Pokemon - From the Brink

Chapter 15 - Power in Reverse

It was the day before our match against Australia and Oceania in the semi-finals, and everyone was out on the training ground, preparing for the battles ahead. Midorima had aided in the briefing alongside Xene and Jordan once again, saying that we as individuals had a certain advantage going into the semi-finals. His reasoning was that, since Rainbow Serpent had been drawn directly into the semi-finals without having to face a quarter-final opponent, they lacked experience on the centre stage.

That said, our opponents were all world-class – the absolute best that that region of the world had to offer. No doubt such a trivial advantage would mean little when it came down to it, especially since they had the advantage of being able to watch our battles against the North American team. Something told me that our captain knew this, however, and I suspected that he only offered up the vague idea of us having an advantage to instil hope and drive in us. Otherwise, a mind as sharp as his would see no need to mention it. And, to his credit, it appeared to have worked on at least the younger members, as Yu, Carmello and Zhang all left that briefing significantly more pumped up.

Now, I was battling against Hikaru and her Greninja with my Heliolisk. We were about two hours into our training, and had already cycled partners once. Having beaten Mira in a double battle, Hikaru had picked me out to test her strength.

"Charge in with Water Shuriken!" Hikaru commanded, clearly eager to keep going after I had already knocked out her Azumarill.

"Dodge it!" I called.

Greninja dashed forward, slinging two razor-sharp shurikens towards Solaris. My Pokemon hopped to the left then ducked low, and both projectiles hit the ground, bursting like small water balloons. Hikaru's Pokemon kept coming, this time opting to hold on to its weapons and wield them up close. It swung its arm and aimed for Solaris' neck, but she back-pedalled and the shuriken sliced the air in front of her. A rapid succession of swipes came her way and she bobbed left and right, shifting out of the way as she kept jumping backwards.

"Go for the legs!" Hikaru shouted.

Greninja reacted with impressive speed, ducking low and sweeping its leg round in an arc. It caught Solaris, her legs taken out from beneath her. As she fell backwards, I had a horrible feeling that this had happened before.

Gabi had employed a similar tactic to throw me off when I had fought him. His Hawlucha had swooped low to tackle Buizel in almost the exact same way. Had Hikaru learned that from him, or...?

A quick glance across at her showed a satisfied glint in her deep blue eye.

If she thought she had me, she was mistaken, tough, because things were different this time. Solaris was smart enough to know exactly how to react.

As Greninja raised its arm to swipe down at Solaris, she lashed out with her tail, still falling backwards. Her tail slammed into the ground beneath her, and her momentum helped her to flip back over before hitting the dirt.

"Huh?!" Hikaru gasped. Greninja's Water Shuriken sliced through the air mere inches from Solaris' face as she spun back upright, and even it seemed surprised.

"Thunderbolt!" I called.

Solaris' neck frills opened up, glowing a bright yellow and crackling with electricity. Still in the motion of its downward swing, Greninja couldn't get out of the way in time, and was blasted by a lightning strike at close range.

"Tch..." Hikaru flinched.

Solaris landed on her feet and smiled back at me, whilst Greninja dropped down to one knee, its body still struggling against the remnants of electricity running across its skin.