Sam was still blushing a bit after Burgh was gone, but he looked at the battle closely. Valorie was actually battling very well, he was impressed that she was able to battle so well after the whole incident earlier. He gasped when he saw she won, but he knew Lance wasn't battling at his best. Who knew, she probably might have strangled him too, being the kind of fangirl she was.
She walked off the stage and a nurse healed Lance's Pokemon. He then looked around for his next opponent, and Sam confidently stepped up. "Finally, my turn," he thought. He stepped up to him, and his Dragonair got up to it's full height. Sam was awe-struck by the Pokemon, but he had to concentrate on the battle rather than be impressed by his Pokemon.
He had decided his Pokemon, and tossed a Pokeball up into the air. Immediately, Nick popped out of the pokeball in a flash. He wasn't one of his most powerful Pokemon yet... but he had to do, for now. This was definitely a David vs. Goliath battle here, Nick was seriously weaker than Dragonair, but he would have to cope up.
Lance was as calm as usual, as he said, "Students first." Sam grinned, and immediately started the battle he had waited for so long, by yelling, "Nick, use Quick Attack then Iron Tail!" Nick immediately rushed forward, and slammed down on Dragonair's head with his silver glowing tail. Lance just smiled, and Nick retreated back. Sam realized that the attack had done almost no damage to the Dragon Pokemon.
"Uh oh... this is bad..." Sam muttered to himself, but he wasn't panicking yet. There was a long way to go...
"Nick, Leaf Storm!" Sam yelled. He was trying to attempt all possibilities, trying to look for a breakthrough. The Dragonair was immediately enveloped with a bunch of leaves summoned by the little Treecko, but that wasn't enough. The Dragonair easily dodged, and tackled Nick, causing him to fly and get smacked into the wall.
"Nick! Get up!" Sam yelled, getting desperate now. One tackled had almost knocked Nick out, he stood no chance in this battle. But, he couldn't give up so soon... not like this. Nick eventually got up, with a lot of difficulty, but managed to get back on his legs. Sam smiled, happy to be in the fight.
"Nick... Quick Attack again!" Sam yelled, and Nick charged forward at a lighting fast speed. Dragonair simply knocked him away with a blow of its tail. Nick landed quite some distance away, still down.
"NO! NICK!" Sam yelled, he was definitely panicking now. Nick didn't seem to move. Sam had given up now, and closed his eyes in defeat, when he suddenly heard a loud cry.
"TREE- CKO!" Sam's eyes opened immediately, and he saw Nick, back on his feet, looking really mad. He was then covered in a lot of bright light, and Sam could see his shape change slowly, and as soon as the light was gone, what stood in place of Nick the Treecko was... Nick the Grovyle. He had evolved.
Sam grinned. "Aw-right!" He was still in the battle, and Nick's evolution had given him a boost. "Nick, Quick attack! Get on Dragonair's head!" Sam yelled, and Nick charged forward. Again Dragonair tried to swat him away with it's tail, but Nick was much more quicker this time. He jumped up, and hung on Dragonair's head, waiting for Sam's next command.
"Now! Combine Absorb and Focus Punch!" Sam yelled, and Nick immediately planted his feet deeper into the Dragonair's head as the huge Pokemon tried to get him away. Nick somehow held on tightly, absorbing the Dragon's energy. He focused all his power into one powerful punch, and with all his might hit the Dragonair on his head. The Dragonair roared loudly, then shook his head violently, throwing Nick away. Nick landed gracefully on his feet, still ready for more. Lance seemed ready to end this now, and ordered Dragonair to use Outrage.
The huge Pokemon started to attack Nick with his purple flames, at first Nick was able to dodge easily, but then he couldn't later on, and eventually started to get hit. Sam pretty much knew it was over right now, and his doubt was confirmed when Dragonair finally backed off, and Nick fell onto the ground, not moving. Sam grinned, he was still happy that Nick had been able to hold his own against such a powerful Pokemon. A nurse came over and healed Nick, and Sam called him back in his pokeball. He walked over to Lance, and shook hands with him.
"Nice Grovyle you have there, Sam." The Champion said. Sam nodded happily, and walked down the stage. He tracked down Valorie, and walked over to her, just to talk.
"Hey, Valorie, nice battle back there." Sam said, with a grin. He then blushed a bit, as he said, "Um.. sorry bout what happened back there, and um... I wanted to apologize, maybe we can, uh.... hang out sometime?" He said, realizing that he was just asking her out... too soon. But it was too late, he had already asked her... nothing he could do but wait for her reply. He then noticed the girl along with her, the girl from before, who had walked up on stage.
"Oh hey, look who we have here. It's little miss attitude!" Sam jeered at her.