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"Whew!"
Lance sighed as he slumped down onto the bench, wiping his forehead with his sleeve. His Dragonair was still giving him a disapproving look for cutting things so close, but he just waved him off. He was just able to make the deadline, signing up for the Pokémon Battling Tournament in Mossdeep City. It wouldn't be starting until tomorrow, but all participants had to sign up a day prior to get them in the backlog of trainers which would be randomly pitted against one another.
"Well we would've made it here a bit earlier if our ship coming here wasn't delayed for two hours" Lance mused.
However even though that was the case, he had the chance to make it to Mossdeep City a bit earlier, but he ended up stopping on the way to eat, and may or may not have taken his sweet time while doing so.
"...telling you, you HAD to see how well Milotic was performing in the water, you'd think I was a...Kalos Queen just doing her everyday training"
Laughter was heard following that line. "I would believe it, although I think you might want to wait just a little bit of time before calling yourself a Kalos Queen"
Lance turned his head around to see two people walking down the path towards the stadium. There was a boy with steel-blue hair, wearing a white shirt, a blue bowtie, with suspenders and navy blue pants. And walking alongside him was another boy, turquiose hair with a white v-neck shirt with a blue collar, wearing lighter blue pants.
Accompanying them, was what seemed to be their partner Pokémon, a white and gold Metang, as well as a Milotic that slithered alongside the slightly taller boy. He was quite taken back by the color of the Metang, never having seen one like it before, and so his curiosity got the best of him.
"A gold and silver Metang?" Lance spoke out, catching the two boys' attention. "That's quite a rare Pokémon if I've ever seen one"
Steven eyed Lance for a moment, before chuckling lightly. "I found this guy as a Beldum during an excavation in a cave, I was just as surprised to be completely honest!"
He then noticed the Dragonair resting next to Lance, now being interested himself. "A Dragonair, interesting! I've never seen one in person before, I know their evolutionary line is pretty rare here in Hoenn"
Lance got up from the bench and walked over, extending his hand out. "I'm Lance, from the Dragon Clan near Blackthorn City in the Johto Region"
Steven took his hand and shook it. "Steven Stone, I'm from right here in Mossdeep City"
"Stone..." Lance mumbled, thinking to himself for a moment. "Would you happened to be related to-"
Steven nodded, cutting him off. "Yes, I am related to Joseph Stone, the head of the Devon Corporation, he is my father"
Lance whistled, showing his surprise. "Big money, huh?"
"Well, I guess you could say that, yeah" Steven spoke humbly.
Lance then turned to the person who was with Steven.
"I'm Wallace, a Pokémon Battler and Coordinator from Sootopolis City" Wallace introduced himself, before smirking. "So, from the Dragon Clan, hm?" he asked. "That must mean you're a pretty strong trainer, you must be participating in this tournament if you're all the way here in Hoenn, in this city specifically?"
Lance nodded, picking up a hint of passive-agressiveness. "And you would be right about that, I assume you're participating too?"
"How about, oh, I don't know, maybe a practice match to get some training in, hm?" Wallace proposed. "Your Dragonair against my beautiful Milotic?"
Lance eyed Wallace's partner Pokémon, quite familiar with the species. "A Milotic, huh?" he wondered out loud. "How much should I bet that you've taught it Disarming Voice?"
Wallace swore under his breath, as Steven laughed. "Sorry about that, Wallace isn't exactly the biggest fan of Dragon-type Pokémon, which is, as you could expect, one of the reasons that his Milotic knows Disarming Voice"
"Oh don't make me out to be some sort of monster, I don't dislike Dragon Pokémon, I just...find many other kinds of Pokémon more attractive and approachable than them" Wallace explained.
Lance raised an eyebrow, as Steven looked between them. "I...sense some sort of rivalry being formed..."
Wallace suddenly raised his index finger and then pointed at Lance. "When we meet in the tournament, you and I will fight, and I will show you the ways of battling through showing true beauty and grace, and I assure you we will come out on top!"
"Is that so?" Lance asked, crossing his arms. "And I'll show you that all the training Dragonair and I have done, through battling much stronger Pokémon, will pay off, and allow us to be the ones to win this tournament"
Meanwhile, off to the side, the three trainers' Pokémon were mixing each other as well. Dragonair was a calm spirit, never really finding arguments with others, and Milotic was not the aggressive type either, allowing the two to, unlike their trainers, become good friends quickly. Metang was also open to making new friends, as it was already good at being friendly with Steven's other Pokémon.
Steven slowly inched between the two. "Anyway, Wallace and I were coming here to get in some training before the tournament tomorrow, would you like to join us?"
Lance nodded. "I didn't have much planned for the rest of the day, although I do have to make a quick call to someone"
After exiting the Pokémon Center, Lance met with Steven and Wallace on the battlefield just nearby. Arriving, he was still joined by Dragonair, but took out a few other Pokéballs, opening them to reveal a Zweilous and a Flygon.
"I just thought that Dragonair's friends would like to observe the match, if that's all right with everyone?" Lance asked, eying Wallace out of the corner of his eye.
Wallace grinned, crossing his arms. "Oh not at all, not at all, in fact, I think that Milotic's friends would like to watch as well"
The clear Water specialist sent out a Swampert and Walrein to watch on the side as well. Steven, looking between the two, just decided to let their battle get underway. But, not to fall behind in any training, he approached both Lance's and Wallace's Pokémon, offering to spar with them in the meantime.
"You may have the first move" Wallace bowed.
Lance scoffed. "Your first mistake. Dragonair, Thunder Wave!"
A serene cry was emitted, as light waves of electricity spread out around the battlefield, coating Milotic all around. Wallace gripped his hand into a fist, promising not to let that slow them down, as he commanded Milotic to use Rain Dance. A small cloud appeared above the two, as rain began to pour down.
"Take flight and use Dragon Rush!"
"Counter it with Aqua Tail!"
The small wings atop Dragonair's head fluttering, he took flight, becoming surrounded in draconic energy as he propelled downward towards Milotic, who with water surrounding her tail, swung her body to the side. Dragonair collided with the tail, which in itself caused an explosion, but Milotic's leverage allowed her to push Dragonair back with her tail.
"Now Ice Beam!"
Milotic fired the freezing beam of ice forward across the field, which was heading straight for Dragonair.
"Heh, always come prepared for weaknesses! Fire Spin!"
While still flying through the air, Dragonair spun around, as flames danced off of his body into the surrounding area, which not only melted Ice Beam, but also struck Milotic, not exactly doing much damage, but it was still something. Dragonair then caught himself, taking flight once more and getting re-oriented.
This move had caught Steven's attention, as he turned away from the Pokémon battling to observe this play out a little bit.
"Enough playing around, use Hydro Pump!"
"Hyper Beam let's go!"
The two beams of water and pure energy collided in a massive explosion which blew the wind back at both of them. When the dust settled, both Pokémon were back in front of their trainers, panting heavily from just having used the two powerful attacks. Wallace raised an eyebrow, leaning in a bit.
"So you do have the strength to back your words up, that's for certain" Wallace admitted.
Lance nodded. "I hoped you didn't think I was lying, because the strength of me and my Pokémon is something I would never lie about"
"In that case, let's see if you can handle this, our favorite move! Use Disarming Voice!"
Lance grimaced at the sound of this, knowing it was a move infamous for almost never missing its target due to its widespread nature. The energy from Milotic's voice did indeed spread out around the battlefield, so as Dragonair flew, dodging and weaving, he was hit with parts here and there, but he powered through it.
"Yes!" he cheered. "Do you see now, that endurance through tough situations is what represents our will to win?" Lance asked, hyping himself and Dragonair up. "See our power at once!"
Wallace started up in pure awe, as the Dragon Pokémon pushed through the dangerous waves, battered in many spots, but flew down at a fast speed, much faster than before.
"DRAGON RUSH!"
The subsequent impact shook the entire area, making their previous scuffle between Hyper Beam and Hydro Pump seem like a joke. The lingering rain from Rain Dance which was beginning to go away was blown all around, making it seem like it actually did rain in the surrounding areas.
This time, when the cloud of smoke cleared, there was a clear winner, as Dragonair floated triumphantly over Milotic. Wallace frowned, a look of sympathy on his face for his fallen partner. He walked over, kneeling down and rubbing Milotic's smooth, shining body.
"Good work, get some rest" he muttered, returning his partner, before standing up and walking over to Lance.
However, he didn't see the Dragon-type trainer with the smug look he was expecting, instead a hand reached out. "It was a good battle, you and Milotic fought hard. That Disarming Voice was a tough move"
Wallace had met Dragon-type trainers before Lance, there were many of them around the world. And he knew of their fear, or even resentment towards Ice-type or Fairy-type Pokémon or even just moves. He realized now that he may have been wrong about Lance, assuming that he would just be another arrogant trainer with Dragon-type Pokémon, looking to prove that their the strongest.
So he shook Lance's hand firmly. "T'was, you and Dragonair were..." he sighed, before giving a genuine smile. "Exceptional! Just wonderful the two of you were! You were able to show Dragonair's beauty through your battling, whether you intended that or not! I mean, seeing Dragonair fly against the winds of Disarming Voice, that raw emotion shining through the expression of pure determination!"
A bit surprised about Wallace's sudden change of heart, he just laughed. "I'm glad you could see Dragonair's qualities through our battle"
"Yes, and I think I should apologize, it was wrong of me to assume based on the fact that you train Dragon-type Pokémon, maybe...maybe I should be looking at them in a different light"
Lance hummed in agreement. "There is so much to love about Dragon-type Pokémon, I grew up surrounded by them so I may have a personal bias, but I enjoy them so much, because they can be all so different, yet they each bring something new to the table. I mean, think about Exeggutor's Alolan Regional Form, which is considered a Dragon-type Pokémon, and then look at Dragonair. Are they the same?" he asked. "No! And that's what encapsulates me so much about them"
Wallace nodded, before the two turned to see what Steven had been up to, faced with a surprise, as Steven and his Pokémon were standing next to both Lance's and Wallace's Pokémon who were slumped on the ground, tired from battling, while Steven's partners looked like they were just getting started.
"I think maybe they could use a bit of a break...?" Steven shrugged his shoulders.
Having departed from the training area, the group decided to take a short break over by the water, where a certain cottage happened to be located.
"My father owns various estates around the region, and this place in particular is one of the oldest which is still around" Steven explained. "I guess you can kind of call this my, base of operations if you will?"
Wallace understood, although Lance was in the dark regarding Steven's specific naming. Seeing this, Steven waved for Lance to enter. As they walked through the door, the Dragon Master-in-training came to understand why, as various parts of the house were filled with geological research, as well as actual samples of various stones.
One in specific caught Lance's eyes, a shining one with a strange essence within it.
"Ah, I assumed you might find interest in this one. This is a stone which is subject to heavy research both here in Hoenn, as well as the Kalos Region. Together with another stone that I have yet to locate, a trainer can perform Mega Evolution with their Pokémon, but only if the two have a strong bond with one another" Steven explained.
"Yeah, I've heard of that before, but I thought these stones were incredibly rare, how did you come across one?" Lance questioned.
Steven laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Lots and lots of searching really. Besides battling, geology is a passion of mine, and I enjoy researching, and sometimes even finding rare stones which reside around Hoenn and other parts of the world which have had, or still have to this day significance to humans, Pokémon, or even both"
"It's certainly a worthwhile passion, I would have to say" Lance admitted. "It allows you to explore many parts of the world, some being places most humans don't even go to. A lot of danger comes with that kind of exploration, so you must be one risk-loving guy to do that"
"Oh you'd be right about that one, a bit too right" Wallace nudged Steven's shoulder. "I swear, sometimes he needs someone to be watching over him to make sure he doesn't get himself into too much danger, I've had my fair share of moments helping him out of pickles"
"Well that's life, at least that's what my father says. He always makes it clear, that if he never took risks and gone through dangerous situations, he wouldn't even be half as successful as he is today" Steven explained. "Granted, the business world is very different from geology and research, but I think you get my point"
Lance nodded. "I do, training with my Pokémon has brought me to a lot of places. Some maybe a bit extreme, but, like your father says, it's just life"
Wallace, holding back a stereotype comment about how Dragon-type trainers are always trying to prove their adventurous, although honestly foolhardy nature, shook his head, putting his arms around Steven and Lance. "You two are pretty similar now that I think about it. You're pretty smart, but also kinda...how should I put it? Reckless?"
"Oh really now?" Lance asked, a grin on his face. "So do you not take even a few risks when working on training your Pokémon for Contests?" he questioned. "Because I know a few Coordinators myself, and when coming up with new ways to capture the audience, they sometimes have to go through those processes to figure out what works and what doesn't"
"Well of course I take some risks" Wallace admitted. "But you guys take different types of risks. I tend to stay away from possibly putting myself physically in harms way, but Pokémon Training is always going to involve a bit of risk-taking to reach a goa-...I don't even know why I'm trying to argue with you, let's just call it even and go back to the stadium, you two need to make it to the opening ceremony"
Steven raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what do you mean 'you two', you do as well?"
Wallace shook his head. "No, while you two were getting your Pokémon taken care of in the Pokémon Center, I withdrew myself from the tournament. I think I need to find a new perspective to take while training with my Pokémon, both battling and training for Contests, and...think about things. Once I can come back a better person and Pokémon Trainer, then we can get the real battles together, like the ones in the tournament"
Lance and Steven looked at each other for a moment, before nodding and patting Wallace on the shoulder.
"Good on you, I hope you find what you're looking for" Lance said. "Although, you should come and watch Steven and I's eventual battle, we all know it will be happening"
Wallace stood at the top of the stands, eagerly waiting the introduction of the two finalists of the competition. Next to him, was one of his newest partners, Kingdra, whom he caught the other day while on a day out at sea.
"Well, at least you kept your word..." he muttered.
"Now, to introduce our finalists!" the announcer began. "A rising star in the Hoenn Region, and the heir to the Devon Corporation, it's Steven!"
The now suited boy walked out onto the field, garnering cheers from the audience.
"And on the other side, hailing from the Dragon Dens of the Johto Region, a rising star in both Johto and Kanto, give it up for Lance!"
Equal cheers for the other trainer was heard, as the caped trainer strutted out onto the field. Both his and Steven's eyes met, not sharing words, but their eyes telling the story.
"Dragonair let's go!"
"Come on out Metang!"