As the Champion himself, Alexander Stone, stepped into the area, Thomas was already there to greet him. "Thank you, Champion Stone. It's an honor to be graced with your presence. But to be honest, the one who deserves to be congratulated is you.", Thomas would tell him, a genuine smile of friendliness on his face. "Of course, thank you. How has your own transition been going?", Thomas would inquire.

Thomas would spot the two Pokemon behind him, both of them Fairy-types that were most closely associated with his homeland of Kalos. "I take it you're here for a battle? And if I'd have to take a guess, you wish to make it a Double Battle, correct?", Thomas would ask the Champion.

Once he had his answer, Thomas would beckon the Champion to follow him towards the arena. The inside of the arena was what one would expect of an official venue for Pokemon battles, albeit more than spacious enough to contain a Wailord comfortably, with stone walls high enough to contain any Fire-type attack, preventing them from spilling out into the forest outside of the area. "Whenever you're ready, go ahead and take position at the edge of the arena.", Thomas told him.

While Alexander was doing that, Thomas walked over to a chest containing different Pokeballs. From within the chest, Thomas briefly glanced over the different Pokeballs contained within, Thomas carefully selected four Pokeballs from within. Thomas would close the chest, walking over to his side of the arena.

Thomas would send out two of the four Pokemon he selected from the chest. A blue Bisharp would take position at the arena, getting into a combat stance. On the opposite side was a Greninja, who performed a three point landing upon being unleashed from his Pokeball. "You may make the first move!", Thomas called out to the Champion, inviting him to start the battle proper.

---

tags: ALEXANDER STONE
notes: Let the fun begin!

"I can only imagine.", Thomas told him. "But then, the Region is in good hands.", Thomas would tell him.

Thomas watches as the Aromatisse forms a protective screen, acting as a buffer to any sort of physical attacks that could prove harmful to his team. As Hotsuma's leg was ensnared by the Grass Knot, the Greninja would let out a shocked croak, struggling against the grass binding as the Moonblast loomed above him. Bishop would be quick to come to his teammate's aid, leaping in front of the restrained frog, and taking the hit for himself. Thanks to his steely body, he was far better able to take the attack than his teammate would. The Moonblast would manage to lower the Bisharp's Special Attack, not that it was much of a problem. If anything, this worked to Bishop's benefit, his Defiant nature shining through as he looked on at the pair of fairies, fire burning in his eyes.

At this point, the Greninja would spit up an orb from his mouth, his tongue lobbing what was a smoke bomb through the area, quickly coating the area in a thick smokescreen. As the cover of smoke rolled over the area, Bishop would cut his compatriot free of the Grass Knot restricting his leg, before the two fanned out. On one end, Hotsuma would fire a barrage of Water Shuriken at the Florges from the cover of smoke, quickly going back on the move after firing off the Water Shurikens.

Meanwhile, from the flank, Bisharp would charge out from the Smokescreen, intentent on slamming into the Aromatisse's side with an Iron Head, folding into a bladed bullet-like form as he leaped out from the smoke. The Reflect would water down the damage of the attack, this both Bishop and Thomas knew.

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tags: ALEXANDER STONE
notes: -Greninja ensnared by Grass Knot
-Bisharp takes Moonblast. Moonblast debuffs Bisharp's Special Attack by one stage. Defiant activates, Bisharp's attack increase by one stage.
-Greninja lays down a Smokescreen
-Greninja fires off Water Shuriken at Florges from the cover of Smokescreen
-Bisharp attempts to flank around, and hit Aromatisse with Iron Head