Asher's Team:

Lago - Rhydon
Crust - Golem
Sebastian - Nidoking
Selena - Nidoqueen
Seraph - Clefable
Barret - Dugtrio
Sonic - Sandslash
Death - Marowak
Colossus - Steelix

Clair didn't want to admit it, but her opponent was proving himself to be annoyingly persistent. Even just at this moment her Charizard was on his last legs, in contrast to her fire-type dragon, Vance- her opponent in the semi-finals- was using a Golem that was all but completely fresh. Even if he was on his fourth pokemon, her Charizard was her second. If he fell then she'd just be one pokemon ahead of him.

She gritted her teeth at the thought. That just wasn't good enough! How was she meant to prove that she was the best when she couldn't win without losing two of her pokemon!

The match had started out with her Gyarados crushing his Rhydon and Sudowoodo, however the rug was pulled from under her when he chose to field an Aggron of all things, a pokemon from the Hoenn region if she remembers correctly, that managed to defeat her Gyarados who was weakened from fighting two surprisingly tenacious rock-types. Her Charizard managed to overpower the Aggron, but when pit against a Golem she was at a severe type disadvantage. Of course that wasn't enough to make her back away, she wasn't going to withdraw her pokemon out of a slight type disadvantage that an inferior opponent possessed. She wanted to go above and beyond to prove that she didn't back down in the face of such trivial things. So, she chose not to switch her injured Charizard out in the face of a rock-type.

"Golem use Stone Edge!" Vance shouted. His Golem responded to the order by touching the ground and conjuring up a line of blunt, rock pillars that were directed straight at her Charizard, fully set to finish off her beaten dragon.

Though, despite his previous injuries, her Charizard stubbornly refused to back down, like a true dragon, and he roared in defiance as he leapt off the ground, doing his best not to let his wounds from battle show.

Her Charizard flew directly at the barrage of rocks which were rapidly approaching him and swiftly dodged as he took to the sky, unscathed by the previous attack, after he was in the air Clair quickly ordered." Use Dragon Rush, tear them apart!"

The fire-type gave a mighty roar of agreement before surrounding himself with dragon-type aura as he burst forward, nothing but a blue blur to the naked eye, poised to destroy his opponent. Clair believes that a truly a powerful pokemon doesn't need to beat around the bush with cheap tricks, the showing of a truly strong trainer is simple. Power. Absolute power that crushes everything in it's way. Be it determination, tactics, plans or tricks, in the end raw power reigns supreme on the battlefield. It is how her ancestors fought, and it is how she battles. This is the power of dragon-types, to destroy everything in their way.

Vance narrowed his eyes before speaking once again." Block it with Protect, once your done use Stone Edge once more."

Right as her Charizard engaged the opponent a green barrier was erected that stood as a physical barrier that her partner crashed against, seeking to force his way through the thing and attack his opponent. But, the damage he'd previously taken throughout the battle had taken its tole, he couldn't overwhelm such an admittedly tough barrier with just strength alone.

But, much to Clair's surprise, he hardly even got to continue his attack as a spike made of rock suddenly burst out of the ground, the action being so fast that she couldn't warn her pokemon in time, and stabbed right into her Charizard's stomach. The action knocked the air out of her partner and spit flew out of his mouth, but the orange dragon was too prideful for a single attack to knock him out. He couldn't act as though the strike didn't phase him though, he slumped and gritted his teeth as his claws reached onto the rock he was perched on in order to pick himself up and keep battling, but-

"Heavy Slam, don't let that Charizard get back up." Vance added casually. In response his Golem leapt high into the air, glistening with steel-type energy, as they rolled up into a ball that dropped down on her Charizard with such force that she heard bones crack in a way that made her wince as her friend roared in pain. The attack also broke the blunt spike her Charizard was perched on, cracks spread like spider-webs on the hard stone as the structure collapsed as though they were a house of cards hit by a gust of wind.

She felt her heart stop at the sight of her pokemon being struck in such a manner. Even her pride wasn't enough to convince her that her Charizard could withstand that attack." Charizard!" She yelled out for her partner, who had undoubtedly fallen, as a cloud of dust picked up off the ground, obscuring the fire-flying type from her view.

She gritted her teeth as the dust fell and she was greeted with the sorry sight of her pokemon, bruised and beaten, and her opponent who was standing tall, slightly tired, but otherwise perfectly fighting fit. Her pokemon had lost. She had lost.

Clair gritted her teeth as the announcer commented." It looks like Vance might be picking up the pace! Can Clair pick up the slack, or is this as far as she can go?!"

The words of the announcer leave a bitter taste in her mouth as she returns her fallen dragon. And yes, she means dragon. She's heard the words of the morons who'll make comments like 'Oh Lance has more flying-types than dragon-types, how can he call himself a dragon master when he uses Charizard and Gyarados?' Well the simple answer is: Blackthorn's aren't dragon-type masters, they are dragon masters. Any pokemon with traits that are close enough to match dragons are pokemon they care to train up. Of course they have the traditional Dratini and Horsea, but they also have pokemon some might not consider to be dragon-like, but do share a resemblance with dragons. Charizard, Gyarados, Arbok. They even train Machamp for their more reptile-like features, and Ampharos because of the trace amounts of dragonic DNA that can be found in their species.

If something is even remotely dragon-like then the Blackthorns are willing to train it. And, as a result, all of her pokemon are very much dragon-types in terms of their mentality. Her Charizard would have to be very thoroughly beaten to stay down like that. Her pokemon are just that hard-headed.

She bit the inside of her cheek as she pulled out a pokeball that holds yet another of her pokemon. This isn't what she wanted. When she came to the Indigo Conference she was expecting to dominate the competition, much like her cousin did years ago, but here she was, reduced to her third pokemon. Even if she won, the other Blackthorn's wouldn't be impressed with her. She hated that. She's never been one of them, not really anyway. She might share their blood and name, but other than that they treat her as though she's not truly one of them.

The Blackthorn clan isn't a tight-knit family, it has a number of different branches and dozens of different members. Even within the family members are constantly in competition with each other to climb the ranks in the family, be it through their strength as trainers or their success in whatever career they choose to lead, either way they are very cut-throat in the way they are raised. A Blackthorn cannot be anything less than excellent, even if they choose not to be a trainer, those who are deemed weak or unremarkable aren't treated seriously in the eyes of the rest of the family.

Honestly, people call her prideful. If they met some of the other Blackthorn's she's met she'd be considered humble compared to them.

Her mother was a very normal person, utterly unremarkable in every way, she wasn't dumb by any means, but she wasn't talented. Not as a trainer, and generally not as a person. As a result she was never taken seriously by her other siblings, well other than her uncle, Lance's father. Eventually it became too much for her mother and she ran away, where she met Clair's father.

Clair was never given immense detail about her father, but he was a Kantonian. That alone put him as unworthy in the eyes of her family's elders. But, if that wasn't enough, he was also a soldier, one who fought against Johto on multiple different occasions. He perished in battle and her mother was left alone and pregnant. With no other option available to her she was forced to return to Blackthorn where her view in the clan's eyes only decreased. If her uncle wasn't the family head at the time then she doubts that her mother would have even been let back in. Then she was born and started to live her life as a Blackthorn, one born half-Kantonian.

Of course there was also the fact her uncle perished in battle around seven years ago, just before the Indigo war ended, and after that her mother contracted a terminal illness and passed away when she was just eight. She loved her mother, truly she did. But, she didn't want to be like her. She was timid, naïve, idiotic. But, most of all, she was weak, both in body and in mind. Whilst she was grateful to the woman, she had no desire to be like her. She wanted to earn the acknowledgement of the clan elders and be deemed worthy of inheriting the Blackthorn City Gym, but her loss of two pokemon is already a sign of her weakness. She hates being weak.

She cocked her arm back as she prepared to release her pokemon by throwing the ball directly into the fray in order to tackle their opponent head on, the fighting style she usually adopts. She's been told that she looks just like her mother-

Her blue eyes shone with anger and determination as she finally threw the contraption clasped in her palm onto the battlefield.

-she really hopes that's all they have in common.

"You know what? This guy is doing pretty good." I commented from up in the stands, Sabrina sitting right next to me. It might have been a bit short-sighted, but I honestly expected Clair to just win, you know with her actually being a canon character and a future Gym Leader, I guess that just goes to show that you shouldn't count anyone out, no matter how inconspicuous they might appear.

This guy looked like he was a rock specialist, considering his team, and he looked to be a pretty good one at that. Since most of Clair's pokemon are flying-types, that means he has a natural advantage against her. Though, I don't think that's all Clair has stacked against her.

Clair's fighting style, as I've mentioned, is very brute force-like in nature. She's too absorbed in her pride to just dodge and attack from a distance, that Dragon Rush she'd just used spoke for itself. If I were her then I'd have used Dragon Pulse or Dragon Breath to slowly whittle down as Golem's HP before finishing the job with Dragon Rush. But, her pride is holding her back from just wearing her opponent down with ranged attacks.

Sabrina hummed at my words and inputted her own two cents into the conversation." Clair's pokemon are superior in terms of raw power, but Vance has the advantage when it comes to type, and Clair's way of battling certainly isn't helping matters either."

I turned my head away from the battle and towards my purple haired friend." You noticed it too? Her way of battling is way too prideful, even if she is the stronger trainer, her ego is too big. Maybe in my next match I can pop it." I mused as Clair surprisingly called out an Altaria. The graceful dragon stretched out it's fluffy wings as it regarded the Golem sitting under the feet below it with a dismissive scoff. Yeah, that's a dragon.

Huh, does that mean that the Blackthorn's have access to the Hoenn region's dragons? That would mean she could have a Salamence, or even a Flygon. Then again she might be a fan of quality over quantity, if that were the case then I know her entire team. A Dragonite, a Dragonair- since the I know she has two different members of that evolutionary line- a Charizard, a Gyarados, an Altaria, and presumably a Kingdra. A solid team, but the fact that I know them all now will make beating her easier. Assuming she doesn't have a Salamence or a Flygon in reserve.

Sabrina nodded, before she added." Her pride will get in the way of her battling, perhaps you can use that to make her act irrationally. She seems to have a large inferiority complex when it comes to her status as a bastard child in the Blackthorn family. I suggest that you use that."

Sabrina looked back down through the stands, continuing to watch the ongoing battle. But, I felt my brain pause as I replayed her previous words in my head. Clair having an inferiority complex was something I was kind of already aware of, but... bastard child?

"Wait, how do you know that?" I asked, but then again I already knew the answer to that, but I wanted to hear it from her lips.

Sabrina looked at me as though I'd just asked a very simple question." I simply reached out to her mind and read her thought, luckily she was thinking about her family and how she could gain their approval in that moment, I wouldn't have been able to tell otherwise." Her voice was monotone, as though she hadn't just told me that she could reach out to Clair's thoughts from all the way up here in the stands and find out all her insecurities with nothing but a passing thought.

I thought about telling her that this stuff should be kept private, but just shrugged it off. Sabrina's brain literally works differently than mine, as long as she doesn't just go forcing herself into the minds of others whenever it tickles her fancy, then she's good. But, more importantly.

"Did you just tell me to fight dirty?" I asked with a grin tugging at my lips. Whilst Sabrina isn't the most critical about rules, I am certainly surprised that she'd actually tell me to bully my opponents into making a mistake. Is- is that my doing? Have I truly corrupted Sabrina to the point where she'd actually suggest something like that?

I'm so proud.

In response Sabrina blinked at me in an 'innocent' manner." Of course not Asher. I'm offended that you would ever suggest that a dainty young girl like me could ever propose such a thing, you've hurt this poor young lady's feeling. Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?" Her voice was nearly entirely monotone, but the sides of her lips were curved up slightly. This was also something that Sabrina had picked up from me in the time we've been together, when we first met she probably wouldn't have even picked up on such a thing, of course she still has trouble with picking this stuff up, but she knows how to act in such ways.

I held up my arms in surrender." Alright, alright. I'm sorry for accusing you of such a horrible dead my lady, I hope you will accept my apology." My voice was in a really shitty accent that was meant to sound posh.

But, Sabrina merely crossed her arms, her expression barely changed from her usual serene face." That's not enough, I don't think that anything will ever be enough... except maybe a hug." She added that last bit with a tint of pink dusting her cheeks.

Seeing her game my grin widened as I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her closer so that she was in my embrace." Is this enough for me to make you forgive me?" I questioned teasingly towards her.

She just hummed in confirmation as I finally started to pay my attention back onto the battle raging on below... only to be met with the sight of a Golem shining brightly as it prepared to use Explosion.

Huh, bold move dude, bold move.

"Use Cotton Guard to endure it, then use Dragon Rush!" Clair ordered her Altaria to endure the incoming Rock Blast head-on before going on the assault. Her opponents Golem was looking worst for ware, but her Altaria, much to her enjoyment, was scuffled here and there, but otherwise fine.

Oh, she could order her pokemon to dodge the attack, but that would be akin to running away from a challenge, something she'd never do. It's the reason her Altaria has such a high level of mastery over Cotton Guard, so that she could take any attack thrown her way before retaliating with brutal power. She was a gift from her brother when a shipment of dragon-types from Hoenn arrived from the region. He told her she was an early birthday present, and to raise her to be strong, as a dragon should be. Clair is grateful to her cousin for the gift, she'll make sure to use Altaria well.

Her Altaria crossed her wings whilst in the air as her cotton wings thickened and expanded as they wrapped around her to form a shield that would lessen, or nullify, any damage sent her way. The Golem roared with desperation as a barrage of rocks were summoned that rotated around their rocky body, a mere moment later a series of five rocks were shot out to hit her Altaria. Clair felt some smugness build up in her chest as the rocks merely shattered in a vain attempt to break through the surprisingly tough Cotton Guard.

Most pokemon that use this attack cannot completely block an attack from a pokemon at the level of a conference competitor, but her Altaria has such mastery over the move that she is able to accomplish such a feat on the fly. It was immensely satisfying to watch her opponent's expression contort in shock at the sight of her Altaria blocking his Golem's Rock Blast with laughable ease, the rocks shattering and being reduced to pebbles.

Once finished her Altaria's bulky wings returned to their normal position she glowed with a familiar blue glow that signified she was preparing to use Dragon Rush. In just a moment she glided through the air with impressive speeds and rammed right into her opponents rock-type, the impact making cracks appear on the Golem's skin. She rather likes using dragon-type moves, although few in number they have a lot of power packed inside of them, much like the pokemon who use them. Dragon Rush in particular is fantastic.

"Golem, are you okay?!" Her opponent shouted as the tired and beaten rock pokemon was thrown through the air and crashed roughly onto the ground. It grunted and winced in pain as it tried to push itself to it's feet, only to stumble and fall back down. She could respect it's stubbornness, if nothing else.

Vance visibly grit his teeth as sweat gathered on his forehead. He was nervous, an idiot could tell that much, and Clair doesn't blame him. They both know she is dictating the flow of this battle, and she has the lead in terms of the number of pokemon remaining. As they are now, Clair will soon grasp victory. As she is meant to.

She narrowed her eyes at the sight of the Golem stubbornly refusing to give up." Sky Attack."

Her Altaria nodded as she flew high into the air and began to glow with flying-type energy, a clear sign that she was preparing to use the strongest flying-type move, and Clair didn't need to be a psychic to know that Vance had no way out. His sweating and uneasiness were clear signs of that. Good. The sooner she can wrap this up, the better.

After a solid ten seconds of waiting, her Altaria smirked as the flying-type energy around them intensified and thickened. She was ready to finish her opponent.

"Do it." Clair found herself smirking as she spoke, full of complete confidence that this would finish the Golem off for good.

But, much to her surprise, Vance smiled as her pokemon shot forward. As a dragon trainer her instincts were all screaming at her that something was wrong. She could feel it, somewhere deep down she knew, she'd screwed up. But, what-

"Explosion."

In an instant Clair's smirk was completely blown off her face as she realised what a blunder she'd made. Her heart stopped as, right as Altaria was about to strike, her opponents Golem started to glow so brightly that rays of light seeped out of it's armours cracks.

Oh no.

Clair cried out for her pokemon." Altaria, get ba-" But, her words were cut short.

The Golem exploded, with the area closest to it being destroyed as a wave of destruction and fire spread throughout the battlefield with a deafening roar that made her ears ring, Altaria was completely engulfed by the attack and smoke spread to her face causing her eyes to water, she used her cape to cover her mouth, but she could still hear the announcer make his voice known.

"Talk about a cheap shot from Vance's side! He used Explosion whilst Clair's Altaria was just next to it! Will Altaria be able to continue after taking such a destructive attack right to the face?!"

Clair finally withdrew her cape as the spoke began to fall. She gritted her teeth as the smoke around where both of the fighting pokemon were located took an annoying amount of time to fade, but when it finally did the sight made Clair wince. It was the sight of both Vance's Golem, charred and utterly beaten to the point where she'd question if it hadn't sustained any lasting damage. And her Altaria lying on the floor unmoving with her cotton wings burnt and singed.

It was a double knockout.

Clair grinded her white teeth, to the point where some would question how she had teeth at all, at the sorry sight of her third pokemon being defeated. This was not going her way, not at all. She wasn't dominating the match at all, in fact she'd say that she was hardly even winning, she was just one pokemon ahead of him now.

The worst part was, how difficult she was finding this match. She wasn't struggling per say, but she wasn't comfortable with the amount she was winning by either. She knew for a fact that the winner of the last match, Asher, was a powerful trainer. Cowardly, but powerful. He proved that just with the strength of his Steelix alone he could wipe out half of the flying-type trainers team. She wasn't sure that she could boast the same feat. He won with just one of his pokemon being defeated, whilst she's just one pokemon off from being on the same level as her opponent. She hated to even think of it as a possibility, but... maybe she's not strong enou-

NO!

This is nothing, she had nothing to worry about. Lance always tells her to just have complete faith in her pokemon, so she'll do just that. A dragon should never let their pride break, a dragon should never falter, and a dragon should never have doubt. If she can't do those three simple things then she doesn't deserve to win.

She picked her starter's pokeball up from her waist and stared at it for a moment, before shaking her head to cast her doubts aside. She has no need to worry. Not when she has Dragonite.

She looked up to see that her opponent was waiting for her to pick a pokemon as he held his pokeball impatiently, as he couldn't release his own partner until she chose one of her own. It seems that she got lost in her own thought.

She held her starter's pokeball up and tossed it forward onto the battlefield as he did as well.

"Come forth Dragonite!"

"Go Magcargo!"

The red capsules opened and flashed with a white light that burst onto the battlefield and took shape into the pokemon that were held within them. Her Dragonite materialised and roared as a showing of dominance as he glared at the other side of the battlefield, where a... Magcargo stood.

Somehow Clair wasn't impressed. And, neither was her Dragonite. No two-bit fire snail was going to stop her from claiming her victory. Not a perfect victory, much to her chagrin, but a victory nonetheless.

She will win. She will be the winner of the Indigo Conference!

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