Lance's fight had to go through a lot of revisions in the planning stage, even down to the Pokémon each of them used.

Anyways, here's Part 2, hope you enjoy!


Noivern emerged from his Poké Ball and let out a screech as he flew over Gyarados' head, deftly flying his way through the incoming Stealth Rocks Aerodactyl had set up earlier. Taking initiative, Ash commanded, "Noivern, start with Boomburst!"

A horrific sound emanated from Noivern's ears as he used Boomburst, causing everyone in the stadium to cover their ears as Gyarados was knocked over by the sound waves generated from the attack.

Once the Sound Wave Pokémon was done, Noivern looked to Ash for further instructions. Upon hearing Ash call for a Dragon Pulse, he nodded and fired the purple beam of Dragon-type energy straight at Gyarados, who snorted and chomped down on it with Crunch, creating a small explosion. Taking advantage of the distraction, Noivern flew in with Acrobatics and attempted to strike, only to get caught by the Atrocious Pokémon's tail.

As Gyarados began to tighten his grip, Noivern let out a pained shriek, losing the concentration he needed to use Focus Blast. Having just lost a possible option of escape, Noivern quickly began running his remaining choices through his head. Acrobatics, Leech Life, and U-Turn were no-gos for obvious reasons, Draco Meteor was a trump card that he was saving for later, he wasn't able to flap his wings to use Hurricane, and Noivern decided Flamethrower was an obviously stupid idea before he even finished that particular thought.

That left Noivern with a mere three options to try and escape: Boomburst, Shadow Ball, and Dragon Pulse. As he inhaled, Gyarados noticed and attempted to chomp on him with Ice Fang. Noivern promptly fired a Shadow Ball that hit Gyarados in between the eyes and stunned him momentarily, before releasing another Boomburst, Gyarados being in much closer proximity than last time.

Gyarados was knocked over once again, only this time he ended up releasing Noivern from his grasp, sending the Sound Wave Pokémon flying towards the stadium wall. However, Noivern managed to catch himself on the wall, and just as he was about to fly back to the match, he noticed that Serena and Pikachu were sitting right in front of him, accompanied by a few more of Ash's friends. Cheerfully waving towards Serena and Pikachu, Noivern said, "Hi guys!"

Serena giggled as she waved in Noivern's direction, while Pikachu climbed atop her hat and shouted back, "Good luck out there, Noivern! Do your best!"

Noivern returned to the match, watching warily as Gyarados appeared to be coiling himself up like a Grumpig's tail.

Snapping his fingers, Lance said, "Bounce, Gyarados!"

Gyarados uncoiled and went skyward, flying high above Noivern, who attempted to lead a Dragon Pulse towards where he thought Gyarados would end up being. His attack speared into the sky, just barely grazing Gyarados, who snarled and began to plummet downwards. Noivern balked and zipped to the side just as Gyarados came crashing down to the floor.

Righting himself, Gyarados snorted and jammed his tail into the ground, causing a geyser to erupt right underneath where Noivern was flying. The Sound Wave Pokémon was caught right in the middle of the waterspout, and Gyarados jumped into said geyser, swimming upwards at a ferocious speed. At the apex of the geyser, Gyarados slammed straight into Noivern with Waterfall, leaping out of the water column and then landing on the floor, watching warily as Noivern righted himself in the air. The Waterfall then simply lost form and splashed all over the arena.

That gave Ash an idea. Looking up to his Flying-type, Ash called out, "Noivern, use Boomburst and then get back here with U-Turn!" Noivern proceeded to use Boomburst, and Gyarados managed to weather this one better than he had before. However, he was still stunned by the sound waves, which allowed Noivern to hit Gyarados while surrounded in a dull green aura of energy, his Poké Ball forcibly recalling him once he had hit his target. Unclipping another Poké Ball, Ash threw it out as he said, "Lapras, come on out!"

The Transport Pokémon came out of her Poké Ball and landed with a splash, immediately snapping off a Thunderbolt from her horn. Gyarados dodged to the side and splashed some water in Lapras' face, momentarily distracting her from the Stealth Rocks coming from above. Lapras winced as some of the rocks hit her in the face, though some did end up bouncing off her shell.


Within the skybox, Iris, who had finally managed to recall her Dragonite once Lance's Hydreigon went down, squealed with delight as Ash's Lapras came out onto the field. Alain took notice, and he inquired, "Do you... know that Lapras?"

Iris nodded excitedly. "Lapras took Ash, Cilan, and I around the Decolore Archipelago on the last legs of our Unova journey! She was like, one of three Ice-types I wasn't afraid of back then." Tapping a finger to her chin in thought, Iris muttered, "Speaking of Decolore, I did want something small-scale after everything that happened in New Tork City a week or two before we set off..."

That gave Alain pause. "I remember seeing that whole incident unfold over the news," he said. The Kalosian shook his head, not wanting his thoughts to inevitably drift towards the Kalos Crisis, and he asked Iris, "Did Ash ever use Lapras in battle before this?"

Shrugging, Iris replied, "He said something about a Battle Frontier when I asked him that question in the Decolore Islands."

"Then that Lapras is a Pokémon that is not to be taken lightly." Steven Stone made his presence known from the side, part of him still displeased from the chaos from just a few minutes before. As Iris and Alain looked towards him, slightly perplexed, Steven explained, "The Kanto Battle Frontier—should've been the Hoenn Battle Frontier, if you ask me—is a secretive invite-only organization ran by Scott consisting of seven different battle facilities, each headed by their own respective Frontier Brain. Each of those Frontier Brains are potential Masters Eight-level Trainers on a good day, and you need to defeat them at their own game in order to earn their Frontier Symbol. If you manage to get all seven Frontier Symbols, you're marked down in their history books and are offered the position of Frontier Brain yourself, though I think they're trying to set up more bases in other regions since Kanto's already got seven Brains. With that in mind though, I'm sure Scott's purposely leaving an eight slot open for Kanto."

As Iris and Alain exchanged confused glances, Steven gestured towards the battlefield and continued, "Ash is one of the few who's obtained all seven Frontier Symbols, and I think he's the only one who declined to become a Frontier Brain. That being said, Scott has still kept the position open for Ash if he ever changes his mind for... four years, if I'm not mistaken? It's been a while since I last spoke to Scott."

"How do you even get invited to challenge the Battle Frontier?" Alain asked, his curiosity piqued by the organization.

"Every half year or so, the Frontier Brains gather to discuss who to invite to take on the organization, taking various factors in such as results in League conferences and the like. The acceptance number is always no higher than single digits."

Putting her hands on her hips, Iris questioned, "Seems plausible enough, but how in the name of Zekrom do you know so much about the Battle Frontier?"

"The Devon Corporation is one of the primary backers of the Battle Frontier as a whole, so my father gave me the role of acting as our company representative when talking to Scott and the Brains about business because... well, I'm the Champion of Hoenn," Steven answered, a sly smile on his face. Turning to Alain, Steven placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "I'll put in a good word for you the next time the Brains have a meeting if you're interested in taking part."

Alain gave a grateful nod as he turned his attention back to the match, watching as Lapras shot an Ice Beam towards Gyarados, though the Atrocious Pokémon dismissively batted it aside with his tail.


Clapping her flippers together, Lapras used Surf, summoning a massive wave of water behind her. As it splashed into Gyarados, not only drenching him but also deepening the amount of water in the stadium, the Atrocious Pokémon snarled and used Earthquake, breaking up parts of the floor and letting some of the water drain to a more reasonable level.

Lapras inhaled and whistled out a short tune that materialized as several puffs of cold air shaped like music notes.

Out of curiosity, Gyarados splashed some water into the path of the music notes, which promptly flash-froze the water and instantly shattered it. Now that he knew that Lapras could use Freeze-Dry, Gyarados turned back towards Lance and shook his head, the Grand Champion getting the message immediately. Lance promptly recalled Gyarados and sent out Kommo-o, the Alolan Dragon-type punching his fists together in challenge. The scales on Kommo-o's arms let out a cacophony of clangs that reverberated across the arena towards Lapras, who recoiled upon hearing the harsh yet harmonious sound.

Rearing back, the Transport Pokémon charged up an Ice Beam in her mouth and fired the freezing beam of energy towards Kommo-o, who shot an Aura Sphere to intercept the attack. An explosion of smoke was thrown up from the two attacks clashing, and Kommo-o charged through the smoke, attempting to strike with Poison Jab. That was blocked when Lapras used Iron Head, a patch of her head turning metallic as she headbutted the Scaly Pokémon's poison-infused fist. As the Poison-type energy faded from his hand, Kommo-o's claws glowed green, and he raked at Lapras' face with Dragon Claw before retreating.

Gritting her teeth, Lapras shot a Hydro Pump towards Kommo-o, who began vibrating the scales on his body. Flexing his arms as he roared, Kommo-o used Boomburst, the soundwaves not only dispelling the Water-type attack but also disorienting Lapras. Kommo-o proceeded to use Earthquake, causing even more of the water to drain from the arena.

Before Kommo-o could follow up with Clanging Scales, however, Ash recalled Lapras, whispering to her Poké Ball, "Rest up for a while, Lapras, I'm going to need you for his Dragonite." Ash proceeded to click Noivern's Poké Ball once more, the Sound Wave Pokémon letting out a screech as he stared down at Kommo-o from his higher viewpoint.

Kommo-o clapped his hands together, generating a series of vibrations along his body that channeled itself into his hands. Once enough energy had accumulated, he launched a series of purple soundwaves towards Noivern, who performed a series of complex acrobatic maneuvers to fly around Kommo-o's Clanging Scales before retaliating with Boomburst, the harsh shockwaves of sound stunning the Scaly Pokémon and pushing him backwards.

His entire body glowing a faint blue, Noivern used Acrobatics to tackle the opposing Dragon-type before retreating. Kommo-o shook off the blow before charging an Aura Sphere in his hands. Carefully observing Noivern's flight pattern, Kommo-o took a moment to lead his line of fire before launching the Aura Sphere, watching as the Fighting-type attack began to home in on Noivern. Punching his fists together, Kommo-o's scales glowed in a mix of bright green and purple, and from his arms, he used Scale Shot, firing a buckshot of red-and-gold scales from his arms that forced Noivern to take erratic flight paths to dodge the super effective attack.

The flight paths he took ended up causing Noivern to lose ground against the Aura Sphere that was chasing him, and he was hit in the back by it, causing him to lose control of his flight. As he slowed down, a blast of Kommo-o's Scale Shot slammed into his underbelly, and he crashed into the ground, struggling back to his feet while the Scaly Pokémon stalked towards him. Kommo-o grabbed Noivern by the neck, his free fist glowing purple as he prepared to use Poison Jab.

Squirming in Kommo-o's grasp, Noivern glared right at the opposing Dragon-type and belched a Flamethrower right in Kommo-o's face, freeing himself. Noivern paused for a moment to see whether or not his attack had burned Kommo-o, and upon seeing that it had not, he flapped his wings, rising off the ground.

Lance watched as Noivern took flight once again, though not nearly as fast as before thanks to the accumulated damage. Upon seeing the Sound Wave Pokémon rush in with another attempt at Acrobatics, Lance looked towards Kommo-o and said, "Remember what we discussed, Kommo-o, use Poison Jab." Kommo-o nodded, and turned to face an incoming Noivern as his fist began to glow purple.

As Noivern closed in, Kommo-o wound up his fist... and then slugged himself in the gut with Poison Jab, causing Noivern to momentarily pause in confusion. Waiting for a moment, Kommo-o dropped to one knee as purple lightning crackled all over his body, indicating that he had been poisoned. Noivern tackled him with Acrobatics, but due to him not being as agile as he was at the start of the fight, Kommo-o was able to grab onto his tail, preventing Noivern from retreating.

Kommo-o rose to his feet, holding onto Noivern's tail at the Flying-type desperately thrashed in his grasp, trying to break free. Tightening his grip, Kommo-o slammed Noivern into the ground twice, stunning him for long enough so that Lance could reveal the purpose of Kommo-o's self-poisoning:

"Use Façade!"

Lifting Noivern up by the tail, Kommo-o's free fist glowed orange as his body crackled with purple lightning, causing the orange glow to turn red. Winding up his fist, Kommo-o delivered a hellacious haymaker right into Noivern's midsection as he let go of his tail, sending the Sound Wave Pokémon cannoning across the arena.

Ash watched as Noivern hit the ground, sliding across the field before coming to a stop by crashing into the arena wall.


Serena and Dawn cringed as Noivern smashed into the wall, Piplup shielding his gaze with his own pom-poms. The two Trainers proceeded to look towards the dust cloud thrown up from the impact with bated breath, Serena in particular having her heart in her throat.

"Do you think Noivern's gonna be okay?" Max asked, a rare tone of worry present in his voice. All May could do was give her brother a shoulder squeeze, while next to her, Chloe clung onto her Eevee like a security blanket.

Pikachu and Max's Kirlia looked towards the smoke in anticipation, the two of them hoping that Noivern was still standing. Much to Pikachu's relief, Noivern staggered to his feet as the smoke cleared and limped back onto the field, looking towards Ash and saying something. Looking towards Kirlia, Pikachu asked, "What's he thinking right now?"

"Something about 'using that cool new move he learned,' apparently."

Pikachu's ears perked up and he rubbed his paws in anticipation, saying, "Ooh, this is gonna be good."


Noivern carefully flew off the ground, warily watching Kommo-o as he flinched from the poison inflicted on himself.

Ash looked up to his Pokémon and called out, "Let's finish this, use Draco Meteor!"

Kommo-o carefully watched as Noivern fired a greenish orb of Dragon-type energy into the sky, which exploded into countless meteorites upon reaching its apex. As the meteorites began raining over the battlefield, Kommo-o blocked some of the incoming meteorites before noticing that Noivern had begun flying towards him with Acrobatics to finish the job. Once Noivern blitzed by him, Kommo-o grabbed his tail yet again, slamming him on the ground once before pinning Noivern to the ground with Dragon Claw, grimly looking up as a massive cluster of Draco Meteor fragments loomed over the both of them.

Desperately, Noivern shot a Dragon Pulse at point-blank range in order to break free. This last ditch effort did hit Kommo-o in the face, but the Alolan Dragon-type did not waver, still holding onto Noivern as the meteorite cluster crashed into the two of them.

After a long silence, it was revealed that neither Noivern nor Kommo-o were in any shape to continue battling, the two Dragon-types lying in a heap in the center of the field.

"Noivern and Kommo-o are both unable to battle!"

Lance sent Gyarados back onto the field as he recalled Kommo-o, and Ash responded in kind by recalling Noivern, whispering a congratulations for a job well done. Ash proceeded to send out Tauros once again, the Wild Bull Pokémon deftly dodging his way through the incoming Stealth Rocks.

The two Kantonian Pokémon glared at each other, Gyarados opening the challenge by roaring right in Tauros' face. Tauros did not flinch, instead calmly trotting side to side, his hooves splashing in the few puddles of water that remained on the floor. Tauros proceeded to resume the match with Earthquake, and Gyarados slightly wavered under the force of Tauros' attack as the last of the water drained from the arena.

Tauros charged forward, his horns glowing a dull green as he tackled Gyarados with Megahorn. The Atrocious Pokémon weathered the hit with little trouble, and promptly swung his tail into Tauros, the Normal-type being pushed back across the field. Mooing, Tauros' body began crackling with electricity that channeled itself along his body before concentrating itself between his horns. Lowering his head, Tauros fired a Thunderbolt towards Gyarados, who bellowed in pain as the highly effective Electric-type attack hit him.

Snarling as smoke curled from his body, Gyarados' tail began to glow green, and he swung it at Tauros with a shocking burst of speed. Gyarados' Power Whip slammed right into Tauros, bowling over the Wild Bull Pokémon and giving himself some more time to recover after that Thunderbolt.

Ash watched as Tauros slid across the floor, slightly panting as he righted himself. Tauros turned back to face him and glanced towards his last unopened Poké Ball, tilting his head towards the field as to indicate to Ash who he should send in next. Ash nodded in understanding and recalled Tauros, before unclipping said Poké Ball and throwing it out onto the field. "Scrafty, I choose you!"

The Hoodlum Pokémon materialized, brushing off the incoming Stealth Rocks with a relative indifference. On the other side of the field, Lance chuckled, "Ash, I must admit, I'm a little disappointed you're not using Kingler for this match, but that's no matter."

Once the rocks stopped their barrage, Scrafty pulled up his 'pants' for a moment before looking up to see Gyarados leering down at him. The brutish Water-type leaned in close and roared right in his face, but Scrafty simply gave a rude gesture in response, which served to enrage the Atrocious Pokémon even further. Scrafty watched as Gyarados reared up before rushing down to the ground at ferocious speed using Outrage.

"Scrafty, start using Dragon Dance!"

Scrafty performed a series of elaborate dance moves to dodge his way through Gyarados' rage-fueled assault, his entire body being surrounded by a red-and-black aura as he weaved his way through the Atrocious Pokémon's violent thrashing. Once Gyarados ended up smashing his head directly into the ground in an attempt to nail Scrafty, the Dark-type disengaged his Dragon Dance and began excitedly jumping up and down as Gyarados rose up in a daze thanks to the fatigue from Outrage. Finding himself moving far faster thanks to his prolonged Dragon Dance, the Hoodlum Pokémon quickly used Beat Up, punching his fists together and generating a wave of Dark-type energy in a small circle around him.

Within that circle, shadowy copies of Gengar, Emboar, Noivern, Lapras, and Tauros emerged from the ground with a zombie-like gait, the former three melting back into the ground due to them no longer being able to battle. His fists still crackling with Dark-type energy, Scrafty pointed towards the confused Gyarados and yelled to the remaining copies, "GET 'IM!"

As the remaining copy Pokémon charged towards the Water-type, Scrafty leapt up towards Gyarados' face and delivered a fierce haymaker which stunned the Atrocious Pokémon, while the copies of Tauros and Lapras body-checked Gyarados before dissipating, causing him to blanch. Landing on the ground, Scrafty attempted to use Crunch, but ended up overextending, causing him to trip on his 'pants' and fall over, leaving him as easy pickings for Gyarados' Ice Fang.

Gyarados proceeded to clamp down on Scrafty, the Hoodlum Pokémon struggling as his entire body slowly began to ice up feet-first. Gyarados increased the force of his bite, causing the ice to spread along Scrafty's body even quicker. Within seconds, Scrafty was thoroughly encased in ice, and Gyarados used Waterfall once more, catapulting the frozen Fighting-type into the air. Swimming through the column of water, Gyarados jumped out of the apex of the geyser and slammed straight into Scrafty, the lump of ice flying high into the sky before crashing down on the floor, while at the same time, Gyarados landed on the floor with a resounding thud.

Snarling, Gyarados prepared to finish things with an Aqua Tail when a sudden crack in the ice gave him pause. Keeping his tail primed to strike, he cautiously watched as cracks ran along the ice like a spider web, and moments later, Scrafty burst out of the ice, leaving behind a skin of ice shaped just like him.

"Shed Skin, hm?" Smiling, Lance said, "Clever, but that's no problem." Looking up at Gyarados, Lance confidently folded his arms and said, "Bounce, drive that Scrafty into the dirt!" Gyarados nodded and coiled himself up as if he were an Arbok.

Ash calmly said, "Wait for him to get close, Scrafty, 'kay?" The Hoodlum Pokémon nodded back, and Ash watched as Gyarados sprung up into the sky before beginning his descent. As Gyarados got closer, Ash muttered, "Just a little longer," watching as his Pokémon stood his ground, staring defiantly towards the Atrocious Pokémon. Once Gyarados was within striking range, Ash punched his hands together and commanded, "Use Crunch!"

Scrafty rolled out of Gyarados' way as he smashed into the ground. As the Water-type rose, dazed from the impact, Scrafty ran towards him and clamped down on his body with a set of purple-glowing teeth. Gyarados roared in pain, attempting to shake Scrafty off with a violent fit of thrashing, but the Hoodlum Pokémon held on with his teeth for dear life, scrambling for a handhold on Gyarados' scales. After much trouble, Scrafty finally managed to get a grip, and he began scaling Gyarados' body after releasing his Crunch.

Guess all that time practicing Tauros rodeo at the ranch paid off, Scrafty thought to himself as he continued to climb. Underneath him, Gyarados stopped thrashing and looked up towards Scrafty, who had made it just three segments before his head. Scrafty momentarily paused and gave a sheepish grin upon seeing Gyarados turn his head towards him, a vicious look having formed on the red-scaled serpent's face.

"Head Smash!"

Scrafty's crest began to glow a bright red as he fixed a steely glare onto Gyarados, and he threw a couple of punches into the Atrocious Pokémon's body, doubling him over. Scrafty started running up the remaining segments of Gyarados' body due to him being more leveled out, and upon reaching the Water-type's head, he jumped up and dove headfirst onto Gyarados.

Head Smash drove Gyarados into the ground with a resounding thud, and Scrafty was also pitched off the Water-type's body, landing on the ground as red lightning crackled all over his body. In spite of the heavy recoil incurred by Head Smash, however, Scrafty was still standing, which was more than what could be said about Gyarados, who lay unmoving in a spiral shape on the floor.

"Gyarados is unable to battle, Scrafty is the winner of this bout!"

"Alright Scrafty, way to go!" Ash cheered, sparing a glance at the scoreboard to see that he and Lance were finally tied up for the first time since the start of the match.

Lance recalled Gyarados with a smile, looking Ash dead in the eye as he taunted, "This is where the real battle begins." Unclipping one of two Ultra Balls on his belt, Lance threw it out onto the field, calling out, "Dragonite, show them your might!"

The burly orange Dragon-type emerged from his Ultra Ball and took flight immediately, quickly flying a Möbius loop to show off before focusing on an exhausted Scrafty, who pulled his 'pants' up for a moment before beckoning for him to bring it. Dragonite complied, flying towards Scrafty with shocking speed as his wings began to glow white. Scrafty was promptly hit back-to-back by Dual Wingbeat, the first hit launching him into the air while the second juggled him even higher. As Scrafty reached the apex of his launch, Dragonite used Extreme Speed to beat him there, moving so fast that it seemed like he was teleporting.

"Now! Body Press!"

Upon hearing his Trainer's command, Dragonite grabbed Scrafty and began descending downwards almost as if he were using Seismic Toss. However, instead of letting go, Dragonite grimly clung on all the way down, making sure that Scrafty would be sandwiched between him and the ground when they landed. Ash and Lance shielded their faces as rubble flew everywhere from the impact.

Dragonite got up from the ground and took flight again, taking a moment to stare at Scrafty's unconscious form as the referee made his call. "Scrafty is unable to continue battling, the winner is Dragonite!"

Scrafty's icon on the scoreboard went dark, leaving Ash with only Lapras and Tauros to finish the match. Recalling Scrafty to his Poké Ball, Ash whispered, "I'm proud of you, Scrafty, get a nice long rest," before adding on, "Krookodile's gonna love hearing about this, so don't spare the details when you tell him." Clipping Scrafty's Poké Ball back onto his belt, Ash unclipped the capsule that housed Lapras and threw it out onto the field, the Transport Pokémon emerging from her Poké Ball with aplomb and immediately firing an Ice Beam towards Dragonite. The Stealth Rocks from earlier bounced off Lapras' carapace, with her shifting her body to make sure each rock hit her shell instead of other parts of her body.


Back in Pallet Town, Delia Ketchum sat in her restaurant, the Pallet House, using the time before people started coming in for dinner to watch her son's match against Lance on the TV. Wiping a glass clean as she watched Lapras fire her attack, Delia smiled, having met the Transport Pokémon at the laboratory a few years ago. You can do this, Ash, she thought to herself.

The door to the restaurant opened, and Anabel walked in, cheerfully saying, "Hi, Mrs. Ketchum!" as she took a seat at the bar. Looking up at the TV, she asked, "How're things today?"

With a smile, Delia replied, "Oh, nothing much, Anabel, just watching Ash's match for today before people start coming in for dinner. What about you?"

"Battle Tower's closed for some renovations today, and I was feeling a little hungry," Anabel admitted with a sheepish expression. Looking towards the menu, she asked, "What would you recommend from the menu? I'm probably also going to stay to watch the match, if that's okay with you."

"Of course, Anabel, you and the others at the Frontier are welcome here anytime. I'd personally recommend the meat and potatoes-"

"I'll try that, then!"

"I'll put it on your tab," Delia said as she vanished into the kitchen.

Anabel turned her attention back to the TV, watching as Dragonite dodged out of the way of Lapras' Ice Beam. "At least we got to see him one more time before he left for Wyndon last month," Anabel muttered to herself.

A few minutes later, Delia came out with Anabel's food, and the Salon Maiden thanked her before digging in, the two of them discussing Ash's earlier matches as they continued watching his match against Lance.


Once Dragonite was finished evading Lapras' attack, he began performing a Dragon Dance, his body cloaking itself in a red-and-black veil of energy as his flight speed increased. In response, Lapras clapped her flippers as she glowed with a pale blue light, using Hail.

Above Wyndon Stadium, thick grey clouds formed that began dropping a slurry of snow and hail onto the battlefield, partially obscuring Dragonite's vision. Seeing Lapras' silhouette in the snow, Dragonite charged forward, his hands glowing green as he raked in Lapras' direction. A pained grunt indicated that he had hit his mark, and Dragonite attempted to follow up with Body Press, slamming his entire body onto Lapras.

However, Lapras seemed more annoyed than hurt from the attack, and she fired an Ice Beam at point-blank range, hitting Dragonite on the small of his back. Lapras began to hum a lullaby immediately afterwards, but Dragonite covered his ears as he carefully took flight, firing an Ice Beam of his own to freeze Lapras' jaw shut so that she couldn't use Sing.

Lapras, upon breaking the icy clamp around her mouth by letting some hailstones crack the ice, fired another Ice Beam, which Dragonite dodged by using Extreme Speed, tackling Lapras at the same time and pushing her a good distance back. Shaking her head, Lapras used Surf, summoning a large wave of water that washed over Dragonite.

"Hey, Lapras!" The Transport Pokémon turned to face her Trainer, who asked, "Are you ready?" flashing his Dynamax Band for emphasis. Lapras nodded, and she was recalled into her Poké Ball.

Ash watched as the energy from his Dynamax Band flowed into Lapras' Poké Ball, causing it to dramatically increase in size. Grabbing it with both of his hands, Ash said, "Alright Lapras, take the stage!" as he threw her Poké Ball into the arena.

Lapras emerged from her Poké Ball, now much, much bigger than before. Her shell had also drastically increased in size, looking more like an actual shell than the simple plate that covered her back in her regular form. Lapras proceeded to sing a few notes, causing an icy veil that resembled the staff in sheet music to materialize in front of her.

Punching a fist outward, Ash smirked and said, "Alright Lapras, let's do it! Use G-Max Resonance!"


This was pretty tricky to write given that I'm figuring out the pacing as it goes, and also that besides Aerodactyl, Lance's Pokémon team aren't terribly interesting as characters for this match when compared to Diantha and her team from chapters 5-7.

I'm not particularly excited about having to do this Gigantamax next chapter, but we'll see if I can make this work.

Reviews are always appreciated, stay tuned!

-Krosshair