Destiny Rebirth

Worthy Opponents

Part II of Ash and Max's Battle! Enjoy!

"What the hell was that?!" May shouted as she saw Max's first Pokémon, lying unconscious against the stadium wall. "He hit that Greninja straight in the chest with a Focus Blast! There was no way that it should have gotten up, let alone, attack like that!"

"Take another look," Clemont spoke solemnly. "Gallade didn't hit Greninja, or at least, the real one." The eyes of the people, in the box, moved across the battlefield until they saw what Clemont was referring to. In the area of the battlefield, which wasn't covered in shadows, stood the water and dark type Pokémon. It was positioned in a way that the resulting trajectory of the Hydro Pump and Gallade was perfectly aligned.

"I don't get it," Dawn said slowly as she looked on with a puzzled look on her face. "We all saw Greninja come out of the shadows and get hit with that Focus Blast. How did he manage to get there, without a single scratch on him?"

"Substitute," responded Trevor calmly. "Aaron must have seen it coming. With Max thinking that his attack made contact, he would let his guard down enough, so that he doesn't notice the next command, and well, you see the results."

"It doesn't make sense though. That's a very tricky strategy, not straightforward at all. We didn't see anything from Aaron's previous battles, to show that he would have a strategy, like this, up his sleeve." Misty said.

"He's starting to reveal what kind of trainer he really is," Wallace decided to speak up this time. The Hoenn Champion kept his eyes on the trainer as he spoke. "He's been playing this entire tournament, even dating back to the wild card tournament, like a chess match. Quite a show, really. He's kept a certain pace, and now, he's beginning to change it up, as people are starting to get the beat on him. It started with Rex, that's when Aaron knew that people were scouting him, so he decided to shake it up. Instead of going straight at Max, he played it like a chess match. Two steps ahead at every turn it seems. He knew Max would come up with a strategy, like that, and that's what he exactly got. Makes you wonder just how powerful is this guy really. Am I right, Trevor?"

"Yeah. I know what you mean, Wallace." Trevor responded as he looked at Wallace. "Aaron is a pretty mysterious trainer, yet he's really strong. In fact, he's so powerful that my Mewtwo currently sees his Lucario as a potential rival in this competition."

Everyone, in the booth, was in shock to hear that Trevor's Mewtwo and Aaron's Lucario are rivals in the tournament.

"Are you serious, Trevor?" asked Bonnie as she turned and looked at Trevor with a surprised expression.

"Yes," Trevor answered as he looked at Bonnie, in front of him. "According to Mewtwo, Lucario's power is equal towards his own. Rarely, Mewtwo hasn't faced any Pokémon with that kind of power before. Maybe, just maybe, Mewtwo has finally found, himself, a worthy opponent."

The rest of the group grew quiet, as thoughts began to race through their heads. They noticed that the battle below was about to start up again.

"Ash, you better win this battle. I really would like our two strongest Pokémon to face off against each other, at some point, in the competition." Trevor thought as he turns to his attention to the battle below.

---

Max began to evaluate his situation. He calmly looked around the battlefield, before his eyes finally rested on Greninja. He then noticed something. His eyes shifted to the lights of the stadium, as they slowly began to flicker. An idea came to his head. "That strategy is tough, but if those lights can turn on, then he loses the shadows. I just have to stall them."

"That was a good strategy, Aaron," Max spoke up. "I'm guessing that was Substitute? You had tricked me throughout the entire battle. You had me thinking of ways to beat you that you already came prepared for. Well played, man."