Chapter 42: A New Rival?
Early in the morning, all four Pokemon of Team Polarna vatra set off together. They all knew that their duel today would not be an easy one, and they wanted to visit the arena so that they could approach it with more confidence. Team Slash were now Polarna vatra's oldest rivals and at the same time these opponents had a 100% win rate in this duel. However, this should not mean much. Because the first time it was just Aurora and Kel, both unevolved, the second time it was just Marshadow and Aurora. Polarna vatra has never been bigger, stronger or smarter than now.

The fact of who the duelists were alone ensured that this fight was more than just a battle for the King's League, as if that wasn't enough pressure. And on top of that, it was Polarna vatra's first duel in front of a large audience... the journey took around an hour until the team arrived. A huge structure, significantly less high but much wider than the League Tower, stretched out across a large, open space. A single arena, isolated from any city. The Arena of Kings, Crowning.

"You have stadiums like this in this world? I thought that at least this was something humans still had over you guys."
"Humans have something like Crowning too?"

Not only Marshadow, but also Tyrantrum and Aurora were shocked. This arena was the pride of the entire continent.

"Yes, every major city had something like that. There were always events of a certain sport there... pure nonsense in my eyes, but there were enough of them. Or rather too many."

Humans are strange. Aurora had made that decision a long time ago and this was now confirmed again.

"Well, at least that means you somewhat know how this all will look. Unless the interior is completely different.", Aurora exclaimed.
"There's only one way to find out. So let's go!"

The entrance area of the stadium was currently almost empty. Some fighters, probably from the King's League, were walking around here, but no one else. Two large staircases led up the sides of the entrance area, clearly to the spectator stands, and a staircase in the middle led down, but this was blocked by a kind of barrier.

"Let's go to the spectator area first."

Above the stairs, Kel looked out over the grassy below, on which a slightly glowing circle was visible. "Soccer stadium" was pretty much all that came to mind. Because that was all it was, apart from the lines on the field. Accordingly, the team left this part of the stadium again quickly, although Marshadow seemed much more impressed. The shadow had apparently never seen such a place. In all honesty, Kel had to admit that he had never been inside of a football stadium either, but he had seen them in videos and from the outside. Now the team was standing in front of the large barrier again.

"Our duel is next, so the barrier should have stored the data from our cards."

Tyrantrum held his key card, which he got back when he joined the team, in front of a small sensor and a green light flashed. The barrier slowly went up and, as soon as the team had crossed it, went down again.

"Then... let's take a look at the area for the teams. That... will be something new for me too."

Marshadow also saw the mixture of nervousness and euphoria in Aurora's eyes as she made this statement. She had wanted to get here for so long, and today this dream would finally come true!

The stairs soon ended and led into a long corridor, with two doors, one on each side. There were small displays on them. Team Slash and Team Polarna vatra, one of these names was written on each the doors.

"So you've found your way too!"

The all too familiar voice sounded behind Kel's back and caused a small shiver. He had not forgotten his suspicions about Zeraora, quite the opposite. Zoroark was also standing with her team partner, of course. But a third Pokemon, a Dragapult, was also floating next to the two of them. Aurora decided to "greet" her team's opponents.

"Zeraora. Zoroark. So you two dare to come here? And... whoever your friend is too."

The dragon answered himself, but his voice was almost inaudibly quiet.

"Name's Spirit. An old friend of Zeraora. I've been part of Team Slash for a week."

Tyrantrum was very surprised to hear this.

"Really? Zeraora, those are two very special events. First off, after seven years, you're expanding your team? And secondly, you even have friends?!"

Kel was a little confused at first, but he realized that there had to be a reason Team Slash had become part of the conference in the first place. Tyrantrum and Zeraora actually got along quite well.

"My friends never show their, yours work for Epsilon. That's how it be."
"Bro, that one was too far! You'll get that back!"

Aurora, unlike her team partner, did not seem interested in continuing this conversation for much longer.

"And that you will, later on the battlefield. Tyrantrum, Marshadow, Kel, come on. We're not finished with the tour yet."

As the team entered their own room, Aurora heard a quiet voice that she immediately recognized. Zoroark.

"You must not win..."

Behind the door was a huge room, about half the width of the entire battlefield above.

"Why is this so huge? What's all this space for?"
"You don't have to have been here to know that, Kel. Pokemon can get, like very big. And if you have a team made up by five giants, they still need to fit in here. There are also obviously a few gadgets here. What is the big screen there for?", Marshadow answered.

A kind of television, about twice the size of Kel, adorned one of the walls.

"The battlefield is projected onto it. The rest of the team stays down here when someone is fighting to prevent coaching from the sidelines. And we can see what's going on upstairs via this monitor."
"So we have to walk all the way up both stairs every time?", Kel asked worriedly.

Without a word, Tyrantrum moved towards a large circle in the ground. He stomped twice and suddenly the circle shot up, right in the middle of the battlefield. Shortly afterwards he returned, along with the fossil.

"I present to you: The elevator to the battlefield."

The arena had now been explored. About an hour would still pass before the duel against Team Slash. And Polarna vatra wanted to use this time. To plan. The mere existence of Dragapult had destroyed many previously thought-out strategies. And this Pokemon was now causing the most concern. Where did it come from? Why did Team Slash suddenly take in someone new? And above all... what could he do in battle? And there was only one way to answer this question...

An hour later, while the team was still discussing strategy, the monitor in their room suddenly turned on. It showed Elementareon, who was sitting in a small, isolated area close to the audience.

"A good day to you all, Crowning! It's that time of the month again! The relegation match for the King's League takes place! Today the veterans from Team Slash, who unfortunately only got 50th place due to many missed duels in their first season in the King's League, are competing against the underdogs of the Upper League tournament, who were nevertheless able to prevail against the odds: Team Polarna vatra. Today either old acquaintances will defend their new rank, or Polarna vatra will make history by entering the King's League in their second full season of play! Let's see what happens! Both teams, please send your first duelists."

Kel found himself surrounded by hundreds of Pokemon in a large white ring. It had been clear for half an hour that the Arcanine would be making the start of the big showdown. And he immediately saw how important this first round would be. It was not only about a quick start and a superior mentality, but also about finding out the true strength of the unknown opponent. Because the Dragapult was floating on the other side of the battlefield and looked very happy with its situation. As a dragon against a Fire-type Pokemon, this was understandable, but Kel was definitely not going to give up easily.

"Spirit, of the Dragapult species, member of Team Slash, will be facing Kel, species of Arcanine, one of the leaders of Polarna vatra! Round one, let's go!"

Without hesitation, Kel sprinted off, not wanting to give his opponent any time to prepare for anything. Which the dragon had clearly tried to do. A phantom-like sword fizzled out when Kel landed Crunch. This enemy wanted to use Sword Dance. However, Kel had guessed correctly and landed a very effective hit! Only... that Spirit didn't seem to have felt the hit at all. So much for the effective weapon. Kel thought that the dragon had probably trained a kind of resistance to Dark-type attacks through many battles against Pokemon of this type.

However, the Arcanine didn't want to unleash his next best weapon yet. Instead, he immediately backed away so that no counterattack could come. However, he had not expected a ranged counter attack. Thunderbolt followed and immediately made Kel's luck falter again. It was slowly getting to him that every single Electric-type attack he got hit with paralyzed him! But he also had to admit that the blow was stronger than he had expected. Tyrantrum had claimed in the room below that Dragapult was generally a physically strong species, which is why Kel had not expected Thunderbolt to be that strong.

Of course, his now limited mobility was damaging Kel enormously. It was always the same. A Pokemon that wanted to stay in close combat was pretty helpless at low speeds. The dragon immediately took his chance to use Sword Dance, now that he had the time. It was still early, but Kel realized that without his secret weapon for this fight, he would have little chance here. Dragon Pulse, an attack that hit from a distance and seemed to come as a complete surprise at that moment. Not only did the hit stop Spirit's technique, it also made him stagger, and the spirit's body seemed to distort slightly. While the shock was still taking effect, Kel ran up with his own Fairy-type move, Play Rough. As slow as it was, this blow also hit and was much stronger than both of the previous attacks. Spirit was obviously less well prepared against Fairy.

And the Dragon was now at a major disadvantage as well. The danger zone that pushed him to the ground. Now Kel could follow up with an Earthquake, as it could now hit. Now completely on the ground, Dragapult seemed defenseless, which is why Kel immediately swung for the final blow while the audience grew louder. However, the Arcanine also noticed how a faint, orange aura suddenly surrounded Spirit. Kel immediately slowed down, meters in front of the opponent, who immediately lunged and struck as he stood up. He was back to full strength! Somehow this situation seemed familiar to Kel, but in the heat of the moment he didn't know where from.

Before the Arcanine could finish this thought, a barrage of Shadow Balls hit the ground next to him and Spirit was floating above the battlefield again. The fight was not over yet, the audience was going wild. And the Dragapult also managed to use Sword Dance, as Kel was briefly distracted in shock. But even now, giving up was not an option. It would never be. Play Rough had been the most effective attack so far, so Kel's focus would be on hitting it again. However, with new strength, new speed and aggression seemed to have been released in his opponent as well. Now fighting in a more close-combat-based way, one blow followed the next, with each blow the opponent came closer to the hit he was looking for. Kel allowed himself to be pushed further and further back, now almost in the danger zone himself. And here he decided, it was all or nothing! He stormed forward in a flash, but so did his opponent… as expected. Because suddenly Kel ducked as low as he could and a surprised Dragapult staggered just above him, with enough force to throw himself out of the ring.

"Round one is decided! The winner is Kel from Team Polarna vatra!"

The loser was still glowing orange, but he had fallen to the ground and didn't seem to be getting up. Kel immediately went to check on him.

"Hey, are you okay?"

There was silence for a moment, apart from the murmuring of the audience. Uncertainly, Kel approached the motionless dragon. Panic swept through the audience as blood turned the green grass red. A scream tried to escape Kel's throat, but he couldn't breathe. Three long, bleeding scratches turned the fur just below his neck red. And the "Dragapult"'s now light blue eyes looked at their victim, as he spoke up with a voice now as clear as it was familiar. Darkrai!

"We're not done here yet, Kel!"