Black Tourney Round 5 Part 3

The hallway outside the room was eerily quiet in comparison, only the clicking of her sandals on the concrete floor to match the beat of Linqu's heart.  As she could see the opposite door growing larger, she tried to concentrate on that rhythm, clearing her head of all that she and her Pokemon had been through since she parted with her first opponent.

She could hear Sandy's voice now, tinged with frustration, and the Aerodactyl's roar on top of everything else.  Suddenly she felt guilty for stubbornly choosing the other path, not leaving when Concore first told her to... then she felt guilty because she did leave.  Sensing his trainer's unease, Exode tapped her on the shoulder, and Linqu gave her head a firm shake, knocking free any doubt to make room for determination, and the pair of them crashed through the door.

The room Linqu and Exode found themselves in was virtually identical to the one they had just left- only this one had a Blaziken, Espeon, and Keckleon decorating one far corner of the floor.

And a Wartortle.

Linqu carved a crooked path to where they lay, her priorities a little screwed up due to stress.  "H-hey, I know that Keckleon... he belongs to Porter's train- " A crash sounded to their right, interrupting Linqu's thought and reminding them of why they had switched rooms in the first place.  There was a Gulpin barely able to fight back, but Candy was clearly poisoned and not much better off, while the Aerodactyl looked as though it had suffered little damage.  "Sandy!"

Exode glided over to help prop Candy up, while Linqu joined the Hypno's trainer.  "Sorry I'm late." Sandy turned, looking as though she only just noticed Linqu's presence.  "Don't worry about it now... can you get your Gligar to distract Zach long enough for Candy to attack uninterrupted?"  Nodding, Linqu turned to face the fight.  "Exode!  Get that Aerodactyl's attention, and dodge for as long as you can!"

Exode began weaving impressive aerial patterns around Zach's head, occupying the full of his attention while Candy focused her energy.  "Zach, forget about the Gligar and stop the Hypno from attacking!"  Sarah's words did little good, as Exode began landing grazing slash attacks when Zach tried to change his position.  This, however, was not something that could last for long, as Zach was eventually able to grab Exode out of the air in one of his claws, flinging him to the ground in a smooth stroke.

As the Aerodactyl turned to quickly take out the Hypno, however, he caught a glimpse of her just long enough to see her staring him down, and a disk of psychic energy come hurling in his direction.

Candy took a moment's pause due to the strength the poison was sapping away, which is all Noodles needed to put the fight in their favour; having been forgotten about in her waning energy, Noodles was now very near to Candy.  Near enough to...

"CANDY, WATCH OUT!"  Before anyone knew what was going on, Noodles had used her remaining strength to launch herself, grab ahold of Candy's fur, and explode.  Both Pokemon were out cold by the time the dust had settled, leaving an Aerodactyl and Gligar watching, both wearing expressions as shocked as those of the four trainers present.

"N...Noodles!"  Isaac's expression and overall attitude completely changed, and before Sara could say or do anything, he was running out to where Noodles lay next to Candy.  "Outta the way!" Sara barked at him, just as Zach fired a rock slide, the muddy mess barely passing by the right of Isaac's head.

In the confusion, Sandy darted across the room to a shadowed figure that Linqu had not noticed up until now.  Zach noticed the sudden movement in the corner of his field of vision and tried to get in the way, but Exode was between them in a moment, summoning the last of his strength in hopes that the judge lying against the back wall would be able to give them the final key they needed- jabbing his tail forward as he did with Anubis, Exode infected the Aerodactyl with the strongest poison he could muster, and fell to the ground, an inch away from defeat.

Luckily, his maneuver had given Sandy the opportunity she needed, for she was now holding the judge, Anti, and trying to get her conscious.  "No fair, you haven't defeated us yet!  Zach!" but as Sarah turned to face her Aerodactyl, he quickly made her eat this statement.  He stood in place, swaying, as his energy slowly being seeped away by the venom now coursing through his body, making the fatigue he was already doing his best to hide, multiply several times.

After one last effort to drag his feet toward Sandy and Anti, Zach let out one weak, rumble of a groan, and fell to the ground with a thud.  Linqu's knees shook.  "Exode..."

Sara sighed, regaining an air of superiority that she had partly lost in the heat of the fight.  "Fine then... I suppose you won our little game.  You are free to take your judge and little animals... but do clear the field, our new guests will arrive soon." she added, pulling a revive out of her pocket and walking over to where Zach and Noodles lay.  She turned to Sandy as the chains that bound Solly and Skrix melted away.  "I do think you have problems of your own, after all."

"What do you-" but Sandy was interrupted by the shouting of a Wartortle, and soon after a Bulbasaur.  Looking to the doorway, she could see the silhouette of two people and a bunch of Pokemon, most notably a large Flygon.  "Ah!  You... my round one opponent!"  Sandy followed their line of vision, to see that Linqu had collapsed on the floor.  "What...?" she walked over to her, accompanied by Solly and Anti, returning Candy along the way.  The Wartortle, Gligar, and Bulbasaur were already there, and just as she reached where Linqu lay, she heard laughter coming from behind her.  "Heh... heh!  'Bout time, wouldn't you say?" laughed Isaac. "Yes,  would." Sara sneered.

Sandy turned to face them, anger and exasperation apparent on her face.  Just as she was about to speak, however, she was met with a blinding flash of light filling the room, and the possessed judges, their Pokemon, and the newly arrived contestants were gone, leaving the rest of them in a room that looked different from the one they were just in.