Alex sat in the Azelf common watching the latest match on the small television screen that was set up. As usual, the fan favourite Lance was losing.

"And that's another of Lance's Dragonite down!" the announcer cried. "Lance will need quite a comeback from here!"

"Lance has lost his touch a bit in the last few years hasn't he?" Alex said to Lenny.

"All of the ex-champions have." Lenny agreed. "It's just the natural progression of a trainer; you can't stay at the top forever."

"Yeah, I guess." Alex sighed. "Well with this match nearly over Lance goes to second bottom in the league ahead of only a newcomer to the top flight. Reckon there's any point in staying until the end?"

"Nah, this match is over." Lenny said as a decisive blow was delivered to Lance's final Dragonite and the referee signalled the loss.

"Good, I was getting bored of that." Alex said as he stood up. "Now let's go catch some new Pokémon!"

"Can we just sit and relax for one minute?" Lenny asked.

"That sounds boring though. If you don't wanna come, I'll just go by myself."

"Alright then, I'll come." Lenny said. The pair pushed past some people to reach the exit of the common room, reaching some fresh air. It had turned a lot colder since their arrival at the academy as they were now deep into autumn with the winter months feeling right around the corner. As they got outside, they saw the trio of girls talking in a hushed whisper.

"Hey Alex!" Bella called out as they passed them. "We'd like a word."

"Maybe later girls, me and Lenny are heading out to catch some Pokémon." Alex replied, grabbing Lenny's arm so that he couldn't mysteriously vanish again.

"It won't take long, right Megan?" Bella said, turning to her friend.

"It's not that important, honestly." She said.

"But-"

"No really, it's fine." Megan smiled at Alex. "See you later."

"Alright then, see ya!" Alex smiled back as he and Lenny continued towards the forest.

"What was that about?" Lenny asked.

"Absolutely no idea," Alex laughed. "They keep on trying to talk to me about something but you know me, I'm always on the move. I don't have the time to talk."

"You talk to me." Lenny pointed out.

"That's because you're my best friend!" Alex grinned. "I'd be nowhere without you."

"You mean I do all your homework for you."

"Well, that too." The two laughed and continued on their walk through the forest, searching for a new, exciting Pokémon to capture and train. It was Lenny who spotted something first.

"Alex, quiet!" he whispered.

"You see something?" Alex asked in a hushed tone.

"Yeah." Lenny replied. "There's a Skiddo eating some grass in the clearing over there." Alex looked where Lenny was pointing and found the Pokémon. It was a small goat-like creature with grass on its back, cute little hooves and an adorable little goatee. He could just imagine the reaction that the Skiddo would get from girls.

"Well you saw it first so it's all yours."

"Alright then," Lenny said, taking a deep breath, "Chinchou, use Thunder Wave!" Lenny sent out his Chinchou and immediately the action began as Chinchou leapt over the bushes in front of its trainer and sent waves of electricity towards the defenceless creature.

"Skid!" The Pokémon bleated as its knees buckled with pain.

"Use Bubble!" Alex recognised this strategy. This was exactly how Lenny had captured his Honedge but he had a feeling that this battle wouldn't be quite so smooth. The bubbles that Chinchou had fired towards the Skiddo looked like they hadn't done a thing and soon, it attacked back with Razor Leaf.

"Lenny, that Skiddo has type advantage over your Chinchou!" Alex cried but it was moments too late as the leaves cut and sliced all over Chinchou's body.

"Oh no." Lenny breathed as the Skiddo charged in with a Tackle, ramming its horns into the already injured Chinchou, knocking it out with ease.

"It's fine, you've still got one more Pokémon." Alex reminded him.

"Right, yeah." Lenny said after calling back the fainted Chinchou. "Go, Honedge!" Lenny's final Pokémon was his sword, the Pokémon that he'd caught on their first day at the island.

"Be quick, this Skiddo isn't playing around." Alex warned as the Skiddo prepared another Razor Leaf.

"Honedge, use Shadow Sneak!" Lenny cried out at the last moment. Just before Honedge too was cut down by the Skiddo's Razor Leaf, it sunk into the ground, becoming a mere shadow. The dark patch on the earth moved swiftly round to behind the Skiddo before Honedge emerged from its hiding spot, upper cutting the Skiddo's jaw with its blade and dealing a lot of damage. Lenny sensed his chance and threw a Pokéball, sucking the Skiddo inside. After rolling a few times, the ball clicked.

"I think you got it." Alex grinned. That had been a really close fight. In the end it was Lenny's Honedge that had come through, not the Pokémon he used the most which was his Chinchou. Sometimes, Alex wondered if Lenny realised the potential that Honedge had to succeed.

"Yeah, I think so." Lenny breathed a sigh of relief as he picked up the ball. "Honedge, you were great." Lenny smiled at his Pokémon. Despite not really having a face, it looked as though Honedge wore a happy expression.

"That Skiddo looks like it was really strong man, I think you just got a great new addition to your team." Alex said as Lenny called his Honedge back. Before Lenny could respond, a deep, throaty growl echoed through the clearing.

"Um, ok, that doesn't sound good." Lenny said, his voice barely audible.

"Butter." Alex sent out his trusted Butterfree. It sounded like something very dangerous was very nearby and he wanted to know he had Butterfree by his side before things got hairy.

"Free!" Butterfree cried, turning around. Alex and Lenny quickly swivelled as well, where they saw the source of the growl. A pair of gleaming yellow eyes stared down at them before the rest of the creature emerged from the trees. It was a tall blue dragon with fins on its arms and back. It's chest and jaw were blood red, and with its razor sharp claws, this was a pretty terrifying Pokémon. This was a Garchomp. It was covered in small, leaf shaped cuts and its angry expression lead Alex to believe that it had been sliced by Skiddo's Razor Leaf when Honedge had dodged it. For a moment, Alex and Lenny just stared, their mouths hanging wide open before a loud roar told them to back off.

"Alex, we should run." Lenny squeaked, a look of terror in his eyes.

"Run?" Alex laughed. "Things are just heating up! Butter, use Psybeam!"

"You're taking it on?" Lenny breathed as Butterfree's eyes flashed pink and fired a beam towards their ferocious opponent.

"I'll do more than that - I'll catch it!" Alex grinned as Butterfree's attack hit Garchomp in the chest. However, the Garchomp merely grunted and charged towards them, reading its claws for an attack.

"Gar!" It screamed as it swiped wildly at Butterfree, its Dragon Claw attack just barely missing the target.

"Use Gust to get away!" Alex ordered. Butterfree immediately flapped its wings to propel itself backwards, out of range of another attack. The Garchomp struggled against the gale, attempting to once again charge but it could only go one step at a time whilst Butterfree kept up this attack. "Alright, stop and use Sleep Powder."

"Gar." The Garchomp grunted as the winds died down but instead of charging forwards, the abrupt change simply meant that Garchomp accelerated to quickly, falling over and planting its face into the ground. Then it was an easy target for Butterfree to sprinkle a fine green powder over its body, sending it into a deep sleep.

"Psybeam." Butterfree pummelled the unconscious dragon into the ground with another psychic beam until it had barely any energy left. "Alright then, here's hoping," Alex said as he hurled a Pokéball at the unmoving Garchomp. Without even rolling, the ball clicked.

"Wow." Lenny said as Alex triumphantly picked up the ball containing his newest Pokémon. "That was something else."

"I guess it was pretty impressive wasn't it?" Alex grinned. Garchomp would be a really powerful member of his team. Already, Alex wanted to try it out. "Why don't we test out our new Pokémon?" Alex suggested, "I've got plenty of potions to heal them up with."

"I guess we could." Lenny replied, "But it's not like I'd win."

"Not with that attitude." Alex winked and Lenny's mood brightened slightly. A quick usage of some Super Potions and they were ready to battle.

"Skiddo!"

"Garchomp!"

"Use Leech Seed!" Lenny ordered, starting off the battle. His Skiddo happily responded, launching seeds from its grassy back.

"Dodge it." Alex retorted. Garchomp turned to Alex and scowled as if it didn't like his strategy. Begrudgingly, it tried to avoid the oncoming seeds but its moment of reluctance had cost it too much time. The seeds made direct contact, attaching themselves to Garchomp and opening up, spreading vines all over its body which sapped energy.

"Tackle." Lenny said, sending Skiddo in on what seemed like a suicide mission. Garchomp was far too strong to take head on, he was clearly going to try and swerve at the last second to get Garchomp off balance.

"Stand your ground Garchomp but ready your Dragon Claw." The words 'Dragon Claw' seemed to be the only words that Garchomp heard. As soon as Alex spoke the command Garchomp roared and charged towards Skiddo, swinging its vicious claws.

"Now!" Lenny cried. Just as Alex had expected, Skiddo swerved to the right at the last second, completely avoiding Garchomp's attack before darting back towards its foe, ramming it in the back with its horns. Garchomp twisted, snarling angrily and took a wild swipe at Skiddo which it easily sidestepped.

"Garchomp, try Dig instead." Alex urged. For a moment, Garchomp considered it, before deciding that it wanted to go for Crunch instead.

"Skiddo, dodge and use Razor Leaf." Lenny was in complete control of this battle. Skiddo easily dodged Garchomp's snapping jaws and sent a barrage of sharp leaves at Garchomp which cut and sliced its entire body.

"Gar! Garchomp!" Garchomp cried out in pain and anger as it fell down to one knee. By now, the Leech Seed had worn away a lot of Garchomp's strength and Skiddo's attacks had stacked up a lot of damage. Garchomp looked back up at Skiddo, its eyes now a dark shade of red, filled with fury.

"Um, Garchomp?" Alex said, earning no response.

"GAR!" Garchomp roared with all its might, getting back to its feet and charging at Skiddo with no order from Alex. It swung its claws ferociously, taking swipes at the little goat, roaring, screaming and crying out with rage every time it attacked. Eventually, the relentless onslaught paid off as Skiddo couldn't dodge forever and one Dragon Claw flung it far to the left.

"Garchomp stop it!" Alex yelled but it was no use. Garchomp continued to attack the defenceless Skiddo, long after it had fainted. If this kept up, some Garchomp was going to cause some serious harm to Skiddo that may become permanent. Alex ran towards Garchomp, coming between the two Pokémon and raising his arm at Garchomp. For a moment at least, Garchomp stopped attacking.

"Garchomp. Gar! GAR!" Garchomp cried readying another attack.

"Garchomp, no - " Alex was cut off by Garchomp swiping its claw down, slashing his raised arm, sending a shockwave of pain rippling through his body. Alex fell to his knees, clutching the fresh wound that was spilling blood at an alarming rate.

"Alex, look out!" Lenny cried out as Garchomp raised its claws once again. With only a split second to spare, Alex clicked Garchomp's Pokéball, sucking it back inside. As Garchomp turned into red light, Alex saw Garchomp's claw cut straight through his neck. If he hadn't returned Garchomp to its ball in time, it would've been a fatal blow. Alex breathed a sigh of relief as he collapsed onto the ground, his arm still seeping fountains of blood. He needed medical attention.