Lex is about to get what she is waiting for.

While Valerio declares himself as a social butterfly of the organization, there are still a lot of people in Team Rocket that he is yet to meet. And even when there is an opportunity to actually make their acquaintance, they haven't had the chance to get pass through the small talks of hi's and hello's.

But things are different in an arena. There is no need for pleasantries as the language of battle is pretty much straightforward.

That night, when the rest of Slateport is heavy asleep, some of the people are cheering for the upcoming round of the underground battles in the Hut. As Lex enters the ring, so does Valerio and his kommo-o.

“Let's see what you got, kid. Bring it on!”

BATTLE: SINGLE

Alexandra Briarwood

Baby steps would have been a good idea. Maybe some casual wild pokemon battles first. But that wasn’t Lex’s style. She didn’t half-ass things. She was a balls-to-the-wall kinda girl and the adrenaline that spiked in her veins when she watch the Kommo-o and his trainer enter the arena stimulated her sympathetic nervous system. Fight or flight kicked in. Normally, Lex gave to the ‘flight’ part, her speed making it easy to escape, but this time she had to force herself to quell the urge to grab the Blaziken and go.

Lex hadn’t had the chance to make the acquaintance of the seasoned Rocket Valerio Dachev yet but she had certainly seen him around and was privy to the fact he held a high rank within the organization.

Yea, she certainly wasn’t taking baby steps.

The feinted confidence continues as she smirks, glaring across the battle field at her opponent, “You asked for it,” she teases, still unsure of how to even begin a battle like this. What would she do?

Speed, agility, and stealth were her allies and it reflected in her battle tactics, “Apollo! Flame Charge,” she commands, knowing enough that the residual speed from this attack would help Apollo against a heavy hitter like Kommo-o.

Apollo stands ready with a confidence reflecting Lex’s. He braces, himself, a clawed foot sliding back. The flash of fire is accompanied with the roar of the flames that consume the Blaziken. He burns bright in an all-consuming fire before he pushes off the back foot, sprinting forward with his elevated speed towards his opponent in a full out Flame Charge.

Apollo uses Flame Charge!
Apollo’s Speed increases!

“Oh yeah?” Valerio bites back, his smirk cannot be wiped from his face as he and Iawa begins moving as well.

The pair watches the blaziken charge with flames, bolstering their speed in the process. Fortunately, the Rocket knows this kind of strategy. He has seen a lot of blaziken be trained in this fashion that it already gets too predictable.

The kommo-o braces the attack, but only for the blaziken to be led into a trap. Speed is different from control, and sometimes in favor of the former, one has to let go of the other. As the fighting-type lunges with gusto, the scales from Valerio's pokemons glisten while the rocks that build the arena begins to crumble. Soon, they find their way towards the blaziken, trapping the creature with kommo-o's ROCK TOMB.

“The moment you went near us, you totally asked for it.” Valerio winks.

---

VALERIO uses ROCK TOMB to block FLAME CHARGE. When it hits, it lowers SPD.

BATTLE: SINGLE

Alexandra Briarwood

The Blaziken’s Flame Charge is met with the dragon’s own ferocious attack. The crumbling walls around them obey the dragon’s commands and the Rock Tomb comes barreling down on Apollo before he even had the chance to strike. The building’s debris bombard the dual-type from every angle, trapping him at the dragon’s feet. The heavy weight of the Rock Tomb was binding and the Blaziken was forced to succumb to the attack.

Lex grit her teeth, this wasn’t off to a great start. New strategy? She didn’t really have another one . . . At least her opponent has a sense of humor though. Her lips twitch into an amused grin, “Maybe so . . . but it’s far from over,” she reminds Valerio Dachev. It sounds as though she has unwavering faith in a pokemon she barely knows.

As if on cue, Apollo burst through the rubble, pushing off his powerful legs with a fist clenched tight. The space between the two pokemon is closed easily with one step. The fist swings from his side, fueled by the momentum of a powerful leap in a Sky Uppercut.

Apollo is hit with Rock Tomb, his speed lowers!
He retaliates with Sky Uppercut!

Blaziken breaks through the rock tomb, scuttling forward with an anticipated lunge. Fortunately for them, Iawa has only enough coverage moves against flying-type attacks. He is not to repeat the same move twice knowing how it could lead him to a trap of predictability.

But it's not as if he doesn't have any tricks up his sleeves.

“Counter with FLASH CANNON!”

Kommo-o receives the overwhelming upperpunch and flies into the air. The moment the fire-type thinks it has hit him hard is when the dragon will retaliate back, his scales shimmering once more as a beam of white light hits the opponent in a swift attack.

“Now, that's more like it!”

---

KOMMO-O is hit by SKY UPPERCUT. It deals heavy damage.
KOMMO-O uses FLASH CANNON.

ROLL 1-10 for FLASH CANNON TO DECREASE TARGET'S SP.DEF
TYtTnjhB

BATTLE: SINGLE

Alexandra Briarwood

There’s a satisfying rush of adrenaline when the Blaziken makes contact with the Kommo-o. This is the kind of shit the crowd was here for. But Lex doesn’t notice the roar of the audience and their persistent whistles and screams to try and get her attention, distract her from battle. Her laser focus is fixed mostly on Valerio Dachev. The rocket was calm, confident, and had obviously trained this beast well. She could learn a lot from watching him.

As the Blaziken’s powerful fist made contact, the dragon was already powering up another powerful attack from its arsenal. The bright beam burst from its shimmering scales hitting the Blaze Pokemon square in the chest. Apollo was thrown back by the beam, crashing to the ground with a thundering crash.

The crowd goes wild.

“C’mon, Apollo, get up,” she pleads quietly to herself, watching anxiously as the orange raptor stirs in the pile of dirt and rocks. His chest heaves heavily, replacing the air knocked out of him from the attack. His orange coloring is dulled by the layer of dust and dirt that settled on him but the fight in his eyes remains.

Apollo doesn’t wait for his trainer’s command. He knows what to do, he is learning she is useless in a battle anyway. The power of his previous attack taught him the Kommo-o did have a vulnerability beneath that armor. So, he lunges forward, speed the highlight of his Aerial Ace. He feints right, left, then leaps to the right, the wall of the arena cracking beneath his claws as he pushed off, coming from the side to try and strike the Kommo-o with an Aerial Ace.

Apollo is critically hit with Flash Cannon!
Apollo strikes with Aerial Ace!

Just when the blaziken least expects it, Valerio makes kommo-o take advantage of their opponent team's brashness.

The dragon plunges feet first on the ground as soon as the attack hits, his gaze already expecting what the girl and her pokemon is going to do. As the fellow fire-type lunges with another flying-type attacks, the boulders that once trapped the blaziken flies again all around them

This time, however, the ROCK TOMB does not encase the girl's pokemon; it armors kommo-o from the incoming attack.

“I figure you'd do something similar like that.”

He smiles. Kommo-o takes advantage of the opponent's momentum to hit towards the rock at full speed, with the rock-sheathed dragon lunging as well, meeting the creature to make their contact hit with impact.

---

KOMMO-O uses ROCK TOMB to defend against AERIAL ACE.

BATTLE: SINGLE

Alexandra Briarwood

The debris scattered across the arena’s floor quivered as the Kommo-o summoned them again. This time, they didn’t rush to strike Apollo. Instead, they formed a physical barrier around the dragon-fighting type to protect him from the Aerial Ace. The Blaziken was practically upon the beast when the rocks rose.

His attack clashes into the shield, and the rocks burst into pebbles with an impressive crash when quick Aerial Ace strikes. Apollo hisses in frustration as he skids to a stop. His talons dig into the floor, leaving scars in his wake. His red eyes flash towards the Kommo-o in a fury. He wastes no time to take advantage of the close distance. His left claws glow as he pivots on his right foot, pushing off the left to twist and bring his arm down and around to strike with a Slash.

Apollo use Slash!
Valerio Dachev

The blaziken sure does waste no time trying to eliminate its opponent, but its vigor is just reflected to its opponent as well.

When the rock shield starts to peel off from the dragon's body, it is revealed that she also takes the time to prepare her next move. Valerio's Iawa is covered in red flare, the bloody aura shimmering amidst the scales that armors his dragon as her eyes carefully observe the movements of her opponent. And when the opportunity comes from another strike, so does her attack launches at maximum power.

“Don't hesitate to pound it with your full power! Use CLANGING SCALES!” The red shimmer of power soon translates into a tremendous blue shockwave that aims to send the blaziken reeling back to the other side of the field.

The slash may have cut through its flesh, but the adrenaline from all her wounds is making her more agitated to continue.

---

KOMMO-O is hit by SLASH. It deals normal damage.
KOMMO-O uses CLANGING SCALES.

BATTLE: SINGLE

Alexandra Briarwood

The shimmering dragon burst into a wave of sound energy. The air vibrated aggressively with the reverberation of the attack. Lex steeled herself, feeling the power all the way at the other side of the arena.

Poor Apollo took the full power of it. The shockwaves pounded against his chest, the invisible force knocking what little breath he had out of him and sent him flying back towards the other side of the arena. He crashed into the wall and slumped to the arena floor. A large divot was left where he struck. The crowd erupted in noise.

The Blaziken wasn’t finished, though. He twitched, using what energy remained to stand to his full height. His body ached and head spun from exhaustion. His colors were exaggerated by the Blaze Ability as the power of his typing resonated through him. Blaze brought power, but it also settled the Blaziken into a trance-like state of fight or flight with the deep, instinctive urge to survive.

He moved to sprint forward, “Apollo, no!” she tried to stop him but the fire-type burst into flurry of angry flames and charged towards the opponent with a reckless FLAME CHARGE.

Apollo’s ability BLAZE is activated
Apollo recklessly uses FLAME CHARGE
Valerio Dachev

Iawa employes a familiar strategy against the rampaging beast, the flare in its eyes visible enough for the fighting-type dragon to realize it's being pumped with adrenaline.

“Shield yourself once more!”

ROCK TOMB once again is utilize to brace the brunt of blaziken's attack, but the lady's creature is far more faster than usual, and the scaled dragon is only able to surround his arms to shield from the impact. Its scorching kick leaves a scar on her lamina, the force pushing her back but her strength struggles to remain on the field.

The remaining rock pieces from the attack surges into the dragon, but with the blaziken in-front of her, it is the fire-type that will come crashing with the pieces of earth. And Valerio hopes the blaziken won't come to notice this to end this match as swiftly as he can.

---

KOMMO-O is hit by BLAZE KICK. It deals normal damage.
KOMMO-O uses ROCK TOMB.

BATTLE: SINGLE

Alexandra Briarwood

Apollo’s attack lands with a satisfying burst of flames. The consuming fire scorches the dragon’s scales but still leaves the beast standing. He is desperate to land another blow, lost in his will for survival he becomes rash and reckless. Apollo reaches back for another Slash but is met with the heavy weight of a ROCK TOMB crashing down onto him again.

The Blaziken succumbs to the attack, lost in the debris and rubble. The rocks shift but not from his movements, solely from gravity. There is a moment of silence and stillness, until Valerio Dachev and his Kommo-o are declared the winners.

“Well fuck,” Lex growled, moving forward to retrieve her pokemon. There was no clear shot through the rocks so she had to heave a few out of the way before she could return him to his pokeball. The rocks shifted once more when the Blaziken disappeared. Lex stepped back and cast a curious look towards Valerio and the Kommo-o. She was impressed, she could probably learn a lot from this man. She subtly shifted her chin towards the underground battle hut’s crowded bar, “Buy you a drink?” she asked, with she unspoken objective of picking his brain. Lex was a willing student. The battle made it painfully obvious she needed the help.

Apollo is struck with Rock Tomb and FAINTS
Valerio Dachev

“Why so glum, kid? Come on! Your blaziken is still alive. If people really want hardcore, the place should have flooded with blood by now.”

He snorts as he hits her arm playfully. As the arena howls of their triumph, Valerio copies the gesture, picks the ball from his pocket and the retrieves his kommo-o under the similar red light. With the mention of free drinks from his opponent, he gleams with joy.

“Now, how can I refuse?” His arms find their way on the girl's as he leads her to the path of his favorite pub. “You know, I think I saw you before. Aren't you kris flynn-edwards's recruit or something? Cause I'm the one who recruits him.”

BATTLE: SINGLE

Alexandra Briarwood