A/N: Hey guys, DrPhill26 here with another chapter of Evolution for you guys to enjoy. And yes I realize this is a bit behind my usual schedule and nobody is more annoyed at that fact than me.
Tyler: Yeah what's up with that man? I saw that we got a couple letters from our fans here who wanted an update.
Wendy: I saw those too. And that was really sweet of you guys to ask what was up. So thank you guys :D
DrPhill26: Well the short story is that I fell into a really bad string of bad luck.
Tyler: Why do I get the feeling we're about to get the long story though.
DrPhill26: Because I'm a story teller, duh. But I'll keep it as short as I can. Two weeks ago I was working out and pinched a nerve in my back which made it impossible for me to sit in a chair for a week, so I couldn't sit down and write the rest of this chapter.
Wendy: Ouch... I know that feeling all too well.
DrPhill26: Yeah, and as if that wasn't bad enough, right after that finally got healed up, my laptop started showing signs of dying on me... like for good dying. Motherboard, Sound Card, Graphics Card, Heat Sink, you name it it's dying.
Tyler: Oh fuck man...
DrPhill26: So needless to say when you factor all that, this year hasn't been a good start to me. But despite that, I've managed to fight on and put together this chapter for you guys. It's a bit of a long one to make up for my absence. So I hope you guys enjoy yourselves as we finally start the tournament.
"I can't believe you seriously overslept the alarm!" Wendy complained as she sat impatiently on Tyler's moped, watching him stumble out the front door of her apartment building.
"You can nag me about it later. Just make sure we get there on time!" Tyler hollered back, throwing the keys over to Wendy who caught them. As Tyler put his helmet on and fastened it, Wendy started the engine to the moped. The rumbling roar of its startup matched Tyler's frantically beating heart as he climbed on and wrapped his arms around Wendy's back. "DRIVE!"
"You don't need to tell me twice." Wendy pushed the kickstand back and revved the engine, the tires squealing on the road as she pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street, turning right towards a four-way intersection.
"I am so embarrassed." Tyler grumbled as the two waited for their turn at the stop sign to go. "I cannot believe I actually slept through my alarm."
"Well that's what you get for training so hard last night with Jason." Wendy quipped back, revving the engine again and rushing through the intersection. "If all you were doing was forming strategy-"
"We weren't just forming strategies!" Tyler interrupted, the two of them veering left down one of the main streets of the city. "We were getting used to each other's battle style."
"And you couldn't have done that over a cup of coffee and some jazz music like me and Madison did?"
"Of course not!" Tyler frowned as the two quickly darted through an intersection just before the red light. "Paper strategies are worthless compared to actually seeing your partner's strengths in person. I don't regret what we did at all."
"The fact that you didn't wake up until half an hour before your battle-"
"SHUT UP!" Wendy sneered, confident in her victory as she turned right onto the street that fed into the main drag where the contest hall was. Now all they needed to do was weave through the morning rush of traffic and they'd more or less be at the Contest Hall. Whether or not they'd be on time however was another question entirely, especially given Tyler was in the first match of the morning.
"I hope you at least let your partner know we're running a tiny bit late." Tyler swallowed nervously on hearing Wendy's remark.
"Oh shit… I forgot Jason hates to be kept waiting." Tyler hit his helmet, punishing himself for his stupidity. "Goddammit he's gonna chew my head off when we get there."
"I bet if we waited long enough we'll probably hear him yelling for you to get your ass in gear." Wendy teasingly yelled as she roared through a light just before it changed red, earning the ire of a few drivers behind her who had to wait. "It's okay because I'm beautiful!" She taunted back at the drivers she'd annoyed.
"Just keep our collective asses on our moped and maybe we'll get there within a decent enough amount of time for me to get off with a heavy scolding." Tyler felt the moped beginning to slow beneath him and he looked up to see Wendy had let off the throttle. "What part of we're late aren't you getting! Drive dammit!"
"You're late, not me."
"Please Wendy, just drive us to the arena. I'll do whatever you want to pay you back later!" Tyler begged.
"Anything?"
"Yes anything." Tyler frowned as he knew this would come back to bite him. But it did get Wendy to start driving faster again. She happily laughed her victory as the Contest hall began to come into view up the street. If Tyler wasn't so severely late, he'd be able to appreciate the building's beauty on a grander scale. It sat in the middle of its own park with a growing crowd of people heading towards the buildings' entrances up the paths surrounding it. A large square video board over the top of the main opening played a simple graphic representing the Tag Tournament being held there this morning. Tyler felt Wendy slowing down again as they approached the edge of the block the park was on, going to a complete halt.
"You run ahead, I'll find a spot to park for you." Wendy said turning around and tapping Tyler's helmet as a good-luck sign. Tyler quickly said his thanks and dismounted the vehicle, quickly scanning the crowds for a quick path to the building.
Tyler weaves his way through and around people on their way into the contest hall, turning his head left and right when he can to try and find someone who looked like an event organizer to talk to. But with all the people in front of the building, it was difficult to even find people who could be who he was looking for, not that he even knew what he was looking for. But his eye did catch something that slowed his pace; and on taking a closer look, made him breathe a sigh of relief.
A short ways away from the building's entrance was a pine tree of decent size, but beneath that Tyler could see a man in an olive jacket with a Breloom standing in front of him, the Pokémon bouncing energetically on its feet. Even from the distance, Tyler could recognize him as his partner Jason. Although he could also recognize that given the situation and how late Tyler was, Jason would probably be less than thrilled to see him just now strolling into the arena. Bracing himself for the worst, Tyler waved his hand over his head and jogged over towards his partner.
"Bre? Loom! Bre – Breloom!" The Pokémon noticed Tyler first, tapping Jason's shoulder and pointing towards him as Tyler approached the two of them. Jason saw his partner approaching from the crowd and quickly folded his arms on him arriving.
"You are sooo late." Jason grumbled disappointedly.
"I know." Tyler replied, slightly out of breath. "I overslept my alarm. I'm sorry." Jason let out a sigh of his own, reaching into his jacket and handing Tyler a card. "What's this?"
"Your entrance ID." Jason explained. "I've been here since seven, so I took the liberty of picking up your card for you. So come on, let's get going." Jason pulled out a Poké ball and returned his Breloom to it, then started to walk towards one of the other entrances on the side of the building where a slightly lower amount of people were gathering.
"You wouldn't happen to know who our opponents are would you?" Tyler asked curiously as he fell in stride with Jason.
"Actually I did see one of them. Guy came in as early as I did; only he was bouncing off the walls like he drank all of the coffee this morning."
"That excited huh?"
"Yeah, no kidding." Jason chuckled half-heartedly as the two of them approached their entrance. Jason saw one of the event organizers waiting out front and flashed his card at him, Tyler doing the same and the two of them were allowed to skip the line.
"So did you pick up anything on him?" Tyler asked as he stepped inside the building, following Jason down a hallway towards the backstage prep rooms. "Name? Pokémon? Stuff like that?"
"Kind of, his name was some kind of funky one. Derrick Zigen…something-or-other. I was just leaving before he talked to the same people I did. Didn't hear about any of his Pokémon though." Tyler frowned as he heard the name, something Jason was quick to pick up on. "You're not nervous now are you? Is that why you overslept?"
"Pfft, absolutely not." Tyler scoffed in reply. "It's just… I'm getting the same vague familiarity vibe with that name like I did when I saw you. Like I feel like I should know someone with that name. Or at least I think I do."
"Well the kid seemed full of himself in addition to bouncing around like a Spoink on a trampoline." Jason added as the two of them stepped into a backstage lounge area. The room was well decorated and looked relaxing with trainers who must have had later matches sitting in a series of padded benches and chairs as they came up with last minute strategies. Tyler also noted that they had plenty of television monitors hanging on walls throughout the room as well that showed an empty battle stage on them.
"Ah, Mister Ivy, I see you've found your partner." One of backstage hands approached Jason wearing a black shirt and pants with a Bluetooth headset in his ear. "Good timing, your battle will now begin in ten minutes. If you'd like, you can head out onto the stage to get ready."
"Yeah, we'll do that." Jason replied and the man with the headset then pointed them towards a double door on the other edge of the room.
"Stage is just beyond those doors. You can stand in your box but don't release your Pokémon until the marshal begins the match, got it?"
"Got it." Both Tyler and Jason said at the same time. The man nodded his head and walked away, leaving the two boys alone. "So let's get going."
"Right." Tyler nodded and the two of them walked across the room and through the double doors into a walkway flanked by large velvety curtains. They could already hear the murmurings of the crowed in their seats as they climbed a short flight of stairs and past the curtains.
A sudden flooding of intense light nearly blinded Tyler as he took his first step out onto the contest hall's stage, forcing him to raise his arm to his eyes in order to see. Once his eyes adjusted, he could see that the hall itself looked fairly impressive from the stage. Ornate lighting fixtures hung above and around the auditorium and a series of heart themed set pieces sat off to the side which must have been leftovers from a recent contest. The field itself looked fairly straightforward, a slate gray box dead center of the stage that reminded Tyler of the Pre Gym back home. Seeing the similar battlefield made him relax slightly as memories of his teacher's old advice came back to him.
"Now, a double battle isn't just twice as hard as a regular single battle." The memory of Justy's lecture in trainer's school replayed in Tyler's head. "You'll have to think twice as fast, fight twice as hard, and most importantly, trust your Pokémon four times as much."
"Why four times as much?" A young Tyler asked.
"Ah well that's simple Tyler. You're using two Pokémon in this battle. So you have to trust both of them twice as hard and you have to make sure that the Pokémon trust each other too." Tyler smiled as he looked at Jason. "It's simple really. The more trust you have in each other as friends, the better you'll perform in a double battle."
"What are you smiling at?" Jason asked with a curious grin.
"Nothing really, I'm just excited to be here."
"Then let's go out there and make a name for ourselves today." Jason held his clenched fist out to Tyler, who completed the fistbump enthusiastically.
"WHOA! No way! You're my first round opponent?!" A high pitched squeak of excitement shouted at Tyler and Jason from the other side of the arena. Both Tyler and Jason turned to face it, only the former's face paled on seeing a brown haired face brushing his hair out of his eye and knocking back the hood of his red and white sweatshirt. "Tyler hey! It's been a while hasn't it?!"
"Ah shit…" Tyler buried his head in his right hand, frustration clearly coating his vision as he stared at the kid. "You again."
"You know this kid?" Jason turned to Tyler while pointing at the kid with the back of his thumb.
"Of course he knows me!" The kid proclaimed boisterously. "How could he possibly forget the number one trainer in Jubilife City, and his personal rival, Derrick Ziggler!"
"Oh hey, you're the kid from this morning!" Jason smiled as he remembered his name as well. "Go figure eh Tyler? You're facing your rival in the very-"
"We are not rivals." Tyler slid his hand off his face, a deep scowl on his face as he glared at the kid. "All I did was beat him in a Pokémon battle once after he scared away a Ponyta I wanted to catch."
"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that." Derrick started chuckling, which only made Tyler more irritated. "That was still kinda funny."
"Almost as funny as sweeping you three-zero when we battled afterwards." That got Derrick to shut up and look at Tyler with a smug grin.
"Well I've gotten a lot stronger since the last time we've fought Tyler." Derrick confidently detached one of his Poké balls and held it out in a confrontational pose. "You'd better not think you'll get another easy victory today."
"Kid's got three Pokémon on his team." Tyler whispered lowly to Jason as he detached Caelum's ball from his belt. "Sandshrew, Machop and Prinplup. Your Breloom will tear his team apart without even trying."
"Well shit,I like the sound of that." Jason grinned arrogantly as he detached a Poké ball from his belt and enlarged it. "So kid? Derrick was it?"
"Who's asking?" Tyler rolled his eyes at Derrick's cocky tone of voice.
"Somebody from Jubilife City like you."
"Oh, well then you certainly must have heard of my greatness if you're from Jubilife."
"'Fraid not you little Skrelp." Jason sneered as he raised a finger towards Derrick. "But if you beat me, maybe I'll acknowledge that fact." At this time, Derrick's partner stepped forward, detaching a ball from his own belt and then bowed respectfully towards Tyler and Jason.
"Theodore Wright. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Tyler took note of regality in the man's voice, which felt appropriate given that unlike the other three battlers, this man was wearing a navy suit with silver pinstripes on it.
"Alright alright, at least wait for me first." An exacerbated judge said as he briskly walked past Tyler and Jason, followed by a man and a woman, all three in green shirts taking a position on podium behind the stage where three boxes sat. As the judges sat at their respective podiums, a large video board lit up behind them. It showed all four trainer's faces in circles, with two smaller circles in front of them.
"Damn, Sinnoh sure loves their video boards." Tyler chuckled to himself as a timer in the center of the screen flashed all zeros.
"Ladies and Gentlemen in attendance, thank you and welcome to the Hearthome City Contest Hall for today's first round matchup in the Tag Battle Tournament!" The same judge said with a noticeable huff in his voice as the crowd began to die down after a brief roar of excitement. "This first matchup today is in the F-1 block between the team of Jason Ivy and Tyler Lawson, vs. the team of Theodore Wright and Derrick Ziggler. Now, let me go over the rules again and then you may begin your battle." The judge looked to both groups of trainers briefly before continuing.
"As you are all aware, this is a double battle where both trainers are allowed two Pokémon each, creating a total team of four Pokémon to battle with." The judge began to explain. "Standard double battle rules are in play, meaning the battle will not be concluded until all four Pokémon of one team are unable to continue battling. Is that understood?"
"Yes." All four of the battlers said in unison.
"Jason Ivy, Tyler Lawson, is your team ready to fight?" The head judge looked to Tyler and Jason.
"Damn right!"
"Hell yeah!" Both of them responded enthusiastically.
"Theodore Wright, Derrick Ziggler, is your team ready to fight?" The judge now turned his attention to the other two trainers.
"Yes."
"You bet!" The younger of the two struck a pose, the elder showing more restraint with a respectful bow.
"Then let this first round battle begin!" Tyler spun Caelum's ball around in his hand, enlarging it and letting it fly.
"Time to fly Caelum!" The first of the silver spark showers burst over the field, as the Staraptor amidst them, proudly calling his name as he took flight.
"Let's go Breloom!" Jason called himself as he tossed his own ball and the bipedal mushroom materialized, throwing a few eager punches with his claws to show his energy.
"Luxio, I choose you!" The elder man called as the lightning wolf took the field, a prideful roar of his own coming from his maw.
"Go Machoke!" Derrick yelled as he let his Pokémon on to the field, punching its fists together excitedly.
"Ah shit…" Tyler frowned as he looked at the Pokémon across from him. Luxio was certainly not an opponent he wanted to deal with right away. He knew he could easily switch out, but would be quickly locked into both his Pokémon. He wanted to keep that flexibility open. And besides, this was a double battle; Tyler could easily target his so called rival instead of the gentleman with the wolf across from him.
"Caelum! Use Aerial Ace on Machoke!"
"Star-Raptor!" Another intimidating cry cut through the arena as the Predatory Pokémon made a shallow loop, wasting little time in heading towards his target as the glowing contrails surrounded him.
"Block it with Karate Chop!" Derrick's Pokémon bellowed a call, its hands glowing with as well as he raised them in a brace before Caelum could hit him.
"Mach Punch Breloom, let's go!" Jason's mushroom capped Pokémon explodes out of his stance, his fist glowing light blue and sneaks in beneath the other Fighting type's guard, landing a powerful body blow. The force of impact, made Machoke's guard slip from his chest, letting Caelum have clean access to it and crash into the beefy Pokémon, knocking him off his feet with a thud.
"H-hey! Don't gang up on me just because I'm younger than you!" Derrick complained as his Machoke got back to its feet.
"Don't leave yourself open and we won't." Tyler taunted back, watching Caelum loop around the back of the battlefield.
"Luxio, Thunderbolt on Staraptor!" As the lightning wolf cried its name, a powerful beam of yellow energy shot from the Pokémon's body, catching Tyler and Caelum unaware as the bird was struck by its force. Helplessly carried by his momentum, Caelum crashed onto the battlefield by Breloom, noticeably shaken up by the attack.
"Caelum! You okay?" Tyler asked in concern as the bird's body shook, trying to stand up again. "Take your time and use Roost to recover."
"Now Machoke, get him back with Brick Break!"
"Charge at him with Spark!" Caelum's body started glowing a fainter white as he sat on the ground, staring at both the quickly approaching attacks.
"Intercept with Mach Punch Breloom!" Once more, Jason's Breloom, showed his agility, lunging in between the electrified wolf with a cheeky grin. His clawed fist glowed the same faint blue as before and punched into the surprised Luxio's chest, sending him flying back. He then turned back in time to see Machoke's glowing forearm. Another swift blue punch to his arm collided together with both attacks repelling the other long enough for Caelum to take flight again.
"Thanks man." Tyler called appreciatively as the crowd started to applaud the Breloom's bravery.
"Anytime, just make sure you do the same if you need to." Jason quickly retorted.
"Yeah, let's hope we don't have to again. You focus down the Luxio; I'll worry about Machoke getting in your way."
"Now that sounds more like the analytical partner you said you were. Alright Breloom, get in there and use Force Palm on Luxio!"
"Loom!" The Breloom spread his arms wide, both claws glowing with a golden hue as he raced towards the Luxio in front of him.
"Dodge it Luxio!" As Breloom made his first lunge, the Electric type hopped backwards, keeping stride for stride and staying just out of Breloom's reach.
"Set up a Tailwind for us Caelum!" Tyler's Staraptor cawed loudly again as he took flight, beating his wings down over the field furiously and forming a downdraft behind him that overshadowed the battlefield. As he did, Breloom's attacks started getting faster; almost like the wind was pushing him forward so much that one of his thrusts overshot its surprised target. Luxio hopped back expecting the shallower attack, but Breloom being next to him pivoted around and sprung towards him with his golden claw striking its side and knocking him back on his side with a powerful hit.
"Luxio!" Theodore worriedly called out to his Pokémon.
"Hey nice assist Ty!" Jason shot Tyler a thumbs up, who received one back from the red haired trainer.
"Now we're even." He smiled, turning his attention back to the Machoke. "Aerial Ace again!"
"Block it properly this time Machop! Karate Chop!" Machop's forearms glowed again as Caelum dove towards him a second time. Their attacks glanced off each other, Caelum shooting past the Machoke who turned to match his next dive and blocked it with another chop.
"Luxio use Swift!" The black furred Pokémon lets out a growl, his tail glowing softly as he spins around and a shower of speeding stars shoot out towards his opponent. Breloom does his best to dodge, but a handful of stars glance off his body, making him wince in pain.
"Keep it up Caelm!" Tyler shouts with encouragement.
"Catch him in your arms Machoke!" Derrick calls out eagerly as Caelum descends again. His attack connects the Pokémon in the chest, but with Machoke's sheer strength, he stays standing, eventually wrapping his arms around the startled bird's body. "Awesome! Now use Seismic Toss!"
"Machoke!" The Pokémon jumps up into the air, starting to flip over and over with Caelum tucked into his chest before finally releasing him and letting the bird fly in a straight path towards the ground. A small cloud of dust kicks up on Caelum's second crash landing, but he gets up and shakes it off fairly quickly, resuming his flight pattern again.
"Luxio, Swift again!"
"Breloom, use Mind Reader!" As the stars fly from Luxio's tail once more, Breloom's eyes start to glow a faint white as he raises his claws and slashes at the incoming stars with expert precision, shattering them to stardust the moment they get close to him.
"Alright fine if that won't work, we'll get in close. Luxio use Ice Fang!" Luxio growled again, his mouth opening wide and biting down with frost coming out of him before he charged forward, aiming for a surprise hit.
"Counter that with Dynamic Punch!" Jason roared as Breloom's eyes shifted to a more menacing red. His fist soon glowed with the same energy as he charged forward himself, racing headlong as his opponent lunged at him, maw opened widely. Luxio's attack hit first, biting down hardly on the cap of Breloom's head, but it left his body exposed. Fighting through the pain, Breloom reared back and unleashed a vicious corkscrew blow to his opponent's body, sending him flying towards his ally and crashing into him with a thud.
"Hey! We're supposed to be allies, don't hit me!" Derrick complained, turning to face his elder partner, which in turn made Tyler's own eyes sparkle himself.
"Quick Caelum, hit them both with Brave Bird!"
"Star-rap-TOR!" Caelum caws loudly again as his body ignites with a burning blue aura and he charges recklessly towards the two Pokémon lying on top of each other beneath him. Neither the Machoke or Luxio have a chance to evade as Caelum crashes into them, causing an explosion of dust to cover the center of the arena. After a moment, Tyler's Staraptor flies out of the explosion, a trail of blue flames burning down his back in recoil, but as the dust settles, both Machoke and Luxio lay motionless beneath each other's combined weight.
"Machoke and Luxio are both unable to battle!" The head judge announces as their colored pictures on the board fade to a grey silhouette. "Both trainers Derrick and Theodore are down to their final Pokémon!"
"Boom! Let's go!" Jason holds his hand up for Tyler to hi-five it and he quickly does so with excitement. "Nice teamwork dude!"
"Yeah thanks, though I think you did most of the work this time." Tyler admitted.
"Hey you're right. You kill-stealing bastard!" Jason laughed nonetheless as his Breloom ran back towards him with a chunk of ice still on his mushroom cap from where Luxio bit him. "You good to go still Breloom?"
"Loom!" Breloom proudly pulled his hands into a fighting pose, firing a quick jab to the ice shard on his forehead and shattering it.
"I guess that means yes." Tyler commented as he watched Breloom celebrate and his own Pokémon land quietly on the battlefield, ruffling his feathers as the other two were returned to their balls.
"Lucky shot." Derrick frowned as he detached another ball and tossed it forward. "Get revenge Prinplup!" Tyler's grin grew larger as he saw the blue penguin morph onto the battlefield. Depending on Theodore's next partner, this battle could be over in an almost an instant.
"Vibrava, I choose you!" Tyler watched with curiosity as a Pokemon resembling a giant sand colored dragonfly with large jade eyes and diamond-shaped wings of the same color materialized. Its wings began flapping and it took off from the ground, hovering off the ground as it looked at Caelum.
"Tor…" Caelum looked down at the bug that had locked eyes with him.
"Vee…" The Vibrava none too happily returned Caelum's stare.
"Vibrava, use Dragon Breath on Staraptor!" Theodore's Vibrava takes flight, climbing more off the ground and releases a green and yellow beam towards his flying foe.
"Dodge that Caelum!" With one powerful flap of his wings, Caelum effortlessly soars above the attack, starting to fly around the arena with his Tailwind.
"Chase after him Vibrava!" Now Vibrava joined Caelum in their aerial dance above the arena, firing off another Dragon Breath that went above the predatory bird.
"I'll keep him busy; take that Prinplup out as quick as you can." Tyler said to Jason before turning back to Caelum. "Caelum, use Return on Vibrava!" A shrill call of acknowledgment later and Caelum had sharply turned around, tucking his wings into his body and shot himself like an arrow towards the Dragon type giving chase.
"Dragon Breath again!" As Caelum raced towards the Vibrava, it shot out another beam of green and yellow energy, engulfing the bird briefly before he crashed into his target. Both of the Pokémon involved stumbled in the air, their flight paths wavering before they recovered enough to continue their chase again.
"Alright Prinplup, get in there and use Peck!" Back on the ground, the blue penguin charged towards his opponent with his beak glowing bright white, trying to overcome his weakness.
"Dodge it and use Energy Ball!" Jason's Pokémon hopped to the side of his charging opponent, forming a small ball of sparkling green energy. Before Prinplup could recover, the ball grew in size and Breloom punched it towards his opponent, creating a large explosion and dropping the target Pokémon to his knees.
"Come on Prinplup, get up!" Derrick called hopefully to his partner.
"Sorry kid, but sometimes you just get a bad matchup. Bullet Seed Breloom!" As soon as Jason's taunt ended, Breloom opened his mouth and shot out a volley of smaller green spheres towards the downed bird.
"Fight back with Bubble Beam!" Refusing to give up, Prinplup turned around and fired his own attack, colliding with the flying seeds with the bulk of both attacks canceling each other out.
"Vibrava, help out Prinplup with Rock Slide!" Dodging one of Caelum's swift pursuits, Vibrava made a nose dive towards Breloom as white rings formed around his body.
"Caelum! Use Quick Attack to knock him off course!" Yet again Caelum showed off his agility, folding his wings into his body and charging towards the dragonfly as the rings around him began to fragment into glowing orbs. But before Vibrava could use his attack, Caelum crashed into his back, sending the two of them plummeting to the ground just beside Breloom, who halted his attack and hopped back on instinct to look at the crater beside him.
"Quick Prinplup, use Peck!" Still showing his tenacity, Derrick's Pokémon hurtled himself forward, catching a surprised Breloom in the stomach and knocking him back with a punishing blow that brought the mushroom to his knees. "Yes! Way to go Prinplup!"
"Okay, not bad kid." Jason praised Derrick's quick thinking. "You might be better than I gave you credit for. But Breloom if you think that's enough to keep Breloom down, you've got to give him more credit too." With his trainer's words encouraging him, Breloom stood back up, a slight grimace on his lips.
"Finish him with Peck!"
"Mach Punch!" Both Pokémon raced forward with their beak and claw glowing a mutual white as they raced forward, trading simultaneous blows with each other. With their backs to each other, they both looked over their shoulders as their knees wobbled. Breloom fell to his knees, propping himself up with an anchored claw, but Prinplup was unable to do so, falling over completely.
"Prinplup is unable to battle! Derrick is out of usable Pokémon in this battle!" As the crowd rained down another round of applause, the action turned back to the fallen flyers in the center of the arena who were still stirring as they took flight once again.
"Just a little bit more Caelum and we've got this wrapped up." Tyler called out as his Staraptor took flight, floating back towards his trainer again.
"Don't give up Vibrava! Use Rock Slide again!"
"Roost Caelum!" As the rings formed into their rocky projectiles again, Caelum landed on the ground and emitted a faint glow as the attacks were split towards both of his opponents, hitting them and leaving them looking weathered and beaten.
"Hey Tyler, I got a plan to finish this. I just need you to stall for time on me okay?" Jason said with a smirk as he looked at his partner.
"You got it. Take flight and use Double Team Caelum!"
"Star Tor!" As Caelum took flight, shadowy copies of him took off as well, creating a small platoon of predatory birds that quickly darted all around the arena.
"Vibrava, take them all out with Dragon Breath!"
"Keep an eye on him with Mind Reader Breloom!" As Vibrava took off himself, aiming precise bursts of his greenish-yellow attack towards the various clones, Breloom's eyes glowed a soft white as he watched the dragonfly's movements.
"Now Rock Slide!" With more of the white rings fragmenting, another volley of the attack targeted multiple birds at once, taking them all out and leaving only a pair of them. "Now take them out with Hyper Beam!" On his trainer's mark, Vibrava opened his mouth, a ball of golden energy forming as he took aim at Caelum.
"Now! Sky Uppercut!" Breloom suddenly charged forward, not once taking his eyes off Vibrava and with a powerful jump, launched himself up towards the Pokémon and struck its body from below, making the forming energy ball dissipate as he fell back to the ground below, landing with a heavy thud and not rising.
"Vibrava is unable to battle! That means the winners are Jason Ivy and Tyler Lawson!" Jason and Tyler both let out a heavy sigh of relief as they each returned their Pokémon to their balls and Theodore did the same with his, the four of them all walking towards the center of the arena once again.
"Nice match Jay." Tyler held his fist out to Jason, who finished the bump with his own.
"Nice match Ty."
"I'm a little upset." Tyler heard Derrick say and focused his attention on his so called rival. "But hey, you're my rival; I'm supposed to have a good battle with you."
"I wouldn't exactly call that good." Tyler said to himself, noting that Derrick got swept a second time now by him and Jason.
"Best of luck to the both of you moving along." Theodore politely bowed, taking his arm on Derrick's shoulder and walking the two of them back towards their side of the field.
"Yeah, same to you!" Tyler responded as he and Jason turned back off stage and down the hallway towards the back waiting rooms. As Tyler reached for the double doors of the back waiting rooms, they opened for him to reveal Wendy and another girl standing beside her with sunset colored hair, tied up in a pair of long braids down the length of her back. Wendy smiled enthusiastically as she ran up to Tyler and gave him a hug.
"Hey you! You did it, congratulations on winning your first match." Wendy laughed joyously as she pulled out of her hug.
"It wasn't as easy as it looked." Tyler laughed in response, rubbing the back of his head bashfully.
"Nonsense, you looked great out there. And your battle was good too." Tyler blushed slightly at Wendy's joke, who turned her attention to Jason. "You must be Jason. I'm Wendy Riding, Tyler's girlfriend. And I'm so so SO sorry we were late this morning. I hope you didn't have to wait too long." She extended her hand politely towards Jason, who shook it.
"Uh… no, it wasn't that bad actually. I know how to channel my frustration when I need to."
"Oh well I'm sorry anyway." Wendy apologized, then pushed Tyler's shoulder and looked at him crossly. "You apologize too."
"I already did." Tyler frowned.
"Well do it again! It's more your fault that we were late than me."
"Alright fine…" Tyler frowned and looked at Jason again. "Sorry we were late this morning."
"Hey, like I said it's cool. We won right, so let's just go relax in the back."
"Yeah, we can watch their match since they're up next." Tyler said pointing to Wendy and the other girl.
"Oh no kidding, you two are up next?"
"Yup!" Wendy responded enthusiastically. "I don't think Madison and I are going to be as flashy as you two were, but it should be a good battle." At this, Madison finally looked up and nodded shyly.
"Well, yeah, I hope things go good for you as well." Jason said holding his hand to Madison, who looked at it but didn't shake it. "Um okay… Right, you're probably really focused. We'll get out of your hair."
"Zank you." Madison finally spoke, Jason smiling at her as he stepped out of her way and let her pass.
"Go kick some butt babe." Tyler said with his hand held high, which Wendy enthusiastically slapped in return.
"Of course, I can't lose until I beat you remember." She laughed herself and walked past Tyler, the door closing behind her. When Tyler turned back to face Jason, he caught him smirking at him.
"So that's why you were late this morning?" Jason shook his head with amusement.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tyler asked in confusion, but Jason just continued to smile.
"Nah dude, all is forgiven. I get it. Pretty girl like her? You must have gone hard last night if you were so late this morning."
"What are you-" Tyler stopped himself as he lit up in embarrassment. "Oh shut up! We didn't do anything last night."
"If you don't want to talk about it that's fine, I don't need to hear the details." Jason teasingly pushed Tyler's shoulder. "What you two do in the bedroom at night is your private business."
"Shut the fuck up Jason." Tyler frowned as he stormed past his partner and towards a pair of open lounge chairs.
(-o-) Wendy's POV (-o-)
"So, what do you think? Are we going to win in a flashy way like those two did?" Wendy asked joyfully as she practically skipped towards the steps leading to the stage.
"I sink you have plenty of flash for ze both of us right now." Madison laughed, as did Wendy while she waited at the base of the stairs.
"I can't help it! I'm so excited!" Wendy smiled as she hopped up the stairs with a carefree step. "Aren't you?"
"Non non, I am excited as well." Madison replied as she climbed the steps herself. "I just… want to keep my focus until ze battle is finished."
"Is that why you brushed off Jason earlier?" Madison looked at Wendy a bit awkwardly as the latter wrapped her arm around her shoulder. "I mean I understand, but you did kind of give him the cold shoulder just now."
"I didn't mean to. It's just zat…" Madison paused as she looked at Wendy's infectious smile and shook her head, the smile from before returning. "I'll tell you later. If I sink about it now, I won't be able to focus on our match."
"Okay, then let's go out there and kick butt!" Wendy happily announced as she and Madison both took the stage to a polite applause. "Don't get stage fright on me now okay?"
"Believe me; I won't so long as you're 'ere to keep me relaxed." Madison smiled as she watched Wendy start to wave at the crowd. "Ze fact zat you are so excited is actually quite calming to me."
"Well, part of the reason I'm so excited is because I get to battle with you today." Wendy turned back to Madison and cocked her hips in a confident pose. "I mean we met each other's teams yesterday and I felt even luckier to have you as my partner! There's no way we won't pass the first weekend together!"
"With zat attitude, it is 'ard not to share in your en-suzi- enthisia." Madison frowned as she looked at Wendy. "Dammit! I can never say zat word to save my life."
"Enthusiasm?"
"Yes zat one!" Madison placed her hands on her hips in defeat. "It's zat t-aitch sound zat you guys make. I can 'andle it when it's at ze end of a word. But I still can't get it if it's in ze middle. Zat and starting words with 'hha-aitch'. It still sounds forced to me." Wendy couldn't help but giggle at seeing Madison being flustered by her accent.
"Give it a couple more months and you'll get it." Wendy smiled encouragingly. "You've been here almost four years you said right? That's how long it took my coworker and his wife to lose their accents when they moved from Kalos to Sinnoh. Soon you'll be saying things like 'He threw three free throws' and nail it every time."
"I'm not even going to attempt to say thuh-at…zat. UGH!" Madison rolled her eyes, making Wendy laugh as the crowd began to applaud a second time, drawing the two women's attentions across the field to their apparent opponents.
A man and a woman stepped onto the arena floor and Wendy's eyes fell to the man directly across from her. His skin was a healthy sandy brown, and he wasn't exactly hiding his body either with the tank top he was wearing, which looked like the color of wet sand with a gold stripe in the middle and paired fairly well with his gray cargo pants. But Wendy couldn't help but frown as she saw the golden fauxhawk on his head and his silver necklace. She then turned her attention to the woman, noticing her dark blue hair that she kept straight beneath a red bandana. Similarly, both her shirt and shorts were red with the only variance in color being a white stripe across her midriff and a blue Poké ball symbol on the leg of her shorts. As the two of them approached, Wendy and Madison both walked across the field to them.
"Hey guys!" Wendy happily called as she met the two in the center of the arena. "You guys ready for some fun?"
"I am." The man smiled just as enthusiastically as Wendy. "Name's Trey Thomas, you can call me T.T. if you want though."
"Wendy Riding. It's a pleasure T.T."
"Wendy huh?" The new woman's voice drawled, sounding unimpressed as she brushed some of her hair back behind her shoulders. "I hope for your sake that you can keep that energy of yours through the match. It'll be that much more rewarding to watch you crumble apart once you realize you've lost." Madison didn't say a word, only glaring instead at the other woman.
"Well, somebody's confident." Wendy replied, seemingly unfazed by opponent's words. "This should be even more fun now!"
"Alright alright, break it up." The main judge came in and stepped between the groups. "Save it for the battle."
"With pleasure." Madison's words angrily dripped from her mouth, an act that Wendy picked up on.
"You okay Maddie?" She asked with concern.
"Fine actually." Madison said as she cracked her knuckles. "I just can't wait to wipe zat smug grin off zat blaireau woman's face!"
"Blae…baeroo, what?" Madison smiled at Wendy's confusion.
"Blaireau is a word zat would be like… how you say, calling some an ass'ole."
"Oh!" Wendy blushed slightly, but smiled coyly back at Madison. "That's naughty. You should teach me more naughty phrases when we're done here."
"Maybe, you should know it's not nice to swear at people when zey don't know ze meaning."
"But that's half the fun of it." Wendy laughed again as she and Madison both turned to face the arena again as they stood in their boxes, T.T and the other woman doing the same while the judge took his spot on a podium.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, this next first round match is in the E-1 block between the team of Mia Oakley and Troy Thomas, and the-"
"It's T.T!" The fauxhawk wearing man yelled at the judge who frowned at him for interrupting him. "My name is T.T."
"-and the team of Madison Bourdon and Wendy Riding." The crowd applauded again as all four trainers drew their initial Poké balls from their waist. "Once again, this battle will be conducted under Standard double battle rules with both trainers allowed two Pokémon each. The battle will end when all four Pokémon from one team are defeated. Do both teams understand?"
"Yes!" All four replied.
"Mia and Troy, is your team ready?"
"Yes!"
"It's T.T. dammit!" The microphone around the judge's lapel picked up a noticeable grumble that made the audience laugh as he turned to Wendy's side of the field.
"Madison and Wendy, is your team ready?"
"We are."
"Yup!"
"Then let this first round battle begin!" Madison went first, enlarging her ball and tossing it out over the field.
"Let's dance Azurii!" Materializing amidst her silver spark shower was a short blue rabbit like Pokémon with a series of white bubble-like spots on its body. She flipped once in the air as the showers descended around her, standing up with a carefree smile on her short face. She then spun around on her leg and struck a pose, raising one of her arms up in a sort of salute.
"Ooh, another dancer?" Wendy's eyes shone with excitement as she looked at the Aqua Rabbit and reached for her own ball. "I've got just the partner. Time to dance Yuri!"
"Lilligant!" Wendy's own dancer lightly fell to the stage in a half courtesy, straightening herself up as she bowed at her two opponents across from her. She then turned to her Azumarill partner and -bowed again. "Lil-gant."
"Zuri Zurii!" Madison's Pokémon smiled as she pumped her arm in an excited pose before turning back towards her yet to appear opponents.
"Gardevoir! I choose you!" The girl named Mia called as she released her own Pokémon as it descended with its own elegance to the field as it stood with its gown-like dress flowing softly behind her.
"Let's go Zangoose!" T.T. said with his own Pokémon appearing on the field, bearing the claws under his red furred arms in a ready stance. The four Pokémon sized each other up briefly before their trainers issued their first commands.
"Let's not sit around Zangoose! Use Slash on Lilligant!" T.T. made the first move as his Pokémon charged forward with the claws of his right arm glowing white.
"Use Quiver Dance to dodge it Yuri!" Yuri swiftly stepped to the side of a fast swipe of the Zangoose's claws with a quick pirouette as she started to rock her hips and sway with her own natural tempo.
"Azurii, use Bubblebeam on Gardevoir!" Madison announced her attack as her partner opened her mouth and spat out a string of fast moving bubbles towards her partner.
"Stop it with Psychic!" Meanwhile Gardevoir raises its arms and a visible ripple of distorted air shoots across the field and Azurii's bubbles became outlined in a soft blue color as they started to slow to a halt in front of their target. "Now fire it back at her!"
"Garde-voir!" The Psychic type's eyes glowed a soft blue color as another ripple flew across the field and the bubbles changed their direction, racing towards the Pokémon who fired first fired them. But Azurii didn't seem that worried at all.
"Use Aqua Jet!" A small pillar of water surrounded Azumarill's body as it rocketed forward with surprising speed given its size. The bubbles crashed in the ground just behind Azurii's wake as she flew forward and slammed into Gardevoir's body with a rough impact, staggering back a few steps.
"Keep dancing Yuri!" Wendy encouraged as she started to get into her own grove, laughing and swaying her hips as Yuri dodged another attack with an even faster pirouette than before. "Uh-huh! Shake it baby!" Wendy spun around herself, starting to flaunt her body a bit more suggestively with her dancing and earned at least a pair of cat calls from the audience.
"Lil-gant!" Yuri happily swayed around another attack, making her both of her opponent's starting to growl with their growing frustration.
"Throw her off her rhythm with Quick Attack!" With a quick growl, Zangoose lowered himself down to all fours and charged ahead, a white glow behind him as he hurled himself towards the Lilligant, finally connecting as she staggered back. "That's it! Keep her off balance and you got this!"
"Don't mind him Yuri! Keep using Quiver Dance!" Yuri stood back up and resumed her enchanting dance routine, this time succeeding in dodging a swift lunge from her adversary. But with Zangoose's improved swiftness, she wasn't able to stay dancing for long, receiving a series of glancing blows from the Zangoose until a clean hit finally took her off her feet.
"Yuri!"
"Now bury her with X-Scissor!" T.T. loudly roared over Wendy's concerned cry.
"Zangoose!" Both sets of the Pokémon's claws glowed a light blue as he charged yet again on a path for the still prone Lilligant.
"Azurii! Trip 'im up with Bulldoze!" Madison's Azumarill jumped up into the air and flipped around slamming her ball shaped tail into the ground with enough force to send a visible rumble through the ground. The shockwaves traveled all across the field, causing Zangoose to trip and stumble forward, allowing Yuri to dive away from the attack before it reached her.
"Whoa, that was close." Wendy let out a relieved sigh as she looked at her partner. "Thanks for the save hun"
"I sink we should trade partners no?" Madison suggested as she eyed up the Zangoose. "'E seems like just ze opponent Azurii and I like to fight."
"Then let's do it!" Wendy smiled happily at her partner. "Besides, I want to wipe the smile off that bleirou's face as bad as you do."
"X-scissor again Zangoose!" Madison's lips curled mischievously as her new opponent announced his attack.
"Counter with Power-up Punch!" Azurii ran between Yuri and the angered Zangoose when her fist started to burn with a fiery aura. She threw her punch into Zangoose's claws, knocking him further away from Yuri who now had her attention focused on the Gardevoir and bowed at her respectfully.
"Let's kick our dance up a level Yuri! Petal Dance!" With a short nod, Yuri began to pirouette again, even faster until her body became a spinning green blur. That's when the crowning bloom on her head began to glow a soft pink color.
"Fight it off with Psyshock!" Mia's Gardevoir held her arm out towards Yuri and a group of topaz colored orbs began levitating around her hand. As the number of orbs increased again, Yuri's rose began to bloom, and a massive volley of her rose petals began firing off towards her opponent. That's when Gardevoir threw her hand forward and her topaz orbs along with it, crashing into the cloud of rose petals and causing a brief explosion of dust. But Yuri's attack didn't stop, the rose petals continued to bloom as she spun and coated the far side of the battlefield. Even Zangoose, who had been retreating from Azurii's swift pursuit of him, was shocked as the wall of rosebuds crashed around him and the Gardevoir.
"Yes! That was beautiful Yuri!" Wendy clapped excitedly as the pirouetting princess slowed down into a courtesy.
"Okay, that's it! I am sick of your dancing!" Mia yelled in frustration as she looked at her fallen Gardevoir. "Gardevoir! Get back up and shut them down with Hyper Voice!"
"Voir!" Angrily, Gardevoir stood back up and cupped its hands around its mouth before bellowing a loud shriek as rippling rings shot forward and across the battlefield. Wendy clasped her hands to her ears at the loudness of the attack, as did Madison. Their Pokémon were also suffering, as Yuri had raised her arms to her head to block the sound, and Azurii had rolled her ears up to try and stuff them to back to silence.
"Take advantage Zangoose! Use Poison Jab on Lilligant!" T.T.'s Pokémon grinned sadistically as he ran forward with a sickly purple glow on his arm.
"Azurii! Take ze attack with Aqua Jet!" Despite the discomfort of Gardevoir's voice hurting her, Azurii toughed it up, summoning a veil of water around her and rocketing towards the Zangoose. As he swung his claw down towards Yuri, Azurii crashed into him, knocking him away from his target. But she took the attack instead and collapsed in a heap along with the Zangoose. And although she was able to rise, unlike her opponent, the dual slash mark on her chest seemed to seep into her body as she was surrounded by a faint purple aura that made her cry in pain.
"Zangoose is unable to battle!" Trey is down to-
"It's freaking T.T. man! Get it right already!" Both the judge and T.T. shared a heated stare with each other before the judge continued.
"Trey is down to his last Pokémon!" The judge announced as T.T. returned Zangoose to his ball.
"Well well, looks like somebody doesn't like poison." T.T. sneered looking at Azurii and grabbing another ball. "Make it worse Drapion!" Madison's frown grew deeper as she saw the purple scorpion descend onto the battlefield, casting its eyes threateningly to the wounded Azumarill across the field from it.
"Azurii! Does it 'urt?" Azurii looked back at her trainer with an honestly pained expression, when the aura surrounded her again and forced another pained cry. "Zat's it, I'm not going to put you srough zis again." Madison said reaching for her Poké ball and aiming it at Azurii. "You've earned a res-"
"Wait!" Wendy said as she held her hand to Madison. "Yuri and I can fix this! Right girl?"
"Lilli!" Yuri softly replied as she looked at her suffering partner.
"Use Heal Bell!" Calming blue rings floated out of Yuri's head blossom and a soothing noise massaged the aching eardrums of the audience. But more importantly, the mark on Azurii's chest had started to fade away, disappearing completely in a short moment. "How's that? Better?" Wendy asked to the surprised Azumarill.
"Zurii rii!" Azurii saluted her as she ran back over to her trainer.
"Zank goodness you're okay." Madison smiled as she knelt down by her partner. "But I'm still giving you a break. Great job." Madison enlarged Azurii's ball and pressed it to her partner's forehead, returning her into it with a pulse of red light. She stood up and grabbed another ball from her belt, tossing it over the field.
"Roar like ze wild wind 'oundie!" The ball opened and the imposing black and red furred Houndoom took to the field. As he landed, he lowered his head menacingly and started to growl loudly at his two opponents. It was this time that Wendy noticed an interesting collar around the Houndoom's neck, studded black with a gemstone of black and red in the center of it that she hadn't seen yesterday. However she ignored the accessory and looked back at the battlefield.
"So Houndie is next huh? I can help you too! Yuri, use Sunny Day!"
"Oh no you don't! Gardevoir, stop her with Psychic!" As Yuri's bulb began to glow with a warm white light, it was quickly snuffed out by an all encompassing blue aura from the Gardevoir. Unable to move, the attack lifted Yuri off the ground as she struggled to break free. "Now throw her over to Drapion!" With a swift move of her hand, Yuri was thrown across the battlefield and headed straight for the imposing scorpion.
"Yuri!"
"Use Cross Poison Drapion!" Over Wendy's cry of concern, T.T's Pokémon raised its arms in front of its face as they glowed a deep purple and crossed them over in an x-shape.
"'Oundie! Use Sucker Punch on Drapion!" With a quick bark, a black fog surrounded Houndoom's body as he exploded out of his stance. Wendy watched as the fog disappeared from her sight in a puff along with Houndoom while a second one appeared across the field next to Drapion with Houndoom lunging out of it. She hadn't even registered that Houndie had moved and there he was right beside Drapion, lunging at him and slamming into his side. The impact forced the glowing pinsirs of Drapion to fly forward prematurely. One of them sent a purple slash towards its intended target, but the other flew instead towards Drapion's partner, crashing into Gardevoir and knocking her back as far as he had Yuri. When the dust had settled, neither Yuri nor the Gardevoir managed to get back to their feet.
"Lilligant and Gardevoir are unable to battle! Both trainers Wendy and Mia are down to their last Pokémon!"
"What the hell is your problem?!" Mia exploded at T.T. screaming in his ear as he cowered beneath her shrill voice. "You just hit my Gardevoir with your attack."
"I didn't mean to!" T.T. flinched at his partner's harpy-like shriek. "It's just that Houndoom disappeared and reappeared right next to me. We couldn't react in time!"
"UGH!" Mia turned away from her partner in disgust as she returned her Gardevoir and grabbed another ball. "Come on Raichu!"
"It's your turn Pulse!" Both Pokémon released from their balls at the same time as they landed in front of their trainers. The Electric mouse's cheeks sparkled with electricity as he looked at the Lucario across from him as he rose from his kneeling pose and took a fighting pose of his own.
"Raichu use Thunderbolt!" The Electric type's cheeks crackled again with yellow sparks before his body became consumed by lightning and fired a bolt towards his opponent.
"Dodge it Pulse!" With a quick hop to his right, Pulse dodged the lightning bolt aimed towards him. He then dodged a second one with a backwards hop.
"Alright Pulse, let's show them what we're really made of. Use Bone Rush!" Pulse quickly clapped his paws together as a purple glow surrounded them. He pulled them apart, with a beam of purple energy connecting them until he threw them apart and the beam stayed suspended above the ground. As he grasped it, he twirled it around his body a few times before assuming a more offensive stance.
"Now charge Pulse!" With a short nod, Pulse raced forward with his staff in his arms towards the Electric mouse.
"Block it with Iron Tail!" Raichu's tail started glowing an intense white as Pulse jumped with his staff held high. Raichu then swung around and flung his tail like a whip into the center of Pulse's staff, knocking him back a short distance.
"Keep going Pulse!"
"Don't let up your guard for a second Raichu!" With both trainer's encouragement, the two clashed again to the same result, then a third time down low.
"Change the pace Pulse, use Aura Sphere instead!" Pulse jumped back with a cartwheel and pushed himself skyward, holding his staff back in between his hands. He pushed his hands together and the staff collapsed into a ball of brightly glowing energy which he then swiftly threw towards his opponent, hitting his stomach before he could react.
"'Ey, zat was pretty impressive." Madison said as she watched Pulse land gracefully on the ground. "'ow about we join zem 'oundie?" Her Houndoom looked back and barked its approval at her. "Nasty Plot!"
"Doom…" The hellhound growled menacingly towards his foe as his eyes took on a reddish sheen and that same dark fog surrounded his body.
"Use Sludge Bomb Drapion!" T.T.'s Pokémon reared its head and spat off a volley of brown blobs of sludge towards the Houndoom.
"Burn zem with Flame-thrower!" Flames dripped out of Houndoom's mouth before he shot out an arcing stream of vicious flames, melting each blob before it could make its way over towards him.
"Damn, you pack a punch don't you poochie." T.T. remarked sounding impressed.
"One more time 'oundie! Flame-thrower!" Another fiery assault roared forward towards the scorpion.
"Protect Drapion!" Just before the flames cooked their target, a green forcefield appeared in front of Drapion, fanning the flames off the barrier in every direction.
"So we need to get close? Alright zen, 'oundie use Fire Fang!"
'Poison Fang!" Both Pokémon charged forward, their mouths glowing with red and purple energy as they leapt towards each other with their mouths open wide. The faster Houndoom lept past Drapion's first lunge, landing on his back and pivoted around to try and strike at his exposed neck. But Drapion's claws moved back and intercepted the attack.
"Now Poison Tail!" Now Drapion's tail began glowing purple as it lunged forward towards Houndoom on his back. It slammed into Houndoom's side, knocking him off to the side of Drapion and over towards Pulse.
"Thunderbolt on Houndoom Raichu!" With a quick reaction, the electric mouse's paws began to crackle and a jagged bolt of lightning shot from his body towards the downed Houndoom.
"Take the attack Pulse!" With a nod of agreement, Pulse ran forward and stepped into the attack, dropping to a knee with a grimace. But he stood back up just as quickly and his eyes narrowed on Raichu.
"Force Palm!" Pusle took off like a bullet, racing headlong into the lightning bolt as his arms glowed with the same yellow energy around him. He caught Raichu by surprise and slammed both paws forward into him, launching him skyward with a visible shockwave on impact with the Pokémon's body.
"Raichu?" Mia looked on as her Pokémon tumbled less than gracefully through the air.
"Don't hold back Pulse! Aura Sphere!" Another ball of blue energy formed in Pulse's hands, bigger than last time as he watched the Raichu begin to descend. He then threw it forward right towards where the Raichu was going to land. With a powerful blast, Raichu was struck with the impact of the Aura Sphere and sent him flying straight past his trainer and to the back edge of the arena, almost falling off stage. The judge didn't even bother trying to see if he could get back up, it was already obvious that he wouldn't.
"Raichu is unable to battle! Mia and Trey are down to their final Pokémon."
"What part of my name is T.T. do you not understand?!" T.T. angrily yelled as he looked at the judge, taking his eyes off the battlefield to argue with him.
"Maddie, you want to take this one?" Wendy smiled warmly as she looked at her partner.
"Gladly. Fire Blast 'oundie!" Madison roared as did her Pokémon, firing a ferocious blast of flames in the shape of a man that towered over Drapion.
"Huh? Wait Drapion Prot-" But it was too late for Drapion as lacking his trainer's instruction, the flames quickly engulfed him, cooking the defenseless Pokémon in an instant. Just like his partner before him, Drapion soon fell to the ground and remained motionless on the arena floor.
"Drapion is unable to battle! The victors are Madison Bourdon and Wendy Riding!" A fair applause came from the stands that Wendy quickly started waving back at as Pulse walked back to her side as well.
"We did it Pulse!" Wendy turned and picked up her Lucario in a hug, spinning him around once before putting him back on the ground. "You did great!"
"Thank you master." Pulse calmly replied as he turned to his canine partner and bowed shortly to him. The Houndoom barked a response of his own and turned back to Madison.
"Wonderul 'oundie! Zat was magnifique." She reached out and rubbed her Houndoom between the horns of his head, getting a smile for her efforts.
"Well, we did it Maddie!" Wendy said with her hand held high only for Madison to look skeptically at her. "What? Oh don't give me that. I know you know what a high five is."
"'Igh… five?" Wendy's expression faltered and a frown came over her lips.
"Seriously? You don't know-" Before she could finish her sentence, Madison winked at her and slapped her hand against Wendy's.
"Is zat what you mean?"
"Real funny Maddie." Wendy laughed as she turned towards their opponents. "Come on, let's go thank them for… or maybe not." She corrected herself as she saw nothing except for the backs of her two opponents. Mia had already descended the stairs leading away from them with T.T. hot on her heels.
"Wait Mia! Mia hold up! I know you're mad at me but we need to go say - Are you even listening to me?" T.T.'s voice clearly sounded desperate but Mia was clearly not listening to him.
"Guess that's all we're getting from them huh?" Wendy remarked as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Good. Ze less time I spend with zat asshole ze better." Madison grumbled as she started to turn back to the stage exit.
"Hey wait! You said it right!" Wendy smiled excitedly. "You said asshole!"
"Is zat really worth celebrating?" Madison teased as she waved Wendy over, who quickly fell in stride with her down the path off stage. "It isn't exactly lady like you know."
"Meh, I don't care." Wendy rolled her eyes. "I'm a lot closer to slut than saint on the ladylike spectrum." That got Madison to laugh as she looked back at her partner.
"I really am glad zat you are my partner in sis tournament." Madison said as she opened the door back into the lobby.
"I'm glad you're mine too." Wendy said with a laugh as she stepped through the door, seeing Tyler and Jason standing before Madison. "Told you we'd win!" Wendy flashed a victory smile towards her boyfriend who stepped forward and hugged her.
"I never said you wouldn't." Tyler laughed as they broke away from the hug. "I knew you were good. I just didn't know Madison here was a powerhouse of her own.
"Yeah you were fantastic! That Azumarill of yours is insane!" Jason raved excitedly. He smiled and extended his hand, but for the second time this morning, Madison spurned his advance and he put his hand back in his pocket.
"Come on Maddie, be nice!" Wendy teasingly grabbed Madison's hand and Jason's other hand and put them together with hers. The simple act made both Madison and Jason's faces ignite with a strong blush, the both of them looking away from each other as they held hands. "No you guys! You're supposed to look at each other when you hold hands." Both of them pulled away rather quickly, Madison looking at her hand shyly while Jason put his in his pocket.
"Okay… so… what's next?" Tyler asked trying to diffuse the awkward moment. "Do you know when Will or Rose's match is Wendy?"
"Huh? Oh right! We should go watch them!" Wendy clapped eagerly as she looked at her watch. "If we go quick enough we can catch them both. Do you want to come Maddie?"
"Erm… non, I will pass." Madison politely declined. "I would like to stay here and scout our next battles."
"That's actually a really good idea." Tyler agreed. "The more we know about them, the better."
"But I want to see Rose kick butt!"
"Then go, both of you." Jason smiled as he pushed Wendy and Tyler past him. "You've got friends to watch, we don't. We'll get back to you later with some information." Madison nodded but said nothing as she agreed with Jason.
"Okay, thanks dude." Tyler nodded as he held his hand out and shook Jason's.
"Don't think this means you're getting out of talking about that thing you said earlier though Maddie." Wendy teased with a wink before she wrapped her hands around Tyler and dragged him with her. "I swear if you make us late again-"
"Oh come on! How many more times do I need to apologize or that?" Tyler frowned as he went along with Wendy's pace out of the waiting room.
A/N: Okay there we go, 33 chapters in the books. So yeah like I said, I'm bummed about this chapter taking so much longer to get out than a normal one. But like I said, bad back, bad computer and a pair of double battles in this chapter take a long time to try and write. If I've learned anything, I don't think I'll be putting multiple battles into a chapter again. I wasn't happy with having to come up everything for more than one fight, and that's putting it rather lightly too. Moving forward, I think it's safe to say that you would be wise to expect a slight delay on my usual output with these chapters in the immediate future. So a few chapters of slower updates and then we can get back to our normal pace. I'll try my darndest to keep to my pace so I don't make you guys wait too long, I just want you to know that this is what you should expect. Especially with all the bull going on in my life at the current moment. So before my laptop crashes again and I have to re-write these notes for the 2nd time, this is DrPhill26 signing out and I hope you'll put up with my inconveniences long enough to see you again next time.