What's going on, folks? Today we've got a crossover chapter with tepigsfire758, and her characters will be appearing. Her main character, Maria, will be meeting and battling Owen, though I didn't write this chapter. Basically, I copy and pasted what she wrote and did some minor editing so that there weren't as many thoughts from her characters and more from mine. So, if you enjoy this chapter, go check out her story, 'Pokemon: Kalos Defenders'.
P.S: In tepigsfire758's story, Frogadier is still a Froakie because I didn't think he would've evolved until Owen's third gym battle
MCMXCV: Thanks! I'm excited about writing some more Charizard battles (there should be an epic one coming in Shalour), and Owen won't be competing in the contest, because there might be a character or two I have to introduce and write performances for ;)
Pokebat: Ya know, I never really got into Legend of Korra after season 1, probably because I grew up with Last Airbender, but I really liked the first season. And I'm waiting to showoff that temper, so it should be present in the near future
JaceWillcutt: Lol, I'm trying to give Charizard a habit when he battles (like blowing ember out of his nose), and screw the King… for now O_O
LightandSound: Well, it is high school, so I don't have nearly as much work as you do. And thanks! I wasn't sure how well I handled the death, so I'm glad to get some positive feedback. I hope college is going well, too!
NodokaLover: Even though she technically is, I count her as a normal type because fairy types weren't introduced until Kalos. But don't worry, Owen will be getting a fairy type, though it'll be the last Pokemon he catches in the region, so it won't happen for a long time
Guest: Thanks. And if you include May (which I don't, because I made her terrible) and Quinn (again, major screwup on my part), he has technically had three. Thanks for the review!
Charizard-King (guest): Thanks for the awesome compliments, they mean a lot. And I'm glad you're liking this story more than the others because I'm giving it everything I've got. Also, Charizard's my all-time favorite Pokemon ever since the anime and FireRed (b/c I started with him). Thanks for the review!
Guest: Don't worry, his next Pokemon will be from Kalos, and it'll happen a little after his gym battle with Grant. Thanks for the review!
Owen's team
Frogadier, (m), level 20, Pound, Lick, Bubble, Quick Attack, Water Pulse*, Smokescreen*
Charizard, (m), level 70, Flamethrower, Dragon Claw, Seismic Toss, Blast Burn, ?*, ?*
Butterfree, (f), level 22, Tackle, String Shot, Confusion, Gust, Poison Powder*, Sleep Powder*
Pikachu, (m), level 22, Thundershock, Quick Attack, Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Electro Ball*, Double Team*
The sun continued shining overhead as the group of four trainers walked along Route 7. The road seemed to go on forever, making Owen feel anxious. It hadn't even taken him a week to get his first badge of the Kalos league, but the amount of time that had passed since then was frustrating to say the least. Charizard and Frogadier both didn't realize their trainer's anxiety, but the rest of the group did. The issues that occurred at Parfum Palace only added to his anger, making it blatantly obvious that he was about to explode.
"He seems pretty annoyed," Brooklyn started while eyeing the other fifteen year old. "I'm worried about him." She blushed almost immediately after hearing what she had said, but neither Cindy nor Eddy heard. Fennekin, on the other hand, laughed quietly at her trainer. She found it funny that Brooklyn refused to say that she liked Owen, and that Owen was too oblivious to see why Brooklyn decided to travel with him. Litleo laughed along with his fire type companion, sharing the same thoughts as Fennekin.
Suddenly, the road ended. An army of trees stood in between Owen and his destination, causing the teen to scream in frustration.
"Damnit! Why is it taking so long to get to fricking Cyllage City!?" He then turned around to see scared looks on everyone's faces, including Frogadier and Charizard. "Sorry, guys. I guess I want to get their because I haven't had a gym battle in a while," Owen fibbed while hanging his head in shame.
"Don't worry about it. Besides, we have to get there soon. Brooklyn's contest is starting up in three days," Cindy replied calmly, causing Owen's head to shoot up with a large grin spread across his face. His performance convinced everyone else, and they left him alone.
"I bet we could probably cut through here and get to Cyllage City a lot faster than if we went around," Eddy opined while Frogadier hopped to his side with a bright grin. "Let's go!" the eight year old shouted before running through the trees.
"Eddy, wait up!" Cindy shouted while running after the youngest of the group while Fennekin and Litleo trailed close behind.
"I guess we should follow after them," Owen told Brooklyn, trying to strike a conversation. The girl nodded while Owen used his fingers to whistle. Brooklyn attempted to say something to Owen, but shrieked in terror when she felt a claw grab and then lift her into the air. Owen felt the same claw grab him before hearing Charizard roar powerfully. The fire and flying type took off high into the air and began to pursue Eddy.
"I hate you!" Brooklyn cried as she looked over at the boy that was laughing like a child. One second he'd do something so stupid, and then the next second he'd do something so heroic and captivating. A rush of heat spread across the girl's face and her peachy skin turned bright red. As he turned, Owen looked at Brooklyn worriedly. He didn't want her throwing up because that would make him sick, and there was no telling how Charizard would react.
"Rawr!" the aforementioned Pokemon roared as he spotted Eddy, Froakie, Cindy, and Fennekin in the middle of a clearing. The winged lizard zipped straight down towards the ground at such a high velocity that Owen and Brooklyn felt like their faces were going to be torn off by the wind. Thankfully for them, Charizard knew how to stop himself and he landed on the ground softly before letting go of the two fifteen year olds.
"Fro-Fro!" Frogadier exclaimed as he ran over to Owen and Charizard. The intimidating Kanto starter beamed when Frogadier jumped up and rested on his back, causing Eddy and Cindy to laugh at how un-intimidating the enormous orange Pokemon looked.
"I don't think I've ever actually seen Charizard get angry before," Cindy said between laughs.
"Come to think of it, I don't think any of us have seen Charizard not be happy or in a good mood," Brooklyn cried in realization. "Of course, Eddy's only been with us for a few days." The eight year old grinned at the comment and nodded as Owen walked over to his two starters with a grin on his face.
Charizard began scratching his chin, trying to think if he'd actually been angered enough to go berserk. He had, but that was when it was just him, Owen, and Froakie traveling by themselves.
"Well, Charizard hasn't actually had to battle yet. The only person with a Pokemon even close to his level was King George" Owen responded while looking back at Charizard, intentionally leaving Ariel's and Frank's name off the list. Frogadier nodded, remembering each of those battles and how incredibly powerful Charizard and his opponents were.
The water frog looked around, realizing that the flat land that he was standing on would be perfect for training, so he hopped off of Charizard's neck and took a boxing pose while facing his mentor.
"It looks like Frogadier wants to spar with Charizard," Eddy noted. He then watched as Owen laughed heartily at the water type's actions.
"Okay. I guess we can stop for a little bit. Is that okay with you, Brooklyn?" Owen asked, referring to the girl's upcoming contest. She nodded with a smile, which gave Frogadier a rush of adrenaline. "Here we go! Frogadier, use Bubble!" Frogadier jumped in the air while spinning before rearing back to unleash the super effective attack.
Just before he could, however, he was zapped by a powerful electric shock. Frogadier then fell to the ground with slight burns on his body, which caused everyone to gasp and run to the injured Pokemon's side.
"Frogadier, hang in there," Owen told his Kalos starter while Cindy dug through her bag and pulled out a Potion. She then began to spray the injured Pokemon with the medicine, which healed most of the burns instantly.
Charizard stared while the blue Pokemon slowly got back up. A sudden burst of rage seemed to take control of his brain, and Charizard began to roar as loud as he possibly could. Flashbacks of his battle with Frank's Dragonite flashed through his mind, and he remembered how close he was to losing Owen and Frogadier, and that wasn't going to happen again. With a powerful flap of his wings, Charizard took to the skies and bolted in the direction of the electric attack.
"Charizard, stop!" Owen yelled as he watched his first Pokemon speed through the air. "I'm going to follow after him. Make sure Frogadier is okay," Owen ordered before looking back up at Charizard and running after him.
000
Charizard searched the ground aggressively, hoping to find the thing that attacked Frogadier. Out of the corner of his eye, a group of small dots caught his eye. Without any hesitation, he swooped down towards the unknown group.
000
Meanwhile, Owen lost track of Charizard after his descent. The gigantic trees blocked his view of the sky, so he grabbed a Pokeball off of his belt as quickly as he could.
"Butterfree, take to the skies and find Charizard!" Owen commanded. The gigantic purple butterfly appeared from his Pokeball and nodded at Owen before taking off into the sky. Because of Butterfree's vibrant wing pattern, Owen had no trouble following the huge bug type. A thought of fear suddenly crept into Owen's mind as he thought about the possible havoc Charizard was creating. If someone got hurt… that would be terrible.
"Fwee! Fwee!" Butterfree cried as he began circling above the land about a hundred feet in front of Owen.
"Come on, Charizard, don't do anything stupid!"
000
Charizard landed on the ground and glared at the Pokemon that had attacked Froakie. It was a measly Pikachu, a Pokemon he wasn't fond of. Just the mere sight of the electric rodent made Charizard so angry that he began to use Dragon Claw. The electric rodent managed to dodge the attack before she darted over to a girl, presumably her trainer. The girl was about 5"4 and had fair skin along with honey-blonde hair. She was wearing a pair of denim jeans along with a pink jacket over a pink shirt. Charizard glared at her; his burning green eyes meeting her shiny blues. He then went back to glaring at the shaking Pikachu, who tried using her trainer's hair as a shield.
Even though he wasn't looking at them, Charizard saw the female trainer exchanging glances with two other boys who were about her age. The rage that Charizard had felt when he watched Froakie get zapped unexpectedly returned, causing him to lean his head back and charging the most deadly Blast Burn he would ever unleash.
A small brown hedgehog-like creature with a green hood and spikes on his head began jumping up and down frantically, trying to make Charizard stop what he was doing. The Pokemon's efforts went in vein, however, because Charizard refused to stop his attack. As he prepared to unleash the attack, he saw that the girl had moved in front of both of her Pokemon while sticking her arms straight out to the sides.
"NO! Don't do that!" a voice shrieked from afar. Charizard stopped his attack and turned around to see Owen running towards him while putting Butterfree's Pokeball back on his Pokebelt.
"Rawr?" Charizard asked as the anger in his body disappeared instantly. He then gave his trainer and the girl an embarrassed look before looking back into the trees as if he had heard something.
"Owen!" Brooklyn, Cindy, and Eddy all shouted as they arrived at the scene. The three then looked up at Charizard and at everyone else, seeing that the large lizard hadn't hurt anyone. Owen eyed all three of his companions, seeing that Eddy was holding Froakie in his arms. The burn marks looked to be healing rapidly, which was a good sign.
"Is this your Pokemon?" the girl asked.
Owen nodded before explaining Charizard's actions. "I have to apologize. I guess he got angry at your Pikachu."
The girl seemed confused over the comment, so she asked embarrassedly, "Did she do something wrong?"
"I think she might have zapped my Frogadier by accident. Eddy, could you bring him over here?" Owen asked, almost like a command. He watched as Eddy rushed over to the girl and held Frogadier out so she could see him. "See? He looks a little injured." Owen pointed out.
"Oh Arceus. I'm sorry. We were only training and I guess Pikachu misfired and hit your Frogadier," the girl apologized before bowing several times.
"Oh, you don't have to apologize. After all, Owen did almost let Charizard kill you," Brooklyn said to the girl while walking over to her. Owen shook his head at Brooklyn's comment before hearing the girl speak up.
"Yeah… could you explain that?" the girl asked.
With a nod of his head, Owen, Eddy, Cindy, and Brooklyn followed the girl back to her campsite while Froagdier and Charizard trailed close behind.
000
After sitting down on the grass, the two groups were parallel to each other, causing a somewhat awkward setting.
"First off, I'm Owen Pleateau," Owen greeted before looking over at his three companions.
"I'm Brooklyn."
"Hello. I'm Cindy."
"The name's Eddy."
Then, the other group introduced themselves.
"I am Maria," the blonde girl told the group of four.
"I'm Inferno," a red haired boy greeted. His hair looked strikingly similar to that of a volcano, which caused Owen to think the boy was weird. However, he kept a smile on his face and looked over at the third member of Maria's traveling group.
"And I'm Inferno's little brother, Nova," the green haired boy announced. He didn't look anything like Inferno. It was almost as if he was born into a different family. Shaking this off, Owen prepared to speak.
He clapped his hands in order to get everyone's attention, which worked successfully. "You see, after Froagdier got hurt, Charizard got angry. And to protect his teammate, I guess he tried killing your Pikachu," Owen told Maria, not wanting to say anything about the closeness of his two starters.
"Yeah, well you should've done something about that before Charizard flew off!" Brooklyn criticized. She then received the most evil look she had ever seen, causing her to shut up immediately. Cindy and Eddy laughed quietly to themselves while Owen continued.
"Would you just let me talk?" Owen questioned angrily.
"You're just really lucky Charizard didn't hurt them. Imagine if we were too late," she warned with an angry frown on her face.
"That would have been problematic, but I have a favor to ask of you, Owen," Maria interrupted.
"What's up?" Owen quizzed.
Maria then shot up off the ground and shouted, "I challenge you to a battle!" There was a smirk on her face, and her Chespin began to punch the air in a taunting manner.
"Well that was quick," Nova muttered in annoyance.
Owen stood up and matched Maria's excitement. "Sounds fun. But just to warn you; I'm pretty tough," Owen replied while Eddy nodded in confirmation.
With that, the two prepared for battle.
000
The two groups of trainers stood several dozen feet away from the campsite, and Owen and Maria were ready to battle. Charizard and Frogadier stood next to Owen while Eddy, Cindy, and Brooklyn were off to the side with Nova and Inferno, who was acting as the referee of the battle. Maria stood opposite of Owen and was tossing a Pokeball in her hand as Inferno began to speak.
"This will be a three versus three battle between Maria and Owen! Both trainers may substitute their Pokemon freely, and this battle will be over when all Pokemon on one side are unable to battle! Now, choose your first Pokemon!"
"Chespin, I choose you!" Maria shouted as she threw the Pokeball in her hand. Owen looked over at Frogadier and moved his head slightly, motioning for the water type to battle.
"Frogadier, let's go!" Owen screamed loudly, prompting Frogadier to leap several times before squaring off with Chespin. The two Kalosian starters took their battle stances with grins on their faces, and Inferno looked at both sides before raising his arms in the air.
"This battle will be between Chespin and Frogadier! Begin!"
"We'll go first! Chespin, use Vine Whip to pull Frogadier in!" The brown hedgehog fired two green vines from his palms that flew across the grass and were aimed at the water type. Thinking quickly, Owen issued a counterattack to his evolved starter.
"Dodge, Frogadier!" Owen commanded. Frogadier hopped around like a ninja and avoided every super-effective swing from Chespin's vines, irritating the grass type. For a split second, Owen took his focus off of the battle and looked over at Charizard, who nodded at him. The trainer somehow understood Charizard's unclear nod, but he turned back to the battlefield when he heard Maria.
"Chespin, use Tackle!" The grass type sprinted across the grass and checked his amphibian enemy, sending Frogadier back a few feet. The larger Pokemon frowned at his foe, and he began to charge towards Chespin as quickly as he could.
"Use your frubbles to cover his eyes!" Frogadier grabbed ahold of the foamy bubbles growing from his neck and threw them like ninja stars. With precise aim the frubbles hit Chespin's face, blinding the tiny grass type. Maria bit her lower lip and, without warning, Owen suddenly attacked again. "Now, Quick Attack!" Frogadier sprinted towards Chespin at a fast pace and ran by the grass type's side, skimming his ribs. "Now do it again!" Owen screamed. Frogadier ran back and skimmed Chespin once more. Once Frogadier turned back around he yelled at himself for not capitalizing on the opportunity he had with Chespin being blinded, but Maria paid no attention.
Seeing that Chespin wasn't able to clear his eyes, Maria shouted in desperation, "Wrap your vines around Frogadier!" Chespin blindly fired two more vines out of his brown palms and, this time, they were just fast enough to immobilize Frogadier by wrapping themselves around the water type's legs. Owen, Brooklyn, and Cindy gasped at the strategic attack while Eddy pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil. He then began scribbling down notes while occasionally looking up at the battle.
"Throw him in the air and use Vine Whip rapidly!" Maria ordered. With a mighty throw, Chespin sent Frogadier flying into the air, and the frog began to flail around uncomfortably as he realized how high in the air he was. The grass type then started to slap his vines around the air blindly, and he somehow managed to land a barrage of slaps on Frogadier.
Owen bit his lower lip as Frogadier cried out in pain after hitting the ground, and he commanded another attack. "Hit him with Water Pulse!" The bubble frog Pokemon landed on the ground and he sprinted over to his enemy while a ball of water formed in his hand. In a pit of rage, Frogadier sent his arm flying forwards, and the Water Pulse exploded on contact with Chespin.
Maria's Chespin cringed a bit and he started to shout at the air. With the frubbles on his eyes, his ribs hurting, and his stomach feeling horrible, he didn't feel like he could continue battling. "Ches! Chespin! PIN!"
"Return!" Maria yelled, realizing that Chespin was crying for help. She aimed a Pokeball at her starter and let the red beam hit him, teleporting Chespin into the capsule. "Fletchling I choose you!" With an underhand toss Maria sent another Pokeball forward that, once again, opened in mid-air. A bright white light shot out of it and the small robin Pokemon appeared.
"Chling chling. Fletchling!" the male Fletchling sang as he hovered in mid-air in a somewhat majestical manner. Owen looked over at Frogadier to see several red marks covering his body, but the water type wasn't touching them or wincing in pain, so Owen decided to let him continue battling.
"This battle will be between Fletchling and Frogadier! Begin!"
"Use Razor Wind!" Maria shouted energetically as she pointed at Frogadier. The robin Pokemon's wings began to shine white and he flapped them rapidly, causing white crescents of energy to slice through the air.
"Counter with Bubble!" Owen countered..
Frogadier then started to blow bubbles to protect himself. The crescents of energy collided with the bubbles and, after a few seconds, the Razor Wind broke through and began to pelt Frogadier. Over and over they crashed into his blue colored body, but Owen could only watch his Pokemon take the attack head-on.
After a while, the attacks stopped and Frogadier fell backwards unconsciously. Owen cursed under his breath as he withdrew Frogadier back to his Pokeball, but he quickly took out another hi-tech device.
"Frogadier is unable to battle! Owen, choose your next Pokemon!" Inferno ordered as he raised his right arm in the air, signaling Maria had won the round.
"Thanks for the great effort, Frogadier. Take a long rest." Owen then nodded at the red-haired boy and chucked his second Pokeball in the air while calling out the animal's name. "Butterfree, let's go!" The Pokeball opened up and revealed the trusty bug type, who looked happy to be in battle again.
"Fweeh!" she chimed while circling over Owen's head.
"This battle will be between Fletchling and Butterfree! Begin!"
"Fletchling use Flame Charge!" The robin Pokemon flew straight at its target while being drenched in bright red flames, and Eddy began scribbling on his notepad furiously. The two older girls sitting next to him peered over at the messy piece of paper, but were unable to decipher his messy handwriting.
Owen swung both his arms forward and acted like he was trying to catch Fletchling. "Use Confusion to stop it, Butterfree!" After hearing her order, Butterfree's eyes flashed pink and she fired a blast of red energy at her speeding opponent. The attack crushed Fletchling and sent him flying into the ground, and a bit of dust shot up around his tiny body and drifted into the air.
"Now follow up with Gust! Then, when he's open, use Tackle!" Owen roared. Butterfree's wings turned light blue as she flapped them violently which, in turn, created a strong stream of wind. The normal and flying type let out a loud screech as he was slashed by the spiraling wind, and everyone sitting on the side of the battle gaped at Butterfree's power. Owen grinned at the strength of his Pokemon and nodded to himself, but stopped shortly afterwards.
As the Gust attack rampaged on Fletchling continued to cringe in pain, which caused his trainer to order another attack. "Strike before she can attack again! Use Razor Wind!" Without hesitation, Maria's Fletchling prepared an attack that caused his wings to glow white. However, the constant wind hammering his tiny body caused Fletchling to lose his balance, and he was left defenseless.
"Butterfree, Tackle!" Butterfree immediately stopped flapping her wings and she zipped through the air and towards her tiny robin opponent. However, right before the purple bug could slam her body against Fletchling's, the tiny bird unleashed crescents of energy right when his enemy had collided with him. The result of the collision ended with Fletchling being slammed into the ground while Butterfree was barely hampered by the Razor Wind that had just struck her.
Maria bent down and stared at her Pokemon with a sorrowful look in her eyes, and she picked Fletchling up off the ground and kissed his forehead thankfully. After zapping Fletchling inside his spherical home, Maria shot up and smiled. "Owen, you're pretty good. I excepted nothing less, but..."
"But what?" Owen quizzed, curious to hear Maria's words.
An evil grin covered Maria's face. Her eyebrows were at a diagonal angle, and a grin was present and a small fire was building inside her eyes. Owen and everyone else waited for the girl to continue her sentence, which she did after a dramatic moment of silence.
"But I already know how I will win," she announced smugly.
"What are you talking about?" Owen asked, trying to keep himself from laughing at the girl's determination. It wasn't meant to be in a condescending manner, but it would've been out of excitement.
A breeze carrying several leaves ran across Maria's face. Silence was the only exsting sound at the time until she finally opened her mouth. "Your battle style is... using the field. First you had a land based Frogadier use Quick Attack to confuse my somewhat slow Chespin." The blonde girl snapped one of her fingers and continued. "Then you had your Butterfree stand at the same level as my Fletchling and unleashed gusts of wind to prevent him from taking flight." She twirled in place and removed another Pokeball from her belt before stopping and grinning wildly. "Now your last Pokemon is no doubt your Charizard. Who will stay in the air for most of the battle to stay out of reach."
Every single person and Butterfree was silent.
"Does she actually think I'm going to use Charizard? Jeez, she must think I'm an ass. And that strategy was just a coincidence!"
Maria prepared a throw by bending her arm back. "Now prepare for my unexpected fighter! Charmander, I choose you!" She threw the Pokeball with all her might and it popped open, revealing an orange, bipedal lizard with a flame at the end of its tail.
"MANDER!" the fire type cried his battle cry. Owen couldn't help but smile and glance over at Charizard, remembering that his starter used to be a measly little Charmander when they started their journey five years ago.
"This battle will be between Charmander and Butterfree! Begin!"
"You ready, Owen?" Maria asked, still smiling after 'figuring out' Owen's 'stratey'.
"How did you figure out I was gonna use Charizard?" Owen asked, not wanting to make Maria feel like an idiot.
"I may not be the most patient or smartest gal, but my dad was a battle master and he taught me how to notice even the smallest things in battle. And that's why I expect to win! Charmander spin and use Flamethrower!" Maria yelled out all at once. Her lizard began to spin in place while breathing fire, creating a cyclone of red hot fury that rose 20 feet off the ground and surrounded Charmander like he was prey. However, the true prey was the Butterfree.
"Now spin towards Butterfree!" Even though no one could see Charmander, he obeyed and began to spin towards Butterfree. Charizard looked at the impressive display intently while rubbing his chin. The fire Maria's Charmander was creating reminded him of Heatmor, which would definitely help Maria on her journey.
Meanwhile, Inferno sparkled with amazement and gushed over the stunning attack. "That looks so cool! It would be a great contest move."
"Hey you're supposed to be the ref, remember?" Nova asked rhetorically.
Inferno noticed his childish behavior and calmed down, coughing and clearing his throat in embarrassment. "Umm sorry." he replied sheepishly.
After that, Owen ordered another attack. "Use Confusion to stop that thing!"
"Oh no you don't! Charmander, jump out and use Metal Claw!" The fire type sprung into the air as his claws became metallic, and he struck a very ineffective attack on his opponent. Butterfree looked unfazed by the steel type attack, and she continued flying over Owen's head. "Now use Flamethrower!" Maria shouted. The giant cyclone behind Charmander has vanished into thin air already, so he unleashed even more flames from his mouth, this time at Butterfree. The result was the purple butterfly getting scorched, and she began to fall towards the ground.
"Butterfree, fly back in the air!" Owen shouted in frustration after he failed to help Butterfree evade the super effective attack. Butterfree took off quickly and began circling Charmander, presenting the perfect opportunity to strike the fire type. "Poison Powder!" Butterfree spat out purple powder from her tiny blue mouth that began to surrounded the field and it engulfed Charmander.
All five trainers on the side of the battlefield covered their faces and backed away from the battle until they felt they were at a safe distance.
Aware of the dangerous effects, Maria was concerned for her Pokemon. "Charmander, don't breathe that stuff in!" The tiny lizard obeyed by taking a quick breath of air and holding it in before the status move could get close enough to harm him.
Now things were slowly shifting to Owen's advantage, and both trainers could sense the momentum swing. "Butterfree, use Tackle!" The giant bug obeyed and shifted from flying to performing a nose dive straight towards Charmander.
Seeing this, Maria frantically called to her Charmander. "Charmander, do a backwards hop!" Charmander jumped backwards, allowing the fully evolved bug type to crash into the ground in front of him, presenting the perfect opportunity to attack. While Butterfree took damage from slamming into the ground, a dust cloud rose and made it harder for Charmander to breathe.
His tiny claws could hardly cover his mouth and the need to breathe made things very hard. Charmander's face started to turn purple, not because of the poison, but because he was running out of oxygen.
Slowly, he was tempted to remove a claw and refresh his lungs, but the poisonous powder was waiting for him to do that. Owen grinned at Maria's predicament, but was stunned when he heard her counterattack.
"Charmander, open your mouth and use Scratch on your self!" Charmander eyed his trainer with a hint of doubt while Inferno, Nova, Brooklyn, Cindy, Eddy, Charizard, and Owen stared at Maria as if she were a lunatic.
After removing his claws from his mouth, Maria's fire type immediately started to slash himself with his overgrown nails. Cutting into his torso, Charmander cringed, but he believed in his trainer.
"Now stop once you know Blaze has been activated!" Maria ordered.
Owen clenched his fits in shock, the ref was confused, Butterfree was confused, and even the people watching were unaware. Only the honey blonde, the male brunette, and the bald red lizard understood why Maria was doing this. Charizard also understood, but he kept a stone cold look on his face.
Suddenly, Charmander stopped his self destruction because his tail flame grew double in size, and he looked up at Butterfree with a devilish smirk.
"Use Flamethrower!" Maria screamed.
"Stop him! Use Tackle!" Owen screamed even louder.
Butterfree launched herself forward and began to flap her wings to gain speed, and Charmander unleashed a large stream of fire. Owen and Maria waited for the outcome of the colliding attacks, and an explosion occurred. Butterfree had tackled into Charmander when the flames began to spew out and, due to poor timing, this caused the fire type to not release an abundant amount of flames. A large blast blew them both back onto their backs, and the two Pokemon were out cold.
"Both Pokemon are unable to battle! Send out your last Pokemon!" Inferno yelled while raising both of his arms in the air.
"Awesome job, Butterfree. You were incredible," Owen informed the fainted Pokemon as he zapped her back into her Pokeball.
Maria also zapped her unconscious Pokemon back into his Pokeball, and she grabbed her final Pokeball. Owen prepared to do the same, but an orange arm shot in front of his face. The teen turned to see Charizard release embers from his nostrils, signaling that he was determined to win the battle. After he heard Maria's comments - which weren't intended to come off as arrogant - Charizard wanted to crush her chances of winning, though Owen was unaware of his desire.
"Charizard, if you battle, you have to go as easy as possible. I don't want you hurting any of Maria's Pokemon," Owen whispered to the fire and flying type, who nodded. "Charizard, I choose you!" Owen exclaimed with a smile.
"Chespin, I choose you!" Maria shouted with a powerful underhand toss.
The brown and green hedgehog stood barely over one foot tall while the winged lizard measured in at a menacing 8 feet. His wingspan was just as long, and even his tail was longer than Chespin.
"Chespin? Ches?" the grass type muttered under his breath. He turned around and smiled nervously at his trainer before sweat dropping once he locked eyes with Charizard.
"This battle will be between Chespin and Charizard! Begin!" Inferno announced.
"Don't worry, he's very weak to rock type moves. Hit him with Rollout!" Maria ordered while punching the air with one of her fists. Like Sonic the hedgehog, Chespin curled into a ball and spun in place before blasting forward at a blazing pace.
"Grab him," Owen ordered nonchalantly. Charizard reached forward and completely canceled out Chespin's attack with a blindingly quick grab. Everyone gasped at Charizard's lightning quick reflexes, but the lizard kept his cool and focused on ending the battle.
Chespin stopped spinning when he realized he was in the grip of a giant winged lizard, and the unevovled starer gulped. "Charizard, use a close range Flamethrower!" The winged lizard let a supper effective stream of hot flames loose, and Chespin was charred to a crisp. Once Charizard stopped his attack, Chespin was badly injured. Surprisingly, Chespin started to glow blue, and his body began to transform.
Through the light, you could see his body morph into a larger and more round creature. Once the light vanished a very chubby creature with brown and green fur appeared. The tips at the end of his ears looked like carrots and some sort of hair stuck out of his forehead.
"Wow, you evolved into a Quilladin! I wonder..." Maria took out her Pokedex and scanned her grass type while Owen and Charizard waited patiently. Her mechanical encyclopedia then talked in a female voice.
"Your Quilladin has learned the following moves: Needle Arm and Solar Beam."
The blonde teen and her hedgehog clapped excitedly, causing Owen and Charizard to sweat drop. "Quilladin use Needle Arm!" The chubby mammalian Pokemon extended his right arm and spikes grew out of it, and it also began to glow a neon green color. Quilladin jumped forward and swung his arm, whacking the side of Charizard's head. The attack, however, did little damage.
Owen took a deep breath, knowing his next command was going to end the battle, even if Charizard put no effort into it. "Use Blast Burn!" he ordered.
"Quilladin, Solar Beam!" The orange tips at the end of Quilladin's head started to glow white and started to suck in sunlight. As this happened, Charizard's body was covered in a crimson veil, and he opened his mouth while rearing his neck back.
"FIRE!" Both trainers boomed as they threw their arms forward. Charizard and Quilladin unleashed wicked blasts of fire and sunlight that collided in the middle of the battlefield. Charizard, however, was still too strong for Quilladin. The horizontal tornado of fire crashed through the ray of sunlight, and Quilladin was obliterated by the fearsome attack. After being scorched, Quilladin fell on his face and Maria ran to his side.
"Quilladin is unable to battle! That means Owen is the winner!" Inferno announced as he pointed his left index finger at Owen and Charizard, who both grinned. After that, Owen walked over to Maria as she withdrew her ugly Pokemon back to his Pokeball, and she looked up at him.
"That was a great battle, though I shouldn't have used Charizard," Owen told her while sheepishly rubbing his neck.
"What're you talking about? Facing Charizard was great practice for me and Quilladin, and it'll only make us stronger!" Maria proclaimed as her friends walked over to her while Owen's walked towards him. The fiery girl's words caused Owen to laugh slightly, as he saw a bit of himself in her. She was definitely one of the stronger trainers he had faced in his years of traveling, and she was sure to get stronger.
"Rivals?" Owen quizzed, raising his hand for a high-five.
Maria smiled in response and nodded. "You bet!" she replied before smacking her hand against his.
Both trainers smiled, and after a few hours, went their separate ways.
"She sure was tough," Cindy opined as she, Brooklyn, Eddy, and Owen walked down the road towards Cyllage City.
"Agreed. I think she might be your toughest rival because you two are so similar," Brooklyn added with a cheeky grin. "I guess you won't be able to pull any fast ones over her if you battle again."
"That may be true, but I'm up for the challenge!" Owen exclaimed while pumping his fist in the air, causing Brooklyn to smile to herself.
"You know, there's a place a little further ahead called the Battle Chateau. There are some tough trainers there, so you could visit to get some extra practice in for your gym battle," Eddy informed Owen as he put his notebook in his red backpack.
"That's a good idea, but how close is it to Cyllage?" Brooklyn asked the young boy.
"Maybe three hours, so there's definitely enough time for us to get there for your contest."
"Then it's settled! Watch out, Battle Chateau, Owen Plateau is coming!"
As the group of trainers continued walking down the road, a woman and her Gardevoir watched them from afar with grins on their faces.
"It's time, Gardevoir. We finally get to battle Owen Plateau."
Damn, there's still another three chapters before Owen's gym battle with Grant, but at least we'll be getting some character development! Also, Owen beat Maria, but he used Charizard instead of Pikachu, so I guess he cheated. Also, I know it wasn't stated that Eddy was officially a part of the group, but I wrote this chapter (the point up until the battle) about six months ago, and he was originally supposed to be introduced in the first ten chapters, so sorry if I didn't make it a big deal. Till next time, peace out.
Next Chapter: Taking the Chateau by Storm: Owen and co. arrive at the Battle Chateau and Owen looks for his first opponent, but is disappointed to find that no one is his rank. However, a mysterious woman challenges Owen and reveals her identity. As they begin their battle, Ariel arrives and spectates. Will Owen defeat this mystery woman?
Cyllage Arc Chapters
Chapter 19: The Cyllage City Contest
Chapter 20: Hardcore Parkour
Chapter 21: Save the Fossils!