“Shadow Sneak!” Zil shouted.

Cashe said nothing.

Ceruledge disappeared. A shadow darted across the battlefield, ignoring the web strewn terrain of the stage. The shadow was fast, too fast for Hattrem to react to - if Cashe had not given her orders in advance.

Hattrem shouted, a ringing chime filling the air as she used Disarming Voice. It wouldn’t do much to Ceruledge, as he was a fire type, but it would hit, and that was enough.

A wave of sound, glowing with pink energy, crossed the arena, buffeting off the shadow as it crossed its path. Ceruledge stumbled out of the shadow before he had a chance to strike, torn from his shadowy form by the wall of sound.

On the opposite side of the stage, Zil blinked in confusion. Cashe could see the question of how Hattrem knew to use the attack written on her face. A poorly trained pokemon might attack at random, but it wouldn’t attack effectively at random, and Hattrem's attacks were exactly that.

The damage to Cerulegde was negligible. He looked more surprised that he was struck than anything else, but it gave Hattrem a half second to get off her next attack.

“Hat!” Hattrem drew Ceruledge’s attention with her cry, eyes widening in a beguiling display of cuteness as she used Charm for the second time in the battle. Ceruledge shuddered, and took a half step away from Hattrem, as if unsure about even attacking in the battle.

“Don’t just stand there!” Zil shouted. Cashe could see the confusion in her eyes as she struggled to figure out what was going on. She tossed it aside as she shouted out another order to her pokemon, “Get in there and use Shadow Claw! Take her out of this!”

The half step cost Ceruledge again, however, as Hattrem unleashed a massive Psybeam from her head, a rainbow of light flashing across the stage, directly at the enemy pokemon. The attack landed, just as Ceruledge was beginning to move. It did not blast him away like it had Golbat, nor did his skin and armor act like they were being burned, but it did cause him to stumble, the waves of psychic energy disorienting him further. Ceruledge’s blades glowed with ghostly light as he tried to dash towards Hattrem, but he had forgotten about the webbing tied up around his legs. Araquanid’s Sticky Web had not disappeared when Ceruledge dissolved into a shadow, and the tangled mess slowed him down so he was only slightly faster than Hattrem while not using Shadow Sneak.

Ceruledge darted forward, but Hattrem stayed ahead of him, slowed as he was. As she ran from him, her braided hair acting as stubby little legs, she began to glow with energy as she used Calm Mind again. Deep purple energy swirled around her, rising through the air and getting absorbed into her body. Cashe could feel a subtle buzz in the air now, the increased power of Hattrem affecting the world around her.

“How are you doing this?” Zil’s shout was edged with disbelief, the tone of a teenager asking a parent why they couldn’t go to the party. Cashe ignored her, focusing as best he could on Hattrem and the battle. Zil let out a noise of exasperation - also very teenager-like - and refocused on the battle.

"Stop chasing Cerul! You’re too slow! Use Shadow Sneak to close the distance!”

Ceruledge dissolved into shadows again, his speed more than doubling as he moved, unhindered by the Sticky Web, to attack Hattrem. Hattrem let out a ringing cry again, Disarming Voice sweeping over the arena.

“Brace!” Zil shouted in warning.

The wave of pink sound passed over Ceruledge’s shadow, but this time he was ready for it. The shadow paused only for a moment in its flight before taking off towards Hattrem again, even the extra power that came from Hattrem’s additional Calm Mind not pulling him from his attack.

Ceruledge was at Hattrem’s back in an instant, appearing out of his shadow, blades poised to attack, glowing with ethereal energy, like a reaper about to collect a soul. Hattrem continued to run, not even registering that she was about to be attacked, her movement much too slow to avoid it. Ceruledge swung his blades and hit only air.

At the last moment, Hattrem’s hair went limp, returning in form and function to regular hair, dropping her to the ground in a heap of hair and limbs. She squealed in delight and rolled over, her hair already returning to witch hat form, and released a devastating beam of multicolored light into Ceruledge at point blank range.

Psybeam, now powered by two uses of Calm Mind, was a devastating attack. It threw Ceruledge back, forcing him away from Hattrem as the energy warped the air around him. The light of Hattrem’s attack grew in intensity as it continued to strike Ceruledge. Cashe squinted and was forced to look away as the beam transitioned from a beam rainbow of light to a pillar of glowing white.

The beam cut off and Cashe immediately returned his focus to the battle. Hattrem was back on her feet, or rather her hair, tense and ready to fight. Ceruledge was across from her, several yards away, staggering where he stood. He swung his ghostly blades at the air, attacking something that wasn’t there, hopping back in surprise as his attack again hit nothing. He was battered now, his armor showing signs of breaking down. The purple coloring was peeling off it to reveal pale blue underneath, like old paint curling off a wall, and the edges of it were rough and worn.

“Ceruledge, focus!” Zil’s voice was like a whip crack in the air. Ceruledge went stiff as a board as he snapped out of his confused state at the sound of his trainer's voice, but again, Hattrem took advantage of the small moment of inactivity.

Power welled around her as she got off a third use of Calm Mind. Cashe definitely felt the buzz in the air now. It was almost audible, ringing in his mind like a bell. A purple wave appeared around Hattrem and she glowed with power, little motes of dust rising from the stage around her as she stood in place, the density of the energies around her even counteracting gravity.

“Ceruledge-”

Hattrem didn’t let the order get out. Another Psybeam exploded from her head, another pillar of pure white light. It slammed into Ceruledge and blasted him off his feet, tossing him like a doll into the barriers erected around the arena, pinning him there until the attack finished. Ceruledge fell from the wall, collapsing in a lump on the stage.

“Ceruledge is unable to battle!” The official shouted, running into the stage, hand raised in the air, “Trainer Zil, choose your next pokemon.

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“Holy shit,” Cashe let out a breath of relief. He never imagined the battle would go so well. Hattrem hadn’t taken a single hit. In fact, the only attack that had landed so far was Golbat’s bite, and that was one Cashe let land. “Good work, Hattrem. You were amazing.”

Cashe expected an enthusiastic ‘Hat!’ in response. Maybe another hug. What he got instead was a cackle.

“Hattrem?”

Hattrem turned around, her eyes filled with undisguised glee. She was rubbing her hands together in front of her chest and cackling to herself like some sort of comic book villain.

“That’s not good,” Cashe muttered, “Hattrem!”

The snap of his words froze Hattrem in place, much like Zil’s did to Ceruledge. Her eyes darted to him.

“What are you doing?” Cashe said.

“Hat?” Hattrem looked away, guilt rising up in her features.

“That’s not what I saw,” Cashe said, “I saw an evil witch.”

“Hat!”

“No you are a good witch,” Cashe frowned at her, “Remember what we learned? Remember why we trained Calm Mind?”

“Hat!”

“Yes, to make them go away, and to make sure you didn’t ever react when they didn’t.” Cashe eyed Hattrem’s hands, which were still brought together in front of her like a mad scientist plotting the downfall of humanity.

Hattrem followed his gaze and squeaked, dropping her arms to her side.

“Trainer Cashe!” Cashe looked up. The official was waving at him, apparently trying to get his attention. “Are we interrupting you?”

“Sorry!” Cashe said. He glanced at Hattrem, pointing into the center of the stage, “We’ll talk more later.”

Hattrem made her way to center stage. Facing off against her new opponent. Zil’s pokemon was already there.

Cinccino was back, sitting in the middle of the Sticky Web and waiting for the battle to resume. She was covered with the stuff, her long, luxurious hair weighed down by myriad strands of web that clung to and matted her fur. She was no longer covered by a bubble of water, answering Cashe’s question about how the ability change worked, and she was on all fours wearing a determined expression on her face.

Her purpose in the battle was obvious. Zil was planning on using Tidy Up and getting off as much damage as possible before Cinccino went down, sacrificing herself so that Zil’s other pokemon could come into the battle without a huge speed disadvantage.

Cashe had little choice but to let it happen. Cinccino was fast. Even with her speed lowered by the Sticky Web, she would still outpace Hattrem. He would have to work around Hattrem being slower for the rest of the battle. Given what he had just faced, it didn’t seem like that daunting of a task.

The official glanced at Cashe and he nodded, signaling he was ready. The official dropped his hand out of the air, resuming the battle.

“Cinccino, Tail Slap!”

Shit.

“Hattrem, dodge!” Cashe shouted. But Hattrem was already using Calm Mind, as he had ordered her to do mentally as soon as the official's hand dropped, expecting Zil to immediately use Tidy Up. She tricked him, and likely figured out what was going on during the break to switch her pokemon. She knew he would assume she was getting rid of the webs and she knew he would try and take advantage of it. So she didn’t let him.

Light cascaded around Hattrem as she used Calm Mind. She heard his shout as she used the move, but reacted too late to dodge out of the way. Cinccino was slowed, but still fast, crossing the stage in a blink.

Hattrem backed away, but Cinccino threw herself into the air, twisting as white light gathered around her tail. She crashed into Hattrem, her tail slamming into the side of Hattrem’s head. Hattrem tumbled to the ground as Cinccino continued to pummel Hattrem with her tail. A second and third hit landed and Hattrem shrieked, using Disarming Voice at Cashe’s silent behest, even as she was taking the attacks. The wall of noise tossed Cinccino aside, battering her with an enormous amount of energy thanks to the four Calm Mind boosts from which Hattrem was currently benefiting.

The damage was done, however. Hattrem staggered as she used her air to right herself. Her witch’s hat was askew - which was concerning since its shape was maintained by Hattrem’s mental energy - and her face was blooded and already beginning to bruise.

“Cinccino, Bullet Seed!”

Five small seeds formed around Cinccino’s head, firing off one after another as she closed the distance to Hattrem.

A Psybeam exploded from Hattrem, the power of the move causing the air to hiss as it passed. The attack dissolved four of the seeds from Bullet Seed, but missed the fifth and Cinccino, scouring a long streak into the stage instead.

The seed, powered by Technician, slammed into Hattrem. Already off balance from Tail Slap, Hattrem staggered in place, her hair collapsing under her. She landed on her feet, but wasn’t able to move before Cinccino closed the distance.

“Cinccino, Flail!”

Cinccino’s body began to glow as she jumped on Hattrem, limbs lashing out wildly as she used the move, its power increased by the damage Cinccino had taken over the course of the battle.

Hattrem shouted out a final Disarming Voice in desperation, but the sound was cut off before it could do more than create a small wave of energy as Cinccino collided with Hattrem. The force of the attack tossed Hattrem aside as if she weighed nothing at all, sending her tumbling across the stage and into Araquanid’s webs. It didn't make a difference, however. Hattrem was out cold.

“Hattrem is unable to battle!” The official’s shout was instantaneous. “Trainer Cashe, select your next pokemon.”

Cashe groaned in frustration, returning Hattrem to her pokeball. He had messed up here, too confident in his newfound ability to communicate with Hattrem, and lost a major advantage. A Hattrem with four Calm Mind boosts was not something he could afford to throw away with baseless assumptions. Zil’s attack had been a gamble, sure If she guessed wrong, she would be down Cinccino, without damaging Hattrem at all, and the webs would still litter the battlefield on top of that. But she didn’t guess wrong. She read him like a book.

He doubted it would cost him this battle, but it would cost him others if he wasn’t careful. He swore under his breath as he took stock of the situation.

Cinccino did not get off a Tidy Up and the webbing was still on the battlefield. On top of that she was woozy, moving unsteadily back to her starting position within Araquanid’s webs. The cheering section in the stands on the far side of the gym were on their feet, mouth moving silently as they shouted encouragement to Zil that she could not hear. Zil did not look enthusiastic either. She could see the writing on the wall.

Cashe cracked Sneasel’s pokeball open and he emerged from it in silence, observing the situation himself for a moment before turning back and looking up at Cashe, large eyes questioning.

"Hey bud,” Cashe gave Sneasel a comforting scratch on his head, right behind the large feather protruding from his skull. Sneasel leaned into the scratch, ever eager for affection, “Cinccino’s on the ropes, but you need to take her out, quick as you can, alright?”

“Sneas,” Sneasel replied.

“Good.”

Cashe straightened, giving Sneasel a gentle push into the ring. He met Zil’s eye from across the stage. There would be no fake outs this time. They both knew what had to happen.

The official’s hand fell with a shout and the battle resumed.

“Tidy Up!”

“Ice Shard.”

Cinccino’s tail began to wag back and forth, increasing speed. Cashe knew what to expect, he had seen Sentret use Tidy Up once before, on his very first day in the pokemon world. A cloud of dust would rise up and, as if by magic, everything would be back in its place. But not this time.

A shard of jagged ice appeared in the center of Cinccino’s chest, bowling her over. Less than a second after it went down, the official’s hand went back up, stopping the battle again.

*****