In Lava [Pokémon Watty Awards, 2016 2nd Place Romance]

Chapter Seventy-Four

The last matchup of the qualifiers was about to be underway. Thus far, there were two trainers left who were to battle it out for their spot in the qualifiers. Billy was one of the two. He stood at the end of the green tunnel, doing his best to keep calm as his opponent was an individual he would've liked to have avoided.

"Our last preliminary matchup is between Rick and Billy! Which one of these two hopefuls will be moving on to the qualifiers? Let's find out!" The announcer exclaimed.
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Brendan sat in the stands for the last match of the preliminaries and waited for the match to begin. Beside him sat Courtney and Tim, along with Katrina and Cynthia. Katrina glanced over at Brendan and noticed how focused he had become on the match at hand.

"Looks like this is going to be an interesting match. That Rick is fairly decent from what I hear," Tim observed.

"Yeah...but Billy's better by a long shot," Brendan replied, crossing his arms as he leaned back against his chair.

"Really? Huh. I guess he's been one of those that snuck under the radar," Tim said with a shrug.

"There is truth to what Brendan says. Billy's Excadrill defeated my Magmortar when they were both pre-evolved. He's definitely got the edge. The only thing I'm curious about is that keystone on his wrist," Katrina inputted.

Brendan shifted his focus to the field and watched as Billy and Rick exited their tunnels. He spotted a keystone attached to a bangle on his wrist.

So Billy got himself a Pokémon that can Mega Evolve. I wonder what it could be, Brendan thought as he waited for the judge to start the match.
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"The final match of the preliminaries will now begin! Trainers, send out your first Pokémon!" The announcer bellowed.

"Looks like luck isn't on your side since you have to face me," Rick sneered.

Billy swallowed as he stared down Rick. Along his journey, Rick had been a constant bully. From the start, Rick had been a jerk. Then Brendan showed up and taught him a lesson. Now it was Billy's turn. Billy reached down and snapped off his first partner's ball and fired it onto the battlefield as Rick released his.

"Excadrill, let's go!" Billy called out.

"Nidoking, time to fight!" Rick shouted.

"Let the match begin!" The judge exclaimed.

"Excadrill use Drill Run!" Billy commanded.

The Subterrene Pokémon clamped each claw together with his head and dove into the ground, spinning his body like a drill at astonishing speeds. Nidoking stood in place, his eyes focused on the ground ahead of him.

"Nidoking, use Earthquake!" Rick commanded.

Nidoking lifted up his right leg and slammed it down hard on the ground, causing the ground to heave and tremble under the power of the beast. As the ground shook, the earth beneath Nidoking split and then broke as Excadrill bursted to the surface, nailing Nidoking in the jaw, sending him flying back from the impact. Excadrill brandished his claws, huffing slightly due to suffering from an Earthquake assault.

"Nidoking, strike back with Superpower!" Rick roared in retaliation.

"Counter with Bulldoze!" Billy called out.

Nidoking's body was surrounded by a light blue glow, and with a roar, he charged Excadrill. The steel mole exploded towards Nidoking, his claws spinning as he aimed to crash into his rampaging adversary. The two combatants collided, creating a mighty shockwave that shook the battlefield. The two exchanged blows, neither giving an inch to the other. After taking a heavy blow, Excadrill managed to grab hold of Nidoking and him in a submission hold before chucking him along the ground. Nidoking began to push himself up only to turn around to an empty arena.