“Houndoom, let’s do this!” a young man yelled, his voice rumbling through the caverns. Before the Trainer’s voice dissipated, Houndoom’s roar blasted throughout, causing retorts by wild Pokemon wandering within the caves.
“Hm… six,” Tristan counted in his head, noting that this was the sixth Pokemon that had been revealed in this contest.
The challenger was Lucius Princo from Veilstone City in Sinnoh, a rather plain looking individual dressed in clothes that signaled some form of modest wealth. He was somewhat dirtied by his trek through Victory Road, unsurprisingly, though not nearly as bad as many Tristan had typically witnessed.
Even so, this couldn’t compare to Tristan’s tailored mauve three-piece suit, custom-made leather shoes, and red silk tie. The sun’s rays shone through the cave’s exit as a sort of halo around Tristan’s body as he stood between Lucius and admittance to the Championship.
While this Lucius had already more than proven himself, the rules were the rules. Only three of the so-far six Pokemon Lucius had called upon were significantly hurt. Tristan was curious if he would get to see two more different Pokemon, or if this Lucius had only prepared the six.
Three figures stood off to the side – the other members of the Elite Four who's tests the challenger had passed. Fredrick Vant, specializing in Dark-type Pokemon, was a bookish young man with thick framed glasses that didn’t sit on his nose quite right. Bingham Keetra, specializing in Ghost-type Pokemon, was an elderly man dressed in similarly fine clothes to Tristan standing at some form of lax attention to display his long history as a former Ranger and Gym Leader. Then there was Lois Preato who specialized in Steel-type Pokemon. She wore a fitting pant-suit with little in the way of embellishments, allowing her impressive physique to be on display.
All four were rather impassive as they observed the event. Tristan did lift a brow when Houndoom was brought forth to battle Pandora, his affectionate Jynx. Ether, Tristan’s Espeon that never left his side, lifted his head to look at the source of all the commotion. Seemingly bored, he lowered his head back down, but kept his eyes on the Houndoom.
At this point Jynx turned to look at her Trainer, seeing him nod to her and she nodding in kind.
“Ready?” Tristan posed.
“Let’s do this,” the young man replied.
Off to the side, Bingham bellowed,
“And… begin!”And begin it did with an impressive Flamethrower billowing out of Houndoom’s maw as it pounced to close the distance. A mix of Powder Snow and Icy Wind proved a minimally effective shield against the attack, leaving Pandora sweaty and breathing heavily.
“Hm…” Tristan thought to himself.
“Aurora Veil,” he muttered, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. Tristan’s Jynx brushed her hair out of her face and waved her hands around to create a sort of armor in the form of a beautiful gown.
“Frost Breath next time,” he mentioned again. Pandora would nod at that and wait for only a moment before a new offensive was unleashed.
“Dark Pulse!” Lucius called out. Not quite ten feet from Jynx, globs of sickly dark energy rushed out from Houndoom. This met a cone of ice and snow to cushion the blow against the armor Pandora now sported. She seemed mostly unaffected by the attack, and so Tristan took advantage to suggest,
“Miracle Eye. Draining Sweet Kiss.” The requests were minimal, but more than satisfactory.
Her eyes glowed a deep gold despite the following Flamethrower melted away what remained of her Aurora Veil, but allowed her the opportunity to give a healthy smack of her lips upon the Houndoom.
Now the Houndoom simply had no idea what was going on.
“Return!” Lucius raised the pokeball and recalled Houndoom, only to find that Tristan had done the same. Before Lucius could ask what he was doing, Tristan called out,
“Arine!” to reveal a Starmie to oppose the challenger now. Lucius shook his head with a furrowed brow, but didn’t dwell on it.
“Luxray, you’re up!” Tristan again lifted his brow with intrigue. Ether didn’t raise his head this time, not quite concerned with a mere Luxray.
“Round two,” Tristan mentioned.
“Ready?” Bingham called out.
“Begin!”This Luxray, as well, thought to take the initiative, an oppressive Thunderbolt exploding from its body, hitting Starmie dead on.
No! Starmie was at the edge of the cave, unharmed!
Wait, it was at both sides of the cave!
Luxray had to take a moment to figure out what was going on, but that was more than enough time for Arine to Rapid Spin it from above, landing a good hit. Luxray growled out in displeasure, but by the time it started to Discharge, Arine already hit it with an Aqua Jet.
This Luxray was tough, though, and it would take more than that to level it. Ignoring the pain, it Discharged a wave of electricity in all directions consuming Starmie again… only for it to dissipate. It was a Double!
Now there were two Starmie a couple yards away.
“Light Screen,” Tristan suggested, and a barrier arose in front of both of them.
“Calm Mind,” he mentioned, and the Starmie stood there for a moment, the great gem in its center pulsing a dull glow.
“Thunder Fang!” For all of Luxray’s power and toughness, it was not quite fast. By the time it reached the Light Screen, falling through without resistance, it would fall upon a visage of Starmie – another Double. From across the cavern a Water Gun shot at Luxray, hitting it hard in the side. Luxray growled again and released another Thunderbolt.
The massive amount of energy shattered the Light Screen as soon as it touched, leaving Starmie steaming despite the Rapid Spin it attempted to shrug off some of the damage.
“Brine…” Tristan offered with a seemingly impassive expression. Starmie didn’t miss a beat and released a torrent of water from each of the ends, spinning wildly to create a sort of water cyclone that this particular Luxray would only be able to partially evade.
Luxray seemed to understand this and instead of trying to move out of the way, released an incredible amount of energy, creating a Thunderous boom throughout the caverns. The electricity raced up the water crashing upon it even as it threatened to toss it back while it clawed into the stone to resist flying through the air.
Once all was said and done, Tristan’s Starmie was battered, nearly beaten. Luxray seemed to be a similar position, however.
“That’s enough, Arine…” And, with that, Tristan had it return to its pokeball.
“Luxray, you too…” Lucius seemed relieved that they were not going to continue.
“I call upon Aequitas…” With something of a flourish, Tristan revealed a Gallade to oppose this challenger now.
Gallade stood tall and proud. Indeed, it was noticeably taller than the average Gallade.
“Starapter, let’s go!” Lucius shouted.
This time Tristan nodded with a
“Hm,” glad that he was allowed to see the rest of Lucius team. Lucius certainly did his homework, ready for anything that might be thrown at him.
“Final round!” Bingham announced.
“Ready? Begin!”Aequitas was already Working himself Up even as the Staraptor raced towards him with an Arial Ace. At the last moment, Aequitas swiped at Staraptor as they met, hitting the Arial Ace with a Mach Blade (i.e. Punch). While this resulted in Gallade being pushed back a few yards, he was able to stop his opponent there in front of him.
The two locked – arm to wing, blade to blade. A tense moment passed before they jumped back from one another. Gallade decided to size up his opponent while Staraptor tried to keep the pressure up with a whirlwind to get Gallade up in the air and immobile. Somehow, though, Aequitas was able to Detect it, evading each attempt. The purple glowing in his eyes was still fading when he locked eyes again with his opponent after it had given up on the trick.
No matter, it thought, and proceeded to rush Aequitas with a wicked looking Drill Peck. Similar to the last time, Gallade met the Staraptor with a strong Slash, causing both to bounce off one another. Still, the two looked somewhat weary from the attempt.
This time it was Aequitas’s turn to push the offensive, sending a Sphere of his own Aura towards Staraptor. Like Luxray, it seemed not quite quick enough to attempt to evade the attack, and instead met it head on with Wings hard as Steel.
A small explosion erupted around the Staraptor, but when the smoke cleared it was no longer there! The two were already sparring with one another as the cloud lingered. Aequitas was nearly hit, parrying attempt, having Detected it yet again. Proving itself able to learn and adapt, Staraptor buffeted Aequitas with and impressive Gust, lifting him off the ground and unable to move.
Taking full advantage, it attempted a full power Wing Attack, connecting against Aequitas’s Cross Chop, but still sending him through the air and landing in a roll on the ground. Now breathing heavily, he raised his bladed arms, ready for what came next.
“Respectfully, I yield…” Tristan admitted to the surprise of only Lucius; the rest of the Elite Four seemed unaffected by the announcement. Aequitas was displeased, but would not show this outwardly. Not in front of others. The challenger blinked rapidly several times, not quite believing it.
“But…” Lucius start.
Tristan interrupted.
“Our job is only to determine if you are skilled enough to participate in the Pokemon League Championship,” he started.
“You have more than proven your ability. Well done, Lucius Princo of Veilstone.” A beat passed before he offered,
“Congratulations.” There was the faint hint of a smile on his lips as he moved to the side and lifted an arm. Lucius was allowed through to Ever Grande City to rest, recuperate, and stay until the Championship was held.
Slateport City
Night of the Mauville Explosion
Tristan, now dressed in black with a dark sport coat draped over his shoulders, stood in a dimly lit room in the Harbor Warehouse nearly an hour passed midnight in front of a terrified man seated in a wooden chair in a far corner.
Ether kept watch while Veritas, Tristan’s Gardevoir, crept closer, a determined look on her face. Off to the side was Vertigo, Tristan’s Alakazam, juggling three crates via Telekinesis – his job done for the time being.
“I’m tellin’ ya! I don’t know nothin’!” The disheveled man pleaded with the now Private Investigator. Tristan, however, was not quite convinced. Or he wasn’t quite ready to leave with nothing; not without trying everything.
He sighed and shook his head, waving his hand to allow Gardevoir to sift through his mind to figure out what he knew. The whole process took only moments, her hands on either side of his head as her eyes glowed in lilac and stared deep into him. When she released the man, letting him slump and fall on the floor unconscious, she turned back to Tristan and shook her head. The three of them shared no spoken words, but rather conversed through thought.
“He doesn’t know anything.” Veritas reiterated.
“That can’t be possible.”“I’m telling you, there was nothing there.”“I didn’t get anything either.” Vertigo chimed.
“Fucking shit… we’re going to have to come up with a plan to figure out what she knows.”“Gladly…”“Vertigo…”“What!?”“That’s enough…”“Something’s happened…” Tristan looked to Ether, hair standing on end. He brought Veritas and Vertigo back to their pokeballs and touched his Espeon to be transported to just outside of Mauville.
Mauville City Limits
Night of the Explosion
With that, Ether teleported them to the location of the secondary explosion (that had not happened yet); not quite what Tristan was expecting.
He didn’t really need to concern himself with it because his first act is always to release his team. Ether and Veritas took up defensive positions around their Trainer while Vertigo and Aequitas immediately looked for trouble. Oracle, his Xatu, flew up to get a better vantage and start to understand what was going on.
Chaos reigned and Tristan’s eyes darted around to figure out what he could despite the pitch black now that the city was cloaked in darkness. It took a few moments, but he recognized where he was – one of the administrative offices that handled the power grid. It was one of the secondary ones, but Tristan knew it to hold many sensitive documents, most of which were only available in hard copy.
Reflects and Barriers erected around Tristan just as the top floor exploded in time with another explosion some ways off. The Elite Four member and Intenral Investigator winced at the bright light, yet was unaffected by any heat or debris that fell.
“Everyone,” Oracle thought to Tristan. Only a moment’s beat passed before the rest of Tristan’s team was released. Arine, Pandora, and Zen materialized in a right angle around their Trainer and were immediately apprised of what was going on - one of the many benefits of telepathy. Zen, Tristan's Metagross, stationed itself on the main road, closer to the main explosion in case anyone or anything came from that direction. Arine and Pandora, meanwhile, moved to scout the area in concert with. Oracle.
Vertigo and Aequitas lifted themselves to investigate what was going on in the building now alight with flames lapping from the broken windows. Vertigo parted the flames with a Light Screen to allow them both entry.
“Get out,” Oracle commanded of the pair.
“Now.” When Oracle said that, it was imperative to listen. Not a moment after they floated out of the window, the top floor was utterly destroyed by an devastating Draco Meteor.
“Fuckin’ A…” For the first time in a long time, Tristan was actually scared.
“Are you alright!?”“Yeah, yeah. We’re fine.” Vertigo sounded annoyed with it all.
Tristan knew better, though, and sighed with relief.
“They’re flying off.” Oracle reported.
“Did you see who it was?”“No.”“Fuck…”By this time several Rangers showed up. They were quite tense and almost attacked the Elite Four member, given the darkness.
“Mr. Aeros!” A voice called out.
“Glad you could join us!” 
