Working Sinnoh With Skill(old) - Chapter 14 (Patreon)

The morning after they set up camp within the Eterna Forest. Excitement was blazing and wild as both Ash and Dawn battled it out in a mock battle with their respective starters.

“Bubblebeam, Piplup!” Dawn ordered hastily as both Piplup and Pikachu stood on opposite sides of their mock battlefield.

There wasn’t a single second delay in Piplup processing and heeding the command of his Trainer. Opening his small beak, Piplup launched a barrage of large, high powered energy infused glowing blue bubbles rocketing towards Pikachu.

“Heh, not gonna work Dawn.” Ash taunted, thumbing his nose as a smirk spread across his face, “Pikachu, use Light Screen and charge straight through those bubbles.” He ordered a moment later.

Dropping to all fours, Pikachu’s body was covered in a light golden glow that didn’t fade away at all. Instead staying strong and gleaming brightly off of Pikachu’s body as the small yellow rodent Pokemon took off in a form-blurring sprint that Piplup could barely follow with his eyes.

And this was just Pikachu at the very base of his speed. Without any speed technique enhancements like Agility, Quick Attack or Extremespeed.

Pikachu met the barrage of bubbles head on, and charged straight through them without pause. Not once did Pikachu wince or break stride in his sprint, even as each bubble from the Bubblebeam attack met him head on and exploded powerfully on contact.

Light Screen was a supplementary Psychic-type Pokemon attack that allowed the Pokemon using it to lessen the damage they would receive from a special based attack by coating the body in a shield, or forming the shield in front of the body. Depending on the skill and power of the Pokemon using the technique, it could stop the damage of special based attacks from anywhere from a small amount of damage absorption all the way to possibly making the damage received from a much weaker Pokemon almost non-existent.

When Pikachu charged through the smoke kicked up from the Bubblebeam attack exploding on impact, Ash was ready.

“Now jump into the air, come down in a frontal flip and use Iron Tail.” He commanded sharply. His amber eyes glinting with something akin to excitement. Truly nothing got his blood pumping like a good old Pokemon battle.

Except maybe his girlfriend, but those were for two entirely different reactions.

Jumping high into the air, Pikachu channelled his power straight into his tail and a moment later his tail erupted into a blinding silvery white that shone like the sun.

As Pikachu came out of his frontal flip, Dawn was already acting though. “Piplup, meet it head on with Peck!” The blue haired Coordinator retaliated.

It took less than a second at most for Piplup to congregate his own power into his beak and formed his signature ‘enhanced Peck’ technique. His beak lengthening to at least five times its normal size, and glowing a bright white with energy.

Jumping into the air, Piplup met Pikachu’s swung tail head on with his beak and clashed his Peck attack against Pikachu’s Iron Tail.

The attacks held up against each other for a moment, clashing against one another and trying to overpower the other. When, not but a moment later, did Piplup lose the stalemate and get launched back, rocketing back towards the ground. Thankfully for both Dawn and Piplup managing to skid to a halt on his feet as he landed.

Ash smirked once again. That was an expected result, and Dawn had a long way to go if she planned on having Piplup overpower Pikachu like that. Despite his small stature, Pikachu’s physical strength was off the charts, having tossed massive Pokemon like Milotic and Gyarados in the past with just a grip on their hair or whiskers.

Piplup was already outmatched severely when it came to physical strength. But added on to that fact was with Pikachu’s jump and frontal flip, Pikachu himself had added enough momentum to possibly enhance the power of the Iron Tail technique by a factor of two.

It was a good thing for Piplup though, Ash mused, that he’d made sure to tell Pikachu to hold back on the majority of his power for this battle. Or else Piplup probably would have ended up as a bloody smear on the ground.

And Ash really didn’t want his best friend and partner splattering his girlfriend’s Starter Pokemon all over the forest floors. Definitely not the way to earn browny points with his girlfriend. He was still trying to work off her ire with him for his last stupid stunt, as she called it.

It wasn’t like he went picking that fight with those Zangoose though! They picked it themselves and even with the number advantage they got their collective asses kicked by him and Monferno.

It was as he was thinking on this though that something registered to his aura enhanced senses. He could just barely make out the power of a strong human life-force just outside of the clearing where both he and Dawn were having their mock battle.

He knew they were watching both him and Dawn, where though? His sensing skills were his crappiest when it came to his Aura training. Comparing his sensing skills with those of the Lucario that began teaching him to use his Aura was like comparing a Gyarados to a Magikarp.

If they were watching him and his girlfriend though, Ash guessed they had a good vantage point somewhere high up, possibly in one of the tree’s so they could get a good view of both him and Dawn battling it out.

That was fine with Ash though. He allowed one of his hands to brush against the Pokeballs attached to his belt. If this guy was just a curious spectator, all the better for them. But if not, he had quite a few Pokemon with him that would allow him to to deal with almost any threatening opposition.

With that, he allowed his mind to focus back on the battle just in time to see Pikachu spin over another barrage of bubbles from a Bubblebeam attack. Although, he made sure to keep his senses peaked in case this person watching them made a move to attack them.

He was confident in his and his Pokemon’s power and prowess. But he wasn’t stupid, completely at least.

“Alright Pikachu, use Double Team and then rush in with Iron Tail.” Ash instructed calmly. His amber eyes settling on the battlefield once again and staying there. For now.

In a wide circle around Piplup, a few dozen clones of Pikachu materialized alongside the real one and started sprinting towards Piplup at breakneck speeds. Tails poised and glowing like the sun once again with the power of the Iron Tail technique, they closed in.

Ash watched Piplup keenly though. At the speed Pikachu was going, a Pokemon like Piplup wouldn’t be fast enough to dodge, and there was noway Piplup could pick out the real one amongst all the fakes. Pikachu was swift enough on his feet to literally switch positions with his illusionary clones too fast for anyone to catch it with their eyes alone.

One would need senses enhanced to the limit by aura to even have a chance of keeping track of Pikachu at full speed.

So what, Ash mused to himself, would Dawn do in this type of situation?

He got his answer a moment later, when Pikachu was closing in on Piplup from all sides. “Use Mist!” The bluenette ordered sharply. Her voice quivering slightly with a tone of urgency.

Piplup obeyed instantly and opened his beak. Conjuring a thick white cloud-like substance from his mouth that was expelled quickly and erupted over the entire clearing and ensuring the visual skills of every person present was shrouded over.

Ash’s smirk stretched just a tad, ‘Well played Dawn, but it’s not enough.‘ He thought to himself. It was a good tactic, but Dawn’s actions next were entirely to predictable for Ash due to his experience in Pokemon battles.

“Pikachu, jump into the air over Piplup’s previous position and Thunderbolt straight upwards!” The Pokemon ranger called out over the dank fog blinding him from the battlefield.

All was quiet for a moment, as if time came to a standstill. And then the silence was broken by a loud cry of, “Pikachuuuu!” From within the middle of the dense mist.

The fog around Ash glowed yellow slightly before the power from Pikachu’s Thunderbolt literally blew it away, and the battlefield came back into view. Pikachu hanging slightly in mid-air from the power he was letting out, shooting a towering arc of yellow electricity straight up, which caught Piplup who had jumped as high as he could into the air to dodge being overwhelmed by Pikachu’s Double Team – Iron Tail Combo.

The arc of electricity washed over Piplup’s body and was expelled high up into the air where it pierced a few clouds and dispersed – Pikachu having made the Thunderbolt attack merely wash over his opponent. Piplup’s body and then send it careening up into the air. That way, atleast Piplup wouldn’t have been flash fried and cooked into some Eterna Forest fried penguin.

“P-Piplup!” Dawn cried out in worry. Her voice wavering slightly as her sapphire colored eyes locked onto the prone figure of Piplup hanging in mid-air as the towering arc of electricity washed over his body.

It only washed over Piplup for no more than a second, but that was enough apparently. As Piplup folded in on himself and fell towards the grass covered flooring of the forest. His small blue feathered body limp and the water-type Pokemon himself barely clutching onto consciousness.

Thankfully though, for Dawn’s nerves. Pikachu managed to wrap his long tail around Piplup and pull the small Water-type gently onto his back, while Pikachu himself eased into a perfect landing on all four paws.

By the time Pikachu lowered Piplup gently onto the ground, Dawn had already cleared the distance between herself and the two Pokemon and was already crouched above Piplup and fretting over him worriedly.

“Piplup!” She cried, “Are you okay?” She questioned, biting her lower lip in worry as she gently brushed the palm of her hand across Piplup’s forehead.

While Dawn was busy fretting over Piplup’s injured form, Ash had already made his way over to the tree behind him that both he and Dawn’s backpack’s and the like were situated under.

While he would have preferred to keep that battle going for a little while longer, to get a glimpse at the progress Dawn was making in her studies under him as both a Pokemon Trainer and a Coordinator.

The fact of the matter though, was that being watched by an unknown with a rather powerful life-force had Ash on edge no matter how much he wanted to deny it, even to himself.

He was confident in his own abilities as well as his Pokemon. But even he as good a trainer as he was, wasn’t infallible and could be taken down with possibly ease if he was taken by surprise and couldn’t react in time.

Not to mention, the rather large glaring problem with him possibly trying to take this person on head to head. He still had Dawn to worry about, and despite the large amount of progress she’d made thus far on her journey. She was still a rookie that would be in over her head trying to even take on an intermediate level Pokemon Trainer, never mind an Elite level one like himself.

He himself had been classified as an Intermediate level Pokemon Trainer by the time he’d competed in the Indigo Plateau, yes that was true. But the only reason he made that ranking was because of Charizard. Charizard may not have listened to him, but Charizard even back then was more powerful than the average Charizard. That Pokemon carried his team, even Pikachu, for quite a while due to his extreme raw power.

Charizard was at present the most powerful Charizard in the Charizific Valley easily, and while Ash liked to pretend sometimes that it was mostly due to his training with Charizard. It wasn’t. That was only a small part of it. In reality, Charizard had a ton of raw power the very moment he had evolved and had only needed time to bring it out.

By the time Ash had chosen to start a new journey in Hoenn Charizard had already overtaken most of the elder Charizard in combat ability and easily outstripped them in terms of raw power.

There was a reason Charizard was able to defeat an Articuno, a legendary Pokemon said to create harsh country covering blizzards with just a flap of its wings.

If there was an evolution possible beyond Charizard’s current level, Ash was sure it would have happened a long time ago.

But he digressed. Even back when Charizard had just evolved, he alone would be enough to destroy Dawn’s entire Pokemon team in a battle, even if Altaria was factored in and the battle was a seven on one. Charizard would come out of that battle the victor.

So despite not wanting to end the mock battle with Dawn so soon, Ash had to, just to make sure he was on full alert and ready to retaliate in case this person made a threatening move against him or his girlfriend.

Kneeling down beside his own large backpack, the raven haired Trainer opened up the section that contained the medical supplies that Ash made sure to stock up on in every new village, town or city both he and Dawn visited.

He ignored the stock of various different potions, ranging from normal potions all the way up to a few very expensive and hard to obtain Max Potions. He ignored the sprays of Repel and every bottle of medicine designed to heal status ailments.

Instead, he pulled out a see through box roughly ten inches long and wide that seemed to hold a variety of different colored small cups sealed at the tops with plastic corks.

Setting it down on the grass quickly, Ash clicked the box open and surveyed the contents of the box intently until his amber colored eyes fell upon one sealed cup in particular that was colored a mixture of both green and yellow.

Cheri – Wacan – Sitrus

That was what the label read, which Ash had stuck on the center of the cup. Inside the sealed cup was a mixture of three different berries ground up for their juices and properties and blended with a few tea spoons of Moomoo Milk.

It was a medicinal drink Brock created, along with all the others. Moomoo Milk was a delicious milk that could only be obtained from the Pokemon species Miltank, and had special healing properties that could heal Pokemon and even people better than any Super Potion could.

Sitrus Berry extracts were added for their own healing properties to boost the already great healing abilities of the Moomoo milk.

And then were the other two berries added. Cheri Berries were able to cure even the most drastic cases of Pokemon caused Paralyzation, which were mostly caused by powerful Electric-type attacks striking at the nerve system. Wacan Berries on the other hand, were berries with juices inside them that if digested could allow a Pokemon or person a limited time of resistance against Electric-type Pokemon attacks.

Wacan Berries were special berries grown in the Johto Region, along with a whole plethora of other similar berries that could offer resistance to all types of Pokemon attacks.

Picking it up between two fingers, Ash looked it over as he reminisced. This drink, along with all the others were special creations of Brock who designed them to heal Pokemon hurt badly by specific types of Pokemon attacks. Adding the healing properties of both the Sitrus Berry and Moomoo Milk aswell as the Cheri Berry and Wacan Berry made for a delicious fruity milk drink that did wonders for anyone, Pokemon or otherwise, damaged by Electric-type Pokemon attacks.

Thankfully for Ash, Brock wasn’t a stingy guy in the least, and had given Ash the entire recipe list for all of his ‘all type healing smoothies‘ as he liked to call them. And Ash made sure that he was stocked up on and or had fully prepared at least three of each type of drink before he left any of the human establishments that both he and Dawn stayed in during their travels.

They were expensive as hell, and quite taxing on both the muscles and the mind because of just how tedious they were to make. But they were definitely worth it, and at the level Ash’s Pokemon would battle at with equal level opponents, they were extremely needed. Especially because attacks of the level his Pokemon and other’s like them let out could easily kill a lesser Pokemon, or person for that matter.

That, and Ash liked to make sure his Pokemon were working at one-hundred percent efficiency all the time. They would need to be at their level best for the challenges that were sure to come in the coming months. The Pokemon League, Team Galactic, Elite Four members and quite possibly some more Legendary Pokemon.

Because, what was a whole new region without some Legendary Pokemon catastrophe sweeping Ash and co into its currents? It happened so often, Ash was sure he’d feel odd if that type of situation didn’t occur for him again.

After all, nowadays it was kind of his job to deal with situations like that seeing as he was a Pokemon Ranger now.

Shaking his head, he stood up with the smoothie in hand and made his way over towards Dawn and the two Pokemon. “Outta the way Dawn, comin’ through!” He stated, his voice a tad louder than normal as he calmly walked up to her side and hip-checked her to the side to get in closer towards Piplup.

“Oi!” Dawn retorted as she stumbled back a bit, glaring in annoyance at Ash who knelt by Piplup’s side and lifted the small Water-type Pokemon’s head up to rest on his knee. “You could have just asked ya know, instead of rudely bumping me outta the way like a typical boy!” The blue haired girl growled out at him.

As he fed some of the smoothie into Piplup’s throat and allowed the small Pokemon to gulp slowly from the cup, Ash turned to Dawn and wiggled his eyebrows at her, a grin splitting his face, “Oooh! I just love that growl in your voice Dawn it’s sexy as hell.” He purred out suggestively, his tone huskier than the norm.

A red hue of embarrassment spread across Dawn’s face. Growling to herself, the bluenette stuck her hands on her hips and glared at him, “I’m serious Ash, that wasn’t cool at all.” She retorted in annoyance.

Ash held her gaze for a few moments, before he sighed and allowed his playful look to fade. “Sorry, I was just trying to get your attention off of Piplup for now.” He told her, sighing again he pushed on, “Look, it’s fine to get worried for your Pokemon, but all Pokemon are significantly stronger than we humans and can take these kind of injuries easily and be fine.” He continued to tell her.

And to prove his point, Piplup suddenly bounced up onto his small feet again, chirping happily from his small yellow beak. “Pip, Piplup!” He chirped, meeting Dawn’s blue eyes and thumping his small blue chest proudly with one of his small wings.

Ash watched her reaction, varying from shock to happiness within a split second before finally setting on resignation. “It’s becoming a bit of a recurring theme now isn’t it?” Dawn asked them as a whole, planting herself down on her backside with a weary sigh, “My Pokemon get injured, I cry out in worry, then stand around like a useless little girl as you fix everything right up for me Ash.”

Ash allowed himself a small snort in amusement. Reaching over towards his girlfriend, he cupped her cheek with his right hand gently and made her meet his eyes with her own blue ones, “Look Dawn.” He started slowly, “You’ve only been a trainer for two months, there’s no way you could know everything about them with such a little amount of experience under your belt… but I promise, the more experienced you become the better you’ll be able to tell just what and won’t do any significant damage to your Pokemon.” Ash lectured softly, his voice nary above a whisper.

Dawn was silent for a few moments, looking away from Ash with heated cheeks. Finally, she turned her attention back towards him though and met his eyes with her own once again, “Okay.” She responded, “But… so far you’ve only focused mostly on teaching me about Pokemon battles, so how about you focus on teaching me more about taking care of my Pokemon now instead? I think you’ve taught me more than enough about battling for the moment and I’d be better of learning how to care for my Pokemon…”

He frowned thoughtfully at her for a moment, before shaking his head, “Okay, fine sure Dawn I’ll teach you all I know about caring for Pokemon.” The Pokemon Ranger replied.

When his response reached her ears, Dawn’s rather melancholy look morphed almost immediately into one of joy and she wrapped her arms around Ash’s neck, hugging herself into his chest with a happy sequel of something akin to joy, “Thank you, thank you! I promise you won’t regret it.” She mumbled into his chest.

Ash ignored her for the moment, instead he looked to Pikachu and met the small rodent Pokemon eye’s with his own. Both trainer and Pokemon’s eyes becoming intense and serious. He nodded towards Piplup and Pikachu nodded once, before suddenly wrapping his long tail around Piplup’s midsection and jumping towards the other side of the clearing.

Ash followed his example, wrapping his arms under Dawn’s legs he began to speak to her, “Just not right this minute Dawn.” He told her.

Dawn looked up at him from his chest questioningly, “Why?” She questioned.

“Because…” Ash started, standing up and holding Dawn bridal style – something which she wasn’t opposed to in the least, “We’re being watched.” He finished, leaping backwards powerfully and landing on the other side of the clearing beside Pikachu and Piplup.

“We’re being what!?” Dawn questioned urgently.

But Ash ignored her, instead his serious amber eyes were locked onto a large tree on the other side of the clearing.

“Show yourself! Before I start having my Pokemon fire and ask questions later!” Ash barked out. His voice loud and commanding, as if attempting to make whoever it was obey through the tone of his voice alone.

He didn’t have to wait long for a reply, a blur shot from the foliage of the tree straight up into the air. The spur spun forward in mid-air and came down powerfully landing on two feet, slightly bent at the knee’s to absorb the impact of his large jump.

Finally, Ash got a good look at who he deduced was spying on him and his girlfriend. It was a young man, a few years older than both he and Dawn at the most. He was slightly taller than Ash himself, and held a lean muscled physique. His hair, was in a type of mushroom style and a pale green color. And he was wearing a pair of black sneakers, orangish-brown cargo pants and a black tank top that showed off his lean muscular arms.

“Who the hell are you?” Ash asked forcefully, setting Dawn down on her feet at his side.

Dawn gasped softly beside him, but Ash ignored her for the moment. Instead, he was focused intently on the young man standing on the opposite side of the clearing. His aura senses were blazing in his mind, warning him just how much of a threat this guy was if they were to fight.

The man laughed softly, standing up to his full height. Ash finally noticed that he had one large lock of pale green hair flicking straight up from his mushroom hairstyle. “Wow you’re a bit highstrung there aren’t you buddy?” He retorted easily, his green eyes locked on Ash’s form and filled with amusement.

Ash snorted, “Only when some creep is spying on me and my girlfriend like some kinda stalker.” He replied bitingly.

The green haired man winced, “Ouch, yeah you’ve got me there buddy.” He replied with a laugh, “But I was honestly just passing by and saw you guys having a battle so I decided to get a better vantage point to watch it from in that tree I was in earlier.” He continued easily, scratching the nape of his neck sheepishly.

Ash didn’t allow his suspicious look to fade though, instead he continued to keep his eyes locked on the man warily. If experience had taught him anything, it was that it was very easy for some people to put up a very convincing façade.

Finally though, Dawn broke the silence with another gasp, “He’s… He’s…!” She stuttered.

Annoyed, Ash turned to her with a raised eyebrow, “He’s who?” He asked bluntly.

“He’s… Aaron of the Sinnoh Elite Four!” She blurted out with another gasp.

Ash’s eyes widened, before narrowing slightly. He processed that information quickly, and allowed a small smirk to spread across his tanned face.

‘Elite Four, eh?’

The man, Aaron, laughed again, bringing their attention swinging back towards him. “Haha, I honestly didn’t expect to be recognize so easily out in this forest.” He stated through his chuckles.

“Hm?” Ash grunted as he let his amber eyes rove over the man’s frame, “So you’re one of the five strongest trainers in Sinnoh, eh?” He questioned quickly, and gruffly.

The man chuckled again, “Yup, that’s me, Aaron the Bug-type specialist of the Sinnoh Elite Four, nice to meet’cha!” Aaron replied with a cheerful wave.

“Ash Ketchum.” Ash replied, smirking in Aaron’s direction, “How about to apologize for acting all stalker-like towards me and my girlfriend you have a battle with me?” He asked intently, his eyes alight with a fire Dawn, who was looking at him in bewilderment, had never seen before.

It was because, finally, Ash had found a challenge. All of his time through Sinnoh, the only Trainer’s he’d met were all below him. In fact, the only one that even came close to his level was Paul, and that kid allowed his anger to guide him and so wasn’t very hard to overcome despite the fact that his Pokemon were clearly at the level expected of an Elite Level Trainer.

Dawn looked at him from his side, mouth agape. “You’re just gonna challenge a member of the Elite Four right off the bat without any preparation at all!?” She questioned her boyfriend in disbelief.

She knew he was good, amazing even. And even though she believed Professor Rowan’s words when he told her that Ash was clearly at the level of some of the Elite Four, it still mystified her that he’d challenge an Elite Four member without one moment preamble.

The Elite Four were regarded as the best of the best for a reason. Even she, as inexperienced as she was, knew that it would take an army of normal Trainers and their Pokemon to even pose a challenge for a member of the Elite Four. Their Pokemon were so powerful, some people regarded them as Pokemon who had ascended into the ranks of Legendaries.

Ash turned towards her, a grin stretched across his face, “Of course!” He replied, “It’s more fun that way!” He continued to tell her, his grin stretching further up across his cheeks.

Aaron scratched the back of his head thoughtfully, “Eh…” He trailed off thoughtfully for a moment, “Sure why not?” He snapped back in reply a moment later.

Adrenaline pumped through Ash’s system, “Sweet, lets do this!” He shouted, “I’ve been waiting for a challenge like this ever since I came to the Sinnoh Region.”

He turned to his girlfriend beside him, “Dawn, you take Piplup and Pikachu and stand out of the way of the battle.” He told her promptly, before switching his attention back on Aaron.

It was more of an order really, and Dawn recognized it. “Sure, right away Lord Ash!” She chirped back sarcastically. Annoyed, she turned on her pink booted feet and stomped away towards the tree line, muttering annoyed curses all the way. Pikachu and Piplup hesitantly following her.

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“He better know what he’s doing!” Dawn grunted angrily to herself as she reached the apparent safety of the Tree line.

She was standing far out of the way of this battle, who knew what kinda damage these two idiot’s Pokemon were going to cause?

She sighed. Sometimes, despite how cool he initially appeared to her, her boyfriend was just too damn headstrong sometimes.

And to think, when she first met him she thought he was one of those cool, calm headed mysterious guys always in control of the situation.

Still, there was something undeniably hot about how alight with fire he was for this battle. She’d yet to see her boyfriend this truly excited for a battle since she met him.

Was he really that hard up for a challenging battle that he would challenge and Elite Four member without pause?

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“Alrighty then.” Aaron said, holding a Pokeball aloft in his right hand, “I guess I’ll pick my Pokemon first, being the Elite Four member here, it’s only fair.”

“Go, Drapion!” He shouted, tossing the Pokeball high into the air and releasing the Pokemon from within with a silvery burst of light.

In front of him on the forest floor, appeared a truly massive Drapion. Scarred and battle hardened, it was truly an intimidating sight.

Looking it over, Ash could see that it was even bigger than his own Drapion. Probably towering over it by a good foot, at least.

He wasn’t scared in the least though, instead his veins pumped with more and more adrenaline as he reached for one of the Pokeballs on his belt.

“I hope you aren’t too intimidated by Drapion, but he is my strongest Pokemon all in all and it’s been a while since he’s been in a battle, so I thought I’d use him here.” Aaron called out to Ash.

Ash shook his head, smirking all the while. His body trembled slightly, probably what Aaron mistook for fear in the first place. “You misunderstand me.” He called back, “I’m not shaking because I’m scared, I’m shaking because I’m excited!”

Tossing his own Pokeball up, Ash released his own Pokemon. “Let’s match poison with poison then, go Drapion!”

In font of Ash, Drapion appeared in a burst of silvery light to herald his own arrival to the battle field. To his credit, Drapion didn’t even bat an eye at the bigger Drapion in front of him instead he snapped his pincers menacingly towards the behemoth of a Drapion ready to battle any opposition for his Trainer.

Aaron chuckled, “Now this is interesting! I don’t think I’ve ever had the pleasure of using my Drapion to battle against another Drapion, they’re usually very temperamental and hard to raise.”

Ash smirked haughtily at him, “Heh, I didn’t see that when I caught Drapion. In fact, he’s been as tame as a lovely little Growlithe pup since the very moment I captured him.” He replied.

Aaron chuckled again, amused at the banter. “I guess I’ll start us off then!” He suddenly shouted, “Drapion, Cross Poison!” He commanded.

His behemoth of a Drapion crossed its long arms across its chest. Both arms glowed a bright purple, before it launched both crossed arms outwards and launched a massive X-shaped purple blast of energy.

Ash was already on the counter offensive though, “Smash it down with Aqua Tail, and then use Pin Missile!” He ordered.

The X-shaped attack blitzed across the clearing and was upon Ash’s Drapion within moments, but he was ready for it. From behind and above him, his large tail came – glowing a cyan blue – came crashing down smashing the attack into grassy floor cratering from the impact. When the tail met the ground, a wave of pressurized water was conjured and roared towards the behemoth Drapion like a tidal wave threatening to swallow it whole.

But Ash’s Drapion wasn’t done yet, as a follow up it launched both claws forward and launched dozens upon dozens of silvery arrow-headed beams of power rocketing in behind the roaring wave of water.

Aaron wasn’t abut to be outmanoeuvred so quickly though, “Blow it all away, Hyper Beam!” He shouted to his own Drapion.

It, like Aaron, didn’t even flinch at the two high levelled attacks barrelling down upon it. A Testament to it’s own power and experience.

Obeying, it opened its mouth and without even charging the attack for more than a second it launched a massive devastating orange beam of energy right at the attacks sent towards it by Ash’s Drapion.

The Hyper Beam tore through the attacks like they were paper, leaving nothing but specks of water and energy flickering gently through the air.

The orange beam continued on though, encroaching upon the smaller Drapion with a speed a Pokemon like a Drapion could not hope to evade.

But Ash was already ready for this kind of scenario. He knew that as bulky as Drapion was, it would never be a very swift Pokemon. So he’d worked on a few techniques to help make up for that.

“Protect!” He commanded quickly.

His Drapion didn’t hesitate for a moment, lifting its long stretchable arms it conjured a massive green dome of protective energy around its body. Just in time for the Hyper Beam to make contact with the dome.

Drapion grunted, the dome of protective energy wavering slightly. But held strong long enough for the Hyper Beam to lose it’s focus and trigger a massive explosion.

The power of the explosion was so fierce that it actually blew a tree to the side of Drapion right out from the roots and sent it careening meters into the forest behind it.

The entire sequence of attacks took less than 45 seconds.

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“What kind of battle is this!” Dawn screamed, her hands barely managing to stop her short pink skirt from being blown up over her torso and probably giving anyone watching quite the free show.

Thankfully, that was all she had to worry about though. Pikachu stood in front of her and Piplup protective and un-moveable, Glowing slightly with the power of a Light Screen technique, ready to protect Dawn and Piplup from any of the attacks that ended up heading their way.

Dawn had never seen a battle like this! It was one thing to hear about these kind of battles in passing. It was another matter altogether to actually watch one up close and personal. It was like a clash between two titans, two beings that no normal person or Pokemon could ever hope to stand against.

…It was as scary as it was exciting.

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When the massive plume of smoke triggered by the explosion of the Hyper Beam cleared. Both Drapion came back into view, having met in an exchange in the middle of the clearing, claws locked and attempting to push the other into submission.

Suddenly, at the exact same time the tails of both Drapion launched up from behind them and met in another exchange, slashing against each other reminiscent of powerful swords. Each clash sending a shockwave of air booming throughout the clearing.

Aaron was looking to end the stalemate though, “Hyper Beam again!” In fact, he was intending to end this match right here and now. He was not expecting some kid he had met out in the forest to match his most powerful Pokemon so evenly.

Who the hell was this kid!?

“Knock its face upwards with Whirlwind!” Ash commanded to Drapion as a counter attack.

Aaron’s Drapion opened its mouth, throat glowing ominously with a bright orange light. But just before it could fire, the smaller Drapion of the two opened its mouth and let loose a loud bellow that launched a torrential force of wind straight into the larger Drapion’s chin, forcing the larger of the two’s face to be forced upwards just as it launched its attack.

The Hyper Beam roared upwards and exploded harshly in the sky, lighting the cloudless blue sky up a bright orange for a few moments from the sheer power of the attack.

Still though, after launching such a powerful attack so quickly even Aaron’s behemoth of a Drapion had to take a few moments to recharge its power.

It lost ground immediately, and Ash took immediate advantage as his own Drapion began to press it downwards.

“Disengage, and then use a double Brick Break followed by Iron Tail!” Ash pressed further. Now was his chance to take the win against the Elite Four member.

Ash’s Drapion obeyed and slackened its grip on the behemoth of a Drapion, before pulling back. The strength the larger Drapion was putting into its opposition of the smaller Drapion despite its recharging carried over, and the momentum sent it tumbling forward slightly.

Ash’s Drapion was ready for it, and brought down two glowing white arms straight atop the larger Drapion’s cranium, before swiftly and rapidly turning sideways and smashing a massive glowing white tail straight into the larger Drapion’s cheek and sending it flying into a tree a good few meters away.

The rapid combination of attacks left Aaron’s behemoth of a Drapion laying in a crumpled heap on the ground.

But Ash wasn’t fooled. No way could the strongest Pokemon of an Elite Four member be brought down so easily!

“Don’t let it recover!” Ash shouted, “Follow up with Cross Poison!” He ordered.

His Drapion obeyed and without question, crossed his arms and launched a large X-shaped purple blast of energy rocketing towards the fallen form of the other Drapion.

“Thunder Fang!” Aaron suddenly shouted.

As the Cross Poison attack was almost upon the fallen Drapion, its face shot up in a blur, making good use of its body, as it did so without even having to stand up on its legs to face the attack. It opened its mouth and its teeth sparked with a dangerous yellow electricity and it bit down on the X-shaped attack, tearing straight through it and leaving little but energy flaking through the air behind.

Despite taking three extremely powerful attacks to the head and face, the Drapion looked fine as if it took no damage at all. The only tell-tale signs of it actually receiving any damage at all being a few small bruises on the top of its head, and another small one on its right cheek.

It followed up by jumping to its legs and roaring an angry challenge towards the smaller Drapion. Who responded in kind, roaring right back at the larger form of its species.

As one, they rushed each other over the few metres separating each other.

“Night Slash!” Ash ordered.

“X-Scissor!” Aaron countered in reply.

Both Drapion’s claws erupted into red energy. Ash’s, an ominous black-red glow and Aaron’s a bright red glow as they met and clashed their claws like swords once again. Each clash of attacks sending shockwaves booming throughout the clearing, tearing the grass beneath them asunder and even beginning to uproot some tree’s.

“Flash!” Aaron suddenly ordered out of the blue, just as both Drapion were about to meet in another exchange of Night Slash vs X-scissor.

Ash’s Drapion rushed in, ready to slash its claws straight down the larger Drapion’s face, but it never got the chance as the other Drapion’s eyes glowed a bright silver before erupting like the sun in his face.

The smaller Drapion roared in agony, flinching back and grabbing at his face as it floundered about in temporary blindness.

“Shit! Protect!” Ash ordered urgently, but it was no use. His Pokemon was to caught up in the shock on his blindness and the pain on his retinas.

“Now Payback!” Aaron continued, his tone holding a certain satisfaction of victory.

His massive Drapion growled, expelling a large ring of black miasmic energy that shot straight at Ash’s Drapion and exploded powerfully.

The Smaller of the two Drapion roared in agony again, and was sent blasting powerfully right into a tree behind it.

Drapion passed through the tree like a knife through butter, leaving shattered bark and nothing else. Drapion rocketed right through into another clearing, skidding along on its side and laying still.

The larger Drapion followed right behind, ready to end this battle right this very second! Both Ash and Aaron right on its heels heading into the other clearing.

Ash’s Drapion had recovered slightly though, and glared up through bloodshot eyes towards the behemoth of a Drapion rushing towards him, intending to put the smaller Drapion in a world of hurt.

It never made it though.

“Earthquake, now!” Ash commanded sharply, his voice echoing out from behind the massive stature of Aaron’s Drapion.

The smaller Drapion obeyed his Trainer without hesitation. He could trust his Trainer with his life, as Ash had told him when he was first captured by Ash and left behind by Hunter J. They were family!

His tail lifted up into the air, and came down powerfully. Burying itself into the ground and beginning to make the very ground beneath them shake, break and crater.

The attack left the other Drapion wobbling around unsteadily, and giving the fallen Drapion the much needed chance to regain its standing.

The Earthquake died out around them a moment later, and both Drapion met each others eyes. One’s eyes pure white, the other a bloodshot red from the earlier Flash attack.

Together, they roared their challenges and rushed each other once again. Only one of the two would walk away the winner here.

And both intended it to be them!