After Hassel had regained his composure, he left with me, heading back out through the League Building. “It is truly something, to see your student surpass you. I never thought I would see it, or at least not this early…” He trailed off. Hmm- oh, right. He was probably trained by his father, the chieftain of the Dragon Tribe. Hassel’s stronger than his dad, but they didn’t part on good terms, so something like this must be quite new to him.

  “Thank you for everything you did.” I cut him off before he could wave aside my gratitude. “No, really. I don’t think you realize just how much your presence helped push me forward to this stage.” I was always aiming to be here, but every little tidbit he’d share after my music lessons and our match before my birthday, it all really led me to being here now.

  I paused, as he appeared on the verge of tears again, but with heroic willpower, the artist managed to keep control. “You’re welcome. Now, if I may ask for a favor?” I cocked my head to the side, curious about what he could need from me. “Might I join the rest of your friends in rooting you on? Geeta mentioned they were waiting in the lounge. I wished to join you earlier but felt conflicted while you were still a challenger for me. Now that you’ve beaten me at my best, however-”

  “Of course! I’m sure they’d be glad to see you, and I appreciate it a lot too. It’s great to know that you’re supporting me- o-okay.” I said as he burst into sobs again, exclaiming between tears about how hard he would cheer for me. At least I think that’s what he’s saying; he’s a bit hard to understand like this.

  When we opened the lounge door, there was a loud wave of celebration that hit us, everyone cheering my victory hard.

  “Wonderful! Truly splendid.”

  “Such Glitterati might and passion on display out there!”

  “W-wozers… I’ve never seen battling like that before.”

  “That was pretty cool, I guess… But I’ll surpass you yet!”

  “You were awesome! All like, hyacha! Pow!”

  “Never doubted you for a moment.”

  “OSU!”

  “The battlefield truly is the place where your beauty shines the greatest.”

  And more like that. “You did it! My little sister is going to be a Champion now!” Cyan cried, hugging me. I hugged her back, laughing.

  “Not quite; I’ve still got to defeat one more Elite, then the Champion.”

  “You don’t need to take on the last Elite, though, right?” Friede asked," “You only need to win against three of the four Elite Four.”

  “That’s true, but… I meant what I said earlier. I want to be the greatest Champion ever, not just the youngest. Besides, even if I lose here, I can still take on Miguel.” Of course, immediately forfeiting against my next foe would be the smart option. Fighting him is going to leave my Pokemon even more tired. But then, how tired will they be if we have to fight our way down to Area Zero to shut down Turo’s machine?

  My parents heaped more praise on me, something about ‘diamonds being forged under the greatest of pressures.’ Not sure that’s true anymore now that I have Notch. Cyan gave me a questioning look but accepted the reassuring grin I flashed her without issue. “Now, I know it’s a bit early, but who’s hungry? Because I’ve got a feeling my team could eat.”

  At my words, Dun popped out of his Pokeball. “Duuuuuuun,” he groaned, all of his stomachs rumbling. Everyone laughed, and I hugged him tight. “You did good out there. Get your energy back; you’ll need it for the finals.”

  ***

  Dinner was quite a loud affair, with over a dozen people and all our Pokemon chowing down. Still, the League Building was used to holding far more than us, and most of the staffers weren’t in the cafeteria with us. The few that were glanced over at our tables were constantly whispering.

  “That’s her?”

  “She seems so small in person.”

  “Course she does, she’s just a kid.”

  “Can’t believe she’s already taking on the Elite Four.”

  “I know, right? My little girl is busy braiding her hair and watching cartoons.”

  “Must be nice having a rich family, getting all the rare Pokemon you could want.”

  “Some people get all the luck… I couldn’t even get my fifth badge on my Treasure Hunt.”

  “Probably faces a lot of pressure to do well too.”

  “I’m hoping she does well! I’ve heard Geeta has good things to say about her.”

  I didn’t let any of their words bother me, barely noting them as I ate. My mind was focused on my goals, on victory. Athena, Miles, and Bahamut are good choices. Then maybe Nightwing? She’s good, but… ugh, even with Athena and Mega Evolution, we might need Notch to check his Ace. Decisions, decisions.

  Looking down at my empty plate, I realized I was still hungry. “Aha, I think I might need seconds.”

  “Understandable, you’ve been battling hard all day,” Hassel said.

  “I know, just… feels weird. I’m just standing there, giving out orders. Physically, it’s not like I’m working out a ton.” I wonder if this is another aspect of Aura and the like. Trainer’s Pokemon form bonds with them, and this can be used to empower them explicitly through things like Battle Bond and Mega Evolution, but perhaps there’s more subtle effects as well. I wonder if there would be some way to quantify it? Then you might be able to measure how much Aura someone had, too. Heh, wonder if by whatever units we’d discover if mine would be ‘over nine thousand?’

  I snorted softly at my own joke, earning a questioning glance from Arven. “Ah, don’t worry, it’s nothing. Just thought of something absurd,” I said as I rose and grabbed another plateful of food. The cafeteria food was quite good, restaurant level, and I wondered if it was like that usually or if they had just upped the level for me and my family. Still well below the usual Glitterati level, but that’s a high bar to clear.

  After finishing my second dinner, I looked over at my team, who had finished most of their meals. “How’s everyone feeling? Ready for our last Elite Four battle?” A chorus of cries and one stoic nod met me. The only one who didn’t answer was Radiance, off sulking in the corner. I might not be sure about how ready you are to battle yet, but I don’t want to leave you out of the team. Which means having you out for mealtimes and the like, even if we are talking about battles and stuff then.

  “All right, let’s get back to the room. I’ve got some plans for what we’ll need to do next.”

  ***

  Marching back to the arena, I strode through the doors, ready for my last battle here. Miles floated by my side, blasting Megalovania as I entered. Once more, my opponent was already waiting for me, though he had his back turned to me as I approached.

  “Nemona Glitterati is back for her final round of the Elite Four! She’s already proven she can take on the rest and has earned a chance to take on the El Primero no matter what happens here. This young girl is on fire, but can she possibly defeat the Great and Powerful Tuuuuuuuurtle?!”

  At the announcer’s words, the lights dimmed, and spotlights blared on the Elite in question. He had white spiky hair that leaned to the left side. Most noticeable, however, was the massive metal plating he wore over his body. It only covered his torso but was too rounded to be a breastplate or the like.

  Spinning around suddenly, it would have become apparent, even if I hadn’t seen pictures of him before, that the metal was meant to be an homage to a shell. The man had wild red eyes and a button nose. He had rainbow leggings and sleeves on, clashing wildly with the unburnished steel gray shell he wore.

  “Indeed. Miss Glitterati, your winning streak ends here! For none can best the Great and Powerful Turtle!” He said in the third person. Does referring to yourself by your title count as third person? Then again, he calls himself ‘The Great and Powerful Turtle’ everywhere, as if that was his name, ugh.

  “We’ll see about that, Turtle.” I said simply, motioning for Miles to take his place on the field. The Elite narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms weirdly in front of himself.

  “You should refer to me by-”

  “I’m not going to say the whole thing every time. Honestly, you should be glad I call you Turtle at all, Juan.” He reeled back overdramatically from me using his actual name. Geez, so extra. Then again, maybe I’d be more willing to put up with his antics if he’d been the first Trainer I’d faced today, not the penultimate.

  Despite his dramatics, I knew the man was powerful; his Ace was noted around the world. I'd studied him intently and knew some of his strategies, but he'd had few public battles since the creation of Tera Orbs. Given his 'theme' I'm not sure if he'll Terastalize for added power on any of his Pokemon or defensively. I've seen him do both, but that's only across three battles.

  Recovering himself at Geeta’s instruction to ready his Pokemon, he plucked a Pokeball from the belt it was attached to around his large ‘shell.’ Narrowing his eyes, he released a small yellow Pokemon with a red shell. From the many holes in the shell stuck out four floppy limbs and an equally floppy head.

  The Shuckle had a blank expression on his face as he stared at Miles. Definitely one of the Pokemon I thought he might use to counter Miles. Not sure how good or how much he knows of my team, though, so we’ll see if this was a good choice on his part or not. I had plans to take advantage of it either way - the only thing that would have been shocking would have been if he had sent out his ace from the start. As far as I know, he always saves her for the end. It might make him predictable in a way, but having a Legendary makes up for many weaknesses.

  Geeta counted us down, and I could see the slight tension in his limbs, the same as I felt, both of us getting ready. At the signal, he gave the command first, as I waited to see what he’d do. “Body Press!”

  Alright, guess you have been paying attention. Miles had only been shown in this Form in one battle before, so the weaknesses weren’t as well known. For someone researching us, though, it was obvious they were part Normal Type like this. To be fair, it’s also Shuckle’s strongest Move from this position, so I might see why he’d use it here, but it’s much too early. Usually he likes to debilitate his foes first.

  The reason for that was obvious from how easily Miles dodged around the Fighting Type attack, gliding away and shocking Shuckle as they went. “Thunder Wave,” I called out, and Miles sent out a very precise bolt to make Shuckle freeze up for a moment.

  He responded by releasing a swarm out from his shell, thousands of tiny insects moving to cover Miles. They’ll whittle Miles down and stop me from switching them out. “Hyper Voice and Discharge, fry those bugs.”

  The sound my Rotom emitted crushed much of the swarm to paste, and the few bugs that persisted were fried by the lightning they emitted. The widespread attacks managed to hit Shuckle as well, but given his high defenses, they did little damage.

  “Toxic, show them the terrifying power of the invincible turtle!” Rearing his head back, he hucked a glob of poison at Miles, the Move splashing against their boombox body. Poison seeped through their aura, giving the glow around their body a distinctly purple tinge.

  “Sing, all out.” Miles swung in, heedless of any attacks, to play a soothing lullaby piece I’d half finished at our foe point-blank.

  “Safeguard! No harm can befall Shuckle within his invincible sh- oh he’s asleep.” Turtle changed his tune suddenly upon seeing his Pokemon had fallen for Miles’ Move. No duh. Safeguard is a good Move, but Miles is way too fast for Shuckle. Let’s wrap this up-

  “Now, crush em!” Turtle declared, leaping up and down, landing with a heavy thud due to all the weight he was carrying. More worrying was the fact that Shuckle had, still asleep, flipped himself up in the air and was headed right for Miles.

  “Substitute!!” I cried, and Miles followed, shunting themself backwards through the creation of a Substitute. Despite that, their plasmic arms were still hit, and Miles wobbled from the pain. Damn, Sleep Talk. Once more an Elite uses it when I had no idea their Pokemon knew that Move.

  Unlike last time, however, I wasn’t going to charge in recklessly. “Switch.” I called, returning Miles and sending Athena out. Not wasting a single second, I activated my Keystone, pointing the ring at her. Power flowed out from me through our bond, creating the appearance of a faintly glowing sphere around my Lucario that shattered as she Mega Evolved.

  “Folks, this is incredible,” The announcer said in awe. “Nemona Glitterati has used her Enhancement Effect of the match, but not to Terastalize! With access to both a Keystone and Lucarioite, Athena has been Mega Evolved, giving her a vast increase in power, though her Types remain the same. She’s showcased this once so far in her journey before against Tyme, and it was a showstopper there.”

  “Flash Cannon,” I gasped out, looking up at Athena. Why am I looking up- oh right, fell down a bit. As I’d figured out at dinner, I was tired, and Mega Evolution didn’t help with that. Still, I rose to my feet shakily, watching Athena blast Shuckle away, chipping his shell.

  “Sleep Talk,” Turtle said, his voice a bit strained. Shuckle followed through with a Body Press… aimed off from where Athena stood by a few feet. There we go. Sleep Talk is a useful Move to try and deal with Sleep, but it’s not perfect. I’ve figured out it mostly runs off of what they knew from before the fight. Switching out messes with that.

  It wasn’t perfect; clearly there was some kind of dreamlike perception they had of the world or some way in which the Move could guide them, since the same Pokemon simply moving around on the battlefield wasn’t enough to mess with them. Even so, it gave Athena plenty of time to nail him with another Flash Cannon, cracking even more of Shuckle’s shell.

  Our foe woke up early, blinking his eyes open and glaring at the Mega Pokemon. A pulse of light shot out from him, moving quickly and sinking into Athena before rebounding back into Shuckle. This was quickly followed by yet another Flash Cannon, but this one hit much weaker. The damage from it was also healed as the Shuckle quickly munched on a berry hidden within his shell.

  “Your power is now ours! Show her what you can do with such might backing your incredible armored body, Earthquake.” Shuckle slapped a flipper against the ground, the motion looking ridiculous but shaking up the ground easily, pillars of earth smacking into Athena’s legs, causing her to flinch in pain.

  “Don’t let him mess around any more, Thousand Hands, juggle.” The final word I whispered, so I doubted anyone but Athena noticed. Both the Elite and his Pokemon, as well as the announcer and referee, were enthralled by the sight of my Lucario rising up in the air, a golden glow surrounding and solidifying around her. The shape of the divine took place, Arceus' image imposed over the battlefield.

  Shuckle shook off the Paralysis that had been holding him in place, raising one flipper up to slap the ground once more, before being hit by one of the golden hands. It swept across the field, knocking Shuckle into the arena wall, followed by another that lifted him up into the air. A half dozen more followed, pinning him in place and hitting him over and over again until… he caught one.

  “Skitter Smack!” Holding one mighty fist larger than he was in place with his stubby forelegs, he rocketed ahead, kicking off the wall with his back legs, shooting towards the edge of the arena closest to me and bouncing off of that, slamming into Athena hard enough to break her concentration.

  Fuck, we worked on making that harder to do because I realized it was a weak point of the technique. And to do that with a Bug Type attack… he must have used Power Trick. “Do you see now, the undeniable power of the tur-”

  “Finish this, Hellzone Grenade!” I interrupted the Elite, and Athena shot her hands out, firing off dozens of Aura Spheres. The Turtle called for a Protect, but as the barrier surrounded the shots curved away under Athena’s control, to hover in a circle in the air above Shuckle. The turtle Pokemon gulped audibly as Protect flickered around him.

  Crossing her paws in front of her, the Aura Sphere hammered down into Shuckle, his barrier shattering like glass as the blasts hit him repeatedly, one after another. After a few seconds, I held up a hand, and Athena stopped, panting hard at the end of the barrage. The dust cleared, revealing Shuckle, conscious for only a second before he gave a pained cry and flopped to the ground, defeated.

  “How could you do something to such an innocent and harmless turtle!?” As he spoke, Turtle raised a hand up to his mouth as if to cover his gasp and the other place with the back upon his forehead, as if he was feeling faint.

  I raised an eyebrow at the flamboyant man. “Are turtles supposed to be all-powerful or innocent and harmless? Don’t think you get it both ways.” And I’d definitely say that one leaned closer to all-powerful than harmless. Shuckle wasn’t as flashy as the others on his team, but considering how he taught it powerful Moves like Body Press that most Shuckles couldn’t learn and all the ways he could mess with things like Power Split and Power Trick, I felt confident that he was the second strongest on Turtle’s team.

  “Turtle, your Pokemon has fainted; please send out your next Pokemon,” Geeta instructed him. He dropped his silly pose to glare at her, likely because she wasn’t using the full title he desired for himself. She simply gave the man a hard stare, and he broke first. Yeah, best not to argue with the ref in the middle of a match.

  The Elite revealed his next Pokemon, an orange tortoise-esque Pokemon, with a hard gray shell. There were several cherry-red hot vents on the sides of it and a large one out the top, from which white steam billowed out. She was also wearing an Assault Vest, this one done in orange to match her skin and carefully crafted to leave room for the vent holes around her shell. It looked bulky, but I imagined it didn’t actually slow her down any more than usual.

  Her appearance also brought forth a bright miniature ‘sun’ within the room, raising the temperature to sweltering degrees. Drought, it’ll power up her Moves significantly for as long as it’s around. Pretty sure she also knows White Smoke too, from the recordings I’ve reviewed, so I can’t weaken her either.

  “Gah, that’s a tortoise, not a turtle!” I pointed out angrily. I mean, there probably aren’t that many turtle Pokemon so branching out is probably the only way to fit his theme, but still.

  “Haha!” He said, twisting his hands dramatically, and in a manner I felt must have broken something. “All turtles may not be tortoises, but all tortoises are turtles.”

  “Wait, really?”

  “Yes, and that is why you will looooose,” he declared, drawing the word out. I stared at him hard.

  “How, exactly, will my lack of knowledge over a specific family of reptiles cause me to lose a Pokemon battle?” I questioned, my eyes narrowed. He held my gaze before glancing to the side.

  “Well, you see, that is… attack! Rapid Spin!” His Torkoal pulled her legs and head into her hard shell, spinning around rapidly towards Athena. A Normal Type attack against a Steel Type? He could just be looking for the speed boost, but-

  “Get out of there; they’ve got range!” I shouted, and Athena leapt away. My timely command meant she was only mildly scorched by the streams of flame spinning out from each of the holes in her shell. Combining Flamethrower with Rapid Spin lets them cover a vast area with their flames, making the most of Athena’s weakness and the bright sunlight. Impressive… and something I really don’t think knowledge of turtle/tortoise anatomy would help with! It’s like pointing out how not knowing about hedgehog physiology would be your downfall when fighting Sonic.

  “Eruption!” Torkoal slowed down, stopping and sticking his legs and head back out, heat gathering around him. Athena drifted above, using her Aura to hold herself out of range from the burning circle he’d made before, but she was in much more danger now.

  “Switch,” I said, recalling Athena before the attack could hit. Torkoal was still slow enough for me to manage it easily, but he couldn’t stop the heat he’d built up so easily, instead releasing it, a vast plume of fire roaring up, scorching heat radiating outwards, covering the entire field. That’s definitely got some power behind it; I’ll have to be careful here. Even with Mega Evolution, there was a serious risk that she might have been knocked out by that attack, even if she had landed a shot of her own to weaken the power of it.

  “Go, Bahamut.” My shiny Dragon took the stage for the second time today, this time wearing an Assault Vest of his own rather than a Dragon Fang. Feels so expensive to get him and Notch outfitted with these just for single battles, but if it works, then they were well worth the costs. My parents had readily agreed to do so for everything I had needed leading up to this and even raised some good points about how much the name of our family and their companies would improve based on a strong showing here, which helped me feel not quite as guilty about all the money being poured into this. Guess I just have to make sure it was worth it by winning this.

  “Dragon Claw/Eruption!” The race between the tortoise and the hare might have ended in the tortoise’s favor; the one between the tortoise and the Dragon was handily won by the Dragon. Bahamut dashed over and ripped into her before she was able to fire off her move.

  There was indeed a lot of fire there, but as the smoke and haze cleared, it showed that my Pokemon had weathered the Eruption well, only a few scorch marks on his scales. “Outrage, show them the power of a Dragon!” I roared, and Bahamut responded in kind, preparing to tear into the Torkoal.

  His rampage was cut short by a quick, “Switch!” And a beam of red light, recalling Torkoal to Turtle’s hands. Does he go for her? I wouldn’t blame him if he did; she was probably the best bet he had of defeating my Haxorus right now. It would also be a massive mistake, however. Bahamut is strong enough to land at least a few good hits in, and then Turtle is out of Switches as I put in my next Pokemon.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Either wanting to stick to his regular modus operandi or recognizing the trap, Turtle didn’t send out his Ace, instead releasing a very familiar blue tortoise-esque Pokemon, with two cannons sticking out of his shell.

  This Blastoise was scarred, with one long cut across his face, and didn’t waste a second upon hitting the field. Rushing up with speed faster than I or Bahamut anticipated, he rushed up to my Dragon, clapping his stubby hands together right in front of Bahamut’s face, the Fake Out causing my Pokemon to flinch backwards.

  “Ignore it, Breaking Swipe!” Bahamut swept around, his tail giving him the reach that Blastoise couldn’t back away from. The draconic energies sapped at our foe’s strength, but Turtle’s next Move countered that.

  “Shell Smash, break free and show the world your true potential!” Should I voice the fact that he’s Jojo posing all the time? Nah, nobody here would get that reference.

  With a mighty flex, Blastoise’s muscles bulged, expanding and cracking his own shell open. That breaking caused a small White Herb that had been tucked inside near the neck hole of the shell to come fluttering out. He quickly grabbed the item and popped it in his mouth, which almost immediately caused the damaged parts of his shell to glow and repair themselves.

  “Breaking Swipe again!” White Herb doesn’t last long; we can take down all the attack boosts he got from that. Bahamut swept his tail back and forth, nailing Blastoise the first time but missing the second. The Turtle’s Pokemon had much greater speed now and used that to make some distance between Bahamut and himself before aiming his cannons at my Dragon.

  “Ice Beam,” Turtle announced without any flourish. The twin beams from Blastoise’s back did enough of that, chilling Haxorus harshly. The vest staved off the worst of it, however, and a quick mini-Earthquake shattered the ice that threatened to hold him in place.

  “Trailblaze, get in close and fast, then Outrage!” Bahamut kicked up a strip of grass and flowers, racing towards Blastoise just like Athena taught him. Ducking low, my Pokemon managed to scoop Blastoise up, flipping him in the air as he rushed by.

  “Tuck your head in,” Turtle cried, mimicking the motion himself, though to a far lesser degree than Blastoise managed, the Pokemon fully retracting his head inside the shell as he landed back down. I sighed, recognizing what was coming. Not much that we can do about it right now. Even if I ordered Bahamut to retreat, they’d still have gotten the defense boost.

  In a rage, Bahamut slashed and tore into the Blastoise, inflicting decent amounts of damage, but not enough to put the Water Type down. Midway through the rampage, Blastoise’s head popped back out with incredible force, striking hard into my Haxorus’ collarbone. The attack hit hard enough to leave him slouched on one side, but still caught in the fury, he continued his assault with the other half of his body.

  “Make some room, Surf!” A tidal wave poured out from Blastoise’s back, hydrokinetically shaped into a wave that forced Bahamut back. My Pokemon caught himself halfway across the arena, digging his clawed feet into the ground, and slowly started marching back towards his enemy, roaring… before remembering he was underwater. Please don’t drown yourself, Bahamut, I silently prayed.

  Spitting out a bunch of water as the wave died down, my Dragon began picking up speed in his charge towards our enemy. “Keep away, Dragon Pulse,” Turtle called out hurriedly. Blastoise has a naturally tanky nature, but even he can’t deal with the sheer insane offensive power Bahamut can bring to bear at close range… With the Shell Smash boost he's fast enough to play keep away and strike Bahamut down, though.

  “Draco Meteor,” I called out tiredly. Bahamut glanced back at me for a split second, nodding his head before lifting it up to the heavens and letting out a piercing cry. Dozens of large, purple glowing meteorites appeared at the top of the arena, falling down towards Blastoise as the Elite’s Pokemon gathered a beam of Dragon Type energy just outside his mouth. Firing it off, the beam hit my Pokemon at the same time as his attack landed against our foe.

  Even before the dust cleared, I was drawing my Pokeball, clear on who had won that clash. Oh, from the ragged gasps of the Blastoise, I could tell all the hits landed had done a significant number on him, but Bahamut was right out.

  Recalling him, I sent Miles out onto the field once more. The Poison affecting them hadn’t been undone, but it had been held at bay while within the Pokeball. I knew we had to end this fast, and Miles did. Thunder struck down without a command needed, my Pokemon instantly keying onto our foe and his weakness.

  Not that Blastoise was much slower in responding, sending out a Hydro Pump that clipped Miles with powerful waves of water pressure. But as his attack waned, Miles kept up the assault.

  The Life Orb within their Boombox body drained Miles’ vitality even quicker, but it boosted the Thunder, letting them summon huge bolts of blinding lightning down upon Blastoise’s head. The blasts continued for a quarter minute before Miles let up, and Blastoise instantly collapsed to the ground.

  Faintly, I heard them playing ‘Thunderstruck’ from waterlogged speakers, and I chuckled. Heh, I remember when I was young, I said I wanted to listen to that song, Back in Black, and I told my mom it was ‘by ACDC’ very seriously. She said, ‘I know that; why do you?’

  “You shouldn’t smile so freely, young challenger; this battle is only halfway done!” Turtle’s words shook me out of that memory. Can’t get distracted by stuff like that; gotta focus on the moment. He recalled his Pokemon, sending Torkoal back out, the miniature sun burning brightly once more.

  “Sing,” I said, clicking my tongue three times. Miles flew in, as if trying to get close to maximize the effectiveness of the Move, before darting out to the side, calling down more Thunder.

  Unfortunately for us, they didn’t take the bait; instead of Overheat, Turtle shouted, “Inferno!” Miles zipped around the first pillar of flame that threatened to consume them. The second too. But not the third.

  Their song turned into a screech of static until they pulled through, flying wildly. Despite the Poison, Life Orb drain, and damage they’d taken, and now the Burn, Miles continued their assault, striking her with repeated bolts of lightning, wearing down her defenses.

  Finally, a crack showed, the fiery Pokemon stumbling for a second as they dodged a Thunder. Paralysis. “Eject and Hex!” I called out, realizing this battle was in its final moments. C’mon Miles, just need you to hold on a bit longer.

  Torkoal let out a Heat Wave at Miles, but as they dropped their possession, the blast of heat only melted the metal, my Pokemon floating off to the side. Screwing up their plasmic eyes in concentration, they summoned a mass of distorted shadows lashing into the Paralyzed Torkoal. With a faint cry, she dropped to the ground, defeated.

  “Bzzzt,” Miles gave a weak cheer before joining her, the Burn and Poison attached to Miles’ Aura, not their body, and still draining them. They waited, however, for Geeta to announce that Turtle’s Pokemon had fallen unconscious first. So that Turtle has to send out a Pokemon first, even though we all know who it’s going to be. Always so thoughtful, Miles.

  “You did great out there, thank you,” I told them as I recalled the second Pokemon to ever join my team. Turtle let out a huff as he recalled his Pokemon, shaking his head.

  “You have proven yourself to be a worthy challenger, Nemona Glitterati. But do you think that just because you have a Legendary as well, that it can match up to mine? Perhaps,” he admitted, breaking character for a moment in a way that had me blinking in surprise.

  Drawing his last Pokeball, he continued. “There’s a price to pay for such power, and the difficult path you’ve chosen will cost you much. Can you pay the cost necessary to match the unstoppable, incredible Enamorus?!” The last word came as he released the Pokemon of the same name out onto the field.

  The pictures and videos don’t do her justice. Floating in the air was a large, pink, vaguely turtle-shaped Pokemon. While she had four clawed, webbed feet, her snout was somewhat angular with two tufts of white hair that stuck and curled together to look like a heart. That motif carried on in patterns on a coiled pile atop her back, which might be like the thickest part of a shell, but with how part of it stuck up and had a bulbous growth on the end, it looked more like a snake. Her body beneath that was covered in or made of clouds, which were a bit more shell-like, but also less, because of what they were.

  Joy and rage. Pain and delight. Humor and melancholy. These emotions and more raged within me, just from her mere presence. And I can tell it’s just that, the way those yellow eyes of hers glanced at me once before turning away… she’s dismissing me. To be fair, she likely faced many challengers that seemed just like me and had crushed them all before, but I wasn’t inclined to be charitable in my current emotional state.

  Flaring my Aura, I made a gust of wind around myself, calling on my training to focus my mind. That had her head snapping towards me, but I pushed through the added pressure of the emotional storm, honing in on a logical strategy. Using Notch here means they’ll be tired for the next match, and we can’t have that. I can’t just use Athena right away, though. Enamorus knows Weather Ball, and the sun is still up; I have to wait that out.

  My other options weren’t great, however. Nightwing and Phantasm were too frail to last long. Dun could do it, might even win by himself, but with how hard he’d been pushed so far, he wouldn’t be able to fight in the Champion match if I used him here. This was supposed to be his rest period, but I did let him know that if Miles fell, he might have to step up here.

  My hand drifted over to Dun’s Pokeball, but before I could grasp it, another one popped open, an intimidating figure appearing beside me. Radiance made an angry buzzing sound as their crosshair eyes locked onto Enamorus.

  “Oh, what’s this? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Pokemon like you before,” the Elite said, staring curiously at the Paradox Pokemon.

  The announcer also chimed in. “Nemona reveals a brand new Pokemon, never seen or heard before! What a twist!” That's not quite true; Iron Moth was seen at least once before, not that it’s really the issue here.

  “Uh, time out!” I called to Geeta, who waved a hand, signaling a pause in the match.

  “What seems to be the issue?” Turtle asked, and I noticed that he had dropped his silly poses from before, sensing the real concern in my voice (and confirming my long-held theory that it was just another part of the ‘act’ he put on for battling, and not some weird unconscious reflex).

  “I- I can’t send you out-” I was cut off by them making angry grinding sounds, Radiance pointing their wings towards Enamorus and raising the temperature. The humans gasped from the sudden, sweltering heat that filled the air. The Legendary, on the other claw, simply raised a brow on one of her pale yellow eyes, conjuring a chill wind that instantly cooled everyone down.

  Seeing Radiance agitated by the display, I brought their attention back to me. “Hey, calm down.” As I spoke, Turtle strode over to us, Geeta approaching as well. Thankfully, the Rotom drones were directed away, giving us a moment of privacy.

  “What seems to be the issue?” The final Elite asked and Geeta answered.

  “This one wasn’t registered for the Elite Gauntlet.”

  “Now, why haven’t you registered this one for battle? They seem plenty strong, even for battles of this caliber.” The Elite asked me, and I sighed.

  “I-” Excuses died on my throat, especially under the inquisitive gaze Geeta gave me. Yeah, their power doesn’t really fit what I said earlier. “We had agreed you wouldn’t be fighting here,” I said instead, directing my words to my Pokemon.

  They gave an irritated gear grinding sound in response. They waved agitatedly at Enamorous, the Legendary Pokemon eyeing them coolly. Clearly, Radiance wanted to prove their strength against this Legendary Fairy.

  I really want to get to the bottom of why they’re so obsessed with strength. When I first caught them, I’d be tempted to say they were the strongest on my team. As it is, though, it’s hard to deny Notch that title, especially with Mega Evolution. Even if it irks some members of the team, like Radiance and Dun. Unlike Dun however, Radiance’s anger made me wary of using them, even before the previous issues we had discussed.

  “You’ll need to return your Pokemon for the match to begin again.” Geeta pointed out, and I nodded, though my hand hesitated to reach down for Radiance’s Pokeball. Especially after they let out a low, whining sound. So cute! They turned half around, eyes drifting around to look at me, one eye on top of the other from the side of their face. Less cute, more eldritch.

  Still, my hand stayed, as I explained to them, “I can’t use you here. You aren’t registered for this battle-”

  “I’ll allow it.” Turtle’s words caused mine and Geeta’s heads to snap towards him. “If Nemona is willing to send them out, then I’ll accept this Pokemon as her fourth.” Right, they’ll be my last Pokemon I can use in this fight. No chance to put Dun or Notch in their place if I go with them here.

  Glancing up into Radiance’s pleading eyes (I assume they’re pleading at least; getting their emotions from ‘facial expressions’ is still difficult due to the lack of most facial features), I tapped their Pokeball, thinking it over. We’ll definitely have words after this is done, but with the camera showing them to the world, I suppose the prior points about wanting to conceal their existence are moot. Which just leaves the issue of if I think they’re the right choice for this battle.

  “You understand what this kind of battle would mean, right? You’ll need to give it your all against a Legendary like Enamorus - but you’ll also need to hold back from grievous wounds or worse. Are you up for that?”

  Slowly, they nodded their head. Trust is a two-way street; if I want them to trust me and follow what I say, then I’ve got to trust that they can do this too. “Alright then, I’d like to send out Radiance.”

  Geeta gave me an inscrutable look before agreeing. “Very well. The match will resume.”

  “Oh, almost forgot; Radiance, here,” I said, pulling out and passing them the Booster Energy. “Friede, Orla, and I finished making it after we arrived back home,” I told them as I clamped it onto their body. Okay, might be overselling my part there; I had the base concept and some ideas I spitballed, but mechanically those two are leagues ahead of me, and a lot of the testing process had me studying how exactly the things they did worked.

  Given the body type of an Iron Moth, there were no shoulders or wing joints to hold it on a necklace (and I thought hanging it off of one of Radiance’s red horns looked silly), so Orla had made a small magnet on the back of the orange-capped, grey capsule.

  It might not look like much, but that thing packs a lot of power into it. It’s only a prototype, but I’m still amazed that they were able to make something like that so quickly, even with Kukui lending the Rising Volt Tacklers an Alolan Raichu to study. That had been my idea. The Surge Surfer Ability gave them a good foundation to study and another data point to compare and contrast with Radiance’s Quark Drive, both Abilities that boosted stats while under Electric Terrain. With a bit of trial and error, they’d made the Booster Energy, though we’d only had enough spare material for it on board the Brave Olivine to determine it worked, not really practice with.

  Turtle took his place back on the other end of the arena. “I look forward to this battle, young challenger! We’ve never faced a ‘Radiance’ before,” he loudly announced for the Rotom drones, now hovering back in place, broadcasting the match for the world to see again.

  “Same, we’ve never beaten an Enamorus before,” I said, a little cheekily.

  “Oho!” He laughed, and I took a deep breath, steadying myself. Alright, here goes. Enamorus reset the weather to place the conditions back as close as they could be to what they were before I paused the match. Not like it hurts us if the sun lasts a bit longer than it would have otherwise. I also knew she was skilled enough with Rain Dance to shut it down if need be too.

  “Trainers ready?” Geeta asked, and we both confirmed we were. “Then we begin in three, two, one, begin!” At her last word, before either of us could even speak, Radiance loosed the small charge needed to activate the Booster Energy. The capsule reacted immediately, the two ends clamping down, compressing the tube inside, unleashing its power. A massive charge coursed through Radiance, invigorating and empowering them.

  The rest of us weren’t still as this happened, Turtle calling out, “Springtide Storm.” The Enamorus ‘swam’ through the air, rising up as she did so before her tail/shell shot out, forming a glowing pink heart in front of her. A localized hurricane with streaks of pink wind whipped around Radiance, knocking them around slightly but hardly throwing them off course.

  “Discharge,” I called, shielding my eyes in preparation. Radiance hadn’t been able to learn Thunder so far, but it hardly mattered with a Discharge as strong as they could make. With the Booster Energy further empowering my Pokemon? It was like they were using Thunder from every point around them, a blinding light filling the arena as they shocked the Legendary.

  Enamorus made a sound in between a screech and a squawk as she stumbled back midair. Only a few scorch marks on her body from that; her defense is no joke. On the other hand, to hurt a Legendary that quickly, even minorly, is a very good sign.

  The Legendary turtle charged back, something Radiance met by ‘hurling’ their wings at our enemy like a burning discus. Enamorus clawed and scrabbled at the unusual Fiery Dance and did manage to hit it with the Superpower they’d intended to use against Radiance’s main body but landed few blows, further limited in how much damage they could deal by Radiance’s Typing. As the wings returned, only two of them showed slight scratches.

  “Make some noise, Uproar!” Why is he calling for Uproar- ah, he doesn’t know what Radiance’s weaknesses are yet. Might just be hoping to overwhelm them with pure power. In the Elite’s defense, it was a strategy that had seen him win countless battles, Enamorus's immense power, further enhanced by the Life Orb they wore, was enough to defeat most foes. Not now though, in terms of power, Paradox Pokemon can match or even surpass Legendaries.

  “Fiery Dance, burn it up!” Using their incredible speed, Radiance struck, flying up one side of Enamorus, their burning wings cutting into the cloudy body, and then again as they flew back down her other side. They twirled around, doing the Move again, this time spinning gracefully around her while their scorching hot wings all turned in, cutting into our foe and spinning around as they retracted and righted themselves on Radiance’s back.

  The sudden noise never came, however, with Radiance instead caught by some invisible force that pinned them and crashed them against the ground below. “What?” I questioned aloud even as the pieces fell into place in my mind. Psychic, or maybe Extrasensory. He must have figured out Radiance’s Poison Typing and given his Pokemon a hidden command, disguising the Move to drop our guards.

  From the screeching noise Radiance was making, it had worked, so I had to give our enemies that. We still landed two Fiery Dances in that time, and at least one of them boosted Radiance’s power. Plus, we aren’t exactly helpless here. “Struggle Bug! Get out of there and dance again.”

  There was a moment when I first said my words that I thought they might disobey, a few sparks of electricity jumping off of them. Discharge is a stronger Move, after all. I can see the thought process even if I have a different strategy. Thankfully, they dropped it before I needed to say anything, shaking about within the Psychic grip, and soon breaking it. The Bug Type energies made it hard for her to keep them pinned with a Psychic Type attack, and once free, they shot back up, cutting them with burning wings and growing even hotter once again.

  I gasped, panting a little from the sheer heat my Pokemon was exuding, even through the barrier. Those force fields are always better at holding directed attacks and the like, though, not wanting to cut off airflow in or out, so you get situations like this.

  “Your robot moth burns bright, but we’ll put a damper on your fun through a dance of our own. Let the water pour down!” Enamorus reared up, waving their little claws through the air, and instantly the miniature sun died down. Replacing it were thick, dark clouds, covering all of the upper limits of the arena’s barrier. Said clouds quickly unleashed a deluge, almost like a Surf pouring straight down.

  Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but still, I’d be hard-pressed to see anything going on with normal vision. “They want to make themselves easier to zap, then let’s go for it, Discharge!” In response, Turtle pulled out his Tera Orb, tossing it high in a perfect arc over his Pokemon.

  The wave of lightning that poured out of my Pokemon was far stronger than the one at the beginning of the match, blasting the now Terastalized Enamorus back and crackling dramatically around all the water. More than that, though, cracks began forming even in the arena barrier, something that startled Geeta and had her send out her Espartha to shore it up.

  I could barely pay attention to that as, despite being an Elite ranked barrier, an attack strong enough to damage it wasn’t enough to put a Legendary down, especially not with the pink heart Tera Jewel ‘hat’ resting above her head, eliminating her weakness to the Move.

  She shot back with an orb of energy that began clear but flashed a deep blue quickly as it formed, flying into Radiance. They screeched mechanically, wings flaring for a split second as they readied themselves to fly back at their attacker before pausing, waiting for my instruction. Good.

  “Get above them and Acid Spray.” I’d heard one distant rumor that Enamorus might have the Contrary Ability and remembered it vaguely, but everything I’d been able to find out about Turtle’s one was that they didn’t, so I figured it must be a Hidden Ability. For Pokemon as rare as Enamorus, most Trainers in the real world would never try to unlock a Hidden Ability, let alone have any idea as to what Hidden Ability they might have.

  In any case, I felt quite safe in using that Move, and delighted as I saw her howling in pain as the Spray hit. The Move not only caused decent damage due to Enamorus’ weakness to it, but from the sizzling sounds and the way her tail/shell/snake was erratically shaking about, it was crippling her defenses.

  I froze for a moment as I felt how much it hurt her - literally. The Fairy Type projected her emotions and pain, and I froze up. An overwhelming surge of love and sorrow for her surged within me, despite logically knowing we had to beat her, this blast of emotions far exceeding what she had shown before. How are we supposed to fight her when we feel like this?

  For Radiance, it turned out to be fairly easy, the Paradox Pokemon gleefully using Acid Spray again and forcing her to desperately dodge in the air to avoid it. The pride I felt for my Pokemon cracked through the love trying to drown me out, and I latched onto it. Focusing on how great this battle had been going, I recentered myself, forcing those unnatural emotions out once more.

  Turtle, dropping any composure remaining, began shouting desperately. “Fly! Get above them, then stop! Springtide Storm, hold them in place! Weather Ball to finish them off!” Enamorus shot up at his commands, flying much faster to get above Radiance, hanging out just below the clouds.

  Usually the Move would see her diving back down, but she had enough control to stop herself and get ready for her next Move to trap us in. If they were able to get this off, it’d be game over. Of course, despite the maneuvering trick, she’s still much too slow for the jaws of this trap to snap down on us.

  “Hurricane, blow away anything that might hold you down, then Lunge up and Take Down!” Spinning in a circle, Radiance’s wings blew away the storm that tried to take hold - or at least enough of it that the Paradox Pokemon could casually ignore it as their body shot up in an odd slithering motion that nonetheless smacked them right into Enamorus. Then, they took their wings, hoisting Enamorus up and then pressing down, charging her into the ground with a surprisingly heavy impact given how unsuited they were for physical combat.

  Enamorus wasn’t able to fire Weather Balls at Radiance from that position, but they thrashed about, a slight draconic energy surrounding them. Outrage, huh? Wouldn’t have expected it from a Fairy like them. It worked to our advantage regardless, as I told Radiance, “Sludge Wave, drown them in poison.”

  “Uh, not literally,” I added a split second later. I wasn’t sure if they heard or not as a flood of thick sludge poured out of Radiance, far more than could have physically fit within their frame. The purple wave slammed into the Legendary Fairy, causing Enamorus to writhe in pain and disgust, trying to shake it off (they were and did quickly rise above it, however, removing any risk of drowning).

  The effects of the Move didn’t end there, as slowly, the rain started to turn purple. While usually such contaminants would be purified, the sheer power of Radiance and the potency of the poison they made were so great that some toxins remained even when filtered. Or maybe it’s the particles rising up on their own to the clouds, given how low these artificial clouds are, and that’s where the water is getting contaminated. I don’t know exactly; I’m hardly a meteorologist.

  Our enemy was no common ‘mon either, however. With a flick of her head, a fae breeze washed over the arena, scrubbing the toxins from the rain pelting her and purifying future rain.

  It was only a moment, but that gave Radiance the chance to unleash an Electric Terrain. The constant electricity sparked off the now-purified rain, making a dazzling field, the bright lights covering up all the damage the arena had taken thus far.

  A sound escaped the Elite’s mouth, halfway between a chuckle and a sigh, the noise drawing my attention to him. He caught my gaze, and I knew that this would be the end of our battle.

  “Twister, cut off their escape!” Whirling maroon winds in three miniature tornados moved to encircle my Pokemon.

  “Fire Spin, take a hold of the winds and push them off!” With a quick rotation, Radiance conjured up flames that wrapped around the Twisters in spite of the flames weakening their power. It let the Paradox Pokemon control the flames and sent them spiraling to the edges of the arena.

  Not letting up, I gave another command before Turtle could. “Sludge Wave!”

  He wasn’t much more than a beat behind, though, shouting, “Fly above it! Then dive down with the storm of spring, the eternal power of the turtle!” He struck a pose that for some reason reminded me a lot of Might Guy from Naruto.

  Sweeping my hands out as if to give more power to the Move they would use, I cried out, “DISCHARGE!”

  The storm Enamorus pulled around them was enormous, shaking the very edges of the field. At the center of it, our Legendary foe dove down. She was spinning around as she went, like she was the tip of a drill designed to tear down my Pokemon. Radiance’s eyes locked onto the Legendary Terastalized Pokemon bearing down on them without an ounce of fear. Wings charged with electrical energy, some of it pulled up from the ground, the rest from Radiance’s core, the energy drew in, and right before Enamorus connected… released.

  The power from the clash created a massive force, blasting out from the two Pokemon and shattering the enhanced barrier. While the force field dulled most of the force hitting us humans, it was still enough to push me back and knock Turtle flat on his back.

  Chaos ensued for a few seconds; annoying shocks and chilling rain assaulted us. More worrying was poison from the Sludge Waves, once contained and now oozing out across the ground. I jumped up, floating above it for half a moment before remembering the cameras were still rolling. I don’t want to reveal Aura like this at the very least.

  In a maneuver that I hoped seemed natural enough, I slid over a tiny bit and grabbed onto a nearby Rotom Drone, acting like it was supporting my weight. In addition to keeping me away from the deadly sludge, the aerial position also gave me a good vantage point of the arena.

  Both Pokemon had fallen down, but while Enamorus was groaning in the mud, Radiance rose up, glowing brightly. White-hot flames covered their body, burning away the last of the clouds as they floated over their fallen foe.

  “They’re defeated; you’ve won! Good job!” I shouted out to them. They didn’t stop, so I added, “Turtle needs saving!”

  The order did the trick, shaking Radiance out of their daze. The slight hesitation as they glanced over at the fallen man indicated some slight murderous feelings, but the flames died down, and they flew over to the fallen man.

  I had suspected that they’d help him up or attempt to pick the man up in some way, but instead increased the heat on their wings. Floating in a line across the room, they melted a moat to stall the sludge oozing towards the man. Guess that works too, I thought, watching the Elite struggle with the heavy shell before eventually managing to right himself and recall his fainted Pokemon.

  Radiance returned to my side, and I let go of the Rotom Drone, hugging my Pokémon and clinging onto them. “That was amazing. I’ve never once doubted your power, but your control today was the best I’ve ever seen. Good job.” They gave a tired but triumphant beeping sound in response, puffing up proudly.

  Geeta sat atop Espathra, who was both holding the nearby sludge at bay but also telekinetically lifting the announcer on the other side of the room out of danger. Kain was still holding onto his microphone, though, so he lifted it up and announced, “We have our victor! Nemona Glitterati has defeated all of the Elite Four in a row! There’s just one match left to determine if she can become Champion and be one of the few Trainers in history to clear the gauntlet. She must defeat a Champion, but not just any Champion-ranked trainer; Nemona has agreed to face down—

  The door at the other end of the room opened, and Miguel Worthington strode in dramatically. For once, his wild hair looked neat, his suit sharply pressed. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he said, “Me. She was to defeat me, the El Primer—what the hell happened here?!”

  I just gave my next opponent a sheepish grin and wave from atop Radiance.

  I always thought that if this were an anime, this episode would be called 'Past vs. Paradox! Hisui's Ancient Guardian versus The Pokemon From the Future!' Or something like that.

  Anyways, we've finished with the Elite Four! I had fun making a turtle-themed team for him. Just one battle left for this mega arc, then things will be on a bit of a breather.

  What do you think of the OCs I used for the Elite Four now that you've seen them all (and I guess Miguel, since we did see him earlier, though we'll get to see more of him soon)? With the six-year gap and certain elements I've headcanoned, I felt like having most of the canon crew wouldn't make sense here, so we had these people instead. Did it make sense? Did you like them? Would you have preferred the more canon Elite Four instead?

  In any case, I hope you enjoyed the battles so far and will do the same for the finale... if you can drag yourselves away from Legends Z-A, haha. I know I'll have some trouble with that and I'm really hyped for the new game/new Megas. If you have any comments on that (or, you know, this story), feel free to leave a message below or on the to talk about it. Thank you and have a great day.

  Nemona's Current Team:

  -'Dun' (Dudunsparce, Male, Normal Type, Starter)

  - Tera Type: Normal

  - Held Item: Expert Belt

  - Abilities: Run Away, Serene Grace

  - Moves known:

  - 'Miles' (Rotom, Genderless, Electric/Form dependent Type)

  - Tera Type: Electric

  - Held Item: Life Orb

  - Ability: Levitate

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Nightwing' (Gliscor, Female, Flying/Ground Type)

  - Tera Type: Water

  - Held Item: Toxic Orb

  - Ability: Hyper Cutter, Poison Heal

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Notch' (Diancie, Mega-Evolvable, Genderless, Rock/Fairy Type)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Light Clay

  - Ability: Clear Body

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Phantasm' (Hisuian Zoroark, Female, Normal/Ghost)

  - Tera Type: Ghost

  - Held Item: Lax Incense

  - Ability: Illusion

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Athena' (Lucario, Mega-Evolveable, Female, Fighting/Steel)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Clear Amulet

  - Ability: Steadfast

  - Moves Known:

  -'Bahamut' (Haxorus, Male, Shiny, Dragon)

  - Tera Type: Dragon

  - Held Item: Dragon Fang

  - Ability: Mold Breaker

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Radiance' (Iron Moth, Genderless, Fire/Poison)

  - Tera Type: ???

  - Held Item: None

  - Ability: Quark Drive

  - Moves Known:

  *Custom Moves