"this is a..." the Beauty stopped talking to look at the Hex Maniac, who then nodded at her like an entire conversation happened within that stare. In reply, Beauty nodded followed by a sigh, "okay then, this is a two on three," she looked at me, her eyes worried, "you okay with that? you can ask if you only want to battle one of her Pokemon you know,"

"I'll fight both of them," I was curious what was inside the two Pokeballs in her hands after all, "I can do it," I said when I saw that the Beauty's expression distorted to an ugly grimace,

"whatever you say kid," just as quickly as the frown had come, her face became neutral again, "in three!"

"two!" her right hand was raised high,

"one!" it went down,

"Hypnosis!"

I reacted a second later after I heard that, "Protect!" - and used the newest move I taught Magby using a TM. Protect is the most common TM back in the Department store and if I could, I would have bought three of them for my entire team but since I didn't have enough money, I bought one and taught it to my most vulnerable member, - "then close the distance and use Faint Attack!"

As practiced, a green dome was erected around Magby, and not a second after the Hypnosis caused a ripple effect on the dome's surface, Magby took it down and dashed forward- taking the Haunter by surprise with the newest move he aquired: the Faint Attack connected but the Haunter wasn't burned.

Fair enough. Flame body did only have a 30% chance to inflect the status.

"Sunny Day,"

"Curse" the Hex Maniac looked interested now and so did her friends. I did my best to ignore the pressure that now emanated from what I thought was an Ace Trainer wannabe, he's looking at the battle with focus now, calculation of it visible in his expression.

The sunlight got stronger, Haunter now had a cruel smile, and the Hex Maniac topped that by making her slightly upturned lips look manic. The crazy feeling that I got from her was probably because of her eyes though. "this has become very interesting," she said, "I should have expected that you know how to use moves like these,"

I shrugged, hoping that it hid the way my body was shivering just from hearing her voice but the way her smile somehow got worse didn't get my hopes up, "you would be very dissapointed," I replied calmly.

"I would still like to take you seriously," someone from her group whistled, my eyes moved quickly, more so because I didn't like it when I met the Hex Maniac's gaze rather than curiousity, I noted that the one who whistled was the female Ace Trainer, who had a smirk on her face as she watched the battle unfold, "my eyes are here, LIONEL,"

Did she shout? Did she shout?!

Why did it feel like she didn't?! I swear she was shouting just now.

I waved of calm washed over me as I readied my psychic defenses, I gulped, "uh, yeah?"

"Hypnosis and Confuse Ray," - feeling as if it was choreographed beforehand, the Haunter used both moves simultaneously and they shot out towards left and right respectively which locked Magby in place and prevented him from dodging. Then without even a command from its trainer, the Haunter moved forwards, its tongue lolling out of its mouth, "Lick" the Hex Maniac said after the haunter moved.

"Protect then Ember!" knowing that Magby was gonna hit the Haunter straight in the face, I could only hope that the attack causes a burn. I didn't like the way Magby was wincing from the effects of Curse with every second that passed.

Possibilities of how the battle is gonna play out started to cloud my head, making me lose focus as I fell down the recesses of my psyche. Here, time quickly passes, just enough that I can figure out my next move way before my opponent could. And as I studied the various ways the battle can play out, I didn't like what I was feeling.

For some reason, the Haunter would survive more than three Embers from my Magby even after using Sunny Day. I didn't know why, but the damn thing is tough enough that even after using Curse of all things and halving its health, it takes down Magby way before he could do the same.

And all the outcomes where the opposite did happen, required a burn to be afflicted with the next Ember.

But with such a low chance of it happening... I sighed and decided to cut my losses, Zubat should be able to finish what's left of the Haunter and when I expanded the battle after I threw her out, the outcomes are more than positive that she could finish the job. Then comes the next problem that I couldn't even decipher; I knew my ability to calculate odds wasn't perfect, but it being entirely blocked is a new experience to me...

All I know is that my Zubat would faint a while after faints the Haunter, and then black.

I focused back on the present, just in time to see Magby's Protect go down and him using Ember. Which the Haunter took like a champ, "Night Shade" / "Ember," the two of us said with the same tone of voice, compared to my opponent though, I said it in resignation instead of calmness, "Ember again,"

Magby took one last shot before falling down from a Night Shade as well as the after effects of Curse.

I recalled him, gave my sorriest, and then released Zubat, "Bite,"

"Night Shade,"

"Bite,"

"Night Shade,"

The last Night Shade managed to miss as my Zubat flew up before the Haunter could shoot it out. She swerved to the left, Dodging a hypnosis before retaliating with a Supersonic that did nothing other than cause the dirt in the ground to fly up.

And then, a stalemate between a very, very tough Haunter that I think has an Eviolite against a fast but weak Zubat that did nothing other than dodge occured.

The Hex Maniac was more than glad to let the stalemate go on, too. Well until-

"Wing Attack!"

-"Sucker Punch!"

And the Haunter moved, in the blink of an eye, he was in front of Zubat to give a hit that she never would've expected. Her flight fell off as she got hit, meanwhile that Haunter kept levitating, staying still on the sky with a smirk on its face, it knew that it's now close to Zubat now and closing the distance when she decides to flee again wouldn't be so hard thanks to Sucker Punch.

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Zubat threw her attack and the Haunter took it with ease, the smirk on its face unfaltered.

"fly away then Supersonic," Let's see him Sucker Punch that one then.

I knew that even with her best efforts, Zubat is much more slower than the Haunter but even then, she managed to tuck her wings, free fall to dodge an incoming Night Shade, and then take lift once more before releasing a Supersonic that managed to hit. When it comes to manueverability in the air, Zubat's wings are far more superior than the Haunter's ability to levitate.

"Wing Attack!"

"Sucker Punch,"

And here comes repetition. With none of us wanting to let things be, both me and the Hex Maniac repeatedly told our Pokemon to attack, with Zubat constantly releasing his STAB Wing Attack and Haunter catching up with her flight thanks to Sucker Punch. Both of them never missed, and with each attack that lands, the two Pokemon started to show more and more weakness until eventually-

"Wing Attack!"

"Sucker Punch,"

The Haunter took his last hit and fell. He got recalled back to his Pokeball before he met the ground and after that, out came a Misdrevious who, for a single second, I was able to calculate odds against but it immediately turned black the moment that she used Calm Mind. The surprise from that lasted long enough for her to use a Psybeam that made my unmoving Pokemon faint.

As I watched Zubat fall to the ground, I gave myself a mental reminder to atleast get my Pokemon to use a single move next time. Even if the possibilities said that it wouldn't be possible.

Alakazam's words of me being over reliant and trusting my odd calculation too much echoed in my head and this time, I had to reluctantly agree. He had a point.

"is that your ace?" I said calmly, the Hex Maniac nodded, "I see, where'd you get calm mind from?

"ohhhhhh the little boy's asking for intimate secrets~~~~" I ignored the Beauty's words but resisted a smile when she pouted after I didn't react. She seemed to have caught it though and smirked before moving on to tease her friend, "ohhhhh Cass is blushin~~~~"

Cass sighed, "forgive her," from her tone alone, I can atleast tell that she was a bit shaken up from that sudden tease, people do have their limits after all, and her doesn't seem to be that high to begin wit, "but yes, she is my ace and we've been together for some time now, I can even say that she alone is capable of taking me up to the 3rd Badge before losing momentum, though, that is also what other Pokemons are for," the way she said that made it clear she appreciation for her main Pokemon,

"ohhhhh~~~ Cassie's speaking a lot~~~ she might have a crush!" the Beauty squealed in her seat as the Hex Maniac blushed,

"okay, guess I won't dissapoint you then," I replied seriously,

"ohhhhhh~~~~ the young boy confessed! he said he's serious! KYA~!" the Beauty hugged herself in a false show of embarrassment, "Cass! Answer him!"

Cass huffed, and her face turned serious, "very well,"

Grimer popped out, then I decreased my focus on all the possibilities in favor of increasing my Psychic defense. Cassie's eyes flashed in understanding for a second before they went back to being unreadable, "I see," she simply said in reaction to a Grimer the height of my knee and with twice the width, a rather large guy for a Pokemon his species and age, "Shadow Ball,"

"Minimize,"

A transparent, black ball forme in front of the Misdreavus while my Grimer glowed white, dust kicked up as the Shadow Ball missed, "Double Team,"

"Disable,"

The Misdreavus became hard to follow after using her move, even then, Grimer's eyes managed to land to where she was to use Disable. Preventing her from using my own tricks should do me good I think?

"Taunt,"

Fair enough, but Disable's already been used, "I'm afraid that's more for minimize than anything," I raised my mental defenses even higher after she said that, more so after she acted like she knew what I was thinking about. I glared at the Misdreavous and in reply, an echoing huff resonated around the area, its source undetermined.

"Shadow Sneak then Bite her over and over again bud, do it until she gets poisoned," Grimer did know Poison Fang but since Ghost resists Poison and Grimer's ability was Poison Touch, it was better to maximize damage with an attack that's effective yet has the same chance of inflicting poison.

"Calm Mind to Confuse Ray,"

Misdreavus glowed an ominous hue as Grimer closed the gap between the two of them with a single super effective move, her eyes then glowed orange, met Grimer's, and gave him confusion. But not before he took a bite.

"Shadow Ball,"

After she said that, a dance between a confused Grimer and a Misdreavus that had no moves to properly harm him started. With each, lasting bite, Grimer would do damage with a small chance to inflict poison, the pressure from that alone made the Misdreavus move around the battlefield but a Shadow Sneak from Grimer made it so that she couldn't do anything other than attack.

Every time Grimer's confusion ended, Misdreavus would use another Confuse Ray. She managed to miss twice so far, when the third one landed, Grimer's 6th bite shook her ethereal skin as her insides turned purple.

"Tch, I'm surprised your Grimer hasn't missed so far," and I was too, given that the Misdreavus used double team earlier, "Double Team,"

"Minimize!"

Both of them grew harder to see, then a repeat, and they started to become transparent. Then another one, and they both started to become nigh invisible.

I didn't let Grimer use a fourth Minimize and instead, I told him to use Shadow Sneak. He did, and thankfully managed to land the attack against the Misdreavus before she could use a forth Double Team, "Pain Split,"

"ah," she smirked,

"I do not know which between us would lose in the end," she sighed, "but with Penny being poisoned, the chances of her falling first is pretty likely, though I suppose, I can make it a hard time for you before she does yes?"

okay, guess I'll try one last shot and see if it works - "fair enough, Poison Mist!"

And the fruits of Grimer's labor for the past few months came out in the form of a thick cloud of toxic gas that erupted out of his mouth, covering the surrounding area in a dangerous cloud that would slowly chip his enemy's health.

And it woul stay that way no matter how much Penny moves around, "what move is that?" Cass asked curiously, "I have never encountered that before..." high pitched words were said while staring at the cloud of purple, noxious gas that covered the battlefield. Her friends seems curious as well, "tell you what," her manic face came back and the ominous cloud that hung over her made me take a step back, "since I do not like stalling anyways," that was a complete lie and I was sure she let her mental guard down on purpose so that I could read her mind and confirm that, "how about this? you tell me what that move is and I'll let you win,"

"you'll let me win a battle that I've already won?"

"oh, of course, but it is still undetermined no?" her smirk turned vile enough to make me consider, "and besides, it's a fair trade if I do say so myself?"

I gulped, "okay then," and Misdreavus was immediately recalled, "but first I have a question,"

"ask away,"

"your Shadow Ball is TM learned right?" she nodded, "thought so," I sighed in relief, "but to answer your question, it's called- Poison Mist and it basically just chips away at the enemy's health for a while before dissapearing, it takes a while to set up though,"

"interesting, you made it yourself?"

"I was inspired?" I scratched my head, my questioning tone told more of the truth than my words ever did.

"I see,"

Grimer got recalled in a flash of red light and I started walking towards her, feeling a bit stiff, "so... is the bet still?.."

"of course," she smiled, "here,"

"right, thank you," I pocketed the 1k, "so, another question, did your haunter have an Eviolite?"

"ah, yes!" was her eager answer, she then winked and bent down to whisper something in my ear, the loud 'KYAAA' from a few meters away was gladly ignored as she confessed what the actual outcome of our battle is supposed to be, "my Misdreavus also has Leftovers,"

"ah," I chuckled, "guess I was way over my head this time around huh?" she nodded with a small smile, "I should've thought better,"

"oh cheer up!" was the male Ace Trainer's words, "you putting up that good of a fight against Cass is something that you should be proud about," the others nodded, "and that move," his eyes gleamed, "seriously, kids these days..."