Ava Bloodsworth was not really feeling the tournament this year. She knew that she was the fifth seed in the tournament and was expected to at least make the semi finals next year. She had a reputation to uphold afterall, so she knew that she had to perform. But she didn't have that fire in the belly like last year. It just felt like she was going through the motions when she was training her Pokémon. She knew that she should be better, but she just couldn't wrap her mind around The Institute Cup this year. There were a wide variety of factors for this. The first was the fact that The Righteous was still out there and apparently the head of The Institute was in charge of it. Ava had been initially skeptical about Franz being in charge of the Righteous, but Kat and Alex had been adamant that he was indeed in charge of the Righteous. But then Ava had talked with Dexter privately and Dexter confirmed that he also had been very suspicious about Franz. Dexter told Ava that according to what he had heard, Franz and The Leader of The Righteous had similar goals. Then there was that damn Corviknight.
Ava still got chills when she remembered when she had went to talk to Franz at the start of the year. Those red eyes from the Corviknight had haunted Ava. In fact the 21 year old had nightmares about the Corviknight. It was not a normal Pokémon. It had been twisted and baked in the shadows. Ava had this reoccurring nightmare that she was being chased by the Corviknight over and over again. Then there was the fact that the dream included that all her friends were dead in the dream. The nightmare had amped up as the deadline for the Tournament had gotten closer. Ava had called out at night several times. She would be in a cold sweat as she couldn't help, but have that nightmare over and over again. She had a connection with this Pokémon for some reason and it set alarm bells off in Ava's head. Especially since she thought she knew what had happened to Melody's former Pokémon. Speaking of Melody, that was something else on Ava's mind.
"Ava, you really need to be careful.", Melody had approached Ava a day before Ava was set to take on Omar. Ava didn't really know Melody that well and there was a part of Ava that still had her doubts. Melody had been a member of The Righteous. Yes, she had been sold and tortured, but still she had done things no one should have done. The older brunette was going to keep an eye on Melody just to make sure that Melody could be trusted. Yes Melody was Dexter's sister, but Ava had a hard time trusting outsiders was not something Ava liked to do. And especially Melody who Ava still felt like was up to something. So Ava just thanked Melody for her advice politely and would move onto preparing for the matchup. The twenty one year old didn't know anything about the Matuidi family and she felt like Melody was overselling their viciousness for her own gain. Avaline Bloodsworth still did not trust Melody fully and wouldn't until Melody proved herself to be trustworthy. Until then Ava would keep her at arm's length.
Then there was Ava's heart. That was the biggest thing that was bugging her and causing her not to focus on training or battling in the tournament. She was jealous of Kat. Yes, as much as Ava hated his stupid cocky attitude at times, she did like Alex still. They had spent a year together romantically. They had first met and hooked up at Dexter's bar the first week that sophomores, juniors, and seniors had returned to school. He was quite attractive and Ava's type. So they had made out while they had exchanged numbers. Then Ava found out that Alex was Kat's mentee which meant they would spend more time together. It was a wild and passionate year of intimacy between the two of them. As much as she hated to admit it, Avaline Bloodsworth had fallen for a guy and she could tell that he had fallen for her. But then the quarterfinal happened and everything changed. She had cried herself to sleep every night after that. That was when Ava became so cold and distant especially to guys. She knew James liked her, but he was a plaything. Ava would not let herself get hurt again. But she had when she heard the news about Alex and Kat.
She was so happy for Kat. That was why Ava had fought to wake Alex up to the fact that he was hurting Kat. She couldn't let Kat suffer like she had. She had thought that she would have been overjoyed for her best friend when Kat and Alex told her the news that they were a couple. But Ava was not and that made her feel like an asshole. Why couldn't she have been the one Alex was in love with? Did that year together really mean nothing to him? Was she just used for sex and because she was very attractive? She had tried to push her emotions down, but at times she couldn't help it especially when she heard a Smiths song. That was her band that she had introduced to Alex. Would Kat get why Alex called his Sawsbuck Morrissey? No, but Ava did. So there was a part of her that wondered what would have happened had they not fought each other in the quarterfinal, would they still be in a romantic tryst? Or would they actually be in a relationship? Ava also did not want to tell Kat about all of this because it would destroy their friendship so Ava just pushed her feelings aside. She would never deal with them. It was better to keep this to herself and never tell Kat her true feelings about Alex.
Needless to say, she was not in the right frame of mind to battle anyone. Still she knew that she needed to. She was Avaline Bloodsworth one of the favorites to win this whole thing. One of her friends ran an underground gambling ring in Zlato so she knew what the odds were. The money was coming in for her and Kat to win the whole competition. Kuroku was a distant third and Alex was eighth in the odds. Her father had promised her that he would be there if she made the semi finals again. Her father, the leader of a gym in Galar, was her lucky charm. He had been there when she had beat Alex in the quarterfinals, though he wanted to kick Alex's ass when he had received the phone call from a broken hearted Ava. So she had a lot of pressure on her to perform. Her heart and skepticism had been put aside to live up to what was expected of her.
So at 10 am, Ava showed up to The Hub. This was where she had won her first battle when she was where she had won her first battle as a freshman. It held a sentimental meaning to her. As she made her way to room 319, her private room she had in here, she could feel the stares and hear the whispers. People wanted to see her battle and she played the part of silent badass well. If only these people really knew what was going on in her head, they wouldn't have worshipped her as some idol. She was just some 21 year old girl who had reoccurring nightmares and had a crush on the guy her best friend was madly in love with. She shook her head as she walked towards the room where her next opponent would be, "focus Ava. Focus. If Melody is right you need to be on your guard immediately." That was where her concern was. The crowd followed Ava to her private room as the doors opened. There was a scrawny, red haired boy who,looked terrified to see her. His body was shaking and it was clear that he was scared. Ava smiled, an easy would would help her regain focus on the cup.
"Win or you're no longer a Matuidi.", that had been the directive his uncle had given Omar. Omar hated Uncle Dries and everything he had done. In fact the whole Matuidi family did not like Dries, but they were also scared of him. The family of Kalos knew that Dries was crazy and a psychopath, but there was nothing they could do. They couldn't go against him so they just had to play along. When Dries had found out about the tournament he had made this proclamation to Omar. Of course Omar could not go against Dries for fear of retribution and what would happen if Omar lost. But that was not the only reason why he was shaking, he also knew who he was up against. Avaline Bloodsworth was one of the most feared battlers in the tournament. So when Omar had been informed that he was facing her, Omar knew he was going to lose. Then he feared what would happen with his uncle. He stared timidly at Ava who smiled.
"Shall we start?", Ava asked. She wanted to end this quickly. Perhaps when she got into the fight then she would feel more into the tournament. That was why she was going to start with Grace. It was risky, but Ava figured that by going with her ace she could sweep through Omar's team with no resistance. He was supposedly a fighting type lover, but his ace was a Tangrowth. Ava would use her battlebond if need be, but she really felt she wouldn't need to. She would use Amun on the Tangrowth as he knew flamethrower. So Ava grabbed Grace's pokeball from her pokebelt as a smile crept upon her face, "Grace, come on out." The majestic Galarian Rapidash appeared in front of everyone as she neighed to intimidate her opponent. The audience that had gathered around was shocked by this choice, Ava could hear them all mumbling about her selecting Grace so early. They did not understand what Ava was doing unless she wanted to try to sweep Omar's team. She just kept her eyes trained on Omar.
The red haired 17 year old gulped. He had heard from friends about this Rapidash. It was a tough Pokémon plus it was a disaster matchup for his fighting type Pokémon. Yes, he could send out his ace, but that would be a bad idea. That was probably what Ava wanted him to do. So he had to avoid falling into any trap that this master of battling had in store of him. Plus, her fairy type was strong against most of his Pokémon. Omar awkwardly fiddled with his pokebelt as he tried to figure out what Pokémon to go with. Each one seemed like a really bad move for Omar. He could hear the crowd booing as they thought that he was stalling for time. He was he was, but he wasn't that smart. Finally he selected the pokeball from his belt, "Springer go!" Out of the pokeball came a tall and leggy Pokémon that bowed at Grace. "Hitmonlee", the leggy fighting type said.
"So you went with a fighting type afterall. I figured you would have gone with your Tangrowth. Given that Grace is weak to poison attacks.", that was why Ava had used Grace in the first place. She had hoped to get this Omar in a trap. Grace now had the Pastel Veil ability which prevented Grace from being poisoned. The only two people who knew this about Grace were Bunny and Alex. No one else knew about the Rapidash having this ability. Ava had hoped she could lure Omar into using his Tangrowth and any poison attacks that Pokémon may have had to use against Ava's fairy types. But he had went with his fighting type, which was fine with Ava. She could feel that she was starting to get the feeling and passion back. Ava was going to crush this kid even if he was somehow afflicted with The Righteous. She would take her rightful place as the best battler in the University. "You can go ahead and make the first move.", she cockily called across the arena as she cracked her knuckles ready to fight.
Omar didn't know why the Junior was giving him the first move, but he wasn't going to say no. Especially since he was battling a legendary trainer like Avaline Bloodsworth. Whereas his uncle liked to torture people, Omar liked to study trainers. He was enamored by researching and trying to find out more about trainers. He had read all about the likes of Red, Blue, Sonya, etc and their adventures. That was all Omar Matuidi had wanted to do was going on a great adventure with his Pokémon. Yet his idiot uncle had enrolled him in the Institute so he could "spy" for him. Omar did not want to do that nor had he. The only spying he had done was reading about the history of The Institute Cup and the res7lts from last year's competition. His favorite little recap was about the epic quarterfinal match up between Ava and Alex Knight last year which some had branded the bets fight in years.So he knew how strong Ava was so he was absolutely terrified about what she had planned. She didn't just make moves for no reason. She was pulling some sort of trick, but Omar couldn't figure out what.
"Double kick, Springer", Omar called. His Hitmonlee nodded as he charged at Grace as he prepared to deliver a powerful fighting attack. Springer leapt up as he prepared to attack the Rapidash. That was when Ava let out a smile. She had lured the inexperienced Omar into what was a trap. This was why Ava didn't need Battlebond as she could just outsmart this kid. She had studied him as soon as she walked in, he was clearly intimidated by Ava. He wasn't this vicious person that Melody had told Ava he could be. She watched as the Hitmonlee got closer to Grace, "Grace use fairy wind!" The Rapidash sucked in the air then blew it back at the fighting type. The hitmonlee was sent back in pain. He was not expecting this from Grace and neither was Omar. Something then clicked in Omar, Ava was a defensive battler. She had drawn him into a trap where her fairy type could take advantage of the fighting type. This was why Ava was Omar's hero. She was so smart.
Ava still wasn't really into the battle. This was too easy for her as this was just a freshman. He wasn't really going to be a challenge. The challenge would come later when she fought Kat or maybe Alex. Maybe when Ava battled him again those feelings she had for him would go away. Afterall they had initially gone away when she fought him last year. But now those feelings were back and she wanted to battle him again to make those feelings disappear. They had to because he loved Kat and Kat was Ava's best friend. She couldn't have these feelings for Alex anymore and she had to get rid of them. She shook her head, "get it together Ava! Why are you thinking about stuff like that? You're in a fucking battle! Get it together." Her inner voice screamed at her. She was in a battle and she needed to get her head straight. She needed to focus on her battle and not her broken heart. Even Grace seemed to be staring at her to battle. Ava's red and blue eyes looked at the Hitmonlee that was shaking the cobwebs after the attack. "Grace, use dazzling gleam!", that should have helped.
But this time Omar was ready for it. He knew that Springer would be taking a large hit, but that was fine. If he could sweep Grace's legs then the Rapidash would be in a lot of trouble. The area was filled with what appeared to be shiny diamonds as Springer was hit with the powerful fairy attack. Yet the Hitmonlee stood strong in the face of this. Omar had trained him well. Now it was Springer's turn to try and set the tempo for this fight. "Springer, use low sweep.", the Hitmonlee would nod. He outstretched his long legs as he went to go sweep the Rapidash's legs. Grace tried to jump out of the way of the kick, but her back left leg was hit by the powerful attack. Grace crumbled to her forefeet as she whimpered. She tried to get back to her feet, but was met with several kicks to her head and body from the hitmonlee. Grace cried out in pain as she was continuously battered by the kicks. One massive kick send her flying as she landed hard.
"Grace!", Ava called. Her damn heart had taken her mind off the battle again. She looked concerned at her Rapidash struggled to her feet. This was bad for Ava. Grace had just taken a pounding and the Rapidash was clearly struggling. The Hitmonlee was stronger than she had thought. It had survived a fairy wind and dazzling gleam attack. It had also taken away an advantage that Grace and Ava relied on which was Grace's speed advantage. Grace was faster than the bulky Hitmomlee, but now that speed was now limited. Omar had smartly used a low kick to try and take out Grace's leg. A bit underhanded, but Ava had done much worse. Heck when she fought Alex last year…. Ava slapped herself in the head to stop thinking about him. She needed to think about the battle and how to get the Hitmonlee out. He was a fighting type that liked close combat, but Ava knew that Grace had a move that could easily counter the fighting type.
"Grace, how's your leg?", Ava said through her connection with Grace. They had used to so often that Ava didn't even have to speak out loud at times. They could just communicate through their bond. "It's in pretty as shape. But I can still fight. This Pokémon is a lot stronger than I thought. I hadn't expected it to be this strong. But I can still take him out.", Ava nodded. What Grace had said was true. This Hitmonlee was quite strong. But Grace was stronger. Ava had a plan to knock this hitmomlee out once and for all. She just had to hope that Grace could hold on to implement the plan. Ava had considered using battlebond, but it was too late. The connection would be too weak to do anything. So Grace was on her own. But Ava could still give her commands through their connection. "Grace, use play rough.", Ava wanted to see if she could lure Omar into a trap again.
Grace charged towards Springer as Omar watched. The red head was surprised that Grace was charging at Springer. There were red flags going up in his head, but he ignored them. "Springer, use close combat.", if Grace wanted to get into a close quarters fight that was fine with Omar. Springer glowed orange as Omar noticed Grace was glowing pink. The two Pokémon collided in the middle of the arena. The Pokémon tore into each other as they met in the center of the battlefield. At first it appeared that Springer had gotten the advantage in the conflict, but the fairy attacks were taking its toll on the fighting type. Springer was giving it all that he had, but Grace's play rough seemed to have the advantage over the fighting type. Finally the two Pokémon separated from one another as both of the mons were huffing and puffing. They both looked at one another as neither one wanted to give up. Finally, Springer collapsed! Grace had won.
Omar just smiled as he recalled his beloved Hitmonlee, "you did very good Springer." He fiddled with his pokebelt as he was now down to two Pokémon. Omar knew that the Galarian Rapidash was very weak and so he knew that he could end this really quickly to get to Ava's next Pokémon. He needed to use a Pokémon that could beat Grace and he had the perfect Pokémon to beat her. Omar looked at his heavy ball, he did t want to use the bug guy right now, but he had a theory. If Ava recalled Grace then his other Pokémon would be better suited to deal with her later. The big guy would be too slow for Grace. Omar just hoped that his theory was correct. This was a gamble, but he had to gamble in order to try and beat Ava. He was one of the lower seeds in terms of the rankings. So of course Omar had to try to go big if he wanted to beat Ava. This gamble had to pay off or Omar was screwed. "Come on out Tank!", Omar tossed his heavy ball out. What emerged was his Tangrowth. The giant plant Pokémon let out a roar at Grace.
Ava did not hesitate. She recalled the Rapidash. She would use her later on in the fight if need be. Now that Omar had sent out the Tangrowth, Ava knew what she had to do. She did not hesitate to grab her next pokeball from her pokebelt, "Amun come on out, my love." She tossed out her love ball as the fairy and flying type emerged. "Kiss, Kiss", Amun said as he flew around the head of Ava. Amun really likes to battle even though he preferred to snuggle with his trainer. Every night Ava would call out Amun and snuggle against her soft fairy type. He loved to snuggle and Ava liked to snuggle against him. But he was also very strong and was perfect to take out the gigantic Tangrowth given that Ava had made sure that he had flamethrower as an attack. This would be a little surprise for the freshman. She had used this against Alex before. She still remembered that look on his stupid beautiful face. Ava shook her head and stomped her foot. She needed to stop thinking about him. She was in a rather tough battle.
To Omar's surprise, Ava decided to make a move first. That wasn't like her, but soon he would figure out why she had made the move. "Amun, use flamethrower!", the Togekiss mouth lit up with flames as he started to spray the Tangrowth with fire. The fans that had gathered around to watch could smell the burning of the giant plant Pokémon. Some in the crowd even winced at the burning of the Pokémon. This was not something that they had expected from the Togekiss to have. Tank let out some whimpers as he was burned, but he had been there before. There was a reason why Omar had called this Tangrowth Tank and that was because he was extremely strong in terms of defense. He had faced many fire types and had survived. So another fire attack was not a big deal to him. Tank just absorbed it as he used one of his tentacles to put the flames out.
"Tank, use sleep powder!", Ava was stunned when Omar called that attack. This was what Omar had wanted when he had picked his Tangrowth. He knew that if he could use sleep powder effectively and it appeared that it was going to work. Tank started to glow blow as powder started to emerge from the top of the Tangrowth. The blue powder covered the battlefield where Amun was. The Togekiss tried to avoid the sleep powder, but could not escape it. Amun began to yawn as Ava encouraged him to keep fighting. He would fire off another flamethrower at Tank, but it was weaker than the last one. Amun then would fall to the ground completely asleep. Omar knew that he had just outsmarted the best junior battler. Now he had a dilemma: did he inflict as much punishment as possible on the Togekiss or did he just let Ava accept that her Togekiss was defeated? He knew Uncle Dries would demand that he inflict as much pain as possible on Ava's Pokémon, but Omar was not like that. He wanted to shed his uncle's reputation. "Your Togekiss is defeated. I don't want to hurt it anymore."
Ava's eyes widened as the beauty smiled at Omar. She was grateful that he had not tried to hurt Amun anymore. "Fucking dumbass, Ava you should have had a revive or something that could have helped Amun. Maybe you should stop thinking about dick and get your head in the match.", she mumbled to herself. She had never thought about a boy like this before. They were just her playthings, but there was something about Alex that just continued to plague her. To fuck with her mind. Ava knew that whatever happened in this match she needed to talk to Kat and Alex afterwards. To finally get her feelings out. Oh she could just 8mag8ne the smug look on Alex's face that she had to admit made her swoon at times. But that was not important right now. Ava had to figure out what to do with this annoying Tangrowth. She looked at her pokebelt and sighed, "Grace, I know you're in bad shape, but I need you to come back out." She would have to save Vee until she really needed him. Plus, Grace could still take out this Tangrowth. The Rapidash emerged again as she looked at the Tangrowth. "Grace, use psycho cut!", Ava hoped this would work.
Omar was a little shocked that she had called out the Rapidash again. Omar had expected that she would have held off on calling out Grace again unless she really needed it. The red head watched as the Rapidash came charging at the Tangrowth. This was strange, but he wouldn't question it if this worked out for him. "Tank, use poison powder!", Tank started to glow purple as purple powder started to come out of the top of the Tangrowth. The poison powder engulfed the Rapidash, but to Omar's surprise the Rapidash was not affected at all. In fact Grace continued to charge at Tank. This didn't make any sense at all until Omar actually thought about it. Grace had Pastel Veil which meant she couldn't be affected by poison attacks. The red head beat himself up for not knowing that Grace would have a way to avoid being poisoned. Now his plan has backfired. Grace delivered a powerful psycho cut attack that struck flush on the Tangrowth who wailed in pain as some of his plant tentacles fell to the ground.
Ava knew that she had to capitalize on the Tangrowth being weak. Ava didn't know how long Grace could hold on for. "Grace you ok?", Ava asked through their connection. Ava had to admit that Omar was strong even as a freshman. Plus, she had to admit she was starting to get back into the fight. Yes, her heart was still pining for someone she knew she could never have anymore, but this fight with Omar had started to reinvigorate the passion that Ava had started to lack before the fight. Grace met Ava's gaze with one of her own, "I can barely hold on. But I can still take him out. But I don't know how much longer I can, Ava." Ava nodded, she understood where Grace was coming from. Grace had taken a beating earlier from the Hitmonlee. So she was on her last legs. "Use Psycho Cut again, but be careful. He might try to use sleep powder on you like he did on Amun.", if Grace could get close to this Tangrowth and deliver a powerful psycho cut attack then maybe Ava and Grace could get out of this bad situation. Grace started to charge at the Tangrowth.
Omar was not going to fall for this again. He watched Ava's ace charge at Tank, "Tank use power whip." One of the Tangrowth's unburned tentacles popped out of the Tangrowth's body. As Grace got closer, the tentacle from the giant plant Pokémon cocked back and then moved at full force towards the Galarian Rapidash. Grace knew that she was going to get blasted by the strong power whip attack so she fired off the Psycho Cut attack. The psycho cut landed flush again as the Tangrowth started to fall forward from the pain of the attacks. However, Tank managed to deliver the power whip attack straight to Grace's rib cage. Ava closed her eyes as she too could feel a little bit of pain in her ribs. This was one of the drawbacks to battlebond as Ava felt pain just like Grace. Still the defiant Galarian Rapidash managed to knock out Tank! The Tangrowth had not gotten back up as the Rapidash rose to her feet once more.
The crowd had to applaud. They had expected Ava to easily win, but instead they had gotten a slugfest. The crowd really appreciated the effort that these two and their pokemon were putting into the battle. It was rare that a first round matchup was this good especially between a junior and freshman. But this was quite intense. Omar felt it too, he had done a great job of proving himself against Ava. He had expected that he would have been swept had he been truly honest with himself, but now he was giving Ava everything she could handle. He should be proud of himself, but he knew that Uncle Dries had spies everywhere. If Omar were to lose, he didn't know what would happen to his family. Dries was insane and Omar had to appease him. The red haired freshman looked down at his pokebelt. There was only one Pokémon Omar had left to play and that was his true ace, "come on out Spartan!" The crowd was in awe at what stood before them: a group of Pokémon that had armor and moved in perfect sync with each other. The creature's face could not be seen, only it's blue eyes, "Links!" Omar did not wait for the others to get their bearings at the sight of the Pokémon. "Spartan, use close combat!", the Falinks quickly moved in on Grace.
It happened so fast that Ava could not react quick enough. Grace was beaten down by the multi creature. Surprisingly, this brought a smile to Ava's face. She was so proud of Grace, but there was another reason why she was smiling, she was in a battle again. She could feel the passion starting to resurface in her. It had been missing and this fight had brought it back to her even if it was temporary. Her multi colored eyes looked across the battlefield at Omar, "I have to say thank you kid. Before this fight, I really wasn't invested in this tournament. But you have brought this passion back into me. It's clear that you have studied my moves and can go toe to toe with me. But I have a little surprise for you. You see, one of my Pokémon evolved and I don't think you know which one it is. So let me show you.", Ava grabbed Vee's pokeball off her belt. A smirk crossed her face, "Vee, let's show them your new form." Omar turned even paler as he saw the Umbreon staring back at him.
"Shit.", Omar had not expected this. Yes, Spartan would have a type advantage, but Vee was Ava's strongest Pokémon in his view. Now he had evolved into a tank of a Umbreon. Fighting did well against dark types, but Vee was just a strong Pokémon. He could overcome type disadvantages easily. Omar had seen it when Vee had someone had knocked out Alex Knight's Toucannon in the quarterfinal last year. Now here Omar was facing against this tough Pokémon. But now it had just gotten tougher. Still Omar could not back down. If he could beat Avaline Bloodsworth in the first round then there was no telling where he could end up in this tournament. He just had to do it. "Spartan, use close combat!", that should help at least damage Vee to set the tempo of this final conflict. The Falinks again charged at their opponent ready to deliver a powerful attack.
But Vee and Ava were ready for that this time. The Umbreon quickly moved out of the way if the troop pokemon. Ava didn't even have to give the command, Vee just fired a shadow ball that hit the Falinks directly. The creature separated for a moment then got back into formation. Ava smirked, Vee had become super strong since evolving into an Umbreon. Well he was strong as an Eevee, but now he had just upped his game significantly. Ava knew that the dark type was weak to the fighting type of the Falinks, but she trusted Vee. She had raised him since he was a little pup of a Eevee. He had been the runt of the liter, just like Ava felt like at times. So they had a very strong bond. Ava had not wanted to have Vee to evolve, but he had decided to evolve into the Umbreon and now he would help her beat Omar. "Vee, use shadow sneak.", the umbreon disappeared into the shadows and appeared behind Spartan. Vee delivered a powerful attack to the Falinks, but again the warrior Pokémon reorganized itself then started marching again.
Omar knew that Spartan had Battle Armor ability. This meant it could not suffer a critical hit. Ava wouldn't know this plus with the type advantage Spartan that Spartan had made Omar have hope that he could win this. Now Omar had to pull out his trump card, "Spartan No Retreat!" The Falinks pulled down their face shields as their marching pace increased. In fact it became rapid. Energy began to form around the connected Pokémon. All of the audience seemed to be captivated by what the Falinks was doing. Even Vee titled his head at Spartan. Omar had to admit that every time Spartan used No Retreat, he was mesmerized by it. But it wasn't just the show that was impressive rather it was what the No Retreat command did. It raised all the stats for the Falinks. Now the Pokémon had even more of an advantage over Vee. Once Spartan was finished with No Retreat, Omar knew that he had to not let up on Vee. "Spartan use Zen head butt!", the Falinks helmet started to glow as the cluster Pokémon quickly marched at Vee and connected. Vee stumbled backwards as he shook his head. That had hurt him and now he had cobwebs in his head.
Being from Galar, Ava knew how strong a Falinks was especially after using No Retreat. This was really, really bad for Ava and Vee. She frowned, "we can't win. I'm sorry Vee, but I have to throw in the towel. There's no way we can do it." She couldn't believe that she had been outsmarted by a friggan freshman. This was ridiculous, but it was what it was. Ava was about to surrender when all of a sudden she felt a cold glare fall upon her. Vee's red eyes stared at Ava with disappointment. "What the fuck, mom? You want to quit? You raised me never to quit, but now you are going to quit. Just like you quit on uncle Alex last year. You gave up on him and now you're giving up on me, but I won't let you! I can still win.", Vee was defiant. Tears formed in Ava's eyes, what her Umbreon had said was true. Every single word has hit home, she wasn't a quitter, but she had quit on a few things lately. That was going to change even if she was going to lose. "Alright, Vee use Shadow claw.", the Umbreon let a small smile cross his lips as his right front paw started to turn purple as he charged at Spartan.
"Spartan, counter it with a close combat!", the Falinks nodded as it pointed its horn at the hard charging Vee. The Pokémon met in the middle and tore into one another. Vee kept firing shadow claw after shadow claw into the heavily armored Pokémon. There were dents in Spartan's armor all over the Pokémon. But Spartan could dish out its own pain. Vee got a few scars and bruises from the close combat attack. The two Pokémon kept tearing into each other until they finally separated from one another. Both Pokémon were huffing and puffing. At first glance, it looked like Spartan had taken the most of the beating, but Ava could see that Vee was bleeding pretty badly from his stomach. The horn from the Falinks had taken its toll. Vee must have been impaled during the confrontation. Ava reached for her pokeball and she was going to call Vee back. She loved that Pokémon probably more than any others of hers. Vee was her favorite and she didn't want him to possibly die from the fight. "MOM STOP! I CAN STILL FUCKING FIGHT. STOP!", the Umbreon stared weakly at Ava. Their connection meant she heard his thoughts and he heard hers. He still wanted to fight. But he didn't have time to.
Omar had saw that Ava was distracted and so was her Umbreon. Omar had called for Spartan to use Close Combat again. The Falinks charged at Vee and nailed the Umbreon with a powerful close combat. Vee whimpered as he fell to the ground knocked out. The blood started to cover the bottom of his fur. Omar looked horrified as this was not what he wanted at all. Sure, he had just beaten Ava, but he didn't feel like celebrating. He recalled Spartan to its pokeball as he watched as Ava ran over to her Umbreon and cradled her Pokémon in her arms. Even Omar ran over to give some help to the Umbreon. Ava cried as she held Vee in her arms. His breathing was very, very shallow and she feared the worst. She put her hands on the Umbreon's wounds as Omar had went to grab a nurse Joi. Omar felt sick.
Everyone was stunned as they watched what happened. Avaline Bloodsworth had lost to a freshman. Not only that, but Vee was not in good shape. Everyone seemed to be stunned, except for a platinum haired senior with deep blue eyes. She let out a little smile as she pulled out her phone, "your nephew won and did damage to Ava's best Pokémon. You should be proud Dries." She then walked away with that same smile.
Ooc: Sorry for the delay, but this was a key chapter and I wanted to really craft it.