Work Text:
The dinner had to be closed for a whole month for the renovations to be done, but it was being paid off so fast and richly it was almost a joke how worried Azul had been. He had known, by the way people started coming in the reopening day, his losses were about to become none, and money would come back as swiftly as he had hoped. Although hope was a dangerous thing to have in business, not everything could be calculated. Or so he had wanted to let his competitors think. A smirk brandished his face while he lifted his glasses on his nose, clapping twice before sending everyone to their places, both the workers of the bistro itself and the referees who were to take care of most of the Pokemon Battles to take place at the center of the arena. The place had certainly changed a lot, keeping to its usual deep sea theme but adding said arena in the middle, furnished as if one were under the sea, at least by those who were watching from outside. Completely sealed so as to not accidentally harm those outside, sea waves could be seen drawn and softly twisting the glass to give the perfect illusion. Azul was particularly proud of it, but only Jade and Floyd had seen his twisted smile when he got back the final prints.
Of course, only “lending” a place to battle your friends whenever you could wasn’t sweet enough for Azul to let clients come in. He always needed assurance. Not a Plan B of sorts, but a plan that would surely succeed, no questions asked. And that’s how he thought about the famous Spelldrive Tournament that he had witnessed so many times. What made people compete over and over again, year after year? A desire to be better than everyone else? The reward? The cheers of hundreds of people, and the possibility of becoming somewhat famous? Some people, only by participating, have become known. But what was fame, if it wasn’t earned? And so he crafted a perfectly “balanced” contest. The Mostro Lounge League, a contest against not only those who wanted to participate, but the winner would have to win simultaneously against Jade and Floyd, and only then, would they have to fight Azul if they wanted to have the opportunity to have their own custom meal appear on the menu of the Lounge. But of course, it would rarely come to that. Only when Azul wanted to give the illusion of being reachable. Of letting victory be seen by those who wanted it, only to take it away. Of course he would be only a humble owner and congratulate the loser on getting so far, thank them even and invite them to get some refreshment. Out of their own pocket, certainly.
It had already been a few weeks since the reopening, since all his work had started coming into fruition again. Only twice had the clients been good enough to reach Jade and Floyd, which was certainly… sad. Floyd had been looking forward to getting some action in the arena, but most of them got beaten up by other stuff before getting to them. He had become simultaneously whiny and irritating. Even scary, a couple of times. Jade had taken care of it swiftly, whispers of how entertaining and strong those who caught up to them would be, and it had helped for the most part. When both of them started to become displeased, to say the least, a worthy contestant would come. Floyd swore Croko, his Feraligatr, could smell their fear. They believed him; up until now every time she appeared to be happy a couple of students would get to fight them.
Azul had even agreed to accept two trainers to fight the twins from time to time, to “make it fair for all of them”. Translation: so it wouldn’t be an immediate loss and the Leech brothers would have some fun before a new draught. The boss of the Lounge now watched how said siblings fought in the ring with only Croko and Seismitoad, their last Pokémon standing. Azul had a bad feeling so he had decided to finish some paperwork earlier and come directly to watch the match. And oh how right he was. He saw perfectly how the twins looked at each other, gave him a sidelong glance just before looking at their companions. A twitch overcame his right eye. They wouldn’t dare. They usually planned this, they wouldn’t-
So they lost. Of course, on their own terms, and because they willed it. After Croko and Seismitoad had clearly faked defeat, the siblings simply appeared annoyed that they lost, but congratulated the winners. Azul fixed his glasses, a sigh crossed his lips with most of his annoyance, but quickly replaced that private face with the public mask, one that smiled with surprise and gave voice to the new stars of the show by naming them directly. Savanaclaw students had that type of ego that had to be fed in those types of situations, he knew.
After a brief recess to let their Pokémon rest, Azul gave them a choice. Either fight him together, or one by one. Another jab at their animal pride, emphasizing the fact that he was going to fight by himself. And there it came; a hurt ego shown perfectly through their eyes, the way a scowl curled their lips at the same time. So, they fought separately. The beginning of their downfall, but Azul would make sure to let them down gently. He didn’t want Leona sniffing around.
A three-by-three combat with each of them. So Azul could divide his Pokémon between the two of them. Now came the hard part, balancing the teams so he would not absolutely crush both of them. So he started with a beautiful Vaporeon, a trusted friend that made quick work of its prey. By the time the second Pokémon was halfway to the infirmary, he replaced her with Toxapex and it was then where his plans went too well. He would have liked to show his third Pokémon, his beloved Tentacruel, the hardest one to beat from that specific team, but Toxapex had been so eager that he had… well, won. Azul had to fight against showing a cocky smile, and it had been the hardest thing he had done those last ten minutes.
He quickly composed himself and got ready for the next fight. The trainer seemed confident, a boost to his ego since he thought that he had already seen how Azul fought. Ashengrotto fixed his glasses and for the first time since that whole ordeal had started, decided to have fun. He started with Vaporeon as well, but his second Pokémon was supposed to be the winner. Golisopod won with the ease of slicing cake with a searing hot knife. He had to make a statement, after all; if one was to duel the Mostro Lounge league champion, one should come prepared for anything.
He congratulated the second trainer for coming so far as well, and invited them both to a drink so they could let off some steam. Of course, the drink was watered down since it was to be free.