CHAPTER 148

Louis had improved a whole lot since the last time I'd seen him. He had no secret evolutions, no extravagant tricks to win. He had just used pure unmitigated skill, and he kind of reminded me of a slower version of Denzel with a dash of Justin. Someone who was cautious and liked to be patient, but who was quick to shut someone down as soon as the opportunity arose. I might not have been a fan since the strategy required to react and take damage before finding an opening, but I couldn't deny that it had worked well despite a lot of mistakes that he had made during the battle. Sacrificing Vulpix was an odd choice, but he probably couldn't figure out a way to use her and decided to move on to a new tactic. Still, once his Pokemon evolved, he'd be a force to be reckoned with. Vulpix just needed a stone, but I had no idea when he'd buy her one. I didn't know enough about her to know if she was ready or not.

I was a lot more familiar with Justin's Growlithe, and I felt like he was close to ready, at least. Arcanine didn't share Ninetales' long lifespans or the potential danger with curses if you offended one, but they could be just as dangerous, especially with how quick they were. You could blink, and it would be gone, having run off without a trace. Needless to say, fighting one would be a puzzle in and of itself.

"Good job out there," Denzel grinned at Louis. He'd completely avoided any questions from the press.

"You kicked ass, my man!" Mira said.

"I wouldn't have done it without you," the blond man smiled. "You've been a good teacher to me and my team."

Cecilia smiled. "Louis, your Gible—"

"There is still a lot to work on, but Sylveon put the fear of Arceus into him. He realized that he isn't anywhere close to the strongest he could be, but with my help, he could get there."

"I'm happy you managed to get him to be reasonable, at least," I sighed. "And what was that reaction when Prinplup went down?"

"Let's just say he's been growing a bit attached," he said. "Not to Vulpix though. She dislikes his antics, and he doesn't exactly care about her. It's something I'm trying to fix."

"Well, at least you won," Maeve smiled. "Should we go see Justin? He should be fighting his battle, right?"

"We won't make it if we walk, we should just watch the livestream. They've got cameras set up twenty-four seven… hold on."

Denzel grabbed his phone and went on the tournament website. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Looks like Justin already won."

"Woah," I said.

"I thought he'd be slower. I wonder how he did it," he mused.

Denzel sent him a text message to see if we could all meet, but Pauline decided to go and train now that she'd seen her rival battle. His performance had apparently motivated the hell out of her. I wasn't sure how her battle this evening would go with that Vigoroth of hers, but I had no idea who her opponent was other that he had three badges, so it wasn't like I'd be able to figure it out unless I looked it up, and unless it was for my match or she asked me for advice, I didn't exactly see a reason. Plus, she'd probably go to Cecilia if she needed any help anyway.

"I'm off to train too," Maeve said before shuddering. "I've got to figure out how to battle on the Water Field."

"You got the water field? Damn," Denzel said.

"Unlucky, right? I'm gonna grab a bunch of comfort food and get my Starmie up to speed…"

We split up after that. Louis went to heal his team and decided to stay back to rest due to Combee keeping him awake all night. Apparently, the bug type hated to be kept in its Pokeball. There were a few Pokemon like that in the world, but its incessant buzzing had made it impossible for him to sleep, which made his victory a lot more impressive. Justin joined us after bringing his team back to the Center. Cecilia's battle was in an hour, but she didn't seem like she wanted to do some last-minute training. Apparently, Justin's opponent had completely floundered his start order, and Audino and Lombre made quick work of the opposing Dolliv and Sealeo. The poor trainer had probably expected Justin to start with his Krokorok and Growlithe, but he'd gotten it completely wrong.

One mistake led to another, and he unraveled quickly enough to give Justin his victory. He seemed a lot more confident than he'd been before now that he had gotten at least one win, and we were all proud of his progress. As we walked toward Cecilia's battle, which would take place on the Desert Field, I asked Justin the question.

"When are you evolving Growlithe?"

It was quick and straight to the point. So much so that he almost flinched.

"Grace, some tact please," Cece sighed.

"My bad, I'm just curious. Indulge me?"

"Very well," Justin exhaled. "I was thinking of doing so before my battle with Maylene. I want to wait for us to get to Veilstone to get the best Fire Stone possible so I don't stunt his growth."

"Wait, low-quality stones can stunt a Pokemon's growth?" I asked worryingly. "What about Maeve's Starmie? She bought a cheap Water Stone."

The others all looked on, waiting for him to answer the question. It looked like I wasn't the only clueless one for once, although Mira just looked uninterested. I was suspecting that she was a lot smarter than she acted, Kadabra or not.

"In a manner of speaking," he nodded. "A Pokemon that evolves with a low-quality stone will reach its full potential a lot slower than one that does so with a high-quality stone. With the money I have, I could have Growlithe at his top form just a few days after evolving instead of months."

"Okay, so it was what I thought," Denzel said. "Fire Stones are a bitch to get here too. I originally told you I looked at Vulpix for my team, right?"

"Yeah, a while ago," I nodded. "You also said you stopped when you saw how dangerous they could be."

"That was part of it. High-quality Fire Stones are almost as expensive as Shiny Stones in Sinnoh because they're all imported from Hoenn, straight from Mount Chimney."

"Hoenn's far away, so that makes sense," I shrugged. Sinnoh was far up north, and Hoenn was down at the equator. Kanto and Johto were in between us, and we shared a single island. Galar, Unova, Kalos, Paldea and Orre were all overseas— although Unova and Orre were neighbors, and so were Kalos and Paldea.

There was also Fione, Almia and Oblivia, but I didn't know much about those. They were all hermit countries that never opened their borders to the outside or even sent a diplomatic delegation. There were no embassies, no contact, just radio silence. Ransei, meanwhile, was a hellish place where the Great War had never stopped, and it had devolved into permanent civil wars instead. I vaguely remembered learning that different regions backed different factions there in proxy wars, and with the geopolitical context I had gotten from Josephine, I knew now that it was just a way for them to fight without starting a real war.

"Good luck Cece," Denzel said. Her battle was about to start.

"Thank you."

We sat in the bleachers, and I observed the Desert Field in all of its glory. It had been artificially created by multiple Hippowdon owned by the Hunters, and it showed. It was indistinguishable from a real desert. There were tall dunes that obscured the view somewhat, along with two oases on each side of the field for any water types that couldn't battle on land. I knew next to nothing about the girl that Cecilia was battling, but Denzel filled me in. Valery Graham owned four badges and was a rock-ground type specialist, which meant that she was at home in this terrain. She sort of sported this goth, punk look and had piercings all over her ears, along with one on her nose and eyebrow.

"This is a battle between Cecilia Obel and Valery Graham. Trainers, send out your Pokemon."

I was surprised to see that Cece sent out both her Fletchinder and her Golett. I had expected her to use the latter, but in combination with Slowking or Zweilous to support her weaker teammates. The golem slowly hummed as its rune and eyes lit up, while Fletchinder immediately took flight with a squawk. For her part, Valery sent out a Hippowdon and a huge Onix that was only slightly smaller than Roark's. Cecilia certainly was going to have a tough time here, but I was also silently thanking the legendaries. Seeing a Hippowdon in action before my own battle was going to be a huge advantage. Sand constantly leaked from the holes on its body, which explained how it could survive in Sinnoh's terrain and how it had built this arena in the first place.

Now, how would Cecilia counter this? She didn't seem that alarmed, more like annoyed at that Onix. Hippowdon sank slightly into the sandy dunes and whipped up a thin Sandstorm, allowing us to see what was going on still.

"Fletchinder, Agility and Tailwind. Golett, Iron Defense."

"Don't let them set up!" Valery said. "Hippowdon, Dig and get that Golett! Onix, Rock Polish and Iron Head it!"

Right as Fletchinder beat her wings, creating a permanent, strong gust toward the enemy, Onix shimmered and rushed toward Golett, its huge body displacing massive amounts of sand. Hippowdon lazily sank into the desert and disappeared from view. There was no way Fletchinder was powerful enough to stand up to Onix, but I had no idea what Golett was capable of.

"Stomping Tantrum! Force it back up. Fletchinder, Heat Wave!"

The ghost type mechanically lifted a foot and stomped down into the soft sands. The ground split apart, revealing Hippowdon, who floundered and stared up in complete surprise. Onix wasn't so shaken by the attack and ignored the superheated winds created by Fletchinder. It rammed directly into Golett, but the ground type wasn't even sent away. The Onix's eyes narrowed, and Cecilia grinned.

"Hammer Arm."

"Get out of there!"

Golett slowly lifted an arm. Onix was quick thanks to Rock Polish, but he was also big. The hulking Pokemon clumsily turned around, but Golett smashed its fist onto one of its segments, and Onix let out a booming scream as it writhed against the floor, accidentally hitting Hippowdon in the process with its tail. I found myself surprised at how powerful Golett was, but I must have forgotten how old it was. Who knew what it had had to defend the Lost Tower from during its lifetime?

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"Calm down! Hippowdon, just get in there and Crunch that Golett at all costs!"

The ground type shook itself out of its staggered state and kept swimming upward into the parted sand, but the closer it got, the hotter the air was. Fletchinder was still using Heat Wave and whittling it down, and the attack was being powered by Tailwind. The superheated air was so hot that it was constantly warped and distorted. The water in the oases began to evaporate, creating thick clouds that rose high up in the arena. Flames spun and landed onto the sand, where they turned bright white. It was like a scene out of hell.

Cecilia giggled at her work. Arceus, I loved her.

"Onix, Slam that fucking bird!" Valery yelled.

"Stomping Tantrum once more."

Again, Golett slammed his feet against the floor, and again, he disrupted both of his opponents. Hippowdon had almost made it now, but the sand had somehow turned to molten glass— including the sand permanently leaking out of its body— and its skin was being seared. The hippo cried out in pain as its skin swelled and melted off. It was quite literally being cooked alive. How was that even possible? Sand was supposed to be a lot hotter before it actually changed to glass… or maybe it was just that hot already? Hippowdon struggled to get to Golett and burns coalesced onto its thick skin, but Onix finally managed to use its humongous size to hit Fletchinder. The bird crashed into Kadabra's barrier, and the air finally began to cool. With renewed vigor, Hippowdon finally opened its mouth, revealing flattened teeth, and bit down on Golett with a vicious Crunch. The robot-like Pokemon didn't seem like he could feel pain, but the light in its eyes flickered.

"Shadow Ball," Cecilia said.

A half-birthed Shadow Ball exploded inside of Hippowdon's mouth, and the ground type furiously slammed its head against Golett with a move that could only be Iron Head. Golett didn't even move. With Iron Defense, his body was too tough and heavy to be hit away.

"Hippowdon, stand back. You can't deal with the Golett alone. Finish the Fletchinder off, Onix," Valery grinned. The rock type grunted and got ready to slam its full weight onto the fire type.

Right then and there, Cecilia tensed. Not in fear, but anticipation.

And then, a blinding light overtook Fletchinder. Onix flinched, stopping his attack and watched with a curious eye as his opponent evolved. Fletchinder's talons grew to a terrifying scope, and she at least tripled in size—

"Slam into it, Onix! Your damn pride can wait!"

The rock type irritatingly grunted but dropped onto the still-evolving Fletchinder. What was left was a fainted Talonflame with a body that had seen better days. Cecilia fumed as she recalled her Pokemon. There was a bit of an honor system between trainers that dictated that a Pokemon evolution wouldn't be interrupted, but Valery seemingly didn't even care.

"Onix, keep Iron Heading that Golett. You're tough enough to take it down—"

Cecilia whispered something to her Talonflame's Pokeball and released her Slowking right away. The psychic type winced as he landed on the half-formed glass that clung to the scorching sands. The ground was still so hot that just standing was hurting him. The glass somewhat cooled by now, but it was still scorching hot, and nowhere as clear as normal glass was. It was this lumpy, dirty surface with a menacing red glow that cut the psychic type's feet.

"Fuck! This is the one we prepared for! Onix, Payback! Hippowdon, rush it and Crunch!"

"Golett, Hammer Arm the Onix. Slowking, Surf."

Surf? When did she even have the time to learn that? Golett slowly trudged toward Onix and cracked its tough armor with another Hammer Arm. The rock type bellowed out in pain and crashed against Kadabra's barrier, raking against the psychic wall. Just as Hippowdon was about to bite into Slowking with Crunch, the remaining water from both oases crashed into him and sent him away. A psychic bubble around Golett and Slowking protected them from any harm, and the water kept building and building until the entire battlefield was submerged. Dirty water reached up to Slowking's neck and Golett's entire body was underwater. The psychic barriers bulged under the pressure of the massive waves, and the water proved too much for the two ground types.

Both Onix and Hippowdon went down.

With a frustrated groan, Valery recalled them and sent out a Sudowoodo and Carkol instead, but both rock types were immediately washed away by the waves. Steam rose from Carkol's heated coal, and Sudowoodo cried out for help.

"Sudowoodo, Endure! Carkol, create a platform with Ancient Power!"

With surprising control, two circular pillars rose from the earth. Compacted sand solidified into a solid surface. They were both hanging by a thread, but they were still standing. To have resisted such a powerful Surf and used a move that required such focus under the water's strain?

I could commend Valery for her skills as a trainer. Carkol's control was excellent.

"Carkol, Ancient Power at Slowking! Sudowoodo, Rock Tomb!"

"Water Pulse. Finish them off."

Masses of rocks, sand and molten glass flew toward Slowking, who simply waved the projectiles away with Psychic. Two Water Pulses sped up by the same move made quick work of the two rock types, who fell into the water and fainted. When Surf receded, the waters revealed Golett, who had actually fainted. The light in his eyes and rune was gone. It looked like Slowking had improved leaps and bounds, but he still wasn't good enough to retain a barrier on two Pokemon while using a move as demanding as Surf.

"Victory to Cecilia Obel. Trainers, please step off the platform."

Well, that certainly had been eye-opening. I now knew a lot more about Cecilia's new capabilities, and I would have to watch out for her Talonflame, who would no doubt be a huge threat now that she had evolved. Not only that, but I had learned a decent bit about Hippowdon, even though I wished it had done more. For Heatwave, I had noticed that Talonflame needed to be stationary to use it to any effect that powerful, otherwise she would have easily dodged Onix's attack. A few drills from Princess ought to be enough to stop her. Golett was nothing to scoff at either, but so long as I kept my distance and attacked it from afar with special attacks, I didn't think it was much of a problem. Its physical defense was incredible, but it was too slow and nonresponsive to actually dodge any attacks. Of course, I had to account for Slowking's barriers, but if I kept him busy like I'd done with Tangrowth during our battle…

Those were thoughts for another time. Cecilia was already here.

"Well done, Cece," Justin said.

"That was awesome," I told her. "Golett's a lot stronger than I thought."

"Seriously, I thought he'd be your weakest member for a bit, but he packs a punch," Denzel said. "I kind of feel bad for Talonflame, though."

"Kids these days have no honor," Mira said in an exaggerated coarse voice, clearly mocking us. "I personally don't see what the fuss is. She tried her best to win."

"It's just wrong," Cecilia said. "Either way, Slowking's Surf was enough to take my revenge."

"By the way, what was with that glass trick?" I asked. "There's no way that Fletchinder's strong enough to turn sand into glass, right? That's like… a bajillion degrees."

"1,700 degrees," Mira specified.

"That," I said.

"Well, if I must," Cecilia said. "Talonflame's Heat Wave was powered up by Tailwind, but also by Fire Spin."

"Oh, is that why there were flames?" I asked. "I thought that it was one of Heat Wave's side effects."

Cecilia nodded. "See, when I saw that I was going to battle on the Desert Field, I came up with this plan. Fletchin— Talonflames' flames don't usually reach the temperature to make sand melt, but combined with those three attacks? I figured we'd at least get close with enough buildup. It's not a technique I would use against weaker opponents, and I trusted that rock types would be good enough to resist the attack and that Hippowdon's thick layers of fat would shield it enough."

"It's not like the entire place was burning that hot either," Mira shrugged. "If I had the guess, the temperature of the air was a few hundred degrees. The ground, though? Sheesh."

"Yeah… that could probably kill something," Denzel sighed.

"Which is why I won't use it against any opponents. I did mess up somewhat, though. Sand is usually terrible at retaining heat, so I expected Slowking to be able to stand without any pain. His feet are completely burned off."

"You guys are way too brutal with these battles… this is supposed to be for fun. I know we have a skewed perception of what's normal, but I'd relax if I were you. Anyway, where'd you learn so much about sand?" Denzel asked.

"From yours truly!" Mira said, pointing at herself with a thumb. "She asked nicely, so I figured I'd help her out."

"How nice," I said. "I thought you'd be more of the competitive type."

"Meh, I don't exactly care that much about winning the tournament. I just want to have some fun," Mira shrugged.

My eyes narrowed at that statement. I was beginning to wonder why Mira had become a trainer in the first place. We all had different reasons for wanting to make it to the Conference. What was hers? I tried racking my brain for the answer as we started to walk off toward the Center, but I couldn't find any clues from our previous interactions aside from a hidden side of her that she never showed.

Maybe I'd just ask her.

Cecilia had proved once again that she dealt in power. Surf and Heatwave alone were enough to overwhelm most opponents. I was actually starting to wonder if Talonflame wasn't going to be more useful than Zweilous for the tournament. In a singles format, the dragon would probably still be king, but in doubles? Wide-ranging attacks like Heat Wave and Surf ruled. I'd have to start creating a counter now. Princess wasn't powerful enough to shield two moving Pokemon at once. Despite her incredible skill with Psychic and Extrasensory, she was no psychic type. Talonflame had also shown that she was capable of using the attack for an extremely long time, so if Princess was ever too distracted to send some drills at her and we let the heat build up for too long, we would be in big trouble.

Buddy would be the key. He'd be able to resist the Heat Wave while Princess focused on shielding herself. After a twenty-minute walk, we stepped into the Center and Cecilia gave her Slowking, Talonflame, and Golett to Nurse Joy.

"It's a bummer that everyone's training," Mira said. "I want us all to hang out again. I wish the day of our battles all lined up."

"You trained too," I laughed. "Anyway, most of their battles are this evening… what do you say we go watch Lauren fight?"

"I thought that was a given," Cecilia said. "We can go after a short break? I need to get my team healed and eat something."

"I'll come with!" I said.

"I wish I could, but I've got to train with Milotic," Denzel shrugged. "I'll join you guys to watch Lauren though."

"Pauline wanted me to find her when I was free, so I'm out too," Justin said.

"You guys are all flaking. Mira, you should come," I smiled.

"What?! I don't want to be a third wheel," Mira groaned.

"Come on, it won't be that bad," I said.

"And see you flirt and be all over each other the entire time? No thanks. I don't want to be reminded of how single I am."

"There's more to life than relationships," Denzel said. "You could just hang out with them as friends. They cling to each other, but they won't let you feel lonely, I promise."

"Way to speak about us like we aren't there," Cecilia rolled her eyes.

"Hm… fine, I'll hang."

—

The three of us sat at a table in the same restaurant we went to before. I had to admit, eating out this much did make me feel guilty about how much I was spending, but damn their food was good. Mira constantly swung her legs around in her seat like a kid, and we all watched the tournament on a silent TV. Right now, the two trainers were down to their last two Pokemon. On one side, a Sneasel and a Makuhita were bruised, but not finished. On the other, a Scyther and a Simisear were sneering mockingly at their opponents. Sneasel got on all fours, and an arc of ice hit Scyther in the leg.

"Ouch, that's a nasty Ice Beam," Mira said. "Gotta hand it to that Sneasel, it's pretty vicious."

"But its trainer will lose the battle anyway," I sighed. "Her Pokemon are a lot more wounded than the others, and Makuhita's too slow to dodge most attacks. When it falls, they'll gang up on Sneasel and finish it off."

"Cold, but true," Mira nodded. "Man, I really want to fight on this Desert Field. It seems like a lot of fun."

"Say, Mira…" I said. "If you don't mind me asking, where do you come from?"

Maybe I'd be able to lead with this question first and segway into her reasons for joining the Circuit. I refused to believe that it was simply to get stronger.

"Jubilife!" She excitedly answered. "Born and raised. It's the best city in Sinnoh."

"Well, I'd say that's Sunyshore—"

"Excuse me?" I said, looking at Cece with an amused smile. "You're going up against two Jubilifers here."

"No way, you're from Jubilife too?!" Mira exclaimed. "I knew we were meant to be friends."

"I wanted to learn more about you," I explained. "I know a lot about everyone else… even Maeve. Why'd you join the Circuit?"

To be honest, that had been a pretty bad pivot, but I figured it was better to just be honest instead of dancing around the topic. I noticed that her eyes had narrowed at my first question anyway, so she probably knew something was up.

"Cause I want to be the very best! Isn't that what it's all about?" Mira exclaimed.

I restrained a frown. Another lie.

But I wouldn't push it. If she didn't want to tell me, well, who was I to know? Maybe she would once we grew closer.

"Fair enough," I said. "Mine is similar anyway."

"Any goal is valid, so long as it helps to motivate you," Cecilia nodded.

"You girls are cool," Mira said. "Sorry for being reluctant to come. I'm not used to people wanting to hang out with me. Until I started traveling with Louis and Maeve, I usually had to beg for people to talk to me, so… yeah. I got a little suspicious and started throwing any excuse I thought would stick. I didn't really care about being a third wheel."

"I think you're a good person," Cece said. "Ignorant people will judge you for past events, but they don't know the real you."

"Thanks," she exhaled. Like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders. "Wait, are we like best friends now?"

"Sure?" Cecilia said. "You can call me Cece if you want."

"That wasn't that convincing, but I'll let it go, Cece," Mira giggled. "Oh man, this is great."

"I thought Maeve was your best friend," I raised an eyebrow.

"She is, and so are you guys. I can have multiple best friends, can't I? Oh, and by the way Cece, now that I have you here, can you help me? I need you to set me up with Chase— don't look at me like that, your girlfriend's already agreed! And so did Denzel!"

"Oh, legendaries."

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A/N: Thank you Zhijia#9897 for the team!