March 11, 2010

Wyndon City, Galar

"Go! Charizard!" One young man shouts as he sends out his partner Pokemon.

"Roar Duraludon, my partner!" Another shouts as he sends out his skyscraper pokemon.

The crowd shouts in excitement as both Pokémon are sent out and release energetic cries. The referee comes out and declares that the battle has begun. As the match had begun, a young man approached a small group in the audience as he waves to get their attention.

"Hey, are you Sonia by any chance?" He asks as the young woman turns to face him and nods.

"Yeah, that would be me. Why do you ask?" She replied, glancing at him for a moment before coming to a realization. "Oh yeah, you're James aren't you?"

"Yes, that would be me. I thought I was going to be late for Leon's match, but it seems I made it just in time." He responds sitting down near them.

"Who is this Sonia?" The young man next to her asks.

"This is an individual that your brother has taken some interest in Hop. One of them at least. Just need the other two to arrive and then we'll be set for after the match." Sonia explains as James goes to sit down near them.

"I hope you're ready Leon, your winning streak ends here today!" One of the two trainers shouts to the other.

"You should know by now that I don't lose battles Raihan." Leon responds. "Charizard, dragon pulse!"

"Use iron defense!" Raihan commands his pokemon.

Charizard then fires a pinkish dragon beam at Duraludon while the steel type hardens its metal body to resist the damage of the attack as it makes impact. Duraludon stares down Charizard as it uses the momentum of the beam to shrug off the attack. Leon then glances at his partner.

"Hmm, Duraludon is tough alright. We need to get past their defense." Leon says quietly almost to himself. "Charizard, I trust your judgment on what attack you decide to use next. My thought is to try flamethrower, but I'm not sure if that will break through."

Charizard nods to Leon as they both look at Raihan. He had a wild smirk on his face as he went to command another attack.

"Now use Thunderbolt!"

Duraludon then sends out a powerful bolt of electricity as the attack lands and shocks Charizard. Leon could feel a small jolt of the attack that shocked his partner. Charizard immediately then starts spinning like a drill as he goes underground and creates a path towards Duraludon's position. Duraludon glances around the battlefield to find out where Charizard could've been digging, but was unable to dodge the attack as the ground beneath him started to deteriorate as Charizard digs up and lands the super effective ground type attack.

'Good call partner.' Leon thought "Let's keep up the pressure! Use brick break!"

Charizard then flies downward as his left arm begins to feel a large amount of power and approaches Duraludon ready to strike with a powerful punch. Meanwhile Duraludon had just recovered from the last move.

"Don't think you've gained the upper hand Leon! Use stone edge!" Raihan shouts as several sharp stones rise out from the ground to deal a heavy blow to Charizard which sends the crowd into a moment of silence, wondering if that's the end for Charizard.

"Dammit, are you okay Charizard!?" Leon says to his partner who stands back up from the attack and lets out a loud roar.

"I've come prepared to win Leon. And this battle is just getting started." Raihan says to his rival as he recalls his partner and activates the band on his arm. "Bring the storm, my partner. Gigantamax!"

Duraludon's pokeball begins to increase in size as Raihan throws the ball into the air as it releases his Duraludon, who also begins to increase in size. James looks at the large Pokémon feeling a little intimidated.

"T-That's Gigantamax!?" He asks as Sonia nods.

"Indeed it is. Dynamax is a very unique phenomenon and it really makes the battles here in Galar much more interesting." She says to him as James looked in awe.

"This battle is far from over, I forbid it." Leon recalls Charizard and proceeds to Gigantamax his Pokémon. "Gigantamax!"

Charizard comes out just as big as Duraludon and the two stare each other down waiting for the next move.

"Let the winds blow! Stream forward sandstorm! Use max rockfall!" Raihan commands as his partner summons a massive rectangular rock slab which begins to fall towards Charizard. Leon looks at Charizard who nods to him.

"Counter it with max knuckle!" Leon shouts as Charizard punches the falling rock and completely breaks it up which causes a sandstorm to engulf the battlefield.

"Perfect, now use g-max depletion!"

Duraludon's body begins to glow with powerful energy as it releases a beam of draconic energy that hits Charizard who was suffering damage from the sandstorm. The move began to sap Charizard of its strength as Leon could feel the damage his partner was taking.

"Now let's finish this with max steelspike!" Raihan shouts as Duraludon strikes the ground and large spikes of steel rise up towards Charizard.

"We're not done! Charizard, g-max wildfire!" Leon shouts as Charizard sends out a flame Phoenix that engulfs the spikes and flies toward Duraludon. Raihan could feel the heat of the attack as Duraludon blew away the attack. However, Duraludon feels all the damage it took and fell down to the ground, exiting out of its gigantamax form. The referee flies over towards Raihan and Duraludon, whom the latter has passed out.

"Duraludon is unable to battle! Therefore the winner is Leon!" He shouts as the crowd cheers for Leon's victory. Leon then does his signature pose before petting Charizard's head.

"Hm, very typical of him." Sonia had a slight smile. "What did you think?"

"That was incredible! I've seen several of his matches on tv, but it feels more exciting being here in the stadium." James says as two other individuals made their way over towards Sonia.

"Did we miss it!?" One of them asked Sonia as she nodded. "Come on…the flying taxi wasn't up today so I had to take the train."

"You and I both." The other individual says before turning to Sonia. "Sorry for being late, but we are here like Leon wanted."

"Perfect." Sonia claps her hands together. "James, this is Abigail and Viktor. They are the other two trainers Leon invited. He should be expecting you three."

"Then let's not waste any time. Let's go to him." Abigail says Sonia takes them out of the crowd and into the locker room. Leon was sitting down on a bench with Charizard as he turned to see everyone.

"Ah, there you are Sonia. Are those three individuals here?" Leon asked her as he then saw everyone. "Excellent. Hello everyone, it's a pleasure to meet you. I doubt there is any need for introductions, so I will get to the point. My goal is to have the trainers of Galar undertake the gym challenge and become stronger so that they can reach me. And I want you three to help me accomplish that goal."

"Sure, but we will need a Pokemon to accomplish that." Viktor says as Leon had a small smile.

"Which is why I'm giving you three each a Pokemon." He says as he takes out two pokeballs before he looks a little puzzled. "Huh, I swear I had three on me. *BEEP*...must've put it somewhere and forgot."

"You had one job Leon." Sonia sighs a little as she takes out a pokeball and tosses it to Leon. "Good thing I brought an extra one."

"Thanks Sonia. Glad that you came prepared." He replied to her as he threw the pokeballs out to reveal three pokemon. A grass monkey, a fire rabbit and a blue jackal. Leon then looks over at the three. "Okay, you can choose amongst these three Pokemon. You have Grookey, Scorbunny and Riolu. Interesting choice Sonia."

"Oh…um thanks Leon." Abigail says to him. "So…who is picking first?"

"Ladies first, so you can go on ahead." James responds as Viktor nods.

"Okay," She glances over at the Pokemon as she sees Grookey hitting the ground with its little twig. "Yeah, I think I will go with Grookey."

"Good choice." Leon says as she goes over and gently picks up the monkey as it begins to hit its twig against Abigail in a rhythmic fashion.

"I find this very funny." She chuckles a little.

"Okay, I guess it's my turn." James says before looking down at the remaining two. "I'm going with Scorbunny."

"Excellent." Leon responds as James kneels down next to his new Pokemon and gives him a little fist bump. "Then it looks like you will get Riolu, Vik."

"Right, I don't mind it." He replies looking down at Riolu who looks at Viktor curiously.

"It's good to see that all of you are getting along with your new partners. Remember to train hard and get stronger. I'll be waiting for you all at the champion's league." Leon smiled. "And I'll look forward to that day."