Starting a rivalry -2 

The match was interesting for Steven.

Unlike Wallace who looked down on Misty, he knew that she would be a formidable opponent.

Steven was two years older than Aoki and had his first Pokemon when he was 10.

All these years he has fought countless battles and has gained the ability to identify rookie mistakes.

The way Misty fought was like a veteran who has very little to no rookie mistakes.

'Even then, I don't think Wallace would lose even if she brought out all her cards' Steven thought. He knew exactly how much his friend was capable of.

The experience was a very important factor in deciding the outcome of a Pokemon battle.

On record, she should have started her journey not long ago.

Excluding the fact that she might have owned her Pokemon before starting, her cooperation with her Pokemon was impressive.

But she had flaws too.

Unlike Swampert who made a lot of independent commands, Golduck was almost completely dependent on Misty.

Unless the Pokemon didn't start making the best decisions and at the same time listens to the trainer's commands, Misty can't reach the level of elite four or higher.

Aoki knew this flaw too for which he made Misty fight mock battles with him.

She was trying to copy Aoki to become strong but that method would stop working for her soon.

Every great has something called originality that had made them stronger.

Unless Misty finds that originality in herself and in her Pokemon, she cannot become an elite trainer.

Aoki would never teach her that, she had to find that herself.

She might even defeat Wallace if it's one-on-one but when the situation of a team battle arises, her chances are slim.

Commanding a Pokemon's every move is very taxing and literally impossible to command six Pokemon's every move while keeping an eye on the enemy.

Steven had his eyes on some of the contestants in this tournament that included Cynthia from Sinnoh, Iris from Unova, Diantha from Kalos, and Gary Oak from Kanto.

There were some gym leaders among the participants too but Steven was confident to sweep through them.

All these were based on the recorded data on the league database and their background. But after coming to Kanto he forgot about Gary who was Professor Oak's grandson and focused on Aoki who was more interesting.

Although most of his team comprised Pokemon that are not too rare, his license as an elite trainer held a lot of value.

He had a record of beating 7 gyms without losing a single Pokemon which was nothing less than extraordinary.

Standing before the rock-type field, Steven was excited to see what Aoki does.

*******

"Ready ?! "

"Start! " Phoebe announced the match.

Steven sent out his Pokemon first and after seeing his Pokemon, Aoki sent out his.

~Skaaaarmory ~

~Pidgeeee~

A 2m tall silver Skarmory and a large golden Pidgeot appeared on the field and immediately took to the sky.

Both the Pokemon were in elite rank.

Steven's eyes widened seeing the size and color of the Pidgeot.

Steven only knew about the rank of his Pokemon as he assessed them regularly but didn't know about Pidgeot, based on appearance it could not be weaker than his Pokemon.

'A totem Pidgeot !! that size is insane!''

The trainers gave the same reaction of shock too.

Steven had chosen Skarmory due to it having very high defense while Aoki chose Pidgeot due to her being the fastest Pokemon in his party.

"Skarmory iron defense "

Skarmory's body shined as he started increasing his already high defense.

"Pidgeot, use agility " Aoki commanded as a cloak of dark aura wrapped around Pidgeot increasing his powers.

Pidgeot who had tailwind active used agility to increase his already.

"Skarmory use Air cutter "

Steven's Pokemon moved his wings in a specific pattern and sent out slashes of winds but Pidgeot used her version of air cutter that was so strong that Skarmory's air cutter hit him all over his body.

Steven was shocked again seeing the attack of Pidgeot. "Skarmory use wing attack and Slash"

Clang! Clang!

Both the Pokemons began a match of close combat and it was immediately clear that Pidgeot was leagues above Skarmory in that aspect.

The steel coating and application of Pidgeot were so strong that Skarmory felt as if he was fighting a steel-type Pokemon.

The battle went on for a solid ten minutes with Scarmory accumulating injuries while Pidgeot appeared to be unharmed.

"Time to end it, Pidgeot use Hyper beam " Aoki commanded.

"Skarmory dodge and use Protect " Steven commanded.

"No matter what Steven does now, it would be useless," Misty said which was heard by Wallace and Phoebe.

"What are you talking about, there is no way Ste–" Before Wallace could complete his sentence, the lights seems to have been dull for a moment before everyone's vision got filled with a bright light.

Boom!

A loud explosion rang out as Pidgeot's hyper beam struck Skarmory as he crashed into the ground creating a crater.

The power behind the Hyper beam was so overwhelming that Skarmy didn't even get a chance to retaliate. His screen of Protect was broken down like paper.

Pidgeot didn't use her full power in that attack or else it would have killed Skarmory, her attack directly made Skarmory faint.

Pidgeot flew away from the battlefield and stood beside Aoki as if asking how was the performance.

Aoki patted her feathers and appreciated her great work.

"This…." Steven was speechless.

The power of the Pidgeot was beyond what he had ever seen.

The Pokemon that he was so proud of couldn't even last 15 minutes moreover Aoki didn't even use a Pokemon that had a type advantage over his Pokemon.

Wallace and Phoebe were shocked too. Especially Phoebe whose cheerful expression turned serious seeing the outcome of the battle.

Never had they seen a Pidgeot fight so fiercely.

While a lot of Skarmory's attacks were missed, every single attack of Pidgeot connected.

Although both of them were at elite rank, Pidgeot's attacks appeared to be on a whole new level than Skarmory's.

Unlike Misty, Aoki and Pidgeot had perfect harmony.

Pidgeot used the move that was most favorable to him at the moment as well as did what Aoki asked to gain the match in her favor.

This is what an elite trainer should be like.