It wasn’t that he was not confident in his abilities as battler. The man was an above average battler in his opinion, maybe even more. And really, he was confident in his abilities as a gym leader. After all, this wasn’t his first time being a gym leader per say. Although his first gym leader position wasn’t very long and he didn’t have any challengers in the first three months he had it, this technically was his second time. It was more or less, this was his first challenger. His first appointment with him being the gym leader. This was going to be his first impressions on the Hoenn Region and the League of his capabilities being one. Again. It wasn’t that he didn’t think he didn’t have what it takes. It was more of the pressure it put on him and really, he was putting on himself.

Taking a deep breath to calm both his mind and body, the gym leader made his way to his side of the battlefield down his flight of stairs. Warm crimson colored orbs flickered from the gorgeous interior of the gym to the league referee that emerged from the shadows to observe their battle when he halted at his spot. “Hello,” the man greeted him with a polite nod, “Thanks for coming.” The referee simply just nodded back, his gaze shifted to the opposite side waiting for the challenger. “Well then,” the man mumbled under his breath. His expression shifted to his blank emotionless mask that he always held as his gaze too, shifted to the challengers side. Maverick shoved his hands in his pockets, left fingertips fiddled with the poke balls in his pockets as he waited.

It didn’t take long for his challenger to appear on the other side, taking his spot across from him and greeting him. Mav’s gaze shifted from the dark haired man as he spoke to his choice of dark creatures the were summoned. It wasn’t a surprise to him. Out of curiosity, the gym leader made challenger put down their pokemon they wanted to use during they battle. It was more just for fun. However, he did regret that decision to have that on the application. Because now, it made him want to call his own pair of smiler species creatures to battle against them. But, he resisted that urge the best he could.

The gym leader returned the bow, gripping the poke balls in his pocket. “And good evening too you, Mister Calcifet,” he greeted back, tossing out his two creature to battle with as well, “I’m always ready to battle. Doesn’t matter where or when.” The poke balls burst open before him, two creature materialized before him in that matter of seconds. Despite knowing what he opponent was using, Maverick didn’t use that to advance. That wasn’t the point of his battle. The point was to see how he used his own dark creature’s against his dark creature’s. “The real question is… are you?” The man playfully tease, feeling a sudden frenzy of adrenaline pulse through him.

Before him, two dark types appeared. One was a lavender furred feline known as alolan Persian. He let out a long meow, purring with a sinister expression on his face as he sat down and started to groom himself. The other was a white costed feline as well. The scthyer, although smaller than usual, could not be mistaken than another other than an absol. The absol’s head titled to one side as he gazed upon the challenger and his companions. With both of his creature’s out, the man nodded to the referee before nodding to him. With that, the referee did his job.


“Today! Mister Remiel Calcifet of Galar challenges Gym Leader Maverick Ryder to a double battle using pokemon only of full or part dark typing. The rules are simple. Battle until both pokemon on either side are down and can no longer battle. Challenger has first move whenever he is ready. Begin!”

Maverick rolled his eyes, annoyed that the guy even had to be here. Does the League not trust his judgement? Are they making sure Maverick is a good leader and using this referee to spy? Like honestly, is he even necessary? Annoying.

With a simple command from his opponent, the battle had begun.

As the hydreigon screeched into the heavens to ready itself for battle, the umbreon sent colorful beam in Taibor’s direction. Although the persian seemed unaffected by the mighty roar and instead, the feline snickered darkly as he tried to TAUNT the creature into attack first. A wicked smile spread across it face as he paced back and forth in from of the dragon, waiting to see if his taunt would trigger the dragon into a uncontrollable rage. Remy watched and waited for his moment to strike.

However, the roar did stun the absol for a moment. Taibor took a few steps back, eyes widen as the sheer size of the creature got him off guard. He has ever battled a dragon before. And because of his moment of hesitation, the umbreon’s confuse day hit. Suddenly, his vision was a blur with colorful lights. He blinked, shaking his head to try and clear his vision. It didn’t work. Maverick grunted to himself, of course absol would get hit by confuse ray.

Knowing the effects of the status condition, absol will have to take it easy for a little bit and mostly just try to dodge any advances until it wears off. “Get yourself together Taibor,” the man growled in a low tone, mostly just out of annoyance and not directed towards his creature’s, “Double team.” It was unclear how long the confusion would last. However, boosting the creature’s evasiveness would help even if they couldn’t attack themselves. The absol shook his head again, feeling a bit dizzy but understood what he was to do. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, trying to concentrate on what he was asked to do. His already white furred body took on a low white glow. And within seconds, four other absol appeared next to him. Once the copies where in, the all hissed together making suddenly hard to determine which absol was the real one.

While absol made copies, Maverick’s attention flickered to Remy for a moment though no command were uttered. What were they up too?

It appeared this was going to be a waiting game. Fair enough. Maverick was a patient man. Warm colored orbs flickered over his creatures as the battle began. The Absol and his copies appeared daze from the confuse ray, stumbling over their own feet slightly as they waited for his command. The confusion will be a problem, but not for very long. It was an easy decision to make. Wait it out and play defense until it wears off.

The disaster pokemon blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear his vision. Remy’s taunt appeared to work on the hydreigon as the dark dragon roared with life in anger. But instead of attacking his team mate, his rage was towards him. Taibor’s eyes widen as the powerful orb was hurled his way. A moment a panic flashed over him until he heard his trainer bark a command of “Counter with psycho cut.” The absol and his copies shook head in an attempt to clear the confusion but with no luck. The crescent like blade took on a low purpleish pink glow before he whipped his head in the direction of the focus blast, sending blades of psychic energy to cut through the attack. The two attacks collided just a few feet in front of him, the blast so close to Taibor that the power from the attack sent him off his feet along with all of his copies. His body fell to the earth in a soft thud, unable to catch himself with his head still spinning. His copies vanished with the hit, leaving him by himself. Absol ground, feeling the pain from the focus blast. But luckily, he was quick enough to dampen the blow. He got to his feet, stumbling slightly both from the confusion and the pain. He waited for his next orders, unsure of what to do.

Distracted by the hydreigon rage towards his team mate instead of the one who taunted him, this left Remy open. The fox like creature turned its attention to him. The little balls of sinister auras surround him in a blink of an eye, closing in and trapping him in the same daze as his fellow team mate. The persian stumbled on his feet, shook his head as his vision seemed blurred and his sense of balance was off. He let out a hiss towards the feline, annoyed. If they want to play dirty, Remy will play dirty. The creature shook off the confusion the best he could, darting straight for the umbreon as quickly as he could. He jumps towards his opponent and tries to cloak it with a thick, white smoke surrounded by stars. He attempts to slam his body into the umbreon multiple times, playing rough with it.

The confuse ray did a number on both of his creatures, his absol more and it clearly showed. It also shined a little light on his opponents choice of battling style. Maverick was more of a powerhouse type and he knew it. Most of his creatures possessing strong attacks more than status moves which wasn’t always a good thing and he knew it. While it appeared that his opponent was the opposite, possessing more status attacks than anything else. It wasn’t that he was against this type of battling, it just wasn’t his style. He liked to show his creatures raw power with hints of trickery behind them. Either way, he was glad he decided to keep taunt for this reason and he had to take advance of it.

However, his absol was still at a daze from the confusion. Even as the dragon and dark type powered up again, the gym leader knew his absol was unable to counter or dodge at this stage. “Taibor, brace yourself! Try to dodge!” Was all the man could say as another bright bream of energy shot towards his disaster creature. The white furred feline’s eyes widen as the dragon shot at him once more. He attempted to move, but his body did not listen to the command. The blast hit him head on, agony rippled through him as he tried to bare the attack as much as he could. He screamed, stumble on his feet as every muscle in his body ached. His breathing was heavy, unsure if he could continue.

While the Hydregion attacked his absol, Remy caught the umbreon off guard and played rough with the little dark fox. He slammed his body into the creature a few times before backing off to admire his work. But, the umbreon didn’t waste no time return the favor. The creature darted towards him quicker than he anticipated, slamming its own body into in to play rough back. The creature roughed him up, feeling the hurt as it beat him up too. Maverick needed to stop the umbreon before it uses an other status attacks. “Get yourself together. Don’t let that umbreon get to you. Use taunt then power gem.”

The persian stumbled back, shaking his head to try and shake off the confusion. It didn’t work. The feline glared darkly at the umbreon, trying to taunt the creature closer. And whether the taunt worked or not, Remy was keen to not let the umbreon catch him off guard again. The blue gem on his head took on a brilliant glow before suddenly sending a beam of brown colored energy towards the umbreon, hoping the taunt worked enough to draw the creature closer only to get blasted by his power gem attack.

Turning his attention to his absol, he knew what he had to do. “Taibor,” the man mumbled in a low tone, trying to gauge his creature’s condition, “The time is now. Are you ready?” Taibor grimaced, but lifted his head with pride as the confusion wore off and determination was in his gaze. “Let’s do it now.” The man reached to his cluster of feathers pinned behind his ear, tapping the mega stone with his finger tips. The stone light up, activating the hidden and mysteries secrets locked inside. The absol hissed loudly, standing tall despite the pain the protested his movement. A white glow hidden within his fur around his neck light up, at first dim before the light surround his body and soon forced his body into what could not be mistaken as anything other than mega evolution.

It happened just as quickly as they summoned it, a new formed reveal. Wings protruded from his back, scythes sharped to a curves, and fur puffed out. The absol let out a robust cry, ready to fight with the a new bound of energy. “Taibor use ice beam!” The absol took in a deep breath, feeling the icy cold build with his mouth. A white ball swiftly formed in the matter of seconds. And when ready, the absol forced a beam of icy energy towards the dragon. Although it was weak to ice types, the ice beam was’t the strongest attack out there even with mega evolution. But with that last attack he took, the creature didn’t have much time life to battle. One more focus blast hit and he would surely be out.

It appeared that his attempt to taunt the umbreon into attacking him into a closer range attack didn’t work. Just as the persian launches his power gem at the pesky creature, the little fox manages to dodge the attack by slipping under his aim of directory. The alolan persian hisses loudly in irritation as the beam hits nothing and vanishes into nothing. But to no surprise, the little dark creature attempts a surprise attack.

In the corner of his eye, he spots the little black furred creature coming in hot. It’s tail took on a brilliant white glow turning it into steel. This might be his only chance to knock the creature down a peg or two or at least, get some distance for him to recover and shake off the confusion that still hung over his head. Taking in a deep breath and intense concentration, the oddly colored feline shift his weight just as the tail came crashing down at him. In the matter of seconds, the alolan persian took advantage of the creature being so close to send a powerful Hyper Beam as the tail was just inches from smashing his head. Once the beam was launched, the alolan retreated a few paces back. His hope was that the hyper beam sent the umbreon away from him to give him time to recover from using such a powerful attack as well as did some serious damage.

While the persian had his own problems to deal with, so did the mega absol.

Taibor let loose a ice beam in hopes it would not only hit the dragon, but possibly freeze the creature for a moment. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

The hydreigon summoned a wave of water just as the beam was about to hit. The two attacks collided, the ice beam so cold it froze the wave solid. The wave created a barrier between the two sides, leaving the umbreon in their side of the field without protection from its team mate. In his peripherals, Maverick spots the hyper beam power up that was about to be sent at the umbreon who was too close for comfort. Knowing that Remy would have to take a little bit to recover, this was also a great chance for his absol to help his alolan persian take out the umbreon before the dragon could fly over the wall of ice and see what was happening.

“Taibor, use this to your advantage. Before the hydreigon flies over the barrier, help Remy! Double team and flamethrower!”

The absol let out a loud screech, wing like appendages extended in the sudden rush of adrenaline. In a blink of an eye, two duplicates appeared around him became solidified copies. The thick taste of lava tickled his throat shortly after, becaming too much in his gut and needed to escape. His mouth bursted open, sending a stream of flames in the general direction of the umbreon while the hyper beam was fired. Of course, only one flamethrower was a the true attack while the others were fake. Maverick kept his eyes on the wall of ice, hoping that double team worked before the dragon manages to fly over the barrier to not only see which one was the real absol but to knock out his partner.