Fifth Indigo League Battle Pt. 3

Vali returned to the battlefield after the ten minutes were up. Upon seeing the grassy green field, she smiled a bit though quickly focused on the referee when he called out, "Miss Potter-Black, release your Alolan Raichu."

"I'm forfeiting him," Vali replied with a light smile, "He's fought enough during the last three battles and anyone more would be pushing it,"

The referee nodded to her before looking towards Felix, "Mister Ulyss please release first. Even if she's forfeited a pokemon, you're pokemon fainted before the field changed."

Felix lips dropped into a frown before he pulled out a pokeball and released a Roserade much to Vali's surprise since she hadn't seen much of the species outside of Professor Oak's lab. Vali released Balto without much of a thought making Felix's frown deep and Roserade shrink back a bit though the grass/poison-type seemed to steel itself quickly. Balto let out a soft bark upon his release. Vali spoke causing Balto's ear to flick back to her, "Be quick, Balto. This one is a poison/grass-type, we don't need anything to happen this early on. Elrond managed to take out three of his team meaning we only need to take out this one and two more. So quickly now, we've got two more after it to face."

Balto barked a lot louder this time and wagged his tail happy that one of their pack members was strong enough to take out so many pokemon on their own. He immediately took off while slipping into extreme speed. Roserade set up a Petal Blizzard only for it to go up in flames moments later as Balto used one of his attack though she was unsure which one. Balto became visible for a single moment in order to use a close up Heat Wave followed by an Iron Tail before disappearing once again as Roserade shrieked in pain while lashing out with what looked like Poison Jab. Balto continued to attack like that adding in Double Team fake-outs and changed up his attack patterns to avoid getting hit. It was truly a bad match up for Roserade and it showed when the poison/grass-type fell to Balto's well placed attacks. With a low sigh, Felix returned his pokemon as Balto returned to his position in front of her.

Felix released his next pokemon which ended up being a Dodrio with a scar running across its right eye on the middle head. The Dodrio's feather's fluffed up and it cawed loudly upon seeing Balto. Felix clicked his tongue before calling out, "Dodrio, only you and one of our other friends remain. We cannot play around, my friend."

Dodrio let out a loud cry upon hearing that and looked at Balto with rage upon hearing that it's friends had been harmed by Balto. Without another word, the bird raced forward as a bluish white aura surrounded it. Balto tensed though didn't move until Dodrio got closer then unleashed one of his powerful Flamethrowers before springing over the three headed bird. Upon landing, Balto disappeared among a group of Double Team clones that quickly spread around Dodrio who squawked and began attacking the clones immediately. Flames seared Dodrio's feather's occasionally as Balto attacked from a distance, Dodrio used Tri Attack and Drill Peck to cleave through the clones in an attempt to find her partner.

Felix spoke as the battle continued, "That Arcanine of yours is just as strong as your Raichu, no, stronger."

"As he should be," Vali replied feeling her fire flare in time with Balto's fire-type attacks, "After all, he's the alpha of my pack and while not my starter, my second ever pokemon. He's been with me the longest out of all my pokemon," She watched as Balto managed to pin Dodrio down long enough to use Heatwave up close after a Flame Wheel and followed up with a Fire Fang, "Your Dodrio must've been with you since your first year,"

"You're right," Felix acknowledged with a chuckle, "She's one of my closest and dearest,"

Dodrio dug one of her beaks coated with dark-type energy into Balto's chest making Vali wince as blood visibly leaked out. She felt a little queasy at the sight even knowing Nurse Joy would easily fix that up. Balto let out a bark and replied with a flamethrower causing Dodrio to pull her beak out of the wound. The battle continued with Balto being careful of the birds pokemon's three beaks and claws while Dodrio worked to avoid the fire. It finally ended with Balto managing to knock Dodrio out with Reversal. Felix returned his fallen Dodrio as Balto retreated to her side of the field. Vali spoke softly wishing she could pet her partner, "You did well out there, Balto. Just one more and we're done for the day. Just stick it out for a bit longer, you can do it."

Balto barked softly in reply as Aragorn yipped out some encouragement. Felix chose his next pokemon carefully with a light smile, "You know, I was going to use this one in the final round, but seeing as its unlikely I'll reach it at this rate, what the hell. Join me on the field, Meganium!"

Vali's breath caught in her throat as a Meganium appeared on the field. The beautiful grass-type let out a gentle cry of greeting upon seeing Balto which returned with a soft woof and tail wag. She looked at Felix and asked, "How in the world do you have a Meganium?"

"My mother lived in Johto and started with one," Felix replied with a shrug, "When her partner finally had an egg, she offered me it and I accepted. I've never regretted it even if there are days when I often wondered if perhaps someone else would be better to raise him,"

"Some days are like that," Vali agreed as she bent down to scratch behind Aragorn's ears as the battle began, "Especially now that I have two,"

"Tough," Felix chuckled softly, "You're braver than I ever was in my first year when it came to baby pokemon,"

"Though one isn't so much a baby anymore," Vali smiled down at Aragorn before turning back to the battle at hand as she stood up and called out to Balto, "Balto, you can do it! We're rooting for you!"

Aragorn howled at her side earning a barking howl from Balto as he dipped in and out of Extreme Speed spitting out Flamethrowers at Meganium. Meganium conjured up a cloud of Magical Leaves mixed with Razor Leaf that she used to cover a Petal Blizzard. Balto used Heat Wave to cut through it and slammed into Meganium with Flare Blitz. Meganium slid back with a loud cry of surprised pain as the flames seared its skin. Before it could really react, Balto followed up with Reversal as he fought against the instinctive way his body wanted to lock up after using Flare Blitz as they'd trained to do much to the shock of the crowd. As soon as he could, Balto jumped away and used Morning Sun and Double Team.

Felix spoke as Meganium shook itself and began throwing out Poison Powder clouds that Balto countered with Flamethrower, "You taught him Flare Blitz already?"

"Balto chose it," Vali replied with a shrug, "My pokemon are free to choose a move within their skill range and Balto was ready for it. He isn't a young pup,"

Balto would need to rest awhile after the match though as Flare Blitz wasn't an easy move to recover from and their bullshitting through the recoil wasn't making it any easier. Nurse Joy would likely have some words for her about it not that Professor Oak hadn't already said them. After getting over his shock about the combination of moves, the old man had hit himself for not thinking of it before. Still though, they wouldn't be doing that move again and they'd be working on finishing the match quickly which was proving harder than expected even with their opponent being a Meganium.

Meganium used Reflect to a beautiful degree that Vali was really regretting not thinking of before. And when Light Screen was added into the mix, Meganium was able to keep Balto's attacks from causing enough damage to fully harm him. Meganium forced Balto to spam Heat Wave and Flamethrower to keep from being poisoned all the while it worked on chipping away at her partner. A Sunny Day was used to boost Meganium as much as Balto even as her partner used it to keep up Morning Sun. Meganium unleashed a powerful Solar Beam after Balto finally managed to cut through his barriers with Flame Wheel. Balto barely managed to keep from getting hit by the beam and used Meganium's inability to move in order to attack. When Meganium was able to move, he struck back with Vine Whip though it was weaker than his previous attacks.

Meganium finally fell as Balto used one last Reversal lined with the flames of Flame Wheel. Felix returned his pokemon, "It looks like I lost another Conference, but at the very least we managed to make it further. It was pleasure to battle you, Vali."

"It truly was a pleasure, Felix," Vali replied as she returned Balto with a grin and a soft murmur of praise over his pokeball, "Perhaps we could battle again sometime,"

"I'd like that," Felix replied with a nod.