First off, I hope all of you had a happy new year and a good holiday season. Let's hope this year is better than last year.
"Not this time. I won't lose to her again."
Shade repeated those words quietly to himself as he locked eyes with Celeste, who had a confident smile on her face as the two took their places on the field. To say Shade didn't expect to have to battle his traveling companion was an understatement, and one he wasn't happy about. Unfortunately, the commentators were more than happy to bring up the coincidence, as well as another fact that annoyed the young man.
"Welcome back!" Corey announced. "If you're just joining us then boy do we have a matchup for you! These two trainers have travelled the Kanto region together, collecting all eight badges and eventually making their way here! Sounds like the recipe for a good battle, right? Well here's the thing, Shade has apparently never once beaten Celeste! Will this be the opportunity for him to turn the tide, or will this be just another loss?"
"I don't think you should say things like that, Corey. These are just kids and you don't want to make a simple rivalry turn into something worse." Mauro responded.
"Don't worry about it, they're not babies! Besides, a little bad blood never hurt anyone!"
The mention of his losing streak against Celeste did unfortunately strike a nerve, though it also made Shade look back at how the two got to where they were.
Vermilion City Pokemon Academy; Two Years Earlier...
"Can anyone tell me which moves double in power and even bypass accuracy against an opponent that has used Minimize?"
Battle Strategies was always a popular class that Shade and the rest of his graduating class took. Even if some of them would go on to pursue goals outside of battling, knowing how some attacks and battle properties functioned would be a big help during contest battles and Ranger field operations. It helped that Dr. Goff had both an interest in the subject that drew everyone's attention to him and the knowledge to back it up, even if the students weren't always able to fully grasp the information.
"Shade, think you can answer for me?"
"Oh, uh... sure. There's Stomp, Dragon Rush, and... um..."
Shade then went quiet, he had studied but the answers were escaping him. Celeste eventually raised her hand shakily, to which their teacher called on her to finish the answer.
"Body Slam, Steamroller, Heat Crash, Heavy Slam, Flying Press and Incineroar's Malicious Moonsault are also boosted." Celeste answered, a bit of a blush of embarrassment on her face.
"Good answer! Now, there are a variety of other moves that can be used in combination tactics..."
Some time later...
The bell to signal the end of class rang, waking up Diego and prompting everyone to move onto their break period. Just as Shade was about to leave however, Dr. Goff stopped him.
"Shade, sorry for holding you up but I needed to talk to you."
The boy's stomach dropped in worry, if he was failing then his parents would definitely not be happy, especially with how prestigious the Academy was.
"Your grades are falling a bit but I know you have the potential to bring them back up again. So I'm issuing you a study buddy to help you."
Celeste looked visibly nervous as she approached the two, despite trying to pull a confident face.
"Celeste has some of the highest grades in the class and I'm sure that she will be able to help you. You might even be able to help her out a little bit in return!"
The two students looked at each other in silence, not sure what to really think of the situation. Their silence continued even after their teacher dismissed them. As the two headed outside to join their classmates, Shade finally broke the silence.
"Alright, look, let's just set the record straight. I'm not an idiot, so don't treat me like one."
"I-I wasn't thinking that!"
"Just because you apparently have good grades doesn't mean that- Wait what?"
"I don't think you're dumb, or that I'm better than you. I... don't even really know you that well..."
"Oh... well, sorry for snapping at you like that." Shade noticed that his classmate let out a silent sigh of relief as she began to look less tense than she was in the classroom. "Well if we're going to be studying together then we should also get to know each other too."
As Shade's memory ended, he got his pokeball ready as he looked around the battlefield. It resembled a factory, with lights placed on the walls and machinery lined around them, some gears and pistons also circulated and caused pillars around the field to rotate or rise and descend. His tried to build his team based on the pokemon he knew that Celeste had caught and raised during their journey throughout Kanto, though he knew it was possible for her to have caught or evolved a pokemon during the times in which they were separated or traveling alone.
"Well without any further delay, let's get this show on the road!" Mauro announced. The two trainers sent out their first two pokemon, with Shade's Drednaw matched up against Celeste's Pelipper. Storm clouds began to form above the field as Pelipper's Drizzle ability activated. Shade grinned to himself, thinking that this good matchup could be the key to him taking the starting advantage.
"So tell me about this field here." Corey announced.
"Well, Corey, this Factory field is actually one of my personal favorites. It's a simple field type yet it's effects can be brutal to those who are unprepared to deal with it, but if these two are talented enough to make it into the top thirty-two in the Kanto region then they should be more than capable of adapting to this field type. As you can probably tell, Electric and Steel pokemon feel right at home here!" Mauro explained.
"I see. Now how can the rain affect this terrain?"
"Just as usual, Thunder will now never miss and it now gets a power boost thanks to the terrain, other water type attacks won't get any additional boosts though, at least not yet."
"Not yet?"
"I shouldn't say, it would ruin the surprise." Mauro teased.
"Ah, you're no fun!"
The attention went back onto the field as Celeste was the first to make a move.
"Pelipper, use Scald!"
"You're not going to switch pokemon?" Shade asked.
"I don't think I need to."
"You're strangely confident."
Steam began to bellow out of Pelipper's beak as the Water Bird pokemon exhaled a stream of boiling water. Despite the intense heat, the Water Bird didn't seem bothered by it and instead had a similar look of confidence as it's trainer.
The surprises continued when Shade did not order his Drednaw to avoid the attack, with the Bite pokemon taking the attack head on. Drednaw roared as it shook off the attack, eyes continuously locked on Pelipper.
"You didn't want it to dodge?" Celeste asked.
"I didn't think I needed to." Shade replied with a serious look on his face.
"Touché!"
"Now Drednaw, Stone Edge!"
"Get ready to dodge it!"
With an astonishing amount of speed, Drednaw leaped onto a nearby pillar before dashing at Pelipper. With one mighty jump, Drednaw was above the Water Bird, readying it's attack and quickly unleashing it on the stunned Flying type.. Dust and pebbles scattered in the air around the two pokemon as Drednaw landed. Once the dust had finally settles, Pelipper lay in a heap, quickly knocked out from the attack while Drednaw sped back over to its trainer almost as fast as it attacked.
"Wow!" Corey exclaimed. "How in the world did Drednaw move that fast?! I mean Drednaw are naturally faster than Pelipper but I have never seen one move like that!"
"That must be the result of its Swift Swim ability, which doubles its speed during rain, which Pelipper unfortunately set up for Shade." Mauro answered.
"Well if Celeste is already down one pokemon, then at this rate we might have a quick match on our hands!"
"Don't be so sure, remember that Shade hasn't beaten Celeste before."
Celeste reached for her next pokeball, but just as she tossed the ball, Shade recalled his Drednaw and sent out a Sableye to match up against Celeste's Eelektross.
'When did she get an Eelektross?' Shade thought to himself. 'Oh well, this is exactly why I brought Sableye.'
"Use Thunder!" Celeste ordered.
"Detect!"
Sableye's gemstone eyes began to glow bright blue and a a devious sounding chuckle escaped form its mouth as the EleFish pokemon hissed. A bolt of lightning shot skyward out of Eelektross's body, it was bright enough for the pokemon's body to be almost completely obscured. The bolt sparked throughout the rain cloud before zapping parts of the machinery, gaining both speed and power. Sableye readied itself, still laughing to itself, before the Thunder attack finally sped right at the Darkness pokemon. However, with a simple lean backwards, Sableye was able to completely avoid the attack, which fizzled into nothing as Sableye's eyes returned to normal.
"You've been preparing for this, haven't you." Celeste said, her face becoming more serious.
"More than you may know." Shade replied, activating his Key Stone. "Sableye, use Toxic!"
"Thunder!"
As Sableye emerged from its cocoon of energy in it's Mega Evolved form, Eelektross launched another attack, this one hitting it's mark perfectly, though the added defense of Sableye's gem shield blocked most of the attack. Sableye threw a clump of a bubbling dark purple sludge at the EleFish as the lightning bolt collided with the gem, cackling all the while. The sludge splashed over Eelektross as it ended the attack, the Electric pokemon now glowing a shade of purple only slightly less dim than the sludge.
'Using abilities like Swift Swim, scouting moves like Detect and now Toxic?' Celeste thought. 'He's really taking this seriously...'
"Don't give in! Keep using Thunder!"
"Why are you sticking with the same move?" Shade asked.
"There's actually not much I can do that does as much damage as Thunder does in this situation. But I'm interested in what you'll do..."
Shade kept quiet as he allowed Sableye to get hit by the attack, the sparks lighting up the entire arena in a blinding flash. The light faded to reveal Mega Sableye, charred from the sheer power of the attack, all was quiet as everyone watched to see if the Dark pokemon would collapse and be unable to continue. However, in a rather unsettling move, Sableye simply laughed aloud, slowly escalating from a small chuckle to a full blown wicked cackle that stunned the audience.
"Okay, now I'm worried." Corey commented.
"What are you planning?" Celeste asked hesitantly.
"This. Use Pain Split!" Shade commanded.
Sableye slammed its gemstone shield in front of itself, the front portion of it that was facing Eelektross glinted in a white light that made the gemstone a sort of mirror. Suddenly, the bodies of both pokemon began to glow white, small bursts of energy popping off of both as Eelktross was audibly crying out in pain as Sableye continued to laugh.
Once the light faded, Sableye appeared to be partially rejuvenated while Eelektross took heavy breaths.
"Now finish it with Shadow Claw!"
Sableye hoisted its gem over itself with one arm and charged its enlarging claw at the EleFish.
"Stop it with Thunder!" Celeste called out, however the rising damage caused by the Toxic stunned Eelektross, giving Sableye just enough time to slash its foe and knock it unconscious.
"Intense!" Mauro announced. "This may very well be Shade's chance to beat his rival!"
"Yeah, it might be, but this might just be a 'Torkoal and the Cinderace' scenario." Corey replied.
'Two down, three to go, and I know she's going to send out her Alakazam at some point...' Shade thought. 'Question is, what's she going to use next?'
Vermilion Academy Training Grounds
"I choose you!"
Celeste tossed a pokeball, currently up against Shade for their class focusing on battling. Celeste's pokeball contained a Excadrill that was put up against the Lucario that Shade eagerly sent out.
"Alright class." Dr. Goff began. "For this battle I want you to pay attention the choice of moves Celeste and Shade use and how it affects their pokemon. The moves that both pokemon know are shown on the flash cards I handed out."
Shade eagerly looked over at his card, more than ready to begin: Aura Sphere, Quick Guard, Flash Cannon, Close Combat.
"Now... begin!"
"Lucario, use Aura Sphere!"
"Excadrill, Protect!"
Lucario launched it's attack with gusto at the Subterrene pokemon, though it was easily blocked by the barrier Excadrill set up. Giving Celeste the chance to counterattack.
"Now use Swords Dance!"
"Uh oh!" Shade said aloud. "Use Close Combat!"
"Protect, again!"
With a charge forward, Lucario tried to bombard its foe with a barrage of punches and kicks though the barrier prevented any damage.
"Now attack with Drill Run!"
Excadrill curled up with its claws facing forward as it sped towards the Aura pokemon, Shade began to sweat and panic as he tried to think of what to do.
"Use Quick Guard!"
Lucario placed it's hands in front of itself, a small barrier of light grew in front of Lucario, glowing yellow-green. Unfortunately for Lucario and Shade, the barrier completely shattered when Excadrill made contact with it, spinning right into Lucario and easily knocking it out.
Disappointed, Shade recalled Lucario back into its pokeball.
"Now everyone, while the battle did go by rather quickly, notice how some pokemon moves can completely nullify damage and boost stats."
"But how did Excadrill break through Lucario's Quick Guard? Doesn't that move stop damage too?" Styles asked.
"It absolutely does, however, it can only block attacks that centralize on speed like Quick Attack or Aqua Jet. Most other moves bypass it and still deal damage. Now Shade, making that mistake does not mean you'll get a bad grade, but I do hope it showed you that battling isn't all about brute force. You have to learn what is the best option not just for the current moment, but in terms of the future as well."
Shade looked back at Lucario's pokeball, thinking deeply as Celeste walked over to him.
"Hey, um, that was a good battle."
"Yeah... but once we get our first pokemon to keep, I'll win for sure!" Shade replied, a confident smile on his face.
"It's your turn, Aurorus!"
The Tundra pokemon gave a serene, yet powerful roar as it was sent out of Celeste's pokeball. A chill ran through the air, stopping the rain for a moment before hail suddenly took its place.
"Ah, more weather play as Celeste changes the rain to hail!"
"If Dallas was here he'd probably say something about Celese trying to give Shade the 'cold shoulder', or something." Corey joked.
"Let's leave the puns to him."
"Use Shadow Claw!"
"Discharge!"
Sableye charged at Aurorus, no longer laughing. The fossil pokemon's sails began to glow yellow as the ice crystals around its body began to glow yellow as a wave of electricity blasted out of it, becoming supercharged from the field. The sheer amount of the electrical power overloaded the field, shutting it down and stopping all the machinery in its tracks. The field also darkened considerably as all the lights turned off. Despite the powerful attack however, Sableye continued to stand, albeit now paralyzed from the attack and stepping forward slowly.
"Now finish it with Blizzard!"
With a deep breath, Aurorus blew out a chilling wave of snow and ice at Sableye point blank. The amount of snow completely obscured Sableye from everyone's sight.
When the attack ended, Sableye was blown back to Shade's side of the field, back in its normal form and knocked out.
"Now that was a Blizzard!"
"Celeste is on the board now with her first knockout of the match, she still has a ways to go but is this the beginning of a comeback?"
'Not if I have anything to say about it!' Shade thought as he sent out his next pokemon: Durant.
The Iron Ant pokemon glared at its opponent, the size difference between the two no bothering it in the slightest.
"Hmm, could we have a 'Dwebble versus Golisopod' scenario on our hands?" Mauro questioned.
"Not so sure when you look at the scoreboard..." Corey remarked. Celeste began to frown ever so slightly when she looked at the expression on Shade's face. Every time the two had battled prior to this moment, she had seen that he looked confident, but now he looked completely serious and as though he had to win. She understood that this was a serious battle but Shade was acting as though this battle was just business. She decided that they needed to talk after this battle, regardless of who won.
"Durant, use Iron Head!"
The smaller pokemon lunged forward at an unexpected speed, Celeste was snapped back to the reality of the battle and was unsure of what to do. The only move she had that was able to cause any significant damage to Durant was Discharge, but with the field now shorted-out, she was unsure if it would even cause any damage at all but she had no other choice.
"Counter it with Discharge!"
Durant made one grand leap at the Tundra pokemon, narrowly missing as the Ice pokemon released its electric attack. Just as Celeste predicted, the field weakened the attack, with it barely making a few sparks that didn't do much damage to Durant. These sparks however appeared to be just enough for the lights and machinery to turn back on.
"And that right there is why I enjoy this field, Corey!" Mauro began. "While we didn't get to see too much of what it can do, this Factory field can potentially become a Short-Circuited field, which can either weaken or strengthen electric attacks and give boosts to other attacks that won't be powered up with the power on."
"So trainers have to think on the fly if they want to get the benefit of both versions of this field?" Corey asked.
"Exactly!"
"Not bad, I think I'm beginning to like this terrain!"
"One more time, use Iron Head!" Shade ordered, looking frustrated.
"Disch-!"
Celeste could not even finish calling out her attack before Durant rammed itself into Aurorus, the super-effective attack knocking it into a steel pillar and knocking it out.
'Can't let her get any sort of advantage, with that powered down field being as dark as it is, a Dazzling Gleam from her Alakazam could be trouble if it gets boosted...' Shade thought.
'He's not letting up at all, something's definitely up.' Celeste thought to herself as she sent out a Malamar.
"Ohh a Malamar! Could Celeste be thinking of trying to reverse sweep with a Contrary boosted Superpower?" Corey hypothesized.
"Oh no you don't! Durant, use X-Scissor!"
"Well since my plan is rather simple then I guess I'll get it started. Malamar, Superpower, let's go!"
Both pokemon charged at each other, Durant's jaws glowing a bright yellow-green and Malamar's body burning red. Their attacks collided as the Overturning pokemon held Durant's jaws open.
"Now, jump!" Shade called out.
"Block it!"
Durant backed off before making a leaping snap at Malamar's face, but the squid used one of its tentacle arms to block the attack while using the other to slam into the side of the Iron Ant pokemon, damaging itself in the process, though the stat boost it gained from the reversed effects of Superpower helped it nullify some of the pain of Durant's attack and the hail that continued to crash around the two pokemon.
"Superpower, one more time!" Celeste called out.
"Durant, come back!"
Malamar tried to slam the spot where Durant once stood, though Shade recalling his pokemon prevented the attack from connecting.
"A swap right in the middle of battle, could Shade have something up his sleeve?" Mauro pondered.
Celeste was both surprised and confused when Shade sent Drednaw back into the battle.
"Wait... he sent out a pokemon that took neutral damage from Superpower to one that is weak to Fighting type attacks?" Corey asked.
"I'm going to assume he has some sort of plan?" Mauro added.
"Use Superpower." Celeste ordered cautiously.
Malamar went on the offensive, lunging forward with its arms now growing in size due to the increasing power of the attack.
"Protect!" Shade commanded. Malamar's attack was harmlessly blocked by the energy wall Drednaw formed, stunning it just enough for Shade to make his next move. "Next, Skitter Smack!"
"Another Bug move?!" Celeste asked in surprise. Drednaw jumped at Malamar, spinning it's body so that it began to turn a light green. With a hard smack, the Bite pokemon slammed right into the beak of the Overturning pokemon, stunning it.
"Now use Liquidation!"
The moisture within the air and the clouds above the arena gathered around Drednaw and with one strong tackle, Malamar was quickly knocked out on the ground.
"Incredible, I had no idea Drednaw could use Bug type moves!" Corey announced.
"Well surprises like that can only be found here at the Pokemon League Tournament! But now it's Shade with four pokemon left against Celeste who's on her last legs! Can she make a comeback or do we butter her up and call her toast?"
Viridian, weeks earlier...
Shade looked as though he was having fun as he battled Celeste and her newly received Abra with his brand new Shinx. Despite his excitement, he was currently at a disadvantage.
"Use Psywave!"
Abra spread it's hands out forward, releasing a ring of psychic power that enveloped Shinx and squeezed it before the ring ultimately popped, knocking Shinx out.
"Ah man, guess you win this one." Shade said, recalling Shinx back to it's ball. "But next time I'll win."
"Maybe you will." Celeste replied, a smile plastered on her face as well. "But there is something I wanted to talk to you about..."
Celeste took a deep breath as she looked at the pokeball of the last pokemon she brought for the battle. With a confident toss, Celeste sent out her final pokemon: her starter, Alakazam. Shade grimaced as his suspicion was correct and he knew he had a tough last battle in front of him, especially since he could see Celeste preparing her Key Stone.
"Skitter Smack!"
"Alakazam, mega evolve and use Psychic!"
Drednaw charged forward with its horn beginning to glow as the Psi pokemon completed its evolution process. As it placed a hand forward, it immediately stopped Drednaw in its tracks before it used its immense psychic power to launch Drednaw back to Shade, fainted from the powerful attack.
"Yeah, what's up?" Shade asked.
"I just wanted to thank you for being a good friend back during our classes."
Shade sent out a Chandelure to hopefully hit Alakazam for some super-effective damage but neither Celeste nor her pokemon looked worried.
"Shadow Ball!" Shade ordered.
"You do the same!" Celeste commanded.
The two pokemon launched the dark purple energy sphere at each other, the attacks colliding in midair and creating an explosion that hurt both pokemon.
"Thank me? If it wasn't for you then I could have been in some big trouble if my grades didn't improve."
"I suppose, but... You know I'm rather shy and because of you I was able to open up a bit, so to speak."
"One more time!" Both trainers ordered simultaneously.
The two pokemon repeated their attacks, resulting in another explosion, despite Ghost type attacks being super-effective against both pokemon, only Shade's Chandelure took enough damage to ultimately faint from the attacks.
"This is absolutely amazing, ladies and gentlemen!" Mauro announced. "Celeste and her Alakazam have taken down two of Shade's pokemon with fairly low difficulty, bringing Shade's lead from four to two!"
Shade looked at the pokeball of the only pokemon he had yet to use, he grinned to himself at how fitting the situation was. As he sent out his Luxray, the memories of his first true battle and the reason why he was so motivated to win this battle came to him again.
"Where are you going with this?" Shade asked.
"I want to travel with you!" Celeste answered. "We're both going to take on the League Challenge, right?"
"Get in close with Quick Attack!"
"Dazzling Gleam!"
The Gleam Eyes pokemon dashed forward at a speed that even had the Mega Alakazam thrown for a loop. Luxray then bashed Alakazam in the midsection, knocking it back a little bit before the mega pokemon unleashed a bright flash of light form the gemstone on its forehead, the sheer power of the light was enough to force even the audience to cover their eyes.
The light faded to reveal Luxray, still in close proximity to its opponent, breathing heavily and with steam emanating off parts of its body.
"Luxray, Wild Charge!" Shade called out. Luxray's eyes began to gleam and it roared menacingly, every machine in the arena began to spark at Luxray's mere presence. The Electric pokemon lunged forward and bit down on Alakazam's arm before the two began to turn into electric bolts and phase into one of the pillars. The gears in the field began to spin rapidly, the pistons moved at a breakneck speed and the lights surged with power.
"Yeah, but why do you want to come with me?"
Within the sparks of lightning shooting out of the machinery, the silhouettes of the two pokemon could almost be seen with Luxray appearing to maul the mega evolved pokemon.
"Because you were nice to me, and traveling with a friend could be good for both of us."
As Alakazam was knocked out of a light bulb, Luxray appeared from a bolt of lightning that came out of the same bulb, biting Alakazam's leg and dragging it back into the electric current like a hunter toying with its prey.
"So... would you like to travel together?"
Luxray appeared to finally be satisfied with its attack as the two pokemon exited the machinery, the former landing easily on the ground while Alakazam was back in its base form, knocked out and sparking with residual electricity.
"Sure! Traveling with a friend could be fun!" The two trainers smiled as they headed to the pokemon center.
"And there you have it folks! Shade breaks his losing streak and moves on to the next round with an emphatic Wild Charge!" Corey announced. Shade looked over to Celeste, who recalled her Alakazam. The two locked eyes, allowing Shade to see the light smile on her face.
After heading out of the locker room, Shade and Celeste met up with each other, both having the same thing on their mind.
"Hey." Celeste greeted.
"Hi... Look, I'm sorry if I acted a bit harsh back there..."
"About that. I'm glad you won and that you battled with strategies I wasn't expecting. But you seemed different..."
"Yeah... That's why I wanted to apologize. Every time we battled, you always won, and even though I shouldn't be upset about that I just found myself growing more and more frustrated and I let that frustration affect how I treated your pokemon during our battle. It's not how a friend should act.
Celeste sighed, but smiled at her friend.
"Well I can't say Alakazam and I appreciated that aggression, but you're still a friend, and a good one at that."
Shade breathed a sigh of relief, he loved the fact that he won but the thought of ruining a friendship made that victory hollow.
"Since you won though, I could do what I can to help you train your pokemon for your next battle! If you keep winning then you might end up going against Styles or Snow later on."
"Right, they're going to be tough, regardless of who I battle..." The sound of both of their stomachs rumbling caught their attention as they laughed and headed off to get some lunch.
Ryan watched the last battle of Division C end, part of him was a little bit thankful that he wouldn't have to battle the winner of that battle. Instead he got up as his would be the first of Division D that day. On his way to the arena he encountered a trainer that he recognized as his opponent. The trainer was a male that appeared to be around the same age as Ryan with tan skin, he wore black skinny jeans with a fancy looking belt, a plain white t-shirt and an open black coat that looked expensive. His hair was wavy but it was a bit hard to see under his red durag.
"Yo, man, looks like we gotta battle." He greeted. "Name's Angelo."
"Ryan." The two shook hands, Ryan looked relieved to know that his next opponent at least seemed like a nice guy. The two decided to walk and talk on their way to the arena while viewers at home had the chance to wait until their battle.
One of these viewers was Singularity; the Team Dark Star leader, who had been tinkering with a computer with information on the Chimera. The man smiled to himself, pleased at the information that was being presented to him regarding his amalgamation. Satisfied with the progress of his creation, the villain sat down onto his chair and continued to watch the battles.
"And we're back with the first battle of Division D!" Mauro began. Singularity honestly couldn't care less about any of the trainers, when he saw Ryan and the others who once worked among him, he smiled again. This time he glanced over to a security camera that he had set up in one of the TDS labs...
"E-Excuse me, Boss!" Typhoon said, his voice cracking in genuine terror at the thought of confronting his boss.
"Yes, what is it." Singularity didn't even turn to face the admin of his team.
"What should we do about Dakota losing his battle? Should we make our move?"
"Has he contacted us about his loss?"
"No sir. He hasn't notified us."
"Then leave him. He's most likely too afraid of how we will react and is waiting for us to tell him his next move. Let him panic a bit."
"Yes sir! I also wanted to inform you that all of the fossil pokemon of Galar have been transported safely and have been given to all the grunts. However, we've caught Cara Liss attempting to contact the authorities in Galar about our dealings."
"Did you deal with her?!" Singularity asked in anger, finally turning to his underling. Typhoon flinched when he saw the look on his boss' face, one wrong move and he would be a snack for his Tyranitar if he was not outright destroyed by the beast.
"Y-yes! We managed to catch her and bring her over here in case you wanted to have a... personal chat with her."
"Good. Now, since the fossils have been transported, see to it that every grunt that will be participating in the raid has been trained properly. We need to be prepared to battle not just the trainers there, but any gym leader or elite four member that wishes to intervene."
"Of course sir, but wouldn't the mech be more than enough to handle them?"
"Not all at once, and that is how they're likely to attack. Be sure to train the grunts in the meantime, I'll be holding an assembly in order to show everyone our plan of attack."
"Very good, sir." Typhoon said as he turned to leave, however Singularity had one more thing to say before he left.
"Before you go, tell the scientists to increase production on the RM prototypes, we'll need an increase of numbers in the event of turncoats trying to sell us out."
"F-Forgive me for speaking out of term but, are you sure? The prototypes don't have a pokemon acting as a base, they'll be simple machines that will be weaker than the finished product."
"Have them send a copy of the blueprints so that I can update them on any changes that can be made. Until then, you are dismissed."
"Yes sir."
Typhoon left the room and silently sighed in relief. As he headed over to the lab he couldn't help but think about how intimidating of a man Singularity was. The man just seemed to have some sort of commanding aura about him that Typhoon couldn't properly put words into. Having Missingno and the Chimera at his disposal only made him more intimidating and he couldn't help but shiver at the thought of how powerful he would become after his plan for the Pokemon League.
"What's got you all worked up?"
Typhoon looked up to see Sirius looking at him, despite having his mask on Typhoon could tell he had a smug smirk on his face.
"Nothing. Now get out of my way!"
"Hold on there, soldier!" Sirius said, stopping the younger admin. "Boss freak you out again?"
Typhoon was silent for a moment before nodding.
"The guy's just intimidating, alright?"
Sirius couldn't help but laugh, offending his coworker.
"I ain't laughing at you, it's just that the only other guy I've seen have that effect on people is one of my old war buddies."
"Spare me your stories of the good old days, old man. I still have a job to do." Typhoon grunted, brushing past Sirius. Once he was alone, the older admin reached into his pocket and took out an old photo. It was of four men in military uniforms, one of the men had blond hair and had a Raichu with him, another was a bit huskier than the others and had a Pidgeot with him, the third man had black hair and a Steelix towered over him and the others. The last man had a uniform that was a bit more decorated than the others, his smile was faint but it was there, the pokemon with him was a Glailie that looked much happier than he did.
With a heavy sigh, Sirius tucked the photo away and carried on...
As the day dragged on, Aiden wandered around the Indigo Plateau either watching some of the battles or just exploring the area. No matter what he did though, the thought of his previous battles remained in his head, not because they were difficult or that his opponents were mean or sore losers, rather it was the opposite. He didn't struggle with any of his battles and because of that he found them to be dreadfully boring. This made him worry if the rest of his time in the tournament would be the same? Would the Elite Four and Champion be any different? These thoughts were stopped when a trainer called out to Aiden when he was unintentionally making his way over to the arena for his own battle.
"Yo."
Aiden looked over and recognized the trainer as his opponent; a young man about the same age as him wearing black skinny jeans with a Lumiose brand belt with a plain white t-shirt and black puffer coat along with red and black Wyndon 11's. His hair was wavy though it was covered by a red durag.
"You're supposed to be the guy I'm battling, name's Angelo."
"Aiden."
"You looked bored so I figured I'd talk to you."
"I don't think it's a good idea to talk to the guy you're supposed to battle on your way to the battle."
"Nah, it ain't that serious. In fact, here's my partner pokemon." Angelo said, sending out an Empoleon that puffed its chest outward in pride.
Aiden smiled, if anything, this trainer at least was friendly and his Empoleon looked like it was trained well. Aiden then felt a sensation in his gut that he didn't have since the beginning of the tournament: excitement.
After getting to know his opponent as they walked to the arena and splitting up to their respective locker rooms, Aiden closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
'You're a cool guy, but let's see if you're as tough as you make yourself out to be.'
Thank you all for being so patient with this update, I had planned for this to be released earlier in the month but issues regarding school delayed me a bit. Hopefully it's still an enjoyable chapter. Expect some action for the next chapter alongside a bit more insight as to the current goings on within Team Dark Star.
Also, let me know what you think of the different types of fields and their effects.
