Epilogue Episode 1: September
Spoiler:

Despite the fact Cassandra had healed the irritated skin yesterday, Abbee continued to scratch at the back of her palm, where her Eon Academy emblem had been tattooed the day earlier. Despite the tattoo still looking new and unfaded, she had hoped this was merely a symptom of her nervousness, and that this habit of scratching at it would not continue, lest she accidentally cause parts of it to fade. It made sense to her that she was anxious. Today was a big day.

The Nimbasa City Gym was made up of five battlefields. Four smaller ones, where participants would be required to battle one or more Gym Trainers, depending on how busy the day was, and one larger one, with far more seats for spectators, where, once they had earned the privilege, challengers would face the Gym Leader. Yesterday, that would have been Elesa. But today onwards, that was going to be Abbee. Abbee stood by Elesa’s side, facing the eight Gym Trainers that were employed at the Nimbasa City Gym.

“I’ll still be employed by the Pokemon League for another fortnight, and will be present to help with the handover process, but as of today, as you’re all aware, Abbee will be the new Gym Leader,” Elesa said to the crowd of trainers before the pair. It was eight-thirty, with the Gym scheduled to open in half an hour. “To be completely clear, this is not a trial, or probationary period, and short of Abbee doing a complete one-eighty in terms of skill or character, she will without a doubt be my successor as Nimbasa City’s Gym Leader…”

The last statement seemed odd, however Abbee noticed Elesa looking in particular at Blake and Tessa, two trainers who had been employed at the Gym for five years now, and both had been under the impression, through no fault of anyone else, that when Elesa chose to retire, one of them would be offered her position. Abbee was certain that when she, an employee of only two years, who had taken considerable time off to work at the Eon Academy in previous summers, had been named Elesa’s successor, that Tessa and Blake would have had something to say about it. And based on Elesa’s decision to clarify that this was not up for discussion, she was certain that at least one of them had come forward with complaints to Elesa at least once during the summer.

Not helping Abbee’s nerves was the fact that she had practically no sleep since leaving Hoenn the day before. Even before the events of the summer that had just passed, and the looming threat of Blackstone that came to fruition, the plan had been for the students to depart on September third, Abbee to depart Hoenn on the fourth, and begin working today, on the fifth. The schedule was going to be tight, with Abbee relying on the time difference between Hoenn and Unova, as well as sleeping on the flight, effectively arriving back at her apartment at six that morning, before getting ready and going straight to work. However the conversation of the morning before, though Abbee wasn’t sure if that was accurate given the time zones and jet lag, had her worried.

Despite their win over Blackstone, Jon, Steven and Cassandra had departed Hoenn at the same time that Abbee had, heading themselves for Johto, with the plan to trek far north towards the Johto-Sinnoh border, where they knew existed a set of ruins, inside of which, the egg of Dialga, Palkia or Giratina, would appear should one of the trio die. Jon and Chris had killed Palkia during their battle against it two days earlier in the first wave of the Blackstone attack, and despite Dialga hatching and escaping, they all knew that Blackstone getting Palkia back would exponentially increase their chances of being able to find Dialga, and this time, Jon may not be lucky enough to wind up with it in his custody before then.

By this point, Abbee figured the trio were on a bus, nearing Ecruteak City, where they would transfer to another which would take them to the Lake of Rage. From there, they would travel by Pokemon north, where Abbee hoped they would not run into Blackstone. All three had left their phones behind, in order to not risk being tracked, Steven having arranged a burner phone to communicate with Cynthia, who was tasked with making her own way there immediately in order to secure the egg before Blackstone had the time to make an attempt on it, should they know about the ruins. Abbee figured that it would be evening at the earliest before she received news, though struggled to shake the anxiety that this whole situation brought about.

“Anything you’d like to say Abbee?”

Abbee was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of her name, and realised Elesa was effectively giving her an opportunity to address the trainers that now were under her leadership. Not expecting this, and taken a little by surprise, Abbee hesitated for a moment. Whilst she wanted to explain the events of the previous few days, why she seemed distant, she knew that wasn’t wise. Steven had been able to use his position as champion in order to adjust the legal proceedings surrounding the Blackstone attack, allowing Abbee to fulfil her requirements remotely, in order that she could leave Hoenn in time. After work today, she’d be meeting with a diplomat from the Hoenn embassy, where she would give her statement, both with regards to her involvement in the Blackstone attack, but also answering some difficult questions about Lance’s involvement with defending the Academy.

“I’ll be brief. I am eager to continue to work alongside you all in this new role, and see what I can bring of myself to the Nimbasa City Gym, and to see it grow in different ways that we may have never considered,” Abbee explained. “I understand I am still somewhat young, and haven’t been around as long, though have faith in Elesa’s judgement, and ask that you all bear with me as I will with you, while we adjust to this change, and should I stumble, that there be grace on offer as I learn the ropes…”

From the corner of her eye, Abbee noticed Tessa rolling her eyes, as Blake seemed to whisper something. Whilst she knew how others of her Eon Academy family would respond, she instead overlooked it. To a degree, she did understand why the pair would be frustrated. If she had worked as long as they had at the Gym, and the position she had been hoping to get had been offered to someone younger, with less experience as a Gym Trainer than her, she knew she’d struggle to not let it get to her. That being said, she understood why Elesa had offered her the role. Abbee was by far a superior battler, though Tessa and Blake had not witnessed it first hand, with part of Abbee’s previous role of Gym Trainer being to scale the difficulty of the battle to her opponents skill. Whilst there were recordings of Abbee’s battles online, namely her battle against Matt at the College of the North Wind two years earlier, and the live-streamed grudge-match against Jon and Scizor a matter of weeks earlier, she knew Tessa and Blake well enough to know that they’d write off her skill as simply her having a Legendary Pokemon as a partner. First hand, only Elesa had seen Abbee battle unhindered, over two years earlier when Abbee applied for the position, and Elesa knew that Abbee had only grown since then.

Whilst she figured Jon would be asking the pair if they had something to share, Charlotte would be coming out with a one-liner to put them in their place, and Chris would be challenging them to a battle then and there to establish dominance, Abbee made the call to do none of those. Instead, she looked the other way, making a note to give them time to adjust, however if enough time passed, with no improvement to their attitude, she would have to deal with it, as Gym Leader. This was not something she was looking forward to.

As Elesa dismissed the Gym Trainers, who began to disperse to various parts of the Gym, getting it ready for opening time which would be in a little less than twenty minutes, Abbee breathed a sigh of relief, that she had survived what she thought would likely be the hardest part of her day. Once it came time to actually battle, she knew that things like the politics that come with any organisation where people were required to work together, would take the back seat to the battle in front of her. And given that her new role didn’t require her to tailor the challenge to the challenger, but instead the level of competence required for somebody to earn the Bolt Badge, she knew she’d have far more interesting battles than the Gym Trainers.

“How’re you feeling?” Elesa asked with a grin.

“A little anxious, but excited,” Abbee explained, before relenting. “I can’t go into detail just yet, but I promise you I’ll fill you in when I can. But there was an incident at the Academy the day before I left. Nobody was hurt, but police are involved. So between that, and all the weird and wonderful emotions about this, I haven’t exactly gotten a great deal of sleep…”

“Well my job for the next two weeks is consultant, but really that’s a formality. I doubt I’ll need to do much,” Elesa answered. “So instead, I’ll make sure there is a coffee ready for you between every match!”

Abbee couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of Elesa, still technically the Gym Leader, spending her days getting Abbee coffees.

“At my size, that may just kill me…” Abbee retorted with a grin, as Elesa laughed.

“True. And I have a hunch there will be a few battles today,” Elesa explained. “There were a few trainers who lost to me in the last two weeks, that never came back for a rematch. I get the feeling they are hoping to come in today, thinking they’ll have an easier time against a new Gym Leader…”

“That’s not really in the spirit of the competition is it?”

“Nope. Honestly, had they just come back a day or two later, they likely would have beaten me,” Elesa answered. “But considering this is how they’re playing, I’ll make sure to point them out so you can give them hell…”

Abbee laughed, before looking towards the side of the field that was now hers, and going to move.

“Before you go…”

Abbee turned, slightly confused, as Elesa’s tone had suddenly become significantly more serious. Elesa gestured for Abbee to come close enough that they could talk without being overheard.

“Something you need to be aware of,” Elesa explained. “There have been instances of Gym Leaders laying off all the trainers recruited by their predecessor, and recruiting a completely new team of Gym Trainers, though I don’t particularly recommend this, but they were within their rights to. All this to say, that this is your Gym now, and if you feel specific trainers being employed here are a liability instead of an asset, you are well within your rights to dismiss them…”

Elesa’s voice was serious, and Abbee noticed Elesa’s eyes glance over Abbee’s shoulder, where Abbee had a hunch, a certain pair of Gym Trainers were standing.

“Tessa and Blake?” Abbee mouthed, as Elesa nodded almost imperceptibly.

“Honestly, I haven’t been particularly thrilled by their attitude since I announced my retirement and you being my successor. Hell, I considered pulling the trigger myself, but figured that once things settled down they may improve,” Elesa noted. “But if things don’t, don’t feel like making that decision is disrespecting me because I recruited them. That goes for anything here really. Some things need League approval to change, like the level of challenge, or the Gym’s typing. But even something like the decor; it is now yours to choose as you see fit. Don’t feel like you have my legacy to uphold. Do what you think is right for the Gym…”

Abbee nodded in understanding, thankful that this had been the Gym she found herself in, and Elesa was the Leader that had taken a chance on her.

“I’ll make you proud,” Abbee began, before Elesa interjected.

“Didn’t I just say my opinion doesn’t matter?” Elesa asked jokingly.

“It matters to me, so I’ll make you proud anyway…”

Elesa grinned, before, to Abbee’s surprise, pulling her into a tight hug. Until Elesa had revealed to Abbee months earlier that she would be her successor, their relationship had always been friendly, yet professional. Even meeting privately for drinks as they did the night Abbee found out she was going to become Gym Leader, had never happened before then. Now however, it seemed that they considered each other friends, which Abbee found herself thankful for. It made living far away from all her loved ones seem a little less lonely.

“Doors are opening. I’ll go scout the ones you need to bring the pain to, then get you a coffee…”

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

Justin stood in line alongside the other forty-seven recruits beginning their training on that day. Despite himself, he found himself feeling self-conscious, as he looked down at the pants he had been provided with as part of his uniform that he realised only that morning were a size too big. He had rolled up the bottom of the sleeves in order to prevent them becoming a trip hazard, or being damaged underfoot, however that did nothing to stop them from looking far too baggy. Despite having spent years researching joining the police, and knowing the basics of what training would cover, he didn’t know whether his pants being too baggy would get him written up for a uniform infringement on day one. He considered attempting to stuff the back of the legs into his shoes and underfoot so that they would be under a little tension, however figured that would have a higher chance of drawing attention to his uniform.

It was September 12th, Justin having arrived in Jubilife after spending nearly a week with Candice in Snowpoint, and moving into the Sinnoh Police Training Academy dorm the day before. He shared a room with another recruit, who had been largely quiet, not offering more than a polite nod to Justin’s greeting when he had brought in his possessions a few hours earlier. Justin didn’t even know his name, having read it once on the room allocation the day before, but forgotten in light of his own nervousness.

Justin was thankful however that the shirt he wore as part of his uniform was long sleeved, covering his tattoo. Justin felt no shame in being an Eon Academy alumni, and in all other circumstances, wore the tattoo with pride. Considering his first summer, he felt he had finally earnt the right to be affiliated with what was now a summer school of legendary proportions. However, in uniform, which included an officer’s cap, he was less recognizable, which, given his uncanny level of fame from incidents at the Eon Academy, and being the partner of Candice, he preferred. Had the uniform been short-sleeved, and his Eon Academy emblem visible, he was certain he would be recognised, and was not sure whether that sort of attention, and the distraction it may cause, would be viewed favourably by his trainers.

His gaze was pulled from his left forearm, where his emblem was hidden, to the front of the room, by the sound of the room, which had been filled with sounds of uniforms rustling, and odd murmurs, disappearing, and being replaced by quiet, yet intentional footsteps, making their way to the front. The recruits were lined up in alphabetical order by surname, in six groups of eight, three rows either side, with an aisle down the middle. Collins being his surname, Justin stood in the front row, on the left hand bank, with the sound of footsteps coming from behind him down the aisle. He resisted the urge to turn, not knowing just how much like a cliched military training session this would be, instead, had his eyes focus on his right hand side peripheral vision, waiting for someone to cross it.

After a few moments, a figure stepped past, making his way onto the slightly raised stage at the front, before turning to take in the sight of the four-dozen recruits present. He was a man who appeared to be in his early forties, with a uniform that seemed more decorated than a standard officer. His black hair was beginning to be peppered with flecks of grey, and his brown eyes wandered the room. When Justin noticed this, he immediately focused his gaze directly in front of him. The last thing he wanted right now was attention. At least, attention for the wrong reasons.

“At ease,” the man said, loudly and clearly. “Whilst we will push you beyond your limits here, the difference between police training and that of the military, is that we set the bar considerably higher for you to be given this opportunity. Whilst our standards are high, as even now, you are considered part of the Sinnoh Police Department, so if you’re wondering when I will start looking for reasons to call you maggot, you can take a breath…”

Justin noticed a few quiet sighs of relief, only heard due to the near absolute silence that otherwise made up the room. Nobody however, was bold enough to push their luck by murmuring something under their breath.

“I am Senior Sergeant August Hargrow. Now something that you are all going to be made aware of, is that this batch of recruits will be the first in a trial program we are implementing across the training framework for the Sinnoh P.D. Normally, you would be trained in a group, at the most, half this size. You may be wondering why there are so many of you,” Hargrow explained. “This does create challenges, however, there are also benefits to this structure. For one, we can train more of you at once. A deeper benefit however, is that we can evaluate each of you with twice as many points of reference, and by extension, use this to inspire excellence in each of you. Additionally, those who rank higher at the end of training, will be given higher priority in placement than those who don’t…”

Having a bad feeling about this, Justin watched as Hargrow lifted from the stand that stood in front of him, a clicker, and upon pressing a button, the projector screen behind him lit up, showing forty-eight names on screen, next to each, were three numbers, and a space. The first number was the overall rank of each recruit. The second and third were their rankings in their physical assessments, largely in the form of endurance tests, and their written examination respectively, and the blank space seemed to be reserved for a third ranking.

Like everyone in the room, Justin began looking down the list for his name. After a moment, he spotted it.

’13: Justin Collins. Physical Assessment: 30/48. Written examination: 1/48.

Justin looked in shock at the rankings. He had expected to place high in the written examination, having just graduated from a Bachelor of Law at Jubilife University, something that was almost unheard of for somebody aspiring to become a police officer. However, he also knew that naturally speaking, he was not a gifted student, having not had the final exam marks in high school to get into the course, and being allowed in based on his involvement with the Jubilife University funded expedition to discover Regieleki. He figured, despite his degree, that others may have better study habits, and may have spent more time revising the subject matter, in more effective ways than himself. As such, he was not expecting to have ranked first. What did shock him was that he was below the bell-curve of the fitness assessment. Justin, especially in recent years, had not considered himself to be unfit by any means, and had become more conscious of his diet and exercise. However, as he looked around, he could see in a brief moment, at least six recruits, all above six feet tall, that looked like they could run marathons in their spare time.

“You may be wondering what the blank space is for,” Hargrow continued. “Whilst your written and physical assessments are best performed in isolation, that is, you are not going to have an impact on one-another’s individual results, there is a third element of police-work that requires all of you present in order for us to assess accurately, which we will be assessing today. You were all instructed to bring your Pokemon with you, well rested and ready for training…”

Justin couldn’t help but grin at the irony. On his first day of the Academy, he dreaded this. Now however, he looked forward to it, and saw this as the opportunity he needed to increase his rank. Not out of any arrogance. Instead, the only place that offered an education in battling anywhere near that of the Eon Academy was the College of the North Wind, and whilst local, was so selective of its students, with so many focusing on beating Elite Four that he did not expect to run into any former students here. And even if he did, the summer of 2020 had proven which school produced better battlers…

“Be in the arena in one hour…”

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

The Sinnoh Police Training Academy was a large property in the middle of Jubilife City, containing various state of the art facilities, including a specialised Pokemon training arena. Unlike the stadium at the Eon Academy, or the battlefields in Pokemon Gyms, which prioritised spectator seating and comfort, these battlefields didn’t exist for putting on a spectacle, instead, focusing on training. There were no stands with seating for spectators, instead, four battlefields, with enough standing room for a moderate amount of people to watch battles.

“You will be paired based on your current rankings. Rank one will battle rank two, rank three against rank four and so on,” Hargrow explained. “Your task will be simple in concept. You are to have a one-on-one Pokemon battle, each treating the opposing Pokemon as preventing the arrest of their trainer, and as such, the focus will be on knocking out the opposing Pokemon as quickly as possible, with as little collateral damage. You will be assessed on both these facets…”

Knowing there were four battlefields, allowing for a total of eight trainers to battle at once, Justin knew that he would not be in the first round of battles, and found himself considering how best to handle this situation. During the address earlier, they had been ordered by surname, and as such, he had no idea who would be in fourteenth place. As such, he could not make any decision based on his opponent.

Whilst Regieleki would most certainly be able to handle this quickly, Justin knew that they weren’t just being marked on efficiency, but how contained and clean their win was, and given Regieleki’s propensity to get excited, and Justin having relied on Regieleki making the battlefield that dangerous that it would be impossible to avoid an attack, he decided quickly to leave Regieleki in its Pokeball. Even outside of this, Regieleki facing a Ground Type would draw out the battle far longer than necessary, which was not unlikely enough of a possibility for Justin to take the chance with this.

Instead, Justin opted for a Pokemon that was quick, but also accurate and precise. One which could cover ground quickly, and land a solid hit in close quarters, getting in their opponent’s space. But could also deal damage from a distance if the opponent warranted that, with enough versatility that a type disadvantage wouldn’t be as much of a detriment. Justin was tossing up between two, as his name was called.

“Justin Collins and Nathanael Helman on court two!”

Justin winced as people seemed to go quiet having heard his name. He made his way towards the designated battlefield, taking his place at one side. It was smaller than a standard battlefield, however for the purposes of the exercise, it made sense. As Justin unlatched a Pokeball, he saw out of the corner of his eye, Hargrow approach from court one, and seem to give an instruction to the instructor supervising court two, who nodded, before making his way to court one, leaving Hargrow as their assessor.

Nathanael was pale, with red hair, and stood a few inches taller than Justin, though seemed anxious, almost as if he didn’t know which Pokemon to select. After an awkward pause, he seemed to work up the nerve to address Hargrow.

“Sir! Will Justin having a Legendary Pokemon skew the results of this assessment?”

Justin’s eyes widened for a moment, and he moved to speak, however didn’t get a chance to, before Hargrow, calmly, yet firmly addressed the question.

“Recruit Helman, please repeat to me your goal of this exercise,” Hargow ordered.

“To neutralise the opposing Pokemon efficiently, without collateral damage, sir!”

“And for the sake of the exercise, why are you neutralising Recruit Collin’s Pokemon?”

“Because, for the sake of the exercise, Recruit Collins is a criminal and is using a Pokemon to conduct criminal activity or evade capture.”

Hargrow nodded, before looking at Justin directly.

“Recruit Collins, please explain what you were doing on the evening of September third, Hoenn Regional Time?”

Justin was taken aback by this question, though knew exactly what the answer was. Jon, Steven and Cassandra had returned to Hoenn a few days earlier, having met with Cynthia at what she had named the Sinjoh Ruins, where she had secured Palkia’s egg, which had appeared there after Jon and Chris killed Palkia during the initial Blackstone attack. From there, they had all escorted the egg back to the Sinnoh League, where it would be guarded by Cynthia and the Sinnoh Elite Four. Steven had initially managed to hold off legal proceedings, including an investigation both into the attack, as well as Jon and Steven’s actions, choosing both to keep the existence of Dialga’s egg hidden, and also to accept aid from, and eventually allow to escape, Lance. Everyone else had been required to make statements at their local police station which had then been forwarded to the Hoenn Government, Justin included, and with Jon, Steven and Cassandra having returned to Hoenn and made their statement, it was now on the news that the Academy had been attacked by a terrorist organisation, and questions were raised about Jon’s capacity to keep students safe, as well as Steven’s suitability as champion, given the questionable decisions the pair made. Despite being worried about the possibility that answering this question may paint him in a negative light, for example, the fact that Justin was complacent in the harbouring of an escaped criminal, Justin knew that trying to avoid it would likely make things worse.

“Sir!” Justin called out, wanting to maintain formalities, hoping to buy a little grace. “Myself and my colleagues from my former workplace were battling, defending it from an attacking force.”

“And tell me, did this attacking force use Legendary Pokemon?” Hargrow asked, though Justin could tell he knew the answer.

“Yes sir! Legendary Pokemon exclusively. There were nineteen Legendary Pokemon in the attacking force…”

“And did you have to face them with your non-Legendary Pokemon?” Hargrow asked, as Justin, realising where he was going, stifled a grin.

“Yes sir!” Justin answered. “I was the first trainer to encounter their leader, who had four Legendary Pokemon, however Regieleki was beaten by the second. I had to use the rest of my team to beat the second one, before Jon Drake arrived and defeated the third, and weakened the fourth enough that the leader called off the attack and fled!”

Hargrow nodded, as this confirmed what he had read. Justin realised how much sense it made. For Hargrow, a high profile recruit who would be beginning training in a matter of days was now involved in an investigation that may reflect poorly on him, and by extension, the Sinnoh Police Department. Justin was now certain that Hargrow had read the reports from the attack to double check Justin’s suitability for the Sinnoh P.D., and knew exactly what he was asking. Hargrow turned to face Nathanael.

“Recruit Collins here, is proof that you may find yourself facing Legendary Pokemon in the line of duty, without access to one yourself. Do you think a criminal will hold back what could be their greatest asset, in the name of fairness, Recruit Helman?”

“No sir!” Nathanael answered.

“Then you should be thanking Recruit Collins for the opportunity to experience this scenario, should he grant it to you!” Hargrow said, with a sense of finality. “Now begin!”

Justin lobbed forward his Pokeball, that he had held since before Nathanael had raised the concern, and felt slightly vindicated when Greninja emerged from it. At the same time, Nathanael tossed a Pokeball forward revealing a Cacturne.

Justin kept his relief hidden, not wanting to give away that he had a plan. Though native to numerous regions, Cacturne was native to Hoenn, which meant that numerous Eon Academy students had them, but the Academy itself had one. This was a Pokemon Justin was familiar with, and was already forming a plan to beat. Additionally, it seemed Nathanael was banking on using type advantages, overlooking a few key things. The first of which was the fact that in terms of sheer speed, Greninja completely eclipsed Cacturne.

“Low Kick!” Justin ordered. Greninja leapt forward with uncanny speed, as its Protean ability took effect, shifting its typing to Fighting. Greninja laid waste to the distance between them, before feinting to the left, then sweeping its leg from the right, tripping Cacturne. Low Kick dealt more damage the heavier the target was, and Cacturne, like the cacti that it was often mistaken for, had a high concentration of water, increasing its weight. It fell to the ground with a thud, which was exactly what Justin was hoping for. Slow, and knocked prone, it did not have enough time to react before Justin could give his next order.

“Acrobatics!”

Shifting to a Flying Type, Greninja barraged Cacturne with a flurry of quick and light, yet precise blows, before leaping back before Cacturne could retaliate. However, Cacturne did not get up.

“Recruit Collins wins,” Hargrow called out to the record keeper. “Eight seconds, ten out of ten for minimising collateral.”

Hargrow’s voice was matter of fact, and despite the fact that Justin’s feat was impressive, did not have a hint of praise. He was simply following procedure, allowing the record keeper to hear the results.

Justin made his way off the field, and when looking around for Nathanael, saw him, as well as those who had also finished their matches, leaving, as they had been allowed. Justin considered doing the same thing, until he recognised someone.

Standing by court 4, watching and waiting, he spotted his roommate, whom he was yet to properly meet. Figuring he had nowhere to be, Justin found somewhere to watch from a distance and waited, figuring he’d watch the battle.

It was nearly half an hour before Justin finally learnt his name.

“Zayne Griffin and Erica Hewitt to court three!”

Justin watched as his roomate, who he now knew to be Zayne, and rank thirty-one, made his way to the edge of the battlefield, and selected a Pokeball. He was at least six feet tall and looked to be quite fit and well built. His brown hair looked to have been buzzed short recently, likely to meet Sinnoh P.D. uniform requirements, though his green eyes seemed nervous, despite Justin figuring that Zayne, based on appearances alone, looked like one of the best suited here for police work. He soon understood why Zayne was nervous.

Both trainers sent out a Pokemon, Zayne a Houndoom and Erica a Machamp. Though both trainers went on the offensive, Justin could sense that Zayne, like Dylan on their first day at the Academy, had been rattled by the type matchup.

Zayne commanded a Flamethrower attack, and Erica, doing something Justin had never seen before, ordered Machamp to leap forward, in order to reduce the distance between them, and use Protect in the air. As Machamp reached the peak of its ark and began to fall, the barrier rose, protecting it from the Flamethrower attack, and placing Houndoom now dangerously close. Zayne then ordered Foul Play, which used Machamp’s superior physical strength to deal damage, however given Machamp’s resistance to the Dark Type move, it didn’t seem to leave it too worse for wear.

“Revenge!” Erica commanded.

Machamp, having already taken damage that turn, retaliated with an unrelenting fury, slamming Houndoom with numerous vicious punches.

“Houndoom, Inferno!” Zayne ordered.

“Mach Punch Machamp!” Erica retorted.

Houndoom, worn by the attack, but still willing to fight, roared as it prepared to produce flames, though was cut off by Machamp’s uncharacteristically quick punch, which struck the bipedal Pokemon, throwing it back and knocking it out.

“Twenty-one seconds, Recruit Hewitt wins. Eight out of ten for collateral. Four out of ten for Recruit Griffin for collateral…”

Both trainers returned their Pokemon, and Justin noticed Zayne quickly making his way towards the exit. Figuring that training would likely be more pleasant having someone in his corner that didn’t view him as a threat, and having a roommate he was on good terms with, Justin decided to try and arrange both then and there.

“Zayne, wait up!” Justin called out, before quickening his pace to catch up. Zayne turned, somewhat surprised to hear an unfamiliar voice calling his name. Once Justin was close enough they could talk semi-privately, he spoke. “Don’t let that get to you. You drew the short straw.”

“I mean, technically, so did you,” Zayne said, slightly puzzled. “You still managed to set a new record…”

Justin hadn’t heard that there was a record for this exercise, but shook it off.

“I did, but I had my a** handed to me more times than I can remember before I got to the point of being able to do that,” Justin answered, referring to Greninja’s initial type disadvantage. “I’m Justin…”

Zayne nodded, having known who Justin was from the start.

“You know, with that display, you’ve put a pretty big target on your back…” Zayne commented, not with any malice, but simply making an observation. “I saw you ranked first in the written exam, and I’ll eat my hat if someone beats you in this assessment. You’ve just put yourself in first place overall. You know that right?”

“I figured I’d wait and see once everyone is done. You never know what might happen…” Justin explained, before grinning, a little self deprecatingly. “Besides, I was below average in the fitness exam. That may throw a spanner in the works…”

Zayne nodded. He himself had been the opposite of Justin. His rank was initially thirty, placing sixth in the physical exam, but thirty-sixth in the written. And he figured that rank was likely going to drop given his loss.

“Anyway, we have lunch now, right?” Justin asked. “I know a few places to eat around here, and wouldn’t mind the company?”

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

“This is it…”

The rental car pulled up onto the side of the dirt road, either side of which was surrounded by former farmland. The driver’s door opened as Dylan stepped out of the vehicle.

“It’s a shame Abbee couldn’t join us to come take a look,” Alyssa said, as she climbed out of the passenger seat. The back, driver’s side door opened, and Jon, having unbuckled Amelia from the rented booster seat, slid out of the car, holding the four year old, who yawned wearily.

“She’d have loved to, but this is her first week running the gym without Elesa there. I offered to wait until she finished work for the day but she refused,” Dylan explained. “Said that it’s getting late enough in the year that it’d be dark by the time we all got there.”

“But she’s still booked in for dinner tonight?” Jon asked, as he put Amelia down. She wandered towards the wire fence that stood between the four of them, and the empty property they were there to visit.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Dylan answered. “We’re picking her up from the Gym, but she wants to take ten minutes to give us all the tour first…”

Jon nodded, before looking at the land in front of him, taking in the sight.

“So this is it…” Jon said, as Dylan nodded. The land itself was far larger than the property the Academy was on, and Jon could see it was perfect for what Dylan had in mind. A large section of the land was flat and usable, whilst also being placed well, relative to the road, for a very large house, or multiple smaller buildings, but the majority of the land seemed wild, though not too uncivilised. Jon could see this property filled with Pokemon, living relatively free range, and knew that Dylan’s skills in caring for them would probably result in them not wandering too far. Effectively, Dylan would be able to work with the Pokemon, breeding them for trainers after one themselves, whilst still letting them live their natural lives.

“Let’s go take a look,” Alyssa said with a grin, before moving to the wire fence. In reality, it was not going to keep anything half determined out. It was a collection of spaced out star pickets, with some wire connecting them, with gaps large enough that any reasonably sized adult could squeeze through.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Jon asked, surprising Dylan that he was being cautious.

“Why not?” Dylan asked with a grin. “It’s my land. As long as you guys don’t trip on something and sue me, it should be fine.”

“I’m more thinking of time,” Jon answered. “Don’t want to keep Abbee waiting.”

“We’ll be quick!” Alyssa said with a hint of exasperation. “Geez, I thought I’d have a few more years before my husband became an old man…”

“I’m younger than you…” Jon noted, as Alyssa gave him a warning look, before grinning.

“Then start acting like it,” Alyssa answered back. “Now come on! We’re burning daylight.”

Dylan smirked, before pulling the wire up, making a space for Amelia to climb through, followed by Alyssa, then Jon, and then going through himself. The four walked towards the most inhabitable section of the property, before Dylan stopped, and began looking around.

“So what’s the plan?” Jon asked. “Imagine you had no limitations in terms of budget; what would you do?”

Dylan looked around, before locking eyes on a nearby area, and grinning.

“First things first, would be to build a workshop. I love the Academy, but goddamn it gets frustrating not having a dedicated workshop space,” Dylan explained. “In a big shed, or barn type of thing. I’ll get that built first, then move into that whilst the house itself is built.”

Jon couldn’t help but grin at this. A month earlier, Jon had told Dylan that he would be ending Dylan’s employment at the Eon Academy when the hold on his land would have expired, had he not arranged finance to buy it. This was to keep Dylan from giving all this up, in order to help Jon, given his seizures. And despite the fact that they were only held at bay by the daily medication Jon had to take, the difference was more than just preventing the seizures. Dylan now felt comfortable enough leaving that he was actually taking steps to leave sooner.

“Whilst that’s happening, I’ll be borrowing Zoroark and Carbon, and seeing what sort of Pokemon this extinct Zorua will be,” Dylan explained, referring to Alyssa’s Ditto. “If I play my cards right, I may be able to make some extra cash with that endeavour to kick start the business…”

“Why do you need Carbon?” Amelia asked, as Dylan went quiet and Alyssa stifled a grin.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older, Lili,” Jon answered simply.

“How old?” the toddler asked.

“When you’re married…”

Dylan stifled a laugh at Jon’s answer, whilst Alyssa rolled her eyes. Changing the subject, Jon spoke.

“Well this is why I haven’t exactly been public about Zoroark. Outside of the Grudge Match Livestream, I don’t think there is anything online about the fact I have it. The League know, though they don’t have reason to share anything, seeing as it’s not like I’ll give them any more details,” Jon explained. “Hopefully that has built some suspense and mystery around it, which will translate to publicity.”

Dylan nodded, before looking towards another space.

“I think the house will be there. It’s far enough away from the road, and the trees by the fenceline mean it is pretty tucked away,” Dylan continued. “Big but not too big. A nice open kitchen and dining room, with a big table. Good for hosting. And lots of spare rooms-”

“For lots of kids?” Jon asked, as Alyssa gave Jon a not-so-gentle, but good natured shove.

“For guests,” Dylan answered, as if Jon hadn’t been half joking when he asked the question. “For when you guys, and the others visit. Things like Christmas. Or for when Brent and the kids come by. Like how you guys have the main lodge. But instead, I don’t want the huge space between myself and guests.”

“It sounds very welcoming,” Alyssa noted, as she looked around, seeming to picture it herself. Dylan nodded in agreement.

“Then, the rest of the space is basically filling whatever need work brings. I’d like it to be as close to the real deal for the Pokemon that live here as possible. Effectively have them wild, but choose to stay because it is better than what they’ll find out there…”

Jon nodded in understanding, as he took in the expanse.

“I’m sure if anyone can do this, it’ll be you…”

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

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

On the phone in front of her was a website. Project STN. And of the nine small portraits in the Galar row, eight were now in colour, with the only one remaining uncoloured being that of Leon, the Galar Champion.

“He’s already beaten all eight gyms…” Charlotte muttered in shock, as she looked at the phone. It had been a little over three weeks since all of the Eon Academy staff had left Hoenn, some for a potentially long time. Chris was one of those. However, in three weeks, Charlotte could see he had beaten all eight Gyms. When she tapped on the portrait of the first Gym Leader, a timestamp popped up. September 5th, 4:45pm. Chris had arrived in Galar, and challenged his first Gym on the same day.

Charlotte was briefly confused, as she realised Galar didn’t have an Elite Four. Every other region Chris was travelling through had one, though Kanto and Johto shared theirs, which caused Charlotte to wonder how tough of a challenge Leon was. Closing the tab, she opened a new one, and began researching the Galar League. Finally she understood. Instead of the Elite Four, the Galar League consisted of the Champion Cup, in which Chris would have to win two semi-final rounds, before three finals rounds, before he could battle Leon. At first, Charlotte thought it was far tougher, until she read a single sentence.

”Participating Pokemon will be healed between rounds.”

“What a joke…” Charlotte muttered, knowing Chris would have no trouble, having trained under both Jon at the Eon Academy, and Camilla of the College of the North Wind, whose training was specialised to produce Elite Four killers, figuratively speaking. Continuing to scroll, she realised why Chris hadn’t beat Leon already. The next Champion Cup was scheduled for September 30th. Four days from now.

Charlotte sighed, before sitting up in her bed. It was nearing midday of September 26th, and for the last week, she was ashamed to admit that this had become her standard.

Just before the previous summer, Charlotte had negotiated to guarantee a spot in the 2023 High Seas Tournament, having been offered a spot in the 2022 competition, but needing to refuse, given the clash it would have had with what would be her last summer at the Eon Academy with some of her peers. One of the terms of this, however, was that Charlotte could not compete in any formal tournament between the agreement being made and the tournament itself. The reason being was that the organisers did not want to risk Charlotte having a fall from grace, be it through distasteful behaviour, or having a bad losing streak, that her participation in the High Seas Tournament would become a detriment to ticket sales, instead of an asset.

Whilst Charlotte understood the reasoning behind it, she found herself bored to no end. She wanted nothing more than to be training for her High Seas debut, and making the most of the ten months she had to do that. However, there was practically no challenge that would stretch her. And whilst, sure, she would not be arrogant enough to say that a lesser trainer couldn’t teach her something, she knew an equal, or greater trainer could teach her more.

For her first week, she had posted online that she was in Jubilife, waiting at one of the public battlefields each afternoon at four, to face whoever wanted to challenge her, hoping that would attract some strong trainers, whilst not being a formal competition. And whilst Seafoam Cruises weren’t particularly thrilled that Charlotte was risking a loss and her reputation with this open invitation, Charlotte had shown Justin a copy of her contract, and he confirmed she was within her rights to do this.

For the first week, people showed up, as well as crowds of spectators. However none of the battlers Charlotte faced were stronger than the students she helped teach at the Eon Academy, and by the time the week had ended, nobody was showing up. She realised later, that given Jubilife has no gym, the only skilled trainers in the city were trainers passing through on their way to another city, Justin, who was too flat out with police training to battle Charlotte more than once a week at best, and the College of the North Wind, who, whilst Charlotte figured would provide a good challenge, she didn’t want to sour relationships with by coming in and likely beating every trainer they put in front of her. She had even sent Camilla an email, challenging her to a practise match, however received no reply. She figured that given how much she had underestimated them two summers earlier, and how much more time Charlotte had spent with Deoxys, that Camilla didn’t want to risk the embarrassment of possibly losing to Charlotte.

Bored by this, Charlotte opened Twitter and looked for the Nimbasa City Gym account, curious to see what it was like under Abbee’s leadership. In the last few weeks, the account had been fairly active, posting slightly more than normal, with videos of Abbee securing some solid wins, and even the odd picture of Victini, who was slowly falling into the role of Gym mascot. Charlotte couldn’t help but grin, knowing how much Victini would be hating that.

Charlotte tapped the Follow button, largely so she could keep seeing pictures of Victini posed in ways that she knew were under Abbee’s instruction, and almost didn’t notice the popup that appeared, her default instinct being to close it. Only at the last second, did she read the contents.

Other accounts you may like:
The Battle Frontier

Charlotte tapped the account, before finding a link in the accounts biography, and clicking that. The website that it took her to revealed a large aerial photo, of what looked like an amusement park filled with people, across five massive buildings. Each had a label, next to a picture of a trainer, referred to as a Frontier Brain.

As Charlotte clicked through each building, she began to understand what she was looking at. A group of facilites that focused on Pokemon battling, however each facility had its own twist. The Battle Tower was standard three versus three battling, whilst the Battle Factory relied on rental Pokemon, which tested the adaptability and knowledge of the trainer. The Battle Arcade was a standard battle, with roulette style twists, which would have effects on the battle itself, whilst the Battle Castle awarded points, which could be spent to give competitors an edge. Finally, the Battle Hall challenged players to subsequent one-on-one battles using the same Pokemon, with a few other twists.

Charlotte continued reading, until she spotted a link to a page titled Rewards. Clicking on it, she began to read.

”The Battle Frontier is open to all trainers, and offers no cash rewards. Instead, trainers who manage to beat a Frontier Brain will receive a commemorative print to celebrate their success, and wins will be rewarded with Battle Points, or BP, which can be exchanged for prizes at any of the Battle Frontier Reward Kiosks.”

Reading this, Charlotte’s eyes widened, before she closed her web browser, and opened the phone app, dialling Justin. It was noon, which meant he would be on his lunch break. After a few moments, Justin answered, sounding like he was in a busy and noisy room.

“Hey Charlotte, sorry, I can’t train with you this week…” Justin said, having had calls from Charlotte like this before. ”I’m flat out here-”

“That’s fine, I won’t keep you long,” Charlotte said quickly. “I just have a question about my contract…”

”What’s that?”

“Did it specify what a tournament was?” Charlotte asked.

[i]”Yeah,”[i] Justin answered, as Charlotte felt her heart sink. ”It specified it as a competitive battling event, hosted by a company, which offers a monetary prize-”

Hearing the last two words, Charlotte cut Justin off.

“So if, let’s just say, there was a theme park with a bunch of different battling facilities, and the best they offer to winners is a glorified sticker and some points to exchange like tickets in a video-game arcade, that would not be considered a tournament?”

”I don’t see why,” Justin answered. ”If they didn’t have a clause defining a tournament, they may have been able to argue it. But because they tried to lock you out by specifying what a tournament is, if they were to make complaints about you doing that, legally speaking, they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on…”

“Brilliant!” Charlotte said, sounding more motivated than she had in weeks. “Thanks heaps!”

Ending the call, Charlotte wasted no time downloading two apps. The first was Airbnb, hoping to find somewhere to stay for an extended period of time near the Battle Frontier. However, knowing she couldn’t afford to rent a house in what was likely a tourist location for six months on her own, the second was to help alleviate that. Flatmate Finder.

”Championship level trainer, seeking to conquer the Battle Frontier, looking for housemates. Must be able to battle well…”

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

Despite having competed for years, Chris was surprised at the size of the stadium he battled in, and just how many spectators there were. He had looked at the analytics of his Project STN site and there were not enough viewers from Galar to give him any inclination that they were here for him. No, he knew they were here to see Leon battle.

Leon stood on the opposite side of the battlefield, Pokeball in hand, ready to face his challenger. Chris had spent months researching his opponents, and knew that Leon tended to be more relaxed during his battles, though knew why Leon seemed so intent this time.

Less than four weeks ago, Chris had arrived in Galar, and battled his first Gym. And since then, no more than five days had passed without him winning a badge, though that was only once. He was averaging a Gym badge every three days, placing him almost a month ahead of his own schedule. And then there was this morning's events. Chris had battled five trainers before being able to face Leon. Hop, who was the only one to not specialise in a certain type, actually making him a significant challenge, before Bede, who battled Fairy Types, Klara, who battled with Poison Types, Avery, who battled with Psychic Types, then Marnie, who battled with Dark Types. And despite each battle being a six-on-six match, Chris didn’t end up using more than two Pokemon in each. And in none of these battles, did Lugia make an appearance.

Leon knew that the trainer he was about to face was not one to take lightly. Despite Galar being a little isolated in terms of news from the rest of the world, with a quick search online, Leon knew exactly who he was facing, and that if he didn’t take this match seriously enough, that he may find himself humiliated.

“In the final round, we have Galar Champion Leon, versus the challenger, who has swept through the Galar League unlike any has before, Christopher Kingswood!”

Chris smirked at his introduction, knowing that this League was the first of many he’d be completing, before he grabbed a Pokeball. If Chris lost today, Second To None would have a permanent stain. Whilst he could challenge Leon again during another Championship Cup, he would not be able to claim the title of undefeated. And he was not willing to lose that opportunity within his first month.

“Now begin!”

Leon threw forward his first Pokeball, as did Chris. In front of Leon appeared what looked like a sword with two arms, holding a large shield. Aegislash. Chris breathed a sigh of relief. Despite being far from out of options should his opening match up be to his disadvantage, he always preferred having that edge out of the gate. As Chris’ Pokeball opened, Garchomp was revealed, the large Dragon Type roaring in expectation as it took in the sight in front of it.

Chris knew that Aegislash would be a problem for Garchomp if left unchecked despite Garchomp’s type advantage. Its signature move, King’s Shield, would act identically to Protect, however, if the attacking Pokemon made contact with the barrier, its attack power would be decreased. Chris knew that he couldn’t hinge his win on just wearing down Aegislash. Every hit Chris ordered Garchomp to make, needed to count.

“Flamethrower, Garchomp!” Chris shouted. Garchomp roared out angrily, before rushing at Aegislash, as flames erupted from its jaws, and bathed the defending Pokemon in flames.

“Swords Dance!” Leon ordered, as Aegislash let out a metallic screech, Chris now knowing its attack power was likely doubled.

“Earthquake!” Chris shouted.

“King’s Shield!”

Chris had to hide his grin. He had no expectation of Earthquake hitting, and instead, was relying on the reputation it had for completely destroying anything weak to Ground Type attacks. Whilst Earthquake hitting would have made Chris’ life easier, he had been relying on Leon ordering Aegislash to block it.

Garchomp roared as the ground beneath their feet began to rumble and rupture. In an instant, Aegislash seemed to contort, placing its shield in front of it, and raising a barrier to take the attack. Earthquake had been the perfect command, as not only did it cause Leon to act defensively, but it also did not rely on Garchomp making contact, which would be weakened by the block.

“Good Garchomp! Now take aim, and on my mark!” Chris shouted, trying to be loud enough for Leon to hear him, but not too loud to indicate he was playing the Galar Champion.

Leon’s eyes widened as he realised he had fallen into Chris’ trap, using a protection move when Chris was really planning on making his move the turn after. Leon knew he had two options. The first was to attempt to use it again, knowing that the chance of success using it straight away was only fifty percent. The second was to attempt to knock out Garchomp before it could unleash whatever attack Chris had it preparing.

“Close Combat!” Leon ordered.

Chris watched intently, waiting for the opportunity. Despite Leon giving the command first, Garchomp was significantly faster, and as long as Chris didn’t leave it too late, Garchomp would still be able to strike first.

Finally he saw it. Aegislash, as it moved, began to shift from its defensive form to its attacking form.

“Stomping Tantrum!” Chris ordered.

He couldn’t have left it much later, and had it been any later, Aegislash, in its attacking form, empowered by Swords Dance would have laid waste to Garchomp. Instead, Garchomp struck with the Stomping Tantrum, striking in the small moment between Aegislash lowering its defences, and actually delivering the blow. And with Garchomp’s last attack, Earthquake, failing to hit, Garchomp’s tantrum would be doubled in strength.

Garchomp rushed at Aegislash in a fury, slamming its tail into the Pokemon, and upon making contact, launched heavy columns of earth from the ground, which struck Aegislash, throwing it back. It hit the ground on Leon’s side of the field with a clang, and after a moment, Leon called it back.

“That was impressive,” Leon called out, to Chris. “You really played me like a fiddle…”

“Only because I got lucky with Garchomp!” Chris called back. “Some of my other Pokemon would have been wiped out before I could do anything like that…”

Leon grinned, unable to tell whether Chris genuinely meant what he said, or was simply being a good sport. Either way, he knew this battle was already much further in Chris’ favour.

“Go, Mr. Rime!”

Leon tossed a Pokeball forward revealing the evolution of a Galarian Mr. Mime, which Chris could see was partially an Ice Type, based on the frozen shoes it appeared to be wearing. He had little doubt that a single good hit would be enough for Mr. Rime to knock Garchomp out, and shifted his strategy to account for that.

“Sandstorm!” Chris commanded, having changed Garchomp’s ability in light of STN starting. Granted, Galar was an exception, but every other Pokemon League would require Chris’ team of six Pokemon to be able to take down five Elite Four teams. And whilst Garchomp’s Rough Skin ability had come in handy in the past, an ability that hinged on Garchomp taking damage was not one that suited an endurance challenge like what was to come. Meanwhile, Sand Veil would ideally buy Garchomp more time in the fight.

“Substitute!” Leon shouted. Amidst the sand, Mr. Rime disappeared, as Chris decided to take to heart a lesson Jon had taught. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is the last thing your opponent expects.

“Swords Dance!” Chris ordered, for multiple reasons.

The first was that as long as Mr. Rime had the substitute active, it could act however it liked without fear of consequence until Garchomp removed it. So Leon likely expected Garchomp to waste time trying to remove it immediately. The second followed along with that line of thinking. Chris managed to have Garchomp beat Aegislash without taking any damage by using a carefully placed, heavy hitting attack, and by acting in this way, Chris would potentially throw Leon off his game by sending him down the wrong rabbit hole. The third reason was that Swords Dance would not give away Garchomp’s location in the sandstorm, which wasn’t infallible, but not worth giving up the advantage of. And the fourth, was that Chris planned on dealing a significant amount of damage to Mr. Rime when he removed the Substitute, and would need all the help he could get with that.

“Skill Swap!”

Chris’ eyes widened as Mr. Rime, invisible somewhere on the battlefield, cried out. An orb appeared from Garchomp, flying out into the air where it seemed to exchange with another orb. Chris knew that Garchomp now didn’t have its Sand Veil ability, and even worse, the Sandstorm was now going to help hide Mr. Rime.

“Protect!” Chris shouted, as Leon ordered an Ice Beam. He quickly tried to figure out how long the battle had been going for, having hinged his bets on Garchomp having another chance to use Swords Dance, being protected by the Sandstorm, and Mr. Rime not being any harder to hit once the substitute fell.

Forcing himself to stay calm, he adapted his plan, holding on to hope that he could still get a win out of this. He refused to let himself be rattled.

“Ice Beam again!” Leon ordered.

“Endure! Get near the substitute”

Garchomp took the Ice Beam attack that seemed to come from nowhere, as with the substitute still intact, Mr. Rime was invisible. It held on with the last of its energy, getting into range of the substitute, as Leon, who now had the upper hand, gave his next order.

“Freeze Dry!”

“Protect!” Chris commanded. “Now locate Mr. Rime!”

Garchomp raised the barrier, blocking the Ice Type attack that came out of nowhere, as the sandstorm subsided. Garchomp roared, giving confirmation to Chris that it had located the invisible opponent. The roar however was weak, as Garchomp couldn’t hold out much longer.

“Now Dual Chop!” Chris shouted. “One on the substitute, and one for Mr. Rime!”

Garchomp slashed with a quick, and relatively weaker attack, hitting the substitute and causing it to fade. As Mr. Rime reappeared, Garchomp was already on it, slashing with its second attack, hitting the Ice-Psychic Type, and throwing it back. Leon moved as if to give an order, however realised a moment later, Mr. Rime was unconscious.

“Substitute took out a quarter of its health, and the sandstorm probably dealt that much as well,” Chris said, with a hint of exhaustion from the stress of that battle. He called Garchomp back. “If not for that, Dual Chop would not have been able to finish it off…”

Leon nodded, calling the Pokemon back. He had made a mistake there, forgetting that the Sandstorm would be buffeting Mr. Rime, because he couldn’t actually see the Pokemon taking the damage.

“So you drew it out to let it wear Mr. Rime down?” Leon asked.

“That, and to let the Sandstorm subside,” Chris answered casually. “I knew we only had one shot with Dual Chop and it wasn’t guaranteed to hit even without Sand Veil. I wanted to make sure we didn’t take any unnecessary risks.”

Leon nodded, finding himself more impressed, as he called back his unconscious Pokemon, before both trainers selected their next Pokemon.

Leon tossed a Pokeball forward, revealing Dragapult, whilst Chris sent out his Ninetales. He had known Leon’s entire team well before coming into this battle, and knew of the four Pokemon left, two were Dragon Type. The odds were fifty-fifty that Ninetales would be the best bet, and they had proven to be correct.

“Phantom Force!” Leon commanded.

“Hail!” Chris responded.

Dragapult vanished into thin air, as Chris, knowing what would happen very soon after, made the most of the opportunity to take action without having to immediately defend.

Ninetales cried out, as a hailstorm whipped up, triggering its Snow Cloak ability, much like Garchomp earlier, making it harder to hit. This however wasn’t enough for Chris to bank on an accurate move like Phantom Force to miss.

Dragapult reappeared, striking Ninetales, and whilst Chris considered having Ninetales use Aurora Veil in order to dampen any more hits, he knew against Dragapult, it may be buying the Pokemon a free hit. Dragapult had one of three abilities, and one, Infiltrator, would bypass Aurora Veil, effectively wasting an action. Instead, Chris went down a different track.

“Avalanche!”

Normally, Chris tried to place himself in situations where his Pokemon was the faster of the pair. However, he knew there was a snowflake’s chance in hell that Dragapult would be slower than Ninetales. And Dragapult had committed to an attack by using Phantom Force, in the same way Dive or Dig would. Most trainers would attempt to use the guarantee of an attack to block against it, however Chris had fallen for Phantom Force bypassing Protect, when Charlotte had used that tactic with her Drifblim against him, years earlier. Instead, Chris decided to make the damage Ninetales took worth it, by using a move that would be empowered if the user had taken a hit immediately before.

Ninetales cried out, as it became encased in a rumbling, rolling snowstorm, rushing at Dragapult, and slamming bodily into the Pokemon. Snow encapsulated it, throwing it violently against the ground, before disappearing, leaving the Dragon-Ghost Type quiet and unmoving.

“You know, I haven’t looked this bad in years…” Leon said with a grin. “But I still have some tricks up my sleeve!”

Chris was surprised that Leon’s next Pokemon was Haxorus, a Pokemon whose sole type-empowered moves would be ineffective against Ninetales.

“Close Combat!” Leon ordered.

“Protect!” Chris shouted back almost instinctively. Leon grinned, as Chris realised he had messed up, falling for the same trap he had caught Leon in earlier.

“Now, Iron Head!”

With the Protect-lure having done its job, Haxorus, who had made it into melee range with Ninetales, only to be blocked at the last second, now roared as it rushed into Ninetales, smashing its head into the Pokemon and throwing it back towards Chris, knocking it out.

Chris called back Ninetales, before taking a moment to pick his next Pokemon. He had Charizard, Dragonite, Lugia and Hydreigon available to him, though he had decided well before that Lugia was only going to make an appearance if it had to. As much as Project STN was a challenge for Chris, it was also a way of making him a trainer for the history books, and if his success would be made more impressive by relying more on his relatively less powerful Pokemon, he wanted to try and work towards that.

“Dragonite, your turn!” Chris commanded, knowing that he was taking a risk. Of the pair, Haxorus was almost certainly faster than Dragonite, and probably just as fast as Hydreigon. Whilst Charizard would be faster, Chris was saving Charizard for something else.

“Dragon Claw!” Leon ordered.

“Protect!” Chris commanded, knowing that the result of the next move would determine if Dragonite would be able to beat Haxorus or not.

Chris knew that Haxorus could have one of three abilities, though did not know which one Leon’s had. Whilst he had had a hunch that Dragapult had Infiltrator, having seen recordings in which Dragapult had had its stats reduced, ruling our Clear Body, and also taken subsequent physical attacks, ruling out Cursed Body, Haxorus was far more difficult. All of its potential abilities were hard to spot in action, without being the opponent, and watching a match on a recording.

Chris figured it would not be Unnerve. The Championship Cup was the only one that didn’t allow held items, with one exception to that rule, making the ability useless, which left it either as Rivalry, or Mold Breaker. If it were Rivalry, Chris knew he could take this win. If Mold Breaker, then there was no way.

As Haxorus rammed it’s claw into the barrier protecting Dragonite, Chris watched intently at the level of force it exerted on the shield. If it had Mold Breaker, the level of force would be less, however Dragonite’s Multiscale would not activate if it struck, therefore causing Dragonite to take the full hit. If it had Rivalry, the hit from Haxorus would be harder against the barrier, but be dampened by Multiscale if it hit.

Chris made two observations. The first being that not only was the attack significantly heavier against the shield than he would have expected, it was even more significantly heavier hitting than the attack it used on Ninetales earlier, which Chris now knew only knocked it out due to the Pokemon’s double weakness to Steel Type attacks. Rivalry boosted attack power against Pokemon of the same gender, such as Chris’ Dragonite who alongside Haxorus, was male, by a factor of near twenty-five percent, whilst reducing against the opposite gender, like Ninetales, by the same.

“Dragon Rush!” Leon shouted.

“Dragon Dance!” Chris commanded, hoping that he had been correct in his observation.

Dragonite was struck by the brutal attack, as Haxorus rammed itself bodily into it, however cried out, using a buff that increased both its own physical attack power, and speed, and Chris knew now that it was going to be able to end this, and maybe even go toe-to-toe with Leon’s next Pokemon.

“Now, Dragon Claw!”

Dragonite roared as its fist became encased in a draconic aura, leaping towards Haxorus and slashing at it with all its might. Dragonite struck Haxorus from the side, lifting it from the ground and throwing it to the side of the battlefield, knocking the Pokemon out before it even hit the ground.

Leon looked in disbelief at his fourth Pokemon knocked out, whilst Chris still had four Pokemon, five counting Garchomp who was technically still in the battle, having not actually been knocked out. He sent out his next Pokemon, one that Chris had never seen before researching the Galar Champion.

“Go, Inteleon!”

The tall and slender lizard-like Pokemon emerged, eyeing off Chris and Dragonite warily.

“Roost!” Chris commanded, not wanting to waste the advantage Dragon Dance had given Dragonite.

“Ice Beam!” Leon commanded.

Dragonite descended to stand on the ground, as it regained health, and the cost of temporarily losing its Flying Type, however this was a blessing for Chris. Dragonite’s Flying Type did nothing in this battle except give it a double weakness to Ice Type attacks which any trainer would try to exploit. Dragonite regained health, only to lose it again to the Ice Beam which made the restoration practically redundant.

“Now, Scary Face!” Chris commanded, having seen Inteleon being only slightly slower than Dragonite with its increased speed.

“Snipe Shot!” Leon instructed.

“Protect!” Chris commanded, knowing that with Inteleon slowed, Dragonite would have the chance to block. Intelleon seemed to point a finger-gun gesture at Dragonite, as a small, but highly pressurised blast of water struck the barrier. “Now Roost again!”

Losing its newly regained Flying Typing, and restoring its health again, Dragonite cried out in excitement as Leon, not wanting to fall into a trap, changed tactics.

“Agility, Inteleon!”

Inteleon used a move to place its speed back at its natural level as Chris, wanting to make the most of this opportunity, gave another command.

“Roost again!”

“Ice Beam!”

Chris knew that he was toeing a fine line in this battle. Should Inteleon let off an Ice Beam whilst Roost’s side effect was not active, if Dragonite weren’t at full health, and by extension, protected by Multiscale, it would not survive.

“Dragon Rush!” Chris shouted.

Dragonite, now having regained its flying typing for the third time, leapt into the air, accelerating in flight towards Inteleon, as it became encased in a draconic aura. With a cry, Dragonite slammed into Inteleon, empowered by the earlier Dragon Dance. Inteleon was thrown backwards, however managed to land uneasily on its feet, as Leon gave another order.

“Ice Beam again!”

“Extreme Speed!” Chris shouted. If it had been any other attack, and Dragonite’s speed hadn’t been improved by Dragon Dance, the tactic would have failed. Almost in an instant, Dragonite closed the gap between itself and where Inteleon had landed, building up shocking speed, almost on par with Justin's Regieleki. And though Ice Beam struck as it flew, knocking Dragonite unconscious, it had already built up the momentum needed to cause it to crash directly into Inteleon, knocking the now injured Pokemon out.

“And here I thought I finally had you on the ropes!” Leon called out, as he withdrew Inteleon, before unlatching his last Pokeball. Chris grinned as he called back Dragonite. Whilst sending out Lugia would make this much easier for him, and Hydreigon would likely be a solid choice, he wanted the first chapter of Second To None to be a spectacle talked about for years to come, and knowing what Leon’s last Pokemon was made Chris’ choice all the more entertaining.

Both trainers tossed their Pokeballs, and on either side of the battlefield, a Charizard appeared. Immediately, both trainers reached for something on their wrist, and the moment they made contact, both Charizard exploded into orbs of light. Chris’ Charizard Mega Evolved, turning black and blue, taking the form of Mega Charizard X, whilst Leon’s Charizard seemed to warp the space around it, and explode into a larger form, standing at nearly a hundred feet tall. The fans erupted into cheers, having been waiting for this moment, and now knowing it would be an even better show than they expected.

Chris had heard of Dynamax, a Pokemon phenomenon that was exclusive to the Galar region, and had an idea of what to expect. However, seeing Charizard being as tall as two Wailord stacked nose to tail, still shocked him.

“Dragon Pulse!” Leon ordered, as Gigantamax Charizard roared, causing the entire stadium to rumble.

“Protect!” Chris shouted.

Mega Charizard raised a Protect barrier, both to block the attack, and buy time for the process of Mega Evolving to actually finish, blocking what Chris identified as the most powerful Dragon Type attack he had ever seen. The beam of light was on par with that of a Draco Meteor attack, though didn’t seem to tax Gigantamax Charizard any more than a standard move.

“Now, Hurricane!”

Chris winced, realising that despite Dragon Pulse having a type advantage, that Hurricane, a move that would be empowered by Gigantamax Charizard’s Flying Type, would hit Mega Charizard far harder, especially since Chris had given up Mega Charizard’s Flying Type resistance.

Chris himself was almost thrown off balance by the catastrophic winds that erupted through the stadium, as Mega Charizard, who floated only a foot or two above the ground, was caught in the gale, and tossed violently around. Chris noticed however that despite not being a side effect of Hurricane normally, Mega Charizard seemed to have been slowed.

“Flame Charge!” Chris ordered instinctively, not for the sake of the damage it would do, though with Mega Charizard’s Tough Claws ability, that would not be insignificant, but more so for the fact that it would also increase Mega Charizard’s speed back to its natural level. “Now, Protect!”

Charizard, its speed restored, was able to raise the barrier just in time to block the subsequent Dragon Pulse, and Chris knew he had held out long enough. The key difference between Gigantamax and Mega Evolution was that Gigantamax had a natural time limit, whilst Mega Evolution would stay active until Charizard got knocked out. Leon had the advantage in the short term, whilst Chris had the advantage if the match got drawn out. Mega Charizard now faced a championship level, yet run-of-the-mill Charizard.

“Now Charizard! End this!” Chris shouted, knowing that he only had one turn to end this match. He didn’t know if Leon would order Hurricane again without Charizard being Gigantamaxed, knowing it was less accurate, but even if Leon wasn’t able to finish this with his next move, Chris knew very well what Charizard’s ability was. Blaze. Should Leon’s Charizard’s health become too low, its attack power wwould increase significantly, allowing for even the weakest of moves to be enough to finish Mega Charizard. “Outrage!”

Had Chris thought Outrage would not have been enough, he would have ordered another move, given that once Mega Charizard began to Outrage, it would not stop until it exhausted itself or was knocked out. But Chris knew this was his only bet for obtaining the two-to-six win he was after.

Mega Charizard roared violently, as an unshakable rage took over it, before launching itself at full speed at Charizard, lashing out violently against the opposing Pokemon. Between Mega Charizard’s increased attack power, it’s Tough Claws ability, the type empowerment of the Dragon Type attack, and the sheer brutality of it, Leon’s Charizard was struck bodily by Mega Charizard, being lifted from the ground by the sheer force, and thrown back, as meanwhile, Mega Charizard continued to attack. Chris watched with great care, waiting for the moment he could see Leon’s Charizard unconscious, not wanting to risk calling Mega Charizard back too early, and having to send out another Pokemon, whilst not wanting to risk Mega Charizard going too far in its furious attack.

Once he saw Leon’s Charizard hit the ground, and seem to flop like a ragdoll, Chris quickly returned Mega Charizard to its Pokeball. It almost didn’t feel real.

“And for the first time in many years, the Championship Cup is taken by the challenger and newcomer, Christopher Kingswood!” shouted the commentator as the crowd went wild, though a little apprehensively, unsure if they should be cheering for the trainer that just made a show of beating their champion.

Chris moved to the centre of the battlefield to meet Leon, where the pair shook hands.

“When I woke up this morning, I didn’t think I’d be beaten with such ease…” Leon said, unable to hide the grin from his face. “I haven’t had to work this hard in years, and even then, I only managed to take down two of your Pokemon…”

“Three, really,” Chris admitted. “There was no way I’d send Garchomp back in. I’d sooner resign than force Garchomp to fight for my pride in that state…”

“I’m glad to hear. I come across too many trainers who try to achieve similar results to you, with any ends justifying their means,” Leon said. “Still, none of them made as big a fool of me as you just did.”

Chris grinned, before waving to the cheering crowds, soaking in the glory of his first win against a regional champion.

“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t plan on you being the last…” Chris explained. “Check out projectSTN.com. I’ll be paying Diantha in Kalos a visit next…”