Hassel saw his opportunity and claimed the momentum as their attack missed again. "Freeze the Sandstorm in place!" Baxcalibur roared, and its Snowscape, which boosted its defense, latched on to the conjured Sandstorm. Alex felt his spine tingle, as he realized Kalagon was visible. The Trainers shouted commands simultaneously.
"Ice Beam!"
"Dodge! Dragon Dance!"
Alex was glad for Hassel's choice, despite the danger it posed. Had he used Glaive Rush, Kalagon might have been knocked out, since its sheer power, combined with a fall from that height, would have likely fainted Kalagon even if he continued his streak of hanging on by a single hit point after a devastatingly powerful move from a much higher-level opponent. Ice Beam though, he could handle. As Kalagon tucked in his wings and spun in the air rapidly rotating, the draconic energy he released naturally wanted to avoid the freezing beam of ice that lanced forward from the titanic dragon below, and all Kalagon had to do to dodge was follow the energy's aversion to the freezing cold beams. This was a trick Dragonite typically used, clever as they were, to dodge the ridiculously common move from the water types that lived in the oceans of the world. Being an ocean adjacent species, typically, Dragonite had adapted their moves to avoid their natural quadruple weakness. Shruikan had copied them, remembering well the way the Dragonite on Draconis Mons had moved, when they dared to, and now Kalagon made use of the trick as well.
----------------------------------------
"Restart the Sandstorm!" Alex ordered, and with a mighty roar, the sandstorm returned in force as his Mega Garchomp's control over the damaging particles overpowered Baxcalibur's waning control over his snow. "Excellent! Now, unleash your wrath! Outrage!"
The sand roared louder, as Kalagon finally drew on the complicated mix of adrenaline, anger, frustration at being recalled against Archon, and taking so long to evolve, all at once. Sand and blurple flame covered the entire battlefield, and Hassel grimaced. Newly evolved, and already fighting like Cynthia. By the time Redwood reached the Superior Sixteen, and he would be at least in the top thirty-two once he managed to take down his Baxcalibur, this Garchomp promised to be a real contender. But it still wouldn't defeat his starter. "Stop it in its tracks!" Hassel roared in a commanding tone that cut through the howling sand whipped up by a Mega Garchomp, "Blizzard!"
Alex swore. Kalagon would be too angry or confused to Dig. "Don't let it charge up, Kalagon! Attack!" There was a savage roar of acknowledgement through the haze of draconic rage, and Alex nodded as he saw the icy blue light within the storm get smothered as sand and blurple flame surged. Judging by the Rotom's screen, the two dragons had devolved into a brawl, and were trading powerful blows. Thanks to his Mega Evolution and his rage though, Kalagon was winning. Garchomp had perfect instincts for constant attack moves. Alex watched Kalagon carefully, and as he began to tire, shouted, "Good! Now Dig deep and get your head straight!"
----------------------------------------
Kalagon drove Baxcalibur back on the screen, smashing him across the head with his tail before leaping into the ground again. Baxcalibur roared with genuine fury, as it seemed the Outrage had finally stirred its blood. The field shifted from sand to snow once more as the Blizzard it never managed to use was fired off, turning the battlefield into an environment akin to its home. Thanks to their typing, Baxcalibur tended to be territorial kings of the Mediterra mountains and were able to survive and thrive in those freezing, massive altitudes. Unfortunately, Garchomp infamously handled such environments poorly, but Alex wasn't too worried. The hits Kalagon had taken had not been actual moves, and while damaging, he was still very much in the fight.
"Position yourself!" Alex called out, "Then Draco Meteor!"
"Bury the field in ice, Baxcalibur!" Hassel ordered, knowing how Garchomp did in the cold. Another Blizzard completely covered the field, making it a winter wonderland. Alex wasn't worried, though. Suddenly, from one of the holes left by Dig now hidden in the snow, a Draco Meteor shot upwards, exploded, and then arced towards Baxcalibur. "Ice Beam the meteors!" Hassel ordered, never losing his cool.
----------------------------------------
Once more the school shook as the Mega Garchomp's powerful attack did what Alex and Kalagon wanted. Several meteors seemed to randomly hit the field, while most went for Baxcalibur. Unfortunately, a special attacker he was not, and in terms of special defense, the icy dragon titan was lacking. Several orbs of potent dragon energy struck home, and then came the Garchomp. Too late did Hassel notice, the explosive force from the Draco Meteors had cleared the field of snow. Alex didn't waste their chance on another Sandstorm, they needed to attack before Baxcalibur's defenses rose any higher. By his best guess, he was up three stages thanks to all the snow, but the sand had also been steadily damaging him for some time now.
"Draco Impact!" Alex shouted, as Kalagon began charging towards his target. He leapt into the air, flying and gaining speed as dragon energy wreathed his body. He was essentially using Dragon Rush, but without the inaccuracy rushing caused, and combining it with the force of a Giga Impact. Hassel realized that this was the moment. A hit from a move that strong would likely take down his icy titan, but one Icicle Crash or Ice Beam would be enough to stop the Garchomp. It was a lower level, and a single hit on the glass cannon would shatter him. He'd forgotten how annoyingly fast the shark dragons were.
"Icicle Crash!" He shouted, but unfortunately, Hassel had missed something rather important. While Kalagon had hidden and cleared his head of confusion, he hadn't been idle under the icy field as the Blizzard raged. He'd been dancing. By the time Baxcalibur raised its fists covered in ice energy, Kalagon was already at his throat. The enraged Mega Garchomp lived up to his species name and went for the neck. Dragon energy flared. Ice energy hammered him a moment later, and the two mighty dragons were engulfed in an explosion of snow, sand, and ice.
----------------------------------------
While Hassel expected a double knockout and welcomed a draw against such an obviously well-trained pair of dragons, he stared in shock as the smoke cleared. Kalagon was panting, hard, his entire right side covered in ice, but he was still very much up, while Baxcalibur was very much not. The victorious shark dragon roared viciously, with enough force to shake the very air, and shatter the ice on him, before his Mega Form faded, and he slumped to a sitting position. There was a brief pause, and then, once more, the students went wild. Kalagon weakly raised a fin towards them, but then returned to panting, his consciousness fading as the freezing cold finally began affecting his body.
Alex bamfed him away from the fainted ice dragon, and with some timely firebending, kept his friend from fainting or shutting down internally. "You always fight so hard for me, Kalagon…thank you." He murmured. His Garchomp gave a happy growl and spoke after the Max Potion took effect. He seemed thrilled to not be weakened anymore.
"You wanted me to be the Best. We are." He stated, as he stood back up to his new full height. For the first time, Alex appreciated just how tall Kalagon was. He knew Rick also had a max sized Garchomp, the aptly named Goliath, and Kalagon was already a match for him, in terms of size, if not level. Eager to get to Selva Muerta, Alex went over the list of the fifty or so lads he was training, which was about how many clones he could make at once and have meaningful training sessions, without his brain shorting out. At a certain point, even his Harmonia enhanced mind reached a limit on how much sensory input it could process and control in a timely manner. Once his newer members evolved, all they'd be waiting on was Revan's armor, which he either had to forge himself, or find someone who knew how.
----------------------------------------
Alex strode along with his massive Garchomp looming behind him, towards Hassel, and his freezing titan. Hassel recalled him as Baxcalibur stood, and growled at Kalagon, before the older man faced Alex, his wrinkled brow furrowing. "I cannot deny your mastery of Dragons…" Hassel started, "But I cannot condone giving away a title that rightfully belongs to our people."
"Your people don't seem to have a problem, Elite Four Hassel." Alex said, using his own title, as this was, technically, supposed to have been a Tera Orb Certification match, and not a draconic grudge match. The old man flinched, as he seemed to remember that. "The only ones with a problem are all in Castle Drachenfels. Perhaps you've been ingesting too much Imperium propaganda. I earned that title. The Original Dragon chose Me to be Dragon Emperor, because I was the one who literally fused him back together. I don't give a single Muk what your Clan thinks. The Dragon approved of me. I passed the trials. He claims I am doing well in my post. Until that changes, I will not relinquish the title over nonsensical claims of ownership from a clan that aren't even Unovans."
Hassel's face showed he was fighting down an anger filled response to what he perceived as arrogance, but then, he laughed. "At least you have the right temperament. And the right skills." He held out a hand, and the ferocity was replaced by a genuinely kind smile. "I can admit when my judgment has erred. You are worthy of wielding a Tera Orb, Victory League Champion. Congratulations."
----------------------------------------
From behind them, suddenly, came a familiar whirring sound, that had become quite positively associated, for Alex's brain anyway. The sound of World Tournament rankings shifting upwards or downwards. He briefly wondered just how much Dragon Masters were worth, and then turned to see his progress. He'd been sitting at sixty-six for a while, but after thrashing Hassel, an Elite Four member, Dragon Master, and technically also a Professor, his combined score moved Alex up to a smaller pair of digits. A much smaller pair. Alex grinned as a big one and zero sat next to his name, and he gave Kalagon a high fin as the land shark roared excitedly. "Holy Muk… We're in the top ten, boys."
He felt the team celebrating, though he knew their rank would shift, once they started their Ultra Training. He had until the end of February to keep a spot in the Superior Sixteen, which was actually the thirty-two highest ranked Trainers, and as the deadline approached, only battling other higher ranked Trainers in the top sixteen would elevate one's rank. The downside was that a Trainer could reveal their strategies and battle styles in such a match, just to chase clout and a higher spot in the number rankings. Ash of course, was solidly sitting at number one, and he too was on an unbroken winning streak. Alex knew they'd likely get bumped out of the top sixteen while they went off grid to train in Selva Muerta, but he'd timed things so that he'd have a solid seven days to find opponents, train some more, and claw his way back into the top sixteen once they were done.
It boggled his mind to see his name ranked tenth in the world, for now at least, and he felt Lux take a picture as he floated out of his pocket. A strong, but feminine hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder, and he turned in surprise to see an attractive, and very fit woman, who couldn't have been too much older than he was. Recalling the battle he'd watched Ash have here, he recognized the Battle Studies Professor, Nemona. She held up a microphone to him, and he nodded slightly, guessing this was the payment part of him getting a Tera Orb. "That Battle was…Epic, uh, sir." Nemona started, but Alex interjected.
"Just call me Alex. It's fine." He smiled, and the woman continued. He had a feeling this was slightly out of her comfort zone, but it seemed her zeal for battle was pulling her through the inherent awkwardness of shoving a microphone in a world leader's face.
"Right, uh, Alex. Y'know…those of us who've been training since we were just kids…we heard about how you had to grow up. How long it was before you finally started." Alex's face went passive, but Nemona continued. "How your desire to be a Trainer never wavered even when the Arcean Church basically all but had the League blacklist you. I can't even imagine it…" Nemona said, seeming genuinely empathetic. Alex just nodded. "And now here you are. Alex Redwood, ranked number ten in the entire world. The only names above you are Legends in their own right, people I'm sure you know of, or maybe even have met already. Would you say your childhood dream has just been achieved?"
----------------------------------------
Alex chuckled. "My dream was achieved when I properly caught Terra. Everything since then…even the war and death and close calls…it's been more fun than my kid self could've possibly imagined. I guess it still hasn't uhh…quite sunk in yet. Tenth in the world. Wow."
Nemona chuckled at his chill reaction, and then gestured to the stands full of wide, eager eyes. Alex spied several kiddos with microphones, but he was more than okay with answering their questions. "I'm going to turn it over to the students, now, if that's okay. Some of them have burning questions for you."
Alex nodded. First up was a first year, which seemed to be a trend for the academy and ordering who asked questions first. In fact, he was pretty sure she was the same kiddo that had gone first in asking Ash questions, too. Which meant she was either really lucky, or really quick with whatever application process dictated who went first. "The World Champion told me to build up my team to get stronger, and I have…but then I see Battles like his, and like yours, and how strong our teachers are…I just don't know if we'll ever be that…powerful."
----------------------------------------
Alex could tell a recent loss when he saw one. "You've been following everything Ash told you? Because I remember what you asked him." There were chuckles, and Alex walked towards the girl, gesturing to the field. "Let's see that team of yours, then!" She initially seemed to shake her head, but her peers urged her onto the field and cheered as she stood awkwardly next to the much taller Dragon Emperor. He gestured again, and she tossed all of her Pokémon out at once. A female Floragato seemed to be her starter. She also had a Marill, Flaafy, Gible, Riolu, and Charcadet, most of whom were also female. She explained what was going on to their confused faces, and Alex looked over them, with Kalagon still looming over him. He locked eyes with the Gible when they came to him, but it seemed the rather young dragon didn't have the fire in him to challenge such an obviously superior specimen of their species. Kalagon growled, irritated at the baby dragon's meekness.
"This…" Alex said, pausing entirely for suspense, "Is a great team. You have serious potential here. Champion potential. In fact…once they evolve, with their combined move pools, you'll…yea, you'll have pretty much every type accounted for, in terms of damaging attacks or blocking. That means if you ever get approved for ten Pokémon, the next four are just going to increase your power even more. I'd suggest a Psychic Type, when that day comes. But the rest…that's up to you, and whatever fits the Battle style you eventually choose." The girl nodded, paying attention to every word. "Well fed…clean…and fond of you. It seems you did exactly as Ash instructed. Well done. Let's give the lady some applause, folks. Some of these species are hard to find." He smirked, recalling his own earlier attempts at searching for a Charcadet, and he knew how rare Gible could be to see in the wild, let alone get them to stay in a Pokéball. The kiddo shyly kicked the dirt through her applause.
It faded, as Alex closed his eyes, and crossed his arms, pondering if he should make another semi-widely known power up available to anyone with Pokénet access. Then, internally, he said, "Muk it."
"You want to know the secret to training powerful Pokémon?" The young girl nodded, eyes wide, as she sensed she was about to get a hint into a Champion's training method. Alex smirked, and his stupidly long arms spread wide, as he spun and turned to the rest of the kiddos. "How about all of you? Do you want to know too?"
----------------------------------------
The cheers were deafening, a mix of 'We do!' and 'Yes! Please!' and other cheers he couldn't make out bombarded his ears. He raised a hand, after a solid fifteen seconds. "The secret to raising a powerful Pokémon…is…" He smirked, as he saw the younger kiddos literally on the edges of their seats. "Battling!"
He laughed, and the more experienced Trainers joined in, as they got the joke. Nemona, who was off to the side now, also laughed, as she, perhaps more than anyone else at the academy, understood what he meant. As the giggles died down, Alex continued. "But really. The more intense your opponents, the stronger you will become. Much has been said about how my team and I rose so far so fast. I say, look at our opponents. That black Charizard atop Draconis Mons. Blaze faced it as a freshly evolved Mega Charizard, and we won!" There were whoops, as that was by far still the most popular clash when it came to Charizard. There had been others since, of course, some Alex and Blaze had also been involved in, but none had been in low orbit, or featured a naturally evolving Mega Form.
"We trained hard all across Unova and beat every single Gym Leader's strongest team. I was lucky enough to face the Striaton Trio, and Brycen himself, before he retired. Arthur, my Gallade, barely ever stopped training, because he wanted to be the Best, and he was able to almost solo the Elite Four of the hardest League in the world. Caleb Pravus kept the entire Victory League away from the Original Dragon while I was away training. But eventually, I went home to face him. And Arthur and I won. Ghetsis, newly escaped from our old Prison system, again, threw the Forces of Nature at Jess and me. I took on Landorus, their leader, with Hydrus. I believed he could win, and he did!" He had the crowd's attention now, but he wasn't quite done yet. "I Battled many of the Champions from across the States down in the Swamp when I went off training. Their teams whooped mine quite a few times, before we were able to hold our own. But those losses made us all stronger. And I don't mean in Exp. points, or any of that nonsense. It's literal experiences, accumulating over time. Facing down massively powerful foes and being strong enough to hold our ground. Pokémon can gain those, even after reaching what we Humans call level one hundred. They can always get stronger. You just have to keep Battling."
----------------------------------------
Seemingly satisfied with her answer, the kiddo declared, "Imma Battle everyone I see from here to Glaseado Peak!" Her team shared her enthusiasm, and Alex chuckled as she ran straight out of the school yard stadium. The next student was a little older, also female going by her appearance and outfit choices. He could tell she was a nerd, and probably not a Trainer, and he had a feeling there were quite a few like her, in say, business courses, who might have a question or two for him, after his recent announcements. Apparently, Tao was keeping everyone calm, but as expected, the old rich people were complaining the loudest. Instead of guaranteeing the worth of currency, the Empire was guaranteeing that compensation would still be available, and the transition away from currency would take years, if it ever fully went away at all. All Alex and the others had really done was free the masses from hunger and potentially losing their homes over a lack of currency. The sky didn't fall, Tepigs hadn't flown. The people across the world were being fed, and yet the wheels of capitalism continued to grind on.
"Emperor Redwood…your people's latest invention is…a marvel, no one can deny, and the erm…Dragon Burgers? Delicious. And nutritious. And free. All good things, with minimal impact on the environment. Apparently, even local criminal street gangs are ensuring nobody messes with the food machines. You've genuinely altered society at every level…my question is for the farmers and the workers in the food industry, though. What happens to them, exactly?"
Alex smiled, and answered just as evenly, matching her tone. "They can do whatever the Muk they want. I imagine most restaurants will eventually close or shift to having specialized Replication Machines keyed to their brand, but that just frees up all those servers and waitresses to go be whatever they want. You can apply for a house rather easily, as I understand it, though it may not be near your family. Food is as easy to gather as a few large bags and a trip to the nearest Replicator. The majority of their life hours are now theirs, and theirs alone. I imagine they'll want a break, first. But after that...? That's their choice. Who knows, maybe they'll take up Pokémon training." He gave her a knowing smirk, and the student rolled her eyes, but she was smiling slightly.
"As far as farms go…I would advise that any ranches or Pokémon farms simply continue as they've been doing, but with a shift to farming berries and Pokémon materials." His smirk turned slightly devious, and he could almost feel his father's rage from across the ocean as he said, "I know some Ranchers who just completely ignore their Pokémon materials. Treat'em like trash and toss them, or give them to someone who has a use for them. Now, I guess they have more value than a Pokédollar." That, he knew, would set off his old man. He'd put his entire life into getting enough currency to survive, and keeping their family business alive, and now his son had essentially just severely devalued currencies the world over, and all but killed the food industry. The things Alex used to be forced to shovel, in return for lackluster amounts of currency, were now worth more to people than his own life savings. And yet the sky remained blue, and the rain was still water, not Poliwags.
----------------------------------------
She thanked him, her question answered, and next up came someone who was apparently tired of waiting to speak, as he ran down the stairs and somewhat competently leapt onto the field. Everyone in the school knew who Arven was, but Alex did not. A quick scan of the man's gear informed him of his profession, though. "Yea, I gotta question for you, Dragon Foreigner." He spat into the mic. "What about Chefs? Who's going to want our food if nobody needs to cook anymore? Paldean culture has a huge basis on food! You'll destroy our way of life!"
The crowd's reaction was mixed, and Alex arched an eyebrow, at the severity of the reaction. Paldeans liked their sandwiches, surprising no one. He held up a hand as the boos for Arven got louder, then faded. "Now now, he has a point. But I would point out that a lot of people, at least right now, have limited access to only certain kinds of Pokémon materials. And as yummy as Dragon Burgers are…they're meant for those who have no food at all. For convenience, and a healthy, filling snack. We're working on making it a whole meal, with sugarless soda, plant-based fries, but for now, Burgers. Anyway. These machines are great for Chefs. They're welcome to petition for one in their kitchens, and I have a feeling they will." Alex said, baiting the man.
Arven was no idiot, as he recognized the bait, but he took it anyway. "I certainly won't. These machines will destroy the industry I've wanted to enter my entire life."
Alex shook his head. "I'm afraid you've been listening to propaganda, and people with an agenda. You're simply wrong. Most relatively common materials, Rattata fur for example, or Lechonk bits, can be converted into pretty much any item you and our creative cooking friends can shove on a sandwich. That means no more two-hour shopping trips to keep the food stocked in the kitchens. Hell, you won't even need freezers. Imagine how much space that frees up. And a Trainer on the road can exchange their extra materials for basic sandwich ingredients, too. I've helped revolutionize your industry, Mr. Chef. Cooking won't die out from this. If anything, I expect a rise in the number of meal preppers, now that everyone can get ingredients with absurd ease."
----------------------------------------
"The names Arven Turo." He said finally, looking back up at Alex, whose eyes widened as he recognized the name. "You make some good points, Dragon guy. I…guess I was uninformed about the full potential of your Replicators. Huh. Well, uh…good luck with your Tournament thing."
Alex chuckled. "And good luck with your cooking. You're about to have a lot of competition, I think." He gestured for the next kiddo to speak. "I'll take one more, before I need to get going." That, caused murmurs throughout the stands. Voices started to rise, and Alex's brow furrowed slightly. Arguments broke out, and Alex raised his hands again, but by that point, some arguments had turned heated. He saw Director Clavell facepalm, and then he looked up at Kalagon. The dragon nodded, and then roared impressively loud, right in his ear. So loud he had to put up a small psychic barrier just to not pop his eardrum. Kalagon smacked his lips as it ended, and then he looked back at his Trainer with a grin on his large toothy maw.
"Thanks, Kal." He said, giving his large, slightly softer leathery under chin scritches. The large dragon's foot twitched, and then started stomping the ground, before Alex kept speaking. He chuckled, and some of the students did as well, before he finally let up, and turned his gaze to them. "I do only have time for one question, but, I can give each of you that one question." Confused murmurs rose from the students, and he smirked, crossing his four pointer and middle fingers. Some eyebrows raised in recognition as he did so, which spurred him to shout, "Multi Clones!"
His eyes rapidly scanned the entirety of the stands, and his third eye counted the minds. Just over five hundred, which was apparently what the smaller-than-average stadium could seat at max. Five hundred was a lot, but it would be a good test, especially if he wanted almost twice that in eventual Pokémon partners. Exactly five hundred identical copies of his chill smirk, black and white attire, and tall frame filled the entirety of the battlefield, and he heard the kiddos gasp in awe. Some, those who had recognized his finger sign, had looks of pure amazement and joy, that such a technique was even possible for psychic humans. Others had differing looks, some bordering on worry, but most seemed confused.
----------------------------------------
Alex prime floated above all of them, and meditated, legs crossed, eyes closed, fists together as the clones all creepily spoke in unison. "This is…a lot, but I think…I can…do it. I'll have to talk to you slowly, and I may get your questions mixed up, so correct your clone if you think there's an error with my answer." His speech grew more confident as he sorted the clones by groups of twenty, which in his head, made them more manageable. "Looks like…we'll be going twenty at a time. If any of you don't have a question for me, just tell one of my clones. Please, join me on the field and find one."
He paused, and as he heard murmuring about financial sectors and the price of goods from certain students he said, "Let's just keep this focused on questions about Pokémon Training for now. This is…quite hard, actually." It seemed he'd found a sort of soft limit, but five hundred was still impressive, even in anime terms. If he kept working and using the move, he assumed it would become easier, like Teleport had. It seemed psychic power, or the act of using it specifically in what his people typically classified as moves, was not unlike a muscle. It had to be used and stressed to grow stronger. He certainly felt the stress from channeling so much energy and processing so many inputs, but actually creating and maintaining his copies was something his humming Mind Plate was handling quite well. As it had been fused with his helmet, he had donned it once again, but only his true self had it on.
The first twenty questions took about a minute for the clones to process. Alex tried to make them act natural, like part of a regular conversation. He took a long breath, cooling down from the battle he'd just had seemed to help. In mental terms, it was as if he was sitting atop a calm water surface, much like Oogway had, with twenty viewpoints before him, all with different students of different ages speaking pretty much at once. The problem was playing them back, within his mind. Speaking took time, and even if he sped up their words, he didn't want to risk missing certain tones or misinterpreting what was being asked.
----------------------------------------
The questions were simple but telling as to where their weaknesses as Trainers lay. Some really did just need advice. What vitamins enhanced which stats. The pros and cons of making or catching physical or special attackers. Others wanted him to build their whole team for them, a perfectly balanced one of course, and one obtainable in Paldea. He knew how kiddos got with building teams. He'd enjoyed it himself, once, until he'd tried to decide what combination of six would make him Champion worthy, strong enough to face the likes of Unova's Heroes. To them, his answer was simple. "Trust the universe to guide you to who you need to meet. In my experience, focusing on what type you want to find while you're all eating and waking up is a good way to run into what you're looking for. Pick a type, pick one or two or however many interest you, and head to where you can find them. Or trade for them on the Trading Network."
Since Trainers could set up trades in different regions, it allowed them to go out and catch what the other person wanted. His Abra had been one such trade, as his partner had desperately wanted a Swanna. Seeing it was from a Champion, and a world leader, had made the young girl determined to find a typically elusive and very hard to catch Pokémon, but she'd done it. Other questions, by majority, asked about how to be or become a Champion ranked Trainer. To those, he answered similarly along the lines of, "Champions are those who have the willpower to train hard, and the love to bond their teams together. You saw Kalagon fight for me. It's because we're friends, brothers, even. The closer you grow, the further you'll go. It's up to you and your partners how far that ends up being."
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
These kinds of questions made up the majority of the remaining groups of twenty. There were, however, quite a lot of questions about el romance, and after a long pause to those kiddos, Alex finally relented, and gave what advice he could. Ninety percent of it was, "Keep regular eye contact, stay calm, and talk to them like a friend. In fact, they should be your friend first, but you also need to be a bit obvious about your crush on them. Otherwise, a friend you will remain, probably forever." The boys were somewhat lucky, as most girls did notice that sort of thing if it wasn't creepy or too forward. To the girls though, he advised to be so obvious, even the lads obsessed with battle and Pokémon wouldn't be able to miss it. At least three walked away determined to make literal signs, but he admired that they had the courage to so boldly proclaim their feelings. He would've never done that himself, and just the thought made his very being cringe uncomfortably. He tried to maintain a balance, but he still leaned more towards being an introvert. He paused then, wondering if he would do such a thing now, for Jess. That's essentially what a wedding was, after all. A very loud declaration of love, and since he was who he was, it'd probably get a lot of attention. He decided to roll with it and let her do whatever she wanted.
----------------------------------------
Answering their questions took about twenty minutes in total, but eventually, the low hum over his baritone replicated five hundred times faded, as the kiddos thanked him, dismissed their clone, and went back to their studies. Director Clavell approached him then, and Alex gave him a nod of respect. "An excellent Battle, Dragon Emperor. And rather decent advice, as well. I'm sure you have places to be, but I would recommend speaking with El Primero, now that you have a Tera Orb." He smiled. "He's currently over at the Blueberry Academy, in their Terarium, training for the World Tournament. He hops between Regions rather quickly, that one."
Alex's face stayed neutral, as he nodded and absorbed the older man's words. As a proud Unova University alum, he'd avoid BBA for obvious reasons, but their Trainers were strong, their education facilities and classes were on par with UU's senior level courses, and their usual battles were all doubles, or lately, as he'd heard it, triples. Nick, as one of the Elite Four, had zero qualms about using the Terarium to train, or to find new partners. He'd told Alex several times now to visit, that doing so would be well worth it, but Alex had stubbornly kept his pride in Unova University and their classic methods of educating. He hadn't been on the battling team there or anything, but it was the principle of loyalty that he wanted to uphold. The more he thought it over though, the more he realized it would look bad if the region's leader was seen favoring one school over the others. He'd also heard good things about the Nova League, and Bostonia University was apparently working on their own Terarium. Even with BBA flourishing as it was, most Unovan Trainers still lacked a Tera Orb. Visiting BBA now would give him an excuse to visit BU's take on a Terarium too.
Finally, he said, "I've been meaning to visit the Terarium. I'll head over there soon."
Director Clavell inclined his old head, still remarkably full of hair, despite his age. Though, as Alex looked closer, he realized the man was probably wearing a wig. "Very good. I'll let them know you're stopping by." Alex cringed internally, as he knew there'd probably be another, larger, reception, but he nodded, and Clavell went on his way. Alex briefly considered bamfing over and flying to the academy before Clavell could hobble his way back to his office to make the call, but he resisted. He still had things to do in Paldea, namely, evolving his team.
----------------------------------------
He bamfed himself outside the academy's school yard and floated in the air above the academy grounds as he brought up the almost fifty names and profiles of his partners. "Goku, Coryn, Maromnis, Kage, Blast, James, Khan and Revan. And Fulguron, and Psi need to evolve twice." A bit water heavy in Dewott, Frogadier, Wartortle, and Drizzile for a proper battling team of ten, but those were the ones who needed experience. Revan also needed his armor, as once they had it, he could start honing his abilities as a Ceruledge. Much like Arthur, the sooner he started that, the better off they'd be. He also wanted to try finding the Tera Dens he'd heard about. Similar to Galar's, except containing Terastallized opponents, there were many theories about how the Pokémon within appeared. Over the years, El Primero had apparently been able to get Champion tier Pokémon from them and catching them was as easy as throwing a ball, once you broke their Tera Shield and caused a faint.
Now that he had a Tera Orb, Lux was able to access the Trainer boards for active dens looking for participants. Very quickly, he realized finding a Beldum, or one of its evolutions this way would be…tedious, if not impossible. It also wouldn't be white and gold. But it would give him Exp. Candy, and after reading up a bit on the basics of how the boards worked, he decided to use his main ten for them. The stronger the Terastal energy inside the den, the stronger the Pokémon, the more rewards they'd have when defeated. The ones battling didn't actually get Exp. points though, just the experience of a tough opponent, which he knew some members of his team needed more than others.
Canis was burning to get over his humiliating loss, but he wasn't alone in being frustrated at the gap between him, and the A Team. Alex selected him for the first den, and then Teleported himself to the closest waypoint he had to the den in question. The three other students looked shocked when they saw him descend from the sky, but after greetings and a few autographs, they were ready to face their opponent. A steel Tera typed Espathra. Alex was unfamiliar with the psychic ostrich, aside from its Dex entries, which said it was vicious. The cold, unflinching steel type was apparently the energy type most in line with its personality. It shrieked as the four Trainers approached it and sent out their partners.
----------------------------------------
The other three Trainers seemed almost disappointed by his rather normal looking Lucario, and they had no time to look closer and appreciate how much obvious effort had gone into his training, before they'd so much as blinked, the crystalline shell had appeared around their opponent, and then turned a hard steel gray color. It still shone, but only its unnerving eyes made it through the steely Terastal Shield. Then, the psychic ostrich started attacking, and dodging, with its insane speed. Very quickly, Alex realized their team would fall too fast if he didn't do something. His partners had a Machoke, a Paldean Tauros of the fire variety, and a Crabominable.
In terms of moves, Canis by far had the best move pool, and he made use of it, hanging back and using Life Dew as his teammates cheered their Pokémon on, raising their attack and defensive stats. Canis also fired off a cheeky Aura Sphere when he could, and it didn't take long for the Espathra to target him as the psychic figured out who the healer and highest-level Pokémon on their side was.
Canis matched its Psybeam by blocking it with a barrier formed by his Psychic attack, which hilariously was actually stronger and more useful than the move Barrier. While he blocked, the others landed their hits, and despite raising its Tera Shield early, it finally broke, revealing the still crystalline body beneath. It was still coated in crystals, gray and polished looking, like a steel type, but it was on its last legs. Canis hammered it with another Aura Sphere, and down it went.
----------------------------------------
None of them opted to catch the creature, and Alex watched with interest as, once they decided not to, it just vanished in a cloud of sparkles. Like it had never been there. In its place, were a plethora of items, and Alex went to gather his last, only to find that every one of them had gotten the same amount of the same stuff. When he tried to grab more, his hand had passed through the items on the crystalline pedestal. Like an empty chest in an old video game. "Does uhh…does it always give everyone the same loot?" He asked the one Trainer who was still here and not on to their next den. He gave Alex a nod, thanked him for his timely Life Dews, and then off he went as well. Alex frowned slightly.
Sure, they'd come together against a powerful Pokémon, but there was…no camaraderie. No bonding. He hadn't really gotten their names, either. No real strategy had even been needed, apparently, for a den of this rank. He'd thought six stars was a high rating, but apparently, they could go much higher. For whatever reason, they were only able to use their chosen pick inside Tera Dens, and once it was over and everyone had their loot, they'd all just…run off. Without more than a few sentences spoken to each other. It just felt a bit…hollow. And the way the Espathra had vanished…bothered him. One second, he had sensed its formidable mind, and then the next…poof. It was gone. Completely. He'd extended his senses trying to follow it, but there had been no trace of the powerful psychic with a steely heart, and he was fairly sure it hadn't Teleported.
Alex called out Psi once he left the den, which also proceeded to vanish into nothingness, as if it had never been there, once he left. The Abra yawned, and then smiled at him, in his weird way. Psi wasn't awake too often, but he had enjoyed Festivus. For about four hours, before he'd fallen asleep again. "Ready to evolve, my friend?" Alex asked. The Abra nodded. He'd gained enough experience through the Exp. Share. Now he just needed a little boost.
----------------------------------------
Alex gave him one of the extra-large Exp. Candies he'd gathered, and the Abra gasped as he tasted it, and munched it down quicker than Alex had seen him eat. His body surged with Infinity Energy, shining bright white as he became a Kadabra, and also larger than he'd been before. Alex had measured his size as perfectly normal, but now, his PokéDex was saying Psi was a large specimen. Then, he saw his level, and balked. "From ONE candy!?" He didn't believe the numbers his device was recording. "Lux…is this thing defective? It's saying…it's saying he's strong enough for Hyper Training. He was barely high enough level to evolve a few seconds ago."
"It's…all functional." Lux said, with a yawn. Training all the new Replicator Rotoms had left him tired lately. "That must be some potent candy." He said sleepily, before fading back to unconsciousness with a slight smirk on his mouth. Humans were so easily surprised, and it amused him. Power was power, and the power that had given his humans those cubes of energy had simply transferred it to the Pokémon eating the item. But their science would tell Alex that eventually, so to sleep the Rotom went.
Alex stared at his loot. He'd gotten twelve of them, the extra-large ones, and around five large candies from the raid. He had also picked up two pale gray sparkly herbs, but he had no earthly idea what to do with them, so into the bag they went. Apparently, quite a lot of high-level Tera Raids ended in failure, which made some sense. If Paldea's Trainers got loot like this from every den and every den was a success, they'd be monstrously powerful. Then, he considered El Primero. He'd reportedly won hundreds of very difficult Tera Den raids. Over the course of several years. Not only were the Pokémon within stronger than usual, he'd seen their stats posted from those that were caught by other Trainers, but the amount of strength that could be gained with a bit of strategy and barely any teamwork…
Many of the new Trainers in this World Tournament were from Paldea, and he had a feeling they'd be rising to the top soon. With this absurdly easy access to power, they'd be able to rival the likes of Red. Well, he thought, maybe not Red. But definitely Gary Oak. Skilled Trainers who'd gotten that way over years. This kind of power boost wouldn't make up for lacking The Power of Friendship or battle experience, but it would probably put quite a few young Trainers very high in the global rankings. "We're going to need to train harder…" He muttered, before calling out the rest of those who needed to evolve. Psi watched intently, interested, but quiet. Alex was giving him time to adjust to his new brain and new body capable of having it function without needing constant sleep.
----------------------------------------
He called out his Monferno, Dartrix, Dewott, Frogadier, Wartortle, Torracat, and Drizzile. They all greeted him, except for James, who huffed, and flipped his fin 'hair' with one of his fingerless hands. Coryn copied him, flipping his own hair with a wing, and chuffed lightly as he gently mocked the water lizard. "Alright lads…" Alex started, not thrilled about how awkward this all felt. "I have…some items here that will probably catapult you to your final forms. But I wanted to make sure you're all on board, before eating them. You'll never go back to the way you are now, once you eat them. If you don't want to, we can always train you up the old-fashioned way." He held out a stupidly large palm with six extra-large, square, pale blue candies on it. "You have the choice to-" He paused, as James swiped one, with impressive speed.
"I can't stand this body!" He groaned. Alex sympathized. Drizzile's hormones made it akin to an emotional human teenager. But it lived like that constantly. Eating berries and playing the video games he'd somehow hooked up within his ball was fun, as they were first person shooters, naturally, but James desperately wanted to be an Inteleon. Shortcut or not, he intended to take it. Fingers would make him much better at video games, too. He popped the candy into his toothless maw and then munched on it, nodding. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he too began shining impossibly bright. As the light faded, James Pond struck an iconic pose, with his literal finger gun held up before him as he channeled the human actors who had portrayed James Bond. He tested his new signature move out on a nearby boulder, though it seemed…weaker, than it should've been for his level. Which was now also high enough for Hyper Training. Goku frowned, took a block, sniffed it, then put it back. Alex nodded, as he knew the fire monkey preferred the rush from getting stronger. Old school training was his favorite thing to do.
Coryn thought it over, and then shrugged, and grabbed one with his beak. He wanted to get better with his feather arrows as soon as possible, and a Dartrix's body simply didn't fight like a Decidueye. He examined his new hood and wings as the light of his evolution faded, and then nodded, smiling at his Trainer, and content with his form. He drew a feather arrow, which instantly regrew, and examined it. As he test fired at the same rock as James had, nailing the tiny impact crater with unerring accuracy thanks to his absurd sight and the short distance, Alex turned to Maromnis. The Dewott thought for a moment, then shook his head. His fighting style wouldn't change much as a Samurott, and he was already close to evolving anyway.
----------------------------------------
Kage and Blast shared a look, nodded, and then glowed in unison. Like Psi and James, their bodies had grown larger than they'd been. Kage was lithe, but his body wasn't nearly as rigid as Gren's. Comparing him to his father, Alex began to see the drawback to using the candy. With time, he was sure, they'd grow into their form's power, but as fresh evolutions from the use of weirdly obtained items, they didn't have the 'oomph' that usually came with evolving like Kalagon had, in battle. Blast's cannons seemed large, for example, but his Water Pulse didn't leave much more of a mark on their chosen boulder than James had with his attack. Granted, he had been trained as a physical attacker. Khan also declined the candy, and Alex nodded in agreement with his choice.
He had Kalagon fly them to the Asado Desert, where in short order, Maromnis ruthlessly slashed his way through an entire herd of Krokorok, led by a Krookodile. As he stood amid the downed and shrinking ground types, the otter samurai began shining, and ascended to his own final form, a stern looking Samurott. He tested his Scalblades, once more on a boulder, and grinned as he slashed it in two.
Goku, not to be outdone, attempted the exact same feat, though the battle was harsher for him. And more brutal. Being a desert biome with not a lot of berry growing potential, that meant the local wildlife typically either ate each other, humans, or whatever they could catch from the coast, if they could fly or use vines. The Krokorok all managed to land some serious hits on the Flame Charging Monferno, but after a potion and more speed, he was eventually able to take them down with Brick Break, even their Krookodile leader, a much larger matriarch than Maromnis had faced. That didn't evolve him though. Goku finally ascended after wrastling with an Orthworm, and winning. He beat his chest proudly over his foe, but to his chagrin, the local desert Pokémon had no Muks to give about his evolution. They were in survival mode, and little else mattered.
Despite the numerous ground types around, Khan had also wanted to battle. With Trailblaze, something his species could apparently learn, he used the trick from Noir to great success, since Flame Charging through sand typically did the opposite of speed one up. Melted silica was painful, and easily stuck to fur. Alex had him mainly fighting the local Rabsca, as his fire moves worked on them, they gave more experience as an evolved species, and they were everywhere for some reason. After Goku evolved, the ten of them had broken for lunch, while everyone else got their food in their balls. Alex did bring out his grass types as well, but they just absorbed the intense sun of the desert, while the others enjoyed Alex's attempt at culinary creation. He'd taken his own advice and used his horde of Pokémon materials to get some cooking ingredients, and a very helpful man in one of Mesagoza's restaurants had given him a rather impressive list of recipes for Paldean cuisine.
----------------------------------------
Alex had remarked on its size, and the man had given him a look, saying he, of all people, should understand why he gave out such thorough lists of ingredients, recipes so simple that ten-year-olds could make them. Or attempt to, anyway. Alex had nodded at that, seeing his point. Wasn't much point to giving everyone access to ingredients if they had no idea how to cook.
Alex ignored the list for this, however, as he'd added two herbed sausages, four packages worth of noodles, two slabs of butter, and then for some reason beyond his ken, Wasabi on top. The team seemed to enjoy it, but he was suddenly glad they had so many water types on hand. Then, as he'd descended from the large rock formation, leaving his grass types to bask, he'd balked at the sheer number of Rabsca below and around him. Khan had started picking them off one by one, though often they would just charge at Alex, and he let them. It seemed the other Rabsca wouldn't swarm him if he was defending himself with a battle.
As they ran around the desert, with Alex finding a truly absurd amount of Soft Sand and Stardust as they did, he noticed quite a lot of Flittle and Espathra as well. The local Trainers proved to be pretty easy to deal with, as Alex made his way to Cascaraffa City. He finally climbed over the largest dune between him and his destination and sighed at how far he still had to go. His stupidly large feet did not make walking in the dunes easier, in fact he'd stepped on probably twenty innocent Pokémon by that point in the day. Cascaraffa was beautiful, in its trademark blue and white. The city was tiered, but refreshingly, this didn't seem to be a wealth-based tier system. He spied a Veracidad on the upper tier, but the rest of the city wasn't as…clearly divided as some parts of Unova and Rio had been.
----------------------------------------
Their Gym Leader was, Alex could tell just by seeing the city, a pillar of strength. An older man, getting close to retirement, he reportedly had lost none of his youthful attitude and vigor even in his advancing age. Eating healthy, nutrient rich Veluza steaks all the time probably helped. Leader Kofu was also considered, globally, to be a Water Type Master, a title he had received recently from the League, but apparently took pride in. He felt Terra's ball shudder on his hip, and smirked. "Kinda reminds of Marlon, huh, bud." He muttered, as he realized he was, technically, in a new region, and hadn't battled any Gyms yet. And right after beating an Elite Four member, too. His brows furrowed at all the similarities to the start of his journey, Kofu was a water type user, probably the strongest Gym Leader in Paldea these days, when he was serious, but before Alex could think more on it, Khan mrowled at him, and Alex gave him scritches, utterly losing his train of thought.
With a sigh, he headed towards the city, and smirked. If history was repeating, there was probably a reason for it. "Muk it." He muttered. "Let's go earn some World Tournament points. We can get higher than ten."
As he crossed the small bridge that led into the seemingly cooler area of Cascaraffa, a feminine voice that sounded kind of familiar rang out from behind him. "Not so fast, Dragon Emperor! I Challenge you!" He turned, and smirked, as he saw his cousin Aria, standing next to her rather large Meganium. As expected, her journey had made her grow quickly, and her eyes were on fire now. "Hey cuz." She said, losing her commanding tone. Alex blinked, as beside her, he saw Isamu, the Tamer of Zygarde, with his main core, a green one, on his shoulder. He was dressed in a Naranuva Academy uniform. He gave an awkward wave.
----------------------------------------
Alex and Khan watched the pair with mirrored smirks. "Aria. And Isamu? Good to see you again. I have time for a one on one, cousin…and I'll be using Khan here, since he's the last one who needs to evolve. I think a Battle will help push him to his final form."
Aria frowned and looked at her partner. "I guess that means you're out, Meg. Sorry." Her Meganium, Meg, apparently, balked and made a noise of disbelief, but Aria shook her head. "That's a Torracat from Eous that's about to evolve and I need you to not be injured when we face Kofu." Meg made a sad, but understanding noise, sniffled, and then returned to her ball. Seeing Alex's frown, Aria chuckled. "Don't worry, she's just acting. She's been training all day, and she needs a break before tomorrow. Let's see…" She eyed Khan with a look Alex recognized, and her brows furrowed. "I don't think I have anyone who could match this guy enough for a Battle…"
"Let's see your team." Alex said, smirking. He could tell she was put off by Khan, which was normal, since he was getting rather fierce and tiger-like after not evolving for so many levels. Aria brought out five of her six balls, revealing Leif, his former Leafeon, along with Meg again, who still seemed sad, there was also a female Jellicent, Taria, the Altaria she'd caught as a very small Swablu when they were younger, and an Audino, who seemed new, but happy to be with her team. "And who's in that one?" Alex asked, gesturing to her last ball. He sensed an Onix, and if he could help her with it, she'd have serious potential in the rest of Paldea's circuit.
----------------------------------------
"Oh, that's…Dia…she's…new…and angry. Very angry. I usually keep her in her ball…" Aria said, frowning. "Isamu helped me catch her, but she's uh…been rated too violent for cities, by the League. I shouldn't let her out here…"
"Perhaps keeping her cooped up is what's angering her." Alex said, wisely. "It's alright, I'm a Champion, and I can move the Onix myself if necessary. Onix like to have hundreds of miles of territory in which to travel. A Pokéball can't replicate that. Bring her out, and if she gets too wild, Meg and I can hold her down." The Meganium's head perked up, hearing her name, and she smiled at Alex, then ran over to nuzzle him. "I believe in you, kiddo. Think you can restrain an Onix?" She gave a confident, affirmative cry, but Aria shook her head.
"She's too tired, she-" Alex cut her off. "She's been in the desert sun all day, Aria. Grass Types do absurdly well under harsh sunlight. They get powerful enough to rival dragons. It's almost unfair." If they didn't have so many weaknesses, he knew grass types would be very, very powerful. But most Trainers had ice or fire moves on hand, as they were very common. Flying types were also pretty common.
----------------------------------------
Aria sighed. "Alright, fine. You're the Champion. Come on out, Dia! Meet my family." The ferocious female Onix roared loud enough to shake the air at her Trainer, and Aria just nodded, still frowning. Isamu chuckled, awkwardly. "Yea, that's about her standard reaction. Now she'll attack…"
Alex gave the pair a confident smirk and a wink. "Just watch the Redwood Method in action, kiddos." He tried not to laugh as Isamu pulled out a notebook and prepared to write and observe. He stepped up beside Meg, and while Dia growled at him warningly, Meg growled back, and Dia wisely resisted the urge to strike. As expected, she respected Meg's strength. She Coiled instead, raising her defense, but watched them both intently. "Hello there." He saw her head tilt, as Dia registered his words perfectly. "That's right, I speak as you do. Come closer. So long as you don't attack us, my friend Meg here won't attack you, alright?"
The Onix cautiously nodded and leaned her head forward. Meg greeted her cheerfully, and Dia blinked at her. That was as close to a 'hi' as she was likely to get from the giant rock snake. "I hear you've been having some trouble with my cousin Aria. Why don't you tell me what's wrong, so I can help?"
----------------------------------------
"What's wrong? I don't want to belong to a Human!" She roared at the heavens, before meeting his gaze again, her sharp, angular snout inches from his body. Alex didn't move, though, and Meg frowned, but held back from attacking, as Alex put an open hand towards her, the universal signal to wait.
"I understand that, but hear me out, Dia." Alex said. She growled at the name but blinked. Letting him go ahead and speak. That was good, she was proud, but reasonable. "Aria can make you very powerful. She's strong, like me, and she has potential."
Dia glanced at Aria, then back to him. "You…smell of Dragons. Your aura is strong, I will admit. But that one…" She growled at Aria, "Is much weaker. You should train me. Then I would believe your words."
"Unfortunately," Alex said, smirking again, "I already have Adamanteus." At the intonation of his name, the eager titanic steel snake launched from his ball, rising high above all of them with his impressive size. He gave Dia a low growl, which Alex's ears translated as 'Sup'. If Dia was impressed or interested, she didn't show it, but then, she was a rock type. Reading their moods was very hard, and Adamanteus had evolved before Alex learned to read him as an Onix. "But you see my words are true. I am not lying. I promise you, if you listen to Aria, if you help her while she travels, you will become every bit as strong as my Steelix. Eventually. But if you still want to be released…we can do that, too. So long as you agree not to attack any Humans or their cities. Unless attacked first, of course."
----------------------------------------
Dia paused for a long moment, thinking slowly, like most rock types. Her eyes darted from Alex to Adamanteus, who was still giving her an eager smirk and seemed far more interested in her than she did in him. Then again, with Pokémon, they could seem to dislike each other and still produce as many eggs as any other pairing. Finally, she spoke. "I will believe you…and accept the price of power. But tell the Human she must let me free more! I cannot stay in that…sphere…forever. I won't."
"Fair enough." Alex said, walking back towards Aria and Isamu, who seemed awestruck by how casually the man had chatted with the Onix. Dia followed him, and he recalled Adamanteus before his posturing turned more insistent. "Dia has agreed to work with you, provided you let her out more. Once I find a Metal Coat, I can send it over…"
"No need." Aria said, producing one from her bag. Alex resisted smirking, and Khan went very still. Against a rock and ground type, he may well lose, but if she made Dia into a steel type, the power to evolve would be in reach. She offered it to Dia. "If you listen to me, I'll let you out when I can, in areas where you won't hurt anyone. Deal?" Dia rumbled her agreement, her eyes alight with the chance for evolution, and as she touched the Metal Coat with her snout, it quickly moved to cover her body, as it began shining a brilliant white.
----------------------------------------
Dia roared again, as her evolution finished, and then eyed Alex and Khan. Aria got out a brush with impressive speed, and quickly gave her Steelix's new steel coat a cleaning. She shone bright in the fading sun of the desert. "Alright cuz, we're ready to…Battle you…aw, Muk. I should've waited to evolve her."
Alex and Khan laughed at their face's expressions, and Isamu chuckled as well. "You should have." Alex said, smirking, "But what's done is done. Come, we'll use Cascaraffa's field. It should have barriers. We'll need them, especially if Khan evolves." Once they were in place, Alex gestured to his cousin. "Newbies go first, I am a Champion, after all." He said loud enough to draw some looks. As expected, word spread like wildfire. Paldeans loved battles almost as much as sandwiches.
Aria didn't hesitate. "Dia! Earthquake!" The much larger Steelix smirked at Khan, who growled, irritated. Being on the team he was on; he'd learned how to handle Earthquake. It just always hurt, since Trailblaze could only be so strong when used by a fire type. Alex called the move, and he skated through the crashing earth, wincing but quickly realizing that compared to Terra, Dia's mastery was clumsy at best. Wild Pokémon didn't really need finesse like battlers did, so their control tended to be vague but overwhelming, to most species. "Don't let up!" Aria shouted, "Earthquake 'till it hits!"
----------------------------------------
Alex nodded, as the Steelix slammed her titanic frame down again, but Khan was still Trailblazing. He'd have to stop to use a fire move though, so he and his Trainer watched for an opening as Dia began repeatedly rumbling the field. The crowd went wild, as they typically enjoyed moves of that level of power. The energy barriers kept the worst of the attacks from escaping and damaging their city. "Khan! Slide backwards, now!"
The fiery adolescent tiger cub did so, having long since learned that his Trainer often saw things he could not. He always guided him to a decent opening for an attack, which made Khan fonder of him. The training was a bit intense, and learning so many moves was a pain, but Alex's team was large and usually had someone who could explain something vague, like making grass grow on command, or summoning the power of bugs of all things. Bug energy personally creeped him out, but Leech Life had proven quite useful. He was glad he had the Trainer he had. He was starting to believe he really could be the best.
As he skated back, he understood. Dia had, in her anger, raised two large Earthquake mounds of ground energy to crush him between them, but she'd left just enough of a gap to avoid the attack. No, Khan realized slowly, as he looked up, and saw what Alex had. He now had a ramp straight to Dia's head. Once again, his Trainer had guided him to a prime opening. He started running, as Alex called the move. "Fire Claw! Don't let up!"
----------------------------------------
Fire Claw was what made Eousian Litten so sought after, as it was one of the first moves they learned, its base power was very high for a physical fire attack, and very few Pokémon could endure being clawed by a burning tiger. Granted, Steelix was definitely one such Pokémon, but Khan intended to try anyway. He ran up the raised Earthquake mounds and leapt, using all four of his limbs and their burning claws to land on her face, and then, he let his instincts take over, as he just flailed and roared wildly, dealing massive damage.
Dia tried to shake Khan off, and seeing she was struggling, Aria raised something that Alex was too focused on the battle to immediately notice. "Dia!" She shouted, as the fiery tiger cub mauled her. "Mega Evolve!"
"Oh, Muk…" Alex muttered, as he saw Dia's eye flick to her Trainer, and gave a slow nod, despite the ongoing mauling. Her body began shining, as her energy harmonized with her Trainer, and though their bond was new, the lines of Spiral Power and Infinity Energy connected flawlessly. Alex smirked. He'd always known he was not the only Redwood of his generation with a knack for battles. A wave of electromagnetic force pushed Noir off of Dia as she roared and glared at him. Alex started sweating slightly, as he and his heat emanating fire tiger faced down the Steelix who, to his eye, was looking very tempted to start rampaging.
----------------------------------------
"I'm not losing like this…" Khan snarled, and then roared, as fire erupted around his form, which began glowing bright white as well. Dia watched, her body slowly rotating in anticipation, as she let Khan finish. Once he was done, he looked magnificent with his burning mane, glowing fiery claws, and bits of flame fluttering in the air. He roared so loud, Dia wavered in the air, but Alex recognized a Hyper Voice when he saw one. The Mega Steelix's eyes narrowed, and a Rock Throw came for the fiery tiger, though its speed made it less of a throw and more of a rock-based machine gun. As a fan of earthbending himself, Alex took note of how she shattered it and then fired the pieces rapidly, but one at a time.
For his part, Khan's eyes were wide, and his mouth was exhaling fire. He glanced up quickly as he saw the rocky bullets shooting towards him, and with cat-like reflexes, slammed his paws in the ground. A genuinely powerful Earthquake, especially for a first-time attempt, rose and completely buried the stone bullets, before the wave of earth and sand fell back into the ruined battlefield. Dia blinked, as Khan Flame Charged, even further raising his newly heighted speed to a higher stage. Thanks to her evolution, she could see the burning tiger coming at her like a comet, but her body was reacting too slowly. All the Trailblazing had made Khan too fast.
"Protect!" Aria shouted, but by the time she had, Khan was already too close for the Mega Steelix to summon the nullifying barrier.
Seeing their chance, Alex finished it. Khan had already been stronger than Dia in terms of level, and now his evolution helped with that. All the newly grown Pokémon saw firsthand with Kalagon and now Khan, how evolving in battle worked out better. "Flame Charge, dodge the counter, and then Fire Claw!"
image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/107dc055-197f-4c79-a8d4-bf5e3018e03b/dhnyd0e-7cf7d9ee-aaeb-40e5-a4ed-fb82a8ac4663.jpg/v1/fill/w_894,h_894,q_70,strp/eousian_incineroar_by_pokefan1337_dhnyd0e-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTAyNCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzEwN2RjMDU1LTE5N2YtNGM3OS1hOGQ0LWJmNWUzMDE4ZTAzYlwvZGhueWQwZS03Y2Y3ZDllZS1hYWViLTQwZTUtYTRlZC1mYjgyYThhYzQ2NjMuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.yJaibZqXVff425mHAaXh7K7d80nMs5i6-I3KcDOFq34]
----------------------------------------
"Rock Slide!" Aria ordered confidently. Dia struck Khan with the speed and power of her form, but through the explosion of rock dust, the burning tiger came in hot, literally, and slashed across her jaw, leaving a rather bad rent in the steel there. Thanks to his speed, the Rock Slide had only grazed him. He was 'in the red' as they say, but still standing, and still capable of striking. Dia's form broke, as the pain made her faint, and as Khan landed, and saw his claws were still very much burning, he buried them in the ruined earth, but that just started to smoke.
Alex bamfed over to Dia, with a Max Potion. The wound was deep in one part, but less in the others, and Alex realized Khan must have noticed in the moment how hot he was burning, and how much damage he was doing to Dia, before drawing his deadly weapons back. Dia rumbled back to consciousness and growled as she felt Alex fiddling with her wound. "Oh hush. You'll be fine…Khan just burned a bit too hot…" Hot enough to melt a Mega Steelix by accident. He looked over at his fiery tiger, starting to see what all the hype was about, when he noticed that Khan still hadn't cooled down.
Alex walked over, as he kept burying his burning claws in the dirt, but they refused to go out. "You alright, bud?"
"I can't…put them out…" Khan snarled. The air grew hotter with his frustration, as did his claws. He looked up at his Trainer, eyes wide. They didn't have fear, he was too brave to feel such a thing, but he was concerned. He wouldn't be able to go indoors or have delicious human foods if he was always burning everything up.
----------------------------------------
"Khan." Alex said, locking their eyes. "It's your power. You control it. So, all you need to do, is keep calm. It's okay if you let it flare up in here. Sometimes you need to let the energy flow, before it'll fade away. You did evolve in a heated battle after all. Just breathe."
Khan nodded and closed his eyes. He recognized Tao's teachings, and he had great respect for the Legendary dragon. There were several tales of him in Eous and seeing him in reality had only confirmed the truth at the heart of those legends. Slowly, he took in the cool air of Cascaraffa, and exhaled the heat he used for battle, all while keeping his claws buried. They flared up, but then began to cool, as Alex had said, and eventually, they went out entirely. Relieved, Khan exhaled a deep breath, and purred against his Trainer. "Well done, bud. We'll work on controlling that heat…I didn't think you'd get hot enough to cut into a Steelix, but if you can do what even Diamonds can't, you're going to have to master controlling that if you want to Battle again. We don't need serious injuries. Your species are apex predators, like Salamence. Shruikan can help you control your base instincts."
Khan nodded, and Alex rand a hand through his warm, luscious mane. "We're finally ready for Selva Muerta. Right after…" He trailed off, as he saw a figure standing on the tier above the battling field, arms crossed, a wide grin on his weathered face. Blue and white obviously dyed hair framed Leader Kofu's somewhat comical features, but there was power in those eyes that reminded Alex of the ocean.
"Step right up now, an' tell me…" The Gym Leader boomed, "which one'uh you Redwoods am I beatin' first?"