Sinnoh Journey

Chapter 68 - Manipulation

Kyra weighed up her options and decided she'd call on Luxray next. The Sandstorm Garchomp had set up was fading away now, and she didn't want to risk Gliscor being hit with Psychic as Garchomp had been.

"We can't let Cyrus get ahead again. Use Dishcharge!" Kyra called, her concerns that Cyrus was going to end up winning continuing to rise as the battle went on.

Luxray sent her attack towards Honchkrow, using much more power than she had done before. She could tell just how worried Kyra was and she wanted to be of help in calming her down.

"Dodge, then use Night Slash," Cyrus said, once again remaining calm.

Honckrow managed to avoid the oncoming Discharge by weaving in and around the bolts of electricity, allowing himself to set up a Night Slash as he flew towards his target.

"Use Double Team," Kyra replied, hoping that it would give Luxray just that bit more time to avoid Night Slash.

Luxray multipled and let one of her duplicates take Honchkrow's Night Slash, giving her the opportunity to attack again whilst Honchkrow was confused by the many Luxray's now surrounding him.

"Good, now use Thunder Fang," Kyra called, not wanting to hesitate in case Cyrus kept up Honchkrow's aggression.

Luxray and her duplicates pounced and pinned Honchkrow down, letting Luxray land a powerful enough Thunder Fang to knock Honchkrow out. Earning Kyra her advantage back, now down to a three on four in her favour.

Cyrus knew exactly which pokémon to switch in next, if his pokémon could wear Luxray out, knocking her out would be easy.

"Gyarados, let's go."

Cyrus' Gyarados loomed over Luxray, reminding her of the the battle against Crasher Wake. Kyra could tell that Luxray was nervous and didn't want to battle Gyarados, but she was the only certain option they had in succeeding now.

"Luxray, I know you're scared of hurting me, but please, none of my other pokémon can handle a Gyarados. I'll be right with you every step of this battle, if it gets too much than you can take a rest, but I need you to at least try," Kyra encouraged, hoping that Luxray would listen.

Luxray heard her trainer's concern. She had to face her fears if it meant Kyra wouldn't panic and lose concentration in such an important battle.

"Forcing a pokémon to battle? That doesn't sound like you," Cyrus commented, looking forward to seeing Kyra's reaction.

Kyra, as much as she was annoyed by Cyrus' criticism, wasn't going to react. Any sort of reaction that Cyrus had what he wanted wouldn't end well, she couldn't let him know just how annoyed he was making her.

"Luxray, run in and use Crunch," she replied, looking to try and gauge how Cyrus would react to a close range call.

Luxray followed as her trainer had asked, running in towards Gyarados as she readied her attack. She was confused as to why Kyra had called for a close range attack since it was unlike her, but she wasn't going to show Cyrus or Gyarados her doubt.

Cyrus was so surprised by Kyra calling directly for a Physical Attack he didn't make a call for Gyarados to counter in time. Gyarados growled as a sign of disproval, Cyrus knew all too well that he wasn't confident enough in battle to make his own decision.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Use Giga Impact," Cyrus hurriedly apologised, it was clear that he didn't mean a single word of his apology.

Since Luxray was still in close from landing her Crunch, she was an easy target for Giga Impact. The attack flung her away and she landed in front of Kyra, struggling to get to her feet.