The Wolf of Castelia [Pokemon - Absol Isekai] (2024)

Chapter 21 - The World

Audino opened with Simple Beam the moment she emerged; an invisible ripple washing over Claydol who sank slightly before righting himself. There was a faint sheen of purple around him now, Psychic power being used to actively support his weight rather than the passive effect inherent to his species. It would consume his power and attention to maintain; not much of either admittedly, but every little counted against a Gym Leader's Starter.

"Hyper Beam." Claydol raised one arm, already gleaming with brilliant white light.

"Pain Split!" Audino managed to the form the link right as she was struck by Claydol's attack, sending her flying. She bounced off the wall of the mine shaft but rolled to land on her feet, her borrowed vitality cushioning what would have otherwise been a knockout blow.

"Toxic stall." Hilda ordered, returning to a tried and true strategy against a far stronger opponent.

Claydol turned a slightly darker shade of purple while Audino nodded off, taking full advantage of Slowpoke's lessons. A second Hyper Beam was readied and fired, running straight into a Light Screen. Another followed, to similar effect before a fourth, final attempt broke through the barrier, sending Audino flying once more. As she drifted through the air, still sound asleep, blue droplets gathered around her, coalescing into a massive waterspout that flooded the arena to catch both combatants in the current. Hilda waved a hand, Steel walls rising at her command to break the wave, keeping both her and Clay mostly dry save for a slight splash at the end.

"Much appreciated," Clay inclined his head in thanks. "Doll usually handles that for me during challenges; he fights so rarely here that I don't have an alternative on hand."

"You're welcome," Hilda grinned. "Wouldn't want you to get washed away before I get my badge."

"Don't count your Ponyta before they hatch," Clay laughed. "You've got to get through Doll first. Ground and Pound."

Gravity intensified tenfold, forcing the floodwater down the Gym's drains at record speed. Audino was pinned to the ground, still asleep as Claydol's arms glowed. Twin Hyper Beams hit her point-blank; Audino neither stirred nor did she use another Move, and after the standard ten seconds of waiting for any unexpected comebacks, Hilda recalled her.

"Good job Audino, take a long rest." Hilda smiled as she pocketed her ball. "Koffing, I guess this is it."

"Looks like it," Koffing agreed, floating leisurely into the arena. "Honestly, I wasn't expecting to have to fight until the seventh or eighth gym, but this should be some decent exercise at least."

Clay's frowned as he looked at Koffing, assessing what he appeared to be on the surface and what lay beneath. Lips pursed as he flashed through four rapid hand-signs, picked up by the eyes at the back of Claydol's head. Eight eyes widened, before they all began to glow an ominous red.

"I'll let you have the first shot, given you extended the same courtesy to Audino." Koffing offered, spinning languidly in place seemingly unaffected by the intense Gravity blanketing the field.

An instantaneous Hyper Beam hit Koffing in the face, managing to push him back a few inches.

"Not bad," Koffing praised, emerging slightly charred. "My turn. Pain Split; the One Percent."

Tugging on the red chain that now bound their vitality together, Koffing gave an almighty pull, leaving Claydol just enough to survive whilst taking the rest for himself. Blindsided by Koffing's secret technique, Claydol fell to the ground in a dead faint whilst Koffing floated triumphantly, already fully recovered from Claydol's opening (and only) attack of the bout.

—
[1]

"Not bad," Koffing praised, emerging slightly charred. "My turn. Pain Split; the One Percent."

[COMMAND: DISABLE]

Koffing's technique abruptly fizzled as the link to Claydol dissipated mid-formation. The surprise almost saw him take a second Hyper Beam to the face, but he'd retained enough wherewithal to cut his Levitate, taking advantage of Gravity to plunge like a stone whilst the beam flew overhead, missing him by inches. Toxic Spikes erupted from the ground, forcing Claydol to climb higher out of their reach.

"Max Lightning."

At Koffing's command, a colossal bolt descended from the heavens, striking Claydol head on and dragging him back down into the toxic spikes, to which Koffing added an application of Venoshock, drowning him in a second round of poison just for good measure. Ten seconds passed before Claydol floated back above the toxic deluge, clearly down for the count.

—
[2]

"Max Lightning."

At Koffing's command, a colossal bolt descended from the heavens, before completely swerving Claydol, heading for Koffing instead. Spinning rapidly, Koffing gathered and immediately discharged his Gyro Ball, coating the Toxic Spikes around him with a thin layer of Steel. He still took his share of lightning despite his efforts, but the majority was absorbed by his makeshift lightning rods as Koffing dove low, unbothered by the thick aura of Poison as he used the Toxic Spikes for cover, swerving several pairs of Hyper Beams, now firing from both arms in tandem.

"Augment; Precipice Blades!"

Toxic Spikes became fearsome blades of primordial stone, erupting fully from the ground to spear their target. Without exception, each veered off in directions unknown upon approaching Claydol, hitting the walls, floor and Hilda, the latter swatting aside the errant blade with a casual backhand.

"Oh, I see. Disable."

Claydol's Trick Room fizzled out as Koffing returned the favor from their first exchange, before he casually broke the sound barrier and smashed Claydol's head open with a supersonic Max Strike.

—
[3]

Claydol's Trick Room fizzled out as Koffing returned the favor from their first exchange, before he casually broke the sound barrier and smashed headfirst into a Substitute that burst apart to bathe him in crackling electricity.

"Pure speed's not working either, nothing surprises him," Koffing muttered, twitching slightly as he rose once more, scanning the floor where sure enough, Claydol emerged from the hole he'd discreetly dug, staring up defiantly at Koffing.

"This is almost like fighting Absol. Well, that's fine too, he's been poisoned since Audino, there can't be much left in his tank at this point."

Koffing closed his eyes, happy to Rest knowing that Claydol couldn't possibly do enough damage to him to matter in time, unless he picked a very specific pair of options.

—
[4]

[COMMAND: HEAL BLOCK]

"Copycat," Koffing grinned as he mimicked the curse enveloping him. "A predictable move, and the best choice out of the two you could reasonably make in the circ*mstances. Now neither of us get any healing, how do you like your odds?"

[…]

—
[5]

[COMMAND: DISABLE]

"That was option two then?" Koffing laughed, as he felt one weight lift even as another settled upon his soul. "A fair attempt, but you're not skilled enough to maintain two Disables in tandem. Pain Split: The One Percent."

—
[6]

[COMMAND: HEAL BLOCK]

[QUESTION: HOW THE f*ck DID YOU FIGURE IT OUT?]

"Experience," Koffing grinned. "Science Fiction and High Fantasy love to portray completely seamless changes to the timeline, but only the Lord of Time can really pull that off in practice. Even Celebi leaves slight wrinkles whenever she adjusts the world, and she's a thousand lifetimes more skilled at it than you. Plus, I'm not blind, you know? I felt my perspective shift abruptly without explanation several times over the course of this battle, and every time I felt it one of your eyes closed immediately afterwards. You're not the first construct of Dialga I've fought, and far from the strongest."

Claydol's two remaining eyes narrowed balefully, but they said nothing to contradict him.

"I'll admit, Clay was clever to keep your trump card hidden with hand-signs, you really surprised me a few times there, but it's hardly rocket science putting it all together as the match went on. Not when I knew Dialga first-hand, along with what Clay mentioned about digging you old of some old ruin, that only really leaves a few options right? In any event, that brings us to the here and now, and your chance aren't looking good. You've only got one false timeline left to burn freely, two if you fancy your odds fighting entirely without sight, and you're about to topple over thanks to acute overexposure to Toxic. What now?"

[…]

—
[7]

[COMMAND: SELF-DESTRUCT]

Koffing watched nonplussed as Claydol exploded without warning. He did not, as a matter of fact, follow this up with Copycat out of habit, because he wasn't an absolute moron.

—
[8]

[STATEMENT: WELL, IT WAS WORTH A TRY. I FORFEIT. CLAY, WHO THE f*ck AM I FIGHTING HERE? DID YOU OFFEND ANOTHER LEGENDARY RECENTLY?]

Claydol complained, saluting Clay with twin middle fingers of shaped Psychic energy before promptly returning himself to his Master Ball.

"Um," Hilda began. "Can anyone explain what just happened?"

"Your first taste of what battle is like when Legendaries or their proxies are involved."

—

"You know, that's the first time anyone has actually beaten Doll in a gym battle," Clay readily admitted as they took the elevator back to the top of the mine shaft. "Usually I use him to humble the latest batch of hotshot trainers, before giving them a badge anyway if they impressed me. Guess it was about time I got a dose of my own medicine."

"Does that mean there's no special prize?"

"Not at all, I'm a man of my word. But first, the formalities. For defeating me in a League-sanctioned battle, you've earned the Quake Badge. For going above and beyond in my special challenge, I'll give you one bit of advice and something more tangible as well. Firstly, the advice; did you know that humans are allowed to participate as combatants in Unova League battles, not just as trainers?"

"Really?" Hilda blinked. "I've never seen that on TV, unless you count the exhibitions Marshal sometimes runs at his dojo."

"It's pretty rare, admittedly; the last competitor to do it died before you were born, but the practice is still on the books. It was far more common in the first days of the League; back when Aura Guardians were a frequent sight and soldiers fought side-by-side with their Pokémon partners. There's a few waivers to sign of course, standard stuff like waiving any relatives' right to sue if you die in the ring, but it's all above board, if not widely publicized. Check out Protocol Seven in the consolidated League rules if you don't believe me."

"I believe you," Hilda reassured him. "There's no reason to lie about something so easily checked. Sounds fun as well; I should be ready for a real battle by the Conference, so make sure to get tickets for my matches."

"You only heard about the opportunity a minute ago and are already using it to market yourself. Oh, you'll do well in the League, I can already tell. Moving on, for your more tangible reward, take this."

"An Absolite?" Koffing blinked. "Those are worth millions of dollars on the open market. What's the catch?"

"Nothing at all," Clay laughed when Hilda repeated Koffing's words to him. "Just my keen business sense telling me this is a good investment to make. A trainer like you will make it big, and it's only good practice to have you think favorably of me when the time comes. You might be in a position to pay me back big in the future, you know?"

"Thank you," Hilda accepted the gift gratefully. "I'll be sure to prioritize your requests once I become Champion."