A/N: I own nothing.
For a few weeks, things were relatively quiet. Other than practicing with one another, Lance's Dragons did not really interact with the Charizard clans. Every now and then, Lesnar came from the Eastern clan to practice some of the more brutal techniques, but even those visits were becoming sparse. Lance figured that it had something to do with Chief Irongrip getting annoyed with the rumors of Dragons that could defeat Charizards, and had probably told her clan mates to avoid contact with anything that wasn't a Charizard.
Not that this was a bad thing. On the contrary, it gave Lance a chance to sit back and try to relax. Liza suggested that he stop worrying about the future, and the next battle, and the next plan of action. "You'll drop dead before you're 40, Dragon boy." She'd said when she abruptly cancelled a practice and then gave no indication that she would reschedule. In all, she reminded him a lot of Arach's words to him the night he had lost to Steven Stone, and those truly exhilarating feelings he'd had standing atop the Sky Pillar.
Right now, however, his trio wasn't interested in any of that. They were more interested in trying out new twists and turns to the various submission holds they'd learned here in the valley. Lance had to keep an eye on them to make sure that they didn't wrench each others' extremities off, but at the same time found himself pretty relaxed. They seemed to know what they were doing, with or without his help.
"They're smart cookies, aren't they?" Liza asked, coming outside to sit on the log next to him. It was midway through the afternoon, and the sun was making a gentle, lazy descent towards the horizon. She was holding a bottle of something that clearly wasn't for minors, and Lance raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't peg you for that kind of thing." He said, and then winced as he immediately regretted it. Instead of smacking the bottle in his face, Liza just snorted and proceeded to take an obnoxious swig right in front of his face.
"What's wrong? The Dragon boy don't drink?" She asked. Lance shrugged.
"Not much. I mean, it's kind of frowned upon in our clan to drink alcohol to excess, though there isn't any rule against it." He said.
"And you're telling me that Clair has never broken that rule?" Liza asked skeptically. Lance tried his hardest not to throw his family under the bus, but it was Clair after all.
"She…does more to earn some criticism than just that." He admitted tepidly. This caught Liza's attention.
"Oh? And what sort of things would she be doing that would draw the ire of the great and mighty Dragon Clan?" It was clear that she was being teasing, but even Lance could tell that she secretly wanted to hear more about this. Lance shrugged.
"She's…well…" Lance struggled for the right words. "She's a bit of jet-setter." He finished.
"High-flying, wheelin', dealin', kiss-stealin' son of a gun kinda jet-setter?" Liza asked. Lance chuckled at the mental image.
"Sort of. Not really nice either." He admitted.
"The world isn't full of nice people." Liza said, taking another swig of her drink. "In fact, there's probably more people like Clair in this world than not."
"Don't say that." Lance said. "I'm trying to hang onto hope for the world and the people in it." Liza snorted.
"So do I, Lance. But it's naïve to pretend that the majority of people are willing to sit in a circle and sing kumbaya. Even you must know that." She said.
"I do." Lance said, after a moment. "And it bothers me that Clair doesn't see that."
"What can you do? Sometimes, realization has to come from within. You know this, so you live your life trying to deal with it, and hopefully in the process someone else sees you and looks within themselves and decides to make an honest chance. Or something like that. I dunno, I might be drunk already." She said, holding the now-empty bottle. Lance did a double take. That was inordinately quick.
"It gets cold in the winter." Liza said defensively when Lance gave her a questioning eyebrow. This expression only became more skeptical. So she punched him in the shoulder.
Rubbing it with a small laugh, Lance turned his attention back to the three Pokemon. Right now, Dragonite was trying to free himself from a shoulder lock that Haxorus was applying, whilst Charizard was giving instruction/encouragement.
"They've gotten pretty good." Lance said with a smile. "Though it helps to have a good teacher." He said. Liza blushed a little bit. He was clearly talking about her, there was no doubt. Of course, being an absolute master of subtlety, Lance was staring directly at her as he said this.
"Thanks…" She said. "I do good work."
"Yup." Lance said. "Wanna know something?" He asked. Liza raised an eyebrow.
"What?" She asked.
"I didn't think that this was gonna work when we first started." He said. "I kind of thought it was going to be a waste of my time." The look on his face was too pathetic to make Liza offended. Still, that was kind of a haughty thing to come in thinking, and she let him know that.
"I know, I know." He said. "It's just…I guess I'm a bit hesitant to deal with outside the box learning. I mean, consider where I grew up. I realize now that I was spoiled rotten. I had the best teachers, the best tutors, the biggest experts on Dragons in the world…I had everything handed to me. But it also made me think that this was the only way for me to succeed. And I didn't know just how good the Charicific Valley was going to be for them." He said.
"Now do you see why Steven Stone took a shot with that Orrean?" Liza asked. "He was trying something new. Isn't it fun to try things that are new?" She asked with a cheeky grin. Lance smiled.
"Yeah, yeah it is."
Before anything else could happen, they were startled by the sound of roaring. Dragonite had broken out of the shoulder lock, and was now holding Haxours up in midair by its shoulder, so that the golden Dragon's feet were sticking straight up in the air. Whilst Charizard roared like a maniac, Dragonite fell backwards, hitting a vertical suplex that shook the ground.
"That…that was a…" Liza said with a stunned look on her face.
"…Jackhammer?" Lance finished in equally stunned surprise. Dragonite rolled Haxorus onto its back, and then put its ankle in a very painful-looking hold. As the golden Dragon tapped the ground, Charizard and Dragonite began exchanging a series of high fives.
"…So THAT'S what you two have been doing in secret!" Liza said.
"Were you trying to surprise me?" Lance asked. Dragonite looked at its master and nodded, a prideful glint in its eyes.
"Well, it surprised me." Liza said. "I didn't think you had it in you, Dragon. Maybe you can do that in a regulated match, huh?" She asked with a wink.
For a brief, glorious moment Lance had visions of Dragonite picking up a certain Aggron and carrying it around in the air before slamming it through the ring.
"Uh, Lance? You're kinda drooling." Liza said. Lance shook his head, embarrassed. The Charizard trainer giggled. "Just kidding. It's just so easy to tell that you were thinking about Dragonite doing that against Steven's Aggron."
"Too obvious, huh?" Lance asked. As Liza nodded, he smiled. "It would be worth it to see the look on Steven and Trodaire's face."
"Trodaire?" Liza asked.
"The Orrean's name." He said.
"Ah. Good name!" She said sincerely.
The three Pokemon were now lounging about, sitting in the grass and resting. Considering they'd been throwing each other around for a good half hour or so, this was no surprise.
"What happens now?" Liza asked. Lance looked determined.
"I want to see how Chief Irongrip looks tapping out." He said with a completely serious expression on her face. To his surprise, Liza burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" He demanded. Wiping a tear from her eye, Liza spoke.
"Sorry, Lance. But, uh, I've been watching Charizard for over twenty years of my life…and there has only been one Charizard that was never lost by tap-out. And that would be Chief Irongrip." She said. Lance raised an eyebrow.
"So she has a streak?" He asked.
"Yes, she has a stre-" Liza was cut off.
"Streaks are made to be broken." Lance said, and he headed east.
As soon as she had made sure that he was serious, and not simply crazy, Liza followed along. She told Charla to round up as many of the other Charizard in the valley that she could, including the other Chieftain. As soon as Charla swooped away, the quintet that remained walked towards the stomping ground of the eastern valley.
As they made their way through the forest, Lance noticed that the trees were becoming even more twisted and violent and forbidding in nature. Several times, nettle branches stuck to his pant legs, and he had to shake them off. The trees were twisted into grotesque shapes, and everywhere you looked there were signs of battle. Perhaps a Charizard had been thrown into a tree here, or driven through the dirt there. It was not a pretty sight.
And then, in the very bowels of the forest, it all cleared out. A ring of emptiness, where the trees had been burned out and the stumps remained. Considered the choking density of the trees leading up to this point, this was positively unnerving. There, sitting in the middle of it all in an obviously meditative position, was Chief Irongrip.
It was as if she knew they were coming. Breathing deeply in and out, the Chief had applied a positively frightening make-up set of charcoal, dirt and other grimy material to her face. Her body was red and robust like a regular Charizard, though her head was akin to a freshly-unearthed zombie. Scars and obvious signs of battle covered her skin. Liza motioned for Lance and his Dragons to wait behind her, whilst she went up to the Chieftain.
As soon as Liza was about ten feet from Irongrip, the Charizard's eyes snapped open. Growling, she eyed up the matron of the Charicific Valley, as if she were somehow invading somewhere that she didn't belong. Irongrip looked behind her, and then growled loudly to see Lance. Liza held up her hands.
"My Lady, they wish to challenge your clan." Liza said in a commanding yet respectful tone.
Irongrip snorted derisively, before standing up. Lance hadn't had a chance to really see how tall she was, but it was clear that she was about an inch or so taller than Dragonite, which made her a good two feet taller than the average Charizard. She looked over Lance and his Dragons, before bellowing out an ear-splitting roar. It echoed through the valley, and soon a chorus of similar roars answered it. All along the tree line surrounding them, Charizard in war paint emerged. They slowly formed a ring around the proceedings, and stared murderously at Dragonite. To his credit, the Dragon was not engaging them. Instead, it was staring calmly and blankly at Irongrip.
There was another series of roars, and Charizard from the other three quadrants were making their way to the eastern zone. The three other Chieftain took a seat next to each other on the edge of what was to be the ring, and the rest of the Charizard in their clans followed. It was a veritable sea of Charizard around them. There was no backing away now.
"Lance, are you sure you want to do this?" Liza asked. "We are in the eastern zone, after all. This isn't going to be easy."
"We've been here long enough." Lance said. "My boys are ready."
"Very well." Liza said. She turned to Irongrip. "Who are your best two fighters?" She asked.
Irongrip growled, and two Charizard flew next to her. One of them was Lesnar, who was clearly trying to look intimidating and not friendly. The other one Lance recognized as the one that had kicked Dragonite in the head all those weeks ago. Irongrip growled, and Liza translated.
"The Chieftain says you may pick one fighter, and that fighter may choose his opponent. Of his own volition. The Chieftain…is feeling generous today." She said.
Dragonite stepped forward, earning a chorus of taunting roars from the eastern Charizard. Irongrip smirked a little bit, no doubt remembering what had happened the last time this being had faced a Charizard.
"And its opponent?" Liza asked, knowing exactly what was going to happen and bracing herself for the reaction.
Dragonite took a deep breath…and extended a pointer finger directly at Chief Irongrip.
The roar that emerged from the crowd could have deafened. Irongrip's smirk had disappeared, and she was now frowning. Liza waited for the roaring to die down, and then spoke again.
"What kind of fight would you like? Knock-out? Out-of-bounds?..."
She trailed off when Dragonite took its arm and began tapping the side of its head. The frown on Irongrip's face had now become dead shock. The Dragonite was challenging her, on her home turf, to a submission match.
The crowd didn't even roar either. They were just as stunned.
"Very well." Liza said. "Fighters take your position."
A few moments later, Dragonite and Irongrip were circling each other. They were like predators stalking prey. The roars of the Charizard crowd were loud and proud, and it was hard to hear oneself think, let alone talk. Lance decided not to bother with giving Dragonite commands. It was Dragonite's fight, anyway.
Dragonite moved first. It charged for Irongrip, intending to tackle the beast to the ground. But Irongrip caught him in mid-stride, and flipped him over her shoulders for a beautiful scoop powerslam. Almost immediately Irongrip wrapped her arms around Dragonite's neck and went for the chokehold. Eyes bulging, the Dragon kept from blacking out by reaching one arm in and prying the Charizard's arms slightly off of his airpipe. Then, with his free arm Dragonite began ramming Irongrip's kidney area as hard as he could. It took some doing, and Lance thought that Irongrip would outlast Dragonite, but eventually the hold loosened, and Dragonite used a hip throw to toss Irongrip over his shoulder. The Charizard quickly got up to her feet, and the two began circling again.
There was a murmur of surprise amongst the Charizard crowd. Usually Irongrip's chokehold from behind was enough to get the more inexperienced fighters to tap out or black out, but this Dragon had stayed cool and broken free. Would this be a worthwhile fight?
Dragonite made a move like he was going to tackle Irongrip again, but feinted at the last possible second. This caused the Charizard to nearly fall for the fake, but she quickly righted herself. What she wasn't expecting, however, was Dragonite to go from a feint into a straight-on tackle again.
The crowd roared as Dragonite speared Irongrip into the ground, punching and grabbing at her face in desperation. However, Lance watched in horror as Irongrip took advantage of Dragonite's recklessness and wrapped her legs and arms around Dragonite's head, this time trying to triangle choke Dragonite against his own arm.
Judging by the way Dragonite's breathing was beginning to get more and more labored, it was clear that there wasn't much time. So Dragonite took a risk. Roaring, it reached one arm under Irongrip's backside and lifted up. The Charizard crowd roared as Irongrip was now being held aloft, and then Dragonite threw her down in an improvised sit-out powerbomb. The shock of the impact was enough to jar the submission hold loose enough, and Dragonite slipped his arm out of the hold. However, Irongrip's arms were still around his neck, so Dragonite decided to finish it. Reaching both arms under Irongrip's backside, he picked her back up onto his shoulders, and threw her to the ground again in a much more controlled powerbomb. This was enough to get Irongrip's arms off of his neck. But instead of rushing in and going to the submission hold there, Dragonite got back to his feet and began circling around, getting air back in his lungs. A severely dazed Irongrip also got up, and now they began circling again.
By now the crowd of Charizard were cheering again. Not derisively, or tauntingly. Just straight cheering. This was a great match, and it was even possible that the Dragon was holding its own. A wave of emotion was washing over the crowd, and Lance could sense it.
They were beginning to respect the Dragonite as a true warrior.
Irongrip was in no position to agree, however. With a roar, she charged Dragonite, wrapping her arms around his waist. Before he could react, she had lifted him up and over her shoulders for a belly-to-belly suplex. From there she tried to put on another headlock. But Dragonite was faster.
He kicked her off of his chest, and then proceeded to plant her face-first in the ground. Then, he reached one leg over and under her armpit, turning 180 degrees. Lance recognized this as a shoulder lock, the very move that Charizard and Dragonite had been practicing earlier that morning. He had thought that it was just for fun and games.
Now he knew that Dragonite had bigger plans for it.
Irongrip roared in pain, trying to break free from the hold. But Dragonite had it locked in tight, and refused to budge. To do so would be suicide. Liza ran up and close to the action, shouting for Irongrip to tap out if she couldn't continue fighting. Irongrip was spitting embers in anger and pain, refusing to tap out.
Both Liza and Lance noticed the look of panic in Dragonite's eyes. They could tell that he had locked the joint as far as it could go without lasting damage; any further torque and the joint was at risk for serious injury. They also knew that under no circumstance did he want to actually seriously injure his opponent. So now Liza began yelling at Irongrip to tap out, or else she was going to get hurt. Irongrip managed to open one eye, and Lance felt a pit form in his stomach when he saw the look in it.
Never.
Irongrip roared, and jerked backwards towards Dragonite. In a panicked, defensive response, Dragonite cranked the joint.
There was an audible snap.
It was good that Liza had the reflexes to jump out of the way, for the roar of pain form Irongrip was enough for a jet of flame to shoot from her mouth. Dragonite hopped off of her back and rolled away. Irongrip writhed on the ground in pain, clutching her clearly dislocated shoulder. Dragonite lowered his arms, his shoulders sunken in shock. He had been looking to win a fight and prove that he was worthy of respect. He hadn't meant to cripple his opponent.
His thoughts were immediately put on hold as Irongrip had gotten to her feet, and was trying to knock him out. Emphasis on the word trying. She was using only one arm, and throwing light jabs that wouldn't have knocked over a drunken Meditite. Dragonite backed away from her, and Lance saw the look of sadness in his eyes. Lance and his greatest friend made eye contact, and Lance nodded.
"End it quickly." He said.
Liza winced as Dragonite feinted towards Irongrip with a punch, and then followed it with a roundhouse kick to the head that knocked the Charizard to the ground. From there, he raced in and wrapped her from behind in a headlock from behind. It was clear that he was trying to cause as little pressure on Irongrip's battered shoulder as possible.
In retrospect, it was only a matter of time before Irongrip was gently tapping against Dragonite's shoulder.
As the crowd of Charizard exploded in shock and awe, Dragonite ignored their jubilation. He gestured for Haxorus and Charizard to help him. Walking over to Irongrip, Dragonite knelt down and draped her good arm over his shoulder. Lifting her up to her feet, he began leading her towards the forest and back to the cottage where Liza would have medical supplies to treat the injury.
Haxorus and Charizard formed a wall of bodyguards to protect the two fighters from the crowd of surging Charizard, while Liza and Lance followed close behind. Lance noticed the upset look on Liza's face, and unsure of what to do decided to put his arm around her shoulder. It was the only thing he could think of in that moment. She returned the gesture, though in her case her arm was around his waist.
Irongrip's war paint had flecked off and been worn away, revealing her crimson-red skin like that of a regular Charizard. She was wincing in pain, one eye clamped shut. Yet, she was able to turn her head towards her competitor. Through gritted teeth, she growled something. Dragonite looked at her, and saw the look on her face as well.
Good fight. I approve.
Though he was happy to have her respect, Dragonite found himself wishing deep down that it had come easier than this.
A/N: I'm back! For those of you that are fight fans out there, the ending of this chapter is meant to evoke the ending of Warrior, the movie starring Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton. For the real fight fans among you, the submission hold used by Dragonite at the end is a variant of the omoplata shoulder lock, which, having been put in it myself (and have put others in), I can attest to being very painful.
There's not much left in this story, but we're nearly there! Also, for those of you that are interested, be sure to check out BlackLadyCharon's Cost of the Crown, a fic I am co-authoring that takes place in my TrodaireVerse. Till next time!
