Round Five
Chiropter (O)
Dolce (F)
Health: 46%
Energy: 61%
Points: 290*
Nervousness: 15%
- Enraged and badly scorched. +1 Attack, +1 Speed
Kratos Aurion (O)
Don Quixote (M)
Health: 92%
Energy: 76%
Points: 235
Nervousness: 15%
- Deadly serious. -1 Defense
The last of the snow at Don Quixote's feet melts away as he charges up another solarbeam, the air around him suffused with a green-gold glow. Dolce makes no move to escape the painful grass-type attack, staring Don Quixote down with the most resolute expression she can muster, as though hoping he'll lose his nerve in the face of such determination. The arcanine's own drive to win, though, is far too great to be deterred by such sentimentality. Golden light drips around his canines and gleams in a haze about his muzzle just before he unleashes another blinding column of pure grass energy. The solarbeam slams into Dolce with a roar, engulfing her completely and shooting past in a scattered cloud of burning light. As the solarbeam peters out, the crackling of solar energy searing through the air is replaced by a constant, insistent hissing, and Dolce becomes visible at the center of the attack. She is surrounded entirely by a wall of energy powerful enough to deflect even the solarbeam, silver sparks raging around its surface as it defends her against Don Quixote's attack. The tired arcanine grits his teeth and growls, watching as the last of the solarbeam dies away and Dolce releases her protect. There is no smugness in her face as she lets down the defensive barrier, though--only a somber readiness. It may be the sound of the perish song crashing away in the background, louder now than ever, that puts such a grim sense of duty into the lapras--or it may be the feeling of betrayal that she harbors after Don Quixote's attract attack.
While the arcanine is still recovering from his solarbeam, Dolce turns her attention to crafting a powerful illusion, her eyes glowing gold as she invades Don Quixote's mind and stirs it into turmoil. Glittering energy sparks explode before the arcanine's eyes, twirling and bobbing through the air. Taken aback, Don Quixote grunts and shakes his head, but the swarm of lights is not deterred. They swoop even closer, flashing and twinkling and begging to be swatted away, but though Don Quixote raises a paw and prepares to do just that, he manages to stop himself at the last moment. This battle is coming to an end; he has no time to deal with this nonsense. Staring straight through the confuse ray, he fixes his eyes on Dolce and unloads all that he can of his fire sac straight at her. A huge column of white fire boils into the air, its power only increased by the glaring sun overhead. Once again the lapras is entirely surrounded by the attack, but this time, she hasn't prepared anything to protect herself. The intense fire blackens her shell and licks at her already-damaged skin, and the lapras shrieks in agony, thrashing around in an attempt to put out the awful fire. Don Quixote keeps blowing more flame into the air until he feels he'll faint if he doesn't stop to take a breath. The incredible cloud of fire dies down, Don Quixote hanging his head and panting smoke. A few tongues of flame still rage around Dolce, though, and the lapras makes strangled whining noises as she beats them out with her flippers, wincing with every movement. The perish song wails louder still, pounding at her temples and only increasing her misery.
The lapras knows that time is short, though, and forces her aching body to move, though the overheat attack has left her in pitiable condition. Stretching her neck up to its fullest height, she concentrates on pouring all her remaining energy into one last, spectacular attack. The tip of her horn glows gold, a ball of concentrated energy forming in the air above it as Dolce charges what is unmistakeably a hyper beam attack. Don Quixote, still gasping for air and recovering from the overheat attack, sees what is coming and struggles to bring his tired body back into line. The dizzying twirl of confuse ray doesn't help matters, blurring Dolce's outline and making Don Quixote feel sick to his stomach, almost afraid to try for a dodge lest he end up losing his footing and making a fool of himself onstage. There's no time for hesitation, though; the ball of light glowing above Dolce's head is nearly the size of a grapefruit now, and it will only be a matter of time before the beam itself is launched. Don Quixote does his best to prepare, watching Dolce with hard-eyed determination, and waits.
A column of light rips free of the energy orb with a squeal of excited electrons, followed by a low hiss of energy discharge. Don Quixote tries to throw himself to the side, but the hyper beam is much too fast for his confused reflexes. The concentrated blast of power strikes him in the flank, sweeping him up and hurling him away across the stage. Under ordinary circumstances, the arcanine might be able to right himself and make a decent landing, but confused and tired as he is, he can only fall back to the stage with a crash, legs flailing in the air without effect. He lies dazed and a bit winded on the stage, the confuse ray fogging his vision and strained muscles protesting at the thought of a return to his feet. The perish song roars through his fuddlement and fatigue, though, prodding him into action. Don Quixote knows there isn't much time left before the awful music will claim the last of his energy, so if he's going to make a stand, he needs to do it now. Slowly he pulls his legs in under him, heaving his way back to his feet, breathing heavily as he tries to fix his eyes on Dolce around the crazy swirl of the confuse ray and steeling himself for one last great exertion.
Dolce is weary herself, and it is with considerable dread that she watches the arcanine, now far across the stage, break into a run. She'd hoped the confuse ray would hold him back, but in the end Don Quixote is too determined to be distracted by the illusion. He hurtles forward at an incredible speed, feet sending up little dazzles of white energy each time they strike, creating sparkling walls on either side of the arcanine as he runs. The air around Don Quixote shimmers with the heat radiating from his body; soon the amount of energy he's pouring forth is enough to slip into the visible spectrum, surrounding his entire body with a rippling white curtain of power. The currents of energy grow stronger still, darkening to an angry orange and starting to spin. Cloaked in burning, spinning light, Don Quixote slams into Dolce, the collision made more impressive by the explosion of power that accompanies it. The giga impact is enough to knock even the heavy lapras onto her side, and her flippers twitch uselessly. For a moment it looks as though Don Quixote's final blow was enough to knock the lapras unconscious, but Dolce slowly raises her head, eyes open to no more than slits and barely able to move, but conscious nonetheless. For his part, Don Quixote is still standing, but is more than a little unsteady on his feet, his legs trembling as he gasps for air, trying to remain standing despite the awful fatigue sapping his morale and the sickening dazzle of the confuse ray attack.
In the end, the perish song puts both pokémon out of their misery. By now its tune rolls around the arena so loudly that some members of the audience have covered their ears. On stage, though, the melody is louder still. Time is up for the two battlers, and dark purple mist spins out from empty air, rippling and spreading to the beat of the dirgelike perish song. It twines itself around Dolce, thick purple tendrils coiling around her long neck and sapping the very life from her as they wrap her in their chilly touch. The tired lapras soon stops struggling, giving in to unconsciousness without complaint. Don Quixote puts up more of a fight, snapping and growling at the weird mist as it congeals around his paws. There is nothing he can do against the implacable attack, however, his attempts at fighting it only miring him deeper in its midst. The perish song leeches away his power as easily as it stole Dolce's, and in the end the arcanine slumps to the stage, utterly drained. The perish song swirls for a few seconds more, coda ringing in the air, before it fades away and leaves the trainers to clean up the aftermath.
Chiropter (X)
Dolce (F)
Health: 0%
Energy: 0%
Points: 345*
Knocked Out!
Kratos Aurion (X)
Don Quixote (M)
Health: 0%
Energy: 0%
Points: 235
Knocked Out!
The crowd goes wild with applause as the announcer's voice booms out over the stage, trumpeting the end of the battle. The fallen pokémon are recalled and the trainers step up to the middle of the stage to exchange a handshake and await the judge's verdict. The intense sunlight overhead fades, but the audience's enthusiasm does not; the explosive final round was the perfect capstone to an exhilarating and showy contest battle. This Grand Festival has certainly been grand, and the crowd is caught up in its excitement.
At last, the final scores are in, and the announcer makes his last speech. The crowd's cheering redoubles as Chiropter is announced the winner and steps up to take his final bows. At long, long last, the TCoD league's first Grand Festival is at a close.
For winning, Chiropter is awarded the Grand Festival 2007 ribbon and $150. Kratos aurion receives $100. (And, unfortunately, the ribbon sprite I had for the contest was lost with the last forum wipe; I can whip something up later if you'd like me to, though.)
