A seed

An: Fuck me, it took so long to make this one. I wasn't really happy with how it finished, so I struggled to find something acceptable. I felt likes it was lacking somehow. Anway, tell me what you think. Extra long chapter for you as recompense. Enjoy, see you tomorrow.

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Rex smiled slightly at the incoming attack; he looked down at his clenched fist and reminisced about the feeling of adrenaline pumping through his veins like a drug once more. His eyes dilated, and he could hear the sound of his own breathing over the drumming of his heart slamming against its cage.

"Scizor protect, then use swords dance!" He commanded, slashing his hand across the air.

A translucent shield instantly coalesced the moment Rex's words fell, leaving no time or gap to exploit.

[Look at that reaction speed! And for the first time in this match, Rex and his powerful scizor have been forced to go onto the defensive. Will galefuse be able to break through?] James yelled excitedly, his voice galvanising the audience as their bodies inched forward.

Harry scoffed at his words, his confidence almost palpable. And as if to prove that point, the wave of fire collided with the shield before exploding into a cloud of fireworks. Sparks streaked across the surface, causing it to flash yellow lights before shattering like glass.

The wave didn't stop but almost seemed to rewind. The fire that had expanded past the shield rushed back from all directions and crashed into Scizor before exploding a second time.

BOOM!

A mushroom cloud instantly swallowed the scarred battlefield.

WHOOSH

Near Harry, the smoke was torn apart to reveal Infernape, still spinning his staff violently around itself. The power of the move seemed to somehow increase.

"The infinite loop of motion, using momentum combined with the opponent's moves to increase the power. It seems this has come to an end." Harry said, his eyes closed again, a look of relief mixed in with slight disappointment starting to surface.

"Pffft!" a peel of laughter suddenly captured everyone's attention. The smoke cleared to reveal the result, one that shocked everyone speechless. Scizor stood there, missing an arm and half of his chest, but that wasn't what everyone was focused on. Instead, it was the fact that he was slowly disappearing- fading.

"You have already been caught in my illusion," Rex said, grinning sinisterly. Harry frowned, his eyes again open, staring at the fading scizor. Suddenly his face contorted, twisting as his mouth opened to shout, yet it was too late to do so.

"Scizor, War series- thunder cluster- million kick ascension," his words sounded like sentencing as they fell upon the dumbstruck audience. Because in front of them, hundreds if not thousands of Scizors surrounded Infernape from all sides. Like soldiers, they silently stood, fire burning at their backs as the engines roared with the power of a million horses.

"He's fucked…" an old man said with a sigh as he stared at the screen in front of him. His white moustache and bald head reflected the fiery light behind him. Beside stood a shaking arcanine who seemed to be experiencing a severe case of PTSD as he gazed at the object of his nightmares for the past several months.

"That kid's grown monstrously, and here I was thinking of having a rematch, heh!" He smiled joyfully as he stared at the young man on the screen. "You must show me more, kid. Don't let me down!"

Like a mirage, they all moved, becoming shadows, a cloud, obscuring the very light shining down from above, plunging Infernape into darkness.

"Destroy them ALL!!!" Harry yelled, swinging his hand down.

ROAAR!!

An angry cry rang out as the two forces collided. Staff against scythe, metal against metal, the grating sound of screeching, deafening the audience. Yet their eyes stayed forever glued to the battle, unable to look away.

Like a ghost, Infernape weaved between the countless rocket-propelled opponents, swinging his staff with increased fury, sending them flying into others. Yet, like a machine, more and more filtered through, landing hit after hit, although mostly parried, the slight damage they caused stacked when done by hundreds. Of course, it didn't help that they were incredibly fast.

Kick after kick, like bullets from a rifle, landed on Infernape's body. Unable to hold on, he was thrown around like a pinball machine.

"Here it comes…" Rex said with a knowing smirk.

A tornado began to form from Scizors. They revolved in a clockwise direction, with infernape's body kicked along towards the top. There, a single Scizor awaited like an angel of death, floating for a moment before falling down. Then, letting gravity take control, he extended a single leg out. Like a meteor, the momentum caused the air to burn around him.

CRUNCH!

Time seemed to slow down before everyone, their eyes wide open, afraid of accidentally blinking and missing it. Only the sound of bones shattering echoed alongside the sizzling of the air as the kick landed squarely on Infernape's chest.

BOOOM!

The ground cracked, chunks of earth rose like mountains and a crater decorated the centre, where two Pokémon lay.

There was silence as everyone observed the final result. Some had long stood up, unable to contain the emotions within them. All ears were focused on one sentence they DID but also DIDN'T want to hear. For they had cheered so hard, wishing for an upset.

Tap Tap Tap

The referee carefully traversed the mountainous battlefield and approximated himself to the two. He carefully observed Scizor, who was silent as he looked down.

"AH!" He yelped, jumping back a meter in shock. He quickly looked down at his arm to find a shallow gash there. He looked back up at scizor with a horrified expression, eyes shaking, 'he cut me just by being close. What type of monster is this?' he thought before forcing him to look away. He turned to the pokemon lying motionless and sighed.

"Infernape is unable to battle," he raised his right hand, "Scizor is the winner. Match -REX!" He yelled loudly, his hand falling towards Rex.

BOOM!

The stadium exploded, rumbling with noise, so much so that it hurt the referee, causing him to instinctively cover his ears. He turned to look at Rex, only to be dumbfounded. The latter stood there, smiling, relaxed as if enjoying the moment. A feeling of bliss emanated from his very being. Even the referee felt better due to it.

[A-And there we have it, folks, a groundbreaking battle for the history books. A new trainer, with a new-looking Scizor, stomping his way through his first match, has appeared. This year seems to be full of monsters.] James said.

{I agree; this is going to be an exciting year. That final battle was enlightening. Power-wise, they seemed to be evenly matched, if not slightly tilted towards Infernape. Yet, speed and moves-wise, Scizor outclassed Infernape in every sense. Absolutely majestic. Congratulations, Rex Pierce.} Elesa said, turning to look at Rex.

The latter also looked at the former before bowing, and then he turned to the audience and bowed to them.

"Thank you for watching my match. It is my honour to be here."

His words turned a lot of haters into instant fans. Of course, it helped that his face and charm were on another level. Still, it seems his humble attitude also improved his image.

Rex turned to Harry, who was silently watching him and smiled.

"You did amazing Harry," Rex said, walking over to the latter ad extending a hand. This surprised many of the audience as they didn't expect the previously arrogant Rex to show such sportsmanship so suddenly. This made many question whether he was simply performing during the match, instantly attracting many more people.

"Please, it was hardly a fight," Harry said with a relaxed and modest smile, which surprised Rex this time.

"I mean it," he insisted, "you did the most with what you had. Your infernape was actually more powerful, just slower, that's all. Not to mention, as someone who loves to create moves, I admire your creativity. Galefuse, huh, well done. I'm sure I will see you again," Rex said, winking insinuatingly.

Harry's brows furrowed at the last part, unable to discern what he exactly meant. But he cast it to the back of his mind soon after, "thank you, I look forward to battling you some other time. Good luck with your next match- never mind, who am I kidding."

Harry tapped Rex's shoulder with a smile and walked back through the hallway he came out of. All the while waving at the audience, thanking them for their support.

Rex took one last look at the stadium and smiled before leaving through his corridor. The audience gazed at his back, expectation beginning to grow, the image of an unbeatable king, a seed not yet sprouting, yet already planted.