Chapter 144 (Patreon)

Mawile came out first, and her Steel Type let her make Drapion’s Poison Type moves worthless. It tried to lay out Toxic Spikes as a trap, but Mawile’s Misty Terrain and a switch let Rapidash come out status-free.

Rapidash’s Ground Type High Horsepower easily took out Drapion after wearing it down with a Mystical Fire, and the same strategy took out a Skuntank.

Skuntank’s Aftermath ability caused Rapidash to faint in the explosion, and Mawile came back out to take out the Toxicroak with an unexpected super effective Psychic Fang.

That was how our first battle of the Conference went.

In a way, the match felt like a warm up, but that was how a lot of these first two rounds felt. The top 128 and the top 64 trainers each had three-on-three matches to get through, with the full team six-on-six battles happening in the next week. Trainers had to balance the information game, as if someone guaranteed a win by using all of their best Pokémon and strategies right away, then their opponents would know to work out a counter in the future.

My opponent was also in their second Conference, but they hadn’t been training against Legendary Pokémon. The sheer level of experience my team went through made the fight a breeze, which made a powerful trainer seem a lot weaker than they actually were.

I felt bad, but sometimes, this was just how things go.

We had been training for a while at this point, and all of the tricks, strategies, and moves had been mastered. Gardevoir had his trump card fully developed, Ninetales had Sheer Cold, and a few others had a new move here or there that would support them in battle. What had been most helpful was Mawile’s fully developed Intimidate ability, whose effects had dissuaded Drapion from attacking straight out. Weakening a Pokémon with a look was always nice. That just made her even more effective against physical attackers.

My match happened on a Thursday, so I had until Friday to find out who I would battle next. Next week was a round each day, with the sole exception being Friday, where a match would be fought to determine third with the finals directly afterwards. The previous two rounds had been three-on-three matches, but from here on out, all matches would be full, six-on-six team battles.

Without much else to do, I watched a few of the three-on-three battles. Ash’s was fine, and I could already see he was including Pokémon from other regions, mostly in the form of his Quilava, which made its debut appearance after evolving. He stuck with Pokémon he caught in Sinnoh for his other two selected team members.

Paul’s match was fine. He won, of course. Barry, too, wouldn't be underestimated as his Empoleon practically swept his opponents on its own.

The true match I wanted to watch was Tobias’s.

It...

It went exactly as expected.

Darkrai came in and swept his opponent’s team. The combination of Dark Pulse and Shadow Ball from a Legendary Pokémon was just too much to handle for his generalist foe. The appearance of Darkrai came to such a surprise to the audience that they actually fell into a stunned silence when it appeared, but for me, I didn’t learn anything I hadn’t learned in Sunyshore.

I sat in the Pokémon Center lobby when it came time for the matchups to be announced. The early rounds were weighted so that beginner trainers had a slightly higher chance to battle beginner trainers, but those weights had all but practically disappeared here. For this upcoming match, I had an equal chance to battle Ash, Tobias, or anyone else still in the competition.

The room was packed as everyone stared up at the screens above the front desk. There were only thirty-two people in this round, yet it seemed half the Conference was here. I could hear excited voices of trainers discussing who to watch, and it was humbling to hear my name come up several times.

They didn’t notice I was there, of course. It was a wonder what a simple pair of glasses and an outfit change could do.

Above, the screens flashed on, and the room quieted down. One by one, names began to flash, displaying pairs of trainers that would battle it out on the main arena in the coming week.

Ash was fighting a glasses-wearing trainer I didn’t recognize, Paul was fighting Barry, I was fighting—

I paused, took a step closer, and stared intensely at the screen. Opposite to my name and photo was one familiar opponent.

One very familiar opponent.

Long, dark hair that covered an eye. A deep red cloak that covered his body. A gaze that spoke of assured confidence.

I would be fighting Tobias in my very first full match in this Conference.

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"I'm home!"

Wally opened the door to his home with an excited grin on his face. The entryway was empty, but it barely took any time at all for his cousin to burst in.

"Wally!" she shouted.

Wanda quickly ran over and scooped Wally up into a big hug. Behind him, Marty stepped into the room, Gallade helping him carry a large sack completely stuffed to the brim.

"Hello. Mind if we set this down here?" he said.

"Please. Go ahead."

Countless items and miscellaneous objects clanged on the ground as Gallade and Marty set the sack next to the door. Marty had to push in his lower back to return to a proper upright posture, letting out a groan as he did. Gallade, on the other hand, looked completely fine.

Wally pulled out from the hug and sent Wanda a big smile.

"I brought souvenirs from Johto!" he cheered.

Wanda gave the pack a side-eye. Marty chuckled.

"Practically all of his share of the merchandise sales went into those. Don't worry. I made sure he put away enough for the future."

Wanda nodded slowly at that then moved deeper into the house.

"Anyway, everyone else is already here. You two were the last to show up. I'm glad you made it in time."

"Are you kidding?" Wally said excitedly. "This is the best thing to come home to!"

With Wanda leading, the group moved only a single room over to reach where the party actually was.

Wally was met with quite a sight when he entered the living room. The place was packed, filled with trainers and a few individual Pokémon. A woman in a workout outfit leaned back on a chair next to a Hitmonchan, and two muscular fellows stood next to her with their heads both locked in one another’s arms. In a pair of chairs not too far away, a certain Ace Trainer wearing a black coat sat next to a tanned woman, who was trying her best to remain inconspicuous in a gray hoodie and sweats.

Also, Wally’s Uncle was in the room, but he was sitting by himself. His arms were crossed, clearly not happy with what was going on. He grumbled something about bad influences.

Once the scene was processed, Gallade moved over to talk to Hitmonchan, clearly interested in talking with a fellow Fighting Type, and Marty sat down on the couch to engage the Fighting Type trainers in conversation. Wally approached the other two people here.

“Hi Thomas!” he said.

Thomas turned and smiled at Wally.

“Hello, Wally. It’s been some time.”

“It has! How have you been?”

“Decently well. Fortree is a peaceful area, so I have plenty of time to train with my team. Tyranitar has been especially cheerful, though I’m getting the sense everyone else is getting a bit antsy without anything major to do. I’m tempted to find a tournament to enter just to let them experience a good fight.”

At Thomas’s comment, Wally's own smile grew.

“Then... How about we have a battle after this? My team just got back from traveling, and I know they’d really enjoy an opportunity to stretch!”

Thomas’s mouth curved up in amusement.

“That could definitely be arranged.”

Wally and Thomas chatted a bit as snacks were served and highlights of previous battles played on the television. The woman next to Thomas didn’t speak, but for the briefest of moments, Wally could have sworn he saw a pair of red eyes peek out of her shadow.

The energy in this room was high, and everyone here was excited. Despite there still being time until it started, everyone kept glancing towards the TV. Unfortunately, the only thing of note was a few clips of a decisive battle between an Electivire and an Empoleon. Commercials advertised Pokémon-related products, and there were even ads for Sinnoh encouraging people to visit to explore and take on their Gyms.

Soon enough, it was finally time.

“Wait, wait, it's coming on!” Wally shouted.

All conversation stopped as everyone immediately faced the TV. The woman in the fighting uniform—Laura, Wally recalled—leaned forward, looking positively feral.

“Finally! Can’t wait to see why Alex said this match would be worth watching. It’s not even the finals,” she said.

The screen flashed with the logo of the Sinnoh Pokémon League before it faded away, and a bird’s eye view of the arena building from above appeared before them.

“Hello and welcome to another match of the Lily of the Valley Conference!” one announcer said.

“This will be the sixth match of the third round, determining which trainers are both strong and skilled enough to reach the top sixteen,” a second announcer continued.

“We have an interesting match coming up, with two veritable powerhouses going head to head. I mean, who could forget that reveal in the last round? And then they won with only one Pokémon? I don’t think anyone expected that.”

“I know I was surprised!”

Wally frowned at the announcer’s comments, having been too busy traveling to watch any previous matches.

“What reveal?” he asked.

Laura shrugged. The only people who looked to not be confused were Thomas and the woman next to him.

“Our upcoming match will be between one Alex, or Robin, as you Contest fans out there might know, and a certain Tobias. Alex has been making waves with their demonstrations of Mega Evolution, and Tobias, a previous unknown, has been just as notable with his sweep of almost every Sinnoh Gym Leader!

“Honestly, William, I’m not sure which one is going to win!”

“It’s a real coin toss, Ted.”

The two announcers went into a discussion of Alex’s team and tactics, only vaguely hinting at what Pokémon Tobias used, much to Wally’s frustration. The analysis was pretty in depth, as Alex had demonstrated a lot of different moves and strategies in show battles and Contests in the past. When the two announcers no longer needed to stall, their conversation abruptly stopped, and the camera shifted to show the battlefield itself.

A throat was cleared, and William began to introduce the competitors.

“In the green corner, coming in with sixteen badges won, five ribbons earned, and a whole lotta Mega Evolutions, is the Fairy Type specialist, Alex!”

The screen cut to the sight of Alex walking onto the field, looking as determined as ever. The audience went wild, and Laura hooted and hollered alongside the two martial artists next to her.

Alex climbed a staircase to move onto an elevated platform. The audience only got a single partial wave from them, as Alex chose to practically glare at the opposite entrance instead.

“Man, I really need to get on Alex’s case about public appearance,” Marty murmured. “Just a bit of effort, and they could make so much money.”

“And in the red corner,” an announcer yelled, “coming in with an almost completely unknown team and battle experience that mostly consists of one-sided sweeps, is Tobias!”

“Booooo!” Laura jeered alongside her two muscular friends.

Despite those three’s reaction, the audience actually physically in Sinnoh did cheer for Tobias, as they were far less invested in this battle than anyone in the room.

As Tobias slowly climbed his staircase, the spotlights illuminating him almost seemed to darken. His red cloak stayed ominously still, with the only shift being the slightest of movements from his legs being lifted for each step.

Tobias took up his position opposite Alex. No words were exchanged. The two competitors merely locked eyes.

At the edge of the field on a podium, a man wearing a red sweatshirt stood at the ready.

“Trainers!” the referee shouted. “This will be a six-on-six full battle, where each trainer will use one Pokémon at a time. Five switches will be permitted, and Mega Evolution is allowed. For you two in particular, I will note that if any of your Pokémon lose control, that will warrant an immediate disqualification and heavy fines from the League. Understood?”

“Understood,” the two trainers said in unison.

“Good. Then, go ahead and send out your Pokémon.”

Alex’s hand tensed, and a Nest Ball was quickly tossed forward. Wally, having heard from Alex which Pokémon would be sent out first, leaned forward in his seat excitedly.

A Gardevoir appeared on the field. Gallade looked towards the screen in interest.

“Gardevoir,” Alex named.

The Pokémon on the field appeared kneeling, and he slowly stood up with his eyes completely focused on Tobias. Alex gained a slight smile, clearly letting their complete faith in Gardevoir show.

As for Tobias, he didn’t send out his Pokémon right away. There was a tense moment where he simply stood still and observed, but soon enough, his arm extended out from underneath his cloak, holding a basic Pokéball in his hand.

The flash of light it sent out didn’t coalesce into any Pokémon Wally recognized. The field took on a darkened hue.

Rising from a shadow was a being of black flame. Two eyes glowed in the darkness and stared out towards Gardevoir. A body started to form from within the darkness, and pitch black embers flickered off its body.

It stepped forward, as if leaving a portal, and a pair of pencil-thin legs retracted into its waist. The intimidating Pokémon sharpened as if someone had adjusted a focus, and a flowing white mane of steam-like hair, a single blue eye, and a red, tooth-like collar appeared on its form.

Not once did either Pokémon look away from the other. Despite this battle being on a screen, Wally could feel the tension in the room.

“Alex wasn’t lying,” Laura whispered. “This really is going to be a battle worth watching.”

Wally, still staring at the television, gulped nervously.

“W-what Pokémon is that?” he asked.

Thomas, the resident Dark Type expert, was able to easily answer.

“It is a being told of only in myth and legend, one that has plagued the towns and cities of Sinnoh in the past. It is said that the nightmares it controls bring its victims to its domain, where it feasts on its targets forever eternally. Endless sleep is its plague, and it wields the power of darkness as its weapon.”

The room was quiet, listening to Thomas.

“It’s the Legendary Pokémon, Darkrai.”

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"That bastard!” Hope cursed. “Alex planned this!"

"Language," Ramos chided.

Hope huffed and crossed her arms, grumbling to herself about a certain scary campfire story told to her in the past. She stared at the projected display of the two Pokémon standing off as the crowd of Pokémon around her helped themselves to the treats Lacey had brought.

Rapidash sent her a withering glare, and he was joined by a certain Legendary Pokémon on a “diplomatic” visit from her kingdom.

"Not bastard. Friend," Diancie sent telepathically.

Hope said nothing else and continued to watch the imminent battle. Everyone present in this garden was interested in seeing what was about to happen, but none were more excited than Professor Augustus Sycamore, who looked positively giddy.

“I really hope Alex Mega Evolves Gardevoir. I sent them a package. Did they get my package?”

“Still in transit,” Sophie, his assistant, said.

Professor Sycamore sighed in disappointment as the referee raised a pair of flags. The room went silent, with anyone not paying attention now intently watching the image.

“If neither trainer wishes to delay,” the referee paused but received no comments, “then, let the battle begin!”

“Gardevoir, start it off!”

Gardevoir was already acting before Alex finished speaking. Dozens and dozens of dozens of copies of Gardevoir flashed around the field, appearing at random all around Darkrai. The Legendary Pokémon stayed unmoving where it had appeared, its single eye slowly moving around to take everything in.

The Double Team finished, and a horde of Gardevoir stood off against Tobias. Tobias said nothing, but he nodded his head once to signal his Pokémon.

Darkrai’s arm was thrown down and aimed beneath it. A pure black ball hit the ground and exploded out in an expanding sphere around it. Illusion after illusion was caught in the blast, but none reacted as the move passed over them. The Dark Void, a purely non-damaging move, did nothing to eliminate the Double Team, but it did seek to track Darkrai’s target.

Right before the move hit the last copy, the ground suddenly exploded with mist, a Misty Terrain being placed onto the field. Gardevoir was forced to reveal his position in a corner to not be put to sleep, as Darkrai would have otherwise undoubtedly fainted him right there and then.

Unfortunately, revealing his position looked like a mistake. Darkrai dashed forward, a black sphere forming in one hand raised above its head. Within moments, it was on Gardevoir, and it swung the Shadow Ball down in a swipe that crossed Gardevoir’s body.

It hit nothing. The illusion faded.

“Calling it close with that Teleport there, Alex,” Hope whispered.

Darkrai turned around, its eye focusing as it scanned the legion of illusions on the field. It had just missed hitting Gardevoir before he used Teleport, and now it was determined to take him before that happened again.

Tobias opened his mouth.

“Dark Pulse,” he said.

This time, the attack that came out of Darkrai did not bother forming as a sphere first. A pulse of pure Dark Type energy shot out in all directions, overtaking a third of the Double Team duplicates and causing them to fade.

The Dark Pulse didn’t reach the full width of the stage, however, but Darkrai’s speed was fast enough that it could rush forward to a new location and use it again. More Double Team duplicates faded, but in the space it had just left, more of them slowly appeared.

Tobias frowned, then he gave his second order of the match.

“Ice Beam.”

Darkrai slammed its hands together in front of its body, and crackling blue lightning shot out in a beam forward. It swept across the field, taking out several Double Team clones with every slight shift. Gardevoir desperately tried to keep the move up, but the speed at which Darkrai rotated made the attack an unavoidable wave.

Then, it struck true. The beam hit a target, its lightning interrupted by something solid, and an image of Gardevoir stumbled back in pain. Before Gardevoir could straighten back up, Darkrai already stopped its attack to rush to Gardevoir’s side. Another Shadow Ball formed in its hand.

The Pokémon in the room shouted with fear.

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Up above, in the private box overlooking the field, sat the entire upper echelons of SInnoh’s Pokémon League as well as one guest Champion. They watched the majority of the illusions get destroyed, and they watched as one of the few that remained got hit dead on.

Despite his friend seemingly being caught in a bad position, Steven calmly stared at the field with an oddly confident smirk on his face.

“You look unworried,” Cynthia commented.

“Alex has a plan. Everything has been going as it should.”

Back down on the field, the Shadow Ball slammed down, impacting Gardevoir’s side, and he cried out in pain. The attack burst into a puff of super effective Ghost Type energy when it hit his side, and Darkrai then conjured up another one.

That Shadow Ball hit, then the next, and the next. Like a predator tearing into its prey, Shadow Ball after Shadow Balls slammed into Gardevoir, sending so many attacks forward that any other Pokémon would have fainted within moments.

Yet, when the fifth Shadow Ball hit, Darkrai paused. Gardevoir was still standing, and he looked completely undamaged.

“Interesting,” Lucian, the Psychic Type expert of the group said. “I might have to borrow that trick.”

Cynthia raised an eyebrow, still not having caught on just yet. She looked closer to the field, and her eyes widened in shock as she saw Darkrai unexpectedly rushing away from Gardevoir.

On the ground, the illusory duplicate it had been attacking faded. Underneath that Double Team clone was a layer of Light Screens and Reflects in the shape of Gardevoir’s body, the defensive screens specifically designed to withstand attacks. Gardevoir had merely been pretending to be there, and his screens made it seem Darkrai’s attacks had been landing.

Revealing himself, Gardevoir stepped out of one of the few remaining duplicates. He had a confident smile on his face, and Alex had one just as confident to match.

“This is it! Everything we’ve been planning!” Alex screamed. “It’s finally time! GARDEVOIR! USE MISTY EXPLOSION!”

Darkrai’s visible eye went wide, and it tried to run. Its form turned to shadow as it dashed to try to get as far away as possible. It looked scared, an expression that looked both human and oh so alien at the same time.

Darkrai did not succeed. Like he had been doing all this match, Gardevoir simply teleported next to it and grabbed Darkrai’s arm to prevent its escape. In his other hand, he held up a certain pink, rectangular plate.

Tobias looked shocked. He moved to shout a command, but he was too late.

Gardevoir glowed. The plate glowed. The attack went off, and the field turned pink.

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I wasn’t aware that in the living room of Wally’s uncle’s house, half a dozen people sat in silence.

I also didn’t know that in the gardens of Professor Sycamore’s lab, no one was able to make a comment.

The arena itself might have been silent, but I didn’t know that the same lack of sound persisted inside the viewing box above, either.

No one watching this battle had a reaction. At least, not yet. Everyone was watching the field as intently as they could, trying their best to pierce the brightly glowing psychic barriers and see within. The pure pink mist that filled the field like smoke in a box prevented anyone from seeing if my gambit had been successful, so all we could do was wait.

Wisps of pink started to settle, and, like a loading bar, the obscuration faded top to bottom. The tension in the air was so thick it could have been cut with a knife, yet the two Pokémon had not yet been revealed.

Gardevoir was the first to become visible. His body lay motionless, fainted, as his Misty Explosion had exhausted every ounce of power in his body. We’d been working on that move for months, slowly training it in the background while he developed his other skills and abilities. The move gets inherently empowered by Misty Terrain, and the purpose of delaying with Double Team for so long was to ensure he could use Calm Mind as many times as possible.

Though, as it stood, I wasn’t sure if he was successful or not.

It took much longer for the fog above the ground to fade, as that was where it was thickest. Gardevoir stirred, waking up from being fainted, but that didn’t truly matter, as he had already been rendered unable to continue. He looked around briefly before his eyes locked onto something dark, and then everyone else’s eyes locked onto that, too.

There was a shadow on the ground. It was smoking slightly, but other than that, it wasn’t moving. Wispy white hair whipped in a faint breeze, and the singular blue eye remained shut.

As I saw its unconscious form, I began to laugh.

No one else made any noise. Gardevoir’s Misty Explosion worked. Darkrai had fainted.

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Author Note:

+3 Lvl 60 180- SpA Pixie Plate Gardevoir Misty Explosion (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Darkrai: 354-416 (102.9 - 120.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(Set such that Gardevoir doesn’t have capped EVs, only managed to use three Calm Minds, and Darkrai has a defensive nature. The level difference was set so that Gardevoir had the minimum level needed to guarantee a knockout. The Misty Explosion was ridiculously strong as a sacrificial move, and hopefully this helps serve to show why.)

Pokémon mentioned in this chapter (contains spoilers):
Banette
Darkrai
Diancie
Drapion
Empoleon
Electivire
Gallade
Hitmonchan
Quilava
Skuntank
Toxicroak
Tyranitar

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