Zach watched the next match with a certain intensity. He had his eyes on the guy at first, seeing that he had three Pokemon to choose from. Seeing the flashes of red light, however, he quickly revised his opinion of the girl as a Swinub was released. How could she get a Swinub? Any kind of Ice type was rare in San Francisco, outside of the occasional Lapras or Spheal. She must be from out of state. It looked like things would be interesting, and he was right. The match went to that Alice girl.

Bouncing on his heels, Zach walked up to where he would be battling next, eager to get the match started. The announcer turned to look at both of his contestants. “Our battlers are Zacharias Mann and Julio Garza of San Fransisco!” Motioning to each of the boys as he said their names, a polite amount of applause filled the section of beach. 

Zach tried to study his opponent, having decided to try and choose his Pokemon based on what he could gleam from his foe. The man was tall, taller than even Zacharias, and his dark olive skin tone said that he was used to working outside. Maybe he had a Pokemon to help him with that? Except he also had a handsome face and body that said he worked out a lot, he could just be a fan of the tanning booth and have something less practical.

Deciding this was a waste of time, Zach just took a Pokeball off his belt. Time to get serious. Opposite of him, Julio did the same. “Ready! And, begin!” Julio was the first to throw his Pokeball, followed shortly by Zacharias. Red lights filling the air, a pair of Pokemon were released, a Lotad and an Electrike. 

“Lotad, Astonish!” Julio’s Pokemon rushed forward at a surprisingly fast speed, a ghostly aura surrounding it as it crashed into Electrike. 

Thankfully, the attack didn’t cause a flinch. “Silas, give him a Thunder Wave!” Electricity danced across the Pokemon’s body before bursting out, covering a wide area in static. Covering Lotad, the electricity seemed to tighten the muscles in the small Pokemon’s body.

“Lotad, pull yourself together! Give it a Surf, full power!” Ah, that explained why Julio was so tan. Unfortunately, the paralysis seemed to take a lot out of Lotad, as it struggled to move its body.

Zacharias smirked. “Throw an Electro Ball, give it all you’ve got!” Eyes wide, Julio could only watch as a ball of electricity grew in front of the small Electrike. Allowing it to charge to a massive size compared to the Pokemon delivering it, Silas let the blast loose with a concussive ‘boom’. Charging forward, the attack knocked the Lotad out in a single hit.

“Lotad is unable to battle! Electrike and Mann are the winners!” 

Running up to its master, Silas jumped into Zacharias’ arms and licked the man’s face. “Hahah! Good job Silas, it looks like that strategy worked just like we planned!” The pair walked off to the side of the match area, waiting for the next battle. Drawing a few stares from their one-hit attack, Zach was sure the next competitor would take them very seriously.