Jubilife Sky Tower, a Pokémon battlefield built on top of the highest skyscraper in the city, outfitted with a special force field surrounding the edges and the floor like it was an invisible box without a lid.

The floor was reinforced with deep steel that allowed for a quick paced battle, or that's what the tour guide said.

The view from atop the Sky Tower was truly amazing and really made you believe you're on top of the world.

The sun was starting her slow descent on the skyline, casting all the glass of the surrounding buildings into a shade of orange.

Moments like these made me glad I wasn't afraid of heights. Never had been and luckily that attribute carried over into my new body.

To battle on top of the Sky Tower you had to pay an excessive amount of money or have some really good friends.

Or an International Police agent who was feeling guilty. Or maybe it wasn't guilt and he just wanted to reward us for our help.

Either way, Looker offered us a chance to battle on top of this building when he heard Barry and I talking about continuing our free for all with Chelsea.

I don't know if he paid the full price, had some connections, or had a coupon for this place lying around somewhere.

I didn't ask, if he wanted to display his gratitude then that's fine by me.

So yeah, that's how I ended up battling on top of the highest skyscraper in Jubilife City for no reason.

And to be honest I could totally use a distraction from the possible doomsday clock Team Galactic was working on.

Luckily I had my friends.

"Go Staravia!" Barry threw up his Pokéball high in the sky and it exploded into a white flash on its way down. Staravia appeared with a proud cry and flapped her wide wings, creating a small gust of wind around her.

Chelsea rolled her eyes at Barry's dramatics. "Show off, Haunter take the stage."

The shadow underneath Chelsea began to morph in size, extending into a long line before pulling free from the source.

A circular shadow formed and Haunter floated up from the floor with a menacing smile.

Luna shot me a questioning glance.

"You're not going to follow their idiocy, right?" Fay asked from my left.

I grinned at both my Pokémon. If they get a dramatic entrance then I couldn't let that go unchallenged.

Luna answered my grin with a smile of her own and there was a silent agreement between us that could only be forged by a complete understanding of two similar minds.

I made a V with my fingers and put it over my eyes like Lelouch. "Let's put an end to this foolishness,” I boomed dramatically. “ Luna, get ready to claim our victory!"

Was I getting too old for this?

Well, who was gonna judge me for it? I am in an insane world. I can at least try to have some fun.

In front of us, an emblem began to glow in the ground, a summoning circle with white light shining brightly at the gaps.

Luna appeared in the center striking a dramatic pose, her arms stretched out to the side and her head high, like a cruel angel that deserved to be praised and worshiped.

The glowing circle dissipated and Luna lowered her head, her eyes flared red and a grin made itself present on her face.

"Ugh, I'm dealing with idiots," Fay muttered.

"Ah, don't worry, you get to make your own epic entrance as well." I faced the blue Riolu, trying to look as serious as possible.

"What? Don't be ridiculous!" She spat as her face turned slightly red, weird shit I know.

"Seriously?" Chelsea asked, "She only teleported like what, 2 meters (6 feet)?"

I shrugged. "Don't try to out style me."

"Let's see if you can back that up!" Barry clenched his fist. "Staravia, Gust!"

The bird increased the speed her wings were thrashing around and a strong wind gust swept over the battlefield.

It was an interesting move, not on its own but the fact that Barry chose to start offensive this time while last time he immediately went on the defensive. Luna gritted her teeth and planted her feet/dress thing steadily on the ground.

Haunter had more trouble with the wind gusts. The weird purple smoke that surrounded the ghost's body kept drifting off his body and he had trouble staying afloat.

"Sludge Bomb!"

"Psybeam!"

The multicolored beam sped towards Staravia who did something I could only describe as a barrel roll.

The beam shot straight past the bird but a deep purple blob followed not a second later. It left a trail of poison acid behind on the ground as it was lunged.

"Staravia, fly up!" Barry shouted.

Staravia shot up in the sky with a strong swing of her two wings and narrowly dodged the poisonous projectile.

I had waited for this moment.

"Luna, Mega Punch Staravia!"

Luna shot me a proud smile and clenched her fist.

Then she disappeared.

"Haunter, hit her with Shadow Claw." Chelsea grinned, apparently confident with her own plan.

Luna reappeared with a white flash above the rising Staravia.

With a big grin, she pummeled her shining fist straight into Staravia's face.

The bird got hit hard and gravity took hold of her once again and she was sent straight back to the ground.

Underneath her Haunter flew up and I thought that he would strike Staravia on her way down but to my surprise, the ghost ignored the bird and phased straight through her. Haunter continued his rise up and Luna yelped in surprise as she realized that Haunter was coming for her.

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He retracted his claws and purple energy crackled around his hands.

Luna was too slow to react and Haunter struck her in the chest with a wide slash.

Three slashes appeared midair and Luna let out a whimper.

She too fell down, following Staravia.

Staravia however managed to get back on her feet, metaphorically speaking because she was hovering in the air.

"Air Cutter!" Barry shouted.

"Split!" I countered.

Luna and Haunter were both going down, though Haunter had full control over his descent while the Ralts was tumbling through the air, making for a good target.

The tumbling Luna split into three copies, each having a different angle they were falling at.

Two wind blades propelled out of Staravia's wings, one headed towards Haunter who weaved around it, using his floaty body to move quicker while the other shot towards Luna and hit her in the chest.

The Luna that was hit shimmered out of existence and another Luna was destroyed upon landing.

But the real Luna managed to land without too much trouble which was an amazing fact on its own considering the bones would've snapped by any other creature that did obey the laws of physics.

The psychic wasn't immediately attacked upon landing which was a nice thing. Chelsea's Haunter was still in pursuit of Staravia.

"Sludge Bomb!" Chelsea ordered the Haunter.

"Agility!" Barry countered, "Then do a Wing Attack!"

The bird began to weave around Haunter's constant barrage of Sludge Bombs with swift sudden bursts of speed.

However unlike Fay's Quick Attack she didn't disappear and reappear, not unlike a teleport. Instead, she moved faster at random intervals.

When the bird was close enough Staravia's wings glowed white and suddenly she was in Haunter's face. They slammed together.

"Luna, hit Haunter with a Psybeam!"

Luna fired a Psybeam at Haunter who was having a bad time trying to escape the barrage of wings slamming down on him. Haunter was forced to stay on the defensive and focus on the opponent in front of him.

The laser shot towards Haunter and he only had enough time to look surprised before he was hit.

His eyes rolled back and he became all wobbly, like he was having trouble keeping himself standing...floating?

Barry noticed the Confusion status effect and immediately acted on it.

"Now use Aerial Ace!"

Staravia flew up and white energy began to surround her body. After deciding she had crossed enough vertical distance she sped towards the confused Haunter.

Chelsea yelled something but Haunter didn't move.

The bird slammed into Haunter and the ghost was knocked away.

"NO!" Chelsea frowned.

"Yes!" Barry smiled.

Haunter dropped to the ground, his eyes closed. The smoke effect that surrounded its body was no longer violently lashing out like it had been but was now dormant and barely even flickering.

"Shit," Chelsea muttered, sounding more surprised than actually pissed.

Chelsea pointed her Pokéball at Haunter and pressed the button.

Light consumed Haunter and she gave the Pókeball a small smile. "You did really well."

Barry leveled his gaze with me. "And now it's between you and me!"

I answered him with only a smile.

Luna smashed her fist together and sent a challenging look at Staravia.

"You think you can win?" Fay asked and she sounded like she was worried I might actually lose.

"Obviously," I said while making sure to keep my voice down so Barry wouldn't hear me. "Remember, 1v1 battles are where I excel. Less chaos and more time to work out traps."

Fay nodded silently.

"Staravia, use Agility again!" Barry was looking very smug.

The bird in question began to speed around the small psychic, never staying in one place too long and if she kept this up then it would inevitably lead to an opening for an attack.

Staravia was too fast to be hit.

"Confusion in front of you, Mover protocol 2," I countered calmly.

How to deal with a fast moving target? Simple: bullet hell.

Purple rays were thrown at random around Luna. Slowly moving away from her at a crippling pace that wouldn't be able to hit a grandmother trying to cross the street.

They were weak and slow but everywhere.

Staravia retreated a bit farther away and hovered in the air, studying the field of purple rays Luna had created. Unknown to her was that those rays would probably not even hurt her that much.

Staravia wasn't moving from her position, instead, she chose to stay out of Confusion's range.

Perfect.

"Heaven's Gate into Meteor Smash!"

"What!?" Barry's expression was almost comical.

A summoning circle was brought to life with glowing edges and a white symbol engraved in the middle.

Staravia was suddenly teleported and moved to the center of the circle.

While the bird was too surprised to act by the sudden teleportation Luna jumped up and opened her mouth.

Soundwaves crashed down on the bird as Luna shot up into the air.

Once she reached the maximum height she twisted her body and clenched her fist.

"Get away!" Barry cried out but Disarming Voice's hitstun still held Staravia in its grip. She was helpless as Luna descended with her meteor fist and a flash of pure energy flared up.

When the light faded away, Luna stood victorious next to the unconscious bird, her arms folded in front of her chest and a smug smile on her face.

"Well," I grinned. "Seems like we won."

"Pffft," Chelsea scoffed, "You two teamed up on me."

She jumped off the platform and walked towards me.

"Nah ah, it was free for all, remember?"

Barry recalled his Pokémon with a pout. "Dammit. This time I really thought I had you, like I figured out what your strategy is but I still lost."

"Better luck next time," I offered him my hand and he shook it with a determined look in his eyes.

"Oh, I will win next time," Barry challenged me.

Luna ran towards me and I knelt down and spread my arms wide.

She jumped into my arms and tried to melt into my chest with her super attack, squealing happily along the way.

"That was pretty hardcore," I complimented her.

It wasn't perfect yet but we were still training and improving and in the end, a win is a win.

"Well, it seems this is the moment we part," Chelsea said, sounding disappointed. Or maybe I was reading too much into it.

"You make it sound like one of us is about to die."

"Seeing how you attract trouble," Chelsea laughed.

Seeing my glare only made her smirk more infuriating.

Barry stretched his back lazily. "Man, this entire squabble with Team Galactic took way longer than I expected."

"Squabble?" I raised an eyebrow, "You have somewhere to be?"

"I do, I had a fight scheduled today but I had to call it off." Barry informed me. A silence fell before he continued. "Is it weird that I prefer helping you two and risking my life rather than just regular training?"

"That's just adrenaline, it's fairly addictive."

Both Chelsea and Barry looked at me like I said something crazy.

"Ugh, you know how to kill the mood."

"I think he was about to say something sappy about friendship and things that make life worth it." Chelsea shared with me.

I blinked. "Wow."

"Wow, indeed, you make saying goodbye really hard." Barry scratched his head.

He was right. I suck at saying goodbye. It's like Murphy's law for me; if it can get awkward it will be awkward.

"It was fun though, incinerating an entire building with aura," Chelsea said it in a way I wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not.

"Let's hope nothing bad comes out of it," Barry spoke with a hopeful tone.

"Nothing bad ever happens to me." I rolled my eyes.

"Wow, mister positive." Chelsea deadpanned.

I sighed, "Fine, how about this; we can only prepare ourselves and keep an eye out. Something something, friendship?"

"That's the best you can do?" Barry asked.

There's this illusion that time you spend having fun seems to move faster than normal. The illusion flips 180 degrees if you look back on the time and it will seem longer than it actually was.

A weird thing.

I was gonna miss Chelsea and Barry but right now I had other things to focus on.

"Welp, time to go. Sayanora and shiz. See you all later."

I turned around and my 2 Pokémon trailed behind me, Luna gave them a wave while Fay pretended they didn't exist.

I really suck at goodbyes.