Sinnoh Journey

Chapter 67 - Leaders Face Off

If there was one battle that Kyra couldn't afford to lose, it would be this one. She knew that Cyrus was a difficult trainer to face, he was no doubt a skilled battler who had trained his pokémon well. The one pokémon advantage Kyra had meant nothing if Cyrus could battle well enough.

"Empoleon, come on out," Kyra said, sending out Empoleon as her first pokémon since he was by far the safest call after seeing Cyrus' pokémon in their last battle.

"Houndoom, you're up," Cyrus replied, surprising Kyra.

Houndoom was a Fire and Dark Type from what Kyra remembered, why would Cyrus send him out as a counter to Empoleon? Kyra decided not to worry with questioning Cyrus and just got on with the battle, she couldn't hesitate even for a second if she wanted to succeed.

"Empoleon, hang back. We need to see what Cyrus does," Kyra said, knowing that Cyrus could very easily be running a Mixed or Physical Attacking Houndoom rather than a classical Special set. Empoleon nodded and readied himself for whatever Cyrus would make a call for.

Cyrus wasn't surprised by Kyra's weariness about attacking first, he had expected it considering the stakes were so high for her. "Fine by us. Houndoom, use Will-O-Wisp," he called, remembering that Kyra's Empoleon was more of a Physical Attacker.

"Dodge them with Aqua Jet," Kyra replied, trying her best to stay calm and focused on the battle.

Empoleon cloaked himself in water and jumped up to avoid the oncoming Will-O-Wisps. He set his sights on Houndoom and dived towards him, keeping a close eye on him should he try to attack again.

"Throw Empoleon away with Thunder Fang."

Houndoom readied his attack and expected an easy win since the water currently surrounding Empoleon would amplify Thunder Fang's damage.

At the last second, Empoleon darted to the left and Houndoom ended up biting the air before being flung towards Cyrus as Aqua Jet hit its target. Empoleon was proud of his quick reaction speed and jumped back over to Kyra to be out of range of another Thunder Fang attack.

Houndoom got to his feet and shook himself down, the Aqua Jet had hit much harder than he and his trainer had originally expected. Unless they got a successful Will-O-Wisp off, they didn't stand a chance.

Kyra saw an opening to attack whilst Cyrus and Houndoom tried to work out their next best move. "Empoleon, use Drill Peck and Steel Wing simultaneously."

Again Empoleon jumped up to gain momentum for his attack, spinning down towards Houndoom with Drill Peck as he readied a Steel Wing. The combined attack leading to more power and opportunity to deal the damage of two attacks in one move.

"Use Will-O-Wisp again. Let Empoleon hit you if you have to, just make sure this Will-O-Wisp hits," Cyrus called, willing to risk Houndoom taking damage if it meant stopping Empoleon having so much power.

Houndoom knew what he had to do, he doubted he could withstand another big hit, but as Cyrus had said, burning Empoleon would give them the advantage. He formed multiple Will-O-Wisps once again and sent them towards Empoleon who was quickly approaching, angered by the fact they were merely deflected away by Empoleon's spinning.

"That's it! Catch those Will-O-Wisps, then use Flamethrower!" Cyrus called, realising how to take advantage of Empoleon having defelcted the Will-O-Wisps away.

Houndoom nodded and ran around to absorb the falling Will-O-Wisps into his body, each one giving him more and more power until he felt the strongest he had ever done. He noticed that Empoleon was now stood before Kyra again after Drill Peck and Steel Wing had ended up missing its mark.