He was used to awakening at odd hours of the night, or barely being able to get any sleep at all if his mind was too active. At least this time, it was because of positive emotions. His excitement for the upcoming battle bled into his consciousness even while asleep, causing him to have vivid dreams of looking into Alysa's stunning eyes at a distance on his battle court, before he stirred awake and wondered if it was time yet. Every instance, he'd discover that only thirty minutes or close to two hours had went by.
Drayton found his eyes fluttering open yet again, and his entire body felt heavier than what was probably healthy. Sleep deprivation and he were no strangers, but never had it stopped by for a visit like this. Still, his enthusiasm was enough to have him not feel as if he was close to fainting.
The boy slowly rolled around to face his nightstand, where his Goomy clock showed it was 6:49am. A good enough time to get up, though he had to use some extra time to coax his body to do so. When he was fully dressed and raring to go, as much as he could be with his usual persistent drowsiness, it was close to 8am. He and Alysa agreed to meet up at about 10am, giving him ample time. First, to prepare for any major battle, he would have his team warm up with some training equipment.
He had left such items in his clubroom locker, so Drayton moseyed over there. He was expecting to find the room empty, as his fellow elites were usually never here this early – nor was anyone else. He was right on the former belief, but not the latter.
Carmine's face greeted him as he entered, the girl seated at the large table and resting her chin on a hand. Naturally, once she registered who had just walked in, it soured.
"What's up, Carmine?" Drayton maintained his trademark relaxed look. "Didn't think I'd see you in here, especially this early on a Saturday."
"Amarys wanted to meet me here. So I'm waiting." Her explanation was curt and edged with a sharp tone. Wanting to play the little game with her that he loved, he asked a pointless question that had an obvious answer.
"What's with the nasty look? Did ya get up on the wrong side of the bed?"
"No. It's because you walked in."
He chuckled, a familiar sound and one that had her free hand clenching. She was too easy to irritate. Drayton went over to his locker, inputting the code into the small digital panel.
"...Are you battling Alysa today?"
He turned his head back. Curious, he assumed Carmine would've started ignoring his existence like usual.
"Yeah."
"Are you going to take it seriously, or throw so she'll get a free win?" Carmine side-eyed him, conversational but obviously still in a bad mood. He quirked a brow.
"Why would I ever throw?"
"Out of your... 'love' towards her." The girl gagged upon mentioning the 'l word'. "Or more likely, so she'd get an easy in towards battling Kiki. You've obviously wanted him off the throne for a while."
She scowled. Drayton's first response was to roll his eyes at her insinuation.
"Me throwing would do her a giant disservice. The mighty champ isn't going to take it easy on her, so I shouldn't." He finished entering the code and opened his locker.
"That'll give her the best chance to win, in the end."
"So, you have her best intentions in mind?" she sardonically questioned.
"Of course I do. I'm her boyfriend after all."
"Ugh!" she groans. "Don't say that in front of me."
As Drayton places the items he wanted into his backpack, he snickers, thinking back to the argument she apparently had with his honey bunny. That was a rather big point of interest, one he'd try to capitalize on now. Out of up his bag and standing up, he closed his locker before walking over towards the table.
"Why? You jealous?"
Carmine bristled. "What's there to be jealous of? That Alysa somehow cares about a bozo like you?"
"Yuh-huh. You seem to be real upset over that in particular."
"As if. I just hate seeing you with those stupid, dopey looks."
He wasn't sure if he onto anything here, but it would be a funny enough accusation to pull up by itself, since she would for sure not react well to it.
"Is that because YOU'RE not the one putting those looks on my face?"
Carmine immediately went silent. Then, she did what he was hoping for – a double take, before an unique anger he's never seen before spread itself all over her. It had her face turning a deep red, and her lemon yellow eyes hardened. There was something else there, something more...raw.
"Oooh? Did I hit a nerve?" A smirk stretched, he feeling no sense of intimidation whatsoever. Before Carmine would've screeched in fury probably, someone else entered the clubroom. It was Amarys, who stopped to look at the two.
"Yo," Drayton greeted her, paying no mind to the deadly glare stabbing into the back of his head. "Are you and the others gonna be at the Polar Plaza for Alysa's attempt?"
"Yes. Crispin, Lacey, and I still plan on it."
"Cool. Looking forward to the special audience." Drayton saluted her, then started to walk towards the door.
But, he paused.
"It is a shame, Carmine." He spun on his heel to regard her still-enraged bearing. "A shame for you, that Alysa pulled me to her first. You're pretty and amusing enough. If the cards fell right, we could've had something."
He laughed. "In some other timeline, maybe we do."
A beat of silence passed. The girl's face hardly changed, save for the tensing of her upper body.
"...I hope Alysa kicks your ass."
"Me too!"
His cheerful response was a harsh contrast to her venomous hiss. The Dragon Tamer went on his way, missing the puzzled stare Amarys sent Carmine's way and how the girl averted her gaze.
"Alright! That's good enough."
Drayton stood up from his seated position on the snow, calling out and clapping to get the attention of all his pokemon. They ceased their sparring bouts amongst themselves. After they warmed up with equipment, the elite found it best to have his team fight one another in the attempt to score a submission or a knockout as their training. The wild pokemon in the Terarium, and the trainers around, were at a level too low to be any genuine challenges towards them at this point.
Plus, it counted as some intense playtime, something all dragons needed as a part of their lives.
"The show's starting soon. Need to get you all restored and ready to roll."
He grinned, and recalled them all into their pokeballs. All except his Dragonite, who looked especially excited. He rubbed her belly.
"Can you give me a lift to the plaza, girlie?"
She bellowed an eager cry, and crouched so he could get onto her. Her speed being honed to a high plateau, they were at the plaza in quite literally two seconds, arrival followed by a strong burst of wind. At the vantage point offered at their altitude before his Dragonite descended, he got a clear view of how crowded the place was. Many students aimed their phones his way as he got off of his dragon, and put her back into her ball.
Drayton cared little about the attention, his focus on going to the healing machine. This spectacle wasn't anything new for him, but it had been a while since this many people had gathered in the Polar Plaza to watch a challenge attempt. People treated it like a sporting event, which...it technically was. The League Club was made to mimic an authentic Pokemon League in a school-based setting.
After the machine finished replenishing his team's stamina, Drayton strolled up the slope to sit at an empty bench, reclining back with his hands behind his head and ignoring the brief flashes from some phones. He was soon approached by his full team of personal assistants: Winter, Ray, and Craig.
"Drayton! We're all ready."
"Great. So am I. Alysa should be showing up any minute now." He idly rolled his head in their direction. "Hope you guys prepared as best you could. She's not gonna be like any of the members you're used to battling."
"We know," sighed Winter. "We've seen some clips of her against the other elites. She's no joke."
"Speaking of clips," Craig began. "A lot of the spectators will be recording you and her."
"I expected as much. As long as nobody tries to intervene with the battle, I don't care what they do."
He waved the matter off. The small group of trainers conversed among themselves, leaving Drayton to relax until he saw the shape of a Salamence come into sight. A sudden thought did occur to him, that had the boy pull his phone out...
—|—
When the Polar Plaza came into sight, Alysa's heartbeat thrummed in her ears. She had been absolutely dreading this upcoming battle, but had never felt this excited in years. Getting off of Sally, the dragon watched as her trainer rubbed her mittens together and took a moment to collect herself. She already missed the calmer state of mind she had against Lacey and Amarys. Even versus Crispin, she wasn't this overwhelmed.
Sally nuzzling Alysa snapped the girl out of her trance. There was a keen glint to her stare.
"Glad to see you're feeling confident." A large puff of vapor wafted as she took a deep breath in and out. "Let's try to make this entertaining at least."
The Salamence snorted in agreement, before being recalled. Alysa crunched through the snow up to the plaza, spotting Drayton seated on a bench higher up. He visibly perked up when they made eye contact, and her stomach churned with anxiety.
"Hey there Alysa," the boy at the counter greeted. "It'll be 50 BP to challenge Drayton."
Right down to business, which she had no complaints about. Taking her phone out, Alysa noticed her the number of BP in her account, and had to look closer. She had...more BP, for some reason. A lot more BP. Three hundred or so more? Unless she was hallucinating.
Squinting, Alysa chose to go through with the payment, just as Drayton walked up.
"There's my starlight~." He took ahold of a hand, and brought it up to lay a kiss on the fabric over her knuckles. If she still wasn't reeling out of confusion over her BP count, she would have been far more flustered.
"Let's go to the court."
"O-Okay..."
Drayton kept a firm grasp on her hand as they headed up the slope. Staring at him and how his pompadour bounced with his movements helped her mind jog, putting two and two together.
"Did you give me BP?"
"Heheh. Guilty as charged! It didn't feel right to have you pay for my trial." He squeezed her hand. "So, you're taking it for free! Technically."
Her bafflement fled, and warmth took its place. "You didn't have to give me so much though..."
"Consider it a little gift." He let go of her hand to snake his arm around her waist, pulling her into his side. Alysa obscured her burning face within the large hood of her parka, in an attempt to hide from the many awaiting students they were passing by. A loud yawn from Drayton caused her head to be drawn out.
"Are you tired?"
"When am I not tired would be a better question," he jested. "But don't worry about it. I've been waiting too long for this day."
Her concern wasn't fully sated. "You sure you're feeling up for this? I don't want you to be off your game."
"It's all good. I'll wake up more whenever we get started. But first, my lady-"
They got up onto the court, and stopped near the center of it. Drayton turned to face her properly.
"You gotta clear my trial."
She giggled at his giddy tone of voice. "Sounds good."
Many students started walking up to fill the empty space on either side of the court. Down below the platform, Alysa couldn't sworn she saw a familiar heads of hair out the corner of her eye, but focused when Drayton resumed talking.
"I know that you know how it goes, but for the sake of 'proper Elite Four conduct'," he did air quotes, making her laugh, "I'll explain the trial so we're all on the same page."
Drayton crossed his arms, beaming. "My trial's called 'Terarium Only Battles', and what you gotta do is simple: defeat three of your clubmates each in a good ol' double battle. But there's a catch, and it's what it says on the tin! You can only use pokemon you've caught in the wild from the Terarium and trained yourself. Your opponents are under the same restriction."
His face became more enlivened. "If you can win all three battles back-to-back, you'll pass. If you lose one, you'll have to battle any previous opponent all over again until you get those three dubs. Easy peasy, right?"
Alysa nodded. Drayton's head craned to the side, regarding her with such heavy fondness that she almost got transported to a different place.
"I'm not gonna bother checking your mons to see if they're valid. I know what you're using."
He winked at her, then clapped his hands. Three students came running up to stand on the court behind her, being the ones Drayton has helped trained personally. Ray, Winter, and Craig carried friendly expressions aimed her way.
"Now just because you need to win without losing, don't think you have to rush!" Drayton stated. "This is about skill, but it's chill too. Go at your own pace if you need to."
"Thanks. But I think I can handle all of this in one go..." Alysa hummed, a twinkle appearing in her eyes. Drayton chuckled as she turned around, and studied her opponents for a second, before walking towards Craig first.
"Picking me?" he asked, and she nodded. "Okay! Let's take our places!"
A clamor in the audience started up, the number of spectators continuing to grow as more and more people were still filing in. Drayton walked to the court's side as they got into position, watching intently. Alysa concentrated on the task at hand, sending out her sole two pokemon to use against Craig's Bastiodon and Rampardos.
Two fox pokemon stood proudly, both in their line's final stages. Rubis pulled out his stick wand from a furry sleeve and ignited its tip. Zarea's luscious, beautiful nine tails swayed in the soft breeze with her longer mane, and she stretched while a soft aura radiated from her and drifted upwards. The very light snowfall over the plaza suddenly intensified. Alysa put the Ice Stone Drayton gave her, and one of the Ability Patches she's had sitting around, to good use.
Rubis and Zarea shared a weakness to Rock, but they each had a means of dealing with it – especially together. A rush of attacks went off, Rubis subdued Rampardos with one Psychic, and Zarea broke Bastiodon's Sturdy with Chilling Water. Both foxes were so nimble that they easily dodged an incoming Rock Slide, before Craig's last remaining pokemon was knocked out by a powerful Fire Blast from Rubis.
It became clear right away to all of the trainers currently present that Alysa was going to breeze through this trial. Drayton grinned, feeling a strange sense of pride as he listened to the cheers around him. Alysa battled Winter next, then Ray, and all of the matches weren't even close. All of the trainers congratulated her on passing the trial with her performance, and how far she's come in the League Club entirely.
Drayton concurred. When he approached her after his assistants took their leave, she could feel his excitement as a buzz in the air.
"You are somethin' else, starlight." Alysa was surprised and extremely endeared by how he bounced on his heels.
"Finally time for you and me to duke it out! Wanna get it going right now?"
"Absolutely." The girl's agreement came at no delay, pocketing Rubis' and Zarea's pokeballs.
"Awesome, Drayton laughed. "Are you going to use your foxes against me?"
"No. Only my original team."
Her smile changed into something more devious. Drayton's grin itself morphed into a smirk.
"Just what I wanted to hear."
The two trainers turned as if on cue, and walked to the opposite ends of the court. As Alysa did so, her eyes zipped to one portion of the sidelines. Those heads of hair she spied in the crowd from earlier turned out to be just who she thought they were.
Lacey waved at her with a wide smile, as Crispin pumped his fist and shouted an encouragement she half-heard over the ruckus. Amarys was calmly studying both Drayton and her. Next to her, Alysa was frankly surprised to see Carmine, who was looking down at the court with a disturbed look uncharacteristic of her.
It made her brow furrow, but she shook her head. She returned Lacey's wave and got to the appropriate spot on the court's end, not wanting anything to distract her at this point. Spinning around, she met Drayton's golden gaze from the other end.
"I'm so pumped for our dragons to face off!" he called enthusiastically. "Though trust me, I'm not sleeping on your fairies either. Can't wait to see what your mons are capable of firsthand."
She felt the exact same. Drayton's expression rapidly lost its happy-go-lucky luster, it replaced by an intensity that sent shivers through her frame.
"You are my sweetheart, but we aren't going to hold back."
She could see and feel that he meant every word of that. Drayton stared her down like she was something he was going to crush, and crush merrily. It was a side of him that she had never seen before, and it did astound the girl...but only for a second or two. Alysa could feel something slowly blooming within, a heated passion that wanted to match his energy and then some. He did wish for her to come at him like there was something far more than just a record and a Champion challenge on the line.
Lacey's concern before over she falling for his charms held water, but she'd just be looking at their pokemon and not at him...simple.
"I'd be offended if you all did," she responded in a way that sounded surprisingly smooth to her own ears. "If I lose, promise you'll make it up to me later?"
Her voice turned playful. His eyes narrowed, smirk elongating.
"Promise."
He readied two of his team, and she did the same. Both trainers sent out their selected leads: Haxorus and Sceptile for the elite, Mims and Thea for his darling opponent. Cheers and applause accompanied the pokemon's appearances on the court, as did multiple flashes from a dozen or more raised phones. Whatever happened in this battle would be slapped all over social media, but Alysa would try real hard to push that aside for the time being.
His dragons stood tall and strong, staring down she and her pokemon fiercely. Feelings of friendship that were there had little place in battle, and going into this, she was fully expecting Drayton's team to come at hers like they were sworn enemies. She had to get her game face on.
"You get the first moves, of course." Drayton was the epitome of cool and collected with the way he stood cross-armed, but his eyes told a completely different story. Speaking at a volume louder than normal, Alysa gave her commands for Thea to Psycho Cut on Haxorus, and for Mims to attack Sceptile with Play Rough.
The blades of psychic energy from her Galarian Rapidash connected with her target, and while reacting with pain, Haxours immediately shook it off. Mims launched forwards, but Sceptile easily evaded with his agility. The Grass-type would receive a boost to his speed on top of that, when Drayton ordered him to use Leaf Storm on her Mimikyu.
His Disguise was broken, and Sceptile became briefly fatigued, but he promptly pulled off the White Herb tied around his neck to consume it. Not only was his stamina restored, Alysa was painfully aware that his Unburden was activated now as well. Haxorus got off a Dragon Dance, increasing her offensive presence and her own speed as well. Alysa bit her thumb, trying to think.
"Don't start overthinking now, 'Lys! We're just getting started," Drayton called out. Unfortunately, overthinking was something she was exceptional at. Right now, for what she wanted to set up later in the battle, she needed to start dishing out some damage.
The girl commanded Mims to Shadow Sneak Sceptile, and even with his greater agility, the attack still came too fast for he to dodge. It was just a tap more or less, as Sceptile swiftly rushed forward as per Drayton's order for he to hit Thea with an Acrobatics she didn't really see coming. Her Rapidash tanked it, but it obviously hurt. Haxorus went next, lunging at Mims with an Iron Head. It connected, and the cloaked fairy was knocked clean out.
She recalled Mims with a suppressed grimace, and told Thea to use Psycho Cut on Sceptile. Unsurprisingly, it was dodged. This was not a good start for her at all, but if she played her cards right and probably got a little lucky, she could tip the scale in her favor.
Her Clefairy was sent out to replace Mims. Lulu used Follow Me to protect Thea from harm for now, and just as Alysa was hoping for, Sceptile's incoming Leaf Storm was just a bit off the mark. Haxorus' Iron Head would for sure guarantee another knockout, but Alysa pulled out her first small surprise. Thea used Dazzling Gleam; the radiant light burst from her body and raked her opponent's bodies with its heat. Damage to Sceptile was needed, but the knockout on Haxorus was highly appreciated.
Drayton only chuckled, and chose his next pokemon to use: Dragonite. Alysa knew what he was going to have the dragon do, and she didn't have a choice but to allow it. Instead, Alysa focused on dealing with Sceptile, as his speed made him too much of a threat.
Lulu used Protect to block his Acrobatics, Thea capitalized on that by landing solid blow with Psycho Cut. Thankfully not the most defensive of pokemon, Sceptile fell to the flooring in a heap and didn't rise. Alysa released the sigh she was holding in, though she was curious as to why Drayton didn't have him use Dragon Cheer at all. Perhaps he saw that he didn't need to.
As expected, the elite had Dragonite set up a Tailwind. He sent out his Flygon next – he alongside Dragonite has been dubbed "The Combo" by many of her fellow members in the club. Whatever didn't get hit or hurt much by Flygon's Earthquake, Dragonite could pick off with Thunder Punch or Ice Spinner, but her teammate also had his coverage moves. She couldn't afford to let them go crazy, but they getting a knockout right now would ironically help her since switching pokemon outright was banned in these battles.
Flygon unleashed an Earthquake, and Thea had no hope of retaining any energy to keep standing. Lulu was rocked by the seismic waves, but they weren't enough to also knock her out. Thankfully, Dragonite's Thunder Punch wasn't either, but she could see that Lulu was already struggling to stay up. The little fairy unleashed her own Dazzling Gleam, critically breaking Dragonite's Multiscale. Alysa mentally pumped herself up as she selected her next team member. Her Salamence.
The second her feet hit the court with an audible thud, Sally was itching to go on the offense. The heavy sense of anticipation churning her stomach was distracting, but Alysa figured that she could at least turn things around at this opportunity. She had Lulu use Follow Me, but thanks to the Tailwind, Dragonite's Extreme Speed went off before her attack fully activated. Sally was rammed into, but her recoil was short-lived, ending with a snarl of defiance.
Flygon's Stone Edge was more than enough to knock out Lulu now, but she did her job.
"Dragon Dance!" Alysa shouted. Sally performed the action with a rhythmic sequence of movements, the red aura flaring to life and dispersing.
"Hm...don't like that," Drayton laughed, and Alysa couldn't stop her own smile from forming. He wasn't going to like what was coming next from the Salamence either.
Tari was the second to last pokemon on her side to appear. There was one specific thing she had to set up, otherwise Alysa knew she'd lose the battle right here and now from being too far behind. She prepped Sally with Protect before the battle, and it came into effect here to block Flygon's Breaking Swipe on her end – though Tari was struck. Furthermore, Dragonite went at him with an Ice Spinner.
Miraculously to all those present, excluding his own trainer, Tari was not knocked out by the attack. He stood on the floor flinching from the cold, obviously not capable of taking any other hit, but he got off his Tailwind.
"Woah." Drayton's eyes widened, blinking. "How the...?"
"Never doubt Tari's defense." Alysa took the rare chance to get a little cocky, smiling cheekily. Both of their sides had a Tailwind, but hers was primed to last much longer than his own. Additionally, thanks to her earlier Dragon Dance, Sally was now the fastest pokemon on the field.
Drayton identified this in half of a second, and attempt to impede her with an Extreme Speed from Dragonite. Still wasn't enough to knock her down and out. Finally, Alysa saw the opening she needed to score the knockouts she needed to get ahead.
"Outrage!"
Sally's eyes started burning with a red-orange light, and a similar aura cloaked her body. Roaring, her head whipped around, and she targeted the first of Drayton's team that she saw: Flygon. The Salamence was upon him before he registered being there, and was violently clobbered by flailing limbs. Alysa couldn't help but flinch by how hard Flygon was sent crashing down onto the court, his body even bouncing once. He twitched, but didn't rise.
"Hm...I hope you don't think I'm gonna let you sweep me with Outrage, dear."
He called out her strat real quick, but of course he would.
"Well, I dunno... am I gonna sweep you?"
Drayton's narrowed eyes at her were too funny. He put Flygon back into his ball, watching an enraged Sally gnash her teeth and bite at the air. Tari's Dragon Pulse collided with Dragonite, but she wasn't out for the count yet. Wordlessly, the elite sent out his second to last: Kingdra, as his Tailwind ceased blowing.
This moment was where Alysa really had to play it by ear, as it depended on who Sally would target next. She went on the offense again, and part of Alysa wanted her to go for Dragonite to stop the Extreme Speed pressure.
However, Sally went for Kingdra. Just as she had appeared on the court ten seconds ago, Kingdra was assaulted and also taken down in a one-hit knockout. The crowd all reacted in various ways, but the noise level was climbing even higher.
"No rain, then..." Drayton trailed off in thought, recalling Kingdra. He whipped his head up, ordering Dragonite to dodge Tari's incoming Dragon Pulse and attack Sally. She executed it with no delay. Growing more and more fatigued from the Outrage, the attack succeeded in causing Sally to fall to the court. She panted, making no attempt to get up.
A shame, she wanted to get just bit more mileage out of Outrage, but her pokemon got two essential knockouts. She and Drayton were both dead even at 2-2. Alysa thought hard as she returned Sally. Both her and Drayton's last pokemon materialized within bursts of light from their capsules: Rei on her side, Archaludon on his. She had been dreading his ace, but in the moment, Alysa's confidence only climbed for some reason. Getting more nervous wouldn't do her any good regardless.
"You're pushing our backs against a wall, Alysa." Drayton's voice was level and his tone genuine, but his words still carried an edge. He readied his Tera Orb.
"Getting this dragon's blood boiling real good. Right, Archaludon?"
His signature of the team cried gallantly. Drayton tossed the charged Tera Orb over the pokemon's head, and Alysa did the same for her Hydreigon. The dragons terastallized in a brilliant show of sparkling lights and crystal shards dispersing in the air. Rei's translucent body glowed purple, still rocking Tera Poison. Archaludon's Dragon Tera Jewel stood out against the silver of his metallic body, serving a loud warning in of itself.
Rei's Poison typing wouldn't do anything offensively here, but it would help him bear more attacks. Alysa had to bank on that, and told him to boost his attacking power with Nasty Plot. Her side's Tailwind still on, Tari moved next with another Dragon Pulse to Archaludon. It was a solid hit, but the Alloy Pokemon showed less pain than one would expect. Dragonite moved, crashing into Tari with Ice Spinner and securing the knockout this time. Archaludon went for a tera souped-up Dragon Pulse, but Rei weaved out of the way.
It was just her Hydreigon left, versus his two pokemon. In this moment, Alysa truly started to zone everything out. She had to rely on Rei's own talents to win now.
"Extreme Speed," the elite commanded.
Dragonite darted into Rei in the air. He was hit and started to fall, but caught himself before hitting the court's flooring. Alysa's heart was hammering so hard, she wondered if it would give out. Getting priorities in order, she had Rei briefly ignore Archaludon to attack Dragonite with a Dragon Pulse. She fell to the court, fainted. Drayton returned her, and to Alysa's horror, she felt her own Tailwind die out.
"Dragon Pulse."
The agility boost from the winds gone, Rei couldn't dodge the attack this time. Smoke enveloped the arena, and Alysa waited for it to clear with baited breath.
Much to her relief, Rei was still in the air, but he looked worse for wear. There was no shot he could take another one.
The white-haired boy's eyes glinted.
"Dragon Pulse."
"Match with your own, Rei!"
Both dragons reared back, and two beams of draconic energy met in the air. The impact of the clash sent a strong shockwave out that startled the girl, almost knocking her down. Drayton raised an arm to cover his face, his hair and clothing being ruffled intensely. Cries erupted from the crowd, many students unable to stay on their feet. The winds generated from the struggle, and the enthusiastic hollers from spectators, mixed into deafening chaos.
Archaludon was winning the clash, as his attack slowly pushed back Rei's. The Hydreigon was struggling to keep it up.
"C'mon Rei! Get angry! Power through!" Crispin yelled above the fabric of his winter scarf, free hand clenched into a fist.
"You can do it Rei!" Lacey cupped her hands, expression wrinkled by determination.
Amarys's eyes were fully open and alert, staring at the two struggling dragons. Carmine had a fist pressed against her chest, face mirroring Amarys' shock and awe.
Rei's eyes clenched shut, his side of the clash growing weaker. Alysa's hands balled up.
... ... ...
...Her Hydreigon's eyes snapped open. A growl heightened into a roar. This two other heads jerked forward just as his Dragon Pulse suddenly spiked, growing into a larger beam. Alysa and everyone else reacted with shock.
Archaludon turned visibly taken aback, his own blast now being pushed back towards him – and a fast rate. Drayton lurched forward, gaping.
"Arch!"
The Alloy Pokemon tried to fight back, but he was swallowed up. An explosion resulted, and this time, Alysa was pushed backwards and fell. The entire plaza was covered in a thick haze, it spreading alongside a now jarring silence. Alysa scrambled to her feet, pinpointing the glow of Rei's terastallized body. The haze receded little by little in the passing seconds, until she could see Drayton.
Archaludon had collapsed, and remained on the floor. His trainer looked at him, face set in a thin line. His eyes closed.
"WOOO!" Crispin's scream cut through the quiet. "WAY TO GO!"
His voice was signal for more cheers to break out, students stepping forward in the lightened haze onto the court. All the girl could do was stare at the phones aimed her way. Lacey and Crispin looked over the moon. Amarys held a gentle smile, both she and Carmine clapping.
Rei's terastallization wearing off, and he descending down next to her dispelled the trance. His red irises were warm and sweet, he snorting air out at her face. The numbness gone, Alysa immediately wrapped her arms around the Brutal Pokemon's neck.
"W-We won! We won Rei!"
He warbled, wrapping her with his arms. She nuzzled his cheek, tears welling up.
"Thank you..."
The dragon smiled in his own toothy way slipped his tongue out to lick her cheek, drawing out a giggle from his trainer. She released her pokemon to wipe his drool off of her, and to look over towards Drayton's side of the court. Archaludon was awake, lying down and being patted on the head by the teen. A flash of red light later, the tired fighter was returned.
The elite stood up, and faced her direction with a wide smile. He walked towards her.
"That's my girl."
Her heart jolted, just as her smile stretched wider. Drayton pulled her into an embrace. Whatever residual stress that remained then melted away. The boy rubbed circles against her back.
"Congratz on beating me."
"Thanks..." she laughed against the skin of his neck, but did pull away some. "But, how are you feeling?"
"Well... it's not that I like losing. I hate it a lot, in fact." He poked her cheek.
"How happy I am for you is way stronger than it though. So, don't worry about any hard feelings."
"I'm glad..."
She returned to hugging him, and his hold on her tightened. Rei watched the two trainers jovially, swaying to and fro in the air. Students slowly filed out, having recorded enough footage and snapped plenty of photos. Alysa, while genuinely thrilled at getting a victory against the club's second strongest trainer, was also extremely aware at how narrow of a victory it was.
A 1-0 was exciting for viewers, but in her opinion, it truly didn't say much about her capabilities.
"That was pretty cool. Rei here has tons more firepower than he lets on already." Chuckling, Drayton raised one of his arms to gesture for the Hydreigon to come closer. He rubbed his main head once he did, much to the dragon's pleasure.
"Then again, that's nothing insane for a Hydreigon."
"Y-Yeah..." Leftover jitters passed through her muscles. Drayton fully released her.
"Anyhoo, let's take a photo. Then, I'll give you your TM award."
Right, those. Alysa got her phone out, though Drayton had to hold it up since he was about three inches taller than her. She nestled her head against his to fit it into the frame. It felt more like a cute selfie between the two of them than a commemoration photo...especially when Drayton decided to crane his head down to kiss her on the cheek as the snap went off. His playful smirk afterwards at her flustered appearance made the fluttering in her chest worse. The elite then reached down into one of his pockets to pull out a dark blue disk.
"Here you are, babe. Dragon Cheer."
"Thanks..."
She accepted the item, and put it into the pocket of her parka for the time being. He regarded her curiously.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask... Why don't you have a Rotom phone?"
"I haven't tried to get one, since my old phone still works. It isn't as...handy though, I can tell." Especially regarding the various features it had that operated with Blueberry in particular. It's great that her phone was compatible with the BP app at least, but not much else when it came to academy things.
"Ah. Makes sense," he laughed. "It's real easy to get one. You can just put in an order to the school, and they'll send one right to your dorm. Can even choose what kind of frame you want."
"Yeah?" Her head tilted some. "Maybe I'll do that soon..."
She trailed off as the other Elite Four members walked up.
"That was such a cool battle, Alysa!" Just under the rim of her knitted Wigglytuff cap, Lacey's eyes were shining. "What an explosive finale to your run against us."
"I'll say." Amarys commented. "Your Hydreigon unleashing power he was possibly holding back was quite moving."
"So many people were recording it! I'm sure that beam clash is gonna blow up online." Crispin seemed real excited to rewatch the clips and relive that moment. All Alysa could manage was a sincere, yet tired half-laugh. She did notice that one trainer who was present for the battle was nowhere to be seen now.
"Where'd Carmine go?"
"She spoke of tasks that required her attention, but did give her congratulations on defeating Drayton," Amarys answered. The mentioned teen chuckled.
"I'm sure she was happy to see me lose," he remarked, eyes dragging towards his girlfriend. "But enough about that. Looks like you now have the right to challenge Kieran, sweetheart."
She did indeed. Alysa's fatigue only spiked at he bringing it up.
"Definitely take the rest of today to recuperate. I'm sure Kieran won't mind waiting until tomorrow," Lacey reassured her. The others shared a few more words with her and each other, before they all split up to leave the freezing cold plaza and do their own things. Drayton gingerly took hold of her nearest hand, looking down at her knowingly.
"Lacey's right. We should just chill."
She nodded, squeezing his hand.
"Do you wanna...come and relax with me? That was...a lot," she breathed.
"Of course." Drayton's answer came like he didn't even need to think about it. "Now's a great time for a nap."
Alysa returned Rei to his ball. The self-serve healing machine at the plaza's entrance was calling both their names, and she was eager to leave the Polar Biome as soon as possible to go somewhere much warmer.
She'd stress over her challenge to Kieran later on.
...Speaking of which, as Alysa and Drayton went off of the court hand-in-hand, they both missed how the current Champion observed them from afar – up on the snowy hills circling the plaza. He had seen most of the battle.
For the first time since he became Champion, Kieran's face was set into one of uncertainty as he turned to leave.