"You ready Kenan?"
Kenan looked up and saw Rex at the entrance of his room at their dorm as he was preparing for his second-round qualification battle.
"Yes why wouldn't I be?"
Rex snorted as he petted Weiss and fully walked into Kenan's dorm.
"I mean I don't know, the fact that you are battling your girlfriend in the second round of this tournament. It seems like a pretty big deal."
Kenan blushed at Rex calling Lyna his girlfriend and quickly corrected him.
"She isn't my girlfriend, she is just a friend. And besides this isn't like battling that admin in Galar so things should be fine."
But as soon as Kenan said that he felt nervous. Not about the battle but about his relationship with Lyna. Sure the two of them had spent a lot of time together, especially after the trip to Galar but she and him hadn't exactly defined their relationship yet.
Kenan sighed but hoped to get an answer from her after this battle. Soon he got up and went for a walk, hoping to clear his head a bit before he had to battle Lyna and soon ended nearly crashing into Ema of all people.
"Oh sorry, wait is that you Kenan?" Ema asked as she took out her headphones and pointed to the Trainer Course student.
Her Umbreon soon glared a him a bit before backing off and nuzzling Ema a bit.
"Um yeah, hey Ema. How are you doing?" Kenan asked her.
"Doing well, I am just waiting for you and Lyna's battle to start." Ema said to him.
Kenan sighed. He came outside to get his mind off the battle, not to be bombarded with it but I guess he couldn't escape it entirely.
"I see, I assume you will be there rooting for Lyna?" Kenan asked.
Ema nodded. Kenan looked at her and soon stared into her crystal blue eyes, it was amazing like they could peer into your soul and tell who you were from that alone.
Yet… he couldn't say for sure, but he could also detect a certain sadness from within them. Some sorta of pain that Ema had kept locked away.
"Hey Kenan, can I ask you something?" Ema asked him.
"Um sure… what is it?" Kenan asked.
Ema looked at him and asked him no matter what, that he won't hold back during his battle with Lyna.
Kenan looked surprised as he looked at Ema.
"Alright I won't. You can can count on that."
Meanwhile near the Performance Course's building. Lyna was putting on the final touches of her training.
She knew that her defeating Kenan was a longshot but it wasn't impossible as she knew that if she could land this combination she was working on, she would be able to win. But as she was training she was still thinking about her relationship with Kenan and what their current relationship status was so to speak.
There was no denying that he was handsome and cute, she was surprised that there weren't more girls fawning over him from his sheer looks alone but that wasn't all that attracted her to him.
She had this pre-conceived notion of trainers, or how arrogant and entitled they could be. And of how obnoxious they could be as well. Call it judgmental all you want, but that is simply how she felt about them whether it was good or bad.
And yet… Kenan Fox managed to break that image in her head. He was certainly passionate about battling, but there was a quiet kindness to him that she could recognize that she hadn't seen a lot in the trainers that she had met before.
And… she wanted to see what they could do together. Which is why she wanted to prove her strength to him in this battle.
Lyna soon sighed as she grabbed a water bottle and drank some water from as her Fennekin soon ran up to her and nuzzled her legs. Lyna soon smiled as she petted her Fennekin and Swablu telling them that soon they would prove to Kenan that they were strong despite being performers.
Her Fennekin and Swablu looked at each other, wondering if she was doing this for the right reasons but seeing the determination on her face they realized that she intended to do this and that they would support her no matter what.
Lyna thanked them both as she recalled them both and soon made her way to the stadium. As she walked by she heard several people whispering about the supposed battle between the 'couple' so to speak and it made her blush.
They weren't a couple yet but maybe… just maybe after this battle they could take the next step together regardless of who won.
Yeah, that is what she was hoping for.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! I am glad you are able to join us in the lovely afternoon as we have another second round qualification battle here in the Pokemon Trainer's Academy Monarch Invitational Tournament!" Freddy George Jr. said to the crowd.
The crowd as usual was rocking as the noise level nearly reached that of what official league tournaments usually reached. In the section of the stands, Rex, Tyson, Shion, Robyn and Ema were all sitting together as Freddy began to announce the combatants.
"Starting off with our first contestant, he had quite the debut battle here in the tournament and seeks to replicate his success here. From Undella Town, it is Kenan Fox!"
Kenan soon came out and to much fanfare as people began chanting his name obviously impressed with his first round battle and hoping he would win this time around.
"And his opponent, a Performance Course student with a talent for battling! Hailing from Vaniville Town in the Kalos Region, it is Lyna Fay!"
Lyna soon came out and she took her side of the battlefield and soon stared down Kenan. They didn't exchange any words… probably because no words needed to be said between.
"Trainers send out your Pokemon!" the Referee said.
"Nami and Oden, I choose you!"
"Fennekin and Sawblu, the spotlight is on you!"
Soon both sets of Pokemon came out as the battle officially began.
"Nami use Megahorn and Oden use Rock Slide!" Kenan commanded.
Nami soon tapped the ground with her paw and soon commanded a giant wave while Oden sliced his arms in the air and soon rocks began to fall.
"Fennekin use Flamethrower and Swablu use Dragon Pulse!" Lyna commanded.
Fennekin soon fired a spray of fire that the wave and caused steam in the air while Swablu flew up and destroyed the falling rocks with it's dragon energy pulse creating a few sparks in the process.
"Now Fennekin use Scratch and Swablu use Air Cutter!"
Fennekin soon elongated her nails and scratched Nami causing her to stumble while Swablue felled Oden with it's Air Cutter due to it being super effective.
Both Nami and Oden soon struggled to get up as Lyna kept up the pressure by having her Pokemon use Hidden Power and Sky Attack respectively.
Soon both attacks as both Pokemon stumbled down. Things weren't looking good for Kenan, but as usual he had a calm and collected smile on his face. As if everything was going to plan.
Lyna couldn't understand why until she looked at her Pokemon. They were already panting because she went all out from the beginning. Kenan had anticipated she would do that and she didn't catch on until it was too late.
He played her perfectly.
"Sorry Lyna but it is time to end this. Nami use Megahorn and Oden use Psycho Cut!" Kenan said.
Nami's horn soon glowed green and Oden send pink waves of psychic energy towards Fennekin and Swablu. Both Pokemon were absolute too tired to dodge the attacks and the attacks did major damage as both of Lyna's Pokemon were knocked out.
"Both Fennekin and Swablu are unable to battle! Kenan is the winner here." The referee announced.
The crowd soon roared as Kenan went to his Pokemon to congratulate them on winning while Lyna congratulated her Pokemon on a job well done.
Soon both of them recalled their Pokemon and met in the middle of the battlefield.
"That was a great battle, I had a good time." Lyna said to Kenan.
"Right back at you. You were a worthy foe." Kenan said to her.
And then as if on instinct both of them soon kissed each other. The crowd soon roared with even further excitement but for Kenan and Lyna they simply didn't care.
