CHAPTER 241

"What's wrong?" I immediately asked. "What happened?"

Cecilia's hands clenched around the desk, and Louis took a step back, almost like he was scared of her.

"I just got off the phone with the Champion," she explained. Her voice was perfectly still, and yet I couldn't help but notice the rageful feeling hidden deep within. "Clarence will be freed and sent back to Unova."

The information dropped on me like a ton of bricks, and my eyes widened. "No."

"Yes. Tomorrow, he will be put on a nice, private plane and go back home, and there is nothing we can do about it."

"Why?!" I yelled. "That's fucking bullshit!"

"Politics," Louis said. "Galar is leading the charge against Sinnoh and is implementing sanctions, and Unova would have followed had Cynthia not used Clarence as a political bargain—"

Louis' words died in his mouth when Cecilia drummed her fingers against the table.

"After everything he's done," she said. "He doesn't even get a slap on the wrist. The deal is already finalized."

"They won't do anything to him in Unova?"

Cecilia chuckled dryly. "In Unova? He's a king there, Grace," she said in a forceful tone. "I always knew that there was rot beneath Unova, but I was too naive to think that it wouldn't spread here. The world is more connected than it's ever been."

"Rot?"

"Mark is a spineless coward," Cecilia hissed, her voice full of venom. "You don't know how Unova's run, Grace. Let me explain."

She turned her seat toward me, her face still perfectly still. "The Championship is fake."

Louis scoffed. "It's not fake—"

"Louis."

The blond teenager froze up and bit his lip.

"The Championship is fake," she repeated, "and so is the Elite Four and parliament. No matter what political party you're a part of, you're beholden to the five conglomerates that actually rule the country. X Technologies, the Obel Energy Company, Avalon, Crescent Global, and the Opelucid Group. Together, these five companies account for 57% of our GDP."

X Tech, I internally muttered. Melody had spoken to me about them. They were most known for the Xtransceiver, but they delved into a lot more than Poketch did.

"Uh, is that a lot?" I asked.

"Grace, it's fucking enormous," she sighed. "Do you understand, now? They control everything. Politicians, the media, the Elite Four, and even my dear brother," she continued through clenched teeth. "Every child dreams of working at one of these five companies when they grow up. Even trainers dream of being sponsored by one of them. They're ingrained in every part of our culture."

"Ah. So what you're implying is that they got together and put pressure on Mark to free Clarence."

"I am not implying, I am saying," she forced. "I thought I could fix Unova from the inside, but the entire system needs to be blown up to smithereens and be rebuilt anew."

"You still plan on going?" Louis muttered.

"What? You want me to run? I've had enough of running," she declared. "I will be treated like a pariah. Now that tensions are rising, my closeness to Sinnoh will make me a target if I ever get anywhere close to the Conference there."

"Can't you call Cynthia? Get her to try to… negotiate, maybe?" Louis asked.

Cecilia chuckled, and I smiled wryly.

"You're too nice for your own good, Louis," Cece said. "Nothing can be done."

She clenched at her clothes, and I placed a hand on her back.

"So much abuse, and he gets nothing," she muttered, her voice finally breaking. "Nothing."

"We'll get him," I said. "I'll help you."

Something shifted in my head, and I reached an understanding.

Clarence was no longer paying for his crimes. Someone needed to fix it.

Some of Cecilia's rage was directed at Cynthia, but most of it was actually pointed at Mark. According to her, he had folded like a piece of paper and he was the worst Champion Unova could have, since he played into the hands of his 'owners' instead of actually fighting back. Apparently Galar was in a similar boat, although it was less an equal oligopoly (I had just learned that word today) and more like a hierarchy of companies with Macro Cosmos sitting at the top. Macro Cosmos handled everything in Galar, so much so that it was omnipresent. Technology, transport, media, the internet, construction, insurance, banking, energy… the list went on and on.

And Unova was just a different side of the same coin.

I didn't understand much of it, but it kind of sounded to me like they were just like a… whitewashed version of Kanto-Johto.

Cynthia had promised Cecilia a favor, but she had refused as strongly as humanly possible. Cecilia understood that Cynthia had done this to protect Sinnoh's interest, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be angry. She wanted nothing to do with the Champion, and she would want nothing to do with her until she needed to catch her Spiritomb or Team Galactic struck.

I just hoped this wouldn't impact her Gym Battle tomorrow.

When Louis left, Cecilia exhaled like the world was weighing down on her.

"Do you know what my first reaction to the news was?" She asked with tired eyes. I shook my head. "It was to use the Voice, Grace. To somehow force things to go my way."

"Well—"

"And it would be so easy," she interrupted. "So, so, easy. But I must not succumb to temptation. These powers are… a slippery slope. If anything happened to Clarence, then Sinnoh would reach the brink, and Team Galactic would take advantage. Things are never as simple as they seem."

I paused. "You're a good person, Cece. Just because you thought about it doesn't mean that you'd actually do it."

She tapped a finger against the table. "I don't know."

There wasn't much left to be said. Cecilia ended up sleeping alone that night.

—

Cecilia's anger had not subsided. It had carried over, magnified, twisted so much that I couldn't recognize her. I had seen her angry a few times, but never to such an extent. She was not one to scream in anger like I was. Instead, she would silently glare at you, pick you apart with words until you gave up or she won the argument by stepping all over you. Except that there was no argument to be won this time. Cynthia had made a decision, and it would be done no matter how much we pleaded. I wasn't one to understand politics. I didn't even know what sanctions were. Denzel had told me that tensions between the 'east' and the 'west' were growing a few months ago, but anytime he opened his mouth about politics I just started to snore.

Either way, none of that mattered now. Her Gym battle was finally starting. Cecilia had come dressed looking her best. Makeup dusted every inch of her face, and she wore a vibrant, high waisted yellow skirt that made her flawless dark skin pop, and a brown belt tied around a tucked pale blue chambray shirt.

Cecilia glared at Volkner when he approached the podium. He was just another outlet for her cold, calculated rage. Her battle would be the usual five-on-five with three switches allowed. Her first Pokemon materialized inside of the arena, the red light growing and growing until it reached thirteen feet tall. Lehmhart hummed, releasing vapor through every crack in his body as his eyes slowly lit up. She was starting strong, I thought. Volkner released a Heliolisk— one of the Pokemon I'd studied the most.

"Begin!" The referee yelled, slashing down with her arm.

"Sunny Day," Volkner said.

Heliolisk's frilled neck fanned out, and a second sun appeared in the sky. A Solar Beam was obviously next, but Cecilia swept her arm.

"Resonance and Hammer Arm."

Her tone was firm, resolute, and anything but loud. Lehmhart sang— a cacophony of sounds from machinery, to beeping, to hums, but there was also a melody there. A joyous one. He had gotten far better at playing music. The pulse of ghost type energy passed through Heliolisk, dispelling the huge glob of sunlight that had been charging in his mouth.

Golurk raised a glowing fist, and the world held its breath. No, it flinched.

Impact. The entire Gym quite literally vibrated at once as pure destruction was unleashed onto the field, and the referee blanched, calling for a second Kadabra.

Boulders exploded upward like shrapnel, and the arena split down the middle, opening up a huge crevasse and threatening to sink Heliolisk. A hole opened in Lehmhart's arm, and steam hissed out of it as if he needed to release the extra heat his punch had generated. The electric type was just recovering from Resonance, and he crawled up the walls with surprising dexterity.

"Shadow Punch."

Golurk brought up his other arm, and something snapped. A jet of powerful flames erupted around the arm, and half of it detached itself. The purple arm flew at full speed toward Heliolisk, golden flames and shadows mixing as one.

"Dragon Tail," Volkner said.

"Phantom Force. Crush him."

Heliolisk crawled over the chasm, and a blue light overtook his tail. He waited for the exact right time and slammed it against the flying Shadow Punch. The two stayed frozen there for a second as the electric type screeched to deflect the attack, but Lehmhart disappearing meant that he had other worries. His music cut off as soon as he slipped into the shadows like someone had forcefully pulled out or unplugged my headphones.

With a high-pitched roar, Heliolisk redirected the Shadow Punch toward the barrier, and the attack blew up with a deafening boom accompanied by echoing screams of spirits.

"Sweep the arena with Solar Beam," Volkner ordered.

Globs of light materialized in front of Heliolisk's opened maw, and he hit the entire width of the arena. The beam left behind a trail of destruction and explosions, and it did hit Lehmhart. The ground type reappeared right above Heliolisk, crawling on all fours as his eyes sputtered. His arm independently flew back toward him, but Volkner immediately struck.

"Change of plans. Climb on him and strike from there."

"Scorching Sands and Stomping Tantrum."

The ground around Lehmhart turned to quicksand that burned at Heliolisk's feet. The normal type screeched as sand clung to his body like it had a mind of its own, but Lehmhart kept up the pressure. Still on all fours, he stomped his knee against the ground, creating a massive earthquake that broke the entire arena apart. Heliolisk blurred with a Quick Attack to prevent as much damage as possible and began to climb on Lehmhart's arm, but multiple Shadow Balls appeared all along his limb to stop the normal type's climb. Ghostly strings kept them attached to his arm, but they always rushed toward Heliolisk as soon as Lehmhart let them loose. The electric type weaved in between the first two, but the next three slammed into his chest, head and brushed his arm.

But he had his Solar Beam ready.

Lehmhart's song reached a crescendo, and this time his entire arm rumbled. Volkner grinned, and Heliolisk spat out a Solar Beam that was way larger than anything Angel could muster. Golurk's left arm flew out like a rocket, propelled both by the Solar Beam and whatever powered Lehmhart, and it smashed into the barrier. The entire structure shimmered, and the crowd gasped, but the barrier held. The sheer force of the impact interrupted Heliolisk's solar beam, and Lehmhart rose back on his feet.

"Swallow him up. Crush him. I don't care."

The electric type attempted to get up, but more Scorching Sands appeared below him and clung to his skin, covering him in burns and wrapping around him like ropes. Lehmhart's detached arm convulsed for an instant, and then the hand snapped around Heliolisk, squeezing him like a grape until he fainted.

Volkner recalled the normal type and nodded to himself as the sun slowly petered out. The entire arena was a mess of ravines, uprooted mountains, ridges and hundreds of boulders. I trusted that Slowking would be able to work something out despite his lack of mobility, and Talonflame and Scyther could fly.

But Zweilous? He'd be screwed in such an environment, unable to move anywhere. Golurk's arm clicked back into its socket, and his music intensified. Even with the microphones, it was difficult to hear what Volkner and Cecilia were saying from up here.

The Gym Leader sent out his Lanturn next, the same he'd used against me. Lanturn spat out water until—

"Resonance and Hammer Arm," Cecilia said.

Before Lanturn could even start to float in the sky, another pulse of ghostly energy washed over the entire field. The water type froze, water still dripping from his mouth and Lehmhart only had to take three steps to get close enough to punch. Every time he put everything he had into an attack, the world stood still—

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Volkner recalled Lanturn.

The fight hadn't even begun, and he'd been forced to get him out of harm's way. One Hammer Arm to the electric type's body, and he might have even been out for the count. If I had to guess, Volkner probably thought that Resonance had been a one-time attack or that it would weaken with subsequent uses, and it would, just after being used twice on the same Pokemon. The Gym Leader settled on Magnezone instead, and he ordered him to get as high as possible as soon as he got on the field.

"Resonance and Shadow Balls."

The same, eerie aura passed through Magnezone, but he was high enough to be out of reach from any of Golurk's most powerful attacks. Instead, a flurry of Shadow Balls slammed into his metallic shell, and he dodged the next volley with relative ease.

"Use Flash Cannon repeatedly."

No need for Lock On when Lehmhart was so big, I thought to myself. Magnezone summoned two balls of white light in front of his magnets, and both turned into thick lasers that cut across Lehmhart's chest. The ghost type's eyes dimmed as smoke emanated from his wounds, and he yelled out in song. Cecilia ordered Golurk to send his fist flying another time, but Magnezone shot it out of the sky with Flash Cannon and moved out of the way. After another two beams slammed into Golurk and made the golem stagger, Cecilia recalled him.

Talonflame was next. She released the fire type into the sky, and she was undisturbed by any damage the arena had taken. Talonflame spread her wings and sized up Magnezone, her eyes narrowing at him. An Electric Terrain snapped into place, but Talonflame wasn't as frail as she used to be. It would hurt, but it would not be enough to bring her down.

"Lock On and Thunder."

Already, Talonflame had begun setting up. No longer did she use a simple Tailwind. The wind was hers, and it would blow at her back wherever she went. Flames appeared around the flying type as she blurred with a Flame Charge and a Quick Attack to further boost her speed, and the air around her warped when she finally added Agility to the mix.

Thunder cracked, flying out of Magnezone's magnets, and it missed when Talonflame flattened her wings and dove closer to the ground. Instead of hitting the barrier, the attack unnaturally twisted and followed Talonflame. She was quick, but Thunder was catching up. Every time Talonflame flapped her wings, hot air descended onto the field. The Heat Wave would prove too much for Magnezone if Cecilia bought enough time, but two Thunders would be enough to take down Talonflame.

"Flare Blitz," Cecilia snapped.

Talonflame screeched, and she made a sharp turn toward Magnezone.

"Thunderbolt—"

Before Volkner could even finish his command, the fire type crashed into Magnezone at full speed and they both tumbled to the ground like a huge fireball. The full force of the Heat Wave followed next, because she was so quick that she was faster than her own attack. The Thunder curved downward and barrelled toward Talonflame, hitting her right in the back. The flying type and Magnezone landed on the ground with a loud crash, but the flames never left Talonflame's body. Magnezone's head had a disturbingly large dent, and some of the metal had begun to melt and fuse together in a horribly wrong fashion, twisting and continuously melding together. Electricity around Magnezone's magnets winked out of existence, and the steel type fainted. Even if Talonflame wasn't in any state to battle, she'd gotten one of Volkner's Pokemon out of the way.

Clean and efficient, I noted. A play to allow Golurk better matchups. Lehmhart was the lynchpin of Cecilia's entire strategy, and it seemed that she didn't mind making sacrificial plays to give him better prospects. Volkner sent out his Lanturn again, who was pissed that he'd been recalled so quickly. The water type summoned a thunderous storm and began to float using hydrokinesis and an Aqua Ring shimmered in his bubble.

Talonflame flapped her wings, but she'd been too hurt to fly up and even the subsequent Heat Wave was weakened. Lanturn smirked when a few clouds of vapor rose from his bubble and finished her off with a quick Water Pulse.

Cecilia opted to release Scyther next. The bug type screeched, fanning his wings and sharpening his blades against themselves while Lanturn looked down on him. He'd already felt Golurk's resonance once, so a flier like Scyther was the best way to take him down, especially when he stayed so high up in the sky.

"Rain Dance," Volkner said.

Lanturn's light shone, and clouds gathered right above him, spreading throughout the entire field. Droplets of rain started to fall, and soon the whole arena would be flooded.

"Night Slash. Cut him off," Cecilia ordered.

Agility and Quick Attack were left unsaid. Scyther broke into a run, hovering in the air with each jump with his wings. He jumped over a ravine and flew up toward Lanturn, his scythes wreathed in darkness.

"Thunderbolt."

Scyther couldn't do much to dodge with the Rain Dance here to power up Lanturn's attacks, and the electricity slammed into his chest. He grunted, his wings faltering for a second, but then he slashed across the air. Darkness blurred toward Lanturn and cut across his flank. It was void given the form of an Air Slash. The wound stuck, leaking dark type energy and blood like a sieve. The rain immediately weakened, and the electricity in Lanturn's bubble died out. Even his hydrokinesis began to falter, and the water type lost altitude at an alarming rate.

"Signal Beam," Volkner quickly spoke.

Lanturn's light shone, emitting a neon green light that Scyther narrowly dodged. The bug type sliced Lanturn's forehead with an X-Scissor and he didn't stop. Slash, Night Slash, Air Slash— he savaged Lanturn until Volkner decided to recall him. Scyther let out a taunting screech and landed on top of a small hill. Scyther was still frail, but the sheer brutality he brought to the table couldn't be ignored. One Night Slash was all it took, although I knew dark TE was not infallible as Signal Beam had shown.

"Focus, please," Cecilia said.

The bug type shrugged, but he listened, squaring himself for his next opponent.

A Vikavolt spread and fanned her wings with a loud buzz, her body chock-full of electricity. The air hummed, and electricity began to spread, striking Scyther at regular intervals. Vikavolt took to the air and instantly flew with a burst of speed, just like Chase's own Vikavolt, only slightly slower.

"You know what to do," my girlfriend spoke.

Scyther bared his sharp teeth and sped upwards, challenging Vikavolt with a taunting cry.

"Don't get close and Thunderbolt," Volkner said.

Scyther was faster than Vikavolt, but any time he got close or he struck her with Night Slash, she would fly off with a burst of speed and hit him with Thunderbolt. Vikavolt didn't even have to turn to use the move in the right direction. Cecilia frowned, and she decided to switch up tactics.

"Razor Wind."

A bubble of air sharpened around Vikavolt and sliced her up before she could blur away with another explosion of electricity. The electric type screeched, her pincers clicking in irritation, but as it stood, she would easily win long-term. Volkner had other plans, however.

"Vise Grip."

Vikavolt turned in a way that seemed impossible to the naked eye. It was so sharp that her entire body jerked unnaturally and in a split second, she was facing Scyther. The flying type screeched, coating his arms in darkness, but another burst of speed took him off-guard and Vikavolt's powerful jaws snapped around his exoskeleton, pinning his scythes against his waist in the process. Volkner cracked a finger and told Vikavolt to finish Scyther off.

Cecilia could have switched at this point, but she opted not to. Golurk was her key to winning, as morbid as it was. Scyther had been at a disadvantage from the beginning and he'd done very well. Vikavolt fried Scyther with electricity and dropped him on the ground.

Cecilia thanked the bug type, recalling him into his Pokeball. Golurk would be a terrible matchup with a Pokemon with quick bursts of speed like Vikavolt, so she decided to use Slowking instead. The psychic would essentially force Vikavolt into staying far away, but how would he actually strike her? The Electric Terrain was already hurting him, and he couldn't really move around this destroyed arena.

Volkner ordered a Thunderbolt, and Slowking raised a hand. A barrier instantly shimmered— no, it was three barriers. Layers. The empowered Thunderbolt broke through the first, but the second only strained against the electric energy. Even Volkner seemed surprised at that. Alakazam had told me that layered barriers were an advanced concept.

All this time, Slowking had created barriers for us to train, and he was putting the experience to good use.

"Thunder," he said.

Vikavolt hovered high in the air, and a blinding light overtook her. Electricity crackled, bearing down on Slowking like a hammer. All of the layers shattered, but the attack was weakened enough to leave the psychic type standing. Each had taken just a little bit more time to break.

"Again," Volkner said.

"Water Cutter!"

Vikavolt needed to sit still to charge up a Thunder, and Cecilia used it to her advantage. The tiny laser-like jet of water dented Vikavolt's exoskeleton and stabbed into her like a knife. The move's force threw off her aim, and the bug type opted to let the move loose now rather than miss. The world screamed, and Slowking grunted as another Thunder struck him.

"Power Gem!" Cecilia swept her arm.

Five— twelve— dozens of rocks that had been unearthed by Golurk floated around Slowking like moons around a planet as his eyes shone. Light enveloped each of them, and they turned into lasers. Beams of light that Slowking could aim wherever he pleased. Vikavolt screeched, dodging with another explosion of speed and leaving a trail of electricity behind her, but Slowking was micromanaging so many. Eight beams were continuously following her while the remainder tried to corner and hit her wherever she flew. Smoke emanated from Vikavolt every time the Power Gem hit due to the sheer heat from the attack, leaving red blotches on her exoskeleton.

Volkner switched to Bug Buzz and Thunderbolts instead of Thunder. Slowking could only keep one barrier going with so much focus, so Thunderbolt broke his barrier apart and Bug Buzz's green hue would sneak inside. The lasers veered off course, as if Slowking's brain had been scrambled.

"Thunder."

Cecilia inhaled sharply, switching Slowking out before the beam of electricity could hit. Had a bug type move just broken his focus? I'd never seen that before, but I had also rarely seen a bug type move hit a psychic type in my short career, let alone a bug type of this level.

Zweilous announced their presence with two twin roars. They'd grown since their last Gym Battle and grown a foot since their evolution in Snowpoint, and yet there was much more progress to be made before they evolved. Cecilia snapped her fingers to get their attention. They'd been released on a heightened platform, and they wouldn't be able to leave it without tumbling and leaving themselves open to attack.

"Nasty Plot and Hyper Voice! Dark and dragon!"

Volkner's eye twitched. "Cut in and X-Scissor."

He couldn't dodge sound, so the best move was to hit before they even started yelling. A thin, dark aura surrounded the dragon and their breaths grew quicker and quicker. Drool fell onto the ground and both heads froze as Vikavolt blurred toward them.

Then, they screamed.

I could see the sound travel and bounce through the arena. One, full of darkness and the other full of draconic energy. The two Hyper Voices intercepted and mixed into a blue that was almost pitch black. Vikavolt cried out in pain, but the momentum was already there. She crashed into Zweilous, her mouth snapping around Sol's neck.

"Dragon Rush, Zerst," Cecilia said.

Zerst's head glowed blue, and he swung himself at Vikavolt as much as he could. The bug type's jaw was locked onto Sol. Her saw-like pincers had punctured his scales and blood started to leak out of his neck. Volkner squinted, but he didn't switch. Instead, he had Vikavolt use Bug Buzz.

I understood his plan at that moment. Take down one head, and see how she reacts. Sol hadn't fainted, but he was incredibly wounded. His flesh had been serrated. Vikavolt had fainted with her jaw still locked around his neck.

Volkner's next Pokemon was an Ampharos, and he was finally locked into his five choices for the battle. The floor under the electric type's feet rumbled, and electricity rose through every inch. Not Rising Voltage. It was Static Terrain. Zweilous' movements grew sluggish and their heads jerked around at random intervals.

"Hyper Voice again," Cecilia said.

Best use an attack where they don't need to aim, I nodded. Zerst screamed at full force, but Sol was barely conscious and the attack was just normal this time. Ampharos bleated, wincing at the pain. Had this been Zachary's Ampharos, he probably would have ordered him to cover his ears with cotton. Instead, Volkner did this.

"Dragon Pulse. Aim at the screaming head."

Cecilia's eyes widened, and Ampharos gathered the draconic energy in his mouth. With a soft scream, he let loose the attack.

"Counter with Dragon Pulse!" Cecilia yelled.

Even alone, Zerst was powerful enough to stop the attack. His Dragon Pulse overtook Ampharos'—

And it cut off when a bit of Static caused him to freeze up.

Ampharos' Dragon Pulse slammed into Zweilous at full force, finally fainting the half-conscious Sol and greatly hurting Zerst since the attack had been focused on him. Cecilia ordered the dragon type to keep using Hyper Voice until Ampharos finished him off with three other Dragon Pulses.

Cecilia recalled Zweilous. Volkner's sacrifice play had worked. Together, they would have easily beat Ampharos, but one head? That wasn't enough. Cecilia released Golurk, and Volkner didn't even give him a chance to strike, using his last switch of the battle to get Lanturn back into the fight instead. Cecilia huffed and recalled Golurk. Slowking appeared in a flash of red and stared blankly.

It was almost comical, how they both desperately wanted to avoid bad matchups. Cecilia placed her hair behind an ear and pursed her lips. If she could knock out or weaken Lanturn with Slowking, then she would have the advantage. A normal Electric Terrain replaced the vicious Static Terrain, and Volkner again had the electric type use Rain Dance. Water already clung to the deepest crevices, but it hadn't particularly affected the field so far. Lanturn was still covered in cuts and deep gashes from Scyther's assault and blood and flesh seeped into his water bubble.

Slowking's barrier would protect him from the worst of the terrain, but Volkner wouldn't just be content to let it stand. A quick Thunder struck from the storm clouds and snapped Slowking's three layers. The psychic's body burned and smoked, but he raised a hand.

"Disable!" Cecilia yelled.

Slowking's eyes shone with a dull grey, and Lanturn glared. Now that Volkner was out of switches, he'd never be able to shake off the Disable. More Power Gems rose from the ground and all of the lights converged toward Lanturn, who exploded with a Discharge. It only stopped the first wave, however, and more struck him, turning his water bubble into vapor.

Electricity hummed around Lanturn, and he actually moved closer to Slowking, who raised a hand to ready himself to use Psychic, but Lanturn abruptly stopped. The electric type's light shone, and a Signal Beam broke through Slowking's barriers. Thunderbolts would never be enough, I realized. The psychic's eyes narrowed, and Lanturn immediately struck with a Thunderbolt.

"Avalanche!"

My eyes widened. Rain drops turned into huge spikes of ice that broke through Lanturn's bubble and penetrated his back. Candice had given us the move months ago, and yet only now had Cecilia taught it to Slowking. Lanturn screamed, and another bolt of electricity slammed into Slowking's chest. He was running on pure spite at this point.

"Keep up your barriers!" Cecilia snapped. "Power Gem!"

"Signal Beam."

The multicolored ray of light flew through the barrage of Power Gems, and both attacks hit their mark. Cece had absolutely no opening for Slack Off, and she knew it, so she decided to go for full-on offense. The two Pokemon kept exchanging blows, but Lanturn came out on top. There wasn't much Slowking could do when Signal Beam could tear through his barriers— not anywhere as good as dark type moves could, but still far better than Thunderbolt, and every time the barrier did break, another stream of electric energy would ransack through his body.

It was up to Lehmhart. The giant appeared on the field, which was now completely flooded. The waters only went up to his ankles, but he would have to watch his footing due to the red tint of the water from the iron particles swarming the liquid.

"Hydro Pump," Volkner said.

Resonance wouldn't work. Not when Lanturn had heard the music once before. Instead, Cecilia ordered the golem to use Phantom Force. Lehmhart slipped into the shadows, and I assumed the water passed through his invisible body— still dealing damage, but not actually pushing him back.

"Ice Punch," Cecilia continued.

Lanturn was already out of range, but that didn't matter. Lehmhart raised a fist, sending it flying toward Lanturn as soon as he reappeared. The ground type tripped and stumbled, landing with a deafening crash into the water due to the uneven terrain under his feet. Another Hydro Pump slammed against the icy fist, but the water froze upon contact and Lehmhart's fist broke apart the ice with the force from the jet-like propulsors in his arms.

The fist only clipped Lanturn, but that was enough to freeze his entire bubble. The electric type fell to the ground like a rock, plunging into the water. Lehmhart instantly fished for Lanturn and grabbed him with his huge hands as soon as his arm was back in place. He brought the water type up to his face, and began gathering a Shadow Ball.

The shadows grew. And grew. And grew. It was so big that Golurk had to extend his arm fully to not let the attack actually touch Lanturn's frozen body yet. Volkner had already grabbed the water type's Pokeball and waited, just in hopes that he would be able to unfreeze himself, but that didn't happen.

Instead, the Shadow Ball touched Lanturn at last, and purple smoke filled half of the arena. Volkner waited the full thirty seconds to let some of it dissipate and sent out Ampharos.

Static Terrain and any kind of electric tricks would be useless. The electric type was struggling to keep his head above the water and could barely swim as it was. Volkner had bet everything on Lanturn being able to beat Golurk, but it had not come to pass.

"Dragon Pulse," Volkner said.

"Grab them and finish them off," Cecilia said.

Golurk leaned forward, and a Dragon Pulse hit him in the chest. That was barely enough to hold him back for a few seconds. The ground type grabbed Ampharos and just squeezed.

The electric type fought back, but there was only so much he could do with that much of a size difference. He fainted after forty seconds, and Volkner recalled him.

Cecilia had won.

—

The days passed quickly after that. Everyone else won their Gym Badge— mostly because Volkner couldn't be bothered to actually battle them. The only one he'd fought by chance was Louis, and he netted a narrow win thanks to Ninetales pulling her weight. Vespiquen had barely fought in the battle, since Louis was still too scared of her killing a Pokemon, but I was sure that she would have made him win by a far wider margin. I finished getting my flying license, and I'd practiced flying with Princess every day since.

At last, however, the time had come.

It was time to pick up Honey from the Pokemon Center and evolve him.