"Eevee, use Quick Attack!" Alexis's voice could be heard, commanding his partner to attack a Smeargle commanded by his opponent in the Semi-finals.
"Smeargle, dodge it!" His opponent did what he could, but the battle was already lost. As soon as Eevee impacted against Smeargle, the Painter Pokémon flew out of bounds, knocked out cold.
"And yet again, we see a show of strategy, reflexes, and pure expertise from Alexis Becker!" The announcers voice bounced from speaker to speaker, covering the entire Ibis Stadium with her merry mood. "Let me tell you, both participants to reach the Finals are promises to be reckoned with!"
"Alexis Becker has shown to be an amazing trainer, one who shows cold, precise command of the flow of battle," she praised, taking a small pause to recover her breath before continuing. "And Alan Moretti is a ruthless attacking machine, his offensive style leaving his opponents no space to breathe."
"It doesn't matter who wins, we will have witnessed history in the making!"
*
Back at the waiting room, only Alexis and the punk guy—who he now recognised as Alan Moretti— were left, waiting for the Finals to start. They had been in Ibis Stadium for over half a day already, and they were on edge, their brains going over all the info they had previously acquired of each other.
What Alexis had managed to gather was important information. Alan Moretti was a new Trainer, yes, but one with clear connections. He had a Regional Form of Charmander—its body the same, but with a darker shade of orange skin and a pale underbelly. It had bright yellow eyes and its tail ended in a ball of evil-looking red fire rather than the usual orange flame. According to what he had been able to research on the Internet, it evolved into a Dark type Charizard—for some reason, Alexis was pretty sure he had seen it somewhere, before the merging.
Besides the Alerman Charmander, Alan also had a Murkrow, which was a fast aerial attacker, and just as threatening. Alexis had already devised many strategies to fight against his team, but none were foolproof. He knew that, besides strategy and strength, he would need a certain degree of luck to beat Alan.
'Huh, so much for my earlier confidence,' Alexis thought with a degree of mirth. 'Well, nothing I can do about that, I'll just have to deal with it.'
Standing opposite Alexis was Alan, still leaning against the wall in a corner of the room. The only difference was that now they were staring at each other, measuring the only competition left. In spite of disliking Alan's personality, Alexis had to admit it—the guy was a good Trainer. And so, he chose to behave amicably, even if only for a moment.
"Let's give it our all," his voice reached Alan's ears, forcing surprise to appear on his face. "I really want to measure how good I am against you."
Those words resonated deeply with Alan, who for the longest of time wanted one and only one thing: to be recognised for who he was, not to be seen as someone who had things handed down due to his parents' influence—not like Alexis knew or even cared who his parents were.
"Yeah, um... sure," Alan answered, unsure if he should even acknowledge Alexis. Still, his personality did not allow him to just 'be nice'. "I will still destroy you out there, noob."
Deadpan faced, Alexis just stared at him, unimpressed by the threat. Then, suddenly cutting the tension of the moment, the announcer could be heard speaking.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is finally time for what you've all been waiting for all day long!" Her words pulled the crowd along. "After a long day of arduous battles, wins and losses, the Lácar Cup is coming to an end!"
"Let's now welcome our finalists, Alexis Becker and Alan Moretti!" Her bright voice hyped the crowd, Alexis and Alan walking out the tunnel and entering the arena. Above, the evening sky shone in oranges and pinks, looking painted over rather than real.
As the two Trainers showed up, the crowd erupted in cheers, calling out both of their names. The young men looked up to the crowd, their faces lighting up in amazement and shock. For both of them, it was the first time they received such attention.
"On the left, our neighbour from Sombre Town, Alexis Becker!" The announcer presented him, the crowd roaring at the mention of Alexis's name—and then they roared just as loudly. "And on the right, all the way from Buenos Aires, Alan Moretti!"
With the cheers of the crowd calling out their names, Alexis and Alan locked eyes, the crowd fading away into meaningless noise. At that moment they were only able to process a singular line of thought. To beat their opponent, to not let themselves down, and to not let their Pokémon down.
"Now, there is a slight twist to the Finals compared to the rest of the Lácar Cup," the bright timber of the announcer spoke. "The Finals will be... a Double battle!"
Eyes open wide, everyone experienced a sense of shock upon hearing the announcement—including Alexis and Alan. Feeling even more confident since he had the type advantage, Alan sneered at Alexis, who did not even flinch. Instead, he returned his own wild grin in response. In Singles he would have been limited due to types and mobility, but if it was Doubles... that changed many things for him. Specially so when he looked at the stat screens of his Pokémon.
"Eevee, Sewaddle, show him who you are!"
"Charmander, Murkrow, let's beat them!"
As the two trainers got ready to battle, sending out their Pokémon, the crowd reached a totally new all-time high. Their roars of ecstasy, their feet stomping on the floor beneath their seats, everything came together to create a weird harmony of voices and sounds. It was the true high of competition.
*
"Ready?" Reverberated a deep, cold voice devoid of all empathy, coming from an intercom.
"Everything is set to go, sir," responded a voice no less deep, but a lot more lively—almost childish in comparison, in spite of clearly belonging to an adult. "We just need your order, and the plan will be set in motion."
"Good," the voice said, leaving a moment of silence in-between words, as if it were gathering its thoughts, weighing the consequences. Then it gave a simple order. "Do it."
As the communication got cut from the end, the man with the lively voice looked up, glancing at a Greek-looking stadium from which a crowd could be heard roaring in excitement.
"Come on, you heard the boss," he commanded his underlings as he pushed a button on his phone. As soon as he pushed the button, a loud explosion shook the ground they stood in, followed by the rumbling of the stadium falling in on itself. "Today... there will be explosions at Ibis Stadium."