Back on the deck, the third and final rounds of the Eliminations were going on. Austin found himself standing, this time as the Blue Trainer, staring ahead at his opponent for the day, a brown-haired female from Viridian City. Said trainer, Amelia, was apparently one of the best trainers in Viridian, and was trying for the Indigo League the second time round. She had tried her luck at the League the previous year, and gotten eliminated in the Top-32 battle, against an opponent who then got defeated in the semi-finals. Needless to say, Amelia had a lot of training under her belt and defeating her wouldn't be easy.

Well, no point complaining when you have a job to do. Austin thought demurely. "I choose you, Pidgeot"

The flash of red left his pokeball, as the avian soared up into the sky, before gaining a comfortable altitude from where she stared down at the opponent, her dark eyes literally challenging the girl to try defeat her with her pokémon.

"A Pidgeot, huh? Well, my pokémon couldn't have asked for any better." Amelia smirked. "Go, Fearow."

The beak pokémon materialised in front of Austin , its brownish shades and long, pointy wings spread wide, as it took to air. Austin noticed a sudden glow in its eyes as it stared at Pidgeot, who also had a sudden tinge of red in her own. Austin glanced back at Amelia, who had a not-so-subtle grin on her face.

Very well, you want a battle? You have it.

"Pidgeot, this is a matter of your own honour." Austin claimed, surprising Pidgeotto who looked down at Austin with something… strange in her eyes. Her trainer had never really considered things like honour or pride before this. Austin was obsessed with training, and growing stronger, both for himself and his team. It suited Pidgeot just fine, though the fact that her trainer cared about her own personal honour did increase his value by several notches in her mind.

The avian let out a war cry as she swooped down to glide in front of the Fearow, who spread her wings even higher and further, showing her whose territory it was.

Pidgeot gave the Fearow a thin glare. I'll show this half-baked crane whose territory it is.

"Get closer and use peck ,Pidgeot!" Austin commanded.

Amelia smirked. "As if. Fearow, fly towards Pidgeot, use swift."

The two avians seemed to be getting closer and closer towards a head-on collision.

"Use pursuit." Amelia commanded, as Fearow's eyes glowed dangerously.

" Sand Twister ."

Pidgeot spun as she combined Sand attack and Twister into a dust devil around her causing fearow to stop its pursuit and to add insult to injury , the swift stars began to mix in with the dust devil.

Amelia frowned and exclaimed ," Twister ."

Fearow managed to accomplish a Twister attack which nullified dust devil's cyclone as the swift stars attacked Fearow .

"Dodge, and go with the drill. Use Aerial Ace." Austin exclaimed

"Use Aerial Ace as well."

The two avians soared up towards the heavens, and came down upon each other, like two airborne missiles as their beaks snapped on each other, before the two pushed back, and repeated the previous movement over and over again.

"Pidgeot,use Aerial Wing."

Thinking that her opponent was throwing her off by having Pidgeot use steel wing while calling it something else, Amelia exclaimed

"Fearow, show them a real Steel wing."

The Fearow charged at Pidgeot but Pidgeot disappeared as she landed a critical steel wing powered by the speed of aerial ace . It seemed like Amelia was more of a reactive-aggressive player, making sure that Fearow mirror Pidgeotto's every single attack, but this strategy was absolutely gone with Austin's unique style using combo moves in his battle style .

" Get closer." Amelia commanded, surprising Austin. The moment they were close enough, Amelia yelled, "Use Hyper beam!"

Shit! Austin cursed, "Pidgeot, use double-team, now."

"What?" Amelia yelled in surprise. Unfortunately, the hyper beam was now ready, and despite Fearow's attempts, having several dozens of illusory avians flying towards Fearow at high speeds didn't make it a good situation for hyper beam to have any effective use.

"Aerial-wing, full power!"

"Fearow, use mirror move, now!" Amelia yelled, as Austin stood flabbergasted. Pidgeot slammed into Fearow, as mirror move activated, returning back the same move back to Pidgeot, and using her own momentum against her. The two avians felt the raw power of attack shock their innards, as partial paralysis of their bodies took place, making the two avians fall towards the ground.

"Pidgeot!" Austin cried out , as he raised his pokeball and returned her quickly before she fell. Fearow however, wasn't so lucky, and slammed into the ground before Amelia could return it into her pokeball.

"Fearow is unable to battle." The referee declared. "Blue Trainer, will you continue with your pokémon?"

Austin shook his head. Even if there was a chance that Pidgeotto would have something left in her to continue battling, she was already wounded. There was no point releasing her once again.

"Red trainer, choose your next pokémon." The referee continued in his monotone.

Amelia glared at the man darkly. "I am going to, anyway." With a scowl, she threw another pokeball to the ground. "Go, Charmeleon."

Austin scowled as Amelia's battle style was getting on his nerves .

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Cynthia stood amongst the audience the psychic-based water-droplet-shaped earrings she had started wearing upon becoming Champion serving their purpose. Apparently, it was customary for a defeated Champion to have a certain… psychic-based jewellery forged for the next Champion on their ascension. These… jewellery were specially crafted to create a form of psychic barrier between the wearer and their surroundings, making it quite difficult to recognize them, unless they were looking too closely or already knew the wearer on a personal level. These artifacts allowed the Champions to freely travel in near anonymity all over the region, without provoking public excitement in the masses. Needless to say, they were dead useful for missions that required a certain level of secrecy and camouflage.

Ash Ketchum. That was the trainer's name. Over the last two matches, he had displayed a ruthless efficiency in battle along with a unique style of combining Pokémon moves , something Cynthia knew all too well. Despite her… rather indecisive nature over other things, she had a one-track mind, and employed tunnel vision when it came to battling, something that she was beginning to realize that this young man also had within him.

"Interesting." She muttered.