Every once in a while, Lucas had to marvel at the scale of things.

The Hearthome Contest that he had attended and now this tournament both seemed massive, with the level of spectacle that both events aimed to and had achieved. Yet, neither would be any comparison to the final competitions of the Pokémon League and the Contest Circuit, the Grand Festival and the Lily of the Valley Conference. The Grand Festival would have over a hundred coordinators competing, with a preliminary, appeals, and finally a battle stage to crown a Top Coordinator.

The Pokémon League tournament would be similarly sized up, and while it was certainly stressful enough to have to battle four times in four consecutive days, this was a mid-level tournament. Every trainer at the end of year one would have eight gym badges, and would be fighting for eternal glory and a chance to go against the Elite Four and Cynthia herself, not a decently large prize pool and a mystery reward.

That level of tournament was currently out of his reach, but this one not so much. Random tag battles were a unique form of battle that Lucas had no experience with, but at least he was paired with someone he worked well with. Dawn had zero ego about him not having any gym badges, and she was an old friend to boot.

She was extra motivated to do well in this competition, as well. When Lucas had asked her, Dawn had replied that a coordinator friend and rival of hers, Zoey, the runner-up of the Hearthome Contest, had recommended it as a way to bounce back from Dawn's own performance at the contest.

In addition, being in the spotlight as a coordinator had made Dawn nearly impervious to any nervousness of being watched by so many people in a stadium like this, which in turn helped his nerves as well.

Being in the A-block meant that they were the first to battle every single day. The only thing in front of them was the host's introductory speech to fire up the crowd.

"Welcome to another beautiful day here in our wonderful city. Today is the second round, and I promise that our trainers are going to serve up some sizzling battles, since their hearts must be superheated from all the time they've spent together!

Luna was pretending to gag right next to him, and while Lucas wouldn't go that far, he did agree that this was all a bit much. It made the prize at the end even more mysterious. Was it some sort of charm to make someone fall for you? The host kept waxing poetic about it going to be about two hearts coming together.

"Good luck," Luna said, as the announcer called him and Dawn to the battlefield, along with their two opponents, a girl his age dressed like a bird keeper and a large man carrying around hiking gear like he had recently come down from Mt. Coronet to participate. While they didn't have much teamwork, their individual efforts, with the hiker using a Machoke and the bird trainer using a Xatu, were strong enough to earn victory.

"Go, Delibird!" The girl shouted, sending out a ground bound bird with a sack of presents over its shoulder.

"Go with what we discussed?" Dawn asked him, and Lucas nodded.

"Pachirisu, spotlight!"

"You're up, Rockruff!"

Rockruff still unfortunately still liked to introduce herself to new Pokémon by tackling them and chewing on their heads, but she at least wasn't disobeying his commands in battle. Yet. Mr. G said that would eventually happen, and only by pushing through that phase and commanding the Rock-type's respect would Rockruff evolve for a trainer.

The hiking man sent out something called a Diggersby, and Lucas instantly knew it was trouble. "That's a Ground-type," he told Dawn in the brief time they had before the battle officially started.

"Got it," she said confidently. "We'll take out Delibird first and then focus on Diggersby together!"

Diggersby was most likely going to get in the way of that plan, so Lucas quickly told her another one. Thankfully, unlike some people in this tournament, Dawn was receptive to his idea. They still were going to target Delibird, but in a different way.

"Pachirisu, use Spark on Delibird!" Dawn started off the battle in a direct manner.

"Rockruff, stay close to Pachirisu," Lucas ordered. His Pokémon started running slightly behind her partner, who was covered in blue electricity. As expected, their opponents quickly moved to cover the vulnerable Delibird.

"Diggersby, get in the way and use Mud Sport!" Their opponents weren't content to let Diggersby block all electric attacks aimed for Delibird, instead also opting to throw a ball of mud its way to coat its feathers. Since Delibird didn't look to be able to fly, it probably wouldn't negatively impact it too much.

"Pachirisu, jump!"

"Rockruff, Bite!"

Pachirisu was able to clear Diggersby in one massive jump, to land behind the much taller Pokémon where Delibird was hiding. It ate an Ice Shard for its troubles, but at least Rockruff was able to distract Diggersby from hitting it with an even more powerful move.

And now, we need to keep Diggersby occupied while Dawn and Pachirisu take care of their half of the plan. "Double Team!" he shouted, and suddenly there were two dozen Rockruff surrounding and growling at Diggersby.

The resigned look on their opponents face told Lucas that they understood that they would have to deal with Rockruff first before going to help Delibird. "Mud Slap!" the hiker ordered, and his Pokémon started kicking out clumps of dirt at all the assorted illusions, trying to see which was the real Rockruff.

"Rock Tomb!" Before mud could be kicked into her face, Rockruff created a ball of purple that exploded into a rock formation near Diggersby, trying to contain the enemy Pokémon.

"Mega Punch!" Their opponent called, and Digersby shattered their Rock Tomb with its hand-like ears thoughtlessly. "Now, Thunder Punch!" The Ground-type surged forward with electrified ears.

"Howl, then Fire Fang!" Lucas's Pokémon glowed red as it howled to the sky before charging in with fire in her mouth. The two Pokémon clashed with their different elements, creating showers or sparks any time the two attacks met each other.

The hiker seemed to be gaining confidence as the battle went on, because Dawn and Pachirisu hadn't dealt any substantial damage to Delibird yet. "Hey, kid!" their opponent boomed from across the battlefield. "Do you really think you have what it takes to take down me and my Diggersby? We're rugged and tough like the mountains, you know!"

"I think we'll be able to manage," Lucas replied, though the hiker still looked doubtful.

"Are you sure about that? Your Pokémon can't even make a dent in us with their attacks!"

Lucas smiled as Dawn gave a fist pump. They were ready to finish this, because like last time, the hiker was only focusing on his half of the battle. "Our Pokémon can't make a dent in you," he admitted.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Delibird, wait! Don't!"

It was too late for their opponents, as Delibird used an Ice Beam that was aimed straight for Diggersby, partially freezing its teammate in ice. Lucas called for Rockruff to go in with Ice Fang as Diggersby struggled to remove itself, and the hiker turned to his tag partner furiously.

"Why did you do that!?"

"She's got hit by a Sweet Kiss and now she's confused!" the bird keeper said desperately, wringing her hands. "She can't tell friend from foe!"

Pachirisu sidled up to the confused Pokémon, whispering in its ear and acting as if it was its partner and not Diggersby. The confused Pokémon nodded slightly, and threw a bunch of explosive seeds at its teammate. Rockruff leaped off Diggersby as the super-effective Seed Bomb decimated the GRound-type, and knocked it out.

Lucas almost felt bad for taking out Delibird with a combination of Discharge and Rock Tomb after, since it had helped them out so much, but that's what they did, to claim victory and now they were on their way to the semifinals. The amount of praise they received from both the host and all of the other competitors once they had returned to the watching area was a little embarrassing to Lucas.

"That was crazy!" Barry shouted extremely loudly, even though he was right in front of Lucas's face. "You made the Delibird attack its own teammate! It was three on one! Is that even allowed!"

If he jumped any higher while spitting out all those questions, Barry would jump out of the stadium. "Well, we noticed that they easily lost track of each other in the last battle, and so we decided to play to that," Lucas explained to his very excitable friend. "I'm glad it worked out."

"That was a really good strategy," Brock complimented them warmly, causing Dawn to beam. "You two seem to have some of the best teamwork in this tournament."

Lucas wasn't expecting any praise from Ursula, one because she was in a bad mood and two because she was the next up, but when Luna came to give her thoughts, it wasn't exactly a bunch of positives.

"So, the plan was to target the fact that your opponents weren't much of a team?"

"It's a legitimate weakness," Lucas defended, not sure why Luna was being so questioning of his tactics. "Maybe I've been hanging out with you long enough that I'm absorbing your tricks through osmosis."

"Probably," Luna said back without missing a beat. "That's the same strategy we're going to use for our battle."

Oh. She wasn't attacking him, instead she was simply commenting on the coincidental similarities. "In all honesty, that's a good idea. Paul and Ash seem like strong trainers, but they can't get along even if they wanted to."

"Yeah," Luna said, her voice a bit distant. After a few moments, she looked at him seriously. "Hey, you don't think I'm a bad person or anything, right?"

"Um, no?" He didn't sound very convincing because he wasn't expecting the question, but Luna accepted his answer regardless.

"Hopefully you'll still think that way after I battle today." That sounded ominous, and Lucas couldn't even ask for any clarity, because Luna had turned her attention to Ursula's battle.

Their coordinator friend, though she hadn't been acting very friendly the past few days, had led with Masquerain.

The two trainers opposite from her saw an opportunity to send out an Onix and a Torkoal, though both Pokémon, as most did, flinched at the sight of Masquerain's eyelike patterns. It also opened the door for Conway to choose his Slowking, which obviously had an advantage against both the enemy Pokémon.

A more aggressive trainer would have gone straight for a Water-type attack, but Conway was not that type of trainer. He was the most defensive trainer Lucas had ever seen, and true to his nature, Conway had Slowking use Reflect and Light Screen first, while Masquerain dodged the boulders thrown its way by Onix and put out the Torkoal's flames with Water-type moves.

Even now, Conway was not ready to attack. "Now, Slowking, use Nasty Plot." It looked to Lucas that Slowking's expression would be more appropriate on a Galactic Grunt, greedily trying to figure out how to make it rich, than a Pokémon. A cloud of black appeared above Slowking, before being absorbed into its head, and the smile the Psychic-type Pokémon gave was not a kind one.

Torkoal was in the midst of using Rapid Spin to defend itself from Masqerauin's Bubblebeam when Ursula's partner finally called for Slowking to attack. "Psychic!" he ordered. Conway's Pokémon picked up the Torkoal with incredible ease, let Masquerain pelt the Fire-type with bubbles for several seconds, and then slammed the enemy Pokémon into the ground, which ended up knocking Torkoal out.

Before the two opposing trainers could react to how easily one of their Pokémon went down, Conway and Ursula were ordering a Scald and Water Pulse combo that felled Onix as well.

While he had been watching, Dawn had come to stand next to him. "I don't see any weaknesses in their battling," she said.

Looking back on Conway and Ursula's last two battles, it did seem that way. The one criticism he could level was that it was slow and measured, and there were probably opportunities to strike earlier, but they had won both battles in rather dominating fashion. Ursula, an average battler outside of contests, was playing her role very well, allowing Conway to enact his strategies. "They have total control of the battle. I feel like Conway has every step of the battle mapped out in his head."

"Then you better do something to throw him off course," Luna piped up next to him, though she didn't expand on her words when asked. It did make some sense. If Conway treated battles like a theater script, where each move was carefully plotted out, he might not react well to something wholly unexpected.

Having only one night to come up with and enact a plan was another thing different about this tournament than the Sinnoh League. That one acknowledged how much stress both Pokémon and trainers could be under, so there were usually multiple days for mental and physical recovery in between battles. Here, winning as easily as possible was important so one could make it through the rounds without their Pokémon wearing down, even if the Pokémon Center was doing their utmost to keep every Pokémon as healthy as possible.

Brock and Wendy had done a very good job of that in their first battle, dispatching their arguing opponents without much difficulty. This time Brock had opted for a Croagunk while Wendy had chosen a small Dragon-type called a Flapple, to face off against a Bibarel and a Haunter from the opposing side.

"What do you think of Brock and Wendy?" Lucas asked Luna, as Croagunk went for a Brick Break on Bibarel while Flapple surprised Haunter by going for Sucker Punch when the Ghost-type was commanded to use Sludge Bomb. Almost immediately, the battle had been split into two one-on-ones.

Bibarel managed to match Croagunk by using Hyper Fang, and Flapple was a bit too hasty with its attack and missed Haunter wildly, though it managed to still dodge the Sludge Bomb sent its way.

"I haven't given them that much thought, to be honest. They're both solid, but battling doesn't seem really what either of them prioritize," Luna replied, a bit dismissively. "To me, it looks like they put their professions first, and are here to let their Pokémon flex their muscles a bit."

Her opinions of them weren't wrong, per se, considering Croagunk was now getting pushed back by an assortment of moves, including Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, and Icy Wind. It was all the amphibian could do to match the ranged assaults with its own Mud Bombs, Venoshocks, and Dark Pulses, lest it get overwhelmed.

Flapple was faring about the same. Their opponents had noticed the Dragon-type's wild, yet incredibly powerful attack patterns, and Haunter was making sure to dodge every attack, because the sheer power behind them could inflict serious damage, at the cost of not being able to retaliate very effectively.

"Brock was a former gym leader though," Dawn warned. "You don't get that title without being a serious battler."

Right as she said that Croagunk managed to sidestep an Iron Tail and jabbed its poisoned fist straight into Bibarel's belly. By the way the Normal-type was struggling, Lucas didn't doubt that poison had been inflicted.

The other two trainers looked at each other for a second. "Stay the course," Haunter's trainer assured the other calmly. "We shouldn't panic after one lucky blow."

"I don't doubt that Brock is still skilled," Luna said back to Dawn. "I just don't think he's as threatening as Ash and Paul, considering every fiber of their being lives for battling."

Brock and Wendy were determined to prove her wrong, apparently. The former gym leader muttered something to his tag partner that the redhead nodded at. "Sucker Punch switch!"

This time, when Bibarel went for Iron Tail on Croagunk, Flapple charged straight into it as it was getting into the motion of the attack. The Shadow Ball that was aimed at Flapple was destroyed by a Dark Pulse from Croagunk that caused the Ghost-type serious pain when it connected.

Flapple immediately attacked Bibarel with Seed Bomb, which had the Water-type stumbling backwards, but the other trainer remained cool when Croagunk fired a Mud Bomb at Haunter.

"Float above and use Psychic!" Haunter laughed as it went upwards to avoid the attack, and then picked up Brock's Pokémon with its Psychic, bringing the extremely vulnerable to this type of attack Pokémon up in the air. Croagunk was flung straight into the ground, and while it was a knockout, they had lost track of Flapple, who had knocked out Bibarel a little earlier and soared high into the sky.

Both Pokémon and trainer searched the battlefield for their opponent, finding it empty. "Where did it go?" the trainer said slowly.

Wendy was barely holding in her excitement. "Grav Apple!" On her command, Flapple came screaming straight down, using gravity to its fullest to enhance the attack. It avenged Croagunk by doing the exact same to Haunter what the Ghost-type did to Flapple's partner. The Grav Apple bashed Haunter straight to the ground, and it did not get back up.

Brock and Wendy got their applause from the audience, and Lucas could not help but ask. "So, what do you think of me and Dawn's chances? Are we not serious contenders because our priority isn't battling either?"

"You being in the semifinal already makes you a contender," which wasn't what Lucas wanted to hear, but Luna wasn't done. "But seriously, from what I've seen from both of you, both in this tourney and before, I'd say you can beat anyone. I have no doubt that had both of you decided to be trainers, you'd be among the strongest in the region."

Barry was chomping at the bit to get straight into his battle, so he all but dragged Luna away before Lucas could say anything back. Dawn looked at him in mild surprise. "That was really nice of her to say!"

"Yeah, it was," Lucas said. Not that Luna didn't know how to be nice, like Ursula, but she wasn't really the type to randomly throw out such a generous compliment. It was sincere too, like Luna believed every word. She'd been acting odd all morning…

Normally, Luna liked to keep things light before a battle. Even if she was nervous, she'd try and hide it by cracking a few jokes. For whatever reason, she was being deadly serious today.

But maybe he was overthinking things. Did this one battle really mean that much to her?

Of the four trainers, Luna and Paul looked the most calm. Ash still had a nervous energy around him that Lucas attributed to how standoffish and unwilling to cooperate his tag partner was, whereas Barry, unsurprisingly enough, seemed ready to run into the battlefield and start throwing punches himself with how anxious he was.

Ash ended up being the trainer who had to choose his Pokémon first, which meant he'd be relying on Paul to cover his back. Lucas felt bad for the guy. The Kanto native tried to meet his teammate's eyes but Paul refused to acknowledge him, so Ash finally sent out his Pokémon with a short huff.

"Turtwig, I choose you!"

He saw Luna exhale, a sentiment he agreed with. Not having to face that crazy Pikachu would be a relief. She and Barry quickly sent out their Pokémon, one that made perfect sense, and one that did not.

"Go, Prinplup!"

"You're up, Glaceon!"

"Wow, a Glaceon!" Dawn exclaimed, immediately pulling out her Pokédex to learn some more about Luna's first Pokémon. Her friend Brock had a much different reaction.

"That's trouble for Turtwig."

Lucas managed not to jump as Conway, somehow unnoticed, spoke behind all of them. "A Grass-type will have a lot of trouble standing up to repeated Ice-type assaults."

"The same could be said for Prinplup against Turtwig, though," Wendy pointed out. Which begged the question of why Barry had selected Prinplup, and why Lucas's old friend seemed to be so confident in the pick.

"Chimchar, stand by for battle!"

Anger and surprise were the most common sentiments of the group, with Dawn yelling out a few choice words to Paul for disregarding everyone's advice, and the well-being of his Pokémon, but Luna and Barry didn't have any reaction. If anything, Lucas swore he saw a ghost of a smile appear on Luna's face before it disappeared.

Ash, on the other hand, was still trying to convince his partner that this was a bad idea, and not good for Chimchar.

"I'm tired of your dumb opinions," Paul told Ash bluntly. "If you want to win this battle, then you'll stay out of my way."

Not having any success with Paul, Ash turned to Chimchar, although the Fire-type assured Ash he was okay to battle. He had a quick mental conversation with Pikachu before turning to his Turtwig. "Make sure you look after Chimchar, Turtwig!" Ash finally said, in blatant defiance of Paul's earlier statement.

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Barry and Luna must have assumed Paul would bring Chimchar, which would explain Prinplup's presence, Lucas thought. Paul probably wouldn't be able to resist trying to activate Chimchar's Blaze by going against powerful Water-type moves. And if Luna was counting on Ash to be protective of Chimchar, by having his Turtwig cover, Glaceon was the perfect Pokémon to take advantage of that.

Lucas realized that this might get ugly, as the battle began in earnest.

Barry's command was out of his mouth not a second after the host said to begin. "Aqua Jet!"

As Lucas was expecting, Paul didn't back down. "Flame Wheel!" Both Pokémon covered themselves in their respective elements and surged forward, though Prinplup was much faster.

Ash noticed that Glaceon hadn't taken any action yet, and called for a Bullet Seed from Turtwig targeted at the Ice-type. Neither Luna or Glaceon intended to dodge though. Instead, they were focused on doing something else.

"Rain Dance!" his friend called, surprising Lucas. Did all of her Pokémon know a new dancing move? Swords Dance was almost guaranteed for Absol, but if Bellossom knew Quiver Dance, he might be in serious trouble if they did end up meeting in finals.

Glaceon ignored the attack peppering her, and did a series of steps in a circle. Sure enough, as Glaceon continued to move, a dark cloud, restricted only by the protective bubble of the battlefield, started to expand rapidly, until it blotted out the arena with its shade. It dumped a deluge of water as quickly as it had appeared, with Prinplup using the rain to enhance its attack greatly, while Chimchar's fire sputtered as it was doused, and Paul's Pokémon was blasted backwards.

Barry and Luna were giving no reprieve. "Prinplup, Water Gun!"

"Glaceon, Weather Ball!" Luna ordered, both trainers pointing at Chimchar.

Paul already seemed frustrated with his Pokémon. Lucas thought it was ridiculous to think Chimchar could match a Water-type, in rain, no less, but Paul was determined for Chimchar's Blaze ability to activate. "Flamethrower!"

There was no way Chimchar's Flamethrower could offer any defense against these powered up Water-type moves. The Fire-type breathed in, but Ash and Turtwig moved first.

"Cover them!"

Turtwig, with surprising speed for its species, darted in front of Chimchar, and though it was slowly pushed back by the watery onslaught, it successfully shielded its partner.

"I told you to stay out of our way," Paul told his partner, ice in his tone.

"Chimchar wasn't going to be able to stop that!" Ash shot back.

"If Chimchar could activate Blaze, then it would have!"

"Have you ever considered that Chimchar can't activate its Blaze whenever you feel like!"

"If that's the case, then it's worthless to me."

At least Chimchar itself seemed grateful that Ash stepped in. While their trainers were arguing, the Fire-type used a weak Flame Wheel to barely stop an Icy Wind from Glaceon targeted at Turtwig. Luna had said she planned to take advantage of Ash and Paul's inability to cooperate, and it was on full display.

"Glaceon being able to use Rain Dance negates any advantage Chimchar would have had," Conway said, putting words to what Lucas was sure everyone was thinking.

The one advantage left was Turtwig's against Prinplup. "Use Razor Leaf!" Ash ordered, and his Pokémon sent a barrage of knife-sharp leaves at both Glaceon and Prinplup.

"Ice Barrage," called Luna calmly. They all watched in awe as an entire sheet of rain drops froze into pellets of ice around Glaceon, which were launched at lightning speed at the Razor Leaf, tearing through the Grass-type attack with ease. Chimchar managed to keep the ice at bay with its fire, but Turtwig's only recourse was to dodge, and though it was fast for its species, Glaceon's attack was far faster, and Ash's Pokémon cowered in pain under the icy assault.

Usually, Luna only reserved this level for a battle against a Gym Leader. A fire had been lit under her, though Lucas didn't know why, because she was battling brilliantly, clearly not holding anything back in her pursuit of victory. She had new moves, new strategies, and with her new mindset, her opponents were not having a good time.

Case in point, she and Barry were still making use of the rain while it was still pouring, to target and take Chimchar out of this fight.

"Water Pulse, Glaceon!"

"Go for Water Gun, Prinplup!"

Paul refused to concede an inch, or tell his Pokémon to dodge. "Flamethrower!"

"Turtwig, you have to help Chimchar!" Ash ordered, seeing his teammate's 'strategy.'

Most of the group hadn't noticed that Luna had called for Water Pulse instead of Weather Ball this time, but Lucas knew why. When Turtwig again bravely stood in front of Chimchar, ready to take the Water-type attacks for its Fire-type partner, Luna snapped her fingers, and Glaceon's Water Pulse turned to ice.

Ash's Pokémon was not able to stand up to this move combo, and Turtwig was sent flying. Chimchar looked back fearfully at its struggling to stay on its feet teammate, and Dawn did the same, to the one person who wasn't observing the battle closely. "That was really similar to your contest appeal, wasn't it?" his teammate asked Ursula. "Did she pick that up from you?"

Ursula refused to answer, but Lucas wasn't about to let her take the credit for something she didn't develop. "It was the other way around," he confided to Dawn. "Luna came up with that move for her battles, double battles specifically, and Ursula adapted it to contests."

"What was the logic behind it being a double battle move?" Brock asked him, having been listening in.

Lucas pointed to the arena. "Luna figured that Grass-types and Dragon-types might jump in the way of a Water-type move, and since those two types are weak to ice, she wanted a way to punish them." He didn't doubt that Paul remembered that from their much earlier battle, but since he was at odds with Ash, Luna must have been counting on Paul not to share that critical piece of information.

"Lucas?" Dawn asked him in a strange voice. "I thought Charmeleon was Luna's strongest Pokémon."

"Charmeleon is probably the only one who actually thinks that," Lucas replied. "But she does raise all of her Pokémon to be similar in power level." If Ash had only seen Charmeleon so far, it would make sense that they'd think that. He wouldn't put it past Luna to use Charmeleon in part in her first battle this tourney to lead them down that road even further.

Luna was determined to win. And they seemed to be on the cusp of achieving it. Barry certainly thought so.

"Remember this day, Paul! This is going to be the day where you start respecting me as a trainer! Prinplup, Liquidation!" The rain had stopped, but Prinplup covered its wings in water to make them appear like a pair of watery swords. The Water-type rushed Chimchar, and Lucas could predict what Paul was planning to do, especially because Turtwig was struggling to get up.

"Flame Wheel!"

Chimchar tried, it really did, but the Fire-type was tired, from a difficult battle yesterday, and all that training Paul had put it under. There was no Blaze ability to give it that extra surge of power. Prinplup easily batted down Flame Wheel with one of its water-cloaked wings, and brought the other one down on the now defenseless Pokémon.

"Turtwig, Bite!"

Not totally defenseless, Lucas realized, because Ash and Turtwig were still committed, no matter how much Paul didn't care about them, to protect Chimchar. Prinplup struggled to pull its wing out from Turtwig's jaws, giving time for Chimchar to scramble to safety.

"Rain Dance!" Luna ordered, clearly not wanting to let her opponents gain any more momentum. Dark clouds started forming over the battlefield again, which was fitting for Paul's next command.

"Use Flame Wheel on Turtwig."

"What's wrong with you!" Ash shouted, and Chimchar desperately tried to state his unwillingness to do that.

"Do it," Paul ordered his Pokémon, not leaving any room for argument.

Lucas thought Chimchar might disobey, but the Fire-type was obedient to Paul, for better, and in this case for worse. Chimchar screamed to the rain that started pouring down again, before covering himself with fire and launching himself straight at where Turtwig and Prinplup were struggling. Ash's already wounded Turtwig took much more damage from Flame Wheel than Prinplup did, and Chimchar continued onwards towards where Glaceon was waiting in the back.

Maybe, maybe one could argue that a direct hit on two Pokémon, albeit weakened by the rain, was worth your teammate getting injured, but Chimchar didn't even manage that, because a powerful Weather Ball from Glaceon blasted Chimchar out of the air before it could even reach the Ice-type.

Chimchar fell to its hands and knees, fire barely flickering. The rain coming down onto it played a part, sure, but Lucas was convinced that Chimchar had no will to fight anymore after what it had just done. The Fire-type looked completely distraught, and probably was on the verge of tears.

"Chimchar, Flamethrower!" Paul shouted, but Chimchar could not bring itself to battle. "Tch. I guess that's it, then." Paul scoffed, turning to the side so he wasn't even paying attention to the battle.

One more Water Pulse or Weather Ball should take it out, but Luna was hesitating. Her indifferent, all business expression had faded into something that Lucas recognized as pity. Had she done all of this to get Paul to the point where he'd give up on Chimchar mid-battle? Is that why she told him not to think badly of her?

It might have been a cold-blooded strategy, but clearly his friend was somewhat conflicted about having to use it. It was only Ash ordering a Razor Leaf attack again for Turtwig, to save Chimchar from its inevitable defeat that snapped Luna out of it, and then she was back to business.

"Prinplup, Barry, switch," she called. Prinplup was in the midst of cutting down Turtwig's leaves with a Steel Wing, the first non Water-type move it had used all battle, but it quickly swapped places with Glaceon. Luna seemed to have no issues with dealing the finishing blow to Ash, for whatever reason, and Barry was of course absolutely delighted to take down Paul.

"Flash Frost!"

"Liquidation!"

Chimchar, who had been unmoving up until the point that Prinplup hovered over with a watery wing raised, roared to life with a Flame Wheel, zooming straight for Turtwig and knocking Flash Frost out of the air right as Glaceon had turned the attack into an Ice-type one.

"Nice one!" Ash and Pikachu both cheered for Chimchar as Turtwig thanked it. "Come on, Paul! We're still in this!"

His partner refused to speak to Ash or Chimchar, still looking anywhere but at the battle. "Excuse me," Barry interjected. "We've outbattled you two this whole time, and we'll be taking the win!" He looked at Luna for confirmation of something, and when Barry's partner nodded, Lucas's old friend grinned.

"Glaceon, Helping Hand!"

"Prinplup, Surf!"

The wave that Barry's started after Glaceon had sent a wave of rainbow colored energy its way was absolutely colossal. It drew power from the rain and swelled to be even taller than the Onix that Ursula and Conway battled. While Prinplup rode on top of it, Glaceon created a cocoon of ice around herself so she was relatively protected from what was going to be a very bumpy ride.

Ash tried in futility to get Paul to do something, but Chimchar's trainer, or former trainer, as Lucas figured was going to be very likely in the next few hours, didn't budge. Eventually, as the wave threatened to crash down on them, he called for a Flamethrower and a Razor Leaf.

Neither attack stood any chance against the overwhelming force of Prinplup's superpowered Surf. The wave crashed into both Pokémon and slammed them into the psychic wall of the arena with frightening force. The call was finally made after the tidal wave had receded.

"Both Chimchar and Turtwig are unable to battle! Glaceon and Prinplup are the victors!"

Barry was much more exuberant in the praise he gave his Pokémon about beating his idol, but Luna was no less warm when congratulating Glaceon. Even though Ash was clearly frustrated about how the battle had gone down, he thanked Turtwig for fighting so hard. On the other hand, Paul said nothing to his Pokémon as he recalled his fainted Chimchar. He walked off without saying a word to anyone.

Lucas watched Paul leave through the stadium tunnel, as the fans started filling out as well. The two matchups for tomorrow were posted on the big screen, along with the time. It seemed to be getting later and later in the day, as the number of matches decreased. He walked next to Luna as all of the contestants started to leave the stadium to head back to the Pokémon Center.

"I had to do it," Luna muttered before he could get a word in. "You saw what would have happened. Had I given an inch to them, they would have won."

He raised an eyebrow. Luna sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than him. "I don't know about that. It seemed to me that you had that battle under your thumb from beginning to end. Ash and Paul were barely staying in it. So much so that I think Chimchar isn't going to have a trainer come this evening." He didn't like it, but it was probably for the best that Chimchar would be separated from Paul.

Lucas was considering notifying Professor Rowan about the Fire-type if Chimchar, as some other Pokémon that had been with trainers for a long time, stuck around to see if Paul would take him back. With how loyally Chimchar followed Paul's commands, Lucas had a bad feeling that might follow Paul, hoping for a opening for the trainer to take it back.

Luna looked downright miserable for someone who took her match in such convincing fashion. "I just wanted to win."

"It's done now," Lucas eventually advised. "All that's left is to forge ahead."

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Paul pulled out the two Pokéballs housing Pokémon that he had caught so early in his return to Sinnoh, the two that held the most potential. One was living up to it, and the other was not ever going to come close.

He released Elekid and Chimchar at the same time, Elekid glaring at Chimchar, as it had been doing for a while now. Paul understood that Elekid couldn't figure out why Chimchar monopolized so much of Paul's time, when it obviously wasn't going anywhere. The Electric-type hadn't seen Chimchar's Blaze that day, and likely never would.

Unless it would be today. "I said this tournament would be your last chance, but I'm willing to give you one more, Chimchar. Beat Elekid. Show me that you're worthy of your place on this team by fighting for it."

The Fire-type always was determined, whether in battle or in training. Too bad that determination never amounted to anything but failure. Elekid was as motivated to beat Chimchar, to take the time that was always allocated for the Fire-type for itself. It rushed forward with a whirlwind of Thunder Punches and Brick Breaks, and Chimchar was immediately on the defensive.

Paul gritted his teeth as he watched Chimchar battle. Nothing he ever said registered with this Pokémon! Chimchar was too much of a coward. Unless he issued an explicit order, it would never face up to an opponent's attack to take advantage of an opening or draw upon its own strength to counterattack. The first instinct was always to run away. There would never be a life-or-death scenario in a battle between trainers that was present in the wild which had led to Chimchar activating its Blaze.

Clearly, Chimchar would never again activate its Blaze. That was the conclusion Paul came to. And if Chimchar couldn't activate Blaze, it was a way below average Fire-type, one that was severely lacking in power. Evolution might change that, but Chimchar hadn't shown a single sign of being close to that, either.

This Pokémon was the biggest waste of time he had ever tried to mold something out of. That ended today. Elekid whirled its arms to charge up for Thunder, a move Chimchar knew well, and it started the process of using Dig. That may have worked the first few times, but Elekid was not falling for it anymore, and it interrupted its attack to pluck Chimchar straight out of its hole with Psychic, and flung the Fire-type into a nearby tree. Elekid raised its arms to the sky, not satisfied with beating up Chimchar. It started to glow with a shining light, and soon an Electabuzz was standing in its place.

"Enough," Paul said, as Electabuzz started to charge up Thunder once again. His newly evolved Pokémon clearly wanted to test out its new power. "We'll find a proper opponent for you, Electabuzz. Not a weakling like this one."

The Electric-type agreed easily, issuing one last taunt to Chimchar before Paul recalled both of his Pokémon. His older brother Reggie had told Paul to send Chimchar over when he had confessed to his brother that he wasn't able to reactivate Chimchar's Blaze. But all that would have accomplished was making Chimchar even more soft-hearted and weak than it already was.

More comfortable with losing, as well. Reggie had been humiliated utterly, not taking a single Pokémon off the Pyramid King at the height of his older brother's powers, and instead of redoubling his training, and coming back with vengeance, had quit his career as a trainer. Now he raised Pokémon with a constant smile. How Reggie let all his ambitions be crushed, and still was so happy, Paul would never know. There was a reason Paul never let his brother help with his Pokémon's training.

He clicked the release function on the Pokéball, and sent Chimchar out. He then threw a Sitrus Berry at the Pokémon's feet.

"You'll want that for the road. Because you're out of here." Chimchar tried to plead its case, but Paul was having none of it. He turned his back on Chimchar, and sighed internally as the most annoying voice in the world called out to him.

"Paul? Is that the end of all your special training?" Ash asked him.

"Yeah, that's right," Paul told him coldly, hoping Ash would for once get the message that Paul wasn't interested in hearing what his supposed rival had to say. He started walking off. "There's no point in continuing this charade any further. Obviously, I need a new Fire-type."

He ignored Ash's, Brock's, and whatever that coordinator girl's names' follow-up questions were in favor of considering his options. Rapidash was common enough, but was it strong enough? Houndoom overlapped with the three strong Dark-types he already had. Camerupt was similar to Torterra in its battle style, but that massive weakness to water was a big issue. Magmortar could learn Thunderbolt to deal with them…

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Ash watched Paul go, not believing what he was seeing. He knew Paul had little patience for what the other trainer thought were weak Pokémon, but he was really letting Chimchar go after so much time together?

His rival seemed to only care about activating Chimchar's Blaze, but that is where Ash knew, no matter what Paul or anyone else said, that he was right and Paul was wrong.

Chimchar was plenty powerful, Blaze or no Blaze. All Ash could see was a hardworking, determined, resilient, talented Pokémon that gave its all, no matter how overwhelming the odds.

Paul had never told his Pokémon that. Ash couldn't let what he thought of Chimchar go unsaid, and have Chimchar thinking that it was a failure.

There wasn't anything stopping him, and the words spilled forth, though Ash meant every one. "Chimchar, why don't you come with us, as a part of my team?" The Fire-type turned around, completely surprised. "I've always been impressed by how strong you are, ever since that first day we met. I know everyone would love to have you around."

Pikachu, his partner in everything, jumped from his shoulder and spoke to Chimchar as well, and the frown that was on Chimchar's face from being released slowly was turning into a smile.

Ash heard a scoff in the distance. He hadn't realized Paul was still here. "A pathetic Pokémon for a loser trainer. I couldn't think of a better match. Enjoy yourselves."

The frown was threatening to reappear on Chimchar's face, so Ash spoke up quickly. "You don't have to listen to him ever again, Chimchar," he promised. "I've seen how amazing you are. One day, we'll show him. Together."