In Lava [Pokémon Watty Awards, 2016 2nd Place Romance]

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Day four of the competition was already underway. Billy was facing off against Katrina for the semi-finals. Sadly, the match was getting to be one-sided. Nuzleaf had gone down in the fight against Magmar, and Billy's Pelipper didn't exactly do too much, save for one Water Pulse that managed to hit before Magmar decimated him with Thunder Punch.
Billy was facing off against someone far stronger than Rick.

He wiped his brow and readied his next Pokémon.

"Linoone, time to play!" Billy called out.

Linoone materialized inside the barrier and looked around. She had recently evolved and was getting used to the sharper senses. She crouched low and looked toward her opponent. She could tell that he was a powerful Pokémon just from the scent of him. It made her shiver slightly out of fear.

"Linoone, use Double Edge!" Billy commanded.

"Flamethrower!" Countered Katrina.

Linoone bounded forward, a golden aura surrounding her as she charged. Able to run at 60 miles per hour, she was confident in her speed. She jinked the Flamethrower as it passed her on the right. Another one singed her fur as she barely avoied it closing in. She lunged, throwing all of her body weight into the attack. Magmar was struck hard in the stomach but managed to grab hold of Linoone before she could move back.

Flames gathered into his mouth. Magmar fired a close range Flamethrower right into Linoone's face, burning the critter. He then flung Linoone into the air.

"Dynamic Punch!" Katrina ordered.

In a split second, Magmar cocked his fist back and through a bone-shattering punch into Linoone, blasting her back to Billy's feet, unconscious.

"Linoone is unable to battle! Magmar wins!" Declared the judge as his hand went up to stop the battle.
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So it looks like she will be in the final round. That Magmar is really something else, Brendan thought as he watched Billy return his friend return Linoone.

He needs to hang in there. Katrina, from what I hear, is the granddaughter of a Veteran of war. She was trained by him too. No wonder her Pokémon are so strong.
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"It all comes down to this..." Billy said as he looked at his last ball.

"Drilbur, let's do it!" Billy called out.

The Mole Pokémon appeared onto the field and glanced back at his trainer. Billy smiled at his friend and nodded to the Magmar opposition.

"Drilbur, we may be down, but we're not out of this yet! Use Dig!" Billy called out.

Drilbur leapt up and spun his body like a drill. He tunneled underground, quickly making his way to Magmar who began to look around for where Drilbur might come up.

Katrina frowned and muttered something unintelligible under her breath as she tried to pinpoint the location of the Drilbur. Sadly, Magmar had nothing to counter Drilbur with. Before she knew it, Drilbur erupted from the ground and hammered into Magmar with surprising force.

Magmar stumbled back and wobbled a bit, regaining his balance before firing off a Flamethrower in retaliation. The quick little mole avoided the blast and struck the ground hard, creating a shockwave after using Bulldoze. The pulse went outward and blew Magmar off his feet, causing him to slam into the ground, unconscious.

"Magmar is unable to battle! Drilbur wins!"

"Booyah! Got'em!" Billy shouted happily, pumping his fist in the air.