Eyes were everywhere, looking down upon Alex expectantly. The time had finally come to truly prove himself. The stands surrounding the battlefield were jam packed, with not a single seat empty. Literally every student in the school had turned up to watch this fight, and he was going to do his best to give them a great showing.

Standing on the opposite side of the field was Edward. Everything about his stance was cocky. His annoying grin somehow drained Alex's confidence. He knew that this wouldn't be easy. At the very top of the stands, in the centre was a special viewing box with a lone figure seated inside. It was Cynthia and she was watching him very carefully. It was her who he really needed to impress.

The referee looked at both battlers and all three exchanged nods. They were ready.

"Begin!" he cried, swiping his flags down.

"Haxorus!"

"Marowak!"

Beside Alex now stood his battle ready, skull wearing, bone wielding warrior. On Edward's side of the field stood an impressive creature that he'd never even seen before. It was large, pear coloured and had crimson scythes either side of its jaw. If he had to guess, this was probably a Dragon type Pokémon. The crowd was clearly impressed with Edward's choice. Even so, Alex had supporters of his own.

"Ladies first." Alex said.

"You'll regret that when this move pays off." Edward said, "Use Dragon Dance!"

"Marowak, let's do this quickly. Use Headbutt!" As Haxorus appeared to twerk, Marowak went on the offensive, lining its head up with Haxorus' torso and charging. With Haxorus' jiggling reaching its end, both its Speed and Attack stats had increased, and it was just able to sidestep Marowak's attack.

"Now use Dragon Claw!" Edward ordered. With Marowak skidding off balance, Edward saw the opportunity to strike so Haxorus rapidly turned and raised the sharp claws of its foot before stomping down on its vulnerable opponent.

"Use Bone Club to knock it off balance!" Alex urged and just in time, Marowak responded, swinging its weapon at Haxorus' stationary foot, completely taking it out and sending the great beast to ground. "Again!" Marowak jumped on top off the now immobile dragon, capitalising on the situation by taking several swift but heavy swings of its bone, making a crushing contact with Haxorus' jaw, knocking it out in moments.

"Haxorus is unable to battle." The referee declared, raising a flag.

"Not bad Alex," Edward nodded as he recalled his fallen creature. Alex heard a section of the crowd cheering for him. This felt good. He felt good. "But now you're in for it; go Hydreigon!"

This was what he'd been fearing. The Pokémon that had singlehandedly got Edward this far in the competition and the one that had broken Lenny's spirit. This would be a tough fight.

"Alright Marowak, stay on guard, this one's dangerous." Alex warned. Marowak nodded at its trainer and readied itself for an attack.

"Cautiousness won't win you this fight," Edward said, "Use Dark Pulse!"

"Dodge it." As Hydreigon powered up a pitch black attack in each of its three great mouths, Marowak went on the move, running around Hydreigon in a large circle, occasionally shimmying and changing direction. With a lot to keep its eyes on, when Hydreigon finally did launch its attack, it went well wide of the mark as Marowak evaded by rolling sideways.

"Again!" Edward ordered.

"Marowak, use Headbutt!" Taking advantage of another long winded power up, Marowak sharply turned towards its opponent and charged with everything it had before jumping and making a firm collision with Hydreigon's chest. The impact of Marowak's skull had pushed Hydreigon back, completely throwing it off balance so once again, its Dark Pulse attack was nowhere near the intended target.

"Hydreigon, you are stronger than this! Now use Dragon Pulse!" Edward shouted. His big impressive Pokémon hadn't even landed an attack yet and he was being made to look like a fool. Some of the crowd were urging him on but some were cheering for Marowak.

"Retreat!" Alex calmly said as Marowak scurried away from the floating dragon. This time, Hydreigon's attack was a beam of purple light, once again built up inside its three mouths but once again, Marowak was ready for the attack, sharply changing its direction at the last second to completely flummox the opponent. "Now Headbutt!"

"Come on Hydreigon! Use Flamethrower!" Edward cried. This was interesting. Hydreigon did know moves other than Dark Pulse and Dragon Pulse. Alex seemed to have force something new out of Edward and his prized Pokémon.

"Marowak do it now!" Alex yelled just as Marowak was about to be engulfed in flames. Marowak knew exactly what Alex wanted so it planted its bone into the ground and used is as a pole vault to springboard itself over the flames before falling with control right down onto Hydreigon, crashing into the dragon and sending it to ground.

The crowd went wild when they saw the manoeuvre. Even Cynthia in her box seemed to be impressed. Or at least, she should've been as that was a move that had required tireless hours to perfect and it had only worked because he and Marowak were so in sync. Unbelievably though, Hydreigon managed to push itself back up. The battle wasn't over just yet.

"Nice try Alex." Edward said as he tried to regain his composure. "But the fact of the matter is, raw power is what will win this fight - not your little strategies."

"Sorry to burst your arrogant bubble but my little strategies are what's winning me this battle."

"But the battle isn't over yet. And despite everything you've thrown at me, Hydreigon's still got juice left in the tank and lots of it. So let's finish off this Marowak with Dragon Pulse!"

"Marowak, dodge it!" Alex cried but it was just too late. During their chat, Hydreigon had started to power up its attack which it fired with incredible power, catching Marowak's heel as it dived to the left in a desperate attempt to evade. The contact spun Marowak around and sent it to ground, giving Hydreigon more time to charge its next attack.

"Dragon Pulse, end this!" Edward ordered.

"Quickly, block it!" Alex cried. As swiftly as it could, Marowak reached for its bone before thrusting the bone in front of itself and spinning it around to block the beam of purple light. When the pulse made contact, sparks flew everywhere, and Marowak was forced to inch backwards before finally the bone was knocked clean out of Marowak's hands and Hydreigon was finally in a winning position, using its incredibly powerful beam to pummel Marowak into the ground relentlessly until the referee signalled that it was over.

"Marowak is unable to battle!" he announced, raising his opposite flag.

"I told you Alex." Edward smirked as Alex returned his fallen Pokémon, thanking its effort. "Everything that you put into this battle was for nothing. Raw power and strength is how you win this fight. So why don't you use that Garchomp?"

"Use the Garchomp!"

"Do it Alex!"

"We want Garchomp!"

Alex heard the demands of the crowd. He saw Edward's cocky smile, thinking he'd already won. Alex turned around and looked behind him, picking out Lenny, Bella and his other friends.

"Alex, you have to use that Garchomp!" Lenny yelled.

Beside him Bella shook her head, mouthing the words: "Alex, please don't."

He turned again, looking up at Cynthia in her box. She made eye contact with him and nodded, gesturing with her hand. Alex made up his mind. He grabbed a Pokéball and threw it with all his might.

"Go!" he screamed as a flash of light enveloped the battlefield. Before him now stood something nobody had been expecting. A ghostly little candle, made of wax with a tiny purple flame atop its head. It was the newest edition to the team. It was his Litwick.

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" Edward laughed at the tiny creature. "You're no match for me!" The crowd were on Edward's side here as Alex heard a series of jeers, sighs and even boos. Up in her box, Cynthia sighed and shook her head.

"It's no joke." Alex said. "Litwick might only be a very recent member of the team but anything's better than Garchomp. It's just too dangerous to use."

"Well then, this battle is as good as over." Edward taunted. "Hydreigon, destroy this thing with Dark Pulse!"

"Litwick use Will-O-Wisp!" Litwick's first ever attack under Alex was a success as the little candle spat out four little fireballs that connected with Hydreigon, burning it badly. Unfortunately, the next part didn't go so well as Litwick was far too slow to avoid the oncoming Dark Pulse and the poor defenceless candle was thrown back into the wall behind Alex, immediately getting knocked out.

"Litwick is unable to battle!" the referee declared once again, raised the flag towards Edward. In mere moments, the battle had completely turned on its head and Alex now had his back against the wall and needed to climb a mountain in order to win. Of course, in his heart Alex had known that a Pokémon he only caught the night before wouldn't do well. Litwick was completely untrained and currently there was no bond between Alex and Litwick so of course he'd lose that fight. Even so, Alex couldn't give up. He knew there was a way to win this battle. He just had to find it.

"Alright then, now you're in for it! Go Butterfree!" This was all Alex had left. His friendly little butterfly that Edward had been so eager to fight since the day they'd met.

"Hydreigon, you've done alright, have a rest." Edward said as he called back Hydreigon. He wanted to win this match by a comfortable margin. "Now go Salamence!" Edward's final Pokémon was yet another Dragon type. This one was had a sky blue body with large, curved, red wings which made it able to fly. Its tail swished from side to side almost in an apprehensive fashion. This Pokémon was also a Flying type which gave Edward the advantage.

"Let's do this Butter! Use Psybeam!" Alex smiled as Butterfree begrudgingly carried out Alex's request.

"Free!"

"This is not the time for that debate!"

"Salamence, take advantage of this argument and use Dragon Claw!" Edward thought he had Alex right where he wanted him but he was wrong. In an instant, Butterfree's eyes flashed pink and a flashing beam came out of nowhere, striking the reckless Salamence in the wing. Somehow still flying after the attack, Salamence took a wild swipe at its opponent who dodged with ease.

"Sleep Powder."

"No!" Edward cried as his beast was put to sleep by a sprinkling of green glitter and Alex took total control.

"Use Gust!" Alex ordered and Butterfree obeyed, flapping its wings to create a mini hurricane, sending Salamence flying up into the air. "Now Psybeam!" With Salamence falling back down to the ground, Butterfree sent a psychic attack towards it which connected, increasing the speed of Salamence's fall so when it did hit the ground with a thud, there was no way of getting back up.

"Salamence is unable to battle!" The referee declared.

"Come on!" Alex yelled, punching the air. He was close now. Really close to officially being the best. There was just one Pokémon left to beat.

"Fine then." Edward said after he'd returned Salamence to its ball. "Let's finish this. Hydreigon!" Edward's monster was back out on the field and looking for its third knock out of the match. Alex was determined to not let that happen.

"Butter, let's win this! Use Gust!"

"Hydreigon, use Dragon Pulse!" Butterfree flapped its wings to create another forceful wind which spun Hydreigon around, making it dizzy but not enough to stop the purple beam from fully charging. "Fire as three separate attacks!"

"Dodge them!" Alex urged. Edward had finally figured out the big flaw in his strategy and had amended it as Hydreigon didn't join the three beams together, instead firing off three slightly weaker beams, one from each mouth. Butterfree nimbly dodged one, rolled out of the way of another but was just caught by the third, leaving itself vulnerable.

"Again!"

"Sleep Powder!" Butterfree sent its deadly powder as quickly as it could, before Hydreigon could even begin charging another attack but Edward was ready.

"Burn it with Flamethrower!" Hydreigon immediately set fire to the oncoming powder, burning it to a crisp in seconds.

"Silver Wind!" Alex yelled. Butterfree gave another flap of its translucent wings to create a gust of wind that somehow glowed silver, blowing Hydreigon back and dealing massive damage due to the super effective nature of the attack. On top of that, Butterfree looked different afterwards. It looked stronger, bulkier and faster.

"What's happened to Butterfree?" Edward asked as Hydreigon got its act back together.

"Oh, I'm guessing you don't know about the added bonus of Silver Wind." Alex grinned, doing his best Bella impression. "You see, when Silver Wind is used, there's a chance that every single one of the users stats get raised."

"That's ridiculous!"

"I know!"

"Hydreigon, we need to finish this quickly, fire off as many Dragon Pulse's as you can!" Edward knew that one more attack would end this battle for him. Hydreigon had sustained massive damage over the course of the battle but it could still fire off very strong attacks.

"Butterfree just dodge everything. Keep it occupied!" Butterfree darted off, using its newfound speed to dodge one, two, three... countless attacks, ducking underneath some, changing direction to evade others but eventually weariness kicked in and one attack connected with Butterfree's chest, sending it to ground.

"Yes!" Edward cried. "Finish it off with Flamethrower!" Just as Hydreigon was about to land the final blow, it stopped, cried out in agony and tumbled over unconscious. It had set on fire.

"Hydreigon is unable to battle and so the winner is Alex!" the referee announced.

"Come on!" Alex yelled, giving the air a beating as he punched it several times. He'd done it. He was the best in the year. He hadn't needed Garchomp to win. In the end, it was the burn damage from Will-O-Wisp that had finished off Hydreigon so in a weird way, it was Litwick that had won him the battle. He looked back up to Cynthia once again who gave him a smile and a clap.

*

Cynthia was more than impressed with Alex. He'd been exceptional. He'd been extraordinary, he'd been unbelievable. Where had that level of battling ability come from? He'd more than smashed her expectations of him but he was still afraid of his most powerful Pokémon. As good as Alex was, he had a long way to go.

*

Well I hope you enjoyed that! This story is a decent way in by now and I haven't really left any author's note so here we go! I really want to hear some feedback on the story so if you're liking what you've read so far, hit that vote button and tell me why in that comments section. Maybe you like the battles, in which case, what's been your favourite battle? Maybe you like the humour? Anyways, you get the idea. If you've just stumbled by this, read it and thought it was crap, let me know why! I really like to hear constructive criticism so I can improve my writing later. Thanks for reading!