The beginning of a new road {Path of the Aura Ranger: Book II}

IV Cilan's P.O.V

The Top 32 came and go in a breeze. Max defeated his opponent with the use of Banettte and Scraggy, the later who defeated the opponent's Darumaka using Headbutt. It was a smart choice to select Scraggy when it was still early and the pokemon were mostly weak. It gave Max a chance to measure his young pokemon and give Scraggy the opportunity to battle in a Pokemon League. As for the Top 16 is when things turned serious. Max had been selected to battle against Stephan in the first 3 in 3 battle. That will be a a good battle if I have anything to say about it.

"Come on out, Zebstrika!" Stephan called out to his handy starter.

"Coming out strong, I see," Ash commented with a smile.

"It's your turn Serperior!" Max summoned his Unova Starter.

"Good choice, he will need the speed to win this battle," Norman praised his son, with a proud smile.

"This will be good!" Iris exclaimed, vibrating with excitement.

"You can do it Max!" May cheered for her little brother.

"Zebstrika, Facade!" Stephan commanded. Zebstrika became covered in an orange aura for a moment, before charging towards Serperior- who did not even need a command from Max to meet the attack with a Leaf Blade, stopping the charge on its place. "Good!" Stephan smirked, startling Max. "Flame Charge!" Zebstrika repeatedly stompped on the ground until a cloud of dust covers his entire body. His body then became surrounded in an orb of red and yellow flames, and he slammed into Serperior- dealing a lot of damage.

"Serperior!" Max called out in worry. "Get away and use Mega Drain!" Serperior's tail glew white, and she shot a dark green beam from her tail at Zebstrika. The green beam grabbed Zebstrika, trapped him inside and sucked his energy. "Well done!" Max cheered as Serperior looked as good as new, while Zebstrika looked worse to wear. "Now, Grassy Terrain!" Serperior released a light-green ring of energy from her body onto the grass around her, causing flowers to grow and powering up Grass-type moves.

"So, pretty!" Iris awed at the scene before her.

"It is a handy move in contests, that's for sure," May agreed.

"Now, let's finish this with Frenzy Plant!" Max shouted, as Stephan's eyes grew in horror. Serperior's body became outlined in a green aura, she then stuck her tail in the ground and made giant, spiky roots come out of the ground and striked Zebstrika- knocking the weakened pokemon out. "All right!"

"You go Max!" May jumped cheering for her bother.

"Well done sweetheart!" Caroline celebrated with her daughter.

"Not a bad start," I commented.

"Not bad at all," Norman agreed, clapping for his son.

"Liepard, you are next!" Stephan called out for his next pokemon, after recalling his fainted starter.

"Come back Serperior, thank you for a wonderful battle!" Max recalled his Grass-type pokemon with a smile. "Mightyena, come on out!"

"A Dark-type pokemon battle," Riley hummed. "That will be interesting."

"He could have called out Breloom or Gallade and he would have won this round easily," Norman frowned.

"The Pokemon League is not simply a tournament, but a test that gym leaders take," I told my Gym Leader equal, as Liepard and Mightyena were locked in a Tackle fight, skull bashing against the other, growling threateningly. "If they cannot win a battle against another trainer without relying on type-advantage, they will not be able to win against the Elite 4."

"That is true," Norman sighed, as Mightyena and Liepard broke apart. "Knowing that and being a Gym Leader, does not stop me from being a dad and worrying for my son."

"Mightyena, Double Team!" Max called out.

"Not so fast!" Stephan shouted. "Use Double Team too! And then Shadow Claw!"

One of the paws of every one of the copies of Liepard became surrounded by a black aura with a purple outline. The aura then took the form of a claw and Liepard slashed at every single one of Mightyena's copies. However, when they all of Mightyena's copies popped away, no one but Liepard and his copies were on the battlefield. Leaving a very confused Stephan, Liepard, and crowd.

"What?!" Iris shouted surprised, as Ash laughed happily.

"He is finally starting to be sly and playing tricks!" Ash chuckled, as Pikachu cheered. "Not bad Max! Not bad at all!" Suddenly, from underneath the real Liepard, Mightyena appeared catching Liepard by the neck with a powerful Crunch and later threw him around using Play Rough. Poor Liepard landed knocked out before Stephan like a ragdoll. That was also vicious... I was not that vicious when I turned eleven. Is this my fault?"

"What do you think?!" May and Iris turned to him in unison.

I laughed at Ash's sheepish expression, sharing a look with Riley at our friends' antics. On the battlefield, both Liepard and Mightyene had been recalled. Stephan had released his final pokemon, Sawk, while Max had called out his third pokemon, Breloom. Max seem to be trying to get all of his pokemon to have at least one go in the Pokemon League.

"Karate Chop!" Stephan commanded.

But that had only worked to give Breloom the opening he needed. "Gunk Shot!" Max ordered.

Breeloom put his hands together, and a silver light started sparkling between them. The light then turned into a black bag of garbage outlined in purple, which Breloom then hurled at the Sawk's approaching form. It explodes on impact, sending pieces of glowing purple gunk flying and poisoning Sawk. Now it was simply fight against time.

"Sawk, use Close Combat!" Stephan shouted, surely trying to geet the battle over with fast.

"Breloom, meet him with Close Combat as well!" Max commanded.

The next battle was one of pure Fighting-type prowess. The met kick with kick, punch with punch, blocking jabs and giving jabs in return. It was wonderful. The pokemon were black and blue, bruised from head to toe, by the time Sawk kneeles over from the poison.

"Do not give up, Sawk! We can still go on!" Stephan shouted for his partner, who returned his determination with fire in his eyes and a warrior shout. Unfortunately, for them, Breloom took advantage of the perfect position, Sawk kneeeling before him, and finished the battle with a Zen Headbutt to the skull. "Ah," Stephan sighed, recalling his last pokemon as the referee called the match. "Great job Max!" Stephan met him in the middle of the battlefield and shook his hand.

"Thank you! You too!" Max replied, as the crowd cheered on.

"Perfect sweep!! May cheered, as I laughed. "Did you see that?! That's my little brother!"

"He has growned up so much," Norman commented proudly, as he stood up and clapped for his boy.

"He still has a lot of growth to do. He had only just started to spread out and try sly strategies like this," I told him. "But he is doing very well. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next!"