Doubles tournament Pt. 1

"64 pairs signed up and they're having four sets of double battles at the same time for the first two rounds," Vali looked at the card she'd been given, "We're in B-block which means our first match is after the first set of battles happen. So who are you planning to use?"

"I figured that I'd go with Mawile since it's been awhile since we battled together," Steven answered as they sat down in the tent that served as the waiting area for everyone, "You?"

"Empress," Vali answered after a moment of thought, "If that's alright,"

Steven nodded as Vulpix released himself from his pokeball and settled on Vali's lap, "It's a good idea since it'll give her some experience and Mawile should be more than able to make up for any problems. Empress has been improving, right?"

"Quite a bit, I think the one on one battles and training have been really helping to settle her," Vali shook her head at Vulpix, "Vulpix, you're supposed to stay in your pokeball, but I suppose it'll be alright for now. You will have to go back inside when it's our turn to battle, alright?" Vulpix nodded as he looked at the people inside the tent curiously, "Once the first round is over, we'll be able to see which pokemon have been used so far and be able to plan things properly,"

"I'm still a little surprised that so many pairs signed up," Steven commented as he leaned back in his seat, "I mean this isn't as big a tournament as the last one,"

"A lot of tourists signed up," Vali murmured as they called for A-block competitors to take to the fields, "The first round or two are probably for weeding out the ones that aren't serious trainers," She smiled a bit as Vulpix nudged her hand to pet him, "At the very least, we'll probably see some interesting pokemon,"

Vali sent out Empress as Steven did the same with Mawile. The first opponents they'd be facing sent out a Spinarak and a Teddiursa. Grinning a bit as the referee called out for them to begin, she shouted, "Empress, Ember on that Spinarak!"

"Mawile use Iron Head on Teddiursa!" Steven called out with a light smile.

"Spinarak dodge it!" The boy across from Vali called out in alarm.

"Teddiursa Attract!" The girl across from Steven shouted.

Teddiursa blew a kiss as Spinarak quickly darted out of the way of Empress' Ember attack. Instead of causing Mawile or Empress to fall in love with the Teddiursa, it only pissed the pair off earning a shout of confusion from the girl. Empress kept up the attack on Spinarak and managed to score a decent hit with Ember. Mawile slammed into Teddiursa and knocked it out without much trouble earning a frown from Steven. Mawile blocked Spinarak from escaping allowing Empress to use Fire Fang which knocked the poor bug out.

After shaking hands with their opponents, they headed back to the waiting area with Steven saying, "That was disappointing."

"Now you see why Blaine and Surge hate tourists," Vali commented with a soft snort.

A thirty minute waiting period came with a list of opponents for everyone. Vali looked over their opponents for this round, "Looks like a Bellsprout and Machop this time."

"Are you going to use Empress again?" Steven asked while peering down at the list.

"She'll want to battle again," Vali replied with a shake of her head, "That last round disappointed her,"

"I'll keep with Mawile for the same reason," Steven smiled slightly, "They're not a bad team," Vali grinned as she nodded in agreement, "I hope this ones going to be more interesting,"

The Bellsprout the trainer across from Vali released was definitely closing in on evolution based on the size of it's yellow bulb-like head. The Machop didn't show any signs of evolution, but it wasn't very surprising since the pokemon was obviously a more recent catch based on it's slightly nervous twitching as it's eyes flickered towards the crowd flinching at the loud noises. She wondered where it's trainer had caught it since members of the Machop line didn't live on Cinnabar. Narrowing her eyes at the boy that had released it, she wondered what the hell he was thinking using that Machop when it clearly wasn't used to trainer battles especially in highly crowded areas.

Vali called out, "Empress, Ember and Fire Fang on that Bellsprout. Be wary of it's vines."

Empress growled as she leaned forward a bit glaring at the plant-like pokemon. Steven called out, "Iron Head on the Machop, Mawile."

Mawile nodded as the trainer across from Vali shouted, "Razor Leaf, Bellsprout. Keep both those pokemon on their toes."

"Machop, get in close and bash that Mawile's head in with Karate Chop," The boy with the Machop shouted.

Vali frowned as Machop hesitated as Bellsprout released a wave of razor sharp leaves. Empress burned those that approached her while Mawile used Fairy Wind to knock them off course. She spoke as Empress rushed through the leaves to attack Bellsprout directly, "Those two didn't come up with a good strategy, they don't seem to know how to fight together."

"We're technically not fighting together either," Steven pointed out as Empress latched onto one of Bellsprout's vines and bit down with Fire Fang earning a loud shriek of pain, "But I know what you mean. They don't seem to be compensating for each other's weaknesses,"

Mawile slammed her false head into Machop sending it flying backwards with a loud yelp as Empress detached from Bellsprout's vine and used Headbutt to send it skidding back. The Bellsprout didn't even look fazed by the attack as it dug into the ground meaning it knew Ingrain. Vali called out, "Empress, Bellsprout won't be fazed by physical attacks like Headbutt. Keep up the fire-type attacks!"

Empress growled and began spitting Ember attacks at Bellsprout who couldn't really dodge thanks to it using Ingrain. Mawile kept up her attack on Machop this time grabbing it with Crunch earning a squealing cry of pain as Machop beat it's fists against the inside of Mawile's false mouth trying to get out. Machop managed to get out only to be hit with a Sucker Punch and sent flying towards Bellsprout. Empress' Ember attack, which looked more and more like a Flamethrower, finally upgraded itself into a proper Flamethrower that struck once the two pokemon had collided with each other. When Empress stopped, Machop was unconscious, but Bellsprout was still conscious. Bellsprout was enveloped in the light of evolution seconds later earning loud cheers and shouts of congratulations from the crowd. Rather than continue the battle after the Bellsprout finished evolving, the trainer called out, "I forfeit! Bel-Weepinbell needs to see Nurse Joy and I'd rather not let her get hurt anymore."

After the Referee called the match and they shook hands with their opponent with the Machop's trainer stomping off, Vali told the boy, "Nicely done with your Weepinbell, you did a good thing for her."

"Thanks," The boy smiled weakly, "That Bagon of yours is really cool too. It managed to get Flamethrower in the middle of a battle,"

"We've been working hard on that and she's a determined little thing," Vali let go of his hand, "I'd suggest feeding your Weepinbell some Rawst berries even after Nurse Joy's finished with her. They'll help speed up her recovery,"

The boy looked a bit surprised, "Really?" Vali nodded with a light smile, "Thanks for the tip, I might just do that."

They separated from the kid and headed back to the waiting area. Steven looked at her as she smiled lightly, "That was nice of you, Vali."

"Despite how quick the battle was, the kid actually wasn't too bad and clearly cares about his pokemon," Vali scowled a bit as she thought of the other trainer who stomped off the moment they shook hands, "That other trainer shouldn't have sent that Machop out. It's obviously fairly recently caught and not used to humans,"