Chương 79: Chapter 64

It was the work of a few minutes to navigate the Kantonian hospital's labyrinthian halls, dodging hustling personnel and wandering patients as we went. The task was made easier by the effortless wake Leader Sabrina made in the crowd. The young woman had a presence about her that people seemed to notice, or just unconsciously respect. Where she went, others made way, and Nurse Joy and I followed.

We'd lost the two children, who had run off to go speak with some of the adult caretakers who were watching over the patients and their playmates, leaving just the trio of us to make our way towards the hospital's battlefields.

Said battlefields were set on the building's sides, close enough that power could run from the structure to several small generators, creating barriers that effortlessly absorbed errant energy and bodies alike, keeping the small crowd of spectators safe from a few battles already ongoing in the enclosed arenas. Past the noisy tableau, I got my first glimpse of what I presumed was Saffron City.

Tall skyscrapers with gleaming yellow facades competed for space in a crowded skyline that glowed like burnished gold, backlit by the descending sun. A multitude of people walked the streets on swollen sidewalks that barely left two miniscule lanes for any passing cars.

Men and women in smart business attire, kids with Poké Balls on their belts and determined expressions on their faces, and a few scattered Pokémon made up the majority of the pedestrians, everyone confidently going on their way, clearly used to navigating the hubbub. I'd always thought of Techne as a pretty large city, even if it was dwarfed by Neos, but Ferrum's second-largest city seemed tiny in comparison to the bustling metropolis that was Saffron.

Leader Sabrina continued her confident stride as she pushed through the small group of onlookers surrounding the battlefields, claiming one of the open arenas and gesturing for us to follow with a flip of the wrist. I followed her past the crowd, and could hear muffled whispers as people noticed our passage, and began to recognize my opponent. Sabrina wasn't the only one waiting for me at the battlefield.

A woman in a long, violet robe stood on one side of the battlefield, occupying a box drawn in the turf just outside the barrier's bounds. She held up a hand as I approached, and I paused, but the gesture wasn't meant for me. Instead, a trio of Poké Balls rose out of a satchel on the woman's shoulder, surrounded in a light corona of violet energy. The devices bobbed through the air, traveling towards Sabrina's side of the field in an erratic, jerky motion.

Once they were about halfway there, the glow snapped off, and the uncertain arc shifted into a perfectly smooth line that drew the red and white spheres directly into the psychic gym leader's orbit, where they continued to hover, circling the woman like planets around a star. Murmurs arose behind me as the demonstration of psychic power caught the onlookers attention and more people realized that a gym leader was out and among them.

I tried to put them out of my mind as I walked to my place in the arena, but in all honesty, the flutter of nerves and uncertainty were welcome distractions from my previous concerns and anxieties. An awkward moment passed as I stood on my side of the battlefield, as Sabrina and the other psychic stared at one another without saying anything for a solid fifteen seconds.

It took me a moment to realize that some sort of telepathic exchange was going on, and I stood patiently until, sure enough, the referee broke off her stare and shouted with an authoritative voice (helpfully in Galarian).

"This will be a three-on-three battle between Gym Leader Sabrina, of Saffron City, and Fione Alvida-Joy, of Techne City. Both trainers are allowed one switch. Trainers, are you ready?"

"I am," I shouted, as the gym leader calmly announced, "We're prepared." A glimmering barricade flew up, the mostly-clear barrier separating us from the referee and the crowds.

"Release your Pokémon!" I hadn't had a ton of time, but the walk over here had allowed me to work out some semblance of a strategy. My knights were at their strongest when they could set up No Retreat, and their First Impression would be devastating against an unprepared or weakened Psychic-type. I'd probably need to send them out last to best make use of their capabilities.

Mana I needed to hold to deal with anything my knights would have trouble with, plus she had the sort of firepower that the gym leader might not be expecting. All told, my choice of lead ended up being obvious. Maushold appeared on the field, eyes flicking back and forth between the crowd and their opponent. I could see their ears flattened, and their paws twiddling uncertainly as they huddled close to one another.

"Hey," I called out to them, drawing their attention to me, "don't worry. Win, lose, all that matters is showing everyone what you've got. I know how hard you've been working over the past few weeks. Let's show it off." I wasn't sure how effective my words were, but my partners straightened, and turned to face the Pokémon Sabrina had released onto the field. I recognized her as a Hypno by sight, though this one didn't look all that much like Bakiru.

Where my former coworker had possessed obvious corded muscles beneath his yellow fur as well as a thick mane of white hair almost down to his diaphragm, this specimen was noticeably wirier, and had a far less robust ruff surrounding her neck. That, combined with her shorter stature and less prominent snout made me think she was probably younger than Bakiru, though I didn't know nearly enough about Hypno biology to know for sure.

The referee looked at our posturing Pokémon, nodding to herself, before shouting, "now, begin!"

"Nidokinging!" I shouted, at my partners, the coded command directing them to dive into the ground and book it towards the enemy's side of the field. Hypno were experts at putting their opponents to sleep, and the last thing I needed was for my Mauses to get caught by a Hypnosis at range. The trio of normal-types gnawed their way into the earth, paws and incisors scything through the battlefield's loamy surface as they descended out of view.

Just a few weeks ago, burrowing down at that speed would have been impossible for my partners, but our training with Mr. Gima and Big Bite, his Krookodile, were now paying dividends. And the rewards were substantial indeed, because if Maushold had taken just a few moments longer to disappear from view, they'd have gotten caught by the waves of somnolent energy pouring off the Hypno's pendulum.

As soon as it became obvious that my partners were out of range, and with seemingly no direction from the gym leader, our opponent desisted, lowering her yellow-furred arm and switching to another move. Judging by the way her eyes narrowed in glee and she stifled inaudible laughs, she'd increased her power using Nasty Plot. Her access to such a powerful boosting move meant we couldn't afford to dally.

I stomped my foot, twice long and once short, before repeating the order, directing my partners as they tunneled through the earth. They couldn't feel the vibrations like a true Ground-type, but their sensitive hearing was strong enough to pick up the distinctive rhythm I was beating. True to my command, the mauses converged, erupting from the ground right underneath the Hypno, barreling upwards in an explosion of churned earth and gnashing teeth.

Unfortunately, the Psychic-type was ready for their assault, holding her fingers to her head and glaring down at the incoming fuzzy projectiles. The spray of dirt slammed into the Hypno, doubtlessly doing some damage, but my partners halted in midair, caught in their opponent's psychic grip. Well, two of them did.

The littlest Maus wasn't with the parents, and I saw widened eyes and fearful realization right before a third ballistic maus emerged from the earth behind the Hypno, crashing into her back and latching on with enlarged incisors. The Hyper Fang dug deep, and while it didn't do nearly as much damage as it would have with the parent's support, it was still a solid hit that made the Hypno begin flailing in panic.

She released her Psychic-hold on the other two Mauses, who dropped to the battlefield and took a moment to shake their heads free from the headache induced by Psychic. A shouted command to "Blitz!" from me had them up and moving through, reflexively rushing in at their opponent with paws aglow.

Their pounds slammed into the Hypno's legs, forcing the Psychic-type to stumble, but she maintained her footing, and worse, a sense of icy calm asserted itself over her, overwriting her previous panic like whiteout over smudged ink. The Hypno's eyes began glowing, and an eruption of Psychic energy exploded out from her pendulum, knocking my partners away. The Expanding Force didn't seem to do much damage, but it flung all three mauses into the shimmering barrier surrounding the field.

Clearly, Sabrina had trained this Hypno to use the move to make distance with foes, instead of directly harming them. Even boosted by Nasty Plot, my partners weathered the attack well, which gave me an idea.

"Claps!" I shouted, the coded command coming out just in time. The three mauses surrounded their opponent in a triangle and let out encouraging cheers and enthusiastic applause, the Encore forcing the frustrated Hypno to break off her attempt at Hypnosis and instead repeat her ineffectual Expanding Force. Now that my partners were at a significant range, the move didn't do any real damage, and the waves of psychic energy washing over them barely ruffled their fur.

"Chorus!" I directed, instructing my partners to let loose with Echoed Voice, their raucous cries quickly filling the arena. The waves of sound had Sabrina's Hypno wincing, but once again the gym leader's partner rallied, closing her eyes and smoothing the crease in her brow. She weathered one blast, then two, and then a wave of force erupted off of her, timed perfectly so that the move was in sync with my partner's next Echoed Voice.

The two waves of energy, one sonic, one psychic, crashed into each other and rebounded, both attacks rebuffed. Somehow, Sabrina had gotten her partner to convert her Expanding Force from a way to knock enemies back into an improvised shield, one that pulsed in time with my partners' Echoed Voices, beating back the sonic assault. And all that, still without giving a single vocal command.

Instead, the woman stood silent as a statue on her side of the field, glaring out imperiously at the battle without any perceivable change to her expression. The repeated clashes continued, and a thread of my thoughts directed my attention to the Hypno, and to the sinister twist of her trunk that I recognized as a Hypno's version of a smile. Encore had worn off! And worse, the yellow-furred Psychic was layering quick Nasty Plots in-between her Expanding Forces.

Echoed Voice was getting stronger, but our opponent was boosting all of her attacks, and there was no guarantee that her upper limit was lower than Maushold's. It felt like the onus was on us to do something, and my mind raced, looking for a solution. Encore probably wouldn't be all that effective again so soon, especially since our opponent was switching moves so rapidly.

The pulses of Expanding Force meant my partners couldn't close, and the Nasty Plots had strengthened the move enough that if it wasn't pushing up against my partners' attacks, it would probably be crushing them against the barriers. A Substitute or Protect could buy us some time, but either would require interrupting the Echoed Voice chain, weakening our assault while our opponent remained boosted up.

We needed to open a hole in the Hypno's defense, and quickly, or I'd need to recall Maushold and let one of my other partners deal with the powered-up Psychic type. I almost reached for Mana's ball, but before I did, something caught a piece of my attention. One of the maus 'parents' had stepped close to the hole my partners had dug at the beginning of the match. A perfect place to duck and take cover from an incoming attack. I didn't hesitate, shouting: " Nidoqueen sacs!"

At the same time, however, my foot slammed into the earth a single time, our signal to bide our time and wait beneath the ground. I wasn't sure the message would go through, but my intent was bundled in the command, and as it rang out across the battlefield, I saw the maus I'd directed moving. They leapt into the hole, letting a wave of Psychic energy wash over them, before poking their head out of the impromptu bunker and raising their paws above their head.

They waved them back and forth in a way that even I found entrancing, while at the same time screeching in a way that demanded addressing. Sure enough, the Follow Me had Hypno's eyes focused on the maus, and the next wave of Expanding Force came out differently from those previous. Instead of erupting omnidirectionally, the attack blasted in a wave towards the taunting maus. They let out a worried chirp, and ducked down under the ground, letting the attack flow overhead and slam into the barrier behind them.

And at the same time, the other mauses redoubled their Echoed Voices, the attack blowing through the misdirected Expanding Force and staggering Sabrina's Pokémon. The Psychic-type sagged, the heavy attack leaving h er reeling, and the opening was all the underground maus needed. They emerged from the earth right below the Hypno, out of the same hole that they'd attacked from earlier.

They'd traversed the battlefield in a moment at my stomped-out command, able to scamper through the already-formed tunnel at a frenzied pace. When they poked their head up, they didn't need any further orders, opening their jaws and letting loose an unearthly screech that dropped the Hypno to her knees. The Hyper Voice was quickly echoed from two other directions, and I could feel my eardrums rattling in my head as waves of sound exploded in all directions.

Finally, the sonic assault was too much for Sabrina's Hypno, who lost her footing and collapsed to the turf, unable to muster any further resistance.

"Gym Leader Sabrina's Hypno is no longer able to battle!" I heard the referee's voice like it was being shouted underwater, and I shook my head back and forth, trying to clear the ringing in my ears.

"The Gym Leader has thirty seconds to release their next Pokémon!" Sabrina didn't wait. Her prone partner disappeared in a flash of red light, and the woman expressionlessly released another Pokémon onto the field. I didn't recognize the oddly-human looking creature, which swayed back and forth across the field with an easy grace. The (presumed) Psychic-type had purple skin, large, expressive hands, and full lips pursed in an easy grin.

They looked very much like a she, an impression only reinforced as she picked at the hem of her red dress with those large hands and dipped down in a curtsy that dropped her blonde hair almost to the turf below. Absently, I wished I'd thought to grab my Pokédex before running out of my apartment so I could identify the unfamiliar Pokémon.

The reminder of my hurried flight from home threatened to bring my anxieties rushing back, so I sequestered off those thoughts and spun up more threads to focus on the battle in front of us. Maushold looked exhausted, not from taking hits, but rather from an expenditure of energy. I could have them stick this battle out, but with how gassed they looked, they might not be able to pressure this foreign Pokémon.

If Sabrina's second partner could also boost her own capabilities like the earlier Hypno, we might quickly find ourselves in a dangerous position.

"Are both trainers ready!" the referee asked, their voice a little louder now as my hearing recovered.

"I'm switching!" I shouted in reply, calling Maushold over to collect in front of me.

"Great job out there," I told them as I recalled the trio.

"Rest and recover a bit, but stay ready. We're not done here yet." My hand hovered over my knights' ball. It'd make sense to release them now that I was down my switch and they could use No Retreat without worry, but I was a bit leery of the type-advantage, and swapped to Mana's ball at the last moment. I couldn't help a small grin that crept across my face as she appeared on the field as a single silvery fish. Really, it only made sense to go with her.

After all, if Sabrina's next two Pokémon were about the same level as her first, Mana would be perfectly able to handle the rest of the fight all on her own. The referee eyed my tiny partner with a dubious expression, and I could see the spectators behind the gym leader whispering things to one another that were doubtlessly unkind to my unimpressive little fish. Still, Sabraina's presumed subordinate did her job, raising a hand to the sky, and shouting out: "Now, begin!"" Show them what you can do!"

I howled at Mana, and my demand was met by a similarly belligerent roar. The sound made the barriers vibrate, an ominous bellow that could drown out the sounds of the surf itself. Azure bodies erupted into being surrounding my piscine partner, silvery fish replaced in mere moments with a titan of the depths.

I could see Sabrina's eyes visibly widen, the first change in expression I'd witnessed in the woman since meeting her, and her partner barely had time to dance a shimmering Light Screen into being before Mana's Hydro Pump plowed into her. The pressurized water smashed into the Psychic-type like a truck, barely slowed by the glimmering barrier of energy that tried to block it.

She was carried back, forcing Sabrina to step out of the way as her partner slammed into the barrier behind her, landing in a heap in front of the flickering shield. Clearly woozy, the Psychic-type tried to stagger to her feet, only to be enveloped in another crushing blast of water, this one driving her into the turf. Mana relented after a few moments. Her school's maw closed shut, cutting the attack off in the same way one might turn off a faucet. The gym leader's Pokémon didn't stir.

Everything was silent for a few moments, before the referee stammered out a call.

"T-t-the Gym Leader's Jynx is unable to battle. Please release your next Pokémon?" That last part of the statement sounded almost like a question, and sure enough, I saw what might have been a flash of uncertainty on Sabrina's face as one of the balls orbiting her spat out a beam of red light that recalled the downed Jynx. Slowly, the gym leader reached up, plucking one of the floating spheres free from its psychic orbit.

She buried the tiny device in her blouse, before pulling a different Poké ball out from the same place, one obviously older and more weathered. The referee sucked in a gasp as the device flashed, releasing a familiar-looking Alakazam onto the field. It took me a moment, but I recognized this Pokémon, I'd seen her not too long ago. This was one of the two Alakazam assisting Sabrina with teleporting from Ferrum to Kanto. That, more than anything, made me put my guard up.

The referee had brought three balls to Sabrina for her to use, though how the woman had known to do so, I had no idea. This Alakzam though, the gym leader had already had with her. That meant something, I was sure of it.

"Gym Leader Sabrina is down to her final Pokémon. Are you both ready?" Wordlessly, we both nodded, and the referee threw down her hand, "then begin!" Mana needed no command from me to release a Hydro Pump that screamed through the air like a Hyper Beam. Unlike the Jynx before her, however, Sabrina's Alakazam made no move to block the attack. Instead, she vanished, disappearing in one bare second and teleporting right below my partner." Below you!"

my shouted command wasn't in time, and a sphere of verdant green energy slammed into the school, sending azure constructs ablating away. The Energy Ball was as devastating as one of Grinder's Power Whips, if not more so, and the school instantly scattered, blasting water everywhere and forcing the Alakazam to Teleport away once more. We couldn't just take attacks like that, which meant we needed to change the battlefield to suit us better.

"Flood!" I directed, commanding Mana to let loose an absolute deluge of water, her Surf quickly filling the battlefield up to my ankles, pressing against the sparking barriers. Another barrage of Energy Balls flew out, the Alakazam forming them in her spoons and flinging them rapid-fire. Mana took a couple of hits as she warped the terrain, but a sphere of gleaming water surrounded her, the Aqua Ring helping her recover through the Supereffective Attacks." Now!" I ordered, judging the water-levels high enough.

A small bubbling was Sabrina and her Alakazam's only warning, before an eruption of water exploded from beneath the Psychic-type's feet, Mana's Brine blasting water up in the air in a column that crashed into the arena's upper bounds. A flickering at the edge of my vision caught my eyes, telling me that the blisteringly fast Pokémon had avoided our attack." F7!" I shouted the Psychic-type's coordinates, and Mana obliged, sending up another eruption of water that almost caught our speedy opponent.

And yet the Alakazam avoided it again, even shooting off a quick Energy Ball before she teleported out." C3! G11!" I dictated the orders one after another, and Mana obliged, successive Brines sending pillars of water hurtling into the sky.

The pace of our assault was blistering, and the explosions of water sent the crowd screaming and roaring with various emotions that I couldn't spare the attention to parse. And yet. And yet, we were always just a step behind, just barely missing or slightly scraping the evasive Alakazam as she appeared and vanished in the spaces between moments. Shimmering spheres of green energy crashed into the school, shattering azure constructs and causing the entire structure to ripple.

I felt a growl in my throat that my piscine partner mirrored, our twin expressions of displeasure causing the water beneath us to ripple. This wasn't working and Alakzam's attacks were devastating my partner. Surely the successive teleports were exhausting, but we couldn't bet on them running out of energy before us. Especially since this Pokémon was probably some sort of teleportation expert, considering she'd been helping the gym leader cross continents. We needed to change up the pace.

Hit them with something they couldn't dodge.

"Mana, let them hear your roar!" I screamed, my voice cracking as I shouted over the Brine eruptions. The pillars of water halted, replaced by echoing waves of sound that made me grit my teeth and sent the arena's barriers fizzling. The Uproar my partner was making was a relatively new development, a move taught to Mana by Maushold, but subtly different from the Normal-types' two sound-based attacks.

Uproar was a commitment, a move that Mana had to use multiple times in succession if she wanted to put any real power into the attack. The trade off was that the move was powerful, easily surpassing the base form of Echoed Voice and pretty competitive with Hyper Voice. It also kept anyone from hearing it from falling asleep, though that wasn't very relevant here. What was relevant was how difficult it was to dodge sound-based attacks.

Even substitutes weren't always foolproof, and no matter where Alakazam teleported on the field, some of Uproar's energy was going to be washing over her. Something the Psychic-type seemed well cognizant of, as she halted her vanishing act, and instead held up her spoons. In a moment, a glittering barrier appeared in front of her, easily absorbing Mana's sonic assault without difficulty.

The next wave of sound crashed through the barrier, but Sabrina's Pokémon weathered the attack well, her eyes screwed shut in intense concentration as a light, purple glow suffused her form. Another Protect blocked the third phase of Uproar, leaving the Alakazam almost entirely unharmed as she threw out another ball of verdant energy that plowed through my heaving partner. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Mana bellowed out a roar of frustration, and dove into the water below, her entire school vanishing beneath the four inches of azure fluid flooding the field. I knelt to the ground, my knee dipping beneath the water and one hand splaying out, increasing my contact with the earth." Whirlpool!" I directed, and immediately the water around me began rushing inwards, forming a spiral that would have sent me sprawling had I not dug my hand into the soaked loam beneath me.

Across the arena, a shield of psychic energy sprung up around Sabrina, sparing her the effects of the attack, and her Alakzam took off into the air, crossing her feet and hovering off the ground like some sort of flying saucer.

The whirlpool rose up out of the water, forming a spout in the middle of the arena from which azure constructs went flying out, seeking the hovering Alakazam like homing missiles. Sabrina remained completely silent, giving no sign of any command, but that didn't stop her Pokémon from vanishing and reappearing, avoiding the swarm of constructs and reaching out with both spoons, forming a psychic corona that surrounded the waterspout and made it explode from the inside out.

I didn't believe that the gym leader wasn't giving her partner any orders, but it was patently obvious by now that the psychic was communicating with her Pokémon telepathically. To my complete frustration, it felt almost exactly like fighting Donna and the damn PSS all over again. Our opponent could battle at the speed of thought, an advantage Mana and I just couldn't match, even if we were very in sync. I needed to even the odds somehow, give my piscine partner some chance to hit this damn Alakazam.

I looked at the gym leader, but Sabrina wasn't giving any hints about what she and her partner intended to do. My eyes flickered to the Psychic-type in question as she teleported out of the way of Mana's school as it erupted from the water below. Then again, maybe Sabrina wasn't the only opponent in this fight I could try to read. The water previously bound up in the Whirlpool flooded the field again, and I started directing Mana to make Brine eruptions once more, forcing Sabrina's partner to dodge.

More Energy Balls flew out between the Psychic-types frenetic movements, and I could tell Mana was tiring, but I felt like I was on the edge of something, that I was moments from figuring it all out. There! The Alakazam's head tilted slightly, her eyes flickinging for the briefest instant. The Psychic-type could only Teleport somewhere she could see! The realization wasn't a moment too soon, as I saw a blast of energy crash into Mana's school causing the entire azure construct to explode.

Water sloughed off the dissipating bodies, falling to the marshy earth below, leaving a solitary silver fish heaving with exertion in the air. And yet, her reduction didn't stop Mana from trying to blast the Psychic-type with Brines, and I saw the Alakazam's head tilt to the left and her eyes flicker." C6" I howled, before Sabrina's partner had even vanished.

The Psychic-type reappeared, energy already forming in her spoons, only for an eruption of water to crash into her from below, sending the shocked Pokémon flying into the air. The yellow-skinned psychic's eyes were comically wide, and I saw her twist in midair, reflex action taking over." E6" I shouted, and Mana was there, emerging from the water to crash into the stunned Psychic-type.

The impact was almost comical, as my tiny fish plowed into a Pokémon many times her size, but the results were spectacular, the Alakazam flying up into the sky once more. This time though, she had control of herself, and instead of teleporting, she caught herself in midair, hovering in place as she reached out with a spoon and twisted it in midair, as if anchoring herself in place.

"Blast them!" I howled at the exact same moment the gym leader's eyes glowed very briefly, for the first time since the match had begun. If Alakazam's earlier reactions had been fast, this time they were near-instantaneous. Her other spoon flew out and she wrapped Mana in a Psychic grasp that had her entire body trembling. I could see my piscine partner writhing in pain, but the assault didn't stop her from opening her jaws and letting loose an out-sized stream of water that crashed into the hovering Psychic-type.

The two were locked there for a moment, their respective moves blasting past and into one another, until the stream of water cut off, and Mana sagged in the Alakazam's Psychic grip.

"The challenger's Pokémon is unable to battle!" the referee announced as, with surprising gentleness, the hovering Alakazam lowered my partner to the water below. My poor little fish landed without a splash, floating in the shallow pool for a few moments before I recalled her with one outstretched hand.

"Good job out there Mana. Sorry I didn't clock onto them fast enough. We have their number now," I promised, as my hand tightened around her ball. The crowd was going ballistic, and out of the corner of my eyes, I could see two familiar looking faces, along with a few other children of about the same age, cheering and shouting with the rest of the spectators. A pair of nurses were with the small group, carefully hovering over the children and keeping them from getting too close to the barrier.

I looked away from the gathered watchers, turning to look up at the gym leader and her partner instead. I ripped another Poké Ball free from my belt and sent it careening out onto the field with a shout, "Knights, you're up. They're tough. Get ready." My declaration had my partners vibrating, their shields clanging and their expression eager as they splashed through the slowly-draining water. The referee raised her hand, and everyone on the field tensed.

Distantly, I could hear the roar of a crowd around us, and some absent part of me noted that the arena was now entirely surrounded, but I banished it from my mind as Sabrina's assistant lowered her hand and shouted, "begin!"

"Stagger blitz!" I ordered, directing my knights to lunge forward, their First Impression coloring them a sickly green. Just as I expected, the priority move wasn't fast enough to catch the evasive Alakazam. It was, however, fast enough that it provoked an instinctive reaction. Lance plowed through the space she'd been just a moment ago, and my command was going out even as he whirled in midair, trying to track the vanished Pokémon." D6!" Sabrina's partner reappeared, spoons already raised.

Her Psychic caught Percy in midair, giving her just enough time to physically duck out of the way of Kay, her eyes glowing with what must have been some sort of foresight. And then the other three Falinks plowed into her, their overwhelming onslaught coming one after another.

Galad's hit staggered her, leaving Bers and Tristan free to ram into her as well, pushing the powerful psychic back and forcing her to blast my partners away with the same Expanding Force trick Sabrina's Hypno had employed, though the wave of energy looked more like a Psychic than the former attack. My suspicion was validated when my knights began glowing, their Defiant likely triggering after Psychic weakened their defenses." No Retreat!"

I shouted, any loss from actually announcing the move more than made up for by the impact its dramatic name had on my partner's morale. And morale was high as my knights glowed with energy, power and determination suffusing their forms and their eyes gleaming eagerly. Sabrina's lips pursed, barely a microexpression that I might have been imagining, and her partner raised her spoons, waving them in an esoteric gesture that sent waves of psychic energy flying towards, trying to capture my knights.

My lips curled up, and more evidence of our training with Mr. Gima made itself known. My knights let loose savage cries, and dark energy poured off of them, eroding the Psychic grip like acid poured over paper. Assurance was a move we had already worked on, but not one we'd particularly mastered. Training for weeks with a Dark-specialist and his team had given us plenty of opportunity to rectify that.

My knights still weren't experts on the level of Scrafty or Neirah, but they could muster enough Dark-type energy to shatter a psychic hold, and hopefully enough for another little trick I had planned.

"Scatter and Blitz!" I directed my knights, dredging out an old standby and combining it with a new command. My knights leapt in various, pre-determined directions, before charging forwards, holding the Dark-type energy chambered in their shields. The waves of Psychic energy washed over them, doubtlessly doing damage, but failing to grab ahold of my knights, and they closed the distance quickly, all six of them approaching the grimacing Alakazam with malicious intent.

I saw the yellow-skinned psychic's head turn minutely, and shouted to my knights, " Second B7!" My mouth almost couldn't keep up with my demands, but the intent was conveyed instantly, and Percy was diving before I think he even fully registered what I'd said. Months ago, that sort of command directed at a single troop would have been impossible, but my knights had been progressing in leaps and bounds.

They still didn't take nearly as much independent action as Mana or Maushold, but they could more than make up for it by listening to orders with exacting precision. Which was exactly what I needed right now. Percy arrived where I'd specified, before looking around confusedly, but his mere presence there, alight with Dark-type energy, had done what I needed. A panicked expression flashed on Alakazam's face as her Teleport fizzled out, her destination suddenly filled by angry Falinks.

She was forced to fall back manually, actually stepping as she flung blades of psychic force forwards, blasting Lance and Bers away. Tristan caught up to her, but his strike was deflected by one glowing spoon, a glimmering barrier forming at the point of impact. And then Kay arrived, his shield aglow with Dark-energy as it took the Alakazam in the gut. She doubled over, only to go staggering back as Galad popped up, his horn crashing into her face and making her stagger back.

Another wave of force blasted her two assailants away, but Tristan swiped his whole body, his horn momentarily black as pitch and cutting through the wave of energy like the prow of a ship through the surf. He didn't have enough energy to continue the assault on his own, but a shout from Lance and the glowing energy from a Helping Hand all but propelled him forwards, forcing the Alakazam to teleport again.

And when she arrived, a Falinks was waiting for her at my command, Assurance plowing into her leg and forcing her onto one knee. An actual rumble of frustration came from the Psychic-type, the first vocalization she'd let loose in the entire battle, and she slammed her spoon down atop Bers' head. The formation's fifth braced, expecting some sort of attack, but nothing happened, and my hardiest knight was left blinking bemusedly, as the kneeling psychic vanished once more.

She appeared right in front of me, her back turned and her body aglow with energy that looked way too much like a Recover for me to be comfortable.

"Cannons!" I bellowed, directing my knights to fire off a Rock Slide that interrupted the healing move, forcing Alakazam to teleport once again. She kept her back to me, however, preventing me from reading her expression. She must have figured out how I was reading her, or more likely the gym leader had. That was okay though, my knights had covered the field now, creating a virtual minefield of bristling Falinks that very much limited where our opponent could maneuver.

Chess was a lot harder when your opponent's Nidoking could appear on any square on the board, but we were drawing the net closed, and I was confident that we'd almost achieved checkmate. Which, of course, is when Sabrina decided it was time to flip the table. Bers let out a cry as the water around him exploded, the formation's fifth smashing into the ground as if a giant had stepped on him. I could see a gleaming pillar of energy crushing down on the Fighting-type that was almost as bright as the sun overhead.

I didn't recognize the move, and Alakazam hadn't done anything obvious to cause the powerful attack, and the moment of uncertainty that realization caused made me slow to react when Sabrina's partner vanished once more, appearing a meter away from Galad and darting in with surprisingly quick steps to tap him with her spoon. That was it! Bers had been tagged by the spoon! One thread started a mental countdown as another directed my knights to retaliate.

Galad lashed out with his shield, forcing the Psychic to stagger back, before she vanished once more. She traded blows with Lance next, appearing out of range of his aura of darkness and rushing in on surprisingly quick feet. He dodged her questing spoon, slamming her with his horn for her trouble, but she disappeared again after a moment, catching Percy off guard and touching her psychic implement to his carapace.

He whirled, and she dodged out of the way of his horn, only for Kay to slam into her from behind, forcing her to let out another Psychic that blasted my knights away. A cry went out, and another glowing pillar of energy crashed to earth, the attack descending like wrath from the heavens. Galad let out a wail as he was knocked unconscious, and my mental countdown stopped, that thought thread helpfully telling me exactly how long it took for the attack to arrive. Ten seconds.

The fight had devolved into a melee, and my mouth let out a blistering stream of orders as the glow in Sabrina's eyes intensified.

"First D3! Sixth watch out! Third cannon H2! Second Protect!" My throat was burning, and my voice couldn't keep pace with the necessary stream of commands, Lance picking up my slack and micromanaging his brothers. The aloof, enlightened psychic we'd been battling was gone, replaced by a snarling, desperate warrior. Sabrina's Alakazam lashed out with her atrophied limbs, supplementing her lacking muscles by throwing her body around with psychic power.

Psycho Cuts and Psybeams flew in all directions as she teleported in a frenzy, her questing spoons always looking to tag an unwary Falinks. My knights chased her across the field, corralling and cornering her as best they could while leaving rearguard fighters to catch her as she tried to escape. My knights were alight like I'd never seen them, following my orders to the exacting letter, my voice overlapping with Tristan and Lance's as the three of us coordinated my partner's desperate dance.

Glowing pillars of light crashed into my knights, only to be deflected off of gleaming barriers, most of the energy blunted. Even still, the powerful attack overwhelmed their defenses, and each of my partners could only take a couple such blows before falling, even through their individual Protects. Kay went down first, tagged by a blast of psychic energy from which he didn't stand up. Tristan was next, eating his third pillar from above and finding himself unable to sustain his defenses for long enough.

Lance was the second-to-last to fall, Sabrina's Alakazam eating two Assurances from Percy's shields to buy the space to focus enough energy on a Psybeam that took the forward brass down. Two months ago, Percy never would have stood defiant without his brothers. Today, the formation's second roared a challenge and hurtled forwards, the sheer darkness pouring off of him deflecting two Psycho Cuts and disrupting Alakazam's teleport when she tried to escape his charge.

She brought her spoons forwards, creating a barrier that Percy plowed into, his horn dripping dark with malice as it shattered the psychic projection.

"Don't let her escape!" I shouted, and his shields lashed out, grabbing ahold of the psychic's outstretched spoons and pinning them against his spherical body. He reared back on his articulated legs, heaving with all his might, and the jerky motion yanked his spindly opponent off-balance. And even that wasn't enough. The Alakazam's eyes were glowing almost as brightly as one of her pillars, as were the gym leaders.

The Psychic-type fell forwards, but she met Percy's horn with her own forehead, Zen Headbutt setting her massive skull ablaze with energy. Both combatants staggered back from the titanic impact, but somehow they held on. Percy refused to release the spoons, and he and I both roared as he leapt up, his Headbutt catching the Alakazam in the stomach. She let out a gasp, but wrapped her bony arms around Percy, before reinforcing her hold with psychic power.

The formations second struggled in her grasp, bellowing defiance and pouring pitch-black power into his captor, but the powerful Psychic-type held fast, rasping invectives of her own as the glow of a Recover suffused her form. It was just in time, as a pillar of Psychic energy crashed down from above and crashed into them both, smashing the two combatants into the muddy loam below.

The impact created a marshy crater in the softened ground, one that was still faintly glowing as the psychic energy from the powerful attack dissipated around the downed fighters. And somehow, impossibly, Sabrina's Pokémon stood up, spoons bent and warped, body caked with muck and damp, but somehow unbowed, standing straight and firm as she stared down at Percy's prone body. I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding, and shook my head as I recalled my knights.

"Incredible guys. Everything I could have asked for and more," I told them, as I held their ball to my forehead and took another deep breath. The smell of mud and exertion reached my nose, and I looked up, gym leader and Psychic-type both staring at me with matching, unreadable expressions. The crowd behind the barriers were going insane, and even the referee looked a bit pale, her eyes wide and unblinking.

Only my opponents seemed unbothered, other than what might have been a moderately excited grin on the Alakazam's face. Maybe for them, this was just another day in the office. The thought made me let out a little chuckle as I stowed my knights' ball. I took one final breath, and then plucked the final Poké ball from my belt.

"Alright guys, time to bring this home," I told them as I hurled Maushold's ball forwards. They came out bristling. Uncaring for the mud and muck. They were my least competent battlers, the newest members of the family, the ones my other partners thought might not be devoted enough to the cause. But I'd always known otherwise. After all, what had Maushold been doing when I first ran into them?

"Everyone else got us this far, it's all on you now. Most of these people have probably never even heard of Ferrum. Let's show them just who we are." My words were quiet, I'd mean them only for my partners, but for some reason, the crowd quieted, staring at the battle with emotions I couldn't spare the focus to parse. My brain felt like it was coming out of my ears, and I could taste the tang of copper in my throat, my vocal chords rubbed raw by the stream of orders I'd been giving.

I wiped my nose on my sleeve, and ignored the blood that dripped into the water below. A moment passed, then two. The referee didn't bother asking, didn't say a word, she just brought an arm up and then down, and we all exploded into motion." Scream!" I howled, and my partners obliged, blasting a cone of force forwards that made the water below them crash like the Techne surf. Alakazam grit her teeth, and erected a psychic barrier, weathering the attack.

She retaliated with a blast of energy that bowled my little partners over. They went rolling, but came up in a moment, fur dusted with mud and grime and teeth bared in a rictus snarl. Another Hyper Voice rang out, staggering the powerful psychic but still, she remained standing. She reached out with her spoons, forming a psychic hold over Maushold. My partners thrashed and gnawed, but they didn't have nearly the same experience with Dark-type energy as my knights did, and they couldn't tear themselves free.

The powerful psychic staggered forwards, trudging through the mud and silt, until she stood right in front of the trio of captured Normal-types. She winced as their screaming voices sent waves of energy pouring over her, but she didn't let the sonic attacks stop her from bopping each of them over the head once with her spoon, before taking staggering steps away.

A pillar of psychic energy began forming over the bound trio, Sabrina's partner shaking and a vein popping in her forehead as she struggled to maintain her hold while conjuring her attack. The glow intensified, the beam of psychic energy hovering over my partners like an executioner's blade. They looked up at it, eyes wide, mouths howling defiantly. They struggled and thrashed, but they weren't able to break Alakazam's psychic hold on them on their own. But they weren't alone. They'd never be alone, ever again.

Not if I had anything to say about it.

"We're with you," I told them, my voice a whisper barely audible over the whining scream of the incoming attack.

"Always, and forever. For as long as you'll have us." The pillar of light grew, and the corona of psychic energy surrounding my partners intensified. Visible sweat was beading on Alakazam's face, and her spoons were sputtering and sparking with uncontrolled power. The barriers were flickering, raucous screams and the gathering psychic energy threatening to shatter the arena's protections.

I couldn't see the crowd anymore over the glow of energy in front of me, and I couldn't hear anything over the screaming maelstrom of psychic power hanging above our heads. And in front of Alakazam, appearing almost on top of her planted foot like a rodent poking its head out of a nest, was a little white head. Not quite like my partners, smaller, and more animalistic, yet nevertheless unmistakable. A proto-maus, a construct of syn and RE, popped into being in the space between moments.

The newborn construct looked around, seemingly confused, before its eyes alighted on the quivering ankle in front of it. Glorious purpose flashed in the proto-maus' eyes, and it opened its jaws wide, before clamping down with razor-sharp incisors on the yellow ankle before it. Alakazam's eyes widened in complete and utter shock. Her leg had blocked Sabrina from seeing the proto-maus, preventing the gym leader from warning her partner.

And then the proto-maus began to swell, its form twisting and warping with barely-contained energy. Alakazam had barely enough time to look down in utter stupefaction, before the swelling construct erupted in blinding light, energy pouring out of its mouth and eyes and ears. And then it exploded, the eruption of energy letting loose a sound like a thunderclap and shedding lumens like a lightning bolt.

Alakazam staggered, her spoons dropping and freeing Maushold from her psychic grasp, and three things happened all at once. First, four more proto-mauses appeared around Alakazam, all of them already aglow with power. Second, the two parent mauses whipped their oversized heads forwards, throwing the littlest maus forwards, sending them right into Sabrina's Alakazam. And third, the pillar of light descended, blinding everyone and forcing me to hold up my arms to protect my eyes.

The attack ended after one supercharged moment, and I forced myself to blink the spots from my eyes as I scoured the battlefield. Alakazam reappeared, visibly singed on her lower half as she collapsed to one knee, a hand going out to keep herself from collapsing. Maushold were collapsed in a heap on the ground, smashed into the muck by the powerful psychic attack, all three of them unmoving and apparently insensate.

"The challenger's Pokémon are unab–" the referee started, as groans and cheers came from the crowd. And my howl cut them all off." Scream!" I roared, my voice drowning out the crowd and sending the referee staggering back, eyes wide. And the littlest maus obliged, crawling up from where they'd hidden underneath Alakazam's chin and perching right by the psychic's ears. The Hyper Voice sent waves of visible energy crashing through the air and made the water around the two explode away.

The third little body buried in the muck vanished, the substitute disappearing into particles, and for yet another time today, Alakazam's surprise was absolute.

And still. And still she caught herself, her second hand going out, keeping her from falling all the way." Scream!" I roared once more, my voice a rasping cry that pierced through all the exclamations of shock and surprise. Another maus appeared, and then another, and another, until five additional proto-mauses surrounded the Alakazam. They all opened their mouths wide, bodies aglow with energy erupting from every orifice.

They wailed as one with the littlest maus still perched on Alakazam's shoulder, and the ensemble of screams made me stagger back, even as I added my own voice to the choir, demanding more, even more! The constructs exploded, venting energy like literal bombs, and barely a moment passed before even more appeared in their place. Two, four, six! The two larger mauses hauled themselves upright, out of the crater they'd been pancaked in, almost as if the screaming was loud enough to wake even the dead.

They opened their jaws and added their own contributions to the unearthly choir, summoning bodies until the arena was covered in almost two dozen mauses." Scream!" my voice was unrecognizable, but Maushold listened anyway, the sea of constructs opening their mouths in a wordless shriek. The barriers surrounding us shuddered, letting out an unearthly howl of their own as the generators powering them whined and sputtered.

Psychic energy erupted from Alakazam, and her raspy cry joined the raucous ensemble as she lashed out with waves of uncontrolled power, driving hordes of mauses back before they could explode, even as the littlest member of the trio held stubbornly onto her bony shoulder. The psychic blasts were like a tide, pushing the constructs back, only for them to press in again, scrambling across the ruined battlefield, charging like an army of the damned as they tried to reach Alakazam.

She roared her own defiance once more, but this time, no noise came from her throat. Instead, it was a psychic howl, a sound that scraped on the mind like a nail being pounded through a chalkboard. And still on came the mauses, scrambling over each other, a churning maelstrom of bodies all screaming as one. A roiling, bubbling carpet of glowing, explosive power. The waves of repellent force began slowing down, and the mauses pressed in.

The horde collapsed over Alakazam like the tide, burying her in ashen grey bodies. And above the roiling mountain, appeared a pillar of energy, dimmer and clearly less powerful than before, but still stronger than it had any right to be. Below the pillar of light, the writhing mountain began to bloat and expand, as the mauses erupted with unconstrained energy.

I stamped my foot on the ground twice, hoping against hope that my command was audible over the impossible racket surrounding me, and then I dove to the ground, covering my ears with my hands, and burying my face in the earth. Unconsciously, a countdown began in my head, a stray thought thread bringing it to mind unprompted. Seconds passed, until the timer hit zero, and the world went white, even through my eyelids and the earth below. And the sound of it, like I was at ground zero of the apocalypse.

An all encompassing-roar that surely damaged my hearing even with my hands over my ears. I felt a wave of energy wash over me, threaten to pick me up and hurl me, but being prone kept me from going flying. Distantly, I heard a shattering noise, accompanied by exclamations of shock and fear. Apparently, the battlefield's barrier hadn't been strong enough to contain the blast. Hopefully all of the spectators were alright. Hopefully my partners were alright.

That thought galvanized me into standing up, scrambling out of the dirt and muck to rise on my feet once again. The battlefield was in shambles, a massive crater marking ground zero of the explosion. Most of the water was vaporized, leaving the arena's surface a blasted, uneven wasteland. A few small pools remained, glistening under the now-muted looking sunlight as cracks in the loam slowly drained the fluids away.

Alakazam was face-down in the middle of the crater, completely unmoving, along with the littlest maus, who was splayed out a few feet away from her. Behind me, another maus was prone, apparently caught in the blast. Sabrina wasn't standing unruffled on her side of the barrier like I would have expected. Instead, dirt and mud splattered her front, and her eyes were aglow with energy, as were her hands.

She had her arms outstretched, and a glance to the side showed a barrier formed around the arena, one even stronger than the battlefield's native protections, judging by the way it'd contained the blast. Just outside its bounds were cringing spectators and shocked onlookers, many still ducked on the ground or sheltering behind hastily-released partners.

The referee had erected her own psychic shield, but it hadn't been enough to keep her from going sprawling, and she groaned as she stood up from where she'd been caught by the gym leader's barrier. She looked over the blasted landscape with wide eyes, but faithfully raised an arm and spoke with an unsteady voice.

"Both– both trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle, meaning this match ends in a–" Once more, the referee was interrupted, but this time not by me. Instead, Sabrina held up a hand, the very motion cutting her subordinate off. Everyone stared at her, confusion etched on their features. Everyone except me, for I had eyes only for a little hole in the earth, where a small whirlpool of water was draining.

And sure enough, emerging from the tiny tunnel, sheltered by the very first move they'd used at the beginning of this battle, was one of my faithful mauses, their fur completely stained brown by mud and silt. They hauled themselves free of the sucking mud, and stood triumphantly, planting their hands on their hips and chirping a glorious cry of victory.

I staggered onto the field, scooping up downed mauses as I went, until I had all three in my hands, holding them gingerly to my chest and whispering raspy thank-yous and congratulations to them. Distantly, I heard the referee proclaiming our victory, and the snap-hiss of Sabrina's Alakazam being recalled, but right now, those things weren't important. In this moment, there was only one thing that held any meaning. My partners knew that I'd be with them, forever and always.

Knew it in their very hearts, with all of their being. And in the face of that, what else could possibly matter?