Chapter 163

When Sam and Redi returned to town that night, Redi had to practically sprint back to meet with Mr. Pokémon’s researchers. She and Sam barely had time to chat, but Sam agreed that he shouldn’t go. The tests would likely involve a great deal of poking and prodding to discover exactly what Ursaluna could do now that he had evolved, and both of them only wanted the other to learn about their Pokémon solely through witnessing them in battle.

Out of the thirty-two matches scheduled to take place the next day, they were both set to fight early on. Redi’s battle would be the third match to take place, and Sam’s would be the seventh. Due to the pressure of that schedule, Sam was forced to wake up bright and early to give himself time to research his next opponent. Doing so meant he was forced to chug a bitter cup of coffee, and then he joined his mother in the main arena to watch Redi’s match.

He made sure to sit as far back as possible, positioning himself in the arena’s highest seats. It might have been a bit unusual not to want to be close, but he enjoyed the shadows offered by the arena’s back walls, and he felt that sitting higher up let him better see the entire field at once.

“Redi is up next,” his mother said to him as the previous pair of trainers exited through the arena’s tunnels. “I’ve seen all of her matches so far, but I can’t say I’m familiar with her opponent. Is there anything I should keep an eye out for?”

“Maybe,” Sam said, looking up from his notebook to check the screen above the empty field, but all it displayed was a few highlights. “I’ve seen some of Cassandra’s battles, and she does have an interesting team. Except, she calls herself a ‘Normal’ Type specialist even though she only has a single Normal Type with her.”

The make-up of her Pokémon’s Types was strange, but Sam wasn’t going to criticize any trainer for catching Pokémon they’d befriended instead of rigidly sticking to a single theme. From what Cassandra had displayed, she had individual Rock and Poison Type Pokémon, but she otherwise leaned heavily toward the Fairy Type.  

Honestly, that focus on the Fairy Type partially explained the way she acted.

“Cassandra has revealed more of what her team can do than Redi has—at least, I’m pretty sure,” Sam said. “We’ve been having trouble figuring out what she’s thinking most of the time. I bet she has some special strategy planned out, especially after last night, but...”

He let his voice trail off.

“But what?” his mother asked.

“But even though Cassandra probably has a bunch of tricks up her sleeve, I’m more interested in seeing how Redi will fight than anything else,” Sam said. “I keep thinking about this one thing she said last night—she said one of her greatest strengths was being slow. That doesn’t make any sense, but she refused to explain even when I begged her when we ran back to town.

“Although, I guess she did give me one hint,” Sam said quietly, letting out an amused exhale at the memory. “If anything, she was annoyed that I didn't remember her plan. Apparently, I was the one to give her the strategy in the first place.”

The problem was that Sam had talked about so many strategies in the past that he struggled to single out any one of them.

With that reveal, his mother hummed, and she went quiet to let him finish the notes he’d been taking from the last match. Not every battle was going to be relevant to his run in the Conference, but observing the competing trainers helped him understand what other Pokémon could do, and they also gave him hints for potential strategies that could be used in battle.

As he wrote, his mother ran a hand through her Delcatty’s fur while the Pokémon rested in her lap. Sableye hid beneath her seat, and the angled rows of the stands let him just barely peek out at the field from above and behind the heads of the people before him.

For Sam’s Pokémon, his more “ethereal” Ghost Types were hiding in nearby shadows or were half-phased into the back wall itself. Everyone else was staying in their Pokéballs as they were either too large or too physical and would risk drawing too many eyes.

Dreepy, however, was getting sick of hiding, and as Sam finished his notes on the last match, the small Dragon Type let himself out. Drakloak, having shared the ball with him, was forced out alongside him, and she let out a slightly annoyed growl before moving to phase into the back wall with the others.

But Dreepy just pushed himself under Sam’s notebook and into his lap.

“Alright. No notes for this next match,” Sam said, letting out a short laugh. He rubbed Dreepy’s head, and the Dragon Type let out a satisfied purr.

It only took less than a minute after that for the lead-up to the next match to start. The screens changed to display the Conference’s announcers, and they went through their usual opening banter while introducing the next pair of opponents.

“..aaaaaand for our next match, we have a pair of Normal Type specialists! But don’t be fooled! And keep your eyes out! This will be anything but a ‘Normal’ fight!”

“So they’re calling Cassandra a Normal Type specialist,” Sam’s mother commented as the announcers went on.

“Ugh. Yeah. I bet it’s ‘cause of a deal she made with the Blackthorn Clan,” Sam grumbled, letting himself slide down in his seat. “She probably asked them to always introduce her like that.”

The announcers spoke about both her and Redi, but this was mostly just a way to advertise their sponsors. Cassandra was apparently sponsored by a paint and ink company. Redi, meanwhile, was spoken of alongside a mention of Mr. Pokémon and was also given a quick comment on her parents’ construction business.

Oh, huh. Her family isn’t an official sponsor, but I guess Redi’s finally managed to convince the tournament to mention them as well. That’s going to save her a lot of trouble.

Below, as the announcers spoke, the two trainers left the tunnels and moved up to the field. Cassandra’s pink dress bounced alongside each of her steps, and Redi approached while wearing a confident grin on her face.

By the time they had reached their opposite trainer boxes, the audience was properly cheering, but the speakers hadn’t been turned on to allow the trainers’ voices to carry just yet. Though he couldn’t hear her, Sam could see Cassandra say something to Redi.

Redi glowered in return, practically bristling at whatever the other girl said.

“Of course,” Sam groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “Cassandra’s taunting her. She’s trying to throw her off. That has to be why she was so purposefully rude last night.”

“Is that going to be an issue?” his mother asked.

“No. Probably not,” he said with a sigh, and he moved back to properly sit in his seat. “At this point, Redi knows not to get caught up in that, but those kinds of taunts are still annoying.

“Except,”  Sam added slowly. “It is a bit strange. Usually Redi is the one to taunt, but she’s not even saying anything back.”

The referee went over the rules, explaining that today’s longer matches would see competitors using up to five Pokémon with up to six switches each. Despite those increased numbers, Sam doubted that either trainer would exhaust their limited switches. That wasn’t how Redi and Cassandra preferred to fight.

“Trainers! Are you ready?” the referee shouted, his voice echoing across the field. When both trainers replied with a firm nod, he followed that up with a shout of, “Send out your Pokémon!”

“Good luck,” Cassandra said politely.

Redi looked as though she couldn’t decide between grimacing and scowling, but her Porygon2 appeared on the field all the same.

Across from her, Cassandra’s small smile was demure, and she curtsied before releasing her first Pokémon. Rather than send out anything that might have been considered a “Normal” Type, her very first Pokémon looked like a living boulder.

A Rock Type.

Specifically, a Golem.

Redi gained a frown as the referee brought up a pair of flags, and to the roars of the audience, the battle began.

“Return, Porygon!” Redi immediately yelled.

Sam blinked, but Cassandra seemed to expect that. She didn’t even bother to give her fully evolved Rock Type any commands.

“Come out, Dragonair!” Redi shouted.

“This is weird. I didn’t think Redi would ever switch that early,” Sam said to his mother. “Did she want to bring out Dragonair before any of Cassandra’s Fairy Types? But then why not release Dragonair first?”

Dreepy squeaked to cheer for Dragonair from in Sam’s lap.

Below, in her trainer box, Cassandra lazily rocked on her feet as Redi called for a Twister. The harsh winds of the Dragon Type chipped at the Golem’s stony surface, but Cassandra just called for an easy command.

“Rollout.”

“Dragon Rage!” Redi countered.

Dragon Rage was a good choice to use against such a defensive Pokémon like Golem, especially after that Twister failed to affect it that much. Dragon Rage would strike with the true power of a Dragon—there wasn’t much variance to its effectiveness, but it dealt damage without being weakened by a Pokémon’s defense.

Yet, even as the dragon-shaped flames left Dragonair’s mouth, Cassandra’s Golem just leaped up and tucked in its limbs and head for a roll. Like a smooth boulder hurtling down a mountainside, it rushed across the field, and Dragonair’s dragon-shaped flames struck it but did not slow its approach.

Since Dragonair could fly, she left where she rested on the ground to position herself a dozen feet up above the field. Unfortunately, Golem didn’t seem to care, and a rock jutted out from underneath it to bash it straight into the sky.

With it rocketing right toward Dragonair, Cassandra then gave her Golem the most terrifying order possible.

“Explosion.”

“Protect yourself!” Redi screamed.

Dragonair tried to coil up in an attempt to better withstand the move, but Golem were known for carrying an immense amount of potential energy. From between the uneven gaps in its stone, a brilliant light began to glow, and it unleashed every ounce of its stored power, striking Dragonair in a burst that released everything it had all at once.

Right away, both Pokémon fell.

Sam frowned at the sight on the field.

“...I don’t understand,” he heard his mother say next to him. “Why would Cassandra sacrifice Golem so quickly, and why would Redi let Dragonair faint?”

“Hold on, let Dragonair faint?” Sam repeated. “What do you mean? Why do you think that?”

“Well, Dragonair is fast. She could have flown away.”

“But Cassandra called for Explosion for a reason. Even if she has Fairy Type Pokémon, Redi would expect them,” he countered. “Explosion covers almost the entire field, and taking out Dragonair here means Cassandra never has to deal with it again.”

“Ah, but you said it yourself. Explosion covers almost the entire field,” his mother pointed out. “It doesn’t cover all of the field. Dragonair could have flown away to minimize the damage. Why call for her to try to withstand it instead?”

Sam wasn’t sure how he missed that. He honestly thought the trade for Dragonair and Golem wasn’t a bad deal for either side. Except, his mother had a point. Why would Redi accept a trade when she could have minimized the damage? Dragonair could have stayed conscious, and then Cassandra would have lost her Golem for no reason.

“I think,” he said slowly, “either she wants Cassandra to underestimate her, or she’s benefitting from having her fastest Pokémon faint here.”

Somehow. Maybe.

He wasn’t quite sure just yet.

Below, Redi had Porygon return to the field, and she then called for her Pokémon to release a barrage of Tri-Attacks against Cassandra’s Clefable. The Clefable, meanwhile, allowed the first strike to hit, and then it was able to copy and release mirror versions of the move thanks to Copycat. It countered and disrupted all attacks sent its way.

Sam had never thought Clefable was that strong of a Pokémon, but it was surprisingly capable of taking hits with what it was demonstrating. Though it wasn’t perfect at countering Porygon’s attacks, Copycat was surprisingly effective at matching Porygon’s moves to dissipate them. Additionally, the delayed healing provided by Wish let it time its recovery to undo any hits that slipped through.

Though Porygon’s attacks were strong and accurate, Copycat was letting Clefable match it near-perfectly. Between the two Pokémon, the Clefable was definitely the one more trained for stamina. With this strategy, it would outlast Porygon if the current standard continued.

After a while, Redi recognized that and had no choice but to return her Pokémon.

Cassandra smiled, and she returned Clefable as well.

But why?

As Sam pondered that question, both trainers’ voices echoed out from speakers below.

“Starting to have enough?” Cassandra asked.

“Tch. You haven't even seen what we can do yet,” Redi shot back.

Wyrdeer came out, and almost tauntingly, Cassandra sent out her Wigglytuff without even giving it a moment’s thought.

“Oh, that—” Sitting up, Sam censored himself when he remembered his mother was next to him. “I get it! Cassandra is copying Redi's strategy!”

“How so?”

“She’s trying to mess with her,” Sam explained quickly. “She’s doing the same thing Redi did to win her first few rounds. Cassandra has pre-picked the match-ups she wants to face, and she’s doing whatever she can to always maintain them. So Golem’s Explosion was intentional. She would have only ever used Golem against Dragonair. And then taking out Dragonair makes sure Redi has fewer options.”

Here, Clefable was the chosen counter to Porygon, and Wigglytuff was the chosen counter to Wyrdeer. After all, as much as Wyrdeer was an expert at using his horns to conjure psychic shields, his physical attacks meant nothing when his opponent could inflate like a balloon and take to the air.

“Confuse Ray!” Redi shouted.

With an exhale, Wigglytuff dropped a few feet to completely avoid the incoming beam.

“Hypnosis!”

Drifting around on air currents, Wigglytuff didn’t need to keep its eyes open to allow the wind to carry it away.

“...Psybeam,” Redi said through clenched teeth.

And right away, Sam could tell that Wyrdeer was not a special attacker. Those kinds of ranged attacks had only come to him after he evolved, and he’d only had a month at most to improve them under Redi’s guidance—if she had even bothered.

Once Redi tried and failed to do anything to Wigglytuff so many times, Cassandra gave her next command.

“Charm.”

From the air, Wigglytuff blushed to emphasize its pink appearance. Something about its move made it look helpless, and Wyrdeer became that much less willing to put as much force into his attacks as before.

As he was the evolution of Stantler, Wyrdeer greatly preferred physical attacks. Charm, however, hindered that.

Redi did her best to take a deep breath as she changed gears.

“Calm Mind.”

At least, the focusing effect of this move would help Wyrdeer attack from range. Though he wasn’t the best special attacker with his training, Calm Mind would let him better match his potential.

“You've overplayed your hand,” Cassandra said, and she spoke regardless of how Wyrdeer was currently building himself up. “So far, you’ve made every move I expected. You’ve fallen for every basic trick I’ve set.”

Redi clenched her fists, and Wyrdeer seemed to wobble where he stood. Wigglytuff hadn’t stopped using Charm, and he seemed more unsure of himself than ever before.

Sam expected the same strategy to continue, but Cassandra suddenly returned her Wigglytuff, breaking away from her mimicry of Redi’s strategy with a confident smile. Simply put, she no longer needed to maintain that strategy. She’d already applied all of the psychological pressure she’d sought, and now she wanted to capitalize on that.

“Granbull,” Cassandra said, releasing a heavy, purple canine Pokémon.

“And Cassandra sends out another Normal Type! This is truly proving to be a competition between two, identical speciali—”

“She’s not,” Redi snapped, and her voice pierced through the announcer’s echoing comments. “A Normal Type? Identical specialists? Please. Don’t make me laugh. The only Normal Type she has is Wigglytuff. Everything else? Not Normal. Definitely not Normal. And she’s not normal, too.”

Dreepy let out a small squeak as Sam awkwardly shifted around in his seat. A few members of the arena let out boos to Redi’s words. It wasn’t just that they disliked her insults, the Blackthorn Clan was also suppressing information about the Fairy Type. There was also a cultural resistance when it came to acknowledging the Fairy Type’s existence.

“I’ll prove it!” Redi yelled. “You’ll see exactly what I mean! So, Wyrdeer! You’ve used Calm Mind enough! Now, unleash your Shadow Ball!”

“How scary!” Cassandra cried out, and she purposefully shrank back.

Her Granbull might have resembled a brutish, dog-like Pokémon, but by their nature, Granbull were inherently skittish. Here, Cassandra’s Pokémon was genuinely such a coward that the mere sight of the Ghost Type Shadow Ball made it freeze in place.

But Cassandra didn’t even blink.

Some gasps echoed out when the Ghost Type move managed to deal damage to a supposed “Normal” Type, but Cassandra was utterly unfazed. Granbull came out of the other side of that attack heaving and panting, heavily injured, but more than that, its eyes were now flicking around in a near-frenzied panic.

“I know this one,” came a whisper from Sam’s mother. “That’s Granbull’s Rattled, yes?”

“I think you’re right,” he said slowly, processing just what she meant, “except I’m pretty sure Rattled is its hidden ability. I don’t think Cassandra actually knows Granbull has it—she’d brag if she did. I think she just believes she’s clever for leaning into her Granbull’s fear.”

She was lucky. An unknown yet present ability was weighing the match in her favor.

The Rattled ability made use of certain species’ flight or fight response whenever they were hit by a “scary” attack, which usually meant a Ghost, Dark, or Bug Type move. Though they defaulted to a “flight” reflex, that flight reflex could be trained to lean more towards “fight,” making their instinctual panic fuel their movements to increase their speed.

Here, so utterly consumed by fear, the Granbull charged, entering a blank mindset where it needed to eliminate its source of fear now before anything else could occur. So terrifyingly focused, the dust cloud it kicked up behind it almost looked like something right out of a cartoon.

With that incredible speed, it charged Wyrdeer, and Redi didn’t seem confident enough in his physical capabilities to fight back.

The Wigglytuff’s use of Charm from before was doing its work.

“D-Defend!” Redi shouted, an exceptionally clear stutter in her voice. “P-Protect!”

Wyrdeer hurriedly put up his protective screen, and though he took no damage, the sheer power behind the Granbull’s slam still pushed him back.

“Crunch,” Cassandra then ordered.

Darkness-wrapped teeth chomped down on Wyrdeer’s leg, and Sam clutched Dreepy when the little Dragon Type whined after hearing Wyrdeer’s lowing yell.

“This isn’t good,” Sam mumbled. “Wyrdeer was just a Normal Type when he was a Stantler, but now that he’s evolved, he’s part Psychic.”

Crunch had dealt super effective damage, and nothing was stopping Granbull from using it again.

As Redi gave her Pokémon a new order, the best way Sam could describe how Wyrdeer used his Psyshield Bash was that he used it like a frightened man wielding a frying pan. The shield conjured by Protect shifted up to be placed at the top of his head, and then he frantically swung his horns down to slam that glowing surface onto Granbull’s back.

But Wyrdeer was hardly able to put any effort into it.

Despite his impressive showing in the previous match, Wyrdeer was utterly useless here, and Cassandra was not a foe to scoff at. Her Granbull, its blood pumping, tore Wyrdeer’s legs out from under him. He landed hard onto his side only for a fist to smash right into his stomach.

He was taken out just like that.

“Wyrdeer is unable to battle,” the referee announced. “Trainer Redi! Please send out your next Pokémon.”

Redi wore a grimace on her face. Cassandra looked to be nothing but confident. Tensely, Redi returned her Wyrdeer, and Porygon made their third appearance on the field for this match.

“I don’t get it,” Sam’s mother said quietly. “Why is Redi not sending out... Ursaluna?”

“Ursaluna, yeah,” Sam said to confirm the evolution’s name. “You’re right. It’s weird. She’s been on the back foot this entire time. I don’t know why she’s been so focused on Porygon when she has better Pokémon for this. And she’s been acting so panicked that it’s strange. It’s almost like she's—”

His eyes widened with realization.

“No way,” he breathed. “She’s kidding, right?”

Sam couldn’t truly make out Redi’s face from where he sat so high up in the arena. However, cameramen trained onto Redi could, and the screens above the field changed from the team information to display her current stance.

Unlike how she acted at practically every previous point in the match, Redi no longer looked frustrated. She was standing tall, a wide smile on her face, and she leaned in with her arms crossed in a display of utter confidence.

With her smile fading, Cassandra stared back.

“Ugh! Finally,” Redi said with a sharp exhale. “Do you even know how long it took for you to send out your fastest Pokémon?”

The sudden confidence with which Redi spoke caused Cassandra’s mouth to twitch ever so slightly. It looked as though she wanted to frown, but she fought against it. It wasn’t that she was losing her composure; it was that she had been truly caught off guard.

“Excuse me?”

“Like, I get that Arbok is technically faster, but you made a mistake by using this strategy before. Granbull is your fastest whenever you let him get hit by a scary move, and that was the opening we needed—so thanks for that!” Redi said. “Also, I guess, thanks for letting us take out your Golem so easily! And thanks for training your Wigglytuff’s speed! If it was any slower, I might have been worried, but now we don’t even need to think about that.”

The corners of Cassandra’s mouth twitched again, but this time, she didn’t bother to stop her frown. With Redi’s speech, Porygon started to act. As a Porygon2, it didn’t need any direct commands to know what to do.

Sam began to laugh.

As the battle resumed, Porygon finally used the move that Redi had been wanting them to use this entire time—a move she had first learned about all the way back in Goldenrod. From underneath her Pokémon, enormous, Psychic Type screens formed and came out, and they slid to the edge of the field to assemble into a block that encased the field.

Specifically, they assembled into a room.

Nervous, Cassandra’s Granbull took a step back. Next to Sam, his mother was confused, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to ruin Redi’s grand reveal.

“All of your planning. All of your confidence. You never stopped once to think about how easily you were winning?” Redi asked. “Never stopped to think that, hey, maybe this person I’m facing has more of a strategy than just hit fast, hit strong? And that maybe her fear was a little too fake?”

At this point, Cassandra was no longer listening to Redi’s taunts. She was already shouting out orders to send her Granbull forward.

“Crunch! Bite! Whatever you can! Just take it out, now!”

With its fear fueling it, Granbull would reach Porygon quickly, especially since it was already on Redi’s side of the field after taking out Wyrdeer. Yet, as the last few screens slotted in place to finish off this reality-warping room, the rate at which Granbull charged began to rapidly slow.

It looked as though someone had just hit a button to have its dash play at quarter speed.

“You’ve fallen for my trick,” Redi said, sending Cassandra the widest grin in the world. “Or, I should be more specific. You’ve fallen for my Trick Room!”

“...Will helped her with this, didn’t he?” Sam said, letting out a groan.

Cassandra’s Granbull was over halfway to Porygon, but it was practically locked in place, running as if it were trying to force itself through molasses. The effects of Trick Room inverted the benefits of speed, so everything Cassandra had done to accelerate her Pokémon now only saw it be slowed.

Which meant Redi’s relatively slow team had free rein to react.

Slowness as one of her greatest strengths, for sure, Sam thought to himself.

“Teleport, Porygon!” Redi shouted.

Porygon disappeared into their Pokéball.

Cassandra hesitated. She’d been copying Redi’s strategy. However, when Redi called for Teleport here, she revealed a crucial flaw in Cassandra’s plan. At any point, Redi could have returned her Pokémon without using a switch. She’d never been forced into any match-up in the first place.

Ever since the beginning, Redi had been playing along to secure herself this moment. She hadn't blindly entered this battle. She had done her research, and she had come with a plan.

Cassandra was slowly realizing that she never had an advantage in the first place.

Trick Room would only be active for a limited time, however, and Redi was quick to send out her next Pokémon. However, when she called out her Pokémon’s name, the entire arena, Cassandra included, sucked in a breath.

“Ursaluna!”

It took only a single second for the world to become consumed by deafening roars. The announcers were going crazy over the speakers. Cassandra seemed to be at a loss. Even her Granbull, slowed by the Trick Room, looked worried at the sight.

Ursaluna had been an Ursaring just the day before, but now, in front of the entire Conference, he had taken the field as yet another, brand new evolution.

“Yeah, Cassandra never had a chance,” Sam laughed.

“Fire Punch,” Redi ordered.

Sam blinked. Ursaluna was a slow Pokémon, but with Trick Room up, it was like he was in front of Cassandra’s Granbull in an instant.

The lumbering form of his evolution required him to rear up to land this punch, but his arms had twice the amount of muscle mass as before. A flaming, clawed fist slammed right into the Granbull’s stomach, and the Pokémon was blasted across the field before coming to a stop, fainted, right before Cassandra’s feet.

“Arbok!” Cassandra called out quickly.

Replacing Granbull, Arbok was honestly a decent choice. The frightening design on its chest would see Ursaluna’s physical power be reduced thanks to its Intimidate ability. By cutting his willingness to fight, he was less poised to sweep. However, Cassandra intended to leave Arbok out—a critical mistake.

“She doesn't realize Ursaluna is a Ground Type!” Sam exclaimed.

Once again, the Trick Room made Ursaluna lightning quick, making the hesitation caused by Arbok’s Intimidate meaningless. The full weight of his body slammed into the earth, creating cracks that spread out in every direction, and fragments of the field shattered upwards into Arbok.

Even with the Intimidate, the super-effective Earthquake saw Arbok collapse.

As fast as she could, Cassandra recalled her fainted serpent, and she wore an ugly scowl. There was no more pretending; whatever amenable expression she had tried to maintain had ended. Right now, she was just desperate to find a way she could still win.

Seeing that Ursaluna was limited to the battlefield floor, her Wigglytuff came out next.

Once again, out of her remaining two options, Wigglytuff wasn’t a bad choice. It was an inherently slow Pokémon like Ursaluna, and that meant the Trick Room would let it float through the air with a greater speed than normal.

In a way, this was a counter, and Cassandra started to laugh. She shouted something to Redi, undeniably trying to taunt her, and just like Wigglytuff had done against Wyrdeer, a Charm cut Ursaluna’s attack.

But it was pointless. So focused on Ursaluna’s physical power, Cassandra forgot that Redi had long since taught her Pokémon a certain, ranged special attack. Despite all of the speed the Wigglytuff had obtained in the air, a glow emanated from Ursaluna’s throat.

His Hyper Beam blasted it straight out of the sky, and the unconscious, deflated Pokémon soon drifted back to the ground.

Sam had never heard the announcers speak so excitedly—not even in his own match. Barely able to hear his own thoughts, he had to tap on his mother’s arm to get her attention, and both she and Dreepy leaned in to hear him speak.

“That’s four of Cassandra’s Pokémon down. Golem, Arbok, Wigglytuff, and Granbull have all been knocked out. She only has her Clefable left, but Redi’s not in her best state. Dragonair and Wyrdeer are down, Porygon is heavily damaged, and Ursaluna is recharging after that Hyper Beam. Cassandra isn’t going to let herself fall for that move again, and Ursaluna’s strength has been vastly reduced.”

“But another Hyper Beam could win Redi the fight,” his mother offered.

“Could it?” Sam countered. “Cassandra’s Clefable can heal itself, and withstanding a Hyper Beam would open up Ursaluna to a Copycat retaliation. Honestly, all of this boils down to whoever Redi’s final Pokémon is. Because, if I know her, she’s not going to risk leaving Ursaluna out. She’ll want to end this strong. So, I expect she’s going to—”

Ursaluna disappeared in a flash.

“She’s probably going to switch,” Sam finished.

Redi timed it well. The effects of Trick Room were wearing off. Relieved, Cassandra breathed as the reality-warping effect faded away.

“Finally,” Cassandra said, a small smile returning to her face. “I may only have one Pokémon left, but we still have more than enough room to turn this around!”

As expected, her Clefable came out. It had a bit of time to rest inside its Pokéball, and it had plenty of stamina to last through the rest of Redi’s team.

However, Redi had one more Pokémon to reveal. When she drew back an arm to throw forward its Pokémon, Cassandra visibly tensed.

And then Dreepy squeaked in alarm. Surprising him, Sam shot up out of his seat when he saw what Pokémon it was.

“I knew it!” he shouted. “Redi said her last Pokémon was a volunteer from home! And she also said it was a Normal Type! So, of course! There weren’t any other options! It was always going to be her family’s Kangaskhan!”

“Let’s do this, Mama!” Redi shouted, her voice echoing through the entire arena. “It’s time to finish this! Let’s take out that dumb Clefable and end this battle!”

Her family’s Kangaskhan, nicknamed “Mama,” let out a rumbling growl and brought up its arms as if preparing to box. Its tough hide made it obvious that it could take any punishment sent its way, and it angled its body to the side so that the pouch on its stomach would never take a direct hit.

“Dizzy Punch!” Redi ordered.

“Sing! Quick!” Cassandra shouted.

Clefable breathed in to exhale a melody. Though the Trick Room was gone, Redi’s Kangaskhan was surprisingly fast. It had to have had previous experience due to it being a recent pickup. Sing didn’t affect it immediately, either. When the lullaby reached it, both its eyes and ears started to droop.

But Redi was, well, she was her name. She was ready. The Clefable was staying in one place to use its Sing, and Mama the Kangaskhan’s entire body was already locked into the process of running right toward it.

Redi quickly adjusted her command.

“Body Slam!”

While running, Mama fell asleep, but her momentum brought her forward regardless. Before the Clefable could move out of the way, it suffered from the massive Pokémon’s full weight slamming right into it.

Unconscious but not out of the fight, Mama’s full mass pinned the now-injured Clefable to the battlefield floor. Her Body Slam meant Clefable was paralyzed in a completely different way than most other forms.

Cassandra tried her best to order a new move, Seismic Toss, a TM-taught attack that let a Pokémon attack based on innate power rather than any trained strength. And, with that order, the Clefable was just barely able to lift the heavy Pokémon, but it did not do so for long.

The Kangaskhan’s pouch rustled. A short head popped out.

A baby Pokémon squeaked.

Hearing the shout of her child, Mama the Kangaskhan’s eyes snapped open. Right away, she was back in the fight.

“Dizzy Punch!” Redi yelled again.

The Clefable’s Seismic Toss never finished. Redi’s Kangaskhan jerked to the side. Its fist slammed into her opponent’s stomach, and the Clefable collapsed from the punch.

Mama fell on it again.

Likely, that was enough.

As she pulled herself off of her foe, the nearly flattened form of the Clefable became visible underneath her. A groan left its soft body, but it was otherwise unable to continue the fight from the heavy attacks it had just sustained.

“Clefable is unable to battle! Trainer Cassandra has no more usable Pokémon!” the referee announced. “Trainer Redi is the winner!”

The world became overwhelmed by cheers. Sam existed solely by swimming through the noise. Cassandra seemed unable to do anything where she was standing. She just stayed there with her fainted Pokémon on the field and stared.

“It’s funny,” Sam said, speaking quietly while he and his mother leaned in to better speak. “A Kangaskhan is a great fit for Redi’s team. It’s a Normal Type, it’s powerful, and it’s also a great counter for most of what I can throw at her.”

“How so?”

Sam patted Dreepy’s head as both Pokémon below were returned, and he took out his notebook to write down his observations now that the match was over. The two trainers on the field approached each other to shake hands. Cassandra’s walk was slow and disbelieving, and Redi’s was an excited dash.

“Because of the New Pokédex, Redi knows all of her Pokémon’s abilities, and Kangaskhan has two abilities that make it perfect for fighting my team. It might be a Normal Type, but it’s Scrappy. All of its Normal and Fighting Type moves can hit Ghost Type Pokémon.”

“And its second ability?” his mother asked.

“Early Bird,” Sam answered. “We saw it in the match. It never stays asleep for long.”

Mama had demonstrated that ability when her baby Kangaskhan had squeaked to wake her up.

Those two abilities combined meant that a Kangaskhan was a threat that his team members could not simply phase through. He would also be limited in his options to shut it down thanks to its Early Bird.

However, though Redi had won this fight, witnessing it meant Sam now knew more of her tricks. From where he sat, he watched as she turned to wave to the audience and scan through the crowd.

She found him, meeting his eyes, and he locked eyes with her right back.

Though Sam still had at least one more battle to get through, it was clear that her gaze was in challenge.

But, according to the screens above the field, now wasn’t the time for that. It was still only the third round.

And Xavier’s battle was up next.

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Author Note:

I won’t be writing out Xavier’s full battle like this one. This match is the only non-Sam match of the Conference I have planned. In the next chapter, you’ll get a brief summary, but otherwise expect it to be the full battle of Sam battling Eliza.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Arbok
Clefable
Dragonair
Golem
Granbull
Kangaskhan
Porygon2
Ursaring / Ursaluna
Wigglytuff
Wyrdeer

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