CHAPTER 131

As Cecilia walked into the gym's lobby, her mind was filled with an anticipation that made her entire body tingle. After watching Denzel's fight, she knew now that the battle would be harder than she had expected it to be, and yet she could only march forward and hope that she was ready. A loss here would be so disappointing for herself, but most importantly, she did not want to disappoint Cynthia.

A foolish thought, even though the Champion had challenged her all those months ago. Cecilia did not know if she would be watching, if she even remembered her name, or if she knew how important those words had been to her. Being the Champion was a busy job, and Cynthia had no doubt a lot on her plate.

But she couldn't help but hope that she sometimes kept an eye on her progress, despite how unlikely it was.

"Not going to congratulate me?" Denzel teased as he entered the waiting room.

"Oh. Sorry, I was just thinking," she responded. "Congratulations on your win."

"I was just fucking around, don't worry about it," he smiled before his expression turned serious. "But seriously, you need to watch out. This is going to be a hell of a fight, as I'm sure you'll know. I'd have advice, but—"

"I'll figure it out myself," Cecilia said.

"—Exactly. It'd probably feel lousy to win that way."

"Thank you," she said, hugging him. "Nevermind, you're all sweaty. Go calm Pauline down, will you?"

"Will do," he said. "And as she'd say, go kick ass."

Denzel left with a casual whistle, and Cecilia sat on the bench. Power would not be enough to win here. As it stood, her biggest problem was that there was a risk of an effective illusion angering Zweilous enough to the point that Zerst didn't listen to her. She had already come to a deal with Scyther, and again, he would fight on his own. Slowking's psychic abilities would be ineffective at stopping ghost type attacks, and Fletchinder, while she was quick and hit hard, would be too frail to carry most of the battle.

"Well, I am in quite a predicament," she declared.

A gym attendee came to outfit her with the usual microphone, and then led her to the battlefield. Fantina did the same and began listing the rules of the battle— another four-on-four with one switch in.

Well, if he wanted to fight alone, he would get his fight. Cecilia sent out Scyther, finally using him in a gym battle for the first time. The bug type hissed and fanned his wings, excitedly waiting for his opponent. He had not gained too much power since the fight against Grace and Denzel, but she hoped that Fantina would start with an easier opponent just like she had against Denzel.

The gym leader sent out a female Frillish that levitated up from the floor with a casual spin. That certainly wasn't what she had expected, but Scyther would be able to go toe to toe with her.

"Begin!" The referee yelled.

"It's easy to cut up and relatively slow. Try to go on the offensive," Cecilia suggested.

"Night Shades," Fantina ordered.

Four, ghostly replicas appeared in front of Frillish, and each individually rushed toward Scyther, who let out a defiant screech and blurred forward. Cecilia recognized his use of Agility, which was the only move she had managed to make him learn before the battle with her rivals.

"I wouldn't hit those if I were you, they explode," Cecilia said.

Instead of dodging, Scyther Slashed across the first Night Shade, and a loud explosion rocked the entire arena. That was a powerful Night Shade. Scyther flew out of the purple plume, leaving a trail of smoke, and now took her suggestion to heart, easily avoiding the remaining three Night Shades.

"Hex when it gets close," Fantina said.

"Try to keep your distance instead," she said.

Scyther cried out in protest and rushed toward Frillish, cutting her in half with a smooth Slash as smoke emanated from his body. The bug type crashed to the ground, but quickly got to his feet as Frillish used Water Sport to fly off with what remained of its body, while the remaining three Night Shades all crashed into Scyther, dealing massive amounts of damage. When the dust settled, cracks ran through his entire exoskeleton, and half of one of his wings was bent the wrong way.

Cecilia quickly noticed two things. That Water Sport was ridiculously slow when compared to Grace's, and Frillish did not appear to know Recover, which meant that she'd be stuck missing half of her body the entire battle. Her regeneration powers were nowhere strong enough for her to quickly recover her bottom half.

If Cecilia hadn't messed up her relationship with Scyther from the beginning, then this would have been such an easy victory.

"Night Shades, then Shadow Ball," Fantina said. "Hex when it gets close."

Another set of four ghostly clones appeared next to Frillish as it began to gather a Shadow Ball. They each flew toward the bug type, delaying themselves by a few seconds each. Scyther took flight, and although he was permanently slowed and bent toward the right due to his broken wing, Agility was still in effect, and he was faster than he needed to be to dodge.

"An Air Slash to explode one of them would be enough to trigger the others to explode all at once," she sighed.

Scyther ignored her, preferring to fight in melee whenever he could. He twisted his body as he narrowly dodged the first Night Shade, and then with a Quick Attack, he streaked across the air until he was just a few feet away from Frillish. The water type turned her head and sent out her Shadow Ball, causing Scyther to stop beating his wings and almost dropping to the floor.

"Bubblebeam. Force him up there," Fantina said.

"Why are you—" Cecilia started, but then shut her mouth. It was her fault that he was like this.

Scyther screeched as a barrage of bubbles exploded on his shell, and using the floor as a launch pad, he blurred toward his opponent as both of his claws shone with a pale green. X-Scissor. Frillish let out a panicked cry as she began using Hex again, but Scyther was too quick. He decapitated her, rending her unable to fight.

"Frillish is unable to battle. Leader Fantina, send out your second Pokemon," The referee said.

The Night Shades disintegrated into thin air, and Fantina grabbed her second Pokeball. Scyther could have won this with barely taking any damage if they could cooperate for once, but alas. Now, he was on his last legs. Barely able to fly properly, wounded, and letting out ragged breaths. As morbid as it was to treat him like this, Cecilia knew that the only time he'd be usable in a battle like this was to have him fight Fantina's first Pokemon, which would always prove the least challenging.

Still, he yelled to celebrate his victory.

Fantina sent out a small teapot, and a strange purple liquid inside of it soon came alive. It used a small broken piece of the teapot as a hat, and it was rather cute, for a ghost, all things considered.

"Shell Smash," Fantina said.

Oh.

"Go on the offensive! Try to keep your distance!" Cecilia yelled as panic slipped into her tone.

Polteageist turned from a dark purple to a vivid red as its body began to steam and its pot began to crack. Scyther sharpened his blades, and then broke into a run. Even though he hid it, Cecilia could tell that flying any further would hurt him badly.

And yet, fly he did. Scyther pushed against the floor as his wings fanned once more, becoming a blur of motion.

"Protect," Fantina said. "Then Hex."

Polteageist summoned a thin, green barrier, stopping Scyther's X-Scissor in its tracks, and then hit him with a Hex so powerful that the bug type couldn't help but fall to the ground and cry out in agony. He rolled on his back as the ghost type approached him, ready to hit him with another Hex.

And slashed across the air, sending an Air Slash that sliced through his opponent's body. Polteageist let out a high-pitch infuriated scream and finished him off with Hex.

"Scyther is unable to battle. Challenger, send out your second Pokemon."

In the end, Scyther had listened, even when it had been too late.

"You did well, darling," she said softly as she smiled at his Pokeball.

Fletchinder would not do very well against a Pokemon under Shell Smash's influence, so she was off the list. Slowking would take too much damage if he was hit, and again, he'd be unable to protect himself against Hex or other ghost type moves.

Cecilia grabbed Zweilous' Pokeball and released him. The two dragons roared, announcing their presence, and their heads locked onto their enemy at the same time.

"Dragon Pulse, both of you," she said.

"Protect," Fantina smoothly countered.

Zerst and Sol both inhaled as draconic energy danced in their mouths, and then screamed, sending out two huge Dragon Pulses that were bigger than Polteageist's Protect. And yet, the ghost got out of the situation unscathed, and it was quickly flying their way.

"Sweet Scent, then Giga Drain," the gym leader continued.

An enticing smell began to radiate from her Pokemon's body, and Zerst seemed very smitten.

"Quick, snap him out of it and Dragon Pulse again!" Cecilia said.

Sol nodded and quickly bashed his head against his fellow head. Zerst snarled before remembering that he was currently in a battle. The two dragons yelled out a Dragon Pulse once more, but Polteageist was so small and fast that the attack only grazed the side of its teapot. Zweilous threateningly growled as the ghost type began to drain the dragon's energy.

"Incinerate," she said. There was no choice. The attack was weaker, but it was also wider, meaning that at this range, it was guaranteed to hit. "Just Sol."

Zerst grumbled in annoyance as Sol breathed out a huge stream of flames toward the Polteageist, which Fantina ordered to Protect again.

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"Now, Zerst."

A delayed attack meant that there was no way she was getting out of this one. Fire engulfed the ghost type's tiny body, and when the Incinerate settled, all that remained was an inanimate, purple liquid sitting in a steaming teapot.

"Polteageist is unable to battle. Leader Fantina, send out your third Pokemon."

Without any hesitation, the gym leader sent out a Drakloak. The dragon had a hard head, but the rest of its body took on a trailing, wispy form. Cecilia took a deep breath.

This would be one of Zweilous' toughest fights, and she was not cruel enough to switch him out, even though her mind screamed at her to do so. The dragon was quite literally drooling in anticipation. It had been too long since they had fought another dragon type, and forcing them to hold back against Louis' Gible was something that they still hadn't forgiven her for.

She owed them this.

"Dragon Pulse," Fantina said.

The first thing Cecilia noticed was that Drakloak was fast. Only slightly slower than Fletchinder after she had used all of her setup moves.

The ghost type practically disappeared as a thin Dragon Pulse shot out of its mouth. Without her orders, Zweilous tried to counter with a Dragon Pulse of their own, but Drakloak's attack was too quick. Fantina had traded power for speed.

Zweilous shook their heads and screamed in anger, but Drakloak was still nowhere to be seen.

"Phantom Force, Dragon Tail," the gym leader said.

That was why it was literally impossible to see. Drakloak reappeared behind Zweilous with its tail solidifying and glowing with a dark blue, and it slammed it against their hide. Quick to anger, Zerst turned, and his mouth snapped with a vicious Crunch, biting some of Drakloak's body away, who screeched and blurred as it flew off.

From that point on, Fantina decided to keep her distance, and Drakloak kept pestering Zweilous with Dragon Pulse. Even though it was weaker than what they were used to, the damage would add up very quickly, and Zweilous' only way of defending themselves was their tough hide. Cecilia tried to have them lure Drakloak into a trap by cornering it with two Dragon Pulses, but it was just too quick.

Time was running out.

How could she deal with this?

Drakloak spat out another Dragon Pulse, and this time, Sol countered it with a quick Dragon Breath instead. Cecilia's eyes widened. That was right! Power was nice and all, but sometimes, reverting to older moves had its uses. Dragon Breath was weaker, but it was faster to use and would be perfect for intercepting Drakloak's attacks. The dragon always had to at least slow down to use Dragon Pulse, so the tactic was easily possible.

"From now on, Dragon Breath whenever you spot Drakloak," Cecilia explained. She clicked her tongue when another Dragon Pulse hit her Pokemon's back. "Get as close as you can to me, quick."

Zweilous turned and awkwardly trudged toward Cecilia before turning their back to Kadabra's barrier. Now that she was getting a better look, a lot of their scales had been peeled off, exposing their soft, pink flesh, and they were tiring quickly.

"Zerst, you take the left, Sol, the right. I'll keep my eyes right above you," Cecilia said.

Every single one of Drakloak's next Dragon Pulses were countered by Zweilous' Dragon Breaths, thank Arceus for their two heads. Now, Fantina needed to order it to get closer if she wanted to get any damage off.

But Cecilia wasn't getting any damage off either. Frustrating. This was far from the perfect battle she had wished for, but when push came to shove, she would employ tricks to win.

Fantina sighed and recalled her Drakloak, opting to keep it for the remainder of the fight. Zweilous celebrated with a roar, spitting all over the floor. It wasn't exactly a victory, but she would let them think they had won for now. The gym leader sent out her last Pokemon.

A huge anchor covered in seaweed crashed into the floor with a loud thud before activating its levitation. A single red eye flashed as it rotated its helm. Dhelmise was a lot bigger than Cecilia ever thought it to be, reaching at least twelve feet in height.

"Phantom Force. Be brutal," Fantina said.

The hulking piece of metal simple disappeared into thin air, and Cecilia braced herself for the worst. She considered switching here, but Fletchinder was too small to ever deal with a Pokemon this big, even with the type advantage. No. Zweilous would have to deal with it, come hell or high water.

"Get ready…" she whispered as a bead of sweat fell down her chin. Where would it appear next? Would there be a trick at play? Dhelmise was a true ghost, so illusions were on the table—

Wait. She had told it to be brutal—

Dhelmise crashed into Zweilous so hard that it sent the dragon flying into Kadabra's barrier. The steering wheel rotated, bringing its eye on top of the helm, and the seaweed on its anchor suddenly extended like it had a mind of its own, wrapping all around Zweilous and lifting them off the ground. The two heads snapped and roared as they squirmed to try to get out of the ghost's hold, but it was holding onto them too tightly.

"Don't panic! Dragon Pulse!" Cecilia screamed.

Still in the air, Zweilous' heads snapped, locking onto Dhelmise, and they screamed out a Dragon Pulse. The stream of draconic energy hit the grass type's steering wheel, causing it to spin out of control, but its hold on them didn't loosen.

"Throw it toward you, then Heavy Slam again," Fantina said.

Cecilia's eyes widened as Dhelmise's seaweed flexed, and it threw Zweilous like they were as light as a feather. The anchor spun around, and with a loud crack, it smashed into Zweilous' back, sending him crashing into the floor.

The dragon did not get up.

"Zweilous is unable to battle. Challenger, send out your third Pokemon."

Cecilia took a deep breath to stop herself from panicking.

And sent out her Slowking, which could have been considered a foolish choice, but there was no other option. She needed to weaken Dhelmise until Fletchinder was capable of taking it down, and since it could apparently control its seaweed like Tangrowth could control his vines, her speed wouldn't have protected her.

But at least, Slowking could protect himself from the weeds with Psychic.

"Seize him," Fantina said.

Case in point. Slowking's eyes shone as he easily deflected five pieces of seaweed that tried to grab him by the arms. Dhelmise's wheel rotated as it fumed in anger, and the grass type rushed toward Slowking.

It was too big and heavy for him to ever hope to stop him with Psychic, but it was still possible to hamper the coming damage.

"Heavy Slam," Fantina said.

"Psychic, give it your all!" Cecilia countered.

The anchor-like Pokemon creaked as it pushed through Slowking's powerful Psychic and slammed him toward the left side of the arena.

"Get up and Water Pulse. Speed it up."

Chip damage was damage nonetheless. Slowking hurriedly dusted his collar and spat out a series of Water Pulses that were quickened by Psychic. The advantage to Dhelmise being so large was that it was easy to hit.

"Phantom Force," Fantina said.

Cecilia frowned when a Water Pulse apparently hit the invisible Dhelmise. She had thought that maybe ghosts were invincible if they became invisible before getting hit, but that was apparently not the case. Still, she knew the move had been coming, and since Dhelmise was not a living being, Slowking was unable to sense it, so she only had one counter.

"Disable!"

Slowking's eyes gleamed with a pale blue as the ghost type slammed across his chest, sending him flying further.

"Slack Off immediately!" Cecilia continued. "Then keep using Water Pulse!"

The water type shook his head to regain his senses, then plopped himself on the floor on close his eyes, healing some of his injuries. The Phantom Force had almost knocked him out, but he was a lot bulkier than he used to be now that he had evolved. Several Water Pulses flew out of his mouth, all hitting Dhelmise for minimal amounts of damage.

"Disappear."

Damn it, Cecilia thought. Even without Phantom Force, it could just disappear at will! Slowking slowly got back on his feet and brought his arms forward, readying himself to slow down the coming attack with Psychic.

But then she recalled him, using her only switch in of the battle. Dhelmise crashed into the floor with another Heavy Slam where Slowking had just stood. Now that Phantom Force was disabled, Fletchinder would never get a better opportunity than this. The flying type screeched and took to the air.

"Fire Spin, keep your distance," Cecilia ordered.

There was no time for her to set up. Fletchinder squawked, hovering as she repeatedly beat her wings, surrounding Dhelmise with air so hot that it caught on fire. The ghost type creaked as it disappeared, leaving only the flames on its body as it rushed toward Fletchinder.

One thing Cecilia had noticed was that without Phantom Force, Dhelmise was slow, even when disappearing, and the flames still burning on its body further proved her right. She ordered Fletchinder to fly away and pester the grass type with Ember, and it just couldn't get close enough to hit her.

One Heavy Slam would have been enough to take her down, and yet, the attack never connected. Fletchinder spun in the air, spitting out one more Ember, and Dhelmise fell to the floor with its eye still open and raging.

"Dhelmise is unable to battle. Leader Fantina, send out your last Pokemon."

Immediately, Fantina sent out her Drakloak.

"Phantom Force. Hit it a few times and knock it out."

"Tailwind, Agility," Cecilia hurriedly said.

The fire type flapped her wings, creating a permanent current in her direction, and then her body loosened as it narrowly avoided a Dragon Tail from Drakloak. Fantina hadn't expected Fletchinder to be even faster. Drakloak was probably always faster than their opponents.

Not this time.

"Quick Attack, Flame Charge!" Cecilia screamed. Quick Attack wouldn't deal any damage, but it would help her speed up.

"Hex when it gets close."

Like a meteorite, Fletchinder shone across the sky. In a second, she slammed into Drakloak's head. The dragon let out a juvenile roar as it Hexed her body. Fletchinder cried out and dove directly toward the ground as the pain proved to be too much, but she caught herself in the nick of time, extending her wings to stop herself from crashing into the floor.

"Ember and get back into the sky," Cecilia continued. If she could get one Acrobatics off…

The bird screeched as it spat out small flames toward Drakloak, who easily dodged and disappeared with Phantom Force thanks to Fantina's order.

"Fire Spin around you!" Cecilia said.

Flames spun around Fletchinder's body as Drakloak slammed her toward Kadabra's barrier. The flying type cried out as her wing bent the wrong way, and she fell to the ground. She struggled to her feet, but when she tried to get back in the sky, she realized that she couldn't fly any longer.

Her wing was broken.

"Finish it off with Dragon Pulse," Fantina said.

"Ember!"

Cecilia could only watch as the dragon type attack enveloped Fletchinder, overtaking her Ember and causing her to faint.

"Fletchinder is unable to battle. Challenger, send out your last Pokemon."

Cecilia released her Slowking with a smile. Nervousness made her legs and arms shake, but by the Legendaries, she was having fun, especially since the ghosts that Fantina was using didn't have awful effects on her psyche.

"Get one Phantom Force off," Fantina said.

"Disable when you see it again, then Psychic immediately afterward," Cecilia immediately ordered.

Drakloak phased out of existence, and after barely two seconds, it slammed into Slowking's back. The psychic type extended a hand backward, seizing the dragon with Psychic as his eyes shone, and then he metaphorically squeezed. Drakloak cried out in pain as the wispy parts of its body thrashed around erratically. Its head was locked in place, however.

"Hex."

Slowking shuddered as the ghost's Hex hit him, but he did not relent, opting to smash Drakloak against the floor to make it lose its focus and stop its attack.

"Psychic, Zen Headbutt."

The combination that had netted her a victory against Gardenia would do the same here. Slowking levitated Drakloak and threw him toward his head as psychic energy gathered right on his shell. He smashed his head against the dragon's own, and Drakloak finally fainted.

"Drakloak is unable to battle. Victory goes to the Challenger!"

—

"Hm… yeah, I think that'll work," I muttered as I held honey's Pokeball in my hand. I was currently already in the waiting room, having figured that Cece had won as soon as that Dhelmise had been taken care of. Fantina was surprisingly capable of just fighting power with power, and speed with speed too. She wasn't just about illusions.

I had gathered enough information to win, I reckoned. I was nervous, of course, but I felt like I was thinking a lot faster than I used to. A little bit of confidence went a long way, so long as I didn't get a big head, and for some reason, I felt a lot more confident than normal. Maybe it was like I'd never studied a gym leader so much. Even against Gardenia, I hadn't been as good at gathering information. This time, I felt like I knew the ins and outs of Fantina's gym.

I had figured that I was the worst kind of trainer Fantina could face, at least when compared to my friends. She liked to let her Pokemon fight independently, and normally, that would have been a problem for me, but I was pretty sure I had gotten a good idea of how each of the remaining Pokemon she might use against me fought, and I knew all of their moves. All I had to do now was keep the plan going for as long as possible until everything inevitably went off the rails, and I'd have to improvise.

"Grace," Cecilia called out, causing me to snap my head up.

"Good job out there," I said. "Did Fletchinder evolve?"

"Hm? No. Did you think she would?" She asked.

"Yeah, I kind of did, but I left after she took down Dhelmise so I could be alone with my thoughts, so I didn't finish the battle. I already knew you'd win, though. The audience was going kind of crazy, especially for that dragon versus dragon fight."

"Even though it wasn't as grand as I had wished, people don't see that every day," she nodded. "Are you disappointed?"

"In?"

"In my performance."

"Not at all. You won pretty handily, I mean, I don't exactly know how the battle finished, but I'll guess that Slowking managed to take down Drakloak," I said. "It's tough. That's one of Fantina's strongest at this level."

"There was something I was missing in that fight, but I can't put it into words," she pondered. "If I had that, then the battle would have been perfect."

I saw the gym trainer gesture me forward and stood up. "I'm beginning to learn to not let perfect be the enemy of good," I smiled before kissing her on the cheek. "Now go get your team to the nearest Center and come back to cheer for me."

"I'll take a taxi to get back as fast as I can," she nodded.

"Sounds good. Don't keep me waiting!" I teased. She nabbed a quick kiss before she ran to leave.

I took a deep breath and took comfort in how fast my heart was beating against my chest. The steady, fast rhythm kept me grounded and sharp. I felt my hand tingle as I clipped Electabuzz's Pokeball on my belt and walked up to the gym trainer, who placed the microphone on my collar. I twisted and cracked my neck, stretched, and I was ready.

"Okay! Let's do this."