Finding Truth Amongst The Lies

Chapter 49: Multiple POV

Ash's POV

I watched as a sturdy and obviously well cared for Gliscor appeared from the pokeball Aryan hurled into the sky and my heart dropped into my stomach. Well, this just took a turn for the worst, I thought internally. Gliscor and its pre-evolution Gligar were the only known Ground/Flying types in the world, which meant that most of Pikachu's attacks would be completely useless against it.

I need to start hiding my other pokemon with me somehow, I thought with a grimace before motioning Pikachu to come stand with me. Looking back, it probably would have been better to just fight Aryan and act like a proper Team Galactic Lackie... but when he accused me of trying to bring Serena over to Team Galactic I flipped. Honestly, I was so SO tired of the constant lies that I had to live with. I just wanted to make Aryan leave so Neptune wouldn't find out he was here and do who knows what to him. Unfortunately, I hadn't counted on him trying to "turn" me.

This is really not how I wanted my day to go, I thought with an internal sigh.

"Use Poison Jab," Aryan called out confidently. His Gliscor swooped through the air with a confidence to match his trainer's, heading straight for Pikachu.

"Use Quick Attack to dodge, Pikachu," I called out and watched as Pikachu zoomed impossibly fast away from the imminent attack. 

Gliscor's heavy claw missed Pikachu by a foot, but the pokemon didn't seem phased at all. It just calmly swooped back up into the air and began gliding swiftly through the air toward Pikachu's new location.

"Use the trees and get above it!" I called out to Pikachu, knowing we were at a disadvantage in this battle. Normally battles like this got my blood pumping, but I couldn't enjoy it with thoughts of Aryan being captured swirling through my head.

Having trained a Gliscor of my own in the past, I knew how powerful they were. But I also knew their weakness. Gliscor couldn't actually "fly". They used the air currents to glide through the air and had nearly the same control as a normal flying type. But if you could get them turned upside down, all of the wind would be literally knocked out from under them and they would plummet to the ground if they couldn't right themselves in time. It was a dirty trick, and I normally would never use a pokemon's weakness against them like that... But I needed Aryan to get out of here.

"Use Iron Tail on the edge of its wings, then follow up with Focus Blast!" I called out as Pikachu leaped from the tallest branch of a tree, putting him on an equal playing field as Gliscor for a moment.

"Use Night Slash, Gliscor," Aryan called at nearly the same time.

I growled in frustration when Pikachu was unable to dodge the arc of dark power flung toward him. Pikachu took the hit but managed to maneuver himself so that he was flipping through the air down toward Gliscor. With his tail covered in a layer of metal, Pikachu arched his back and managed to snag the tip of his jagged tail onto the edge of Gliscor's wing. Gliscor dipped to the side from the unexpected weight and his clawed tail whipped underneath him, coming in to smack Pikachu off.

My eyes widened when Pikachu noticed the impending battering ram. In a split second, he bounced his tail off of Gliscor's wing and latched onto Gliscor's tail that had been meant to knock him off. Pikachu's transfer of weight caused his opponent to wobble dangerously in the air and I could see from the corner of my eye that Aryan was frowning heavily. Quick as lightning, Pikachu climbed up Gliscor's bumpy tail and leaped up, landing on Gliscor's shoulder.

"Knock him off and use Guillotine, Gliscor!" Aryan shouted up at his pokemon.

"Get him turned around, buddy!" I called, knowing that Pikachu was seriously in trouble if Gliscor got his claw on him. Guillotine was a finishing move where if the pokemon using it actually got a hold of their opponent it was almost guaranteed to make them faint. I believed in Pikachu though and watched resolutely to see what would happen.