CHAPTER 193

Supposedly, Lauren had accosted Cecilia after finding her at her Pokemon Center and demanded to battle. She was staying at another one, but she wanted to battle her so badly that she’d waited until she got back from Slowking’s mental shielding lessons. I loved to battle, but I knew I’d never be that obsessive about it. And she could also have just sent me a text! She’d probably wasted so much time waiting…

I sighed. I was running, of course. I wouldn’t miss this for anything in the world, and it’d help to see how the two had progressed in their absence. It would be presumptuous to think that only I had improved, and I’d gotten caught with my pants down too many times after not incorporating that knowledge into my battles.

There was also the matter of Justin. Louis was waiting at the arena too now that he’d given his Pokemon to a Nurse Joy— in fact, everyone was waiting, except for Mira and Emilia, and it seemed that I was the only one that was late. I hurriedly typed a message as I ran begging for them to wait for my arrival, and I exhaled in relief when Denzel answered with an ‘alright’.

I managed to catch a taxi, but it was only then that I realized I hadn’t even known where they were. I’d just been running toward the arena that Zachary and I had battled in. I profusely apologized to the driver and waited for Denzel to send me the address. Of course, he didn’t waste any time in calling me an airhead, but I reminded him that he hadn’t sent me the address in the first place.

I arrived in ten minutes and gave the driver an extra tip to pay for his time. Thankfully, there was no large crowd yet. It didn’t seem like people knew what was going on, and trainers were just battling as normal. Lauren was leaning far away against a wall and anxiously shifted in place. Denzel and Duosion were keeping her company, but it didn’t look like she cared one bit for the former. My friends’ heads turned toward me.

“Sorry I’m late,” I announced.

“Grace!” Louis yelled. I hadn’t seen him look so anguished since he’d separated from us before we left Eterna. “You have to speak to Justin. We need to— we need to stop him.”

“Calm down and breathe,” I said. “He must be staying at a Pokemon Center. We can possibly find him that way like Lauren did. It’s a bit stalker-ish, but it’s for his own good.”

“His Pokemon were so sad…” he sighed. “I couldn’t do anything. I was too weak.”

“You tried your best, Louis,” Maeve said.

“My best wasn’t enough,” he exclaimed. “What’s the point in trying my best if it doesn’t do anything? I have to do more. I have to go beyond. I have to stop him before he decides to leave Sunyshore.”

We all grimly nodded. Victory Road wasn’t that far off.

“I didn’t know him that well, but clearly he felt something, right? He said he was disappointed,” Maeve said, much to Louis’ dismay. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry. You haven’t done anything wrong, I’m just… it’s me. Pauline, he said he was coming for you next.”

The redhead’s tired eyes ignited with passion. “I’ll show him.”

Louis spoke of Justin’s new team. Apparently, he had an Arcanine and a Toxapex now. If he’d used a Fire Stone on Growlithe, odds were he’d used a Water Stone on Lombre too. That was a team to be reckoned with, even for me. If Pauline knew more, then maybe she’d be able to win. From his short interactions with Louis, it seemed that he knew himself that he was not ready for Victory Road, so at least I knew that he wouldn’t go inside as soon as he reached the city.

His Pokemon, though? They worried me as much as he did. Krokorok especially seemed to be carrying an incredible amount of guilt.

I needed to speak to them. They were having the wrong reaction. Instead of enabling Justin, they needed to hold him back. Toxapex and the final member of his team hadn’t known him before, so it wasn’t their fault, but the rest of Justin’s team were causing him to go further into the deep end. If they opposed him, he’d be forced to at least reconsider and talk to them.

“Now, Cece,” I said, turning toward my girlfriend. “Are you ready? Isn’t Slowking tired from his lessons?”

“They don’t tire him,” she shook her head. “We’re still in the… theoretical stage of things, so he’s ready to battle. This will be difficult, but I believe in myself.”

I smiled at her and nodded. “Good. I believe in you.”

I craned my neck toward Lauren and saw that she was getting closer with Denzel. She sported new headphones, which made me wonder if her old ones were broken.

“A—are you ready?” She stammered. “I’m sorry if I’m being pushy, I just really want to do this. I need to let loose, you know?”

She was still as quiet as always.

“Sorry for the wait,” Cecilia said. “I’m ready.”

“I can be the referee— just tell me what Pokemon you’re sending out first. It’s five-on-five and two switches, right? That’s the usual setup for these.”

Lauren waited for Duosion to say something and then meekly nodded. While they were both talking to Denzel I tried to sneak a few words to the psychic type.

“How’s Lauren when she’s alone with you?” I whispered.

Duosion squirmed.

Laulau’s the same as always. She only changes in battle, he answered. He spoke twice as fast as other psychics and it was hard to keep track of whatever he said. I must be on, now.

I nodded.

The battle was about to begin.

——

Cecilia calmly observed Lauren get in position as she wrapped her fingers around one of her Pokeballs. The girl twitched, and Duosion ran around in its goo, clearly speaking to her in some way. In just a few dozen seconds, her personality would change. Cecilia had only seen it a few times during the Solaceon tournament, but Lauren was a completely different beast in battle than out of it.

What else did she know? Both of them prioritized power above all else, but Cecilia’s was refined while Lauren's was wild. Untamed and out of control. Four of her Pokemon were stocky and incredibly difficult to take down, while Sceptile was as quick as Talonflame was in the air and Duosion’s psychic powers no doubt rivaled Slowking’s. Plus, there was that Expanding Force move to watch out for.

Cecilia sighed and relaxed slightly. There was no use getting lost in thought, and she hadn’t been one to get nervous before or during battles ever since she started to fight for herself. Yet she knew that this was going to be difficult— as difficult as the double battle in Hearthome, if she had to guess, but she had not been idle since then. Just like the rest of her friends, her Pokemon had improved by leaps and bounds. Denzel called out for them to send their first Pokemon and Cecilia sent out Slowking. He didn’t look back at her, but a small gesture of his hand behind his back let her know that he was ready. Lauren’s Duosion floated forward and trembled in his goo. A barrier around him shimmered briefly, then turned completely transparent.

It would begin with a battle of psychics, then. Cecilia could have used one of her switches right away, but she really wanted to see the destruction that could be wrought by two competent psychics. Lauren adjusted her glasses and her innocent face turned into a mad grin.

She was the same.

“Water Cutter,” Cecilia said.

Water flowed from Slowking’s opened mouth, but it did not immediately go for Duosion like Water Gun or Water Pulse would have. Instead, the psychic type’s eyes shone, the water narrowed until it was as thin as a sheet of paper, and it exploded forward through the power of Psychic. Duosion’s eyes lit up, and he reinforced his barrier, but the jet of water cut through it like butter and divided Duosion in half. The psychic whimpered for a few seconds and his body quickly reattached itself, but neither he nor Lauren had expected this.

“Good. Good,” Lauren smiled. “Get your head in the game, Sirris. Barriers aren’t enough! Psyshock on the ground!”

“Water Cutter again,” Cecilia said.

Small multicolored orbs appeared around Duosion and rammed against the floor. Debris flew everywhere, but it snapped in place with Duosion’s Psychic. It was a clumsy thing, somewhat similar to Tangrowth’s Ancient Power, if Cecilia had to guess. Slowking spat out another Water Cutter, but Duosion slammed the rocks against each other to block most of the attack. The pressurized water cut through, but was severely weakened when it reached the barrier.

Duosion was unscathed.

“Get closer and Shadow Ball!” Lauren yelled.

Sirris squirmed at the order, but executed it without hesitation. Purple lights gathered around his mouth, but then it split into ten smaller orbs and flew toward Slowking at high speeds. The water type tried to sidestep, but eight Shadow Balls hit across his body, from his gut to his shoulder.

“Again—”

“Disable!” Cecilia ordered.

Slowking’s eyes flashed with a dull grey, and the nascent Shadow Balls winked out of existence. He slowly gathered water from the pond next to him, spun it around, and began to flood the arena with Surf. Duosion reached the middle of the battlefield, and Lauren swept her arm.

“Expanding Force!”

Cecilia’s ears popped, and Duosion sucked in all of the air in the arena in an instant. Then, there was a blinding light and an explosion so loud that they began to ring. The light expanded, water evaporated and rocks were kicked up fifty feet into the sky. It ate away at everything in range until it fizzled out and died. A giant crater formed in the middle of the arena, dividing it in two and the remaining water slowly pooled inside of it.

Cecilia sighed. There went the plan to flood the arena.

“Confuse Ray, Sirris!” Lauren yelled with a childlike smile.

An ominous ray of light formed in front of Duosion and beelined toward Slowking. Cecilia didn’t know much about how the technique worked, but she knew it was incredibly hard to master. She couldn’t afford to falter. If Slowking was confused, the battle would be over and she’d be forced to switch.

“Blow it away,” she ordered.

Another jet of water, slower and thicker this time engulfed the Confuse Ray, but it had no effect. It was operating on entirely different rules. Slowking had no hope of outrunning it, so he quickly redirected Water Cutter to hit Duosion instead. The water cut through his barrier again, and the psychic type’s control faltered, but the Confuse Ray sank into Slowking’s chest. His eyes became blank— glazed over as if he had no idea what was going on, and she could hear faint whispers inside of her head. Pure madness, words without meaning and incoherent yelling relayed through her mind.

Slowking spat out a Water Pulse, aiming at nothing in particular. Sirris excitedly jumped and began assaulting his mind with Psychic now that he’d gotten close enough to do so.

There was no point in keeping this going. Cecilia recalled Slowking and sent out Scyther instead. Zweilous would have worked too, but she wanted to keep them for the heavyweight enemies that Scyther wouldn’t be able to cut through. The bug type gave Cecilia her usual glare but turned toward the battle. There was no time to waste.

“Agility, Focus Energy and Air Slash,” Cecilia said without a breath.

“Grab it with Psychic! Crumple it and grind it to dust!” Lauren grinned.

Sirris’ eyes shone, but Scyther was already gone. He blurred backward out of Duosion’s range, gradually speeding up as his body loosened with Agility. He cut across the arena and sent arcs of air flying, and the psychic type’s transparent barrier shimmered each time one of the Air Slashes hit. One hit alone wouldn’t have been enough, but he was stacking them up now. Soon, the barrier would fall.

“Psyshock! Pursue and trap him!”

Fifteen orbs of light appeared around Duosion and exploded outward in every direction. Some converged toward Scyther while others tried to cut off his path. The flying type was beating his wings so quickly that they were impossible to see with the naked eye and he sped up more than Cecilia had seen him do before, but this took energy. It was a race. Who would hit who first?

Scyther was slowly being cornered and forced to get closer.

“They’re baiting you to you get in Psychic range!” Cecilia warned.

This time, he heeded her warnings. He stopped flying and landed on the floor with a loud thud. Scyther was quick in the air, but he was only slightly slower by foot. The bug type ran across the arena, making sure to jump above the massive, water-filled crater. One of the Psyshocks hit his leg and he faltered for a second, but he did not fall.

Instead, he kept harassing Duosion from afar. On the twenty-second consecutive Air Slash, his barrier shattered and an arc of air split vertically this time instead of horizontally. Cecilia expected him to recover just as quickly, but it was slow. Sirris was simply standing there, both sides of him quaking in fear. Thin strands of goo and fluid linked the two sides together at a snail’s pace. Scyther jumped at the opportunity and flew toward the frozen Duosion, slashing down the middle again with Fury Cutter.

It dawned on Cecilia that if Duosion’s two brains were separated, he would be severely weakened. Scyther’s instincts had been faster than hers.

A neon green light covered both of Scyther’s blades, and he finished Duosion off with X-Scissor. He was a frail Pokemon, no doubt, so a few attacks had been all that was needed. Without a word, Lauren recalled Duosion and sent out her Magmar. It was as if she was so engrossed in the battle that she didn’t even want to wait a single second to relax or think.

“I don’t like the look in Scyther’s eyes, Mags,” Lauren said. “Get in that crater and burn.”

The flames on Magmar’s back flared and the ground under his feet burned. Cecilia’s eyes bulged as the fire type leaped into the water-filled crater. Immediately, it began to evaporate into steam. Magmar was no doubt getting hurt by this, but Scyther couldn’t really hit him either. He sent a few Air Slashes flying into the lake, but water was very good at weakening flying type attacks.

A minute passed. Then two. Cecilia felt a pang of worry. Wasn’t he drowning—

Apparently not. She saw a stream of flames through the steam and figured that all the water was gone. Apart from Scyther's initial burns from the hot vapor, Cecilia didn’t know what Lauren was planning. The water vapor would hamper Magmar’s fire type attacks.

It clicked when she switched and sent out her Seismitoard.

“You’re up, Prime. Set up Aqua Ring and finish that fucking Scyther,” she said.

“It’s a slow Pokemon, attack from up close and overwhelm it!” Cecilia yelled.

Scyther screeched, and he flew toward Seismitoad. A strange blue light emanated from the water type’s body, then the air grew frigid and steam coalesced into a wall of water in front of her. Scyther veered to the left, using his many wings to maneuver around the ground type, but water gathered around her fist and shot out like a canon when she punched in the bug type’s direction.

The pressure punctured multiple holes in his exoskeleton, but he managed to fly away. Lauren was mindless destruction no longer, it seemed. Cecilia took a deep breath and pointed forward.

“Air Slash!”

“Use Uproar, Prime!” Lauren ordered.

The toad opened her mouth and let out strange series of sounds. To Cecilia, they almost sounded pleasant, but Scyther was different. He screeched in agony, covering his earholes with his blades and desperately tried to escape Seismitoad’s voice by flying as far as he could.

“It won’t stop until you make it,” Cecilia bellowed, cupping her mouth with her hands. She had to yell three more times for Scyther to hear her voice. “Keep using Air Slash!”

The bug type hissed, but he knew her to be correct.

The blades of air cut across Prime’s gut, but she didn’t even bleed. The same eerie blue light swarmed around the wounds and healed them immediately. The steam was powering up Aqua Ring, Cecilia realized. Just like Rain Dance or being submerged in water would. Seismitoad did not stay idle either. She continued with her Uproar, sometimes mixing in a Water Pulse when she thought Scyther to be in too much pain to dodge. Cecilia really didn’t want to use her last switch.

Scyther would have to take a stand.

“Scyther! Scyther!” She yelled. “Use X-Scissor and Focus Energy!”

The bug type was in too much sensory pain to even give her a sign to let her know if he’d heard or not. The saving grace of this situation was that Lauren couldn’t listen to what she was saying either, and she was content to let Seismitoad run wild.

Scyther landed on the ground, pointing at Seismitoad with one of his scythes. The water type responded by giving him a lazy grin as she screamed. Cecilia noticed the small accumulation of energy around Scyther that made his wings flutter in anticipation. The bug type closed his eyes and took a deep, rattling breath.

Then raced forward as he sliced Air Slash after Air Slash toward Seismitoad. He jumped over the crater and took flight, his blades brimming with bug type energy. Prime angled her head upward, and mud shot out of her mouth. Scyther avoided the vast majority, but a few clung to him like glue and made him slow. He was too committed to stop despite Cecilia’s warnings, however, and he cut across Seismitoad’s chest with X-Scissor while she hit him with her custom Water Punch. The water exploded in all directions at such high pressures that it penetrated Scyther’s exoskeleton and Seismitoad’s thick layers of fat.

Scyther fell to the ground, and she drew a few tired breaths, finally ending her Uproar. Aqua Ring healed her, but it was slower now. It seemed that it was sustained by the Pokemon’s energy.

“Thank you,” Cecilia said as she recalled the bug type.

She sent out her Slowking once again. He’d be able to take full advantage of the steam. Free from his confusion, he assessed his new environment and smirked. From what Cecilia knew, Seismitoad had Swift Swim, not Water Absorb—

“Muddy Water! Flood the field!” Lauren yelled.

Cecilia’s eyes narrowed as Seismitoad coughed up more water than she would have thought possible and also used the remaining liquid from her pond. At this point, the steam had cooled off enough and was slowly reverting back to a liquid as well, but she knew that the process was being sped up the same way Seismitoad had formed a wall of water to stop Scyther. It seemed like Prime had an ice type move of some sort.

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The water quickly overflowed the crater, filling it higher than Cecilia thought possible. Slowking formed a thin bubble around himself, and the dirty water reached up to his torso when Seismitoad stopped. Using Slack Off in this environment would be impossible.

“It’s going to be deceptively quick. Hold it back with Psychic when it comes and break its mind,” Cecilia said.

“Get close and rip him apart!” Lauren snarled.

Seismitoad somehow swam through the torso-deep water, sliding across it like someone skating on a rink. Slowking moved a hand forward and attempted to disrupt her trajectory by creating artificial waves, but Prime was unabashed by the force. He tried Water Cutter next, but she just dove under the surface. There was a slight glow below the water— her fist.

Slowking moved his hand and pointed it at Seismitoad. She crashed into the invisible force and struggled as the psychic ransacked her mind. The sheer force she’d applied forced Slowking to pull down his shield and the Muddy Water filled the empty space it had left. Seismitoad’s dull, red eyes narrowed and she grunted in pain, but she would not take this lying down. Cecilia had expected for her to use Uproar, but she did not. It might not have sounded like it, but the move required focus. It was a song— a song with order. It was hard to use it under the constant strain of Psychic. Instead, Seismitoad’s fist stopped glowing, and she belched a purple liquid. Slowking waved at it with his second hand and it flew off into the water, but Seismitoad didn’t stop.

She was poisoning the water.

“Disable!” Cecilia yelled.

Slowking’s eyes flashed grey and—

“Icy Wind!”

Seismitoad didn’t even bother for Disable to finish. Poison turned to cold, frigid air that froze the water, her and Slowking. They were both stuck inside of the thick sheet of ice, and Slowking shivered from the cold. Icicles had formed on the bottom of his mouth and his eyes were sealed shut. He’d stopped using Psychic.

This was bad.

“Get out with Drain Punch.”

Her fist shimmered below the ice with that same white glow it had under the water. The ice shattered around her, and she slowly climbed out of the hole with labored breaths. Slowking waved a hand, but the ground type rolled to the left, sliding across the ice. She clumsily stumbled to her feet and opened her mouth—

“Focus on my voice, darling!” Cecilia yelled. “Apply force to your left!”

The psychic moved his hand, and Seismitoad was once more put under the strain of countless mental attacks. Her mouth closed, but then shot open again as she sprayed Slowking in poison. The acid ate away at his flesh, and he couldn’t even budge away from the ice encasing him up to his chest, but he didn’t stop.

“Finish it off! One last push!”

“Keep freezing the damn floor,” Lauren said.

Cold wind rushed out from Seismitoad, not only from her mouth, but from every pore in her body. The small patch of ice they’d been stuck on spread through the entire arena, leaving them with solid, muddy ice. The ground type went down shortly after, and Lauren hungrily licked her lips.

“I’ve never had a battle this tough with another first year apart from that Karlson kid,” she said, grabbing another Pokeball. “Your group makes me feel alive!”

A tall, hulking Aggron appeared on the ice. He took a tentative step forward, and the ice barely even cracked.

“Good shit. Finish off that Slowking with Flash Cannon.”

Cecilia didn’t bother switching. Slowking was too tired to continue the fight, and there was a limit to Slack Off’s effectiveness. She would rather keep her last swap for another threat. Cecilia did notice that Aggron’s Flash Cannon was rather weak, however, but it was enough to finish the water type off.

There was only one option. All this time, she’d let Lauren take the initiative in reshaping the battlefield, but it was about time she did it as well. Talonflame appeared in a flash of red in the sky and screeched as she flapped her wings. Neither Zweilous or Golett would have worked well here. The former’s attacks wouldn’t have penetrated Aggron’s armor, including Incinerate, and while the latter did have ground type attacks, Cecilia doubted that he’d do well because of the size difference.

“Rock Tomb!”

“Agility, don’t stay in one spot for long,” Cecilia said. “Then Fire Spin.”

Aggron yelled, ripping out chunks of rocks from under the ice. They flew toward Talonflame, who zipped past them without a problem. She was too quick to be hit by those. Cecilia had the advantage here, and she would work to keep it.

“Fire Spin! Melt the ice!”

The bird screeched and embers fell from her wings, slowly forming into a tornado as it landed on the ground. The ice began to melt under Aggron’s feet, but Lauren was quick on the uptake.

“Rock Slide! Build yourself a platform!”

It was clumsy at best, but it would work. The rocks buried under the ice emerged, creating an island of boulders. Aggron didn’t have great footing there, but it would work. All around him, water splashed and steam rose. The heat of the flames clearly made him uncomfortable, and he tried to stop Talonflame with another Flash Cannon. Needless to say, it didn’t work.

“You can stop,” Cecilia said.

They didn’t want to turn all of the water into steam, after all, but that also meant that Heatwave was off the table. Aggron could also potentially brave the water, but he’d be slowed further and would still take some damage from the leftover type energy just as Magmar had.

But Cecilia was still in a bind.

Talonflame specialized in attacking from up close, and that would be suicide against a Pokemon as defensive as Aggron. And yet, she’d been the best option against the massive steel type. The goal here was to pressure Lauren into using her final switch—

“Tailwind and start setting up Flame Charges,” Cecilia said.

—and hopefully she’d use something more manageable like Magmar or Rhydon. Rhydon was slightly more powerful than Aggron, but dumb, slow-witted, and didn’t listen to what she said, so she’d be able to whittle him down at the very least. And worst-case scenario, she’d always be able to switch to counter whatever Lauren picked. The key was to get her to swap Pokemons first.

Unfortunately, she didn’t take the bait.

“Heat Wave,” Cecilia sighed. It looked like the island trap hadn’t worked.

“Stone Edge!”

Here, her weakness shone through. Talonflame still required to fly in one spot to use the move at an effective level. She flapped her wings and the air became sweltering. Aggron’s armor was too thick to simply melt, but he was clearly under a lot of strain. The water turned to steam as the steel type let out a clinking, metallic roar and stones rose in a straight line toward Talonflame. She stopped the attack and barrelled to the left, narrowly dodging a sharp edge that would have torn through her wing.

This was too risky. One stone, and Talonflame was done and they weren’t able to attack effectively. Fire Spin was too weak, but it was all they had.

“Fire Spin!”

The flames surrounded Aggron once more, slightly weakened by the steam like Heat Wave had been. The steel type grunted as the fire charred his metallic plates, but he did not waver. He ripped more Stone Edges from the ground, hoping to hit Talonflame. They only needed a hit, and Cecilia needed dozens. Talonflame spun, gathering flames all around her and dropping to the ground and caught herself at the last moment by opening her wingspan. She swooped past the ground as rocks followed close behind her. Aggron slammed a foot against the ground and another set of stones erupted from below, but Talonflame climbed in altitude and veered to the right.

The flames she’d been gathering washed over Aggron’s body, and only then did Lauren switch. Cecilia breathed a sigh of relief, but that was short-lived. Rhydon was her last choice of Pokemon, and she knew he wouldn’t be easy to deal with. Tanlonflame could barely scratch Aggron, but him? The rock type wasted no time and began to chase after Talonflame in the sky without a word from Lauren. The same dilemma as before played out, except that there was truly no way to hurt Rhydon this time.

Cecilia was ready. She recalled Talonflame and sent out Golett. His eyes lit up, his insides hummed and the robot came alive. Rhydon did not stop, but he ran into the now-empty crater and tripped down toward the center. Lauren still had no reaction.

The rock type rolled down and crashed into the crater, but he got up as if nothing had happened and started climbing out the other side. Golett was slow and small, but he packed enough power to hit past Rhydon’s bulk. His rocky exterior was tough, but it wasn’t as resistant as Aggron’s.

“Shadow Ball,” Cecilia said.

“Take Down!”

She hadn’t expected him to get that close, nor for him to listen to her. Rhydon’s charge suddenly sped up toward Golett, who did not move as a Shadow Ball gathered right in front of his head. The weak ghost type attack flew toward Rhydon, but the rock type barely grunted in response. It simply hit him in the chest and disappeared.

“Iron Defense, quick! Then Stomping—”

Rhydon was already there. Golett’s body shimmered, and the rock type slammed his entire body weight into him. The sheer force behind the impact propelled him back, but Iron Defense had protected him from the worst of it. Golett casually stood up, each movement slow, but deliberate. For the first time in his life, he made an independent decision. Rhydon’s charge hadn’t stopped, only merely slowed by the unexpected resistance from Iron Defense. The golem quickly stood, his movements fluid and he slammed the floor with one of his feet in a single motion that was so smooth that Cecilia almost gasped. She would have ordered him to use the move regardless, but for him to have used it without her?

The destruction Golett wrought was only second to Duosion’s Expanding Force. Cracks formed in the ground and swallowed one of Rhydon’s legs whole. The rock type snarled and angrily slammed a fist against the ground, worsening the shaking, but Lauren’s voice snapped him back to reality.

“Rock Blast and Stone Edge, Paragon! Stop him from attacking!”

Using the same fist it had slammed the ground with, Rhydon angled his arm toward Golett and sent a series of rocks flying toward Golett at high velocity. They each slammed into him, breaking against his poor body, but the Stomping Tantrum continued. Rhydon fell deeper into a hole, and by now Cecilia’s entire half of the arena was split with a single, large fissure. She’d missed this, she realized. Destroying things was just so much fun, and Lauren shared in her passion.

It did not stop the Stone Edge from coming. It was faster and more precise this time, erupting from below’s Golett feet. The attack staggered the ghost type and a stone lodged itself inside of him through the small hole in between his joints. The light in Golett’s eyes flickered, but Cecilia yelled for him to continue.

“Rock Climb!”

A deep bellow emerged from below the ground. Each second, it grew louder until Rhydon jumped out of the fissure Golett had created, his claws shining white.

“Grab him and use Horn Drill. He’s slower than you,” she smiled. “Won’t be able to do shit.”

Cecilia’s eyes narrowed. Did Lauren not know that Golett knew Hammer Arm? Rhydon followed her order, stomping toward Golett and clumsily snatching over his shoulder. He struggled to actually throw him. Golett was a lot heavier than he looked, but after a few barks from Lauren, he opted to just place him as high as he could to let gravity do the work for him.

So much for never listening to Lauren. He’d completely changed since she last saw him in action at the tournament and now followed her every order. Cecilia’s breaths had turned shallow and anxious, but she waited until the last possible moment to strike.

“Hammer Arm,” Cecilia said.

Gravity would assist them as well. Rhydon’s horn and Golett’s fist shone with a brilliant white as they each hit each other. For a moment, it was as if they were both frozen there. A snapshot in time that would go on forever. It ended after what felt like an eternity with Rhydon’s horn cut in half and Golett’s fist and arm completely destroyed. The ground type landed next to Rhydon with a loud crash, creating a small crater on the ground, but their opponent immediately reacted.

“Finish him with Stone Edge. Pin him!”

“Scorching Sands!” Cece screamed.

The floor under Rhydon’s feet burned as it dissolved into sand, but he bore with the pain and slammed Golett under his feet. Cecilia winced as at least five different Stone Edges stabbed Golett’s back. The life in his eyes disappeared and his rune flickered for a few seconds before turning off. She recalled him and bit her lip. Talonflame would be useless here, so she could only count on Zweilous.

The two heads snarled at their opponent, who was already relatively close to them, and they immediately hit him with a combined Dragon Pulse right off the bat. The turquoise beam of draconic energy hit Rhydon like a truck, and the rock type could only cover his face in hopes of avoiding the worst of the damage. He was pushed back slightly and was only ten feet away from the fissure.

His horn is shattered, so his horn moves are weakened, Cecilia thought. That means the biggest threat is Stone Edge.

“Calm down and Stomping Tantrum,” Cecilia exhaled.

“Rock Blast. Keep moving forward,” Lauren said.

Zweilous tapped their feet on the ground, creating tremors that were weaker than Golett’s, but they slowed Rhydon plenty. He brought a hand forward, sending out round rocks bigger than Cecilia’s head hurtling toward Zweilous. Their scales protected them from most of the damage, but they were clearly after something. Cecilia couldn’t let him get close.

“Start stepping back. Dragon Pulse.”

Zweilous roared at the idea of retreat. Zerst’s head thrashed around, but a sharp snap of her fingers brought him back under control. Rhydon bellowed and ran with a Take Down that made him impossible to stop.

“Hammer Arm.”

Cecilia’s eyes bulged. “Ice Fang! Sol, bite him in the leg!”

She was so mentally tired, but she was no mere girl. She would spit in the face of adversity and fight until she won. Rhydon’s fist slammed into Zweilous’ body, but the two heads refused to go down. One bit him in the leg, spreading frost throughout his body while Zerst aimed for the attacking arm. Rhydon blared, but they didn’t let go.

“Zerst, keep biting. Sol, Dragon Pulse. Point blank.”

Rhydon’s leg exploded in a flurry of turquoise and shards of rock. The Dragon Pulse exposed the dull, grey flesh below. Rhydon screamed, his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell back. Cecilia breathed a sigh of relief, but she knew she was nowhere near done. Lauren grinned, seemingly happy with Rhydon’s performance and sent out that damn Aggron.

He was a true brick wall, and Cecilia couldn’t switch to Talonflame any longer.

“Incinerate, both of you,” Cecilia said.

The good thing about having a destroyed arena was that a Pokemon as slow as Aggron would take a while to get to them. Lauren simply ordered him forward. The two flames combined and burned, but the flame was still weak. A dull red instead of a vibrant blue or even a bright white as the most powerful fire types were able to produce. Aggron was too large to dodge, but he didn’t take the attacks lying down. Hastily erected barriers with Rock Slide protected him from the worst of the flames, but it also slowed him.

A minute and thirty seconds later, the steel type slid down the crater. Cecilia’s eyes narrowed, and she opted to wait, much to Zweilous’ anger. There was no harm in being cautious, but they were too headstrong to understand. Drool dripped out of Sol’s mouth and Zerst tried to catch it with his tongue.

Their heads snapped toward Aggron as soon as his head peaked out of the crater. He’d been slower to climb than Rhydon, and he was clumsy. An idea popped into her head.

Cecilia swept her arm. “Dragon Pulse. Push him back!”

Dragon Pulse wouldn’t do much damage, but the impact would hopefully be enough to send him tumbling back into the crater—

Her face fell when Aggron didn’t even budge. He screamed with a metallic tint and retaliated with Flash Cannon now that he’d gotten close enough. The bright light peeled off a few of Zweilous’ scales, and they instinctively combined an Incinerate that forced Aggron to keep moving. The only thing that stood in between them was the large ravine that had been formed by Golett’s Stomping Tantrum.

But then, Lauren’s permanent grin widened.

“Autotomize and jump!”

Arceus fucking damn it, she’d withheld that attack the entire battle! Aggron began to shine and each one of his steps grew until he was light enough to jump over the chasm. He inhaled and leaped.

Cecilia’s willpower wavered for an instant, but she steeled herself.

“Dragon Rush!”

Zweilous foamed at the mouth and completely let loose. From this point on, they wouldn’t hear anything she said and would just fight until they either fainted or their opponent did. Aggron landed across the ravine without difficulty, regaining his weight as soon as he did. Zweilous let loose and mighty roar and Zerst slammed his head against Aggron. A turquoise light shone after each impact, and the dragon kept hitting Aggron with no sense of self-preservation. The steel type felt the hits, grunting in pain after each one. He tried to grab at Zweilous’ throats, but flames from Incinerate made them too hot to touch.

Lauren screamed, “Iron Head, send him flying, Defiant!”

Aggron lowered his head and slammed his full weight into Zweilous. His horns raked against Sol’s throat, shredding an entire line of his scales away until he headbutted the dragon type again, this time sending him backwards a few feet. A rock shot out of the ground and hit Sol’s head, interrupting another Incinerate as Aggron kept running forward. He was determined to end this.

And so were they.

Zweilous traded blows with Aggron, using their heads to hit him with Dragon Rush. The steel type was too well-armored to take down easily, but chinks in his armor were showing. Repeated hits to the legs and gut had cracked it. Cecilia snapped her fingers, hoping to get Zweilous out of their daze. They’d never succeeded, but maybe today…

It didn’t work. Aggron finished Zweilous off with another Iron Head. Almost half of their scales had been forcefully torn away and blood soaked the ones that remained.

“You did well,” Cecilia said. She sent out her Talonflame. “You’re the last.”

There was a hint of surprise in the flying type’s eyes, but it didn’t linger.

“Fire Spin.”

“Stone Edge!”

Dodging Aggron’s attacks was a lot easier now that he was barely standing on two feet. Talonflame easily navigated around the Stone Edge, releasing flames from her wings that fell onto Aggron’s body. The steel type blinked with his tired pale blue eyes and finally collapsed. Lauren giggled as she sent out her Magmar.

“Mags. You’re the last,” she mirrored Cecilia’s words.

Surprise flashed in his eyes, but that soon turned into a vicious, anticipating smile. Both of them weren’t used to being told this while battling, and it showed. This was it. The final stretch.

Cecilia clenched a fist. If she did not believe in herself, no one would. Victory would come. Magmar wasn’t as slow as the others, but he was still confined to the ground. Still, she couldn’t get complacent.

“Tailwind and Acrobatics—”

“Confuse Ray!” Lauren yelled.

“Don’t get close!” Cecilia corrected herself.

The strange light that came out of Magmar’s snout meandered more than Duosion’s but if it got inside Talonflame, the battle was over. With the wind at her back, she easily circled around the arena, high in the sky until the light fizzled out and disappeared.

“Figured that wouldn’t work. Let’s do this the old-fashioned way, then,” Lauren licked her lips. “Burn everything up with Lava Plume.”

Cecilia and Talonflame frowned at the move. Flames flared around Magmar and lava erupted from every inch of his body. He kept burning with a twisted smile, filling the arena with noxious gases and fire. The ground under his feet melted and the air warped until Cecilia could only see a mirage. Staying far away and attacking with Heat Wave would do nothing. Magmar was fire. It would only tickle him and make him laugh. They had to get in close.

All or nothing.

“Agility and Aerial Ace!” Cecilia yelled.

“That’s what I’m talking about! Thunder Punch!”

It was too late to go back now. Talonflame blurred forward, going so quickly that Magmar had no time to actually charge up his attack. She stabbed her beak as deep as she could, and Magmar grunted. The blood boiled before it could reach the ground. It was so hot that even Talonflame was getting uncomfortable.

“Lava Plume again!”

Before she could escape, a glob of lava landed on her wing. She screeched at the burn and it made her entire body tilt right. Magmar used that single second to spit out a blue Flamethrower that enveloped her entire body. Cecilia felt a tightening feeling around her chest, but she exhaled when Talonflame emerged from the flames— harmed and with cooled lava sticking to her wing. She desperately tried to get it off, but if she slowed for too long, another Flamethrower would no doubt reach her.

“Fire Pillar!” Lauren said.

Her eyes widened. Another custom move, no doubt. Magmar’s twisted grin widened as he slammed a foot against the ground. Red, fiery cracks appeared in the ground, traveling until they got right below Talonflame before erupting into a colossal tower of flames. Talonflame’s wing was hit— the same one that had the cooled lava was clinging onto. She hadn’t been quick enough to dodge— no, it was because they hadn’t known what to expect—

Talonflame was a fire type, but she did not routinely bathe in flames as Magmar could. The attack hurt, and her wing cooked under the fire’s strain. She closed her eyes as she fell, and Magmar’s eyes twinkled with glee. Cecilia’s will did not falter for a second.

“You can do it,” she whispered.

The bird’s eyes opened, and she extended her wings. Flames fell from her wings as she danced in the sky. It was as if she was one with the wind.

“Acrobatics!” Cecilia yelled.

This time, she would attack with her talons. Talonflame blurred as she flew toward Magmar. The wind whizzed past her wings, and she angled her clawed feet toward Magmar’s face.

“Smog!”

The fire type coughed up a scorching, toxic fume.

Talonflame breathed in. Her eyes widened and she froze.

She drove her talons deep in Magmar’s shoulder.

His fist, clad in electricity, hit her chest.

She convulsed at the contact until smoke emanated from her body.

Cecilia’s shoulders sagged. She had believed in victory until the final second. The girl wiped the sweat off her forehead and recalled Talonflame. Lauren said something, but she didn’t hear it. She’d just lost for the first time.

It was bound to happen at some point, after all. Yes. In fact, it was a miracle that it’d taken this long. Losing was a normal part of being a trainer, and as Grace would say, it helped you improve. Cynthia had told her as much. Tomorrow, she’d look at the footage and see what went wrong—

——

I hadn’t been the one battling, but I felt just as tired as Cecilia and Lauren looked. The sheer amount of destruction they both brought to the table was astonishing. Even though they both had four badges, it got pretty close to what Zachary was capable of. I dreaded what they'd be able to do when they got better. I shimmied across the crowd and went to see Cecilia. It was her first loss, so she’d probably be taking it hard. I knew I did.

I broke through the crowd and froze when I saw her.

She was crying.