A/N: Who else loves Lechonk? See you on Tuesday!

17: The Tournament — First Round III

Pikachu

The stadium was packed the next day.

The cheers were loud and chanting for different champions and regions reached my ears before we even turned the corner of the street that led us to the stadium. Red looked surprised—all the other times before when we had shown up, the spectators were waiting in line still and when I looked, I could see people and a few pokemon with their humans were at the gates waiting to be let in. How many people were going to be here today? I waved to a little electric-type that was sitting on a child's head and it's eyes grew large with awe as we walked toward the side entrance.

We had woken up early, due to both nerves and a schedule, but mostly nerves. It had been a long time since we had battled in front of people—we had never battled in front of this many before and most certainly not a broadcasted show around the world! Even though we were nervous, I was ready to battle Serena and move on to the next round. Since Blue got through his battle, we had to move on with him otherwise we would never hear the end of it—ever.

Finally, we reached the side door and avoided as many people as we could. We had come alone today and while we knew his mother would be watching the matches in the stadium today, she would be in the crowds with Professor Oak and Leaf and I doubted we'd be able to see them while we were in our match. Maybe we could look for them when we waited for Lance's battle to be done so we could know where to look.

After the long trip up the awful stairs Red hated, we finally reached the box we frequented and opened the door. Blue was the only one there and he looked behind as we entered. "I'm surprised you woke up early—I thought someone else would have been here next," he said. He looked back at the stands. "You better win today. Can't have them getting all hyped up about your battle just for you to lose." He snorted. "It'd be funny, though."

"I won't lose," Red replied and took a seat next to him.

"And that's what Nate and Brendan both said, too. Don't underestimate anyone in this competition." He looked across the way towards the other box and I followed his eyes. I saw Serena, Calem, and Dawn sitting together, but even from here, I could see how nervous Serena seemed.

"It seems like we all formed our own cliques, huh?" The new voice caused us to look at the door and soon Ethan plopped down beside Red and I.

"If you're talking about how it's always us three together, then it isn't anything new."

"No, I mean that we're all hanging out with each other and formed our own little friend groups! You can't expect to not make friends, right?"

"You'd think that in a competition like this, we'd make more rivals than friends."

Ethan shook his head. "True, but can't we all be friends and rivals?"

Blue rolled his eyes and changed the subject. "Who do you think is going to win? Steven or Lance?" he asked.

I took a look at the big screen that was showing off the champions battling today. I had no idea how Steven battled, or what his pokemon were, but I knew Lance was no pushover. Dragon-types were fairly uncommon, especially in Kanto and Johto, and had few weaknesses. We had barely won our battle against him the first time, it was all thanks to Blastoise for defeating his last and very annoying Dragonite.

Ethan grinned as he crossed his arms. "I did some research last night," he said. "Watched a lot of battles from previous matches from loads of different people."

"So you were bored," Blue deadpanned.

"No! Well, a little bit" He shook his head. "But that's not important. What is important is that I think Lance has a really tough challenge ahead of him."

I grew curious. What made him say that? Lance was one of the strongest trainers in Kanto and Johto, and has held the official Champion title for years now.

"Steven is really smart, he favors steel- and rock-types, and he's got mega evolution on his side, too."

Blue scoffed. "Who doesn't have mega evolution at this point?"

Red raised a hand.

"Besides us."

"We don't," Black's voice said as he entered the box. He sat next to Ethan and his sister took a seat behind Red and Blue. "It's too flashy, in my opinion. Almost feels like cheating."

"It's not cheating, it's literally in the rulebook that you can use mega evolution once per match," Hilda answered.

"What do you have against mega evolution? I use it all the time!" Brendan said as he finally arrived. Nate and Rosa followed him in, and the three of them took the last seats behind us. "Sceptile isn't even the only one I can mega evolve! Metagross is awesome when he mega evolves."

"Oh, yeah, Steven has a metagross, too, huh?" Ethan asked and turned around in his seat.

Brendan nodded. "Unlike mine, his is arguably the strongest on his team." He looked at the field as the two announcers began to speak and go through Lance and Steven's past endeavors. "I'm rooting for him to win—we need more Hoenn representation around the world!"

"Mudkip is a literal meme," Rosa snickered and laughed harder when Brendan rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean."

Music started to blare through the speakers and I looked at the field. The first match of the day was finally starting and when I watched Lance and Steven walk onto the field, their strides equally mature and confident, I felt Red's knee begin to bounce. I glanced up at my trainer and patted his leg, causing him to look down at me. "You don't have to be nervous," I assured him. Although he couldn't understand me, he scratched the fur between my ears and I made a pleased noise when his leg stopped moving so much.

Two's voice made me turn back around to pay attention to the match that was about to begin. "Please welcome Johto's very own dragon master, Champion Lance, and heir to Devon Corporation, Champion Steven Stone!"

From where we sat, I could see a stone pinned to Steven's jacket, similar to Calem, Serena, and Brendan's, as it glinted in the sunlight.

"I'm sure everyone knows the rules by now: this is a six-on-six battle!" One exclaimed. "No items other than held ones are permitted and switches are allowed! Release your first pokemon!"

Steven threw his out a split second before Lance and said, "Archeops, let's do this!"

Lance threw his next. "Salamence, go!" he shouted.

Both pokemon appeared at the same time and I blinked several times when I stared at Salamence. This was unexpected, he'd never had Salamence before! One quick glance at Ethan told me that he hadn't known it either, so did that mean he changed his team up when we got to Unova? Archeops didn't make a move to get into the air and kept his wings folded against himself while his tail swung back and forth lazily.

A hush fell on the crowd, waiting for one of the announcers to give the starting signal.

Finally, Two shouted, "You may begin!"

Lance made the first move. "Salamence, Flamethrower!"

Salamence roared and the flames shot out of his mouth and to my curiosity, Archeops made no move to dodge it. Just before the fire struck him, the flames hit something akin to a barrier and harmlessly sent the attack anywhere but at Archeops. Archeops scoffed. "Have to do better than that, big guy," he taunted when the Protect disappeared.

Salamence growled deep in his throat but didn't say anything.

Steven moved his arm forward. "Archeops, Tailwind!" Archeops' feathers moved as the wind picked up and finally he started to run forward when Steven added, "Dragon Claw!"

Lance looked surprised when Archeops began to sprint instead of fly and as Salamence jumped into the air to avoid the attack, he commanded, "Salamence, keep your distance! Flamethrower!"

I watched the battle drag on with curiosity. What was Steven trying to accomplish with a flightless flying-type? He might have been thinking about what kind of strategy Lance used, or maybe just trying to gauge his strength, but it didn't matter when he smirked. "Archeops, that's enough! Get close to Salamence!"

I was about to ask how would Archeops get into the air to meet Salamence when Archeops suddenly took three steps and then was in the air, wings flared with an impressive wingspan. Archeops could fly? With those impressive leg muscles and speed in the air, though, he was obviously meant for ground combat. I wouldn't doubt if Steven was trying to ground Salamence and get him onto a more even playing field.

Salamence rolled in the air to avoid Archeops and huffed. "You can't possibly hope to outfly me," he said.

"I'm not trying to," Archeops answered cheerfully. He flapped his wings and rocks began to form above them.

"Rock Throw!" Steven commanded.

Lance immediately countered the attack. "Salamence, Dragon Tail! Destroy the rocks!"

Salamence's tail glowed with the attack and in one fell swoop, the rocks that were dropped from above shattered into little pieces. His eyes widened when Archeops wasn't in front of him anymore and he looked around wildly for his opponent.

Steven grinned. "Archeops, Ancient Power!" he yelled.

From high above Salamence, three large boulders appeared and were thrown straight at him. I gaped when one finally struck Salamence and sent him crashing back into the ground with a cry of pain. When had Archeops gotten into the sky? He was slow in the air; he shouldn't have been able to outmaneuver a salamence, of all pokemon!

"Again, Archeops! Bounce!" Steven yelled above the noise.

Archeops dove as fast as he could and twisted himself in the air so his legs would strike the boulder that had struck Salamence. The force shattered it and Salamence let out another cry when he was hit again by Bounce.

Oh, I thought when I realized what had happened. The Rock Throw was a distraction for Salamence so Archeops could use Bounce on the rocks when the dragon wasn't facing him and get the height he needed to get above.

When Salamence staggered back up, I gulped. I had a feeling Lance was going to have a hard time against Steven. Although I believed in Lance, this wasn't going to be an easy win for the Johto champion.

"Come on, Lance, you can do it!" Ethan cheered suddenly.

"No, Steven's going to win—Steven! You can do it!" Brendan shouted.

"I bet you ten bucks Lance is going to pull off something crazy and turn the battle around!"

"You're on!"

"I am pretty sure gambling on pokemon matches is illegal," Nate told the two suddenly fired-up trainers.

"This isn't gambling, this is betting that Lance is going to prove that he's the better trainer!"

"Betting is still gambling!"

Red let out a sigh, then got up and lifted me onto his shoulder so I wouldn't fall off from the sudden movement.

"Where are you going?" Blue asked. "You don't want to watch Lance get his ass beat again?"

Red made an excuse as quickly as he could, "I'm hungry."

Blue accepted it with a roll of his eyes. "You really should eat breakfast."

Rosa shot up to her feet. "I'm coming, too!" she said and smiled. "I want some snacks!"

"You remember how last night you said your stomach didn't feel good? I don't think eating stadium snacks is going to help," Nate said with a sigh.

"That was then, this is now. Let's go, Red!" She walked to the door and we followed her out. She breathed out a sigh and rubbed her temple. "It's really loud out there," she stated.

I glanced at her. Did she feel unwell? Red shared the same expression. "You okay?" he asked.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Whenever I'm nervous, I get headaches and stomachaches." She removed her hand and then grinned. "White tells me a lot of stuff, you know. I don't know what happened, but when I saw her this morning during breakfast, she was acting weirdly happy for someone who hates mornings."

Red pointedly looked away from her as they walked towards the snack vendors across the hall.

She hummed as she held her hands behind her. "Nothing happened between you two, did it?"

I rolled my eyes again. So that's why she wanted to come with us. Rosa wanted the inside scoop of Red and Hilda's relationship, and this was one of the easiest ways to get Red alone to give her information.

There was a muffled sound of an explosion and loud cheering and Red's face turned pink. It was clear to me he was thinking about the kiss Hilda had given him. "No," he tried to deny.

Rosa giggled. "You're not as good at hiding your emotions as you think you are." She leaned forward a little. "You can tell me! I promise I won't tell anyone else!"

Red looked at me. I scowled, unimpressed at his silent look. "Why are you staring at me? You're the one who can tell Rosa whatever you want!" I stated.

As if he could understand, he looked away. "She… um, Hilda…" He faltered and nervously, he took a deep breath. "We had dinner last night. Made her a Kanto dish, and before she left… She kissed me."

Rosa squealed instantly in her excitement. "A dinner date and a kiss! What happened after that? Did you walk her to her room? Did she stay there? Watch a movie together?"

I snorted. My trainer had been too starstruck to even breathe for a half a minute, there was no way he could have asked Hilda to stay and watch a movie with him.

Red shook his head. "Nothing happened."

She didn't believe him and once we reached the snack bar, she ordered for us and got extra food for the others. "Nate always says he doesn't want anything and then he always steals my food," she said as the vendor walked away to get the food ready. She turned towards Red, looking up at him with a gentle smile. "You both seem to genuinely like each other. Why are you so nervous? It's obvious she likes you—she's the one that kissed you!"

He shifted on his feet. "It's complicated."

"How is it complicated?"

Red looked at her, silently asking what she meant.

Rosa understood immediately. "I mean, it's not complicated at all. You like her, don't you?"

He nodded.

She hummed again. "Are you just nervous about telling other people, then? Have you ever been in a relationship before?"

He shook his head.

"Ah, then I understand. First relationships can be nerve-wracking and exciting. Don't worry, I feel like things will work out! You can tell other people whenever you're ready, I won't push you to tell others." She sounded like she was speaking from experience, and I wondered if she had any stories of her own to tell.

Red took a few moments to think about what she said and then after a few seconds, he said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now, I should probably tell you that Black's kind of protective of her. After everything with Team Plasma, the two of them are hardly ever separated from each other and if they are, one isn't far from the other."

I thought about that as they got their orders and I had to jump off of Red and walk behind so he could help Rosa carry everything. I wondered what happened to make Black act like that around Hilda. I wondered if all siblings were like that but when comparing Rosa and Nate to Black and Hilda, they were hardly anything alike.

As much as they loved their twin, Nate and Rosa seemed to enjoy their time apart and bickered with each other as much, if not more, than Black and Hilda. What she said was true, though. The times when we were together, Black was never too far away from Hilda.

Black had mentioned that when he battled N, N had been staring at Hilda instead of the battle—was he just overprotective or was it something else? What did Team Plasma do to them that caused him to be like that? I sighed irritably. Always more questions.

We reached the door of our box and Rosa rose her leg to open the door with her foot. "We have food!" she declared.

The roaring of the crowd surprised me and as Rosa handed a box to the others, I jogged to the barrier and jumped onto the railing to see what was going on. Salamence and Archeops were both off the field, and Lance was recalling Kingdra. I looked at Steven's side and saw that he had Metagross out—but he looked strange. Whatever had happened, Lance had lost Kindra and Salamence awfully quick in the time it took to get some snacks.

"So, basically, Steven is kicking Lance's ass," said Ethan out of nowhere and placed his box of nachos onto his lap.

I was just as startled as Red and we snapped our attention to him. As destroyed as the field was in the few minutes we were gone, and as focused as the two champions were, Lance was losing?

He ignored our looks and kept his eyes locked on the field. "Lance has already lost Salamence and Kingdra now; Steven's only lost Archeops and I don't think his Metagross is going down any time soon."

"Yea, my expression too," Blue added, noticing the look of shock on Red's face.

"Well if I can lose, he can lose too," Nate mumbled bitterly.

"Don't be a sore loser, Nate," Rosa scolded.

"I'm not being a sore loser, just stating the facts."

Ethan chomped onto a chip. "I'm going to lose ten bucks, aren't I?"

"You're the one who made the bet, I just accepted it," Brendan replied and grinned as Ethan groaned. "Steven's a specialist in this kind of battle and prefers defense over speed. His team has surprisingly high stamina, so they can last a really long time out on the field against opponents. Steven is also a geologist and knows a hell of a lot about rock- and steel-type pokemon. Dragon-type pokemon are no match for him."

"And here I was actually hoping Lance would win for once—" Blue started, but he was interrupted when Lance suddenly commanded, "Dragonite, Outrage!"

I looked at the field, seeing Dragonite's eyes glow red, and an exploding power coming out straight for Metagross.

Steven instantly ordered his defense, "Metagross, use Protect!" I saw the shield come up just before the Outrage struck Metagross. I subconsciously grabbed one of Red's chips and munched on it as Lance gritted his teeth together in frustration.

In my opinion, teams with a powerful defense were entirely different beasts. I considered my team to be a good balance between attack and defense, while Blue specialized in a powerful team full of attack. I doubted Lance has really ever had to face someone like Steven's at all. All Steven had to do was prolong Lance's pokemon and let them waste their stamina against his metaphorical and physical walls.

"Metagross, end this bout! Ice Punch!" Steven ordered.

While I couldn't hear it, Lance cursed under his breath. "Dodge it, Dragonite!"

Dragonite's Outrage had already ended, and while he was confused, he was able to just barely dodge the attack—but Metagross had other plans. Metagross feinted with one of his legs and Dragonite fell for it, not seeing the other legs that were glowing with Ice Punch and two of his other legs slammed into the dragon. The final leg struck Dragonite and sent him crashing into the ground.

Dragonite gave a loud, pained cry and hit the ground. I looked up at the large screen when Dragonite didn't get up and watched his picture get grayed out.

One shouted, "Dragonite is down! Steven is still in the lead with five-to-three! Which pokemon will Lance send out next?"

There were many cheers and Steven gave a sigh of relief as Dragonite was recalled, though the relief was short-lived and his eyes widened slightly when the pokemon that took Dragonite's place let out a piercing roar. I was surprised as well when I saw the large pokemon—Lance hadn't ever had this one before the tournament!

Two excitedly said, "It's Haxorus! What a surprise!"

"Isn't Lance a Johto champion? Did he just catch a random axew and train it all the way up?" Nate blurted, but he seemed impressed.

"It's a possibility, but I highly doubt it," Blue replied.

Metagross slowly started to float back onto the ground and once he landed, Lance yelled, "Haxorus, use Earthquake!"

Haxorus roared again, though this time the field shook violently and I could feel the powerful ground-type move shake the arena. Steven covered his face as dust rose in his face and looked worried when Metagross cried out. Haxorus' attack stopped soon and I watched Metagross slowly begin to float above the ground again, bits of electricity crackling between himself and the ground with Magnet Rise.

Before the dust settled, I saw Haxorus' body take on a familiar glow. A secret Dragon Dance? What did Lance have in mind? "Dragon Claw, Haxorus!" Lance commanded. Haxorus leaned forward and sprinted forward, his claws glowing with Dragon Claw.

Steven saw it just in time and said, "Meet it with Meteor Mash!"

The two large pokemon met each other and with surprising speed, Haxorus blocked every attack Metagross tried to hit him with. I noticed Ethan lean forward a little at this and he smiled. "Lance has a chance!" he said happily.

Steven concentrated, no doubt his mind going a million miles an hour to think of something to counter Haxorus' sudden increase of speed and attack. After the second time Metagross landed a hit on Haxorus with Meteor Mash, the large mega-evolved pokemon pulled away. He then glanced at Steven and told him, "Ready."

"Good." I wanted to ask how in the world Steven knew what Metagross said, but my question was answered when Steven commanded, "Zen Headbutt!"

I always held psychic-types in high regard, they never failed to impress me.

"Counter it, Haxorus! Dragon Claw!" Lance said.

The two pokemon met each other again and when Metagross quickly overpowered Haxorus, I gaped. I heard Brendan laughing at Ethan when the other trainer made a distressed noise when Haxorus fainted. "He did that to me, too!" Brendan said as he stopped laughing. "Meteor Mash has a chance to increase attack, and his Metagross is a giant tank."

"Haxorus has fainted! Steven is still in the lead, five-to-two!" Two shouted.

Lance recalled Haxorus and quickly took his fifth pokeball out. "Flygon, go!" he said.

Flygon appeared in a flurry of green scales and with two wings that were probably larger than Red's height, she flapped them and eyed her opponent. "I greet you, Metagross," she said politely.

Metagross didn't say anything but gave her a brief nod in acknowledgment.

"Flygon, Dragon Dance!" Lance said.

Steven seemed to be confused by the pokemon choice, but he didn't voice it. I wanted to know why Lance would knowingly send out a ground-dragon-type against a pokemon who knew an ice-type move, too. "Metagross, Ice Punch!" he commanded.

Metagross burst forward with four cold legs again and attempted to strike Flygon, although he was surprised when she simply beat her wings and avoided the attack by flying upwards. Sand seemed to fall out of her wings and Lance grinned. "Sandstorm!"

I wanted to know what he was thinking. Metagross wouldn't be hurt by Sandstorm—and the way Brendan talked about Steven, I believed his entire team wouldn't be hurt, either. As the Sandstorm covered the entire arena and shrouded our view, I pouted. I wanted to see all the details.

Then I paused. Lance knew Sandstorm wouldn't harm Metagross so instead, Flygon was using Sandstorm to hide herself from view. Through brief glimpses, I saw that Metagross was looking around cautiously, slowly moving as quietly as he could through the sandstorm while Flygon was nowhere to be seen.

"Flamethrower!" Lance said after a few seconds.

"Protect!" Steven countered. A flash of orange light told me where Flygon was, and as soon as the fire was gone and Protect faded from Metagross, Steven pointed towards Flygon's position. "Ice Punch!"

Metagross leaped and was surprised when nothing was there. As Sandstorm faded and Flygon allowed herself to be seen on the opposite side, he landed on the ground and prepared another Ice Punch.

Lance didn't let Metagross have a chance to jump off of the ground. "Earthquake!" he shouted.

Flygon landed on the ground and with a powerful roar, the ground shook again and this time, Metagross was caught in it without even preparing a Magnet Rise. Metagross' metallic cry rang through the air when he was struck and I winced for him at the sheer power of the attack. The arena cracked and I heard Blue make a surprised noise as the ground beneath us shook as well.

"It's a good thing this building is structurally sound," Black said nervously when the Earthquake finished.

"Metagross has fainted!" One said through the intercom. "Could this be a turning point in the battle?"

Flygon triumphantly watched as Metagross was recalled and Steven hesitated as he thought about who to send out next. Then he tossed out a pokemon that I thought was an awful, horrible idea to even consider putting against Flygon. An aggron appeared, slamming two fists against each other and roaring loudly. "Finally, I can battle a worthy opponent!" he shouted, and then he looked at Flygon. "May our battle be legendary!"

Flygon didn't seem impressed, but she nodded. "I suppose it will be," she said confidently.

"Steven! You're going to make me lose ten bucks!" Brendan groaned and covered his face with his hands.

"Earthquake will just one-shot Aggron," Hilda stated. "Steven doesn't have anyone else that can go against Flygon, huh?"

"That's why he was hesitating, probably," Nate said.

Lance also seemed to be confused by the pokemon choice but he nodded at Flygon. "Earthquake!" he commanded, as predicted.

Steven nodded at Aggron. "Endure it!" he said.

That made me curious. All of his other pokemon knew Protect, and it was likely Aggron did, too. Why didn't he command that instead?

Aggron stood firm and allowed the Earthquake to hit him and he let out a pained noise, but he remained upright. Although he panted and was clearly only a few hits already to fainting, he grinned.

Flygon looked impressed that he didn't faint in one hit, but her impressed face was soon wiped off when Steven smirked and commanded, "Avalanche!"

Aggron roared again and as ice appeared, Flygon quickly tried to avoid it by flying into the air. She was too slow to avoid part of it and caught one of her wings, which caused her to slow down and she gasped when she was struck by the rest of the Avalanche. When the ice hit the ground, I knew she wouldn't be getting back up. Aggron hadn't used Endure, but in order to not get one-shot by a move he was especially weak against, he had his ability, Sturdy, that saved him and allowed him to use Avalanche to its maximum potential.

Flygon had no chance.

Lance knew it as well and while he seemed impressed, he was clearly disappointed in the loss. He recalled Flygon when she was declared fainted and pulled out his final pokeball. "Go, Hydreigon! Finish Aggron with Flamethrower!" Lance said right before the pokeball opened.

A large black and blue dragon-type appeared and was already firing the Flamethrower before the pokeball returned to Lance. Aggron was quick to throw up Protect, crossing his arms in front of him just before the fire struck.

I snickered to myself. Lance really had no luck with Flamethrower, did he?

"Avalanche again, Aggron!" Steven commanded as the two attacks faded away.

"Flamethrower again! Melt the ice!"

All three heads rose towards the ice that came crashing down at Hydreigon and the mouth of the main head opened, sending a strong Flamethrower against the Avalanche, successfully countering the move. Hydreigon seemed to smirk, turning his attention back to Aggron. "I can recognize Flygon's Earthquakes from anything. You're barely standing, why don't you just take the loss?" he asked.

Aggron huffed. "And yet she still lost against me," he answered.

I stared at Aggron. Yes, he was barely standing, yes, we all knew he was going to faint soon, but the metal armor that coated his body seemed shinier than before—had he used Rock Polish without us noticing?

"Aggron, Stone Edge!"

Hydreigon took to the air to avoid the rocks jutting out of the earth and agilely avoided each attack and I saw him begin to charge a move. "Dragon Pulse!" Lance yelled.

Once Hydreigon was above the rocks, he fired the beam and I grew even more impressed with Aggron when he avoided the attack. He was strong, I'll give him that. Hydreigon looked annoyed. "Just stay still!" he said as he dove.

Aggron grinned. "Okay!" he said and did just that—remained in his spot and let Hydreigon get close to him with Dragon Rush.

Once he was close enough, Aggron suddenly lowered himself to avoid the attack and let him fly just above his head. "Heavy Slam!" Steven shouted.

Hydreigon yelped in surprise when Aggron spun around and slammed right into him without any regard for the broken ground. He used his weight to pin the dragon there and while Hydreigon flailed to get him off, Steven grinned. "Ice Beam!" he said.

"Hydreigon! Flamethrower!" Lance shouted, desperate to get Hydreigon freed.

At such close range, the two attacks immediately caused steam to explode onto the field and I coughed as it reached up high. There was no noise and once the steam dissipated, I saw that both pokemon had fainted. "That's… really impressive," I said.

"Both pokemon are unable to battle! With three pokemon still able to battle, Champion Steven wins! He and his pokemon move onto the second round!" Two declared loudly.

"Our next battle of the day, we find out who will join him! Will it be Champion Red or Champion Serena?" One added.

As the cheers sounded, Red got up and nodded at me to get ready to go. I took my place on his shoulder loyally and looked at the field with excitement. On the other side of the arena in the box, Serena had already disappeared and I heard someone behind us whistle, impressed. "That was a good battle," Rosa said.

"No, it wasn't," Ethan grumbled.

"You're just mad you lost the bet," Brendan said, happy.

"At least I didn't lose my very first match!"

"You haven't even had your first one yet," Blue scolded.

"You should probably get going for your match, their argument will probably last a while," Nate said to us.

Red nodded and headed for the door. He opened it and as the others bickered, he glanced at Hilda and she smiled at him. "Good luck, Red!" she said. "I'll cheer for you!"

He didn't say anything, but he smiled back and we left the box before the others noticed.

-x-

The last 'official' battle we had was the battle for the champion title against Blue years ago. It had been a tough time, before, during, and after, and with all the time in the world, all we did was train and train and train. With all the training we have done over the years, I knew we were a force to be reckoned with, but we haven't fought against anyone other than Ethan, Blue, Leaf, Lyra, and Lance during that time.

Had we been the ones to battle against Steven instead of Lance, I don't know if we would come out on top, either. Lyra had the team closest to Steven's in terms of defense—who knew what she was like now, we hadn't seen her in a hot minute—but since they were the only ones we battled the most, there were so many strategies and teams we had never come across before.

So, as we walked through the hall and went down the stairs towards the entrance of the arena, I shook out my fur to relax. I couldn't have my own mind wondering about what-if situations; I needed to trust Red's judgment and believe that he could think of a way to keep ourselves out of a situation similar to Lance's.

Despite not having had an official battle in years, I was so ready to finally get into one again. I wanted a new challenge and I hoped Serena would give that to us.

I looked at Red and grinned at him. He looked at me curiously but patted my head as we met with a guard that led us towards the main entrance to the arena. We stopped in the hall and she told us to wait while the arena was getting finished up. She didn't say much to us, but she was constantly checking her watch and talking into the microphone she had on her head.

Red took a deep breath as the arena became more recognizable again and I looked over to see him put on his blank, emotionless face. I'm still not too sure how he did that, he could be happy one moment and remove any emotion from his face and give out a strangely intimidating aura. It's a talent that I wasn't sure if I was proud of or disappointed about.

The lady suddenly nodded at us. "Head on out. Good luck!" she said and smiled as we obeyed.

One's voice rang through the hall as we neared the exit. "Our second match is about to begin! Please welcome Champion Serena of Kalos, and Champion Red of Kanto!"

Once we were outside of the hall, I could see how vast the crowd really was and how intimidating it was to have all eyes on us. We kept our own locked on Serena and I could see her smiling but I knew that while she was nervous, she confidently strode up to her spot on the field and stopped at the designated spot at the same time as us.

"You all already know the rules; Champions, please release your first pokemon!"

Serena threw hers with a loud, "Let's go, Meowstic!"

I was disappointed that I wasn't going first as Red tossed out Charizard's pokeball without a word.

Charizard let out a huff when he appeared, landing on the ground on all fours as a white and blue pokemon appeared on the other side, standing on two feet with a blue scarf around her neck and yellow eyes regarding Charizard with disdain. Her whole aura screamed that she was a psychic pokemon, especially with the way her ears were folded on her head as if they were trying to keep something inside.

Meowstic didn't say anything and neither did Charizard, and we waited with bated breath for the signal to begin our match. It felt like a lifetime passed before we were finally given the signal.

"You may begin!"

"Meowstic, use Light Screen!" Serena said.

Meowstic's eyes glowed faintly and an invisible shield surrounded her to raise her team's special defense.

Red barely moved to command Charizard's first attack. The fire-type didn't hesitate and used Inferno while remaining on the ground, successfully burning Meowstic when the attack hit. Meowstic was surprised and yelped in pain, holding her burned arm with a wince.

Serena looked worried but she didn't say anything. "Meowstic, use Sucker Punch!"

Meowstic's paws began to glow but she seemed surprised when Charizard took to the sky and black gas leaked from his mouth, covering the field with a thick Smokescreen.

"It looks like Sucker Punch has failed! With such low visibility, how can Meowstic even see?!"

Red directed Charizard to fly back down into the smoke. Charizard dove into the Smokescreen and I noticed his claws beginning to take on a dim glow with Shadow Claw before he disappeared.

Serena squinted, trying to see through the smoke. She spotted Charizard soon when the smoke began to clear enough for her to see and her eyes widened a little. "Meowstic, look out! Use Psychic!" she yelled.

Instead, Meowstic gave a cry of pain and when the smoke fully cleared, I saw Meowstic was still up, although injured. Serena let out a relieved breath—I doubted she had realized she was holding her breath. "Meowstic, hang in there! Use Charge Beam!"

Charge Beam was instantly met with Flamethrower as Charizard landed on the ground once again on all fours, though Flamethrower soon grew into Heat Wave. Heat Wave began to push through the Charge Beam and when Meowstic could no longer hold the attack, the fire-type move struck and Meowstic screeched in pain. I could feel the heat from where we were and I grinned as Meowstic fainted from the attacks and the burn she had received earlier.

Charizard looked unimpressed. He didn't roar or make any triumphant noise others would have made. Instead, he snorted and looked at us as if to say, "Is this it?" He wasn't the only one surprised at how easy it was to defeat Meowstic—I was flabbergasted it took only a few hits.

In the back of my mind I thought, Serena is hiding something, it really can't be that easy to beat her.

One cheered, "Meowstic has fainted! It looks as if Red is living up to his reputation as being the undefeated champion of Kanto! Who will Serena send out next?"

Red looked a little annoyed at the announcers and I snickered a bit at him as the crowd cheered. As far as reputations and rumors went, that was one of the few that were true.

Unless you count the Ekans incident from the beginning of our journey, but that doesn't count.

Pushing that thought aside, I scanned through the crowd in the stands to see if I could even spot Red's mother, the professor, or Leaf. With so many people and pokemon watching, I doubted I could spot them so I returned my attention to the field as Serena sent out her second pokemon.

"Vaporeon, go!" I didn't know whether to be relieved or worried that we were up against a pokemon we recognized. Relieved because I knew what a vaporeon was and worried because of Charizard's weakness to water.

The eevee-lution swished his tail calmly, looking at Charizard with confidence as Two shouted, "It's Vaporeon, one of the many evolutions Eevee can have! But being a water-type, will Red switch out Charizard?"

We ignored him. Charizard had faced many great and powerful water-type pokemon before, Vaporeon was no different. Charizard stayed on the ground and kept his focus on Vaporeon as Red pointed to the sky. He fanned his wings open as he roared into the sky; the sun started to glare down onto the field and Vaporeon winced in the sudden light, looking annoyed that Charizard had used Sunny Day.

"Vaporeon, Aqua Ring!" Serena commanded and soon Vaporeon covered himself with a small ring of water but had to quickly jump to avoid another Inferno. "Acid Armor!"

Two sounded impressed, "Vaporeon has used Acid Armor! A defense move that will be difficult to get through!"

Red frowned as the Acid Armor was used, though he snapped his fingers and directed Charizard to use Dragon Rage. Dragon Rage exploded from Charizard's jaws and Vaporeon braced himself to move. Serena rose a hand. "Vaporeon, dodge it and use Hydro Pump!"

Vaporeon, while not a fast pokemon, still managed to dodge the attack and Dragon Rage hit the ground, causing it to explode behind him and sent dust and dirt flying everywhere. He avoided another attack and let out a cry of effort as he sent forth a powerful Hydro Pump.

Charizard attempted to dodge but was too slow to avoid all of it. He let out a roar of pain when he was hit and crashed into the field in front of Red, but he got up again and growled at Vaporeon, who smugly looked at him. "I don't know what you're thinking, staying out in a battle against a water-type such as myself," he said.

I wanted to yell at Vaporeon for being a smug asshole, but I knew Red wouldn't appreciate it.

Vaporeon charged another Hydro Pump at Serena's command while Red nodded and Charizard obeyed the Dragon Pulse command. The two attacks met each other in the middle, though it seemed they were even and Serena frowned as she noticed Vaporeon was losing that bout. "Vaporeon, back up and use Surf!"

Charizard instantly snapped his wings to get into the sky to try and avoid the strong attack, dousing himself in flames with Flare Blitz to protect himself to get through a wave of water that he couldn't get through. Thank Blastoise for that training; the two starters battled each other enough to let Charizard know what and what not to do when battling against a water-type.

I noticed Red smirk a little and I looked back at the battle in front of us. Although I had no idea what he was thinking, it was clear he had a plan in mind. The Surf left the ground covered in water, soaking the earth and Vaporeon stayed in it, his eyes never leaving Charizard as my teammate eyed him back.

Charizard suddenly twisted and made a fist, then dove straight for Vaporeon, much to the surprise of Serena. I could hear bouts of confusion from the crowd as well but from the corner of my eye, I saw Blue grin all the way from the box, knowing what Red was up to as well as I. Serena smiled anyway, not having a clue as to what the plan was. "Meet Charizard with Water Pulse!"

As I saw Vaporeon rear his head back to send the attack flying, Charizard's fist suddenly started crackling with electricity. He dodged Water Pulse and using a strong Thunderpunch, he slammed his fist into Vaporeon's side.

Vaporeon cried out and while Thunder Punch had done some damage and startled him, the Aqua Ring regained some of his health and eased his pain. Red barely nodded and Charizard flew back into the air and then came towards our side of the field, though he didn't land. He snapped his wings open to stay above ground and flew straight for Vaporeon before he shook himself of the electricity that had struck him.

Charizard's mouth leaked fire and flapped his wings one last time to get more momentum for Flare Blitz to deal a decent amount of damage. Vaporeon looked up in shock and tried to jump out of the way, but he cried out in shock and pain as he was hit and thrown into the sky.

"Vaporeon!" Serena cried out. "Vaporeon, use Muddy Water!"

Charizard was quicker, and while his tail was glowing brightly with Blaze, he twisted in the air so he was above Vaporeon again. With one Wing Attack, he slammed Vaporeon back into the ground and the force of the attack created a small crater in the middle of the field, spraying mud around the arena.

Vaporeon remained in the middle, unmoving. Charizard panted and Serena hesitated as she returned Vaporeon and looked up at us with a gulp. She looked at the pokeball in her hand and smiled. "You did good, Vaporeon." She clipped the pokeball to her belt and pulled out her third one. "Absol, it's your turn!"

Red's eyes narrowed once we saw Absol. He looked similar to the other one, except his white fur was well taken care of and his horn was filed down to look good and be used as a weapon. While I knew this was not the same one that had attacked us, I let out a tiny hiss. I heard Charizard snarl and saw him bare his fangs.

Absol looked confused at the aggressiveness. "What's your problem?" he asked.

I saw Serena raise a wrist and Red noticed as well. "Absol, let's do it!" she shouted and Absol let out a hum as he glowed just as bright as the gem on Serena's wrist. When it was over, it seemed as though Absol now had wings, but upon closer inspection, I saw it was simply fur that had flared out during the mega evolution.

Red's eyes widened only slightly; it was one thing to see a mega evolution from the stands but up close was completely different and honestly, it was still awe-inspiring. But to those that didn't know better, they would see he kept the same face through the entire thing.

Two sounded excited and shouted, "It's Mega Absol! Charizard has taken out both Meowstic and Vaporeon, but can Charizard also defeat a mega evolved pokemon?!"

Charizard took to the sky quickly as Sunny Day began to fade. He let out Fire Blast just as the extra sunlight dissipated and frowned when Absol made no move to dodge it.

Serena smiled. "Absol, use Protect!" she shouted.

A shield appeared in front of Absol and the Fire Blast bounced right off of it. He reared his head back and fired a Shadow Ball. Surprised, Charizard couldn't dodge, roaring as he crashed into the ground, shaking as he tried to get back up. The flame on the end of his tail was bright and large, signaling to Red that he was about to faint.

Serena seemed happy and said, "Finish Charizard off with Psycho Cut!"

Charizard managed to dodge one but the second one Absol sent hit his stomach, causing him to faint.

The cheers were loud as Red got his pokeball and recalled Charizard. He frowned as he looked at Absol. I knew he wouldn't be able to use any special attacks against Absol, which meant Espeon and I were out of the count. Blastoise and Venusaur had a good mix of special and physical attacks, so that left Red with his next best option.

He sent out Snorlax and we ignored the announcers' comments about the naturally lazy pokemon. Snorlax made a quiet sound and scratched his side with his claws when he appeared and Absol smirked. I guess he assumed Snorlax would be an easy target and at that thought, I laughed to myself.

Boy, was he in for a surprise.

End Notes:

-Steven's Aggron didn't use Endure, Aggron has the ability Sturdy.
-If the user is hit first, Avalanche's power doubles, and that's why Flygon was taken out so quickly.
-Serena's team is her rival team if you choose Calem in X/Y.