Chương 110: Chapter 106

As it stood, I considered one of the biggest weaknesses of my team to be a lack of coverage. Sure, we managed to win against Byron's Steel Type team, but our victory was heavily influenced by our prior knowledge of Byron's team. Our training on Iron Island let us practice against Steel Types in particular as well, and we were lucky that our plan actually worked.

Outside of Azumarill, we won by having each member of the team wear them down with tricks and constant attacks, not through singular, strong, super effective moves. It would have been significantly easier if my Pokémon could attack with more than just one or two Types, and I planned to make that so. Take Florges, for example. Her Grass and Fairy Type attacks were powerful and well practiced, and alongside them, she had plenty of utility moves as support.

Grassy Terrain, Synthesis, and Wish kept her alive while Moonblast, Petal Dance, and the occasional Fairy Wind could wear foes down. However, that's all she had. Sure she had other moves like Solar Beam and Magical Leaf, but those were still Grass Type moves, so her coverage was basically the same. If she knew more options for offense, her flexibility would skyrocket and make her that much tougher of a foe. My solution to this problem was to make the most of Veilstone's department store.

After accounting for all of the time spent training and traveling these past few months, it was currently September 17th. We had four days until our battle this Saturday, on the 21st, where we'd once again face a Gym Leader in a Mega Evolution show battle. That wasn't enough time to learn every move I wanted my team to learn, but it was enough to get a start. I still planned to buy all the TMs I wanted at once, however. When it came to Type coverage, Altaria and Mawile mostly had everything they'd need.

Altaria had alternately-Typed moves like Flamethrower and Ice Beam, and Mawile had every elemental biting move with the exception of Poison Fang. Altaria didn't really need anything else, but Mawile still needed more ranged options. Thankfully, there was a catalog in the Veilstone department store that helped me choose which TMs I wanted for my team out of the numerous choices they had available. The very first move I purchased was one I wanted to use to help Mawile in particular.

Mawile had decent Type coverage, but she needed more ranged options outside of Stone Edge, so I purchased the move "Shadow Ball" for her. Shadow Ball would allow her to harry foes from a distance that could normally dodge or withstand her Stone Edge. She might not have the innate special power to make the attack decently strong, but just its presence would help dissuade foes from staying at range. Both Kirlia and Whimsicott would be able to learn the move as well.

Mawile could also learn Dark Pulse, but that move was primarily picked up for Ninetales. I wanted Ninetales to have an option to use against Ghost and Psychic Types that could see through her illusions. This was the best there was. It was short ranged, like Dazzling Gleam, but good to knock foes back away from her. The final of the three reusable TMs (but not the last of my purchases) was a TM for Psychic. A surprising amount of Pokémon on my team could learn Psychic.

Although, I didn't plan on teaching it to everyone. Florges, Whimsicott, and Carbink could all learn the move, though I was half dreading teaching Whimsicott since I knew he could get up to even more with telekinetic powers. Psychic was basically a much more powerful version of Confusion with a longer range, which meant both Ponyta and Kirlia could learn the move as well.

However, I had no plans on using the TM to teach them, since developing it on their own would make it more personalized, easier to use, and have a higher potential power. I also bought a total of three single-use TRs for individual members of my team. Florges would get Pollen Puff, a Bug Type move that was perfect for her in particular. Its Type meant she had a counter to Psychic Types, and it would also let her quickly heal an ally in a pinch.

(That healing pollen tended to make allies sneeze, however, so that was something to work out of it.) Ponyta would get both High Horsepower and Wild Charge, a Ground Type and Electric Type move respectively. Both of those attacks were simple "charging" moves that would synergize well with Ponyta's tendency to run, which, again, increased his Type coverage, the name of the game. Azumarill, Altaria, and Dedenne didn't get any new moves.

I had wanted to see if there was a TM for Steel Roller for Azumarill so she could synergize with the terrain my team frequently put up, but it didn't look like one was available. For Dedenne, too, I hadn't really seen any TMs that would have fit him simply because everything he could learn were either Fairy or Electric Type moves he could develop on his own. At best, he could maybe learn Grass Knot or Ally Switch, but those were moves Florges could tutor him in anyway.

In total, that was six moves I planned to purchase today, which actually put a sizable dent in my savings with how expensive the TMs for Shadow Ball and Psychic were. Those moves were powerful, in demand, and great for any team. I was starting to get a little worried about how much money I had, since it'd been a while since I'd received any large sums. While Professor Sycamore's sponsorship was still going on with no signs of stopping, it wouldn't stretch forever.

I really needed to think of a more permanent solution to my income, but I'd work that out eventually. It was when I was standing in line to purchase the TMs and thinking about the future when a familiar face walked up behind me. I hadn't expected to see him here, or anywhere else soon at all, so I must have been staring. He glanced forward to give me a polite nod.

"Alex," Paul said.

"Paul," I replied. Paul moved to line up behind me, and I turned to stare straight ahead. I forced myself not to fidget in place over how uncomfortable it was for him to be here. It felt awkward to just stand silently in line like this after I gave him that sanctimonious speech back in Oreburgh. I wasn't sure if Paul was feeling awkward too before he spoke, but he must have been uncomfortable with the silence as well.

"I want to talk to you before you leave," he suddenly said right when it was my turn to go up. I gave him a nod in response. I lingered next to the counter after making my purchases, but he motioned toward the elevator instead. Stepping inside, I felt even more awkward once the box started to move down towards the ground floor. It was the middle of the day, so the department store was more empty than it would have been otherwise. We were alone with only generic elevator music to fill the space.

"Battle me," Paul said. He spoke with such conviction it took me a full moment to process this challenge. I honestly should have seen it coming.

"Do you remember what I said last time?" I asked.

"You accused me of treating my Pokémon as nothing but tools and blaming them for losses instead of my own weakness as a trainer."

"Yeah, that about sums it up." We fell back into silence when someone got onto the elevator with us. We resumed our conversation once they left on the next floor.

"It's been several months since then," Paul said.

"I've had a chance to adjust. Accept my challenge to battle." I blinked.

"Really?"

"Yes. Three months is a long time. People can change." I scratched the side of my head awkwardly as I regretted all decisions I made to get to this moment. I knew that Paul needed to hear what I said, but I was far harsher and far too specific about his life when I said so. While I didn't regret it at the time, I kind of regretted it now, even if it did mean Paul changed. He delayed his challenge to Roark. What else has changed because of me?

A sudden thought caused me to blurt out a question before I even had the chance to properly think about it.

"What happened to Chimchar?" Paul's eyes widened almost imperceptibly before they narrowed back into his default glare.

"After a poor performance in the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition, we had a talk, and he left the team."

"So you released him," I pointed out. I remembered that episode of the anime. Chimchar had a panic attack during a randomly-assigned tag-team battle alongside Ash. Instead of helping his Pokémon recover, Paul refused to give it orders and Ash was forced to take over as its trainer. Afterwards, Paul released Chimchar, which was when Ash saw it and—"No. Chimchar agreed I wasn't a good trainer for him. I gave his ball to Ash instead." My brain screeched to a halt.

"No you didn't," I accused. I winced at my own words.

"I did. Why is that so hard for you to process?"

"Because you constantly release your Pokémon you just caught? You practically abused Chimchar all in the name of figuring out his Blaze ability! You really just handed him over like that?" I asked.

"I had a talk with Nurse Joy," Paul began. He looked rather annoyed and was rubbing his head.

"Somehow, my trainer ID had been marked with a red flag that required her to keep a closer eye on who I brought in. She noticed I no longer had a Mothim I caught in Eterna Forest on my team and questioned me on its whereabouts. After discovering I had released it, I was subjected to a stern lecture and was forced to take a multiple-day long class on the proper methods of releasing Pokémon."

"You're kidding," I said.

"I don't kid," he replied. The elevator dinged to signal we were on the ground floor, where the both of us exited the elevator and made our way out of the department store. I shoved my new TMs into my backpack as Dedenne released himself to sit on my shoulder. Paul patiently waited for me while we stood to the side of the department store's main entrance.

"Fine, then. If you've changed, I guess I'll battle you, Paul. When do you want to do this?"

"Now. Follow me." He strode off into the crowds of the streets of Veilstone and I hurried to follow. For a teenager, he had surprisingly long strides, and people tended to move out of his way rather than the other way around. With such a determined lead, we moved past the towering skyscrapers and apartment buildings that made up Veilstone proper to make our way towards the edge of the town. Paul was a Veilstone native, which meant he had family that lived in the city.

More specifically, his brother, Reggie, worked as a Pokémon Breeder on a ranch Reggie personally owned. There were a lot of issues Paul had about Reggie that I knew about from episodes of the anime. Specifically, Reggie used to be a powerful trainer that made his way through four different regions and even took on the Battle Frontier in Kanto. However, he lost to Brandon, the final and toughest Frontier Brain of the Battle Frontier, and ended up retiring to become a breeder.

Paul had issues about that sudden and disappointing shift from his brother, which motivated him to become stronger himself. At least, that was how I remembered it, which made it all the more awkward when Paul led me to his brother's ranch without warning me at all. A man with long hair tied back into a ponytail, wearing a pink smock, walked out of a one story house located at the end of a dirt path. His house marked the boundary of a fenced off area connected to a patch of woods that was filled with Pokémon.

While facial structures never quite translated between anime and real life, the man in front of me was most definitely Reggie based on his clothes and how he was acting.

"Paul, who's this?" Reggie asked politely. His tone of voice was calm yet cheerful, but there was a faint hint of annoyance underneath. I could tell Paul did things like bringing strangers to the ranch to battle without informing his brother quite often.

"Alex," Paul said.

"The Mega Evolution Master." The unexpected title caused me to sputter.

"Okay, what is it with people calling me The Mega Evolution Master? I can Mega Evolve, like, two members of my party, and I can't even maintain it for that long! I've met an actual master, and he maintained two simultaneous Mega Evolutions without even breaking a sweat. I'm just a Fairy Type specialist who can Mega Evolve their Pokémon, not some master of the phenomenon!" I huffed, mildly offended. Paul just stared at me without changing his expression, and Reggie gave me a sheepish smile.

"I take it you haven't seen the fliers?" he said. A sinking feeling entered my heart.

"... What fliers?" I asked suspiciously. Reggie turned back to reenter his home and after a very short amount of time, came back out holding a thick piece of paper. He handed it to me to look over, and once in my hands, I got a clear view of the advertising campaign around my show battle coming up. The flier consisted of two main figures: Maylene, the local Gym Leader and Fighting Type specialist, taking up a fighting stance on the left, and the silhouette of my head, staring ominously at her from the left.

Some of our Pokémon were arranged in a line next to us, proudly displaying Altaria and Mawile for me, and Lucario and Medicham for Maylene. Notably, the text referred to me with the title "Mega Evolution Master," and it referred to Maylene with the title "Fighting Type Master." The date, time, and location for the battle was written on the bottom.

"Wow," I mumbled.

"Dramatic, right? Far as I know, Maylene isn't a Fighting Type Master either, but advertisers always hype up matches more than they need to be. I had that flier ready since I planned to go myself, actually," Reggie said.

"There are advertisements on the television and radio as well," Paul added. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. I wanted to curl up into a hole. Annoyed, I turned my head up to look at the sky and mentally cursed Professor Sycamore and anyone he had hired to advertise these battles. This was so much more than I ever expected, and likely, more than even he planned at the start.

Clearly, spending two months isolated from society on an island alone had some consequences.

"Let's just start the battle," I mumbled.

"Nice to meet you, Reggie." Reggie blinked, surprised at something I didn't quite get. He then just chuckled and rubbed his head.

"I guess I'll ref, then," he said.

"I imagine that's why you came here then, Paul." Paul gave him a nod in response. Paul and I took up spots opposite from each other not too far away from Reggie's home. As we did, a few Pokémon approached to stand on the sides. A Hariyama crouched on a rock while a Nidoking dug a hole to sit in at its side. A Swalot and a Drapion emerged from the nearby forest, and a Staraptor flew down to perch on Reggie's home's roof. A trio of Bidoof trotted over from where they had been meandering in the plains, as well.

Somehow, this had turned into a show.

"If we're already having an audience, do either of you mind if I send some of my Pokémon out to watch, too?"

"Go ahead, Alex," Reggie said. Paul didn't voice any objections. Sending some of my team members forward, Ponyta, Dedenne, Carbink, and Kirlia appeared on the sidelines. I had all of the "weaker" members of my team with me to give them a chance to train whenever we camped while traveling. I had planned to switch them out tonight. The rest of my team needed to prepare for our upcoming battle, so I wanted to at least teach the three that would be going back to the ranch one TM move to practice while they were there.

Dedenne would just work on continuing to expand his electricity reservoir, and I tried not to think about the guilt I had about sending Kirlia back. This battle would at least be a good match for them to watch before they were sent back. Even with his flaws, Paul was a far more experienced trainer than I, and his battling style might be educational to some of them.

"I only have three of my stronger team members with me," I said.

"The rest are still training up."

"That's fine. The battle will just be a three on three, then," Paul said. Reggie's eyes flicked between me and my Pokémon while Paul and I spoke.

"Am I miscounting, or do you have seven Pokémon with you?" he asked cautiously. The way his tone was expressed made it seem like he was on the verge of being upset. I imagined that, as a breeder, he was most likely mandated to report any team limit violations he encountered.

"Ponyta is an exception," I said.

"He hatched from an egg and, due to extenuating circumstances, he won't count against my max until he evolves. I have the papers in my pack if you need proof." Reggie nodded.

"That makes sense. That'll be soon, then," he said. I blinked.

"How can you tell?"

"Ponyta's mane looks like it's starting to be longer than average, and his hooves look darker than usual as well. Individually, those don't mean anything, but together they generally signify an equine Pokémon is close to evolution." I looked over to Ponyta, who was currently staring at the ground, lost in thought. For some reason, his eyes didn't have their usual glimmer.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to talk about signs of evolution after this, would you Reggie?" I asked.

"I want to learn more about Fairy Types, and signs of evolution would be a big help to learn." He chuckled.

"I can actually help with more than just signs of evolution, if you're asking for questions about biology. I've been studying Pokémon for quite a while as a breeder, but I will admit that Fairy Types don't have as much literature about their physiology as other Types. Just be aware that I will be asking questions about Mega Evolution in exchange." I shuffled uncomfortably on my feet a bit, but still nodded to accept his request.

Just because I didn't want to be as connected to Mega Evolution as I currently was didn't mean I wouldn't share information.

"Can we get on with it? You two have been talking forever." I groaned, and Reggie laughed.

"Yes, Paul. We were just finishing our conversation. There's no need to be impatient." Paul crossed his arms. Reggie went over the rules. There would be nothing unexpected about our match. Both Paul and I would use three Pokémon each, with there being no limits on switching throughout. Mega Evolution would be banned for the sake of fairness, which was something I agreed upon as well. Paul and I then proceeded to send out our Pokémon.

"Ursaring, standby for battle!"

"Ninetales, get ready!" A hulking, bipedal bear with a yellow circular design on its chest appeared in the space between Paul and I while Ninetales appeared across from it. The sky clouded over with Ninetales's weather condition, causing the ground to begin to be covered with freshly fallen snow.

"Freezing is fine, but be careful of its Guts. You vastly outpace it, so keep away from its strong arms. Ursaring is likely to know Hyper Beam as well, so be ready for emergency dodges," I hurriedly explained to Ninetales. Paul was giving orders to his Pokémon at the same time I was summing up the matchup's major points.

"Bulk Up. Hammer Arm," Paul said. Ursaring took a step to the side with one of its feet to widen its stance then threw down its arms to be held out at its side. It stomped one foot at a time while swinging its arms while breathing in and out rather deeply. Its use of Bulk Up helped it prepare itself to unleash stronger attacks and resist the impacts of certain moves.

By the time I finished listing out the major details to Ninetales, she had already preemptively set up an Aurora Veil and had put a bit more effort into her snow to make it denser. With her defenses in place, she dashed forward with Agility to circle around Ursaring quickly and launched an Ice Beam to strike Ursaring in the chest. The angry bear just lifted up its arms and smashed downwards, the crackling beam hitting the limb and shattering against the defensive use of Hammer Arm.

Ursaring stepped forward and roared.

"Focus Blast. Repeat," Paul ordered. Ursaring brought back its arms once more, but this time, a pulsing sphere of blue light formed in each hand. Ninetales used this moment to launch another Ice Beam, but Ursaring just let it strike its chest before throwing a sphere right at her. The Focus Blast sailed through the air and looked to be aimed right where Ninetales was about to be. She dug her feet into grassy dirt to halt her motion, and the attack slammed into the ground only inches away.

"Great job, Nine—" The second Focus Blast suddenly slammed into Ninetales. Neither she nor I had seen it be thrown, which meant it hit her before she could get moving again. The Aurora Veil helped her resist the impact, but it still left a nasty welt on her side beneath her fur. Paul tried to follow up that hit with quick orders to Ursaring, but Ninetales and I were already recovered to act in reaction.

"Hyper Beam," he commanded.

"Blizzard!" Ninetales conjured a furious, spiraling storm of snow and ice around her that she readied to send forward at Ursaring. The current weather helped her create it quickly, but Ursaring's Hyper Beam managed to be sent first. Ninetales barely had time to leap to the side before the Hyper Beam exploded into the ground where she just was, the heat from the powerful move melting and disrupting half of her attack. Hmm. We can use this to our advantage.

"Release it!" I shouted. The Blizzard attack was smaller than it could have been, but Ninetales trusted me enough to send the attack forward anyway. Ursaring looked like it was going to successfully step to the side to dodge, but Ninetales was quick to realize my ploy. The Blizzard might have been small, but that reduction in size let Ninetales express even more control of it than usual. It twisted in the air to hit Ursaring and caused it to stumble from the chilling temperature.

Ursaring, still conscious but heavily injured, disappeared with a recall from Paul.

"Weavile. Your turn," he said. A black, bipedal feline appeared on the field with a fan of red feathers sticking up behind its head. A whistling sound came out when its white claws moved through the air, and, without prompting, it dashed forward.

"Metal Claw," Paul ordered.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Ninetales flashed with Fairy Type energy, but the speedy Weavile leapt back to narrowly avoid it. With the bright light temporarily obscuring Ninetales's view, Weavile took advantage of that opening I hadn't even realized existed before now to slice at Ninetales with a Metal Claw. The four times super effective move tore into Ninetales. She wobbled from the unexpected damage.

"Icy Wind!" I tried to order quickly. My objective here was to have Ninetales slow Weavile down to try to regain a speed advantage against it, but when she opened her mouth to send the breeze forward, Weavile just chucked a shard of ice it formed in its hand right at her snout. The Ice Shard attack knocked Ninetales's head to the side, causing the attack to miss, and a quick follow up with Metal Claw finished her off. I returned my battered and fainted starter to her Premier Ball as Paul looked on.

I had two Pokémon still with me, but both, unfortunately, were weak to Ice Types. Appearing from his Love Ball was Altaria, who immediately used his ability, Cloud Nine, to clear the skies of snow. The weather had let Ninetales withstand the first Metal Claw, but now that she'd fainted, we didn't want Weavile to benefit from that increased defense as an Ice Type.

"Ice Shard. On repeat," Paul ordered.

"Cotton Guard, Flamethrower!" I yelled. Weavile, from the ground, formed sharpened chunks of ice that it threw with pinpoint accuracy at Altaria. Altaria was only just barely able to get his Cotton Guard up in time to weaken the impact of the incoming attacks. The issue with Altaria's current defense was that due to the Ice Shard's piercing shape, they were penetrating the added fluff and still damaging Altaria rather significantly.

Cotton Guard still managed to slow them down, but not as well as it could have done against other Ice Type attacks. Following the second part of my command, Altaria breathed in and sent a stream of flame out towards Weavile. It dashed to the side to avoid it, but even though not a lick of fire touched its body, the heat was having an effect on its Ice Type constitution, causing it to slow down.

"Triple Axel. Finish it off," Paul said. I frowned. He was making the wrong assumption about Altaria's current state if he thought Altaria would fall after only a few measly Ice Shards. Weavile continued to dash across the ground to narrowly avoid Altaria's fire, but instead of readying more chunks of ice, it let its arms hang back and leaned its head forward to build up speed. Seeing that, I shouted for Altaria to ready an Uproar once I realized Weavile would be able to get underneath him.

Despite his current altitude, Altaria could only be so high off the ground to make his Flamethrower still hit. Weavile leaped up, using a Quick Attack to increase its height and momentum, and sailed right towards Altaria's position. As soon as Weavile got close, Altaria tried to shift to move out of the way, but the Ice Type was able to latch on to the fluff from Cotton Guard that was making his body a bit bigger than it usually was.

With its new handhold, Weavile swung around and twisted its clawed legs to hit once, twice, and then miss the third kick when Altaria let loose a scream. His Uproar echoed around the arena, and most of the Pokémon here had to cover their ears. Carbink, seeing the Uproar hurting the humans in this area, tried to conjure screens around Paul, Reggie, and I. Unfortunately, the screens were relatively weak and only barely protected us. Carbink was no Psychic Type, but they at least made the Uproar a bit more manageable.

With the Uproar going on, Weavile began to fall to the ground. Altaria immediately shot after it. Weavile clawed desperately at the screaming bird staying right next to its ears, but the remainder of Altaria's Cotton Guard protected him from its attacks. In moments, Weavile slammed into the ground with Altaria still making his painful noise. Before the Uproar even ended, Weavile was returned to its Pokéball, fainted. Ursaring reappeared on the field.

I didn't hear Paul's orders, but it was clear he told his Pokémon to use Hyper Beam. With Altaria still screaming, the Hyper Beam struck him before he could use Roost, burning away a good chunk of his Cotton Guard. Thankfully, he finally stopped screaming at that, letting him take to the air with a rapid pace and circle Ursaring from above. Unfortunately, he was slightly too slow to hit Ursaring with a Dragon Pulse, which it knocked away with Hammer Arm.

"Secret Power," Paul commanded. I remembered this move from the games, but I'd never seen it actually used in battle. I was interested in seeing how it looked, but I in no way expected the appearance it actually took. Ursaring charged in to get close to Altaria, all while glowing a very Fairy Type-like Pink. That pink energy seemed harmless, but then it exploded outwards in a wave that caught Altaria in the wing and sent him careening into the ground.

Altaria tried to use Cotton Guard to re-up his defenses before using Roost, but Ursaring had positioned itself just right to be next to Altaria when he landed, slamming a powerful Hammer Arm right into his face. I returned Altaria to his Love Ball.

"You've been tough, so far. I expected us to do better," I said.

"So did I," Paul responded. I didn't like the sound of his comment. Still, though, Whimsicott's mastery over utility moves was not to be underestimated. Ursaring was practically fainted already, so we would just need to deal with whatever he sent out last. We had just the move, too.

"Grass Terrain. Finish it."

"Hyper Beam." Whimsicott giggled at my command, easily grasping the meaning I was leaving unsaid. Putting Prankster to its full use, he easily dodged the ranged Hyper Beam sent his way with a subtle Tailwind, and sent a green pulse out that covered the field in grass. Ursaring's movements slowed not due to anything harmful, but due to the relaxing nature of the natural healing energies the Grassy Terrain passively provided.

Unfortunately for it, it didn't expect an attack to come from behind while it was focusing on Whimsicott who was lingering at a distance. The quick and hidden use of Nature Power fainted Ursaring without it even realizing what had hit it. The Energy Ball struck it in the back so unexpectedly, it was knocked out from the impact. Paul grunted and returned his Pokémon.

"Each of us has one left, Paul. The battle could still go either way."

"Not likely," he said. This time, appearing on the field was a Fire Type and a new member of his team. It was red and bulbous, with a yellow stomach and a beak-like mouth. Flames on its head flickered about, illuminating a dark glare on its face that threatened to melt the very air in its way. Whimsicott shivered. The Magmar, a pure Fire Type, took a step forward and swung its arms around to stretch in preparation. A cruel grin appeared on its beak as Paul ordered it to use Flamethrower to burn Whimsicott down.

I gave Whimsicott his own orders when it attacked.

"Leech Seed. Poison Powder. Wear it down." The Grassy Terrain went up aflame with Magmar's sheer presence, and Whimsicott was forced to drop in the air with Tailwind to narrowly avoid the attack. Magmar didn't give up at that, though, tilting its head in a continuation of the move and catching Whimsicott with its adjusted angle.

"Fire Spin. Catch it," Paul said. Still maintaining its flames, Magmar pulled its head up like a whip to stare into the sky. As it did so, a Leech Seed set flew forward, stretching their vines out to latch onto and drain Magmar, but a quick adjustment seared them away. Unfortunately, the Poison Powder hidden on top of them burned away as well. With fire entering the air above it, Magmar twisted its arms to send the lingering flames in a spin.

A veritable tornado of fire spun in a cone, and it leaned forward to mimic chucking it straight at Whimsicott. As it stood, Whimsicott was faster than Magmar with his Tailwind up, but his method of flying meant he was caught off guard. Whimsicott moved in the air by controlling the winds rather than any direct input from his physical body, which meant the flames from Fire Spin created an updraft that sent up higher up.

That updraft ceased at a certain point, and Whimsicott was unable to resist the suction that brought him down into the center of the move. Whimsicott cried out in pain. I didn't say anything despite Whimsicott being trapped, because I knew he was making a play here. The Fire Spin was impressive and had indeed trapped Whimsicott, but the level of the flames in the attack was low and something he could easily resist despite the super effective damage.

However, he was most likely acting like it hurt a lot more than it did for a reason, probably to catch Magmar off guard.

"Let it get lower, then Fire Punch and pin. Prevent its movement and take it out," Paul said. Magmar clenched its hand to cause it to burst in flame, then stomped forward with its head angled up to stare at Whimsicott. From within the fire, Whimsicott continued to groan in pain, until out of nowhere, something thunked. I think it took both Paul and I a few seconds to process what just happened. That was especially impressive for Whimsicott since I actually expected this to happen.

Landing in the center of Magmar's two head-bulbs was Whimsicott's Miracle Seed, which he had thrown with Fling. A rather comical bump started to form between them, making Magmar's head appear even more lumpy than before. Annoyed, it took a step forward, but it had to pause when it did so. Whimsicott had laced his Miracle Seed with poison. Now that Poison Powder had successfully inflicted the position, Magmar was losing health.

Its flames meant it was only receiving a minimal amount of healing from Grassy Terrain, and even more, it was likely there were only a few moments before the field effect faded. At Paul's command, Magmar breathed out another gout of flame at Whimsicott, only for him to suddenly pull his limbs in and drop to the ground in a tight ball.

The flames did hit him, but his Protect prevented the damage from being meaningful in any way, and sneaking out from the decaying Fire Spin, Whimsicott burst forward along the ground, then into the air away from Magmar.

"Perfect, Whimsicott!" I cheered. Whimsicott laughed and cheered as well. Paul frowned in a way that looked like a scowl without it actually being a scowl, then gave his Pokémon a new set of orders.

"Smokescreen and Smog. Flood the air to force it down." My heart beat in excitement at that move.

"Whimsicott," I muttered.

"It can't attack if it's using Smokescreen." He knew what I meant. Magmar sucked in a breath and exhaled a large plume of smoke. Black fog filled the field, and unfortunately, some of the poisonous gasses were affecting Whimsicott. He waited a few moments to make sure Magmar was using Smokescreen and not Smog this time around, then moved a bit closer and cheered. I didn't see its reaction, but the sight of the smoke billowing out even higher let me know the Encore had indeed worked.

"Great! Now Taunt!" I shouted. The field was practically invisible at this point. Both Magmar and Whimsicott were poisoned due to Whimsicott's Poison Powder and Magmar's Smog, but that just meant they were losing health at an equal rate. The Grassy Terrain had faded, and so had the Fire Spin, meaning that when Whimsicott insulted Magmar with Taunt, there was nothing on the field to give it an advantage.

Under the effects of both Taunt and Encore, Magmar tried to use Smokescreen, but at the same time, it couldn't bring itself to do so because Smokescreen wasn't an attack. Instead it stood still and raged at Whimsicott, practically throwing a tantrum about how unfair what Whimsicott wanted from it was. Stuck struggling with no moves, Magmar stood in one place and made itself rather known by all the movement it was making in the fog.

Whimsicott charged up an Energy Ball—both it and Moonblast were his best attacks, and Magmar resisted both—then launched it forward at Magmar. Magmar stumbled back, able to withstand Whimsicott's attacks, but then Whimsicott attacked again, and again. The combination of Taunt and Encore didn't last very long, but the combo gave Whimsicott enough time to tilt the match in his favor. He flew up out of the Smog and Smokescreen combo honestly looking quite bad and hovered over the field.

I could tell that sitting in poisonous mists had affected him, and he was still suffering from poison, but at least Magmar was too. The field was silent as both sides of the field waited, until eventually, Whimsicott floated down to land by my feet. He just shook his head and fell to his hands and knees. I gave him a soft smile.

"I'm returning Whimsicott," I called out. When I yelled that, a massive breeze suddenly overtook the field, sending the obscuring gasses high in the sky. Looking over, that Staraptor that had been perched on Reggie's house had repositioned itself to sit next to Reggie and had blown away the smoke and smog. Magmar was still on the field. It was just kneeling there, using its hands to brace itself to not fall to the ground, breathing heavily.

The poison meant it was too injured to move, but it had managed to just barely outlast Whimsicott. It never got a chance to fall to the floor before Paul returned it.

"Looks like Paul won," Reggie commented. I nodded.

"That was a good fight. Magmar had Whimsicott at a strong disadvantage. If Whimsicott had moves it didn't resist, that fight would have definitely gone our way," I said. Paul crossed his arms and scoffed.

"Like that'd matter. That was a disappointment." I stilled from surprise.

"... What?"

"Aren't you supposed to be a good trainer? You're fighting Gym Leaders' personal teams, aren't you? That battle should have been harder than it was." I felt myself fuming inside. That was a hard battle. My Pokémon had put up a great fight, and it came down to the wire in the end. Calling it a disappointment just because he won?

"There's such a thing as a sore winner, Paul," I said. It was hard to hide the sudden vitriol in my voice. He just clicked his tongue and started to walk off.

"I expected more," he said. Honestly, I half wanted to call out that Paul had over twice the amount of experience that I did, and that the fact my team was able to do so well against his was a really good sign, but I didn't see any good that would come out of arguing with him. So, I simply hung back and let Paul walk off, dealing with whatever it was that someone who acted as edgy as him dealt with inside.

"I think Paul expected to lose," Reggie said. I looked over. He had approached when I was watching Paul walk off.

"You think so?" I asked.

"I know so," Reggie replied.

"Once Paul gets it in his head that someone's strong, he tends to put them on an unreasonable pedestal. I've gotten into arguments with him about that. He used to consider me as some undefeatable master back when I used to be a trainer, but in truth, many of the badges and symbols I earned were earned after several attempts and many losses. Paul just needs time to think and get over that mean streak of his. He just needs to process what just happened on his own."

"Is that why he insults people after he beats them?" Reggie shrugged.

"I'm not sure. Paul tends to see people as either strong or weak, and from what he's described to me in the past, he probably unconsciously thinks of anyone he beats as being weak. He's getting better, though. This was just a shock to his system."

"I hope so," I said. I knew Paul was becoming less cruel just from what he told me he'd done, but his actions after our battle felt like I had somehow caused that to slide in reverse. There wasn't much I could have done about it, though. That was Ash's job. All I could do was hope that my actions wouldn't stop Ash from convincing him to be a better person.

"So, still interested in trading information? I can heal your Pokémon while we talk." I nodded.

"Definitely. Learning more about Fairy Types would be a good way to decompress after... that."