Continuing their journey to the Crystal Empire, the group was making their way through some woods. It had been a long day's journey, but as the sun began to grow closer to the horizon, they found what they were looking for: A Pokémon Center in the middle of the woods.
"There it is!" Twilight exclaimed as she put her journal away.
"Finally," Spike sighed, "My feet are killing me."
"It has been a bit of a long day," Doc added, the group remembering they hadn't found much rest in the forest due to tons of wild Pokémon. After a quick running lunch, they ran through the forest and were now at the Pokémon Center.
"Welcome," Nurse Redheart responded as they walked in, "How can I help you today?"
"Can we have two rooms please?" Cadance asked, Nurse Redheart nodding as the others all sat down.
"Thank Arceus," Spike sighed as he took off his shoes and started rubbing his feet. "Any longer and my feet were gonna drop off."
"Come on Spike," Twilight replied while rolling her eyes, "You've been over tougher terrain before."
"Yeah, but I was able to take breaks during that time." He then looked up at his sister, "How much longer until we reach the Crystal Empire?"
Twilight quickly took out her journal and showed it to him. "Look," she pointed to a spot. "We're here. Now, between us and the Crystal Empire, there's one small town, then a large city. After that, it's a few days trip to the mountain range."
"Mountain range?!" Spike yelped, "Again?!"
Cadance laughed at this, "The Crystal Empire is located in a snowy mountain range. What, did you think it was gonna be easy getting there?! There's a reason it's been lost for a thousand years." Spike groaned at this. "However, it won't be as difficult as you think." She pointed to a spot on the map at the base of one of the mountains. "There's a train station right here. And ever since the Crystal Empire was discovered, the government's been working on adding a train-line that goes straight to the city."
"Really?" Doc asked, "We can catch a train to the empire?"
"Hopefully," Cadance replied, "The work was going pretty quickly when I left. I can only assume it's been completed. And even if it hasn't, we should be able to get a ride with the work crews."
"Sweet," Flash cheered, only for a burst of red light to explode off his belt. It took shape to reveal his Starvern, a bunch of sparkles appearing around him as it did. "Astro?"
"Star!" Astro barked at Flash, "Starvern!"
Flash chuckled at this, "I get it. You wanna train." Astro nodded, "Alright. Maybe today we can get your Shadow Ball perfected."
"Star!" The two and Springer ran outside, happy to see the battlefield wasn't currently being used. The others chose to watch, all taking seats nearby.
"Alright," Flash turned to Springer, "You mind being our opponent?"
"Ri!" Springer nodded and ran over to the other side while Astro got into a battle stance.
"Time to see what we can do," Flash commented before pointing at Springer. "Shadow Ball!" Astro let out a growl before opening his mouth, creating an sphere of dark energy within seconds. He then shot it, the Shadow Ball flying for Springer...only to go off course.
"Huh," Cadance hummed, "I'm guessing that's what he means by trying to master the move."
Twilight nodded at this, "They've gotten the quick ball forming down no problem, but the aim still needs work."
"Again!" Flash yelled as Astro formed another sphere, "Now focus. The attack should follow your line of sight."
"STAR!" Astro fired it, the ball going for Springer, only for it veer away at the last second. They all frowned as the Shadow Ball flew past Springer again, hitting the trees. But as it did this, a loud crashing sound followed this along with a scream.
This made them all gasp, Flash and his Pokémon running toward the scream. The others followed, soon finding the cause of the scream a few seconds later. It was a girl on the ground, wearing a pink top and purple dress under a black sleeveless leather jacket with green trim. Her skin was bluish gray and her hair was a mix of white and blue, and was also wearing a pair of orange glasses.
But what really caught their attention was the Pokémon standing in front of her. It was a pink and green goblin Pokémon with long hair that was shaped like the head of a pike. Beside it was a fallen tree, which looked like it had been blasted over and then sliced in half. The girl looked terrified and the Pokémon was growling before turning to the group as she pointed at the tree, "Did you do that?!"
"Err..." Flash muttered out.
"Did you fire that Shadow Ball, hit that tree, and make it topple on us?!"
"Oh...yeah," Flash scratched the back of his head, "Sorry about that. Astro and I were practicing our Shadow Ball and...his aim still needs a bit of work."
"More than a bit," she hissed, "If Morgrem hadn't slashed the tree in half, you'd be responsible for every broken bone I'd have received. Clearly, you guys have no idea of what safety measures are required when using untested attacks."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Look, it was an accident. Nobody got hurt and I'm sure Flash will be more careful, so why don't we drop this miss..."
"My name is Sugarcoat," she snapped back, "And if this guy needs you to stand up for him, it's no wonder he can't get his Starvern to do such a simple thing like firing in a straight line." She then glared down at Astro, "Or maybe it's more the Starvern's fault than his?"
"Hey!" Flash almost yelled, "Astro's trying his best, so there's no need to badmouth him."
"I'm not badmouthing," Sugarcoat took out her Pokedex and scanned Astro. "I'm just saying that maybe his lack of aim is because of-oh, never mind. Infiltrator."
Flash raised his eyebrow at this. "What?"
"Your Starvern has Infiltrator. I thought maybe it had the Hustle ability, which is one Starvern can have, but yours has the almost useless ability Infiltrator. I guess its poor accuracy is from lack of proper training or zero skill." Morgrem chuckled at this while Flash growled at this, "Too bad. A shiny Starvern like that, wasted with an otherwise useless ability. You'd think something like that would have it's hidden Dragon's Maw ability. But it shouldn't be to much of an issue if you can get it to evolve, then it'll get Huge Power. Until then, worthless."
"THAT'S IT!" Flash roared before pointing at her, "I've had it with you insulting Astro."
"I'm not insulting it," she put her Pokedex away. "I'm simply stating a fact."
"Well your fact is wrong. Astro isn't worthless, and I'll battle you to prove it."
Sugarcoat smirked at this, pointing at her Pokémon, "You're going to battle me with your Starvern, even though you know I have Morgrem." The Devious Pokémon smirked at Astro, who glared back. "We're completely immune to any Dragon-type attacks you'd throw at us, and Dark-type attacks won't do much damage either. And we know you have Shadow Ball, another Type that'll do next to nothing. And your Starvern is clearly very low level. You wouldn't stand a chance again us."
"There's always a chance," Twilight chimed in, Cadance turning to her with wide eyes, "A Pokémon isn't just about stats and type match-ups. The Pokémon themselves are the biggest factor." The boys all nodded in agreement, Cadance just staring at her while Sugarcoat sighed and pushed her glasses up.
"Fine. If you really want to hurt your Starvern that much, I'll battle you." Flash smiled at this while Astro blew smoke out his nostrils.
The group returned to the Pokémon Center, Flash and Sugarcoat walking onto the battlefield as Doc acted as referee. Astro and Morgrem stood in front of their trainers, ready to throw down. "Alright, this battle will be a one on one, and will be over once I declare it over. Understood?"
Sugarcoat smirked, "There's still time to back out. There's no real shame in admitting you can't win."
Flash glared at her, "I'm gonna make you eat those worlds."
"Are both trainers ready?" Doc asked, getting a nod from the two. "Then battle...BEGIN!"
"Bite!" Flash yelled, Astro charging to bite Morgrem.
"Sucker Punch." Before Astro could reach Morgrem, the imp shot up and slammed a fist into Astro's face. The Starvern cried out as he was knocked back, sliding on the ground before hopping back to his feet.
"Star!" He growled as he charged again while Morgrem just laughed.
"It's not over yet. Shadow Ball!" Astro opened his mouth and created the orb, firing it right straight...and hitting Morgrem, knocking it back.
"It hit!" Spike gasped.
"I think that was more luck than anything else," Cadance added, "If Morgrem wasn't so close, it might have swerved off course."
Twilight nodded before staring at Morgrem, "And I don't think it did much damage." To prove her point, Morgrem regained its footing with ease.
"Bite!" Astro leapt at Morgem, fangs ready.
"False Surrender!" The move made Flash, Springer, Spike and Astro all go wide-eyed, Astro coming to a sudden stop. Morgem was now bowing down in a groveling manner.
"Astro," Twilight screamed, "Get away!" Astro turned to her, but then noticed movement as he looked back to see Morgrem's hair swing around, smacking Astro.
"STAR!" He yelped as he was knocked back.
"Hey! That's a dirty trick!" Spike yelled.
"It is a Dark-type," Twilight sighed, "Fighting dirty is their thing."
"You okay?" Flash asked as Astro picked himself up, nodding back, "Alright," he looked up at Sugarcoat, "We're not falling for that again. Use Shadow Ball!" Astro formed another dark orb and fired, the ball going straight for Morgrem.
"Block it!" Sugarcoat yelled as Morgrem swung its hair, slashing the Shadow Ball away. "Now, use False Surrender again!"
Morgrem and swung its pike blade hair, "Morg!" Astro prepared to dodge it, but before it could make contact, Morgrem pulled it back and swung it in the opposite direction.
"STAR!" Astro was struck in the other side of his head, throwing him to the side.
"Astro!" Flash yelled before growling. 'This is bad. I can't use Dragon Rage since it's Fairy-type. Bite and Shadow Ball aren't strong enough....what do I do?' Astro picked himself up, "Come on Astro. I know you can do it." He looked up at Morgrem, who was waiting for the next attack. "Wait...that could work. Dragon Rage and aim for the ground!"
"Star?" Astro yelped before taking a deep breath, "Star...VERN!" He unleashed the blue fire, the flames about to hit Morgrem, who just stood there. But when the fire struck the ground, it made a giant cloud of smoke, blinding the imp.
"Morg?" It asked while swiping at the smoke.
"You blinded us?!" Sugarcoat asked as Astro ran into the fog, "But you can't navigate either!"
"Astro can't see Morgrem...but he can smell him." As he said that, Astro found Morgrem in the smoke. "Bite!"
"STAR!" Astro leapt up and bit down, the smoke then fading to reveal he had Morgrem's hair in his mouth. "Star?" Morgrem smirked back at him.
"To bad," Sugarcoat replied, "Slam it into the ground!" Morgrem began to swing its head around, pulling Astro around with it. Astro cried out as he was swung in a circle several times before slamming him into the battlefield.
"STAR!" He yelped, letting go of the hair.
"False Surrender!" Before Astro could recover, Morgrem swung its blade hair end into the Starvern. He cried out in pain as he was sent flying again, falling over in front of Flash.
"Astro!" He cried, kneeling down, "You okay?"
"Star," Astro moaned out, trying to pick himself up.
"Sure you don't want to concede to me?" Sugarcoat asked with a grin, "I'm sure your Starvern would appreciate it."
"Star!" Astro roared as he stood tall.
"That's right," Flash added, "I'm not gonna just stop because things look bad. I get it's probably impossible for Astro to beat Morgrem, but that doesn't mean we can't still try. After all, it might have some glaring weakness we won't know about unless we keep fighting."
Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow at this, "So you'll keep fighting despite knowing you'll lose...just because you're hoping to find a weakness? That's stupid."
"That's Flash," Twilight chimed in, "Nine times out of ten, a stunt like this usually works out in his favor."
"Well not this time," Sugarcoat huffed as Morgrem prepared its next attack.
"Yes, this time." He pointed at the Devious Pokémon. "Use Dragon Rage on the ground again!" Astro took a deep breath, ready to fire the attack.
"Fake Out!" Sugarcoat yelled, Morgrem suddenly in front of Astro's face.
"More," he pulled his hands back before swinging them together, "GREM!" They slapped together, making a shockwave to explode out and hit Astro in the face.
"Star!" He cried as he was knocked back, his Dragon Rage extinguishing in his mouth.
He managed to get his footing, only for Sugarcoat to call out, "Swagger!" Morgrem crossed its arms as a red aura appeared around it, now showing an intimidating glare at Astro. The Starvern wasn't sure why, but he felt really mad, his eyes beginning to glow red.
"What's Swagger?" Spike asked.
"A move that sharply raises the opponent's Attack power," Twilight replied, Spike tilting his head at this till Cadance continued.
"That's not all it does," he turned to her. "It also confuses the opponent."
"What?!" Spike yelped before looking back at Astro, seeing the Starvern now wobbling around.
"Astro?! Can you hear me?!" Astro could, but barely. The voice was muffled, and his vision was blurry. "If you can hear me, use Shadow Ball!" Astro formed the orb, but the ball looked very unstable...and exploded in his face.
"Star!" He cried, stumbling back, "Starvern!"
"That had to hurt," Cadance winced as Spike, Springer and Peewee called out to him.
"Come on Astro! Snap out of it!"
"Terra!"
"Riolu ri!"
But no matter how loud they yelled, they couldn't get through to the still dazed Starvern. "Dragon Rage!" Flash yelled, hoping to create another smokescreen to shield Astro while he snapped out of the confusion. And though Astro did hear the order, Morgrem ran through the flames with ease.
"Useless," Sugarcoat deadpanned, "Use Sucker Punch!" Morgrem charged and slammed its fist into Astro's face, making him flinch. "Now, use False Surrender!" Morgrem swung its hair around, ready to slash at Astro.
"Bite!" Flash cried, hoping Astro could stop the attack. But Astro didn't seem to hear him, staying in place as the attack smacked him.
"Vern!" He fell back again, Morgrem now laughing.
"I gave you the chance to surrender," Sugarcoat added, "You should have taken it." She pointed as Astro, "Let's end this. False Surrender!"
Morgrem charged again as Astro picked himself up. "Come on Astro, I know you can do it. Shadow Ball!" Astro opened his mouth and formed the orb as Morgrem got closer. But once again due to his confusion, the sphere wasn't properly forming. And as Morgrem got close, the orb exploded and the blast hit both Pokémon.
"More/Star!" They cried as they were knocked back, both coming to a stop at the same time.
Morgrem quickly brushed off the pain while Astro shook his head. And when he opened his eyes, they were back to normal. "Star?" He looked around, Flash seeing the confusion was gone.
"Astro! Great, now we can-" He stopped when Astro's eyes turned to swirls, "Astro?!" He gasped as his Starvern fell to the floor, "NO!"
"Astro is unable to battle," Doc announced with a frown before pointing to Sugarcoat. "Morgrem is the winner." Sugarcoat smirked as Flash ran over to Astro, picking him up.
"Astro..." Flash whispered as the others moved over, "Are you okay?" Astro let out a moan as he blinked, his eyes returning to normal. But as he tried to move, he flinched in pain before frowning, "Hey, it's okay. You did great."
"Not true." Flash turned to glare at Sugarcoat as she and Morgrem walked over, "Morgrem didn't even break a sweat taking down your Starvern. Though I guess that's to be expected. Even if it was a better version of itself, it still wouldn't have won. Yours is clearly too low levelled to be a match for Morgrem."
"Maybe," Flash replied, "But just wait. Once Astro's back to full health, we'll train and the next time we meet, you're going down."
"I doubt it," she instantly responded, "Impidimp evolve at a really high level, so my Morgrem is likely three times stronger than your Starvern. And even if you manage to train it up, I'll have trained Morgrem the same amount so they'll still be a large difference." She and Morgrem turned to walk away. "If you wanna challenge me again, go ahead. But if you wanna win, maybe use a different Pokémon."
With that, the two of them walked off while the others just stared. "She's mean," Spike added.
"I wouldn't call it mean," Cadance sighed, "She's just...blunt. Stating the facts no matter how harsh the facts are."
"Still mean," Spike replied as Twilight turned to Flash.
"We should get him to Nurse Redheart." Flash nodded as they walked inside. When they showed Astro to her, the medical professional took him to the back room.
And once she was gone, Flash sighed as sat down on a couch. "You okay?" Twilight asked.
"I'm fine," Flash sighed, "It's Astro I'm worried about. He was completely outmatched. This is gonna seriously shatter his confidence."
"Sugarcoat was right though," they turned to Cadance as she sat down on the couch opposite him. "Astro didn't stand a chance against Morgrem. The typing coupled with Morgrem's higher level made it way too strong for Astro to beat."
"There has to be some way Astro can beat it." Spike added.
Cadance shook her head, "Not unless Astro learns a move that's super effective against Morgrem. It would have to be either a Poison, Steel or Fairy-type attack. And unfortunately, Starvern can't learn any moves of those types. Well...except for Toxic. But I don't know how to teach that move." She turned to the others, getting shrugs in response, "Then I'm afraid Astro will never beat Morgrem, at least not until it evolves."
"No way!" Flash stood up, "I refuse to believe that. Astro might have lost this time, but that doesn't mean he's destined to lose every time. The next time we battle that Morgrem, we're gonna win."
"Don't be so stubborn," Cadance snapped back, "If you battle Sugarcoat again after Astro is healed, all that's going to happen is Astro's going to get hurt."
"I don't intend to challenge her the second Astro's healed," Flash replied, "We're going to train even harder than before." He looked back at the doors leading to the recovery ward. "I've been going easy on Astro to help him get into the swing of training. But after losing like that, I know he's gonna wanna step his training up to the max. And I'm not going to stop him."
"Flash...that won't work. He will lose." Cadance sighed before turning to the others. "Well?! Aren't you gonna try and talk some sense into him?! You all know that Astro's at a major disadvantage. Against a Fairy-type, Astro can't hope to compete."
"Maybe," Twilight whispered as she crossed her arms, "But I wanna believe that he can beat Morgrem." Cadance went wide-eyed again, knowing the Twilight she knew would always go for logic first. "Astro might be weak against Fairy-type attacks, but there's one factor in his favor. Morgrem didn't use any Fairy-type moves."
"She's right," Doc added, "No doubt Sugarcoat would have used one if she had it, especially since Astro is four times weak to it. The moves she can use are Sucker Punch, Fake Out, False Surrender and Swagger. Sucker Punch and Fake Out are useless unless the opponent attacks first, so they're not the best moves to use in battle. Swagger might confuse Astro, but it also powers him up. So it's not completely negative. The only major problem is False Surrender."
"Exactly," Flash nodded. "So there's still a chance Astro can beat that thing."
Cadance sighed and shook her head, "You're not going to see reason, are you?" Flash turned back to her. "Flash, listen...sometimes a Pokémon just can't compete with one of a certain type. There's no shame in that, it's just nature. And until Astro evolves and learns moves that can do serious damage to Morgrem, that's a fact he'll have to live with and no amount of training will change that."
Flash glared back at her, right as the doors opened and Nurse Redheart walked out. "Flash," he turned to her, "Your Starvern will be fine. A good night's rest and he'll be as good as knew." Flash nodded and gave his thanks as she walked off, leaving Flash to stare at the door leading to Astro's room.
But before he went in, he said something to Cadance without looking at her. "When I first met Shining, he said something that's stuck with me." Cadance raised an eyebrow at this, "He said a Pokémon's true power isn't in its evolutionary form, or the moves it knows. It isn't even just how psychically strong it is. It's true power is in the strength of its will to grow stronger." He turned back to her, "And I know Astro wants to grow stronger. Even if I think it's impossible for him to beat Morgrem, I have no right to stop him from challenging it again. All I can do is help him grow strong enough to stand a chance." With that, he walked away as Cadance stared at him.
And as she did this, she couldn't help but be reminded of someone. Her husband.
Or at least, a younger version of him. One that lacked the experience and maturity he had, but had the drive and belief in any Pokémon. An air of intrigue filled her heart, making her wonder if maybe this teen could help his Starvern defeat the Morgrem.
Flash and Springer arrived at Astro's room, finding him sleeping on a bed. He had a plaster on his head and bandages around the barrel of his body. When he closed the door, Astro's eyes opened, "Star?" He saw his trainer, only to look away.
"Astro," Flash sat down, "It's okay. That was a hard battle. Even Springer probably would have struggled." Springer nodded despite not thinking that. "I know losing is hard, but it's not the end of the world." As he said this, Astro turned back to him, only to see he wasn't upset. "And if it's really bothering you, we'll train extra hard so the next time you battle you'll win for sure."
"Star!" Astro nodded before pushing himself up to his feet, only to flinch in pain.
"Once you're feeling better," he finished. "Training while you're hurt won't give you any results." He pushed Astro back down, "Rest and we'll start training tomorrow. Understand?" Astro squirmed at this, only to see Flash just giving him a calm smile. He laid back at this, now resting as Flash leaned back, 'There has to be some way to beat that thing. But how?'
The rest of the day was spent with Flash and Springer keeping Astro company, the others soon bringing them food for dinner. It wasn't long before the sun set, the group going to sleep. But as they slept, both Astro and Flash couldn't get their minds off the day's events. It was an uneasy sleep, but they managed to drift off as their bodies readied themselves for the morrow's events.
At the same time, Sugarcoat and Morgrem were both camping in a small clearing a bit away from the Center. They didn't want to have to deal with those people again, but Sugarcoat couldn't help but wonder what Flash would do in response to his loss. Would he realize the truth and move on, or would he go on some fool's errand to try and make his Starvern strong enough to beat her. "I guess there's only one way to find out," she told herself before falling asleep.
The next day...
As soon as the sun was up, Flash, Astro and Springer were outside the center. Astro was back to perfect health, the three doing a warm-up run through the woods while the others watched from the center.
"He really thinks a simple run is gonna help Astro power up?" Cadance asked as she saw Flash do a lap.
"That's just the warm up," Twilight replied, "Just wait until they get really going." Cadance raised an eyebrow as she kept watching, now noticing Astro was pretty fast despite having such short legs. And when he made another lap, she saw that despite running fast and being non-stop over a large distance, the three weren't tired. Not only that, Astro began to show he was incredibly agile, able to jump to the side to avoid a tree stump without slowing down.
As this was going on, Flash was still thinking about their previous battle. His mind went over what worked against Morgrem, only to see Astro's attacks barely did anything. 'There has to be some way to beat it...gotta be something I can do.'
Once their warm up was done, they focused on working on Astro's Shadow Ball. For this, Flash had Springer and Prongs take the lead. "Stag," the Stagrowth explained the best way to move his body when firing. Since Shadow Ball and Energy Ball were pretty much the same move, he was the best one to teach him. "Stag," he created an Energy Ball, Astro watching how he moved his body, "GROWTH!" The ball flew through the air, striking a target.
"Star," Astro nodded before turning to the target. "Star..." the ball formed as he moved his body in the same way.
"Stagrowth," Prongs reminded him to keep his focus on the target.
"Vern!" The ball fired, going for the target...only to veer off and hit a tree behind it. "Star," he moaned until Springer told him that he just need to keep practicing. Astro nodded and the three kept training like this for another hour until breakfast was ready.
The group chowed down, enjoying their meal before getting back to work. This time, Flash focused on increasing Astro's strength. With a little help from Doc and Lairon's Rock Slide, Flash and Astro had a bunch of large rocks they tied around themselves. "Let's go!" Flash yelled as he began to run across the battlefield, pulling the rock behind him. Astro did the same, and while the rock seemed a little heavy at first, he quickly managed to get up to speed and pulled the rock along. The two ran laps back and forth along the field, panting but not exhausted enough to stop.
Cadance and the others continued to watch, Cadance asking, "I get Astro doing this, but why is Flash doing it? All he's doing is tiring himself out for no reason."
Twilight laughed as she looked up from her book. "He believes that doing physical training with his Pokémon will help inspire them to push themselves."
"Huh." Cadance replied, continuing to watch him as they kept going for an hour. They would spend ten minutes at a time doing laps before catching their breath for five minutes, then doing another ten minutes of laps. All the while, Cadance continued to watch as her eyes shifted between them and her sister. Doing so, she saw Twilight wasn't really paying attention to her book, instead focusing on the boy training. A smile crept onto her lips, now understanding why she was so happy to put her normally logical beliefs to the side.
"How cute," she whispered. "I definitely wouldn't have guessed that happening to Twilight..."
Once that hour was up, they started working on the strength of Astro's Bite attack. Using the same training he used to help Hopper learn Crunch, he gave Astro a bucket of water to carry in his mouth. It was tricky at first, since they couldn't find a bucket that was smaller than him, but quickly fixed that by having Astro stand on a table with the bucket over the edge.
He kept it there for an hour, Flash adding more and more water every now and again to push his jaw's power to the limit. Astro struggled under the weight, but refused to let anyone take the bucket whenever they offered. By the end of that hour, Astro's usually super strong jaw was aching like crazy. But he still refused to stop. and asked what was next.
"Um..." Flash grimaced, now not knowing what to do next. He thought of doing more Shadow Ball practice, but figured the aching jaw would make things tricky.
"Maybe practicing dodging," they all turned to Cadance as she took a sip of tea. "Morgrem's attacks are pretty strong. Even one of them can do a lot of damage, but they'll be completely useless if they can't connect." She glanced at Starvern, "Astro is extremely fast and agile. If he can't out muscle his opponent, maybe he can out-speed them."
"I get it," Doc added, "If Astro keeps moving, Morgrem can't land a hit, and by the time it managed to land a single super effective move, Astro will have hit it with a bunch of smaller moves."
"Exactly," Cadance finished.
"Sounds good to me." Flash cheered as he turned to his Pokémon, "Let's do it. Springer, do you mind helping out?"
"Ri," Springer nodded before turning to Astro. He then ran up and attempted to use Drain Punch on him.
"Dodge it!" Astro leapt back as the fist missed him, but Springer quickly threw another punch, only for Astro to roll to the side. The two kept doing this for a few minutes while Flash watched, seeing Astro wasn't having any issue. "This isn't gonna work." The others turned to him with raised eyebrows as he took out his other Pokeballs and threw them, "Come on out!"
In a flash of light, his other four Pokémon appeared. "Tore/Rep/Stag/Vi?" They all turned to him, waiting for orders.
"Alright guys. I want you to help with Astro's dodge training. Skyler, you first.." Skyler nodded and took to the air, flying up before dive-bombing at Astro. The Starvern had just avoided Springer's attack when he glanced to the side and saw a large wing coming at him.
"Star!" He cried as he barely managed to avoid the wing, Skyler shooting past him while Springer ran up to try and roundhouse him. Astro dodged this again, dodging both attackers as he hopped around. But just when he seemed to be getting the hang of it, Riptide ran up and smacked him with his tail. "STAR!" He was thrown back, landing on his feet as he turned to his now three opponents.
"Sorry Astro," Flash added, "But remember, you've gotta keep your guard up. Never let yourself focus on just what's in front of you. Always be on the alert in a battle. Springer knows Double Team, and if he or any other opponent used it, you'd be facing an entire horde of opponents."
Astro nodded back, the three now beginning to try and hit him again. Now Astro was pushed to the brink, but the little star dragon did his best. Hopping around, he ducked and weaved around most attacks, and after a while, Prongs and Viper joined in as well. Now attacked on all sides, Astro kept his ground, dodging and bracing against the intense attacks.
What none of them realized was that not only was the training helping his dodging skills, it was also helping his hand-eye coordination. And as lunch rolled around, Astro was mentally and physically exhausted. "Star, star, star," he panted as he moved over to where Flash put his bowl of food. He then fell onto his stomach, his legs spread out in an X shape with his chin on the ground.
"You did great," Flash chuckled, "I'm proud of you buddy."
"Star..." Astro moaned back before using his tongue to knock the food out of the bowl so it landed on the ground for him to eat off of.
"I'm surprised with how much he's improved with only a day," Cadance commented as she and Doc put some plates of sandwiches down. "But even so, he's still a long way off from beating Morgrem." Astro frowned at hearing this. "Not to be mean, but he still doesn't have any way to seriously hurt it."
"I know," Flash nodded. "But we're still not done. While Astro keeps training, I'm gonna try and come up with a strategy."
"Simply having a strategy isn't going to be enough," Cadance replied, "Especially if something happens to knock it off the rails."
"Maybe..." Flash hummed, "But I learned a while back that having a plan that goes off the rails is always better than not having one at all."
As he said this, Cadance wanted to respond, only to see Twilight smiling at this, making her stop. The rest of the day was spent training with Astro's Shadow Ball, every one better than the last. By the time dinner was ready, Flash called an end to the day's training after Astro managed to get five attacks to hit the target perfectly.
But what none of them realized was that from up in the tree, Sugarcoat and Morgrem were watching. "I have to admit, his training style is quite unique. But no matter of training will allow them to beat us." She turned to Morgrem, "we'll show them that tomorrow." Morgrem nodded back.
That night...
As the moon hovered high in the sky, Flash was laying in his bed with Doc, Spike, Springer, Astro and Peewee sleeping around him. He was wide awake, his brain still replaying the events of the previous day.
'Cadance is right about not being able to give Morgrem any big hits. And I don't have any way to make Astro's attacks stronger.' He turned to Astro, 'There has to be some way we can beat it. But how?'
He closed his eyes, reliving the entire battle...only to remember something Doc had said: "Sucker Punch and Fake Out are useless unless the opponent attacks first, so they're not the best moves to use in battle."
'But they can still work if I order an attack,' he mentally told himself. 'It's not like I have a move I can use that isn't an...attack.' Flash's eyes shot open, turning back to Astro. 'Of course! I'm such an idiot! There is a way to make Astro's attacks stronger! And if I'm right, it'll protect Astro from Sucker Punch and Fake Out.' He carefully reached over to his bag and took out his Pokedex, searching something in the database before smiling. It was a list of moves Sucker Punch didn't work against, and one of those moves made Flash's grin grow wide. "If this works, we'll have a chance."
He reached out and gently shook Astro awake, the Starvern's eyes slowly opening. "Star?"
"Sorry to wake you bud," he told him. "But I think I've come up with a plan to beat Morgrem." Astro's tiredness vanished, now fully awake and asking how they would beat it. "It's simple. You're going to glare at it." Astro tilted his head in confusion, Flash shining a big grin, "Just listen. First, we're gonna do this..."
The next day...
As soon as the sun was up, Flash and his Pokémon were back at their training. They did their warm up run again, and after that they were back to Shadow Ball training.
"Fire!" Flash yelled as Astro created the orb and fired it, hitting a target dead-on. "YES!" Flash cheered, "Ten targets in a row." He looked down at Astro, "Nice work bud."
"Star!" Astro replied.
"I think Astro's finally gotten the attack down," Twilight added.
"About time," Spike quipped as Flash scratched Astro behind the ear.
He was about to go for another round of Shadow Balls, but before he could, a voice call out, "Well, well, well..." They all turned to the voice, now seeing Sugarcoat and Morgrem. "So it seems you've finally managed to teach that thing how to shoot straight."
"Guess you'll need to find something else to mock us with," Flash instantly responded.
"I'm not here to mock," Sugarcoat replied. "I'm here to settle the score." Flash raised an eyebrow. "I'm heading off and since I don't want you chasing after me, I figured I'd let you battle me one last time. But if you lose, you can't chase after me to have another match. I win and it stays that way."
The others exchanged glances as Cadance turned to Flash, "Don't do it. You might have helped Astro get stronger, but you can't expect a completely different outcome after only a day."
"But this might be our last chance," Flash countered. 'Besides, no better time then now to test out my strategy.' He turned to Astro and he nodded back, Flash now focusing on Sugarcoat. "Alright, let's do this." Sugarcoat smiled before all four walked onto the battlefield, Doc once again acting as ref.
"Are both trainers ready?" They nodded, "then battle...BEGIN!"
"Go Astro!" Flash yelled as his Starvern charged, moving as fast as his little legs could carry him. He almost got to Morgrem instantly, Sugarcoat preparing to give her own order, only for Flash to yell, "NOW!"
"Star!" Astro shot to the side, running past Morgrem, surprising the Devious Pokémon. Morgrem spun around, but Astro zipped by it again. This happened over and over, the imp now feeling dizzy.
"Now, use Leer!"
"Fake Out!" Morgrem turned to where it sensed Astro, but it was so dizzy, Astro was able to pull his attack off first.
"Star!" He roared as he glared right in Morgrem's face, making the Devious Pokémon stagger back, "Starvern!" He then hopped back, dodging the imp as it tried to retaliate before running around again.
"What are you doing?" Sugarcoat asked, "You can't hurt us with that move!"
"We'll see," Flash replied, "Use Leer again!" This time, Astro ran at it from behind and jumped on Morgrem's back. He then hopped onto its head and swung his face down to glare at Morgrem, the stare causing Morgrem to jump back while Astro hopped off him, "Shadow Ball!"
"Star!" Astro fired the orb, hitting Morgrem straight on across the battlefield.
"More!" It cried as it staggered back, the others now cheering.
"He did it!" Spike yelled.
"Perfect Shadow Ball aim," Twilight added as Cadance just stared at Astro with wide eyes.
Sugarcoat just shook her head, "Hmph. It doesn't matter how much stronger you've gotten, you still can't do any super effective damage on me." To prove her point, Morgrem quickly brushed off the damage done as she pointed at Astro. "False Surrender!"
Morgrem charged and swung its hair at Astro. Both he and Flash knew this couldn't be stopped, instead giving another order, "Leer!" Astro gave Morgrem another glare, intimidating it, but not stopping the imp from swinging its hair into Astro's face.
"Star!" He yelped as he was knocked back, but quickly hopped back to his feet as Flash ordered him to start running again.
Morgrem tried to counter by trying to hit him with his hair, but Astro easily dodged before Flash yelled, "Now, use Bite!" Astro then appeared in his peripheral vision and charged, teeth ready to strike.
"Sucker Punch!" With incredible speed, Morgrem spun around and threw a punch as Astro leapt for it. The blow struck Astro in the stomach, but the dragon continued, quickly extending his head as far as it would go and biting down on Morgrem's arm.
"Morg!" It cried, feeling Astro chomp down hard. It was here that Sugarcoat went wide-eyed, now whispering out a single word.
"Leer..."
"What?" Spike asked, Twilight giggling at this.
"Leer has the power to lower a Pokémon's physical defense, meaning moves like Bite will do more damage to it." Twilight's eyes turned back to Flash, "He knew they didn't have any moves that did big damage, so he powered up the moves they had as best as he could."
"Clever," Cadance added as Morgrem managed to throw Astro off his arm.
"Star!" Astro landed on his feet, Morgrem now snarling at him while holding his arm.
"That's the way bud!" Flash cheered, "Let's show them why they shouldn't underestimate us." He pointed at Morgrem, "Dragon Rage!"
"Fake Out!" Morgrem charged and clapped its hands together, but Astro wasn't letting that hit again.
"Star!" He roared as he leapt up right as Morgrem clapped. As such, the shockwave missed him, letting him continue his attack. "STARVERN!" The blue fire shot out of his mouth, hitting Morgrem, who wasn't hurt but couldn't see.
"Shadow Ball!" Astro formed the ball and made it as strong as he could as Morgrem was stuck in the cloud.
"False Surrender!" Morgrem spun around, swinging its hair to blow away the smoke. Once that was done, it turned to Astro and swung its hair around again. It struck Astro head on, knocking him back, but the dragon then fired the Shadow Ball.
"Morg!" Morgrem screamed as the Shadow Ball hit him, exploding in its face. "Morgrem!" It cried as it fell onto its back while Astro hit the ground rolling.
"Is it just me, or did that Shadow ball do a lot more damage than the last one?" Spike asked, the others nodding back.
"Shadow Ball can lower a Pokémon's Special Defense if it lands," Cadance explained, "That must have happened last time and possibly this time as well."
Twilight nodded at this, "If Flash can keep lowering its defenses, Astro has a chance."
"But can Astro stay in this long enough for that to happen?" Cadance added as both Astro and Morgrem picked themselves up.
"Not having such an easy time now, huh?" Flash asked, Sugarcoat now glaring at him.
"Don't think you've got this in the bag," she snapped back, "You might have gotten stronger, but I can still make your Starvern completely useless with one move." She pointed at Astro, "Swagger!" Morgrem smirked and crossed its arms again, the red outline appearing around it as it glared at Astro.
Astro looked up at Morgrem and as their eyes met, his turned bright red as anger filled his very being once again. And as this happened, Astro's mind began to turn blurry as the confusion set in. "Astro!" Flash yelled as he watched Astro's body begin to wobble, "Not again."
"Ha!" Sugarcoat smirked, "Now your Starvern is helpless." She pointed at Astro, "False Surrender!" Morgrem ran up and began to swing his hair again.
"Come on Astro!" Flash called out, "I know you can do it! Use Shadow Ball!" Astro barley heard him but did as instructed, forming a ball and managing to fire it seconds before Morgrem reach him. The orb struck Morgrem, but the Devious Pokémon was able to push through and swing its hair into Astro's face.
"Star!" He cried as he was thrown back, hitting the ground in pain. Flash growled at this while the others grimaced at this, only to see Morgrem now covered in bruises.
"If Astro can just push through that confusion..." Cadance whispered.
"Astro!" Flash yelled as his Starvern pushed itself up, its feet staggering back and forth. "What do I do?" He asked as Morgrem charged again. "I can't risk damage dealing moves in case they fail. Alright, use Leer!" Astro didn't seem to hear this, instead the Starvern running off to the left of the battlefield until he slammed into a tree.
"Star!" He staggered back, but then ran into the tree again, repetitively hitting it.
"Astro!" Flash repeated as Sugarcoat called out an order.
"False Surrender!" He watched as the Devious Pokémon charged to hit the Starvern again.
"Come on..." he turned back to Astro as he stopped hitting the tree. "Astro...use Bite!" By some miracle, Astro seemed to hear this and turned to Morgrem as it got in close.
"Star!" He thrust his head forward, looking like he was aiming for Morgrem's arm. But the imp leapt back, making Astro miss...only for Astro to keep going and grab Morgrem's leg.
"MORGREM!" It cried as Astro bit down hard, combined stats changes of Leer and Swagger making this attack extremely powerful. But despite the pain it was in, Morgrem still swung his hair around, smacking Astro.
"Star!" He cried as he was knocked away, sliding across the ground while Morgrem flinched as it clutched its leg, realizing the damage done had been severe.
"Alright!" Spike cheered, "That must have done a lot."
"I think it was a critical hit," Cadance added, only to see Astro pick himself up, blinking as his eyes went back to normal. "Wait...did the confusion wear off?"
The others turned to him, seeing he was back to normal. "Astro?" Flash asked, "You okay?" Astro turned back to smile and nod, then glared at Morgrem. "Alright! Let's end this! Use Dragon Rage!"
"Star!" Astro unleashed the blue fire at Morgrem, completely consuming the Devious Pokémon. Morgrem grunted at the flames around it, blocking it from seeing the charging Astro.
"Now Bite!"
"Sucker Punch!" Morgrem tried to run out of the flames, but flinched when it put pressure on its bitten leg. This made it stagger, letting Astro to leap into the flames and tackle Morgrem, knocking it back as be bit into its shoulder.
"Morg!" It cried as the flames died down. It then reached up and pulled Astro's tail, prying him off and throwing him away.
"That did a lot of damage," Twilight commented, "All those Leers and Swagger really have given Astro's attack some bite."
She laughed at her own joke, while Spike grimaced at this, "But what if she uses Swagger again?"
Cadance shook her head, "She'd be foolish to use it twice. Even if it would confuse him, Astro's attack power would sky-rocket. One attack could be all it'd take to beat Morgrem."
"Shadow Ball!" Flash yelled as Astro fired another orb of dark energy.
"Block it with False Surrender and then attack with it!" Sugarcoat ordered, Morgrem swinging its hair around. It slashed through the Shadow Ball, making it explode before it could get close. Morgrem then swung its head around again as its hair extended, causing it to reach Astro and slash him before he could react.
"STAR!" Astro cried as he was thrown back. The dragon stumbled as he almost lost his footing, his breath now panting as his feet wobbled around.
"Come on Astro!" He heard Flash yell, "I know you can do it!" He also heard Springer and the rest of his friends cheering, all telling him to win.
"Star!" He roared as he stomped his feet before charging with all his might. "STARVERN!" He took one mighty leap, now seemingly flying over to Morgrem.
"Dodge it!" Sugarcoat ordered as Morgrem ducked down, causing Astro to sail over its head. As he did this, Astro just smiled.
"Morg," Morgrem whispered once Astro flew over his head, only to then feel something tugging at his hair. "Morgrem?" He glanced back and gasped when he saw Astro standing behind him with the tip of his ponytail in his mouth.
"Star!" Astro yanked at the hair, forcing Morgrem to stagger back and put weight on its hurt leg.
"That's the way!" Flash cheered as Sugarcoat went wide-eyed, "Now...SWING IT!" Astro yanked the hair again, pulling it around as hard as he could. Doing so caused Morgrem to trip as Astro spun around, the Devious Pokémon now being pulled into the air.
"MOOOORG!" Morgrem yelled as it swung around, only for Astro to let go, throwing the Pokémon through the sky, "MORGREM!"
"No!" Sugarcoat screamed, "This is impossible!"
"Nothing's impossible," Flash replied, "Astro...SHADOW BALL!" Astro formed the orb, charging it as much as he could as Morgrem continued to fall.
"No!" Sugarcoat screeched, "Its impossible that that Starvern can beat Morgrem, and I'll prove it!" She pointed at Astro, "False Surrender!" Morgrem swung its ponytail, extending it at Astro as he fired the Shadow Ball. The two attacks flew at their target at high speed, passing one another, but one made contract before the other.
Boom!
Morgrem was struck, the Shadow Ball exploding as it sent it flying back, causing its attack to miss Astro. Sugarcoat gasped as she watched it hit the ground, bouncing several times until it came to a stop, laying on its back with swirls in its eyes. "Morgrem..." it whispered.
"Morgrem is unable to battle," Doc announced. "The winner is Astro!"
"YES!" Flash cheered as Astro began to dance, Flash running up and leaning down to scratch him behind the horn. "You did great!" Astro barked back before turning to Sugarcoat, who moved over to Morgrem and helped it sit up.
"How is this possible?" She whispered, "One day shouldn't have been enough to make it strong enough to beat us. Its typing should have made it impossible."
"It wasn't just Astro's training that helped," she looked up as Cadance walked up to her. "They were able to win because Flash was able to come up with a strategy you couldn't counter. Using Astro's speed and agility to avoid your attacks while using Leer to weaken your Pokémon's defenses. Once that happened, you four were on equal footing. After that, it was just a matter of which Pokémon wanted the win more."
Sugarcoat slightly growled as she returned Morgrem and stood up, turning to Flash. "You might have beaten me, but I've also beaten you. That means we're all tied up."
Flash smirked, "Wanna go again?"
"Not right now." Sugarcoat turned away, "I have places to be." She then glared back at him, "But the next time we run into one another, I'll be sure to put it in my favor. Now that I know my weakness, I'll work to get rid of it. A strong Fairy move is all I'll need. Until then, goodbye."
She walked off after this, disappearing into the forest, leaving Flash and Astro with big grins on their faces. "It'll take more then a Fairy-type attack to take us down," Flash turned to Astro. "We'll keep training until nobody can beat us. Right?" Astro nodded back.
"Flash Sentry..." Cadance commented in a quiet enough voice so the teen didn't hear her. "That boy's certainly one of a kind."
"He sure is," Twilight added, "That's why he's gonna be the future Champion of Equestria." Cadance turned to her with raised eyebrows.
"Oh?"
"Shining can't stay champion forever. And if anyone deserves to be one after him, it's Flash." This made Cadance smile and nod before looking back at Flash. No doubt, that boy was something special indeed. And as long as he kept on his path with his Pokémon, believing in them no matter what, then they would be able to reach for the stars and make the impossible happen. She was curious to see what else the young man was capable of as they continued their trek to the Crystal Empire. No doubt, it would be an interesting experience. As the journey continues.