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Outside Leader Bea's Gym - Stow-on-Side, Galar Region
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"A Mukking Gardevoir! With Mega Evolution!" Dark purple lightning arced from Zabrina's fingers with a loud crack, and Miko just watched, his expression blank. She whirled on him. "BS like this is why I said we needed to spy on them! I have an Inteleon! They'd never Mukking know! Grrrah!" Again, dark purple plasma incinerated stray trash, namely random, empty wooden crates and pots.
Mikolaj's eyes widened as he saw something in the wreckage and ran over to it. His expression neutralized however, as it was just a basic Potion. He pocketed it anyway and met her eyes. They were glowing with her psychic power, a beautiful amethyst colored aura. He usually liked seeing her use her powers, whether in the songs and dances of her homeland, or to help train her team, or to reach something she was too short to get. The lightning was new. It felt wrong, and yet, his heart remained hers. He did not yet comprehend that this darkness was the truth, and that what she'd shown him so far was the barest minimum of her capabilities. "Zabrina, please. Those two have been going harder since the day we started, and honestly…my heart isn't really in this. If it weren't for you, I probably would've left already. I don't…I don't want to carry out our mission. These are good people here in Galar. They don't deserve to die."
"Balichko!" Zabrina hissed at him. She brought out her Mismagius then, and the ghostly mage started putting up protections from hearing their words around the pair. Zabrina pushed the beautiful idiot that was Mikolaj against the wall of the alley then. The gym was, judging by the smell, right next to a seemingly new restaurant. "Do not speak of our true purpose here without protection! You know what the Assassinorum will do if we do not carry out our task. We do not have a choice Mikolaj. If we disobey, our Regions will burn!"
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"I don't think they would." Mikolaj said, finally voicing his thoughts to her. "We can seek help. From the other Regions. They won't just let us get absorbed by the Imperium like Germania. Germania went willingly, in the end. If we resist them, together, we can stop them."
"Balichko!" Zabrina shouted again, making her Mismagius flinch. "You cannot stop a God Emperor, Mikolaj! You cannot stop his gigantic genetically altered war machines! They will burn you down before you ever get close! I will not endanger the Roma people just to save a bunch of racist Galarians some discomfort. For millennia has Europa spat upon my people. And millennia before that, even, when it was still Europe they did the same thing! In the Old Earth societies they called us the same names, fueled by the same bigotry. Well, the words may be different now, since they compare us to Pokémon, but the racism, the intent, remains. Romani is less than dirt, to them."
"Galar is not a monolith, Zabrina! There are good people here! You could say the same thing about Galar and Indius, including the bit about Old Earth! Galar has invaded their part of the world in attempts to colonize twice! History literally repeated itself, and yet you don't see Sikandar plotting to destroy them!"
Zabrina turned in disgust. "Sikandar Jiyoshi is an idealistic fool. Not to mention, a weakling."
Mikolaj snorted. "That 'weakling's' Kingdra just rolled us. Even with our main teams, I don't think we could beat them. This mission was doomed from the start."
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Zabrina took a calming breath, and then turned back to Mikolaj. Her eyes were full of fury, and something else that hurt to look at. He recognized it as disappointment. "Fine. Go and play Pokémon Tournament with the other Champions. Condemn Polska to the flames of the Thunder Warriors. Romani will not share your fate. But mark me, Mikolaj. If you breathe a word of this to the Chairman or the other Champions, you will be dead before you have the chance."
His eyes widened at her, and once more, he felt the all too familiar sting of heartbreak. "You…you would kill me?"
"Balichko!" She swore again, smacking his head. "The Imperium knows all. They have likely heard this conversation. If the Assassinorum is not yet upon us, they will be quite soon. Especially if we do not report results. If you wish to live, Sukar Guno, keep your Mukking mouth shut!"
Zabrina recalled her Mismagius then and exited the nullifying field of ghost energy. "You have the Badge ring. Go and gather your useless trinkets. I will find partners to counter those two, and then I'll have to take the deal for Experience Candy to make them strong enough, quick enough, to complete my mission alone. Goodbye, Mikolaj."
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Miko watched her go, and then sank down the wall into the dust of the rather clean alleyway. Tears finally broke past his resistance, and he sobbed quietly. Once again, a woman he loved had no real interest in him, and just used him for gratification and her own goals. Once again, he'd been left behind without a care or a second thought. As he cried quietly, his Rotom Phone beeped, and floated free. "Master. I thInk you mIght want to see thIs." It said.
Through bleary eyes, Mikolaj stared in disbelief at the sight before him. Shy, reclusive, PDA-hating Isabella Fondacaro was holding Sikandar's hand as they did their post victory interview, and then, how they'd been able to win with such seeming ease became clear to him. The way Sikandar looked at her had mirrored the way he had once looked at her, and yet this time, it seemed, Isabella had returned the feelings. He didn't even process the words, and instead closed his phone. He stood, and wiped his eyes, the sadness now replaced by fury. He was completely, utterly, done with women. His master had been right, they were nothing but a damned distraction, and he was sick of rejection. He focused his feelings of sorrow and sadness into his new, building rage, not caring what it would do to him, or the psychic abilities Zabrina had been awakening within him.
He strode from the alleyway with a look of murder on his face. He would build a team to break Isabella, and Zabrina, and Sikandar as well. He was done giving little effort to this challenge. Sikabelle had gone off the classic Galar route early on, and had catapulted ahead of them. He would now do the same. He went to the train station in Stow-on-Side and headed for the Crown Tundra. No other place in Galar had such powerful Pokémon, and he could catch and train his own on them to grow them as rapidly as Sikabelle had. A few of his fans had seen him and Zabrina leave in different directions, but he no longer gave a Muk. He'd seize victory, crush his assigned opponents, and keep Zabrina from making a foolish mistake based on her fear. He had to become powerful enough to defeat Thunder Warriors, unmatched warriors and powerful Trainers in their own right, on top of the severe genetic modifications, and the Crown Tundra would help him do so.
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Leader Bea's Gym, Interior - Stow-on-Side, Galar Region
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Sikandar and Isabella were still somewhat sweaty from their victorious match against Zabriko, but Gabby and Ty knew they had to catch the pair before they cooled off, or they'd disappear. It was hard to deny an interview in front of thousands of spectators. Gabby continued as Sikandar agreed to the interview, while Isabella looked at her like she was pond scum. "Congratulations on that Battle, you two. It seems the Isle of Armor really did catapult your team ahead of your rivals. What did you think of that Battle? Champion Isabella didn't even lose a Pokémon!"
Sikandar spoke first, still holding his partner's hand. "Well Gabby, it's pretty clear that Zabrina and Miko need to rethink who to send out when they have such severe Type disadvantages. Having two Pokémon on the field with a quadruple weakness to Fairy Types at the same time indicates a lack of communication, but you have to respect the attempt they made at toppling the Great Wall of Indius." He chuckled.
Isabella shook her head. "Even with a quad weakness…they shouldn't have gone down in one hit. They're still much lower level than we are. Our new teams are almost on par with our old ones, and that's mostly thanks to the Isle of Armor having such strong wild Pokémon. Not to mention numerous Dynamax Dens. We trained hard there, and this is the result."
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"Word on the street was that you two had members of the Ralts line. Now that we've seen…Kandra, I believe her name was? Champion Sikandar, can you confirm that this means you have a Gallade?"
Sikandar inwardly winced but nodded. "I do. In fact, they're quite fond of each other, as Bruno and Bea will learn tomorrow."
Gabby seized on the opening he seemed to give her on purpose. "Speaking of fondness…both I and your fans can't help but notice you two are uhh…pretty close there. On purpose. Does this mean…?"
Isabella hated that their relationship was garnering arguably more excitement than the battle, but she grinned and bore with it. Sikandar was right, ripping this bandaid off now would mean less of this nonsense when they finally reached Wyndon. It would be old news, by then. Her smile was exceedingly fake, as Isabella answered her. "Yes, Gabby. Sikandar and I are together." She internally cringed, unable to say any more, as she felt like dying. The crowd, who was hearing this, erupted in cheers and whoops.
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Sikandar laughed, and mentally, tried to comfort her. He knew it wasn't the actual relationship she disliked, just the fact that it was so public. But then, they were Champions. Very little they did would be private, especially in a region as modern as Galar. "So how did this even happen, if you don't mind us asking?" Ty said, aiming his question at Sikandar, as he read Isabella's body language and wisely let her process the situation.
Sikandar looked down at his redhead, no longer hiding his emotions, and smiled. "Well Ty…for me, it was love at first sight. Though, admittedly, I didn't know what I was feeling. All I knew was that I was partnered with the most beautiful woman on the planet, and I did everything I could to both express my romantic interest in her, and also keep a professional boundary. It was a…delicate balancing act." He looked back at the reporters, then. "She eventually warmed up to me, and my persistent compliments about her appearance and personality, and…honestly, I can only thank the Guardians that I am so blessed to have found someone who feels the same as I do." He held up a victory sign with his free hand then, and cringed internally, as he forced himself to say, "Love conquers all! We'll be the pair to sweep this challenge, just watch!"
Internally, Isabella was dying of laughter, and embarrassment, for him. Her mental voice teased him as he tried to keep a straight face for the camera. "Love conquers all? Really? Dear Arceus…you're such a Goomber."
Sikandar chuckled at the term that combined 'goober' and 'Goomy' a classically silly derp-faced dragon. "It did hurt to verbalize but look at our fans. They're eating this up. Even Zabriko fans are. If the crowd is with us, and our synchronicity is this good, we win. Easily."
She couldn't deny that he was right, and despite herself, she leaned into his arm, quietly, and gave him a look that mirrored the one he was giving her.
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"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the real deal right there." Ty said, filming the pair and their eye lock. "We'll let you two get going. Thank you for indulging our questions." Ty said, before cutting the stream off. "Cameras off, stream is down, mics are dead." He said, nodding to Gabby.
Now much more privately, Gabby smiled at them, genuinely this time. "I know you two don't care for public displays of affection but thank you for this. The speculation was starting to eat your fanbases on Chatter alive with the 'are they', 'aren't they' nonsense. Now, we can focus on Battling. See you tomorrow at your Gym Battle! Good luck!"
Sikandar and Isabella tiredly waved goodbye, and then shared a look, as they heard their thousands of fans running for the exit. Sikandar knew better, though. There was already an unmanageable crowd outside, and it probably stretched all the way to their room. "Time to learn Teleport…" He muttered. If ever there was a time for it, it was now. Pokémon Centers were easy, because they'd all usually been designed the same, architecturally. The setup of every room was identical, and the rooms were sized so that most Pokémon could fit within them, though some Centers in larger cities had rooms for Champions, and the massive sizes their partners could reach. It was to such a room that Sikandar willed himself to appear in, as he closed his eyes, visualized it in detail, and then guided his mind, the path his physical body would take to that spot. Most things, even electricity or fire or other such hazards, would not impede a Teleport. Dark energy was pretty much the only exception, and it simply stopped the Teleport from activating, rather than flinging the user through space until they hit a wall.
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Isabella's eyes widened as she processed his words. "Wait, we're Teleporting!?"
"No." Sikandar answered, eyes still closed. "You're too precious to risk. I'm going to see if it works. I'll be back. Probably." Then, suddenly, he vanished with s soft 'bamf' noise, and Isabella was left on the pitch alone, but feeling really good as, with her new powers came sensing emotions better, and Sikandar's always made her feel warm. Or hot. Then, suddenly, he was back and smirking confidently. He put an arm around her waist, pulling her close. "I just went to our room, my house in Indius, Professor Banyan's lab, and now back here. I've got the hang of this." He winked at her, but Isabella held on tight just in case.
She didn't even have time to close her eyes. He hadn't counted down. There was a brief bright red orange flash, and then they were alone, in their room. She turned into him, and Sikandar had to exhale as the feel of her sweaty body, still in her gym uniform, pressed into him. "Bath, massage, and bed?" He finally managed to say.
"Massage first." She said, looking up at him. He noticed then, in her mind, what she wanted from him, and he smirked at her as he fell to his knees.
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The Next Day…
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A Gigantamaxed Machamp loomed over Bea's stadium battlefield, high on the power of Dynamax Energy. Ground typed energy, probably from his Earthquake, swirled around his fists, as beside him, a Gallade and another Machamp were having what seemed like a slug fest, but to those paying attention, was actually a very one-sided beat down by the Mega Gallade, and Psycho Cut.
"If you're just joining us, folks, the Champion pair commonly referred to as Sikabelle is absolutely dominating Leader Bea, and Elite Four Bruno. OH! And once more the Gallade, Raphael I believe, has taken down a partner of Bruno's with his Mega Form! Leader Bea has already Gigantamaxed her own- NEVER MIND! Champion Isabella and her Mega Gardevoir have ENDED HER DYNAMAXING! It's a Knockout!"
On the field, Bea and Bruno shared a look and nodded. These two were not at the fifth badge level. In fact, they weren't even sweating, just smirking at them, standing calmly across the field. Sikandar was stifling a yawn at that very moment. It was time to go beyond their limits. Bea had already lost Pangoro, Hitmontop, Hitmonlee, and now Machamp. Bruno was already down his Machamp, who had learned to Gigantamax as well, his Hitmonchan, his Poliwrath, and his Lucario. This would be their last round, but they'd been saving these two for the end specifically. If they could get past the pair of bonded Ralts lines, they would have a chance at the rest of their teams. Together, they shouted, stunning the crowd, Gabby and Ty, and their opponents. "Go! Buzzwole! Go! Blaziken!"
Bea's Blaziken took the exact same stance as his Trainer, when she fought, and Bruno's Buzzwole looked back at his Trainer, and flexed in the manliest of greetings. Bruno grinned and returned the gesture with his own impressive muscles. "It's the final hour, Buzzwole! Lend me your power!" The extremely swole musclebug from another dimension roared and flexed simultaneously, and after a moment, the crowd erupted with cheers, loving his vibe, as he kept shifting poses. Bea, for her part, was silent, and far more disappointed that this was really where she matched up compared to foreign Champions. They had a presence like Leon, and their teams were just as ludicrously strong. She had no illusions about other fighting type counters on their teams. She raised her Mega Glove with her Key Stone, and her Blaziken's Blazikenite reacted, catapulting him to his Mega Form.
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"Psycho Cut and Aerial Ace, Raph." Sikandar said quietly. "Save Aerial Ace for an opening."
Isabella was much louder. "Kandra! Crush it with Psychic!" As Raphael and Buzzwole began trading type fueled strikes, with Raphael bamfing around the swole bug, and managing to damage it with attacks, when their limbs met. Buzzwole was shredded though, and each time they met, both of them took damage. Despite that, they seemed equally matched as a Mega Form and an Ultra Beast. Kandra's power rolled through the other side of the field towards the unflinching Mega Blaziken.
Blaziken couldn't just dodge, so Bea shouted, "Detect!" The fiery fighter went rigid, and then vanished, appearing high above the Psychic attack. "Aerial Ace into Shadow Claw!"
As gravity brought the mega evolved fire chicken down again, he activated his strike with flying energy transitioning seamlessly into his ghost move as he came close to Kandra. Or at least, what they'd thought was Kandra. The claws passed through a combination of Double Team and Substitute, and as it was destroyed, Kandra was suddenly there, for the counter. Blaziken's eyes had time to widen, before a sudden and brutal wave of Psychic sent him soaring across the gym like a feathery crimson bullet. He slammed into the barriers of the field, and Kandra dragged him along them, letting the energy damage him, before she dragged him to the field as well, and the move finally lost steam.
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Kandra Teleported, and Isabella nudged her partner. "Now, Raph!" Sikandar shouted, as he was very much weak to fairy energy, despite coming from a line of fairies. Kandra had her angle, and as her love moved out of the Moonblast's path with Teleport and a slight frown, the beam of fairy energy once again nailed two Pokémon at once, finishing off Mega Blaziken, and hammering Buzzwole.
To his credit, Buzzwole stayed up, recovering from the heavy Moonblast with a flex, but that was what Raphael had been waiting for. The moment Buzzwole started to pose, he was there, and Aerial Ace showed no mercy with its unmatched speed and quadruple effectiveness. Raphael struck through him with a graceful flash, and then let his Mega Form fade. The ref called the faint, and Raphael gave Bruno a nod, before he Teleported back to his Trainer. Bruno just smirked and nodded. This Sikandar was definitely proving he was every bit as much a Champion tier Trainer as any of Kanto's. Buzzwole was at an Elite Four level, and had the stats to match, and he'd still been held back by the Gallade.
The two Champions and their now once more normal partners first bumped fists, with their respective Trainers, and then bumped the other Trainer's fist as well. Raphael and Kandra remembered their original Trainers, mostly because they were pretty much always together, and the four had a synergy that just worked. They moved to the middle of the field as Bea and Bruno recalled their final picks and did the same.
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Bea handed Sikandar their badge, and then said, "That Gallade of yours…is quite a fighter."
Sikandar nodded. "He trains hard."
Bea smirked. "And copies his betters. Don't get me wrong, I understand wanting to copy Arthur, especially after he almost soloed the Victory League. but it's a little…on the nose. Almost identical." Her eyes shifted to the Gallade, who she had no doubt understood her words. "Steal from those who are stronger, yes, but make it your own once you do." Raphael pondered the wisdom of her words, and then nodded. Sikandar could tell he'd had a minor epiphany about fighting style and was more than happy to let him test his skills on Bandar. The Infernape and the Gallade had started pushing each other to new heights, and already, Raphael had grown bored sparring with Sikandar.
For their part, Bruno and Isabella had shared a nod of respect, and then smirked at the Gallade. They bid the pair farewell, and then, the two Champions hopped on their fliers, Isabella's Noivern and Sikandar's Garchomp, as they headed for Turffield. And then, in the space of a day, the duo set Galar on fire with their efforts.
First, they rolled through Milo and Gardenia, who unlike their fighting type peers, came at them with an appropriate level team of grass types. It was in that battle, that Sikandar revealed his final trump card, and secret he'd been wanting to keep for when he faced Isabella. Sooraj. His Volcarona, which he'd gotten by trading a rare Pokémon from the Isle of Armor with a Unovan. The fact that it could counter her Rillaboom, Gardevoir, and Tyranitar was not lost on her, though she doubted Marabecca would ever lose to a bug with a quadruple rock weakness.
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By Dynamaxing his fiery bug, Sikandar turned the tactically gridlocked battle in their favor, and with Elsa's help, the two created an overpowering whirlwind of ice and fire that left their grass typed opponents fainted, despite all their Ingrains and Leech Seeds. Gardenia was a clever battler, and Milo was more straightforward but turned clever when he got serious. Not even his Eldegoss could match Sooraj however, and once again, Sikabelle claimed victory.
Stolen novel; please report.
Motostoke was much the same. Kabu and Flannery had ideal synergy, being relatives, however even they faltered against a pair of Gyarados that Dynamaxed at the same time and turned the stadium into one more suited for Hulbury with all the water and typhoon grade winds, for three turns. To their credit, Kabu and Flannery did manage to take the titanic flying water dragons down, but then Bhaloo and Sirena took the field and made their debut. Although, it was so brief thanks to the absurd power of Surging Strikes that their fans took all day to confirm that, yes, Sikandar had a Urshifu. The fact that he'd asked Kabu to hold off on releasing the battle footage didn't help, but eventually, a Rotom Phone recording made it onto Chatter, and from there it entered the mainstream.
They got lunch after the battle, with Kabu and Flannery, and then made their intentions to head to Spikemuth known. Flannery then informed them that Leader Marnie was spending time with Victor today, and as Sikandar checked the time it would take to fly to Spikemuth versus a train, he opted for the train, and Isabella agreed. They'd arrive right at sunset, right before dinner time, and hopefully could convince the pair to have a battle. Spikemuth prided itself on being a 'traditional holdout', taking a counterculture approach to Chairman Leon's push to normalize double and triple battles, along with Dynamaxing, in Galar Trainer society. Marnie would face one of them one on one, which meant the other would likely end up facing Victor, something Sikandar was eager to do. Isabella was more than okay with facing Marnie, and with their plan set, they got their train ticket and took the chance to relax as it chugged northwards.
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Chatter was blowing up as, in the space of a day, Sikabelle had taken an overpowering lead with seven badges, and were confirmed to be heading for their eighth by the time the day was done. Zabriko, meanwhile, had apparently gone their separate ways. Mikolaj had flown off on his Hydreigon towards the parts of Galar with high level Pokémon to face, while Zabrina was simply gone, having vanished into the Fairy Wilds and was apparently testing her strength and growing her team against the Pokémon there. While Sikandar and Isabella knew their rivals would be slowed, they were not out of the competition yet, though there was no question as to who would make it to Wyndon first, and with more badges.
"I'm worried…Miko isn't answering my texts." Isabella repeated for the fourth time since they'd begun the trip.
"Sometimes Champions need to reset after a hard loss." Sikandar said, speaking from experience. "He'll be back. They both will, and when they return, we can expect a very different kind of Battle. We'll probably have to pull out the bear's Gigantamaxed forms. Even with those though, they Do have weaknesses of their own. Namely, fairies, and if Leon lets us use an original team member again, or more of them, there will be too many to account for."
"That's not all." Isabella said. "It seems both of them have utilized the Global Trade Network to acquire Pokémon from other regions." She frowned, and Sikandar shared that frown.
"Leon isn't going to like that. This was supposed to be a Galar challenge…even if they're the source of the GTN, this will…cheapen their wins, should they achieve any." Sikandar smirked. "We've already won over most of their fans, you know. They'll return to a hostile crowd, and if we make a stink about their traded Pokémon…it might shift things in our favor."
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They planned then, instead of countering what types Miko and Zabrina would have, they instead brainstormed which of their team members, new and old, would work well together in numerous scenarios. With her powers awakened, Isabella ordered their plans by letters and numbers, and Sikandar groaned when she made him memorize them. He had his Phone Rotom make a backup, and she did the same. The heat of battle could affect one's memory, and there was technically no rule against using one's phone during a battle. Many a Trainer had to look up a move or ability, to have a chance at countering it, at the cost of precious time. Not everyone had an encyclopedic knowledge of Pokémon moves and abilities after all.
They also intended to get some items for their teams, as now that they'd begun to hit the 'leveling plateau' as Champion tier Trainers called it, items would give them a much-needed boost. The grind in terms of level from around eighty to one hundred was infamously difficult to get through, without tough opponents and near constant battling. Modern training items could boost two stats at once, at the cost of speed, and it was usually attacking power and the speed stat that Trainers chose to enhance, with the exception being Pokémon that had absurdly high defenses. As they began grinding for the levels they knew they'd need to reach if they had any hope of facing Leon and his Charizard, they would also make sure their partner's stats were in order.
When the train reached Spikemuth, they emerged to a crowd being suppressed by Team Yell, who for once in their journey, were acting as something other than an obnoxious and very easily surpassed roadblock. The cheers were deafening, as Sikandar waved to the crowd, and Isabella grimaced, before her fake smile appeared. They made their way hurriedly through the streets of the town, which was doing better economically under Marnie's guidance. The fact that she was dating the Champion also helped keep Spikemuth on the map and in the circuit.
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Sikandar paused their forward momentum before reaching the battlefield where Marnie held her gym battles. They could hear Victor murmuring something, Marnie murmuring back, and then after about two minutes, Sikandar loudly scuffed his shoes on the ground, and then began walking again. Victor was standing casually, once more in his Champion attire, as he smirked at them like he hadn't just been making out. Marnie's face was still red, but Victor's was cool as ever, barely changed from his usual expression.
image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/107dc055-197f-4c79-a8d4-bf5e3018e03b/dgy0lt6-3c084c92-dab2-4e3c-9af4-c7ccc05146f6.jpg/v1/fill/w_894,h_894,q_70,strp/champion_victor___galar_by_pokefan1337_dgy0lt6-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTAyNCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzEwN2RjMDU1LTE5N2YtNGM3OS1hOGQ0LWJmNWUzMDE4ZTAzYlwvZGd5MGx0Ni0zYzA4NGM5Mi1kYWIyLTRlM2MtOWFmNC1jN2NjYzA1MTQ2ZjYuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.vzatGH-Aw9jS2h_KqhJAiNW4dAFrakr_6bL1c1GfC6g]
He was in his now iconic white and gold athletic jacket, covered with sponsor logos, with a black football (Soccer, to the Americans) shirt beneath it. Vertical thin gold lines split the black, and on the center of his chest was a blue sword with a wolf head on the handle, atop a scarlet shield, also with a wolf's head at the top. A gold crown was above his heart, and another golden crown adorned his black and gold hat. "Sikandar." The Galar Champion said, smirking. "I 'ad a feeling you'd be the one Battling me. Three on three, no switches sound good to you, mate? World Tournament standard rules."
Sikandar nodded and rolled his neck. "I assume you want our new teams. Or should we test our original ones?"
A gleam of fire lit the Champion's eyes. "My team can't properly let loose without a Power Spot, so I'll prolly let the newbies get some experience. With 'ow hard you two have been goin', we should be around the same level."
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"Good." Sikandar answered, returning the smirk. "Being over leveled is fun, but it does get a bit…boring, after a while." He nodded to Isabella, as he followed Victor off into Spikemuth, where the Champion soon had him take to the air to follow him somewhere that their Pokémon would be able to utterly ravage the environment and not endanger anyone.
Once the boys left, Isabella faced down Marnie, who gave her the usual Gym Leader rules. Unlike the boys, they'd have a six on six, with no switches. Isabella had a feeling she'd only need one, though. She led with Kandra, and Marnie smirked as her pick appeared simultaneously. "I knew ya'd lead with that bloody Fairy." Her Toxicroak took a battle stance as it appeared, and Isabella arched an eyebrow. If she knew, why lead with a Pokémon that had such a severe disadvantage with a quadruple psychic weakness?
"Psychic." Isabella ordered, as she raised her Mega Glove. She had no intention of holding back. As Kandra assumed her Mega Form, and let her attack loose, Marnie answered it.
"Get close with Sucker Punch. Then double Poison Jab!" The smirking Toxicroak disappeared, and Isabella's eyebrows crashed together.
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"Double layer Reflect." She ordered calmly, knowing it would reduce any physical attack moves to zero in terms of damage. Sure enough, the Poison Jabs rebounded off the psychic typed energy, and Kandra countered before it could switch to dark attacks. "Psychic!" Isabella ordered again, and with a point-blank burst of power, Toxicroak was blown away, succumbing to its quadruple weakness in a single hit. Marnie grimaced, but she wasn't done yet. She knew Kandra and Isabella would roll through her just like they'd rolled through the other gyms today, but she had no intention of just taking it.
"Mawile! Go! Mega Evolve!"
Isabella blinked as Marnie summoned a steel fairy that, to be fair, had the personality of a dark type, if not the actual typing itself. As she mega evolved, the two massive mouths now sprouting from the comparatively tiny body snapped at empty air, eager to battle. Marnie didn't wait. "Taunt and Crunch!"
One mouth started taunting Kandra with cries of its name, which made her usually composed Gardevoir's eyes narrow dangerously as she fell for it. Her Reflect became single layered, and Isabella shouted an attack before Kandra did something reckless, like a Fire Punch. "Mystical Fire. Keep your distance. It has no speed and limited range. Burn it down."
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With some concentration, the Mega Gardevoir attacked as ordered, flying up and away from the ground bound fairy with twin toothy maws. Her pyrokinesis manifested the mystical flames, which arced down rapidly towards the steel fairy, as Kandra was already manifesting another round. "Stone Edge Shield! Then Rain Dance!" Marnie answered, and Isabella grimaced.
She needed to stop Marnie's momentum from rebuilding, and then, she recalled an important factoid regarding Mawile's biology. "Into the air, Kandra! Far out of their range!" Her Mega Gardevoir glanced at her, and then nodded, reading her mind easily. "Aura Sphere barrage! Don't stop until it falls."
In this form, Kandra could manipulate type energy as easily as her own body, and summoning her inner chi was ease itself. Bullets of fighting typed energy rained down on Mega Mawile, and instead of retreating, her horn-mouths reacted by trying to bite the Aura Spheres. They reacted mostly on instinct when this empowered by Infinity Energy, and in doing so, they exploded with damage, as the mouths, which were actually steel horns manifested with sentience by the fairy type, took the super effective hits. "Mawile! Don't bite at them, dodge them!" Marnie shouted, but it was too late, and the barrage was ceaseless. Kandra knew exactly where to aim, and her best chance's Mega Form shattered, before Marnie recalled her.
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Kandra rolled through the rest of her team with Dazzling Gleams and Moonblasts, and no attempt to stop them worked. Even her Grimmsnarl, with his wide move pool and a lucky Leech Life hit, could not faint her. It was like battling Victor, or Gloria. The gap in their strength was just too big, and any strategy she tried could be foiled by how overpowered being able to Teleport and attack was. Disgusted by how easy Isabella made beating her look, she reluctantly handed her a badge, and then retired to her Gym Leader quarters, staring at her fainted team and apologizing that she wasn't better.
For their battle, Victor and Sikandar had gone to the front of the city, in that odd patch of land that wasn't quite Route 9 or Route 7. It was a common flight destination though, and as word about their battle got out, hordes of Corviknight Taxis started landing nearby. Sikandar had Bhoomakshak flatten and set up the field, and Victor brought out his Galarian Slowbro to set up a barrier for them. 'Bro' as he seemed to be called, was part of his main team, and Sikandar could tell he was going to have to be one to keep an eye on in the World Tournament. Slowbro didn't look it, but it actually had a wide move pool, and could be specialized for attack power or special attack power.
"Rajah! You're up!" Victor shouted, not caring about bringing his Pokémon out first, and apparently not against calling him a prince, either. As it appeared in a flash of sparkling white energy common to Pokéballs in Europa, Sikandar admired the several ton titanic steel elephant with a critical eye, as he tossed his own impatient pick in his hand. "Well-polished, well fed Protein and…Magnesium and Tungsten? Good choices for a Steel Type diet." He nodded. "That is an impressive Pokémon you have there, Champion Victor."
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A smile broke Victor's plain expression. "I suppose you would know, wouldn't you, Indius Champion? I'm glad you approve!" Rajah's ears twitched at the mention of Indius, and he regarded Sikandar differently. Long had he been curious about his homeland, and now, he would see how a Trainer from that semi-mythical place fought. Something in his eyes changed, and Sikandar grinned.
"Oh…he's ready to go. Interesting. Jalahastee!" The Hippowdon appeared already in the ground, and snorts columns of sand from its nose as it met the metal elephant's eyes. The earth rumbled with his displeasure, and Sikandar sensed that he too, was ready to battle. "Earthquake." He said simply, hands in his green hoodie's pockets, as he started the match.
Victor was no novice and had no intention of just taking the powerful and super effective attack. "High Horsepower! Then Iron Defense!" A defensive steel typed boost began forming, but the Hippowdon's attack would not be ignored. The Earthquake surged as high as Rajah was tall, and then crashed down on him, hard.
"Brick Break!" The massive metal trunk cut through the wave of surging earth as the power for the move was spent, and the Copperajah was still using High Horsepower. Rajah charged towards Jalahastee at his level, and the trunk smashed into the earth hippo. Not a single inch of his densely muscled body gave.
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"Crunch!" Sikandar shouted, and the massive, infamously powerful crushing strength of the high level Hippowdon's jaws came down on the slightly lower leveled Copperajah. "Break out!" Victor yelled, but it was already firmly gripped by Jalahastee's toothed maw. The metal of Rajah's body was already starting to give to the sheer power of Jalahastee's jaw.
"Finish it." Sikandar said. "Earthquake." Buried as they were in the earth, the earth surged upwards around them, and as his opponent's eyes went poli patterned, and his steel typed prey became vulnerable, the natural predator of the Isle of Armor's only desert glanced at his Trainer, and let the surging earth carry the undoubtedly delicious meal away. Jalahastee had trouble, sometimes, remembering that human food was far superior to what his natural predatory instincts could get him. Since Sikandar had started feeding him, there were no bones, no pleas for life, no sickening crunches, and no deeply buried guilt as he ended a life to keep his going. It wasn't like his desert had any berries, or anywhere near enough of them, given that he had shared it with the likes of Rhyperior and Hippowdon, while he himself had been a Hippopotas. Sikandar nodded at his earth hippo, and then stared expectantly at Victor, still looking far too casual.
Victor nodded. "Right. Time to stop playing around." He nodded at his Slowbro, and the barriers tripled. He recalled the giant elephant, and then replaced it with another giant, one Sikandar beamed at. "Tank! Hydro Pu-"
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"Return, Jalahastee!" Sikandar shouted, recalling his partner before the massive, menacing Blastoise could so much as raise his cannons. The crowd around him booed, but he laughed at them. "Come now, you don't really want to see such an easy match against Tank, do you?" They murmured, in surprise, as the Indius Champion acknowledged them. He had a Luxury Ball in his hand, and Victor's eyes widened, as he saw its color palette. It was very common practice to make a Pokéball resemble its occupant these days. "Alright, Bhaloo. You're up."
Victor chuckled, and the crowd went silent, as the Rapid Strike Urshifu took the field, and her stance. She preferred to train in her ball, since evolving, mostly because she and her Trainer could communicate psychically, and she could face whatever test of strength would suit her growth the best. The result was a body harder than Ursiarti's, and a focus honed by weathering the most extreme environments a modern Pokéball could safely replicate. She had used the fact that her human had a mobile pocket dimension in his pocket to its fullest potential.
The silence passed, and the crowd cheered, causing the fighting and water typed bear to smirk. It mirrored Sikandar's. Blastoise had a good move pool, and he had no doubt Tank knew many moves, but the only one that would really hurt Bhaloo was Zen Headbutt. Being from the region that had invented that move, Sikandar knew how to counter it. All they had to do was make sure Tank couldn't stack his stats, like he usually did in prolonged fights. Sikandar had studied Victor well, and was well aware of their Iron Defense and Shell Smash combo, that could get out of hand very quickly.
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"Iron Defense!" Victor shouted, but Sikandar spoke right after. "Thunder Punch. It's all you're really going to need."
Bhaloo nodded, and then with speed that rivaled the Single Strike form of her species, she was in front of Tank, whose defense had risen with the powerful steel typed boost. A ruthless punch to the stomach managed to make Tank lean forward, which was when the equally ruthless uppercut struck his jaw with a thunderous smash. True to his name though, Tank took the hits, and then grinned at Bhaloo, clearly eager to attack, but his Trainer called for another defense boost.
"Surging Thunder!" Bhaloo nodded, and then fell into the series of punches her species was known for, though this time, she wielded electric typed energy. Despite her own weakness to it, it flowed along the path her water set for it, and then one, two, three critical hits, now super effective, smashed into Tank. His defense was high, but it was also keeping him from being downed already. As Bhaloo ended her strikes, Victor knew they needed to attack, or lose.
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Victor regarded Sikandar with new respect, though he wasn't surprised the Champion was this good. Eous had taken Chairman Leon's historic invitation to Trainers the world over quite seriously, and thousands of Champions from the frankly absurd number of regions in Eous had gathered in their sacred central province to duke it out. And Sikandar had beaten all of those he'd faced. His kind nature and calm demeanor had also made him quite popular with the other Kingdoms, and after his performance in this tournament, many in his homeland were claiming he was the strongest Trainer in Eous. "Right then…" The Galar Champion muttered.
He reached into a pocket of his white hoodie and pulled out a glowing stone. Sikandar's eyes widened. "Focus Energy! Bulk Up, times three!" Bhaloo's body swelled even more, as through focusing her energy she used Bulk Up's power to the third degree, instead of just once. They were still working on reaching four, and given how difficult that was, achieving five or six stage boosts with one move would be all but impossible. It also strained her muscles to dangerous levels, if used multiple times. By the time she finished, she was staring down a Mega Blastoise.
"Keep your distance. Hydro Pump!" Bhaloo barely had time to react, and couldn't, before the Infinity powered cannon sent her sliding back through the field's dirt. "Iron Defense!"
"Don't let them." Sikandar said, and Bhaloo nodded, once more bringing the thunder with three critical Thunder Punches in a row, using the movements of Surging Strikes.
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Once she was finished, Tank just smirked at her, and then his eye twitched. Electricity ran over his Mega Form, as paralysis took hold, and Sikandar clenched a fist. They could win, now. Now matter how fast and strong Tank became. He had to be at about half his health, but he suspected Victor would sacrifice, at most, two defensive boosts. "Double Shell Smash! Dragon Pulse!" Two brown plates from Tank's shell were jettisoned at once, and as they crashed into the ground, Sikandar's eyes widened. Dust flew up from the impact craters the pieces of shell, infused with Infinity Energy, had made.
"Iron Head!" Sikandar ordered quickly, a frown finally breaking his calm expression. "Then Trailblaze into Low Sweep!" Bhaloo headbutted the Dragon Pulse, which didn't end up pushing her back very far. Grass energy covered her paws as she sprinted at Tank, hitting him, and then spinning, smashing into the Mega Blastoise's sturdy legs. If it had been any Pokémon but an Urshifu, he might've stayed standing, but the Low Sweep took effect, lowering his speed again. Now on his stomach, and wide open, Sikandar shouted, "Thunder Punch!"
"Rapid Spin! Get out of there!" Victor ordered, and though Tank wanted to obey, Rapid Spin was a lot harder to do with a massive, unretractable cannon. So he improvised instead. His Trainer wanted him to have distance, so he leapt, fired off an enhanced Water Pulse from all three cannons, and shot backwards towards Victor.
"Finish it, Bhaloo. Surging Thunder." As soon as the Mega Blastoise landed and set up his stance to fire again, Bhaloo was there in the space of an eyeblink, and Victor just nodded. He himself had abused an Urshifu's speed and power to beat Leon's team into submission, and set up Tank to be fresh enough for a full powered G Move against Leon's Charizard. Without an Urshifu, Tank would have likely been quite tired. The rest of Leon's roster was no joke, and he had a long tradition of making people fight to reach his Charizard. When a title was on the line, at least.
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Three critical and damaging strikes smashed into Tank, and his eyes rolled as he lost his Mega Form, and hit the ground with a thud. Bhaloo maintained her composure, and remained focused with her energy. She gave Tank a slight head bow, as he was recalled. Victor scratched his head, and smirked. "I was only intending to do a three on three…but we can't have my record be broken here, of all places…"
Sikandar shrugged. "Everyone has to lose some time, Champion."
Victor nodded with far too much confidence. "Exactly. Which is why I think it's time ya met Grimm. He's one of the first on my new team to be…fully trained." Victor threw the Dusk Ball in his hand then, and a powerful fairy aura filled the area. Grimm was, unsurprisingly, a Grimmsnarl. What set him apart was his blindingly white hair and striking pink skin. Muscled rippled under his hair, and across his massive ogre body, as he gave Bhaloo a dark grin.
Sikandar just nodded, as he realized what Victor meant. Grimm was the first of his team to, in terms of level, reach what humans had designated as one hundred. Like the rest of his main team, Tank included. Bhaloo had taken him down, but he could tell it had taken most of her energy. "Iron Head!" He ordered, knowing it wouldn't matter.
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Bhaloo still responded with an Urshifu's speed, but the Grimmsnarl was faster, thanks to his finished training. "Spirit Break." Victor said calmly, and just as calmly, Grimm broke Bhaloo with fairy energy infused strands of his stretchy hair. Next was Jalahastee, who had also taken some hits. Trailblaze combined with Ice Punch took him down despite the quaking earth he caused, at which point, Sikandar made a choice. He did have a counter to a melee fairy, but it wasn't time to reveal them just yet. He wanted at least one secret partner, for the matches in Wyndon.
"I forfeit." Sikandar said, recalling his fainted earth hippo. The crowd booed in disappointment, but this time Victor assuaged them.
"Come on lads, think! 'E doesn't wont to give away all his secrets right here…we'll Battle again, Sikandar. Count on it, mate." Victor said, with a nod. He had a feeling Sikandar could have broken his win streak tonight, but for whatever reason, he was opting not to. Whether mutual respect, or desiring a bigger showdown in a proper stadium, Victor couldn't tell. Either way, he was glad. It was time for them to train much, much harder, and wild Pokémon battles weren't cutting it anymore. He'd need to train with Gloria, like Sikandar had no doubt done with Isabella, to keep their teams sharp, and advancing. Pokémon could stall, and start gaining experience much slower when they reached the final stretch before the peak of power that humans measured as one hundred, and they all needed to be ready by the time the pairs made it to Wyndon, which if today was any indication, would be quite soon. Sikandar and Isabella only needed one more badge, but he knew they'd probably face the other gym leaders as well anyways, likely with their strongest teams.
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Sikandar and Victor bid each other farewell in a fine show of sportsmanship, at which point Sikandar turned to return to the 'gym' in Spikemuth, only to find Isabella there, arms crossed, the expression on her beautiful face unreadable. "I can't believe you forfeited."
Sikandar shrugged. "There will be a time and a place to break his streak. This wasn't it…and I'm not entirely certain my Fairy Type counter would've been enough to handle that Grimmsnarl. I would've still lost, and revealed my last secret weapon. Let's get some rest, and then continue training tomorrow. I assume we have Spikemuth's Badge?"
She nodded, fully aware that he had one partner secret from her. She didn't try to seduce it out of him, though she could guess what it was. If it countered fairies it had to be steel typed, and if it didn't need to eat, that lowered the potential species significantly, since many steel types needed a diet of steel to get stronger. She had her money on a Magnezone. "Of course. Marnie was actually slightly more challenging than the others we faced today. All we have to do is decide where to fly first, tomorrow."
They began planning out their route, as they headed to the only beds available for them in Spikemuth City, a place that infamously did quite poorly with hosting tourists. The Pokémon Center was more than accommodating though, and though their room was a bit dusty and far too small for their teams, they made creative use of the double bunk beds, before passing out. Isabella had also asked him about her final Chakra, something they'd put off opening for a while now, but Sikandar assured her the time would come, soon, to open it. Doing so was always a bit of a process, though, and he simply didn't have time to prepare her properly, yet, for what connecting to the universe felt like, and required. They'd still practiced her psychic manipulation though, and that left them both more than tired enough to fall into a deep sleep.