Asher's Team:
Lago - Rhydon
Crust - Golem
Sebastian - Nidoking
Selena - Nidoqueen
Seraph - Clefable
Barret - Dugtrio
Sonic - Sandslash
Death - Marowak
Colossus - Steelix
Watching a pokemon evolve was always an incredible thing to me, the idea of something going through such drastic changes more or less instantaneously was an amazing thing to watch, the way that Clair's Dragonite literally grew six different appendages when it evolved was very... bizarre. To go from a serpent with no limbs, to a Bipedal dragon with six was a massive change. Just by looking at the pokemon you'd think that just standing up would be a challenge, since their body just underwent a massive shift in proportions and in shape, simply balancing should be an issue for that dragon.
Yet, they stand upright perfectly fine, they're even flapping their winds in a manner that suggests that they know how to use them, all without prior experience or practice. Maybe Clair went through some training with her Dragonair to prepare them for evolution? No that doesn't seem like it'd be much use, at the end of the day that's only theory.
Evolution must also hold an instinct factor, their bodies could just know how to use their new limbs on an instinctual level, because of something that evolution gifted them. Assuming that I'm right that sure is convenient.
Sabrina suddenly appeared via teleportation to bring us some actual food to enjoy since a few snacks from a vending machine isn't exactly enough to fill your stomach and I didn't much feel like going to bed hungry, though I'm not certain how much more nutritious a hotdog with ketchup really is. Still better than nothing though.
I wasn't surprised by Sabrina's completely unannounced and unprompted entrance right by my side, when you hang out with her enough you learn not to be surprised by these things, I can't exactly ask her to just not use her powers since I know that if I could teleport I'd be spamming it all the time. So, instead of telling her off I merely thanked her and accepted the food she'd gotten me.
I jammed the hotdog in my mouth and took a massive chunk out of it with ketchup smearing my lips, not very classy but since when the hell do I care about manners? Sabrina noticed this but also chose not to comment on my... questionable way of eating. If I wasn't going to comment on her lack of social skills then she wasn't going to comment on my messy eating.
I finished the food off and swallowed it down before I licked any redness off my lips. I might be a bit of a pig when I eat, but I'm not gonna talk with my mouth open, that's just disgusting. Sabrina, on the other hand, was eating at a much more graceful and steady pace than me. I couldn't help but laugh at the fact the psychic girl had hardly made a dent in her food when I'd just scoffed mine down.
Sabrina finished her food and stated with a clear mouth." I see that Clair's Dragonair evolved into Dragonite, hardly surprising considering how close it looked to evolution. I think that Lukas has lost his chances of victory at this point."
I just nodded at that as I wiped my mouth with a napkin and agreed." She probably has got the win on this one, but just because he can't win doesn't mean that he can't put up a fight, he's got Hail up so he can still hit Dragonite with a few powered-up Blizzards, plus that thing took some major damage as a Dragonair. This match might surprise you." And what I said is the truth, this isn't some game where you can predict the outcome based off of pokemon stats and what-not, this is real life, and pokemon are as unpredictable as they come. Just because someone should win doesn't mean that they will win.
That Dragonite looked pretty tough, at least to me. I don't doubt that one of my stronger members could take it down, but it could still be a problem for me. One of my teams biggest weaknesses is their lack of mobility, as a flying-type Dragonite will have a major advantage over my pokemon who are stuck on the ground, if I brought out Sonic, Death, or Barret against that thing then I'd most definitely lose. Those guys, whilst plenty powerful, aren't built to take on an opponent as mobile and powerful as a Dragonite, I've centred their battle-styles on slowly whittling away at their opponents until they give in, that just won't work against an enemy like that dragon.
I do have a few answers to that thing though. Namely I'd want to pick Seraph, with his fairy-typing Clair's dragons would be put in quite the pickle. It only helps that fairy-types haven't been discovered yet.
This pokemon world seems to be a lot further behind than in the anime, be it technologically or in terms of transport. For a starter in the Pokemon Journeys anime everybody had Rotom phones, they doubled as a pokedex and seemed to be widespread, it can be implied that they had a version of Youtube, and the tech that they had was far more advanced looking than even the best that Indigo or Hoenn has to offer. The fact that I could even catch Colossus implies that I'm in the anime universe, but then again I could just be in some kind of alternate universe without Ash Ketchum or anything like that, but for the sake of having some kind of idea of what the future could be like, I'm going to assume that I am indeed inside of the anime universe, or something similar to it.
I kind of hope that Ash Ketchum is real in this world, he's not exactly my idol or someone that I look up to- as that would be rather sad- but he is practically my childhood in a nutshell, I followed his pokemon adventured for nearly twenty years. From when I was just a lonely little five year old to a grown assed man. I'd be disappointed if he wasn't really real. If I wasn't able to witness his rise to the top one final time.
Of course it isn't like I would just let him beat me on the way up there. I like him, but I don't like him that much. Still though, there's no shame in losing against someone who was simply better than you, if he can beat me then I don't think I'd be bitter about it.
Come to think of it I haven't really decided how high up I want to aim. I know that I want to be among the strongest pokemon trainers in the world, but do I really want to be the best? A Champion is the defender and leader of a region, it sounds like a shit ton of work to maintain that position, but the rewards are just that good. Money, women, free sandwiches.
Okay maybe not that last one. But you know what I mean. If you're a Champion then you've made it in the game of life, your literally living at the top. But, none of this is without a price, they expected complete perfection out of Champions, if you were strong enough to sit at the top then you had to give everything you had in that role.
Can I shoulder that burden? Do I even want to?
Ah well, I suppose it doesn't really matter right now. I'll cross that bridge when I get strong enough to stack up against Lance myself. As it stood right now his pokemon would use me to wipe their asses, give it a few years and maybe that would change, but that's just how it was right now.
I needed more if I was going to be a Champion. More power, more pokemon. I needed to be more than I was right now. The only way to become stronger is to admit your own weakness, because only by admitting your faults are you able to fix them.
So, I'll continue being a weakling. I will never curse my own weakness.
Afterall, it's the only reason that I'm here right now.
Clair felt her confidence return at the sight of her pokemon's evolution and she commanded her Dragonite with a wave of her arm and a swing of her cape, just like Lance tends to do." Dragonite, use Fire Blast!"
Her partner roared in agreement as he opened his mouth and white hot flames began to gather around his mouth. She could tell just by the speed and look of the attack that her starter had undergone a massive power boost am when he evolved. Clair herself was practically bursting in excitement at the ideas of what her dragon was capable of now.
But, she contained herself. It's not like she could afford to embarrass herself on national television, that would do her no good.
Lukas heard this and immediately responded with the knowledge that she was attempting to use a powerful fire-type move, Clair felt her chest puff out at the idea of her no longer being on the defensive. This felt much more right to her, like it was the way things should be.
"Put out the fire with Hydro Pump! Then follow it up with Blizzard!"
The ice and water-type heard it's trainers words and responded to the orders perfectly. Immediately they spat out a powerful jetstream of highly compressed water that was set to collide with her Dragonite's fire attack, that didn't worry Clair though. She had other ideas.
Once the attacks collided they, predictably, created a cloud of steam that was almost instantly pierced by a harsh gust of ice that would be the result of that troublesome Blizzard attack which that Lapras used before. But, unluckily for them, she had a solution.
Clair smirked as she ordered her pokemon." Dragonite, use Twister to suck up those winds."
Whilst many think that Clair is an idiot for favouring overwhelming power in all of her matches she scoffs at them. She prefers the brute force method because of it's effectiveness and the statement behind it, she's perfectly capable of coming up with solutions to problems like this on the fly. She just doesn't feel the need to do so most of the time.
Her Dragonite let out a cry as they began to flap their small but powerful wings at a rapid pace. Winds seemed to pick up around her starter and soon he was standing in the middle of a cyclone made of wind that put a physical barrier between himself and that puny ice-type attack. Clair was surprised by this for a moment, however it soon passed and her grin widened at the sight of her partner using a new attack.
Her Dragonite just learned Hurricane!
The winds created by the Hurricane were powerful enough to knock away any of the icy winds that were sent her pokemon's way, any Hail in the air that was falling also got caught in the attack, the winds were carried up high into the air until the icy clouds which were dropping barrage after barrage of small icy pellets down on her dragon's skin. Her partner suddenly increased the output on his attack to the max and disrupted the Hailstorm, causing the icy orb above the field which was causing the harsh weather to shatter into a million pieces that rained down on the battlefield.
The Hail was gone.
"Wow would you look at that! That Dragonite blocked that Blizzard with ease then, using that same attack, cleared out the Hail that gave Lapras an advantage! Clair is definitely showing us the power of dragon-types here and today, will Lukas be able to overcome such a formidable foe?!"
Clair, however, wasn't focused on the panicked look on her opponents face, or on the cheers of the crowd. She was looking at her panting pokemon with her smirk dropping instantly. That Hurricane seems to have taken it's toll, no matter how strong or how skilled a newly learned move will be costly to a pokemon's stamina. Her Dragonite wouldn't be able to pull something like that off again, not until they refine Hurricane to a further level.
Still though, they need to push the offense.
"Dragonite, get in close and use Dragon Claw!"
Her partner, though breathing heavily, nodded and held his claws up. His hands became shrouded in a shimmering green aura as he burst forward on foot towards his opponent and the aura gave way to form two claws of dragonic energy.
Clair didn't question her partners desire not to use his wings, even if he could use them flying is a skill that they'll need to practice, he was plenty fast enough already on foot and Lapras aren't exactly known for their mobility. She'll need to get her Charizard to show Dragonite how to fly after they win though, he'll know exactly how to show a new flier the ropes, afterall he had to learn from scratch when he evolved from Charmeleon.
Her opponent wasn't sitting idol though. Lukas saw her dragon coming and yelled." Use Ice Beam!"
Jagged beams of ice-type energy were quickly unleashed from the Lapras's mouth that were formed to intercept her pokemon. But Clair had other ideas on how avoid that attack.
Clair smirked in a way that seemed to unnerve her opponent. Good, he should be afraid." Don't let it stop you! Use your Dragon Claw to shield yourself and drive right through that attack!"
Lukas's eyes widened in surprise at her order. Her Dragonite grunted as the two attacks met, he struggled for a moment, but he used the pulsing green claws of aura to push through the attack and continue to advance on his target.
Her opponent ordered his pokemon with great haste when he saw that her starter was nearly upon them." Block it with Protect!"
The water-type immediately followed up on that order, they lifted their flippers as a solid wall of green aura was put between them and her pokemon. Her Dragonite met the barrier head-on. The collision between the shield and her partner's claws was intense enough to create sparks that came off from the result of the two attack.
However, that Protect was put up too prematurely. It soon began to crack and falter under her dragon's powerful strike. Lukas saw this and began to sweat as he fumbled to order his pokemon once again. But, he never got the chance. This was because her faithful companion started to increase the pressure causing the cracks to rapidly spread on the barrier in front of him.
Clair's smirk widened as she yelled." Break through it, full power NOW!" She might have been a touch dramatic with her words but she didn't care one bit. Her blood was running hot and in that moment it felt like her and her partner could do anything. She felt invincible!
"DRAGOOOONITE!" The light-orange dragon roared with intensity and determination that made the air around him vibrate, his attack suddenly spiked in power and his green claws of dragon-type energy shattered the barrier between him and Lapras into a million tiny pieces. Dragonite then continued and struck his opponent with everything he had.
Lukas yelled out in distress as his partner was forced back by the devastating attack that was just launched it's way." Lapras!"
He watched as his pokemon gritted it's teeth and it's head fell to the side as the damage from the attack on top of the large amount of attacks that it had used took it's tole on his partner's condition. Lapras raised it's head weakly in a pitiful attempt to get back up, but it was in vain, his partner just went limp as they slipped into unconsciousness.
Lukas had lost.
If you enjoyed reading this story and want to read more then just head to my P atreon at The Magician 565 to read 8 Chapters in advance.
So, this one has been a little bit shorter, I'll admit that I could have done more like a month ago, when I wrote it. But, not much really needed to happen in this one, it didn't really need to be very long to get what I needed to happen across. Plus the last one was like 6k, so I'd say it evens out pretty well.