Chapter 139 (Patreon)

Dawn started the march up to the field, and Zoey approached opposite to her. Marian’s voice announced both Coordinators, setting up the battle as well as a brief overview of both the rules and their identities for the viewers watching at home.

I didn’t have any Pokémon sitting with me this time around. As much as Florges and Ninetales would have liked to watch, both of them were resting in their Pokéballs to try to handle the stress of future rounds and prepare themselves for their next match. It was easy to get overwhelmed by nerves with the pressure of having so many important battles in one day.

“So Dee Dee’s battling against Zoey, huh?”

I glanced over at Kenny as he sat down next to me. He crossed his legs and started bouncing a foot, almost nervously.

“I remember when Zoey and Glameow beat me in my first Contest,” he said. “And now, Dee Dee beat me, and they’re fighting off in the Contest. I would have expected something like this to happen in the finals, not in the quarterfinals.”

“Same here,” I mumbled.

“It’s going to be an interesting match no matter what. Dee Dee told me she has a few tricks up her sleeve, but what those are, we’re going to have to wait and see in the battle.”

Kenny let out a frustrated groan and furiously rubbed the sides of his head.

“Argh! This sucks! I wanted to be down there instead! I’m so jealous!” he cried.

Since we were sitting in the seats reserved for competing Coordinators, a few people looked his way and chuckled. Most of them sent glances in support, as practically everyone here had already been eliminated.

I suddenly felt a little out of place.

Kenny’s head flopped forward again, and he crossed his arms while letting out a sigh.

“Well, no matter who wins, you might be the one to face them next. Nervous?”

“A bit,” I admitted.

As I said that, the announcer finished, and Dawn’s Piplup hit the field alongside her Cyndaquil. Across from them, Zoey sent out her starter, Glameow, and her Mismagius appeared as well.

“Both of them are strong," I said. "My Pokémon would be stronger in a normal battle, but when it comes to a performance match like this? I hate to say it, but I think Dawn and Zoey have the advantage there. It’s going to be an uphill battle no matter what.”

“Don't sell yourself short. I’d put it at equal odds,” Kenny replied.

I grunted in agreement.

On the field, the Pokémon finished their brief stylish intros while Dawn and Zoey seemed to be locked in an intense staredown. The announcer shouted to begin, and with the buzzer going off, both of them immediately supplied their Pokémon with orders.

"Darkness."

"Steam-screen!"

On Zoey's side of the field, Mismagius fell down into the floor as if it was yanked, and it disappeared into shadow. Glameow's body arced back before it rushed forward towards its opponents.

Dawn's Pokémon, meanwhile, readied themselves for the assault by using their own moves together. Piplup shot out a series of Water Type bubbles from its mouth while Cyndaquill's Embers fired forth and popped them one by one. The combination of Water Type and Fire Type moves meant the field was now obscured by a dense steam that obscured all Pokémon within.

"Strange to block sight like this so early in the match," Kenny commented.

From this far up, we could actually see where the three Pokémon all were. Piplup and Cyndaquil were moving side by side while Glameow charged right at them. The Pokémon were only silhouettes, but it seemed Glameow was having no trouble at all detecting where its opponents were heading.

"I think Glameow is being guided along by Mismagius," I said.

"I think so too," Kenny replied.

The purpose of the steam remained unclear before Piplup and Cyndaquil suddenly split apart. Glameow didn't even pause before choosing to go after Cyndaquil, but Dawn's Pokémon were already using their next moves.

Piplup started to form a Whirlpool above its head while Cyndaquil hopped onto its side and began to spin with Flame Wheel.

Almost immediately, the difference in temperature of the two moves as well as their spinning motions caused the steam to whip around and shift as if it was a storm. The mass of vapor was sent up into the sky, and Glameow paused momentarily in its chase of Cyndaquil. Zoey quickly gave it an order to keep going.

"Shadow Claw!" she called out.

Poor Cyndaquil was virtually defenseless as Glameow dashed right up to it. Before it impacted the Fire Type, one of Glameow’s paws elongated with claws made of shadow. Underneath it, red eyes flashed in the darkness and Mismaguius formed a small Shadow Ball over Glameow’s claw. The resulting combination caused the Shadow Claw to reach even longer, crueler lengths as Glameow swiped its attack down the length of Cyndaquil’s body.

The ethereal nature of the attack meant the move left no physical marks, but Cyndaquil still cried out in pain. The Flame Wheel slowed as it suffered from the attack, then Mismagius suddenly darted forward to now be inside Cyndaquil’s shadow.

Dark hands extended upwards to grab Cyndaquil on the side of its body. Mismagius suffered a bit of Fire Type damage as a result of Cyndaquil’s Flame Wheel, but the Pokémon stopped, paused, then was pulled down into the darkness alongside the ghost.

There was a mix of cheers and gasps at the combo, but most were excitedly pointing out what was going on with Piplup. The Whirlpool had been held back by the Water Type to not risk hitting Cyndaquil, but since Mismagius had so kindly pulled it out of the way, it was now launched forward at Glameow.

The cat quickly turned around to try to dodge, but it was clipped in the side by the rapidly spinning water. Both sides lost points from this exchange of attacks, but Dawn had lost more than Zoey due to that Shadow Claw combo being much more impressive.

However, Dawn seemed to have sent all that steam up into the air for a reason. Piplup’s head turned to the sky.

"Ice Beam!" she ordered.

Piplup sent a beam out to hit the mist right over Glameow’s head.

When the Ice Beam hit, the floating vapors froze over and fell like a crystal chandelier. Chunks of ice rained from the sky all around Glameow’s body. It tried its best to jump back, but the attack was causing chunks of ice to fall so chaotically that it was constantly being clipped by the move.

Zoey’s points fell, and Mismagius rushed out of the shadow to assist its ally. Behind it, Cyndaquil reappeared on the field, looking pale and shaken, but otherwise alright.

“Shock Wave Duo!” Zoey yelled.

Piplup was still using its Ice Beam to attack its foe, but Mismagius was able to swoop in and rescue Glameow from its situation. The cat was picked up in the witch-like ghost’s arms and the two of them floated in the air, preparing their next combination move.

I sent a glance to the current point totals only to see that Dawn was currently at just over half. Zoey still had the advantage, especially now that Mismagius had lifted up Glameow to carry it away.

Then, the air crackled around the pair of floating Pokémon. Piplup caused more and more ice to fall from the sky, but Mismagius was agile enough in the air to dodge it all. In the back, Cyndaquil seemed to be positioning itself for something else, but with the air so humid from the steam, the wet Pokémon were even more vulnerable to the move Zoey ordered her Pokémon to use.

Electricity then burst out from both of Zoey's Pokémon.

Piplup did its best to try to defend itself, canceling an Ice Beam to fire off a Bubble Beam instead. It tried to have the bubbles destabilize the powerful, combined Shock Wave, but bolts of electricity leapt from bubble to bubble, popping them and seemingly getting stronger each time.

All Piplup did was succeed in making its opponents’ moves look even more impressive. However, in a way, it did succeed in delaying the damage as its attempt gave Dawn time to shout out an order.

"Drill Peck!"

Piplup just barely got its move off on time. Dawn's sudden shout shocked it out of its focused defense and allowed it to jab its head into the ground like an ostrich.

Drill Peck used Flying Type energy to extend Piplup's beak somewhat, and sticking that extension into the floor allowed Piplup to ground itself and better resist the attack.

Unfortunately for Dawn, it only seemed to let Piplup stay conscious rather than save her any points. The action was desperate and somewhat ugly, and even the surprise Flamethrower from the repositioned Cyndaquil didn't seem to help her.

Zoey’s Pokémon simply moved out of the way.

"This is bad," Kenny said. "Dawn’s at a disadvantage, and her steam combo barely got her any points. If you ask me, it was a bit overcomplicated and not too impressive to look at, and the judges seemed to agree. If she doesn’t pull off anything special, Zoey’s going to be able to beat her with basically just pure force."

I glanced Dawn's way, and she seemed nervous. Her hands were clenched tight, and her eyes were scanning the field almost in desperation. Honestly, it was unlike her to act like this. For goodness' sake, she helped fight Hunter J!

"Dawn!" Zoey suddenly called out.

The way practically the entire audience quieted down at that was really something else.

"What are you doing? This is the Grand Festival!" she continued.

Dawn bit her lip almost aggressively and looked around the field once more. Her expression was tense, and her body language told me she was going through considerable stress.

Then, like someone flicked a switch inside her, she suddenly calmed down. Dawn closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then snapped them open with a smile and sent a firm nod right back to Zoey.

"Thank you. I guess fighting you got in my head more than I thought." Dawn said. "But, no need to worry! We'll give you a proper match now!"

I heard Kenny slump at my side.

"...she wasn't this nervous when she fought me," he grumbled.

I lightly patted him on the shoulder.

"Piplup, Cyndaquil! Group up! It's time to do what we practiced!"

I blinked at the implication that the steam thing wasn't practiced, but Piplup and Cyndaquil seemed more than ready to do whatever they had planned. Both Pokémon might have been decently injured, but they still had the energy to keep this fight going at practically full power.

"Now you're talking!" Zoey shouted in response. "Mismagius, Shadow Ball! Glameow, burst it!"

From Dawn's side of the field, Piplup and Cyndaquil joined hands and prepared themselves for the attack to come. Mismagius sent forward a ball of pulsating shadow that approached its targets with a slowly increasing rate.

Then, from where Glameow still was within Mismagius's arms, another Shock Wave burst out. This use of electricity hit and destabilized the Shadow Ball, “popping” it like the move had done to Piplup’s bubbles earlier and sending out Ghost Type energy in a burst to damage both of Zoey’s foes.

It honestly looked like both Piplup and Cyndaquil were briefly overtaken by a wave of sickly darkness. Dawn’s points ticked down to the point where if she took one bad attack, it’d be over for her.

Dawn looked unconcerned, however.

"Now, Smokescreen!" Dawn yelled.

Cyndaquil sent out black smoke from its back that completely obscured both it and Piplup. Mismagius sent out another Shadow Ball with Glameow's Shock Wave following, and both moves entered the smoke.

There was a pause as nothing happened within the fog. A tense silence drifted over the battlefield, and no points changed as the judges had no way to tell what was going on.

Everyone waited, then Cyndaquil burst out from the smoke.

In a tightly spinning Flame Wheel, Cyndaquil rapidly rolled down the field right at Zoey’s Pokémon. Zoey called out for a Confuse Ray from Mismagius, but the spinning Cyndaquil suddenly leapt high up into the air to dodge.

I laughed at what I saw. From within the Flame Wheel, Cyndaquil had been clutching Piplup against its stomach to let them travel together. Cyndaquil’s Flame Wheel stopped but the momentum continued as it flung the dizzy Piplup forward. The penguin Pokémon flew right at their foes.

Piplup was even still spinning, too.

"Now!" Dawn yelled.

Eyes snapping open and becoming far more focused, Piplup opened its mouth to send forward a stream of bubbles while Cyndaquil unleashed a Flamethrower. The two moves spiraled around Piplup in one twisting attack, then the Water Type added a Drill Peck as the cherry on top.

The beautiful, spiraling combination slammed into the floating Mismagius and Glameow, knocking the pair right into the floor. With Dawn's extreme disadvantage, Zoey wasn't out of points just quite yet, but the two sides were now practically neck and neck.

"Psywave!"

"Ember!"

A Psychic Type move pulsed out of Mismagius while Cyndaquil’s irregular shots of Fire Type energy caused it to fall apart. The air was filled with harmless, sparkling energy, and Glameow dashed forward while the ranged attackers were preoccupied. Piplup ran right at it to meet it in its charge.

The cat and penguin became engaged in a tense close-quarters melee. Slash after Slash tried to take Piplup out, but Piplup blocked and even retaliated a few times with Pecks of his own.

With both Pokémon attacking so impressively, neither side’s points were visibly moving. Overall, I estimated both Dawn and Zoey to have a tenth of their points left. Who would win was still anyone’s call.

Glameow and Piplup were fighting each other. That left Mismagius and Cyndaquil unoccupied. Dawn gave that a single look before shouting out Cyndaquil’s name, but she never got around to giving it a specific order.

As, after all, her Pokémon started to glow with a bright white light.

From where the Fire Type was staring down Mismagius, the field became illuminated with a single, clear color. Glameow and Piplup's fight stopped to let both Pokémon leap away, and every living being in this room focused on the evolution in process.

Cyndaquil's body grew, expanded, and became significantly sleeker than it was before. Its snout shortened and eyes widened, and then the light broke, revealing an evolved Quilava, ready and prepared to finish this match.

"Way to give off big protagonist energy there, Dawn," I mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said all too quickly.

Kenny gave me a suspicious look before refocusing on the match.

With Quilava there, Dawn was in a much better state, and her Pokémon knew it too. Piplup exchanged one look with the newly evolved Quilava before leaping back away from its opponents to make room for whatever Quilava was about to do.

"Oh, no you don't!” Zoey yelled. “Glameow, Shadow Claw!"

Once more, Mismagius dipped into the ground to enter Glameow's shadow, and the following Shadow Claw looked more like a set of dark swords than anything else. Quilava opened its mouth for a Flamethrower, but Glameow darted to the side. The Shadow Claw attack was about to land, but then Quilava smirked.

The Fire Type exploded.

It didn't use a sacrificial move like Self Destruct or Explosion, but, rather, it used a different move that scaled off its remaining energy. With every bit of vitality it had left, Fire Type energy burst out of Quilava's back as the Pokémon used Eruption in a trap it cleverly placed for its foes.

Zoey's Pokémon were sent flying back. The buzzer suddenly sounded off.

Dawn still had points left. Zoey did not.

Dawn had won.

In the end, Mismagius had fainted, but Glameow still looked conscious. Zoey looked shocked as she returned her fainted Pokémon from the field.

Glameow walked over to rub against her leg, as Zoey stared over the field with shock clear in her face. However, her expression soon leveled out into one of pride, and Zoey knelt down to pet her companion.

"Great job, Dawn!" Zoey called out while petting Glameow.

Dawn was hugging her two Pokémon, both of whom looked absolutely exhausted but elated at their victory.

"You were great too, Zoey! You were the strongest opponent I've faced so far!"

Kenny slumped down even further in his seat next to me.

Dawn and Zoey exchanged one last smile before the pair walked off the stage. Marian announced their departure.

As for me, I stood up, said goodbye to Kenny, and started to leave as well.

There were still two matches left for this set of rounds, but after that, I'd know if I'd be fighting Dawn next or not. Otherwise, I would have one more Coordinator to face before I matched up with her in the finals.

There wasn’t any other possibility. It wasn’t like Dawn was going to lose to anyone else.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

I found Zoey in her dressing room between the rounds. I didn’t go immediately to give her time to rest, but I wanted to at least talk to her before time was up. Each round had a full hour between them, after all.

"Hey, uh, Robin," she said after she opened the door.

I took off my mask.

"There's no one around. Mind if I come in?"

Zoey opened her door the rest of the way to let me in then shut it once I entered.

The room was just a basic dressing room, but Zoey's Pokémon were all out and cleaning up her stuff. Mismagius was asleep, floating in the corner, Glameow was using its fluffy tail to brush off a counter, and Gastrodon was pushing a few bags together.

I blinked at the Gallade standing next to Mismagius. I didn't realize Zoey had one on her team, and for a moment, it seemed shocked I was here as well.

Seeing Zoey not react to my presence calmed it down. As a Psychic Type, it probably got weirded out from not sensing me.

Other than that, Zoey had a Leafeon that was asleep on a stool.

"So. How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Awful. Proud. Disappointed," she said. "I had a feeling this was going to happen, but so many times in the match, it really looked like I was going to win."

Zoey moved over to where the Leafeon was sleeping on the stool to pick the Pokémon up into her arms. It protested lightly, but when Zoey sat back down in the chair and placed Leafeon into her lap, it quickly went back to sleep.

"I keep beating myself up for shouting at Dawn to motivate her in the middle of the match like that," Zoey said. "Like, I know she needed it, but it cost me the win. I basically traded my friend's happiness for my own."

"But would you have liked winning the battle like that?"

Zoey laughed.

"No, I wouldn't have," she replied.

Zoey absentmindedly petted her Pokémon while letting out a sigh. The room was silent for a moment before anyone spoke.

"You know I actually did the same with a Gym Battle once," I commented.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, and it was pretty recent, too. There's this guy, Tobias, and he's really strong. His Darkrai swept a Gym Leader right before I faced her—"

"Wait, hold on. Did you just say Darkrai?"

"—And the leader wasn't putting up much of a fight due to feeling depressed afterwards. I shouted out to her to try to get her out of her funk, and she realized what she was doing. ...Then she knocked out Mawile almost immediately afterwards. It was a good decision at the time, but I still feel guilty to have done that to Mawile."

I paused, trying to get my next words in order.

"What I'm trying to say is, you wanted to have a good match and support your friend at the same time, and you did! Losing sucks, but it's better to lose like that than beat up a friend."

Zoey blinked at my comment.

"I wouldn’t phrase it like that,” she said, “but I get what you mean. I just wanted to win the Festival, y’know?”

I nodded my head. Zoey continued to speak.

"That battle... towards the end, my blood was really pumping. It got so close, and that spiral attack from Piplup was so cool! I mean, can I even get mad at her if her Pokémon evolved in the middle of our match? It's like I was destined to lose when that happened."

I bit my tongue to not comment. I felt a bit guilty that Zoey didn't win overall like she did in the anime.

"So, looking forward to your Gym Challenge next year?" I said to change the topic.

"Oh, I'm more than just looking forward to it. I know I lost here, but I actually think I'll be staying in Sinnoh. Taking on the Grand Festival again, collecting all five needed ribbons, then also challenging all the Gym Leaders at the same time. It's going to be my chance to catapult my team to the next level. I'll pull off something like you and Nando did this year."

"Not 'did.' Still doing. Nando and I have to compete in the Lily of the Valley Conference next."

"Yeah, and I'll be rooting for the both of you," Zoey replied

She glanced up at the clock in the room, and I did too. Realizing it was getting dangerously close to the next round, I stood up.

"I'll also be rooting for both you and Dawn here, too,” Zoey added. “Make sure you win your next match.”

As I put my mask back on to leave the room, I nodded my head.

"I will. Ninetales and Florges will have to win, otherwise we won’t have a chance to face Dawn in the finals."

_________________________________________________________________________________________

My opponent looked nervous as I stepped onto the field. I almost felt bad for him, in a way, as it was impressive for the Type he specialized in to get this far. Usually, Dark Types weren’t seen as graceful Pokémon, but he managed to have them act in a way that emphasized their coolness.

Case in point, across from where I released Ninetales and Florges, a Honchkrow and Krookodile posed with their backs against each other. Honchkrow had a confident grin with its feathery hat tilted just right, and Krookodile’s black markings on its crocodile face made it seem like it was wearing sunglasses.

Hold on.

It was wearing sunglasses.

Marian spoke excitedly about our match, of course, but my opponent was facing two of the strongest Pokémon on my team. When the battle started, he called for Krookodile to use Sandstorm as Honchkrow took to the air, and I had to stop myself from shaking my head.

Ninetales’s snow immediately canceled out the Pokémon’s attempt to fill the field with sand, and everything turned white instead. In the air, Honchkrow shivered from the cold while Krookodile snarled at the lack of success it had.

On the ground, at the same time, a Grassy Terrain was sent out from Florges. The combination of weather and terrain turned the entire battlefield into snowy plains within only a single moment. Ninetales leapt forward to not only hide within the snow, but within the tall grass as well. I could already tell she was having a lot of fun battling alongside Florges.

“Thrash Slash!” my opponent called out.

The only visible Pokémon on my side of the field right now was Florges, who was floating in the air such that only the very bottom of her leaves was just barely touching the tips of the grass. In the air, Honchkrow zoomed forward right at her with its wings shrouded in darkness for a Night Slash. Below it, Krookodile ran forward, slashed its claws together for a quick Hone Claws, then began to flail its arms and jaws wildly in a terrifying Thrash.

As it stood, both Pokémon were angling it to land their attacks at the same time. Florges simply smiled slightly in response, and, as we had planned this beforehand, I knew that Ninetales was lurking right underneath.

The moment Honchkrow and Krookodile got within only a few feet of Florges, I snapped my fingers. Both of my Pokémon used their prepared moves right away. From around Florges, thousands of pink petals burst outwards, and Ninetales sent out a flurry of snow with Blizzard as well.

Both Honchkrow and Krookodile were knocked far away by the combination move. The Grassy Terrain enhanced the Petal Dance’s power, and the snow storm let Blizzard be used incredibly quickly and accurately. The field became awash with a soft pink as what was effectively a sakura-infused winter storm took over the field. The spiraling flow of both moves made it a beautiful yet powerful attack; Honchkrow took super effective damage from the Blizzard, Krookodile took super effective damage from both moves at once.

The buzzer suddenly went off, and if I wasn’t wearing my mask, I would have rubbed my eyes.

Winning through points was usually the goal, but knocking out both Pokémon at once worked just fine.

As the crowd cheered as furiously as ever, Ninetales’s head popped out from the grass, and she let out a low whine. She turned around to look at me, begging, and Florges stared ahead, mostly in disbelief.

I don’t think I nor any of my Pokémon expected such an easy win, but in a way, it wasn’t unwelcome. We had wanted this to be a difficult battle, but at least winning here organized things just right.

Before this, Dawn had won against her own opponent, like I expected. With how things were working out, I would now be fighting her in the finals. Whoever won there would win the Grand Festival overall and gain the title of Top Coordinator.

====================================================
Author Note:

My editor made me remove an even crueler cliffhanger at the last minute. Make sure to comment “Thank you, Mr. Editor!” if you appreciate it.

Pokémon mentioned in this chapter (contains spoilers):
Cyndaquil / Quilava
Gallade
Gastrodon
Glameow
Honchkrow
Krookodile
Leafeon
Mismagius
Piplup

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