CHAPTER 122 - Rivals

There were no two ways about it.

This was bad. Really bad. Denzel swore, glancing at me, but we didn’t have time to talk. Justin raised his arm, signaling that he was about to start the battle.

Slowking stood there with a blank expression and his hands sagely behind his back. Vikavolt fanned out his wings and slowly took flight, emitting a loud buzzing sound. Our entire plan was void now, but I could still salvage this. By how much had Slowking’s psychic abilities improved? What was his range? How good was Vikavolt at maneuvering in the sky? How fast was he? Could Tangrowth catch him and knock him down?

So many questions, with no way to answer them until the battle started. I bit my lip and sighed as Justin brought his arm down.

“Begin!”

Immediately, without any orders, Slowking brought a hand forward, and psychic energy surrounded Vikavolt. The electric type shot forward at incredible speeds, opening his massive pincers as he flew toward Roselia. Right after that, Slowking spat out a massive Water Pulse that he sped up further with Psychic, also aiming toward the poison type.

“Grab her!” I yelled to Tangrowth. “Catch Vikavolt!”

“String shot,” Chase ordered.

Tangrowth wrapped a vine around Roselia and dragged her to his side. She narrowly avoided both String Shot and Water Pulse.

“Venoshock!” Denzel said.

Tangrowth sent ten vines forward, all aiming to catch the approaching Vikavolt, but the bug type was surprisingly agile in the air, twisting and turning to dodge any vines that got even close. Still, it couldn’t take too many risks and get too close to Roselia. The grass type angled her flowers toward Slowking, who was slowly trudging forward, and sprayed vasts amount of poison in his direction, but the psychic type simply waved an arm, deviating its path.

“Fuck it! Thunderbolt!” Chase yelled.

Ah. It was subtle, but I caught Cecilia’s wince. Vikavolt screeched, vibrating his wings as a massive Thunderbolt rivaling Electabuzz’s exploded from his body. Once again, Tangrowth protected Roselia, and he shrugged off the attack as he wriggled his body.

“They’re focusing you down. Stick to the original plan. Get Slowking,” I whispered. “Tangrowth, Leech Seed!”

Denzel nodded before shouting out a command. “Seed Bomb and Spore attack the Slowking!”

More than a dozen seeds flew off both Roselia’s flowers and Tangrowth's body, and they were all destined for Slowking. The psychic type continued on its slow walk and simply diverted every single one. The spores simply washed over what seemed to be an invisible bubble of protection. Vikavolt slowly flew back toward Slowking.

“Obel, another one!” Chase yelled.

“Darling,” she simply said.

Slowking lazily waved his hand, and Vikavolt shot out of the sky toward Tangrowth.

“Grace,” Denzel exhaled. “Vikavolt’s quick, but he’s got a slow acceleration. Slowking’s boosting his start speed with Confusion.”

“Not Psychic?”

“Psychic would deal direct damage. Hurts the brain, remember?”

Chase swept his arm. “X-Scissor!”

Without my command, Tangrowth raised an earth barrier at the very last second, but Vikavolt somehow turned unnaturally fast toward the right. Denzel yelled, and Roselia sprayed it with a Venoshock before it left.

“Good catch,” I breathed out. “We need a more aggressive approach.”

“They’re slowly choking us. Sic your Tangrowth on Slowking,” Denzel said. “Roselia can handle herself.”

There wasn’t any time to ask him if he was sure. I ordered Tangrowth forward, and a dozen vines extended under him, quickening his pace. Slowking kept walking, and he did not even spare one look of uncertainty toward his trainer.

“Psychic!” Cecilia ordered.

The water type’s eyes shone, and Tangrowth’s body stopped as if it had rammed against a wall. Slowking hurriedly waved his arm, but angel was too big and heavy to just be sent away. On the other side of the arena, Vikavolt had picked up Roselia with its sharp pincers, and he was continuously biting with X-Scissor. Denzel grinned.

“Toxic!”

Poison started to emanate from every inch of Roselia’s body, and Vikavolt dropped her to the ground with a screech. The grass type immediately stood up with a defiant scream of her own and started sniping him with Bullet Seeds. Tangrowth was still struggling under Slowking’s Psychic, and not even Power Whip was breaking through. Psychic types were one of the most defensively powerful Pokemon, but his evolution had brought him to a completely different level.

Wait. Psychic types…

“Tangrowth, Knock Off!” I yelled.

Darkness surrounded one of Tangrowth’s vines, and it simply broke through Slowking’s Psychic, hitting the shell on the water type’s head. Slowking’s attack faltered for a few precious moment, and Cecilia flinched, meaning that she hadn’t expected that.

“Power Whip!” I screamed.

The same vine that had hit Slowking suddenly tensed, and hit the psychic type again, sending him flying toward his trainer.

“Grace, Vikavolt’s slowed!” Denzel yelled.

My eyes snapped back to his side of the battle, and I saw that the poison had made the electric type lose all of his built-up acceleration. Even for me, keeping track of two individual fights at once was too much. Vikavolt hurriedly fanned his wings and tried to run back toward Slowking, who was still attempting to get up from that Power Whip. Another seed exploded against his hard shell as Roselia kept pestering him with Seed Bombs and Bullet Seeds.

“Bind it, Tangrowth!”

The grass type hurried back to our side of the field as his vines shot forward. Vikavolt narrowly avoided the first few, but a well-placed Seed Bomb by Roselia managed to slow the bug type enough to restrain Vikavolt.

“Fight him off,” Chase said.

That was unusually calm of him. And fight him off? How? That was a half-baked order if I’d ever seen one. Something Pauline might have said, but not Chase.

“Wait,” I told Denzel and Tangrowth. “He’s got a trick.”

Cecilia whispered something at Chase, who did his usual dismissing handwave before giving the slightest nod. I sucked in air through my teeth. They were trying to fucking trick me! Cecilia was trying to be discreet. Her lips were barely moving, and Chase was outwardly disagreeing but secretly going along with her plan.

They weren’t good enough yet. I could tell that they were planning on doing something.

If only I’d been better at lip reading.

Denzel stared at Slowking, who had gotten up and was starting to make his way to the action again. We were wasting time here.

“Fuck it,” he exhaled. “Attack anyway, we can figure out how to deal with it on the fly.”

I didn’t like it, but we couldn’t let an opportunity like this slip past us. With my signal, Tangrowth smashed Vikavolt against the floor and squeezed the life out of him with Bind and Mega Drain. Roselia stepped forward and began spraying her poison on the bug type.

“Rising Voltage!” Chase yelled.

The floor shook slightly, and a massive amount of electricity shot out of the crackling floor, hitting both Roselia and Tangrowth. However, they were grass types, so they didn’t take that much damage. Tangrowth hadn’t even loosened his grip on Vikavolt, so why—

Through the smoke, ash, and electricity, Slowking was running.

He was slow, but he was fucking running. Denzel swore and ordered Roselia to stop him with a Seed Bomb, but he easily diverted their path, and the explosions barely grazed him.

“I’ll buy you time!” Denzel whispered. “Finish Vikavolt off!”

“Okay,” I breathed. “Tangrowth, smash.”

The grass type happily wriggled as he kept ramming Vikavolt against the ground over and over. I glanced at Denzel, who was simply waiting, but one look at his face told me that he was waiting for a reason. A few seconds later, he smiled.

“Giga Drain!”

“Psychic!” Cece countered.

With an enraged screech, Roselia extended her arms forward and started to drain Slowking’s energy. The psychic type winced, stopping in his tracks as he lifted a hand. Roselia cried out in pain as energy surrounded her. Slowking raised her from the floor, assaulting her mind and senses. She crumpled like a piece of paper and went limp.

Tangrowth smashed Vikavolt against the floor one last time. He was down for the count too, and he had crucially fainted first.

“Vikavolt and Roselia are unable to battle. Trainers, send out your second Pokemon!” Justin yelled.

I wasted no time, and immediately ordered Tangrowth to Knock Off Slowking now that I knew that was Psychic’s weakness, but Cecilia knew as much, and ordered Slowking back as he stopped Tangrowth from following with Psychic, finally buying us a lull in the battle. As it stood, only a single one of Tangrowth’s vines could use Knock Off, meaning that his body as a whole could still be blocked.

“Slack Off,” Cecilia smiled. Slowking sat down on the floor, closed his eyes, and all of the wounds on his body regenerated.

Fuck.

Since Chase’s Pokemon went down first, the rules dictated that he’d release his Pokemon first, too. The boy sent out his Snover, who proudly smashed his chest, and hail began to fall on the battlefield. It would slowly whittle all of our Pokemon down except him. I almost scoffed in disbelief when I saw that there was still that psychic bubble around Slowking that just blocked the hail from hurting him.

“Buneary should be good against that,” Denzel said as he grabbed her Pokeball. “Slowking’s annoying, but have Tangrowth rush him again to lock him down.”

I nodded. “I’ll get your Buneary her one-on-one.”

The small rabbit punched the air with both her ears and her hands as her trainer released her.

“Water Pulse, speed it up,” Cecilia said, snapping a finger.

“Tangrowth, grab Buneary,” I simply said. “Then get Slowking.”

Tangrowth propelled himself with his vines and his legs as he tightly wrapped one against Buneary, carrying her like a rag.

“Wait for it… wait for it… throw her!” Denzel yelled.

I relayed his command to Tangrowth, who threw Buneary at Snover. The normal type shot out like an arrow, but Slowking was there to stop her, ever vigilant. The rabbit started to scream out in pain as the water type worked his Psychic on her.

But Tangrowth’s arrival forced him to forgo any attacks in order to restrain the massive Pokemon from ramming into him.

“Knock Off,” I said.

“Icy Wind,” Chase snapped.

Snover shivered as he blew a frigid wind toward Tangrowth, but a Power-Up Punch from Buneary forced him to change course.

“Wood Hammer!” He yelled.

Both Denzel and my eyes bulged as Snover’s fist elongated and shimmered with a bright, neon green. Denzel narrowly ordered Buneary to dodge with Quick Attack, but the Wood Hammer still clipped her side, and it had dealt a considerable amount of damage. In fact, the attack was so powerful that there was some blowback on Snover too. I hurriedly ordered Tangrowth to Knock Off again, hoping that the previous strategy would work. I smiled when the darkened vine slammed into Slowking’s cheek, and I quickly followed up with a Power Whip, but Cecilia recalled her Pokemon in the nick of time, using her only switch of the battle.

It was something I had expected, but not been sure of now that I knew Slowking had Slack Off. She could have kept him going for a long time, but maybe she didn’t want to tire him out too quickly? Without a dark type move, his defenses were nearly impenetrable. I considered switching too, but I decided to at least wait until I saw what she would use next.

As Buneary and Snover dueled each other with Power-Up Punches, Fire Punches and Wood Hammers, Cecilia released her Fletchinder.

“Agility, Tailwind,” she said in quick succession.

“Don’t let them! Grab her!” I yelled at Tangrowth.

Multiple vines shot out from his body, but the bird was already too quick. Her body loosened, and a continuous wind began to blow against us as she easily weaved in between Tangrowth’s vines.

“Grace, I’m going to do something that might be stupid,” Denzel whispered to me.

“Are you fucking kidding?” I hissed. “Now’s not the time to experiment.”

“I have to do it. We’re in a deadlock, but your Tangrowth’s getting tired. Buneary’s slowly losing to Snover.”

I bit my lip. I didn’t know what kind of training Chase had put his Snover under, but he was shrugging off fire type attacks like they were nothing, and the Hail would slowly whittle us down.

“Fire Spin,” Cecilia said.

Damn it, another new move. Fletchinder beat her wings, heating up the air around Tangrowth until flames surrounded him on all sides.

“Ancient Power, angel!” I countered, wiping my sweaty palms on my pants.

A massive rock flew toward Fletchinder, interrupting her attack, and Tangrowth just walked out of the Fire Spin. His body was still on fire, though, and he was quickly losing his energy. He wasn’t as strong or fast as he had been before.

“Icy Wind, then Wood Hammer!” Chase said.

“Yeah, I’m going for it,” Denzel whispered. “Buneary, take the hit!”

Snover blew another Icy Wind at Buneary, and I clicked my tongue. She could have dodged that. Now I could only hope that Denzel’s strategy would work out, whatever it was. Wood Hammer was next, and Snover grunted as the full blow connected against Buneary’s chest, sending her flying toward Denzel. I used the opportunity to switch targets and ordered Tangrowth to Ancient Power the Snover. A huge rock shattered against his body and he fell backwards, but another Fire Spin from Fletchinder stopped Tangrowth from continuing his onslaught.

I was slowly realizing something.

Angel was a fucking force of nature.

Buneary struggled to get back up, and just as I was about to berate Denzel, the rabbit started to glow and evolve.

“Did you know that was going to happen?” I said, almost in disbelief.

“Call it a hunch,” he smiled. “Eyes on the battle.”

“Well, let’s fucking take that Snover down,” I grinned. “Tangrowth, grab him!”

The grass type wrapped a vine around the battered ice type and threw him back toward the still-evolving Buneary. Snover landed at her feet with a loud thud.

“Quick Attack, Flame Charge!” Cecilia yelled.

“Ancient Power!”

Immediately, a wall was raised in front of Tangrowth, but the flying type had been too quick. She simply rammed into Tangrowth before he had even raised the barrier. Tangrowth caught on fire again, and Fletchinder escaped, continuing on her path to save her teammate. Snover struggled to his feet, but flames combusted on Lopunny’s hands as she punched the Pokemon in the mouth. With another order, Fletchinder blurred forward with a speed impossible to track and rammed against Lopunny.

The battle had switched around now. Snover was still not down, and even though he was still on the ground, he blew an Icy Wind toward angel, freezing his vines before he could grab him. Lopunny jumped into the air, creating a small crater and almost caught Cecilia off-guard, but Fletchinder was too quick. Nothing could hit her.

“Ice Punch!” Chase yelled at his Snover.

Tangrowth was slowed, weakened, and hurt from the battle and the hail. The Ice Punch connected, freezing a part of his body, and angel fell to the ground as he fainted. As much as it pained me to see him fall, I needed to save my switch for Togetic.

“Tangrowth is unable to battle! Grace, send out your second Pokemon!” Justin said.

Well, honey was trained for this. I grabbed his Pokeball and released Electabuzz with a flash of red. He whirled his arms around excitedly and awaited my command. Snover was way off in the distance now, and we needed to use that to our advantage.

First, I needed the setup.

“Eyes on Fletchinder. Electric Swift!” I ordered.

Stars appeared above Electabuzz’s head, and he infused them with electricity before sending them off to hunt Fletchinder, who screeched as Lopunny managed to land a Power-Up Punch on her wing.

“Fly away, darling!” Cecilia said. “Keep dodging and attack with Fire Spin!”

The stars homed in on the flying type as if they had a mind of their own, but we weren’t done. I waited for Fletchinder to start flying toward us again, and then I struck.

“Discharge!”

Honey extended his arms, and all of my and Denzel’s hair stood on end as electricity surged from his body. Just like we had practiced, Lopunny was spared from any damage. Fletchinder squawked as she quickly dove to the ground and turned back, and I silently swore as she narrowly outran the Discharge. It still wasn’t enough?

Luckily, that meant that the Electric Swift managed to hit her, and Fletchinder was a frail Pokemon. A few of those, and she’d be down for the count.

“E-Swift again,” I said.

Meanwhile, I began to observe Chase. He wasn’t as angry as I thought he would be, but he still looked pissed. Snover had made it back to our side of the arena, and his trainer extended his arm.

“Keep your distance, Ice Shard.”

Sharp, shards of ice materialized around Snover’s body and flew at high speeds toward Lopunny, who jumped up to dodge. For some reason, Denzel audibly winced, but he kept issuing orders to her anyway.

“Honey, Thunderbolt!” I said, pointing at Snover. Now that Lopunny was in front of us, Discharge wasn’t an option, so I opted to focus on Snover instead. If we could take all of Chase’s Pokemon down like we had planned…

I understood why Denzel had winced when I saw Fletchinder’s flaming body ram against Lopunny mid-air. The sky was hers, and anyone who entered it would be vulnerable to her attacks. The rabbit crashed on the ground, and one Ice Punch from Snover knocked her out. The grass type shrieked as the Thunderbolt hit him, but it still wasn’t enough.

“Lopunny is unable to battle! Denzel, send out your third Pokemon!”

“Electabuzz! Get in there!” I yelled. Now that Denzel’s next Pokemon wasn’t on the field, it was time to act. The stars were still chasing Fletchinder, who was being forced to move around in order not to get hit. Electabuzz broke into a sprint and blurred as electricity hummed around his body. “Discharge, full power!”

The electric type clapped his hands with a gleeful smile as thunder exploded around him quicker than last time. For Electabuzz, it was easier not to hold back and to just let everything loose. Fletchinder screeched as electricity surrounded her, and Snover was caught in it as well. The fire type fell down to the ground, her body a smoking husk, but Snover still stood, proudly hitting its fist against its chest.

“Fletchinder is unable to battle. Cecilia, send out your second Pokemon.”

Denzel released his Snorunt, and Cecilia followed by releasing her Slowking once again, who was still protected from the hail.

“I’ll Blizzard,” Denzel whispered. “You buy Snorunt some time.”

“Gotcha,” I nodded. Cecilia and Chase were talking too, as they had been throughout the battle.

Now, what to do? I didn’t want to needlessly waste Electabuzz’s energy with Thunderbolt, since I was sure that Slowking would defend himself or Snover with Psychic. We didn’t have Tangrowth’s vines to isolate Cece and Chase’s Pokemon any longer, so the situation was getting tricky.

“Blizzard,” Denzel ordered, causing both of our opponents to flinch.

“Snover, Ice Shard!”

“Water Pulse, speed it up!” Cecilia yelled.

Electabuzz blurred toward Snorunt and slid across the ground as he stood tall in front of her.

“Discharge,” I smoothly said.

As cold air began to pick up next to our opponents, Electabuzz screamed, and electricity surged forward, just like what we had done against Turtonator. The Water Pulse simply evaporated, but a few of the Ice Shards made it through and buried themselves inside of Electabuzz’s flesh. Slowking started to run toward our two Pokemon, and Snover was now keeping his distance, just sending out Ice Shards like an Arceus damned machine gun.

“How much longer?” I asked.

“Thirty—no, twenty seconds,” Denzel quickly answered.

Another Discharge stopped a Water Pulse, and another set of Ice Shards pierced through honey’s hide. I clicked my tongue. I couldn’t just take hits for free. At least I had to try to strike back.

“Thunderbolt the Snover,” I hurriedly said.

With a nod, honey whirled his arm, charging himself up, and sent out a massive, crackling Thunderbolt at Snover. Slowking waved his arm, altering the attack’s path. I ordered another Thunderbolt, and the same thing happened again. This was another, more tiresome way of buying time for Electabuzz, but Slowking had now slowed into a walk to focus, and at least he was no longer attacking with Water Pulse.

The cold wind was slowly picking up. I could see my breath, even inside of the building.

I grinned. “Switch it up.”

Electabuzz understood immediately and sent his next Thunderbolt toward Slowking instead, catching him off guard. The water type convulsed as the electricity ransacked through his body, but the attack was interrupted by another set of Ice Shards.

Slowking’s permanent shield was good enough to stop the hail, but not actual attacks. Noted.

“Snorunt, send it!” Denzel said wildly.

A thick Blizzard suddenly overtook half of the battlefield, obscuring our view of both Snover and Slowking. I used the opportunity to allow Electabuzz to rest up and sit, and Snorunt kept the Blizzard going for at least a minute, laughing wildly with a splitting grin until she was done.

The hail slowed, and then stopped, signaling that Snover had fainted. The Blizzard slowly subsided, and Snover was lying face-down against the ground, while Slowking’s entire body was simply frozen.

“Snover is unable to battle. Chase, send out your third Pokemon!”

“Fuck off,” he spat, before realizing what he had said. “Wait, you’re Pastel’s pal. My bad.”

He sighed as he sent out his Houndoom, and I immediately realized the dog-like Pokemon had changed. Darkness writhed where he walked, and there was an intensity about him that hadn’t been there. It was as if the color of his fur wasn’t black, but an absence of light.

“Grace, this guy means business,” Denzel warned. “I’m switching.”

I simply nodded, and ordered Electabuzz to use Thunderbolt on the frozen Slowking. With a cold, tired breath, he obliged me and shot out his attack.

“Melt the ice off,” Chase said, his tone suddenly cocky. “Quick.”

Houndoom turned toward his partner and used a huge fire type attack that could only be Flamethrower. Slowking slowly came to, and altered Thunderbolt’s path again, causing me to swear in frustration. Denzel sent out his Sylveon, who silently landed on the battlefield. For some reason, just staring at him was difficult. The edges of his body flickered and blurred. Cecilia and Chase appeared to both be thinking the same thing, but Denzel seemingly had no problem with it.

Were we seeing Sylveon differently?

No! Now wasn’t the time for that. We all seemingly went back to strategizing, whispering among ourselves, creating this very weird break in the battle. Like a truce of some kind.

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“This Slowking’s getting on my nerves,” I said.

“You and me both, man,” he sighed as he stretched with a smile. This was the most fun I’ve ever had since the battle against Candice, but I was exhausted already. Meanwhile, he could seemingly keep going.

“Swift will work,” I said.

“No, not Swift. That’ll take too long. Let’s get in close and beat it up.”

“But Psychic—”

“He can’t stop us both. Sylveon’s tougher than you remember. Just trust me on this.”

Well, his gut had been correct regarding Lopunny’s evolution, so I nodded. Chase and Cecilia seemingly finished strategizing at the same time, and the battle started once more. We ordered our Pokemon forward, and they both began to run, but Electabuzz matched his pace with Sylveon’s. He couldn’t be too quick.

“Feint Attack the Electabuzz!” Chase ordered.

Instead of disappearing as he had done against Candice, shadows wreathed around Houndoom, and he sunk into the floor, immediately reappearing behind Electabuzz as he brutally pawed him in the back.

“Discharge!” I yelled.

We would fall behind Sylveon, but there was no choice. Electricity expanded all around honey, wrapping around Houndoom, and the dark type whined as he convulsed from the shock. Still, it wasn’t him we were focused on.

“Keep going!” I yelled.

The electric type continued on his path as Houndoom recovered. Cecilia commanded Slowking to use another Psychic, and Sylveon’s entire body froze. In a disturbing fashion, the fairy type struggled against the psychic as he tilted his head and smiled, even as the attack assaulted his brain. Slowking brought his arm forward, but Sylveon did not get thrown away like I had expected him to. Instead, the blur around his body was slowly scattering into the wind like pink dust with each attempt. When Electabuzz made it close enough, a single spark appeared on his fist, and then it was covered in electricity. Slowking moved his hand and pointed toward him, opting to get hit by a non-super-effective move instead, meaning that Electabuzz was restrained and taking damage instead of Sylveon. The electric type grinned as ice formed around his feet, anchoring him to the ground right before Slowking tried to swat him away like a bug.

“Chase,” Cecilia said after clicking her tongue.

“I know, damn it! Houndoom, Feint Attack again!”

“Play Rough,” Denzel said.

With a joyful scream, and his body still blurry, Sylveon’s head twisted toward the ground at incredible speeds. He kicked a shadow on the floor, his paws overflowing with fairy energy. Houndoom cried out as he was forcefully expunged from the shadows, and Sylveon hit him away. Next, the fairy type turned to Slowking, and before the water type could try to restrain him again, Sylveon’s ribbons wrapped gently around him as he let out a harrowing cry.

That had been Disarming Voice. Electabuzz was finally freed, but he had a nosebleed from all the abuse he had taken from the Psychic, and he could barely stand up straight. Houndoom screamed out a Flamethrower, burning Electabuzz until he fell to the ground.

“Electabuzz is unable to battle! Grace, send out your third Pokemon!’

“You’re up, princess,” I said, releasing her. It looked like we weren’t going to be able to save her for Zweilous after all. “Fairy Wind. Keep it going.”

Togetic was good enough to keep a constant Fairy Wind going in battle without any difficulty now, and it would work akin to Hail. Continuous damage that was almost impossible to dodge. Sylveon wouldn’t take as much damage, since he was tough and another fairy type, so I figured that it’d be worth it. He started relentlessly hitting Slowking with Play Rough as he laughed. The water type had lost the will to fight for a few seconds, and that was all Sylveon needed. He wasn’t giving him any rest for him to use Psychic again.

“Ancient Power. Drills,” I simply ordered.

Princess lifted a massive chunk of earth from the floor, and separated it into ten drill-like objects. She giggled as she sent them flying toward Slowking. Her control was so perfect that none of them even grazed Denzel’s Sylveon.

I smiled. “Again—”

“Flamethrower!” Chase ordered.

Instead of forming more drills, I ordered Togetic to alter the attack’s path with Extrasensory. I felt my throat clog up when it didn’t work, and the flames just burst through the psychic type attack, hitting her.

“What the fuck?” I swore. “Ancient Power to protect yourself instead! Get close to the ground!”

Togetic lifted another massive rock and rushed toward the floor, narrowly blocking another Flamethrower from Houndoom. Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, Sylveon stood with blood on his fur and paws as he stood over the defeated Slowking.

He turned back toward Denzel with a huge smile and a blank stare that sent a shiver down my spine.

“Good job, Sylvi,” he called out.

“Slowking is unable to battle. Cecilia, send out your third Pokemon!”

“You were wonderful,” Cecilia smiled. She immediately sent out her Scyther, and I instinctively held my breath. The bug type hissed as he sharpened his sickles against themselves.

I knew nothing about him. He was an unknown element that could throw this entire battle sideways, and I didn’t like it one bit. I waited for Cece’s order to come with bated breath.

It never came. Scyther rushed toward Sylveon, his speed only second to Fletchinder and slashed across the fairy type’s flank, but strangely, he did not bleed.

“Togetic, Air Cutter,” I ordered.

Princess peaked from behind her hurriedly erected barrier and fluttered her wings, sending air as sharp as knives toward Houndoom.

“Get close!” Chase said.

The fire type whined as the Air Cutter cut through his thick, dark hide, but he pushed through the pain and ran toward Togetic. I noticed that the Fairy Wind was having more effect on him than anyone else thanks to his dark type, but it still wouldn’t take him down quickly enough. I bit my lip as I waited for Houndoom to get close as Scyther and Sylveon dueled each other in a surprisingly even match. Sylveon was too powerful for Scyther to hurt substantially, and he didn’t bleed, while the bug type was quick enough to dodge most attacks.

Cecilia still hadn’t said anything. I didn’t even know what half of these attacks Scyther was using were.

Houndoom was close enough now. I swept an arm. “Thunder Wave!”

“Fuck that! Dodge!”

Houndoom slid across the ground and rolled behind Togetic’s Ancient Power, narrowly avoiding her Thunder Wave.

“Fly away!” I yelled.

“Flamethrower!”

Houndoom’s jaw opened, and a stream of white-hot flames would have hit Togetic if she hadn’t raised another barrier. Houndoom was keeping us locked to the ground, but it wasn’t for no reason. Chase had a plan. Every time Houndoom got anywhere close to Togetic, he tensed his body in anticipation.

Knowing there was intent behind his action was good, but I would have liked to actually know what it was that he wanted to do.

Denzel glanced at me. “Grace—”

“I know. Wish is coming, just hold on a sec. I need you to get Houndoom off her back.”

“But Scyther…?”

“I can deal with Scyther. Trust me.”

My best friend nodded and called out to Sylveon, who stopped fighting and ran back toward us right away. Scyther gave an enraged screech and started to chase him, but the fairy type ignored his attacks and kept running. Obviously, Chase noticed this development, and after swearing, he ordered his Houndoom to Flamethrower Sylveon. The two Pokemon began to fight— well, it wasn’t really a fight. Houndoom slipped into the shadows and attempted to escape while Sylveon gave chase, somehow knowing where he was at all times. He looked at the ground with a disturbing, hollow stare and smashed his paw against the floor, causing Houndoom to cry out and run away faster.

Scyther landed on the ground and glared at Togetic, who responded by clapping her hands and giggling. That sent him over the edge, and he blurred toward her.

“Extrasenso—”

Before I even finished the sentence, Scyther was restrained in the air. Togetic curiously tilted her head, as if she was studying the bug type as she crushed his body ever so slightly. Her bait had worked masterfully. Cecilia was apparently letting him run loose, but that meant that he’d easily fall into traps like this.

“Ram him,” I continued.

With a disappointed chirp, Togetic sent Scyther flying toward the floor, cracking his hardened plates. She’d wanted to keep hurting him, I suppose. We’d have to get that under control.

“Wish!”

Finally, she had enough time to use the move. Princess tightly shut her eyes, and after five seconds, a light shot up into the sky and through the arena’s roof. On the other side of the battlefield, Chase finally recalled his Houndoom, opting to use his switch before he could be ultimately defeated. I almost thought that he wouldn’t, but he was wise to do so. A dark type was not going to win against Sylveon.

I gasped when he sent out his Zangoose and not his Riolu.

That was his last choice. He wasn’t going to use the fighting type at all for this battle.

The normal type hissed as she stood up on her rear legs, meaning that she was ready to fight. Upon closer inspection, she looked poisoned too. There was a slight purple tint to her usually red eyes, and her breaths were ragged.

“Keep using Play Rough, Sylveon!” Denzel yelled.

“Wait, you should play it safe,” I said, holding his shirt. “The Wish—”

“Won’t come back down for two minutes,” he interrupted. “We can’t be on the defensive, or we’ll eventually lose.”

It was true that Togetic couldn’t stop both Zangoose and Scyther at the same time. While her psychic abilities were good, she was no psychic type. The bug type slashed, sending out a streak of air toward Togetic, who easily dodged and retaliated with Ancient Power. Two sharp drills lodged themselves in between Scyther’s plates. Zangoose countered the first part of Play Rough with her claws, and then quickly Slashed Sylveon. The fairy type’s blur finally disappeared, and he bled, wincing as Zangoose overwhelmed him with attacks.

“Togetic, help him out! Get in there and restrain Zangoose!”

I clicked my tongue as Scyther blurred in front of her, blocking her path. The flying type was relatively weak, but he was a constant thorn in Togetic’s side. He adeptly flew backward as Togetic approached to stand out of Extrasensory’s range, but he kept sending out that slashing attack.

Wait, was it Air Slash?

I’d call it Air Slash anyway.

Togetic was too high in the sky to protect herself with Ancient Power, and altering the wind’s path proved beyond our capabilities as the attack slashed across her body, causing blood to splay out on her chest.

“Fuck. Sylveon can’t keep this up,” Denzel groaned. Zangoose was completely dominating him, using a combination of Slash, Crush Claw, and X-Scissor to gain an advantage. “How long until your Wish? I spaced out.”

“Twenty-five seconds or so,” I answered.

“Prepare to switch, then—”

Suddenly, Cecilia spoke. “Scyther. If I could offer a word of advice? I’d target that Sylveon if I were you.”

It was a mere suggestion, not an order, and yet, Scyther listened, blurring toward the fairy type. Denzel and I both cursed, but Togetic wasn’t quick enough to help. Scyther and Zangoose ganged up on Sylveon, and he fainted soon after.

“Sylveon is unable to battle! Denzel, send out your last Pokemon!” Justin said.

Just as he finished his sentence, Wish entered Togetic’s body instead, healing her completely.

“Fuck.”

“You said it. Fuck,” I replied.

Up until now, the battle had been somewhat equal, but I had believed that we were about to take the upper hand.

That was no longer the case. We were losing.

Denzel sighed as he sent out his Snorunt.

“Can you buy me enough time for another Blizzard?” He asked.

“I can, I think. But princess will have to push herself beyond her limits. She won’t be able to do much afterward.”

“It’ll be worth it. Snorunt can take both of them down in one attack, or at least get close to that.”

I ordered Togetic to stop her constant Fairy Wind to let Snorunt focus just as Zangoose and Scyther rushed toward us.

Scyther was an annoyance, but Zangoose was a problem, especially when she was powered up by her ability Toxic Boost. I was surprised to see that she didn’t even seem close to fainting, even after duking it out with Sylveon for so long. Snorunt shivered, her eyes shone with a pale blue, and a cold wind started to gather.

“Keep ‘em away from us,” Denzel said. “She can’t control the area of effect that well yet, so Togetic might get hurt if they get too close.”

Arceus, he was asking me for the impossible here. I grinned as I leaned against my knees.

“Ancient Power across the entire field!” I screamed.

Togetic cried out, raising the earth and separating our half from theirs with a tall wall that would take Zangoose time to scale or breakthrough. Scyther just flew over it, and Togetic used the move again, this time sending out sharp spikes to try to pin him down. At the same time, she kept raising the sections that Zangoose attempted to climb even higher. She was panting loudly. Using Ancient Power on such a massive scale was tiring her out, and she wouldn’t be able to do it for long.

Togetic stopped Scyther a few inches away from her throat with Extrasensory. She could use both moves at the same time, but not when she was exerting herself so much. Zangoose finally climbed over the massive wall and blurred toward Snorunt.

“Trip her up!” I yelled.

Princess raised small chunks of earth below Zangoose’s feet, slowing her down somewhat, but it wasn’t enough.

“Fuck it, hit her with Scyther,” I said.

The fairy type offered me a tired laugh as she propelled Scyther toward his teammate. Zangoose hissed in annoyance as the bug type hit her in the chest, and Togetic raised another, smaller barrier in front of them.

“How much—”

“Now!” Denzel said.

Snorunt screamed, and the air became thick with snow and shards of ice, surrounding both of our opponents. I breathed out a sigh of relief, and ordered Togetic to use another Wish. The Blizzard kept going for a long while, buying me precious time to think. Not only was Snorunt Denzel’s last Pokemon, but she was also our key to defeating Zweilous. I needed to keep her protected at all costs. Without her, this dire situation would quickly turn from bad to awful. When the Blizzard subsided, Scyther was crumpled on the ground, still having all of the Ancient Powers Togetic had lodged inside of him. Zangoose still stood, although her fur was frozen, and she appeared to be on her last legs.

If only she could have completely frozen over like Slowking had…

“Scyther is unable to battle! Cecilia, send out your final Pokemon.”

“With pleasure,” she answered as she released Zweilous, who I couldn’t see due to Togetic’s Ancient Power. Zerst snarled as he probably found the wall in between him and our Pokemon annoying, while Sol was quiet.

“Charge another one,” I told Denzel.

“Yep. Snorunt, Blizzard again.”

With a cold, heavy breath, Snorunt only nodded.

“Blow the wall apart,” Cecilia calmly said.

Two Dragon Pulses completely destroyed the wall Togetic had worked so hard to raise, while Zangoose continued on her warpath toward Snorunt. Chase knew that her time was running out, and they couldn’t afford to wait for an opening.

Unfortunately for him, this was simply a lose-lose dilemma.

“Togetic, finish her off with Extrasensory,” I said.

The fairy type flew toward Zangoose, who jumped with surprising vigor, aiming to claw her apart, but she stopped her and slammed her against the ground while she stared at her like she was nothing.

“Zangoose is unable to battle! Chase, send out your last Pokemon.”

Just as Chase released his Houndoom, Cecilia raised a hand. I was wondering why she had waited to issue her order, but when I saw what came next, I immediately understood.

“Incinerate. Both of you.”

Both of Zweilous’ heads belched, releasing a few small flames from his mouth.

And then released the biggest Incinerate I had ever seen toward Snorunt. Houndoom quickly used Flamethrower as well, and the two fire type attacks combined into one unstoppable force. If Zangoose had still been in front of that attack, there would have been no way for her to dodge.

“Togetic,” I exhaled, biting the inside of my mouth so hard I tasted metal. “Ancient Power, multiple layers.”

The fairy type exhaled, raising barrier after barrier. There were ten in total, and each stopped the attack for a precious few seconds before becoming molten rock. And both of their Pokemon were still attacking.

It wasn’t enough. We were running out of time.

“New plan, I switch, you get Wish while burning, might work,” I said. There was so little time I wasn’t even speaking properly. Denzel didn’t have time to even protest, and I switched Togetic out, replacing her with Jellicent.

Chase and Cecilia looked on with surprise.

“Fly up,” I hurriedly said. “Water Pulse.”

Jellicent silently followed my command, propelling himself up with Water Sport, and he got out of range of the enormous flame that was now only two Ancient Powers away from hitting Snorunt.

If the timing was right… this could work out. Jellicent’s goal here was to hurt the two dark types enough to interrupt their fire type attacks, and the Wish would go to Snorunt, since she’d be hurt by the flames. Hopefully, it would keep her standing. With a cry that was more sinister than I remembered, Jellicent sent out a Water Pulse that was twice as big as it had been before his Evolution straight toward Houndoom.

“Houndoom, dodge!”

The fire type sunk into the shadows, stopping his Flamethrower attack, and Jellicent used another Water Pulse, this time aiming toward Zweilous. I frowned when Sol kept his Incinerate going, but Zerst stopped without Cecilia’s command.

And in a single moment in the battle, everything happened all at once.

Blizzard went into effect just as the fire broke through the last barrier and hit Snorunt. The ice type’s screams were drowned out by the roar of the flames.

Wish bore down from the heavens, flickering as it sank into the sea of fire.

Zerst screamed, sending out a loud, shock-wave-like sound-based attack that tore through Jellicent’s body, disintegrating half of his head, and Water Pulse hit his body for barely any damage.

Houndoom reappeared from the shadows below Jellicent, reared his head back and blew flames toward the water type.

Sol continued roaring out his flames, not stopping for even one second.

Until the Blizzard forced him to. This may have been Snorunt’s third, but it was just as powerful and long-lasting as the previous ones. She had lasted through the flames, although she looked half-dead. Jellicent hurriedly escaped from Blizzard’s range with Water Sport as the edges of his tentacles froze.

A Dragon Pulse tore through the snow and clipped the right side of his body, causing it to evaporate completely. Zweilous couldn’t see, and they located their enemies with a rough echolocation, so Blizzard hampering their visibility didn’t matter.

“Recover,” I breathed out.

Like cells multiplying, Jellicent’s body regenerated, becoming as good as new. Dragon Pulses, Incinerates and what looked to be like Hyper Voice continued to tear through the arena, some hitting Jellicent, but most missing by a mile. Every time, I ordered him to Recover.

“She got another one in her?” I panted as I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

“No. The fire was too much, but she’s got other ice type moves. Wait for the Blizzard to finish, and focus everything you have on Houndoom.”

“Agreed. If we can get a two versus one against Zweilous, then we’re favored, I think.”

When the Blizzard dissipated, Zweilous looked slightly tired, and Houndoom reappeared from below the floor. He had used Feint Attack to dodge.

Damn it, he hadn’t even been hit for that much, then. Even if Blizzard wasn’t super effective, it was so powerful and lasted for so long that it would have dealt substantial damage.

“Get close, and Dragon Pulse,” Cecilia said.

Zweilous broke into an awkward run, and Zerst screamed out an Incinerate toward Snorunt.

“Jellicent, get in front of her and Water Pulse.”

The water type turned upside down, propelled himself with the powerful jet of water, and weakened the Incinerate enough to block it with his body. Sol, meanwhile, was content to listen to Cecilia’s orders, and a stream of blue draconic energy flew toward Jellicent.

I was starting to understand her plan now. She was letting Zerst run loose in an effort to counter me. Since Sol was following her orders, he’d be more of a pain to deal with, but I still had to dedicate some attention to Zerst.

“Feint Attack, then Thunder Fang!” Chase said.

Thunder Fang, now?! I swore as I ordered Jellicent to dodge the Dragon Pulse, and Snorunt barely managed to do the same. That was the move that he had tried to have Houndoom use on princess. The dark type sunk into the floor once again and then jumped unnaturally high toward Jellicent, ignoring the fact that he was being sprayed with water.

Electricity sparked in Houndoom’s mouth, and the dark type bit down hard on Jellicent’s tentacle, electrocuting him.

“Let it loose!” I yelled.

The water type shook wildly, struggling to implement my order, but after five seconds, he managed to detach his tentacle from his body, and Houndoom crashed to the floor. Snorunt used the opportunity to pester him with an Icy Wind, slowing him down.

Fucking perfect! I celebrated internally.

“Water Pulse! Finish him off!” I said excitedly.

“Stomping Tantrum,”

I gasped sharply as Zweilous slammed their feet against the floor, dealing damage both to Snorunt and Houndoom. Was Cecilia cutting him loose? Chase looked pissed, and he shoved his hands in his pockets, but he wasn’t swearing at her or anything, so he had expected this. At the same time, Jellicent’s Water Pulse slammed into Houndoom, and the fire type fainted.

“Houndoom is unable to battle. Chase is out of the battle!” Justin said.

Snorunt was still standing.

Barely.

And then she fell.

“Snorunt is also unable to battle. Denzel is out of the battle.”

I took a deep breath as Jellicent glared at his opponent, who growled at the ghost type. Two Pokemon against one.

This was it. Denzel offered me words of encouragement, but they sounded far away. I exhaled and licked my lips. Jellicent wouldn’t be able to do much against Zweilous, but I was confident he could last a lot longer than Togetic could. He’d be the foundation upon which Togetic could build her victory.

“Two Dragon Pulses,” Cecilia said. “Keep them going for as long as possible!”

“Dodge and Poison Sting,” I ordered.

The water type narrowly dodged Zerst’s Dragon Pulse, but half of his face was disintegrated by Sol’s. Unaffected by any kind of pain, Jellicent spat out thin, purple needles that oozed with poison, and they buried themselves against Zweilous’ tough hide. If I could poison him, then—

“Hyper Voice!”

While Zerst continued on his rampage with Dragon Pulse, forcing Jellicent to weave as he Recovered the damage done to his face, Sol screamed, and Jellicent’s form completely disintegrated, flying off like glowing droplets of water. I inhaled sharply, not knowing what would happen, but they started to gather into a coherent form.

Unfortunately, that meant that Zerst’s Dragon Pulse had enough time to connect, slowing his regeneration down further. I bit my lip. Every time he was just about to finish, they blew him apart again with Hyper Voice. They weren’t giving him enough time to regenerate. If I had known that Hyper Voice would have had such an effect, then I would have ordered Jellicent to solidify his body—

I laughed when the water type silently regenerated behind Zweilous from a single speck.

Had the previous attempts just been bait? No, he had still taken damage and expended energy to regenerate. This new form was new for him too. He was improvising.

“Behind you!” Cecilia yelled

Both heads angrily roared as they turned and opened their mouths as two Dragon Pulses started to gather.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck me.

How could I ensure that Zweilous would be poisoned?

Like this.

“Poison Sting inside of Zerst’s mouth!”

Jellicent seemingly loved the idea, and his eyes shone with a sinister light. Zerst cried out in pain. Real pain, as poisoned sharp needles lodged themselves inside of his mouth to secrete their poison. Why Zerst? While Sol might have been more annoying to deal with, since he followed Cecilia’s orders, meaning that they employed strategy, his attacks were actually still weaker than Zerst’s. If I could put him out of commission for a bit, then…

Jellicent’s entire head disappeared as Sol delivered a point-blank Dragon Pulse, and what remained of his body flew back toward me. Zerst coughed up blood and poison as Sol continued to attack with a rage I had never expected.

I sighed. That could be annoying. Cecilia had stopped issuing commands now, and was letting his enraged self run completely loose.

“Recover—” I cut myself off before realizing that Jellicent couldn’t even hear me in his current state. I waited until he regenerated the first half of his head, noticing he had considerably slowed, and ordered him to solidify his body and use Bubblebeam immediately.

Bubblebeam was weaker than Water Pulse in a vacuum, but he could keep the attack going for a long time, and the damage would add up. Zerst had recovered now, and began using a Dragon Pulse of his own. Jellicent’s body no longer appeared transparent, and the attacks that landed took out chunks of it instead of the entire head. The Bubblebeam continuously hit Zweilous as the water type kept engaging in this dance to dodge the dragon’s attacks.

Unfortunately, when he was solid, he was heavier, and therefore, a lot slower, meaning that more attacks landed. I considered that a worthy trade, given that I didn’t know how many times he’d be capable of fully coming back together like he had before. Just doing it a few times had noticeably slowed how fast he could Recover.

This song and dance must have lasted for five minutes. Or maybe it was less. It was hard to tell how much time passed when I was so focused.

Jellicent’s body was just a speck of his former self, and he crashed into the floor. He was too tired to Recover any longer.

Zweilous still stood, albeit a lot more tired than he had been. Zerst appeared a lot closer to fainting than Sol was. It was like I had theorized. The dragon specialized against blunt trauma, while attacks that penetrated their armor would deal more damage.

“Jellicent is unable to battle! Grace, send out your last Pokemon.”

“It’s you and me, princess,” I whispered as I stared at her Pokeball.

I released her and immediately ordered her to whip up a constant Fairy Wind. Whittling Zweilous down would be good, and there was no time to charge up a powerful one anyway. Hell, there wasn’t even enough time to use Wish, and that only took five seconds.

“Thunder Wave,” I said right after. I knew for a fact that Zweilous was too slow to dodge.

“Hyper Voice, Sol,” she hurriedly said.

The dragon’s voice was so powerful that the electricity dispersed into nothing. This fucking dragon could go fuck himself with how powerful he was. Of course, that meant that Sweet Kiss was probably a no-go too.

“Bring her down with Incinerate and move forward,” Cecilia said.

Damn it, the elemental fangs were probably going to come into play. If Togetic ever got close enough to be caught, the battle was over. The two heads combined their Incinerates into one, and the attack became as strong as Houndoom’s Flamethrower.

Extrasensory would work this time, but Togetic would still take damage from the heat.

“Ancient Power!” I yelled. Her eyes shone as she erected multiple barriers of protection, each gradually stretching higher and higher up to stop the Incinerate from hitting.

There were fewer layers than last time, but they did the job. Without Houndoom’s flames to pack that extra oomph, no Incinerate would break past Togetic’s barriers.

“Again, drills this time!” I screamed.

The fairy type crumbled half of the last barrier, turning it into sharp drills, and with a happy chirp, she sent them flying toward Zweilous, giving them a vicious spin so that they could penetrate his scales. The dragon type cried out as every single one of them buried deep into his flank, drawing blood.

“Incinerate again,” Cecilia said. Damn it, she was masking herself so well that it was hard to tell what she was truly thinking from afar.

“Okay, princess,” I said as my fingers trembled. “Keep it going.”

Togetic raised another set of barriers, and again, they stopped the Incinerate—

“Now, Stomping Tantrum!”

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

“Keep them steady!” I yelled. “Attack him at the same time!”

Already-formed drills burst through the floor and flew toward Zweilous, who began angrily stomping the ground as they kept their Incinerate going. The barriers cracked and started to crumble, but I just needed to interrupt his attack—

The first two barriers collapsed, and Incinerate just burned through the rest. Togetic caught on fire and fell to the ground as another set of drills stabbed Zerst in the neck. The dragon shambled toward her with an exhausted, irregular jog.

“Princess!” I yelled, hoping she’d push through the pain. “Ram him with Ancient Power!”

The fairy type gathered the rest of the fallen barricades and pushed them toward Zweilous. I couldn’t expect her to do any kind of sophisticated manipulation— not when she was literally burning. I clenched at my jeans as Zweilous burst through the earth and rocks like a truck.

There was one last hope. One last trick up my sleeve.

“Fairy Wind,” I simply said.

I didn’t need to elaborate. Togetic understood immediately, and the constant wind paused, being replaced by thick, pink mist instead.

If I could get one powerful Fairy Wind off, combined with the poison and the bleeding from Ancient Power… it could work, and I knew it could work because Cecilia’s mask was beginning to slip.

“Don’t let her! Incinerate—”

“Raise a barricade!” I cut her off.

“—Stomping Tantrum!”

The wind picked up around Togetic, surrounding her until I could only see the flames burning her body.

Incinerate was weaker now, but combined with Stomping Tantrum, it made quick work of Togetic’s hastily formed barrier, burning her further and hurting her with the ground type move.

It did not matter. Togetic was an Arceus damned fairy. She laughed in the face of pain and sent her Fairy Wind forward Just as Zweilous reached her. Cece ordered something, but the wind was too strong to hear. The dragon type’s teeth were clad in electricity as one head bit down on Togetic’s neck and the other on her chest. Flames, wind, and electricity danced around both Pokemon, creating a cacophony of sounds that made my head pound.

The wind seized, and Togetic laid still on the ground.

Both of Zweilous’s heads screamed as he stumbled. After screaming their hearts out, Zerst’s head fell limp, but Sol was still conscious.

“Togetic is unable to battle! Victory goes to Cecilia and Chase!”

I groaned in frustration and placed my face in my hands. Arceus damn it, it fucking stung. I had done everything I could, and yet I still lost. I recalled Togetic, and Cecilia did the same for her Zweilous. I hadn’t even known that one head could keep going if the other fainted, and Sol was no doubt a few attacks away from collapsing as well.

That didn’t matter. A loss was still a loss, even if it had been by a few attacks.

“You did great,” I told her. Maybe using Wish would have been better… no, there wasn’t enough time. The entire battle between her and Zweilous didn’t last two minutes. If I had know about Hyper Voice, maybe—

“Grace,” Denzel called out.

“Huh?”

“Did you have fun?”

I exhaled and answered with a smile. “I did. How long did that even last? I want to crash on my bed and sleep for an entire day.”

I stared around the arena, and I was surprised to see that it was now packed to the brim. The small crowd had grown to an incredible amount as people no doubt heard about our battle as it was going on online.

He grabbed his Poketch. “Forty-something minutes,” he answered with a stretch. He clapped me back. “Come on, keep your chin up. That was close as hell. Chase and I improved a whole lot, but you two were on another level.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” I laughed. “That Snorunt of yours especially. I don’t know what you feed her, but she’s a monster.”

“Well, thanks. Let’s go meet the others.”