The four trainers gathered for afternoon tea on the central island, each contributing to their impromptu feast from what John could only assume were spatial storage devices, a standard feature among Elite-level trainers, it seemed.
John provided black tea, Riley brought a mille-feuille cake, Victor contributed bean cakes, and Damian added his signature beef jerky.
"Can you even bite this stuff?" Victor complained, glaring at Damian’s contribution while adjusting his dentures. "Years of martial arts training means getting a few teeth knocked out by opponents."
"Hey, eat it while you still can," Damian shot back, though he was clearly struggling with his own jerky. "When I’m your age and need dentures too, it’ll be too late to enjoy bean cake."
"Who says I can’t bite beef jerky?" Victor retorted indignantly, grabbing a piece to prove his point.
"Careful there, old timer. Don’t blow out your dentures, or I’ll have to get fitted for a matching pair," Damian grinned.
While the two older trainers bickered, the younger ones stayed out of it. Riley sipped her black tea peacefully, and John tended to his Pokemon with healing items.
Observing the minor injuries on Damian’s team, John realized his senior hadn’t been exaggerating about his main Pokemon avoiding serious damage. Most of the Pokemon Damian had used weren’t even from his primary roster, except for his ace, Gengar.
Damian had defeated Riley with what was essentially his second-string team.
Of course, John had no way of knowing how many Pokemon from Damian’s reserve squad had been promoted to his main lineup recently. He could only make judgments based on collected intelligence, and even the most recent information was already outdated.
"Afternoon tea’s over, right?" John recalled his Pokemon and stood up, fixing Damian with an expectant look.
Damian and Victor immediately stopped their squabbling.
"Let’s begin," Damian said, setting down his teacup and stretching.
Riley and Victor quickly cleared away the tea service, mounting their flying Pokemon to give the younger trainers a proper battlefield.
John and Damian walked to opposite ends of the island, taking their positions.
"We both have the same goal, winning the championship," Damian said suddenly, his tone reflective. "I always knew we’d face each other eventually, but I never imagined it would happen so soon."
"Same here," John shrugged.
When had he first met Damian? John had been a college freshman, not long after officially becoming Principal Badman’ student. Because of his Haunter, he’d gone to visit his senior for advice.
Just over a year had passed since then.
The timeframe seemed long, but for a trainer to complete the incredible triple jump from ordinary student to Gym Leader to Elite Four member, it was both brief and terrifying. Unbelievable, really. The source of thɪs content is N0velFire.ɴet
Presumably, Damian was remembering their first meeting too, which explained his current sentimentality.
"Still, we’ll have plenty of opportunities to battle each other in the future," Damian said, taking a Pokeball from his belt.
This battle was just the beginning. Regardless of who won, John and Damian would indeed have many future encounters.
If John defeated Damian and successfully challenged for the championship, becoming the new Champion, then as an Elite Four member, Damian would eventually challenge him for that throne.
Conversely, if Damian won and became Champion, John would challenge him again.
Of course, either of them might earn the right to challenge for the championship only to lose to the current Champion, Magnus Vaelstrum.
When that happened, next year they’d start the Elite meetings all over again, battling for another shot.
"Then I hope my senior will not go easy on me," John said, drawing his own Pokeball.
The mechanical referee activated at that moment.
"The battle now commencing is between Trainer John and Trainer Damian. Battle format is standard six-on-four. Each trainer may use six Pokemon, with four knockouts determining victory. Pokemon switching is unlimited. When four Pokemon on one side are unable to battle, the match ends."
"Now, please send out your starting Pokemon!"
John and Damian threw their Pokeballs skyward simultaneously.
The spheres opened mid-air, silver light flashing before materializing on the ground.
Damian’s first Pokemon was Dusknoir, and it was a Alpha Pokemon.
Dusknoir was already a relatively large species, but as a Alpha variant, it had grown even more massive, resembling a small hill. Its gray head looked like a tattered sack, lacking nose or mouth, featuring only a single red eye that burned like a light, devoid of any emotional fluctuation belonging to the living.
"Alpha Pokemon become standard at the Elite level, huh," John muttered.
His starting Pokemon was—
Maniacal laughter echoed across the battlefield, accompanied by a rotund purple body and gleaming pale fangs.
John’s Gengar materialized.
"John’s got guts," Victor observed from above, puffing his pipe. "Fighting against a Ghost-type specialist, and he leads with a Ghost-type too. If I didn’t know they were friends, I’d think John was trying to Taunt Damian."
"Maybe Taunt is part of his strategy," Riley suggested. "Could be psychological warfare."
Damian frowned slightly upon seeing John’s Gengar.
He didn’t interpret John’s choice as disrespectful, but as a Ghost-type trainer, he could clearly sense the aura emanating from this particular Gengar.
Powerful, but not just powerful. Based on Dusknoir’s perceptual feedback, Damian realized his Pokemon was actually somewhat intimidated by Gengar. Not fear exactly, but an involuntary urge to... submit.
"Does this Gengar hold high status in the spirit world?" Damian wondered, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
When John’s Gengar had been just a Haunter, Damian had examined it personally. But back then, the Haunter had been bound by an ancient spell he couldn’t identify, showing nothing particularly special.
Thinking about it now, that spell had probably originated from the spirit world, no wonder he hadn’t recognized it.
Still, this level of intimidation wouldn’t be enough to make Dusknoir surrender without a fight.
"Both trainers in position," the mechanical referee announced. "Battle... BEGIN!"