Chapter 191 (Patreon)

Author Note: Cliffhanger warning.
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An unearthly cackle filled the air as Spiritomb's jagged mouth curved up into a smile. The Pokémon’s amorphous face leaked out of its odd keystone, and it seemed that having a set size was only a suggestion with how it shifted to tower over the field.

Good at wide-ranged attacks, hard to hit if we don't use the same. Go for the central stone to deal massive damage, but that stone is small enough that it's almost useless to try to hit.

Advice from Flint rolled through my head as Ninetales did her best to stand confident across from the living ghost. With Cynthia's first Pokémon, Lucario, having been taken out, Ninetales should have been standing with pride. However, thanks to Spiritomb's Pressure, she had to put all of her focus into not cowering from the ghost’s mere presence.

"Eliminate dark spots within your snow. Watch for unfamiliar shadows," I called out.

Ninetales nodded, but her movements were stiff. From here, the sounds of the audience felt muffled thanks to the weather around the field.

"Close in," Cynthia ordered when enough time had passed by.

Ninetales went ahead and used Dazzling Gleam at a low level to maintain a constant light.

Spiritomb rushed forward, the wisps of its form stretching and squashing its ghostly apparition. The stone that held its core was dragged along and eventually consumed by the shape of its amorphous body. The light from Ninetales’s Dazzling Gleam seemed to ward it off, but it didn’t stop Spiritomb from forming a ring of pure darkness just past a set radius around Ninetales. With the snow covering both the air and the ground, the Dazzling Gleam made everything around her a perfect white, and everything past that was colored a pitch black.

“Ominous Wind.”

“Icy Wind!”

With Spiritomb as powerful as it was, we needed to weaken it to have any chance of taking it out. Icy Wind was the perfect move for this—the area attack would slow it down and make it easier to hit.

Indeed, when the freezing breeze blew out from around Ninetales’s body, the churning shadows around her seemed to slow. However, Spiritomb attacked in that same moment as well, and the area around her tinted grey. There was no directly obvious damage, but Ninetales did something no Ice Type should ever do; due to the bone-chilling Ominous Wind, Ninetales shivered.

“Hypnosis,” Cynthia continued. “Follow it up with Dark Pulse.”

“Confuse Ray!” I screamed.

This was not a situation where Snow Cloak could come in and save her. Not only was Spiritomb’s darkness all-encompassing, but, as a Ghost Type, it could likely see through Ninetales’s cover by detecting her life.

A purplish-grey beam shot out of Ninetales’s eyes, and it seemed to carve through some of the darkness around her. The parts she hit changed—a portion of the hundred-or-so wisps that made up Spiritomb moved erratically, though they were soon swept up and consumed by the rest. With the majority of it still in good mind, a stream of psychic-colored rings pulsed out of the darkness at odd angles in an attempt to catch Ninetales off guard.

She tried to resist. Ninetales charged forward, running away from the aim of Hypnosis with an attempt to bring her Dazzling Gleam into Spiritomb. However, the ghost moved with her, a ring of black keeping her in its center no matter what. Desperate to avoid being put to sleep, she brought her paws down for a Dig—

“Don’t!” I yelled.

Spiritomb could move through darkness, meaning that traveling underground would only serve to give it an easier path to follow. Even more, if Ninetales fell asleep in the middle of using Dig, the battle would be over given that Spiritomb would be free to finish her off out of sight and in an enclosed space.

In one last attempt to save herself, Ninetales sent out a Blizzard in all directions, a twister of ice spinning out of her to cover the field. Spiritomb was hit, but it didn’t react. Despite what slowness and weakness it now had from ice and frost mixing with its numerous wisps, it still maintained its constant onslaught of sleep-inducing rings, and one finally struck Ninetales between the eyes.

She stumbled. Drowsy and still affected by Spiritomb’s Pressure, it took all of her effort to stay upright. Ninetales wobbled in place, leg crossing over leg in an attempt to remain standing as she slowly fell towards her side.

Then, a second Hypnosis ring hit her.

And then a third.

Before too long, Ninetales could no longer withstand the exhausttion. Her eyes drooped and she let out a forceful yawn. Unwillingly, her legs gave out underneath her, and a snore marked that low-power Dazzling Gleam fading away.

There was nothing to keep it at bay; Spiritomb rushed in. Around Ninetales, darkness collapsed inwards and covered her.

“Ninetales, return,” I said, bringing up her Premier Ball. My sleeping Pokémon turned to light and was recalled safely inside her Pokéball.

To put it lightly, her sleep was an issue. I couldn’t leave Ninetales out on the field given that Spiritomb’s Dream Eater would heal the ghost, undoing all the work Ninetales had done. But, if I wanted to send her out later, her sleep condition meant she’d suffer at least one devastating blow before she woke up, if she even did.

I regretted not bringing Florges with me at this moment, as her Aromatherapy would have nipped this problem in the bud.

How is it, that after training more than an entire team of Fairy Types, not one Pokémon I have knows Heal Bell? I should have used Misty Terrain here, too. Then again, it made sense not to use it. A freeze would have been more valuable for me than a sleep is for Cynthia.

Pushing my doubts and compunctions aside, I brushed my hands over the Pokéballs on my belt in thought as I considered who to send out next. The Spiritomb reconstituted itself on the field as the snow around it slowly started to die down. I watched as the glowing spirits that made up Spiritomb’s body spun and spun as its ever-smiling face stared at me mischievously.

For a moment, I felt a chill on my back, but then it passed as if it was never there in the first place.

I have four Pokémon left, one of which I need to save for Cynthia’s Garchomp at the end. Against Spiritomb, we need wide-ranged attacks, and Whimsicott’s Prankster would be useless given that it’s part Dark Type.

I quickly came to a decision, deciding it was finally time to stop putting it off.

Tossing the Nest Ball forward, Gardevoir appeared on the field, and both the announcers and the audience went wild at my choice to send a Psychic Type out against a Ghost.

“Set up a Misty Terrain, Gardevoir. Watch out for any sneak attacks,” I said. “Also, we’re going all in.”

Gardevoir grinned as I held up my wrist before anything else could occur. The field itself was encompassed by an iridescent light that stemmed from his growing Mega Evolution.

Fervent cheers rang out at the sight of the first Mega Pokémon of the match. Cynthia, across from me, gained a slight grin at the presence of a decently strong foe.

“Hypnosis,” she ordered, likely as a test.

As was expected, Gardevoir was faster in setting up a mist over the field.

Spiritomb sent out a pulse of Hypnosis, not bothering to leave its default form. Gardevoir, now doubling his own psychic potential and gaining a defensive dress, did not bother to dodge as the move was rendered ineffective thanks to the occluding mist.

The Hypnosis splashed uselessly against Gardevoir’s white clothes, and he maintained a confident smirk. Using Psychic, he didn’t bother to try to grab the Dark Type Spiritomb. Instead, he tore rocks out of the ground and tossed them forward at his enemy.

“Shadow Sneak,” Cynthia calmly ordered.

Spiritomb ducked into its own shadow, stone and all, and it rushed forward in a serpentine path.

Dodging left to right, Spiritomb used the shadows of the incoming move to hide its body. Rock after rock crashed into the ground in an attempt to crush and stop its flickering path, but Spiritomb was far too maneuverable as a shadow to be hit. It reached where Gardevoir was only to surface in front of nothing—Gardevoir teleported—and then Spiritomb turned around to launch a powerful Shadow Ball at where Gardevoir reappeared.

The attack was countered with a Shadow Ball of Gardevoir’s own, and the two masses of darkness burst into purple light, funnily enough. He then sent out a Moonblast, whereupon Spiritomb sucked itself back into its stone to duck under the shining sphere.

“There we go, Gardevoir!” I shouted. “Show it the true meaning of fear!”

Though Spiritomb was a Ghost Type, it was also a Dark Type. Out of all the Types in the world, there was only one that combination was weak to, and that Type just happened to be Fairy.

Gardevoir teleported once more, appearing behind Spiritomb just like how it tried to appear behind him moments before. Even when it tried to escape by darting into the ground with Shadow Sneak, Gardevoir was still able to quickly unleash his blinding attack.

Light. Dazzling Gleam burst from Gardevoir, illuminating the field and searing away all shadows. A hiss left Spiritomb as the attack dissolved its Shadow Sneak and forced it out of the ground.

“Return, Spiritomb,” Cynthia said, much to our disappointment. I knew for a fact that, Mega Evolved, Gardevoir would have won that match.

As our attacks ceased, the ghost willingly rushed across the field to deposit itself in her pocket once again.

“Gastrodon,” Cynthia named.

If she brought him here, she’s unlikely to have brought her Milotic, too. Togekiss is probably coming out next as well. Ninetales would have been great here.

A brown and pink slug appeared on Cynthia’s side of the field, letting loose a warbling cry. Its six, stubby legs made popping sounds as it inched its way forward, moving ever so slightly closer to the Mega Evolved Gardevoir across from it.

“Poison wastes,” Cynthia ordered.

“See if you can grab it with Psychic!” I called out.

Both Pokémon released their attacks.

Gastrodon lifted up its head, its small, horn-like growths vibrating from the energy it channeled through its body. It jabbed its short legs down into the ground, locking itself in place, and the field began to shake in a slowly-building Earthquake.

As for Gardevoir, he set up a horizontal Reflect and casually stepped up onto the platform to minimize any damage. His eyes and red horns on his chest glowed blue as he lifted a hand forward, grabbing Gastrodon with a ranged telekinesis.

However, though Gardevoir tried his best to tear Gastrodon off the field, the Pokémon held on. Its body showed a surprising capacity to stretch, and never once did a leg leave the ground.

I knew the Pokémon’s ability was Sticky Hold, but I never thought it could be used like that. Normally, Sticky Hold prevented a Pokémon’s item from being stolen. In this case, Gastrodon refused to let itself be removed from the floor.

“Watch out!” I yelled.

Still using Earthquake and still being grabbed by Psychic, Gastrodon opened its mouth to launch a glob of Sludge Bomb right at Gardevoir.

The mass of poison sailed through the air and burst on the Reflect Gardevoir was forced to Teleport away from. He appeared on the still shaking ground only to be forced to Teleport once again as another Sludge Bomb was shot right at him.

Shot after shot, the pattern repeated itself as Gardevoir was prevented from doing anything but flee. The ground shook, hurting him, and the Sludge Bombs ensured that he never had a chance to retaliate to the attack.

I understood why Cynthia had called this combination “poison wastes.” Earthquake broke apart the field, and Sludge Bomb left puddles of sizzling ooze on the ground wherever it popped. With how frequently Gastrodon was attacking, Gardevoir was slowly running out of clean space he could teleport to. Thankfully, the Teleports were minimizing the damage he took from Earthquake, and his Mega Evolution meant he still had plenty of energy to spare.

“Remember!” I yelled. “You can’t be poisoned!”

Misty Terrain was up as a guard against status condition, and reminding Gardevoir of it helped him better focus his defense.

He used Teleport one, final time, and, this time, he teleported right to where a Sludge Bomb had exploded against the ground. The Poison Type muck under him did seem to sting him slightly, but the mist helped inoculate him from suffering from the poison condition.

Then, he released a Moonblast. Gastrodon didn’t expect him to attack from this angle, and its immobile, spongy body took the blow, bending inwards thanks to the impact. When the sparkling light from the move faded away, I could see a discolored welt on the side of Gastrodon’s body.

It still seemed somewhat healthy, though.

“Muddy Water,” Cynthia said.

In a finale to its field-shaping combination, Gastrodon vibrated once more as a wave rose up behind it. This attack was much like Surf in that it was a wall of water that hung over the field, but it was tinted brown from mud being mixed within. The Muddy Water threatened to not only muddy the field but also Gardevoir himself, dirtying him and potentially lowering his accuracy from gunk blocking his vision.

Wait, Muddy Water would dirty him? That’s it!

“Return, Gardevoir!” I yelled. “Ninetales!”

When Ninetales appeared on the field, she was asleep, curled into a ball with her tails wrapped up against her head. Unconscious and dreaming, she was completely unaware of the disgusting wave of water heading her way.

She took no actions to defend herself, and she made no efforts to block it. The Muddy Water crashed down on her, turning the entire area around her brown, and the field itself became a swamp with only Gastrodon visible above.

Nothing changed for a single moment.

Then, mist.

The spot where Ninetales had been sent out turned white from frost, and the mud froze and shattered as she broke free from the ground.

Ninetales was absolutely covered by the mud Gastrodon had sent her way. Her usually pristine coat was blemished by dirt stuck between her hair. She shook, but it did little to free herself from the grime. What made it worse for her was that her natural chill froze the mud to her body, making the disgustingness impossible to get off without a bath.

I stiffened when Ninetales turned to me, eyes glowing with an implied threat at the “strategy” I used to ensure she’d wake up.

“I-I’ll make it up to you later. At least you’re awake, right?”

She scoffed. Towards Gastrodon, she snarled. If there was one thing Ninetales hated the most in the world, it was getting her fur dirty.

Channeling all of her pure, unadulterated fury towards her foe, Ninetales disappeared with a use of Agility only to reappear behind Gastrodon. The Pokémon let out a surprised whoop and bent its head around, fear clear in its eyes.

“Gastrodon—” Cynthia started, but Ninetales was far too angry to give Cynthia time to give her Pokémon an order.

All around Ninetales, frost crackled out over the field, a flash-freeze turning the entire swamp of mud into an icy surface. Gastrodon began to prepare itself with another Sludge Bomb in its mouth, but Ninetales howled and that frost jumped up to cover the slug’s body.

This was no Blizzard. This was no Ice Beam, either. We had even taught her Weather Ball for this battle, but it seemed like that move would go unused.

No, through pure rage, Ninetales pushed all of her massive skill in cryokinesis to use a move we’d only discussed in theory. Freeze-Dry was not only super effective against Ground Types, but the move was special in that it turned all water into frost, too.

Gastrodon was a dual Water and Ground Type Pokémon that had already taken a number of attacks from a Mega Evolved Pokémon. Taking a four-times effective move like Freeze-Dry from a Pokémon as strong as Ninetales meant it should have fainted, but the Pokémon wasn’t a Champion’s team member for nothing.

Gastrodon stayed conscious, but it was shriveled up and on the verge of fainting.

“Return,” Cynthia said quickly.

A low groan left Gastrodon’s mouth before it was recalled into its Pokéball. I was able to see its form before it disappeared—shrunken and withered thanks to Freeze-Dry causing all of the water to leave its form.

I’m counting that as a win.

With it gone, Cynthia then went and made the expected decision.

Togekiss appeared and took to the air. Unfortunately, Ninetales was now exhausted after that attack, and she was only able to crane her neck up to stare at the flying Fairy Type. Spiritomb had taken a lot out of her, and Freeze-Dry was a completely unpracticed move. At least, my plan to have her out in preparation for this foe meant we had a slight Type advantage.

“Blizzard,” I said.

Ninetales, knowing herself better than me, used an Ice Beam instead, the move requiring less of her overall energy. A beam of crackling, light blue lightning tore through the air, threatening super effective damage against the Togekiss.

However, Togekiss was in far too good of shape to let the move land. The Ice Beam chased it as it flew through the air, but its latent agility meant it was able to curve, bank, and duck out of the way. Avoiding attack, the Champion’s Pokémon was still more than able to continue the fight, whereas Ninetales didn’t have enough energy to follow up her Ice Beam or even control it well enough to let it follow.

After that, all it took from Togekiss was a simple curve in the air to form a blade of wind with the tip of its wing. That blade of wind then sailed downwards to slice Ninetales right in the chest.

She fainted.

I was impressed, regardless.

“Good work. Again, I’m sorry about your coat.”

For a second, I felt as if Ninetales was scoffing at me within her ball, but, at the same time, I knew she was playing up her anger just to ensure I’d feel guilty enough to make it up to her later.

Don’t worry, I will.

Before I sent out my next Pokémon, I looked over the field. The muddy waste wasn’t present, but the ground had completely frozen over. Even though there was no remaining mud, anyone grounded would still struggle to move over the terrain, so I only had one possible choice to match against Togekiss.

“Whimsicott,” I named. “We need to weaken Togekiss and reset the field.”

Whimsicott coalesced from his Pokéball’s light in the air, and he spun in place before starting to bounce back and forth where he floated.

“Air Slash, rapid-fire,” Cynthia ordered.

Togekiss moved. It pulled up and twisted to the side to enter a gliding, figure-eight pattern. Each curve saw its wings slice blades into existence, and those Air Slashes were sent out one-by-one.

The next period of exchange went quickly—Whimsicott sacrificed a bit of his health to tear a protective Substitute from his fluff, and he used the speed granted to him by Prankster to use intervening utility moves.

A Sunny Day was thrown into the air, and the ice below melted and dried out.

An Air Slash sliced his Substitute in two, and Whimsicott pulled out another one.

A Grassy Terrain pulsed down into the field, and the grass pieced together the cracks from the damage it sustained before.

An Air Slash sliced his Substitute in two, and Whimsicott pulled out another one.

Whimsicott then used Growth, preparing to switch into offense, but that was when Cynthia changed her plans.

“Encore!” she yelled.

I didn’t bother to wait. Togekiss had effectively trapped Whimsicott into repeating an action that wouldn’t help him win the match. I returned Whimsicott right here and now before he used Growth again. It was a shame that the empowering effect went to waste, but if Whimsicott was going to be stuck using one move, Togekiss would have too much free reign to knock him out with him unable to attack.

And I already have two members of my team fainted so far.

“Mawile,” I said, sending out the Pokémon in question. “Cynthia, could you give us a second, please?”

The Champion raised an eyebrow and nodded her head.

In response, my explanation came in the form of a deep breath and the raising of my wrist. The audience broke out in gasps at recognition of the piece of jewelry before cheers filled the air.

I really hope the energy drink I drank before this match helps.

The thing about this decision was that this wasn’t just the second Mega Evolution of the match, but this was a simultaneous Mega Evolution of Mawile alongside Gardevoir. Gardevoir was in his Nest Ball right now, which meant the drain to keep his form maintained was minimized, but I had learned from practice that simultaneous Mega Evolutions required an exponential draw from my stamina.

Mawile’s body shape shifted; she grew taller and her set of large jaws split into two. Empowered, she strode forward, and she eyed her opponent in the sky with her mind already figuring out her next attack’s aim.

However, I couldn’t give her any commands. I fell forward, forced to grab the railing of the elevated platform just to support myself. I could barely maintain her Mega Evolution, and it was taking all my effort to not fall unconscious, myself.

Still, I couldn’t help but to grin. In a fight against Sinnoh’s Champion, I had finally managed to maintain two Mega Evolutions at once.

The audience was cheering with enough excitement to keep me awake.

“You’ll fight without orders,” I managed to wheeze out.

All I could do was stare with heavy eyes as Mawile turned back and gave me a nod.

The fervent cheers of the audience soon became deaf to my ears as, for this stage of the fight, I became nothing more than an observer for the resulting exchange.

With me so hindered, Mawile is going to need to stay out until she faints. However, the power of Mega Evolution should make a difference.

The second the battle resumed, Mawile had to swing one her jaws forward to block the Air Slash that came her way. An Iron Defense helped her withstand the move, and her innate resistance to the Flying Type helped her resist it even further. Thankfully, even with the force of Togekiss’s Serene Grace behind it, the Air Slash did not cause Mawile to flinch.

“Water Pulse,” Cynthia ordered.

This was a surprise attack, but not one that didn’t make sense. Water Pulse was another move that made use of Serene Grace; the attack carried the secondary effect of possibly confusing its target, which became more likely thanks to Togekiss’s ability.

A ring of water shot out of Togekiss’s chest, pulsating in size across the field in an attack that could confuse Mawile, even if she blocked. It took a Dark Pulse to deflect the attack, and, thankfully, she was able to cause the water to splash harmlessly on the ground.

From there, Mawile moved to begin her assault.

Just like she had done so many times in the past, Mawile began an out-of-sync flicking of her two jaws to unleash a machine-gun-like onslaught of stone chips and shards. Her Stone Edge forced the Togekiss to enter an evasive pattern, though it was agile enough to not need to pick up speed.

“Aura Sphere,” Cynthia ordered next.

Just like how the Water Pulse had formed ahead of Togekiss’s chest, the flying Pokémon caused a blue, Fighting Type orb to fade into existence in the air. It curved in its flight, the Stone Edge still chasing it through the sky, and with a dive, Togekiss released the attack in a bombing run right at Mawile.

The Aura Sphere was too strong to take head-on, so Mawile was forced to pause the movement of one of her jaws to block it with Iron Defense. That delay in Stone Edge gave Togekiss room to use a secondary attack, and it pulled its wings close to its body in the air to twist and cause sparks to emanate around it.

A Shock Wave then tore out of Togekiss to charge right into Mawile. Blocking didn't make a difference—Steel Types weren’t vulnerable, but Mawile did end up easily conducting the attack. Against a special move like this, Mawile didn’t have much of a defense, and Cynthia seemed to recognize that.

“Again,” she said.

I grimaced.

A second Shock Wave formed, and I had to wonder what exactly Mawile would do.

However, as I watched over the field in my exhausted state, I started to smell something strange in the air. The scent of honey or something similarly sweet drifted out over the field, and I noticed that Togekiss’s flight in the sky became mildly more relaxed.

Sweet Scent! Yes! I can’t believe I forgot about the move.

I also noticed that Mawile was playing a trick right now—her Stone Edge was coming out nowhere near as accurate or as fast as before. She was still blocking with one of her jaws while the other one slammed up and down to flick forward her stones. However, against Shock Wave, she didn’t need to block, and with Sweet Scent making Togekiss lower its guard, within a few seconds, Mawile was ready to strike.

A third Shock Wave hit her, and Mawile let out a roar. Her two jaws were yanked into the air before they slammed down in a mighty thud. The impact caused the shards forming on their surface to break off and fly through the air like usual, but the speed the Stone Edge traveled was much faster, and, thanks to Sweet Scent, Togekiss was unable to dodge.

The stones struck it in its wing, dealing super effective damage, and Mawile began a mad dash forward. Injured, the Champion’s Pokémon began to fall, and Mawile ran to catch it before it hit the ground.

“Air Slash,” Cynthia said, far too calm in response to this attack.

Falling, Togekiss managed to just barely flap its good wing to send out another blade of wind, which unfortunately cut Mawile across the chest. She was literally feet away from Togekiss when the attack caused her to stumble in a flinch, and the flying Pokémon managed to pull back up into the air.

But, Togekiss wasn’t flying anywhere near as fast. Mawile had done her work, giving Togekiss enough of an injury in its wing that its agility for this match was crippled. A bit more time, and I knew Togekiss’s fate would be sealed.

“Return,” Cynthia said with a sigh, noticing the same thing I did.

That’s the second time she’s returned her Pokémon before we could faint it. Am I allowed to count our match against both Togekiss and Gastrodon as victories?

There were a few cheers and boos for that—all of them showing Cynthia support. As much of a disappointment it was, it was still a good decision to recall Togekiss here. As it stood, with how her team currently was, Cynthia had five remaining Pokémon on her team whereas I only had four. Though, one of my Pokémon was the waiting Azumarill, and half of my conscious team was Mega-Evolved, too.

Cynthia still had two Pokémon that had full health, though, and she sent one of them out now.

“Roserade,” she said.

Perfect.

The flower-handed Pokémon appeared on the field, and its leafy cape billowed out when it spun with a prideful twist.

“Sunny Day,” Cynthia continued.

The weather had been fading from when Whimsicott had set it up, but the Grassy Terrain had faded over the period of the previous match. Cynthia didn’t bother to give an order when Mawile charged forward, and when her jaws snapped down to lock Roserade in her mouth, all Cynthia did was smile.

“Weather Ball,” she said.

What?! But Weather Ball in the sunlight was what Ninetales was supposed to do!

Roserade’s Poison Point usually warded off melee attackers, but that meant nothing to the Steel Type Mawile. What did matter, though, was the attack that it formed in front of both of its bouquet-shaped hands. Weather Ball started as a sphere of raw, Normal Type energy, but it drew in the energy of the Sunny Day, and it became a fiery ball not too dissimilar to the faux-sun itself.

Two Weather Balls formed over its hands, and two Weather Balls were shot point-blank into Mawile. The attack had not only turned Fire Type thanks to the sun, but it was also enhanced by the weather condition itself. Despite the super effective damage, Mawile tightened down on her biting grip through the pain of the attack, yet Roserade pushed through the damage to prepare the same move again.

Through the pain of the heat, Mawile’s second jaw bit down on Roserade, and both of her jaws emanated differing energies. One had a faint, chilling mist that was due to Ice Fang, and the other had an incredible blaze bursting out from between its teeth thanks to Fire Fang. Both were super effective against Roserade, but it continued to hold its hands up towards the sky.

A Weather Ball only formed over a single of its hands. The other started to glow with the healing light of Synthesis.

“Toss... it,” I groaned out through my tiredness.

Mawile couldn’t hear me, and she continued to bite.

The thing is, Mawile was dealing a lot of damage, but under the weight of such powerful Fire Type attacks and with Roserade’s healing, Roserade was doing more. My heart sank when the Weather Ball caused Mawile to fall to a knee, and she was forced to release her Ice Fang from around the Roserade. The Pokémon wasn’t able to escape from the last remaining bite on its own, but the change in position let it aim one last Weather Ball right into Mawile’s face.

The crowd gasped as she fell, and the energy being drained from my body stopped just like that. I was exhausted, but the only drain on me was the faint trickle to support Gardevoir, who was still in his Pokéball.

That let me better stand up, and I rubbed the blurriness out of my eyes.

Roserade pushed back to its feet. The sunlight-infused Synthesis meant it was still healing.

We need to take it out now. This might be our only chance to get another faint.

My current situation wasn’t great. Only one of Cynthia’s Pokémon were fainted, but at least the rest were decently injured. I thought back to Lucian’s comments on Aaron. The elite, Bug Type specialist had only knocked out two of Cynthia’s Pokémon, but he had managed to almost win by weakening the rest of her team.

I didn’t want to end with only one knock-out. Between Whimsicott, Gardevoir, and Azumarill, I sent out Gardevoir, and I gained a grim focus as my eyes locked onto the Roserade.

“Sludge Bomb,” Cynthia ordered when the battle continued.

Still holding one of its flower bundles up for a constant heal, Roserade unleashed its attack.

It was clear the Pokémon practiced together with her Gastrodon, as the move was nearly identical to the Sludge Bomb the slug had used before. However, when Roserade released the attack, it came out faster, and the Poison Type move acted like it had been launched from its flowers like a cannon built into its arm.

Gardevoir was still Mega Evolved, however, and he had plenty of energy to Teleport around the field. In my exhausted state, each use of a move felt like a jab at my consciousness, but I refused to fall while fighting here, of all places.

“Get in close!” I yelled.

He didn’t even wait, following my command exactly as ordered.

“Expanding Force!”

He burst.

Just because there wasn’t a Psychic Terrain up didn’t mean he couldn’t use the move.

Neither Cynthia nor Roserade expected this attack, which greatly pleased me to see. Likely, they expected Roserade to either be grabbed by Psychic or attacked from range, not hit by an all-encompassing burst up close like this.

Expanding Force might not have been as strong as it could have been, but it was still a Psychic Type move Roserade was vulnerable to. The force of the impact caused Roserade’s aiming hand to be knocked back into the sky, a Sludge Bomb going wide, and the Pokémon fell to the ground on its hands and knees.

“Now, Mystical Fire.”

I silently thanked Cynthia for setting up the sun, and I silently thanked Rapidash for helping Gardevoir learn the move, too.

The heat bearing down on the field enhanced the attack, and Roserade didn’t have a proper chance to defend itself from the flames. Well, it did have Protect, but under the weight of Gardevoir’s enhanced, Mega Evolution energy, he was able to maintain the assault far past the point where the protective move dropped.

Finally—finally—after everything that had happened, we managed to get the second faint against Cynthia’s team.

She hummed as the audience let loose their own cheers and mournful cries. Her eyes flicked between me, the Mega Evolved Gardevoir, and the lack of her own Pokémon on the field.

“I’ve been enjoying this battle so far, Alex,” Cynthia said. “You’ve managed to significantly injure almost all of my remaining Pokémon. But, after everything else, I think it’s about time we end the match.”

My heart stilled.

“What do you mean?” I asked hoarsely.

“Azumarill won’t be too upset if I send him out early, right?”

I wanted to curse, but, in a way, Cynthia had fulfilled our deal. I requested that she’d use her Garchomp last, and, in a way, that was true.

Her entire team had seen combat, and every one of her Pokémon had participated in one form or another. I was confident that Gardevoir and Whimsicott combined could have fainted another member of her team, but against her ace, Garchomp?

Yeah, no. We were screwed.
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Author Note:

Thank you for waiting! Conclusion to the match and the start of something I've been waiting a long time for on Monday.

Pokémon mentioned in this chapter (contains spoilers):
Garchomp
Gastrodon
Lucario
Roserade
Spiritomb
Togekiss

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