CHAPTER 224 - Rivals II

Hey, I'm sorry about yesterday night. It was honestly just a stupid misunderstanding that doesn't have to mean anything. I'll see you later, I've got to iron things out before the battle.

That was the message I'd sent Cece this morning as I made my way to the isolated patch of beach. A night of sleep had cleared my mind some, and I'd also… called my dad last night to vent to him about it. I could tell he was angry I'd called him that late on a weekday, but he stayed up and talked to me.

And he told me I was just being stupid and that I'd probably laugh at this in five years. With Cece, if we were still together. Apparently we were blowing this up and making it a big deal for no reason.

He was obviously wrong, but it felt nice to have spoken to him about it. He was probably incredibly tired this morning at work, so I hoped he wasn't angry at me. I made it to the boardwalk, and Princess lifted me up the rocks with Extrasensory. I was surprised to see that Jasmine was here this morning. I hadn't expected to see her this early, even if this was technically a spot we shared. The Gym Leader waved at me and smiled as Princess and I walked toward her.

"Hi. Nice seeing you here," she said as she stared at the calm waves.

"Morning. Uh, would it bother you if I trained here? It's just low-intensity stuff, nothing major. I have to iron out a final technique with Princess, and the others could use the warm-up."

"Sure, don't let me rain on your parade," she said. "You have a battle today, I heard."

"Oh, you know about that? Yeah, it's with my best friend— he actually wanted to meet you if you don't mind."

"I don't. Regarding your battle, Craig told me about it and that he'll be watching. Denzel Williams interests him."

"I figured. Any advice for me?" I asked.

"No. You've seen plenty already."

"Seen… the battle you mean? I mean, It did inspire some ideas."

"See? You're already learning," she smirked. "Steal, Grace. Steal everything you see and make it your own."

"Well I'll get back to you when I can create a beam of light so intense it melts rocks," I joked as I released my Pokemon. "Want to talk a little? With Sunshine?"

Jasmine stared at the dragon, who huffed.

"That would be my pleasure."

—

I was just in time to the arena, and it was packed to the brim. Denzel had advertised it beforehand and I could barely navigate the damn thing. After squeezing past people bigger than me for around two minutes, I finally made it through. The trainers had cleared a space for us— including our friends. There was a phone mounted onto a stick with Pauline and Emilia standing next to it. Denzel spoke to them, probably about some technical stuff. Everyone who had been at my party was here. Lauren stood alone in a corner with Sirris hovering around her. Chase and Mira sat on the ground, and she was showing him something on her phone.

"Grace. We were wondering where you were," Erin said as she began walking by my side. "Do you want anything before the fight? Water? A snack?"

"I'm good Erin. Relax. You're more nervous than I am."

"Are you nervous? I have a stress ball in my bag, and it's very effective."

"Oh, it's just the pre-battle jitters. It's alright, nothing unusual," I smiled.

We continued across the arena until we reached the battlefield I would fight on, and Cecilia greeted me with a tight hug. My eyes drifted to her hand, and I was glad to see she was still wearing the ring. It was beautiful on her. She also donned the sunglasses I'd given her on her head.

"There you are. I'm sorry for freaking out so much," she said. "I spoke with Pauline. She, well, she told me I was making a big deal out of it for nothing."

"Well she sure was acting like it was a big deal at the party. But my dad said that too," I nodded. "So, we're good?"

"We were always good," she said. "And I'm not going to lie, I had no idea couple rings existed due to my… peculiar upbringing. I was just taken aback by the entire thing, since I hadn't expected it at all."

"Yeah, sorry about that," I said with a nervous chuckle. "It looks great on you, though. The sunglasses too. I should get going though, it's going to start soon."

"Good luck on your battle. I'll be rooting for you."

"Thank you. I'll talk to you later!" I yelled as I passed her.

It looked like Maeve was going to be the referee since she stood to the side of the arena and kept slicing across the air with an arm like she was practicing the motion. I gave her a thumbs up and she called me over.

"Grace! I thought you'd be late!"

"Why is everyone saying that?" I scoffed. "I was just at the beach, relax."

"You were at the beach before such an important battle?" She asked.

"No, I was training and speaking to a friend," I said. "Anyway, what's up?"

"You've got to tell me which Pokemon you're starting with—"

"Pupitar," I said. "Is that it?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Good luck in your referral duties."

"I mean, it's not that difficult of a job…"

I noticed that Erin had started pressing on her stress ball behind me, and I patted her on the back.

"Are you okay?"

"I just really want you to win," she said.

"Aw. Thanks."

After a few seconds, I waved to Denzel and finally reached them. They were opposite of Maeve to get the best shot of the battle possible. I greeted all of my friends with a hug and leaned toward the phone.

"Are you already streaming?" I asked.

"Yes, they can hear you right now. I wanted to start early in case we came across any technical difficulties. Pauline and Emi are emergency moderators because it's getting really toxic— wait, don't read the chat!"

I squinted at the phone and saw a flurry of messages going far too fast to read any of them except the ones that were appearing over and over. People were spamming a bunch of different messages with emojis to support Denzel or me. The number of viewers was… 72,021 and rising. I felt a twinge of nervousness that eased when I took a few deep breaths.

"What does 'spam this pretzel to support Denzel' mean?" I asked. "I guess it rhymes."

"Just… it's a meme I have on my channel. Just ignore it," he said.

"Should we put it on emote only?" Emilia asked.

"No! That'd be terrible. Not even the Conference does that," Denzel shook his head. "Are we ready to start?"

"I'm ready," I said.

My best friend nodded, and outstretched a hand. "May the best trainer win."

I shook his hand. "May the best trainer win."

"Was that for the stream?" Erin asked. "Can I speak?"

"Yes, Erin, you can speak," Pauline sighed. "And by the way, all you fucking morons in the chat. If I see you get toxic I'll make sure to ban you and tell Denzel to never let you chat again no matter how many unban requests you send!"

The chat devolved into a flurry of pauLines… I didn't really understand why the L was highlighted, but I just decided that I wasn't going to get streamer culture for a while and that was fine.

"Remember, Pauline. Supporting one side is fine, you can even get a little spicy if you want, but toxicity, insulting us or our Pokemon is off limits. Get it?" Denzel said. "Emi, you keep her in line."

"I'm not sure making her a mod was a good idea, Denzel," Emilia muttered. "And two moderators for a stream that's probably going to have a hundred thousand people is insane in the first place."

Pauline huffed. "Shut up! I can do this just fine!"

Denzel let out a half-restrained groan. "Okay everyone, we're going to start. Uh, make sure to subscribe if you're a first-time viewer because a lot more of these are coming. Oh, and this battle is brought to you by…'

He started listing all of his sponsors, and we finally went our separate ways. I climbed onto the podium and tried to ignore the crowd of people to my right. At least they were almost all trainers, so they knew to stay silent.

"Guys! Guys, come on!" Erin yelled.

I turned and saw a group of people lift a huge, clumsily made pink banner with my name on it and drawings of my team. New Wave had come to support me. The last bits of anxiety melted away as I turned toward them and waved with a huge grin. Erin clapped and they cheered for a few seconds until they respectfully quieted down, but they did keep the banner up.

Arceus, those kids were the cutest.

Denzel faced me as he clenched a fist behind his legs and grabbed his first Pokeball. This was definitely the biggest audience we'd ever had for a battle outside of a Gym— more than our double battle in Hearthome, even if you discounted the stream. I had spent numerous days thinking about the Pokemon he would start with in numerous ways, and there was a multitude of reasons I'd gone with Sweetheart. My team's biggest weakness right now were poison types, and Denzel's Roserade was a perfect choice. Not only would her poison type moves destroy Angel and possibly break through Princess' barrier like Craig's Eelektross had done to Jasmine's Metagross, but her grass typing meant that she'd screw over Buddy and Sweatheart as well, even if I had a tactic for the water type to at least fight back. Only Honey could fight her on equal footing, but he'd need to get close with Ice or Fire Punch. Roserade was basically what any trainer worth their salt would start with.

But Denzel knew that I knew this. And he also knew that he'd be able to hang Roserade over my head like a guillotine. He would not start with her. No, he would expect me to begin the fight with Honey, since that was my only play, and he'd send out either Lopunny or Sylveon since I was sure he'd keep Froslass for later in the fight and they were better suited to fight Honey, even if I was sure he would be able to do well against them. Of course, I wanted to keep him against Roserade and Milotic.

That meant that I could only start the battle with Sweetheart. She would destroy Sylveon in a one-on-one or put up a fight against Lopunny before I recalled her. Maeve ordered us to release our Pokemon, and we both did so.

I hummed when I saw that Denzel released Froslass. Snowflakes fell around the ice type and the ground under her feet froze over as she let out an ethereal giggle. Had he mind-gamed me and faked me out? Or had I overthought things? I hid the annoyance on my face and took a deep breath. Maeve counted down as she brought an arm up and slashed across the air.

"Begin!"

"Double Team and Confuse Ray!" Denzel ordered.

Froslass split into ten after-images and her eyes gleamed as frost overtook them all. Ten dim lights crawled out of the powdery snow, screaming for freedom and beelined toward Pupitar. I had no idea which one was the real one and they were all spreading out and covering the entire arena, so dodging wasn't an option. This was a really bad matchup for Sweetheart.

But that didn't mean she was useless.

I waited for a few seconds and internally smirked when I saw some of the Confuse Rays hanging back and more appear around each of Froslass' clones.

"Go in and Rock Slide from below," I said.

The rock type kicked up dust and rocks as she let out the pressurized air out of her cocoon and rushed forward. She expertly navigated the field of Confuse Rays— and I could tell Denzel had not expected that. The frozen ground below her feet rumbled as rocks burst out and tried to swallow her and her clones whole. Three of them disappeared, but the rest dispersed and escaped, slipping into another plane of existence. The remaining Confuse Rays fizzled out.

Where's Blizzard? I thought to myself as the rocks collapsed back to the floor.

Without a command from Denzel, Hail began to form near the arena's ceiling and crashed toward the ground, chipping at Pupitar's armor.

"Ice Shard!" Denzel yelled.

The ghost and her clones appeared all around Sweetheart and small shards of ice broke against her. I bit the inside of my lip and recalled her. I'd be fighting from behind, but she'd done enough scouting while taking minimal amounts of damage.

One, Denzel wasn't using Blizzard for whatever reason. Two, Froslass had gotten good enough with Double Team to make the clones' attacks actually take a physical form. I hadn't been sure with the Confuse Rays, but this confirmed it.

I released Angel next and immediately called out for a Sunny Day.

"Don't let them! Confuse Ray!"

"Knock Off the lights," I added.

He'd probably expected Sunny Day to take as long as it had against Maylene, but it came in only a few seconds. A strange light began to shine and weakened the Hail. We wouldn't get the full benefits from Chlorophyll, and Froslass' Hail wouldn't deal as much damage either. When Froslass formed three more clones and sent out the Confuse Rays again, I realized that her hard limit was ten— unless it was a trick.

Angel's vines exploded out of his body, each of them wreathed in darkness and reflecting no light. He swatted the Confuse Rays like bugs, and they dissolved with pained screams. Denzel's fist stayed clenched and tightened for the next five seconds, and he let out the smallest hint of a sigh.

"Blizzard."

Why was Blizzard a disappointment? What was he hiding?

"Ancient Power," I said.

We only had a few seconds to work with. Tangrowth encased himself in rocks, leaving only the top bare, and the battlefield was engulfed in the snowstorm right as he finished the fourth wall. That meant that we weren't benefitting from Chlorophyll, at least for now, and I couldn't see or hear anything. Just the howling of the wind and the frost battering against the psychic barrier.

I bit the inside of my lip until the Blizzard wavered earlier than usual, and I couldn't help but internally scream for joy. The fact that we'd made no roof had been a bait for Froslass to attack, and she'd bitten. The Blizzard dissolved, revealing Tangrowth's collapsed frozen walls of protection, and I saw him squeezing the life out of Froslass with Knock Off. The entire field had been overtaken by a thick layer of snow and his body was coated in a thick layer of frost.

Denzel swept his arm. "Push through! Freeze the vines and escape!"

"Leech Seed!" I yelled.

Seeds exploded out of Angel and three of them landed on the ice type before she could freeze Angel's vines and break free. She was struggling to do it through dark TE, but we weren't anywhere as good as Chase and Cecilia in that regard. Froslass flickered in and out of reality, her eyes glazed over and unfocused as the Leech Seed slowly drained her energy. I normally would have used spore attacks here, but Froslass didn't breathe.

"Crush some rocks and throw 'em," I continued.

Angel divided his collapsed walls into smaller shards, and then swept them within his vines, throwing dozens of them at a time. We'd taken inspiration from my battle with Roark for that little trick. Froslass cried out in pain as the rocks tore through her body and she began to leak ghostly energy.

"Frost Breath!" Denzel screamed.

"Ancient Power!"

Her weakness bought us the precious second we needed. The air in front of Froslass grew so cold it was freezing over and blew toward Angel, who raised another four walls around himself. I internally swore when her clones started reappearing. Was that why he hadn't been using Blizzard? Because she couldn't maintain them while using the move? They certainly were a lot more annoying to deal with than some snow.

Angel beat the clones with Knock Off, the ones he managed to hit disintegrated in one attack. The ones that didn't, though, created Ice Shards that buried themselves inside of him and Frost Breaths that rendered his vines unusable—

And the real Froslass— the one with the Leech Seed— created ten icicles above Angel and let them drop. We'd trapped ourselves in our own barrier and the move was undodgeable. The grass type's vines wriggled in agony as each Icicle stabbed into Angel's body.

Damn, Froslass was tough to crack.

But she'd been weakened enough for what I needed. It was time to pull on Angel's first and only anti-Froslass contingency plan.

"Collapse the walls and detach!" I yelled.

I reveled in the confusion in Denzel's eyes.

"Keep your distance and keep attacking! Ice Shard and Frost Breath!"

Angel dissolved the last two clones with a Knock Off as Froslass created another ten and they all used Frost Breath in congruence. Angel pushed himself to the right using the few rays of sunlight that shone through the hail and ran using his vines. He was almost permanently suspended in the air and almost slipped on the snow multiple times. The grass type circled around the Froslass and ten of his vines turned dark.

Then, they detached from his body and flew toward the real Froslass. The ice type screamed, and clones bunched themselves up in front of her body and attempted to freeze them. But I'd sent ten for a reason, and the darkness was a nice protective coat against ice Type Energy. They wrapped around Froslass and her clones like a lasso, and they all dissolved, leaving only the real body.

"Knock Off!" I yelled.

Angel slammed another vine against Froslass, but he only opened a deep gash against the snowy floor. Denzel recalled her with a relieved sigh and thought for a few seconds on who to send out. He decided to play his hand early and use Roserade. The flamboyant grass type glared at Angel. She'd never liked him, mostly because she considered him simple-minded.

Her poison would make minced meat out of him. It pained me to be behind in switches right after I'd equalized the match, but there was too much risk involved with letting Tangrowth fight Roserade. I retrieved him and released Honey instead, much to Denzel's annoyance. Without Froslass and Angel here, the Hail and the sun were on their way out and would be gone in the next minute.

"Poison the field," Denzel ordered.

My eye twitched as gallons of noxious, purple liquid so toxic that the ground began to melt sipped out of Roserade's flowers. At first, it only contaminated the ground around her, but her eyes shone and it began to seep further. I recognized that move. Extrasensory. Approaching her would be devastating for us, and the more we waited, the more the poison would spread.

"Thunderbolt," I muttered.

The attack was practically instant. Electricity zipped toward Roserade and ransacked through her body, but the fact that she was a grass type meant that she'd be able to take plenty of these. Still, Honey wasn't the same as he used to be. He had stamina to work with now, and these were too quick for Roserade to dodge. The poison type grunted as the fourth Thunderbolt singed her right in the head, and she began to run forward, bringing poison wherever she went.

"Sludge Wave!" Denzel yelled.

For the first time, my air of calmness broke. A wave of poison rose behind Roserade and the grass type threw it all toward Electabuzz. It was literally a tidal wave that was twice his height and left nowhere to dodge.

Holy fuck. That was power.

"Screech until you have to Protect!" I cried out.

The electric type's chest swelled as he inhaled and screamed. I still hadn't gotten used to the sound, and I had to cover my ears as the move's sheer force pushed back the poison around him until the vast majority had cleared. He pulled up the transparent green barrier and waited until the poisonous sea had turned back into a puddle.

We couldn't be defensive, or we'd drown.

"Go in and Ice Punch," I said.

Honey blurred forward, and every time he lifted a foot, he'd lost more of his fur and even some of his skin. Ice surrounded the electric type's fists as he closed in on Roserade.

"Extrasensory and whittle him down!" Denzel ordered.

Honey snarled as he sped up, and electricity crackled through his fur. He broke against the Extrasensory so quickly that his fist reached Roserade's face and punched her and sent her flying back. The grass type screeched, scrambling back up as sharpened leaves flew out of her petals, but a quick, low-powered Discharge from Honey fried all of them before they could reach us.

"Again!" I yelled. We couldn't afford to give them time to recover.

"Spore—"

"Don't!" I added, speaking over him.

Electabuzz slid against the poison and quickly rushed out of the powder's range, but the poison was slowly stacking up, and it was almost as if it subtly tried to climb higher than his ankles. I'd wanted to save this for future Pokemon, but I couldn't allow Roserade to take us down here, or I'd go from being at a slight disadvantage to losing.

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"Thunder," I breathed.

Electabuzz bared his teeth, pushing through the pain, and electricity ran through his fur as his body began to hum. The electric type spun his arms, and Denzel's hair began to stand on end.

"Seed Bomb! Break his focus!" Denzel said.

With a quiet nod, Roserade pointed her arms forward and sent out a series of exploding seeds, but they were underestimating us. We'd trained since Solaceon for this. The explosions rocked the arena, kicking up rocks and poison until the nefarious liquid rained down all over the field.

And then, an enormous Thunder broke loose with a deafening roar. The attack blinded me, but I bared and squinted through it. The poison at Honey's feet evaporated and turned into noxious smoke while fissures and gashes opened up everywhere the electricity touched. The loud aftershocks drowned out Roserade's screams, and the grass type convulsed against the floor. Honey took a deep breath, and I could tell he was kind of tired, but we needed to push while she was down.

"Fire Punch," I said.

Not missing a beat, Electabuzz' fists caught on fire and the electric type blurred toward Roserade. Denzel grimaced and recalled his Roserade before she could get hit. He hadn't expected such a powerful move coming from us, and it was a good thing I'd only told Cece and Erin about it. He ran a hand through his hair, and then sent out Froslass again. I wasn't surprised, especially when Honey didn't really have reliable ways to defend himself against sustained attacks and we couldn't exactly fight back.

"Blizzard!" He immediately barked.

The ice type was still tired from her short fight with Angel, but the attack was second nature to her now. She would easily dodge Thunderbolt and Thunder, and getting up close was impossible with a floating ghost.

"Get in there and Discharge," I said.

Electabuzz ran, leaving behind him a trail of electricity and he jumped as high as he could before the full force of the Blizzard appeared. Electricity erupted around him and Froslass cried out, but she managed to finish up her Blizzard. Without dark type moves, throwing her off her game was impossible. I grabbed Honey's Pokeball and recalled him before the Blizzard could deal too much damage. He was my best possible counter against Roserade.

This was it. No more switching. No more musical chairs. Just commitment. Froslass obviously noticed that I'd switched, because she ended her Blizzard early to save her energy. I could have spent the full thirty seconds allowed between switches wasting her stamina, but she was smarter than that. Even if there was now a thick layer of ice over the poison, sending out Angel here again wouldn't work, especially when they knew our trick now and would be warier, so I released Princess. The cold would seep past her shield some, but she was my best bet.

Plus, we'd been working on a new appliance for Ancient Power specifically for matchups like these where she would get swarmed and overwhelmed.

The fairy type immediately ripped out some chunks of earth from below the ground, and the stones began orbiting her.

"This is it! Double Team and send your clones! You stay back and Hail!" Denzel yelled.

This is it? That was his plan, then. The ice type split into ten once more and all of the appearances rushed toward Princess while the real Froslass sang, calling forth another Hail. The chunks of ice broke against Togetic's barrier, but it would be additional pressure on her.

The clones spewed a Frost Breath that froze even the air, and they were smart enough not to get in the range of Dazzling Gleam. Togetic grunted as two of her stones melded and stretched into a wall, but the rest of the clones circled around her as they kept their attacks going.

"Shrapnel."

The wall stretched around Togetic's entire body, using all of the rocks she had, and then it exploded everywhere. They tore through the clones' bodies, and they disappeared with pained screams. Some even impacted Princess' barrier, but none of it went through. With a soft grunt, the stones immediately circled around her like the rings of a planet and rebuilt themselves into larger chunks. It was a perfect attack to take care of enemies surrounding her without putting down her barrier.

"Keep those for defense!" I yelled before snapping. "Extrasensory and spears!"

Denzel's face went through numerous expressions as the air around Froslass blurred and the ghost was stuck. She tried disappearing, but even while she was gone, Princess wouldn't let her go. Spears flew toward the ice type with a spin and stabbed into every inch of her body. Froslass' bright yellow eyes dimmed, and she fainted, falling on the floor without a single sound.

It had been a trick to catch them off-guard, and it had worked. A brutal misdirection that didn't leave them time to switch, just how I loved them. By the time he'd grabbed Froslass' Pokeball, it had been too late. Denzel took a deep breath, no doubt to calm himself down as he recalled Froslass and sent out Roserade again. Her body was still smoking from the Thunder that had hit her minutes earlier.

"Extrasensory," I immediately ordered. Psychic would be better, but I didn't want us to get too close.

"Counter it and Poison Cutter!" Denzel yelled.

Poison Cutter? That had to be the same as Water Cutter, I quickly thought. He'd taken inspiration, then.

Both Pokemons' eye shone as they engaged in a mental battle. Roserade let out a soft cry as Princess' psychic powers slowly beat out hers and the space around her slowly began to turn. Roserade aimed a hand forward—

"Shield yourself with rocks too!" I commanded.

—and let loose a powerful stream of poison as thin as a laser toward Princess. The fairy type stuck the stones together and formed them into one big barrier, but the poison was so potent that it melted right through the rocks and Princess' barrier. Togetic cried out as the fur on her chest sizzled and the poison ate at her skin, exposing her pink flesh.

The attack was short, so still blockable by Honey's Protect, which was probably why she hadn't used it against him. Either that, or they'd wanted to keep it a surprise, and fuck, it worked. Honey was truly my only counter.

Anyone else though? There was nothing we'd be able to do to stop it.

I couldn't let her see this through.

"Spears! Stab her and Air Cutter!" I yelled.

"Again!"

"Layers!" I added.

Princess was still staggered and reeling from the pain, but the remainder of the rocks around her turned into a multitude of layers as the flying type lowered herself and pulled a few spears to chuck at Roserade. They stayed low to the ground, and the grass type opted to take the attack to attempt another hit. She lowered herself to one knee, taking aim with a closed eye, and the small jet of poison beelined toward Princess.

It melted through every layer. Slower, this time, but it did.

The spears stabbed into Roserade's shoulder and gut, and a half-formed Air Cutter hit her in the back as well. Air Cutter would deal more damage, but the pain from stabbing? That would stay, and hopefully throw her focus off. Roserade could barely move without feeling agony through her wounds and screamed out in frustration.

"Again!" Denzel yelled.

Now that we'd stabbed her, we could focus entirely on Air Cutter. I ordered Togetic to use the move, and it came much quicker this time, cutting Roserade to ribbons while the poison type again inflicted incredible damage on Princess. She finally fainted after the third hit, and her body was in a terrible state. Almost no fur to speak of except on her face, which had been spared by Roserade because this was a friendly battle. I wiped my sweaty hands against my skirt and pondered on who to use next—

"Synthesis!" Denzel ordered.

But that was thrown out the window when a yellow glow overtook Roserade and she began to heal from the damage Princess had dealt. I immediately sent out Honey, who was the only one who would be able to counter Poison Cutter. Buddy could potentially hide on the ground, but that would mean we weren't attacking, and mere shades would be destroyed by Roserade before they could strike.

Luckily, the spears were still penetrating her body, and she couldn't exactly get them out— not without hands, and using poison at the force needed to melt them would hurt Roserade as well.

"Spore Bomb!" Denzel yelled.

Roserade grunted in pain as she angled her two flowers forward, and multicolored spores flew toward Honey. The electric type blurred forward, avoiding it by a large margin he as awaited my next order.

"Magical Leaf!" Denzel said.

"Discharge!" I countered.

This time, multicolored leaves flew out of Roserade's flowers, and just like last time, Discharge easily dispatched of them. Roserade kept throwing attacks at Honey, who countered with Thunderbolt and dodged many times. For four minutes, Roserade healed any damage we'd done with more Synthesises. We were both at a bit of an impasse here. I wanted to get close to use Fire or Ice Punch, but I couldn't because that would open us up to more Poison Cutters. Honey wouldn't have the time to put up a Protect if he was at point-blank range, and I wasn't sure if Screech would allow us an opening. I couldn't take risks now that I was out of switches. Thunder would be too slow to charge up too.

At least the floor wasn't poisonous this time, because Denzel knew he would have no way to turn it back to normal for his other Pokemon. I leaned against my knees as Electabuzz roared out another Thunderbolt, and Roserade tried to catch him off-guard with more spores. He slipped away before they could even cling to his fur, and every time they were too many, he simply Screeched them away.

But slowly, we were inching our way toward a victory. Inch by inch, Roserade's Synthesis grew weaker and our Thunderbolts didn't waver one bit. Denzel's lips went flat when he realized he wouldn't be able to outlast us, and he finally decided to use his last switch of the battle.

The fact that Roserade was in the back was worrying, but I'd leave that for future me and Buddy. Denzel sent out Sylveon, who stared at Honey with disdain and unblinking eyes. The glamour around his short fur materialized in an instant, and he grew slightly blurry at the edges.

"Thunder," I immediately said.

They were far enough for us to launch the attack. Electricity hummed through Electabuzz's body and crackled through his fur.

Denzel winced. He knew Detect wouldn't be enough. Thunder was no Thunderbolt. It was too wide and struck in every direction.

"Swift ASAP!" Denzel ordered. "Break his focus!"

If Seed Bomb hadn't worked, Swift would not, but Denzel had always been a positive one. Sylveon ran forward, ignoring the immense power that was about to course through his body and fry him alive as pink stars appeared around him and flew toward Honey. They winked out and seemed to appear next to him quicker than they should have, and the electric type grunted as they spun and dug into his skin like saws.

That was new, I muttered. But still not enough. Blood seeped from Electabuzz's wounds, but he did not waver. He would not.

Honey let the Thunder loose, and I covered my eyes once more as multiple explosions rocked the arena. Ice broke and shattered under the move's weight, and Sylveon's glamour disintegrated in one attack. Unfortunately, it had still shielded him from the vast majority of the damage, and he'd gotten away with minor burns on his fur. Honey heaved as the fairy type got ever closer.

"Screech and Thunderbolt!" I yelled.

"Detect and Play Rough!"

Electabuzz bellowed all of the air out of his lungs, and Sylveon winced. His ears went flat against his head and a short Thunderbolt impacted his neck, and the fairy type convulsed on the floor.

Denzel clenched his teeth, and I stared right at him. I will never let you use Detect.

"Keep your distance and Thunderbolt," I continued. There was no way to beat Sylveon up close, especially with how exhausted Honey was getting. One more Thunder left.

I swallowed when I saw that Sylveon's ribbons all converged toward Honey even when the fairy type was playing dead. Electabuzz side-stepped a ribbon that whipped against the ground and ran off. My eye twitched when it extended way past its normal length and tripped him before wrapping around his leg. Sylveon slowly stood as he tilted his head and stared at me. The ribbons slowly dragged Electabuzz toward him, and despite being able to push through the ribbons' compulsive soothing, he wasn't able to break free.

"Thunder!" I yelled.

This one even caught Denzel off-guard. He hadn't expected three. Electricity coursed through Sylveon's ribbons as Honey charged the attack—

"Play Rough, now!"

Sylvi's ribbons shone pink, and lifted Honey in the air like he weighted nothing. He began beating him against the ground like a ragdoll over and over, but Thunder didn't require much focus. It was a burst of a massive amount of electric TE in a general direction. The electricity intensified until Sylveon started weakening.

"Let go and Disarming Voice!" Denzel yelled.

I clicked my tongue. I already knew what was coming. Sylveon screamed, and the electricity around Honey dimmed, burying at least half of the time we'd charged the attack. It allowed the fairy type to keep beating Honey up without restraint, and he fainted soon enough. I smiled as I recalled him. So much progress. This battle and our old ones were like night and day.

I had a Pokemon deficit now, but Roserade's stamina was done for and Sylveon's glamour was gone. I just needed someone to push through.

I sent out Buddy, who floated high up in the air away from Sylveon's ribbons. Using him guaranteed Roserade would be next if I knocked out Sylveon, but that was perfectly fine. There was a long-term plan at play here. Like in the battle with Maylene, he left the tiniest part of his body the closest he could have it. This time, however, it clung to the barrier right in front of me.

"Swift!" Denzel yelled. "Disarming Voice if he gets close!"

Now, Sylveon's weakness could truly shine. The invisible Swift only tickled Buddy, and the gashes in his body regenerated right away. It was the next order that made me panic.

"Wish!"

I was on a timer.

"Shades, Poison Sting and Hydro Pump," I said in quick succession.

Sylveon cried out, and a light flew out of his forehead and through the ceiling while shadows weaved and intertwined, creating two silent shades. The water type had instinctively understood me. The Shades reared their heads and spat out a multitude of Poison Stings, which Sylveon desperately ran away from, but there were too many to dodge and he couldn't use Detect forever. The Shades cornered him together, and the spikes buried themselves deep in Sylveon's hide, slowly secreting their poison.

Jellicent, meanwhile, inhaled as his head swelled twice the usual size, and a stream of water powerful enough to dent steel washed over the arena, destroying much of the remaining ice and throwing Sylveon against the left side of the barrier.

"Swift and run away!" Denzel yelled.

Obviously he wanted to stall this, but—

I stopped my train of thought and blinked.

"Keep attacking," I ordered. "Use Water Pulse."

I sensed the ghost type's confusion, but he listened without hesitating. Sylveon was put under a true deluge. One of the shades covered him with brine, and the raindrops stabbed into him like knives. The other kept harassing him with Poison Sting and Buddy himself kept to the skies and used a multitude of moves. Water Pulse, Shadow Ball, Bubblebeam— anything that was appropriate for the situation. Sylveon retaliated, of course, but he only had Swift to work with. No Moonblast yet. The pink stars penetrated one of the shades and caused it to explode, but we weren't green with the tactic anymore. They were spaced out at all times to avoid collateral damage. Buddy simply let out a series of loud clicks, and a Night Shade formed anew.

And then, the Wish returned from the skies, healing Sylveon's wounds.

"Finish him," I instantly said.

Buddy's red eyes glinted, and two Hydro Pumps and another set of Poison Stings immediately rushed toward Sylveon. The fairy type gargled on the water and was continuously kept in the right corner of Denzel's side of the arena due to Hydro Pump's sheer force and pressure. Half of the Poison Sting didn't even make it because of the water, but that was perfectly fine.

Sylveon fainted, unable to fight back in any way, shape, or form.

Wish had made me panic at first, but then I realized that there was simply no way for Sylveon to even make use of it. Roserade, however, would have. The best choice had been to let the Wish complete and destroy Sylveon before he could use another one. Denzel recalled the fairy type and immediately sent out Roserade, just like I'd predicted. Predictions didn't matter much if I lost, however.

It was time to bring back an old trick.

"Mist," I said as I subtly motioned my fingers downward. "Keep the shades on the defense."

"Magical Leaf!" Denzel ordered.

Jellicent inhaled, and he started spitting out a thick, cold mist that fell toward the floor. Roserade, now freed from the spears, quickly moved her arms in one smooth motion and released sharpened, multicolored leaves that flew toward the ghost. The Shades weren't equipped to stop such an attack. One of them summoned a Shadow Ball that split and released the smaller attacks like a machine gun, and they slammed into the grass type, creating a continuous, small explosion. The other Night Shade quickly floated in the way of the attack. It absorbed some of the hits, but exploded soon after, grazing Buddy in the process. The rest of the leaves buried themselves inside of the water type, who let out multiple, booming cries.

"Hide!" I exclaimed.

Jellicent lowered himself into the mist, and he would now be out of view from me, Denzel and Roserade. My best friend didn't even pause.

"Seed Bomb! Disperse the mist!"

The explosions rocked the field and the heat turned the remaining mist back into water, which dripped onto the remaining ice and rock. Roserade readied herself to send another Magical Leaf toward Buddy, but she blinked when she saw that he wasn't there. Not missing a beat, she dispatched the other Shade before it could attack again, and it sported a furious expression before exploding.

"He's underground! Synthesis!"

The poison type shone, using the last remaining bits of energy to regenerate herself from the damage from Shadow Ball. I had no idea how she was still doing so. It was like squeezing water from a stone. Since we hadn't managed to stop her before that, I decided to stay silent.

And so we waited.

For thirty seconds, nothing happened. I just let the tension build. Denzel and Roserade's eyes darted around the arena, waiting for anything to happen, but nothing ever did.

Until now.

"Drown and Hex!"

Buddy emerged from under Roserade and enveloped her. He had no form and continuously shifted as the grass type squirmed and fought to get out of his hold. Only his shining red eyes were still recognizable. At the same time, a vicious Hex hit Roserade and caused her to writhe in pain. The grass type thrashed around as violently as she could, hitting Jellicent with sharp leaves, spores and poison from the inside. This was risky, but we needed to take Roserade down.

"Seed Bomb!" Denzel yelled.

"Solidify!"

In an instant, Jellicent's body grew less transparent and Roserade slowed until she kept completely still. I squinted as multiple explosions shook the water type from the inside and internally swore when his body dispersed. They were too powerful for us to keep Roserade trapped. Buddy split into hundreds of pieces that slithered across the floor and returned to our side of the arena. When he reformed, his body was infused with poison and tinted purple. Roserade used another set of Seed Bombs, but Buddy easily avoided the attack by propelling himself upward with Water Sport.

"Magical Leaf!"

Again, Roserade let loose sharpened leaves that followed Jellicent wherever he went and cut him apart before he quickly regenerated. It was the only super effective move they could hit us with, but it was still destroying us, especially with the poison eating away at Buddy's energy.

"Night Shade. Bombard her."

The water type boomed, summoning half-formed misshapen shadows that looked nothing like him. With a silent, rageful scream, they all barreled toward Roserade. She grunted as Denzel barked for a Poison Cutter. The thin jet of poison cut the Shades apart, exploding them in one attack, but there were too many, and even if they sometimes aimed at the real body, he regenerated the damage as best he could. Buddy had traded time for utility, and eventually, a Night Shade slammed into Roserade, exploding into thick, shadowy smoke. The grass type reeled as she tried to keep her Poison Cutters going, but those two seconds of inattention were what we needed. More impacts than I could count destroyed Roserade and brought the grass type to her knees until she finally fell unconscious, poison dripping from her flowers. I sighed in relief and wiped the sweat off my forehead.

Relax, I told myself. I was slipping back into my old ways and showing what I felt. I hadn't cleared my mind before this battle like I had before my fight with Maylene, and we had basically passed the length of that battling with all the stalling. Focus. Don't slip.

Denzel used the full thirty seconds and released Milotic onto the field. At this point, it was a mix of overturned earth, ice, and water.

"Bomb him," I said again. The poison was eating through Buddy's energy, but if we could deal as much damage as we could, then we'd be in a great position.

"Dragon Pulse the ground!" Denzel yelled.

A turquoise beam of draconic energy slammed against the floor, slowly creating a crater that Milotic sunk in while the Shades floated toward the water type as fast as they could. I internally smiled when they all hit their mark, and ordered Buddy to summon another wave.

"Surf," Denzel continued.

Milotic spat out gallons of water as the shades around him exploded. The liquid dulled the explosions, but his scales were beginning to crack and he was struggling. Milotic filled his crater with water until it was full.

"Aqua Ring and Recover!" He said.

I'd known about Aqua Ring, but not Recover. Milotic went as deep as he could under the water and shone with a pale blue as lights spun around him. This was bad news. I'd wanted to expose his flesh to poison him with Poison Sting, but that wouldn't work now that Milotic was as good as new.

"Twister!" Denzel yelled.

"Get in that water and Absorb," I muttered, motioning him underground again. The jelly-like liquid clinging to the barrier wriggled. "Don't wait, strike right away."

The air quickly begin to spin as Milotic sang, infusing it with draconic energy, but it barely hit Buddy before he slipped through the floor.

Panic marred Denzel's eyes. He hadn't heard what I had said, only seen my lips move, and I had kept this tactic for an occasion like this after being inspired by the battle between Jasmine and Craig. Buddy's hearing wasn't good enough for this, but he could use a piece of himself to look at me and hear. Denzel was a Pokemon behind, clenching his fists and probably repeatedly telling himself that he could still do this. This was a new element added to the mix that he hadn't expected since I hadn't used it before.

I wanted him to spiral.

Denzel nervously licked his lips, but flinched when Jellicent appeared in Milotic's lake and wrapped his body around him. The whiplash he'd felt from us waiting for so long the first time we'd hid hit just like I wanted it to, and he took two seconds to say his next command.

Two seconds where Absorb could hit.

"Recover and Dragon Pulse!" Denzel ordered. "Outlast him!"

"Whirlpool," I whispered.

The water spun, speeding up until the two Pokemon became a blur of color. Multiple Dragon Pulses slammed against Jellicent and disintegrated parts of his body, but the water type didn't even bother to regather them. He wanted to save as much energy as he could, squeezing the life out of Milotic until he fell. They fought for an entire two minutes, Jellicent losing more and more mass until a final Dragon Pulse finished him off. The water clinging to the barrier fell, and the ghost type reflexively formed into a puddle I could recall. Milotic was unwounded, if just a bit tired. The Aqua Ring continuously spun around the water type as he sunk back into the calming waters. I immediately sent out Tangrowth and exhaled.

Lopunny wouldn't have been able to finish off Buddy as easily as Milotic did, but for that, he'd have to contend with this fight. There was also a risk that he'd known and that he had a tactic to counter us. Angel shook off the ice that Froslass had left on him and blinked at the water type, his vines shaking in excitement.

"Sunny Day and get in there," I immediately said.

"Dragon Pulse!"

A second sun shone once more, and it would until Angel won or fell. The intensity of the Aqua Ring lowered under the light's power. Wasting no time, Milotic peeked out of the water with a Dragon Pulse already formed, and it immediately slammed into a hastily erected barrier. Angel rushed toward the lake, but attacks from Milotic slowed him down so much and forced him to keep raising walls with Ancient Power. The water type switched things up, using Twister instead to slow him down further. Angel's loose vines spun in the wind as the grass type shut his eyes due to the pain. Somehow, Milotic could both maintain the Twister and use Dragon Pulse at the same time.

He was buying time and basically stalling me. I needed to break the dam, but Leech Seed and powder moves would just get lost in the tornado. It was so powerful that he'd take at least two more minutes to get to Milotic, even with the power of the sun at his back.

I bit my lip, and then blinked.

"Ancient Power! Give yourself a kick!"

A small pillar of rock burst behind Angel and slammed him at full force, sending him through the Twister. The grass type wasted no time, immediately propelling himself forward with his vines before Milotic could create a new Twister to trap him in. Once he got close enough, his vines surged forward.

"Giga Drain!" I yelled.

"Surf!" Denzel countered.

All of the water from the lake burst out and barreled toward Angel. The goal here wasn't damage, but to keep the grass type away from Milotic at all costs. Even with the sun, the current proved too much and pushed Tangrowth back.

"Anchor yourself!" I barked.

Denzel snapped, "Twister!"

Ten vines shone neon green with a Power Whip and dug into the floor as the water broke against the grass type. The rest of them still continued above the water and wrapped around Milotic's neck. The water type was too heavy for us to lift, but he squeezed as hard as he could as he began draining his energy and the vines gleamed with a dull green.

"Disarming Voice!" Denzel said with a hand around his jeans.

"Hit him!"

Milotic opened his mouth, but some of Angel's vines immediately intertwined and a Power Whip slammed against Milotic's face. The Disarming Voice came out a nonsensical mess, but Angel's hold over the water type still loosened slightly.

But not enough for him to escape.

The Surf finally ended, and Angel quickly pulled back the vines that he had attached himself with. The grass type closed the distance between him and Milotic and continuously hit with and drained his energy. Every time he tried to attack, Tangrowth would hit him with another Power Whip so strong that the only ones he could use were the quickest ones. Milotic kept himself to Dragon Breath, but soon enough, Denzel clicked his tongue.

"I'm withdrawing Milotic out of the fight," he said, recalling the water type.

That had been smart, but it was a little late. Angel had still drained much of Milotic's energy and used it to recover himself. Denzel cracked his fingers and sent out Lopunny. When she saw who she was fighting, her fists, feet and ears burst into flames, and the small amount of water under her feet that had come from Surf turned to vapor. I knew the normal type would dominate Sweetheart with her speed and Power-Up Punches, and unlike what I'd considered at the start of the battle, I had no more swaps to fall back on. If she defeated Angel, they'd actually have the advantage again. Denzel knew it. It was the only thing keeping him from getting lost in negative thoughts and making him battle worse.

The buck stopped here.

"Fake out!" Denzel ordered.

Lopunny blurred impossibly fast and slammed both fists deep inside of Angel's body. They'd combined Fake out and Fire Punch somehow. The grass type blinked and took a step back—

"Power-Up Punch!"

And was barraged by fiery kicks, punches and hits with Lopunny's ears. They'd combined those too!

"Spores!" I snapped, bringing my arm forward. "And stop your Sunny Day!"

Lopunny blurred back from the quick burst of spores as fast as she could, but even if she'd held her breath, they still clung to the non-burning parts of her fur and she would inhale them as the fight went on. The second sun dimmed, petering out into nothing, and Lopunny's fire type attacks weakened slightly.

"Grab her!" I yelled.

"Dodge and Shadow Ball! If he catches you, it's over!"

The normal type backflipped, twirling in the air as she turned into a ball of flames thanks to her ears. She burned Angel's vines away, and the spores on her fur. Still in the air, Lopunny gathered the shadows in front of her mouth and spat out a Shadow Ball toward Angel, which he blocked with Ancient Power.

"Collapse the wall and throw the rocks at her," I said.

The grass type swept his vines and gathered as many rocks as he could, throwing them toward Lopunny. The normal type waited until the last moment and dodged with a jump so powerful it left another crater behind her.

"Bounce!" Denzel yelled.

So he was going for broke, then, I quickly thought. "Spores and Ancient Power!"

The normal type turned into a flaming meteorite as the air pushed her forward. More spores quickly exploded out of Angel, and he raised a thick wall in front of him. Lopunny grunted as she burst through the wall in an instant. She'd used too many Power-Up Punches. The spores around Angel themselves caught on fire and his vines started to burn to a crisp. Even without Sunny Day, she'd gotten so good at elemental attacks that this was second nature to her.

"Hit her away!"

Even beneath the fire, I could see Knock Off's enveloping darkness. The energy coated some of the vines enough to keep them from burning, and Angel whipped her right flank at full force. The normal type tumbled to the ground and slid as the flames returned to her extremities. Even after all of this, Angel was still burning. The grass type sent out another set of vines and tried to grab at Lopunny's arms and legs. She side-stepped and ducked, crouching against the floor and then kept backing up.

"Wait him out! Run—" Denzel said.

"Walls!"

Three walls erupted around Lopunny and the normal type bumped her back against the rock. She'd been running backwards at full force. There was an opening for Angel to grab her, but Lopunny jumped—

And promptly hit her head on a half-formed ceiling. Arceus, that training with the pillars had worked wonders. Tangrowth was nothing but a few vines and the dark body within at this point, but he was still hidden by the fire. He didn't even waste an instant and five vines— the only ones that remained usable— wrapped around Lopunny's arms and legs. The normal type burned, and fire enveloped her entire body once more, but she was no fire type and I could tell she wasn't experienced with it because it hurt her as well. Denzel couldn't see what was happening to her, but he desperately craned his neck and yelled out her name.

Lopunny grunted as the Knock Offs impacted her, and she was forced to end her flame body, lest she choke on the fire. The walls collapsed as Tangrowth finally fell. He'd been burned to a crisp. I softly thanked him as I recalled him.

Lopunny was done for too. I kept a hand on Sweetheart's Pokeball as the normal type struggled to stand up. She raised herself with her hands, but then fell flat.

I'd won.

Denzel's shoulders sagged as he recalled Lopunny.

The first thought that flooded my mind wasn't the elation of victory, although that came second. I'd defeated Denzel. I'd won. And that was a big deal.

No. What was at the forefront of my mind were new ways to fight that I hadn't considered before. New moves, new applications for already-existing moves, things we needed to practice more before the battle with Volkner.

It was ideas.