“What was that?” Lindon shouted, his voice just audible above the shouting of the crowd. It was a sentiment reflected heavily throughout the stadium of roaring fans. The first round of the finals hadn’t been a battle. It was a slaughter.
“Ah-em,” the announcer cleared his throat over the loudspeakers, settling the audience down to only mild shouts of confusion and disbelief, “It appears Trainer Emilia is off to a hot start, she took down Marcus’s Popplio like it was nothing! Will the young star from Johto be able to turn things around?”
The announcer's tone was hopeful, but Cashe didn’t see it happening. Emilia stood on stage, staring down Marcus as he switched his Popplio out and brought in Gligar. Cashe could see her hands twitching from where he sat, though if it was due to anxiety or impatience, he did not know.
Official Borek retreated from the center of the stage and Gligar came out. The battlefield was covered in broken rocks and scattered stone from Omanyte’s previous bout with Popplio. The shadow of Omanyte’s Rain Dance left it gloomy and dark. Rain still peppered the ground from the clouds hanging above the stadium, water pooling in little puddles as it was blocked by the rocks. The sole clouds in the sky were still from Rain Dance, created by Omanyte.
Official Borek signaled to both the finalists and dropped his hand, resuming the battle. Marcus shouted an order and Gligar shot into the air, using his tail to spring from the ground like a miniature rocket. Gligar’s wings caught in the air and it quickly gained height.
Emilia gave instructions to Omanyte and the spiral pokemon began to move. In the rain, Omanyte was even faster than Gligar, and she zipped across the battlefield, leaving a blue streak of light in her wake. She fired off an Ice Beam as she moved through the stage, but hitting the flying scorpion in the air was difficult, even for a pokemon as well trained as she.
Gligar twisted through the air freely and, despite being slower than Omanyte, easily outpaced her attacks. Gligar had no obstacles to avoid, while Omanyte needed to navigate the broken stones that were strewn throughout the arena.
Emilia changed tactics, shouting another series of instructions at Omanyte. Omanyte dug in, taking cover between two large stones. She switched attacks, firing great blasts of mud into the air that covered a wide area.
“It looks like Omanyte might be at a disadvantage now that Gligar is in the air,” the announcer boomed over the speaker system, “Can Marcus turn that into a victory?”
As if to answer, Gligar swept through the air, darting at Omanyte. Omanyte fired off another blast of mud, forcing Gligar to pull up, looping through the air in a great arc. At the apex of his flight, he turned sharply, plummeting down to the ground, just in front of the rocks Omanyte was hiding behind.
A great wave of energy rolled away from Gligar and slammed into the rocks providing Omanyte protection. They shook in place as Gligar’s Bulldoze spread through the battlefield. The energy from the ground type moved shattered the stones Omanyte was sheltering behind, along with a swath of others in a large radius around where Gligar attacked.
Omanyte zipped out of her hiding place as Gligar recovered, firing off another powerful Ice Beam as she moved. Gligar dodged, pushing off the ground with his powerful tail and rising into the air again. He darted through the air as Omanyte fired off a blast of water, circling Omanyte and continuing to move to stay ahead of the ongoing attack.
Water whipped through the air and crashed against the barriers of the battle, creating a surprising amount of noise, like running a strong hose over a car’s windshield. The crowd roared as the battle picked up pace, cheering at Gligar’s dazzling airborne acrobatics and flinching when an Ice Beam or Brine slammed into the psychic barriers.
Gligar slammed into the ground, again dropping from a great height for a powerful Bulldoze, clearing debris from another large section of the stage. Omanyte again avoided the attack by taking refuge behind a few scatter rocks, but soon there would be nowhere left for her to hide.
It was both a disadvantage and an advantage for her, however. As the rocks were shattered, she lost cover, but gained clear ground where she could better leverage the edge she had in speed.
Marcus repeated the tactic, clearing more and more of the battlefield until few rocks were left on it at all. Omanyte took full advantage of her newly available speed, firing off another Brine and tracking Gligar through the air both with her attack and her body as she zipped along the ground below him.
The extra speed made up the difference that was missing since Gligar entered the battle, and Omanyte managed to land a glancing blow for the first time. Water caught Gligar across his wing as he swept by, sending him into a tailspin and crashing into the ground. Emilia ordered another Ice Beam, but Marcus took advantage of the situation and Gligar roosted, effectively nullifying almost all the damage from the attack and losing the Flying type temporarily, negating even more of the damage. Gligar was in the air a second later, shaking the ice from his wings as he resumed his attacks.
The crowd roared at the creative usage of Roost, but Cashe frowned at the strategy displayed by Marcus. Clearing the battlefield may make Omanyte easier to hit with Gligar’s attacks, but the speed she gained from it made it so Gligar was forced onto the defensive.
A second later however, Cashe saw what Marcus was thinking. He was paying attention to something the rest of the audience likely took for granted.
The time.
Unlike abilities that changed the weather, moves that caused changing conditions only lasted so long. Marcus was counting down the seconds until Rain Dance ended.
And Rain Dance had ended.
The dark clouds dissipated faster than they appeared, the rain on the battlefield cut short as if it were never there. Omanyte visibly slowed, her Swift Swim ability no longer contributing anything to the battle.
Marcus acted the instant a thick beam of sunlight broke through the clouds and brightened the battlefield, sending Gligar into another spiraling attack from on high. Gligar flew at the ground, ready to unleash a devastating Bulldoze against Omanyte, who no longer had any place to hide nor any speed to run.
She did have Protect, however and Emilia countered with the defensive move before Gligar could even crash into the ground. As she protected, Marcus’s face split into an enormous grin and Gligar pulled up at the last second, transitioning from Bulldoze and into Acrobatics seamlessly.
Emilia’s face fell as Protect faded away, having accomplished nothing but allowing Gligar to close the distance. Cashe saw her lips mutter something as Gligar made his attack on Omanyte, the now slow pokemon in for a devastating hit.
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Until she wasn’t.
Ice blue energy glowed around Omanyte, an enormous Ice Beam erupted from her at the last second - Gligar too fast and too close to have any hope of dodging the attack. The beam slammed into Gligar, faster than any previous beam shot by Omanyte. Not only did it move faster, but the energy gathered more quickly as well. An impossible thing to do, unless Omanyte had not been working at one hundred percent the entire time.
Gligar tumbled to the ground from the quadruply effective attack, knocked out before he hit the ground. Emilia was grinning, but her grin slowly faded as she realized Gligar was not getting back up.
Cashe was floored, on his feet and screaming in wordless celebration at the grand deception of Emilia’s tournament. He was over the barrier in front of him before the official had the chance to call the match, before almost anyone realized it was all over. A perfect victory.
Emilia’s expression morphed into shock as the barriers went down and the entire stadium roared in recognition of their champion. Emilia stared at her hands and clenched them into fists, doubling over and screaming with the rest of them, her cry lost among thousands. She sprang up, thrusting both her fists in the air, tears of joy streaming down her face, smiling wide with wild joy.
Despite her confidence, despite her proclamations of victory and nonchalance towards her opponent, despite her claims that she would win everything all along, she was still surprised when she won.
Emilia turned towards Cashe as he charged the stage, somehow hearing his voice above the crowd. Her grin widened and she did a little dance of joy before running to meet Cashe, arms held wide. Cashe swept her up and Emilia wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Emilia’s lips were soft against his, her tongue hot in his mouth. Cashe spun her around, kissing back for a brief moment before a wave of emotion slammed into him. He pulled out of the kiss, setting Emilia down on the ground.
The stadium roared with renewed approval but a flash of guilt passed over Emilia’s face. She looked up to him, brown eyes wide and anxious even as she pressed tightly against his body.
“I’m sorry, Cashe, I didn’t mean, I mean I didn’t-”
“It’s fine,” Cashe said, not knowing if he were lying or not. His head was a field of static, a thousand thoughts and emotions at war with each other. He pulled one from the mess, a pragmatic one. He shouldn’t stand there like an idiot. Move. He hugged her again, this one more friendly. More appropriate. “We can talk about it later.” He said in a dull voice.
Emilia nodded into his chest and blushed, that reaction more than anything, pulling Cashe out of his emotional daze and back into the present. Cashed pulled away and managed to smile again, the joy of Emilia’s win rising back to the surface.
Emilia laughed at his awkward smile and hugged him a third time before raising both their hands in the air to wave to the crowd together.
***
The post match interview was both the shortest and longest interview of the tournament. The reporter only asked one question, but Emilia was so giddy from her perfect victory that she could barely keep herself together, descending into laughter and cheering with the crowd every time someone shouted her name. It made for a horrible interview, but, as one newscaster would note, it was the perfect way to answer the question, “How does it feel to be champion?”
Misty beamed at the TV, bouncing Annie on her leg as her granddaughter squealed in joy. She knew, of course, that Emilia would win the tournament. She never had a doubt. All her daughters would have won the tournament if they had participated, Misty was sure. It was how Oaks were.
More surprising to her was the method of how her youngest daughter pulled off the win. A perfect victory. Even in single format, two versus two battles, it was impressive.
“Wowzah!” Annie’s father, Bruce, laughed as the channel showed Emilia’s celebratory kiss. Again. Another surprise for the whole family. Misty wasn’t entirely sure that kiss was appropriate for Annie to see - it was awfully…involved. “The Master Ball might have been stolen, but I have the feeling she doesn’t really care. Get some, Emilia!” Bruce cheered.
Misty suppressed a smile. Maybe Bruce wasn’t appropriate for Annie to see.
“Get some?” Elise said, raising a dubious eyebrow at her husband. She had the same genes as all her sisters, tall, dark, curvy, and gorgeous. Well, except for Selena. She had never been tall. Misty had no idea where any of them got it. Certainly not from her. “Will you say the same thing to Annie in fifteen years?”
“Of course!” Bruce said, laughing again and hopping to his feet.
He was a handsome man, with dark hair, bright blue eyes, and a smile so charming it made everyone forget what his preferred battle style was. He had the typical trainer's build of lean, corded muscle from years of hard travel, though that had started to soften since his retirement to take care of Annie.
He walked across the family room and scooped Annie off of Misty’s lap, “Are you going to get some, someday?” Bruce asked his daughter, rubbing his nose against hers.
Annie giggled in delighted protest, “No! That’s gross!”
“Bruce, stop,” Elise grinned, “You’re corrupting my daughter with your roguish ways.”
“Oh, so she’s your daughter now?” Bruce said, tucking Annie into the crook of his arm, “She was my daughter just yesterday when she caught that feisty Grimer in our backyard.”
“Yes, you are a bad influence, introducing her to the swarthy types,” Elise laughed, patting the couch beside. Bruce happily flopped onto the couch there, placing Annie on his lap.
“Roguish and swarthy? Someone is looking for a spanking,” Bruce grinned, kissing his wife on the lips.
“Uh-oh, Mommy’s in trouble!” Annie chanted with a big smile.
Elise laughed and batted him off, “Really, Bruce? My mom is right here.”
Misty waved at him from her seat in the family room and grinned, “I’m just happy my daughter has such a loving husband.”
“Speaking of loving,” Bruce said, pulling himself off his wife, “Do you think that Emilia and that Apollo boy are-”
“Bruce,” Elise’s tone was more serious this time, “My daughter is in the room. Talk about something else.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Bruce turned straight back to the television, which was showing a replay of Emilia’s battle, “Speaking of Emilia, how impressive is that win? A perfect victory. Winning without sustaining a single hit. Have you ever done that, love?”
“You know I haven’t,” Elise grumbled, “Not in a match that counted. Especially not against an evenly matched trainer.”
“Who’s evenly matched against you?” Bruce said.
“Flatterer.” Elise smiled at the praise, “You know what I mean.”
“It really was something,” Misty said, looking over at her daughter where she sat on their worn couch, “And to do it in the finals as well.”
“What would it take to do that at the end of a huge tournament?” Bruce mused, “Immaculate planning definitely.”
“Hidden strategies. Hidden information in general,” Misty said, “Did you see that Marcus boy’s face? He had no idea Omanyte had Swift Swim.”
“He had no idea in general,” Elise scoffed, “He probably still thinks that Omanyte just shrugged off that first attack.”
Bruce laughed, “He did look pretty out of it after that.”
Annie joined her father in his laughter, bouncing up and down in his lap. It was cut short however, by the buzzing of the watch on Elise’s wrist.
“Crap,” Elise swore, checking it, “It;s that damn tree again.”
“Mommy, do you have to go?” Annie whined.
Elise gave her daughter a kiss and stood, “Yes, honey. You know Mommy’s job is important.”
Misty sighed, feeling the same frustration as her granddaughter, and looked at Elise. “You really do work too much. I come all the way to Alola and I can barely get you for an evening. Your own mother.”
“You of all people should know how it is,” Elise shrugged and threw on some sandals, heading out the door. She glanced back over her shoulder as she was leaving, “It’s just the life of a Champion.”
*****