As the new season of the Sinnoh battle league kicked off, there was the typical influx of new fighters eager to try their hand in the arena, and a fairly small crowd eager to see which of the rookies would stand out. There had developed both a fairly recent tradition for the first tournament of the year to be held in Oreburgh, being almost exactly halfway between the two most populous cities in the region, and an unwritten agreement among most of the more experienced and successful fighters to give the opening tournament of the season a miss, partly to collectively recover from the intensity of the championship tournament at the end of the year, and partly offering the newcomers a chance to gain a little bit of battle experience and a handful of ranking points before being being thrown in with the metaphorical sharks.
That, however, wasn't how the Rhydon saw it. Despite being one of the surest bets to make a deep run into the end-of-season championship bracket year on year, Tamsin almost never missed the Oreburgh tournament. For her, it was one of the easiest ways to buff her own ranking - not that she needed to - and quash any ideas the newbies may have had above their station. She was by far and away the biggest fish in this little pond, and she made sure every one of the new arrivals knew it. A vicious and versatile veteran who would steamroll every one of the new faces put in front of her her, racking up victory after victory without even breaking a sweat.
But not this time. In only her first match of the entire year, Tamsin was already beginning to feel exhaustion creeping up on her. She had been forced to throw everything she could into this fight: ice, fire, thunder, even carving up the ground and launching great hunks of rock at her opponent in a brutal barrage. And yet, she almost couldn't believe what she was seeing, her bewilderment quickly turning to sheer anger, as her bruised and beaten foe slowly crawled out of the crater she had left them in.
The Staraptor wasn't giving up
"Stay......DOWN!" roared the towering mountain of a Rhydon, loud enough for Roisin to easily hear through the ringing in her head. Blood pounded in her ears, stained her face and arms, and dripped into the trench of dirt beneath her. Sharp, jagged rocks had slashed her wide open, and great boulders had pummeled her from every direction. Lightning had coursed through her body, flames had seared her skin, and ice had chilled her down to her bones. Some of which she felt may have been broken. The big bird couldn't help letting out a sharp groan through gritted teeth as the immense pain shot through her with even the slightest of movements. Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes as she forced herself through the overwhelming agony, muscles shaking as her body fought to hold itself together. She was barely able to stand up.
And none of it mattered. Roisin had waited half her life to get here, and she wasn't about to be turned back in mere minutes. With a tremendous cry, the Staraptor suddenly shot forward, metal-coated feathers on the back of her arm glinting under the arena lights as she lashed out with a Steel Wing. The Rhydon brought her arms up to protect her head, but Roisin was beaten down to such an extent that she couldn't even reach that high, instead connecting with the Rhydon's gut, knocking her back and driving out what breath she had left. Skidding to a halt, Tamsin was left doubled over and gasping for air, suddenly vulnerable in this fight against an absolute rookie.
The follow-up attack, however, never came. Roisin could hardly even pick herself up off the ground, just barely pushing herself back to one knee as a sharp whistle pierced through the concerned murmurs of the crowd. A blurry figure in the same direction raised an arm, and called out something which to Roisin was equally indistinguishable. On trembling legs, the Staraptor teetered back to her feet, almost collapsing immediately as another jolt of pain rushed up her thigh.
But that was nothing compared to the force of the quarter-ton Rhydon colliding with her at full speed, nor the impact of slamming straight into the solid stone wall as Tamsin delivered a devastating Take Down.
As the dust and rubble began to settle, Roisin could just about make out the irate face of the worn-out Tamsin staring down at her, muttering something the battered bird didn't have a chance to comprehend, along with some vague silhouettes rushing across the field towards the pair.
