CHAPTER 146

"I welcome thee, challenger!" The trainer with the facepaint said. "Prepare to lose to the Heroes of Justice! Together, there's nothing we cannot do, and thou shalt cower before our might…"

He had a haughty, obnoxious voice that reminded me of Louis when I first met him, but a lot worse.

Pauline clicked her tongue annoyingly. "Does he have to talk like that?"

"I think it's just for the extra flair. I like it," Louis smiled.

"...I have vanquished many thieves and miscreants in my short tenure as a trainer, so some insignificant trainer like yourself will never stop me—"

"Are you done?" The supervisor yelled. "We're running an operation here, we can't afford to waste time."

The boy cleared his throat. "My apologies."

"This is a battle between Denzel Williams and Elliot Santiago. Trainers, send out your Pokemon."

Elliot sent out two of his Smeargles, but they each had different paintings on their bodies and faces. The first one was painted with bright splashes of red reminiscent of blood with no discernable pattern, and it sported a fierce look in its eyes. The second one was simply covered in white from head to toe, hiding its normally beige skin. The only part that wasn't covered was its tail.

Denzel sent out his Froslass, who giggled as she took flight, and the grass under her froze. Lopunny was next, and she stood steadfast in front of her teammate.

"Begin!"

"Watch for Bullet Punch. Stick to what we said," Denzel ordered. Lopunny's left fist lit ablaze while the other one was coated in electricity. One of her feet turned to ice, while the other simply shone. "Froslass, charge up Blizzard"

Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Ice… Kick, and Power-up Kick had all been combined in terrifying fashion. The amount of endurance needed to keep those up permanently was something. The rabbit brought both of her fists up, preparing to fight, while Froslass' eyes shone with a pale blue and a cold wind immediately picked up.

"Hah! So you know Fighter's techniques? That matters not! Break through them with Bullet Punch! White Mage, Helping Hand!"

The second Smeargle fiercely clapped its hands, and the other one's muscles bulged as it practically teleported next to Froslass, hoping to interrupt her Blizzard. Without even turning, Lopunny kicked backwards with her Power-Up Kick, hitting the normal type in the back before it could even use its attack like she had anticipated it.

"White Mage, get in there and heal him! Fight back, Fighter!"

I ignored how redundant that nickname was and observed as Smeargle narrowly dodged another kick before sweeping Lopunny with Low Kick. The rabbit fell to the ground, and Fighter jumped with its fist coated in flames, punching Froslass in the nose just in the nick of time. She'd been concentrating too much to dodge.

"Start over, go higher this time," Denzel said. "Don't do it right away."

Froslass shook the hit off and phased out of existence, quickly reappearing about twenty feet higher. There was nothing Elliot could do to stop her, so he moved on to the next best target. White Mage pointed its tail at Fighter like a staff, and a weak Heal Pulse flew off toward its teammate.

"Throw him away, Lopunny!"

With her fists still coated in fire and electricity, Lopunny grabbed Smeargle, spinning him around with Circle Throw toward the other end of the arena, meaning that Heal Pulse just missed. Not only that, but it had also taken damage from Fire and Thunder Punch.

"Quick Attack and do the same for the other one!"

I was seeing his strategy now. Denzel wanted to group the two Smeargles up so that Lopunny wouldn't have to be hit by Froslass' Blizzard. I almost scoffed at how fast the normal type had gotten, and she landed next to White Mage with a deafening crash. She kicked it in the head with Power-Up Kick and jabbed its nose with Fire Punch before throwing him at his fellow Smeargle, who fell over again.

"Get up, quickly!"

"Now, Froslass!"

The ice type laughed, and the right side of the battlefield was overtaken by a deafening Blizzard, and I could feel the cold from here through the psychic barriers. As soon as the Blizzard subsided, Denzel ordered Froslass to charge another one. Fighter and White Mage were still standing. Barely.

"Lopunny, keep them in their half."

The normal type had already been running before the words even left his mouth.

"Heal Pulse!" Elliot yelled. "Fighter, Bullet Punch! Buy some time!"

Faster than even Lopunny, Smeargle blurred in front of her as its fist were coated in silver and began punching her repeatedly. Denzel winced. Froslass could hold back her Blizzard, but that meant that White Mage would simply keep healing Fighter. He already managed to fire off three Heal Pulses before the ten seconds that the ice type needed to charge her attack, and despite being weak, they would stack up quickly.

As soon as the Bullet Punch ended, Denzel sprung to action.

"Circle Throw toward Froslass."

Without a moment's hesitation, Lopunny grabbed Smeargle before he could start another Bullet Punch and launched him toward the ghost.

"Use it in our half!"

Ah. It had just clicked. Blizzard ripped through Denzel's half of the battlefield, rendering Fighter useless for a few dozen seconds. Froslass would have to stay inside of it to keep it going, but she would take no damage from the snow.

Now it was just White Mage and Lopunny. Denzel screamed out a command that I didn't hear, but unlike us, I didn't think he could even see what was going on through the Blizzard. Lopunny's ears twitched, and she grinned before dashing toward White Mage, who could only stare in fear as the normal type relentlessly beat it up with every attack at its disposal. I had wondered about this throughout the fight, but it looked like that Smeargle had no attacking moves, so it couldn't even hope to defend itself.

White Mage went down just as the Blizzard started to slow. Fighter was down for the count too.

"Curses!" Elliot screamed, recalling both Pokemon. "Fine, if I must go all out just this once, I will! Don't say I didn't warn you! Tank, Hero, you're up!"

The boy sent out another set of Smeargle, and this time, the one called Tank was painted in dark tones with patterns reminiscent of what could be on a shield. Hero, meanwhile, was… blank. It just had a single golden line painted in between its eyes.

"Tank, Iron Defense!"

"Charge another one," Denzel told Froslass. "Lopunny, go in."

Once again, Lopunny blurred toward her opponents, opting to focus on Tank to stop him from setting up his defenses. Smeargle shimmered like steel just before Lopunny hit it with Fire Punch, and Tank didn't even flinch. The impact rang out like the clang of metal.

"Hero, Swords Dance!"

For the first time in the entire battle, Denzel looked surprised.

"Switch targets! Hit Hero!"

"Tank, Teleport and Barrier!"

Smeargle teleported in between the two, and Lopunny crashed into an invisible wall. It blocked the normal type's path long enough for Hero to finish setting up with Swords Dance. Denzel clicked his tongue.

"Time's up, get away! Froslass, Blizzard!"

"Light—"

The rest of Elliot's order was cut off by the Blizzard's howling winds. Froslass was seriously putting in work here, and she didn't even appear a bit tired. In fact, it was like her Blizzards were getting faster little by little. Lopunny barely escaped the attack, but she was starting to grow tired. No longer could she have four attacks ready at the same time. Instead, she opted for Power-Up Punch that she had relocated to her right fist, along with Fire Punch on her left, which were the attacks she was the most familiar with.

When the Blizzard receded, both Pokemon were battered, but fine. Tank had set up a Light Screen just in time, and the barrier had shielded them from the worse of the damage.

"Hero, Agility! Tank, keep him protected."

Holy fuck, he was setting up a whole lot. Denzel clenched a fist.

"Blizzard again. Lopunny, stand strong. Defend Froslass at all costs."

Was he abandoning his strategy? The only way this made sense was if he was willing for Lopunny to be caught in the crossfire. The normal type nodded tensely and kept her body completely still.

"At last! Don't say I didn't warn you, brigand! Hero, it's time to let loose! Flare Blitz that Froslass!"

I inhaled sharply as Hero's body spontaneously combusted. There were so many flames that I couldn't even see its body, and Tank teleported away to not get burned.

"Stand aside, Tank. Hero will deal with them. Go!"

The air around Smeargle warped as he jumped faster and higher than Lopunny could. Froslass was caught so off guard that she didn't even have time to disappear, and Smeargle rammed into her before falling down to the floor himself.

The ice type went down immediately, and Smeargle slowly stood up, its body burned and bruised.

"There's an opening! Hold him down!" Denzel yelled as he recalled his Froslass and sent out his Roselia. "Toxic!"

Lopunny dashed, grabbing Hero by the neck, and Roselia looked at the Smeargle in disgust as she sprayed it with poison, although some of it got onto Lopunny as well.

Hero was on a clock now. I looked at Tank, who was simply standing around. It looked like he too had no attacking moves.

"Flare Blitz and Last Resort!"

Smeargle burst into flames again. The fire was so hot that even Roselia caught on fire by just being near him. Lopunny cried out in pain, but her screams were drowned out by the flames that enveloped her. The fireball stood and hit the normal type away with a massive blow that I assumed was Last Resort. She was burned to a crisp.

Smeargle turned to Roselia, his body still consumed by the flames. Was Denzel going to lose?

He sighed and sent out his Milotic. The crowd gasped in surprise at the magnificent water type, who nervously stared around. This was his first battle, and it showed.

"Hit the Roselia!" Elliot yelled.

"Venoshock and Wrap!"

Smeargle was quick, but Roselia's aim was better. The normal type stumbled as the potent poison tore through his skin, although half of it was evaporated by the flames. Milotic seemingly ignored the heat, wrapping around the fireball and he squeezed.

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"Water Pulse."

It took four of them for Hero to go down, and Milotic was exhausted. The Swords Dance had been so powerful that the flames had even burned past his hardened scales.

It was just Tank left. He couldn't attack past some punches and kicks, but those weren't moves. They'd be useless.

"Take that Smeargle down," Denzel sighed. That had been a dangerously close call.

Elliot obnoxiously made his Smeargle Teleport all over the field and shield himself with Light Screens and Reflects to delay the inevitable, but after the supervisor chewed him out for wasting time, he forfeited the battle.

"Victory to Denzel Williams. Trainers, step off of your platforms."

Pauline squealed happily and danced on her seat, and we all breathed a sigh of relief. Elliot might have been a strange person, but he was definitely skilled. He had to be, to train his Pokemon enough to use Swords Dance and Flare Blitz. If he hadn't been forcing his team to conform to what looked to be classes in an RPG, then he'd be a force to be reckoned with. Hell, he might have even won.

"You win this time, but not the next, thief! You won the battle, but not the war! I'll have you in my sights now!" Elliot yelled. He then ran away dramatically with an obnoxious laugh.

At least it looked like he wasn't taking it hard at all. Denzel was busy talking to interviewers, so I opted to ask about Mira's opponent before he came back.

"Why are you so out of the loop?" Justin asked. "Even I know, and Mira and I don't talk much."

"I was busy."

"Some psychic type specialist that I don't remember the name of," he explained.

Psychic type specialist? That would probably be one hell of a battle, with how annoying a single psychic was to face.

"Don't get so excited," Pauline noticed. "Her name's Megan Barett. She's a first-year three badge holder, so Mira will probably wipe the floor with her."

"We're first-year three-badge holders," Maeve grumbled.

"We're different," Pauline shrugged.

"Type specialists are usually adept at bringing out the best of their Pokemon," I said. "She could have some tricks up her sleeves. I wouldn't underestimate her."

"Well, her battle's this evening anyway, so you'll have to wait to figure it out," the redhead smirked. "Oh, Denzel's done!"

We all walked down from the bleachers and congratulated our friend, who looked somewhat shaken. I didn't blame him. That Smeargle had almost managed to pull out an incredible comeback, and if he hadn't owned Milotic to resist the flames, then he probably would have lost. I doubted that Sylveon would have been able to do much. Fairies tended not to deal with fire very well.

"The information I managed to get was outdated," Denzel explained. "And he didn't train at all before the match, so Froslass didn't bring back anything of note when I sent her out to spy. Flare Blitz is an insane move to teach. How'd he even get that?! I thought Smeargle needed to see a move and study it for days before they could copy it."

"Well, he must have some connections," Louis said. "It's unlikely that he would have come across a trainer with the move during his travels."

"Whatever, at least we're done. I'd rather fight normal teams than gimmicks like that all days of the week," he said, looking around. "Mira isn't here?"

"She said she'd be training the entire day and not to disturb her," Maeve said.

"What should we do until her match, then? What terrain is it on, even?"

"Grass Field, just like you," she replied. "I wish I could check my field in advance… they only tell you the day of your fight. If I get the Water Field, I'll be the unluckiest girl on the planet."

"Your Starmie would do rather well, no?" Louis asked.

"Yes, but we've never fought in water before, so it'd be a first."

"First Louis' Prinplup and now you?" Pauline laughed.

"What is everyone doing now?" Denzel asked.

"Well, it depends when my next opponent is revealed," I said. "If it's today, then I'll need to go back to my room to figure out what pair to start with first."

"It depends on when the people next to you on the bracket fight, I haven't checked it out yet," he said.

"Oh, I forgot. Do they have a website for it or something?"

All of my friends groaned at me, and showed me the tournament website, which was under serious strain due to all the current traffic. The bracket was huge, but the coders had fortunately included a search function. We were all on the left side of the bracket with the exception of Louis and Justin, who were on the right.

"It feels lonely down there," Louis joked. A sign that he was getting better.

"You won't be lonely with Justin around," I smiled.

Still, knowing the bracket meant that I could just look at my potential two opponents… but I decided to wait. They were fighting today, so it wouldn't be long until I knew anyway. After Denzel brought his Pokemon to the Center, we decided to all go grab an early lunch. During the event, I pulled on Cece's sleeve, and we said that we were going to the bathroom. Pauline and Maeve offered to join, but after an awkward refusal, we were already gone. There were unfortunately people, so we entered a stall and locked the door.

"What's gotten into you?" Cecilia asked, staring to the side embarrassingly.

"I wanted to talk about Pauline," I whispered. "Her relationship issues, I mean."

She relaxed with a sigh.

"Did you think I was going to do something else?" I teased.

"Nothing of the sort!"

I laughed. "Anyway, Denzel helped us… figure it out, right? Doesn't it feel bad watching them flail around each other? Is this what we looked like?"

"Probably. But this is probably the last thing she should have on her mind with the tournament, no?"

"It's already on her mind, she can barely stop herself from looking at the guy," I rolled my eyes.

"Fine… but in this case, it's between three people. We don't want to be rash and do something we'd regret. I think it's best if we let it sort itself out."

"Hm…" I hummed.

I bit my lip softly and sighed. She was right.

"Yeah, it's not our place. This is delicate and we don't want to fuck anything up, especially when things already used to be tense."

She nodded. "You're a lot more reasonable than I thought you'd be."

"What? What'd I do to deserve that?"

"You can be very headstrong."

"Nuh-uh, I'm a very practical girl. I can do all kinds of stuff and be reasonable."

"All kinds of stuff… if we're talking about battling, then maybe."

"Ouch. I'm so hurt," I feigned. "Anyway, let's get out of here. I bet the others are going to be obnoxious about this 'cause they'll think we did something."

"Well to be honest, I thought it was either that or tampons. You always forget to carry some just in case."

"I don't always—"

"I have text messages for proof, Grace. So do Pauline and Emi."

—

I was back inside of my room, and my next opponent had finally been revealed for tomorrow's battle. I had… an hour left until Mira's battle, so I could at least check what his team was about. Yasim Benzema was a second-year with four badges, and I knew right away that he'd be a lot harder to beat than my previous opponent. He looked to be a trainer that specialized in fighting during a Sandstorm. First, there was a Magnezone, which I assumed was for variety or to cover the weakness against water. His other Pokemon was Lairon, but the two who really caught my eye were Vibrava and Hippowdon.

I didn't need to study his team to know that Hippowdon would create a sandstorm by just being out on the field. Vibrava, meanwhile, was a dragon type, although I knew I'd be able to handle it with enough care. There was no way it'd be as powerful as Zweilous, at the very least, but I would need to be careful. The fact that this team was full of ground types meant that Honey was out of the picture. Even if the Sandstorm would stop us from being able to trigger Chlorophyll, Angel was obviously going to fight again. But who could be his teammate? I feared that Sweetheart wouldn't be able to do much to our opponents, but maybe I could bring her in if one of the others fainted. That left me with Buddy or Princess.

Buddy would be good if we just wanted to rush down the opposition before they could hope to do anything. What I had learned from watching all of these double battles was that they tended to be fast-paced and over quickly, and I could lean into that if I wished, but that Magnezone was scaring me. I had no idea if it owned Lock-On like Mira's, or how powerful its electric type attacks even were. I clenched my hand around my Poketch.

"Come on, I can handle at least one more round of improv," I breathed. "One."

Togetic comforted me by nuzzling against my neck, and I gently caressed her head.

If Princess was to fight, she'd need to support Angel every step of the way. Already, I knew that Hippowdon would be the opponent's field controller, and they would compete for supremacy. Ancient Power would be a huge boon unless we were on the Water Field, but then Yasim would be a lot more screwed than I was.

"I think it's gotta be you," I told Togetic. She let out a firm cry, letting me know that she was ready. "Let's show off your new spears, shall we?"

A grin stretched across her face, and I mirrored her.

"I know, right?" I said. "But remember, only in moderation. Let's not wound more than necessary… I feel bad for what happened to Kyle. Sweetheart's going to be jealous that you're stealing her thunder."

"Prrrri…" she sighed.

"Yeah. With that team, it'll be tough to use them, but I think we can ground that Vibrava with just one spear through the abdomen— a small one, just to be safe. I don't think its scales look that tough. If the abdomen doesn't work, we can go for the wings. Lairon and Magnezone are another story though. Hippowdon… I'm not sure."

"Toge!"

"Looks like you'll fight a dragon after all, Princess. Just try to behave nicely okay? I know you'd do something like picture Sunshine and go completely wild on that poor Vibrava. Promise?"

The fairy type reluctantly nodded, and for some reason, I actually felt bad for her even though what I was asking for was completely reasonable.

I think she's rubbing off on me, I thought as I pet her.

—

"Grace, you were almost late!" Denzel complained. "What were you—"

"Working," I answered. "And I made it, didn't I?"

Mira and Megan Barett stood on opposite sides of the Grass Field, awaiting for the supervisor to let them start. The man made us wait for two minutes to finish some random phone call, and the battle could finally begin.

"This is a battle between Mira Compton and Megan Barett. Trainers, send out your Pokemon!"

"Gotcha!" Mira laughed, sending out her Haunter and her Magnezone.

Megan twitched nervously at the sight of the ghost, who taunted her with his permanent grin as poison oozed onto the floor, melting off the grass. Magnezone let out a series of static clicks and booms, clearly irritated at the ghost type.

"Let him have some fun, he's been good!" Mira snorted. "Anyway, send out your team, gal!"

With a trembling hand, the girl sent out a Metang and Galarian Ponyta. I was surprised to see a regional form from a trainer that new. Instead of flames, a fluffy purple and turquoise mane fluttered in the wind. Metang, meanwhile, clanged its two fists together angrily. This one had normal colors, unlike Emi's Beldum, but they were still ridiculously rare and expensive. Combined with the fact that she had a regional form, I guessed that Megan was probably the daughter of some rich family.

"Begin!"

"Be a nice boy, Haunter! Toxic!" Mira yelled. "Magnezone, Lock-On and Flash Cannon the Ponyta!"

With a taunting cackle, Haunter vanished, and his poison stopped dripping onto the ground. There was a shimmer across Magnezone's blank stare, and a blinding light appeared in front of the steel type. With a buzzing sound, he sent out the Flash Cannon toward Ponyta.

"Ally Switch!" Megan yelled, her voice trembling.

I blinked, and Metang and Ponyta swapped places without a sound. The Flash Cannon tried to curve to reach Ponyta, but it hit the steel type in the arm. Haunter reappeared right above the Ponyta and dove down toward the psychic type, coating its entire body in poison.

It just washed off of the horse.

"Psybeam, Psychic!"

Ponyta appeared to be immune to being poisoned, and a beam of multicolored energy appeared above her horn, dissolving Haunter into nothing. The bits that were left were seized by Metang's Psychic and relentlessly attacked.

"Man, this is no fun. Go save him," Mira waved at her Magnezone.

The electric type hummed as he flew toward his two enemies. Electricity crackled in between his magnets.

"Ponyta, Psybeam it! Buy us some time!"

Magnezone simply brushed of the beam of psychic energy and exploded in a burst of electricity. Discharge. He didn't even care if Haunter was caught in the crossfire, demonstrating the fundamental differences between her and Denzel. Haunter laughed and reappeared, harmed from the Psychic he had taken but nowhere near done yet.

"You can't poison them, it has Pastel Veil. Use Curse on Metang instead!"

The ghost's grin stretched impossibly widely as his eyes went red, and Metang's eyes flickered. The Curse was beginning to run its course. Haunter, for his part, winced. The first sign of pain that he had ever shown in the battle.

"Focus on Ponyta now. Hex and Flash Cannon."

"Stop them! Ally Switch!"

I winced when the two attacks landed on the poor Ponyta. Hex turned the psychic type into a smoking mess, and Flash Cannon completely enveloped her body. Ally Switch was a ridiculously difficult technique that required an even better control than Teleport, so doing so while under Curse's influence was nigh impossible for a Pokemon of our level. Ponyta quickly fainted, and Haunter licked its unconscious, limp body.

"Stop it, you creep!" Megan shrieked, recalling her Ponyta.

"Sorry, he's still working on that."

"Psychic that Haunter!"

The girl clicked her tongue when a Thunderbolt from Magnezone stopped her Metang from hurting Haunter, and she sent out a Kirlia.

"Wait, you have one too? That's so cool!"

"Shut it! Kirlia, Teleport and Thunder Punch the Haunter! Metang, get it together!"

The steel type let out a series of mechanical sounds and finally managed to restrain Haunter with Psychic again, and Kirlia teleported on top of his body to punch him with its fist coated in electricity while he was restrained. Unfortunately, Haunter wasn't solid, he was viscous at best, so despite the attack running its course, the psychic type just fell to the floor, and Magnezone hit it with another Flash Cannon.

Megan was unraveling before our very eyes. Kirlia wasn't done, but two more of those and she would be.

"Get on top of Magnezone instead and Fire Punch!" She yelled.

This time, Mira was caught by surprise. Kirlia teleported on Magnezone's head and firmly gripped his antenna in order not to fall. Meanwhile, Haunter gathered an enormous amount of ghostly energy in front of his mouth. The Shadow Ball hit Metang, and the steel type crashed to the floor. The abuse it had taken from Curse had proven too much. Kirlia repeatedly hit Magnezone with Fire Punch, and the electric type intentionally rammed against Kadabra's barrier to get it off.

Megan sent out a Farigiraf, her last Pokemon. The tall psychic type craned its neck and both of its pair of eyes eyed Haunter with disdain.

"Toxic and Venoshock, go!" Mira ordered.

"Stop him with Twin Beam!"

Two pink rays of energy appeared above Farigiraf's head and barreled toward Haunter. With all the damage he'd taken, he'd gotten slow. The two beams hit Haunter before he could disappear, and the poison type exploded. Kirlia had teleported back on Magnezone's back, but this time, Mira was ready.

"Just blow up with Discharge, no need to panic."

The steel type hummed, and once again, a blinding ball of electricity exploded outward, engulfing Kirlia. The psychic type fell off of his body and struggled to get up, but as a parting gift, Haunter reappeared around her, choking her from the inside out with toxic fumes. For a second, I was scared that he'd kill it, but he stopped once it fell unconscious.

Everyone around me breathed a sigh of relief, and Haunter was dealt with after another Twin Beam from Farigiraf, who was the only one left standing.

"Man, I wanted to try to win without losing anyone," Mira pouted. She sent out her Kadabra. "Charge Beam. Magnezone, Tri Attack."

"Calm Mind!"

Farigiraf closed all four of its eyes and focused, hoping to resist what was coming. Kadabra's spoon shook and rattled erratically until it bent, and electricity shot out of the tip. Beams of ice, fire and electricity fired out of Magnezone's body. All of the attacks hit the giraffe at once. Burns and ice coated its neck and flanks.

It was still standing.

"Now, Twin Beam the Magnezone!"

"Teleport and Dazzling Gleam."

In less than a second, Kadabra was right in front of his opponent, and a blinding light came out of his spoon, affecting Farigiraf's aim. The Twin Beams hit the psychic wall, and another Tri Attack from Magnezone was the end of the normal type. Its neck went limp, bending more than I thought was possible, and Megan recalled it before it even fell to the ground.

"Victory to Mira Compton!"