Pokemon: Way of Life Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak.

Hi all,

The next chapter is here. Don't forget to comment on the previous post regarding my plans for 2023.

When Dante appeared on the stage, he looked around.

'What's the current situation?'

As Lucas explained, Dante nodded sharply. 'Let's finish off the little rodent.'

At this point, the Toxic Spikes had disappeared, so the stage was back to normal. The referee dropped his flag, and the battle resumed.

'Use Trace to copy his special ability.' Lucas told Dante.

Dante has copied the Nidorans' special ability, Rivalry.

The ability was useless since it only increased damage when both Pokemon had the same gender. At least he confirmed it wasn't Poison Point, but it would have been more helpful at the start.

Lucas decided then and there to examine the Pokemon's parameters for the rest of the tournament, as this was not the place to test his knowledge. The battles would only get more challenging.

He waited to see what Nidoran would do first before taking action. As Nidoran ran forward, its claws gleamed as it prepared to launch another physical attack on its opponent. Grace recognised that Dante would be attacking from a distance, so using Toxic Spikes again would be useless.

‘Double Team.’

The copy that Dante created stood a metre away from him. Nidoran attacked with Scratch. The copy was sacrificed in order to save the original. After Nidoran's attack failed to register, she fell to the ground after overbalancing.

'Psybeam.'

Dante fired a beam of psychic energy, slicing through the air with such velocity that Nidoran was forced to execute Protect with her back turned, which absorbed the attack and exploded, dissipating into nothing.

‘Disable.’

Nidorans’ Protect has been disabled for thirty seconds.

Lucas smirked. It felt satisfying to give back some of her own medicine.

The Nidoran opened its mouth, releasing a dozen purple needles into the air, which shot forward rapidly. Luckily, Dante evaded, and the Nidoran rushed forward again, trying to close the distance. It seemed to have run out of tricks.

‘Keep evading and then use Double Team into Psybeam. Use your judgement to get the timing right.’

As Nidoran could not keep up with his opponent's speed, Dante managed to gain some distance, waiting for the right moment to strike. Nidoran was able to destroy another copy before Dante nailed her with a Psybeam, ending the fight. It was an anticlimactic finish to the match.

Nidoran has taken 98 damage. It's super effective!

Nidoran has fainted.

"Nidoran is unable to battle. The winner of the match is Lucas Walker of Pallet Town. Step forward and shake hands to commemorate what has been a wonderful match."

Lucas patted Dante's head with a smile on his face. "You did well finishing off Nidoran."

'It wasn't that difficult.' Dante shrugged.

Lucas sent him to the treatment centre. Although he did not need healing, he could replenish his Aura. The Pokemon were restored to pristine condition after every match in order to ensure that every trainer had an even playing field.

As the trainers met in the middle of the room, Lucas extended his hand. However, Grace reached out and hugged him instead. Her bold action caught Lucas off guard, and he gasped.

"There, that makes up for losing the fight," Grace giggled, seemingly unbothered by her loss. She handed over the Pokedollars she had wagered on the match.

"Right," Lucas said awkwardly. "It was a good fight."

Upon leaving the stage, Lucas checked his phone to see how much he had gained from the match.

=====

Congratulations!

The player has won the trainer battle!

Lucas has earned 158 experience + 20 trainer points.

Title: Unstoppable has increased; +22% exp gain.

Opponent: Spearow

⦁ Maximus has earned 100% (59 exp) of the experience.

Opponent: Nidoran

⦁ Maximus has earned 20% (12 exp) of the experience.

⦁ Dante has earned 80% (50 exp) of the experience.

=====

Lucas looked up from his phone as two men stopped next to him. One held a microphone, and the other had a video camera resting on his shoulder.

The man with the microphone wore jeans, a flannel shirt, and a leather jacket. This was not the usual attire of a reporter. In Terracotta Town, perhaps people behaved in a more informal manner. The man smiled, showing off a row of sparkling white teeth. They looked almost sharklike, dispelling the friendly vibe and making him seem more like a predator awaiting a meal.

"Lucas Walker, my name is Scott Gillespie, a reporter with the Terracotta Express. Congratulations on your win. Would you like to say a few words?"

Lucas kept his expression even, but inside he felt annoyed. He wanted to avoid attracting attention from reporters at his first tournament. It would become more about his life outside of being a Pokemon trainer. There was no way Lucas could let anything detract from the special occasion, but he had to be realistic about it. He knew this would happen when he consciously decided to step into the public eye, and now he must pay the piper.

“Well, I was a little rash against Nidoran, but overall, it was a good start to the tournament.”

“Don’t you find it serendipitous that the music video was released the same day as your debut tournament?”

“Not really,” Lucas shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.”

“How was it working with Yuna? She is a famous and beautiful woman. It must have been a huge temptation for a teenage boy like you."

Okay, the knives were out, and the reporter was closing in for the kill. “Yuna is more than ten years older than me and a happily married woman, so there was no temptation. She is an incredible singer and a consummate professional. I learned a lot working with her.”

The reporter changed tactics. “There are concerns that being in a relationship with Faith Harper is detrimental to your image. She has been involved in some physical altercations, after all.”

What a bloody wanker. Lucas smiled, but his eyes were icy. The cameraman took an involuntary step back in apprehension.

“First of all,” Lucas said. “As long as fame means sacrificing relationships in order to please the crowd, I don't want anything to do with it. As far as my girlfriend is concerned, the happenings at the orphanage have already been well documented. I suggest you check your facts before asking questions likely to get you in trouble.”

“Is that a threat?” Scott stepped forward, an eager look in his eyes. As he spoke, there was a sense of desperation in his voice, like he was seeking a scoop that would launch his career to new heights.

“This interview is over.” Lucas turned around and walked back to the stage.

The reporter tried to follow him, but an official blocked his path. Lucas had no doubt that the man was frustrated and that he might try and bother him in the future. It did not matter to him since he was going to leave Terracotta Town tomorrow, so there was no point in worrying.

He sat in one of the seats arranged around the stage. After making it through the first round, he had to wait until the current round ended. At the current pace, he estimated that his next match would not happen for another hour or so.

Scrolling through his Tweak account, he amused himself by reading the hundreds of comments of his followers as they playfully criticised his strategy in the battle.

Among the comments he received were a few that were a bit more serious but offered some excellent suggestions, so he thanked them for their assistance.

It was almost an hour later that it was his turn again. He stood up and made his way onto the blue platform, where he climbed up. At this point, Maximus should be back in peak condition. The league had Pokemon that could heal injuries quickly. Additionally, they used a lot of ethers to restore the Pokemon's Aura, which was a pretty expensive endeavour. In addition to the prizes, it must certainly cost quite a bit of money to organize a tournament of this size.

His next opponent was a teenager named Timothy, who was an oddity. A creepy grin adorned the teenager's face as he held a large bug net over his shoulder. Lucas could imagine the teenager approaching him in a dark alley, and he would run away in terror. Did the net capture Pokemon...or humans? It was difficult to determine.

“Hehe. I would like to greet you, my young friend. Let me make you feel the despair of facing one of my mighty Bug Pokemon."

Suddenly, Lucas recalled something from the Pokemon games, threw his head back and laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Timothy shouted, waving his bug net around.

“You’re a Bug Maniac,” Lucas grinned.

“Who are you calling a maniac?” Timothy squinted in confusion. “I’m looking forward to taking down your Pokemon.”

The referee watched the interaction with amusement before coughing in embarrassment when he realised he was delaying the match. He stepped forward to declare the match rules.

“We already know the rules,” Timothy interrupted. “I do not wish to wager any Pokedollars.”

They flipped the coin, which wasn’t in his favour this time. He knew it was a Bug-Type, so it didn't matter if he released his Pokemon first. Imara was the right choice for him. Of course, the trainer could have a Pokemon with a secondary typing that could cause some problems, but he felt confident in his decision.

Lucas released her onto the field. She raised her arms and released a spout of flame into the air.

‘Finally, it’s my turn. Eh, who is the weirdo?’

Timothy released his Pokemon onto the stage. It was a Venonat, a spherical Pokemon covered in purple fur and with large red compound eyes. There was a pair of antennae sprouting from its head.

Venonat ~ Level 6 ~ HP: 150 ~ Aura: 145

Lucas didn’t hesitate and examined the Venonats' parameters. His special ability was Tinted Lenses—which powered up Moves that were ineffective against their target. It eliminated Imara's type advantage against Bug-Type Moves.

The stats of Venonat were quite balanced, with HP being the only standout. However, it could not overshadow the type advantage Imara had over Venonat. Lucas was tempted to look at the Venonats’ Moves but resisted. He would learn them as he came across them.

“Match…Start.”

‘Sunny Day.’ Lucas commanded.

The small ball of fire ascended into the air, and the temperature on the stage rose rapidly due to the intense heat emanating from it.

Meanwhile, Venonat didn’t even attempt to interrupt Imara and executed an Agility Move. A brief distortion appeared as it activated, appearing as if there was an amalgamation of five Venonats before returning to normal.

Venonats' speed has been raised by two stages.

This was a great support Move for a battle since speed is always crucial. Lucas quickly calculated and determined that Imara still had the edge in that department. However, he couldn’t allow the Pokemon to use the Move again.

‘Smokescreen.’

Charmander reared back, and a thick cloud of smoke erupted from her mouth, billowing out and obscuring the stage in a thick hazy cloud of smoke. The crowd watching the fight booed, unable to see the fight. It would take some time to disperse unless Venonat had a Move to counter it.

‘Close the distance but with an indirect approach.’

Lucas could see almost right through the haze, so he guided her so she could manoeuvre through it with relative ease. The smoke didn't affect her lungs, but he wondered if Venonat was the same. It had to be affecting her eyes, as hers were so large. He imagined they were watering right now.

Lucas was leery of using Ember because he was sure that Venonat had Disable, and he didn’t want to lose Imara's only Special Attack. Thinking about it now, he should have taught her another Fire-Type Move when she failed to learn Weather Ball. Having only one special attack was a significant weakness. However, Imara had some pretty damaging physical moves, so it wasn’t that egregious.

Venonat shook its body, and a small cloud of Poison Powder floated down into the haze of smoke. It was a smart move. The poison would be hard to see inside the cloud, and Imara risked getting poisoned if she stayed inside.

‘Retreat.’

Imara emerged from the smoke as Venonat was executing its next Move. Lucas observed him, only to get a nasty surprise as he registered what it was doing—Solar Beam. Suddenly, green energy appeared on top of Venonat's antennas.

Lucas realised he had made another mistake. Because Sunny Day was on the field, Solar Beam powered up a lot faster. He could never imagine that the Venonat had such a high Grass affinity to learn such a powerful attack.

The wide beam of energy blasted through the air at incredible speed, heading directly for Imara. She must have learned Imara's location from her trainer.

'Jump into the air.’ Lucas called urgently.

Thanks to her training, Imara responded immediately, launching herself into the air and barely avoiding the beam. It was so strong that it blew a large portion of the smoke away and impacted the shield with a tremendous crash, causing it to flicker briefly.

‘Ember.’

In mid-air, Imara fired a jet of flames at Venonat. The Pokemon could not avoid it, as the Solar Beam had temporarily weakened him.

Venonat has taken 39 damage. It’s super effective.

HP: 111/150

Venonat cried out and fell down on the stage. Ember didn’t do much damage because Imara’s Special Attack and Venonat's Special Defence were pretty even.

Lucas considered using Belly Drum, but since it was the first opponent, he didn’t want Imara to lose half her HP so early in the match.

‘Get up close and use Dragon Tail.’

As he was getting up to his feet, Imara rushed in and swung her luminescent tail at the round body of Venonat.

Venonat has taken 35 damage.

Venonat has returned to his Pokeball.

The Venonat disappeared, and his trainer cursed. Lucas could hardly believe his luck. Dragon Tail had a five per cent chance of returning the opponent to their Pokeball, thus whatever location it was calibrated to. He didn’t exactly know how it worked, but it seemed to disrupt the Bond for a split second, causing the Pokeball to trigger. It was a safety feature that caused it to recall the Pokemon when it perceived a threat to the Bond.

“The Venonat has been ejected from the battle due to a Move’s special effect. Since there are no substitutions, Charmander is the winner. Red Trainer, please release your next Pokemon.”

He felt terrible for the trainer, as it was an awful way to lose. Timothy pulled out another Pokeball and summoned his next Pokemon onto the field.

Butterfree ~ Level 8 ~ HP: 160 ~ Aura: 220

Lucas was initially confused. Didn’t Metapod evolve into Butterfree at level ten? He then remembered that the evolution of a Pokemon is not determined by its level. Lucas examined Butterfree's parameters because he knew he was in for a fight.

=====

Pokemon: Butterfree | Age: 1 | Gender: F | Type: Bug, Flying | Potential: D |

Stage Three: Butterfree has gone through its third growth period.

Description: In battle, it flaps its wings at high speed to release highly toxic dust into the air.

Stats

Level: 8 | Next: 57% | HP: 160 | Aura: 220 |

Attack: 55 | Defence: 68 | Sp Att:100 | Sp Def: 82 | Speed: 76 |

Traits

Aerial Acrobatics: The user gains a high degree of control in the air with the help of its wings.

Special Ability

Compound Eyes - Increases the chances of hitting the target by anticipating its movements.

=====

Sure enough, it was going to be a hard fight. Lucas looked at the stage to consider his options. Smokescreen had dispersed by now, but Sunny Day was still in effect, although it wouldn’t last much longer. Attacking with Ember seemed the most straightforward solution since Butterfree was weak to Fire-Type. However, the Pokemon’s Defence was lower than its Special Defence by a fair margin. Therefore, Lucas decided on a bold strategy since he still had another Pokemon up his sleeves.

"Match...Start!"

Both Pokemon began the match with stat-boosting Moves.

Butterfree has used Harden.

Butterfree’s Defence has risen by one stage.

Imara has used Belly Drum.

Imara’s Attack has been raised by six stages.

Imara’s HP has been lowered by half.

HP: 102/205

=====

Belly Drum | Normal | Power: -- | Aura: 9 | Mastered

Description: Belly Drum raises its user's attack by six stages by sacrificing half of its total HP. The boost will last until the opponent is defeated or the user faints.

Appearance/Attack Conditions: When the user slaps their stomach, they release a gong-like sound and a visible manifestation of Normal-Type energy. Pokemon Bonds below twenty may be subject to a backlash from Red Energy, which can result in a number of adverse effects.

=====

Timothy's eyes widened in surprise. It was pretty obvious that he had not been expecting that Move. As a result, either the battle would be short and intense or a long, drawn-out fight that would be boring and tedious to watch. Strangely enough, there wasn't a time limit for each match. This was odd, considering it was a tournament setting with many spectators and a lot of matches to get through.

Butterfree could stay high in the air and bombard Imara with long-range attacks. Still, to have any chance of the attacks hitting, she would have to be close enough that Imara would not be able to dodge easily. But that put her in range of Imara's attacks.

The Compound Eyes' special ability would help Venonat in this scenario, but the combination of Imaras' speed and Smokescreen would interfere with Venonats' ability to predict her movements.

Additionally, flying was more taxing in terms of stamina consumption, which meant her Aura would drain twice as fast. Even though she had plenty of Aura, it was not infinite. If Imara could dodge attacks, and be patient, then Timothy would be forced to change tactics.

Another factor was that every time flying Pokemon executed a Move, they fell slightly through the air, depending on their power and momentum. Executing an attack and flying simultaneously was not easy.

Since Imara's Attack enhancement would last the entire fight, there was no rush to finish the Butterfree, and she had to wait for the perfect moment to strike.

Butterfree gained some height and prepared for her next attack.

‘Imara, use Smokescreen.’

Imara covered the stage in smoke again and concealed herself inside. Butterfree hesitated, seemingly changing its mind, and executed Stun Spore. A shower of golden spores drifted down towards the hazy cloud, creating beautiful scenery, and the crowd applauded enthusiastically. Was this supposed to be a Pokemon Contest? It had yet to take off in the Kanto region.

‘Ember, burn as many spores as possible before they reach the smoke. Then change positions immediately.’

Imara complied, and a jet of flames shot out of the smoke, incinerating large swaths of the spores, but plenty still remained.

Upon seeing where Ember emerged from, Butterfree zeroed in on Imara's location as well, and it shot Confusion in that direction. However, it was pointless as Imara had already moved. It gave Lucas an idea, and he instructed Imara to fire a couple more Embers off and change positions to confuse the Pokemon and her trainer.

On the second Ember, Butterfree lost concentration and drifted down after using another Confusion. Lucas calculated the distance from the ground and concluded that the height was just inside the range that Imara could make.

‘Leap into the air, grab onto Butterfree, and use Bite on one of its wings to ground it.

Imara launched herself into the air, and the crowd gasped at her incredible leaping ability as she soared through the air. Butterfly committed an error. Her back was turned to Imara, but instead of flying forward to escape, she tried turning towards her attacker. There must have been a serious error in communication between the trainer and his Pokemon.

Charmander latched onto Butterfree and executed Bite, sinking her teeth into one of the Pokemons wings, causing the Butterfree to cry in pain. The soft appendage almost tore into two halves, causing those watching to flinch in horror.

Critical Hit! Butterfree has received 88 damage.

HP: 72/160

“Butterfree,” Timothy shouted as the Pokemon fell through the air, no longer able to maintain her flight.

Imara used her initiative and manoeuvred herself on top of Butterfree, so the falling Pokemon would suffer from the impact as she hit the ground.

Butterfree has received 14 damage.

HP: 58/160

Imara was about to attack again, as Butterfree was stunned and not moving, but she was interrupted.

“I forfeit,” Timothy raised his hand frantically.

“Red trainer has forfeited. Lucas Walker from Pallet Town is the winner. Step forward to shake hands to commiserate a great fight.”

Celebrations from the stands followed, and Imara did her usual victory pose. Lucas waved to the Fanclub in appreciation for their support, causing them to increase the volume of their instruments.

Lucas bumped fists with Imara. “You were awesome, girl. Go take a rest.”

Timothy rushed forward and crouched next to Butterfree, returning her to her Pokeball so she could get treated. Lucas winced as he sighted the injury, which was obviously a weak spot, considering how translucent and thin the wings looked. Defence and Special Defence were not uniform across the entire body, as every Pokemon’s anatomy and form differed.

“Sorry,” Lucas held out his hand. “I didn’t think I would cause that much damage.”

Timothy sighed before reluctantly shaking his hand. “Don’t worry about it. Crippling Butterfree's wings was a smart tactic.”

"Why didn't you use a Move like Gust to clear the smoke from the stage?"

"I spent so much time raising Venonat's Grass-Type energy that I neglected other areas. Butterfree can't use Gust."

Lucas shook his head at the answer. He examined the bug net still on Timothy’s shoulder. Was that thing permanently attached or something?

Timothy noticed his look. “Hehe. You never know when you will come across a new Bug Pokemon. I have trained myself to always carry it around with me everywhere, at all times. A disciplined mind leads to more Bug Pokemon, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.”

“That's really profound,” Lucas said with a completely straight face. “So, you carry it all day? Even when you are taking a — ah, never mind.”

They separated, and Lucas stepped off the stage. The third round had been achieved, but he had to wait once more for the current round to finish. He checked the time and figured there was another wait of about thirty-forty minutes.

Lucas decided to walk around and observe the other stages. Occasionally, he would stop to watch a tough trainer he might compete against in later rounds. He took some mental notes of some of them, then moved on. Three individuals stood out to him, as their Pokemon looked strong. First, there was Benjamin Slater, with whom he had a passing acquaintance. Nathan Stokes, the mayor's son. The last trainer of note was a female that left him speechless.

It was Misty Waterflower. Except she wasn't a little twirp like Ash, but around the same age as him, and she still had a Water-Type Pokemon team. What the hell was going on?

Lucas watched her battle for a while before returning to his stage in bewilderment. He sat down and decided to check out the results from the last match.

=====

Congratulations!

The player has won the trainer battle!

Lucas has earned 308 experience + 20 trainer points.

Title: Unstoppable has increased; +23% exp gain.

Opponent: Venonat

⦁ Imara has earned 100% (67 exp) of the experience.

Opponent: Butterfree

⦁ Imara has earned 100% (186 exp) of the experience.

Imaras' level has increased to seven!

=====

Since he was aiming for Weather Ball, he put the 5 AP into Imara's Special Attack.

His phone rang. "Hello?"

"How are the battles coming along? You seem to be doing well from what I can see," Faith said. She had to raise her voice as the crowd in the stands was incredibly noisy.

"Good so far," Lucas smiled and leaned back. "Two rounds under my belt and five more to go."

"Where are we going for lunch?"

After the fourth round, there would be an hour's break for lunch before it got really competitive.

"I already booked a reservation at the fancy seafood restaurant on Ferry street."

"That sounds nice. Did that reporter bother you?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle," Lucas said dismissively.

"Let me guess. My name came up in the conversation?"

"I almost cleaned his clock," Lucas chuckled. "Aren't you proud of me for my restraint?"

"Oh, absolutely," Faith said dryly. "I will let you get back to your matches. Show no mercy and crush all your opponents."

"Do I get a reward if I become champion?" Lucas asked eagerly.

"You will have to wait and see," Faith said coyly. "But only if you win."

Faith hung up, and Lucas looked at the stage with increased motivation. Faith had laid down the gauntlet, so he couldn't lose. The girl sure knew how to get him going.

Five minutes later, it was his turn again. His next opponent was a wealthy young man named Warren Mills. He was older than Lucas, about eighteen or nineteen years old. According to him, he had all three Pokemon starters.

Walter was the most overdressed individual here, not even trying to hide his wealth. He wore an elegant three-piece dark grey suit with a red silk necktie and a white handkerchief in the front pocket. On his wrist was an antique gold wristwatch, and his ears were adorned with diamond studs. The teenager certainly had style, Lucas had to admit.

"Lucas Walker," Warren said. "I never expected to face you, but I'm glad I have the opportunity."

"Let me guess?" Lucas replied. "You want to defeat me in battle? I have heard the same song and dance before."

"Defeat you? No, that is secondary. What I really want to do to expose your utter hypocrisy to the world. You are two-faced and dishonest, not knowing how the world really works and pretending to be something you are not."

Lucas crossed his arms defensively. Where did this guy get off on attacking him in such a way? He had never met the guy, so he was interested in his reasoning.

"Then please enlighten me. Why am I a hypocrite? You have your soapbox," Lucas said sarcastically, pointing at the platform Warren was standing on. "So, say your piece."

"We both come from wealthy families, yes?" Warren said. "The key difference between us is that I do not feel guilty for being more fortunate than the other ninety-nine per cent of the population. Wealth is only enjoyable when there is no guilt attached to it. Yet you parade yourself on Tweak, begging for followers and then giving it away to charities because you think having more is wrong. Half of the money you earned from the song you created, the honest work you did, you gave to the Coles family. This is because you felt responsible for the boy's death, even though it had nothing to do with you. How laughable."

Lucas said nothing. There was something in Warren's words that struck a chord with him.

Not about the charities. Lucas felt great satisfaction in helping those less fortunate. The first time he spent Pokedollars to get the orphans basic necessities felt euphoric. There had been some selfish motives involved. as he wanted to see more of Faith. However, he mainly did it because he could understand the orphan's circumstances due to his own experiences in an orphanage.

What did sound plausible was that he did tend to be a spend-thrift and hand out Pokedollars to others like he was handing out candy. There was a sense of guilt in his actions, as if he was apologising for his own fortune. He should be more careful in the future not to waste Pokedollars.

Warren continued. "It is a common affliction among the well-born. There is a reason for this. When it feels like we didn't have to do anything to earn our standing in society, it can feel like a handout, and thus the guilt. It is ridiculous to feel this way.

At this point, the only thing you reveal about yourself is senseless guilt, which is not good. What you don't need in life is guilt. Nothing will come of it. Be a bit more selfish. The world is not such a friendly place where you can afford to care about others so much."

"Let's begin the match," Lucas told the referee with gritted teeth before turning back to Warren. "There may be some truth in your words, but at the end of the day, you can only live with your own conscience. As a result of the dangers in this world, humans must remain united. Do you know what I feel when I look at you?

Disappointment. As far as you are concerned, wealth is the most meaningful thing in your life. Your mistress. But what is wealth really? Is it how expensive your clothes are? Is it the number of houses you own? Or the number of toys you possess? The meaning of wealth for me has to do with family, companionship, and, ultimately, reaching down and lifting people up."

Lucas was unaware that every word being said was being recorded and would appear on the news channel that very night.

After spending months with his new family, he finally understood what was important. In his old life, he merely existed, not lived. It was now easy to acknowledge that he was indebted to Bruno, the homicidal dog, who had sent him up here and had given him so much.

The wager was set at a thousand Pokedollars, and Lucas won the coin toss, so Warren sent out a Charmander first.

"You say that I feel nothing but guilt?" Lucas said. "Well, trust me, I am not going to feel any guilt for what I am about to do to you."

The gloves were off. Lucas would use every advantage at his disposal to utterly destroy Warren in this match.

So, what do you think? A bit of a tone shift at the end, but I felt like Lucas needed a bit of character growth. Just a smidgen.

Thanks for reading.