Chapter 189 (Patreon)

Reading Flint's message about Cynthia was depressing at best and downright intimidating at worst. Here was a member of Sinnoh's Elite Four talking about the region's Champion as if she was some sort of unbeatable monster.

Okay, it wasn't actually that bad, but just seeing how strong Flint described Cynthia's team was rather disheartening.

I only had so long before our battle would be set up, so I ended up leaving Lily of the Valley Island—not to flee, but to move to a better location to train. High up in the northeast of Sinnoh was an island dubbed the “Battle Zone,” home of one of the Battle Frontier's immobile headquarters. Normally, the Battle Frontier would choose a region on a bi-annual basis and stay in one place before moving on. However, the owner of the Frontier was incredibly wealthy, so he had several unmoving locations created to serve as dedicated hotspots for high-level matches.

One was in Sinnoh, which is why I went to the island. I didn't plan on competing in the Battle Frontier, as that was a whole adventure and a half, but I wanted to find a place where I could train and still encounter elite trainers willing to battle. I also needed to be away from any major settlements as I planned to practice successive Mega Evolutions, but the actual attempts were sparse as the exhaustion limited trials to occur only twice a day.

I got permission from Cynthia to recall more than just my carrying limit for my team, but I had the restriction that I couldn't travel around as a result, and I couldn't head too far out from one of the island's settlements either. In accordance with her wishes, I found a nice, clear space located in the rocky forest of Route 225, and my team settled down into practice.

For training, I had my Pokémon pair up for the most part. Ninetales and Mawile assisted Azumarill with learning a new move, everyone who could fly worked together, Florges helped Dedenne acclimate to using his newfound power in a trainer battle, and Gardevoir and Rapidash stood still across from one another, having a silent yet intense telepathic and telekinetic battle.

As for Carbink, they were with me. After all—

"Wood Hammer!"

A tortoise the size of a small hill roared, and a massive root tore itself out of the ground. It whipped forward in a swinging motion, intent on hitting the unmoving Carbink, but they held firm, managing to keep in place in the air thanks to their enhanced sturdiness from Iron Defense.

"Again," I ordered.

The metallic sheen on Carbink’s body deepened as they used their defensive move one last time.

"Argh! Torterra! Don't let them stack up like that! Take them out with Frenzy Plant!"

Just like the Wood Hammer before it, the Frenzy Plant caused roots to tear out of the ground. However, where Wood Hammer was a single root, Frenzy Plant was an entire forest of roots that exploded out from the earth.

The roots extended upwards in a line, stretching from our opponent, Torterra, to Carbink. Carbink braced themself for impact, but I just took one look at the move and frowned.

"Protect."

And just like that, the roots clashed against Carbink’s hardened body, and the ultimate Grass Type move went to waste. Their power expended, root died down and withered into splintered bark. Carbink took no damage at all.

"No!!" My opponent grabbed at his blonde hair in a near panic. "Torterra, try—"

“Just like we practiced, Carbink!” I shouted.

An upset groan echoed out across the field as my opponent saw me hold up my wrist. My bracelet shone in the midday sun, and power flowed out of the crystal, into Carbink, enhancing them with an incredible amount of Rock Type energy.

Z-Moves might be from Alola, but they weren’t limited to the region. We needed to practice, and I saw no reason not to do so here.

“Continental Crush!” I yelled, naming the Z-Move.

In an immense outpouring of power, all of the energy from the move was gathered up and formed into a single, massive boulder. It crashed down like a meteor aimed right at Torterra, and the large Grass Type was still too preoccupied with recharging from its Frenzy Plant to be able to move. With a crack, the enormous stone impacted the turtle’s back, which was generally the most well-defended part of its body. However, the Pokémon was already weakened from a Toxic planted on it earlier, and when the tree growing out of it literally snapped, Torterra collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

A dust cloud puffed out from under its weight, and the boulder from the attack crumbled into pebbles around it. Eyeing the broken tree on its back, I couldn’t help but to feel some guilt from ordering such a powerful move, but I knew that as a Grass Type, Torterra would easily be able to heal the small tree within a matter of moments.

Carbink suddenly chuffed, and all eyes were drawn their way.

“Bink. Carbink. Car, car, carbink.” They paused. “Carbink.”

The other trainer and I exchanged a look after Carbink’s short speech, and the fur around Carbink’s head puffed up in pride. They floated over to my side, where I scratched behind their ears—just how they liked it—and Carbink’s eyes crinkled up in a mimicry of a smile.

“Great battle,” I said both to Carbink and my opponent. My opponent just let out a sigh.

“Yeah, great battle,” he replied in a half groan. “Ah—whatever! I’ll get you next time!”

“I’ll hold you to that, Barry,” I said.

Barry, the same person who appeared in the Sinnoh games as well as someone who competed in the Lily of the Valley Conference alongside me, held up a fist in a mock fit of anger. Though, he had a smile on his face as he learned a lot from that battle. Namely, don’t use such a powerful attack when your opponent is still healthy enough to use Protect.

Well, Torterra was a newer member of his team, at least.

“One day, our attacks will break through any defense, just you wait!” Barry announced. “Maybe we should go to Alola next. I doubt Carbink could withstand a Frenzy Plant enhanced by a Z-Move!”

My mind flashed back to Kiawe’s Charizard and his usage of the technique to unleash two Blast Burns back-to-back against Hope’s Mega Venusaur.

“Maybe,” I said. It hadn’t worked for Kiawe. “We’ll see.”

A bit of discussion on how we could both improve from that battle—Carbink was too immobile during the fight, meaning they took damage that could have been avoided, and Torterra had done something similar—and Barry split off. I watched him go.

It was a fun coincidence to meet here today, and while we never really interacted in the past, it was interesting to find out what he’d been up to. Like I had last year, he was now challenging all of Sinnoh's Gym Leaders’ core teams. However, his purpose was different: he wanted to beat his father, who served as one of the local Battle Frontier Brains in the Battle Zone. Barry’s ultimate goal was to eventually usurp his old man.

He was making good progress, too, having quite the win streak before our one-on-one match between Torterra and Carbink. His goal was to maximize his Pokémon’s power before developing a grander strategy to use in matches, and, somehow, that was working out.

Barry was just one of many elite trainers who happened to pass me by as they traveled over the island. There were many miscellaneous places to train and explore here, but I had purposefully positioned myself to encounter the highest amount of traffic. Thankfully, the vast majority were willing to participate in a quick match. My team was getting a lot of quick experience, but I was growing worried about how none of my opponents could hold a candle to Cynthia.

So far, we had not lost yet.

I sighed, pushing those thoughts out of my head, and I turned back to step off the path and return to my camp behind me. Carbink was quicker, heading off to join with Mawile, peeling her away from Ninetales and Azumarill to practice the power of their Rock Type moves together. I intended to go back to taking a more direct role in my Pokémon’s practice, but then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone familiar approaching.

A man in a burgundy suit walked over, clapping his hands in a basic congratulations, likely referencing the end of my and Barry’s match.

"That was a good show, Alex," the man said.

"Lucian," I replied, greeting the Psychic Type specialist and member of the Elite Four.

Lucian dipped his head in greeting as he approached and looked around. He took in all of my Pokémon, though I noticed how his eyes lingered on Gardevoir and Rapidash's silent battle still going on in the back.

"You're a hard trainer to find," he said.

"Only if I want to be," I replied.

"Do you want to be hard to find right now?" he continued, raising a brow.

"No." I laughed. "Actually, I'd rather people find me. That’s the whole point of camping out here."

He chuckled politely at my quip, still looking over my team. I eyed him back curiously, as I hadn't sent him any messages of challenge, and he hadn’t gone out of his way to inform me he’d be meeting me here.

"How far do you wager you'd make it in your battle against Cynthia?" he abruptly asked.

I blinked in surprise at the sudden question and furrowed my brow in thought.

"Excuse me?" I replied.

"Taking into account the current level of your team as well as the approximate power of Cynthia’s team, how many Pokémon would you say your team is likely to faint?"

I frowned, rubbing my chin as I gestured for him to follow into my camp. I had a small tent set up to the side and a pair of chairs around a dead campfire. We sat down to talk, and I took a minute to collect my thoughts before coming to a grim realization.

"Two," I said rather unhappily.

"And your reasoning?" Lucian asked.

"I think that's as far as we can get with careful strategy, in all honesty," I replied. "Cynthia is a beast. Flint sent me breakdowns on each member of her team, and it paints them all as monsters. Just taking in account my approximate rating against hers—eleven stars versus fifteen—that's an almost insurmountable gap to bridge. I think my team could wear down her Pokémon over time, but if she uses switches cleverly enough, I can’t see us managing to take out more than two.”

At that, I leaned back and crossed my eyes, my mind focused on the thought I just described.

Would my team really be unable to faint more than two, or am I underestimating myself? Star rankings don’t hold up as well at the higher level, but I’d need one heck of a strategy in order to get around Cynthia’s power to work out a win.

Ugh, this is depressing. Is that really all we can do?

I ended up sitting there, fuming, almost forgetting about Lucian’s presence. He cleared his throat, snapping me back to reality, and once he had my attention, he gained a small grin.

"I think you can do more than that,” he said. “Your battle with Flint the other day proved you have the strength. Flint battles like a flame—inconsistent and chaotic at times. I noticed that he held back any overarching strategies, especially his classic favorite, Will-O-Wisp, but he did frequently hit you with his flashiest movies. Individually, your Pokemon are strong, but against Cynthia, you need proper team interplay to win. I imagine that with the right preparations, you can surpass both your expectations and Cynthia’s expectations, too.

“I want to assist,” he said, leaning forward. “Please, let me help you for this upcoming Champion-tier match.”

I blinked.

“That’s a little out of nowhere,” I said.

"Is it?” Lucian held out his hands before bringing them in and crossing them over one another. “This match is meant to show off the Wandering Elite, and Cynthia... Cynthia wants the Wandering Elite project to succeed. However, at times, I feel she underestimates her own strength, and I don’t want that to happen. The purpose of having you fight her is to show off your power, but if you only get through two of her Pokémon without achieving much else, Cynthia will make you look weak."

"Aaron only fainted two of Cynthia's Pokémon," I pointed out, remembering that detail from Flint's email.

Lucian shook his head ever so slightly.

"That’s a different scenario, unfortunately,” he said. “Aaron managed to weaken many more Pokémon on Cynthia's team. Five out of the six of her Pokémon were on the verge of fainting throughout the battle, though only two fainted in the end. I know Flint likes to keep score, but Aaron performed impressively enough. Honestly, I would say Aaron got closer to winning than him."

He then leaned back in his chair, mimicking my posture, and he seemed to wait for me to reply before continuing to speak. Since all I did was sit there, he continued on regardless.

"No, we need you to do more than faint two of Cynthia's Pokémon. Even knocking out three would be preferable. However, in such a case, a match with an outcome like Aaron’s would be good, even if you don’t manage any faints. The Wandering Elite are meant to bridge the gap between Gym Leaders and the Elite Four, and this battle is supposed to emphasize that to the public. Believe me, I’ve done my research. My schedule has been cleared out for the day, and I’m available for messaging for the next week. Alex, let me help you. I believe with the right preparations, you can do much better than the prediction you gave me at the start.”

I hummed and stared at Lucian in the eyes. He didn’t blink once, returning my stare with a determined expression.

On one level, I was a little offended, because the way he was talking implied I wouldn’t do well at all unless I obtained his help. On another level, that was just pride speaking, and Lucian was a member of Sinnoh’s Elite Four who had known Cynthia for years. He was rated at a strong thirteen stars, and he served as the strongest member of the League directly underneath the Champion herself.

To have him, of all people, come here and offer me help right out of the blue? Well, he was mostly doing it to ensure Cynthia’s project wouldn’t fail, but I wasn’t going to pass up the chance.

“Okay. I’ll gladly accept your help,” I said.

“Thank you,” he said. “I’ll send you my own notes on her team tonight, but while I have time in person, is there anything specific I can help you with?”

Considering Lucian was a Psychic Type expert, and remembering my match against Flint the other day, I actually already had something in mind.

“Gardevoir and Rapidash,” I said. “I wouldn’t mind some help with a problem I have with their known moves.”

That made him smile—I was relying on his expertise, after all. Lucian stood up, brushed off his suit, and I stood up as well. We walked over to where Gardevoir and Rapidash were still silently fighting, and he began to pace around the pair as they cautiously eyed him as he walked.

“Both Gardevoir and Rapidash are incredibly strong fighters, but I feel the need to teach them some sort of finishing move. They need a powerful attack that can decisively end a match, but Hyper Beam would leave them open to retaliation due to its need to recharge. I do want to teach Gardevoir Hyper Beam eventually. After all, his Mega Evolution would empower the move to ridiculous levels with Pixilate, but since he only has Misty Explosion right now, I feel as though we struggle to end fights.”

The two Psychic Types stopped fighting at this point to more carefully observe the member of the Elite Four circling them. Lucian tapped his cheek in thought as he continued to pace, then he eventually came to a stop back next to me.

"I've seen how you battle. You prefer to use weather effects if needed, and you set up Terrain as support, too, yes?"

I nodded my head.

"Yeah. I want my team to be a weather team, but, really, I just enjoy the passive buffs. Snow hides Ninetales and helps the accuracy of Blizzard, rain boosts Water Type attacks and lets Thunder hit without a doubt, and, heck, sun's incredibly useful for almost anything related to the Grass Type."

"And you use Misty Terrain and Grassy Terrain as well?"

I nodded my head again to answer his question, and then Lucian started to walk off to where I had fought Barry only a few minutes ago.

"Bring Gardevoir and Rapidash over. Fight me. I'll have my Pokémon demonstrate a set of moves I think they should learn."

More than interested, I followed along, my pair of Pokémon in tow. Once we reached the dedicated spot, Lucian took up an opposing position, and Gardevoir and Rapidash moved into the space between us.

“This is a practice bout. No need to unleash your full power,” Lucian said, tossing forward two Pokéballs at once.

Appearing in front of Lucian were two Pokémon, one I recognized, and one I did not. The Alakazam was obvious enough, given it was a yellow, bipedal Pokémon with a stringy mustache. As for the other one, it was some sort of messed up giraffe, but I was having trouble placing its name.

The evolution of Girafarig, right? What exactly was that again?

For the first time in my life, I pulled out my Pokédex to identify an unknown Pokemon. I had to suppress a laugh as I realized I was currently going through a moment straight out of the anime.

"Farigiraf, the Long Neck Pokémon. An evolved form of Girafarig, its psychic power is drastically increased thanks to the brain in its tail syncing up with the brain in its head," the Pokédex said, reading from the appropriate entry in a robotic voice.

Farigiraf looked like a Girafarig, except it had grown to be the size of an actual giraffe, and its tail now served as a helmet over its head. A pair of blank eyes stared out at nothing at all as a full-on face hung out of a fanged mouth. Its interior eyes were sharp, as it was a highly skilled Psychic Type, though I had to admit, it looked a little wonky. There was something about seeing a four-legged Pokémon without a tail that seemed a little off to me.

"Are you ready?" Lucian called out.

I slotted the Pokédex back in my pack and nodded my head.

"Ready!" I replied.

"Good. Now watch."

Without needing an order, the Alakazam lifted up its spoons, and the Pokémon closed its eyes to focus. As it did, a spherical pulse went around it in all directions. The field didn’t tint any specific color, but there seemed to be a strange shift in the air, almost like the waving air of a mirage.

“Have your Pokémon move around before we begin,” Lucian said.

“Go ahead,” I told my Pokémon in response.

Both Gardevoir and Rapidash cautiously stepped forward.

Rapidash was the first to react, freezing in place the moment he lifted up a hoof. His eyes widened in surprise slightly before he put his foot down, as if to test the ground, then he began to slowly trot forward. He had no issues moving at all.

Gardevoir didn’t pause, but he didn’t have any problems, either. Instead, he cautiously and unerringly walked forward, picking up the pace when nothing happened.

The two Pokémon started this experiment looking worried, but that expression changed from worried to confused to curious to excited.

“I’ve been told the feeling of Psychic Terrain is like moving through a sort of reactive, viscous liquid,” Lucian said. “It’s comfortable to Psychic Types, but it takes a moment to get used to. As for traveling through it, average speeds and even fast paces won’t cause the terrain to react, but when a Pokémon suddenly accelerates—” He cut himself off, chuckling. “I’ll go more in depth about that later. For now, have your Pokémon attack, using Psychic Type moves only. Begin the practice bout.”

I swung my hand out to point forward, eager to have my Pokémon test themselves against the Pokémon of a Psychic Type specialist.

“Rapidash, Psybeam! Gardevoir, support with Psychic!”

Rapidash accelerated into his namesake—a dash—and he released a rainbow beam from the tip of his horn. Gardevoir closed his eyes and focused, and the beam itself gained a blue outline.

Combined, the attacks joined together into a powerful combo, but the Psychic Terrain in place made them shine even brighter than ever before. With surprising ease, Gardevoir caused the Psybeam to curve at an extremely sharp angle that sliced forward at both of Lucian’s Pokémon. Alakazam dodged by using Teleport to shift back a foot, and Farigiraf defended itself by releasing a two-pronged beam from its mouths that stopped the enhanced Psybeam in its tracks.

“Now, Psychic, both of you,” Lucian commanded, throwing out his arm as well.

In an instant, both Rapidash and Gardevoir locked up, their eyes going wide. Lucian’s Pokémon didn’t even need to move to unleash their attacks, the telekinetic lockdown coming out without a delay.

However, we had plans in place for situations like this, and Gardevoir escaped his opponent’s grip via Teleport. Before he could be grabbed again, he touched Rapidash, teleported the pair of them forward, and they unleashed a set of Psychics of their own.

That had the result of turning the battle into another, silent, motionless fight. Gardevoir and Rapidash stood still like they had been doing in practice, before. Alakazam and Farigiraf also stood still, and it seemed the Pokemon were now facing off.

Alakazam versus Gardevoir.

Farigiraf versus Rapidash.

Four Psychic Types testing the extent of their Psychic potential against one another, all using the same move, Psychic, enhanced by the Psychic Terrain.

Neither Lucian or I gave our Pokemon commands. We stood silently as our Pokemon fought an invisible battle. Soon, however, sweat began to appear on my Pokemon’s foreheads as they strained against their opponents.

“Interesting,” Lucian murmured.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I’m curious why your Rapidash has attacked with a special attack twice now when his species excels at more physical attacks. Is the decision a conscious choice? Or am I making an assumption on too small of a data set?”

“Uh, no, you’re actually—Hm.” I awkwardly scratched the side of my head. “Do you ever train a Pokémon one way with the intention of teaching them a move later but then never get around to doing that?”

Lucian chuckled and nodded his head with a slight smile on his face.

“I understand. I’ve done the same thing many times before. Perhaps now would be a good time to fix that? There’s one move his species learns quite easily: Psycho Cut. It might be a good technique for him to break Farigiraf’s assault.”

Our Pokémon did not stop attacking while we talked. Lucian’s Pokémon didn’t even take a break, but my Pokémon were quickly getting tired. Gardevoir was tilting to one side, and Rapidash was bending at his knees. Their bodies had become utterly tensed thanks to their strain, and their eyes were locked forward. It was obvious that they had never been tested at this level before. It was rare to encounter Psychic Type Pokemon this strong.

“Rapidash!” I yelled, purposefully trying to draw him out of the exchange. “Attempt a Psycho Cut—it’s an attack that creates a solid, telekinetic blade! If you need inspiration, remember! Wally’s Gallade has used it before!”

A pause. Rapidash suddenly let out a breath. He jumped back, almost desperately, and the ground where he was just standing was crushed underneath an invisible pressure. Still traveling through the air, he then swung his head. His horn carved a line through space, and a thin, wavering line formed in its wake.

It broke, and Rapidash was forced to use Agility to take off in another dash. Farigiraf unleashed another one of those Twin Beams from its mouth, blowing up part of the grassy floor that Rapidash had just run past.

“Try again!” I shouted.

Still running, Rapidash swung his head to carve through the air once more.

This time, the line that formed was a lot more solid, and I could see Rapidash’s eyes glimmer with inspiration. It traveled with him as he ran, hanging off of his horn, and he curved to turn his charge straight towards Farigiraf.

Worried, the Pokémon took a step backwards, and the jaws around its head snapped close in a protective shield. Then, Rapidash let out a loud whinny, and the newly-attempted Psycho Cut sliced through the air.

“Wonderful,” Lucian said. “Quick to pick it up, like I thought.”

The Psycho Cut carved into Farigiraf’s chest, but it did little damage to its reinforced skin.

As for where Gardevoir and Alakazam were still locked in a war, Lucian clapped his hands once to signal for a different move to be used.

“Now, Psychic Terrain is useful, but it’s more effective when it’s not used by itself. Watch what Alakazam does here.”

In this exchange, Alakazam was the one to stop its attack, avoiding the crushing weight of Gardevoir’s Psychic through use of Teleport. It appeared a foot away, just outside where a small bit of dirt burst from Gardevoir’s loss of target, and then Alakazam held up its spoons and glowed.

Another burst came out of it, one that looked similar to the burst that initially created the Psychic Terrain. A reality-warping bubble spread out, but this one seemed to have a sort of physicality to it.

The attack passed through Gardevoir, who cried out, and then it caught Rapidash from behind. Both Pokémon shook from its effects and almost collapsed right there and then from the damage the strange move dealt.

Actually, after a moment, Gardevoir did fall to the ground, but he didn’t faint. He was a Psychic Type, after all, and he resisted the attack. It seemed that this was where the demonstrative battle would end, as neither Alakazam nor Farigiraf followed up that delay. Kneeling, Gardevoir looked up at the Alakazam, and he did his best to give it a challenging, feral grin.

“Expanding Force,” Lucian explained as Alakazam replied to Gardevoir with a bemused roll of its eyes. “It’s a move enhanced by Psychic Terrain in two separate ways. Not only does it gain the passive enhancement from being a Psychic Type move used on Psychic Terrain, but it itself synergizes with the terrain’s effects to become even more powerful at its baseline.

“If you want Gardevoir to learn a finishing move, this is my recommendation. It is no Hyper Beam, but doesn’t necessitate any recovery period, yet the combination of it and the terrain itself contains a similar power.”

I looked over the field as my Pokémon pushed themselves off the ground. Alakazam took a moment to refresh the Psychic Terrain, and Gardevoir started to heal.

A Life Dew splashed off of both Gardevoir and Rapidash once, then twice. As for Rapidash himself, he used Heal Pulse on Lucian’s Pokemon by touching his horn to both Farigiraf and Alakazam. The two opponent Pokémon smiled at him in thanks, but Gardevoir stared forward. Throughout that entire process, Gardevoir never took his eyes off of Alakazam.

“I’ll see if we can work the moves out within the next week, otherwise, I might need to get the TMs then work them into our practice,” I said. I looked over to where Gardevoir hadn’t moved. “Also, I think Gardevoir wouldn’t mind testing himself against Alakazam again.”

Gardevoir’s grin deepened, and Lucian chuckled.

“I’ll arrange something for him,” Lucian said, much to the annoyance of Alakazam. “But, for now, please bring your Pokémon off to the side. There’s one more detail about Psychic Terrain I wish to show off.”

Rapidash trotted off the field, like Lucian requested, but Gardevoir lingered for just a moment longer. He focused, the horn on his chest glowing, and chunks of dirt started to be torn out of the ground.

With his eyes closed, the clods orbited in the air around his head, wrapped in a blue, Psychic Type glow. Once that set was done, Gardevoir ripped out another, then another, then another, putting the Psychic Terrain to as much use as possible.

By the end of it, Gardevoir managed to have a whole solar system of two dozen clumps of dirt rotating around his head. At that point, he sent Alakazam a smirk and teleported away, letting the dirt fall back to the ground.

Seems like he wanted to show off to get at least one thing over Alakazam.

“Spectacular control. I can see your Gardevoir is well trained,” Lucian mused. “It’s almost a shame you’re a Fairy Type specialist. With how well your Pokémon perform alongside you, you would have made a great trainer of the Psychic Type.”

That was funny to hear; Someone once told me something similar in the past.

With my two Psychic Types now to the side, Lucian recalled his Pokémon as well, and then he requested that Azumarill join us next.

I called out to her, and she looked up from where she was resting next to Ninetales. Rolling her shoulders, she pushed up and ambled over to the field. Lucian grabbed a Pokéball as he did, and appearing across from Azumarill was a heavy, bell-shaped Bronzong, a dual Steel and Psychic Type.

“Have your Azumarill attack. Bronzong won’t resist,” Lucian said.

Ah, I see what he’s trying to do.

“Alright, Azumarill. Go ahead. Use whatever moves you wish,” I told her, playing along.

A grin formed on the Water Type’s face, her eyes still locked in their permanent, angry form. Ready for a fight, she leaned over to dart forward—

But then the burst of water from Aqua Jet failed to move her, and she crashed to the ground as if she just hit a brick wall.

“Psychic Terrain is also helpful in dealing with those pesky,  quick-to-use moves,” Lucian explained. “Aqua Jet, Quick Attack, and even Extreme Speed all fail when used on Psychic Terrain. Not only that, but certain abilities have trouble being put to use. I know your Whimsicott, with his Prankster, wouldn’t appreciate its effects if he lingers too close to the ground.”

Whimsicott looked away from where he was training with Altaria, an aghast look on his face. Altaria used this opportunity to sneak up behind him and hit him with a playful Peck, grabbing his attention once more and resuming their mid-air games.

“I knew that already, which is why I never bothered teaching Psychic Terrain to my team,” I said. “While the benefits to Gardevoir and Rapidash would be nice, it would hinder almost everyone else. At least when it comes to weather, my Pokémon can replace detrimental weather with weather of their own. In the extreme case, Altaria’s Cloud Nine can completely clear the skies, too.”

Lucian gained a knowing smile, and he looked over to his floating Bronzong.

“Ah, but that’s exactly why I think you should learn this next move! I didn’t choose to send out Bronzong here simply because they can take a hit. Bronzong, if you will, I believe the Psychic Terrain needs to be removed.”

Bronzong shifted its body, and a low, gong-like sound rang out. It pulled its two arms closer to its body, red eyes glowing as it twisted itself up. After a moment, it swung those same arms out, and the Pokémon shifted into an extremely fast spin. It was hard to describe, but, as it moved, the strange waviness of the Psychic Terrain almost seemed to be sucked up into it.

“Steel Roller,” I quickly identified. Bronzong was glowing a harsh silver, symbolizing Steel. “It’s a move in which a Pokémon uses the energy of the terrain to fuel its own attack.”

“So you recognize it?” Lucian asked, blinking his eyes.

“I looked into it in the past, but this is another move I never got around to fully teaching Azumarill.”

As we spoke, Bronzong continued its spin all the way up to Azumarill, who had pushed to her feet a brief moment ago. A Steel Type attack would have been super effective against almost any other member of my team, but, for Azumarill, her primary Water Type meant the end result was neither super effective or resisted.

Though, she didn’t take the move head on, and she didn’t bother using Protect for it, either. It looked like Lucian was about to say something, but he paused when Azumarill held out her hands and pressed them against Bronzong’s incoming sides.

Lucian’s Pokémon continued to spin as Azumarill held her ground, pushing against it. Beneath her feet, the very earth itself gave way, and she was half pushed into the ground. However, Azumarill was not one to give up easily, and she let out a mighty roar that almost reinvigorated her as she yelled. Enhanced with Superpower, she pushed back, and the spin from Steel Roller was ground to a sudden stop.

“I... I didn’t expect that,” Lucian said.

He looked genuinely shocked.

Azumarill merely let loose a malicious smile, and then, with Bronzong too dizzy to resist, she grabbed Bronzong by its lip only to heave it over her head and slam it into the ground.

The noise the impact made sounded like someone had dropped a gong.

That was impressive for several reasons, one of which being Bronzong could levitate. Considering Azumarill just stopped a Steel Roller and overpowered Bronzong’s ability, the sheer level of strength she had at her disposal was more obvious than ever.

“Ah.” Lucian cleared his throat. “I don’t believe I can help Azumarill with anything outside of the suggestion for that move.”

“That’s fine. I think Azumarill has her training covered,” I said, giving a proud nod to my Pokémon. Azumarill grinned back then hopped back off the field, now able to use Aqua Jet again thanks to Psychic Terrain’s removal.

“Well, I do recommend learning Steel Roller, if possible, since a strong attack and well-timed removal could turn any battle to your favor. As for Bronzong...”

Florges made a noise as if to say “I got it,” and she floated in the air to go over and heal Lucian’s Pokemon.

“So, any other advice?” I asked.

Lucian looked around at my Pokémon, who were moving to return to their training, and then he shook his head and laughed once.

“Honestly, Alex, I think I underestimated your team. You might have more in order than I thought. If anything, it seems I only have advice for Cynthia and potentially a few niche moves.”

He cleared his throat again before continuing.

“So, Cynthia,” he continued. “I’ve known her for years, and based on how she’s treating this battle, she’s likely to go easy on you at the very start. Given that she likes to switch, you’ll have a single chance for an ‘easier’ knockout before she gets serious. I recommend attempting to take out a Pokémon you would struggle with otherwise to try to even the odds in your favor a little bit more. Otherwise, you might faint a Pokémon you could have countered regardless, and the opportunity would go to waste.”

I nodded my head. A question came to mind.

“Hold on, based on what Flint shared with me, it doesn’t seem like Cynthia has much interplay between the members of her team. She had her Gastrodon and Togekiss, but the rest are mostly just independently strong Pokémon. How important is this choice? Wouldn’t the rest of her team still remain as a tough threat?”

“Of course, but that’s how Pokémon battles work! They’re a series of checks and counters. You’d want to try to take out the one you’d struggle with the most. For example, I would take out her Spiritomb, as the dual Ghost and Dark Type serves as a powerful check to my team.”

I laughed, slightly.

“But this is Cynthia we’re speaking about. Even if she starts off easy, getting the first faint will still be an uphill battle,” I said.

Lucian chuckled slightly as well.

“Indeed. No matter what, any slight victory will be well earned. But, with the right effort and careful planning, I expect you might be able to take out...” He rubbed his chin. “Three, maybe four.”

I frowned at that. The idea of battling the Champion only to plan to lose felt... wrong.

Everyone implied my team wouldn’t be able to win.

Why couldn’t we win?

Such a difference in strength just meant we needed to be that much more clever in our plans.

“Thank you, Lucian. But, did you say you have the rest of the day free?”

He smiled.

“I did. I came here to help, after all. I have more advice if you're interested.”

“By all means,” I replied.

“Then let’s start,” he said as we began to move back to the rest of my team. “Going back to what we talked about before, have you considered tying weather and terrain into your offense even more? See, there are these two moves called Weather Ball and Terrain Pulse. I feel that they would work well for your team...”

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Author Note:

Wrote this chapter operating off of two hours of sleep. Hopefully Lucian didn’t come across too harsh. My addled mind also wrote out Flint's email to Alex, and you can read that here if you wish (also posted today).

Quick note: Wood Hammer is a recoil move, so that Torterra should have actually jumped and tried to land an attack using the tree on its back. However, I liked the idea of a root-whip, so the usage of the move here isn't technically faithful to its actual capabilities.

Also, Farigiraf was a purposeful inclusion in this chapter just so I can give it a shout-out for being a part of the finals in the recent VGC Masters tournament. Might not have won, but, man, what a champ. You can watch the battle here.

Pokémon (and people) mentioned in this chapter (contains spoilers):
Alakazam
Bronzong
Farigiraf
Torterra

Barry
Lucian

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