Trials of a Champion - Kanto [Pokemon x OC]

42 Once and Flor-al

The attack made contact with a target. But not with the intended target. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself and all the Pokémon completely unscathed—well, apart from the burns that were already present.

Ivy...Saau...

Paul's Ivysaur collapsed in front of us. Scorch marks covered his entire body, with the burns on his left side looking to be the worst. That was the side that took the entirety of the combined Fire Blast. How Ivysaur even managed to clear that enormous distance was astonishing.

"Ivysaur!!" I fell at his side and attempted shaking him awake. "Ivysaur! Say something, Ivysaur! Please!"

The Pokémon's breathing was slow and uneven. One Fire Blast would've been more than enough to knock him out; he shielded us from both. We were lucky he wasn't immediately incinerated.

"See? What a weakling," laughed Evan, drawing all heads with his villainous voice. "It couldn't even handle two measly Fire Blasts. Now, I'm glad I got rid of it."

I clenched my teeth, fighting back frustrated tears. "Quit talking already, you piece of—"

Saur...

Ivysaur trembled and shook, and he opened his eyes. Despite the pain coursing through his body, he found the strength to return to his feet. And even though he was generally a peaceful creature, he now looked pissed! So pissed that he channeled all his remaining energy into his flower to make it glow.

Then, his entire body glowed!

"Ivysaur?" I quickly backed up.

The bud on his back burst open to reveal a beautiful pink flower with white spots, held up by a thick, brown trunk encompassed by green fronds. An Ivysaur had no chance of supporting such a massive plant, so it was good that the evolution caused him to double in size and gave him sturdy, muscular legs. When the light faded, we found a mirror image of the Venusaur currently leaning against me.

The wild Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Wartortle, and I all watched in amazement as the brand new Venusaur stomped his foot on the ground and roared loud enough to shake the trees around us. A flock of Pidgey got startled and escaped to the sky.

"Well, how about that?" Paul said with a grin, registering Venusaur's Pokédex data.

"Ah, who cares if it evolved?! We'll burn it to a crisp either way! Fire Blast!" His Arcanine and Dragonite prepared another fiery combination.

Venusaur crouched and began absorbing light particles into his flower like an inverted shower of sparkles. As the power built, the flower glowed brighter and brighter until the entire thing turned white.

Evan's Pokémon launched their attack.

Venusaur howled and fired his attack right back, a Solar Beam that sounded like a 50-megaton nuke thanks to all the extra power from his sunbathing earlier. The energy beam shredded through the flames before continuing on to the other end of the meadow. While Dragonite reacted fast enough to fly up over the attack, Arcanine was unable to dodge and received a hard hit.

The dog stumbled backwards, needing a moment to regain its balance. Based on his suddenly fatigued facial expression, the attack clearly took its toll.

"How the hell did that Solar Beam hurt Arcanine?!"

"Because it was pretty damn powerful!" spat Paul, looking equally as frustrated as his Pokémon. "And so is Venusaur!"

"I'll show you! Fire Punch!" Dragonite engulfed its fist in flames and charged.

"Draw it in with Vine Whip!" Using his vines, Venusaur grabbed the dragon's fists and brought it to a complete stop in midair; this unfortunately couldn't prevent Venusaur from feeling the intense heat radiating off Dragonite's arms.