Krom sighed, only on his third battle in a tournament with six. He watched the screen scramble his name and face about with other faces. He watched the faces move, wondering why it seemed like his opponent's always had a previous connection with Ash Ketchum. He had found out later that Barry was a rival of Ash's, and wasn't too surprised. Though, how he managed to live this long was beyond Krom, as he would have ripped the trainer's throat out years ago. The scrambler stopped, and Krom was paired up with a trainer named Tyson. Krom frowned, noticing the odd fact that his battle was second. He shrugged, walking to the stands to watch the first battle.
The first battle held the trainer with a Heatran, and Krom noticed the way the Pokémon battled. The Heatran used a combination of bulk and unusual attacks to win. Krom watched a Xatu hit the wall, defeated by a Dark Pulse. The battle was over, and Heatran's trainer was declared the winner. Krom watched the Pokémon close her eyes, and wished he had psychic powers. His battle was up, and he walked onto the field. The trainer smiled, nodding his greeting, which Krom reciprocated. The trainer flung his first Pokeball, and a Shiftry bore it's teeth at Krom. Krom flung a Pokeball, and a Pawniard rose, dyed green with Babiri Berries.
Tyson called for Shadow Ball, and Krom called for Dark Pule. The leaf armed Pokémon launched the ball, only for it to be shredded by the black rings, which continued to hurtle toward the Shiftry. The Pokémon leapt into the air, and Tyson called for Energy Ball. Krom called for Flash Cannon, and the Shiftry launched the energy ball, which was disintegrated by the silver beam of light the Pawniard launched. The Shiftry hit the ground, where Tyson called for Mega Kick. Krom called for the Pawniard to dodge. The Shiftry swung it's short leg, and the Pawniard spun to the side. Krom then called for X-Scissor, and the Stealth Ranger swung it's knives, cloaked in blue energy. It struck, and the Shiftry fell back defeated.
The trainer frowned, switching out Shiftry for a Sceptile. Krom found it odd how the trainer opted to use grass Pokémon against Steel Pokémon. The trainer called for Focus Blast, and Krom cursed. The Sceptile launched the blue ball of energy, and Krom called for Flash Cannon. The beam of light struck the ball, and the ball began to push through. Tyson called for SolarBeam, not allowing the Pawniard to recover. Krom frowned, calling for the Pokémon to jump away. The Pawniard leapt away, the Focus Blast tearing through the traces of energy and slamming into a wall.
The SolarBeam struck the Pawniard, knocking it back. The Pokémon rolled, bouncing to it's feet. Tyson called for Leaf Blade, and the Pokémon surged forward quickly, leaves on it's arms extended and glowing green. Krom called for Fury Cutter, and the blades of the Pawniard glew green. The Pawniard surged forward, and parried with the Sceptile. The Sceptile swung down, and the Pawniard jumped over it's leaf blade. The Pawniard swung down, and the Sceptile jumped back. The Pawniard hit the ground, leaping at the gecko and spinning. The Sceptile ran backward, avoiding each swing of blade. Tyson called for Focus Punch, and the Sceptile reared back, swinging it's fist forward.
Krom called for Pawniard to dodge with Fury Cutter. The ninja leapt back on it's blade, landing on the ground. Tyson called for Dragon Tail, and the huge tail of Sceptile glew blue. It launched itself forward, and Krom called for Fury Cutter. The continuous usage of the technique activated it's special ability, and the Pawniard yelled. It's small blades erupted with green energy, wrapping around the ninja like a cloak. Insectiod wings of energy formed, and the Pawniard seemingly flew away with ease. Using Fury Cutter, the Pawniard concentrated it's energy into one slash. It came down, striking the Sceptile, who wailed in pain. The build-up of energy released, and the Sceptile disintegrated into nothing.
The trainer gaped, and the Pawniard panted from the amount of energy it released. Tyson frowned, sending out his third Pokémon, a Hariyama. Angered, he called for Arm Thrust. The Pokémon thrust it's huge hands forward repeatedly, and the Pawniard jumped from side to side, avoiding the attack. Krom called for Aerial Ace, and the blades of the Pawniard glew silver. He swung down as Tyson called for Brick Break. The two struck, and an explosion rang out.
When the dust cleared, the green Pawniard was defeated, and the Hariyama seemingly unharmed. Krom frowned, switching the green Pawniard out for a yellow one, who dyed itself with Shuca Berries. Tyson called for Brick Break, and Krom called for Toxic. The Pawniard spat, thick toxic sludge secreting from it's concealed maw and striking the Hariyama. The Pokémon stumbled, grunting at the poison. The Hariyama regained it's composure, and swung down. Krom called for Protect, and the barrier stopped the attack.
The Hariyama grunted, stumbling back. Krom called for Metal Claw, and the Pawniard swung it's blades, striking the Hariyama. Tyson called for Seismic Toss, and Krom smirked. He called for Flash Cannon, and the beam knocked the sumo Pokémon back, where it grunted from the poison. It reached down to grab the ninja, who used Protect on command. The Hariyama grunted at the pain, and Krom called for Aerial Ace. The Pawniard swung it's blades, striking the Hariyama and knocking it to the ground. Krom told the Pawniard not to attack, and the Hariyama rose slowly, only to fall face first from the poison.
Tyson frowned, returning his Hariyama. He frowned, sending out a Donphan. The elephant called out, and Krom looked over it's body. It's underbelly was vulnerable to attack, unlike the sturdy armor on it's back and over it's trunk. Krom called for Dark Pulse, and Tyson called for Defense Curl. The Donphan rolled up into a ball, protecting itself from damage. Tyson then called for Rollout. The elephant spun, rolling toward the Pawniard. Krom called for Toxic, and the ninja spat poison, and the elephant rolled away, slamming into the Pawniard.
The Pawniard flew back, and Krom called for Dark Pulse. The airborne Pawniard launched the rings, propelling itself further into the air. It missed, and the Donphan propelled itself into the air and struck the ninja. It grunted, knocked even further into the air. Krom frowned, examining the situation. "Use Sky Attack!" he called, and the Pawniard glew silver, a silver so bright the Donphan's eyes closed in pain. It slammed into the elephant, who called out as it hit the ground. The Pawniard hit the ground, unable to stand. Krom returned the Pokémon, frowning at the elephant.
Krom sent out a third Pawniard, this one dyed pink with Magost Berries. The Pawniard placed a blade on it's hip, smirking under it's mask. Tyson called for Seed Bomb, and the elephant launched explosive seeds from it's mouth. Krom called for Attract, and the Pawniard winked, hearts of energy flying from her eyes, hitting the seeds and repelling them. They slammed into the elephant, who called out in pain. It stumbled back, and it's eyes showed complete infatuation, and the Pawniard giggled. The Pawniard motioned for the elephant to come closer, and Tyson shouted against it. The elephant ran forward, and the Pawniard smirked.
The Pawniard lifted her blades above her head, and the Donphan stopped at her feet. The Pawniard's blades grew tenfold, and glew. Krom called for Guillotine, and the Pawniard came down, trisecting the Donphan. The trainer gasped, and returned the pieces of Donphan, sending out a Metagross. The Pokémon roared, and Krom returned the Pawniard, sending out Rocky. The Gigliath called out, enjoying the chance to stretch his muscles and whoop ass. Tyson scoffed, calling for Psychic.
The Metagross used Psychic energy to freeze Rocky to the spot. Little did he know, that was what Krom wanted. He called for SolarBeam, and the spider launched a huge beam of solar energy, utilizing his energy reserves. The metal spider grunted, struck and pushed back. It's focus was broken, and Krom called for Rocky to use Autotomize. The rock spider called out, and his bulk disappeared. He became streamlined, and his speed was doubled. Krom called for Power Gem, and Rocky launched multiple rock like energy blast from his crystals. The Metagross stumbled back, struck hard.
Tyson called for Psychic, and the Metagross regained it's footing. Rocky froze, struck by the attack. Tyson called for Hyper Beam, and Krom called for Autotomize. The Metagross launched the beam, and struck Rocky. The rock spider grunted, and Tyson called for Meteor Mash. The metal spider surged forward, arms glowing silver. It rolled, using the attack multiple times. It struck, and Rocky called out in pain, and fell to the ground. Tyson smirked, and Krom called for Stone Edge. Stone appeared above Rocky, fashioned into two rapiers with large blades. Tyson found this odd, and then Krom called for Synthesis. The crystals on the rock spider glew so bright, all Tyson could see was a flash of light. When it dissipated, he froze.
Rocky stood at nearly ten feet tall, and on his hind legs. His forelegs had molded from usage of Autotomize, becoming hands. The Gigliath was more like a lean warrior than a bulky spider. He clenched the blades in his hands, and growled. Krom called for Smack Down. The warrior burst forth, moving too fast for Tyson to see. He rammed his blade under the Metagross, flinging the twelve hundred pound Pokémon into the air. He leapt into the air, bringing both blades down and striking the Metagross. The spider hit the ground and ruptured, the four arms flying about haphazardly.
Tyson returned the dead Pokémon, and Krom returned Rocky, waiting for Tyson's next Pokémon. Tyson sent out a Meowth, looking angry and dressed like a cowboy, and Krom flung his Pokeball. It opened, and the Pokémon hit the ground with a thud. Rising to it's feet, the energy faded from the Pokémon. And, standing in a billowing trench coat, with a cowboy hat, boots, and wearing bandoliers of berries with a lasso on one hip, a hammer on the other, and a berry shooting gun on his chest, was Warriorf.
Tyson called for Thunderbolt, and the dwarf sped away, pulling the lasso from his waist. He spun it over his head, and flung it. It wrapped around the Meowth, and Warriorf yanked down. The Pokémon hit the ground, and called out. Tyson screamed for Thunderbolt. The cat shot the electricity through the rope, and Warriorf smiled. He let the lasso go, and rolled around the rope. He drew the gun and loaded it with Chople berries. He cocked the hammer, and used Natural Gift. Using Natural Gift, each Chople berry he shot would be like a Brick Break. He fired, and the cat jumped away. He cocked the hammer, firing again. The cat leapt into the air, flinging it's own lasso at the dwarf.
The dwarf moved to the side, firing a third berry. It struck the cat, who called out as it hit the ground. He cocked the hammer repeatedly, firing the final three berries. The cat leapt away from each, and Tyson called for Night Slash. The cat surged forward, claws glowing black. It swung at the dwarf, who leaned to the side, slamming the butt of the revolver into the head of the Meowth. The Pokémon stumbled back, and Warriorf drew his hammer.
He smiled, swinging the weapon at the back of the Pokémon's skull. The cat rolled away, and the dwarf followed. The cat jumped back, using Thunderbolt. The dwarf smiled as he was struck, throwing the hammer through the electricity. It struck the cat's chest, flinging it into the air. The dwarf smirked, drawing the gun and loading it with one Chople Berry. The cat struck the ground, coughing and sputtering. Warriorf walked over, standing over the cat and smiling. He tipped his hat, and cocked the hammer. He placed the barrel of the gun to the cat's skull, and pulled his hammer off the cat's chest, then fired.
Krom was declared the winner, and the cat was deceased. He walked away, making sure to grab the dwarf's lasso. "Not bad, partner." He said, with a drawl in his tone. The dwarf chuckled, and they walked back to their room. Or did they?
Tyson walked back to his room, distressed by the loss of Pokémon. The only survivor was Shiftry. Hariyama fell to poison, Metagross was bludgeoned to death, Sceptile was incinerated, Donphan was trisected, and Meowth was shot. He sighed, about to walk into his room when a lasso wrapped around his waist. He was drawn back, calling for help. He ended up seeing a pair of boots, and looked up at his opponent. "Howdy partner. I reckon we've met before." He said, a drawl in his voice. He nodded, and Krom smiled. "You see, I don't like folks like you. Yer friend Ash gave you eternal life, and you done went and ignored everything as his empire was torn down. I reckon we need to fix that." He said, and smiled down at the trainer. "You see, I'm gonna do the same thang to you that your Meowth did to Ash's Pikachu years ago." He said, the drawl in his voice sounding darker with each word. He clenched the lasso in his hand, and used Thunder.
Simba smiled as he watched Homika and Saria train. He found that both women looked good, especially Saria. They both were lively as they trained on the surprisingly warm winter day. Of course, the Tyson-skin bandoliers holding their Pokeballs were a nice accessory. Sable walk up to him, frowning. "Is it just me, or are those girls getting more gifts every day?" she asked. Simba chuckled. "I have no idea what you are talking about. Barry-skin ponchos are necessary, as it's winter, and the Tyson-skin bandoliers? All girls like accessories." He said, and Sable sighed. Simba laughed. "I told you. Alder is doing a great job. Three more battles, and three more presents, well, maybe less." He said, a knowing smile on his face.