“The battle will be a three on three!” The arbiter said.

I hummed. No switches then.

The crowd vibrated slightly as we got ready, shifting and fidgeting. These couple of hours were reserved for trainers who sought the second badge, which always were two on two matches.

The crowd knew that, or at least a dedicated part knew.

The unaware turned to the side to ask their fellow spectators what was happening. And the more fanatical fans responded with their hypothesis. A hypothesis that was true.

This was a marked match.

A pokeball opened in my hand and Jungle materialised on the field. On the other side, Whitney’s, an Aipom was already there, the normal pokemon was upside down and with his back towards us, dancing for the crowd on that side.

“Begin!”

“Let’s blitz!”

The smiling Aipom turned around and dashed forward. As it advanced from Whitney’s side towards us—all four limbs on the ground—its body flashed pink, and the pokemon became faster. Crossing the middle of the field, a bluish light that moved like a cloak of wind clad his body, and he became faster. The common combination of Agility and Acrobatics.

He drew close.

“Spread Razor Leaf and prepare for a close attack.”

Sharp-as-knifes leaves bloomed from the Bulbasaur’s bulb. Jungle twisted, and the leaves flicked in a spread-out pattern to catch the hopping pokemon. Aipom’s tail whipped back and forth, and six stars surged from the grey shine on it. The greyish stars smashed into the wall of leaves, opening a small spot where the normal type was able to fit in.

Meanwhile, Jungle’s mouth moved as he prepared his seeds.

“Vine Whip.”

Two vines lashed out at the pokemon closing in on Jungle. He dodged one vine, dodged two vines, and closed in, ready to twist its body to punch with the tail—until a bunch of powder hit its face.

The pokemon’s eyes widened. However, it didn’t hesitate; the pokemon jumped forward and his grey tail-fist pummelled Jungle’s face. It was the first time a Jungle fought a pokemon that reacted so well to this powder tactic, and so he was not ready for the hit.

The punch sent him tumbling through the pink and grey tiles of the Gym. The Bulbasaur rolled around and when he stood up from the ground. He had a purple bruise on the right side of his face.

The Aipom didn’t leave untouched, though. Jungle used the roll to whip a vine into his side, leaving a red marking on his torso. Its body also turned even more purple, and a resolute grimace formed on the normal pokemon’s face as poison energy ravaged its body. A more powerful pokemon might shrug off the weak poison energy. Yet, the Aipom wasn’t, and a timer had begun.

Jungle needed to draw out the fight.

“Sleep Powder around if he gets close!”

Shouting that information didn’t deter the purple and blue glowing pokemon as much as it should. It came running straight into Jungle, who responded with Razor Leaf followed by Vine Whip. Whitney’s pokemon gave a forward roll and his massive tail-hand slapped the ground. Sand rushed from between the tiles and flew upward to hit the leaves like a big wave.

The Aipom’s eyes were closed as he barrelled through the sand wall. They opened just as green whips came for him.

The monkey pokemon twisted and curved his body over and around four whippings of Jungle’s two vines to reach him. Its tail smashed into the floor again and sand mud condensed around it. The normal pokemon jumped and lashed out its mud enclosed fist-tail at Jungle.

It would’ve hit if Jungle didn’t open his mouth and Bullet Seed the Aipom’s body as it spun in the air.

Four of six seeds smashed into the Aipom—body, head and arm­—and threw it away.

The purple pokemon twirled around the air until it dropped to the ground and slid across the tiles. It then twisted and stood up. Its body had green bruises, and every movement seemed to pain the pokemon. Moving quick wasn’t an option anymore.

Shame that Jungle couldn’t make Leech Seeds fast enough to contend with Aipom’s speed. In any case, winning now was just a matter of time. Jungle’s Bullet Seed and Poison Powder already finished the fight.

Now it was a matter of not losing to a last-ditch effort.

“We are going again, Jungle,” I said. “Razor Leaf.”

Leaves rushed the pokemon.

“Let’s leave a gift, dear.” I heard the smile in Whitney’s voice.

We didn’t expect a more powerful version of the stars from Swift barrelling towards Jungle. The leaves caught most, but some made it through with sheer speed alone. Three massive stars were closing on Jungle.

Whipping my pokeball, I pointed at Jungle and clicked the button. Whitney returned the Aipom quicker. Leaves pierced the wall below Whitney’s platform just as stars smashed into the ground below mine.

“Both pokemon were retired. Since both trainers retired their pokemon at the same time, the next release will be done together.”

I glared at Whitney, who smiled back and gave a little wave. That Swift would have fainted Jungle. She didn’t give me time to call change.

Flashes of red jumped out of our hands.

On her side stood a green, reptilian pokemon with a red zigzag pattern on its belly. A Kecleon, and not a common one.

I watched a lot of footage of Whitney’s third badge matches, and the Kecleon line appeared a lot. This pokemon was Whitney’s way to test the trainer. Usually, her first pokemon provided a head-to-head fight in which little direction is needed if your pokemon is well-trained.

The second battle tested the trainer.

“A Baltoy!? Oh no!” Whitney shouted, the Gym structure amplifying her voice. “Gira will be sad, she wanted to fight another psychic for such a long time… Are you not going to do anything?”

“Sand all around.”

Sand surged from the ground like a tornado, splashing around Mesa in a circle-like wave. Whitney beamed as her Kecleon appeared. The green pokemon was covered in sand and was on our side of the field, just to Mesa’s side. The illusion in of Whitney’s platform dissipated.

The Baltoy twisted towards the normal type and threw a wave of pink psychic energy. The chameleon opened its mouth and ripples made of fine water travelled forward to collapse together with the Confusion.

My eyes narrowed at the Kecleon’s feet.

“Shadow Sneak on the side.” I warned. “Double-sided attack.”

A small rock wall grew by the Baltoy’s side and stopped a solid shadow whip from hitting him. The same wall slid over to his front, stopping Kecleon’s extended grey tail. Its tail still almost cut the stone wall into two, and Mesa finished the job by dividing it.

Rock turned into mud, and the two parts of the wall­­—now clad in pink—charged towards Kecleon. The pokemon dodged the upper half by dividing itself into two copies, and then divided again to dodge the lower half.

Four Kecleon were spread out. They looked at Mesa, waiting to see what he would do. They were doing their job, Whitney used that pokemon line to ask a question after all. What will you do?

There were many forms to answer.

We won’t play this game.

“Rock Tomb.” I raised my arm, showing five fingers to Mesa, and Mesa glowed.

The four Kecleon looked up at the border of rock that Mesa erected.

It extended all the way from one side of the field to another and rose until it reached the stands of the massive Goldenrod Gym. Mesa heaved his arms, and the wall pushed forward and collapsed, failing on the hidden Kecleon and his four illusions.

As they were swallowed by it, they glared at the wall.

And then, an orange light shined.

A hole exploded on the top of the curved shape of the rock. Kecleon rushed through it towards Mesa. A point of grey shining in one of its fingers as he closed in.

“Flash!” I warned and raised my arm to cover my eyes. “Rapid Spin!”

The pink barriers darkened to protect the crowd from the blinding light.

Fuck.

Cape would’ve hated to fight Kecleon.

As I put my arm down, I saw Kecleon laid on the ground. It was tired; it was also hurt, but way more tired. Breaking through reinforced rock was not as easy as the pokemon made it look, and then there was also the Rapid Spin, which seemed to catch him since he now laid far away from the ground type.

Mesa was also hurt. There was a crack in his torso, probably the work of a second Brick Break.

“Psybeam.”

Pink light condensed in front of Mesa.

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The Baltoy stopped when Whitney withdraw her pokemon as I knew she would. She was the most gentle of Johto Gym Leaders, always returning her pokemon when she felt that the battle was over.

I observed her as she put her hands on her hips and gazed over the field.

The ground was turned inside out, most of the tiles were broken or outright didn’t exist anymore. There was a massive mound of earth and rock on one side of the area, and the crowd, famous for being the most vocal of Johto, was in silence. I didn’t know their reaction. I didn’t want to take my eyes off Whitney.

“That was okay, but I think we can put up a better show.”

She passed her arm over her belt and raised a pokeball—a white one—and threw it. Whitney didn’t throw a lot of pokeballs, only when some more artistic-oriented pokemon asked for it. The red light condensed as the sphere hit the ground, and a pokemon that resembled Brian’s teleporter appeared on the stage. It was their previous form, though, Jigglypuff.

The stands stirred at the look in the pokemon’s eyes.

When I looked up Whitney’s footage, some pokemon lines appeared more than others.

I remembered three different Aipom, each fought the same—and in a simple manner—since it was in their evolution where they branched off. The two Kecleon who fought using illusion and subterfuge, or at least tried to, like the one we fought. Those tested the trainers’ ability to help their pokemon with information.

She also had two Jigglypuff.

The first fought like a normal one, using Sing, Sweet Kiss, Disable, Charm, and Echoed Voice, all moves associated with its line. Whitney used that one mostly to test trainers and pokemon who were too passive. The other was dangerous and ruthless. People called it a prodigy. A pokemon who not only dominated its moves as a Jigglypuff but was also proficient in many moves of other types.

She also had a mind born for battle.

The peak of Whitney’s three badge team. The one who tested four badge level pokemon—the strongest pokemon in a trainer’s team that fought for the third badge. Some news outlets said that someday that she could become part of Whitney’s main team.

This was the one, if the arrogant smirk and narrowed eyes were any indication.

The crowd stood up to clap and cheer. It was the greetings of expectation. The pokemon briefly turned to the crowd and acknowledged them with a bow.

I sighed.

Of course, it would be too easy to win with just two pokemon. Whitney would also lose reputation if she lost for a mark without giving it her all.

“Begin!”

I touched my pokeball. “Confusion, full power.”

The pink wave rushed across the field towards the Jigglypuff who smiled. Water Pulse easily destroyed the Confusion in an explosion of energy. A small wind tunnel—Echoed Voice—pierced the explosion and made to hit Mesa. The Baltoy spun in the air, dodging by centimetres.

Fuck. “Rock Tomb, full power.”

Mesa knew what that meant. It meant that he wouldn’t be fighting anymore. He spun again and pierced the ground, digging into it and hiding under the earth, to the confusion of Jigglypuff and Whitney.

For a few seconds, nothing happened and then… Rocks.

Earth rushed from below in mounds made of rock and earth. It was not the mountains that Mesa one day wanted to make, but it did the job. They covered all the middle of the field. Boulders of small sizes, medium sizes, and large sizes reached for the sky. Where there was no rock, there was empty space. Mesa did have to use the earth around.

This place waited for Cape to use.

The Jigglypuff, who had stayed in place while Mesa did his thing, looked unimpressed. Its face was closed as the pokemon puffed up—her body growing like a balloon—and hopped on top of a rock pile, waiting. Not for long, though, Mesa emerged, spinning dizzily from the effort. Echoed Voice cut through between two small elevations of rocks.

I glared at the hole where Mesa was as I stuck his pokeball in my belt.

“Trainer Scott returned—and retired—his Baltoy. Please release your next, and last, pokemon.”

I took out my last pokeball for this match. The first I’ve ever had, and freed Cape. The light condensed above the ground and the Heracross fell, smashing the ground with a punch.

I smiled at the dramatic bug’s entrance, but focused when both pokemon looked at each other.

Cape glared up and Jigglypuff peered down at him.

“That one is strong, don’t hold back.”

“Cross.”

“Begin!” The arbiter said.

“Aerial Ace.”

My bug blurred, and Jigglypuff glowed pink.

The pink pokemon turned around on her rock and crossed both arms, blocking Cape’s blue punch. The attack pushed the Jigglypuff off her rock and into the side of another, but it didn’t have the same force it usually had.

Reflect.

“Get away!”

Cape pushed off with his wings just as lighting flashed in his pillar. This one had a lot of moves to combat every type. Thunder Wave, Icy Wind, Water Pulse, and these were the only ones I remembered. And, of course, the gimmicks.

“Close combat.”

Another Aerial Ace put Cape in front of the Jigglypuff, both stood on the uneven terrain of earth. Cape rushed, and they exchanged strikes. For every one Cape tried to hit, Jigglypuff dodged using its elastic body or blocked with a punch of her own.

Cape finally had enough and followed a sequence of practised punches that ended with Horn Attack. Jigglypuff curled up, enhancing her defence on top of the Reflect. The Horn was ineffective. She then rushed forward to Pound the Heracross. Cape was no easy prey though and was ready with Counter. He received the strike and made to strike back.

I saw his body stiffen and his movement became slow just enough for Jigglypuff to dodge under the punch, push on the ground and hit him on the jaw with a grey Headbutt. Cape was thrown off Jigglypuff’s boulder.

He was falling to the depth between Mesa’s rock. “Pin Missile!”

He twisted and used his claw to hold on to the side of the rock. His wings opened and green energy was released from the inside. Bug energy thorns rushed up like arrows at the Jigglypuff. Cape jumped after them, flying up towards the pink pokemon.

The Jigglypuff sneered down.

It looked around at the rocks surrounding it and glowed brown. Rocks broke upwards. They floated for a single second, and then they fell, trying to stop the missiles and crush the flying bug.

Cape would not let it.

The fighting pokemon twisted and rolled in the air. Dodging what he could and destroying rocks with Arm Thrust when he couldn’t. Meanwhile, Jigglypuff used a Water Pulse to stop the Pin Missiles who passed the rocks. Cape accelerated with a flap of blue wings, exploding through two rocks with a smile, and punched up the normal type.

The Jigglypuff flew up backwards. She was followed by Cape, who shot past the peak.

My face dropped as I focused on the pink pokemon sailing up and down from the rocky peak. That Jigglypuff had a very weak green hue around her.

The light of the sun reflected something above the Heracross. “Above!”

Cape’s smile locked up as he noticed something was wrong. My voice reached him, and his wings flapped, twisting him up mid-air to see another Jigglypuff falling towards him. The pokemon was curled up and its seemingly heavy body had a metallic sheen around it. It was one of her gimmicks. Self-Gravity with Gyro Ball.

“Harden, Endure. COUNTER!”

Two distinct tones of grey flashed across Cape’s body. He crossed his arms to gather… The Jigglypuff slammed into the Heracross. I covered my eyes as coloured lights danced around my vision. Pink, Silver, Grey and Orange glowed back and forth as both pokemon fell into the deep ground.

I brought my arm down as the lights dimmed. Smoke covered rocky pecks in the middle. A brown mist made of crushed earth obscured the entire field. Cracks ran all over the depressed piles of rock that Mesa created.

A small pink form jumped back from the impact and jumped back two times to stand just outside the smoke riddled valley of crushed rocks.

A cracker half-hidden by fog.

A small huff of scorn rang from inside the soot, alerting me that Cape was conscious.

A huff? That was not good…

Wait.

No.

That’s great.

If I had to pick one thing about Cape to talk about, it would be how much Cape loved battles of course. We’ve talked about battles every single day for two years since we met each other. I watched together hundreds of Conferences, tournaments and gym matches with him.

I taught him. I trained him. I knew him.

I knew that Cape breathed battles.

However, there’s one thing in professional battles that Cape hated.

Trickery.

The fighting type loathed the feeling of being tricked; he’d always felt cheated when something that he saw happen in televised battles wasn’t real. Double Team, Smokescreen, Smog, Baton Pass, Flash and, of course, Substitute. He respected them—probably—but he hated them. Hated. Them.

And he’s never been tricked before in a fight.

Laughter erupted from me. I probably looked a little crazy, but it was because I knew that what was about to happen would not be fun.

For the Jigglypuff, of course.

I stopped; I still had a part to play, after all.

“Cape!” My shout attracted the attention of Whitney, Jigglypuff, and from the people in the crowd since the clapping stopped. “Aerial Ace!”

A hurricane of blue light washed the smoke away from the field and towards the sky.

Cape was inside a crater—wings glowing blue and a crack on his chest.

He was crouched.

He was mad.

Cape smashed into Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff defended.

They brawled.

Rage fuelled Cape’s Fury Attack. His daunting face was intimidating, just not as much as the grey blurs that were his blue limbs as they smashed into the Jigglypuff, brutally beating the pink pokemon with straight punches, circling kicks and a slashing horn at a speed that I hadn’t seen before.

Most missed, some hit.

Those that hit, hit hard.

The Jigglypuff whipping back and forth in front of him proved that.

The normal pokemon that was slowing collecting bruises was not helpless though, and on the brief chances it got, it used everything on him. Thunder, water, rock, ice, and occasionally, a Brick Break, would strike Cape. But the bug pokemon was so mad that it shrugged everything off, racing forward to not let its opponent escape.

For the first time in this battle, Whitney intervened. “Break away.”

The pokemon glowed grey and touched Cape’s arm as it smashed into her face. Grey energy dissipated from Cape’s limbs. The Heracross didn’t care. His arm turned to orange, and he whipped it forward in a punch. The pink pokemon, eyes wide after realising its mistake in stopping Fury Attack and choosing Brick Break instead, puffed up and used its defensive combination, Defense Curl, Reflect, and Stockpile.

Obviously, Brick Break would still hurt.

A Brick Break from a fighting type, I would wager it would hurt a lot.

The Jigglypuff received the punch straight in the gut, her eyes popping out in pain. But at least it was thrown away from Cape and in the middle of Whitney’s side of the field.

“Sing.” Whitney said in a tone that broke no argument.

By the half offended and half pleading look on the Jigglypuff’s face, I could piece together how it felt about the move. The Jigglypuff sang and its voice travelled far away until it hit the pink barriers.

It was Cape that had a timer now.

No matter. If we could explore Cape’s rage as fuel, we would win.

My artist was feeling the song, but I had to yield it.

“Rock Tomb, lock it down.”

Cape smashed his feet, and two mounds of Mesa’s rock cracked from their base and rose. Cape GRABBED them and threw the two massive blocks of rock—each rock the size of a Wailord—at Jigglypuff. The pokemon looked with trembling eyes while it sang. She was about to use a move when the rocks moved to the side of it and moulded into a half-glob behind the Jigglypuff. She looked around in disbelief.

No more escape now.

“Endure.”

Grey light flooded Cape’s body. It was rare that we needed to use it for a final showdown.

“Aerial Ace.”

Cape crouched on the ground.

His blue exoskeleton, broken at the chest, unfolded. Blue light exploded from the Heracross’ wings, mixing with the grey of the Endure. He lowered his head, glared at the trembling Jigglypuff, and pushed.

“Horn Attack.”

The crazy looking glowing blue bug pokemon vanished.

“Stop him!” The Gym Leader shouted, and for the first time—and for a short period of time—I could see the true Whitney. No smile. No happiness. No carefree demeanour. No emotion.

Frowning eyebrows, pressed lips and fists that clenched on the railings dragged my eyes to the other side of the field. I wouldn’t be able to see Cape anyway.

Jigglypuff seemed to, though.

Moves surged forward as she sang with wide eyes. Yellow lighting, blue pulses, freezing wings, and broken rocks tore from the wall behind her, closed on something too fast to see. A second later, all of them were broken. Cape, too deep into his rage, had deemed them tricks too.

I blinked in surprise.

Cape smashed into the ground. The field. The earth.

And dragged all of that into Jigglypuff.

Breaking the pokemon. The barriers of rock behind it. The field.

The pink barriers?

Pink light immersed the arena as a Kadabra floated above Whitney. The psychic pokemon raised its spoon and pink barriers contained the area of collision between the bug and the normal type.

An earthquake destroyed the ground and broke the earth. It shook the arena, which, in turn, shook the people. Screams briefly filled the air.

Cracks spread through all sides.

Since the collision happened on Whitney’s side, a large crack rushed up the wall under her. Another Kadabra floated people away from that area as a precaution, but the crack stopped just before reaching the stands. It was not even close to what happens in eight or seven badge matches, but it was unexpected that this would happen in a second badge match, and so the measures to counter these kinds of things were not active.

Whitney would have to respond about this later, and I would probably feel guilty.

But now? I had no interest in it.

My eyes were glued as the Kadabra took down the pink barriers. It waved its hand, and the smoke flew away. Revealing one pokemon standing and another half-buried on the ground.

Cape was panting. His exoskeleton was twice broken, one in the chest and another beginning on his horn and breaking down all over his body. He still glowed grey, Endure still running all through his body.

His pokeball was in my hands, but I had to let him enjoy the moment for a few seconds.

“The winner of the match is Trainer Scott. The winner of the battle is Heracross.”

The crowd—still in shock—jumped as one.

Claps.