Incarnated Whisp

Valiant - Chapter 7

The Iron Valiant crashed through the trees, breaking through the branches but landing on its feet—it had taken worse falls before. A nearby Girafarig, one hiding behind a trunk to peek out at the fight, reflexively kicked out its hind legs when its tail noticed the Iron Valiant's presence, but the Iron Valiant only needed to bring up the staff of its polearm to blunt the blow, and then the Iron Valiant took off running.

So many sets of eyes followed its approach.

Before the pair of Scream Tail knew it was there, its blade was already swinging, and the edge of its weapon gained a psychic blue glow. Though it did not land the slash against its target, the move cleaved through a shout the Scream Tail had been building, and then a twist raised the lower blade of its weapon to deflect a hair swipe that came from the second Scream Tail nearby.

The Iron Valiant crouched, readying itself against its two opponents. An old, injured Farigiraf lifted its head from the ground. The grove was silent, and the only noise came from a muffled shout of the other battle taking place out front.

In the distance, Nick yelled. Having been left behind, he shouted that he was going to find a slope to slide down.

And then, growls snapped out. Both Scream Tail jumped. The Iron Valiant slashed to intercept a kick, but the other end of its blade was caught by a fanged bite. A flash of Dazzling Gleam blasted that Scream Tail back, and then the Iron Valiant charged to shoulder-check the other one that was trying to reposition for another strike in the air.

Its two opponents hit the ground and slid, jumping back to their feet. They took one look at the Iron Valiant before exchanging a glance. Then, they ran.

But it was not to flee.

The Scream Tail moved with intention, aiming to join with the original third member of their group. The Iron Valiant gave chase, and though it struck with its weapon, the Scream Tail could puff themselves up and deflate to move in unexpected ways and avoid attacks. While the Iron Valiant was able to mostly keep up, it did not have the speed to land a solid strike against its fleeing targets. One-on-one, it would have won a direct fight, but that was not what was taking place here.

When the Scream Tail reached the very edge of the grove, they ran straight to where the first member of their group was standing strong against the defending Farigiraf. Two of those towering Pokémon lay on the ground, their bodies bruised from dozens of blows, and a third was still standing—but only just barely. The earth itself had been churned apart by the Scream Tail’s namesake screams.

As the group of two Scream Tail became a proper group of three, the Iron Valiant positioned itself between these attackers and the Farigiraf. It was being watched from both sides, but it lowered itself for a defense. Once more, it readied its stance, but all that did was give its opponents time to smile.

All three Scream Tail yelled. The force saw the sound waves visibly shake the air. The combined moves threatened to send the Iron Valiant to the ground, but it stabbed its polearm into the earth to let it remain standing, defiant in the face of this trio.

Then, through the damage, it took a step forward.

After that, it took another one.

And another one.

Its polearm dragged behind it.

The deafening sound contained, but at a certain point, the pressure decreased. Though the wavering air meant the Iron Valiant could not see past this move, it could see where the effect was originating.

With a second wind, it charged. It felt as though it was running through the bottom of a lake, but it was still managing to move, and it reached the point where it could swing for a final blow.

Everything was cut into silence when the strike hit its target. A Scream Tail, just one, took that slash and bounced back across the ground. The sudden lack of force gave the Iron Valiant a chance to look around; the other two Scream Tail were gone.

Mostly.

A pair of shouts came, one of Nick running closer, and one of the two Scream Tail running out of the grove itself. Though their attacks had stopped, they had not abandoned their objective. The Pokémon had their hair wrapped around a bundle of berries, and they dashed to escape the trees.

The injured one in front of the Iron Valiant scrambled to run away as well.

The Iron Valiant lurched to give chase, but after sustaining that constant, world-shaking shout, it felt as though its legs were about to give way underneath it. It fought to stay standing and was forced to watch the trio escape, but doing so let it realize just how outnumbered it really was—it was not just these three Scream Tail here.

A dozen more Scream Tail watched from atop a small hill. They could barely stand as a group, with their aggressive nature already seeing several of them snap and bite out growls among themselves. The three that had attacked returned to the group and disappeared behind the hillside. But one Scream Tail, a larger one with red eyes and a purple mane, looked down at the Iron Valiant, grinned, and then turned to leave.

The berries that the three Scream Tail had gathered were not enough to support a group of that size. With the potential product of this grove, the group of Paradox Pokémon would definitely be back.

With that realization, it was only after the Scream Tail disappeared that Nick finally managed to catch up.

“You okay?” he said quickly, swinging his backpack around to let it hang off one arm. “I’m pretty sure that box I took has some supplies for Pokémon...”

He started to dig through, but the Iron Valiant stopped him, pressing the flat side of its blade to his chest to hold him back and bring his attention back behind.

Though the Scream Tail had left, there were other Pokémon still there. Shaking, the more battle-ready Farigiraf returned to their feet, and that leading group was now watching the Iron Valiant with wariness clear in their eyes. Other Pokémon poked their heads out from behind the trees, but their expressions were different. The Girafarig seemed to be solely curious, and it was almost strange to be looked at that way. Out of all of the Pokémon the Iron Valiant had seen outside, this was the first time it was not stared at with hate.

“Hah,” Nick wheezed. “I was trying to be cool on the cliffside, but now that I’m actually down here... There’s a lot of them, isn’t there?”

The Iron Valiant didn’t raise its weapon, but it didn’t lower it, either. Even with the lack of hostility, there was no telling if this group would attack just to scare them off.

The tension made the air heavy, and the Iron Valiant was prepared to fight, even if it had just helped these Pokémon. It did its best to stand tall, but it couldn’t stop its wince. The surface of its metal had been reshaped by the Scream Tail’s screams, and the uneven dents and grooves left behind saw it fall to one knee.

The sudden movement shook the Farigiraf. Nick’s expression became defined by worry. The leading group of this herd of Pokémon narrowed their eyes, and it was clear that their wariness had been turned up to a full ten.

But someone else moved before any attack could occur. Nick took a step forward. And though he wore that same smile the Iron Valiant had seen so many times, this time around, the human had to fight to have it reach his eyes.

“Let us help,” Nick said, obvious in his attempts to stand tall in the face of the entire herd. “We were just passing through and saw what was happening, and it was just that... Well, we couldn’t let it last.”

He breathed in.

“We need a place to rest a bit, and we need a place to treat our wounds. You saw how well the Scream Tail were fought off, but they’re going to be back.”

Two of the Farigiraf exchanged a look. Another one stomped its hooves. That act was a defiant response; it was trying to say that it would fight back.

However, out of the three Farigiraf in the front, the defiant one was the Farigiraf that carried the most injuries. Even among its allies, very few responded to that statement with belief.

“I can’t help you train, but we can help you practice. And, I do have some tips on moves and abilities I can share. If you let us stay here for a bit, we’ll help. We can give you a better chance for when the Scream Tail show back up and help you learn to fight just as well as... this Iron Valiant?”

He looked at the Iron Valiant as if confused about how to refer to it. The Iron Valiant felt a strange heat in its chest.

It wasn’t sure if anyone had ever directly referred to it before.

Obviously trying his best to be convincing, Nick gestured at where the Iron Valiant knelt, and the Iron Valiant attempted to stand back up. However, it had taken a significant amount of damage in that fight and couldn’t immediately return to its feet. Its legs collapsed, sending it back down, and stabbing its polearm into the dirt was the only reason it didn’t fall onto its chest.

Pokémon primarily communicated through body language, and though Nick spoke with words, every small action to him practically screamed out his desperation. For the Iron Valiant, though it rarely let itself be so obvious, the weakness in its current state was clear—if push came to shove, it would not be a threat.

With one last, silent conversation, the three Farigiraf exchanged a final look, and they all turned around, walking back in. Revealing their backs without any obvious defense up was a show of trust, and walking inside was an invitation to follow them in.

Offering a hand, Nick leaned in to help the Iron Valiant up. As it allowed itself to be dragged back to its feet, Nick sent it a whisper close to its head.

“Alright,” the human said, some of his confidence returning to his voice. “Looks like I got us some training partners.”

He patted his own weapon and began to walk ahead. Only then was the Iron Valiant able to trudge toward the grove.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Girafarig / Farigiraf
Scream Tail

It wasn’t my intention to constantly change my mind, but I’m delaying the Royal Road release again. It wasn’t my plan when starting, but I want to make sure all chapters are in their 100% final state before the full release.

Schedule-wise, nothing changes here. Next week will still see the end of this story. Royal Road’s release will just be the Monday after.

...This may or may not be happening due to a certain game being released in two weeks. I’ve been waiting for seven years.

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Valiant - Chapter 6

The vastness that stretched over the Iron Valiant’s head felt as though it threatened to swallow it whole. Without a ceiling to hold everything in, it was like at any moment, it would start falling straight up.

That was a ridiculous thought, but it could not get over just how alien this landscape felt. Solid growths that led into tendrils of green spotted the terrain at the same rate the crystals had grown underground. The ledges and bridges that had crossed through the air were now gone, replaced by uneven plains set at different elevations. Any path up was thin and hardly walkable, so much unlike the ones underground. And the waterfalls—the waterfalls. The Iron Valiant could not process the sheer amount of water they poured or even where all of that water was from.

Those waterfalls poured into wide ponds and small lakes, and the pools were just as blue as the sky. It was safer to stand next to the cliffs and under those things called “trees.” If the Iron Valiant ever began plummeting upwards, it would at least have something nearby to grab.

“You’ll be fine,” Nick said to it, slowing to send the Iron Valiant a soft smile. “Look! I’m walking out here just fine! Gravity exists—you don’t need to act so afraid of the sky.”

He held out his arms as if to prove his point, and the Iron Valiant was not afraid. It was just... needing some time to gather the data it would need to confirm the environment was stable.

When it stepped out from its entirely necessary cover, it refused to look at Nick. It continued to follow along at his side, ignoring his grinning face in favor of solely staying on guard.

Out here, the Pokémon were strange. There were far more fleshy species than there were underground. Orange creatures ran through the grass, electricity sparking across their fur. One pink thing tottered along, patting an egg that it kept in a pocket on its chest.

“Pawmot,” Nick named for the scurrying species. “And Chansey, for the other one.”

Tunnels did not constrict movement. Nothing limited viable space. There was so much more freedom here than anything below. Everything seemed to be in constant motion, and even the species that stuck to the air had so much more room to fly.

Nick went on to name so many of them as they traveled away from that cave. He identified them with but a glance, and the constant influx of names made the Iron Valiant feel as though its head spun.

“Venomoth.”

“Floatzel.”

“A Floette.”

“Wow, that was an Espeon!”

His knowledge was a database, but his words were not flat. His eyes glimmered with every new species discovered, and he would laugh and point at the many species he saw in person for the first time.

Traveling upwards took a great deal more effort than walking through the cave. Down there, Pokémon worked to ensure the underground space stayed navigable due to necessity. Up here, Pokémon could go anywhere they wanted, so there was less of a need to reshape the earth.

The wide, stable paths that curved up the cavern walls were absent. Thin ledges that threatened to crumble with too hard a touch were present in their place. Cliffs were less smooth and more rugged than the underground walls, and gaps between the stones served as handholds for the times they needed to climb. There were a few less difficult ways up, but most tended to be slopes, and many of those slopes were covered with foliage. Even more, at one point, the Iron Valiant thought it was hiking past a motionless, fruit-covered tree, but Nick took one look at the plant and said, “Arboliva,” naming a Pokémon.

When they weren’t walking, they were resting or climbing. When the paths and ledges failed them, it was up to the Iron Valiant to ascend. Compared to Nick, bringing itself up was easy. Its metal limbs could stab into the stone to create new handholds, and it could lift his weight without issue.

Nick had a strange way of describing this crater: “Valleys within valleys within valleys,” he said. Every cliff they ascended revealed another. There were layers of clifftops and plateaus, and many tended to connect to drops and divots that led back down into the earth.

“We do need to talk about what we’re looking for,” Nick said at one point, just after they hiked up a steep slope. “I need to get out of here, so I need an exit. There’s a specific thing I want to see.”

He trudged over to a shaded spot near a small waterfall, and his gaze lingered on how the spray refracted light to make an array of colors. A lone tree provided him with shade, and he took out a small knife to cut open a can to give himself sustenance to eat.

“We’re looking for a pass in the mountains that surround this place,” he said after taking a moment to chew. “There’ll be a building there that’s kind of like the observation post we entered, except better maintained and even more off-limits.”

He swallowed.

“If we can get there, I should be able to call for help, but the problem is that it’s just one building, and this place is way bigger than I thought it’d be. If we climb up the wrong mountain, we might trap ourselves. At that point, our best chance would be to risk climbing down. We’d have to search for a town in the distance, or maybe we could find an area’s Pokémon Center by looking for its red roof.”

Nick ate while he talked, practically inhaling his food as if on a time limit, and the Iron Valiant understood the rush. With how overjoyed he’d acted upon his initial escape, the Iron Valiant expected Nick to become ecstatic once he left this crater.

As for it, once Nick was gone, it would—

It would—

The Iron Valiant stood on guard to keep a close eye on a group of nearby Pokémon. A flock of dark-feathered birds led by one with a steel exterior all stared right back at it.

“Zero Gate is to the north-west, but we could maybe head south-west to get over the mountains next to the Pokémon League?” Nick mumbled to himself. “Except, those are single buildings we’d need to find over a wide space. They’re also both in opposite directions, but at least they’re both to the west.”

He hummed, deep in thought, holding his can with a utensil resting within. To the side, the Iron Valiant readied its blades, and Nick stopped humming to look up at a newcomer—a squat Pokémon beginning to approach.

It was short, metal, and red—closer to a living machine like the Iron Valiant rather than being simply metal-covered like the large bird nearby. The newcomer carried a large, blue sphere under one of its flippers, and it waddled as it tried to walk.

“An Iron Bundle,” Nick said. “Based on Delibird. They’re pretty strong, but—”

His words stopped when a shout pierced through the air, and that metal bird from before took off.

The Iron Bundle was familiar to the Iron Valiant—but as a species, not as an individual. It wasn’t common, but a few occasionally appeared underground. It didn’t know them as anything aggressive, but they were capable of putting up a decent fight.

Here, it wasn’t walking toward them but the water that was pooling under the waterfall. However, it was walking straight toward where that flock was at rest, and the flock’s leader was not taking kindly to that.

The Corviknight, as Nick called it, landed right in front of the Iron Bundle, puffing up its chest. Steel grated against steel to make a sound that emphasized its annoyance, and it held out its wings to increase its size and presence to maximize how much it appeared as a threat.

The Iron Bundle did not care.

It barely even reacted.

Keeping that same, waddling pace, it simply brought its blue sphere forward. An aperture opened on one side of that object to release an explosive burst of freezing air.

Dropping his can, Nick jumped back and cursed.

The blast of ice and wind hit the Corviknight to freeze the bird’s metal feathers together. Though the weight of its steel protected it from the worst of this blow, the Corviknight was hit was such force that it was blasted back and straight into the cliff’s stone wall.

Immediately, the Corviknight’s flock erupted into chaos. Squawks and shouts filled the air as the unevolved Pokémon began to flee. From within the cliff itself, Corviknight pulled itself out only to take one look at that Iron Bundle and decide it’d be better off escaping as well.

“Do we need to run? What’s it doing? Why did it attack? Is it going to attack us, too?”

Nick spoke quickly. The Iron Valiant had already lowered itself and had brought out its blade just in case, but the Iron Bundle hadn’t slowed in the slightest. It just kept waddling until it reached the water, and there, it lowered itself in to relax and let the waves caress it at the pond’s bank.

“...It didn’t need to attack like that,” Nick said quietly as the Iron Bundle let the display of its eyes fade into black. “It could have walked around. But it didn’t. It went straight through and blasted the Corviknight out of the way.”

Slowly, Nick picked up his dropped can to scrape out what little food was left inside, but he didn’t seem much more willing to eat. The Iron Valiant made sure to remain on guard as the human refilled his water, but neither of them became victim to any move, and the Iron Bundle didn’t pay them any mind.

They freely backed away.

__________________________________________________________________________

After that, while traveling, the Iron Valiant paid closer attention to its surroundings. It still worked to find viable paths and assist Nick with his climbs, but it also strove to understand just what was going on around it instead of merely staying on guard.

They were never attacked. Underground, some territorial Pokémon had gone after them, but that was due to instincts honed by the need to protect their claimed, limited space. Out here, they were undoubtedly intruding on some species’s territory, but no Pokémon ever went after them. At worst, the other Pokémon only ever sent them harsh glares.

Specifically, they glared at the Iron Valiant. Nick would receive a passing glance but would otherwise go ignored. Everything was focused on the Iron Valiant and the Iron Valiant alone. Wherever it walked, hate would follow. The air was filled with hostility, yet no Pokémon ever acted on that.

At a certain point—after the sky changed to darkness and then returned with its light—they stumbled upon another interaction between a Paradox Pokémon and a native species. A great, purple moth had created a nest for itself within a cliff’s small cave. However, a crawling Paradox Pokémon, a bug-like species with white fur and wings too weak to lift it, climbed straight inside and used heat to scare the first Pokémon off.

That Slither Wing outright stole the Venomoth’s nest.

“Encroachment,” Nick said after witnessing that. “How long has it been? How long have Paradox Pokémon been here? When am I, specifically? The observation post was abandoned, but... Paradox Pokémon are still coming in. There are species being introduced that don’t have a niche. All of the Pokémon here are cramped for space.”

Nick had told the Iron Valiant that he was from another world. The Iron Valiant and so many other “Paradox Pokémon” carried a similar origin, too. However, unlike Nick, the Iron Valiant did not carry anything of what it might have experienced before. Its earliest, most blurry memory was of it stepping out of... something. Then, it battled. Everything after that was just pointless spars.

As they continued to climb and pass through the crater, more and more signs of that “encroachment” became clear. Not only did most Pokémon continue to send hateful glares at the Iron Valiant, but so many others looked uncomfortable where they were staying. Fading scars littered the landscape. Any territory was hardfought and earned.

Eventually, the Iron Valiant found itself standing beside Nick at the top of a cliff and looking down at an exchange taking place below. A grove of trees, of which many were filled with berries, grew beneath them. However, this grove was not empty; it served as the home for a herd of spotted, long-necked Girafarig and Farigiraf. Those Pokémon had claimed this place for themselves, but others had objected to that ownership.

Paradox Pokémon, again.

Three of them, pink and puffball-like, crept forward with fanged mouths dripping with drool. The desperation was clear in their eyes—they wanted to eat, and they didn’t care about whatever was between them and their goal.

Sensing the danger, three Farigiraf galloped out to meet them, but they were attacked without any warning exchange. The puffballs opened their mouths and screamed, and the Farigiraf had to slam shut their exterior mouths to protect their more vulnerable heads within.

“Scream Tail,” Nick whispered. “Another kind of Paradox Pokémon. They’re overpowering the Farigiraf.”

The three Farigiraf tried to withstand the move, but the constant onslaught of deafening noise saw them wave, stuck in place. The noise echoed in a cacophony, and not all of the pink Pokémon needed to actively maintain it. Two of them dropped out, leaving one behind as they ran right toward the grove.

Right toward where the rest of the herd was, and right toward where old and weathered Farigiraf tried their best to stand and protect young Girafarig that hid behind.

“They aren’t going to win.” Nick’s voice was grim. “The Scream Tail are going to beat them, and then they’re going to do whatever they need to claim the grove.”

There was an entire herd down there, but the herd lacked the strength needed to fight back against the Paradox Pokémon. One of the older Farigiraf tried to charge forward, but all it took was a spin from a Scream Tail to whip out its long mane of hair and knock it out of its way.

The Iron Valiant drew its blade.

“I told you that I’d help you learn new moves when we made our deal, but I haven’t been doing that. We’ve mostly been just been traveling, lately,” Nick said, kneeling at the cliff’s edge. “What if we take a break? And get some practice?”

The Girafarig were starting to panic. The Scream Tail were almost there.

The next phrase Nick spoke was only two words, but it was all the Iron Valiant needed to hear.

“Help them,” Nick said.

Even if he had said anything else, the Iron Valiant wouldn’t have heard him. The second those two Scream Tail looked ready to pounce, the Iron Valiant was already jumping down.

==========================================================================
Author Note:

Girafarig / Farigiraf
Iron Bundle
Scream Tail

Timeline-wise, Professor Sada/Turo only figured out how to bring Paradox Pokémon into the world after Arven’s birth, and I doubt Arven is past his late teens. That means, during Scarlet and Violet, Paradox Pokémon have only been in Paldea for two decades at most, and my understanding is that ecosystems don’t adapt to new species that quickly—let alone over a dozen of them at once.

With the presence of the Professor’s time machine and the other labs across Area Zero, my thought is that Paradox Pokémon were first released underground, and then others were introduced to the crater over time. However, with the deciding plot of the latest games, there’s no one currently in the crater to oversee the Paradox Pokémon’s introduction, which has lead to this instability.

The state of Area Zero in this fiction is more based on headcanon than fact, but with how I write the Pokémon world, food and territory are important. There’s not enough to go around here, and not enough time has passed for everything to settle. Right now, more than usual, existence is a constant fight.

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Valiant - Chapter 5

The crystalline blue of the cavern’s light gave way to a dull, colorless glow. The massive outcrops that had defined the environment were now nothing more than scattered bunches and a few small flakes in the ground. The solid, dark stone of the floor was now a crumbling brown. The towering chasm that had connected so many hanging platforms was now far behind them, having been replaced with twisting tunnels that criss-crossed through the earth and often reconnected with themselves.

The Iron Valiant noticed that a measure of confidence had entered Nick after leaving that lab. He was more ready to travel, and he was ever so slightly more alert to his surroundings. There were times when he would still look around with awe, but it was far more subdued. More importantly, when there was movement, his eyes tracked it. His hand would hover over where that rod-like creation hung off his belt.

However, the Pokémon here mostly didn’t fight. They were often unevolved and would choose to flee instead. Groups of Diglett would vanish underground the second they detected footsteps. So unlike how their evolved forms would lay traps to protect themselves, unevolved Glimmet would stay attached against the walls and merely watch passively as the Iron Valiant passed.

Still, there were some Pokémon that couldn’t resist their instinctual urges. Territory had to be protected, after all.

As they hiked through the tunnels, ahead of them, a two-headed Pokémon crawled out of a den carved into one of the few remaining crystal growths. The Pokémon’s two sets of eyes were both covered with hanging black hair, and the blue and red scales that protected its stomach almost dragged along the ground as it trundled out.

This was a dragon—an unevolved one, but a dragon nonetheless. Though it did not reach either the Iron Valiant or Nick’s stomach, it was still aggressive. The Iron Valiant recognized it; the only time this species’s two heads were ever in unison was when it was forced to deal with an approaching threat.

Here, the hostile nature of this creature likely made it one of the stronger Pokémon in these tunnels, but it did not hold a candle to the beasts that populated the lowest reaches of these caves. There would be no avoiding this battle, so the Iron Valiant brandished its polearm and took a step forward—

But Nick walked out ahead, instead.

“Let me handle this.” He pulled out that hastily assembled weapon and let his thumb flick over its switch. “You’ve been fighting for both of us before now. I need to pull my weight, too.”

Nick sent a grin to the Iron Valiant and turned to face his opponent—a Zweilous, he called it. The Iron Valiant knew it could personally handle a Pokémon like that in seconds, but it chose to stay its blade for now.

Instead, it looked away from the fight to snap its head up and glare at a pair of tittering shadows. Two pairs of eyes, both sparkling with amusement, stared back out, unabashed. The Iron Valiant remembered Nick had once called these two Pokémon’s species “Flutter Mane,” but the Iron Valiant simply knew them as pests.

Pests that were far too fond of pranks.

Thankfully, this pair seemed to have no interest in attacking, so the Iron Valiant’s attempt to intimidate fell flat. The floating pair of Pokémon stayed near the cavern’s ceiling, and, rolling its shoulder, the Iron Valiad flicked its blade to the side and focused on Nick's upcoming battle instead. If Nick wanted to practice so badly, it could at least give him that.

The human and the dragon circled one another in this tunnel, and Nick took off his backpack to throw it to the side. A Flutter Mane cheered. He wielded that metal assemblage in one hand, and the giggles rang out when he unknowingly mimicked the Iron Valiant’s fighting stance.

“Alright. It’ll be just you and me. But I’ll give you a chance to get out of it. We’re just trying to get past, and if you let us by—”

One of the Zweilous’s heads interrupted him with a hiss. The other snapped its jaws forward, already eager to bite.

With that clear sign of aggression, Nick ran his hand through his hair, brushing the blonde strands out of his face. He stopped the slow-motion circle to press his thumb down. Buzzing filled the air.

Electricity crackled between the broken metal at the end of his weapon. The zapping noise came so abruptly and suddenly that both Flutter Many shut up, and they drew back toward the wall to hide in the shadows.

Then, Nick charged. The faint glow of the crystals around the Zweilous’s den cast him into uneven light. His intentions were made evident by the way his eyes locked onto the point right where the Zweilous’s two necks connected. The way his muscles tensed in his arm spoke of getting ready for a jab, but he was not the only creature here ready to make a move.

A human was not a Pokémon. A human did not possess that same level of speed or strength. Resilience was another matter entirely—Nick had injured himself far too easily just by smashing his fist through a pane of thin glass.

The way the Zweilous drew back its heads and flexed its muscles revealed that it itself would be quick to respond. Just like how it had snapped out a threat before, it would snap down on Nick’s arm the second he was in range. He would not have the sturdiness to resist that bite.

Instead, the Iron Valiant found itself lunging forward. Before Nick and the Zweilous ever clashed, the Iron Valiant was already there, interposed between them, bringing down its blade to block the dual attempt to bite as the Zweilous slammed itself into the flat of its blade.

The Zweilous breathed in to ready another move from there, but the Iron Valiant was already moving, its blade glowing with a brilliant light. A swing saw a flash burst above its body, searing it, the air, and the floor. The Iron Valiant didn’t even need to try to bring out this Dazzling Gleam. The use of this move came out reflexively.

“...Really?” Nick whined. “Come on. What’s the point of making this thing if I don’t get to use it?”

He released his thumb, causing his weapon’s buzzing to stop. The Iron Valiant looked down at Nick as he stood up from where he had been ready in a crouched stance.

It did not need to change its expression to anything more revealing to send him a flat stare, and Nick let out a sigh.

“Yeah, yeah. A Zweilous was probably too much.”

After taking that Dazzling Gleam, the Zweilous was not unscathed. The light had burned into it, and it was already scrambling away to return to its den.

Just to make sure it understood not to come back out while they were present, the Iron Valiant swept out its weapon to flick lingering embers off of its blade. The shining sparks faded away into nothing.

“I know that Pokémon are the ones to fight, and I know humans are way weaker than Pokémon, but I can’t just rely on that. I plan to explore the world!” Nick said. “I need to learn how to fight, too. What if, while we’re escaping, a Pokémon gets past you? Or, what if once I’m out, a criminal attacks me and tries to take my future team?”

Nick clipped his weapon back to his belt, and he frowned while staring into the Zweilous’s darkened den. Though it was back to being tied to his belt, he still had his thumb run along its cables.

“I need to practice,” he mused. “I don’t know if I could stomach standing to the side forever.”

The Iron Valiant silently collapsed the rod of its weapon. It couldn’t and wouldn’t teach him. He was too weak to fight, and its own fighting style wasn’t anything he could ever master.

Nick mumbled something about needing to fight against weaker foes, and the Iron Valiant checked on their surroundings. Save for some echoes in the distance, this tunnel was quiet. No Pokémon nearby bothered to let out a final hiss, and no Pokémon bothered to respond to the battle with soft, amused laughter.

...Which was strange.

The Iron Valiant looked up. It could tell by the soft outline of their bodies that the Flutter Mane were still hidden in their shadows, but the Iron Valiant would have thought they would have come back out by now.

In fact, not even the Zweilous was making any noise. It hadn’t even tried for the barest sense of intimidation after running back to its den. Yes, the Iron Valiant had hit it with a powerful move, but its draconic instincts should have seen it at least hissing or glaring in an attempt to save face.

Nick walked over to the side to pick up his backpack.

The cavern was otherwise silent.

However, far in the distance, those echoes from before continued. And, this time, rumbles followed them—rumbles that seemed to be growing louder.

“Well, we—I mean, I’ll get out of here eventually, so I probably just need to find a Route 1 somewhere. Probably with something that’s not effectively a cattle prod, too. And, I probably need to check to make sure fighting myself isn’t illeg—”

A roar.

The human froze in the middle of putting on his backpack, but that freeze did not last long. The Iron Valiant dashed up to him, grabbed his arm, and then yanked him along as they began to run.

“What is that?!”

The rumbling grew louder.

The air itself seemed to shake when a roar pierced through the tunnel.

Around them, the smaller crystals cracked and crumbled. Chunks of earth hit the floor. The dirt vibrated beneath their feet, and the Iron Valiant scanned the entire environment ahead of them, desperately searching for somewhere to hide.

Quickly, it located a decent-sized nook in the wall and didn’t want to shove Nick in. He yelped, but any attempt to complain was silenced when he saw what the Iron Valiant was doing.

Non-essential systems shut down. Anything critical entered low-powered mode. The passive glow of its body faded away into almost nothing, and its dim light wasn’t out of place among the smaller crystals of this tunnel.

If what the Iron Valiant was doing had a biological equivalent, it would have been holding its breath. Seeing the effort, Nick’s eyes widened, and he moved to cover his mouth.

The noise grew.

Both of them waiting.

For a second, a sudden shake made the Iron Valiant think this nook was about to break and collapse over them.

Instead, something blue and red rushed past them in the tunnel. A crescent shadow covered the floor beneath it. A flap of its wings saw it slam into a side wall, and an attempt to correct itself then saw it crash into the floor, and then into the ceiling.

In its frenzy, it continued on, far too enraged to notice either of them.

“The Roaring Moon?” Nick whispered next to the Iron Valiant. “There’s no way that’s the same one, right?”

The Iron Valiant snapped up a hand, and Nick went utterly silent. Thankfully, the Roaring Moon seemed unable to hear something that quiet.

The earth rumbled in its wake, and its screams echoed around them. The roars that came from its throat were piercing, but the dragon flew on, eventually managing to regain some aspect of stability as it vanished far out into the distance.

It was only after the silence became deafening that the Iron Valiant pulled itself out, and Nick crawled out of the nook after it. Light and color returned to the Iron Valiant’s body, and even the Flutter Mane behind them poked out of their shadows to make sure the Roaring Moon had truly disappeared.

“That was definitely the same Roaring Moon,” Nick said as he tried to fix how his backpack was hanging off his back. “If it’s up here, and if it looked that mad...”

He shivered.

“It might be looking for us, or it might be lashing out because it lost.”

The Iron Valiant possessed no response to that. Dragons were practically alien to it. They always seemed to need to lord over others. An unexpected loss like the one it had experienced to the Iron Valiant would have shaken it.

Even with the use of Dazzling Gleam, the Iron Valiant doubted it would win.

Both the Iron Valiant and Nick lingered in the tunnel, staring out and making sure the Roaring Moon would not return. The two Flutter Mane left in the other direction, not wanting to deal with any of this, and hissing started up as the Zweilous made it clear that it really wanted them to leave.

“Okay. Let’s—”

A crack.

Something broke above their heads.

Though Nick froze, the Iron Valiant lashed out, and its polearm sliced right through the disturbed rocks that almost slammed into them. The sudden near-fatal experience looked as though it shook Nick, but that shock vanished in the face of what the fallen boulders had revealed behind them.

“Light,” he whispered.

He rapidly looked around, identified a branch in a tunnel a distance away that led upwards, and then charged straight toward it. The Iron Valiant followed, easily keeping in pace, but it also made sure to continue keeping an eye out to ensure they suffered no ambush.

The path curved and split, but Nick always managed to find some way forward, locating even the slightest of trends upwards. At one point, he sniffed the air, and then he held up a licked finger to try to discern the direction of a soft breeze.

A sudden turn and dash saw him charge down a side tunnel, and the Iron Valiant followed hot on his heels. The scattered crystals in the cave had all but vanished at this point, and the only thing left seemed to be dirt and stone.

But, ahead, there was the same thing Nick had seen before—an absolute abundance of light. The glow far surpassed any glow of the crystals in the lower caverns, and Nick didn’t hesitate to race right into it, practically exploding out into wherever this tunnel led.

This was a brand new room, a sort that the Iron Valiant did not recognize. It would have said they had just entered the largest cave it’d ever been in, but here, there was no ceiling.

Only an endless expanse of blue.

Nick laughed out loud and let himself fall into a patch of green that grew out of the earth. He let his arms fall into it while his eyes stared up at the emptiness that stretched up above their heads. Large cliffs surrounded both of them, placing them at the bottom of some kind of bowl. Except, those cliffs were surrounded by higher cliffs, and those cliffs were surrounded by even higher cliffs. There had to be platforms and flat areas like the ledges in the lower cavern, but the Iron Valiant couldn’t see them from how low it was. It could not comprehend just how much open space had to be out here.

“We’re out,” Nick said, pulling back to his feet and turning in a full circle just to take it all in. “We’re back outside! I never thought I’d be so happy to see the sun in my life!”

He let out another laugh, and then he inhaled just to taste the air. A waterfall cascaded down an upper cliff in the distance.

The smile on Nick’s face was the largest the Iron Valiant had ever seen, but they had not reached their destination just yet. 

The Iron Valiant might have helped Nick escape the caverns, but there was still the rest of this expansive crater to get through.

==========================================================================
Author Note

Next chapter on Wednesday. Chapters will likely begin to be posted to Royal Road at the start of next week.

Flutter Mane
Zweilous

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Valiant - Chapter 4

The Iron Valiant practiced. That was all it did as time passed. It fell into a rhythm of imagining an opponent before it, and it repeatedly swung its blades.

Its strikes came with a practiced ease. Its weapon sliced the air. It would picture its opponent fighting back, and then it would parry and block those foreshadowed moves.

The scratches at the door continued, and they were growing ever so slightly louder. The persistence of the outside Pokémon was almost implausible, but these were Sableye. They sustained themselves by digging for gems.

The Iron Valiant purposefully practiced next to the door so it could be ready to fight, just in case. Nick would watch it, but Nick never followed through with his observations for too long. At times, he would simply be looking at the Iron Valiant’s practice, and at other times, he would be searching through the room or walking around to tap the walls. He visibly tried to maintain his smile, but the expression soon fell away in favor of boredom. His role was to come up with a plan to escape, but they always had the option of just waiting. The Sableye would break through eventually.

At a certain point, Nick stopped searching.

Every so often, Nick would fall asleep for hours at a time, but he also seemed to find a different method of alleviating his boredom—he collected a book that had been shoved into a shelf corner under the counter. The old tome was mildewed and had yellowed pages, yet the human forced himself to read through it all the same.

Honestly, the Iron Valiant would not have thought a book titled “An Introduction to Microwave Repair” could ever be entertaining, but the human willingly read through it all the same. The Iron Valiant could not say it knew why humans needed an entire book dedicated to that topic, let alone a book with a title that implied other, more advanced versions, but it was confident that the reasoning and logic behind the book’s existence would make sense to any human who learned of it.

Except, it didn’t.

Nick complained.

“This doesn’t make any sense!” Sitting up on one of the beds, Nick tapped the pages in front of him while the Iron Valiant practiced and tried to fully understand the energies behind its moves. “Like, I went to school. I know about Watts and Ohms and Amperes and stuff, but this keeps describing how the electricity might unexpectedly change its path. Isn’t the current always supposed to take the path of least resistance?”

The Iron Valiant could tell that Nick wasn’t truly interested in the world of microwave repair; there were simply subtle pieces of information quietly hidden within. Instead, there seemed to be some aspect of the greater world itself that Nick didn’t quite understand.

While the Iron Valiant focused on its moves—and while Nick wasn’t otherwise occupied with sharing stories of how he assumed the human world would work—Nick kept his nose shoved in that strange text, trying to decipher whatever he found so strange.

His eye constantly moved back and forth. His lips wobbled as he whispered under his breath. Nick had spoken of wanting to experience the world, but he didn’t just want to passively witness it—he wanted to understand it as well.

And, in this room, he had found his first step to do so by reading through this book.

And, in this room, he had found a problem that had shaken him to the core.

It took him a while before he said anything close to understanding. He passed out for almost eight whole hours twice over before the realization came to him.

“It’s almost like there’s something else there,” Nick mumbled to himself as the Iron Valiant tried to jab its weapon in new ways to coax out the supposed Fairy-type energy. “It’s like there’s some kind of extra, invisible force that’s acting on the electricity.”

Then, as the Iron Valiant failed yet again to achieve anything new, Nick looked up and stared at its weapon’s glow.

“Oh yeah,” Nick said. “The Pokémon world. You throw physics out of the window when there are Pokémon types involved. That makes sense.”

For some reason, that realization led him to disassemble the broken microwave, and the Iron Valiant continued on. Most of what Nick said to try to help only served to confuse the Iron Valiant, so the Iron Valiant just focused on its practice and asked itself a question:

What did it mean to utilize the Fairy type?

Or, what did it mean to be a Fairy type?

Since its life had been defined by fighting, there had to be some aspect of how it fought that it had missed. There had to be something that was slipping it by if half of its existence was apparently aligned with the Fairy-type itself. Yet, no matter how much it tried to force a success, no such victory ever came.

A while in, during a period in which Nick was inspecting pieces of the room’s microwave placed atop one of the beds, the human fell into idle chatter. At times, it felt as though he abhorred the silence—or, he just needed a way to distract himself from the constant sound of scratching at the door.

“There are trainers out there who would love to be in our position, I bet,” he said, holding up one metal chunk and comparing it to a moldy image in the book. “A room with food. No pressure from the outside world. Just time and space to figure out new moves, and a broken microwave to take apart because the insides don’t make sense.”

He exhaled, rubbing his head. The act left a splotch of black grease in his hair.

“But, no. No one else is here. And trainers have other ways to get help, instead. Like information and actual places to train. Do you even know how cool it is that Pokémon Centers are a thing? You see a building with a red roof, head inside, and then bam!” Nick hit the piece of metal he was holding. “There you go. Free medical care.”

The Iron Valiant was still practicing, of course, but, quietly listening in, it knew any form of healing was to be valued. Its species and many others like it benefited from their metal bodies—any battle-earned flaws would slowly fix themselves over time.

“It’s been days, and we’re still here. I have no idea how I can help you figure out this attack,” Nick said with a sigh. “Maybe it’s worth trying something other than a Fairy-type move? All this stuff about electricity reminded me of your ability. Future paradox Pokémon all have the same thing.”

Quark Drive.

The humming in the Iron Valiant’s chest had a name.

According to Nick, hidden by the glass embedded in the Iron Valiant’s chest, it had the potential to supercharge its own energy and heavily increase its power in a fight..

“Except, Quark Drive needs you to use Electric Terrain, and I have no idea how you’d be able to learn that move,” Nick grumbled. “But we only have one room of Sableye to fight through, so a single Fairy-type attack is probably easier than a terrain move and an ability.”

Then, after a short pause, he quietly added, “Plus, a Fairy Type move is better for fighting off Dragons like the Roaring Moon, anyway.”

Time passed.

Though the Iron Valiant kept up its practice, its swings were growing rougher. Since it had been able to master ‘Psycho Cut,’ it should have had the ability to master another move. It might have had no clue on how it could use Fairy-type energy to attack or what it even needed to do to develop it, but there was at least a bright side to this. All of this energy-focused practice was letting it get a handle on how it fueled its moves.

Though it still lacked an awareness of Fairy-type energy, the Iron Valiant could feel a heat flow out of its chest, through its arm, and into the blade it held. As its weapon was a part of its being, its polearm could freely channel the same energy its body contained, and there was a conversion process that reshaped that energy alongside its move.

For the Iron Valiant’s fast-paced Fury Cutter, that move imitated the annoying biting of a bug because picturing that image allowed the Iron Valiant to unconsciously reshape its energy to be used for the desired move. It didn’t think of Feint as anything other than a basic trick, which was why that energy was only ever ‘Normal.’ As for Psycho Cut, that attack was literally a telekinetic effect, so of course it’d be a Psychic Type attack. And Close Combat worked as a Fighting-type move because the Iron Valiant only ever thought of fighting while using it.

All of that led to the easy question: how did it picture being a fairy?

Nick tried to help.

According to him, fairies were tricksters. They were small beings that followed the rules far too closely and mimicked some evil creature called a ‘lawyer.’ Or, they were mischievous sprites who liked to pull pranks, but none of that described the Iron Valiant. The thoughts only made it struggle to wield its blade.

However, in a way, it was improving. Its understanding of what fueled its moves let it strike with greater efficiency. All of its techniques were coming out quicker and more polished, but what was even the point? It was making no progress and had achieved no victories, and the Sableye were going to strike as soon as they got through the door. Nick had not shared any plan to escape, so the Iron Valiant could only rely on figuring out this move.

But it hadn’t yet.

It was failing.

This... helpless feeling was bringing up painful memories of why it had left its home.

Just like it, the other Iron Valiant there only ever fought. They only ever practiced. Every second of their waking lives was spent engaging in spars, acknowledging spars, or resting between spars. There was a shared need for ever-growing improvement, and there was a shared need to maximize one’s strength. As Pokémon, it made sense to hone their skills through battle, but there was nothing else. Only ever those practice fights.

The Iron Valiant felt the same now as it did back then. Stagnancy polluted the air. That desired growth never came.

It had left. It had wandered. It had gotten into fights with creatures it had never known existed. With that, it had improved, but at a certain point, it became too strong for most creatures to ever bother it, and it just walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and then—

For what? 

Why did it bother?

Even now, it wasn’t sure.

Thus, still focusing on its practice, the Iron Valiant swung its blade.

It knew that it wanted something more. It knew that it wanted to achieve something that was more than just a basic improvement. It wanted a success. It wanted a move. It wanted to figure out a Fairy-type attack.

So, the Iron Valiant swung its weapon.

Thoughts swirled.

And, the Iron Valiant swung its weapon.

Memories twisted.

It swung, and it swung, and it swung, and it recalled one moment—the moment when it had woken up and seen the awe on Nick’s face.

The caverns were nothing more than a background to it. It failed to see why they were special. The place was empty. Massive. Nothing. The only thing that might have been of interest was the variety in Pokémon, but even that grew old over time. Maybe the crystals, then, but the crystals never changed. They maintained a constant glow that was just as stagnant as all of the spars in the past, a constant glow that came out just like the one coming from the lights above the Iron Valiant’s head.

A tiny feeling sparked up within the Iron Valiant’s chest.

It swiped its weapon.

Just like how Nick wanted to understand that book, was it wrong that the Iron Valiant wanted to understand the meaning behind that kind of awe?

“There!” a shout suddenly came. “You almost had it! In that swipe—your blade turned pink!”

The Iron Valiant froze at the end of its swing. It hadn’t realized how tied up it’d been in its head.

Though, it didn’t quite understand Nick’s excitement. Its blade was always pink.

“Do that again,” Nick told it. “I’m sure of it. You’re almost there.”

He stepped away from the microwave’s guts to deposit himself atop one of the beds.

Once again, the Iron Valiant swung, but nothing happened. Whatever Nick saw wasn’t there. With perfect accuracy, it repeated the same movements it had just gone through, but no pink glow ever occurred.

Taking a moment to analyze the motions of its previous swing, it scanned over its memories to try to find what difference had triggered the supposed color. Only then did a pink light glow.

Its other moves had worked by combining imagery with technique. For this, the light grew not from the movement of its weapon or what it pictured, but solely from what the Iron Valiant was feeling.

Faced with the imminent chance to achieve success, the Iron Valiant took a risk. It let itself think. It let itself admit that it wanted something more, that it wanted to feel that same kind of awe—

It was horrible. It was like something was twisting around in its chest.

But a warmth carried out of the center of its body and flowed down into its arm. From there, it entered its weapon. That warmth built, and built, and built—

And then, it was all released.

All of that desire, all of that need, want, and desperation was carried into this attack. It was not connected to any one feeling but the strength behind those feelings. Coming out not as a melee strike but as an explosion, a burst of pure light spread out in all directions.

This move illuminated the room far past the point of mere illumination. Brilliant pink light stretched out in all directions, and it almost seemed to sear the air. But, in an instant, that light faded. It vanished—yet, it did not do so without a trace.

Small embers lingered in the air. Impossibly small beads of light that were simultaneously dazzling and ephemeral.

“Dazzling Gleam,” Nick stated, sharing the name of yet another move. “Huh. That’s a special attack, not physical. I thought you could learn Play Rough or something, but the Fairy Type doesn’t really have that many physical moves, does it?”

The Iron Valiant brought up a hand. One of the small embers floated down into its palm. Most of the embers dissipated ineffectually whenever they touched something, but for this one, for tiny sparkle, it lingered atop the Iron Valiant’s metal.

“Okay,” Nick said, speaking slowly but speeding up over time. “Okay. Okay!”

He suddenly stood up, and from there, he scrambled to gather whatever he could.

As fast as possible, Nick shoved a decent amount of the remaining cans and the medical kit into his pack. He grabbed a blanket and a pillow, tied them to the top of his backpack, and then he looked at the remaining microwave parts, hummed, and picked one up just to smash it against the floor.

“Do you mind cutting me a piece of a bedframe?” he said quickly, kneeling to pick out the desired parts. “Just a small section of it. I need a short rod.”

Two quick slashes later, and Nick got what he wanted. The Iron Valiant proceeded to watch in fascination as Nick used a sticky tape from the medical kit to attach wires, and then he also secured a carefully selected piece of the microwave to the rod’s top.

The Iron Valiant wasn’t sure what Nick was doing. The human’s hands shook. Yet, despite whatever nerves filled him, he gave this task his entire focus, and when he was done, he had a wire-covered rod with a little piece of metal on its top.

“O-okay.” His voice wavered. “I’d test it myself, but... You can actually withstand this. Can you touch that piece right there? The switch. Please. It should be fine. It’ll just connect the wires.”

The part he pointed to was nothing more than a raised a bit of plastic. Nick carefully placed the rod on the bed. Cautiously, the Iron Valiant walked over, sent Nick one last look, and then pressed the plastic down.

Electricity crackled over the exposed metal. The entire rod buzzed.

Caught off guard, the Iron Valiant jumped back and held out its weapon reflexively, but the second the switch was released, the electric effect stopped.

“Hah! I got it! I am the master of this world!” Nick cackled. “Alright. Now that I can defend myself, we can leave. You ready? I figured out how to escape a bit ago. And since you have your move, we’re able to actually win our fight.”

The Iron Valiant refreshed its sensors—Nick had not stopped his searching because he had given up. He had stopped because he had figured out a plan. The scratching sound from the Sableye was louder, but not by much. Those Pokémon would not be the ones on offense here.

Nick’s smile was wide and genuine, but a slight bit of shaking spoke of nerves. For one last item, he wielded that assembled rod while adjusting his backpack full of supplies.

“Here’s the plan: You do the same thing you did before. The door and outside walls are too thick to cut through, but the interior wall is mostly hollow. It shouldn’t be hard to cut through.”

Nick’s eyes lingered on where the Iron Valiant had sliced through the cord to turn off the red lights. If its polearm had continued into the wall so easily right there, then it would not be difficult to continue a cut all the way through.

“It’s a bit of a risk, but I think we can do it. You up to that plan?”

The Iron Valiant still felt a certain warmth in its chest, but it didn’t need to use its new move for this—at least, not yet.

Turning to look at the wall, its blade glowed for its favored Psychic-type attack. The Iron Valiant readied its stance to prepare itself. It brought up its weapon, and Nick moved next to it.

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

The Iron Valiant swung.

The blade did not slice through the wall right away, but it did cleave a line in its path. The Iron Valiant swung, and swung, and swung, but this time, it was not practicing. Its strikes were quick and focused, and there was nothing it needed to figure out to properly use its moves.

Rather than carve right through the wall, it was more like its blade perforated a series of edges. The scratching at the door stopped, but the sound of hissing rang out as all of the Sableye on the other side communicated in a panic.

They were so close to escape. Nick was ready to leave. So was the Iron Valiant.

For the final push, it did not use its blade. A single kick saw the weakened part of the wall fall.

Immediately, darkness flooded toward them, hesitating only slightly when the fallen wall exposed this room’s light. Yet, that single ounce of hesitation was all that was needed, and the Iron Valiant let itself fill with light.

This move did not come from its blade. The glass in its chest glowed and gleamed. The flash seared away the incoming darkness, and the Sableye screamed. Just like that, the initial lunge was pushed back.

Leading the way, the Iron Valiant took a step out of the side room while Nick followed from behind. At least two dozen Sableye faced them, but they did not seem willing to approach after suffering from that dazzling light.

It was a stand-off, but this stand-off had a solution. Nick branded his makeshift weapon while the Iron Valiant wielded its spear. Slowly, ever so slowly, they held those threats aloft while creeping toward the building’s door.

Nothing stopped them. The Sableye did not risk an approach. After all, why go after a pair of dangerous opponents when that newly opened room was far more interesting?

In the end, their escape felt like hours, but it took only seconds. Just like that, they were out, and they had escaped without a serious fight.

“We did. We’re out,” Nick breathed. “We’re actually out. We were in there for days!”

Sucking in a deep breath to taste the air, he laughed.

And then, he laughed again.

Then, Nick fell to the floor, dropping his weapon and letting his hands press against the stone.

Liquid dripped beneath him, causing Iron Valiant to think he was hurt. This time around, however, the liquid that came from his body lacked any color—not even the barest red hue. The human stayed there, kneeling against the floor and laughing to himself. The Iron Valiant stood on guard.

It eyed the ceiling and all but dared those lizard-like Pokémon to strike while Nick took this moment to recover.

Eventually, Nick leaned back to sit up and breathe out. He hurriedly wiped his face.

“Thank you,” he mumbled. “You were amazing. Now, come on. Let’s leave.”

From there, the human stood and began to walk back toward an upward ledge that connected to the central cavern.

The Iron Valiant followed him, but even as it let that gleam in its chest fade, a small part of the move’s igniting feeling still remained.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

I was seriously ill this week but released Wednesday’s chapter even though I really should have waited. I’m better now, but while sick, I made a few edits to that chapter that didn’t need to be included. I’ll be going back to cut down on the second half to improve what’s there. I also might delay the Royal Road release a few days to get a few more chapters out first and to give myself a bit more time to check things over again, too.

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Valiant - Chapter 3

The deep red of the emergency lights mixed with the white and pink of the Iron Valiant's glow. The metal slab that had crushed this room’s door remained precariously still, and the only audible noise was the quiet humming from the Iron Valiant’s chest and Nick's exhales nearby.

However, every so often, a faint noise came from outside.

...Scrtch. 

Scrtch!

Claws tested the metal that sealed off this room, but the slab didn’t budge. The nest of Sableye scratched, and scratched, and scratched, but they were otherwise unable to tear a way through.

For several minutes, both the Iron Valiant and Nick chose to just stand there, waiting to see if the situation would change. The Iron Valiant never let go of its fully assembled polearm, and it took a while for Nick's chest to stop heaving up and down so much alongside every breath.

When he finally spoke, his voice was a whisper.

Something dripped to the floor at his side.

“Do you see that cable?” Nick asked. The Iron Valiant tracked Nick’s gaze to a line that connected the emergency button to the red lights above. “I think if you cut it—”

The polearm's blade sliced straight through the cable and a full inch into the wall. It hadn't hesitated, but the Iron Valiant froze just the same as Nick when they saw how far the blade had sunk.

Thankfully, this attack did not sink far enough in to pierce back into the main room, and the only thing that was visibly affected was the cable itself. A few sparks crackled out, but that was it. The red glow around them vanished, and they returned to a state where the only light came from the Iron Valiant.

“Okay.” Nick’s shoulders dropped as he relaxed. “There’s a light switch here...”

And, after a single click, a proper set of lights turned on. This time around, the illumination possessed no special color.

Finally having the chance to look around, the Iron Valiant scanned the room. Other than the crushed remains of the door, this area was untouched and otherwise free of rubble. It also contained far less dust than the previous room, as not enough had been created to settle. Whatever had initially damaged the observation post must have also seen this room be accidentally blocked. The room looked as though it hadn’t seen any humans in a few years rather than at least a decade.

A set of three bunk beds sat against a side wall, and across from them, a section of flat white stone served as a counter. A few dead machines sat on that counter’s surface, and cabinets were built into the wall above and below them.

“Bunk beds, a half-kitchen, that emergency button...” Nick mumbled. “So, this room was probably the living quarters? I don’t see a door to a bathroom, but I guess there’s probably one of those orange buckets hidden somewhere for that. And I guess this does get me my wish. I'll probably be able to find the stuff I need to leave the crater. ...If we ever leave this room.”

Nick still wore a smile, but it was far more strained. He kept his lips pressed together, and the curve of his mouth was thin. As he stepped away, that expression faded behind his blond hair, and the Iron Valiant watched him approach the counter.

In silence, Nick proceeded to search through the cabinets and inspect the dead machines. A sink managed to sputter out a flow of water, at least. The cabinets themselves hid shelves, and almost all of those shelves were empty. However, Nick’s eyes lit up when he found more of those food-filled, metal tubes, and, upon checking a cabinet under the counter, his expression grew even more satisfied when he pulled out a white box with a cross on its cover.

Next to him, more red dripped to the floor.

The Iron Valiant watched as Nick winced when he used both hands to open the box, and the human didn’t hesitate to clean and then apply a clear liquid to a wound on his hand. The Iron Valiant remembered that Nick had smashed through a pane of glass to hit the emergency button, but were humans really that fragile to become damaged from just a weak hit like that?

“You know, I actually know how to do this thanks to my dad,” Nick mused as he grabbed a roll of cloth and started to wrap it around where his hand had been hurt. “He would take me camping every so often, usually just as an overnight thing. I never really liked the woods, but that was probably more due to the creepy crawlies than the forest itself. This one time, he took me fishing, and we got on this rickety old boat that didn't even look like it should be able to float. But—”

Nick let out a laugh, and he stared at nothing at all while continuing to wrap his hand.

“But it did float,” he said. “It boldly stayed atop the water as my dad rowed us out into the middle of this massive lake. I can still remember it clearly—it was the most beautiful blue I’d ever seen in my life. And the quiet! Man. You could never get that kind of silence in a city.”

Nick breathed out, but then he seemed to realize that he had used way too much of the bandage so far. Blinking quickly as he recovered, he inspected his hand and tore the fabric to finish it before the covering became too thick.

“Anyway, long story short, I got a fishhook stuck in my hand, and that really sucked,” Nick said as he placed the remaining medical supplies back into the box. “My dad helped me get it out, and then he made sure I always knew a bit of first aid from there.”

As Nick turned to walk back to the Iron Valiant, the Iron Valiant saw that Nick’s expression had changed. He had given himself time to recover from what had happened, and his smile had returned. However, his gaze was more serious than before.

“First off, I'm sorry. It's my fault that we came here, and it's my fault that we're stuck in this room,” Nick said. “But this is an opportunity. We’re safe right now. There are plenty of supplies I’ll be able to take with me, and we now have time to prepare."

The scratches continued, but the noise wasn’t changing. The Sableye continued to claw at the door without getting close. However, it was unreasonable for them to still be digging if they weren’t achieving anything. They had to be either purposefully making that noise just to taunt them, or the Sableye were making progress, just at an extremely slow pace.

“So,” Nick said to the Iron Valiant. “Escape. Any thoughts?”

Unfortunately, Iron Valiant had nothing. Usually, the solution to its problems was to fight, but that didn’t apply here. Its entire life had been defined by fighting before now—between its wanderings, all it ever experienced was one battle after the last. In the rare times it had been defeated, it had never been defeated in any way that mattered. So, this situation was unique to it. Before now, it had always been smart enough to avoid getting in a fight with such a large number of Pokémon at once.

“Alright, then,” Nick said when the Iron Valiant didn’t respond. “How about this: what moves do you know? I know that doesn’t help us immediately, but we should probably have an exit plan for when we get out of this room.”

The Iron Valiant did not speak Nick’s language, but it could at least move. It made a purposeful glance to the floor, and Nick seemed to understand the message, taking a step back to give the Iron Valiant room to demonstrate as it readied its stance.

Dismissing all sounds around it, the Iron Valiant focused solely on the feeling of its polearm in its hands. This was its weapon, but its weapon was a part of it. For its entire existence, it had wielded these blades, and before it was on its own, it had perfected their use in countless spars against other members of its kind.

At this point, the techniques it knew were instinctual.

Sensors flashing on, the Iron Valiant struck, jabbing with the edge of the blade. The wind snapped alongside this strike, and the second its arm extended, it was already pulling back to follow up with a new, sudden jab.

Every time it struck, it followed up that jab with another, going through with a rapid flurry of blows. Every successive hit increased in power, and fury flowed and built between strikes.

“...Huh. Did you know the inside of your polearm is glowing a sort of yellow-green?”

The Iron Valiant stopped. It hadn’t even noticed, and the color vanished the second the move ceased. The purpose of this attack was to strike quickly and annoyingly, kind of like an insect’s bite, but the change in weapon color was never meant to be part of the attack.

“Based on that color and the build-up, my guess is that was Fury Cutter. That’s the only move that makes sense.”

The Iron Valiant brought back its weapon and lowered its head in acknowledgement. It couldn’t say whether or not Nick was right—names were not its area of expertise—but that description was not an inaccurate way it would describe this technique.

Next, the second move it demonstrated was more of a trick than a direct attack. Swinging its weapon, it showed off a false slash followed by a sudden change of direction for a brutal stab to the side.

This technique was designed to bait out an opponent’s defense, or, it was designed to create a brand new opening. It was a simple feint, enhanced by the Iron Valiant’s strength, which was why it wasn’t surprised when Nick called this technique exactly that.

“Feint,” the human said. “An attack that bypasses moves like Protect and Detect. No special glow this time around, though. Do you have anything more?”

The Iron Valiant did.

With practiced ease, it focused, and a sharpened, blue edge formed at the edge of its blade.

This move was the one that had seen it drop all other attacks to practice, and it had truthfully only learned its two other moves just to support this one. The versatility of the enhancement and the ferocity of its swipes meant there was little reason to develop anything else. Within the Iron Valiant, there was a desire, a need to have this be the best Psychic-type attack there ever was—but that was flawed, as it was coming to learn.

An Iron Valiant was not a Psychic type.

It was only using a Psychic-type move.

Slowly, the Iron Valiant let that edge drop. It did not react when Nick named the technique “Psycho Cut.” This attack had worked for it so many times, but it had failed the Iron Valiant twice, now.

First, against the Roaring Moon. Second, against the Sableye.

Feeling that frustration, the Iron Valiant shifted its stance. It had one more thing to demonstrate—a new move, one that was rough and completely unpracticed. It remembered what it had felt in those moments, and it brought its weapon over its head.

And then, it struck, lashing out in a strong, singular blow. It forsook all defense in favor of landing a strong, powerful attack.

“Hm. And for that move, the inside of your blade turned an orangish-red. And with how you struck.. This is your version of Close Combat, isn’t it?”

The Iron Valiant didn’t know. It was only an attack.

Having demonstrated all of its techniques, the Iron Valiant stood up. It broke the pole of its weapon, minimizing it, and it allowed its blades to click back into place where they attached to its arms.

“Okay. So you know those four moves: Fury Cutter, Feint, Psycho Cut, and Close Combat. Those are what you use to fight?”

The Iron Valiant bowed its head. That was all it had.

It was strong. It knew it was strong. But its strength came from the skill with which it wielded its weapon. It had obtained the power it possessed from constant practice. It lacked the versatility required to obtain true strength.

“Okay. ...Okay,” Nick mumbled, visibly deep in thought. “I want to know: did you recognize that each of your moves uses a different type? Bug, Normal, Psychic, and Fighting. Each of your moves changed color to represent a different type of energy.”

Blankly, the Iron Valiant brought up its gaze to stare at him, questioning, and Nick grinned. This time around, his smile was a mischievous thing. Apparently, he had recognized somewhere that the Iron Valiant could improve.

“So, listen closely. I’m going to live up to my side of our deal. If you want to be a better fighter, you need to know that there are eighteen Pokémon types, and each one interacts with the others with a variety of effectiveness,” Nick said.

“Right now, you don’t need to know all of them, but Sableye?” he said, continuing. “They’re Ghost and Dark-type Pokémon, a combination that gives them a lot of immunities. Nothing that’s Fighting, Psychic, or Normal will have any effect.”

Though listening intently, the Iron Valiant could already see the problem—and it had experienced it firsthand when none of its strikes had worked. Its prized move would never damage a Dark type, and even its newest technique would only see its polearm ineffectively pass right through.

The only technique the Iron Valiant knew that could potentially damage these Pokémon was its most basic—Fury Cutter, according to Nick—but even that had issues. Namely, Fury Cutter was never strong before it could be built up, and its single-target nature meant using it would open up the Iron Valiant to retaliatory strikes from the other Sableye.

Right now, if the Iron Valiant somehow left this room, it would not be able to fight off the horde. It could defeat a handful of Sableye, but the sheer numbers would only see its loss in the end.

Something burned in the Iron Valiant’s chest at that thought, but Nick just maintained his infuriatingly calm smile.

“Super effective moves are key to winning battles,” he said to it. “And it’s all because super effective moves deal double damage. Even a weak move can become strong if you pick the right type for an attack. So we just need to pick the right move here to give you a better chance against the Sableye.”

Going quiet, Nick took a step closer to the door, and he placed a hand on it, wincing slightly when his injured hand touched the metal. Faintly, the scratching noises continued, but he seemed to fail to feel any vibrations coming through.

“Out there, past this crater, there are probably thousands and thousands of Pokémon trainers constantly creating new strategies to win,” Nick said. “I have no idea just how they’re training their Pokémon how to fight, but they’re definitely doing that while paying attention to super effective moves.”

“It doesn’t matter how clever someone is. One strong strike can end a fight—and the entire sport is based around that. All status moves and other things are just tricks to create openings. No matter what, if you want to win, you have to deal enough damage to faint your foe.”

He took a step back, laughing slightly, and he locked eyes with the Iron Valiant.

“You’re a Fairy Type. You have the advantage. Sableye are only weak to Fairy-type moves. I don’t know how to help you pick up a move like that, but even one would help you win the battle.”

Slowly, the Iron Valiant bowed its head. If it just had to learn a single attack to win, it could do that.

“...Focus on practicing,” Nick said, returning to thought. “Don’t worry about anything else. I’ll focus on finding a way out and getting us through.”

He stepped away from the Iron Valiant, giving it room, and moved back to the counter to continue searching through the shelves, but with a greater focus than before.

The Iron Valiant watched him go, then turned to face an imaginary opponent for it to begin its practice.

However, it had a problem.

It might have been told it was a Fairy type, but it didn’t know how to use the “Fairy type” as part of its moves, or even just what being a “Fairy type” could mean.

==========================================================================
Author Note:

You might have noticed that I've changed how I'm writing out Pokémon types. Mainly, the world "type" is no longer capitalized. I like to try to stick to canon for how most things are written, but I accidentally wrote it incorrectly when first writing the Type Specialist. For all this time, I've been including the incorrect form for consistency's sake and to increase the focus on Pokémon types, a per the previous two fictions' focus.

I'm still a little inconsistent with that, but I'm hoping to improve over time.

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Valiant - Chapter 2

Author Note:

Chapter 1 can be found here.

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“The lab I want to go to isn’t that far away. Honestly, it’s not even that far from where I first woke up. It’s just a few ledges over, and it’s actually one of the first places I found when trying to figure out where to go. But it and everywhere else had signs of aggressive Pokémon, so I just hid—until I found you, I mean.”

Nick adjusted the straps that kept the bag hanging off his back and trudged up a path that curved around the side of the cavern. Crystals growing off the side of the Pokémon-carved ledge illuminated him as he walked by, and the shadow that he cast onto the wall was twice his height. The shadow of an Iron Valiant followed him from behind.

When it came to traveling, the Iron Valiant stayed on guard, keeping itself alert and scanning the air and their surroundings for any would-be ambushers. Most Pokémon did not appreciate their territory going unrespected, and others would see a pair of travelers as easy targets. Normally, one or two individuals stalking around would not be an issue, but the backpack Nick carried was a problem. There were a number of species in this cavern that would see the bag and believe it contained something worth taking.

But Nick remained unaware of this. He split his focus, but it was never to stay on guard. He simply followed the worn path upward, and he would gaze out into the cavern and at the faraway Pokémon as they went about their everyday lives.

It was frustrating. The Iron Valiant could feel itself growing more and more tense the longer Nick’s expression remained solely defined by awe. He lacked even an ounce of worry about being attacked, and, to that point, he had placed far too much trust in the Iron Valiant far too quickly.

“Anyway, it’ll still take a bit to reach the lab, so it might be worth taking a moment to introduce ourselves. Especially if we’re going to be traveling together,” Nick added with a slight laugh. “Like I said, my name is Nick, and as of... yesterday, I think? It’s my dream to be a Pokémon trainer. But the real truth about me is...”

He purposefully paused as if to add dramatic effect.

“I’m not actually from this world.”

A cheeky smile crossed the human’s face as he checked over his shoulder. The Iron Valiant was busy tracking a wandering shadow that passed over a nearby crystal outcropping, and it only caught the barest hint of that expression at the very edge of its vision.

A huff escaped Nick’s throat.

“You’re not surprised?”

The Iron Valiant didn’t stop scanning for threats, but it shook its head to reply with the negative. As far as it was aware, Nick’s story was not unusual. Most species here—its own included—did not originally come from this world.

“Oh. Yeah. I guess that makes sense. Paradox Pokémon. From the Professor’s machine, or maybe Terapagos?” Nick mused. “Anyway, my story’s a bit more unique than that. The world I’m from doesn’t have any Pokémon at all!”

The Iron Valiant stopped walking. This time, its gaze was solely locked onto Nick. Its sensors zoomed in as it tried to search through any slight reaction that came from the human, and for anyone looking at it, they would have seen the Iron Valiant’s display show narrowed eyes.

But the human didn’t see that. Nick kept walking with his back to the Iron Valiant as he continued up the slope. He didn’t realize what he had just revealed: he was totally unaware of this world. He knew nothing about its dangers, and, if what he said was true, how could he ever share information as part of their deal if he came from somewhere where no Pokémon existed?

“Well, it’s not like there’s no Pokémon,” Nick said idly, answering the Iron Valiant’s unspoken question without even realizing what he was doing. “There are games, manga, and even an anime. Each one is pretty descriptive about the Pokémon in it.”

The Iron Valiant resumed following after him.

“I might not be an expert on behavior and habitat, but I remember a lot about general facts about Pokémon battles. I followed a few ‘competitive’ battlers back home, so I can remember a few things about some of the stronger species—you included.”

“Iron Valiant are strong,” Nick said, and the Iron Valiant’s gaze bore into his back. “Both in stats and because of everything they can do. They have a crazy amount of versatility in the moves they can learn, and they have a pretty effective ability. And, just on a basic level, they—and you, specifically—are Fairy and Fighting types. That’s a pretty good combination for offense.”

As much as doing so bothered it, the Iron Valiant lowered its gaze to the floor. It wasn’t able to continue staying on guard with all of the thoughts racing through its head. Nick had mentioned types—some aspect of Pokémon that was innate to them, apparently. The darkness that was a part of that Roaring Moon stood out to it, but it was having trouble understanding what being a  “Fairy and Fighting type” truly meant.

Looking at its arms, its blades glowed, and it wasn’t sure how to feel. Its prized move, the one where it focused on the edges of its blades to make them sharper, didn’t share any connection to what it was. That was a Psychic-type attack, but... the Iron Valiant wasn’t a Psychic type at all.

So then, what was the point of practicing that move so often in all of its spars?

“When it comes to battling, there’s one fact that should be remembered, and it’s pretty key to winning every battle,” Nick continued, still unaware. “Competitive Pokémon battles are one thing, but they usually assume sides take turns and that Pokémon fight at the same level. Here? As far as I can tell, battles are more freeform, and a Pokémon’s power varies wildly. So, the only thing that matters is this:”

He looked back over his shoulder again, and the act caught the Iron Valiant’s full attention.

“Strength,” Nick declared, and he spoke as if that one word carried all of the meaning in the world. “As long as you’re using moves that can actually hit, you’ll win every battle if you’ve trained yourself to be strong enough. You have to completely outlevel your foes.”

The words rang true. The Iron Valiant understood the importance of strength. Though practicing that one move had been useless, every battle it had experienced in the past had been to chase that purpose, and the battles it had lost before would not be battles it would lose again.

As basic as it sounded, power was what defined the victor of fights, but Nick turned around before saying anything more.

“That’s my ‘secret’ strategy that I’ll help you with,” he said casually. “Really, I have to make sure you understand how to use the best moves. Once I’m out of here, I have a few more things that I know that I should be able to trade for help with getting on my feet, but it’s all exploring the world from there! I’ll get to see things I never thought I’d get to see!”

He started to practically skip ahead from there, and the Iron Valiant had to increase the length of its strides to keep in pace. Following, it silently chided itself for allowing its guard to fall, and it returned to keeping an eye on everything and anything that could lead to an attack.

Before too long, the slope leveled out, and they emerged onto a flat space that connected to a large recess in the cavern wall. The overhang above it was interspersed with shining crystals, and fallen fragments caused the floor to glimmer.

However, this place was not unoccupied—Pokémon watched them from above. Between the crystal growths on the ceiling, dark, lizard-like creatures hung from the stone. Yellow eyes tracked them as they walked past, but the Iron Valiant allowed its blades to shine, and none of those Pokémon bothered to risk an attack.

“There. At the other end. That’s the building I need to enter.”

It was a block of metal that was half-covered by the recess’s back wall. Crystals framed its sides, and it lacked any obvious openings. There was only a front door and a sign.

[Observation Post Theta], it read.

Though Nick did not notice their watchers, the Iron Valiant did notice that none hung around or above this building in the wall.

“I need to get supplies from here since I need to escape this crater—and not just these caves. I need food, water, and, kinda importantly, a sleeping bag. Even just a blanket would be good since I really don’t want to have to sleep on a hard floor. Again.”

Nick grabbed the door’s handle and pushed it open without any resistance. The light of the cavern’s crystals illuminated the inside, and this place clearly was one that was once inhabited by humans.

Once.

A long time ago.

Right now, it was a mess. Furniture lay scattered throughout the room in pieces, shattered glass hung off the ceiling, and dust coated many chunks of that refuse. The light from the exterior crystals didn’t let the Iron Valiant see that far in, but the light did allow it to see fallen and broken chunks of metal at the far side. A large portion of the back wall was missing, surrounded by bent metal covered in bite marks, and many small scratches covered the floor.

“I managed to find this place while trying to find somewhere to rest, but you can see that going in here on my own wasn’t a good idea,” Nick whispered. “I need to look through to see if there’s anything I can take, otherwise, I’m stuck trying to find food and supplies from whatever I can find outside.”

Cautiously, the Iron Valiant pressed its arms together to draw its polearm. Light glowed from its eyes, weapon, and glass embedded in its chest. The room lit up in hues of white and pink.

“Neat,” Nick said, stepping inside after it. “That’s pretty cool.”

Though Nick needed to search this place, doing so before handling or subduing whatever lurked past the chewed-apart wall would only open them to an ambush. Defeating it would buy them the time needed to gather what Nick required, and the same word from before echoed through the Iron Valiant’s mind.

“Strength.”

It needed to strike quickly and overwhelmingly. That was what mattered when it came to winning here.

Slowly, the Iron Valiant crept forward, only focusing on that open, back wall as Nick looked around. He whispered about the things he saw, like “shelves,” “a desk,” “a chair,” and even something about a blocked, side door.

Moving deeper inside the building allowed more and more of the Iron Valiant’s light to spread throughout this place, and, eventually, it managed to reach that opening to light up what was past the open wall. This back room might have once been part of the building, but it had been built into the cavern’s stone itself, and some wild Pokémon had taken offense to that.

The metal that made up this room had been ripped to shreds, and most of the floor was now open and exposed stone. The very back wall was outright missing—in its place, some of the stone above it had collapsed downward. There were no glowing crystals in here, not even shards. It was completely devoid of any and all sources of light. Yet, the Iron Valiant’s glow illuminated dozens upon dozens of holes in the floors and walls. In all of them, gemstones sparkled within, and they all reflected the light that emanated from the Iron Valiant.

“Oh,” Nick whispered, crouching to the side of the chewed entrance. “This isn’t the home of one big Pokémon. This is a nest.”

Something shifted on the floor, and the Iron Valiant immediately snapped its polearm up to prepare itself for an attack. However, the creature there was small—no bigger than one of the Iron Valiant’s limbs—and it looked at them with a grin.

A cruel grin. A grin that contained far too many teeth. The purple fur on the creature’s body allowed it to cleanly blend into darkness, and a pair of gemstone eyes on its face reflected the Iron Valiant’s light back at it—

The same way that so many other pairs of gemstone eyes reflected the Iron Valiant’s light back out from where they had been asleep in their holes.

“Just a Sableye? One Sableye isn’t that strong. It’s not going to be hard to—”

The Iron Valiant grabbed Nick’s arm and tried to run.

That was the signal that started this whole mess. This was an entire nest of Sableye, and the Pokémon here had just encountered a pair of intruders in their home.

The Iron Valiant’s intention was to retreat to a more strategically advantageous position, of course, but it couldn’t get even a foot closer to the narrow front door before Nick pulled it right back. Yanking it to the side, he tore the Iron Valiant away from the opening. From within that backroom nest, dozens of Sableye leaped right at where the Iron Valiant had just stood, and each attacking Pokémon seemed to control the darkness itself to have shadows wash out in a flood.

“We can’t leave! Look!”

If the Iron Valiant had tried to run in a straight line, it would have been caught by the sudden surge from behind, but that wasn’t the only problem. Right at the door were a handful of other Sableye. Neither Nick nor the Iron Valiant had tried to hide their approach, and these gremlin-like beings had noticed them and snuck around to try to catch them from behind.

Suddenly, Nick took off running, but he didn’t head toward the entrance. He dashed to the room’s side.

“There’s a door there!” he shouted.

The problem was that Sableye were greedy Pokémon. Just about every Sableye here stopped their attacks to hungrily gaze at the bag on the human’s back.

The Iron Valiant was forced to act then, and it struck, swinging its polearm in a sweeping slash as Nick ran toward the room’s side. The Iron Valiant’s glowing blade cleaved through the growing horde of creatures in the room, but despite using that same attack that had handled the Roaring Moon before, the blade merely phased through these grinning creatures without any major effect.

At least, that slash bought them time. The Iron Valiant had failed to do damage, but that lack of effect caused all of the Sableye to laugh.

The world was in chaos. The walls were consumed by swirling shadows. The air vibrated from dozens of hungering cackles. Grinning, the Sableye started to take turns jumping through the air, and the Iron Valiant swung and swung and swung. Each time, it dealt no damage, but it could at least throw off the Sableye’s aim.

Behind the Iron Valiant, Nick fought to push one of those fallen, broken shelves away from a side door. The ongoing squeak spoke of him slowly making progress, but he was not pushing it fast enough to give them enough time for the Iron Valiant to sustain its defense. It was used to fighting off larger Pokémon—or at least groups of no more than three. These Sableye were weak, but they existed in impossible numbers and completely ignored all of the Iron Valiant’s attacks. Most of the Pokémon failed to do anything to it, but the few shadowy swipes that got through left behind a freezing chill where they struck.

“Help... me!” Nick shouted as the cabinet creaked across the floor.

They were running out of time; the Sableye were surrounding them. The gremlin Pokémon circled them across the floor, and some were even crawling on the walls just to approach.

Hardening its resolve, the Iron Valiant knew it would have to resort to the same strategy it had relied on in the past. This time, however, when it dropped its guard, it was not to land an attack against its foes, but it was to give itself a single moment to unleash a slash.

Claws dug into its back. Several cold feelings shot through the Iron Valiant’s body. However, it was still able to swing its polearm, slicing through both the fallen cabinet and the door.

No longer blocked, Nick charged forward, tripping through the gap. The Iron Valiant pushed an arm behind it to knock away the three Sableye gripping onto its back, and it charged straight into the side room.

As it entered, Nick scrambled to return to his feet, but as he turned around, he let out a laugh.

The Iron Valiant turned just in time to see Nick lunge right at the door. His fist shattered a glass box right next to the entrance, and the room they had just entered suddenly became illuminated by a dull, red light.

Something in the wall above the door clicked and then cracked. Internal machinery broke, the last maintenance for emergency procedures being too far in the past, and a thick slab of metal slammed down to crush the sliced-open door and completely seal off this room.

No Sableye managed to get in.

Nick and the Iron Valiant just barely managed to escape.

“Ha... hah!” Breathing out, Nick shakily stood up, wobbling from an obvious adrenaline overload. “A panic button! Should’ve known there’d be one here. Except...”

The Iron Valiant had already noticed. Escaping here was not necessarily a good thing. This room possessed no other doors, and it lacked even the smallest of windows.

The fallen slab of metal might have protected them from the horde of Sableye outside, but it also blocked the only entrance.

In other words, by trying to escape from their attackers, they had only managed to seal themselves in this room instead.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Major Pokémon in this chapter:
Iron Valiant
Sableye

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Valiant - Chapter 1

Author Note:

This chapter and all other chapters of this fiction will be public. You shouldn't need to be subscribed to read them. This work is only a short story, so it will be completed within the next two-to-three weeks. Expect to see the fiction go up on Royal Road toward the start of next week. I'm aiming for a MWF release schedule.

Chapter 2 will be out later today, with Chapter 3 coming out on Weds.

=======================================================================

The Iron Valiant shakily readied its stance as it tracked a crescent shadow that flew past the cavern’s walls. Red, feathery wings allowed the shape to curve around an outcropping of crystals, and the Iron Valiant could barely bring up its arms in time for a defense.

A diving blow from the shadowed dragon sent the Iron Valiant sliding across the ground. Metal legs dragged deep grooves into the stone, and pebbles clattered into the abyss that yawned past the ledge behind it.

Pushing back, it tried to fight against the claws latching onto its body. It used the full protection of its steel exterior, resisting energy that pulsed through those rending nails. Pink blades on the Iron Valiant’s arms hummed with glowing energy, and a sudden shove gave it just enough room to slice at the beast’s stomach.

Though the blow landed, the dragon’s scales did not give way; just like the strike of the dragon’s claws, the energy of this move failed to pierce into its target. All the attack did was push both creatures back. The Iron Valiant slid even closer to the edge, and the dragon was given plenty of space to break away and return to the cavern’s air.

At this point, there was no more ignoring it; the Iron Valiant was exhausted. The whirring of the energies in its chest was now nothing more than a whispered whine, and the usually lightweight metal that defined its body felt as though it weighed a thousand pounds. The bright light that ran throughout the Iron Valiant and fueled its every move was now only the most basic of glows. Yet, that did not stop how it split its focus between its target and its weapons. A blue tint surrounded the blades attached to its arms, and a psychic edge gave them the ferocity that had let it last this long.

Unfortunately, the dragon was nowhere near as tired. Its wings allowed it to casually glide overhead on an unpresent wind. Its yellow eyes were those of a predator’s—the Iron Valiant was an easy target. The dragon could choose when and where to strike.

Then, in as much a declaration as it was a threat, the dragon let out a roar.

The cry was not just a taunt; it was a promise that the current state of the battle would not last. The only reason the Iron Valiant had not lost just yet was because the dragon was taking its time. No matter how much the Iron Valiant struggled, its foe was confident. They both knew this battle was treading toward a single outcome: the Iron Valiant would lose.

Unless it changed plans.

Specifically, it needed a way to fight back, or at least a way to escape. It racked its mind, memories returning to it, and countless spars passed through its head. It recalled every battle it had ever faced against so many others of its kind, but none helped here. The only thing the Iron Valiant’s memories told it was that running would just lead to a different kind of defeat.

It did its best to keep the edge of its blades psychically sharpened, but no matter how well that telekinetic move had worked in the past, it was failing to do anything to this monster of a dragon here.

And, to make matters worse—

“Pst. Psst!”

The Iron Valiant had an audience.

“You’re never going to win like this. Let me help you!”

Simply put, the Iron Valiant could not comprehend what could have possibly been going through this creature’s head to have so willingly crept close to an active battle between two of the strongest Pokémon here. That mindset was not the most baffling part about it, either; out of all the beings the Iron Valiant had seen in the past, this creature had to be one of the strangest. Its form might have mimicked the Iron Valiant’s—bipedal with two arms—but the creature’s body was pink flesh covered with some kind of fabric that protected its chest, arms, and legs.

As it watched the Iron Valiant, it bared its teeth, but the glimmer in its eyes spoke of an absence of threat. There was an amusement, a joy to what it was witnessing here. It had no clue about the danger it was in.

“Be careful! That’s a Roaring Moon!” the creature hissed, unsuccessfully attempting to whisper. “You’re immune to its Dragon-type attacks, but you have to stop using Psychic-type moves. It’s Dark-type! You’re never going to deal damage to it with an attack like that.”

The Iron Valiant felt the display of its eyes change alongside its frustration—this creature didn’t even realize just how distracting it was being. The Iron Valiant fought to keep its sensors firmly on its foe while maintaining the edges of its blades, but it couldn’t stop those poorly whispered words from echoing through its head.

A Dark-type.

It didn’t know what that meant or how that aspect rendered this “Roaring Moon” immune, but when it thought back to how each and every psychic slice failed to deal any significant damage, the Iron Valiant couldn’t help but feel as though that thought might have partially rung true.

It wanted to brush off the creature’s words, but it was running out of options. Even as it shifted its stance once more, it could feel pebbles break away from under its feet and fall into the chasm below. The Roaring Moon dove again, but it didn’t get close; it only dove to let wind rush the Iron Valiant by. That pressure threatened to make it fall, but it resisted. Through its exhaustion, it locked its stance down, and it listened to those handful of falling stones clatter off a lower platform and then keep going, never reaching the bottom or making another noise again.

The dragon had been enjoying playing with its prey, but it seemed intent on ending this fight now. The great beast released another roar, and as the world shook, it pulled its wings in to bring itself into a targeted fall.

“Now’s your chance!” the voice yelled. “You have to change up your attack!”

The Iron Valiant didn’t need someone else to tell it that.

With its energy reserves essentially nothing at this point, it had to take drastic action if it didn’t want to lose. No matter what it chose to do, any action would be a gamble, but it was out of options. So, the Iron Valiant dropped its defense.

The thing about Iron Valiant as a species was that each and every individual possessed a pair of pink blades that glowed and hummed with the same energy that animated their bodies. Though many Iron Valiant preferred to fight with those blades locked onto their forearms, that was not the only way those blades could be used.

To prepare itself against its diving target, this Iron Valiant slammed its hands together, and then it pulled them apart. A pole stretched out between its grip. The blades on its arms disconnected to merge with that staff, and together, they formed a dual-sided polearm that the Iron Valiant wielded in one hand.

“So cool...” the voice whispered from the side.

Ahead, the Roaring Moon pulled up right before it hit the floor to throw itself straight at the Iron Valiant.

Moving like lightning, the Iron Valiant rushed to bring the full brunt of what it had left to bear. With the dragon only feet away from crashing into it, it stepped to the side at the very last moment, allowing the very edge of this attack to clip its body. Though the brushing slice hurt, the Iron Valiant had given itself a chance for one final move—as fast as it could, it raised its arms just to swing its polearm down.

The head of its weapon slammed into the Roaring Moon’s wings and crashed into its back. The hurtling dive was disrupted when the impact sent the dragon bouncing off the ground, its momentum carrying it off the ledge past the Iron Valiant.

A cry came out—not a roar, but a shout of unexpected pain. Though the aggressor, the Roaring Moon looked almost betrayed to have experienced the Iron Valiant successfully fighting back.

But this slash had struck with increased effectiveness; dropping the psychic energy and focusing solely on raw power had let the Iron Valiant actually deal damage. And, with the unexpectedness of this attack, the dragon could not recover in time to bring itself back into the air.

Its wings were injured, and it plummeted. The exchange had only lasted an instant, but it was just enough to mean that the Iron Valiant had won.

However, it had taken everything the Iron Valiant had left. It couldn’t even keep standing. It tried to stab its polearm into the ground for support to keep itself upright, but it just fell to one knee instead.

The Roaring Moon might not have been coming back, but the Iron Valiant could not even stand. And, though the impact had won the Iron Valiant the fight, the Roaring Moon had slammed against the ledge. The ground began to crack, and stone started to crumble into the abyss.

The Iron Valiant would not be running from this.

But that was fine.

It had no reason to run.

Except, the Iron Valiant had forgotten something: it had an audience. Before it could realize what was going on, something suddenly latched onto its arm and pulled it back before the ledge gave way.

“Got you!”

As the lip of this stone platform broke away and fell into the abyss, the Iron Valiant found itself yanked away from that void. Stones dropped into the nothingness on their own, and the Iron Valiant dropped onto the floor. Without any energy, it could not fight against its body’s automatic shutdown that came in an attempt to save power, but it could at least look up before everything faded to black.

It saw a face staring down at it with an expression full of worry.

“You can’t pass out just yet!” that same creature from before shouted. “I still need your help!”

Unfortunately, the Iron Valiant had no choice in this matter. It simply had nothing left. As if a switch clicked to shut it off, the world disappeared into darkness, and the last thing it saw before falling into unconsciousness was that strange, pink creature pulling it toward where a set of massive crystals grew out of the floor.

_______________________________________________________________________

An Iron Valiant ran on energy—both the energy it produced and the energy it passively gathered from the environment around it. When it fought, that energy was converted to a new form to fuel its moves and attacks, but, generally speaking, that energy did not run out. However, a constant, stagnant fight that lasts and lasts and lasts would see its reserves wither into almost nothing. To prevent a permanent shutdown, its body possessed certain precautions. When its energy level dropped below a certain point, an Iron Valiant would collapse—not due to injury, but simply due to its non-essential processes turning off to ensure it could re-gather and re-generate what it needed to recover.

The shutdown function was quick, but recovering energy tended to take some time. However, all it took to wake back up was reaching a sustainable level of energy, and then all prior processes would resume with a simple “click.”

As if no time had passed, the Iron Valiant’s vision returned alongside conscious thought, and it immediately took to scanning its surroundings. It found itself somewhere new, but only partially. A towering cluster of crystals growing from the wall and the floor formed a little nook that served as cover between it and any would-be passersby. It would take walking around the side of these crystals to find where the Iron Valiant was at rest, but the Iron Valiant could tell it had not been dragged far. These crystals were right next to where it had fought.

These crystals were right next to where it had all but lost.

Its scanners refreshed—anyone looking at the Iron Valiant would have seen the screen displaying its eyes flicker as if to blink—and the now-conscious Pokémon locked onto the singular figure resting at the edge of this crystalline nook. Sitting on a small outcrop of stone that came out of the floor, that same pink creature from before slowly scooped some kind of muck out of a metal tube and brought it to its mouth.

The creature wasn’t paying attention to the Iron Valiant; it was merely sitting there and staring out into the distance. Its eyes were firmly locked onto whatever it was watching, and it wasn’t on guard. It was simply too enthralled by the view.

Cautiously, the Iron Valiant stood and approached the creature from behind. It would be easy for it to strike and escape, but...

This creature had saved its life.

The Iron Valiant’s internals whirred, and its blades glowed pink. Glass embedded in its chest revealed that same color, and it lowered its head.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” The creature’s words were sudden. The Iron Valiant hadn’t realized it had done enough to reveal its presence, and it was caught by surprise. “I’ve never seen a cavern this big. I’ve never seen crystals this big. Heck, I’ve never even seen a place with living beings this big.”

Smiling to itself, the creature brought another scoop of that gunk to its mouth, and the Iron Valiant detected a strange scent in the air—the gunk was some sort of organic fuel. The creature paused to chew, but the Iron Valiant chose not to pay attention. It knew it also carried the potential to eat, but it was fine enough with merely gathering passive energy instead of engaging in anything... digestive.

Instead, it chose to cast its gaze out to where this creature was staring, trying to take in whatever it found so amazing. This cavern stretched far out into the distance, but also further up and down. Crystals ten times either of their size grew out of the walls to provide bright blue illumination. Stone bridges criss-crossed the gaps with ledges and paths between them. Almost every space here had been claimed by some set of Pokémon. Life filled this cavern, and movement was everywhere.

“I’m pretty sure those are Flutter Mane floating between the crystals,” the creature said. “And there are groups of Dugtrio reshaping the ground. I think I saw a Dunsparce—or, probably a Dudunsparce—digging into a wall. And there are so many other species just walking around that I can’t even count.”

The creature breathed out.

“They’re not even just standing there!” it then continued, its voice increasing in both volume and awe. “Each and every Pokémon here is living. They’re living their own lives. It’s nothing I’ve ever seen before, and it’s beautiful. But...”

Slowly, the creature placed its metal tube on the ground, and despite the smile on its face, the sigh it released was morose.

“I can’t stay here,” it said. “I only have so much food on me. I need to get out and probably get back to life under the sun. I need to meet up with other humans and live a life out there, just like how all of these Pokémon are living together down here.”

The Iron Valiant turned away, eyeing a pathway that connected to this ledge, one that would bring it away from the creature before it. The path had been carved and formed by Pokémon long ago, twisting higher up into the cavern and connecting to other bridges, tunnels, and platforms. It served as the easiest and most obvious way to escape.

Logically, the Iron Valiant knew it could leave, but it stayed. It wasn’t sure why it was still here. To that, it didn’t understand why this “human” was stuck on the idea of meeting others of its kind, either. Most creatures were better off when traveling on their own.

“I can’t fight,” the human continued, its voice having returned to a normal volume. “I explored a little bit, but I couldn’t take any risks. I don’t have the strength to deal with wild Pokémon, and every path I found has something that would probably attack me if I got too close. ...So!”

The human brought its head back to look up at the Iron Valiant with its face upside-down. Blonde fur hung off the back of it, and green-brown eyes glimmered as it smiled despite its ridiculous pose.

“I went to your fight because I heard it—Sorry, I was curious! When I saw just how serious your expression was, I knew I had to root for you to win. And then you did win! It was so cool! But then, you almost fell. So I grabbed you. And then I waited. And now...”

Though it remained smiling, the human’s expression became more serious, and it brought its head back down just to swing its legs over its seat and turn. It properly faced the Iron Valiant, meeting it in the eyes as it spoke what it needed to say.

“I want to offer you a trade,” the human said.

There was nothing it had that the Iron Valiant wanted, nothing material that would interest it here. But, this creature offered no material goods. Instead, it presented the Iron Valiant with something else entirely.

“How much do you value fighting?”

The Iron Valiant lowered its head.

It didn’t have an answer.

The human continued to speak.

“I can’t help you with techniques or how you fight, but I can help you with information. Moves you can learn. Utilizing your ability. Figuring out why certain types of attacks don’t work on certain types of Pokémon. All of that can make fights like the one you had against the Roaring Moon way easier, but, in exchange, I need help getting out. I can’t leave this area on my own, and I don’t just mean this underground section. I mean this crater. I need to leave this entire area that this chasm is located in.”

Acting as if what it had said didn’t just redefine what the Iron Valiant understood about the world, the creature held out a hand, easily meeting the Iron Valiant’s gaze. It had never once dropped its smile, and it seemed hopeful. Even though nothing had been agreed upon, it was already acting as if eager to proceed.

“So?” the creature, the human, asked, still maintaining its smile. “What do you think? Is that good enough? Do we have a deal?”

It kept its hand out, and the Iron Valiant watched. It wanted to say no, but—

But it couldn’t ignore what had happened in that last fight. It couldn’t ignore how the creature’s comments had helped it win. If it had continued to use the same move the whole time, or if it hadn’t taken that risk at the end, the Iron Valiant would not have been able to pull off that final strike. Likely, it would have found itself plummeting off the edge.

This human had saved it. In more ways than one. It wasn’t just that the information was helpful, but the human had personally pulled it away from the falling edge.

The Iron Valiant had no true need to learn more, but it couldn’t ignore the debt it owed this creature.

Not fully understanding why, it found itself bringing up a hand in an attempt to mimic the motion of the human and accept the strange deal it was presenting. What the Iron Valiant didn’t expect was for the human to lurch forward, and that raised hand was grabbed to be violently jerked up and down.

“Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” the human said, and the Iron Valiant was too busy being bewildered by the motion to bother locking its arm. “Iron Valiant are so cool! And you’re a really strong one if you were able to win that fight!”

Finally recovering from the surprise, the Iron Valiant pulled its arm away, uncomfortable with the fleshy feeling that had been pressed into its hand. The human just laughed and stood up, not bothered by that reaction at all. Instead, moving quickly, it proceeded to grab its tube off the ground, and it scooped whatever was left inside straight into its mouth. Then, putting that away, it swung around some kind of cloth sack it had placed in front of its seat to hang that off its back.

“Alright! You can call me Nick—it’s short for Nicholas, but ‘Nick’ is easier to say,” the human said. “Anyway, since we need to escape, my best guess to do that is to keep climbing up, but we’ll need to make a quick stop first if we want to succeed. I don’t really have the supplies to make it that far, and I don’t really know how to scavenge for food. So...”

Another smile crossed his face.

“We’ll be taking a pit-stop in a lab—or, a pit-stop in an observation post. Turns out, there’s more than just the four labs I knew of down here. I already know where it is—I found it earlier—but I really need your help for this. I have to gather whatever I can from inside, but from what I saw when I peeked past its door, there’s something big living within.”

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Major Pokémon in this chapter:
Iron Valiant
Roaring Moon

Many aspects of this fiction will be experimental, like how it's told from the Iron Valiant's perspective. I'm not looking for this to be successful, I just want to write it. That's why there haven't been any major announcement posts about this one. My main focus for a "big" fiction will be the long-fic that this short story will lead into.

Expect that one to be more of a "classic" Pokémon story, just without a Gym Challenge.

Next Chapter

Results - Next Fiction Poll

You can find the original page for the poll here.

_______________________________________________________________________

Royal Road does not support multi-question polls, so when creating this poll, I divided it into categories and did not restrict how many options people could vote for. This set-up is flawed, but it’s good enough for gathering a usable result. Initially, I was going to run a second version of this poll with specified categories and narrowed-down options, but the results gave me enough to work with when it came to deciding which idea I want to write next.

In total, there were five categories of choices, with one “floater” choice that didn’t quite fit into any of them. In order, the categories included in this poll were Background, Journey Focus, Team Build, Region, and Specialty. When making my decision, I specifically looked at the top few options. I’ve bolded and underlined the ones I’ll be looking at when writing next.

_______________________________________________________________________

Background:

General Isekai / Use of Meta-Knowledge - 6.75 %
Experienced Protagonist / Advanced Trainer Start - 6.40%
Criminal Background / "Evil" Team Membership - 5.22%
Local Trainer / Native OC - 4.67%

_______________________________________________________________________

Journey Focus

Alternative, less structured goal and/or Slice of Life - 5.19%
Post-Gym Focus - 4.89%
Classic Journey Focus - 3.27%
Contest Focus - 2.33%

_______________________________________________________________________

Team Build

Capture and Training of "Lesser" Legendary Pokémon - 5.56%
Solo-run (A single, exceptionally strong Pokémon) - 3.39%
A classic, six-member team - 3.08%
"Breeder" - 2.75%

_______________________________________________________________________

Region

Later Gen Regions (Gens VI+) - 4.06%
Unova - 3.63%
Early Gen Regions (Gen I - IV) - 2.82%

_______________________________________________________________________

Specialty

Machine / Technology Pokémon Specialist - 5.24%
Generalist / No Specialty - 3.62%
Dragon Type Specialist - 3.52%
Ice Type Specialist - 3.37%
Sandstorm Team - 2.97%
Psychic Type Specialist - 2.94%
Poison Type Specialist - 2.83%
Bug Type Specialist - 2.42%
Ground Type Specialist - 2.37%
Water Type Specialist - 2.15%
Flying Type Specialist - 2.10%

_______________________________________________________________________

Misc. Category

Double Battle Focus - 2.47%

(While Double Battles weren’t the most popular option, I want to write Double Battles. The “official battles” of the next long fiction will have a more VGC-style lean, but there’ll still be the occasional single battle as well.)

_______________________________________________________________________

As an image, I’ve included all of the results below, colored by category, and I’ve included a downloadable version of it as part of this upload (however, the color-coding and formatting seem to not have been saved).

I do not regularly use Excel / Google Sheets, so I can’t say this is set up in the best way possible. The “Estimated Voters” category is the Total Votes divided by the Estimated Average Votes, and the Estimated Average Votes assumes people choose half of the total options (13 out of 27). Realistically, I believe the actual number of individual voters is higher, but I can’t find a way to pull that information from Royal Road.

Chapter 177 - End (Part 2/2)

Author Note:

First part here.

=======================================================================

Professor Oak had told Sam that working on his ranch would be intensive—and the old man had been completely correct. Every day, hundreds of Pokémon had to be taken care of. Feeding, grooming, general property maintenance—all things that had to be done in person.

Others helped out on Professor Oak’s ranch: fellow trainers, permanent helpers, and a handful of temp assistants who worked with the Pokémon. Most of them were locals, but several were people who had been given the same offer as Sam. Practically everyone here attempted to do their job with gusto, but a handful of newcomers would start to help out only to disappear one day, not willing to continue this kind of near back-breaking labor.

But Professor Oak did not solely rely on other people to care for these Pokémon for him. For just about every task that needed to be completed out back, Sam always found that Professor Oak was directly participating in the work. He was a researcher, but like he said, so much of what he learned came from observation. His ranch was more than just a ranch; it was a place where he could witness Pokémon live their lives in environments so close to their natural homes.

At times, Sam would see the occasional, extra visitor. Grumbling, Gary would walk out here when he thought no one else was looking, and he would try to help out with the Pokémon where he assumed no one could see him. If it wasn’t him, then it would be Ash, who frequently tried to sneak out back. He’d creep around the lab to watch all of the Pokémon, but Professor Oak or someone else from the lab would catch him and send him home. His attitude was a bit too boisterous to be allowed out back without disturbing the Pokémon.

He also didn’t have his Pikachu yet, which felt strange to Sam. With how close they had been in the Ilex Forest, Sam would have thought Ash grew up with that Pikachu, but apparently, he wouldn’t catch it until he started his journey.

Sam worked the ranch the best he could, as tiring as it was, and he stayed in a guest room in Professor Oak’s home. Over the weeks, he kept in contact with his friends and learned what they were up to. Xavier had already left Sinnoh for Hoenn, wanting to get a bit of exploration in before the start of the next season. Redi, meanwhile, was having a great time in Vermillion, and she was still advertising her parents’ business. Apparently, having a Dragonite help them with their work was attracting a lot of attention.

Then, Morty had his battle. He fought Lance privately. Somewhere hidden within the League’s Indigo Plateau, he had had a battle for the ages against the Champion himself. Sam was not able to watch it. Lance had not given anyone permission, not even Agatha herself.

Morty lost.

But Lance had walked out of that battle shaken. Morty had gotten closer to a victory than Lance had ever expected.

As for Sam’s team, they mostly just hung out on the ranch, but they never stopped training. Typhlosion helped him with the menial labor, alongside Mismagius, but Gengar would float off and around, playing tricks on all of the varieties of Pokémon. Annihilape started to spend more and more time with his tribe and brother, too. Upon being sent here, the Mankey tribe had explored the place within only a few days, and led by their Primape leader, they claimed a rocky cliff’s cave in the far back. 

Dragapult, however, would leave for days at a time. Professor Oak’s ranch consisted of acres upon acres, and the speed at which she flew let her cross the space within minutes. Apparently, a weathered, old Dragonite lived in the mountains that framed the ranch’s back, and Professor Oak hinted to Dragapult that she should visit. Sam never saw what she did there, but whenever she came back, she and Dreepy always looked bruised and battered.

But they kept heading there, and Sam had a feeling that Dragapult wouldn’t give up until she won in their fight.

However, she was a Dragapult, and she only had one Dreepy with her—a great disadvantage for her species. Both her combat prowess and flight itself were limited by that lopsided potential. For this, Sam did lean on Professor Oak, but that was only because he didn’t have any other choice. Through Professor Oak’s contacts in Galar, Sam was able to make a connection to an up-and-coming trainer named Raihan. They came to a simple deal that as soon as Sam caught a specific Pokémon that Raihan wanted, Raihan would trade for it to bring over another Dreepy for Dragapult.

And then, there was the last member of Sam’s team. Trevenant was no longer with Sam, but it was not that Trevenant had been released. Instead, his mother was doing a bit of construction around the bookstore, and Trevenant had expressed interest in helping out.

Thus, Trevenant was temporarily staying in Dewford, back home.

However, all of this had taken place over a period of weeks. The two months between the end of Johto’s season and the start of Kanto’s passed in the blink of an eye. When Sam woke up the very morning of the first year, he quickly got ready and gathered all of his stuff as fast as he could.

Despite spending so much time taking care of the Pokémon here, he felt energized and ready to leave.

But he ended up waiting in that same, small living room within the second floor of Professor Oak’s lab.

From behind a cracked-open door, Sam listened to the aged researcher’s voice echoing below. Professor Oak gave a dramatic speech about duty, responsibility, trust, and the power of friendship. The oohs and ahs from everyone around him made Sam quietly laugh.

The sheer weight that Professor Oak’s words carried meant that every new trainer there listened with rapt attention—all except for Gary. That boy just scoffed.

“I can’t believe he actually agreed to travel with us,” Sam said. “I mean, it felt like he was brushing us off, but he accepted so quickly. I expected more of a fight.”

At his side, Typhlosion snorted. She didn’t have anything pleasant to say. She wasn’t the biggest fan of the type of person Gary tried to be.

“It’ll be alright, Typhlosion. Gary acts a bit full of himself, but I don’t believe he’s really like that. He just has big shoes to fill. Related to who he is... Well, more often than not, people see him as ‘Gary Oak’ instead of just Gary.”

Sam got the familiar sense that Gary acted like that because he felt as though he had something to prove.

“I do wonder what Pokémon he’ll choose down there,” Sam said quietly to his team. “Gary’s pretty hot-headed, so I’m thinking maybe a Charmander?”

As that question hung, a cackle came from Sam’s side, but it wasn’t a noise from Typhlosion.

“Yeah, yeah. Think what you want to think. You’ve never met him, but Gary kind of reminds me of Xavier,” Sam said. “I want to help and make sure he gets more confidence, but even if I can’t do that, I at least have someone I can call for advice.”

Sableye didn’t care. He just wanted to get a move on. This whole process of waiting for everything to finish was just delaying what he wanted to do.

And Sableye wanted to get stronger. He had seen Sam’s team, and he had become insanely jealous. For all of the training Sam's mother had done with him in the past year, Sableye had gotten stronger, but she only had so much time to spend training him each day.

So, since Trevenant was currently helping his mother, Sam would be traveling with Sableye.

“But no pranks,” Sam said, bringing up a finger.

Sableye grumbled, and even Sam’s shadow rumbled in displeasure.

“Okay, fine. You can have a few pranks, but none like what you did to me back in Granite Cave!”

To that, Sableye cackled, but the noise quickly stopped when Mismagius appeared behind him just to bonk him on the head.

Hearing everything begin to wind down below, Sam returned Sableye and Typhlosion as all of the young trainers met with their first Pokémon. The sound of various Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle rang out, and Professor Oak wished all of them luck as they all started to rush outside—none wanted to wait to start their journey.

Sam poked his head into the room.

“Is that everyone?”

“Yes. You can come out now, Sam,” Professor Oak called out.

“And Gary?” Sam asked as he left the room.

“Picked up a serious little Squirtle, which was a surprise to me!”

Professor Oak was busy grabbing the last few Pokéballs on the table that contained the other Starter Pokémon that hadn't been selected.  For now, they were all put away, but they’d soon be sent to other cities to be given out as Starters for other new trainers as well.

“I, uh, didn’t hear Ash,” Sam said. “Did he not come?”

Professor Oak gained a mischievous grin, which didn’t quite fit on his face. The expression reminded Sam of just a few days ago, when Professor Oak had strode back into his lab, grinning and talking about how he had just caught a certain, yellow rodent chewing on wires out back.

“Knowing Ash, he’ll be here soon,” Professor Oak said. “Delilah always complains about how he forgets to set or sleeps through his alarms.”

Sam helped Professor Oak clean up, and pretty soon, the only Pokéballs left were a trio of empty ones. Given that he knew Professor Oak still had a few Starter Pokémon left, Sam was pretty sure these were meant to be a pretense for Professor Oak to give Pikachu to Ash.

“I guess I could wait for him, but Gary already stepped out, and there’s no telling how late Ash’ll be,” Sam said.

“Oh, yes!” Professor Oak said. “There’s no sense in keeping you waiting, but I do have a gut feeling he’ll be here soon.”

Professor Oak looked up from where he was sending a message to another Professor to send Sam a small smile.

“Treat Gary well, yes?”

Outside, Sam could hear the sounds of all of the new trainers chatting animatedly—but also a car. Apparently, one of the new trainers was getting a ride to their first stop, which was a shame. They’d be missing out on their first Route.

“I will,” Sam promised. “I figure I’ll let him choose where we head first, but I’ll probably make sure we don’t take too long to reach Vermillion. My friend is waiting for me to show up at her place before she leaves home, and given just who she is, I think Gary will benefit from having more than one type of trainer with him, too.”

Professor Oak laughed approvingly.

“Smart! It also reminds me of a certain poem. Now, how does it go...?”

Sam stepped backwards to the door as fast as he could without being suspicious.

“Uh, it’s alright!” he said quickly. “I actually think I should head out now! I bet Gary is already annoyed about waiting for me, and if we’re fast enough, I want to see if I can take on Viridian’s Gym by the end of the day.”

“Oh, facing all of the Gym Leaders’ core teams? An experienced trainer’s challenge! And a tough one, at that!” Professor Oak called out, and Sam paused as he put his hand on the door’s handle. “I wish you the best of luck in all of your battles, Sam, but I’ll also warn you that Kanto’s Gym Leaders are tougher than they look! But, most of them already look tough enough!”

He laughed.

“Although, it might be worth paying extra attention to a few other rumors, too,” Professor Oak mused. “However, I have a feeling I don’t need to say much more than that. If you ever hear the name, Scott—”

“I’ll keep an eye out,” Sam said. “If this is a rumor being shared by the great Professor Oak...”

Professor Oak replied with a belly-deep laugh.

Sam was about to step outside. He could hear an argument taking place just past the front doors—probably a pair of trainers forcing a fight to set up their first battle. However, just as Sam was about to leave, Professor Oak called out one more thing.

His voice was deathly serious.

“Keep an eye out for Team Rocket.”

Sam turned around to look Professor Oak in the eye.

“Trust me, I will.”

Then, Sam slipped outside while no one was paying attention, and he froze when he saw the scene ahead of him.

Ash was right there, glaring at Gary, and, as it turned out, Gary was the one in the car. Except, he wasn’t alone. He was surrounded by an entire team of cheerleaders chanting his name.

Sam had known Gary had been given a budget by Professor Oak, but he had never expected Gary to spend it all on something like that.

“Well, Ash, you snooze, you lose, and you’re way behind right from the start!” Gary called out.

Ash glared at the other boy as their argument continued, and Sam was effectively locked in place.

“That’s really why he accepted so easily?” Sam whispered in disbelief. “Because he had a getaway planned since the start?”

Before hardly any more time passed, Gary drove off, leaving both Ash and Sam behind. Ash was far too busy grumbling to notice Sam as Professor Oak invited him inside.

The other new trainers all slowly filed away to start their travels, and Sam was left alone on Professor Oak’s front steps.

Well, he was only mostly alone.

“I guess this is really how we’re going to start the season—trying to catch up to a car driving off into the distance,” Sam said into the air. “It’s going to be interesting, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Beneath him, his shadow rumbled in agreement.

“So, that means we just have to grab Gary, take on a few Gyms, and then catch up to Redi,” Sam continued, thinking. “All the while, we’ll continue to train, fight impossible fights, and get ready for any challenge that comes our way.”

The sun was high in the sky, and the late morning was bright. Even Ash’s shouts of pain from being shocked couldn’t ruin this moment.

“It's going to be fun,” Sam said.

The dust cloud following Gary’s car was nothing more than a speck in the distance, but to start heading after him, Sam needed to take the first step.

His foot hit the ground.

His time in Johto might have been over, but he had appreciated every moment of it. Now, as the new season started, his time in Kanto was just beginning.

Sam's journey continued on.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Thank you so much for reading. I know this fiction has had its rough moments, but I’m so incredibly grateful for everyone who stuck around until the end.

Soon, I’ll be posting an analysis of the next fiction poll results to talk about the next story, but I’ll likely be taking the next few days off just to rest. Royal Road still needs to get the last few chapters, and I’ll be setting those up to be published automatically over the course of the next week.

After that, I’ll be taking a break for a while, but not forever. I have a list of things I plan to release. Just as a start, I have a short Pokémon story I want to write, and I also finally want to finish those epilogue chapters for the Type Specialist.

But it’ll be a few weeks before anything new fully comes out. The analysis should be posted within the next few days. Until then, for one last time, thank you for reading! It’s been quite a journey to get here, and I’m glad to have made it all this way!

Pokémon (and people) included in this chapter:
Bulbasaur
Charmander
Pikachu
Squirtle

Professor Oak
Gary Oak
Ash Ketchum

Previous Chapter
Master List of Ghost Specialist Chapters

Chapter 176 - End (Part 1/2)

Sam caught a flight to Viridian City. It was the closest place with an airport near Pallet Town. Upon arrival, the difference between that Kanto city and most Johto cities became apparent almost immediately. While it did have a dense, modern downtown district, once Sam got past its tall skyscrapers, the rest of the place was rolling hills broken up by the occasional home.

The road south was not anything special, being only a wide, dirt path that snaked through the hills. It brought Sam past houses, gardens, groves, and even a tiny little booth of a building. Inside that building, a blue-haired officer napped, barely paying attention to her surroundings with how sleepy as today was.

Sam did not meander. His plane landed early in the morning, and he took the most direct path to his destination. It hardly took him any time to reach Pallet Town, which surprised him. Traveling down most Routes generally took a few days, but he wasn’t walking any which way his interest took him, and he didn’t stop anywhere to train.

The only time he paused was at the edge of a small river for lunch. He brought out his team and a pile of sandwiches he had picked up in Viridian, and they all ate together. Typhlosion sat with him while the rest of his team went through their usual nonsense, and they were watched by their surroundings. The wild Pokémon on this Route were so weak and so used to humans that they didn’t seem to comprehend the threat that his team posed. Some of the Gastly even purposefully let a pair of Rattata steal a sandwich just because they thought it was funny.

But at the end of the meal, everyone helped Sam clean up, and he continued south, his shadow more restful now that the Pokémon within had gotten their fill.

And then he was there.

In Pallet Town.

It wasn’t even late afternoon.

This area was so much like the lightly built-upon hills of Viridian, except Pallet Town had ever-so-slightly more packed structures and a few streets where businesses had been built in a row.

Immediately, Sam’s eyes locked onto his destination, and he adjusted the straps of his backpack, feeling as though what he carried inside weighed a thousand pounds. The hill the building was built on made the place higher than everywhere else, but it was not as though it was looming or felt as though it thought itself above the rest of the town. Instead, its presence simply fit. This place was merely one more part of Pallet, but with an incredibly important person dwelling within.

As Sam trudged toward the building, the gate that protected the stairs leading up was wide open, and he was just barely able to see through a grove of trees that blocked line of sight to the building’s back. Pokémon of all types ran and relaxed. A small handful of people were out there with them, carrying buckets and boxes to clean up and bring food to the ranch behind this lab and home.

When Sam reached the front door, a wind turbine in the back of the house cast a shadow over the place, but the building was no less bright for it.

He had to take a deep breath.

He reached into his pack to pull out a certain letter, and he debated pulling out something else as well, but he left it in there for now.

Then, he knocked, and hurried footsteps came from inside.

“Ah! My package!” came a muffled voice. “I’ve been waiting for this all day!”

The noise increased in volume as the person within came closer and closer. Sam felt as though he couldn’t move, and he briefly thought about just walking away, but before he could truly entertain that idea, something clicked before him, and the door swung open.

“Ah. You’re not my package,” that same voice said. The man started quiet but soon gained a soft smile. “Hello, Sam.”

“Hello, Sammy,” Sam mumbled. “Can I come in?”

“Of course. I invited you for a reason,” Professor Oak said, stepping to the side to let Sam enter.

The ground floor was filled with incomprehensible technological devices, but once they got past a door on the second floor, Sam found that this place was rather homey. This wasn’t just somewhere people came to do work; this was where Professor Oak lived. It was a combination of everything he stood for—but it wasn’t just two separate places in one building. His life was his work, and his work was his life. There was a reason his lab and his home were one of the same.

“Tea?” came Professor Oak’s voice from a small kitchen one room over.

“I wouldn’t mind some water,” Sam called out. “Cold, if possible.”

“It’ll be out in one moment!”

Sam walked over to the side of this small living room. The walls were lined with thick, wooden shelves. Each and every one was covered with books related to Pokémon in some way, with many of those being thick tomes written by other researchers or compilations of poetry, but most were outdated versions of the written Pokédex published by Professor Oak.

But there were a few framed photos, too.

As Professor Oak hummed to himself in the other room, Sam found himself staring at the photographs placed on one shelf. These were front and center, the ones Professor Oak likely kept closest to his heart. Sam noticed a picture of Professor Oak standing next to Mr. Pokémon off to the very side, but he could also see, boldly in the middle, a photo of Professor Oak standing behind a pair of kids. One had black hair and a bold smile, and the other had brown hair but a more serious expression. Despite their differences, they had their arms thrown over one another. Sam would have said they were rambunctious, but there was more to them than that. There was something familiar about them that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

However, Sam didn’t pay attention to that picture for very long. Near it was a somewhat faded photograph from years in the past. A younger version of Professor Oak stood with a group of smiling researchers dressed in lab coats and mostly casual clothing. Right away, Sam recognized a young Spencer Hale, but Sam’s eyes locked onto the familiar face half-hidden in the back.

“Grandpa,” he breathed quietly.

“Did you know,” Professor Oak said as he walked back into the room, carrying a tray of tea, ice-cold water, and a few cookies, “Richard once told me you were accidentally named after me. Apparently, he suggested the name ‘Samuel’ as a joke, and your mother fell in love with the name without realizing just who it referenced.”

Sam grimaced.

“I know,” he said, turning back around. “My grandfather told me.”

Professor Oak just hummed, and he put the tray down. Sitting on a cushioned chair across from a low couch, he positioned a cup of tea on the table in front of him before completely ignoring it in favor of the cookies.

He took a bite and looked up at Sam.

“Try one! They’re chocolate-chip.”

“Maybe later. I’m not the biggest fan of sweets.”

Professor Oak nodded in understanding, and Sam sat across from him, crossing his arms. He tried to stare at the older man, but his shadow churned. No matter how much he was trying to ignore it, his Pokémon were begging for another chance to eat.

Eventually, he let out a sigh.

“Do you mind if my Pokémon...?”

“Go ahead! All of the food I make is Pokémon safe!”

Although Professor Oak held one cookie with the rest still on the table, shadows suddenly swarmed out. A mass of darkness rushed out over the tray and even over Professor Oak himself. The swarm lasted only a second before pulling back, but every cookie was gone—even the partially eaten one had disappeared from Professor Oak’s hand.

But he just laughed, apparently used to Pokémon getting far too close and personal during his research.

“Ah, well. Delilah is always telling me I should diet, anyway!”

He then let out one more laugh.

Professor Oak helped himself to his tea instead, adding a bit more sugar than he probably should have. Sam watched him, intentionally keeping on serious face, and he honestly didn’t know what to say.

But there was one fact on his mind that he wasn’t able to stop himself from blurting out.

“I don’t like you,” Sam said.

“Oh?” Professor Oak raised an eyebrow but didn’t react more than that. “That’s okay. I don’t expect everyone to like me. And I can’t say we talked very much back then.”

“No. It’s... Ugh. It’s not related to any of that.” Frustrated, Sam rubbed the side of his head. “My mom... owns a bookstore. When I was growing up, people used to come in all the time to browse books about Pokémon and pick up the latest copy of the Pokédex. But when the electronic Pokédex came out, when that kind of information became more widespread, people... stopped coming. The local Gym stopped wanting to buy those books. Things started to get tough, but if the electronic Pokédex had never come out...”

Professor Oak put his teacup down. Sam gripped his hands on top of his knees.

“It didn’t need to be that hard. It was never that profitable, but I’d never seen Mom look so stressed,” he said. “No one was asking about information on Pokémon anymore, and... And...!”

Sam had to exhale. He hated what he was doing, but there was no sense in lying to himself anymore.

“And that was probably due to a lot more than just the release of the electronic Pokédex,” he said with a sigh, not wanting to admit it but recognizing he had no choice. “You were just the biggest name. You were the easiest person to blame.”

“It’s alright,” Professor Oak replied. “You can still blame me, if you want.”

Sam snapped up his head.

“I can’t say my work is harmless. I do it with the intent of good, of course. But there are always people and places unintentionally hurt by what I learn, and I’m not going to say it’s all okay just for the sake of progress,” Professor Oak said, morose. “There was one place, one family...”

He stared off into the distance, lost in thought, but then he closed his eyes and shook his head to refocus himself.

“Long story short, a certain discovery and a sudden rush of interest saw the Pokémon in a forest become enraged. The League had to step in to protect both the Pokémon and the people, but the damage had already been done. One home was destroyed, but that was an easy loss when compared to the safety of so many others, but that trade becomes less easy to justify when the hurt family shows up on your doorstep and blames you for everything they suffered through.”

“I’m sorry,” Sam mumbled.

“You don’t need to apologize. That was years ago. I’ve taken great pains to prevent similar situations from cropping up, but I can’t say I’ve been perfect,” Professor Oak said. He took a sip of his tea and looked up at Sam. Professor Oak sent him a smile as if trying to comfort Sam despite it being his story, and then he put the cup down.

“Your grandfather was... A very driven man.” There was no more dancing around it. There was a reason Professor Oak was willing to invite Sam here. “When he had his ideas, he always went through with them, and he was always quick to act, no matter the plan. When he moved to Hoenn, I wasn’t surprised. After all, I never expected him to stay in one place for long.”

“But then, he did,” Professor Oak continued, his voice becoming soft. “We exchanged letters. We kept up. But he never moved again, and he stayed there for... Well, for the rest of his life. Eventually, he stopped writing, and I did too, but I didn’t think anything was wrong. I could have reached out, but I... didn’t. I was busy and assumed he was as well. When I heard the news of his passing, it shocked me. I never thought...”

“That those letters would be the last time you’d hear from him again,” Sam finished.

Professor Oak let out a slow exhale, and he replied with a sad nod, but this was a loss he had experienced years ago. This was not something he had gotten over—likely, it was something he would never get over—but it was something he had learned to live with. He had already cried the tears he needed to cry.

“Look,” Sam said with a sigh, reaching into his backpack to pull out the item that was the reason he had come here in the first place. “I have this book—”

“Oh, New Pokédex?” And Professor Oak’s mood went through a complete turnaround as his eyes lit up. “I haven’t seen that in years! So, you found that in Richard's old stuff, did you?”

Sam stared.

Professor Oak stared back.

The man held out a hand, and Sam couldn’t stop himself from blurting out, “What?”

“May I?” Professor Oak asked.

Numbly, Sam passed the book to the most well-known researcher in the world.

Skimming through it, Professor Oak flipped through the pages but never bothered to actually read in any detail. He did not stop on even a single entry; rather, he just smiled to himself as he looked at the split-second images that appeared.

There was a slight joy to him through those glances, but he eventually stopped and nodded as if the small bit he had seen was confirmation enough. He held the book out to hand it back over, and Sam cautiously took it, hardly understanding what was going on.

“Have you...”

“I haven’t read it,” Professor Oak answered. “But I will say it was quite the surprise to receive it in the mail. It was the last thing Richard ever sent me, an aged book being delivered right to my door. I looked through the first few entries, of course, and the attached note explained quite a bit, but once I realized what it was, I simply chose not to read it.”

“Why?” Sam asked immediately. “You’re a Pokémon Professor! You’re the Pokémon Professor! Isn’t this the exact kind of stuff you want to see?”

Calmly, Professor Oak took another sip of his tea, and he wore an amused expression on his face. He was acting far too casually for what he had just revealed, but he seemed to be enjoying Sam’s flabbergasted reaction more than anything else.

“Well, it’d be cheating, wouldn’t it?” he asked.

Sam stared at Professor Oak as if he were insane, and Professor Oak just let out a short laugh. He was definitely entertained by Sam’s confusion, and Sam was definitely lost when it came to understanding whatever crazed thoughts were going through this man’s head.

“I’m a researcher,” Professor Oak said. “That’s my role in life: I research. Richard always knew these impossible things that no one else did, but me? I want to know the explanations. I want to know more than just the what; I want to understand the why and the how.”

“That book you have...” Professor Oak continued. “Once I saw what it was, I knew the New Pokédex wasn’t something I should ever read. It’s knowledge that comes from elsewhere, and it skips straight to the end. If I followed it, I’d miss all the little, important discoveries that would come along the way.”

“But it is worth reading,” Sam blurted out. “There’s so much that it contains that can help people and Pokémon. New evolutions can give Pokémon more energy to expand their lives, and those evolutions can give trainers more options for their teams. And the unknown moves in this—those can help with more than just battle. Some moves can help with real-life jobs! All of that knowledge represents so much, and you just... turned it down?”

“I did.”

Professor Oak took one last sip, and Sam was sent reeling. But the Professor remained perfectly calm even as Sam felt as though he could barely keep his head up.

“I want to learn more about Pokémon, and I want others to do the same,” Professor Oak explained. “I dream of a world where people and Pokémon live in harmony, and that’s what I’ve dedicated my life to achieve. The papers and discoveries I publish aren’t just about improving people’s lives. They’re about improving people’s understanding. There’s so much we stand to lose if we just... skipped to the end.”

He gave Sam a moment to process that, adjusting how he sat in his seat to ensure his full attention was on him.

“Let me explain it to you this way: I have a question I want you to think about. When you read through that book, was the New Pokédex’s information the only thing that mattered for you, as a trainer?”

It took Sam a few seconds to respond, and he did so alongside a breath.

“...No,” Sam admitted. “It wasn’t. The information inside it let us know that Typhlosion could evolve, but we had to do so much more just to understand how. And for Annihilape, even if his evolution’s process was straightforward, we still had to practice and figure out the move he needed to learn, and then we had to figure out how to master it in battle.”

“So,” Professor Oak said, “if you had to do it again, would it take you as long?”

“Ugh. Probably not.”

To that response, a smile.

“See? You have a little bit of researcher in you, you just had to think about it!” Professor Oak cheered. “But I’m sure you already understand. After all, there’s more to the Ghost Type than just battle techniques, just like how there’s more to research than just moves and evolutions. The process is what is important. It’s about the journey just as much as it’s about the destination.”

“Right,” Sam said tiredly. “You’re right.”

He and Professor Oak had both seen the New Pokédex, but they had viewed it from different angles. The information contained within had revealed to Sam what was possible, giving him a direct guide he could follow. Meanwhile, Professor Oak already believed that anything was possible. The New Pokédex would only be harmful to him—limiting, in a way. He didn’t need a book that contained all of the answers if he truly believed that he and so many others would find them, anyway.

It made Sam wonder how those different mindsets applied to how they battled. He knew that Professor Oak was once strong enough to be the Champion himself, and his reforms had reshaped both Kanto and Johto. However, he had stepped down to pursue the life of a researcher, yet he had continued to reshape the globe.

But Sam still wanted to see just what Professor Oak could do. Sam mostly relied on plans as a trainer, but he wanted to see how Professor Oak would apply his sagely yet chaotic nature in a fight.

Sam opened his mouth.

“So—”

He was interrupted when the front door of Professor Oak’s lab opened and closed with a slam, and Professor Oak curiously tilted his head to the side. Someone on the lower floor grumbled and stomped up the stairs. The door to this living room was flung open as that person walked in, rubbing his spiked, brown hair as he did.

“Hey, Gramps. I’m—” A shocked face looked up with blinking eyes. “Oh. You have company. Again. ...I’ll come back later.”

“No, no! Come in! I have someone I’d like you to—”

“Tch. It’s alright,” the boy said. “Don’t worry about me. Just have a good conversation, or whatever.”

Sam recognized the boy as an older version of the brown-haired kid from the picture, but he didn’t get to see him for long. The door to the room soon closed behind him. That same grumbling from before echoed out as the boy descended those same stairs, but rather than leaving out the front door, a different door was opened and closed. He seemed to have stormed out the back.

“That was... Gary. My grandson,” Professor Oak said.

There was a melancholy to his voice that Sam didn’t quite understand.

And then, Sam realized just who had been next to Gary in that picture, and he was honestly surprised that he hadn’t recognized him until now.

Wait, so that Ash kid from the Ilex Forest is Gary’s friend? And Professor Oak knows both of them? And he’s a major adult in Ash’s life?

That’s... complicated.

Yeah, I hate time travel.

Some of Sam’s thoughts must have leaked out onto his face because Professor Oak chuckled.

“My grandson has been helping me around the ranch,” Professor Oak explained. “Ever since his parents... Well, he’s living with me right now. He’s due to start his journey this upcoming year, but I still can’t help but worry, sometimes.”

“Given he’s related to you, he’ll probably be okay,” Sam said.

His words came out more biting than he intended, but Professor Oak still gained a soft smile. But, as the world-famous researcher laid his eyes on him, the man suddenly froze, and his expression lit up as if he had just come up with a brilliant idea.

“Say, Samuel,” Professor Oak said slowly. “After this, where do you plan to travel next season?”

“Honestly, I haven’t given it that much thought, but... Kanto, probably,” Sam admitted. “I’m already here, and I have a friend who lives in Vermillion. I want to meet back up with her.”

“I see, I see.” Professor Oak nodded his head. “And have you accepted any sponsorships yet?”

“Not yet,” Sam answered. “I wanted to resolve everything with the New Pokédex first, but after this, I guess I’m keeping it?”

“The New Pokédex is filled with information your grandfather knew, but don’t feel like you have to hide it or keep it secret,” Professor Oak said. “It’s your grandfather's, and you’ve inherited it from him. It’s up to you to choose what you want to do with the information contained within.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sam said, sighing. “I’m probably just going to... release bits and pieces of it over time. Find someone to put out notes on the most useful moves. Maybe a few of the evolutions. Actually, probably most of the evolutions. With how those can help Pokémon in need, I care more about that than keeping any advantage in battle.”

“Wise. And caring! Truthfully, I never fully learned just how much the book contains. But I will warn you that most won’t believe what you release until the information is proven.”

“That’s fine,” Sam answered. “As long as the information can help at least one person, I think... I can be happy with that.”

Sam had said that, but Professor Oak was still watching him, and the man maintained a curious look on his face.

“To continue what I started before,” Professor Oak said. “So what, exactly, are you looking for in a sponsorship?”

Only now did alarm bells start going off in Sam’s head.

“Money,” Sam said slowly, “but that’s just to help me keep being a trainer. Really, I want support. Help with purchases. Information or ways to meet new Ghost Types. Access to more unusual supplies. But the biggest would probably be ranching opportunities. I technically caught a tribe of Mankey that... needs...  somewhere... to stay. Somewhere like...”

Sam’s throat felt dry.

“Somewhere like the ranch you have out back.”

Professor Oak just smiled.

“Sam, what if I—”

“I don’t want a sponsorship from you,” Sam immediately interrupted. “You wouldn’t have given me this much focus if I was just some random trainer, and I don’t want free stuff just because you knew my grandfather.

“Yeah,” he continued, “I want support for my team and somewhere for my extra Pokémon to stay, but I don’t want that to happen just because of who I’m related to. I want it because someone recognizes us and wants to support us.”

Professor Oak nodded.

“That’s alright. Then, instead of a sponsorship, how about an exchange?” he asked.

Suspicious, Sam watched the man, and Professor Oak started to clean up the few crumbs on the table that the Gastly had left behind. Sam finally picked up the now-warmer glass of water just so he could drink it and have an excuse not to speak.

“Instead of a full-fledged sponsorship, how about a simple deal?” Professor Oak explained. “I have an entire ranch out back, and I’d be remiss not to give you that chance to use it. I would love to help you with your ranching problem if you’re willing to travel with Gary next year.”

“That’s nepotism,” Sam accused.

“Is it? I already planned on asking someone to travel with Gary, and you have a very impressive resume! You’re an experienced trainer, one who managed to reach his Conference’s top eight in his very first year, you’re someone who managed to figure out not just one but two new evolutions—”

“Only because of the New Pokédex.”

Professor Oak ignored him.

“And you’re someone that I personally know is adept at handling emergency situations,” Professor Oak said.

The world-famous researcher crossed his hands, and he practically analyzed Sam’s reaction. Sam couldn’t forget that this man had once been the Champion, and he couldn’t forget that Oak’s years of research meant he had literal decades of experience with observation.

“I don’t want Gary to travel on his own,” Professor Oak eventually said when Sam continued not to speak. “I worry about him, sometimes. Both about how he feels and what others might do when they realize his familiar connection. He has Eevee with him, and that is comforting, and he’ll also have the right to choose a Starter Pokémon—a right he earned all on his own! I know he’ll do well, but I want to make sure he’ll be safe and can grow.”

“So, Sam,” Professor Oak continued. “Truthfully, I would have let you ranch your Pokémon here no matter what, but if you promise to travel with Gary, we can pretend that you’re ranching your Pokémon here in exchange.”

Sam said nothing, and Professor Oak laughed. He still seemed just as amused by Sam’s reactions as before.

“Of course, if that’s still not enough, I can offer you the same deal I give to every trainer that comes to my door looking for help,” Professor Oak said. “Work on my ranch between seasons. Help me take care of the Pokémon that stay here. In exchange, when the next season starts, I’ll ranch any extra Pokémon you send to me for free.”

“And Gary?” Sam asked.

“Regardless of whether you accept, I would still like for you to travel with Gary. He needs more friends.”

Sam was quiet. He had planned to travel with Redi again. Going with some kid named Gary and bringing him along wasn’t anything he ever planned.

But wasn’t helping a new trainer a strong way to solidify what he already knew? Wasn’t helping another a new trainer meant he’d be doing exactly what he wanted to do?

And he couldn’t ignore Professor Oak’s offer for ranching either, as much as he didn’t want to lean on someone who was his grandfather’s friend. While Professor Oak didn’t bother with any luxury brands or treatment, his ranch was world-renowned for the quality of care the Pokémon in it received.

It would be unfair to the Mankey if Sam turned him down.

“I’m not going to agree to anything without talking to Gary first,” Sam said. “But, fine. I guess I accept.”

Then, before Sam knew it, Professor Oak shot up to shake his hand.

“Great!” he said. “As intensive as it is, I find that working here is an incredibly informative experience! The amount one stands to learn by working with Pokémon can be mind-blowing. It’s the core of my research, and the things I’ve learned...”

His words trailed off, and his shaking of Sam’s hand slowed. Professor Oak gained a strange look in his eye and carefully pulled back.

“...What?” Sam asked. “What is it?”

“Sam,” Professor Oak suddenly said solemnly. “If you’re here, and if you’re the one with the New Pokédex... It’s been so long. I almost forgot. There’s one thing you don’t know.”

For some reason, the air felt cold, but that wasn’t from any ghost. The chill in the room solely came from the seriousness that practically emanated from Professor Oak.

“Through sheer forgetfulness alone, I haven’t been completely honest with you,” Professor Oak said, standing up and walking to a shelf. He trailed a finger to search through the books’ spines. “Yes, I didn’t read the New Pokédex, but only not in its entirety. I’d have been a fool to ignore everything within it, and there were... a few species I read about. Just in case.”

“What species?” Sam asked cautiously.

Professor Oak was quiet, and he pulled out a certain book. Sam could see from the date on its spine that this was the Pokédex published in the same year as his grandfather’s death.

“There are certain species of Pokémon out there that are powerful enough to be great threats,” Professor Oak said as he opened the tome. “Species whose danger does not come from intentional actions, but from the sheer potential their existence poses. You’re familiar with one of them: Celebi. And let me ask you—did you see Celebi in the New Pokédex?”

“No,” Sam answered, “I didn’t.”

Professor Oak’s expression was half between a grimace and a frown.

“I’m sorry. That’s my fault. I removed certain pages. I was selfish. I thought... the knowledge was too dangerous. I apologize.”

He opened the old Pokédex only to pull out a handful of loose papers hidden within. Sam could see their yellowed nature, but he could also see ever-so-slightly uneven cuts on one edge.

“Those are entries,” Sam realized. “From the New Pokédex. You damaged his book?”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have,” Professor Oak said. “But, I can at least return these to you.”

“...And what are they?” Sam asked as he carefully took the gingerly offered pages.

“Entries on certain species,” Professor Oak answered without being specific. “Rare species.”

And, as Sam began to read through, he quickly realized just what every single entry described.

“Legendary Pokémon.”

The phrase came out as nothing more than a whisper.

====================================================================
Author Note:

Pokémon (and people) included in this chapter:
Celebi

Professor Oak
Gary Oak
Ash Ketchum

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Chapter 175

Sam wasn’t entirely sure how he got here, but if his mother was going to present him with a challenge, then he was not going to let her down. He had faced Redi, Eliza, Xavier, and even Victor. He had placed at an incredible top eight in the Conference. His achievements were immense, and his team’s power was great.

But he knew nothing about how his mother fought or even just how strong Delcatty and Sableye actually were.

“Alright, sweetie! For this match, we'll have a double battle! So I want you to send out two Pokémon to face me, alright?”

“Alright,” Sam repeated.

He watched his mother press an arm out to her side to stretch, and in the distance, a lone jogger ran alongside a sweatband-wearing Granbull. A grid of practice fields stretched out around them, but without the Conference going on, no one else was out here to train.

“Right! Here goes!” his mother shouted. “Come out, Delcatty! Get ready, Sableye!”

Appearing on the field were the two Pokémon Sam expected to see: Delcatty, nobly holding up her head as if to show off her pristine coat, and Sableye, scratching at the ground as if not interested in anything going on, but he still shot Sam a look, and there was a certain glint to his eyes.

Sam could see his mother smiling, and she maintained that expression while placing her hands on her hips and waiting for him to send out his chosen Pokémon.

“Don’t hold back! Treat us like any other opponent! You’ll be surprised by just what we can do—so choose your Pokémon carefully!”

He knew that his mother had earned a handful of Gym Badges on her journey years ago, and he also knew that Delcatty had once worked alongside his father as a Pokémon Ranger. Delcatty had absolutely dominated Typhlosion back when she was a Cyndaquil getting ready for her own journey, but that was basically a year ago at this point. There was no telling what Delcatty was like right now.

Weighing his options carefully, Sam wanted to see just how much both sides of this match had improved. And, since this was his mother, he wouldn’t have this battle proceed in any other way.

“Typhlosion!” he shouted, as he knew his starter Pokémon deserved to be here. “You too, Mismagius!”

These two worked well together, but as his mother watched them, she gained a curious smile.

“Choosing your first two Pokémon, hm?”

“I caught Annihilape and Gengar before Mismagius. She’s not one of my first.”

“No, but you told me the story,” she said. “You caught Mismagius far before even Typhlosion, didn’t you?”

Sam sent a glance to the floating Pokémon, who seemed to be having a staring contest with Delcatty. A mischievous grin had crept onto Mismagius’s face, but Delcatty did not relent, almost acting as if that stare was a challenge to her authority that she could not let go unpunished.

“Yeah,” Sam said quietly, watching the Pokémon he had gone through the Ilex Forest with so many years before. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Now then,” his mother said, completing her stretches and righting her stance. “Since I was the one to present you with this challenge, I’ll let you choose what move to use first!”

Her expression was kind, but this offer was anything but. Both of them knew Sam would hesitate to initiate any too-powerful moves against Pokémon that he wasn’t sure of their strength.

“...Sure,” he said, thinking quickly. “Typhlosion, start with a basic Flamethrower. Mismagius, I want you to stay in the back and focus on Nasty Plot.”

Mismagius darted backwards to make room between her and her opponents, and Typhlosion positioned herself close to the center to purposefully serve as a blockade for anyone trying to reach Mismagius. As Mismagius’s eyes narrowed, her mind became filled with thoughts of inflicting pain, and Typhlosion breathed in to build heat. A powerful exhale saw a gout of flame shoot outwards that threatened to burn anything in its path. However, even with all of the power that attack possessed, it was a deliberate move with an obvious path.

Immediately, Delcatty and Sableye jumped out of the way, splitting off to leap to opposite sides of the field. Typhlosion wouldn’t be able to track both of them at once.

“Here we go, Delcatty!” Sam’s mother yelled. “Start with Foresight on both of them! And Sableye—you know what you need to do to shut them down!”

Sableye was no longer staring at the dirt. His gemstone eyes locked onto Mismagius in the back, and his grin exposed his sharpened teeth.

Typhlosion snapped her head to him, recognizing him as the more immediate threat to Mismagius, and she breathed in to prepare another Flamethrower while Mismagius continued to build in the back. However, Sableye looked utterly unconcerned, and all he had to do was snap his clawed fingers to cause her move to sputter out in her throat.

Then, Mismagius suddenly let out a frustrated wail. She practically threw her arms to her sides. In an instant, Nasty Plot failed.

“How did he do that? That was two moves at once?” Sam asked.

“Was it? Or was it just Disable and Torment, used back-to-back?”

“He only snapped his fingers once!”

“Huh. So you’re right,” his mother said.

Disable removed the possibility of any further Flamethrowers, and Mismagius could not use any back-to-back moves. For now, Sam didn’t want to rush into this too soon, so he had Mismagius continue to hang back and focused on Typhlosion now.

“Incinerate. Ward off both of them.”

“Thunderbolt!” his mother shouted to Delcatty. “Into Thunder Wave! Then, run to the back!”

Letting out a loud meow, Delcatty jumped at Typhlosion, and Typhlosion spat out a glob of fire. Sableye took a step back to avoid it, but Delcatty chose to attack straight through the flames.

Her fur radiated with energy, and this was not anything Electric. A lightning bolt shot off of her, but this was using energy only in its rawest sense.

Somehow, her Thunderbolt was a Normal Type attack, not an Electric Type attack, and her Foresight let it hit Typhlosion. The shared Type alongside the conversion gave this move extra power, and even though Typhlosion was able to easily withstand it, she was still pushed back.

That moment was all Sableye needed to run past her side, but Typhlosion was not in a position to stop him without using her full speed. Still holding back, all of her attention was sent toward Delcatty. That feline Pokémon started to charge her, letting Sableye slip into a shadow to slide across the field in a transparent Shadow Sneak.

“Hex, Mismagius,” Sam ordered. “Typhlosion, Incinerate again.”

Wisps formed around Mismagius as a defense, and Typhlosion spat out another glob of flames. Rather than continue his approach toward Mismagius, Sableye’s eyes flashed for a Detect that let him weave through the incoming move.

Meanwhile, Delcatty jumped to the side with a Quick Attack to avoid the Incinerate, and then raw energy radiated off of her again. This time, this was not meant to deal damage but pulse through Typhlosion. Typhlosion did her best to block, but she wasn’t running just yet, and the Thunder Wave was able to paralyze her immobile form.

“Quash. Make an opening,” Sam’s mother ordered.

With his Detect just now wearing off, Sableye slipped right under where Mismagius floated to suddenly jump up and slap her on her back.

Quash made her move stall, and Delcatty had the freedom to run and charge.

So, just like Typhlosion before her, Mismagius was hit with a Normal Type Thunderbolt. Quash prevented her from going through with any defense in time, and she slid back in the air.

“I see. I get it,” Sam said. “I get why you wanted to have this fight.”

“Tell me, then,” his mother replied.

Sam’s eyes flicked over the current state of the field, and he let out a slight sigh.

“It’s a reminder,” he answered. “You’re purposefully using tricks and strategies no one else ever applies. Delcatty has her Normalize ability—and I’m pretty sure that isn’t discovered yet. And Quash? That move? Has anyone ever seriously used that?”

His mother inclined her head.

“You’re using things from the New Pokédex to redirect my focus. To show off that we might have made it to the Conference, but there are so many things we stand to learn how to fight.”

“Except, you’ve made a mistake.”

“How so?” his mother asked.

“You challenged me to a battle to try to get me back to normal, and now, after seeing all of this...” Sam smiled. “I really want to win this fight.”

His Pokémon had been holding back. Typhlosion hadn’t moved or used her speed at all to counter Delcatty’s charge. Meanwhile, Mismagius had barely received any commands, which had given his mother plenty of room to act.

Now that he’d seen his mother’s tricks, Sam wanted to demonstrate some of his own.

He gave his orders fast, and he found there was an energy to his voice that he didn’t have before.

“Mismagius, grab Sableye! Typhlosion, you already know what to do!”

Mismagius lunged, and there was nothing Sableye could do to defend against this: this wasn’t a move. She was simply rushed forward to yank him upwards in her ghostly grip.

He squirmed in his arms, biting and tearing into her to try to escape, but Mismagius offset all of that by maintaining a low use of Pain Split.

Then, Typhlosion still didn’t even need to move. She just needed to use Swift. Delcatty tried to run away but could not outpace the move, and Mismagius’s Ghost Type rendered her immune. Sableye was, too, but the Swift’s purpose was not just to deal damage.

Like it had so many times before, it created a path for a Will-O-Wisp to follow in its wake.

“There! Now both Pokémon are burned.”

His mother stayed quiet, merely watching this battle silently.

“Both of you, finish off Sableye with Hex, and we’ll get Delcatty after!”

With a burn, Hex would faint Sableye quickly, and even if he used Detect, he would not be able to maintain his protection for long. As for Delcatty, her power was much less than either Typhlosion’s or Mismagius’s, and as unfair as it was, Sam was willing to take advantage of that by having his Pokémon ignore her until it was time to finish her off.

The purple wisps from Hex spread out in every direction, and they were like floating daggers ready to stab down into Sableye. He stopped struggling in Mismagius’s grip, looking up in both awe and fear, but the moves never landed.

He was turned into red light, and he disappeared from the field with Delcatty being returned right after him.

“Alright. Enough of that. You beat us, Sam. We surrender.”

Sam blinked at his mother's words and then awkwardly laughed.

“I might have gotten a bit too intense there.”

“It’s fine! That was what I was looking for!”

His mother crossed the field to walk up to him, and Sam’s Pokémon let out sighs as the adrenaline wore down. His mother was wearing a smile on her face as she approached, and Sam had so many questions.

But before he could ask any of them, she suddenly put a hand on his head and said, “Let’s get something to eat.”

Heat rushing to his face, he quickly pushed the hand off while Mismagius giggled.

“Alright,” he grumbled. “But I want you to tell me what you were having Sableye and Delcatty do as soon as you get the chance.”

_______________________________________________________________________

His mother bought him ice cream. She hadn’t bought him ice cream since he was a kid. Except, she didn’t just buy him ice cream. She bought ice cream for his entire team.

With the city so empty, the little shop had a section of unoccupied tables out front. All of Sam’s Pokémon had space to come out, and an entire swarm of shadows was able to enjoy that late afternoon, chilly treat.

Gengar practically swallowed his in seconds, and then he started to stalk around, excitedly looking for more. All of the Gastly and Haunter got their own little trays, and Mismagius watched them all, making sure none of them stole any.

Trevenant passed up the treat, but he got a nice paper cup of berry juice to drop into his mouth and chew. Annihilape, meanwhile, sat on a fence and held his dripping while glaring at anyone who just happened to pass by.

But Typhlosion, Sam, Delcatty, and Sam’s mother all sat around the same table. This time around, Typhlosion was large enough to have her own chair. She wasn’t that interested in the cold treat of ice cream, but Sam had a few extra berries in his pack that she could have. Delcatty shared a bowl with his mother, but the feline Pokémon wasn’t truly interested. It was more like she was just taking the occasional lick just because she could.

“For the past while, I’ve been tutoring and rebranding, in a way,” his mother said while taking small bites of the ice cream from her bowl. “After training you at the start of the season, I realized I missed that kind of work. So, I put up a notice in the local Pokémon Center, and while running my shop, I’ve been taking requests to tutor new trainers alongside Delcatty and Sableye. We give anyone interested tips and advice for training and traveling to help out anyone leaving or passing through Dewford.”

“It’s even been good income,” she continued after taking a moment to take another bite. “We still have our usual business, but this side job has been giving us a surprising amount of extra cash.”

“Some trainers we tutored have even continued to stop by to browse our books,” she said. “It’s like they never fully realized just how much information a book could hold. And then, there’s also you.”

“Me?” Sam asked, stopping with a spoon halfway to his mouth.

“Yes, you!” his mother answered, speaking with a laugh. “In your own way, you’ve helped our little bookstore. When word got out that you’d be competing in the Conference, more and more people started to stop by. They wanted to see if I could share any special tricks, and they wanted to see if there were any tricks to your success contained in our store.”

“That’s why I didn’t brush off Redi’s idea for expansion,” she said, and she held up the bowl to let Delcatty take one more lick. “I like the idea of getting one or two more stores, and I like the idea of a bit of rebranding. Keep it as a bookstore, but one with a heavier focus on Pokémon and training. Make it less of a place to just shop and place orders and more of a place that can offer more. 

“Somewhere to read and chat,” she said. “Somewhere people can go to exchange tips. Maybe a place with a little area out back that novice trainers can use to practice moves?”

Sam could picture it almost as a cafe, but instead of drinks, it’d be a business that provided books and tips instead. He couldn’t imagine the place getting extremely popular, but he could picture that place as having very loyal customers.

It wouldn’t make much more money, but that wasn’t the point. It’d simply make enough, and the real purpose of the change was to simply have a place people would enjoy.

“I... like that,” Sam said. “I like that a lot, actually.”

His mother smiled at him, putting her spoon down, and she leaned forward on the table.

“I’m glad.”

“But, uh, speaking of those tricks people ask you about,” Sam said. “Are you finally going to explain what was going on with Delcatty and Sableye?”

His mother blinked, and Sableye cackled his name from where the Ghost Type was hiding under the table.

“Oh! Oh, yes!” his mother said, her eyes widening with excitement. “So, I might have been cheating a bit by using information from Dad’s little book. Sableye has some interesting abilities—and instead of stating them outright, let me ask you: do you know what they are?”

“Stall, Keen Eye, and Prankster,” Sam answered. He’d long since memorized the entries of just about every Ghost Type. “Stall makes a Pokémon always move last, Keen Eye helps with aiming their attacks, and Prankster lets a Pokémon use status moves extremely quickly.”

“Correct on all fronts,” his mother said proudly. “But, here’s a follow-up question: what happens when a Pokémon has all of those abilities together?”

Sam frowned. Some Pokémon had obvious synergies with their abilities, with the most obvious in his mind being a Zangoose’s. That Pokémon might not have been a Ghost Type, but its interaction with poison had stood out to him. Its Immunity ability made it immune to being affected by poison, but while poison was in its system, its attack would be enhanced due to its Poison Boost ability.

However, that synergy was based wholly around an effect. He couldn’t think of how a Sableye’s abilities would interact, especially with how Prankster and Stall did almost the exact opposite thing.

“They shouldn’t do anything,” Sam answered. “Stall slows a Pokémon while Prankster speeds up a Pokémon, so they should just cancel out. It’s kind of like using a Water and Fire Type move at the same time. Neither move gets to happen; they just wash the other out.”

“Do they?” his mother asked as she raised another bite to her mouth. “Or would a Water and Fire Type move create steam, instead?”

He stared at her even as she gained a cheeky smile. He tried to open his mouth to argue against that, but then he truly considered her words and went quiet in thought.

“So you’re saying that combination results in a secret, third option.”

Proud, his mother nodded her head.

“Prankster and Stall are less about affecting a Pokémon’s speed and more about affecting when a Pokémon uses its moves. Sableye’s Stall means that he’s exceptionally skilled at knowing when to move last, and his Prankster means he’s exceptionally skilled when to move first. So, when combined with the accuracy of Keen Eye, what do those combined skillsets get?”

“A Pokémon that... always knows exactly when to move?”

“A Pokémon that’s exceptionally skilled at proper timing,” his mother confirmed. “Sableye’s speed doesn’t matter. He can choose whenever he wants to attack.”

In the battle, Sableye had used Disable and Torment almost simultaneously, and he had used both moves with nothing more than a single snap. He was able to shut down Mismagius with a clever use of Quash, and, honestly, Sam was pretty sure that one trick was the entire reason his mother had requested a double battle fight.

“With that kind of power... Sableye could completely shut down anyone he fights,” Sam said, amazed.

“Kind of,” his mother replied casually. “It requires a lot of focus, so it tires him out pretty fast.”

“But with enough training, he could combine so many moves together and have his opponents unable to do anything to stop him! Encore, Disable, Taunt, Torment—he could become an absolute menace in battle! He doesn’t need the strength to use any direct attacks if he can stop his opponents from doing anything and force them to struggle until they faint.”

His mother shrugged.

“He’d still need to carefully select each move perfectly, and a Pokémon’s struggles can still hit a foe,” she explained. “A Sableye doesn’t have much stamina, even if heavily trained. Eventually, a Sableye’s opponent would be able to break through.”

“Sure, but he’s...”

His mother was right. A Sableye could withstand a few hits, but they were Pokémon that were skilled with moves rather than innate power.

But hearing this combination his mother applied in their battle had absolutely gathered his interest. Right now, he really wanted to train with Sableye just to see how far he could push that strategy, himself.

“And Delcatty’s attacks were just an application of her Normalize ability,” his mother added after one more bite. “She can empower her attacks and use them without the need for anything but Normal Type energy. Combined with Foresight, that means moves with potential immunities like Thunderbolt will always hit, even against Ground Types.”

“So that’s why you taught her Thunder Wave,” Sam said. “Delcatty has decent speed, and paralyzing her foes helps with that.”

Delcatty let out a proud meow.

“That strategy is actually inspired by you,” his mother said.

A warmth grew in Sam’s chest as he heard her say that. Knowing that his team had inspired one of his mother’s strategies was really... nice. It felt like proof that he was becoming someone people could look up to.

But there was so much he stood to learn, and he knew that was true just by hearing what his mother had described about Sableye. As much as he had the information from the New Pokédex, he hadn’t yet had the chance to experience the true implications of all of that, and there were so many different Ghost Types he was yet to encounter or even see in battle.

“Ugh.” He let his spoon drop. He held his head in his hands. “You’re talking about all these plans and strategies, and you’re trying to get me excited, but I’m just not... as focused as you. Hearing how you’re so put together doesn’t feel like anything I can do. I’m just... here. At the end of the season. At the end of my journey. I’ve had such a straightforward goal to reach the Conference that now that we’ve made it, it feels like—”

“Like you don’t know what to do next?” his mother asked.

Sam stayed silent, and his silence confirmed it for her.

“...You feel as though this chapter of your life is at its end?” she asked next.

Sam wasn’t sure what to say at that, but he ended up whispering the truth of what he was feeling.

“That’s part of why I haven’t picked a sponsor. If I choose one, aren’t I just admitting that all of this is just... over?”

His mother hummed, watching him, and she let him sit in silence while he digested the full weight of what he had just said. However, after half a minute, Sam suddenly heard a loud squeak, and he looked up far too late to see Dreepy hurtling straight at him from above.

The little Dragon Type hit the table and slammed into Sam’s bowl of half-eaten ice cream. It went flying with a spoon spinning high through the air. Typhlosion tried to stand up to grab it, but the spoon was snatched away by a rushing Gastly, and then the bowl slammed onto the ground, its chilly interior spreading out into what would melt into a sticky puddle.

But Gengar appeared and licked all of that up with a single swipe of his tongue.

“Are you okay?”

Sam was less concerned about the ice cream and more concerned about how Dreepy was rubbing his head, still on the table.

Hearing that unexpected question, Dreepy suddenly looked up in shock before truly realizing just where he was. He let out a squeak as if to try to assure Sam that he was okay, but then a shadow fell over the two of them.

They both looked up, and up, and up, at the towering form of the fully evolved Dragapult floating above them.

But rather than fall into any intimidation or any sense of annoyance, the pseudo-Legendary Pokémon dropped her head to let out a surprisingly soft chip. She was extremely apologetic. She had gotten distracted and accidentally sent Dreepy this way.

“It’s okay. As long as Dreepy is alright,” Sam said.

Quickly, Dreepy returned to his sister’s head, and Dragapult sent Sam a smile before shooting back up in the air. As a Dragon Type, ice cream was not in her interest, and she had taken to practicing close to the roof of the ice cream shop.

However, she wasn’t truly practicing. She was just playing. At her brother’s insistence, she was launching him short distances at high velocities, and each and every time, he let out a delighted scream.

And it wasn’t just him—a few Gastly were involved too. As if she were some sort of theme park ride, the Gastly were orderly lining up for a chance to be launched just the same.

“Your Pokémon are well trained.” Sam blinked and brought his attention back to his mother, only to see her smiling at him. “You’re a good trainer.”

“Th-thank you.”

“But can I ask you a question?”

Sam awkwardly shifted around in his seat, trying to find a comfortable way to sit. With the ice cream gone, he no longer had any way to distract himself.

Quietly, he replied with a “Sure.”

“Sam,” his mother said. “Why does it have to end?”

“Why does what have to end?”

“No, I mean, why end?” she repeated. “Why do you think that making a choice means all of this is going to stop? Why do you think that choosing a sponsor means your journey is going to over? Even if this phase of your life is about to reach its conclusion, won’t this all keep going? Won’t your travels continue, even if you’re not in Johto?”

“I know. I know!” Sam grumbled. “It’s just... I guess I’m just worried. I... don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

She sent him a soft smile.

“Does that matter? You’ll figure it out. It’s not hard to know what you’ll get to do. You’ll see new Ghost Types. Encounter new people. Make so many more friends, and probably have a few adventures along the way.

“This might be the end, but it’s only the end of your travels through Johto. You still have an entire world to go through! Even if this part of your life is over, there’s still so much more to see.”

“I know,” Sam said quietly. “But, if I do that... that means I won’t be going home.”

She rested a hand on his.

“I know, but it’ll be okay. I had the chance to catch up and visit you here, and we’ll always be rooting for you, no matter what. But what truly matters right now is the chance you have. You have all the freedom in the world to make the choice that makes you happy the most.”

“Even if I...”

His mother nodded.

“Even if you go to Kanto,” she finished for her.

Sam blinked at her, and she laughed.

“You saw through me that easily?” he asked.

“You're my son. Of course I did. As much as you have so many potential paths ahead of you, you still want to resolve everything with the New Pokédex, don’t you?”

Sam could only let out a short laugh as he thought back to that one paper contained in the packet. Between all of the various offers and requests, there was a simple letter that had written nothing more than a basic invitation.

“I think... part of the reason I’ve been so stuck is because I don’t actually have the information to make a decision yet,” Sam said quietly, deep in thought. “I haven’t done any research. I’ve just been skimming through the offers. I need to figure out which companies I’d even want to consider giving my support, and I’d need to figure out which people I’d want to meet.”

“And your first step?” his mother asked, knowing that he’d already partially made up his mind.

“Before anything else, I’m going to have a conversation,” Sam told her. “Before I make any decision, I need to do something I’ve been putting off for a while. I really need to talk to someone I’ve already met, and I really need to figure out what I’m doing with the New Pokédex, like you said. So, I’m going to...”

Sam looked up at the sky. The sun was setting. Today was about to end.

However, just because today was almost over, that didn’t mean tomorrow would never come.

He knew what he had to do.

“I’m going to head to Pallet Town,” Sam said. “I’m going to meet with Professor Oak.”

There was one more conversation he needed to have, and he could no longer avoid the possibility if he wanted to continue his journey.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Fun fact: Delcatty and Sableye are neighbors in the Pokédex.

I am aiming to get the very final chapter out on Thursday. It will be released in two parts: the actual chapter, and a short, epilogue section that’ll come out alongside it.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Delcatty
Sableye
Zangoose

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 174

Sam was on his final Pokémon, but Victor still had two. This entire battle had been a slog of back-to-back knock-outs, with one Pokémon tiring itself to knock out another just to be knocked out in return by whatever healthy Pokémon was sent out next.

Victor had come out of the gate swinging, catching Sam off guard by proving that Ghost Types could still be trapped. As a Fire Type, his Houndoom was immune to burns, and its Flash Fire meant all Fire Type moves would only ever be absorbed. It locked Typhlosion in place due to a Dark Type Crunch that held her down. She then fainted to a Pursuit when Sam decided to risk bringing her back to her Pokéball, and then it was all quick exchanges there.

Gengar knocked out the Houndoom by confusing it into taking a Shadow Ball. In return, an Umbreon had chased him down and taken him out with an overwhelming Dark Pulse. That Umbreon then fell to Trevenant’s immense sustain, but then Trevenant fell to a Toxic from a Vileplume, and that Vileplume fell to Annihilape’s constant assault.

However, Annihilape was poisoned just the same, and that removed the energy he needed to fight back against a Weavile. Finally, Dragapult practically shattered the Weavile with a powerful blow from Dreepy, but the Weavile’s ice slowed her just enough for a Crobat to secure a faint.

Now, Sam only had Mismagius left, and she was facing that Crobat, which unfortunately outmatched her speed.

The problem with her opponent was the Crobat’s flight and maneuverability. It flew circles around her—literally—and it battered her with its winds. For all the energy she had over it, she needed to break this ongoing pattern. She needed to take out this Crobat and whatever was sent out next. Otherwise, Sam was going to lose.

“Mean Look, Night Shade!” he shouted, the exhaustion getting to him. “Defend, and keep boosting with Nasty Plot!”

The constant back-and-forth wasn’t even the worst part of this match—that was Victor himself. It wasn’t that the Dark Type trainer was sending Sam any taunts; it was that he was remaining completely and utterly silent and never responded to anything Sam said.

“Aerial Ace,” Victor ordered, speaking with a neutral, straightforward confidence.

His Crobat had been circling Mismagius, but upon hearing its orders, all four of its wings snapped downward to rocket it into the sky. Upon reaching the peak of that launch, it allowed itself to fall, and then it accelerated to impossible speeds with the intention of bringing all of that straight into Mismagius.

Sam held his breath; Aerial Ace’s speed meant it was impossible to dodge. But, all of this build-up was giving Mismagius more and more time to enhance herself with Nasty Plot. If she could get a quick knockout here, then she could get a quick knockout against her next foe.

That was the way forward, and that was the way they could still win. But, right before the Crobat hit the floor, it pulled upwards, and all of its downwards momentum shifted into a horizontal launch that pierced straight into Mismagius’s Night Shade.

She let out a horrible cry, but her darkness did not fall.

Just like Typhlosion and Annihilape before her, Mismagius refused to fall here.

“YES!” Sam roared. “NOW, GRAB IT AND USE PSYCHIC!”

Victor called for another Aerial Ace—he clearly did not want to deal with any nonsense of Mismagius being able to dodge. This time around, the Crobat tried to open a path by sending out blades of wind. With every flap of its wings, an Air Cutter rushed her, but Mismagius tore all of them apart with a thunderous Psybeam.

Crobat tried to slip in under that attack.

Given that she was responding with a defense, this should have opened her up to a move, but Mismagius was prepared. Her Night Shade exploded outwards, briefly blinding Crobat, and right before it reached her, the Crobat abruptly stopped.

Her Psychic grabbed it in place, inches away, freezing it mid-air.

“There,” Sam breathed. “That’s it.”

The Crobat screeched out of both frustration and pain. Its Poison Type made it vulnerable to this use of Psychic, and Mismagius’s Nasty Plot let her lean into that. Dark Type energy did swirl around Crobat’s teeth in an attempt to break out and use Crunch for a final lunge, but Mismagius never let that happen.

She squeezed, and that was it. The Crobat crumpled to the ground.

“Only one Pokémon left, and Mismagius has Nasty Plot up,” Sam said. “We only need to land one, solid attack to win.”

But, as Sam watched his opponent, he saw the worst reaction possible:

For all Victor had been staying serious across this whole fight, a smile had crept onto his face.

“Murkrow,” he named.

This was not an evolved Pokémon, but its presence meant the battle’s end.

Sam had taken notes on every Pokémon Victor had, and while he had been hoping for a different Dark Type of his, he knew what this Murkrow could do.

“Mystical Fire,” Sam ordered quickly.

In response, Victor’s Murkrow conjured a Tailwind that doubled its speed.

Flames washed out. Murkrow avoided them all. Its eyes flashed for a Detect, and it banked to avoid a wave of fire that rushed it from below.

“Keep it up,” Sam called out, “and keep an eye on the shadows.”

When Mismagius caught on to his meaning, she sent him a look over her shoulder. When they made eye contact, he sent her a nod.

And to that, a cackle echoed through the air.

The exchange continued. Mismagius maintained her Mystical Fire, but Victor seemed content to wait. His Murkrow focused on defense and defense alone, and its small size was letting it avoid all parts of Mismagius’s attack.

But at a certain point, Victor saw it: a small opening that’d safely bring his Murkrow straight to Sam’s Pokémon.

“Sucker Punch!” he shouted.

For the briefest of moments, his smile widened. Mismagius didn’t stop her Mystical Fire, and she looked tired.

From his perspective, he had just won.

Murkrow dove straight through that opening through the flood of fire to reach Mismagius, managing to slip in right under her defense. In the momentary build-up of her next attack, it was in the perfect position to jab with its beak before she could set up her guard.

But what neither it nor Victor noticed was Sam’s trick: both the Murkrow’s and Mismagius’s shadows had connected.

Sam let out a sigh. He had predicted this outcome. But at least with this strategy, Mismagius would not fall on her own.

“Murkrow knows Taunt,” Sam spoke as Mismagius’s cackles echoed, and she threw out her arms. “If we focused on using status moves, you would have called for that, and then Mismagius would be forced to use attacks that’d just give Murkrow the freedom for a Sucker Punch.

“Alternatively, if we only used attacks, we could avoid that Taunt, but then we’d just be skipping straight to the end,” Sam continued. “Murkrow could slip in and use Sucker Punch anyway. But if you didn’t use Taunt—”

“You’d get one last chance to use a status move,” Victor said for him.

Mismagius’s flames made it look as though she was on fire, and she leaned into the darkened jab to her chest. As the Sucker Punch attack pierced right through her guard, she threw herself into it, and she embraced the Murkrow before she fell.

With Destiny Bond, the Murkrow fainted alongside her.

Truthfully, Sam didn’t have any other answers to this. No matter what, Murkrow’s Sucker Punch meant it would always faint Mismagius here. Sucker Punch would always let it move before any of her attacks, and as Sam had trained Mismagius as a special attacker, she didn’t have any useful status moves to shut down whatever the Murkrow used.

Thus, the only answer: Destiny Bond. It was the only way to ensure this Murkrow fell.

But the rules of the League had already established the outcome for this kind of match. Though both trainers had lost their final Pokémon, this was not a tie.

“Both Mismagius and Murkrow are unable to battle!” the referee called out. “But we do have a victor! As Trainer Samuel has secured this knock-out by fainting his own Pokémon, his Pokémon is considered to have fainted first. Thus, according to the rules of the Pokémon League, Trainer Samuel is out of usable Pokémon first. Trainer Victor is the winner!”

To that, cheers. This was an upset. No one expected Victor to win.

The audience clapped, but so did Sam.

As much as it stung, it was a good battle. He had at least fainted every one of his opponent’s Pokémon.

But his time in the Conference was over.

_______________________________________________________________________

It wasn’t just Sam’s presence in the Conference that had ended. The Conference itself reached its end. Somehow, Victor didn’t just win against Sam. He and his team of Dark Types pulled off a victory in the semifinals, and then, in an incredible turn, he managed to win against an aspiring Ace Trainer and their very scary Electivire.

When Sam watched that final battle, he was silent the whole time. Seeing the threat that Victor’s final opponent posed, he had no idea how his team could have won in Victor’s place.

In the end, only a third of the competing trainers were still around to stand in rows during the concluding ceremony, and the audience was thrown into an ecstatic uproar at that dark horse victory. The Conference concluded with Victor at the top platform, clutching a trophy while tears poured out of his eyes. When given a microphone, he was practically inconsolable. So filled with joy, he could barely speak, but he managed to say the one thing that practically tore all attention off of him.

“Th-this all thanks to Miss Karen!” he shouted through his tears.

And then, everyone wanted to know who this “Karen” was. Everyone wanted to know about the mysterious person who had tutored a newbie trainer so well that the newbie had won the Conference overall. Victor had his share of focus, but all conversations shifted in an instant.

Although Sam, Redi, and so many others had had their time in the limelight, with this unexpected finish, no one was talking about them, their Pokémon, or any of their team’s reveals.

Days passed. Sam said his goodbyes. Redi gave him an open invitation to visit her home in Kanto, and Xavier disappeared to spend the break between seasons over in Sinnoh. Silver Town became empty of its guests and visitors, but Sam chose to remain.

“This place?” he asked as he approached one building at the end of a street, and Typhlosion stared at the ramshackle building before slowly nodding her head.

Sam checked the paths around them, but no one was nearby. Though Silver Town was a populated city, it was quiet. With the Conference being over, the hustle and bustle had all but faded away.

“Head in,” Sam said to her. “I’ll keep watch. I believe in you. I’ll make sure you aren’t bothered, and I’m just going to... stay out here and think.”

Sending him a soft smile, she pressed her head against his chest. He laughed, and he hugged her back.

Then, she tore away the boards that sealed the front door, and she stepped inside.

So far, this was the third place Typhlosion had found. Now that the city was no longer so overpopulated with life, it was easier to sense wayward spirits. As much as Sam had the potential to return home, he didn’t, and he stayed here with Typhlosion to let her search for and help any long-forgotten ghosts.

And doing so was giving him the chance to think.

“Top eight,” Sam mumbled to himself. Honestly, he wasn’t really keeping watch. He hadn’t seen any patrolling Ace Trainers since the end of the Conference, and even if someone called him out, he could point to the little ghost-mark on his Trainer ID as proof of his team’s role.

So he just became lost in thought, instead. He thought about everything that had happened and what his team had managed to achieve. Anything past the first round was impressive for a first-year trainer, and getting to the top eight alone was impressive for anyone. This was a victory for Sam.

But losing still hurt.

Watching every successive battle, Sam had seen no way forward. Any other opponent would have been just as tough as Victor, and his team had already started to flag. Even if Sam had made it to the next round, his team would have been too tired to continue, and then they would have been stuck in two back-to-back matches. He would have lost once, and then he would have been forced into another battle the next day, fighting on the Conference’s final day to see who would place third.

He could take a slight bit of comfort here, at least. Losing had helped his reputation. He had lost to the one person who had won overall, and he had still managed to knock out Victor’s entire team.

For that, he had his reward.

Not wanting to dwell on negative thoughts, Sam reached into his backpack to pull out a certain packet for what felt like the thousandth time in the past few days. It was heavy in his hands, and there were enough pages within it to be bound into an entire book.

“Now, what do I do now?” Sam whispered.

It felt as though every organization in Indigo had sent him an offer, and he had even received offers from people outside of both Johto and Kanto. He had requests to meet him, offers for sponsorships, proposed deals for advertisements in all forms, and he even had a decent number of researchers reaching out to him with requests to meet his “newly discovered” Pokémon.

Even Mr. Pokémon had sent him a letter. The man had offered him a very generous proposal, likely inspired by his current deal with Redi. Not just him—Agatha had once again presented Sam with an apprenticeship offer, and even Morty was trying to recruit him as a member of his Gym.

The League itself wanted to hire Sam as an Ace Trainer, and though they paid less than other offers, their deal offered the most overall benefits. But even that wasn’t an easy choice; Sam received four different offers from the League. He could choose to be an Ace Trainer in any of the four nearby regions.

He was even surprised to see that Professor Carolina had reached out to him. She wanted to temporarily bring him on as a research assistant over in Sinnoh. Similarly, Spencer Hale had reached out with an offer, but given that man’s obsession with Unown, Sam had a feeling that the offer was more of just a way to pay respects. And then, there was also... one other offer contained in this packet.

It was just a letter.

There was no deal. No money. No benefits. Just a personal message containing an invitation, an address, and a chance to talk.

So overwhelmed, Sam didn’t know what to do. This was everything he wanted, and even more past that. As much as he had wanted to win overall, his true goal was to secure his team the support they deserved, and that was something he was getting the chance to decide by his choice.

But he just didn’t know what to choose.

“Sam.”

Hearing that voice, Sam snapped his head up from the papers and tried to scramble to close the packet. However, he froze when he saw just who was standing there, and he could barely stop his mouth from dropping open.

“Mom?” he said. “But we said goodbye! I thought you already went home!”

She replied with a kind smile.

“And leave you here? Alone? Abandon you while you’re stuck like this? I had to head to the airport to cancel my flight, but I came back here to find you,” she said. “Don’t take me for a fool, sweetie. I was never going to force you to do this on your own.”

“I’m not on my own. I’m with my team.”

“Yes, but I suppose you wouldn’t mind some help from someone familiar with this kind of work, hm?”

He felt the heat rush to his face, and his mother tittered before joining him on the stairs. Though the house was silent behind him, he could feel a soft, comfortable cold that told him that Typhlosion was succeeding with what she set out to do.

“So,” his mother started. “Which have you been considering?”

“All of them,” Sam answered with a grumble. “I don’t know what to choose.”

“Do you have any preferences for what you want?” she asked.

“Money. Ranching options for the Mankey. Maybe some new ways to meet Ghost Types.”

“Then take out all of the offers that don’t offer those to you.”

Sam tried to think of what he’d take out, but he still felt frozen. Honestly, he couldn’t think of even a single offer he’d want to eliminate.

“I see,” his mother said, nodding. “Choice paralysis. You don’t want to give up what might turn out to be the best deal.”

“Yeah, and it also feels... I don’t know. Am I even in a place to turn any of these offers down? And do I even want to accept any of these offers? I’d be tying myself to them, but I’d be getting everything I wanted. It feels weird to make a choice, and it also feels weird to accept any of them since...”

Since I lost.

He stared at the closed packet, and his hands crinkled its sides. His mother watched him, and after a few short seconds, she let out a brief laugh.

When Sam brought his head up at the noise, he found that she was smiling.

“Ah,” she said. “You’re in a funk.”

She spoke as if happy to have recognized that.

“Am not,” Sam countered.

“Are too,” she replied.

He glared at her, but his glare only lasted until she poked him on the nose, leaving him reeling back and stuttering.

“Okay, Sam. I want you to remember that no matter what you choose, you aren’t alone. Nothing is going to change between you and your friends, and nothing is going to change between you and anyone you turn down. What matters right now is selecting the option that’ll make you the most well-off and happy. And, your loss isn’t important. The only thing people are focusing on is your incredible success.”

“So?” he grumbled.

“So, be proud of yourself!” his mother said. “You deserve this. Accept your achievements, and look through the packet with that approach. Think positively while choosing what you want, and narrow down which best fits with your success.”

“But I—”

“Still need to get your mind off of it,” his mother said more softly, finishing the statement for him. “Then... Hm. I wanted to wait until we got home, but I do have an offer of my own for you.”

Watching her suspiciously, he saw a glint enter her eyes. It felt as though his mother didn’t have an offer in the classic sense, but she seemed excited for what she had to say.

There was an energy to her, and that energy saw her practically hop off the steps.

She shifted her stance, and she no longer looked like a bookstore owner. Noticing a pair of Pokéballs at her waist, Sam realized she looked like a proper Pokémon trainer.

“I know it hurts to lose,” his mother said. “I know it hurts to have something you so desperately desire only for it to be taken away. I know that hurts to have something so suddenly snatched from you—

“But I also know that not everything deserves that kind of attention, and this is not one of those situations,” she said. “You’ve achieved something incredible, so let’s break you out of your current mindset.”

“What are you planning?” he asked her.

She just smiled.

“Samuel Greyson!” his mother shouted, her voice booming, the sound echoing. “Right now, don’t think of me as your mother! Think of me as an opponent! I have Delcatty! I have Sableye! I have experience! So, I have all of the requirements needed to present you with this:”

She paused dramatically.

“I, Amanda Greyson, challenge you to a Pokémon battle!” 

And, before Sam realized what he was doing, the words had already left his mouth.

“I accept.”

=======================================================================
Author Note:

There are a few places in this chapter I want to touch up. Otherwise, this hits everything I want it to hit. We have two and a half more chapters left from here.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Crobat
Electivire
Houndoom

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 173

“Make way, make way! Future Conference Champion coming through!”

Redi practically burst straight into the restaurant before Sam, and Sam awkwardly followed her in. Just about every person here quieted down to send a look at the newly arriving pair of trainers.

And then everyone saw just who they were.

And the entire place erupted into cheers.

Sam and Redi got to eat free, with food and drinks being slid their way from both the restaurant itself and the other people paying respects. In return, they shared stories, offered tips, and talked about their teams. The boisterous atmosphere lured other people into the building, and that was the perfect bait for the restaurant. Though Sam and Redi got to pig out without paying for anything, everyone who walked in still had to pay for their own meals.

At a certain point, Redi jumped on a table to regale the place with all of their adventures. She spoke of their first battle on the boat, their battle in the Beginner’s Tournament, the time they had fished up a Muk in Ecruteak, Misdreavus’s spooky approach in Ilex, the Lapras in Union Cave, a “wild” Dragonite attacking them while approaching Blackthorn, their fight through the Pokémon horde north of Mahogany Town, and then so much more.

She had a story to tell for every question, and Sam laughed along. The bright atmosphere was infectious, and some people even approached him with questions of their own. He gave answers, advice, and anecdotes in reply.

Out of all of the people to approach him with questions, the vast, vast majority had a Gastly or Haunter on their teams. He’d give them his answer, and then someone else would speak up. Though he was being crowded, he found he didn’t mind this. It was nice to help out.

With the tournament having lasted what felt like ages so far, Sam was already tired heading into the party. By the end of it, he was outright exhausted and needed to escape. Redi still looked pumped and full of energy, but she caught his glance and understood he needed to step how. Somehow, she managed to get them a chance to slip out of the restaurant, and then they found themselves a nice, quiet bench that let them look out at the entire town.

“Ugh, yeah. All of my Pokémon are exhausted,” Sam said to Redi as they took in the sea of lights before them. “I might have to use a Haunter in my next match. My team went from a bunch of tough battles straight into a match against Xavier, and then they had to use whatever they had left in our battle against you.”

Redi laughed at the unintentional compliment.

“I think Ursaluna passed out in the Pokémon Center and still hasn’t woken him up,” she said. “Porygon’s in my Pokégear, and Wyrdeer likes to go to bed early. I’ve already sent Kangaskhan back home, and she’s making sure Baby is getting all of the candy he needs.”

Sam laughed as well, and he let out a sigh as he thought of his team.

“Yeah. Typhlosion is basically both my starter and finisher, and just think about everything she’s gone through. She kept standing even after Honchkrow’s attack when facing Xavier, she finished it off with the strongest Blast Burn I’d ever seen her use, and then against you, she did the same thing to finish off Ursaluna with a Flame Wheel.”

“Huh,” Redi replied. “So if your team’s so exhausted, are you worried about your next battle?”

“Eh,” Sam said with a grunt. “Maybe, but not really. Most of us are pretty tired, but we should still have a few good fights left in us. We still have a few tricks left, too. Like, Gengar hasn’t even used Haze to punish anyone who tries to set up against us—and did you know Dragapult knows Sucker Punch?”

“Wow. She never used that against Dragonite,” Redi replied..

“That’s because she didn’t need to,” Sam said, continuing. “That whole battle with Dragonite was all about straightforward clashes. And then at the end, Sucker Punch should have been used, but she was too far away to slip past Draco Meteor. But her use of Dragon Darts was pretty much inspired by that, anyway.”

Sam and Redi had received a pretty stern talking-to after their battle. As much as it was a victory that Dragapult and Dragonite had evolved, immediately throwing themselves into such a serious battle could have been a risk. Evolutions needed time to stabilize, though, as Dragon Types, this match was likely to their benefit. Evolving and immediately trying to prove their superiority against another Dragon probably helped them out, but fainting so soon right after likely wasn’t good.

“Dragonite is still in the Pokémon Center,” Redi said, “but she’s not injured. The Chansey there are helping her get used to having hands.”

“Dragapult is asleep,” Sam said with a sigh, “but I’m not sure about her chances from here. She’s stronger than ever, but she only has one Dreepy with her. A Dragapult uses its Dreepy to help stabilize its flights, so unless she wants to slow down, she’s going to have a pretty nasty drift to one side that our future opponents can take advantage of. And I doubt she’ll get another Dreepy until I find some way to talk to Dragon Tamers in Galar.”

The only Pokémon on Sam’s team that he could say were truly ready for their next battle were Annihilape and Mismagius. Annihilape could take and recover from a punishment quickly, and Mismagius didn’t actually have that much stamina to recover. Technically, she tired out quickly, but she recovered just as fast and could shift a lot of that exhaustion off onto others by clever applications of Pain Split.

“But that’s enough of the Conference,” Sam said, turning to the side and throwing an arm over the bench. “I know it’s the big thing on everyone’s mind, but I have to know—”

He spoke in a reporter's voice for this.

“So! Miss Meredith! Now that you’re free of all these battles, what are your plans next?”

“Well,” she said alongside a giggle, “I’m going to go to Pokémon Land!”

Both of them cackled at that joke.

“But... for realsies, I’ve been thinking about this. Sam, I know the rest of the Conference still needs to happen, but I think... I might pay a Psychic Type trainer to teleport me home.”

Sam sat up in his seat.

“You’re leaving? So soon? You lost, and now you’re going home?”

Redi’s eyes widened at his shocked tone, and she quickly waved her arms in a panic to try to settle his reaction.

“No, no! It’s not like that! I’m not abandoning because you beat me! It’s just...”

Her gaze fell, and she returned to staring out over the city. Sam knew this was serious, and he returned to his normal position on the bench to stare out with her as well.

“I left home without saying goodbye to anyone,” Redi said quietly. “I took Teddiursa, and then I just... dashed. I used all of my savings to buy myself a ticket on a boat, and from what I heard from my parents, Mama Bear was furious.”

She let out a conflicted laugh.

“My parents were terrified until my aunt contacted them and told them I was with her, and then I spent months without calling home because I was scared about what they were going to say. But I kept advertising their business, and my Pokémon and I kept getting stronger. And then, when I finally called them to talk about Mr. Pokémon, they were just... happy that I had contacted them at all.”

“I... don’t want to stay so far away from them any longer,” Redi said. “I want to go home. I want to see my parents. I want to see Mama Bear. Our Machoke. Our Machop. And everyone else. I’ve been gone for months at this point, and I want to see them again.”

“Plus,” she said, a bit of laughter returning to her voice. “Imagine their reaction to Dragonite! I’ve talked to her, and both of us want to see the looks on their faces when they witness a pseudo-Legendary Pokémon helping them carry everything around.”

Sam laughed alongside her at that idea, and then he let out a long sigh. It hurt to know that Redi would be leaving so soon, but at the same time, he completely understood.

“I get it,” he said. “I was able to call my mom all the time, but I think if she hadn’t come here, I would have wanted to return. As much as I love traveling the world and seeing all these new places and training with so many Ghost Types, I also miss home. I would have been too homesick to stay.”

Redi wiped her eyes, nodding, but she had a smile on her face. Despite her defeat, she hadn’t mourned her loss in the slightest. She’d been eliminated from the tournament, but everything she’d done had been a victory.

She had earned all eight Gym Badges. She had earned herself a sponsorship. She had gathered a genuinely incredible collection of rare and powerful Pokémon, and she had made it into the top sixteen of a tournament that involved hundreds.

Her achievements firmly placed her within the top few percent of every trainer in Johto. Honestly, she probably would have had the chance to go even further if she hadn’t faced Sam in the previous round.

“All that time apart, just to meet up for a week and a half, and now, I’m heading home,” she mumbled.

“Why are you looking so sad?”

Redi suddenly looked up only to find that Sam was standing, and he smiled down at her and held out her hand.

“Sure, you’re heading back, but is this really the end? I’m still in the Conference, and we’ve only been through one region. Are you telling me that you’re planning on ending your journey here?”

Redi stared at him, wide-eyed, her gaze flicking between the bright smile on his face and his offered hand.

And then, she laughed. Joyously.

She clasped his arm, and he dragged her up to her feet.

“Yeah! No point in getting sad—we’ve only been to one region out of so many throughout the entire world!” she cheered. “And the Conference is still going on! We have to support you! As soon as I get home, I’ll actually spend some money—”

Sam gasped, and Redi rolled her eyes.

“I’ll actually spend some money,” she continued, “and buy a bunch of snacks while gathering my entire family up! I’ll even grab the projector we use for movie nights! Because of me, you’ll have the support of my entire family behind you by the time your next match starts tomorrow!”

“Thanks, Redi,” Sam said with a laugh.

“No problem, Sam. You’d do the same for me, right?”

He blinked, mouth hanging open without any response behind it. He would try to do the same for her, but he didn’t exactly have as many people and Pokémon to gather up as Redi. 

Seeing his stare, Redi once again burst into laughter.

“Aw, come on, Sam! You’d let me down like that?” she asked, batting her eyes.

“No, no!” he said quickly. “I’d walk all over town talking about you! I’d have my Ghost Types enter every home in Dewford! I’d get my mom to share the news with all of her contacts, and then you’d have the entire island shouting your name!”

“Nah, with your Ghost Types, they’d be shouting your name out of fear,” she countered. “Anyway, once I have everything set up, I’ll take pictures of everyone and send them to—”

She froze.

“Hold on, you have an email, right?”

Sam froze as well.

“Did we really never exchange emails?” he asked, barely believing his own words.

“I mean, we sent each other messages during the last month of the season, but we usually just passed notes through the Pokémon Centers or talked through calls,” Redi said with a sniff. “We were usually out training, and Porygon would get hungry. Neither of us had access to any usable computers.”

“Shoot. Oh, uh, yeah.” Hurriedly, Sam checked his pockets to see if he had any loose paper on him, but Redi just pulled out her PokéGear with a typable screen open and placed it in his hands. “Okay, thanks. I’ll just give you the same email I use for online forums.”

“...I think I have to make a new one,” Redi muttered. “Now that I think about this, I probably can’t just use my family’s business email to send messages to you.”

The idea of that made Sam laugh.

They quickly swapped contact information, and they made jokes about how they had never bothered to do this until now. Afterward, they started to head back to the restaurant.

As stuffed as they were, they wanted to see just how much they’d be able to bring back to their teams.

“Oh yeah. By the way, who’s your next opponent tomorrow?” Redi asked as they walked back to the people so willing to give them free food.

“Oh. Victor, I think,” Sam said.

“That other first-season trainer?”

“Yeah, but I’m not too worried,” he replied. “I’ve already beaten him twice, now. Sure, it might have been a while since our last fight, but how hard could he possibly be?”

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Depending on how much I include in the next chapter, there are only 2 - 4 chapters left in total. The Ghost Specialist will have concluded by the end of next week. 

Next chapter on Monday.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Dragonite
Kangaskhan
Porygon2
Ursaluna
Wyrdeer

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 172

Author Note:

This chapter took significantly longer than expected, so changes to Chapters 165 and 166 will be released tomorrow instead of today.

In the meantime, Chapter 168 has been updated! The focus was on improving quality and framing, so no major events have changed. It’s just written better than it was before. You can read it here, but the changes don’t necessitate any re-reading.

=======================================================================

Screens slid out from underneath Porygon in all directions. The blue ellipsoids at the sides of its body vibrated with power, and it thrust its beak into the air as it built the room.

Reality warped. A breeze slowed, and the cheers of the audience became distorted. The Porygon2 sped up without speeding up, and Trevenant’s eye flicked around. His roots were already in the ground; there was no point in trying to stop this.

No, this benefited Sam. Though Porygon would be sped up, it had opened itself to the perfect attack.

“Leech Seed,” Sam ordered.

Redi clicked her tongue as Trevenant swung an arm to fling rapidly growing seeds straight at where Porygon floated. Porygon, occupied, did not move, and though the flight of Trevenant’s attack slowed, vines still stretched out and wrapped around their target before Porygon was back to an actionable state.

Sam grinned. Now under the effects of Leech Seed, no matter how hard Porygon fought, Trevenant was going to passively heal himself while also draining his foe.

“Ice Beam,” Redi quickly ordered.

“A new move?” Sam asked.

“Yup!” Redi replied. “And we saved it just for you!”

Blue, crackling energy left Porygon’s beak and snapped to Trevenant in an instant. The tree Pokémon hunkered down with his roots firmly in the field, taking that super effective move without even blinking.

Porygon then zipped to the side almost as fast as Mismagius could move, and ice crept across Trevenant’s body. He withstood the effects, but frost built on him. The super effective damage ate at his leaves until Porygon let its attack drop.

Then, Ingrain healed him. Leech Seed healed him. A crunch, and a rapidly regrowing Sitrus Berry saw most of that damage be undone.

“Again!” Redi shouted.

Two back-to-back Ice Beams could take Trevenant out. However, Sam had no plans to ever let that happen.

“Protect,” he ordered next.

This time, when the Ice Beam hit, the frost slipped off Trevenant’s body like water rolling off glass. Ingrain continued to grant him energy, and green light from Leech Seed sapped energy from Porygon and brought it to him in return.

With a growl, Redi ordered another Ice Beam, but Trevenant disappeared from where he stood. Sam grinned as Trevenant appeared right behind his opponent a few moments later, but his use of Horn Leech to deal damage missed completely. Porygon shot up straight over him with a reflexive use of Magnet Rise.

“Wow. Protect and Phantom Force?” Redi said. “I think I actually hate fighting your Trevenant.”

Stalling out Porygon’s attacks, Trevenant had waited just long enough to be back at full health. Even if he took another Ice Beam, he would never take that critical, second attack too soon after. He could give himself plenty of time to heal thanks to both Protect and Phantom Force giving him “breaks” between every instance of damage.

“All of our set-up, and it’s like we can’t do anything,” Redi said, shaking her head in disappointment. “It sucks, but it's also fine. This was never going to be more than a test, anyway. With how Trick Room is going...”

It was a temporary effect. Even upon being formed, the panels that surrounded the field almost immediately started to fade. There were only seconds left to the reality-warping change, and Redi calmly leaned back.

Another Ice Beam was blocked by another Protect, and Leech Seed meant Porygon started to flag.

“Recover,” Redi ordered.

All of Porygon’s lost health was returned.

“Now, use Trick Room again.”

Despite the long battle so far, the field had returned to the same state after the first turn. The Trick Room was back. Leech Seed was in place. Both Pokémon were at full health—almost.

Over that period, Leech Seed had drained more energy from Porygon than Recover had restored, and Recover was a highly energy-intensive move. Porygon was due to tire out first.

But Redi just grinned and met Sam’s eyes.

“You’ve put me in a tough position, Sam,” she said to him, and her voice came out as warbles thanks to the freshly warped field. “With how this is going, I can keep Porygon out and lose, or I go back on what I said earlier and actually give you a proper fight.”

She tapped her chin.

“Hm. Choices, choices...”

She raised a single eyebrow before quickly grabbing a new Pokéball. Porygon disappeared in a hard return, and a replacement Pokémon hit the field.

“Thing is, all of this was just a test!” she shouted. “I know how annoying Trevenant is—and I don’t want to deal with that! And, besides, I never promised that I wouldn’t swap. I just bragged about my strategy, and it worked to start off the match!”

On Sam’s team, Typhlosion served as both his lead and finisher. With her Blast Burn, he considered her the strongest attack he had. Meanwhile, Redi had an ace Pokémon of her own, and she almost always saved them for last.

But that was not going to be the case here.

Only halfway through the battle, Ursaluna appeared, the behemoth of a Pokémon landing and accelerating into charge. Claw over foot, he hurtled toward Trevenant, and Trevenant was barely able to throw up a Protect fast enough to block the earth-shattering blow.

“Seed it!” Sam yelled.

“Fire Punch!” Redi roared.

The massive bear reared up, and Trevenant’s mouth broke open to let him spit out a barrage of seeds. Vines extended out like tendrils, wrapping around an arm Ursaluna brought up for a defense, but Redi’s Pokémon just grabbed the vines and tore them away.

Fire erupted to incinerate what remained.

Under the effects of Trick Room, Ursaluna was faster than Trevenant, and his usually slow slashes came out as a flurry. For all the acceleration Trevenant also experienced, he was unable to stop the super effective assault that left scorch marks on his bark.

But it could have been worse.

He still had his freshly grown Sitrus Berry.

A devastating crunch echoed out from his chest, and everywhere that the juice dripped out of his mouth, his bark knit itself back together.

“You’ve made a mistake, Redi!” Sam yelled. “Ursaluna is a Ground Type, and means that Trevenant is the perfect counter!”

Redi merely watched in silence as Trevenant’s claws slid right across Ursaluna’s earth-brown fur. The Trick Room started to fade, but it was still present enough to mean the speed of his attack was that much better. As a Ground Type, Ursaluna took super effective damage from this move, and the increased power meant Trevenant was back at full. Ursaluna looked terrible.

But Redi.

Redi.

It was like she suddenly slid into view from behind Ursaluna’s bulky body.

“A perfect counter, huh?” she muttered.

Ursaluna had taken that blow head-on and was still reeling back from the damage. However, his eyes suddenly snapped up to lock with Trevenant’s own, and a nasty, fanged grin appeared on his face.

All of the damage he had just taken was used to fuel this move. Pure, raw, Dark Type energy was channeled straight into his claws. His full weight was thrown right into Trevenant.

For all Ingrain did to help with healing, it also rooted Trevenant in place. He remained firmly lodged in the ground, and, like a punching bag, Ursaluna’s attack sent his upper half violently bending back.

“Phantom Force! Reposition! Only appear with Protect!” Sam yelled.

“Earthquake and hunt them down!” Redi shouted to her Pokémon.

Phantom Force saw Trevenant disappear from where he stood in front of Ursaluna, and while hidden within the shadows, he crunched down on his Sitrus Berry once again. As he appeared, a field-wild Earthquake locked him in place by forcing him to use Protect, and then Ursaluna was right there on top of him yet again.

“Phantom Force!” Sam yelled.

Except, Ursaluna had one more chance to use another move, and he wasn’t going to hold back.

Shadows, extending from his claws, stretched out as he brought himself back up. Trevenant started to fade away, but Ursaluna swiped, and his attack tore right through Trevenant’s attempt at escape.

But Trevenant still hadn’t fainted. Sam had trained his Pokémon to be tough for a reason. That, and Trevenant looked like he wanted to make up for his loss to Honchkrow. He was pushing himself. He refused to fall here.

Unfortunately, there was only so much he could do. Bark broken, he looked up with raw anger in his eyes. This was not the same hatred that had once possessed him north of Mahogany Town, but it was dangerously close.

However, he channeled all of that raw emotion into something brand new.

Rather than allow Ursaluna to finish him off, dark flames burst across Trevenant’s body. Pouring the last of his energy into one last utterance, he channeled everything he had into a Curse inflicted on Ursaluna.

Then, with a proud smile, he fell to the ground.

“Return, Trevenant,” Sam said solemnly. “Come out, Gengar.”

He moved quickly; he didn’t want Redi to switch.

But Gengar never got to use Mean Look. Immediately, before either Pokémon moved, Redi returned Ursaring before Gengar could even think about landing that glare.

Sam frowned.

“Weren’t you the one to tell me that my team’s great at finishing off injured Pokémon?” he asked.

“Huh? Who said Ursaluna is injured?”

“Trevenant did. Just now.”

Redi cocked her head to the side.

“Yeah? And do you think you’re the only one who can use berries? Did you not see what we have hidden under Ursaluna’s fur?”

Sam didn’t understand her smirk—even a Sitrus berry wouldn’t heal that much. Sitrus berries worked well for Trevenant because he could eat them repeatedly, but a single berry would never bring Ursaluna back to full.

But then, a memory tickled the back of his mind. There was one thing he had witnessed in Redi’s match against Morty.

“...Your Sleep Talk strategy,” Sam realized.

“Yup!” Redi answered happily. “It’s too obvious, so can’t use that here, but we can at least turn it around to have it help us for this fight!”

Ursaluna didn’t have a healing berry. Ursaluna had a Chesto berry. He could quickly slam that into his mouth, use Rest, and then in an instant, he would be woken back up.

“And now, because you returned Ursaluna, Curse won’t be in effect,” Sam said slowly.

Trevenant had done all of that work only to have gained nothing in the end.

Except, is that really the case? Porygon has used Trick Room twice now, and Ursaluna is seriously wounded. Next time Ursaluna is sent out, he’ll have to use Rest, and he’ll only be able to eat his Chesto Berry once.

If everything else lines up right—

Sam looked over Redi. She didn’t look bothered.

There’s a chance that Trevenant won us the fight.

“Kangaskhan,” Redi said, replacing Ursaluna on the field. At this point, the Trick Room was gone, so the field was back to its standard. However, she still had her Porygon left, so Sam was distinctly aware that it could come at back any time.

“Gengar. We’ve already talked about this. Kangaskhan is your perfect counter, so be wary. But keep our plans in mind.”

As soon as the match resumed, Kangaskhan charged across the field, and it was surprisingly speedy for a Pokémon of its size. However, Sam had already seen this charge once before, so he was more prepared to call for Gengar’s first attack.

“Acid Spray!”

With how well Kangaskhan could shut down most of Gengar’s, his best strategy would be to be to set up Kangaskhan to be fainted later. Acid Spray would deal little damage, but it would at least eat away at a Pokémon’s special defense.

But it didn’t work; as Gengar flew backwards across the shadows of the floor, Kangaskhan gave chase. For some reason, the massive Normal Type seemed to flag for a second, and when Gengar slowed just to laugh, it lashed out unexpectedly.

Though normally ineffective, Kangaskhan’s Scrappy ability lets its Fake Out hit Gengar.

Acid Spray failed; Gengar flinched.

“Now Dizzy Punch!” Redi yelled.

Unable to escape the Normal Type capable of hitting him, Gengar pressed acid through his teeth to spray it across Kangaskhan’s thick hide. But for all that his move ate away at it, Kangaskhan retaliated by clipping him in the shoulder, and he was spent spinning back across the field.

“Good, Gengar!” Sam called out.

Gegnar was not great at defense, so this was probably the best outcome they could have hoped for. Though he had taken damage, his practice with Annihilape let him move with the impact to minimize the damage and allow himself to be sent flying back, and Dizzy Punch thankfully did not leave him confused.

Although, I guess we don’t have to worry about that anymore. Gengar isn’t sturdy. Next time Dizzy Punch hits, he won’t get confused—he’ll just faint.

“Acid Spray. Keep it up,” Sam said. “You’re aware of its Fake Out. It can’t use that again.”

Just like he had against Xavier’s Noctowl, Gengar slid back across the ground, and he stayed out of range just to spray even more acid out from between the gaps in his teeth.

Kangaskhan, of course, gave chase, but the limited space of the field meant it was slowly able to corral him into letting it catch up. Still, even though Acid Spray dealt negligible damage, Kangakshan was becoming more and more vulnerable to special moves over time.

But at this rate, Kangaskhan was going to land another attack before that could matter.

As much as he hated it, Sam had a risky play here that he decided was worth the gamble.

“Will-O-Wisp!”

As soon as he heard the shout, Gengar threw his arms out wide to conjure a Will-O-Wisp, stopping any further uses of his previous Poison Type attack. Mimicking Mismagius, flames washed out in a wave, and they caught the incoming Kangaskhan to sear its hide.

However, the very moment that happened, Redi’s grin grew manic with excitement. The eagerness in her voice was obvious as she immediately gave the counter-command Sam was worried about.

“Facade!”

Knew it.

Normally, Sam wouldn’t need to worry about this move if his Pokémon were immune, but Kangaskhan could damage Ghosts, and Facade was all about leaning into status conditions. It dealt more damage when suffering from a condition, and it would even allow Kangaskhan to ignore how a burn lowered a physical attack’s power.

Sam was forced to adapt on the fly. As fast as he could, he shouted for a last-ditch, hopefully win-win scenario.

“Make it stop,” he told Gengar.

Gengar knew what he meant.

Kangaskhan’s charge was half a lumber, half a dash. Facade made it look like it was more injured than it was. It was intending to use that unsure stature to let it strike with an unexpected attack, and Gengar slowed as it neared.

As it arrived, Kangaskhan’s form blotted out the sun above him. He was cast into the shade of the Pokémon’s shadow.

There, it looked as though Gengar was due to faint, but Kangaskhan’s eyes suddenly widened. Before ever finishing its Facade, it abruptly leaped back, having recognized what was going on.

Likely having been warned by Redi, it had realized their shadows had overlapped. Now that there was a distance between them, a dark line connected the shade under Gengar and Kangaskhan’s feet.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to use Destiny Bond!” Redi shouted out.

“And I thought you said you weren’t going to switch!” Sam shouted right back. “Besides, who said I was actually not going to use Destiny Bond, anyway? I just needed a way to get your Kangaskhan to back off, and this worked!”

With the sudden drop of aggression, Gengar had free rein to launch himself backward across the field. He smiled, a massive amount of distance being created between him and his foe, and the shadowy string snapped as the Destiny Bond wore off.

Annoyed, Redi gave a new command.

“Hyper Beam.”

“Hah. Really? You taught another Pokémon that?”

Gengar was forced into the floor, entering a shadow like he was so prone to do. Except, that wasn’t enough to dodge. Kangaskhan dragged its laser downward, and all the darkness burned away.

The Hyper Beam lasted a while, and when it stopped, Kangaskhan was painted. Sam knew that move was strong enough to faint Gengar. However, there was no sign of him, even now. Kangaskhan was forced to go quiet to listen in even as it stayed in place for the needed recharge.

To that, Sam smiled.

“Good. That’s the opening we needed.”

“...What are you planning?”

“Gengar’s specialty, of course.”

Hearing that phrase, Gengar exploded out of the earth, having had to use his Ghostly nature to phase straight into the floor. Kangaskhan was surprised but was still willing to lash out, except Gengar’s eyes flashed, and his opponent immediately fell.

“But Early Bird—”

“Dream Eater!” Sam interrupted.

There was no time for banter—Early Bird was a threat. While it didn’t render Kangaskhan immune, it did make it fall asleep right away.

Gengar only had time for this one more.

Gripping his hands, Sam could only watch as Gengar dove. The Kangaskhan’s child was already rustling in its pouch and getting ready to squeak. However, between the two of them, Gengar was much faster, and all of that reduction from Acid Spray gave him plenty of leeway to swoop down and pluck something glowing from Kangaskhan’s head.

His opponent let out a long exhale of a groan, and he merrily popped that glowing object into his mouth and chewed.

“Kangaskhan is unable to battle. Trainer Redi, send out your next Pokémon!” the referee called out.

The baby Kangaskhan’s head poked out, and it cried its name only for no reaction. Panicking, it pushed against its mother for no response, and tears welled in its eyes before Redi quickly returned the two of them.

“That was cruel, Sam.”

“It’s on you for sending them out.”

“I can’t believe it! And now you’re trying to shrug off the blame!”

She laughed as he rolled his eyes, and some members of the audience booed at him for making a young Pokémon cry.

But this was the Conference. Things like this happened. Both Sam and Gengar waved. And, knowing Redi, Sam was pretty sure she was going to load up that child with treats later to make up for the battle.

“Porygon,” Redi named next, and her Porygon2 reappeared on the field.

Yeah, that’s expected. There was no way she was going to send out Ursaluna with Gengar still capable of Mean Look.

Redi gave the expected order for Trick Room, but so focused on everything else, she failed to realize that she was using an extremely energy-intensive move while Gengar was still on the field.

Honestly, Sam had so many tricks in his bag that it was hard to remember them all.

“Spite!” he shouted. He had the benefit of being the one to constantly train his team.

“Come on!” Redi said as Porygon's energy was sapped away. “How many tricks do you even have?!”

Trick Room was set up, but this would be the last time it would ever appear over the field. All of Gengar’s movement slowed to a crawl, but he was still able to send a sharp glare and a few specially worded taunts.

Ghostly energy caressed Porygon, and it sapped away the energy reserved for this move. Trick Room could no longer be used, and Redi was now forced to make a choice—send out Ursaluna here to make use of that speed, or leave Porygon out to not risk her best team member against Gengar?

“Alright, fine,” she groaned. “Whatever. You’ve made a mistake doing that, Sam.”

“Yeah? How so?”

Gengar couldn’t move that quickly, but he could still float. Even if Porygon zipped around in the air, he could attack from range, and the moment he got close, he’d be in perfect range for a—

“Psybeam,” Redi ordered.

With Trick Room up, Porygon released its attack in a flash, and Gengar did not have his usual speed to dodge. The move struck him straight in the chest, his secondary Poison Type making him especially vulnerable, and he fell right away.

“...Sometimes, it’s easy to forget just how scary your Pokémon’s attacks are,” Sam mumbled.

Redi stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed.

At least, Gengar had done his job. So many of Sam’s Pokémon could move quickly that Trick Room was great at shutting down some of the best members of his team.

But with it up, Sam had one potential answer to Porygon here. It was such an unusual choice that he doubted Redi had many counters in mind.

“Annihilape,” Sam named.

Redi took one look at the ape Pokémon and looked like she wanted to spit.

“Sam, do you even remember how Porygon likes to fight? Are you sure you’re thinking wisely?”

“I am. But let me ask you a question—Porygon might be a Normal Type that can float, but what moves does Annihilape know to let him attack from range?”

His Pokémon dug at the field.

“Shadow Punch,” Redi answered immediately. “Unless you’re talking about—”

Her eyes went wide.

With a grin, Sam pointed forward. There was one thing about Porygon’s Magnet Rise that Redi had failed to notice. Though the levitation could shoot Porygon high into the air, it tended to never move around on its own after that.

“Rock Slide, Annihilape!” Sam shouted. “Batter it as much as you can!”

“Teleport! Into Lock-On! And start spamming Psybeams!”

Thanks to Trick Room, this exchange became one of rapid attacks. Porygon tracked Annihilape, unleashing bright pink beams. Annihilape was slow when compared to Sam’s other Pokémon, but he was fast compared to Porygon. Hands in the ground, he dug up the field to throw a swarm of sharpened stones into the air. They were chucked straight into the path of the beam, giving Annihilape the chance to shift to the side and turn a direct blow into a glancing one, and then Porygon was forced to stop attacking to dodge with Teleport.

Honestly, it was a very strange exchange.

Porygon wasn’t taking much damage, but Annihilape was getting better at his timing. More and more Rock Slides battered his opponent, and Porygon couldn’t use Teleport that fast as a Normal Type.

Though Porygon was winning right now, there was also a constant pressure to its actions. As much as Annihilape was taking damage, he was speeding up.

Trick Room was wearing off.

Sam could see just how much Redi was gritting her teeth. It pained her, but she seemed to recognize how that shift would affect her chances.

“We need to take it out now. Use Conversion. Speed up your Teleports.”

Sam forced back his grin as pixels flipped across Porygon’s body to turn it a deep shade of pink. Its Psybeams came out more powerful, and its Teleports became significantly faster, but as much as a threat it now posed, there was a problem.

Redi had just given up her immunity.

“Shift to Shadow Punch!”

“Psybeam! Break it apart!”

Annihilape threw a punch, and he launched a copy of his fist made of shadows. A Psybeam pierced through it, Annihilape cartwheeled to the side to dodge at the very last second, and the shadows seemed to reconstitute themselves in the air.

This was not like any physical move.

“Ugh, you— Teleport, quick!”

Porygon flashed away before the Shadow Punch hit it, but then Annihilape’s arm twitched, and the fist changed directions in the air. It used Teleport again to make more distance, but the move just continued.

Shadow Punch didn’t miss. Annihilape could guide it to his target.

“Recover!” Redi ordered quickly.

Porygon was hit, and it healed health.

Annihilape drew back an arm, but Sam quickly called out, “Wait!”

Redi, as fast as she could, gave the shout of “Conversion!”

Porygon was back to the Normal Type again.

But now, it no longer had the benefit of quick uses of Teleport.

“Rock Slide,” Sam said flatly.

High up where it levitated, the stones jabbed into Porygon’s body, and it was almost knocked straight out of the air. Redi called for another Psybeam, and Annihilape charged while drawing back a fist.

Instead of just taking the attack, he punched it.

His arm broke straight through.

The previous use of Rock Slide had forced it downwards, and now, Porygon was within leaping range—Annihilape was a monkey, after all.

With a single grab, he latched onto Porygon and used all of his strength to dunk it straight into the ground.

“Porygon2 is unable to battle. Trainer Redi, send out your next Pokémon!”

Annihilape stumbled as he landed back on the field. He had taken a lot of damage in the fight. He forced himself to clench his arms and fought to stay standing up.

It took a second for Redi to do anything. She stared at her fainted Porygon, and she stayed silent for what felt like ages.

A few seconds passed.

“...Ha,” she let out. “Ha. Haha. Ha ha ha!”

Her laughter continued for a while.

“So you’re telling me, that even after everything we did, even after trying to figure out every Pokémon on your team, you still have three Pokémon conscious while I’m at my last? That we focused so much on offense, but you’re winning because you have Pokémon that can withstand that?”

She shook her head.

“That’s... unfair, Sam. You can’t even send out one of your other Pokémon, just for me?”

“And let Ursaluna knockout Mismagius? Let his Earthquake faint Typhlosion?” he countered. “No. We’re in this position for a reason. I’m not going to underestimate you. It’s the same as how you’re not going to underestimate me.”

Redi looked at Sam, and she laughed once more as a smile appeared on her face. As much as she only had one Pokémon left, her final Pokémon was her Ursaluna.

The same Ursaluna who had gone blow-to-blow against Annihilape, who was now so injured on the field.

The same Ursaluna who had managed to take out the defensive Trevenant so handily.

The same Ursaluna who had trained with Typhlosion since the beginning and had at least an equivalent level of strength.

...The same Ursaluna who would be forced to use Rest upon being sent out.

With that opening, Sam planned to show Redi the utmost respect and faint her Pokémon in the most Ghost Type way possible.

Redi quickly returned Porygon, and when Ursaluna was sent out, he plucked a small object out of his chest fur. As soon as he popped it into his mouth, his entire body hit the ground.

His Rest healed him, and that same impact saw his jaw slam shut. The motion caused him to bite down, and the dry flavor saw his eyes snap open, awake.

Even with his awakening, the healing energies of Rest were still infused into him, and he was reinvigorated to continue the fight. However, doing so had given Annihilape time to act, and he didn’t need to do anything special. Shadows coated an arm, but this was not for a Shadow Punch.

This time, there was no charge to meet in the center. They had already talked about this idea beforehand, and by having that spar at the start, Sam had already secured his win. After all, Annihilape was satisfied with that initial chance to test himself, so he had no complaints when Sam called for this move here.

“Curse,” he ordered.

The very first Ghost Type move that Annihilape had ever learned, the very same Ghost Type move that had first taught Annihilape how to enhance himself, finished him off here. His shadowy arm dug into his chest, and hateful embers flicked across Ursaluna’s body where he stared.

Those embers would only ever grow over time.

“You—” The curse that left Redi’s mouth could not be aired on television. She had no Pokémon left to switch into, and Ursaluna was now subjected to an ever-growing Curse. “We have to do this fast! Get to Sam’s side of the field!”

Ursaluna charged, rushing straight ahead. With Annihilape fainted, Sam swapped him out for Mismagius, not wanting to give Redi the pleasure of using the field-wide Earthquake to attack from range.

(Mismagius had Levitate as her ability, after all.)

With such a lumbering beast charging her, Mismagius immediately darted backwards to make as much distance as possible. She was already bringing her arms out to be ready for whatever attack Sam called for.

“Will-O-Wisp. Burn it,” he ordered.

“Tear it to pieces with Shadow Claw, Ursaluna!”

Fueled by pain and desperation, Ursaluna was on Mismagius in moments. He didn’t bother to dodge the incoming wisps, having been trained to lean into them to give himself the enhancement from Guts. However, though the adrenaline was there because of the condition, that same condition limited his time on the field even further alongside Curse.

Redi didn’t care. She was betting on Guts to end this match faster. It was the same as how Sam was betting on Ursaluna’s burn to ensure that the bear Pokémon fainted sooner than it otherwise would.

Ursaluna caught up.

Mismagius tried to flee with Shadow Sneak.

A darkened claw tore her move apart, and she collapsed from the massive damage she had just suffered.

“Looks like Ursaluna is feeling the heat,” Sam said.

Both Redi and the audience groaned.

...That moment was going to go straight into the nightmare bin.

Across Ursaluna’s body, the fires from Will-O-Wisp seemed to mix with the energies of Curse, and the Pokémon looked to be alight with dark flames.

Sam laughed even as he returned Mismagius, and he didn’t hesitate to send out Typhlosion next, even with Ursaluna being right there on his side of the field. He didn’t have a choice but to send her out here; Typhlosion was his last Pokémon. But this wasn’t like the Xavier fight. He might have only had one Pokémon left, but that was intentional. Right now, he was in complete control.

This was Sam’s victory.

“Detect!” he ordered.

“Shadow Claw!” Redi yelled.

Typhlosion nimbly hopped back, and then she dashed to circle around.

“Smoke Screen!” Sam shouted.

“Earthquake!” Redi countered.

An exhale, and an entire half of the field turned black.

Underneath it, the earth rumbled, but no shouts of pain came from Typhlosion.

Growling, Redi rapidly gave another command.

“Destroy it all with Hyper Beam!”

Hyper Beam was useless for damaging Typhlosion, but it was powerful enough to slice right through the smoke. Additionally, Hyper Beam should have made Ursaluna require time to rest, but far too much adrenaline was coursing through him. He made full use of his Guts to bypass that recharge time—but he would suffer from a massive crash later in return.

Ursaluna’s pure white beam divided the beam in two, and even with the immunity of the Ghost Type, that Hyper Beam was strong enough that the force alone would have hurt Typhlosion. 

But just like the Earthquake, the move never hit.

Typhlosion wasn’t on the ground. It was crazy what a single, hidden jump could do.

“Look up! Above you!” Redi yelled.

Barely standing from the ongoing effects, Ursaluna brought his head back.

Typhlosion was falling as a shadow in front of the sun. She hurtled downwards even as Redi’s Pokémon prepared itself for a special move, but Typhlosion had no intention to attack from range.

Flames wrapped around her body. She tucked in her head and spun.

Her entire body became an instrument of fiery punishment, and Sam whispered this attack’s name.

“Flame Wheel.”

As she hurtled toward the earth, Ursaluna tried to rear back to get ready to knock her away, but Typhlosion’s control over her flames was far too extreme. Wisps wrapped the flaming wheel her body had become, and mid-air, they jerked her to the side.

The defensive swipe only clawed at the air.

Typhlosion curved down and slammed right into Ursaluna’s chest.

Through all the pain, he roared a horrible roar, and Redi let out a single laugh.

“All of this and... All of this, and you’re repeating what you did in the Beginner’s Tournament,” Redi mumbled. “Except, this time around, I can’t order Ursaluna to push through and punch you in the face when he’s already so close to a faint.”

Bouncing off her target, Typhlosion landed on the ground. All of her fire, all of her wisps, the burn, and the Curse ate right into Ursaluna’s body.

But still, he did not fall. He had as much willpower as Annihilape—more, given the amount of punishment he was taking. His entire body was poised for a lunge as his eyes met Typhlosion’s.

He glared at her, but that’s all he did. The only thing he could muster was a sharp grin, and then he no longer had any energy left to keep standing up.

He fell.

“Ursaluna is no longer able to battle! Trainer Redi is out of usable Pokémon!” the referee yelled. “With this, the battle is over!”

A pause.

“Trainer Samuel is the winner!”

Immediately, the world became consumed by roars. The audience’s cheers were deafening, and Sam was used to deafening roars. Ursaluna laid motionless on the ground while Typhlosion towered over him.

She nodded at her opponent before drawing back her head.

Her cry seemed to shake the very sky itself.

The referee’s announcement had been meaningless to Sam, but this shout from Typhlosion had said it all.

Because, after so long, this battle had concluded. Only Typhlosion remained. Against Redi, against his friend, against his traveling partner, against someone who he would consider a rival, Sam had finally, actually, utterly, completely—

Sam had won.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Next chapter does not end with a cliffhanger, but it does end with something that directly leads into the next chapter. My question is: would you prefer to receive Chapter 173 on Friday, or would you prefer to wait until it comes out as a double post alongside Chapter 174 on Monday?

Chapter 174 will come out on Monday (not Tuesday), no matter the decision made.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Porygon2
Kangaskhan
Ursaluna

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 171

“Dragonair has Shed Skin to cure herself of status conditions. She’s capable of great bursts of speed that can outmatch yours, and we can’t ignore her Dragon Type,” Sam said to Drakloak as fast as he could. “So, overall, expect a tough battle.”

Across from him, Redi went through her own set of warnings to her Pokémon, and neither Dragon Type looked away.

From atop Drakloak’s head, Dreepy let out a taunting cry. If his sister wasn’t going to give her opponent a deserved taunt, then he would do it in her stead.

But both sides were waiting for the other to finish before anything started. As Sam and Redi finished their explanations, they sent one another a nod, and then they let out shared cries.

“Agility, into Thunder Wave!” they yelled in unison.

Through sheer accident, both Drakloak and Dragonair shot forward while following identical commands.

Their forms blurred as the psychic energy of Agility carried them forward, and the two Pokémon met far above the field. They hurtled toward each other, aiming to clash in the air. Curving at the last minute, their bodies scraped against one another, sparks bursting off their scales.

No Thunder Wave was used, and the Pokémon curved around for another go. The two Dragon Types once more threatened to collide but turned once again, barely missing each other but still causing their forms to swipe and create those same sparks.

“Thunder Wave!” Sam yelled.

“You too!” Redi shouted hurriedly.

Another direct charge saw the two Pokémon hurtle toward one another, but this time, they curved upwards instead of back and around. They rocketed into the sky, going almost as high up as the arena’s brazier itself, until they finally pulled away and circled each other as if in constant threat.

Still, neither of them used the called-for moves. 

Drakloak had come out here to counter Redi’s Dragonair, but the only move Drakloak had used had been Agility to boost her speed. Similarly, Redi’s Dragonair almost seemed to refuse to listen to her trainer, not following any of Redi’s shouts for Thunder Wave.

Honestly, Sam wasn’t sure what was going on, but he got an answer as a new sound echoed across the field.

The announcer’s voices, which Sam usually tuned out as white noise, suddenly stopped. An unfamiliar click echoed throughout the arena, and a brand new person spoke up.

“Dragon Types,” that person said, speaking in a tone utterly defined by authority. “The great monarchs of the sky. Rulers of battle. Their power cannot be underestimated, nor can their pride be damaged.”

Above, the circling stopped, and both Dragonair and Drakloak locked eyes, staring at one another as the voice continued. Sam had intended to make use of Drakloak’s draconic instincts to fuel her desire to battle, but this reaction was so much more than anything he ever expected.

“When faced with a difficult opponent,” the voice continued. “A Dragon Type seeks to dominate. All Dragon Types seek to stand at the top, and it takes a certain type of trainer to earn the right of command.

“Of course, Dragon Types will always be willing to be commanded by those they respect, but there will also always be exceptions to following orders. In the case of a pair of Dragon Types, equivalent in so many ways, facing off in front of such an enormous crowd...”

The speaker momentarily went quiet.

“Even more so than usual, expect to see these two Dragon Types give it their all. I advise both trainers to continue this battle with as much strength as they can muster, but also, I highly encourage you to not disrupt this match.”

The mic clicked off, and the arena entered the strangest frenzy Sam had ever heard. He wasn’t sure if they wanted to scream in excitement or stay quiet after hearing that voice.

Both Drakloak and Dragonair remained high in the sky, and a microphone clicked on again. This time, the usual announcers returned, and one awkwardly cleared his throat.

“That was... Champion Lance,” he said.

Neither Pokémon bothered to resume the battle as they patiently waited for their trainers, even with their refusal to use Thunder Wave. Sam looked over to Redi. She stared at the two Pokémon for only a few seconds longer before bringing her gaze back down to meet Sam’s.

“They won’t listen to our commands as long as we call for weak moves,” he said to her. “Thunder Wave wouldn’t give them the chance to fight. They’ve already tested each other with their bodies, and now they want to use real attacks.”

“Hah. Really? The one time I called for a status move...” Redi exhaled, half-annoyed, half-amused. “Well, that works well for me. But I guess the question is if it works well for you.”

Sam was about to respond in the positive, but then a mischievous smile crept onto Redi’s face. She looked at him excitedly, and Sam knew that she wanted to go through with something that had come to mind.

She spoke up once more.

“Actually, you know what I think about this, Sam?”

“What do you think?” he asked flatly, playing along.

“I think...” Redi’s expression suddenly shifted to one of utter delight. “I think... USE DRAGON RUSH, DRAGONAIR!”

“GET AROUND IT WITH PHANTOM FORCE, DRAKLOAK!” Sam then yelled as fast as he could.

Dark, purple-yellow flames erupted across Dragonair's scales. Redi’s Pokémon swung its head down to accelerate to an incredible speed, hurtling straight at Drakloak.

In response, Drakloak hissed, and she flickered to the side. She became nothing more than a vanishing shadow, her Phantom Force causing Dragonair to pass right through her.

But Dragonair’s Dragon Rush did not stop, and the Pokémon used its serpentine body to curve around at an extreme angle. It was able to meet the emerging impact of Phantom Force even as Drakloak appeared behind it.

The two moves slammed into one another, and the smoke created by the clashing energies exploded in a burst. The conflicting moves sent both Pokémon, already injured, hurtling straight toward the earth.

“Dragon Pulse!” Sam ordered.

“Twister!” Redi yelled.

As the Pokémon fell downward, they both attacked.

Dreepy shot forward only to be thrown off by a spiraling Twister, but that same Twister was disrupted before reaching Drakloak by him circling around to continue his Dragon Pulse to punch straight through it.

Dragapult tried for a sudden Infestation, but a Dragon Breath burned right two it.

Both Pokémon gave their equivalents of a hiss.

As they neared the earth, Sam expected them to pull up at the last minute.

They did.

Or, at least, they tried to.

Not wanting to run from this challenge, both Dragon Types held a shared glare until the very last possible moment. However, doing so meant they both broke away far too late, and they each slammed straight into the dirt.

“Dragonair!” Redi shouted out of worry.

“Drakloak?” Sam asked cautiously.

Ready to announce a tie after that terminal velocity impact, the referee prepared his flags to call for dual faints, but that announcement never came.

Defiant, Drakloak and Dragonair both picked themselves up off the ground, slowly becoming visible within a cloud of dirt their impacts had created. Dragonair was barely able to lift her head, and Drakloak could barely push herself off the floor.

Yet, the challenge had still not left their eyes. Dreepy returned to Drakloak’s head, and once again, the two sides of the field growled.

They could still fight.

“Double Hit!” Sam ordered.

“Extreme Speed!” Redi yelled for a counter.

“It can’t damage you with that attack! Focus on striking when it gets close!”

“Wait, try to breathe out for a Dragon Rage when it tries to hit you!” Redi yelled.

“Now’s the time for a paralysis, Drakloak!”

“No, you paralyze it instead, Dragonair!”

Though Sam and Redi yelled their commands, counter-commands, and counter-counter-commands, nothing happened on the field. Both Dragonair and Drakloak remained in place.

“...Dragonair?” Redi asked.

“Dreepy, is your sister okay?” Sam called out.

Dreepy squeaked to acknowledge the question and tried to tap on Drakloak’s head to get her to snap out of it. However, she didn’t do anything, and just like her opponent, she refused to look away. Doing so would only mean her loss.

These Pokémon were Dragons, just as Lance had said, and they had both found themselves a challenger to that claim. At no time had either of them fought with a true advantage, and more than anything else, they instinctively wanted to prove that they were stronger.

That desire was what was defining this fight.

However, there was more to them than just that desire. They were strong, they were powerful, and they were experienced Pokémon. Though she hadn’t been with Sam for long, Drakloak had spent years with her brother alone in Galar. Meanwhile, Dragonair might have been young, but she had trained under a Dragon Type Gym Leader before being handed to Redi.

It was a known fact that Dragon Types needed a great deal of experience to reach their final stage. However, considering the extent to which Sam and Redi had been pushing their teams, and given the ongoing stress of the Conference...

If it could work for a Kadabra, it could work here.

Flickers erupted across the two Pokémon’s bodies, and both cried out to push through.

Dual, white lights overtook the field.

Sam couldn’t hear anything. The audience’s cheers were far too overwhelming for any other noise to get through. Redi was experiencing the same, and just like Sam, she was forced to bring up an arm to cover her eyes.

Though the light was blinding, silhouettes were visible. Half-present forms changed within.

On Redi’s side of the field, Dragonair’s body expanded outwards, and her tail was drawn in. Limbs, arms and legs, peeled off of her, and she flexed her newfound claws while flapping the wings that emerged from her back.

Drakloak, meanwhile, stayed mostly the same, but that was only for her general shape. If Sam had to describe it, her form changed to be more, well, her.

Her head thinned and widened, the wings on its side growing to assist with speed. She grew in size, but there was a sleekness to her. Everything about her shape emphasized acceleration. Her tail alone became twice as long as she had been before, and the tip of that appendage seemed to fade away into a spectral end.

A barely visible Dreepy crawled across her head to enter a natural launcher that was now part of her body.

Then, two roars echoed out, and the shared light broke.

Facing off, a pair of pseudo-Legendary Pokémon faced one another. A bright orange Dragonite exposed its teeth in a grin at Dragapult, and Dragapult snapped out a scowl as she glared at her foe.

“...Why does Dragonite’s expression look like one of Redi’s?” Sam mumbled.

“...Why does Dragapult’s expression look like one of Sam's?” Redi mumbled.

They blinked at each other as the audience’s cheers continued.

As it turned out, Lance had spoken for a reason. He had recognized this situation and had given the best advice he could.

And now, both Sam and Redi planned to make use of this to their fullest.

“Attack!” came another set of simultaneous orders.

Rejuvenated by their evolutions, the two Dragon Types rushed one another once again, lunging to meet one another in the air. This time, however, neither needed to use Agility, and they met with an even greater speed.

Practically vanishing to meet high above the field, Dragonite grinned while swinging one of its claws, and Dragapult zipped around her opponent to avoid that attack. In retaliation, she swung her tail, testing its capabilities, but Dragonite spun around to bash an arm against it in defense.

Right away, it was clear that neither of them was used to their new bodies. Dragonite was using her limbs more like swinging clubs than actual attacks, and Dragapult was drifting to one side due to the uneven weight of only one Dreepy on her head.

However, that only interfered with their fine control. Nothing about that meant there was any less power present on the field.

“Dragon Rush!” Redi yelled.

“Surround yourself with Will-O-Wisp! Then, Phantom Force again!” Sam ordered.

The Dragonite didn’t hesitate to snap itself forward, not needing to build any momentum to throw itself into this move. Dragapult vanished in an instant, completely avoiding this attack, but the trap-like Will-O-Wisps she left behind were all burned away by the surrounding, draconic fires of Dragonite’s move.

“Back!” Sam and Redi both then shouted.

Dragonite pushed off the air to return to Redi’s side of the field, and Dragapult appeared again from the shadows to position herself above Sam’s.

The two pseudo-Legendaries panted. Though their evolutions had empowered them, both were still injured from the first half of this match.

“We could do this forever,” Redi said with a sharp grin. “Or.... we could finish the battle off here!”

Her shout was loud—she was speaking to more than just Sam. With a matching grin, Dragonite caught onto Redi's meaning, and it shot far up into the sky just to bring its arms up above its head.

A glow then built between its hands.

“It’s just like Redi to resort to such a big attack so quickly,” Sam said under his breath, but then he looked back at Dragapult. “Dragon Pulse, and pull back! Use Lock-On and get ready to dodge!”

“As big as possible, Dragonite!” Redi roared. “Take as much time as you need!”

As the glow built and built and built above Dragonite’s head, Dragapult couldn’t risk getting close. She dropped lower to the ground to slither through the air above it, keeping a close eye on her opponent. At a certain point, she pulled upwards to directly face her opponent, and then a burst came from her head.

The screech of this move came out absolutely delighted. Dreepy had never traveled at such an incredible speed before.

“Not a Dragon Pulse, but a Dragon Dart?” Sam mumbled. “That’s...”

I appreciate the new move, but Dragapult only has one Dreepy with her. Dragon Darts is half as effective. Dragon Pulse would have dealt more damage.

But that was fine. She was getting used to her evolution, and the super effective, Dragon Type impact from Dreepy still temporarily stalled Dragonite’s move. However, the glow didn’t stop, and even as Dreepy returned to his sister, the sphere grew and grew and grew.

Then, Redi finally called out this attack’s name.

“Draco Meteor!”

This sphere was the ultimate Dragon Type attack, something said to be a secret of the Blackthorn Clan and the Blackthorn Clan alone. No Dragon Type trainer had ever figured it out on their own, and in a way, Redi hadn’t either. This attack was coming out nowhere near as fast as a proper Draco Meteor, but so much like her, she was having her Pokémon pour an incredible amount of energy into this attempt to brute force the move.

Dragapult won’t last through this. And Phantom Force won’t let her hide for long enough.

We don’t have a defense. I could use U-Turn to switch, but with what Lance said and with that meteor coming at her...

He looked up at Dragonite and the barely stable sphere between its arms. Even if Sam tried to disrupt it, the explosion would still catch Dragapult. She couldn’t even fly upwards to try to slip past it. Dragonite could just disrupt its toss, and there was no telling what tricks it might have to redirect its attack.

Of course, there was a slight bright side to this. With how much energy it was pouring into this overwhelming attack, Dragonite would be utterly exhausted after its conclusion.

“Now!” Redi roared, and Sam found that he had no time to think.

Dragonite threw its truck-sized meteor straight at the floor, and the energy moved surprisingly slowly. However, smaller spheres broke off of it to rain across the field. With how much those smaller projectiles spread, there would be nowhere Dragapult could go to hide, and there was still the problem of the biggest sphere slowly approaching the field behind them.

In the end, there was only one answer Sam could find for this, and seconds seemed to stretch out into infinity as Dragonite’s veritable apocalypse crept toward his Pokémon.

“How much do you value tricks over strength?” he quickly asked Dragapult.

She hissed. She wasn’t the biggest fan, but she was a Ghost Type as much as she was a Dragon Type. For her, clever tricks were a kind of power.

That was just enough leeway for Sam to create a plan.

“Alright then,” he said, and the entire field glowed orange from the incoming meteor. “Use Dragon Darts, Dragapult. One last time.”

Quickly, and just like Dragonite, she caught on to Sam’s meaning. A grin stretched across her face—Dragapult might have been stuck in place by the threat of the Draco Meteor, but she wasn’t here alone.

There was at least one thing she could do—one other she could rely on.

They were completely out of time. Though the smaller projectiles from Draco Meteor hadn’t done much, the main body finally hit the field and burst in an explosion worthy of the title of “Meteor.” Dragapult became completely consumed by the light, but just past that fire, a high-pitched scream echoed out.

Dreepy was launched with such speed that he completely outpaced the burst.

Hurtling into the sky while Dragapult was consumed by the fires below, Dragonite was in no position to avoid this move. It tried to fly back to dodge, but this wasn’t any move; this was a move guided by Dreepy.

He curved the dart, and Dragonite had failed to dodge once. It wasn’t prepared to try again. It was unable to do anything as the Dragon Type energy was delivered straight to its face.

“Are you kidding me?” Redi blurted. “A tie?! Even after all of that?”

The light burned away. A blackened Dragapult laid unconscious on the ground. After a second, Dragonite hit the earth with a thud next to her.

“Nah,” Sam said. “Dragapult won. If she had more space than just this limited field, she could have escaped that Draco Meteor.”

“What? That’s not— That’s not how it works at all! Sam, all battles take place on the same kind of battlefield. What, you’re trying to say you’d win if we fought in the woods?”

“Yes,” Sam said.

Redi looked at him like he was insane.

“That’s not a counter-argument. Just saying ‘yes’ doesn’t actually defend your position. And besides,” she huffed, “Dragonite knows Extreme Speed. She could catch up, anyway.”

“Maybe for a moment,” Sam said to counter.

“But then she could just use Extreme Speed again.”

“But if you look closely, only Dragapult fainted, not Dreepy.”

“And that doesn’t count! Dreepy is a projectile under League rules. He’s like a third of a Dugtrio’s body—he doesn’t count as being conscious if the rest of the Pokémon faints!”

Annoyed, Redi crossed her arms, and Sam met her glare. They glared at one another before bursting into snickers.

But that laughter didn’t last long. Both of their Pokémon were fainted on the field.

Dreepy returned to his sister and was unable to get her to wake up. Dragonite was completely out of energy after that Dragon Darts it took to the face.

So that was that. Neither Pokémon was able to continue.

“Both Dragonite and... Dragapult are unable to battle,” the referee announced. “Trainers! Send out your next Pokémon.”

“Oh yeah. We still have the rest of the match from here,” Sam said.

Redi rolled her eyes, and they both recalled their Pokémon.

“Sam, if you have any tricks with Destiny Bond planned, I won’t be accepting a tie as our battle’s final outcome.”

“Don’t worry,” Sam said confidently. “I won’t be doing anything like that. A tie doesn’t count. As far as I’m concerned, the only way one of us is walking out of here is with one of us as the objective victor.”

Redi paused, raising an eyebrow.

“Actually, Victor already won his match,” she said.

And this time, Sam was the one to roll his eyes.

The Pokéballs containing the fully evolved Dragon Types were clipped back to their belts, with Dreepy resting alongside his unconscious sister. From there, Sam and Redi sent out their next Pokémon—Trevenant and Porygon2, respectively—and then the battle continued.

Here, Sam planned for Trevenant to outlast anything Redi released. As long as he wasn’t hit by something like that critical Night Slash, he could withstand any move.

But even after what happened with their Dragon Types, Redi was undeterred and unbothered by Sam’s choice.

No, she had already made up her mind about how the rest of this battle would go, and she went on to call for a specific move that would define every match-up from here.

“Trick Room!”

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Chapter 172 will be the last part of this battle.

Thank you for all of the positive comments. Unfortunately, this break was a necessity. I wouldn’t have been able to write chapters I’d be happy with if it weren’t for this chance to rest.

Schedule-wise, I won’t be sticking to the same, regular posting dates. I plan to release chapters as they are finished, but chapters will become more frequent from here. The rest of the chapters all tend to flow together, somewhat similar to how Chapters 170 to 172 flow into each other. Due to that, I’m currently hoping to reach the end of the fiction by the end of next week (with the final chapter coming out around the 11th, just about).

In the immediate days, I wanted to get these two chapters out today so I could focus on a different section of revisions on Monday and Tuesday. Chapter 165, the meeting with Edgar, will be rewritten, and then the next three chapters with Xavier will be touched up to hopefully improve how they’re framed and their quality. The only other chapter I would want to tackle for revisions is the Eliza battle, but compared to everything else, its priority is significantly less than making sure everything upcoming is good.

Once this fiction has ended, I will be taking a break to both rest and set up the next fiction. I have a few epilogue chapters for the Type Specialist I want to finally nail down, and I also want to write a “short,” standalone story as an introduction to my next long fiction. I already have a plan for that long story, but I want to write something a bit shorter before dedicating myself to something massive for a third time.

For that standalone story, I’m hoping it won’t be longer than 40k words, and I’ll be posting it here (publicly) and trying to complete it before it goes up on Royal Road.

Again, thank you for the support. Apologies if this section has been a little ramble-y. I’m looking forward to the stuff coming up, and I’m also looking forward to improving the last few chapters.

Hopefully, I will see you Wednesday for Chapter 172. In the meantime, I’ll be making edits for the Xavier chapters to come out on Tuesday.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Dragonair / Dragonite
Porygon2

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 170 (Rewrite)

Author Note:

Chapter 171 will be up in a few hours, but I wanted to get something out right now. In the author's note at the end of the next chapter, I’ll be talking about the upcoming schedule as well as my plans from here.

(It should be good news. Due to the nature of the next few chapters, there’ll be more frequent releases until the end of the fiction. You’ll get more details about that alongside 171.)

=======================================================================

The air hummed with an electric energy, a coalescence of everything taking place. Muffled cheers from the current battle barely reached Sam’s dressing room, and chatter from his Pokémon brought forth nervousness and excitement in equal measure as they discussed their upcoming battle.

Though none of Sam's Pokémon wanted to tire themselves, the Gastly and Haunter from Sam’s shadow carried no such reservation. They buzzed around, casting dark shapes onto the walls, and swarmed Sam’s waiting Pokémon. They sent his core team members questions, compliments, and even some taunts.

That lasted until a soft cry of Typhlosion’s name saw them quiet down.

“Thank you, Typhlosion,” Sam said.

Both Annihilape and Trevenant gave her similar yet silent shows of thanks.

Above their heads, a television played the current match of a Houndoom expertly dancing around a frustrated Hypno. Drakloak stared at it intently with Mismagius beside her, and Gengar called over a few of the Gastly to point at the screen and laugh.

All the while, Sam’s mother sat on a stool and watched him rest. She was positioned in front of a mirror that showed a mostly empty room. Delcatty reclined in her lap, and Sableye hid behind her hanging legs. 

His mother’s eyes never left him, but Sam wasn’t paying attention to her. All of his attention was on the door to the room as he waited for the League staff member to knock and give him the sign that his battle was about to start.

Soon, his mother spoke up.

“Nervous?” she asked.

Despite the question, Sam found himself gaining a smile.

“I'm not. It's weird,” he said quietly to her. “I don’t know why, but I don’t feel nervous in the slightest. There’s so much riding on this battle, and I’m about to have this match in front of the entire world, but I kind of don’t care about that? The only thing I care about is how I’m finally getting the chance to fight Redi. All season, we’ve talked and prepared for this, and now we’re finally having our final battle right here in the middle of the actual Conference.”

Their match would be the culmination of everything they trained for. Both of them planned to show off everything their teams could do.

But, in exchange, only one of them would be moving on. Sam truly planned for it to be him.

“I’m glad,” his mother said.

“That Redi and I are fighting?” Sam asked.

“No,” she said with a titter, “I’m glad that you’ve had your journey. I’m glad that you’ve made such a close friend. And I’m glad that you made it here. Do you even realize just how much you’ve changed?”

“In a good way, I hope,” Sam quipped.

His mother laughed.

“Of course it’s in a good way,” she said with a soft smile. “There are so many little things about you that are different. You’re happier. Confident. There’s a sense of responsibility to you. In so many little ways, you remind me of—”

“Grandpa,” Sam finished for her.

But his mother just burst into laughter.

“Him? Not at all! Do you even know just how irresponsible he was? No, Sam. If there’s anyone you remind me of right now, you remind me of your father.” Her smile wavered as she calmed down. “But it’s alright. I understand why you thought of Dad instead of him. It’s been so long since he passed that you don’t remember...”

She went quiet, and Sam looked at the floor. He checked on his mother after a few seconds, but instead of looking sad, her expression was bittersweet.

“I’m going to win,” Sam said to her.

That was a promise.

“Yes,” she replied. “I know in my heart that’s going to be true.”

She sent him a slow nod, and Sam sat up in his seat, turning to bring his attention to everyone else in the room.

When he cleared his throat, everyone quieted down. Every Pokémon here looked at him, waiting for what he had to say.

“Listen up,” he said, recognizing that now was the moment for it. “With our battle so close, I want to talk about Redi.”

He doubted that Redi would have some extensive plan. He knew that she’d become much better at planning, but in-depth strategies still just weren’t her thing. She would have her clever moments, and she would have a few tricks, but the way she fought tended to see all of her counters built into her team. She wouldn’t have a complicated, overall plan, but she would have ideas for how to stop Sam from having one of his own.

If Sam had to describe the way she fought, she tended to have a very passive strategy for her very active team. He expected to be shut down, and he expected her to stop any tricks he pulled. But he didn’t expect her to set up many tricks for him to fall into.

No, even now, she still relied on overwhelming her opponents with raw strength.

“She won’t use many moves that weaken us over time. I expect her to stick to basic defenses, but defenses that are proven to work,” he told his team as his Pokémon gathered around. “She’ll have the appropriate moves that stop our own, but other than that, anything she has to stop us will already be built into the makeup of her team.”

“Just, for example,” Sam continued, “her Normal Types are immune to our Ghost Type moves. Ursaluna’s Guts means he becomes stronger instead of weaker when he’s burned. Her Kangaskhan can directly attack the Ghost Type thanks to its Scrappy ability and will wake up quickly if put to sleep due to Early Bird. And then, Dragonair can shed off any conditions thanks to its Shed Skin ability, and even Porygon’s Recover means it can last a surprisingly long time.”

Once again, he looked around, but despite his words, his Pokémon were confident. And he was in agreement, too.

He had to let out a short laugh, seeing all of their determined faces.

“Yeah,” he said to them. “You’re right. We’ve been preparing for this. No matter what she throws our way, we’ll know exactly how to react to ensure we come out on top.”

As he continued to speak to his Pokémon, a knock soon came at the door. Immediately, the room went utterly still as everyone braced for the expected words to come out. They hadn’t even realized that the muffled cheers coming from outside had quieted down; the last match had ended, and that meant—

“Samuel Greyson?” a voice asked from the other side of the door. “Be ready. You’re on deck to battle next.”

The arena was quieter, but that same electric energy persisted. Sam hopped up out of his chair to send one last look around at his team.

His mother spoke up for a final time.

“I'd wish you luck, but-”

“I don't need luck,” Sam said, finishing his mother’s statement for her.

From there, the many Gastly and Haunter dove back into his shadow, and one by one, his team members were returned. Dreepy and Drakloak were sucked into their Ultra Ball with a shared, excited squeak. Trevenant sent Sam a nod as he was recalled into his Pokéball. Mismagius carried a warm smile on her face as she disappeared, and Gengar let out cackles as he vanished into red light.

Annihilape, meanwhile, carried no reaction whatsoever as Sam brought him back, but that lack of response was just his way of expressing his absolute confidence.

And then, Typhlosion was the only Pokémon on Sam’s team still in the room.

“We’ll beat her,” Sam said.

Typhlosion’s flames crackled around her neck as she sent him a wide grin, and then she, too, disappeared.

It was silent, now. His Pokémon were all in their Pokéballs at his waist, eager and waiting for this battle to start.

The room was quiet. Controlled.

It lacked any signs of the Ghost Types lurking nearby.

Sam sent one last nod to his mother, and she waved goodbye. Delcatty meowed out a cheer, and even Sableye reluctantly said his name in support.

Then, Sam grabbed the door’s handle, twisting it to open it.

The light of the arena’s hallway shone into the room.

Breathing in, Sam stepped out, and he headed to the main battlefield. It was time for the start of his and Redi’s final match.

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

The audience was in an uproar, because why wouldn’t it be? This late into the tournament, every match was a demonstration of extreme skill and force.

When Sam and Redi appeared out of their respective entrance tunnels, the noise of the crowd intensified even more. Between all of the eight battles taking place today, so many of them involved people who knew each other. But here, two traveling companions would be the ones to face off in what was going to be one of their very last battles of the season.

And, just about everyone here had seen the same thing. A certain reporter had interviewed them both at the same time.

Together, when Marilyn had asked them what their objectives in the battle would be, Sam and Redi had given the same answer.

“To win,” they had said in unison.

Yet, neither was moving to start the battle right away, and neither trainer looked to directly approach the field. No, both of them strode right to where the head referee was standing, locking eyes in surprise but coming to the agreement that, yes, they both wanted the same thing.

The referee turned off his microphone as they approached, and no one in the audience could hear the ensuing discussion. The talks were emphatic, and the two trainers all but pleaded. Eventually, the referee had to give in. He could at least offer them this chance if both sides of the fight were in complete agreement.

As they walked back to the field, the referee’s mic clicked on. His voice echoed for an announcement.

“There’ll be a slight warm-up before the battle,” he said.

The crowd cheered as Sam and Redi reached the trainer boxes on the opposite sides of the field, and worn Pokéballs flew through the air to send out the team members intending to have a “practice” bout.

A heavy Ground Type and a limber Fighting Type appeared across from one another.

Ursaluna faced Annihilape, and Annihilape faced Ursaluna.

From there, a growl was exchanged with a grunt, and without any further waiting, both Pokémon charged.

Immediately, upon meeting, Ursaluna reared up to swipe glowing claws down, and Annihilape ducked under one of the bear’s arms just to strike with a shadowy fist into the other. The impact was so immense that shockwaves seemed to crack the air. The amount of energy wielded by their moves was overwhelming.

But a Shadow Punch could never damage the Normal Type Ursaluna, and a Slash could never damage the Ghost Type Annihilape.

However, neither Pokémon gave up, and they drew back their limbs to go for another exchange. Though they used proper moves for this clash, no attack threatened to deal any damage as they stuck solely to moves their opponent would be immune to.

A set of Fury Swipes tore into Annihilape, but Annihilape retaliated with a powerful Shadow Punch. Another Slash flew over Annihilape’s head, and a Rage Fist caught Ursaluna in the gut.

These moves dealt damage through raw force alone: something Pokémon at this level were adept at handling. Swipe met punch met bash met counter. Neither Pokémon let up, and neither Pokémon received any specific commands from their trainers.

Then, after a while of just wailing on each other, one last exchange sent the two Pokémon sliding back. They were breathing heavily, but they weren’t tired. This might have been a warm-up, but it was also a test taking place between the two of them.

The Pokémon locked eyes. A vein throbbed on Annihilape’s forehead. He grunted, and then Ursaluna’s expression hardened.

There, the two of them drew back their arms, but this time, the mood was different.

Sharp, shadowy claws extended out of Ursaluna’s paws, and Annihilape’s arm tensed as it became enhanced with Fighting Type energy. Both of them had tested one another and found neither wanting, but now, they wanted to prove exactly what their full strength could do.

Lunging, they both threw out a potentially super effective move.

However, as the pair of attacks hurtled toward one another, with this clash threatening real, serious damage, the moves never landed. Instead, they came to a sudden halt as two simultaneous shouts came out at once.

“Stop!”

“Draw back!”

Only then did the referee whistle, his expression incensed at the sudden charge, but the noise he released had come ever too late.

“And that concludes the warm-up,” he announced, heavily emphasizing that last word.

Despite his tone, the two Pokémon didn’t bother to hide their shared amusement.

“Return, Annihilape,” Sam called out.

“Come back, Ursaluna!” Redi shouted over the field.

With that, the two immensely powerful, physical fighters were removed from the field. As the audience roared, the referee could finally exhale in relief.

“Good,” he said. “That concludes that. And now, let’s ensure this match can properly begin.”

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

“Wyrdeer!”

“Typhlosion!”

Both sides would be using their full teams, and both trainers would have access to seven switches each.

But Sam wasn’t waiting. Neither was Redi.

The second the match-starting whistle came out, they yelled out their commands.

“Barriers! Move, Wyrdeer!”

“Smoke and burn, Typhlosion!”

Immediately, Wyrdeer took off in a dash, horns glowing for barriers to form around its sides. Typhlosion’s wisps shot out to slam against them, breaking apart only for their ephemeral embers to home in on Wyrdeer just as well.

But Wyrdeer was a Pokémon who excelled with barriers, and it didn’t need any special moves to stop this. Its protected charge safely brought it closer and closer to Typhlosion. She never let up her assault, and the ongoing psychic shield prevented anything she did from reaching it.

However, Wyrdeer’s shield was an active defense. Protecting itself in this manner required all of its focus.

“Exhale!” Sam ordered.

Her wisps didn’t give up, but she did breathe out right as Wyrdeer got close. A mighty plume of smoke poured out of her throat, and a curtain of darkness rose up around her to hide her position and allow her to dodge.

As she moved within her cover, Wyrdeer’s charge broke through the smoke with a swing of its antlers, but Typhlosion wasn’t there. Redi called for it to attack with a spin, and another swing and a kick of its legs only managed to push back the smoke around it.

Wyrdeer’s moves might not have hit Typhlosion, but they did reveal her. She was in front of it, and behind it, and to its sides in every cardinal direction. Illusory clones of her appeared in a ring around her opponent.

“Double Team, huh?” Redi said quietly.

Sam smiled, hearing the level of thought in her voice.

“Alright, if you’re going to play it like that, then hit all of them, Wyrdeer!” Redi shouted. “Just like Ursaluna taught you, use Earthquake!”

With that order, Sam was barely able to call for a Detect fast enough before slams from Wyrdeer’s hooves caused the field to crack and shake. Large breaks in the earth spread out in all directions, and each one sent fragments of the field up and out to catch and dissipate Typhlosion’s defensive Double Team.

One illusion jumped, revealing just which Typhlosion was real, and Wyrdeer’s eyes locked onto the form that broke through the top of the clouds.

“There!” Redi shouted.

Its lunge was impressive, and with Typhlosion’s Detect wearing off, the Psyshield Bash hit. Unfortunately for the Wyrdeer, its offense only carried so much defense alongside it, and the same trick that had once caught Xavier’s Poliwrath now caught Redi’s Pokémon.

Distracted, it could not stop the lingering wisps from burning its back.

“Great, Typhlosion!” Sam shouted out. “And now, return!”

In response, a scoff.

“Really? All of that just for a burn? Sam, Wyrdeer’s a Normal Type. You can’t even use Hex.” 

Her voice was half teasing, half legitimately questioning.

Sam, however, just locked eyes with his friend and replied with a sharp grin of his own.

“Of course Hex isn’t going to work,” he responded, “but can you say Psyshield Bash is going to be anywhere as effective while under a burn?”

Even with the state of her Pokémon, Redi saw the glint in his eyes, and she let out a laugh.

“As if that’s all we have,” she said in a counter. “Do you really think this is all we can do?”

Sam went on to release Mismagius. The bright lights illuminating the field did nothing to suppress her presence or the darkness she let pulse out around her.

The smoke was still there, with Wyrdeer still inside of it. However, only a small area around the center of the field carried that dark cover, and it was dissipating fast. The upper half of Wyrdeer’s body was visible as the smoke sank and spread to filter out. However, even with the Smokescreen’s impending disappearance, Sam knew Mismagius could make great use of the little that remained.

“Into the cover! Use Nasty Plot!” he ordered.

“Track it! Copy with Psych Up!” Redi shouted.

Wyrdeer didn’t give chase; instead, it jumped up and back almost like Typhlosion before it. A tint to its eyes saw it track the shadow that raced into the cloud, and it purposefully waited as Mismagius built her damage-inspired plan.

Psych Up would let it copy stat changes. If Mismagius was going to increase the damage of her special attacks with Nasty Plot, then Wyrdeer would do the same.

When Wyrdeer landed on the ground, the battle picked back up, with only seconds having passed. Here, Mismagius rushed forward, and she summoned highly familiar wisps. However, where her wisps were usually purple, these were a brilliant red.

After all, if she could already use wisps to attack with Hex and Will-O-Wisp, then why not learn an incredibly similar move and pick up Mystical Fire as well?

The pure heat of this Fire Type attack seared holes in the remaining smoke, and Wyrdeer could only bring up its Protect so fast. Its head snapped to the side as the burning, mystical embers slammed into its shield, and it glared right at Mismagius, who had followed to let her move to appear at its side.

It lunged again, and Psyshield Bash hit her. This attack was weakened due to the burn, but for Mismagius, any physical move was deadly.

Yet, she stayed up, and a grin stretched across her face as a Pain Split saw her health return. That Pain Split caused the Wyrdeer to cry out its name as half of its attack caused itself an injury.

With their health equalized, Wyrdeer was in a bad spot health-wise due to the nature of Pain Split, but there was still also the matter of the copied Nasty Plot from Psych Up.

“Aaaaaand... Shadow Ball!” Redi ordered.

Just as fast as it had lunged, darkness coated and then broke off of Wyrdeer's horns to form above its head. It did not share a Type with this move, building it slower than it could have, and that gave Mismagius just enough time to duck and hide back in the small bit of shadowy smoke lingering above the ground. However, as the attack missed and hit the ground, the strength of that Shadow Ball still pushed back all remaining cover to reveal just which shadow Mismagius was in.

The threat of that attack was clear; even if Mismagius was at full health, one strike of that super effective move would be it.

Given Wyrdeer’s Normal Type, there was little Mismagius could do in return. She could attack again or stall until its burn finished it off, but then she would be risking a retaliation, and then what position would Sam be in for Redi’s next Pokémon?

Redi watched him think, her eyes locked in challenge. Noticing that, Sam stared back, and he responded to the threat by pulling the still-conscious Mismagius from the field.

His second switch was used up here.

“Gengar,” he named.

As his Pokémon appeared, the battle did not continue right away. Redi watched Gengar hop up off the ground, but she chose to call out to Sam instead of her Pokémon.

“You sure that’s smart?” she asked.

“Yeah. We’re about to win.”

“But think about what you’re using just to get one knock-out. Is this really worth using so much? Going through two switches and three team members just for my first Pokémon?”

Sam remained silent, and Redi let out a short laugh. The battle resumed. Wyrdeer crossed the field to charge Gengar, and, once again, a Shadow Ball formed between its horns, the threat of that boost from Psych Up drastically increasing the move’s power. Yet, Wyrdeer was not trained to be a special attacker, and even as it got close, Gengar’s grin widened.

Using the obvious opening he saw, Gengar’s smile was put to full use as he pressed liquid acid against his teeth. His Acid Spray splashed out, catching the Wyrdeer in the middle of its charge, and though the weak move did not faint it, Gengar had just enough freedom to jump and phase straight through Wyrdeer to avoid the Shadow Ball.

That phase-through dealt no damage whatsoever, but it chilled Wyrdeer to the bone. With everything else going on, that was the final nail in its coffin. Suffering from the burn after that Acid Spray, it collapsed right there and then, securing Sam the first knock-out of the match.

“Three Pokémon. Two switches,” Redi repeated. She refused to look away from Sam’s eyes. “Again, that’s half your team and a third of your switches just to take out one of my Pokémon.”

“My Pokémon are all conscious.”

“But two of your Pokémon took damage,” Redi countered while grabbing a new Pokéball. “Come on, Sam. You don’t even recognize our trap, do you?” 

Sam frowned as he met Redi’s stare, and she laughed as her replacement team member was sent out onto the field.

She looked to be getting quite a kick out of this.

“Sam, I’ll tell you now that I’m never going to switch,” she yelled to him as her Kangaskhan readied its stance against Gengar. “That’s my strategy for this battle! A bad match-up might be bad, but we’ll always be able to pull something off! I know exactly how you win: returning an injured, burned, or paralyzed Pokémon is why all of your previous opponents lost. Trying to minimize the effects of those conditions is only ever a mistake. After all, your team is trained to clean up and finish off weakened Pokémon like that.”

“But me?” Redi said, continuing as she leaned forward and pointed her thumb at her chest. “I get that. I don’t just know how you fight, I understand how you fight. So I’m not going to let you fight on your terms. You’ll be fighting on mine.”

“To say what you should have said against Xavier, this is my battle to win!” she shouted.

The referee called for the battle to continue, and Redi’s Kangaskhan burst into a lumbering charge toward where Gengar had returned to wait on Sam’s side of the field. Sam recognized the threat it represented with Scrappy allowing for its powerful Normal Type attacks to hit Ghosts, and its Early Bird would limit the effects of sleep.

Knowing Redi, even a burn would likely be a mistake here. There was no way she hadn’t taught her Pokémon the move, Facade. Sam didn’t often need to worry about that attack, given it was a Normal Type move, but with a Scrappy Kangaskhan, a burn would see Facade’s potential damage skyrocket.

In a way, Kangaskhan was the perfect counter for Gengar, but Sam just watched it and carefully built a strategy in his head.

After a second of thought, he dramatically thrust an arm forward—he couldn’t resist—and he opened his mouth to begin a command—

But halfway across the field, Kangaskhan abruptly disappeared into red light, being returned just like that.

“Actually, nah,” Redi said. “That’d be too easy. You really think I’d want to win without a challenge?”

The crowd cheered and booed in equal measure to that remark, but Redi ate it all up. Sam stared at his friend before a short laugh left his throat.

“Hey. Take me seriously, alright?” he said to her.

“I am,” Redi replied, gaining a slight frown.

“With your taunts? With what you did there?” He shook his head. “Yeah, I’m your opponent, but I know you, Redi. Don’t think that mind games are going to work on me. Just like you understand my strategy, I understand yours. So give us a proper fight. Face us head-on! Stop with the mind games and give us a direct battle!”

Redi stared at him until she had to let out a laugh, herself.

“Same goes for you!” she countered. “Face you head-on, huh? So you’re telling me that I should open up my Pokémon to all the crazy strategies you have planned?”

Sam replied with a cheeky grin, and Redi’s laughter returned.

Once she quieted down, she sent out Dragonair to replace Kangaskhan. Sam took one look at the Dragon Type and decided to recall Gengar here.

This wasn’t the match-up either of them wanted for this part of the battle, and Sam was willing to use his third switch to recall his Ghost Type from the field. It was a fact that Ghost Types were great against fellow Ghosts, but much the same, if Sam wanted to take out a Dragon, then he needed to use a Dragon of his own.

“Drakloak,” he named.

His Pokémon’s tail whipped back and forth as she coalesced from light to face her opponent in the air. Dragonair lowered herself in challenge, and she and Drakloak locked their gaze.

Right now, for the two of them, this wouldn’t be just another match between Sam and Redi. Most importantly, this would be a match between Drakloak and Dragonair. These two were Dragon Types of similar power, and when faced with an apparent equal, a Dragon instinctively desired to prove its strength—to prove its superiority.

And, in a way, both Sam and Redi wanted the same.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Chapter 171 contains a bit more rewritten content from the old Chapter 170, but the last half is all completely new.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Dragonair
Kangaskhan
Ursaluna
Wyrdeer

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Schedule Update

Hello! Thank you for all of the kind comments. Currently, I am planning for chapters to resume next Tuesday, on July 1st. A few recent chapters will be updated toward the end of this week and/or over the weekend.

See you soon.

Short Break

I want to sincerely apologize for the quality of the last few chapters. I’ve been suffering from pretty extreme burnout recently, and I thought I could push through and last until the end. However, all that has done is mean my energy to write has been at the lowest that it's ever been, and chapter quality has been on a drastic decline.

One of the main reasons I was gearing up to end this story was to ensure it could go out with a bang and not a whimper. However, I’m now falling victim to exactly what I was worried about. After spending so long writing this fiction, I want it to be good, and the last few chapters can’t be described as that.

I will be taking a short break to recover and regain the energy I need to give this story a proper, well-written ending. The recent fights and chapters have been rough, so I’m also hoping to touch up and rewrite several sections.

I’m expecting chapters to resume toward the end of next week at the earliest, and I’m hopeful about the improvements I can make once I've had some time to rest.

Thank you for reading. Genuinely. I know I say that a lot, but I truly appreciate everyone who has read my writing. You deserve a good story, and I’ll strive to provide exactly that.

Chapter 170 [OLD VERSION]

Author Note:

You can read the updated Chapter 170 HERE!

==========================================================================

The audience’s cheers were a low, underlying hum. The announcers' voices were nothing more than muffled whispers coming from outside. The closed door blocked off the noises of the League’s staff hurrying by, and the only sounds that entered the dressing room were the loudest reminders of the current battle going on.

Sam was waiting. He was up next. That meant his opponent was on deck, as well, and he couldn’t stop thinking about what she must have been doing to prepare in her room.

However, he wasn’t nervous. He felt perfectly calm. Right now, nothing was holding him back.

The only thing that remained was excitement, for he and Redi would finally be having their match.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” his mother asked from atop one of the room’s stools. Delcatty curled around her legs, and Sableye slumped, utterly defeated, being held in her arms like a limp doll.

“I am. I'm just... thinking,” Sam said. “This is something I've been waiting all season for—for longer than even my battle against Xavier. We constantly talked about facing each other in the Conference to the point it just became another casual topic. But that’s happening right now. It almost doesn’t feel real. Everything we ever talked about...”

He let out a slight laugh.

“All of it is about to come true.”

Sam looked around at his team. Everyone was out and getting rest. They were in the best shape they could have possibly been in after days of tough battles behind them. Trevenant had a discolored line on his chest from where his bark had regrown after that Honchkrow’s attack, and both Typhlosion and Gengar had their eyes closed, tired but trying to regain as much energy as they could before entering the next battle. Neither Drakloak nor Mismagius looked that different from normal, but Annihilape was utterly still. Sam had never seen him so motionless before. Even back when he evolved hadn’t been this bad, yet, Sam could tell it was just Annihilape gathering every ounce of focus he could.

He had his own reason to look forward to this match.

“It feels strange,” Sam said quietly. “I'm excited, but I'm also just so... calm. I guess I should probably be hesitating about knocking a friend out of the Conference, but why would I hesitate? We already talked about it. I’ve already experienced myself, and I know Redi would rather lose to me than any other stranger she might face here.”

“You’re that confident?” his mother asked.

“Of course,” Sam replied. “Do you really think I'd let us lose here?”

His mother chuckled, and the many Ghost Types in the room cheered.

For just about every other battle, Sam had watched the fights from the audience, and for many of them, Redi had sat nearby. Right now, they were split up. Redi was in the other room. Likely, she was talking to her Pokémon and giving her parents one last call. Both of them knew their match would be one of the highlights of the Conference, and a certain moment stood out to Sam, where he and Redi had given a dual interview to Marilyn just before they had stepped inside.

The reporter had asked them about their goals in this battle.

Both of them had responded immediately.

“To win.”

That was their shared reply and their shared objective. Neither of them would be doing anything to make this an easy fight.

“We already know how we’re going to fight her,” Sam said to his team, looking at every Pokémon here. “We know her top threats and some of the counters she might have prepared for us. Ursaluna’s Guts ability, Porygon’s Trick Room, Dragonair’s speed, Wyrdeer’s defenses, and then Kangaskhan... just about everything to it. I’m probably most worried if it knows Endeavor.”

He looked around again.

“We won’t be able to put Ursaluna to sleep without being battered by Sleep Talk,” he said. “We can’t let Dragonair outpace us, paralyze us, and then prevent any of our moves. We have to make sure our status effects land, and we have to take advantage of everything we have. And then we’re also stuck to not using Ghost Type moves. Which sucks. All of her Normal Types are going to be immune to most of what we can do.”

Sam then purposefully paused, and a small smile crept onto his face.

“But do we care?” he asked.

Every Pokémon in this room shouted their name in the equivalent of a loud, “No!”

Sam hopped out of his chair.

“Redi and I are going to come at this match in completely different ways,” he said to his team. “She’s come up with her counters, whereas I don’t have anywhere near as much of the same. I could plan all I want, but she’d just come up with something to prevent that. So, we have what we have, but we’re also ready to adapt to anything she throws at us. That’s how we’re going to win.”

It was a complete inversion of how they both started as trainers, but in a way, that just proved how much they had grown.

“This is going to be our toughest battle. Ever, possibly. But do you know what we're going to do?”

One last look. He sent one last look to Typhlosion. Annihilape. Gengar. Mismagius. Trevenant. Drakloak.

And Dreepy, of course, alongside everyone else. So many Gastly and Haunter were watching him stand there and smile.

“What we're going to do is win,” Sam said. “We’re going to defeat Redi in our battle, and we’re going to win this tournament overall!”

With that declaration, shouts erupted, and the entire room cheered. Anyone in the hallway would have shuddered at the haunting noise that came from inside.

To the side, his mother clapped.

“You can do it,” she said. “I believe in you—all of you.”

“I believe in us, too,” Sam said. “And I absolutely believe we're going to win, but just in case, let's go over a few more strategies Redi might have planned...”

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

When Sam and Redi stepped onto the arena floor, the audience’s volume was already nearly deafening. Between the eight battles taking place today, just about every match had at least someone who had gathered a following, and several of those battles were proving to be just as meaningful as the one about to take place right now. At this point, the majority of the battles involved friends or rivals who had met on their journey. The matches were building up to the point that few would call the pattern a mere coincidence.

Here, it was a battle between two of the three new trainers left in the Conference, with the two of them having been traveling companions for most of the season. Their story had spread in interviews, and people were excited to see just who would win.

Sam’s Ghost Types would leave members of the audience shivering in fright, and Redi’s Normal Types would leave others in awe of their powerful attacks.

It was the excitement, the need to see that battle, that led to those cheers. However, the audience quieted down and started to murmur in confusion when the two trainers approached the head referee instead of the field.

It looked as though the two trainers had come up with the same idea independently from one another, as the two of them seemed surprised at the other’s presence but rolled with it anyway. The words they spoke to the referee weren’t picked up by any microphone, but both trainers visibly supported one another’s arguments.

The head referee, the one in charge of the three referees keeping an eye on these late-tournament matches, glanced between the two trainers. He seemed to chew on their idea before replying with a slight nod, and both trainers jumped in celebration.

The way they grinned in unison was far too cute.

Only now did they take up their positions on opposite sides of the fields, and before the referee said anything at all, two Pokémon were already being sent out across from one another. An Ursaluna appeared, its mass seemingly shaking the arena itself, and the Annihilape sent out opposite to it was quiet, motionless, and focused. It stood completely still, preparing itself in place, slowly eyeing its opponent up and down with an unreadable look on its face.

The two Pokémon looked each other in the eyes, and that was a dangerous sign. It was well known that people should never look either a Primeape or an Ursaring in the eye—that was how dangerous fights started—but right now, both of these Pokémon were doing exactly that, and they were those species' evolved forms.

When neither side immediately lashed out, excitement started to build once again.

What kind of monsters were these if they were so focused on preparing their attacks?

Slowly, a single step hit the dirt, and both the Annihilape and Ursaluna approached. The Pokémon walked to meet one another in the center of their field, and their movements were a mix of lumbering and striding; the base motions were a mix of both bragging and intimidation.

When they met in the exact middle, the Annihilape rolled its shoulders, and the Ursaluna pushed off the ground to stand on its hind legs.

They maintained their eye contact.

Both of them drew an arm back.

And then, two simultaneous swings hurtled right at one another.

Shockwaves seemed to crack the air. A Shadow Punch collided with a ringing Slash. There was a visible strain in the two Pokémon’s arms, but both of them remained utterly unaffected.

The Annihilape’s Ghost Type move did nothing to affect the Normal Type Ursaluna, and the Ursaluna’s Normal Type move did nothing to affect the Ghost Type Annihilape. The only thing that hit them was raw momentum, as the energies contained within their attacks did nothing other than support this clash.

Arms were drawn back again, and two more swings were thrown out.

Another hit, and then another swing.

From there, the pace built up. Attack after attack came out.

Annihilape ducked and weaved, throwing out punches in an attempt to box. The Ursaluna responded with wild swings of its arms that proved that it would be a truly frenzied bear. Neither of them changed what attack they used, and whenever a move hit, nothing happened. The bare impact would maybe deal a slight amount of damage, but the swirling energies did nothing to bypass either Pokémon’s immunities.

A duck;

A slash;

A jab;

A roar.

This was a test. A challenge. A fight. This was a match of pure physical power alone. Both Pokémon refused to deal damage—their pride would not allow that. Their trainers didn’t dare speak, and neither did the referees. Even the audience seemed to go quiet.

Right now, the match didn’t matter. Victory didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was the two Pokémon proving their strength.

And then, a shift. The two Pokémon slowed and drew back their arms once more. This time around, the Ursaluna’s claws extended out with crooked shadows, and the Annihilape’s arm tensed and flexed with densened muscles, the epitome of a Fighting Type move being prepared.

Then, they released their moves, a Ghost Type and Fighting Type attack rushing at one another. This clash threatened super effective damage, and whoever lost this exchange would be injured going into the proper fight.

Except, at the very last second, right before the two moves hit—

A whistle.

The pair of attacks froze an inch apart. The referee did not look amused.

“Return, Annihilape,” Sam said.

“Come back, Ursaluna!” Redi called out.

The two Pokémon pulled back their arms and shared a satisfied grin.

As they disappeared into red light, both of their trainers seemed amused. The audience finally had the chance to breathe again, but this wasn’t even the battle.

This was just a warm-up, a pre-match show.

Though the fight had not progressed—or even started, for that matter—this did prove one thing:

These two Pokémon were the strongest members of both teams, so if those two were evenly matched, then so were the trainers.

Neither side would have an advantage going into this fight.

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

“Trainers, send out your Pokémon!” the referee’s voice boomed.

Sam’s heart was already racing, and he could see that Redi was already slightly out of breath. They had done nothing themselves so far, but the power that had emanated from their Pokémon in their spar had been undeniable.

Both Ursaluna and Annihilape had gotten what they wanted. They wanted to see which of them was stronger, and they got their answer—neither.

But the referee wanted the battle to actually start, so now was the time for the trainers to step in.

“Wyrdeer,” Redi named.

Sam found her choice to be curious, but it didn’t change his plan.

“Typhlosion.”

His first Pokémon and preferred lead appeared on the field. She roared her name, her voice echoing around her, and Wyrdeer merely trotted in place.

Then, the match properly began.

“Safeguard,” Redi immediately ordered as soon as the referee called for the battle to start.

On Sam’s side of the field, Typhlosion built a few wisps, but they didn’t head out from beside her.

Already, the announcers were commenting on the fight—Stantler, or Wyrdeer, specifically, didn’t learn Safeguard normally, but Redi hadn’t cared at all in the slightest for what people thought and had taken Wyrdeer’s expertise with defense and taught him the move just for this fight.

“Safeguard, huh?” Sam said as Typhlosion eyed her opponent. “Be careful. Wyrdeer is immune to your Parade, and Safeguard will prevent status.”

He knew he could call for a Fire Type attack, but a burn would never happen while Safeguard was up. Even then, Protect could stop any damage. With just this one order, Redi had shut down most of what Sam could do to start this fight.

“Hah! So what are you going to do, Sam?” Redi shouted at him with a grin. “Gonna switch? Gonna leave Typhlosion out? Either way, your Pokémon are going to faint!”

Already, Wyrdeer was beginning to trot forward, but he was slowly picking up speed. Psychic Type energy pulsed around his horns, and he prepared a barrier for his choice of either Protect or Psyshield Bash.

He could prevent any move from reaching him while still getting close to Typhlosion, but Sam wasn’t worried in the slightest. Redi might have limited his strategy, but right now, all Typhlosion needed to do was inflict a bit of damage and then prepare the field for whatever Pokémon he sent out next.

“Smokescreen. Flamethrower,” he ordered.

Redi was smiling, and she didn’t hesitate to call out, “Agility!”

With flames burning around her neck, Typhlosion exhaled to cover her half of the field in black. She disappeared into that smoke, but Redi’s Wyrdeer raced straight into it. Psychic Type energy fueled its momentum thanks to its Agility.

Wyrdeer’s horns peeked out of the top of Typhlosion’s Smokescreen, but Wyrdeer knew where it needed to run. It blocked the use of a Flamethrower with a conjured screen, and it then jumped at the source of that attack to swing its horns.

The force behind that swing forced some of the smoke back, and that faint gust revealed that Wyrdeer’s Psyshield Bash had missed Typhlosion by mere inches. However, she was still right there, and while Wyrdeer was lifting its head, she breathed out for another Flamethrower to singe its fur.

Safeguard prevented a burn.

“Again!” Redi shouted.

“Double Team!” Sam countered.

Wyrdeer jumped for another lunge, and it looked as though Typhlosion didn’t move at all. However, though the swing of its horns landed against her, they only phased through the image occupying the position Typhlosion left behind.

The ferocity of the Wyrdeer’s attacks saw the Smokescreen no longer fully cover this part of the field, but pockets of smoke remained around the Wyrdeer. Duplicates of Typhlosion appeared at their edges. Circling Redi’s Pokémon, a dozen Typhlosions stared off, and Wyrdeer’s chances of hitting the correct one were minimal at best.

But it didn’t look nervous, and Redi didn’t hesitate to get her next command.

“Earthquake,” she ordered.

“I should have expected that,” Sam said with a grumble. “Ursaluna already demonstrated this move. I shouldn’t be surprised he taught it to other members of her team.”

The wide area of this attack meant cracks spread out in every direction. Wyrdeer didn’t need to aim its move if it hit everywhere at once. However, Sam didn’t need to say anything for Typhlosion to jump to avoid it, but jumping did reveal a single copy of her leaping right out of her smoke.

She had isolated herself for Wyrdeer to target her, but Sam returned her for now. She’d already done what he wanted, and returning her here prevented Wyrdeer from using any further attacking moves.

“So,” Redi said, casually leaning back, unbothered by her Pokémon’s failure to land any attacks. “Who are you going to send out next?”

“Mismagius,” Sam said.

And immediately, Redi countered Sam’s next Pokémon—not with a move, but with a shout she gave in reply.

“Hey. Just so you know, Wyrdeer knows Psych Up! If you use Nasty Plot, Wyrdeer will get to copy the same boost!”

As Redi spoke, Mismagius dashed into the pockets of lingering smoke to hide herself. Meanwhile, Sam replied to his friend with a flat look.

“You’re bluffing.”

“Why would I bluff about that?” Redi responded. “If you really want to, you could check. Call for a Nasty Plot. Test if I’m lying.”

Sam looked her in the eye, and she easily met his gaze. Her mad grin was so impossibly wide that he genuinely couldn’t tell if she was telling the truth or just messing with him.

But she’s definitely trying to throw me off my game!

Except, Sam had switched into Mismagius for a reason, and he couldn’t care less about Redi’s words. Psych Up or not, Mismagius was the better special attacker. Taking a moment to copy that boost would only open Wyrdeer up to further attacks.

“Use Psychic defensively to avoid damage,” Sam ordered. “Build yourself; prepare to sweep. Get ready with your new attack.”

The smoke churned and shifted as Mismagius moved it around to hide her exact position. Wyrdeer slowly trotted to circle the now-smaller, fading cloud. It was no longer bothering to maintain its Agility; movement speed wouldn’t matter here. All that mattered right now was landing a proper hit against wherever Sam’s Pokémon was hiding in the cloud.

Sam waited. Wyrdeer couldn’t see Mismagius to use the move Redi had threatened, and Mismagius just needed the right moment.

The thing is, Safeguard’s protection couldn’t last forever.

And, just like Sam expected, the protective field started to fade.

“Now!” he shouted.

Mismagius had used Nasty Plot regardless of Redi’s threats, and attacking now meant Redi had to choose whether to call for Protect or re-use Safeguard. Coming from the smoke, Mismagius’s attacks took the form of wisps, but this was not Hex, nor was it purely a Will-O-Wisp.

No, the New Pokédex was great at informing Sam of new moves, and what better move for Mismagius than a Fire Type attack that took her wisps and gave them a new form?

As her Mystical Fire rushed out, she aimed to maximize its damage thanks to the ongoing effects of her Nasty Plot.

“Protect!” Redi yelled.

The flames hit and washed over Wyrdeer’s protective barrier.

“Into Bash!” Redi then continued.

Though Protect did not last, the barrier Wyrdeer had formed did. It wasn’t perfect, but its presence gave Wyrdeer just enough leeway to charge for a sudden bash right into the fading smoke cloud.

It didn’t need to aim; it only needed to cover enough area. Wyrdeer swung its horns wildly, and though it was clipped once or twice, it managed to swipe its horns through something, and a genuinely pained cry echoed out.

Sam could tell this was not a noise that had been faked.

“Psychic, throw it back!” Sam shouted.

“Psychic, resist its grab!” Redi yelled.

The remaining smoke was pushed back as both Pokémon brimmed with Psychic Type energy. As Mismagius was revealed, a blue glow appeared around Wyrdeer, but then a deeper blue glow appeared just to break the first.

Both moves failed to do much of anything.

Except, Wyrdeer was channeling its energy through its horns to use its move, and when Mismagius’s Psychic failed, it was still primed for a follow-up.

“Psyshield Bash!” Redi shouted.

Of course.

“Burn!” Sam yelled in return, attempting for his Pokémon to counter.

As fast as she could, Mismagius flew back, and her opponent blurred. Rather than immediately following Redi’s orders, Wyrdeer built an Agility to match her speed, and it slowly reduced the distance between them even as fiery wisps dug into its sides.

Wyrdeer was burned, but that wouldn’t matter. Its Normal Type meant no move that took advantage of conditions would deal damage. And, Mismagius was vulnerable enough to physical attacks that this second Psyshield Bash, regardless of whether it weakened, would take her out.

But the Agility bought Sam time, and before Wyrdeer truly caught up, he returned his Pokémon even as she flew backwards over the field.

“Whew. We got the burn. That’s all that matters,” Sam said. “Now, Wyrdeer will eventually faint no matter what, and all we have to do is—”

“You don’t even recognize our trap, do you?” Redi interrupted.

Sam froze as he reached for his next Pokéball, and Redi was smiling regardless of Wyrdeer’s condition. It was injured and burned, and it was wholly visible. Barely any smoke remained on the field.

“So... Let’s see. This is going to be your third Pokémon you’re sending out, right, Sam?” she asked. “You know that I’m still on my first, right? Yeah, we get seven switches for this match, but how many are you planning to use just to take out one Pokémon?”

She smiled at him.

“Sam, I’ll tell you now that I’m never going to switch,” Redi declared. “See, that’s my strategy for this battle! A bad match-up might be bad, but we’ll still always pull something off. Returning an injured or burned or paralyzed opponent is why all of your last opponents lost. Your team is pretty great at finishing off weakened Pokémon, right?”

Sam gritted his teeth, and Redi continued her taunts.

“I’m not going to let you do that. I’m going to force you to grind down all of my Pokémon, one at a time,” she said with a teasing smile. “Feel free to set up whatever you want, and feel free to switch as many times as you can. But each time you do something like that, that’s another one of your Pokémon tired out, and that’s even more resources you’re using just to take out one of mine.”

The field felt utterly silent even as the audience was lost to cheers. Redi’s speech had bought her enough time for the Smokescreen to now only be the faintest of whispers above the field.

All of Redi’s teeth were exposed in a grin, and Sam stood there, just taking in Redi’s words.

He had his strategy. Redi would give him that. But she was purposefully telling him this to give him too much freedom.

He could do whatever he wanted to take out her first few Pokémon—but then, what would happen after that? He would do too much too quickly. He wouldn’t be in a position to finish off her healthy Pokémon at the end.

And she’s revealed all of that just to psych me out.

The worst part about this is that her taunts are working.

Silently, Sam threw a Pokéball forward. It was only after his Pokémon appeared that he gave their name of, “Gengar.”

Unfortunately, unlike Mismagius, Gengar didn’t have Levitate. Redi knew that. In the resulting match-up, Wyrdeer fought primarily with Earthquake to try to catch and take him out.

However, Gengar outranged Wyrdeers just by floating upwards, but he wasn’t immune to Ground Type moves. When Redi changed her orders to call for Wyrdeer to start using “Earth Power” instead, he ended up being clipped a few times, but he was at least slightly better at taking special hits than anything physical.

Redi didn’t bother with Safeguard; Wyrdeer was already burned. The heat seared into its body slowly ate away at it, and Gengar managed to throw it off a bit more with a Confuse Ray.

In the end, none of Gengar’s Acid Sprays mattered. The battle became one of evasion and defense. To finish off this match-up, Wyrdeer took a bit more damage, but it ultimately fainted due to its burn.

With that, Sam secured the first knock-out of the match, but it left a sour taste in his mouth. He had used two switches and three Pokémon to take it out, and the rest of Redi’s team were entirely untouched.

Even with that faint, he couldn’t ignore that his team was currently worse off. He could tell for a fact that Redi was prepared for this. This whole time, in every match she went through without majorly relying on switching, it had all been practice for this one match—for this one counter.

“Kangaskhan,” Redi said after she recalled her fainted Wyrdeer.

As this appeared, Sam grimaced. This was the worst-case scenario; Kangaskhan was the perfect counter to Gengar. Between its Early Bird preventing sleep, its Normal Type making it immune to Ghost Type attacks, and its Scrappy letting it hit Ghosts, Gengar could do little to it, but Kangaskhan was able to do whatever it wanted in return.

Sam was prepared to return Gengar here, as much as he disliked using another switch. However, right as he grabbed Gengar’s Pokéball—

“Actually, nah. This’d be too easy,” Redi said. “Kangaskhan, return.”

As her Pokémon disappeared, Sam felt his jaw drop. Gengar burst into laughter.

And, across from them, Redi sent them a grin.

“Dragonair!” she shouted instead.

Sam then spoke to Gengar as fast as he could.

“It has Shed Skin, speed, and powerful Dragon Type attacks. It can control the wind and weather,” Sam told his Pokémon in warning. “Except, Shed Skin isn’t as reliable as Early Bird, so—”

“Thunder Wave,” Redi ordered.

“Hypnosis!” Sam countered.

He didn’t expect this condition to last long, but out of every Pokémon on Redi’s team, this was her only Pokémon capable of being damaged with Hex.

Lunging, Dragonair swam through the air to race toward Gengar, and Gengar eagerly met the Dragon Type head-on. He lowered himself, taking up a pose akin to a wrestler, and as Dragonair hurtled herself right at him, she tried to jerk to the side for a fly-by Thunder Wave, but his eyes flashed at the perfect time to send her falling to the floor instead.

However, though Dragonair’s sleeping form meant she fell and slid across the ground, the electricity had already been building in her body, and it exploded out to catch Gengar off guard.

The crackling energy paralyzed him, but Dragonair landed close enough that he could still move. Quickly, he jumped through that tension to reach toward his opponent’s head with his hands. As much as Hex would deal damage, it was as if Gengar could read Sam’s mind—right now, he needed to regather some energy with Dream Eater.

“Do it!” Sam yelled.

Sleeping, Dragonair squirmed as Gengar slurped up her dreams like noodles, and as expected, her eyes quickly snapped open. She practically burst through a thin layer of shed scales she left behind—using its Shed Skin ability quite literally—and Gengar flew back to avoid her.

Except, he was paralyzed. He might have healed himself, but right now, Dragonair was faster.

“Dragon Tail!”

Gengar’s eyes widened as the back of Dragonair’s body snapped out to slam into his chest. Her tail threw him across the field, the nature of this move saw him return to his Pokéball—Dragon Tail always forced a switch.

Sam had wanted to win here with Gengar, but now, he couldn’t do that without sending out a different Pokémon first.

“So how do you like that?!” Redi called out. “A taste of your own medicine! An injured and paralyzed Pokémon in your back pocket that you’re eventually going to have to send back out against us.”

“Gengar managed to heal with Dream Eater,” Sam pointed out.

“But not by much. Dragonair woke up quickly,” Redi said. “Look me in the eyes and tell me he’s perfectly healthy.”

Sam couldn’t.

Despite suffering from the Dream Eater, Dragonair looked no worse for wear, and she pulled herself back to hover above Redi’s side of the field. Her serpentine body moved back and forth as if to maintain her position underwater, and not even the air itself was disturbed. A faint glow from the gemstone on her neck spoke of the mystical nature of her fight, and as Sam watched her, he suddenly understood a simple concept.

If he wanted to defeat Dragonair without overextending, just like how Ghosts attracted Ghosts, you needed a Dragon to fight a Dragon.

“Drakloak!” Sam named.

His Pokémon got halfway through her initial before stopping herself upon settling her eyes on her opponent. Sam’s instincts had been correct; Dragon Types liked to be in charge. They desired it, specifically. While Drakloak might not have the strongest member of his team, she was the strongest Dragon Type on it, and seeing Dragonair here made her want to prove exactly that.

Right now, Drakloak would fight harder than ever before, but the side effect was that Dragonair would do the same.

“Agility. Outspeed it,” Sam said, remembering what Xaiver had once said. “Use whatever attacks you can, and keep in mind that Dreepy is great for distractions!”

“You know what? Nah. This’ll be easy. Dragonair, you already know what to do,” Redi ordered.

Unlike Drakloak, Dragonair had been trained in a Gym around dozens of other Dragon Types. She already knew how to fight against another Pokémon that shared her Type.

But Sam knew that was her flaw—she had never fought a Drakloak before, and she had prepared for the wrong kind of Dragon Types.

Immediately, both serpentine Dragons rushed one another with a use of Agility, and they slid across each other’s scales without dealing damage just to test one another in the air. They flew past and curved around to aim themselves for another clash in the sky.

Drakloak charged again, but she launched Dreepy ahead of her for a Dragon Pulse. Dragonair’s wings flapped on the sides of her head, and a Twister formed to catch him and send him hurtling away.

Dragonair and Drakloak neared, and they both pulsed for a Thunder Wave. However, the opposing energies of this move negated one another, and neither Pokémon suffered from the other’s attack.

“Dragon Pulse. Twice over,” Sam ordered.

“Bash right through with Dragon Rush!” Redi yelled.

Dreepy returned to Drakloak’s head with a use of Quick Attack, and he was sent right back out immediately after. Drakloak chased his attack while rushing Dragonair so that any repeated, defensive use of Twister would give her an opening to hit Dragonair in his place.

Quickly, Dragonair countered by covering herself in similar Dragon Type energy, just as Redi had ordered. Her Dragon Rush carried her forward, and at the very last moment, she spun to the side to let Dreepy hurtle right past her.

However, Sam had already expected this after seeing how Dragonair was fighting earlier. Redi’s Dragon Type wasn’t prepared for the second Dragon Pulse that had been hidden by Dreepy, and it crashed into her head-on.

Immediately, Dragonair started to careen out of control, her Dragon Rush carrying her forward regardless of what she might have liked. Drakloak initially chuckled at the motion, but her eyes widened when she saw Dragonair hurtle right at her.

She tried to flee, but the out-of-control Dragonair reached her.

Both Pokémon crashed into the ground.

With that impact, dust and dirt were thrown up into the air in a cloud. Dreepy lingered over them, looking down and trying to see if it was safe to return to his sister.

After a few seconds, the cloud slowly settled, and two forms became visible within.

Dragonair and Drakloak were both incredibly injured, but neither of them wanted to give up this fight.

“Double Hit!” Sam shouted as Dreepy returned to Drakloak.

“Extreme Speed!” Redi yelled for a counter.

“It can’t damage you with that! Focus on attacking when it gets close!”

“Try to breathe out for a Dragon Rage when it attacks!” Redi yelled.

“Paralyze it then!”

“No, you paralyze it then!”

Despite the exchange of commands, counter-commands, and counter-counter-commands, nothing happened on the field.

Dragonair and Drakloak had locked eyes, and neither Pokémon was willing to look away.

“...Dragonair?” Redi asked.

“Dreepy, is your sister okay?” Sam called out.

Dreepy squeaked and tried to tap on Drakloak’s head to get her to snap out of it, but she didn’t do anything, and just like her opponent, she refused to lose this “game.”

They were Dragons, the rulers of the skies, and they both faced a challenger to their claim. At no time had either of them truly had the advantage, and more than anything else, they instinctively wanted to prove that they were stronger.

...But there was more to them than just that desire. Both of them were strong, experienced Pokémon. Drakloak had spent years with her brother on her own in Galar, and Dragonair might have been young, but she had trained under a Dragon Type Gym Leader before being handed to Redi.

Dragon Types needed a great deal of experience to reach their final stage, but with the extent that Sam and Redi had been pushing their teams—

Faced with an opponent they both wanted more than anything to defeat, the two Pokémon finally broke away from their stares just to let out loud cries.

And dual, white lights completely overtook the field.

Sam couldn’t hear anyone. The audience’s cheers were far too overwhelming for any other noise to get through. Redi was the same, and just like Sam, she was forced to bring up an arm to cover her eyes.

Though the light was blinding, silhouettes were visible. Half-present forms changed within.

Dragonair’s body expanded outwards, and her tail seemed to shrink. She gained short arms and legs as well as wings on her back, and antennae stretched out from her growing head.

Drakloak, meanwhile, stayed mostly the same, but her form changed to be more, well, her. Her tail thickened and lengthened. The sides of her head stretched. Her entire being became one designed for speed, and her opponent’s became one designed for force.

When the two lights broke, a pair of pseudo-Legendary Pokémon faced off. A bright orange Dragonite grinned at her opponent, and a slithering Dragapult hissed at her foe.

Still, the arena was too loud for Sam or Redi to be able to give any commands.

But that was alright.

No command would have worked anyway. The two Pokémon on the field wanted to prove their strength themselves.

Dragonite rotated her newly obtained arms to get used to them, and Dreepy crawled over to climb into one of the two innate launchers on Dragapult’s head.

There was still so much more of the match to get through, but right now, these Pokémon had reached a second wind with their evolution and planned to make full use of that.

Sam would get his wish to face Redi’s Pokémon without a switch, but if Dragapult lost—

No. There’s no use thinking about that. She’s caught up well. She’ll win no matter what.

This was no longer a battle of a trainer’s skill. This would be a battle of how well the two of them had trained their Pokémon. For this part of the match, at least, he and Redi would only be able to hang back. The outcome of this exchange would be solely up to the two pseudo-Legendary Dragon Types on the field.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

I cheated in this chapter. The Stantler line cannot learn Safeguard. HOWEVER, if you’re willing to step back about 22 years, there is one way to get a Stantler that knows the move.

The New York Pokémon Center held an event in 2003 that handed out a Stantler that knew Safeguard. Why? I don’t know, but I’m using that as an excuse for why Redi’s Wyrdeer knows it, even though I prefer to stick to canon movesets.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Dragonair / Dragonite
Kangaskhan
Ursaluna
Wyrdeer

Previous Chapter
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Chapter 169 - Interlude

“Do you believe in fate? No. Of course, you don't. You've always been one to believe in the sanctity of choice. That’s been your guiding principle for years, hasn’t it?”

Mr. Pokémon leaned back in his chair.

“Truthfully, I'm in the same boat. The idea of some greater force that defines our actions is completely ridiculous. Our decisions are not predetermined. Nothing limits the choices we make or the paths we follow. Our world is solely determined by the whims, dreams, and desires of those who live in it, but we can’t ignore the underlying patterns, either.”

...

“Indeed,” he laughed. “You have a personal experience with this, don’t you?”

“Fate is... a curious concept. A dictating force that guides us toward an inevitable future. The idea that no meeting is accidental. The belief that no encounter occurs on chance alone. The thought that all discoveries were eventually meant to happen, and that all events had already always been written down.”

“But in reality, it is less a mystical force and more of a confluence of many factors. Coincidence. Chance. Fortune. Want. Everything grouped together as people search for meaning in their lives.”

A voice spoke on the other side of the phone, and he hummed as he listened to the reply.

“...Meaning, hm?” Mr. Pokémon asked softly. “That reminds me—do you know what my latest sponsored trainer told me? See, she evolved her Pokémon at the edge of a route instead of within one of my labs. She told me that she had to do it there because it ‘didn’t feel right,’ otherwise. That there wasn’t enough ‘meaning to it’ if she just kept trying to evolve her Pokémon within a ‘dusty old lab.’”

“Hah!” Mr. Pokémon let out a merry laugh alongside his friend’s. “She says that, but she doesn’t realize the true implications of what she did. She seemed worried that I’d be upset—me, upset!—that she evolved her Pokémon without us, but that does not matter to me! What matters is that she proved that it was possible, and what matters is that she managed to achieve the results we sought in a matter of months rather than years.”

“Meaning, indeed,” he mused.

...

“Yes, yes. I agree,” he said, sitting up and quickly scribbling something onto a note on his desk. “Our duty as researchers is to prove why and how over what, but you can't blame me for being curious. Knowledge is meant to be shared, after all. So, I ask this: did she have a point? That the meaning behind our actions is more important than the intention? That, through her Pokémon's evolution, she has provided a piece of evidence to suggest our methodologies are flawed and that our research will get nowhere without being supported by some greater belief?”

The silence stretched out into a tense nothing.

A voice spoke up on the other side.

“I see,” Mr. Pokémon said. “Like I said, fate is a ridiculous concept, but there is at least a modicum of truth to it. I do not believe our actions are defined by fate; rather, I believe our actions are what define fate itself. Think of it as this—a Psychic Type’s predictions do not mandate what we do, they only tell us of our most likely possibility. A prophecy does not always hold true, and multiple interpretations frequently prove to be correct.”

“Thus, what I believe is that the true power we hold is the power of belief, and that our belief is something real and quantifiable. People. Pokémon. Friendship. Instinct. If my memory isn’t failing me, I even remember one fellow over in Kalos attempting to research exactly that?”

...

“Ah. I’m not surprised you felt that, too. That strange shiver from a few months ago,” he said to his friend. “Yes, I’ve been waiting for the right moment. I plan to make an attempt once this is all over, but I doubt he’ll accept. Just from the basic reports I’ve seen, he’ll likely be flooded with offers soon enough. But it does make you wonder, does it not? To see what choice he’ll make? To see the kind of people he decides to meet?”

“I’ll be keeping an eye on him, just like how I keep an eye on so many others. I look forward to the choices he ends up—”

Mr. Pokémon paused as a chuckle entered his ears.

A mischievous grin crept onto his face.

“Oh-ho? You know something about him, do you? Of course, you of all people would already be aware of someone like that. I do wish you luck on your own attempts, but—”

...

Mr. Pokémon checked the clock, and then he laughed.

“Yes, yes. It’s late. I should head to bed as well. I do appreciate these talks of ours, and I wish you luck on your research. Have a good night, Professor. I hope you enjoy the rest of the Conference.”

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

“What do they have that we don’t? How come they get to move on, and not us? We have just as much of a right to be here as they do!”

The table shook as Edgar slammed his drink down onto its surface. He wasn’t old enough for anything interesting to be in it, and it lacked a certain bite he had tasted once or twice before, but man, did he just want it to have something... else.

“They’re moving on because they beat us,” a despondent voice grumbled. “Losers can’t proceed in the Conference. Only winners can.”

Cassandra didn’t bring up her head. She kept her cheek pressed against the table. She stared at the advertisement-laden plastic cup containing berry punch from the party, and the short laugh she let out didn’t quite match the immediate festivities’ mood.

It was only them at this table, and they had joined each other through chance alone. No one was around them, and no one else seemed willing to approach. Everyone was already grouped with their friends. Pokémon were out, people were laughing, and this block party continued on—all the while, an infuriating pair of trainers talked and celebrated together on the other side of the street.

“If I knew he was going to pull out some crazy move like Blast Burn, I wouldn’t have given him any advice,” Edgar sniffed. “I thought he was about to lose, so I figured he deserved at least a bit of sympathy, y'know?”

“But no!” he shouted. “He had to go and absolutely dominate his opponent—and don’t give me that look! You know it was an easy win! He went into that battle expecting that outcome! That smile he wore.. The cocky grin he had on the whole time... Argh! Just remembering it makes me ticked off!”

He took another swig of his drink, and he slammed it back onto the table. Cassandra was jostled around as the surface shook beneath her.

Quietly, she pushed out her lips to try to grab a long straw hanging off the side of her cup. The red liquid of her drink spiraled through loops and dizzying shapes before eventually reaching her mouth.

The suctioning noise it made echoed around them.

“It’s always new trainers,” Edgar said with a scowl. “It's always the new trainers that get the most attention. Every other person in this competition is some big sponsored guy or the like, so everyone is talking about the two that stand out. Flip to any news channel, and their names will eventually come up. They have to be in the, what, five most talked about competitors? All because they got lucky and got further in the Conference than they should’ve been able to.”

He grumbled and tried to take another sip, but his drink was empty. Cassandra let her straw drop, but she didn’t bring up her head.

“Three of them,” she mumbled.

“Three of what?” Edgar asked, sending his conversation partner a look. He pitied her—this entire party, and no one else was approaching her. She wasn’t even trying to befriend her Pokémon like he was.

Unless, of course, she already has them befriended. Unless, of course, she didn’t make the same mistake as him.

“There are three of those new trainers left, not two,” Cassandra mumbled. “Out of the sixteen people still in the Conference, you have Sam, Redi, and some freak named Victor.”

Just hearing those two names made Edgar scowl again, and he returned to glaring at the pair celebrating across the street.

The boy, Sam, seemed to notice his stare, and Edgar hurriedly schooled his expression into something more polite. When Sam waved, he did his best to reply with a friendly wave right back.

But his scowl returned as soon as Sam looked away.

And then a whine came from across from Edgar.

“I had a strategy!” Cassandra suddenly wailed. “How was I supposed to know she’d randomly evolve her Pokémon overnight? How was I supposed to know she’d have some crazy new species, or that she’d use some super-advanced strategy no one has ever used before?”

“I should have won. It’s not fair,” Cassandra grumbled to herself. “I did everything I could have done to get ready for this Conference—including befriending the Blackthorn Clan. As a Fairy Type trainer! And don’t give me that look—what are they going to do? Take away their help? I’ve already trained my team, and I doubt they care about some loser who just got eliminated from the Conference anyway.”

She held back a sob.

“Those two suck,” Edgar muttered. “I hate them.”

“Agreed. They’re just... the worst,” Cassandra said.

“What do they have that we don’t?”

“Good teams? Knowledge? Experience?” she offered. “The support of basically an entire region at this point?”

Edgar couldn’t stand it anymore, and he slammed his hands onto the table. He wanted to walk over and get more juice, but of course, those two had to be right in front of the free-food table.

He sat back down.

“And the only reason they even got to be as strong as they are is because they’ve been traveling together, apparently!” he hissed under his breath. “They didn’t have to travel alone. They got to go through the entire region and constantly have a training partner! They never had to hunt down other trainers or enter tournaments or take on a bunch of jobs just to get some experience!”

He exhaled, and Cassandra mournfully closed her eyes. Her voice was filled with sorrow when she spoke next.

“If I had the chance to do something like that,” she said, “I wouldn’t have taken it for granted. I would have trained every day, and my Pokémon would have been way more prepared. My team would have crushed the entire Conference. It would have been us standing at the top.”

“I know what you mean,” Edgar mumbled, thirsty as he stared into the last dregs in his glass. “If I had a training partner, I would have gotten a lot farther in than just the second round.”

They went silent. The block party’s music was a constant beat around them. Other trainers spoke and laughed as part of animated conversations, and no one else paid attention to them.

No one else but each other.

Suddenly, both of them looked up to stare at one another in the eyes.

“Hold on,” they said in unison.

From there, Edgar was the one to speak first.

“Hey,” he said. “Do you want to get out of here?”

“And go on a journey together?” Cassandra finished for him, an energy returning to her voice.

“Exactly!” he said, and this time, when his hands slammed onto the table, it was out of excitement and not desperation. “We’re both strong, but we’ve both made mistakes. If we want to get stronger—”

“Then what better way to get stronger than to get stronger together!” Cassandra said, expression brightening as she brought up her head.

They were in agreement; who better to take advantage of for training than the pathetic person in front of them? They both tried to hide the nasty grins that appeared on their faces as they clasped arms to seal this pact.

“Edgar,” Edgar said to introduce himself.

“Cassandra—and I know who you are. I invited you to my party.”

“Oh yeah. Right.”

It didn’t matter how strong those other trainers were. They only got where they were due to sheer chance alone. But them? The truly skilled people? They would fight to learn from their mistakes, and, together, they could fix everything they’d messed up in the past.

Next year’s Conference wouldn’t know what hit it.

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

The League didn’t have a headquarters in Silver Town, but it did have several office buildings and dedicated centers to support the Conference and how Johto itself was run. The Indigo Plateau was located in the dead center between the two regions, with its location having been purposefully chosen to help facilitate the running of both Kanto and Johto. However, no one could lie and say it didn’t have a Kanto lean. Though the Indigo Plateau was meant to serve both, Silver Town was the real center for managing Johto.

It was for that reason Morty was familiar with the town. He’d been here a few times, and he knew where he was going as he walked around.

It was deep in the night around him, and people were passively ignoring his presence. They were too busy walking and talking and enjoying the city to pay attention to one man in a completely different outfit than his usual Gym Leader uniform. The people who did recognize him only did so on a passing glance, and anyone else who gave him a closer look at least also recognized it was better to leave alone a Gym Leader on his night off.

Unbothered, he was able to visit a cozy little bar in the far back of the city, a small place only really frequented by a few Ace Trainers and the members of the League in the know. Morty only knew this place via the recommendation of a long-retired Ace Trainer, one of the people who had once worked under the old Ecruteak Gym Leader before him. Honestly, the establishment seemed pretty seedy, but given just how many members of the League visited the place, it wasn’t anywhere where anything illegal could go on.

“Just this. Thanks,” he said, taking the provided drink from the bar as he looked up at the news playing on the TV. Right now, he just wanted to relax for a bit, and what better place to do so than somewhere he’d go undisturbed?

“...a wild Conference this year, already!” a newscaster’s voice buzzed from the screen. “The sheer number of new moves and Pokémon being demonstrated has been causing quite a stir. Most notable has been Tatsuhiko’s Electivire, a crowd favorite and current expected winner, but we can’t forget Meredith’s Ursaluna, whose presence has caused quite the storm in Sinnoh’s historical research community!”

Morty smiled to himself as he waited for the real purpose of this segment to come up, and the topic changed to the point he’d been wanting it to make. Surprisingly, the channel had managed to secure an interview with the head researcher of all things Sinnoh. Somehow, they had managed to catch Professor Carolina herself right as she was returning to Sinnoh’s Celestic Town.

“Seeing a live Hisuian Typhlosion was quite the surprise, of course,” she said, calmly answering the television’s question without even an ounce of surprise on her face. “Most have thought those evolutions were impossible, and almost all species from old Hisui haven’t been seen in decades. But the presence of that Typhlosion and even the Ursaluna has brought old questions back to the table. While I doubt anything will change anytime soon, I wouldn’t be surprised if more focus is spent on Sinnoh’s Underground in search of more Hisuian relics and artifacts.

“But while I appreciate the enthusiasm,” she continued, “I doubt there’s anything that special under there.”

As Morty watched the broadcast continue, appreciating this rare moment to have some quiet time to himself, he didn’t miss the cool presence sliding onto a seat next to him. An uncomfortable grunt came out as the person’s bottom hit the relatively hard surface of a metal stool.

He sent them a glance, but they doggedly stared at the screen. They waved a hand to try to get the bartender’s attention, failed, and then had one of their Ghost Types grab a bottle from behind the counter to serve themselves, instead.

“It’s nice to see you, too, Agatha,” Morty said.

“Oh, shush, you. You know why I’m here.”

Morty held back a laugh as he sipped at his drink. Agatha scowled while grabbing a clean glass that didn’t quite look right in her hand.

“I offered him an apprenticeship,” she said outright. Morty almost choked. “And do you know what he said to that? He turned me down. He told me to my face that an apprenticeship under me wouldn’t let him be the kind of trainer that he wanted to be.”

Agatha wore such a genuine scowl on her face that Morty struggled not to laugh. Except, he was also stuck still trying to process what she had said.

An apprenticeship? For Sam? With Agatha, of all people?

“He really—”

“Yes. He did,” she hissed, interrupting him. “So know that if he turned down my offer, he’ll turn down yours as well.”

As much as Morty wanted to chuckle at her misfortune, he went silent. He didn’t expect to be read so easily, and he certainly didn’t expect her to already know his plans.

Yes, he had planned to offer Sam a spot as one of his Gym Trainers once the Conference was over, but he had really thought—

“Ugh. I should have expected that,” he grumbled. “As much as I wanted to pretend that wouldn’t be the case, Sam isn’t the kind of person who’d want to be tied down.”

“At least for now,” Agatha muttered. She tried to take a sip of her drink, but she immediately gagged at the taste.

“But I’m not here about that infuriating child,” she said. “He’s far too carefree about his decisions. He doesn’t have the kind of stubbornness needed to properly train Ghost Type Pokémon. He might have his tricks, but he’s not anyone worth giving any more thought.”

Wow. She must really like him to talk about him that much.

“No, unfortunately, I’m here for a much more distasteful reason.” She shuffled on her stool to look at Morty. “I’m here solely due to your upcoming battle against Lance.”

Slowly, Morty put his drink down. This was not Agatha, fellow Ghost Type trainer and another person interested in Sam, but Agatha, one of the most experienced trainers in Indigo and an active member of its Elite Four.

“How well have you been keeping your ear to the ground?” she said to him. “How much have you heard about the response to this... modified competition?”

“Not much,” Morty answered honestly. He kept his voice low as they talked. “The reception seems to be pretty good. Other than the usual complaints from traditionalists, most trainers are just happy to have the chance to compete.”

“There are some that are happy, yes, but there are others who are... less than pleased. There are people,” she spat, as if to specifically choose that word to imply they weren’t worthy of being called trainers, “who are bitter about their loss and are willing to hear the offers provided by those who should be ignored.”

The quiet of the room weighed on Morty. It hit him then that there wasn’t really anyone else around. Voices from the television spoke about next season’s test to earn a Starter Pokémon from a Professor, but it was truthfully just background noise for them.

“There are whispers about that bitterness growing,” Agatha continued. “As much as Lance is using this Conference to recruit, others are doing the same.”

“Surely not here?”

“Discussion is different than action, and what better place to have a conversation than right under the League’s nose?”

Suddenly, the aftertaste of Morty’s drink became sour.

“Do you know who?” he whispered.

“No,” Agatha said, and she shuffled back around. “Like I said, it’s only been discussion and whispers. I do my job, but I am getting old. I sought out that boy for an apprenticeship for a reason.”

As Morty stared into his drink, he couldn’t help but ask, “Is that why you approached me?”

“You? Hah! We couldn’t be more different people! You, with an apprenticeship under me?”

Briefly, she was lost to cackles.

“...You don’t have to laugh so hard,” Morty mumbled.

“No, no. I need the malleability of youth in my apprentice, and you... You’re far too set in your ways,” she said without even an ounce of irony in her voice. “No. I’ve come to ask a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yes. I’ll tell you this: whatever you’re planning to do to defeat Lance, it won’t be enough.”

Morty chose not to speak.

“The threat is growing throughout Indigo,” Agatha whispered. “Lance believes he has them contained to Kanto, but it’s only a matter of time before their tendrils slip through. There have been rumblings in Vermillion. Celadon. From a certain mansion in Cinnabar.” She scowled. “Lance is growing lax. I need someone to remind him not to fall into habit.”

“So, I need you to push him,” Agatha said to Morty. “Not just fight him. Prove to him that he’s not safe in his position. Fight him with every possible strategy and every possible underhanded tactic. Prove to him that no matter how comfortable he is at the top, he won’t remain the strongest forever.”

“I will,” Morty promised.

“Will you, now?” Agatha replied, looking over to stare at him with a single open eye. “Because it sounds to me like you’ll only be doing the same thing you already had planned. Tell me, now that you’ve heard my request, how much do you actually plan to change about your strategy?”

Morty opened his mouth, but he had nothing, and Agatha smirked at his total non-answer.

“Right, then. Follow me,” she said, hopping off her stool and grabbing her cane. “I might be old, but I have experience. Come with me, and I’ll show you a few of my tricks.”

“But I—”

“Tut, tut. No arguing. I’m in a good mood right now, so I’ll help you practice as well as I can. You can be a clever boy if you try. So, listen to me, and we’ll ensure that Lance is put in his place.”

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Xavier had sponsorship offers.

He wandered through the city with a thick folder in his hands.

He had a lot of sponsorship offers, and he didn't know what to think about that.

He’d been eliminated from the tournament—handily, in his opinion. It didn’t matter how close the battle was. He had lost, which meant he hadn’t won. But, though he was eliminated, it also meant a certain pressure in his chest had been eliminated as well, and he was free to accept any sponsorship that was passed his way.

And there were a bunch.

Ever since he had bothered to look through the folder the nurse had handed him that afternoon, he felt as though he had existed solely in a daze. People and Pokémon passed him, but he paid them no mind. In his hands was a massive list of investors and companies trying to sponsor him due to his achievements, and not because of anything his parents had done.

At times, he swore he could actually feel himself smile.

There were so many different entities out there that wanted to attach themselves to his name. Some just wanted him to enter a tournament while using their product, and some wanted one of his Pokémon to hold a specialty item in battle—a specialty item that he would receive for free. He could get so many rare goods, vitamins, medicines, and other products all in exchange just for a bit of publicity. There were even offers from people trying to hire him as a tutor! Him! He could be responsible for the preparatory training of a trainer’s first Pokémon, the same kind of training that Phanpy and Yanma had once gone through.

It was a bittersweet feeling, knowing that all of these options were open to him only now. Yet, as he wandered through Silver Town with no destination in mind, he couldn’t help but think—

Is this really what I want to do?

Every potential offer sent his way was exactly what he’d been waiting for: proof. It was proof that he was on the right path, proof that he was making a name for himself without anyone else’s influence, and there was something about that that was oh-so freeing about having this massive amount of options before him.

And, as those thoughts filled his mind, he ignored his PokéGear ringing in his pocket. It had been going off sporadically, but there was no sense in answering what would have been a meaningless call.

“Are you going to get that?”

Xavier almost jumped, but instead, he stopped himself and sent a slow look to the woman who had snuck up on him. He almost didn’t recognize her at first, but a Delcatty meowed from where it was pressing against her legs, and there was enough familiarity to her face for him to notice the family resemblance.

“You’re... Sam’s mother,” he said.

“Amanda,” she said to introduce herself, holding out her hand. “I’ve been looking for you all afternoon—all night, at this point!”

“O-okay.”

Slowly, he shook her hand.

His PokéGear rang again, and Amanda cocked an eyebrow, sending his pocket a look. Trying his best not to grimace, Xavier pulled it out only to see the expected name listed on the screen.

[HOME]

Seeing that word made his gut twist.

“Why not turn it off?”

“Because...”

Because I like not picking up. Because I enjoy knowing they're wasting their time. Because I want them to know that I’m purposefully not answering.

He stared at that glowing word, and he didn’t realize he was scowling until he heard Amanda ask him a question.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m—” Xavier cleared his throat. “I’m fine.”

He quickly hit the power button, shutting off the device. Silence echoed out, and he shoved his PokéGear back into his pocket even as the woman silently took him in.

Then, he looked up in realization, finally understanding just who was standing in front of him. He had already begun blurting out a question before he even realized what he was doing.

“Can I ask something about Sam?”

Amanda blinked at the sudden turnaround, but she still smiled and gave him a kind nod.

“Alright, but let’s go on a walk. It beats having a conversation in the middle of a busy street, don’t you think?”

Xavier tried his best not to blush.

Soon, he found himself meandering down that same path near where Sam had found him earlier in the day. Hills covered by wild plants sloped down at the path’s side, and he had a perfect view of the untamed wilderness that surrounded Silver Town, all of it lit up by the moon's soft light.

“You’ve always supported Sam, and Sam has his friends,” Xavier said to the woman who was his rival’s mother. “No matter what he did, he always acted so... confident. Except... I want to know. What was his life like back home? What— How did he live when he wasn’t on his journey?”

For a second, it seemed like Sam’s mom wanted to make some kind of joke, but she just breathed out and brought her head back to look up at the stars.

“It was just me and him back home,” she answered. “Me, him, Delcatty, and Cyndaquil—and now there’s also Sableye, Skully, and Shuppy. We lived close to my father, his grandfather, back in Dewford Town, and it was a quiet life. But Sam always wanted more, and then... his grandfather passed.”

“And his father?” Xavier asked.

A long silence stretched out after that.

“He passed as well. Before Sam could even remember him. He was a Pokémon Ranger. There was a landslide on Route 116. He...” she breathed out.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. It happened a long time ago,” she said, an unrecognizable tone to her voice. “The landslide got him and one of his Pokémon. Most of his team stayed with the League to carry on his dream and legacy of helping others, and Delcatty was with him at the time. But she was always my Pokémon first and foremost, so she returned home to stay with me and help with Sam.”

“I’d already been in contact with my father at the time, so we moved to be closer to him in Dewford Town from Rustboro,” she continued. “I was a bit tired of Pokémon battling, especially with my husband’s passing. So, I threw myself into chasing my dream. I’d always wanted to run a bookstore. Sam lived with me in my little shop. It was nice, but it just wasn't for him.”

“So he inherited his father’s good nature,” Xavier mused.

Amanda looked at him.

“Sure. You could say that,” she said.

They idled down the path, and Xavier was deep in thought. Their speed was slow—neither of them had anywhere to be. They were only walking to talk and to take in the sights.

“I’m sorry,” Xavier said. “You searched me out to ask something, but I asked you a question first. Did you need something? Is there anything I can help you with?”

Hearing that, Amanda went on to laugh.

“Oh, no. It’s fine. I just wanted to check in with you, but I also heard you might be interested in visiting Hoenn? I know it’s sudden, but I just wanted to ask—how much thought have you put into coming to our home region?”

Xavier sent her a glance, but he didn’t have an answer. However, that seemed to be fine; she wasn’t done speaking just yet.

“I know you’re probably flush with offers, especially with the size of that folder you have. I also know you probably have your own plans as well, but I just wanted to bring you one more possibility. How would you like a different kind of sponsorship?” she asked. “One that comes from me?”

As she finished her offer, Xavier had to stop walking just so he could stare.

And seeing his expression, Amanda laughed again.

“Sorry, I should have been more specific!” she said cheerfully. “I can’t really afford to give you much, if any, financial support. But someone brought up the idea of expansion to me recently, and while I can’t say I’m that interested in expanding out of region, I am interested in maybe opening one or two more stores within Hoenn.”

“I have a few connections, but I need someone to go out and do a bit of hands-on research for me,” she explained. “I need to know more before making any investments or opening a new bookstore. Location, people, trends—all things I can’t access from my little shop in Dewford. So I just wanted to ask if you’d be interested in helping me with something like that. Go on a bit of exploration through Hoenn on my behalf?”

“You’re not going to ask Sam?” Xavier said.

Amanda replied with a bittersweet smile.

“I would love to ask my son for help, but I can’t. Not because he would say no, but because I know he would say yes. I can’t do that to him. He would feel too much responsibility. I was glad when he branched out to come here to Johto instead of staying back home, but yet...” She looked up at the sky again. “I can’t say Hoenn is where his future lies.”

Xavier stayed quiet. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

Then, Amanda’s eyes suddenly widened in realization when she seemed to remember who he was.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I went off on a bit of a tangent there—and I haven’t even told you what you’d get in return! Like I said, I can’t offer you financial benefits, but I do have a decent number of connections throughout the region. I might only have a small bookstore, but I’m great at reaching out to others. Anything I do on my own would take too long, but I can offer you access to an entire other side of Hoenn that you wouldn’t experience otherwise if you decide to take my offer.”

“I... see,” Xavier said.

For a while, Xavier wasn’t able to find the words to speak. He couldn’t say this was an offer he ever expected to get—but he honestly couldn’t say he expected to get any sponsorship, as unreasonable as that was. He always felt so bound by everything else going on that the possibility of people wanting him to represent them felt—

Well, it didn't feel like anything. It had simply never been a possibility in his mind.

“My parents work for Silph Co,” he said. “They’re higher-ups in the company.”

“So?” Amanda asked. “I’m not giving this offer to them. I’m giving this offer to you, Xavier.”

Just like Amanda had done earlier, Xavier found himself bringing his head back to stare up at the stars. The thick packet felt light in his hands, and for everything those offers represented, he wasn’t sure if accepting them was really what he desired.

He didn’t care for money. At this point, he already had all the reputation he needed, as well. He had also won enough tournaments to have a healthy, personal bank account, one that was completely separate from his parents. If he went on with his journey, he could last through an entire other season without earning anything else. Even if he “retired,” he had enough money left to maybe support his team for a few more years on his own.

Financial benefits were meaningless to him. Same for most items. But it wasn’t like Amanda was offering him any of that. Instead, she was giving him a chance to see something completely new, to experience something he wouldn’t get to experience otherwise.

Honestly, he was pretty sure he preferred that idea over every other offer he’d received so far.

“Okay,” Xavier said, “I accept.”

Amanda blinked at him.

“Huh? No you don’t.”

“...What?” Xavier asked, completely bewildered.

“Do you really think I’m going to accept such a quick decision? No way, young man! Sleep on it! Spend a few days thinking about it! Actually weigh your options instead of agreeing to something so important with such an impulsive choice!”

“O-okay. S-sure?”

“But thank you!” And, before he knew it, Xavier was swept up into a hug. “I really appreciate your willingness to accept so quickly, but make sure to give this some proper thought first, alright?”

“A-alright,” he repeated.

She went on to smile at him, and then she let him go to walk him back to the Pokémon Center.

It wasn’t until he was back in his rented bedroom that Xavier realized he needed to wipe his eyes.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

The battle starts next chapter.

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 168

Author Note:

This chapter has been edited and reworked as of July 1st.

=======================================================================

Typhlosion could barely stand. Even now, facing the very last opponent for this fight, she wobbled in place. The only reason she wasn't falling unconscious was due to sheer adrenaline. If she didn't do at least something to maintain that, she was going to fall.

But her opponent was a baby Pokémon.

A Togepi.

It seemed like such a simple knock-out that Sam couldn't help but be suspicious.

He was confident that he had seen a Togepi before, but his memories of it were slim. He couldn’t remember if it had been Brock or Misty with that baby Pokémon back in Ilex Forest. Both seemed to have the heart needed to care for one so dearly, but Sam had been a bit scatterbrained back then. He couldn’t say he had been focused on them, nor could he say he had been in the best mental state.

Here, Xavier’s Togepi wasn’t being protectively carried in someone’s arms. Instead, it was out on the field on its own, prepared to fight despite its small stature. Rocking side to side, it finally managed to return to its feet after falling from its previous practice punch. Once standing, it threw another arm forward for what had to be a Pound, and it just barely managed to maintain its balance to not fall to the ground.

It had no clue about Typhlosion’s immunities. Its Normal Type Pound would do nothing to the Ghost Type Typhlosion. Yet, the Togepi just chirped, prepared to battle. It wore a determined expression on its face that didn’t quite match its small size.

Also, it was sweating. Already. Just the lingering heat from Typhlosion’s previous attack was making it tired.

Sam only knew anything about Togepi thanks to his read-throughs of the New Pokédex. The threat the Pokémon posed was nil, yet Sam stared. A certain entry from early on in Togepi’s learnset came to mind.

It can learn Metronome.

His heart was already pounding in his chest, but he felt its beat pick up. Even with the vast difference in strength, he could still lose here. It didn’t matter how strong his final Pokémon was compared to Xavier’s; a Metronome could randomly call up something just strong enough to finish off Typhlosion.

But not even a second had passed. Sam’s mind was drowning in far too many disparate thoughts. He looked to the referee for the match to continue. Yet, as he looked over, he managed to catch the very last expression he'd ever expect to see on Xavier's face right now.

A smile.

“Resume the battle!” the referee shouted.

Despite the difference in strength, Sam didn't hesitate to give Typhlosion a command. Some would be upset at him for calling for an attack against a baby Pokémon so readily, but this was the Conference. This was how battles worked. Xavier wouldn’t have released Togepi unaware of that, and even with everything going on, Sam wanted more than anything else to win.

“Flamethrower!”

Typhlosion inhaled, but her move never finished. Instead, she was stopped by Togepi.

Not because it shut her down, but simply because she became far too bewildered by Xavier’s command to actually follow through.

“Use Growl!”

Togepi squeaked.

This move was nothing. It wasn't even an attack. And the noise Togepi released made it sound like a child trying to protest a punishment. The Growl even lacked any Normal Type energy to it. It was the most basic of basic attacks, unable to subject Typhlosion to anything but noise.

However, she still choked on the flames of her move because of that.

“Peck!” Xavier called out next.

Togepi charged, dashing toward Typhlosion. Its run was lopsided, its balance still horrible, but no one would ever be able to deny its hustle.

It closed in on her, taking a dozen seconds to get halfway across the field. Sam took one look at its incoming pace and gave Typhlosion the order she needed to hear.

“Just... step to the side.”

Togepi wasn't able to control its momentum enough to change directions as Typhlosion dragged her feet to shift to the left when it got close.

“And pin it,” Sam said.

A few groans came from the audience as Typhlosion flopped forward. She had to use three of her limbs just to keep herself up, but she was able to push Togepi with her free paw to press it against the ground.

Immediately, Togepi squeaked in alarm and fell, and the difference in both size and strength saw the egg-shaped Pokémon squirm under the pressure. Stomach on the floor, it wiggled, trying to escape, but it possessed not even a single thought of using any move to assist its attempts at freedom.

Thus, now was the moment of truth: was Xavier going to call for a Metronome or not? Sam knew that a Flamethrower or even just an Ember could win him the fight here, but he didn't want to risk calling for it.

Typhlosion was exhausted, and he needed her to be ready with a Detect, just in case.

The arena was silent. Though no words were shared, everyone seemed to lean in just to watch this outcome. Despite how unknown Togepi was as a species, there was a palpable expectation in the air that people thought there was something it could do.

Sam held his breath.

Xavier watched his wiggling Pokémon.

Typhlosion breathed heavily, but she was in tune with Sam enough to have her Detect ready, understanding his plan.

But as the seconds ticked by, no shout for Metronome ever came. Togepi just continued to squirm and wiggle and fail to escape Typhlosion's grip.

Finally, Sam turned to the side of the field and locked eyes with the referee. The older man nodded, recognizing the need to make a call.

Xavier sighed.

No more orders were shared.

With that exhale, he acknowledged his defeat.

“Togepi is unable to battle!” came the referee’s announcement. “Trainer Xavier has no more usable Pokémon! Trainer Samuel wins!”

Togepi might have been conscious, but it couldn't move, and Typhlosion had every contingency covered. Detect, a defense she'd already demonstrated, could save her from any attack, and she had enough speed and power left even in her exhausted state that she could properly faint this Togepi if she needed to.

But she didn't.

Though the audience roared even after such a “simple” end to the match, Sam watched as Xavier gained a gentle smile on his face even after his defeat. Togepi, unaware of the situation, was still struggling in its attempts to escape. Its expression briefly turned elated when the pressure on its shell disappeared, but that was just due to Sam recalling his exhausted Typhlosion.

And then, that expression disappeared when Togepi was returned as well.

It had taken everything from Sam to win this battle. Every Pokémon. Every trick. Specifically, everything they expected to need to use against Xavier. The only things Sam had held back were the things that he knew wouldn't help. He still had one or two unrevealed moves on his team, but that had only happened because they hadn't felt necessary.

Overall, even with Typhlosion's final Blast Burn knockout, Gengar had been the MVP of this match. After Annihilape's faint, Gengar had frustrated Xavier’s Noctowl just enough to let Sam’s side regain their momentum.

And somehow, they had used that inch to pull off a win.

Approaching the side of the field to shake Xavier's hand, Sam could see that the other trainer was still staring at Togepi's Pokéball. Xavier’s expression was bittersweet, but it seemed to lack a certain heaviness to it even with his loss.

“Thank you,” came Xavier’s voice, but he wasn't speaking to Sam. “Togepi. You were brilliant. A bit more, and you would have won.”

He clipped the ball back to his belt, looked up, and met Sam at the side of the field.

“Good battle,” Xavier said.

“Yeah. Good battle,” Sam repeated, staring Xavier in the eye. “Xavier, are you sure you—”

“Not here. Not now.”

Sam frowned but still nodded, and they split off and waved to the crowd. The amount of attention on Sam almost felt overwhelming, but he was proud. This battle was his proof that no matter the opponent, his team would inevitably stand at the top.

He would be moving on to the next round, and that thought echoed throughout his mind.

He had won.

Against Xavier.

Achieving that made it feel as though he had already conquered the entire Conference, but someone else was still due to win alongside him. However, Sam couldn’t focus on her just yet.

As he walked toward the tunnel that led off the field, Sam sent one last look over his shoulder, checking on Xaiver before they both disappeared into the building. And, upon laying his eyes on the other trainer, Xavier looked strange.

Unlike every other time he had left the battlefield in this Conference, Xavier held his head high. Even though he had lost, his gaze was no longer on the arena floor.

_______________________________________________________________________

“Why did you send out Togepi?” 

Sam found Xavier again later in the day. At this point, both of their teams had had the chance to be healed. Time had passed, but matches were still going on. Sam knew that he should have been watching them to take more notes, but after spending days doing exactly that, he couldn’t bring himself to continue with his current level of exhaustion.

Besides, he had already stuck around for just long enough to see Redi win.

“You asked,” Xavier answered Sam, and the other boy didn’t bother to look up at him. “You wanted me to send out my sixth Pokémon, so that's what I did.”

Breathing out, Sam deposited himself next to Xavier on this park’s small hillside. They were hardly within the bounds of the city itself, making this place exceptionally quiet. Though it was technically a park, there were no public battlefields set up for practice. All there was was nature stretching out into the distance and a small, hillside path meant for people to pass by and take in the view.

No one else was out here.

It was peaceful.

Quiet.

The only movement came from the wind rustling the foliage and Xavier’s Pokémon below.

Sam could see Xavier’s Noctowl perched on a rock, its eyes closed as it ignored the Honchkrow attempting to scoot closer to it. A Yanmega rested at the edge of a small pond, and within that pond, a Poliwrath floated on its back and stared up at the sky.

Then, in a flat section of grass between those two pairs, Xavier’s Donphan walked in small circles. It slowly defended itself with its trunk while a certain Togepi tried its best to land punches as part of a “spar.”

Despite its overwhelming loss earlier, the tiny Pokémon looked no less cheerful. More than eager to practice, Togepi tried to land blow after blow against the Donphan’s tusks, but its weak Pounds only ever landed when the Donphan let them.

Still, it cheered after every success. Sam had never seen such a bright smile on a Pokémon’s face.

“Have you trained your Togepi?” he found himself asking. He hadn’t realized it, but minutes had passed. Neither he nor Xavier had spoken while watching the ongoing practice.

“No,” Xavier answered, “I haven’t.”

He then leaned back, and he looked more relaxed than Sam had ever seen him before.

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t want to train her,” Xavier said. “Because she hatched on my team, and because she deserves to be happy. I didn’t want to put any unfair pressure on her. I wanted her to be comfortable, and I wanted her to have a pleasant life.”

He let out a single laugh, and it was a bittersweet noise. Genuinely, Sam was unable to tell if Xavier was glad or full of regret.

“But,” he continued, his voice soft, “I might have just been projecting. I didn’t want her to experience harsh expectations like that. But battling isn’t pressure. Not for a Pokémon. If I had just stopped and recognized that she wanted to fight, if I had trained her even slightly, then she would have been able to do something. In the end, that was what cost us the match.”

Despite his words, Xavier was smiling, and he adjusted his lean to bring up his head, holding it with interlaced fingers so he could better watch his Pokémon. At a certain point, his Honchkrow’s advances became too irritating for his Noctowl, and the owl Pokémon flew over to land on the Donphan’s back. She started to hoot out small bits of advice to the Togepi, and the baby Pokémon giggled while trying to follow whatever it was hearing.

Xavier continued to speak.

“My parents are... I’d call them complicated,” he said, keeping his voice perfectly neutral. “They’re busy. Always working. Constantly occupied with the tasks given to them by their roles in the company. They’re always... somewhere else, and if they cared, that never showed.”

A laugh.

“I’d get gifts. Tutors. Training. Presents and so many other things, but when it came to showing up in person... All I ever got was expectation.”

“They pressured you?” Sam asked. It made sense, given what Xavier had said about Togepi.

But Xavier shook his head for the negative, moving to sit up uncomfortably.

“It was more that they only ever said anything when I achieved something, and if I failed, then the next time I’d see them, I’d get a thin look and a disapproving comment,” he said, his voice quiet as if he wanted to whisper. “I think I just wanted them to say something. To be proud of something I did on my own and recognize that more than just a thing attached to them. I wanted them to talk to me themselves and not just send me messages through the people they hired.”

Sam could barely comprehend that kind of life, but then he thought of the person he had seen in the hallway before their match.

“People they hire?” he repeated.

“Maids. Servants. Assistants.” Xavier waved him off, speaking of the topic as if it was nothing but idle fact. “It says a lot about my parents when I mention that their staff rotated out frequently. But those workers were the same ones who first trained Yanma and Phanpy. After all, my parents wanted to give me a ‘gift’ to start my journey. Trainers like trained Pokémon, right? If I wanted to be a trainer, why would I ever want to train them myself when I could just efficiently skip that process and pay someone else to do it?”

Scowling, Xavier wrapped his arms around his legs.

“They thought I’d eventually stop wanting to be a trainer. They thought it was just a fleeting interest. But I wanted...” A spark entered his eyes as he stared at his Pokémon. “But I wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted to be a trainer. I wanted to train the two Pokémon they gave me, make them my own, and then reach the top despite their attempts to give me their gifts.”

“I wanted to take what they gave me and make a proper team and prove that I could be someone,” Xavier said. “And that’s... probably why I was so mean to you on that boat.”

He looked over to Sam.

“Sorry. Again,” he said. “When you told me your Cyndaquil was a gift, I assumed you were the exact kind of trainer I hated. Someone being carried along by gifts from their family rather than through any effort of their own.”

Sam heard Xavier’s words, and he went quiet in thought. Not because of anything Xavier had said or done, but because Xavier had touched on a point that he’d been thinking about for quite some time recently.

“You weren’t wrong,” Sam mumbled.

It was rare for Xavier to look so bothered, but as Sam said that, the other boy actually looked offended on Sam’s behalf.

“No,” Xavier snapped out. “I’ve seen how you fight. I’ve seen how your Pokémon act. There’s no way you were being carried—”

“It’s not that,” Sam interrupted. “I have a book. An... old Pokédex.”

He had to take a moment to breathe in before he could say the next part.

“When my grandfather passed, he left me a book,” Sam whispered. “A book that contained a lot of rare and impossible information. Stuff that no one else knew, and stuff that let me get as far as I did.”

Xavier frowned, but Sam continued on before the other boy could speak.

“I definitely had advantages from my family that let me get farther than I would have on my own. I think I would have made it to the Conference no matter what, but my team wouldn’t have been as developed or have as many tricks if it wasn’t for all of the special moves we knew. It even let me make a connection to Morty, of all people, and he’s been a big help. But a Pokédex only has—”

“It only has information,” Xavier said for him.

“Yeah,” Sam replied, sighing. “That Pokédex wasn’t what spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours training and practicing. That Pokédex didn’t spend hours every night talking and planning with my team. That Pokédex didn’t visit so many libraries to continue research, and that Pokédex didn’t travel all across Johto just to find ways to ensure my Pokémon could evolve.”

Gaining a small smile, Sam looked up at the sky, and he thought of just about every moment he’d ever had with his team.

“My grandfather’s Pokédex let me skip a few steps, but I never took that information for granted. We didn’t just float along and let all of that knowledge carry us on its own. We had a starting point that no one else had, but that starting point would have meant nothing if we didn’t put in work. It was an advantage, yeah, but it was an advantage that we fought to make ours.”

“Kind of like how my team started out,” Xavier said quietly after giving a moment for Sam’s words to rest. “And... Hm. That explains why you helped me with Yanmega.”

“I helped you with Yanmega?” Sam asked, sitting up.

“You told me their evolution method,” Xavier replied flatly. “At least, you confirmed it for me.”

“No?”

“You did,” Xavier countered, frowning at Sam. He took a second to give his words some thought. “You outright told me Yanmega’s evolution method back when you were going after Trevenant. Although, I shouldn’t be surprised that you don’t remember. You said it as an aside rather than as an attempt to give legitimate advice.”

He then paused for a moment.

“And I also suppose that book would explain all the evolutions on your team,” Xavier continued.

Sam shrugged, humming noncommittally. He knew that was probably true for Annihilape’s evolution, but he had the strangest feeling that he would have done enough research to learn of Hisuian Typhlosion eventually. And, that kind of research would have likely brought him to Morty, too. The New Pokédex had let him skip a few steps, but it wasn’t the sole reason for his team’s success.

Xavier didn’t say anything else, and he cast his gaze into the distance. His stare was nonspecific, and he wasn’t directly watching his Pokémon anymore. Instead, he was staring out into the forest past the edge of Silver Town, and Sam could see that he was staring straight at the trees.

With that look, Sam was able to tell exactly what Xavier was thinking about:

That one moment in the woods, when they were going after Trevenant. The moment when a certain Quilava had done her best to help and lit up an entire burned grove, giving her the chance to finally evolve into a Hisuian Typhlosion.

“I’ve had a lot of time to consider it,” Sam said, finding himself talking once more, but he was speaking to himself more than he was speaking to Xavier. “I got a lot out of the New Pokédex, a lot that most people would never get the chance to have. I know that kind of knowledge is an advantage, but I also can’t stomach keeping all of that to ourselves forever. When I get the chance to do it properly, I’m going to share my grandfather’s book—and soon. It’s too much to keep secret. More people deserve to know what’s in it. More people deserve to have a better start.”

Xavier’s gaze flicked back to him, and then he raised an eyebrow.

“But you’re waiting until after the Conference?” Xavier asked, incredulous.

To that, Sam let out a genuine laugh, and he couldn’t help but try to defend himself.

“Hey! I train Ghost Types! I’m allowed to be a bit selfish!”

And then Xavier laughed, too.

Neither of them had anything else to say from there. And soon, below, Xavier’s Togepi let out a sudden, excited chirp. It pulled back its arm from where it had landed a Pound against one of Donphan’s tusks, and it stared at a small mark, the tiniest scuff possible, located right where it had struck with its fist.

The Donphan said its name in congratulations, and a smile was obvious in its voice. With its praise, the rest of Xavier’s team excitedly sent Togepi their congratulations. Xavier didn’t hesitate to stand up, and he hurriedly shuffled down the hill to join his team, crouching right next to that baby Pokémon.

“You’re amazing, Togepi,” he said proudly.

Togepi looked up, its eyes watered, and it jumped right at him to embrace his chest in a hug. The sudden leap was enough of a shock that Xavier fell back, but he just laughed and laughed and laughed as his Togepi did its best to squeeze him in return.

“Thank you,” he breathed. “Thank you for being a part of my team. And... Thank you, too, Sam.”

Still holding Togepi, Xavier sat up so he could look at where Sam was sitting. There was half a hill between them, but it was quiet enough out here that Sam could hear Xavier without any trouble.

“I’m glad I lost to you,” Xavier said. “Winning would have— No, I can’t even imagine what winning would have done to me. But I don’t need to worry about that. I don’t need to worry about any of that. I don’t need to think about the tournament any longer, and all I need to do is keep going and keep training my team.”

He paused briefly

“...And I should probably find some way to keep supporting them. And go through that packet the nurse gave me. And find some way to set up everything so we can keep traveling together, I should also...”

He held up his Togepi.

“I should also make sure somebody finally learns how to battle.”

To that, his Togepi chirped excitedly.

As Xavier’s team moved to surround him, Sam chuckled at the scene. He considered what Xaiver had just said, and as he did, a certain plan started to form in his mind.

“You know,” Sam started, watching the Togepi giggle as Xavier held it in the air. “Rustboro City in Hoenn has some pretty great schools that can help with that kind of stuff. If you want to keep going, but if you really want to get some distance between you and your parents...”

He let his words trail off as Xavier went on to hum.

“Hoenn, huh?” Xavier mumbled. “I was thinking of taking on Kanto next, but now that you mention it, Hoenn doesn’t sound bad.”

He looked up at Sam.

“Tell me more.”

Xavier’s time in the Conference might have been over, but his journey would continue, and he was better off for it.

As for Sam, he had more matches and more preparation to get through, but right now, he needed to start focusing on a certain trainer set to fight him next.

_______________________________________________________________________

That night, Sam stood in the Pokémon Center lobby and waited to hear the news he already knew. With his Pokémon so exhausted, he was alone where he leaned against the wall, and he was alone when the screens above the main counter changed to show the next matchups taking place.

Above his head, the monitor displayed the matchups set for the incredible group of trainers that had somehow made it into the top sixteen. As a first-year trainer, his position was unfeasible, practically untenable to some. Other trainers in the room sent him envious looks when they recognized him as they walked past. An incredibly small number of trainers ever made it this far—literally only sixteen out of hundreds—and it was even rarer that any of them were trainers without at least one other Conference under their belt.

But this year, there were at least two of them.

Sam knew he could partially attribute his team’s victories to the New Pokédex, but he wasn’t going to dismiss his team’s efforts like that. He couldn't argue that the information within that aged book had helped him, but he and his Pokémon had spent so long fighting just to get to this moment. This was something they had been waiting for all season, and as he saw the grinning picture of who he was about to fight, he supposed he could have been surprised, or upset, or annoyed, or anything else.

But he didn’t feel any of that. He would be facing Redi. He only felt excited.

“Sam,” a voice suddenly said. “You look tired.”

...Okay, so Sam might have felt tired as well.

Redi walked out of a hallway that connected deeper into the building, yawning as she approached and looking just as drained as Sam. As she walked up to him, she didn't spare even a single glance at the hanging screens. She just leaned on the wall a foot away, and just like him, she seemed to already know exactly who she was about to face.

“Yeah, I guess I’m a bit tired,” Sam admitted with a slight laugh. “It was a big battle today. A heavy battle.”

“When isn't it heavy when it comes to that guy?” Redi said lightly, laughing as well.

She was quiet, and they spent a minute just standing there, appreciating one another's company. However, Redi had come out here for a reason, and she spoke up before too much time had passed.

“I guess I could make some big statement,” she said quietly. “I could cause some big, dramatic scene about how it sucks to have a battle against a friend. We spent so long traveling together only to split off at the end. And now we're here. Back together. About to have a battle in the Conference, and about to...”

Her words trailed off. Her smile faded. Sam stated the conclusion she was about to make on her behalf.

“One of us will be eliminated from the Conference tomorrow,” he said. “There’s no fighting that.”

Slowly, Redi nodded her head.

There was so much they could have said, but they remained leaning against the wall.

“Do you remember the Beginner’s Tournament?” Sam asked after a little bit.

“I do,” Redi answered cautiously.

“It was our first tournament, and back then, you eliminated me.”

“...Sorry.”

“Pft. Please. Since I lost back then, it all works out. It’s only right that I get my revenge and eliminate you from the Conference tomorrow!”

Redi snapped her head toward Sam, openly gaping at him, but then she saw his mischievous smile.

Pushing off the wall to properly face him, she grinned in challenge, holding her arms behind her back.

“Oh, yeah? You really think that’s going to happen? If I beat you back then, then that’s precedent! It’s just proof that I can beat you again right now!”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ve learned. The Conference is all about facing adversity, which means I’ll beat you in return.”

Their eyes met, and the challenge was set.

But then, they both burst into laughter, recognizing how dumb this whole situation was.

“You know, even if I lose, I'd root for you,” one of them said.

“Yeah. I’d do the same.”

“But I’m going to win.”

“Huh? No, I’m going to win!”

They both snorted, and then they both laughed again, and then they both quietly watched everyone in the lobby move on with their lives. People chatted excitedly about matches they’d seen. Trainers who had lost mourned their elimination among friends. Nurses worked the main counter, taking and returning tired Pokémon.

Here, the heart of the Conference beat on. No one could claim that the tournament was over just yet.

“Well,” Redi eventually said, sending a glance out the windows, “I'm betting both of us already have plans made for our battle tomorrow. We could spend some more time strategizing on our own, or we could just... take the night off.”

“What are you thinking?” Sam asked.

“There’s this party in town tonight—an actual party, not a dumb one like Cassandra's. Some businesses are blocking off an entire street, and all of the competing trainers are invited to come,” she said. “So, I was thinking—”

“Want to go?” Sam interrupted.

A beat passed.

“I do,” Redi said quietly.

“Then let's do it!” Sam shouted. “Let’s go to that party! We could sit here all night and brood about our fight, or we could celebrate the end of the season! Make one more great memory. Have some fun before everything comes to an end, y’know?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Redi said as she exposed her teeth in a grin. “Let’s do this!”

“Let's,” Sam answered, following as she basically ran straight outside.

After spending so long watching every match and filling his journals with notes, Sam greatly welcomed this chance to relax. He and Redi would have their battle tomorrow, but there was no point in stressing about it just to enter it exhausted. Right now, it was better to take this time to rest and recover, and Redi had a point that he already had plans to fight her—Sam had an entire season’s worth of plans, just about.

So for now, he’d much prefer to focus on this party and celebrate everything that had happened in this season so far. And, once it became time for their match tomorrow, doing this would mean both of them would be in the best possible shape for a battle between friends.

But it wouldn’t be easy. Even after Xavier, Sam knew this would be his toughest battle yet. Though he would have plans for Redi, Redi would absolutely have plans for him.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Next chapter is an interlude. Sam has been pretty insulated from the wider world’s perspective due to his presence in the Conference. I’m planning to include three or four different perspectives to get a more outside view of what’s been going on.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Donphan
Honchkrow
Noctowl
Poliwrath
Togepi
Yanmega

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 167

The Honchkrow was a wraith, a spectre of Sam’s inevitable defeat. Darkness stuck to its feathers like tar, and energy drifted off its body like ash as it lifted itself back into the air and curved around to land before Xavier.

Trevenant, with a long gash in the bark of his chest, disappeared into red light. As he slowly clipped his Pokéball back to his belt, Sam spoke the sole question that entered his mind.

“Why?”

“Why, what?” Xavier repeated. “Do you mean why do this? Why send out Honchkrow? Or why Honchkrow wants revenge?”

Settling down in front of its trainer, the Honchkrow brought ira wings in just to leer at Sam. The weight of its piercing red gaze felt as though it stabbed into him, and its expression was filled with such malicious intent that it wouldn’t have been out of place on a malevolent spirit.

“Your Trevenant was the one to call Honchkrow to Route 43’s forest,” Xavier said, his voice lacking any emotion to it. “Honchkrow came because he owed Trevenant. Trevenant once brought him a berry to help with a broken wing. So, with Trevenant’s call, he answered, and he thought he would do something—actually achieve something—but all he got was... nothing. Nothing happened. All of that fanfare, and he was just forgotten. All of the other Pokémon might have been fine with it, but him? It ate away at him. He didn’t even get a thanks.”

“I’m sorry,” Sam said softly.

The Honchkrow tilted its hat to obscure its eyes, letting its expression disappear into its shade.

“Yeah. He knows. But it’s just...” Xavier clenched his fists. “Is it so wrong to want to feel important for once?”

His gaze turned to the field, and the way he gritted his teeth made Sam’s chest twist. However, that sight lasted for only a second, and Xavier’s stare was brought back to Sam as he waited for the battle to resume.

They still had a fight to get through.

Alright. Think, Sam, think! How do we counter a Pokémon with crazy strong moves? Trevenant can take a punishment, but Trevenant is—

He exhaled. Trevenant was unconscious. Honchkrow had taken him out in a single hit.

Destiny Bond is too obvious. Gengar and Mismagius are too vulnerable. Typhlosion and Drakloak are both injured, but Annihilape might be skilled enough. Except, he’s trained to take many hits, not single, super effective criticals. He could likely keep himself up, but a single move is barely going to do anything for him to let him enhance his Rage Fist.

Yet, weighing his options, Sam still chose Annihilape, but it wasn’t for his Pokémon’s strength. On the field before him, the hulking ape Pokémon let out a grunt as he appeared. Annihilape brought back his head back to glare at Honchkrow, and his growing rage made his hair rise and fade into smoky wisps.

“Curse,” Sam ordered.

To handle Honchkrow, his only options were to either avoid its attacks or limit the time it could spend in battle.

As a clawed shadow formed over Annihilape’s hand, he let his jagged fingers dig into his chest, and he was immediately struck by the pain of that Curse. Honchkrow was forced to pull up and back before swooping down for another hit.

For all of the intent it had to land another Night Slash, against Annihilape, getting close would be too much of a risk.

“Tailwind,” Xavier ordered instead.

A wind began to blow out from behind the Honchkrow as it flew. Its speed rapidly picked up. And, after his Curse-inflicted injury, Annihilape had to take a moment just to stabilize himself on the field.

The Honchkrow’s conjured winds were harsh, but they carried the Honchkrow along, making it move that much faster than before. However, there was a wobble to its path and a strain to the flaps of its wings—the Curse was eating at it, but Xavier didn’t let it last that long.

Honchkrow had already taken out one Pokémon, and now that its Tailwind was set up, the bird was pulled back off the field.

So Curse did make him return Honchkrow. It won’t be taking any further damage from Curse when it’s next sent out, but it’s at least no longer actively threatening us.

I’ll pretend that’s good.

We don’t need to deal with it just yet. Xavier has lost a bit of his momentum. We need to claim that for ourselves, except...

Sam bit the inside of his cheek. Honchkrow might have been gone, but the threat it carried was still there. Although he didn’t need to worry about it right now, it could still come back out later. He also still had to worry about every other Pokémon on Xavier’s team.

This was not an easy match.

As much as Sam wanted to laugh again, to show once more that this battle was fun, he couldn’t. Not after that. With Trevenant’s faint, Xavier had firmly established his ground. Sam needed to search for every possible opening and order his Pokémon perfectly if he wanted to win.

Replacing Honchkrow was Xavier’s Noctowl, and it appeared already flying in the air. Its wings caught the Honchkrow’s Tailwind, and that constant gust let it race ahead with great speed, the force following it even as it turned and changed directions.

“Foresight. Air Slash,” Xavier ordered.

“Rock Slide, Annihilape!” Sam shouted in return.

Eyes flashed. Noctowl identified Annihilape. His Ghost Type would be useless—and now it knew exactly where to aim as it flapped its wings for an Air Slash.

Terrifyingly, this move came out without making even a single sound. As it was composed of the air itself, it was also almost invisible, only barely present through the white-tinted arcs of the blades hurtling toward where Annihilape stood.

In reaction, Annihilape quickly shoved his arms into the ground, and he tore up the field before him. Dirt, compressed into stone with Rock Type energy, hurtled upwards toward both the attack and his foe.

Noctowl easily avoided the Rock Slide, but the hurtling stones disrupted its Air Slash.

Then, Sam had to make a decision.

“Return,” he said, trying not to let any of his nerves creep into his voice.

He’d had victories in the first two matchups of this fight, but his team had taken great sacrifices to achieve them. Poliwrath was burned, its physical potential greatly reduced, and Yanmega was now injured and paralyzed. However, in exchange, Typhlosion had become heavily injured, and Drakloak was nearly exhausted.

Simply put, Sam couldn’t afford another trade like that.

Instead, as he sent out his next Pokémon, cackles rang out, and Mimsagius let shadows erupt from behind her. An almost mocking grin crossed her face, and Noctowl’s eyes reflexively flashed for another Foresight.

“Confuse Ray. Night Shade. Will-O-Wisp,” Sam ordered.

The order of attacks felt nonsensical, but Mismagius knew what plan Sam meant.

Her arms twisted around her; she spun to release her moves. A surprise beam of illusions shot out to strike the flying Noctowl between the eyes, and darkness pulsed to surround her in a sphere. Then, like hornets leaving their nest, her flames broke through her Night Shade to race toward where the Noctowl was still in flight.

“Whirlwind,” Xavier ordered.

With a flap of its wings and a burst of wind, Mismagius’s flames all dissipated at once.

“Hyper Beam,” he said next.

“Hyper Beam!?” Sam repeated, barely able to believe his ears.

He roared for Mismagius to get out of there, and her sphere of shadows flicked back as she rushed to escape across the field. Distance would not provide cover, but it would provide time to react. And, she had a slight bit of saving grace: Noctowl was confused.

But that wasn’t true. Though her Confuse Ray had landed, Noctowl tracked her straight through her illusions.

Sam was so used to the weakened version of the move used in Chuck’s matches that he had completely forgotten Foresight let a Pokémon ignore forms of evasion. Confuse Ray was meant to solely confuse, but that wasn’t how his Pokémon were using it.

With perfect aim, Noctowl let the wind blow it higher into the air, and a sphere of light formed in front of its chest as it bent its wings. The sphere’s glow was almost blinding, but Sam could at least call for one thing:

“Power Gem!”

The two lasers struck.

Completely and utterly, the Hyper Beam consumed Mismagius’s Power Gem laser. Her ongoing Night Shade was burned away, and the power of Noctowl’s move made her cry out in pain.

But she wasn’t the only one hit. Her Power Gem had managed to pierce through. Though it had been consumed by the Hyper Beam, it had also stabbed through like a needle entering a straw. Just like how the Hyper Bam had consumed her, her Power Gem stabbed right at the Noctowl’s chest.

A coarse hoot left its throat; the super effective move had hurt. When the light of its Hyper Beam faded away, Mismagius was still up, breathing heavily, majorly wounded, the gemstone on her chest glinting in the field’s light as if to threaten another Power Gem.

As much as Sam wanted Mismagius to heal here, he couldn’t call for a Pain Split after that. Noctowl was too injured to make that work. Using it now would see little benefit, and all it would do would be to give Noctowl an opening to finish Mismagius off.

At least, there was a bright side to this situation—the Tailwind petered out.

Right now, Mismagius was faster.

Sam had a chance.

But instead, Noctowl just disappeared in a flash of light as Xavier returned his Pokémon.

“No!”

Sam didn’t realize he had shouted out that outburst until after it had left his throat.

If he had called for a Mean Look, Noctowl wouldn’t have escaped. Instead, using that move had never even entered his mind because it hadn’t seemed necessary.

No, that’s not true, Sam realized. I never had a chance to use it because barely any time passed. Xavier never gave Mismagius the freedom to use more than one attack.

“Donphan,” Xavier said as he chose his next Pokémon. His voice was flat and even. “Ice Shard.”

“Ice Shard?” Sam repeated.

It was an unfortunate, surprise move.

Shadow Sneak wouldn’t have worked; Ice Shard caught both Sam and Mismagius off guard. This completely healthy Donphan should have been the perfect chance for her to heal with Pain Split. Instead, a shard of ice formed in front of Donphan’s tusks, and before Mismagius could realize what was going on, the ice shot out with blinding speed to strike her in the chest.

After the Noctowl’s Hyper Beam, that was enough. The chip damage finished off Mismagius, and Sam’s team suffered the second knockout of the fight.

And we’re the only side with fainted Pokémon.

He didn’t miss that he was down two while Xavier still had his entire team.

Sam was losing.

Badly.

For every inch he’d managed to pry away, Xavier had carved himself a foot.

Not one Pokémon on Xavier’s team was a pushover, and Sam was struggling to recover his position. Breathing out, he was forced to take a moment to center himself, using the same strategy to calm down that had worked so many times before in the past. He couldn’t let this match get to his head, no matter how much Xavier felt like a towering figure in his mind.

Across from him, that same trainer was completely silent.

Xavier was a giant. A mountain-sized wall to cross and overcome.

But yet, Sam had already climbed a mountain once before, and Xavier’s current icy attitude was nothing compared to the peak’s bone-chilling winds.

“Alright. Enough of that! No getting stuck in a spiral! No getting consumed by defeat!” Sam shouted, slapping his own face. “Xavier! You’ve made some great moves in your favor, but that doesn’t mean much! This isn’t my battle to lose! It’s your battle to win!”

Xavier blinked.

“That’s not—”

“Yeah, I know,” Sam said flatly. “I was trying to imply that you still have to fight to win instead of just carrying yourself to victory, but, well...”

For some reason, he swore he could hear Redi laugh.

Still, he knew how to handle this Donphan. He just needed to take this moment to calm himself and choose a strategy.

His smile returning, one of his Pokémon made their second appearance.

Annihilape once again hit the field.

His Pokémon was breathing heavier due to the self-inflicted damage from Curse, but out of every Pokémon on Xavier’s team, his Donphan was the one Sam knew how to counter the most. And, with Annihilape’s appearance, both Pokémon stared off. There was an edge to their gaze, not quite hostility, but definitely a desire to fight.

Oh, yeah. They had a standoff in Azalea’s Pokémon Center, didn’t they?

Sam pointed forward in the same moment he heard Xavier give a command.

“Defense Curl. Rollout,” Xavier said.

But Sam knew those orders had just sealed his victory.

“Bulk Up.”

Clearly, Xavier had figured out how Rage Fist functioned. Sam had tried to keep its uses subtle, but Xavier had seen right through all of that. Though the move had only ever come out once, it was like Xavier had dissected that momented. He had his Donphan roll in rapid circles around Annihilape to build speed and force rather than use its move to attack with increasing power several times.

He was either doing that to avoid the strength increase of Rage Fist, or he was just waiting for Rollout to hit its peak before striking, anyway.

No matter what his reasoning was, both Pokémon had time to build themselves up. Pulling itself tight, the Donphan was a tire that left deeper and deeper grooves in the dirt. Annihilape, meanwhile, stayed in one place and watched. His eyes flicked around as he controlled his breathing, and he tracked his opponent while his blood began to pump.

Finally, Donphan was moving fast enough that it almost kicked up a sandstorm into the air.. A veritable sand tornado formed around Annihilape, and the Donphan leaped—

“Drain Punch!” Sam yelled.

With a crash, Annihilape’s fist slammed against the spinning wheel that was Donphan, and though his hand ground against the Pokémon’s attack, the ongoing spin did not halt. What did halt was the Rollout’s forward momentum. Donphan tried to dig into him, but Annihilape’s ongoing punch fought against that.

Then, slowly, red energy leeched off Donphan’s body and into Annihilape’s arm. With every drop that sank into him, his arm grew in size and strength, and a certain vitality returned to his face.

Eventually, he finished his punch.

With the sheer force of that follow-through, Donphan flew back, its Rollout interrupted, and it landed on the field, panting heavily.

Though he had not secured a faint, Annihilape looked better than ever before. He remained in that same spot he had stood when first sent out. Enhancing Drain Punch with Bulk Up meant the damage was enough to practically restore all of his health.

This was the combination that made an Annihilape so dangerous. Rage Fist was a finisher, not a primary attack. Every hit an Annihilape sustained built their rage to unleash in a finale, and Drain Punch gave them the healing needed to last as long as they could.

“So how do you like that, Xavier?!” Sam shouted. “Pretty great, right?”

Sam was smiling again, more than just proud of his Pokémon. Honestly, he hadn’t known if this would work; Drain Punch was only partially functional when they had left the Ilex Forest. Annihilape had practiced over the few weeks they spent there, but his focus was on Ghost Type moves. Drain Punch was very much a last-minute development, and it was Annihilape’s very final surprise.

I wanted to save at least one move for Redi, but at least we’re revealing it against Xavier and not anyone else. But this means Annihilape has shown off everything he knows. Other than a few basic strategies, he doesn’t have any secrets past this.

Out of everyone here, Sam felt as though he was the most tired. His Pokémon were fighting, but they were used to exhaustion. He wanted to win, and the stress was getting to him. Knowing that Drain Punch had landed so well helped a lot, and he and Annihilape waited for Xavier’s response—

But all they got was a sigh.

“Donphan, just... Finish it with Fissure.”

“What,” Sam said flatly.

Annihilape lunged, trying to reach where Donphan landed on the other side of the field before it could use this move, but his Drain Punch had simply knocked Donphan too far away. The heavy Pokémon in front of Xavier reared up on its feet only to slam down with its full body weight.

The impact sent a deep crack shooting out toward Annihilape, and the field opened up beneath him. It caught him off guard; his jump had not been long enough. Into that opening, he fell.

The two sides of the field then slammed shut.

Silence stretched out; the truth sank in.

Fissure had hit, and Fissure was a one-hit K.O. move.

“...You’ve never used that before,” Sam said.

“I’ve never needed to. I was saving it for a moment like this,” Xavier replied.

Donphan let its legs slam into the ground again, but this time, it wasn’t to attack. A pillar of earth broke through the floor to bring the fainted Annihilape back to the surface.

Sam had no words. He watched his unconscious Pokémon lie on the ground, remaining there without even a hint of motion to him. The referee’s face was tense yet blank—Annihilape didn’t look like he was breathing. But Sam wasn’t worried. He could tell his Pokémon was okay, just fainted. After all, Annihilape’s breathing tended to be incredibly light, and there were times he didn’t breathe at all when he slept.

Slowly, though his fainted Pokémon was still on the field, Sam felt the corners of his mouth twist up.

Before he knew it, a laugh escaped his throat.

After that, another.

And then, another.

Soon, Sam was laughing harder than he expected.

“This is a great battle! Your Pokémon are crazy strong!”

Sam had to clutch his stomach as he returned Annihilape, and he honestly wasn’t sure why he kept cackling. The audience mumbled, as if worried, and he could only imagine what they must have been seeing. Likely, a trainer, churning shadows underneath him, laughing madly at the scene in which his Pokémon had fainted.

Picturing that image just made him laugh harder, and Xavier scowled.

“Why?” Xavier snapped out. “What act like this?”

“Because,” Sam breathed, hardly believing what he was doing, himself, “I’ve been waiting all season for this. For a real battle. A proper one. One that I’ve been wanting to have since the very beginning, and one that’s a true, impossible challenge!”

Everyone would know his team’s strength now.

Sam’s heart was racing for so many different reasons. He was on the edge, on a cliff, and he could feel his blood pumping through his veins. For all of the times he’d been panicked in the past, for all of the times he’d been so worried, this was unquestionably the worst position he and his team had ever been in.

Yet, he knew his team had a chance. His Pokémon could still win.

“Gengar!” Sam roared, breaking through his laughter with a smile. “Hypnosis!”

“Rollout!” Xavier yelled for a counter..

Donphan hopped up to return to its wheel, and it hurtled itself across the field toward Gengar, but Gengar’s smile was as bright as Sam’s.

From the air, he zipped down to meet Donphan’s charge.

This powerful Rock Type move was a powerful Rock Type move, but that was only if it had time to build momentum. Gengar was not a strong, physical Pokémon, but he could at least take this bare minimum hit, and he let his arms phase into the Donphan’s sides to see the Pokémon come to a halt.

Donphan slid, genuinely shocked at the unexpected stall, and it looked up in obvious surprise.

And Gengar was right there, waiting for it, prepared for this moment he had set up.

With a Hypnosis, Donphan’s eyes rolled back into its head, and Xavier wasn’t able to return his Pokémon. This time around, Sam actually remembered to call for a Mean Look, and Donphan was stuck, defenseless, as Gengar laughed and bounced around it and ate away at its dreams.

“Donphan is unable to battle!” the referee called out after a minute. “Trainer Xavier, send out your next Pokémon!”

“That’s our first K.O.,” Sam said, still smiling.

“So what?” Xavier snapped.

“So, we’re about to clean up!” Sam replied.

Yanmega came out. Sam wasn’t sure why. What Xavier didn’t realize was that while Sam’s other team members had practiced the attack more, Gengar had figured out Hex first.

Deep purple flames washed out of his arms in a fan, and though a Bug Buzz disrupted most of them, Hex was practically Gengar’s secret weapon. He didn’t need the entire wisps to land, only their embers, and the second those spectral flakes landed on the Yanmega, it jerked around as they joined in with its paralysis to course right through it.

It fainted there.

“Yanmega is unable to battle!” the referee announced next. “Trainer Xavier, send out your next Pokémon!”

“Get at least one more, alright, Gengar?” Sam asked.

Gengar’s answer came alongside a merry laugh.

Xavier, gritting his teeth, practically tore his next Pokéball away from his belt. His Noctowl appeared here, and that Pokémon was almost the perfect counter. Between its Foresight, Normal Type, and Insomnia ability, most of what Gengar could do would be shut down.

But Gengar wouldn’t let himself be taken out without a fight.

He let himself fall onto the field, and his feet entered his own shadow. Like riding on a pair of roller skates, he slid back, laughing, even as the Noctowl chased him with silent blades of wind slicing off of its wings.

“Hyper Beam! No, Psychic!”

Xavier was getting frustrated.

“Shadow Ball!” Sam ordered.

“Why?!” Xavier shouted.

Tiny balls of darkness appeared in Gengar’s hands, and he tossed them up, but all they did was splash against the Normal Type Noctowl harmlessly without dealing damage.

Gengar laughed and laughed and laughed, and Noctowl was led on a merry chase around the entire field. Its attacks were ineffectual against the sheer agility he was displaying, and his own attacks seemed to do nothing but make it mad.

“Psychic!” Xavier shouted, his voice low and demanding.

Finally, Noctowl caught up, and a Psychic Type glow utterly encased Gengar.

He squirmed in its grip; this move was super effective. The telekinetic grab brought him off the floor and into the air, where the Noctowl almost seemed to delight in his pain.

But, through the move, Gengar’s smile returned, and he looked right at his opponent.

“There you go, Gengar,” Sam said quietly.

Noctowl wasn’t prepared for Gengar to suddenly spit acid right into its face.

Rather than drop Gengar, the Noctowl squeezed in surprise, and the Psychic Type attack finished off Sam’s Poison Type Pokémon. However, the Acid Spray left Noctowl screeching. The move had gotten into its eyes and was eating away at its special defense.

“Drakloak!” Sam yelled, his pair of Dragon Types appearing above the Noctowl. “Do it!”

Dreepy’s screams of delight were wonderful to hear. Though tired, Drakloak could still attack, and she sent her brother rocketing toward their opponent, with Dragon Type energy utterly encasing him.

Noctowl looked up too late.

Dreepy and his Dragon Pulse smashed right into its chest.

There, the referee called out one more time.

“Noctowl is unable to battle!” he announced, his voice carrying. “Trainer Xavier, please send out your next Pokémon!”

Silently, Xavier returned his Noctowl. That was three of his Pokémon fainting in such an incredibly short period of time. The audience was roaring. Their cheers pierced through the air.

Sam was honestly surprised when he realized that he hadn’t noticed them until now.

“You... Even after all this time, you’re fighting like this. Why?” Xavier asked.

“Because my Pokémon are my friends. Because I don’t let down my friends. Because I want to help people, and because you’re my friend, Xavier.”

Xavier sent out his Poliwrath, and there was an exchange. Sam hardly paid attention. He watched the other trainer’s face even as Xavier called for moves, but ultimately, another Hex caught it. Typhlosion had sacrificed a lot to make sure Poliwrath was burned.

And then, Xavier only had two Pokémon left. His Honchkrow, and one more.

He looked over the field and over Sam’s Pokémon. Dreepy sent him a loud, happy squeak, proud of his participation, but Drakloak looked to be on the verge of passing out.

“Night Slash,” Xavier ordered next, and his Honchkrow appeared as a shadow that rushed straight toward Drakloak.

Its attack was delivered with ferocity. Drakloak did not have the energy left to dodge.

She fell after Honchkrow’s wing swiped straight through her body. Dreepy grabbed his sister to try to save her before she fell out of the air, but Sam managed to return them both before they slammed into the floor.

The battle was left just like that, with Sam and Xavier facing off. The only Pokémon remaining on Sam’s team was Typhlosion, and she was injured enough to be in range of her Blaze.

For all of his successes, for all of his small victories, he was still in the worst position he’d ever been in his life. His entire team was unconscious save for one, and his final team member was on the verge of falling unconscious.

But yet, he smiled.

And Xavier asked again:

“Why?”

“Because I believe in you, and because I believe in my team,” Sam said. “And because I believe we’re going to win this battle, so I’ll say this:

“Typhlosion, use Blast Burn.”

As she appeared, her flames had never been brighter. Her will to battle had never been so intense. Atop the edge of the arena itself, the brazier with Ho-Oh’s flames burned, but for a moment, it was almost like Typhlosion’s purple light threatened to put them out.

She breathed, and her fire breathed. A volcano erupted from her back.

“Night Slash! Now!” Xavier screamed.

His Honchkrow dove right into her heat, a wing smashing across her chest.

That should have finished her off, but Typhlosion toughed it out because she and Sam were friends.

“LET’S DO THIS!” Sam roared.

“Get back, Honchkrow!” Xavier yelled in a complete panic.

No longer so confident, the crow Pokémon squawked and tried its best to get away, but Typhlosion’s dark flames consumed her, and she became an apparition that controlled the flood of fire that followed in her wake.

Briefly, the Honchkrow disappeared.

Barriers flashed around the field as fire consumed every visible space.

When they faded, all that was left was heat.

Typhlosion stood, barely conscious, and the Honchkrow was left twitching, smoking, and otherwise unmoving.

It had fainted.

“Honchkrow is unable to battle,” the referee said for one last time. “Trainer Xavier, send out your next Pokémon!”

He only had one left.

Xavier was silent as he returned his Honchkrow, and he solemnly clipped his Pokémon’s ball back to his belt. Typhlosion had the barest amount of stamina left, and she was continuing to stand through willpower alone. Blast Burn had taken practically everything out of her, and the sheer amount of energy used in that move meant she needed to take time to recover. As it stood, even a gentle breeze could finish her off.

Given Xavier had one more team member, the fate of this match boiled down to whether or not he sent it out.

Waiting, tense, Sam held his breath.

The arena seemed to go still.

“You did it. I can’t believe... You actually did it,” Xavier mumbled. “You told me to use my final Pokémon, and I—”

He laughed.

He laughed again.

For a while, he didn’t stop laughing.

Xavier’s reaction was one completely unlike him, and he looked almost as manic as Sam had felt before. His cackles echoed around the arena like a ghost’s, even as people in the crowd started to mutter in worry.

Xavier laughed for long enough that Typhlosion had time to recharge.

“Trainer Xavier!” the referee shouted. “Send out your next Pokémon!”

“I will!” Xavier said as he wiped an eye. “I just... I need a moment.”

He took one last breath in, and he grabbed a new Pokéball.

The Pokémon contained within appeared on the field.

Upon the audience laying their eyes on it, even more murmurs broke out, with these ones coming in confusion.

Other than Xavier, Sam was the only person here who recognized the species.

There, on the field, a small Pokémon with a pale body wrapped in an egg’s shell stood before Typhlosion. Defiant, it tried to punch to prove that it was ready, but doing so only made it fall onto its back.

“You’re kidding me,” Sam whispered to himself.

Xavier ignored him, and he silently watched his Pokémon rock back and forth as it struggled to return to its feet.

“...Trainer Xavier,” the referee said slowly, “What is this Pokémon?”

When Xavier spoke, he gave his answer singularly and confidently.

“Togepi,” he said.

And Sam knew there was no way that Xavier would win this battle.

========================================================================
Author Note:

As of Gen IV, Donphan learns Ice Shard as an Egg Move, and the Gen IV learnsets are the learnsets I use to determine the moves of the “powerful” trainers of this setting. In this time period, the average trainer tends to be stuck with Gen I / Gen II learnsets, but the more experienced trainers and the trainers more willing to learn get access to a greater variety of moves.

As two more quick comments, Typhlosion toughed it out as a reference to the games, specifically, the friendship / affection mechanics. With a strong enough bond with your Pokémon, they can withstand hits that’d otherwise knock them with the phrase “X toughed it out so you wouldn't feel sad!”

It’s happened a few times before in this fiction, but this is the first time I’ve ever written it so explicitly.

Finally, Togepi has been planned since the beginning, and I’ve tried to include several hints for it. The biggest hint I remember including was mentioning that Mr. Pokémon, alongside Professor Elm, was the one to donate the egg to the Beginner’s Tournament. That was meant to be a reference to how Mr. Pokémon is the source of the player’s Togepi egg in the games.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Donphan
Honchkrow
Noctowl
Poliwrath
Togepi
Yanmega

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 166

Author Note:

Apologies for such a late chapter. I’m operating on three hours of sleep, so revisions were tough. Please tell me if anything doesn’t make sense, or if there are any blatant mistakes!

The first part of this chapter received edits / rewrites on July 3rd, 2025.

=======================================================================

Sam was silent as Xavier failed to respond. The woman in the suit brought herself back up, sent him a polite nod, and then hurriedly turned to leave.

Xavier didn’t even watch her go. He just stared at the wall of the hallway before him. Sam stepped to the side to let her pass, but all of his attention was on his friend ahead of him.

“Xav—”

Sam didn’t even get to say Xavier’s name. Xavier just turned and stormed down the hallway. As fast as he could, Sam scrambled to catch up, running to chase after his friend.

“Xavier!” Sam shouted.

Finally, Xavier heard him, and the other trainer snapped around with a sharp reply of, “What?!”

However, when Xavier saw it was Sam, he froze and immediately schooled his expression. Sam caught up and stood across from his friend.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked. “I heard—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Xavier interrupted. “Don’t listen to anything she said. Focus on our match. I don’t care for anything you have to say.”

A scowl flashed over his face, but Sam stood defiantly despite that. Xavier’s feet were slightly pointed to begin walking away, but Sam refused to have things end like that here.

“I’ve been watching your battles,” Sam said to him, meeting Xavier in the eye. “Both the ones that happened here and the ones posted online. Xavier, you’re doing well, but you haven’t been acting the same. You still have the same confidence to your orders, but after every match, it’s like—”

“Why bring this up?” Xavier snapped.

Sam took a deep breath.

“Because we promised we would give it our all in our fight,” he told him. “Because, right now, that doesn’t feel like that’s going to happen. And I don’t want us to have a battle we’d regret.”

Xavier stared Sam in the eye before ultimately letting out a breath. He looked away. His next words came out muttered.

“You don’t think I can do that?” he asked. “Fight?”

And Sam just shook his head.

“No, I definitely think you can, but I can tell it wouldn’t happen in a way either of us would like. It almost seems you aren’t fighting to win your battles anymore. It’s more that you're fighting just to get through them. If I had to describe it as anything, it’s like..” Sam looked up. “Huh. Yeah. It’s like you’re fighting only to prove a point.”

A tense silence stretched out through the hallway. The corners of Xavier’s mouth twitched down for a frown.

“Everyone’s always trying to prove something,” he muttered.

He lowered his head, and Sam saw him clench his fists against crossed arms.

“Is this about what she—”

“You wouldn’t understand,” Xavier said tersely. “Unlike you, I didn’t get any support. You got to travel all through Johto with so many people at your back, and I...”

His sigh was a growl.

“All I ever got were messages telling me I needed to win.”

“But you’ve met people. You’ve made friends. You have a team,” Sam told him. “We finally have our battle coming up, and that battle is in the Conference!”

“I started my journey with two Pokémon given as ‘tokens’ and bluntly told ‘good luck,’” Xavier snapped. “If I want them to— Winning isn't an achievement. It’s a requirement. And, yes, I’m trying to prove a point. I’m trying to prove that I can do exactly that.”

Xavier tried to snarl, but all he did was grimace, and Sam watched as Xavier once again forced himself to look away.

“...So that’s why you’ve been acting so off. That’s why you haven’t been enjoying your battles.” Sam went quiet to think. “And then, is this why you never send out your sixth Pokémon? Because you think it’s weak? Because you think it won’t help you win?”

Vibrations came from beneath Sam’s feet. It was as if his Ghost Types were laughing at the blunt question.

And, in reply, something flashed across Xavier’s face. It was far too mixed for Sam to truly identify what it was—anger, acceptance, denial, worry—but he could at least recognize part of it.

As a Ghost Type specialist, he was rather adept at recognizing spite.

“Did you know there’s a bracket?” Xavier suddenly asked, and the way he snapped out the question caused Sam’s train of thought to come to an abrupt halt—an intentional move on Xavier’s part, if Sam had to guess.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Sam said, and he was willing to go along with the change in topic for now. “There can’t be a bracket. I mean, the match-ups might not be truly randomized, but they are still mostly—”

“Random?” Xavier finished for him, looking Sam in the eye. “They are. Of course they are random. But I should specify that they were random. The League wasn’t lying when they said each round was randomized, but they didn’t specify when that randomization occurred.”

Sam could put the clues together. There were always breaks between the final matches of the day and the next round’s announcement, but they could easily be just that—a break.

Okay. So that’s a weird trick, but it’s only a trick. From a competitor's perspective, there’s not much difference between a pre-made bracket and match-ups being randomized each round.

No, the weird part of this is that they didn’t tell us. And that, somehow, Xavier knows.

“So you’re saying that the Conference has been planned out since the start,” Sam said slowly. “How did you even learn this in the first place?”

Xavier waved a hand.

“The League likes to reward trainers who think outside of the box, and they also like to encourage trainers to ask for help,” he said, bitter. “I had a theory, so I asked a question, and then I was given a bracket containing the list of every future match.”

For a moment, Sam had to go silent just to process the implication.

“So you know—”

“Yes,” he answered. “I know the trainer one of us will be facing next.”

Sam’s thoughts were running a mile a minute. He almost forgot why he had come here in the first place. If Xavier was bringing this up to him, now of all times, then there was only one answer for who their next opponent would be.

Pushing off the wall, Xavier stood to properly face Sam. Though he was only slightly taller than him, the weight of his presence made him seem as though he was towering. Consuming. All-demanding.

Then, Xavier took a step forward.

“The bracket includes every possible match-up until the end, and I’ve checked to confirm that it’s held true for every round until now.” Xavier’s voice was low. “So, if it continues to hold true, then know this—the next trainer one of us will face will be your friend.”

“Redi,” Sam breathed.

“Exactly,” Xavier replied, and a far-too-familiar dark look reappeared on his face. “Redi. Your friend. Your traveling partner. If she wins, she’ll be the one to face the winner of our match. And I’ve seen her battle. She makes it easy. I already know exactly what I’d need to do to defeat her team.”

“Is this supposed to be a threat?” Sam asked quietly.

For the first time in this conversation, Xavier put on a smile.

It didn’t suit him.

“Her new evolution? That Ursaluna? Countering it is simple—just pin it down and slice it from range,” he said. “When Hyper Beam is used, block or dodge, and then take advantage of the recharge to attack and bypass its defense.

“Her Porygon?” Xavier continued. “It’s strong at range, but it struggles up close. It’s too easily overwhelmed in melee. With its perfect accuracy, you tank the hit to give yourself room to get close, and then you grapple it to stop it from escaping with Teleport.

“Her Dragonair? It’s cocky. It’ll be surprised if its speed is ever outmatched.

“Her Wyrdeer has experience, but that’s its weakness. It thinks that it knows all of the answers, so it’ll flounder when faced with something new.

“And finally, her Kangaskhan,” Xavier said, that false smile gone at this point. “She made a mistake bringing it here. All Kangaskhan have the same weakness, the same vulnerability. What she missed is how easy it is to target its—”

“Stop!” Sam didn’t mean to shout, but his voice came out in a yell, nonetheless. “I get it. I get it. You can beat Redi—or at least you think you can. You don’t need to lecture me about your plans. And, I get why you’re doing this. You’re trying to make yourself a villain. You’re trying to convince me that if I don’t beat you, then Redi will be out of the tournament as well.”

He went quiet for a moment.

“Xavier, do you really want to lose that badly?” Sam whispered.

Not answering, Xavier took a step back. Sam finally felt like he could breathe. Both of them glared at one another, though they both glared for very different reasons.

“So that’s your plan,” Sam said, continuing to speak softly. “That’s why you changed the topic so abruptly. You’re... Ugh. You’re frustrating. All of this was to distract me. You’re trying to win, but you also want an excuse for if you lose our fight.”

Xavier didn’t answer; he forced himself to look away. However, for Sam, that silent reaction was confirmation enough.

“You’re overwhelmed by pressure, and you're looking for some way to break that off," he said. "You’re trying to make me worried so that I’ll fight you with everything I have, and you’re trying to give yourself an excuse so it wouldn’t be as bad if you mess up.

“But that was your mistake from the start, and that’s why I’m here in the first place. Xavier, it doesn’t matter what you’re thinking, or whatever anyone else might be expecting from you,” Sam said. “I don’t care about whatever responsibility or obligation that’s unfairly on your shoulders—and you shouldn't either. We have a fight coming up. That’s it. No one else matters for this. We’re not fighting because it was scheduled, we’re fighting because we promised.

“I was never going to hold back,” Sam continued, staring right at Xavier, staring right at his friend. “Not against you. Not in the Conference. Not against someone who looked me in the eye and promised that they’d win.”

Unhappily, Xavier lowered his gaze to the floor.

“And if you think that identifying surface-level flaws means that you can beat Redi, then you’re vastly underestimating her strength,” Sam added.

“...She’s a bad trainer,” Xavier mumbled.

That was such a blatant attempt to make Sam angry that it might as well have flopped onto the floor like a dead fish.

“I don’t even know why I tried,” Xavier growled. “You just don’t get it. This doesn’t matter—none of this matters. The only thing that matters is winning and securing that win.”

“Why?” The seconds counted down. Sam looked at him. “Is that really what you think?”

And, once again, Xavier didn’t answer. He merely chose to cross his arms and not look Sam in the eye.

“Alright. Well, if you’re going to be like that, then I’ll accept your challenge,” Sam said. “We’ll fight. But don’t think that our fight will happen in the way that you want.”

The battle was not the challenge Sam had accepted.

“I talked to someone the other day—someone important,” Sam said slowly. “I turned down a very generous offer because it went against what I believe in about the Ghost Type. But doing so let me come to a realization: when it comes to who I want to be, I want to be someone who helps out. A guide.

“So, let me help you. We’ll battle, Xavier, but we won’t be battling to win. No, we’ll battle for that reason we already established—we’ll be battling to prove which of us is the better trainer, not just to see who would win.”

“That’s the same thing,” Xavier replied flatly.

“It’s not,” Sam responded. “You’ll see what I mean.”

Xavier tried to glare at him, but the attempt failed when Sam easily met his gaze. After a few seconds of trying to hold it, the other boy let out a long groan and began to walk away.

“You’re annoying!” he snapped out.

“And you’re a good trainer,” Sam shouted after him. “You don’t need to prove anything to anyone, and don’t let any of them ever tell you otherwise.”

Storming down the hallway, Xavier left Sam, but Sam intentionally stayed behind. He let the other trainer get just far enough away to give himself the chance to shout without Xavier speaking back.

“And by the way,” Sam called out, “this is going to be a full team battle. So, since we're going to have a proper match, I expect all of your Pokémon to be sent out.”

Xavier stumbled.

“A full, six-on-six battle,” Sam said at a normal volume. “It’ll be fun. I’m looking forward to it.”

In the distance, Xavier turned at the corner to continue toward his assigned dressing room, and after a few further seconds of silence, he did his best to slam the door.

Sam held back his laugh and waited until he was sure Xavier was absent. Only then did he look down at his shadow.

“I hope I didn’t just screw us,” he said, mumbling to his Pokémon. “We still have the numbers advantage, but I want to fight and win against Xavier and not just have another, random battle against another, random trainer. We’ll do everything we can to win, but we’ll also do everything we can to make this more than just an average match.

“I want to move on in the Conference, but I’m also selfish. I want to win and have a good battle, but I also don’t want Xavier to make any decisions that he'd regret.”

_______________________________________________________________________

Redi caught Sam in the tunnels just before he was about to step out onto the field. She only said one short phrase.

“You better win, Sam.”

And then she was off, running back to the stands to watch the battle from a better angle. Sam knew her match was coming up soon, but it wouldn’t be right away. Her battle was scheduled closer to midday, which meant she’d have an entire lunch break to either celebrate her victory or mourn her loss.

Mourn her loss? Yeah right. She’s going to win.

But if Redi won, she’d face whoever came next. Even with Sam’s goal to do... something about Xavier, he wanted more than anything else to be the one to knock Redi out of the tournament. He didn’t want Xavier to do that in his place.

You know, that sounded better in my head.

When he stepped out into the arena, the audience was roaring. At this point in the tournament, with only thirty-two trainers left, names were beginning to become more well-known. Sam could hear his name being shouted as well as shouts calling out in support of his Pokémon. The Gastly and Haunter in his shadow weren’t supposed to react and reveal themselves to this, but he could see the edges of the shadow beneath his feet waver as some of the Ghost Types drew back from the noise and others leaned forward out of a faint desire to approach.

On the other side of the arena floor was Xavier, and Xavier was a one-trainer procession as he walked to his side of the field. His expression was locked in grim determination, and he remained silent as he took up position within his trainer box.

To the roars of the audience, Sam bowed slightly in respect.

“Let’s have a good battle,” he said as he looked at Xavier.

He got only the barest twitch in response, the absolute minimum level of acknowledgement.

Really? Only that after so long?

“This will be a full team, six-on-six battle, with trainers sending out one Pokémon each!” the referee announced. “Trainers will have access to seven switches, and the battle...”

To Sam’s ears, the referee’s words trailed off.

Instead, the echoes of the audience drowned out all other noise, and the whispers of the announcers bounced around him. A thunderous beat pounded in his chest.

He would beat Xavier here.

The referee raised two flags in his hands, and both Sam and Xavier grabbed their first Pokéballs. Typhlosion hit the field with a soft cry of her name, and Xavier’s Poliwrath landed across from her, a faint flex to its arms showing off its prodigious amount of muscles.

“He chose to send out his Water Type first to have a counter, huh?” Sam mumbled to himself.

When the speech ended, the referee looked to both trainers and started to shout.

“Trainers! Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“I am.”

“Then, on my count,” the referee said.

Numbers reduced

Sam only half-paid attention.

As he and Xavier locked eyes, Sam knew that neither of them would be holding back.

“BEGIN!” came the referee’s voice.

“Smokescreen. Swift. Burn,” Sam ordered as fast as he could.

Typhlosion’s flames flared out to full blast as she reared up on her hind legs for a powerful exhale. Smoke flooded the field to surround her opponent in a ring, obscuring her at the same time, and Xavier’s Poliwrath hunkered down with its arms brought up for a defense. The only unhidden area was a small circle around it, and that made it more on edge than if it couldn’t see at all.

Feet carefully shifting to allow it to rotate its body, the Poliwrath tried to maintain its awareness of every angle around it. When the stars from Swift suddenly ripped out of the smoke, it used its arms to block them, but it was unable to block them for long due to Typhlosion running around to cause her attack to strike it from behind.

She had a follow-up to this move, of course, but Xavier was already prepared with a counter.

“Bubblebeam.”

Immediately, the foamy spray that shot out from the center of the Poliwrath’s spiral stomach caught the following Will-O-Wisps. The violent pops of each bubble disrupted the flames to snuff them out, and Xavier was quick to call for his Pokémon’s next move.

“Mind Reader,” he ordered.

Poliwrath will be able to detect Typhlosion in her smoke, Sam realized.

Poliwrath’s eyes narrowed, and it jumped in place to snap itself around. Sensing where Typhlosion was, it filled its body with energy to fuel a Protect, and the flames of a Flamethrower harmlessly washed off and failed to do damage.

“If it can detect you, go full offense!” Sam shouted. “That’s enough preparation! Send out all of your Parade!”

Typhlosion had been hiding in the smoke for a reason. She had intentionally been using her weaker moves as a distraction. Poliwrath had made a mistake by using Protect so soon, and all around it, purple lights glowed in the smoke. A twilight of wisps grew and grew as the Smoke Screen lit up with hundreds of glowing stars.

“Hah. I see. A new strategy,” Xavier muttered.

“A new trick,” Sam corrected with a smile. “Pretty neat, right?”

As if it were a magnet, every star collapsed right toward Poliwrath’s position. It couldn’t risk using Protect again so soon after its last use, and it had no room to dodge with Typhlosion’s smoke taking up so much space.

Yet, upon seeing so many purple flames rush Poliwrath, Xavier just sighed, and the sound seemed to echo throughout the arena.

“Close Combat.”

But why? Close Combat lowers a Pokémon’s defense! Why call for it here?

Sam got his answer when Poliwrath shifted from a defensive stance to an aggressive one. It saw every glowing mote hurtling toward it and took that flood as a challenge.

As the first embers neared, it struck with its fist, breaking through the targeted mote burst to cause it to dissipate into smoke. Another rushed it from the side, but it spun to swipe its elbow through it and break it up as well.

Then, the rest came, and Poliwrath used its entire body in a furious offense that evaporated Typhlosion’s move. Its arms punched and swung, and dozens upon dozens of wisps vanished before they could reach its body.

Though Poliwrath could not be called a perfect fighter, it was an overwhelming fighter, and the vast majority of Typhlosion’s Infernal Parade was destroyed under its raw, Fighting Type skill. The few motes that did get through, however, almost seemed to have no effect. Sam could see them deal damage—only a minimal amount, unfortunately—but somehow, they also failed to inflict even the slightest of burns.

“Why?” Sam whispered under his breath.

The announcers’ echoing voices served as the answer for him.

“Amazing! Xavier’s Poliwrath shows an impressive display of its mastery as it utterly breaks through Typhlosion’s moves. Still, I’ve noticed that no burn seems to be landing—”

“And that’s likely because of Poliwrath’s Damp ability,”  the other announcer said, chipping in. “Damp shouldn’t have any relevance here, as it's primarily used to stop the initial spark of moves like Explosion, but Xavier seems to have taken advantage of Poliwrath’s innate moisture to help it resist drying out!”

Every mote that seared into Poliwrath was a mote it had purposefully let through. If Poliwrath were to take damage, then it would only allow itself to take damage where it was not at risk. The Infernal Parade hitting it might not have been a resisted Fire Type move, but the heated aspect of the Parade’s wisps could at least be withstood. Poliwrath’s natural dampness prevented any heat from properly searing.

Truly, Xavier had practiced this technique specifically to counter Sam.

However, it wasn’t perfect. Sam immediately caught onto this counter’s weakness, and he didn’t fail to capitalize.

“Keep it up, Typhlosion!” Sam yelled. “It’s wearing off! Dry it out!”

Though the initial wisps only dealt a bare amount of damage and failed to inflict a burn, each one that hit Poliwrath still saw some of its dampness slowly begin to dry away. Damp was providing a defense, but that was not the true purpose of Damp, so it wasn’t going to last. Additionally, the pure aggression of Close Combat meant Poliwrath was giving itself more and more openings over time.

All of that came to its head when Sam heard a slight sizzling even through Poliwrath’s continued anti-wisp assault. One of the wisps, the smallest one, drifted down to land on its body, and instead of fizzling out due to the moisture, it left a small, purplish mark.

“Perfect!”

Other wisps began to do the same, and Poliwrath was beginning to truly take damage. It was not yet suffering from a full burn, but the very start of that condition was now beginning to form.

And once Poliwrath is burned, its physical power will be cut, and it won’t be able to keep up this defense. Creating wisps is trivial for Typhlosion at this point, too. Infernal Parade hardly takes any effort from her. Pretty soon, that burn will let her deal extra damage, and Poliwrath will fall.

However, as much as the current situation served as a good sign for Sam, it was also a sign for Xavier.

He only needed to say one word.

“Payback.”

And with that command, Sam suddenly realized that Poliwrath had never dropped its Mind Reader from earlier.

Practically out of nowhere, Poliwrath leaped, and it jumped right over the cloud of wisps that consumed the point where it had been standing. Poliwrath twisted around in the air for a drawn-back fist to turn as dark as pitch, and every ounce of pain it had suffered was taken and doubled to power this one attack.

“Detect!” Sam yelled.

Xavier said nothing.

Poliwrath crashed through the smoke, the shockwaves from its blackened arm smashing into the ground to send all of Typhlosion’s cover back. Exposed, her Detect let her avoid the move by mere inches, but Poliwrath was still right in her face.

“Bubblebeam,” Xaver then ordered.

Poliwrath acted faster than Sam would have thought.

Though, it wasn’t that Poliwrath was fast, it was simply that Poliwrath was already prepared for this follow-up.

Before Sam could even think about a response—and before Xavier even finished his command, truthfully—foam once more left the center of Poliwrath’s chest. A stream of powerful bubbles exploded outward, and all of them seemed to burst against Typhlosion’s chest.

The Water Type energy of that attack seemed to seep into her, and her fur became soaked with dripping, bubbling pain.

She howled.

Shouts came from the audience.

Pushing up, Poliwrath flexed to maintain the stream of its move.

I know it’s painful, but come on! We just need a second longer!

Typhlosion was flagging, but the second Sam saw the sparks bounce off of Poliwrath’s back, he quickly returned his Pokémon before she fell.

“There,” he sighed. “Thank you, Typhlosion. We’re in a great position because of you.”

Her Smokescreen was gone. None of her wisps were left. She had taken a significant amount of damage, as well.

But all of that just meant the field was cleared for Sam’s next Pokémon, and Typhlosion was now primed to make use of the boost from her Blaze. But the real victory came from those sparks. So focused on maintaining that Bubblebeam, Poliwrat hadn’t put up a defense to stop the last few wisps from burning its back.

“Hah! It worked! Your Poliwrath’s power is going to be cut in half from here!” Sam shouted out, already feeling victorious.

Xavier sent a glance to the marks on Poliwrath’s blue back, but his gaze betrayed not even a single thought or any hint of doubt.

“So? A burn only affects his physical power. And this doesn’t affect any other members of my team.”

“But Poliwrath is now weaker! And it’ll be taking damage over time!”

As Sam shouted, Xavier sighed. He rubbed his forehead.

“...All of that just for a slight burn,” he mumbled.

Still smiling, Sam released his next Pokémon, Drakloak. She was eager to properly fulfil her planned role on the team, and from atop her head, Dreepy squeaked out a taunt.

Xavier ignored the energetic Dragon Type and grabbed a ball of his own.

“Come back, Poliwrath,” he said. “Yanmega. Full speed.”

“Will-O-Wisp! Into Hex! And, if not, then Thunder Wave!”

Sam’s orders almost seemed to be predictive. When Drakloak hissed to conjure her wisps around her, Yanmega had already built plenty of speed to dodge. So similar to Will-O-Wisp, her Hex failed to catch up as well, and the massive dragonfly Pokémon shot past where she was rushing above the ground to hit her with a Bug Buzz that threatened to knock her to the floor.

“A dragonfly against a Dragon Type, huh?” Sam quipped. “We’ll see which one of our Pokémon is the true master of the air!”

He was mostly trying to be cheery to try to get Xavier to snap out of it, but honestly, coming up with cheesy comments was actually pretty fun.

Another Will-O-Wisp from Drakloak was disrupted by a boost of Bug Buzz that pushed it back, and then Yanmega dived down for another fly-by.

It got right on top of Drakloak before she let herself burst.

Electric energy zapping off of her, the Thunder Wave spread across enough area that Yanmega had no room to dodge. As it flew past Drakloak, lightning licked across its body. When the Yanmega pulled back up, its momentum almost seemed to stall, and Dreepy let out a cackling laugh at his sister’s opponent failing to match her speed.

“How about that, Xavier?!” Sam shouted. “We managed to put a stop to your acceleration!”

“Yanmega will continue to build. It doesn’t matter.”

“Yeah, but it’s made you more vulnerable to our attacks. Just watch: Hex, Drakloak!”

Yanmega shot backwards, perfectly taking advantage of the three-dimensional space to try to avoid this attack in the air. As it did, blades of wind sliced out from its wings, and they cut through every flame of Hex Drakloak had sent its way.

Unfortunately for it, where the heavy vibrations of Bug Buzz had disrupted the earlier uses of Hex, Air Slash failed to stop the same attack. Instead, the slashes simply meant that each cut divided the flames in two.

The ethereal flood of fire reached Yanmega, and Drakloak cut to the side to avoid the incoming Air Slash. Above her, the Yanmega jerked with pain as her Hex seemed to merge with the lingering electricity to painfully pulse through it.

“Aaaand... U-Turn!” Sam shouted.

Though Yanmega did not faint, it was exhausted enough that its movements slowed. With Paralysis locking its movements, Drakloak was able to catch up, and she bounced right off its chitinous body to turn to light, giving Sam a free return.

“Great job, Drakloak! That’s Yanmega neutralized, and we still haven’t even used your best attack!”

Though he was talking to his Pokémon’s Pokéball, Sam made sure to maintain his smile and speak loud enough so that Xavier would hear.

And Xavier certainly did.

“...So I was right. You really are sticking to the same strategy. There’s not even an ounce of originality to your plan,” Xavier said. He returned his second Pokémon inflicted with a condition.

Despite Xavier’s attempt at a taunt, Sam just smiled and kept his head high with pride.

“Originality? A different strategy? Come on, Xavier! I’ve traveled with Redi! You have to be better at taunting than that!” Sam shouted as he sent out Trevenant. “All my journey, I’ve been working on and developing my team’s core strategy! All my journey, I’ve talked to and discussed with my team to figure out the best possible backbone of a plan!”

Trevenant landed on the ground in front of Sam, and his roots were already poised to pierce into the floor. He wasn’t allowed to use any moves just yet as Xavier had not replaced his Pokémon. Still, Sam grinned, knowing his tree Pokémon had plenty of room to set up now that the threat of Yanmega was gone.

“Taunting us isn’t going to work,” Sam said, his voice more serious. “Xavier, we’re pouring everything we have into this match. You said it yourself, nothing else matters. The only thing that matters is winning, right?”

Immediately, Sam knew that was the wrong thing to say.

Hearing his own words thrown back at him, Xavier grit his teeth and took on the most genuine scowl he had worn all day.

“You know what? Fine! If you want a fight fueled by emotion, then you’ll get a fight fueled by emotion!” he shouted. “I was planning on avoiding this match-up, but if you want it so much—”

With the shout of, “Honchkrow!” a new Pokémon appeared on the field.

This was the same Pokémon that had once chased Sam in the forest north of Mahagony Town, and this was the same Pokémon that had only been present due to Trevenant’s call.

The two Pokémon on the field knew each other, but that was not a good thing. The instant Honchkrow’s gaze landed on Trevenant, a dark glint entered its eyes, and its face became shrouded by the darkness cast by the rim of its feathery hat.

“Now’s the chance for your revenge, Honchrow,” Xavier said in a low voice. “Ignore everything I told you earlier. Do it. Use your attack!”

Sam felt his smile waver as the Honchkrow let its gaze be visible once more. There was nothing but cruelty to its looks as its eyes locked onto Trevenant’s singular iris.

Trevenant tried to brace himself, but his opponent burst off the ground with incredible speed. Like a flash of darkened lightning, Honchkrow carved a wing right across his chest, leaving a jagged groove behind.

Rather than stay in the air, the Honchkrow then landed behind him, sliding to a halt across the dirt on the field. Dealing with the force of the impact, it shook its wing, and a dark energy scattered off of it as Trevenant let out a long howl of pain.

“Night Slash,” Sam said, identifying Honchkrow’s chosen attack.

Shrouded by darkness, that move was more capable of landing critical hits, and Honchkrow were clever enough to apply their species’s unusual luck to enhance their critical rate even further than that.

Combined, that meant this Night Slash had landed critically to bypass all of Trevenant’s defenses. He hadn’t had the time or instinct to put anything up. With this super effective damage, he only managed his single cry.

Then, he collapsed.

“Trevenant is no longer able to battle,” the referee announced. “Trainer Samuel, send out your next Pokémon.”

Words briefly failed Sam.

Just like that, Honchkrow had taken out Sam’s most defensive Pokémon with a single move.

Only a single thought entered Sam’s mind.

Oh, I've definitely made a mistake.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Sometimes shonen anime moments work. Other times, shonen anime moments just make things worse.

If Honchkrow had been holding a Scope Lens, its total crit bonus would be +3. With a +3, every Night Slash would be a guaranteed critical hit instead of the "mere" 50% chance it has with its current +2. Thankfully, Xavier is unaware of hidden abilities, so Sam won't need to worry about a Moxie boost from Trevenant's knock-out.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Honchkrow
Poliwrath
Yanmega

Previous Chapter
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Chapter 165

Author Note:

This chapter received edits / rewrites on July 3rd, 2025.

=======================================================================

Sam’s Pokémon made themselves comfortable within his small Pokémon Center bedroom. Annihilape wasn’t interested in planning for the next battle, so he just hopped up onto the bed and began to snore. Trevenant found a spot in the corner that gave him the perfect angle to stick to the shadows but still stare out at the rising moon. Everyone else gathered around Sam to watch the battle recordings on the computer, with Dreepy nesting in his hair and with Typhlosion looking up from where she let her head rest in his lap.

A familiar voice echoed out of the computer’s short tower of speakers.

“Double Team. Sonic Boom. Ancient Power,” it said. “Repeat until you win.”

Xavier had been in significantly more tournaments than Sam, with the majority of those competitions taking place within the final month of the season. He had earned his eighth Gym Badge long before Sam had, and he had spent all of that extra time practicing and gathering experience for his team.

In just the five tournaments he had competed in within the season’s final month, Xavier reached third place in the first, second place in the second, and first in the rest.

“Redi said she saw him win Goldenrod’s main tournament,” Sam said to his team as the battle played out before him. “People came from all across Johto to compete in that one. If he won there, it’s no wonder he won in the other tournaments. And then he’s probably also been entering a lot of the smaller, unrecorded competitions, too.”

Like Redi had mentioned, Xavier never hid anything about his team. Sam was able to write down all of Xavier’s team members, all of their abilities, and all of their known moves, except that Sam also kept finding his gaze drifting toward Xavier’s face. He had perfect information about his next opponent’s team, but he found himself more focused on the trainer than the Pokémon.

The recorded battles had been uploaded in chronological order, and in each subsequent fight, Xavier’s expression darkened. The rush of victory that came after every win slowly became more and more subdued. It became an expectation rather than a desire. It was only right that he would win every match.

Yet, this wasn’t a reaction that came from his victories alone. His battle record was heavily weighed in his favor, but Xavier had gone a long time without acting like that at all. There was always a little bit of dourness to him, but it had never been anything to this extent. Based on the upload dates, he only started to experience this change just before he defeated his eighth Gym.

Only then did a certain tension in him begin to grow. Only then did his expression begin to darken over time. Occasionally, Sam could see that stress leak through whenever one of Xavier’s Pokémon almost took a hit.

He was trying to hide it, but he was filled to the brim with nerves, and the more Sam looked at it, the more he felt as though Xavier’s tough expression was him putting on a show.

It’s not expectation. It’s obligation, Sam thought to himself. It has to be connected to what he whispered at Cassandra’s party. Xavier said he didn’t have a choice.

Sam clicked the mouse, and the video paused. Silence stretched throughout the room. From atop his head, Dreepy let out a squeak, and Sam had to sigh before being able to come up with anything to say.

“Xavier is... strong,” he said, not sure how else to phrase it. “Ignoring everything else, his strategy is surprisingly straightforward. He wins simply because, well, he’s better than everyone he faces.”

It wasn’t that Xavier had no strategy; it was that he had built his strategy to be intrinsic to his team. He utilized his Pokémon to their fullest, and he forced his opponents to adapt to him rather than allow himself to be forced to adapt to his opponents.

In just that last battle Sam had watched, Xavier demonstrated exactly that. His Yanmega played into its Speed Boost ability to cycle through moves that were all enhanced thanks to the momentum of its constantly increasing speed.

Using only three moves in a set pattern should have made it predictable, but that didn’t happen. Instead, the Yanmega just became more and more difficult to put down over time.

Double Team increased its evasion. Sonic Boom threw off its opponents’ attacks. And Ancient Power forced the opposing Pokémon to dodge while clogging up the field with stones.

The Yanmega had only been facing a Sudowoodo, and there was a massive difference in speed between those two. However, Yanmega’s extreme weakness to the Rock Type should have seen it play more carefully. Yet, despite how even a single bit of chip damage would have caused it to faint, the Yanmega never hesitated. So confident, it never once needed to rely on anything but that pattern.

That alone proved its extreme competence.

“...We’ll watch the next battle,” Sam said, moving onto the next recording in the League’s archives.

In this match, Xavier’s Poliwrath ran right up to an Ariados. Strings wrapped the Water Type’s body as poisonous fangs bit into its flesh, but the Poliwrath’s punches landed regardless, and though the Ariados resisted those Fighting Type moves, it eventually became weakened enough for a Surf to sweep it away.

“Next one.”

In this match, Xavier’s Noctowl battered its foe with slicing winds before using a Hypnosis to let itself finish off its opponent with a grabbing Psychic.

“And the next.”

This battle saw Xavier’s Donphan use Rollout to completely sweep through his opponent’s team.

And in the next battle, his Yanmega used Bug Buzz to all but blast its foes away.

Poliwrath dominated through the sheer power of its punches.

Noctowl’s smooth flying demonstrated an incredible amount of agility.

Finally, in one of the very last recorded matches before Xavier participated in the Conference, he used a new Pokémon. A certain Honchkrow took great glee in the Dark Type miasma that pulsed out of its wings to knock out its foe.

“He’s overwhelming. His Pokémon are crazy skilled. He has more experience than us, and together, his team...” Sam let out a frustrated exhale. “I can’t lie about it. They’re stronger than we are.”

Cries of protest echoed out from throughout the room. Ticked off, Annihilape woke up just to raise a hand for a rude gesture, and even Dreepy protested from atop Sam’s head.

But a whine from Typhlosion in Sam’s lap saw everyone go quiet, and Sam ran his fingers through her fur out of thanks.

“I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. This isn’t even me being defeatist, I’m simply pointing out a fact. It doesn’t matter how confident we think we are—”

A Haunter tried to shout out its denial, but Sam kept going.

“But we have to recognize that this is going to be an uphill battle. We can’t get cocky. We’re going to have to put in more effort than we have in any other battle if we want to earn ourselves a win.”

As he replayed a few of those videos and skimmed through his notes, Sam could not find any room to create a counter. Any time he thought he saw an opening, he would find a match in which Xavier demonstrated a correction, proving that kind of planned counter-strategy would not work.

Xavier won because his opponents were always on the back foot, no matter what they tried. The second he obtained momentum, it was his. Like his Yanmega, he only ever built it, and in the rare times he seemed to lose his pace, it was solely to minorly change his approach so he could go on to win.

“I’d like to point out one or two things we could take advantage of, but those were only ever shown off in his earliest battles, and he fixed all of them later.” Sam tapped his pen to his lips. “Any weaknesses I saw were trained away, or he at least never does anything to allow them to show up again.”

His team was quiet. Sam was desperately trying to figure out a plan. Ultimately, he came to a simple conclusion:

He would be entering this battle without a counter-strategy.

But that didn’t mean they couldn’t win.

“We’ve trained for this. Creating a counter was always something we did to give us an advantage, not something we did because we needed a counter to win. We have our core plan. We have our basic structure. Our goal in the battle tomorrow is to demonstrate that’s all we need, no matter how confident Xavier tries to appear.”

Xavier might have had more experience, but that didn’t mean Sam’s team had slacked. This would simply be a straightforward match with no special tricks, a fight that would see every participating Pokémon pushed to their limits.

Like he said, Sam would use his team’s basic, core strategy without any special bells or whistles added to it. He would weaken his opponent’s Pokémon, and he would have his Pokémon take advantage of that. He would also most likely mix in a few of his team’s new, more aggressive tricks.

But as he came to that conclusion, he sighed, leaning back in his chair.

This was where the real battles would start.

Except, there was one opening.

It was small, but it was still there.

Drakloak had noticed it first, and she had to say her name several times before Sam was able to pick it out. In the earliest of Xavier’s battles, in a match that had taken place within a small tournament just after his third badge, Xavier had worn a glass egg incubator on his back that never again appeared in any other match. He fought and commanded his Pokémon like the egg wasn’t there, but it was, and that was the only time it had ever appeared.

“The egg from the Beginner’s Tournament,” Sam said quietly to himself. “Xavier has six Pokéballs for six Pokémon on his belt, but he only ever sends five of them out onto the field.”

Yanmega. Donphan. Poliwrath. Noctowl. Honchkrow.

That was five species, and none were whatever Pokémon that had hatched from the egg.

Xavier had already mentioned it to Sam back in Mahogany Town. His last Pokémon didn’t battle. For as strong as he was, he only had five true fighters on his team, and that would give Sam just enough wiggle room to make their relative team strengths equivalent. He could afford to have his Pokémon take more damage as long as it opened up a weakness that another of his Pokémon could exploit. Yet, even just allowing that little bit of damage could spell defeat. Xavier wasn’t the kind of trainer who’d allow even intentional mistakes to go unpunished.

But really, Sam got the sense that the battle would come down to whatever Pokémon Xavier sent out last. His sixth Pokémon would either appear, or it wouldn’t. It would either fight, or it would faint.

And that would determine the match.

“But still. If we’re fighting tomorrow, that means we’re fighting Xavier, and that’s...”

That dark look on Xavier’s face flashed through Sam’s mind once again.

As much as Sam knew about Xavier’s team, he wouldn’t be fighting Pokémon alone. A trainer was responsible for commanding their Pokémon, and Xavier would stand as his team’s lead.

They had promised each other that they’d give this battle their all. They’d strive to do their best to ensure they stood victorious over the other. This was supposed to be a battle that’d push them to their limits, but would that really be the case?

Sam felt himself frown.

He wanted to have a proper match against Xavier, his friend, his rival, but the more he watched these videos and the more he saw that expression, the more he felt as though he’d be fighting someone just going through the motions.

____________________________________________________________________________

Though it was late, and though Sam logically knew he should rest, he found himself returning to the main lobby of the Pokémon Center. This entrance room contained massive windows that let trainers look out into the surrounding tournament grounds. He enjoyed the night, and though he had no plans to leave the building, stepping away from his research would at least let him turn off his mind and not think about anything important for a little bit.

It was quieter now. People were less energetic. With the end of the third round, only thirty-two trainers remained, a number significantly less than the four hundred or so that had tested themselves in the preliminaries.

With so many eliminations, trainers were less eager to spy on one another. There were still some plots in place, but nowhere near as many. Everyone not competing was either proud of their placement or disappointed at their elimination.

But right now, most people were simply at rest.

Though some parties were going on, most of the Conference’s energy was being saved for once the finals were over, for the big celebration that’d take place at the Conference’s end. Some trainers had gone home to take part in local festivities, but others had chosen to stick around. Sam had even heard of a few casual, unofficial tournaments taking place in the Conference’s exterior training fields. Not everyone was done fighting, and some people wanted to have at least one more, solid match before they ended their journeys.

It was almost bittersweet that the tournament was progressing like this. With this year’s changes, more people were getting the chance to fight, but more people than ever were being eliminated.

...Those thoughts didn’t help.

As much as Sam wanted to distract himself, he couldn’t get his upcoming battle against Xavier out of his head. He didn’t want to join the many trainers just sitting around and waiting for the end of the Conference. He wanted to win, he wanted to have a proper battle, and he wanted to make it to the top, but just thinking about facing Xavier was making all of those prospects feel slim.

He couldn’t lie about it. He was nervous. And he was worried. He simply had too many thoughts swimming through his mind to allow himself to rest.

And, as it turned out, at least one other person was in a similar boat—at least, when it came to still being awake.

“Of course you would be up,” a sharp voice shot out as Sam tried his best to recline on a Pokémon Center couch. “What, nervous? Couldn’t sleep ‘cause of stress?”

Sam looked over. The voice was too harsh to be Redi’s. He already knew that she was fast asleep in her room. Even though he had silently hoped she’d be out here, she had retired early in the night to research her next opponent, and Sam hadn’t seen her since.

No, out of everyone to encounter him right now, Edgar was the very last person Sam expected to see. He was the same trainer who had once won the Beginner’s Tournament. The same trainer who had lost major battles to Sam twice, now. The same trainer who had only made it to the second round, and the same trainer who had once offered up his own Haunter for an evolution trade without any intention of trading their Pokémon back.

Edgar is also the one who passed up that egg after the Beginner’s Tournament. Even though he placed first to earn it, he didn’t know if it’d be a Poison Type, so he gave it up for Xavier to get it instead.

“Why are you here?” Sam asked.

He didn’t have the energy to match the venom in Edgar’s voice. He was just tired, and he didn’t care to fight right now.

“Exploring. Walking. Just... meandering,” Edgar said. He looked out the windows with a frown. “I... still have my Haunter. No one ever took me up on my offer. He likes exploring at night, and... I don’t know. I felt like I should at least give him that.”

Bleary-eyed, Sam tried to take in Edgar, but he didn’t have the will. Despite how late it was, Edgar seemed to be wide awake, but Sam had spent all day carefully watching matches to take notes and then all night researching Xavier.

He felt drained. Honestly, Sam wouldn’t have been surprised if he was more exhausted than some of his Pokémon.

As he tried his best to regain his focus, much to his surprise, Edgar flopped down onto a cushioned seat across from him.

“So,” Edgar said, practically rolling that word off his tongue. “You made it to the fourth round, did you?”

“Yeah,” Sam said quietly. “I beat Eliza in the third.”

“Oh. Her? Hm. Who are you facing next?”

“...Xavier.”

“Hah!” Edgar laughed. “Now that’s a fight even I’d worry about.”

Edgar seemed to try to watch Sam, to take him in for some reason or another. He’d tried to get his “revenge” in the preliminaries, but he’d failed pretty hard when Gengar swept right through his team.

Sam couldn’t even imagine what Edgar might have been thinking. He tried not to. Instead, he just looked away and stared out the window.

Out there, under the waning moon, the vendors’ stalls were closed. Even this late at night, a few people were walking by. He watched an Ace Trainer march up the street with her Noctowl flying behind her. The owl Pokémon kept low to the ground, just visible enough to allow for its presence to dissuade any would-be troublemakers.

“What? Nothing else to say?” Edgar asked.

“I’m tired.”

“You’re worried.”

Sam brought his gaze back over.

“Yeah. I still have to fight.”

He winced at his own rude words, but Edgar seemed unbothered. He merely continued to stare.

“You’re seriously that bothered about your fight against Xavier?” Edgar asked, his voice taking on a curious tone.

“I’d be more excited if he were normal, but... I don’t know. Everything going on just makes it feel more complicated than it should.”

Edgar watched Sam, waiting for him to continue, and Sam eventually let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead.

“Xavier is... I don’t know,” he said. “We went through some stuff together. He’s serious and pretty rude sometimes, but he usually doesn’t act so... focused. I mean, he always has a little bit, but not to this extent. It just feels different, y’know?”

“I don’t.”

“He just looks off,” Sam said with a huff.

And Edgar let out a snort.

“So?” the other boy said, breathing out. “Isn’t that a good thing? Doesn’t that mean you have a better chance to win?”

Unfortunately, Edgar had a point. As dominating as Xavier’s performance had been, he wasn’t his usual self. If Sam really wanted to, he could probably find the right words to say and throw Xavier off for an easy win.

Except, Sam didn’t want that. That wasn’t the kind of trainer he wanted to be.

“That’s probably part of the reason I’m stuck on this,” Sam mumbled. “I keep thinking about this because even though we’re about to face his team, it doesn’t feel like I’m about to face him.”

That was the core of why these thoughts stuck with him—Xavier had promised he’d give it his all to try to defeat Sam, but right now, Xavier just didn’t feel like the same trainer. He didn’t feel like the same trainer that Sam had encountered and had come to respect. With how things were going, it just didn’t feel like he would be getting the battle he’d been waiting so long to have.

As Sam frowned, staring out the window, Edgar gained a conflicted expression on his face. The Poison Type trainer spent a minute tapping a foot, but he eventually groaned, leaning forward to press his hands to his knees.

“Alright, fine,” he said. “Do you want some advice?”

Blinking, Sam looked back over to Edgar. Edgar looked as though he had eaten something sour, but he wasn’t joking. The Poison Type trainer honestly seemed annoyed that he was doing this in the first place, but he would be giving advice, and Sam was willing to listen.

“Look,” Edgar said, and that one word carried an immense amount of weight. “I can... recognize that I’ve made some mistakes. I... got cocky, and I didn’t train anywhere near enough for this tournament. I was so focused on feeling confident, on feeling like I could win, that I never bothered to actually develop my strength. I only ever fought trainers I knew I’d defeat without ever really pushing my team, and in the end—”

He breathed out, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I’ve seen the other trainers. It’s not just strength I’ve screwed up on,” he grumbled. “The way they celebrate with their Pokémon... Yeah. I’m stupid. I’ve been taking my team for granted.”

“So that’s why you’re up,” Sam said. “Because walking with your Haunter is the first step to fixing that.”

“Pft. No. I just like the night,” Edgar lied. “But, uh, maybe I’m hoping it might help?”

Scratching the back of his head, Edgar avoided Sam’s eyes.

For a while, nobody said anything else. Sam looked Edgar over, and Edgar was uncomfortable under his gaze. He waited for the boy to provide the conclusion to his anecdote, but he let it hang there and had nothing else to say.

“Why tell me that?” Sam asked slowly. “I thought you said you had some advice?”

“Because... Because!” Edgar stopped himself before he yelled. “Because you’re still in this. Because you’ve actually made something of yourself, even though you got nowhere in your first tournament. You never let that get to your head, but I... got distracted along the way.

“So I guess I’m trying to say this—you have your friends. Keep them in mind. Don’t think about the stuff that doesn’t matter. You’re bothered because your next opponent looks off? Then do something about that. If you enter your next battle with all the wrong kinds of thoughts in your head, then there’s no way you’re going to win.”

He let himself fall back into his seat.

“So just... don’t fall into the same trap I fell into,” Edgar grumbled. “Focus on the fact that you’re about to have a match and remember that you’re supported by your team. Your Pokémon are... your friends, and friends are pretty important. And based on how you’re reacting to all of this, it sounds like Xavier is your friend, too.”

“...So?” Sam asked.

One of Edgar’s eyes twitched.

“So, talk to him? Don’t just ignore him? Don’t pretend your problems aren’t there? If you want to have a good battle, and if you’re really that worried, then don’t be me and actually put in some effort! Just go up and talk to him! It’s not like that isn’t allowed.”

As Edgar huffed and crossed his arms, Sam felt as though he had to manually push back up his jaw. Edgar rolled his eyes at that reaction as he shifted around uncomfortably in his seat.

“Wow, Edgar. That’s... actually good advice.”

“Don’t act so surprised. I made it to the Conference for a reason,” he snapped.

“It’s just so... obvious when you put it that way. I always miss stuff like this, and...” Sam let out a short laugh. “You even sounded a bit like Redi when you talked about all of that, too.”

A beat passed.

“Who?” Edgar asked flatly.

Sam blinked again.

“You know, Redi? My friend? The trainer you beat in the Beginner’s Tournament, and that one Normal Type trainer in the Conference?”

“...Seriously?” Edgar asked, frustrated. “Don’t just name someone you know and expect me to understand right away. Like, now I get she’s that girl traveling with you, but don’t just think that anyone you talk to will know everyone involved in your life.”

Something about that blunt statement made Sam laugh, and Edgar pushed deeper into his seat, radiating frustration and acting so unlike he had once acted with that easygoing attitude from the last time Sam had met him.

But the difference was there for a reason. The Edgar back then was an Edgar who had never lost, an Edgar who had never properly faced defeat.

“Thank you,” Sam said, and his own genuineness almost shocked him. “I know the advice was simple, but sometimes simple advice is the best. I just need to do something about this instead of just sitting back and worrying. So, I guess, I need to find Xavier and actually have a talk.”

“Huh?” Edgar looked up in surprise as Sam stood from his seat. “Oh, uh, sure. Of course. You’re welcome, I guess. But you should know that losing to you was just a fluke! I’ll definitely beat you next time we have a match!”

With a laugh, Sam said, “Sure,” and started to walk off. However, he paused before he fully left. A certain yet unfortunate thought entered his mind.

“Oh,” Sam started. “By the way, in our battle?”

“Yeah?”

“I just want to say sorry.”

A pause.

“About what? That you beat me?” Edgar asked incredulously.

“No. I’m sorry about what I said at the start,” Sam said to him. “You told me you wanted to defeat me, but then I told you that I hadn’t really thought of you. That wasn’t true, and that was rude. You’ve come up a few times, and I’ve had someone say something similar to me in the past. I know how much hearing that can hurt.

“So, I’m sorry,” Sam said truthfully. “What I said wasn’t right.”

Xavier had once told Sam almost exactly that all the way back in Azalea Town. It was something that had led to all of the events in Slowpoke Well. He remembered how immature his reaction was, and now that he recognized he had said the same thing to Edgar—

Like I said, saying that wasn’t right.

“Oh. Uh. Thank you,” Edgar stuttered.

He seemed utterly caught off guard.

“And thank you again,” Sam said, smiling. “Your advice really helps. And it’s a nice night. So, I hope you enjoy your walk.”

He started to move back to the long staircase that’d let him return to his room, already feeling better about tomorrow’s battle. Waking up early to have time to talk would mean his schedule would be a bit more compressed than usual, but he knew that doing so would give him the chance to fix all of this.

But, as he walked toward the hallway that’d bring him deeper in, Edgar suddenly shot up to call out to him from that same sitting area.

“You too!” he yelled. “Wait, I mean— Ugh! No! Just... Since you beat me, you better win your battle tomorrow! I won’t accept a loss to anyone who doesn’t get first place!”

“Oh, trust me,” Sam said, looking over his shoulder to send Edgar one last smile, “You don’t need to worry about that. I absolutely intend to win.”

_______________________________________________________________________

After a long night’s rest, Sam woke up bright and early to rush to the arena significantly before his match. Since his battle had taken place so early in the day before, his battle today was taking place early again to keep things fair. There would be fewer battles today, with only sixteen matches taking place, but the schedule was going to be roughly the same. Increasing the number of Pokémon in a match almost exponentially increased its length, so yet again, a full sixteen hours were mapped out to handle the sixteen battles taking place.

Though Sam wasn’t the first scheduled, he entered the arena before the first match, but he didn’t plan to watch it from the arena’s stands. He was ready to hunt for his opponent, to find Xavier and have a proper talk. He wanted to remind him of just why they had been waiting, to challenge him to a proper battle, and to reignite the spark in his eyes.

As pumped as he was, Sam expected to wait, but as his eyes scanned the sea of faces flowing into the building, he found Xavier almost right away. However, Xavier wasn’t part of that incoming crowd. He stood off to the side, just past the entrance of an inner hallway. A pair of Ace Trainers stood at the hallway’s front, standing guard to prevent anyone but official challengers from heading deeper in.

Seeing his opponent right there and having spent all night preparing himself for this, Sam immediately moved to approach. He strode toward his friend and began raising a hand to wave, but he found himself slowing when he saw that Xavier was already talking to someone else.

“You’re joking, right?”

Sam could barely hear Xavier above the cacophony of the crowd, but he could still make out the obvious, acrid tone to the other trainer’s voice.

There was a look of palpable disgust on Xavier's face, though his body remained utterly still. His hands had been locked into stiffened fists at his side, and Sam slowed as he provided his trainer ID to the Ace Trainer guards. He used that as an excuse to listen in.

“I am sorry,” came a response from the person in front of Xavier. “They are simply too busy.”

“Even after all this time? Even during the Conference?”

“Perhaps if you make it past the top sixteen?” the other person said.

She was dressed in a proper suit, one befitting someone who worked in an upscale business. She was young but clearly older than Xavier, yet she bowed her head in what could only have been deference.

Despite that sign of respect, Xavier glared at her with what felt like genuine hatred, and the suited woman did her best to not wince. She kept on the most serious, professional look on her face, but she still continued to talk.

And what she said next made Sam freeze as he stepped into the hall.

“I am sorry,” she said, “but they do send their best wishes. It is unavoidable, but, right now, your parents are simply unable to watch your fight.”

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Thank you for reading!

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Donphan
Haunter
Honchkrow
Noctowl
Poliwrath
Yanma / Yanmega

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 164

Author Note:

I’ll be taking Friday off to give myself one last break before the fiction is over. Right now, I’m expecting about a month of chapters to be left, but that may or may not change given that they’re only planned out and not written.

Additionally, I’ll be using this time to try to revise Chapter 161. Sam’s meeting with Agatha didn’t quite come out in the way I wanted.

==========================================================================

If Cassandra could claim to be a “Normal” Type specialist, then Xavier could claim to be a Flying Type specialist. Three Pokémon on his team shared that Type, and then his last two species were wholly terrestrial. However, he lacked any singular Pokémon that could potentially be called his “ace.” Yet, it was not that his Pokémon were weak; it was that all of his Pokémon were threats. Every individual member of his team commanded more than enough power to sweep through any battle here—as long as they had the right setup.

In his third-round match, Xavier proved himself to be among the top of the current competitors. He had fulfilled his silent promise to himself and had caught that Honchkrow from north of Mahogany Town. Though Sam didn’t recognize what move it used, that Dark Type Pokémon was able to thrust out its wings and conjure a harsh wind that consistently blew behind it.

After a quick switch, Xavier did not send out his Yanma, but his Yanmega. Something about that constantly blowing tailwind saw the evolved Pokémon’s impressive speed double.

Yanma and Yanmega were known for their passive build-up of momentum, usually attributed to their Speed Boost ability. That constant acceleration combined with the Honchkrow’s Tailwind caused Xavier’s Yanmega to move faster than any Pokémon Sam had ever seen.

With how fast it could fly, the Yanmega was unhittable, unapproachable, and effectively unequivocal. It didn’t just sweep; it defeated its foes flawlessly. The Yanmega never took even a single hit, and not one Pokémon it faced could withstand either its eardrum-bursting Bug Buzz or its uses of Ancient Power that saw its every capability enhanced even further.

Though Redi had an impressive showing in the previous match, the audience was no less excited at Xavier’s perfect victory. He outmatched his opponent in every way to earn himself a one-sided win.

Sam didn’t just witness a domination. He witnessed a demonstration.

When Xavier shook his opponent’s hand at the end of his match, his eyes scanned the crowd. Something about his expression felt off as he searched for someone that he knew was there, but Sam was too far up in the stands for Xavier to find him.

“Is it just me, or is he scarier than you?” Redi said from where she sat next to Sam.

“It’s just you,” Sam replied with a huff, though something about Redi’s words stuck with him.

She let out a laugh, but it came out a bit tired due to all of the energy she expended in her battle.

“You know, I can’t say I’ve been following Xavier’s journey,” Redi started, “but I have caught him on TV. I’m pretty sure he’s been competing in other tournaments for practice.”

“He’s not hiding his team?” Sam asked with a slight frown.

“You already know that not everyone does that,” Redi replied, scoffing. “But yeah. He’s not bothering. He’s one of those trainers who doesn’t care if you know what he can do. It doesn’t matter if someone enters the battle with a bunch of counters. He’ll win regardless. His Pokémon are just. That. Good.”

Silently, Sam watched Xavier walk off the field. Every footstep was deliberate, and he kept his gaze low and wholly focused on the ground.

He’s still in the Conference, but he doesn’t look happy.

“Do you know how many tournaments he’s won?” Sam asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Um... In the past month, I think he’s won at least two?”

Sam had thrown himself into practice with his team, but practice meant little in the face of actual experience. There was a reason that one trainer had used the Violet City Tournament to evolve his Kadabra back then. Nothing was as effective as fighting many difficult trainers back to back. Trying for the same through practice alone would have seen that Kadabra’s evolution take weeks instead of hours.

Still, Sam hadn’t entered the Ilex Forest unaware of the benefits of experience. He had done it because his team needed to practice in the shadows, and Annihilape’s developed control over Ghost Type energy made all of that training worth it just on its own.

With Xavier’s match finished, the next two trainers went up, and Sam could at least let out a sigh of relief when they weren’t as intimidating as they could have been. Yet this was still the Conference, and the strength of every displayed Pokémon was immense.

A Tangrowth practically choked the life out of a Ludicolo. A Hariyama and Machamp exchanged blows that sent shockwaves through the air. A rare Relicanth, a fish Pokémon that shouldn’t have ever been seen on a compacted dirt field, was able to carry itself forward with a Surf to deliver a Head Smash that practically cracked a Skarmory open.

And then it was Sam’s turn. He was facing one of the last people here he recognized from his journey. Preston had been eliminated. Cassandra was out. Terry had lost. And Edgar hadn’t even made it past the first round.

Only Redi, Xavier, and Eliza were left. Victor, too, was technically still in the Conference, but Sam couldn’t say he knew the guy too well, and Victor was yet to have his third-round match.

When the battle before Sam’s started, he stood, knowing he needed to get to the lower tunnels to be prepared to come out next. He sent a polite nod to Redi and his mother, and both of them wished him luck in return.

“Crush her,” Redi said, a sharp grin on her face.

“Show them all why they should fear you, sweetie!” his mother added.

She replied with only a polite smile even as Sam sent her a second look.

He parted to the sounds of his Ghost Types cackling around him, and he made sure all of the Pokémon he planned to use in this match were safely inside a Pokéball.

While he waited in the tunnels under the field, Sam took several deep breaths. He also pushed any lingering thoughts about Xavier’s match out of his head. He had prepared himself for this battle. He had seen Eliza’s strategies. Everything she did was to set up the field in her favor, literally adapting the terrain, but he knew how to fight both against and alongside that.

Though he had a plan, he wouldn’t rigidly stick to it. He had learned from his mistakes. If he encountered anything unexpected, he would just adapt, and then he would win.

“....aaaand on the opposite side, we have Samuel Greyson!” came an announcer’s voice as League staff encouraged Sam out onto the main arena’s battlefield floor. “The Ghost Type specialist who shocked the world with his reveal of not one, not two, but three brand new species! His opponent, Eliza, has demonstrated time and time again an absolute mastery of battlefield control! And now, we’ll see which is stronger—the sneakiness of Samuel’s Ghosts, or the sheer power of Eliza’s battlefield-wide moves!”

Eliza wore a polite smile on her face as she approached the field opposite to Sam. She waved to all of the cheering people, but she also sent him a respectful nod that he sent back.

“Good luck,” Eliza said, repeating the same thing they had said to each other at Cassandra’s party last night.

“Good luck,” Sam said to her in reply.

He could tell she was eager to test her team against his, and both of them were eager to win this match.

Quickly, the referee went over the rules—this would be a five-on-five match with six switches allowed per trainer—and then called for both trainers to send out their Pokémon.

“Drakloak.”

“Steelix.”

Eliza looked over Sam’s choice with a pleased smile.

Typhlosion was by far Sam’s preferred choice of a lead, but he had led with Drakloak in his previous battle as well. Leading with her twice in a row almost implied some sort of habit or strategy, but in this case, Sam had simply released Drakloak here since she was a strong counter to Eliza’s plans.

Eliza always started her battles with the same set of moves, after all.

Over the field, Drakloak hovered in the air and faced Eliza’s towering Steelix. It lacked the sheer size of Jasmine’s Steelix, but that didn’t mean it was any less intimidating. However, Drakloak had witnessed that battle, and she had already seen one of these behemoths fall. She was ready for this match, ready to prove that she was just as capable as the combatants she’d watched back then.

Her tail swished behind her. From atop her head, Dreepy let out a hiss in support. Drakloak had to force herself not to flinch at the unexpected noise, and Sam had to force back a laugh when he saw that exchange, pretending his smile was due to confidence alone.

With both trainers’ choices on the field, the referee then gave the Pokémon one last look-over before nodding his head once.

A pair of flags swung through the air.

“Begin!” the referee shouted.

Though neither trainer immediately spoke, the Pokémon on the field moved. Eliza, so reliant on reshaping the field, stayed silent as her Steelix dove into the earth. Drakloak, meanwhile, wasn’t immune to Ground Type moves, but she could outrange them. She shot straight into the sky to give herself some distance.

Only then did either trainer give a command.

“Lock-On,” Sam said.

“Earthquake! Dig!” Eliza ordered.

Drakloak didn’t have to change where she was in the sky. She could remain utterly still even as the Steelix dug through the floor’s surface, the upper half of its body exposed, to cause the field to churn and crack. Almost like ice floes, the compacted dirt of the battlefield itself broke apart into platforms. Pieces of ground shifted and tilted to form discrete, uneven surfaces.

The Steelix then dove deeper, vanishing into the earth, and all of those crooked platforms sank and rose to form gaps and canyons between them.

Eliza was already palming a Pokéball, preparing to switch, but Sam wasn’t going to let her move onto phase two of her plan so easily.

“Infestation.”

Dreepy dropped off Drakloak’s head to plummet toward the still-shifting earth. He carried a payload of Bug Type energy that was delivered via skittering off of him and into the ground. Though the Steelix was protected by the earth itself thanks to Dig, the energy still pierced into the floor.

Then, as fast as he could, Dreepy dashed back to Drakloak with a rapid use of Quick Attack.

“Incredible strategy! Though we are unable to see it, Drakloak’s use of Lock-On has allowed Samuel’s Pokémon to land their move even through the protections of Dig!” an announcer shouted out. “If this move works the way it has in his previous matches, Steelix will be unable to switch!”

If it wasn’t for Lock-On, this strategy wouldn’t have worked. The Infestation would have dissipated into the ground, and Eliza would have been able to return her Steelix the second it emerged.

Instead, when it burst from the earth, Drakloak’s Bug Type energy crawled over the Steelix’s body as if it were covered by clusters of spiders. Infestation did not deal much initial damage due to Steelix’s resistances, but the energy would slowly eat away at it, dealing damage regardless of its Type.

And it would be stuck taking that damage as long as Drakloak stayed out.

“That’s annoying,” Eliza commented, “but not unexpected. Steelix, use Stone Edge!”

Though half of the Steelix’s body was out of the ground, its other half was still buried. It used that to its advantage, swinging its spiked tail to have it explode out of the earth and send jagged fragments of stone up at the floating Drakloak.

Drakloak’s speed would normally let her dodge most moves, but in this case, the sheer power behind that tail swipe saw the stones hurtle upwards with incredible momentum. She could avoid most of them, but not all. Several of the smaller fragments managed to pierce her side.

“Dragonbreath!” Eliza yelled the very second Drakloak slowed from pain.

So she’s using one of those Dragon Type moves she wanted help with, huh? Glad Drakloak can fly. Otherwise, a Dragon Tail might have forced her to switch.

Sam didn’t need to speak for this; as Steelix exhaled a plume of yellow-purpose flame, Drakloak quickly moved out of the way. Agility came easily enough to her that she was able to use it reflexively, and her increased speed gave her the chance to dodge.

Then, she curved around in the air to outpace the flames while rushing toward Steelix.

“Will-O-Wisp, just like Mismagius taught you!” Sam yelled.

She rocketed past Steelix, flying faster than it could track her, and a set of burning wisps followed in her wake to impact its steel-covered side.

From there, Sam only had to wait. Steelix was suffering from both the ongoing damage of this burn as well as Infestation. The tension-inducing scorch marks on it would drastically reduce its physical power. Stone Edge was much less of a threat, especially now that it lacked the momentum that’d outpace Drakloak.

Temporarily, Drakloak focused on running away, and Infestation soon faded. However, between the Infestation’s passive damage and the heated burn, the Steelix looked exhausted, and Drakloak looked similarly tired from spending so long running away.

As much as Sam wanted to call for a U-Turn here, that move would deal little damage given Steelix’s defenses. A close-range strike would open Drakloak up to further retaliation, so Sam hard-returned her instead.

And Eliza returned her Pokémon as well.

Though Drakloak hadn’t secured a faint, her only purpose had been to weaken and stall. Eliza might have begun reshaping the field into terrain that’d suit her battling style, but Sam did not let her get away with that for free.

“Lapras,” Eliza named next.

“Typhlosion,” Sam said, wanting to take advantage of Eliza’s next planned move. “Detect! Will-O-Wisp!”

“Surf!” Eliza yelled.

The second she appeared, Typhlosion dove, her eyes flashing with insight, and she ducked down behind a gap between those broken, uneven platforms of the floor. Eliza’s Lapras cried out its name, causing water to flood out from underneath it, and an enormous wall of water formed behind its shell only to crash down onto the field.

Some platforms broke. Others were swept away. A few remained untouched, but the rushing waters eroded Steelix’s gaps in the field to have everything resemble something akin to a craggy coast.

Tearing herself upwards, Typhlosion grabbed the edge of the cliff to pull herself into the air before the waters reached her hiding place. Wisps formed behind her back, and they stabbed down toward Lapras as she fell through the air.

So focused on Surf, it was unable to use its shell to hide from this burn.

“Return,” Eliza said, and there was not a single ounce of worry in her voice. Though her Steelix was injured and her Lapras was burned, she had achieved everything she wanted to begin her version of the fight.

The field was primed in her face.

“Scizor!” she yelled. “Classic strategy—Double Team, and then strike!”

Sam saw the armored Pokémon appear and gave a simple command.

“Again, Typhlosion.”

They needed to burn Scizor to both win overall and to weaken it in this fight.

When the Bug Type appeared, it perched on a thin pillar of stone sticking up between the field’s broken cracks. Wisps lingering from the burned Lapras rushed toward it, but they all passed right through the image left behind from Double Team.

Doubles of copies flashed into existence, and duplicates of Scizor appeared all across Eliza’s side of the field.

Sam said nothing, and Typhlosion adjusted her strategy. Scizor might have had a way to dodge, but she had a way to guarantee a hit, and she surprised both Eliza and Scizor with a Swift that tracked her foe to guide and deliver her Will-O-Wisps.

With ease, her attack landed. When the wisps followed, Scizor was burned.

“Perfect! That’s all we needed, Typhlosion! Now, return!” Sam called out.

But Eliza just smiled. Hearing Sam’s shout, her own order came out as fast as it could.

“Pursuit!”

Every Double Team duplication moved simultaneously. Typhlosion had barely begun disappearing into red light when Scizor struck. Pursuit was a move that punished all forms of escape, and though Typhlosion could never truly be trapped as a Ghost Type, she could still be hit.

A red claw delivered that Dark Type Pursuit with a massively increased strength right to her chest. Not only did the super-effective damage mean this landed extremely effectively, but this move was powered up by using it against an escaping Pokémon. The only reason Typhlosion didn’t faint outright was because Scizor had been weakened by its burn.

Sam exhaled as she disappeared. He clicked her ball back to his belt.

“Good job, Typhlosion,” he said quietly. “Your part in this battle is done. You didn’t faint, and that was all we needed. Because of you, we’ll win this battle now.”

The audience was roaring as the Scizor came to a stop atop another pillar. It still had its copies behind it, and Sam knew that the speed of its attacks meant it would always be a threat.

Though burned, hitting it would be difficult, and it was free to strike from any angle. Typhlosion’s Swift was Sam’s best answer to this kind of defense, but he had already intentionally called her back.

Instead, his next Pokémon was one unlikely to be a great match-up against any of Eliza’s other team members, especially with so many of them dedicated to range. However, Annihilape did know one move not dissimilar to Swift, and he had already proven himself to be a counter to a much stronger Scizor he had once faced in the past.

“Annihilape,” Sam named.

When at rest, an Annihilape's long hair tended to hang. Upon being sent out, however, his mastery over his anger meant his rage grew, and the sheer power he wielded meant his hair flowed upwards and faded away into smoky wisps.

Eliza hesitated. So far in the Conference, Annihilape had only fought a single Pokémon weak to physical attacks, but he had demonstrated just how well he could take a hit.

Wary of his strength, she seemed to change her strategy.

“Scizor, continue with Double Team,” she said. “Then, use Swords Dance.”

More duplicates spread across the divided platforms, and Annihilape didn’t have any easy way of reaching them due to the large cracks that had split them apart. He could jump between them, of course, but a lightning-fast Bullet Punch could interrupt any such attempt. The move’s impact would also see him fall right into the water below, and that’d put him at the mercy of any Pokémon Eliza chose.

Eliza knew that, which is why she had her Scizor dance. Every image of it shifted side-to-side, and it brought up its claws for a ringing clash that sharpened them to increase its physical power.

Even if Annihilape tried to approach, he had no way to guarantee the image he approached was the correct one, and Eliza planned to use that advantage to set up a sweep. Though Scizor was on a limited timer due to its burn, Trevenant was still resting, and the rest of Sam’s Pokémon weren’t great at taking physical hits.

Sam knew that if he played this incorrectly, the Scizor would tear right through his team.

That’s why he called for Shadow Punch. That move could attack from range, and it couldn’t miss.

“Take it out!” Sam yelled.

Drawing his arm back, a brutal punch from Annihilape sent a shadowy copy of his fist rushing forward. The duplicate didn’t track like Swift, but he could control it, and the copy twisted around the field to pass through the images until it finally landed against the real Scizor, still in the middle of its Swords Dance.

Unfortunately, Scizor's metal carapace let it easily withstand the blow.

“Keep up Shadow Punch,” Sam said. “Don’t stop until it faints.”

“Swords Dance!” Eliza ordered again. “It can only send one out at once! So just keep boosting yourself!”

Ugh. Great.

Sam barely suppressed his groan as Eliza correctly determined Annihilape’s weakness.

Double Team couldn’t quite prevent Shadow Punch from hitting, but Scizor could use its duplicates to mislead Annihilape’s move and stall. Quick bursts from the Bug Type let it jump from image to image, and Annihilape had no way of knowing which Scizor was real until his punch eventually hit.

And then, Eliza gave one final command.

“Swords Dance!”

A third step saw Scizor’s final clash of its claws. Pulling its arms back, the Pokémon was ready to move. It had reached a point where its power was maximized; no further use of Swords Dance could increase its attack further.

For all Annihilape was capable of resisting damage, Sam knew his Pokémon wouldn’t be able to withstand a max-power Bullet Punch. Though the burn was slowly eating away at the Scizor, it would be able to take out several of Sam’s Pokémon unless he did something to counter it, and now.

“Curse,” Sam said tiredly.

Annihilape was more than just a raging ball of physical power. There was at least one move he could use before being taken out here.

If there was one thing Sam could rely on Annihilape being, it was being angry. A single Bullet Punch saw Scizor shoot across the field and tear its claw across Annihilape’s chest, dealing a massive amount of damage, but Annihilape refused to faint there.

His hand shot up to clutch his injury. He was teetering, on the verge of letting that pain see him collapse. Barely able to turn from even just that one punch, he looked over his shoulder to glare at where the Scizor had come to a stop atop a lone pillar of earth.

It stood above him, merely waiting for him to fall, and Annihilape would faint here without the need for any other moves. However, he still brought up an arm. A cold anger fueled him. He pointed at the Scizor with all of the hatred he could muster. The hand clutching his chest became cloaked in shadows, and as he had his fingers dig into his own flesh, Annihilape fell.

As his Curse took effect, the Scizor lurched, almost losing its balance.

“Great job,” Sam said to Annihilape’s Pokéball as he returned his Pokémon.

With that one move, Scizor’s time left on the field had been drastically reduced. Between the burn and the ongoing Curse, Eliza would have to choose between returning her Pokémon or trying to score one more faint.

However, with the amount of time she’d dedicated to setting up Swords Dance, Sam knew that Eliza would not want to give up that investment. Setting up big plays was how she preferred to fight, after all, and that preference was the exact thing that’d trap her Scizor on the field.

“Mismagius!”

Upon appearing, his Ghost Type grinned, a malicious glee on her face sourced from finally having the chance to show something off. Though she had fought before, she hadn’t been able to achieve much to her standards. She desperately wanted to demonstrate the true depths of her strength.

And, when the battle resumed, Eliza didn’t return her Pokémon, just as Sam expected. She would be keeping Scizor out to aim for at least one more K.O., and Mismagius looked fragile enough to bait her to try for exactly that.

Two commands came out at the same time.

“Bullet Punch!”

“Shadow Sneak.”

Mismagius won.

Scizor’s high speed primarily came from the speed of its attacks, not the speed at which it moved. When faced with a Pokémon that could use their attacks just as fast as it, then innate speed was the only thing that mattered, and Mismagius easily had it beat.

The Scizor dropped down to leap through the gaps of the canyons, intending to use the field itself as cover. Mismagius acted similarly, dropping to the floor to turn into shadows, and Scizor leaped out only to have its punch sail right over where she had just been. 

Landing on the platform, it snapped around to stare at the inky darkness that dripped into the gaps of the field. Shadows crept away, but Mismagius did not show herself.

The Scizor winced.

Annihilape’s Curse was getting to it.

Moreso than the burn, it had to fight to get through the ongoing pain, and the red Pokémon wobbled in place, barely able to handle the ongoing damage.

Distracted, it didn’t notice the gathering darkness behind it.

“At your back!” Eliza yelled.

A claw shot out for a punch as it snapped around, but its fist merely passed through an empty shadow. The growing mass had only been a trick.

Instead, from underneath it, its own shadow exploded upwards, and the Scizor failed to brace itself for a defense. Striking from the floor, Mismagius let her arms drag across the Scizor’s body with an aggressive Shadow Sneak, and that was enough. 

She only needed that little bit of chip damage to finish it off.

“Scizor is unable to battle! Trainer Eliza, please send out your next Pokémon!” shouted the referee.

Mismagius looked extremely smug as Eliza returned her Scizor.

“And now, Eliza only has four Pokémon left,” Sam mumbled to himself. The microphones failed to pick up his voice. “That might not seem so bad for her, especially since Annihilape fainted and because Typhlosion is so wounded, but two of her remaining Pokémon are burned. Scizor is down. If we can get just one more burn off without taking too much damage...”

Even if Eliza has four Pokémon left, we only really need to knock out three more, anyway.

Sam wasn’t surprised when Eliza chose to release her Slowking. He was especially not surprised when the regal Pokémon casually walked right off a platform and into the lingering waters below.

“Will-O-Wisp,” Sam ordered Mismagius.

“Wow. You’re really fond of that move, huh?” Eliza called out.

“Hey,” Sam said in reply. “I like it when a battle gets hot.”

He cringed. Hard. Groans came from the audience, and even Mismagius sent him a look.

Sam knew that horrible attempt at a taunt would haunt him for years.

Thankfully, Mismagius was still able to conjure her wisps, and Slowking, kicking its legs to swim with its hands held behind its back, caused a tide to rise behind it with Surf. That wave crashed down right toward where Mismagius had been floating, but her Shadow Sneak let her dash backwards and avoid that attack.

But it didn’t matter that the move had missed. Slowking’s Surf caused the water level to rise, as even more liquid was added to the field. Several of Mismagius’s growing horde of wisps were snuffed out as well, but she had used many of them as intentional sacrifices to burn gaps through the water and allow a few to get through.

A dark shadow swam through the canyons in the field. For once, Mismagius stuck to the light, floating high in the air. Tension seemed to stretch through the air as the audience waited for whatever exchange would come next.

But the Slowking was just letting the water build, and Mismagius was waiting until it slowed for a turn.

Only then did she strike.

“Now!” Sam shouted.

Her wisps turned to needles. This was still a Will-O-Wisp, just reshaped to a new form. Fiery streaks shot into the water, piercing right through it, and though the cool liquid washed several of them away, a few still managed to reach and burn the passively moving Slowking.

Finally, with this one condition, all but one Pokémon on Eliza’s team was burned.

With that, Sam now had no doubt in his mind that he would win.

“It’s time, Mismagius!” Sam ordered. “Reveal it. Use Hex!”

“Future Sight!” Eliza called out quickly,

Mismagius’s cackles were like whispers that chilled the field, and the Slowking failed to conjure even the barest amount of defense. Several of them hit it before it could even begin to use Surf, and its crowned head broke through the surface of the water just to let out a cry.

It opened its mouth for a Water Gun, but that was a move used out of desperation. Mismagius’s wisps were a cascade, a dark, inevitable reminder of the end. Like the Will-O-Wisps before them, they stabbed down at the Slowking. Even Eliza’s hurried shout for a Psychic did not do much at all.

“Slowking!” Eliza began to yell, quickly grabbing a Pokéball. “Retur—!”

“Mean Look,” Sam interrupted.

A sharp glare saw Slowking be trapped. Eliza would not be allowed to call it back.

More wisps flooded out as the full, true power of Hex was demonstrated, and Eliza's expression dropped as her Slowking tried and failed to withstand the damage. It lasted longer than Sam would have thought, but that just gave Sam time to silently thank Redi for snapping him out of his previous plan.

Yeah, hiding moves and strategies is way better than hiding entire team members. The amount of freedom we’ve had in this battle has been exceptionally nice.

Also, sorry, Morty, but you knew I’d reveal Hex eventually. Besides, you seemed more excited about its potential power than any one moment of surprise.

The Slowking soon fell to Mismagius’s persistent wisps stabbing into it, each of them dealing super effective damage enhanced by the Slowking’s ongoing burn.

However, it did not faint alone.

To the sounds of the audience cheering for her victory, Mismagius was suddenly smashed into the field out of nowhere. Slowking might have fainted, but its Future Sight from earlier caught her in the back. The psychic force hit her like a hammer, and the impact sent her crashing into a platform.

With a heavy thump, she instantly fell unconscious.

“Phew,” Eliza breathed.

Sam returned his Pokémon.

“Mismagius, thank you. You were amazing. That Slowking took way more punishment than I expected. But now, we don’t need to worry about it, thanks to you.”

He clipped her Friend Ball back to his belt, and Drakloak returned to the field. Eliza’s Lapras reappeared across from her.

But this was Eliza’s burned Lapras.

For an obvious reason, Sam’s Pokémon had the advantage.

“Drakloak! Hex!” Sam yelled.

“Blizzard!” Eliza shouted in an attempt at a counter.

As her Lapras landed on one of the field’s platforms, it didn’t wait to send a bone-chilling wind blowing out from behind it. A white whirlwind of snow and ice rushed Drakloak, but she pulled up into the air to avoid it.

Terrifyingly, if she had dove into the gaps of the field to dodge, the Blizzard would have just rushed through the twisting openings to trap her on all sides.

But Blizzard was not the most accurate of moves, both due to its chaotic nature and due to the time needed to build it up. If snow was falling, that would have been a different story, but Drakloak was easily able to send out her own form of purple wisps that stabbed into the Lapras’s exposed neck and fins. Any burned mark was stabbed, and the move dealt that much more damage due to the Lapras’s ongoing burn.

Sighing, Eliza seemed to recognize the outcome of this matchup as well. She looked to come to a different decision, instead.

“Perish Song,” she said emotionlessly, and her Lapras forwent all forms of defense.

One last, unblocked Hex finished off Lapras, but the mournful song it sang while under attack seemed to linger and echo through the air.

“You’re trapping Drakloak the same way I trapped Scizor,” Sam said unhappily.

Through expectation.

Eliza smiled.

Sam didn’t want to return Drakloak; he didn’t want to give even an inch to Eliza by returning his Pokémon. He also only had the heavily injured Typhlosion left as well as one Pokémon he was purposefully saving for last. He didn’t have very many options.

Though a Ghost Type, Drakloak was trapped. Perish Song would see her faint, but Sam needed her to stay out to secure this last K.O.

She wobbled a bit in the air, but Drakloak still turned around. Giving him a short nod, she recognizes the current situation.

“Thank you,” Sam said to her.

Dreepy saluted him from atop Drakloak’s head.

When Eliza sent out her next Pokémon, her command was both unfortunate and expected.

“Protect, Steelix!” she yelled.

Upon its appearance, the enormous Steel Type hardened its body so that Drakloak’s quick Hex splashed off of it and failed to deal damage.

“Now Dig!” Eliza yelled next.

Her Steelix dove into the ground, and Drakloak was forced to wait.

She hadn’t had a moment to use Lock-On, and Steelix was avoiding her view. Even if it ever peeked out, there were enough places it could briefly poke out between the platforms to avoid her gaze.

So Drakloak was forced to wait.

But this was fine. She just needed to stay out to stall for Sam’s other team members. With Steelix’s burn, Drakloak didn’t need to deal damage. Much like Eliza, they could just wait.

Time passed, and Drakloak soon collapsed.

The Perish Song had demanded that she’d faint, and that came true while Steelix stayed underground.

Sighing, Sam returned his Pokémon, and he went on to send out Typhlosion, choosing the most injured member of his team to reserve a final Pokémon just the same as Eliza. This wasn’t his plan, but he could make it work. It also helped that he didn’t need to worry about another Pursuit.

“Now, Steelix!” Eliza yelled.

Her Pokémon burst from the ground to try to trigger an Earthquake, but it didn’t matter.

“Detect.”

Typhlosion stepped back on her platform, avoiding the cracks that spread and caused large chunks of the ground to fall into the waters before. Steelix’s body looked superheated from its burn, and it tried to rush her.

All she needed was a quick jump to the side, and Steelix's momentum saw it slide. Its entire body crashed into a platform, and this desperate, final attempt failed to do anything before it succumbed to its burn.

“...Come back.”

Eliza looked tired.

“Return,” Sam said as well, and Typhlosion was brought back into her Pokéball.

And now, he’d won. It didn’t matter what Pokémon Eliza sent out. With Typhlosion conscious in her Pokéball, his final Pokémon guaranteed him the win.

Eliza wasn’t aware of that, and slowly, she seemed to chew on her options, rocking her jaw back and forth. She had only two Pokémon with her with only one left to send out, but she did eventually make her choice.

“Stantler!”

This made sense; a Normal Type would be immune to a Ghost Type move like Hex.

But Sam had to force back his laughter when he realized that he knew the Stantler that appeared.

That same young Stantler, the one once passed over by Redi, snorted as it was released onto a platform, a confident smile on its face. Though Redi had not caught it, it had managed to find itself a proper trainer all the same.

Unfortunately for it, Sam could tell by the look on its face that it was still far too cocky.

It would not be winning this fight.

“Haunter,” Sam named.

This was not Gengar.

Yes, Sam sent out a Haunter and not Gengar, choosing to use one of the many Ghost Types that had been traveling with him in his shadow. There was no sense in lying to himself about the truth of those Pokémon; they were his. Sam might have had a core team, but these Ghost Types relied on him, and he could rely on them. This Haunter was giving him the chance for a trick he could only really pull off once, but it was doing so at the perfect time to allow both Trevenant and Gengar to rest.

Upon being sent out, the Haunter’s initial reaction was one of awe—its very first official battle ever was in the Conference, of all things—but it was also ready to act. It knew what it had to do.

This Pokémon was fast, and it was weak.

That combination was exactly what Sam wanted it for.

“We’re in the perfect position, Stantler!” Eliza shouted. “Remember our lessons together! Charge forward! Take it out with Zen Headbutt!”

Ever so graceful, the Stantler leaped, and it jumped from uneven platform to uneven platform with practiced ease. Fighting it conventionally would have seen it be a hard foe to pin down, but Sam’s current strategy meant he didn’t need to think about any of that.

As its horns glowed with Psychic Type energy, Sam’s Haunter did nothing in response. With a grin on its face, it readied its claws, and a slow, creeping shadow stretched out over the field to connect to the Stantler’s own.

Eliza’s eyes widened, but she realized far too late.

“Stop! Fall back!”

Stantler was already mid-attack.

This Haunter was not a Pokémon that fit on an eight-star team. Honestly, it would have been out of place even on a five-star team. When the Stantler’s Zen Headbutt hit, it had no way of defending itself, and as a famously fragile Pokémon, it fainted to the super effective move just like that.

But that was where Destiny Bond came in.

With their shadows connected, when the Haunter fell, so did the Stantler. The Haunter needed to use no other move. Eliza groaned when she saw her Pokémon fail to get up.

And the referee’s shout announced the end of the match.

“Stantler is unable to battle!” came the yell. “Trainer Eliza has no more usable Pokémon. Trainer Samuel wins!”

Some members of the audience booed. Some members of the audience cheered. Sam waved to them all regardless as he returned his fainted Pokémon from the field.

Everything had been for this final moment, with Sam going as far as to treat this five-on-five battle as a four-on-four match. That’s why he wanted to hold Typhlosion back; he wanted to have at least a final, conscious team member in his pocket for the very end. He hadn’t been worried about Mismagius’s faint to Future Sight, and he had willingly let Drakloak faint to Perish Song for a reason.

He smiled as he shook Eliza’s hand at the side, and she breathed out in disappointment, bringing her fingers through the end of her hair.

“I want to be sad, but I guess I can’t be upset about this kind of loss. Top sixty-four isn’t bad for our first Conference. We gave it our everything, and we almost kind of won.”

“A Normal Type Stantler would have been way scarier if we fought it conventionally,” Sam said. “It was a good battle. You have a strong team.”

After shaking hands, they moved off the field. They needed to make room for the next set of trainers, and they both really wanted to heal their teams. The audience’s cheers weren’t anywhere as excited as the cheers after Redi’s or Xavier’s battle, but that was mostly due to the lack of major reveals and the battle’s rather “anti-climactic” end.

Like Morty had warned him, Destiny Bond wasn’t exactly a trick Sam could rely on too often if he wanted to be regarded well.

But Sam had still won, and he was moving into the fourth round, entering the Silver Conference’s top thirty-two. Somehow, from the initial two hundred fifty-six, he was one of the few trainers who were still able to compete.

Redi caught up to him to celebrate, and he made sure to heal his Pokémon before returning to his mother in the stands to watch the rest of today’s matches. After writing down all of his notes, he had time to relax in the Pokémon Center, and the next set of match-ups was announced.

When he saw them, he went silent. It was like the entire world froze all at once.

Redi patted his arm, and Sam stared at the hanging screen.

The listed pairings stated the obvious.

Sam would be facing Xavier in the Conference’s fourth round.

==========================================================================
Author Note:

Technically, Eliza has a specialty on her team, but it was completely unintentional. See, other than her Lapras, she almost exclusively trains Pokémon whose names start with “S.”

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Honchkrow
Lapras
Slowking
Stantler
Steelix
Scizor
Yanmega

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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.

==========================================================================
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

Previous Chapter
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Chapter 162

Author Note:

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I hope you have a good day!

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“That's a Wyrdeer.”

The audience was in another bout of uproarious cheers as Redi's Wyrdeer bounded across the field. Her otherwise unknown Pokémon jumped from rock to rock with ease while avoiding every one of his opponent's Electric Type attacks.

Wyrdeer carried himself with the same grace and stature he had carried as a Stantler. He was an old Pokémon, but with his age came years of experience. His new look in his evolved form almost seemed to emphasize that, giving him a beard and bushy eyebrows alongside an air of wisdom and nobility.

His opponent, meanwhile, was far too focused on the battle to even start being impressed.

“Just one Paralysis!” their opposing trainer yelled. “Come on, Kilowattrel!”

...And that was another unknown species in this battle, but it wasn't like most Flying Types were truly that uncommon. Kilowattrel was a species that originated from a foreign region, but that specific electric bird Pokémon was known for flying great distances and even had a small breeding population north of Olivine. Apparently, enough had tagged along on passing boats to have established themselves a small home.

But this Kilowattrel was not one merely passing by Johto. It had the experience of plenty of battles in the Gym Challenge, and its neck inflated to let it build up a sharp, electric shock. 

Lightning crackled around its body as it dove toward Wyrdeer.

Wyrdeer didn’t even blink from where he was perched atop a boulder.

“Protect!”

Hooves planted firmly on the boulder’s uneven surface, Wyrdeer’s horns glowed to allow a shield to form in front of his body. The Kilowattrel’s flyby Thunderbolt scattered harmlessly across it, and he leaped after his opponent.

The Kilowattrel was too tired from its previous battle to put up any decent defense.

“Psyshield Bash!” Redi shouted to follow up on her last command.

That same shield from Wyrdeer’s Protect took on an almost psychedelic glow, and Wyrdeer’s leap saw him catch up to his exhausted opponent. With a single jerk of his head, he slammed his shield right into the Kilowattrel’s back. It cawed out in pain, and the Pokémon’s wings crumpled. Kilowattrel was sent straight to the ground.

With grace, he landed next to his twitching opponent. The arena itself seemed to pause in anticipation, but Kilowattrel did not get back up.

“Aaaaaand... Trainer Redi is the victor!” came the announcer’s declaration.

Her opponent let out a groan and dragged a hand down his face. Redi shouted in celebration, bringing her arms up for a victorious cheer, and that cheer turned to laughter as Wyrdeer walked over to affectionately circle around her.

From where he had been watching in the stands, Sam sent his mother a quick goodbye as she clapped for Redi’s victory. He waved to get all of his Ghost Types to gather back into his shadow, and the people sitting next to where he’d sat all seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

He charged down the stairs as Redi shook her opponent’s hand below, and he barely had enough time to slip into the arena’s lower tunnels before she was off the field. He was slightly out of breath when she approached him down there, but he was able to hide it.

Redi smiled when she saw him waiting for her, and Sam didn’t hold himself back before he spoke.

“You have a Wyrdeer?” he blurted out.

“Huh? Oh yeah. I'm not even responsible for his evolution, either! I just told him about Psyshield Bash before I left, and then when I came back, I found out he had evolved all on his own!”

Sam stared at her blankly.

“I already told Mr. Pokémon about it, too,” Redi continued casually. “He told me that a lot of what a Pokémon can do is based on what they know, and that’s true even in the wild. Some species just flat out don't evolve if they don't know they can, even if the requirements are simple. Although, I guess that’s kind of an issue since Wyrdeer’s herd now knows that Psyshield Bash can let them evolve.”

She awkwardly scratched at her cheek before pushing on.

“Soooo... some Pokémon Rangers might have had to relocate them due to ‘environmental concerns.’ Something about reintroducing an untested, extinct species potentially being bad?”

“...That's not what I was talking about,” Sam said with a huff. Redi ignored him.

“But it all worked out in the end, at least,” she said, moving past that. “His herd got their own place a bit north of Mahogany now—Wyrdeer made sure. They’re safe and happy and don’t need to travel to find food! Shouldn't risk any negative effects, either. They’re also really close to Trevenant’s forest!”

She sent a smile to Sam, and Sam could only let out a sigh. He wanted to know more about Wyrdeer and Wyrdeer’s training and everything Redi had done to make sure Wyrdeer could fit on her team, but she hadn’t spoken about any of that. Yet, that was the point.

Sam had been so caught up in the surprise of seeing the successful evolution that he hadn’t even realized he’d been trying to learn more about her team. They had already both established that they only wanted to learn more about each other’s teams through battle, and he had almost barrelled right past that.

Breathing out, he offered Redi a quick apology as she kicked up her legs to start leaving the tunnel. Tiredly, Sam also fell into pace at her side.

“It was Agatha, by the way,” he said.

“Agatha? What about her?”

“She told me in our conversation. She’s the one who made sure I was last.”

“Pft. What a jerk,” Redi said with a scoff. “So you did talk to her, then? What did she say?”

“Just stuff about my grandfather,” Sam answered. “Aaaand... maybe some stuff about sponsorships, too.”

He filled her in on the basics, but they didn’t leave the arena immediately, choosing to stay in the building for now. They had already learned not to make the same mistake as they had after Sam’s match; leaving the arena immediately after a reveal would only cause the reporters to swarm.

Instead, they grabbed some food and returned to the stands, rejoining Sam’s mother to watch the last few matches scheduled for the day. Sam planned to skim through a lot of them later. The Pokémon League’s website allowed battles to be replayed at four times the speed.

Once the last match had finished, and once they felt like enough time had passed, they exited this smaller arena without any reporter noticing them and parted ways with Sam’s mother to safely slip back into their Pokémon Center bedrooms, undisturbed.

There, Sam all but crashed, and he was pretty sure Redi was doing the same in her room. Though two battles in one day wasn’t anything new for either of them, the pressure of the tournament had made these fights feel all the more difficult. Finally being done two full rounds meant they could take this moment to relax—at least somewhat.

After all, they had made it to the third round.

Just after dusk, their alarms went off. They had talked and already agreed that it was worth at least checking out Cassandra’s get-together that night. So, once they fixed themselves up after their two-hour naps, they met back up in the lobby to visit Silver Town proper.

(Drakloak stayed behind for this, sticking close to Sam’s mom. She would never admit to it, but she liked listening to his mother's stories about business.)

To get to the restaurant Cassandra had booked, Sam and Redi had to climb a steep road. As Silver Town was a settlement within the mountains, the city itself was rather hilly, but those same views let them see the entire city once they reached the top.

“Good view, I guess,” Redi said.

The entirety of the Silver Conference was visible from here. Despite no battles currently taking place, the centers of each of the five arenas were all lit up. They could see the interior curve of the four smaller complexes, but the biggest arena building still towered over the rest.

The buildings of Silver Town were like a sea of lights around them, only occasionally being broken up by darkened streets and small parks. The first few stars were beginning to be visible in the night sky. Behind them, the restaurant was loud, bright, and full of people.

“I’m not looking forward to this,” Sam grumbled.

“Yeah, social events aren’t for everyone, but there’ll be other trainers there,” Redi said with a shrug. “Cassandra said she invited a lot of people. It’ll be good to get a sense of where everyone else stands.”

The restaurant itself wasn’t necessarily a fancy one, but it was big enough to hold dozens of tables, and each and every one was crowded. Employees ran around to stack plates of food between all of the various groups, and Sam honestly wasn’t sure how or why they did it.

It didn’t matter if a trainer still had more fights to go or if they had been eliminated in the preliminaries; this was a restaurant where competitors could eat for free. If someone had even the barest chance of showing up in the Conference, they could eat as much as they wanted without paying even a dollar.

Sam had no clue if the restaurant was just willing to take that loss or if the League itself paid for every meal.

Upon entering, someone working the front asked the two of them about identification, and Sam and Redi each showed off that strange card with Cassandra’s face on it. Immediately, they got a slight laugh in reply and were led to the back. There, they were brought to a room that wouldn’t have been out of place in a karaoke bar—except it was at least twice the size of a room meant for that.

A cushioned couch lined the sides, and a low, central table was covered in foods and snacks. A television on the wall replayed the highlights from today’s matches, and trainers of all sorts animatedly talked in groups.

In the back, Cassandra waved to greet them, but she otherwise stayed seated to listen to a conversation taking place around her.

“This is a lot of people,” Sam whispered to Redi.

She nudged his arm.

“C’mon, Sam!” she said. “It’ll be fun!”

At least, he could see a few familiar faces. A surprising number of them had been in the Beginner’s Tournament. Right away, he could recognize Eliza, and even Edgar was present, albeit a bit subdued.

Though Edgar had made it into the second round, he hadn’t won his match.

I think, out of everyone here, I recognize about two-thirds of them as people moving on. They’re all trainers I have written down in my notes. If only one-fourth of the competition is moving on, but two-thirds of the people here are entering the third rounds, then Cassandra must have a really good eye.

There were a lot of strong trainers in the room, but Sam’s gaze ended up settling on one person, one face that stood out from all other trainers present.

Xavier sat on the couch, not talking to anyone, and simply sitting still with his hands crossed under his chin. 

Where everyone else was chatting excitedly, trying to brag without revealing too much about their plans, he stayed out of it all. Sam wasn’t sure if Xavier was merely staring forward or if he was quietly listening in.

But when Sam’s gaze settled on him, Xavier was alert enough to send him a short glance.

Neither of them said anything.

Huh. He’s usually more talkative. I think this might be the first time I’ve run into him without seeing him chatting with someone else.

If Sam had to describe how Xavier looked right now, “dour” would have been a pretty good word.

“Terry! You made it!” With a bright smile on her face, Redi waved at someone from across the room, and she headed over to deposit herself in an empty spot across from him. “I caught part of your match. I saw that your Gible evolved!”

“Ah, yeah, he’s a Gabite now, but we...” Terry groaned. “Ugh. We still lost.”

Redi immediately started to try to cheer him up, going on and on about how cool his Pokémon were regardless of his defeat. Quietly, Sam moved to sit next to her, and he did his best to pay attention to what everyone else was saying, trying to see if he could hear any hints about anyone he might face in the future.

The entire time, Xavier’s eyes seemed to linger on Sam, but it wasn’t Xavier who eventually spoke up to get Sam’s attention.

“Hey! Sam!” someone else called out. “I saw your fights! Your Pokémon are so much stronger than they were in our last match! But that makes sense. The last time we fought was all the way back in Goldenrod.”

Blinking out of surprise, Sam looked over to see one of those familiar faces staring at him—Eliza. She sent him a smile while picking at some chips.

“Your team is crazy!” she said happily. “Almost every Pokémon you showed off is a brand new species!”

“A lot of them aren’t brand new,” he said, trying not to mumble. “Typhlosion is just an older variant of her species, and Annihilape are common in other regions.”

“So then it’s true what you said on TV?” a boy suddenly asked from Eliza’s side. “You learned about them from reading?”

“I, uh, live in a bookstore?” Sam offered awkwardly.

People oohed and aahed at that as if it were some kind of big revelation.

“Hah! I guess that makes sense,” the boy said. “That kind of background fits a Ghost Type trainer like you.”

“Is that supposed to mean something?”

Sam was more bewildered at the boy’s comment than anything else, but the trainers listening in just laughed, seemingly thinking his reaction was a joke.

Somehow, Sam found himself falling into conversation easily enough. People mostly wanted to brag about their Pokémon, and others shared compliments and asked questions while exchanging words of pride.

“I saw your Steelix and Lapras fight,” Sam managed to say to Eliza when he had a moment to squeeze in a few words. “It’s impressive just how well they can control the field.”

“Thank you,” she said with a slight blush. “We worked hard to get so skilled with that.”

“But I also saw you had a Slowking,” Sam added. “You have a lot of rare evolutions on your team. How did you manage that?”

“You're one to ask, Mr. I-Introduce-Extinct-Species,” she teased, and a few more people laughed. “But yeah. I guess my Pokémon are kind of rare. We had to do a lot to get the items we needed.”

Going to the Blackthorn Clan for help with Dragon Type moves wasn’t the only time Eliza went to someone for help. She revealed that she spent a while working with Jasmine, doing odd-jobs for the Gym Leader in exchange for access to the Metal Coats she needed for her Onix and Scyther.

“But Slowking actually evolved due to a lucky break! We thought he’d just be a Slowbro at first,” Eliza said. “We were exploring Slowpoke Well to see if we could find any hints that’d help with that. Instead, we stumbled onto this weird little side room. While searching through it, we managed to find a King’s Rock hidden in stalagmites at its back!”

“...Uh-huh.”

Someone else asked her a question, and her attention shifted as she answered that, but Sam failed to hear what she said. He remained totally and utterly silent, unable to stop the look he sent to Xavier.

There was only one King’s Rock that he was aware of inside Slowpoke Well. With Eliza’s description, he couldn’t think of any other possibility than that the King’s Rock she used had been the one left behind when that ghost had moved on.

Despite the meaning that stone carried, Sam couldn’t be upset that Eliza had used it. If anything, learning that was satisfying. If there was ever a person to use that King’s Rock, then it was best if they were a trainer who truly loved their Pokémon rather than just someone grabbing it just to make a quick buck.

“I’m happy you found that,” Sam eventually said.

He genuinely meant it, too.

Eliza looked back over to send Sam a smile.

“Thank you. We’ve been working hard to make the most of it. Slowking aren’t exactly the most common Pokémon, so we’ve been doing all we can to have him live up to his evolution.”

The conversation continued from there, and Sam let himself fall out of it so he could get some snacks from the table. No one seemed to notice that he “accidentally” knocked one bowl of chips to the floor. It disappeared into a shadow, and if anyone heard the crunching that came from beneath his feet, nothing was said.

However, as all of the chatter and levity of the party went on and on, Sam wasn’t left alone. It wasn’t that people kept talking to him—he was only one point of interest in a room full of them—but ever since Sam had sent him a glance while talking to Eliza, Xavier had never once looked away.

It took a while before the other boy eventually spoke.

“I watched your battles,” Xavier said, and Sam’s attention was brought back to him.

“Both of them?” Sam asked.

“All of them,” Xavier answered.

“Then, what did you think?”

Xavier was quiet. He seemed to struggle to choose his words.

“You’re strong. Stronger than I’d thought. But that won’t make a difference. I’ll win.”

“We’ll see about that,” Sam said in reply.

Rather than a similar look of challenge, a frown crossed Xavier’s face, and Sam could see Xavier struggle to not clench his fists. What he said next was clearly not meant to be heard—it was more of a mumble to himself than anything else—but Sam had spent far too long listening to hidden Ghost Types to not hear what Xavier said.

“You don’t understand. I don’t have a choice.”

Sam desperately wanted to respond, to ask him what he meant, but that was when Cassandra unexpectedly spoke up. The party’s “host” so graciously raised her voice, and something about the way she carried herself all but demanded everyone listen in.

Like a queen holding court.

“Sam. Your Ghost Types were surprising. Any tips for the rest of us?” she asked.

It took him a moment to realize she was talking to him.

“Oh, uh, just lean into their species’s strengths?” he offered.

She laughed.

“Yes, I suppose that’s true for every Pokémon,” she said.

Cassandra then cast her gaze to the trainer next to him and asked them a question as well. Slowly, she began to speak to everyone, asking questions to people around the room.

“Naomi, your Ninetales’s Confuse Ray is impressive. How did you manage to get it to use its moves as fast as it did?”

“Alexa, I saw your Persian. Its fur is beautiful. Do you have any advice for a Pokémon’s diet?”

“Daisuke! I saw the immense strength in your Fighting Types’ moves! I have to know, what kind of punching techniques do you include in their regimen?”

One by one, she acknowledged everyone here, and while people had initially gone quiet to listen in, a handful of conversations started back up, but none ever became loud enough to drown out her voice.

Soon, Cassandra’s focus reached Terry. He still seemed to be out of it after his loss.

“Terry,” Cassandra said politely to greet him. “So glad you could make it.”

“S-sure,” Terry replied, and then without saying anything else, Cassandra moved on.

Redi bristled at Sam’s side.

As Cassandra went through her questions to everyone in the room, Redi followed her gaze, and Sam followed Redi’s. Cassandra would ask a question or two to a trainer here—polite without being intrusive, revealing without being revealing—and then she would move on to do the same for the next person seated.

However, that wasn’t true for everyone she spoke to. There was a pattern to the trainers she asked questions versus the ones she only bothered to share a brief greeting.

“...Are you kidding me? Even here?”

Redi’s comment came out as nothing more than a hiss under her breath.

“Ray, Tyra, you two train your Pokémon together, right?”

“Vincent! How’s your Golduck recovering?”

“Edgar,” Cassandra greeted, and then she moved on.

With that, Redi seemed to have had enough, and her eyes locked onto Cassandra’s in the same moment her voice rang out.

“Are you joking?” she said.

Tension shot through the room like a blast wave.

“Whatever do you mean?” Cassandra asked innocently.

“You’re not even trying to hide it! You’re not talking to anyone who lost! You’re not... You’re not even pretending to be polite!”

Redi glared at Cassandra, but all Cassandra did was idly stare back. A few whispers were shared through the room—Sam caught a hushed comment of someone saying that Redi was right.

“I simply didn’t want to bother them after—”

“Liar.”

“I merely thought it was better to—”

“No. You didn’t.”

Cassandra smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes.

And Redi didn’t hesitate to send a glare right back when she began to talk.

“You’re not even doing the bare minimum,” Redi said, crossing her arms. “We’re all in the same competition. You could at least try to have some respect.”

“Of course I have respect for them,” Cassandra said easily. “They fought hard, and they lost. But there’s no point in lying. We’re all here for the same reason. When it comes to learning more about our potential opponents—”

“They’re still people,” Redi hissed. “Do you see anyone else ignoring everyone who lost?”

Uncomfortable, a few people shifted in their seats.

Everyone here had come expecting prying questions. Even one bit of unintentionally revealed information could give an advantage that’d lead to a trainer’s defeat. Yet, at the same time, this was still a party. There was a level of respect meant to be held between trainers, and Redi could not stand that Cassandra wasn’t bothering with that.

As Redi leaned back with her arms crossed and waited for Cassandra to respond, a few people murmured a bit. From their hushed words, Sam could tell at least some of them agreed with what Redi had said.

But then, a sinking feeling settled into his stomach. An amused glint entered Cassandra’s eyes.

“Oh, alright. I’ll apologize,” Cassandra said with an exaggerated sigh. “So! Terry. Redi here thinks I mistreated you.”

Redi’s expression went totally blank, and a handful of people groaned.

“I am so sorry about your battle,” Cassandra continued, her voice dripping with false sympathy. “You lost to Victor, right? Unfortunately, that was only expected. Despite his past experiences, I heard his team is deceptively—”

“And now you’re just doing it on purpose,” Redi interrupted.

“I’m not sure what you mean?” Cassandra asked while batting her eyes.

Redi gritted her teeth and honestly looked more frustrated than Sam had ever seen her before, but she held back, recognizing the bait.

If it had been just a few months ago, she might have lost it there.

But it never reached that point.

No, above everyone’s heads, the image on the television in the room suddenly changed. No one cared about the argument anymore. It wasn’t like they were able to when comparing it to the information about to be displayed.

“Welcome back to our coverage of this year’s Silver Conference tournament!” a newscaster’s voice rang out as the highlight videos came to a stop. “Today’s matches have certainly been interesting. And I have no doubt that tomorrow’s will prove to be even more of the same!”

“That’s right,” another newscaster replied. “In tomorrow's battles, trainers will be allowed to use up to five Pokémon each, and the time for the alternative battlefields will be over. Battles will only take place on the main battlefield from here. They will be tests of nothing but skill and strength. Personally, I can’t wait!”

The two people displayed on the screen chuckled politely and brought up a few of the more memorable highlights. Sam couldn’t stop his small smile to himself when he heard both his and Redi’s names.

Everyone in this room was listening in. Likely, people were watching from all across the region. Honestly, Sam could only barely imagine what the main lobby of the Pokémon Center might have been like right now. 

Tomorrow’s match-ups were about to be revealed.

“Alright,” one of the casters said, speaking with a slight laugh. “That’s enough stalling from us. The reports are finally in. The next matches have been decided, and here are all the pairs for Round Three tomorrow!”

Sixty-four trainers remained. Thirty-two matches needed to take place. With each battle being allotted thirty minutes, Round Three was set to stretch over a sixteen-hour day.

On the screen itself, only eight pairs were displayed at once, with a trainer’s name and picture being listed across from their would-be opponent. Normally, pages would need to pass before Sam saw anyone important, but everyone he cared to learn about was displayed on the first.

He would be facing Eliza.

Xavier would be facing someone else.

And Redi?

Redi would be facing Cassandra.

The moment that match-up appeared, both of them turned to the other to lock eyes.

“Looks like we'll settle this tomorrow,” Cassandra said with a smile.

“You'll lose,” Redi said.

“Ah, but that’s only what you think.”

Immediately, Redi left the room without saying anything else, and the many trainers here seemed torn between watching her go and watching the next set of matchups be displayed. Honestly, Sam was a bit stunned at how fast this had all devolved, but he still managed to send a polite smile to Eliza, his opponent for tomorrow.

“Good luck,” he said.

“Good luck,” she said right back, and she looked eager to test his unknown species in a match, herself.

With Redi’s exit, Sam quickly stood to join her as she left the room, and he could feel Xavier’s eyes burning a hole into his back the entire way out. Cassandra, meanwhile, didn’t even seem to care. She simply moved on to other conversations, already trying to find out even more about other, future opponents.

There was no doubt in her mind that she would win.

Sam hurried out of the restaurant, practically running through that trainer-filled main room. The second he stepped out into the darkness of the night, he had his Ghost Types flood out of his shadow to begin a search, and he was only slightly delayed when an Ace Trainer came over to lecture him about sending so many Pokémon out at once.

Still, Sam was more careful the next time he called for his Pokémon, and he was able to find Redi quickly—but she wasn’t inside Silver Town.

Redi was sitting just past the town’s edge. Silver Town might have gotten its name from the dangerous Mount Silver to its north, but Redi had headed to the moderately less active route to the south. With so much of the Pokémon League’s power centralized in this location, it was a surprisingly safe settlement even though it was so deep in the mountains.

Sam found Redi just off the main road. She was sitting on a fallen log, staring up at the stars.

The full moon hung high above her head. Sam didn't immediately join her. However, he did make his presence known as he stood in the shadows to the clearing’s side.

“It's not that I'm afraid. Or that mad. Or even that bothered,” Redi said as Sam purposefully disturbed some fallen leaves. “It’s just, people like Cassandra? I hate when they act like that. Like they’re the smartest person in the room, or like they’re so much better than everyone else.”

“You’ve brought up something like that recently,” Sam said. “I have to ask, is this related to those girls you mentioned from that nearby Trainer School?”

Though she faced away, he could tell that Redi blinked in surprise.

“...Huh,” she said, a smile creeping onto her face. “Yeah. Probably. Hah! I think you’re right. That definitely explains it. Cassandra reminds me of them. Just someone who only really has her words. Someone who thinks she’s better than everyone else and will always win just because she’s able to think of a plan.”

Redi pushed off her log to stand, and Sam briefly remembered a comment her aunt had told him.

Even with her loving family, he was effectively Redi’s first human friend.

But all of that was old news to Redi. Truthfully, she hadn’t come here to brood. She had come here to make space.

Under the light of the full moon, she pulled a certain Pokéball off her belt.

“I’ve proven it time and time again, and I’ll prove it against Cassandra,” Redi said, her smile having evolved into her classic, sharp grin. “I’ve been called meat-headed. Slow. Too focused on power. But what people don’t understand is that all of those are my greatest strengths!”

Sam finally joined Redi in the clearing, and her grin practically glowed under the moonlight. She held her Pokéball forward, and then with a flash, Ursaring appeared alongside a yawn.

“Mr. Pokémon had a place he wanted me to visit in town,” Redi explained slowly. “There were going to be a few researchers there who would work to evolve Ursaring, like they usually do under the full moon. I was supposed to head there after the party, but... I’ve been thinking about Typhlosion a lot. I think, just trying to meet the basic conditions isn’t enough. There needs to be a meaning behind an evolution attempt. When it comes to something like this, you can’t just randomly have your Pokémon evolve.”

Dramatically, she threw out her arms.

“And here? Now? On the night before the third round of battles, and with my upcoming match against the kind of person I hate? I can't think of a better time to try this!” she yelled, shouting her plans to the world. “It’s finally time! We can do this! But, I’ve also come prepared.”

With Ursaring waking up from his nap before her, Redi stepped back to the log to reach into her backpack. From within it, she pushed around what sounded like a bunch of loose papers to pull out a container that felt as though it should have held a lunch.

However, when she opened it up, nothing edible was contained within.

Inside that box was a muddy block, patchwork and compressed. It resembled a cube that was totally and only comprised of muck.

“Mr. Pokémon has already exhausted samples from every bog he could find,” Redi said to Sam. “Every single peat block ever presented to Ursaring has failed—there's a reason his species doesn’t evolve anymore.

“But this?” She slapped the container of wet dirt without even blinking an eye. “This is more than just a basic peat block. It’s also all of my souvenirs. Every time we tried to evolve Ursaring, I asked for a little bit to take with me just so I could create this.”

Almost reverently, Redi held the container in her hands and looked up at Ursaring. After all of today’s battles, Ursaring was definitely a bit tired, but he had plenty of energy left, reserved just for this moment.

The cube was gross. It was made up of nothing but old, stinking dirt. It hadn’t been maintained over the past month or so, and it smelled of moist and rot.

Redi looked totally confident despite that.

“Will it work?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know,” she answered truthfully, “but I have to try.”

Under the light of the full moon, Redi grabbed her makeshift peat block to hold it forward, and Ursaring leaned down to give it a sniff. Nothing happened, and Redi slumped, disappointed.

Ursaring’s nose twitched.

Standing before her, a frustrated glint entered his eyes, and his jaws started to creak open just slow enough for Redi to recognize she needed to pull back her hands. Dropping the cube, Ursaring snapped out with a mighty crunch, chomping down on that disgusting block before it could hit the ground.

A grimace overtook his face—this was not how a peat block was meant to be used—but he chewed on it anyway, bringing his gaze up to the full moon.

Still.

Nothing happened.

With that, Redi let out a sigh.

“I guess this wasn’t our moment,” she said tiredly. “Come on. It’s already late enough. We should probably head back to the researchers, and we might have enough time left to—”

Ursaring swallowed. Sam gagged. The bear Pokémon brought his head back, and then, after a powerful inhale, Ursaring poured his whole heart into a deafening roar.

Right away, Sam could tell that Ursaring was forcing it. This was not how it worked. This was not how it should work. Yet, his eyes locked onto the moon in challenge, and he seemed to be practically daring it to stop him.

There was no other way this could have gone. So much like Redi, Ursaring brute-forced it.

To both of their surprise, his glow started as just flickers, and those flickers were a spark that ignited the event. A moon-bright shine overtook him, and Ursaring’s body began to expand to be twice his size, all four of his limbs rippled with muscle, and that weight sent him to the ground.

Fur grew around his neck. His jaw grew larger.

He shuffled, ears flicking, settling into his new size.

And, beneath all of that change, there was a flash, and a clouded moon seared into his forehead.

The light broke.

The roar that came out of him next was not the roar of an Ursaring, but the roar of a full, properly evolved, Ursaluna.

“You... Ugh! You’re so stupid!” Redi threw herself into his side regardless of what she said. “I can’t believe you did that! You actually... You did it.

“Thank you, Ursaluna,” she whispered. “You managed to evolve.”

Ursaluna did his best to express his pleasure with a low, rumbling growl. The earth itself seemed to shake from the sheer force of the noise.

Redi wiped the tears from her eyes as she laughed, and Sam had to take a step back just to see all of Ursaluna at once.

“Yeah. You’re definitely going to win tomorrow,” he said.

“You think so?” Redi asked.

“No,” Sam replied. “I know so.”

Redi and Ursaluna laughed.

There would be no other outcome. Sam simply couldn’t picture it. Even if Ursaluna hadn’t managed to evolve, the next match’s fate had already been sealed.

After all, Redi would never allow herself to lose before she faced Sam.

==========================================================================
Author Note:

Last chapter and this chapter were tough. They'll both be given another pass as soon as I get the chance.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Gible / Gabite
Lapras
Slowpoke / Slowking
Steelix
Ursaring / Ursaluna

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 161 (Rough)

Author Note:

Apologies for such a late chapter! I ended up re-writing it several times over. A small handful of sections will need to be touched up later, but it now includes everything I want it to include.

Edit from the future: This chapter will be subject to some revisions.

=======================================================================

Redi was waiting for Sam when he left the main battlefield, standing just past where the lowest tunnel connected to the arena floor. She ran right up to him as soon as she saw him, and before he could say anything, she had already blurted out a question.

“What was that?”

“What do you mean? You know my team.”

“That’s not— Ugh!” Redi pulled at her hair. “Sam, that was insane. When I gave you advice to reveal your team members, I didn’t mean... You had that many...! But your move choices... And—!”

She let her stuttering come to an abrupt halt and looked right at him.

“You really caught a Dragon Type?”

“Yup. Her evolution is a pseudo-Legend, too. Remember what I told you about that Dragon Type hunt? I met Drakloak there and helped her free her brother. She stuck around and eventually joined my team. This was her second major battle, I think?”

Slowly, Redi faced away to blankly stare down the hallway. After a second, she sighed and let her head rest on her hand.

“Man, you’re almost making me feel bad about my own planned reveals.”

“Almost?” Sam asked.

“Well, yeah,” Redi said, speaking as if it were obvious. “My team is stronger than yours.”

She replied to Sam’s flat look with a teasing grin.

Redi’s battle wouldn't be until at least another forty minutes, and she still wasn’t worried in the slightest. It wasn’t like there had been any new developments for her opponent, and her battlefield would be the rocky one. She wouldn’t need to worry about fighting atop a pool of water against an Electric Type foe.

“So, if Primeape evolved, that must have happened when you met his brother,” Redi said, tapping her chin. “It makes sense, but it’s just... Wow. I had a feeling something more happened then, but I never bothered to put those thoughts together. But, whatever. It doesn’t matter. Ursaring will still—”

“Nah. Annihilape will win their fight,” Sam interrupted, half-jokingly.

“...You’re no fun,” she said with a huff. “Anyway, how high is your team’s rating?”

“I want to say we were at eight stars when we earned our last Gym Badge?” Sam offered, remembering a conversation he had with Chuck while he and Redi walked down the hallway. “But then we spent all of our time in Ilex trying to fix any gaps. Given just how hard it is to get to higher stars, I want to say we’re at nine, but, realistically, we’re probably rated at the middle of eight.”

“Huh. That’s as strong as me.”

Their conversation mostly gave way to idle chat after that, especially since Redi didn’t actually want to know what Sam’s team could do. She didn’t want it to come up in conversation. She only ever wanted to learn of his Pokémon’s strength through battle—at least, while the Conference was taking place.

Instead, they mostly talked about the Conference itself and how people might be reacting to what Sam revealed. He had shown off a lot to the point that even Redi had been surprised, and she had come into the match expecting most of it.

There was no telling what people might be thinking.

But also, while chatting, the topic of Cassandra’s party came up, as well.

“Yeah, she gave me one of her invites. I heard a few people talking about how she’d passed a bunch around,” Redi told Sam. “The only people going are people I think she knows, or people she thinks are strong. Honestly, it’s hard to figure out what’s going on with her. She wouldn’t have been out of place in that Trainer School back home.”

That last part wasn’t said kindly.

“Are you going to go?” Sam asked.

“Maybe. I'm hesitant. Cassandra has this weird perspective that I don’t really get. The party will probably be fine, but since the next matches aren’t going to be announced till later tonight, I think it might be at least a good way to scout out the competition.”

The door out of the arena was just ahead of them, and as they walked up to it, Sam brought up another question that’d been on his mind since Redi first appeared.

“By the way,” he started, “what happened with my mom? She said she was going to watch my match, but she didn’t come down here?”

“Oh, shoot. Whoops?” Redi awkwardly scratched her cheek. “She might be upstairs? I kind of left her behind when I raced down here. I think she said something about meeting back up once you escape?”

“Escape?” Sam asked. “Escape from what?”

He pushed open the door only to be blinded by the late afternoon sun, and then he was blinded by the dozens of flashes that came right after. This door was meant to be an alternate exit for competitors so that they wouldn’t be swarmed when they left the arena, but as soon as Sam stepped onto a thin gravel path that led away from the building, he was already crowded by a baker’s dozen of reporters.

All of them shouted questions. Most of them shoved microphones in his face. The second their cameras’ lenses landed on him, Redi’s PokéGear started to blare out with calls and alerts.

The push of the crowd saw her fall to the side, out of the mass, and all of the shouted questions drowned out her cries.

“Samuel. Samuel! Any comments to share about your team?”

“Mr. Greyson! Our reports say you lived in a bookstore. How much of what you know came from there?”

“How long have you been keeping your Pokémon’s evolutions hidden?!”

“Any comments, hints, or advice for people trying to achieve those same alternate forms?”

“Incredible moves!”

“DO YOU HAVE A SPONSOR?!”

“Uh—”

Even if Sam wanted to answer, there were far too many reporters shouting questions at him for anything he said to be picked up. Redi was too overwhelmed by the sheer number of calls coming from her phone, and a pair of Ace Trainers behind the group were trying and failing to get the reporters to back off.

And then, from somewhere in the crowd, Sam heard the faintest of familiar voices.

“Samuel. Samuel! I can help you escape if you agree to an interview with me!”

Eyes locked onto the sole lifeline he had, Sam pointed to the single person offering help and then spoke as loudly as he could.

“I accept! I’ll talk to her and no one else!”

And then, silence.

Beautiful silence.

Every mic held in his face dropped in disappointment now that there would be nothing he’d say.

Finally, the Ace Trainers in the back were able to push to the front, and, tiredly, they managed to get all of those reporters to step away and give Sam some space. He was finally able to breathe, and Redi looked up to check on him. When she saw that he was okay, she focused back on her PokéGear to try to get it to shut up.

Even hitting it didn’t seem to work. Sam couldn’t even imagine just how many people must have been trying to call her right now.

“Seriously, people? Have some decorum! He hasn’t even healed his team yet,” that single reporter said as she approached Sam, shaking her head.

A man carrying a camera carefully followed her from behind. Though Sam had met them both before, he only somewhat remembered the man’s name.

“Monty?” Sam tried.

“He’s Monroe, and I’m Marilyn,” the smiling reporter said as she shook Sam’s numbly offered hand. “We haven’t talked since Violet City’s tournament, but I’m glad you remembered us! I promise to keep things quick and simple. We only want a few soundbites and comments, alright?”

“Sure. Alright.”

After giving him a moment to recover from that ambush, Marilyn brought Sam to a tree just off the path. Doing so gave him a less crowded space in which to calm down, and the other reporters all moved on, recognizing they had lost out.

The pair of Ace Trainers from before also followed just in case, making sure no nonsense would go on, and Redi ran up to Sam to speak as fast as she could.

“Sorry! My PokéGear’s still going off, and I can’t! Get it! To stop!” she growled. “Downside of knowing so many researchers, I guess. The second they find out your friend has a bunch of unknown evolutions, they want to throw thousands of questions your way.”

“It’s fine,” Sam said, standing up from where he had briefly sat beneath that tree. “I need to stop at the Pokémon Center, anyway. You go on ahead. We’ll meet back up after your match?”

Redi pursed her lips but still nodded.

“Okay, but I’ll be looking for you in the crowd!”

She ran off, needing to get to her arena early just in case, and Sam was left alone with Marilyn, Monroe, and the two Ace Trainers standing guard. As a reporter, Marilyn adjusted her hair and jacket as Monroe pointed the camera at her, and rather than treat Sam to a proper interview, it was clear she planned to stick to her word about keeping this simple. She just wanted a few fast questions answered rather than get anything extensive out of him.

Sam really appreciated that.

“How long have you been a trainer?”

“What’s it like working with your team?”

“Any difficulties with the Ghost Type?”

“What are your thoughts on the Conference so far?”

Sam answered her questions easily enough. He didn’t bother to put on any persona other than his own. Trying to be someone he wasn’t just for appearance’s sake sounded exhausting. He’d rather people focus on what his Pokémon could do over anything about him.

With the questions being so generic, his answers were quick. However, Marilyn was still a reporter, and once Sam was relaxed, she hit him with the hardest question so far, the one she had saved for last.

“And finally, one last question—how did you learn those evolutions were possible? Your team has shocked the world! I have to know, were they accidental, or did you perhaps learn of your Pokémon’s potential from somewhere or someone else?”

She held her mic under his mouth, and before he answered, a thought popped into his head.

You know, Redi mentioned the Conference is great for advertisements. I don’t want to say anything explicit, but this would be the perfect time to try something like that, wouldn’t it?

“I read,” Sam answered simply enough, a proud smile creeping onto his face at his clever answer. “I read a lot of things, and I’ve spent a lot of time on research. Most people focus on information already found in the Pokédex or online, but you’d be surprised by the stuff that goes unread in bookstores. That’s the secret of my team.”

Marilyn smiled, and she was about to thank him and end on that note, but both of them went quiet when they saw one of the Ace Trainers press a hand to their ear.

Immediately, Sam knew that whatever was being said in their earpiece was about him. The Ace Trainer didn’t hide how he sent a look to Sam.

“What is it?” Sam asked.

Marilyn stayed quiet, eager to witness this moment herself.

“Your presence has been requested,” the Ace Trainer said carefully, uncomfortably shifting in place. “If you’re willing, I can bring you to a meeting room inside.”

“With who?” Sam asked, blinking at the member of the Pokémon League standing so awkwardly before him.

Though there was a hint of hesitation with a reporter so close, the Ace Trainer still said it outright.

“Elite Four Agatha.”

And Marilyn didn’t wait to see Sam off.

“Go, go!” she said, a gleaming smile on her face. “Don’t worry about me. Just remember which reporter was so kind to you after you win your next rounds! But someone like Agatha? No, you simply can’t make her wait!”

She didn’t touch Sam, but he felt as though he was being pushed forward regardless. Right now, he honestly just wanted to let his team rest at the Pokémon Center, but he also recognized he didn’t have a choice.

He spoke with a tired exhale.

“Lead the way, I guess,” he said.

The Ace Trainer sent him a nod and brought him back toward the arena. Parting with a laughing Marilyn, Sam was led inside.

_______________________________________________________________________

When Sam was brought to his destination, the door before him was only labeled with the word “STAFF” on a taped, hand-written note. This room’s entrance was hidden within one of those back hallways closed off to the public, and Sam was pretty sure that even challengers weren’t supposed to be here.

He wasn’t allowed to enter immediately. Apparently, Agatha was “busy,” and that meant he had to wait.

Really? I just want to rest.

Part of his shadow stretched toward the door, but Sam quickly sent out a hissed whisper to call the creeping group of Gastly back. Not every Pokémon had been with him in his shadow when Agatha appeared in Mahogany Town. Not every Pokémon in there was aware of just how terrifying that Ghost Type elite could be.

He could still remember those moments of overwhelming fear, of how just the mere clicks of her cane had almost sent him into a panic. He remembered how the door had opened up without any need for her to open it herself, and he remembered how her presence alone seemed to devour the air.

But he didn’t feel any of that right now. He didn’t even feel nervous.

Simply put, Sam was tired, exhausted, and frustrated. Making him wait outside felt like a petty power play, and it ticked him off that she was doing this when his team deserved to rest after two straight victories.

After wasting a full minute doing nothing but standing outside, a voice finally called out from within, and he heard Agatha speak.

“Enter.”

The room was some kind of break room. Or, specifically, this place was more of a repurposed storage room rather than anything official. 

The furniture scattered around just seemed to be loose seats and items pulled in by the people who worked the arena. The fabric on an old couch was tattered and close to falling apart, and the handful of other seats were just boxes and plastic chairs. A set of shelves held an old microwave, and a few books were scattered about. A trash can held empty bags of chips.

Despite how “ragged” this room looked, there was a sense of care to this place. The furniture here might have been dragged in from outside, but it had been dragged in here with intention. It might not have been official, but it had been put together with a surprising amount of love.

However, no member of the arena staff was present. Someone else had claimed the room for themself. Only an old woman with a face hidden by greying blonde hair was there. She stood in front of the room’s sole window and silently watched the Conference’s crowds move along the arena’s main path.

Sam closed the door behind him. A subdued thunk echoed out.

“Samuel Greyson.” Agatha spoke without turning around as she rested her hands on the top of her cane. “Your battle was impressive. Your Ghost Types surprised me. I can tell you’ve trained hard to make proper use of them in battle.”

A second passed.

“Thank you,” Sam said carefully.

“You have a good eye when it comes to commanding your Pokémon,” Agatha said to him, staring out of the window. “Your improvement is obvious. I hardly recognize that young trainer I met in Mahogany Town. You're no longer the boy so scared of his own history.”

Scared? I wouldn't have called myself ‘scared.’

But Sam hid his grumbles.

Agatha let her words trail away, and the room fell into silence as her gaze remained on the crowds below. She seemed to be waiting for something, but despite all of the open seats in the room, Sam did not sit, and Agatha did not sit either.

Neither of them spoke right away, and the silence almost felt like a challenge. Sam refused to take the bait and ask questions so quickly, and Agatha seemed intent on maintaining her control.

Except, it was Agatha who decided to break that silence, and her words were like a sledgehammer crashing through a wall.

“I knew your grandfather.”

Sam went still.

Her statement was blunt, but Sam refused to show anything. He forced his expression to stay even, and he fought to not react even though Agatha was looking away.

“I will not lie,” Agatha said, speaking without any hint of awareness to Sam's reaction. “Your grandfather was a selfish boy. He was hard-headed. Quick to annoyance. Bad at following plans. But more than anything else, he always did whatever he could to support his friends.”

“...Yeah,” Sam ended up saying as he rubbed the back of his head. He was unable to suppress a short chuckle. “That does sound like him.”

“He was always... mad,” Agatha said softly, tilting her head down. “Mad at something. Mad at someone. Mad in a way that’s hard to explain. He always seemed so... mad at the world. And then there were times he would be mad due to the things he’d say.

“I can't say we were close,” she continued, and she adjusted her grip on her cane. “We were more than acquaintances, but I wouldn’t call us close friends. Rivals? Perhaps. Our paths crossed more than enough for that. We fought plenty of times. We traveled together occasionally. We had our share of adventures, and we had our share of competitions. And for a short while, we even had our...”

She shook her head, and Sam caught the faintest glint of her reflection in the window. It was an ephemeral sight, but he could have sworn he saw a bittersweet smile pass over her face.

“But that was a long time ago,” Agatha said with a sigh, and she brought her head up from where she had been watching the crowds. “I am old, and your grandfather has passed. Rich is no longer with us, but you... You’re still here.”

She turned around.

“And I believe it’s finally time I do something about that.”

With that ominous declaration, Agatha stared at Sam, and Sam stared right back.

Neither of them spoke for a long while, but Sam couldn’t stop himself from blurting out a response.

“You’re going to kill me?”

“What? No! You stupid—” Agatha exhaled, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her voice then took on a much softer tone. “No. No. I... apologize. I did not intend to phrase it like that. I simply knew your grandfather, and since I knew him, I can recognize that it’s finally time to reconnect with the grandson of a friend.”

She sent Sam an almost tender smile, one that wouldn't have been out of place on an actual grandmother. However, famously, Agatha did not have any close family. If anything, the persona she wore in public was grumpy enough that Sam couldn’t even picture her caring about anyone else.

Without Sam speaking or even moving from his spot in front of the room’s door, Agatha took the initiative to walk over to one of those plastic chairs and sit. She went through a slight wince when she landed on the seat’s hard surface, but she still brought up a hand to try to gesture for Sam to sit as well.

He remained standing.

“Why right now?” Sam asked, recognizing he couldn’t remain silent forever. “I don’t get it. You said you knew him, but if you knew him, why didn’t you say anything when Typhlosion evolved back then?”

“Because it wouldn’t have been right,” she answered easily and casually. “You were still on your journey.”

“But you were there. You knew him. You even just told me you recognized I wasn’t over his death. You could have at least said something!”

“I suppose I could have, yes,” she replied, but Agatha said nothing further than that.

Sam waited to see if she would reveal anything else, but she didn’t. She just sat there, upright and still, almost looking like some sort of statue.

“Okay. Fine,” Sam eventually grumbled. “I do have a few questions about someone, but they aren’t about my grandfather.”

“Who, then?”

“You,” he replied.

A beat passed, and Sam finally got a reaction:

Agatha narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.

However, she went on to wave a hand to ‘graciously’ grant Sam permission to speak. He crossed his arms as he did.

“I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of the Blackthorn Clan,” Sam started slowly, trying to think of the best way to phrase this, “but I can at least trust them to act in their own interests, and I doubt they lied to a trainer they were trying to befriend. Back when I met them, they told me some stuff about you. Gave me some information. Or warnings, I guess. When it comes to how you view Johto and Kanto—”

“Ha!”

He really didn’t expect Agatha to throw back her head and let out a barking laugh.

“This is about Golbat, isn’t it? They’re still on that, are they?” Agatha gained a mischievous grin. “Ah, I can see why. I admit, it’s a rather infamous moment.”

“Yes,” Sam said, trying not to act as thrown off as he was. “They told me about the moment you gave your Golbat an Everstone, basically insulting all of Johto when you did, and then also... everything else. I just want to know why you did that. I want to know why you act so much like... you.”

“Well,” Agatha said, and she smiled to herself while adjusting a more comfortable grip on her cane. “To put it simply, it was merely politics, and I excel at politics.

“My Golbat?” she said, the corners of her mouth twisting up into a grin. “Golbat didn't want to evolve, that gluttonous bat. You see, a Crobat’s mouth is much smaller than a Golbat’s. It’s much harder to inhale your meal when your head is half the size it was before!”

She let out a quick laugh.

“So I gave her an Everstone, but I also used that moment for my own benefit. Back then, Kanto and Johto? They hated each other. Despised each other. And I used that to my advantage, as well. For years, all of my actions have been deliberate and purposeful. Everything I’ve done and said has been for one goal and one goal alone.”

“Independence?” Sam asked, a nervousness creeping into his voice.

“Unification,” Agatha corrected, and she seemed so willing to brag that Sam knew she was telling the truth. “It’s all unification. It’s always been unification. And it’s all due to one single, annoying favor called in by a certain, idealist fool. He desired help with achieving his dream, so I did exactly that. I took on the role of a ‘villain’ to make sure his desire would come true.

“A few sharp words here, a few hateful conversations there, and I’m suddenly the centerpiece for every person pushing for an independent Kanto,” she said. “Everyone who looked for a stronger, more singular region looked to me, and everyone who might have pushed for a more ‘extreme’ agenda found themselves drowned out by my words, instead.”

Her smile was proud, and she held her head high.

Sam just stared at Agatha for a long, long time.

It felt as though he had just experienced the unmasking of an antagonist during a stage play, but this was real life, and the “plot” she described reminded him of conspiracy theories he’d read online. That grand level of manipulation probably should have been more concerning to him, but for some reason, he wasn’t that surprised.

Also, his home was in Hoenn. Kanto and Johto’s politics were practically alien. Hearing that Agatha had worked so hard to shape the regions from the shadows felt strange.

Still.

That reveal in of itself explained a lot about her, as simply explained as it was.

Sam leaned against the door as he sent Agatha a look. He tried his best to get her to react in any further way, but she just sat there and looked cheerfully amused.

“So for all this time, you’ve just been putting on a show?” he asked. “You’ve just been crafting a specific image to ensure a more unified Indigo?”

“Bah. Like I said, it’s all politics.” Agatha waved a hand and leaned back in her seat, practically mimicking his stance. “Everyone puts on an image. I’m not unique. And it’s not my fault that so many are willing to fall for such banal lies.”

For a while, Sam just frowned. Agatha bid for him to sit once again, but he didn’t want to leave where he stood at the room's door.

“Okay,” Sam said next, and Agatha nodded with what felt like an infinite amount of patience. “I have another question, and I know that you know. So just tell me, why was I ranked last?”

“Oh?” Agatha said with a slight quip, raising a single eyebrow. “I thought these questions would be about me?”

It was disconcerting. Her amusement was at odds with her usual grumpy attitude.

“Yes,” Sam answered. “This question is about you.”

“Hah. I see.”

She spent a long moment rocking her jaw back and forth in silent debate, and she seemed to finally decide on her answer when an almost teasing smile returned to her face.

“You’re right. It was me. It was upon my request and authority that you would be placed last if you made it in.”

“Why?” Sam hissed, stepping forward. He clenched his fists. “Why do that? It... It has to be wrong. Nepotism. Tampering with the competition. Messing with the ranking and going against the spirit of the tournament just to change everything going on with—”

A cackle.

Agatha interrupted him by throwing her head back for another sharp laugh.

“You’re accusing me of corruption? Me? Trust me, I’ve been accused of far worse!” Her grin felt unnaturally wide. “It was a test. A simple one. One that did not go against the spirit of the competition but aided it. The truth is, the League lied. They did not explain the matchups properly.

“A limited range of opponents based on rank? Bah. That is partially true, but only from a certain perspective. The range is much, much larger than you were led to think. Effectively, the match-ups are fully random; rank does not matter. There is no limit on who battles who, and while most of the rankings are real, they’re only psychological—they only affect how competitors view themselves.”

“Why?” Sam asked.

With the way she was staring at him, Sam could tell she was analyzing his reaction.

In return, he did his best to analyze her back.

(He figured out nothing, unfortunately.)

“Why I asked for you to be placed last, or why the League bothered with the ranks at all?” Agatha asked. “Well. The answer to both is identical. It was simply to see how you and all of the other competitors would react.”

“But that still doesn’t answer why!” Sam all but yelled.

“Tch. Don’t raise your voice. I’ll tell you. Now sit down.”

He didn’t.

Agatha sighed but continued regardless.

“The answer is straightforward. Lance requested it. For his purposes, this year’s Conference is meant to be a crucible, a crucible that ensures that only the best of the best succeed. It’s to ensure that every little challenge, every little push, encourages trainers to give it their all, and I believed you would try harder if you thought you had more to overcome.”

“...I never believed the rankings were accurate,” Sam grumbled, crossing his arms again.

“But you never learned your true placement, and you revealed your entire team, didn’t you?” Agatha countered right away.

She laughed again, and Sam continued to grumble even as he felt heat rush to his face. He had revealed his whole team independent of anything to do with the rankings. He had done so because he was hurting himself by holding them back.

Showing off his Pokémon now gave him a greater amount of freedom in his future matches, and he had even gone with a more aggressive strategy to ensure people remained unaware of his preference for weakening his foes, as well.

But Agatha, meanwhile, just patiently waited for Sam to calm down, and as she remained silent, he felt himself bristle.

Her presence was tainting this whole conversation, and it might as well have been tainting the Conference itself. And, with the way she started everything off—

Sam stopped his current train of thought.

Instead, a specific question came to mind.

It took him a second to muster the courage to ask it, and deep inside him, he knew this would trip her up.

“Last question,” Sam said, and Agatha nodded once as if to yet again grant him permission to speak. “If you knew him, then, when my grandfather died, how come you never bothered to contact my family?”

Agatha went stock-still, and Sam looked her in the eye.

She was putting on a show here, one that she had spent years mastering. Her expression was schooled perfectly to not betray even a single thought, but that act itself was revealing enough to cast any further response in a completely different light.

“Your grandfather and I—”

Sam could already tell this was going to be an excuse.

“Don’t,” Sam said, interrupting her. “Don’t lie to me. You said you were close to my grandfather, but everything has just been a... It’s just been an excuse to talk to me. You haven’t bothered to tell me any lies because you don’t need to tell me lies. But just because you’re not outright lying doesn’t mean you aren’t misleading me with mistruths.”

She watched him silently.

“You’re a Ghost Type specialist,” Sam said, and though his statement was simple, it revealed a lot. “I know how that works, and I know how you fight. So much about the Ghost Type is about manipulating your opponents to do what you want. And you’ve already told me you take that mindset and apply it to your life outside of battle. After all, you answered my question about your politics, remember?”

He hated how saying that made her smile.

“You’re manipulative. In both battle and talk. When you started this conversation, you brought up my grandfather for a reason. You had a previous connection with him, so that was your ‘in’ with me. Presenting it so bluntly like that? To throw me off. To make me curious, and then you answer any questions honestly so that I form a connection with you.

“But you... You didn’t know. You didn’t know what I already learned. And if it were only a month ago, this probably would have worked. Except, that time has passed. Coming in here, I already knew you were friends with my grandfather before I even walked in.”

He hadn’t known when Agatha approached him in Mahogany Town. He hadn’t known for the vast, vast majority of his life. But he had the chance to talk to his grandfather, and neither of them had held back.

They had all the time in the world to speak, so of course Sam’s grandfather had told him more details about his life.

“So why do you think I did all of this?” Agatha asked, her question testing but not harsh. “Why did I bother with this attempt now, of all times?”

“With this timing? After my battle and after all of my team’s reveals?” Sam asked in reply. “There’s only one answer that makes sense. You saw my team members, and you want to know exactly how I evolved my—”

“Hah! You’re wrong.” Agatha let out a single laugh. “You’re a smart boy, Sam. Don’t make assumptions. The truth is, I don’t care about your team.”

Sam openly gaped at her. She wasn’t lying. She hadn’t lied a single time in this conversation, and he could tell she wasn’t going to start lying now.

As he stared at her, unable to piece together what to say next or even why she was here, Agatha stood up, leaning against her cane to maintain her balance.

When she stood, he didn’t miss how shadowy hands appeared behind her back, supporting her and helping her up. For all of her experience in battle, she was old, but neither she nor her Pokémon would let age stop her like that.

“I don’t care about ‘new’ evolutions. I don’t care about ‘new’ discoveries. I have my team, and they support me, just like how I support them back,” she said, practically chiding Sam as she spoke. “No. For this, I came here with a specific purpose in mind. It pains me to admit it, but I am old. And because of that, I am far more interested in your achievements rather than any specific developments. To state it bluntly, at this point in my life, the interest that surpasses all other interests is, simply put, legacy.”

“You’re not...”

Sam was having trouble finding his words.

And that was fine. Agatha was more than willing to continue the conversation on her own for him.

“The League has rules and restrictions when it comes to offers presented during the Conference. Sponsorships, donations, and similar messages are held back until after the tournament is over. There is no sense in allowing competitors to get distracted by offers while they have so many battles ahead of them. There is no reason to have their attention split and potentially cost them their victories.

“No. Sponsorships and similar offers are restricted for a reason, but I am here to... what did you call it? Nepotism? Tampering? Messing with everything?” She laughed. “Sure. Call it that. But I am here to get ahead of the game.”

She looked him in the eye.

“I wanted to get to you first. My offer is simple and requires no contract. I merely wanted to present you with this: 

“Samuel, I offer you an apprenticeship.”

Part of the reason Sam had taken the interview with Marilyn was to escape, of course, but it was also so he could have a chance to properly present himself to any would-be sponsors. For a long time, he’d been working toward obtaining a source of income that was more reliable than just jobs and bets on random battles. Other than winning the Conference, a sponsorship was his ultimate goal. He wanted a company to pay him money to attach their name to him. He wanted guaranteed support to help with the costs of training his team.

An apprenticeship was different, but it offered similar benefits. An apprenticeship would see the “master” trainer take care of all of the needed expenses of the “apprentice.” In exchange, the apprentice would be expected to learn from that master and remember everything taught.

It was a bit of an archaic concept, but like Agatha had expressed, an apprenticeship was an assured way of creating a legacy.

Except, Sam wasn’t sure that he wanted that.

It wasn’t like he was against the idea of Agatha paying for everything, but the requirements just felt like...

We’re not aligned. The cost would be too much.

“Thank you,” Sam said, bowing his head, “but I’m going to turn you down.”

Agatha cocked an eyebrow but didn’t seem upset.

“Why not?”

“Because I’ve had a lot of time to think about my team, the things I know, and the kind of trainer I want to be,” Sam answered. “I’ve had even more time than that to think about just why I like the Ghost Type. And while I appreciate your offer, I can’t accept an apprenticeship that’d force me to be someone I’m not.

“We have different understandings of the Ghost Type, and we have different understandings of how ghosts deserve to be treated,” he said. “At times, we might battle in similar ways, but we’re not similar enough. You’re all about power and maintaining that power, and I’m... Well, I’m...”

“Get on with it. What are you?”

Agatha did not look away.

Under the sharp, analytic gaze of the oldest member of Indigo’s Elite Four, Sam thought of everything he’d done on his journey. He thought of everything he’d achieved with and for his team. He thought of Trevenant, of Drakloak, of Annihilape, and even of Mismagius. He thought of how every time a problem came up, he simply wanted to help.

“Ghosts play pranks,” Sam said slowly. “They scare people. They curse. They do a lot of things, honestly. But I think the aspect of the Ghost Type that most people miss is that they also guide.

“They guide lost spirits. They guide people through the woods. They might not always have the best intentions at heart, but you can’t say that’s not something they do,” he said. “When it comes to the trainer I want to be, I want to be the kind of trainer that people look to for support. So many people have helped me on my journey, and I want to do the same for others. That’s the kind of trainer I want to be, but that’s not the kind of trainer I’d be if I took an apprenticeship under you.”

“I see.”

For a while, Agatha just looked at him, any annoyance, amusement, or pressure completely absent. Right now, she was just another trainer. An old one. Another Ghost Type specialist.

She was an elite, but she was just one of many.

She was just another trainer Sam would strive to surpass.

“Ah, well. I can’t fight against that argument,” she said, clicking her tongue. “And I wouldn’t benefit from an apprentice as stubborn as you. So I’ll accept your denial. Perhaps I’ll find someone else?”

Moving away from that plastic chair, she began to walk toward the door, and Sam stepped to the side to let her through.

But when she reached the exit, she paused as she put her hand on the door’s handle.

She looked over to Sam with a single eye closed.

“Although... I have answered your questions. So I do have one of my own in exchange,” she said, her gaze practically piercing through him. “How long have you known?”

“Known what?”

“Known about my connection to Richard.”

A bit awkwardly, Sam rubbed the back of his head.

“Oh, uh, that? A few weeks ago. I’ve known for a bit. I came in here expecting you to reveal something like that, so it was more of a surprise that you said it so bluntly than that you said it at all.”

She let out one final laugh and smiled to herself while shaking her head. Honestly, it was like she almost expected that answer when she had asked her question.

“We might disagree on some fine points, but you make a good Ghost Type specialist, Sam,” she said, finally opening the door. “If Rich were here, he’d be proud of you.”

“Thank you,” Sam said, smiling, “but I already know.”

Agatha stepped out of the room, leaving the door open for Sam to leave as well. This back hallway was empty save for her. The clicks that came from her cane didn't carry any sense of intimidation, their echoes so unlike the last time he heard them.

“And one last thing, Samuel?” she called out while walking down the hall. “I mentioned that the League was holding back most offers until the Conference ended. Aren't you curious to know how many you have?”

His heart raced in his chest.

“How many?”

“Between the contact requests, sponsorships, and job offers, you had thirty-six waiting for you when I last checked before this meeting.”

She hadn’t checked that long after his match, and this meeting hadn't been short. If thirty-six offers had been sent to him so quickly, there was no telling how many he had now.

“Enjoy the rest of the tournament, Sam!” Agatha called out as she reached the end of the hall. “This might be the last time you'll have some relative anonymity. Appreciate it while it lasts.”

And then, she was gone, vanishing around a corner, leaving Sam and his team behind.

His head was spinning, but he breathed out and stared up at the ceiling. As much as he wanted to sit there and process all of that interest in him, he couldn't let himself get distracted. He still had all of his plans to get through and so many more battles to win.

And just today, I still need to heal my team, watch Redi’s match, rest, and then probably go to that party later?

The thoughts lingered, but as he took a step forward to start heading out, more than anything else, his focus was on the Conference.

Despite all of this, only two rounds had passed. He was yet to reach the top.

==========================================================================Author Note:

Next chapter is not Redi's battle. It will still happen in the next chapter, but it won't be something that gets much focus. This Conference is primarily about Sam.

Pokémon (and people) included in this chapter:
Golbat / Crobat

Agatha

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 160

Author Note:

Second chapter today!

Make sure you’ve read the chapter posted before this one!

Chapter 159

=======================================================================

“I believe you, but surely a Pokémon can have two Types?” Will said. “It doesn’t only need to be a Dragon or a Ghost. It could be both at once!”

A shared exhale was released throughout the room, and Lance cleared his throat out of embarrassment. Just like that, the tension that had sparked up from Sam’s new species seemed to have broken all at once.

“You’re being facetious,” Morty said in his seat. “Of course it’s both. Lance was just being dramatic, like he usually—”

He stopped himself when he saw the smile on Will’s masked face. The corners of his mouth had quirked up, and he was staring at Morty, proud to have garnered that reaction.

Morty snorted and brought his focus back to the field. Below, the battle had already started, and the Mr. Mime was pressing its hands against the air, vigorously crafting a full wall of invisible screens.

Sam’s new Pokémon—Drakloak, the television stated—cried its name and darted to the side. Morty was genuinely surprised at just how fast it could move, and it sent a strange, tannish energy out that seemed to splatter against the Mr. Mime’s unseen defenses.

Yet, unfortunately for the mime Pokémon, the Drakloak’s energy seemed to creep around the screens like a mass of skittering insects. Though the attack’s momentum was slowed, when it soon reached the Mr. Mime, the move’s effects covered and sank into it, almost appearing as a swarm that crawled all over its body.

Frankly, Morty had never seen such a disturbing attack.

“That was a Bug Type move.” The comment came from the group of children—Bugsy, Morty was pretty sure. “It’s a new one. An interesting one. And if I’m right about how it works, it looks like that Mr. Mime isn’t going to be able to switch.”

Bugsy’s comment was proven correct when Nelson tried to return his Pokémon for a better match-up. However, his Pokéball’s light was broken by the squirming energy that covered his Pokémon.

Sam went on to order a Shadow Ball from his Pokémon, and Nelson was quick to adapt, calling for a rather ingenious play from his Mr. Mime that made use of angled screens. The Shadow Ball slid against them and was redirected instead of just breaking apart and weakening the screens if they had been used as a flat guard.

“I taught him that,” Will said proudly.

The Drakloak’s Bug Type move meant that the Mr. Mime shifted around uncomfortably. Something about the move’s effects was causing it to take ongoing damage. However, the Psychic Type doggedly continued to craft its walls. 

The Mr. Mime didn’t need to attack; the Shadow Balls launched at it slid around and were redirected. Soon enough, the Drakloak was forced to avoid its own shots, and the barriers being placed across the field were limiting the total area it could use to dodge.

“He’s making a maze,” Bugsy said.

The Mr. Mime looked unreasonably smug.

From the side of the room, Whitney walked over, munching on a half-eaten scone in her hand. At the same time, Lance moved back to sit in his seat. He seemed unable to look away from the Dragon Type that was unknown to him.

When he spoke, everyone went quiet to listen in.

“That Drakloak. I know where it was acquired. There was a stir in my clan; a group of poachers tried to contact us about illegally captured Dragon Types. Of course, the poachers were arrested before the day was over, but many of the Pokémon they brought here escaped.” Lance shook his head. “Jasmine eventually reported that the problem was solved, but a handful of those Dragon Types joined trainers’ teams. I’ve seen a few of them in competition so far, but never did I think I’d see a Dragon Type species from so far away. Where is it from?”

“Galar,” Will answered, his confident voice surprising Morty.

Will then went on to provide background commentary, mostly speaking about Mr. Mime and how it was great at resisting unexpected Types. Mainly, Will had seen his own completely shrug off Dark Type attacks without blinking, and certain researchers were even suspecting that resistance was connected to an ability. Filter, they wanted to call it.

“But of course, if you look closely, young Samuel is not calling for any Dragon Type moves. When it comes to Mr. Mime’s immunities—”

A sharp grunt from Lance saw Will go silent. Below, the status of the field changed.

The Bug Type move from earlier wore off; it wasn’t permanent. The Mr. Mime was huffing and puffing from both exertion and chip damage. Rather than risk leaving it out, its trainer brought up a ball to see it be returned instead.

A Hypno replaced it.

The moment the new Psychic Type appeared, Sam pointed forward, and his Drakloak shot toward that Pokémon. Its opponent readied a swinging pendulum like a weapon, except—

“Ha!” Bugsy’s laugh pierced through the silence of the room. “That’s U-Turn!”

The Drakloak was faster, and it slammed into the Psychic Type’s chest. The super effective damage saw the Hypno recoil, and Drakloak was recalled to Sam.

According to the League’s current rules, the U-Turn meant Drakloak was returned without using one of Sam’s limited switches.

“Now then. What will you send out next...?” Lance mumbled.

Sam was quick to change his Pokémon; he likely didn’t want to give up his momentum. Thankfully, Morty found himself breathing out in relief when it was only a Gengar that was released.

This match-up would be simple.

The two Pokémon that were now on the field had similar goals: to inflict the other with a status. Hypno excelled when using moves like Hypnosis, and Sam had trained his Gengar to rely on similar conditions.

However, the same plan wouldn’t work for him; a Hypno could never sleep.

But instead of the exchange of status moves that Morty expected, Nelson looked as though he wanted to take advantage of his Mr. Mime’s lingering screens. His Hypno immediately went on the offensive, attempting to unleash a Psybeam from its pendulum, but Sam's Gengar hopped back with mist pouring out of its mouth.

“Haze,” Agatha unexpectedly named.

Gengar faded into that choking fog, but its Psychic Type opponent tracked it easily enough. Although it could not be seen, it could be sensed, but the Hypno didn’t even need to do that much given how easily it could follow the visible disturbances in the mist.

“Useless. Pathetic. To think a trick as simple as that would work,” Agatha muttered.

“I don't blame him for trying. Sometimes the simple tricks are the ones that matter.”

Morty checked on Agatha only to see her glaring at him with a single eye.

“You foolish boy. I am not speaking of Samuel. I’m criticizing his opponent for falling for such an inane trap.”

Gengar used that very moment to strike, revealing the disturbances in the fog to have been nothing more than careful manipulations of physical shadows. He burst out of the mist behind the Hypno, and his tongue swiped across its back to send it into a full-body shudder.

“Aaaand... it's paralyzed,” one of the kids said.

Morty saw two of the kids pass money between them.

Nelson grabbed a Pokéball, but he didn’t bother to return his Hypno when he saw Sam’s Gengar trap it with a Mean Look. Instead, now that Gengar was close instead at a range, he called for a Psychic to have his Hypno grab it.

And Gengar was grabbed.

Though this move dealt super effective damage, Gengar had intentionally allowed himself to be telekinetically grabbed here. He maintained a smile—a tense smile due to the pain—and his own eyes flashed.

The Hypno dropped its move, pulling back from whatever it saw in the illusions of Confuse Ray.

Gengar had free range to do whatever he wanted from there, and as his Shadow Ball knocked out the Psychic Type, Morty heard Agatha mutter something quietly under her breath.

“...A paraswag strategy. Of course.”

While it was obvious what that meant, Morty couldn’t say he had heard that term used before.

The Hypno’s faint meant it was the first knock-out of the match, and the audience’s cheers could even be heard in this sealed room, even as muffled as they were.

Nelson went on to replace his unconscious Hypno with a Kadabra, and he was also quick to have it use Teleport to flash away. Gengar tried to rush it, but its Teleport saw it change positions in a blink.

Here, speed would be less important. Due to the Kadabra’s instant mobility, a Pokémon’s ranged capabilities would be what sealed the match.

“I’ll say,” Will quipped. “I don’t know who to root for!”

Sam finally withdrew his Gengar here, using his first “official” switch of the battle. With the Ghost Type’s disappearance, Morty inched forward on his seat to try to see exactly what Sam was thinking.

He wanted to be the first to recognize the Pokémon he was hoping for.

Typhlosion, right? It’s finally time?

However, that was not the case.

Morty could not even begin to explain why Sam made this decision, but the Ghost Type trainer below sent out his close-ranged Primeape instead.

And the arena went silent.

The Pokémon’s presence alone seemed to push back the Gengar’s fading Haze.

Nelson went stock-still when he laid his eyes on it.

There was something seriously wrong with Sam’s Primeape.

“Hold on,” Whitney said, her mouth full. “That's not—”

“That's not a Primeape,” Agatha said, finishing the statement for her.

With half the arena stunned by the greyish Pokémon below, and the other half seemingly cheering their heads off, Morty checked on Agatha again; her reactions had been curious.

Never once before had he seen her surprised. She had been consternated, yes, and she was usually either annoyed or disappointed otherwise. But here, her gaze did not leave the field, and she seemed to actually be at a loss for words at the Pokémon that appeared.

Using her cane, she walked forward, moving down the short staircase next to the seats to stand at the window. Her eyes were wholly stuck on that grey Pokémon, and though worn habit alone saw her try to passively hide it, Morty could see that her expression was filled with genuine shock.

Such a wild sight helped Morty wipe his own gobsmacked expression off his face. He let out a nervous laugh.

He wasn’t sure what was going on.

The match hadn’t resumed, and everyone else was too busy staring. Morty was forced to be the one to grab the television remote from a nearby table and unmute the Conference broadcast.

“...name of the species,” the referee’s voice said from the television as the man finished speaking his orders.

“Annihilape,” Sam answered. “He’s an evolution of Primeape. I’d say more, but... It’s better if I show him off in battle, right?”

Sam smiled.

Across from him, Nelson looked pale. There was something about the wisps that drifted off the Annihilape’s head that made it appear as though it possessed an ascended level of power. 

Nelson’s eyes kept flicking around, and he seemed to be at a complete loss for what to do against such an unknown foe.

With just this one species’s appearance, he’d been thrown completely off-foot for this match.

So he went with the safe option.

“R-return, Kadabra!”

“Tch. Coward. Not good in unexpected situations. Make sure to mark that down.”

Will nodded to Agatha and silently wrote what she commanded.

“Alakazam!” Nelson said, his confidence returning with his strongest Pokémon being sent onto the field.

But Sam just laughed.

“Really? Why would you do that? Now your best Pokémon is going to faint!”

“You don’t even know what we can do,” Nelson said through gritted teeth. “The match is resumed, right?”

The referee nodded.

“Then use Psychic, Alakazam!”

His Alakazam pointed a spoon at Annihilape, and Sam’s response was simple.

“Shadow Punch.”

An arm was thrown forward.

Credit to Nelson, his Alakazam was strong. Even at such an immense distance, Annihilape was grabbed in a blue light and squeezed. The pained grunts that left the Pokémon demonstrated that it was still a Fighting Type. It was just a Fighting Type that had managed to become a Ghost Type as well.

But even through the pain of the move, Sam’s Annihilape had been able to throw out its attack. It seemed that though an Annihilape was a physical fighter, this move solved what would have been a Primeape’s issues with range.

Classically, Shadow Punch was only ever used by Pokémon whose hands could leave the sides of their bodies, with Haunter and Dusclops being the prime examples. However, at high levels of play, Pokémon stopped requiring a physical medium to use their attacks. Rather than launch its fist, the Annihilape’s Shadow Punch sent out a copy of its fist. The projectile, cast in shadows, flew through the air and tracked the Alakazam down.

The Alakazam tried to avoid that incoming projectile with a Teleport, being forced to drop its Psychic to relocate. Morty noticed a subtle twitch in the Primeape’s arm, and the Shadow Punch curved to shoot off to change directions and chase the Alakazam.

Shadow Punch was known for its accuracy, as the move rarely failed to hit. The Alakazam did its best to try to avoid the Ghost Type’s attack, but Annihilape was relentless, and his attack chased it perfectly.

Eventually, the Shadow Punch slammed into the Alakazam’s arm, pushing up its shoulder and crashing into the side of its chest. Ghost Type energy pierced right into the Psychic Type.

Though Shadow Punch was not the strongest move, it was a move that had been sent out with all of Annihilape’s strength.

And Alakazam was not known for taking physical hits.

Truthfully, Annihilape was seriously hurt after that single Psychic, but he was healthy enough to last until he won with this single punch.

“So a close-ranged Fighting Type stands victorious over a long-ranged Psychic Type,” Morty mused.

Or, he thought to himself, I should say a Ghost Type stands victorious.

Nearby, Will cleared his throat.

“Should we start resolving the bets now, or....”

“Quiet,” Agatha snapped. “There's still one more.”

After the Alakazam, Nelson quickly sent out his Mr. Mime from before, trying to get it to reset its barriers. Unfortunately for him, that just opened it up to the Annihilape charging forward unopposed, and a Brick Break shattered through them.

A retaliatory Shadow Ball clipped the Annihilape’s side, but the evolved Pokémon was unrelenting. Another Shadow Punch, this one not needing to leave its arm, smashed into the Mr. Mime’s face to finally take it out.

But was that really Shadow Punch?

It lacked the usual flickering shadows.

Nelson only had one more Pokémon, and while Sam’s team had taken damage, none had fainted. It hadn’t been a perfect match for him so far, but Sam was undoubtedly demonstrating his team’s confidence and strength.

As Nelson brought up his last Pokéball, the audience screamed uproariously, and the Kadabra made its final appearance.

“Kadabra,” Nelson said. “It’s all on you, but you can do it. Most of his Pokémon are injured, and you've had time to analyze your opponent. You know what we're up against.”

The Kadabra tugged at its mustache. Its look was serious, and its gaze was firmly locked onto Annihilape.

Though it was not an Alakazam, this Kadabra was still a part of an eight-badge team. Annihilape had already demonstrated his strengths, and this Psychic Type was smart enough to have a counter in mind for Annihilape’s game plan.

But then Sam started to speak.

Even through the television, it was hard to hear him over the crowd.

“Well. This has been an interesting battle, but I’ve only shown off three of my Pokémon, and you got to use all four,” he said.

Nelson paled.

“W-what?”

He knew what was coming.

“To make things even, how about I send out my last Pokémon? For fairness's sake?”

“No, no. It's alright. You should just—”

“Return, Annihilape.”

Sam smiled as he grabbed a Pokéball. The cheers that came from the audience were nearly deafening.

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

This wasn't a fight seen world round. The Johto Conference had been going on all day, and many people had tuned out. Others weren't bothering to watch until the end, when the real battles would start, and even more than them were just not interested at all.

But right now, more and more people were turning on the television, urged by family and friends to see this ongoing match. E-mails were exchanged. Phone calls were made. People were telling others about a new evolution and a bunch of fancy moves being used.

Yet, for the thousands of strangers watching this match, there were others, too, who were paying attention to the screen. They weren’t necessarily anyone that special, but they were people who personally knew the trainer and Pokémon fighting.

And there were a surprising number of them, too.

In a lone, northern cabin, a man surrounded by baskets of dried mushrooms sat next to his Parasect and cheered at his television.

Another man next to an old Fire Type could barely cover his ears in time before dozens of Fighting Types yelled.

Off in a prison, a certain person hidden by a disguise shook hands with a man in a uniform, and when walking away, he sent the sight being displayed on the television an unhappy scowl.

In three different Gyms, three different Leaders reacted in three different ways. A heavyset man led the cheers of a bunch of brawlers. A Steel Type specialist nodded slightly as if she knew something like this had been coming. A solitary man, alone in his office, listened to the radio’s descriptions and allowed himself the faintest of smiles.

At home, two Ghost Types cheered, much to the fright of the guest next to them.

In Olivine, an aunt smiled with a plate of cookies in front of her.

Someone in the main lobby of the arena stared at a massive, hanging monitor and clenched his fist in challenge.

And there was one more, far away in his cozy little ranch-side home, who sat in a small living room while surrounded by Pokémon and his years of research. He stared at his television, smiling to himself, and he whispered a short phrase.

“He looks so much like you.”

Finally, in front of them all, Sam tossed up a Pokéball, and a Pokémon appeared that he had known for basically all of his life.

“Typhlosion!” he named.

She was not a normal Typhlosion.

And the audience screamed even louder for it.

“Finish it!” Sam shouted.

His Pokémon attacked.

Dancing shadows, streaming darkness, and countless wisps poured out from behind the strange Typhlosion’s back. Questions were exchanged throughout Johto as a veritable parade—an infernal one—rushed her current foe.

The Kadabra tried its best to defend itself, of course. It teleported away, and then it attempted a Disable to no avail. It tried and failed to use Psychic to push back the flood. It conjured barriers in a useless attempt to block the incoming move. It tried to blast them with a Psybeam, intending to disrupt at least some of those wisps before they reached it.

Nothing worked.

Typhlosion had simply conjured too much too quickly for it to do anything to block this damage. Eventually, the Kadabra hunkered down with a Protect, and its entire being became consumed by the ghostly light.

But the move lasted for far too long for a mere Protect to defend it.

Eventually, when all of the wisps had passed it and began to fade away, the Kadabra became visible for the last time in this tournament. The Pokémon was no longer standing, and its eyes lacked any focus. It laid on the floor, utterly unconscious, and Sam’s second round match concluded.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Nelson was a planner like Sam. He had counters prepared for every member of Sam’s team. Or, at least, what he thought was Sam’s team.

The reason Sam has been doing so well is because while his team is at eight stars, he’s actually at a high mid-eight stars. His last two opponents were at seven stars, and Nelson was only at the verge of eight.

Once Sam doesn’t have that power difference in his favor, his matches will become much more difficult.

Pokémon (and people) included in this chapter:
Kadabra / Alakazam
Dusclops
Hypno
Mr. Mime

Agatha
The Johto League

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 159

Author Note:

This chapter has a cruel cliffhanger.

...So I’ll be posting a second chapter after this one. You should see it up within the next few minutes.

Also, if you missed it, there is a poll going on for the next fiction! You can find it here!

=======================================================================

Sam was able to meet back up with his mother and catch Redi’s match. The schedule was incredibly tight, and battles were happening one after the other.

Each battlefield type had its own sub-arena, and trainers were given the additional option of a "default" battlefield in the main arena itself. Matches were staggered to start every few minutes so that no two battles started simultaneously, and trainers were given fifteen minutes to fight and then five minutes for after-battle cleanup.

The schedule wasn't perfect. Some matches went over, and some went under, but it averaged out well enough. With that twenty-minute block reserved per competitor and with five possible arenas, a total of fifteen battles could take place in an hour.

However, the first and second rounds set for today were the largest rounds overall. A hundred twenty-eight battles would make up the first, and then another sixty-four would make up the second. With the current rate, it would take almost thirteen hours to get through all of the scheduled battles if everything ended on time.

And that didn’t even account for the one-hour “lunch break” that was scheduled to take place between rounds.

The only bright side about this fourteen-hour schedule was that it ensured all upcoming days would be easier. Still, it was like the tournament was frontloading all of its exhaustion, and then everyone would need to carry that forward.

Many were worried.

Though the air was rife with both tension and an innate desire to battle, Redi's fight went in her favor easily enough. Her opponent had the strange “specialization” of Pokémon that were both Water and Ground. Her team didn't exactly have any useful Grass Type moves, but her strategy resulted in a victory.

Rather than do anything to hide her team members or follow through with a complicated plan, Redi went with the simple strategy of assigning team members to specific opponents, and then she did what she could to ensure those match-ups remained.

In a three-on-three match, she wanted to use all three of her Pokémon, and whenever her opponent switched, she would switch as well.

Since her opponent lacked anything that could affect either trainer’s freedom to switch, Redi was always able to adjust the match-up to be what she wanted. Her opponent was unable to stop her, and he had to fight in battles solely determined by her.

Ursaring fought and practically buried a Quagsire. Porygon stayed out of range and used Tri-Attack to freeze a Gastrodon. Dragonair made an appearance, much to the delight of the audience, and she managed to handle an impressive Swampert through a clever use of Twister.

Already, Dragonair on her own was enough to get Redi a following, but the presence of her unique Porygon2 was also earning her cheers.

When the match ended, Redi waved to her growing number of fans and went up to the referee to whisper in his ear. Somehow, she convinced him to turn on his mic, and then, of course, the entire arena learned of her family’s business.

“Yeah, I don't know why they let me do that,” Redi said afterward as she reclined under a tree in a park near the Conference grounds. “Like, I’ve done that in all of my previous tournaments. Why wouldn't I do that here?”

“I guess they expected more decorum,” Sam offered. He stood at the bottom of a small slope, a few feet away..

“It’s certainly an interesting marketing strategy,” his mother added. She was closer to the park’s edge and where a handful of passersby moved past.

“Well, it works!” Redi replied proudly. “I asked my parents about it, and after the Beginner’s Tournament, interested phone calls went up a full twenty-five percent!”

Of course, she meant four phone calls had turned into five, but her parents’ construction company mainly took on big jobs that resulted in large payments. Even just a single extra phone call was a victory in her books. It might not have led to a job, but it did mean there were more people aware of her family’s business out there.

“And what about you?” Redi looked over to Sam’s mother. “You don't want your bookstore mentioned?”

“It's a local business in another region,” she said with a casual wave. “I get enough customers as it stands, and too much attention would overwhelm me with work. I wouldn't be able to handle all of that.”

“But you could hire more workers, and then you could franchise! That’d be pretty swell, right?”

Sam’s mother went quiet when faced with Redi’s smile.

“It would, wouldn't it?” Sam heard her whisper.

Next to her, Sableye was crouched next to Delcatty, and for some reason, both Pokémon shivered.

“What about you, Sam? Think it'd be worth it?” Redi asked.

“What?”

He looked away from where Trevenant was motionless before him. He hadn't expected to be called on.

“Advertising your mom's business? Getting her name out there?”

“Oh, uh, sure. If she wants it, I guess,” he said.

Sam turned back to Trevenant, and Trevenant continued to stand in place, rooted under the early afternoon sun. His battle had seen him push himself to the extreme; while repeated uses of Growth had resulted in the sweep Sam had sought, Trevenant had used Phantom Force faster than he had ever used it before, and he had to control a massive amount of energy to faint his opponents as quickly as he did.

“...Is he okay?” Redi asked. Her voice was quiet.

“He's fine,” Sam said with a sigh. “He’s just exhausted.” 

Thankfully, the Pokémon Center had treated Trevenant the best they could, but for him to fully recover, he needed rest, and as a Grass Type, that meant he needed light—though his Ghost Type half meant he was better off if that light was from the moon. Still, the sun’s light worked well enough, and his roots were letting him absorb needed nutrients from the earth.

Trevenant stood as still as his tree-half would imply. Likely, it’d be a while until he was truly ready to move, and Sam stood up to give Trevenant room, walking back up the hill to deposit himself at Redi’s side under the tree.

“The nurses said he's tapped out. Growth granted him a bunch of energy, but it also took a lot of his focus to maintain. His body is sturdy enough that he could take plenty more hits if we needed him to, but when it comes to actually using moves, he’s better off resting before doing any of that.”

Redi hummed. She’d seen Sam’s match.

“And Mismagius?”

“Fine. A little shaken after those Vine Whips, but she did well to buy space for Trevenant.”

“So will they be good for your next match? You said you wanted to use them again, right? Trainers are going to be using four Pokémon for the second round. Are those two going to be part of your plan?”

Faced with the sudden onslaught of curious questions, it took a second for Sam to respond.

“I’m not sure yet,” he said.

Truthfully, he still didn’t have a plan.

It was the break between rounds, and Sam wanted to spend this time thinking, relaxing, and preparing for his next match. People were wandering and exploring the city around them. With the tournament’s start, there were a bunch of new arrivals. There’d be even more for when the finals took place.

Sam was more focused on the tournament than the people. Before heading out here with Redi, he had checked to see who his next opponent would be, and Redi had done the same.

Unlike him, she was currently reveling in the fact that her next opponent would use a team of Electric Types. Two of those Pokémon had taken heavy hits in the previous round to be knocked out, and the third looked like it was exhausted already.

Given that her opponent’s team only consisted of five Pokémon, and with just how much Ursaring had been practicing his Ground Type moves, Redi was in a strong position to overtake and sweep.

But for Sam, his opponent was significantly more complicated. He had all of their details in his League-labeled notebook.

While his next trainer wasn’t anyone he recognized, they were a Psychic Type specialist, and though Sam’s team should have had the advantage, that wasn't good news. Psychic Types excelled at prediction and coverage. Their Type was basically the king of handling special attackers. With Trevenant so tired, four out of the five remaining members of Sam’s team heavily relied on special moves, which would likely make most knock-outs more difficult than average.

There was also the fact that his team would be vulnerable to many of his opponent’s attacks. Although the Ghost Type was super effective against the Psychic Type, Shadow Ball was a very common move for Psychic Types to learn. There was also the issue of his team's mobility being countered by a Psychic Type's mobility. Moving through shadows meant little when your opponent could instantly shift positions with Teleport.

“I'm worried, but I'm often worried about a lot,” Sam said, shifting back so he could lean against the trunk of the tree while watching Trevenant. “What if we don't beat them? What if getting here was just a fluke? What if the rankings were right, and we really are in last?”

“Sam—”

“But those questions are stupid,” Sam said, clenching his fist. “Self-doubt? It's easy to have self-doubt, but all self-doubt does is drag you down. So I'm done with that. It’s not worth questioning myself. We’re here now, and we have a battle coming up. My focus is wholly on finding a way to win.”

Nearby, his mother smiled.

“I know we can do this,” he continued, “but the problem is finding the right strategy. And more than that, how much of my team do I want to reveal? Once we make it through, we need to be wary of other trainers making counters for us.”

Sam remembered the head referee’s initial warnings, but he still wanted to see if he could leave some of his team members as a surprise. Except, for this upcoming round, he doubted he could get away with using less than the recommended max. Psychic Type Pokémon at this level were always strong. He might have succeeded with using one Pokémon in the preliminaries and two in the first round, but for this second round match, he’d most likely need to use every Pokémon that was permitted.

He would have to reveal something. Between the five or so healthy Pokémon he had left, three of them would be surprises.

Typhlosion. Annihilape. Drakloak.

They’re all species not seen in Johto.

Trevenant was at least native to the region, his species was just rare. Most people in this tournament were primarily using Pokémon from Johto and Kanto, but a few were using species from Hoenn and Sinnoh. A number of trainers, even fewer than them, were using one or two Pokémon only ever found further away.

“So... I don’t get it,” Redi said, speaking up. “What’s the point?”

Sam glanced over to her.

“Excuse me?”

“What's the point of hiding your team?” she said.

“It's strategy. I want to do that so I can always have a surprise,” Sam answered. “I hold my team members back so that people don't know what to plan for, and then when I use them in battle, our opponents won't have counters to the Pokémon that I have.”

Redi fully turned to stare at Sam, and Sam awkwardly shifted in place, uncomfortable by the weight of her gaze.

“But does that actually help?”

Her words felt more like a statement than a question.

“I mean, of course it does. Like I said, it prevents my opponents from making pl—”

“But not everyone you face is going to be so focused on planning like you are,” Redi interrupted. “And after the initial surprise, most people will just adapt.”

Sam was silent.

“Like, I get holding some stuff back, maybe a few strategies or a handful of moves, but you're planning to hold back way more than that. I mean, you’re trying not to use entire sections of your team!” Redi exclaimed. “With how you fight, you try to have all of your Pokémon play off of each other, but are you really going to stop yourself from doing that just for a single moment of surprise?”

Redi suddenly tapped her chin.

“How does that phrase go?” she asked. “You're cutting off your arm to spite your face?”

“...That's not how the phrase goes, and it doesn’t apply,” Sam mumbled.

His mother chuckled, but Redi just waved him off.

“Whatever. You get what I mean. Battles are already limited, so why limit yourself even further? Everyone here is giving it their all. It’s almost kind of insulting. Do you really want to go out of your way to hurt your chances and risk never revealing your team members in the later rounds?”

Redi sent him another look, and Sam knew.

She was right.

He didn’t have a response. He couldn’t have a response. For once, she was the one giving him advice on strategy, and she had basically taken his whole plan and picked it apart.

In his opinion, the biggest part of the Conference was the information game, but not everyone played on the same field. Chuck had already told him that some trainers were more instinctual fighters and that others were better at making plans. Surprises were all but useless against one and were only somewhat effective against the other.

With Trevenant forced to stay out of the next match, Sam had five, maybe six Pokémon to choose from. With three species that he wanted to keep hidden, he was cutting his potential options in half. Realistically, he would need to use at least a few of them.

So he thought about it.

He weighed Redi’s advice while watching Trevenant take in the sun. Already, his Pokémon was looking better, but he’d need to be wary about his Pokémon exhausting themselves again over the next few days and in future rounds.

...But I need to get there first.

“Do you agree with her, Mom?” Sam asked.

“I do. She’s right,” came his mother’s reply.

Sam let out a breath, recognizing he was in a tough position. He was forced to ask himself a question:

Did he really want to throw out all of his plans for the Conference just because they were making him worse off?

Yeah, I probably do.

“Ugh.” Sam rubbed the sides of his head out of annoyance. “Why was I doing that! I almost just completely screwed myself over. I would have held back some of my best fighters just because I didn’t want to reveal them, but if I didn’t reveal them, then when would I reveal them? 

“Doing that would have probably cost me my next fight, and then I would have sunk everything I’ve been waiting to do all season.”

“You’re welcome, Sam,” Redi said. “You can count on me to make sure you don’t lose until our fight!”

...She didn't need to look so smug when she said that.

“I think there's a lesson I can apply here, one that’s inspired by the Ghost Type,” Sam said after giving himself a little time to think. “Ghosts are great at hiding, but more than anything else, they're even better at scaring.”

He could continue to hold his team members back and effectively hide from the competition, but the longer he “hid,” the more chances he’d be discovered or lose his opportunity for a scare.

Like a Ghost Type, he needed to know when to strike, and he recognized that he needed to strike now.

“But if I’m going to stop holding back in the next round, I think I should go big,” Sam mumbled.

“What are you planning?” Redi asked.

He didn’t answer. He just smiled.

Redi was right; it was time for his grand reveal. But as much attention as a dripfeed of reveals would provide, it made more sense to include everything at once for the grandest scare possible.

Despite all of his time spent training, he had no way to guarantee he’d make it into the next rounds. He needed to do this now before an unhappy elimination, and doing this would also increase his chances of a win.

So, after only a bit more conversation, Sam came to a decision and came up with a plan. When his second match finally rolled around later today, he would bring everyone out, and he would reveal his full team to shock this side of the world.

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Unknown to most people—or at least only known to the more observant people around—officials from the League had their own sealed box in which they could look out over the main arena. One wall was nothing more than one-way glass that allowed the people inside to stare out without receiving any stares in return. And, inside it, three rows of seats were set up to allow them to sit comfortably. In the back, a television played the official Conference broadcast, and a long table was covered in snack foods for anyone to take.

When Morty stepped into the room, it was noisy. A small group of kids was pressed against the window, cheering their hearts out at the end of the previous match. Out of the five kids, two of them had been supporting one competitor, and another two had been supporting the other.

But that was only four. The fifth was cheering, but his intentions were more subtle. While he was here with his friends on behalf of Azalea’s Gym, he also kept sending glances toward someone else sitting in the room.

That’s... Bugsy, if I’m remembering correctly, Morty mused to himself as he closed the door behind him. I believe he’s been pushing for Azalea to have a single Gym Leader. Something about not wanting them to fall behind?

There weren’t too many other people in the room. Not every Gym Leader and Elite came to the Conference to watch it in person. Morty knew Chuck usually hosted an event alongside all of his Gym Trainers in Cianwood City, Jasmine was too shy to show up in person, Pryce refused to set foot on official League property unless necessary, and Walker probably only paid attention to the Conference via radio.

Probably.

Walker was still out there, somewhere. He hadn’t yet returned to his Gym. Last Morty had heard, Walker still hadn’t shown up, and his son was still the de facto leader of Violet City’s Gym.

Still, the total number of people in this room was small in number. Though Goldenrod City was hosting its own viewing event, Whitney was present in the room and was indulging in the free snacks set to the side. Morty himself was also here, of course, but he was the only other Gym Leader in the room.

He also noticed his shadow wasn’t stretching out as much as usual.

In the corner, an old woman stood where she wouldn’t be immediately noticed, her gaze sharp and locked onto the field. His team hadn’t been reacting for a reason; they knew to not misbehave in her presence.

Morty sent a polite nod to Elite Four Agatha and then tried to move to take a seat next to the same person Bugsy kept sending stares. However, before he could reach where Champion Lance sat at the front, he was interrupted by someone else—one of the many people observing and taking notes on the Conference’s competitors.

“Why, isn’t it Gym Leader Morty himself! With how crowded this room is becoming, we’re practically having a party!”

Morty paused at the sudden greeting; somehow, he had completely missed this man before his sudden appearance at his side. He also did his best to suppress his double-take.

He hadn’t expected one of the Conference’s observers to be so... colorfully dressed.

“Call me Will, Psychic Type specialist extraordinaire! As you see, I’m assisting the Champion with his observations. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Mortimer!”

Morty chucked.

“Do you mind if I just call you Will, and not Will, Psychic Type specialist extraordinaire?”

Will laughed.

“That would be just fine! Preferred, in fact! It’d be difficult to hold a conversation if I required everyone to use all of my names at once!”

Even with the mask that covered the upper half of his face, Will’s eyes glinted in amusement, and he turned back toward the field. Morty sent a glance to where Lance was seated at the very front, and he saw that the Champion was using a flat tray meant for food to continue going through his piles of paperwork.

Morty had wanted to sit next to the Champion to see his reactions over this upcoming match, but given Lance was busy, he chose to silently sit in the furthest back row instead.

“This next match involves quite the curious pair,” Will said, following Morty from behind, and the two trainers in the arena moved off the field to make room for the next battle. “A Psychic Type specialist against a Ghost Type specialist. One side with a supposed advantage—or perhaps not? There’s an interesting quirk shared between them, and there’s an interesting number of observers present for this match as well.”

When Morty glanced up to check on Will, he saw that the other man was staring at him, practically begging Morty to ask him to explain.

“Alright. I’ll bite,” Morty said. “Care to explain?”

Will threw his head back for a laugh. He struck a pose with a hand covering his face.

“I’ve helped train both trainers down there!” he said merrily. “And we haven’t had this many people in the room for a match yet! It’s curious—both you and Agatha are newcomers for this battle. Something about a trainer involved, perchance?”

Will tapped his pen to his cheek as he sent a glance to the corner. Hearing the revelation in the strange man’s words, Morty also checked on Agatha.

She refused to acknowledge either of them.

Still, her eyes were solidly locked onto the field, and Morty could tell she was at least listening in. For some reason, she didn’t look as relaxed as usual. Her fingers were ever so slightly more tense on the crown of her cane.

If I’m right, she was the one who prevented Typhlosion’s evolution from being reported.

Though curious, Morty returned to watching the empty field.

“So hold on, you trained them, Will?” Whitney looked up from where she’d been stuffing food into her mouth. She forced herself to swallow her most recent bite. “If you’re an observer, isn’t this a conflict of interest?”

“No, no. No conflict of interest. I’m quite adept at remaining objective,” Will said with a smile that almost seemed to betray his words. “But both called in similar favors. The Ghostly one was more of a coincidence than anything else, but the one so aligned with moi? Well. You’ll never guess what kind of help he wanted.”

“Psychic Type help?” Whitney offered.

“Help with countering super-effective moves, of course,” Will replied happily.

An announcer’s voice echoed through the arena, with a pair of casters sitting in their own, smaller box off to the side. Their words were muffled; color commentary wasn’t needed for the people in this room. But the muted television on the wall did display information on the upcoming competitors. 

Trainer Samuel versus Trainer Nelson.

A Ghost Type specialist versus a Psychic Type specialist.

This would be a second-round match taking place on the main field, set late in the day.

With that, Morty then sent another glance to Agatha.

Curious that this is happening on the main field. Did you put your finger on the scales for this, too?

“Well! I’m certainly interested in the outcome of this match,” Will said. “And I’m certainly interested in why you and Agatha both decided to grace us with your presence at once!”

Will smiled, and Morty stayed silent. When he didn’t answer, Will just casually shook his head with a shrug, and all attention was returned to the field.

Mostly.

“Now then, before we begin, I’ll ask if anyone has any bets for this match,” Will announced while holding up his clipboard.

“A hundred on the Psychic Trainer.”

Morty forced back his disbelief when the Champion himself said that. Lance didn’t even blink, but he didn’t bother to look up from his work, either.

“Ten on the Psychic!”

“Twenty on the Psychic guy!”

“Fifteen on the Ghost!”

Will furiously wrote down all of those numbers. Whitney offered a small sum of her own, too.

And then, from the corner, a single voice echoed out.

“A thousand on the Ghost,” Agatha said.

The room went silent outside of Will’s scribbling, and when Morty turned around, Agatha seemed just as unhappy as ever. She didn’t even look like she had just spoken.

But for some reason, Morty got the strangest sense that he would have seen a slight smile if he had turned around ever so slightly faster.

“I’ll match Lance’s bet but on Sa— the Ghost Trainer, instead,” he said, quickly correcting himself.

Will smiled at his slip-up but still wrote the bet down.

Enough time had passed that the two trainers below had already moved up to the field, and the referee was in the process of restating the rules.

This match would consist of four Pokémon, with trainers having five switches each. Everything was standard, as expected, and when the announcements finished, a pair of Pokéballs were tossed into the air. Two Pokémon were released onto the field.

A clatter came from the front of the room.

Immediately, Lance stood up, knocking his papers to the floor.

“What Pokémon is that?”

His voice was serious. Surprised. Commanding.

Morty laughed nervously.

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly.

“It’s a Ghost Type,” Agatha said for him.

With Lance’s sudden alertness, the room was dead silent. The Champion’s eyes did not leave the serpentine Pokémon floating across from the gesturing Mr. Mime.

Champion Lance eventually whispered one thing.

“No. It’s a Dragon.”

And Morty shifted around in his seat, trying to get comfortable.

Turned out, Sam had more surprises in his pocket than Morty would have thought.

=======================================================================
Author Note:

Sam’s preferred lead is Typhlosion, but he can’t just reveal her off the bat like that. He’s trying to win, but given his plans, he needs to involve a bit of showmanship, too.

Pokémon (and people) included in this chapter:
Dragonair
Gastrodon
Mr. Mime
Porygon2
Quagsire
Swampert
Ursaring

Agatha
The Johto League

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