Chapter 130 (Patreon)

Snowpoint didn’t have a dedicated arena. Instead, one of the public battlefields had been reserved and turned into a proper stage for our fight. Large, temporary bleachers had been assembled around the sides, and bright floodlights were pointed downwards. However, as this battle was taking place in the middle of the day, those lights seemed to be there to serve for heat rather than illumination.

I had a somewhat unusual team with me, as both Gardevoir and Rapidash would be making their "professional" debuts here. It was a bit of a risk for Gardevoir, especially, as he had significantly less experience than every other Pokémon here. Still, though, he needed to participate if we were to win against Tobias.

Despite Rapidash being with me, Togepi was not. Since this would be a six versus six battle, she was currently being taken care of by everyone at the ranch. As far as I knew, they had actually all gathered up in the lab to watch the match.

Candice and I were in our opposite positions as the audience slowly filed in. I was in my usual jacketed outfit while she was wearing a cyan turtleneck and a short skirt. Notably, she didn't look cold in the slightest.

There weren't as many people here due to Snowpoint's relatively isolated position in Sinnoh. However, this match was purposefully taking place on a weekend to allow more people to tune in to its broadcast.

As the time for our match ticked closer and closer to the start, a large screen on the back of a seating area flicked on. Sycamore appeared with Togepi in his arms, funnily enough. She waved to the entire world as he did his usual discussion of Mega Evolution before the battle started.

I was in a good mood. This would be just like our last two show battles, with the same general rules, but Candice was rated to be the hardest opponent we would face. However, my team had been training. I had no doubts in my mind about our victory.

"And, without further ado," Sycamore's voice rang out, "let the battle begin!"

His announcement was punctuated by a chirrup from Togepi as both Candice and I sent out our Pokémon.

"Mawile!" I yelled.

"Slowking!" Candice shouted.

I blinked at her choice. For an Ice Type specialist, I expected her to have a team of Ice Types, which Slowking was not.

Regardless, I wasn't going to let our unexpected opponent distract us. Mawile was already running forward when I shouted her first command.

"Taunt!"

Mawile mumbled her usual taunting words, engaging Slowking and forcing it to solely use attacking moves. Candice clicked her tongue in annoyance and gave her own order to her Pokémon to start it off.

"Chilling Water!"

I wasn't familiar with the move, but I could guess what it did. A burst of water splashed from Slowking's mouth to coat Mawile in the freezing liquid. She shivered, but was otherwise unaffected by the stat change it would have applied. Her Hyper Cutter meant her attack wasn't lowered in the slightest.

Slowking made no moves to dodge as Mawile approached. It simply kept its front limbs behind its back, waiting for Mawile to come to it. Her jaws lashed forward when it was in range for a Crunch, but the gemstone on the spiral Shellder on its head glowed, and Mawile was lifted up in the air.

Months ago, this might have been it for Mawile. She'd sparred with Rapidash enough to know how to escape.

"Dark Pulse," I said, just to narrate it.

A burst of Dark Type energy exploded out from her body, disrupting the telekinesis and slamming into Slowking. As it reeled back from the super effective damage, she continued forward to lash her mouth forward and clamp down on its side with Crunch.

Its eyes widened from pain. Taunt finally wore off. Candice used this moment to have it use a certain utility move.

"Chilly Reception!" she yelled.

Slowking looked down at Mawile. She looked back up at it and tilted her head, as if she was listening to something.

Then, her expression fell as Slowking burst into laughter. I could already imagine what it might have said.

"That's snow way to treat a king," perhaps.

Regardless, the chillingly bad joke caused a snow storm to form above, almost like a divine punishment. Slowking then zapped back into its Pokéball, the move allowing it to return despite our rules limiting doing that manually.

So that's how she wants to play it, huh?

Candice smiled as she sent out her second Pokémon, which gave me flashbacks to one of Mawile's fights in the Hoenn Conference. However, she had learned a lot since then. One Mamoswine wouldn't do her in.

"Get on its back!" I ordered.

“Stomping Tantrum!”

Mamoswine charged as its feet slammed into the floor of the arena, bringing up dirt and clumps of snow with each massive footstep. With its ability, Snow Cloak, it was hard to see, but the Pokémon was so heavy, and its move was bringing up so much debris, that Mawile was actually having an easy time tracking it.

As it neared, she braced herself for impact, but rather than taking it head on, she leaped to the side and grabbed onto Mamoswine’s thick fur. Then, she began to climb.

“Fall to your side!” Candice yelled.

“Like we planned!” I countered.

Mamoswine swung its body over, trying to crush  Mawile under its weight. However, she was prepared, as by expending a considerable sum of Rock Type energy, two large pillars of stone erupted out next to her to have Stone Edge dig into the Pokémon.

Mamoswine let out a low moan of pain, but the Stone Edge wasn’t enough to stop it. Too heavy to be held up like that, it successfully landed right on top of Mawile.

I honestly thought that was it. Then, the middle of Mamoswine’s body lurched. Somehow, Mawile managed to use Iron Head from underneath Mamoswine’s furry body.

“Thrash!” Candice yelled.

Thrash might have been a Normal Type move, which Mawile resisted, but it was incredibly powerful, especially since she was stuck under it. Mamoswine flailed and rolled, still on its side, dealing heavy, critical damage to Mawile.

A referee off to the side suddenly blew their whistle. As Thrash was a move that lasted longer than other moves, Candice was forced to return her Mamoswine to give me line of sight to the clearly fainted Mawile.

I returned my Pokémon as Candice sent Mamoswine back out. The whistle had been blown to prevent unnecessary damage being inflicted on a fainted Pokémon.

In accordance with the rules, there was a brief moment where Candice had to re-order her Pokémon to use Thrash. I supposed I could have waited for the move to end to make the most out of the inevitable confusion it inflicted, but I decided to instead make the most out of its lack of control.

Ninetales was sent out.

“Ice Beam,” I ordered quickly.

Now, Ninetales had been training with Altaria for quite some time. She had constantly been using Ice Beam these past few weeks to provide a hazard for Altaria to fly around. As a result, Ice Beam was coming out faster than ever, and practically the same instance Ninetales hit the dirt, a blast of freezing cold energy struck Mamoswine between the eyes.

Mamoswine reared up at the attack, but all that did was allow Ninetales to land a second Ice Beam right on its chest.

That attack caused it to fully tumble backwards, unconscious.

“Incredible, Ninetales. I didn’t expect your opponent to faint anywhere near as fast.”

Slowking’s Chilly Reception had struck up this snow storm, and Ninetales’s Snow Warning had maintained it. Despite that, I could tell she was smirking even with the lack of vision I had on her.

Candice eyed the snowstorm over the field, holding her hand hovering over her Pokéballs. After a few moments of careful consideration, she selected one that was pure white and tossed it forward, causing a blue quadruped to appear on the field.

“Glaceon,” she stated calmly.

Both Ninetales and Glaceon took one look at the other, lowered their heads, and growled.

It seemed like some Pokémon were just not meant to be friends.

Neither Candice nor I ordered it, but both Ninetales and Glaceon immediately began to conjure a Blizzard. The storm itself seemed to fade slightly due to how much raw snow each Pokémon was controlling. They built, and built, and built, until finally, both Pokémon screamed their names and sent their Ice Type moves forward.

The two Blizzards collided then spread out. Neither reached their target, but now more than ever, the field was obscured with white.

“Confuse Ray. Icy Wind,” I ordered.

“Swift. Copycat,” Candice said.

Bursts of yellow appeared in the snowstorm, but their source and target were obscured to everyone watching. There was a flash of a sickly grayish purple as Ninetales used Confuse Ray, but I couldn’t tell if it landed or not. Similarly, the Icy Wind that Ninetales used and Glaceon mimicked was too obscured to tell if either of them had been slowed.

There was a burst of black from a Dark Pulse, then there was a smear of purple from a Shadow Ball. The temporary increase in the storm faded, and now both Ninetales and Glaceon appeared.

Both Pokémon were standing off, their heads lowered and teeth exposed. Ninetales’s mane was matted and sticking up from the attacks she took, and Glaceon’s fur was now messy and had lost its natural gloss. They glared at one another, panting heavily. Both Candice and I ordered one last attack.

“Moonblast!”

“Mirror Coat!”

I was too late to stop Ninetales.

As I watched the extremely powerful Fairy Type move be sent forward, Glaceon flashed blue to send it back right when it was hit. The Ice Type was sent hurtling backwards from the impact, but opposite to it, so was the Moonblast.

The Fairy Type move had been sent out with such force and speed, Ninetales didn’t react in time to dodge. She wasn’t expecting a need to avoid her own attack, as an enhanced, duplicated version of Moonblast slammed into her chest thanks to Glaceon’s Mirror Coat sending it back her way.

Both Ninetales and Glaceon were returned to their Pokéballs. I was completely lost as to why they hated each other right off the bat, but I knew this’d put Ninetales on edge for days since she didn’t win.

Candice confidently made her next choice before I could even send a Pokémon out. Returning to the field was Slowking, but despite the damage it took from Mawile, it seemed that a good chunk of its wounds had passively healed.

“Interesting,” I mumbled. “It probably has the Regenerator ability to heal when its not on the field.”

Weighing my options, I decided to go for a risk. Gardevoir needed the experience, but he was definitely weaker than practically every Pokémon here. I had to hope that he could at least take out an already injured opponent.

At least, his Shadow Ball would give him the Type advantage.

Gardevoir hit the field, and of course, Slowking didn’t stay. Before he could use any move, Candice shouted for a “Chilly Reception!” and Slowking disappeared after telling a horribly bad ice-related pun.

I still didn’t hear anything other than its name, but I could properly imagine it. Slowking probably said something like, “Icy no reason to stay out,” or something similar. Gardevoir looked disgusted.

The snow was refreshed, Candice had her choice of who to send out next. Personally, I knew Gardevoir would have no way to face her Froslass, if she chose it. The Ghost Type would be able to avoid too many of Gardevoir’s moves for him to be able to put up a fight. Interestingly enough, however, it wasn’t Froslass that coalesced onto the field. Instead, Weavile appeared in a flash of light.

I frowned, seeing that. Personally, I considered that choice a mistake, but a Weavile would have a disadvantage to any Pokémon on my team due to its Dark Type. Perhaps she wanted to get the most use out of it possible against a weaker opponent?

Regardless, Weavile immediately dashed off towards Gardevoir and proved itself much faster than him. A claw struck forward in an attempt to hit with a sneaky Sucker Punch, but he quickly set up a Reflect to prevent it from getting close.

I didn’t need to say anything as Gardevoir teleported away, as I wanted him to. Ice grew off of Weavile’s claws and was flung forward in an Ice Shard that unfortunately hit Gardevoir in his stomach. He already looked rather wounded.

“Gardevoir, your Psychic won’t work here. I gave you your held item for a reason. Use it.”

He was forced to dodge another attack with a Teleport, this one being a Night Slash ordered by Candice. Unlike other battles, Gardevoir wasn’t holding his Utility Umbrella. Rather, in one hand, as if he were holding a book, the pink Pixie Plate was being firmly clutched and used to enhance whatever Fairy Type move he held.

Gardevoir, determined to actually contribute, stared forward and waited for Weavile to approach. I could tell he was using Calm Mind, which was technically a set up move, but the use of it was to help him bridge the gap in power rather than sweep, which both Candice and I had agreed to avoid as part of the basic rules for this show battle.

Weavile neared, and this time, he didn’t teleport away. As one claw was lifted forward to attack, he held up the Pixie Plate and screamed.

I was forced to close my eyes from the blinding flash.

Gardevoir’s Dazzling Gleam exploded outwards and sent Weavile back, but it didn’t quite faint it. It launched forward again, now seriously wounded, then struck Gardevoir across the chest.

Unfortunately, he fainted.

“You did a good job. A bit more experience, and that Weavile would have definitely been knocked out in one blow,” I whispered.

I clipped his Nest Ball back to my belt. Tauntingly, Weavile licked the claw it had used to faint Gardevoir.

It was time to finish it off.

Appearing on the field, replacing Gardevoir, was my other, more experienced Psychic Type. He had been around for much longer than Gardevoir, though his evolution had been far delayed. Like Gardevoir, he was less experienced than the Pokémon here, but he had been dedicatedly training for a long time to try to keep up with the team.

I imagined that Togepi must be cheering her shell off right now.

“Get rid of that snow,” I said.

Rapidash obliged.

Coming off of his horn was a fiery orb from Sunny Day, a move he had learned not too long ago from a TM. It sailed into the air and melted the snow, sending the field into a blistering heat that would hurt any of Candice’s Pokémon.

Despite that, Weavile easily bounced between each clawed foot, uninterested in the raised temperature. It was clearly waiting for something.

“Run,” I ordered.

Rapidash charged. Weavile charged forward at it.

Both Pokémon were fast, with Weavile being faster for only a moment before Rapidash used Agility to increase his speed further. Candice had a big smile on her face as she pointed forward and yelled a command at her Pokémon.

“Metal Claw!”

I stayed silent.

Weavile crossed its arms and held up its claws as it approached Rapidash, slicing downwards right when he came within its range. Thin, red lines appeared on his pure white chest, but that hit didn’t come for free. Rapidash’s entire weight was sent forward into Weavile, placing a hoof solidly onto its face with Stomp. Weavile was sent teetering backwards, its speed now working against it with that impact, and Rapidash used that to follow up and slam it into the ground.

Weavile quickly tried to use a Night Slash against Rapidash. All it found was a set of floating, Mystical Fire in its path forward.

Weavile was seared into unconsciousness. With his enemy so easily fainted, Rapidash proudly entered a trot and glowed under the light of Morning Sun.

His wounds from Metal Claw disappeared.

Weavile was returned, leaving Candice with three Pokémon: two uninjured, and one rather persistent Slowking. Speaking of that Slowking, it hit the field, and, to my surprise, Candice didn’t return it.

“Chilling Water,” she ordered.

“Wild Charge,” I said.

Slowking, thanks to its Regenerator ability, was actually looking rather healthy. Rapidash easily charged forward and tanked the freezing splash, though his breathing became a bit shallower due to the cold temperatures getting to him.

With his hooves sparking, he tried to charge into Slowking, only for the Pokémon to use Teleport to shift to the side and completely avoid him.

Rapidash banked a turn, and moved right at Slowking. Its eyes widened slightly, but another Teleport allowed it to dodge the attack.

Rapidash picked up speed a second time and was on Slowking in moments. It teleported again, but Rapidash was now even faster thanks to another Agility.

“Grab it! Psychic!” Candice yelled hurriedly.

Just like it had done against Mawile earlier, Slowking’s gemstone glowed as it tried to grab Rapidash with its telekinetic control. However, while Rapidash glowed blue, he wasn’t lifted off the ground. Countering with his own Psychic, Slowking failed to do any significant damage and only served to delay just long enough for Rapidash to get on top of it.

Sparking hooves collided with the regal pink Pokémon’s chest. It stumbled backwards from super effective damage, then in a move that would make Florges proud, Rapidash shook his head to send a series of Fairy Winds out from his mane.

“Quick! Ice Beam!” Candice shouted.

Rapidash’s chest was struck. He did not relent.

Basically pinning the Slowking down, Rapidash reared up one hoof to Stomp as hard as he could. A low groan escaped Slowking’s lips as it tried to escape, using Teleport one last time.

This time, Rapidash didn’t approach. Slowking was so used to Rapidash trying to attack up close, it didn’t see the Psybeam coming.

The pink beam impacted its face. Slowking crumpled onto the ground unconscious.

I let out a sigh of relief as Rapidash tried his best to heal with Morning Sun. Unfortunately, the sunlight had faded during that assault, so he wasn’t healing as much as before.

When Candice sent out her next Pokémon, darkness took the field.

Froslass didn’t have the Snow Warning ability, but it did have a masterfully used Snowscape move. The sky turned a mean gray as thick powder blanketed the air. Its eyes glowed red before it disappeared into its weather with Snow Cloak, leaving only the outline of Rapidash on the field.

Honestly, I remembered having such trouble with this Pokémon in the games I was half tempted to just withdraw Rapidash from the battle and send out Altaria to negate the weather. However, Rapidash wasn’t out of the fight just yet.

“Mystical Fire. All around you,” I ordered.

“Blizzard.”

Rapidash did indeed create the fires I wanted, but one by one, winds blew by and snuffed them out. A chaotic swirl overcame the field and wrapped around Rapidash. He whinnied, but pushed on.

“Psybeam! Strike it while you can!”

Flashes of light appeared in the snow storm. The silhouette of Rapidash was illuminated by his attack. Froslass’s mere presence was causing the snow to be far worse than it was before, making the battle nigh-unwatchable to the audience. It was a cool effect, though.

A few beams missed, being sent out far into the distance, but some did manage to hit. I heard Froslass grunt a few times in pain, but Rapidash’s pained whinnies were far more present. The issue with Ghost Types was that their moves were already so sneaky. I never saw Froslass attack, but I certainly saw the unconscious Rapidash when the snow was removed.

I frowned, returning him. Rapidash already knew how proud I was of him for getting this far, with both him and Gardevoir putting on a solid showing despite their extreme disadvantage. Still, I had one last Pokémon I planned to send out, and she wasn’t known for being an easy target.

I didn’t expect Azumarill to literally grab Froslass when she was sent out. An Aqua Jet sent her forward, her rarely relevant ability, Thick Fat, provided her resistance to the Ice Beam sent her way, and her hand wrapped around Froslass’s neck.

Azumarill slammed Froslass into the ground. Froslass began to move to try to escape, but Azumarill just punched it in its face with a Play Rough. Froslass wasn’t that sturdy of a Pokémon, and despite Candice trying to issue commands, Azumarill almost cartoonishly beat the ghost with her bare hands all while it failed to escape.

Then, Froslass gained a cruel smile on its face.

“Destiny Bond,” Candice ordered.

My heart fell.

At that command, a shadow slipped under Azumarill right when one last punch landed. Froslass drifted into unconsciousness, and Azumarill stared at the ghost slowly drifting towards the ground.

Then, she lurched.

Azumarill clutched her chest.

She fell unconscious.

Now, both Candice and I were left with one Pokémon.

“Funny how that works out,” Candice commented.

“Funny,” I replied.

I wanted to save Azumarill as my trump card. I had really expected her to survive, but that use of Destiny Bond was really quite clever. Azumarill was one of my strongest Pokémon by far, especially now that she was training under Crasher Wake. Both Candice and I knew her own Pokémon would easily lose to Azumarill. Froslass’s sacrifice guaranteed that Candice still had a chance to win. Considering that Altaria was a Dragon Type weak to Ice Type Pokémon, her chance wasn’t small, either.

Honestly, this was on me. I took a risk by including both Gardevoir and Rapidash on my team, two Pokémon who lacked the experience as the rest of my Pokémon. However, Rapidash managed to take out two of Candice’s Pokémon, performing better than I expected, and Gardevoir got a better idea of the strength of Pokémon he’ll be facing in the future.

It was a trade-off for the long term. However, I refused to lose here. After all our training, after everything we’ve done, there was no way I would allow my team to lose again before we fought Tobias.

I sent out Altaria.

Candice sent out Abomasnow.

Wordlessly, I held up my arm, and Altaria’s thick necklace began to shine with Infinity Energy. Abomasnow had a bracelet with its blue-white Abomasite, and Candice had a necklace. Altaria became a cloud. Abomasnow became a frozen tree beast.

Even though Candice had a big smile on her face, there was nothing else to be done. Altaria’s Cloud Nine blocked out Abomasnow’s Snow Warning. The field would be completely empty save for our two Mega Pokémon.

“Hm. Abomasnow, use Swagger,” Candice said.

My mouth opened then immediately closed. I eyed Candice carefully after she gave that order. The hulking Mega Abomasnow chuffed a few times and spat liquid ice at where Altaria was flying in the air. The usually indifferent bird cocked its head then stared at Abomasnow intently.

Candice looked at me as if daring me to do it. She had just set up the perfect trap. Unless I wanted to transfer the increased strength that came with Swagger, Power Swap would be unavailable for me. My planned Draco Meteor strategy was useless.

I kept silent as Altaria’s confusion caused him to fly erratically in the air. I gave him no orders to minimize the risk of causing him to hurt himself. Candice had no such issues attacking, however, as she shouted for her Mega Abomasnow to attack from the ground.

“Ice Shard!” she yelled.

Like a machinegun, countless splinters and shards of ice were sent Altaria’s way. They pierced and impacted his body, dealing a constant rate of super effective damage right into him. Altaria screeched and squawked, and he even used a Hyper Voice, but all was to no avail.

He was still confused. Not only that, but Abomasnow had the Soundproof ability. His practiced, sound-based moves would be ineffective against this foe.

If I continued to do nothing, this would be it.

“Flamethrower,” I ordered.

Altaria pulled back his head and shot an incredible burst of fire into the air. The sky became illuminated in reds and oranges from the sheer amount of flame he sent outwards. Candice saw that and actually looked nervous. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Aim it at the ground. Win this, and I’ll give you another month of sitting on my head without any resistance.”

Altaria didn’t snap out of confusion, but he did regain enough focus to drag that gout of flame downwards. Abomasnow’s thick coverings insulated it somewhat, but it was especially vulnerable to Fire Type moves, being a dual Ice and Grass Type itself.

“Bulldoze!” Candice ordered.

As the flames scorched the Pokémon, Abomasnow dug its arms into the dirt to pull up a wall in front of it. Altaria flew around above it and continued to pester it with fire, melting what little snow remained on the battlefield. However, each time he did, Abomasnow brought up another wall of dirt to block the attack and minimize how much damage he was doing.

Still, though, Altaria was dealing damage. Thankfully, too, his continued focus finally allowed that confusion to wear off.

Now, this was a show battle, and simply spamming Flamethrower would win, but it would defeat the point of having an interesting fight. I wanted to win, but I wasn’t going to completely sacrifice my team’s purpose in being here. I decided to take a risk.

“Altaria, put everything you have in this. You have to finish it off.”

I took a breath.

“Hyper Beam,” I ordered.

Altaria’s mouth opened up. A ball of piercing white light began to form. It shifted from yellow, to white, to pink. Candice’s eyes went wide.

Then, she gained an uncomfortably confident look on her face.

“Abomasnow, this is it. You know what to use.”

Even this far away, my breath suddenly appeared in front of me. I was forced to pull my arms in to not shiver. The temperature had been drastically lowered.

Similarly, the audience, which had been maintaining a low cheer this whole time, shifted to sharing concerned mutterings among themselves. As Altaria charged his Hyper Beam, Abomasnow’s fur bristled.

Candice only whispered her next command, but the mics still picked it up.

“Sheer Cold,” she ordered.

The second she said that, I knew I lost.

The Hyper Beam tore forward in the air, blinding the audience and creating a whistling noise all around us. Abomasnow looked towards the beam and opened its own mouth. Nothing visible came out, but around the Hyper Beam, ice crackled and formed. The burning energy slowed, slowed, then stopped, then completely dissipated without any more momentum.

Not as a beam, nor a ball, nor a single shot, ice jumped from point to point in the air like a frozen, moving thunderbolt and struck Altaria right in the chest.

Frost formed on his wings, and ice crystallized in the air around his body. He began to fall to the ground, as I watched helplessly as Altaria fell to the one hit KO.

I closed my eyes. All our training, yet we still suffered a loss. Tobias would sweep this Gym with just Darkrai, yet we struggled this much?

As I opened them back up, I rubbed them briefly in disbelief. The crowd practically screamed Altaria’s name as incredibly loud shattering sounds rang out.

The catch with one hit KO moves is that they don’t work if an opponent is stronger than the user. They were powerful moves, but they involved a contest of wills over control of their target’s inherent energy in one way or another. Abomasnow had successfully landed the attack, but that didn’t mean it fully took effect. Our month of training in Iron Island paid off with a glorious last minute pull up from Altaria, spinning into the air and sending shards of ice out in every direction.

He puffed up. Altaria was angry. I decided to oblige his wrath.

“Draco Meteor,” I ordered.

Candice desperately shouted for her Pokemon to counter the attack, but Sheer Cold had taken its toll. While it wasn’t necessarily a recharge move, one hit KO moves always expended quite a sum of energy from their users. The Mega Pokemon was too slow to stop the ball of draconic light being sent into the heavens, and dozens of flaming meteors crashed down into the field.

“Get out of there!” Candice yelled.

It was for naught. Altaria might have been extremely specialized in special attacks, but his species was still quite good at attacking physically. That combined with his increased strength from Swagger meant a dive into his long unused Take Down knocked the heavy Abomasnow right off its feet and into an incoming meteor.

When the steam faded away from that impact, Abomasnow, no longer Mega Evolved, was now visible.

Candice stared at her Pokemon on the ground before returning it. I didn’t get a chance to see anything else before Altaria smashed into my face.

With this victory, my team was now three for three in the show battles. It was closer than I would have liked, as we almost lost at the end, but that was heavily due to me putting in both Gardevoir and Rapidash, two Pokemon that were a bit weaker than the other Pokemon competing in the battle. They both needed the experience, however.

Additionally, too, I was lacking a bit in the strategy department when compared to Candice. Her use of Destiny Bond and Chilly Reception was masterfully done. However, I was trying to get my Pokemon’s base power up to par to make any tricks we put in place even more effective. It wasn’t like any member of my team had a one hit KO with the potential to instantly faint even a Legendary—

I started to laugh. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want to appear cocky, but thankfully Altaria’s fluff helped hide that.

By facing Candice, I now had an answer to another one of Tobias’s Pokémon. With enough practice, Ninetales would be capable of learning Sheer Cold. She would have to weaken her opponent enough before it could be properly used, but, if timed right, she could take any one of his Pokémon out in a single move!

In a way, I was glad this battle was so close. It showed that even with a month of dedicated training and planning, there were still adjustments and goals for my team’s future battles.

Altaria let out a soft and pitiful squawk, but I was forced to remove his Mega Evolution and return him to his Love Ball. I was getting tired from the energy investment, and I needed to collect my team’s hard earned badge, too. However, when I started to walk onto the field to meet with Candice, I was stopped. Off to the side, a red vested Ace Trainer was trying his best to wave at me to move off. Candice was already stepping away.

Confused, I quickly left the field to see what was going on.

“What happened?” I asked.

The Ace Trainer had a deep grimace on his face.

“Hunter J has been found. She’s at Lake Acuity.”

My eyes went wide as I experienced a cavalcade of conflicting emotions. After all, Ash was set to be battling Paul at Lake Acuity right this second.

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Author Notes:

Slowking? More like “Snowking,” am I right?

The last portion of the chapter where Altaria was struck by Sheer Cold and onwards was rewritten to improve the conclusion of the battle. Thank you for the feedback, and I appreciate everyone's comments helping me make this story better.

Pokémon (and people) mentioned this chapter (contains spoilers):
Abomasnow
Froslass
Glaceon
Mamoswine
Slowking
Weavile

Candice

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