The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 2 Episode 3: Unexpected Aid

Spoiler:

It was halfway through lunch when Abbee found herself sitting at a table, with Victini, as the pair ate lunch. At least, Victini ate lunch, whilst Abbee poked at her food. Whilst it was understandable that she battle Justin, given that both of them had a Legendary or Mythical Pokemon, having seen Justin beat Jon with such ease made her nervous. He had definitely improved since last summer, and grown as a person as well, and whilst this was no competition, merely a showcase, and winning or losing didn’t matter, Abbee didn’t want to go down as easily as she suspected she would.

Whilst she sat by herself during lunch, that was the first time her and Victini had been alone since they arrived in the dining hall. After she let Victini out of his Pokeball, one by one, trainers had come over, curious to meet the Mythical Pokemon, and out of politeness, her as well. Victini would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy the attention.

Abbee made a point of asking their names, aware that it was likely more than one of the students who approached her would be in her group, and a first impression would be vital. The one that shocked her most however was one of the younger girls, who mentioned being from Rustboro City in Hoenn.

Rose Drake.

“Drake as in…” Abbee had begun, as the young girl smiled.

“Alyssa is Dad’s younger sister,” Rose had explained. “Her and Jon are my aunt and uncle. I was actually here last New Year’s. Even battled Jon, though he was definitely holding back.”

Abbee laughed hearing that.

“Don’t get used to that,” Abbee replied. “He will push you to your limit, but you will be better for it.”

Rose had left a little while after, leaving Abbee and Victini in their current lonesome state, as Abbee tried to come up with some sort of plan for beating Justin. She was pulled from her thoughts by someone sitting next to her, and was slightly surprised to see Chris, looking intently at the biggest sandwich Abbee had ever seen.

“Surely you won’t eat all that…” Abbee said, as Chris grinned.

“Will try my best,” Chris retorted. “Why, do you want half?”

Abbee looked at the sandwich, and realized half was over twice as much as she had dished herself up.

“I’m good…” she said, somewhat absent-mindedly, as she went back to thinking over the battle, zoning out watching Victini digging into the bowl of fries he had in front of him.

“What’s wrong?” Chris asked. “You seem quieter than usual. More like Dylan than yourself…”

Abbee chuckled slightly.

“I’m just trying to figure out how I can beat Justin, since he made it look so easy to take Jon down yesterday…” Abbee answered. “Honestly, Regieleki seems intense, and I don’t know that I could beat it…”

“Really?” Chris asked. “Justin beat Jon because he completely shifted his battling style. And it wasn’t Regieleki that beat Jon, but Alakazam. If they were to go toe to toe now, Jon would beat him no doubt.”

“Still, I’m not Jon…”

“No, but as good of a trainer as Justin is, I’d still say you’re better,” Chris said, as he took a bite from his sandwich before continuing to speak with his mouth full. “You have more experience, and Justin is still trying to catch up. Heck, no offense to Victini, but Jon was right. If Victini had have used Flamethrower to finish Dusknoir, you would have beaten Dylan no sweat.”

Victini looked at Chris, brow raised.

“You’ll get it next time,” Chris said to Victini, trying to make sure he didn’t just offend the Mythical Pokemon, who had paused loading fries into his mouth to stare down Chris. Abbee laughed lightly, but returned to silence, as Chris and Victini both continued to eat.

Something didn’t make sense to Chris. Whilst he didn’t know Victini’s move-set well, Jon had mentioned one move that seemed to imply Victini knew others, that if used well, could disrupt the strategy Justin used to get the upper hand on Jon.

Chris looked over at Victini, who was continuing to eat fries, before noticing Justin looking.

”You got a problem?” said a voice in Justin’s head, which he recognized as Victini’s.

”No problem. I just wanted to ask you something, without Abbee hearing…” Chris replied with his thoughts.

”And what’s that?” Victini asked as he continued to eat his fries.

”Does Abbee know about the battle you and Latios had with Jon’s green friend?” Chris asked, as Victini froze.

“He told you about that?” Victini asked, sounding slightly irritated, and Chris figured that it was due to the truth about Cassandra being alive.

”The Eon Academy got attacked last year by some guys Lance sent. Jon had a gun to his head, and was about to use Rayquaza as a last ditch effort to stop them,” Chris explained. ”I helped him take them down without using Rayquaza but noticed the Pokeball. That among other reasons, Jon took me to Southern Island to show me.”

“He really shouldn’t have…” Victini replied.

”I haven’t told a soul and won’t breathe a word of it as long as I live,” Chris said, knowing telling a lie in a telepathic conversation to a Psychic Pokemon was near impossible. ”So did you tell her?”

”Of course I did,” Victini replied. ”I can’t expect her to want to partner with me if I am keeping an encyclopaedia's worth of secrets…”

Abbee had noticed the intense staring going on between Chris and Victini, and figured out what was going on.

“What are you two talking about?” she asked, confused as to why Chris and Victini would need to have such a serious, private, discussion.

“Just getting some quick clarification,” Chris replied, as he took a few more large bites of his sandwich.

“Honestly, I have a few ideas of how you could use Victini to mess up Alakazam’s whole strategy…” Chris explained. “I won’t say exactly how, because you should figure this sort of thing out for yourself. But it might be worth having a chat to Victini about the Double Battle he did with Latios that one time…”

Abbee was surprised to hear Chris mention this. Her first thought was Victini mentioned it, however she remembered Chris occasionally accompanying Jon when he would train off site last summer, and figured that Jon had told him.

“Later…” Chris said, as he ate the last of his sandwich, and left.

Abbee looked at Victini, and felt the Psychic type start poking around in her head.

”What do you think he is talking about?” Victini asked.

”I don’t know, but as blunt as he is, Chris is smarter than he looks, and if he is willing to make a comment like that, chances are he is on to something…” Abbee replied. ”I know it was eighteen months ago, but I need you to tell me all you remember about that battle you and Latios had against Rayquaza…”

Knowing they didn’t have a great deal of time left, Victini quickly explained the battle with Rayquaza. How Cassandra used some of Jon’s Pokemon to draw Rayquaza’s attention, whilst Jon had his Pokemon increase their attack power with the Baton Pass combo that she had seen used dozens of times. Then when Victini entered the field, he made himself near impossible for Rayquaza to spot by using Double Team, and communicating telepathically with Latios, who had maximized speed and attack to pick Victini up. Once they were above the clouds, and out of sight of Rayquaza, Victini used Power Swap on Latios, before Latios dropped him. Rayquaza was still not aware Victini was in the sky as well, and shot Latios out of the sky with a Hyper Beam, before Victini unleashed the mother of all V-Creates on the Dragon Type, knocking it to the ground…

As Abbee listened, suddenly she had a thought.

”What other non-damaging moves do you know?”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Once lunch was over, Jon had everyone gather outside the arena, where he announced the teams for the summer. Abbee was glad she had made the point of asking names of the people who approached her and Victini, as a few of them wound up being part of her team, most notably, Rose.

Abbee’s team consisted largely of girls, however this wasn’t a surprise, as Jon had mentioned that there were 50% more girls at this camp than boys. Jude, Alicia and Rose were the youngest girls, at thirteen, with Elsie being a year older than them. Max and Sean were also part of her team, both fifteen years old, and the oldest member of Team Victini being Melissa, who was only a matter of months younger than Abbee.

As Abbee introduced herself to her team, the younger four girls seemed to like her already, however she couldn’t say for sure about Melissa and the two boys, Max and Sean. It wasn’t that they disliked her, but more she felt that they wanted her to prove herself. She didn’t blame them. She wasn’t even two years older. She felt herself more determined than ever to beat Justin, or at least put up a fight that was noteworthy even if it ended in defeat.

She had spent some time going over Victini’s moves that they hadn’t had reason to use yet, and found some that would definitely throw a wrench into Justin’s strategy. From what they knew, Alakazam was their biggest threat, due to how much damage it could endure and its potential to heal and put Victini to sleep as well. Whilst Abbee didn’t like gambling on her opponents being predictable, this was all she had right now.

Victini had returned to his Pokeball as to not make his entrance into the match to come predictable, and before long, Jon gathered all the students to their seats in the stadium, and Justin and Abbee found themselves opposite each other on the battlefield. Abbee noticed Justin seemed a little uncertain, and knew he probably felt the same way. If he wants his team to respect him, he has to give them reason to. However she wasn’t going to go easy on him for that. Even if Justin lost, he still had an undiscovered Legendary Pokemon in his corner, with a story of admirable hard work to get there. There was reason to respect him if he lost. Meanwhile, Abbee’s own Legendary Partner was partnered before with Cassandra Silvers, one of the most infamous cheaters in League history, and whilst this meant nothing to Abbee, she knew that this meant she had more work to do to earn the respect of her team, and the others than Justin did.

Both trainers selected a Pokeball, before Jon called the match to begin, with both of them sending out their first Pokemon. Abbee opened with Victini, to the shock of most watching, whilst Justin opened with Alakazam. Victini was faster than Alakazam, even though naturally speaking, most Alakazam would outmatch Victini.

“Skill Swap!” Abbee called out, as Justin’s face contorted slightly, realizing what she was doing. Justin’s little trick to put his opponent to sleep was now gone…

“Speed Swap!” Justin called out, as time seemed to freeze for a moment, and the Pokemon’s natural speed ability was swapped. This allowed Alakazam to gain time for another attack, and knowing that healing was now more difficult than he anticipated, he went on the defensive. “Cosmic Power!”

“Trick Room!” Abbee called out. Whilst Victini also knew Speed Swap, something she wasn’t aware of prior, Speed Swap didn’t account for adjustments to natural speed, only swapping natural speed itself.

Victini’s psychic abilities twisted the dimensions, allowing the slower Pokemon to strike first, and giving Victini another opportunity to attack.

“V-Create!” Abbee called out, as Victini became engulfed in a crown of flames, and slammed into Alakazam, who was knocked back, before using another Cosmic Power. Justin cursed under his breath. Alakazam’s normal tactic was to use Calm Mind, to increase both attack power and resilience to special moves, buying time by using Rest and Sleep Talk to put both Pokemon to sleep, and heal itself. However Abbee had torn that plan to shreds in the first three moves…

“V-Create again!” Abbee called out, as Victini used another of his signature move, wearing down Alakazam even more, though not knocking it out completely.

“Cosmic Power!” Justin commanded, at this point only trying to buy time to figure something else out. Victini was making itself less resilient, so could potentially go down with a well placed hit, however Justin was unsure if Alakazam could remain standing to do that by the time Trick Room ran out.

“V-Create!”

Victini launched into Alakazam, leaving it unsteady on its feet, and Justin had to make the decision. Attack, or Defend…

“Rest!”

Alakazam fell asleep, however, without its Synchronize ability, Victini remained awake, and Abbee was certain Trick Room wouldn’t hold for much longer…

“Encore!” Abbee called out, as Victini’s eyes glowed, and the colour disappeared from Justin’s face. Even whilst Alakazam was asleep, Encore would still take effect, forcing it to use Rest as long as the move was active, though Abbee wasn’t sure how long that would be. However, she knew that Alakazam would wake up naturally on its own before then, so she had bought herself twice as much time.

Alakazam used Rest, which failed as it was already asleep, before Abbee commanded Victini to use Work-Up, increasing its attack power in both physical and special attacks. Alakazam attempted to use Rest again, however it failed, and as it did, Trick Room wore off. Whilst Abbee considered using it again, if her plan worked, she wouldn’t need it just yet.

Alakazam remained asleep, however was still affected by the Encore, and attempted to use Rest, whilst Victini used a second Work-Up. Alakazam opened its eyes, and whilst it attempted to use a Shadow Ball attack, the Encore forced it to use Rest again, putting it back to sleep, much to Justin’s irritation, as Victini used its third Work-Up.

“Sleep Talk!” Justin called out, however Alakazam didn’t respond, attempting to use Rest again, as Abbee prepared for her next move.

“Guard Swap!” Abbee called out, as Victini grinned.

”Sorry buddy…” Victini said telepathically to Alakazam who remained asleep, as its own boosted resilience was switched with Victini’s weakened constitution from the flurry of V-Creates.

“Sleep Talk!” Justin called out, as Alakazam finally responded to it, Sleep Talk producing a Psychic attack, however it was too little and far too late.

“Trick Room!” Abbee called out, as Victini’s eyes flashed and the dimensions were twisted once again, “Then Flame Crash!”

Victini launched towards Alakazam, engulfed in flames, and whilst Flame Charge was a much weaker variant of V-Create, Victini’s boosts to its attack power gave this the intensity of any normal V-Create. It crashed into Alakazam, knocking the Pokemon unconscious, leaving Justin to return it to its Pokeball.

Abbee grinned as the sound of the younger girls in her group cheering pierced the battlefield, as Justin took a moment to figure out how best to deal with Victini. He had one idea, using Haze to remove all of Victini’s buffs, and putting them on equal footing. And normally, that wouldn’t be too difficult, due to Victini being slowed by the numerous V-Creates, however Trick Room was still affecting the battlefield, and Abbee was done messing around. She was going on the offensive.

Knowing it was his only option at this point, Justin called out Greninja, knowing all the Pokemon had to do was buy time for Trick Room to run out. Once it did, there was nothing that Abbee could do to stop Greninja using Haze.

“Thunderbolt!” Abbee called out, surprising Justin slightly that Victini knew electric type attacks.

“Protect!”

Greninja erected a protect barrier, making itself a normal type and stopping the attack, as Abbee commanded another Thunderbolt.

“Dodge it!” Justin called out. Whilst Trick Room allowed the slower Pokemon to act first, it did nothing in terms of reaction time and ability to dodge, and Greninja was still much faster than Victini. Meanwhile, Abbee heard a voice in her head.

”I’ve got a plan. Tell me to use another Thunderbolt…” Victini said, leaving Abbee both reassured and worried for Justin’s sake at the tone Victini used.

“Thunderbolt!” Abbee called out, as Justin responded with Protect, however no lightning bolt erupted from Victini, instead the Pokemon’s eyes flashing, and nothing appeared to happen. Greninja had erected the Protect barrier, however it faded, not being struck.

”It worked…” Victini said to Abbee in her mind, whilst pretending to be surprised at what just happened.

“Cheeky little bugger…” Jon muttered to himself as he watched, unable to hide a grin at Victini’s tactics, though knowing Justin would need a miracle to win this match.

“Taunt!” Abbee called out, as Victini’s eyes flashed, and Greninja was unable to avoid making contact in time.

“If she wants to attack…” Justin muttered to himself, hating being backed into a corner like this, “Hydro Pump!”

Greninja faced Victini, hitting it with a Hydro Pump, that should have knocked it out, however seemed to have not much effect on the Mythical Pokemon due to its increased constitution that it had stolen from Alakazam.

“Hydro Pump again!” Justin commanded.

“Protect!” Abbee called out, knowing that the Trick Room was about to end.

Victini raised a protect barrier, taking the hit, before grinning.

”Wait for it…” he said in Abbee’s mind. Unsure of what he was talking about, Abbee watched, as there was a loud bang, and seemingly from behind Greninja, a telepathic blast erupted, throwing the Pokemon across the room.

“What the-” Justin began, looking confused. Abbee didn’t blame him. She wasn’t sure what she had just seen.

“Victini used Future Sight before, and made it look like his move failed…” Jon called out, not wanting the other students to think Abbee had done something to cheat, especially since it was so unclear what happened.

Justin called back Greninja, knowing he only had one Pokemon that stood a chance, and even then, it wasn’t pretty.

“Regieleki, it’s all you…” He called out as he threw the Pokeball.

The electric titan emerged, and began zipping around the battlefield, now that Trick Room had ended, making itself near impossible to track and target.

“Zap Cannon!” Justin commanded, as Reieleki locked on to Victini, who was too slow to avoid the powerful electric attack.

The attack struck Victini, leaving a large cloud of dust. There was silence as the dust settled, everyone watching in suspense to see the result.

”That the best you got??” said a voice telepathically projected to all in the room, as cheers from Abbee’s team erupted. The dust settled, and Victini remained standing, looking worse for wear, however still able to fight, if not barely.

“Stored Power!” Abbee called out.

”Because this isn’t even the best I’ve got…”

There was a shimmer of light in the air as every boost to Victini’s stats was converted into pure Psychic energy, creating a large dust cloud, as coughs could be heard from those in the stands. When the dust settled, a large crater was visible in the battlefield, where Regieleki remained unmoving, as Victini slowly walked back towards Abbee. The crowd was silent at the sheer power of the attack, before Abbee’s team started cheering her on.

Abbee and Justin shook hands, before Chris and Dylan made their way to their respective sides of the battlefield. When everyone was ready, and both trainers selected a Pokemon, Jon called out for them to begin, starting the battle.

Dylan sent out Flygon, and to everyone but Charlotte’s surprise, Chris sent out his Ninetales. The Pokemon wouldn’t have even been a year old, yet Chris seemed to have this air of certainty around his decision.

“I know what he’s up to,” Charlotte said to Abbee and Justin. “He pulled this trick on me once, and almost beat me with it…”

“You think he will beat Dylan?” Abbee asked.

“If Dylan figures out what he is doing before Chris gives himself every advantage he needs…” Charlotte replied, as Ninetales' ability kicked in, whipping up a snowstorm, reducing visibility and buffeting Flygon with hail.

“Toxic!” Chris called out, causing Ninetales’ eyes to glow for a second, and Flygon to slow, being badly poisoned.

“Stone Edge!”

Flygon darted forward, its claw hardening, as it slashed towards Ninetales, however due to how slow the move was naturally, Flygon’s own sickness slowing it down, and the cover of the snowstorm, Ninetales dodged the attack with ease. Meanwhile, Flygon’s strength started to dwindle due to the pummelling of hail and the poison.

“Laser Focus!” Dylan commanded, as Flygon locked on to Ninetales amidst the snowstorm.

“Now Roar!” Chris called out. Nintales roared aggressively at Flygon, which darted back fearfully towards Dylan, refusing to fight. Dylan called the Pokemon back, before sending out Metagross.

“Dylan’s fallen for it…” Charlotte said to Abbee. “Chris has the advantage…”

Chris called out for Ninetales to use Double Team, as Dylan commanded a Meteor Mash, which missed, Chris being thankful for, as the damage would have knocked Ninetales out in a single hit. Metagross then used Bullet Punch, hitting Ninetales, however not knocking it out, as Ninetales used Double Team again, becoming even more difficult to target.

“Bullet Punch again!” Dylan called out, as Metagross darted forward. It lunged quickly with one of its large arms, however was unable to hit as Chris called out his next move.

“Roar!”

Ninetales roared again, causing Metagross to flee back.

“I don’t get it…” Justin said to Charlotte, watching. “Sure, it’s not ideal, but I wouldn’t say Chris has the advantage, if Metagross just needs to land a good hit?”

“Because Chris has only revealed, and therefore locked in, a single Pokemon, and Dylan now has to either send in Flygon who has a snowflake's chance in hell at beating Ninetales should it actually decide to attack, or send in and therefore commit to his third Pokemon,” Charlotte explained. “If Metagross knew something like Taunt, it could have bought some time to take out Ninetales. That’s the only reason he didn’t beat me when he tried to pull this stunt in one of our battles…”

Dylan was still, having realized the position he was in himself. Should he send in his third Pokemon, or sacrifice Flygon?

Dylan sighed as he threw the Pokeball, revealing Dusknoir.

“Double Team!” Chris called out again, the snowstorm vanished, revealing the apparitions of Ninetales.

“Trick Room!”

The dimensions twisted, as they did before, allowing Dusknoir to strike first.

“Shadow Punch!”

A spectral hand launched from Dusknoir, seeming to be attracted towards the real Ninetales, hitting the Pokemon and knocking it out cold.

“At least he isn’t letting Chris walk all over him…” Charlotte muttered.

Chris was slightly surprised at how easily Dusknoir finished off Ninetales, and the fact he hadn’t accounted for a move like that, as he called Ninetales back, however he wasn’t too shaken by the turn of events. He still had three other Pokemon to choose from, and knew exactly which Pokemon Dylan would be working with.

“Go Dragonite!” Chris called out. Whilst Dusknoir could strike first, this was limited, and if Chris could waste their time, he would be able to get the advantage. And Justin had given him an idea…

“Ice Punch!”

Dusknoir’s fist became encased in ice, as it lunged forward, striking Dragonite, which whilst it had a major disadvantage to Ice Type attacks, didn’t seem as affected by it as it should. Dylan was slightly surprised, as Chris called out for Dragonite to use Double Team, the Pokemon now disappearing amongst a group of three apparitions.

“Protect!” Chris instructed. Dusknoir attacked again, this time with a Shadow Punch, which hit the protect barrier, before launching another, this one hitting Dragonite squarely in the chest, knocking it back slightly.

“Rest!” Chris called out. Dragonite fell into a supernatural slumber, as it regained its energy, as did its apparitions that it had switched places with, and Dusknoir attempted another Shadow Punch, as to not be fooled by the false copies.

“Wait, that Shadow Punch was weaker…” Abbee observed.

“Dragonite’s ability. Multiscale,” Jon explained, as he watched the battle. “If it is at peak health, attacks will only do half their normal damage. That Ice-Punch should have knocked Dragonite out, and now Chris is using Rest to get that ability back to use.”

“Sleep Talk!” Chris called out, as Trick Room wore off, allowing Dragonite to act first. This was a gamble, as Chris had no control over which moves Dragonite used.

Dragonite used Double Team, as more apparitions appeared, and Dylan called out his next command.

“Darkest Lariat!”

Dusknoir leapt forward, spinning and swinging both arms, smashing through multiple copies of Dragonite, and hitting the original, seeming to knock it down.

“Sleep Talk!”

Dragonite obliged, this time using Dragon Rush, hitting Dusknoir, causing it to flinch. Chris could see Dragonite beginning to stir, however wasn’t sure if it would wake up in time. Knowing he had to take a risk, he took the one that seemed to have the better outcome.

“Dragonite!” Chris called out, hoping to call the Pokemon from its slumber, “Dragon Rush!”

Dragonite’s eye burst open, as it darted towards Dusknoir, enveloped in the same draconic aura, striking it and knocking it back.

Dusknoir was knocked to the ground, and barely able to stand, however tried. Dylan sighed, before giving his next command.

“Curse…”

Dusknoir fainted, losing the last of its energy, and Dragonite began to convulse. When the seizure seemed to stop after a few moments, Dragonite seemed not much better than Dusknoir was when it used the move.

Dylan sent out Metagross, knowing that Dragonite only had one move left before it would be unconscious, and all the work Chris had done with Double Team would be for nothing.

“Bullet Punch!”

Metagross darted forward before Dragonite could react, striking it hard and leaving it barely able to stand.

“Dragon Tail!” Chris called out, hoping the move would hit.

Dragonite let out a frustrated cry, before launching itself into the air, and slamming its tail against Metagross, before darting back to Chris, and returning to its Pokeball. Whilst the move didn’t deal much damage, it was a start, and got Dragonite off the battlefield and removed the effects of the curse. Chris then sent out his third Pokemon. Garchomp.

“Meteor Mash!” Dylan called out, as Chris seemed to hesitate. However as Metagross began to move, Dylan realized that Chris wouldn’t lose his cool in something like this. He may have been able to rattle Abbee yesterday, but if Chris were hesitating, it was intentional.

“Counter!”

The heavy steel punch from Metagross struck Garchomp, hitting it hard in the torso, before Garchomp roared angrily, and lashed out at the steel Type, knocking it airborne towards Dylan. It hit the ground with a loud crash, and Dylan returned it to it’s Pokeball. Dylan only had one Pokemon he could use, and it was still poisoned from earlier.

“Go Flygon.”

The two Ground and Dragon types stared each other down. Dylan knew the average Flygon and Garchomp were near equal in terms of speed. However, whilst Flygon was immune to Ground type attacks, Garchomp was superior in every other attribute. Both Pokemon had the potential to one-hit the other, but Garchomp was less likely to go down in a single hit.

“Dragon Rush!” Dylan called out, as Chris called for Garchomp to use Protect. The Protect barrier appeared just in time, blocking the attack, as Flygon began to slow from the effect the poison was having on it.

“Now Outrage!” Chris retorted, as Garchomp roared, and dashed forward, savagely clawing at Flygon.

“Protect!” Dylan called out, managing to get Flygon to stop the attack, though barely. Flygon seemed to stall further, as Dylan grimaced, before returning Flygon to its Pokeball.

“I concede!” Dylan called out to Jon, who understood. There was not a single way for Flygon to have beaten Garchomp, and it wasn’t worth letting the Pokemon be harmed for the sake of pride.

There were cheers, Abbee noticed from both teams, as Chris and Dylan both left the battlefield, before Jon and Charlotte made their way to their respective sides.

As Charlotte considered which Pokemon to use, she realized just how much luck she would need to put up a decent fight. Whilst she knew Jon didn’t want to humiliate her, he also wanted to make sure she put up a good enough fight that even if she lost, there was no doubt to her skill, and was not going to go easy on her.

As she considered which Pokemon to open with, her first thought was that Jon would open either with Jolteon or Blaziken. None of her Pokemon would be ideal to open with in terms of type advantages. Jolteon would absorb Luxray’s attacks, and Blaziken would be difficult for Roserade to deal with, as well as Miltoic and Drifblim struggling against Jolteon, and she had plans for Drifblim later on. Magmortar would be her least-worst bet, however Jon may be aware of this, and open with something unpredictable.

She shook off the train of thought she was going down, knowing this rabbit hole of if he knows that I know that he knows could go on forever, instead choosing a Pokemon she was confident opening with, and one that could buy time if she needed it.

Dylan called for the match to begin and both trainers let out their first Pokemon. Charlotte sent out Roserade, and a grin graced her face when she saw Jon had opened with Nidoking. Opening the battle, she had the advantage, though she knew Jon wouldn’t let that stop him.


In the opening moments, a plan began to form in her mind. She had an idea of how to not give Jon the win, however it relied on both trainers being on their final Pokemon, and she didn’t have enough information before to figure out how to get there. But now…

“Grass Whistle!”

Roserade contorted the petals on its roses, before moving them quickly and precisely, creating an eerie melody in the air, lulling Nidoking to sleep. Whilst Roserade wasn’t the quickest Pokemon, relatively speaking, it was faster than Nidoking, and gave her the edge to start the battle on the right foot. Jon tried calling out to Nidoking to rouse it, however it didn’t wake.

“Toxic Spikes!” Charlotte called out, “As much as you can!”

Roserade glowed as purple thorns erupted on Jon’s side of the battlefield. Roserade focused a little longer as Jon continued to try and wake Nidoking, leaving twice as many as the move normally does.

“Now Leech Seed!”

Seeds were sprayed over the ground, and Nidoking awoke, as they sprouted, some wrapping themselves around his limbs. Whilst Nidoking quickly broke free from the vines connecting him to the ground, it was too late. He had been seeded.

“Iron Tail!” Jon called out. Nidoking darted forward, his tail being coated in a silver aura. He leapt forward, landing on one leg in front of Roserade, using the momentum of the jump to swing his tail around, hitting it easily, and knocking it back. Whilst the steel attack was painful to Roserade’s Poison Typing, Roserade didn’t go down, before having its own energy restored by Leech Seed.

“Now, Magical Leaf!” Charlotte commanded, knowing the attack wouldn’t miss, and whilst it was relatively weaker, its power was increased by Roserade’s Technician ability.

Nidoking couldn’t avoid the attack, being struck with dozens of glowing leaves, knocking it to the ground. Whilst normally it wouldn’t have been knocked out by a single Magical Leaf, between Technician, as well as being weakened by Leech Seed, it was unconscious, putting Charlotte in the lead, causing Jon to grin as he called back his Pokemon.

Jon quickly considered his options. He didn’t want to use Latios in this match, as, whilst it wasn’t against League rules for one trainer to use a Legendary Pokemon against a trainer without one, it wasn’t a good look for him. He didn’t want his students thinking he couldn’t beat Charlotte without using a Legendary Pokemon. This left him with Absol, Scizor, Blaziken or Jolteon. Whilst Scizor resisted nearly all of Roserade’s attacks, and couldn’t be poisoned by the spikes, it was also extremely susceptible to fire, and Jon knew Charlotte had a Magmar, and chances are it had evolved. Additionally, Blaziken was a powerful physical attacker that gained speed the longer it was on the battlefield, and using Blaziken as his third Pokemon would be a waste of its abilities. If he wanted to use Blaziken, and he wanted to, now was the time to use it, when their opponent was going to be disadvantaged against them.

Jon sent out Blaziken, and winced as its hide was punctured by Roserade’s toxic thorns that protruded from the ground on his side of the battlefield. Charlotte had done well making the most of the lucky opening matchup, and Jon was going to have his work cut out for him.

“Venom Drench!” Charlotte called out. Roserade pointed its roses towards Blaziken, soaking it in a foul smelling liquid, as Blaziken darted towards Roserade. Charlotte knew Roserade wouldn’t have more than a single attack, and the best she could do now is buy her next Pokemon a turn.

“Blaze Kick!”

Blaziken feinted, leaning to the left as it ran, before using its powerful legs to side step to the right, before igniting one of its feet to roundhouse kick Roserade, knocking it out. As Charlotte called back her Pokemon, Blaziken grimaced from the poison, and Charlotte sent out Milotic. Whilst Blaziken had been slowed by Venom Drench, it already seemed back to normal speed, given its ability.

“Bulk Up!” Jon commanded, as Blaziken’s power and resilience increased, while Charlotte gave her first move.

“Scald!”

Having not had to focus too hard on using its own move, Blaziken dodged the jet of steaming water, before appearing to struggle with the poison, then sped up again.

“Protect!” Jon called out, surprising Charlotte, as unless Blaziken had means of curing itself of poison, and as far as she knew, it didn’t, it was on a countdown.

Blaziken created a Protect barrier, taking the next scald, as its speed increased again, and it took more poison damage, before Jon made his next command.

“Power-Up Punch, then dodge!”

“Wrap!” Charlotte called out, knowing that the difference in speed was going to make Blaziken hard to hit.

Blaziken darted forward, landing a weak but quick punch to Milotic, which boosted its own attack power, before dodging Milotic’s attack. Charlotte could barely see it, though knew the poison was still taking effect, getting worse, though Blaziken was still speeding up.

“Close Combat!”

Now nearly four times as fast as Milotic, and physically stronger now than when it entered the battlefield, Blaziken leapt forward, well in range of Milotic, and instead of a quick, weaker attack, planted itself in front of its target, and began ruthlessly beating it. If Milotic were able to remain conscious after the attack, Blaziken would not stand a chance, however both trainers knew that Milotic was not going to be able to withstand it, and neither were surprised when Milotic collapsed, and Charlotte called it back.

Jon had taken the lead. Even if his Pokemon only had one more round of attacks left before the poison knocked it out, Jon would still know his opponents final Pokemon before he had to select his own, which, like Chris in the match before, would give him an advantage.

“Go Drifblim.”

The balloon-like Pokemon emerged from it’s Pokeball, and Jon couldn’t help but admire Charlotte’s ingenuity. If Blaziken burnt Drifblim, its own ability would boost its power with special attacks, however Drifblim was immune to Blaziken’s fighting typing. Blaziken didn’t know any status moves that would make a substantial difference for him at this point, so the only combat moves it could use would be ones that are of other types, and are by extension weaker than Fire and Fighting moves. Or so most people thought...

“Thunder Punch!” Jon called out.

“Minimize!” Charlotte replied.

Blaziken darted forward, its fist surrounded by electricity, attempting to strike Drifblim, which shrunk, becoming a smaller target, and managing to dodge Blaziken’s attack. Finally, Blaziken’s eyes closed, as it fell to the ground, the poison knocking it unconscious and Jon calling it back to its Pokeball.

Jon found himself in the same position as he did earlier. Jolteon and Absol were both susceptible to poison, however Jon had seen Charlotte have Drifblim use Will-O-Wisp to burn a target then use Hex, which would be almost as bad on Scizor. And whilst he hadn’t seen her use it before, he had taught her about Destiny Bond, and its use in battle. Jon knew if he rushed this by sending out Jolteon, fast with a move guaranteed to hit, he may be playing into her hands.

“Go Absol,” Jon called out, as he sent out his final Pokemon, the white and grey Dark type. Whilst Absol wasn’t as fast as Jolteon, or as resilient as Scizor, it did resist a lot of Drifblims worse attacks, and hit hard when it mattered. Jon wasn’t going to be relying having to make sure he didn’t rush an attack and Charlotte getting the jump on-

“Explosion!” Charlotte called out with a grin, as Jon’s eyes widened. Drifblim began to glow, before crying out with glee, and flying towards Absol.

The balloon-like Pokemon exploded, launching Absol from the ground, sending it flying into the air and landing a few meters away. Drifblim lay unconscious, as Absol stood up.

As Jon went to call out to Charlotte, Drifblim began to glow again, as a spectral version of itself split from its, darting towards Absol, causing it to cry out in pain, before falling unconscious itself. It took Jon a second to realize what had happened…

“You changed Drifblim’s ability?” he called out, slightly surprised.

“What was it you taught us about relying too much on what we know of our opponent?” Charlotte retorted with a grin. Jon jokingly hung his head in shame, knowing she was correct. She had played him like a fiddle, using what he had seen of Drifblim to affect his decisions and had stolen the win from him.

“You did well,” Jon replied. “You made the most of the opportunities luck gave you, and you took advantage of my own weaknesses. The best battlers don’t have the strongest Pokemon, but identify the circumstances around them and make the most of them.”

Charlotte beamed, hearing such praise, especially since her battle with Chris was so anti-climatic given what they had learnt last summer.

Jon sighed jokingly, before turning to the audience.

“You have seen it yourself. What sort of things you can learn this summer, and who you have to learn from,” Jon called out. “Classes start tomorrow. Spend the rest of this afternoon getting adjusted. Make sure you meet your team leader, get to know your team, and be at dinner at 6pm. Everyone’s now dismissed.”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****
It was nearing 5:45pm when Abbee found herself by the lodge that housed the boys, specifically by the north end, where she had overheard Justin, Chris and Dylan were staying. The question was which door was Dylan’s. She hadn’t seen him in any of the communal areas, and figured he was probably in his room. However, she wasn’t sure which door had Dylan behind it.

“You waiting to thank me for the brilliant advice?” called out a voice from behind her.

Abbee turned to see Chris, followed by two of the younger boys in his group.

“This is Tommy and Matt,” Chris said, gesturing to the two boys following him. “They’re convinced that us interns have better rooms than they do, so I’m here to prove them wrong.”

Abbee laughed at the reason.

“Thanks for the advice. I don’t think I would have beaten him otherwise,” Abbee explained. “But actually, I wanted to talk to Dylan, but I'm not sure which room is his...”

Chris grinned menacingly as Abbee realized she had made a mistake.

“Dylan!” he called out loudly. “You’ve got a visitor!”

Abbee rolled her eyes at Chris who continued to grin.

“In all seriousness, you did really well. I was intentionally vague so that you couldn’t argue that this wasn’t your win,” Chris said as he began walking towards his room, as Abbee noticed Dylan sticking his head out the door of his cabin. “But don’t think I’ll make it that easy when we battle next.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it…”

Chris walked into his room, Tommy and Matt following behind him, as Dylan wandered out, looking over to Chris.

“What was that about?” Dylan asked, nodding towards Chris.

“He gave me the idea of how to beat Justin,” Abbee said. “And I get the feeling I will be hearing about that for a while.”

“Is it worth it?” Dylan asked, mostly joking.

“Yeah, he’s a good enough guy,” Abbee replied. “Just a little rough around the edges.”

Dylan chuckled as Abbee sighed slightly. She had come here for a reason, and if she wasn’t intentional about it, this would be a waste of time for both of them.

“If you have a minute…” Abbee began. “Can we talk?”