-6 years before…-

“For thousands of years Pokemon have lived and worked together, growing from our primal roots, building a shining civilization where all can thrive and be one!” A dragonite stood on a platform over a small school stadium. Dressed smartly in a suit it held a calm dignity that was contrasted by the roaring crowd around in the audience.

“But there always comes a time when those of us feel the pull of battle and glory, the strive to be the best of them all, to stand and prove themselves- without a doubt the champions of our prestigious school!” The crowds cheering grew louder and wilder as excitement built up to a breaking point. This was the final tournament of school year. And for the swampert and feraligatr in the area their last in school.

They were dressed in the uniforms of battle team students, a gold and white ensemble and stood on opposite sides of the area in their starting positions.

“I’m starting to think I made a mistake in doing this.” Auquis looked around, listening to the crowd. “I can’t believe you talked me into this.” The marshtomp laughed.

“I can’t believe I managed to pull you out of the library long enough to take down the competition and reach me.” He waved a webbed hand. “I told you, Auquis. You’re stronger than you think you are, you just needed the right push.”

“Riao, this is insane. I’m not a battle kind of guy. If those were the ones going against you then they must have been seriously untrained.” The feraligatrr shook their head. “I can see how you’re undefeated.”

Riao laughed hard. “You’ve got a battlers attitude even though you say you’re not a fighter. You didn’t defeat 12 of the best contestants because they were weak, you’re strong and I saw that in you. I invited you so I could have a good opponent in my final match before the professional league. My final match should be one noone here is going to forget!”

“And with all the formalities out of the way, I’d like to declare this senior championship fight… BEGUN!” The principal shouted and Riao launched from his position.

“I hope you’re ready!” Riao shouted and ground into the dirt floor of the arena, kicking up a cloud of soil and launching bullets of water from his mouth. Picking up the plume of tossed earth they became bullets of mud that hurtled across the field.

Auquis anticipated this, it was Riaos favorite technique. The alligator pokemon solidified his stance and launched a torrent of water from his jaws. On connection with the mud shot there was an explosion of water, obscuring the field between them. Just as expected, Riao appeared through the destroyed hydro pump and tried to land a hammer smash- thinking Auquis was unprepared.
Auquis built his strength in his legs and launched right into Riao with a well planned skull bash. It connected and Riao had the wind knocked out of him as he hit the ground, coughing.

“Congrats…. That was a good hit.” Riao smiled.

“Congratulate me once the battle is over!” Auquis knew Riao’s bluff and leaped, water streaming behind him. The aqua tail collided just as Riao rolled out of the way, water pressure and impact flooding the area with water. Even more of the field was torn up as a hydro pump ripped a trail in the soil by the swampert’s hind legs. The mist and dust cleared and Auquis was there, charging with his powerful jaws open.

Riao acted quickly, loosing a hydro pump of his own into the ground to launch himself airborne. Above he aimed and shot another into Auquis who became burdened with the water pressure. It was enough for Riao, he came down with another hammer arm and returned the earlier skull bash, knocking Auquis into the water below. Riao laughed as he landed.

“You can quit if you like, but where would the fun be in that?” he smiled as Auquis got back up.

“You dragged me here, now you’re going to be the one to give up!” Auquis roared and blasted off a hydro pump, only for it to be met by Riaos own. They met challenging their power against one another, neither giving the other any chance. The field quickly became flooded and the two broke, panting.

“I… did drag you here… and it’s clear it was the right thing to do… you’re strong, stronger than I imagined. You spend all your time in books and studies now, but once…. Upon a time you were obsessed with becoming a champion…”

“You did that…. I decided to make my way. Not everyone can be fighters… some of us need to work.” Auquis huffed, planting his feet firmly on the ground. A ripple of water formed behind him, rolling back and quickly becoming a wave.

“And yet, here we are. And you’re no less the fighter you used to be.” Riao did the same, the muddy water behind him crashing against the wall of the arena behind him at the same time as Auquis’ surf, both waves rolled back- both growing exponentially more powerful and rolling over the two pokemon to crash into one another. With the wavebreak the entire stadium and it’s silenced audience were showered with the resulting monsoon, erupting into cheers as the field began to clear.

Auquis stood and Riao laying against the wall that had been behind him, still in the water. Jumping down to all fours he jetted through the water over to the Marshtomp as gates opened in the wall and began draining the water.

“We have a winner!” The dragonite boomed from the speakers. “The school champion has finally been defeated by the new challenger!” The crowd was set to screaming as Auquis helped Riao regain his feet.

“I told you…” The marshtomp smiled. “I said you had the chance to do it- I knew you could do it.”

“I don’t think you intended to lose to me though.” Auquis sighed and started walking Riao to the exit of the arena.

“Hey, you don’t have to worry about paying for that scholarship now, do you?” Riao said and Auquis turned his head.

“How did you know about that, we haven’t spoken in years.”

“Your mom told me about it when I was passing your house on a jog last month, she told me you’d gotten accepted into the college you wanted but was stressing out about the loans. I knew you’d go far in the school tournament since you’d trained since we were kids.”

“So you dragged me into the tournament so I could get a scholarship?”

“Yeah, even if you didn’t beat me you would have gotten some offers. A top scoring student suddenly making it to battle finals? It would have made you irresistible.”


“Well what about you, losing to me might hurt you?” Auquis pulled Riao into the locker room and sat him down.

“I’ve got every single college lined up to get me, they’re not going to drop me just because of one battle out of my career.” Riao took a cold lemonade from Auquis and took some gulps from it. “I knew if I got you to do it that you’d win enough to get some help with your tuition.”

Auquis sighed and decided to ask the question he’d wanted to. “Did you throw the match for me, there’s no way I managed to defeat you.” The marshtomps face scrunched up in surprise.

“That’s insulting just to ask, mostly to yourself. I would never throw a fair match. You just need to trust your own strengths, you trained even before I started. You spent every day after school for years in the battle club. You’re skilled, and even if you don’t choose to keep fighting I’m sure Victors Gate will take you anywhere you want to be.” He patted his old friends arm. “You can’t get better unless you go to Evergrande- but I knew you wanted to stay close to home for your mother.”

“You’re observant, almost too observant.” Auquis sat beside him, sipping his own lemonade and enjoying the moments before the show above stopped and the locker room was swarmed by cheering people.

“You are too, you knew all my moves so you’ve been watching too.”

“Who couldn’t? You rip through opponents like they’re a buffet.” Auquis laughed. “You’re all over the news, the papers, you’re all anyone talks about.”

“And now they’ll talk about you, and you’ll get the recognition you always wanted. You did what you wanted to do as a child today, you won a championship.” Riao looked behind them as the principal came in, followed by a cheering crowd. “Heads up, here we go.”