The Renegade Trainer

"Gabite, let's greet him with [Dragon Rage]!" 

"Intercept with your own [Dragon Rage]."

At a clearing under the moonlight, two trainers stood face to face as their middle stage dragons fired draconic energy from their mouths.

Being a move with fixed power, the collision of [Dragon rage] ended in a tie.

Emerging from the smoke was Drago's Gabite, rushing at its opponent with claws clad in green draconic power.

"[Dragon claw]."

However, Cynthia and her Gabite were super reactive in battle.

"[Breaking swipe]!"

The two physical moves clashed, and both Gabite seemed to be at a stalemate.

But that was until Grey, Drago's Gabite, made a maneuvere that caused it's foe to lose balance and striked it with [Dragon claw].

And from there began it's offensive momentum, a tactic the Ace trainer is famous for.

"Grey, use [Dragon rage]."

"Avoid, then [Breaking swipe]!"

Despite getting hit by a super-effective move, Gabite's tenacity was by no means inferior.

Grey shot it's [Dragon rage], which Gabite dodged by a centimeter by moving aside as he charged for it's attack.

Though Cynthia and Gabite were in range for an attack, Drago predicted this and lured them in.

"[Dual chop]!"

Gabite was about to hit it with [Breaking swipe] when Grey's claws shined green, it's power enough to deflect their attack and retaliate.

One clean hit, Gabite fell to the ground. Another hit stopped him from standing up.

"Gabite!" It's trainer rushed to heal it.

Cynthia knew she probably wouldn't win, but didn't think that Drago would win unscathed.

"I feel like a Poliwag in a well..."

"You did better than most kids that sparred with me. But yes, there is still so much for you to learn.

"For starters, you shouldn't rely too much on Gabite's sheer talent to overpower your does. It will be best if you improved your offensive techniques instead of brute force."

Though calm as a lake, Cynthia was frustrated. 'I already know this. Grandma always told me that skill can overcome strength. And yet...'

But seeing Gabite get up and still not disheartened, she stopped herself from sulking.

"Thank you for the lesson, sir Drago."

"Don't forget what you learned today." With a soft smile, he continued "I'll be going back to camp now."

"I'll stay here with Gabite for a bit."

Drago left, and Cynthia fell head first as she laid on the fields of green, staring at the night sky.

The defeat pained her, but at the same time, she learned so much from that battle.

'I am growing...'

Cynthia raised her palms to the bright full moon, full of excitement for the adventures that lie ahead of her...

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Three days later...

"We've arrived."

The night was high, and so we're their guards. The team finally reached the Ursaluna territory in the wetlands.

As discussed, they were to stick together and battle as a group at all times.

At the outermost layer of of their formation was Drago and their bulkiest Pokémon.

The scouts operated with psychic-types, sensing danger from afar and they alerted the team via Telepathy from inside their formation.

"It's here!" Communicated the scouts in unison.

But even without it, everyone still felt the chilly aura emitted by the Pokémon.

Ursaluna had deliberately shown itself.

Standing on its forelegs, it only had one eye open as the crimson moon on its forehead stood out.

"Ursaluna... To think it'd be real."

Not much was known about Ursaluna, but legends say that only one Blood moon Ursaluna exists. And the most recent sightings of this beast was 500 hundred years ago.

Cynthia pondered on how old this Pokémon is. However, even her mentor and grandma was unaware of the flaws of ancient lore.

The ground begun to tremor.

"It's [Earthquake], hurry and [Disable] it!"

[Earthquake] was a radius move that dealt massive damage the closer the target is.

Drago's Flygons and their flying types may be unaffected by this, but most of them aren't.

It was an attack that indiscriminately attacks both foes and allies, which was why the leader wanted it gone.

Soon after, the Earthquake was no more and the bipedal Ursaluna was up against Slowking, Hariyama, and Gliscor.

There was no need to hold back, as this Ursaluna would kill them if given the chance.

"Hariyama, use [Force palm]."

"Slowking, use [Light screen]."

"Gliscor, use [Toxic]."

Gliscor and Hariyama charged in, while Slowking started to setup for the team after it disabled Ursaluna's [Earthquake].

However, their assault was halted as Ursaluna roared. It used [Hyper voice].

As [Light screen] cushioned the damage, there were other Pokémon that played the role of support by using [Protect].

Cynthia couldn't help but admire their coordination, as well as the team's wide range of supporting moves.

'I know all these moves, and yet seeing them used is just different. Lectures really can't compare to practical learning.'

From inside the formation, one of Drago's Flygons was assigned to defend their most vulnerable team members.

And Gliscor may have successfully poisoned Ursaluna, but the [Hyper voice] it used did much more than just deal damage.

"There are at least 20 Ursaring coming this way from all directions!"

Announced the scout, causing the team to tense up. These are all Elite Pokémon, just like them. But they were definitely outnumbered.

Still, Drago couldn't lose composure.

"[Reflect], Slowking."

A second layer of barrier was erected,ready to absorb damage from physical attacks.

"Everyone, brace yourselves and use [Protect]! Salamence, protect us."

As he sensed the Ursaring stop, Drago knew what was coming next. These Pokémon usually charge blindly in all out offense, so seeing them stop meant one thing.

"It's a barrage of [Hyper beam]!!!"

Dense rays of white light came from all sides. On their position, the outer team all used [Protect] to block the damage.

"Charge!"

The beam only lasted a few seconds, but that created an opportunity to attack since Ursaring needed to recharge now.

This time, Drago wasn't pulling punches.

Salamence was his ace and the reason why he reached his high status in the first place.

But as he neared the place where Ursaluna retreated to, Drago saw a Weavile, a man in all black, and a huge block of ice.

"Pathetic. You mercilessly murder weaker trainers, but turn tail when someone stronger comes along."

The man uttered in ridicule and turned to Drago. "Do not interfere."

"Who do you think you are!?" He and Salamence stepped forward, only to be met by a strong gust of frosty wind.

Within a second, Weavile was pointing it's blade made of concentrated dark energy to his neck.

"I hate repeating myself." was what he said, but the man's cold gaze got the message through.

As the man in all black started placing strange chips around the ice block, Drago finally recognized him.

'Pokémon hunter.'

This also explains why their scouts couldn't sense him. A lot of hunters specialized in both Dark and Psychic types. The latter for tracking and the former for devouring.

Checked by Weavile, Drago could only stand by as the hunter captured the Pokémon with a strange device.

Without a word, the man and his Pokémon vanished without a trace.

As the team caught up to Drago, he said to them "It's mission success."

Cheers of victory echoed among them as their troubles finally came to an end...

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A few days later...

"So you're headed to Oreburgh now. Lucky for you it's just right up ahead of that cave."

Drago spoke to Cynthia.

"Yeah, this is where we'll separate."

"Sir, we've finalized our reports. The Ursaring group have resettled and won't cause any trouble now."

"Keep up the good work," Said the leader before turning back to Cynthia, "You too. Good luck with your gym challenge."

"Will do!" Cynthia smiled and went on ahead.

Unbeknownst the both of them, a sinister figure was within the team, just hiding among the members.

In his hands was a Pokéball. "So that was Ursaluna... With this... I will... Soon have... My... Own... Hehehe..."

"Oi, what are you mumbling?"

"It's nothing."

"Then get back to work."

"Alright, alright, geez no need to be so harsh."

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Some time earlier, Valley windworks...

Strong winds blew under the grey clouds as the heavy rain fell on a small fishing boat at the wide river.

"It's here, it's here!"

A young teen, Murkrow on his shoulder, smiled in glee as a certain Magikarp was frantically flapping it's flippers on his vessel.

But contrary what Maguro said to Cynthia, this Magikarp wasn't shiny. It was even better, a black-potential Magikarp!

"I've been hunting you down for so long. Today, you will join me as my Pokémon!

"[Thunder wave]!"

Murkrow took off and paralyzed the Magikarp.

It was all going well and Maguro was about to catch it with a Pokéball when a big wave crashed to his boat.

The Magikarp was pushed overboard, not only that, but another wave hit Maguro's boat, causing it to flip sidewards.

"Damn it!"

He jumped and followed the Magikarp to the water...

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20 minutes later...

'At least I didn't bring all my supplies with me on that trip.'

Maguro thought as Murkrow circled him from the skies. 'Still, it was worth it.'

He patted the thick blue scales of his newly caught Gyarados. Because it was paralyzed and slower, Maguro managed to catch Magikarp.

And just as he was about to use it, the little fish evolved to it's superior form.

"Well, that ended smoothly. I wonder how Cynthia's doing?"

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[TO BE CONTINUED]