"Salamence is unable to battle!" Dan announced, hovering by my fainted partner on his Aegislash's back to confirm the call. "Charizard wins the round!" 

Said Pokemon roared in triumph, blowing a column of fire into the air. "Your Salamence is a real force to be reckoned with," Leon grinned, red tailcoat whipping wildly in the wind his partner's wings created.

The ex-Champion had taken his fall from grace surprisingly well, all things considered; the former Rose Tower had become his when said businessman lost the property in court because of illegal embezzlement, which ended up being the first in the domino effect to him "retiring the position to his successor"; which, outside of business lingo, meant he had handed the position of CEO to the secretary he was not-so-secretly banging in order to stay out of a lawsuit, while still collecting money from his other business endeavors. He was just no longer raking in big bucks from organizing the Gym Challenge.

Over the course of a few years, Leon had transformed it from an ordinary office building to the Battle Tower, the most iconic skyscraper in all of Galar that we happened to be battling in. Everyone had helped to chip in and erase the bad memories the place (and Rose, by association) had brought them, and it soon became an iconic place for experienced Trainers and visiting tourists to pay a visit.

Leon had aged well too. He'd grown out of his ridiculous Champion uniform and swapped it for the beige riding pants, black boots, crimson tailcoat and white cravat he wore now. It was a definite step up from his former choice in apparel, in my opinion; he no longer looked like a Zebstrika in a fluffy cape. The only things that made Leon seem older than 22 (he would be 39 this coming May) were his fully-grown goatee, the gold-framed glasses perched on his nose and the smooth purple ponytail with slivers of gray that caught the light from the glass dome around us cascading down his back.

"Return, Salamence," I commanded, shifting in my dressy attire. Battle Tower matches for Master Ball class guests required quite the dress code. Black heeled boots, white dress pants and a blouse with a black blazer over top made me feel stuffy in the closed-off room, even if all the walls were made of glass. I'd grown far too used to the lack of formalities back home in Spikemuth; I wasn't always dressing to impress anyone there, and it showed. My feet would be sore after standing like this for so long, working my way up the tower to get here.

"Toxie, you're up," I called upon my final Pokemon. Toxie, the Toxtricity I had caught years ago when I first arrived, materialized from her luxury ball in a flash of golden sparkles. She plucked her protruding organs in a complex guitar riff that rattled the entire building. "Alright, Charizard, use Air Slash!" Leon grinned.
"Toxie, counter her with Overdrive!" I shouted.

Toxie went crazy, riffs blaring as waves of electricity went flying everywhere and knocked down the curved blades that threatened to take us down. With a final windmill of her arms, a giant wave surged and blasted Charizard right in the face. "Don't let up!" I called. "Use Power-Up Punch, repeatedly!"

"Charizard, keep her away with Ancient Power!" Leon commanded. With a roar, stones materialized by Charizard and flew towards Toxie. She dodged them all, leaping and twirling between them until her fist landed right on target in Charizard's stomach. "Keep going; don't stop!"

"Charizard, get out of there and use Flamethrower!" Said Pokemon roared, blowing a column of flame at her feet and flying upwards to escape the merciless beating Toxie was giving her. "Knock her out of the sky with Boomburst!"
"Counter with Flamethrower!" 

A horrible wail and flame column met in a clash, pure sound versus scorching hot plasma. After a few seconds of struggle, Flamethrower began to diminish in power, until Boomburst reached her with one final screech.

"Impressive," Leon noted, sucking Charizard back into its ultra ball after she got back up to her feet. "But we're just getting warmed up!" With a bright flash of cherry light, Charizard's ultra ball changed from black and yellow to white and red, growing in size until it rested comfortably in Leon's hand.

Giving it a tiny test toss, Leon turned and launched it behind him with one arm. It burst open in midair, and with a crackling sound, Charizard emerged, roaring as her flaming wings beat at the air. The room darkened as Dynamax energy covered the ceiling in a crimson cloud, and the strange Galarian anthem played immediately; I had long since given up on the search for the source of it.

"Not bad," I admitted, Toxie's luxury ball still clamped tight in my fist. "But let's see what that Charizard can do against us!" I recalled Toxie, and channeled the power in my Dynamax band. Red, glowing particles flew from the cotton band sitting on my wrist and surrounded her luxury ball, making it grow until it looked the same as Leon's did. Turning, I heaved it backwards with both arms and prayed I didn't accidentally toss it through the wall.

Luckily, it burst open before that could happen. Toxie grew in size just as Charizard did, and when she was fully grown, her appearance had changed remarkably. She had grown two baby blue spines of electricity down her back to go along with the yellow, the spines around her waist and legs had grown to huge sizes, and she was hunched over on all fours.

"Alright, Toxie, just like we practiced," I shouted to her. "Max Knuckle, let's go!"
"Charizard, counter it with Max Airstream!" Leon called. Charizard bellowed, unleashing a cyclone of wind aimed at Toxie just as her fist, glowing with power, came rushing straight for the opponent's face. With a cry, she fell backwards, sluggishly getting back on all fours.

"Use Max Ooze!" I yelled.
"Max Rockfall, go!" A geyser of purple acid erupted from underneath Charizard just as a giant slab of stone fell on Toxie. With a guttural cry, she wailed and crumpled as the stone exploded into a sandstorm that swirled around the battlefield. I spat sand out of my mouth as I screamed, "Now for the finale! Use G-Max Stun Shock!"

Toxie rose from her all fours position, and reached behind her. An electric guitar made of pure energy (a Flying V, if I were to be specific) was pulled from behind her. Large tongue lashing the air, she brought it down to the ground with a giant CRASH! Instantly, the sky darkened, and purple lightning crackled above Charizard. "If that's what you want, then let's have a Champion Time," Leon grinned. "Use G-Max Wildfire!"

Roaring, Charizard leaned forward and gave one big flap of her wings, detaching and sending them flying towards us in the form of a fiery phoenix. At the same time it engulfed Toxie's body in flames, a huge column of white-hot lightning burst from the clouds above us and crashed onto Charizard.

Both Pokemon, with their Dynamax moves spent, returned to normal size, but not without damage. Toxie was still trapped in G-Max Wildfire's flames, and Charizard was hunched over and groaning. When she staggered into an upright position, I saw her face bore the purplish hue of a poisoned Pokemon.

"Fight it off, Toxie!" I shouted. "You can do it! Charizard's poisoned now; all we have to do is hang on until the very end!" Toxie wailed, collapsing, and after a moment the fire faded. My partner was crumpled into a heap, unconscious. "Toxtricity is unable to battle," Dan announced upon closer inspection. "Charizard wins!"

"You were fantastic for your first time Gigantimaxing," I smiled as I returned Toxie to her luxury ball. "Now rest well; I'll drop you off at the Pokemon Center as soon as we leave."
"That was quite a battle," Leon remarked, spraying Charizard with an Antidote the referee had handed him. "You're very powerful."

"Not so bad yourself," I smiled, walking over to give Charizard a pat on the snout. Her scales were warm, and I chuckled as she pressed her nose into my palm, huffing contentedly at a battle well-performed. "You use that Dynamax band well." Leon smiled, and I looked down at the gift. I had received it from the former Champion a few months ago as a thank-you after Team Yell accidentally caught a Pokemon poacher running around in the Wild Area. Prideful as always, they challenged the poacher to a battle, and the commotion alerted Officer Jenny to the crime scene.

"Daddy!" Leon turned and his golden eyes lit up at the sight of his daughter running towards us. "Hey there, kiddo," he grinned, lifting her up and holding her with one arm. "You and Charizard were amazing!!!" she grinned, teal eyes lighting up with excitement and awe. "You really think so, Maggie?" Leon asked.

"Of course! I can't wait for the day Scorch and I get to challenge you! Right, Scorch?" Her partner, Scorbunny, cried happily and hopped into her arms. "You've got a long way to go before that day comes, kiddo," Leon smiled, placing his signature hat on her too-small head. Maggie pouted for a moment, before lighting up and squirming out of his arms to give Charizard a bear hug.

"Magnolia, you shouldn't run off like that!!!" Sonia yelled frantically, running onto the battlefield with their five year old son in tow. "What if your dad had been in the middle of a battle?! You could have been killed!!!"
"Charizard would have stopped and saved me," her daughter grinned. "She's awesome!"

Sonia sighed, looking at me with tired eyes. "I don't know how you handle yours," she sighed, before pulling a reluctant Maggie back to the spectator stands. "That was bangin', love!!!" Piers grinned, jogging over to me. He'd lost the triple ponytails of his youth; instead, his hair was pulled back into a single ponytail, paired with a gray t-shirt and black ripped jeans. "Real wicked battle."

"Yeah yeah, we get it, you're a great battler," Meowsie huffed, jumping off of his shoulder and onto mine, walking around until she was properly seated. "Still didn't have to leave me with the David Bowie-Gene Simmons lovechild."

"Don't be sour," I smirked. "You like Bowie. And we both know you're the spectator type."
"I could've taken her," she muttered, glaring at Charizard.
"Mmhm. I'd like to see it happen."

I returned my focus to Piers, pecking him on the cheek as a thanks (Meowsie fake-gagging on my other shoulder) before turning to the three girls with him. "Proper job, mum," my youngest, Iris, chirped with a grin. "You showed that ol' Charizard what for, eh, mum?" Larkspur chimed in. Wisteria, the oldest of the trio, gave a slight nod in acknowledgement.

All three somewhat shared their father's pale complexion, but the similarities ended there. Iris had white and black hair that blended together to give her soft, shoulder-length curls a shimmery gray look. Her wide, seafoam eyes sparkled like polished obsidian. She had developed quite the fashion sense (mainly from my influence), and was dressed in a black, sleeveless tank top, topped with a no-shoulder sweater and matching cream skirt.

Larkspur was a near carbon-copy to myself; jet black hair as straight as a board, reaching well past her shoulders. Her eyes were dark obsidian and her complexion more natural, like mine. Her outfits were where Piers' influences truly shined, always taking a page out of his or Marnie's books with her outfits, down to the same choker her dad and aunt wore. Platform shoes were always a constant, because God knew she HATED being the shortest of the three, yet another thing inherited from me.

Wisteria was the most exotic out of the three. Her hair was even paler than her skin, which was snowy white like her dad's, and her pastel cyan eyes practically glowed against it. Her hair was wavy and most of it was usually tied back in a ponytail, though she liked to let it hang in her face so she didn't have to talk to people. She was by far the most introverted, and the fact that she didn't speak made that fact all the more clear.

Her usual clothes were neither mine or Piers'; a black sweater, leggings and sneakers, and the same choker as his. She had a penchant for makeup and wore it often, even though she was only eleven. I didn't chastise her too much, though; anything that made her feel more confident around people was fine with me. It was hard to believe she was related to the other two, let alone believe the fact that they were triplets.

"Alright, back to Spikemuth with you lot!" Piers smirked, putting his arm around my shoulders and guiding our group to the elevator. "You three've got school tomorrow, and I ain't goin' to another parent-teacher conference 'cause ya overslept watchin' yer mum's Pokemon matches the night prior, hear?"