Howdy! Welcome to the Milk Cabin Cafe! My name's Kadi, and I'll be your server today. As our name might suggest, we've got the best freshly squeezed milk in all of Sinnoh. Do y'all need anymore time to look at the menus, or are we ready to order?"

I look over my menu at my brunch companion. "I'm ready. You?"

Ursula frowns slightly. "I need a few more seconds. You order first."

"Okay. I'll get the Kalosian toast, with Bluk and Nanab berries, and a glass of chocolate milk, please."

"I can't believe I'm paying for you to act like a five-year old and order chocolate milk," Ursula mumbles under her breath, though she straightens up when our waitress looks at her. "I'll take the Galarian-style vegetarian breakfast please. With Oran Berry juice."

Kadi takes out menus and refills our water glasses before bustling away. "You should be thanking me," I tell Ursula, once she's gone. "I could have waited until we were in Veilstone, or Pastoria to ask for you to treat me to a meal. Those fancy hotel restaurants near Lake Valor sure would have cost you more than this country diner."

"Trust me, I know", she says, taking a sip from her water glass. "I bluffed my way into a wedding held at the Seven Stars Restaurant one time. The cake alone probably cost more than everything I owned at that point."

Honestly, it's a bit weird to see and hear Ursula being a mostly regular teenage girl over the past few days, rather than some rich baron's heiress daughter. There's still some things that haven't changed that much, like how she keeps herself and her Pokémon looking impeccable, and still how she has a little bit of a tendency to put people down to lift herself up. Overall though, it's been a vast improvement, traveling with this Ursula as opposed to the previous one.

"Where were we?" I ask, now that our waiter has gone to put in our order.

"You were asking me if the contest system was really so corrupt, and I was telling you what parts of it I felt were," Ursula recounts. "I really don't like that contest ribbons have no expiration date on them. You shouldn't be able to hold on to them and pass them down to your children to give them a head start."

"I can see why that would be frustrating," I muse aloud. "But it does lower the barrier of entry for people, in what can be a pretty intimidating career choice."

Ursula's mouth opens and closes, like she never considered that. After a moment, she responds. "How can you play devil's advocate like that yet act so childish at times?"

All I can do is shrug, not knowing how to answer. "Guess I never grew out of certain things." Pokémon, for one.

She accepts that reasoning and changes the subject. "I know I overheard you talking to your mother, but I never asked you how she was."

"Oh, she's fine," I inform her, as our drinks are placed in front of us. "She gave me an earful, even though I didn't end up throwing the match, which is bogus if you ask me. Apparently, Gardenia finally managed to get her hands on a Cacnea she's been waxing poetic about. So, Mom's in charge of training the Cacnea."

It's kinda amazing that James finally decided to give his Cacnea to Gardenia. I know it was his Pokémon because the prerogative was to teach it Drain Punch, but apparently it was so comfortable around electricity that it learned Thunder Punch first! It smacked around a kid's Staravia with it too, from what I was told.

We settle into a comfortable silence, so I bring out my notepad and pen to start some brainstorming, trying to hide how much I'm enjoying my drink all the while. Ursula quickly interrupts to ask what I'm doing.

"I told you already. I need to pick your brain about that Dragonflame move you used, because I want something like that for one of my Pokémon. So, spill the beans." I twirl my pen and jab it at her.

Ursula has a strange look on her face, as she stirs her berry juice with a straw. "You ordered Kalosian toast, right?"

What did that have to do with anything? "Yeahhhhhh?" I affirm, stretching the word into a question.

"It reminded me," Ursula says, thinking hard. "I didn't come up with the idea for the move all on my own. I got a demonstration from a woman who said she was a coordinator. I couldn't place her accent when I meant her, but now I think it was Kalosian for sure."

Well, this is an interesting coincidence. "Was she tall, with purple hair, and insanely skilled?"

"Yes to all three," Ursula says slowly. "You don't think that was…"

Oh, it most definitely was her. "Congrats. You met Fantina. She's already given me plenty of advice, so it's no big deal to get some more. What did she tell you about it?"

My friend seems a bit embarrassed that she didn't recognize last year's top coordinator, but she clears her throat and answers me. "Right. Fantina explained that there was a difference between layering or chaining moves together to create combos, and what this is, which is actually combining two moves together to create a new one, better than either individual one."

She waits for me to write all that down. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that kid with his Pikachu, whatever his name is-"

"Ash," I supply.

"Yes, him. I'm almost certain that the Lightning Strike move that they used was a combination of Volt Tackle and Quick Attack. If you need another example, for reference."

Well, I've certainly witnessed how powerful that move is, firsthand. "And you said Fantina demonstrated one to you as well?" As if I needed more confirmation that I wasn't in the Hearthome Gym Leader's class. I can't think of a spectacular combination move used against me when I cast my mind back to our battle.

"Her combination was combining Shadow Ball and Flamethrower, into something called Spirit Fire. I didn't get to see the move in a battle, but it looked like standing in or being hit by those flames would drain your life away."

Spooky. Fit for a Ghost-type expert. "What Pokémon was it?" I ask, pencil racing across paper. "Chandelure? Another Skeledirge like Nando's?"

Her answer stops my pen in its tracks. "It was a Typhlosion." Ursula gives me a meaningful look.

"Hisuian Typhlosion?" I ask incredulously.

"I believe so."

Our discussion pauses again as our food is brought to us, and we start eating. I gotta say, I'm glad I'm continuing to look for ways to improve. If Fantina was saving her Hisuian Typhlosion that day as her final Pokémon, I was further away from victory than I thought.

Once we're about halfway done eating, I strike up the conversation again. "So, what's the secret behind these combination moves? I've only seen two, and heard about one more. Why are they so difficult to pull off?"

She chews on a few mushrooms and my question before answering. "First, you can't just put any two moves together. They have to be able to work together in harmony, or else they'll blow up in your face. And then your timing and technique have to be perfect as well. All that, and you might not get anything worth using in a battle. It's an arduous process for a questionable result."

"But if you do get it right…" I don't even need to finish that thought. The potential reward is absolutely spectacular.

Ursula looks aghast as I scarf down the rest of my food at lightning speed, chug the rest of my milk, and wipe off my chocolate mustache. "Better get started then. We're almost to Veilstone already."

I stick Ursula with the bill, since this is her treat after winning the contest, and head outside. Apparently most of the regular patrons of this fine establishment are the rowdy sort, so they've got a bunch of battlefields outside, like a Pokémon Center might. A bottle of Miltank Milk is somewhere in between a Super Potion and a Hyper Potion on the medical scale, so it's kinda an insane business model, since that's this place's specialty item.

I'm thankfully not accosted by any pumped up cowboys looking for a battle, since the two that are already here are battling each other. There's also two Pokémon collectors comparing their collection of Pokémon. Personally, I think having two different types of Mr. Mime is more impressive than having a Bonsly and Sudowoodo, but that's just me.

Based on how intensely they're arguing, it's pretty clear they are going to come to blows. I speed walk away from them to meet up with my other friend, who's surprisingly by himself. "I figured you would be battling somebody," I remark.

"You missed it," Lucas tells me, nodding his head towards the two collectors. "Those two tried to get me to settle their argument of whose collection was better by battling me. But I beat them both."

"So now you're training," I infer, looking over Lucas's four Pokémon, who all greet me in their own ways. Except for Rockruff, who's fast asleep.

Which is odd, considering how hyperactive Lucas's puppy is, and the time of day. I put that mystery to the side for a second. "How's Stantler's evaluation going?"

"Pretty well, all things considered," Lucas tells me. "We've been going through all of his moves and it seems that he's able to use all of them at full strength. It's a fairly varied movepool as well. He's able to use Headbutt, Double Kick, Bulldoze, Confuse Ray, Disable, Stomp, and Confuse Ray."

There's only one issue. I drop my voice. "None of those moves are Psychic-type." Disable is close, but I'm fairly certain it's a Normal-type move.

Lucas winces. "He can use Hypnosis too," he amends, pointing at Rockruff. "I had Stantler put her to sleep, because-"

"Because she'd run around like a maniac, requiring multiple eyes to be on her at all times, and that would interfere with your other Pokémon's training?"

Lucas sighs. "Yes, to all of the above. I've got Monferno working on Thunder Punch. He's learning how to use electricity from Porygon."

The fire monkey looks a bit bewildered on how to do that. I assume Porygon isn't a great teacher, considering the way it probably uses energy is totally different than a flesh and blood Pokémon.

"And I bought this, to help me out developing Stantler's Psychic power." Lucas holds out a book for me, the cover of which has a suave, blue-haired man, wearing similarly shaded glasses, and a dark red suit, along with his Bronzong.

It's not exactly a manual on how to raise a Psychic-type. I flip through the pages, eyebrows raised, before returning it to Lucas. "This is Lucian of the Elite Four's biography."

"I know," he defends himself, "but it actually has a few really good tips in here about Psychic Pokémon! Lucian doesn't even do the most mundane of tasks! Everything is done via psychic power, so he can devote all his time to the pursuit of knowledge."

Oh, is that why he always has a book in his hand in every picture or video I see him in? My best mate seems a little too eager to show me what he's been working on. I suppose every small step on this quest to evolve Stantler must feel like a giant leap to him.

"Do the thing, Stantler!" His newest Pokémon focuses with all his might, staring at a pebble near one of his hooves. After a very long minute, it flashes blue for a second and flips over.

I'm speechless, but not because I'm impressed. At least Lucas admits it. "It may not be much now, but one day, we'll be able to throw anything around with Psychic, including Pokémon in combat."

Reminder to myself. Stantler is not a Psychic-type. In addition, just because you can use a Psychic-type move, doesn't mean you can have telekinesis or other psychic powers. Speaking of other Psychic moves…

"What about Zen Headbutt? You said Stantler already knows Headbutt, so that's a good starting point. Did you ever give consideration to that?"

Lucas frowns. "Yeah, I did, but Zen Headbutt is learned by a lot of Pokémon, including ones that aren't exactly known for their finesse and control, like Tauros and Rampardos and Exploud. I assumed learning Psychic would be a better way to develop Stantler's powers."

He flips to a page in Lucian's book and starts paraphrasing. "Lucian says the mind is a muscle like any other. You need to constantly work it in order for everything associated with your mind to improve. You also need to allow time for it to have rest. He suggests meditation as the way to rest."

It's not bad advice, per se, but if we're using Lucian's logic, shouldn't we use psychic power for everything it's capable of? To constantly stimulate Stantler's mind?

I pose the question to Lucas, and to his credit, he agrees with me. He still flips through the book to whatever page Lucian talks about Zen Headbutt in. "Apparently, it's one of the easier Psychic-type moves to use. All that's really needed is to focus your willpower and channel that into an attack."

Lucas leaves out the obvious, which is that you channel to your head, so it's not even that difficult of a channel. All he needs is a teacher. I left one for him…

"Where's Vivillon?" I ask, spinning around in a circle.

"He flew off on one of his adventures," Lucas informs me, gesturing to the clear sky.

"Again?" This is getting more and more frequent. Everyday we're getting further away from Hearthome, so I can tell Vivillon's not going back there. There's one puzzle piece I'm missing.

It would be so much easier if I could just ask him, but even if I was able to communicate directly, my Bug-type doesn't take all that well to direct confrontation.

Hopefully, it's nothing, but I want to address it at some point, before it comes to a head like Ursula and my spat did. For now though, we can provide Lucas with a different teacher.

"Come on out, Absol!" My Dark-type takes a few seconds after I bring him out to test the surroundings, as I've been calling it. I'm fairly certain it's to make sure that we're safe, and because it's in his nature. When he looks to me for instructions, I point to Stantler.

"Can you give Stantler a Psycho Cut demonstration, and walk him through the process of using it. Lucas and him are working on Zen Headbutt, and I think it will be a similar process for what you do, even if the attack motion isn't the same. You can get some Sucker Punch practice in as Stantler tries to use the move, as well."

For whatever reason, Absol is a pretty good teacher. His even-keeled face and stoic nature is a benefit, because he'll never get angry or frustrated when a student does something wrong, which kinda makes up for the fact that Absol isn't the type to heap praise on you when you do succeed. Having a Dark-type be the test dummy for learning a Psychic-type is obviously ideal, as well.

I bring out the rest of my Pokémon to get to training. Right as I do that, Ursula arrives from the diner, having finished her meal and paid for both of ours. Stantler seems to be making marginal progress, with a blue orb appearing in the center of his horns once in every three tries or so, but Monferno is having a much more difficult time.

Between the three of us, we only have one Electric-type. I turn to his owner, to see if she wants to participate in the training sessions that Lucas and I have, considering her new attitude and approach.

"Do you want to have your Pokémon join in? I know you usually let them do their own thing whilst you're working with one of them, and of course Meowth won't participate, but we could use some assistance. I think Monferno would benefit from some tutoring from someone who's actually an Electric-type, and I think Charmeleon and Gabite could learn something together."

There's a little hesitation from Ursula . "What's up?" I prompt.

"Sorry," she apologizes. "It's still difficult at times, breaking out of that mindset that I need to be doing everything on my own because I'll be labeled as someone who didn't earn their success."

"We can teach you and your Pokémon whatever we want, but in the end, it's going to be you up there on stage executing the appeals and the battles," I remind her. "And I can say from experience that doing that is by far the most difficult part."

"Well, I suppose you're right. It does happen every once in a while." I roll my eyes at her jab. Still a spitfire, our Ursula. "What are you planning on teaching Gabite?"

"Dragon Claw," I explain. "Now that he actually has arms he can swing. I don't know a thing about Dragon Rush, and I'm pretty sure you don't want him going on a rampage mid-contest, either, so that's the best option for a melee Dragon-type move."

Ursula winces at the idea of using Outrage during a contest. "I'm sure you want him to demonstrate Dragonflame for Charmeleon, too."

I hold my hands up. "Guilty as charged."

"It works out perfectly, because my appeal for the Wallace Cup has to be with Masquerain," Ursula muses. "And no one gets left behind in the meantime." I can see she's come to a conclusion, and Ursula brings out all of her Pokémon.

"Helioptile, show Monferno how you use electricity," Ursula instructs as I send out all my Pokémon to join everyone else's. "Gabite, Luna's going to be working with you today." Masquerain, Meowth, let's go think of some ideas for the appeal in the Wallace Cup."

"Absol, Helioptile, can you show Porygon Dark Pulse as well?" Lucas asks, realizing that his digital Pokémon no longer needs to teach anything.

I size up Gabite. Much like his trainer, not everything about him has changed. He still likes to be pampered to the extreme. He still has a massive appetite and likes to eat all of his food in one or two bites, and then take a siesta in the sun immediately after. But I think his appetite for learning and growing stronger has increased as well.

There are some parallels to how Charmeleon is, as well. As rough and tumble as Charmeleon likes to be, he always is looking for some praise every time he does something well.

Waving over my Fire-type, I address Gabite. "Ursula and I both agree that a proper dragon deserves a better move than Dragon Rage. We're going to help you learn Dragon Claw. First, can you give us a demonstration on Dragonflame?"

Gabite looks to and asks Ursula if it's okay. She waves his concerns off easily, turning back her other two Pokémon. "They certainly have helped us enough, Gabite. Besides, I don't think Charmeleon will be able to replicate it."

That sounds like a challenge, and Charmeleon certainly takes it like one, puffing out his chest like a Purugly.

After Gabite gets the go ahead, he makes a big show of demonstrating how he starts with Dragon Rage, chomps down with Fire Fang, swallows the entire fireball, builts it in his belly, and then shoots out the attack.

Interestingly, It's only three fireballs this time. But even three fired off like mortar shells gets the attention of everyone else in the area.

The cowboys pause their battle and gawk at us slack-jawed, the collectors appraise Gabite with unconcealed envy, and a couple about to walk into the diner pauses to look in awe.

Charmeleon's all too eager to prove Ursula wrong and replicate it. The start of the attack is identical, but I already see some issues.

My Pokémon's mouth isn't nearly big enough to swallow the attack whole. Charmeleon chokes it down eventually, and while smoke comes from his nostrils as he holds it into, the ensuing attack, when he does blast it into the distance, it's a stream of mostly orange, blue tinged fire, not a series of fireballs.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

It was pretty enough for a contest, but I don't think it was any stronger than a normal Flamethrower. Charmeleon tries it again, and on the third time I make sure Ursula is watching.

"What do you think?" I ask, turning to her.

She puts a finger on her chin. "I may have to add something to that list I was telling you, about why this is so hard. Even if it's the same move combo, it may not translate from one Pokémon to the next. Charmeleon can't gulp down the attack like Gabite. And I'm sure his fire is overpowering Dragon Rage, instead of enhancing it, which is why the attack is still a Fire-type one when it comes out."

Well, her analysis does seem pretty spot on. Charmeleon isn't a true dragon, no matter how similar he is to one. Copying and pasting Ursula's and Gabite's signature move, the one they worked so hard on, felt too easy, and a little wrong, too. I'm going to have to go through this the old-fashioned way.

I mentally sigh, realizing that it might mean testing out every move combo my Pokémon have. Glaceon and Bellossom are idle now, so I suppose they should be the first to start the process.

"Thanks for the demo, anyways, both of you. I'm sure you two are raring to go at it, Charmeleon, Gabite. You're going to be attacking with Slash, and thinking of using Dragon Rage, and how to combine the two, Gabite. Charmeleon, you can attack with Metal Claw, or Scratch, even. You're not going to pick it up nearly as fast, if you do at all. This is more practice for the gym, considering there will be a lot of strong, fast physical attackers there."

I know for a fact that Lucario will be on Maylene's team. It's what she's known for, even if she's the newest gym leader in Sinnoh, with this being her first year in charge of the gym. Lucario has none of the traditional weaknesses of a Fighting-type, which is where Charmeleon comes in.

After issuing a warning to Gabite and Charmeleon to not go too crazy, I turn to my last two Pokémon. "Okay, Bellossom. Let's try and combine some moves."

It's not the most successful endeavor. Other than Weather Ball, which I rule out for a combination because it already technically is one, combining a nondescript Normal-type move with a weather condition, all of Bellossom's moves work against each other.

Grass and poison is a no-go, as is fairy and poison, and Moonblast plus any grass move Bellossom knows results in basically nothing. I've already tried out Glaceon's combos; while they've worked very well for us, there's no way to combine ice and water into a new move greater than the sum of their parts.

At least, not with our current repertoire. I don't think Snowscape or hail is going to help with this issue, unfortunately. Ideally, I'd sit Glaceon and Absol out this battle, and have them train really hard instead, which is the plan for Charmeleon and Crasher Wake's gym. But I don't have anything new to teach either of them.

As I'm trying to rack my brain about breaking the bad news to Glaceon that she's not my first or second or third choice for the next gym battle, and that I don't really have anything lined up for her to learn, we get a very well-timed interruption.

"Excuse me? Can I have your autograph?"

The question is posed to Ursula, by the lady of the couple that we saw entering the diner earlier. She definitely has a foreign accent. "I'm sorry, we were in the audience in Solaceon Town! We were so impressed, and when we were sure it was you after your Gabite used that move, I had to come over before you were gone!"

She signs the receipt the lady is offering bemusedly while her husband or boyfriend shuffles over to me awkwardly. "Can I have yours?" he asks. "You were amazing in the tag battles in Hearthome."

Poor Lucas. He hasn't won anything yet. I haven't put a lot of practice into my signature, but I make my name extra loopy for the guy. "Where are you from?" I question as I'm doing so.

"Johto!" the lady says excitedly. "I'm Mel, and this is Keaton. We're actually on our honeymoon!"

I must have something in my ears. "You came to Solaceon Town for your honeymoon?" I repeat incredulously.

"We flew into Hearthome," her husband corrects. "But we missed the contest there, so when we heard about this one, we came over here to watch it. Super worth it, honestly. The hotels are really cheap in this town."

He's not wrong about that. "Well, we're glad to meet you," I tell them. "Nice to know we have fans out there."

"Actually, we were hoping you could do something else for us," Mel says, meeting Keaton's eyes for a second. "Can we battle you guys? It's a great way to work off a big lunch!"

"We know your coordination is strong, but we want to test out ours as husband and wife!" Keaton adds. "We've got some stuff from Johto we'll give you if you win. Or we'll buy you lunch!"

I'm not really interested in ruining a couple's marriage this early on, but they seem really eager. "You guys wanna handle this?" I ask my friends. "I'll try and ref."

Lucas recalls Rockruff so she doesn't get in the way, and calls Stantler over to him as the rest of us clear off the battlefield. "Are you up to this? It'll be your first action since the injury," Lucas asks his Pokémon, who huffs and paws at the ground, ready to lock horns with an opponent.

Ursula surveys her Pokémon before settling on Masquerain. Keaton tells me the rules his wife and he want, though he seems a little disappointed that I'm not battling.

"Alright, listen up. This is going to be a tag battle, each training having two Pokémon to use, and no switching allowed. Everyone clear?"

"Refereeing is not your strong point," Lucas mumbles. To be fair to him, it's probably because I prefer to think of rules more like, hmm, guidelines. I ignore him and turn to the married couple. "Select your Pokémon, please."

Keaton sends out a Volbeat, while Mel throws out a Illumise. Kinda adorable, that they have Pokémon that are bonded as well. Makes their marriage even stronger. If only their Pokémon were as strong as their marriage, then they might be onto something.

Both bugs start bouncing back and forth, as Stantler eyes them suspiciously and Masquerain tries to intimidate them with her eye pattern. I bring my arm up and down in a chopping motion. "Begin!"

"Thunder Wave!" is the combined call, not even a second after I'm done speaking. Instantly, a weak electric shock is charged by both Volbeat and Illumise, and before either Lucas or Ursula can react, it paralyzes their Pokémon.

Never mind what I said about them being a cute couple. They're actually the devil, times two.

"Stantler, Headbutt!"

"Air Slash, Masquerain!"

Stantler shakes off the paralysis for now and charges forward at Volbeat, horns lowered, while blades of wind are sent at Illumise.

"Flash, Illumise!"

"Substitute, Volbeat!"

Everyone watching looks away as Illumise lights up like a camera. Except for Masquerain, who gets a taste of her own medicine, because she also knows that move, and she whiffs her Air Slash as a result.

Volbeat sends out a copy of itself that looks solid, and can even jump and move around, to take the blow before exploding into smoke. It reminds me of when Naruto uses his Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Not that I've ever watched that show. Come on! You all don't think I'm that lame, do you?

…Ok, fine. I've watched it. Moving on!

It's not going well for my friends. Lucas's attempt of Hypnosis is stopped when electricity crackles across Stantler's body, rendering it unable to move for a moment, while Illumise uses Flatter on Masquerain, which is basically the Bug-type sweet-talking its opponent into being confused of why it's even fighting.

"Snap out of it, Masquerain!" Ursula orders. "Icy Wind to slow them down!" She looks to Lucas for support.

He seems skeptical about the plan, but contributes regardless. "Bulldoze on Volbeat, Stantler." His Pokémon rears up and slams onto the ground.

"Moonlight!" is the call from both Mel and Keaton. Even before the polar winds reach them, or the ground under Volbeat explodes and causes it to stumble, they are glowing silver and healing through the damage.

"They're natural pranksters," Lucas says sourly, observing his two opponents. Mel and Keaton have unrepentant grins on their faces. "They've mastered the art of being as annoying as possible, to the point we can't slow them down."

It does look extremely annoying to play against this. "Bellossom," I call across the arena, getting my Pokémon's attention. "Forget the combining moves for now. You're going to be working on converting Sweet Scent into Aromatherapy."

Yeah, it's nice to try and avoid making contact with Pokémon with abilities like Flame Body and Static, or try to use Taunt to prevent Status moves, but a back-up plan is always worth having.

It certainly would come in handy here. Between Flash and Flatter, Masquerain is struggling to throw attacks in the right direction, even though she's been fortunate with paralysis, while Stantler can't make any progress against Volbeat's Substitutes, especially with the Bug-type knowing a healing move.

Eventually, they are amused enough to progress the battle further. I think it's because Stantler this time has been fully paralyzed, and it isn't able to break Volbeat's dummy.

"Tail Glow!" Keaton orders.

"Wish!" his wife adds.

Illumise looks like it's praying, and it throws something white into the air, but my attention is drawn to Volbeat, who's firefly tail has lit up like a beacon. My brain is having trouble computing that this wimpy little firefly can use the signature move of Manaphy.

It certainly seems as if Volbeat's power is soaring. Thankfully, it's not very strong to begin with, so it should be a relief to Lucas and Ursula. Stantler charges through another Substitute, and it finally looks like Masquerain is lining up an on target Air Slash.

As before, husband and wife speak in concert. "Baton Pass!" They hold out two Pokéballs, one in each hand, bringing a Pokémon back and sending one forth at the same time.

All that energy from Keaton's Volbeat is still in the air, waiting to be soaked up by his next Pokémon. Glaceon's eyes widen as she hears what they are.

"Go, Espeon!"

"Go, Umbreon!"

Another iconic partnership, I see. I'd expect the lady to have the Espeon, but it works out here, because Keaton's Espeon gets all that Tail Glow power. Air Slash lands on Umbreon, but the Dark-type doesn't even flinch, and when Illumise's Wish comes down, you couldn't tell there had been an attack at all.

"Ref!" Ursula looks at me. "Is that okay?"

Ah, I think I was supposed to go over Baton Pass and U-Turn and such when the rules were being laid out. Oh well. "It's done now, so I guess you're going to have to deal with it?" I tell them with a shrug.

"What do you mean you guess? You're the decision maker!" Lucas says in annoyance, when he should be looking at the battle, because their opponents have already shown a propensity for being sly.

"Psychic!" Umbreon takes a leisurely seat as its partner has Stantler levitating and Masquerain frozen with no effort at all. Espeon sends them both crashing to the ground for a knockout, showing Stantler and Lucas what real psychic power looks like.

"Told ya we were tough!" Mel brags, as Keaton looks at me.

"There wouldn't be any difference if you were there, don't worry."

These two are so cocky! I can't have my own fans thinking that they're better than me! "We're making a change. Lucas, you're the ref. Ursula and I will handle these two."

Finally, Mel and Keaton look surprised. "Is that legal?"

I give them a cheeky grin. "I just made it legal."

It doesn't take me long to look over my Pokémon and select one for the battle. "Come on over here, Absol."

Ursula shakes off her surprise. "You too, Gabite. Let's show them how much stronger you've become."

As soon as Lucas restarts the battle, I target Espeon, because it is an enormous threat, with that Tail Glow boost under its belt. "Dark Pulse!"

"Umbreon, block it!' The Dark-type jumps in the way of our attack for its partner. As soon as Dark Pulse is finished, Keaton takes the lead.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Espeon sends a ray of sparkling light to cover our side of the battlefield.

"Detect!" I say. Absol slips through the attack like a wraith. Ursula orders Gabite to hide underground.

She knows better than to attack with Dig without an opening, so she waits for me to make one. "Taunt on Umbreon, Absol." I know for a fact that it can learn a slew of useful utility moves. Better to shut that one down before it uses Helping Hand, so that Espeon can do its best Mewtwo impression.

"Get in the way, Espeon!" Keaton shouts, and this time, his Pokémon is the one to leap over to defend its partner. Weirdly enough, Espeon's fur coat looks like a mirror, and I can see Absol's reflection in it, and he sees his own Taunt, and slashes his horn a few times in response.

Of course these two have a Magic Bounce Espeon. I know we can't dodge Dazzling Gleam with Detect now, so I turn to Ursula. "Lay down some cover fire, please."

"On it," she says confidently. "Gabite, Dragon Rage!"

She forgoes wasting time with charging up Dragonflame to use the base attack. Gabite's insane rate of fire on these Dragon Rages has them falling on Espeon and Umbreon like artillery shells.

"Morning Sun!"

"Moonlight!"

More healing moves, and I can't stop them. Thankfully, Absol being taunted makes him uncharacteristically aggressive, so he's quite happy to get in the mix. "Lock onto Espeon with Pursuit!" My Pokémon charges forward at the vulnerable Psychic-type.

"Shadow Ball!" Mel calls. Far be it for me to ask why her Umbreon knows Shadow Ball when it's a Dark-type, but now we have to win.

"Dark Pulse!" I counter. Absol shreds the ghost attack with his own before he's on Espeon, chasing it down while he's covered in darkness.

Espeon's graceful appearance isn't a farce, because it is very fast and nimble. Umbreon tries to run interference for its partner as Absol doggedly pursues the Psychic-type. We have to Psycho Cut through a Swift, and run through another Shadow Ball.

Mel even calls for Umbreon to run in there and use Double Edge, but Absol lashing out with Megahorn has both of them thinking twice.

Luckily, I have my own interference to call upon. And they're about to make an appearance, because Absol has drawn so much of our opponents attention.

"Dig into Sand Tomb!" Ursula shouts. Umbreon gets thrown into the air by Gabite slamming into it from below, and then chased around with a bunch of sand tentacles. That means Espeon has to fend for itself.

"Dazzling Gleam!"

I can see that haze of rage start to wear off Absol, and I think he will be in the right state of mind to pull this off. "Sucker Punch!"

Espeon's an easier Pokémon to read than most. The orb on its forehead flashes pink in preparation for Dazzling Gleam, and Absol turns into a black and white blur, slamming his horn into Espeon's side before the Fairy-type attack can be unleashed.

He tackles Espeon again as Pursuit finally lands, and now Keaton is worried, as I call for Knock Off. "Shadow Ball!"

Ah, they both know it. Excellent. Absol slams Espeon's head into the dirt, as it creates the attack in its mouth. Espeon squirms on the ground helplessly as we ready the final blow.

"Dark Pulse!"

That order was about to come out of my mouth, but it didn't. Umbreon is tied up by Sand Tomb, but Ursula didn't have the foresight to bind its mouth, so now a Dark Pulse is headed our way, as Mel and Umbreon try to get Absol to flinch.

"Razor Wind!" I order, not wanting that to happen. Absol whips up the two wind tornadoes, the first half or Razor Wind, to block Umbreon's attack. We manage to do that, but…

The Dark Pulse starts spiraling around with the tornadoes, until they become two black swirling funnels. It only lasts for a few moments, but a look at Ursula and her wide eyes confirm what I saw.

We might have just found our custom combination move. First though, let's finish this battle. "Dark Pulse!" I shout.

"Return!" Keaton can't bear to see his Pokémon knocked out, so Espeon is withdrawn before it gets blasted. Umbreon gets the same treatment, once Absol starts charging up Megahorn and heading for the trapped Dark-type.

"That's a win for Ursula and Luna," Lucas says.

"Let's rotate again," I suggest. "Ursula, you referee, and me and Lucas will wrap this up.

Lucas is the first to move. "I do want a bit of revenge on those bugs," he admits, as he swaps places with Ursula to take my side. "Come on, Porygon!"

My friend restarts the battle as soon as Volbeat and Illumise are back out on the battlefield, and this time, Lucas is playing no games. "Get behind Absol and change to Dark-type!" he orders, as another two Thunder Waves are sent our way.

Absol isn't fooled by their playful and innocent expressions, like most Pokémon are. Dark-types are the kings of dirty tricks, and you have to do much better than this to catch one off guard. He easily dodges the attacks, and as soon as Porygon downloads that mindset, it does as well.

Mel and Keaton look at each other. They haven't shown any attacking moves with Volbeat or Ilumise yet, but it seems they actually have one. "Signal Beam!"

I hold up a hand to Lucas, to indicate that I can handle this. "Razor Wind!" The wind wall easily blocks both Bug-type's moves.

"Tri Attack!" my partner follows up, as I give the go ahead for Absol to start attacking. But before he can send one wind slash in their direction Mel and Keaton wave the white flag.

Porygon lets its attack fizzle away as they begin to speak. "We really thought we could beat you guys," Mel says disappointedly.

Keaton pulls his wife into a hug and pecks her on the cheek. "We all did great, honey. I think being competitive with trainers of their caliber is something to be proud of regardless."

"Your teamwork was excellent," Lucas tells the disappointed couple. He exchanges a look with Ursula. "It definitely showed that ours could use some improvement."

"Thanks for indulging us in a battle, even if it was a little unorthodox," Keaton says. "And you three won, so how do you want us to pay? We have cash if you want that."

Lucas takes their offer of lunch because he hasn't eaten yet, and he's a growing teenage boy, which means his stomach is bottomless, and Ursula takes some brass bell replicas which apparently are from Ecruteak City, but I have something different in mind. I get Mel and Keaton to bring their Eeveelutions back out, and call over my own.

"Say hello, Glaceon. I've finally found someone to teach you Shadow Ball."