Coltar: The Prophecy - (Pokémon)

6. The Finalists

Sunday, April 30th, 1989

A roar erupted from the jam-packed crowd. Every face itching with anticipation for the final of the festival to begin. The dusty wooden chalkboard displayed the pictures of the four participants who had made the finals. Security was on high alert after some Elkran soldiers had stumbled across the festival. They had been tied up to a pole in the burning heat, with twisted rope. The thought of being caught made Sutton's stomach churn. He glanced over to the battlefield.

The dust kicked up under James's shoes and his fingers wrapped around his onix's poké ball. Across from him stood Clarence, smiling. "Okta, let's win this!" James pressed the button on her poké ball and she appeared. She still hasn't fully recovered from the damage from the last battle. Damn healers didn't do a good job. He glanced to his left to see a four-legged pokémon appear.

"A luxray and an onix? Seems solid, just don't be a moron and use earthquake. Got it punk?" the woman called out to James. Her curly blonde hair flopped down over her eyes.

The sand rose up from the other side of the battlefield and a loud roar echoed around the arena. A blue dragon-like pokémon floated just above the ground. His fangs hung out of his mouth, and his moustache wiggled in time with his body.

James scowled. "Of course, he would pick something like that, but luxray is super strong compared to gyarados, and that's a zweilous, right? No it looks like a zweilous but isn't."

"For the sake of darkrai, that's a scovillain." The woman smiled and held up her bracelet. "Anaska, mega-evolve!"

Before his eyes, James saw the luxray's black coat sway, his blue fur dimmed to a blend of grey and blue, and his long tail stood on end. The golden star which resided at the end split open and a wave of dark energy streamed out. The luxray rushed forwards towards the gyarados, baring his teeth and snarling. His paws slamming into the ground with thunderous applause, and its claws sharp enough to slash through flesh with ease. Approaching the gyarados of Clarence, James saw it open its jaws. At the last second, the gyarados sprayed water at the luxray with enough force that water splashed against James's cheek.

The gyarados's attack was filled with pure power, not something that was seen every day. The experience Clarence and gyarados had racked up over the years they had been together was scary. The lower estimates of his level-strength amongst the crowd was in the upper forties, with some assuming it being as high as in the seventies. Not to mention the sheer terror inducing expression on the gyarados's face, which had delayed the onix's response.

"Wake up kid!" the woman shouted.

"Right, Okta attack back!" James said.

The gyarados swam through the air, like he owned it, rotating and swivelling while firing vines from his mouth, puncturing holes in the ground around him.

The luxray rolled on his back and back onto his feet. One of the vines shot towards him, like a grappling hook. Quickly, using his nimble body, he sprung up into the air raising his iron coated tail to meet the vines and slice through them. His head turned to face the gyarados. However, the luxray's eyes opened wide, and he was slammed in the stomach by the larger beast.

The water expelled around the gyarados's skin to add extra damage to the attack. He charged once again at the luxray, who hopped back on his back legs to avoid taking another serious injury. However, the gyarados's ice cold breath huffed over the luxray. It was cold enough to withstand the boiling heat of the Akratian desert.

Behind the gyarados, James's onix had shot up from the ground. Her horn was lowered forward and aimed at the scovillain. Her eyes narrowed in on the two heads – one controlled his grass typing, and the other his fire typing. She screeched at the top of her giant lungs. The noise spread throughout the arena and coursed into the ears of the luxray, gyarados and scovillain. They all froze for a moment, squinting and glancing down. The onix seized the opportunity, using her long, twisting body to bring her self closer to the scovillain. She wrapped her tail around him and raised the tip of it. With an iron covered tail, she slammed down at the scovillain, but in plenty of time, the scovillain fired seeds at the onix's tail. The explosions were drowned out by the roar of pain. The onix let out a second roar of pain from a strike to the back from the luxray's tail as it hurtled towards the ground. James turned to glance at him, the sweat dripped down his face.