Pokemon Grand Tour Round 1 - James VS Epsilon

James let out a sigh of relief as he viewed the results of the audition; it looked like he was in the tournament after all. He hadn't been too worried about qualifying, but confirmation was always reassuring.

He looked closer at the results screen, which showed the first round match ups. Apparently his opponent was named Epsilon Ezra. With a small smile, James left for the assigned stadium to face his first real fight in the tournament. It had been quite a long time indeed since his last pokemon battle, and he hoped that this one would be one to remember, both for him and his opponent.

-000-

As arenas went, it looked fairly standard; it was just like something one would find for an official pokemon league competition. The field was currently neutral, but at a moment's notice it could be swapped-out for nearly any type of arena imaginable, one that could help or hinder either opponent.

As James observed his surroundings, he noticed his opponent finally step in.

She looked like she was somewhere in her mid-teens, with long black hair and a pleasant, relaxed face. She was smirking slightly as she casually walked up to the opposite end of the field.

"You must be Epsilon, I presume?" asked James with a grin. The anticipation of battle was really getting him pumped up.

Epsilon gave him a smile of her own. "Yeah I am! I guess you're James then?”

As James nodded in confirmation, her smile merely grew.

"Are you sure you are ready for this? You seem pretty nervous to me, with all that trembling," she said with a slight mocking tone. However, it was said playfully, making it clear that she was just joking around.

James looked down at his body, and it was true, he was shaking a bit. But it wasn't out of nervousness. Mostly, it was the fact that he was really looking forward to the battle.

As James laughed a bit, he replied back, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Just worry about your pokemon when they face mine!"

As both trainers settled into ready stances, the automated referee of the arena activated.

"This is a 3-on-3 match between trainers Epsilon Ezra and James Sterling. Substitutions for both combatants are allowed. The match has no time limit, and will end when either side is out of usable pokemon, or upon forfeit," stated the referee.

"Now choosing the environment," it said as the giant monitor above the arena rapidly began flashing between different symbols. It eventually stopped upon a brown polygon with a crack running through it.

"Rock arena chosen. Please wait while the arena changes," said the referee as the usual field began separating into sections and sinking into the ground. James always admired the sheer amount of machinery and thought that must have been involved in creating the field-changing process. He may be focused on researching the bonds between trainer and pokemon, but he always had time to admire a marvel of technology like this.

A dirt arena littered with boulders of varying sizes rose up where the previous arena had been, locking into place securely.

"Both combatants, be ready to release your first pokemon. You will do so simultaneously," informed the referee.

James quickly grabbed a pokeball, knowing exactly who he was going to lead with. He could see Epsilon doing the same on her side.

"3...2...1... Begin!" exclaimed the referee.

James hurled his pokeball onto the field.

"Go, Phantom!" he shouted as his trusty Sableye materialized with a burst of light. It cackled as it twitched slightly, as most Sableye were known to do from time to time.

On the opposite end of the field, Epsilon released a Shedinja. A very, very CREEPY looking Shedinja at that... was that blood coming out of its eyes?! James couldn't help but be disturbed somewhat.

Still, fortune was on his side battle-wise. Phantom could quite easily finish off the Shedinja with a single attack, but James knew to be wary about new opponents. It was usually best to play it safely at first.

"Phantom, Will-O-Wisp on the double!" he exclaimed, as Phantom immediately began firing burning blue orbs at the enemy.

Before the orbs could collide with the Shedinja, Epsilon quickly withdrew it, probably knowing that Phantom could quickly finish it off if it stayed in. Instead, she sent out a Sneasel, which easily dodged the incoming fireballs with its superb agility.

Epsilon ordered it to use Pursuit, and the Sneasel jabbed Phantom painfully in the gut.

James grimaced at the impact, feeling sympathetic to his pokemon's pain. He knew that although Phantom wasn't exactly his most bulky pokemon, he had to take the hit in this case, because now the Sneasel was right where he wanted it.

"Phantom! Grab it and use Will-O-Wisp at close range!"

Although the Sableye was in pain, he still reached out with his claws and grasped the Sneasel before it could get away, blasting it with blue fireballs. The Sneasel counterattacked by smashing a powerful Ice Punch into Phantom's face. The burn thankfully weakened the power of the attack, but Phantom still wasn't looking too good.

As Phantom stumbled backward from the impact, the Sneasel retreated backward a safe distance, wincing at the burns it was suffering.

Things weren't looking good for either opponent at the moment. Although Epsilon's Sneasel was still relatively healthy, it lost a lot of attack power due to its burn, while Phantom was barely surviving the opponent's onslaught. James ordered his Sableye to use Recover at the same time that Epsilon ordered her Sneasel to use Foul Play. Bright light surrounded Phantom the moment before the Sneasel impacted it with a burst of dark energy. Fortunately, the combination of the burn and Recover was enough to allow Phantom to survive, but it didn't look any better than it had before.

James bit his lip in slight worry. He could attempt to stall-out the Sneasel and let the burn rack up damage, but his Sableye could only use Recover so many times... not to mention, he really didn't want to lose one of his best support pokemon so early on in the battle.

"Phantom, get back!" James cried, as he retrieved his Sableye with its pokeball. It was time to bring out the big guns...

"Go Revolver, show that Sneasel what you're made of!" shouted James as he released his trusted starter pokemon. "Shift Gear, now!"

The Klinklang gave a whirr of affirmation as it began to spin its gears faster and faster, boosting its attack and speed.

Epsilon smiled slightly as she watched the Klinklang boost itself, and despite the obvious danger the steel-type pokemon was presenting, she still didn't switch out her Sneasel, nor did she order it to attack. James narrowed his eyes as he noticed this. She must have had some sort of plan up her sleeve for her to be so confident...

"Revolver, Shift Gear once more, and then go into a Gear Grind; let's end this quickly!" Commanded James. He didn't want to give her time to set up her plan, whatever it was. He had to get rid of that Sneasel as soon as he could.

The Klinklang obliged, spinning faster than ever; its components becoming a mere metal-colored blur as it further boosted its attack and speed. Immediately afterward, it began launching its own gears at the opponent, the silver discs resembling spinning buzz saws more than gears at this point.

Despite the Sneasel being incredibly agile and quick, even for its species, it still couldn't come out of the barrage unscathed. It took a couple glancing blows that caused it to cry out in pain as it landed hard, breathing heavily as it nursed its side, where it took the most damage. It obviously couldn't take much more.

"Finish it with Wild Charge!" ordered James as the Klinklang rushed in for the knockout. James noticed all too late that Epsilon was STILL smiling despite the dire situation.

"Gotcha," she whispered, as the Sneasel began glowing with an ominously dark aura, itself sporting a matching grin. "Time for your Punishment!" she shouted.

James' eyes widened. Punishment was an attack that grew more powerful the more boosts the opponent had, and with all of the boosts that Revolver had accumulated using Shift Gear... Crap!

James desperately attempted to order his pokemon to abort the attack, but it had already reached the Sneasel. With a tremendous blast of clashing dark and electrical energy, the resulting explosion caused several of the rocks littering the field to be flung in all directions, forcing both trainers to shield their faces from the projectiles.

When the dust cleared, it revealed a knocked-out Sneasel and a heavily dented Klinklang sitting in the resulting crater. The Klinklang gave out a pitiful moan, sounding much like creaking metal as it attempted to levitate itself off of the ground. Probably the only reason it was still conscious was the fact that the Sneasel was burned in the first place.

Epsilon quietly returned her Sneasel, thanking it for its hard work.

James cursed quietly to himself. While he may technically be in the lead with the number of pokemon remaining, two of his best fighters were in critical states. Sure Phantom could heal himself, but he may not be able to if Epsilon's other pokemon didn't give him an opportunity to do so. He definitely had this to say about Epsilon, she was a crafty opponent, baiting him like that with her weakened Sneasel.

"Revolver, can you still fight?" He called out to his injured pokemon.

"Klinklang..." it muttered wearily, finally managing to hover above the ground. Its gears were spinning somewhat erratically, and it was wobbling a bit in the air.

"Listen, if you need to sit out for the rest of the battle, then do so. I don't want you straining yourself," said James with some worry.

"Klinklang!" it said forcefully. Spinning a bit faster, it rotated around to face Epsilon, who was watching the two interact with some interest.

James shook his head with a faint grin adorning his face. Same old Revolver, loyal to the end and always trying to prove itself.

Epsilon then sent out her next pokemon, which was a Sunkern of all things. James raised an eyebrow at this, but he still kept his guard up. After everything he experienced during this battle, he knew that he had to be careful and play defensively. Even though Sunkern weren't particularly known for their strength, Epsilon probably had more tricks up her sleeve, and James wanted to avoid them if possible.

"Revolver, keep your distance and dodge anything it throws at you!" James commanded, waiting to see what Epsilon had in mind.

Epsilon opened up with Leech Seed, probably attempting to take what little health Revolver had left. Despite the damage it had taken, Revolver still had its boosts from its Shift Gears, and thus dodged with ease.

Revolver countered with Gear Grind, getting a couple good shots in. They continued this "hit-and-run" tactic over and over, slowly wearing down the Sunkern's health.

Seeing as the Leech Seeds weren't working, Epsilon switched up her method of attack.

"Get in the center of the arena, and then use Sunny Day!" she commanded.

James' eyes widened. If a grass type was using Sunny Day, then it was likely going to use Solarbeam!

"Dodge out of the way!" James yelled.

The Sunkern shot out a truly enormous beam of concentrated solar energy, and began sweeping it back and forth across the arena.

Unfortunately, Revolver's injuries were catching up to it, making each pass of the beam closer to hitting. Even though it would resist the grass-type move, it would still be enough to knock it out of commission.

James knew that impact was inevitable at this point, there was no way Revolver could keep dodging like that until the Sunny Day wore off. During a brief moment between Solarbeam blasts, Revolver and James made eye contact, and shared a look of understanding. It was time to execute their final desperation move...

Revolver began glowing with an electrical nimbus as it gathered energy for a Wild Charge. It gathered as much energy as it possibly could, before blitzing straight towards the Sunkern.

At Epsilon's command, it fired a Solarbeam straight at the opponent, the beam engulfing the Gear pokemon's body. However, the electrical energy surrounding its body actually formed a sort of makeshift barrier against the blast, buffering the attack somewhat and allowing the Klinklang to slowly yet steadily make its way forward.

Epsilon's eyes widened slightly, betraying her surprise, but she quickly ordered her Sunkern to ramp up the power.

Even so, the Klinklang gradually made its way towards the Sunkern, visibly straining as it did. Finally, the Klinklang made contact with the Sunkern, creating yet another gigantic blast of clashing elemental energies, and a new crater in the field.

Revolver truly was in a sorry state now, being completely blackened and having its spiked ring bent completely out of shape. The Sunkern looked completely exhausted and quite singed, but still standing, so to speak.

James returned his fainted pokemon, quietly promising to really reward it later for fighting to the absolute end, and putting a huge dent in the opposing team.

With new resolve in his eyes, James released his Sableye. Without giving his opponent an opportunity to utter a command, he kept on pressuring Epsilon, never giving the Sunkern a moment to recover. A quick Taunt greatly crippled the Sunkern, forcing it to rely on its Solarbeam as its only means of attack. Phantom used Snarl over and over, gradually weakening the Sunkern's special attack, while using Recover to heal off any damage it took in the meantime.

The Sunkern put up a valiant fight, and even managed to get a final Toxic off on Phantom when the Taunt wore off, but it still went down all the same.

Epsilon was down to her final pokemon, while James still had two. Still, her remaining pokemon was the most problematic to James. Despite its meager HP, most of his pokemons' moves wouldn't be able to touch it. He just needed to land a single hit, but from his experience so far, he could tell that this would be far from easy.

"I know that you aren't doing so well at the moment Phantom, but try to hang in there just a little bit longer. This will all be over soon, for better or for worse," called James to his exhausted Sableye.

Phantom gave a weak nod in response, readying its stance.

James' opponent released her last pokemon, her very, VERY unsettling Shedinja. James shuddered slightly to himself. He really hoped that what was leaking out of its eyes wasn't blood...

He shook his head vigorously. He couldn't risk being distracted now, not when the battle was down to the wire like this.

"Phantom! Snarl, now!" he shouted.

Phantom let out a blast of sound waves, ranting about something in pokemon-speak. Epsilon casually ordered it to dodge with a grin on her face, and her shed did so with ease. They were toying with him!

The Shedinja let loose a Confuse Ray, hitting Phantom right in the face. Phantom groaned as it stumbled around in a daze, the Toxic it took earlier sapping most of its remaining health away.

"Come on Phantom! We just need one hit to end this! Snarl again!" James cried in desperiation.

With a herculean effort, Phantom turned its head towards the Shedinja, struggling to focus on his opponent... but it managed to do so. Gritting its teeth in pain, it prepared to let loose one last Snarl...

"Sucker Punch," said Epsilon, with her ever-present smirk.

The Shedinja lunged forward and beat down on Phantom with an explosion of dark energy, sending the beaten Sableye into a nearby boulder.

As the dust cleared, it revealed a knocked-out Phantom, the Sucker Punch having sapped the last of his energy.

James sighed, as he returned his loyal companion. He had put up a valiant fight, and James was quite proud of him. He looked at his pokeball belt, seeing his options left. His eyes settled on one particular pokeball, one containing his most volatile and dangerous pokemon. And he HAD promised to use it as soon as he could...and he was always one to keep his promises.

With a slightly resigned look on his face, he released his Heat-Forme Rotom. With a burst of fire and sparks it appeared, screeching like a deranged Exploud as it wildly glanced around the arena for its opponent.

Its twitchy eyes locked onto the Shedinja across from it, and immediately let loose a tremendous Thunderbolt at it before James could say anything.

As expected, the Shedinja didn't move at all and simply took the hit, its Wonder Guard ability neutralizing the attack before it even reached it. The electricity simply scattered around, making quite a dazzling display, but not doing any harm. Epsilon raised an eyebrow at the sudden attack, but didn't say anything in response.

The Rotom simply went berserk, flailing around while repeatedly blasting Thunderbolts at the Shedinja, growing angrier and angrier that its attacks didn't seem to be phasing it at all.

"Buzzap, calm down! Your Thunderbolts aren't gonna do anything! We need to strategize for this! yelled James, trying to control his unruly pokemon.

Hearing this, the Rotom turned around to glare at James, letting out a series of screeches and buzzing noises as it let James know just how irritated it was.

"Look, I know that you are upset that I didn't use you right away, and that you don't seem to be able to touch this opponent, but you have to listen to me if we want to win this!" said the exasperated James.

The Rotom let out more screechy buzzing noises.

"Think of it like this. This is one of the most powerful fighters that the opponent has, and you are one of my most powerful pokemon; I saved the best for last. And besides, wouldn't you be more satisfied beating a tough opponent rather than an easy one?" James hoped that his words would reach through to it. If he couldn't get it to cooperate, then this battle might as well be over.

The Rotom glared at James, but after a few moments it reluctantly stood down, awaiting orders.

James let out a sigh of relief, glad that Buzzap still respected him enough to listen to his commands.

Epsilon watched the whole exchange, seemingly amused at the interaction between trainer and pokemon, but once she saw that they had gotten their act together, she went back into her battle stance.

"Alright Buzzap, we'll have to be careful with this one. We can't just go head-first like that, we need to plan ahead," whispered James, trying to avoid Epsilon from overhearing.

The Rotom grimaced, but nodded.

"Use these boulders on the field for cover to dodge its attacks. Overheat is the only move you have that will even touch it, so manage it carefully. You don't have many shots with that attack, but one hit is all we need to put that Shedinja out for good. Now let's go and win this!" said James with determination in his eyes.

At this, the Rotom grinned as it floated away, facing the Shedinja.

"Confuse Ray!" commanded Epsilon, hoping to cripple the Rotom.

"Like we planned!" shouted James, intentionally keeping his commands vague. Good thing he had laid out the basic plan ahead of time.

Buzzap the Rotom may have been borderline psychotic, with a tendency to attack with the slightest provocation, but it had excellent battle instincts and was quite a seasoned battler despite its constant conflicts with its trainer.

With surprising speed for a floating toaster oven, it ducked behind a large boulder, letting the sinister ray splash harmlessly on its side.

"X-Scissor!" Hearing this command, the nubs on the front of the Shedinja began glowing a green color before smashing the boulder to bits.

Buzzap dodged out of the way in time, although it winced as rock fragments ricocheted off its body, leaving small dents.

Buzzap opened his oven door and unleashed a sweltering wave of heat and fire at the Shedinja, who narrowly dodged out of the way.

James frowned. Whenever he tried making a counter attack, the Shedinja would simply dodge. Epsilon obviously had trained it to be extremely agile to help make up for its infamously low health. Having 1 HP didn't matter if you could just avoid getting hit in the first place. He had to get it to stop moving somehow... that's it!

James simply let his pokemon trade blows with the Shedinja until eventually his pokemon's movements had managed to move it quite close to the trainer's area of the arena. Fortunately, although having taken a bit of a beating, Buzzap was still relatively healthy.

"Hang in there Buzzap, I've got a plan," he called out, getting his Rotom's attention.

In response, it readied itself, awaiting his trainers commands.

"Use Thunderbolt!" James cried.

The Rotom looked back at its trainer with a baffled expression, but nontheless carried out the attack, unleashing a relatively weak Thunderbolt at the opponent, its power dulled due to a few uses of Overheat.

The Shedinja just floated there and took the hit, not bothering to dodge. As expected, the electricity harmlessly glanced off of it. Epsilon looked somewhat confused herself, wondering what the point of the attack was.

James kept ordering Buzzap to use Thunderbolt as it dodged the Shedinja's attacks. The Rotom was visibly growing more and more irritated, but it still carried out the move. The Shedinja still remained in the same spot, not bothering to avoid getting hit by the useless attack.

"Now rush it!" yelled James all of a sudden. Smiling now, the Rotom flew forward at high speeds, closing the distance between it and the Shedninja within a few seconds. The Thunderbolt spam had merely been a distraction to cause Epsilon to let down her guard.

As Epsilon tried recovering from her surprise, the Rotom reached forward with its fiery "hands" and grabbed onto the Shedinja, ensuring that it couldn't get away. It then opened its oven door, charging up an Overheat attack.

"Sucker Punch! Epsilon yelled, trying to dislodge the Rotom before it could unleash its attack. The Sucker Punch landed a solid hit, but it wasn't enough, as Buzzap unleashed its Overheat anyway.

The wave of fire, although much smaller than it originally was, still did devastating damage to the Shedinja, burning it to a crisp as what little health it had drained away. It fell to the ground, unmoving as Buzzap triumphantly screeched to the sky, letting the world know of its victory.

With a faint smile and a shrug of her shoulders, Epsilon returned her defeated pokemon, thanking it for its hard work.

"Trainer Epsilon Ezra is out of usable pokemon. Trainer James Sterling is the winner!" Cried the automated referee.

"Yes!" Shouted James, raising his fist in the air. The battle had been long and hard, but it was worth it in the end. He'd certainly remember this battle for years to come.

Epsilon walked over from her side of the field, and held out her hand.

"Good match, your pokemon were quite good," she said.

"Thanks, yours too," James replied, shaking her hand in return.

They both grinned at each other, before going their separate ways. James returned the manically grinning Rotom. Hopefully, that battle would be enough to satisfy it for a couple days at least.

He looked up at the sky, wondering what lay ahead in the future. This was only the first round, and this tournament was already getting quite intense. Who knew what else lay ahead? Either way, he knew that more fun challenges awaited, and he couldn't wait to face them.