Untraveled Roads - Key Moments

The Fraudulent Champion

Seemingly unprompted by it's trainer, the Sandslash quickly pivots around, facing the Dragonite again and sprints forward at a speed so quick that an afterimage can be briefly seen.

"Take advantage of the defense drop, use Slash!"

Ethan shouts out a command to his Sandslash, and it quickly leaps back into the air and Slashes the vulnerable Dragonite, landing another critical hit. As the Sandslash lands, the Dragonite topples over behind him, having fainted after only two attacks. Lance is bewildered, he had never seen a Pokemon that fast, much less a normal Pokemon you could find lazing around on an ordinary route, and yet in only the span of 20 seconds his Dragonite was on the floor fainted. 

Lance was considering his options, and none of his Pokemon seemed to be able to win against that Sandslash on their own. His other 2 Dragonites are weaker than the one that just fell before his eyes, his Charizard isn't fast enough to compete along with the fact that Sandslash resists his Fire type moves, his Aerodactyl is in a similar situation to his Charizard, and his Gyrados is injured. Lance will lose this battle if he doesn't come up with a genius plan to beat the outrageous speed that Sandslash has, and yet Lance has nothing. 

And yet Lance absolutely refuses to lose. He has spent so long fighting, battling, and proving his strength just to be granted the title of acting Champion, he couldn't let some kid from the middle of nowhere rob him of his position because of one Mew forbidden Pokemon. Lance must win. He has to win. 

So Lance cheats.

"Dragonites, Charizard, Aerodactyl, all out of your ball! Rid this Sandslash of your presence!"

In an illegal move, Lance sends all four of his healthy remaining Pokemon out at once to fight one single Sandslash. The crowd watching on the TVs in the waiting room boo, the people watching the match at home scream at their screens, no one liked this, for obvious reason, and yet Lance doesn't care. He has to win, no matter what.

Ethan is surprised. He never expected this coming from Lance, a seemingly respectable, if not a little questionable, Champion, but this revelation still doesn't deter him. Ethan had been waiting the entire battle for a reason to use his trump card, the ability Lance still doesn't know about even after fighting alongside him multiple times. Ethan's ace in the hole. Ethan's Battle Bond.

"We're not afraid."

Ethan already knew exactly what he had to say, he's used it before after all, but there's only been one other time where it's activation is as important as it is now. Ethan's words trigger a change in himself, his willpower skyrocketing to face this seemingly insurmountable challenge in front of him. His right eye begins to glow a brilliant gold color, and his Sandslash's left eye does the same. His stance shifts, from one of careful planning to one of unrestrained determination, practically posing on the battlefield just to hype himself up. His smirk becomes a grin, his willful expression showing his belief in his victory. Both person and Pokemon being quite the show-offs, his Sandslash also stances up, once set of claws pointing directly at the enemies in front of him and the other pointing upwards as if to show off how they look, and grinning just as much as his trainer. These two are assured of their victory, despite the fact that it's a four on one. 

Ethan and his Sandslash both know that they will win.

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Lyra watches from the waiting room in the Indigo League lobby, watching her friend's battle on the TV. She was beginning to lose hope after seeing Lance draw four Pokemon at once, the crowd booing around her for Lance's clearly illegal play. However, she hears something only she and two other people could recognize the importance of. Ethan's words.

"YES!!!"

Lyra practically screams in excitement, knowing Ethan has far more than just a chance of victory. She knows that he will win, in fact she feels like Lance could send ten Pokemon and Ethan could still win. Lyra has an almost concerning amount of faith in Ethan, but that faith is not misplaced.

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Silver is in the Indigo League lobby, watching his rival fight Lance on the TV. Despite everything Silver has done to him, Ethan still showed him kindness, so Silver figured that the least he could do for someone who considers him a friend is at least watch his Champion battle. Plus, he'd pay any amount of money to watch Lance get humbled in front of two entire regions. Though Silver didn't expect Lance to cheat in front of everyone. He despised Lance because of his strength that he felt he could never reach, but Lance doesn't even have that anymore. Silver starts to get worried for Ethan, wondering if he could win, until he hears Ethan speak from the TV. The crowd is mostly confused about those words, with the exception of one girl he knows screaming in excitement. Like her, he knows the meaning of these words well. He had to fight the result of those words, after all.

"Guess I was worried for nothing."

Silver mutters to himself as a small smirk forms on his face, knowing this battle is already over as he looks back up to the TV.

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Kris couldn't make it to the Indigo League today, of all the days to get saddled with work randomly it had to be the day her best friend fought his Champion battle. Professor Elm let her keep the TV on in the lab so she could at least watch Ethan's battle, even if she couldn't be there to congratulate him after he won. Kris was in the middle of organizing files when she checked the TV to see Lance with four Pokemon on the field, which was obviously cheating. She wasn't worried though, as she was just waiting for Ethan to say three words. Sure enough, Kris heard those three words escape Ethan's mouth, and watched him start to do all the extra stuff that he really didn't need to do. Kris chuckles to herself, both at Ethan's excessive performance and to pity Lance.

"Heh, poor guy."

She mutters to herself as she returns to organizing various files, knowing Lance never stood a chance in the first place.