CHAPTER 204

"You what?!"

"I lost most of my coins and bought a Swablu instead," Denzel said, motioning to his new sixth Pokeball.

We were currently on the way to Cecilia's gym battle with Maylene, and Denzel was telling me about his experience at the Game Corner.

"It sucked that there was a limited number of eggs," Emilia sighed.

"That's by design, Emi. You create an artificial scarcity and people spend more money on your stupid games like I did. They got me hook, line and sinker," Denzel winced. "Whatever. I'm never stepping foot in there again. It's subtle, you know? You look around you and you scoff at all the people addicted to gambling until one day you realize that you're addicted too."

"But you left, didn't you?" Cecilia said.

"I did, thank fuck," he sighed in relief. "But do you know what my first reaction was when I lost all of that money? It was to gamble more, not to get the hell out of there. That's the terrifying part. Anyway, that's all over now. If you ever want a Pokemon, don't gamble for it. It works out for like, one percent of people. Hell, even less."

"Just treat Swablu right," I said. "You don't want… what's Swablu's gender?"

"She's a girl," he quickly added.

"You don't want her to feel unwanted because you wanted a Dratini. And don't let your team haze her, please. I know they mean well, but it's probably overwhelming at first."

"I know, I know," he said. "I won't treat her differently because she's not what I originally wanted. Even now, I can't help but think what if I'd bet on the right person, but I'll… I'll try my best."

"I know you will," I smiled, softly bumping him in the arm.

"It's an opportunity for growth," Cecilia nodded. "You've always been too rigid with your list ever since I've known you. Things don't always go according to plan."

"Yeah. Thank Arceus Ashley was there, though. She's the one that forked me the remaining five thousand coins to get Swablu. I would have gone out empty-handed if she hadn't been with me."

Pauline, who had been silent until now, stopped dead in her tracks.

"Ashley?" She asked with a hint of anger.

"Oh, uh, yeah. That friend I talked about in the Game Corner? Her name's Ashley."

"Ah! I sure hope you had fun with her, then," she said with a bright smile. "I'll have to give her my thanks someday!"

That was somehow scarier than any other reaction she could have had.

—

The battle against Lauren, Grace's battle against Zachary and Denzel's previous battle against Maylene had taught Cecilia the importance of field manipulation. It was a facet of Pokemon battling that she'd never even thought about when she'd first started her journey. Back then, she'd been obsessed with power, power, power. She still was, but she knew that to win, she would have to do more than hit harder.

Granted, it was ironically still a key part of her strategy, but it was something she'd need to think hard about for future battles. The battle with Maylene would be another five-on-five with three swaps, as was standard for the fifth and sixth gym battles. Cecilia already had her Pokeball in hand and sent out Golett the minute Maylene had finished enunciating her instructions. The golem hummed and expunged steam from the holes under his armpit and below his legs. Maylene sent out a Hitmonchan that punched the air in quick succession. Cecilia didn't have to study to know that the Pokemon was adept at all punching attacks.

"Begin!" The referee yelled.

"Scorching Sands perimeter," Cecilia smoothly said.

A large circular radius around Golett turned to bright, hot sand and it followed the ground type as he slowly began his march toward Hitmonchan. The surface bubbled and exploded into small geysers that looked like a weaker version of Earth Power, but the immediate ground around Golett's feet was still solid.

"Bulk Up and Ice Punch," Maylene said.

Cecilia shivered in anticipation. So she was going to ignore the sands, then? That meant that Hitmonchan was truly a close-range fighter with no way to attack at a distance. The fighting type stood completely still and its arms and fists swelled as it gained in strength. Like a spring, its legs extended as it ran forward with ice coating its fists. Hitmonchan hissed and its skin burned as soon as it entered the Scorching Sands. The ground wrapped around its legs and crawled over its torso like a living thing.

"Restrain!" Cecilia yelled.

Golett's eyes shone brighter, and he returned the sand around Hitmonchan to its original state. Earth clung to the fighting type as it squirmed and desperately attempted to escape the trap that Cecilia had set. Maylene barked a few orders, and Hitmonchan burst out of its prison, but more sand just wrapped around the fighting type. Cecilia was determined to keep him trapped long enough to force a switch or to knock it out of the fight.

"Shadow Ball—"

"Aura Burst!" Maylene yelled.

Cecilia covered her eyes when blue light exploded out of Hitmonchan's every pore. The sand around the fighting type died and spluttered out for a second before Golett slammed a foot against the ground to restart the attack, but Hitmonchan jumped toward the ghost type higher than what seemed natural.

Must have been Bulk Up, Cecilia bit her lip. "Iron Defense and Shadow Punch!"

The sands jumped into the sky and followed Hitmonchan while Golett's body shimmered like metal. The ground type clenched a fist, seizing upon the shadows and angled his arm upward.

"Ice Punch!" Maylene yelled.

Hitmonchan landed on the intact ground that Golett used to walk unharmed, and ice surrounded his fists once more. With a heavy grunt, the fighting type launched his assault. Cecilia heard the cracking ice and the howling of the ghostly energy as soon as the two attacks clashed. Frost spread from Hitmonchan's glove to Golett's arm, slowly overtaking the ground type. Its other fist continuously slammed against Golett's head, and the light in the Pokemon's eyes flickered.

"Bury!" Cecilia yelled.

The floor under Golett's feet turned into scorching quicksand, overtaking both Pokemon. She heard Hitmonchan scream as every inch of its skin burned while Golett was as silent as always, but even he would be hurt if hot sand slipped inside his intricate mechanism.

"Aura Burst!" Maylene yelled again.

Cecilia clicked her tongue when everything exploded again, and Hitmonchan crawled out of the sand as it dragged Golett behind it with a single arm. The fighting type's skin was red, black, and purple, but it hadn't lost the fierce look in its eyes. Hitmonchan punched Golett's face with an icy fist and sat on top of the ground type.

Cecilia licked her dry lips. Stomping Tantrum was out of the picture because the field needed to be relatively flat for Zweilous. She ordered the golem to use Shadow Ball, but the sphere unraveled when Hitmonchan kept beating Golett with Ice Punches.

She recalled Golett with a sigh. She had wanted him to take down his first opponent, but it looked like that wouldn't work with Maylene. She sent out Scyther and the bug type hissed, threatening Hitmonchan while beating his wings against themselves to create an obnoxious sound.

"Keep your distance," Cecilia advised. "If it grabs you, the fight will be over—"

Maylene surprised her by also recalling Hitmonchan, although in retrospect, it was obvious that the fighting type wouldn't be able to fight well against a Pokemon like Scyther. Instead, she sent out a tall Gallade that silently appeared on the field. The hair on Cecilia's neck stood up at the sight of such a powerful foe.

"The previous advice still applies. Agility and Air Slash," she said.

Scyther jumped into the air and his body loosened as he slowly sped up and became a blur. Gallade's eyes darted around the field, tracking him no matter how fast he became. Cecilia knew that Gallade's psychic powers weren't as developed as Gardevoir's, but he would still be able to restrain Scyther without breaking a sweat. The bug type slashed across the air and it sliced toward Gallade faster than what Cecilia thought he could react, but he teleported onto Scyther and brought him crashing down.

Cecilia's mind began to race. If Scyther fell at that speed, he'd be done for.

"Night Slash!" She screamed. "Like we trained!"

The bug type's scythe grew dark, and he opened a deep gash on Gallade's waist that bled void darker than black. The psychic type's eyes flickered, but he didn't let go. Both Scyther and Gallade crashed into the barrier and then fell on the ground. The fighting type stood up like an arrow right away and grazed his wound. It was still seeping with darkness, although it would run out soon. Grace had spoken to her about how that terrible Weavile had cut off the use of type energy through dark type attacks, and they were nowhere near there yet.

Disrupting psychic moves for a short period of time, however? They'd gotten the hang of that two weeks ago. If a Pokemon overcharged their dark type moves, some type energy would remain on whatever wound they'd caused. Slowking hated training with Scyther now. The bug struggled to his feet and fanned his wings. Three of them were intact, meaning that flight was possible.

"Air Slash! It can't Teleport!" Cecilia yelled.

Maylene practically snarled when she realized what had happened.

"Sacred Sword," she muttered through clenched teeth. "Use Aura."

The arc of sharpened air never made it to its target. Gallade's longest elbow extended twice fold and shimmered blue while the other simply glowed, but did not grow. A simple slice across the air, and Air Slash collapsed in on itself, becoming a simple gust of air by the time it reached Gallade.

"Finish it off. Aerial Ace."

Even Scyther shot Cecilia an unsure look. He'd never done so before.

"Hit and run," Cecilia ordered.

Missing a wing didn't affect Scyther's speed very much, especially with Agility. He flew away as fast as he could, throwing Air Slash after Air Slash at Gallade. The psychic pushed himself on one foot and jumped, spinning around like a drill so quickly that Cecilia could only see the blue streaks of Aura he left behind.

The Air Slashes kept disappearing before making any contact, but Gallade would be slower than Scyther until he could Teleport again. That left her time to think of something to take down this monstrosity. It seemed like Sacred Sword had the power to… unravel moves if it was given enough time. Not dissolve them, per se, but to untie the bundle of type energy that made it stick together. That meant that to counter it, Cecilia either had to overwhelm it with power or attack at close-range. Seeing as this was a fighting gym, there was only one option, but Scyther wasn't really the best at powerful attacks. Speed and overwhelming his opponent was where he excelled.

Cecilia recalled Scyther and sent out Talonflame instead. The flying type had speed, but she also had the power to overcome Sacred Sword.

"Flame Charge and Agility!" She yelled. They had no time to waste.

Talonflame's eyes widened when she saw what she was fighting, but she listened right away. She placed her wings flat against her body and speed up as she fell toward the ground with Gallade right on her heel. Flames engulfed her body, and she sped up even more until Cecilia could barely track her in the sky. The fire type circled the arena, waiting for her next command.

"How long will you run?" Maylene asked. "Gallade, Teleport on that bird as soon as you can!"

You're the one forcing me to run, you petulant child! Cecilia screamed internally. She did not care what she had to do so long as victory was achieved. Every ounce of her being was screaming at her to win, and she knew she would. It was writ in her bones.

"Heat Wave and Fire Spin!"

Talonflame squawked as the air around her distorted. It was tiny at first— barely ten feet across, but it slowly expanded as she flew and burned everything in its path. The sand leftover from Golett lit ablaze and turned to glass as small pockets of flames spun and fell onto the floor. Gallade himself caught on fire and fell like a meteorite falling and burning up through Earth's atmosphere.

Ah, to have finally mastered the act of using Heat Wave whilst moving was making Cecilia's heart swell with pride. Talonflame continued the attack as she zipped around the arena, leaving a trail of bright flames behind her.

"Teleport and Sacred Sword!" Maylene commanded.

Gallade didn't execute it immediately. The psychic type calmly observed as he burned, and then he landed on top of Talonflame as soon as she slowed down to turn a corner. Being so close to her charred his skin until it was black and smoking, but Gallade sliced across Talonflame's back, causing the flying type to fall with a screech. Cecilia could barely see where Talonflame ended and Gallade began as they both combined into one huge fireball that exploded upon impact and created a mid-sized crater next to Maylene's side of the arena. When the dust settled, both Pokemon were unconscious, although Talonflame looked a lot worse than Gallade did. If there was one thing Cecilia needed to solve, it was her frailness.

"Both Talonflame and Gallade are unable to battle! As it is impossible to determine which Pokemon fainted first, it falls upon Leader Maylene to send out her Pokemon first!"

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Cecilia rolled her neck and sighed. She'd taken out a huge threat, and Maylene had cooled off now that she'd fainted one of her Pokemon as well. She released a Breloom next, and Cecilia restrained a grin.

Breakthrough.

Zweilous snarled as soon as they appeared. They'd fought Gardenia's own Breloom long ago in the battle against Gardenia, and they were determined to win again.

"Nasty Plot."

Both heads' breaths grew rapid as drool fell and accumulated on the ground. They dreamed of domination, destruction, strength, evolution, all of their wildest dreams until something snapped and they accrued power to bring those dreams ever so closer to reality.

"Mach Punch!"

"Flamethrower," she said with a snap of her fingers.

Ordinarily, Breloom would have gone faster than the eye could see and used all of its momentum to punch Zweilous.

The dragon's throats swelled as the flames glowed through their scales and two Flamethrowers flew out of Zweilous' mouth. The flames shimmered with a brilliant blue and the edges were a bright yellow as it overtook the entire width of the arena and destroyed all in its path. The roar of the flames was so loud that they sounded more like a continuous explosion than the Incinerate she'd grown used to. The psychic barrier rattled and bent as the flames broke against them.

Breloom quite literally cooked in the flames.

It had gone down in one hit.

"Breloom is unable to battle! Leader Maylene, send out your third Pokemon!"

"Good job, darling," Cecilia said.

Maylene didn't seem to care one bit, especially when compared to the little trick she'd used with Scyther. The girl's mind would forever remain an enigma to Cecilia, but it didn't matter. She'd regained control of the battle and now had the advantage. Zweilous coughed up smoke and heaved. The attack had done a number on their throats since they didn't exactly have the body to support such an attack, but they'd practiced enough to use three Nasty Plot-powered moves.

Cecilia's eyes narrowed when Maylene released a Mienshao. She'd actually seen her in multiple battles and knew exactly why she'd chosen her. Bounce, High Jump Kick and Wide Guard. Using Flamethrower or Dragon Pulse wouldn't work here, and neither would anything Zweilous had at their disposal. Cecilia used her last switch of the battle and sent out Scyther again.

"Don't underestimate her maneuverability in the air," Cecilia said. "Circle around her, probe for weaknesses."

Agility ran its course, and Scyther once more jumped in the air as he sent multiple Air Slashes at the fighting type, who dodged so gracefully it was as if she was dancing. She spun around one and bent her back to escape another. Each time, it was as if the attack was just about to hit, but it grazed her fur instead.

"Aura Sphere barrage!" Maylene yelled.

Mienshao extended her arm, and small pale blue spheres the size of pellets flew out of her palm so quickly that tiny shock waves rang out from her palms after each one. Scyther stopped with a hiss and dove toward the ground.

"Keep attacking!" Cecilia yelled. "She can't use Aura Sphere if she's pressured!"

She'd only been half correct. Scyther's fierceness surprised Mienshao, but the fighting type only stopped attacking for a few seconds until she regained her footing. One of the Aura spheres punctured Scyther's exoskeleton, and the rest soon followed now that the pain slowed him some. The bug type fell to the ground with a thud.

"Bounce," Maylene continued.

Mienshao jumped high in the air and then began to fall toward Scyther. At the last second, Cecilia yelled.

"Air Slash—"

But Scyther had been ahead of her. The attack had been weaker than before, but Mienshao still grunted in pain as the air sliced her thin waist. Scyther let out a final screech of defiance and then fell unconscious.

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

Cecilia was out of switches, so she had to choose very wisely here. Zweilous wouldn't work, as she already knew, so it was either Golett or Slowking. Golett was too slow to deal with an opponent as quick as Mienshao, so only Slowking would be able to work. The psychic appeared in a flash of red with his hands behind his back.

How tough is the opponent? He asked.

"She's strong both in close quarters and at a range," Cecilia explained. "Water Cutter."

"Detect and Aura Sphere!" Maylene ordered.

"Intercept instead."

Water accumulated in Slowking's cheeks, and his eyes shone as it flew off like a lance and cut through many of the Aura Spheres Mienshao sent. They needed a lot more force to be destroyed than what Cecilia would have thought, and some of them even looked to be unaffected whenever Slowking didn't spend enough time on them. The majority of the spheres hit Slowking, but he was relatively unharmed.

Elemental attacks will not work to properly stop Aura, nor will psychic moves, Slowking spoke into her mind.

"Let us go on the offensive, then. Surf and flood the field."

What of the others? Have they already fainted? Slowking asked as he summoned gallons of water from the ponds and more seeped out of his mouth. He was worried about leaving the field unusable for the rest of her team, but Cecilia ignored him and kept her face steady. Maylene would not approve of midbattle communication.

"Stop them! Bounce!" Maylene yelled.

So she wouldn't always fight at a range, then, Cecilia sighed in relief. Not when she knew Slowking had to be stopped. The water accumulated until it reached Slowking's waist, but that was only the first part of the plan. Once again, Mienshao dropped from the sky, aided by the wind, but Cecilia swept her arm.

"Swallow her whole!" She yelled.

Slowking's eyes shimmered, and some of the water jumped at Mienshao, just like Golett had done with Scorching Sands. All of Mienshao's momentum was stopped by the water as Slowking waved a hand and encased her in a ball of liquid. The fighting type's eyes widened, and she panicked, thrashing about in an attempt to swim out, but Slowking seized her directly with Psychic and began to assault her brain.

Maylene switched out later than Cecilia would have thought. Mienshao would be tired the next time she came out. The young trainer nearly gasped in surprise when Maylene revealed her last Pokemon. Falinks. Six of them, to be exact, and one larger than the other. At first, Cecilia thought they would drown in Slowking's Surf, but—

"First Impression!"

Cecilia's eyes darted back and forth. Two under the water, one swimming on the surface, one jumping and another two hanging back and flanking—

Slowking grunted as he restrained the first one, then another, but he was being stretched thin, and the other two slammed into him and sent him flying back. The psychic instinctively cushioned his fall with more water, but more of the Falinks were coming. She couldn't afford to flood the field too much without screwing up her plan to make it return to normal…

Her heartbeat calmed and her breath slowed.

Slowking would pull through. She knew it.

"Megahorn, Close Combat, Headbutt!" Maylene barked. "Formation three!"

The Falinks regrouped, somehow being capable of swimming despite their weight. Or no, floating would be a better word. Two of them stood on the largest Falink's head— who was tall enough to stand unmarred by the water— and jumped in place. When they landed, it sent them flying with Headbutt toward Slowking. The psychic waved, smashing the two against each other, but another one already rammed into his gut with its horn glowing neon green while the next started to beat him using the two shields it carried.

"Darling, we're using the water trick," she said. "Keep accumulating more water as well. I have a plan."

Right away.

It was strange, how smooth his voice was while was struggled to fight off five Pokemon at once. Slowking yelled, lifting a sphere of water carrying three of the five Falinks as Cecilia's eyes narrowed. The largest one had the most destructive potential, so why did it hang back?

It was only now that she focused on it that she heard the subtle sounds. Like the cross between the sound of someone scratching a paper and some kind of hiss, it was issuing orders to its soldiers.

"Water Cutter. Target the largest one," Cecilia said.

The Falinks in the floating ball of water did not panic. Instead, they formed a line and the first one pushed against the other two with all its strength to escape Slowking's prison. The psychic type grimaced, which was the most displeased Cecilia had ever seen him, and he slapped it away with a wave of psychic energy while the two freed others formed a tower and began to slam their shields and horns in his face with Close Combat and Megahorn.

"They're protecting their leader," Cecilia noticed. "Power Gem."

The water type snarled as rays of light rotated around him, vaporizing the surrounding water with a loud hiss and slamming into the now three freed Falinks. Light bounced off their tough shields, but it staggered them enough to leave a pathway to the leading Falinks open.

"Now!" Cecilia yelled.

Slowking yelled, splitting the water in front of him. The attack had demanded so much that his water prison disintegrated, and the waves washed the five Falinks away, splitting them up as the current carried them. Slowking inhaled with an extended hand as Cecilia admired the sheer power at the psychic's disposal. It was as if his will had parted the sea itself. The thin ray of water exploded toward Falinks and slammed into its two shields, denting them in the process.

"Drown it."

Slowking trotted through the path he'd created as the water around the largest Falinks surrounded and overwhelmed the fighting type. It cried out for help, and the others all squealed and swam against the current, but they were too slow. Slowking finally grabbed onto Falinks with Psychic and ransacked its brain as it drowned.

The leader fainted, and Maylene recalled it. Slowking heaved, and the path he'd been holding open collapsed as water rushed back in.

"Slack Off."

She couldn't see past the dirty water, but she hoped that Slowking would manage to heal some of the damage he'd taken. He was exhausted beyond what she'd intended, and Falinks were a ruthless enemy. Still, now that their commander was done for, they panicked, unable to come to a decision on what to do next.

"I'm taking charge!" Maylene yelled. "Formation two! Use it to swim!"

The five remaining Pokemon reluctantly listened as their shields interlocked with each other until they formed a horizontal line that floated along the now calm waters.

"Slowking," Cecilia probed.

I am conscious and well, but weakened, he answered. I remain hidden in the water.

Her face barely changed, but she felt a weight lift off her shoulders. "We're going to have to take all of them down individually. Use Psychic."

It was at times like these that Cecilia wished Slowking had Mira's Gardevoir's abilities to sense what she was thinking, but alas, her strategy was out wide in the open. Slowking wasn't the best swimmer, but he could still hold his breath for hours before running out of air.

"Lock onto each other tightly," Maylene muttered.

Cecilia bit her lip in anticipation until something tried to pull the Falinks underwater. Unfortunately, they were stuck together like glue, and moving all of them at once wasn't feasible. Still, the mental assaults would work. One of the Falinks squirmed as Psychic fried its brain.

"Iron Defense! Slip underwater and attack with Megahorn!" Maylene ordered.

Four of the five fighting types shimmered as their body grew heavy. They sunk into the water, and Maylene recalled the fifth one, who had fallen to Slowking's Psychic. Unable to see under the mud filled water, Cecilia calmly awaited the conclusion to this battle. Thirty seconds and another Falinks floated to the surface. A minute and another one fainted. Another minute passed, and the remaining two had to come back up for air. That was when Slowking struck and finished them off with Psychic.

"Falinks is unable to battle! Leader Maylene, send out your fourth Pokemon!"

"Slowking?"

On my last legs, my lady.

"You were wonderful, do not worry."

It was only then that Maylene realized that she'd been communicating with Slowking telepathically the entire battle. She let out a haughty huff and released Hitmonchan. The fighting type's skin was still horribly burned by Golett's Scorching Sands. Right away, she ordered the fighting type to use Ice Punch on his feet to create a floating platform. There was only so much Slack Off could do, but Cecilia asked Slowking to use the move anyway. They would need all the help they could get.

Now, to deal as much damage as she could, Cecilia mused.

"Psychic!"

Maylene said nothing, and both trainers waited for Slowking to strike. Cecilia knew Maylene must have been planning something, but there was only so much she could do. The second Hitmonchan felt a twinge of pain, its feet turned to flame and it sunk into the water.

After which it electrocuted both itself and Slowking with four simultaneous Thunder Punches. It hadn't even needed to hit him, really. All of that electricity spread through the nearby water and hit both Hitmonchan and Slowking. The water type's unconscious body emerged from below the depths and Cecilia recalled him.

"You did well," she said. Time to drain all of that water.

Golett's Pokeball felt heavy in her hands, not because of its particular weight, but because of the sheer amount of responsibility she was putting on the little golem. If he failed here, then the battle would be lost, but she did not entertain the idea of failure. Golett immediately sunk to the bottom of the water due to his weight, and Hitmonchan remade another platform of ice due to Maylene's orders.

"Stomping Tantrum, make a ravine!" She yelled as loud as she could.

Cecilia's face twisted into a satisfied grin when the ground under her rattled and numerous waves began to form on the water's surface. Maylene simply waited. After all, the water draining benefitted her as well, although she ordered Hitmonchan to use Bulk Up and swim toward Golett before the arena was split by an enormous rift. When the dust settled, the arena was split into two by a giant fissure that was deep enough to contain most of the water. The Stomping Tantrum hadn't been precise either. Other holes, gashes and depressions littered the arena now. The liquid still reached Golett's feet, meaning that they'd have to fight in a perpetual puddle.

A puddle was better than a makeshift sea, even if it made Scorching Sands unusable. Cecilia could see the lights and the arena's ceiling reflected onto the water.

Hitmonchan frowned, eager to get its rematch against Golett and finish the job it had started.

Golett hummed, not even looking at the fighting type while water still drained from his internal system.

There was no sound. Only the splash of Hitmonchan stepping into the water with its ever-active footwork.

Maylene went first. "Ice Punch!"

"Hammer Arm!" Cecilia yelled.

Ice surrounded Hitmonchan's fists as the fighting type ran in. Golett only had time to lift an arm before Hitmonchan ducked and slammed both of its fists into the ground type's torso. Golett's eyes flickered, but he was too heavy to fly off. He stumbled a few steps and regained his footing while Hitmonchan followed. Golett smashed a fist downward, but Hitmonchan grabbed it before it could make contact—

And its eyes bulged when it realized how strong Golett was. Its arm bent the wrong way and Cecilia heard a loud crack reverberate through the arena. Golett's fist slammed against the floor and sharpened shards of rocks exploded and stabbed into the fighting type.

"Shadow Punch!" Cecilia snapped.

Quicker than Hammer Arm this time, Golett followed up on his attack and punched Hitmonchan in the leg. Aura exploded out of the fighting type's body, but that was more a last act of desperation instead of a sound strategy, and it hadn't been ordered by Maylene. The attack harmed Golett, but there was only so much a Pokemon could do with a broken arm, and Maylene's Pokemon didn't take kindly to retreat. Hitmonchan fought with its one good arm and landed three quick jabs with Ice Punch on Golett before the ground type finished it off with another Shadow Punch.

"Hitmonchan is unable to battle. Leader Maylene, send out your last Pokemon!"

"Keep it up, darling," Cecilia said. Having recently gained a new appreciation for affection, Golett's head spun around 180 degrees to look at her as he celebrated with a loud hiss of his engine.

Maylene released that same Mienshao, who calmly observed the state of the battlefield until Maylene began to order her.

"Go in with Bounce," Maylene said.

"Shadow Ball. Make it as big as possible and keep it there."

The purple, ghostly energy intertwined in front of Golett as Mienshao nearly flew toward the ground type. She was under no illusion that she'd be able to hit the attack, so the plan was to make it explode in the fighting type's face when she hit.

"Knock Off!" Maylene yelled.

The Shadow Ball dissolved with a whispering scream as Mienshao wrapped one of her whips— the fleshy extensions on her arms— in darkness and simply hit the attack, and then went on to slap Golett's face with the same attack. The golem independently retaliated with a quick Shadow Punch, but Mienshao jumped above him and tripped him from behind. Golett fell into the puddle of water and Mienshao grabbed onto one of his arms with a foot on his leg to prevend him from standing up.

"Push through! Hammer Arm!"

"It's too strong! Let go!" Maylene yelled.

Mienshao listened, slipping away from Golett right when the ghost type slammed the ground with Hammer Arm again. She returned as quickly as she'd left with another Knock Off ready to go.

"Mega Punch her knee!" Cecilia yelled with an extended arm.

Mienshao kept rushing in, but she twisted her body around in hopes of avoiding their attack. Mienshao's main weakness on the ground was how frail she was. All they needed was one hit to ground her. A small Shadow Ball so weak it might as well have been created by a one-badge Pokemon flew out of Golett's outstretched arm and buried itself into Mienshao's knee and tripped her up. Her whip slammed against the ghost type's face and his eyes flickered off, but he punched her in the knee and she hissed as she jammed him in the throat. His rune finally lost its light. Cecilia recalled him and took a deep breath.

"Golett is unable to battle! Challenger, send out your last Pokemon!"

And now for the finisher, she thought.

The first thing she did was release Zweilous as far as she could from Mienshao. The dragon snarled and nearly started drinking the water on instinct until Cecilia snapped her fingers. Mienshao walked with a limp, and Cecilia knew her Bounce and High Jump Kick would either be extremely slow or out of the picture completely. That only left her with Wide Guard.

"Nasty Plot and Dragon Pulse," Cecilia muttered with unblinking eyes.

"Wide Guard, then go in! There'll be an opening!" Maylene ordered.

For a few seconds, Sol and Zerst dared to dream.

The draconic power swelled in their throats. It bulged and screamed to get out. For freedom. Zweilous let loose two Dragon Pulses, and it combined into the largest one she had ever seen out of them. Bright turquoise power shone all around the arena and glimmered against the surface of the disturbed water. It expanded until it was as if the energy took the form of a dragon's head, and it drew upon everything Zweilous had.

Mienshao grunted, and an enormous barrier shimmered in front of her as she planted her feet into the ground and extended her hands. The Dragon Pulse slammed into the Wide Guard and roared until the shield shattered into a thousand pieces. Like the sound of broken glass, of a plate falling on the floor or the shattering of ice. The attack swallowed Mienshao whole and destroyed everything else in its path.

The water returned to its calm state.

Sol and Zerst wheezed, their burning lungs hungry for fresh air as they stumbled, barely able to stand up straight.

Mienshao had fallen on the ground. Maylene recalled her with a smile.

"Victory to the Challenger!"

She'd believed in herself every step of the way.