The Type Specialist

Flint was a unique member of Sinnoh’s Elite Four simply because he didn’t only use Fire Types. Sure, he was still a specialist, but back when he first debuted, only half his team lined up with his specialty. Now, a greater proportion of his Pokémon have the appropriate Type since he had expanded his team, but, the non-Fire Type Pokémon had stuck around, and, when he used them, they still demonstrated an exceptional mastery over Fire Type moves.

It was just that when someone spoke of the Fire Type, one didn’t think of Steelix, Drifblim, and Lopunny.

For this battle, I expected Flint to stick with his normal team composition, in that he’d primarily use Fire Type Pokémon, but there'd be one or two of his non-Fire Type Pokémon included to switch things up. As a Fire Type specialist, Flint was the quintessential example of one. Flint was arrogant, hot-headed, and, if certain stories were true, quick to anger, but I couldn't deny his cleverness or the strength of his team.

And, considering that Fire Type Pokémon resisted Fairy Type moves, he was the member of the Elite Four I was most worried about and had planned the most for. What I disliked about this upcoming battle is that my team would be limited in their move choices as a result.

"I only have four of my stronger Pokémon with—"

"Yeah! Four on four it'll be!” Flint shouted before I finished talking. I sent him a bemused look that he met with a grin. “Any preferences for the rules?"

Cynthia said she prefers to battle without limits, and I need to use this match for practice. Following her lead is probably for the best.

"No limits on switching or anything else,” I said. “Let's keep the battle to the basic field size, though. I don’t want to disturb the other trainers around here.”

I said that, but the few other trainers using these outdoor battlefields were actively staring. I mean, come on, there was a member of the Elite Four and a member of the Wandering Elite about to start a battle. Not only that, but the Champion herself was right there next to them! At least, everyone was respecting our privacy and not taking out devices to record. I attributed that to the fact that all but one of them were Ace Trainers working for the League.

As for Cynthia, she hadn't left yet, undeniably here to continue to avoid her work. She let out a slight hum when she heard my request for the rules of the match. At her side, both Togetic and Togekiss were resting, ready to watch the match, and the members of my team still in training were doing the same, too.

"Got it,” Flint replied. “You want a classic, Champion-styled match, Then, we're both responsible trainers. Don't need a ref for this. Come on! Let's go!"

Without much more warning, he tossed a ball forward while I scrambled to make a choice. I only barely managed to toss the ball for my own selection an instant before his Pokémon appeared. Waiting to see his choice would technically be cheating, and I wanted to enter this battle as if I were battling in an official match.

Appearing on the field was a thin-limbed monkey with a mane of roaring flame. Across from it, the rotund rodent itself, Dedenne, flashed into existence.

"Ready to show off, Dedenne?" I asked my Pokémon.

Dedenne leaned down and grinned, his recently increased size even more apparent than it was before.

"Mach Punch!" Flint screamed.

I didn't even have the chance to curse out of surprise.

Battle starting right away—we didn’t have a ref for this, I really should have expected such a fast start—Infernape let loose a powerful jab into the air, the momentum of the attack carrying it forward. Dedenne only barely got up a Protect, but even with the damage completely blocked, the force of the impact smashed into his stomach, and he was knocked up into the air and sent flying over the field.

That’s happening even with his increased weight?!

The electric mouse sailed through the air, and I thought he’d be knocked out of bounds. However, Cynthia spoke up behind me, implementing the solution to this problem.

"Togekiss, can you get this?" she asked.

A short, melodic cry answered her question.

Taking to the air, Togekiss zoomed forward, moving faster than the flying Dedenne. A faint shimmer signified a screen, and the rat was caught by a rapidly-forming barrier on the edge of the field. The impact took the air out of him, but his exit was prevented. He began to fall, arms still clutching his body, and I saw the gleam of something appear in his eye.

Infernape hurried to rush beneath his position below.

"Use your momentum!” I yelled. Dedenne grinned.

Slamming down like the hammer of god, a Thunder tore out of Dedenne to slam into the ground, leaving a cracking crater in its wake. Infernape had set itself alight for a Flare Blitz, but that didn’t add to its speed. Instead, the power of the Thunder mixed with the flames of its body, combining the two and causing the air to be filled with sparks.

Despite the thunderous blast that had just struck Infernape, it only stumbled in response to the attack. When Dedenne neared the ground, he sent out a weaker Thunderbolt, but Infernape easily sidestepped it.

Then, Infernape was on him in a second. It slammed its shoulder right into his stomach, timing the impact of the move perfectly. Dedenne bounced off a barrier formed behind him by Togekiss, then the flames broke, and Infernape pulled back a fist.

"Fiery Close Combat!" Flint yelled.

"Discharge—react!" I ordered.

It was like something straight out of an anime, which said a lot, considering what world I was currently living in. Infernape’s fists were set on fire with Fire Punch, and they struck rapidly against Dedenne in a flurry of up close and personal, rapid-fire jabs—a Close Combat.

However, with every impact against Dedenne’s body, he let loose a burst of electricity. While the Discharges weren’t used at full power, he made Infernape pay for thinking it could attack him scot-free.

It helped that his Fairy Type let him resist the Fighting Type energy of the blows, too.

Countless punches struck his body, and countless, small, Discharges sparked out of Dedenne’s whiskers. By the time the Close Combat ended, Dedenne had been forced to use Endure just to withstand the attack, but Infernape was panting, both from the exertion of the move and from the Electric Type damage it took at Dedenne’s behalf.

Already exhausted, Dedenne landed on the floor, scurrying underneath the tall monkey’s legs. Thankfully, when Infernape tried to turn around, it winced.

It seemed that Dedenne had snuck a Nuzzle or two in between the Discharges.

"Paralysis, huh?" Flint said, rubbing his chin.

Dedenne made some distance, and he crunched down on the berry stored in his mouth. He let out a sigh of relief as the food he had stored with Cheek Pouch helped provide some healing to his wounds. He chewed and swallowed then glowed for Recycle. Meanwhile, static crackled around Infernape, its paralysis still keeping it in place, and then Dedenne was able to chew on his same berry again.

Infernape’s eyes turned red with rage at the sight of Dedenne being able to rest and heal so easily. It had to fight with its own body just to turn around, and I let out an impressed whistle at that.

We have the advantage. Just need one solid hit to finish it off.

"Dedenne—"

"Return, Infernape."

I felt an eye twitch. Honestly, it almost felt like Flint purposefully waited for me to speak before calling for his Pokémon back.

He grinned as he tapped his cheek, pretending to be lost in thought, and he eyed Dedenne with a certain playfulness in his eyes.

"An Electric Type? Paralysis... Good thing we have a counter for that. Lopunny, show 'em your stuff!"

Lining up with my expectations, Flint sent out a Pokémon that wasn't a Fire Type at all. A bipedal rabbit appeared on the field, its long legs and arms perfectly proportioned to allow for strong punches and kicks.

"Hold on, before we continue," I quickly said before he could order Lopunny to attack.

"Yeah?" Flint replied. He tapped a foot on the ground, impatient.

"Why use a Lopunny on your team? You’re a Fire Type specialist, right? I can understand Drifblim, since that Pokémon is like a hot air balloon, but I just can't wrap my mind around why you use a Lopunny and Steelix."

As I said that, a wide grin bloomed into Flint’s face, and the Lopunny on the field covered its own mouth as it giggled. Nearby, Cynthia let out a long, drawn out sigh as she rolled her eyes.

"Alright, so get this, right?” Flint started. “Fire Types are all about temperature, so, in other words, they’re all about setting the heat and maintaining it. Going off of that, back when I was still gathering up my teammates, I looked at that and thought to myself, 'Flint, what's the hottest—'"

"Flint," Cynthia interrupted, not leaving any room for him to continue. "Enough."

Flint let loose a hearty laugh, and the Lopunny on the field did the same.

"I'm kidding. I’m kidding!” Flint had to take a moment to calm his laughter down before he could speak once more. “Lopunny was a member of my team even before I chose to specialize in the Fire Type. But, don't look down on him just because he doesn’t align with my specialty. He has plenty of strength to back his position up. Return!" he yelled.

Flint wasn't calling to bring his Pokémon back to its ball, rather, he was having his Pokémon use the move called Return. Lopunny lunged forward, paws clenched into fists, eyes adamant on returning all the affection Flint had given it in its life to let loose a literal friendship-fueled attack that would crush the terrified-looking Dedenne.

A pair of fists slammed down, and the barely-dodged impact caused Dedenne to bounce even through his Endure. He tried to leap forward to rub against Lopunny’s fur with Nuzzle when he entered the air, but even with that electric charge, Lopunny was far too Limber to be able to be locked up with such a condition.

“Return, Dedenne,” I called out right when Lopunny’s fists began to blaze with heat.

The rabbit huffed as Dedenne disappeared into his fast ball before blowing out through its mouth in a pretend show of extinguishing its own Fire Punch.

Weighing my options, and seeing that this was likely Flint’s only non-Fire Type for this match, I sent out Ninetales, as this would be her best chance to contribute in this battle. If I had the choice, I would have substituted her out for another member of my team, but I only had four Pokémon on me, and I didn’t want to ask Flint to wait upwards of half an hour for me to make the exchange for a Pokémon still back home.

"Mislead it,” I ordered.

"Flame combat," Flint said to his Lopunny.

With Ninetales’s release, a snowstorm overtook the sky, and the battlefield became a sea of white.

At a point in its dead center, Lopunny ignited its fists once more, and the rabbit held them up to provide both lighting and heat. A small radius of weather around it weakened from the active fire, yet Lopunny itself didn’t seem bothered at all by the literal flames coming off of its fists.

Its eyes flicked about, watching, waiting for Ninetales to make her presence known. Her Snow Cloak ability helped keep her hidden, as, suffering a direct, Fire Type attack, even from a Normal Type, would be devastating to an Ice Type Pokémon like her.

Come on...

One of Lopunny’s ears twitched, and the Pokémon snapped its head to the side. A greyish beam shot out through the falling snow, a Confuse Ray intent on layering illusions over Lopunny’s senses.

However, the rabbit didn’t fall for such a move so easily, and to defend against the beam, it quite literally punched through the attack. Somehow, that prevented any effect from being placed on it, and it charged forward, blurring with Agility.

Shocked, Ninetales stumbled back, revealed by the light of Lopunny’s flaming fists. She gave up her attempts at hiding to form a glowing, Aurora Veil barrier, but Lopunny’s fist was already sailing forward, and its speed let it attack when the defenses were only half formed.

A punch slammed across Ninetales’s face, and Lopunny readied itself to unleash another.

“Blizzard!” I yelled.

The storm stilled under Ninetales’s control, and then she sent what she could gather Lopunny’s way.

Billowing, freezing winds turned the brown rabbit white as Lopunny didn’t bother to dodge. Its flaming fists slowed under the weight of the frost that crept up its fur even with the nearby source of heat. Ninetales poured everything into this move, intending to weaken Flint’s Pokémon now while she had the chance. But, even though Ninetales was so close to freezing over Lopunny, Flint revealed his gambit; he showed off why Lopunny didn’t bother to dodge.

“Mirror Coat!”

I felt my breath catch in my throat. A countering move after an attack that strong would be devastating.

Lopunny flashed with energy, absorbing all of the Type energy used in that Blizzard and enhancing it two-fold. It burst the attack back, a “flavorless” retaliation sent right back Ninetales’s way.

Aurora Veil didn’t help to resist the attack, the raw energy passing right through the defense. Ninetales was struck by the energies of her own move, and she wailed from the sheer force of the attack she took.

But...

And this was a very important “But.”

Ninetales held true. She stumbled, of course, but the strength of her own attack wasn’t enough to faint her. She heaved as if she was on the verge of fainting, of course, but Ninetales did not succumb.

“Ice Beam!”

“Blaze Kick!”

Frozen lightning impacted Lopunny’s chest in the same moment a flaming leg came down like a falling axe.

This combination of moves had two effects. The first was that Ninetales fainted. That was expected, but it wasn’t disappointing. She had performed well against a member of an Elite Four’s team.

As for Lopunny, however, Ice Beam finished what Blizzard started. The frost that formed on Lopunny’s body hardened and grew over the rest of its body. Even with Flint being a Fire Type expert, and even with Lopunny’s arms and legs giving off a fire that should have kept it moving, Ninetales’s mastery of the Ice Type was at such a high level that she caused the frost to freeze Lopunny solid, completely bypassing the sources of heat.

At that, both Flint and I returned our Pokémon, though Lopunny was still technically able to fight. Frozen, it’d take a bit for it to melt through its ice, but any member of my team would be able to take it out before it could thaw. He made the correct choice to retire the rabbit from the battle now.

“Man. That’s the second Pokémon you’ve basically taken out with a status condition. What’s next? A burn?” Flint laughed at his own joke.

I shrugged.

“Surprisingly, outside of Dedenne’s paralysis, status conditions don’t happen that often when fighting my team,” I explained. “Usually, Misty Terrain stops them, but we haven’t had a good reason to use that move just yet.”

Flint raised an eyebrow at my explanation, and he pulled the ball containing his next selection from his belt.

Both of us sent out our next Pokémon, and both of us spoke their names at the same time.

"Rapidash!” we shouted in unison.

The wide smile on Flint’s face returned.

“Yes! I was hoping for this to happen! Mirror match, let’s go!”

The pair of equine Pokémon appeared on the field looking nearly identical, as they were both variants of the same species. Flint’s Rapidash was a horned horse with tanned fur and a mane of fiery hair, whereas my Rapidash was a unicorn rather than a horned horse (there was a difference), and his fur was white instead of tan. As for his mane, it consisted of hair instead of fire, and that hair flowed in streaks of pastel colors.

Rapidash stood off against Rapidash. Flint’s Pokémon gave mine a snort. The two members of the same species began the battle by keeping to the edge in a trot, facing one another as they circled over the field.

"Sunny Day."

Both Flint and I blinked when we realized we had spoken in unison once again.

As for our orders, the move was performed in a similar way. Snow was still falling down around them, but each of them formed a ball of bright light at the tip of their horns. That small sphere grew into a much larger mass of flame that was sent into the sky above them. The clouds melted, the snow turned to steam, and the battle continued, now under two blazing suns rather than the white-tinted cover of clouds.

"Agility!" we both called out.

I felt an eye twitch once again as Flint let loose a laugh.

The two Rapidash, still circling, burst into a run, moving at the same speed as if they were stuck as opposite numbers of a clock. After a moment of brief tension, Flint and I finally issued differing commands. After all, when it came to their Types, Flint’s Rapidash was a Fire Type, whereas my Rapidash was part Psychic and Fairy Type.

"Fire Blast!"

"Psychic!"

A growing star of fire burst from Flint's Rapidash's horn, starting as a rolling mass of embers and growing into a ball of searing flame. My Rapidash countered with his ordered move, grabbing the mass telekinetically and slamming it into the floor, where it dissipated in a wave.

"Megahorn!"

"Wild Charge!"

Both Pokémon skidded over the dirt to change direction, now charging at one another instead of circling around the field. The Fire Type’s horn glowed a Bug Type green, and the Psychic Type's body crackled with Electric Type yellow.

They clashed. A horn stabbed into my Rapidash’s chest, whereas Flint’s Rapidash suffered from a full-body impact right into its side.

"Flare Blitz!"

"High Horsepower!"

A second full-body crash, this time coming from Flint’s Rapidash. It coated itself in flames and slammed its body into my Rapidash. He didn’t just take the attack, however. His hooves dug into the ground, and he used the impact to send waves of damaging earth around him before stomping down to continue the Ground Type assault.

After a moment, the two Pokémon backed off, panting, then they charged in once again.

"Psybeam!" I called out.

The attack was parried by a Smart Strike from the opposing Rapidash's horn.

"Stomp!" Flint replied.

This attack missed, the Pokémon uselessly slamming a hoof a foot to the side, deep into the ground.

Another exchange of moves resulted in the same relative equalness being maintained, and then both Rapidash backed off. They leapt back, putting their ability, Run Away, to use, and the reason for the presence of Sunny Day was made clear.

Both Pokémon used Morning Sun, healing themselves with the energy shining down over the field. What damage they took was shoved to the side as the faux-sun’s latent energy fueled and restored their vitality.

Then, the Rapidash returned to fighting, resuming their exchange of moves.

"Fire Spin!"

"Fairy Wind!"

"Fire Blast!"

"Psychic!"

Move after move was thrown at one Rapidash only for that Rapidash to counter. As it stood, neither Pokémon had an edge. Overall, the Pokémon were an equal match.

And isn’t that a nice compliment? Rapidash is standing up to Flint’s Rapidash, a Pokémon belonging to a member of the Elite Four. Not only that, but Flint’s Rapidash is a Fire Type boosted under the sun!

Even though my Rapidash was keeping up with Flint’s, simply keeping up wasn’t going to win the match. In order to pull off the victory, we needed something that would tilt the odds to our favor.

Across from us, I glanced at Flint, who was staring at the match, eyes shining with glee. He looked like he was enjoying this equal-measure battle, and the hot-headed Fire Type specialist seemed intent on keeping it going.

So, I risked it. Screw training, we’d been preparing for this battle for months. It might not have been the six-on-six, full match I expected, but I wanted to win.

"Rapidash!" I called out.

I saw his eyes flick to me briefly. I held up a hand to send a quiet message.

Stemming back to our days on the Contest circuit, I had developed a way to communicate with Rapidash via subtle shifts of my hand. We'd mostly forsaken that since it required a constant, monitoring effort on his part, which could distract him in battle, but we’ve also avoided using it because shouting out commands was an easy way to get a quick response.

But, here, when I called out his name and showed him my hand, he knew exactly what I was going for. A few quick twitches, a finger curled up, and Rapidash understood my code as I silently told him what to do.

After one last exchange, Rapidash’s horn glowed for Psychic, both Pokémon panting heavily and close to falling unconscious. Seeing that, Flint called for one last Fire Blast in an attempt to continue to push us towards exhaustion. However, my Rapidash didn’t grab the Fire Blast with Psychic this time. Instead, he stood still, and he braced himself.

The flames flew through the air. His opponent stumbled momentarily, stunned at the sudden shift in strategy, and then its world turned upside down.

Prepared, Rapidash withstood the attack. He was burned but still conscious. Previous uses of Morning Sun ensured he'd withstand the attack, but I could see him sway in place, and it was taking all his focus to not fall here. However, by taking the attack head-on, that meant he didn’t need to use Psychic as a defense. The other Rapidash’s legs were swept out from underneath it, and the lack of anything holding it up meant the horned horse fell onto its side.

"Stomp,” I said with a sigh of relief.

My order unintentionally came out cold, and it almost felt like I had called for an execution.

On the field, the pastel-colored Galarian Rapidash charged forward only to rear back, his front hooves held up high. Even if the Rapidash on the floor pulled off one last attack to knock him out, he’d still fall, and he’d crush his opponent with his full weight.

This match-up was over.

Though, as he began his descent, the executioner’s Stomp never landed. It wasn’t that the grounded Rapidash avoided it—no, it was that Flint withdrew his Pokémon from the field.

The ground shook from the force of the impact a split second later.

"I'm withdrawing Rapidash from the match," Flint said, breathing heavily as if almost panicked. He then let out a deep breath and rubbed his face, seemingly calming down. "Man, you don't really fool around, don't you Alex?"

"Depends on the team member. You should see Whimsicott in play," I replied.

Or Dedenne, for that matter, except Flint's Infernape had been overwhelming. He never got the chance to treat the battle as lightly as he would have liked, but, hey, his new mastery over the Electric Type had impressive results.

"Well." Flint’s grin returned. "Each of us only has one healthy Pokémon left. How about we send them out and determine the victor based on that match?"

"Why?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Afraid of losing to my team?"

Flint took one look at Rapidash's emotionless face, and he quickly shook his head.

"No—nah," he said, hurriedly regaining his casual composure. "It's just that if our Pokémon are so injured, it'd be good to let them rest, yeah?"

Ninetales had fainted, Rapidash was heavily injured, and Dedenne was almost out of the picture. As for Flint's team, Infernape had been paralyzed into uselessness, Lopunny was frozen over and liable to faint before it could thaw, and now his Rapidash had been withdrawn from the match out of fear of getting crushed.

I had to say, it was a big relief to see that we were holding our own, but I did dislike how we weren’t doing better. There were a lot of small things I noticed that we could improve—small things we could correct within the next week—but I still wanted to win.

Gardevoir was the last Pokémon I had left on my team. He was strong, but, in a way, he was at a disadvantage simply because he had joined up later than everyone else. I’d say that didn’t matter since he’d definitely put in the effort to catch up (and because he had Azumarill’s approval, for that matter), but this would be a deciding match against a member of the Elite Four to seal the battle.

Could he do it?

Of course he can. Who am I to doubt Gardevoir’s growth?

"Alright. You have a deal."

"Great! I know that—"

"Don't regret making one with a fae," I interrupted.

Flint’s expression leveled out as I sent out the last Pokémon on my team, and I enjoyed the carefully measured reaction he gave us in response to what I said.

(I ruined the tension a second later.)

"One moment," I said before either of us could call out a move. Flint didn’t get a chance to do anything but blink as I reached into my pack and found the item I was looking for.

Flinging it forward, the object sailed in the air, and Gardevoir reflexively grabbed it with telekinesis before it could hit the ground. He paused when he saw what it was, and his face gained a smug grin.

It was his umbrella, the Utility Umbrella he had bought all the way back during the Wallace Cup. Purchasing that had signified the moment where he truly joined our team—the moment in which he decided to become the strongest he could be alongside everyone else.

We had wanted to use it in the Conference, but it had never come up. The item was mostly used to help deflect attacks enhanced by certain weathers, but, we’d never really had a battle where he could put it to good use.

Until now.

After tossing back the Pixie Plate, an item of Legendary importance but not as important emotionally to us, Gardevoir held the umbrella with both hands and levitated it into the air. It hovered just to the side, above his head, not protecting him from the still-present Sunny Day but being positioned such that it could move forward as quickly as he wanted.

Flint watched that whole interaction with his mouth pressed together in a thin line. After a second of consideration, he did his best to casually toss forward the Pokéball containing the last member of his team.

"...Flareon," Flint said to name the Pokémon. When the Fire Type Eeveelution was released, the quadruped sent forth a growl.

Hm.

We actually had the recipe for an easy win, as Gardevoir’s Trace ability could let him copy Flareon’s Flash Fire, and that would render him immune to all of Flareon’s powerful, Fire Type moves. However, as much as an easy win would be nice, I didn’t toss forward that umbrella to give him an easy win.

Despite our wish to win, this was the perfect situation to push ourselves to a higher level of strength. This was a member of the Elite Four we were facing. Gardevoir deserved to have a tough match without any shortcuts.

(Plus, having the Flash Fire ability would make his Utility Umbrella redundant, and neither of us wanted that.)

Two Pokémon faced off on the field, and two Pokémon readied themselves to determine the match. Neither of us moved, waiting for the other to act first. The tension remained thick in the air, until—

“Are you going to begin?” Cynthia asked.

That’s when we finally started.

“Double Team!”

“Swift!”

Gardevoir flashed and copied himself dozens of times over, encircling the Flareon on the field. The Fire Type looked around before swishing its tail and releasing a constant stream of stars in the air.

The stars raised up above its head before firing down like meteorites heading towards the earth. As a homing move, the Swift sailed towards the one real Gardevoir between all of the illusions, and, when he Teleported away, the stars changed directions.

Swift served more as a way to track him down than a direct attack, as Flareon gave chase after the teleporting Psychic Type. Gardevoir tried his best to mislead Flareon by combining Light Screen and Double Team, creating clones in which the Swift broke against, but Flareon saw through that trick when other, newly created stars twisted in the air to move elsewhere.

“Fire Spin!”

Flint called that out when Flareon got close.

Gardevoir brought his Utility Umbrella down and to his side, rotating it to serve as an obstruction that reduced the speed of the spin. However, his Double Team illusion still fell apart in the face of the spinning embers, and Flareon leaped forward with its fangs bared, ready to use Bite as an attack.

“Psychic!”

Telekinetically, Flareon was plucked out of the air, but the Dark Type energy of its attack soon freed it from Gardevoir’s grip. He tried to bring up a Reflect, but the resumed momentum of it in the air carried it forward before he could, and it landed on the ground just a foot away before slamming forward with Quick Attack into his chest.

“Fire Fang!”

“Scream into Moonblast!”

Flareon locked down a Fire Fang locked onto Gardevoir’s arms, burning him and unfortunately being immune to the reflected burn from Synchronize. Gardevoir let out a yell of pain in response, and that yell soon started to vibrate through the air in waves of pink.

At first, it didn’t seem like it was any move, but the Fairy Type enhancement was soon made clear. The Disarming Voice forced Flareon to press its ears against its head, and it didn’t hear Flint’s orders to get away from a forming Moonblast as a result.

This attack wasn’t launched forward. No, Gardevoir used his free hand to form the sphere and press it into Flareon’s side. It resisted the attack, but it still suffered from inflicted pain, which finally caused the Pokémon to let go.

Backing off, Flareon moved to make some distance, panting to not suffer any more damage from Gardevoir’s attacks. Gardevoir did the same, but instead of pausing to eye his foe warily, he used the momentary delay to splash a reinvigorating Life Dew over his head.

“Shadow Ball.”

“Shadow Ball!”

In a mirror of what happened in the Rapidash battle, both our Pokémon fired off balls of pure Ghost Type energy as an attack. The two spheres collided and burst, canceling one another out, and the two Pokémon waited before doing anything else.

“Sunny Day,” Flint said.

Flareon refreshed the weather, and Gardevoir used this opportunity to heal himself with Life Dew once again. I kept a close eye on the field to see why, exactly, Flint had refreshed the weather when he knew Gardevoir’s Utility Umbrella would mean it wouldn’t help.

“Now, Fire Blast,” he said to follow his previous command.

Flames in the shape of a star left Flareon’s mouth, but Gardevoir held his umbrella forward to minimize the damage of the attack. Flareon tensed as if it intended to lunge with his vision hindered, but Gardevoir was a Psychic Type, and he teleported back several feet when he detected Flareon preparing to jump.

Flint hummed.

“Flamethrower,” he said next.

More fire left Flareon’s mouth. It was released as a constant stream.

“Keep it up.”

The Utility Umbrella served as a shield that protected Gardevoir from the attack, but Flamethrower continued regardless. Stray embers and the heat of the attack made it clear the move was still getting to him. Flint was using the weather to not enhance Flareon’s attack, but to simply supply it with the energy to use the Flamethrower for a long period of time.

Now, how do we win the match?

As Flareon continued its Flamethrower, pausing to breathe in a far too brief period of time for Gardevoir to react, my eyes narrowed. For that matter, Flint’s eyes did too. It was obvious to both of us that we were trying to find an edge to push the match in our favor. Neither of us wanted to lose. We both wanted to win.

I ended up coming to an unfortunate conclusion.

Damn. Is there really no other way?

I looked closer to the field, and I soon realized one flaw in Gardevoir’s currently known moves.

He didn’t have any proper finishers.

Sure, Psychic was a powerful attack, and, sure, Stored Power was great if he could get off a Calm Mind or two. But, against an opponent capable of keeping him pinned down like this, without an opportunity to enhance himself, Stored Power was useless.

The rest of my team had strong moves they could use to finish off their opponents. Ninetales had Blizzard and Sheer Cold, Florges had Solar Beam and Petal Dance, Azumarill had practically any one of her attacks, and then Altaria had Hyper Beam, Draco Meteor, and, recently learned, Hurricane.

As for Gardevoir, this was a major gap in his learned moves that I never realized until this match. He only had one, powerful attack that he could use to take out an injured foe.

I let out a sigh.

“Misty Terrain.”

Flint’s eyes widened.

“Flareon! They’re doing it! Get ready, just like we planned!”

Despite Flint predicting what we were doing next, it didn’t really matter.

The thing about Misty Explosion was that once Gardevoir put his mind to it, there was really no way to avoid it. Sure, Protect could prevent the damage of a move, but if your opponent knew you were going to Protect, it didn’t get much use. The attack came out quickly at the discretion of its user. Gardevoir determined its timing, not his opponent.

Gardevoir flashed—Flareon’s Flamethrower stopped hitting his umbrella. He appeared next to the Fire Type right when it lunged for a Flare Blitz.

He avoided that attack by reappearing behind it, and then two more attempts went wide as well. Flareon then tried to brace itself to ready a Protect, but all that meant was that both Pokémon stood there, doing nothing and waiting.

“Psychic,” I said, just to have the match continue with something.

Flareon finally let itself use Protect, stopping the damage the move would have inflicted.

Though Gardevoir had barely attacked before this, Flareon had expended a lot of energy. Attempting to maintain Protect didn’t help, and by the time the protective move faded, Gardevoir was ready to burst.

He exploded, releasing all the stored energy he had within him. If anything, doing nothing but readying a Protect out of fear of Misty Explosion was a mistake, because doing nothing actually gave Gardevoir time to set up a Calm Mind. I supposed I could have changed my plans at the last minute and called for a Stored Power instead, but we had already set a strategy, and Gardevoir intended to go through with it.

A burst of pink, and then both Pokémon fell to the ground. Flareon might have resisted the attack, but with a move that powerful, it simply couldn’t stay up.

A moment passed. Both remaining trainers looked over the field.

"A tie, then," Flint said, actually sounding upset.

In response, I gave him a shrug, and I did my best to not look like I agreed.

While this wasn’t a victory, it wasn’t a loss, and I was pretty confident I would have won, otherwise. Dedenne and Rapidash could have finished off the hindered Infernape and Lopunny if pressed, and it was only Flint’s insistence for a final match showdown that resulted in this result.

“Ugh!” Flint cried out. “I thought we’d win that!”

"Hey. You were the one to make the deal,” I replied.

At that, Cynthia chuckled, reminding us she was here and causing us to turn her way.

"Alex has a point," she said. "Making that deal in the end was not in your favor, Flint. Infernape, while unlikely to move, could have crippled Gardevoir's battle effectiveness with Taunt. By becoming intimidated by Rapidash's Stomp, you put yourself in a worse position, and that, in the end, cost you the battle."

I sent Cynthia a look.

You really think Gardevoir would be crippled in battle without the use of Teleport and Double Team, huh?

I didn't correct that assumption. It could remain a mistake that could be in my advantage until we eventually fought. She still stood above Flint, and it was her that was my true objective in just under two weeks.

With the match over, both Flint and I returned our Pokémon to rest, and he let out a sigh.

“Good match, anyway,” he said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been pushed like that.”

He regained his grin as he sauntered over and held out his hand. I gladly shook it while Cynthia looked on, amused.

Then, unexpectedly, he used my hand to pull me in close, whispering in my ear.

“Check your email later tonight. Now that I know you have the strength, you better give Cynthia the fight of her life, got it? I’ll send you tips about fighting her based on what I know. Don’t let me down. I’ll be placing a bet in your favor.”

“Wait, don’t—”

Flint already started to walk off before I could say anything else. I couldn’t even begin to state how bad of an idea placing a bet on me was. Cynthia was like a Pokémon Conference—your goal wasn’t to win, your goal was to see how far you could get. I wanted to be able to faint at least three of her Pokémon, but, if I spent the next week training...

Maybe if I’m clever, I might be able to reach her fifth.

“I need to head out too, Alex. Thanks for letting me watch this match,” Cynthia said.

“Oh. Yeah. You’re welcome, I suppose,” I said, cringing slightly.

At least I didn’t reveal too much of how my team had developed recently. Cynthia might have learned some information about my team from this, but I didn’t think she figured out anything that important.

Flint headed off, and Cynthia left, too. When they were gone, all I had left were the Pokémon that had been out before, and Togetic returned to my side to hang off my shoulder, demonstrating her rapid acclimation to having a set of wings.

“How are you feeling, girl?”

The newly evolved Pokémon gave me a short cheer.

Togetic would evolve soon, but we’d wait a while, as per Cynthia’s advice. For now, before then, we had maybe two weeks to prepare for our match, which was important, as the Champion of Sinnoh herself would undoubtedly be a tough battle. It weighed on me like how Togetic was weighing on my shoulder, but, still, I felt that with the right preparations, my team could get decently far.