Ch. 49
Fourth Round
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"Due to the battlefield being turned into a crater, we will be taking a break until we can properly repair it before the next match between Delia and Ash vs Conway and Dawn!" the organized shouted over the megaphone in a bombastic tone causing Lopunny to wince and rub one of her giant ears at the loud tone while Delia narrowed her eyes at the loud voice, but otherwise maintained her calm expression.
"It looks like you won't have to fight Kiera after all, Lopunny," Delia teased the bunny pokemon causing Lopunny to huff and glare at her trainer with a raised brow before folding her arms.
"(So, what do you want to do now? Since you and Ash are obviously going to win no matter what Conway and Dawn do, do you want to get a bite to eat or hang out with your friends?)" Lopunny inquired off-handedly with a wave of her paw causing the dragon tamer to raise a brow at what her partner said before just shaking her head.
"I underestimated Dawn once already and that is a mistake I will never again repeat. Besides, you are so quick to write off Conway as a threat and although he may not be on our level, taking him lightly may cost us the match," Delia retorted sharply causing Lopunny to rub the back of her head and nod in response to what her trainer said causing the dragon tamer to sigh and put a hand on her pokemon's shoulder.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, but you need to tone down that arrogance of yours before someone else decides to do it for you," the battle ace lectured the bunny pokemon causing Lopunny to meet her trainer's gaze and giving a small smile to what her friend said before Delia gave her a quick hug just as her parents approached them with bemused grins.
"Oh my gosh, my daughter doing something that' s not related to a pokemon battle," Maya said in mock surprise causing Delia to make a noise that was halfway between a growl and a laugh before she playfully shoved her mom's arm causing Maya to grin back.
"Anyway, your friends found an area near the stadium that we can have some down time in so we just came to get you," Jet informed his daughter causing the dragon tamer to smile at her dad and gestured for him to lead the way which he did as Maya, Delia, and Lopunny brought up the rear.
Pov shift
"Luka, Alex is actually very nice once you get to know her; you should give her a chance," Catherine both advised and scolded her girlfriend through the aura link that Luka had created so she could say whatever unsavory things she wanted about the battlegirl without the risk of Dmitri hearing them.
"(Not after the stunt she pulled today,)" Luka coldly retorted as she concernedly gazed at Sparkplug from the corner of her eye and saw the lioness was moving normally, but even so she did a quick scan of Sparkplug with her aura just to be sure there wasn't any injuries that were overlooked.
"What if I had given you the same treatment after you had joined me?" Catherine asked in a tone that was trying to be calm, but both of them could hear the edge to it and at that question Luka's eyes went wide before she stared down at the ground contemplatively.
"(You made your point; I'll try to be civil with her,)" Luka irritably replied with her fists clenched and gritted teeth when she heard her girlfriend give a small laugh causing her to cut off the aura link and open her eyes to find that Kricketune was sitting next to her.
"(You should be having fun with the others, Kricketune,)" Luka scolded the bug type as she tried to push the insect towards where the pokemon were conversing with one another, but Kricketune stubbornly remained at her side.
Rolling her eyes with a small smile on her lips, Luka stood up and began walking to where the other pokemon were with Kricketune in tow who had begun humming a peaceful melody one might hear when taking a walk in a meadow. Gratefully, the jackal pokemon clasped the bug type's shoulder and pulled him in for a quick, but warm hug before they both joined the large group of pokemon. Seeing this, Catherine grinned as Luka walked up to Alex and tried to strike up a conversation with her while the former heiress tried to acquaint herself the other members of Dmitri's team while the battle ace was doing the same for her team.
"Uh…hi…Kiera," Catherine awkwardly said to the massive centipede who was currently chowing down on a tree's foliage with great gusto before hearing the former heiress's voice and turning her gigantic body to regard the brown haired girl who seemed like a speck of dirt compared to her.
Catherine and her team knew how protective she was of her teammates and especially of her trainer, but would she extend this to one of his friends? This question rolled through the brown haired girl's head as Kiera stared down at her with the same blank look that she regarded everything with making the former heiress feel uncomfortable.
"Um…so do the leaves taste any good?" Catherine attempted in an effort to sound friendly and seeing Kiera make no reaction whatsoever, Catherine wondered if she should have talked to Sparkplug first.
However, Catherine saw the megapede bite off a medium sized leaf and lowered her head near the brown haired girl's hands causing Catherine to raise a brow before she realized what the bug was doing. Giving a tiny grin in response, Catherine took the leaf and gave a grateful nod for Kiera's offering causing the massive centipede to nod back as she watched the former heiress stare at the leaf long and hard.
"Ew, it has Kiera's saliva all over it, but I don't want to be rude by denying her gift to me so…" Catherine trailed off as she closed her eyes and taking a quick breathe in and out, she chomped down on the leaf and chewed on it slowly with her expression changing from curious to outright disgust for the flavor but did her best to hide this from the centipede.
"(Urgh…it tastes…interesting,)" Catherine responded with a forced smile on her face that was trying to conceal her desire to throw up as Kiera gently took the leaf from the girl's hands and gobbling it up with a satisfied expression on her face.
Catherine continued to try to ignore the bad taste of the leaf before Kiera lowered her massive head to playfully nip on Catherine's hair causing the former heiress to squeal in surprise as she felt herself being tugged toward Kiera's chest. Catherine let out a laugh once she realized the bug type wasn't trying to hurt her as she knelt down on the ground and did her best to wrap her arms around Kiera's massive frame. Nuzzling her head into Kiera's chest, she could faintly hear the sounds of the bug type's heart beating before she turned around and lay her head against Kiera's chest while the centipede continued to chew on the girl's hair.
"Lux," a voice softly called out causing Kiera and Catherine to turn their heads to find Sparkplug and Tomoe walking towards them and before the former heiress could say hi to either of them the lioness abruptly plopped down onto Catherine's lap.
Tomoe offered the former heiress a curt bow when their eyes met causing Catherine to bow back to her as the former heiress suddenly felt her whole body tingling for some reason and when she looked down she found Sparkplug channeling some electricity over her body.
"(Hey Fudge; how's it hanging?)" Sparkplug began with a toothy grin on her face while Catherine smiled and scratched the back of the lioness's head causing the big cat to give a purr in delight while Tomoe silently sat down cross-legged next to Kiera.
"Well, now I'm wondering if you put on some weight," Catherine teasingly replied only to receive a slight jolt in response causing a surprised yelp to escape her lips while Sparkplug shook her head with a smile and moved around a bit on Catherine's lap to get comfortable.
Pov shift
"(Hey Dmitri; how's the new arm?)" Graveler inquired as he put a hand on the battle ace's back and gently pushed him towards himself and Floatzel while Dmitri briefly looked over the scars he had accumulated since he had started his journey before looking back at the boulder pokemon.
"Its fine I guess; I can move it almost naturally now and I just have to get used to using it when doing strenuous tasks," Dmitri replied causing Graveler to rub his chin thoughtfully before nodding while Floatzel smirked and thumped his chest with his paw.
"(If you need any help with that, just ask me! I am Catherine's second strongest pokemon after all,)" Floatzel informed the battle ace causing Dmitri to sigh softly, but gave a grateful grin to what the weasel said while Graveler raised a brow and folded his arms.
"(Second strongest? Then why is that you have yet to win a single match against me?)" Graveler responded matter-of-factly causing Floatzel to angrily glare at the boulder pokemon and stutter for a response.
"(That last match was a fluke! There was sand in my eye and Catherine should have stopped it!)" Floatzel finally managed to get out while Graveler the unamused look he was giving Floatzel previously didn't vanish.
"(And yet when you win a match against Kricketune and Ursaring or get a lucky hit against me or Luka, you are so quick to boast that you are the greatest despite any other factors that may have been involved,)" Graveler pointed out causing Floatzel to raise his paw to retort, but the words were lost to him so he scoffed and stomped towards the water to go for a swim.
"You could get stronger if you evolved," Dmitri reasoned with the animate rock only for Graveler to close his eyes and give a small shake of his head causing some dust to fall off the boulder's body.
"(I want to get as strong as I possibly can in this form and only then will I choose to transform; I owe Catherine that much for helping get strength that I would have never gotten on my own,)" Graveler resolutely stated causing Dmitri to purse his lips in thought before giving a respectful nod to what the living piece of stone said causing Graveler to nod as the two decided to part ways.
Giving a goodbye wave to the boulder, Dmitri slowly walked up to Ursaring and Kricketune who seemed to be engaged in a conversation as Ursaring remained silent and nodded every now and then while Kricketune clicked rapidly. When Dmitri was a few feet away, the bear's ears twitched causing her to turn her head and look at Dmitri contemplatively while Kricketune happily waved at the battle ace and scooted over to make some room for him. Seeing Delia, Maya and Jet finally arriving, Dmitri waved to them causing the dragon tamer to wave back as she, along with her parents, released their teams.
Delia and her parents were about to let their pokemon go have fun when Delia's Dragonite and Jet's Dragonite suddenly turned to each other and smirked with their muscles tensed while Delia's Hydreigon and Maya's Hydreigon glared at one another with intense ferocity. Grinning a bit, Delia stared at her parents with her arms folded while Maya glanced back at her with one hand on her hip while Jet had his hands in his pockets and looked at his daughter in an effort to understand the situation.
"Can we have a practice match against each other mother and father? Dragonite and Hydreigon seem eager to gauge how strong they are compared to their mothers and that is something I'm curious to know as well," Delia requested causing the husband and wife to glance at one another before nodding at their daughter's request which caused Dmitri and Catherine's pokemon to herd their teammates and Alex's pokemon back for their safety.
Deciding to go first, Jet walked to one opposite side of the grassland while Delia did the same as the two dragons floated in front of their trainers before descending to the ground.
"It's funny, Delia; I spent countless years in my fruitless attempt to gain the title of champion as I thought that by just earning that tile it would make me powerful. It's only when I stepped back and reflected on my many failed attempts to win a pokemon league did I finally manage to learn the true meaning of strength," Jet wisely began causing Delia to raise a brow as she never knew this about her father before grinning and nodding back at what her father said causing Jet to smile back at his daughter.
"Now I realize that strength isn't determined by the number of gym badges, frontier symbols, or titles like pokemon champion or elite four member, it's determined by the way you carry yourself each and every day," Jet finished causing Delia to contemplate his words carefully before slowly nodding back at what her father told her while the two Dragonite's continued to confidently grin.
"Would you ever compete in a pokemon league again, father?" Delia asked of her father and without any hesitation, Jet shook his head at his daughter's question.
"If only just to test myself against you, Maya, or Dmitri, but it's like I said Deli winning a pokemon league or becoming the champion means nothing to me anymore," Jet replied as he suddenly narrowed his eyes causing Delia to follow suit as she focused on Jet's Dragonite and scanned her for any weaknesses to exploit.
"(Go easy on your mama, okay sweetie?)" Jet's Dragonite teased her son as she folded her arms and floated slightly above the ground while Delia's Dragonite slipped into a fighting stance that included turning his body to the side so he wouldn't leave his midsection exposed while holding one claw out in front of him while the other one was held back near his chin.
"(Wouldn't dream of it, mother,)" Delia's Dragonite responded as he slowly inched his way forward while Jet's Dragonite's smirk widened and awaited her son's approach as she made no move to adopt a proper stance to defend herself and kept her arms folded.
Pov shift
"(Watch closely, Ursaring. This is the power we're going to go up against in the finals,)" Luka advised her teammate who nodded once and focused her eyes on the dragons while Graveler walked up to the aura pokemon and folded his arms.
"(You think we can win against Delia's team?)" Graveler asked his comrade who looked down at the ground long and hard before shaking her head and letting out a soft sigh.
"(I don't think we can brother…even with Paul helping us,)" Luka truthfully informed her teammate while Graveler expected this kind of response and nodded as Catherine walked up to the two of them and put her hands on both of their shoulders.
"Not with that attitude, missy, but you're not exactly wrong. That's why I'm going to be using Graveler in the finals if only just to use the element of surprise," Catherine told the duo causing Luka and Graveler to raise a brow at what their trainer said before nodding in response as they returned their attention to the battle.
Delia's Dragonite took the initiative and struck out with his claws causing his mother to lean her head back while simultaneously thrusting her foot forward causing Delia's Dragonite to gasp as he felt his mother's giant foot impact his gut with tremendous power and sent hurtling backwards. Despite this, Dragonite kept his feet firmly planted on the ground which caused his feet to drag across the earth like a runaway car that kicked up rubble and debris. Ignoring the rubble pounding against him, Dragonite righted himself and flapped his wings causing the debris to fly towards his mother with frightening speed and grinned when he saw his mother not move an inch.
Jet's Dragonite let the debris hit her where they shattered like glass against her large frame and through the debris field she lost sight of her son. Feeling the air shift behind her, she swung her tail on where she thought her hatchling would be only to raise a brow when she felt something hard graze the small of her back. Dragonite had hoped that sending the rubble towards his mom would give him enough time to land a critical blow against his mother, but her senses were far sharper than when he last saw her.
Dragonite inwardly thanked his muscle memory as his shoulder reduced the damage to his head a little, but scowled when his punch only grazed his intended target. Dragonite briefly saw stars from his progenitor's tail strike and temporarily blacked out before opening his eyes and let out a quick gust of air to flip himself over and land on his feet. Dragonite would get no reprieve as he finally let out a cry of pain as he felt the familiar, burning sensation of draconic energy slam into his back, but it felt cold for some reason. Brutally hitting the ground face first, Dragonite put a claw on his head and slowly climbed to his feet while properly breathing in order to conserve his stamina.
Dragonite turned to face his mother and saw a light blue smoke wafting around her throat like the mist on a cold day and saw that she had yet to unfold her arms causing Delia's friend grin back at his mother.
"(You're doing great, my hatchling. Using the rubble to hide your true attack would have worked against any other opponent,)" Jet's Dragonite complimented her hatchling with a proud smile while Dragonite, despite breathing heavily, nodded back with a hearty smile on his face and inched his way forward once more.
Surging forward faster than most of the spectators could see, Dragonite used his forward momentum to slash at his mother like an expert swordsman while holding his other arm out to grab her just in case she tried to spin away. However, like the veteran fighter she was, Jet's Dragonite grabbed her hatchling's attacking arm while simultaneously wrapping her arm and tail around his waist and ducked underneath her spawn's attempted grapple.
Forcefully leaning back while using Dragonite's forward momentum against him, she harshly slammed her son's face against the ground causing small spider web cracks in the earth. Dragonite let out a muffled hiss in pain as he felt his mother's claw on top of his head and forcing her entire weight down onto it while his other arm was being painfully twisted behind his back by her tail. Dragonite, to his credit, was able to lessen the pressure on his head by using his one free arm to push against the ground and was resisting the tension on his other arm by pulling in the opposite direction, but deep down he knew his mother was just toying with him.
Dragonite would have used his tail to try and free himself, but his mother using one of her feet to keep it firmly in place so as of now, he was trapped.
"Dragonite, draco meteor!" Delia desperately commanded and thanks to his hearing, Dragonite was barely able to hear her and unknown to him, his mother merely smirked at what Delia ordered while Jet raised a brow at what his daughter said.
Gritting his teeth, the jolly dragon searched in space for any asteroids that happened to be in orbit near the Earth and just as he found some and summoned enough strength to bring them crashing down on his mother, he let out a cry of pain as an icy-hot pulse of energy fill his being. Whatever his mother did, it hurt a lot like some of the injuries he had suffered in battles over the years traveling with Delia, but he knew it only served as a warning shot.
"(External pain I can ignore, but this? The pain is inside me and I can't build any defenses against it!)" Dragonite bitterly thought in his head as he once again tried to bring meteors down onto his foe only to feel another jolt of pain fill his being which was far more powerful than the last one causing him to briefly go limp.
Calling upon all of his training, he grit his teeth and shut his eyes as he struggled once again to break free just to receive another jolt, but Dragonite finally managed to bring meteors raining down onto his mother who tossed him aside and smiled confidently at his attack. Crossing her arms in an x and getting into a horse stance, she let out a war cry as the rocks crashed into her with great force and thanks to the efforts of the other pokemon, the area they were in remained largely unaffected by Dragonite's attack.
"Damn it; please tell me that did something!" Delia seethed through gritted teeth as she clenched her fists so tightly that they went white while Dragonite clutched his ribs and pulled himself up to his feet with a herculean effort as he breathed raggedly and waited for the dust cloud to settle.
Smiling in defeat and collapsing onto his knees tiredly, both trainer and pokemon watched as Jet's Dragonite, despite receiving some scrapes and little trickle of blood running down her forehead, was completely fine and had her arms folded like she did at the start of the battle.
"I forfeit, father," Delia stated stoically causing her dad to nod at her statement and relaxed his posture as Dragonite attempted to get up on his own power, but fell down onto his knees once more.
"(Need some help?)" Jet's Dragonite sweetly asked her hatchling causing Dragonite to chuckle and extend his claw to his mother who laughed softly and gripped his claw into her own and wrapped her other arm around his waist.
Slowly levitating inches above the ground, Jet's Dragonite floated over to where Delia was and helped her hatchling into a sitting position next to Delia who hugged the jolly dragon for his efforts. Dragonite grinned warmly and hugged her back as the dragon tamer's eyes shined crimson and began transferring some of her energy into her teammate which gradually healed some of his injuries. Finishing up, Delia extended Dragonite's pokeball to him and when he shook his head, she nodded and clipped it back to her belt and gave a small bow to her dad.
"Thank you for the battle, father; I never knew you could combine draconic energy with the power of the cold and now that I do I will implement it into my battle strategy," Delia gratefully stated to her progenitor who smiled at his daughter and waved at her while Jet's Dragonite in turn sent a flying kiss to both her and her hatchling who pretended to catch it.
As Jet and his Dragonite walked off of the field, Maya and her Hydreigon stepped onto the field with their eyes narrowed causing Hydreigon to likewise send the same stare back at them and float in front of his trainer.
"(I thought I was tough, but mother is still on a whole other level. I guess it's expected when you still find the time to train earnestly when rearing your own hatchling and helping raise the spawn of your friends,)" Dragonite said in a mix between disbelief and pride as Druddigon and Haxorus sat down next to him with their eyes focused on the battle to come.
Everyone watched with bated breath as the two three-head kaiju glared at one another intensely as if they hated each other before Delia's Hydreigon took the initiative and let out a ferocious, ear splitting that fired up his aura and sounded like the screams of villagers as their home was being razed to the ground. Maya and her Hydreigon yawned as Delia's Hydreigon continued to power up and were unimpressed by the ground shaking and the trees leaning back because of his power output.
When Hydreigon finished, he let out a soft breathe of air and gazed back at his mother intently as Maya folded her arms and disapprovingly stared at her daughter.
"That was such a poor demonstration, Delia; all that did was show me that your Hydreigon has terrible energy control and has to strain himself to bring all that dormant power outward," Maya bluntly stated causing Delia to blush and rub the back of her head causing her mother to raise a brow and expectantly glance at her daughter.
"Well, Hydreigon wouldn't exactly listen to me for a long time so I couldn't really teach him proper energy control," Delia admitted to her mother with a sheepish grin and instead of scoffing, Maya's gaze softened and she just smiled at her daughter.
"Its fine, Deli; believe it or not I had the same problem with my Hydreigon too until she started listening to me. That being said, you need to work on his energy control now that he listens to you and the menacing aura he has tells me that he hasn't mastered the benefits of negative emotions which is absolutely essential for any dark type as it not only allows them to call upon great power when utilizing both the positive and negative aspects of negative emotions, it gives them better clarity in life," Maya continued with her evaluation causing Delia to nod and take mental notes of what her mother said to work on later as Maya put her hands on her hips and gave a small grin of pride.
"Other than that, Hydreigon's power is astounding for a dragon that's so young and you should feel proud for getting him that strong," Delia's mother praised both her daughter and her pokemon as Maya's Hydreigon dropped her seemingly hateful glare and blankly stared at her hatchling causing Hydreigon's glower to deepen.
Effortlessly, Maya's Hydreigon activated her own aura with a brief, but intense roar that put her hatchling's to shame as it sounded more akin to a large-scale battle where screams of agony and terror filled the air before they went silent. Maya's Hydreigon softly exhaled which stabilized her aura that flowed smoothly over her and unlike her hatchling, achieving her full power didn't disturb the ground or the trees in the slightest.
"Jeez, I can't sense aura or chi like Maris and Luka, but even I feel this sensation of despair...and yet I have this feeling of hope," Catherine whispered under her breathe shakily as Sparkplug nuzzled her chin to comfort her friend despite trembling herself while Kiera narrowed her eyes intensely and thought back to the battle between Stephanie and Virizion.
"(The abominable Kaiju demon kin have always been a force of nature on the battlefront…and it seems even in this time period that title hasn't changed,)" Tomoe managed to get out while trying to sound cool and collected, but both Sparkplug and Kiera noticed her paws trembling as she gripped the hilt of her swords tightly for stability.
In the brief instant when Maya's Hydreigon powered up, Dmitri felt his body temperature drop and felt beads of sweat pouring down his head causing Kricketune to put one of his appendages on the battle ace's shoulder while humming a calming tune causing Dmitri to turn to the insect and smile gratefully.
"In that brief instant where Hydreigon's mom reached her full power, all the bad stuff I went through just came flooding back into my head...and all the times that my friends and family were there for me when I needed them," Dmitri solemnly explained as he sat down on the grass and inhaled and exhaled to calm his nerves while Kricketune continued to hum while Ursaring put one of her paws on his knee.
Suddenly, Maya's Hydreigon let out a small burst of her power and to Delia's and the spectator's shock, Hydreigon let out a pained howl and found himself pinned to the ground where he couldn't move as if he was being crushed by some sort of invisible, giant hand. Delia thought long and hard about what kind of power her mother's pokemon could possess to do such a thing until it finally clicked for Delia who balled her hands into fists.
"Damn, she's crushing him with just the sheer force of her energy output!" Delia seethed through gritted teeth as she watched Hydreigon gnash his teeth together and squirm some more as Maya's Hydreigon pushed her power outward once again causing the Hydreigon to hiss as the ground underneath him cracked.
"Hydreigon! If you can, use dragon rage!" Delia mentally commanded her friend as her eyes flashed crimson and with herculean effort, Hydreigon twisted his heads so they were aiming squarely at his mother and fired three spheres fueled by his wrath at his progenitor.
"Very good, Delia," Maya praised her daughter and as the orbs of destruction neared her Hydreigon, the three-headed dragon released another burst of her power that utilized the force of her energy output like an expanding barrier that dissipated her hatchling's attack just as it was mere inches away from her.
Feeling the pressure around him cease, Hydreigon surged forward like a runaway train while his mother watched with interest as she braced herself for impact. Hydreigon crashed into his mother like a tauros slamming its bulk into a charging rival male and roared with all the fury he could muster as he pushed against his mother with every bit of his power to while his progenitor stoically stared at him as she hadn't budged an inch during the collision. Maya's Hydreigon pushed forward ever so slightly and Hydreigon found himself on the losing end of this struggle as he was being pushed backwards no matter how much he resisted it so he tried something else.
Hydreigon smashed his forehead against his mother's skull which only forced her backwards a few inches, but this gave him enough time to howl and fire balls of draconic rage at his mother at point blank range. Just as he fired the attacks, his mother threw her head forward like a spear underneath her child's chin and hammered the sides of his other head's neck eliciting an erratic cry from her son.
Black smoke wafted from Hydreigon's mouths as his intended attacks exploded inside his jaw, but despite the pain he was in he narrowly avoided being struck in the head by his mother's tail when he felt the air shift. Clamping down onto her tail with his jaw, he swung his mother downwards like a sledgehammer and slammed her down onto the ground which caused an irritable cry to escape Maya's Hydreigon's lips. Maya's Hydreigon immediately tugged forward with her tail the moment she hit the ground and rammed her bulk against her son who brought up one of his heads to block.
Even though he blocked the blow, Hydreigon still felt his world become blurry and floated backwards in a daze and was given no time to recover as he was suddenly struck by strikes that he couldn't see leaving indents in his body. Hissing with each successive strike, Hydreigon covered up his main head with his arms and wrapped his tail around his body as the blows snapped his body to the side and made him double over and left him gasping for air despite covering up. The assault finally ceased allowing Delia to see the bruises and indents left on her friend's body as he breathed raggedly and spat a glob of blood on the ground while his mother calmly watched on.
Firing one last simultaneous orbs of draconic fury at his mother like cannons, he watched as his attacks ebbed away before reaching her as he felt a thunderous blow impact him that caused tremors to go up his body. Before Maya's Hydreigon could finish him, Delia, acting on instinct, moved in front of Hydreigon with her arms outstretched while Lopunny eyes widened in shock at this and ran up to her trainer and shakily brought her paws up just in case if she needed to fight.
Delia and her mother's Hydreigon locked eyes with the dragon tamer defiantly glaring at the three headed dragon while Hydreigon's stoically looked back at her friend's daughter. Luckily, Maya's soft laugh lightened the mood causing Delia to let her arms down, but she still stood in front of Hydreigon even though the battle was over.
"You could have forfeited you know; she wasn't going to hurt him too bad," Maya joked with Delia as her eyes flashed a bright, bloody crimson causing her Hydreigon to back off from Delia and her hatchling, but not before flashing her spawn a brief, proud smile that Hydreigon returned with blood caked fangs.
Sighing and rubbing the back of her head with a light blush on her face, Delia and Lopunny helped Hydreigon to where his teammates were as the three headed dragon lay down on the grass with Haxorus sitting down next to him while Delia transferred some of her energy into him to speed up his recovery. Finishing up, Delia lay her head down on the grass and closed her eyes only to hear her pokegear ringing and found a text message requiring all participants to return back to the stadium causing her to groan and groggily sit up.
"Just when I wanted to take a nap," Delia moaned as she did some stretches to calm her nerves as all the pokemon that were in the picnic area exchanged some last minute stories or pleasantries with each other before going back into their pokeballs save for Maris, Lopunny, Luka, and Tomoe who stood at their trainer's side.
"You won't need it, but I wish you luck in your fight Delia," Maya said to her daughter as she ruffled her daughter's hair causing the dragon tamer to lightly brush her mother's hand off while Jet put a hand on his daughter's shoulder and gave her a nod which she returned.
Walking to the stadium with her friends in tow, Delia went through any possible strategies or weaknesses in her team that she could use while Dmitri, Maris, Catherine, Luka, Tomoe, and Alex walked behind Delia, Maya, and Jet.
"Sheesh, seeing Delia and her parents go at it just reminds me that I still have a whole lot to learn before I even get that kind of power," Alex mused with her hands behind her head while Dmitri softly chuckled causing the battle girl to turn her head with it tilted to the side as she stared at her friend.
"I know what you mean," Dmitri responded with a grin causing Maris to smirk knowingly and fold her arms while Tomoe raised a brow, but decided to push the subject.
Timeskip
"Time to fight, Lopunny!
"Grotle, I choose you!"
"Slowking, let's go!
"Lopunny, spotlight!"
All the pokemon emerged from their pokeballs and landed on the battlefield glaring at their opponents save for Delia's Lopunny who went for a less impressive entrance and simply walked onto the field and stood next to her partner while raising a brow when seeing another one of her kin.
"(It seems I'm the next pokemon on Delia's team to fight their reflection,)" Lopunny muttered under her breathe with a slight smile tugging at her lips while Dawn's Lopunny glared at her with her fists clenched causing Lopunny to tilt her head.
"(My friends told me about you, bully! You beat up Mamoswine and I'm going to pay you back for what you did to him!)" Dawn's Lopunny shouted at her counterpart while shaking her fist at Lopunny who remembered her battle with Mamoswine and Piplup back at the contest.
"(I fight to defeat my opponents, not to brutalize them, and I was simply following battle protocol-)"
"(In a contest where you're supposed to showcase your style and skill, not pulverize your opponents into unconsciousness!)" Dawn's Lopunny interrupted with ire as Lopunny sighed and softened her gaze causing Dawn's Lopunny's eyes to widen as her counterpart began to speak.
"(I'm sorry if I hurt Mamoswine more than I intended too, but I was just following my instincts so if you really think about it, I met the criteria the contest desired,)" Lopunny simultaneously apologized for any grievous harm she inflicted on her past foe while also explaining herself causing Dawn's Lopunny to raise a paw to refute this, but no words came to mind.
Sighing, Lopunny slipped into a fighting stance and focused her attention on her counterpart who likewise readied herself for battle in order to avenge Mamoswine while Grotle set his sights on Slowking who put his claws behind his back and stared back at the grass type with a smug grin.
"YOU MAY BEGIN!"
And that concludes this chapter and just out of curiosity, who is your favorite character or characters in this story so far?