Indigo Stadium…

When Ritchie first arrived to the city for the Indigo League tournament, he wasn't sure what he should expect. From the opening ceremony he saw many familiar faces, trainers he ran into during his journey, and he was as nervous as many others. Once the battles began, though, he felt more at ease, managing to win without major complications. Until then he'd had a pretty decent performance, one his parents at home could feel proud of, and that lifted his spirits.

That said, the tournament hadn't been exempt from negative moments. A particularly nasty one happened during the third preliminary round. As he wasn't the only one from Frodomar City who was participating that year, he felt obligated to watch Joshua's matches, if only to give some silent support. The match itself didn't last long, neither would it be particularly memorable, at least not for the right reasons. It could be summarized as the ultimate example on how a cheater's own dirty tricks could backfire in the most spectacular ways.

Though for him, the memory of their little run-in the next day was more vivid in his mind.

…

He'd gone out first thing to do some warming up for his next battle. After having breakfast and calling home, he and Sparky left the cabin to find a place to train, even though it was a day off before the tournament resumed.

However, as soon as he stepped out of his cabin, he saw someone else leaving next door. That white hair was easily recognizable anywhere, and his reddish glare quickly turned in his direction, with clear annoyance. Sparky hissed slightly as he gave off some electricity, understandable as he had not forgotten what the other boy had done when he was under his care almost one year earlier. Ritchie placed his hand in front of him to calm him down.

"So… leaving already?" he asked cautiously.

"I'm not in the mood to stay," Joshua said. "Not after losing and getting humiliated like that."

"I really don't get why you had to do that," Ritchie commented. "Were you so desperate to win, to cheat in such a blatant manner?"

"Just a bit of bad luck," Joshua replied. "Fearow wasn't actually going to hurt that idiot, just tried to freak him out a little, nothing more. Now because of him, I'm taking a sabbatical from competitions."

Ritchie shook his head disapprovingly. The best thing that could be said about Joshua's last match, was that the humiliation he suffered was brief. As he continued to lose the albino got progressively angrier and more desperate, to the point of using a dirty tactic by having his Fearow fly too close to the other trainer, so he couldn't give orders to his Pokémon.

Said trainer reacted by punching Joshua's Fearow out. Joshua was disqualified for deliberate interference, while the other boy was left off with just a warning as he acted in self-defense.

Even with the feeling that Joshua wouldn't listen, Ritchie felt he had to say something.

"Don't blame the other trainer, anybody else would have done the same. Maybe, if you weren't so bent on trying to find ways to cheat, you could have won with your own skill."

"Spare me the lectures," Joshua spat. "I don't need you to repeat that to me, thank you very much. If I were you, I'd be more worried about staying in the competition."

There was a strange look in Joshua's eyes at the time, one he'd never seen before. Also, oddly enough, he hadn't exploded in anger nor did he try to make snide remarks when he said that.

"At any rate, now you're the only one left from our town. So you better not make us look bad, and if you get the chance to kick the crap out of that Pallet dumbass, all the better for me."

And without any more words, he turned around and left, leaving both Ritchie and Sparky puzzled at the strange request. Never did they think words like those could have come out of him.

…

The two weren't exactly friends with each other, but something in Joshua's words fueled Ritchie's will to keep winning his subsequent matches. In his own peculiar manner, he asked him to avenge his defeat, or maybe to leave the name of their town better after he tarnished it with his cheating and poor performance.

It seemed unthinkable, but maybe something happened after the match that made him ask for that. He couldn't imagine what had prompted Joshua to do so, but there was no point in thinking about it, when there was more pressing business to attend.

Currently, they were at a training arena over a rooftop. The building they were in had training facilities where league participants could train if they wished before or after their matches, and since they were of free access, he decided to make good use of them.

He was having his Taillow, Rose, practice her accuracy by throwing discs at the air, so she could shatter them with brief, focused blasts of Boomburst, rather than a continuous wave. In this manner, they caused a sharp impact that could disorient the foe, albeit it was much harder to aim from a distance.

"Two more and we're done for today, Rose!" he said as he grabbed the last two remaining discs. "Ready? Go!"

He tossed the first disc, and Rose immediately opened her beak to fire the sonic blast. The blue, focused waves were fired off, striking the flying object and shattering it to pieces. Without missing a beat, Ritchie threw the second disc to the opposite side, and the bird had to turn around to get in position and fire her attack again, hitting the target when it was starting to fall again.

A very pleased Ritchie smiled, and gestured at her to fly back down, which she immediately did as she perched on his arm. The trainer then proceeded to pet her on the head for a job well done.

"Way to go, Rose. You're ready for tomorrow's match."

"Taillow!" the bird happily squawked.

He then grabbed the Dream Ball to recall her, so she could finally rest. They'd done enough for today, so it was time to grab something to eat and call it a day.

However, when he went back inside the building, he quickly took notice that the lights were all off, and some people complained about the power outage. That also meant he'd have to go down the stairs since no electricity meant no elevator.

When he walked down a couple floors, he noticed a small crowd gathered in front of one of the elevators. An Officer Jenny and a couple of security guards were trying (unsuccessfully) to open the doors. Moved by curiosity, he approached a bit and he could hear someone shouting from the inside:

"Get us out of here, please! I can't stand it, please let me out!"

"Calm down, help is on the way!"

Ritchie then understood what happened. The power outage in the building happened while there were people inside the elevator, and now they were trapped inside.

"Excuse me?" the boy approached the group. "Is there anything we can do to help here?"

"We appreciate the intent, young man, but we've sent someone to get the backup generator running," said the Jenny. "Though it seems one of the young women inside is having a panic attack, and without power we can't open the door to get them out."

Ritchie stared at the elevator's door, then glanced at his electric partner on his shoulder, all while the shouts from the girl begging to be let out continued. He had no idea how long they'd take to restore the power, and something inside told him he couldn't stay put and do nothing.

"Maybe we can power it up for a moment with an Electric Pokémon?" he suggested pointing at his Pikachu. "Just enough to get them out?"

The Jenny and the security guards exchanged glances, like they were considering his suggestion. Inside, the screams continued to increase in volume, and that seemed to move them. Having little choice, they pulled out the cover of the elevator's controls, and the boy approached to check the energy cables. Fortunately, he had some basic knowledge on electricity, as he often helped his mom fix up issues like this at home.

He fiddled around with the cables, and while he could have used his own power to give the elevator some current, he knew it was better to cover appearances and let his partner do so. With that in mind, he placed the tips on his Pikachu's cheeks.

"Okay, Sparky, do your thing."

"Pikachuuuuuuuu!" Sparky obliged instantly, letting out a brief discharge that reactivated the elevator.

The doors opened immediately, and two girls came out of it, one with short, turquoise hair holding by the shoulders another with longer, dark blue hair. The latter dropped herself on her knees on the corridor, heavily breathing as everyone stared.

"There, there, easy," the first girl said, with a slightly deep voice. "You're out now, everything's okay."

"Ahhh… ahhh… thanks…"

The second girl raised her head, and a minute or two later she finally stood up, heading towards the Jenny and the security guards.

"Thank you, really. I can't stand being locked up in dark places."

"You should thank this boy here," said the Jenny. "He and his Pikachu powered the elevator so we could get you out."

The Jenny pointed at him and Sparky. Both girls turned around and, much to his surprise, the blue-haired one ran towards him and held his hands tightly, shaking them in a frenzy.

"Thank you, thank you so much, really! You saved my life, you have no idea how much…!"

"Assunta, calm down," said the other. "You have to forgive her, being locked up in dark places gives her panic attacks. But thanks anyway, we owe you one."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," he said a little embarrassed. "I'm glad I was here to help."

"Alright, now the matter's settled, there's nothing to see here," said the Officer Jenny. "Come on, everyone move along and get back to your business!"

…

A few minutes later, Ritchie was at one of the restaurants, sharing a table with Assunta and her friend, who introduced herself as Melissa. The latter had already been eliminated from the competition, so she offered to use her last day of free food to invite him anything he wanted, as thanks for his help.

Tempting as it was, he refused, preferring to use his own privilege instead of charging it on someone else's bill, even though he wasn't technically paying anything. But he figured some friendly chatter didn't seem a bad way to end the day.

"The Indigo League has been something else," said Melissa. "Never thought I'd be facing Professor Oak's grandson, of all people. Ah, now Dad's gonna have to disinherit me, again."

"Disinherit?" Ritchie asked, a little confused.

"A little inside family joke they have," Assunta explained. "It's just a way to motivate her to do her best; they're not really serious."

Ritchie arched an eyebrow, but he accepted the explanation and inquired no further about it. Right then, the TV was broadcasting the last battles of the current round, with a match between two favorite veterans ongoing: the Astounding Mandi and Alexander Silph, although the latter seemed to have full control of the match and all clues pointed to him being the winner.

"Anyhow, thanks again for getting us out of there," the bluenette continued. "If you hadn't shown up when you did, I may have fainted or worse."

"You don't need to thank me," Ritchie said modestly. "I don't think they would have taken long to restore the power, even without me."

"Don't undersell yourself," said Melissa. "My friend here's a tough gal, but claustrophobia sometimes gets the better of her."

"Don't make fun of me," Assunta puffed up her cheeks at the remark.

Ritchie would have added something else, but right then his PokéNav beeped. His father had just sent him a text congratulating him for his victory, as well as telling him to cut loose a bit more for the next round. The redhead sent him a quick "Thanks, I'll keep it in mind" before marking it as read, and took the chance to check the app with the tournament bracket to verify the matches. He'd been training since his previous match ended, and then he realized who his next opponent would be.

"Well, isn't this interesting?" Ritchie said.

"What is it?" Melissa asked, to what he held up his PokéNav with the app open.

"Oh? So we'll be facing off tomorrow?" said Assunta. "Well, I hope you don't expect me to go easy on you because you helped me today."

"Wouldn't dream about it." Ritchie smiled. "Instead, how about we both do our best tomorrow? If you give me a good battle, I can consider us even for today."

"Sounds good to me. Of course, I plan on giving a good battle, and win."

Assunta extended a hand, which Ritchie gladly shook. Melissa, for her part, decided to add her own hand and gave him a small smirk.

"Don't think she'll be soft on you. Since I'm out of the tournament, the least I can do is support my partner, so I'll be sure to get her in tip-top shape so she can win tomorrow."

"I'll be impatient," Ritchie replied. "Well, if you excuse me, I'll ask for some extra to go, and rest for tomorrow. See you at the stadium."

And without further words, Ritchie left the table, asking for three extra orders to go, even after he'd already finished five full ones. After a long competition day, he felt he'd earned that much, and now he knew his next opponent, he could spend the rest of the afternoon planning some strategies.

The competition was still on, and he couldn't get one bit careless.

The next day…

"The Top 16 round gets more intense by the minute, folks! Koga's crushing victory over Alex Davis has set the bar pretty high and solidifies him as one of the favorites! But for now, let's all welcome the contestants for the sixth match today!"

Ritchie took a deep breath. That was his cue to go out, so he walked through the corridor towards the stadium's entrance, standing on the green platform that started rising in the middle of the crowd's cheers.

"On the green corner, we have another of the rising star rookies this year! Coming from Frodomar City, this youth has managed to beat the strongest opponents through sheer wit and determination, Ritchie Raylight!

The crowd went wild in screaming and applause. It was quite encouraging that there were so many people rooting for him, as at the start of the competition very few seemed to have a slice of faith in him. The support had increased with each match won, and that felt nice.

"And on the red corner, another novice who shouldn't be underestimated! From Pewter City, let's all give it up for Assunta!"

The other side of the crowd shouted their cheers for his opponent, who then stepped up to her own platform on the other end. In the middle of the voices he thought he'd heard her partner Melissa screaming something like "Win this for me too!", right when the referee got ready to begin the match. The stadium's arena opened wide making way for a rocky battlefield.

"You both know the rules, but I'll repeat them just in case! This'll be a full six-on-six battle, and it will end when all six Pokémon of either side are unable to battle! When one of the trainers loses three Pokémon we'll have a break, and the field will change at random! The green trainer gets the first move!"

Ritchie breathed deeply and exhaled, ready to start the battle. It was the moment of truth. He looked at his partner over his shoulder, who caught the indirect that he'd stay put for now, as the trainer grabbed his first Pokéball.

"Here goes nothing! Go, Zippo!"

His Fire-type starter appeared on the field. Clashing his claws and blowing fire defiantly, the Charmeleon was ready for battle. On the other side, he saw Assunta grab her own Pokéball.

"Rhydon, go forth!"

The heavy drill Pokémon appeared on the other side of the field. The referee then raised both flags, cueing them to start the battle.

"Rhydon, use Stone Edge!"

At Assunta's opening command, the Rock-type extended both arms to the sides with a roar, summoning a couple of luminous rings that quickly split into small, sharp rock shards, before pushing his arms to shoot them forward.

Fortunately, they were already expecting it. Assunta had used this Rhydon in her previous round match, and he knew all the attacks it could use. Even with the obvious type disadvantage, Zippo was the perfect match, and they should be able to start with a victory on the first bout to gain momentum.

"Deflect them spinning with Iron Tail!"

"Charmeleon!"

The fire lizard's tail glowed with a metallic sheen, and standing on one foot, started spinning on himself, using the tail to deflect the stone projectiles. He'd seen the battles of the trainers from Pallet Town, Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak, and decided to take a page out of their book by using spinning attacks as a defense. However, he added his own twist to it, and before the match he instructed Zippo that, whenever he was told to spin, he'd use Swords Dance along with it, thus powering up their attacks with their opponents none the wiser.

At the end, Zippo took his clawed hands to the head, seemingly a bit dizzy from all the spinning, but outside that he seemed none the worse for wear.

"Let's charge head on, use Drill Run!"

Rhydon's drill-horn started spinning, pointed towards Zippo before stomping forward. They were seemingly going for a melee attack as the ranged one didn't work. Just like before, though, they were ready for it.

"Dragon Rage barrage!"

Zippo opened his mouth, forming a large blue, draconian ball of fire. Following his father's advice, they'd decided to try and master this attack, but as they weren't able to achieve the same boulder-shattering power level as Salamence, they focused on using it continuously. One single impact may not be as strong, but a several in quick succession would rack up damage, especially if they attacked different areas of the body.

The first fireball struck Rhydon's belly, knocking the air out of him and stopping his run. The second hit his face, disorienting him, and the third forced him to step back. Only when the fourth one struck did he manage to shield himself with his arms, trying to endure the strikes, but the damage was done already.

"Ritchie's Charmeleon defends from Rhydon's attack and successfully delivers the first solid blow! Will they take the initiative to press on the offensive?"

Of course they would. "Zippo, Iron Tail!"

Zippo ran once more with the metallic tail, and jumping over Rhydon, delivered a powerful tail strike on his head, before jumping away to keep some safe distance. Having seen Assunta's previous matches, whenever she used Rhydon at the start she sought to overpower her opponents. Rhydon had powerful attacks and great endurance, aside from having broken the four-move limit. However, as long as they kept out of range and racked up damage, everything would be alright.

"Attack with Hammer Arm!" Assunta exclaimed.

"Dodge by spinning!" Ritchie countered.

Rhydon extended both hands, which glowed white, and started trying to punch Zippo with them. The lizard dodged, jumping as he twirled around, and just as Ritchie told him, discreetly activating Swords Dance with each evasive maneuver. Upon dodging the third punch, Zippo jumped over a nearby boulder, getting in position to attack again.

"Iron Tail!"

Zippo leapt once more, this time taking advantage of the higher ground and spinning to strike Rhydon's head once more. The Rock-type groaned harsher this time, cluing him in that the attack hurt him even more than before, and upon landing Zippo delivered a second strike to the body for good measure before leaping back.

Which actually left a very nasty cut on his rocky skin.

"How's that possible?" a confused Assunta asked. "My Rhydon has Rock Head, even Steel-type attacks shouldn't hurt that much, and so early!"

"We have our resources," Ritchie replied. Obviously, he wasn't going to give away all his secrets to his opponent in the middle of the match, she'd have to figure them out herself.

"If that's how you want to play, Rhydon, use Strength on the boulders!"

Rhydon obliged, and headed for one of the larger ones, lifting it up with his powerful arms over his head.

"Use Smokescreen and escape!"

Zippo blew out a thick black cloud all over the field. Rhydon had actually started coughing before tossing the boulder, which managed to dispel it somewhat, but soon was clear that it didn't crush him, and Zippo had use the cover to get behind his foe's back.

"Rhydon, watch out behind you!" Assunta cried out, but it was too late.

"Iron Tail!" Ritchie called.

And with another direct tail strike, in a spot very close to the previous one, Rhydon was knocked backwards, stumbling on his feet. Each blow had clearly hurt him, but Ritchie knew they couldn't get careless, so they had to keep pressing the attack.

"Dragon Rage barrage, again!"

Said and done, Zippo took his distance and shot ball after ball of draconian fire, hitting Rhydon on every part of the body he could. Each impact knocked him back further and further, until after the fifth, dead on the face, he slumped heavily on the battlefield.

"Rhydon is unable to battle, the winner is Charmeleon!"

"Good job, Zippo, that's how it's done!" Ritchie congratulated his starter with a thumbs up, who reciprocated with a smirk.

"That was a superb start, folks! Ritchie's Charmeleon scores the first victory for this match, and without taking any damage! Can they keep up, or will Assunta respond in kind?!"

As Assunta returned her fallen Rhydon, he took a look at the scoreboard. It'd been a pretty good first bout, and depending on the Pokémon Assunta picked, he'd decide if to keep Zippo in or switch him for someone else. His intent was to try and minimize losses in the first half, so he'd be at an advantage during the second.

"Here we go." Assunta grabbed her next Pokéball. "Go, Venomoth!"

As soon as the poison moth showed up, Ritchie moved automatically to return Zippo. While they could have played with advantage, he chose to leave the Fire-type resting for later, and face Venomoth with a similar opponent, one who could fight airborne too.

"You're up, Happy!"

"Both trainers bring out their second Pokémon for this bout! It'll be a flying bugs duel! What's gonna happen now, folks?!"

"Venomoth, use Poison Fang!"

Instantly, the moth extended its tiny mandibles, coating them in toxic purple energy. Just as Ritchie expected, they'd go for a frontal assault.

"Dodge and use Quiver Dance!"

Happy started flapping hard, making his body glow with sparkles. He dodged Venomoth's toxic bite, which only passed through his translucent afterimage. Happy continued to dance around his opponent, trying to confuse them while powering himself up.

"Psychic!" Ritchie called.

"Free!" Happy's eyes started glowing blue, and an aura of the same color caught Venomoth as soon as he turned around. Since they were on a rocky field, they should capitalize on it to do more damage.

"Throw Venomoth into that rock!"

Happy pushed Venomoth backwards towards one of the largest boulders, which shattered into rubble that fell on top of him. Only a couple seconds passed before he got back out, and clearly very angry for what just happened.

"So you want to play that way? Venomoth, use Psychic too and toss them some rocks!"

"Venomoth!"

Venomoth's eyes glowed with a blue light too, but instead of focusing his psychic energies on the Butterfree, he made some of the pieces of rubble around him levitate, before tossing them like a barrage of projectiles, surprising both Happy and Ritchie. Happy managed to maneuver around avoiding most of them, but some managed to scratch on his wings, causing his flight to get unsteady.

And then they realized; the small shards were nothing but a distraction for Venomoth to lift an even larger boulder, that he was about to toss at them.

"Stop it with your own Psychic!"

As soon as Venomoth tossed the rock, it flew at Happy, who was barely able to focus enough to stop it with his own Psychic attack before it crashed. However, Venomoth was still pushing, causing both of them to lock into a duel of mental powers as they tried to push the rock at the other, going back and forth with each other.

One minute after, the conflicted psychic powers started crumbling the boulder, small cracks appearing on it and little by little growing larger. It finally exploded into multiple shards, and Ritchie could see some of them hit Happy. The psychic flash from the explosion had temporarily blinded them, but he still caught Assunta's voice calling out the next order.

"Poison Fang!"

"Dodge with Quiver Dance again!"

While he was still stunned by the boulder's explosion, Happy still heard him and dodged Venomoth's next attack, getting behind the moth right when he was about to bite. They knew they were better staying away, but now was the chance to attack again.

"Air Slash!"

Happy pulled back a little and gave two hard flaps, sending out at Venomoth a pair of giant wind blades. If they managed to land this attack, they could probably end this bout here and now, and move forward to the next.

"Substitute!"

Right before the blades hit Venomoth, the poison moth managed to turn around to face the attack. A white flash engulfed him, and the blades then hit what seemed like an empty Venomoth shell, which poofed out of existence after it fell to the floor. Meanwhile, the real Venomoth was already on top of them, having taken advantage of the decoy.

"Poison Fang!"

This time, due to the surprise, Happy was unable to react, and Venomoth sank his mandibles on the neck. The Butterfree struggled trying to break free, but Venomoth held on like his life depended on it.

"Free yourself with Psychic, Happy!" Ritchie called, once snapped out of the sudden attack's shock.

In the middle of the struggle, the butterfly and the moth simultaneously glowed with the Psychic's blue light. Happy managed to pry Venomoth off of him, but by then the damage was done, and he was letting out toxic bubbles. They'd clearly held onto the attack until they could inject poison.

"Oh no! Ritchie's Butterfree has been poisoned!" the MC commented. "Can they turn this around, or will Assunta and Venomoth capitalize on it?"

"Venomoth, use Venoshock!"

That answered the question alright. Venomoth spewed a green fluid stream at them. Ritchie called for Happy to fire an Air Slash to disperse it, avoiding a hit that would have worsened their situation even more. Poison alone would do its effect making it a race against the clock.

Ritchie looked around, and decided to take a page out of Assunta's book. There were some stone shards scattered around that they could toss at them to attack.

But why limit themselves to just that? They could do it a little better.

"Happy, use Psychic and levitate the stone shards! Make them rotate around you in a ring!"

Happy instantly obliged, raising the rocks to make them orbit around. Even in the distance, he could notice Assunta's slight tilt of her head, as if wondering what they were up to.

Naturally, the ideas of spinning them around was to build up momentum with a few rounds. The centrifugal force increased little by little, but each passing second also made effect on Happy, so they had to hurry. Just fast enough to start their counterattack.

"NOW!" Ritchie called.

And immediately, Happy redirected the stones orbiting around forward, pelting Venomoth with them. The moth was unable to react fast enough against them, getting pushed back a little with each, and widening the distance between them. Once more, Ritchie knew they had to end the bout quickly to pull Happy out of the match before it was too late.

"Air Slash!"

"Block with Psychic!"

Happy flapped once more, firing out the wind blades, this time two pairs one after another. Venomoth replied using his psychic energies to try and raise an invisible wall to stop them. He successfully stopped the first two, but the second pair broke through and struck hard, crashing him against one of the rocks. He quickly got back up to fly, and he looked even angrier than before.

"Fire Venoshock above and shower them!"

Venomoth spewed another green stream, this time shaking from side to side like a garden hose to make it rain all over Happy. The butterfly tried to slip away, but a few droplets fell on top, causing him wounds that emitted steam and worsening his poisoning condition even more. That only sped up the countdown and reduced their odds to finish the bout.

"Raise that flat rock with Psychic and cover yourself!"

Doing his best to endure the toxic shower, Happy successfully focused and raised the aforementioned rock, flat and wide, making it hover like an improvised umbrella to shield himself from the Venoshock rain. Ritchie could see Assunta smirking once Venomoth ceased to spew the attack.

"Alright, that protects you from above. Fire Venoshock head on!" the girl cried out, pointing forward with her finger.

Assunta was right, Happy had to focus to keep the rock hovering on top and shield himself from above, leaving him fully exposed by the front. A Venoshock strike would seal the bout, and maybe they couldn't stop that.

"Toss the rock at them!" Ritchie cried out.

The Venomoth's green fluid struck the Butterfree dead in the face, making him drop into the ground instantly. However, Happy managed to use the last few seconds to toss the rock at Venomoth, which crushed him hard. The Butterfree was evidently out of the fight, but the referee ran off to verify by lifting the rock, only to find Venomoth was unconscious too after that last attack.

"Double KO! Neither Venomoth nor Butterfree are able to battle!"

"What a fight, folks! Instead of resigning themselves to lose this bout, Ritchie and his Butterfree manage to force it to a draw, and take down Assunta's Venomoth to stay ahead on the scoreboard!"

"Return, Happy!" Ritchie said, recalling his friend. "Well done. Even if we didn't win this bout, at least we didn't lose either."

As the announcer had said they were still ahead, and they just needed to beat one more of Assunta's Pokémon to go to the break and plan their strategy. He still intended to keep Zippo for the second half, along with his secret weapon for this bout.

The two of them grabbed their next Pokéballs. Ritchie's was a Net Ball he'd used back in Porta Vista, after helping with a Tentacool and Tentacruel infestation that had been seemingly displaced from the reef they lived at, and as reward for his trouble he was allowed to keep one of them for his team.

"Let's go, Kal!"

The jellyfish Pokémon appeared on the field, standing on his tentacles. Over his head, under his red gems was a metal ring like a crown, on which was imbedded a piece of Damp Rock.

From the other side, Assunta threw her own Pokéball, and from it appeared a Fearow who squawked and flew above them.

"Begin!" the referee called raising his flags.

"Kal, usa Poison Jab!"

"Tentacruel!" This time, Ritchie decided to take the offensive first, and Kal complied elongating two of his tentacles, the tips glowing with toxic energy.

"Fearow, fly up and use Focus Energy!"

"Fearow!"

The bird dodged the appendages, and after flying up took a deep breath, glowing with a red-orange power aura before giving a threatening glare. They clearly were ready for a frontal attack, and they should respond in kind.

"Fury Attack!"

"Bubble Beam!"

Kal fired out a barrage of foamy bubbles, at the same time Fearow took a dive, breaking through them with pecks and talon strikes. Although Kal tried to increase the pressure to push him back, Fearow finally pierced through until he got in melee range, before pecking and clawing at the Water-type Pokémon.

Ritchie quickly took notice how Kal winced a lot with each strike Fearow managed to land. That seemed pretty odd to him.

"Aerial Ace!"

In a white flash, Fearow pulled back to get some distance, and then charged forward with a strong peck, which pushed Kal back, skidding a few feet over the rocky field. Seeing up closer he noticed something else: Fearow was wearing some sort of anklets with additional talons, as if to make them seem more lethal.

Or most likely, to make his attacks more lethal. They weren't the only ones who'd take advantage of held items in combat, after all.

"Anklets with Razor Claws. Those increase the odds for critical hits."

Normally, Fearow had Keen Eye as special ability, but some of them had Sniper, which boosted the power of critical hits. Did this one have it? Seeing Assunta's movement pattern, and the Razor Claws on Fearow's feet, he'd better assume that was the case.

Which meant they had to try and avoid getting hit at any cost.

"Fearow, use Drill Run!"

"Kal, escape with Rapid Spin!"

Fearow folded his wings and spun out like a drill, shooting forward like a living missile. Kal for his part elongated his tentacles and started spinning, albeit horizontally like a saucer, and arched away causing Fearow to crash against a boulder that got drilled through. Next, Kal flew back like a boomerang and struck Fearow's back before he could recover, and landed on another rock.

While their opponent was still dazed, they had to try and recover from the initial damage.

"Rain Dance!"

"Cruel!"

Instantly, a spiral raincloud appeared over the field, extending on top of them and letting out a downpour. Fearow got out of the rubble and tried to fly again, but the rain was starting to hamper his movements a little. Meanwhile, a blue flash illuminated Kal when the droplets fell on him.

"Once again, we have a rainstorm over us!" the commentator said. "Even though Assunta and her Fearow landed the first blows on this bout, now Ritchie's Tentacruel starts recovering!"

Assunta's Fearow wasn't the only Pokémon with a rare ability. His own Tentacruel also had one, as he found out when he fought against Erika back in Celadon. The gym leader tried to use a Rain Dance that allowed moisture to stay in the air against them, which backfired when instead of hampering their moves as she hoped, healed them from the damage they'd sustained. Even though they'd been unable to replicate the same effect, Ritchie figured it could come in handy, and after that decided to teach Kal Rain Dance to exploit it. The Damp Rock on his crown would extend the rain longer so they could use it to greater effect, as long as Assunta's Fearow had no weather moves of his own.

And from the girl's annoyed expression, they definitely didn't.

"Bubble Beam!"

By the rain's effect, the bubble barrage went out a little faster and stronger. He heard Assunta calling Fearow to use Fury Attack again, but this time around Kal's attack kept him at bay hampering his advance, not to mention that every ten seconds or so the jellyfish regained some health thanks to his ability. They had to press on the offensive while they still had the chance.

"Poison Jab!"

Once again, Kal elongated his tentacles, whose tips glowed with toxic energy. This time Fearow was unable to fly up in time, and got struck in the head, while the other tentacle poked him in the abdomen, making him shriek in pain. If they could induce some poisoning now it'd be even better…

"Aerial Ace, then Drill Run!"

Before doing so, though, Assunta managed to get another order in. Fearow first emitted a white flash, and used the Aerial Ace's evasive action to get behind Kal, before charging with the drill attack. Being at point-blank range he couldn't take much momentum, but even then Kal clearly felt it. He got some healing almost immediately, though.

"Fury Attack again!"

Now he'd gotten a little closer, Fearow once more attacked with his beak and talons, while also throwing some wing slaps for good measure. Kal was forced to use the tentacles to try and cover himself, but some blows managed to get past. Hadn't it been for the almost constant regeneration, the bout may have ended already.

"Oh, would you look at that, folks! Looks like Fearow wants revenge, and attacks just as fiercely as before! Tentacruel seems to be holding out, but how long can he keep up?!"

Looking for something to get Fearow off them as he forced them to the defensive, Ritchie saw that Kal was being forced back towards a big boulder, and decided to use it.

"Kal, there's a big boulder behind you! Quick, take it!"

While he was shielded himself from the fierce frontal assault, Kal protruded from the back another pair of tentacles, which he used to touch the aforementioned boulder before wrapping it without need to look, and then lifted it above them. Fearow was so focused on his Fury Attack that he seemingly didn't notice, however Assunta did.

"Fearow, look out above!"

But it was too late. Fortunately for Ritchie, Kal understood what his trainer meant him to do, and dropped the boulder on Fearow like a huge improvised hammer, making the bird shriek sharply and echoing through the downpour.

Unlike a Fearow who only had wings, talons and beak to attack, a Tentacruel possessed eighty tentacles in its body. While they normally only kept fourteen to move around on land, that didn't mean he couldn't pull out an extra pair when necessary, and if they needed to grab something behind, that would come in handy to catch their foes by surprise.

"Ouch, even I felt that, folks!" the MC continued. "Just when it seemed Assunta finds an opening to counterattack, she gets a one-hit turnaround! And unlike Tentacruel, Fearow doesn't seem to recover from the damage taken!"

Indeed, the damage became more visible on Fearow, but the bird refused to go down. Having faced Joshua's own Fearow a couple times, he knew how stubborn they could be while fighting, and they wouldn't give up so easily. So they had to hurry up and end the bout to go to the break.

"Hold Fearow with your tentacles and use Poison Jab!"

Kal quickly rolled one of his tentacles around Fearow's neck, raising him above. When the bird started flapping and struggling, Kal raised his other tentacle covered in poisonous energy and poking him in the stomach, making him shriek with each blow. Rain continued to fall and Kal continued to heal as Fearow gradually debilitated.

"Fearow, hang in there!" Assunta shouted.

After spending enough time jabbing Fearow in the stomach, he dropped him on the rocky field. As expected, the bird refused to go down and flew back up, staring at them defiantly.

"Fearow, return now!" Assunta declared as she raised her Pokéball.

"Fearow, row!" The bird squawked angrily, refusing to throw in the towel.

"You… want to go on?"

"Row!" he shrieked again. He seemed determined to go all the way until the end, regardless of the result, and even with all the odds against him.

The girl lowered the Pokéball and tucked it away. "Alright. We'll do this your way."

Ritchie couldn't help but feel some respect, not only for Fearow's determination, but also for Assunta giving in to his wishes. In his experience, few trainers were able to understand Pokémon on that level, as it required great empathy.

"Look at that, folks! Fearow is bent on taking this bout to the last consequences! Maybe he doesn't want to let his opponent to go out clean for his trainer's sake?"

Rain continued to fall harsh on them, and while Ritchie could have ended the bout out of pure mercy, he knew that prolonging it a little bit more would aid in Kal's recovery, giving them an edge for the second half. With apologies to Assunta, he had to act with strategy to win.

So for now they'd allow them to attack and let the recovery do its effect.

"Aerial Ace and Fury Attack!"

Just like before, Fearow use the Aerial Ace to get in range and attacked with a similar fierceness as the previous times. Kal used his tentacles to shield himself and keep his foe at bay while his wounds healed. Fearow fought bravely, but any damage he could inflict was less than the one Kal would recover under the rain.

In about two minutes or a little more, he was practically like at the start, as if he'd taken no damage at all.

"Now, Aerial Ace and Drill Run!" Assunta called.

Fearow tried again to sneak from behind Kal and charged. This time they weren't going to dodge; they would finish the bout.

"Catch Fearow with your tentacles!"

Said and done; Kal spun around, swinging his main tentacles to the side. The Drill Run's effect caused the appendages to coil around Fearow's body, dragging the Water-type slightly, but they also drove him off-course missing a direct hit. Now he was at their mercy.

"You know what to do!" said Ritchie.

With a nodding groan, Kal shook Fearow around like a ragdoll all over the place, splashing water from the puddles that had formed in the rain. After doing so three or four times, he spun him around overhead like a lasso, and threw him to a nearby boulder.

For a few seconds it looked like, Fearow wanted to keep fighting, but he finally let out one last whimper and dropped himself on the ground.

"Fearow is unable to battle! Tentacruel is the winner!" the referee declared once he verified.

"And this concludes the first half of this match, folks! Ritchie has taken an ample three-to-one lead over Assunta, but the tournament shows that anything could happen! Stay tuned, we'll be back in action soon enough!"

…

During the break, Ritchie went through the corridor towards one of the vending machines, to grab a drink along with Sparky while waiting for the restart. He was sitting on a bench as her mentally recapped all that happened during the match's first half.

In general, it wasn't too bad: Zippo had been able to beat Rhydon without taking any damages, and Kal managed to recover from most of the blows he'd taken thanks to his ability. And while Happy had gone down, at least he was able to take Venomoth with him, leaving them with a good lead. However, that was partly because Assunta had already used those Pokémon at least once in the tournament, so he was more or less ready to face them. Now that they were in the full-battle rounds, she'd surely bring out the big guns, and one or two aces in the hole.

"Hmm?" Right then, his PokéNav vibrated in his pocket. He left the soda can aside for a moment to check it out.

He smiled, seeing it was a message from his stepdad: "We're watching you live right now. Looking good so far, kiddo, but don't get too cocky."

He quickly typed a response. "I'm not. Tournament's getting harder with each round."

One minute later, Silver replied again. "Then you better bring out the heavy artillery, right? What happened to that egg I told you to go pick up? Is it a Tyranitar yet or what?"

Ritchie chuckled. He'd lived and trained with Silver long enough to understand why he preferred big, strong and highly-destructive Pokémon. He, for his part, wouldn't rush evolutions, instead choosing to teach his Pokémon varied moves for higher versatility, until they were ready to move on to the next level.

He typed another response. "It won't be long before that. I have him with me now, so you'll get to see him in action."

At that, Silver's reply came out even faster. "Good to know. Have no mercy with that girl and show her what you're made of."

Ritchie typed one last "Will do" before tucking the gadget away, and picked up his soda can to finish it. He still had a couple minutes before having to return, and he noticed his electric partner was very anxious to get into the roll and fight.

"Easy, Sparky, you'll have your chance," he promised as he patted his head. "We've made it this far, and we're not pulling back, right?"

"Pikapika!" The Pikachu nodded, pumping his tiny fists.

Although evolutions gave more power, the Frodomar boy knew the advantages of staying on lower and intermediate levels, such as being a smaller, faster target, and learning moves with greater ease. That was why he never rushed them and allowed his Pokémon to decide when they wanted to do it.

Things had turned out well for him so far, though he also acknowledged that he may need more power for the next rounds. He'd never use a Thunder Stone with Sparky, so he sought other ways to help him grow stronger, and when it came to the others, he'd wait until they were ready to evolve.

"Attention, participants, it's time to go back to the arena! The break is over!"

That was his cue to return. They still had a battle to win, so it was time to give it all.

…

"We're back, ladies and gentlemen! The second part of this Top 16 is about to start! And from the rocky battlefield we're going now to the icy battlefield! How will this affect our participants?!"

Except for the lower temperature, the field change didn't seem big deal for Ritchie. The layout was almost identical to the rock battlefield, and they could even use that on their favor, skating and sliding to move faster. But they had to be careful.

"The battle resumes now!" the referee declared. "Call your Pokémon now!"

"Back to action, Kal!" said Ritchie, sending out his Water/Poison-type.

"You're up, Poliwrath!"

Both Pokémon faced one another. So Assunta wanted to start the second half with a Water vs Water fight. Fine with him.

"Kal, use Rain Dance!"

"Tentacruel!" Kal instantly summoned the rain clouds over the field. Once more, he'd take advantage of Kal's ability for as long as possible to minimize damage.

To his surprise, Assunta smirked and immediately raised Poliwrath's Pokéball to return him. His icon on the board immediately went to inactive, and without further words, she threw another to reveal a…

"Jolteon!"

"Jolteon, use Thunder!" the girl called, to both Ritchie and Kal's shock.

The newly arrived Pokémon cried out as he fired out a powerful discharge at the sky, specifically towards the rain clouds Kal had summoned. One second later, said discharge descended again as a powerful lightning bolt that struck the jellyfish at full power.

"Oh, folks! The Rain Dance that gave Tentacruel the victory before now plays against it! That Thunder surely must have hurt!"

Ritchie couldn't disagree with that, as much as it hurt him. It was a risky yet smart move, bringing out Poliwrath and immediately switch in another Pokémon with a bigger advantage.

"Shock Wave!"

Unsatisfied with the first strike, Jolteon emitted blue electric sparks before launching another lightning, this time one that waved horizontally across the field. And before Kal could react, it impacted for more electrocution. If the Thunder alone wasn't enough, that Shock Wave finished the job, leaving him fried over the icy field.

"Tentacruel is unable to battle, Jolteon wins!" the referee declared.

"Return!" Ritchie called. "Sorry about that, it was my fault."

Now he was at a dilemma: by prematurely activating the Rain Dance he'd given himself a handicap as soon as the second half began, which would last quite a while. As long as it was active it would cause problems for Zippo and Cruise, and Sparky couldn't use Electric-type attacks against Jolteon, because that would only result in healing.

Which only left him with…

"Go, Rose!" he said tossing out the Dream Ball. His tiny swallow bird appeared flying over the field.

"And Ritchie calls his Taillow to face Assunta's Jolteon! A strange decision considering types and weather conditions! But maybe he has a plan in mind?"

Indeed, he had. A little risky, but it was the best they could do. Rose had an unusual tolerance to electric attacks for her species, and she'd been trained to fly under rain. For now, the best they could do was to try and buy time until the downpour stopped, and with some luck her speed and evasion should be enough for it.

"Jolteon, use Thunder once more!"

"Rose, Double Team!"

Once again, Jolteon used the same starting attack from before that made Kal fall. Fortunately, Rose was faster and summoned a circle of clones around, so the bolt that fell from the sky simply struck one of them, dissipating it instantly.

"Boomburst!"

"TAILLOOOWWWWW!"

The little bird opened her beak, sending out a blast of blue sonic waves over her opponent. Jolteon visibly winced at the noise's power, and he could see from the other side Assunta covering her own ears. The noise blast was so powerful, she couldn't make herself heard to get Jolteon to follow her orders.

However, they couldn't keep it up forever. Once Rose ran out of breath and they had to interrupt it, Jolteon and Assunta would be free to attack once more. He looked around the field and anticipated Assunta's move. They had to use the terrain on their favor to protect themselves.

"Shock Wave!"

"Fly behind that block!"

Again, Jolteon fired a blue electric bolt, which pursued Rose when she tried to swoop down. Luckily, the bolt struck the aforementioned ice block, allowing Rose to fly up again and get back in attack position.

"Quick Attack!"

Leaving behind a white streak, Rose charged at Jolteon head on at full speed. The Electric-type was knocked backwards spinning in the air, but managed to land on his feet on an icy block, albeit almost slipping. Then, under Assunta's orders, he summoned a continuous attack of Thunder, making lightning bolts rain all over the field. Ritchie, for his part, made Rose dodge them using Double Team, hoping that the decoy clones would help them stay out of range.

By some miracle of luck and skill, Rose successfully maneuvered around the electric storm, which left cracks with each bolt that struck, but after that last Quick Attack they hadn't tried any other offensive move. Ritchie still kept in mind that they were buying time until the Rain Dance's effect wore off.

However, that didn't stop them from trying to take Jolteon down in the process, and if they found an opening to attack, they would take it.

"Jolteon, use Pin Missile all around you!"

"Jolt!"

The Electric Pokémon finally stopped summoning lightning bolts. The spikes on his fur began glowing yellow, similar but different to his electric attacks, and he followed up firing a rain of needle projectiles in all directions.

In less than three seconds, all Double Team clones had vanished, and Rose was also exposed when one of the needles stung her.

"Shock Wave!"

And Assunta wasted no time, giving Jolteon the order to attack. This time Rose could not escape behind a rock and was struck by the blue discharge.

"That was a direct hit, folks, and this rain will make it hurt even more! Is this the end for Ritchie's Taillow!"

"Rose, use Boomburst as we practiced yesterday!"

Even as she was being electrocuted, Rose made an effort to open her beak and fire the sonic attack at Jolteon. Knowing they couldn't keep it long as before, she instead fired a short, concentrated sonic blast, aimed directly at Jolteon's face. It didn't hurt that much, but it served enough to interrupt the Shock Wave by stunning Jolteon with the noise.

"Keep firing, let's go!" Ritchie ordered.

The Taillow shrieked over and over, each time accompanied by a sonic blast that made Jolteon jump backwards. Occasionally, when he jumped to evade, he'd land wrong and slip on the ice, getting struck by the next shot. The sonic blasts didn't hurt that much, but they forced their opponents to the defensive, as they continued their plan.

"And after an electrifying experience, the tables are turned around once more! Now Ritchie and his Taillow are keeping Assunta and Jolteon in check! They're not giving any opening for counterattacks!"

While Rose continued with the sonic assault, Ritchie smiled upon looking upwards. The Rain Dance clouds slowly began to dissipate. If they could hold out for two or more three minutes, they would clear off completely.

They just had to hold on until then.

"Jolteon, escape with Quick Attack!"

It looked like Assunta was going for another approach, ordering Jolteon to try and get away. The first attempt wasn't successful, as Jolteon skidded over the ice trying to get momentum and got struck by the Boomburst, but then he leaped off and landed on the other side of the field.

Ritchie, however, saw this as a chance to liquidate the bout, even before the Rain Dance's effect was over. They couldn't pass it off now that Jolteon and Assunta were on the defensive. Should they attack now?

He ultimately decided they should. If they didn't take any chances, they wouldn't win.

"Rose, use Double Edge!"

Rose pulled back to get momentum, and folded her wings as she flew down at full speed. Ritchie was almost sure they'd launch an electric attack to intercept them, but they'd gone too fast to get struck.

"Use Thunder above yourself!" Assunta cried.

And then, to Ritchie's surprise, Jolteon summoned the lightning bolt over himself, right when Rose was about to hit him with the Double Edge. The electric explosion sent the Taillow backwards, and then Jolteon began to glow with a yellow light that quickly dispelled.

And upon gazing at him, Ritchie noted how several of the bruises from the previous attacks were reduced, now looking much smaller. Jolteon himself cried out and smirked, as if suddenly feeling recharged.

"What did you do?" the Frodomar trainer asked, confused.

"Surprised?" Assunta said. "I learned this little trick watching last year's Unova League. Getting struck by your own lightning can be useful, if you have the correct ability."

Ritchie was left stunned. He knew Jolteon's standard ability was Volt Absorb, which allowed them to heal wounds after getting struck by electric attacks. But it never occurred to him that they could use their own attacks on themselves. Pretty smart, he had to acknowledge it.

"Shock Wave, over and over!"

"Dodge it, Rose!"

This time, Jolteon fired off blue electric blasts in intervals. Rose tried to dodge them by flying behind the icy rocks, but there weren't many to hide behind, and the few that still stood were shattered after getting struck.

Finally, one of the blasts caught the bird, stunning her and making her fall over the icy field. Before Ritchie could say anything, Assunta had already gone ahead.

"Quick Attack and pin it down!"

Jolteon leapt over Rose leaving behind a white streak, pinning her wings against the floor with his paws, so she couldn't fly again. While the Taillow struggled to break free, Ritchie caught a glimpse of an almost wicked smirk on the Electric-type's face, even amidst the rain. And one second later, Assunta gave the order to seal this bout.

"Thunder!"

And with a sharp cry, Jolteon summoned the bolt to strike them both. It fell down at full power, equally revitalizing Jolteon and electrocuting Rose. And he followed it once, twice, three times, just for good measure.

Right then, the rain clouds finally disappeared for good, and the sun shined over a Jolteon who was almost fully healed after the previous bout, and an unconscious Rose who gave sparks on the ground.

"Taillow is unable to battle, Jolteon is the winner!"

"What a finish to this bout! Jolteon takes that Taillow down and manages to recover of almost all damage taken in the process! Looks like Assunta wanted to pay Ritchie with the same coin from the previous one, and succeeded!"

"Return, Rose," said Ritchie, raising the Dream Ball to call her back, while her icon on the board turned off. "You did well, now take a rest. At least you succeeded on the main goal."

Which was to hold out until the rain stopped. Jolteon's extra advantage was now completely gone, albeit he got a little more than he bargained for when Jolteon ended up healing by attacking himself. He would have never expected that.

"And this puts the match on a draw, 3-3! Will this be the start of Assunta's recovery, or will Ritchie stop his opponent's seemingly gained momentum?!"

Ritchie watched the board with the partial result. Both had three Pokémon eliminated. Assunta had probably taken for granted (correctly) that one of the remaining ones would be Sparky, but he himself also suspected which one would be her last, after forcing her to reveal both Jolteon and Poliwrath.

It was time to bring out his own secret weapon.

"Let's go, Cruise!" he said, throwing the next Ball to the field.

"Pupitar!"

"And Ritchie's fifth Pokémon is a Pupitar! What will Assunta do to counter it?"

From the distance, Ritchie saw Assunta seemed to weigh her options. Would she return Jolteon to bring back Poliwrath? It would make sense if she wanted to play it safer with type advantages.

Ultimately, she chose not to do so and put the other Ball away, leaving Jolteon still on the field. The referee raised both flags and the bout immediately started.

"Jolteon, use Quick Attack, then Double Kick!"

"Dodge and use Rock Polish!"

As soon as he heard the second move, Ritchie knew better than to let any of those kicks land. When he first caught Happy as a Caterpie, he had him undergo some training after evolving to Metapod, to learn how to move and overcome the issues of being a helpless and motionless cocoon. Pupitar was trained similarly, adding to it that it was a Rock-type, meaning that they were strong and resilient, but slow.

Jolteon chased Cruise all around the field, trying but failing to land any kick. Cruise for his part zigzagged around to get closer to Jolteon, each skip done faster than the previous one until he got in striking range.

"Headbutt!"

Once he was close enough, Cruise charged head on against the Electric-type, who skidded backwards on the icy field. He shook his head before glaring back defiantly.

"Weather Ball!"

Jolteon shrieked and unleashed a blue energy sphere, which arched homing onto Cruise. Ritchie immediately winced; that attack could be troublesome under the rain.

"Deflect it with Hidden Power!"

The Rock-type glowed with a purple aura, similar to Psychic-types. Cruise's Hidden Power manifested in a similar way to telekinesis, and could be used either on the enemy or some attacks. This time, it allowed them to deflect the Weather Ball so it crashed against one of the nearby ice mounds to avoid damage.

"Cruise, Dig!" Ritchie called, and the armored Pokémon spun on himself, drilling himself underground and putting both Jolteon and Assunta on alert.

"Jolteon, escape with Quick Attack!"

When the ground beneath Jolteon began cracking, he quickly jumped away leaving a white streak behind. After doing so, he jumped over one of the ice mounds to use it as a spring, and then jump in the opposite direction, right above where Cruise would reappear.

"Weather Ball!" Assunta called.

The Water-powered sphere shot by Jolteon barely scratched Cruise, as the Rock-type saw it on time and stepped away. But Jolteon landed on the other side, and Assunta ordered him to use to approach with Quick Attack and Double Kick. Either with ranged or melee attacks, they could still give them trouble.

They needed to take Jolteon down with a decisive blow, and he already had an idea to do so. Even if Jolteon had recovered from the damage, fatigue was another story, and they just had to force him into a vulnerable position.

"Headbutt!"

"Dodge with Quick Attack!"

Cruise charged forward against Jolteon, who dodged it and made him pass through the white streak. Jolteon only managed to stay a little bit faster than Cruise thanks to the Rock Polish boosts, but still stayed at safe distance.

Alright, if he didn't let them get close, they'd have to bring him to them.

"Cruise, use Hidden Power to trap Jolteon!"

Again, Cruise focused his energies on the target. The Electric-type Pokémon struggled to resist, but only lasted a few seconds before being levitated in the air as he flailed and kicked around trying to break free from the psychic grip.

"Use Weather Ball!" Assunta cried, and Jolteon obliged, ready to fire another water sphere at them. Unfortunately for them, right then the clouds fully dispelled and the rain stopped, thus the bluish sphere turned white before being fired out.

Despite taking the blast right on the face, Cruise didn't lose focus and endured it.

"Slam him against the ground and jump above him!" Ritchie exclaimed.

Said and done, Jolteon dropped to the ground violently and painfully, and the armored Pokémon jumped above. Ritchie had seen both the Pallet Town trainers trying this before, and he hoped it worked for him.

"Use Dig, directly on Jolteon!"

There was a collective gasp from Assunta and the crowd. Cruise spun out like a drill, falling on top of the helpless Jolteon, whose shrieks of pain resounded across the field, as he tried to unleash electricity to drive his foe away. After a few seconds, though, electricity finally stopped sparking, and after jumping out of what now was a crater on the ice, Jolteon lied completely unconscious.

"Jolteon is unable to battle, Pupitar is the winner!" the referee declared.

"What an assault, ladies and gentlemen! Jolteon seemed unstoppable after finishing two of Ritchie's Pokémon, but his streak has come to a halt! Now the Frodomar trainer has taken the lead once more! How will Assunta respond now?"

"Return, Jolteon," said the aforementioned. "Good job. Your efforts won't be in vain. Poliwrath, your turn now!"

Instantly, the tadpole Pokémon came back to the field, slamming both his fists like boxing gloves as his icon on the board became active once more. Now then, Assunta would for sure try and play the double type advantage to turn the match around.

The referee gave them the cue to start, and the next bout began.

"Poliwrath, use Hydro Pump!"

"Cruise, Dig!"

Cruise dodged Poliwrath's opening shot spinning and burrowing underground quickly. The water stream went long and a few seconds later he reappeared behind the amphibian.

"Hidden Power!"

When Poliwrath was barely turning around, Cruise sent out a psychic push, sending Poliwrath tumbling backwards and skidding on the ice. Ritchie wasted no time and ordered Cruise to charge against with a Headbutt before he could get back up. Poliwrath flew until he crashed against one of the icy mounds, getting buried under the rubble.

He came back up a couple seconds later, and slammed his fists together defiantly.

"Poliwrath, use Focus Blast!"

"Dodge it!"

Poliwrath cupped his hands to generate a yellow energy sphere, which he pushed forward towards Cruise. The armored Pokémon did a quick jump out of the icy mound where he was standing, which was destroyed by the Focus Blast, and then landed on another. Poliwrath fired another Focus Blast, and Cruise dodged it the same way, repeating the process twice over.

With each jump, Cruise's moves sped up and he skipped faster and further, making himself a harder target.

"Ritchie's Pupitar seems to be moving faster every time, and until now Assunta and Poliwrath haven't landed any blows! Can they break this stalemate!"

"You can't run away forever!" Assunta exclaimed. "Poliwrath, use Dynamic Punch!"

Poliwrath's punch started glowing and he started spinning his arm very fast, as if to build up additional momentum for the attack. Ritchie bit his lip slightly; that attack could be troublesome… assuming it landed of course.

"Escape with Dig!"

Again, Cruise escaped by drilling himself underground, before Poliwrath could punch him. He saw Assunta frown slightly annoyed, but she suddenly smiled, as if she'd gotten an idea.

"Poliwrath, fire Hydro Pump into the hole!"

"Poli!" The tadpole jumped over the hole where Cruise burrowed into. Ritchie guessed they'd try to force him out by flooding it.

But it wasn't that, as they'd soon find out.

"Ice Beam!"

After the water stream followed a freezing ray, and then Ritchie understood what they actually wanted. They were trying to freeze him underground!

And indeed, a few seconds after, the ground cracked open and Cruise came out, encased in a huge ice block, completely motionless and at his foe's mercy.

"Dynamic Punch!" Assunta cried out.

Poliwrath pulled his fist back, making it glow with power once more as he spun out his arm to give it additional oomph. Ritchie clenched his fists and teeth; if Cruise's ability didn't trigger, that blow was going to hurt, a lot.

And unfortunately it didn't so the amphibian finished preparing the attack, ran at the ice coffin, and jumped to give the punch even more power, breaking through the ice and sending the rock shell flying all the way across the field. Cruise fell backwards with a groan of pain, and it seemed that'd be it.

But then…

"Ouch, that had to hurt like hell, folks!" the MC commented. "I seriously doubt Ritchie's Pupitar can recover from that! But… wait, that light!"

Ritchie had been about to pull Cruise's ball to bring him back, but he also saw the light surrounding him and knew that it meant.

The light of evolution. The gray rock shell fell off, making way for some green arms, legs, a tail and a head, and the new Pokémon let out a roar at the sky, while also whipping out a sandstorm all over the field.

"WOW! Ritchie's Pupitar has evolved to Tyranitar! And now it triggered a sandstorm, making it tough to see what's going on!" said the MC.

"Poliwrath, dispel the sandstorm using Hydro Pump at the air!" he heard Assunta scream on the other side.

The evolution had been quite fortuitous, including the sandstorm. And now Poliwrath was busy trying to dispel the weather, they had an opening to attack.

"Cruise, use Hidden Power to bring Poliwrath to you, and grab him!" he called.

He could barely see the field through the sandstorm, but he heard his new Tyranitar's roar clearly as he executed his attack. They just had to finish it here and now.

"Escape underground with Dig!"

He could barely see the field through the sandstorm, but he heard his new Tyranitar roar and the digging sounds. Little more than a minute later, Poliwrath managed to disperse the sandstorm enough to get the battlefield visible, but by then Cruise was already gone.

Though he didn't take long to come back out, right behind the Water-type Pokémon for a sneak attack. Despite his large size and weight, evidently the Rock Polish effects still did their job.

"Use Hidden Power!" Ritchie called.

The Tyranitar focused for another psychic blast on Poliwrath. The evolution naturally gave it a huge power boost. He could see the terror in Poliwrath's eyes for a second before the attack was unleashed, dragging him across the field and leaving behind a huge trench that extended for about two thirds of the field's length.

The referee ran to verify, and a second later, a flag was raised.

"Poliwrath is unable to battle! Tyranitar is the winner!"

"And with a miraculous evolution, the tables turn around on Ritchie's favor again! Now Assunta if left with one Pokémon while Ritchie still has three in play! So, what's going to be her last card for this match?"

Assunta sighed, taking her final Pokéball. "It's all up to you now. Go, Venusaur!"

"Venusaur!" The Grass/Poison-type starter landed heavily on the field, glaring at his opponent. Cruise didn't seem to be intimidated in the least, though Ritchie knew they couldn't drop their guards.

Just as he'd anticipated, Assunta had kept her Venusaur for the match's finale. Ritchie had seen his abilities in the past matches, and knew about his strength and endurance, and that he had (at minimum) six moves in his arsenal. Ritchie's plan was to try and face him with a gauntlet strategy with as many Pokémon as possible to drain him out gradually, as he was sure no member of his team could match him one-on-one alone in terms of power.

Cruise had just evolved, so maybe he could put up a fight in raw strength, but he was still at a type disadvantage. Zippo should have been able to rest since the start of the match, and he still had Sparky in reserve. Would the three be enough to beat them?

"Begin!" the referee declared raising his flags.

"Cruise, Hidden Power!"

They couldn't waste any time, so they immediately went to the offensive. Cruise raised both his arms forward for a psychic push, trying to make Venusaur flinch.

"Ingrain!" called Assunta.

In an effort to resist himself, Venusaur took on a green glow, and a bunch of thorny vines emerged from the tree on his back, digging their way into the icy ground like roots, preventing him from being dragged by the Hidden Power.

"Bulldoze!"

Having firmly rooted himself on the ground and fighting the psychic push, Venusaur stomped on the icy ground, sending out orange seismic waves at Cruise.

"Break them off!" Ritchie cried out.

Cruise roared and raised his leg to stomp hard when the Bulldoze waves were about to reach him. The crack on the ice disrupted the attack, sparing him of any damage at least. Assunta grimaced, though she quickly regained her focus.

"Vine Whip!"

Thanks to having multiple of them, both for anchoring himself to the ground and for attacking, Venusaur threw two of the remaining ones to catch the Tyranitar. He started pulling back to try and drag him, as the Ingrain still kept him in place.

"Cruise, Headbutt!"

Using Venusaur's own vines like a slingshot, Cruise charged head first against the Grass/Poison Pokémon, connecting hard on his face. However, the rooted vines kept Venusaur in place and he barely flinched.

"Uproot Venusaur!"

Cruise roared and grabbed Venusaur from below, trying to lift him up the ground. The seed Pokémon tried to resist, holding on to his Ingrain to stay in place.

Then, Assunta gave an unexpected order. "Solar Beam!"

The tree on Venusaur's back started charging up energy. An attack like that at point-blank could be devastating, if they allowed them to charge it up. All they had to do was to uproot Venusaur, then toss him to the ground, and get away from him…

"Fire!"

Much to their shock, Venusaur aimed the tree at Cruise and fired his attack. Naturally, not being at full charge it was a lot less powerful than it should have been, but the beam struck the Tyranitar's face, making him shriek in pain and pull back, letting go of his foe.

"What the…!" Ritchie gasped. "How?!"

"Trap him again with Vine Whip!" Assunta exclaimed.

While Ritchie wondered what just happened, Venusaur ensnared the Tyranitar, this time making sure to hold his arms, legs, body and head to restrict him fully.

"Solar Beam at full power!"

While Cruise tried to break free, this time Venusaur charged up his attack once more. While Ritchie called out for him to use Hidden Power again, he couldn't focus due to having all his limbs trapped. Once he reached the charge's apex, Venusaur cried out and fired a massive beam, just like he'd done in previous battles, and certainly a lot more impressive than the previous one.

"Cruise!" the boy cried out.

The beam engulfed the Tyranitar, and upon dissipating, he was full of smoking marks. He let out one last groan before dropping heavily on the ground.

"Tyranitar is unable to battle, the winner is Venusaur!"

"And after a triumphant miraculous evolution that gives him the victory, Ritchie's Tyranitar falls to Assunta's Venusaur and its overwhelming power! Although that half-charged Solar Beam put them on the ropes!"

Ritchie recalled Cruise, and saw Assunta smiling with satisfaction. Admittedly, he knew some attacks such as Solar Beam or Focus Punch, in spite of needing to be charged before usage, could be executed earlier at the cost of sacrificing some power. It was risky, but if the hit landed it could be useful.

Now they were two against one, and they had to be even more cautious.

"Go, Zippo!"

"Ritchie's Charmeleon comes back to the field! After a flawless start defeating Rhydon without taking a single blow, can they repeat the feat and win the match? Or will they fall to Venusaur's overwhelming power?!"

"Zippo, use Flamethrower!" Ritchie called. For the first time in the match they used Fire-type attacks, and they wouldn't pull any punches.

"Petal Blizzard!" Assunta shouted back.

A whirlwind dragging pink flower petals was fired, clashing on the middle of the field with Zippo's Flamethrower. It won out in raw power, so the Flamethrower did little more than set the petals on fire and making them fall on the field, bringing out steam when they touched the ice. Ritchie however wasn't going to stop with that.

"Circle around him, and use Flamethrower again!" Ritchie called.

Zippo ran, or rather, skated over the icy floor to flank Venusaur and attack him from the side. Held in place by the Ingrain roots he couldn't turn around easily, so they'd have a chance to fire at him from the blind spots.

"Trip him with Vine Whip!"

Venusaur elongated one of the vines from the side, getting it in the way so Zippo would trip over it. The fire lizard went down nose first and slid over the icy floor, and without missing a beat Venusaur used another to grab him by the leg and toss him back to his starting position; aka face to face with Venusaur.

"Bulldoze!"

Venusaur raised his forelegs to stomp and send out the seismic waves. Zippo was in no position to disrupt or escape the attack.

Unless…

"Zippo, shoot Dragon Rage at the ground, quick!"

Still lying on the floor, Zippo opened his maw to shoot a draconian fireball under himself. Naturally, being so close to the blast caused him to take some recoil damage, but that was better than to take the full brunt of a Ground-type attack. Plus, now he was in the air, in a great position to attack Venusaur.

"Flamethrower!"

The Charmeleon spat another fire stream before Assunta could order Venusaur to defend himself. The fire not only caught Venusaur himself, but it also set ablaze the Ingrain roots keeping him in place, which would complicate their situation even more. They had to capitalize on it while Venusaur was busy trying to get rid of the burning vines.

"Trap him in a Fire Spin!" Ritchie called.

Once he landed, Zippo circled around Venusaur before firing his attack again. Another fiery stream that quickly formed a spiraling fire column, leaving the Grass-type Pokémon trapped inside. At the moment, their best choice seemed to try and drain them gradually so, should they not be able to knock him out, at least weaken him enough so Sparky could finish the job.

It'd take some time, but if they could keep up this way long enough, maybe…

"Poison Powder!" Assunta yelled.

And then, there was a huge explosion from inside the fire column, dispersing it instantly. The resulting expansive wave sent Zippo flying backwards, and Ritchie even noticed the air shaking when a gust almost knocked his cap off his head. He took a couple seconds before he realized what happened.

"Ugh, that was a risky gamble, falls! Venusaur breaks free from the Fire Spin, but it seems he didn't come out clean!"

Indeed, Venusaur was still standing, and while he had multiple burn marks all over his body, he was far from out. Surely enough, he'd used the Poison Powder to react with the flames and thus dispel them, even if that meant to take some damage from being at ground zero.

"Vine Whip!"

"Dodge and Flamethrower!"

Venusaur extended several vines trying to catch Zippo, who jumped sideways spewing streams of fire in intervals, trying to get closer to do more damage. But whenever Zippo could get more or less in range, the Grass-type would swat him away, forcing them to start over with the approach.

On the bright side, at least the last few attacks had left Venusaur feeling the burn wounds, and even if he used Ingrain once more, there weren't many nutrients to absorb in the icy ground to restore health.

"Solar Beam!"

Ritchie tensed upon hearing that. He had no way to know whether that attack would be fired half or fully charged, so they had to watch their timing and wait for the exact moment for the evasive action. He kept an eye on Venusaur's back for the moment he leaned it to fire.

"Jump now!" Ritchie exclaimed.

Venusaur fired the beam at full charge, but Zippo successfully jumped in time. They could attack from above again, so he called for another Flamethrower at full power, hitting right on his back. The tree was set on fire, forcing him to shake around trying to put it out.

"Circle around and Dragon Rage barrage!"

Landing again, Zippo flanked Venusaur, getting from behind to shoot three blue fireballs from the rear. The Grass-type turned around to face him, but Ritchie knew better than to stop the assault when they had the momentum on their side.

The field was starting to blow off steam, due to the Flamethrower and Fire Spin attacks from Zippo. Occasionally, Venusaur replied trying to spread out Poison Powder, but the spores detonated upon contact with the flames, and Venusaur took the worst of it as he was closer.

The circle-and-fire tactic was working well; as long as they didn't let Venusaur attack from the front they'd be safe, and they'd just have to press until he fell. They were very close to win the match. Very close…

"Use Bulldoze backwards!" Assunta cried out.

Right when they were attempting the flanking maneuver to get on the blind spot, Venusaur raised his hind legs and stomped to send the attack at Zippo, cutting off his run before he could fire again. The Fire-type starter was left motionless, and Venusaur could turn around to face him.

"Vine Whip! Hold him all over and lift him up!"

Venusaur complied, extending his vines to hold him by the arms, legs and tail. And as he had a lot less body mass than Cruise, it was much easier to lift him off the ground and bring him close.

"Zippo, use Flamethrower!"

"Tie his mouth!"

Zippo was barely opening his mouth to breathe in, when Venusaur extended another vine to wrap it around and shut it. Next, he dragged the lizard towards himself as the latter struggled, trying futilely to break free.

"Solar Beam at point-blank! Give him everything you've got!"

Venusaur leaned in his tree to aim directly at Zippo while charging up the power. Even from the distance, Ritchie could see the terror reflected in his Fire-type starter's eyes, knowing very well what came next.

A beam just as powerful as the one that defeated Cruise was fired, sending the Charmeleon up into the air. Seconds later, he fell backwards on the icy field making a huge crack. Although he moved enough to give one last defiant glare to his foe, he ultimately succumbed.

"Charmeleon is unable to battle! Venusaur is the winner!"

"Wow, and with another deadly Solar Beam, Assunta's Venusaur gets another victory in a row! That leaves both trainers down to one Pokémon each! We've reached the decisive bout, folks!"

"Return, Zippo," Ritchie said as he recalled the lizard. "You did pretty good, now take a rest."

He looked at his electric partner on his shoulder. The moment had come; although Zippo was unable to beat Venusaur, the aftermath of all the damage sustained was still there. Besides, the fire attacks had done something more than just burn their foe, and that would put the field on their favor.

"All up to you now. Go, Sparky!"

Ritchie thrusted his arm forward, and his Pikachu used it as a springboard to leap into the field, his face appearing on the last empty icon on his side of the scoreboard.

"And Ritchie's final Pokémon is his Pikachu! We've seen him constantly on his trainer's shoulder all across the tournament, but so far he hasn't had notable participations! Are they keeping a secret power in store for the advanced rounds?!"

"Venusaur, Vine Whip!"

"Sparky, Double Team!"

Venusaur threw half a dozen vines simultaneously at the electric mouse, who split himself leaving afterimages all over the field. The vines only struck the dupes as the real one slipped by among them, trying to get close to attack. As he did, Venusaur suffered the burns inflicted by Zippo on the previous bout.

"Use Thunderbolt!"

Not wanting to run anymore, Sparky launched his first electric attack at his foe. Thanks to Zippo melting several of the icy mounds, there were puddles of water aplenty around Venusaur, which helped the lightning travel much faster and giving them less time to respond.

"Petal Blizzard!"

After enduring the discharge, Venusaur pointed his tree to unleash the floral tornado. The Pikachu first tried to resist, but ultimately was dragged back by force, and he was flying straight to Ritchie's platform.

"Sparky, use Slam to spring back to the field!"

Even in the midair, Sparky managed to turn around and place his tail against the platform's wall, and like a spring coil, it sent him back like a missile straight to Venusaur, catching them off-guard.

"Wild Charge!"

As he flew, Sparky enveloped himself in electricity again, and slammed head on into Venusaur's face. Then he bounced back and landed on the other side, although he almost slipped on the ice, but managed to stay on his feet and face back at Venusaur to keep the assault.

"Charge Beam!"

Sparky unleashed a beam of focused electric particles from his hands towards Venusaur. The mouse had trained to trigger the power boost effect at will, so each attack they fired would be stronger than the last. Between that and the burns, slowly but surely they wore their opponent down, but they couldn't drop their guard any second. Assunta surely would try and use her options with the attacks they had, until one of them worked.

"Venusaur, spread your Poison Powder all over the field!"

Instantly, Venusaur unleashed from his tree a toxic purple cloud, which expanded like a giant umbrella all over them. From what they could tell, it was so thick they couldn't dodge it, not even by going underground into the holes.

"Sparky, activate Wild Charge, but don't attack!"

Sparky instantly obeyed, coating his entire body in a black and gold electric layer. Once again, he was taking a book out of Ash Ketchum's book, whose Pikachu used Volt Tackle to shield himself from a poisonous attack. He didn't know whether it'd work for him or not. It was a leap of faith, but if it did work…

A while later the toxic dust cloud started to dispel. Ritchie caught on that Assunta smiled satisfied, as if she knew they couldn't escape from this. But her face morphed into shock when she saw Sparky was still there, the electric layer still sparking around, and no sign of poisoning whatsoever.

"What's this, folks?! Venusaur tries to catch his foe with a toxic cloud that seemed inescapable, but Ritchie's Pikachu saves himself using Wild Charge as a defense! We'd seen this before!"

"Pretty clever, I'll admit it," said Assunta. "Venusaur, Bulldoze!"

"Sparky, jump and use Slam!"

Venusaur stomped on the ground trying to send the seismic waves at the electric rodent. The latter, still with the Wild Charge activated, leapt into the air and spun around to strike Venusaur with his tail. But something else happened: all the electricity coating him concentrated on the tail, turning it into a pseudo-electric baton and increasing the attack's power. Despite the type matchups, Venusaur clearly felt the electric Slam and flinched, giving off sparks for a moment that quickly were replaced by the burn's flames, making him wince even more.

Sparky for his part had no consequence beyond the recoil damage from his own attack, but aside from that he was clearly in better condition. The clock was against Assunta as Venusaur's condition only worsened, with no apparent way to revert their situation.

"Fire Solar Beam, half charge!"

"Double Team!"

Venusaur aimed and fired the half-charged attack. Sparky once more split in images, making the beam hit one of his clones instead of himself. Assunta, in what seemed like a desperate move, ordered Venusaur to continue firing, and so he did, shooting beam after another sacrificing power for continuous barrages.

But Sparky wouldn't let him hit, and while Venusaur fired beams at his clones, he could flank around and keep attacking with Charge Beams, draining him little by little while powering up his own attacks. After wincing again at the burns flaring up, a green glow surrounded Venusaur, and Ritchie knew what it meant.

"Oh, what am I seeing, folks?! Yes, it's Venusaur's special ability, Overgrow!" the commentator said it for him.

To see Overgrow at this point meant two things: a power boost in the Grass-type attacks, and Venusaur being in critical condition after all the damage sustained. The question was whether Assunta would be able to use that on her favor or not, before they finished Venusaur off.

At this point, the match could go either way, but he wasn't going to give up his victory after coming this far.

"Venusaur, Petal Blizzard! Spread it all over the field!"

Venusaur roared sharply, and once more unleashed the floral whirlwind. This time however, rather than focus it in a single direction, he unleashed it all around him, staying in the eye of the storm to cover the entire battlefield, with a lot more power and effect area, and it quickly made short work of the Double Team's clones in a single blow, exposing Sparky.

"Venusaur, catch him with your Vine Whip!" Assunta shouted.

"Get away from there, Sparky!" Ritchie countered.

Not wasting a second, Venusaur elongated all the vines he had simultaneously, with the clear intent of not letting Sparky escape. The electric rodent managed to dodge the first four attempts running and jumping, but then he didn't land well after a leap and slipped. The vines immediately went to him and ensnared him with no escape.

"Sparky!"

"Slam him around, no mercy!" Assunta cried out.

Venusaur was seemingly more than happy to comply, and immediately started flailing and mashing the Pikachu all over, slamming him against the ground and the icy mounds still standing. Ritchie felt a wave of fear because probably Assunta planned to end him the same way he did Zippo, with a point-blank Solar Beam. And if this one was boosted by Overgrow…

Then, an idea flashed in his mind. Unlike Zippo, Sparky was not completely helpless in this situation. They could still do something.

"Sparky, Thunderbolt!"

"Pika… CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Even after being flailed around and crashing all over the field, Sparky still had the strength to execute his electric attack. The lightning traveled across Venusaur's vines as if they were cables, making him suffer electrocution by contact and forcing him to stop using the Pikachu like an old rag, though he resisted in letting him go for little under a minute.

The Overgrow's glow was intensifying, and Sparky somehow got strength from where he didn't have it to get back on his feet. The trainers stared at one another in the distance, and both knew this was it. They were going to gamble everything on their last and best attacks.

"Venusaur, Solar Beam!"

"Sparky, Charge Beam!"

Venusaur began to take in the sunlight, while Sparky cupped his hands together to concentrate his own electricity. This would be the final clash between them, all or nothing.

Both Pokémon fired their respective beams almost immediately. The Overgrow power boost seemed to give Venusaur an additional oomph that pushed the Charge Beam backwards, so Sparky increased his own power trying to endure it, pushing it back for moments, but not enough to reverse it.

The clash continued the same for a few seconds, where it seemed like the Solar Beam would end up winning out, until…

"Saur!" Venusaur once more winced at the burns flaring up, losing focus and making the Solar Beam falter for a brief instant.

"Now, Sparky! FULL POWER!"

"PIIKAA… CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

And that brief instant was all they needed. Sparky poured all the electricity he had left in that last beam, managing to revert the energy clash on his favor and send it back at Venusaur. The combined energies exploded, sending the Grass-type flying through the air, and fall back to the icy ground with a loud thud.

Five seconds passed of pure tension, during which Ritchie clenched his fists, waiting and mentally repeating to himself "Please don't get up, please don't get up…". If Venusaur got back up after that, Sparky had nothing left to continue.

"Venusaur is unable to battle, Pikachu wins! The victory of this match is for the trainer Ritchie from Frodomar!"

"And that was all, folks! Assunta and Venusaur put up a terrific fight, but in the end Ritchie prevails and moves on to the next round!"

Ritchie didn't wait for the commentator to give his speech, or for the platform to lower enough. He just leapt off the handrail to run towards the field and pick up his partner, who'd dropped himself on his rear.

"You alright, buddy?"

"Pika…" Sparky replied with a smile and a thumbs up. He was exhausted and battered, but also relieved and happy.

"You were amazing, just like everyone else. We did it, partner," the redhead said.

Meanwhile, as he was busy picking up his partner, Assunta was doing the same with Venusaur returning him to the Pokéball, and now approached him with a serious expression.

"Hmm… well, I guess now we can say we're even for yesterday, right?" she said with a shy smile, before reaching out for a handshake.

"Ah, that?" Ritchie chuckled, and accepted her hand. "Of course. You gave me a great battle. Even better than I expected, I'd dare say."

"That's good," she replied. "Congrats on advancing to the next round. Since I couldn't make it, can I ask you to win the next one for me and Melissa?"

"I can't promise that I'll win, but I'll do my best."

"And that concludes one more battle for this Top 16 round in Indigo! But stay on your seats, folks, for we still have quite a few matches ahead of us, and we can be sure the excitement today is far from over!"

That night…

Another tournament day had come and gone, and Ritchie was happy to have won. Making it to the Top 8 after seven rounds, and considering the opponents he'd had, was no small feat.

He'd left his Pokémon resting at the Pokémon Center. After today's battle, it was almost a given he'd have to do some changes for the next round, as some wouldn't probably be recovered overnight for another match so soon. And his next opponent was possibly the strongest trainer in the tournament so far.

His PokéNav beeped with an incoming message. The sender was an unknown number, and the message itself was quite brief: "Saw you on streaming today. You battled much better than I thought you would, well done."

"Hmm?" Ritchie read the message, and had a slight suspicion of who'd sent it. "Joshua?"

The reply came almost instantly. "How'd you figure it was me?"

Ritchie snorted slightly before he sent a reply of his own. "How did YOU get my PokéNav number? I don't recall ever giving it to you."

Before the answer proper, an angry face emoticon was sent. "Who cares? I'm trying to congratulate you here, you should thank me."

He thought for a moment. He did have a point there, so after a bit of hesitation, he typed the answer. "Well, thank you, I guess."

The next took a bit longer, and he realized it was because he was taking his time, since it came rather long. "I'm serious. I thought for a moment that chick was gonna end you. After she wrecked your Tyranitar so easily I almost stopped watching the match. But then you beat that Venusaur with a Pikachu. Sure, your lizard also helped, but still. I hate to admit it, but you did one hell of a job training that yellow rat. Almost regret leaving it to you."

Ritchie raised an eyebrow. That was a rare sight: Joshua praising his performance and congratulating him? Sure, he was doing it in his particular, rude manner, but even then, he wasn't the type to say things like that, even grudgingly.

Then again, it was weird enough that he'd asked him to avenge his defeat, and 'not to make their city look bad'. Now he was even more curious about what happened on the day he was defeated, but he had the feeling he wouldn't get any answers even if he asked.

In the time he stayed without answering, Joshua typed another message. "But it doesn't matter anyway, cause your luck's run out. Tomorrow's gonna be your last day in the tournament."

Ritchie took offense at that. "Why're you already assuming that I'm gonna lose?" He added an angry face emoticon for good measure.

A laughter emoticon appeared on his screen, followed by another rather long message from Joshua. "Oh, come on. You should know already who you're facing tomorrow, right? Accept it, you have no chance. At any rate, making it to the Top 8 among over a thousand is a huge deal for a rookie, so you better be proud. And don't worry about what I told you before; chances are Ketchum's gonna get his ass handed to him in the finals now."

The redhead wanted to reply, but he found himself hesitating. Mocking as the message was, he admitted that his odds against his next opponent were, in the best of cases, doubtful. Gym Leaders rarely had the chance to cut loose with everything they had, and until that moment, Koga was pretty much steamrolling his opponents.

He breathed deeply, and decided to give a simple reply. "You never know. I may surprise you, just like today."

Joshua's response came just as quickly. "Oh, that so? Interesting, I wanna see what you're gonna pull off to prove me wrong."

Ritchie couldn't help but smirk at this. That brought back another question he'd wanted to ask, but he didn't get the chance to before he left the city. "Why do you seem to be so supportive of me? Not that I don't appreciate it, but it is inusual, coming from you."

There was another pause for several minutes, followed by a message that was probably written and rewritten a few times. And he had no doubt once he saw it. "Dunno, just felt like it. Also, I've had time to think about the stuff you said. Since I won't be able to compete for a while, may as well use that time to train or something.."

The redhead raised his eyebrow again. When he read the part of "the stuff you said", he guessed it was about his win-at-all-costs attitude, no matter if he broke the rules. Maybe that, along with his defeat in the tournament, had affected him deeper than he thought. However, he had no chance to inquire any further, as Joshua sent him one last message saying "Good luck tomorrow, you're gonna need it" putting an end to the conversation.

He dropped the PokéNav aside and was about to take a nap, but someone knocked on his door, pretty loudly. The boy was a bit puzzled as he didn't expect anybody, so he wondered who it could be. He cautiously opened the door and…

"Here you are, half-pint! Good jod, you're making your Daddy proud!"

Before he realized he'd got caught in a headlock, while a huge hand ruffled his hair messing it. Even if he hadn't recognized the voice, the gesture was more than enough.

"Ugh… Dad… let go!"

"Honey, knock it off."

And the second voice surprised him even more, since when Silver let go of him, he saw he wasn't alone; Regina was with him. Ritchie also caught that his mother's hair looked messier than usual, and she seemed a little bit shaken.

"Mom? I'm glad to see you two, but… how did you come here? I thought you'd root for me from home."

"After today?" Silver asked. "No chance, kiddo; I wanna see the rest of your battles in this tournament live. And I know your mother does too, so I brought her for the ride."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I enjoy flying on a Salamence at that speed," the woman said, trying to fix her hair. "When we return, I would like to take the ground transport route, if you don't mind."

Okay, that explained why she looked like that. He'd already flown on Silver's Salamence before and never had issues with that, but if his mom did, he would second her on the trip back home. Silver muttered something like "party pooper", but otherwise said nothing else.

"Even so, we're very proud of you, son," said Regina, now smiling. "Seven rounds in your first tournament is a great achievement."

"Sure, but why stop there," Silver made his way into the cabin, and dragged her along. "Tomorrow you'll have time before your match, right? I can help you warm up and all. C'mon kiddo, we've got a lot to talk! I'm gonna show you how you should fight with a Tyranitar!"

Ritchie couldn't protest to that. At the very least, to see his parents here to support him made him forget a bit his worries about tomorrow's match. Maybe spending some family time was just what he needed.

FIN