Chapter 137

The utter shock of his Dragonite falling, was almost palpable in the air. Jaws opening and closing, failing to find words, eyes so wide they looked like they were almost popping out of their sockets.

And more.

Good.

Lance resisted the urge to smirk even as he recalled his Dragonite while his young opponent whooped and hollered happily as he brought back that incredibly impressive Fearow of his.

It was a victory well earned.

Albeit, one that would have been impossible for the young boy to claim as he and his pokemon were right now, if he and Dragonite had taken them seriously from the start.

It was not a thought to cover any embarrassment from losing a pokemon to a child so young, or anything overly prideful like that, but simply fact.

That did not make it any less impressive in Lance's own eyes. He had a good feel for young Jord, going by the rough trainer profile they had documented of him personality wise and his actions up to this point, and from what he'd gleamed from the boy in the small time they'd spent together up to this point today.

There was a fire to the boy, alongside a cockiness and self assured gait that reminded Lance a bit of himself when he was just starting out, at a similar age as Jord too. Though, while he'd definitely took advantage early on of the popularity he'd garnered when he was younger and foolisher, especially with the opposite sex, he'd definitely not had quite the…grandiose way of going about it Jord did.

Albeit, while he had started out on his journey at thirteen, he'd been training under the masters of the Blackthorn dragon clan, the Wataru since he was but a toddler.

Jord did not have that same backing he did, yet Lance could admit wholeheartedly, that at the same age, he would have been crushed in a battle.

He wasn't quite sure how the boy had gotten to this point, with all the rare and powerful pokemon he'd gotten his hands on, except that he was sure the boy didn't just stumble upon them.

'Perhaps he's a powerful clairvoyant?' Lance mused idly. Clairvoyance was one of the psychic powers humans tended to have the least talent for, and very few came to mind who could drudge up anything worthwhile with the ability, like Olympia the gym leader of Anistair City in the Kalos Region.

It seemed unlikely, but was not impossible.

Honestly, Lance did not really care how the young boy had managed to get to this point. Others might have been suspicious, fearing a threat or just plain envious of the boys success and wanting to share in the pie or drag him down.

Lance was just pure excited to see the kind of heights Jord would reach in the future. And, he wanted to nurture that potential. Which was why he and Dragonite did not go all out to begin with and gave the boy and his pokemon a chance to show off and spread his name.

'Not to mention, with all those rare pokemon, he'll be a target.' Lance mused. That was, unless all those deplorable fools out there saw what he was capable of and thought his strength was too much of a risk to take on for the massive reward.

And he did not disappoint. The physical ability of his pokemon alone was through the roof, though their power did not quite match their physical abilities, but that would come with time and age. Beyond that though, was the sheer courage Jord's pokemon had and the trust they had in him, obeying his orders without hesitation even in the face of his Dragonite that could crush buildings with a swing of his arm.

Give the boy and his pokemon a few years, and they would be true monsters of battle. Lance almost shivered in excitement at the thought.

"Are you ready Jord?" Lance called over as he traded Dragonite's pokeball for another on his belt, a grin on his face that he simply could not contain, "My next pokemon is much stronger than Dragonite." he warned.

There was some that may have admonished him for outright declaring one of his pokemon stronger than the other. But all pokemon were different, where some would have felt admonished themselves for having such a thing said, or become depressed, dragon types were in general a whole other ball game.

Power and strength was the very birth right of pokemon of the dragon type and those with dragon traits. It was their very instinct to seek power and strength, and there was no better instigator for them to grow to new heights than being compared to another and being found lacking.

This battle alone, would for sure push Dragonite to all new heights of strength from seeing that it was not just those above him he would have to worry about, but fear those below like Jord's own Dragonite and Milotic and Fearow chasing after him and possibly surpassing him.

"If I wasn't would it change anything?" Jord called back, raising an eyebrow at him, switching Fearow's pokeball with one of the other eleven on his belt.

Lance merely continued grinning and did not say a word in reply.

"Didn't think so." the boy snorted, enlarging the pokeball in his hand.

Lance did the same, and then both of them unleashed their next pokemon at the exact same time.

A towering Charizard burst onto the field in front of Jord, spreading a pair of massive wings and unleashing a powerful roar that generated enough wind to ruffle Lance's hair from over fifty feet away.

Impressive.

A trio of snarling aggressive roars formed into a cacophony in front of Lance himself though in reply as his Hydreigon appeared in a burst of bright to face off against Charizard.

Quite a few in the watching crowd released cries of shock and fear at his choice of pokemon. And Lance couldn't blame them, Hydreigon's savage eyes filled with a snarling lust for violence and battle, and his trio of roaring, snarling mouths could be quite terrifying.

"Hydreigon, huh?" Jord audibly clicked his tongue, arms crossing across his chest. There was a wariness in his eyes, but no fear.

And his Charizard, did not back down at all, just like him. It stared down his snarling Hydreigon, with an aggressive growl on its lips and fire in its eyes.

Good, good.

It wouldn't do for him and his pokemon to be intimidated by a mere Hydreigon. Granted, his Hydreigon was no…mere Hydreigon and the difference in power between this Hydreigon and the Dragonite he led with-

Was larger than the difference between Jord's own Dragonite and his.