130 Starting a rivalry 

Pokemon battles often cause property damage if done in the open so every city and most towns have a designated area for Pokemon battles.

Almost all Pokemon centers have a battle place that is either inside or outside the building. Pokemon schools or institutes have battle areas and finally Pokemon battle parks.

A battle park is a place that has generally four to five types of fields in a close area for trainers to battle.

All of them can be used free of charge but there is also a system to book a specific field for a specific span of time for a private battle. The max time for private booking is 1h per day per person which cannot be exceeded no matter what.

In the evening, after watching Erika's play, five people gathered in the battle park of Celedon City.

As expected the area was large with a lot of trainers around battling or training their Pokemons.

"There are more trainers than I expected, most of them must be here to challenge Erika as I can see a lot of fire and flying-type Pokemons," Misty said looking around.

"You wanted to have a reservation right, Steven?" Aoki asked.

"Yeah but I was late and they no longer take reservations today," Steven said regretfully.

"I don't think that would be a problem, there is plenty of space in the water-type field so trainers would naturally clear the area if the scale of the battle is large," Aoki said.

"That's true"

"Well then Misty, Wallace take your positions. Let's make it one-on-one " Phoebe proposed. Both Misty and Wallace had no problem with that.

"Misty's family runs the Cerulean Gym, right? " Steven asked.

"Yes, In a way it would be a battle between a water-type gym leader and a potential water-type gym leader," Aoki said.

"It should be interesting"

"So Steven, do you specialize in a specific type or have a multi-type team? " Aoki asked even though he knew he knew the answer.

"I specialize in Steel types. My family has a small breeding ground of steel-type Pokemons so I got fascinated by them. And do you specialize in a specific type or use a multi-type team" Steven asked.

"I prefer a multi-type team. If I had to specialize in a type I would choose Grass or Dragon types"

"Now that's an unusual pairing I must say. Is it because of versatility or power?"

"You are here to find out more about me right, why don't you try finding out why. For now, let's focus on the match" Aoki said.

"Moreover we will surely have a full team battle in the future where you will surely get your answer" Aoki added.

"What can I say expect 'as expected of a professor' You are already sure that you are going to be one of the representatives of Kanto huh"

"You can say like that."

********

"This is an official match one on one match between Misty and Wallace with a bet of 5k Pokedollars for winning"

"BEGIN!!"

Phoebe gave the signal for the start of the battle

" Misty !! show me your power as a fellow water pokemon connoisseur !!" Wallace said as he launched a Pokeball in the air in a dramatic manner.

"Sure! Make sure you don't hold back" she replied launching her Pokeball in the air.

~Swaaa !~

~Duckk!~

Two water Pokemons appeared in the water-type field and stared at each other.

They were Wallace's Swampert and Misty's Golduck. Both the Pokemons were equal in master rank energy so the match should be interesting.

Swampert was the final evolution of Mudkip, the water-type royal starter of the Hoen region. It was a Pokemon having dual water and ground type making it immune to a certain degree of electric damage. In the Pokemon games, Swampert was a Pokemon with the highest base stats among all the starters.

This was a Pokemon that Aoki always chose when he started a run of the Hoen region and felt very happy seeing one in front of him.

Both of the Pokemons were very fast swimmers with both having a secondary typing.

The trainers that were training in the water field made some distance to give space for the battle. Another reason was that a pokemon like Swampert in Kanto was very rare so they wanted to see the outcome of the battle.

"Swampert to use Surf "

Wallace made the first move. A large wave formed under Swampert as he moved towards Golduck.

"Golduck ice platform and calm mind "

Golduck jumped out of the water and formed a platform of ice to stand on top of it. By the time Swampert reached Golduck, he had already performed a round of Calm mind.

Just as the large wave of Sulf was about to reach Gulduck, Wallace commanded.

"Swampert use Hammer arm" Swampert burst out of the water with his arms charged with fighting-type energy.

"Golduck use Hypnosis and Psychic "

Golduck's eyes glowed as Swampert momentarily was filled with drowsiness which made him unable to move but the momentum of his arms was still there.

Golduck and Misty knew that so with Psychic Golduck stopped Swampert's movement and immediately used Psybeam to damage Swampert. That attack was enough to cancel the effect of Hypnosis.

Swampert used a strong Hydro pump that could not dodge completely and was pushed away from him.

Swampert again used Hydropump to attack but Golduck used Disable making Swampert unable to use that move for a while.

Swampert closed the distance between them and started using a combination of moves like water pulse, take down, Rock smash, Hammer arm, etc.

Golduck countered back equally with moves like Psychic, and Psybeam. Hydro Pump, Ice beam, etc.

It was found out that Swampert was stronger than Golduck but Golduck was extremely difficult to hit due to his speed and evasiveness.

The battle had attracted quite a bit of attraction as a lot of trainers had gathered to watch the match.

Steven and Phoebe were impressed seeing the battle style of Misty and Golduck. They were making a lot of combination move sets that they had never seen before.

Both Misty and Wallace knew each of the Pokemon's weaknesses and worked on exploiting that part. Golduck was mediocre at physical strength and defense but strong at special attack so Swampert tried to make the battle physical.

While Swampert had high attack and defense but low special defense which Golduck was trying to exploit. Golduck and Misty were making a lot of combos that were effective against Swampert.

" Did she invent that move sets herself? They are very impressive" Phoebe asked.

"Yes, she invented those movements herself," Aoki said. It was true that Misty had new ideas after watching Aoki fight but it was having a battle with him that made those ideas usable in battle.

'Time to switch things up' Wallace decided to reverse the situation from the deadlock.

At the 10-minute mark, Wallace's strategy changed as he started going more aggressive toward Golduck. Till now Misty was playing her cards while reading Wallace's movements but now it was very difficult to read his strategy pattern.

Misty gave a signal for Golduck to use future sight which would be useful later on.

Slowly but surely Golduck was pushed back but still held his ground but it didn't last long as Golduck took quite a bit of damage from Swampert. As he didn't have the move to Recover, it was difficult to hold on.

'I planned to hold this combo for the last but it seems I will lose if this goes on. Fuck it! I will use it.'

Bang!

A large disturbance happened as Swampert's hammer arm and Golduck's Shadow claws clashed.

"Now Golduck use Future Sight and Hypnosis "

Future sight hit Swampert he took damage and clutched his head with pain due to which he took another shadow claw to the face sending him away while Goldcuk dipped down into the water.

"Golduck Shuricane "

Wallace knew something was up and commanded to follow Golduck but the damage from future sight was more than expected as Swampert could not hear Wallace's commands.

Splash!

Swwwzzzz!

The sound similar to turbines reached Wallace's ears as his eyes widened seeing what was up with Golduck.

Golduck had jumped into the air with a large high-speed rotating water shuricane between his arms. It was a combination of water, wind, and psychic energy.

Bang!

Before Wallace could give any command, Swampert was hit by the high-speed Shuricane that Golduck threw at him creating an explosion of water.

Boom!

Swampert crashed into the wall of the pool and took massive damage from the water shuricane.

Golduck watched the water where Swampert crashed with a smirk on his face. He knew very well how strong his move was.

The water around that area froze creating a platform on which Swampert climbed while eyeing Golduck with hostility but the next second he fell on the platform as strength left his body.

"Swampert is unable to battle, Golduck Wins " Phoebe announced while still a bit dazed.

Not only Phoebe but every trainer except Aoki was also a bit surprised to see the last few moments of the battle.

Just when everyone was thought that it was over for Misty, she completely reversed the situation with the last few combos.

Misty called back her Pokemon and came to Aoki to ask how he did.

"You did well, I didn't know you finally completed that move "

"It was amazing right, I wanted to surprise you with that," Misty said.

Although Misty took inspiration from Aoki's rotating energy balls, the outcome turned out to be amazing.

Wallace called back his Pokemon and approached the others.

Clap! Clap!

"Haha ! that was amazing Misty. I am beyond impressed…

I Wallace acknowledge you as a fellow rival and worthy water pokemon connoisseur.

We shall have our rematch in the main event and before that make sure not to lose to anyone "

Wallace declared as he forwarded his hand for a handshake

Earlier he looked down on Misty as he thought that she was just there with Aoki because of his fame and to suck him dry.

But he was wrong, her skills, insight, and planning power were nothing less.

It also made sense that Aoki would not travel with someone who was incompetent.

He had fought a lot of Golduck but it was his first time seeing a Golduck as strong as hers…no a Golduck was used as well as hers.

He has seen quite a lot of Golducks but the way of fighting was not something that can be seen everyday.

'Well we learn new things everyday'

"Sure then. I accept your rivalry. We will have our next match in the main tournament "

Said Misty as she shook hands with Wallace.