“I’m retiring Ninetales,” Gray announced as Erika recalled her downed Victreebel.

  Ninetales froze like an ice sculpture before turning to her trainer with fury in her blue eyes.

  “Nine-Nine!”

  “Yes, I know you can still battle. But we’ve talked about this, yes?”

  Erika and the rest of the audience listened in to the banter between pokemon and trainer, the ‘private’ conversation blasted thanks to the mic attached to Gray. She felt vindicated that her previous conjecture of Gray’s planning for the match was confirmed.

  “Nine-Ninetales!”

  “Yeah you did well and deserve a reward. But why should you get more than what was agreed upon?”

  “Nine-tales!”

  “Huh? And how exactly did you exceed expectations?”

  “Nine-Nine-Nine!”

  Gray froze like his pokemon did earlier. The pokemon in the audience, more familiar with poke-speak, were similarly in shock. People who were curious leaned forward in anticipation.

  “No, you weren’t hitless this match. You got hit by Tangrowth’s Power Whip earlier, didn’t you?”

  “Nine!”

  “So what if you disabled the move? You got hit!”

  Ninetales proceeded to argue her case with Gray, how the lack of type energy in the move made it no longer count. Gray had to massage his temples at his pokemon’s insistence.

  Contrary to what his pokemon thought, he wasn’t an idiot. He knew Ninetales was doing this on purpose, arguing with her trainer on a public platform. It was a two pronged approach: show everyone how good she did during the battle while also securing a public promise from her trainer so he was more likely to deliver.

  Gray was forced to promise better rewards for Ninetales before she became willing to return.

  The ice-fairy type skipped towards Gray, pleased to have gotten her way.

  Erika felt cold settle on her face, far icier than whatever Ninetales had managed to conjure during the battle. It was a slap on the face that she was unable to even land a clean hit against Gray’s supposedly ‘weakest pokemon’. While it was likely that the previous sentiment was flawed, it still painted her in the poorest light.

  “The count now is 4-2, in Challenger Gray’s favor. Trainers, release your next pokemon.”

  Both Erika and Gray tossed out pokeballs at the same time.

  “Exeggutor!”

  “Gar.”

  Without a word from his trainer, Exeggutor fired off a Bullet Seed at Gardevoir. Unfazed, Gardevoir erected a Light Screen to block the move. She regarded the Grass-Psychic type coolly from behind her green shield.

  Not letting up his first move, Exeggutor’s other two heads fired off their own Bullet Seeds. The two additional streams of Bullet Seeds arced outwards before honing on the fairy.

  As a species, Exeggutor’s three heads were capable of independent thought. The Celadon gym leader had put in considerable effort to train her pokemon to be able to release their own moves, creating a broader attack that had taken opponents by surprise more than once.

  Gardevoir, however, barely spared the two new attacks with a glance before two Light Screen barriers stopped them in their tracks.

  “Psybeam!”

  All three Exeggutor heads combined their powers to shoot off a powerful Psybeam, far too concentrated to be stopped by Gardevoir’s Light Screen. Only, it was met by an equally powerful Psybeam from Gardevoir.

  The same moves collided with a boom, producing a light purple smoke that partially obscured the field briefly. When the smoke cleared a few seconds later, Gardevoir was no longer on the field.

  Straightening his spine and keeping alert, all three Exeggutor heads scanned the field for her presence, so it was a shock when he felt a Will-O-Wisp hit him from the back.

  He twisted to face his flank, middle head snarling, only to be met with nothing again.

  “Behind you!” screamed Erika.

  Exeggutor looked behind him again and found Gardevoir regarding him calmly.

  With two Teleports, Gardevoir proved her awareness of Exeggutor’s blind spot, her snappy teleportation placing her out of view of the grass type’s broad vision.

  “Sunny Day!”

  Exeggutor fired off a fiery ball into the air, creating a wave of heat and a strong sun that shone brightly on the battlefield. Erika fully expected Gray’s pokemon to counter the set up, so she was surprised that Gardevoir did nothing. Gardevoir remained standing, expression neutral, proving that her mind could stay calm while her opponent set up.

  Erika knew better now than to gloat at the freebie thrown at her, instinct telling her that there was more going on.

  Despite her misgivings, there was little value in planning for something she could hardly determine for a fact. With little choice, she trudged on with what she knew.

  “Solarbeam!”

  In response, Gardevoir summoned up Mystical Fire, creating a vortex of flames that circled Gardevoir twice before shooting outwards. Thanks to the Sunny Day, the Fire-type energy in the move was powered up, providing enough firepower to go against the Solarbeam.

  Eyes turning blue, Gardevoir used Psychic to separate a thread of Mystical Fire and manipulated it to attack Exeggutor from a different angle. One of Exeggutor’s heads saw the move coming, but was taken too much by surprise to avoid the move fully, allowing the Mystical Fire to lightly graze him.

  Using the speed boost from the sun, Exeggutor began to run around quickly. He fired off attacks from unlikely positions, relying on his quick movements and three heads to keep his opponent guessing.

  Both pokemon began exchanging moves, firing off artillery after artillery of Psybeams and Solarbeams from Exeggutor while Gardevoir countered with her own Psybeams and Mystical Fires.

  After a particularly powerful collision of Solarbeam and Mystical Fire created a bright flash of light, Exeggutor used three streams of Bullet Seeds to catch Gardevoir off guard.

  “Gar!”

  Emboldened by the landed hit, a fired up Exeggutor began to thread closer and closer towards Gardevoir. He ended up taking a few more grazes of Mystical Fire for the effort, but he felt that his Bullet Seeds were causing more damage than he took, so he persevered.

  Feeling her heart settle, Erika thanked Arceus that at least Gardevoir was not going hitless like her predecessor.

  “Catch them with Magical Leaf, Exeggutor!”

  While on the run, Exeggutor shook his head to dislodge a few Magical Leaves that honed in on Gardevoir. Unfortunately, the fairy type was able to manipulate Mystical Fires with Psychic to create a fire wall that burned each leaf to a crisp as it passed through.

  Determined, Exeggutor continued to mix in Bullet Seeds and Magical Leaves to the mixture. The quick exchange of artillery fire made for quite a spectacle, a series of bright explosions that dazzled the audience.

  Exeggutor paused to catch his breath, keeping at least one head on Gardevoir to ensure he would never be taken off guard. Gardevoir, however, stayed rooted in place as she regarded Exeggutor with perfect calmness.

  Both trainer and pokemon felt that something was off the more Gardevoir stayed unmoving.

  As Exeggutor struggled to catch his breath, the adrenaline slowly decreased. Like this, he was better able to notice how much the burn from the earlier Will-O-Wisp had sapped his strength, and how moving around might have given him more flexibility whilst attacking at the expense of stamina.

  In contrast, Gardevoir had hardly moved, sticking to well-timed Teleports to keep up. It was clear that she was winning the war of attrition.

  Frustrated, Exeggutor’s three heads fired off separate Psybeams. To his and his trainer’s shock, the Psybeams were smaller and less concentrated than before, allowing Gardevoir to easily block all three streams with a single shield.

  What was going on?!

  Not letting her opponent think things through, Gardevoir fired off a Mystical Fire, forcing Exeggutor to move again. She carefully manipulated the flames with Psychic to chase after the running pokemon.

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  Before the grass type could get comfortable with the added pressure, Gardevoir showed off more of her expertise by creating even more streams of Psychic-controlled Mystical Fire.

  Multiple missiles chased after Exeggutor, forcing him to twist and dodge to avoid getting a direct hit. Fortunately, he had managed to limit Gardevoir to smaller grazes, never letting her land a direct and thus more effective hit.

  The fairy type remained unfettered, however, as if the small hits against Exeggutor were more than enough.

  The lack of response from her opponent forced Erika to focus. Her mind raced to try and determine what her opponent’s goal was.

  Struck with a lightning of realisation, Erika finally remembered that Mystical Fire had the curious effect of lowering the concentration of type energy whenever they landed, lowering the target’s Special Attack. It explained why Exeggutor’s Psybeams were weakened.

  With grim realisation, Erika knew that this battle with Gray Oak had more layers than meets the eye. She felt choked that she was constantly forced on the back foot, now far too late to realise that Gardevoir’s grazing Mystical Fires were not something they could shrug off with ease.

  At the rate this was going, the war between both trainers was not in Celadon gym’s favor.

  “Calm Mind, Exeggutor!”

  Erika banked on the increase in energy concentration from the move to replenish Exeggutor’s energy reserves. Unfortunately for her, Gardevoir quickly teleported to close the distance and smashed a Moonblast into Exeggutor to stop him from using the move.

  Exeggutor was blasted off by the attack, leaving him sprawled on the ground, with only one face visibly scowling in pain. He gingerly got up, spine curled to keep most of his face towards the ground.

  When he finally straightened, the other two faces were smug. A green, grass type energy surrounded his body before they were sucked into Exeggutor’s core, replenishing his vitality. The face furthest from view was munching on a yellow Sitrus Berry, chewing on the fruit with ridicule on his cheeks.

  Gray raised one eyebrow. So they were capable of playing tricks, huh? Feigning distress, Exeggutor had taken the chance to use Synthesis and eat a hastily grown Sitrus Berry from its Harvest ability to recover his vitality.

  All three faces scowled when they finally noticed a ripple of water surrounding Gardevoir. While he was acting, Gardevoir had similarly used Life Dew to replenish her own vitality.

  Erika clenched her fists tightly. Even now, it seemed like all her moves were pre-empted by her opponent. Even Gardevoir’s Mystical Fire benefited from the sun, a carefully constructed counter against her Sun-dependent team.

  The fight went on, quick exchanges of moves between both pokemon.

  Exeggutor had to use another Synthesis and Sitrus-harvested combo to reset, which was carefully followed by Gardevoir’s own Life Dew.

  As time progressed, Erika felt the shadows of helplessness closely nipping at her heels.

  The audience in Celadon gym watched the match with fascination. This fifth bout between Erika and Gray seemed the closest thus far.

  The intense exchange of movies kept them on their toes, as if one misfired move or unsuccessful dodge would tip the scales to one side. So they were forcibly taken out of their intense concentration by Gray's question.

  “Is it our turn yet, Gardevoir?”

  Confused, the audience turned to each other. What did he mean by ‘our turn’?

  “Gar.”

  “Alright, up to you now then. Make it quick.”

  Gardevoir carefully stepped forward, her white dress billowing ominously behind her as she calmly moved towards Exeggutor.

  Alarmed at the sudden shift, Exeggutor fired off Solarbeam at Gardevoir. He expected the fairy to dodge or use another move to counter the attack, but Gardevoir defied expectation.

  She stepped into the move. The Solarbeam landed a direct hit on her but did nothing else. She fanned away the resulting smoke with one hand and continued her stroll towards Exeggutor.

  Appalled at how she was able to take on one of the most powerful grass-type attacks as if she had type immunity to it, Exeggutor took one fearful step back.

  As if that one bolt of fear was what she was gunning for, Gardevoir smiled a beautiful smile at her opponent. She raised both hands to the air and immediately summoned an inferno into being.

  The Mystical Fire rolled around her lithe body, so intense that the closest audience members had to flinch away from the sudden heat. Her eyes turned blue, and the Mystical Fire converged together before descending onto Exeggutor.

  The grass type frantically tried to dodge as he had done before, but this version of the attack was bigger and more powerful than the ones before. He used his own Psychic to wrestle control of the fire from Gardevoir, but it was pointless, the earlier Mystical Fires grazing him had drained his pool of power into a mere cup.

  All three sets of eyes widened in fear as Gardevoir’s fire overwhelmed his being.

  Rendered powerless when the Psychic-boosted Mystical Fire hit Exeggutor, Erika could do nothing but watch. How was Gardevoir able to suddenly do this?!

  The flames roared for half a minute before it began to die down. Gardevoir impatiently doused the flames with a wave of one hand, revealing the charred and fainted body of Exeggutor.

  Gardevoir stood serenely on the field. She took in the stunned faces around her internally with savage glee, but carefully maintained a calm and beautiful face. It wouldn’t do for a fairy to be outwardly viciously satisfied, right? She wasn’t uncouth like Hatterene was.

  Everything around her was completely barren, the greenery and plant-filled oasis that the battlefield had started as was a thing of the past. With her trainer lazily leaning in his trainer box, it wasn’t inaccurate to say that Gray and his team had brought the desert into Celadon gym.

  Exeggutor’s downed body was the only shade of flora in the field, though it could be argued that he was more soot than plant at this point in time. Erika had to hastily recall her pokemon to keep him in stasis, her expert eyes understood that Exeggutor had weeks of recovery after this battle.

  “How?” Erika subconsciously whispered.

  “Oh? Don’t tell me you’ve never noticed after all this time?” said Gray incredulously, as if Erika’s lack of awareness was the most Farfetch’d thing in the world. Not one to mince his words, he continued. “Aren’t you supposed to be a gym leader? Gardevoir’s obviously been using Calm Mind. Now that she’s completely powered up, there’s no need to keep holding back.”

  Calm Mind? Erika swallowed her frustration. So all those times that Gardevoir had looked calm, she was secretly building up Special Attack and Special Defense? Somehow, it had flown past Erika completely.

  Combined with the Mystical Fires that weakened Exeggutor’s attacks, it was no wonder that Gardevoir was able to brush off his Solarbeam so nonchalantly. To the Psychic-Fairy type, those moves probably tickled.

  So now, Erika was forced to fight against a powered up Gardevoir?

  Silence reigned in the gym as everyone digested what just happened.

  “The count now is 5-2, in favor of the challenger. Gym leader Erika, please send out your final pokemon.” The referee’s hesitant voice pierced the quiet.

  Right. It hit Erika again that for all her struggling thus far, she was down to her last pokemon. More ridiculous was that her only ‘wins’ from Gray were from him voluntarily withdrawing his pokemon.

  When Erika said and did nothing, the referee added a question.

  “Challenger Oak, will you be withdrawing Gardevoir too? Or making a switch?”

  The question came like sudden rain amidst a drought. That was true, the arrogant trainer already did this before. Was there a chance of a repeat? Erika cautiously nurtured a sliver of hope. She carefully stole a glance of Gray, wanting to see his reaction to the query.

  Gray let out a peal of laughter, his delight unquestionable.

  “Why should I? Have I not given her enough chances already? Hey, I even withdrew Whimsicott and Ninetales when I could have switched instead. Have I not been charitable?”

  Gray was content to let the audience continue their chattering in response to his statements, the muttering and discussion gaining enough traction that it became a wall of sound as the audience pondered.

  What everyone was thinking, Erika could guess at. This match was advertised as a grudge match between two equally powerful trainers. Before the battle, Erika had fearlessly claimed that Gray was not as powerful a trainer as he thought himself was.

  But what did she have to show for her earlier words? She was down to her last pokemon, and she hadn’t managed to faint a single one of Gray’s. Each ‘win’ she managed to obtain was, in Gray’s own words, charity. Where was her confidence now?

  Gray laughed out loud in answer, as if he was capable of reading Erika’s mind. “I warned you, Erika. You and your gym. I said before that you will be made an example of.”

  His tone became sarcastic. “This is what happens to those who cross me and mine. Come! Show me how mighty you and your ancestors are! Show this upstart how it’s done!”

  Erika kept quiet. She kept her gaze on the field, barren and desolate where it was once a dense oasis of flora. Flashes of all her downed pokemon flickered through her mind.

  While the battlefield was quiet, the din around the gym was anything but. Astonishment and disbelief became the primary emotion of everyone around. Gray had said little in the match so far that the facts before the match had slipped their mind. Gray’s vocalisation of them was a sharp reminder.

  It would seem that Gray Oak had decided before the match to let his prowess as a trainer do the talking. The statement he had made was as loud as the crowd.

  “Ms Erika, please release your next pokemon.” said the referee, a hint of panic in their voice. Erika’s lack of action was already toeing the line, any further and she would be disqualified for noncompliance as according to League rules.

  The gym leader mechanically took out her final pokeball. She looked down at the ball, lost.

  The drama on the field caught the attention of the crowd. Everyone’s eyes look at Erika, some in pity and others in ridicule. So this was the Celadon gym leader, huh?

  “Ms Erika, please. Release your next pokemon!”

  Venusaur released himself without help from Erika. The grass trainer’s beautiful kimono sleeves did not flutter and stayed limp, as she had made no move to even raise her own arms.

  Venusaur roared her defiance at Gray and Gardevoir. Erika still failed to react.

  “Are you quite ready? I’d really like to get this show on the road. I miss home and will be going back as soon as I get my badge from you.”

  The condescending and impatient tone jostled something in Erika. Suddenly, she was an awakened Snorlax. This man, who had basically run down her pokemon and her gym to the ground, was now hurrying her along so he could go home.

  As if her final pokemon was nothing, as if she herself and her ancestors were nothing.

  She reached into her obi, dramatically taking out a fan that she opened with a snap of a wrist. In the middle of it, imbued within the centre of the fan, was a keystone. She let her outrage, her frustration and her helpless rage fill her entire body.

  In her eyes were the final embers of determination of a Celadon gym leader.

  Venusaur exploded in a multicolor blast as a piercing light erupted out of Erika’s fan. The crystal shell around Venusaur shattered, revealing her Mega evolved form.

  Matching her trainer’s emotions, Venusaur roared in defiance. The giant flower on top of her head was bigger and brighter than ever, foliage from the broader leaves rustling as she continued to howl.

  Erika panted in exertion, a familiar sneer back on her face.

  “Good. Let’s finish this.” said Gray, infuriatingly without worry.

  He raised one wrist to tap on the keystone in his earrings. Gardevoir exploded in familiar colors, before stepping out, mega evolved. Her voluminous skirt was wider than before, forearms white and body white. Her sleek head was the only hint of emerald in her body.

  Erika resisted the urge to cower, to give up before she and Mega Venusaru even made a move. Gardevoir was already powered up with continuous Calm Minds, how much stronger was she when mega evolved?

  No, no, she berated herself. With Sunny Day on the field, Gardevoir’s Mystical Fire might have been made stronger, but Mega Venusaur was not without her own strength.

  “Venusaur, have no fear! Mystical Fire may be strong under the sun, but so are you! With your Thick Fat, you can keep standing.”

  Erika’s mind raced with more options. Yes, Gardevoir was strong but so was her pokemon. Defensively, getting through Venusaur was near impossible.

  With well-timed Protects, maybe even with a Substitute, things could work out. Venusaur had her own Synthesis, giving a path to recovery and thus victory.

  She may be hit, but there were chances to retaliate! Venusaur’s poison tactics were nothing to scoff at, and all she needed was one hit to poison her opponent.

  Yes, that would considerably weaken their opponent!

  Maybe Erika could even sneak in a few Swords Dances to increase their speed and attack. Since Gardevoir would be poisoned, the chances of hitting her with Vine Whips and Power Whips were in their favour. One well-time Venoshock could down her too!

  That was right, all hope was not lost. Erika and Venusaur had a path forward.

  “Venusaur, use —”

  “Who said anything about Mystical Fire? Gardevoir, end this.”

  With Gray’s command, the world exploded.