Mega Lucario and Nott (autoing perms granted by
@Captain Cardboard )
Rocks came towards the princess from every which way. She fired blasts from her lance to knock them way, but couldn’t get them all. One slammed into her back with enough momentum to shatter against the jotun’s broad frame, raising a grunt from Nott as she turned instinctively towards the impact, only for another boulder to hit her side.
Frustrated, the princess slammed her lance into the floor. Dragon-shaped energy surged through the weapon and into the floor, dispersing as a huge shockwave! The force of the wave sent not only the boulders flying, but some trees and the snow itself from the floor, leaving the area around her completely barren save for Lucario, who managed to stand his ground against the impact.
The pokemon leapt at Nott. Using Extreme Speed, he was already upon her before she could bring her guard up. But as the pokemon unleashed a barrage of punches, none of them had contact with the princess. Moon-Wing used its wings as a barrier, blocking Lucario’s blows to protect their trainer. Nott swung her lance, forcing Lucario to attack from another angle, but Moon-Wing’s impressive wingspan ensured he wouldn’t be able to connect any hits so long as they were there to protect Nott. The bird’s eyes flashed as they fired another beam, hitting Lucario point blank. The pokemon attempted a retreat, but was caught by a mighty punch from Nott!
Lucario recoiled from the hit, but shook off the pain. As he felt Moon-Wing’s curse fade, his eyes sharpened with what looked to be decisiveness. Using Extreme Speed again, Lucario rushed Nott and tried an open palmed strike, which Moon-Wing predictably blocked. But Lucario swiftly gripped onto the bird’s wings and pull himself over the bird and onto its back. With a borderline predatory snarl, Lucario sunk his teeth into Moon-Wings neck! Moon-Wing let out a pained shriek as Lucario attacked its neck. It struggled against the attacker, but Lucario used his limbs to restrain the bird’s wings, and its talons kept their valiant grip on Nott.
With a sudden weight shift on her shoulders, Nott struggled to maintain balance. She wanted to strike Lucario off Moon-Wing, but couldn’t find an angle that didn’t risk her beloved eagle’s life as well.
Blood began to splurt from Moon-Wing’s neck as Lucario’s fangs tore in deeper. Understanding the danger it was in, the eagle screeched as it finally released Nott’s shoulders and threw itself back. It roughly slammed against Lucario and the two flew back a fair distance from Nott.
With its talons free, Moon-Wing began to fight back, slashing and cutting at Lucario’s body, yet his hold on Moon-Wing’s neck did not loosen at all. He only defended against a few hits and struck back whenever he could. His muzzle was stained in even more blood.
Lucario was built for close combat. Moon-Wing was not. It only took a few more seconds of fighting for Lucario to plant both feet on the ground and both palms on Moon-Wing’s chest, pushing the eagle into the snow. Moon-Wing’s screeching grew louder, before cutting off as Lucario twisted his head up…and ripped Moon-Wing’s own off.
Nott had attempted to rush into the fight, but paralysis had struck yet again, leaving her to watch as Lucario hunted her eagle. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but she appears surprisingly calm about it. She knew Moon-Wing would be fine by the end of the tourney. But there was a mixture of amusement mixed with disgust as she walked towards Lucario.
“My my! What savagery! I certainly didn’t expect this kind of behavior from you!” she laughed.
Lucario certainly was a sight, with a beheaded eagle in his maw, and covered in blood that even he couldn’t tell if it’s from Moon-Wing’s or his own. The pokemon was breathing heavily, feeling the fatigue of overexerting Extreme Speed. The pokemon took a second to slow his breathing.
“In a battle against multiple foes,” he replied, taking a moment to spit out Moon-Wing’s head.
“You must learn to prioritize opponents.”
Lucario ran towards Nott. With her sans barriers or lasers, he had no intention of giving her time to breathe as well. Nott smiled as he approached, raising her lance in preparation. Lucario threw out a sequence of hits, aiming where he knew Tasky struggled to defend himself. But Nott’s lance was bigger, and paralysis finally seemed to give her a moment of respite. She blocked each hit with grace before not so gracefully shoving Lucario back. The pokemon went with the flow, spinning to the jotun’s side and punching her side. There was another pained grunt from Nott, but it did not slow her down as she slammed her lance over Lucario! The weapon roughly pressed the pokemon flat on his back, but stopped short of flattening him as he caught it with both hands. The pokemon struggled against Nott’s strength for a second, before pulling his legs up and unleashing an upward stomp against the lance, striking it and Nott back! The princess quickly recovered and tried stabbing through Lucario, but he sidestepped it and caught the lance again. Aura and purple energy built around him and Nott respectively.
Coincidently, both fighters had the exact same idea. Both their energies ran through the lance, clashing in the middle of the weapon and bursting outwards upon colliding. It was forceful enough to send both fighters flying back, and the lance spun away!
Lucario and Nott rose to their feet. With all the snow and trees, the princess could not immediately locate her weapon, and Lucario wasn’t going to give her a chance to. He charged at the princess once more, and her expression as she raised her fists said it would be the last time, for better or for worse. It was difficult to tell under the blood covering his face, but Nott could barely see what looked to be an ecstatic grin from Lucario as he looked for an angle to strike.
The fight had devolved into fisticuffs, and as both finalists threw and took attacks, their weakness and strength became very apparent. Lucario was faster and far more skilled, dodging and weaving between Nott’s paralysis-addled slugging and hitting her openings without fail. Yet the princess’s defense and power was superb. She tanked the hits, and when her attacks did land, Lucario clearly felt it. The clash kept going and going, with neither fighter showing any intention of giving up even as bruises and wounds developed all over their bodies, until Nott pulled a desperate maneuver. Blocking a punch from Lucario with her shoulder, she managed to push through paralysis to catch his arm before he could pull back.
“Now fall!” The Jotun Princess barked spitefully as she kneed Lucario’s side. He choked out a bark of pain, and she prepared to strike him again.
“I said I won't…”
Lucario responded by throwing himself forward, twisting his body to kick Nott’s head with a full-power reversal! He felt his arm strain against Nott’s iron grip, before hearing a popping noise as it dislocated from the shoulder.
But it worked. The impact sent Nott stumbling back, and she dropped Lucario. The pokemon landed on his feet, but struggled to take another step. He could only watch as Nott try to regain her balance, before making a desperate leap, aiming to crush Lucario under her weight. By Arceus’s fortune, paralysis struck, stopping the jotun’s momentum in its tracks and causing her to fall over. She did not(t) rise back up.
“...until my last breath.” Lucario finished.
Winner: Lucario!
His legs finally gave out, and Lucario fell on his butt. Even as he painfully relocated his shoulder, Lucario was deep in thought. He had won…yet he wasn’t sure how to feel, if anything. He certainly didn’t expect to run off with the whole tourney…
Well, it didn’t matter now. With a tired grunt, the pokemon crawled towards the gateway.
