Chapter 36 Clashes

The clock was a minute away from 7:00, and Jack sat in a long, upholstered, chair that fit a dozen or so individuals on the second floor of the atrium, overlooking the battlefield. He sipped the beer he held in his hand, his other arm was wrapped around Bea. After meeting up with the girls, he'd kept a low profile trying to avoid the drama he'd ended up in.

"Shit." Hilda said loudly.

Jack turned to Hilda, and noticed Dawn Berlitz walking nervously over to the their seating area. He repeated after Hilda.

"Hey Mr. Cobal..." Dawn called out nervously. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Jack glared at her, his face curling into a disgusted grimace. "Ursula's around here somewhere, not sure you want to be here." He called back.

"It won't be long." Dawn pleaded.

Jack sighed, and noticed Bea was looking at him, an "I'm here if you need me" look in her eyes. "Thanks Bea." He whispered, giving her a hug. He noticed her breasts pushing into his body, something that hadn't happened before. "She was flat as board when I met her..." He thought to himself. "Wonder how big those melons will get?" He briefly pictured Bea with Lillie-sized breasts struggling to run as they bounced helplessly. That got his loins lurching back to life after the break they'd taken after his times with May, Bea, Flannery, and Misty earlier in the day.

As he got up, he felt his hard-on brush up against his pants and he had a minor freak out, not wanting to have Dawn see him with a potential hard-on. "Wait, this bitch doesn't matter." He thought cynically. Dawn had her outfit with the short-skirt on, showing quite a bit of leg.

"How'd you know I was here?" Jack asked.

"I noticed in the promotional material, your bodyguard Zinnia..." Dawn said.

"Okay, so what's up?" He asked loudly, not hiding his disdain for speaking with her.

"Mr. Cobal, could we talk a little more privately?" Dawn asked.

"The battles are about to start..." He said, pointing to the battlefield.

"It'll be quick, I promise." Dawn said, leading him a few feet away from his group of women. "So, my family told me, they're going to announce they're insolvent next Tuesday." Dawn explained.

"Cool. Need a plane ticket?" Jack asked.

Dawn sighed. "You know that won't help me."

"I mean hey, you can just get a job at the strip club. Maybe Ursula will stop bothering you." Jack offered with a grin on his face.

Dawn froze at the thought. "Well I uh... certainly wouldn't want to do that..." She stammered.

"You don't want Ursula to stop bothering you?" Jack asked, playing with her.

"W-what, no." Dawn squeaked. "The... strip club..."

Jack realized he wasn't getting as much of a kick out of watching her squirm as he thought he would. "So you're wondering if my offer is still on the table?"

"Yeah..." Dawn began. "I can be on your staff. I'll help train your maid on how to receive important guests."

Jack scoffed. "If anything YOU would be a maid."

Dawn's jaw dropped. "I..." Dawn began, but paused. "So if I agree to become your maid then you'll take me in?"

Jack sighed. "I guess? In other news, I just told Ursula if she spoke to me again I'm getting a restraining order on her."

Dawn gasped. "Really? That's perfect!"

Jack's grimace grew. "Having you on my staff will just get Ursula to go after me even more than she already has. She's buying the property next to mine."

Dawn's smile melted away. "Oh..."

"So I might have to rescind that offer-"

"Please no." Dawn said, gravely serious, emotion in her eyes. "I've seen how dead Irida's eyes are. Please don't condemn me to that."

Jack sighed. "Yeah, it's awful. But I also want to keep Ursula off my ass, and having you around will put an even bigger target on my back."

Dawn grabbed his shoulders and pulled herself right to him. "You're the only person in the world who can keep me out of her clutches. Please don't make me beg."

The words "I'd like to see that, actually" flashed through his mind, but he shook his head. "Is there anything else you need to talk to me about?"

"Jack, I'm the one who's in deep trouble and you're trying to play the victim-" Dawn stopped as she realized she mis-stepped.

Jack felt a rage that had been simmering inside of him begin to boil over. He didn't want to start a scene, but he felt so much tension in his eyes, they narrowed and even his jaw became tight with anger. "You entitled Sinoh cunts are all the same. Don't talk to me again either, you spoiled brat." Jack growled before turning around hastily.

"No Jack, wait, I'm sorry-" Dawn stammered as he heard her footsteps catch up to him.

Jack felt her grab his shoulder, and he turned around violently, shaking her grip off of him, rage in his eyes. "Leave. Now." He hissed, still trying not to make a scene.

"I really screwed up-" Dawn began, but she stopped.

Jack heard more footsteps, and saw Bea and Misty over his shoulder running over quickly.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong, just let me-" Dawn said desperately.

Misty put herself between Dawn and Jack with a Poke Ball out. "I think it's best you leave, little miss elitist." Misty sneered.

Bea put her arm around Jack, and he could tell she was rather upset too.

Dawn cursed and looked to the floor dejectedly. She turned around and walked away slowly.

"Thanks girls. Didn't want to make a scene." Jack said after a large exhale.

"I should've gotten involved sooner, Jack." Misty said.

"Me too." Bea said. "I know I don't have any Pokemon, but I'm strong in my own way."

Jack chuckled. "Seeing you wrestle her to the ground would be something I'd have way too much fun watching."

A booming sound came over on the speaker system and the lights darkened, signaling the first match was about to get underway.

"Finally." Jack grumbled and began trudging back to his spot.

He noticed the crowd was a bit bigger for the first match than he'd remembered from last week. "Who's battling first?" He asked Hilda.

"Uh... That Klara chick Zinnia battled last week, against some guy named Ronald..." Hilda answered. "Ronald's record is 2-6, while Klara's is 7-1. Probably why it's first."

"And Klara's fanboys can stay for the whole event." Jack thought to himself. "Giovanni's a shrewd business man. Doing all of this can't be cheap."

About ninety minutes later, the battlefield was finally cleared up for the fourth and final match. Klara had mopped the floor with Ronald. The battles after it were quite decent, but the murmur of the crowd got audibly louder as Zinnia's bout neared.

The lights dimmed once more as the announcer's voice boomed over the speakers. "And now, battle fans here at Giovanni's Battle Club, it's main event time!" The voice announced to a roar of cheers.

A spotlight came across one side of the battlefield. "On one side, we have Gloria Shield! Hailing from Galar, this league sophomore holds a 5-3 record in this season of the Club League!" There was a a solid cheer from the crowd.

"And in one corner, the reigning champion of the past two seasons, hailing from the Hoenn region, she's the dragon queen of the Club League, Zinnia Draconid!"

Jack and the girls cheered loudly, clapping and hollering as loud as they could well after the crowd's cheering had died down. Jack noticed Zinnia look the cheering section's way and give a quick wave, a big grin on her face. He couldn't help but smile proudly. "That's where she belongs." He said under his breath to no one in particular.

The two competitors took their places as the lights illuminated the battlefield. "So what's she sending out first?" Jack asked, turning to Misty who was seated next to Lillie.

"Gloria's probably sending out Perrserker first." Misty answered. "She's only got four Pokemon capable of competing at this level."

Jack then remembered Misty had been helping Zinnia prep, so she'd have a lot more insight into what Zinnia was planning.

Gloria and Zinnia took their Poke Balls out, tossing them in the air simultaneously. Red energy burst from both Poke Balls, out of Zinnia's came her Salamence, while out of Gloria's Poke Ball came a Hatterene.

"Shit." Misty cursed.

Picking an opening Pokemon, especially in a 3 vs. 3 match was incredibly crucial. But also in a battle format with only one switch allowed, being at a disadvantage right off the bat was potentially disastrous.

"Zinnia was saving Flygon for Hatterene. But she can't send it out until Gloria's Inteleon is severely weakened at least." Misty explained.

"Clever of Gloria to predict Zinnia like that." Jack responded. His lust telling him this Gloria chick could be added to his staff, and hopefully his growing harem of beautiful women.

The referee pulled the flags they were holding down, signaling the battle had begun, and his lustful thoughts were drowned out by both trainers issuing commands over their mics.

"To the skies, Salamence!" Zinnia ordered.

"Dazzling Gleam, Hatterene!' Gloria cried out.

The Hatterene began to glow a bright white and pink-ish glow. Jack remembered in reading in one of his academy textbooks that the move Dazzling Gleam wasn't just light attacking an opponent's eyes, but it was actually a lot of very small projectile needles of energy being launched in a widespread attack at an opponent.

Salamence retreated back to the plexiglass barriers, and when the incredibly bright light faded around Hatterene, Salamence appeared in its same spot looking rather un-scathed. "Well that's good..." Jack said, trying to assure the rest of the group.

Misty sighed. "She can't keep Salamence like that the whole match though."

"Salamence, fire a Flamethrower!" Zinnia barked.

Salamence wound up and unleashed a flaming stream of energy to Hatterene. Salamence made sure to continuously move as fiery energy poured from its mouth. Jack noticed the stream of energy appeared to lessen the further it went, meaning Hatterene was taking far less damage from this higher ranged attack.

"Stay sheltered, Hatterene! We've almost got it!" Gloria shouted encouragingly.

The stream from Salamence did eventually end, and while Hatterene looked a little worse for wear, it seemed overall un-phased. "Shadow Ball!" Gloria ordered.

A dark orb manifested in front of Hatterene, and was fired at Salamence, a tail of dark energy trailing behind it. Salamence easily dodged the attack, maneuvering carefully.

"Another Flamethrower!" Zinnia called out. Salamence wound up and another stream of fiery energy erupted from its mouth. Hatterene did as before, weathering the attack.

"Can she really just stay back and play cautiously like this?" Jack asked out loud.

Misty sighed. "We'll see."

"Hatterene, Psychic!" Gloria cried out.

"Salamence!" Zinnia roared, and the great dragon flapped its wings fiercely, getting some air. Hatterene had begun to glow a dark pink, and then a translucent ring of energy materialized in front of Hatterene, and suddenly zoomed toward Salamence, stopping as it looked like it made contact. Salamence froze in mid-air immediately, then it became outlined in the dark pink light. Salamence was then thrown to the ground violently. Then it Hatterene spun, and Salamence was thrown across the battlefield, slamming hard into plexiglass border of the battlefield. Salamence seemed quite shaken.

"Salamence, get to safety!" Zinnia cried out.

"Thunder Wave it, now!" Hatterene then leapt in the air a few feet and yellow, electrical energy coursed around it, manifesting a circular field of the same colored energy, then fired it at Salamence. The attack connected, and electrical energy began rippling across Salamence's body.

"That's not good." Jack said, stating the obvious.

The crowd went silent as they watched the Salamence's impending doom. Zinnia sighed, loud enough for it to be heard on the mic. "Salamence, we gotta do what we can, Iron Head!"

"She must've been holding that back because of Thunder Wave or Psychic..." Jack thought to himself, justifying why Zinnia couldn't use the super effective attack on Hatterene earlier.

Salamence hissed, mustering strength, then beat its wings, arising from the ground. Its head became engulfed in a bright silver energy.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Gloria commanded.

Hatterene glowed once more, emitting its highly luminous energy needles. Before needing to turn his eyes away, Jack saw Salamence going head first into the attack. After another second, he heard a loud thud, and turned his head to see what happened, and noticed the light had begun to dissipate. Salamence was on the ground, looking pretty battered, but Hatterene was ten foot away from Salamence, on its back.

"Hatteren, get up!" Gloria called out. Hatterene took a moment to regroup after taking a lot of damage.

"Salamence, one more Iron Head if you can!" Zinnia called out.

Salamence mustered its strength once more, starting to get up slowly. Then a couple sparks appeared around parts of Salamence's abdomen, showing the paralysis effect of Thunder Wave had kicked in.

"Hatterene, one more Dazzling Gleam should do it-"

"Referee, I concede my Salamence!" Zinnia called out, putting her hand up, showing her surrender. Zinnia pulled Salamence's Poke Ball out with her other hand, returning it back in a beam of red light.

"C'mon out, Flygon!" Zinnia called out as she threw Flygon's ball into the air. Moments later, Flygon emerged, wings already flapping.

"Hatterene, return!" Gloria called out.

"Gloria has used her switch for the match." The referee announced over the audio system.

Gloria then pulled out another Poke Ball, and out came her Inteleon.

"Flygon, return!" Zinnia called out, recalling her flying green Dragon Pokemon to its ball seconds after sending it out.

"Zinnia has used her switch for the match as well." The referee announced.

Zinnia pulled out another Poke Ball and put it up to her lips like she was whispering to it. "Okay then, Goodra!"

The referee lifted their flags up one more time, then pulled them down quickly, signaling the battle was on once again.

"Inteleon, Focus Energy!" Gloria commanded.

"Goodra, Muddy Water!" Zinnia called out.

Inteleon began to glow, crouching into position while Goodra swung its neck around like it was winding up for something, then a large stream of brown-ish blue water energy emerged from its mouth. Inteleon was vulnerable, so it took the hit, but there didn't seem to be a ton of force behind the attack.

Gloria shook her head. "Gonna need something stronger than that!" She taunted. "Inteleon, Ice Beam!" Inteleon shook its head and put its fingers to its eyes, trying to wipe away some of the gunk that had gotten caught in its eyes from the Muddy Water.

Zinnia giggled. "Not so fast there, missy!" Zinnia retorted. "Goodra, Dragon Pulse!" Goodra fired a dark blue stream of energy at Inteleon, which it deftly dodged by leaping acrobatically into the air.

"Gotcha. Thunderbolt!" Zinnia said, quite pleased with herself.

Goodra then lurched its head back a bit, then opened its mouth a bolt of bright yekllow energy was fired at Inteleon. The bolt connected with Inteleon as it landed, making it nigh impossible to dodge.

"Shit!" Gloria cursed as Inteleon was thrown back from the force of the bolt. "C'mon, Ice Beam!"

Inteleon struggled to get back up, shaking its head,, then looked up and locked on Goodra, putting its hand out. A light blue energy formed in front of it, then a beam streamed from Inteleon's hand, little ice crystals falling underneath.

Goodra was still recuperating its energy after the successive attacks, so it wasn't able to dodge. However, Inteleon's aim wasn't great, as it hit Goodra in the belly, which Jack noticed had lot of blubber as cushioning for attacks.

"Get closer and Ice Beam!" Gloria commanded.

"Goodra, Flamethrower!" Zinnia screamed.

Both attacks were on target and caused an explosion as they collided. It caused a misty vapor to form between the two combatants.

"Inteleon, fire another one while it can't see!" Gloria ordered.

While views were obstructed, both figured could be made out in the mist. "But Inteleon might still be having vision problems..." Jack said lowly.

"Precisely." Misty said excitedly. "Now watch what Zinnia does next."

Inteleon fired an Ice Beam, but Jack noticed Goodra had begun to crouch and wagged its tail in the air, which caused the visually impaired Inteleon to mistake the tail for the whole body of the slimy slug Dragon Pokemon. The Ice Beam went right over Goodra's head as it tucked its tail in before the attack landed.

"Thunderbolt." Zinnia said softly over the mic. The crouching Dragon Pokemon fired another bolt of electrical energy, striking Inteleon directly, sending it flying back to the plexiglass barrier, causing a loud "thud" when it made contact.

"Inteleon, c'mon, just one more Ice Beam..." Gloria said, trying to sound encouraging, but her tone was seeped in defeat.

"One more time Goodra, Thunderbolt." Zinnia said, a little sorrow in her voice.

This bolt was the nail in the coffin for Inteleon, as it still hadn't gotten up before getting blasted again. Gloria grunted as she recalled her Inteleon to its ball. "Good maneuver there, Zinnia." Gloria admitted. "Let's go, Perrserker!"

Moments later, the referee pulled the flags down, signaling the battle had restarted.

"Goodra, Flaemethrower!" Zinnia called out.

"Dig!" Gloria ordered. Perrserker dug frantically as the stream of fiery energy came to it, and Perrserker managed to get half of its body underground before the Flamethrower connected.

"Goodra, Muddy Water the ground!" Zinnia commanded. Moments later, the battlefield was covered with muddy puddles.

Gloria growled. "Come out at an angle!"

Perrserker emerged quickly from next to Goodra, its claws swiping frantically, but just missing Goodra.

"The Muddy Water might've messed with Perrserker's perception underground..." Jack thought to himself. A clever move by Zinnia.

"Flamethrower!" Zinnia ordered. Perrserker ran to get out of the firing line, this time its upper body escaping damage but its lower body taking a good hit, causing it to yelp in pain.

"Play Rough!" Gloria ordered. Perrserker lit up with a bright pink energy and charged at Goodra, who was unable to dodge. Perserker's slashed at Goodra, engulfed in pink light, each swipe doing noticeable damage to Goodra. "Now retreat to the hole!"

This went on for a few phases of the battle, Goodra would use Muddy Water on the ground while Perrserker was dug in its hole. Perrserker would come up, do some damage, take some damage, and retreat back to its hole.

"What a grind." Jack commented after the cycle repeated itself for the fourth time, with Perrserker going back to the hole.

"The longer this takes, the more health Hatterene recuperates." Misty said. "Plus it's the only way something that can't maneuver well like Perrserker can stand a chance against a powerhouse like Goodra."

"Muddy Water again!" Zinnia ordered. Goodra was breathing a little heavily. It wound up and blasted more Muddy Water at the ground again, but Jack noticed something was different about it this time. Goodra had been moving in a circle around most of the battlefield, and most of the battlefield was now covered in puddles or mud.

Perrserker came up again, leaping out of a new opening, but Goodra ducked. Perrserker sailed over Goodra, and tried to land on its feet, but slipped backwards like a person on a banana peel in older movies. "Now's your chance, Flamethrower!" Zinnia roared.

Goodra wound up another Flamethrower, directly hitting Perrserker's whole body at nearly point blank range. After a few seconds of the roasting, Goodra let up, and the referee signaled Perrserker was unable to battle.

"Great job Goodra!" Zinnia cheered, pumping her fist in Goodra's direction as it dashed back awkwardly to Zinnia's side of the field. "And Gloria, that was one hell of a strategy."

Gloria shrugged. "Well, there's still plenty left in the tank, Hatterene!" Gloria called out as she tossed the Fairy-Psychic Pokemon's ball in front of her.

Hatterene re-emerged, looking a little better than it had when Gloria had to recall it earlier.

"Goodra, Thunderbolt!" Zinnia commanded.

"Hatterene, Dazzling Gleam!"

The bolt of electrical energy fired from Goodra, hitting Hatterene directly. Hatterene persevered through the hit and began to glow brightly with pink energy. Goodra was in range, and even though it curled up to shield itself, Jack could tell it took solid damage from Hatterene's attack. Goodra struggled to get back to its standing posture.

"Goodra, lets get one more Thunderbolt!" Zinnia commanded. Goodra painfully threw its head back to wind up for the Thunderbolt, but it slipped backwards on the mud covering the battlefield, landing on its back.

"Hatterene, finish it, Dazzling Gleam!" Gloria ordered.

One more burst of light from Hatterene later, and Goodra was ruled unable to battle. "Now it's all down to Flygon." Jack commented.

Zinnia sent out her Flygon once more, getting the matchup she'd hoped since the beginning.

"Hatterene, Dazzling Gleam!" Gloria ordered.

"Flygon, fall back!" Zinnia ordered. Flygon retreated to the plexiglass, putting as much distance between it and Hatterene as possible, staying airborne. The field of bright, pink light didn't reach Flygon, but Zinnia oddly didn't say anything.

"She's not going on the attack?" Bea asked aloud.

Gloria cleared her throat. "Okay Hatterene, get closer to to Flygon!"

Hatterene jumped a little into the air, then became enveloped in a dark pink glow as its psychic powers allowed it to levitate at moderate pace.

"Okay Flygon, Steel Wing, now!" Zinnia roared.

Flygon bolted into action, its wings flapping rapidly to get its speed up, then they glowed a dark gray. Hatterene's glow disappeared as it tried to land quickly. Its landing spot was in the mud Goodra had covered the battlefield with, and Hatterene slipped as it landed. It still maintained its upright position, but was unable to counterattack as Flygon's dark gray wings collided with it, sending it airborne.

"Flygon, one more Steel Wing should do it!" Zinnia ordered. Flygon flapped it wings rapidly once more before the dark grey energy engulfed them. Hatterene landed helplessly on the ground, and Flygon's wings smashed it once more, sending it rolling back to the plexiglass borders of the battlefield.

"Hatterene is unable to battle, Flygon and Zinnia win the match!" The referee called out.

Jack and the girls celebrated wildly, hooting, hollering, and clapping joyously as the crowd roared its approval for the captivating battle.

"And with this victory, Zinnia's record moves to 9-0, solidifying her grasp on the top rank of the Club League!" The PA announcer declared.

Jack caught himself smiling, and he remembered this meant he'd have to tell Zinnia about the Draconid elders who wanted to speak with her. "That puts a damper on things." He thought.