PVP

An: sorry for the late post. I hope you enjoy this chapter. As always, tell me what you think and if you have any ideas, feel free to put them in the chapter comments. until tomorrow, peace out!

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Rex came to a halt when he disappeared from the public's view. He looked at his shaking hand and smiled. "That was a good fight; I almost lost that last one." He mumbled excitedly.

[Although it doesn't look that way, you are correct. Infernape's galefuse was continuously stacking power with every attack he launched. If you hadn't ended it when you did, you would have been forced to show another Pokémon.]

"Right, although I have Machamp, Steelix, Mordred and Gyarados, I can't use them in public too often. They're simply too abnormal. Not to mention too strong. I can only assume how much of a ruckus Scizor alone has already caused in the media."

[Correct, exposing Legacy pokemon would be problematic, even if they are simply in their base forms, too many people are watching the league. We don't really want unnecessary attention. Sticking to Scizor and Victreebel would be your best bet. Although they are different, you can chalk it up to evolution pathways.

However, I suspect we might have to use a legacy against the champion.] Gaia said suddenly. Rex's eyebrows rose in surprise before recalling who was the current champion. He involuntarily shook as a look of anticipation crept upon his expression.

"Oh, I can only hope so…"

The noise had not stopped in the stadium, even after Rex left. The battle was simply too stimulating; they had never seen a match like that before. Scattered amidst luxurious rooms sat several people, quietly gazing at the exit Rex had walked out from with pensive expressions.

Karlo stroked the head of his ace Noivern who was sleeping peacefully. Seemingly unaffected by the battle that had just transpired.

"This kid," he mumbled, cupping his chin with his other hand, "I wonder, a new black horse? Two of them? Gerard, anything you can tell me?"

An older man stepped forward; his slick black suit and white gloves held a tablet with statistics and data.

"Sadly, I regret to inform you, sir, that there is no new information I could glean from our sources. He seems to be from Kalos, but no one has ever heard of or seen him before. As for his Pokémon, it's even more strange; there are no records of such a being anywhere."

Karlos waved his hand dismissively, "I wouldn't expect anything less from a cautious man," he proclaimed.

"You mean…" Gerard frowned, "that he is hiding something?"

"Humph!" Karlos scoffed, the hand stroking Noivern halted and instead motioned towards the glass half full with whiskey, "if he's from Kalos, but no one knows him, then he must be backed by some powerful player, Lysandre maybe. That old bastard has begun planning something recently. That would mean this kid is simply a disposable pawn only here to test out a new experiment, aka this Scizor... ah, whatever, when I crush him, I'll get the information I need. Isn't that right, Noi?"

Noivern's eyes had opened at some point, shifting towards the exit Rex had left from. His eyes flashed a hint of playfulness, like a tiger with a new toy.

"Tell me about this Harry. His Infernape almost won that battle," Karlos said, a glint of understanding flickered through his eyes, "what can you tell me about him?"

Gerard flashed a happy smile, "I am happy to inform you we have gathered a rather substantial amount of information on him. in contrast to this illusive Rex, this Harry person doesn't seem to be versed in technology-"

"So, he's a country bumpkin?" Karlos interjected, a hint of disdain lacing his words.

Gerard nodded, "correct, he's from the Rashtal tribe, but he was exiled from the tribe after he left. We do not know the specifics, but we know he's alone. Oh, right, he has a brother, that kid who shouted in support. As for that Infernape, All the data leads me to this conclusion, the transformation between the trainer and pokemon is slightly different, but the staff was made of aura. It's just so solid it looked real."

"Meaning… what exactly?" Karlos said impatiently.

"Meaning, it seems to exhibit something similar to the bond phenomenon from back home."

Karlos suddenly halted his hand, hovering the drink a few centimetres from his mouth at his words. He turned to Gerard for confirmation before looking at Noivern in passing as his gaze again fixed itself on the stadium being repaired. Yet the momentary flash of greed in his eyes could not escape the sharp eyes of Gerard.

"Interesting, it seems you will have a lot of new toys to play with Noi…"

Gerard looked at the massive beast taking up half of the floor space of the 30-meter room with fearful eyes. 'The last shadow... master has been raising this Pokémon since he was a child. After their loss, they disappeared from the family for a long time. They only recently returned, but they seem darker somehow, sinister even.'

Harry walked down the long corridor; the shadows at every corner grew, stretching their claws towards him. He replayed the fight repeatedly, trying to figure out what more he could have done. Should he have chosen Infernape second instead of Charizard?

"Brother!" a slightly childish voice yelled, the sound of which bounced off the metal walls like a rubber ball as they made their way into his ears, awakening him from his thoughts.

He looked to see the same boy who had been cheering for him.

They silently stared at each other.

"…Sorry, haha, it seems I lost after all…" Harry spoke first, rubbing the back of his head, a forced smile on his face so wide it made him squint.

"You don't have to pretend with me, big bro." the seriousness the little boy expressed didn't match the childish face he wore.

But tears began to seep through the slits of his eyes as his smile began to twitch heavily.

"I made them suffer unnecessarily haha. Aren't I just the wORST?" Harry continued to smile and laugh, yet his voice began to crack at the end as he choked down his surging emotions.