[IC] Pokemon: Forrest vs. Mitchell

[Phoenix]

The crowd was cheering loudly. Many were chanting. Flags waved throughout the stadium. The two veterans of the Championship seemed to be favorites of the event. It far more energetic than the first time they were here 12 years ago.

Both grown with wives and children, they never expected to be back into the competitive scene. But with the training they underwent in order to stop Team Zodiac, they wanted to release some excess pressure from their souls. A healthy way to do this was through standardized battles. However, this battle would be anything but standard.

Each stood at the very end of the arena, creating a huge space for their Pokemon to battle. They wore head-sets which were of an unknown use as of yet. They both just stood stoic and still, staring at each other across the arena, though they could barely make each other out across the large span.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" a voice echoed throughout the stadium. "Welcome to the Finals of the 3025 Hoenn Championship!"

The crowd roared with excitement. "And this is going to be a very unique battle indeed. For the first time in history, the Pokemon League has allowed these two trainers, childhood friends, and previous Champion and runner-up, to decide the format in which they will battle!" Cheers and screams of excitement filled the dome.

"They will even act as their own judges and referees. However, if you look on the back of the chair in front of you, there are two buttons, one red and one blue. Your votes for the trainer's Pokemon will also have an impact on who they decide is the winner among them!"

It was a relatively new function that took months to develop. It had yet to be used for a battle, proper, but many other events held in the stadium had utilized the function. The audience was clearly excited to be a part of the battle themselves, however minute.

"So...let's start the battle!

"In the blue square, we have Mitchell Honnings! In the red square is Forrest Johnson! Both from Oldale Town! Mitchell Honnings has two young children with his wife, Jane," they described while a live video capture of the three of them in the studio showed on the monitors across the dome. "And Forrest brought his own wife, Jeanne, with their four children." A similar display of their immediate families was shone.

The announcer went on to describe a short history for each, through they were mostly intertwined.

"Now, I'll hand it over to Forrest and Mitchell!"

"Thank you, Violet," Forrest's booming voice shook the stadium through the sound system. The crowd continued to screech and cheer with excitement. "As much as this is a serious battle, we're also going to make sure it's entertaining for you all. So we've decided match-ups to both test our own Pokemon but also so we can show off techniques we've developed."

"So first, we're going to be in the desert," Mitchell continued. The smooth tenor tone contrasting surprisingly to Forrest's. "Here is where Aggron and Flygon will prove who's power is greater over the other's defense or speed!"

Both pitched Pokeballs up high in the air, though both barely reached a quarter of the way across the arena. Each released their Pokemon at the same time, however, as if rehearsed. Aggron slammed into the ground and roared through his metal throat in a most intimidating manner. Flygon flung himself from his Pokeball and twisted through the air and arched his body into interesting forms before stopping straight and glared at Aggron with a glare and a short screech.

Mitchell added to this battle's rules so the audience would know what to expect. "There will be no switching of Pokemon. If a Pokemon is returned, the round is forfeit. We will also have certain stipulations about which to judge each round. In this first round, we're focusing on pure power and strength. These are our physically strongest and most resilient of Pokemon. They have had a rivalry against each other from the beginning. The last Pokemon standing will be the victor of this round."

They both touched their ears, adjusting the headsets to only be sent to each other instead of the stadium, itself. "You ready?" Mitchell asked.

Forrest grumbled in affirmation with a nod of his head which Mit couldn't distinguish from across the field.

[Phoenix]

The crowd "ooh"ed and whistled, expecting much from this round, alone. None knew if it would last a few minutes or a few hours. The trainers' explanation only made them more curious and eager for the battle. It was going to be a battle between two of the top trainers in Hoenn's history.

Flygon twisted in place. Sand lifted from the ground and swirled around his body in a wicked grace. It wasn't quite a sandstorm, but it was enough to activate his Sand Rush. His large body then rocketed toward Aggron head-on.

Aggron's body shone with a sharp rip. At the moment before Flygon would make contact, a reverberation burst from under Aggron's metal plates. The sound, itself, splashed sand away from Flygon and he stumbled a bit.

But their hands were in a lock. It was clearly a Metal Claw against Dragon Claw. So much had already occurred in just a few moments, and it had hardly begun. Neither could push the other back. Flygon had put the momentum of Dragon Rush behind his Dragon Claw. Along with his increased speed in the sand around him, there was a great force coming down upon Aggron.

However, With Aggron's Iron Armor and Metal Sound performed just before contact, he was just as unmovable. The Metal Sound didn't do too much, but there was set-up needed in order to defeat this Flygon.

In this situation, Aggron needed to break the lock and take advantage with a ranged attack that they'd practiced quite a bit despite having little talent in special maneuvers. The armored Pokemon's head sliced through the air and made a sound as if it was slicing through metal. A huge crash exploded between them, pushing them in opposite directions. Black smoke spewed from between them until each was pushed through the cloud due to the force of the impact.

With Dragon Rush still active, somehow, the Iron Head was largely neutralized. But, through the blackened cloud of metal ash shot a white stream that pierced the air with a sharpness and toward Flygon at an amazing speed. But Flygon wouldn't be caught off guard.

The Flash Cannon was countered with a Dragon Pulse close to Flygon, himself, but not close enough to cause any damage from the explosion from this particular contact. However, several orbs were then hurtled toward Flygon. They arched around him and then burst in small, but painful, explosions across Flygon's body despite the attempt to run away. The Magnet Bomb wasn't expected and dealt the first real blow of the round.

[Phoenix]

The blasts shone white over the sand that covered his body. Flygon shrugged off the explosions and twirled through the air in order to collect enough sand to completely hide his body in a vortex of grains. The Sand Dance, a combination of Sandstorm and Dragon Dance, improved his physical strength as well as provided quite the effective barrier for protection.

Aggron set up more Iron Defenses and Hone Claws. However, lashes of sand whipped from Flygon's vortex that splashed across his body. It didn't harm Aggron, physically, but it fell under his armored plates, hindering his movement, as well as falling into his eyes, reversing part of his Hone Claws.

Each knew what the other was attempting to perform. It seemed they could read the others' mind, but this was merely due to the fact they grew up side-by-side most of their lives. They were not at the portion of the battle where they would show off what they'd developed during their time apart, save the Magnet Bomb technique.

Of which, Aggron responded to the Sand Whip by launching two sets of Magnet Bombs. They whistled through the air until they collided with the Sand Vortex. It was dense enough to where it wouldn't break apart. But, the Vortex, along with Flygon, was pushed back a good distance.

At that distance, the Vortex erupted out into a proper Sandstorm. Flygon raced through the airborne sands and twirled with a greater aggression and directly toward Aggron. The Outrage only forced the Sandstorm to push Aggron slightly back and forth. But with the shock to his movement and vision, the Outrage thrashed across Aggron's body. His armor did enough to protect him from the brunt of the damage, but he was successfully knocked onto his back.

Flygon acted quickly. The sand dropped like it was thrown to the ground. The sky through the dome of the stadium glowed a bluish purple and soon hurled comets onto Aggron as he struggled to find an upright posture. The meteors boomed all around him and burnt the sand into black and ash. His position on the ground sank a considerable distance.

Flygon alit to Roost the damage of the Magnet Bombs while the sandy and black smoke cleared from around Aggron. The armored Pokemon was on his feet and appeared entirely unharmed. This was entirely unlikely for Draco Meteor being a Special maneuver, but it was clear Aggron successfully defended against the attack, somehow.

[Phoenix]

The arena was filled with some hoots and hollers at the sight of Aggron, seemingly unscathed by the Draco Meteor. Still, there was more silence and Forrest scoured his brain as to what could have transpired to have empowered Aggron to such a degree.
Forrest's head then began to buzz as the sound of the crowd grew louder, yet muffled. It was then Forrest understood that the Metal Sound never actually stopped from the beginning of the battle. They'd managed to train for that maneuver to work past the audible capacities of most Pokemon. Initially impressed, Forrest dug his feet into the sand around him and refocused.
"Go," Forrest said in a level tone that held a sense of intensity.
Flygon rushed Aggron again, though without any sand to enhance his speed. Aggron shot out another Flash Cannon, which Flygon swirled around with relative ease. The giant ant lion stopped just out of the tank's reach who prepared a metal Claw. Instead, Flygon splashed more sand at Aggron, affecting his speed and accuracy even further. Aggron charged with an Iron Head to which Flygon simply Dragon Danced away. Aggron shot out another Magnet Bomb, growing frustrated with the teasing. Having witnessed enough of them, Flygon managed to fly in such a way that made the orbs collide against each other. As he made it out of the blast radius, solid rock from deep under the arena shot up around Flygon, grinding against his body and slamming into him.
"Fuck," Forrest said under a deep breath. "Rage Pulse!"
Though he couldn't see Flygon, the stones began to rumble and slide away. Aggron was preparing another Flash Cannon, knowing this wasn't the end of the battle. Blue and purple energy gleamed from between the cracks before the structure exploded. Flygon was encased in the energy. The Flash Cannon connected with the viscous cocoon of Dragon energy, the orb neutralizing the attack. Aggron cut off the attack, noting the limit of its offensive capabilities. Flygon shot out of the cocoon and allowed it to dissipate. Aggron let lose another Magnet Bomb, which was reacted to in the same manner as before.
Realizing their efforts toward Special maneuvers now lacked efficacy, Aggron performed an Autotomize while Flygon fell into another Roost. The crowd screamed and cheered, clearly impressed with the show, thus far. They both rested for a few moments before breaking into another offense. Aggron worked on another Iron Defense while Flygon Dragon Danced in the air.
Forrest knew another Dragon Pulse or Draco Meteor would prove ineffective. The rest of this battle would be hand-to-hand if they wanted to get anywhere. And this was what made Forrest uneasy. He'd hoped to be able to utilize ranged and melee tactics, but he couldn't think of a way to reverse the effects of the Metal Sound. He knew Aggron was capable of the technique, but he would have had Flygon work against it with Hyper Voice. But it was too late at this point. Now he could only hope Flygon's speed would keep him alive.