NOCT2 S1 - Sylvia/Dylan vs Zeke/Kayla

Sylvia was nearly running by the time she reached the arena. It had just finished changing shape and was now quickly filling with water. She nearly bounced with glee. She hadn’t been able to swim for a long time, well before she’d gotten on the bus for Galida. She looked around for any other competitors, and finding herself alone she quickly stripped out of her everyday clothes and into her swimsuit.

With a light hearted toss of a Pokéball, Dylan joined her and both raced for the now full pool. Surfacing after a deep dive, Sylvia simply floated on her back for a moment, enjoying the feeling of cool water.

“Oh, Dylan. It feels so good to swim again, to feel the water on my skin.” Only a contented sigh returned to her, and she opened her eyes to see the Swampert sunning himself on a floating platform. Shaking her head in amusement, Sylvia turned over and swam from one end of the pool to the other. After a small flip turn off the wall, she was startled from treading when a voice spoke up.

“What are you doing? Are you my opponent?” She looked up and found a teenage boy looking at her. Black hair shaded blue eyes that looked like they questioned her sanity. A Crobat with a bandana flew behind him. She smirked at them both.

“Swimming. I figured if I’m going to die because of this stupid tournament anyway, I might as well swim again before I go and the time bubble doesn’t extend far enough for me to do that from the beach.” The boy wasn’t expecting her answer to be that logical. After a pause he just moved on.

“I’m Zeke, and the Crobat is Kayla.”

“You were right. I am your opponent. I’m Sylvia, and that big lunk over there is Dylan. Shall we get down to this?”

Refusing to get out just yet, she swam back the length of the pool before hauling herself out. “Okay, Dylan. Let’s get fired up!” Of course, it’s going to take more than spirited words to get him in a fighting mood. He was still in repose, ignoring everything but the sun. Kayla however, sped toward the Swampert at high speed.

She probed his defenses by dodging in and then out quickly, but was rather startled when Dylan didn’t even move. Zeke must have thought it strategy, as he called his Pokémon to get his attention. Kayla dipped down in front of his face and spit at him, but he merely gave a half-hearted swat in her direction, easily dodged. So she started zipping from one side of him to the other, mocking him and saying hurtful things. But nothing really worked, until the Torment hit a nerve.

“Arceus, you’re so lazy! It really says a lot about your trainer when you won’t even fight in these conditions!” A twitch ran through Dylan’s body and he looked up at the hovering Pokémon.

“You want to run that by me again?” She started to speak, but had to dodge steaming water shot at her face. “C’mere. Let me tell you what I think of that. Sylvia! Help me show this nuisance some manners!”

Sylvia could only smirk as her Pokémon was finally drawn into the battle.

“Alright, Dylan! Use an Ice Punch on the water in front of your platform! Throw it!” The chunk of ice hurtled through the air, but passed harmlessly through a Double Team clone. Twenty Crobat forms circled Dylan and dove toward him, spinning in an aileron roll. He was struck from behind by the Acrobatics attack.

“Haha, you’re much too slow to catch me! Let’s see how you like a little venom in your system!” Kayla once again dove at him, wings glowing a sickly purple.

“Dylan, take your time! She’ll mess up eventually, and then you strike!” He stoically took the hit, crossing his forelimbs to absorb most of the shock. She circled around and did it again. And again, and when she saw him flinch as poison filtered through his skin, she couldn’t help but gloat a moment.

“Ha, I said you weren’t fast enough to take me on. Now look at you. You’re-“ She didn’t finish that sentence. Energy erupted from Dylan’s body as he flung his arms forward, knocking the Bat Pokémon from the sky and into the water.

Sylvia heard her opponent cry out in shock.

“What was that? I didn’t hear you give any commands!”

“She called him lazy, but Dylan here knows how to Bide his time. Now, get after that water logged bat with an Ice Punch!”

Dylan winced at the poison within him but was in the water and swimming toward Kayla at surprising speed. She managed to get to a platform just before he reached her. With her tremendous wing speed she managed to dry off her wings and become airborne just as Dylan leapt from the water to strike with an icy fist. The attack whiffed through another Double Team illusion, freezing a large swath of water into ice.

Sparing no more words, Kayla followed her trainer’s orders and attacked with another Acrobatics. Thinking quick, Sylvia pointed at the floe in the pool. “Dylan, use Scald on the ice, throw up some cover!” Steam quickly covered the field as the super-heated water met frozen water.

Too bad it’s only a temporary fix. We need to end this, or that poison is going to do it for us. What can we do here?