//------------------------------// // Testing their mettle // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Saddle Lake, day. "Mienfoo! Use your Mega Punch! Luxio, use Iron Tail!" Currently. Rainbow Dash was preparing for her rematch against Soarin and the chance to win her 5th Gym Badge. Not only that, but she was also planning on teaching the rest of her Pokemon new moves. Mienfoo and Luxio are the ones she's putting the most focus on. Mienfoo only knows Mega Punch, Fury Swipes and Agility while Luxio only knows Discharge, Wild Charge and Iron Tail. A fourth move can be very beneficial to them both. Rainbow Dash was looking for a FIghting-Type move for Mienfoo. As for Luxio, anything is good as long as it's not an Electric-Type move. Luxio already struggles against Ground-Types enough. And none of his moves are going to help him that much. "Mien!" "Lux!" Both Mienfoo and Luxio already started clashing against each other with their paw and tail. They went back and forth, making sure to not go overboard since this was just a training session. Although, if anyone would go overboard, it would most likely be Mienfoo since she's always shooting for an absolute victory, no matter what. Rainbow Dash and the rest of her Pokemon sat by, watching their friends go at it while the Pokemon of Saddle Lake either rest or just join Rainbow Dash and the others for some spectating. "Foo!" Mienfoo found an opening as she grabbed Luxio's hardened tail. "X-Xio?!" "Mienfoo!" Mienfoo then swung Luxio around with all her strength while adding the power of Mega Punch to make her slightly stronger. "L-L-Luxio!" Luxio screamed as he felt like he was going to be sick from all this spinning. "Mien!" Mienfoo then slammed Luxio on the ground before tossing him aside near a tree. She had a very aggressive battling style, similar to Twilight's Absol. "Xio!" Luxio hit the tree as his eyes and head felt a bit dizzy. But before he could sit back up, Mienfoo was already going in for another Mega Punch out of nowhere as she leapt towards the Spark Pokemon. "Foo!" "L-Lux?!" "That's enough!" Rainbow Dash made the call for the battle to end, prompting Mienfoo to stop going on the offensive. Her Mega Punch stopped in front of Luxio's face as she had managed to intimidate the Spark Pokemon because of her ferocity. "Mien." "Mienfoo." Rainbow Dash flew over. "I'm all for giving it your all in battle but do you think you could tone it down a bit sometimes? You kinda scared Luxio there." "Luxio..." Luxio was shuddering as he didn't expect a little training session to go so overboard. Anymore and Mienfoo might've crushed his face. "Mienfoo." Mienfoo crossed her arms. "Okay, let's try this again. This time, let's cool it, okay? Save up all that energy for when we battle against Soarin." "Mien." "Getting some progress with your training there, Rainbow?" Just then, a familiar voice called out for Rainbow Dash. A voice that hasn't been heard for a while and one that is heavily involved with Rainbow Dash's career as a Pokemon Trainer. Of course, that was one of Rainbow Dash's rivals Daylight Blazer. "Oh, Daylight." Rainbow Dash helped Luxio up. "Long time no see. Yeah, I'm just getting ready for Soarin' soon. I need that 5th Gym Badge and some new moves for Luxio and Mienfoo." "Hm." Daylight nodded. "Well, you'd better catch up, Rainbow. Cause I'm already heading for the big leagues soon." "Hm? What do you mean by that?" "Check this out." Daylight had a smirk on his face as he used his magic to bring out his badge case. He then opened up his badge case, showing Rainbow Dash and her Pokemon that he had all 8 Gym Badges. "Just got done collecting the last 3 not too long ago." "Huh?! You've already got them all?!" Rainbow and her Pokemon gasped. "Yep. A full badge case and an even stronger team than I had before. With this, I'll finally be able to enter the Equestria League Conference. Whenever that comes around." "Lucky! I just lost my fifth one!" "Then you'd better get that rematch going." Daylight spun the badge case around. "After all, at the Canterlot Tournament, you were really looking forward to battling me weren't you. But then that whole Braviary incident happened." "Sure was! But uh...I'm more bummed out that my battle with Spitfire ended." Rainbow Dash sighed. "I could've probably shot up to the leaderboards, ya know." "Maybe. But you'd have to win a lot of battles to catch up to her, that's for sure. "Yeah. Oh!" Rainbow Dash clapped her hooves together. "We might've missed out on battling each other at the Canterlot Tournament, but now that you're here, we can actually have that battle now!" "Hm? Right here, right now?" "Yeah! Right here, right now!" Rainbow Dash tapped her hoof on the ground. "I've gotten way stronger the last time we battled. I even got a Mega Stone too. See"? Rainbow Dash was also currently wearing pilot goggles. And in the middle of the goggles, the Mega Stone for Altaria could be seen. "Oh." Daylight's eyes widened. "Well...I was gonna come out here and catch an Oricorio but...sure. I've been itching to battle you a second time, Rainbow." "Yes! Get ready you guys!" Rainbow Dash turned to face her Pokemon. And all 6 of them were ready to go. Some were itching for a rematch against him. Mainly Braviary, Whirlipede and Altaria. And some were ready for a new opponent, AKA Luxio, Castform and Mienfoo. For this battle to fully go down, Rainbow Dash fetched someone to be the referee of this. The one she chose for this was Pinkie Pie. And Pinkie being Pinkie dragged all of her friends over for this battle, because of course, she did. Luckily for them, this would be the first time her friends, other than Ash, will be able to witness a 6v6 battle. "Alright, you two." Pinkie clapped her hooves together, rubbing them. "I wanna see a good clean battle, okay? It's a total 6-on-6 full battle. There's no time limit and you can both swap Pokemon whenever you feel like it. The whole thing's over and done for when all 6 Pokemon on either side are down and out, okay?" "Works for us. This is my first full battle." Rainbow Dash grinned. "You gonna use that Rainbow-Braviary form of yours right from the get-go?" Daylight asked. "Nah, I'll wait until it comes down to the wire. Braviary and I wanna ace battles without relying on Rainbow-Braviary so much. We're only gonna use it when it really counts." "Guess that makes sense. Don't want a repeat of what happened with Spitfire. Then I won't use Mega Blaziken until the very end." "We'll make it a coin toss to decide who goes first." Pinkie said as Mew gave her a coin. "Heads or tails, what'll it be?" "I call heads!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Then tails!" Daylight bellowed. "Okay!" Pinkie Pie tossed the coin into the air. With a few flips, the piece of metal came falling back down to the ground and end up landing on heads. "Heads! So Rainbow Dash is up first!" "Nice!" Rainbow Dash adjusted her goggles before looking at Castform in her saddlebag. "Just you wait, Castform. I'll call you in when it's right, okay?" "Cast!" "Alright!" Rainbow Dash took out the first Poke Ball with her wing, tossing it forward. "Mienfoo! You're up first!" "Mienfoo!" "Hm." Daylight smirked as he used his magic to send out his first Pokemon. "Come out! Sawsbuck!" "Sawsbuck!" And considering the season, Sawsbuck was in its Spring Form. "Good luck, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight cheered along with the others. "Alright, let the battle begin!" Pinkie gave the call. "Here goes! Mienfoo! Move-in with Agility and use Fury Swipes!" "Foo!" Making the first move, Mienfoo got into a running stance as her body was surrounding in shining light. She then bolted forward with extra speed as her claws had been revealed. "Sawsbuck! Use Nature Power!" "Saws!" Sawsbuck stood on its hind legs, grunting as the ground beneath it was responding to the Season Pokemon. Nature Power is an attack that makes use of nature’s power. Its effects vary depending on the user’s environment. And considering that Saddle Lake was mostly grass with a single body of water, the attack made use of the grass. With his body glowing, Sawsbuck summoned a storm of leaves that came shooting out of the ground as they raced towards Mienfoo. "Foo?!" "Oh! Dodge them!" "Mienfoo!" While still using Agility, Mienfoo attempted evading the leaves while still advancing towards Sawsbuck. The leaves had the same sharpness as Razor Leaf and the same strength as Energy Ball which is a dangerous combination in itself. Mienfoo zipped to the side, avoiding the leaves that would attack her head-on. But she would also have to deal with the leaves coming from the other sides as well. After all, she was going up against nature right now. Mienfoo flipped over some of the leaves as she also used the claws of Fury Swipes to hit some of the approaching leaves, cutting them in half. "Nice!" Rainbow Dash praised as Mienfoo was getting closer to Sawsbuck. "It's a great benefit that Mienfoo's body is so small and she's greatly nimble too," said Rarity. "An attack that wide would need to be dodged by a small Pokemon." "Mhm." Ash and the others nodded. "Oh." Daylight was impressed by how effortlessly Mienfoo dealt with all those leaves and how stylish she looked. "Not bad. Sawsbuck! Use Horn Leech!" "Buck!" Sawsbuck lowered its head as its horns became surrounded in an orange aura. Its horns then started to glow gold as the Season Pokemon charged at the Martial Arts Pokemon with its horns pointed at her. "Mien...Foo!" With a mighty battle cry, Mienfoo's claws collided with Sawsbuck's horns. A power struggle happened between the two of them with Mienfoo unceasingly swiping her claws in both directions while Sawsbuck stood its ground, also moving its horns around to block any incoming hits to the face. Mienfoo backflipped as she went to swipe again with Fury Swipes while still having Agility in the mix. The Martial Arts Pokemon swung her claws wildly, trying to land a good hit on Sawsbuck. But Sawsbuck could do the same. The Normal-Grass-Type was certainly faster than Mienfoo, even with the speed boost. With its better speed, Sawsbuck was able to move ahead of Mienfoo by just 2 seconds as it found an opening via the stomach. With the right horn, Sawsbuck thwacked Mienfoo's waist. "F-Foo?!" The Martial Arts Pokemon gasped as she had taken the first hit of the battle. "Sawsbuck!" Sawsbuck then used its second horn to whack Mienfoo away, sending the Fighting-Type flying through the air. "Ah! Mienfoo!" Rainbow Dash looked up. "Return, Sawsbuck." Just then, Daylight returned Sawsbuck to its Poke Ball instead of letting it continue. "You're returning now?!" Rainbow Dash turned to face Daylight as Mienfoo recovered by landing on her feet safely. "Mien?!" "Thanks, Sawsbuck. Because of you, I know what to do now." He spoke to his Poke Ball. "Why'd he switch out so soon? Sawsbuck looked like it had this one." Spike wondered. "Mm?" Twilight shrugged. "Daylight's a highly-skilled trainer, remember. He battles differently from other trainers and it really shows." "Okay. I think I can make this entire battle work in my favour with just this single Pokemon alone." Daylight then brought out a Net Ball next. "All I need is one move to slow you down." "Just one Pokemon? You talking about Blaziken?" Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. "Nah. I'm talking about this guy! Go, Araquanid!" He sent the Net Ball forward, bringing out the Water Bubble Pokemon. "Araquanid!" "Eugh...! Spiders..." Rainbow Dash winced. "Doesn't matter! We'll just gather enough speed to blitz through all of your Pokemon! That way, you won't be able to catch Mienfoo! Use Agility and Mega Punch, go!" "Mien-Mienfoo!" Using Agility once more, Mienfoo's speed had been raised sharply yet again as her paws were glowing with energy. The Martial Arts Pokemon rushed forward with rapid speeds, approaching the Water Bubble Pokemon. "Right where we want you..." Daylight said silently as he was waiting for the right time to make a command. Mienfoo was aiming straight for Araquanid's face as she leapt off the ground with blistering speeds. "Mienfoo!" Mienfoo then struck her palm onto Araquanid, finally getting her first hit of this battle. "Araqua!" "Gotcha! Now use Sticky Web!" "Quanid!" Araquanid shot out several globs of sticky material from its mouth, right in front of Mienfoo. The globs hit the Martial Arts Pokemon, sending her back as a net had been formed via the globs transformation. "Foo!" The net ended up sending Mienfoo to a nearby tree, sticking her there. Mienfoo was now trapped on a tree with a large net with small gaps holding her there. "M-Mienfoo?!" "Trapped?!" Rainbow Dash pulled back. "So much for your Agility boost. Now, Araquanid! Stick boost around the ground!" "Quanid-Araquanid!" Now Daylight's words about how he was going to slow Rainbow Dash down made sense. Sticky Web is a move well known for slowing opponents down. The Water Bubble Pokemon continuously spat out globs of sticky material, spreading them across the ground, even the rest of the trees nearby. It was going to make sure that anyone who touches the nets will be immediately trapped with little chance of escaping. Soon, the entire battlefield was covered in nets. Some were even layered over each other, giving them some extra thickness. "Talk about an advantage! He's already changed the battlefield to make it work out for him!" Starlight sat up. "Yeah, but Rainbow Dash has three Pokemon that can fly. All she needs to do is stay in the air. Plus, Daylight's got Pokemon that stay on land so he could end up on his own trap." Twilight looked at the bright side. "Yeah. You'd think so." Daylight smirked, knowing what he was planning. "Return, Araquanid." For a second time, he recalled his Pokemon. "Another return?!" Rainbow Dash was starting to get confused. Daylight's battling style is once again, unpredictable. "Showtime! Sigilyph!" Out came his third Pokemon. So far, Daylight has been using Pokemon that Rainbow Dash didn't expect him to have. She's used to seeing her Medicham up first since that's what he usually starts with whenever a battle begins. "Sigilyph!" And being a Psychic-Flying-Type, Sigilyph could hover over the nets while also having moves that could deal super-effective damage towards Mienfoo, who was still stuck. "M-Mienfoo!" Mienfoo squirmed around, trying to break free from the net. "Grr...!" Rainbow Dash growled. In just a few minutes, she was already in a very rough spot. Her aggressive battling style with Mienfoo wasn't panning out. She was aiming to have Mienfoo rush in and deal quick and fast damage with no signs of stopping. "R-Return, Mienfoo." The best way she could get Mienfoo out of this trap was by returning the Martial Arts Pokemon to her Poke Ball. A reluctant choice at first. "Sorry, Mienfoo. You'll get your chance soon." She spoke to the Poke Ball. "Besides...I know how I can clear out all these nets." The pegasus then looked up at the sky, seeing how sunny it was. She then looked at Castform in her bag, hatching up a plan. "You ready to shine, Castform?" "Form!" "Okay! It's all you this time!" "Castform!" Out came the Weather Pokemon from Rainbow Dash's saddlebag. And once he came out, his cells immediately reacted to the heavy sunlight, forcefully transforming Castform into his Sunny Form. "Cast!" "Heh." Daylight let out a slight chuckle. "Sorry, Rainbow. But your little aerial advantage won't work out. Sigilyph! Gravity!" "Lyph!" Daylight already had a plan for this. The webs from Araquanid were actually just a part of a larger plan of Daylight Blazer. The Avianoid Pokemon's eyes and wings started glowing as it manipulated space itself, intensifying gravity around Castform. A large gravity field appeared above Saddle lake as Castform had been forced down to the ground with increased gravity. "Cast?!" And of course, being forced down meant that Castform was caught in one of the sticky webs littered across the ground. "Seriously?!" Rainbow Dash bellowed. "So that's why he used Sticky Web everywhere. It was just for Gravity." Ash spoke. "Guess he's got the perfect counter for any airborne Pokemon." "Pikachu." "I'll make sure that none of your Pokemon are in their element! Sigilyph, use Ancient Power!" "Gilyph!" Sigilyph's body flashed white as it created a see-through afterimage of itself. The afterimage then spun around quickly, creating a silver ball in front of Sigilyph's body. The Avianoid Pokemon then launches the ball with the power of fossilized rocks on its side. "Not good! Castform! Burn the webs away with Weather Ball, quick!" "C-Castform!" Castform quickly formed a ball of fire due to which form he was currently in. If Castform could burn the webs away, he could clear the battlefield and give his teammates a better chance at battling. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough, as one of the rocks had smashed into him before he could even have the chance of pulling the move off. "C-Cast!" "Oh, no! Castform!" Rainbow Dash's pupils shrunk after seeing her partner have a rock land on him. From how hard it came flying, it looked like it would do more than just knock Castform out as Fluttershy covered her eyes. Thankfully, after the inevitable explosion happened, it didn't go beyond a knockout. But, not only that, it didn't knock him out at all. Castform was still active and awake. "C-Castform...!" The Weather Pokemon growled. "You're okay!" A smile graced Rainbow Dash's face. "Tough Pokemon..." Daylight was even impressed by how Castform could withstand an attack that powerful. Especially from a Sigilyph. "This is getting a bit hard to watch..." Applejack sighed. "I don't think we can get through this, ya know." "No need to worry. Rainbow Dash can win this. I hope..." Fluttershy gulped. "I can't call Castform back since he doesn't have a Poke Ball..." Rainbow Dash thought to herself. "We'll still try burning away those nets, but first...Castform! Reflect Type!" "Form...!" Castform's eyes flashed as they gazed right into Sigilyph's eyes. An instant flash of rainbow lights surrounded both the Weather Pokemon and Avianoid Pokemon at the same time as Sigilyph could feel its type being copied all of a sudden. "Lyph?" "Cast!" And like always, because of Castform's sensitive and radioactive cells, copying someone else's type caused the Weather Pokemon to let out an attack that has the energy of the typing he copied. Out of Castform's body, a pulse of purple and light blue energy came bursting out of his body. The pulse also had feathers in it to represent the Flying-Type while also having a purple eye to represent the Psychic-Type. The pulse was so great that not only did it knock Sigilyph back, but it also destroyed some of the webs around the field too because of its surprisingly potent force. The web that Castform was stuck on had also been blown back by the pulse, setting him free. "Sigil!" Sigilyph took damage from the pulse. But it wasn't that effective considering its typing. So it was just knocked back slightly and not by much. "Oh, yeah." Daylight nodded. "I remember now. That Castform of yours can deal damage when copying a type. Pretty impressive." "You haven't seen anything yet! If we can defeat that Sigilyph, Gravity won't be a problem! Alright, Castform! Weather Ball, go!" "Cast!" Castform was still on the ground since Gravity was still holding him down. So he couldn't ascend. But either way, he could still pull off his moves as he created a ball of fire, shooting it towards Sigilyph. "Sigilyph, use Shadow Ball!" "Sigilyph!" A blob of darkness formed in front of the Avianoid Pokemon as it hurled it towards the approaching blazing Weather Ball. The blob kept growing in size the more it moved as the two sphere-shaped attacks collided against each other. Weather Ball tried burning through Shadow Ball as flames started sparking out. Unfortunately, Shadow Ball proved to be stronger as it consumed the ball of fire into the darkness. With Weather Ball consumed, Shadow Ball raced towards Castform at high speeds. And Castform couldn't dodge it because of Gravity's effects. He wasn't exactly a Pokemon that could run considering how he was built. "Weather Ball, one more time!" "Cast...!" Castform tried forming a ball of fire one more time, but it was too late. Shadow Ball already reached him, smashing onto the Weather Pokemon with a shadow explosion in the shape of a dome emerging. "No! Castform!" The explosion was so great that it launched Castform back, but with Gravity still on, Castform only flew back a bit and not a far distance. Because of this, he landed on one of the nets, making his attempt to escape the Sticky Web pointless. But even that didn't matter because he had just fainted after an attack that powerful. "Castform..." "Oh, sorry, Rainbow Dash. But that's it for Castform! Sigilyph wins!" Pinkie Pie said. "Poor Castform..." Fluttershy sighed. "He can't even run to dodge since he has no legs..." "At least he managed to destroy one of the webs with Reflect Type." Rarity pointed her hoof at the spot that Castform broke free. "My guess is that the Flying energy within the attack blew it away due to the webs being made by a Bug-Type." "But what does she do now? That Sigilyph can just force her Braviary and Altaria to the ground with Gravity. And they're her strongest Pokemon." Starlight questioned. "Rainbow Dash still has options to win this," Twilight replied. "Let's just hope she can find the right one." "I should probably get Castform out of that Gravity field." Applejack offered to retrieve Castform from the ground since Rainbow Dash might get affected by Gravity too. She stood up, using her lasso to grab the Weather Pokemon as Gravity was weighing down on her rope. But, with her earth pony strength and the assistance of her partner Sceptile and that same Golett that just wouldn't leave her, they were able to pull Castform back and away from the gravity field. "Thanks. you three." Rainbow Dash thanked Applejack and the others. "Sorry I let you down, Castform." "C-Castform..." Castform said that it was alright. "I have to win this somehow...That Gravity field can't last forever. But how am I gonna avoid it?" Wondering how to overcome this, suddenly one of Rainbow Dash's Poke Ball was calling out for her. Whirlipede's Poke Ball, that is. "Huh? Whirlipede?" Rainbow Dash looked at the Poke Ball. She could see it vibrating as Whirlipede was essentially telling her to send him in. Sensing Whirlipede's spirit, Rainbow Dash nodded her head. "Okay. You're up next!" Without even needing to grab it, Whirlipede forced himself out of the Poke Ball as he appeared on the battlefield, instantly touching the sticky webs. "Whirlipede!" "Oh, Whrilipede? Maybe not your best pick, Rainbow." Daylight smirked, knowing that his Sigilyph was enough for Whirlipede. "You'll see. Whirlipede and I are total experts at getting out of rough spots! Isn't that right, pal?" "Whirl!" "Watch! We're gonna break through this trap of yours with ease! Rollout on the spot!" "Whirl...!" Instead of moving forward, Whirlipede started rolling on the spot, spinning his body around. And as a great bonus, because of Whirlipede's horn-like feelers, he was able to cut the webs in half. Not to mention the poisoned barbs around his shell. They were also capable of destroying the webs no problem. "Oh, genius!" Twilight stood up. "Not only is Whirlipede a Bug-Type, but his entire biology can easily cut through anything with either its feelers or barbs! Nice thinking, Rainbow Dash!" "That is pretty clever." Daylight narrowed his eyes. "But let's see how long you can keep it up!" "Watch us! Victory is right before our eyes!" Their second battle is already shaping up to be more intense than their first. Now that it was a 6-on-6 battle with all their Pokemon, the intensity is only increasing. Only one of them can emerge victorious in this as the journey continues. Chapter 381 End.