Ch. 21
Rivals
Pokemon is the property of its respective owners
"(Heh heh, so you're trainer is the one who's got Delia all worked up right? I'd thought he'd be some mysterious, hardened man, but all I see in front of me is an innocent boy,)" Dragonite stated innocently as he tilted his head and floated inches above the ground while Sceptile glared dangerously at the large dragon.
"(My trainer has gone through many hardships throughout his life and he's conquered all of them. You'd best remember that,)" Sceptile shot back with ire as Dragonite chuckled and held up his claws in mock surrender.
"(I'll be sure to make a note of it later, but for now, I believe I have a battle to fight!)" Dragonite shouted happily as he flapped his wings with increasing speed.
"(You think you can win this battle?)" Sceptile asked Dragonite curiously as he nibbled on the twig in his mouth while Dragonite tapped his chin with his claws before offering the forest pokemon an unsure shrug.
"(I can't say for sure; maybe I will, maybe I won't, but…I do know one thing,)" Dragonite said excitedly in a near whisper while Sceptile gave the dragon an interested gaze.
"(You know what?)" Sceptile questioned Dragonite intently as the dragon suddenly vanished in front of his eyes and reappeared in front of him with a fire encased claws shocking the off-guard pokemon.
Dragonite smiled with child-like glee as he swung at the forest pokemon's face only for him to duck under it and attempted to strike back at Dragonite with a green, glowing blade of energy at his midsection. Dragonite grinned and hopped out of the way of the attempted counter attack and shot a blast of volatile electricity at his foe. Sceptile quickly jumped over it and simultaneously shot fast moving seeds at his opponent who crossed his arms in an x to defend himself from the onslaught of projectiles. Dragonite suppressed a growl of pain as he endured the onslaught of projectiles until Sceptile suddenly appeared right in front of him with a leaf blade at the ready and struck at the occupied dragon. Dragonite, his eyes steeled with determination, brought one of his wings up in defense as it suddenly gleaned with a silvery glow and clashed with the forest pokemon's attack causing hot sparks to emit fly off the pokemon's respective attacks.
Dragonite smirked as he began to overpower Sceptile and slowly began pushing him back causing the Sceptile to break the clash as he jumped off to the side. Dragonite fell forward with a surprised gasp as he used his wings to right himself and quickly flew up into the sky just as the forest pokemon quickly sent a deadly hurricane of leaves at his foe causing Dragonite to blow them away with a strong gust of wind from his wings. Dragonite, happy as can be, clapped like an excited toddler who just got a new toy and slowly descended to the ground as Sceptile continued to eye his opponent warily.
"(Yes! I knew this was going to be fun! I can see now why this boy has Delia getting all cranky; to have such strong pokemon like you will surely prove to be an exciting way to pass the time whenever we battle!)" Dragonite boomed cheerfully as Sceptile shifted the twig in his mouth and held up his claws just in case of another surprise attack.
"(What exactly do you mean by an exciting way to pass the time?)" Sceptile questioned the hyperactive, orange dragon coolly.
"(Well knowing Delia, she's going to want to battle Ash every time they cross paths, which will happen as they both are taking the pokemon league challenge, whatever that is, which means we get to play together more! My team and I are going to get stronger each time we fight so you'd better be ready!)" Dragonite shouted merrily as Sceptile rolled his eyes and started sprinting towards the dragon with speed that some of the human spectators couldn't see, but Dragonite could…barely.
Meanwhile…
"(Damn these fuckers are moving fast,)" Maris remarked in awe as she saw the combating pokemon seemingly blur out of existence as they continued to fight each other at such high speeds that the only indication of their attacks was the brief flash of color.
"(Yeah, no kidding, I can barely keep up with them; how's it going for you sis?)" Luka asked Maris as the jackal pokemon had her appendages raised in the air while her eyes glew a bright sky blue as she shifted her eyes left and right hurriedly trying to keep with the combatants.
"(I'm managing,)" was Maris's simple reply as she glanced in this direction and that as she focused intently on the battle.
Dmitri suddenly tapped Sparkplug's pokeball causing the young pokemon to materialize next to her trainer with a confused look on her face until he pointed towards the battle causing Sparkplug to lie in his lap and survey the battle interestedly. Maris and Luka cringed suddenly causing Dmitri to look at them in shock as he squeezed Maris's arm for clarification.
"(Let's just say that both of them are going to struggle walking for the next few days,)" Luka said in shaky tone as she let her arms rest on her sides.
The two combatants reappeared abruptly as Dragonite ferociously struck at Sceptile with a sinister, dark blue claw which Sceptile blocked with his green glowing forearm. Sceptile viciously swung at his foe with his other energy blade, but it was caught roughly mid-swing by Dragonite's outstretched claw and started applying pressure to it. Sceptile gritted his teeth as he endured the pain that the dragon's crushing grip was causing him so he tried to uppercut Dragonite with his other blade, but the dragon noticed it in time and trapped it under his armpit. Dragonite applied pressure even more pressure on his opponent which finally caused Sceptile to yell in pain and throw his head back as he desperately flailed around to try to break free.
"C'mon Ash, what can you do that'll help your pokemon get out of this?" Ash thought to himself worriedly until a smirk grew on his face.
"Sceptile, use leaf storm on yourself!" Ash yelled to his pokemon who whipped his tail causing a massive hurricane of leaves to envelop the two grappling pokemon and sending them spinning in the air like a top at high speeds.
Dragonite felt himself being assaulted from all sides by the maelstrom of leaves and let out a growl of pain as he felt himself being cut on every part of his body causing his trainer to look at him in concern.
"Dragonite, remain calm and focused!" Delia yelled as loud as she could while cupping her hands over her mouth.
Dragonite just barely managed to hear what his trainer told him and smirked at Sceptile who glared at him in return as Dragonite opened his maw and fired a powerful, orange beam of energy at his foe's chest which caused a huge shockwave that shook the entire battlefield to emanate throughout the area. The force of the shockwave nearly knocked all the spectators on their bottoms as a plume of smoke started to cover the battlefield causing Ash and Delia to shield themselves with their forearms as Sceptile was suddenly flung from the plume of smoke with a pained expression on his face and was slowly falling to the ground at a fast pace.
"To master hyper beam to such an extent that Dragonite could charge it to full power in a split second and that he only needed three seconds of recharge time; Delia sure is a trainer not to be underestimated," Ash pondered to himself as Sceptile extended his tail and let it break his fall as the forest pokemon got himself into a kneeling position until Dragonite crashed into him with his entire body covered in a blue energy shield.
The ground caved in and sent rocks flying everywhere as Dragonite continued to ram his opponent into the ground until there was a big, gaping hole on Ash's side of the battlefield. Dragonite quickly flew out of the hole and resituated himself in front of Delia…and collapsed onto both of his knees. Dragonite clutched his sides tightly and grated his teeth as he coughed violently for a few moments before standing up on shaky legs.
"(Hang in there big dude, I know what it's like to break a rib,)" Maris whispered to herself as she stared at the hurt dragon empathetically.
Sceptile leaped out of the crater and landed in front of Ash as he gripped his arm and glowered at his foe who was tiredly grinning at him in response.
"(S…see, w…wasn't that fun?)" Dragonite croaked out as he got himself into a fighting stance and stared determinedly at his opponent.
Sceptile was suddenly covered in a red light and appeared as a big, shapeless form of crimson energy and started to move back to Ash who was holding a pokeball up with a stoic expression on his face.
"Let's call it a tie for this round," Delia stated simply as Ash gestured to Pikachu with his head causing him to nod and leap off his shoulder as the electric rodent sparked his cheeks fiercely at the battered dragon that let an exhausted chuckle escape his lips.
"(Although I know that fighting you would prove to be very exciting, it's unfortunately not my fight,)" Dragonite told his foe solemnly as he raised his claw in the air causing Delia to take a pokeball off her belt and aim it at the dragon who allowed himself to be sucked into the pokeball in a flash of red light.
"Dragonite, I'm so proud of you and your ancestors would be too; take a nice, long rest. Druddigon, battle time!" Delia yelled as she threw a pokeball forcefully in front of her causing the rock hard dragon to materialize with a scowl on his face.
"(So we meet again huh? I have to say that the little thunder trick you pulled off last time was pretty good, but don't think it'll work again,)" Druddigon snarled at the electric rat who simply stared back at him with the same determined glare.
"(Well see about that; Ash and I have plenty of tricks up our sleeve,)" Pikachu retorted with vigor as Druddigon situated himself into a fighting stance and narrowed his eyes at the tiny rodent.
"(It won't help you,)" Druddigon snapped back as he charged furiously at his foe and swung wildly at him as the nimble rat weaved around the oncoming blows with some difficulty until the cave pokemon managed to grasp the yellow rodent's tail and slugged him in the gut with all the force he could muster.
Pikachu screamed in agony as he felt his belly go soft from the impact as Druddigon lifted Pikachu high above his head and taking a lesson from Maris's book slammed his opponent down as hard as he could. Pikachu howled loudly as his entire body flared up in pain as Druddigon suddenly fell onto one knee and gritted his teeth as sparks of electricity pulsed off his body.
"Damn, Druddigon return for now. Hydreigon, soften him up," Delia ordered coolly as she recalled Druddigon with a pokeball in one hand while sending out her ace with the other.
Hydreigon angrily snarled at the electric rat who only stared back at him passively causing the brutal pokemon's muscles to tense and his razor sharp teeth to be bared.
Meanwhile…
"(Good call Delia,)" Maris praised her sister as she folded her arms and watched Hydreigon fire off an intense, yet disciplined burst of energy at his agile foe.
"(Druddigon might have still have been able to cause heavy damage though even in his paralyzed state,)" Luka stated bluntly as Maris just nodded in response.
"(Probably, but then that spawn of Zekrom could easily do the same to Druddigon,)" Maris responded matter- of-factly as Luka shrugged and refocused her attention on the battle.
Luka and Maris watched as Hydreigon fired energy blast after energy blast at his nimble adversary who ducked and dived around every one until Delia made a small gesture with her hand causing the brutal pokemon to fire a ray of pure draconic energy in front of the mouse pokemon's feet causing dust to obscure his foes vision and threw him back some feet away. Hydreigon quickly emerged from the dust cloud and slammed the entirety of his bulky form into his tiny foe which caused Pikachu to stagger backwards and clutch at his chest while gritting his teeth. Hydreigon began charging energy into his three maws until Pikachu suddenly slammed into him and caused him to stagger back as he felt the electric rat's iron solidified tail slam on top of his cranium causing the brutal pokemon's vision to become blurry.
Pikachu followed up by firing a point blank thunderbolt at his foe who managed to bring up one of his maws and fire a pulse of evil, sinister energy as a counter causing a huge explosion that sent both combatants flying back. Hydreigon gritted his teeth as he managed to right himself in mid-air and stop himself just as he almost collided with Delia while Pikachu had to get down on all fours to stop causing his paws to drag along the gravel and causing him to cringe and briefly falter in his stance.
"(Huh, so in order to stop a point blank attack, he fired one of his own. He's crazy, but it got the job done, that rat looks ready to fall any second now,)" Maris mused as she glanced at Delia who held an impassive stare on her face.
"(Hydreigon didn't escape that attack unscathed sis,)" Luka said to the martial arts pokemon with an even tone as Maris looked at her and shrugged.
"(Yeah, he seems a little dizzy right now and he's got a burn mark on his back, but other than that he still seems fresh and itching for more. Pikachu on the other hand looks like he just fought Stephanie,)" Maris stated bluntly as Luka glanced at Maris and cocked her head to the side with one of her eyebrows raised.
"(Stephanie?)"
"(Oh right, you don't know her, but she's Dmitri's mom's star pokemon, an ace much like how Hydreigon is for Delia and how you and me are for Catherine and Dmitri except far, far more powerful,)" Maris told her sis solemnly as Luka gave a small nod and watched the battle resume.
Hydreigon pounded his middle head fiercely causing a reddish aura to encase him and caused Luka and Maris to narrow their eyes at him.
"(Luka, did you feel that?)" Maris asked Luka surprisingly as Luka, who was shaking without even knowing it yet still maintaining her narrowed eyes and folded arms, to nod quickly.
"(Yeah, his energy just took a massive spike!)" Luka replied in shock as she saw Hydreigon fire energy blasts from his maws at his foe who leaped away them as Hydreigon once again pounded his head and glared at his foe.
"Pikachu, return!" Ash yelled as his partner looked back at him hesitantly before running up to him and jumping onto his shoulder.
"Totodile, I choose you!" Ash exclaimed as he threw a pokeball at the center of the field causing a hyperactive, reptilian like creature to materialize from the white light.
The creature hopped and skipped merrily as Ash and Pikachu chuckled at its antics while Delia and Hydreigon looked on with sharp, piercing glares.
"(What kind of creature is this? All it's doing is hopping around with a stupid grin on its face!)" Maris spat irritably as Luka watched on blankly.
"(Its species is called Totodile and as you already probably guessed, those teeth aren't just for show,)" Luka responded seriously as Maris grunted and sat down next to Dmitri.
"(So, how do you think Delia's going to do?)" Maris questioned her boyfriend casually as he looked at her and shot his companion a warm grin.
"I'll bet you that Delia will lose, but she's going to leave her mark," Dmitri stated confidently as Maris raised a brow and smirked at her boyfriend's bold claim.
"(And I'll bet you that these two knuckleheads will end up stalemating each other seeing as how they're evenly matched so far,)" Maris shot back at Dmitri cockily as boyfriend and girlfriend playfully glared at one another before Dmitri spoke up.
"Loser has to do whatever the winner wants within reason?" Dmitri challenged Maris as the martial arts pokemon's eyes became as big as saucers before her eyes fixated on her partner crazily as she sized him up, cocked her head to the side, and let a wide, maniacal grin come to her face.
"(Anything huh? Very well Dmitri, I accept, but when I win, we're going to have some fun later on,)" Maris whispered eerily as Dmitri laughed it off and patted his life-long companion on the back as she playfully punched him in the shoulder and stood back up next to Luka.
"(Dmitri, she won't hurt you right?)" Sparkplug asked her surrogate father worriedly as she jabbed his arm lightly with an electric infused claw and stared at Maris warily.
"I'll be fine Sparkplug; Maris won't go overboard and if she did, she'd take a very long time to forgive herself if she did do something that harmed me," Dmitri replied calmly as he petted her head causing her to mewl and purr as she snuggled closer to him.
"(So sis, care to tell me why you tried to mentally scar Dmitri?)" Luka joked lightheartedly as she chuckled under her breathe causing Maris to smirk.
"(Just to get him on edge so that way he'll be more anxious when it looks like he's losing and to see him all panicky is really cute honestly,)" Maris said happily as she folded her arms while Luka raised a brow as a confident smirk came onto the jackal pokemon's face.
"(Sis, you do realize he thinks the same thing when you get all fidgety right?)" Luka told Maris bluntly as Maris lightly punched her in the sides causing Luka to grin and pretend to be in pain as they both saw Hydreigon smacking and tossing Totodile into the ground and trees in an attempt to make the big jaw pokemon let go of one of his maws.
"That's it! Hydreigon, if he won't let go then that's his fault! Hit him point blank with everything you got!" Delia commanded as Hydreigon smirked sadistically and began charging pumping large amounts of energy into his three maws.
"Totodile let go and use scary face!" Ash ordered as Totodile did indeed let go and barred his teeth menacingly at his foe that looked at him oddly and craned his heads.
"Totodile, water gun!" Ash ordered as Totodile puffed up his cheeks and spewed out a torrent of fast moving, pressurized water at his foe who growled when being struck with the attack and twisted his body to the side allowing the attack to harmlessly move past the brutal pokemon and fade off into the distance.
"(Hydro pump, that little…thing was able to use hydro pump?)" Maris repeated unsurely as she tried to process what she just saw.
"Hydreigon, use toxic on yourself," Delia told her pokemon coolly as Hydreigon chuckled and spat a poisonous purple glob into the air and let it land on top of him.
"What's she doing?! Doesn't she know that toxic is going to hurt her pokemon?" Dawn stated angrily as Catherine shook her head and placed a hand on the worried coordinator's shoulder.
"Trust me, as experienced as Delia is, she most certainly knows this and accepts the consequences," Catherine assured the coordinator who nodded reluctantly and refocused her attention on the battle.
"Hydreigon, façade" Delia stated firmly as Hydreigon quickly shot off towards his foe and tried to hammer him with his arm, but the little pokemon managed to jump out of the way at each attempt.
"(As I feared; toxic is crippling Hydreigon too much for him to effectively land a hit on Totodile,)" Luka said solemnly as she watched Hydreigon briefly pause and cough violently before renewing his assault.
"(Don't be so sure Luka, look more closely,)" Maris responded energetically as she watched Hydreigon feint with a right causing the big jaw pokemon to hop in the other direction where Hydreigon's left head slugged him across his face harshly and then followed up with a quick two hit combo which disoriented his smaller foe who staggered around like a drunkard.
Hydreigon then followed up with a vicious uppercut that made his opponent see stars and made Totodile's legs feel like jelly as another solid hit caused his head to snap to the side and caused him to wobble around until collapsing onto one knee.
"Hydreigon use rest!" Delia shouted enthusiastically as Hydreigon slowly closed his eyes and curled his tail around his body while levitating in the air as Delia recalled her ace and sent out Druddigon who seemed a little worse for wear.
"Pikachu, ready for another round?" Ash asked his life-long companion who gave him a determined nod and leaped off his shoulders as he sized up his opponent.
"(Your reflexes have improved since we last fought,)" Pikachu complimented his foe who stared at him stone faced as he slowly brought up his claws and set them up in a defensive posture.
"(I learn from my mistakes,)" Druddigon replied simply as he awaited his trainer's orders.
"I should use façade again, but knowing Ash he'll have already figured out a strategy to deal with that. I hate to say it, but Druddigon doesn't have the power to defeat this Pikachu…even if he were at full strength. All he can do now is…" Delia pondered bitterly as she fiercely wiped away a tear forming at her eye and shot Pikachu a death glare.
"Druddigon, buy Hydreigon some time, and…I'm sorry I failed you once again," Delia told her beloved dragon sadly as Druddigon grinned at her and sent her a reassuring thumbs up.
"(Stop being so hard on yourself Delia; I requested Haxorus sit out of this battle knowing full well that I couldn't win, but…I just had to see how far I've progressed since last time. I'm going to work even harder to take Hydreigon's place as your ace!)" Druddigon boomed determinedly as he pounded his fists together and glared at Pikachu with fire in his eyes.
"Sacrificing one of your pokemon Delia? That's disgusting, you should be ashamed to call yourself a pokemon trainer," Ash scolded his opponent angrily as Delia just stared back at him with a stoic expression and calmly flipped him off.
"(Dmitri, what does that gesture mean?)" Sparkplug asked her trainer confusedly as she poked him with electricity flowing through her claws as Dmitri flushed a deep shade of red and looked at his pokemon with a sheepish grin on his face.
"I'll tell you when you're older," Dmitri responded embarrassingly as Sparkplug pouted and poked Dmitri in the chest disappointingly and continued to watch the battle.
"(She essentially told Ash to go fuck himself,)" Maris told Sparkplug bluntly as Dmitri looked at Maris with a shocked expression on his face while Sparkplug nodded in understanding.
"(Oh, I see, I kind of figured as much, but I needed some clarification. Thanks Maris,)" Sparkplug thanked her teammate happily as Maris grinned and rubbed her teammates back gently.
"Maris! We have an impressionable youth here!" Dmitri exclaimed fiercely as Maris just shrugged and turned her attention back to the battle at hand as she saw Druddigon sway unsteadily on his feet causing Maris and Luka to look at the dragon concernedly.
"I don't get it, if Druddigon knows rest, why doesn't Delia tell him to use it?" Dawn asked confusedly as Catherine shook her head and looked down at the ground solemnly.
"Even if she did, she knows Druddigon won't be able to win even if he were completely revitalized. All Druddigon can do now is tenderize Pikachu and Totodile so Hydreigon will have an easier time when he's sent out again," Catherine responded as she watched the cave pokemon slash the electric rat across the chest with his claws causing Pikachu to screech in pain as he retaliated with a fierce shock of pulsating lighting that struck a direct hit on his foe who cried out in agony and fell onto both of his knees.
Druddigon glared at Pikachu intensely as he pounded the ground with his claws forcefully causing a small mountain to protrude under the electric rat and lifted him high above the ground. Pikachu quickly used his paws to stabilize himself as he looked down at his opponent who was climbing his mountain at such a fast rate that one could mistake Druddigon for a nimble ambipom climbing a tree.
"Pikachu, agility!" Ash shouted to his pokemon who used his move just in time as Druddigon slammed his claw through an afterimage of his foe and caused his makeshift mountain to crumble into a million pieces.
"Druddigon, try to sense where Pikachu is and then retaliate," Delia told her pokemon worriedly as Druddigon tiredly nodded and attuned his senses to his surroundings.
Alas, what should have been an instantaneous reaction by the dragon pokemon when he managed to sense his opponent turned into a split second reaction and that was all Pikachu needed.
"Pikachu, electro ball!" Ash commanded as Pikachu suddenly appeared in front of Druddigon and shot a sphere of electrical energy right at the cave pokemon who could only watch in shock as the attack enveloped him and exploded; throwing him back to his trainer's feet unconscious.
"Druddigon, thank you so much for your efforts; your sacrifice will not be in vain," Delia told her pokemon consolingly as she gently stroked his head and returned him to his pokeball.
"(That damn Pikachu…)" Maris grumbled furiously as she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes dangerously at what would most likely be a future opponent.
"Hydreigon, WIPE THEM OUT!" Delia yelled angrily as her eyes flashed a bright crimson and set them upon the electric rat.
Hydreigon materialized from his pokeball with his eyes too flashing the same color and intensity as Delia's as they both coldly glared at Pikachu and Ash.
"Whoa, what is this? What's happening to her?" Dmitri asked Maris concernedly while Luka felt Delia's calm and cool aura turn into blood lust and savage fury causing the jackal pokemon to slowly start charging aura into her paws.
"(I've…I've heard stories, but I just thought they were just a myth,)" Maris responded as she started trembling at the power her friend and partner were displaying.
"What stories Maris?! What's happening to her?!" Dmitri yelled at Maris in a mix of concern and stress as the martial arts pokemon put a paw on his shoulder to calm him down.
"(When we would visit Delia at the village of the dragons when we were little, I would always her stories of how some dragon tamers would be able to attune to the hearts of the dragon so closely that they would be able to wield some of the powers of the dragon. They say that person's eyes would glow a bright crimson red whenever they experienced intense emotions and they would even adopt the attitudes of their dragons,)" Maris told Dmitri as calmly as she could as she kept an eye out for Delia and Hydreigon who just continued to glare coldly at their foes.
"(Right sis; legend calls it the heart of the dragon which is an ability humans can use to fight on par with pokemon much like aura, chi, and psychic abilities,)" Luka added as Maris, mirroring Luka, charged chi into her paws.
"(Seeing Druddigon battered beyond belief and his speech earlier must have been the breaking point for her; activating it,)" Maris said to herself solemnly as Delia made gesture with her finger causing Hydreigon to let out a bestial roar and charge at Pikachu with unrelenting fury.
Pikachu dived out of the way of the reckless charge while Hydreigon twisted one of his arms around and shot a pulse of draconic energy at his foe who managed to jump out of the way and fire and orb of volatile, sparking electricity at his foe and swatted it aside like a magikarp out of water.
"Pikachu return! Totodile, I choose you!" Ash shouted as Totodile once again entered the battle looking a little worse for wear and stared down his foe who glared back at him in contempt.
Pikachu, glad for this moment of rest, watched the battle concernedly as he worried for his comrade's safety while Delia pointed at Totodile which caused Hydreigon rush toward his foe while his tail solidified into solid iron. Hydreigon roared angrily before striking his foe fiercely in on top of the head causing the ground to cave in and send rubble flying everywhere as the brutal pokemon watched his foe sway unsteadily on his feet before collapsing in a heap.
"Totodile is unable to battle which makes Hydreigon the winner of this round," Brock said just loud enough for everyone to hear as he was in shock of the power that Hydreigon was displaying.
"(So much for a break,)" Pikachu mumbled as he stepped onto the battlefield once more.
Meanwhile…
"Delia is in control of herself right?" Dmitri asked Maris worriedly as Maris shook her head and stepped in front of him protectively causing Sparkplug to leap out of his lap and stand aside Maris.
"(For now, she seems to be focusing her rage on Pikachu which gets sent to Hydreigon and makes him angry…well, angrier than usual,)" Maris responded as she and her teammate watched as Pikachu leaped over an attempt to his small frame and swung his tail at Hydreigon's head who blocked it by bringing up his other maw while shooting a torrent of flames at Pikachu with the other scoring a direct hit.
Pikachu cried out as he felt his entire body burning until he shot a strong bolt of lightning that dissipated Hydreigon's attack and struck him directly who didn't even seemed fazed by it as he clutched Pikachu's neck with his right maw and bite down hard. Pikachu screamed in pain as blood dripped down Hydreigon's maw as he slammed Pikachu down on the ground repeatedly causing a squeak of pain to escape the electric rat's lips and causing Ash to clench his fists angrily.
"Pikachu, thunder on yourself!" Ash yelled desperately as Pikachu, despite his injured state, summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky which struck him and his foe that let out a cry of agony, but still held onto his small opponent.
Pikachu repeated this process which weakened the mighty dragon further as he strained to keep his iron grip on the electric rodent until finally being tired of being electrocuted threw him up into the sky. Seeing Hydreigon harmed like this intensified the battle ace's rage as her eyes glowed a brighter shade of crimson and snarled animalistically as her rage was shared with Hydreigon who let out a feral roar the likes of which caused shockwaves of such intensity that even the tallest of tress were knocked over and the landscape which was once lush of plant life to become bare. Maris and Luka braced the humans as they were able to resist the shockwaves and firmly stand their ground as they looked at the dragon pokemon in awe and shock.
"PIKACHU, FULL POWER VOLT TACKLE!" Ash yelled as loud as he could over the destruction causing Pikachu to surround himself in a field of golden electricity and descended upon his opponent as Delia and Hydreigon roared in challenge at this threat and covered himself in bright blue, draconic energy and charged at his foe with reckless abandon.
As the attacks clashed, it released a shockwave so powerful that finally Maris and Luka simply couldn't brace the humans on the sidelines any longer and had to create shields of aura and chi to prevent being swept away from the explosion, but that too cracked under the intensity of the blast. Trees turned to ash and the Earth itself shook from the impact which caught the attention of a certain gym leader to check out what was going on. Delia and Ash, who managed to return to their original positions despite the strong explosion, looked on stoically as they waited for the dust cloud to settle and when it did, both of their eyes were wide in surprise. Hydreigon and Pikachu were barely conscious with the electric rodent struggling to stay on his feet while Hydreigon strained to stay afloat.
Finally, Hydreigon collapsed with Pikachu following the second after his foe fell unconscious causing Ash to rush towards his pokemon and cradle him in his arms while Delia's eyes returned to normal and nearly fainted as she crawled toward Hydreigon determinedly. Brock fortunately managed to see everything after he pushed some debris off himself and made his judgement.
"Due to both pokemon fainting that makes this battle a tie!" Brock shouted loudly.
Giant pieces of rubble off to the side started to move as two golden beams of light penetrated the rubble and caused them to shatter into dust as Maris stood firm on her feet with bruises here and there while Luka lay on her side groaning in pain as Catherine knelt down next to her and cradled her head in her lap as she gently stroked her head. Dawn simply stared at Delia and Hydreigon wide eyed while Dmitri slowly got up on his feet with a blood rushing down his knee and Sparkplug, whom Dmitri shielded with his body, went over to Luka and tended to her as best she could.
"N…no Brock, Hy…Hydreigon fainted f…first so that means I lose," Delia whispered as she fell unconscious and nearly hit her head on the ground if Hydreigon didn't catch her in time and pulled her underneath his bulk and closed his eyes as he too finally fainted.
Ash walked over to Dmitri and Maris and looked at them with narrowed eyes as he spoke with a hint of anger in his tone.
"Tell Delia that until she gets her pokemon and herself under control, we will not rematch," Ash growled bitterly as he turned his back on them and walked toward the Pokemon Center with Dawn and Brock following after giving their new friends a farewell wave of their hands.
"Brock, I've been meaning to ask, but why didn't you try to flirt with Delia?" Dawn asked her companion curiously as Brock put a hand under his chin and sighed.
"Something about Delia just seemed off to me Dawn. It doesn't take an aura user like that Lucario to tell that rage and pain came off her in spades," Brock answered solemnly as they continued to follow Ash to the pokemon center.
Maris heard this and shook her head at that statement as while some of it was true, Delia was truly a nice person to be around provided you earned her trust first.
"Are you going to yell at Delia again Maris?" Dmitri questioned his girlfriend who shook her head and knelt down next to the prone forms of her sister and her pokemon.
"(I'll do it when she wakes up, but I'm pretty sure she regrets any harm she's caused,)" Maris replied sadly as she tried to push Hydreigon off of Delia, but grimaced in pain as she clutched her sides and spat up some saliva.
"(Need some help sis?)" Luka asked Maris as she and Sparkplug limped towards her while Luka gripped her ribcage as Maris smirked at her and nodded as they finally managed to push the unconscious dragon off of the battle ace and returned him to his pokeball leaving Delia lying flat on her back.
Just as Maris was about to pick her up, one of her pokeballs started rumbling violently until it popped open and revealed a concerned Haxorus who picked up his trainer bridal style while carrying Hydreigon's pokeball in one of his claws.
"(Maris, thank you, but I'll take it from here. I'll meet you guys at the pokemon center and don't worry about yelling at Delia because I'll do that for you,)" Haxorus said to Maris respectfully as she stared at him blankly for a moment before nodding causing the dragon pokemon to trudge towards the pokemon center.
"(Y'know, that's the first time I think I've ever head Haxorus say thank you to me.)"
"That just means you finally earned his respect."
"(Yeah I guess I did Dmitri, but if I was Haxorus, I'd be pretty pissed that their rival wouldn't want to battle them just because of one fight.)"
"After this, I doubt Ash considers Delia rival considering…"
"(That's his own fucking fault then if he would pass on the chance to battle someone like Delia again. Once she gets this power under control she'll be more than ready to fight him, and when that time comes she'll be the one standing on top.)"
"…."
"(…)"
"So…do you still want to do that bet?"
"(Y'know what Dmitri, I think I'll pass. I just want to get some flipping sleep.)"