Chapter 21: 83-86

Chapter 21: 83-86

The New Normal – 5-2 – Political Sparring

Unfortunately, politics rests for no one. And the day after my meeting with the Waterflower sisters I found myself at the Indigo Plateau sitting in and listening to one of the committee meetings.

I guess I shouldn't be complaining that hard, as it was at least my proposal that they were currently discussing. And, considering the current mood of the members, it really looked like my proposal to reduce the number of badges was going to be passed. At least in Indigo.

"...While I am in full agreement that it would be beneficial to all parties that the number of badges required to travel and capture Pokémon from a different region from within Indigo should be reduced from 4 to 2, I am hesitant to approve of such a reduction for trainers travelling to and from Hoenn." One of the Committee members stated.

He continued, "These trainers, when on foreign soil, are representing the Indigo League through their behaviours and actions, and I believe that we should ensure that these trainers are at least up to a certain standard before we allow them to be sent off like this."

Many people nodded their heads at his words, which I too found was quite reasonable. It was a long shot for me to encourage more freedom of movement between Indigo and Hoenn, especially considering our recently deteriorated relationship, but I was happy enough with just lowering the restrictions for trainers when within Indigo.

Besides, this still worked towards my goal of creating a more united Indigo, so I considered this a win regardless.

I began zoning out as the political back-and-forth and posturing continued on for several more minutes, choosing instead to turn my attention to the other members of the Elite Four. That proved to be a far more interesting sight.

Agatha looked like she was about to fall asleep on the spot, with her face twisted with open regret of having attend this meeting in the first place. Perhaps if it was not for our agreement, she might not even have showed up at all! Lance was doing no better, despite him actually having a vote, and I could tell that his boredom was slowly growing as it looked like he just wanted to end this discussion as soon as possible.

Will and Walker were a story in opposites. Will actually looked interested, the only one out of the Elite Four to do so, and he seemed to be listening carefully to the arguments given by the other committee members. On the other hand, Walker while pretending to be interested, actually had a blank look on his face.

Unlike Agatha and Lance, his lack of attention likely did not stem from boredom, but rather it was probably due to his upcoming battle against Lorelei in a few days' time. Understandably, with his Elite Four position on the line, Walker had other things to worry about. I wondered how high he evaluated Lorelei's battling capabilities, and if he was confident about his chances of winning.

Out of respect for his previous apology, I had the tact to not ask him.

Eventually, the committee members finished their discussion and Lance stood up and finally announced that it was time for the Elite Four to give their opinions on the matter if we so wished. Since this was my proposal, I had to actually speak up and reaffirm my position. Agatha did the same, supporting me as per our agreement.

I reiterated my hopes that this would be a step towards properly uniting our two regions, and that we were finally setting aside our old grievances in favour of a brighter and more cooperative future. Agatha followed on from this and gave her support to my statement.

Will also took the opportunity to establish his political position within the Elite Four, and just like he brought up in his swearing-in ceremony, he stated how supportive he was of this reduction and how he hopes that with the greater influx of trainers between the two regions, he hopes that this would open the door to more 'welcoming' policies for businesses and foreign investment within Indigo.

With our speeches done, Lance began the vote count, with him in support of the reduction as per our previous discussion. Looking around, even without needing to count, it was obvious that the proposal was going to pass.

After Charles Goodshow went around and properly tallied up the votes, Lance spoke up once again.

"...and the committee has chosen. The proposal to reduce the number of badges required for trainers to travel and capture Pokémon from outside their originating region is to be reduced from 4 to 2 within Indigo. This proposal will be put into place within the following weeks. No changes will be made to the number of badges required for trainers to travel and capture Pokémon to and from Hoenn."

A polite round of applause broke out from his statement, and Lance eventually wrapped up the meeting with people eventually leaving. Lance stopped the Elite Four before we could do the same.

"Can the Elite Four please meet me in my office? I would like to speak to you all before you leave." We all nodded at this, and we all made our way to his personal offices at the top of the League building.

"Huh. It's a strange feeling to not see statutes of Ice Pokémon everywhere." Walker commented as we walked into Lance's office. True enough, it was filled to the brim with symbols and statues depicting Dragons. As expected of a Blackthorn.

"Can't let them forget who's in charge." Agatha mocked, "Men and their needs to always show off their egos. I hope you're not like this when you grow up, John."

I shrugged, "I wouldn't know. I still live with my parents after all. I don't really see the need for all this décor."

"You still live with your parents?" Will asked, his face etched with surprise. "Why? Why would you do that to yourself? As a member of the Elite Four, no less."

I turned to him in confusion, "Why wouldn't I? I like living near my parents, and they have a big enough training field to train my Pokémon. Why would I need my own house?"

Will looked like I had just slapped him in the face, but Lance spoke up before he could respond.

"Right, leave your conversation for later. I don't have much time until my next appointment, and I purposely scheduled this meeting just so that I could listen to the opinions of my Elite Four." We quieted down and nodded, "So, for the next proposal that the committee would debate about, do you have any suggestions that you would like to recommend to me?"

Of course, Lance knew, and agreed with, my next proposal about setting up more contest halls in Cerulean, but we still had to pretend that I was just presenting my idea to him so that our 'underhanded collusion' would remain undiscovered.

"Yes, Lance, I actually had the idea to set up a few contest halls..." I proposed, explaining for the benefit of the others my ideas about wanting to set up new contest halls in Cerulean and how that would benefit and improve our Indigo-Hoenn relations.

Lance expectedly agreed with my proposal and said that he would bring it up. What WAS surprising was that Will did the same.

"I'm in full agreement with John here. I think that this would be a great opportunity for my frie-, I mean, other businessmen to get involved into the creation of these contest halls. I think that this also be an encouraging sight for any foreign businessmen, whether they are from Hoenn or from the newly discovered region of Sinnoh, that Indigo is willing to adapt to their culture and their business. Opens up many business opportunities for the future." Will described.

"Is there a need to set up everything in Cerulean, though? Surely, we could develop these contest halls elsewhere. Perhaps in Johto?" Will added curiously, and I knew I had to speak up to defend my proposed location.

"Cerulean is well-known already to be the cultural center of Kanto. While Celadon can boast a larger population, it is far more of a commercial city than a cultural one. I think it's best if we set up these new contest halls in a city that is already going to be receptive to such an idea." I argued.

Will looked at me consideringly, his eyes flashing with interest and curiosity as he pondered my words. A hint of understanding flashed past his eyes, and his mouth widened into a knowing smirk.

"I see...well, I can certainly approve of such ideas, so long as these contest halls are going to be receptive to businessmen and investment." He said, "I'm sure such a large undertaking will generate plenty of very profitable opportunities, right?" In other words, Will was saying that if I wanted his support for the contest halls to be built in Cerulean, he wanted opportunities for his business 'friends' to invest into Cerulean City. Preferably with favourable deals.

I gave him a calm smile, "I'm sure there will be. Although I can't guarantee anything at the moment, I will hopefully be able to arrange things with the mayor of Cerulean."

"Perfect. Then I'm sure that your proposal will be passed with no problems." Will smiled back, our eyes met another as we both silently agreed to the deal. Inwardly, I was confident that, with Will's cooperation tentatively secured, the proposal would pass as per my expectations with no problems.

Agatha was on board, and Walker currently didn't have much influence to his name. And he was probably too distracted at the moment to even worry about these political matters.

"Well, I'm glad that's sorted." Lance interrupted, "If that's all, then I think I've taken up enough of your time already. If there's nothing else, you're free to leave."

With a quick by-your-leave, Walker quickly left. Agatha followed slowly behind him, and I was about to join her when Will tapped me on the shoulder.

"Elite John, would you care for a quick spar?" He asked me, his eyes filled with challenge. "You know, I don't think I've ever lost more than a few matches ever since I won the Indigo Conference last year, and I would really like to test out some of my newer acquisitions against some of your Pokémon. How about it, want to challenge yourself against me?" A hint of superiority leaking out of his tone.

My eyes twitched at his words; I felt condescended once again, even though I knew that he meant no harm. Still, inwardly vowing to knock him down a peg, I pretended to shrug nonchalantly at his proposal. "Sure, if you want to challenge yourself, who am I to stop you?" Also, I knew that this battle was a great way to test out Will's strength and to shake some of my rust off; it has been a while since my last battle against Drake.

However, my main motivation was to just to wipe that annoying smirk off his face.

"Excellent." His grin turned feral, "I can't wait to show off my talents. Come, let's make our way to the training field. Champion Lance, would you like to join us?"

Lance's eyes gleamed with interest, and after a moment of hesitation, he pulled himself out of his chair and accompanied us, saying that the meeting could wait. Considering the huge grin that he had, I felt that he just wanted an excuse to avoid the paperwork or that meeting of his. Not that I blamed him.

We took the elevator down to the basements, where the reserved training fields were located. Obviously, we were able to just walk right in without needing to occupy it.

"So, how do you want to do this?" I ask Will as we arrived.

"Hmm...let's make it more interesting. Let's do a quick double battle. 2v2. No switches. What do you think?" He suggested, to which I agreed.

We informed Lance of our decision, who agreed to referee for us, and took our places opposite each other on the field. Unlike Will, who had probably planned for such a scenario and had likely made battle plans already for our match, I barely had a minute to come up with something. Oh well, if all else fails, there was always a tried-and-true strategy that I could use.

I stared down at Will, who had a smug glint in his eye. As if he was about to win something big. Realizing his plan to use me as a steppingstone, my annoyance flared, and I carefully schooled my expression to not give anything away.

"Trainers, are you ready?!" Lance called out, and I grabbed both of my chosen Premier Balls as I nodded alongside Will. My plan already in place.

Lance counted down for us, "Three...two...one...BEGIN!"

"Klee and Klaus, become the wall!"

"Espeon and Gardevoir, show the world your majesty!"

Klaus and Klee emerged from their Premier Balls and faced off against Will's Espeon and Gardevoir. The first thing I noticed was just how immaculately groomed and majestic his Pokémon looked. Though behind that beauty was a font of strength that identified them as Elite Pokémon in their own right.

But I was going to make Will regret challenging me.

"Klee, go on the defense and Shadow Ball!" "Klaus, set up with Agility!"

"Blast them down with Psychic! Show off your power!"

With impressive reaction speeds, both of Will's Pokémon fired off powerful blasts of Psychic that would have knocked back a lesser foe. Unfortunately for Will, Klee stepped up in front of Klaus and shrugged off those blasts like they were nothing, hardly even flinching from the miniscule damage inflicted, while firing off her own Shadow Balls that Will's Pokémon nimbly dodged past.

I smirked at Will. Klee could devour Special Attacks like that endlessly.

In the meanwhile, Klaus, who was snugly hiding behind Klee and using her as a Pokémon-shield against the attacks, had used the space created to set up an Agility.

As soon as I saw the signature pink glow of the Agility fade from Klaus, I went on the offensive.

"Klaus, Megahorn the Espeon!" "Klee, cover Klaus with a Light Screen!"

Klaus shot out from behind Klee, abandoning his cover and charging straight towards Espeon using his boosted speed. A small shimmer of light formed in front of Klaus as he charged, forming a protective shield against opposing Special Attacks.

Will grimaced as he realized what my plan was, and he quickly barked out new orders.

"Espeon, Reflect and shield the two of you!" "Gardevoir, Focus Blast and blast that interloper back!"

Another shield of light flickered into existence in front of both of Will's Pokémon, while Gardevoir started firing off volleys of Focus Blasts against Klaus. But Klaus continued forward, undeterred by the incoming fire of Focus Blasts, fully trusting in the Light Screen that Klee formed to protect him from the brunt of the damage.

That faith was quickly tested as the Focus Blasts collided into the Light Screen, but they failed to halt Klaus' charge as a majority of the impact force was absorbed.

"Klaus, continue your charge!" "Klee, Helping Hand on Klaus! Boost him!"

"Gardevoir, switch to Will-O-Wisp and burn the Wyrdeer!" "Espeon, Brace and Protect!"

Small wisps of flames formed in front of Gardevoir in a circle, before they suddenly darted forwards and landed on the charging Klaus. The flames quickly spread and danced across his body, burning Klaus right before his Helping Hand boosted Megahorn crashed into Espeon's Protect shield.

The shield flickered as the force of the impact coursed through it, but it stood strong with the help of the additional absorption from the Reflect. Additionally, the burn inflicted on Klaus cut his attack just in time to save Espeon from the attack.

But at such close distance, it made it very difficult for Espeon to dodge Klaus' follow up move.

"Klaus, Thunder Wave the Espeon!" "Klee, Heal Bell and Shadow Ball the Gardevoir! Suppress it!"

A quick burst of electricity shot towards Espeon from Klaus, rapidly paralysing Will's Espeon as I hoped. I had been briefly worried about Espeon having Magic Bounce, which would have reflected back my Thunder Wave, but it looks like I bet correctly that Will might not have trained his Espeon to have that ability.

Of course, Espeon's Synchronize ability would have normally reflected the paralysis back at Klaus, but both it and the burn were soon purged by the rejuvenating chimes of Klee's Heal Bell.

Gardevoir wanted to come and help, but it was distracted by having to dodge the supereffective volley of Shadow Balls shot out by Klee.

This was an ideal position for me to be in. With Gardevoir slowly being cut off from assisting Espeon due to Klee's constant spam of Shadow Balls, I was free to overwhelm Espeon with Klaus. Especially with the paralysis, it was only a matter of time before the battle became a 2v1. And Will knew it.

But it seems like Will still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

"Gardevoir, Teleport and Helping Hand!" "Espeon, wait for the Helping Hand and Hyper Voice! Knock the Wyrdeer back!"

"Klaus, Protect!" "Klee, Softboiled and heal yourself!"

With a near-instant flash of pink light, his Gardevoir suddenly Teleported and reappeared next to Espeon, clapping its hands together to power up Espeon's Hyper Voice. With the boost from the Helping Hand, Espeon's Hyper Voice blasted back Klaus, who was unable to generate a Protect shield in time due to the surprise of the attack.

Klaus flew backwards and nearly slammed into the walls of the arena. That was far more damage than I was expecting, and Klaus struggled to pull himself back up. More importantly for Will, this also put both of his Pokémon together again, where they were able to fight together.

I frowned. If I was going to win this battle, I was going to need to separate the two once again and defeat them piece-meal.

I knew that, unlike my battle against Drake, I didn't have an advantage in support and utility moves. Will likely matched me one-for-one in terms of supportive moves, which was expected since he was a Psychic specialist. I didn't dare underestimate Will and think that I could simply outsmart him in a battle of wits.

Thus, I was just going to play to my strengths.

"Klee, Seismic Toss the Espeon! Get close to them!" "Klaus, run around and fire off Shadow Balls!"

"NO! Stop that Blissey at once! Both of you, Psychic it down!"

Will quickly caught on to what I was doing and frantically tried to knock down my Blissey, who had now begun her, admittedly rather slow, charge towards his two Pokémon. But with Klaus distracting them with his own barrage of Shadow Balls, the two weren't able to focus their attention at bringing down Klee and stopping her assault.

It was a brainless strategy, relying entirely on Klee's natural bulk to tank through the attacks. But it was working. Maybe I should have done this from the start.

And now Will's Pokémon were staring down an unstoppable pink and smiling juggernaut that met all of his attacks with the same unfazed expression. It was almost a comical sight to see the ever friendly and cute Klee terrify an Elite trainer like Will as she continued shouldering past his attacks like they were nothing. The blasts of Psychic continually blasting into her non-stop, but they all failed to halt her charge.

"Gardevoir, switch to Focus Blasts! You have to stop it!"

With ramping panic, Will ordered Gardevoir to swap to the supereffective, yet more demanding, Focus Blasts to hopefully bring down the incoming Blissey. But in his state of panic, he forgot about Klaus, and I quickly pounced onto that opportunity.

"Megahorn, Klaus! From the back!"

While Gardevoir and Espeon were too busy trying to bring down my charging Klee, Klaus pivoted on the spot and suddenly charged in from behind, forming a pseudo-pincer attack with Klee to surround Will's Pokémon.

Realizing the desperate situation that he was in, Will was forced to go on the defensive.

"Gardevoir, Teleport away!" "Espeon, Protect and Endure!"

Gardevoir quickly blinked out and away from both of my Pokémon's strike zones, while Espeon once again began to brace and formed a Protect shield to withstand the incoming attacks. Will was clearly hoping that moving to pure defense would allow Espeon to Endure past both attacks and give Gardevoir the opportunity to counterattack.

Alas, it was an overly optimistic dream.

Klaus slammed into the Protect shield at full force, no longer having a Burn to cut his attack in half. This time, the shield fractured as it failed to block the entire force of the attack, causing Espeon to be exposed to the incoming Megahorn as Klaus brutally collided into it.

Espeon let out a cry of pain and was sent skidding across the ground from the super-effective move, right into the waiting arms of Klee, who expertly picked up the disoriented Espeon and jumped up into the air with surprising mobility, before slamming Espeon powerfully back into the ground in a well-practiced Seismic Toss.

Espeon whimpered painfully on the ground as it tried to recover from the attack.

To Will's credit, Espeon still wasn't out of the fight just yet, but the situation had turned from bad to worse for Will. He had a paralyzed Espeon with low health that was on the verge of fainting, and he had a Gardevoir that, while healthy and still capable of fighting, wouldn't be able to stand up against both of my Pokémon alone.

Sure, he had a lot of regeneration options available to him, but my next actions quickly put a stop to any of those hopes.

"Klaus, charge at Gardevoir with another Megahorn!" "Klee, don't let up on the Espeon and finish it with another Seismic Toss!"

"Gardevoir, keep Teleporting and Icy Wind! You have to slow it down!" "Espeon, Teleport and Morning Sun!"

Klaus immediately began a renewed assault as he began dashing towards Gardevoir, while Klee quickly pounced on top of the helpless Espeon, too injured from its wounds to Teleport in time, and leapt into the air with it before crashing down with it once again as they both slammed powerfully into the ground.

Klee may be the most motherly and kind of all my Pokémon, but she was as good of a fighter as the rest of them. And, in the end, the repeated Seismic Toss proved too much for the Espeon, and it was knocked out of the fight before it could restore its health.

With that, the battle became a 2v1 and I was confident that my victory was assured. Gardevoir, despite all of its mobility afforded by its Teleports, was not strong enough to overwhelm both of my Pokémon and would eventually be worn down.

Admittedly, I thought that Will had the right idea in mind. His plan was to have his Gardevoir repeatedly Teleport away from Klaus to prevent him from landing a decisive Megahorn, all while firing off Icy Winds in hopes of slowing down Klaus enough so that he could no longer continue charging towards her.

I realized that I could easily end the match by just having Klee charge once again into Gardevoir, and the combination of both of my Pokémon would definitely prove too much for Will's remaining Pokémon. However, I instead realized that this was a perfect opportunity to gauge Will's level of training.

With my mind made up, I decided to 'play with my food'.

"Klaus, swap to Shadow Ball!" "Klee, Softboiled to heal yourself then Shadow Ball as well!"

With both of my Pokémon firing off their own intersecting barrages of Shadow Balls, I was looking to push Gardevoir to its limits to see how much it could dodge with its Teleport, and how far its stamina went. I recognized that Gardevoir was not Will's strongest Pokémon, but I wanted to see how far it was able to go.

In a way, this was both equal parts revenge and research. Revenge, because his showing off rubbed me the wrong way, even if it was petty of me. Research, because I wanted to use this opportunity to learn more about Will. He was a showboat, that much was obvious, but I was curious to see if he could back up his words.

Returning to the battle, I watched intently as Gardevoir made an admirable effort at dodging the sweeping volley of Shadow Balls with its Teleports. To Will's credit, it was probably the most impressive display of Psychic skill that I had ever witnessed. Gardevoir's Teleporting barely had any charge-up time and didn't seem to disorient Gardevoir at all even while it blinked rapidly around the battlefield.

Gardevoir was never in more than one place for more than a second before suddenly reappearing elsewhere. It was practically impossible to pin down.

However, I noticed that Gardevoir seemed to struggle to form attacks in time to counterattack during the brief openings afforded by its Teleports. Perhaps Will hadn't been properly training his Pokémon under high pressure scenarios?

Either way, even with Gardevoir's impressive showing, it inevitably ran out of Psychic stamina and was unable to keep up its series of Teleports, quickly succumbing to the assault of Shadow Balls and quickly being knocked out.

Huh, was it me or did that Gardevoir seem quite frail? Was that another potential weakness? Something to make a note of later.

"ANNND...the fight is over. John wins!" Lance called out as he began to approach us with a pleased grin. "That was a great fight from the two of you. This was way better than sitting through yet another meeting."

We both withdrew our Pokémon and offered him our thanks, though Will's was far more subdued. Lance saw this and patted him on the shoulder, "Chin up, Will. Don't you remember what Walker said? You're in the big leagues now, you can't expect yourself to be as dominant as you were once before. Still, that was a great performance. Good job."

With his piece said, Lance waved the both of us goodbye as he rushed back to his office to attend his abandoned appointments. I decided that there was no need to rub salt on the wound and extended a hand towards Will.

"That was a good fight. Congratulations once again for making it into the Elite Four." I praised. Will paused as he looked at my hand for a bit, before letting out a deep breath as he shook my hand.

"The both of you make good observations." Lance spoke up placatingly, "I myself also checked up on Lorelei as well after her announcement, and I've been fairly impressed with her battles. She is nowhere near as strong as Pryce, but she doesn't seem to make the same mistakes that he did."

"Hah! Yes, the girl's too young to have a stick up her backside like her uncle." Agatha chuckled, "Maybe that would be enough for her to overcome Walker."

Before she could say anything more, the announcer began his opening speech in his usual booming voice.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME ONCE AGAIN TO ANOTHER FANTASTIC OCCASION FOR EVERYONE IN INDIGO!! NOT LONG AFTER CHAMPION LANCE'S ASCENSION, WE HAVE A NEW CHALLENGE FOR THE ELITE FOUR!! AND IT IS A GREAT HONOUR TO ONCE AGAIN BE YOUR HOST FOR TODAY'S EVENT!"

I thanked Arceus again that I didn't need to be in the regular stands as the crowd began loudly cheering. I did not want to become prematurely deaf. And I felt bad for Karen for having to endure it.

"NOW PLEASE WELCOME TODAY'S DEFENDING MEMBER OF THE ELITE FOUR, THE ACE OF FLYING TYPES, ELITE WALKER!!" Despite his relatively poor reputation amongst the Elite Four, Walker still got a huge roaring cheer as he made his way into the arena. As the cameras got closer, it was evident that he was filled with stress and nervous energy. But upon closer inspection, his eyes were focused and ready, and his head held high. He might be walking to his defeat, but he would not simply fold over.

"AND ON THE OTHER SIDE, PLEASE WELCOME TODAY'S CHALLENGER, THE NIECE OF THE PREVIOUS CHAMPION, GYM LEADER LORELEI!!" Unlike Walker, my eyes widened with surprise as the only reception that Lorelei got as she entered the stage was a stifling and condemning silence, with only sporadic clap from a few spectators. I thought I heard the occasional boo from the crowd as well.

The cameras quickly snapped to Lorelei to take in her reaction, but all they got was stoic acceptance and determination, as if she had anticipated and accepted her frosty reception.

"The girl's got spunk, that's for sure." Agatha commented as she stared at Lorelei, "She's definitely not the fan favourite between her and Walker. And I didn't think that was a sentence I would ever say."

"Well, I think she deserves the cold reception she got." Will said, crossing his arms, "The way she exploited her undeserved position as a Gym Leader to challenge the Elite Four without winning the Indigo Conference is disgraceful!" He turned to me, "Don't you agree, John? After all, you worked hard to win the Indigo Conference."

I shrugged, "Eh. I had time to think about it when I heard that she was making the challenge. Honestly, I'm indifferent. If she wins against Walker in this match, then I'd support her entry into the Elite Four. I'm fairly sure that this is something that was carefully weighed and planned by her, so she must have decided that the alternative was worse."

"Fully agreed." Lance added, causing Will to frown, "I was against her appointment as the Gym Leader of Mahogany because of how nepotistic it was. But, if she wins against Walker in a fair challenge like this, then who am I to hold her back? If she wins, then she has proven her strength, and thus deserves her position. Whether she can keep it though...that's another matter entirely."

The announcer's voice boomed out before Lance could say anything more. "AND TODAY'S MATCH WILL BE A SIX-ON-SIX BATTLE, THREE SWITCHES ALLOWED. STANDARD RULES, WITH NO COMMERCIAL BREAKS!"

"NOW LET'S START THE BATTLE!! COUNT DOWN WITH ME!!" I heard many of the crowd roaring in support of Walker. Personally, I had no idea who was more likely to win.

"THREE!" Both trainers looked ready. Walker had swallowed his nervousness, while Lorelei looked as stiff as a statue.

"TWO!" Their eyes both narrowed into glares, but Lorelei's was far more intense. It was as if she was putting her hopes and dreams into this match and would knock over anything in her way.

"ONE!" They both released their Pokémon.

A Pidgeot and a Cloyster emerged onto the field. At first glance, both appeared to be highly trained Pokémon that were obviously at the Elite level but compared to the Pokémon used by Pryce and Lance...they were honestly a little underwhelming. They lacked the presence of the Champions' Pokémon.

Regardless, it seemed like Lorelei sought to prove my thoughts wrong as she immediately started off the battle.

"Icicle Spear, Cloyster!"

"Quick Attack and make some distance, Pidgeot!"

Cloyster quickly began rapidly firing off a volley of Icicle Spears in 5-round bursts, forcing the Pidgeot to show of its impressive flight speed as it flew away just before the Cloyster quickly blanketed the area in sharp spears of Ice.

Seeing that the Pidgeot began flying away, Lorelei quickly gave a new command.

"Set up the Snow, NOW!"

Before Pidgeot could counterattack, Cloyster instantly started releasing a gust of cold air from its body that wafted towards the sky, forming dark clouds that began to snow.

Just by seeing her opening moves, I felt that I had pieced together Lorelei's plan. She was making use of her Cloyster's naturally high defenses, coupled with an intimidating salvo of Icicle Spears, to quickly discourage any close-range engagements from Walker. Then, using the opening provided, she would quickly set up the Snow for her team that hopefully would last for the entire battle.

With the Snow in place, I expected that she hoped to use her Snow-boosted Ice attacks and inherent type advantage to win in a long-range battle. It was a good plan, and honestly what I believed Pryce should have done against Lance in his battle.

Considering the grimace on Walker's face, I'm sure he had also comprehended Lorelei's plan as well. However, whether he was able to do anything about it was a completely different story.

But Walker seemed to be able to read my thoughts as he ordered his next move.

"Hurricane, Pidgeot! Overwhelm it!"

"Blizzard, Cloyster! Match it!"

Two huge pillars of swirling winds formed in front of each Pokémon, one made of powerful and cutting gales, while the other of chilling and freezing winds. As each Pokémon fired off their attacks, each of their own tornados threatened to consume the other, eventually colliding in the middle of the arena.

However, whether due to the boost from the Blizzard or from the inherent type disadvantage of Flying types against Ice, the Blizzard broke through the gales of the Hurricane and rushed towards the Pidgeot.

"Dodge and Air Slash, Pidgeot! Speed up!"

"Ice Beam, Cloyster! Keep up the pressure!"

Pidgeot let out a screech as it dove away from the speeding vortex of ice and frost, which spun dangerously close towards Pidgeot. To its credit, Pidgeot quickly showed off its speed once again as it dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the ensnaring gales of wind and firing off its own Air Slashes.

Wind blades met beams of Ice as both attacks smashed against each other in the air. This exchange of blows continued with some time, with Pidgeot making use of its superb mobility to fly circles around the stationary Cloyster. However, for all of its mobility, Pidgeot was unable to break through the superior power of Cloyster's Ice Beams.

It was an admirable display of all the training Lorelei must have done with her Cloyster for it to maintain such stamina and accuracy, where it still managed to track and pressure the Pidgeot with a constant barrage of precision shots. And a mobile Pidgeot, especially one as well-trained as Walker's was, was not an easy target. Not at such distances.

After the stalemate lingered on for some time, Cloyster's persistence finally paid off as it landed a lucky shot. A lone Ice Beam seemed to come at an unexpected angle towards Pidgeot, surprising it and clipping one of its wings with a glancing shot. Boosted by the Snow as it was, frost crystals rapidly spread across its wing, freezing it over.

With a panicked screech and deprived of one of its wings, Pidgeot rapidly began falling uncontrollably out of the air as it could no longer steady itself.

"Icicle Spear, Cloyster! While it can't dodge!"

"Dodge and Roost, Pidgeot! You need to recover!"

Lorelei was quick to pounce on this new opportunity as Cloyster fired a barrage of Icicle spears at the falling Pidgeot. Despite Walker's orders to dodge, Pidgeot's frozen wing ripped away all of its famed mobility, and it was unable to dodge out of the way in time before a hail of spears crashed into it. Pidgeot was subsequently buried in an avalanche of Icicle Spears, defeated and unconscious.

"AND WALKER'S PIDGEOT GOES DOWN! A DECISIVE KNOCKOUT BY THE CHALLENGER LORELEI, WHO NOW LEADS THE FIGHT 1-0!!" There were no boos coming from the crowd, but the audience's response to her victory was quite lacklustre. Still, the announcer continued on as if he didn't notice. "ELITE WALKER NOW HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT HIS NEXT POKEMON! WILL HE BE ABLE TO REVERSE HIS FORTUNES?!"

"Hmm...not a bad start." Lance commented thoughtfully, stroking his chin as he observed Lorelei's Cloyster, "Definitely than a better showing than I feared. Looks like she really put in work to it."

"Bah. Of course, she did." Agatha bit out, "You were going to kick her out of being Gym Leader soon enough if she didn't make the challenge. Of course she's going to go all-in on this match. This is her future, after all."

"I'm surprised she didn't ask for help." I said, "Maybe she could have offered something in exchange for help."

But Agatha shook her head at me, "No, think harder, boy. Then that would undermine the message that she's trying to show. Her victory must be achieved from her own merits to prove her strength to the public. Getting help would compromise that."

I nodded in understanding just as Walker sent out his next Pokémon.

"Avenge your friend, Pelipper! Start setting up with an Agility!"

"Set up the Snow again and Icicle Spear, Cloyster! Knock it out!"

As soon as the Pelipper emerged from its Pokéball, it started glowing with a faint pink glow as it began boosting its speed. Furthermore, Pelipper's Drizzle immediately caused rain to pour from above. But Lorelei was quick to act on this, choosing to make use of the precious seconds while Pelipper was setting up to reinforce her control of the weather by returning it to Snow. Then, Cloyster sent out another wave of Icicle spears that blanketed the skies once again as they began their deadly descent. But Walker seemed ready for them.

"Protect and rush them, Pelipper!"

Using its boosted speed, Pelipper immediately began rushing towards Cloyster while forming a Protect shield above itself to protect against the rain of Icicle Spears. The Protect shield managed to block a significant number of spears, and Pelipper's natural bulk allowed it to withstand against the rest.

"Get as close to it and Air Slash, Pelipper!"

"Make some distance, Cloyster! Drive it off with a Rock Blast!"

Walker cunningly capitalized on Cloyster's poor Special Defenses as his Pelipper began bombarding the Cloyster with a barrage of close-range Air Slashes. The blades of gale winds cut deeply into the Cloyster, causing the occasional flinch that interrupted its attempts to fire off its own volley of rocks.

This was Walker's favourite tried-and-true strategy that he frequently employed; making use of his higher mobility Flying Pokémon to doggedly harass and wear down a slower opponent. A simple plan that nonetheless remained effective at whittling down his opponents.

Here, Cloyster was unable to break away from the hounding Pelipper, the latter making use of its superior boosted speed to continue its assault endlessly. All the while firing off cutting bldes of winds with each flap of its wings. Things were going from bad to worse for Cloyster, as it rapidly began running out of options while it constantly was pummelled by an unending wave of Air Slashes that chipped away at its health as it was unable to back away and make space.

Perhaps Lorelei could have switched out her Cloyster earlier to prevent such a scenario, but it was too late now. Cloyster had taken too much damage to be useful in the future, even if it was swapped out.

Realizing the situation was doomed, Lorelei resorted to a final attack.

"Icy Wind, Cloyster! You NEED to lower its speed!"

Understanding the desperation in its trainer's command, Cloyster visibly braced itself as it fired off one last gust of freezing wind towards the Pelipper, just as the Pelipper fired off one more round of Air Slashes.

Both attacks struck their targets, and Pelipper was engulfed and slowed by the freezing Icy Wind. However, an Air Slash cut right into the core of Cloyster, landing a critical hit that Cloyster was no longer able to endure and was knocked out.

"OH, AND A QUICK RETALIATING KNOCK-OUT FROM ELITE WALKER'S PELIPPER!! OVERWHELMING THE CLOYSTER BEFORE BRINGING IT DOWN WITH AN UNRELENTING SERIES OF ATTACKS!! THIS PUTS THE SCORE AT 1-1!" The announcer's voice boomed out once more, the crowd cheering wildly at Walker's victory. "CAN LORELEI RESPOND TO THIS THREAT? SHE HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT-"

"Go, Froslass! As we planned!"

A small white Ghost floated on the battlefield, and the entire Elite Four, plus Lance, all jerked forwards with various degrees of surprise as we were all stunned by Lorelei's next Pokémon.

"Where did she get that?!" Lance half-asked and half-demanded, "She shouldn't have access to Sinnoh Pokémon so soon!"

"Perhaps she was gifted a Dawn Stone from her uncle? Or maybe she just had a Dawn Stone lying around somewhere." Will suggested, and Lance nodded after a moment to think. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Will smirking to himself, proud at the praise.

"Yes, that does make sense. Damn Pryce and his nepotism." Lance muttered angrily as he settled back into his seat. "His Abomasnow nearly humiliated me, and I'm displeased to see another 'surprise' like this showing up."

"Oh, calm it with your incessant pride." Agatha cut in with a scoff, "I thought all you cared about was if she deserved her title. Well, let her prove it to you."

Lance didn't respond, but he visibly calmed himself with a few deep breaths. "Fine. We'll see how she utilizes it."

And Lorelei seemed to have unconsciously heard Lance's words, because she started off with a bang.

"Thunderbolt, Froslass! Bring it down!"

"PROTECT! NOW!"

A small explosion rocked the battlefield as Froslass began the battle with a bang as she struck the Pelipper with a bolt of Thunder, who narrowly blocked it in time with a Protect shield. Then, with her vastly superior speed, she continued bombarding the slower Pelipper with an onslaught of 4x supereffective attacks, constantly crashing down Thunderbolts against her opponent.

Honestly, I think any Elite trainer could tell that they Froslass' Thunderbolts weren't that powerful, and that Lorelei had clearly used a TM to teach her the move. But that didn't really matter; Frolass was able to make use of her inherently superior speed and Pelipper's devastating typ weakness against Electric attacks to her advantage.

"Quick Attack and get out of there, Pelipper!"

"Keep up the pressure, Froslass! Chase after it!"

Pelipper tried to use Quick Attack to dash away with a burst of speed, but Froslass' insanely fast base speed quickly caught up with the fleeing Pelipper and chased after it with a stream of continuous Thunderbolts, targeting Pelipper's critical weakness. Pelipper valiantly tried to swoop and dive away from the rain of Thunderbolts, but Froslass was in hot pursuit and continued to pile on the pressure.

It was solely due to Pelipper's aerial manoeuvrability that allowed it to dodge the attacks. It seemed to know just when to fake a dive before swerving somewhere else, or when to suddenly adjust its speed and when to burst forwards. Even with a traditionally slower Flying type, Pelipper's surprising agility made it incredibly difficult to hit.

This was why Walker was a famed trainer, even if he was considered to be the weakest of the Elite Four. This level of aerial manoeuvrability was envious; Zephyr could not perform to this level with technique alone.

But, even with this display of skill, Walker remained in a bad position.

"Air Slash, Pelipper! Knock it away!"

"Dodge in the snowstorm, Froslass! And keep chasing it!"

Pelipper attempted to retaliate by firing a few Air Slashes backwards towards the chasing Froslass to hopefully buy some space, but Frolass made use of its own excellent mobility and speed, as well as the concealment provided by Snow Cloak in the Snow, to nimbly evade past the incoming attacks. All the while never letting up on the pressure and repeatedly firing off Thunderbolts.

The situation was ironic. Whether intentionally or otherwise, Lorelei had flipped the table on Walker and was now making use of his own preferred strategy against him. Walker likely never expected Lorelei to have an Ice type that could be faster than his own Flying types. Which wasn't an unfair assumption, considering how naturally slow most Ice types were.

Increasingly desperate, and realizing the situation was only going to get worse from here, Walker switched tactics as he realized that his Pelipper was unable to escape.

"Hydro Pump, Pelipper!"

"NOW! THUNDERBOLT!"

I winced as soon as I heard Walker's command. I knew it to be a mistake. And sure enough, as soon as Pelipper stopped to begin charging up its Hydro Pump, a devastating Thunderbolt crashed down from above, causing it to fall out of the sky, barely holding onto consciousness.

"Finish it off with another Thunderbolt!"

Despite remaining unscathed, Froslass had exhausted most of her energy with her constant spam of Thunderbolts. Still, she had enough left in the tank to fire off one last burst of Thunder that crashed down like a glowing spear from Arceus on the fallen and helpless Pelipper to knock it out of the battle.

There was no getting up from that one.

"OH, WHAT AN AMAZING SHOWING FROM THAT RARE POKEMON FROM LORELEI! I THINK I RECOGNIZE IT FROM SINNOH; HOW DID SHE GET THAT POKEMON!? REGARDLESS, SHE NOW LEADS THE MATCH 2-1!!" The crowd once again gave another half-hearted applause at her victory. Some were probably upset at her use of a 'unobtainable' Pokémon giving her an unfair advantage, which I personally felt that such sentiments were ridiculous. "AND NOW WALKER HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT HIS NEXT POKEMON!"

"Hmph. It doesn't look that well-trained to me." Lance muttered bitterly, though there was no heat in it.

"Oh, are you a child?" Agatha scoffed scathingly, eyeing Lorelei with interest. "She did fine with it. She made great use of its strengths to beat out a more well-trained Pokémon. Personally, I can't wait to see what she'd do next. Stop projecting your bitterness on her, she doesn't deserve it."

Lance frowned but didn't say anything more. I was amused at Lance's petulance but kept it to myself. Who knew that Lance could hold grudges like this? I didn't have a chance to dwell on this further as Walker sent out his next Pokémon.

"Crobat, it's your turn."

A large purple bat appeared on the battlefield, quickly swooping up in the air with powerful flaps of its wings, hinting at its well-trained speed and mobility. I saw Lorelei stiffen with a frown as she took in Crobat's appearance. She must have known that this was the fastest out of all of Walker's Pokémon, and he had likely sent it out now to out-speed and dominate Lorelei's Froslass. In fact, I was fairly certain that even my Zephyr would not be able to out-speed it.

I wondered what she would do in response.

"Steel Wing, Crobat! Get in close!"

"Aurora Veil, Froslass!"

With hardly a warning, Crobat shot forwards like a bullet, being little more than a blur with its wings gleaming in the air as it charged towards the Froslass. Amidst the Snow, Froslass cried out and became surrounded by a veil of rainbow-coloured aura, which gradually expanded outwards from it to form an intangible yet persistent shield around Froslass. The shield managed to form just in time before Crobat came crashing into it with a gleaming Steel Wing, mercilessly bashing the Froslass aside as she cried out in pain from the super-effective hit.

Froslass was barely able to recover from that attack, and I suspected that only the Defense boost from the Snow kept it conscious.

"Refresh the Snow, Froslass!"

"Steel Wing again, Crobat! Finish it off!"

My eyes bulged at the command. What was she doing?! Shouldn't she be making use of her high Special Attack to at least damage the Crobat? Why waste time idly setting up the Snow when the next attack threatened to knock you out?

But my thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of Agatha's laugh.

"HAHAHA! What a clever girl!" She cackled, a hint of pride and satisfaction in her voice. "My...if I hadn't taken in Karen for an apprentice, I would be very interested in her." Her words elicited confused looks from Will, and a considering one from me and Lance.

I turned to Lorelei to see if I could gauge anything from her reaction. She was stoic, with fists tightly clenched as she stared at the approaching Crobat like a hunter waiting for its prey.

And then it clicked for me. The gears snapped in place. It was a trap!

"DESTINY BOND!"

"STOP, CROBAT-!"

Walker screamed out to his Crobat to abort the attack, but it was too late. Froslass' eyes glowed a menacing purple just as Crobat's Steel Wing smashed powerfully into her, promptly knocking her out. But from her fainted body, a ghostly energy emerged and wrapped itself around the Crobat, instantly causing it to faint.

Silence descended momentarily on the battle as the audience tried to comprehend what just happened. I could understand; I was in a similar state of shock.

Then, almost in sync, the crowd exploded in a mixture of jeers and cheers as the crowd didn't know what to make of Lorelei's strategy.

The announcer said it best, "OH, WHAT A SURPRISING DOUBLE KNOCKOUT PLAY FROM LORELEI! USING DESTINY BOND TO BRING DOWN A SUPERIOR FOE AFTER SETTING UP THE SNOW ONCE AGAIN! WAS THIS A CUNNING PLAN? OR A DISHONORABLE TACTIC?! EITHER WAY, THE BATTLE IS NOW 3-2!! BOTH TRAINERS HAVE 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT THEIR NEXT POKEMON!!"

"...An impressive strategy." Lance admitted slightly begrudgingly, though he seemed to be viewing Lorelei with a new light. "I was curious to see how she would bring down Walker's second strongest Pokémon, and this certainly was not what I was expecting."

"Hah! That's why Ghost types are the best." Agatha bragged haughtily, "Walker was a fool to not expect such a plan. After all, he's spent years hanging around a master like me. He should have known better."

Inwardly I shook my head, partially disagreeing with Agatha. Yes, it was a REALLY painful mistake for him to make, but considering the high-stakes circumstances that he was in, a lapse in memory could be expected. Especially from a non-Ghost specialist.

I turned to where Walker was and could see a bitter and angry expression on his face. I could sympathize; I would be mad as well if a 'rookie' mistake like that cost me my second strongest Pokémon.

"True enough, though I will give credit to Lorelei's plan." Lance said, tapping his fingers on the chair, "She made great use of her Froslass to both knock out two of Walker's Pokémon, and also refresh the Snow and set up the Aurora Veil for her future Pokémon. She's in a great spot and she fully utilised her Pokémon to the max. I approve."

I nodded in agreement; Lance basically took the words out of my mouth. Lorelei had clearly planned extensively for this battle, and the results spoke for themselves. If she could keep this up, then she might be able to surpass Walker and earn herself a position in the Elite Four.

I found that thought to be extremely exciting.