“I thought it would be me who would be fighting him, Iris.”

Once again, the elites and gym leaders were called into an emergency call. This time, only the major gyms and Elite Four were invited. They overlooked a private arena inside the League headquarters where Drayden and Daniel would face each other. Since they wanted as much secrecy as possible, Iris herself would be the referee for their match.

“Don’t be a baby Marshall. You’ll get your turn soon enough.” Grimsley added with a smirk. “It’s still a good way to gauge him against a gym leader. Veterans are usually at that level.”

“Hmph!” Marshall crossed his arms, not commenting further.

“With that out of the way. Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

***

Daniel stood inside the League headquarters, this time not as a criminal, at least. The arena reminded him of the practice ones inside their region, just more… rustic.

“Not up to your standards?” Drayden growled at him.

“Honestly.” He sighed and shook his head. “It’s quaint, just missing screens, better dampeners, and size.”

“Ha!” He chuckled at him and rolled up his sleeves. “Gadgets don’t make the trainer.”

“Can’t agree more with you.”

Daniel took off his jacket and, mirroring Drayden, rolled up his sleeves. Even from a distance, Drayden could see small scars crossing his upper arms.

“Trainers!” Iris’ voice drew their attention. “This is a 6 on 6 battle! Tournament rules! 3 switches maximum! 1 Pokemon per side!”

“Before we begin.” Drayden interrupted her, holding up his hand. “I would like to… ask a favor.”

“Hmm?”

“Bring out your dragon, the lady you want to introduce to my Salamence.” He grabbed a worn-down red Pokeball from his belt. “He’s eager to meet her.”

“Heh, you make me feel like I’m giving my daughter’s hand.” A glossy Ultra-ball shot to his waiting hand and expanded. “Very well, then.”

Iris cleared her throat. “Trainers! Release in 3.”

“2.”

“1.”

“GO!”

Both silently sent their Pokeballs sailing through the air to their respective side of the field.

A great Salamence appeared on Drayden’s side. Eyes glinting with pride and malice. Muscles packed with barely restrained fury. It recognized Daniel straight away and tensed even more, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. However…

A powerful aura blanketed the field, drowning it in a Haunted terrain. The lights overhead tried to shed any light, but the ghostly winds quickly snuffled them out. Both Iris and Drayden felt their skin crawl, feeling that same presence from before. Like chicks meeting the flock leader for the first time.

Salamence looked left and right, trying to see their opponent inside the ghostly mist. Briefly glancing at his trainer for a solution. Until they saw a pair of purple flames suddenly light up around the dragon. Drayden didn’t know what was coming, but he couldn’t risk it.

“Protect!”

The shimmering shield formed around his Salamence, protecting him from anything his opponent might use.

“Saaa!”

Salamence cried in pain as the Dragapult reappeared, completely bypassing the shield as if it wasn’t there. The phantom force was enough to send back the Salamence until it hit the barrier with a bang!

Blaring alarms told the three of them that shields were barely holding on. Several Psychic Pokemon appeared beyond the barrier, including Caitlin’s Gothitelle, and reinforced them.

Salamence shook his head a couple of times and tried to locate the Dragapult again, to no avail. His scales cracked and leaked blood to the field below. Yet his pride left his eyes.

Daniel’s eyes glowed pink just before Casper appeared again meters away from the Salamence. Before he could react, a dragon rush sent him crashing for several meters. Draconic energy quickly gathered in her horn and both Dreepy shot towards Salamence prone form.

A dull impact rang around the empty arena as they made contact. Salamence tried to retaliate with a flamethrower, but Thunder quickly descended on top of him. With a cry, the Dragon looked at Drayden one last time before blacking out.

The silence was deafening, both inside and outside the arena. The Dragapult toyed with a gym leader’s ace like it was nothing. Gym leader Drayden’s, no less. A man who almost became Alder’s replacement if not for his commitment to Opelucid. His eyes were wide open as he processed what he was seeing, finding it hard to believe.

“T-trainer Drayden! You have one minute to send a n-new Pokemon!”

Iris tried her best to regain composure, but it was proving to be a challenge for her, too.

Thankfully, this was what Drayden needed to snap out. He glared at the time traveler before returning his ace. “You did good, Cesar. We’ll talk about it.” He whispered to his Pokeball before selecting another one from his belt.

A Hydreigon took the stage, roaring in fury. Even if it wasn’t as big as Iris’, it was a prime specimen of their species. The mist that seemed oppressive moments before quietly dissipated, revealing Casper’s floating visage.

“Dark pulse!”

Drayden made sure that he wouldn’t be surprised this time. A dark ocean of energy erupted from Hydreigon, dissipating the ghastly mist as it passed. Yet just before it reached, Casper shot forward, enveloped in dark green energy. She powered through the energy wave and struck the three-headed dragon square in the chest, sending it back several meters.

Red light enveloped her as she returned with a U-turn. Daniel quickly stored her Pokeball and threw another with his other hand. Letting Elizabeth take the stage.

The small form of the Hisuian Liligant stood in contrast to the furious form of Hydreigon. Yet she was not afraid, looking at the dragon in challenge. With an orange flash, she shot forward, legs burning with an axe kick.

“Dragon rush!”

Purple energy enveloped Hydreigon before shooting towards the Liligant. Both attacks collided, ending in a stalemate. The dragon transitioned into a fire fang, but Elizabeth spun out of the way, answering with a brick break followed by another axe kick directly at the main head.

Hydreigon recoiled but dashed backward before the dancer could capitalize on that. Both Pokemon quietly sized up one another in the distance. The dragon silently used nasty plot as they circled each other. Liligant, on the other hand, twirled and shot her “arms” up. The light quickly rose in intensity as sunny day took effect.

“Flamethrower!”

Drayden wouldn’t look into the Zebstrika’s mouth. Hydreigon quickly gathered the fire energy in his mouths and fired a torrent of flame towards the Liligant. Thanks to her increased speed, She was barely able to dodge with minimal damage.

“Heatwave!”

Flames erupted from Hydreigon’s form as he roared. The temperature quickly rose to an uncomfortable degree, but thankfully, it didn’t last for long. A shimmering protect disappeared before the tired Liligant. Drayden huffed and decided to end it in one go.

“Dracometeor!”

The smaller Pokemon saw the energy gathering in her opponent and somersaulted. Using the boost provided by the sunlight, she zig-zagged through the battlefield, barely evading the raining meteors. Even then, some of them managed to graze her.

“Maybe that Dragapult was just an outlier.” Iris thought to herself, feeling some relief as another Flamethrower made the Lilligant back off.

That relief quickly died off as green energy enveloped the Liligant. Her previous impressive speed nearly doubled as she shot forward to the Hydreigon.

“liiiil!”

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She cried as her grassy glide connected, hitting the dragon directly on the main head once more. Fire gathered to finish with another Heatwave, but Elizabeth beat him to the punch. Another axe kick connected with his mid-section, ending the fight.

Daniel nodded with a smile, eyes flashing pink. The Pokemon did a small victory twirl and a cute pose before shooting back towards her side of the field.

“Hydreigon can no longer fight! 0–2 in favor of the challenger!” Iris felt better than before, but it still rattled her the sheer power of the Pokemon Daniel put forward. “Leader Drayden!”

“I know!” Drayden interrupted, sending his next Pokemon up.

An Altaria’s fluffy form took to the skies, slowly circling the smaller Pokemon. The light quickly returned to its usual brightness, as cloud nine took effect.

“Switch!”

Before anything could happen, Daniel shouted before putting away Elizabeth’s Pokeball and throwing another one to the field. Altaria used that downtime to use dragon dance, enveloping herself in thunderous black and red energy.

Lily’s figure appeared in the field; a frown firmly planted on her face. Drayden wanted to doubt that his Audino would do much, but he couldn’t let his pride cloud his judgment. Not right now. Not against him.

“Mega!”

Daniel’s bracer glowed with energy as his Aura soared. Pressure mounted as Lily released her own, matching and intertwining with his. Blinding light surrounded her form as her body changed. Ears grew and straightened up. A tuff of fur fluffed in her chest and tail. Her body was discolored to a pure white and her fur pattern mimicked a doctor’s coat.

Pink aura radiated like a dam exploding. It washed over both dragon trainers and Altaria up in the sky, giving them a sense of peace. Their earlier rage quickly being replaced by contentment, happiness, and tiredness…

“No!”

A small voice roared inside Drayden, waking him up from his stupor. His Draconic aura tried its best to resist the onslaught of fairy energy. Just as it began to overpower him again, it receded.

“Phew.” Daniel’s voice drew his attention once more. “Sorry for that. I forgot you guys don’t have dampeners here yet.” His tone was apologetic while he bowed to them. The monster inside the battlefield copied its trainer’s movements to a T. “Shall we continue?”

“Hurricane!”

Drayden screamed instead of an answer. He remembered his first run-in with the fairy type, and how ineffective his Draconic energy was. He had to be extremely careful-

An energy cube quickly enveloped the field, slowing Altaria to a crawl. “Trick room…” It was easy hating the move since most of his team was built for speed. But he dealt with that plenty of times before.

The winds battered Audino back and forth since she didn’t have enough time to evade it. It was best to shore up defenses and prepare for a long fight.

“Cotton guard!”

Altaria’s plumage puffed up without sacrificing her speed. This, at least, would give him some time for trick room to fade.

Pink and silver energy gathered in front of Lily, imitating the moon. She threw it like a Pokeball directly at the slowed-down Altaria.

“Protect!”

Thankfully, the shimmering blue shield appeared before the attack could land. Just as the shield dissipated, Altaria slammed into the ground with a crash.

Drayden noticed the pitch-black energy that flashed across Audino’s eyes. “Must be gravity.”

“Ice beam!”

As ice energy gathered inside Altaria’s beak, Audino’s eyes flashed black once more. This time, Altaria shot towards the sky, only stopping because of the barrier in place. She let out a confused squawk as she looked up(?) towards her trainer.

“Hypervoice!”

Altaria let out a screech that he could hear from outside the barrier, even with a sound dampener in place. He could see that Audino was holding her ears painfully. He remembered that their species had particularly sensitive ears.

But before he could capitalize on that. Another gravity switch slammed Altaria violently to the ground. If it wasn’t thanks for cotton guard, that would have been enough. She reared for another round of hypervoice, but the moonblast was much quicker than her.

“I’m retiring her.”

She looked bruised and battered. Her energy felt weak. But Drayden wasn’t discouraged. Even if she didn’t manage to take it down, the next one will. After returning her, he switched to another Pokeball.

“Altaria got withdrawn and became unable to fight!” 0–3 in favor of the challenger!”

Drayden’s Super ball flew and revealed one of his old companions. A Haxorus stood proud in the field, not intimidated by the pink fairy Energy suffused the place, and trick room still in effect. He knew he wouldn’t have the advantage, so he needed to end the fight when the opportunity presented itself.

“Swords dance!”

Green swords briefly circled Haxorus as he roared, filling him with energy and sharpening his teeth.

Lily saw that and clapped enthusiastically, celebrating such a powerful move. Haxorus agreed with a smug expression.

“That’s…”

“Encore!” Daniel said aloud with a smile, sealing Haxorus’ fate.

For the next 30 seconds, Lily battered Haxorus with Moonblast, Dazzling gleam, and liberal uses of Gravity. When the sheen of trick room finally dissipated, Haxorus was quietly sleeping on the floor.

“Haxorus can no longer fight!” Iris’ tone dived, as this was her Haxorus’ father. Hers was stronger now but still stung. “0–4 in favor of the challenger!”

Drayden grasped his next Pokemon, feeling as if it weighed a ton. It had been decades since someone got him against the ropes like that. It all started because of pride. The downfall of every dragon specialist. He needed to do something after losing like that in his city. Doubly so for an opponent with an aura so opposed to his.

The time traveler stood stoically on the other side of the arena. His expression wasn’t mocking or filled with pity. Beyond those pink orbs he called eyes, he could see fire burning. He saw a great beast using all its strength against an opponent far weaker than it. With a heavy sigh, he threw his next Pokemon in.

Druddigon wasn’t his best Pokemon, by far. But he was loyal and hardy, and his muscles rippled with strength. The blue and red dragon stood, challenging the smaller fairy with his gaze. And glare.

He observed the Audino freezing up for a moment as if lightning had struck her. “Got you.”

“Iron head!”

Druddigon shambled forward, cracking the floor beneath him and gathering steel energy in his head. Audino tried to move out of the way, but the dragon hit her like a truck. She smashed into the barrier with a thunderous bang! And slid before hitting the floor.

“Follow up!”

Druddigon began closing the distance as fast as it could. When Lily tried to recover, he stomped the ground and fired an earthquake. The move rocked her back and forth and destabilized her.

“Finish her!”

“Druuuuu!” The dragon roared, exploding with gray energy as it fired a Giga Impact point blank at Lily.

An explosion covered the field and obscured their visibility. Daniel frowned and bit his lip in anticipation. Drayden felt some relief seeing his expression change, but he needed to be ready for a follow-up.

Druddigon and Mega-Audino finally appeared, Druddigon’s claw firmly planted in her cheek. Endure didn’t let her fall. She then answered with a moonblast, managing to catch the dragon off guard.

“I’m switching.” As the Druddigon retreated, Daniel called out.

Lily’s Mega-evolution ran its course. A dimmer ray of light appeared, and her usual, if battered, form replaced her.

“Your Audino doesn’t look ready for another fight, challenger,” Iris said, narrowing her eyes at him.

“She has regenerator.”

Iris groaned in frustration and waved her hand. “Continue.”

In a flash of red light, she disappeared once more inside her Pokeball, and another familiar face appeared. Casper hovered above the field, narrowing her eyes at the opposing dragon.

He tried to roar in defiance, trying to use glare again. But the Dragapult’s guttural growls let them know it didn’t work.

“Don’t be intimidated, Druddigon! Dragon claw!”

Druddigon roared and shot forward, purple energy cloaking his claws. But Casper’s rapidly disappearing form signaled yet another phantom force. The dragon desperately looked for signs of his opponent, but it was too late.

“Pult!”

Druddigon smashed against the floor, creating another dust cloud. Dragapult retreated to her side of the field while it cleared up. When it did, the dragon laid down, swirls in his eyes.

“Druddigon can no longer fight! 0–5 In favor of the challenger!”

Drayden grunted and palmed his last Pokeball. He knew that he wouldn’t be victorious. When the Dragapult thrashed Cesar… that sealed his fate. But he wouldn’t go without a fight. And his Pokemon knew that.

“Flygon!”

His last Pokemon appeared on the field. Flygon’s insectoid wings let out a hum as the dragon hovered above the ruins.

The ghostly mist returned in full as another haunted terrain came in effect, covering the field in darkness. But this time, Drayden was prepared.

“Defog!”

Flygon roared, emitting a wave of pure energy and clearing the fog without problems.

“Draaaag!”

Casper’s form hit the other dragon in the mid-section like a train. The insectoid dragon hit the ground, creating a small crater. Just as she prepared for follow-up, Flygon disappeared with dig.

Dragapult floated upwards, looking around the jagged battlefield and preparing for the ambush. But it didn’t come like they expected.

Flygon appeared in a faraway corner, smirking. Wind and sand battered the battlefield as a sandstorm enveloped them. With both Pokemon obscured, it was hard to tell what was happening. Drayden didn’t let this affect him.

"Rock tomb!”

He could hear the rocks being lifted and sailing away through the sandstorm. It would help in the long run to bring the opponent’s speed down. At least that way they could catch up. Yet again, before he could make use of the opening, Flygon’s form shot from inside the sandstorm. Dragapult was close by, charging up energy in her horn.

"Dragon tail!”

It was desperate, but it would give them room to breathe a little more. Sadly, Casper fired away her dragon darts before he could land the attack. With a heavy sigh, he knew this was it. He palmed his last Pokeball and returned him.

“Leader Drayden returned Flygon without any Pokémon left in reserve!” Lily sighed, “conceding the point to the challenger. 0–6 in favor of the Challenger.”

***

“Is it weird that I’m glad he’s on our side?” Roxy’s voice cut through the gripping silence that took the video call. “Didn’t even use Z-moves, Dynamaxing, or Terastalizing and he treated Drayden like a toy.”

After Salamence was eliminated with ruthless efficiency, nobody spoke. It was like watching a champion curbing a small-time Gym leader. The man was holding back a lot and still won without major problems.

“My condolences, Marshall.” Grimsley directed a smirk at his coworker. “Marshall?”

The man in question was trembling while looking at the screen. His eyes were bloodshot, and his smile was feral, just like an animal.

“I can’t WAIT to FIGHT him.” His orange aura flared from his body like a river. His eyes drilled into Daniel as he shook hands with Drayden.

“Of course, you can’t,” Grimsley said with a sigh.

The rest of the leaders were stunned by the display. The man looked on the ropes at several points during the fight but still managed to pull through with a clean 0 – 6. Most of the present would be hard-pressed to repeat the same feat against Drayden.

“I think it is a good thing we have a second champion.” Skyla intervened, trying her best to reassure the rest of the leaders. “Helps us defend the region!”

“I quite agree with the sentiment, dear!” Burgh exclaimed, whipping his hair with a flick of his hand.

“It will bring problems eventually if we don’t tread lightly.” Grimsley looked with interest at the man. “But he’s certainly an asset we shouldn’t squander. A little birdie told me he’s about to become a teacher in the joy clan, anyone interested?”

“I have a granddaughter who could use some sightseeing.” Clay nodded, gems glinting all around his outfit. “She’s about to start her circuit next year, extra education wouldn’t be bad for her.”

“Excellent idea!” Grimsley nodded and clapped his hands. “What if we all discuss this piece of information with our dear champion and make a plan?”

So, the gym leaders ignored the conversation happening on the field as they began to make plans. If the man wanted to share his secrets, who were they to say no?