Lazarus and Kamish make their way towards the dome.
Inside the dome, they observe a huge frog like pokémon with a huge flower on its back supported by a thick brown trunk.
Venusaur stands on top of the lush grass floor of the arena, and then, at the cue of one of the instructors, sprinkles a clusters of seeds throughout the arena.
And in less than a minute, a lush, green, floral environment covered with many trees and berry bushes manifests itself out of those seeds.
Kamish looks at the spectacle in wonder, surprised, and turns to Lazarus.
Lazarus, sensing his curiosity, answers, "That pokémon is called Venusaur, it's a grass-type pokémon. These pokémon can control plants and other types of greenery. This one used its seeds to create a small garden.
Most grass types carry different types of seeds and can grow them wherever they want after infusing some energy into the seeds. And the really powerful ones don't even need seeds to create flora, they can just grow entire fields worth of greenery in minutes with just pure energy."
Kamish looks at Venusaur in doubt, trying to figure out a way to beat the gigantic pokémon.
Lazarus laughs at his, "That is a very powerful pokémon. You won't be able to beat it. At least not today. But don't worry, that's not the opponent you'll be fighting today. Your opponent is waiting for you there."
Both of them reach the dome, where a member of staff and another trainer are waiting for them.
The trainer is the same age as Lazarus and has medium-long black hair. Next to the trainer is his small red Primape pokémon with a whorled tuft on its head.
"Dude! Is that a have a dragon!" The trainer says to Lazarus, surprised to see the rarest category of pokémon will be fighting against his Pansear.
Kamish looks smugly at the Pansear, who looks at the dragon from behind his trainer.
"He's a newborn. Just a couple of days old," Lazarus says, "Your Pansear looks young as well. Is he your first pokémon?"
"Wow, that's so cool. I have never seen a Dreepy before. My Pansear and I have been together for four months now. I got him as a birthday present."
Lazarus asks, "How long have you guys been training?"
"Alright, you two, please introduce yourself first," The staff member holding a commpad says.
"I am Oliver." Oliver says before gesturing to his Pansear, "And yeah, he is my first pokémon, Sunny. We have been training for a month now."
"Lazarus, and the Dreepy is called Kamish." They both shake hands.
The staff member asks the two of them, "Will this will be your first fight in the arena?"
Oliver says, "Yeah, this is our first fight. They finally let us fight after one month of boring lectures."
Lazarus nods, "Same."
"And do both of you have a pokémon for a psychic link?"
"Nope," Lazarus says.
"No," Oliver shakes his head.
Staff member nods, "In that case, both trainers will be using speakers to communicate with your pokémon. The speakers are inside the dome, so the two of you won't be able to hear each other, only your pokémon. And keep in mind that both the pokémon inside the dome will be able to hear everything you say."
Lazarus nods, "I understand, and the standard rules apply right?"
"I'll announce them properly after we get your pokemon inside." The staff member nods and says to both of them, "Now, please recall your pokémon and get ready."
Lazarus turns to Kamish, "We will send you inside the dome now. Listen to my voice, I'll tell you what to do."
Kamish nods before a red light recalls him back into the pokéball Lazarus is holding.
Lazarus hands Kamish's pokéball to the staff member, Oliver does the same.
The staff member hands them both a microphone before mounting both their pokéballs on a robotic arm, which takes them to the top of the dome.
The floor beneath them moves like an escalator, and Lazarus and Oliver find themselves on opposite sides of the dome.
Two red lasers pierce the dome, and Kamish and Pansear are released inside the now Venusaur-devoid dome.
The staff member's voice booms outside the domes, "The next match will take place between Trainer Lazarus's Dreepy and Trainer Oliver's Pansear. The arena selected at random for the match is a garden ecosystem with low humidity. Standard rules apply for the match. Psychic links are not allowed for this match.
The match will last fifteen minutes. And if the match exceeds the allotted time limit, it will be considered a draw. The match ends when one of the fighting pokémon is no longer able to fight, or its trainer forfeits. The match will begin in two minutes."
'Alright, shouldn't be too hard,' Lazarus thinks to himself, holding a microphone in his hand, looking at the Kamish look around the dome.
—
Kamish can't see anything outside the dome, as the dome blocks pokémon's view of the outside world in fear of distracting them.
So he looks around the serene garden, where lush green grasses, bright and colorful berries carpet the floor, and succulent fruits adorn the trees.
"Kamish, can you hear me. Make a circle in the air if you can." Lazarus's voice comes out of the speakers.
Followed by another voice, this time Oliver's, "Sunny, how's the view? Wave towards me."
Kamish flies in the air in a circular motion.
Lazarus says, "Good, if you hear any other voice other than me after the match starts, ignore it completely, no matter what it says."
Kamish nods.
"Locate Pansear first. Pansear is guaranteed to use the tree as cover, so the moment the match begins, tackle it to the ground. It will try to spew flames at you, but go without fear. Nothing it can do inside will be able to hurt you. I leave everything to you. Keep tackling it, and you will win."
On the other side of the dome, Pansear tries to wave towards his trainer, but doesn't see him anywhere.
"Wait, you can't see me?" Oliver asks.
Pansear shakes its head.
"Oh, right! The dome blocks pokémon from seeing outside. I forgot about that. Anyway, you know what to do. This terrain is perfect for you, so take advantage of that. Climb up the trees and jump on top of Dreepy when it comes close to you, then scratch it and tackle it to the ground."
Pansear nods.
"In 5…4…3…2…1…begin." A chime marks the start of the match.
And Pansear runs to climb up the nearest tree and hides in its canopy.
But before it could even reach halfway up the tree, a grey blur dashes towards it and collides with it, and Pansear slams onto the ground.
"Fuck! How did it reach here so fast? Ember use Ember. Code Two."
Pansear and Oliver have devised secret codes to communicate in situations like these.
Code Two just means to disregard whatever Oliver says until Code One is called.
Kamish flies back up and prepares to descend upon Pansear for another tackle.
Pansear gets up from the ground and envelops itself and the surrounding flora in flames, in a bid to hide its presence from Kamish.
The dry plants and grass burn instantly, producing smoke.
Pansear leaps towards another tree, hidden by the smoke, or so it thinks.
Kamish's superior eyesights locate Pansear and he pierces through the smoke and flames and collides with Pansear again.
"Shit. Use Flamethrower." Oliver's panicked voice comes through the speakers.
Pansear slams onto the ground again and looks up to see Kamish floating in the air.
Jumping to his feet, Pansear wastes no time running away from Kamish. It leaps towards a tree branch and uses it to ricochet into another.
Pansear runs through the garden on top of trees.
While Kamish speeds towards it, intending to bring it down to earth again.
"Sunny! Code One! Flamethrower, with every ounce of energy you can muster," Oliver says.
Pansear stops at one of the trees, runs towards the top, builds up flames inside his body, and unleashes a massive Flamethrower at Kamish, charging towards it.
With Kamish's superior speed, he can dodge the Flamethower at the last moment, but he doesn't even bother doing that.
Oliver and Pansear see Kamish being enveloped in flames and look relieved, thinking they have won the match.
Until Kamish's flaming body pierces through the Flamethower and collides with Pansear's, slamming it through a tree and into the ground, finally knocking it out.
Kamish's win was guaranteed the moment Oliver and his red simian made the mistake of thinking that a dragon needed to fear the flames of a monkey.