Leo Simon
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The All Mighty Earth - Pokemon SI Chapter 25
🕑 Added 2023-08-30 20:50:13 +0000 UTCAsher's Team:
Lago - Rhydon
Crust - Golem
Sebastian - Nidoking
Selena - Nidoqueen
Seraph - Clefable
Barret - Dugtrio
Sonic - Sandslash
Death - Marowak
Colossus - Steelix
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Samuel Oak, having watched the match between Asher and Clair, couldn't help but feel a sharp sense of surprise at the destruction shown as a result of the two pokemon clashing in that final exchange. The world around him went silent as his mind raced at what possibly could have happened for such a newly evolved Dragonite to produce such a devastating attack. Evolution can provide a pokemon with a brief boost in power, since usually a pokemon will evolve when pushed to their limit and are under extremely high stress, however never in his years of experience has he ever witnessed a newly evolved pokemon produce an attack that could be near a champion-level pokemon!
The answer was obvious, though he didn't know why the Blackthorn's would teach someone so young how to utilise aura, he doesn't need to be a genius to figure out who taught her.
Aura itself is actually fairly common knowledge. Many minds in the scientific community research the subject, with Samuel himself being no exception, since it's widely acknowledged as the lifeblood of all living creatures, and is theorised to be where a pokemon's energy comes from when they use their abilities, though there isn't much of a way to prove that. The incredibly rare Lucario species, from what little information the kingdom of Rota is willing to give them, is actually said to be able to make use of this energy for far more than simply attacking. Though, this may be folly since Samuel has never had the pleasure of being able to study one himself.
The point is, aura isn't a secret itself. The legends of Sir Aaron can attest to that.
But, never ever is the idea of just any person being able to use this mysterious power allowed to become public knowledge. Playing with aura is very much like playing with fire in the fact that when you use it you burn through your lifeforce. These reserves can be replenished over time, but there's also the possibility that you kill yourself without having the chance to replenish them. Afterall, what do you think would happen if your lifeforce disappeared?
The amount of aura a person can hold isn't the same for everyone. Some could have what could be considered a feeble spark, whilst others might have the equivalent of a forest fire. It's unknown whether a person could increase their capacity for aura, like a pokemon could, but Samuel has never had such luck.
Pokemon have much more aura when compared to humans. It's what allows them to unleash such powerful attacks, increase their natural durability to the point where knives and guns are of little use except against the weakest of pokemon, and run more efficiently when compared to humans energy wise. Aura, more than anything, is just that, life.
Many have attempted to weaponize the use of aura to empower their pokemon in the past, in return all those fools received was a pointless death, their aura reserves were too miniscule to give a pokemon any type of notable power boost, and so, nothing of note really happened. The Blackthorn's, being the power hungry fools that they are, tried to learn and make use of this ability, and it worked... well sort of anyway. He faced a few dragons on the battlefield who were being empowered by the power of aura, however the difference was hardly even worth mentioning. None of them had auras strong enough to make a decent booster for a pokemon, who had massively superior energy reserves when compared to a human.
In other words, it was like pouring a cup of water into a lake. The extra water is there, but the difference was so pathetically unnoticeable that it wouldn't even be considered a boost at all.
That isn't what he saw though. That Dragon Pulse was intense enough to match a Hyper Beam, and nearly overpower it entirely, and now that he thinks about it, his grandchildren said that Clair's other Dragonite launched a massive Hyper Beam in her last match that dwarfed any others they'd seen before.
That Clair girl seemed to be able to use aura. And she could use it to a frightening degree as well. She appeared to have been tapping into it subconsciously, but the very fact she was just unconscious after using up enough aura to kill dozens of men... well it's indeed concerning for Samuel.
Clair Blackthorn is someone he'll need to keep an eye on. At the moment, she was inexperienced, and her use of aura was unrefined, uncontrollable, and sloppy.
But, all of those problems can be solved with practice. Right now she could only use this ability in extreme and unreliable ways. But, in a few years time, should she master this unique ability and gain both experience in battle and power for her pokemon... well. She'd be a real monster.
The questions of his frantic grandson fell on deaf ears as he narrowed his eyes at the destruction which that battle left in it's wake.
Indeed. Clair Blackthorn, much like this Asher boy, was someone to keep his eyes on.
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When Clair comes to it, her entire body felt as though it had been drained of it's energy, leaving her utterly exhausted and any attempts to so much as twitch her limbs was left with an achy feeling of fatigue which ebbed away at her energy.
She felt horrible. Even budging her eyelids was a strenuous activity.
Clair let out a groan of discomfort as she forced her eyes to open, her vision blurred as she did her best to examine her current location.
What happened, the last thing she remember was... wait, she was battling Asher, and Dragonair evolved! Her Dragonite used Dragon Pulse... then everything went black.
What was-
She let out a sudden hiss of pain, the sting on her face suddenly making itself known as she flexed her facial muscles and in response was gifted with a burning sensation on her cheek.
"Hey, sleeping beauty, you had all your beauty rest yet?"
She managed to muster up the strength to turn her head to the source of those words, and was greeted with the sight of her opponent, lying on a hospital bed, with a bandage wrapped around his forehead and an amused look in his golden eyes.
Looking down, she realised that she too was lying down in a hospital bed and that they weren't battling at that moment. So, she immediately narrowed her eyes at him and started to question him on a few things, like what happened during their match?
She narrowed her eyes and locked with his orbs of gold, absolute seriousness in her voice." Why aren't we battling?"
He snorted at her words, an action that confused her, and he remarked before summarising." You've really got a one-track mind ain't you. We totally fucked up the battlefield when our pokemon fought, so our match has been delayed until further notice. We'll be continuing our little rumble at one, so just chill out until then."
That... was a fairly brief summary, though it would do good enough she supposed.
Clair huffed slightly as she let her head fall back, where she managed to catch sight of a clock. It was eight at the moment, she doubts that they'd broadcast the final match of the conference at a time when most of Indigo was asleep, so she must have slept right through the night.
She had five hours to get some rest before she and he pokemon would have to battle again. That amount of time should have been sufficient she supposed, though there's also the matter of her pokem-
Her pokemon!
She felt some urgency rise in her chest when she came to the realisation that she didn't have her pokeballs on her!
"Where are my pokeballs?!" She suddenly questioned Asher, not even certain if he knew where they were, and in response all he gave her was a raised eyebrow before he pointed to a small tray literally right by her side. All six of her pokemon being contained within them individually, alongside her slightly dented, but not broken, poke gear.
She felt a touch of embarrassment, but didn't dwell on her own lack of spacial awareness, afterall she wouldn't give her enemy the pleasure of seeing her-
Asher suddenly spoke with a tone of slight disappointment." Well, it's a real bummer that our match got broken up like this, but what can ya do? At least we got to blow up the arena, good times." He noted that last bit with a dumb smile, seemingly enjoying that they- wait what?
Clair, deciding to entertain him with a conversation, spoke with the confusion she was feeling not at all being present in her voice." What are you talking about?"
Asher just gave her an amused grin." What, you don't remember? When Steelix and Dragonite attacked they blew up the whole fucking pitch. We were actually caught in the thing and got pretty banged up, you even lost that shitty cape of yours."
Clair, though surprised at his words, scowled as she defended her fashion taste." My cape is not 'shitty' as you put it. It's the garb of a dragon master, and you won't disrespect the traditional clothing of a-"
She was cut of by the laughs of the brown haired boy, seemingly unable to stop a few chuckles from leaving his lips when he heard her words, and Clair found herself becoming extremely annoyed with her opponent as she glowered at him and spat out.
"Just what exactly do you find so funny about about my choice of clothing?"
Asher tried to contain his laughter, but he failed miserably as his mouth muscles began to ache and his breaths were becoming short. However he did eventually calm down, though he couldn't stop himself from grinning widely in amusement.
The sight just fuelled Clair's indignation, her dislike for the boy growing slightly with each moment he laughed at her.
Once he was finished, he finally breathed out, not at all seriously." I'm sorry okay, I am so sorry. But, I'm not gonna lie, your fashion sense is a little ridiculous, I mean this isn't a cartoon is it?"
Clair felt her face flush with embarrassment at his words, though her glare didn't falter as her blue eyes tried to erase him from existence with a glare, though it proved ultimately ineffective as Asher just began to laugh again, unable to hold himself back.
"What did you just say?" Clair managed to utter out, her voice audibly straining to contain itself, her sky blue eyes burning a hole through Asher's head.
Though, he didn't seem to notice, as he explained himself through his gasps for air." I respect your right to- haah ha- dress how you choo- how you choose. But, whenever- I, whenever I think of someone who wears a cape- ahaha- I always think of that one kid who thinks dressing up like a superhero makes him th- hahah- the- THE SICKEST KID ON THE BLOCK!!" He practically shouted out that last part, apparently unable to finish his words like a regular human being as he descended into a mess of uncontrollable laughter that would have, if he were standing up, forced him to crawl on the ground.
Clair felt her face burn bright red, her glare faltering for a moment, only for it to reignite tenfold a second later to hide the embarrassment that the blue haired girl felt upon realising that her choice of clothing could reduce someone into such a state. It was humiliating.
"Shut up!" Her fists clenched as she momentarily forgot her fatigue and drowsiness, the anger she felt becoming even more blatantly obvious as she yelled at him in anger. However, Asher wasn't getting the message. He was too lost in his own amusement to care about her words.
"Shut up!" She repeated herself once again, her voice's volume was noticeably louder than the first time she yelled though. This was evidence that she was becoming increasingly more frustrated and embarrassed by his words, taking the matter very personally.
Yet, he didn't seem to stop laughing at her. She was always the joke in her family, she just didn't want to be laughed at, she wanted to be taken seriously. She wanted respect.
Was that too much to ask?
"You want to be a pokemon trainer? What a joke. You'll fail, just like your mother did at everything else."
"You'll never be half as good as Lance. Don't get your hopes up, the most good you'll do us is if we sell you off as a trophy wife."
"Just give up, you don't have it in you."
Clair felt tears flicker in her eyes as she grit her teeth, the hurtful words of her family coming back to haunt her. How they never believed in her, how she was seen as lesser in their eyes, how she was always being called useless and a bastard child. Their laughs seemed to overlap with Asher's and the feelings of insecurity and self-doubt clouded her mind, not giving her a shred of rest or confidence in that moment.
Suddenly, this wasn't about something as simple as a cape anymore. She felt like she was being personally attacked, and she wanted so badly for him to just back off and give her some rest.
Her voice felt more like a roared from one of her dragons than that of a teenage girl, tears starting to leak out of her eyes, and rage was ingrained into her speech as she screamed out.
"SHUT THE HELL UP! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?!!"
Her words carried such weight that Asher immediately cut off his laughter, the grin dropping from his face as he reeled back, all traces of amusement gone from his face. But, shock soon turned into guilt and regret when he noticed that tears were leaking out of Clair's eyes, the dragon girl herself appearing extremely vulnerable and sorrowful in that moment. Though, she instantly tried to cover her weakness up, by trying and failing to wipe her tears away, he already saw what his words had done to her.
And he felt terrible because of it. He might not be the most tactful guy, but he usually knew when to hold back and be polite when it counted. He failed at that this time. He should own up to that.
Clair, still profusely trying to wipe her tears away, couldn't help but feel depressed all of a sudden. Underneath all her pride she even felt some shame, though she'd never admit it, since he had literally been laughing about a cape, likely just trying to amuse himself as he lied battered in a, infirmary bed. Nothing more, nothing less. She had no reason to react so strongly to something so- so childish.
But, suddenly he began to speak, with a tone completely different to the carefree, and almost mocking, tone he used when he addressed her previously. In fact, his demeanour had shifted so swiftly and smoothly that he almost sounded like a different person.
"I'm sorry if my words offended you. I really didn't mean anything personal and just wanted to have a laugh, but clearly I was insensitive. Please, forgive me." He even bowed his head slightly at her, as a sign of respect. His words were rather polite, almost gentlemanly, it was as though he actively decided to speak the way he did purely because he preferred a rough and unrefined vocabulary and accent.
Clair, forgetting her previous sadness as she studied the boy in front of her, could only mentally feel confused by Asher and who he is as a person. He was someone she couldn't read. He was frustratingly inconsistent in his behaviour. He was entirely too unpredictable for her liking, and the way he commented on her fashion sense before didn't do him any favours... yet she couldn't feel mad at him. Not really anyway.
Then, the realisation of her previous actions sunk in, and the embarrassed she felt from acting so soft in front of her opponent made her shrink back into the infirmary bed she was lying in, wishing that she could just phase out existence and save whatever was left of her pride, and, for whatever reason, the way he was bowing his head to her didn't make her feel superior or swell her pride, it just made her tongue feel as though it were about to twist into a thousand knots.
"Stop your bowing, apology ac-accepted." She cursed her stutter internally, her head sinking into the pillow behind her head in an attempt to conceal her weakness from the enemy.
He did as she told, and decided to mimic her actions by also lying down on his pillow, however once he did so he suddenly asked a question, his tone a little more serious than before." You know in our match, that Dragon Pulse was strong enough to match a Hyper Beam from my Steelix. What was up with that crazy power you used? There's no way a freshly evolved pokemon could have that kind of power behind an attack."
His question gained Clair's attention and, feeling her previous embarrassment recede, she opened her mouth to answer... only to realise that she didn't really have one to give him. She may be prideful, and her pokemon were magnificently powerful, however she couldn't possibly say with honesty that the power her Dragonite had used was purely natural strength. Now that she thought about it, where did all that power even come from?
Clair's memories of their match were... fuzzy, she remembered brief flashes of what happened when they did battle, however they were vague, She did however remember that her Dragonite had managed to muster up a Dragon Pulse so massive that it could match a Hyper Beam from that gigantic Steelix.
Where exactly did that come from?
"I don't know." She settled for answering with those words, not really sure what else to say.
Asher hummed in acceptance, however he didn't end the conversation right there, instead driving it forward." You were really tough out there you know, that Gyarados was super strong, and that first Dragonite had a lot of power from what little I saw of it, and your Dragonair was able to match Colossus after evolving. If I weren't here then you'd totally have won this whole thing."
Noticing the certainty in his words, Clair found herself frowning at the notion of him thinking he could definitely beat her in a battle. However, she ultimately decided to let it slide. He did compliment her quite a lot before he spoke those words, so there's no need for her to make a big deal of it.
Ignoring his previous words, Clair merely responded to his words." Thank you. Though, since we have time to talk, what was that move your Steelix used, 'Dragon Tail' if I remember right. What exactly was that?"
He shrugged and answered her without hesitation, in a very casual manner." It's a move that forces an opponent out of battle and switches them for another pokemon, think of it as Roar, but you need to hit your opponent for it to work. A handy little thing, and I could probably teach your pokemon to use it if you want."
Clair felt a sense of surprise, though she did her best to hide it, when she heard his words and offer. Her eyebrows burrowing as she waited for a condition in exchange for him teaching her the move... only they never came.
The attack they used before was one she'd never heard of, and that on it's own practically guarantees that it's a very rare move for a pokemon to know. She is very knowledgeable on pokemon in general, on the dragon-type in particular, so the very fact she didn't know about a move that's the same type she specialises in is... worrying. She really wouldn't have been surprised if he was approached by her clan after the Conference is done, regardless if he won or lost, since any new knowledge on dragons is like gold to them. They'd be willing to pay him even, did he just not know that was an option for him?
Well, she wasn't about to remind him of that.
"Well, if you're offering then what reason do I have to refuse?" Getting help from someone did grate against her pride a tad, however she was more than willing to ignore that if she could possibly gain the knowledge of how to teach her pokemon a rare or new move.
He grinned at her, and instantly suggested." Awesome, just give me your number and I'll give you a ring some time and tell you how to teach the move."
Clair felt her mind go blank for a second at his words." What?" She asked, slightly mindlessly and wondering why that was necessary.
In response though, Asher just looked at her as though it were obvious." Well I need to stay in contact with you if you wanna know about Dragon Tail. Plus, you seem like a pretty cool girl, and your a strong trainer, you're ticking all the boxes I need for you to make my list of buddies. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't have your number?"
He said the word so casually that, for a moment, Clair didn't quite register what he said, and she wondered if he realised the true weight behind his words.
Clair was... not a person with many friends. Well, any friends honestly. No human ones anyway. She'd never felt much of a need for friends, preferring to learn about dragons and try to prepare herself for the day she'd become a trainer. Her family, except Lance, weren't willing to give her their time of day either. She also just never really felt the need to become friends with any of the trainers she fought.
Now though? She just felt embarrassed by that fact.
"F-friends? Since when were we friends?!" She said those last words louder than she meant to, however he didn't look offended by her words. In fact, he just looked like he thought the answer to her words was obvious.
"Since like a minute ago when we were chatting each other up. Besides, you're a great trainer and I could do with the contacts of someone who can give me a challenge, and I agreed to teach you a move I discovered. The list literally goes on and on and on, so why don't you give me your fucking poke gear and I can give you my number."
It was at that moment he chose to step up from his bed, walking over to her side, his hand held out expectantly to take her poke gear and enter his own number.
This all felt a bit sudden for Clair. Just five minutes ago he was laughing at her as though she were a joke, and now he was offering to teach her a few tips that would make her a better trainer, and even declared them to be friends.
Asher sure is a strange boy, she'll give him that.
She grabbed her dented poke gear from besides her pokeballs, flipping the damaged device open, before passing it to Asher, who swiftly typed in his own contacts before passing the flip phone back to her.
"There we go, just give me a ring after our battle and I'll give you the details on the move."
His words mostly fell on deaf ears though. Clair was too distracted, simply staring at the contact on her screen. 'Asher Blight'.
Friends huh? That doesn't sound too terrible.
Comments
Nova
Can't wait to see Rhydon fight, great story man keep it up.
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