Aggron slammed into Malachi at full speed, ducking his head at the last minute to avoid striking the dragon with his horns. (He wasn't trying to
shish kabob his opponent.)
The thick part of his neck and shoulder made contact squarely with the dragon's chest as he tried to pull up and away from Aggron's flying charge. No glancing blows this time though; it made a good, meaty sound.
But stunned as he was, Malachai held his wings, leaving Aggron to plummet back to the ground below. He landed in a heap with an earthshaking
WHUMPF, leaving a sizeable crater in the sand.
Aggron wheezed, clearing sand from his nostrils and trying to catch his breath. Right, so he didn't stick the landing, but still, it was worth knocking the wind out of himself to see the look on that dragon's face when he met him in mid air.
Slowly, Aggron got to his feet, laboring slightly as he clambered out from his landing zone. By now, Malachai had circled back around, a flying type attack forming around his slipstream.
"What," huffed Aggron, "you think you're gonna blow me away? Huff and puff and all that."
He wheezed again. Maybe that landing did more damage than he thought. No matter, he was solid as a mountain. Even the biggest dragon couldn't hope to bowl him over with just wind.
He began to form another Rock Slide, one cluster over each shoulder. He'd wait until the dragon closed in and then launch the rocks cross-body in a flanking attack from both sides.
The wind whipped into a frenzy, and the beach itself seemed to groan in reply. Then, a sudden sucking, gurgling sound. The waters edge began to retreat.
Aggron paused, taking in this new change in their battlefield. He learned very early on not to tempt fate when dealing with the ocean, a lesson reinforced from his time with Steven (and all those times he battled that flouncy water-type trainer he called a friend.)
He didn't have to wait long, though, as the water came rushing back, higher and higher, swelling and swelling--
"Oh shi--" Aggron let out one of those words that Sidney liked to use as the massive wave bore down on him.
No time to throw up a Protect, he still was forming his Rock Slide. Hastily, he swung his claws together, slamming each half of his Rock Slide into the ground in front of him, creating makeshift breakwater.
But it was too little, too late, and the wave crashed overtop of the barricade, sweeping Aggron back and sending him tumbling.
Water swirled over him, and he writhed, managing to roll himself onto his stomach to try and dig for purchase in the sand with all four claws.
Now under control, he hunkered low and raised Protect's shield to ward off the foul seawater. The water rushed past, then receded, sucking at his legs as it went by.
Soon, the beach was clear, and Aggron dropped his Protect, standing there scowling up at the dragon with water running in rivulets down his armor, leaving fat drops on the sand as it fell.
He could still fight, but something about that wave had cooled his head. Maybe because it was much the same way he'd met Steven for the first time. Granite Cave, a sea cave, had washed the tiny, frail human right into Aggon's lap; soggy, disheveled, and pretty banged up.
He took it upon himself to look after Steven, because
someone had to. And then, from the sheer luck of it, Steven let him battle in a Gym! Garret had never let him do that. That night, after Aggron embarrassed that fighting type Gym, Steven had promised him he'd be a good trainer, and treat him right.
Aggron had been pretty sure he'd picked the right human when he led him out of that cave, but that's when he knew for sure. He would always do everything in his power to make Steven proud.
Overhead, Malachai hovered, watching carefully. But as Aggron's mind wandered to his behavior last night, the way he'd left, the look he'd seen on Steven's face... He didn't feel like battling any more.
He raised his claws like he'd seen human trainers do, and tilted his head toward the dragon in deference.
"I've had enough," he said. "I think I've got my answer."
