Chương 143: Chapter 138

It was hard to tell what my Pokémon were doing, but despite that usually costing points in a Contest, it was winning us the match. The floor was covered in a dense Misty Terrain; pink fog obscured the field. Florges was hidden within thanks to Camouflage, and a mass of petals from Petal Dance floated around in the area. Above that mist, harsh sunlight shined onto the field as Whimsicott floated around and giggled at his opponents.

A paired Beautifly and Mothim swirled around each other in the air, furiously trying to land at least one attack. A Silver Wind infused with dust from Beautifly's wings blew out from it, and a Gust from Mothim enhanced the move's speed. As it rushed at Whimsicott, the almost listlessly drifting petals lingering in the air suddenly coalesced around Whimsicott to completely obscure him. The two wind attacks then blew those petals away only to reveal that Whimsicott had replaced himself with a big, fluffy Substitute.

It easily took all of the damage for him. Our opponent's points ticked down. We were at half, but he was at a third. What was the worst for him was that he knew even a surprise Whirlwind from Beautifly couldn't throw Whimsicott off. His Tailwind let him dodge such attempts far too easily.

"Get that Whimsicott! String Whip!" Beautifly shot out sticky strings at Whimsicott, and Mothim's eyes glowed with Psychic to control the move. Even when Whimsicott tried to dodge, the strings curved and chased after him, forcing him to dash erratically around the field. In the end, several of the strings managed to hit him, and he was slowed by sticky gunk wrapping around his horns and arms.

The points we lost were minimal, as, after all, Whimsicott had been purposefully moving around the field so much to distract the Bug Types away from Florges.

"Solar Beam," I commanded. With the harsh sunlight up, the move was used nigh-instantaneously. Florges caused the field to pulse, and both the mist and the floating petals were all pushed back. Like a heaven-made laser shooting through clouds, Florges's Solar Beam pierced through the field to strike both her targets. Both Beautifly and Mothim suffered from the attack.

Their "String Whip" combination might have caught Whimsicott, but he had managed to lure them into the exact position they needed to be to let Florges hit them both at once. The last of our opponent's points faded away, and the buzzer went off to signify the end of the match.

"And the winner of this second round match is Robin!" Mothim was seriously injured, though Beautifly looked to still be in good shape thanks to its use of Morning Sun. The two Bug Types moved to flutter over to their trainer's shoulders as he sadly waved to the crowd, doing so for the last time. On my end, Whimsicott landed on my head, and Florges floated up to where I was in the dedicated Trainer's box.

I purposefully performed a deep bow where both of my arms stretched out to my side to mimic the movements of someone who might have been from a royal court. Robin and their Pokémon left the field. The moment I was out of sight, all pretense was lost and I broke out into a run.

"We have to go fast," I said. Both of my Pokémon nodded in agreement. The second I was hidden behind dressing room doors, my mask was thrown off, my gloves removed, and my raised shoes thrown into the corner. This second day had the remaining three rounds of matches, with the semi finals and finals happening later tonight. For now, there was still this set of eight matches to get through, and the later rounds would be separated by a break of an hour each.

I was lucky enough to have my match early on in this grouping period as there was a battle I desperately wanted to catch set almost immediately after mine. I threw on a jacket and put on a pair of oversized sweats to hide Robin's clothes in as little time as possible. It was hot but manageable, and Florges and Whimsicott were sent back into their Pokéballs. I poked my head out into the hallway to make sure no one was watching then strode out to the stands.

By the time I made it up to the seats, the battle was about to begin.

"How was watching Robin's match from up here?" I asked. Ninetales's tails wagged behind her. She absentmindedly nodded her head. Next to me, Florges released herself from her Heal Ball to join us in our seats. Like Ninetales, a scarf disguised her identity. I heard the announcer's voice begin to ring out at that moment.

"For this match, hailing from Twinleaf Town, we have the lovely Dawn!" The crowd cheered for Dawn as she entered the stage. Her eyes looked as determined as ever while her mouth maintained a soft smile. She waved a gloved hand to the crowd as she moved up to her spot on the field. She straightened out her dress to properly prepare herself for this upcoming match.

"And across from her, also from Twinleaf Town, we have the rugged Kenny!" Rugged was definitely the wrong word to describe him, but when he grabbed his chin and smirked, a good number of the younger audience's cheers increased in fervor. A close-up of Dawn on the screen let me see that her smile shifted slightly at that, but she maintained the same confidence she had as before. The announcer went over the rules—far quicker than she did yesterday—and the two sides sent out their teams.

"Come on out, Pachirisu, Mamoswine!"

"Hit the stage, Empoleon, Alakazam!" As the four Pokémon hit the field, I leaned forward in my seat slightly.

"Kenny brought some powerhouses, but Dawn's Pokémon aren't to be underestimated. Her Mamoswine is strong, and Pachirisu should be able to pull off some neat tricks when paired alongside it," I said. Florges hummed in consideration. As we watched, the buzzer rang out, and the battle began.

"Pair up!" Dawn yelled. To start the match, Pachirisu rushed to scurry up Mamoswine's side as Kenny yelled out an order to tell his team to "Lift!" Alakazam's eyes glowed to try to telekinetically grab the pair. Behind it, Empoleon created a Whirlpool in the back. Mamoswine rushed right through the move. The Psychic attack was unable to get a solid grasp on a Pokémon that size. Pachirisu, though on Mamoswine's back, managed to avoid being grabbed as well.

The pair took some damage, but not anywhere near enough to slow them as Kenny's points slightly ticked down from that failure.

"Aaaand... Zap!" Dawn yelled. Mamoswine's tusks became coated with ice for an Icicle Crash as Pachirisu moved up to better sit on Mamoswine's head. Suddenly, Mamoswine gained a sparkling yellow tint from Pachirisu's Discharge across the beast's entire body. I stood up leaned against the railing in front of me the moment I realized what she was doing.

"Mamoswine is a Ground Type, so it's immune to Pachirisu's Electric Type moves," I said.

"Dawn's using Pachirisu to enhance Mamoswine's offense all while Mamoswine provides ample defense for Pachirisu with its large body. A great strategy for a Contest." I regretted the fact there were no dual Ground and Fairy Type Pokémon that I was aware of that would let me mimic the strategy, myself. Even then, I doubted such a Pokémon would be as large as a Mamoswine. Dedenne would have to stick with flying on Altaria's back, which he greatly enjoyed, anyway.

As Mamoswine charged forward without stopping, Alakazam quickly realized its attacks weren't slowing it down. Panicking, the Psychic Type set up a Reflect that Mamoswine soon slammed into. There was a pause as the two Pokémon struggled to win the exchange. Pachirisu noticed this and briefly pulsed its electricity at a greater intensity to tip the scales to Mamoswine's favor. The screen broke. Alakazam was forced to Teleport away to avoid damage.

Kenny lost a good fifth of his points at that, and the riding pair of Pokémon continued forward towards Empoleon and its growing Whirlpool.

"Now!" Kenny ordered his Empoleon. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Alakazam flashed in, grabbed Empoleon, and used Teleport to flash out. Without a Pokémon fueling its existence, the hovering pool of water fell to the floor, crashing into and utterly soaking both Mamoswine and Pachirisu. Pachirisu was forced to stop its Discharge to not damage Mamoswine.

Not only had it suffered super effective damage from the falling Whirlpool, but now, with how drenched it was, Mamoswine was effectively under the effects of a Soak. If Soak had actually been used, Mamoswine would have temporarily become a pure Water Type. As it stood, it simply seemed to be temporarily vulnerable to the Electric Type. Kenny hindered Mamoswine the same way Ash had defeated Brock in his Gym. Dawn's points were chunked as a result of that exchange.

Not only did Kenny have his Pokémon completely dodge Dawn's attack, but he had laid a trap for her that stopped her combination move in its tracks.

"See Dee Dee? I took your advice! I focused on more than just my Pokémon's moves when training for this!" Dawn's face turned bright red. I sat back down in my seat.

"I don't think Kenny realizes just how rude that was," I mumbled. In front of the entire world, Kenny had just called Dawn by an embarrassing nickname. I could already hear some people shout Dee Dee from the crowd. If she was unlucky, she might be publicly stuck with it for the rest of her career. If she was lucky, people would forget about it by the end of the day. In this moment, though, the nickname "Dee Dee" was being actively shouted by the crowd. If I was in Dawn's shoes, this would be my nightmare.

For a moment, it looked like Dawn was ready to burst, but then she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Kenny looked smug to have such a big advantage over his childhood friend, but when Dawn opened her eyes back up, she looked more focused than ever.

"Pachirisu, get further down on Mamoswine's face. Mamoswine, charge forward and use Ice Shard. Both of you, attack." Dawn's orders came out quickly and concisely. Mamoswine charged forward once more, but, this time, Pachirisu was essentially sitting right between its eyes. From Mamoswine's tusks, several chunks of ice were formed and shot out, creating what were essentially frozen daggers for Kenny's Pokémon to dodge.

Alakazam teleported out of the way while a Metal Claw from Empoleon shattered the attack before it could properly reach it.

"Alakazam, set it up," Kenny said.

"Empoleon, you know what to do." With the speed and skill comparable to a Mr. Mime, Alakazam formed an absolute maze of Light Screens and Reflects across the field. However, it was forced to close its eyes and step into a hovering meditation just to maintain them all in exchange. Behind it, Empoleon glowed blue.

"Keep going, Mamoswine! I believe in you!" Dawn yelled. Her mammoth Pokémon continued to charge, but each screen it hit was taking an incredible amount of effort to force and break through. Alakazam was putting all of its energy into maintaining the field, and rather than the screens growing weaker, they seemed to be growing stronger.

"When you're ready, Empoleon," Kenny said. I hadn't even noticed when the Empoleon's eyes had closed, but it snapped them open anyway. A burst of water far more powerful than a Hydro Pump and far more wide range than a Surf blasted out of the Pokémon. The field cheered with rampant excitement. Marian announced what the move was, surprise clear in her voice.

"Incredible! Kenny has trained his Pokémon to use Hydro Cannon, one of the most powerful Water Type moves in existence! Mamoswine is going to have a tough time now!" From screen to screen, wall to wall, the Hydro Cannon bounced around the field as the maze directed every single bit of the water Mamoswine's way. As a result, it was trapped in a cage of Alakazam's making, unable to properly dodge the incoming water. Dawn gained a look of grim determination. She gave her Pokémon a single order.

"Launch him," she said. Pachirisu, who was still on Mamoswine's face, braced itself to get ready for the launch. Mamoswine reared back before charging forth, reaching incredible speeds in only an instant before it stopped just as fast. The Water Type move hit Mamoswine right when Pachirisu hit the air. The only reason the large Pokémon didn't faint right there and then was thanks to Endure. Similar to how Mamoswine was on the verge of fainting, Dawn's points ticked down to almost nothing.

"Pachirisu!" Dawn yelled. Pachirisu landed on Alakazam's face. The Psychic Type snapped open its eyes. Pachirisu smirked then bit down with a Super Fang. A horrible scream rang out over the field. Alakazam furiously tried to tear Pachirisu away, but the electric squirrel's buck teeth let it grab on far too well. Every screen on the field shattered, saving Mamoswine from the flood of Hydro Cannon.

In the back, Empoleon was forced to recharge from the sheer amount of energy it poured into the move, leaving only Pachirisu and Alakazam to actively fight. Well, that wasn't necessarily true as Mamoswine was able to push to its feet. Just barely conscious, a single Ice Shard was launched forward. Pachirisu leapt off of Alakazam's face only for the chunk of ice to hit it right between the eyes.

Kenny yelled out for another Psychic attack, but Alakazam needed a moment to recover from its ice and angry squirrel-induced headache. With both of his Pokémon unable to attack, Dawn finally sealed the match in her favor.

"Now, Discharge!" Pachirisu cheered, clutched its body tight, and sent out a wave of electricity all around it. Alakazam and Empoleon were shocked by the attack, and Kenny's points ticked down. All Pokémon on the field froze when the buzzer sounded out. Looking up to the scoreboard, it was clear that Dawn had won. As the audience cheered at the result of such an exciting battle, Kenny was forced to return his injured Pokémon while Pachirisu was still healthy enough to jump into Dawn's arms.

Mamoswine, however, only managed to slowly trudge over. Dawn hugged its face. Her mic had turned off so it wasn't possible to hear what she said, but it was still clear and obvious she was giving her team the highest of praises. I doubted Mamoswine would be able to compete in any future matches with the injuries it sustained here. As both sides walked off the field, I turned to Ninetales.

"So, with that, the second round of matches is over and we're onto the third. You ready to win?" Ninetales gave me a firm nod. The third round had four matches with four familiar Coordinators still around. Dawn, Jessilina, Zoey, and Robin. Unexpectedly, there would only be two matches that involved those four. Dawn had just beaten Kenny, and she was already lining up to face Zoey. That matchup was completely unexpected to me, but that was only due to a lingering assumption from the anime.

Dawn and Zoey might have a dramatic match in the finals in that reality, but here, they were fighting against each other in the top eight. Then there was me, who had a disguised Team Rocket member as my opponent. As luck would have it, Robin and Jessilina were scheduled to go first for this round, which meant I might have the chance to see Dawn and Zoey fight immediately after.

When the time came around for my match, the stagehands told me I was supposed to be the first on stage, but Jessilina had already practically leapt forward to greet the crowd first. For the life of me, I could not recall where Jessie had placed in the Grand Festival in the anime. She hadn't won, but that didn't mean I should underestimate her. After all, Team Rocket was strong in their own way. They might not win, but they constantly battle Ash and sustain frequent, powerful attacks by Pikachu.

My Pokémon might have been training to fight Legendary Pokémon, but against Team Rocket? With what her team could resist, the match was more in Jessie's favor than most might have thought.

"Ah, Robin, the Coordinator so ugly you have to wear a mask to hide your face!" Jessie taunted as I walked up to the field.

"I would feel sorry for you, but in a way, I'm almost jealous." I sighed, unsure why I was even willing to play along.

"And why's that?"

"Because you get to look up to an example of true beauty: me!" Jessilina covered her mouth to laugh as the audience had a mixed reaction to her words. She seemed to only hear the cheers, though.

"... Anyway," the announcer's voice echoed out.

"Coordinators, send out your Pokémon and begin!" The pair I sent out had been planned for quite some time. Ninetales appeared alongside Mawile, and Jessilina sent out her Pokémon across from them. Seeing what Pokémon she chose filled me with nerves. Wobbuffet would be able to bounce back any attack, and Yanmega would be able to harry my Pokémon from the air. Together, they were a strong combo.

The buzzer went off to signal the start of the match, Ninetales's snow filled the field, and Jessilina commanded Yanmega to use a move.

"Sonic Boom!" Ninetales didn't have a chance to disappear with Snow Cloak before the move hit her. With incredible speed, a burst of sound shot forward and struck Ninetales right in her side. It wasn't a strong attack, but it was definitely speedy, and we lost a bit of points from that sudden strike. Yanmega flew by Mawile's head as Ninetales managed to finally disappear. With those two preoccupied, Mawile casually walked to the center of the field. Wobbuffet hobbled up to her and saluted.

"Wobbuffet!" it cheered. Mawile cocked her head. The two Pokémon stood off and did nothing else.

"What are you doing?! Use an attack!" Jessie yelled.

"Why?" Jessilina growled in annoyance as the state of the field did not change. Yanmega could not find Ninetales in the snow, and since Mawile wasn't attacking, Wobbuffet wasn't able to reflect any of her moves.

"Coordinators, if you do not attack, both of you will lose this battle," Marian's voice called out. Jessilina tugged on her honestly ridiculously sized pigtails.

"Ugh! Yanmega, use Silver Wind on Mawile!" Despite Mawile having a four-times resistance to Bug Type moves, this wasn't too bad of a call. One of Yanmega's abilities was Tinted Lens, which meant any of its attacks that were resisted came out twice as strong. Mawile would take half the effective damage instead of a fourth, making the move slightly stronger than it normally was. Gusts of winds whipped out from Yanmega, and dust from its wings blew off to give the move its silvery color.

The attack struck Mawile, who winced but was otherwise unaffected, but my eyes widened when I saw the true purpose of this play.

"Mawile, Iron Defense! Ninetales, Confuse Ray!" Ninetales's move came too slow. Wobbuffet's body, next to Mawile, glowed bright colors as the Silver Wind hit it as well. The move was super effective against Wobbuffet, and as a result, Wobbuffet took increased damage it could send back and empower. Unfortunately for us, Wobbuffet's Mirror Coat wasn't aimed right back at Yanmega, but it was aimed at Mawile.

Her jaws served as a shield to protect her, but the sheer power of the Mirror Coat once it landed sent her flying through the air.

"Ninetales!" I yelled. Ninetales didn't bother to use Confuse Ray. Our points were ticking down. Instead, she appeared on Jessilina's side of the field, where she was hiding, and her body flashed with Agility. In moments, she was right under Mawile. Ninetales leaped, and Mawile managed to right herself in the air. In an incredibly graceful set of movements, Mawile landed on Ninetales's back like a mount, and Ninetales touched down confidently on the ground.

Jessilina didn't lose any points, but the points we were losing stalled. Mawile's jaws hung off to one side of Ninetales as if she was a paladin wielding a tower shield.

"Time to go on the offensive. Blizzard and Ice Fang." Ninetales ran forward as snow swirled around her. A Blizzard collected over her body in preparation to be sent off later. Meanwhile, sharp shards of ice formed over Mawile's teeth in preparation to use a freezing cold biting attack. I had called them a paladin, but with this frost, they were honestly closer to a mounted death knight running over frozen wastes instead. The pair ran at Wobbuffet.

The Pokémon's face twisted up as it struggled to figure out which reflecting move to use. Mirror Coat would send back Blizzard, but Counter would send back Ice Fang. It couldn't use both at once.

"Use Mirror Coat!" Jessilina decided for it.

"And Yanmega, get in there!" Wobbuffet saluted determinedly and began to glow for its chosen move. I admit, I had cheated a bit with my meta knowledge here, as I knew Wobbuffet wasn't the cleverest of Pokémon around. There was no way Jessilina would be able to call out a bluff, so there was no need to consider if Wobbuffet would use Counter instead. Indeed, like I expected, Wobbuffet used Mirror Coat right as ordered. Ninetales's Blizzard didn't hit it.

Instead the attack curved around and was sent towards where Yanmega was coming at her from above. With the Blizzard sent out, she was free to run past the spongy blue Pokémon, and Mawile's jaws bit into it. To my surprise, Mawile actually picked up Wobbuffet and threw it at Yanmega. Wobbuffet's arms flailed chaotically as it flew through the air, hitting Yanmega right when it dodged the Blizzard. Both Pokémon started to fall from the sky due to that impact.

"Now, Ice Age." With that code word called out, Ninetales skidded to a halt and turned around to let them both face the falling pair. From Mawile's jaws, shards of stone formed on its outside and were flicked away. From underneath her, Ninetales waited for just the right moment to send an Ice Beam forward. The series of sharp stones were hit by the Ice Type move and were frozen together.

What was initially just several shards flying at their opponents was now one giant, sharpened, ice crystal aimed at Jessilina's team.

"Mirror Coat!" Jessilina screamed. Ninetales had already used a move to follow her attack up. A Confuse Ray struck the pair of falling Pokémon, causing Yanmega to send Sonic Booms out wildly. One of them hit Wobbuffet. The attack was bounced back at Yanmega and canceled the prepared reflection moments before the Ice Age hit. Both Pokémon cried out in pain from the powerful combination move and were knocked far away.

They hit a psychic screen that surrounded the field for safety, and a buzzer signified the end of the match.

"And our victor is... Robin!" Marian announced. Jessie practically screamed and returned her Pokémon. She stomped off the field in anger as the two of mine returned to my side. Mawile was a bit scuffed and shivering, but otherwise, she was fine. Similarly, Ninetales had only taken that single Sonic Boom at the beginning, which wasn't very strong. With my mic off, I turned off my voice changer as well.

"Good job you two," I said quietly.

"We're moving onto the next round because of you." Ninetales's chest puffed up with pride. Mawile unmounted the fox and gave me a smile. I returned them and walked off the field. After me, Zoey and Dawn would be battling. If everything went well, there would be a decent chance I would battle one of the two next.