Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, just to make sure you are aware...

THE LEAGUE OF CHAMPIONS

CHAPTER 18: BATTLE THE SWORDSMAN! ALLIES FUEDING AGAIN!

Time seemed to have shot forward. Since I had woken from my slumber, I had already been to the Pokemon Centre to heal my comrades to the full. After all, one would not want to head into such an important battle at any less than one hundred per cent. I had awoken especially early this morning. So early in fact that today it was my turn to leave Misty sleeping into daybreak whilst I headed out to do a little bit of research. For this, I had gone to a special area of the Indigo Plateau. It was a place where trainers could sit and examine their opponents' previous battles to perhaps get a better insight to their techniques and tactics. It felt strange to be the only person in the whole room, although it was particularly early. The only people I had passed was Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Centre, a couple of trainers comparing Flying Type Pokemon and a trainer attempting to capture a rogue Steel-Type Wormadam that had sought refuge in the highest possible corner of a corridor. I paid little attention to this. I walked up to a counter, where another Nurse Joy was working. I noticed that unlike the other Nurse Joys that I had met, this one wore a pair of black glasses. She looked like a bookworm to some extent. As soon as I reached the desk at which she was sat, she looked up at me and smiled politely.

"Can I help you?" she asked with a slight croak in her voice. I raised an eyebrow at this. Why would Nurse Joy be acting as a librarian? They're not called Librarian Joy are they?

"Uhh… yes," I quickly snapped back into reality, trying to remember the reason I came here in the first place. "Do you happen to have the first and second round matches of a trainer called Darkhan?" I asked. Librarian Joy quickly tapped something on the keyboard in front of her. Her head jerked to face me once again.

"KAN-197, Darkhan. Surname Unknown. First & Second Round battles won. Third Round battle against Jonathyn Christian," she quickly delivered her data to me. I was left completely stunned at the sheer speed of her speech. "First Round Battle versus Otoshi Michinoku. Pokemon used; Crobat & Weezing defeating Dodrio and Marowak. Second Round Battle versus Jeanette Fisher. Pokemon used; Charizard defeating Grovyle, Scizor and Victreebell."

"Whoa…" I gasped. "His Charizard beat three Pokemon in one go?"

"Match time; three minutes and sixteen seconds," Librarian Joy informed me. I was quite literally motionless. If his Charizard was that powerful, then who knows what his Espeon would be capable of, let alone what else that Weezing of his could come up with. I soon began to doubt myself yet again, but snapped out of it as the Joy looked up at me, tilting her head. "Are you alright?" she asked rapidly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I shook my head quickly. "What can you tell me about his Weezing and Espeon?"

"I'm afraid that I cannot give out that information verbally," the Librarian Joy replied apologetically. "Trainers can watch opponent's previous battles that have been burned onto a digital versatile disc in order to make their own assumptions of their opponents."

"Err…wow," I swallowed a little, still astonished at the speed of which she delivered her sentences. "Can you show me the battle with his Weezing? The first one, I mean."

"Certainly," the Joy smiled approvingly before standing up and whizzing herself over to a tall filing cabinet. Amazingly, she opened a drawer and quickly pulled out a disc from it no sooner than she had opened it. She slammed it shut and darted back over to where I was stood. "Here you are. Please return it to me as soon as you have completed your analysis." I stood blankly for just a few moments.

"Uhh… thanks!" I suddenly came back to reality, before walking over to a blank TV screen, pressing a button on the monitor. A disc tray slid open from the front of the monitor. I placed the DVD perfectly into place, before pushing the tray back in.

"Press the button, don't push the tray in by force!" Librarian Joy called over to me. It was the seriousness in her voice that made me jump with surprise this time. I bowed to say sorry in my own way, before looking back at the screen. The image of Darkhan appeared on the screen, alongside his two battling Pokemon, Crobat and Weezing. I stared at it with great interest. His opponent was a boy who had his long hair tied back in a spiky pony-tail of some sort. He was dressed in some form of robe that you would usually see in a kendo dojo or something to that effect. His partners were a Dodrio and a Marowak, both of which looked unbelievably experienced. Yet I knew how the outcome was going to be. His Pokemon didn't stand much of a chance. His Crobat was flying around most of the stadium, before coming in close to attack. Whilst his Weezing constantly floated in mid-air, launching attacks such as Flamethrower and Zap Cannon. Then I noticed something… something about the style that he had his Weezing use. I made a mental note of it, which I was sure to use when the battle came to commence. I took a look at the clock on the wall. It was almost midday! Had I really been in this room for that long! My match was to start any second now and I was sat here. I quickly headed for the door, but the Librarian Joy stopped me.

"Could all trainers please return the digital versatile discs that they have borrowed as soon they have completed their analysis," she reminded me. I sighed with a scowl and ran back, pushing the button to release the DVD. The tray seemed to slowly slide open. I whisked the DVD out of the tray, before pushing the tray shut once again. Librarian Joy purposefully cleared her throat a little menacingly. I ran towards the exit, passing her the DVD swiftly.

"Thanks Joy!" I called as I burst out of the door, bolting it down the corridor. There were signs everywhere. I knew that I had to head for the Ice Field, which was on the other side of the Indigo Plateau. I dodged passed various people, including Misty, Ash and Brock who were all heading for the stands. I waved at them as I passed. Misty was calling something to me, but I could not hear her over the crowds of people trying to get into the various arenas. "I'll catch up with you later!" I called to her. She nodded understandingly. She knew I was in a rush. I checked my Poketch. It was now two minutes until twelve o'clock. I barely had time to address a mocking comment that Harley made to me as I shoved past him. I replied only with a sneering glance, before finally approaching the tunnel that leads to the Trainer Lounge of the Ice Field. I did not even remove my backpack since I was that much in a hurry. Without time to spare, I made it to the end of the tunnel. An official was waiting for me. I huffed and panted a little as I tried to catch my breath back.

"We thought you weren't going to show!" the official laughed. I weakly smiled back, still leaning forward in exhaustion. I quickly regained my composure as I could hear the announcer for the battle begin his introductory speech.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Ice Field here at the Indigo Plateau, where we are about to start the first of today's third round battles!" the announcer excitedly shouted to the seemingly thousands of roaring fans. "Each of the trainers that you will see today has already defeated two talented trainers. And today, only the strongest trainers will move on to Round 4. We've got a lot of action to get through today, so let's get on with our first battle." There was a momentary pause, as the official looked at me.

"Ready?" he asked. I replied with a simple nod, having now got my breath back. He whispered something into his mouthpiece that hooked over his ear and down to his mouth. The announcer then began shouting energetically once again.

"Introducing first, the red trainer. A man of few words, he has already defeated two veterans of the Pokemon League. His Pokemon are strong enough to wipe out even the toughest of defences. They have dubbed him "The Pokemon Swordsman" since debutting in the Pokemon League. Hailing from his hometown of Solaceon Town in Sinnoh, please welcome…Darkhan!" I looked out towards the opposite end of the field, where Darkhan had emerged. He was carrying his sword like a royal guard would hold his rifle. The blade propped up against his shoulder. He had an almost expressionless smirk on his face. He raised his free hand loosely to address the crowd, many of whom were cheering for him. Obviously, they had not seen his attempt to capture the legendary Azelf like I had. For some reason, my eyes were fixed on him like glue. I refused to let him out of my sight, but I didn't really know why.

"And now, introducing the green trainer. He is rising towards greatness at a break-neck speed, having defeated a seemingly invincible Vespiquen in the last round. He is Azalea Town's own Pokemon Master in the making! A trainer who seemingly has no understanding of the word "defeat". Please make some noise for…Jonathyn Christian!" I slowly paced out from my end of the arena. I barely acknowledged the crowds roaring cheers. I simply stared at Darkhan, who was staring at me also with equal determined intent. As soon as I stepped on the green coloured podium, it began to rise up a fair few feet. I took a moment to absorb the environment in which I would be battling on. It did not look at all dissimilar from the Rock Field that I had previously battled on. With of course the blatantly obvious exception that everything was covered in a thick, azure blue sheet of ice. Formations protruded upwards from the frozen water in the same way that the boulders on the Rock Field had done. And despite the heat being given off from the glorious sunshine, the ice seemed to show little temptation of melting. I noticed that Darkhan had already called out his Absol, which was stood loyally beside him. I glanced at it slightly, before Darkhan delicately stroked the back of its head before glaring back towards me.

"Disaster," he muttered darkly. I immediately recognised the significance of this taunt. Absol are believed to be a sign that danger, or in my case potential heartbreak was on the way. He pointed at me, letting out a small chuckle in the same way that my previous two opponents had done. Although theirs seemed to be a little bit more nervous than the one that Darkhan was producing. His seemed much more confident. I simply shook my head nonchalantly, refusing to let his mind games get the better of me. I grabbed a hold of the two Poke Balls containing my chosen Pokemon. No prizes for guessing which two. I wasted little time launching them forward.

"Lairon and Gabite, let's do this!" I roared, battle-hungry. The Dragon and Steel type Pokemon appeared onto the Ice Field. They seemed a little uncomfortable standing on the cold surface. I knew that both of my opponents had a weakness to Ice Type Pokemon, but I figured that since Darkhan had already informed me of which two Pokemon he would be using, it seemed rather pointless to worry. But I seemed to question this due to the fact that his Absol was still stood beside him. Perhaps it was some sort of bluff. Darkhan raised his sword high above his head, before swinging the blade as hard as he possibly could. Two Poke Balls flew from the spine of the sword, releasing two Pokemon. Indeed, he had remained truthful. His Weezing and Espeon both appeared into view. The Weezing hovered several feet in the air, whilst the Espeon did not seem to be fazed at all by the ice surrounding its feet.

"Victory!" Darkhan roared, pointing his sword at me like he had done before. He seemed to be tempted to attack already, but he still had to wait for the official's instruction. The official swung his head both ways towards us. Everyone in the whole arena could tell that we did not need to confirm our readiness. The anticipation and determination in our eyes told him the answer that he wanted. He raised his flags to signal the beginning of the match. At long last, the match began.

"Shadow Ball! Zap Cannon!" Darkhan boomed with a much more serious and aggressive tone. I could hardly believe the response time of his two Pokemon. They both launched their attacks at the same time. The Zap Cannon heading for Lairon, the Shadow Ball for Gabite. I was a little stunned by this.

"Swap places!" I shouted. Gabite and Lairon seemed a little confused by my instruction at first. I noticed that the position of my Pokemon on the field left little place to escape. Three ice pillars seemed to box them in. And since Lairon was not the best vertical escape artist, I thought that this might be a good solution. Indeed it did, as the Zap Cannon has no effect at all on the Ground Type Gabite and a Shadow Ball did very little damage to Lairon. I was quite pleased that this had worked out so early on. However, Darkhan did not seem to be in too much distress. "Gabite, use Crunch on Espeon!" I ordered. As Lairon stood in wait, Gabite lunged forward at the Psychic Type, it's fangs gleaming a pale white before turning much darker as the attack began to build up.

"Psychic," Darkhan boomed a little quieter this time. Once again, as soon as the word had exit his mouth, the attack began. Espeon's eyes turned a pale shade of blue, glowing ominously. A strange aura engulfed Gabite, suspending it in mid-air. It had even stopped the Crunch attack from landing.

"Lairon, Iron Head on Espeon!" I yelled, hoping that Lairon would be able to make Espeon lose its focus. Lairon darted forward, its head lowered.

"Smokescreen!" Darkhan shouted back. The Weezing bolted forward, yet not at great speed. It shot out a cloud of darkness towards Lairon, shrouding it entirely. Espeon had emerged from the smoke and I noticed Gabite went flying backward, with Lairon's tackle still forcing it back. It seemed as though Lairon had lost sight of Espeon and instead hit Gabite. Possibly Espeon's psychic ability to manipulate Gabite's position caused this as well. The Smokescreen quickly dispersed, but I noticed Gabite was scorning Lairon viciously. Lairon protested in its language which I could not understand. But the jist of the argument was obvious. Both Pokemon got right up close to each other and began taunting each other.

"No!" I shouted almost as enraged as my Pokemon were. "This is most definitely not the time to be arguing!"

"Flamethrower! Shadow Ball!" Darkhan roared once again. Gabite and Lairon did not see the attacks coming due to their continuous argument. Both Pokemon took the attacks dead on, both forcing them to fall backward. "Psychic! Dark Pulse!" he boomed in addition. This time, the Espeon took a few steps forward before somehow lifting both my Pokemon into the air in separate positions. The Weezing floated up directly in the middle of them before its whole body turned into the darkest shade of black possible. Without delay, the darkness shot out from its body. As its normal, purple colour returned, the darkness struck Gabite and Lairon with devastating force. No sooner than the Dark Pulse attack connected, Espeon released its Psychic grip on the two. They crashed back down to the ice below. The damage had been done. I had not landed a single hit on either of his Pokemon yet, but I could tell that Gabite and Lairon were struggling. Not just against Darkhan's Pokemon, but also trying to fight their differences. They had to co-exist. They knew they had to, but with a rivalry as intense as theirs it was extremely difficult to do so.

"Come on!" I pleaded. "You've got to do this!" Both Pokemon weakly got back up to their feet, not without scowling at each other a little. They then looked back at the Espeon and Weezing, who seemed content with the performance that they had currently displayed. Darkhan himself showed little emotion, but I could tell he was feeling rather pleased with this situation. But it would not be for much longer. "Alright Gabite, prepare a Crunch on the Espeon. Lairon, run in front of it." Once again, both my allies seemed a little bit unsure about my instruction but fulfilled it nonetheless. Both Pokemon charged at Espeon. The Weezing floated down.

"Flamethrower!" Darkhan called once again. "Shadow Ball!" he added, as the two attacks headed right for Lairon. Now was my chance!

"Lairon, Protect now!" I ordered. Instantly, Lairon's steel hide formed a barrier around it. The Flamethrower and the Shadow Ball dispersed in opposite directions. "Now Gabite, go!" I yelled in excitement. Gabite clamped its jaws shut, the Crunch attack connecting against the Espeon, which seemed like it had taken a lot more damage from that attack than I would have thought. I figured that the Espeon must have been raised with great speed, but a poor defence."

"Not over!" Darkhan warned me with a sinister tone. "Morning Sun!" The Espeon then looked up at the sky, where the sun was shining brightly. It's soft, velvety coat began to shine brightly. The scratch marks it had sustained from Gabite's Crunch faded completely. It had healed itself. "Zap Cannon!" The Weezing fired another ball of electrical power directly at Lairon.

"Gabite, block it!" I shouted. Gabite quickly jumped over, allowing the Zap Cannon to connect with it. The electric attack dispersed once again from my Ground Type Dragon. "Use Dragon Claw on the Weezing!" I shouted. Gabite jumped up once again, its claws gleaming a pale green. But before the attack could connect…

"Iron Tail!" Darkhan shouted. Espeon leapt up with lightning fast speed and slammed its forked tail into the side of Gabite's head, knocking it down and almost out completely. But somehow, Gabite was able to get back up to its feet. I simply could not understand how Espeon could move so quickly. I knew that I would need to knock out at least one of them and quickly. And since the Espeon had the ability to heal itself using Morning Sun, I decided to implement what I had found out about Darkhan's Weezing during my momentary research session. It only seemed to use Long Ranged attacks, like Flamethrower, Zap Cannon and Dark Pulse. So I thought that if I could catch it off guard by going up close, that might do the trick. On the other hand, it could just launch its attacks directly at point blank range. But it did seem to be a little sluggish, so I decided to go with it. A reckless plan, perhaps. But it could well prove most effective.

"Lairon, Metal Burst on Weezing!" I shouted. "Gabite, use Dragon Claw!" With that, both Pokemon sprang into action. Lairon's Metal Burst did its job and connected massively against the Poison Pokemon. Gabite sprung up into the air, but rather than its claws glowing, it's whole body was covered by a light blue streak. It darted up towards Weezing and tackled it with overwhelming menace. The whole crowd gasped in awe. "That definitely wasn't Dragon Claw… did Gabite know how to use Dragon Rush this whole time?" I wondered to myself aloud. Weezing now seemed to have some serious trouble staying afloat in midair, the two powerful attacks both hitting their marks with perfect accuracy. "Gabite, finish it with Dragon Rush! Lairon, Iron Head on Espeon." Lairon quickly charged forward, slamming its head into the Espeon before it could do anything to counter Gabite's attack. Gabite enveloped itself in another blue streak of aura, before colliding head on with Weezing. Gabite victoriously landed back on the ground. Lairon seemed to glare at Gabite, almost jealous at its newfound power. I looked back up at the Weezing and was shocked more still to see that it was not going down. It had a dazed look in its eyes, but managed to shake the cobwebs away. Darkhan smirked.

"Psychic!" Darkhan sneered, this time it was quieter and a lot more conniving. In the same way that it had done before, the small-cat shaped Pokemon was able to lift Gabite and Lairon helplessly into the air. Both of them struggled frantically to try and escape Espeon's deadly grasp. "Selfdestruct!" Darkhan boomed with rage. The Weezing floated back up, right in front of the two Pokemon this time. It began to glow white, before resulting in a huge explosion, sending Gabite and Lairon crashing into some nearby ice pillars. Both of my Pokemon were badly hurt. I could not believe that this had happened. Darkhan had sacrificed his Weezing and at the same time caused my Pokemon to fall onto the brink of defeat. I noticed that his Absol had barely moved ever since it had appeared. I felt a little confused by this. But then I focused my attention back to Lairon and Gabite, who had hardly moved ever since the Selfdestruct.

"Weezing is no longer able to compete!" the official declared, as Darkhan withdrew the Poison Pokemon back into its Poke Ball before returning it into its slot on his sword. It was now a fully-powered Espeon versus an incredibly weakened Gabite and Lairon. That is of course unless the official declares them unable to battle. Although Gabite was the first to get to its feet, Lairon could not seem to keep its eyes off it. It seemed to growl in frustration. I could see a glint in its eye. It was a tear. Lairon was crying… or rather trying to hold in some form of deep distress. I jumped down onto the Ice Field from the podium and ran over to my Pokemon.

"Lairon… what's up buddy?" I asked, feeling unbelievably concerned for my friend. Lairon sniffed a little, before growling and glaring with eyes filled with tearful hatred at Gabite. "Oh…" I realised. "You think that Gabite is stronger than you, huh?" Lairon snarled in response. "Trust me, there may be things that Gabite can do better than you, but there are a lot of other things that you are better at than Gabite. I assure you, I don't care for you any less than Gabite or any of our Pokemon friends… Houndoom, Nidorino, Pelipper, Bayleef… we're all equal."

"Lair--," it sniffed, trying to hold back its emotion.

"Battle!" Darkhan demanded, angry that the match had to be cut short for the sake of Lairon's suffering.

"Look, just wait one moment," I called over briefly, before turning back to Lairon. Gabite did not seem to be particularly bothered by Lairon's anguish and seemed more concerned at getting its strength back. But I suddenly heard something that made me shudder.

"Shadow Ball Them All!" Darkhan roared in frustration. Espeon formed not one but three Shadow Balls simultaneously, before firing them straight at the three of us. Gabite could hardly move. I was frozen like a Buneary in the highlights. Lairon however had darted forward and began to form that same barrier of light over its skin. It was using Protect… to protect Gabite and I. I looked up to witness this incredible feat. Lairon somehow deflected all three Shadow Balls with one Protect. Lairon let out an enraged roar, before a blinding white light engulfed its whole body. "What!?" Darkhan exclaimed in disbelief.

"What's happening to Lairon?" I thought aloud once again, before realising what was actually happened. Even Gabite seemed to be completely flabbergasted by what it was witnessing. Darkhan's expression had gone from nothing into complete shock. The crowd almost seemed captivated by the spectacle being displayed due to Lairon's sudden release of emotion. The light began to shift and alter, forming into a more tall, monstrous shape. The light faded, to reveal that Lairon had disappeared. Albeit not entirely. It now had a new form. A bipedal lizard/rhinoceros monster that looked even more menacing and malicious than Lairon had done. It roared out its new name, proud of its awakened potential. I grinned with a newfound confidence before climbing back up onto the podium that I had jumped down from. "Now… shall we continue?" I smirked mockingly at Darkhan, who had calmed himself down a little now, patting his Absol on the head once again.

"Resume!" he chuckled back, menacingly.

"Very good," I nodded. "Ready, Gabite?" it nodded back to me, seemingly in awe at Lairon's new form. But there was no need for me to call the Pokemon 'Lairon' anymore… "You ready to win this, Aggron?"

"Aggro--n!" it roared confidently. I grinned once again. With Gabite's newly learned Dragon Rush and a powerful Aggron by my side, I now stood a fairly good chance of defeating Darkhan's persistant Espeon…

TO BE CONTINUED

Next Time: Can the combined efforts of Gabite and Aggron overcome Darkhan's Espeon? And what will the reaction be for both of these trainers as this incredible match concludes?