengths were applied to a Pokemon, I shudder to imagine how strong that Pokemon would be. ACHOO!"
"I don't need some pet to be strong." Zoro retorted, right before whirling around and crossing his swords in front of him to slash Toxicroak diagonally across the sac. Meeting the attack directly, Toxicroak met the slash with one of its claws, with the tip of the claw pressing into the exact point where the two blades crossed over so that the attack was stopped in its tracks.
"Toxi… Croak?" Toxicroak said, a distinct teasing lilt in its voice which Zoro thought almost sounded like some kind of challenge. Twisting its claw around slightly, it caught the top of where the swords were crossed and swung its hand down, twisting the swordsman's grip on the two hilts so that the tips of the blades were pointed to the side in opposite directions. Zoro scowled and spread his arms, slashing out right in front of him with both blades, but Toxicroak ducked under the attack.
"LOW KICK! ACHOO!"
Its leg shot out, sweeping Zoro's feet out from under him. Falling to the ground, he splayed one palm against the ground to balance himself, while swinging the other hand out to once again try and slash at Toxicroak with the sword in that hand, but the Pokemon jerked its body out of the way of the slash. Planting his feet against the ground once again, he wrapped the splayed hand back around the hilt of the sword that had been in it and pushed off, rolling back across the ground into a crouched position and quickly rising back to his feet.
'This thing's way too resilient, and there are no signs that I'm managing to wear it down with my attacks either.' Zoro thought to himself, his gaze darting between Toxicroak and its trainer, 'If I could attack sneezy, that might take away its ability to attack strategically, but that Sucker Punch attack seems to have some way of countering any amount of speed I fight with.'
"VENOSHOCK! ACHOO!"
Darting to the side, Zoro was able to preemptively avoid the stream of poison which Toxicroak spat at him. Spinning both swords in his hands in a circular motion in front of him allowed him to deflect the rest of the attack as Toxicroak turned its head to follow his movement. While the stream of poison was still ongoing, Zoro lunged forwards through the attack and, just as it finally subsided, stopped spinning his swords in order to slash at Toxicroak with all three of his blades. The attack didn't get the same kind of special reaction that Hawk Wave had before, but the sheer power behind the attack was enough to send Toxicroak flying into one of the berry trees. It slammed into the trunk and slid down it, while a couple of heart-shaped, pale pink berries tumbled out of the tree to the ground.
"Three-Sword Style Secret Move: Three Thousand Worlds." Zoro said to Copper after the fact, "Or more like fifteen-hundred, since I half-assed it."
"A ferociously powerful attack." Copper observed, "I should count myself lucky that I am not the one who is being struck by all these techniques. ACHOO!"
"Your time's coming." Zoro retorted darkly.
"Not today, though. POISON JAB! ACHOO!"
Toxicroak shook away the wooziness from Zoro's last attack and stood back up. This time, the poison energy it channeled was imbued into both of its claws.
"Croak." It drawled. Zoro smirked at it in response, and the two charged at each other. The poisoned thrusts and jabs were parried and blocked, clanging loudly against the steel of Zoro's blades as both sparks and droplets of poison flew through the air. The swordsman was mostly on the defensive against Toxicroak's venomous onslaught, with his occasional slash or stab being dodged by the frog, and he was more preoccupied with trying to determine an effective strategy rather than attacking pointlessly.
"LOW KICK! ACHOO!"
His reaction was even faster this time. Toxicroak had barely begun to move its leg when Zoro thrust Sandai Kitetsu downwards, sliding the blade beneath its limb and leveraging it to add to the momentum of the Pokémon's attack. Stepping back as he did so, the Pokémon's kick took its own footing out from under it, and he yanked the sword back and held it parallel to Yubashiri but-
"SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"
-but Toxicroak became a blur once again. Slamming its foot against the ground, it whirled around and nailed Zoro with an ebony uppercut. His head snapped back as the attack knocked him back on his rear.
"VENOSHOCK! ACHOO!"
Kicking off the ground again, he rolled back and out of the way of the stream of poison as he sprang back up onto his feet and spun his swords in front of himself to block when the attack was aimed back at him. He didn't try and turn the defensive move into an attack this time, though.
'There must be some reason why he's not using that Sucker Punch attack constantly.' Zoro thought, 'It could be that he doesn't want me figuring out the best way to defend against it, but there must be something more than that. Think…'
Turning his attention away from Toxicroak over to the trainer that was commanding it, Zoro stopped spinning his swords as Toxicroak stopped blasting poison in his direction, and he watched the way that the trainer watched him in turn. He thought back to how the fight had played out so far.
'The first time he used that attack, he goaded me into attacking first. And the other times he's used it have always been as a reaction instead of the initial attack… that's it!'
"Since I put on such a poor showing earlier, I'll show you how it's really done." Zoro called out, adjusting his stance slightly and beginning to spin his swords in front of him yet again, "Three Sword Style Secret Move…"
"No shot! SUCKER PUNCH! ACHOO!"
"Toxi…!" Toxicroak began, winding back its right hand expectantly, only to falter as the black energy that usually came with a Sucker Punch failed to manifest in its fist. It looked from Zoro, still spinning his swords, back to its unpowered hand, and then looked over to Copper and shook its head.
"Huh? What?!" Copper said, "What does that mean?! ACHOO!"
"Figured." Zoro said smugly. He stopped spinning his swords, only to instead hold them parallel to each other and swing them outwards, hurling a mass of wind straight at Toxicroak. Before the attack even connected, he began spinning his swords again. As the wind slammed into Toxicroak, Zoro rushed forwards and immediately followed the attack up- before it had even moved from where it was hit- and slashed it with the momentum from the rotation of the blades.
Overwhelmed by the combined attacks, both super-effective and not, Toxicroak skidded back across the ground and went entirely still, while Zoro also came to a stop, being bent forwards from the attack he had just used. As he straightened back up, Toxicroak collapsed, with swirly eyes signifying its proper defeat. Copper looked on with grim resignation.
"A very impressive showing, I can't say anything else." Copper admitted as he returned Toxicroak to its Pokeball, "But you've only defeated the weaker of my two Pokémon. Shall we see how you hold up against an even stronger foe?"
"Tempting, but… ONI GIRI." Zoro said. Copper's hand had barely grazed the surface of his second Pokeball when the swordsman burst across the garden over towards him and slashed across his body with all three of the blades in his possession. The eyes of the Team Steel Admin went wide and his mouth opened to allow a silent gasp to escape. Blood flew from where cloth and flesh alike was split by cold steel, and his hand dropped limply from the Pokeball.
Zoro came to a stop behind Copper, and didn't even watch as the trainer fell, instead sheathing his three swords and reaching up to remove the bandana from around his head. Once that was done, though, he did allow himself a glance back, and smiled in satisfaction at the sight of the blood that was pooling beneath Copper's body.
"That's what a sword is supposed to do when it cuts someone." Zoro said approvingly.
-O-
Bright white light burst out from within the Pokeball and materialized as a Pokemon that bore a striking resemblance to a tree, with a trunk-like body and two branch-like arms ending in leaf-like green balls. It would have been easy to look at the Pokemon- a Sudowoodo- and mistake it for being a grass type. That's what Spruce had thought when he had first encountered one in the wild, but that wasn't correct. It was also easy to look at its thin limbs and friendly face and assume that it was weak and didn't pose a threat, but that wasn't correct either.
"SUDO… WOODO!" Sudowoodo exclaimed in a high-pitched voice as it took its place standing between Ria and Brass, doing a little jig and shaking its hands as it fully materialized. It was much closer in size to Ria than Golem had been, being a bit shorter and far narrower, though it still towered over her, which was a fact that only seemed to excite the canine Pokémon as she stretched her neck and rolled her shoulders, starting to hop up and down from one foot to the other.
"Most people see me battle and assume that Golem is my ace Pokémon." Brass remarked, gazing upon Sudowoodo proudly, "As if a losing piece of trash like that could ever be my Pokémon! Sudowoodo's not going to have any problems picking apart that entire team of yours! Not even that shiny Gyarados is going to be enough to take us down!"
"You'd better think twice if you think you've got a chance against Ria!" Spruce retorted hotly, "Even if we can't beat Mercury until she cries, that's what we're gonna do to you!"
"RIOLU! LU!" Ria nodded, standing still on both feet and pumping her fists.
"I'm about to show you just what the difference is between some feral brat like you, and a seasoned trainer like me!" Brass said, "USE STONE EDGE!"
"DODGE IT!" Spruce barked, "THEN USE ROCK SMASH!"
"Sudo-WOODO!" Sudowoodo nodded as it raised its hand up. The green balls took on a bright blue glow as it slammed its hand down into the ground, causing a slight tremor which was quickly followed by an explosion of stone bursting out of the ground. Pointed rocks, glowing the same shade of bright blue as Sudowoodo's hand, arose like a wave which raced across the ground towards Ria.
Narrowing her eyes, Ria threw herself to the side just as the jagged stones burst out from the ground beneath where she had just been standing. Almost immediately, she whirled around and jumped towards the glowing stone, grabbing onto a ledge on the side of it to hurl herself up and climb up near the top, from where she was able to scurry across back in the direction of the source. Sudowoodo, having heard the order for her to attack, kept its eyes peeled on the ground around her, as its own Stone Edge attack had obscured its view of her.
After a couple of seconds, the stones began to collapse back into the ground where they dissipated into nothingness, with the collapse following the same wave-like movement as the attack had. Just as she was halfway towards Sudowoodo, the stones in front of Ria receded into the ground, and so she quickly darted down the front of the stone she was on- which itself was quickly shrinking- and leaped off of it towards Sudowoodo, which was just now seeing where she was. Brass, too, was just now getting the canine Pokémon in his sights.
"COUNTER WITH WOOD HAMMER!"
"SUDOWOODO!"
Shooting through the air towards Sudowoodo, Ria drew a glowing fist back, and Sudowoodo mirrored the action by winding up its own glowing hand. Whereas Ria's glowed orange, though, Sudowoodo's glowed green, and both limbs snapped forwards as the Pokémon came within striking distance of each other. Rock Smash met Wood Hammer, and the attacks held for a couple of seconds, before Sudowoodo's strength came out on top. Its hand knocked Ria's fist back right before the attack slammed into her, sending her flying back to skid across the ground. She came to a stop lying on her stomach, grazed and with matted fur, and there was a pained grimace on her face as she pushed herself back onto her feet.
It wasn't a nice sight to see his partner taking a brutal hit like that, but Spruce's focus was on the Sudowoodo more than Ria. Watching the green glow disappear from Sudowoodo's hand, the Pokémon didn't appear any the worse for wear after such a destructive attack- which didn't make any sense. Brass noticed Spruce's brow furrowing from across the site of the battle, and he smirked.
"I bet you're wondering why Wood Hammer didn't inflict any recoil damage!" Brass called out smugly, "That would be because of Sudowoodo's ability Rock Head! It completely negates recoil damage from attacks, meaning Sudowoodo's free to use full-power moves like that without any consequences. That's what makes it the kind of foe you've got no chance of overcoming!"
"Rock Head…" Spruce muttered to himself, 'Even without a Grass-Type boost, a powerful move like Wood Hammer's going to be incredibly difficult to overcome, and an immunity to recoil damage means it can completely control close-quarters combat, which is what Ria's whole move set is built around.'
"Finally realising you're in over your head?" Brass said, "ALRIGHT SUDOWOODO, USE MIMIC!"
"WOODO!" Sudowoodo nodded. A white glow overtook its right hand, which quickly faded into an orange glow that matched the same glow as Ria's previous Rock Smash. Dashing towards Ria, it reared the limb back.
"DODGE, THEN METAL CLAW!"
"LU!" Ria said. She lurched to the side just as Sudowoodo brought its attack crashing down towards where she had been standing, smashing apart the ground which it struck instead, while Ria quickly pounced on it. A glowing silver claw emerged from her paw, and she raked it across the side of Sudowoodo's body, landing behind the Pokémon only to swiftly whirl back around and slash it across the back with the same attack.
"WOOD HAMMER!"
"DODGE!"
The Metal Claw attack knocked Sudowoodo forwards, making it stumble slightly, but it hastily steadied itself in order to swivel around on its feet and throw its hand out, swinging towards Ria. The hand glowed green once again, and though Ria tried to leap backwards to avoid the strike, it just managed to catch her with the attack, smashing her in the side with it. A pained cry escaped Ria as she was knocked away by the attack, but she had enough control over her own momentum in order to land on her feet this time.
"Getting close is too much of a problem with that Wood Hammer attack…" Spruce commented to himself, a little louder than he normally would have, "RIA, GET MOVING AND PUT SOME DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU!"
"Riolu!" Ria nodded, jumping a few feet further back from Sudowoodo and dashing to the side, beginning to run in a circular motion around it while maintaining the space between the two of them.
"Heh, running scared now, are we?" Brass smirked, "We can fight from a distance too, don't forget! USE STONE EDGE!"
"QUICK ATTACK INTO ROCK SMASH!" Spruce called out less than a second after Brass had issued his instructions, and the Admin's eyes widened as he caught onto Spruce's play once again.
In order to carry out the attack it had been told to use, Sudowoodo raised its hand up, imbuing it with a powerful blue glow, and drove that hand into the ground. However, in the miniscule interval of time between the hand being lowered and the hand actually making contact with the ground, Ria's body became a blue of blue and black. A faint white aura appeared around her as she took off across the ground like a bullet and rammed into Sudowoodo.
Even at such breakneck speeds, the attack barely did anything. She bounced off of Sudowoodo without it so much as flinching at the contact. Still, despite her having suddenly closed the distance between them, Sudowoodo continued on as it had been, striking the ground with its hand and causing jagged stones to burst out of the ground in the direction which Ria had come from. But with how close she now was, she was able to step to the side and avoid the attack altogether. Hopping up, she hurled her fist into Sudowoodo's face, striking it with a brutal Rock Smash that smashed the Rock-Type.
The roar of fist shattering stone resounded all across the battlefield for both trainers to hear as Sudowoodo's face was driven into the ground by the force of Ria's attack. A web of cracks running across Sudowoodo's body joined several chips as decoration for this stage in the battle, matching the grazes and scrapes and matted fur that Ria was sporting after all the hits she had taken. Though the Rock-Type's face wasn't currently visible, as it had been knocked face-first into the ground, Ria was sporting a violent grin.
"YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT, SUDOWOODO! PUNISH THEM WITH WOOD HAMMER!"
"BRACE YOURSELF!"
'Again?! Dammit, what's his play this time?!' Brass cursed internally, though hindsight couldn't do anything to change his command.
Exploding to its feet, Sudowoodo returned Ria's grimace with an enraged scowl that was almost comical given the Pokémon's rather goofy face, but which she knew better than to judge like so after the attacks she had taken from the Pokémon. Still grinning, she gritted her teeth and crossed her arms in front of her face to shield herself as Sudowoodo's Wood Hammer struck her upside the head. The attack knocked her off of her feet, and she sailed up into the air before crashing back down into the ground.
Brass scowled as he watched Ria silently, not calling for any more attacks just yet. Even the attack she had just taken hadn't been enough to knock the grin from her face, though the grin was as much a pained grimace as she forced herself onto her front. Her arms trembled as she tried to push herself off the ground and back into a standing position. Despite the condition she was in though, Spruce's attention seemed focused on Brass rather than his own partner.
"You know, moves like Wood Hammer are as much of a danger to the user as they are to the opponent!" Spruce called out, "You can't just use them carelessly because of how that damage can be turned back against you!"
"Weren't you listening you idiot?!" Brass replied, "Rock Head negates recoil damage!"
"I wasn't talking about recoil damage." Spruce said quietly.
Ria rose to her feet a little shakily, still not having lost her grin, and stared down the Sudowoodo, which glared back at her. She took a step towards it, and it raised its hands in front of itself defensively as both Pokémon waited for their trainers to command them. She took another step, and this time she stumbled a bit, almost falling down to her knee but managing to remain upright. Sudowoodo relaxed its stance slightly.
"USE COUNTER!"
'NO! NO GODAMMIT!' Brass screamed internally, and then externally, "DODGE IT NOW!"
"RiiiiiiooooolUUUU!" Ria screamed. Her entire body snapped to attention, with all the shakiness and the stumbling in her movement disappearing. A burning blue flame ignited around her fist, and with a swiftness that almost rivalled her earlier Quick Attacks, she threw herself at Sudowoodo and reared the burning fist back in order to throw it forwards and strike the Pokémon right in the centre of its body. The fist connected, and the blue flame exploded out from the fist in order to flow over Sudowoodo's entire body like a wave before dissipating entirely, leaving Ria standing there with her fist pressed against her opponent.
A second passed. Neither one of them moved.
Air exploded out from Sudowoodo's back, as if launched directly through its body from the point where Ria had struck. With the explosion of air, the cracks around its body shot outwards to cover most of it, and several small bits of chipped rock fell from its body to the ground. Ria lowered her fist and allowed Sudowoodo to fall backwards with swirly eyes. Still grinning, she panted with exertion, and Spruce rushed forwards in order to scoop her up off the ground and into his arms.
"YOU DID IT! YOU DID SO GOOD!" He praised, spinning around with his Pokémon held out in front of him and sparkles in his eyes while Brass was left to just stand in the distance and stare at his fallen Pokémon.
"Riolu!" Ria gushed. Her grin changed into a bright smile, and then changed again into a slightly forced smile as Spruce pulled her in to a tight embrace. Despite how her own injuries were mildly aggravated by the contact, she nonetheless gave him a supportive pat on the shoulder.
"Dammit, Sudowoodo." Brass said, returning said Pokémon back to its Pokeball and placing the Pokeball back with Golem's, "How could you let some damn brat crush you like that? Crush us like that?! A Team Steel Admin can't afford weakness like this!"
"You're damn right that we can't! AIR SLASH!"
With the sudden arrival of a new voice- and one that was calling for a Pokémon attack especially- Spruce's head whipped over in the direction the voice had come from, and his eyes widened as he saw not only a bright blue blade of wind slam into Brass and knock him to the ground, but who it was that had just called for that attack in the first place.
"You're-!"
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