The grass beneath him was surprisingly soft, it was almost a shame it would inevitably become marred by the throes of battle. With a deep breath Rowan went over what little he had grasped in the few sessions he had with Chloe that morning. Breathing sub zero temperatures came surprisingly easy, however controlling it into a variety of attacks proved difficult.
Despite Chloe's assurances that it would come with practice, Rowan still felt uneasy for the battle ahead. In his mind he was just a walking air conditioner on steroids. Granted he could freely build ice on things around him and maintain it relatively easily, however he doubted his opponent would patiently wait to be frozen.
Looking behind him, Chloe and Felix waved to him from their designated stands. Above him, a Gardevoir floated midair, erecting barriers around the arena to prevent stray attacks from striking the audience or other staff in the area. He was impressed with the efficiency this system had in place.
A Lycanroc shot him a curious glance as it walked past his arena and trotted to Chloe and Felix's seats. The three spoke excitedly for a moment before Felix's disposition nosedived. Chloe also looked angry as well, but quickly hid it when she noticed him still looking at them.
"That didn't seem too good…" Rowan thought to himself, worried about what was going on. His worry was short lived as he felt the touch of another mind to his. Rowan stiffened at the intrusion, but fought to keep himself from instinctually pushing it away.
"Participant #76, Rowan. You're opponent will be participant #107, Logan," The Gardevoir echoed into his mind. "You have agreed to the terms and conditions previously but I am required to go over them once more. Moves, attacks, or tactics that involve grievous wounds on your opponent are strictly forbidden. Failure to comply will be met with immediate exile from this town and banned entry from any other locations. Once you are awarded points, you are to cease all combat until both combatants are ready to resume. Failure to comply will be met with a warning, but may be escalated to an immediate forfeit based on the severity of the attack."
As she explained, a group of fire type pokemon walked onto the field. Among them were a Magmar and a Charmleon but what held his attention was the towering Archanine strutting onto the opposite side of the field. The pokemon towered over the rest of them, dwarfing him and everyone around him with his physical size. Rowan could feel himself sweating already.
"Is that him?" Rowan asked their referee.
"Correct," she replied as she sized him up. "Do you accept these conditions?"
"I guess," Rowan gulped. Through their connection, Rowan felt pity for him emanating from her.
"If it makes you feel any better, he also has to follow the same rules you do. I will stop him or you from going too far." The gardevoir assured him.
Rowan took his position as their referee repeated the same spiel to Logan. His heart began thumping in his chest as fear took root. Logan was easily three or four times the size of him as well as carrying the type advantage against him.
"I'm so fucked," Rowan said under his breath as he frantically began racking his brain for something, anything, that could let him at least put up a fight. With a deep breath he hung his head and sighed. When he opened his eyes he noticed a layer of ice had coated his paws. He suddenly had an idea.
Chloe fidgeted nervously as they waited for Rowan's opponent to arrive. She knew it would be safe enough and any injuries sustained would be easily treated, but anxiety churned within her regardless. Putting on a brave face, she and Felix waved to Rowan from their seats.
"Long time no see, Chloe," came a voice next to her. Chloe looked over to see her friend, Myra.
"Myra!" Chloe exclaimed. "I didn't know you were in town! Is Tryst and Sydney with you?"
"Yes and no," Myra replied. "Sydney saw your friend over there and went off on his own…"
"Great, the jilted lover is back," Felix groaned. Chloe shot him a dirty look to quickly shut him up.
"What about Tryst?" Chloe asked, looking around for the Houndour. When Myra didn't answer immediately, she felt her heart sink. "Myra, where is he? Is he okay?"
"He's fine," Myra sighed. "But another team recruited him." The Lycanroc padded over to Chloe's side and sat down.
"Why do I feel like Sydney had something to do with it?"
"Sydney found out that Tryst said something about you being cute and sort of... harassed him for days, being as mean and ugly as he could. Tryst finally had enough and just quit," Myra explained.
"So he's jealous and jilted, Felix laughed dryly. "What a wonderful combination! I really liked Tryst too… what a shame."
From the corner of her eye, she noticed Rowan looking at them. Swallowing her anger for the moment, she quickly hid it away. Myra followed her gaze to the arena.
"I'll deal with him later, we have other priorities right now," Chloe growled through grit teeth.
"Good, I'm sick of his shit," Myra nodded as she laid down, resting her head on her paws. "You gonna tell me about the new guy or what?"
"Very long story," Felix replied. "I'll fill you in later."
"Well, 'later' might be sooner than you think. Look," Myra replied as she nodded towards the arena.
Chloe felt her chest tighten as an Arcanine took to the field. She glanced nervously at Felix, the snake seemed to be equally as worried as she was for this matchup. The canine dwarfed Rowan considerably. Curiously enough, Rowan didn't back down from the fight, much to their surprise.
"Something's not right," Chloe murmured. "In what world is an Arcanine an entry level opponent?"
Felix nodded in agreement, an Arcanine in the first round was more than a little strange. He rubbed his chin with a vine before an idea came to him. Motioning for Myra to follow him, he stepped away and brought his voice low enough for Chloe not to hear.
"Does Sydney know about him?" Felix asked, pointing to his friend in the arena. "Where is he now?"
"Yeah, we both saw you guys come in," Myra said before trailing off. "You don't think he'd…"
"I do," Felix responded quickly. "We need t-"
The servine was cut off by a booming voice. It was too late, the battle had begun.
Taking breath after breath, Rowan breathed freezing air around himself. Within seconds, small amounts of ice began to build up on his fur, rapidly encasing his body and limbs in a thin sheet of crystalline armor. Rolling his joints as it accumulated, he prevented his limbs from freezing solid.
Rowan noticed Logan watching him in surprise, but he didn't care. In the heat of battle, he wouldn't have a chance to do this. Light headed from his deep breathing, Rowan swayed for a moment as Gardevoir touched his mind. From behind him, Rowan could hear the crowd muttering amongst themselves.
"That's only gonna weigh you down!" the canine taunted. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to get it off ya!"
Rowan felt a snarl rise in his throat. The Arcanine seemed full of himself. Rowan had originally expected to lose, but now he was determined to make the conceited canine work for it.
"Interesting," She commented. "Are the combatants ready?"
Both of them nodded.
"Let the battle…" She said before using an Echoed Voice to carry her words across the arena. "BEGIN!"
Without hesitation, the Archanine began charging him, flames billowing from his maw as he sought to take Rowan into his jaws. Despite the added weight of his armor, Rowan managed to dodge the attack as the larger pokemon thundered past him. Breaking into a sprint, Rowan pushed himself to sprint as fast as his feet could carry him. Time wasn't on his side here, he had to get used to his new bulk as fast as he could.
The Arcanine growled angrily and skidded to a stop. His own monstrous size prohibited him from making sharp turns like his smaller opponent. Instead of relying on brute force, the canine swapped tactics, shooting jets of flame on the ground with each leap as he pursued Rowan relentlessly.
As the game of cat and mouse continued, the battlefield began to transform into a scorched inferno. Thankfully his armor held, protecting him from the worst of the heat, but soon Rowan's paws began to ache. The added weight combined with the burning landscape wreaked havoc on the flesh of his paws.
Rowan began to see a pattern in the Arcanines attacks fairly quickly, however. The mammoth pokemon was proud of his strength and sought to use it to crush him but was becoming increasingly frustrated by Rowan's evasive tactics.
A glimmer of hope emerged with Rowan. If he could push the pokemon into making a mistake, he might create an opening. His breathing was becoming labored from being on the run, so he needed to act fast.
"What's wrong?" Rowan taunted breathlessly. "Can't catch up?"
Logan slowed down to a trot and the two began to circle each other. Rowan winced as he felt his paws throb with each step. Taking advantage of the brief reprieve, the two of them breathed heavily, trying to gain their second wind.
"Big talk coming from an ice type," Logan retorted. "You realize you're bound to lose eventually right? Your types have too many weaknesses and Glaceon are the weakest."
"And yet here I am, untouched," Rowan replied with a chuckle. Glancing down he noticed a drop of water sizzle away on the baked ground below. "What's that say about you?"
With a roar, Logan broke into a sprint towards him. The fur of the canine caught fire as he charged at a frightening speed. Rowan tried to evade again, but didn't expect Logan's explosive increase in speed.
As he lept, he felt Logan clip his right hind leg. The inferno that enveloped Logan stripped away his frozen armor like a hot knife through butter before the force of the impact sent him careening out of control to the side of the battle field.
Immediately the referee called for a time out, awarding points to Logan. The Arcanine held a smug grin as Rowan staggered to his feet. The crowd around him cheered and roared at the display, it was obvious who they wanted to win.
"Oops," Logan sneered. "Looks like I touched you. Lot of good that ice did, huh?"
Rowan winced as he put weight on his leg. Glancing at it, he cringed at its condition. Along its length, primarily along his haunch, his skin was exposed and burnt. A few drops of blood leaked out in places where the flames didn't immediately cauterize the damage. Rowan felt no pain, but knew it would be coming soon, his body was in shock.
"If you forfeit now, I can heal you completely," The referee stated. "However, if you wish to continue, I am only permitted to heal you enough to do so."
"I can keep going," Rowan nodded as he turned to Logan and snarled. "I can't stand people with attitudes like that. Someone needs to put him in his place."
"I understand," The Gardevoir replied as she held a hand over his wounds. Rowan watched curiously as his flesh knit together beneath her Heal Pulse. The bulk of the burns fades away, leaving his skin only mildly burned. Rowan sighed in relief, glad he didn't have to deal with the pain he would've been subjected to otherwise.
Getting up, Rowan limped slightly to his side of the field, ready to continue the fight. He heard Chloe yelling at him from behind, but ignored her. Logan took his place again, eyeing him with contempt.
"There's no other explanation," Rowan thought to himself. "That had to have been Extreme Speed and Flare Blitz at the same time. How do I deal with that?"
Looking around him, Rowan surveyed his surroundings. The bulk of the field was charred and smouldering. Then the realization hit him, Logan had been emitting flames since they began almost constantly. There was no way of knowing how long Logan could keep it up, but he doubted it could be much longer.
Sizzling surrounded him as he let the rest of the armor on his back, tail, and left hind melt away, leaving his rear half of his body exposed. The trade off as he stretched was the greatly reduced weight he had to carry, making him light on his feet. The Extreme Speed/Flare Blitz combo was worrisome, but Rowan was confident he could avoid it now.
Gardevoir floated to her original position and signaled for the battle to begin, much to the crowd's pleasure. This time Rowan charged forward, looking to close the distance between them as quickly as possible. Logan's eyes went wide at his bravery while his team members in the stands laughed and jeered at him.
Not taking him lightly, the canine's fur quickly became engulfed in flames once more as he barreled towards Rowan once more. This time he was prepared. As he sprinted, Rowan blew ice on the ground ahead of him for several meters when their collision became imminent.
The ice almost instantly melted but remained muddy enough for him to dive down and slide beneath the canine's belly. Logan yelped in surprise at Rowan's boldness and tried to stop abruptly. Before the mud could dry, the canine slipped. Tumbling head over heels, Logan fell in a jumbled heap.
Much to Rowan's surprise, Gardevoir called for another time out. This time she awarded points to him. The crowd's cheering reached deafening proportions while Logan got to his feet, flash dried dirt caked to his fur. Struggling to clean himself, Logan instead engulfed himself in far more intense heat, causing the mud and dirt to become brittle and to flake away.
The gardevoir tried to offer him the same healing as Rowan, but the enraged Acanine wouldn't have any of it. Taking his position for the third time, he snarled and snapped at Rowan. For a moment Rowan wondered if he had gone too far in humiliating the pokemon, but quickly dismissed the idea. Logan was right where he wanted him, all he needed was one more push.
"Awwww, did the pooch need a bath?" Rowan taunted.
Gardevoir blinked in surprise when the canine no longer used his words, reverting to vicious barks and snarls.
"A-are the combatants ready?" She asked once more. Rowan nodded while Logan responded with a menacing growl. "Begin!"
Logan abandoned all tactics in favor of raw power, firing off like a bullet towards him. Just like before, Logan was engulfed in flames, but something was off about it this time. The flames were beginning to weaken.
Rowan smirked as he easily avoided his attacks. He could sense the force behind each snap of Logan's jaws and the force of his attempts to crush him beneath his body, but Rowan didn't fear him anymore. The canine attacks were becoming increasingly uncoordinated, clumsy, and easy to predict.
Finally Rowan saw the window he had been searching for. As Logan whooshed by one last time, he stumbled slightly and his flames were as strong as a dying bonfire at best. Bolting forward, Rowan turned slightly and slammed into him as hard as he could. The force of the impact drove the breath out of both of them. Shards of the last of Rowan's crystalline armor bit deep into Logan's flank, frost biting wherever they were buried.
Bouncing off Logan's side, Rowan clenched his teeth as he waited for Logan's retaliation, but nothing came. Looking over, he saw his opponent sprawled on the ground, his breathing labored. A flood of panic washed over him as he quickly released control of the ice before the frostbite could worsen. The audience, his audience, roared as Gardevoir signaled the end of the battle and declared him the winner before quickly descending to Logan's side.
Rowan exhaled a sigh of relief as the thrill of battle ebbed away. Feeling extraordinarily weak, he struggled to stand. With one foot in front of the other he limped to Gardevoir's side, concerned for Logan.
"Will he be okay?" Rowan asked as he watched her repair the countless puncture wounds. The psychic type glanced over to him.
"He's just exhausted," The Gardevoir replied. Rowan noticed there the wounds healed, new fur had sprouted, leaving Logan's fur completely flawless as before. "I thought you couldn't stand pokemon like him?"
"Yeah, I can't," Rowan replied. "But that doesn't mean I want anything bad to happen to him. I mean... I won, that's punishment enough isn't it?"
The Gardevoir smiled at his response and waved a hand at him. Rowan shuddered as he felt his legs' throbbing cease followed by a tingling sensation. Looking back, he saw his leg had been healed and his fur restored. When he tried to thank her, the pokemon shook her head.
"Think nothing of it. Please, you may call me Sam," She said, introducing herself. "I'm afraid it's all I can do for you."
"Regardless, thank you," Rowan said as he tested his leg. The wounds were gone, but he still felt incredibly tired. "Can you give him a message for me?" Sam nodded.
"Can you tell him next time not to underestimate his opponent and... that was a great fight?" Rowan asked.
"I'll be sure to pass that along," Sam snickered. "In the meantime, I believe you have company."
Rowan turned around just in time to be laid out by a ball of light blue fur.