Like No One Ever Was (Pokemon SI)

[Skyfyre]

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"What an exciting match, Elena! Riveting to the final strike." The voice came from Arven's Rotom Phone, and I didn't have it in me to tell him to turn it off as we relaxed in the lounge, once more waiting between matches. We'd already all left to get lunch in the cafeteria as soon as I had returned from my match against Martha, and now we were waiting for my next bout.

"Indeed, Hugo. Nemona certainly didn't disappoint here," the other 'battle analyst' said. "Still, this round was much closer than the previous one. Why do you think that is?" She 'asked,' lobbing her co-host an obviously prepared question. I get why there's such a long break in between, and really, every minute spent resting is to my advantage, giving my team time to rest up, but still. I wish we could just go back into the fight, no more needing to wait.

I pushed those thoughts down, keeping half an ear out for what the analysts had to say. Doubt it'll be anything too useful, but you never know. Maybe they'll have something that will give me a flash of insight I was missing.

Hugo said, "Well, Martha has always been a roadblock in the Elite Four, stopping many a challenge. She used to be ranked second strongest among the Four, and I think we can see from her performance today that she lost that slot to Hassel due to how strong he's become, not any slip-ups on her part."

"Indeed," Elena chirped. "That Destiny Bond was a very tricky maneuver that took the rug out from under Nemona's feet. I feel like she doesn't have the practice dealing with a tricky Trainer like Martha, her team specializing in power."

"Really? Doesn't her team seem to be based around versatility?"

"Hmm, you could say that, but it still leads to the same goal. We've seen a good spread of Moves from all of Nemona's Pokemon, but it all serves to let her hit harder. She excels at finding a Move that her opponent can't easily deal with, like a Super Effective attack, and hammering it in. None of the Moves she's taught her Pokemon lack strength behind them, but we see little of the customizability that other Trainers of her caliber might focus on."

Excuse you?! Miles and I worked plenty hard on their Confuse Wisp, and we used that in the match, thank you very much. Hugo nodded his head. "I guess we'll see then how she fares against Hassel, another power-type Trainer. Will she still have the energy to push through the Dragon Guardian of the Elite Four?"

I grimaced at that, even as that point hit its mark. The words aren't anything I haven't thought of before. Hassel will be a challenge. Dragon Types had been somewhat nerfed over the years, but they were still the most common pseudo-legendary Type for a reason; as a whole, they tended to be immensely powerful.

There was too much in that fight with Martha I wasn't prepared for, and now Athena won't be up for the next round. I was sure she would argue the point if I raised it, but the fact of the matter was that she had put a lot of herself out for that battle. Hmm, maybe I just save her for the finals? No, I'll likely need her against the last member of the Elite Four, especially if I'm bringing in others to cover her absence against Hassel.

I was also hesitant to use Notch in the next round, even with them being a very convenient answer to much of Hassel's team. Despite Destiny Bond being less draining than the beating Athena took, it's still enough that I want to give them a break. Do I save them for Miguel? But that leaves me without a good answer for Turtle's Ace. Ideally I'd like to keep Dun and Notch in fighting shape for the El Primero, but that was looking less and less possible.

"How's the planning going?" Tulip asked deceptively lightly. I blinked, stretching out from the table I'd been hunched over, my hands clasped together and held over my chin as I thought. She must be here to stop me from spiraling further.

"Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face." That got a bark of laughter from Dendra, and I adopted a small smile. "We're at that phase right now. Just improvising at this point."

"You look like you have everything under control," Kieran muttered, flushing a little as I glanced over the room at him.

"Of course she does; I'd hardly expect my rival to let this slow her down, or she'd hardly be a challenge fit for me," Carmine declared boisterously.

"I'm glad to hear your confidence in your Pokemon's abilities. Looking forward to a match in the future." Carmine looked a little uncertain for a second, gulping for a second before she regained her composure.

"I've- I mean, there's a lot of studying to get into Blueberry. But I'll beat you in every test we have to take! And then I'll focus on training up Sinistcha!" Her bluster came back towards the end, and I chuckled.

My sister cut in. "Speaking of training, what were some of those Moves Martha was using? I tried looking them up, but I couldn't find out what they were called."

Shaking my head, I said, "They might not have official names yet, being Custom Moves and all." At the confused looks I was getting, I explained. "Sometimes Trainers can invent their own Moves for Pokemon on their teams; I call them 'Custom Moves' to differentiate them from Moves any Pokemon of that kind can learn, either naturally or through TMs."

"Wait, if they can't be learned those ways, then how…?" Arven's voice trailed off, his face scrunched up in concentration as he tried to puzzle out my words.

"Well, they aren't normally learned through a Pokemon's development in the wild. Theoretically it's possible to use them, because they do then use the Moves, but- it's a pretty unique process. Technically, some of the current Technical Machine Moves started out as Custom Moves before the Trainers and researchers figured out how to make the process easily learnable to a broad set of Pokemon. Like the Psychic Noise, Martha's Honchkrow used to shut down Nightwing's healing for a bit. That Move started out as a Custom Move until they figured out how to make it into a Technical Machine." I don't know how they made it into a TM, though; I'll have to look that up later.

"Hmph, why don't you have any Custom Moves?" Carmine demanded, and I looked at her aghast.

"Wha-bu- I- gah! Custom Moves aren't the end-all and be-all of a fight! Pokemon can be plenty strong just honing the basics! Also, I do have Custom Moves; I showed off three of them in that fight!" I shouted, waving three fingers in her face.

Kieran stepped in to defuse the situation. "O-oh, wowzers! What Custom Moves have you made?"

Sighing, I stepped back. "You saw The Hand and Force Whip from Athena in that battle. She also knows Dancing Sword, a combination of Detect and Swords Dance, to protect her from harm. Miles used Confuse Wisp there, and Dun has some variations on Yawn."

"What about that Move that Notch used to stop the Stealth Rocks?" Friede asked, joining the conversation.

"That wasn't really a Move; Assault Vest would have prevented any non-damaging Move anyways. It was more, hmm… More like the difference between flexing a muscle and throwing a punch. It had a buildup of energy, but little direction or technique to it."

"Osu!" Dendra cheered at my explanation, and I smiled. Mostly, at least. I'm leaving out how a Pokemon would need Legendary-tier strength to pull off what Notch did in that manner, but the general gist of it works.

"Do you think Martha's Moves could be taught as TMs?" Cyan asked. "She had the weird chains on Destiny Bond and whatever that darkness effect was."

['Annoying'] A psychic voice rang out in my head, and I turned to Tulip before seeing her shaking her head. Glancing over and down, I saw Gothorita chiming in. ['Couldn't see you in there'].

"Heh, yeah, it was annoying, wasn't it? I'd imagine it would be even worse for a Psychic Type." Answering my sister's question, I said, "I think the darkness effect could be taught as a TM. She has multiple Pokemon on her team that can use it, including her Umbreon she didn't use this time. It feels like a Terrain effect to me, something that decreases the accuracy of non-Dark Types and slightly powers up Dark Type attacks. Though it's not perfect." I suspect that it also makes Dark Types more evasive within the darkness, further hampering attacks against them, but Notch overpowered it, and Athena could ignore it with her Aura Sight.

"That altered Destiny Bond though… I don't know. That was a new one; she's never used it in a match before." I suspect if there hadn't been such a big hubaloo about my Gauntlet, she would have saved it to challenge The Great and Powerful Turtle for his spot. "It uses some form of Arena Trap-like effect to stop switches out, and it was from her oldest Spiritomb. Maybe one that was originally sealed by exorcists in the past and learned how to manipulate or copy its cage in some part?"

As I saw people staring at me, I shook my head. "Sorry, just thinking out loud. But no, I don't think that Move can be copied." At least I hope not; it was a pain to deal with. "In any case, I should be focused on Hassel."

"Why do you sound so worried?" I frowned at Friede's words. Do I really look so worried? Didn't mean to, but I'd be lying if I didn't say it was weighing heavily on me. "From everything we've seen, it looks like you're doing well."

I sighed, not able to admit the full truth. This feels like a test I can't just pass, one I have to ace. Like… if I do this, I can prove that I'm capable of stepping up to the role the protagonist took - more than that, even. That I can step in to prevent things from ever getting bad enough to need their actions, that I can save Turo from himself. Of course I would continue to try even if I burnt out here, but then I'd need to rely a lot more heavily on others, which would be 'messy' for several reasons.

I could tell them part of my anxiety, however, so I did so. "Hassel was my teacher. Music teacher, admittedly, but still. I learned a lot from him and even battled him before I began my journey." I let out a long breath. "I lost that fight. I'm hardly going to claim a perfect record, but my losses have been rare, to say the least. I know I've gotten better since then, but he's also improved his own standing in the Elite Four too." And honestly, the Turtle's specific trump card leaves the last member of the Elite Four at a significant advantage over Hassel. I heard even Miguel had serious difficulty beating that guy. So it's hard to pinpoint exactly how strong Hassel is now.

"Basically, with this match I'll find out not just how much I've grown, but how fast my rate of growth is. If I'll be enough," I concluded, catching the barest hint of a frown on the young adult's face. Right, seems weird to be this obsessed with getting stronger at such a young age.

I quickly brightened up, plastering a smile on my face. "But I'm sure it'll be fine. I've got some ideas, and I know my team will do great."

***

Once more, I stepped forth into the battle chamber. Hassel was waiting for me already, standing much as he usually did. He was wearing a green suit jacket over his black and red vest, with beige dress pants. Fancy, but not overly so. I wonder how he chose that as his 'definitive' look? I wondered how a lot of Trainers did, if they tested things out vigorously or just had a vibe and went with it.

"Our challenger arrives! We've talked about how Nemona is a rising star in the music industry, but we haven't mentioned that she was taught by Hassel himself!" The enthusiastic announcer told one of the Rotom Drones as I took my place on the stage. "In a way, this will be more than a chance for a would-be Champion to face off against the Dragon Guardian of the Elite Four, but a battle between student and teacher. Can Nemona keep up her winning streak against the one who taught her?"

"Good to see you again, Hassel." I said, smiling slightly at the man as I tried to push down the butterflies in my stomach.

"You as well. I'll admit that I've been quite eager for our rematch." He grinned broadly as the announcer shouted something meaningless at the 'revelation' that we'd fought before. Studying him, I could tell that he was being honest about that; there was much eagerness and anticipation in his gaze. But that wasn't the only thing he was feeling.

Pride and determination were clear as well, but digging deeper, I saw flickers of uncertainty buried within him as well. I don't think he's uncertain of how well I'll do either. Himself, then? But why?

I could only speculate if he was worried about being humiliated or not making a good showing or the like, but the fact that even he could feel that way helped center me. Intellectually, I knew everyone got nervous, that at some point everyone was afraid in their lives. Seeing it makes a difference though. Knowing that he can be afraid right now but push past that fear helps me do the same.

"Me too; but don't think it'll end like last time!" I cheered brightly.

"We shall see," he said with a smirk, before dropping it and staring at me intently. "I'm sure you've heard people talking about how winning this will make you the youngest Champion ever, but that isn't what you said you desired, was it?"

My confusion only lasted a second as I recalled our first meeting and what I'd said then. "That's right! This is just a step on my path to being the greatest Champion ever." I punctuated my words with a stomp of my foot, the dramatic action/declaration earning a shocked gasp from the announcer. "Now I'll prove it to you." Holding up a Pokeball, I pointed it towards my former music teacher.

He matched me, drawing his own Pokeball and we stared each other down. Any hesitation was gone now; there was no room for doubts here. Geeta called out for us to release our Pokemon and we did so, Hassel sending out his Noivern, while I revealed Notch, sparkling on the battlefield.

The Elite's eyes widened at the bold choice, and I smirked. Weren't expecting that, were you? Now let's see if it pays off. Objectively the situation looked good, and it looked like I might be able to force him into an early switch - of all of Hassel's Pokemon, this one was the least equipped to deal with Notch.

"Trainers ready?" We both nodded, neither of us taking our eyes off the battlefield. "Then we begin in three, two, one… begin!" We were both flying into action the instant Geeta gave the signal.

"Boomburst!/Diamond Storm!" He and I called, and as I heard his command, I resisted the urge to curse before shielding my own ears with a quick application of Aura. Damn, his instincts are good, I thought as the sound washed over everyone. Over and through Phantasm, obviously not doing anything to them as they pretended to be Notch.

For her part, she made a barrage of crystal-clear shards, the Icy Wind looking so very much like Notch's Diamond Storm, dealing decent damage to the Dragon to boot. The illusion was pointless, however, as with his first Move, Hassel had confirmed which Pokemon she truly was. Of course, you didn't trust in your instincts fully, wanted to double-check that, didn't you? The fact that he had included some signal so his Noivern hadn't used the Throat Spray hanging around her neck alongside the fact that Boomburst wouldn't normally be very effective against Notch anyways cinched it.

Still, as smart and logical as that might have seemed, it was a mistake, one he'll regret. We've been training for the better part of a year; she can do more than just hope someone doesn't see through her illusion. "Encore!" I shouted, and Phantasm dropped her illusion, happily clapping and leering at the Flying bat-like Pokemon.

Alarm flashed on Hassel's face. "Air Cutter!" Not the most powerful Move in her arsenal, but it is quick; a single swipe of her wings and she could use something effectual against us. Not fast enough, however, not for the fastest member of my team, and especially not after being slowed down by Icy Wind. Phantasm's Encore locked in, and Noivern was stuck using Boomburst, wailing sound shaking the ground and making my teeth feel weird.

Not trusting my words to reach her over the din, I gave a swift chop of my hand for my next order. The vicious grin etched on Phantasm's face was the only warning Hassel received before she rocketed into a charge, glowing bright green as she crashed into Noivern, knocking the Dragon into the barrier, our foe falling into a heap in front of Hassel.

"C'mon, don't tell me that's all you got?" I taunted Hassel as Phantasm fell to the ground. She was clearly exhausted from the effort, dropping to one knee, panting heavily. It didn't stop her from cackling at the Dragon she had felled, the wounded Pokemon slowly rising up on their foreclaws.

Rather than respond to me, Hassel called, "Switch." Recalling his wounded, Encore-stuck Pokemon, he sent out Dragonite. The orange-scaled Pokemon gave a proud cry, staring down angrily at Phantasm. Right, I guess she did just hurt his teammate pretty badly. He had a Sitrus berry attached to a cord around his neck.

Hassel didn't let his Pokemon give in to their rage right away, however, using the exhaustion to call out, "Dragon Dance."

I clicked my tongue loudly as Dragonite began spinning around, dancing surprisingly gracefully through the air for a Pokemon of his bulk, the lessons learned as a Dragonair clearly not forgotten. "Feels like you're underestimating us, not going for a strike right away. Let's show them why that's a bad idea," I told Phantasm, who howled in response, rising up to her full height.

A glimmer of rage gleamed in her eyes. She doesn't like being looked down on, that's for sure. Can't say I wasn't tempted to recall her anyways though; a pseudo Legendary with a boost to speed and power is no joke. But still, I don't think we need to switch quite yet.

"Extreme Tail," Hassel's deep voice echoed out over the chamber, and almost as soon as I heard the word, Dragonite was in front of Phantasm, swinging his thick tail around to smack into her… only to hit empty air, Phantasm flipping back over the blow.

"What, you think she hasn't experienced that before? Athena forces her to dodge Moves like that all the time," I pointed out while raising a hand up near my lips before bringing it out and down. Phantasm really wasn't a fan of how much faster Athena could be than her with that Move, especially when Athena started mixing it with Moves that could actually hurt my Hisuian Zoroark. Which in turn pushed Phantasm to get good enough to dodge even those kinds of attacks.

Evasiveness was key for Phantasm; despite a great defensive Type combination, she just couldn't last long against repeated, powerful attacks. That's why she was able to, at my signal, start barraging Dragonite with Hyper Voice and creating dozens of illusory clones to hide among on the battlefield. Of course, the trick to any good shell game is to keep the prize tucked up your sleeve.

"Dragonbreath, don't aim for the clones!" Once again, Hassel's instincts were enough to foil our plans, and part of me wondered if he had some natural skill as a Dragon Aura user, or if it was just experience that let him read us so. Most of me was worried about Phantasm as I saw her get clipped by the burning blue flames Dragonite spewed forth, her illusory clones disappearing as she lost concentration.

"Detect," I called out, and her eyes flashed with blue light, maneuvering around the diving Dragon Claw our foe tried to hit her with. Then all of a sudden, Dragonite stumbled mid-air, looking confused. "Now, Bitter Malice!"

Dragonite, who was currently blinded by the illusion of pure darkness Phantasm had layered over him, had no way of dodging the ghostly tendrils that rose up from beneath and lashed into him, sapping his strength.

Not missing a beat, Hassel called out, "Mist!" The water particles that the Dragon Type created were thick, obscuring any vision beyond a foot in front of me, likely even worse within the arena. And that's not even the main point of the Move, just a side effect to stop us from lowering his attack further.

"Ace," I whispered, trusting Phantasm to hear my words. The grunt from Dragonite a second later had me internally cheering that she had both heard and struck him successfully. Those cheers died as I heard Hassel's next command.

"Draco Meteor, leave no room for escape!" I saw flashes of purple amidst the mist, the meteorites flashing down within the arena, likely striking in and around where she had just been. It's how I would teach her to strike, so I doubt Hassel didn't do the same.

The impacts died down, and I wasn't sure what condition Phantasm was in, but I could hear her ragged breathing, so that was good enough for the moment. "Alright, enough of this mist, Icy Wind!"

"Flamethrower!" Hassel called out in turn, and Dragonite let loose a stream of fire, catching the icy shards and cool breeze headed his way, melting through them. The two attacks also did a great job of clearing the air, revealing where our Pokemon were on the battlefield.

Drawing my Pokeball, I called out, "Shadow Sneak!" Forgoing the Icy Wind she was conjuring, Phantasm dived into her shadow, which stretched out long over the ground, before rising up several meters for her to pop out of it and score a quick cut into the Dragon Type. Dragonite had been too caught up with the Flamethrower to dodge, and as it reared back for a counter, I shouted, "Switch!" Quickly recalling Phantasm before any other attacks could get to her.

As I stowed away her Pokeball and drew another, Dragonite began munching on his berry while making multiple twisters with a few flaps of his wings, chasing out the duplicates. Already? But his health is nowhere near low enough to trigger- right, not a game. Hassel must have just trained his Dragonite to eat the berry quickly rather than wait like most Pokemon would - gives him the most out of Multiscale.

Without a word, I released Nightwing, and she shrieked gleefully onto the stage. Sticking her tongue out in a quick (and subtle) Taunt, she flew past him. He gave chase with speed that belied his size, and I was forced to call, "Protect," to fend off the attack. As the barrier ended, Nightwing swooped down and to the side, making a bit of room for our next Move as I saw that the Poison from the Toxic Orb had finally sunk into her.

"Fling," I said, smirking as I heard Hassel call for a Protect. She cackled alongside me as we saw Dragonite stuck in place, caught between the Taunt and attempting to follow his Trainer's command.

Be nice if we could buff here, but there's no time to waste. Nightwing tossed the Toxic Orb hard at the pseudo-Legendary, who couldn't avoid the Fling from so close. The blow caused him to wince slightly, the damage minimal but the effects vital to the state of this match. The Orb shattered against his shoulder, covering him in the deleterious liquid and causing a ripple to pass over his scales.

Good, Multiscale is down, and he's badly Poisoned. "Acrobatics," I ordered, and unburdened from the Toxic Orb, Nightwing flew rapidly around, striking at Dragonite once, twice, thri- getting grabbed out of the air.

Her look of 'Uh oh' summed it all up before Hassel shouted, "Ice Punch!" Dragonite nailed her with his other meaty paw, this one encrusted with ice that did nothing to harm him but heavily hurt my Pokemon.

Nightwing cried in pain, and I winced but didn't pause in ordering a retaliation. "Ice Fang!" Twisting around in his grip, Nightwing opened her jaw wide, clamping down hard on his wrist. This time it was his turn to cry out in pain from the double super-effective Ice Type attack, letting go of her involuntarily.

Hassel, not impaired by the pain, saw the situation a bit more objectively and ordered, "Wrap. Don't let her escape, then keep up the Ice Punches," he announced coldly. Nightwing attempted to fly away, but Dragonite's speed was still boosted, and he was able to wrap his thick tail around her.

It was tempting to call out for Ice Fang again, but I knew that wasn't the best strategy here. "Protect," I decided, letting Dragonite's icy fists slam against Nightwing's barrier to no effect for the moment. His tail was already around her and continued to squeeze, but it did minimal damage, which was healing already from her Ability. Meanwhile, Dragonite's health steadily dropped even as she raged on, the Poison sapping her vitality.

Drawing things out works in my favor, and while Nightwing is pretty good at taking physical hits, that Ice Punch of his hits damn hard. Let's not fight to a pseudo-legendary's strengths. Of course, to do that, Nightwing needs to break free from his grip.

"Knock off!" My words had Nightwing instantly dropping her barrier, her long tail infused with Dark energy, snaking up and smacking down on Dragonite's, the Move forcing an instant release. With the space to maneuver, she dropped immediately after, narrowly dodging Dragonite's Ice Punch. There might be fancier tricks we could have practiced with Protect, and it has some built-in limitations, but the work we put in to switch between its defense and any other Moves, pays off in its own ways here.

"Quick Attack, make some room." My call sees Nightwing blurring away from Dragonite. Hassel had learned from last time and didn't order an Extreme Speed, (rightfully) anticipating that she'd be ready for such a Move. Instead, he called down another Draco Meteor upon Nightwing, who avoided most of the rocks but was still clipped by one of them, the attack doing more damage than I would have thought.

He's definitely lost some power in his special attacks, but considering he already used one… Right, gotta remember that not everyone will be as drained by such an attack, especially a specialist like him. Bahamut could fire off Draco Meteors even quicker than Dragonite, but he'd be lucky to have his second one at even half power from the first.

"Gunk Shot," was my next order, trying to fire back with one of the few ranged attacks she had that I felt would be effective against the Dragonite. Nightwing sent the conjured pile of gunk flying up with a slap of her tail, but our foe proved nimble enough to dodge the shots. "Swords Dance," I called, trying to switch things up. If he tries to close, we still have a bit of time, and once she gets the boost off-

"Get in there, Haze," Hassel ordered, and his Pokemon did so, diving down while the icy Haze rose up around the arena. This Move was hardly as obscuring as the Mist had been, but it was enough to leave the two Pokemon as silhouettes as they clashed.

"Protect," I ordered again, and as the Haze cleared, I saw Nightwing's teal honeycomb barrier straining against Dragonite's attack. Sometimes you can risk a second one, but here, no. I can tell it won't hold one more time. I could see how ragged Dragonite looked; the beatings he had taken and the constant drain from Poison were taking their toll. But in this position, I knew there would be no escape, not before he could land one blow we couldn't afford to take. "Fine, let's do this. Ice Fang!"

The two of them met in one final clash, Dragonite's Ice Punch striking into Nightwing's side as she latched on with Ice Fang into his neck. Ice spread out across both of them, steadily encasing the two until they were both stuck in a small iceberg. They were also both clearly unconscious from the effort.

"Nemona and Hassel's Pokemon are both unable to battle! Trainers, ready your next Pokemon," Geeta called out. That was unexpected. And unfortunate; I'd hoped that Nightwing would be able to hold out longer. Hassel clearly recognized the dangers in that too, however, which was why he pushed his Dragon so hard on the offense.

The power of a pseudo-Legendary in the hands of an Elite. And that's not the only one on his team. Will his next one be Baxcalibur? Or will he suspect I won't be sending Phantasm out this time and sending Noivern back in? ... No, I know who he's sending out next. It's time. Raising my Pokeball, I stared Hassel dead in the eyes, waiting for the count before we simultaneously revealed our chosen Pokemon.

"Oh? What's this? Both Trainers have sent out a Haxorus! But it won't be hard to tell whose Pokemon is whose!" The announcer exclaimed, waving his hand out at our Dragons. His Haxorus had a normal color scheme, with yellowish green plating and black only on the belly, middle of the legs, and tip of the tail. Bahamut, on the other hand, was only a slightly darker shade of black in those spots, the rest of his armor a sparkling black as well, making the red on the edges of his tusks and claws 'pop' even more.

"Look at the coloration on Nemona's Haxorus! What a majestic creature." Bahamut preened at the announcer's words, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, you're beautiful. Now focus." He snapped to attention as Geeta finished counting down.

"Begin!" She announced. Bahamut took a step forward before being almost instantly bowled over by a skittering charge from Hassel's Pokemon. Dammit, First Impression!

"Earthquake!" I countered, letting Bahamut make use of his tail, the only appendage he could use effectively from his prone position, to hammer the ground. It made waves along the earth, shaking the arena and knocking the other Haxorus back while Bahamut rose to his feet.

"Dragon Claw," we both called out. There was a synchronized flash of surprise before I caught Hassel's fierce grin. From how my cheeks felt stretched, I was likely grinning too. Let's see how far you've come, Bahamut.

The two dragons tore into each other, claws flashing with a bluish-purple energy as they fought. The ground shook ever so slightly just from how they based themselves against it, trying to gain more power and leverage. Eventually, Bahamut tossed the other Dragon aside. As he took a step back and slid to a more defensive stance, I saw the damage he'd been dealt.

Too deep. Those scratches on his armor go too deep, especially for the damage he did to Hassel's Haxoruus. "Outrage," Hassel called, coming to the same conclusion I had, his word a challenge. 'For a Pokemon built for sheer power, how do you overcome it when faced with a greater force?'

With skill. "Weave and Dragon Claw." Bahamut met the erratic motions of Hassel's Haxorus, running forward, then rolling under the wild sweeps of the enemy. Performing a Dempsey roll, Bahamut ducked under an axe cut, answering with a vicious claw to our foe's less armored belly. Like that it went on, Bahamut dancing around the enraged blows and striking forth with his own, targeted hits.

Even with all his skill, fighting as best as I'd ever seen him, Bahamut couldn't avoid all of the crazed blows the Haxorus threw out, and even the glancing shots were hitting him just as hard as what he could do in return. I suppose this is the difference between us; Hassel is a Dragon Trainer, and I'm a Trainer with a Dragon. Specialists can bring out the most of their chosen Types. The ferocity and power of a Dragon… and also their pride.

That thought clicked something into place and I realized where the rest of his power was coming from. He's trained his Haxorus to master Rivalry. As Abilities went, I preferred the consistent advantage Mold Breaker gave, but Rivalry could give quite the power boost. Especially if it has a more personal component to it, like the challenge I tossed Haxorus' way when I convinced Bahamut to join my team. Clearly, I'd need to do something to level the playing field between them.

Pulling the Tera Orb out of its pouch, I felt it shake heavily as I activated it, the force still causing my arm to tremble, no matter how much I practiced with it. The force wasn't enough to hamper my throw, however, tossing it up over Bahamut just as the other Dragon's rage died down.

Hassel had trained his Pokemon well, letting them break out of the Confusion that should occur at the end of such a rampage, but even still, there was disorientation as he suddenly calmed down to see Bahamut covered by large crystals. Shattering out of them, Bahamut sparkled even brighter than before, his body covered in a crystalline sheen and the top of his head crowned by a red and blue dragon head Tera Jewel 'hat.'

"Full blade style." Lashing out with his tusks, Bahamut performed a modified Dragon Claw - I couldn't even call it a custom Move or the like, still doing what the Move normally did. Just moreso, using his powerful tusks instead of his claws, which, combined with his Terastalization, let my Dragon do a good deal of damage to Hassel's.

The Elite winced, seeing how much stronger Bahamut was now. His hand reached down to his own Tera Orb - only to be stopped by a hiss from his own Haxorus. And there's that Draconic pride. His Haxorus wants to win without using Terastalization, while mine… okay, Bahamut wanted that too. But I had talked things over with him, and he'd been willing to accept that it might not be in the cards. As strong as he had gotten over the past few months, it had only been a few months, while Hassel had been training his Haxorus for years. So we both knew (and accepted) that he might need an edge to win this. And he really wants to win this.

"Outrage!" I shouted, joy in my voice, matched by Bahamut's joyous roar as he charged forward, using his new strength to tear into the other Haxorus. He fought back hard against Bahamut, cutting and tearing into my Pokemon, even breathing Dragonfire out, but doing little that could match our power.

Hassel waited, letting his Pokemon weather the onslaught at first, before midway through calling, "Protect!" A barrier expanded out from his Pokemon, encircling him and warding off mine. Bahamut continued to rage, unable to stop his attacks even as his tusks and claws simply skittered off the barrier, until eventually, that rage petered out, and he was left with a dazed expression on his face.

Letting out a sharp note, I broke Bahamut's Confusion. He performed a barrel roll to the side, making distance from the other Haxorus. Hassel's Haxorus swung with his tusks, cutting through the air where Bahamut had been standing prior, caught off guard by how quickly he had shaken the Confusion off.

"How did-? Ah, I see. Remarkably clever, Miss Nemona. To use your voice like that… As your music teacher, I couldn't be prouder. But you'll need more than that to become a Champion! Dragon Tail!"

"Iron Tail!" I shouted in response, Bahamut's black tail flashing with grey light as he smashed the Steel Type attack into the other Dragon's Dragon Tail. They clashed for a moment until Bahamut overpowered Hassel's Pokemon.

Reeling back for only a second, the Haxorus tried to lunge back with a Crunch, but Bahamut met the Move with an Iron Head. The sharp fangs of our foe bounced off Bahamut's head with a clanging sound, and he winced back. For his part, Bahamut winced, lowering his sinuous neck to rub at the small fang marks on his head.

"Another clever trick, using Steel Type attacks to nullify a Dragon's weakness to their own Type. Avant-garde, as Brassie would say. But subtlety can only carry a Dragon so far; like with art, your Pokemon needs power, needs passion! Haxorus, you've seen the flaws. Outrage, give them no quarter!"

I pursed my lips, desperately racking my mind as the enemy Haxorus came charging in. Despite the mad rush, I was sure that he'd be ready for what we'd pulled before. No dancing around the attacks this time, and if we try to use a Steel Type attack, he'll just tank the hit and use the opportunity to hit Bahamut somewhere he isn't charging Steel Type energy - and that will hurt us a lot more than it hurts him. At the same time, though, we still can't meet him head-on. He's too strong for that.

My mind flashed back to working on songs with Hassel, and I recalled the end of a session where I flopped over the back of my chair. 'How does anyone make and sell music? It's all just… so much! Trying to compose all the lyrics and attach the right notes and instrumental directions and-'

'Patience,' Hassel had said. 'Like any problem, you take it one step at a time. Break the song down into different steps and do those.'

Right, like that. "Breaking Swipe!" Bahamut struck his tail out, sweeping it around and cracking it hard into the side of the enemy's knee. The other Haxorus staggered but continued his charge, biting, clawing, and hacking into Bahamut.

Bahamut fell back but managed to hold out against the onslaught, and I called out. "Outrage as well, you've got this!" With a fierce roar, he threw himself back, just as hard. No, harder now. He's overpowering him now that he's been weakened by Breaking Swipe.

The drawback was that Hassel's Pokemon had dealt more initial damage to Bahamut. The two Haxoruses clashed furiously, each one striking with as much power and rage as they could, before finally, one Dragon stood tall.

Swaying slightly, Bahamut remained, just barely hanging on to consciousness; the other Haxorus collapsed at his feet. My Pokemon gave a mighty roar of victory, proudly cheering his achievement, and I did the same from the other side of the barrier. "You did it! Woohoo!" I shouted, jumping up and down in joy.

"Indeed, well done, Nemona," Hassel congratulated me. "But this fight isn't over just yet," he recalled his fallen Pokemon as he spoke.

I nodded, waiting to see who he'd send out next. The return of his Noivern had me pulling out my Pokeball. "Switch." Honestly, I could recall my Pokemon and keep my last switch in reserve - Bahamut isn't looking too great right now. Still, I want to honor the effort he's put in thus far. Plus, he could land at least one solid blow against Hassel's Baxcalibur, which might be handy if it gets that far.

"Let's rock this." I said, releasing Phantasm back onto the field. This time, though, she looked exactly like my starter.

"Has Dun mastered this trick yet? Boomburst," Hassel called again, and once more sound flooded the field. This time, Phantasm was prepared for it, and she had 'Dun' writhe in agony slightly from the attack.

Gritting my teeth to sell the act, I cried, "Hyper Voice!" A cacophony of sounds filled the air, making it impossible to hear anything else Hassel was saying. Both our Pokemon were getting hurt by the assault, or so it appeared. Phantasm's ghostly nature made her immune to the damage.

I didn't think I gave anything away on my face, but somehow, Hassel figured it out. I read a curse on his lips before he called for a switch, returning his Pokemon to him. The noise died down, and I taunted, "Don't think you can take Dun? Softening him up won't let your ace beat mine, you y'know." Can I cause him to second-guess himself?

"I doubt we'll know, since he's not there," he said, very unamused. The announcer gave a shocked gasp to the side.

"What's this? Has Nemona outbluffed the Dragon Guardian of the Elite Four once more?" He asked rhetorically, and I resisted the urge to snort derisively. I think this is the first time I've fooled him so far, and even then, only for a few moments.

"You are correct, however," the Elite continued. "In that the last Pokemon you've yet to see from me today is my ace. Go, Baxcalibur!" It felt like the temperature dropped even before his icy Dragon had finished materializing from the Pokeball. By the time he had, rearing back and roaring in defiance, we could all definitely feel it. Hassel's Ace looked much the same as it had last time, with the exception of the large red Assault Vest he was wearing, fitted snugly over his body with a large cutout in the back to make room for the blade sticking out of his spine.

His yellow eyes glared down at the illusion of Dun before Hassel said, "Dorsal." I didn't get the reference until Baxcalibur turned around, pointing his back blade over at us. That's fine; he still doesn't know where Phantasm is-

"Get out of there!" I shouted, seeing the blade twitch slightly. Throwing himself backwards, balancing on his tail, which was making a trail of ice to slide across, Baxcalibur charged with a swift Glaive Rush. The spot he was striking at appeared to be empty air, but I knew it was where Phantasm had been hiding.

Forgoing her illusions, she leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the sharp blade on his back, but still knocked by the rest of Baxcalibur's body as he charged through. Landing on all fours, her mane flared up wildly as she growled at him.

"Focus, he's open now!" I called out. Phantasm stood up, gathering a large sphere of Fighting Type energy above her. Before she could complete the Move against Baxcalibur, still picking himself up, Hassel's Tera orb soared over the arena, breaking open above his Ace.

As the flash of light and crystals faded, Baxcalibur stood tall, Terastalized. He too had Tera'd into a Dragon Type, which meant the Focus Blast hit and was handily shrugged off by the beast, no longer weak to Fighting.

"Play Rough-" I began to call, hoping to take advantage of his remaining weaknesses, but Hassel's next command stopped us cold.

"Ice Shards." Firing off a quick flurry of ice crystals, Phantasm was battered away, the force enough to send her sprawling against the wall. Not waiting for Geeta to call it, I returned my unconscious Pokemon.

"You did great out there, thanks." All right, it comes down to this: Hassel's Ace vs. my starter. "Dun, let's make some noise!" I shouted, tossing the ball in the air. Dun materialized in the air, sucking in a big breath. Baxcalibur turned to face him and was immediately hit by a full-force Boomburst.

"He did learn that trick, by the way!"

"What?"

"What?"

I gave up trying to communicate with the Dragon Trainer as it appeared he wasn't quite as adept at reading lips as I was. On the field, Baxcalibur was moaning with pain. That didn't stop him from shooting out a series of Icicle Spears at Dun, however, two of them hitting and bruising Dun's scales.

"Ancient Power." Dun waved his tail about, conjuring up a number of rocks, shaped just like the Icicle Spears Baxcalibur had just thrown at him. The rocks flew towards the Terastalized Pokemon, hitting him hard but not giving him a boost. I caught a flicker of confusion across Hassel's face before he pushed past it, ordering Ice Beams at my Pokemon.

Must be wondering why we aren't using Boomburst again. With the Normal Type STAB it was an impressive Move. Unfortunately, while Dun had become proficient in it, he couldn't use it continuously, needing to take a break from any voice-based Moves, and even Yawn, after using it. Doesn't take him a long time, though; we could do it again… but that would give away the limitation entirely.

"Rise up and classic." At my command, Dun jumped into the air, leaving behind the slippery ground Baxcalibur had made with his Ice Beams. "What, didn't think we'd notice you trying to put him on unstable footing? Or, uh, unstable bellying?" That saying doesn't work as well when the person in question doesn't have feet or legs.

What did work was rising up, the new elevation forcing our enemies to look up at him, their gaze going straight to the swirly symbol on his belly, which glowed brightly, Paralyzing Baxcalibur. And that's 'Classic,' i.e. how Glare is supposed to be used by a Dundunsparce. Can't say I'm disappointed with how Dun uses it with his 'resting angry face,' but Hassel would have been well and prepared for that.

"Take Down!" He was decent at improvising regardless, so that command saw his Ace rising up in the air and slamming Dun into the ground. My Pokemon gave a small squeaking sound as he gasped out from the impact, while Baxcalibur grunted as he rolled off of him.

"Protect/Glaive Rush!" We called out simultaneously. Being so close, Dun had barely any time to make a barrier before Baxcalibur slammed into him, but he managed it. The sheer force of it pushed the barrier (and Dun inside it) back to the edge of the arena but only shook my starter up a bit, not really hurting him.

As the honeycomb forcefield faded away and Baxcalibur was left sitting there, wide open, I called, "Dragon Rush, curve around!" Dun made a twisty charge, curling around Baxcalibur's tougher back to hit the Dragon with a surprise shot from the front.

He grunted, launching a Dragon Claw at Dun, who twisted around to avoid the attack. Normally having to turn your back on your enemy would be a bad thing, but less so when you've got a drill there. "Hyper Drill."

As his tail spun up, Hassel called, "Glaive Rush!" Spinning on a dime, Baxcalibur rushed with his own back-facing blade, the two attacks colliding in a clash that kicked up a number of sparks between the two. They held for a second before Dun was overpowered, Hassel's Pokemon pushing past and tossing Dun aside. The dragon gave a bellow of triumph before freezing in place.

"Yawn," I said, my lips twitching upwards. This is it, our chance.

"Get out of there!" Hassel shouted, panicked. Baxcalibur tried hard to make some distance between them, but his limbs wouldn't move, the paralysis catching him in place. Dun wasted no time in rushing forward, rising up to exhale a quick yellow cloud into Baxcalibur's face.

For a moment as he backed away, pushing past the paralysis for a moment, I thought he had somehow resisted the move. But as he opened his mouth to cry in defiance, the sound changed halfway through to a yawn, his yellow eyes drooping.

"Outrage! Go all out!" Hassel cried, and I could commend him on making the most of the situation he was in. If we just sat there and took it, he might still win. Well, sit there and take it some way other than Roosting.

At my hand sign, Dun curled up into a tight ball, his six wings flapping down as he recovered. Just as fast as he healed, possibly even faster, Baxcalibur tore into him fiercely, making the most of the time he was conscious. But the wild attacks couldn't beat my starter down fast enough, and soon, as Baxcalibur spun around confused and tired, he fell, snoring lightly before he even hit the ground.

Seeing the claw marks and rends on my Pokemon, I was tempted to tell him to recover more, but I knew that more than healing, we needed to use other Moves in this short opening we had. Already, Hassel was shouting for Baxcalibur to wake up. No switches left, but he's not throwing in the towel here - Baxcalibur's power is insane, and with the Assault Vest, quite tanky too. So let's change that.

"Breaking Swipe, over and over!" Dun uncurled at my command, his tail slapping out left and right. It cracked in at the snoozing Pokemon's joints and weak points, hitting him all over. He especially targeted the dorsal blade on Baxcalibur, hitting it from the side and denting it in two spots.

This got Baxcalibur to wake up with an angry cry, sweeping Dun away with a Dragon Tail. Where before the blow would have hit with bone-breaking force, it was now more like a buffeting wind, tossing Dun back but doing little damage. The Dragon rose to his feet with a pained grunt, glaring down at my land snake Pokemon.

A thousand different options flitted by his face, the man calculating what he needed to do to recover from this. As he said, "Dragon Breath," I knew he had skipped the one that might have let him win.

"Roost." Once more, Dun settled down, tanking the blows. The fire scoured at Dun's scales, but he regenerated quicker than Baxcalibur could hurt him. Once he had healed enough that I felt secure in our victory, I changed tactics.

"Ice Beam, freeze him down." He could have recalled Baxcalibur, I mused, watching the two send out energy attacks at each other. If he had done so, he might have been able to turn things around. With Dun weakened and tired, maybe his Noivern could have scored a quick K.O., and his aerial maneuverability would give him an advantage over the also worn-out Bahamut. I didn't think such a scenario was likely, but it was possible. Here?

Both of our attacks were hitting the other, Dun curling his long tail around and firing the white-blue beam out around at Baxcalibur from it, while he bathed Dun in bluish-purple flames. While Baxcalibur did slightly more damage as a result of his Terastalization and even managed to cause Dun's muscles to seize up, the Ice Beam was also freezing the Elite's Ace solid.

With a heavy sigh, Hassel pulled up his Ball and returned the frozen Dragon to him. "Hassel has returned his Pokemon!" The announcer shouted. "With only one Pokémon left, can Hassel turn things arou-"

"I forfeit."

"Whaaaaat?" Before the announcer could say anything more, Geeta called the end of the match. Marching across the field, I stopped to scratch Dun's head, a quick reward for all the hard work he did before recalling him. Then I continued until I was standing before Hassel, my hand outstretched.

"Thank you," I said with as much sincerity as I could muster. "This was an excellent fight."

"Indeed. You have surpassed me, and your skill on the battlefield was—it was…marbellous!" He sobbed out, the tears flowing freely as he was overcome with emotion. He hugged me, and I reached up to awkwardly pat him on the shoulder.

Yeah, it really was. I'll always treasure this moment.

Spoiler: A/N:

And here we are, the rematch versus Hassel! I hope it was worth the wait; this chapter was a tougher one for me despite having a general idea of how it would unfold. Still, I think it turned out pretty good.

I had originally planned on having it take place in the interlude from Drayton's perspective but didn't even get into writing out the battle before I realized that this really needed to be from Nemona's POV. Too much would get missed in her strategies and feelings from someone else's viewpoint for a match that's so important to her. Hopefully you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Let me know how you're feeling about this match and the Gauntlet in general down below or he Discord to talk about it. And if you like my stuff and want to toss me a bit of money, I have a Kofi and a Patreon, subscribers to the latter get early access to the next ten chapters. Thank you and have a great day.