Third POV
In the VIP box, Lance watched the match with a grin on his face. The other champions were also enjoying the battle, but none of them appreciated it as much as Lance did. He understood what it truly meant for dragons to fight their own kind at full strength, and honestly, he was impressed by both sides.
On the pitch, Ryu released his next Pokémon.
"Druddigon!"
A blue and reddish dragon landed heavily onto the field, its claws scraping against the arena floor. The dragon looked toward Axew and narrowed its eyes. At first, Druddigon did not seem very interested in fighting a first-stage dragon, but then Ryu spoke.
"That Axew defeated Shellgon."
Druddigon's eyes widened slightly. It knew exactly how strong Shellgon was. The rough dragon immediately looked back at Axew with far more respect than before.
Grey looked toward Axew.
"Do you want to withdraw?" he asked quietly. "You're too injured."
Axew looked back at him and firmly shook its head.
It wanted to fight till the very end. Even if it lost, its pride as a dragon would never allow it to back down now after everything that had happened in this battle.
Grey sighed before nodding.
"Okay then. Stalling is pointless since you're already too injured. Axew, full power. Dual Dragon Claw with Strength."
Axew glowed white as it rushed forward with all the strength it had left. Druddigon planted its feet firmly onto the ground while Ryu calmly gave a single command.
"Dragon Claw."
The moment Axew came close enough to strike with both claws, Druddigon moved first. Its massive claw jabbed directly into Axew's stomach mid-air, knocking the air out of the smaller dragon. Axew still managed to land its own dual Dragon Claw onto Druddigon's arm, but the damage was minimal.
Then Druddigon swung its other claw downward.
Boom!
Axew was slammed straight into the arena floor.
The small dragon tried to get up for a second, but its body finally gave out.
Grey quietly withdrew Axew with a sigh. It had been a brutal exchange, but strangely enough, after this entire fight, Grey understood where Druddigon was coming from. In just one battle, he had somehow learned more about dragon types than he ever had from reading books.
He looked at the Poké Ball in his hand for a moment before making his next move.
"Go, Shellder!"
A massive Shellder appeared onto the field with a loud slam. Even Druddigon looked slightly surprised seeing its size.
Ryu honestly wanted Grey to release another dragon. He had been enjoying this match far more than expected. Still, he reminded himself Grey was a generalist trainer. That said, after seeing Shellder's size, he immediately realized this would not be an easy battle either.
Grey made the first move.
"Shellder, Icicle Spear!"
Multiple sharp icicles were launched toward Druddigon at full force, but Ryu immediately countered.
"Flamethrower!"
Druddigon unleashed powerful flames that burned through the incoming icicles one after another.
"Now Dragon Claw!"
Druddigon charged forward, claws glowing with draconic energy as it rushed directly toward Shellder.
Grey smirked.
"Use Counter Shield. Ice version."
Shellder immediately spun with Icy Wind surrounding its body. Right when Druddigon reached close enough to attack, the spinning ice shield blocked the Dragon Claw while simultaneously damaging Druddigon with freezing winds.
Then the moment Shellder stopped spinning, it fired an Aurora Beam point blank.
Boom!
Druddigon was blasted backward across the field.
Ryu's eyes widened in shock.
What kind of ridiculous move was that?
Not only had it blocked the attack, it had immediately turned into a counterattack.
For a moment, Ryu was stunned silent.
He had prepared Druddigon specifically for Ice types. The Flamethrower TM had been bought solely to deal with situations like this, but this strange Counter Shield technique completely changed the flow of the fight.
Druddigon slowly got back up, visibly injured from the combo.
Ryu immediately realized close range was becoming impossible.
The problem was Druddigon barely had any ranged attacks besides Flamethrower and Dragon Breath, and neither move was enough to properly beat Shellder. Druddigon excelled in brutal close combat physical attacks. That was where its strength truly lay.
At that moment, Ryu realized something.
"He got me... no matter what I do, Druddigon isn't winning here."
The realization disappointed him slightly, but when he looked toward Druddigon, the dragon simply looked back and nodded. It understood the situation too.
Ryu slowly smiled.
"Well then... let's go all out, Druddigon. Super Claw!"
Druddigon roared loudly as fighting-type energy from Superpower covered its body while Dragon Claw formed over its arms. The dragon charged at full speed in one final all-or-nothing attack.
Grey immediately noticed the similarities.
It reminded him of Axew's Rampage Slash. Both attacks used the same basic principle of combining momentum with overwhelming power.
"Shellder, Counter Shield! Icicle Spear version!"
Shellder began spinning again, but this time it continuously fired Icicle Spears in every direction while rotating. The ice projectiles slammed into Druddigon repeatedly as it charged forward, but the rough dragon refused to stop.
Then Druddigon finally reached Shellder.
With all the momentum of its charge combined with both fighting and dragon energy, it slammed its claw forward with everything it had.
A visible clash erupted between the spinning icy shell and Druddigon's empowered claw.
For a moment, both attacks remained locked against each other.
Then an explosion blasted both Pokémon backward.
Shellder rolled across the field before managing to get back up, clearly injured.
Druddigon, however, did not rise again.
The dragon tried to move once, but after taking too many Ice-type attacks throughout the match, its final gamble had failed.
Druddigon fainted.
The referee immediately raised his flag.
"Druddigon is unable to battle! The winner is Grey Mallory!"
The crowd erupted into cheers.
Grey stood there for a second and genuinely took it all in. For once, he allowed himself to enjoy the moment properly.
He recalled Shellder while quietly thanking it.
Honestly, part of him wanted to just walk away now. Another small part even wanted to mock Ryu after yesterday.
But after today's battle, he no longer felt like doing either.
Before Grey could leave, Ryu walked toward him and extended his hand.
"Good match."
Grey looked at the hand for a second before shaking it.
"Good match."
Both trainers then walked away.
For some reason, both of them felt like talking more after the battle, but internally, they decided that conversation could wait for another time.
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(In the VIP Box)
Steven leaned back in his seat and smiled lightly. "That was a really good match. There were quite a lot of tactics involved, and young Grey's Counter Shield move looks very good and unique. I haven't seen that level of creativity in a while."
Diantha nodded in agreement. "Both trainers adapted very well during the battle. Honestly, for trainers this young, that was impressive."
But unlike Steven and Diantha, Lance and Alder had serious expressions after the match ended.
Diantha noticed it immediately and looked between the two champions. "What are you both thinking about? Why do you both suddenly look so serious?"
Alder looked toward Lance as if wanting to ask something, but before he could, Lance spoke first.
"Alder... I apologise. I will look into the matter we are both thinking about."
Steven frowned slightly. "What matter?"
Lance sighed before glancing toward Alder, silently asking if he could explain it. Alder simply nodded.
Lance then spoke slowly. "When I visited the Dragon Village in Unova, I took two Pokémon from there. An Axew for Grey and a Deino for myself. The village gave me those Pokémon because they respected my strength, and I also shared some of my own experience as a Dragon trainer as a form of collaboration."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"The problem is... I never took a Druddigon from there. So the fact Ryu has one is concerning. It means my clan somehow contacted the Dragon Village behind my back and got that Pokémon from them... or they illegally obtained it through some black market scheme."
Steven and Diantha immediately understood why that could become a problematic political situation.
Alder, however, sighed before trying to ease the atmosphere a little.
"I personally do not mind young Ryu having the Druddigon. And that dragon clearly is not from a black market. It doesn't look abused or mistreated at all. Most likely your clan either got it directly from the Dragon Village or actually caught it in the wild in Unova."
Lance nodded slightly at that. "I will still ask the clan elders about this and get back to you."
Alder waved his hand dismissively. "You misunderstand me, Lance. I am not angry about this. Honestly, if both Dragon clans are interacting with each other, that is actually a good thing."
A small smile appeared on Alder's face as he continued.
"And I am happy the Druddigon got a good trainer in Ryu. That boy could go far. Especially now that he has been humbled a little. Even his attitude seemed better by the end of the match."
Then Alder's expression became more thoughtful.
"The only reason I am surprised is because all of this happened behind our backs. I will ask Drayden about it once as well. But rest assured, Lance, I do not hold this against you at all. After all, us champions are here to improve relations between regions, not worsen them."
Lance visibly relaxed hearing that and nodded.
"I appreciate that, Alder."
With that, the atmosphere in the VIP box became calmer again.
Meanwhile, after both trainers had left the arena, a fifteen-minute interval was announced before the next match.
Soon after, Ash Ketchum and Stefan were called toward the battlefield.
Author's Note: I originally only was going to show Grey's matches but after seeing the responses for other characters as well I will highlight their matches also , the only price is me having to keep writing this arc thats now gonna extend way more than I had initally thought .I ended this chapter here to start fresh next chapter for the next match
Next Chapter: Ash Vs Stefan.