Chapter 38- Tournament: Top 32

While it was tempting to have a short celebration on the evening of the qualifiers, we ultimately opted not to. There was no point celebrating something before actually finishing the tournament. Not that I had the opportunity since I had to deal with a very pouty psychic type. Being confined to her capsule for such a long time wasn’t something Nike particularly appreciated. It seemed that the evolution made her mature a bit since she actually understood and agreed that was the best strategy. She just wasn’t obligated to like it, and she made it known.

Unfortunately, tomorrow shaped up to be much of the same, since unless we had to, she would stay unknown for as long as possible. That didn’t mean that it was set in stone, however.

Either way, that night, Arnold joined us to have a strategic meeting. We sat in my room with some notes on the ground. Just because we weren’t training together didn’t mean that we would exchange information. While it was a competition, we all agreed to increase our chances to fight each other.

“Is there any noteworthy trainer from your group?” I asked them right off the bat.

Arnold brought his hand to his chin in consideration. “There are a few in my group that I would consider though, but only one trainer that I wouldn’t want to face. He went through the qualifiers with only one Pokemon showed but…”

I let him finish because I was frankly curious about what Pokemon he used. My guess was probably a dragon type, and I was already wondering why there were so many of them.

“He relied on nasty strategy with his Palpitoad. They used Supersonic to confuse their opponent, before using Rain Dance to activate their Swift Swim ability. After that, they simply overwhelmed their confused opponent with powered-up water moves.”

Both Sera and I were deep in thought trying to think of counters for that strategy. The only one I could think of was to prevent them from setting the rain up but, with no Pokemon to contest the weather it was easier said than done. Having a Rayquaza just about now would be nice. The laughter that ensued after my comment only died down when a more serious proposition came forth.

“Other than hoping for a Legendary to fall into our hands before tomorrow, I would say the easiest thing to do is to avoid the Supersonic. Without the confusion, it at least wouldn’t be a complete beat down.”

We nodded at Sera’s suggestion. It was certainly more realistic.

“Other than that, there weren’t any other impressive trainers in my group. We were the only two to come out of it with zero defeat.” He added and adjusted his glasses.

Ignoring his not-so-subtle brag, we moved to Sera’s arena.

“From my side, there was 1, not 2 trainers of interest. The first one used a particularly agile Tranquill. It stayed in the air most of the time and bombarded Luxio without getting close. Honestly, if not for the type advantage I would have probably lost the match.” The last part was murmured but we clearly caught it.

I was sure that if the feisty cat was there, she would strongly object to that. None of us had our teams since we wanted to hide as much as possible. Personally, it was mostly Nike’s evolution that I wanted to hide since Arnold didn’t know. I was expecting his starter to have evolved as well, though.

“The second one seemed to focus on Dark types. I saw him use both a Liepard and a Pawniard. I couldn’t see the latter’s match, but the former was impressive. It was weaving in and out of close quarters when I saw it. It knocked out a Throh when I saw it.” She added

The name of the Pokemon conjured an image in my head that I was quick to confirm with the Pokedex. The red humanoid Pokemon was one of the fighting type that originated in Unova, at least according to records. It seemed to wear clothes reminiscent of the GI that martial artists used. If I remember correctly it was based on Judo and liked to use grappling moves. Actually, I guess it would be the opposite, with Jodo being based on Throh’s movement. Not that it was relevant.

“For that one, it looks like trying to get a strategy would be tricky… I guess we’ll just have to adapt on the fly. At least we know two of his team.” I concluded and the two of them nodded. “Now then for me-”

“Actually, there is a third one!” Sera exclaimed and furiously flipped through her notes. “Nexon, do you remember the guy in Virbank who tried to pick a fight when we went up? She asked while still flipping through.

I drew a blank on that one. Did something like that happen? I scoured my memory, but nothing came to mind. “Sorry, I don’t remember.”

She rolled her eyes. “You told me that you met him before. With the Tepig.”

As she said that the image of the rude boy immediately popped back in my mind. “Oh, the rude guy, yeah I remember him.”

“Well, ‘rude guy’ as you so elegantly put it was also in my group. His Tepig evolved and is now a terror to face. I actually lost to him. I didn’t see him use any other Pokemon.”

This time she was properly ranting as she talked about how fast it became after using Flame Charge. Combined with its natural strength it almost made it unfair. I guess there is a reason why regional starters are so prized. Just then Arnold spoke up.

“Hold…Rude guy with a Tepig? He wouldn’t happen to have black hair and green eyes, would he?” he asked furrowing his brow.

“Don’t know,” I answered frankly.

“That’s right!” Sera Shouted just as fast.

“That is excellent news!” he answered with glee.

“Glad to know that my defeat brings you so much joy.” Sera's voice oozed with sarcasm.

A flustered Arnold hastily retorted. “I meant that it was an excellent intel!”

“I take it you know the guy?” I asked already drawing conclusions with their partners.

“Yeah. His name is Roy, although ‘rude guy’ suits him just fine if you want my opinion. He is one of the trainers who received their Pokemon from Professor Juniper like me. From what I remember his Tepig was already physically stronger than the others. He is also a very skilled trainer. His only problem is his character.”

“What do you mean?” Sera asked. “I mean, saw what you mean firsthand but what do you mean?”

Arnold looked at her but continued nonetheless. “Well, his fighting style is pretty violent. That in itself is nothing too unusual but the way he treats other people also rubs me the wrong way. He treats everyone he beats like they are lesser to himself “

“That checks out.” Both Sera and I said in unison.

She then told us of his reaction after the matches while I also told the story of how we first met, back when I was just leaving Aspertia.

“While it’s that we confirmed it, the fact that his Tepig evolved only makes things harder. As I said it was already physically stronger so I can only guess at his strength now.” Arnold was back to frowning

“I say we plan for the worst and hope for the best. We can also only hope to see another one of his Pokemon before we have to fight him so we can plan accordingly.” I said and they both nodded.

“Ok, back to you, Nexon.”

“Yes. For me, the first one of interest is a girl with her Ferrothorn. I wasn’t able to see any other Pokemon because she didn’t need them. All I know is that she finished with no defeat as well. And from the fights, I saw she was in control from beginning to end.”

They both wrote it down and I continued. “Next is unfortunately a trainer I have no data on. I simply didn’t notice him until the end, and I saw he had zero defeat as well. I tried asking Pops, but he wasn’t paying attention either”

Both of them wanted to say something but after I mentioned Pops they let it slide. It was probably about the lack of information.

“Finally, there is one guy that mowed through the competition with his Axew.” That name made them choke. “Yes, he used a Dragon. I noticed him early on, so I kept an eye out. He lost to someone else who used a Sneasle. He seemed unprepared for countering the weakness of his type. From what I could see, he was relying on the advantage of dragons. He isn’t really strong or skilled, but an Axew seemed like something I should keep an eye out for.”

“If that’s the case the only solution is to have either the type advantage or hitting it so it doesn’t have the time to retaliate…” Sera commented while tapping her pen against her lip.

“That is basically it.” Arnold agreed.

“The only negative point is that we have no idea how the other field did,” I commented.

“I would say that 3 out 8 is more than what others got.”

“That’s also true. Either way, I’ll see you guys tomorrow, and try not to lose before facing me” I said while standing up.

“Talk for yourself.” Arnold retorted.

“Hope you guys can put your money where your mouth is,” Sera commented with a haughty flick of her silver hair.

After a bit more trash talk, we split up for a meeting with our own respective teams. While we wouldn’t bring them with us, we would of course go through what we gathered with them. I could only imagine the atmosphere over there since they would be briefing their teams as well.

I made my way back to my room and was immediately jumped on by Nike and Skoll. They both seemed to be the most eager for the tournament. Tia was her usual self while Tyr seemed a bit restless but otherwise calm.

“Alright, alright calm down, and let’s get started!”

What followed was a repeat of what we went through with the other two. Talking strategy more in-depth for those we talked about earlier, and one for Sera and Arnold. When that was done, I only had one matter to address before going to bed.

---

The city of Nimbasa was in effervescence. The previous day was not noticeable because not many people cared about the qualifiers, but the actual tournament was a different beast altogether. Fireworks were going off, even in the morning leaving puffs of white smoke that mixed with clouds. Crowds of people moved as one toward their different destinations. By far the most popular was the Bid Stadium where the tournament was taking place. It, however, wasn’t the only one given that the Musical Theatre hosted the Contest. Whether you were interested in battles or contests you were served.

Meanwhile, inside the Big Stadium, the 32 trainers who passed the qualifiers were gathered together. Everyone was eyeing everyone, looking at each other like the competitors we were. I for my part stood to one side of the waiting room with both Sera and Arnold. I also spotted Roy opposite us, but dealing with that guy was bound to be a pain so I ignored him.

“5 minutes to go” one of the staff came in just to shout that.

The tension in the room increased by one notch as we each got closer to the doorway. 5 minutes quickly elapsed, and we were brought to the stadium field. The roof was slid open letting the rays of light from the sun take care of the illumination. In short order, the 32 of us were arrayed on the side for an opening ceremony that I didn’t bother listening to, instead scanning the spectators for familiar faces. It didn’t take long to find Pops, Nana, Mathew, and Tyr on the sidelines. The bandages were changed, and I decided to let him spectate the entirety of the tournament rather than leave him in his Pokeball. The wounds themselves seemed mostly healed but I would follow what the nurse told us.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

After the speech went on for a while, my attention was finally dragged back to the show.

“... Now let us decide the match-ups for our coming tournament!”

I snapped to one of the 4 large screens placed around the stadium. There 32 numbered cards were displayed, all fully white with black numbers. Looking closely it was easy to notice that some numbers repeated themselves. As if waiting for this exact revelation to sink in, the cards began to spin on themselves before revealing a picture of each trainer on their opposite side. After that, they were all gathered in a deck that was then shuffled on the screen and distributed. 16 cards were lined up opposite each other before lines were drawn. The end result was 8 matches from each side of the tournament table. The two tables faced each other and were connected by the final fight that would determine the winner.

The first card I looked for was my own, finding it in the left bracket. Then my opponent who I obviously didn’t know. I would need to check with Sera and Arnold if he was one of theirs. Speaking of which, they were my next target, and I was quite happy to see Arnold in the same bracket as me. If we were assigning numbers to trainers, he would be number 3, meaning the second match, while I was number 10. That meant that unless one of us lost, we would face each other in the semi-final. It also meant an all-out battle but only if I won the others. I locked eyes with him and I could already tell he was thinking the same.

As for Sera, I didn’t know if she got lucky or unlucky. Her first opponent was the girl with the Ferrothorn. She was lucky in the sense that she had Litleo to take care of that one at least. The unlucky part came from her potential opponent after that. And even after she won that one she wasn’t out of trouble waters since she would need to also defeat Roy for a spot in the final.

And that wasn't the last of our surprises. Looking at the brackets I could see at least two familiar faces, namely Cara and Craig, the twins who helped us with our training against Roxie. If these two were here as well that meant that we couldn’t afford to slack off at any point. Regardless I turned my mind to the first task.

Sera and Arnold confirmed that neither of our opponents was on our little list except Sera’s. Meaning we were going in blind. On a more positive note, the reason why they decided on the Big Stadium became obvious once the lines drawn on the ground changed. Instead of the line for the rugby that was previously there, they reconfigured themselves into two standard-sized fighting fields. Before I could wonder if it was some kind of projection on the ground, the MC spoke.

“As you can see, two fields have been prepared. Each side of the bracket will occupy one field for double the spectacle! This next bit is for both spectators and competitors alike, barriers will be put in place so don’t worry and bring out the big guns! And with that, I declare the tournament officially STARTED!!”

Immediately 4 trainers stepped out of line. The tournament brackets were arranged in two pyramids touching at their tops and the 4 trainers with their name higher on the list were about to duke it out. The rest of us were asked to step back to the waiting rooms and wait for our turn. Thankfully they had screens in there so we could also watch our possible opponents.

Arnold’s turn came pretty fast and I learned nothing useful out of it. Not because he didn’t do well, but the opposite. The Drillbur that he caught back during the expedition was enough to take care of the fire type team of his opponent. The only worthwhile information was that he hadn’t evolved yet.

While I was waiting for my match, Sera was called up.

“Break a leg,” I told her.

“Oh, I intend to.” she declared with a smile.

Arnold and I simply laughed it off as confidence because she had a fire type. Were trusted in her but she still surprised us.

“... One switch will be allowed per trainer. Send your Pokemon out in 3,2,1! Begin.”

Without any surprise, the grey and green form of the Ferrothorn materialized on the fighting field. Its opponent however had me staring mouth open before trying to swallow some saliva. Where I was expecting the baby lion Pokemon, now stood a full-grown lion. The evolved form of Litleo, Pyroar, now stood proudly with a height doubling his previous one. Where before there were a few tuffs of fur standing out, now stood a magnificent mane that almost seemed made of fire. He didn’t even try to agitate his opponent but simply stood tall, almost imperiously, like everything was as it should be.

The crowd was cheering and going absolutely bonkers at the opportunity to see two fully evolved Pokemon facing each other. I, however, pitied the other girl. Sure enough, once Sera revealed Flamethrower on top of the evolution, the Ferrothorn didn’t last long. The fact that it was more focused on physical defense didn’t help either. Her next Pokemon didn’t last much longer and Sera came back after sweeping through her opponent with a small smile on her lips.

“So?” She asked with faux nonchalance.

“I want to curse you so bad right now,” I said and I meant it.

How the fuck do you keep the evolution a secret and act so chill?!

My only saving grace was that at least she didn't spring it on me out of nowhere.

“Nexon and Noah! Nexon and Noah!” the person in charge calling the next group came out.

Without a word, I stepped up under their encouragement. My heart was pounding, but not in stress. It was all pure excitement, and I was about to let it all out.

“And for the 5th match of the first group, we have Nexon versus Noah. This match will be a 1v1 with two Pokemon each and one switch for each trainer. The battle will end when both Pokemon are rendered unconscious. Please send out your Pokemon in 3,2,1! Begin!”

Two balls flew into the arena within a fraction of a second. On my side, the Safari ball opened to release Tiamat’s form on the arena’s ground. Opposite her now stood a Pokemon with inky black skin, as if darkness was given form. It would have been a very recognizable form if it had a red eye instead of the purple, and if it sported its usual golden mask rather than an odd-looking piece of clay marked with even stranger engravings. The Galarian Yamask floated with its two arms flailing as if they were used to stabilize it.

I wasn’t expecting to see Pokemon from Galar in this tournament, and judging by the slight smirk on my opponent’s face, he counted on it. Unfortunately, Tia was not the best equipped to deal with this opponent. She only had Crunch as a super effective move. The others were also limited with one super effective move or none at all for Nike and Skoll respectively. Using my switch right now was a bad look but I would be more confident with Nike on the field.

“Mean Look!”

Before I could fully draw Tia’s Safari Ball, my opponent shouted and his Pokemon followed. A beam made of literal black light shot forward before enveloping Tiamat. She was obviously taken by surprise and wasn’t able to avoid the light. I knew that it would run interference with the red beam of the return but I tried nonetheless on the off chance it was a bluff. Sure enough, the beam fizzled out before grabbing a hold of Tia.

Well, there goes that plan.

“Alright Tia, we’re doing this. Use Mud Shot!”

With the command given, globes of mud were formed into her mouth before being shot at a surprisingly high velocity. The Yamask did its best to dodge them, but ultimately one of the globes managed to strike the hardened clay on its end. Once destabilized and unable to dodge others quickly found their way to its inky body.

“Now close in!”

“Night Shade!”

She worked her stumpy legs and ran as fast as she could, which admittedly wasn’t fast, toward the floating ghost. Their retaliation sent out a being of shadow and type energy, but compared to Missy’s this one might as well offer tickles. And I wasn’t about to let it make contact. At least not directly

“Crunch it!”

Dark type energy suffused the jaws of the antlion and opening it wide, she took a bite out of the ghostly apparition. She did take damage but the dark type energy took out a good portion of the power behind it.

“Keep going with Crunch!” I shouted

“Yamask go higher. Then use Hex!”

To my frustration, just before Tia could reach their position, the ghost floated out of reach, and unfortunately, Trapinch were never known for their ability to jump. What’s more the ghostly energy that enveloped and ravaged her made her falter in her steps and slide to the ground. Without prompting, she stood back up and snapped her jaws in irritation at the opponent who was now out of reach.

“Will-o-wisp!”

Damn it!

“Protect!”

Orbs of fire that seemed to flicker in and out of our world blinked into existence. The ghostly blue flames danced through the air in a distracting pattern and drew closer to Tia. The energy dome formed by Protect could only block so much when Yamask continued to send more and more after her. And the drawback of Protect showed and it faded just before the next wave of wisps reached her. They ignited on contact creating multiple burned spots of the chitinous carapace of Tia. The most infuriating part was that now they just kept their distance instead of coming back down. Trying to attack them with Rock Tomb or Mud Shot resulted in them simply floating out of the way. With the burn flaring up every so often, we were on a timer and there was one thing that could change it. I remembered what Pops told me about Pokemon improving faster under pressure and decided to gamble on it. She was already close to the move after all.

“Tiamat, we are going for it. Use Earth Power!”

While it was a move that wasn’t ready yet, all our other moves required contact, which wasn’t happening, or were easily dodged. And in all honesty, I think the only reason the match was still on was because the other guy was inexperienced. A little bit of pressure might just be what Tia needed.

She braced herself on the ground and tried to focus. The intermittent Night Shade and the burn were visibly bothering her, but I could see the ground just below the ghost shaking, with loose sand bouncing up. My opponent also seemed to notice because his next command was the one I was afraid of.

“Yamask, use Hex! Don't let them!” There was a bit of panic on his face.

I couldn’t understand the panic because I myself was panicking. Hex was a move that would do more damage if the target had a status effect. And with Tia being burned...

“Protect! Now!”

As soon as I gave the command, she stopped her attempt at Earth Power and formed the energy shield around herself. At least she tried because the delay from canceling her previous attack was all that was needed for the ghostly energy to ravage her from the inside out, and the result this time was far from the previous one. The type energy didn’t only attack her but also fueled the residual energy from the Will-o-Wisp.

A pale white, almost ethereal, flame enveloped Tia as she screamed. I winced as I saw her shake on the ground and saw the look of realization on the guy opposite me.

“Tia! Protect!” The urgency and worry in my voice must have been enough to get through to her.

“Again!” my opponent also shouted.

Pushing the pain, the sheet of energy appeared, and not a second too soon if I was to guess based on the flicker of dark over the entire shield. It was also then that, for the first time, Tiamat acted without prompting in combat. The ground under Yamask shook once more, but instead of a buildup, a smaller geyser of sand and dust erupted from the ground and high into the sky, reaching the ghost. I remembered her doing it when in the forest and I regretted not thinking of it sooner. But it wasn’t over yet.

“Use Mud Shot,” I said. I wasn’t taking the risk with Earth power again.

Much like the first exchange, Yamask tried to dodge, only it was hindered by the sand in its eyes. Its trainer did order it to move backward but he wasn’t as fast busy rubbing the sand off. So, when globes of compacted mud slammed into it and pushed it back. And I immediately went back on my words.

“Earth Power! Just like you did now.” I encouraged my ground type.

This time the buildup was a lot shorter. Even if the other Pokemon was currently disoriented from being sent flying while blinded, it wouldn’t last long. And when it recovered, another Hex was definitely coming at us. Once the ground began to shake, I once more encouraged her since it was all I could do. This time, it was enough.

The ground beneath Yamask erupted with a vengeance, sending flying not only dirt and rocks but a ray of pure ground type energy. While the rocks were enough to deal damage, the real meat of the attack came from the type energy. I was mid-way through pumping my fist when a voice reached my ears.

“Hex!”

I didn’t get to react that the same pale white flame enveloped Tia for the second time, making her look like a brazier. This time she didn't even have the energy to let out a scream and simply collapsed on the ground.

“Nexon’s Pokemon is unable to battle. You have 30 seconds to send out your next Pokemon.”

I looked at the collapsed form of my Pokemon before sighing and grabbing the Safari Ball.

“Return. You did very well, thank you,” I murmured to my fainted Pokemon and surveyed the field.

I had let my guard down. Celebrating her using a new move was stupid to do without confirming the results. I used a bit of the time I was given to look around. The Yamadk was... well, not panting, being a ghost and all, but it had definitely seen better days. Earth Power clearly did some damage, just not enough to knock it out. Then came the choice of the next Pokemon to send. While I would love to keep the secret of Nike’s evolution for Arnold’s fight, or even Cara that I might fight next round, there would be no point if lost before getting a chance to fight either of them. And pitting Skoll against a ghost type was not necessarily smart.

“Let’s go, Nike!” the Premier Ball flew into the field a deposited the surprised form of my starter.

‘Change of plan baby girl. But we are not going all out.’ I sent her quickly still unwilling to use all my trumps cards.

‘Tia?’ She asked.

‘Knocked out. But she did a number on her opponent.’ I answered.

She nodded and I felt a wave of determination wash over me. The telepathic exchange was fast enough that no one should have noticed it. And now it was time to 1, finish Tia’s opponent, and 2, deal with the second Pokemon. And thankfully I knew what was likely coming.

“Will-o-Wisp!" My opponent didn't waste any time and ordered with a small smile. But this time I wasn’t worried.

He looked puzzled when didn’t react like he expected. At least until the blinking orbs changed trajectory and hit his own Pokemon. Magic Bounce was truly a broken Ability.

“Psybeam. Fast.” I said and the tiny witch’s hat glowed.

Then a purple beam of psychic power slammed into the ghost. Combined with the damage from Tiamat, it was enough to knock the once troublesome ghost. As an afterthought, I was glad I didn't order Brutal Swing since that Pokemon likely had Mummy as an ability.

Wait, is it Mummy? I’m not sure. Anyway, no point in thinking about what-ifs.

“Noah’s Pokemon is unable to battle. You have 30 seconds to send out your next Pokemon.”

Now it was time to take advantage of something. The 30 seconds given wasn’t just for the one changing Pokemon. You also had to take into account that your opponent will use it to their advantage too.

“Calm Mind,” I said and Nike entered a meditative-like trance boosted by psychic power.

I could see the eye of my opponent go wide as he quickly scrambled to send out his next Pokemon. That was another benefit of giving an audible command to boost it made your opponent rush. Even if it would likely only shake beginner trainers. I don’t know if it was intended or if the stress on Nike boosting herself further got to him, but the next Pokemon to appear on the field was a fighting type. Sure, it was a Dark and Fighting type, but I expected him to know about Hattrem given that he had a Galarian Yamask.

A Scraggy pulled on its pant-like skin and fixed Nike with his big eyes. At that moment, I felt bad for it but thanked my past self for not giving the Fairy Feather to Nike today. I think it would have been overkill otherwise. That was only for a moment though before remembering that Tia got knocked out because of my overconfidence. I shook my head and focused on the battle. Nike only got one use of Calm Mind, but it was one use she didn't have before as the battle resumed...

“Rush in and use Headbutt!” Noah pointed forward.

“Disarming Voice, Full power.”

...And ended. One of the things with Disarming Voice is that you couldn’t away from it. Your only options were to block or get hit. And unfortunately for Noah’s Scraggy, running toward the fairy enhanced sound waves constituted neither of these options. With one lungful from Nike, waves of fairy energy hit the running Pokemon and sent it backward. His effort to try and progress was unrewarded, and it was sent flying backward, creating a cloud of dust where he landed. It quickly settled down, revealing an already panting Pokemon.

Noah gritted his teeth but gave his next order. “Snarl!”

A guttural sound boosted by Dark Type energy spread out with the yellow Pokemon as its epicenter.

“Match it!” I said aloud. ‘Disarming Voice’ I added mentally.

Normally, I had no doubt that Snarl would likely have overpowered our move since Disarming Voice was one, if not the weakest fairy move. But in this case, there was simply no way. Scraggy was a physical attacker while Nike is a special one. As if that wasn’t enough, she was boosted with Calm Mind and had the type advantage in terms of the moves used.

The sound waves collided in the middle of the field with both Pokemon exerting themselves. The standstill that occurred at the point of contact lasted only a few seconds before the pink waves shattered the dark ones and converged on the foe. This time when it fell, it didn’t rise back up.

“Both of Noah’s Pokemon are unable to battle! The victory goes to Nexon!”

It was only now that I realized how much I had tuned the surrounding sounds out and heard one of the commenters. “On the first field, Nexon flipped the situation around, and after losing the first Pokemon of the match proceeded to overwhelm his opponent. Truly a magnificent performance as he moves on to the top 16! We will find who will be his opponent tomorrow after the field is repaired for a few minutes!”

“Meanwhile on the second field things seemed tense a Dragon just appeared on the field!”

Hearing that I stopped and looked at the field and watched the trainer with the Axew I saw yesterday. It seemed the match had just begun and they just released their Pokemon. Across his Pokemon stood an orange and black bipedal pig. Looking at the trainer, I wasn’t surprised to see Roy. What surprised me was the next series of events.

“...Begin!”

“I’m using my switch!” his voice reached me despite the distance.

A red beam shot for his Pokemon and returned him to his capsule before a Great Ball flew onto the field. What it deposited shocked the crowd into silence before they burst once more, louder than ever.

“What?! In a shocking turn of events, Roy recalled his Pokemon without a single exchange, only to release his own dragon?! Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a mirror match-up with Axew vs Axew?!”

The commenter went just as wild as the crowd, but I tuned him back out and fixed the two dragons. The one Roy released was visibly taller than his opponent's, and while I wasn’t sure nor was I a specialist, I wouldn't be surprised if he was one of the tallest owned Axew. At the same time, I couldn’t help but grumble internally.

Why are there so many Dragons?! They are supposed to be one of the rarer types.

My thoughts didn’t change the reality as I hurried and watched with my two friends as Roy’s Axew made short work of the other guy’s team.