Second Rate

*Champion's Palace*

The walk down Lance's red carpet was slow. I could almost hear a slow, steady drumbeat in my head. This was it. One more battle, and I would either be champion, or a two time failure. I knew Lance would lead off with a flying type, so I had Powerball at the ready. I looked at all my pokemon, and they all nodded at me solemnly. I looked over at Lyra, who did the same. The moment of truth was upon us. I thanked the fact that I was caged near Lance for so long, that I already knew four of his pokemon. Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Dragonite, and Charizard. Still though, two of his pokemon remained unknown to me, but I had faith in my party. If they could make it this far, surely we could handle one battle with Lance. After taking a deep breath at the foot of a staircase, which I was sure led up to Lance, I walked up to see him, standing there, with a grin on his face.

"Lance." I said calmly. "Before we begin, I have two questions for you."

"Since you will most likely not live to relay any answers, I will give you the truth." Lance allowed me.

"Why work with Mewtwo, Lance?" I asked him. His reply was what I expected.

"For power dear boy! Mewtwo has it in bulk, and the Nuzlocke rules help insure that many would-be heroes fall before they realize what they could have been. Soon, there will be no one to stand in our way as we conquer the world!"

"Okay." I said calmly. "So conquering the world is your goal, and that's great, but I know Mewtwo. His hatred for humans is far greater than any power he might have, and he certainly does have plenty of power. Lance, you are the Indigo Champion. You must realize this."

"What are you getting at, boy?" Lance snarled.

"Do you honestly expect Mewtwo to willingly give you any of his power?" I asked.

"I-..." Lance seemed to realize that the idea was implausible at the very best.

"Face it Lance, you're just a pawn in Mewtwo's uncontrollable thirst for power, and you couldn't see it because you were blinded by your own!"

"SILENCE!" Lance yelled as he threw his cape back. He looked almost like a vampire the way he dressed. "I will NOT be mocked, child, cur, worm! I am NO ONE'S pawn! I am the GREATEST trainer in the WORLD! Your journey ends here, Hank Coro!" Lance sent out his Gyarados, and I sent out Powerball. Guess who won that one.

"Oh, ok, that wasn't so bad." Powerball said as he rolled around the dead Gyarados body. "One down, five to go."

"Don't think you're out of the woods yet!" Lance said as he sent out Aerodactyl. Powerball once again proved that he had been well-prepared for this match.

"This must suck for you." Powerball said to Lance. "Being defeated by an upside down poke ball...the very one you told Hank to kill back in Mahogany Town no less."

"Lance...Are you really the champion?" I asked, confused. So far, things were going much better than my last league battle.

"Charizard!" Lance threw out his Charizard. I decided to let Twinkle have this honor.

"Alright Twinkle!" I said. "Hit him with a Hydro Pump!"

*Twinkle missed*

"Uh-oh." Twinkle said as we saw Charizard's claw turn as dark as the distortion world.

"Shadow Claw." Lance said with a smirk.

*Twinkle has fainted*

"And there goes your water type." Lance said. "I hope you-"

"Powerball, Charge Beam!" I shouted as Powerball fell the mighty beast.

"3 for 3!" Powerball said dancing around. "Twinkle, you have been avenged."

Lance sent out his Dragonite.

"Wait…" I said. "Is that...Is that dragonite level 47? How?"

"Good trainers get their pokemon to evolve earlier than usual." Lance boasted, but Lucius was able to take it out with an Ice Fang.

"Blast it!" Lance said. "Why couldn't I have seen that coming?"

"Now to see your other pokemon!" I said.

"Geez…" Flint whispered to Liteweight on the sidelines (Because I was not going to use them against a dragon trainer.) "This is a pretty second rate battle."

"I agree." Liteweight said. "It looks like it'll be over soon. How do you think I should pose for my hall of fame statue?"

"Enough of this." Lance said as he sent out another, stronger Dragonite. Lucius couldn't kill it with an Ice Fang, and just nearly dodged a Blizzard.

"Shit, this thing knows Blizzard?"

"And Aqua Tail!" Lance said smiling.

The next 20 minutes of the match were me switching between Powerball and Lucius, using Lucius to try to get an Ice Fang in, while using Powerball to heal Lucius with full restores, and sometimes using Lucius to heal Powerball with full restores, It was quite a struggle on my part, with Lance chuckling all the while, finally, I had run out of healing items, Lucius was out and at very low hp, and the Dragonite was at full hp thanks to Lance's healing. Lucius only had one Ice Fang left. I had to go for it.

"We have to do this Lucius." I said. "I know that-"

"Master." Lucius said. "I'll be fine. We won't know if it works until we try."

I nodded. "Lucius, use Ice Fang!" I yelled.

"Dragonite, Aqua Tail!" Lance retaliated. The two pokemon lunged towards each other, until something Lucius was holding started to glow, and Lucius landed his hit on the Dragonite first.

*Critical Hit*

The Dragonite's tail became lifeless as the whole thing fell to the floor.

"Oh my Arceus, Lucius, you rock man!" I said as I returned him.

"Hahahaha!" Powerball said as he came out, still at full health. "Who's laughing now?"

"Heheheheh!" Lance said as he slowly pulled out his last pokeball and sent it out.

"Dragonite!" What a fucking spammer.

"Why I believe it's me!" He said as the music began to start.

"Powerball...Run."

"I must admit, your parlor tricks were amusing." Lance sang as Dragonite chased Powerball through the room. "I bet you've got a Bunnelby under your hat. Now here's your chance to get the best of me, hope your hand is hot. Come on, worm, let's see what you've got!"

"Powerball thunder!"

"You can try to slam me with your hardest stuff." Lance sang as his Dragonite effortlessly dodged the attack. "But your double whammy isn't up to snuff. I'll set the record straight, you're simply out of date, you're only second rate!"

"Charge beam!"

"Think your Litleo's a meanie, but your Pyroar's tame!" Lance sang as Dragonite absorbed the Charge beam easily. "You've got to learn about the training game, so for your education, I reiterate, you're only second rate! Men cower, at the power, in my weak link!" Lance sang. "My team is number one on every list."

"Thunderbolt!"

"But if you're not convinced that I'm invincible, put me to the test!" Lance sang as his dragonite brushed off the Thunderbolt like nothing. "I'd love to lay this rivalry to rest! Go ahead and zap me with the big surprise, put me in a trap, cut me down to size, I'll make a great escape, it's just a piece of cake, you're only second rate!"

The Dragonite proceeded to chase Powerball around the room as the music settled down, before finally catching him.

"Hank!" Powerball shouted. "I think the time has come."
"Are you sure, Powerball?" I asked. "I'll uhh-"

"Look, no one else is going to be able to stand up to this thing while it still has so much health and pp left!" Powerball reasoned. "But you have to yell this order."

"Well, any last words?" Lance asked as his dragonite began to tighten its grip on Powerball.

I had only one thing to say.

The explosion sent the whole place up in flames. Soon, Professor Oak, his radio DJ and Looker all came running in.

"Hank!" Looker was astounded. "Are you all right?"

"Not right now." I said as I searched through the wreckage to get the bodies of Twinkle and Powerball.

"He won!" Lyra said to Professor Oak. "Professor Oak, Hank's the new Indigo Champion!"

"Well now, my boy we need to induct you into the hall of fame right away!"

"Is it over?" Talon asked as he came out of his pokeball. "Are we done?"

"We won Talon." I said with a faint smile. "But they were the real heroes today." Twinkle and Powerball remained lifeless on the floor. I felt too much emotion. It had been so long since anyone had died, I almost forgot that they even could, and now, I was finally the Champion, but two of my close friends were dead.

"How's this pose?" Liteweight asked Flint as he tried to pose for his picture. "I want to be remembered as 'The Jumpluff that survived the pokemon league'!"

"You're the Jumpluff who barely participated in the pokemon league." Flint joked to him. "But I am Flint! The Conqueror of Nations!"

"I am Lucius, the lucky. In both senses of the word." Lucius said.

"And I'm Talon, the pissed that he couldn't at least battle one of Lance's pokemon, but at the same time relieved since my moveset was made specifically for female enemies, of which none of Lance's pokemon were, but at the same time depressed for those who gave their life for our cause."

*Hall of Fame*

"It is with great honor, that, as the only champion present in the room," Oak said. "That I induct you, Hank Coro, into the Hall of Fame, and bestow upon you, the title of Pokemon League Champion!"

Flint (Typhlosion Lv. 50) Met in New Bark Town

Talon (Pidgeot Lv. 48) Met on Route 29

Lucius (Steelix Lv. 46) Met in Cliff Cave

Liteweight (Jumpluff Lv. 45) Met on Route 31

Twinkle (Deceased Starmie Lv. 46) Met in Olivine City

Powerball (Deceased Electrode Lv. 49) Met in Team Rocket Hideout

Hank Coro, Age 16

Congratulations!

But we still had two things to attend to, the first was to find a way to defeat Lugia, and the second, was to kill Mewtwo and free the Indigo Area from the Nuzlocke rules, once and for all.