Rika snapped back to the battle, forcing herself to ignore this nagging feeling.

But who was she kidding? How could anyone ignore something like that?!

I probably shouldn’t have eaten a piece of that cake…

Mr. Rosenfeld still watched her, but the worst part was his utter calmness. He didn't look angry or evil—just... hollow.

"Rika, are you alright?" Mason's voice cut through her thoughts.

She turned towards him, startled by his concern.

"The match has already begun!" The referee's firm voice interrupted, eyeing her suspiciously. "Or do you want to forfeit?"

"Forfeit?!" Rika repeated. "No! Of course not!"

She had to keep going! For Mason!

Besides, there was no way Mr. Rosenfeld could have figured her out!

And even if he had, he wouldn’t have any proof! She could still deliver a good fight now and blame it on Oddish and her own forgetfulness for not locking the Pokéball!

"Then begin," the referee insisted as both Mason and Rika still stood silent.

Mason's expression grew darker, once again reminded that he'd have to fight his friend.

I need to give him a taste of success to cheer him up.

"Now shut up and fight for me, odd one!" She teased the Pokémon, sticking out her tongue. "Use Sleep Powder!"

But Oddish had no intention of obeying. It would sooner attack Rika than follow her orders. Admittedly, that would have suited her just fine, if it didn't also mean the fight would be called off and Mason assigned a new opponent.

Luckily, before Oddish could lunge at Rika, the puke-green mass called Gulpin shoved it aside, its belly smashing the plant like a potato masher. With a yelp, Oddish tumbled several times across the ground, ultimately landing at Rika's feet. Oh, how she would have loved to kick the damn thing in the face right now!

Somewhat dazed, Oddish shook its head, gazing upward with swirling eyes. Rika gave it a gleeful look.

"Use Mud Bomb!" Rika heard Mason exclaim from the other side of the field.

Wow, he even knows some moves.

A thick, brown sludge came firing from Gulpin's mouth, hurtling straight towards Oddish. Rika's eyes widened as she realized what this meant for her. Since she stood right behind it, she was directly in the line of fire.

But unlike Oddish, which took the full brunt of the attack, Rika let herself fall backward, evading the attack in a stylish backflip.

Bending her body upright again, she blinked at the sight of her Pokémon. After letting the sight sink in for a moment, she pointed at it, unable to hold back a grunting laugh.

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Mud dripped from its leaf-like hair, looking like a public bathroom—full of shit! Oddish stood there, fuming mad and utterly filthy, but that only fueled Rika's amusement.

Both the referee and Mason glanced at each other, bewildered by the whole scene. Mason opened his mouth, pondering what to say.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Rika eyed him. Why wouldn’t he use this chance to end the battle? Oddish was an easy target and wouldn’t listen to her anyway.

But then she seemed to realize the reason.

Contrary to what she expected, Oddish didn't dare attack her out of anger. Instead, she noticed tiny, sparkling water drops flowing down its cheeks.

Tears…?

But not just that; the pokemon began crying! It wailed, crying at the top of its lungs, or whatever it was that made it breath!

Rika stuttered, overwhelmed by a horrible feeling washing over her.

She didn't want to feel empathy for this little shit, but at the same time, she couldn't help it.

unwillingly glancing over to the referee and catching yet another glare.

And Mason didn’t look much happier.

Keep on fighting already! End this senseless battle! she thought, eyeing him, but Oddish's annoying sounds drew her attention right back to it.

"It's called Pokémon BATTLE for a reason!" Rika argued defensively, feeling like having to explain herself.

She wasn't the monster in all this!

They should've seen this Oddish back then!

But Oddish's wailing only intensified—its tears threatening to unleash a Water-type attack.

What now?! she thought, her eyes darting between Oddish, Mason, and the referee. The situation was spiraling out of her control.

As much as she had prepared herself to look bad in this battle, she hadn't anticipated Mason appearing even worse. He just stood there, paralyzed, unable to seize the opportunity to finish off his opponent. Gulpin mirrored its trainer's inaction, gulping without any sign of initiative.

"Now would you finally finish this battle?!" Rika snapped, her gaze fixed on him. "This Oddish is a good-for-nothing! I don't need it!" She watched as the color drained from his face.

"Whatever!" Rika let out an exasperated sigh and raised Oddish's Pokéball. The Pokémon's form glowed red and deformed as it was sucked back inside. She made sure to lock the device, determined not to deal with the troublesome Pokémon again.

The referee's voice cut through the tension. "Rika used her only swap of the battle. She must now select a new Pokémon."

Rika hadn't anticipated this exact scenario, but the outcome remained the same. Things were still progressing according to her plan.

Now I need to make sure Mason doesn't look like a complete idiot! Winning this match isn't enough. He needs to be convincing!

This was one of the most prestigious Pokémon trainer academies in all of Orre, with a failure rate she didn't even want to recall right now.

Only the best of the best would pass.

She held up her next Pokéball, the red beam shooting out.

Now it's time for you, Bedhead.

She would've prepated to chose a worse matchup for her strongest Pokémon, but she simply couldn't risk her act being exposed by choosing the other random Pokémon, which was still unknown to her.

The beam materialized into a small, gray feline creature with large, purple eyes that stared, hollow. Its ears were folded down, and its fur was a mess.

"Espurr!" the Pokémon exclaimed, its enormous eyes seeming to rival Gulpin in size. It turned around, as if seeking Rika's approval despite having done nothing yet.

She simply motioned toward Gulpin. "Psybeam. End it quick."

Bedhead stared at Gulpin, nodding slowly.

The poison-type's body pulsated in waves of horror, as if some primal instinct deep within had alerted it to its impending doom. That Espurr had the vibes of a child that always had to play alone, and for good reason.

Gulpin let out a thick, gurgling "gulp," like the sluggish burble of something sticky trying to move through a clogged drain.

Rika watched, satisfied, as Bedhead's Psybeam shot from the center of its forehead, a pulsing ray of psychic energy that illuminated the battlefield with a brilliant, colorful glow.

The attack streaked toward Gulpin, which had turned around with agonizing slowness, its whole body heaving with miserable huffs that barely propelled it forward.

Mason let out a silent gasp of fear, his eyes darting frantically between Gulpin and his Pokédex, searching for a way out. What move could save his Pokémon? What strategy could he come up with to get Gulpin out of this dire situation?

The answer was none.