CHAPTER 158

In all of those revelations and excitement, I had completely forgotten to look up my new opponent. I didn't really care about winning or doing well in the tournament any longer except to fulfill my contract with the Poketch Company. It was a wonder that I hadn't been caught breaking into the tournament building, so I felt obligated to make them proud. I sighed as I sat up on my bed with my laptop on my lap. Cecilia leaned against me and watched me work. Slowking was standing guard, along with Buddy tonight.

"I'm glad you went with my call tonight," Cece said. "I was terrified that you'd go deeper into this."

"I'm sorry for worrying you. I know I've been difficult," I sighed. "I won't take any more risks."

"Are you telling the truth this time?" She asked with a serious tone. She got her head off of me and stared into my eyes. "Not another empty promise?"

"Yes," I exhaled. "I'm sure."

I couldn't tell her about what I told Sunshine. He expected something from me now, so at some point, I would have to plunge into danger once more. I couldn't break my deal with him. Best case scenario, I could maybe annul it if nothing ended up happening for the rest of our stay, but I doubted that would go over well. I would probably lose all of his respect I had carefully gained since I caught him.

That wasn't an option.

"Can you tell me about your thought process? What do you look for when you gather information on someone?" She asked.

"Well first, I look at the most recent battles," I explained. "Then I try to branch out and go to their gym battles to see how they fight under actual pressure. Then I gather a few battles I really liked that showcased their strategies and teams and I watch it again and again until I know everything by heart. Sometimes I'll try to browse the forums too to see if there's anything that would concern me."

"What about their posts? I feel like you'd be able to learn a lot about them depending on how they talk online. It'd do wonders with your emotional manipulation trick."

"That's… yeah, that's true. Thank you for that," I smiled. "I won't do it for her though."

"What's her name?"

"Sloane Holcomb. I've got to get a clean win."

"Your last three wins were clean," she chuckled. "Weren't they?"

"The first one was. The second and third were iffy," I said. "It might be doable against her thought."

"What's her team?"

"Swellow, Espeon, Krokorok, Clawitzer," I listed. "The main strategy here seems to be using Double Team over and over to confuse her enemies. Sort of like what Maeve did."

"Smart, but not against trainers like us."

I nodded. "I'll start off the battle with Sweetheart, but I'm still thinking about which second Pokemon to use. Honey wouldn't really be able to protect her that much, but Angel's already fought so much, I want to let the others have some action too."

"Well, who's Sloane starting off with?"

"Espeon for sure. It knows Wish, Protect, Yawn and Heal Bell, it's mostly her support Pokemon with tons of versatility. She's started every single battle with that Espeon."

"What if she changes her mind?"

"She won't. She'll start off with a Yawn and then Wish. I'll have to rush her down before my Pokemon fall asleep… I'm going with Buddy. Plus, I feel like the Double Teams would confuse Angel too much."

"I probably would have gone with Tangrowth and Jellicent, but I understand your decision."

"Come on, that's just because you want to make a bunch of stuff blow up," I joked.

"It's not!" She protested.

"I'm pulling your leg," I said. "Will you forgive me if I give you a kiss?"

I turned toward her and leaned in, but she placed a finger on my mouth.

"No. You're being punished. Until we get out of this town and you've proven that you're not taking unnecessary risks any longer, no more kissing."

"...Fine."

"Look, in the end, we got results, and Luca… didn't have to disappear. But that doesn't stop the fact that there's something dangerous about the way you think. It's like you don't even value your own life. You didn't even try to convince Pauline and Mira to change their minds, which just makes me think that you wanted to do this deep down anyway."

"I don't even know myself," I exhaled. "It did feel good to take the plunge. Like I was giving the Hunters what they deserved. But I also don't feel like I don't value myself. I mean even now, I'm scared of anything happening to me."

"Just… be safer. I wouldn't be able to keep going without you."

"I will— I'll try."

I went back to staring at my computer. Espeon would come first, that I was sure of, but who would be second? I doubted that it'd be Clawitzer. I had to keep in mind that Sloane was preparing for me as well. I had started with Angel three battles in a row, so I didn't think that she would lead with a water type. The same point applied to Krokorok, so if I had to guess, it would be Swellow— especially since it knew Heat Wave somehow. I would have Honey and Angel in the back, and Princess would be able to sit this one out.

Now all I had to do was figure out a way to rush that Espeon down. Rock Slide would be able to take care of its Double Teams, but not Swellow's.

To be honest, couldn't I just ignore Swellow? What did it even have to hurt Jellicent and Larvitar? Sure, it had Steel Wing, but that would make it get back up from the sky, which put it in prime Smack Down range. Rock Slide would be too slow to hit, but Smack Down was Sweetheart's quickest attack, and she had changed it by herself and turned it into something new. Along with the main rock, there was always debris that shot out of the ground, just like what had happened against Kyle Thornton's Watchog. It would cripple Swellow enough to stop it from flying, which meant it would be forced to Roost.

Which meant it would be buried under a Rock Slide.

What I thought it would do was that it would wait out Espeon's Yawn. Buddy would overwhelm it, but it was impossible for him to get there before it got the attack off. What Sloane didn't know was that Buddy was resistant to sleeping attacks.

After all, he'd told me about how he had resisted Palossand's Hypnosis when fighting against Fantina.

So long as I took down that Espeon, the rest would follow suit. Not my best work, but it'd would do for this. If I was fighting a five-badger instead of a four-badger, I would have gone a lot more in-depth.

"Finally done," I stretched. I turned off my computer and placed it on my bedside table.

Tomorrow would be interesting.

—

I was back on the Snow Field for the second time in a row, which was really a drag because it was the furthest away from everywhere else. Sloane had been two minutes late, and she arrived panting and tired. Had she been doing last minute preparations? Possibly. I stared at the referee and gulped. Could he have been in on the scheme?

"This is a battle between Grace Pastel and Sloane Holcomb. Trainers, send out your Pokemon."

I felt satisfaction swell when I saw Espeon and Swellow appear in a flash of red. The flying type was slightly bigger than the one Maeve had faced during her first battle, and it looked to be slightly faster too. Espeon stood completely still, not even moving a muscle. I sent out Jellicent and Larvitar. The rock type yelled loudly until Buddy scolded her, telling her to stay quiet.

"Begin!"

"Sandstorm," I started.

Larvitar shut her eyes and waved her arms wildly. Thin grains of sand appeared, mixing with the snow.

"Double Team, both of you! Espeon, Yawn!"

There it was. Clones of both Pokemon appeared on the ground and in the sky, giving the illusion of overwhelming numbers. Larvitar tensed and turned to me.

"Go in, Bud," I ordered. "Keep a Night Shade with you."

Ghostly energy split from Jellicent, lashing out and tying into knots to create a shadowy clone of himself. He propelled himself with Water Sport, and the shade simply followed by floating across the sky. I still hadn't figured out how to make Night Shades use moves. All of the Espeons opened their mouths to yawn, and I felt drowsy for a second before snapping back to reality.

"Now Wish!"

A dozen lights flew out of the gem on all of the Espeon's heads.

Now came Swellow's counter.

"Agility, Focus Energy and Aerial Ace!"

"Acid Armor," I said.

In truth, I was telling him to liquefy his body, but Acid Armor was a simpler way of saying it. Swellow proudly beat its wings, generating strong gusts of wind, and then rushed to Jellicent with one of the most powerful Aerial Aces I had ever seen, along with all of its clones. Dodging would be impossible, so I opted for the path of least resistance.

The real Swellow flew through Jellicent's body, disintegrating his head which regenerated in a few seconds.

"Turn back and do it again!"

"Did you see him, Sweetheart?" I asked.

She yelled out a 'yes'.

"Smack Down, then start going forward!"

Like a bullet, a rock shot out of the floor and barreled toward Swellow, who was shocked by how quick the attack was. The bird narrowly dodged and the attack hit a clone instead, but that left enough time for Jellicent to reach Espeon.

"Psychic!" Sloane yelled.

"Solidify," I said.

Buddy's red eyes flared up in anger as Espeon struggled to hold back his ever-increasing weight. He might not have looked like it, but Jellicent was heavy when he was completely solid. In fact, he could barely make himself float. His transparent body had been replaced with an opaque shade of sky blue.

"Watch out—"

Then, the Night Shade exploded on Espeon's body, freeing Jellicent from its hold.

"Hex, then Shadow Ball."

"Swellow, Air Slash! Interrupt him!"

I had lost the real one amidst its clones, but from the sea of Swellows, the air sharpened and formed into multiple arcs bigger than I was. They shot out toward Jellicent, who was currently placing Espeon under a Hex. The psychic type squirmed and struggled as smoke emanated off of its body. The Air Slash sliced across Jellicent's head, vertically splitting in into two halves due to his still-solid form. That meant he'd taken more damage, but the recovery period was shortened significantly. In a flash, strands linked the two halves and Buddy kept his Hex going until it finished.

As soon as it did, Sloane ordered her Espeon to run away with Dig. The Shadow Ball crashed into the floor, but it was already gone. She was no doubt buying time for Wish, but she didn't know what Buddy was capable of.

"Follow and finish it off," I said.

Jellicent ignored another Air Slash, liquefied his body and became squeezed into the hole Espeon had left.

Stolen story; please report.

"Espeon, get back up! Get back up now!"

Well, it wouldn't be getting back up. I could faintly hear its screams from here. Sweetheart was slow on her feet, but she was making good progress. I noticed that she was starting to tire out, however, so I probably only had a minute or so left until she fell asleep—

Wait, did I even care if she fell asleep? Not exactly. Steel Wing was an issue, but I personally believed that she was tough enough to brave them until she woke.

"Strengthen that Sandstorm before you go sleepy," I said. I restrained a smirk when I noticed that the baby talk pissed Sloane off.

The storm slowly picked up and grew thicker, forcing me to squint to see the battlefield properly.

"Perfect! Stop there!"

At least like this, I was forcing Swellow to take damage. Larvitar fell asleep immediately after her Sandstorm, so she'd been even faster than I thought. She crashed on the floor and snorted with a wide smile on her face. Knowing her, she was probably dreaming of destroying things.

"Steel Wing!" Sloane yelled.

Just as the Wish flew down toward Espeon, which was still struggling in its hole, a dozen of Swellow's clones flew down toward Larvitar. The real one struck right after the second, sending her rolling across the floor. At this point, the field was more desert than snowscape. Larvitar had reformed it to her image.

Jellicent squeezed back out of the hole with half of his face missing, as he usually did. Espeon had put up a good fight, but it wasn't going to win against a ghost type in such a cramped space.

"Steel Wing again before the Jellicent gets here!" Sloane said. She waited a few seconds to see if Espeon would climb back, and then recalled it. Thank Arceus for those homing beams.

She sent out her Clawitzer next. Its pincer was bigger than its entire body. Swellow once more hit Larvitar with Steel Wing, and it was dealing damage. But was it doing enough?

"Poison Sting and Hex that Clawitzer," I ordered.

"Protect and Dragon Pulse!"

My eyes widened at Dragon Pulse. That was new, but I couldn't afford to panic. I just had to take the move into account and counter it. First, I needed to see how powerful it was. A thin barrier shielded the water type from Buddy's poisoned darts, and then draconic energy began to build up in its pincers. After a few seconds, turquoise energy flew out, grazing Jellicent slightly.

It was slower to charge and weaker than Zweilous'. I could handle this.

"Poison Sting and Hex again!" I said. I was going to tire it out.

Larvitar finally woke up after the fourth Steel Wing, but unlike when she was sleeping, the rock type was clearly in pain. Her breaths were ragged, and her scales were cracked and bruised. I winced and bit my lip. This was probably the most physical pain she'd been in her entire life.

"Finish it off! Steel Wing!"

I had her.

I waited until the last possible second and gave out my command.

"Smack Down!"

Shards of rocks exploded, taking down clones and Swellow itself. The bird crashed into the sands and screeched in pain.

"Rock Slide! Bury it!"

Rocks of all sizes emerged around the flying type and covered it completely. There was no way it was strong enough to get out of there by itself.

"Clawitzer, Aqua Jet away and Water Pulse at the rocks!"

Or she could just do that. The tired Clawitzer darted forward in a burst of speed, but a few of the poisoned darts made it through and penetrated its shell. Water Pulse fired out extremely quickly. I blinked and it had already hit the rocks in an attempt to free Swellow. Unfortunately for Sloane, I just buried it in more rocks. If Swellow had had a move to fight from the inside, then it could have broken out, but right now? There was nothing Swellow could do.

"Focus on Larvitar, then! Take it down!"

"Rock Slide in front—"

The Water Pulse already hit Sweetheart before the words were out of my mouth. I clicked my tongue. That could easily have been anticipated, but I didn't. Larvitar fainted, and I recalled her, sending out Tangrowth instead. Her Sandstorm would last for a little longer since she had trained it extensively and it wasn't an ability, so Sunny Day was out of the picture.

"Finish off that Swellow. Buddy, Night Shade and get in there," I commanded.

"Clawizter, Ice Beam that Tangrowth—"

"Ancient Power in front!" I yelled.

This time, I was quick enough. Luckily for me, it seemed that only Water Pulse had been perfected that quickly in the gap between Sloane's last gym battle and now. It was the first time she'd used Clawitzer in the tournament, so I couldn't have anticipated it, but it still stung. The arcs of ice helplessly washed over Angel's boulder, freezing it in the process. One of his vines turned neon green and smashed through the rocks Swellow was buried under. He grabbed the flying type and hit it against the floor a few times until it fainted.

"Water Pulse into Ice Beam!" Sloane yelled.

In one breath, the shards of frozen rocks exploded, cutting up Angel's vines. Then, an Ice Beam hit the grass type, the bottom half of his body. He was stuck.

The Sandstorm finally ended.

"Krokorok, go!" She yelled. "Keep your distance! Rock Slide!"

The dark type ironically used Sweetheart's own rocks to hit Tangrowth over and over. I bit my lip.

"Send your Night Shade over to Clawitzer," I smoothly ordered.

"Aqua Jet—"

"Now Whirpool!"

All of his training had led to this. Jellicent spat out such a huge volume of water that I saw him shrink slightly. The water hovered in the air and began to spin faster and faster. With a booming yell, he sent the attack flying toward both Pokemon.

It was too big for them to dodge. The only hope they both had was to use Protect, although Krokork could burrow to escape. That would mean that he'd leave his Clawitzer alone up here. Even though it was a water type, the spin of the Whirpool was so powerful that I doubted it'd be able to simply ignore it and casually swim.

"Krokork, Dig! Clawitzer, Protect!"

She opted to leave Clawitzer alone then. Angel finally finished smashing the ice with Power Whips and was free to walk again.

"Scorching Sands!"

I raised an eyebrow. I knew of that move, but I hadn't known that she'd be capable of using it while Krokorok was underground like Justin's own could do with Sand Tomb. Once Clawitzer's Protect ended, it helplessly flailed around the Whirpool, shooting haphazard Dragon Pulses in hopes of hitting something. The floor under Tangrowth bubbled and turned to soot. His vines wriggled, and the attack washed against his entire body like a wave. The heat was working well against him.

"Get in the Whirpool and finish Clawitzer off! Buddy, use Night Shade and Shadow Ball!"

Finally, Buddy's Night Shade which had been floating around doing nothing could do work. It positioned itself to hit Clawitzer and explode on contact, but the water type pushed himself out of the water with two quick Water Pulses.

Its good fortunes ended here. Tangrowth pushed himself through the Whirlpool with his vines. Thanks to his heavy weight, he spun around slower than Clawitzer, which meant that—

"Power Whip!" I yelled.

—Which meant that it was over for the water type. The Power Whip hit Clawitzer's huge pincer, cracking it in the process, and it fainted. Now that there was just Krokorok left, Buddy ended his Whirlpool.

"Scorching Sands!" She yelled. Even now, she hadn't given up. Other trainers might have complained about her still fighting when she had no chance, but I respected her so much for that.

Angel squirmed and tried to run away, pushing himself with his vines. It looked like she wasn't going to unburrow.

"Hey, Bud. Want to try something out?" I asked. "See if you can slip through the ground."

All this time, I had asked myself. Could he slip through any cracks on any surface? My mind flashed back to the hotel in Eterna where he had somehow gotten onto the balcony without opening the door. The cracks in the floor were tinier than that, but he was also stronger than he had been. Jellicent nodded and stared at the ground.

"See where it's attacking with the sand?" I said. "It's right under there."

"Damn it— Krokorok, stop!"

Jellicent propelled himself with Water Pulse and disappeared into the floor, using the ground loosened by Scorching Sands to slip in. After ten seconds, Krokorok emerged from the ground, his entire body wet and still smoking from what I assumed was Hex. Tangrowth wrapped a vine around his neck to restrain him and squeezed out its remaining energy.

Jellicent had been like a true ghost today.

"Victory to Grace Pastel!"

—

Questions from reporters were growing more and more vicious. At this point, very few people were taking the tournament seriously, and some of them were trying to get under my skin by claiming the tournament had been rigged for me too. I really had to bite down on my tongue not to explode for that one. I was pretty sure I forgot to smile too. Only one more match, and I would make it to the top thirty-two, which meant that I'd fulfill my contract with the Poketch Company. Of course, even if the League would take the Hunters down, I still wanted to win against Harry Rodriguez to punish him for going along with this scheme. Not only that, but he was associated with Team Galactic. He would need to pay the price. Unfortunately, he had disappeared. Vanished into thin air. It looked like I wasn't going to get my revenge.

Of course, the best-case scenario was always to have the League arrest him first. That'd be funny.

At this point though, I just hoped that they would swoop in and save the day. The quicker they were, the less likely the odds of Luca being dead were. I knew that kidnapping victims almost never survived after a certain number of hours— I didn't remember the exact amount. If only they had a way of contacting us to at least let us know how they were progressing. I had called Candice earlier today and after complaining about me not calling her since I had left, she said that it was confidential and she couldn't tell me anything except that my tip had been noticed and that they were looking into it.

With respect to my friends, most of them were holed up in the Center outside of their battles these days. Louis, Justin and Maeve had all lost yesterday, so they didn't exactly have anything better to do. Mira was still brooding in her room. She hadn't been the same since learning about Team Galactic's links with the Hunters, and I suspected that she had a vendetta against them. That would at least explain why she wanted to take this entire matter into her own hands with the Lisa plan. I wanted to speak to her, but she wouldn't open her room for anyone. Not even Maeve. Cecilia and Denzel had been spectating my battle. They weren't going to leave me alone here.

"Another dominant win," Denzel said. He'd lost a lot of his usual cheerful demeanor since yesterday, and I couldn't blame him. "You look pissed by the way."

"Stupid reporters," I groaned. "Speaking of, any progress on the thing with Emi?"

"She's keeping me updated live. Vincent's been helping her out, so she should be done in a few hours."

We were taking every precaution not to get caught before the hammer struck. We weren't about to get busted by some spy that had been listening in.

"Let's head back then," Cecilia said. "We can go back to see Denzel's battle afterward."

"I'm going to start letting loose. My opponent's pretty tough," he said. "Another stall user. I already told Justin that he should watch on TV."

"So we can finally see what you've been hiding?"

"You might be a bit disappointed, but it's pretty cool," he finally grinned.

"You smiled!"

"Yeah… I guess I did," he said.

—

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

Charlie blue sent out a Toxapex and a Forretress. The two Pokemon were covered in shallow scars, a testament to how many hits they had taken in their lives. Forretress was capable of levitation by using magnetic forces that I was nowhere smart enough to understand, but even then, it would still be slow as hell. Toxapex, meanwhile, could only force itself forward by using its twelve legs, but it was even slower than Forretress. Denzel would always have the initiative in this fight.

Wind blew across the grass as he sent out his Lopunny and Sylveon. There was so much sass in the normal type's pose that she almost appeared human— even going as far as flicking her ear back like Pauline did with her hair. I noticed that she'd incorporated a lot human gestures, which was probably due to her similar body type. Honey had done the same with me, with his thumbs up, head scratches and awkward smiles. Sylveon's fur blurred, and his eyes settled upon his enemies, always unblinking. With the craziness of the last few days, it had been a while since Princess and he had hung out. She probably missed him.

It would all be over soon.

"Begin!"

"Toxic Spikes!"

Toxapex lifted its two front legs, sending out sharp star-shaped spikes hovering all over the battlefield a few inches from the ground. Aside from that, it seemed like Charlie was letting Denzel start up first.

"Power-Up Punch."

It was a simple order that could have meant many things, but Lopunny smirked. Both of her hands, feet and ears lit up, and she began punching Sylveon consecutively using all of her appendages. The fairy type just stood there, immobile as he stared at Forretress and Toxapex.

Denzel was—

Denzel was continuously building up Lopunny's strength by having her hit his own Pokemon. Without Sylveon's shield, it would have been a risky strategy, but it wasn't even like Charlie could fight back. His Pokemon were too slow to go and retaliate. He ordered his Toxapex to spit out a Sludge Bomb, but it didn't go the distance. It seemed that he was too scared to let his Forretress go alone.

I gasped when Sylveon's shield broke, fizzling into pink dust. Lopunny stopped punching and flexed one arm. She took one step forward and the ground under her foot cratered.

"There you go," Denzel said. "Now go and have some fun."

Lopunny grinned.

In one breath, she was halfway through the arena, leaving a trail of destruction behind her. Two breaths, and she was right next to Forretress—

"Iron De—"

Lopunny's fists burst into flames, and she punched the steel type as strongly as she could. Forretress flew backward into Kadabra's barrier. The entire right side of its armor was caved in, and it couldn't even float anymore. Toxapex screeched and another Sludge Bomb flew out of its mouth, but Lopunny was too quick.

"Counter!"

As if she knew the attack had been coming, Lopunny faked out Forretress and used his body to push herself back toward Toxapex. The poison type brought its twelve legs together, forming its Baneful Bunker. Poison dripped out of every inch of Toxapex's legs, but Lopunny skidded across the floor and jumped over its body, waiting for the defensive move to finish up. It took five seconds, and then electricity danced in both of her fists. She grabbed two of Toxapex's legs and pulled them apart until she could squeeze inside. I did not know what she did to its hidden head, but the screeches didn't paint a pretty picture. When the poison type collapsed, Lopunny emerged from under it. From the purple tint in her eyes, I could tell that she was poisoned, but she could still go on for a while longer.

Charlie recalled Toxapex with a look of disbelief and sent out a Wobbufett instead.

"That one has Counter too," Denzel warned. "Go for— ah, you've got it."

Lopunny was already rushing to finish off Forretress, who was barely conscious. One Fire Punch to its already caved-in armor did the trick. Lopunny was beginning to tire out. Toxapex's poison was a lot more potent than I would have thought, and it seemingly caught Denzel off-guard too. Charlie sent out a Clodsire—

Who immediately got beaten half to death with Ice Punches and Kicks.

"Watch out for Counter!"

The ground type was too slow to even hope to dodge and fight back. He was clearly caught off-guard by the beatdown right out of his Pokeball. From the way Denzel looked, I could tell that he was worried about Counter, but the poison type couldn't even comprehend what was happening. After a bit, it did manage to shake Lopunny off with a Bulldoze, but she gripped it by the tail and finished it off by slamming it against the floor with a Circle Throw.

There was only Wobbufett left.

"E—Encore!"

The psychic type… danced in a really weird, circling motion, and Lopunny was forced into using Circle Throw. The rabbit panted as poison pulsed through her veins. She stared back at Denzel, who nodded.

"Go for it."

In a flash, she was in front of Wobbuffett. She wrapped her arms around it and suplexed him, but the psychic type's body shimmered, and Lopunny was sent away by an immense force. Charlie had finally managed to get one of his Pokemon to use Counter, and with how much Lopunny was dishing out, she was out for the count. Denzel recalled her and sent out his Froslass, who curiously stared at the Grass Field which was now littered with holes.

"Sylvi, you recovered yet?" He asked.

The fairy type sighed, and the blur around his body appeared again. Twice in one battle? That was insane.

"Okay then. Froslass, that Wobbufett can't really do anything but counter our attacks with Mirror Coat or Counter, so it's going to be a little tricky. Walk up to it for now. I'm serious! Just walk up to it."

"Wobbufett, Taunt!"

An obnoxious laugh ran through the field, and I felt an incredible amount of anger toward Wobbufett surge inside of me. I assume Froslass and Sylveon to be the same, but they controlled themselves and walked together toward the psychic type. After twenty seconds, they were only a few steps away.

"Sylveon, you Play Rough. Froslass, you Shadow Ball."

I smiled. How evil.

Wobbufett could either choose to Mirror Coat or Counter, but it couldn't do both.

It opted for the former, but that only delayed the inevitable. They slowly picked the psychic type apart, attacking simultaneously each time. Wobbufett went down soon enough.

"Victory to Denzel Williams!"