Luxray vs Mawile

At last, it is finished!
I know why I usually spare myself the enormous extra work that is a detailed background. This might seem fairly simple to some artists out there but I spent a lot of time on this cave, choosing colors and filters and working out the lighting. I'd never really done it before (and to be quite honest I had no idea what I was doing) but I'm very happy with the finished picture. I'm actually kind of proud of it.

I wouldn't have done it at all if it hadn't been for a battle contest; the requirement for this battle was the location, namely a cave.
I picked Luxray from my own team and my opponent's Mawile. This is my first time drawing that particular pokémon and although I can already see several things I could have done better I'm overall pleased with it.

Here's hoping I'll advance to the next round with this pic. XD