One... two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight.
Eight facets. Evenly spaced. Precisely angled. This was an octagon. This was an octagonal room and they were each standing at opposing ends of it.
May surveyed her environment, hardly bothering with discretion at this point in time. Who had need for that anyway? No one ever ventured in here without intentions bared. This was the Pokémon League and here was the Champion's Chamber. People came here to win. And one of the many likely ways to secure victory was to sound out the enemy.
Including the enemy territory.
Toweringly tall walls. Impossibly high ceiling. Both obviously steel-reinforced. Whether it would aid or hinder flight, she did not know but was mature enough in battle to wait it out.
Did he have any Flying-type Pokémon?
She had been acquainted with Steven Stone since their first, incidental encounter back in Granite Cave on Dewford Island. That was nearly a whole year before he later turned out to be Hoenn Region's reigning Champion of the Pokémon League although she would admit to having had an inkling of suspicion that he was a lot more than he had been letting on then.
Subsequent to that, they had both gone on to cross paths with one another several more times, sharing the occasional meal and more often than expected, battling alongside one another in the fiercest of fights against evil conspiracies.
So, yes.
Yes, she had seen Steven Stone's Pokémon team. She had seen the Champion's Pokémon team. The revelation both awed and intimidated her at the same time. After all, she had played witness to his prowess many times over and thanked her lucky stars each time to not have been on the receiving end of his wrath.
Well, her lucky stars were bound to run out eventually.
So, yes.
He did have Flying-type Pokémon. Alongside his specialty Steel-type Pokémon. Being a Specialty Trainer, he was neither likely to deviate from his original line-up nor keen on introducing new members into his team.
Conveniently forgetting the fact that Steven would have likely seen her own Pokémon and done his own research on them at the first opportunity, May pursed her lips in an expression of false confidence.
Watching her gaze dart across the room in a flurry of minute head movements, Steven could not help a small smile from surfacing onto his steely demeanor. Intimidation scarcely detracted from her intellect. Her remarkable acumen in battle as well as outdoor savviness were qualities he had been working towards all his life and admired in her. They shone, like actual amethysts, in deep violet eyes that rolled around in their sockets as she sought to take in as much as physically possible of her surroundings.
The same violet gaze widened in what he presumed to be shock at the first tremor of movement creeping through the floor, flickering from her feet to seek clarification in his face, which he gave in a reassuring smile while firmly instructing, "Stand tight."
She did exactly that, with both feet rooted to the concrete and without a single word in further response throughout their ongoing ascent atop a smaller, similarly-shaped platform. Manifesting abruptly from the floor, the new octagon rapidly rose, slowing to an eventual stop an approximate fifty meters away from collision. Suddenly, she understood the exact reason behind the impossibly high ceiling in the first place and wondered how painful a drop it would be, from this incredible height to the very bottom of this chamber, should it happen in battle.
Her mind and pulse racing, May fingered a Pokéball and watched Steven Stone do the same opposite her, an enviable picture of collected inscrutability despite the startling change to have taken place in their surroundings. The atmosphere thickened around them as battle auras roared to life. However, the hardness glinting in his eyes appeared to shed its flintiness when he mirrored her next movements, spreading both feet in a battle stance while stretching out his dominant arm with the chosen Pokéball tightly clenched in a hand.
"May Maple." Stop calling my name.
"Steven Stone." Stop smiling at me.
"I look forward to experiencing battle at your very best."
"Likewise."
A great flash of blindingly white light erupted throughout the space, fading to reveal two Pokémon standing in fierce confrontation against one another before their awaiting Trainers. A towering, slightly battered-looking Blaziken to a sturdy, starkly fresh-looking Skarmory. A Bird-type Pokémon that didn't fly. A Bird-type Pokémon that flew. May's to Steven's.
Emitting a shrill shriek, Skarmory spread great, glimmering steel wings at Blaziken in a show of intimidation where it stood, awaiting instruction while it had yet to come from its Trainer. However, May was quick to notice how it appeared wary, even from afar, of the sheer amount of heat that Blaziken was currently generating, only by means of its inborn ability, 'Blaze' as her Pokédex read it. She had meant her first command, a scorching Flamethrower from Blaziken it aimed straight towards Skarmory, as an attempt at scoping out the opponent and watched in grim satisfaction as it immediately took to the air.
Gliding easily in between subsequent Flamethrowers a grounded Blaziken continued to aim towards it, Skarmory activated Steel Wing on Steven's command, sending dangerously sharp blades of steel whistling in her Pokémon's direction only to have most of it flying back in its face by a series of fiery kicks. Failing to dodge every single last one entirely, Skarmory shrieked in pain as one made it past its dodges to pierce its wing, the attack exacerbated by lingering flame.
On the ground, Blaziken smirked at the efficacy of its defense turned offense.
However, a closer look at the Pokémon revealed a gash along its arm. Even though it did not seem to be as greatly affected as Skarmory was by its own attack, it was enough to raise May's guard. The attack... had managed damage in spite of Blaziken's high speed, indicating that Skarmory was either on par with or possibly beyond it in terms of speed and accuracy. May's eyes narrowed. It would not be possible to draw Skarmory into a close-ranged battle and she was not going to exhaust Blaziken by foolishly attempting one. Being Steel-type, Fire and Electric-types were its main weaknesses. There had to be a way to take advantage of that knowledge!
Opposite, Steven watched with equally narrowed eyes as May had Blaziken directing fire attacks in heated pursuit of Skarmory as it resumed flight, forcing it into risky maneuvers several times in a row in its attempts to avoid getting blasted. Rarely did Blaziken's continuous moves manage a direct hit but the few times it happened had Skarmory screeching out painfully in spite of its Iron Defense and slowing down in the middle of flight, thereby increasing chances of May landing yet another direct hit.
In between its burgeoning fatigue and repetitive dodging, Skarmory was scarcely able to score attacks of its own whilst flying, what with its recent Steel Wing being reduced to ashes even before it reached Blaziken. With the Fire-type Pokémon radiating heat straight into the floor and all around itself, it could not get close enough for an attempt at Metal Claw without getting badly scorched in the process. It was tiring fast and longed for respite of solid landing and rest.
Well, if floor-landing was not possible, perhaps, the wall will do-
Skarmory screeched yet again as sheer heat licked at its talons as they attempted to find landing on its steely surface.
Steel! Heat-conducted surface! Gods!
Steven's next command of Brave Bird, in a last-ditch endeavor to knock Blaziken away as it sprung powerfully off the octagonal platform below, ultimately failed to reach an already faint Skarmory in time before it was pinned to the wall by two Blaze Kicks straight to its neck and body respectively. Eyes slipping shut and scorched wings folding, it let out one final cry before fluttering downwards in a dead faint.
Now disadvantaged by one Pokémon in subsequent battle, he should be more than wary of his opponent's apparent strength and rapport with her Pokémon but all he could see and think about at this moment was May frantically directing Blaziken to jump after and catch an unresponsive Skarmory in its arms just as it began its inevitable plummet in earnest.
"Skarmory," Steven breathed, watching Blaziken gently set its bundle of steel and feathers down on the floor. "You did well, my friend. Now, rest well."
Turning back to face May, he realized that she had not been concerned with him the least bit.
He did not know what he was really expecting but that there was absolutely nothing being directed at him from her came as a surprise. Absolutely nothing. Neither irritating gloating nor insufferable arrogance, both of which he had had the displeasure of tolerating from past hopefuls in the unlikely event of them having overcome one of his Pokémon in their attempts at getting ahead in battle with little to no qualm about the welfare of their own Pokémon team.
"...My dear-" He heard her murmur, above the crackle of flames, in the softest of tones, feeling his heart throw itself recklessly against the inside of his ribcage at the intimate words. "-friend, Tori... Thank you so much for always doing your best, no matter the circumstances." With a sudden start, he realized that Blaziken was no longer standing, toweringly tall over May, but with its knees bent in order to hear her all the better while she cooed warmly into its face.
Hearing Blaziken crow lowly in seeming reply, Steven decided against interrupting, opting to patiently wait out her interaction with her Pokémon with his back turned to her in a polite act of privacy.
"Do you wish to continue battling, Tori?" Staring up at Blaziken's scarred, visibly fatigued face, May could not help her concern even as it vigorously nodded in assent. After all, it had already gone through so much prior to reaching this point in battle. Her worry was apparent and justified to all, human and Pokémon alike. However, the Pokémon righted itself anew in a flourish in front of her fearful self. Limbs long and shoulders squared in fierce determination in light of battle, May did not stop it when it strode confidently out into the heart of the battlefield once more.
By that time, Champion Steven Stone had already had his next Pokémon out of its Pokéball and awaiting by his side.
A Cradily.
...What on earth was a Cradily?
A quick look at her Pokédex informed her of its Fossil origin as well as its unique mix of Grass and Rock-types.
...Grass?
Another look at said Pokémon augmented her theory. Shaking off the disconcerting way Steven was currently staring into the battlefield, May confidently directed Blaziken to douse it in flame. Amidst the roar of fire, incandescence rippled several feet from the floor into the air at the sheer ferocity of its attack. In the short period of time it took for the heat and smoke to clear, she fully expected to see it weakened, possibly incapacitated from her Pokémon's attack. However, to both hers and Blaziken's bafflement, there it still stood, eerily quivering all over its feelers and oddly-shaped body.
She did not know what disconcerted her more at this moment, this strange Pokémon or the way blue-grey eyes glinted from afar.
Didn't the Pokédex indicate that it was of Grass type? Wasn't it so?
"Again!" She commandeered a repeat of Blaziken's initial attack, recklessly increasing its power to the point of having every exposed inch of the floor scald... only to have Cradily emerging, largely unscathed, from the sea of fire once more.
It was as if nothing had ever happened. And she had done so much to make things happen...
Wasn't it Grass-type? Were it a Grass-type Pokémon as stated, it would have burned under the first onslaught. So why didn't it?
"Steven? Why-" May began and promptly shut her mouth in silent horror.
How pampered had she been all this while with a mentor, in the infallible Steven Stone, by her side in times of urgency?
Too pampered.
Too reliant she had been on her mentor, Steven Stone, for knowledge and guidance wherever she lacked it. Too reliant she had been on her mentor, Steven Stone, to bail her out of sticky situations whenever her impetuousness had ended up landing her in hot soup... that she should be pushed to her wits' end at this very moment at the feet of Steven Stone, infallible Champion of the Pokémon League.