Round 1, Match 5: Wynand vs. William Conor
Wynand leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily at the tale Claire and Clyde were sharing at the far end of the lunch table. While few of the competitors knew each other before the tournament, all of them had one thing in common: a strong love of Pokémon. Even with no other similarities, this one fact was enough to bring them all together and Wynand reveled in the camaraderie. During lunch, each of them had taken turns sharing the funniest stories that had happened to them during their Pokémon training.
“So then… so then this kid…” Claire, already smiling so broadly her face seems about to split open, stops to giggle, unable to contain her amusement at the story. “This kid, he cries out ‘You have yet to see the depths of my power, silly human!’ and he pulls out,” more laughter, “he pulls out a Pokéball and sends out a Metapod!”
The end of the table erupts in laughter as Wynand reaches across and starts making himself another sandwich and Clyde breaks in to continue the story. The twins’ tale of relentless bug catcher was one of the best one’s they’d had so far and everyone was enjoying it.
Wynand smiled and munched as he listened to Clyde finish the story, but his mind had already wandered towards the upcoming match. It was his turn to compete now, and he fingered the Pokéball in his pocket in anticipation. His match was against William, the rather serious young man sitting across the table and a few seats down. William was eagerly listening to the twins’ story, just as he had all the others, though he had yet to share a story of his own. Wynand was kind of hoping he would have by now so he could get an idea of the other boy’s Pokémon and fighting styles, but time was beginning to run out. Over half the food was gone and people were beginning to push their plates away.
While he would never admit it aloud, Wynand was a bit nervous about the upcoming battle. Sure, he and Torch were good, very good. They’d been a team for most of his life and all of the Charizard’s, ever since he was an egg. They hadn’t lost a single match while they were completing in the Kanto Pokémon League, but it had been a long time since he had participated in a League. Since then they’d competed in a number of battles, but just for fun, and rarely any battle as difficult or memorable as fighting against a Gym Leader.
He tuned out Clyde’s voice and focused on William, trying to read what he could of him. Of all the trainers in their age group, he seemed the most serious and down to earth. He hadn’t bragged about his Pokémon or his battles. In fact, he hardly talked about himself at all. Most of the other trainers were eager to share tidbits about their life and adventures, but William was content to listen and smile, adding very little himself.
It could just be that he’s a quiet person and a good listener, but… No, Wynand shook his head. He couldn’t fool himself that easily. William playing his cards this close to his chest meant that he simply wanted to retain all advantages he could. Once the coming battle was over, of course, everyone would know about his chosen Pokémon and battle style.
But Wynand, his first opponent, would be going against him blind.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been so forthcoming, he thought to himself with a sigh. He had been so excited that he couldn’t help sharing and chatting with anyone and everyone. He’d shown off his Charizard to everyone at the beach, excited for the coming tournament. He liked talking with others and sharing stories and comparing Pokémon, but his social skills might have put him at a severe disadvantage in this match.
Wynand was just finishing his sandwich when Diamant stood and announced the return to the stadium. The other contestants wished both him and William luck as they all filed out of the dining room and into the confusing labyrinth of corridors and stairwells.
By accident or design, Wynand and William ended up walking together through the hallways in the very back of the group. For once, Wynand’s social skills failed him as he tried to think up some sort of conversation topic to last throughout the long trek to the arena. Everything he could think of sounded too trite, or felt too much like blatant fishing that he just gave up and walked next to the other boy in silence, not expecting William himself to be the one to start up a conversation.
“Shirley, the woman who lost yesterday, and Lisa, the purple-haired older woman,” William said, breaking the silence between them, “do you know them at all? Have you talked to them?”
Wynand had to think for a moment, caught off guard by the question. “Shirley I talked to a bit yesterday during dinner, just chatting. She’s a pretty accomplished trainer, actually, won the Unova League last year. Knowing that, it kind of surprised me when she lost earlier.” He shrugged. “That’s all I know, and Lisa I haven’t shared a single word with. She’s kind of standoffish. The two seem to be friends I guess, but anyone could tell you that.”
“You’ve never seen them before the tournament, though, right?”
“Well, on the beach, but yeah, nothing before then, no.”
William nodded and pursed his lips, digesting the information. After a few moments, he spoke up again. “Where are you from?”
“I was born on the Sevii Islands, but I do a lot of traveling these days. I guess I still consider Fortune Island my home, but I’m not there most months out of the year.” Wynand smiled, thinking of his home, and also enjoying the conversation, glad to have finally found an easy subject to talk about. “What about you?”
“I was born in Canalave, in Sinnoh,” William replied, a faraway look in his eye, “though I live in Solaceon now.”
“Sinnoh, huh.” Wynand stroked his chin. “Haven’t made it out there yet myself, though I hope to make it at some point. The photos I’ve seen of Mt. Coronet look beautiful, and of course there’s some Pokémon you can only find there.”
“Yeah, Sinnoh’s great,” William smiled, “and I’m not just saying that because of my home. I guess if you’ve not been there, though, you wouldn’t know anything about Team Galactic.”
“Team Galactic?” Wynand searched his memory. “I think I remember seeing something about them on the news, but I don’t remember much. That was Sinnoh?”
William nods. “It was pretty rough for a while, but we’re all back to normal now, have been for a couple years.”
“Yeah, we had a bit of trouble with Team Rocket on the Islands back when I first started traveling, so I kinda know what you went through.”
Their conversation led them all the way to the doors to the arena. The other contestants were heading up the stairs to the stands already, and Safiri was waiting for them, holding open the doorway, a look of impatience on her face. Both trainers picked up the pace, dropping their conversation and walking quickly through the doors and to the field.
“Well, I guess this is it.” Wynand turned around and offered his hand to William. “It’s been nice chatting with you. Good luck in the battle.”
“Thanks, I’ll need it,” William replied with a wry grin, grabbing Wynand’s hand and shaking it warmly. “You too, okay?”
Wynand smiled back and headed off to his side of the field. Their lunch was a bit earlier in the day than he was used to eating, so the sun was still almost directly overhead, giving neither side an advantage. As he walked, he couldn’t help but wonder about William’s parting remark. Maybe all of his talk about his Pokémon and his exploits as a trainer had actually made the other boy a bit nervous? I guess I’ll be finding out soon, one way or the other.
Like the previous matches, the last victor was allowed to pick the match style, and Tony was already standing up in the stands, microphone in hand, as Wynand and William took their seats. “Hey guys, well, I thought for this battle that a Steel-type based stadium would be cool, if you can do that. Thanks.”
A Steel-type stadium? What would that even look like? Wynand looked up towards the announcers booth, only to see the red-haired woman pressing buttons and getting things ready while Diamant watched. Well, I guess I’ll see soon enough. Since Torch can just stick to the air, I guess it doesn’t affect me much anyway, but still...
Wynand gripped tightly onto the protective fence as the platform began to rise into the air, just like the others did. As he rose, he looked down anxiously towards the field, waiting to see what kind of a stadium would be popping up. The ground split open revealing a smooth, metal surface, but that was all; no decorations, no protrusions, nothing complicated, just a metal floor.
Well, that’s kind of disappointing, Wynand thought to himself as he reached for his Pokéball. After the previous stages with the vines and the mountain and all other cool things, he’d hoped for something a bit more interesting, even though an open field was actually to Torch’s advantage. I guess I’ll take what I can get.
“Go Torch!” He called out, tossing his Pokéball onto the field and releasing his Charizard out onto the field. Like the showman he was, Charizard came out of his ball in style, flying up in the air and spinning around before diving to the ground and landing with a gracious twist.
“Go Breloom!” William called out from the other side of the stadium, and suddenly Wynand knew why the other boy had been so desperate for luck.
He watched as William’s Breloom landed on the opposite side of the field, its small yet powerful form still dwarfed by Charizard’s imposing presence. As a combination Grass- and Fighting-type Pokémon, it would be weak against all Charizard’s best moves, and had few options for taking down a Fire- or Flying-typing opponent.
As soon as both Pokémon touched down on the metal floor, a shuddering filled the area. Suddenly, the floor split up into several squares, each moving up and down at different speeds like simple elevators. Torch was caught with two feet each on a different platform and quickly flew into the air as one started moving up while the other dropped down into the depths below the arena. The Breloom, on the other hand, quickly shot up into the sky on one of the faster moving platforms and was holding on tight to the edge.
Well, this stadium just got a bit more interesting. Wynand grinned and called out “Torch, let’s start off with a Flamethrower!”
Flying around in the air, the Pokémon nodded once curtly and then dived back towards the stadium, headed straight for the platform the Breloom was on. Seeing the Charizard diving right at it, the Breloom freaked out and jumped into the air, falling off the platform and dodging the attack more by accident than by skill. It squealed as it fell, but managed to grab onto another platform down below before disappearing into the bowels of the stadium.
“Breloom, once you get up, nail that Charizard with Spore!”
The Breloom waggled its legs a bit but was finally able to pull itself back onto its new platform. It waited until the platform was pretty high in the air before concentrating hard and releasing a huge cloud of yellow spores into the air.
“Torch, fly under it and see if you can get away!” Wynand called out, though he secretly doubted that the bulky Charizard would be able to avoid the spores, no matter how fast it could fly. The Breloom had timed the attack just right and the spores were filling the area. Wynand felt a couple land on his nose and he sneezed.
Sure enough, Torch tried to fly under and around, but as soon as he popped up from beneath one of the far platforms, the spores his him too. He fought against the effects of the spores, trying to land and get a hold of itself, but the best it could manage was a graceful crash into one of the larger middle platforms and then it was snoring.
“Torch, wake up!” Wynand called out, banging his hands angrily on the protective fence, but it was no use; Torch was out cold.
Feeling a bit more confident now that it’s opponent was temporarily unthreatening, the Breloom waddled and jumped across the platforms, getting up closer to the Charizard, likely preparing for a physical attack of some sort. Despite their Grass-type origins, Breloom were very strong and usually better suited towards direct attacks.
“Breloom, get in close and give it a taste of your Mach Punch!”
With sudden speed, Breloom leaped off his current platform and glided towards Torch, its fist beginning to glow a bright white. It landed on the platform and struck the Charizard quickly and fiercely on the neck, knocking the sleeping Pokémon over onto its back. It repeated the move a few times, flipping and flying through the air before each strike, the smaller Pokémon gaining confidence with each hit on its slumbering opponent. After the 3rd hit, The Breloom touched down on the platform and immediately howled in anger and pain, leaping off the platform for another.
Huh, why’d it run away like that? Wynand wondered, peering in to get a close look at the area, wishing he had a pair of binoculars. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought the platform was a bit of a different colour from the others, with a bit of an orange tint…
Suddenly, it hit him. Torch’s tail! When Breloom had knocked the Charizard over, it had flipped onto its back so its tail was pressed up against the platform. Torch himself was used to extreme temperatures, so it wouldn’t bother him, but the intense flames of his tail must heave heated up the metal platform to the point where contact was painful for the Breloom.
“Torch, come on, you can wake up! Fight it!” Wynand yelled, hoping to get his Pokémon back on its feet before William and the Breloom could think up another plan and regroup.
In response, Torch yawned and rolled back over onto his belly.
“Breloom, hit it with your Bullet Seed!”
Now located on a different platform one row over, the Breloom waited again until the platform rose to an optimal position, and then started spitting out seeds towards the Charizard. The seeds seemed to have little effect until one hit Torch in the eye and the Pokémon was instantly awake, roaring and blasting fire into the air. Breloom’s eye rose comically before it scampered away onto another platform further from the rampaging Charizard.
“That’s it, Torch, good boy!” Wynand shouted, whooping with glee. “Now, hit that Breloom with your Flamethrower!”
Charizard calmed down with an effort and snorted towards Wynand, then it went racing back off to the platforms, flying up, down, and around them to spot the fleeing Breloom. It finally found it sprawled on one of the slower platforms heading skyward and it send a burst of flame from its mouth in the direction of the smaller Pokémon.
Breloom had no opportunity to dodge this time, and the blast hit it full on, covering the Pokémon in a small inferno of flame and knocking it off the edge. The blackened Breloom was still lucid, however, and managed to scramble onto another platform, this one heading down, further away from Torch with every second.
“Breloom, hold in there! You’re doing just fine! Hit that Charizard with a Sky Uppercut!”
This time, the lower platform worked in the Breloom’s favour. The Breloom’s fist started glowing white again and it jumped upward, gaining momentum as it flew towards Torch, hitting it with a power punch that sent the larger Pokémon spiraling into the air. As soon as the attack connected, Breloom scrambled back down again, losing itself in the platforms in a quick attempt to evade retaliation from the Charizard.
Wynand gritted his teeth, getting annoyed at the fast hit-and-run tactics of the Breloom. Its attacks weren’t particular effective against Torch, but they were still wearing it out and dragging out the match, and Wynand was ready to end this and win it.
“Torch, get ready for your Flare Blitz!”
Torch instantly obeyed, flying up into the air. As its body built up power, it began to glow a bright orange and it flew in circles, looking for the concealed Breloom. As soon as it spotted its small form huddled on one of the raising platforms it roared and red flames engulfed its body. It dove straight downward, leaving a trail of flames in its wake, and it slammed into the Breloom with so much force that the platform it was on went flying away towards the stands.
As soon as the glare of the attack began to fade, Torch was visible flying above the platforms, a satisfied look on its face. Breloom was nowhere to be seen.
“Breloom, where are you?” William called out from the other side of the stadium, looking eagerly around for his Pokémon.
Slowly, another platform began to raise back up from inside the innards of the stadium, an unconscious and blackened Breloom lying facedown in the middle.
“The battle is concluded,” the red-haired woman in the announcer’s box called over the intercom. “Wynand is the winner.”
Wynand whooped again, waving his arms exciting towards his Pokémon. Torch gave off a blast of flame and then flew around the stadium in a victory lap before flying back in towards it trainer for recall.
“You did a great job out there, buddy,” Wynand praised as he withdrew the Charizard back into its ball. He waited patiently while his platform moved slowly back towards the ground and the arena withdrew itself back to its default settings.
He began to walk over the grass, heading towards the middle of the field where William was kneeling next to his Pokémon. He pet the Breloom lovingly before withdrawing it back into its Pokéball, then stood up. Wynand was surprised to see tears glistening in his eyes, but he tried to keep it from showing.
“Great match,” he said, holding his hand out for another shake. “This was an unfortunate match up for you, but you did an amazing job out there. You even had me worried a few times!”
William gave him a wan smile and accepted the handshake, though his hands were sweaty and his shake less firm than it had been earlier. “Thanks. I guess that luck you gave me wasn’t quite enough.” He turned over his shoulder at Safiri and the red-haired announcer approaching. “Listen, would you promise me something?”
“Sure,” Wynand answered, surprised at the offer. “What do you want?”
William jerked his head in the direction of the stands. “Keep an eye open for Team Galactic for me, would you?” Without another word of explanation, he turned and walked towards Safiri, Pokéball clenched tightly in his hand.
