It didn’t take too long for this Kyle guy to show up. Crimson colored orbs rose from the screen of his phone when he heard a voice and meet the amber eyes of his opponent. “Oh…” he relied as his gaze fell to the houndour that waiting next to his trainer before retreating back to the trainer’s, “Didn’t think about it much.” With the scent and sight of a stranger, Azula somewhat calm demeanor shifted. The six foot canines stood guard next to Maverick,. “Yeah… I’m cool with them if you are.” And he couldn’t fight the urge anymore…. “Nice houndour.” There, out of his system.

His gaze then shifted to his surroundings, personally debating before he turned to Kyle once more. “Where would you like to start?” To be honest, its been a while sense he battled an opponent. And the last time he battled, it took place in a huge building that had advanced technology. You were literally put in a white room, only for it to transform into something spectacular and so life like. And, it was all up to you. If you wanted to battle on a beach, in the middle of the day, weather cool, nice breeze, and sand between your toes, the hologram would make you feel as though you were there. His pass battled flash through his memories, from the first one to the last. Azula’s low growl snapped him out of it. “We are ready whenever you are ready.”

The man listened to Kyle babble about his houndour for a moment. His expression flat and appeared bored though a dark brow rose when Kyle must of caught himself rambling on and coughed his way to end the conversation. And when he turned to take to his side of the pretend battlefield, Maverick simply moved to his adjacent side of the playground. “Oh yeah…” he replied casually, feeling as though he was finally getting back into his normal self, “You too man. Hope to get in some good practice today."

Reaching into his ebony pants pocket, the common two toned ball burst opened with a simply press of the center button. The beam of light shot out in front of him and a yellow and grey creature formed from it. The scaly pokemon’s gaze fixed on the baby canine like creature before it. His head titled to the side. But before anything started, the man spoke up to his pokemon. “Show me what you got, Rhaegar.” The dragon type glanced back at his new trainer, understanding what that meant as soon as it came out. Turning back to his opponent, it was time to battle.

The jangmo-o takes in a deep breath, lung expand with the great intake of air. And with all his might, the baby dragon pokemon let out a mighty NOBLE ROAR. Well… as mighty as a little dragon could. If anything, the creature was more like a cute little lion cub roar than an actual powerful dragon one but it was a start. In hopes that the roar intimidated the blue pokemon and did it trick, Rhaegar started his forward dash towards the riolu. Speed was not something he was noted for and as the creature darted straight towards it, Maverick could tell already this dragon’s going to need a lot more training. But as per usually, the trainer remained observed taking meant notes as the battle continued.

When the jangmo-o felt he was close enough, or at least felt like he might be able to hit his target, his left hand became surrounded is a light green glow. Long sharp green colored claws extended from his original nails. The creature tried to strike his opponent anywhere and as many times as he could mange to get. Though with how direct his approach was, the little dragon might be at the mercy of the fighting type if the DRAGON CLAW didn’t hit. Maverick only sighed, hands rose to his face to rub his temples with his fingers. Oh boy. The man forgot how slightly annoying it might be starting over from scratch.

Despite the man being a pokemon trainer for the last seven years, Mav didn’t know much about dragons. The past seven years before he returned to Hoenn, Maverick dedicated his life to dark types and dark types only. He trained with them and even won the title of gym leader with them back home. Yes, he had battled dragons and knew they were a force to be reckoned with. However the finer details, how to train them probably and handle them was something new to him. It was something he was willing to learn, but had to learn quickly. Mostly because, a new dream rose and he was determined to conquer it sooner than his past dream that took him seven years to do it only to lose it in the end.

As Rhaegar let out his noble roar, Maverick couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. Once again, his former team would have dominated right away. Yet here he was, starting all over again. A long sigh escaped him. Warm digits observed his little dragon rushing forward in an attempt to slash at the creature with a dragon claw. And to no surprise to the scarred male, the little blue creature predicted the jangmo-o attack. The scaly pokemon charged, dragon claw ready to slash. However, the Riolu was quicker. And as he tried to slash the creature, a ripple of pain pulled through his lower jaw as the fighting creature punched from underneath.

The hit was powerful, sending the poor little dragon off its paws. His body flew through the air, landing just a few feet before his trainer. It hurt. Bad. The creature growled, slowly but surely got to his feet. Pain made him flinch though the dragon was not going down that easy. “If you can keep going, don’t hesitate,” the man mumbled to the dragon before him, warm gaze flickered to the injured creature to their opponent, “Use dragon dance than Dragon Claw once more.”

Rhaegar’s body started to glow once more. However, the strange aura around his body took on a red and light blue glow. The lights formed almost like serpent heads, circling the dragon creature in a memorizing dance. Rhaegar could almost feel the power of the dragons pulse through him, he could almost feel his attack power and speed boost. And once the dragons were done, the dragon and fighting type was at it once again. This time, his speed was slightly faster though as he got closer. Something happened. A rippled of pain sent his body into shock as sparks skipped across his skin. The dragon cried out in agony. But for some reason, he couldn’t move. Why?

As Rhaeger rushed forward to use dragon claw on his opponent as thought it had a HIT BOX on him, a strange sensation skipped across his scaly skin. A electrical surge pulsed through his muscles, seizing his body in to place unable to move CANCELing the dragon claw he intended to use. ’Fuck’, the trainer cursed in his head, shaking his head in disappointment at the HITSTUN. Maverick knew what happened. He is paralyzed and at the mercy of the little blue creature. “Don’t just stand there Rhaeger,” the man called out to his creature, agitated with the dragon, “Protect yourself.”

The status condition was too strong. The jangmo-o tried to move but every time he attempted to dodge the canine like creature that comes in for an attack, the static forced him to sit still. The dragon’s eyes opened wide, lowering his head to brace for impact as the little paw of the riolu slammed into his head scale. His little body flung through the air, landing just before Maverick with a thud. Rhaeger’s head ached, a headache felt like it would be here at any moment. In a low tone but stern tone, Maverick’s hot gaze stared down at the little pokemon. “Can you continue?”

The words buzzed in his head. For a moment, his vision was blurred as his own red digits glanced up at his trainers JUGGLING on what to do next. Maverick expression was blank, he didn’t look upset but he didn’t look happy either. After a minute of a starting contest, the trainer’s brow raised though no words come out. The dragon groaned, slowly gathering the strength to stand on his paws. A snark of electrics snapped around him, clearly still effected by the paralyze. Summoning the last bit of strength he could muster, the little dragon took in a deep breath. Lungs expanded with the sudden intake of air. And with all his might, mouth burst open in another NOBLE ROAR. This time, the roar had more too it though died quicker this time though hoped to intimidate the creature enough so it was too scared to move.

“Dragon Claw.”

Without a moments hesitation, the creature darted forward though his movements were slowed thanks to the status condition the still pleaded him. Knowing that this could be the jangmo-o last attack and probably will not last another attack from the riolu, the scarred trainer pulled out his pokeball and grabbed another. The little dragon tried to close the gap between them as swiftly as his little injured body could. His left claw rose into the air. Just as before, a light green glow surrounded his right hand. Long sharp green colored claws extended from his original nails as he tried to hit the riolu many times as he could mange to get. His vision staring to blur once more, mind in and out of it. This was his last chance.

The jangmo-o wasn’t going to last long enough. It was inexperienced compared to the riolu. But, it fought to its very last breath. And honestly, Maverick did take note and apprenticed his valor. Even as the creature rose from being pretty well defeated to give it his all in one last shot, Mav approved. The noble roar did throw the creature off it’s pride. However, it wasn’t enough. As the little dragon charged forward, the little blue creature was ready. His dragon claw only scratched the surface, tumbling forward only to feel the pain in his back. Sharp claws dug into his back, Rhaegar hollered in back as it blow through him off his four feet and land a few feet before the riolu. A thud indicated he landed hard. The creature groaned, tried to push himself up for another round with his left foot. It didn’t work. It gave out and his face fell to the earth. He was out cold.

Not a word came from Maverick as he pulled out his poke ball and recalled the creature. The beam of light sucked the creature back in and locked him in place. Crimson colored orbs flickered down to he ball he held though no audible words were uttered. Instead, the man sighed. Retreating the poor dragon into his pockets for a good rest and pulling out the next one. Today wasn’t about winning. It was about learning about these new recruits Maverick had caught. It wasn’t about his pride though his pride did suffer.

With a click of the button, another pokemon was summoned to battle and materialized before the trainer. It probably didn’t make much sense to Kyle as to why Maverick called out yet another creature weak to his fighting type. But again, Maverick wanted to see how much work these pokemon needed. The oddly colored meowth let out a long MEEEEOOOOWWW, rubbing his eyes with his front paws. It blinked, taking in the scenery before tiredly looking to his new owner. Mav rolled his eyes. “I already told you that you are battling today,” the man grumbled in a low tone, his gaze flashed to Kyle’s with a half ass apologetic look before focusing on the alolan meowth, “Look Remy. They’re waiting patiently.” “Meoooowth," he replied grumpy.

The creature sat in front of his opponents for a moment. It yawned, finding the will to stand up on two legs like the pokedex often showed. Remy gave the riolu a cheeky smile, hoping to TAUNT the creature into doing the work for him and get closer. If the taunt works and the riolu gets closer, the meowth had something up his sleeve. When the creature got closer, he plans on using FAKE OUT. A clap of his paws will send a large shockwave of air that should push the creature back once more. If taunt didn’t work… well… surely a punch would make the cat want to fight. Right?

To Maverick’s surprise, it actually worked. The creature actually is kind of battling. Who knew the creature could not be so lazy for once? The trainer was both amazed and blown away as the lazy little oddly colored feline stood up on two feet, ready to attack. He taunted the creature closer, only to clap he paws together and send the creature a few steps away. “Nice,” the man mumbled quietly to himself, seeing the frustration on the other trainer’s face, “Keep it up.”

Remy only snickered in response, casually strolling right up to the creature while it was still somewhat dazed. Remy snickered again, raising his paws to ready an attack. His claws took on a light purple glow, extending out from his little paws with a dark aura. And when he was close enough, the alolan meowth tried strike the riolu as many times as it would allow it with a NIGHT SLASH. Maverick only smacked his palm on his forehead and let a sigh escape him. Why did he trade for his cat again?