i'll challenge you even if it's unfair

[attr="class","starrytext"]as mateo saw the emergence of what appeared to be a human with a feminine physique. his face began to paint a hue of pink upon his cheeks. she was cute and a girl.

a light gasp. the dragon tamer would take a small step back with a single foot. mateo was caught off guard by the fact that first gym leader he'd challenged was female. which would explain the environment a lot. looking toward the hypno, mateo would give a growling stare toward the snitching psychic. bastard, he thought.

scratching the side of his cheek, he'd look off elsewhere. "w-well, i-i'll help repair the damage as an apology. i shouldn't 'ave had sceptile to do that." scratching the back of his head now, he'd add, "y'know how us challenger's are! hotblooded and excited to get to the main event..." more like hotblooded and easily annoyed. a trait he needed to work on.

clasping his hands together. he'd bow his hands, "sorry, sorry, i promise to help repair the damage--dragon's honor!" he exclaimed.

i'll challenge you even if it's unfair

[attr="class","starrytext"]slightly raising his head as he took a peek. in his mind, he thought, 'oh man, she's really cute when she smiles.' call mateo what you wanted: hotheaded, abrasive, and fierce, but he was still a human male at heart. cait spoke with such a soft tone and, though they stood apart, her scent was like an ephemeral plant. it would eventually fade, but he'd remember it for as long as he could.

"alright then, let's have a great battle!" reaching into the right side of his trench coat. he'd enlarge a small ball capsule with the press of a button, "a sceptile? this should be a funny battle, come on out scep--" intercepted by the flash of a different light emerging from his trench coat. charizard would come out! "y-you?!" it'd been sometime since he came out. mateo was a bit surprised to see the fire drake who slept more than he could count. "does he acknowledge her strength...?" mateo lowly spoke.

a smile would cross his face.

placing sceptile's ball back. he'd say, "alright then, my choice is charizard." the charizard gave the sceptile an intense stare. "your sceptile must be a strong grass-type, you actually forced charizard to come out." charizard had a sharp sense when it came to an opponent. and for the grass-type to have given him such a feeling? it made mateo smile with glee. he was excited even more.

finally, he was going to face a gym leader of hoenn.

introductions had yet to be given. but it seemed as if that would have to wait. "allow me to start us off then. charizard, flamethrower!" with the flame on its tail growing bright, charizard's maw expelled a cry of raging flames forward. attempting to set the sceptile ablaze.

i'll challenge you even if it's unfair

[attr="class","starrytext"]there was opportunity for the opponent to strike--or so they thought. "counter!" mateo shouted. charizard, readying its body, responded to the grass-type's ninja movement; not with type advantage but physical prowess. with the movement of a single palm, charizard took hold of sceptile's wrist. with his other palm, he'd lift the grass over his head.

once overhead, he'd open his maw, "dragon rage, send it flying!" a sphere, small at first, would enlarge upon being expelled from the charizard's mouth. the sceptile would be taking this face first and sending it flying into the air and back onto cait alfric 's side of the gym. if successful, mateo would say, "just so you know, i don't believe in type advantage! i think the battle's more fun when you're at a disadvantage; though, not many think like me. and it's hard to put my money where my mouth is when i'm using a fire-type against you." but, it's pretty clear, mateo held true to his word from the two moves he just used.

"you know, cait. you don't have to treat me like a challenger, i want you to have fun too!" mateo stated, grinning with a big smile. "charizard's acknowledged that your sceptile is pretty dangerous and has a high chance of beating him. plus, you're a gym leader. so there's no way we're lettin' our guard down for a second." thinking about it, that night slash was pretty dangerous. who knows what sort of damage that could've done. mateo had to make sure charizard was safe.

i'll challenge you even if it's unfair

[attr="class","starrytext"]there it is. the look he loved to see within a fellow gym leader--no--a fellow trainer. this was a clash of equal spirits. win or lose, he was going to learn something from this. it was too early to use counter once more for it had moments to fail. mateo, choosing not to take such a risk, decided the best course of action was to meet it head on.

"don't shy from it, hug it!" charizard looked back at mateo's strange order, but he understood what it meant and that this was going to hurt...like a bitch. spreading his wings, charizard began to fly toward sceptile. as if preparing to use a move as its maw began to ignite a slight flame within it, but it did not! charizard would come to to extend its arms and the sceptile's sharpened, dark slash successfully cut the dragon with great precision.

but, simultaneously, charizard took hold of sceptile. bear hugging the grass-type with a tight grip, it would fly the grass-type into the air. "higher, higher!" the sceptile could attempt hack and slash all it wanted, but charizard had no intention of letting go. they flew high to the ceiling only for charizard to spin rapidly in a circle and fling the sceptile back down to the ground. "air slash!" and on command, as it tossed sceptile, it would, too, expel a plethora of energized razor bladed discs from its wings. following after the grass-type in hopes of greatly slashing it.

charizard flew within the air. awaiting to see if its attacked work. mateo, too, watched with great intensity.

i'll challenge you even if it's unfair

[attr="class","starrytext"]mateo had taken in note of charizard's advantage. but even then that sceptile had quite the keen eye. "mm..." mateo stared at charizard, who was still flapping his wings about within the air. as the sceptile readied for another assault, charizard landed unto the ground once again. cait, once more, went for the same strategy.

mateo crossed his arms. his expression becoming one of a serious tone. being that familiar with a sceptile of his own. the sceptile she possessed had strength, compared to his who excelled in speed. it only took a moment for mateo to realize how to deal with the sceptile's nuisance. "charizard!" he shouted his name. readying himself, mateo placed himself into a position as if he were one with the pokemon.

"counter!" extending his palm, charizard followed in sync. as the sceptile attempted to slice at his stomach once more, one of charizard's arm extended to the front whereas, his other, maneuvered to protect his side. he would attempt to take hold of the sceptile's wrists once more. and, if successful, his goal, this time, was to toss the sceptile into the air rather than on its back or overhead.

if charizard was successful in capturing the sceptile, he'd swing it around and fling it into the air. "flamethrower!" and would follow up with a hellish roar of fire that would attempt to engulf the grass-type's entire being. of course, that was only if he were successful.

i'll challenge you even if it's unfair

[attr="class","starrytext"]a victorious roar. mateo would run over to jump on his partner's back. a wide smile, he'd pat the mighty beasts head. "nice one, charizard!" he praised. only to be asked a question by cait. "i met him sometime when he was a charmeleon back when i stayed in blackthorn." an innocent smile bedazzled by rose-colored cheeks as they journeyed down memory lane, "he was pretty stubborn and didn't get along with the other dragon pokemon, especially my other partner dragonite. but he eventually became tame." a hand caressed the side of charizard's smile.

"he evolved the moment he opened up and accepted us." mateo stated. "our synergy is like dragon energy, wild and free. he listens to me as long as i let him cut loose. though, he still has his days like any other dragon." mateo spoke, a vain throbbing on the side of his head as he thought the times he was stubborn. "but he has his moments just like a human." he's not a dragon-type, but charizard has the personality and body of one. he will always be a dragon in his book.

charizard would release another roar. mateo, massaging underneath the fire-types chin, said, "stiildus tum." mateo told the charizard, speaking within a different tongue that told the fire-type to calm down. "he's a bit eager to continue on, sorry-sorry!" mateo apologized. he'd then return to his side of the field. "did you always want to be a gym leader?" he asked the female gym leader.