Maura recalled Migtyena to its Poke ball. "All right, Blaziken, go!" The Blaze Pokemon appeared in a flash of white light. "Blaziken's the perfect Pokemon to go against an Aggron like Ferro. Use Flamethrower!" A blast of fire shot out from its mouth.
"Ferro, use Sandstorm to stop it!" Sand surrounded its body and the attack was sent Blaziken's way, but it quickly dodged and was right above Ferro's head.
"Sky Uppercut!" Blaziken delivered a punch under Ferro's chin that was so powerful, it was sent into the air. "Now, Brave Bird!" Jumping over Ferro while he was in mid-air, it dove straight down and landed an impact on to the Aggron, which sent it plummeting to the ground and made it lose consciousness.
"Aggron is unable to battle! Blaziken wins!"
From the competitors' room where Edric was viewing the battle, he frowned. "Something's not right. Davin doesn't usually battle like this. What's going on?"
Ferro went back into his ball. "You were great. Take a good rest." Davin glared at the Fire/Fighting type Pokemon. "Ros, come back out!" The Swampert made its second appearance in the battle. "Use Muddy Water!"
"Blaziken, Substitute!" As soon as the tidal wave hit, Blaziken instantly vanished. "Brave Bird!" From above, Blaziken dove down and the latter suffered damage from the sneak attack.
Davin gritted his teeth. "I guess now is a good a time as any." He pointed to Blaziken. "Ros, use Hydro Cannon!" Ros focused all of its energy into its mouth and launched a large sphere of water at its opponent, which was successful in landing a super effective hit.
"No way! Hydro Cannon?!" Maura was shocked that it was able to learn that move so quickly.
"It may have taken the entire night to learn it, but it was way worth it!" Davin said.
"Well, Hydro Cannon doesn't allow Ros to move for a while, so we'll take this chance and attack with Sky Uppercut!" Although it was a bit shaken from the Hydro Cannon, the recoil damage from Brave Bird, and the health it lost from using Substitute, Blaziken rushed over and uppercutted Ros to make him fall over in pain. When the fire Pokemon returned to Maura's side, it started to pant heavily. "Oh no. Blaziken's starting to get tired." She thought when she noticed its condition. "I'll have to finish Ros fast if I want it to keep fighting."
"Blaziken's starting to wear down, but Ros isn't looking too good himself." Davin thought. "We'll have to finish it quick if we want to win!"
"Come on, Blaziken! Use the strength you have left for a strong Brave Bird!"
"Ros, put everything you've got into a powerful Hammer Arm!"
Blaziken's body became surrounded with a blue aura as it went forward while Ros's arm glowed a bright white as it ran; when they both were in range, Blaziken pushed against Ros's fist as the Swampert tried to push it back. The struggle lasted for a few more seconds until an explosion occurred from where they stood, causing smoke to block anyone from seeing. When the air blew away the smoke, both Pokemon lied flat on the ground, not moving.
"Both Pokemon are unable to battle! The match ends in a draw!"
"Now both of them only have two Pokemon left." Edric noted. "We already know who Davin has left, but what Maura has left is unpredictable."
Davin returned his Swampert. "Thanks, Ros. You were awesome."
Maura recalled Blaziken. "You did your best. I'm really proud of you."
Davin sent out his next choice. "Go, Kalis!" The Snorunt filled the position as his fifth Pokemon.
"Come on out, Banette!" Maura's Marionette Pokemon levitated into battle.
"All right. Ice Fang!" Teeth glowing light-blue, it ran toward Banette to bite it.
"Thunder Wave!" Banette shot a spark of electricity that caused Kalis to be paralyzed and unable to move. "Use Hidden Power!" Kalis was pelted by the small orbs that Banette created.
"Kalis, use Hail!" With its eyes closed from the pain, it shot the sphere of ice into the sky to form the hailstorm clouds. "Now, Icy Wind!"
"Go through it and use Shadow Claw!" Following orders, Banette flew into the sparkling ice wind with its left hand being engulfed in a black aura. Quickly, it slashed Kalis across his face and made him fall on his back; at that moment, Banette was ht by the hail that rained down.
"Can you stand?" Davin asked it.
"Sno... runt!" He attempted to, but the paralysis stopped him midway into it.
"Now, Banette! Hidden Power!" The orbs made their second successful hit and caused Kalis to be blown across the field, losing consciousness as the hail stopped.
"Snorunt is unable to battle! Banette wins!"
Davin frowned and returned Kalis. "This is it... my last Pokemon... but will she be able to beat Banette and Maura's last Pokemon?" He took a deep breath and exhaled. "No worries! I came too far to lose now!" He threw his last Poke ball. "I'm counting on you, Halo!"
"Beautifly~!" She trilled as she appeared.
"Let's win this, Banette! Use Thunder Wave!" The electricity was sent, but Davin ordered for Halo to dodge and it missed.
"Stun Spore!" Orange powder bathed the ghost's body as it came from Halo's wings, causing Banette to suffer a taste of its own medicine. "Now, use Energy Ball!" The green sphere of energy was launched and it hit the paralyzed target.
"Hang in there, Banette! Try using Hidden Power!" It struggled to lift its hand into the air as the orbs began to form themselves.
Davin smirked. "Halo, use Air Cutter!" She flapped her wings to send blades of air to hit Banette and stop it from using its move. "Now! Bug Buzz!" Red shockwaves struck Banette as they came from Halo's wings and the ghost Pokemon was knocked backwards, leading to it fainting.
"Banette is unable to battle! Beautifly wins!"
"Yes! Now it's down to one-on-one!" Davin silently cheered.
Maura returned her fallen Pokemon and, to Davin's surprise and bit of fear, she started to laugh. "Davin... it was great battling you..." She took out her last Poke ball. "But I've saved my best Pokemon for last and I doubt you'll be able to beat her!" She tossed the ball into the air and what came out of it caused some of the people in the audience to gasp: A Pokemon with a long, slender blue and white body with small wings on the sides of its head, a small horn on its forehead, and a small blue orb under its neck along with two other ones on the end of its tail.
"What is that?" Davin asked with slight admiration as he pulled out the Pokedex.
"Dragonair, the Dragon Pokemon. Dragonair is the evolved form of Dratini. It stores an enormous amount of energy inside its body and it is said to alter the weather around it by loosing energy from the crystals on its neck and tail."
"So, that's a Dragonair?! I've heard about how rare they were, but I've never actually seen one!" He said with disbelief.
Maura chuckled. "Aside from Blaziken, Dragonair was my powerhouse on my journey through Johto. Clair, the gym leader of my hometown, gave it to me when it was an egg and I've raised it to be a real tough fighter!"
Davin gave her an odd look. "You've been holding back on me... When I first met you, you seemed like a total novice when it came to Pokemon battles, but this whole time you've kept your true battling skills hidden so that you could try to balance your Pokemon for battles and contests... I get it now..."
Maura blushed and smiled. "Well, I sort of told you before: I came to Hoenn to start a different journey and focus more on my contest skills. If I had used the Pokemon I already had to win all the gym badges, it wouldn't have been as fun."
Davin nodded. "I see..."
Maura put on her serious face. "Well, enough talk; let's get this done! Dragonair, use Draco Meteor!" Its body glowed orange as a large orb of the same color formed in its mouth. Then, it launched it into the air where it exploded into smaller orbs that rained down like a meteor shower.
"Dodge it!" Using her quick speed, Halo managed to fly past all of them as they quickly came down. "Use Stun Spore!"
"Twister, Dragonair!" The crystal on its neck glowed as a medium sized tornado was released from it, getting rid of Stun Spore and trapping Halo within it. "Thunderbolt!" Its horn began to crackle with electricity and a beam of it was shot out to strike the Beautifly inside the Twister and cause super effective damage.
"Halo!" Davin screamed.
"And now for the Grand Finale!" Maura did an elegant twirl and pointed to the Twister. "Dragonair, use Dragon Rage!" It charged energy into its mouth and released a blast of energy so powerful, it caused a huge explosion that destroyed Twister, made Halo suffer massive damage, and created a wide range of brown dust-smoke that covered the whole entire arena.
Davin, Maura, and the audience shielded their eyes until things were seeable, which was a long-bodied dragon looking confident and a butterfly lying on its back on the ground, body covered entirely with dust and large swirls in its eyes.
"Beautifly is unable to battle! Dragonair wins! Therefore, Maura will advance to the final round!" The crowd cheered at the excellent display Maura had given and the girl couldn't help but wave and smile at them.
Davin stood there, eyes wide and mouth open in utter shock. He sighed and walked over to his Beautifly. Bending down on his knees, he asked, "You okay... Halo?"
"Beau... Beautifly..." It weakly spoke.
"Thank you. You were really great out there." He tried his best to smile, but he just couldn't muster it; he had lost the league again despite his commitment and hard work.
"Davin?" He looked up and saw Maura and her Dragonair. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah... I'm fine." He swallowed and stood up. "That was a great battle, Maura. I'm really happy you won." He smiled, extending his hand.
She shook it. "You were great too, Davin. You truly showed that wonderful spirit you had when I first met you." She smiled. "You're awesome!"
"Beau, Beau..." Halo said to Dragonair with a smile.
"Drag, Dragon." She nodded and smiled.
The two trainers recalled their Pokemon and exited the arena.
"The final match is now revealed!" The announcer said. "Tomorrow, Maura and Edric will battle for the title of Hoenn League Ever Grande Conference champion! This will definitely be a fantastic battle!"
