Like No One Ever Was (Pokemon SI)

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 65 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, HanShotFirst, and Garreon LeFay, my Ace Tier Patreons! Your support means a ton to me.

Cyrano POV

I took in a deep breath, letting the salty air wash over me. Opening my eyes, I looked out at the water, sparkling in the sunlight and stretching out to the horizon. Wingulls lazily glided in the distance, and I spotted a few Goldeens jumping out of the water only to land back with a splash. Behind me, I heard students chatting, talking about Pokemon, their tests, and general gossip as they walked to and from the walkway, happily going about their lives. Ahh, what a wonderful day this is.

It was an easy thing to not pay attention to, to almost forget, caught up in the minutia of day to day life, but I truly believed that life was incredible. A new adventure around every turn, if you were open to it. That was why I always took a bit of my day walking about and appreciating the wonderful school I'd spent so long building.

A familiar beeping sound had me reaching for my phone and holding it up to my ear. "Yello?" I asked before instantly recoiling as the voice on the other end started shouting.

"Don't 'Yello' me! You're late and we can't start the faculty meeting without you!" Abigail London shouted, and I winced.

"Whoopsie. I'll be over there in a jiffy," I replied. She muttered something I couldn't hear properly (but likely was just grumbling then - Abigail was a direct woman and when she wanted you to know something, she would make it clear) and I hung up before briskly walking back to the entrance of the school.

I made my way to the central chamber, then took the staff elevator up, not down, to the top of the dome which was above the water level. There, I walked down the hallways, past my office and into the staff room where the rest of the faculty was waiting.

Around the large, blue, circular table sat Dr. Velian Crowler, tapping his spindly fingers impatiently on the desk's surface; Abigail London, who had her hands clasped in tight yet controlled frustration; Colress, the head of our research department, and many others. Teachers, engineers, etc.

We had far too many staff members to have all of them in a meeting like this (and indeed, I wouldn't be needed for every such meeting), but this was the monthly checkup with all the heads of each department. "Sorry about the lateness," I said brightly before moving on. It's important to be upfront about your mistakes, my ma always said, but I don't see that as a need to let us get mired down in negative thoughts.

"Let's get started. What's first on the agenda?" I asked, briefly glancing at the papers in front of me.

"Budget concerns," Colress replied crisply. "The research department is looking to expand our work. We have several promising new inventions and techniques we could share with the world to help the cash flow."

"Promising, but nothing solid yet," Abigail pointed out.

"I'm certain they'll live up to their expectations. I haven't let this school down before," Colress responded, the edge in his voice subtle, barely noticeable unless you knew what you were looking for. He doesn't appreciate anyone 'getting in the way' of his progress, and while he is right, I can't back him here.

"No one's saying you have, but the budget for the department for the year has been set." Give someone a Caterpie and they'll take an Onix. At the same time though, you can throw a Marrowack a bone. "Hmm, that being said, we can work on making those projects earn us a bit more. I'm sure that Trainers all over will be Garchomping at the bit to practice in a place they can use Terastalization. We can lend them Tera Orbs to use temporarily while here to test it out for themselves." And battle against it as well. It's the latest Enhancement effect and with the achievement of the Tera Sphere, Paldea will be able to utilize that effect more in the international tournaments. Other Trainers are going to start taking them a bit more seriously on the competitive scene, if up and commers like Nemona weren't already catching their eyes.

"That might overload our facility. We can't just let everyone in, and picking and choosing could lead to accusations of favoritism or prejudice." Crowler raised a reasonable point, and we thought on it for a moment.

"Why don't we let the kids choose?" I suggested, earning several odd stares. Righto, might need to explain my thought process here. "We can give the students the chance to invite guests in, for a bit of BP. That will stop us from getting too many, but still give us the chance to get the word out."

There was another benefit to be considered there, in how by giving us BP, the students were effectively paying us a bit too. BP was earned by them working for the school in different ways, which helped (sometimes literally) keep Blueberry Academy afloat, so if they were spending some for the coaches, that meant they'd be working more for it too. I'll try not to make it too onerous on the kids part; the majority of the costs for hosting them will be paid by the person invited, and they get their BP back if the guest can't make it.

I didn't like thinking about things in such a transactional manner, but it was something I'd learned to live with as I'd made the school. My dream had started small, but grown beyond my wildest imaginings. I couldn't be upset about that, but as it formed it's own economy and the like, I'd gotten the hang of leveraging these factors to continue our growth, and give back to the people who made it so fantastic.

"That's a wonderful idea!" Dr. Crowler declared, clapping his hands together. "We can use the League Club as a trial ground for that, and they can invite special coaches from abroad to further their skills." I quirked an eyebrow at the phrasing but nodded. It wasn't a bad idea to have a test version first, and 'special coaches' was a decent way of advertising it.

That serves another goal of mine here. I can instruct any coaches that come here to help subtly guide the League Club in a better direction. I already made sure to tell my teachers to instill certain values, of care and compassion, into their lectures, but the League Club had clearly developed it's own subculture that was either twisting or ignoring those lessons. Doubling down on that message from the staff is unlikely to help, the teenagers stubborn enough to ignore it, but if they hear it from people outside the school might help. And if they ignore that, then they'll miss out on an edge that could improve their battling skills.

"Those are hardly the only matters to discuss, however." Devron Jolt spoke up, a file of papers in his hands. "While I disagree with the thrust of some of their points, the papers of some of our students have performed exceptionally well. I was wondering about bumping them up a year or two."

I laughed happily. "We've got a truly exceptional crop this year!" Maybe even some good enough to face off against 'Saffron.' "Who are the students you're thinking of?"

He passed me over the folder containing the mid-year grades as he said "Carmine Masque and Nemona Glitterati."

"Oh, I remember reading over their entrance exams!" Dr. Crowler pipped in. "They were both quite excellently written considering their age. Nemona's was good for any age, frankly. And I heard she even bested our Abigail despite her going above and beyond what would be regularly necessary for the practical."

The Ace Trainer glared at Velian. "She's a Champion Trainer already! Was I supposed to hold back against someone like that? I'd like to see you do better."

"Hmph!" Velian declared, while gesticulating grandly. "I would hardly need to resort to such means to beat a child - let alone lose to one."

I clicked my tongue noisily, bringing their attention back to me. "Sorry, but I don't think these two can be moved up. These two are already early admission students, don't think the change up in grades would do them much good. 'Specially not with recent activities."

"Oh, what do you mean?" He asked and I was a little surprised. Some teachers don't see much of the school outside of the classes they teach. A shame.

Before I could speak up though, Colress answered. "She's been of great assistance to me in the Tera Sphere project, and is currently running her own experiment around reintroducing Hisuian Sliggoos and Goodras to the world. I understand that she's quite bright, but adding more to her workload feels ill-advised."

"And that's to say nothing of all the Blueberry Quests she's been doing, or her scuffle with Miss Death," Dana Hardy added. I suppressed a wince as I saw Abigail latch onto that like a Granbull.

"Yes, I'd been meaning to bring that up with you, sir," she said, turning to face me. "Those two engaged in a reckless battle that broke a significant bridge in the Terarium, ruined the field beneath, and nearly caused serious harm to each other. And you've given them practically no punishment whatsoever."

"Elsa, as the instigator of the incident, recieved a BP penalty to pay off the reconstruction costs. Don't underestimate just how skilled those folks are at repairing things down in the dome, they'll have things fixed right quick!" My bit of levity fell flat, so I just added, "They were warned on the danger of battling recklessly, and as Champion of the League Club, Miss Death has also been instructed to host a number of speeches at the end of classes to help inform the student body on why that kind of behavior is unacceptable. Plus, I've limited the ability of her and the rest of her Elites to run special events with League Club funding and permision till the end of the year. I don't think any further punishment is necessary."

Hmm, come to think of it, did I tell Elsa about the penalty? I didn't bring up the limiting of League Club powers during my speech with her and Nemona since that was a personal punishment and not the one the Club one. A quick check of her account on my tablet showed that her account hadn't been penalized yet. Whoopsy daisy. Better fix that quick. I sent out a message to that effect and deducted the BP from her account as the rest of the staff stared at me.

"For what reason do you think that further punishment is not necessary?" Abigail asked in a low, dangerous tone. "Miss Death already has a number of questionable rumors floating around her behavior, and Miss Glitterati comes from a very rich family and has a high position within her home region. They might think they can get away with bad behavior unless we punish them hard."

I scratched my chin for a moment, thinking. "Well, I got a good feeling about them." Crowler slipped out of his seat and fell to the ground as I finished my sentence. Hmm, best look into fixing that. He's jumping back up but I'd hate to see someone seriously hurt by these chairs.

"Sir, I must object to this!" He shouted before scrambling back up. "I can see giving some leeway to Elsa as the Champion of the League Club, but Nemona actually hurt her during that fight and has no such extra curricular alignmen-"

"Actually, I just heard through the ol' Carnivine that Nemona has joined the League Club herself. Looks like those two are fixing to resolve any lingering disputes through those channels."

"Ah, well that's fine then," Crowler said in a far more subdued tone as he righted his chair and sat down calmly.

"Are you kidding me?!" It was no Abigail's turn to burst out, her eyes glancing between Dr. Crowler and myself before settling on me as a target to vent her rage unto. "Just because you're sponsor for the League Club doesn't mean you can let them get away with this reckless behavior-"

"-You overstep your bounds as the head of the disciplinary committee!"

"It's literally my job!"

"They're just kids being kids!"

"Then why does that never come out of your mouth when it's kids not from the League Club screwing up?!"

"Well those are clearly different circumstances! Different circumstances!"

I let the two of them bicker for a few minutes, lost in my own thoughts as I scrolled through the alerts on my tablet. To be honest, part of me really considered expelling Elsa. She might not have too much by way of substantive complaints against her, but I listen to the rumors that go around the student body. Just because someone can skirt around the rules or avoid direct accusations doesn't mean they're behaving properly.

Two things held me back from expelling her. First, was the fact that until now, I hadn't heard of anything too egregious from the icy girl. For all her sharp edges, it was clear she cared about the school, wanting to live up to its reputation. Possibly too much so at times, holding others to a standard they might not be able to meet and certainly isn't necessary all the time.

The second was my own feelings regarding rivalries and how they could help someone grow. Elsa Death and Nemona Glitterati looked to be well on that path, with the younger girl hopefully pushing the older to become more considerate and respectful. She was the only one to really challenge Elsa during the introductory tour. And likewise, I think Elsa has already pushed Nemona out of her comfort zone and will force her to grow stronger as a Trainer. The Glitterati girl was good and had a lot of potential, but she'd need a bit more polish if she was to make it to the very top.

I let out a wistful sigh, thinking of how my experiences with Alder had let us grow as youths and how I should call him soon, see how he was doing. Someone cleared their throat and I blinked, realizing that Velian and Abigail had stopped arguing. "Very good, glad to see that's settled," I said awkwardly. "Now what's next on the schedule?"

"Macro Cosmos has slightly lowered their energy prices, affecting the market," Brian O'Hansen, the head of the engineering department informed us. They had some new initiatives and staff brought on in the wake of the Darkest Day and all that noise, didn't they? Looks like it's paying off now. "Should we adjust our prices in return?"

It was a difficult question. On the one hand, lowering our prices would keep us competitive, but on the other, doing so would cut into funds used to run the school. Running a sprawling underwater school complete with its own Wild Zone-esque environment is a bit expensive, even for me. The massive geothermal energy we tap into is the only thing keeping us afloat.

I laughed at my internal pun, ignoring the odd looks I got before addressing the question. "Leave it as is for now. If Macro Cosmos continues to lower it, we'll re-evaluate, but for the time being, we'll keep the same price." Our main buyer is Unova, and I don't think they'll be looking to put the screws to us right now, at least not with our advancements in Terastalization technologies and a decent number of kids connected to their Gym Leaders currently attending.

"Next up was…" I scrolled through the itinerary on my Rotom Phone, idly noting a message saying that Snacksworth was back in town. "Rotating some of the specialty meals offered in the lunchroom?"

The discussion continued like that for quite some time, covering the little minutia needed to keep the Academy running properly.

***

"After ten-thousand years, I'm finally free!" I declared, pushing the doors to the conference room open and shoving my hands up in the air as I strode out to the hallway.

"It was only half an hour over what we had planned, and fifteen of those minutes you weren't even there for!" Abigail gave an exasperated sigh as she walked quickly past me. She was far younger and sprier than I was, so she quickly exited my line of sight as she continued on. Likely heading for one of the cafeterias, if I know my niece. She likes snacks after lengthy meetings- oh right, Snacksworth!

The guest tag I gave him had a tracker (which he knew of; given his track record, we both agreed it would be better to have an easy way to find him the next time a Legendary showed up) and that he was down in the Terarium, over by the Coastal Biome.

I made my way over there, taking note of the various students and staff going about their days. For the most part, it was the standard fare. Kids gossiping in the corners, maintenance staff hurrying about with various tools strapped to their belts, carrying odd bits of metal for whatever repairs or replacements were necessary, and teacher's voices carrying just out of their classrooms as they taught the next generation.

"I gotta try out this new strategy I worked out with Charizard, c'mon, let's go to the arena up top!" One boy said excitedly to his classmate. She was undecided, however.

"I dunno, I've still got a survey project to do."

"Let's battle in the Terarium then! You can get some uh… practical experience with Pokemon surveys and stuff. Plus, I think Terastalization works better in there anyways." The girl didn't seem too convinced by the first half of his argument, but her eyes lit up at the prospect of Terastalization, and the two were soon running down the hallway to test it out. I narrowly avoided them running into me with quick reflexes, catching a shout of apology as I caught my snazzy hat and kept it from falling off.

"Kids," I said to myself with a chuckle. Some things never really change, despite how much everything always changes. Case in point with Terastalization. It had been over a month, but the students and much of the staff were still excited over it. Can't deny that I'm hyped too. Been cooking up something spicy for the next time someone thinks they've got one over on little ol' me.

Continuing down, I made my way to the pavilion in the Coastal Biome, where my old friend was standing by. He greeted me cheerfully, waving as he saw me approach. "Cyrano! It's been too long."

"That it has," I agreed, shaking my friend's hand before pulling him in for a brief hug. "I didn't even get to see you last time you swung by here!"

"You need a vacation; I know a perfect spot over on Poni Island where I swear I saw a school of Phione swimming through a stream-!"

"I reckon that'd be the opposite of a relaxing vacation," I said, unable to hide my grin. "I thought that was why you liked to hang out here. No random Legendaries to run into in the Terarium." Snacksworth has the craziest luck of anyone I know, even including the wildest adventures Alder and I have been on.

He chuckled. "That's true, not quite as spry as I was back in my youth," my friend admitted, patting his slightly rotund belly.

"Might lose by more than a whisker if you had to race Raikou today," I teased and he shook his head.

"Oh, I might be out of practice, but I'm sure I could give that dog a run for their money." We looked at each for a moment before we burst out laughing.

After we calmed down, I noticed him tilting his head around. "Something the matter?"

"Hmm it's nothing but… well, with so many incredible Pokemon I've met, I felt like I had a good sense of when I might encounter another one. And you're right about me coming here to relax and that no Legendaries could just wind up here, yet I feel something there. Someone I haven't had the pleasure of meeting before…" his words hung in the air for a moment before Snacksworth snapped his fingers together.

"Oh, I know! This sneaky fella must be a Marshadow that slipped inside your Terarium!" Despite his proud declaration, I felt a discordant note in the air. No, that doesn't sound right.

"Speaking of Legendaries, wanted to pick your mind about two uh, interesting young students here."

"Elsa Death and Nemona Glitterati?" I blinked in surprise.

"You're familiar with them?"

"With the younger one, Nemona, at least. Though I knew about both of them by reputation at least; I'm not the one living under an oceanic rock at least," he ribbed me and I rolled my eyes.

"But what a nicely colored rock it is!" I said, stretching an arm out to wave at the rest of the Terarium. It's joking, but also very true. I am quite proud of this place, and even more proud of the students and who they could become.

Sensing this would be a slightly more sensitive talk, Snacksworth offered, "Why don't we have a race up to that there peak?" He said, pointing at the top of the large cliff that the firestone cave complex resided underneath.

"Oh, well, I do love a good challenge. Same rules as last time?"

"Of course!" I smiled thinking for a moment as to which Pokemon to choose. Serperior is the fastest, but she's badly suited to climbing a cliff. Mandibuzz is a sharp gal, but might make it too easy. Yeah, it's gotta be…

"Emboar!" I called out as I released the Fire Type. She gave out a sleepy yawn, blinking as she took in the scene. My fiery Pokemon adapted quickly, seeing Snacksworth stretching out to the side.

"Boar, emb," She complained, bemoaning our foolish challenges. She still easily let me piggyback on her, getting in position while Snacksworth leaned over in a runners stance by the edge of the road, serving as our 'starting line.' Despite her complaints, I think she's just upset over losing last time. But we'll show him this time. She's got a new Move that's going to work great here.

"On your marks, get set,... go!" I cried out and the two of them set off. My Emboar tore up the field, but despite his powerful strides, Snacksworth was off like a shot, his round frame belying the tremendous speed he retained in great part from his youth. He hardly stopped as he reached the cliff face, scrambling up it with alacrity and grace. He had practiced long and could instantly calculate the best route up such a rocky surface.

My Pokemon had to rely on other means. When she reached the wall, she drove up it with sheer strength, her Rock Climb tearing hand and footholds into the side of the cliff. With mighty muscles, she surged ahead, outpacing Snacksworth on the side. But as we neared the top, I realized that we had erred. Our path faced an overhang that would be difficult to climb around even with the strength of the Move Emboar had learned.

Course correcting to either side wouldn't work - to the left is open air, and the right would put us in Snacksworth's way, and send rocks tumbling down upon his head… head, that's it! "Head Smash, cleave right through it!" I shouted as we approached, pulling my body in tight against Emboar. She Recklessly charged ahead, slamming her head straight through the rocky edge and breaking it off. As we ascended, it tipped through the air and fell straight down to the ground.

"Woo! Looks like we win this round," I said, turning to face Snacksworth as he pulled himself over the edge. Emboar let out a self-satisfied snort of flames, and I rubbed the top of her head before dismounting.

"Ahh, so you do," he said, huffing and puffing slightly. He really has slowed down with age… which just makes it all the more apparent how terrifying his strength is. Snacksworth had never found a Pokemon partner of his own, and Alder had been the one to first half-jokingly point out that 'he never needed one.'

"Now, what did you wish to talk about? It's unlike you to be uncertain. Confused, maybe, but never uncertain."

"Bah, I've just got too much in my head, that's all," I said, waving him off as I sat beside him. My protest was weak as we both knew I had earned my reputation as a bit of a Driftloonhead. When it came time to lock in though, I could be laser focused, and I needed to be here.

"I wonder about Elsa Death's continuation at the school. If you know of her, then I take it you know of the circumstances regarding her family." He nodded. The Death name was not well-known outside of Galar, and even only in certain circles there, but Snacksworth was a well-traveled man. "She's a prodigal lass, and with that and difficulties getting a sponsorship, I suppose it's not a surprise that she would latch on to the school and the League Club." Moreso than she had to be; I've offered her a sponsorship to the Galarian Circuit once she graduates, and all she has to do is be a good student. "Lately however, she's been causing a right ruckus amongst the student body, pushing them around. The latest issue was a rather public clash with Nemona."

Snacksworth nodded. "That's the setting, but what's the problem? Surely you can handle her."

"Of course," I answered instantly. "When scouting her out, we had a little pow wow, and I still won, even with her Legendary horsie. She's improved a lot since coming here, but she's not that good. Not yet," I admitted with a grin, remembering that fight. A little girl with the soul of a frigid storm, and the power to reign in a wild beast like Glastrier… it was a good fight, but my team had faced Legends before and come out on top.

I liked to think that battle was good for her too; the Death family had been on the rise, bolstered by Elsa claiming Glastrier and refurbishing that ancient castle on the mountaintop. But it left them distanced from the common people. That, and the actions of her distant cousins, Swordweirdo and Shieldbob or whatever, left the people of Galar with disdain for the Royal Family. No one wanted to give her a chance at the Gym Circuit.

"Really?" Snacksworth said, looking surprised.

"She just might be. Elsa Death and Nemona Glitterati, they have the potential, and the drive for it. I'd hoped to foster that when I invited Elsa to my school, and I'd say I succeeded. I think at first it was just the offer of arranging a sponsorship for the Galarian Gym Circuit if she did well here, but Elsa's truly come to love this school, deeper than just about anyone I know. It pushed her to make herself stronger than ever before, and then after she joined the League Club, to raise the rest of her pals up too. But without any challenges, she's started to act out.

"Hmm, well, it looks like she has one now!" Snacksworth said, pointing at another clifftop off in the distance, where Nemona's unique, Volcano-looking Pokemon was darting above, clearly flying through some drills. "A good rival will help set her straight and curb some of her more reckless tendencies. Alder did you the world of good; I didn't have to keep on holding you back!"

"Bah!" I shot back. "Like you weren't right there with me and him, raring to get into trouble." He laughed alongside me, remembering the misadventures of our youth. Ah those days… They were good, but at the same time, I was happy where I was now (otherwise I would have been out there with him, when he went exploring around the world). That's why this latest disturbance upsets me so; I want the school to do well, and that means not letting Elsa run wild or smothering a young girl's ambitions. A fine line to walk.

"So," my old friend said as he took a more serious tone. "If I know you right, you gave Elsa a punishment, but you're not sure if it's enough and yet don't want to go too far."

"Correctemundo," I confirmed.

"Welp, I'd say all you can do now is keep a closer eye on things, maybe head things off before they get this heated again." I frowned at him, mostly for the pun he thought he could slip in without me noticing. That soon faded as I nodded, recognizing it was the best way forward. It's a good idea, and for more than just Elsa. Charlotte Linlin is a 'problem child' sent my way with her own, quite rare Pokemon, and while she's acted out less, I haven't been able to get through to her either.

"Thanks," I said, and Snacksworth waved me off.

"Please, I didn't do much. I'm just glad to see those dark thoughts bringing you down seem to have cleared up." Snacksworth declared, standing up. You might not think it, but being able to air my thoughts out to you helped a bunch.

Changing the topic, I asked him, "Now, where have you gone since we last met? Lay it on me; I don't want to miss a single detail, like the time you forgot to mention Kyogre when recounting a nice swim." He chuckled at that.

"Oh, such stories to tell! First, I went to Kanto, had a lovely brisk hike up one of their mountains, then down the other side to Johto where…"

My old friend rambled on, our conversation winding from those exploits to recounting tales from our youth, adventures we'd both gone on. I hope my students can share stories like these some day. Blueberry Academy should be a place of smiles, happiness, and growth, to let them become the people they were meant to be. Despite the troubles currently rocking it, I felt optimistic that any problems would sort themselves out.

Spoiler: A/N:

This chapter was one I realized had to happen and thought it worked best here, though it does mean we've had a lot of interludes in short succession. Still, I wanted to show how Cyrano is viewing things. He's a very interesting figure in the DLC, despite having minimal presence in the story. I forgot to mention the costs of the damages in the talk he had with Nemona and Elsa last chapter, but Cyrano's kinda airheaded so I think it works for him to remember and do it here.

Given how things worked with Kieran there, I figured he needed to be a more hands-off kind of teacher, but he always seems to have such care for the school (and such strength of his team) that I wanted to show the reasoning behind his actions here. It's always a hard line to draw with authority figures in Pokemon games - either they're useless, or they kinda stop you from doing anything interesting in the plot (Leon in gen 8). It's tough to deal with, so here I wanted to show some of Cyrano's internal conflict here, as well as the duties that distracted him from being as aware of what was going on with the club exactly.

Also, Snacksworth! He's kinda crazy, and I recognize that he's really just used by the DLC to give the players a bunch of Legendaries to access, but I do like having someone that outlandish in the story. If he isn't your cup of tea though, don't worry; since Nemona didn't believe him, he won't be having much more involvement in the story. Still, I found him kinda funny and I hope you liked him too.

Finally, please keep the comments civil. I really don't like having to ask this, but some comments last time were incredibly rude/demanding, and these kinds of comments greatly sap my motivation for the story.

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 65 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, HanShotFirst, Garreon LeFay, and Allison Simon, my Ace tier Patreons! Your support means so much to me.

"Opening Omega b!" I called out, watching intently as Phantasm and Athena performed Nasty Plot and Swords Dance, before sighing. "Omega b! It means the partner released on the left helps the one on the right side." Phantasm grumbled at that.

"Right now we're only practicing you on the left because Athena still needs to work on Quick Guard, and her other disruption effects need a pair of enemies to work on." Extremespeed into Circle Throw should be good for literally throwing enemies off balance. Hmm, I should see how Anya and Torkoal deal with that in a bit.

The two of them were off with different partners at the moment. Torkoal was being run through Sunny Day practice, which was assisting Radiance in their attacks, a black, scorched out pit forming underneath them from where they practiced their Fiery Dance, the ambient heat roasting the grass beneath them. Anya, meanwhile, was practicing supporting Moves like Follow Me and Fake Out to protect Goomy from an assault by Nightwing.

Dun and Bahamut were training against Notch, the two of them doing their best to practice overwhelming a singular foe by working together. Every time they failed to do so in a short time period, we'd 'reset' the timer and they'd begin again. But Notch is slowly getting worn down over time, I'll have to have Athena use Heal Pulse and Life Dew to help even things up.

Turning my attention back to the troublesome duo, I saw that they were finally working together, Phantasm using illusions to make it seem like Athena was using Double Team… and was still using Nasty Plot herself. At least as far as I could tell from the viscous smirk she sported and the faint Dark energy surrounding her. Well, so long as she's supporting her partner, it's fine. Helping Hand would wear off too quickly in this situation anyways.

Phantasm and Athena didn't get along well, but their Typings made them a great duo, easily able to cover each other's weaknesses. So I had them training together to try and head off any issues there, as I was doing for a number of other pairings to make sure my team operated well together. We can't slack off anymore.

Elsa had been a wake-up call, in more ways than one. I needed to train harder than ever before, which is why I spent my days off and every free moment after class training my expanded team. Ones that had to account for the intricacies of Double Battles. There's so many new Moves that work so much better, so many old ones that are unviable, or only work well with certain partners, like using Earthquake, one of my standbys that many on the team know. Combined with adding new members to the team and training them on old tactics and new, it's a lot of work. I'm pretty hopeful with how it's going, though.

I saw Torkoal launching a massive, sun-boosted Eruption, leaving piles of sizzling lava on the ground. To the side Anya threw Nightwing about with Psychic, showing off what she had learned from Notch. Finally, there was Goomy, firing off a weak, but focused Dragon Pulse. They're all learning so fast. Soon, we'll be ready to start taking down the League Club.

***

Eventually, they got tired, and after a few Heal Pulses from Athena and Anya to recover (and for them to get in some practice of that, very useful Move), I called them over to a nearby tree to lie in the shade, the Savannah Biome heat getting to me, and not helped in the slightest by Torkoal's progress with Drought.

While we rested, Miles played videos I had lined up of some of the recorded matches from the League Club. It's hardly as much information as I'd get from Gym Leaders or Elites from the various Pokemon Leagues, but Blueberry Academy has a bunch of battles archived and available for us all, so these might give us an edge for the future.

On the screen, I watched as Cassandra Moon, the lowest ranking elite of the bunch, called out "Meteor Beam!" Her Minior did so, voluntarily dropping down their shields to reveal the shiny, celestial body, firing off a powerful blast that took out Carmine's Arcanine in one shot.

"That was quick," I mused, rewinding the moment to watch again. Carmine won this fight, but she mentioned having trouble with that Minior in particular. They're a new one on Cassandra's team, so this is basically the only footage of them. Carmine herself had grown quite a bit as a Trainer, instantly reacting and using Taunt to stop the Minior from setting up with Shell Smash.

Generally, Cassandra was a Rock Type specialist, but with Pokemon like Kingambit and Noctowl, she wasn't married to the Type. My eye caught on the Meteor Beam again, giving me my own idea. "Notch, are you up for learning a new Move?" With a Power Herb to fire it off right away, that could give Notch some devastating power to start sweeping through foes.

['I believe I could manage it. Most of what I've been doing is just refining old Moves.'] I nodded, watching the match unfold as Carmine counterattacked, her Sinistcha using Matcha Gotcha to deal damage while recovering herself. Training the Pokemon on so many new Moves needed for Double Battles means most of them don't have time for new strategies. Luckily, Notch really doesn't have to learn much more by way of supporting Moves.

We watched as the video came to a close, Carmine's newly evolved Kommo-o landed a decisive Body Press on the enemy Kingambit, scoring her the win. "She's really become a strong Trainer," I said aloud, earning a derisive snort from Dun, conveying 'meh, I could still take em.'

Laughing, I hugged my starter close. "Thanks Dun." He knew I've been feeling unsure of my strength ever since that fight with Elsa and has been trying to reassure me. I'm so grateful for him, for all of them. "Alright, I think that's enough resting for now," I declared, clapping my hands together. "Let's get back to work so we can take on our first League Clubber soon." I could start challenging them right now, but I want to build up a good base before revealing my hand. Then I can tear my way through the matches needed to start challenging the Elites of the club.

While still a little weary, everyone on the team gave a cheer at my words, eager for 'revenge' on those who had wronged us. Even the ones not involved in the fight, and especially Goomy. Sighing, I turned to the little Dragon. "Sorry buddy, but for the time being, you still need to train here."

"Goo! Go goo! Myyyyy!" The incensed Dragon cried out.

"You've gotten a lot stronger, that's true but you still need to-" I dodged a small purple flame Goomy spat my way before sliding off quickly (or at least as quickly as he could go). "Alright, let's run through some drills," I told the rest of the team, getting them started with Miles watching over them before I followed after the young Dragon.

It was easy to follow the trail of slime but still took me a moment as Goomy's speed clearly hadn't dropped throughout. Until it did, coming to a dead stop as he found himself pressed in by two Fraxures, and surprisingly, one Haxorus. I hadn't thought any of the Fraxures here would have received the push needed to evolve yet. In a way, that's good; it'll give the colony here more challenges to push themselves against as they evolve - might well be the thing to let them become Goodras. On the other hand, none of them are even ready to evolve to Sliggoos. Or are they…?

I saw Goomy puffed up, even as he trembled slightly in the face of three angry Dragons. Brave. Foolish, but oh so brave, my little Goomy. Stepping forward, I moved beside my Pokemon. "Three on one feels a bit uncalled for, don't you think?" I asked rhetorically, addressing the Haxorus. "Send your best one and we'll see how they hold up against Goomy."

The tall Dragon arched her neck, snorting angrily and motioning one of the Fraxures forward with a wave of her tusks. So prideful, filled with arrogance after evolving, I reflected. Bahamut wasn't like that, but he had the rest of the team all still stronger than him. A few sessions as he got used to his new strength stopped any such feelings of arrogance settling within him. Or perhaps he never would have been that way; even if such arrogance is common for Dragons, each Pokemon is unique and many go against what is common for their Type or species.

Fraxure stomped forward, giving a roar to try and intimidate Goomy. He gave me a quick glance, reassuring himself that I was by his side before roaring back. It was far cuter than intimidating, something which had the Haxorus and her cronies making an odd sound I quickly realized was laughter. The Haxorus had missed the little trap I'd set up, in actually excluding her from fighting Goomy. Goomy has come far, but they still wouldn't be ready to take on a fully evolved Dragon. Fraxure will still prove a decent challenge… but it won't be enough. Goomy's going to win.

Taking a step back, I made room for them to fight. The two Dragons circled each other for a bit, until the Fraxure got tired of having to slow his pace for Goomy and just charged in. "Toxic, then Protect!"

Swelling up, Goomy spat out a ball of toxic liquid. His was far more viscous than Nightwing's, which had the added effect of slowing the charging Dragon a tad, just long enough for Goomy to pull up a quick Protect. One sweep of Fraxure's tusks hit the barrier, the first tusk weakening it, then the next smashing through, blunting most of the damage but pushing Goomy back.

He's still perfecting Protect, must not have had enough time to pull up a full power shield. It was something we'd have to work on, but for now we had to work with what we had. "Spray then Dragon Breath, keep your distance!" Goomy gave a battle cry and launched a focused burst of acid to further eat away at the Fraxure. This time, the enemy dodged around it, dancing awkwardly around the spray.

Damn, and we worked so hard on that too. I had memories of using Acid Spray with a Sliggoo in the games but had forgotten that had been with the evolved form. The Pokedex revealed that only the evolved form learned it, but with some dedication and a bit of tutoring from Radiance, he'd managed to learn the attack. It would have greatly weakened Fraxure's defenses against Goomy's attacks, but at least the poison is sapping his strength away.

"Frax… Ure!" The enemy Dragon declared, smashing Goomy aside with a powerful sweep of his tail. Not enough distance for Dragon Tail, must be a Breaking Swipe, I quickly deduced. Fighting wild Pokemon comes with less clues, but there's also some advantages. Like how most Trainers would realize that was a mistake.

"Dragon Breath, keep at it till he's Paralyzed!" I ordered. It took a few seconds for Goomy to right himself and unleash the attack, but thankfully the Fraxure was equally stalled by the thick goo stuck on his tail, catching on the ground and dragging him down. Gooey might not be my favorite Ability to deal with on a level of how clean my shirts are, but it's incredibly useful in a battle.

A wave of purple fire washed over the Fraxure, causing him to howl in pain. It didn't slow his charge down, but Goomy was taking evasive action, breathing out spurts of the Dragon Type attack while scooching backwards. When he got close, I called for another Protect, and this one fully nullified the Dragon Claw that would have done significant damage otherwise.

Fraxure was painting, tired, with the poison spreading farther across his body. But he wasn't out of the fight yet, and just as Goomy had me in his corner, Fraxure had his fellows stomping and shouting for him.

As they cheered the Fraxure on, I saw him rally back, waiting till the Protect faded and striking with a powerful Dragon Claw that hit Goomy hard. Damn, that must have been a lucky hit. Or maybe it was something the others did… I couldn't exactly accuse wild Pokemon of 'breaking the rules' or at least, it wouldn't be helpful, but it was still frustrating. I'd adapt, however. Goomy was already pulling himself up and I wasn't going to let his determination go to waste.

"Dragon Pulse, blast him back with everything you have!" Goomy let loose an indigo pulse, hammering hard into the Fraxure. Breaking Swipe was probably a good opening against fellow Fraxures that only focus on Physical Attacks, but I've been focusing Goomy on Special Attacks. Maybe in time, once he evolves, we'll have him practice mixed Moves but- that's not a Dragon Pulse.

After the first blast had ended, I expected Goomy to fire again as soon as ready, or to try and back away. Instead, he stayed in place, building energy, until he released it, not at Fraxxure but up in the air. A meteor sheathed in burning flames took its place in the sky before falling down at an angle towards Fraxure. Clearly Goomys been learning a bit more than I realized from Bahamut. But there's a reason why I didn't have him learn this Move so early.

Fraxure, after recovering from being stupified at seeing this small Dragonling launch a Draco Meteor his way, tried to dodge around the attack and finish things. A more experienced Dragon would launch multiple clusters of meteors in one go, bombarding the battlefield and leaving no room for escape for their enemies. Goomy is powerful, and if it hit, this attack would decide the fight , but as it is…

Goomy, however, had one last trick up his non-existent sleeves, tucking his head down and waving his antennae angrily. An aura surrounded them, and the meteor sharply swerved course, dropping at a more severe angle suddenly to take out Fraxure before he could reach Goomy. And that trick feels right out of the precision Notch needed and trained hard for before transforming.

With a loud boom, the Draco Meteor hit, kicking up a cloud of dust which I removed just as swiftly with a wave of my hand and a flex of my Aura, revealing the scene before us. Goomy, tired and bruised, but still standing, with the Fraxure knocked out, lying before my Pokemon, unconscious. "You did it! That was amazing!" I cheered, stepping towards Goomy who turned and gave me an exhausted but exuberant cheer back, puffing up with pride.

Haxorus clearly didn't agree with the result, however, hissing angrily. She and the remaining Fraxure managed to take a single step forward before I snapped my fingers, then one more step before Radiance blurred forward, a fiery storm around them tossing the Dragons aside.

Goomy was still crying out, head raised as he yearned for something more than just victory. For Evolution. It didn't happen however, and as the moment dragged on and there was no glow, no great surge of power, Goomy drooped down. Dropping down by his side, I wrapped the little guy up in a hug. "Hey, it's okay, you did great here."

"Goooo," he sniffled.

"I know, I know. I told such tales of our journey and adventures, and you just want to be a part of them. And you will be. Right here and now is one of the greatest moments of my journey so far." There are many 'greatest moments,' admittedly, but I don't think going into that will help right now. "You'll evolve in due time, Cataphract, and we will see and do so much together."

"Goom?"

"Ahh, right. Cataphract was a name I was workshopping for you. Cataphracts were the heavily armored cores of medieval armies back in my first world. Maybe they had similar things here? I'd have to check, warfare here doesn't really match the warfare of my past life." The Goomy was staring up at me with wide eyes and I realized I was getting off topic.

"Anyways, cataphracts were the tanks of their age. Tough as heck to put down, the core of an assault force. And that's what you'll be. The role you're already growing into. It uh, also makes for an easy shortening to 'Cat' for quicker or more casual chat." Which I personally find to be hilarious for a snail Dragon.

If it wasn't the right name for him (as many other names had been thrown out in the past) that would be fine, I'd just keep on trying. But, to my delight, Goomy - no, Cataphract, cheered joyously at his new name, squirming in my arms happily.

***

Feeling on top of the world, I headed back from the Terarium whistling a jaunty tune (something I'd never learned to do in my past life but was happy to be able to do now). When I reached my dormitory however, I found Carmine standing outside of my dorm.

"Oh, hey Carmine, what's up? It's pretty late ou-"

"I challenge you to a battle!" She said, whirling around and pointing at me. I stared for a moment in silence, watching as her face grew redder and redder.

"Uhm, I mean, I was looking to improve my rankings in the League Club and we've been talking about a battle for a while now and…" she trailed off, using a finger to curl around her long, red and black hair. She's cute when she's flustered.

"That sounds good, I've been looking forward

"Let's fight now!" The girl declared exuberantly, glad I was brushing past her mix-up earlier.

"Carmine, it's 10:30 PM and we have classes in the morning," I deadpanned. I do enjoy a good battle as much as the next girl, but I also don't want to be exhausted the next day. Besides, this battle will be important so I want to take the time to make it good.

"Let's fight right after Miss Hardy's class!" She amended without missing a beat (even as the blush came back). I nodded, sporting a fierce grin on my face. This is gonna be fun.

Spoiler: A/N:

A far lighter chapter than before as Nemona takes steps towards her goal, and she's not the only one. Carmine and the rest of the… Prodigy Quartet? Young Five? I need a better name for them, but they're preparing too. Also, some stuff from her team and their dynamics. Cataphract has a name now and is growing up fast. This chapter is a bit on the shorter side, but the next one should more than make up for that.

Are you looking forward to the fight with Carmine or something else? Let me know down in the comments below or on the Discord. And if you want to read more and have a bit of money to toss my way, I have a a Kofi and a Patreon, subscribers to the latter get early access to the next ten chapters. Thank you, and I hope you're having a great day.

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 59 Beginner Tier Patreons and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, HanShotFirst, ExaltedRequiem, Garreon LeFay, and Allison Simon, my Ace Tier Patreons! Your support means so much to me.

I hadn't been lying when I said I was looking forward to my match with Carmine, but I was also a bit nervous. She's the only one out of the five of us who defeated her opponent. Sure, Cassandra is supposed to be the lowest ranked of the Elite Four, but still. Carmine is going to be a tough foe to face.

Filled with excitement and trepidation, I stopped by Colress' lab. "Hello sir, I was wondering if I could get your help with something."

The man looked up from his tablet, greeting me with a soft smile. "Nemona, welcome. What could I help you with?"

"You know that prototype you had mentioned for a mobile battle barrier? I was hoping I could test it out in the Terarium." We don't have a battle court nearby the Goomy habitat, and I trust Carmine enough to battle with Cataphract there. We'd still need to put up personal defenses, however. I don't want another lecture from Cyrano.

He frowned slightly. "I'm afraid that prototype isn't ready for live tests yet. While slightly more cumbersome, I do have a portable barrier generator you could use." He got up, leading me to one of the labs where he kept many of the gadgets he made.

Unlike his neat and tidy office, Colress' storage lab was a bit of a disaster. Bits and bobs everywhere, half-finished projects and tools strewn across tables and inside cabinets. Is that a pair of DNA splicers down there? I got no clue what that weird pronged device is but-

"Please be careful not to touch things recklessly," Colress' voice came from behind me, causing me to flinch and pull my hand back from where I'd been reaching out.

"Right," I said sheepishly. Following his lead, we walked, the scientist deftly twisting around the piles of inventions and projects. Some of these were just blueprints, others looked to be fully functioning. Man, a group like Team Rocket could have years worth of crazy gadgets for evil schemes if they raided a place like this… which I suppose isn't far off the mark considering Colress' past ties.

"Aha!" He declared triumphantly, clearing off what appeared to be a crab shaped remote controlled robot from a pile that held two large metal discs. "If you'll just give me a moment…" he said, not really waiting for an answer as he grabbed a few wires from exposed parts, quickly connected and soldered them in, then grabbed nearby metal plates that fit and drilled them into place.

"These will work for your purposes. Stand on the center and press this button near the edge," he explained. "A barrier will rise up around it equal in strength to any created by an Elite-level battle arena!" Impressive, to create something so small that's so powerful. He really is a genius. I'm glad I get the chance to learn from him. Then he placed the disc into my arms and I huffed. His labcoat hid a surprising amount of strength to so easily lift this. It's far heavier than I realiz- Then he dropped another one on top.

"One for you and one for the person you're battling," he explained, and I grunted under the weight. "I've included some recording devices within them, but do feel free to tell me all about your experience after the battle. I love to hear about different ways to bring out a Pokemon's true potential." Behind his glasses, I saw an eager gleam to his eyes. Whatever else you can say about Colress, he's definitely earnest in his feelings. The man truly wants to see Pokemon become as strong as they possibly can, for better, or worse. Thankfully, I think the 'worst' of his days are past us. I hoped the same was true for Turo.

Grunting my thanks, I took the heavy load and walked out, carefully marching down the halls. I got a few curious glances, but little attention payed beyond that from the general staff or student body as to what I was doing. They see weirder stuff every day. I remember seeing a Oricorio flash mob dance squad setting up one day.

Just before I reached the main elevator, I heard someone call out to me. "Hey Nemona!" Sally called, running up. Twisting around awkwardly, I saw Victor (aka 'Chumley') panting as he tried to keep up, with Judai in tow as well. "You ran out of class so fast we almost lost you."

"Ah, sorry," I said distractedly, feeling like I was forgetting something. It's hard to focus on what though when thinking about this upcoming battle and carrying this stuff… I wonder what these are called? Did Colress even come up with a proper name for them?

"Whoa, where are you going with that?" Sally asked, and I huffed as I kept the awkward, hefty machinery up. Beside the small girl were her close friends, Victor 'Chumley' Huffington, and Judai Yuki. Why do their names always sound familiar to me? I didn't have the time to spare pondering it hard while carrying the machinery Colress had lent me, so I quickly explained.

"I'm going to have a battle with Carmine out in the Terarium, away from the arena, so we needed something to set up a barrier. I could usually have Miles set it up, but I'm hoping to use them for the fight ahead - I can't underestimate Carmine." It's easy to miss with how boisterous and over-the-top she can be, but Carmine's scarily skilled, especially given her age.

"Oh," Sally said, disappointedly.

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh no, it's okay. It's just that you said you were going to give us some advice and look over our training today. But I totally get it if you have something else planned," she assured me hurriedly, which only made me feel worse.

"Ah shit-!" My words took a sharp turn higher as I started to lose my grip on one of the discs. Thankfully, Chumley and Judai came in and helped me.

"What are these things made of, Steelixinium?" Judai complained, struggling to hold one of the discs. Is Steelixinium a thing or did Judai just make up a phrase to emphasize how heavy they are? I'll check with Colress later. With the three of us (Sally was smaller than even me and far less athletic so would have been more of a hindrance than a help) we were able to carry them fairly easily.

"No idea," I told Judai before turning my head to Sally and Chumley. "I'm very sorry about this, and while it's a slightly different lesson than what I had planned, why don't you guys come and watch? I think it'll be pretty informative; just make sure to pay close attention to the strategies involved and think about what Carmine and I are trying to do in every step of the fight. I'll talk you through it after, and then we can look at your teams, if you're willing to wait for the delay."

Chumley really needs that advice, but he's not an idiot. If he dedicates himself to this task, I'm suire he'll pick up a thing or two. Sally's definitely got a brain underneath all that wild blue hair, she just needs to not get caught up in cheering the battlers on. Judai… well, I never offered to help him, but I didn't really need to either. He's got an intuitive sense of battle and will progress well on his own. But he's also not the best at explaining it to his friends, which is why they asked me for some pointers to help stand up to the bullies.

They eagerly agreed, and working together we were able to carry the gear over to the Terarium, and then take a Flying Taxi over to the Goomy zone. "What took you?" Carmine demanded immediately, before we could even get out of the basket.

"Had some stuff to bring over for the battle, and a small audience. Hope you don't mind," I said as I pulled the discs out, laying them on the solid ground before turning to the Skarmory that flew us over. "Here, for the extra trouble," I told her, passing her a couple of Sitrus Berries which she happily ate, any annoyance at having to carry a heavy load gone. She gave a happy trill before flying off.

"Oh, it's you guys. Yeah sure, just make sure to hang back so you don't get caught up in our fight," Carmine advised them as we took the discs over to a mostly cleared out section of the plateau. She's not as close to them as I am, but she's seen them hanging around with me- hmm, come to think of it, outside of the five of us younger students, does Carmine really interact with anyone else? Thinking on it, I couldn't recall any other students she spent a bunch of time with.

Taking our places on the discs and pressing the buttons, a translucent barrier went up in a cone around us, stretching up high, very high into the sky. Did it really need to go up so far? Then again, Colress did say that these weren't the most practical of inventions. Pushing that aside until later, I turned to face my friend. "You ready to go?"

"Oh yeah, I've been waiting for a long time for this!" She said, matching my enthusiasm. Carmine pulled two Pokeballs out and I did the same. I gave the countdown, releasing my Pokemon at the same time as she did hers. A squat, blue, full bellied Pokemon and a large, floofy striped dog-like Pokemon hit the field in front of her while Anya and Torkoal landed on my side. Arcanine and Munchlax, not the best match up for us, but not the worst either.

Torkoal wasn't far enough in her training to have Drought down yet, but that was arguably a good thing with her own Arcanine, and the copious white smoke billowing out of her shell would protect her from the Intimidating dog. Somehow. Another thing I need to look up.

Anya shivered slightly at the presence of the evolved Fire-Type staring her down, but I sent a quick message to her mentally. ['He might look scary, but you're Anya, master of mind and matter. You've got this.'] My Psychic Type puffed up at that, and I privately hoped it would be enough. This will be the first practical test for both of them, even if Anya has been training with me for longer.

"Let's begin in three, two, one, go!" I shouted. "Explosive opening," I said quickly, Anya and Torkoal immediately jumping to the most well trained combo they'd learned.

Opposite me, Carmine called out, "Arcanine, Extremespeed! Munch, give us a beat!" Despite how fast her Fire Type could move, he couldn't quite outspeed a wave of Gothorita's hand (though it was a near thing, and only likely worked because she started the Move before he received his order). That was enough for Follow Me to take hold, Arcanine skidding across the ground as he redirected and slammed into Anya, knocking her backwards. The Munchlax meanwhile beat her belly like a drum, inflicting significant damage to herself, but also powering up significantly.

The knockback from Arcanine's blow meant Anya was also clear out of the danger zone, letting Torkoal fire off a massive eruption, raining down fire upon the field and slamming into Carmine's Pokemon. Arcanine yelped, the attack strong enough to scorch even the Fire Type, but hardly enough to put him down, while Munchlax… also absorbed the blast, remarkably well given how she continued the rhythmic slaps to herself for Belly Drum. How did she- Thick Fat, must be. Okay, a poorer match-up than I thought, but we can still pull through this- in fact Torkoal might be my best option here.

Munchlax pulled out an Iapapa beery she had tucked away under her armpit and tossed it in her mouth as she charged forward, her burnt fur recovering from the healing berry. "Anya, Psychic, toss Munchlax away!" I called out with a clap of my hands, signalling the true Move I wanted her to use.

As I expected, Carmine reacted to my order, commanding her Arcanine to, "Flare Blitz!" Flames gathered at Arcanine's feet as he readied himself to rush in- only to be pre-empted by Anya smacking him on the snout with a Fake Out.

"Nine?" The Arcanine gave a confused yelp as his Move was disrupted. Fake Out isn't like in the games, it doesn't have to be the first Move you use in a fight, but it is less effective the longer the fight drags on, and doesn't just reset upon being switched out either; the other Pokemon will be aware of what you've done and ready for it. Perhaps a true master of the Move, like the Dragon Trainers that have taught their Pokemon how to use Draco Meteor repeatedly without a loss of power, could manage it, but that's usually too much work for such a gimmicky Move.

With Arcanine distracted, that left Torkoal free to take on the powered up Munchlax. "Double Team, time for some toxic tactics!" With the key word of 'toxic' Torkoal began pouring out heavy smoke from her shell. Some of it was think white, used to form the Torkoal-shaped clouds that would fool our foes. The rest was a thin, almost clear smog, settling over the battlefield, following a very similar nature to the Ability that defended my Pokemon.

Munchlax smashed through a few copies with Body Slams that shook the earth, but failed to land a hit on my Pokemon, causing Carmine to stomp her feet. "Aaagh! C'mon! Keep at it, she won't get lucky forever!" The taller girl declared, and I smirked, seeing that she hadn't noticed how much weaker Munchlax's attacks were getting. Clear Smog synergizes well with the other smoke based tricks we've practiced. Now Munchlax has none of the extra power behind her attacks.

"Protect," I called out as Arcanine attempted to Crunch into Anya, once again failing to get past the Psychic Type's tricks. I could see how he was beginning to get frustrated with her. The smug look she's giving him is not helping, either. Good, it means Munchlax has no one to help her.

"Erruption!" Despite the resistance our foes had to it, Torkoal was yet to be hit, making this her strongest Move. Once more, great plumes of fire scorched down upon the earth, burning all who stood upon it (save for Anya, safe behind her Protect barrier). Munchlax howled this time, the damage really starting to add up, and Arcanine was beginning to look miffed as well.

The great burst of fire did entirely give away Torkoal's position however, letting Munchlax finally connect with a Body Slam, throwing her whole weight behind the attack. While not inconsiderable, she mostly just bounced off of Torkoal's tough shell.

"Huh? Wh-what happened to her power!?" Carmine shrieked, catching on to something being wrong as Torkoal shrugged off what should have been a devastating blow. "Arcanine, switch, Bulldoze that turtle down!" In an orange blur, her Fire Type was across the battlefield and stomping down on mine, forcing her into the ground. Munchlax added on to that with another Body Slam, hitting Torkoal hard in her right foreleg, sending a shock of Paralysis through her.

"Push through it, Eruption again! Anya, tune up!" I shouted. With a burst of precisely aimed power, Anya sent a Heal Pulse into Torkoal, reinvigorating her, and letting her next Eruption swell up with a massive burst of flames that Carmine's Pokemon had no chance of dodging or mitigating from this close. She might have been able to return her Arcanine in time though, had it not been for Anya's Shadow Tag keeping the Pokemon firmly locked in place even as my opponent tried to switch out.

"Huh? Is this thing working?" Carmine asked, shaking her Pokeball.

"Sorry," I said in a tone far too gleeful to be a real apology. "But your Pokemon are locked in here as long as Anya is." The strategy is working! Anya can lock down and play control or support as needed, and Torkoal can hit for massive damage, especially with that Charcoal I got her. They seem practically invincible together! I knew it wasn't true, but for both of them to do so well in their first real battle against a strong Trainer, I was feeling great.

The cheering from the sides helps a little too, admittedly, even if they should be paying more attention to the strategies in the fight.

"Wow, look at Nemona go!" Sally cried.

"Youch, I can feel the fire from here!" Chumley exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, things are really heating up now! C'mon Nemona, Carmine, show us more!" Judai shouted, clearly having a great time.

"Don't think I'm panicking just because you came up with a good opening play!" Carmine denied suspiciously. Despite that, she pivoted quickly, moving to take out Anya with her Arcanine. Unfortunately, she was smart enough to realize the trap that doubling up would be, and for Munchlax called out, "Rest!" This meant that only her Arcanine would bounce off of Anya's Protect this time.

Munchlax drifted off, recovering only to be hit by another powerful burst of flame, whittling down her health once more, while Arcanine was doing quite bad by this point. I don't think I've ever seen a Fire Type look this badly burnt before, though that might just be the fur accentuating the damage.

He didn't give up however, letting off a quick Howl before Crunching through the barrier as it weakened over time, eliciting a sharp cry of pain from Anya as she was shaken around like a ragdoll. She quickly ate her Sitrus Berry to recover, but a bit more of that and Arcanine would surely take my Psychic Type out.

"If they want to sleep so much, give Arcanine a little light's out! Hypnosis!" I called out, while thinking hard to send a message to Anya. ['Use Reflect as soon as he lets go of you.'] I don't think Carmine will risk a point blank Hypnosis on her heavy hitter, and if I can bluff that then Anya will have time to set up more defense. That all hinged on her being able to hear me right now, though. It was through her own Psychic senses that Anya could telepathically communicate, and she was a bit distracted at the moment.

On the other side of the battlefield, Torkoal was facing down the surprisingly tanky Munchlax. That girl is going to be a powerhouse when she evolves. Thankfully, I've already got a powerhouse on my side. "Shield Bash, just like Notch showed you," I told her, and Torkoal pulled her limbs and head in, boosting her defense with Iron Defense.

It was a good thing she did as well, as it helped her take the sting out of Munchlax's next Move. "Sleep Talk, transform and roll out!" Carmine called, and the message behind it was clear as Munchlax curled up her body and Rolled Out into Torkoal. The damage wasn't great given my Pokemon's high defenses, even with it being Super Effective, but I knew that would change soon as Munchlax, curved around, preparing for another run on us, one that would have even more speed and power behind it.

"You've trained your Munchlax well," I called out, giving a hand signal to Torkoal for her next Move. "Most Pokemon couldn't pick up on those cues needed to properly direct Sleep Talk, and Munchlax herself learned that combo with Rest quite early on - most need to become Snorlaxes to master that."

Carmine preened with pride. "Of course. Who do you think you're talking t-"

"But it's not enough," I said as Torkoal stomped one leg against the ground and a low circle of flame gathered in Munchlax's path. Being asleep, she continued her roll through it unaware until the fire swelled right as she entered, bursting up into a pillar of swirling flames that reached to the sky. When she continued on and hit my Pokemon, the blow was inhibited by the Burn she'd inflicted upon the Normal Type.

"Being asleep comes with drawbacks, no matter how you try and work around it. Even hard-to-land Moves like Inferno become easy hits," I finished explaining before turning my attention to Anya. She had snapped up a Psychic barrier that would protect her and Torkoal even more, and she had even demonstrated enough proficiency to stand upon it mid-air, likely to recover from where Arcanine had tossed her. But the tiger-dog wouldn't be stopped and he was once more bounding towards Anya, fire covering his form. Not fast enough to be a Flare Blitz, must be Raging Fury.

I was torn, wanting to return Anya, but I knew I needed her to keep our foes trapped. With that in mind, I called, "Protect," to earn a bit more time as I switched Torkoal out for Miles, in Drone Form for this battle. Just in time for Munchlax to blearily open her eyes, the next Rollout missing.

"Rest!" Carmine shouted desperately, wanting to make up for the damage Torkoal had laid onto her. I had other plans, however.

"Make some noise!" Miles responded with a loud, screeching, wailing sound that was uncomfortable even behind the barrier. That might be something to note to Colress, though even the best barriers have problems with that. Sound has to be allowed to pass through for them to be useful for battles, but that also means uncomfortable sounds can be just that. At least it isn't actively painful for everyone else on the field (and my friends, but I think they might be overselling it with how they're clutching their ears - they should be out of range for any pain from the fight).

The Uproar stopped Munchlax from getting some much needed sleep while hurting her more in the process. Arcanine was hurt as well by the attack, but so was Anya, and with her Protect down, the larger Pokemon bore down on her, the fire and press of his large paws taking out the first Pokemon of the fight.

"Ha! How do you like that?" Carmine asked, and I responded by bringing a hand down and having Miles cut off their Uproar to bring down a bolt of Thunder upon Munchlax, finally knocking her out. I smirked as she grit her teeth and recalled her fallen Pokemon, while I did the same for Anya.

"You exceeded my wildest expectations out there, well done Anya," I whispered to her inside the Pokeball, hoping she'd recognize that when she woke up. I know she's had some frustrations with her training, but this was an excellent turn around. Technically, we had both lost a Pokemon by this point, but I was in a much better position.

Both of us released our next Pokemon with only a few moments of thought, and I laughed as I saw we had both sent out Dragons. Goomy gave a defiant 'roar' as he took to the field, while Carmine's Hakamo-o stared at my Pokemon, unimpressed.

"So cute!" I heard Sally say, likely in reference to Goomy. He is, but he's also quite strong too; you'll see that soon.

"Miles, Hyper Voice! Cataphract, Acid Spray!" I declared, pointing at Arcanine. He was still confused from the rampage he went through to take out Anya, but had enough wherewithal to still land an Extremespeed under Carmine's direction. The blow had to punch through the Reflect barrier left however, and that weakened the blow against my Goomy. He still slid back from the force, but maintained his composure enough to let loose a spray of acid that ate away at the Fire Type. Combined with the Hyper Voice Miles unleashed, Carmine's Arcanine fell unconscious.

My friend wasted no time in recalling her Pokemon and sending out the next one, Mimikyu. She was dressed in a Morepeko costume, but it was easy to tell what she really was, letting out an eerie chortle as she entered the field. Hakamo-o on her side finished a Dragon Dance, having been entirely unaffected by Miles' wide-area Move. That confirms what his Ability is at least.

"Dragon Pulse, Shadow Ball!" I called out, but Carmine was ready with her own attacks. Hakamo-o used his newfound speed to slip around the Dragon Pulse my Goomy shot out and hit Miles with a sharp Dragon Claw. For her part, Mimikyu slipped into the Distortion World before the Shadow Ball could hit her, popping up a few moments later to slice into Miles as well, adding more damage to their drone body.

My next order moved to remedy that, while weakening my foes. "Roost, Acid Spray," I told my team. Miles dropped to the ground instantly, while Cat slid up, arcing a blast of acid over their body and towards the foes. A risky choice, but I can see why he did it. Cat's too slow to circle around here and get them. Even then, the acid only really landed on Hakamo-o, the other Dragon screeching in pain. The Mimikyu, meanwhile, performed an odd set of movements to dodge the spray, the creature shifting weirdly under the fabric. I only realized what it was as her claw lancing out in a shadowy cut did far more damage than I expected to Miles, more than they had healed back.

How- a buff and a debuff. Swords Dance and Screech. Fuck. Part of me was tempted to push through - Miles wouldn't last long, but they could weaken them for my next Pokemon. I don't need to trade in my advantage so early though, there are other options.

"Switch. Turtle up, Cat!" I called out, Pulling up a Miles' Pokeball and returning them to it. I can't just let those two wail on him endlessly, and I don't think Cataphract has the power yet to force them off. Said two Pokemon turned to try and attack my Goomy as they had done to Miles a moment earlier, but bounced off the Protect he raised.

("Oh no, Nemona's in serious trouble!" Sally called out from the hill.

"Nah, look how confidently she's looking - she's got a plan, I'm sure of it!" Judai declared.

"I just hope we'll be done soon so we can get some lunch- crud, do you think she heard me? She has ears like a Noctowl sometimes, I swear," Chumley bemoaned.)

I used that time to release Torkoal back onto the field. "Eruption!" I cried, snapping my fingers. My tortoise Pokemon steadied herself on the ground as if gathering power, and predictably, Carmine moved to stop that.

"Shadow Claw, Outrage!" Her two Pokemon raced across the ground, tearing into her, their powerful attacks reverberating across the field as they impacted her hardy shell. "You didn't think we'd let you get away with that, did you?" Carmine taunted. She had only a second to look smug before her face twisted up in shock (a shame I can't take a picture right now) as instead of flames, smoke burst from Torkoal's shell, draining her Pokemon of their boosts once again. It was only a short burst however, and the smoke quickly faded away, right in time for Cat to reapply some Acid Spray on Hakamo-o's unguarded back. I suppose it's to be expected that when I didn't give him a direction as to which one to focus on, he aimed for the other Dragon. I tucked that tidbit away to keep in mind when strategizing for the future but focused the majority of my attention on the battle at hand.

I switched Torkoal back out, her job done for the moment, while I sent in my next Pokemon. Carmine tried to set up once again, with a Dragon Dance and what I now knew to be a Swords Dance from Mimikyu. Mimikyu's Move went off well, but Hakamo-o stumbled around drunkenly rather than dancing elegantly, the Outrage taking it's toll. As he stumbled straight into Cat's Dragon Pulse, the blast knocked him clean off his feet, sending the larger Dragon crashing through a tree, smashing it to smithereens.

Ouch, that had to hurt… well, okay, Pokemon are pretty tough, hitting the tree was probably barely more than an annoyance to him, but the Dragon Pulse after getting hit by Acid Spray can't leave him doing great. And if he proves to be surprisingly resilient, I've got my next guy to fix that up.

Bahamut took the field with a roar, shaking the earth where he landed. Hakamo-o got up and stared at the other dragon with a bit of fear, trembling slightly before he rallied, while Cat cheered at seeing his friend and big brother figure take the stage.

"Iron Tail the Mimikyu." The foe I directed him at gave a hiss of outrage and anger - over being attacked or being outed, I couldn't tell. In any case, Bahamut's tail swept in deftly, not damaging her Disguise a bit but slamming deep into the Ghost that lay beneath it. For her part, she was having trouble keeping up with him, even after her Swords Dance, but she gave it an earnest, murderous try, ripping into him with powerful claw strikes.

She's not using Fairy Type Moves, I wonder why that is? I pondered it for a moment, watching their duel, before the answer came to me in a flash of insight as I saw Carmine, shouting and clenching her fist, a faint hint of worry leaking off of her. I see, she hasn't taught Mimikyu Play Rough yet. It seemed like such an oversight, but I remembered my own difficulties in teaching my Pokemon all the new Moves I wanted them to master and how new and young she was. Honestly, it's incredible that she's trained her team up this much in so short a time. You really are a genius, Carmine… I must never tell her or she'll be insufferable.

On the other side of the scorched clearing, Cataphract was having his own battle with Hakamo-o. The enemy Dragon was right and truly pissed off, charging at my gooey little boy, tearing up the ground where she charged. Cat was often thrown back by the force of his blows, but fired off blasts of draconic energy even as he would soar through the air, bathing Hakamo-o in dragon fire. It's a close one there, but I think Cat will win this, and that just might be the breakthrough needed for an evolution!

I was right, but not the way I intended, a bright light surrounding Hakamo-o. There were cries of awe and shock from Sally and co, but Carmine and I didn't let that slow us down, each of us pivoting to take in this new development.

"Bahamut, get on him!" I called out, while Carmine elected to switch out her Mimikyu and sent out the other Ghost on her team, Sinistcha. The matcha Pokemon swirled around in her teacup, cackling gleefully, spilling a few drops of her strange green liquid/body over the field and onto the newly evolved Kommo-o. That healed him a bit, and combined with his thicker scales, let the large Dragon survive the vicious attacks Bahamut tore into him.

With a horrendous Clanging of his Scales, Kommo-o drove Bahamut back and I took a moment to think up a new plan. Alright, they got an evolution, but it's hardly unbeatable, I just need hone in on him. His still weakened from all the damage he's taken, even if things like the acid weakened scales are gone from the process.

"Twin Dragon Rage!" I called out. It's perhaps a little dramatic, and misleading, since the purple flames Cat unleashes come from Dragon Breath, not Dragon Rage, but eh. It makes him happy… which, come to think of it, might be why he's had trouble with that Move and other Dragon Moves like it, the ones that tap into the real fury of their Type.

"Rage Powder, don't let them hurt your friend!" Carmine called out while dramatically waving a hand out in front of her. Quick as lightning, Sinistcha was releasing a burst of powder through the air that had both my Dragons turning and snarling at the Ghost Type as they attacked her instead. That gave Kommo-o the time to catch his breath and run through another Dragon Dance.

"Switch," I called once again, returning Cataphract despite his protests. Sorry dude, but I need to change things up here. I suspect I'll need you soon anyways. "Earthquake," I called out as I released Nightwing above the field. The Rage Powder Sinistcha was dosing Bahamut with did little to affect him stomping the ground hard enough to make the whole cliff shake, the nearby terrain rising up enough to slam into the enemy Dragon and lightly into Sinistcha, with Nightwing floating above it all easily.

"Outrage! Sap his strength too," Carmine called out to her Pokemon, while I gave my own order.

"As above, so below!" I called out, stomping my left foot and waving my right hand as if shaking it out (a motion which felt oddly uncomfortable on my wrist). The gestures were the real command this time, the dramatic words (while fun) not having been something we'd practiced.

Bahamut, to the left of me, stomped the ground and even slammed it with his tail repeatedly, much like Dun would do, shaking up the ground once more. This slowed Kommo-o's charge slightly, the churning earth and his own unfamiliarity with his new form enough that he came in last, and was even more damaged than before.

Sinistcha once again took the Earthquake easily, but was far less appreciative of the Flying Gem powered Acrobatics strike that Nightwing dived in with, leaving a nasty chip running through her cup after my Pokemon flew by. The green liquid within spilled out, only held back from entirely draining out by her force of will (and revealing a rather Big Root within the bottom the teacup). Of course, some of it was sent out purposefully, latching onto Bahamut and draining my Dragon, leaving him withered as she pulled the energy back to herself and restored her teacup slightly.

Then Kommo-o charged in, wailing into Bahamut with powerful strikes to pay him back for all the damage he had dealt. "Breaking Swipe," I called out, aware that even if the power was weak it would weaken our foes slightly and give Nightwing time to focus on Sinistcha. Carmine was prepared though, calling for a quick Protect to stop the powerful Acrobatics from damaging her any further.

("Whoa, so much is going on!" Sally exclaimed, watching the fight eagerly.

"Yeah, I can't tell who's winning or losing. Like, Nemona's losing the battle between Dragons but her weird scorpion dude seems to have the weird teacup on the ropes?" Chumley commented, scratching his head.

"Haha, yeah, that's the best part of battling, so much can happen and change in an instant, like right… now!" Judai cried.)

"Your mother was a Dedenne and your father smelled of Hondew berry!" My impromptu insult had the tall girl flabbergasted.

"What? No seriously, what the- ahh!" She cried out as she saw Nightwing stick her tongue out and say… something far less flattering than my quote to Sinistcha as she Taunted the Pokemon. Dropping the attempts at Strength Sap, Carmine said, "Looks like your willing to change things up. Well I can stir up the pot too; if you aren't careful, this Move will getcha!" Sinistcha began stirring itself around, concocting a blisteringly hot liquid it sprayed onto both of my Pokemon.

The Grass Type Move did little damage, and thus granted little recovery, to Sinistcha from the damage it dealt to Bahamut, but it, combined with the onslaught that Kommo-o had unleashed upon him, was enough to take out my Haxorus. It did significantly more to Nightwing, the liquid Burning her as well as draining her life force a tad and leaving Sinistcha almost as good as new.

"You did great out there," I told him as I returned him to his Pokeball. "Alright, this looks bad, but I know I can count on you to turn things around, Cataphract!" I released Goomy back onto the field, my gooey Pokemon giving out an eager cry as he was sent back onto the torn up field of battle once more. "Your foe's weak, get 'em!" I told Goomy, giving the signal for them to use a Dragon Pulse. At the same time, I directed Nightwing to savage the Sinistcha with another Acrobatics, and despite the healing her Pokemon had received up to this point, Carmine opted to recall her starter.

Sensible really. With Taunt in effect, all of her support Moves are shut down, and Kommo-o needs all the help he can get. Confused and weakened, even with his evolution and increase in strength, I thought that would be the end for him. However, right before the pulse could seal his fate, Kommo-o snapped up a Protect, blocking the super effective attack. Mimikyu appeared again, and Carmine had sent her out worryingly close to Cat.

"Nightwing, Acrobatics!" I called out, hoping that she would be enough to distract the Disguised Pokemon, but it wasn't enough. The Morepeko look-alike ignored my flier, and even her disguise being broken to leave her 'head' tilted at a broken angle to charge straight in, claws gleaming underneath her costume as she scuttled forward. Cat retreated in on himself, quite literally, as he shone with a bright light. Mimikyu's Slash made a clanging sound as it bounced off of his new, metal shell.

"Sligooooo!" He cried out proudly and we all stood in awe for a moment. I instinctively tried to step out and hug him before feeling the slight resistance from the disc I was standing on. Right, middle of a battle.

"You did it, your Goomy evolved to a whole new kind of Sliggoo, that's wonderful," Carmine said sincerely. The nice moment lasted for a second before she clapped her hands together and adopted a smirk. "However, we do still have to crush you and all, so too bad! Kommo-o, Close Combat!" She shouted, attempting to immediately take advantage of the weaknesses (and avoid the strengths) Cataphract's new Typing gave him.

Luckily, we have a counter to that, I thought to myself, thumbing open the pouch Arven had given me and pulling out my Tera Orb. "Glitter with the power of your true potential realized!" Was that too over-the-top? I mean, I think it works even if he's not fully evolved yet- ah, analyze banter and quips later! I threw the orb, watching as it broke open above Cataphract's antenna, covering him in a massive chunk of crystal.

Kommo-o smashed through that, but even his strong punches weren't enough to break past Cat's improved defenses, only revealing the glittering Dragon that lay beneath the crystal. Well, not just that. His hand got stickier with each punch and now that he's hanging them on the ground, resting after that flurry of blows, he's stuck.

It was something Carmine realized too, shouting "Get out of there!" To no avail however, as my Hisuian Sliggoo reared his head back, launching a swarm of meteors up in the air, where they hung for a moment before dropping nearly straight down, bombarding Carmine's Dragon into unconsciousness.

"Gaaaaah! You got lucky with that evolution," she declared, somehow without a trace of shame in her voice at the obvious hypocrisy of such a statement. "You were amazing Hak- or rather, Kommo-o, Taking down Bahamut was awesome, now rest up as we win the rest of this fight." She told her Pokemon as she recalled him and moved to send her next one out.

I smiled. It's nice to see the softer side to Carmine too, past all the bluster. She sent out her next Pokemon, a powerful looking Bisharp, with a purple stone attached between the odd rib-spike metal things the species had. Looks like her little brother isn't the only one making good use of that item. I wonder if she's looking to evolve into a Kingambit like Kieran is searching for Dipplin's evolution? The method for Kingambit's evolution was a bit trickier than some, so I couldn't tell if she was deliberately holding off on evolving or just hadn't had her Bisharp experience multiple moments of triumph and joy over peer fighters yet.

"Earthquake," I told Nightwing before adding to Cataphract, "Dragon Pulse." With Terastalization and STAB it'll only be neutral against Bisharp, but it's still better than Water Pulse or the like. Hopefully Cat can expand his repertoire a bit now that he's evolved, and that he's okay with the friendly fire here. It was unfortunately my best option for taking out the opposition, and from the way Carmine grit her teeth, she knew it too.

"Alright then! It's time to go all out! Time for me to Tera it up!" Word choice that was questionably close to Judai's catch phrase aside, I watched with excitement as she tossed her own Tera Orb over Bisharp. The Earthquake knocked the crystal loose off of him, but the attack was less damaging than it would have been, due to the spikey, Dark Tera 'hat' jewel sticking out proudly above the Bisharp's head and removing his Steel Type weaknesses.

Freed from Nightwing's vicious, targeted assault as she went off to shake the ground, Mimikyu threw herself in front of the Dragon Pulse directed at Bisharp, easily tanking that blow with her Fairy Typing dispersing the violent energy. Unfortunately for her, however, the Earthquake combined with all the damage she'd taken previously was enough to take out the Mimikyu, the girl collapsing with her torn costume lying rumpled atop her. Bisharp ran up to her and knelt down for a second to gently caress her. I didn't realize they were that close- Before giving a cry of slightly exaggerated rage as he Retaliated, smacking Cataphract down, breaking his Terastalization and knocking the shelled Dragon out.

I returned Cataphract. This was incredible, an achievement scientifically, but also personally. I can't wait to show you off to everyone! There would be time for that latter, however. A quick count and some calculations and I planned my next step.

"Alright, you've had some fun, but let's wrap this up. Torkoal!" I called out as Carmine released her Sinistcha once more (and once more did she sprinkle her ally with some healing green liquid, courtesy of her Hospitality Ability). "Acrobatics, Heat Wave!"

"Don't act so sure of yourself! You might be up on Pokemon, but we've got a secret trick up our sleeves." Carmine suddenly started grinning while I got nervous. "Like we planned, Strength Sap!" She called out. What's she up to? Both my Pokemon have abilities to resist the Attack drop, it won't be that effective… it will at least heal her from some of the damage that Nightwing is dealing, but that's not a super smart strategy since Nightwing does more damage than she can heal.

True to my prediction, Nightwing flew around Sinistcha, smacking her about before flying off. Bisharp was Naruto-running toward Nightwing as my prediction took a slight turn, with Sinistcha not aiming her attack at Nightwing, but instead at her own teammate. The Move hit, sapping him of his strength and healing her partner tremendously. However, that strength drain lasted only momentarily, before he reached my Pokemon and gave a Defiant cry, his power quadrippling as he Lashed Out, Dark energy enveloping his hands as he struck down Nightwing, the blow sending her crashing into the ground.

Damn, that was strong! I see why Carmine was proud of that combo, I'll have to shut this down fast. Torkoal was slower than the others, but the blast of heat that arced out over the battlefield put a bit more damage on our foes after that combo.

Carmine cheered "Again!" and the two of them converged on the fallen Flying Type. I could use Taunt and shut that combo down, but Nightwing is likely to still fall after everything she's endured, especially since I went for the Flying Gem over the Toxic Orb. Hmm, maybe I don't need to make them weaker, maybe more strength is better.

"Protect," I called out to buy a bit of time while I had Torkoal use Iron Defense. I see the slight flicker in your gaze as you see that. You're worried about how tough Torkoal will get, but you still think that you have this in the bag, that your combo is invincible. But the truth is nothing is, there's always an answer.

Of course, for a young girl of her age, it was fairly reasonable to think that about this combo in particular - Bisharp got vastly stronger each time they did this, and each increase in his strength increased how much Sinistcha healed from it too. One more time and she'll be as good as new, which is a pain, but I can deal with that.

As the barrier flickered, I could tell they were prepared to finish this off. "Knock off!" I declared, and Nightwing surprised me, her tail striking out not just once, but twice, managing to remove the Big Root I'd been aiming for (as well as score some more super-effective damage), but also managing to take out Bisharp's Eviolite.

She didn't have time to revel in her achievement however, as shortly following her strike came the drain and boost combo that knocked Nightwing cleanly out. It even managed to crack her carapace, nothing serious, just a few days of rest and a checkup at a healing station to fix, but it was still incredible how much power Bisharp could put out.. Lash Out… I'll definitely have to look into that Move. Even with the Defiant combo, something about it seems strangely powerful. Carmine also seems fixated on using it over things like Sucker Punch, and I have to assume that's for a reason.

("Oh man, I can't watch."

"C'mon Sal, you're going to miss all the good parts. When it comes down to the wire? That's when the best plays are made."

"If you say so. I still think it would be much better if we were inside eating instead of getting thrown around and roasted. And that's with us standing far away.")

As I recalled Nightwing, Torkoal finished her second Iron Defense, serving as a deterrent for them to attack her, which was important for the final step of my plan. I released Miles and said, "You might have evened the score, but we'll still win. Torkoal, Clear Smoke!" I shouted, pointing at Bisharp. I'd placed Miles a bit away from them in the clearing for a reason, and so when Torkoal began slowly stomping over, billowing smoke, Carmine gave her counter order.

"Focus on Miles first! We'll take them out then team up on Torkoal." Carmine instructed her Pokemon, who moved around, giving the Fire Type a clear berth as they honed in on Miles.

"Sounds kinda dirty, fighting like that?" I commented, stressing 'dirty fighting' to give Miles the signal. Rushing in, they seemingly flew straight at Bisharp, pulling to a sudden stop right in front of the Dark Terastalized Pokemon, giving him a cheeky grin.

"No, stop!" Carmine shouted, obviously sensing something was wrong, and while it was enough for Sinistcha to pull back, Bisharp was enraged, caught up in the Foul Play Miles had used. Raising his arms up, he struck down at Miles, only to find himself swinging clean through the illusory copy Miles had created with the Move (akin to a Double Team copy) and struck at his own body. The metal edges bent slightly from the impact and Bisharp wobbled back and forth twice before his Terastaliztion broke and he fell down face-first.

"I- Matcha Gotcha, now!" Carmine cried out, hoping to salvage the situation. Unfortunately for her, both of my Pokemon resisted that Type, easily tanking the not-very effective Grass Type attack and striking back with their own, far more effective Moves.

"Electroweb, lock her down for an Inferno! Then Hex and Overheat!" Miles happily spat out an electrified web from their plasmic mouth, the move not doing much damage, but locking Sinistcha down to the ground, where she struggled to break free before the gathering flames beneath burst into a raging inferno reaching high into the Terarium sky.

Carmine's Starter fought back valiantly, firing Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball at Carmine's direction, and Torkoal even got wobbly after the last one hit her. She remained on her feet however, and with a final Overheat, Sinistcha was defeated.

"After all that… I still lost?"

I turned off the disc and walked forward, noting how the ground still felt warm beneath my feet. And I didn't feel a thing behind the barrier. I'll have to commend Colress on how well it generally worked, issues with sound-based attacks aside. "Yeah, but you still did great out there. It's been a while since I've been pushed that far." Aside from Elsa… yeah, let's not go there.

Carmine stepped off of her disc and shook my hand. "I guess that's true. I may have eaten dirt, but you're the only one that can make me do that." She let go and waved the others over and they made their way down. I could clearly see the excitement and awe in their eyes as the trio stared at the destruction that had been wrought on the battlefield. And this wasn't even as bad as my fight against Elsa. That place is still a mess.

"Congrats on the evolution. I know you've worked hard on it," Carmine said and I grinned back at her.

"You too. I know I've put a lot of work into this experiment, and I would have just been happy that Cat evolved, but him becoming a Hisuian Sliggoo, the experiment working- well it's great, but you evolved your Dragon to their final stage and that's a lot of hard work too…" I trailed off, blushing as I realized I was rambling, and Carmine giggled. That's a nice sound.

"Wow, that was incredible!" Sally gushed as she reached us. "Carmine was all like 'muwhahahaha, you've fallen into my trap,'-"

"I do not sound like that!"

"- but then you were all 'aha, I have my counter trap!' And there was so much going on. You two were both so strong. I wish I could be like that," she said in a quieter voice at the end.

"That does sound pretty on brand for me. You will be that strong too. Now," I said, clapping my hands together, what stood out to you in that fight?" I asked the trio.

"Umm, Torkoal seemed really strong? Like, she could just keep on blasting them with fire," Chumley offered. I nodded my head but made no move to expand on that yet, waiting for other answers.

"I thought it was great too!" Sally chirped. "That Draco Meteor was so strong as well, it just blew away Kommo-o!"

Judai thought about it for a moment. "I mean, you did better overall than Carmine, but I think her play with Sinistcha using Strength Sap to boost up her Bisharp was probably the best part of the fight. Countering it with Foul Play was pretty radical too though." Who uses 'radical' anymore- not the point. Judai, the one who needed it the least, got the main point the most, but I can still use that.

"All true, but I'd say Judai was the 'most' right here."

"Really?" Carmine asked from the side before quickly saying, "I mean, of course he's right. I'm great, and even if you climb up the ranks of the League Club first, you'd best not forget it." She said smugly, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Uhuh. Well, I meant more in the sense of partners working together, but I'll keep that in mind too." Clearing my throat, I extrapolated for Sally and Chumley's benefit. "Big attacks are great, but in double battles, you need to have your two Pokemon working in synch. Torkoal's Eruption was devastating, but only because I had Anya working to cover Torkoal during the fight."

"Tork," my Pokemon croaked out in agreement as she marched closer and I rubbed the top of her head. You did great out there too, especially with how much you threatened and did disrupt Carmine's power up plays- I should work that into my lesson too.

Addressing the humans again, I said, "The same was true for a lot of the plays we made there…"

It took a while to finish up the lecture, to the point that the artificial sky was starting to shift over to it's 'nighttime' setting, but I felt happy with what I had imparted to them in the end (I even saw Carmine 'sneakily' writing a few notes down too). Happy with my own progress too, I thought as I brushed a hand by Torkoal, Anya, and Cat's Pokeballs.

My new Pokemon did excellently here. They've all grown leaps and bounds and I think they - and I - are ready. It's time to really take on the League Club.

Spoiler: A/N:

Oh boy, let's have a nice quick fight with Carmine before Nemona starts climbing the League Club ranks. It'll be a good way to show off Carmine's team and Nemona's new Pokemon and- oh, right. Six on six double battles are big.

Well, that spiralled out of control a bit, but I'm happy with the end result and I hope you are too. While these battles are going to be a lot more work (and thus I'll be skimming over some of the less important ones), I think the added level of complexity and tactics Trainers can bring to the double battles will make it worth it. I hope you've enjoyed it, and if you did, please let me know down below or the Discord. And if you want to read more and have a bit of money to toss my way, I have a a Kofi and a Patreon, subscribers to the latter get early access to the next ten chapters. Thank you, and I hope you're having a great day.

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 60 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, Garreon LeFay, and Allison Simon, my Ace Tier patreons! Your support means so much to me.

Cataphract's evolution was well celebrated among the Goomys, most of whom seemed quite jealous of my Dragon's shell. Not the least of which is because he shows it off so much. Hmm, I'll probably have to learn what polishes work best on Goomy shells. The mucus and soft tissue of their general body makes me think something like Omanyte shells, but their shells have a far rockier composition. Something like Steelix ShineTM might be better...

My mind wandered a little, thinking of the dozens of little experiments and discoveries there were to be had. It would be a lot of work, and I was sure that as soon as the news broke there'd be scientists all over the world hounddooming me for results, but none of that could take away from my pride and joy at our victory today.

Or Cat's, I noted, watching as Cataphract would egg on the other Goomies to tussle, demonstrating the strength and resilience his shell gave him. The other Dragons had their own competetive drives ignited, and I felt that even without a personal Trainer to guide them, at least some of them would have evolved by the end of the year. That's just the way of the world, competition pushes us ever onward. And speaking of, I've got a new target of my own.

Buoyed by our battle against Carmine, I was ready to take on Cassandra, the first of the Elite Four I'd face. Before I could do that however, I did need to earn some points - my general costs, some of the training tools, and the repair costs after my battle with Elsa, my points were fairly low. And what better way to raise them than by challenging the other League Clubbers to battles?

"Kai!" I called out the following day, the sliding doors to the League Club opening up in time with my declaration. Many heads turned towards me, and the boy in question froze up from the corner he was standing in. "Let's have ourselves a little match, shall we?"

Despite the wording, it wasn't really a question. The teenager I wanted to lay the Smack Down on was possibly in even worse standing than I was. He'd received heavy reprimands, restricted from catching or 'obtaining' any new Pokemon on his team for at least a year after the nurse reported his behavior towards Torkoal. That restricted his growth that way and no one in the club was willing to offer him help.

He'd been part of Ares' clique, but tried to jump ships to Atticus, only for that jerk to drop him like yesterday's trash. So now he hangs around like a spectre in the corner, acting like it's because he wants to appear cool and not because he has no friends, limited potential, and is barely hanging onto his position here. I could almost feel sorry for him, if he wasn't a jerk who brought it all on himself.

Despite that, his ego wouldn't let him back down from the challenge, so after a moment to collect himself, he sneered. "If you're sure you want another loss so soon. I'll beat you down and give you a proper losing streak to start off your time in the club, for however long you last."

***

"No no no!" Kai cried out as my Pokemon pushed his last two back. "Uhh Power Whip!" He desperately directed his Tangrowth.

The mass of writhing vines reared back, rocketing forward with a very fast, very strong attack. Unfortunately, it was directed at Cataphract. "Counter!" I called out, while waving a hand for Torkoal to unleash a Heat Wave. My Hisuian Sliggoo curled around, taking the blow on his shell then using that force to swing around, smacking straight into Tangrowth. The attack sent them sprawling backwards where they collided with Kai's Tsareena.

The sun burning high above helped trigger both of his Pokemon's Abilities, but it did the opposite of cover for their weaknesses. The Heat Wave hit hard, scorching both of the Grass Types and knocking them out.

Kai looked on in shock. "I- I thought I might lose but- I couldn't even take out a single one of your Pokemon?"

"Not with the way you treat your Pokemon." My words seemed to fall on deaf ears, the boy no longer listening to me. Shrugging, I motioned for his Rotom Phone to transfer the Blueberry points over.

To the audience gathered around the central arena I announced, "That was a nice warm-up. Now who's next?"

***

"C'mon, this is her fifth round in a row! You gotta be able to beat her!" One of the audience cheered for my opponent. Marie-Anne? Maria? Something like that. I was more focused on her Pokemon. Both her Clefairy and Musharna knew Moonlight and were spamming the Move to try and wear us down. They also both knew Moonblast and I suspected there were some synergistic elements to the two Moves being used alternating like that, boosting the damage of the latter and the healing of the former.

It might have worked, against someone who had trained less in endurance than my team, but Dun here can go all day. The rest aren't slouches either, except for hmm Radiance. "Switch!" I called out, swapping Miles for Anya, then switching again, to put Radiance in Dun's place, while at the same time, Faking Out Musharna.

The Psychic Type was still recovering from that when I ordered, "Acid Spray, then Sludge Wave!"

"Switch!" The other girl tried, only to watch the beam of her Pokeball fizzle out in the face of Anya's Ability. I didn't have the right angle to see it, but I imagined she was giving our opponent a smug grin. At least, for a second before she flinched, foreseeing the danger as Radiance had already finished the Acid Spray weakening Clefairy and launched a Sludge Wave immediately after.

Anya got her Protect up in the nick of time just before the wave of toxic liquid would have swallowed her whole. It did just that to our foes, Clefairy fainting, and Musharna taking a good deal of damage. More than she was before, now that the annoying Friend Guard Clefairy had up is down. With Eviolite, she had pretty good defenses too.

The girl I was facing got flustered, trying to turn things around with her Sawsbuck, but Radiance was just too fast for the flinch-lock they were going for with Zen Headbutt, and the Grass Type was instead blasted away by a powerful Hurricane. Being able to rotate their wings to launch Hurricane horizontally just makes it so much faster than most other fliers, who usually need to gain a bit of altitude over their targets before launching such an attack.

With Anya to shut down Musharna's healing with a well-timed Taunt, we quickly swept up the rest of her team. She was not the most grateful of losers however, as when I walked over to shake hands after, she just said: "How fair is it for you to toss a Legendary Pokemon at us?"

"I mean- I've still got to train Radiance and Notch along with the rest of my team and I can't let one fifth of my team go without-" She stomped off rather than listen to the rest of my explanation. Rude. But at least she transferred me the points she owed me before she left.

There was a limit to how many points one could bet on these matches (100 BP max, surprisingly low set amount from what I would have thought given the Elites of the League Club), but carrying on as I had, I knew I'd be well on my way to challenge my first Elite and then some after tomorrow.

***

"Cofagrigus, Runerigus, spread some mayhem!" Randy Riot called out, the first of the bunch to agree to battle me that day (and the only one to do so without hesitation, the others having clearly seen or heard of my victories before).

"Miles, Nightwing, you're up." As soon as the battle began, I ordered Nightwing, "Fling!" There was a slight bit of confusion on her face, but she followed the order instantly, tossing her Toxic Orb at the Runerigus before it could afflict Nightwing herself with the Poison within.

"Eh?" Randy said, his grin faltering slightly as his Pokemon got Poisoned.

"I'm well aware of the Abilities those Pokemon possess," I said, raising my voice to be heard from across the battlefield. "You'll make our abilities useless upon hitting you." Of course, that only applies to Physical attacks. Miles was a special attacker, and even with Phantasm currently impersonating them, she was well and capable of sticking to only special attacks.

Her Bitter Malice took the sting out of the Phantom Force Runergius launched at Nightwing, while he found Cofagrigus' Shadow Punch to fail entirely against 'Miles.'

"What? No fair! That was supposed to leave your oven super weak to Runerigus! How did you even dodge that…" his eyes widened as he realized his mistake. "That's your super cool Zoroark!"

He scrambled, eventually managing to land a Brutal Swing that passed on Mummy to Phantasm. With her illusions down, Cofagrigus used Infestation and Runerigus Sand Tomb to trap my Pokemon in place before dropping Curses on them and using Parting Shot with each of his Ghost Types to switch out and weaken my Pokemon. He got rattled once he lost his main gameplan. I'll try to give him some advice to deal with that after the match.

His Slaking and Archeops that he sent in afterwards made his gameplan clear, but I didn't intend on playing into it. "Switch," I called out, returning Nightwing who easily dived out through the Sand Tomb, not really affected by the Ground Type attack. Without Hyper Cutter, she's a little too weak, and I don't want to pass on Wandering Spirit to either of those two.

Mummy could potentially pass on to mitigate their weaknesses, but they'd have to hit Phantasm first, a prospect that was still incredibly difficult, even without her Illusions - her speed and Lax incense causing them to miss as she blasted our foes with ranged attacks.

From there, Randy's strategy crumbled, my team able to tear through the rest of his, and his Ghost Types were too weak to recover it once he sent them back in, fainting in moments after they got switched back.

"You're too strong!" He complained after the match, but he shook my hand and didn't sound too upset by his loss.

"You're not bad either. No really," I insisted at his disbelieving look. I wouldn't put him at the level of any of the Elite Four back home, but his Pokemon were able to take at least a couple of blows from mine. "You might want to consider mixing your Ghost Types up. Having both on the field might have helped you spread the Abilities faster, but then it gave me the choice as to if your new Pokemon would get those Abilities in place of their original ones."

There was other advice I could give Randy, like having a backup plan for when his initial strategies didn't work, but I didn't want to overload him. I did explain however, "If you had say, sent your Slaking and Cofagrigus together, Cofagrigus could use something like Brutal Swing to hit Slaking and the enemies, giving them all Mummy.

"Oh! But…" he frowned, and I was reminded again of how young these kids were, even if I had to crane my neck up to look at them. "Isn't it wrong to hurt your own Pokemon?"

"To seriously hurt them, absolutely. But your Pokemon will take some hits anyways, so you have to confront that fact. Here, you'd have to weigh it out and determine if taking a hit from one their own teammates would be better in the long run than not. Cofagrigus isn't very strong physically, so I'd say it would be worth it to help Slaking not loaf around, but that's up to you."

"I see, I see," he said, nodding his head vigorously. "Thanks for the advice, o' Guru of the Terarium."

"I'm not- I began, only for Randy to speed off. I hope that name doesn't stick.

***

"I- I know I said I'll accept your challenge, but there's a stipulation!" The girl with messy black hair I was facing began before we could draw our Pokeballs.

I was only mildly surprised as he had been insistent that the battle take place within the Canyon Biome (not that I really minded). "What is it?"

"This will be… a Sky Battle!" She declared, her nervous facade giving way to bravado. "I'm Skye, the Sky battle expert of League Club, and once I rise up the ranks and become Champion, only Sky Battles will be allowed in the League Club!"

That feels like it won't work on several levels. Such battles are very difficult to properly do since they don't really work on standard arenas, which makes them hard to be used as any sort of competitive ruleset alone - even battling up here in the arena in the Canyon Biome isn't quite right for those kinds of battles. I decided not to crush her dreams through words, but instead through actions. "A sky battle is one where we can only use Pokemon that can fly, right?" Skye nodded her head. "Fine, I agree."

It might be a bit restrictive, and perhaps I'm feeling overconfident since this does cut off half of my team… but given who that leaves, I'm not worried. "Go, Radiance, Notch!" I cried as Skye released a Pidgeot and Skarmory.

"Oh," she said quietly upon seeing my Pokemon, her ego crumpling once again. I can try and reassure her after the match - and maybe put some more work into developing portable barrier generators. Those would go a long way towards making Sky Battles viable as a niche battle format.

***

"Shiftry, use Tailwind, propel us to victory! And with Rain Dance, Sesmitoad will-"

"Taunt!" I interrupted Adrian Gecko. My Pokemon complied eagerly, Anya haughtily laughing at Shiftry causing them to stomp and wave his fan blades wildly, interrupting his concentration. Sesmitoad got off a Rain Dance, but Athena's Trailblaze took them out before they could take advantage of that.

The red-haired boy was unfazed, however, switching into a Whimsicot. That fluffy Pokemon was able to use a Tailwind, before Anya could stop them. Athena could take out Shiftry with a Close Combat… but he's too fast and strong now. Besides, I think it's likely he'll use his Tera Orb here if I try that.

"Change the tempo," I called out to Anya as I switched Athena for Dudunsparce. Anya bore the brunt of my opponent's attacks then, taking a Hurricane to the face from Whimsicott, but the readied Sucker Punch from Shiftry never had the opening to smack my Psychic Type as she put up a Trick Room.

Like that, things turned around, Adrian's Pokemon too slow to effectively fight back, and Dun able to use Curse to 'increase' his speed and make himself far stronger and tankier. Adrian didn't give up though, drawing things out enough to let his Braviary afterwards fight without the oppressive Trick Room and defeat Anya and even lay into Dun a fair bit with his Life Orb and Sheer Force combo.

"You did quite well there," Adrian politely complimented me after the match, pushing his glasses up.

"You too. The speed advantage was twisted in my favor with Trick Room but-"

"-I could have stopped that with Encore. I underestimated how hardy your Gothorita was," he said briskly. It was hard to read his tone, his words far more neutral than I would have expected after a charged match. That wasn't exactly what I was going to say, but he's not wrong.

"She's worked quite hard at that." Anya preened with pride at my side, whilst also trying to affect an uninterested look, as if she wasn't super-happy with the praise.

"Looks like I'll need to up my game if I'm to continue here. There are some legendary talents among this club."

I frowned at his words. Is he referring to the Pokemon Elsa and I have? I doubt he'll find any like it here, but he did have a far off look in his eyes. Ehh, probably just the usual dreams all young trainers have (he might be six years my senior, but that still feels young to me!). Many Trainers would talk and imagine what kind of 'Legendary' Pokemon might join their team, especially if they didn't have six members yet.

"Best of luck with that," I offered before leaving. Adrian Gecko has been perfectly polite, but I dunno, something feels off about that guy.

***

"No, XYZ Assault Buster!" Chazz cried out as Athena beat up his Magneton with a Reversal. With that having beaten his last Pokemon, I didn't bother to send out my next Pokemon. I didn't expect Chazz to be capable of defeating Radiance. But then again, they do have a serious weakness to Ground Type attacks, and he lost three of his Pokemon in the process.

Most Trainers even in the League Club didn't have full teams of six, so we'd often do Double Battles as 4 v. 4s or the like. And I've won every time since joining up. It was a nice ego boost, though I'd hardly get cocky over it.

"You did well; I saw you took my advice to heart," I said, nodding my head towards the fallen Magneton, who was now equipped with an Eviolite rather than an Assault Vest.

"I still lost. What good is your advice if I can't win!?" Chazz demanded, slamming a fist against one of the Ditto Blocks making up the central court.

"Improving? You can't reach that goal if you don't get closer to it. Even without Mega Evolving your Houndoom, I still think the skills you showed with them, and your new Pokemon like Klinklang, were way better than what you had in your fight against Jaden before; you probably would've won then if you fought like this!" Of course, Jaden's gotten better too. He doesn't shy away from fights and has been getting a lot of experience.

That seemed to mollify him slightly. "Alright, if that wasn't enough, what would be?"

"Hmm, well, Houndoom could have been used a bit more - as a sound based Move, they're a bit trickier for Radiance to dodge, and would have lowered their special attack. Of course, you have to pair that with the right Pokemon, or the right item! Clear Amulets are good for protecting your own Pokemon from being weakened like that, or falling prey to enemy Abilities like Intimidate."

"That's kinda expensive," he muttered and at my raised brow and pointed look at the Keystone he now had pinned to his jacket, he glanced away, blushing. "That was from my brothers. Trying not to rely on them as much."

"I see," I said, which was only half true. I could potentially see why, but there's a lot to this story that I don't fully understand, but I'm not going to pry. That's his own business. "Hmm, well, Clear Amulets are made out of Carbink shards, primarily. I actually made some from Notch for my first one. They could probably make you one…"

I trailed off for a moment, thinking. "What do you want?" Chazz asked warily, already seeing where my thoughts were going.

"Nothing much. Maybe just some insight to the Club and it's members? I'm still new here." He snorted at my request, seeing through how I phrased it and what I likely really wanted. Info on the Elite Four. Which I wouldn't mind, but really, getting a feel for a people on the ground floor of the Club is important.

Despite that, he agreed to my deal, shaking my hand. Afterwards we chatted, and I gave out some more advice before leaving. He was surprisingly open to my thoughts, about what kind of Pokemon he might want to look for next or how to upgrade his training. It was the first time I'd given such advice/had it received so easily from anyone other than my close friends in a while. Or even just talked about battles - when not stuck in his own ego, Chazz isn't bad to talk too… so something must really be going on with him to have knocked him down a peg or two there.

As I left the topside arena, I saw at least one girl, one of the regular first years with curly purple hair, who had watched all of my battles these past few days, studying them intently. But she doesn't feel like asking me for help or a battle, like she did in the past. I felt a little bad that I couldn't remember her name, but we hadn't been close and I was never the best with names.

That video Elsa had sent out had clearly left some damage on my reputation. Students that wouldn't have thought twice before talking to me, who had begged me for help, now avoided me, were unwilling to be seen asking me for advice. Before, I wouldn't have said I thought or cared much about my reputation, but seeing people act like this towards me, I do find it a little annoying. But I'll change that soon.

***

As I walked into the League Club, I looked out, seeing that there were fewer people in there than usual. Is that because of my winning streak and they're afraid of getting challenged? Possibly, though it could just be a quiet day. It was the middle of the week and none of the club's Elites were here. The few people I did see in the room were busy with their own activities, like fitting their Pokemon with Power Bands and other training items the club offered to rent out, or researching matches on the computers. I even saw one girl using some of the workout gear alongside her Hitmontop.

As I glanced at them, I mused on what I had seen from the Trainers here thus far. Most of them are far superior to the average Trainers of Paldea, I can admit that much (even if it's another blow to my ego to do so), but hardly a match for me, or even any of the Elites. It was clear that Elsa at least was a level well-beyond the rest of the club. Now the only question is if the Elites are the same as her, or if they'll end up being one trick Ponytas as well.

I stopped, freezing for a moment as I went over that line of thought again. 'One trick Ponytas?' I really have spent a lot of time here. Not that I plan to leave, or even seriously thought of trying to get back to my old world, I just… hadn't noticed my way of thinking starting to shift. To adapt-

"Oof," I grunted as someone knocked into me as I was lost in thought.

"Don't just stand in the doorway!" A semi-familiar voice barked at me. Looking over, I saw the distinctive bright blue hair marking out Cassandra as she made her way into the League Club. There was plenty of room to walk around me, I thought.

"Did your parents never teach you any manners?" I snarked back. Such exchanges were hardly rare these days; none of the Elite Four liked me or my friends, and most of them held little respect for us either. This barb seemed to cut deeper, as Cassandra whirled around, a mad look in her eyes as she marched towards me, looming over me.

"The fuck did you say?" She practically growled.

"I said I'm tired of putting up with your rudeness. Don't ram into someone then blame them." There was a subtle shift in the tension she held in her shoulders dropped slightly. So what I said that got her so upset must have been about her family, not the rudeness thing. I kept it in mind, not pressing further along those lines, for the moment.

She sneered at me. "Don't get a big head just because you've beat some of the chumps around here; you're still nothing special compared to the real Trainers of the League Club." From the near murderous glares she got from the rest of the Club, I got the feeling that none of them appreciated what she said. And they'll probably be happy enough to see her go.

"Then let's put that to the test. Cassandra Nova, I challenge you to an official battle," I declared, earning a few excited whispers from the other Trainers watching our little standoff. "If I win, I'll take your place among the Elite Four," That would only happen this time - all future beat downs of the Elite Four here would simply shove them down to a lower rank in the hierarchy. "And if you win, well, you'll get the usual ante for the match," I finished, Miles floating up to meet Cassandra's Rotom Phone and send over the formal request. The BP was taken away from my account and if I lost, she'd gain it.

"I- fine, been looking for an excuse to burn off some stress," she blustered. I think even someone without my skills could see that you're scared. "Since this is an official match we'll be fighting in my arena, up in the Canyon Biome. See you there in an hour."

She strode out and I smiled. Here goes, the first step to taking these jerks out and making the League Club into a better place.

An hour was a kind of annoying amount of time to wait; not enough time to do other things, but too much time to just go straight there and fight. But maybe… there is one thing I could try. I'd been planning on saving that trick for a later match, but it could be useful here. An hour is a bit of a crunch to get it done, however if it works, there will be no way she could see it coming.

My assumption of it being tight on time was correct, and I ended up arriving in the Terarium with only a few minutes to spare. I raced over to the arena, calling on my Aura to hop across chasms and between pillars to get there faster.

One thing I hadn't counted on with the time was word spreading, and beyond just the League Club. There was a decent number of students gathered around the moderate arena, waiting for the fight. Catching onto the conversations between them, it became obvious why.

"Damn, she really showed up."

"After how she got beat last time, I totally thought she'd Torchicken out."

"I mean, it is just Cassandra. Didn't she get beat by that other kid?"

"Ehh, maybe Cassandra just got unlucky. I've always thought she was decent, she just seems to have bad luck vs Ares."

They want to see if the rumors are true, see if I'm actually good. Oh, sure, there were plenty of videos of my battles against Paldea's League, and even in my fight against Elsa (which I had scoured obsessively for mistakes afterwards), you could see that I was strong. For some people, even battlers who have some knowledge, they'll only feel they 'know' something if they see it for themselves. Guess I've got a show to put on.

Standing at the far end of the arena was Cassandra, her arms crossed in front of her. "I'll skip any pleasantries. This is going to be a six on six fight, battle items and one use of Terastalization allowed. You ready?" She asked tersely.

I nodded, raising my Pokeballs. She did the same in turn. "Let's do this." With that, we both released our Pokemon.

Spoiler: A/N:

Sorry, I know it feels cruel to leave it here, but the battle is going to be big, so I wanted to save it all for the next chapter. Did you enjoy the battle montage? If so, what was your favorite part? Let me know down below or on the the Discord. And if you want to read more and have a bit of money to toss my way, I have a a Kofi and a Patreon, subscribers to the latter get early access to the next ten chapters. Thank you, and I hope you're having a great day.

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 57 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, Garreon LeFay, and Allison Simon, my Ace Tier patreons! Your support means so much to me.

Athena stood proudly on the field, with Cataphract puffed up beside her, ready to take on the threats Cassandra threw our way. He did flinch a bit at seeing just how sharp the edges of Kleavor's axes were, as the Bug Type opposite us waved them menacingly in our direction. We could only see that display clearly for a few seconds however, as the other Pokemon Cassandra had called on, a Gigalith, had conjured a Sandstorm moments after landing on the battlefield with a heavy thud.

A shiny one too, if I'm not mistaken from the sparkling blue crystals jutting out of them. Hmm, didn't Chazz say that she had a special interest in Shiny Pokemon? Or at least that a decent number of her Pokemon are shinies.

The arena speakers gave us the countdown, announcing it over the roar of sand whirling around. "The battle will commence in three, two, one… begin!"

"Stone Axe, rip them to shreds! Block off an escape, Rock Tomb!" Cassandra shouted. It wasn't an opening she'd ever used before… however, I'd studied her extensively and I had seen her use this combo later on in battles. Despite being the weakest of the Elite Four, she's also the oldest student, set to graduate this year. That means there's the most footage and rumors about how she fights, unlike say Elsa, who is only one grade ahead of me.

"Tank and counter Cat, and meet them head on with a Meteor Mash! Inside their guard," I fired off. Despite Athena's command coming last, she was the first one to reach her target, assisted by a finely controlled Extremespeed to let her burst in, past Kleavor's raised axe-arms, but not wasting energy striking her with the Normal Type Move. Instead, Athena channeled Steel Type energy quickly into her paws, striking hard into Kleavor's carapace.

Cassandra wasn't on the Elite Four without any reason however, and her Pokemon proved it. Kleavor, rather than trying to absorb the super-effective blow, instead let it knock her backwards so she had room to properly swing them, cutting lightly into Athena's flesh. Only lightly however, as her double resistance to the Move had it doing little damage. Skittering away, several slivers broke off the axe and scattered themselves around the field.

That will make it trickier to switch out, but we should be fine. Especially with that new Battle Item I got from the store. On the other side of the field, Cataphract steadied himself, letting the rocks slam into him. Gigalith had some decent power behind the blow, managing to deal some damage to Cataphract despite his resistance. This only ended up hurting the rocky Pokemon though, as Cat hurled his shell forward in a powerful Counter that cracked one of the gems sticking out of her legs.

She leads with a slow Rock Tomb to try and equalize speed difference if it hits, but really, the goal is to set up a Stomping Tantrum for massive damage as the opponent dodges. I refused to play into that, especially with two Steel Types on the field.

"Copycat," I told Athena, utilizing a rarely used part of her arsenal to turn the tables on Cassandra and set up our own entry hazard. It was even better as I knew that despite being a Rock Type specialist, about half her team was actually weak to Rock Type Moves. Including Kleavor herself.

Unfortunately, Cassandra called for a hasty "Protect!" Which blocked the auric construct axes Athena had made, and in blocking the blow, stopping any Stealth 'Rocks' from being spread around the field. Perhaps if she had more practice with that Move, she could manage it even through the Protect; I know that Cassandra's Kleavor has done so. But Copying a Move for the first time and even someone as talented as Athena will likely miss a lot of the nuance involved in the technique.

Despite that, and the fact that Cat was limping slightly from where Gigalith's previous Move had hit him, I felt in a good spot. Rather than use a slightly weaker Ground Type Move, Gigalith opted to take advantage of Cat's other weakness. Jumping up in the air, she landed heavily upon my little Dragon, minorly cracking his shell.

It's fine, just a hairline fracture. Cat might not have taken worse than that while sparring with the Team, but he's taken just as bad. And it even gives us an advantage. My mind raced for an instance before I shouted, "Acid Spray!"

Gigalith tried to lumber away, but the sticky goo Cat secreted stuck onto the lumbering Rock Type, dragging her back just enough for Cat to unleash a gout of Poison down upon them. From that close a range, a few drops splashed back onto Cat, but his Steel Typing protected him from that, while the majority of the acid sizzled into Gigalith's tough body and blue vest.

Going for a color matching option rather than the traditional red one, Cassandra's Gigalith was wearing a vivid blue Assault Vest, which helped bolster the Rock Type's Special Defense. Which is on top of the Sandstorm boosting it further too. Gigalith's Physical Defenses are no slouch either, however, as shown by how much damage she did with that odd Body Press (though it might have just looked odd because I'm used to how Notch or Dun performs the Move, and they have very different body Types from Gigalith). Right now, my best bet is to wear down her Special Defense over time.

"Switch to the Dragon, he's the weak link! Close Combat, Stomping Tantrum!" Cassandra shouted. I raised my eyebrows, surprised for half a moment, then dismissed it. Your team is nowhere near fast enough for that kind of a trick.

"Protect," I called out, not bothering to waste a moment saying Cat's name as it was clear whom they were gunning for. The heavy, sweeping axe blows bounded off the barrier Cat erected around himself, and even as the ground cracked and erupted beneath him, the Protect formed a full sphere, blocking the attack entirely. C'mon now. Just because Cat is the least experienced member of my team doesn't mean I've slacked off in training him on the basics.

Steel Beam the Kleavor, I thought, projecting my thoughts forcefully at Athena. For a non-empath or Psychic, or even one not used to me, they wouldn't have picked up on it, but Athena knew me well. As Kleavor panted, momentarily exhausted from her futile assault on Cataphract, Athena drew her paws back before launching them forward in a pushing motion. From her paws, a solid beam of grey light erupted out, slamming straight into Kleavor and sending him tumbling into the wall of the arena where he landed in an ungainly heap.

"Double Life Dew" I called out, trying to take advantage of the fact that Cassandra would be down a Pokemon for a moment, but she surprised me… and not in a good way.

"Get back up! We can't lose here, so get in there and finish them off! If they're trying to heal they're weak! You too, Gig, hit them with an Earthquake!" Shakily, the Kleavor rose at her Trainer's words, then began running towards my Pokemon, a yellow liquid dribbling down her mouth. A Sitrus Berry, dammit. She must have been holding it inside her mouth since the start of the battle.

"Athena, Detect!" I called out, and she aborted the water she'd been gathering to heal. Her eyes glowed with a blue light as she began predicting the future, and I caught a faint frown from her as she stared at where Cataphract was. Yeah, I know how this goes.

Cataphract faced the oncoming foes boldly, not flinching from the surprising Reversal Kleavor launched into him, and even managing to toss out the Life Dew he had gathered on the tips of his antennas into the air. Then the Earthquake rocked the field, tossing my Pokemon around hard. It wasn't quite enough to knock him out though, not with the Life Dew landing mid-way through the damage he was taking.

Athena avoided it entirely, gracefully dodging around and riding the churning ground with ease, all while collecting a large amount of Dew as it fell, recovering from some of the damage Steel Beam cost her. While not massively damaging, Kleavor was still rocked by the Move as well, and looking to be in pretty bad shape once more.

"U-Turn!" Cassandra called out, trying to take out my Hisuian Pokemon while saving hers. She half succeeded. Kleavor dashed forward with surprising speed, going for a low cut into Cataphract that knocked him out before zipping back to her side of the field. Cassandra was raising her Pokeball to recall him before we interrupted.

"Extreme-" I began, and Athena was already on the other end of the arena, appearing mid-air in front of Kleavor. I could only imagine the shocked look in her eyes as she spun around, kicking our foe out of the way from the red beam of the Pokeball that would have saved her, and directly into unconsciousness. Do not pass Go, do not collect two-hundred Pokedollars.

I chuckled at my own thoughts, and Cassandra's face got red as she misinterpreted my humor. "What are you laughing at? You lost a Pokemon too, you know!"

Not the point, but if I can use this… I laughed harder, hoping it didn't sound too forced as I recalled my fallen Pokemon. Over the sand streaming by, I thought I heard her grinding her teeth together, so I felt I succeeded there.

We both released our next Pokemon while Athena attempted to use an Aura Sphere against Gigalith, who Protected against the attack. A Lunatone with glowing blue eyes took their place nearby the edge of the arena, spinning in the air once. While on my field, Notch calmly floated forward.

The Stealth Rocks Kleavor had scattered attempted to jump up at Notch, but all the rocks in the air stopped. Even the small, particulate rock based matter that made up the Sandstorm, now floating motionless in the air. Notch let their hand fall, and all the rocks did the same, landing with a heavy thump.

Okay, very impressive and cool Notch, but I think that's kinda undone the 'too angry to think clearly' thing I was going for. Indeed, Cassandra gaped for a moment before snapping her jaw shut and focusing again. Though, to be fair, I didn't let you know about this ahead of time, and frightening her a bit can be handy too, on top of removing that pesky hazard.

"Let's show her what you can really do, Notch. Diamond Storm!" Like a conductor, Notch waved their arms dramatically in the air, pointing up and raising a field of diamonds, which hung there until Notch swung their arms down, and the gems followed suit, whirling through the air.

Before they hit, Athena snapped forward with a Bullet Punch into Gigalith, then kicked off the quadrupedal Pokemon to avoid the diamonds as they cut into the enemies. Cassandra's other Pokemon leaned into the attack, using it to shave off and polish their rocky body slightly. After doing so, Lunatone was quickly zipping around the arena.

Gigalith meanwhile just tanked the blow, ponderously raising one foot to heavily stomp down with it, creating another Earthquake. It rocked hard into both of my Pokemon who were weak against it, though far harder against Athena who lacked Notch's sky-high defensive capabilities.

Signalling to Athena to Move in and fake an attack before Enduring, to set up a Reversal, I told Notch to, "Diamond Storm again! Show them what you're made of!" Lunatone attempted to dodge, only to find there was no escaping the splash of gems Notch created. Wresting the diamonds telekinetically out of the sky served them no better; there was no deflecting the attack either.

Gigalith didn't target Athena either, though a few errants shards from Notch's storm impacted her, leaving her ready to lay a brutal beatdown on our foes. Instead, they fired off a blast of Steel Type energy at Notch.

What? But I thought that Gigalith wasn't good at Special Attacks- oh. I realized the reason behind it as I saw Notch munching their Berry to take the attack better. Cassandra wanted that Berry out of the way for a Pokemon with a better Steel Type attack to take Notch out, and the bulk of its protective qualities fade fast upon consumption. Not all of it, as I knew from what Freddrick had tried way back, but still.

Lunatone got close and attempted a Hypnosis on Notch, but my Pokemon escaped, pushing the other Rock Type away with a quick and unfocused Psychic. It did little damage given Lunatone's secondary typing, but was enough to avoid being put to sleep.

"Steel Beam the Gigalith!" I called out, while slapping my knee. Athena readied a Flash Cannon in response to the signal. A second use of that Move is too obvious and draining - easy to counter. "Funhouse," I told Notch, who began conjuring diamonds to further enhance the attack.

Gigalith's Protect took the brunt of Athena's attack, but as sparkling diamond mirrors were pulled up, or foes realized that it was just the prelude. Not letting up on her beam, Athena directed it into the mirrors Notch had made, the blast suddenly bouncing and criss-crossing at unexpected angles to nearly hit the shiny Lunatone, and would have if she hadn't had enough of a speed boost from Rock Polish to pull out of the way. It still forced her to back off of Notch however.

"Fine, stay back Lune and just push that Diancie down with Psychic!" Lunatone's eyes glowed a deeper shade of blue from their usual and Notch found themselves crushed under Psychic power. Fighting against that directly will be difficult, but I think we can do it if- Then I saw Gigalith shuffle slightly, getting ready to jump.

They're going to get in close and hit Notch hard. Crud. In the split second I had, I made a choice on who to sacrifice. "Steel Beam Lunatone!" I shouted before calling "Protect!" For Notch.

Recognizing the urgency in my tone, Athena selflessly sacrificed herself, putting everything she had into the blast. This time, distracted by the Psychic pressure she was putting on my other Pokemon, Lunatone couldn't dodge the bouncing beam, and it struck her hard, breaking her focus. The Move and all the fighting beforehand had exhausted her too much, so Athena slumped to the ground, unconscious.

At the same time, Gigalith had leapt up in the air, poised to land on top of Notch with a Heavy Slam. Notch, freed from the painful Psychic grip likely could have used Protect to block the attack, except something strange happened. Gigalith suddenly fell far faster than I could have expected, crushing my diamond encrusted Pokemon.

"What?"

"Hah! That's our Self-Gravity trick we've been working on. It makes Heavy Slam hit even harder and faster. You didn't really think I wouldn't be prepared after your declaration of war, did you? Now you've lost your strongest… Pokemon…" Cassandra's jeering voice trailed off as her Gigalith shifted involuntarily, and then was dramatically thrown off, the lumbering Rock Type sent tumbling backwards.

['And you didn't really think that would be enough to take down a Pokemon trained by Saint Nemona, did you?'] Notch questioned as they rose up from the crater, eliciting shocked silence, and then massive cheers from the crowd. Their diamond armor was torn apart and several deep cracks ran throughout their body, but Notch was tough enough to keep on fighting despite that.

"1-A!" I shouted, before Cassandra could regain her bearings. Flying at the prone Gigalith, Notch rocked in with a powerful Drain Punch, healing back some of the damages they had caused to my Pokemon. "1-A, 1-A!" I called again as I returned Athena to her Pokeball.

Notch punched again, but any further punching was stopped by a quick Psychic from Lunatone, pushing my Pokemon away. Cassandra recalled her fallen Gigalith. Gigalith isn't looking too hot right now. My guess is that she's planning to use them to reset Sandstorm later and then Explode. It wasn't a bad strategy, but it being so predictable would give me options when the time came. Of course, we'll have to consider what other Pokemon she's using at the time. Speaking of which…

Cassandra tapped her foot impatiently. "Well? Why aren't you sending out your next Pokemon?" She demanded. In the arena, Notch was trading blows with Lunatone, swarms of diamond shards tearing through the air while she telekinetically assaulted my Pokemon in turn.

"Nah, I'm good for the moment." I replied, my right hand drifting over some of the Pokeballs on my belt. Technically the rules say nothing about me having to have two Pokemon on the field at a time, I just have to have at least one. This way, I can wait to see what she sends out and respond. Normally, that was a poor strategy as I'd still be giving her the chance to go for a 2 v 1, and if she didn't like what I sent out, then she could just switch to a more advantageous Pokemon. Especially because she could just swap Gigalith back in, resetting Sandstorm and in a better position to use Explosion.

She recognized that, and as she moved to one of the Pokeballs on her belt, I had my hand hover over the Love Ball. Here's where the mind games begin. I was certain Cassandra had seen the match between me and Atticus by this point, as well as having heard about some of the fights I'd used Anya in during the battle classes. She knows I can lock in any Pokemon she sends out, and since she just recalled Gigalith, she can't put them straight back in. So what will you do? What choice doesn't lock you in?

I decided to up the pressure by calling out, "Stealth Rock," openly. Notch pulled off their assault (something they were handily winning against the Lunatone at) to scatter the dangerous rocks around the field.

"Go, Owl!" Cassandra called out, ripping a Pokeball off of her belt and tossing it out, just before the Stealth Rocks could take their place in the field.

"Anya, let's show her what you can do!" I said, tossing the Love Ball out to the field. 'Anya' popped out, giving a dismissive stare at our foes. "Thief," I told her, pointing at Noctowl. A bit tricky, since she doesn't actually know Thief, but she does know Knock Off, so it should be easy enough to mimic.

Phantasm (disguised as Anya), easily raced up, even adding a few sweat drops to the illusion to sell the effort of 'running really hard' as Anya in what was a casual jog for her. The Dark Type attack hit, slapping the Charti Berry out of Noctowl's claws. The illusion made it look like 'Anya' had stolen it, but my enhanced ears could pick up the 'plop' sound as it squished on the ground.

Noctowl, for her part, mostly ignored that, setting up a Tailwind to make their side faster. Lunatone conjured a Moonlight above her head to help recover from the damages Notch had inflicted, something my Pokemon was happy to do more of, a Diamond Storm ripping through the field and hurting both of them, Noctowl particularly got hit hard.

"Push through it, I know you can do it, Owl! Moonblast and Hypnosis! Lune, Rock Slide!" Noctowl sent a powerful sphere of condensed Fairy Type energy (drawn in no small part from the Moonlight Lunatone had conjured and made me wonder briefly if that combo I'd seen before had been taught to the other League Clubber by Cassandra) towards Notch. She sped in right after it, almost keeping pace with the attack as she tried to put my Pokemon to sleep with crooning cries.

"Trick Room!" I ordered, hoping to turn the speed advantage they held on its head. "Anya, Shadow Ball!" Phantasm launched a flurry of Shadow Balls at Lunatone, a few hitting before she had to dodge the rocks the Psychic Type tossed up in the air. Notch couldn't dodge them, or the Moonblast, but didn't flinch before setting up the Trick Room. It came at a cost however, with Noctowl's confusion putting them to sleep and seeing Notch drop to the ground like a rock.

"You think you're the only one who's ever used that Move? Stop looking down on me!" I feel like, she's perhaps projecting her issues a tad. I didn't get the chance to call her out on it as she made her next Move. "Lune, Trick Room. Defog," she told her other Pokemon.

"Shadow Ball, that Lunatone can't be doing well." Then, in a whisper meant only for Phantasm's ears I added, "On my signal, raise an illusion of Notch." With the enemies focused on affecting the arena, neither of them could stop the Shadow Balls, which did significant damage to her Lunatone, the shiny Pokemon barely holding on.

She did hold on though, which saw the twisted dimensions reversed at the same time as the Stealth Rocks were blown away. I imagine the Lax Incense will be less effective too now, though I'm not sure about the interactions between that item and Defog. "We've got them now, both of you, Dream Eater!" Swiftly, her Pokemon flew in, ready to drain Notch's health, only for them to suddenly reverse course as Notch sprung up, instantly awake (as far as they could see).

"What?! How- so soon! Dammit, Owl, Protect! Lune, you know what to do," Cassandra responded quickly. Her Noctowl shielded itself with Protect while Lunatone began glowing with a bright light before using Explosion. The blast was deafening, shaking the arena and kicking up vast clouds of dust.

As the dust began to clear, we saw Lunatone, unconscious (even as Levitate kept her aloft, indicating a high degree of mastery of that Ability), and no one else hurt… aside from the 'second' Notch, lying on the ground to the side, displaced and mildly damaged by the blast. It had the added effect of waking them up, as Cassandra stared at the scene, aghast.

"How- but- you're Zoroark!" She declared angrily, pointing at 'Anya' who cackled and revealed her true form. And did so by having it displaced a few meters away from where she's really standing. Clever girl. "You were supposed to be in the Fast Ball!"

"I got permission to change out which Balls they were registered to before the fight. Thanks for that hour you gave us," I taunted her. And thank you Colress for being a staff I could count on to get a quick change at the Blueberry Registry done fast.

"DAMMIT! Stop looking down on me! You rich bitch! Thinking that just because you have more money or a Legendary that you can beat me? Well you're WRONG!" She shouted, a deranged look in her eyes as she recalled Lunatone.

"Slicer, cut them to shreds," she said with ragged breaths, tossing out a Kabutops onto the field. "Owl, Reflect."

"Bitter Malice, Diamond Storm," I calmly ordered, pointing at the newcomer to direct Phantasm's attack. Unfortunately, the wind was still on their side, and the Kabutops managed to close, dispersing the illusion before the rage made manifest could sap his strength. While the illusion guarded Phantasm from Kabutop's attack, it didn't have enough fidelity to cover for Notch's Diamond Storm which conspicuously avoided a spot not far from Kabutops. The attack was reduced in power by the Reflect Noctowl raised, but it still did good damage, especially to the Flying Type now flagging in strength.

"Night Slash, sweeping blows! Airslash on the illusionist as well," Cassandra called out, switching focus from Notch and to Phantasm. Not a bad strategy, but too little too late. The Dark Type attack hit, cutting deep into Phantasm and disrupting her illusions. Air Slash followed up and left her stunned, open for Kabutops to continue her assault.

Notch called upon Diamond Storm once more, but Noctowl proved quick enough to draw a Protect around herself before the attack could land, and Kabutops, relatively fresh and covered with Reflect, tanked it as he took out Phantasm.

Returning her, I said, "You did great, we've got this in the bag now." I ignored the angry shouts contrary from Cassanadra as I sent Miles out. For today, I'd chosen the Mow Form. It had relatively few advantages and many weaknesses, but against a Rock Type specialist like Cassandra, I figured the Grass Type Move it gave access to would be worth it.

Kabutops hadn't wasted any time, rushing at Notch with an Aqua Jet to hit them hard and fast, before using the same Move to slide away from a Draining Punch counter. As Noctowl tried to use Psychic, I ordered, "Protect," before telling Miles: "Discharge."

"Protect!" Cassandra gave a desperate call. Kabutops was quick enough to cover himself, but Noctowl couldn't drop the Psychic energy she'd been building up fast enough to bring a shield against the powerful Electric attack. Twitching from stray jolts, Noctowl fell out of the air, Cassandra recalling her before she could hit the ground.

Wordlessly, she tossed Gigalith right inbetween Miles and Notch, a Sandstorm raging around once more. "Explosion!" She called out, recalling Kabutops at the same time.

"Protect," I told both of my Pokemon, hoping that Notch would be able to pull it off twice in a row. They sort of did, the barrier they conjured breaking, but clearly reducing the damage of the attack, enough that with the diamond armor they'd been covering themselves in again, Notch was able to just hang on to the fight.

"Why won't you fall? Whatever, this will have to be enough. Shell Smash." Cassandra called out, her voice ever so slightly wavering. My attention was drawn to her final Pokemon, a Minior, released into the sky and somewhat concealed by the Explosion.

"Taunt!" I called out, a bit of panic in my voice. Carmine told me how she shut down that Pokemon, but I know if they can build up, Minior can be terribly powerful. I just need- huh?

Miles let out a staticky laugh, a big shit eating grin on their plasmic face, but the Move failed.

"I did learn from your little friend's trick there," Cassandra commented. "I put ground up Mental Herb into the minerals making up their shell, so you couldn't pull off something like that." As she spoke, I saw the brown, rocky shell around Minior crack, then shatter apart completely. What-? Shields Down already? Dammit, she's not playing around.

"Liquidation, Acrobatics," Cassandra ordered, her Pokemon not needing direction on which Pokemon to target with the Moves they were extra weak against. Notch tried to raise a defense, but had all their diamonds broken through by the powerful Water attack as Kabutops crashed through, while Minior dived down upon Miles with blistering speed.

"Electroweb!" I called out, but even as I spoke, Cassandra was tossing her Tera Orb over Minior, Terastalizing them in a dazzling burst to become a pure Rock Type. Their attack hit hard, but my Pokemon still managed to spit out Electroweb in retaliation, sending a small shock through both of her Pokemon and slowing them down slightly. That didn't put a dent in her mood however, the older girl brightening greatly as she saw Notch finally unconscious.

"I did it! Ha! I beat your Legendary! No one can say I'm not strong enough now." Cassandra whispered the last part to herself.

"You're pretty strong, it's true," I said with a raised voice, startling her. Better than Tyme or several of the Gym Leaders in Paldea. "That doesn't mean you're stronger than me, though, and I'm the one you have to beat. Go, Radiance!" I shouted, tossing their Pokeball out onto the field.

Emitting a loud sound, akin to metal screeching on metal, my Paradox Pokemon entered the field. Immediately, the capsule attached just below their head triggered, sending a rush of invigorating electricity through their body. With that, they were off like a rocket, zooming through the sky to chase after Cassandra's Terastilized Pokemon.

The two of them traded shots back and forth. The black meteor Pokemon conjured glowing crystals to fire off Power Gem shots crisscrossing through the air. Radiance trailed like a comet behind them, the flames burning off their wings erasing the last of the Sandstorm that had wracked the arena. They met the Power Gem blasts with rapid-fire Flash Cannon counterfire, the Steel Type attack barrelling through the beams and destroying the constructs behind them. The enemy tried to shoot off chunks of rock coalesced from the stardust trailing behind them, but Radiance dodged them with contemptuous ease, gaining on the shiny Pokemon with every circuit they took of the arena.

While those two were shooting off, I had Miles fending off Kabutops, holding out against the Leech Lifes the Water Type tried to land. Protect and Substitutes as well as fancy maneuvering kept the prehistoric Pokemon at bay, while lightning fast clashes occurred above.

"Go low!" Cassandra called out, that desperation I'd heard earlier creeping back into her voice. She's scared - no one is supposed to be faster than her Ace and we're both down to our last Pokemon now. That doesn't mean that she doesn't have a plan here though… and I can see how to counter it perfectly.

"Time to use our secret weapon!" I called out. Radiance hadn't been used often in official battles, and while people had already figured out their Typing, there was still plenty we hadn't shown anyone. I drew my Tera Orb out, pulling back my arm as I aimed.

My Pokemon weren't the only ones who had been training; I'd been working on several things, including my throwing arm. Though for a situation like this, it was less about the speed of my toss (though that was helpful too) and predicting where Radiance would end up. Two, no, two and a half circuits should do, I guessed as I launched the Enhancement item over the arena.

My guess proved correct, though I felt Radiance must have done at least a little course correcting to so perfectly end up under it as the orb broke open and surrounded them in crystals. At the same time, the ground cracked underneath Radiance, then exploded upwards. The force of Minior's Earth Power broke apart the crystals and revealed Radiance, stunning with a bright green sheen and set of flowers hovering above their head in the form of a Tera 'hat' Jewel.

"That won't work! Energy Ball!" I shouted, my voice growing a little hoarse. Minior had slowed down for a second to use Earth Power in response to the unexpected Terastalization, and that would prove to be their undoing. Bursting forward like a hypersonic jet (not that they had enough space to build up to those speeds), Radiance rushed Minior, launching a point blank Energy Ball at the other Terastilized Pokemon.

With their Shields Down, Shell Smash, and the STAB on the Super-Effective attack, Cassandra's Ace was knocked out in one blow, crashing down into the ground. I thought I might need to send in Torkoal and turn on the sun for Solar Beam. Radiance has worked hard on furthering their mastery of that Move, able to fire those attacks off so fast, and even multiple at a time! Ah well, bit risky to send out a(nother) Fire Type against a Rock specialist, even if there's some fun combos it opens up.

My opponent was just staring at the scene, shocked. Cassandra didn't make any moves or give commands to Kabutops, she just looked ahead, unsteady. "Are you- are you okay?" I asked. I want to win, so it kinda feels bad to not take the opportunity, but it'd feel worse to continue when she's like this.

Evidently, she didn't appreciate my concern, snapping out, "I'm fine! Worry about yourself!" I raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Really?' given the situation. She blushed but didn't say anything else, recalling her fallen Pokemon and I didn't press. No point in adding (more) insult to injury here.

Kabutops took the initiative, charging recklessly towards Radiance. Before they could reach the now Grass Type Pokemon with his scythe-like blades, Miles released a flurry of petals in a Leaf Storm that took out her Pokemon.

The crowd (which I noticed now had grown since we'd started, the arena looking pretty packed) let out a massive cheer as I was declared the winner. "We did it!" I cheered loudly, running on the field to hug Miles and pat Radiance on the back. My Paradox Pokemon wasn't too keen on contact, but they accepted that, spinning their wings around for the crowd.

Crossing fully over to Cassandra's side, I offered a hand out. "Good job out there, you did-"

"Shut up," she snarled, smacking my hand aside. "I don't need your pity," she growled before stomping off. I moved to step after her, only to be stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

"Ignore her. If she wants to pout, whatever," Carmine said with a flick of her black and crimson hair. She and the rest of my friends had all gathered around me.

"Yeah, you did great out there!"
"Those were some sick Moves you pulled!"
"Oh boy, I'm so hyped from watching this that I wanna battle too! Anyone up for a quick match?"
"I hope I can be half as good some day!"
"The crowd is going wild!"

It's true, they are. Hard to even hear my friends beside me over the roar. Turning to the crowd that had gathered around me and was cheering me on, I focused my headspace to a happier place. I did it. We, my team, did it. We weren't 'just' a big fish in a small pond in Paldea; we're strong here too, and only going to get even stronger. This was our first step forward, and we didn't stumble.

I gave the crowd a big wave, grinning as I took a moment to bask in my victory. There would be hard fights and challenges still ahead, I knew, but this felt good, so I allowed myself to simply enjoy it.

Spoiler: A/N:

And we have our first of the League Club Elite Fours down! I hope you enjoyed that fight; I know I had fun with Cassandra's character and her team. Minior was a Pokemon that had been on my short list for a while, but ultimately didn't make the cut onto Nemona's team (due to both space issues and being too similar in type and what they could do to Notch). I had fun getting to show them off here though.

We've got a bunch more battles in the future, but thankfully we don't need to do them all in-a-row for this arc, so we'll have a bit of a breather before the next Elite will be tackled. Which fights are people looking forward to the most? Let me know down below or on the the Discord. And if you want to read more and have a bit of money to toss my way, I have a a Kofi and a Patreon, subscribers to the latter get early access to the next ten chapters. Thank you, and I hope you're having a great day.

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 57 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, Garreon LeFay, and Allison Simon, my Ace Tier patreons! Your support means so much to me.

"Have fun over the break everyone!" I said, waving goodbye to most of my friends. Drayton gave a lazy wave back as he stepped into the car that was taking him back to… wherever the Dragon Tamer Clan of Unova was. You know, I never asked. Does that make me a bad friend? Or would it be rude to inquire?... The fact that I don't know whether their location is actively hidden or just 'not public knowledge' probably does make me a bad friend.

I pushed that thought down, resolving to be better at getting to know the slothful young Dragon Trainer (atop of everything else I was trying to do) before turning to my other friends. Lacey was waiting for her father to pick her up from the docks, while Carmine and Kieran were going to take a bus to the airport.

Victor hadn't been on the same submarine as us going back to the mainland, but I said my goodbye to Judai and him there.

"We will! Have a good time too!" Lacey called out.

"Yeah, tell us all about the wacky stuff you get up to in Paldea," Carmine said too loudly for my tastes. I don't get into that much crazy stuff in Paldea. Or, at least no more crazy than I do anywhere else. It was just the Journey that had a lot of stuff going on, and they haven't gone on their journeys yet.

"Sure, try not to get into too much trouble yourself, okay?" I responded to Carmine, but my words were meant for Kieran. Sadly, the boy barely seemed to be listening to me, his dull eyes lost in his own thoughts. His mouth moved up and down, muttering quiet ramblings that I could barely piece together, but mostly about battle strategy.

I really hope he doesn't seek out Ogerpon. In this state, I can't see her being drawn to Kieran as a Trainer, and if she was to reject him, it'd crush him. I'd only played the first half of the DLC so I never saw how that plotline turned out, but from how I remembered the Teal Mask's ending, it wasn't good. Wasn't there a theory Kieran was being manipulated by the force behind the Jerk Trio? But he's been getting just as bad here after losing to Charlotte, and I think we're way too far away for anything from Kitikami to be affecting him here.

Carmine heard my words and nodded. Well, she'll probably keep Kieran on the right track for now, and I can look into addressing his issues in the new term. With that settled I turned to Sally. "You coming?"

"Oh, right!" She said rushing forward, only to bump into a larger boy striding across the street as if he owned the place.

Ares turned to look at who bumped into him and sneered down at her. "Woof, thought I smelled something rank. Watch where you're going, pipsqueak, don't wanna get your stink all over me."

"I think anything would be a welcome distraction from your attitude," I said, marching up to the boy. His sneer twisted, a hint of active malice added onto his expression as he stared down at me, his blood red eyes peeking out just over his sunglasses. My Aura sight, as imprecise as it was, pulled back another layer, revealing a sliver of fear that didn't obviously show on his face or body language.

"Hmph, and the brat squad too. Didn't the Ice bitch teach you a lesson about messing with your betters?"

"Hmm?" I pretended to look around for the so-called 'betters' he was referring to. "Don't see anyone like that here. Just an asshole." I heard a slight intake of air behind me, probably Kieran or Lacey, unused to such profanity, but they were standing behind me regardless. Touching, but I don't need it to take on this guy.

The show of force was enough to get him to slink off, towards… My limo?! No, wait, mine is the one behind it. It drove off quickly, Ares finally getting out of our hair.

"People like that are so... so.... rude! It's just not right," Lacey complained.

"Yeah," I agreed distractedly as I offered a hand to help Sally up. I think Ares has had the run of the place for too long. Time to put him in his place… after the break. Properly saying goodbye to everyone else again, I led Sally into the limo and we headed off.

***

"Alright Sal, welcome to Paldea," I said, waving an arm out at the dusty field in front of us.

"Uh, 'Mona? I've kinda been here for hours already, since we landed at the airport and then took a flying taxi out… wherever 'here' is. Besides, is this really what you picture when you think of Paldea?" She asked hesitantly. It was understandable; the rocky mines of Zapapico were not exactly 'picturesque Paldea.'

"Of course!" I declared authoritatively. "And the swamps, and Lake Casseroya, and Glaseado Mountains, and the plains, and all of it! I found Dun on the beach not far from my house, met Haxorus on that peak up there, had a funny training accident on the mountain where Nightwing got her tongue stuck to a rock-"

"Gli!" The Pokemon mentioned said, bursting out of her Pokeball.

"But clearly, that's a story for another time." Nightwing gave a grumbling comment that I was pretty sure translated into 'Never would be a good time,' and I felt the other Pokeballs on my belt shake slightly in laughter from the inhabitants within.

"This may not have been what you envisioned when I invited you, but it's a part of Paldea, and to me, that makes it just as wonderful as any other part. And you should particularly like this, because it's where we're going to find you a new Pokemon! You still want a Revavroom next, right?"

"Yes," the usually nervous girl said, nodding her head resolutely. With my Pokedex (and a prototype of the Pokedex App Jacq had sent me) we had gone over different Pokemon she might want to catch to expand her team. She had instantly locked onto the picture of Varoom and Revavroom and decided she wanted one for her team.

We'd gone over it with Chumley too, though he hadn't been able to make the trip over to Paldea to catch an Ampharos to go along with the Komala he already had. Hopefully he'll be able to find one, but I'm not sure if Mareeps are native to his home. I pushed those thoughts aside to focus on Sally.

"This is probably the best place to find Varooms. They race all across the tunnels and slopes that make up this place! So now you just gotta find one that you connect with and make an offer for them to join your team," I said with a bright smile on my face.

"Wh-what if they don't want to? Do I really have to ask first? My sister just says I should catch first and then after I've proven my strength-"

"Yeah, that might work for her, but I don't think it'll be the best plan for you." Also, I think it's a rude and stupid way of doing things in general, but there's no need to insult the big sister Sally idolizes. At least she doesn't go to the same school as us. In a softer tone, I added, "Look, don't worry about all that stuff. Finding a Pokemon that matches you is important, and will help the two of you grow together well."

"But what if I don't find any Varooms that like me?" She asked, and I just shook my head.

"We'll worry about that if it happens. But we got a lot of land to explore first, so let's get searching!" Grabbing her by the hand, I led the charge, out of Zapapico and into the rocky, barren, mine-riddled wilderness.

Sally was reluctant at first, but with some encouragement from me, got into the spirit of things. Our bright attitudes did not preclude the need for sustenance however, so I took some time during midday to take out some food and give the smaller girl some much needed respite.

"Is this the kind of thing you do every day?" She asked, amazed.

"Uh, yeah, pretty much. You get used to it. This might be really tiring right now, but once you get stronger it'll be no big deal, and you get to see so much! The world really is fantastic, so much to see, so many cool Pokemon to battle." I let out a wistful sigh, remembering all I'd seen thus far and thinking about what might be waiting beyond the horizon, or even just around the corner.

"You sound like Big Bro," she replied, referring to Judai. I wonder if she calls him that because she wishes that she had someone who had that much strength and seemed cool but was also fun as an actual, biological elder sibling? And that I'm not seen in the same vein because I'm obviously too young to fit that role. I also wonder if I should possibly not try to psycho-analyze my friends? Hmm, thoughts for later.

"Heh. Yeah, he sounds like he'd be like that too. You two are planning on hanging out over the break, right?"

"Yeah!" She launched into an explanation of how there was an exhibit on an ancient pharaoh they were planning on checking out over the weekend.

"Cool. My folks are pretty busy with work, and my sister has a different break schedule than us at Uva so I'll mostly just be hanging out at home." The International League tried to impose a standardized set of holidays at some point, but Alola pushed back hard against that, and then the other regions did too. I can see why people wanted it that way as the uneven schedules between regions do make things a little complicated, but perserving regional identity is important too.

Shelving that thought, I continued with the task at hand, mentioning, "Assuming we don't spend all the time out here, anyways."

"Huh?"

"Well, we're going to spend as long as it takes to find you a Varoom that works for you, and there's a bunch of them out there, but it's a big place to cover, might take us a while." That being said, I'm hopefully we'll find some within a couple days so as to not mess up the rest of her holiday plans.

"Aww man," she moaned. Despite how she sounded though, Sally was willing to put in the work, searching hard for any Varooms. In the later half of the day we did find a few rolling around, but sadly, they were much too fast for Sally (and even I had trouble keeping up with them, and they were less inclined to listen to me trying to speak on her behalf).

Just when I thought we'd have to call it a night, with the sun sinking low over the horizon, Sally found a pack of a half dozen Varooms. These ones raced off like the others, but one of their number was left behind, the other five moving far too fast for him to keep up.

"Wait!" Sally shouted as she closed with the Steel Type. He tried to turn away, but Sally managed to corner him by an outcropping. As he realized he was trapped and turned to face her, Sally came to a halt, confusing the Pokemon slightly by not pressing forward.

"Hi, umm, my name is Sally and I want to be a Poison master, so would you please be on my team?" That seemed to confuse the little engine-shaped Pokemon even more, so I clarified.

"A Pokemon Trainer, like Sally, helps Pokemon grow and become strong. We also battle with Pokemon, so you can help her out in battles while she directs you." A spiel about symbiotic relationships would probably be a bit much for the Varoom.

He still looked hesitant, glancing around, but no longer looking like he was trying to immediately get out. "Va? Room room. Varoom," he said sadly.

"Uhh, little help here?" Sally asked, turning to me and I shrugged.

"Sorry, I don't actually have the ability to talk to Pokemon, it's just a knack for understanding them. And even then, I find the mineral group of Pokemon hardest to understand." Not entirely accurate, but there are several of the issues with Varoom that I first had with Notch.

I could, of course, release Notch (or Anya) at any time and get some translation from them, but I held off. If things go nowhere, I'll step in, but this is Sally's potential first meeting with her new Pokemon. Learning to understand him will be an important skill for her.

It took a few rounds of charades and Sally stepped back, watching as Varoom went back and forth in front of us. "You're saying… the others are faster?"

I snapped my fingers at Sally's words. "Slow Start. It's the Hidden Ability of Varooms. Varooms with that Ability take a while to build up speed and strength in a fight, which is why the others were able to leave us in the dust."

"Roo," Varoom said mournfully.

Sally kneeled down in front of him. "I know what that's like. People are always wondering why I'm not like my big sister, when they aren't calling me 'Stinky Sally'..." She shook her head before she could get caught on a tangent. "So maybe I've got a 'Slow Start' too, but I'll show the world that I can be great!" She declared boldly, stepping up with a clenched fist.

Then, she offered a hand holding a Pokeball down to the Varoom. "So, if you're up for it, I'd like to have you on my team, and we can take on the world toget- whoa!" Sally cried out as Varoom, who had already been looking at her with awe in his eyes, rammed straight into the Pokeball. Thankfully, he hit the button first and was pulled inside, rather than damaging it, though the shock of it still had Sally losing her balance and falling over.

The Pokeball clicked successfully almost immediately. I offered her a hand up, the girl still staring in a daze at the Pokeball in her other hand.

"I… I did it! I caught my first Pokemon in a new region!" She said, bursting with joy.

"Yup! I think you're off to a great start, nothing slow about it." Soon enough, you'll be able to 'Filter' out what any hater has to say. Or is that pushing the metaphor too hard? Ah, well in any case, Varoom and Sally, I've got faith in you.

***

"Nemonaaaaaaa!" Arven yelled, running at me and tackling me in a flying hug. I laughed, easily strong enough to handle the emotional boy. "I missed you." he mumbled as I patted him on the back.

I could have pointed out that we had a phone call at least once a week, I texted him every day, sent out long form emails fairly often (as I did for all of my family), and that we talked over the winter break too (even if he had been busy back then looking after his dad) but I just said: "Me too." Because I had. Even if this wasn't quite as long as my Gym circuit was. But then again, I missed my family then too.

As I let him go, I waved at Leah, who was standing politely at the doorway. I can see the joy on your face though! It's good to see her too. Turning back to Sally, who was standing awkwardly at the garden gate, I waved her forward. "Sally, this is my oldest friend, Arven. Arven, this is Sally one of my new friends from Blueberry Academy. She came over to catch a Pokemon here…" I trailed off awkwardly.

I was about to say 'do you mind if she stays here a day or two till she has to head home,' but that's silly this is my home. But now I've left things to long and need to think of something else to say- I was saved by Miraidon, popping out of their Pokeball.

The large Legendary Pokemon drifted close to Sally, who was more than a bit shocked. The Paradox Pokemon sniffed the small girl a few times, and then as she seemingly passed the sniff test gave her a long lick, up her face and onto her spikey blue hair.

"Ewww!" Sally cried out. "No, stop it! I don't care how cool you are, stop licking me!" The girl wailed, and I tried to smother my laughter at the scene.

"You think Miraidon is cool?" Arven asked, surprised. "Well yeah, of course they're cool! Miraidon and Mabosstiff are the coolest Pokemon around," he puffed up his chest slightly, releasing Mabosstiff from his Pokeball too.

Hmm, looks a bit tired, I thought as I saw Mabosstiff amble over to the girl. Usually, he'd be outside his Pokeball anyways (not that he had an aversion to the Pokeball, just that he liked being nearby Arven). I was more focused on seeing how well Sally was getting along with Arven, though, the girl still staring starstruck at Miraidon. This is good. I know Arven can get a little clingy, so I was worried how he was going to react to Sally.

"They're sooo cool! Especially Miraidon!" Then the small girl whirled around to face me. "You didn't tell me that Paldea had Pokemon as cool as this!" She accused me, waving her arms to point at Miraidon after having wiped the drool off her face.

"Ha ha, well, you said you were looking to be a Poison Type specialist, so we only focused on them." I suspect that was from how it's more work to be a generalist, and how she loves her Trubbish but is worried about her own skills. Of course, you can be a specialist and still have one or two Pokemon out of Type, right?

"Miraidon is unfortunately one-of-a-kind," I said, and her face drooped. Before she could get too disappointed however, I pulled out my Pokedex. "However, Miraidon is strikingly similar to another Pokemon that's quite plentiful here: Cyclizar. A lot of people ride them around to get places fast." Looking at her face, I could see that she was hooked.

"That's awesome! But wait… I only got permission to catch one Pokemon here," Sally pointed out and I froze. Fuck. But yeah, the form we filled out only allowed for the capture of a single Varoom. There was a good reason for those restrictions, it would be easy for poachers to flout the laws if they could just come in for a few days, grab as many rare Pokemon as they wanted and leave, but it was unfortunate for Sally right now. And I don't even think I'd be able to throw my weight around as Champion here; Cyclizars are part Dragon Type, and the Dragon Clan could easily stop that if I tried to make an adjustment here, and knowing their leader, Dominic definitely would do so.

"It's okay, you can try to catch one next time. For now, you can focus on training up Trubbish, Slowbro, Muk, and Varoom-"

"- Speed Racer. That's uh, his name," Sally added and I smiled.

"That's great. Now, who's up for a nice, light bit of training?" I asked calmly, and not at all with a manic gleam in my eyes. My two friends exchanged a glance and shivered (clearly with anticipation), but Leah stepped in.

"While I'm sure you'd love to play with your friends, it's quite late. Perhaps, young miss, you should get inside and have some food?" My stomach betrayed me by growling loudly at that point, and I acquiesced, walking inside.

***

After the delicious meal (I forgot how much I missed the food here!) We went to bed, tired after a long day. In the morning, I got up well before anyone else and started my training routine. We can't slack off just because school is out. I'm sure Elsa is training at least as hard in whatever icy domain she resides in. Thinking on it, I realized I didn't actually know much about the girl.

She's quite skilled, but doesn't have a very public battle record, not outside of Blueberry Academy at least. I could probably pry further if I asked my parents and used their resources but… nah. I can win this on my own, no need for anything that invasive.

My team and I had been up for a few hours and were well into our training by the time Arven and Sally joined us, the two groggily directed to the beach by Leah. "Alright, you must be ready for some training, right?"

"Uh, sure/yeah, definitely." Despite the lack of enthusiasm in their voices, I could see a fire in their eyes. Sally wants to see what she can do, while Arven wants to show me how far he's come since I left.

"Hmm, alright then. Let's have a quick pair of matches to warm up."

Sally faced me in a double battle, fighting against Anya and Cataphract, with her Trubbish and Varoom. The battle was pretty handily in my favor, but we got to see her try out some good strategies, making use of Taunt to shut down some of my strategies and exceptional use of Speed Racer's Gyro Ball to make up for Slow Start. The fact that both her Pokemon knew Self-Destruct was a shock to both of us, even if it was well used.

Anya was busy picking out some gunk from the top of her head. ['Ugh, this feels gross,'] she told me. From the psychic link I could also tell that the double explosion stung more than a little, even after she used her Sitrus Berry to heal up right beforehand.

"Oh, that's a brilliant idea!"

"What is?" Sally asked as she returned her two fainted Pokemon.

"You should see if you can combine Self-Destruct, and later Explosion, with Moves like Toxic Spikes and Toxic! The blast should help spread the poisonous elements all over the field!" It's not something all of her Pokemon can do, but that's fine. Slowpoke and future Pokemon on her team having different roles will help diversify them.

['That was not what I said! I don't want more gunk on me!'] Anya wailed.

"Goo goo?" Cataphract asked, which basically translated too: 'Why not? This is great!'

I ignored that little byplay, and focused on Sally, who was smiling like she had just learned Nasty Plot. Perfect. I'm sure you'll go far, Sally. Then I turned to Arven, who had been waiting patiently just past the arena. "Alright Arven, show me what you're made of!"

"I want to be on the same level as you, so I'm going to win this time, no holding back!" He declared with an uncharacteristically serious look (which only clashed slightly with his adorable, kid face).

"Alright, show me all you got!" He released Miraidon first, and I sent out Radiance in response. There was no need to trigger the Booster Energy as Miraidon released a field of crackling electricity over the entire arena. Sally gave a shocked gasp at that, seeing the friendly, goofy Miraidon reveal some of their true potential.

Beginning with a few Acid Sprays, I started to chip at Miraidon's defenses. Arven started tossing out Parabolic Charges to at least heal the damage I was doing before going for a big Electro Drift, that would have done massive damage, had it hit.

"Wha- Radiance is so fast! Way faster than before, I even studied their fight against Turtle," he muttered the last part before he refocused, slapping cheeks. "Whatever, we still got this. Miraidon, time for our secret weapon!"

A secret weapon, eh? Well, two can play at that game. "Radiance, shine bright! Dazzling Gleam!" Glittering lights gathered on their six wings, unleashing a powerful burst of Fairy Type energy right at the Dragon Type. It hit the psychic barrier around Arven's Pokemon, dealt impressive damage, nearly enough to take out the legendary with how weakened their scales were from the acid, and then reflected the damage back at Radiance. Wait, reflected the damage back, what?!

"Protect!" I cried, but it wasn't fast enough a warning to stop the extremely powerful Psychic counterstrike from taking down my Paradox Pokemon. "Well done," I said, returning Radiance to their Pokeball.

"Haha, we did it, we won!" Arven declared, rushing up on the field (and deftly maneuvering around the lingering acid) to hug Miraidon.

"Uhh, I do have another Pokemon to send out here," I pointed out, causing him to freeze. "Unless you plan on not giving Mabosstiff a chance to fight."

"O-oh, of course!" He shouted, scrambling back to his end of the arena. "Send your next Pokemon out, we can beat anything you send our way."

"That's more like it! Go, Dun!" I declared, releasing my starter, who stared warily at Miraidon, his tail swaying in the air and spinning in a light show of aggression. "Now lets crank it up, Boomburst!" I declared, while pulling my Tera Orb free and tossing it over at Dun while he inflated himself for the powerful sound-based attack.

"Switch!" Arven called out, returning Miraidon and waiting. Dun, looking quite swollen, stared at him and waited. And waited, unflinching in the face of Arven's tactics. Trying to wait it out and release Mabosstiff immediately afterwards would be a clever play, but Dun can hold the Move for a good while now - you'll run out of the thirty seconds grace time to switch before Dun loses his grip. There were other slight weaknesses to his strategy, like how he hadn't used Volt Switch to try and get some cheap damage in first, but overall, I was proud of how far he had come as a Trainer.

"Alright Mabosstiff, I believe in you! You can win this time!" The dog-like Pokemon cut off his Intimidating growl as he was released to give his Trainer a questioning look. Yeah, Arven probably didn't need to add 'this time' to what he said. It didn't truly matter that the Intimidate wasn't done properly as Dun was wearing a Clear Amulet to stop anything like that.

Copying me, Arven used his own Tera Orb to boost his Starter. Mabosstiff did impressive damage, Biting and Crunching into Dun, but my Pokemon shrugged it off with a few Coils, then a Tailwind for speed before Hyper Drilling into Arven's starter repeatedly. The boy attempted a Reversal, but our training with Athena had us seeing that one a mile away, so I had Dun block it with a Protect before landing a quick Body Press to take out the Dark Type.

"Eheh, looks like we both had a Pokemon fall unconscious. Guess we call this a draw?" He said hopefully. I nodded.

"Sure thing." Though I probably wouldn't have if your fighting spirit was still up, Arven. Miraidon was hurt worse than Dun, but he's taken a beating too, and the Acid Spray I used to weaken the Paradox Legendary is gone too. I honestly don't know that we'd win that fight… then again, Dun don't quit easy. I don't know that we'd lose either, so a draw seems fine.

The training continued after that, the two of them, and their Pokemon, slightly exhausted by the end of it, but we had a lot of fun.

***

Sally had to leave early the next day (too early even for my training times), but she thanked me the night before for all of my help. Then it was just myself, Arven, and the staff at home. Scratch that, Arven is back at his place, helping his dad out. Hmm, I should go talk to them. On my way out the door, I saw Leah, attending to her duties.

"Leah, sorry I didn't get the chance to talk much earlier. How have you been?"

She smiled. "No worries, it's good to see you play with your friends." Leah always was worried about me not 'acting my age' or making enough friends. Can't say the former has really changed, but for the latter… I really do have a bunch of friends now. Probably more close friends than I ever had in my previous life.

She continued, oblivious to my slightly depressing thoughts. "I've been well. It was an adjustment, becoming the major domo, but I think I'm adapting well to the role. I do worry about Arven, though-" She cut herself off before she could go further, but I'd already latched on.

"What's up with Arven? Is it just his father or something else?" I asked Leah. The older woman hesitated before finally admitting:

"I believe he had some issues with his mother. She came by after his father's accident but things were… fraught from what I could tell. I did not inquire deeply." Makes sense she doesn't want to get too entangled in that. He had told me the same which is why over the previous break, I had decided not to visit while Turo was still recovering and just sent a get well card and some flowers.

"Well, thank you. For letting me know and for helping my friend while I was gone. I really appreciate it, and everything you do for us." I said, trying to convey the depth of my gratitude. She reached down and gave me a hug.

"I know, and I'm glad to help." As Leah let me go, she said, "I've heard you're facing some difficulties at school. Is it-?"

"It's fine," I said quickly before answering in a more thoughtful and measured tone. "I mean, it was frustrating at first, but I think I'm on my way to dealing with the problems there. And there has been tons of great stuff too - like, I don't think you've had the chance to properly meet Torkoal yet! I met her there and she's great…"

After spending half an hour regaling her about some of the high points of Blueberry Academy (mostly my friends and the Terarium, much of which I'd already covered in messages before but could go into more depth now), I head off to see Arven. And Turo, it's been too long since I've properly faced him.

"Nemona!" Arven said brightly as I knocked on his door. "C'mon!" He waved me inside. Taking a look around, I saw that the place was a little tidier than before. Not a huge amount, but some of the research notes and projects Turo had been working on had been removed.

Stepping inside, I saw the man himself, Professor Turo. For a moment, he looked just as he always had, but then I noticed how one of the sleeves of his labcoat hung loose,and his hand wasn't in his pocket. How his stubble on his five o'clock shadow was slightly uneven, and the bags under his eyes. Arven said he was better, but how much better?

"Nemona," he said flatly, and the two of us stared at each other, Arven awkwardly caught in the middle.

I'd thought long and hard about what to say to this man. I still wasn't sure it was the right thing to say, but I settled on: "Your research from the Area Zero Underdepths was quite helpful in setting up the Tera Sphere. I don't think it would have been anywhere near as possible without what you did. My condolences on your loss," I added at the end.

There. Short and simple, acknowledging his skills and work, while at the same time bringing up the dangers of going too far, but in a subtle way that shows that I bear him no ill will and want Turo to be well. The man didn't respond for a moment, then dipped his head. "That's good to hear. Would you… like something to eat?"

"Uh sure. Do you have any apples?" Turo nodded, grabbing one from the fridge and passing it to me. As I munched on it, he spoke up again. His words, while still crisp and clear, were slower now, some of the confidence lost to his cadence and demeanour.

"I've looked over the notes Friede and Colress shared regarding their work on the Tera Sphere. It looks… good. Solid. I hadn't heard much of Colress' work since that nasty business with Team Plasma." Arven looked slightly confused at what his dad was referring to, and I realized belatedly that I'd never told my friends about Colress' past, just what he was working on now.

"I've been learning a lot from him," I admitted. "He helped sponsor some of my experiments, checking safety measures and the like. I don't think his desires even changed since then, just the way he goes about his goals. He takes into account the safety of the Trainers and the Pokemon involved as he looks for ways to make them stronger."

"I see," Turo said. His eyes were unfocused, lost in thought. Which I was kinda going for. Hopefully he can see that he can still do science and research, just in safer ways, experiments that don't take him away from his son for years. He didn't speak up again for a few minutes, which left us in an awkward silence until Arven spoke up.

"Hey, we should play a game! We've got umm, oh I just got Sevipers and Archaludons!" He said, holding up the board game that looked somewhat analogous to 'Snakes and Ladders' from my first life.

"Sure, let's play!" Then, to my surprise, Turo sat down with us around the coffee table.

"I don't recall playing this one before. You'll have to tell me the rules," he said, and Arven nodded his head furiously.

Turo sounds so… broken. Defeated. For a moment, I almost wondered if I had changed things for the better, but then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught him smiling slightly at his son's enthusiastic (and slightly out-of-order) description of the rules of the game.

No, this is waaaaay better than the alternative. He might still need some time to recover, but Turo will. He has a whole life ahead of him with his son now. Oh, I better start paying attention, this is sounding a lot more complicated than Snakes and Ladders, more like the board game 'Life'.

We spent the morning playing together and it was generally quite fun. Lunch was fine, though I noticed how some things in the kitchen were still a bit difficult for Turo to manage. After that, Turo said, "I'll be going down to sort through my equipment."

"Again?" Arven whined, though he stopped quickly when his dad turned around. "I just mean, you've done it a lot, and you said how the League had 'taken your life's work,' already, so I didn't think there was much else to go through." In other circumstances, I'd have found it funny how Arven was adopting a posture and tone similar to my own when trying to convince his father. Given what he's talking about here though-

"Hey, Nemona! You're the Champion, can't you just order the League to give everything back?" Arven turned to me, his face bright, as if he had solved all the problems in the world. My mind froze long enough for him to ask a follow up with, "Well, can't you?"

"That might be a bit difficult, even for me. Besides, Turo might have just lost that equipment, right?" My smile turned a tad sharper as I faced him.

"... I hadn't realized you'd heard me complaining," he said in a softer voice to his son before addressing me. "You're correct Nemona, I have no need to blame the League for that. I've probably just… lost those pieces. I should work on cleaning up the lab properly; it'll help me focus better and not lose things in the future."

Before he left for his basement lab, he stopped at the door and asked, "About that Tera Sphere… I have some ideas on how to improve it. The Stellar Terastalization I discovered down in the underdepths, I have some ideas on how to synthesize the Tera Crystals to change ones Tera Type to it. I might be able to modify the Sphere to induce 'natural' Stellar Terastalizations within the Terarium. If you think they would be interested in that."

"Of course! That sounds amazing. So long as it's what you're interested in pursuing." This would be great for me and battling in particular but I don't want him to feel like he owes me or he's pressured to work on what I want.

"I offered it," he said bluntly. While it could be seen as a bit snappish, I was used to it. He acted like this all the time before. Hopefully it's a good sign.

With that, he shuffled off. Arven looked confused, but shrugged it off a second later, the way kids could. "Wanna play tag?"

A few minutes later, after complaining about how fast I was, we switched to a different game (hide & seek), with which he did pretty well (after I deliberately didn't use my Aura at all). As we were playing, I asked him, "What happened with your mom coming here?"

"I dunno. It was… rough. Dad was yelling at her, she was yelling at him, but he was hurt and I was upset… She helped around the house for a bit, then when Dad could get out of bed again, she left." He was quiet for a minute before adding, "I didn't want to be mad at her, didn't even realize I was. When I saw her in-person for the first time in a super duper long time I just felt angry."

"That happens sometimes. It can be hard to accurately predict even how we'll feel about something. I think if you let her know how you were feeling, and how you still love her and all, it'll help a bunch."

"Okay. Do you think Mom and Dad will ever say that to each other?"

Oh boy. "Umm, I think that's really up to them," I said as diplomatically as I could. "Now, do you want Miles to show you some of the cool photos we took of the Terarium?"

"Yeah!"

***

That was one awkward family dynamic, but thankfully things were much better with my own family. Mother and Father had been busy over the weekdays, barely seeing me then, but with my sister free on the weekend all of us were able to come together.

"Ahh, our darling daughters, we've missed you so much!" Mom said, hugging us both tightly. Cyan squirmed a bit in her grip, in the way that said she was a teenager and felt she was too old for such public affection but also deeply glad to see our mom again.

"Indeed, our lives are missing some of their luster without you! Ah, I wish we could have taken you with us on our trip."" Dad declared as he hugged me. "And you as well, even if we've seen you more recently," he told Cyan.

"I already said it was fine," I told him, laughing as we got settled in the living room. "How was your time in Kalos?"

"It was wonderful! Oh, we have so many photos to show you! Come, let's go to the theatre room now, I'll put them on the projector," my mom declared imperiously, sweeping through the house. I think you've already shared a lot of these when we chatted.

My prediction was proven mostly true, but it was still fun to see what they had to say about them all.

"Ahh, this is from-"
"And here's where we-"
"Oh, show her this one next, Nims is gonna love this!"

"Wow, that sounds awesome." I said, and I noticed a flash of guilt on Cyan's face. "What's wrong?"

"Just- I'm sorry you didn't get to come with us on the trip."

I waved her off. "It's fine Cy, I knew we wouldn't all be able to make it on a trip together, and I'm glad you guys had fun. Besides, we can always visit again. And you didn't see all Kalos has to offer over your Regi week, did you? We can go to Lumiose in the future, maybe check out the Tower of Mastery, that kind of stuff."

"That's right," O'Nare chimed in. "I'm surprised the remodeling is taking so long in their city. No offense to them, but I think if we had been given the redevelopment contract over Quasartico Inc., we would have had it done by now!"

"Ah, that's Glitterati excellence for you!" Billy said, clapping his hands at his wife's boast.

"Huh, why didn't you develop things there?" I asked. "Did Quasartico offer to get the job done for less?"

"No, or rather, we never got to that stage. The Lumiose League was rather circumspect about certain aspects, but fairly early on they made it clear they wanted to keep it within Kalos." Guess that makes sense that they wouldn't want a Paldean realty group to be deciding the development of their capital city, though it is kinda weird how things are taking so long there.

"What have you been up to?" My sister asked, and now it was my turn to feel a pang of guilt, which I quickly smothered.

"Well, I helped my friend Sally catch her first Pokemon here, I think I've got some pictures of her Varoom zooming around," I said as I pulled up my phone to project some of those onto the screen. "There he is, zipping around the canyon, there's Sally catching him, ah, don't worry about the marks on the kitchen floor there, I think the staff has mostly scrubbed those out by now. Arven, Sally, and I played a ton before she had to go. Oh, and I said hi to Arven's Dad. Turo's not great, but it sounds like he's getting better…"

I'm not upset about the time I spent with my friends, but being honest with myself, and I probably could have left school early for the trip to Kalos. I've just been so focused on Elsa and the Elite Four that I-

"You okay Nims?" Cyan's question brought me out of my thoughts, and I saw that my sister and our parents were looking at me with concern.

"I'm fine. Just… thinking about school and the League Club." I had been tempted not to worry them about that, but then I remembered Leah's words before we left.

"You sure you don't need a hand dealing with them? I could transfer over-"

"No! Thank you," I told her, touched by her determination. "But things are fine. I won my first battle against the League Club! Ares was a jerk just as we left for the break, but I'll deal with him soon enough. Once me and my friends win we can make the League Club and school a better place. And we will."

"Alright honey, we trust you. But if anything like that incident with that Death girl happens again, let us know," mom said. Let you know so you can leverage your connections and economic might to crush her. It was an amusing fantasy, but I didn't indulge long, turning my attention to happier thoughts.

"I will. Hey, I haven't properly introduced you to my newest teammates, have I?" They had seen them via video calls, but that wasn't the same. "Presenting, the tough, tenacious, Testudinidae! And the youngest member, the stalwart Cataphract!" I called out, releasing the two Pokemon.

They burst out, proudly strutting (or in Cataphract's case, slithering) about. My parents reacted with appropriate levels of awe, handing out much praise. Seeing everyone adoring them and the two of them fitting in with my family easily filled my heart with much joy. Well, almost everyone. In the background, I saw some of the staff twitch at the sight of them - or rather the charcoal shaking out of Test's shell and the slime trail Cat left behind. I'm sure it's fine; there's got to be plenty of tools to clean up after Pokemon in this world, right?

"Oh, here's some photos of Cat when they were a Goomy- no, Cat, stop it!" I cried, laughing slighting as my newest Dragon tried to desperately cover up my phone with goo to stop my parents and sister from seeing his 'baby pictures.' "You know they've already seen some of these, right?"

"Sliggoo?!"

"Yeah, it's the same as how you heard Arven before you met him," I informed my youngest Pokemon, explaining how the internet and text messages worked. His antenna drooped down before I patted the top of his head. "Don't worry about them seeing you without a shell before; it just makes your transformation even more magnificent!"

"Goo goo!" Cat declared proudly, perking up.

"Indeed," my sister confirmed. "And you're not the only one," she said, running a hand over Testudinidae's warm shell. "Got a new theme going huh? The Great and Powerful Turtle would be proud" Cyan said cheekily and I shook my head.

"Ha ha, very funny. But Cat is more snail-themed than turtle-" then I paused, an idea coming to me as I processed her words. "However, he might have some defensive tips for them. And the school is about to implement a new system to invite tutors in…" Looks like the new year will be shaping up in an interesting fashion.

Those were thoughts for the future, however. For now, I decided to enjoy the time I had with my family, regaling them and being regaled in turn with tales of what we had done since we were last together. It left me with a wonderful fuzzy feeling inside that I could never articulate better than 'home.' It's good to be back.

Spoiler: A/N:

A brief foray back home before Nemona heads back to the frontlines school. With a side order of Sally and her growth as a trainer too! Oh, and for anyone not familiar, Varooms can have the hidden ability Slow Start, which is very bad in a fight, but when they evolve to Revavrooms, it becomes Filter, an amazing Ability, so that's where the pun/metaphor above came from. I feel it's kinda a good descriptor for Sally herself too (and I do love it when the Pokemon on the team reflect the trainer and vice versa). Let me know what you thought of this event down below or on the the Discord. And if you want to read more and have a bit of money to toss my way, I have a a Kofi and a Patreon, subscribers to the latter get early access to the next ten chapters. Thank you, and I hope you're having a great day.

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 58 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, and Garreon LeFay, my Ace Tier patreons! Your support means so much to me.

"Nemona," Elsa said curtly to me, nodding her head as I entered the club room. There was no one else inside it yet, besides her and I. Walking over, I saw the four unique chairs assembled near the end of the table (not counting the massive, ice throne that Elsa sat in herself). Glancing up from her Rotom Phone, she gestured at the solid oak chair. "You can take Cassandra's chair for now, and we'll replace it with something more fitting after the meeting."

"Fine," I grunted, hefting the heavy chair back and then sliding in. I didn't really care about the chair, but was more annoyed even being here. Can't really blame Elsa for this one as it was part of my plan. Turns out becoming a member of the Elite Four means I need to attend meetings the Elite Four have to attend, who would have guessed?

I was five minutes early to the meeting, but it didn't take long for the rest of the Elites to trickle in. Ares was the latest, however, cutting it so close that when he walked in just as it became 6 o'clock, that I knew he had to have been purposefully timing it so. That, and I heard him waiting just outside the door for the last minute. I do love my Aura sometimes.

Elsa barely glanced at him, deciding to not give that stunt any extra attention. "We can begin. This is our first meeting of the term and we have a new member," she gestured at me. I just raised an eyebrow. What am I supposed to do? Wave? Introduce myself? I think we all know each other by this point.

The League Club Champion continued. "This is our first meeting after the break. We hold these once a month to check in on the status of the club, its members, and the facilities we look after. Each of the elites has an arena to look after. We let non-League Club members use it for a modest fee, and some League Club members may request tutelage from you for some BP." Elsa's words were mostly for me, but I got the feeling she was stating them as a refresher for some other members too.

"How much does that cost them?" I asked.

Atticus began to answer. "For using the arena, it's fairly cheap, only 10 BP per participant - though they are on the hook for any damages caused. As for tutelage-"

"However much you can wring out of them!" Ares answered.

"Really? You're not exactly desperate for money, and I'm sure you could buy anything you'd need BP for." I pointed out. He just laughed.

"Of course I can! But it's more fun to watch them squirm. Well, unless they're cool, like my bros, I don't charge them at all." With an attitude like that, it's no wonder some of the other students turned to me for help.

"Focus," Elsa's icy voice cut through the room. "You'll be given a stipend of 2000 BP a month as the fourth ranked Elite in the club, which increases slightly with each rank you rise. You can use these funds as you wish." She paused, then added, "Since your duties require you to keep the arena in the Canyon Biome running, I recommend you use some of those funds to hire other League Club members to watch over it when you're unavailable. Speaking of which," the white-haired girl said, turning to Charlotte. "There have been reports you've left your arena unattended for large stretches of time. That's unacceptable, especially from the highest Elite of the club."

The girl in question just leaned back in her chair, shrugging. "It's only in the morning, I don't have anyone to cover it then. You can't expect anyone to get up this early, it's a pain." It was indeed quite early, one of the reasons why no one else was using the club room right now. Elsa didn't seem impressed however, crossing her arms.

"Right now? Sure. But there have been cases where the arena is unattended up to 1 in the afternoon."

"Make… me." Charlotte began defiantly, but ended far less so as the room suddenly dropped in temperature, the Champion girl flexing her Aura. It didn't stop the Alolan girl from rolling her eyes, but she recognized the power that Elsa had and stopped talking back at least. "Ugh, that's going to seriously cut into my snack fund."

"Just bully some brats to watch over the place for you," Ares said. "I could even lend you some of my guys if you'd-"

"Fuck off," Charlotte casually said, flipping him off for added emphasis. "I'm not gonna date your weak bitch ass." The boy ground his teeth in response, his previous lecherous grin turned to a nasty frown.

I caught a slight sigh, a sound that no one else could have heard from Elsa. Her face seemed to say 'see what I have to put up with?' But she quickly schooled her features again and I wasn't sure if I imagined the expression. "If our Elites are short a few helpers, we have some new students who have joined the club since Cassandra left-"

"Wait, Cassandra left the club entirely? Why?" Elsa glared at me for interrupting, but Ares was the one to respond to my question.

"Because she realized she had no potential? Girl was a tryhard that couldn't cut it and you finally knocked her loose from the ledge she was hanging onto."

Atticus added, "The entire purpose of this club is about each of us striving to be the best. When she realized she couldn't succeed at this level, she left. It was for the best, for everyone."

"If you're all done," Elsa said sarcastically. "I've sent you a list of new students who have joined the club. Use them if they're helpful to you, if not, ignore them. Do not run them out of the club because you 'don't recognize them.'" Elsa said with a pointed stare at Ares. "As for your duties, I don't care how you do it, but don't slack off on them. Now, are there any questions? Any concerns about the League Club or its members?"

No one else rushed to answer, so I spoke up. "I've got a question. The arena is in a pretty good spot for me, so when I beat Ares and rank up, can I still keep it as my arena?" That earned a low 'oooh' from Charlotte and a good natured chuckle from Atticus, watching as the bully boy in question all but snarled at me.

Elsa waved it off. "That's fine. Any changes among the rank can have the winner choosing which arena they wish to claim as their own. Oh, and we have a new system that Cyrano installed," she said, waving at a computer monitor in the back of the room. "It's rather costly in BP to pay for the temporary lodgings and amenities, but we can call in 'tutors' or anyone else from outside the region to temporarily stay here. Use it if you want. That computer is also where you can make requests for remodeling the Club room, though for the Elites, that's just your chair and locker."

Feels a little unfair that she gets everything else in the room to change to her own desires, but this isn't a democracy. At least the snowy theme looks kinda pretty and is on brand for her. When no one else spoke up, Elsa clapped her hands. "Meeting adjourned." With that she got up, swiftly exiting the room.

The others left quickly, though Atticus at least stopped by to say, "Congratulations. While I wasn't able to watch, I heard your match against Cassandra was well done."

"Thanks," I said after a moment, politeness internally warring with the desire to get away from this slimy guy.

"Do you intend on challenging Elsa next?" He inquired.

"No, I'm going to trash all of you before taking down her," I said brightly and Atticus stiffened up slightly.

"I see." He left then, but not before tossing out one final line. "Don't be so quick to look down at all of us - not everyone here is as weak as Cassandra was." Yeah, sure. Whatever you want to tell yourself.

Part of me wanted to go up and challenge him, but there was someone else I'd been practicing and studying to fight first. That and Ares and his friends have been picking on Sally and other students, so I kinda want to get rid of that bully first. But before any of that I should probably get things settled at my arena.

2000 BP seemed like a lot, and it was by most student's standards, but compared to what I could earn by running through a bunch of BBQs, it probably wasn't worth the time spent watching over the arena (though part of that was due to the speed in which I could run through the BBQs). Hmm, I could get some of my friends to watch over the arena for me. I could toss them some BP and with enough of them on a schedule it wouldn't really cut into any of their training time.

***

"So that's what it's like being a big shot Elite Four, huh?" Drayton asked sarcastically, looking around at the arena. Carmine, Lacey, Sally, Chumley, and Judai were here as well (Kieran conspicuously absent from the picture despite my invitation to the Kitakami boy).

"Yeah," I responded, still thinking about how my first meeting with them had gone. I'd skimmed over it for the most part for my friends, but I couldn't shake how wrong the entire meeting felt. That's why we need to change things. "So uhh, if I could get your help in looking after the arena, that'd be great! I've got a ton of BP I can give you guys for it and we can work out a schedule that works for everyone."

Admittedly I planned for Kieran to be here too, but I can adjust the plan for six other people- "Umm, is it okay for us to watch over it?" Sally pointed out. "Big bro, Chumley, and I aren't part of the club so…"

"Ugh," I groaned. "You're right, I can't see Elsa being okay with that."

"Who cares what that frozen bitch thinks?" Carmine shouted, and I wondered if she would have said that had her brother been here. I feel like Carmine probably would have tempered her words around him, not wanting him to learn any 'bad words' like that. Or at least, to not learn them from her and have Kieran get in trouble from him repeating them.

Drayton seemed unfazed and Lacey was a bit surprised by the harsh language, but not shocked either. I gave Carmine a smile. "I appreciate the support and agree with the sentiment, but as she's still the leader of the club, I'll have to follow her orders. For now, at least. I'd rather spend as little time getting lectured in the Club Room as possible." I do still need to figure out a way to make this work though.

Despite those difficulties, we hammered out a plan that worked with all of our schedules. I'd still be spending the most time out of the four of us running the arena, but I could do much of my training there. One upside to all this is that I won't get too many challengers up here. The Canyon Biome, at least for the arena up here, saw some of the least traffic from the student body. Even the Polar Biome saw more students at its arena, if only because it was low to the ground and close-ish to one of the entrances.

Before Carmine left, I pulled her aside to ask, "How's Kieran doing?" She immediately frowned.

"Kiki's gotten… obsessed. He's training non-stop and barely talks to anyone. I know you've been busy with taking down the League Club, we all have, but you at least message us if you're going on a training binge in the Terarium. Even when we came back home, he was fixated on training."

"Did he seek out Oge- the Ogre?" I was shocked when Carmine shook her head. Seriously? I didn't think anything could break his focus on her. The tall girl's next words mollified me only slightly.

"Well, he went to the den and left a message once. Mumbled something about how he 'had to get strong enough to be worthy of their friendship' or something. I dunno, he talks under his breath way too much, he needs to speak up." I hid a grin at watching Carmine's overprotective elements kick in. She might pick on him at times, but that is clearly a right reserved just for her. I think I saw her nearly take out someone's eye on Ares' little bully squad when they tried to pick on him.

Distantly, I wondered if part of Carmine's overprotective attitude was because their parents were gone. In any case, Kieran really isn't doing great. "I'm sorry to hear that. Keep an eye on him and I'll see what I can do. If it gets any worse, we might try to hold an intervention or something."

"Thanks," Carmine said with a tired smile before leaving as well. This left me alone with my thoughts… for about three seconds, until I heard a shuffling coming from the edge of the forested section past the arena. Turning around, I spotted Cassandra shuffling through the trees. She must have been waiting till I was alone, probably to talk to me. I don't think she could have overheard us talking from over there, unless her hearing is as keen as mine.

When she emerged from the forest, I saw her hair was no longer dyed, the natural black and grey tinged coloration coming back through her roots. She wasn't wearing her black leather jacket any more either. "Cassandra," I said in greeting. This elicited a shocked screech from her, likely because I had slipped around the side, using the arena to cover my approach before floating up and around to land behind her.

"Arceus, why'd you fucking do that?" She growled. I didn't answer, just stood there with my arms crossed. I feel like this would be more intimidating if I wasn't ten years old and much shorter than her.

It was my turn to be surprised when Cassandra let the anger bleed out and said, "I'm sorry. For… stomping off like that after the match. You did good and I blamed you for stuff that wasn't your fault. The stuff about you being rich was just because I'm an orphan and been poor all my life. Had to fight for every scrap I could take, and I was just-" she blew out a sigh, as if coming up with the words was difficult. "Angry, I guess."

The confession shocked me enough that I didn't respond for a minute, until she got angry enough again to almost turn away and I called, "Wait! Umm, thank you, I appreciate that." I really do; it's not easy to admit you've done something wrong, and even more so to come up and apologize when I don't think there was anyone else pressuring her to do so. She could have felt bad about it but never talked to me again and no one would have blamed her.

"Why did you leave the League Club?" I asked. The older girl tensed up a bit, clearly unused to people asking about her without some pretext.

"I'm not gonna beat you. I put everything I had into that fight. Ever since you kids made your little declaration you were gunning for us, I prepared so hard. Especially for you, the Champion of another region. But I wasn't enough. And you might say, 'I could try again' or maybe I could take out one of the others and cling onto a spot for a bit, and I might be able to. But being in that club was just… stressful. Everything, your whole life becomes about trying to be the best, beating everyone above you and watching out for everyone below, at any cost. I need to take a break, find out what I really want, and what's best for my team."

She looks so tired. A girl of seventeen shouldn't look that way. "I'm- we're going to make the League Club a better place!" I told her. She gave me a small smile.

"Best of luck with that, Nemona. I'm heading out of here at the end of this year, but I hope you make it better. Or at least don't get wrapped up in their Taurosshit. Oh, and watch out for Ares, you hear? Taking a step back gave me some perspective, and I reviewed my old fights with him. Sure, he had Type advantage, but that jerk doesn't like to play fair; if he looks like he has one trick up his sleeves, he probably has another, as much as he acts like just some thug." With that, Cassandra had clearly exhausted her energy talking, giving me an airy wave goodbye as she walked away.

That was… unexpected. But appreciated. Alright, with everything set up, there's no point delaying. Time to knock Ares down a peg.

***

"What do you mean 'no?'" My question earned me a jeering look from the older boy.

"Weren't you supposed to be some sorta brainiac? Better go back to kindergarten if you don't even know what 'no' means. Distortion, kindergarten might be too much for you!"

"Hah! Good one," One of his cronies, a boy called Landon, cheered.

"I'm making a formal challenge, offering Blueberry Points to challenge you, you can't just-" I cut myself off, realizing he was just trying to rile me up. "Under what grounds are you refusing?" I demanded.

"My buddy, Landon here, just challenged me to a match."

"Uh, I did?" The other boy asked before receiving an elbow to his side. "I mean, yeah, course I did."

"You gotta give me three days after my battle till you can challenge me - can't have us Elites being worn down by constant challenges from the riff raff."

"Fine," I said, stomping off. So he buys himself a few days, so what? It won't make a huge difference. I'll just keep on training till I can take him down.

Unfortunately, I found the same problem when I found him in the Club Room three days later and challenged him once again. "Sorry, you're too late. I just got another challenge from Randy." Ares said with a smirk while his friends laughed. I bit back a frown.

"Surely, you've put up the Blueberry Points for the challenge, correct?" I turned, asking Randy, rather than Ares. The laughing boy paused, looking a bit uncomfortable as the others in the League Club turned to him.

"I don't-" he began before Ares cut him off.

"Hey, let me just transfer you the Blueberry Points for that thing," Ares waved it off, his Rotom Phone floating up and sending the points to Randy.

"Oh right, yeah." I saw Randy then send the challenge request to Ares.

"Wait, he hadn't even challenged you yet!" I pointed out.

"Don't be such a stickler for the rules," Ares said, which was the wrong thing to say. He had his back to her, but I could see Elsa frowning at him. "So what if he forgot to formalize it already, he told me and made it clear beforehand. Stop being a pest." There's something more going on here; I feel like he's aiming for something more than just annoying me or trying to endlessly stall.

"If you're so tired of this, let's settle things quickly. I want to book my match against you after this." I tried to have Miles send the request, but it was blocked as Randy's 'challenge' had already gone through. I haven't researched his lackeys much, but none of them are anywhere near Ares' skill, like most of the Leaguers.

"Sorry, but there's no method to arrange a challenge ahead of time. Just be quicker in the future," he mockingly offered.

"Perhaps there should be such a method," Elsa cut in, causing Ares' small crew to freeze. The Elite himself flinched, turning to face her as she continued. "I don't want slackers abusing their position, after all. Especially if they don't deserve it." The unspoken accusation was icy, though the room didn't grow any colder (it was always a little chilly compared to outside, likely due to the unmelting throne of ice she had).

"I deserve my spot," Ares bristled. "Fine, I know my boys have been waiting to challenge me so let's get…" I saw him doing the mental calculation and stepped in.

"Just tell me how many days you want to postpone things so we can set the match for after then," I said bluntly. He grit his teeth, either at being 'ganged up on'by Elsa and myself or being called out, I didn't know, but he bit out an answer.

"Sixteen days should be enough time to get what I need." Curious turn of phrase that. He's got something else in mind beyond just trying to study how my team fights. In any case, that does give me enough time to try something I would have otherwise saved til afterwards. I nodded and Elsa overriding the usual system with her Champion clearance, putting my challenge into the system, the requisite BP taken from my account.

"The match will be in the central Terarium court sixteen days hence." Who says hence? Hmm, I'm detecting a bit of that accent again. "Don't be late," she said, ostensibly to both of us, but clearly directed more at the rude boy than myself. As Ares left (with a gesture that could be charitably described as a wave, or more accurately described as a finger shot of flipping us the bird), the Champion of the League Club turned to me.

"I'm surprised you let him push you around. You could have easily pushed for an earlier match," she commented. "Or have you gotten cold feet upon approaching your goal?"

I snorted. "Hardly. But I want him to be at his best. I want all of you at your very best before I challenge, and crush you. Leaving no doubt who stands on top," I declared, staring up directly into her pretty, pale blue eyes.

Elsa laughed, a sound almost masking her battle lust, the eagerness I saw in her hands twitching towards the Pokeballs she carried. "Very well, we'll see how far you can climb… before being dashed against the mountainside by the storm." She leaned in, finishing in a low voice.

We held our stare off for a moment, before I asked, "... so, or you supposed to be the blizzard, or the mountain in this metaphor? The blizzard makes the most sense because I'm not climbing you, but what's the mountain th-?"

"It was just meant to sound cool, don't go questioning it too deeply!" Elsa shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. The other club members listening in on our interaction laughed, muffling themselves at her sweeping glare before she stormed out.

I left as well, but not before putting in a quick request at the terminal. With this extra time before our fight, I might as well get some extra tutelage from… not exactly a friend, but he's an acquaintance that might really be able to help my new Pokemon.

Spoiler: A/N:

Sorry if this one is a bit short, I hurt my shoulder a bit and my writing speed slowed down a a fair bit. Don't have much else to say here, so I hope you all are doing well.