“Navy.” He says at once. The name his brother gave him. All the best trainers have color names. To keep his brother’s memory alive, he strives to be Navy. Some might say he’s downright militant about this fact.[break][break]
“Thanks for asking. What ‘bout you? Got any nicknames? Alex? Ivan? Ruler of the skies?” Somewhere along the way, he decides to tease his senior. Give it a bit and he’s going to be a gym leader, too. Nothing like throwing yourself into the gauntlet with a co-worker to introduce yourself to them.[break][break]
He pulls out two Pokeballs. These two Pokemon are his strongest. Vortigern, the black dragon, his Garchomp. An absolute monster. Ironsides has been with him longer than anyone else. Today’s battle is as much of a test for them as it is for him. If he’s going to climb to the highest highs where Kyle, Melody, and the rest dwell, then he’s going to have to see how compatible these two are with one another.[break][break]
“Either way, I hope we can have a good match. Heard nothin’ but good things about you and your gym.”

[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

What a beautiful arena. At the sight of the birds showing off, Navy smiles. This place is beautiful. Photogenic. He could get used to battling on fields like this, with the birds chirping happily in the background.[break][break]
It’s oddly peaceful, given what’s about to take place there.[break][break]
“Alright, Alex. Let’s have us a good match! If I can just get past you n’ Silph, I’m goin’ to the League!” He prays the man takes it as a sign of respect that he was saved almost for last. The man’s reputation around Hoenn precedes him.[break][break]
Ironsides and Vortigern are tossed out. They appear in red streaks of light. His Black Dragon sniffs the air. Looking across at the blue dragon, Hera, he senses an immediate threat. A snarl forms on the edge of his lips. He has never found a dragon he couldn’t overcome. Today, with the help of his trainer, it will be no different.[break][break]
Ironsides huffs a sigh. Pokemon can’t speak, but Ironsides doesn’t need to speak. I’m too old for this shit. He says with a huff of exhausted air, realizing that he’s been cast in the leading role of a gym battle. Taking to the air, he looks back to his trainer. He knows what’s going to happen next. He knows the score. His partner is eying the Gyarados like he wants to kill it. Navy looks like he’s seen a ghost.[break][break]
Vortigern doesn’t need to be told what to do. Swaying in what he senses will be an impending rain storm, he gathers momentum. Beasts of the water are his natural enemies. He needs to bring this to a decisive end, and quick. With the moment he’s given to build himself up, he tries to establish dominance with a lumbering swords dance.[break][break]
“Alright, Ironsides. Lay out a welcome mat for our new friends!” Ironsides nods, kicking up dirt and letting errant bits of stone fall from his wings. Stealth rocks dot the field, blending into the arena. Some even float through the air.[break][break]
“Show me what you’ve got, Alex.”

[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov[break]
Garchomp uses Swords Dance[break]
Skarmory uses Stealth Rock

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Oh bloody hell. They’ve got a battle for dominance on their hands. Navy glances at his opponent from across the pitch, hoping they’re both equipped to wrangle their dragons. Win or lose, this just might get messy. Vortigern sees the elegant, beautiful dragon dance of his opponent. It is a move Garchomp simply cannot master. Seeing another creature, no true dragon in the monster’s eyes, master a move it cannot throws it into a rage.[break][break]
His swords dance moves into a fever pitch, swaying across the field in the pouring rain. His claws grow sharp indeed. A snarl forms at the edge of his mouth – a challenge to come and prove itself, if it’s so hellbent on establishing itself. The dance ends with Vortigern moments before a charge.[break][break]
Navy gulps.[break][break]
Ironsides can do nothing except roll his eyes. This battle is bullshit. They’re not fighting for anything important. They’re not fighting for Gabe, the corpse Navy waves like a battle standard. They’re not even doing this to educate. Both of them are excellent trainers. They’re doing this for ego.[break][break]
A Pelipper is tossing a hurricane at him to satisfy a trainer’s ego. It’s enough to infuriate him. Honing his claws, Ironsides releases a rare screech.[break][break]
“Take the fight to him, Ironsides. Can’t afford to stay on the defensive.” Ironsides supposes his trainer is right. Launching himself at full speed, right into the eye of the hurricane, he feels its winds whip him and toss him about. A lighter bird, or a younger one, would lose themselves. Ironsides takes his licks – he has no choice but to be hit in this downpour, but he emerges on the other side.[break][break]
Where Ironsides ends and a sheer rush of wind, coalesced around him, begins is a question for another time. He’s charging the Pelipper headfirst. This brave bird puts everything he has into the attack, trusting in his trainer’s judgement and the impending rage of the Black Dragon.

[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov Skarmory uses brave bird on Pelipper[break]
Garchomp gets into a dick measuring contest uses a second swords dance.

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Ironsides slams into the hastily erected protection. Breathing heavily, he lands. The world is a haze. Caught in the crossfire hurricane, howling in the pouring rain, he takes a moment to catch his breath. In the midst of the battle, he grows confused. For a brief moment, he can’t see up from down. He just wants to rest.[break][break]
There’s probably something good on Navy’s TV he’s missing by being here. He tries to raise his wings in an iron defense, but he misjudges his own protective barrier. Instead, he hurts himself in his confusion, feeling steel feathers lash into his skin. It shocks him into reality, but he is left vulnerable, looking up at Mike.[break][break]
“Oh fuck me…” Navy mumbles as the black dragon seems to disappear. Garchomp are naturally fast – faster than a creature his size has any right to be. He’s an apex predator, something that tasted blood in the wild. He is a creature not meant for these human engagements. In the world he fought and bled through, every moment was hard fought. Every day was a battle for survival.[break][break]
Hera bears the scent of the wilds, caked under all that civilization. She has allowed herself to grow content in a cage. It feels him with a mighty rage. What dragon would willingly consign itself into a cage of comfort?[break][break]
His long, wicked claws streak across the ground. They raise dirt. By sheer willpower, he raises up a powerful stone edge that shoots skyward, aiming to slam into this queen of the cage with all the force of a raging dragon that will die before it surrenders.

[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov[break]
Skarmory grows momentarily confused, hurting himself in his confusion.[break]
Garchomp rushes down Gyarados and uses stone edge.

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The ice fang stings. It sinks deep into the skin of this cold-blooded creature, born and bred by the wild. Pain is an old friend to him, and he roars in acknowledgement of that pain. Vortigern’s rough skin demands a hefty toll of all who would strike the black dragon. Moreover, it places Hera exactly where he wants her. She has bit into him, so close that they can feel one anothers’ breath.[break][break]
He gives into his rage fully. Vortigern is outraged at his opponent. He flails, bites, claws, tears tears tears. Even if the Gyarados’s aura threatens to strike fear into the fearless, his fangs and claws are still sharp.[break][break]
Ironsides is doused. He squeaks out a protest to Mike. Every word is drowned out by the pump. Is this how kids felt, back in the day when the cops got after them with fire hoses? He squawks in indignation, righting himself and spreading his wings. He’s already had enough of this fight, these people, this situation…but he’s not out of this fight yet. Navy’s first Pokemon has to have a better outing than this.[break][break]
Raising his wings, he delivers a steel wing unto his opponent, the bladed feathers of his wings making it seem less a wing and more a sword.[break][break]
Navy glances at his wrist, wondering how long it will be before he has to pull out his trump card for this battle – a mega stone affixed to a broken watch. If Vortigern can hold out for just a few more rounds, maybe overpower that Gyarados…if Ironsides can hold the line…[break][break]
They just might over a shot.

[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov[break]

Garchomp is intimidated, takes the hit, but is still very angry and attacks Gyarados with an enhanced outrage.[break]

Also it triggers his rough skin when he's hit.

Skarmory is hit by hydro pump, grumbles, uses steel wing on Pelipper.

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Dragons and warriors have one thing in common: neither of their codes mention surrender. Death before dishonor. Never show your back. In the throes of battle, there is no way but forward.[break][break]
Here, as much as anywhere, Navy and Vortigern are a reflection of one another. Standing by, watching this battle, a word forms on the trainer’s lips. What happens in the next few minutes depends entirely upon his black dragon. He has trained the beast, helped him, heightened him, pushed him beyond what he would be in the wilds. Now, it is on Vortigern to utilize that knowledge.[break][break]
Yet still…[break][break]
“Fight…” It is a whisper. Gunmetal eyes trace up from the ground. In the eye of this storm, with a twister on one side and a hurricane on the other, stands Vortigern. The draconic wind whips him, tears into his skin, but he still does not relent. This dragon continues to rage. His outrage only builds at this notion that a mere pretender would step into his world.[break][break]
“Fight.” Navy says with more confidence. Vortigern throws his arms behind him and rushes into the fray, maw opened. Snarling, he refuses to let that Gyarados build distance. Refuses to let Hera get away. She will face him as a proper dragon does, if she wishes to dance that dance.[break][break]
“FIIIIIIIGHT!”[BREAK][BREAK]
“ ▂▂▃▃▅▅▅▅ーーー！！”[break][break]
The dragon echoes his trainer’s yell. Though they may not have a sygna suit, their hearts beat as one. Navy punches and Vortigern mimics the motion with a vicious claw. His blood burns for victory. He marches incessantly towards that goal like it was preordained, caring little for injuries. This is no beast meant for a gym challenge, this is a monster meant for killing Rockets. Let the peanut gallery cheer for these false champions.[break][break]
Ironsides is caught by the storm. He is struck once more. His continued existence is a miracle born of the Skarmory line’s durability and tenacity. Were he any other creature of ground or sky, he would be vanquished by now.[break][break]
As it stands…[break][break]
Ironsides autotomizes. His weight seems to shrink off of him. Flying faster than a bird such as he has any right to, he flaps his wings and climbs. Higher and higher, above the hurricane and the twister below. He says nothing, but he screeches a silent challenge to Mike down below.[break][break]
We are creatures of the sky. Fight me in our field.. He shrieks his challenge, waiting for the Pelipper to follow.

[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov [break]
Navy and Garchomp pump each other up as Garchomp continues his outrage, tanking the twister on the chin.[break]
Skarmory autotomizes and, with his increased speed, flies up to the top of the arena, challenging Pelipper to follow.

[attr="class","pokeclass"]