And now back to your regularly scheduled programming!
Lance holds the dubious honor of being the only Champion who Ash has met yet never battled in canon. I'm going to see if I can fix that in roughly three chapters or so.
Hope you enjoy!
Ash stood alone in the tunnel leading to the main arena of Wyndon Stadium, taking a deep breath... and accidentally activating Aura Sight in the process. Instead of immediately deactivating it as he normally did, he took a moment to scan the crowd using Aura, noticing that Pikachu was in the stands with Dawn, Serena, the Maple siblings, and Chloe like he had arranged last night. Aura Sight deactivated, and Ash properly took in a deep breath to steel his nerves before walking out into the stadium.
"And the second challenger, hailing from Pallet Town, he is the first and current Champion of the Alola region, ASH KETCHUM!"
A raucous cacophony of cheers filled the stadium as Ash walked towards the battlefield. Looking towards Angie, he waved in her direction, before turning to Pikachu and his other friends and flashing a confident thumbs-up towards them.
Across the field, Lance, his arms folded, gave a slight smile towards Ash as he said, "After all these years, we finally meet in battle, Ash. Make this match one to remember."
"You bet I will!"
The referee rode in atop his Aegislash and began his usual spiel. "The round robin match between Lance Imugi, Grand Champion of the Indigo Plateau, and Ash Ketchum, the inaugural Champion of Alola, will begin shortly! As with all other matches in the round robin, this will be a six-on-six Full Battle with no time limit, and both challengers can make substitutions as they wish. This battle will end when one of the challengers no longer has any Pokémon left to battle with. Unless both competitors agree to a different set of conditions, they are allowed to use one of either Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, or Dynamax." Looking towards Lance, the referee asked, "Mr. Imugi, which of Mega Evolution, Dynamax, or Z-Moves will you use?"
Lance tossed his cape aside to reveal a necklace that had a crudely cut Key Stone serving as the central decoration. "Mega Evolution for me."
"Very well, and you, Mr. Ketchum?"
Ash flashed his Dynamax Band towards the referee, who nodded. "Challengers, send out your first Pokémon!"
"Take to the skies, Aerodactyl!"
Lance's Aerodactyl emerged from his Poké Ball and took to the skies with a shriek, circling high above the field. Aerodactyl took one look at his opponent and immediately recognized him, lowering down to the ground and leering directly at Ash.
"Huh?! Is that...?" James wondered.
Jessie visibly paled, muttering, "Oh no."
"Da Grand Champion actually caught dat ting?!"
Angie turned towards the stunned Rockets and asked, "What's the big deal? It's just an Aerodactyl... okay, it is kinda weird considering they're prehistoric Pokémon, but still, they're not that uncommon."
Jessie turned to Angie and hissed, "Big problem, twerpette, that thing knows us! We accidentally awakened a bunch of Fossil Pokémon eight years ago and that Aerodactyl was one of them." Pointing towards it, she continued, "See that scar on its head?" As Angie nodded, Jessie finished, "It got that chasing us through Grampa Canyon when we lured it into a rock face."
"Oh." That was all Angie could say to Team Rocket's infodump as Lance's Aerodactyl began walking towards Ash, a look of loathing present on its face.
"Oh..." Ash reached for one of his Poké Balls as he looked toward Lance, remarking, "I think I know that Aerodactyl."
"Really?"
"Did you find it in Grampa Canyon, by any chance?" Lance nodded, and Ash said, "I... may have had a hand in awakening him, if that's the case."
"Very well." Lance gave a quick whistle, and Aerodactyl turned to face his Trainer. "Remember that this is a battle, not a chance to settle a grudge." The Fossil Pokémon gave a begrudging nod as he took to the sky once again, circling over Lance's side of the field while not taking his eyes off of Ash.
Clicking his first Poké Ball of the match, Ash tossed it onto the field, calling out, "Gengar, I choose you!"
Gengar's Poké Ball burst open, and out of it came a pool of shadow that slowly began to rise out of the ground, revealing the Ghost-type. Upon landing on the ground, Gengar proceeded to pull down an eyelid and stick his tongue out at Aerodactyl, who simply growled.
The referee waved both flags down and exclaimed, "Battle begin!"
"Start this off with Stealth Rock, Aerodactyl!"
"Use Will-O-Wisp, Gengar!"
On the ground, Gengar performed a series of elaborate hand symbols as his body temperature began to rapidly increase, and around him, a ring of purple-and-pink fireballs formed. As Aerodactyl released Stealth Rock in a series of white glowing trails, Gengar fired his Will-O-Wisp towards Aerodactyl's attack. Each flame of Will-O-Wisp intercepted the streaks of light Aerodactyl had fired from his body, preventing Stealth Rock from reaching the ground and activating.
Gengar snapped his fingers to use Thunderbolt, causing a bolt of electricity to spear down from the sky onto where Aerodactyl was, but the Rock-type flew off to the side to dodge it before swooping down to the ground. As he descended, Aerodactyl's tail began glowing silver as he swung it at Gengar, who jumped away from Iron Tail and blew a raspberry towards Aerodactyl.
Incensed, Aerodactyl screeched and struck the ground hard, using Earthquake. However, Gengar simply levitated off the ground and towards Aerodactyl, who had taken flight once again. Winding up a fist, Gengar proceeded to strike Aerodactyl with Ice Punch, the Fossil Pokémon slightly recoiling from the super effective hit. Aerodactyl proceeded to use Roar right in Gengar's face, startling the Shadow Pokémon and forcing him back into his Poké Ball.
On Ash's belt, the lone Safari Ball rattled, and out came Tauros, who dug his hooves into the ground and bellowed... before immediately being returned as Ash sent out Emboar, who punched his fists together and roared towards the sky. The Mega Fire Pig Pokémon proceeded to rip a chunk out of the floor and hurled it towards Aerodactyl, who narrowly managed to avoid Emboar's Smack Down before diving down towards Emboar.
As Aerodactyl drew closer, Emboar dug his heels into the ground as his fist glowed a brilliant blue. Once the Fossil Pokémon was in striking range, Emboar swung his Focus Punch, which clashed against Aerodactyl's Double-Edge. Neither Pokémon seemed to give an inch, and after a few moments, the clash was broken by an explosion of energy from the exchanged moves.
Merely shaking his head, Aerodactyl was no worse for wear, and he flew towards Emboar, his tail glowing blue as water splashed from it. When he managed to close the distance between himself and the Fire-type, Aerodactyl swung his tail outward, nailing Emboar in the face with Aqua Tail. As he tried to fly away, however, he found that he couldn't, Emboar having grabbed his tail while reeling from the hit.
Emboar smirked and blew some steam from his nostrils before firing a Scald directly onto Aerodactyl, the Rock/Flying-type screeching in agony. However, Emboar's Scald didn't burn Aerodactyl, and with a shrug, he slammed Aerodactyl into the ground twice before throwing him towards the other side of the stadium.
Lance watched as Aerodactyl shot past him, and he winced as the Fossil Pokémon crashed into the arena's wall. Aerodactyl pulled himself out of the indent he made, still ready to fight, but Lance shook his head, saying, "Rest up for a little bit." Aerodactyl nodded, though not without a roll of his eyes, performing the 'I'm watching you' gesture towards Ash as Lance recalled him to his Poké Ball.
Unclipping another Poké Ball, Lance threw it out onto the field, yelling, "Gyarados, show them what you're made of!"
The Atrocious Pokémon emerged from his Poké Ball in a series of gold sparkles, coiling up like a spring before unfurling his neck and upper body. Leering down towards Emboar, Gyarados let out a mighty roar as he slammed his tail down onto the ground, using Earthquake. As Emboar staggered on the ground, Gyarados coiled his body around the Mega Fire Pig Pokémon and squeezed. As Emboar struggled in his grip, Gyarados chomped down with Ice Fang, creating a thin layer of frost on Emboar's body. Gyarados slightly unfurled, regaining control of most of his body while Emboar remained wrapped in his tail.
Within the Cerulean City Gym in Kanto, Misty Waterflower sat atop her Gyarados, watching as Lance's Gyarados repeatedly slammed his tail, and Emboar by extent, into the ground. Wincing as Lance's Gyarados released Emboar in the air, and then promptly swatted him back down to the floor with his tail, Misty looked down at her Gyarados and asked, "Do you want to watch this match again later and see what we can do?"
Gyarados rumbled his assent as he nodded, and the two fixed their attention back onto the match upon hearing a roar of pain.
Emboar had slugged Gyarados in the underbelly with Brick Break as the Atrocious Pokémon prepared to wrap his tail around him again, and Gyarados retched before letting out a pained roar, his grip on Emboar loosening. Taking the opportunity, Emboar landed another Brick Break, freeing himself as Gyarados collapsed to the floor, completely winded. Shrouding himself in a cloak of electricity, Emboar barreled towards Gyarados with Wild Charge, but before he could make contact, Gyarados rolled to the side and slammed his tail onto the floor, using Earthquake once again.
As Emboar stumbled, Gyarados took the opportunity to right himself and bore down on Emboar with Crunch. The resulting explosion pushed Emboar back, giving Gyarados space to reset to neutral... and Lance promptly recalled him before sending Aerodactyl back out onto the field, commanding, "Brave Bird!"
"What?!"
Aerodactyl circled over the stadium for a few moments before diving down towards the ground, his body cloaking itself in a fiery red aura. As he increased in speed, the red aura suddenly changed to blue, and Aerodactyl smashed right into Emboar before he could defend himself, throwing up a cloud of smoke that obscured the vision of both combatants.
May looked towards her younger brother, asking, "I thought Aerodactyl can't learn Brave Bird though?"
Max shrugged. "Honestly, I couldn't tell you, Lance is a bit notorious in League circles for having weird movesets on his Pokémon. But something about that Aerodactyl seems a little off... almost like it's taking this match personally."
Something clicked in May's mind, and she said, "Wait! Max, do you remember the story Misty told us about how she got Togepi?"
"Wait... there's no way that it's the same Aerodactyl."
In Serena's arms, Pikachu leered towards where he thought Aerodactyl was as his cheeks sparked. "Pika..."
The smoke parted, revealing that Emboar, bruised and battered as he was, was still standing, much to Aerodactyl's astonishment.
Undeterred, Lance snapped his fingers, commanding, "Stealth Rock, aerial variant!"
Aerodactyl struck the ground hard again, splintering the floor and forming sharp stones out of the rubble that floated into the air on Ash's side of the stadium before disappearing.
"Wild Charge, Emboar!"
Emboar cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck, a veil of electricity coming to life around him as he ran towards Aerodactyl.
With a derisive snort, the Fossil Pokémon struck the ground hard with Iron Tail before batting a piece of rubble that had been thrown up by the move towards the charging Emboar, his Iron Tail splitting it into a buckshot of rocks... which Emboar completely shattered with Wild Charge, and he continued approaching as a result. As Aerodactyl increased his altitude just a little bit more, at a loss for what to do.
Lance suddenly got an idea, and called out, "Aqua Tail, but don't actually hit him with it!" Nodding, Aerodactyl swung an Aqua Tail towards Emboar, a trail of water flying from his tail toward Emboar's path.
Some of the water splashed across Emboar's chest, and he froze up as he lost control of the electricity around his body, letting out a pained bellow as he ended up electrocuting himself.
Looking towards Ash, Lance grinned and said, "Shocked? Forrest told us about that time you beat his brother's Onix with that cheeky little assist from the sprinklers, and we kept the general idea around as a deterrent for any non-Electric-type looking to zap Aerodactyl out of the sky. Of course, I can't do it nearly as well with Gyarados, what with his severe weakness to Electric-types and all... anyway!" With a flourish, Lance looked toward the smoking Emboar and said, "Finish this, Aerodactyl, use Sky Drop!"
Aerodactyl latched his talons onto Emboar's shoulders, muttering, "I don't know how in Dialga's name you're still standing, but rest assured, it won't be for much longer!" letting out a cackle as he took flight. Hefting Emboar into the sky, Aerodactyl began tossing him around the general area where he had laid Stealth Rock, the Mega Fire Pig Pokémon crashing into the hazards as they unveiled themselves upon contact before disappearing once again. Once he had battered him enough, Aerodactyl hovered in the air for a moment longer before diving down, Emboar still caught in his talons as the two picked up speed.
When they got close to the ground, Aerodactyl released his grip on Emboar and watched as Emboar torpedoed into the ground, throwing up a plume of dust and scattering rubble everywhere.
As the smoke cleared up, Aerodactyl cautiously watched as Emboar dragged himself out of the miniature crater he had created on impact, only to collapse, the Sky Drop having finally done him in.
"Emboar is unable to battle, Aerodactyl wins this bout!" The Fossil Pokémon in question proceeded to pull down his eyelid and stick his tongue out at Ash as he recalled his Emboar.
Gritting his teeth, Ash unclipped Gengar's Poké Ball and sent the Ghost-type back out onto the field. In contrast to his theatrical entrance from earlier, Gengar simply materialized and glared in Aerodactyl's direction, not even sparing a second to taunt as he snapped his fingers and used Thunderbolt. Aerodactyl zipped away from the bolt of electricity, while Gengar was promptly bombarded by Stealth Rock.
Once the rocks faded away, momentarily revealing themselves for a moment up above to serve as a reminder that they were still active, Gengar attempted to use Hypnosis to lull Aerodactyl to sleep. However, the Fossil Pokémon simply looked the other way... and promptly got hit with a Shadow Ball.
Ash smirked. "Had a feeling he wouldn't want to be forced to sleep again after how Grampa Canyon went last time." Extending a hand outward, he commanded, "Gengar, fire a Sludge Bomb into the air!" Gengar did as told, and Ash followed up with, "Now, destroy it with Thunderbolt!"
Gengar snapped his fingers once again, and the Thunderbolt he summoned speared right through his fired Sludge Bomb and caused it to burst, causing it to rain electrified globs of poison in a similar fashion to Draco Meteor.
Aerodactyl attempted to fly his way through the sparking sludge, but some of it landed on his wings and promptly discharged, causing him to screech in agony. Once he crashed onto the floor, he pushed himself to his feet and was about to charge at Gengar with Head Smash, only for Lance to interrupt and say, "Roost, and then come back." Aerodactyl did as he was told, vanishing back into his Poké Ball once he was done recovering.
Looking towards Ash with a slightly rueful grin on his face, Lance said, "My apologies, Ash, I hadn't realized that he was still nursing that grudge from..." Lance quickly counted on his fingers before finishing, "Eight years ago?! For the love of Rayquaza..." Unclipping his third Poké Ball of the match, Lance called out, "Hydreigon, let's wreak some havoc!" as he threw the Poké Ball into the air.
Out of the capsule came a Hydreigon, who let out a brutish snarl as he fixed his gaze onto Gengar.
Iris, meanwhile, was sitting in the skybox with Cynthia and Diantha, and as soon as the Hydreigon came out of Lance's Poké Ball, one of her own rattled, Dragonite forcing himself out of his own Poké Ball moments later. Stomping towards the window of the skybox, the Dragon-type growled as he fixed his gaze onto the Brutal Pokémon, who fired a Dark Pulse at Ash's Gengar. Concerned, Iris asked, "Dragonite, what's wrong-"
"Isn't that the Hydreigon who Dragonite fought around the Undella Town power plant when you caught him?" Cynthia interrupted. Taking a sip of her drink, she continued, "I'm sure he's still holding onto that grudge if this is how he's reacting..."
"Iris, dear, don't you also have a match against Lance later today as well?" Diantha inquired.
"...Uh-oh."
Gengar used Will-O-Wisp, firing a series of purple fireballs toward Hydreigon. The flames managed to hit their mark, engulfing the Brutal Pokémon in a veil of fire. With Aerodactyl off the field, Gengar laughed and taunted in Hydreigon's direction before levitating off the ground. "Wanna cool off? Here you GO!"
Hydreigon was promptly slugged in the face with an icy fist, sending him reeling as his body momentarily flashed with flame once more.
Lance frowned. "That's not good in the slightest." Making his decision, he called out, "Hydreigon, use U-Turn and get back here!"
The Brutal Pokémon flew forwards with a burst of speed, weakly tackling Gengar while enveloped in a dull green glow before flying back to Lance's side and disappearing into his Poké Ball. Lance took out his next Poké Ball, an Ultra Ball, and threw the capsule outwards, yelling, "Go, Dragonite!"
Lance's Dragonite emerged and roared as he flew above the ground.
"Use Heal Bell!" Lance commanded. Dragonite did so, flapping his wings in a rhythmic fashion as the sound of a bell chimed throughout Wyndon Stadium. Lance then proceeded to recall Dragonite and send Hydreigon right back out, the Brutal Pokémon looking no worse than he had at the start of the fight thanks to the effects of Heal Bell.
"Dazzling Gleam, quick!"
Lance's expression remained impassive as Gengar began to build up a rainbow-colored aura around himself. Looking towards his Hydreigon, Lance asked, "Do you still have that Roseli Berry?" Hydreigon nodded, and Lance continued, "You know what to do." Using one of his hand-heads, Hydreigon fished a Roseli Berry out of his ruff and then placed it inside his mouth.
Gengar unleashed Dazzling Gleam, the burst of multicolored light racing towards Hydreigon, who promptly chomped down on his Roseli Berry as the Fairy-type attack hit him. Dazzling Gleam sent Hydreigon flying, but the Brutal Pokémon was able to right himself in a relatively quick manner and snarled as his body flashed purple momentarily.
Waving his hands in an arc in front of him, Gengar fired a wave of Shadow Balls towards Hydreigon. The Dragon-type blocked a few of them using his arms, wincing as the others hit him in his torso. Gengar floated up to Hydreigon's eye level and used Hypnosis again, but Hydreigon simply closed his eyes and pointed his hand-heads forward, firing Dark Pulse from both of them.
The two blasts of Dark-type energy hit their mark, interrupting Gengar's Hypnosis and pushing him down to the ground. Hydreigon opened his eyes and followed up with Flash Cannon from his left-hand head, Gengar narrowly jumping away from the attack and retaliating with Focus Blast. The swirling blue-and-yellow orb of Fighting-type energy made its way towards Hydreigon... and then promptly swerved left, much to Hydreigon's bafflement and Gengar's frustration.
"STOP DOING THAT, FOR GIRATINA'S SAKE!" Gengar yelled in irritation, using Psychic to force the Focus Blast to correct course. However, that left him open to a Stone Edge from Hydreigon, and Gengar was catapulted skywards by the Rock-type move. Righting himself, both of Gengar's fists surrounded themselves with Ice-type energy, and he wound them up before extending them both outwards.
With a derisive snort, Hydreigon charged up Flamethrower in both his hand-heads and clamped onto Gengar's fists, the heat in his hand-heads dispelling the Ice Punches Gengar had prepared. The Brutal Pokémon pulled hard, and Gengar was yanked directly into striking range. The fangs on Hydreigon's main head glowed a deep purple as Gengar futilely attempted to escape his grasp, and the Shadow Pokémon attempted to use Dazzling Gleam as a last resort.
Hydreigon clamped down with Crunch just as Gengar's body was almost enveloped in Fairy-type energy, and an explosion occurred that not only freed Gengar from Hydreigon's grasp, but knocked Hydreigon significantly off-kilter now that he no longer had a Roseli Berry to assuage the highly effective attack.
However, Hydreigon was still standing thanks to the Dazzling Gleam being incomplete, while Gengar wavered for a moment on the ground before falling to a knee. Hydreigon landed on the ground, his body glowing a gentle green as he used Roost to replenish his energy. Seeing that Hydreigon was a sitting Ducklett, Gengar spat out a barrage of Sludge Bombs towards the Brutal Pokémon, who simply held his hand-heads up and fired pulses of Flash Cannon and Flamethrower to shoot the Poison-type attack out of the sky.
While Hydreigon was kept busy by his Sludge Bomb, Gengar melted into a pool of shadow and traveled along the floor before materializing behind Hydreigon.
"Behind you!"
Hydreigon whirled around and snapped at Gengar with Crunch using his main head, his hand-heads still occupied with Gengar's Sludge Bomb barrage from earlier. However, the Shadow Pokémon just barely floated out of his reach and wagged a finger tauntingly before charging a Focus Blast at point-blank range. Having none of it, Hydreigon opened his mouth and fired a Flash Cannon directly at Gengar's Focus Blast. The two attacks clashing created a miniature explosion that both tossed Gengar across the field and undid all the recovery Hydreigon had managed with Roost.
Gengar landed hard on the ground and attempted to pull himself back up, only for the last of his strength to give out. On Lance's side of the field, Hydreigon pushed himself into an upright stance with the help of his hand-heads, and stared directly at Gengar's unconscious form for a moment before letting out a quick sigh of relief.
Atop his Aegislash, the referee said, "Gengar is unable to battle, Hydreigon wins!" while on the big display, Gengar's icon was promptly greyed out, leaving Ash with just four Pokémon left to Lance's full team of six.
Steven, Leon, and Alain entered the skybox and were greeted with the sight of Iris, accompanied by Diantha's Gardevoir, chasing her Dragonite around the room, trying—and failing—to return him to his Poké Ball. Alain promptly joined Iris in trying to stop Dragonite, sending out his Braviary, while Leon's Charizard entered the fray in an attempt to play peacemaker.
The two Champions sat down next to Cynthia and Diantha, the former carefully observing the match in the stadium while the latter was more enthralled by the shenanigans unfolding in the skybox. Turning to face Leon and Steven, Diantha calmly said, "Oh, don't worry, her Dragonite's only been like this since Lance sent out his Hydreigon."
Pointing a finger towards the scene unfolding in front of him, Steven inquired, "Why isn't Cynthia's Garchomp among the Pokémon involved in... whatever this is?"
"In her words, it would've been 'too easy' if she sent Garchomp out," Diantha giggled. Playfully pushing Cynthia's shoulder, she continued, "You always like doing things the hard way, don't you, dear?"
Chuckling, Cynthia played along. "I will neither confirm nor deny this accusation, Miss Carnette," she said in a flat tone before turning back to the match, waiting for Ash to make his next move.
Looking towards Cynthia, Leon said, "I went ahead and watched the Lily of the Valley Conference matches you recommended to me yesterday as well as some old League Weekly articles from that time, and all I can say is just... wow. No wonder Ash made headlines all those years ago."
Keeping her focus on the match, Cynthia replied, "I knew that Ash would someday be a legitimate contender for the strongest Trainer in the world after that incredible performance in the Sinnoh League. I even said so myself after the League conference ended, that he'd absolutely be someone to look out for and that I wish I'd been able to battle him." Putting a finger to her chin, she pondered, "Maybe that's why he told me Unova felt a lot harder than normal when we met up in Undella Town..."
Cynthia's musings were interrupted by Leon asking, "I do want to know, though, whatever happened to that Paul guy? He seemed to be around Ash's level of skill back then."
"Oh, he still is. He simply opted to not participate in the WCS, said that he didn't really like the style of things. He is going to be joining the Sinnoh Gym Circuit later this year, though, and his older brother told me that he was also planning on properly challenging the Battle Frontier the last time we met."
Leon nodded, turning his attention back to the match just as Ash recalled his defeated Pokémon.
Recalling the Ghost-type to his Poké Ball, Ash whispered, "You did well Gengar, get some rest," before unclipping the Safari Ball on his belt and throwing it out onto the field, Tauros materializing in all of his glory as he bellowed in the direction of Lance's Hydreigon. Tauros looked up and carefully trotted his way through the Stealth Rocks that began falling onto the battlefield, successfully managing to dodge them all in seconds.
Raising an eyebrow, Lance inquired, "A Tauros? Did he come from Kanto's Safari Zone, by any chance?"
"Yeah, why?"
"When the warden informed me about an... incident, shall we say, about a Dratini, you, Misty, and Brock came into conversation. Cliff seemed particularly displeased at the fact that you somehow caught the entire herd of Tauros living there at the time."
"It was an accident!" Pausing, Ash admitted, "It was really funny using three Tauros in that one match I had in the Silver Conference, though..."
"That I remember," Lance chuckled. "Bruno looked like he was about to collapse by the end of it all. Is this the one that fought Drake and his crazy Dragonite?"
Ash nodded. "Was he the reason the League standardized the move limit for battles to ten instead of four?"
"Yes." Looking Ash dead in the eye, Lance asked, "Are you ready to continue?"
"You know I'm always ready!"
At that moment, the referee waved his flags. "Battle begin!"
Hydreigon swooped down to ground level and flew towards Tauros, his fangs glowing purple as he attempted to use Crunch.
"Rock Climb!"
Rearing up, Tauros slammed his hooves into the ground, causing a mountain to erupt from the ground. His hooves began to glow white as he scaled the mountain with blinding speed, firing a Thunderbolt at Hydreigon to get his attention. Looking up, Hydreigon snarled and began to fly up to meet Tauros, who snorted as he reached the apex of his created mountain. Bellowing, Tauros' horns glowed a pale blue as he used Blizzard, a swirling vortex of snow and chilly winds washing over Hydreigon and causing his wings to ice up.
As Hydreigon fell towards the ground, Tauros followed up with Body Slam, putting his entire weight onto the Brutal Pokémon's body as they crashed into the floor. Tauros sauntered off with a dismissive snort as his mountain crumbled into rubble, while Hydreigon weakly pushed himself up and stood on his hand-heads as if he were a Passimian, flinching as his body crackled with yellow lightning.
Lance cursed under his breath, realizing that Body Slam had paralyzed Hydreigon. "Don't let him go through you unscathed, Hydreigon, Draco Meteor!"
Extending a fist outward, Ash commanded, "Hyper Beam!"
As Hydreigon began charging a purple orb of energy in his mouth, Tauros began charging Hyper Beam at the same time, a faint orange glow spreading across his body before eventually concentrating itself into the space between his horns in the form of an orange orb. Just as Hydreigon was about to fire Draco Meteor, his body crackled with yellow lightning, causing him to momentarily gag on the Draco Meteor that had formed in his mouth.
Tauros proceeded to fire Hyper Beam, the orange beam of pure energy cannoning directly into Hydreigon and launching him into the indent Aerodactyl had made earlier in the match. Tauros made no effort to show off, instead staring dead ahead at Hydreigon to see if he would still be able to fight.
Hydreigon tumbled out of the wall and groaned as he collapsed to the floor, thoroughly spent.
"Hydreigon is unable to battle, Tauros wins!"
Ash watched as Hydreigon's icon on the big display was greyed out, finally putting him on the board. Pumping his fist in satisfaction, Ash called out, "Good job, Tauros! Do you want to call it here and come back out later?"
In stark contrast to most of the rest of Ash's Pokémon, the tactically-minded Tauros nodded, and Ash recalled him into his Safari Ball.
As Lance recalled Hydreigon, he unclicked his next Poké Ball and called out, "Back to you, Gyarados!" The Atrocious Pokémon emerged from his capsule, the ring of gold sparks that indicated that he was Shiny flashing once again as he leaned down towards Ash and roared in his face.
"Right." Blinking as he unclipped his fourth Poké Ball of the match, Ash called out, "Noivern, I choose you!"
Lance is... infamous, shall we put it, for not conforming to game mechanics (the Barrier Dragonite from Generation I, his Aerodactyl illegally having Rock Slide in Generation II, and of course, his three underleveled Dragonite in both Generation II and IV).
So in the spirit of that, I decided to bend the rules a little bit by blessing his Aerodactyl with two moves that the species really has no excuse not knowing these days: Head Smash and Brave Bird.
I always had the idea that since Lance—and Clair to an extent—are Dragon Tamers, they're also partially responsible for taking in any rouge Dragon-types and other draconic-looking Pokémon that cause trouble and try their best to rehabilitate them. Hence, Lance having the Aerodactyl from Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon and the Hydreigon from the opening of Iris and the Rogue Dragonite! here.
Personally, I found this really fun to write, and I hope you all share the same sentiment.
Reviews are always appreciated, and stay tuned!
-Krosshair
