Alex was still missing. It had been almost a week with absolutely no word from him. By now, his phone was probably dead and if he was out in the wilderness, he'd be dying from thirst and hunger. Still, Cooper hadn't cared at all. He was far more interested in going ahead with this battle that he'd forced Bella into. His attitude towards the whole thing annoyed Bella. Her best friend could be near death and all he could do was shrug his shoulders and challenge her to a battle. She'd accepted just to try and wipe the smirk off his face and besides, she was powerless to help Alex, wherever he was.

Unfortunately, Bella wasn't in the best situation she'd ever been in. Watching Cooper beat Alex had been impressive, but battling against him herself was a whole different matter. His Pokémon were exceptionally well trained and they were all very powerful. Each packed a very strong punch, quite literally, and they could all carry out different roles. Some, like Hitmonlee, hit hard and fast while others, such as Conkeldurr, could take several hits with ease before dishing out incredible blows of its own.

Cooper's battling ability didn't help her much. Every time she thought she'd found a way through his tough squad, he saw right through her plans and beat them before she could even implement them. It was as though he could predict her every move. It made her even more impressed with how well Alex had kept up with him.

"What's up next then Bella?" Cooper taunted her from across the battlefield. "That's half your team down already. We'll be finished by lunch."

"That was the weaker half of my team." Bella retorted as she recalled her fallen Swablu. It had been relatively untrained and hadn't stood a chance. "You've no idea what's in store for you. Gardevoir!" The crowd, which was at over half capacity, loved this next choice as Bella flung her Pokéball, revealing the elegant Fairy type. Its harmless smile, well groomed green hair and beautiful pose were all deceiving as this was a very powerful Pokémon that could hit Cooper's entire team for super effective damage. This was Bella's ticket to winning.

"Not a bad choice." Cooper acknowledged the Pokémon, nodding, before switching out his own Pokémon for an equally strong monster. "Machamp!"

"Going for the big guns early then?" Bella raised an eyebrow. Against Alex, he'd kept the four armed beast in the back until the very end.

"Well I got bored so I figured I might as well finish you off now." he grinned. Annoyingly, the crowd seemed to love his trash talk. "Now Rock Slide!"

"Teleport!" Bella ordered. Machamp ripped large chunks of rock from the ground before hurling them at its opponent who was far too fast, vanishing into thin air. It could never materialise for long as Machamp constantly kept up the offensive pressure, using Rock Slide wherever Gardevoir appeared. "Dazzling Gleam!"

"Bullet Punch!" Gardevoir suddenly appeared behind Machamp. The elegant Pokémon began emitting an immensely bright light, forcing everybody in the arena to shield their eyes. Unfortunately, Machamp was more than ready. It jumped with surprising speed and punched Gardevoir in the stomach with four metallic fists before the Fairy could finish its attack. Bella was powerless as she watched her Pokémon brutally beaten to the point of unconsciousness, knocking it out.

"You tried your best Gardevoir." Bella sighed, recalling the fallen Pokémon. Her win condition had fallen faster than she could ever have anticipated. Bullet Punch was a very clever move for Cooper to carry and he'd done an excellent job of hiding the trick up his sleeve until the proper moment.

"Clearly its best wasn't good enough!" Cooper laughed. "Thanks to that pitiful contribution, you're almost down and out."

"There's no need for insults like that." Bella defended. He may have been a good battler but he should at least show some respect. His behaviour was the kind that rubbed Bella up the wrong way and she was starting to get irritated. "If you're lucky enough to be the best battler in the year then you should realise that you also have a job to do. People will look up to you. You need to lead by example."

"My example is crushing any and all opposition. You're no exception Bella." She hated to admit it but he was right about one thing. This battle was not going her way. She'd need some kind of miracle to pull this off.

"My name is Arabella you prick."

"Language!" The entire arena went silent. Bella recognised that voice. She turned to see a familiar face running through the tunnel, heading straight for her. His clothes were in tatters and he had dark bags under his eyes. He looked completely shattered. His hair was wild and untamed and his usually well kept stubble had overgrown into a short but scruffy beard which made him look annoyingly handsome.

"Murph?" Cooper said, breaking the silence.

"Coop." Alex replied, acknowledging him. He reached the battlefield where he stopped running. He stood next to Bella and looked her in the eye, grinning. Without warning, she slapped him hard across the cheek.

"Where the hell have you been?" she demanded. Alex put a hand to his face, caught completely off guard by the sudden rush of pain in his cheek.

"Nice to see you too."

"I was worried sick!" she cried. "You can't just run away! What were you thinking?! Where did you go?"

"I thought that you guys would be safer without me." Alex replied. He looked deadly serious. "But then I bumped into Azelf who turned out to not really be Azelf who took me on a mystery tour of the island and I met this creepy cave dude and he told me that I've got to beat him." He pointed at Cooper. For a while, nobody said anything.

"Like I said before, he's insane." Cooper shook his head.

"I'm serious." Alex said bluntly. "Me and you Coop, let's go."

"We're actually kind of in the middle of a battle here already."

"Oh, that's why there's so many people here." Alex said, looking around the arena, only just figuring out what was taking place. He looked at the big screen and processed the information. "Ooh, Bella, it's not looking so hot for you."

Bella gave him a look that could kill and slapped him, harder this time, across the other cheek. Alex yelped in pain and staggered backwards, clutching his pink face. Bella got an odd kick out of it.

"If you're done trying to rip my face apart, I've got a proposition." Alex declared, still rubbing his cheek. "The score's at four two with Bella not even having sent out her final two Pokémon. How about a substitution? I could take over for you Bella and finish the battle off."

"I already beat you once Murph, I don't need to battle you again." Cooper smirked.

"You scared?" Alex grinned, wiping the smug look right from Cooper's face. "C'mon Coop, it's two against four and like you said; you've beaten me before, this should be easy pickings. Besides, a trainer should always accept a challenge no matter what." Cooper looked grumpy but he couldn't argue. Alex had made an excellent point.

"But I still want to-"

"No Bella." Alex said firmly. "This isn't your fight. This is something I have to do." He met her gaze. She looked deep into his brown eyes and she saw fire and passion. She saw determination, like the look the old Alex would give when he wouldn't back down. She knew that not even she could dissuade him from this. She nodded and smiled.

"Wipe the floor with him."

"Will do."

*

"Alright then Garchomp, let's do this!" Alex cried, hurling a Pokéball onto the battlefield once Bella had found a seat next to the rest of the gang. The land shark that now occupied the arena eyed its opponent angrily. It remembered the bitter taste of defeat.

"I beat this thing once, I can beat it again." Cooper said confidently.

"Well we've got some new tricks since then." Alex grinned. He didn't trust the Darkness Warrior but he'd had a lot of time to think on his journey back to New Moon Academy and he'd decided to risk it. "Try this one on for size!"

Just as the Darkness Warrior had instructed, Alex gripped the encrusted bracelet on his wrist and thought about how much he needed a boost. The stone in the bracelet began to shine, in sync with the stone within Garchomp's new collar. Alex felt an incredible rush of power flow through the bracelet, so much so that he was forced to thrust his hand into the air and still the surge if power caused his whole body to vibrate. Garchomp gave a roar and became completely engulfed in a dazzling light, swallowing the creature and spitting out something new.

It was still clearly Garchomp but visibly very different. It was bigger, taller and bulkier. Its strong legs and broad chest were lined with razor sharp spikes and its new tail swayed from side to side, seeming much more vicious than its predecessor. It had a crimson jaw that was more chiselled than Thomas' but the biggest change was the claws. Garchomp's old claws seemed puny in comparison to the huge red scythes that were now in place. Garchomp inspected its new body and gave a ferocious roar.

"What the..." Cooper stuttered, his mouth wide open. He looked genuinely fearful.

"Alright!" Alex grinned. "Dragon Claw!" Stumbling slightly under its new weight, Garchomp gave a bloodcurdling cry and charged at Machamp who was also paralysed by shock. Unbelievably, it didn't have to move out of the way. Garchomp's swipe was dangerous but wild, missing its mark by a long way.

"Bullet Punch!" Cooper ordered as he snapped back into focus. Garchomp's stunned face didn't last long as it took a metallic fist to the lower jaw, knocking it off balance and making it an easy target for the other three fists. Luckily, this new form seemed to be able to take hits a lot better, merely shrugging off the attacks and flicking its tail at its foe, knocking it sideways.

"Crunch!" Using its new powerful jaw, Garchomp clamped down on one of Machamp's biceps and tossed it across the room. Unable to keep its foe at distance with Earthquake, Cooper was forced to take the offensive.

"Dynamic Punch!" he yelled. Alex knew how strong this move was and how deadly it could be. It left him with no choice.

"Outrage!" It was a move he didn't like to use but he couldn't deny its power. Machamp launched its fists at the dragon but it wasn't ready for the counterattack. Going completely berserk, Garchomp roared and leapt into the attack, frantically swiping its scythes in every direction. It took Machamp's attack straight to the stomach but it also landed several blows on the fighting type's face and body, cutting it badly. For a moment, both Pokémon stopped attacking and looked each other in the eye before falling over, both unable to battle.

"Impossible..." Cooper muttered as he recalled his fallen warrior. Somewhat victorious but still annoyed, Alex returned Garchomp to its Pokéball. He'd managed to take down Cooper's allegedly undefeatable Machamp but in the process, he'd lost his strongest Pokémon. His new trick hadn't exactly worked as well as he'd hoped.

"You better believe it's possible." Alex grinned, trying to put on his usual confident persona.

"Ok fine, you beat my Machamp." Cooper admitted, trying to regain some composure. "But this battle is still a three-on-one. There's no way you can win."

"Oh, it's gonna be tough." Alex nodded. "But I've got one Pokémon that can do the job." He reached for his Pokéballs, his fingers fumbling through thin air as the realisation kicked in. In a horrible moment, Alex had a flashback. He saw an image in his head of when he ran away from the battle with Bella, of him freezing halfway through his swing and dropping a Pokéball to the ground. He hadn't picked it up again. For all he knew, it was still lying on the ground by the red brick bridge.

"Problem?" Cooper raised an eyebrow as Alex desperately fumbled around his pockets and belt, trying to find what he knew wasn't there.

"Bugger." he muttered under his breath. He'd lost a Pokémon.

"Alex!" came a cry from the stands. He turned to see Bella pulling a Pokéball out of her pocket and throwing it towards the battlefield. With a swipe of his hand, Alex caught the ball and grinned at his friend. Of course Bella had been both smart enough and worried enough to pick up the Pokéball. She was always dependable.

"Thanks Bella!" Alex sent out the Pokémon, revealing his beloved Butterfree. The big eyed insect looked at him with a determined expression. "Let's win this Butter!"

"Free!" Butterfree chirped in mild annoyance before turning to face Cooper.

"This thing again?" Cooper smirked. "Well, this shouldn't be too difficult. Hitmonchan!"

Cooper's confidence would hopefully be short lived. Still, his triple punch combo was a very threatening attack, combining the powers of Fire, Ice and Electric into forceful punches. Fortunately, Butterfree was just too quick for its opponent, flapping its wings in order to duck and dodge out of the way of the swinging fists of Hitmonchan. Knowing that eventually, a punch would land, Alex initiated his plan.

"Sleep Powder!"

"Fire Punch!" Of course, Cooper had thought of a way to get around Alex's best strategy. Butterfree's sprinkling of green dust was quickly set alight. Cooper's victory was short lived as Hitmonchan's next punch stopped completely in its tracks. The fighter struggled but Butterfree's Psychic was far too strong, holding the monster in place. The poor Hitmonchan then proceeded to flail its arms helplessly as Butterfree tossed it around the arena, slamming it into various walls until it was unable to battle.

"Good job Butter!" Alex gave a thumbs up. He was getting back into the groove. He started to feel that rush of excitement that battles gave him. Oh, he'd missed that feeling. He'd missed battling.

"Let's try Heracross!" Cooper yelled as he sent out his horned beetle onto the field. Last time they faced, this Heracross had given Alex a lot of trouble but this time, he was taking it on with Butterfree and so he felt a lot more confident. "Rock Slide!"

"Dodge it!" Alex desperately urged as Heracross hurtled large chunks of rocks in Butterfree's direction. Knowing how devastating it could be if the boulders made contact, Butterfree tried its absolute hardest to avoid them, using its delicate wings to weave through the projectiles, somersaulting over some, ducking under others. Heracross' other attacks were no use at all. In close quarters, Butterfree was just simply too quick and eventually found an opening to use its deadly Sleep Powder attack.

"Quiver Dance!" If this worked, Cooper would stand no chance. Unfortunately, like he always did, Cooper had a plan.

"Sleep Talk!" he grinned. Yet again, Cooper had been anticipating the Sleep Powder and had a backup plan. Despite its snoring and its eyes being closed, Heracross was still able to rip fragments of the ground out for another Rock Slide attack. Caught slightly off guard as it was just finishing off what seemed to be the 'Cha Cha Cha', Butterfree barely had any time to react. As quickly as it could, Butterfree emitted a high pitched buzzing sound that fractured the rocks, splitting them up into smaller shards that deflected away except one shard that hit its target, slicing at Butterfree's small body.

"C'mon Butter!" Alex cried out as his partner struggled to get back up. Even a tiny fragment of rock could deal some serious damage. Even worse for Alex, Butterfree's Bug Buzz had woken up their sleeping foe who went on the offensive, aiming several punches and its horn at the insect. With Butterfree looking significantly less nimble, some of Heracross' strikes actually connected before the creature finally managed to kick itself back into gear. Knocking Heracross off balance with an ear drum breaking Bug Buzz before following up with a powerful Psychic attack, Heracross was soon unconscious.

"It's now or never then. Conkeldurr!" Cooper yelled. The large bulky fighting type was his last hope at stopping Alex's flying monster. Just like Heracross, Rock Slide seemed to be Conkeldurr's move of choice but thanks to the Quiver Dance, Butterfree was able to dodge with ease. Cooper kept going on the offensive, not wanting to allow Alex to even get a chance to attack but Conkeldurr was out of its depth. Its punches were too slow and its huge stone weapons had limited reach. Every attack it made was well wide of the mark.

"Let's finish this off Butter! Psychic!" Butterfree gave a cheeky grin before its eyes glowed a dazzling pink and it began its final attack. It used Psychic to grab Conkeldurr's pillars and steal them, holding them with invisible hands. The audience was completely silent for a moment, waiting for the onslaught to commence. It started with a confident snap from Alex. The pillars were made to work against Conkeldurr, swinging at it with tremendous force, beating its face until it could take no more. Alex had won.

"Free!" Butterfree chirped in victory.

"I'm back baby!" Alex screamed, punching the air with both fists. On the opposite side of the field, a dejected looking Cooper called his final fallen Pokémon back. Cooper walked over to Alex and gave him an unreadable look.

"Well played."

"You too." They shook hands, a strange mutual agreement between the two trainers. They'd both beaten the other one. They were equals.

Huge apologies for this taking so long, I've been dealing with writer's block and loads of school work as well. Still, the chapter's here now so hopefully I can get back to semi frequent uploads. Hope you enjoyed reading, please do leave a comment to let me know what you thought and any constructive criticism you might have. Thanks for reading!