Plot-Scorbunny 8: Ruby vs. Alain Part 1

Ruby Silverlock strode onto the pitch of Wyndon Stadium, greeted once again by an explosion of tumultuous noise as the crowd screamed and cheered for their Champion. It was a sound that never failed to overwhelm her and get her pumped up for the match at hand. It was a sound that made her feel as if she couldn't possibly lose, not when she had the support of everyone in Galar at her side. As her named was chanted by the audience, Ruby was left feeling as if the whole region was with her and that she could achieve anything. She would need all the support she could get for this match for Ruby was against one of the strongest trainers in the world. While he was no Champion, his feats were still impressive to list and he stood tall as the winner of the Kalos League, an opponent so strong that even the impressive Ash Ketchum had failed to defeat him. That boy's name was Alain.

Alain was from the Kalos region. He was roughly the same age as Ruby. He looked strong and fit and was dressed in a black jacket, grey trousers, black boots and fingerless gloves. He wore a blue scarf around his neck with two strands sticking up behind him. This caused him to look as if he was the human version of Mega Charizard X…which just so happened to be his own personal ace. Ruby took in Alain's appearance and thought him to be a handsome looking boy but with a noticeable edge to him. The look in his eyes said it all: serious and not an opponent to take lightly. Ruby knew all too well that Alain was no joke. He was the boy who won the Kalos League with only Ash giving him any real struggle after all. He and his powerful Mega Charizard had achieved a lot of impressive feats and scored some impressive wins over the course of their journey together. And now here he was, ready to challenge her for the title of Galar Champion. One thing was for certain, she was going to make him work hard for that win!

"So…here you are. Alain…in the flesh." Ruby acknowledged, "I'm quite excited to battle you, if I can be massively honest. Your track record is quite impressive. And I don't often get to battle against Mega Evolution trainers."

"I'll give you a battle you won't forget." Alain declared, "I've heard much about what a powerful Champion you are, Ruby. As someone who once desired to be the strongest there was, I have to see that strength for myself!"

"So that was your big goal in life, huh?" Ruby asked with interest, "And why did you strive to "be the strongest" as you say?"

"To protect those that I love." Alain answered.

"And who do you love exactly?" Ruby murmured.

She wouldn't be surprised if he had a girlfriend waiting for him back home or something.

"I have a friend who's watching me in the audience right now." Alain explained, "Her name's Mairin and she's been a close friend of mine. There's her, there's Professor Sycamore and many others whom I fight for. If I'm the strongest, I can keep those I love safe from any threat."

"That's quite a noble goal there. I like that." Ruby said approvingly, "It's a lot like me and why I do what I do as Champion of Galar. I do it to protect my region from threats and keep those I love safe from harm."

She glanced to the audience and smiled at her boyfriend, Hop, who was sitting at the front row and waving to her. Naturally he was here in person for he never missed any of her matches. Sapphire and Ashley were watching from Ashley's house over in the Unova region so they couldn't make it this time. But Emerald and Tony were able to. They were beside Hop along with their new friend, a girl from the Paldea region named Liko whom they'd befriended just today. Ruby had met Liko when the Brave Asagi arrived in Wyndon an hour ago. Liko had naturally felt a little star struck but had been keen to meet Ruby. She and Emerald had told the Champion all about their adventures together.

"My pendant even saved Emerald from being hit by Ceruledge's Psycho Cut!" Liko finished breathlessly.

"In that case, I'm forever indebted to you mate." Ruby said, shaking Liko's hand graciously, "You saved my sister's life and I can't thank you enough for that. As a token of appreciation, I'll let you and your mates on that ship watch the match free of charge. No need to buy any tickets."

"Oh r-really? Thank you so much!" Liko said gratefully, "That's so nice of you!"

"You saved my sister! Why shouldn't I be nice to you in return?" Ruby joked, "I hope you enjoy the match Liko. I assure you that you've not seen Pokémon battles until you've watched me in action." she added, winking.

"Me and Sprigatito will be watching you all the way!" Liko declared.

"Meow!" Sprigatito concurred.

Ruby waved to Hop, Emerald, Tony and Liko now as the announcer's voice boomed out of the speakers.

"From the Kalos region: Alain Silver. From Postwick Town: our current Champion…Ruby Silverlock!"

The crowd cheered for both sides. As Alain had said, his friend Mairin was in the audience too and was cheering for her friend along with her partner and closest friend, a Chespin she'd nicknamed Chespie.

"Go for it Alain! Show the Champion your true power!" Mairin cheered.

"Chespin!" Chespie cheered as well.

"Pokémon Trainers: Standby." the announcer boomed.

The stadium fell silent as the audience held its breath and waited for the battle to begin. Liko was amazed to see how so many people could suddenly fall so quiet. It was a whole new experience for her being in a stadium full of people to watch the Champion battle. They didn't do anything like this in Paldea! She stroked Sprigatito's head softly.

"It's almost starting! You ready?" she whispered.

"Meow!" Sprigatito whispered back.

"You two won't want to miss a minute of this. When my girl fights, she gives us all quite a show!" Hop whispered to the duo.

"I don't doubt that for one minute!" Liko replied.

All eyes were on Ruby and Alain as they were about to begin their battle.

"Three…two…one…BEGIN!" barked the announcer.

"This is it! Now we will see who is truly the strongest!" Alain cried excitedly, "Charizard, let's go!"

He threw his first Pokéball. To nobody's surprise, he was choosing Charizard first. Even Ruby had anticipated for that to happen. Alain's Charizard spread its wings out and roared, creating a wave of excitement that rang through the audience. It looked the same as any other Charizard except for one noticeable feature it had. His Charizard wore a metal collar around its neck. Ruby understood that Mega Evolution involved a trainer and their Pokémon wearing a Key Stone and a Mega Stone respectively. His Charizard wore its Mega Stone, the Charizardite X, on its collar and Alain had the Key Stone around his wrist. Ruby thought it looked pretty cool that trainers and Pokémon could accessorize their stones like this and wear them in various different ways. She wondered how she'd accessorize her own Key Stone if she ever took up Mega Evolution. She put the thought aside and observed the situation. Alain was clearly aiming to overwhelm her quickly and early on by sending his ace out first. Unfortunately for him, she'd prepared precisely for that kind of strategy…

"Starting off with Charizard immediately? How predictable…" Ruby crowed, "Now let me show you mine! Bryce, you're up first!"

She threw her first Pokéball and brought out her own Charizard. Bryce materialized into play and roared with anticipation. Alain's Charizard sized up its opponent and gave a cocky grin that suggested it was going to enjoy fighting against another Charizard. The audience knew this was going to be a thrilling match. TWO powerful Charizards in an all-out-brawl together? This was going to be incredible!

"Wow, two Charizards at once? I didn't think that's how we'd start!" Liko gasped.

"I was expecting Ruby to send out a Water type or something but nope, it's her own Charizard!" Emerald cried, "And I bet her's will beat Alain's!"

"I'm sure it will Em." Hop agreed, "Ruby's been training Bryce precisely for this moment. I guarantee Alain won't know what's about to hit him…"

"Now this I've got to see." Tony murmured with interest.

The Rotom Drones filming the battle made sure to get the best angles for the viewers at home. Cameramen focused on the two Charizards, knowing that they'd found their money shot for the day and the viewers wouldn't want to miss a moment of this. The crowd cheered, some of them even chanting "CHAR-I-ZARD! CHAR-I-ZARD!" over and over to voice their excitement for such a throw down. Even Ruby felt that the audience sounded more excited than usual, and this crowd was ALWAYS excited to watch her battle!"

"I'd say this is the perfect beginning! Charizard vs. Charizard! We'll see who's is the strongest!" Alain declared, "Charizard, use Thunder Punch now!"

Charizard clenched its fist and flapped its wings, taking to the air and soaring towards Bryce. Electricity crackled around Charizard's fist as it took aim and prepared to punch. Bryce stood his ground, his eyes fixed on Charizard as his opponent homed in on him. He was sure Ruby had a plan and wanted to wait and see what she would tell him to do. Ruby folded her arms and watched Charizard's descent. Alain had already fallen for her trap by sending Charizard out first and now he was about to see how out-classed he was against a Champion trainer's Charizard!

"Use Rock Tomb!" Ruby commanded.

Liko, Emerald and Tony all cried out in delight as Bryce made his move. A Rock attack was going to cause MASSIVE damage to Charizard! Bryce conjured up a bunch of huge rocks from the ground and used his huge wings to flick them towards Charizard. The audience gasped as rock after rock after rock smashed into Charizard, slowing its charge down and causing massive damage to it. Charizard were Pokémon with a double Rock weakness so this was the worst kind of attack for even a Charizard as strong as Alain's to take. Charizard grunted and cried out as it was hit by the rocks. Bryce threw one last rock and Charizard crashed into it. Its charge had been slowed down so much by the earlier rocks that it couldn't even so much as crack this one as it crashed into it. Charizard hit the rock and slid down to the ground, groaning in pain and panting as the damage from Rock Tomb weighed down over it. It had been the perfect strategy and Ruby was glad to see it executed flawlessly. With Rock Tomb both doing damage and slowing Charizard down, Bryce was free to land another hit!

"We've got it down for now! Hit it with Dragon Pulse!" the silver-haired teen shouted.

Bryce blasted Charizard with a dragon-shaped energy pulse. Due to the damage from Rock Tomb, Charizard was too slow to react and was sent flying backwards from the powerful pulse. Alain recoiled, horrified to see that his partner and ace Pokémon was already on the back foot despite this battle having only just started. He could see already that Ruby had truly earned her title of Champion! Charizard picked itself up and nodded to its trainer. It was a little battered and bruised but far from defeated.

"We've got plenty of strength left in us! Use Dragon Claw!" Alain cried.

Charizard flew towards Bryce again with huge energy constructs shaped like claws surrounding its hands. Ruby just smirked coolly as if this attack was nothing to worry about.

"He does realize that trying to get up close and personal to Bryce is never going to work?" she sneered, "Use Rock Tomb again and keep it at bay!" she commanded.

Bryce did just that. But this time, Alain was ready for this Rock Tomb. He ordered his Charizard to use Dragon Claw to smash through the rocks before any of them could hit it. With one swipe of its claws, the rocks were smashed to pieces and Charizard's charge was able to continue. However, Rock Tomb was still slowing it down for it had to slow its charge just to have the reaction time necessary to stop Rock Tomb. This allowed Bryce to fly up into the air and dodge Charizard before Dragon Claw could hit him. Now he was airborne, Bryce fired another Dragon Pulse at Charizard. Charizard dodged, but only narrowly. The pulse missed it by millimetres as it hit the ground and put a hole through the grass. Charizard chased after Bryce with another Dragon Claw attack. It eventually caught up to Bryce and raked him across the chest with its claws. Then Alain followed up with Thunder Punch. Charizard socked Bryce in the face and the super-effective attack both zapped and sent the dragon-like Pokémon reeling to one side. Bryce spiralled away but he flapped his wings to stop himself from falling to the ground. Charizard zoomed towards Bryce with another Thunder Punch but that proved to be a costly mistake for that only put it in range so Bryce could use another Rock Tomb. Bryce launched another bunch of rocks at Charizard and while Charizard tried to use Thunder Punch to break through them, it had been coming in too fast and there were too many rocks to punch through. Some of them still made it through and Charizard was sent crashing down to the ground. Charizard crashed down heavily, kicking up mounds of dirt and grass while Bryce remained airborne, looking very much on top.

Mairin and Chespie leaned forward in their seats. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Alain's Charizard always looked so invincible in battle and yet it was being made to look like a chump by another trainer's Charizard! Fighting against a Champion was clearly no easy feat! Charizard picked itself up and shook off the pain from its crash. It was already starting to feel fatigued from this fight and that it wouldn't be able to take much more punishment. Another Rock Tomb or two and it would go down. Alain could see that his Charizard was hopelessly outmatched against Bryce in its current form. So now would be the time to use his most powerful weapon…

"I never thought I'd need to use this so early on, but you're really pushing me to my limits." Alain acknowledged, "Charizard can't fight your Charizard like this…but will yours be able to withstand Charizard at its strongest?"

He touched the Key Stone around his wrist and activated it. All at once, a bright yellow light engulfed his wrist and he held up his hand.

"Key Stone, respond to my heart! Beyond evolution…MEGA EVOLVE!" the Kalosian teen bellowed.

The audience was in total awe as they watched one of the most incredible sights of their lives. Mega Evolution didn't exist in Galar so for many of them, this was their first time seeing such a thing happen. Liko, Emerald and Tony were three such people. Neither of them had ever seen Mega Evolution happen for real, only on TV or on their phones so this was an extra-special experience for them.

"Sprigatito, are you watching this?!" Liko exclaimed, "An actual Mega Evolution!"

"Meow!" Sprigatito shrieked, sharing its trainer's amazement.

"This is too cool for words! I never thought I'd see this happen for real!" Emerald screeched.

"This could well turn the tables for Ruby!" Tony yelled, "A Mega Charizard will be a much tougher opponent than before!"

Over in Unova, Sapphire and Ashley were equally as awestruck as they watched the fight on Ashley's TV.

"This is it Ashley! Now Ruby's against Mega Charizard!" Sapphire cried in astonishment.

"I knew Alain would Mega Evolve his Charizard eventually." Ashley said grimly, taking Sapphire's hand into her's, "Ruby better hope her Charizard can handle its Mega form."

"Something tells me he can." Sapphire observed, "Ruby doesn't seem particularly worried…"

She watched the TV as Ruby's face was broadcast on the screen. As she'd noticed, Ruby was watching the whole thing without even flinching. In spite of the danger before her, she still stood still with her arms folded and her face unchanging as if the whole thing wasn't all that big a deal for her. Her hair blew around wildly in the winds that kicked up from the Mega Evolution.

Charizard's appearance changed as it entered its Mega Evolved state. Charizard was unusual in the sense that unlike most Pokémon that could Mega Evolve, Charizard had two different Mega Evolutions. Alain's evolved into Mega Charizard X in particular. The transformation was complete and now Mega Charizard X stood on the field, roaring a mighty roar that echoed all around the stadium and made the audience quiver in their seats. Mega Charizard X looked quite different from regular Charizard. Its skin was now black with a blue underbelly, it had spiked shoulders, a new wing shape, differently shaped horns and blue flames billowing out the sides of its mouth. It had also changed types too, losing its Flying-type in favour of the Dragon-typing, making it a rare Fire/Dragon type Pokémon. The audience began to cheer and scream the stadium down for Mega Charizard. Charizard looked awesome already but Mega Charizard X looked even more awesome!

"Alright! Mega Charizard's here!" Mairin squealed, "Alain's so gonna win this match now!"

"Chespin!" Chespie agreed.

Mega Charizard let out a thunderous roar that seemed to carry all the power of the universe. Its Mega Evolution seemed to have given it new strength for its earlier injuries didn't seem so bad anymore and it now looked as if it could carry on the fight for much longer than it would have before. Bryce took in his opponent's new look with a nervous eye and a large gulp. This was just what he'd been training for, to battle against a Mega Evolved Charizard. He'd felt confident he could do it but now it was actually time to fight it, he no longer felt sure about it. But Ruby remained as cool and confident as ever. Her face was curled into a big smile that suggested she was still holding all the cards in her hand while Alain had blown it all in this one singular move.

"Just as we planned for…" she crowed.

Alain began to feel very nervous. He'd Mega Evolved his Charizard and yet Ruby wasn't worried?! Worse still, she was implying that everything was going according to plan?! What was the Galarian teen plotting here?!

"I bet she's bluffing to try and make us hesitate…" Alain muttered, "It won't work on us! Charizard, use Dragon Claw now!" he yelled.

Mega Charizard rushed towards Bryce with a single flap of its wings. Now it was half-Dragon type, its Dragon Claw would be even stronger than before. As Mega Charizard X, it also had the Tough Claws ability, an attack that boosted the power of physical moves so Dragon Claw would be even more powerful. But Ruby had other ideas…

"Use Scorching Sands!" Ruby commanded.

Bryce flapped his wings furiously at the ground. The resulting beating of wings started to create a huge sandstorm that kicked up towards the charging Mega Charizard. This was like no usual sandstorm for it was really hot sand that was blowing towards Bryce's opponent. Scorching Sands was a Ground-type move that could inflict burns on an opponent and was one of the few Ground moves that was a Special Attack rather than a physical one. While Scorching Sands wouldn't burn Mega Charizard, it would inflict massive damage as Mega Charizard X now had a weakness to Ground types it once lacked in its base form due to being half-Flying. Scorching Sands blew over Mega Charizard and the blazing sandstorm made it wince in pain as the sand swept over it. It wasn't often it got to experience what it felt like to be hit by a Ground attack and this one was strange to it for it had never faced a Pokémon that used an attack like this before. Was Scorching Sands some kind of attack only Pokémon in Galar could learn? Despite the pain it was feeling, Mega Charizard refused to give-up and it carried on its charge. Ruby recoiled, showing surprise and fear for the first time since the match had started. How was Mega Charizard even carrying on despite being hit by a super-effective move like Scorching Sands?!

Mega Charizard was eventually able to reach Bryce and slash him viciously across the face with Dragon Claw. Bryce reeled back from the hit, surprised at how heavily it had hit him. Mega Evolution sure gave Charizard one heck of a power boost! As Bryce reeled to one side, Charizard followed up by also using Thunder Punch. It whooshed towards Bryce and walloped the Fire/Flying Pokémon in the gut with Thunder Punch. The attack both winded and electrocuted Bryce and he was left staggering backwards from the blow. Mega Charizard tried to follow up with another Thunder Punch but Bryce wasn't letting it get the chance for another attack. Ruby ordered him to use Dragon Pulse next and because Mega Charizard was in range, he couldn't possibly miss. Bryce blasted Mega Charizard in the face with Dragon Pulse. Another downside to Mega Charizard's evolution was that Dragon Pulse was now super-effective against it, giving Bryce the chance to do more damage than he would've before. Mega Charizard was punched backwards by the pulse and knocked down onto its back. It skidded to a halt just at Alain's feet and it groaned from the onslaught it had received. Alain could see what Ruby had meant by "just as planned". She'd clearly trained Bryce specifically to counter his Charizard, even in its Mega Evolved form! Bryce had used Rock Tomb, Scorching Sands and Dragon Pulse throughout this match, all of which could exploit all three of Mega Charizard X's weaknesses. That was clearly what Ruby's secret strategy was and he'd fallen for it hook line and sinker!

If I'd saved Charizard for later instead of first, I bet I wouldn't be in this situation… the Kalosian teen murmured, But my Charizard has dealt with all kinds of strong opponents! Ruby may have trained her Charizard to counter my own, but strength will beat strategy in this battle!

"Now Charizard, use Blast Burn!" Alain commanded.

"Oh look, he's using Blast Burn. Didn't see THAT coming…" Ruby said sarcastically.

She knew as well as anyone else who watched Alain in battle that one of his go-to-strategies was to have Charizard use Blast Burn as a finishing move. It was the strongest Fire-type move Charizard could learn after all and it had been that move that had sealed the deal when battling Ash's Greninja. Mega Charizard surrounded itself with fire and punched down at the ground. The resulting punch created a colossal shockwave that erupted through the pitch and headed towards Bryce. It looked very similar to Earthquake in that regard but Ruby knew that this move was going to be able to hit Bryce unlike Earthquake. As Blast Burn neared him, Ruby commanded him to fly up into the air. Bryce took off, flapping his wings furiously to push himself up and up as fast as he could. But he couldn't escape Blast Burn completely. Blast Burn exploded and a huge fist of flames reached up to try and snatch him back down to Earth. The force of the explosion punched into Bryce, throwing him off balance and sending him spiralling out of control. The audience gasped. Bryce looked as if he was in for a rough landing! Bryce came down towards the ground, flailing around wildly as he fought for control. Eventually, he was able to regain his balance and while he wasn't able to land safely, he was able to have a softer landing than everyone thought he was going to get. He landed on his feet, staggered and then stumbled over onto his knees. He fell forwards but caught himself with his hands. Mega Charizard was left standing where it was, currently unable to move as a side-effect of Blast Burn. For the moment, it was immobilized which gave Bryce a chance to make another move. Ruby was tempted to get Bryce to just attack but she decided against it. Instead, she decided now it was time for Bryce to power up.

"Bryce, return!" Ruby commanded, whipping out his Pokéball to recall him.

The Pokéball recalled its occupant and Bryce vanished from the field. But not for long. Emerald and Tony felt very excited for they knew what was coming next.

"Get ready for this Liko! Ruby's going to Gigantamax Bryce!" Emerald squealed.

"Is that why she recalled him?" Liko asked, "Wow, I'm going to witness Gigantamaxing in action! This day couldn't get any more exciting!"

"You got that right, love!" Tony agreed.

"Go on Ruby! Show that guy what a real powerful Charizard looks like!" Hop bellowed as loudly as he could.

The crowd began chanting in unison as Ruby made her next move. All around the stadium only a singular word could be heard from the audience:

"GI-GAN-TA-MAX! GI-GAN-TA-MAX! GI-GAN-TA-MAX!"

"Well Bryce, who are we to disappoint the audience?" Ruby said with a huge smile on her face, "Get ready Alain for we're going to have a showdown of Mega Evolution and Gigantamax! Bryce, GIGANTAMAX!"

Her Dynamax band activated and masses of pinkish red energy swirled into the device. Bryce's Pokéball grew in size and Ruby threw the ball as if she was playing volleyball with it. The Pokéball opened up and out of it emerged Bryce the Charizard, but no longer in his base form. He has now Gigantamax Charizard. He towered over everybody in the stadium and he seemed to radiate much more power and heat than Charizard usually did. His wings became blazing flames across his back, he glowed with pinkish red energy and his underbelly was a gleaming white colour now. Even Mega Charizard now felt very small and puny compared to Bryce in this form. Alain smiled hotly, feeling that now they were truly in for a battle of epic proportions. Mega Charizard vs. Gigantamax Charizard! Both he and Ruby knew that this was how their battle was destined to play out. Liko and Sprigatito stared open-mouthed at this new form of Charizard.

"Wow…look at that!" the Paldean girl exclaimed, "Imagine if Friede's Charizard could do that!"

"Meow!" Sprigatito shrieked, feeling intimidated by what it was watching. It imagined that even the Explorers wouldn't dare take on Friede's Charizard if it could do that!

"Now we're really in for a titanic tussle!" Hop shouted, his fists shaking with ecstasy, "Two super-powered Charizards fighting it out to the finish! I knew I had to have a front row seat for this!"

"Go Ruby! You've got this!" Emerald cheered.

Mairin and Chespie were equally as gobsmacked at what they'd witnessed. Being from Kalos also, they'd never seen Gigantamaxing before.

"Holy galoshes Chespie! Ruby's Charizard's HUGE!" the red-haired girl squealed, "So that's what Gigantamaxing looks like! Imagine if you could grow that big Chespie!"

Chespie nodded. The idea of growing giant sized and being able to beat its enemies with ease was an awesome one. It watched on, curious to see how this battle was going to go now both Charizards were powered up.

"I think we both knew it would come to this Alain!" Ruby acknowledged, "No way was I going to fight your Mega Charizard without Gigantamaxing mine!"

"I wouldn't have wanted it any other way!" Alain agreed, "This'll be a true test of our strength as Pokémon trainers! We'll see which is stronger out of Mega Charizard and Gigantamax Charizard!"

"We sure will mate!" Ruby yelled in reply, clenching her fists and punching the air as adrenaline pumped through her veins, "Bryce, hit it with Max Rockfall!"

Bryce summoned a colossal slab of rock and punched it to make it fall down towards Mega Charizard. Alain couldn't help but recoil as the huge rock began to tilt forwards. Even he had to admit there was something quite intimidating about this kind of attack. Max Moves were something else alright!

"Break through it with Dragon Claw!" Alain commanded.

Mega Charizard whooshed into the air up towards the Max Rockfall with its dragon claw energy constructs shining all around its fists. Ruby was amazed at such a command. Alain really was the kind of guy who didn't mind getting hands on in his battles! She wasn't sure if that was foolish or impressive. Mega Charizard smashed through the falling rock with Dragon Claw, incredibly managing to avoid taking any damage and breaking through the rock with ease. It continued its charge and raked the giant-sized Bryce across the chest with Dragon Claw. Bryce grimaced but he took the hit and Ruby retaliated by commanding her Gigantamaxed Charizard to use Max Wyrmwind instead. Bryce conjured up a giant tornado of draconian energy that swirled around Mega Charizard and blew it around. Mega Charizard cringed as the giant vortex drained away some of its energy and inflicted massive damage to it. On top of all that, it also lowered Mega Charizard's Attack so it would have a harder time doing damage to Bryce than before. The audience gazed at the battle before them. They seemed almost hypnotized by the Max Wyrmwind attack as it spun around in the centre of the arena. Ruby stood as she was in her usual arms-folded-pose, a big smile across her face as the breeze from Max Wyrmwind played with her hair. She was enjoying the battle not only because she got to see how strong Alain really was, but because of how beautifully her plan was playing out. Bryce's training was paying off and now she was sure he was minutes away from victory!

The tornado eventually died down and Mega Charizard was left panting heavily from the onslaught it had gone through. Alain could see that the Max Wyrmwind had left his Charizard looking pretty worn out. This fight wasn't going to last much longer and he knew it! He had to put everything he could into his next move or else Ruby would overwhelm him. He gave his next order, telling Mega Charizard to use Thunder Punch next. The black and blue dragon Pokémon flapped its wings and rocketed towards Bryce with its fist crackling with electricity. It came in too fast for Bryce to react and as a result, Mega Charizard was able to land the hit. It punched Bryce and its electrified fist caused him to reel back and grimace from both the punch and the stinging electrical energy. Bryce stumbled back slightly but he managed to stay standing. Ruby made the next move by ordering Bryce to use Max Quake next. Bryce stomped at the ground with one enormous foot and a colossal shockwave ripped through the pitch towards Mega Charizard, threatening to flatten anything in its path. The audience held onto their seats as the stadium shook heavily from the powerful shockwave. Mega Charizard tried to fly out of the way but it wasn't fast enough and the force of Max Quake was enough to punch into it and throw it upwards. Mega Charizard hurled up like a rocket and just as it was about to fall back down again, Ruby ordered Bryce to use Max Wyrmwind once more. Bryce began his attack but at the same time, Alain ordered Mega Charizard to use Blast Burn. If this was the moment his Charizard went down, he was going out in a blaze of glory!

Mega Charizard regained its balance and flew down towards the ground with Bryce's Max Wyrmwind chasing after it. Mega Charizard punched the ground and created another fiery explosion that punched into Bryce and nearly took him off his feet while Max Wyrmwind caught up to it and swept over the Mega Evolved Pokémon. Ruby and Alain both looked away as the sheer power of Blast Burn and Max Wyrmwind became too intense for them to look at. Both their Pokémon were engulfed in an explosion of fire and a twister of energy respectively and it felt as if the resulting power clash would blow Wyndon Stadium away. The audience couldn't watch anymore either and they had to look away. For what seemed like an eternity, the attacks finally concluded and both Charizards were left lying on the ground, panting heavily from the intense battle. Bryce was no longer Gigantamaxed and Charizard was no longer Mega Evolved. They were down on their stomachs, gasping for breath and trying to force themselves back up onto their feet. Charizard started to rise up but got no further than its hands and knees before flopping down again. Bryce managed to stand back up, making it seem as if he had won the battle. But then seconds later, he too took the fall. He collapsed again and didn't get back up. Neither Charizard moved again after that. Ruby and Alain were completely gobsmacked by what they saw. The audience were equally as incredulous. It seemed the two Charizards had been evenly matched this whole time!

"Both Charizards are unable to battle!" barked the announcer.

Screams of amazement, astonishment and bewilderment rang out from all around the arena as the result of the battle settled in for the audience.

"What is this twist?!" Liko exclaimed in disbelief, "Both Charizards are out of the fight! I was sure one of them was going to win!"

"You and me both!" Emerald gasped, "But nope! That Mega Evolution is something else, isn't it?"

"Sure is mate!" Hop agreed, "If Alain's Charizard couldn't Mega Evolve, Ruby would've won that! It's thanks to Mega Evolution they were able to fight on even footing!"

"Quite so!" Emerald concurred, "And it's lucky for Ruby we have Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing or she really would've stood no chance…"

"I wonder what it would've been like if Alain ever fought a Terastilized Charizard…" Liko thought to herself.

Mairin and Chespie were struggling to comprehend what had just happened as well.

"No way, they BOTH lost?!" Mairin cried, "Alain's Charizard is super strong and unbeatable and the Champion managed to fight it to a draw! She really must be strong if even Mega Charizard couldn't win!"

"Chespin!" Chespie blurted in amazement.

Ruby and Alain returned their respective Charizards. Ruby looked to Bryce's Pokéball and smiled kindly at it.

"You played your part beautifully Bryce. I'm so proud of you." she said softly.

"You're amazing as always Charizard. Thank you." Alain said proudly to his own Pokéball.

The two opponents looked back to one another.

"And there we have it! Nobody's Charizard is stronger! Seems they were even." Ruby acknowledged, "Still, everything's going as I planned for so even if I'd rather Bryce was still able to battle, I'm still happy with this result."

"You seem quite confident in yourself." Alain acknowledged, "You're acting like some grand schemer with your declaration about how "Everything's going according to plan". What's your game here, Champion?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ruby retorted, "When going into this battle, I knew instantly that I had to prioritize getting rid of your Charizard above everything else, hence why I trained Bryce specifically to counter it. I taught him moves that would be able to exploit all three of Mega Charizard's weaknesses so that when it Mega Evolved, I could deal triple the damage to it. I also thought battling it out for a bit before Gigantamaxing Bryce would help defeat it quicker. I just didn't anticipate that the fight would end in a draw…" she admitted.

"You put all this effort into just getting rid of Charizard?" Alaina asked curiously, "Why? You should know I have plenty of powerful Pokémon at my beck and call. I don't just have Charizard."

"Of course no, and believe me, I've done my homework on you." Ruby explained, "I've paid close attention to your battles and I've noticed one glaring weakness in you as a trainer: you're too reliant on your Charizard. You seem to think that you only ever need Charizard or Metagross to win anything as that was pretty much your performance at the Kalos League in a nutshell: just win everything with them. It's like your team's just there to fill up space while Charizard gets all the glory. You put so much effort into training Charizard that the rest of your team can't seem to match up. I mean come on, you have TWO pseudo legendries and both of them lost to Ash's Pikachu without scoring a single win? That's pretty embarrassing if you ask me. You're a strong trainer Alain, but you're NOT a skilled trainer! Henceforth, I've just exploited your crippling weakness by taking Charizard out first so now the rest of your team will fall without your ace to finish the job!"

Alain wanted to argue back with Ruby and say she was wrong…but what would the point be? Ruby was absolutely right about this. Maybe he was too reliant on his Charizard and now it was gone, he was going to have an uphill battle to climb. His ace was gone and Ruby hadn't even used her's yet so Ruby definitely had the advantage at this point. But he was going to show the Champion that Charizard wasn't the only strong Pokémon he had.

"Charizard may be gone, but I've still got my other Pokémon who will turn this match around for me!" the Kalosian teen declared.

"Oh I know. It's just now Charizard's gone, you're going to have a VERY hard time against me." Ruby sneered, "Unlike you, I train ALL my Pokémon equally. I don't just rely on one Pokémon to win me every match like you do. As is, I'm not letting my guard down. I'm not stupid enough to underestimate a trainer as powerful as you after all…"

Ruby and Alain threw their Pokéballs and called out their next Pokémon…


Both Bryce and Charizard have taken an early leave but Ruby's definitely in the superior spot here as Alain's ace is out while her's is still available for use. Can the rest of Alain's team win the match or has Ruby pretty much got him in the palm of her hand? Find out in Part 2 next time...

Trivia: Alain has no last name in the anime. Here it's "Silver", a reference to his voice actor's name, Jonathan Silver.

Also Ruby's strategy of wearing down or defeating her opponent's ace early on will no doubt remind you of how she beat Ash back in the very first Plot-Scorbunny. This was deliberate for Alain is the kind of opponent you can't beat on strength alone. He's so overpowered and near invincible that of course I was going to have Ruby fight him strategically. As a result, here she is battling him with a Charizard who's move set was chosen specifically to deal with Mega Charizard X. Being able to exploit all three of its weaknesses (Rock, Ground and Dragon) was by far Ruby's best chance of dealing with it. At least here it's more believable that she can hold her own against Alain's Charizard unlike in Pokémon Journeys where Leon's base form Charizard defeats Alain's Mega Charizard X with a single Dragon Pulse. Seriously, that was stupid. XD Nah, Ruby's Charizard had to be trained specifically to handle it and even then, she could only scrape a draw out of this match, which to me felt more realistic an outcome.

Speaking of, I was going to have Bryce outright defeat Alain's Charizard but I felt I'd be doing Alain a grievous disservice by doing so, thus I made it so the two Charizards fight to a draw instead. Given how strong Alain's Charizard is, it's only right that it fights against Ruby's on an even footing instead of outright losing. If Bryce hadn't been trained to counter Mega Charizard X, he would've lost this one so it's a true case of Ruby being properly prepared for her opponent as you can see. :)

As for Bryce's moves, Scorching Sands is indeed a Ground-type move Charizard can learn in Sword and Shield and it's the only Special Ground attack it can learn, hence why I made it so Bryce knows that as it's more useful to him than a Physical move like Dig or Earthquake. In the games, it can only learn that move via Move Tutor. It's also Ruby's little contingency for if Bryce ever fights an Electric-type too. One has to wonder why in the Sword and Shield games, they didn't make it so Leon's Charizard knows Scorching Sands. It would've given my Raichu a tougher fight when I battled it the first time, that's for sure. XD

As for Ruby's speech against Alain...yeah, that's pretty much me voicing my criticisms of Alain through her. Does anyone other than me think Alain's actually not all that great as a trainer? Seriously, he REALLY is way too reliant on Charizard and his team, while full of good mons, have pretty shit move pools when you think about it. I mean come on, a Tyranitar that knows Dark Pulse? A Weavile that knows Ice Beam? A Bisharp that uses Focus Blast? Even his Charizard's moveset isn't all that diverse and as a trainer, he has no strategy aside from "keep punching the enemy until it goes down". And some of his battles are won via pure bullshit! Like seriously, he beats Malva's Mega Houndoom with a Fire attack despite Mega Houndoom having the Flash Fire ability? Fuck off, that's terrible writing! X( No, Alain's only strong because the plot says so and it's why I don't buy him being as strong as the anime claims he is. So yeah, this story not only serves as a piece of entertainment to show Ruby fighting Alain, but is also a deconstruction of Alain as a trainer by showing if you take away the Plot Armour and put him against a trainer who's as skilled and strategic as Ruby is, he's all talk and no show.