24-28

The New Normal – 2-13 – Interlude – Walker

Walker was exceedingly worried when he heard the announcement of a show match between John and Drake. Though he had never met Drake, he certainly knew him by reputation as a strong Dragon Trainer with a very foul mouth. Truthfully, he had no idea why Drake wasn't Champion, as he certainly was strong enough to fulfil that role.

But it was this strength and reputation that worried Walker. As soon as he saw that a match had been announced between John and Drake, Walker was very quick to pick up on the political implications of this battle. If Drake won, which Walker and the rest of the public would expect, then John's reputation wouldn't really be harmed since Drake was known to be so strong unless John was utterly defeated.

However, if John won, then that would upset the status quo within the Indigo League. At the moment, despite John's recent successes in making a deal with Devon Corp, his fighting prowess was still untested and unproven. Many, though far fewer than there were at the beginning, were still curiously wondering if John was even deserving of his title in the Elite Four.

Now, Walker wasn't a mean person, but he recognized that he still had to look after his own self-interest at times to maintain his position in the Elite Four. The scrutiny facing John was a welcome thing for him because it distracted the public away from scrutinising HIS own strength. Oh, he certainly wasn't as weak as the public were made to believe, but he knew that he was no match for Lance or Agatha, and maybe even John.

So, deep in his heart, Walker regretfully admitted that he was rooting for Drake to completely dominate John. That would be in both his and Pryce's best interest, even if Pryce hadn't realised it yet, and Walker had long since aligned himself alongside Pryce. He previously figured that it was the best way to keep his position, though he was starting to increasingly regret that decision with Pryce's recent actions against John. However, no matter how disgusted he was about agreeing Pryce's recent decision to John's side-lining to Hoenn, he would still stand by Pryce. It was necessary for him to do so.

He knew that Lance was angling himself to recruit John as an ally, and from his first impression of John, Walker observed that John had an instinctive dislike of Pryce that he lacked towards Lance. Walker had tried to befriend John when they had first met in hopes of pulling him towards Pryce's camp indirectly, but John was sent away to Hoenn before he could really establish a connection with him. If John really did ally himself with Lance in the future, that would inevitably mean that he and John would become enemies as Lance would undoubtedly pit himself against Pryce.

Walker wasn't liking his own chances of staying in the Elite Four if Pryce and Lance came to blows. He was certain that whoever won would result in a lot of political upheaval, as the winner inevitably decides to clean house and replace many of the loser's previous supporters with their own within the League. And Walker wasn't certain that he would survive the fallout of a Lance victory.

Truthfully, Walker was not fond of making enemies, and would much rather have everyone just get along and be friends. However, the reality of politics dictated that you had to make enemies if you wanted to remain in power, and Walker was forced to slowly discard his ideals over time, though at least he tried to keep up his friendly façade. Perhaps that was the reason why he was labelled as being overly sycophantic and weak, at least for a member of the Elite Four.

Some days, the vitriol against him got so bad that many believed he was undeserving to remain in the Elite Four! That wasn't true of course, as he had fended off several challengers over the years during his time in the Elite Four.

Who knew that 6 Flying types would be extraordinarily annoying to defeat if you didn't have the right Pokémon for it?

There were a few close calls, but after a while many people just stopped challenging him. He didn't understand why, and he suspected Pryce had something to do with it, but he kept his mouth shut and pretended to not know what was going on. And so long as Pryce continued to support him politically, he knew that his position was safe outside of him losing a direct challenge for his position.

This was why Walker's eyes were nervously glued to the screen as it became time for John's match against Drake. For Pryce's sake, and his own, he hoped that John would lose. He once again felt a pang of guilt for rooting against his fellow Elite Four member, but that was the cost of politics.

The New Normal – 2-15 – Here be Dragons

"AND WITH THAT DOUBLE KNOCKOUT, WHICH POKEMON WILL OUR TRAINERS BE SENDING OUT NEXT?!" The announcer boomed out, "LET'S COUNT THEM DOWN NOW!...THREE!"

As I distractedly listened to the countdown, I quickly contemplated which Pokémon I would be sending out next.

With Blastoise already knocked out, that gave me the reassurance I needed to send out my Pidgeot, Zephyr. Also, I was still fairly certain that Drake would leave his biggest threats for the latter half of the match, since I had noted down that he had done so in many of his previous matches.

"TWO!" Thus, I knew that I had to also retain my own big boys to counter his. And since I was keeping my Clefable, Luna, as insurance in case something goes wrong, that really means that realistically I had only one choice here. I sighed internally as I thought that I really needed to catch a few more powerful Normal types in the future. At least Pixel was training hard.

"ONE!" No longer hesitating, I threw out Zephyr's Premier Ball and released him, with Drake doing the same.

Two white glows appeared onto the arena momentarily before it disappeared to reveal my Pidgeot and Drake's Altaria, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed that the harsh sunlight was instantly receding to become milder.

Zephyr let out a confident screech as it faced down against Drake's Altaria, and I had to fight down a smirk of my own. To Zephyr, other Flying types were simply its prey. And he was their predator.

"OH, WHAT A COINCIDENCE! BOTH TRAINERS HAVE SENT OUT THEIR FLYING TYPE POKEMON? ARE WE GOING TO SEE A BATTLE IN THE SKY-"

"IN THE AIR, ZEPHYR!" I ignored the announcer and commanded Zephyr to immediately swoop high into the air and started using Work Up like we practiced. In fact, telling Zephyr to go 'in the air' was just a coded command for him to start buffing up. I knew that Altaria was quite a bit tankier than most other Flying Types, so Zephyr's natural offenses might not be sufficient to knock it out.

"Cotton Guard, Altaria." As I predicted, the Altaria started to create spores of cotton that wrapped around itself, forming a protective shield of cotton that an unbuffed Zephyr would be unable to break through.

So, I allowed Zephyr to continue staying high in the air as he continued using Work Ups to buff himself. The longer he could do so without being interrupted, the better. As the seconds ticked by as Drake continued to stare suspiciously at my Zephyr as if he was trying to figure out why it wasn't attacking.

Suddenly, he lurched forwards and gripped tightly onto the platform's rails in alarm as soon as he realized what was happening.

"Dragon Pulse, Altaria! Stop it from setting up!" Altaria hummed in response and quickly fired off a beam of draconic energy at Zephyr, but he easily dodged around it with his aerial manoeuvrability. Repeated Dragon Pulses were met with the same futility as Zephyr dodged past them all with contemptuous ease.

Altaria may be strong and well-trained, but its Dragon Pulses easily fell short of the devastating torrent that Blastoise was able to rapidly fire out like an artillery cannon. If Zephyr had matched up against Drake's Blastoise, I was certain that Zephyr would be quickly knocked out.

Yet now, Zephyr was almost relaxedly able to continue buffing up with Work Ups as Altaria's Dragon Pulses failed to even get close to Zephyr, to Drake's growing frustration. He knew that the situation was getting more tenuous for him the more Zephyr was able to set up, so he had to do something about it, and fast.

"Sing, Altaria!" Switching tactics, Altaria cut off its Dragon Pulse before starting to sing melodically, blanking the arena with a level of calm and peace that even I found to be extraordinarily soothing. But I quickly snapped myself out of my daydreaming as I forcefully refocused on the battle, just in time to catch Zephyr falling out of the sky as he drifted to sleep.

"Uproar, Zephyr! Don't let yourself fall asleep!" I shouted out with a small amount of panic. Zephyr luckily still had the presence of mind to react to my commands as he started letting out a horrendously loud screech that drowned out Altaria's melodious singing. The audience, who were previously falling asleep or becoming entranced from Altaria's Singing, were now clutching their ears in pain from Zephyr's ear-piercing screeches.

Even better, the effect of Zephyr's Work Ups was noticeable as Altaria was blown backwards as it got hit by the tide of booming sonic waves from Zephyr's Uproar. The situation was going from bad to worse for Drake, and I knew that now was the time to finally go on the offensive.

"Air Slash, Zephyr!"

"Aerial Ace, Altaria, and Protect! Get closer to it!"

Zephyr thankfully stopped screeching and started gathering a ball of wind around his wings before he slashed them repeatedly towards Altaria, creating multiple sharp blades of wind that sliced through the air. In response, Altaria demonstrated its own proficiency at aerial acrobatics as it quickly veered and swooped over many of the incoming Air Slashes and using Protect to block against those that it failed to dodge.

However, Altaria's dodges were less smooth, its corners were wider, and it had a distinct lack of grace that Zephyr had. I had initially contemplated continuing to keep Zephyr at a distance from Altaria so he could attempt to slowly wear it down with his boosted Special Attacks and to prevent Altaria from getting close to him, but its weaker aerial manoeuvrability was something I could capitalize on.

"Brave Bird, Zephyr! Hit and Run!" Zephyr called out in agreement and started to surround itself with a silver glow before he dove ninety degrees downwards and swooped forwards into Altaria, taking it by surprise at the sudden burst of aggression, and slammed into it with his glowing wings.

However, despite the impact and its inability to counterattack, Altaria practically shrugged off the Brave Bird due to his Cotton Guard and continued closing the distance. The armour of cotton acted as a shield for Altaria and significantly dampened the impact from Zephyr's Brave Bird.

I grimaced and realized that, without getting rid of the Cotton Guard, I had no way of causing any significant damage towards the Altaria with Zephyr's Physical Attacks.

Of course, this is when Drake decided to punish me for trying to make use of an opportunity, since now Zephyr had voluntarily closed the distance for him and entered Altaria's striking range, unable to fly away in time.

"Dragon Rush and get close to it, Altaria!"

"Protect and make some distance!"

Capitalizing on the fact that Altaria was effectively immune to physical attacks, Drake tried to turn the aerial battle into a brawl so that Zephyr couldn't make great use of his better manoeuvrability.

Altaria suddenly exploded forward with a blue glow as it slammed into Zephyr, who barely had time to create a Protect shield that was instantly broken by the impact from Altaria, but still managed to halt most of Altaria's momentum.

"Dragon Claw and stay close to it!" Before Zephyr could fly away and create more distance, one of Altaria's claws narrowly raked past Zephyr, almost ripping through one of his wings with practiced ease.

Zephyr struggled with slight panic at the numerous near-misses from Altaria's attacks, and he was trying desperately to make some distance between himself and Altaria, where he would be able to make the most use out of his training. He was unused to close-range fights like this, unlike Drake's Altaria, who seemed to relish in it.

I cursed inwardly as, despite having watched Drake's use of Altaria in his previous battles, I really did underestimate just how fearsome his Altaria was at close range.

All of his Pokémon really were close-range monsters, huh.

Nevertheless, I knew that I had to quickly separate the two before Zephyr got entangled by Altaria. I also needed to find a way to get rid of Altaria's Cotton Guard. I desperately tried to think of a solution when one popped into my head as I saw that a few pieces of cotton had fallen onto the ground after being carried along by gusts of wind.

"Whirlwind, Zephyr! Blow everything away!" Zephyr narrowly swerved past another powerful swipe from Altaria's claws and started flapping his wings rapidly and creating a strong gust of wind that blew everything back. Altaria tried to fight against with powerful flaps of its own much larger wings, but the tyrannical gale storm eventually overwhelmed Altaria's efforts and forced it backwards.

Not only that, but the intense whirlwind also managed to blow away much of Altaria's Cotton Guard, leaving Altaria exposed to physical attacks from Zephyr. I instantly capitalized on this opportunity.

"Brave Bird, Zephyr! Strike it while it's vulnerable!"

"Protect, Altaria!"

Zephyr once again quickly fell into a dive as he began to be engulfed by a silvery glow as he swooped down rapidly against the opposing Altaria. Realizing that it didn't have time to set up a Cotton Guard, Altaria formed a haphazard Protect shield that Zephyr easily shattered through and smashed right into Altaria's center, eliciting a cry of pain, before using the remaining momentum to fly away before Altaria could recover and counterattack.

"Again, Zephyr! Don't let up!" Before the silver glow surrounding him dissipated, Zephyr reignited it and performed a 180 degrees aerial somersault before diving into Altaria once again. Altaria didn't have time to reorient itself from the impact of the first Brave Bird or set up another Cotton Guard before Zephyr crashed into it yet again.

Seeing that Altaria was starting to waver from its injuries, I took advantage of the momentum and ordered another Brave Bird.

"Outrage, Altaria." Drake said with determined resignation. Recognizing that the situation had gone out of his control, and that Altaria was heavily injured, Drake's sole recourse was to do as much damage as it could against my Zephyr, choosing to allow Altaria to fall in a blaze of glory rather than be switched out.

Altaria's eyes lit up with rage as it went berserk. It wrapped itself with the distinct deep blue glow of draconic energy and thrashed out wildly at everything. I couldn't get Zephyr to stop his Brave Bird at this moment, so I could only hope that he would make it out mostly unscathed.

I watched stoically as Zephyr dove towards Altaria with another Brave Bird, and although the distance between the battle and where I was standing was far enough that it made it difficult to see precisely what had happened, I saw that Zephyr was almost knocked to the side for a moment following a swipe from Altaria before he stabilised himself.

Fortunately, Zephyr seemingly held firm and continued his final dive straight straight into the center of Altaria with his boosted Brave Bird, throwing his everything into that attack. After taking three consecutive Brave Birds in a row without the absorption provided by Cotton Guard, Altaria wasn't able to continue fighting even after going berserk with Outrage and fell out of the sky, fainted.

Zephyr gave off a victorious screech that was soon joined by the audience as he began circling around in the air like a vulture stalking its' prey as Altaria slowly fell downwards, and Drake managed to withdraw it before it crashed into the ground.

"WHAT A KNOCKOUT! IT SEEMS THAT JOHN'S PIDGEOT WAS A BETTER FLYER THAN DRAKE'S ALTARIA AND MANAGED TO KNOCK IT OUT WITH A DEVESTATING SERIES OF BRAVE BIRDS!" The announcer called out, "JOHN NOW LEADS THE MATCH 2-1!"

I could hear a few more people in the crowd chanting my name at Zephyr's victory, and as much as I wanted to acknowledge them and wave to them, I focused my attention on Zephyr's condition. Sure enough, as Zephyr circled around my side of the field, he was flagging slightly, his wingbeats were no longer as even as they were at the beginning of the fight, and his face was lined with exhaustion.

However, this level of injury wasn't really enough for me to justify withdrawing him. I knew that Zephyr was unlikely able to beat another one of Drake's Pokémon, but unlike my battle with Norman where I held onto my pride and hoped for a perfect match, I knew that I needed every little advantage possible against Drake.

So, seeing that Zephyr showed no sign of wanting to be withdrawn either, I kept him out in the battle so that he could do as much damage as he could against Drake's next Pokémon by making use of its boosts.

Surely enough, after only a few seconds, Drake ignored the announcer's attempts to hype up his next Pokémon and just casually sent it out, ignoring all sense of dramatic tension.

"…AND IT LOOKS LIKE DRAKE HAS IMPATIENTLY DECIDED TO SEND OUT HIS NEXT POKEMON, HIS KINGDRA!"

Drake's Kingdra emerged with a small spout of water out of his snout. It radiated majesty, and my gut quickly told me that it was at the same level as his Blastoise. My thoughts were quickly confirmed when I felt the power that it unconsciously exuded from itself, and I knew that the plan I had thought up was correct.

Zephyr had no chance to win.

"BEGIN!" "Dragon Dance, Kingdra." "Brave Bird! Don't let it set up!"

Drake clearly realized that the threat to his Kingdra wasn't my Zephyr, but whatever I was going to send out next. I couldn't afford to allow Kingdra to set up for my next Pokémon.

Fortunately for me, although Zephyr was flagging and wavering slightly, his retained his impressive flight speed, and he rapidly charged at Kingdra once more with his Brave Bird.

"Stop dancing, Kingdra, and Hydro Pump!" Kingdra quickly stopped its Dragon Dance before it completed, and a huge torrent of water shot out from its snout like a bullet that Zephyr was clipped briefly in his left wing, almost causing Zephyr to spin-out in mid-air. Fortunately, Zephyr was able to swoop to the right and avoided being blasted backwards by the Hydro Pump as he continued his descent.

"Protect." Moments before Zephyr was about to slam into it, Kingdra stared arrogantly at the approaching Zephyr and drew up a Protect shield that managed to withstand and block Zephyr's boosted Brave Bird. As Zephyr tried to fly back into the air, my eyes widened in alarm as Kingdra's head tilted back once again.

"Zephyr, Quick Attack and get out of there!" I shouted out desperately and Zephyr barely managed to dive away just before a huge blast of water struck where it had been flying just a second ago.

Not wanting to risk having Zephyr anywhere close to Kingdra, especially with a damaged wing, I decided to rely on long-range Special Attacks to harass the Kingdra.

"Air Slash and keep your distance, Zephyr!" Zephyr formed another ball with his wings before firing off a series of wind blades at Kingdra.

"Flash Cannon at the incoming blades, Kingdra." Showing off its impressive accuracy and precision, Kingdra calmly fired a barrage of Flash Cannons that blocked and shot down all of Zephyr's wind blades, some of them even nearly clipping Zephyr's wings. As this continued, Kingdra's Flash Cannons continuously fired off Flash Cannons, serving as a defensive screen against Zephyr's Air Slashes, and none were able to get anywhere close to Kingdra.

The battle entered a sort of stalemate as Zephyr was unable to land an Air Slash onto Kingdra as his attacks were being shot down but was proving a good enough distraction to stop Kingdra from setting up with a Dragon Dance. I was very tempted to try to heal up Zephyr with a Roost, but I knew that landing to heal right now would result in Zephyr getting promptly knocked out by a powerful stream of water.

As Zephyr started to slowly waver and flag while he endlessly fired off Air Slashes despite its injuries, I realized I was faced with a choice. I had to either keep up harassing Kingdra in hopes that I got a lucky hit in before Zephyr fainted from exhaustion, or I could gamble and risk an all-out attack to do as much damage as I can while Zephyr could still fight.

I grimaced and bit down on my lips, before ultimately deciding to take a risk and ordered the full-on assault.

"Get close and Hurricane, Zephyr!"

"Pidgeot!" Zephyr saluted with a screech as he swerved in the air and dove towards Kingdra. He recognised what I had just ordered, and he valiantly proved his determination to me as he nevertheless charged towards the Kingdra.

"Ice Beam, Kingdra." Kingdra switched from its Flash Cannons and started firing short bursts of Ice Beams at the incoming Zephyr. I clenched my fists reflexively and tried to clamp down on my nerves as Zephyr determinately flew around in an unorthodox and almost random manner in order to dodge past the many incoming Ice Beams while a visible gust of air started being formed in his wings.

As Zephyr was just about to fire off the Hurricane, an Ice Beam suddenly clipped him in the wings and began to freeze it over. Zephyr rapidly started falling out of the sky as he lost usage of one of his wings.

However, in an act of tremendous valour, he still managed to fire off the gathered wind that he had stored in his wings, forming a violent hurricane that sped towards the Kingdra as it started to consume all in its path.

"Keep the Ice Beam on Pidgeot." However, Drake and his Pokémon remained unfazed at the incoming Hurricane and instead prioritized knocking out my Pidgeot to prevent him from using Roost from healing up. Another Ice Beam this time easily struck Zephyr critically in the chest, and he fell unconscious, knocked out.

Nevertheless, Zephyr had done his duty. With his suicidal last resort attack, Kingdra was forcibly engulfed by the Hurricane and was forcefully spun around before eventually getting spat out by the Hurricane before it gradually petered out.

As I watched the Kingdra pull itself off the ground, it was noticeably swaying unsteadily, and it had trouble pulling itself upright. I gave the Kingdra a sharp look and I noticed that its eyes were glancing around confusedly. It was confused!

"…AND WHAT A FINAL ATTACK FROM JOHN'S PIDGEOT, MANAGING TO DIVE PAST ALL THOSE ATTACKS FROM KINGDRA AND STILL FIRING OFF A HURRICANE BEFORE GOING DOWN TO A POWERFUL SHOT FROM DRAKE'S KINGDRA! AN IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY OF DISCIPLINE FROM JOHN…AND IT'S LOOKING LIKE HE'S ALREADY SENDING OUT ANOTHER POKEMON?!"

I couldn't let this opportunity pass by with Kingdra's confusion. I didn't bother listening to the announcer's increasingly grating voice as I immediately withdrew Zephyr and sent out my next Pokémon as quickly as possible.

Smough landed onto the field with a roar, and I instantly started giving him commands before Kingdra could recover.

"Body Slam while it's confused, Smough! Quickly!" Smough bellowed out another roar as he started his charge towards Drake's Kingdra. Drake's eyes widened as he realized my plan.

"Focus Energy, Kingdra! Snap out of it!" Kingdra seemingly looked around blankly before slowly beginning to channel its own internal energies and refocused itself, snapping out of its confusion. However, the confusion still bought Smough precious seconds that it needed to get closer to the Kingdra.

"HYDRO PUMP, KINGDRA! FULL POWER!" In a valiant attempt to deter Smough's charge, Kingdra made use of his regained focus and fired off an enormous stream of water at Smough. Unfortunately, Smough was far too used to taking heavy Special Attack hits like this, and as powerful as Kingdra's Hydro Pump was, it really wasn't sufficient at stopping Smough's unrelenting assault.

As a result, Smough pushed through the torrent of water, remained mostly unharmed as he slammed into Kingdra with his full weight behind him, sending the much lighter Kingdra flying backwards. It landed in an unsightly heap on the floor and was struggling to stand up.

"Earthquake, Smough!" Taking advantage of Kingdra's fallen state, Smough bellowed out and started an Earthquake that caused the ground of the arena to shake intensely. Kingdra was helpless to do anything as it wasn't able to pull itself off the ground, and it shook violently on the ground as it took the full brunt of the Earthquake.

"Rest, Kingdra!" Drake ordered in an attempt to get Kingdra to restore enough health so that it could continue fighting, but another Earthquake from Smough quickly put an end to those hopes as Kingdra wasn't able to endure two back-to-back Earthquakes and was subsequently knocked out.

"ARCEUS WHAT A QUICK KNOCKOUT BY JOHN'S SNORLAX! IT SEEMS LIKE JOHN NOTICED THAT KINGDRA WAS CONFUSED FROM THE HURRICANE AND QUICKLY TOOK ADVANTAGE OF IT BY ATTACKING WITH HIS SNORLAX AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!" The announcer helpfully explained to the audience what had just happened, "AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY!"

A mixture of cheers and boos resonated from the crowd at Kingdra's possibly ignoble defeat. I ignored the crowd, choosing instead to stare carefully at Drake.

I knew that everything that I just did was within the rules, even if it was a little dishonourable, but I understood that people were fickle and were stubborn with their own opinions. If Drake had wanted to make a fuss about this, it would likely cause a huge debate that would potentially sour my reputation.

Fortunately, Drake just gave me a grin as if he understood what I was trying to convey to him with my stares. I gave out a sigh of relief and gave him a small smile as thanks, thankful for his understanding.

"JOHN IS NOW 3-2 IN THIS BATTLE AND MAINTAINS HIS LEAD! WILL DRAKE BE ABLE TO TURN IT AROUND WITH HIS NEXT POKEMON?! FIND OUT AFTER A QUICK COMMERCIAL BREAK!" I audibly groaned and could see that Drake was similarly scowling at the unnecessary pause of our battle.

I sighed out in frustration before I went through Drake's remaining Pokémon in my head. If I was right, his most likely remaining Pokémon should be his Gyarados, Flygon, and of course, his Salamence.

I really didn't know which Pokémon he'd be sending out next, but I believed that Smough would be able to deal with anything and everything.

After all, I had promised Smough that if he did well, I would feed him an all-you-could-eat buffet of his favourite berries.

And nothing is more motivated than a Snorlax that wanted to eat his favourite meal.

The New Normal – 2-16 – Wrath vs Gluttony

Sitting through the forced commercial break was an exercise in patience, and from my booth I could see that Smough wasn't happy with the forced break either. He was repeatedly pacing up and down and fidgeting with his hands, and since he wasn't allowed to do anything that would be seen as suspicious, he just had to stand there idly while they fixed up the arena and until the commercial break was over.

He wasn't even allowed to take a quick nap! Because otherwise the officials might think that he was using a 'healing' move and subsequently disqualify Smough from the match.

Still, I tried to not allow my annoyance to distract myself from focusing on preparing for Drake's next Pokémon. In a way, fighting with Smough was rather simplistic. No matter if he sent out his Gyarados, Flygon, or Salamence next, Smough really only had one method of battling against them, which was to get close and pummel them before they could do the same.

I forced away my distractions as I realized that the commercial break was about to end. I trusted in Smough to do his best and achieve victory, especially as motivated as he was, so all I had to do was keep my faith in him no matter the opponent Drake sends out.

"…AND WE'RE BACK FROM OUR COMMERCIAL BREAK! WELCOME BACK EVERYONE TO THIS INCREDIBLE MATCH BETWEEN OUR TWO ELITE FOUR MEMBERS!" Shouted the announcer, "SO FAR, ELITE JOHN HAS BEEN LEADING THE MATCH 3-2! LET'S SEE IF DRAKE CAN CLAW HIS WAY BACK!"

As soon as the announcer finished talking, both Drake and I were allowed back into the arena. I kept my gaze onto the Pokéball that Drake had clutched in his hand, and he grinned at me as he noticed my gaze.

"An impressive showing!" Drake yelled out to me, "But I've still got far more left in the tank!"

Before I could respond to that, Drake threw out his next Pokémon, which turned out to be his fearsome Gyarados. His Gyarados casted a long shadow into the ground and was littered with scars of previous battles. As it emerged from its Pokéball madly thrashing about, kicking up a small cloud of dust as its tail violently rampaged on the ground, I could tell that every inch of this horrifyingly remarkable Gyarados radiated pure anger and ferocity. I had seen plenty of ferocious Gyarados during my journey, but none like this.

Despite not being the target of its anger, I could still feel like the Gyarados was trying to rip Smough apart with its anger alone. It really was an Intimidating visage, and a lesser Pokémon would easily run away, terrified and in fear.

However, despite being the target of Gyarados murderous rage, Smough seemingly remained unaffected; perhaps he was just a little too unaware of such things. To Smough, a battle was just something he had to do in between meals. Of course, he still took it very seriously and would fight extremely hard like all my other Pokémon, but eating was always going to be his number one priority.

"LOOK AT THAT! DRAKE HAS REALLY UPPED HIS GAME AND HAS SENT OUT HIS TERRIFYING GYARADOS! BUT IS IT ENOUGH TO TURN THE TIDES AGAINST JOHN'S LEAD?! LET'S FIND OUT…AND BEGIN!"

"Smough, get close to it." I began, knowing that this battle would be fought and won from a very close distance. Neither Snorlax nor Gyarados were known for their Special Attacks, so this battle would inevitably end up in a vicious brawl.

"Oh, you're approaching my Gyarados?" Drake grinned as Smough started his steady approach towards Gyarados.

"Smough can't beat the shit out of your Gyarados without getting closer." I responded with my own grin, before I turned serious again and cut off the banter as Smough got close.

"Body Slam, Smough!"

"Waterfall, Gyarados!"

Both Smough and Gyarados charged forwards and rammed each other with great force, creating a minor shockwave that managed to blow up a small cloud of dust. Neither of them pushed the other backwards as they grappled with each other; Gyarados was wrapping its body around Smough while Smough was trying to smash Gyarados into the ground.

Both Pokémon were now too entangled with each other to move around freely, and the battle now truly devolved into an almost senseless brawl.

"Hammer Arm, Smough!" Smough lifted one of his arms before hammering it downwards into Gyarados' skull.

"Aqua Tail, Gyarados!" But Gyarados took the hit with only a slightest flinch and responded by slamming his powerful tail into Smough's side, the sheer force of which nearly knocked Smough over.

"Hydro Pump, Gyarados!" Trying to make use of Smough's stumble, Gyarados began charging up a powerful Hydro Pump in its jaw.

"Rock Smash his jaw, Smough!" Smough managed to steady himself and crashed his fist straight into Gyarados' jaw, cutting off the Hydro Pump and causing Gyarados to writhe in pain.

"Again, Smough!" Smough brought his other fist forward and tried to follow up on his first punch.

"Iron Head, Gyarados!" But before Smough could land another powerful hit into its jaw, Gyarados reinforced its head and bashed their heads together, pushing Smough back and causing him to flinch.

"Aqua Tail again!"

"Counter!"

Gyarados roared out in fury and smashed its tail into Smough's side yet again, but this time Smough's body became outlined in orange as he stored up the damage that he took and transferred it back with a vengeance as he landed a powerful return punch that found purchase into Gyarados' body.

The two Pokémon continued fighting back and forth like this. There was no way to really see who was winning or who even had the advantage, as both Pokémon were just continuingly battering each other with powerful attacks over and over again and at such close range that it was nearly impossible to dodge the incoming attacks. I couldn't even try out my planned Yawn strategy when they were this close together.

Unlike our previous battles, there was absolutely no strategy involved here. It was just two very strong and powerful Pokémon trying to see who could out last the other by continually pummelling the other Pokémon until they fainted.

It was at this moment that I regretted not training Smough in the use of the elemental punches. If Smough knew Thunderpunch at this moment, I'm sure that he'll be able to deal a lot more damage than he was currently doing. Sadly, Smough wasn't the most eager of learners and so I had unfortunately put off his training in the elemental punches until later, which I now regretted.

Nevertheless, it seems that Smough was still going strong despite the beating that it had taken from the Gyarados. Both were wounded and breathing heavily, though Gyarados masked its exhaustion much better with its expression of eternal rage, yet both were still roaring to fight and still were ready and willing to beat the other into unconsciousness with the same enthusiasm and energy as when they first started.

As I watched the two continue trading blows, I thought that the battle would stay like this until one of our Pokémon eventually fainted. But suddenly, Gyarados started thrashing out wildly as it exploded in pure and uncontrollable rage and frustration. I watched with some trepidation as it started glowing and was surrounded by a deep blue aura, the murderous aura radiating off it was seemingly visible and palpable to the naked eye.

It had used Outrage. And a quick glance at Drake's uncertain expression told me that he didn't order Gyarados to use Outrage either. It must have gotten too frustrated and enraged at the exchange of attacks between itself and Smough that it lost control of its temper and began its Outrage.

This did present an opportunity to me. If Smough could endure through Gyarados' Outrage, then Smough could once again take advantage of his opponent's resulting confusion and land a critical hit to knock it out.

However, that did require Smough to be able to endure the Gyarados' Outrage, which was much easier said than done. Gyarados' attacks were far more vicious and brutal now, and its attacks were now almost completely unpredictable. And one look at the sheer violence in Gyarados' expression told me that trying to stall with defensive moves like Iron Defense and Protect wouldn't work; they both would be quickly shattered by the unrelenting ferocity of Gyarados' attacks and would leave Smough far too vulnerable and at risk of being knocked out.

Thus, I was only left with the hope of using Smough's attacks as a form of deterrence.

I watched stoically as Smough blocked an incoming Aqua Tail with one of his arms, before Gyarados smashed their heads together viciously with another Iron Head. Smough could barely raise his arms defensively before Gyarados brutally slammed into him with its entire body, forcing Smough backwards as his feet skidded across the ground.

"Brick Break, Smough!" As Gyarados continued its ceaseless onslaught of attacks as it surrounded itself with veil of water and rushed towards Smough again with another Waterfall, Smough caught it with a powerful chop to the neck as it approached. However, Gyarados simply shrugged off the Brick Break as it continued its unstoppable charge, and Smough groaned out in pain and stagged backwards as Gyarados once again ruthlessly crashed into him with a devastating Waterfall.

Despite being completely enraged, Gyarados still possessed its predatory instincts and was still coherent enough to take advantage of an opportunity. With Smough currently exposed as it stumbled backwards from the previous attack, Gyarados capitalized on it and savagely struck Smough in the side of the head with another brutal Aqua Tail, landing a devastating critical hit and knocking Smough unceremoniously into the ground.

Before Smough could get up, Gyarados took revenge for Drake's fallen Kingdra as it mercilessly Earthquaked Smough while he was still on the ground, forcing Smough to take the full impact of the Earthquake.

Fortunately, it was at this moment that Gyarados' Outrage wore off, and Gyarados nearly slumped over as it was suddenly hit with a simultaneous burst of exhaustion and confusion from its use of Outrage.

"OH! IT LOOKS LIKE JOHN'S SNORLAX WAS UNABLE TO WITHSTAND GYARADOS' ASSAULT AND HAS BEEN KNOCKED DOWN!" The announcer commentated, "BUT IS IT KNOCKED OUT?!"

I kept the announcer tuned out as I watched uncertainly at Smough's fallen figure, narrowing my eyes in hopes that it might help me see if Smough was conscious. I desperately hoped that he wasn't, and that he could still get up and continue the fight. This was a critical moment of the battle, and I had long since put aside my earlier hesitation of not wanting my Pokémon to get injured.

I needed Smough to finish off the Gyarados while it was weakened.

"COME ON SMOUGH, GET UP!" Seeing no immediate reaction, I tried again with a more materialistic persuasion. "I PROMISED YOU THAT YOU'D GET TO EAT ALL OF THE BERRIES THAT YOU'D LIKE IF YOU WON! AND I BELIEVE YOU CAN KEEP FIGHTING! COME ON SMOUGH! DO IT FOR THE BERRIES!"

Fortunately, my belief in Smough was rewarded as he suddenly jumped upwards, eyes almost gleaming red as he charged towards the winded Gyarados with newfound determination and energy, somehow ignoring its litany of injuries.

"SNORLAXXX! SNORLAX!!" I gave a wry grin and held back a laugh as I heard Smough's roar. To those who didn't understand Smough, it was as if his warrior spirit had reawakened in him and given him a second wind so that he could regain his lost glory in battle. But, since I could actually understand what Smough was saying, I knew that he was just shouting out because he was determined to get his berries, and nothing in his way could separate him from his promised berries.

"OH, WHAT DETERMINATION! I COULD REALLY FEEL SNORLAX'S BATTLING SPIRIT AS IT CONTINUES FIGHTING THROUGH HIS INJURIES!"

Still, motivation was motivation, and I was definitely on board with taking advantage of Smough's second wind.

"Giga Impact, Smough! Full power!"

"Fuck it! Gyarados, just Thrash!"

Knowing that Gyarados was still unable to snap out of its confusion, Drake decided to make use of the one resource that was in endless supply for any Gyarados, its rage. Despite how tired and confused it was, a Gyarados' rage was so all-consuming that it managed to break through its tiredness and confusion by falling into a state of rage once again and it began thrashing around wildly.

However, even to the untrained eye, it was clear that Gyarados' wild thrashes weren't as strong as its initial Outrage. It was still vicious and powerful, but the Gyarados was slowly wavering even if it maintained its anger.

On the other hand, Smough was a force of nature as he determinedly ignoring his injuries as he started glowing orange and purple as he charged forwards and built up an increasing amount of energy for his Giga Impact. Despite Gyarados' thrashing about, Smough remained undeterred as he tanked a wild Aqua Tail before crashing into Gyarados with all the gathered force in his Giga Impact.

Gyarados' thrashing was forcefully halted as it was blown backwards across the arena by Smough's powerful Giga Impact, crashing into and briefly cracking the psychic shields. The dust slowly settled, revealing a Gyarados that was so covered with injuries that, though it was still as angry and murderous as ever, it simply didn't have the strength continue fighting. Smough met Gyarados' unyielding stare with his own as he almost willed Gyarados to stay down.

Gyarados certainly wasn't 'knocked out', but it really wasn't capable of continuing to fight. It was one of those rare cases where a Pokémon's fighting spirit, or in this case its anger, was so unstoppable that its body failed it first rather than its mind. However, Drake ultimately deemed that Gyarados could no longer fight and got out its Pokéball and returned it.

And just like that, I let out a sigh of relief as I watched the greatest Gyarados I had ever seen be retired from the battle.

"AND WITH THAT POWERFUL ATTACK FROM SNORLAX, DRAKE RETIRES HIS GYARADOS!" The announcer shouted, "JOHN IS NOW LEADING THE MATCH 4-2! INCREDIBLE!"

"SNORLAX! SNORLAX! SNORLAXX!" As soon as he saw Gyarados get engulfed by the signature red light from a Pokéball, he raised its arms into the air and began cheering. The crowd joined in, with many chanting out alongside Smough as they celebrated his victory. I laughed to myself as Smough wasn't technically celebrating his victory, as all he was shouting was 'FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!'.

Smough's eternal gluttony aside, I wanted to go up to him and give him a big hug, only barely stopping myself as I remembered the match's rules. Being able to defeat two of Drake's Elite level Pokémon was definitely an incredible performance from Smough and he definitely deserved his promised reward, no matter how expensive I knew it was going to be.

Happy thoughts aside and cheering aside, Smough was wobbling slightly, and his roars had a distinct hoarseness to them that he usually lacked. He was battered, covered in injuries, and was clearly unfit to continue fighting. Also, to Smough, he probably already believed that he had done enough to earn his reward, so he might not be overly willing to continue fighting if I made him.

Which was fine, he had done enough, and I knew that he would be a poor matchup against Drake's remaining Flygon and Salamence anyways. I raised his Premier Ball and returned Smough to his Pokéball and informed the announcer that I was retiring Smough from the battle.

"AND IT APPEARS THAT JOHN IS ALSO RETIRING HIS SNORLAX FROM THE BATTLE, MEAING THAT THE SCORE IS NOW 4-3!" The announcer commented, "NOW BOTH TRAINERS HAVE 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT THEIR NEXT POKEMON!"

I was starting to feel more confident now with the 4 to 3 lead that I had against Drake. Not only that, but I was betting on the fact that Drake would be leaving his Salamence for last, meaning that his next Pokémon should be his Flygon.

With that in mind, I had the perfect Pokémon to give Drake a nasty surprise. I took out their Premier Ball and waited for the announcer to start the next round.

"…ANDDD BEGIN!"

"Flygon, bring me victory."

"Tyrant, go for it."

Tyrant emerged from its Pokéball with his signature roar and locked eyes with the opposing Flygon, before immediately charging towards it without needing any prompting from me. He knew what he had to do.

"IT LOOKS LIKE JOHN HAS DECIDED TO BRING OUT HIS STARTER, SLAKING, TO FACE OFF AGAINST DRAKE'S FLYGON! AN UNEXPECTED DECISION THAT...OH LOOK AT THAT SLAKING GO!"

Drake's eyes widened at Tyrant's sudden charge, and he quickly started giving commands to Flygon.

"Flygon, to the air and Dragon Pulse!" Flygon buzzed out and started flying into the air while simultaneously charging up a Dragon Pulse in its mouth.

However, what Drake and his Flygon didn't expect was for Tyrant to relentlessly chase after the Flygon and be able to leap into the air with such height that he was able to grab onto Flygon's tail as it was trying to fly upwards. The audience gasped out in shock at Tyrant's incredible jump height, and I inwardly smirked. While many looked down on Slaking for being lazy and unmotivated, they were almost unanimously taken by surprise whenever I showed off Tyrant's surprising mobility.

And this time was no different.

Focusing back on the battle, Flygon was trying to desperately try to shake Tyrant off of its tail, but Tyrant held on with an iron grip and refused to be shook off and, using his weight and strength, pulled Flygon back down and slammed it ruthlessly into the ground, causing the ground to snap with an audible crack.

This was what I had spent a good part of the week practicing for. I had observed from Drake's previous battles that while Flygon was certainly a capable flyer and was quick enough to dodge attacks while in the air, it didn't tend to fly that high off the ground. Its flying style differed from common flying Pokémon, as they liked to fly high into the air, but Flygon only really chose to levitate a couple meters off the ground.

That would normally be enough for Flygon to remain out of reach for most Physical attacking Pokémon, but I made use of Flygon's complacency and Tyrant's unexpected mobility to force it back down onto the ground.

Right where Tyrant wanted it to be.

"Ice Punch, Tyrant! Finish it!"

"Dragon Tail and knock it away, Flygon!"

Flygon raised its tail and tried to smash Tyrant away from it so that it could pick itself off of the ground, but Tyrant blocked the tail with one of its arms before the other one critically bashed Flygon's face. Not letting up, Tyrant then latched onto its extended tail with both arms, and then lifted Flygon off of the ground before brutally slamming it back down again.

"Boomburst, Flygon!" Drake ordered with an uncharacteristic degree of panic. He hoped that the powerful sonic waves would force Tyrant back and buy Flygon enough time to take into the air again.

But Tyrant was not one to let its prey go, and he muscled his way through the powerful sonic waves that Flygon screeched out before continuing his unrelenting assault by colliding another Ice-covered fist into its jaw, slamming its jaw shut and preventing it from continuing with the Boomburst.

Before Drake could issue another command, Tyrant pounced on top of the fallen Flygon, trapping it underneath him, and gripped tightly onto Flygon's face, savagely lifted the Flygon by its head before pummelling it repeatedly and ruthlessly into the ground. Drake was forced to watch helplessly as Tyrant finished off Flygon by stomping downwards and firing off a point-blank Earthquake that rocked Flygon's entire body, knocking it unconscious.

And then there was silence. A Dragon was felled by a Tyrant.

"SLAKING!" Tyrant broke the silence with a challenging roar to the skies, and I alone was the only one that cheered alongside him at his dismissive win. Eventually, the crowd joined in as they shook out of their collective shock.

I grinned despite myself, excited about how perfectly my plan worked out, knowing that with Flygon's quick defeat, I had secured a massive advantage against Drake's sole remaining Salamence with my three remaining Pokémon.

Victory was within my grasp, and I did not intend to let it get away.

Of course, I remained cautious about Salamence's strength. It was strong, remarkably so, and was likely the strongest Pokémon I had ever faced in my career as a trainer. However, it was alone and isolated, and I was confident that even in the worst-case scenario where it was able to set up with multiple Dragon Dances, I would be able to wear it down and achieve victory.

"…FANTASTIC! AMAZING! WHAT A SURPRISING VICTORY BY JOHN'S TYRANT!" The announcer finally pulled himself together from his shock to continue his commentating, "WHO KNEW THAT DRAKE'S FLYGON, A POWERFUL STAPLE OF DRAKE'S TEAM, WOULD BE KNOCKED OUT SO QUICKLY?!"

While the crowd continued to cheer and applaud Tyrant's win, Drake's eyes remained locked and seemed to be appraising Tyrant. He must have expected that Salamence's greatest opponent would be my starter, as it was commonplace to have a starter vs starter battle amongst trainers.

Unfortunately for both Drake and Tyrant, I had other plans for dealing with Salamence. Yes, I was tempted to challenge Drake with Tyrant, to prove to the world that my starter was stronger, but during my planning I coldly pushed down on my more excited impulses and remembered that I had a much better and far more suitable Pokémon for fighting against Drake's Salamence.

Drake must have had plenty of plans and strategies in place for dealing with my Tyrant. And now I was going to flip the entire board over, refusing to give him the battle that he wanted. With that in mind, I fidgeted in anticipation with the Premier Ball on my belt.

Vordt was joining the fight.

The New Normal – 2-16 – Interlude - Lance

Lance stared intensely at the screen as he studied the battle between Drake and John. He was dismissive of the battle at first, but Clair was insistent for him to sit down and watch, and he could see why.

The battle between the two of them was far more intense and interesting than he expected. He always knew that Drake fielded a similar team to himself, but watching John take down his Flygon with his Slaking was both worrying and exciting.

Worrying, because he really did underestimate the strength of John's team. Despite John's impressive record of wins, John never really had to fight against strong opponents during his time as a trainer. He didn't even need to fight and defeat a member of the Elite Four to join, since he was selected by committee to fill in the vacancy caused by Blaine's departure.

So, watching how his Slaking almost instantly demolished Drake's Flygon was definitely eye-opening. Lance inadvertently thought about how his own team would match up against his Slaking, and he wasn't certain that, outside his starter Dragonite, he could defeat John's Slaking in a one vs one.

Oh sure, he could just use his Pokémon's ability to fly to just stay out of range of his Slaking and slowly wear it down with long-ranged attacks, but Lance despised winning like that. No, if he were to ever fight the Slaking in a real battle, he was determined to win by demonstrating his Pokémon's own strength and surpassing John's Slaking in a proper battle.

And this was why Lance found this whole situation equally as exciting. He admitted to himself that ever since he joined the Elite Four, he never really had the opportunity to battle to his full potential. Understandably, the Blackthorn name deterred many challengers from challenging him for his spot in the Elite Four, as they assumed that he was probably too strong from them to defeat.

They weren't wrong, but that did mean that Lance was deprived of good battles for the past few years.

"So, what are you thinking about, cousin?" Clair's voice broke through his thoughts and Lance turned to face her. "You're probably measuring yourself up to him." She guessed.

"Yes, and I find myself pleasantly surprised by John's performance." He admitted easily. "I haven't had a real challenge in a very long time, and John might be a great opponent for me to test my skills against one day."

"Hmmm." Clair hummed thoughtfully. "Do you think I have a chance of defeating John with my team?"

"Not a chance." Lance denied with brutal honesty, causing Clair to frown. Lance felt a bit bad for crushing Clair's pride like that, but she was better off not deluding herself. "I know that you have a lot of pride in yourself and your team, but you're definitely not at John's level."

"I'll have you know that I was chosen to be the Blackthorn Gym Leader-" Clair spluttered out indignantly, but Lance interrupted her.

"Yes, I know you were. I was there. But there was a reason that the Clan selected me to join the Elite Four and not you." Lance said seriously. "You forget yourself in your own pride sometimes, Clair, but I'm saying this for your own good, do not let your pride rule your head. You'll become a worse person and trainer if you do." Lance warned, though he was self-aware enough to realize how hypocritical that statement was.

"Hmph." Clair snorted dismissively and left the room, not even bothering to finish watching the battle between John and Drake. Lance watched her leave with a shake of his head; he already told her everything that she needed to here, but he wasn't about to coddle her until she understood.

That was not the way that things were done in the Blackthorn Clan.

Returning back to the battle, he saw that Drake was about to send out his Salamence. Lance instantly regained his focus; he knew that Drake's Salamence was stronger than his own and wanted to see how his Salamence would match up against John's Pokémon. It would be a good indicator of how strong John's team was at compared to his own team.

John had already beaten Drake's Gyarados with his Snorlax, and while Lance didn't know exactly how strong Drake's Gyarados was compared to his own, it was still a good point of measurement. He should also probably schedule in a time to actually speak to John more in person, just to get a better measure of his character.

He seemed shy and rather humble the first time they met, but Lance wondered if his forced trip to Hoenn would have changed him any. That would be interesting to see.

Lance wished that Clair did stay to watch the rest of the battle, she had much to learn from it. If only she didn't let her pride blind her so. It was especially ironic since she was the one who told him to watch it at first, and now she's the one who left.

Nevertheless, Lance put those thoughts aside and continued watching the match. He was impressed by John's performance, and now wanted to ensure that he would not be blindsided by his strength.

His ambitions would not allow him to be careless like that.

The New Normal – 2-17 – Vordt's Finale

Unfortunately, I had to wait for Drake to send out his Salamence before I was allowed to switch Pokémon. I patiently stared at Drake as he withdraws his Flygon. For once, Drake's expression was one of genuine surprise, and he seemed to not be able to comprehend what had just happened.

He gazed intensely at Flygon's Pokéball before he shook his head and put it away, before looking up and giving me calculating look while fiddling with a Pokéball on his waist. We both knew what it was, the crowd knew what it was, the announcer knew what it was, and you could feel the excitement that was now radiating throughout the arena.

No matter the outcome of the next round, both of our hearts were pumping in excitement at what was about to happen. I held a significant advantage at the moment, leading 5-3, and I once again vowed to myself that I was going to win. Drake would not snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. I was so close now; I could almost taste the victory.

And then none would look down on me anymore.

"So, this is it, lad, eh?" Drake spoke out, "I admit, you took me surprise there with your Slaking. Never thought that my Flygon would ever be defeated so quickly."

I grinned, just enough to show confidence but not enough to seem arrogant, "Yeah, well, we did practice for it. We were ready and waiting for you to send out your Flygon."

"Ah, and do you have another trick up your sleeve for my next Pokémon?" Drake asked.

"No tricks, just power." I responded as my grin became far more challenging.

Drake smirked back before the announcer finally decided that we had bantered enough and started the next round, "AND WITH THAT, DRAKE IS GOING TO BE SENDING OUT HIS FINAL POKEMON! AND WE ALL KNOW WHO IT IS!…BEGIN!"

Drake finally threw out his Pokéball, revealing his ace, his tamed monster, his greatest dragon, his Salamence. It emerged with a mighty roar, as it extended its wings that were stretched so wide that it nearly casted a shadow over Drake's half of the arena. As it brought itself to its full height, Salamence towered over Drake and matched my Slaking in height.

As it roared out, its sheer presence almost caused me to stumble as a wave of Intimidation washed over Tyrant and I, causing the hairs on my arms to stand and nearly causing me to shudder in fear. However, seeing that Tyrant merely grunted dismissively at Salamence reassured me and I was able to stabilize myself.

Yet, its draconic rage was still palpable, endlessly radiating out of it like a beacon. Its rage was distinct from the primal rage of Drake's Gyarados, as there was a sense of discipline and control that Gyarados lacked, which only served to emphasize its power and strength. This was not some mindless raging beast, good only for destruction and vengeance. No, this was a tamed, proud, and dominating Dragon that had been carefully trained and raised to become the powerhouse that it is now.

A powerhouse meant to overpower and crush everything in its way with contemptuous ease.

Despite all this, and my tendency to fall into bouts of nervousness when I spoke to important figures like Giovanni or my colleagues in the Elite Four, I only felt a sense of anticipation and excitement as I stared down Drake. When it came to Pokémon battles, I knew that I deserved to be here, that my Pokémon deserved to fight, and win. My pre-battle jitters were long gone now; the only feeling I felt right now was pure determination as I focused myself and gazed upon Salamence's menacing visage with a trance-like calm.

There was no use for other thoughts now. It was only time for action. It was time to show them all.

Tyrant undoubtedly shared my thoughts, as he continued to glare tauntingly at the newly revealed Salamence, just like he did back at the photoshoot. I mentally praised Tyrant for sticking to the plan and to be prepared to be switched out. It was likely that every instinct of Tyrant was for him to immediately charge towards Salamence and begin to brawl with it, so I was thankful for his discipline.

I put my plan into action as I suddenly withdrew Tyrant into his Premier Ball.

"I'm using my first switch!" I announced, and I saw that Drake raised an eyebrow, surprised at Tyrant's sudden withdrawal, but he instantly snapped out of his shock and started ordering his Salamence to make use of this free turn.

"Dragon Dance, Salamence!" Salamence roared out and deep blue energy started to swirl around it as it spun around several times.

"IT LOOKS LIKE ELITE JOHN IS USING HIS FIRST SWITCH, DOES HE HAVE A PLAN FOR DEALING WITH DRAKE'S SALAMENCE?!"

Unsurprisingly, Drake chose to buff up his Salamence, boosting itself for whatever I'll be sending out. That was fine, one Dragon Dance was within acceptable limits, but it would be problematic if he managed to buff itself up any further and I sent out my next Pokémon before it could do so.

"Come Vordt!"

Vordt's bulky frame emerged from his Premier Ball and landed on the ground with a solid thud, his protective figure easily matching Salamence's weight and size. His figure was wrapped within a thick layer of fur, forming a defensive layer of armour around him. He looked like quite the beast, a fitting analogy for one about to take on a Dragon.

"Stone Edge, Vordt!"

"URSAAAA!" Vordt began his assault as he stood up on all fours and roared out powerfully towards the sky as he immediately started tearing up the ground into chunks of rocks before they rose to the air and shot off like a storm of bullets toward the Salamence.

"Fly up and Stone Edge, Salamence!" Salamence immediately shot up into the air at speeds that didn't seem to be possible for a creature of such size and strength before it started firing off rocks to block against the oncoming storm of rocks from Vordt.

Rocks began to smash and shatter against each other as the two Pokémon vied for dominance, though Vordt seemed to be winning with contemptuous ease. However, Salamence had sufficiently managed to shatter or block enough of the incoming rocks that he could easily dodge past the few remaining ones.

The arena, already destroyed and torn apart by our previous battles, continued to be broken apart as Vordt endlessly tore up the arena as the rocks continued flying. Yet Salamence still was able to avoid being hit.

"Dragon Dance in the air!" Drake commanded, hoping that Salamence would be able to continually avoid being hit by Vordt's onslaught of rocks for long enough that it could continue setting up.

"DON'T LET IT SET UP! SHOOT IT DOWN!" However, the arena's rapid deterioration by both Pokemon's use of Stone Edge also created more loose rocks for Vordt to fire off, causing the barrage of rocks that were being fired at Salamence to gradually increase in intensity, forcing Salamence to dedicate more time and focus into dodging the artillery of rocks coming its way. It even suffered from a few near misses despite its' surprising aerial manoeuvrability, an unfortunate disadvantage of its inherent large size.

Salamence swerved repeatedly to the side, almost flying in a nearly random manner, in order to try to make enough space for it to complete its Dragon Dance, to no avail. The unrelenting cannon fire of rocks homed into Salamence like tiny micro-missiles that denied every and all opportunity for it to setup.

It was a matter of time before Salamence would get unlucky just the once and be struck by an incoming rock. If it faltered even just for a brief moment, then Salamence was going to be forced down by the veritable avalanche of rocks being fired its way.

I could see the realisation slowly settle into Drake's eyes as he recognized the situation he was in and was forced to begin his counterattack.

Drake clearly saw the same, as he decided to begin his counterattack.

"Draco Meteor, Salamence!" Draco barked out, and Salamence bellowed into the air as an orange sphere started to quickly form around its chest, growing rapidly into a giant sun that Salamence fired it into the sky. The sphere shoots up into the sky and explodes with a loud bang, filling the sky with enormous meteors of energy, making it look like the apocalypse had come early as they began their destructive descent from above.

"Target them down and Protect!" Despite the sense of impending doom, I kept my cool and ordered Vordt to switch to the defensive, knowing that this was likely the beginning of a long battle of attrition. Vordt bellowed out and started to target down the raining meteors with a concentrated fire of rocks while he formed a Protect shield around himself.

Explosions rocked the sky as the meteors rammed into the rocks in mid-air, detonating the orbs of energy early, and causing a hail of rock debris to rain down from the sky like they were large grains of sand.

I braced myself alongside Vordt as the remaining Draco Meteors crashed themselves into Vordt's Protect shield like they were hammers of a vengeful god. Each meteor that collided caused shockwaves that exploded outwards from the impact area and blanketed everything with a thick cloud of dust and rocks that concealed Vordt's figure.

The immediate area surrounding Vordt after the Draco Meteors fell was completely obliterated, with nothing remaining aside from crater-sized holes and cracks that were filled with translucent wisps of energy, remnants of the devastating attack before. A quick look around the arena revealed the true scale of the attack's destruction, as the arena was littered with craters and cracks that nearly managed to break through the foundations of the arena. As weak as they were, I was very surprised to see that the psychic barriers were still operational; I thought that they would have been destroyed from the resulting outward force of the impact alone.

And yet, despite the sheer destruction of the attack, I remained confident in Vordt, and in our training. Vordt was unbreakable and unyielding against all adversaries, and this should prove no different. Even an unboosted Draco Meteor from Drake's ace would not be enough to break through Vordt's Protect shield.

"Dragon Rush!" Drake ordered without waiting for the dust to settle. Salamence roared out once more as its body becomes outlined in blue, before it sharply dived down towards Vordt; its blue outline glowing brighter as it rapidly built-up speed. Salamence's figure blurred as the energy that surrounded it quickly grew so intense that it was igniting the air around it as it continued its descent.

Vordt's figure was still concealed by the kicked-up dust, but I renewed my trust towards him juat as Drake's Salamence descended like a blue missile towards him. Just before he collided with Vordt, I gave my order.

"Counter, Vordt!" Rewarding my faith in him, a faint light of an orange glow revealed itself from within the dust clouds, literally just before Salamence slammed powerfully into Vordt, their impact causing yet another explosion of force that dispersed all of the dust clouds, revealing a growling Vordt that was gripping tightly onto Salamence's body and refusing to be pushed back.

Then he responded with a devastating counterattack, using the energy that he had absorbed from Salamence's powerful Dragon Rush and paid it all back in a crushing reversal, delivering all of that stored energy back towards the Salamence.

Vordt's reversal generated a huge blast of wind that forced Salamence backwards with a pained grunt. However, Salamence held strong and immediately went back on the assault.

"Dragon Claw!"

"Ice Punch!"

With both Pokémon now so close together, the fight inevitably turned into yet another brawl. Salamence raked a claw across Vordt's shoulder, easily cutting through Vordt's thick fur. But Vordt countered by bashing his Ice-infused claw into Salamence's face, knocking Salamence's head to the side. My gravity training was paying off in spades right now as it allowed Vordt to go toe-to-toe against a monster like Drake's Salamence.

However, even from that one exchange, Salamence's attacks were seemingly landing considerably harder than Vordt's, likely from the boost that it received from its earlier Dragon Dance. If this continued, Vordt was going to be pushed back from that difference in strength.

Fortunately, I had a trick of my own to even the field.

"IGNITE YOURSELF AND PLAY ROUGH, VORDT!" Vordt thundered out with a roar before flames started to emerge and wrap around Vordt's body, spreading rapidly across its fur and igniting every inch of himself. Before Drake could react, a pink aura enveloped Vordt as he lunged forwards, slamming supereffectively into Salamence, and continuing to grapple it with his heavy body in a bear hug.

Salamence let out a groan and retaliated by trying to knock him away by surrounding its head with Psychic energy and bashing a Zen Headbutt into Vordt's chest, but Vordt endured it with a pained grunt and held strong, trying to position himself for another Play Rough.

Drake was quick to understand the consequences of Vordt's self-immolation and hurriedly tried to detach and separate Salamence from continuing to brawl with a soon-to-be Guts boosted Ursaluna.

"Dragon Tail and Earthquake, Salamence!" Salamence brought his tail around and slammed into Vordt's side with a savage blow from his Dragon Tail. His tail collided into Vordt like a giant hammer, causing Vordt to stumble and swatting him away. Then, using the momentum from the attack, Salamence slammed its tail repeatedly into the ground, its tail managing to smash a hole into the ground and starting an Earthquake.

However, Vordt quickly steadied himself by dropping to all fours, as he easily tanked through the Earthquake while only giving off a small grunt of pain. As soon as the attack ended, Vordt went back on the offensive.

"Ice Rush, Vordt!" Combining both of the moves Headlong Rush and Ice Punch, Vordt quickly recovered from Salamence's attacks and straightened his hind legs while engulfing the front of his body with a layer of ice that remained frozen despite the flames dancing across his body and fur.

Vordt suddenly shot forward like a speeding bullet. It was an intimidating sight to see a flaming huge bear charging at you menacingly at full speed, his eyes filled with determination and rage. Vordt's charge tore up a huge gash in the arena in the wake of his assault, before eventually slamming into Drake's Salamence with the full force of a freight train.

Salamence withstood the attack badly and was sent careening backwards with an audible thump, though it extended its wings like a parachute to halt its backwards momentum so that it could stabilize itself. I tried to capitalize on that successful attack.

"AGAIN!"

"Dragon Rush!"

Recovering quickly, Salamence charged to meet Vordt's assault head on, with both Pokémon locking onto each other and created two huge gouges that were formed in the ground as the two rushed at each other. They became little more than blue and brown blurs as they rammed into each other, creating a deafening BANG that exploded outwards with a cascading wave of force throughout the arena as the two collided into each other.

The impact caused the ground around the immediate collision area to shatter and break apart until a huge circular pit formed around the collapsed impact area. Scattered bits of exposed wires that sparked occasionally and warped steel frames used for the arena's foundations could be found amongst the loose rocks within the gigantic pit.

That single collision from the both of them caused more devastation than the previous Draco Meteor.

I could only take a brief glance at the destruction before I was forced to shield my eyes from the storm of dust and debris that was whipped up by the impact was blasted my way. I gripped tightly on the rail to steady myself so that I wouldn't get knocked over by the impromptu dust storm.

Behind me, I heard the sound of glass shattering as I felt the psychic shields go down, unable to resist the veritable tide of force generated from the impact of our Pokémon's collision. Over the howling winds of the dust storm, I was barely able to make out the faint shouts of people getting knocked over as the force dampeners around the arena failed.

It seemed like utter chaos in the audience stands, but I ignored it for now as I tried to struggle through the dust storm so that I could see what happened with our Pokémon, but the visibility was so poor that I was eventually forced to just wait it out.

One anxious moment later, the dust had finally settled enough that I could actually look around and view the damage. Quickly glancing around, I saw that most of the audience were in various states of disarray as people had fallen off the chairs or over each other. Fortunately, the audience stands were sufficiently reinforced and sturdy enough so that they didn't collapse, which would have caused many injuries.

Seeing that the audience was mostly ok, I focused back on the battlefield and our two Pokémon.

Aside from the collapsed circle in the centre where our Pokémon had collided, there was a huge gash that ran in a straight line throughout the centre of the arena, almost like a ravine had formed and divided the arena into two separate halves. Spiderweb like cracks spread out randomly throughout the arena, and at this point the once pristine arena was unrecognizable and looked like the remains of a warzone.

As chunks of the arena continued to fall and break apart, I grew concerned about the stability of the arena. It was certainly unsuitable to continue fighting on, but since the announcer didn't make a statement about fixing the arena, I kept my silence.

I tore my gaze away from the arena and focused on the state of Vordt. Flames continued to dance across his figure, wearing him down gradually as he traded his life for power. He was breathing heavily, and seemed less steady than usual, but there was only pure strength and determination to be found in his eyes. He would continue to fight.

In the distance, Drake's Salamence was much the same, its own eyes alight with resolve and as intimidating as ever. Thus, as battered as our Pokémon were, neither were going to concede the fight just yet. This was going to the end.

However, with the arena in such a dilapidated state, I knew that any attempt to charge across the arena would be a precarious and foolhardy decision. The arena was just not stable enough at the moment to support another charge from Vordt. On the other hand, the destroyed arena would make it very easy for Vordt to fire off another barrage of rocks at Salamence.

Coupled with its own injuries, I highly doubted that Salamence would be able to dodge the bombardment of rocks from Vordt even if it took flight. Likewise, it also wouldn't be able to use Rest and heal up because both trainers likely knew that any healing attempt by Salamence would be instantly disrupted by a brutal volley of rocks.

Yet, I held the advantage as Vordt's actions weren't as limited. I had the option to choose between using Rest myself to heal up Vordt or I could maintain the offensive and hope to knock out Salamence. I decided to play it safe and order for Vordt to Rest-

"Draco Beam, Salamence! Finish it off!" Drake cut off my thoughts and made the decision for me, as I watched Salamence charge up a bright blue orb in its draconic maw. My gut screamed to me that there was nothing I could do to block such a move; it would overwhelm and annihilate anything and everything in its path. This was Drake's final gambit, a symbol of challenge to prove myself worthy to be his rival. To be the victor.

And thus, I knew that there was only one course of action available to me. I was not about to switch out in an act of cowardice. I ignored the traitorous thought in my head that reminded me I had two more Pokémon as backups even if Vordt was knocked out, but I still had my pride. And I knew Vordt had his.

No, I would match offense with offense.

I wanted Vordt to win by his own merits. I wanted his strength to be recognized. I wanted to leave no doubts about the fact that my Pokémon were capable of beating Drake's ace one on one. And, with that, I solidified my decision.

"Stone Edge, Vordt! TO THE END! FOR VICTORY!" Vordt roared out with determination and stood on its hind legs as huge chunks of rocks around the arena were torn up and hurled forwards towards Salamence. In almost perfect synchronicity, Salamence released his draconic Hyper Beam that ripped through and disintegrated anything in its path before the beam slammed into the center of Vordt.

Vordt roared out in pain as the beam struck him. He gritted his teeth and painfully pushed through the power of the Dragon-type Hyper Beam and continued bombarding Salamence with a continuous avalanche of rocks. As the battle raged on, the beam only continued to get stronger and brighter, and if Vordt hadn't already previously set himself on fire, then I was certain that the Draco Beam would have set him alight.

Yet Vordt was able to bravely withstand the pain as rocks endlessly continued hammering down onto Salamence, with each powerful impact almost causing Salamence to flinch slightly. However, it too was also able to persevere and continue channelling every inch of its own determination into that beam.

There was nothing more that either trainer could do at this point. We had both given out our final orders, and now it was a pure test of endurance between our Pokémon. Both completely and fully resolved to win the match by putting their all into their attacks. Rocks were hurled and disintegrated in equal measure as both Pokémon vied for dominance. For glory. For victory.

Then Vordt suddenly gave off a triumphant roar of determination and blasted a particularly large chunk of rock from the arena that slammed into Salamence, critically colliding into it, and successfully caused Salamence's head to be knocked to the side and causing his Hyper Beam to veer off and away from Vordt.

Capitalizing on the sudden relief from enduring Salamence's Hyper Beam, Vordt gave out one more roar as he could now devote his full effort into his assault and fired off a huge tomb of rocks that rained like falling meteors onto Salamence, eliciting a screech of pain from the dragon, and burying it within.

There was a moment of silence as all eyes were locked onto the pile of rocks that Drake's Salamence was buried under, everyone watching carefully to see if there were any signs of movement from under the pile of rocks.

I don't even know how much time had passed, and I could barely register the relief I was feeling when I heard the announcer's statement.

"AND DRAKE'S SALAMENCE IS NO LONGER ABLE TO BATTLE! ELITE JOHN IS THE VICTOR!"

The excited and frantic cheers of the audience seem muted in my ears, I almost fell over in relief when the announcer's words finally registered themselves in my head.

My eyes were only on Vordt. He was so tired and injured that he couldn't even raise himself onto his hind legs to celebrate his victory. He was always overshadowed by Tyrant, as unfair as that may have been, and he had finally proven to the world that he was an equal. And, as Vordt turned around with an expression of pride and satisfaction, I gave him a wide smile in return.

We had won.