The atmosphere's eerily tense, with everybody remaining quiet. Valen and the other spectators are well aware of what's about to go down. Two powerful dragons that are notoriously different to tame are about to duke it out, and everybody's looking forward to that epic clash. Salamence's keenly focused on the battle, waiting to see which dragon comes out on top.
Hydreigon and Garchomp glare at each other, maintaining strong eye contact. As for their trainers, their mouths curve into content smiles. Rosa and Hilda are still good friends who respect each other, regardless of the sass and taunts they throw at each other.
For Valen, he couldn't be more excited even if he tried his hardest to. These two skilled trainers and their dragons aren't giving an inch to the other. "No matter who wins, you're both amazing Pokémon Trainers!" Valen shouts, sporting an grin. "You better not forget that, or we're gonna have some major problems!"
Rosa winks at him and Hilda gives him a thumbs up. As Valen's Salamence smirks over his trainer's demeanor, the two girls return their focus to each other. Valen and Salamence return to focusing on the battle.
"No matter what the outcome is, I'm happy that I fought well," Rosa affirms.
"Same here," Hilda says. Then, her smile turns into a smirk. "Of course, you're going to lose."
"Hurry up, Expert Noob Hilda. I've got a battle to win," Rosa scoffs, smirking as she waves her hand dismissively. "If I can't do it, then it can't be done!"
"Girl, you're out of your mind if you think you can beat me!"
"Heh, I'm surrounded by crazy girls." Valen's mouth curves into a soft smile. "I'm cool with it."
Salamence glances towards his trainer, sporting a proud smile.
Hilda extends her left arm outwards, behind her elbow and clenching her fist. "Let's see which dragon comes out on top!" She shouts. "Garchomp, use Swift!"
Garchomp fires off a flurry of dark blue stars from his mouth. Hydreigon's relentlessly pelted by the stars, but lets out a thunderous roar to let Garchomp know that he's not backing down. Garchomp lets out a menacing roar in response.
"Hydreigon, use Flash Cannon!" Small orbs of silver energy begins to form and merge inside of Hydreigon's main mouth.
Hydreigon fires off a large silver beam that slams into Garchomp in the latter's red chest, just below his jaw.
"Hydro Pump!" Hydreigon launches a large and powerful jet stream of water from his main mouth.
"Hahahahahahaha, I'm about to deny your ass!" Hilda gloats, sticking her tongue out. "Poison Jab!" As both of his fins glow lavender blue. Garchomp lunges forward.
Garchomp jumps, bobs and weaves around Hydreigon's attempts to land a blow with Hydro Pump. Garchomp strikes Hydreigon with both fins, slashing the three-headed dragon in the middle of his body.
"Hydreigon, use Ice Fang!"
Before Garchomp can back away, the fangs within Hydreigon's main mouth glow icy blue and extend outward. Hydreigon chomps down on Garchomp's right arm, causing the bipedal dragon to shut his eyes in distress.
"Knock Hydreigon away with Brick Break!"
Garchomp's left fin glows red. Garchomp musters up enough energy to smack Hydreigon off of his left arm, slamming his fin on the top of Hydreigon's main head.
"Dark Pulse!"
Hydreigon launches a stream of black circles, striking Garchomp in the face before the bipedal dragon's able to respond. Garchomp staggers backwards, but remains standing.
"Ice Fang!"
Once again, Hydreigon's fangs extent and glow icy blue. Hydreigon lunges for Garchomp, sinking his fangs into Garchomp's left leg before the bipedal dragon can respond. Garchomp shuts his eyes again as he attempts to endure the attack.
Eventually, Hydreigon lets go and falls back as fast as he can.
"Throat Chop!"
Both of Hydreigon's smaller mouths glow purple. Hydreigon darts towards Garchomp, but the latter and his trainer are ready this time.
"It's time to duel!" Hilda announces. "Garchomp, fend Hydreigon off with Dragon Claw!"
Each time Hydreigon attempts to sink its fangs into Garchomp with one of its smaller mouths, Garchomp blocks it via his glowing green fins. or dodges it by moving from left to right and vice versa. This process is repeated over and over again. The duel between Hydreigon's Throat Chop and Garchomp's Dragon Claw bears a vague resemblance to two knights fighting with their swords. The dragons fall back, then charge at each other again with the same attacks. They repeat this process multiple times.
Valen and Salamence are keenly observing this clash, watching as Garchomp methodically blocks and evades all of Hydreigon's attempts to sink his fangs into him. The constant collisions between the attacks result in an moderate amount of smoke overall. As the smoke clears out, Hydreigon finally sinks his fangs to deal damage, but Garchomp quickly counters, slamming both of his glowing green fins into Hydreigon's pair of smaller mouths. Both dragons fall back while fiercely glare at each other, feeling an intense determination to come out on top.
Garchomp's feels a bit tired, but refuses to back down. Hilda takes a deep breath to keep herself focused, commanding, "Dragon Breath!" Garchomp fires off a dark blue beam that resembles fog from his mouth, striking Hydreigon in the center of his body. Hydreigon shuts his left eye, having taken a notable amount of damage. Hilda believes that this is her best chance to take home the win.
"Brick Break!"
This time, Garchomp's right fin glows red. Garchomp lunges towards Hydreigon, striking him in the neck of his right mouth.
"Dark Pulse!"
Hydreigon fires off another stream of black circles, striking Garchomp in his red chest as the bipedal dragon falls back. Rosa tightens her fists, believing that she needs to win this battle soon. Hydreigon's also feeling tired, so it'll come down to who can muster up the most strength and willpower to achieve victory.
"Hydro Pump!" Hydreigon fires off another large and powerful jet stream of water from his main mouth.
"Brick Break!" Garchomp's right fin glows red again. At first, Garchomp's able to bob and weave around Hydro Pump. Then, Hydreigon's Hydro Pump slams right into Garchomp's face, sending him stumbling backwards.
"Expert Trainer Hilda refuses to lose! Use Dragon Claw!" Both of Garchomp's fins glow green and he charges at Hydreigon.
"Dark Pulse again!"
Once more, Hydreigon launches a stream of black circles. However, Garchomp leaps as high as he can, jumping back down and slamming his fins into the top of Hydreigon's main head. Hydreigon's barely able to stay afloat.
"Dragon Breath!" Garchomp fires off another dark blue beam that resembles fog from his mouth, striking Hydreigon in the face.
Hydreigon falls to the ground, causing Rosa to sweat. However, she breathes a sigh of relief when Hydreigon gets back up, letting out a booming roar.
Garchomp falls back, letting out a booming roar of his own. "Use Swift!"
Garchomp fires off a flurry of dark blue stars from his mouth. The stars relentlessly pelt Hydreigon, but the three-headed dragon maintains his balance.
However, Hilda and her Garchomp won't let their opponents off the hook so easily. "Hit em with another Brick Break!" Garchomp's left fins glows red, and he lunges towards Hydreigon.
Rosa and her Hydreigon won't let those two off the hook so easily either. "Use Flash Cannon!" Once more, small orbs of silver energy begins to form and merge inside of Hydreigon's main mouth. Hydreigon fires off a large silver beam.
As Garchomp nears within striking distance, Flash Cannon lands a direct hit to the face. Garchomp shuts his eyes as he stumbles backwards, but is able to remain standing.
"It's now or never!" Hilda announces, her Garchomp letting out a booming roar.
"Bring it on, you noob!" Rosa taunts, her Hydreigon unleashing a thunderous roar.
"Use Dragon Pulse!" Hilda and Rosa command at the same time, both girls exchanging fierce glares.
A dark blue sphere forms in front of Garchomp's mouth. Garchomp launches the sphere, which morphs into a dragon-shaped beam. Then, it morphs further into a massive dark blue dragon with wings, talons, a tail, a spike on each knee, and a pair of extra fangs protruding sideways from both ends of the mouth. Meanwhile, black spheres forms in front of all three of Hydreigon's mouths. Hydreigon launches all three spheres, which immediately morph and merge into a gigantic black dragon with red eyes, wings, talons, and a line of spikes running down its head, back and tail. A howling gust of wind blows as the massive dragon formations slam into each other, resulting in a explosion that causes enough smoke to conceal the battlefield from the spectators.
As the smoke clears out, Hydreigon and Garchomp stand directly in front of their respective trainers, awaiting the next clash. Both dragons let out subtle roars to indicate respect for the other. As with their respective teammates and trainers, the rivalry doesn't affect the friendship they've had for a long time.
Rosa and Hilda fiercely stare each other in the eyes, eager to take this dragon duel to the next level. "Use Dragon Rush!"
Hydreigon and Garchomp are enveloped by black energy and dark blue energy respectively. Both dragons charge at each other at a high velocity, the energy surrounding transforming into the respective dragon formations that appear via Dragon Pulse. This time, the dragon formations act like draconic armor or giant dragon mechs. An enormous gust of wind shrieks across the field as Hydreigon and Garchomp collide into each other, causing a echoing, booming thud. Both dragons refuse to give an inch to the other. This results in them backing away, both going behind their respective trainers. Hydreigon and Garchomp lunge and collide with each other again, fall back, and repeat the process.
Each time the dragons crash into each other, they do so at a different angle. The ensuing string of echoing booms look and sound like dynamite going off via a domino effect. The smoke envelops the entire field, with the energy emitting around the dragons allowing them to remain visible. Both dragons keep crashing into each other again and again before the smoke can even fully clear out.
As the dragons continue their intense fight, Valen closes his eyes, sporting a proud smile. The flames of passions within him continue to burn brightly Valen flashes back to his battles with Brandon, Blue, Red, Cynthia, and Hilbert. He didn't beat Red, Hilbert, or Cynthia, but he's got no regrets about his performance in those battles. He vividly recalls Salamence's triumph over Brandon's Regirock within the Battle Pyramid, as well as the dragon's triumph over Red's Charizard and Blue's Blastoise in Kanto. Salamence also tired out Cynthia's Garchomp and Hilbert's Zekrom before he was defeated.
After several minutes of non-stop collisions, the dragon cease their clash. Hydreigon and Garchomp pant as they stand in front of their respective trainers. Both dragons nearly fall to the ground, but both manage to hold on for now. A suspenseful silence envelops the field as everybody present awaits the outcome. Rosa feels her heart thumping and Hilda takes a deep breath to calm her nerves.
"It's all up to willpower now." Valen keenly studies the scene, feeling that his pulse's using Agility.
After what feels like a lengthy period of time, Rosa decides to take a chance. "Hydro Pump!"
Both Hilda and Valen stare with wide-eyed expressions as Hydreigon musters just enough energy to launch one more jet stream of water. Garchomp's too tired to counter or evade, resulting in a direct hit to the face. Garchomp kneels over and slams into the ground, causing Hilda to gasp. Hydreigon's barely manages to stay afloat, faintly smirking over his victory.
Rosa blinks, her mouth curving into an enthusiastic smile seconds later. "I did it! I did it! I won! I won!" She jumps up and down, raising her right fist towards the sky.
"You fought well, Garchomp." Hilda sports a content smile, recalling her dragon. She closes her eyes, stating, "We gave it our all." She places the ball back inside her bag.
"Good job, Hydreigon!" Rosa cheers.
Hydreigon turns towards his trainer, giving her a grin. Rosa recalls him, then places his ball back inside her purse.
"That's my girl." Valen sports an adoring smile, noting that the locals are roaring with cheers.
Salamence closes his eyes, feeling content with the passion his trainer's feeling. He's back, he's finally back. The trainer who found him as a Bagon that dreamed of being the most powerful dragon that he could be. The trainer who helped to make his dream a reality. The dragon feels thankful to Rosa, Hilda, and their Pokemon. His teammates and him have been waiting for their trainer's eventual return.
Hilda dashes towards the other end of the field. Both Rosa and Hilda grin as they exchange a hi-five with each other.
"That was an awesome battle!" Hilda clasps her hands next to her left cheek.
"It's cuz we both rock!" Rosa holds her left hand sideways over her forehead, sticking out her index and ring fingers.
Hilda spots Valen taking his sweet time to approach Rosa and her. She clasps her hands behind her back, stating, "Let's here what Val-Val's got to say."
Rosa turns her head behind her, giving Valen a playful smile as he saunters towards Hilda and her. "Don't try to hide your excitement, kaaaay?" She gives him a cocky wink, bopping him on both of his cheeks.
"Heh, I'm not hiding anything, your highness."
Valen sports a broad grin. "You're my biggest inspiration, Rosa!" Valen gushes, causing Rosa to gasp. "That battle got me fired up!"
"After several seconds of silence, Rosa closes her eyes. "You better be fired up." She tips her visor downwards. "This amazing, adorable and gorgeous queen can't be seen with some lame ass party pooper."
Valen wraps his arms around Rosa's mid-section. "Here's your victory hug."
Rosa wraps her arms around Valen's neck. "Thank you, sweetie."
Valen and Rosa let go of each other. Then, Valen wraps his left arm around Hilda's waist, pulling her closer to him.
Rosa giggles at Hilda's wide-eyed expression, but the warmth Hilda feels causes her to sport a soft smile seconds later.
"You get one too, because you fought your hardest." Valen's proud to have Rosa as his girlfriend, and he's proud to Hilda as one of his closest friends.
Hilda wraps her arms around Valen's neck, teasing, "You're spoiling me, you giant Lillipup." She bops him on the forehead. Valen and Hilda let go of each other, exchanging a three way fist bump with Rosa.
"You said to go after what I want, right?" Rosa sports an adoring grin. "Well, one of my wants is for you to have awesome battles too!" Her eyes sparkle as she clasps her hands next to her left cheek! "Don't forget to have lots of fun!"
"...Well, Salamence? You wanna have a few battles before we go back home?" Valen glances towards the dragon, who scoffs in response. As if he needed to be asked if he wanted to battle.
Rosa and Hilda step back, allowing Valen to stride forward. Salamence flies over his trainer, landing directly in front of him. Salamence lets out a thunderous roar that sends shockwaves towards the ground and air.
Valen nods, sporting a confident smirk. "Team Skull's Valen is ready to cause mayhem."
Both Valen and Salamence spot a male trainer walking towards the other end of the arena, his Druddigon position himself across from Salamence.
Valen's mouth curves into a lopsided grin, and he points towards himself. "I'm the big bad trainer who beats you down without ever letting up!"
Rosa's decided to stay out for longer, while Valen and Hilda have returned to the former's house. Rosa wanted to battle more, but she also wanted these two old friends to have some alone time together. Valen and Hilda are in the living room, sitting on one of Valen's white sofas. The duo have been binge watching footage of various battles via fullscreen. Hilda's achieved tons of battle footage over the years, but both Rosa and himself have let her a hand in the past.
Both Hilda and Valen are glued to the latter's laptop, watching an exhibition match between Steven Stone and Leon Alden from several months ago. The battle was an intense one, with Steven's Metagross and Duraludon duking it out with Leon's Dragapult and Charizard.
As he watches the battle, Valen notes that he's behind on current events, but he's been catching up. Red's returned to being the champion of the Kanto Conference, Norman joined Hoenn's Elite Four after Drake retired, and Steven stepped down to study geology. Hoenn's current champion's got a Salamence herself, which he finds awesome.
"No spoilers from me, Val-Val," Hilda teases, snapping Valen back into focus. She observes as Leon commands his Charizard and Dragapult to use Flamethrower and Shadow Ball respectively.
"Did you say something?" Valen teases back, watching as Steven commands Metagross and Duraludon to counter with Sludge Bomb and Dragon Pulse respectively.
Valen offers Hilda a fist bump. "No matter what, we're in this together."
"No matter what, we'll be friends forever." Hilda warmly grins, accepting Valen's first bump.
Then, Hilda wraps her arms around Valen's neck, causing Valen to place his left hand on her back.
"Welcome back, Val-Val." Hilda sheds a few tears
"Thanks, Hilda." Valen softly smiles
"You're still the cuddliest guy friend." Hilda playfully winks.
Valen and Hilda hears the front door closing, followed by a giggle. Hilda pauses the battle, and places Valen's laptop on the round walnut table on her right. Both faintly laugh over not realizing that Rosa's home in the first place.
Rosa heard a glimpse of the conversation, and she's sporting a winsome smile. "No matter what, our love's forever, Valey!" She sticks up her left index and ring ringers. "Alsooooo, we'll all be besties forever and ever and ever and ever!"
"Come here so I can lift you up." Valen stands up, gesturing towards her.
"Roar, here I comeeeee!" Rosa dashes into the living room, heading for one of the snowy white sofas.
Rosa gets closer to Valen, and he wraps his arms around her mid-section. "Up you go."
"Tee-hee, big boy loves to lift me me up!" Rosa cheers, wrapping her arms around Valen's neck. "Alsooooo, that was a nice win streak you pulled off! Wam! Bam! Pow!"
Valen laughs, asking, "So, how was your day overall?"
"It was awesomeeeeeee!" Rosa gushes. "Soooooooooo, aside from battling, I had some ice cream! I got a ticket for a play tomorrow, and lots and lots of other cool and fun things!"
As Rosa continues to talk, Valen stays silent, smiling and nodding to show that he's listening. In addition to returning to battling more often, Valen's also happy to hear Rosa talking about plays. He recalls that Rosa got her love of plays and film from her dad, scriptwriter Keith Whitley.
"I'll be back to take that title from you, Rosa!" Hilda asserts.
"That won't be easy when we're far apart from each other!" Rosa giggles.
"Actually, I'm planning to move here," Hilda admits.
"Oh noooooo, I forgot!" Rosa yelps.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Valen shouts in excitement. "Please become my manager again! You were awesome at it!"
Rosa and Hilda blink, then burst out laughing.
"I'll become your manager again right here, right now!" Hilda grins. "I presume that he's coming back eventually!"
"Tee-hee, you're soooo cute when you're excited, Valey!" Rosa's eyes glitter.
"I want to reclaim my past glory as The Black Reaper!" Valen exclaims.
"I want to make myself known in this region!" Rosa sticks up her right index and ring finger, sporting a broad grin.
"I'll become well known here in my own way, but I'm still Expert Trainer Hilda!" Hilda grins. "I'm not going to let myself go unknown as a trainer here!"
"Let's do this!" Valen, Hilda, and Rosa exchange a three way fist bump.
"Hilda, try not to be a hard-ass about my name this time, alright?" Valen's request earns him a bop on the forehead from both Hilda and Rosa.
"I'm also pretty awesome at managing, organized and planning events!" Hilda clasps her hands next to her right cheek as she grins. "I've even organized a couple of archeological digs on behalf of the Nacrene City Museum!"
Then, Hilda's mouth curves into an embarrassed smile. She scratches the back of her head with her right hand. "Sorry...you probably remember that...I guess my memory's still a bit foggy."
"Looks like we both messed up big time."
"I've also achieved success, but I felt empty inside," Hilda says. "You're irreplaceable as a friend...and I feared the worst."
"Hilda, I think you've already become besties with him again," Rosa reassures. "Valen, you don't need to come out with me if you don't want to."
"Really?" Valen piques up. "You're a people person, not a loner."
"Even so, I'll let you decide if you want to tag along." Rosa says, caressing Valen's left cheek. "However, I'd still appreciate it if we could hang out more often in the near future." She kisses him on the lips. "We have lots of fun together, and I promise that I won't latch onto you again."
"...Alright, I guess I can agree to that." Valen kisses Rosa back. "Besides, I wouldn't be a very good boyfriend if I never tagged along."
"...Out of curiosity, how come you two never talk about the online pseudonyms?" Hilda piques up.
"Hmph, as if I'm going to disclose that the queen's gotten to chat with The Black Reaper online."
"You mean the way that I frequently chatted with many fans?"
"I was the cutest and prettiest among all of them!"
"Well-"
"Nooooow, battle time! Rosa wants to watch battles with Valey and Noob!" Rosa grins when she hears Valen snickering.
Valen glances towards as Hilda she picks up the laptop off of the walnut table. Hilda rolls her eyes, but smiles seconds later upon she seeing Valen and Rosa sharing a laugh.
After a couple of minutes, the footage of Steven and Leon's battle's on fullscreen again. Rosa's eyes sparkle as she seems Steven and Leon's Pokemon duking out, neither duo giving an inch. Valen and Hilda focus on the battle as well, all three of them feeling content with the current situation. All three of the love battling, as do all of their friends. All three of them know that even if his self-esteem still needs improving, the real Valen's back. He's not going anywhere ever again.