Chapter 58.1- Oak

XXXXXX- Unknown

I watched in shock as Donnell Oak took his place by Bruno’s side. Some words passed between the fighting master and the young elite trainer before the fighting type master actually gave ground to his younger counterpart, stepping back and allowing him to claim the place opposite Giovanni.

“I’ve wanted to get you alone for so long, Giovanni, and now that it’s you and I here, you won’t be leaving here very intact,” Oak said as the shadow pokemon by his side floated up and in front of him.

“Dusknoir, this is our battle. We’ll show them what we’re made of,” he said, and I filed the pokemon’s name in my head. Dusknoir.

Rhyperior made the first move, gathering light between its hands and in front of its mouth before firing off the attack that travelled at great speeds to its opponent, Flash Cannon. Oak’s pokemon could barely dodge the attack in time, and I realised then and there that even Oak would be nothing but bluster in this fight.

Maybe if he had shown up with the pokemon he started the trial with, then he’d have had more of a shot- How did he even change pokemon in the first place?- but as it stood now, that one exchange allowed me to see that this pokemon wouldn’t stand much of a chance.

If I could see it, then so could the trainers on the field, so why was Donnell Oak so calm? And why was Giovanni still watching the field with rapt attention, looking as tense as he’d been during the fight with Bruno?

In the space between seconds, Oak’s pokemon was nothing but a shadow as it appeared in the ground and moved straight at Rhyperior. The ground type tried blasting the approaching shadow with a Flamethrower, but the attack hit nothing but ground as the pokemon appeared in front of its attacker, looking like a spectre from hell. Rhyperior moved backward, dodging out of the way of a wicked Shadow Claw and doing the same again as another such attack threatened to cleave its head from its shoulders. The ground type was firmly on the back foot, but that was where it thrived. It moved around the next attack and lashed out with a vibrating fist that hit nothing but a cloud of darkness as the strange pokemon wrapped itself in one and disappeared before appearing at Oak’s side again.

“Interesting pokemon, Donnell. You’ve always had a knack for finding rare ones haven’t you?” Giovanni said, addressing the young Oak scion like a teacher would address a student. The tone was patronising and familiar. It was almost like there wa s a deeper relationship there that I just could not see. 

I looked between them as Oak took a deep breath and whistled. The pokemon at his side blurred into movement again. It turned from its previously intact form to a shambling mass of shadow before merging with the ground again. Rhyperior’s earthquake did very little to discourage its approach, and it wasn’t until the Ground type began  to whirl around with a black aura around its body, that the shadow was stopped in its tracks. I could recognise the move. Brutal Swing. Dusknoir was stopped in its tracks and caught in the chaos of the move almost instantly. 

It was snatched out of the ground by the attack and forced to return to its original form. Caught in the throes of the spinning motion, it was unable to do anything as Rhyperior snatched its midsection between its massive jaws, a pitch-black aura surrounding them. Crunch. When the ground-type pokemon finally released the ghost, it was clearly on its last legs. That’s why it was such a surprise when I noted Donnell Oak was not even worried. In fact, he was watching the fight with anticipation as if there was something he knew that the rest of us could not see.

When Rhyperior released the ghost, tossing it into the air, the beast went right back at it, only to get a flash cannon to the face for its troubles. I resigned myself to another short battle from an overconfident trainer when the ghost suddenly blurred with an appearance of static. It looked like it literally just disappeared for a second, like the world skipped a beat, like everything was blurring in and out of focus as it appeared right in front of Rhyperior, darkness wafting off every inch of it that was visible. It hit Rhyperior with a fist, and I watched in shock as a near-visible shockwave spread across the area. Once again, Venusaur prevented me from being turned to pudding by the external force.

When I could finally open my eyes, I was met with a sight that almost made me jump for joy. Rhyperior was down. Not just down, but down and out. There was a visible crack running through its chest armor, and the fact that its eyes were open but had swirls running through them told me all I needed to know. It was down.

“Well, that seems to have been it for you, Giovanni,” Oak said, smirk on his face and voice sounding incredibly smug. I would have punched him in the face if I were the ground-type master. I would never be the biggest fan of any member of the Oak bloodline, but just eliminating Giovanni from this contest and ensuring he’d be spending the rest of his life in prison was enough to get the youngest Oak well and truly into my good books.

“Indeed. It does seem like you have managed to get the better of me. Incredible. Just incredible. What a specimen of a pokemon. I’ve never seen such an application of Bide before. Would I be right in saying you somehow managed to give the move a dark typing? Absolutely fascinating. I cannot even begrudge such a defeat. It was definitely to a worthy opponent." 

A/N: First part of the new chapter.