Over the next four days, Tyrogue and I worked on his endurance and improved the moves he had at his disposal. We would go jogging in the morning to build up his stamina, battle training in the afternoon and end the day with another jog. It was important for both of us, as we'd be walking the entirety of Sinnoh and it was better to be ready for it now. Still, it didn't mean that it was fun or easy, not for me anyway. Tyrogue loved the exercise and getting to stretch his muscles. I was struggling to keep up with him, but I did my best not to let him get out of sight.
Not only could he fully use Mach Punch now, but he could also maintain a hold on Swift while moving. That would probably change as we actually battled more but as it stood now, I thought we had a good chance of beating Anthony and Machop. Before we left the arena for our evening jog, I asked them if they would battle us tomorrow, and they were looking forward to it.
When Tyrogue and I walked into the arena after our run, we found Anthony already mid-battle. Not unusual, as he and Machop battled frequently throughout the day. They considered it good training, and it was. However…
Anthony was losing badly. On the other end of the arena was a small gray dragon on two legs with golden scales and pink clip-on ribbons. Jangmo-o.
Machop was standing by sheer force of will. He was scorched, skin undoubtedly burned by dragon fire. He was bruised too, and it looked like he'd been bitten and scratched as well. His opponent had a few bruises but otherwise looked fine.
"Finish it with Dragonbreath!"
Jangmo-o opened his mouth and a torrent of blue flames erupted forth, engulfing Machop who cried out in pain before falling over. Anthony recalled him, hanging his head as he did so.
Alyssa strode across the arena with dragon in tow and stood in front of her defeated opponent, one hand on her hip. Her eyes were half open, like she was half-asleep or something. She looked bored, not amused or sneering like I'd seen her before.
"Good match, I guess." Anthony muttered meekly.
Alyssa raised an eyebrow, then scoffed. "What battle were you watching?" she replied derisively before holding out her hand. "Cash, now." Reluctantly, he offered a few bills from his pocket which Alyssa snatched up instantly, her face turning to a frown as she counted out her winnings. "Seriously, that's it? Ugh, you should probably just quit now, save yourself the embarrassment."
It was painful to watch. Anthony and Machop had been so helpful with training Tyrogue, they'd given me somewhere to start and someone else to train with. Anthony began walking towards the exit and saw that I'd been standing there. He gave me this sort of sheepish grin and shrugged his shoulders as he approached. "Sorry Titus, looks like our battle will have to wait. How much of that did you see anyway?" he asked.
"Only the tail end. I wish I could've warned you about her." I replied.
"You've met her?" he asked, somewhat confused. I explained what had happened when I signed up for the Circuit, then officially meeting her when Tyrogue and I tried to leave the arena.
"That blows my mind," Anthony said, running his fingers through his hair. "It's like she wants people to hate her. Seriously, where does she get off talking to people like that?"
"Because I can, and who's going to stop me, you and that lame-ass Machop of yours?"
Alyssa had decided to include herself in the conversation, though she was alone this time. Well, mostly alone. Hayden had been in the stands watching the whole time, and waved to me with a smirk on his face once I spotted him. Tyrogue had taken to staring down Jangmo-o, who relished the opportunity and did the same.
"Seriously, all of that "trainer culture" stuff" Alyssa continued, making large finger quotes in the air for emphasis," you see on the forums is a bunch of people creating stupid rules to make other people play along with them so no one gets their feelings hurt. I don't care about arbitrary rules, or playing someone else's game and I especially don't care about their feelings. It's total Tauros shit. I'm here to kick ass and take names, not babysit some losers taking on Roark with their Caterpie and Starly."
As much as I wanted to snap at her, I couldn't blame her for not wanting to stick to the ideologies and rules of people that had come before her. I couldn't come up with a reason not to, and Anthony was also silent.
"Yeah, I didn't think so. Now, do you want to battle or am I wasting even more time here?", Alyssa asked, looking at me specifically.
I looked down at my feet, and Tyrogue stared back at me. His yellow eyes were wide and brimming with confidence. He was ready.
"Yeah, I'll take you on. 1 on 1, Tyrogue vs Jangmo-o." The words were out of my mouth before I knew what was happening.
Alyssa's expression turned to one of glee. "Fine by me, maybe you'll be more of a match for me", she mused. "But I doubt it."
I stood on the opposite side of the arena, my heart beating like crazy. I knelt down to Tyrogue, getting on eye-level with him.
"Nervous?", I asked him.
He shook his head.
"You saw what he did to Machop. Are you worried?"
Tyrogue looked at Jangmo-o, his eyes narrowing before turning to me and shaking his head again. Of course he wasn't nervous or worried, this is what he wanted. It was part of who he was, a drive to take on stronger opponents. I was just worried now that I would fail him.
"Hey! Are you done screwing around yet?" That was Alyssa, screaming and getting impatient.
"Go on Tyrogue. We've got this." I'd said it to reassure him, but I really just needed to hear those words myself.
Hayden came down out of the bleachers to step into the referee's square. He clapped his hands together, and put on a really good referee voice. "This will be a 1 on 1 match between Alyssa Retria and…" he giggled, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm so sorry, your name?"
Oh. Right. I guess up until now I'd just been "Guy with the Tyrogue" because I hadn't introduced myself.
"Titus Claren."
"...between Alyssa Retria and Titus Claren", Hayden immediately picked up again. "There will be no switches and if you withdraw your Pokemon it will be considered a forfeit. Are each of you ready?"
I nodded, and Alyssa did the same.
"Begin!" Hayden shouted.
"Dragonbreath!"
"Fake Out!"
Jangmo-o's mouth opened and began to glow blue but the dragonfire died as he was struck and stunned by Tyrogue, who'd blurred across the length of the arena. That had to be jarring, both for Trainer and Pokemon. She was probably used to having total control during battle.
"Ride it and use Dizzy Punch!"
Tyrogue leapt onto his opponent's back, flipping around and locking his legs around Jangmo-o's shoulders. As soon as the dragon realized what was happening, he began thrashing and crying out, attempting to throw Tyrogue off. The Fighting Type raised a glowing fist that crashed into the back of Jangmo-o's head before he was thrown off, rolling as he landed.
"Dragonbreath!"
"Mach Punch!"
Tyrogue had been off-balance and recovering as the blue flames erupted onto the battlefield. He rolled, the flames burning his side as he shot forward and made a solid impact with Jangmo-o's chest.
I let out a nervous breath, my heart beating like crazy. We were gaining the upper hand, but it could go either way in a single bad move. The important part now was to keep Tyrogue at close range. He was most vulnerable at a distance when Dragonbreath could come into play, and it looked like Alyssa had trained it to be able to use it at a moment's notice.
"Bite it!"
Jangmo-o roared before lashing out with a powerful Bite attack to Tyrogue's shoulder, trapping him in place. Tyrogue screamed in agony, and I nearly grabbed his Pokeball right then and there to stop it. But the battle wasn't over, and I'd be failing him by pulling him out of the fight before it was finished.
"Double Kick to break free!"
But Tyrogue wasn't moving, he was screaming and crying out in pain as the dragon kept its jaw clamped onto his shoulder.
"Take it down Momo! Dragonbreath!"
"Tyrogue, Dizzy Punch now!"
A blue light began to escape from Jangmo-o's mouth, the dragonfire building in his throat. Tyrogue's eyes glowed a faint light blue as his attention snapped back to the battle, his fist glowing with a golden light. Tyrogue screamed, hammering Jangmo-o with repeated Dizzy Punches that crashed into his head, jaw and eyes far faster than he had ever been capable of in training. It normally took concentration for him to throw just one, but now he was unleashing a barrage of them.
Then it clicked. Steadfast. Tyrogue's ability had come into play, speeding him up and forcing him to work at nearly twice the normal pace. It was his natural way of overcoming a stumbling block or a barrier, letting him bridge the gap of progress that he would've lost.
A burst of bright blue flames erupted from Jangmo-o's mouth as he unleashed the Dragonbreath, shooting Tyrogue back and away from him. As he landed, he rolled to escape the torrent of dragonfire but Jangmo-o had suddenly stopped the attack almost as soon as it began. The dragon was screaming and crying out, clutching his head as he began to thrash around, striking the ground with his fists before headbutting it instead. What the hell? Was Alyssa losing control of him?
Tyrogue was also in bad shape. There was a giant bleeding indent where Jangmo-o had bitten him, and most of his face and thin pink body had been burned by Dragonbreath. My starter was breathing hard and panting, doubling over to lean on his knees. I had to end this quickly, Tyrogue likely wouldn't be standing after another direct hit from Dragonbreath and he'd only taken one and a glancing blow from another.
"Momo you dumb lizard, snap out of it!"
"Mach Punch, quick!"
Tyrogue disappeared and reappeared in front of Jangmo-o, his Mach Punch making contact with the dragon's jaw. Jangmo-o's tail glowed a bright green as he turned to strike Tyrogue with it, who ducked as the Dragon Tail swung overhead. His eyes were still glowing blue and he wasn't about to be beaten now. The dragon screamed again, clutching his head as he cried out and thrashed in place.
"Grab it and Dizzy Punch!"
He stepped in close, grabbing the dragon by its jaw and pointing it upwards before a glowing fist repeatedly pummeled Jangmo-o's midsection. Jangmo-o cried out in pain, seemingly snapped out of confusion as it struggled to break free but the last punch sent it flying back. Tyrogue screamed, the blue glow gone from his eyes and he cupped his hands in front of his mouth into a cone shape…
Wait, what the hell is he…
…and a torrent of blue flames erupted forth, smaller than Jangmo-o's but the attack overtook him and he fell to the ground covered in dragonfire. Tyrogue meanwhile had collapsed to one knee, exhausted and burned but still standing.
That was Dragonbreath. How? How in the hell had he just done that? I knew that Tyrogue picked up Mach Punch and Swift quickly but those made sense. This shouldn't have been possible, Tyrogue wasn't even remotely close to being a Dragon Type or having resemblance to Dragon Type Pokemon. There was only one way he could…
Mimic. That effect with his eyes glowing blue wasn't Steadfast, it was the act of using Mimic to copy Jangmo-o's Dragonbreath. When did he learn it? I scanned him with the Pokedex the day I got him and Mimic wasn't in his moves.
A whistle sounded, and I realized that Hayden had been pointing to me, a shit-eating grin plastered to his face with a bright purple whistle in his mouth.
"The victory goes to Titus and Tyrogue!"