The Type Specialist

The room was silent after Wally left, and the names continued to flash on the television. I didn’t pay much attention, as everyone else I recognized had already been shown or knocked out.

Marty was the first to speak.

“I’m not a Pokémon trainer, but should we get him? He looked a little panicked.”

Old Man Harvey shook his head, but I was the one to respond.

“Wally is... well, I think he's feeling what I’m feeling right now. We wanted this battle to happen, but now that it’s finally confirmed, reality is kind of setting in. The Conference is huge and extremely important, which means that winning doesn’t just mean we win. Whoever loses is out of the tournament.”

Marty’s eyes widened a bit.

“So you’re looking forward to the battle, but you also know that this is it for one of you. I didn’t think of it that way,” he said.

I nodded.

“Whoever wins this moves on, but whoever loses ends it in the top thirty-two. It’s still great to place that high, but neither of us are looking forward to knocking the other out.”

The room went back to silence for a bit, until Old Man Harvey spoke up.

“I... I was in a similar situation in my second Conference. I had a rival, someone I grew up with that was rude but friendly to me every time we met. We wanted to have an official battle in a Conference for years, but when the time came, it was nothing like we expected. Excitement, determination, but also fear, and nerves. It’s tough to fight a friend in a big competition. I hope you won’t hold it against each other when it’s over.”

“We won’t, but we still need to build ourselves up for it, mentally,” I said, shaking my head. “Wally and I will be happy for whoever wins, and will be sad for whoever loses. We just need some time for ourselves beforehand.”

Old Man Harvey closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, while Marty slumped down a bit where he was sitting.

“...I’m going to head out. I need to start preparing,” I said.

“Go. We’ll stay here a bit longer. Good luck, kid.”

“Yeah, good luck, Alex.”

I tilted my head to both of them then headed out of our private room in the restaurant, intent on spending tonight to prepare with my team.

“Wally’s probably still hiding some of his strategies, but right now what I’m worried about most is Delcatty,” I said to my team.

Everyone was inside the room in the Pokémon Center with me, and I had turned on the computer and was actively playing a video of Wally’s previous battles. In it, Wally was battling with Delcatty and Gallade out, where Delcatty was making the most of her Cute Charm ability to distract her foes and let Gallade attack.

“Delcatty’s main threat is her infatuation. It’s more effective against those of you who might be romantically attracted to her, but the rest of you will still feel hesitant to attack, the same hesitancy you might feel if I randomly told you to break something valuable or precious to you. It’s only dangerous if we don’t prepare for it beforehand. Any ideas?”

Azumarill mimicked using Swagger, and Mawile snapped her jaws and pointed to her smaller mouth. I nodded, agreeing with them.

“Swagger and Taunt are both options to prevent the move, but her ability can still affect you without her direct input. I think, in all honesty, tomorrow is going to need a special rule.”

I turned around where I was sitting to face my entire team. Noticing my serious expression, everyone either sat up or stood up straighter where they were.

“When Delcatty comes out, no matter what, you have to follow my orders. Even if you feel like you’re making a huge mistake, please listen to what I say. You’ll desperately not want to, but just remember that it’s only for tomorrow, and remember this phrase: ‘Delcatty will forgive me.’”

My Pokémon looked uncomfortable with that thought, but agreed to my command. Moves that messed with a Pokémon’s decision making were always hard to deal with without the appropriate counters. I hoped this preparation, albeit a bit basic, would help my team deal with Delcatty.

Delcatty will either be a pushover or a huge threat. If she can lock down my Pokémon one by one, there won’t be much they can do. However, if they can bypass the infatuation, I imagine Delcatty won’t be able to last long.

“Moving on, we have Roserade,” I said, turning back to the screen. “She’ll probably use Leech Seed, but we need to be ready for Toxic Spikes. Wally showed it off in his third battle, and if we don’t have Misty Terrain up, most of you will be poisoned when I switch you in. Altaria can fly over the spikes, and you can too, Whimsicott, so when I send the both of you out make sure to not touch the floor.

“Because of that threat, I’m debating sending in Mawile first. Setting up a Stealth Rock would be invaluable to punish Wally for switching, but I need you ready to Taunt Roserade. The same goes for you, Whimsicott. If he doesn’t send out Roserade first, I’ll probably end up switching whoever’s leading for someone else that better counters his Pokémon. It’s kind of a cheesy strategy, but I don’t think we can afford to let Toxic Spikes be set up.”

Mawile nodded, crossed her arms, and huffed proudly, sending a side-eye to Azumarill who purposely continued to look at me instead of her. She looked happy to be so heavily relied on in the upcoming battles, and pointedly ignored the fact I also mentioned Whimsicott would share a similar responsibility.

“Now, as far as I can tell, it looks like Wally’s strategy is based around using the rest of his team to weaken his opponents enough to either send in Gallade or Flygon to sweep his remaining opponents. Flygon can Dragon Dance, and Gallade can Swords Dance, which means either of them can set up if it comes to it.

“Altaria, since you now know Ice Beam, and because we haven’t publicly used it, you’re a great counter to Flygon. You can even Power Swap to reverse sweep, though he will expect that as he knows you know Power Swap. Ninetales you’re similarly powerful with your own Ice Beam, and your Confuse Ray will let you easily move in close to Gallade to unleash super effective Fairy Type moves.

“Roserade, Delcatty, Comfey and Magnezone all have their quirks and gimmicks, but none of them compare to Gallade and Flygon. Unless any of you have a specific strategy you have in mind, I’m going to start listing off situations, and you’re going to tell me how you’d react so we can better hone our strategy. Alright?”

Everyone made noises of acceptance, but no one came forward to suggest a strategy. Well, Azumarill did, but she just suggested overwhelming her foes with raw power, which I had already considered before.

“To start, let’s think about this: Magnezone has come in and paralyzed you with Thunder Wave. It’s preparing a Discharge and you’re right next to it...”

The main arena was much larger than the four smaller, themed arenas. It was about three times the size, and the battlefield to fight on was similarly massive. It was raised up above the ground level, and instead of platforms that lifted trainers into each of their boxes, there were tunnels on the edge of the central floor that competing trainers would enter through.

I would have watched a battle here earlier, but I was too focused on training and hadn’t been here since the initial opening ceremony. This morning, I had missed Thomas’s battle before us, and as far as I heard, he had easily won against a generalist who actually had a regional starter on their team. Their Swampert was overwhelmed by Thomas’s Mightyena, thanks to its burn from Mightyena’s Fire Fang, which was honestly a strange move to use against a Water Type.

I stood in the tunnel on the side of the field with a few members of the League’s supporting staff nearby. The start of our battle was far more organized and structured than I expected, and the announcers would read off a script rather than just saying what came to mind.

Wally was the first trainer to leave his tunnel and walk on the field. His introduction focused on his connection to both his home town of Petalburg and his current residence in Verdanturf, as well as his sponsorship from Professor Birch. It lasted just long enough to perfectly match when Wally stopped in his trainer box, and I was out next.

A woman wearing a headset suddenly tapped me on the shoulder and pointed forward. I took a moment to straighten my posture and change my expression to that of determination before I began walking. This battle was far more nerve-wracking than any of my previous battles, and I didn’t want to show any sign of weakness.

I wanted to hear what the announcers would say about me, but I found myself too focused on my upcoming battle to be able to pay attention. I managed to get bits of what was said when the announcers mentioned that I was both a Fairy Type specialist and sponsored by a Pokémart, which were highlighted as unusual for this tournament.

When I reached the base of the trainer box and began to climb the stairs leading up it, my mind went over everyone who would be watching. Marty and Old Man Harvey were in the audience, and Laura, Hideki, and Takao were watching in Dewford. I knew at this point, Steven and most of the Elite Four would be in a box above the field to observe, and Thomas was out there somewhere, too. Wally’s parents, uncle, and cousin were here as well, arriving just this morning.

The idea of Wally’s family being here in particular made me squirm, as the idea of defeating their family member they had specifically come to see felt cruel.

I finally made it to the top of the platform, and laid eyes on Wally as the announcers finished. He looked similarly nervous, but his eyes were locked into a visage of fierce determination. Just like me, his hands were shaking a little bit, and I could imagine his heart was pounding just as hard. However, he was clearly looking forward to our match just as much as I was.

The referee was already on the side of the arena, and wore a red sweatshirt and carried two flags: one red, and one green. He briefly went over the rules, which matched the rules from the previous rounds, with the sole exception that this was a single battle, not a double battle.

He then called out to us to see if we were ready, and Wally and I both gave shouts of acknowledgement.

With that, our official battle began.

“Mawile, let’s do this!”

“Flygon, take her out, quickly!”

My eyes went wide as Wally immediately sent in a strong counter to Mawile, and Flygon swooped past her as the ground inflated under her feet. I called out for Mawile to defend herself with Iron Defense, but the ground erupted with Earth Power and she was knocked into the air. Flygon was on her in moments, far faster than what she could react to with her usually fast enough bite attacks, and slammed its tail down onto her.

Flygon hadn’t used any specific move to hit Mawile in the air, but simply smashed her with an extremely basic tail swipe. It was enough to send her hurtling towards the ground, and Mawile was knocked unconscious from the impact.

My jaw dropped as the audience erupted into cheers. Mawile lasted seconds against Flygon. The Dragon Type soared around the battlefield for a few moments before returning to a place right in front of Wally, looking rather smug at the outcome of the first matchup. Around its neck was an unfamiliar sight: a Choice Scarf.

Choice Scarfs were similar to Choice Specs, in that they limited a Pokémon to a single move but drastically increased that Pokémon’s speed in exchange. That boost, combined with its Type advantage over Mawile’s Steel Typing, meant that Flygon was able to overwhelm her quickly and knock her out before she could do anything at all.

I was shocked at the power and control Flygon was now demonstrating, and promised that I wouldn’t let any more of my Pokémon get caught off guard by Wally’s team.

Wally shouted out to me as I returned Mawile to her Heavy Ball.

“Come on, Alex! Don’t let this one round get to you! Show me how strong you are!”

I feel like I should have been the one saying that to you.

I struggled to choose what Pokémon I could send out next. I considered my options, as well as my knowledge of how Wally might fight, and was stuck. Altaria was the best counter, as he could fly and had several super effective moves at his disposal. However, sending out Altaria was obvious, and I expected Wally to expect Altaria to be sent out, so I instead considered sending out Ninetales or Florges. Ninetales had four times effective Ice Type moves, and Florges could avoid the ground and set up with Calm Mind. Her Fairy Type moves would also be useful, except-

“Trainer Alex, you have ten seconds left,” the referee stated.

Hearing that the timer to send out a new Pokémon was coming to its end, I decided to go with the obvious choice and send out Altaria. Wally would expect him, but I trusted Altaria’s strength and wide range of moves to let him handle whoever Wally had in mind to counter. I actually purposely left off Altaria’s Choice Specs for this battle to let him better adapt to his opponents.

After I sent in Altaria, Wally quickly returned Flygon and sent in Magnezone, the evolved form of Magneton, to continue the battle.

“Flamethrower, Altaria!” I yelled.

“Thunder Wave, Magnezone!” Wally ordered.

The UFO-shaped Pokémon rapidly spun its magnets, and thin bursts of static electricity arced towards Altaria. He flew around several of the zaps mid-air, and breathed out a wave of flame. Unfortunately, while Magnezone took the super effective attack, it managed to clip Altaria in the wing with one of its attacks. Electricity coursed through Altaria’s body, and interfered with his movements. While he could still fly, he could only glide around at best as he was now under the effect of the paralysis condition.

Luckily, Magnezone didn’t come out of Altaria’s Flamethrower only suffering from raw damage. The flames that heated up its metal body had also scorched its surface, inflicting the burn condition right back to it. While Altaria was now forced to fly lower and at slower speeds, Magnezone would continuously take damage from the heat burned into its body.

Because Magnezone had paralyzed Altaria, he wouldn’t be able to make the most of his mid-air mobility. I decided to return him, sending out Florges so she could heal him with Aromatherapy. As I did so, Wally copied my actions and used his second switch of the battle to send out Roserade, whose presence made me wary.

He must be setting up Toxic Spikes. Magnezone would have been just as effective against Florges as Roserade is, so she must be out for a specific reason.

As I expected, the first thing that Roserade did was coat her two flower hands in poison and wave them forward, sending out a large spray of poison coated spikes that covered my half of the field. They weren’t very large, but there were enough of them that upon switching in, my Pokémon would be extremely likely to step on them and be poisoned. Even more, just running around would have a high chance of poisoning my Pokémon.

Florges used this moment without any incoming attacks to puff out an Aromatherapy, curing Altaria within his ball, and Roserade followed up by rushing in.

The Grass Type maintained the poison coating on her flowers and positioned herself directly under Florges. Roserade then jumped up, aiming to land a Poison Jab, but she didn’t quite reach the necessary height. Instead, Roserade spun around in the air while she fell and sent out a series of Magical Leaves that homed in towards Florges.

In response, Florges flew around and let loose her own set of Magical Leaves to destroy part of the incoming barrage, but still ended up taking the brunt of the attack. As Roserade prepared a second assault, a braided vine of grass grew out of the packed dirt ground underneath her and tied around her leg. Roserade was dragged to the ground, and Florges unleashed a Moonblast that slammed into her target’s body.

Rather than letting her follow up much more, I returned Florges there, while it was safe. Roserade was a decent threat to Florges with its Poison Type, and resisted all of Florges’s attacks to boot. Reappearing on the field, Altaria took to the skies, no longer paralyzed, and Wally frowned.

Flying far above Roserade, Altaria’s wings turned sky blue as waves of wind were sent spiraling off of them. Roserade tried to send forward a Magical Leaf to interrupt the Defog, but Altaria easily resisted the move and the harsh winds blew all of the Toxic Spikes off the field, where nearby waiting Psychic Types crushed and disintegrated them with their own attacks.

Altaria then swooped around in a circle and repositioned himself to fly straight at Roserade.

“Sludge Bomb!” Wally yelled.

Holding one of her flowers out like a cannon, Roserade carefully aimed at the incoming Altaria. A glob of purple gunk was shot out, and Altaria tried to curve around it mid air. However, the Sludge Bomb burst next to his body, and he only barely managed to get up a weak Cotton Guard to protect him from being poisoned. Before Roserade could fire again, Altaria revealed a move we had been hiding for a while, Ice Beam, and froze Roserade’s foot to the ground.

A second Ice Beam to the chest knocked out the Grass Type.

Altaria curved in the air and circled above the field as Roserade disappeared in a flash of red light. Wally proceeded to send out Magnezone again, and I returned Altaria, not willing to let him be paralyzed again.

Is Wally that intent on using Magnezone to fight Altaria? Or is he just trying to maintain an advantage? Either way, we’re burning through our switches fast.

Whimsicott appeared on the field, and this round started with a series of orders from me, although Wally stayed silent.

“Protect yourself, then wear it down over time. Your offensive moves aren’t effective against its Types.”

Whimsicott acknowledged his orders by setting up a Substitute. He did so by grabbing a chunk of his cotton on his head, and rapidly moving his hands to shape it into a miniature version of himself. That little detail was unnecessary, since he would just be using it as a shield, but he finished quickly enough thanks to Prankster.

Once more, Magnezone spun its magnets and a series of Thunder Waves were sent towards its opponent. Whimsicott floated around the air, trying his best to dodge, but wasn’t able to avoid all the attacks. Thankfully, for the attacks that did look like they were about to hit, Whimsicott was able to hold out his Substitute to absorb the attack and protect himself from paralysis.

While Whimsicott floated about, spinning and dodging chaotically in air, out of nowhere a few seeds flew out of his cotton towards Magnezone. The Steel Type seemed to be expecting this despite how sudden the Leech Seed was, and a few quick zaps blew them up before they reached it. Unfortunately for it, a second set of seeds hidden behind the first ones were able to maintain their trajectory and wrapped their vines around Magnezone.

Taking advantage of the brief delay when Magnezone was hit by the Leech Seed, I called out for Whimsicott to prevent his opponent from switching to a damaging move.

“Encore!”

Whimsicott giggled and cheered at Magnezone, and the two eyes on the Steel Type’s sides curved up into strange eye-smiles. As a result, it continued its barrage of Thunder Waves, only for Wally to shout something I hadn’t expected.

“Use your Mental Herb now, Magnezone!”

Shocked, I watched as an arc of weak lightning zapped out of the yellow antenna on top of Magnezone’s body and hit something attached to his back that had been blocked from view. There was a burst of plant matter as a cloud of blue-white dust blew over Magnezone’s body, its held item removing the effect of Encore.

No wonder Wally was confident in leaving Magnezone out. He specifically planned to counter Whimsicott’s strategy.

Now with a clear mind, Magnezone’s magnets spun at a pace far faster than before, and it zoomed in the air towards Whimsicott. Its body flashed and sent out a laser shot of Steel Type energy with Flash Cannon, hitting Whimsicott’s Substitute and disintegrating it in his hands.

Magnezone proceeded to use Flash Cannon a second time, which hit a second quickly made Substitute, and a third Flash Cannon hit a third.

Whimsicott was tiring out, and most of the cotton growing out of his head was now missing thanks to it being consumed by Substitute. As a result, he was struggling to fly in the air, but thankfully, Magnezone was passively taking damage.

Burn and Leech Seed were doing work as Magnezone was starting to slow down from its injuries. Whimsicott may have been tired after using so many Substitutes, but he had managed to use them to block more damage than the Flash Cannons would have done if they hit him. Still, using Substitute meant Whimsicott was damaging himself, and at the rate he was using them, he would likely end up knocking himself out soon.

Something needed to change.

“Sunny Day!” I shouted.

“Finish it off with one final Thunder!” Wally yelled.

Magnezone wobbled as its magnets spun at speeds not seen before, and a huge amount of electricity built up in its body. Whimsicott, meanwhile, created a ball of flame in his hand and tossed it into the sky, covering the field in harsh sunlight.

Almost as soon as the weather effect came into play, Magnezone unleashed its attack with a massive pillar of electricity. Whimsicott was briefly obscured by the blinding light, and when it faded not a second later, Whimsicott fell towards the ground, unconscious and charred by the electricity.

As I returned Whimsicott, the audience cheered for the third knock-out of the match. While a lot of switching had happened so far, Wally had maintained the lead he created when Mawile was knocked out, and had five Pokémon left compared to my four. However, Magnezone was extremely damaged, and I knew it wouldn’t take much effort to knock them out.

Planning to take advantage of Whimsicott's Sunny Day, I once again sent out Florges, whose red and pink flowers bloomed under the harsh sun.

“Paralyze it, then follow up with Flash Cannon!” Wally yelled.

“Sunlight, Florges,” I ordered.

Once more, Magnezone shot out a flash of light that hurtled towards Florges at insane speeds. She wasn’t able to fully dodge, but was still able to gracefully twist in place to turn the super effective attack into a glancing blow. She then proceeded to absorb the sunlight provided by Whimsicott with her flowers, and her body began to glow.

In moments, Florges transformed her absorbed energy into a massive laser beam that encompassed Magnezone. While its Steel Type resisted the Grass Type Solar Beam, the attack was powerful enough to finish off Magnezone after all of the passive damage it had taken.

Florges cured herself of paralysis with Aromatherapy while Wally returned Magnezone, and I breathed out a sigh of relief.

Now we’re even.

Wally’s next Pokémon was one that hadn’t been sent out yet: Delcatty. I expected to have either Mawile or Whimsicott still conscious to be able to shut down Attract shenanigans with Taunt, but we would have to rely on whether or not Florges would still listen to me if she became infatuated.

This round started with Florges creating a Misty Terrain, and Delcatty hopped around in place, acting as cute as possible. I watched as Florges’s determined expression suddenly turned a bit sad, and she glanced over her shoulder as if to ask “do I have to?”

I grimly nodded my head, and told Florges the same thing I had told her last night.

“Delcatty will forgive you later. It’s okay to attack.”

Slightly infatuated by Delcatty thanks to its Cute Charm ability, Florges pushed forward through the mental manipulation, trusting me more than she was influenced by Delcatty, and unleashed a Moonblast. Delcatty was expecting more of a resistance from Florges, and wasn’t able to dodge the attack that came its way.

Delcatty was knocked back onto its side, but quickly jumped back to its feet and ran forward to circle around Florges. It then ran straight at her, growling its name with a Normalize-modified Disarming Voice, whose unexpected strength interfered with how Florges was floating.

Jumping into the air with feline grace, Delcatty proceeded to just barely grab the bottom of Florges’s leaves, and dangled there, attempting to climb up her body. Its sharp claws dug into Florges, and she cried out in pain.

“Florges, you’re okay! You think Delcatty is cool, right? This is the perfect time to show off your Petal Dance!”

Florges, still mildly infatuated, was more than willing to follow my suggestion and demonstrate her favorite move to the Pokémon she currently thought so highly of. As petals surrounded its body, Delcatty managed to power through the powerful attack and hung onto Florges’s back. It was taking an extreme amount of damage, being in the center of the storm, and barely held on. However, it still managed to jam its jaws into Florges’s head, tearing off some of her head flowers, before the constant damage was too much and it fainted.

As Delcatty returned to its Pokéball, Florges looked to be a little sad to see it go. However, the effect of Cute Charm quickly wore off, and Florges’s expression shifted to annoyance once she realized she had fallen to Delcatty’s tricks. She reached into her flowers to grab her Leftovers to heal, then froze.

“I’ll make sure to give it back to you after the battle!” Wally shouted.

I cursed under my breath.

There goes Florges’s Leftovers. Delcatty managed to steal it with Covet before it fainted.

Right now, I had managed to gain the advantage in remaining Pokémon, and we both had three switches left each. Neither he nor I looked too worried about that state of the battle, and we both seemed confident in our abilities to win. In fact, most of our nerves had practically disappeared at this point.

In response to Delcatty fainting, Wally returned it and sent out a Pokémon I hadn’t expected to see until the end: Gallade. It closed its eyes in focus and brought down its arms, blades glinting in the midday sun. Gallade hadn’t used a move, but the motion simply reaffirmed its determination to win.

Despite how great Florges was at surviving ranged special attacks, she wouldn’t be able to withstand Gallade’s powerful melee onslaught. I waited a moment for her to heal herself with a quick sunlight-boosted Synthesis, then returned her to her Heal Ball.

Replacing Florges was Azumarill, who saw Gallade ready to battle and grinned with violence in her eyes. The audience’s cheers increased in fervor as a result.

Azumarill immediately charged forward without me needing to say anything, excited to finally battle Gallade in an official capacity. Her Aqua Jet pushed her forward, although a bit slower than usual thanks to the sunlight weakening Water Type moves. The Life Orb around her neck burned with light as she slammed into Gallade, and she aimed a Fairy Type infused punch from Play Rough right at its face.

Gallade brought up its elbow blade to deflect the blow, and countered with a Psycho Cut, infusing a slash with Psychic Type energy. Azumarill ducked under it, and tried to trip Gallade with an Aqua Tail. In response, Gallade Teleported before Azumarill’s attack could land, and appeared behind Azumarill and slashed her with a super effective Leaf Blade.

The sudden damage caused Azumarill to stumble forward, but that single attack wasn’t going to knock her out, super effective or not. Using Aqua Jet, she sent water out in front of her to launch her backwards, and slammed into Gallade with the full force of her entire body. That basic attack knocked the air out of Gallade and Azumarill clamped her arms down to grab Gallade, then twisted to flip the Fighting Type over her head with Superpower, the move allowing her to use more than her normal strength to better slam it into the ground.

Gallade laid still in the small crater, unmoving but still conscious, and Azumarill stood there, panting and injured, waiting for it to attack.

Unfortunately for her, Gallade wasn’t only capable of melee attacks, and a sudden, quick Confusion twisted the space around her head. The unexpected attack meant Azumarill was caught off guard by the follow up Leaf Blade, and the force of the super effective impact pushed her back a few feet.

With that, Azumarill was now struggling to stay on her feet, having taken two super effective moves and a Confusion from Gallade. At this point, the Misty Terrain began to fade, and I saw a smirk appear on her hunched forward form. She tilted her tired head up to look at Gallade one last time with that same smirk, and made a “come at me motion” with her paw, using Swagger.

Gallade grew enraged, teleported next to her, and punched her in the stomach with Thunder Punch. The third super effective move finally knocked her out.

While Azumarill may have fainted, she had significantly weakened Gallade. Gallade had taken a lot of damage, and was now also confused due to Swagger.

When I sent out Ninetales next, Wally immediately returned Gallade. He had noticed her held item, and realized we had prepared specifically for Gallade. Wrapped around Ninetales’s neck like a thin scarf was the item Florges had won so long ago: the Expert Belt. Florges hadn’t been interested in it, and here, it would be useful to have Ninetales’s super effective Fairy Type moves be that much more effective against Gallade.

Considering Gallade was already confused and injured, it would lose too easily to Ninetales to risk leaving out.

Comfey replaced Gallade on the battlefield, and Ninetales used the brief delay the switch provided to disappear into her conjured hail, and boosted her focus with Calm Mind. She stalked through the snow, eyeing Comfey carefully, waiting to see what it would do.

Comfey began by using Magical Leaf, its homing properties zeroing in on Ninetales’s position. The attack identified where Ninetales was, and Comfey tossed forward a series of seeds for Leech Seed out of its lei. Ninetales froze them midair with Ice Beam, and hopped back to keep her distance. However, Comfey rolled in the air then shot forwards towards Ninetales, moving like a floating wheel. Ninetales was just barely able to keep her distance, and glanced over her shoulder back at the chasing Comfey to use Confuse Ray.

This attack managed to land, and Comfey veered off under the effects of the illusions. Ninetales used this opportunity to change directions and catch her opponent from behind.

“Protect, Comfey!” Wally shouted.

Under its confusion, Comfey created a barrier of translucent energy that took on the beam without letting Comfey get hurt. As a follow up, the tiny Fairy Type spun around in place and grass grew out of the ground, setting up a Grassy Terrain for its personal use.

Realizing that Comfey was setting up for the same strategy Florges preferred, I returned Ninetales and sent out her instead, intent on letting her make the most out of the Grassy Terrain.

Florges started by quickly moving to replace the Hail with a Sunny Day of her own. Comfey took advantage of this pause to toss forward Leech Seeds, which Florges knocked aside with a quick Fairy Wind.

Following my command and using the Grassy Terrain to her advantage, Florges used Camoflauge to turn into the Grass Type, although she made no effort to conceal her position. Before each side moved in to attack, there was a brief nod of respect to each other, and in unison, both Florges and Comfey simultaneously unleashed a Petal Dance.

Comfey rolled around in the air, unlatching itself to become a line instead of a circle and numerous petals blew out of its collection of flowers. Florges, meanwhile, gracefully moved her arms like a dancer and spun in place, conjuring her own tornado of petals to send right back at it.

The two powerful Grass Type attacks completely obscured each Pokémon, and when the moves failed to faint either of them, they simply both healed themselves with Synthesis, which was enhanced by the sun, and tried again. The resulting confusion on each of them caused their attacks to start to go wide, but right now, it was a competition to see which one of them was the more powerful Grass Type attacker.

Neither Wally nor I spoke as our Pokémon attacked, and the audience actually went silent as the two Pokémon exchanged their moves. The field was awash in hues of pinks, and after several rounds of the exchange, the outcome was decided.

Florges, gaining the advantage ever so slightly thanks to Camouflage, just barely managed to pull through and faint Comfey. The pair of Pokémon had exhausted themselves from using such a powerful move back-to-back as well as from the healing moves they had used in between.

Comfey was returned to its ball while Florges swayed in place, too tired to resist the confusion she was under. Happy for her, I used my fifth switch to recall her, and readied myself for whatever Wally would send out next.

I had Ninetales and Altaria still raring to go, and Wally had both Gallade and Flygon left. Florges was technically still in, but she would be far too exhausted to do anything but wobble in place. The only reason I didn’t let her be completely removed from the battle was because her presence could help me win on a technicality. I wouldn’t let her fight if it came to it, though, and would rather fully recall her than force her to continue in her current state.

Wally, from his side of the field, looked over the growing grass and the sun that covered the battlefield. He smiled, a genuine smile that really showed how much he was enjoying out battle, and shouted out to me.

“Alex, I’m sending out Flygon next. I know Ninetales is the better choice for you, but would you be willing to send out Altaria? I want to fight Dragon to Dragon, and starter to starter.”

As he asked that, I shook my head and smiled.

“You really want a Fairy Type specialist to fight Dragon to Dragon?” I asked.

Wally locked eyes with me and nodded once, completely missing the humor I found in the situation.

Chuckling to myself, and willing to let Altaria test himself like this, even if it would mean my loss, I sent him out as Wally sent out Flygon. The two Dragon Types appeared over the field and roared, or in Altaria’s case, squawked in annoyance and removed the sunlight.

Immediately, and without orders, Altaria and Flygon rushed at each other in the air. Like they had done so many times in the past, they flew straight at each other and breathed out a Dragon Breath towards their foe. Flygon was on Altaria in seconds, thanks to its Choice Scarf, and that momentum meant its breath seared into Altaria before he could deal much damage back to Flygon.

Altaria dove down, getting singed but otherwise avoiding too much extra damage. He swerved up into the air to better aim at Flygon, but it buzzed around the attacks and avoided the few follow up Ice Beams sent its way. In response, Flygon sent out another Dragon Breath attack, and once again, the momentum of the attack from Flygon’s boosted speed let it catch Altaria outright.

With how this was going, I could tell that Flygon would be able to outspeed and outdo Altaria. Altaria could minimize the damage of each attack by flying out of them, but Flygon had a significant speed advantage.

Unless...

“Remember TV Mauville!” I called out.

The crowd and Wally were both confused by my strange order, but Altaria had that moment burned into his mind. He waited for when Flygon did another sweeping run with Dragon Breath, and this time, instead of flying out of the flames, he flew straight into them and crashed into Flygon.

Altaria latched onto his opponent in the air, whose Choice Scarf forced it to claw at Altaria with energy-less attacks. In the perfect position, and infused with Dark Type energy, Altaria dug his beak into Flygon’s neck, swiped its Choice Scarf with Thief, then broke off to fly away, leaving Flygon behind to stabilize itself.

Once he had gained some distance, Altaria flicked his head and the Choice Scarf he held in his beak wrapped around his neck. While it wasn’t that secure, Thief had allowed him to steal the item for himself, and thus was now benefitting from the item and far outpacing Flygon in the skies above it.

In the trainer box, Wally didn’t look upset, nor did he look angry. Instead, he was laughing.

“Of course. That’s just like you, Alex. Pulling out a move like that to turn the situation in your favor. I should have seen it coming.”

I shook my head in amusement, and dramatically pointed at Flygon.

“Let’s finish this, Altaria. Dragon Pulse.”

With incredible speeds, Altaria formed a pulsating purple and white ball that shot forward and slammed into Flygon, who was now too slow to dodge. The attack didn’t faint it, nor did the second, but the third finally manage to finish it off, as Altaria’s speed let him rapid-fire his Dragon Pulses without Flygon getting a moment to retaliate.

When his Dragon Type was returned, Wally placed the ball back in his bag and pulled out Gallade’s once more. He held it in his hand and stared down at it, his eyes glimmering melancholically.

“You know, I really thought I would win this,” Wally said. “I can tell that Gallade won’t be enough to take out the rest of your team. Azumarill made sure of that. But, I had a lot of fun, Alex. This whole season was a lot of fun. I never thought I’d get this far, nor did I expect to make it to the final rounds of the competition.”

Wally paused to look up and stare me right in the eyes.

“It’s been an incredible battle so far, but we’re not done just yet. I still have one last fight in me. Let’s end on a high note.”

Wally clutched the ball in his hand, pulled it back, and chucked it forward as hard as he could.

“Gallade! Show them what we can do!”

Gallade appeared on the field, and despite its injuries, immediately Teleported to land right on top of Altaria. He squawked from the unexpected impact, and Gallade grabbed both of his wings to force him to fall. Altaria tried to create a Dragon Pulse, but Gallade’s position completely prevented that attack from landing. The moment the pair of them were about to hit the ground, Gallade pulled back an arm to slam Altaria with an Ice Punch, increasing the force of the approaching impact, and Teleported away.

Altaria fainted.

The crowd cheered uproariously at that, and while Florges was still technically conscious on my team, the battle was now a one-on-one in my mind. I tossed forward Ninetales’s Premier Ball as she appeared on the field, and Hail came into effect the same moment the Grassy Terrain disappeared.

This was the fight Wally and I were waiting for. Our starters as our last Pokémon, the crowd cheering around us, and the results of the Ever Grande Conference ahead of us. Wally and I were both smiling as Ninetales and Gallade stood off, ready to begin.

Ninetales acted first, using a Confuse Ray to try to put illusions over Gallade’s senses. Before the ray could hit, Gallade Teleported to the side where Ninetales was last seen within the snow and spun around, carving into the air around him.

While the rare move, Vacuum Wave, didn’t hit Ninetales, it did clear out the weather to reveal her position. Gallade ran straight at her, but she flashed with Dazzling Gleam and caused Gallade to miss its incoming Drain Punch. It lunged forward to grab her before she could escape, but Ninetales used Agility to move out of the way and hit Gallade from behind with Moonblast.

Gallade was looking more than rough, especially with all the extra damage Ninetales’s super effective Fairy Type attacks were doing with her Expert Belt. However, somehow, Gallade was still pushing on far past where it would have normally fainted.

One of its legs flexed suddenly, and a group of other Gallades surrounded Ninetales, created by Double Team. Surrounded by pseudo-illusionary doubles of her opponent, most of Ninetales's moves would most likely miss. She waited until Gallade moved in, and right when every double was on top of her, Ninetales howled to send out a Blizzard around her.

The numerous illusions broke and were dispelled by her area of effect attack, and the real Gallade was revealed. It was knocked back, still yet to land a hit, and Ninetales quickly finished it off with Moonblast.

That entire fight took only moments, and neither Wally nor I had time to give any commands. It wasn’t on purpose, but somehow, this short exchange had turned into a pure test of how well each of us had trained our Pokémon. If Gallade had been a bit faster, and hadn’t been tired out from Azumarill before, it could have easily caught Ninetales out to hurt and faint her in the battle. Instead, Ninetales came into this rested and much better off, taking out Gallade without suffering from an attack on her own.

And now the battle was over.

The audience cheered at such an exciting end to the battle, and Wally and I just continued to smile. There were no hard feelings that Wally had lost, and while I felt proud of my achievement, it wasn’t like this was an easy battle.

When the stairs extended down onto the field, I didn’t immediately return Ninetales, and she bounded over to sit proudly in front of me. I stared down at her while she preened under the cheers, almost regally, and she smirked at me, expressing her joy at her victory.

Once she had enough of her quiet bragging, she stood up to walk over to me and nuzzled her head into my side, where I ran my fingers through her cold mane affectionately.

“You did a great job, Ninetales,” I said quietly. “We’ve come a long way, and there’s a lot more to see from here. I’m proud of you. Let’s do even better in tomorrow’s battle, alright?”

Ninetales moved back away from me, locked eyes, and nodded once. I returned her after that, as I didn’t want to keep Wally waiting much longer.

When I approached he sighed.

“This... this is it. I mean, I don’t want to lie to you, Alex, it hurts to lose. But it felt alright to lose to you. I know my family can’t doubt I’m a good trainer now, too. I mean, who gets into the final rounds in their first Conference?! It’s super impressive!”

I laughed.

“Yeah, we’re pretty rad. Plus, I doubt this is it for you. I heard you talking to Marty, earlier. You said you wanted to go to Johto next, right?”

Wally nodded.

“Mhm. It sounds cool and I really want to check it out,” he said. Wally paused. “We’ll still be friends even if we’re in different regions, right Alex?”

“Of course,” I said, interrupting his doubts. “I’ve been friends with Marty this whole time, and I hadn’t seen him in person for over a year before he showed up. Just because we’re in different regions doesn’t mean we won’t be friends, and plus, I’d still like your help to figure out a strategy for my match tomorrow.”

Wally chuckled, then held out his hand to shake mine. As we did, he suddenly froze and his expression grew panicked.

“But... Alex. I lost. I can’t give you back your Dawn Stone now.”

He looked genuinely upset at that, and I just shook my head.

“Wally, that just means you still need to beat me. It gives us a reason to meet again, alright? Keep training as a trainer, and I’m sure you can do it one day.”

Wally’s smile grew bright, and he clasped my hand harder.

“I’ll be sure of it, Alex! It’s a promise!”

And with that, our battle ended, confirming my position in the top sixteen, while Wally was eliminated in the top thirty-two. While his Hoenn journey ended here, I was sure it wouldn’t be the end of his journey as a Pokémon trainer.