For The Crown (2/3)

There are many ways to describe Maxie. He's a genius to others; a sociopath to some. It was clear that he had good intentions many years ago, he only wanted to increase land for both humans and Pokemon at the cause of taking the ocean and making destructive earthquakes that ravaged Hoenn till this very day. He made an organization for his nobel cause and what is now Team Magma, are the remains of its former glory. He is no longer the man that he used to be. He's in a state of ruins. He is a Grand General of an inadequate army. An Admiral with a sunken fleet. A productive CEO of a bankrupt company. He was all of them.

He was given a chance to change; from a young Pokemon trainer from Hoenn to the man who gave him and his team an Asylum. He used this newly found life to be a better person. He proved himself to be the successor of a legacy that protects Cinnabar Island - and tonight is the night that would determine if the world is ready to give him a second chance.

With the winds howling through the field; he gazed upon the black trainer. He knows what Yoake is capable of, he knows how strong the Katsuragi bloodline is. The two approached one another and shook each other's hand.

"Your daughter told me many things about you," Yoake said. "A misunderstood leader surrounded by a bunch of yes-men."

Maxie smiled and looked at the boy. "I guess you understood me then."

The two ended the handshake, turned around and walked towards their place on the field as the battle started. Maxie, the fire type specialist of Cinnabar Island against Yoake, the grand trainer of Pallet City

"Zapdos, King!"

"Torkoal, Talonflame!"

Yoake throws in the Legendary Electric and Drill Pokemon while Maxie throws in the Coal and Scorching Pokemon; an interesting duo, especially if one knows the abilities both have. Yoake is aware of this dynamic between Maxie's Pokemon and he has to be very careful about it.

A sun was formed above them, weakening water type moves while boosting Fire-type moves.

"Talonflame. Use Flare Blitz on Zapdos! Torkoal, Protect!"

"Zapdos. Dodge it and use Rain dance! King, Thunder Punch on Talonflame!"

Yoake knows how dangerous Talonflames are. It may have Gale Wings or Flame Body as its abilities but a boosted Flare Blitz because of the sun can knock out his Pokemon, he has to take down that Talon as soon as possible. Talonflame soars higher as it finds the right elevation to give a deadly blow to Zapdos. The ELectric Pokemon immediately flapped its wings as it slowly brought the rain but it was interrupted by Talon. The Scorching Pokemon charged towards Zapdos with a sudden blitz, having little to no time to dodge it. Zapdos immediately fainted and Yoake brought it back to its Pokeball while King jumped and punched the ground with yellow sparks on its fist. Columns of monoliths rise from the ground catching up to Talon. A stone managed to reach Talon with sparks rushing through its body, fainting it in the process.

"Urshifu!"

"Camerupt!"

Both returned their Pokemons on their respective Pokeball and threw in their next Pokemon. Maxie then pressed the Mega stone on his glasses, Mega evolving Camerupt in the process.

The crowd screamed in utter joy as Maxie mega evolved his ace Pokemon. People know how iconic both Maxie and his Camerupt are. Seeing him bringing out his ace and using it on the battle made everyone braced themselves for a tough fight. Yoake was suspicious of why Maxie used his ace sooner than later. He was wary about it since he didn't add Claudine on his current team but he was determined to win since he crafted the team to be super effective and strongly resistant against Fire-types.

"Urshifu. King. Focus on Torkoal, take it down!"

"Camerupt, take this opportunity and use Earthquake! Torkoal, brace yourself."

The Wushu Pokemon ran towards the Coal Pokemon with its arms swirling with blueish liquids. King stomped the ground and made tremors on the battlefield. The two attacked Torkoal and made it faint. Camerupt retaliated by shaking the ground intensely; the two Pokemon wobbled and immediately dug their hands on the ground. King was, however, unlucky as he was struck by the earthquake and fainted.

"King, return. Charizard, continue the battle."

"Torkoal, return. Cinderace, end this at once."

The two were neck-on-neck as both of them only have two Pokemon left under their belt. Yoake throws in Charizard while Maxie throws a bizarre foreign Pokemon. It was a Pokemon like no other, it was like a Lopunny painted in a white and orange scheme while having a body of a hardcore football player. Yoake has never seen nor heard about this Pokemon. This, alongside the rest of their audience, was a shocking revelation; it hyped the crowd as they were curious about this strange Pokemon.

Since Yoake was clueless on what to do against this new Pokemon but since it was a fire-type, Yoake made the decision to use Dynamaxing as soon as possible. G-maxing Urshifu as a means to end the battle. But unbeknownst to him, Leaf knows how dangerous that thing is. She wants to warn him about it because there was little to nothing that she could do as she was far away from the battlefield.

"Let's give the audience the thing that they have been waiting for." Maxie said. Both him and Yoake returned Cinderace and Urshifu to their respective Pokeballs; from their dynamax bracelet, a red glowing light leaves the band and heads to the Pokeball. The Pokeball enlarged and both know exactly what to do after.

The two throw the large Pokeballs behind them and reveal a Gmax version of both Cinderace and Urshifu. The crowd already knows what Urshifu's Gmax form is; they were awed by Cinderace's. The Pokemon's hair was longer and it was standing on top of a large fiery ball.

"Cinderace, use Max Airstream on Urshifu." Maxie shouted. "Camerupt, use Ancient Power on Charizard."

"Urshifu, use G-max Rapid Flow on Cinderace!" Yoake said. "Charizard, use Air Cutter!"

Both G-max Pokemon created an astonishing battle as they used moves that made everyone speechless. A Powerful Hurricane was formed and it immediately headed to Urshifu's. The Wushu Pokemon then swiped the powerful hurricane by a massive scratch; A barrage of scratches attacked Cinderace; The striker Pokemon exploded and was diminished as it fainted from a powerful attack.

Maxie immediately returned Cinderace to its Pokeball. He knows that his loss is inevitable but instead of seceding, he continued and gave it one last shot. He knows his flaws in double battles but at least he managed to hold on that long. Charizard flapped its wings as a gust formed and was blowing away Camerupt. The Eruption Pokemon held on; it created stones from its volcano-like structure on its back and launched it towards Charizard.

"Urshifu, Use G-max Rapid Flow on Camerupt."

Urshifu swiped its paws once more and Camerupt felt the scratches of a thousand Pokemon - all in a span of a few seconds. It fainted and fell to the ground.

Their battle finally ended with Yoake's victory; Urshifu returned to its original size and was brought back to its Pokeball alongside Charizard. Maxie accepted his easy defeat and headed to the trainer to give him a handshake.

"I can tell you and your Pokemon are wise." He smiled. "Use your knowledge for the greater good mister Katsuragi. Good luck in Round 2."

The two part-ways as they end the first round, earlier than expected. Round 1 ended with: Brock, Ellix, Sabrina and Yoake drawing the victory. They were given a short break so that they could refreshen out after the stressful battle earlier. All four of them headed to their break room so that they could drink some water and relax.

Meanwhile, in the VP room, Leaf was drinking champagne as she watched Karen talking to the Prime Minister. She was itching to know about what Karen meant earlier; she wants to know where Red and Blue are. While she was looking at the champion, a man approached her and started a conversation.

"You must be Leaf." A young man's voice said. Leaf turned and looked at the man. He has light blue steel hair and eye color; he also wears a striking gray suit with a golden tie. Leaf easily recognized the person and it was none other than Steven Stone.

"and you are Steven Stone, son of the famous Joseph Stone. So, how's rock collecting?" said Leaf. Steven chuckled after hearing her tease him about his hobby.

"The rock collecting hobby is just an excuse for me to not lead the company." Steven chuckled.

"Ahh Mister Stone, always running away from his duties." Leaf teased him once more.

"Shall we have some drinks then?" Steven offered it to Leaf. Since this is the only night where she could be carefree, she decided to accept his offer.

"Sure," she said. The two went to the counter and continued their conversations over there. They shared some laughs and revelations to one another. Karen saw this and felt some proudness as she saw Leaf enjoying herself.

-

Round 2 began and the first battle was between Brock and Ellix. It was a ferocious battle as every single second of it was more intense than the last. In the end, Ellix won since he managed to outplay every attack of Brock's Pokemon. The next battle was between Sabrina and Yoake; the two haven't met each other for a long time but the wounds are still there.

-

Just like Maxie, Sabrina has an extensive history of being misunderstood by the public. She was hated among the public because of her cold hearted nature. She is considered as the Iron Maiden but in reality - this iron maiden is the softest and kindest specialist. People often think that Misty and Erika are the kindest specialists but they were nowhere close to the kindness that Sabrina offers. She cares for her Pokemon, her goons and Ren. She even outright banned the use of Mega Evolution to any of her and her goon's Pokemons; she knows how dangerous Mega Evolution is to the Pokemon. It tortures and harms the innocent creature.

She only created this facade of a cold hearted jerk because of her traumatic childhood. It was unknown how she gained her powers but her parents immediately abused her powers for wealth and political power; turning Sabrina into their personal slave. Her family barely treated her nor cared for her; her Pokemon was the only thing that gave her humanity but it was thrown away as they thought that it was a distraction for her. She ran away until she met a man by the name of Giovanni; she joined him since he offered her protection and showed himself as a Pokemon caretaker. It took a long time for her to realize that she was Giovanni's pawn. He pretended and lied to her for years until 6 years ago; when Team Rocket disbanded, she went to a different path and befriended Ren. The two recreated Team Rocket once more but instead of abusing Pokemon, they protect them.

She has already compensated for her past sins, from asking forgiveness to Erika, Leaf and Claudine; She always wanted to apologize to Yoake but since he always avoids her; she has to wait for the perfect time and tonight is the opportunity that she has to take.

The two trainers approach each other on the field - both are gazing upon each other; never losing a single sight to one another. This continued on until both arms reached.

"I know that a month has already passed but, it is my sincerest condolences to the loss of your family." Sabrina told the trainer. Yoake was stunned to hear Sabrina in a sincere voice. It felt like it was a different person. He often hated her but this changed his views towards her.

"I see." Yoake muttered. He wanted to be as professional as possible so he made a poker face and offered his hand for a handshake. Sabrina shook his hand and the two separated, heading to their place on the battlefield so that the battle could start.

"Claudine, Urshifu. Let's go!"

"Meowstic, Bronzong."

The two throw in their Pokemon; all of which are very familiar to their audience. Yoake realized that Sabrina's first duo is an interesting one. He knows Meowstic has the ability 'prankster' and adds the fact that Bronzong is with it; Trick Room then Gyro ball would be an issue. He made a mistake on his opening so he decided to immediately switch.

"Claudine, Urshifu. Return!" Yoake said as he brought the two back to their Pokeballs and threw in the next duo. "Zapdos, Charizard. Hold on!"

"Meowstic, use Trick Room." Sabrina told her Pokemon. The constrained Pokemon's hands glow as it trapped the four pokemon into a box-like grid.

"Bronzong, use Gyro Ball on Charizard." she continued. The Bronze bell Pokemon begins to spin rapidly and immediately charges towards Charizard.

"Charizard. parry it!" Yoake advised the Flame Pokemon. It nodded as it saw Bronzong heads towards him at an accelerating rate. Both Pokemon collide and Charizard is doing its best to stop Bronzong but he is overpowered as the Bronze Bell Pokemon hits his stomach and knocks him back.

"Meowstic. Use Light Screen." She said, "Bronzong, use Gyro Ball once more."

"Zapdos, use Drill Peck on Meowstic." He said. "Charizard, Flamethrower on Bronzong."

Meoswtic created a barrier and Bronzong began to spin once more. Zapdos flies above as it heads towards Meowstic while Charizard prepares its stance as it waits for Bronzong to get close. As Bronzong gets nearer to Charizard; the flame Pokemon immediately huffed a massive flame towards the spinning Pokemon and it creates a scenery as if a Meteorite entering the Earth's atmosphere. Bronzong was slowly getting burned by Charizard's flamethrower but it continued to penetrate the bursting flames and landed a hit; Zapdos charged towards Meowstic with its beak pointing towards it. The constrained Pokemon tried to stop it but the electric pokemon was too strong and struck a hit; fainting Meowstic as the result.

"Meowstic, you did a great job. Return and take some rest." Sabrina softly whispers to the Pokeball as she returns Meowstic to its Pokeball. She puts the Pokeball back to her belt and takes another one.

"Alakazam, continue the fight." She said as she throws Alakazam, her ace, as the next Pokemon. "Bronzong, use Gyro Ball at Charizard"

"Charizard, return!" Yoake said as he returns Charizard to its Pokeball and throws in the next one. "Urshifu, continue the battle."

"Zapdos, use Drill Peck on Alakazam." He continued.

The electric Pokemon immediately flew above once more as it accelerated itself so that its attack was stronger than before. Bronzong spins itself and attacks Urshifu; the wushu Pokemon parries it with its paws - trying to halt it. He held on until Bronzong played dirty by using Psychic to slowly lifting Urshifu's paws and managed to land a hit.

"Alakazam, protect. Bronzong, use Psychic at Urshifu."

"Urshifu, use Surging strikes at Bronzong."

As Zapdos was about to land a hit at Alakazam; the Psi Pokemon immediately created a barrier to protect itself, thus avoiding Zapdos' dangerous attack. Bronzong, on the other hand, created a ball of concentrated psychokinetic powers and flung it at Urshifu. Instead of blocking or dodging it, Urshifu ran towards it and chopped it like it was nothing. It headed to Bronzong and delivered 4 deadly strikes and finally fainting the Pokemon that has been problematic to Yoake.

Sabrina returned Bronzong to its pokeball and appreciated that it lasted throughout the entire battle. She sighed as she knows that she is one Pokemon away from losing; she then throws the next Pokemon, a familiar Pokemon to everyone, Hatterene.

"Hatterene, use Dazzling Gleam." She said as she returned Alakazam to its Pokeball and activated her dynamax band. The Pokeball becomes larger and she throws it. This was surprising, even for Yoake since he knows that a G-max Hatterene is better than a D-max Alakazam.

"Alakazam, use Max Starfall." She continued.

"Zapdos, use Drill Peck at Hatterene. Urshifu, use Surging strikes at Alakazam." Yoake stated.

Zapdos flew towards Hatterene while Urshifu charged to Alakazam. As Zapdos was about to hit Hatterene; The Silent Pokemon stopped him and Urshifu by the use of telekinesis and released a shimmering blinding light at the two. The box-like grid slowly fades away as trick room's effect on the battle is gone, a perfect time for Alakazam as both of his targets are immobilized. Yoake didn't expect this, he knows the trick room should be longer than this, unless there's something that stopped it. He looked at Hatterene as he was suspicious about the Pokemon.

Massive stars from the sky fell to the ground and hit both Zapdos and Urshifu; fainting the two in the process.

"Zapdos, Urshifu, Return." He said as he brought the two back to their Pokeball and threw in his last two Pokemon, Claudine and Charizard.

As soon as he threw in the two, he immediately returned Charizard and activated his Dynamax bracelet. He throws the enlarged Pokeball and releases the Dynamax form of Charizard.

"Claudine. Shadow Ball at Hatterene. Charizard, use Max Flare."

"Hatterene, use Shadow Ball as well. Alakazam, use Max Mindstorm."

Alakazam created large circles being broadcast from its forehead and pointed it at Charizard. The Dynamaxed Flare Pokemon immediately retaliated with a powerful flamethrower coming out of its mouth. Both Max moves hit each other, creating a push-of-war between the two. The strongest one would prevail. This made the audience speechless as they have never seen such beauty in a dangerous battle.

Meanwhile, Claudine made a shadowy ball and threw it at Hatterne. The Silent Pokemon stopped it with its telekinesis and threw it off like it was nothing. Claudine created another one and threw it, but like earlier, Hatterene caught it and discarded it. Realizing that using her range powers is useless against Hatterene, Claudine created a sword from her hand and prepared herself. Yoake was caught off-guard by Claudine's sudden change of fighting-style; knowing that if he continues to instruct her - battle bond would be activated - which is something he's desperately trying to avoid. Hatterene created her own Shadow Ball and threw it at Claudine. The embrace Pokemon sliced it in half and turned the divided ball into two new ones and made it orbit around them at an accelerating rate.

Claudine charged with her sword ready to pierce Hatterene but the silent Pokemon parries it with its whip-like hair. She raises her sword and tries to attack her at the side but Hatterene slides to avoid it without even changing her spot. She then created another sword from her left arm and swung it at Hatterene. She withdraws her right sword and uses her left to attack her head but the silent Pokemon stops it with her telekinesis power. Both are trying to push one another but Sabrina realized that Hatterene fell into a trap.

"Hatterene, get out of there." Sabrina alerted her Pokemon. Hatterene was distracted by her trainer's voice, losing her concentration and making her telekinesis weaker. Claudine immediately took this opportunity as she lifts her sword, uses the momentum from their tug of war, turns around and attacks Hatterene; but instead of using her blade, she used her handle to deliver a punch at Hatterene's face; the silent Pokemon was wobbling because of this and the embrace Pokemon pushed her with her telekinesis powers. As the Silent Pokemon was about to attack once more, she was interrupted as she was struck by the two Shadow Balls that were evolving around them.

Hatterene fainted and Sabrina immediately brought her back to her Pokeball as she waited for Alakazam to retaliate. The Psi Pokemon was too busy fighting Charizard and Claudine immediately attacked it with a shadow ball; fainting it as a result.

An explosion occurs and Alakazam shrunk to its original size; Sabrina returned Alakazam to its Pokeball so it could rest. The crowd cheered once more as they saw Yoake being the victor. Sabrina giggled as she walked towards Yoake, who was also bringing back his Pokemon to their Pokeball.

"Not bad. You've come a long way since our first battle.." Sabrina complimented him with a sincere voice.

"Yeah." Yoake said.

"Listen, I want to say… sorry for everything I did to you, and I was hoping that you could forgive me…" Sabrina apologized to the trainer. Yoake giggled as he gives his hand to offer a handshake once more.

"It's been a month now, the scars are already healed. What was left is something we should learn about. Come on, I've already forgiven you when you battled me." Yoake stated.

They looked at each other as if there was assurance in their minds that the future is bright; there may be abundance of darkness but there will always be a sparkling light that will reach upon you.

-

"Now that's what I call a battle." Jinku stated in utter excitement.

"You bet. When that Gardevoir made a sword and attacked Hatterene, I was so shocked." Jessica responded.

"And here I thought only Gallades can only hold swords."

"Oh well. It is getting late now. So, what are the results for tonight's show?"

"We finished Round 1 with Brock, Ellix, Sabrina and Yoake as the winners. Then Round 2 with Ellix and Yoake as the victors for tonight."

"We will be continuing this tomorrow, right?"

"Of course. This is a two-day event after all."

"Ohhh. What are your predictions tomorrow?"

"I don't know but all I can say is, I'm excited for tomorrow's battle."

"Well. Thanks everyone for tuning and we will see you all tomorrow."

"Good night. Kanto!" The two casters synchronously said as they ended the live broadcast.

-

A/N: Hello everyone. Author here. Sorry for the late upload. But don't worry, the next chapter will still be released on Thursday. I also got some good news. I've recently created a discord server so that you could get the latest update from me since I don't have twitter. I will be updating the Important Note chapter and you'll find it there. Thanks for reading and see you there!