After depositing Vio at the Centre, I needed some time to myself. Finding a quiet place, far from the hustle and bustle of the festival was remarkably easy. It was almost as if the entire town was focused on that relatively small area, leaving the rest abandoned. In an empty park, I found shelter between some blooming hedges, their smell gentle and enjoyable but most importantly, the space was almost entirely hidden.

In my mind, the scene of Vio getting tossed aside by the Mawile played over and over, those massive jaws and glinting teeth, tearing into my poor cutie. I would have to become even better, to protect my partners and give them the guidance needed. Had there been a way to win the fight against the Mawile, or had it been impossible from the start?

The thought made me wonder, how could I make sure such a failure wouldn’t repeat in the future? To increase the range of favourable match-ups and make sure I wouldn’t wrong my partners. Coverage, the term sprang to mind, training my partners to cover a maximum amount of match-ups, so they wouldn’t be beaten like that.

Calling out Charm, I leaned against him, letting his warmth soothe me a little. Just his presence gave me a sense of security, my fierce protector.

“Vio and I lost,” I admitted, still frustrated. I wanted to do better. Losing against someone like Bree was fine, it was expected. But Henri was a rookie, like me, with not that much more experience.

“It was even worse than against Bree. At least she let us struggle for a bit, showing what we could do. Henri just dismantled Vio, fast and brutally efficient.” I complained, before shaking my head.

“We’ll have to find ways to deal with bad match-ups. So you won’t lose against all Rock- and Water-types, and Vio doesn’t get beaten down by the Steel-types out there.” I told him, as he let out a deep grumble, causing my whole body to vibrate.

“I’ll figure something out, it’s my duty. Might take a bit of time and a lot of effort, but we’ll figure something out.” I promised him, vaguely remembering that there were methods to teach Pokémon moves they couldn’t normally learn. Technical machines slightly altered a Pokémon’s innate energy and let them take the first step, but afterwards, it needed effort to let the Pokémon make the move on their own. The problem was, getting access to those machines required going through the League and, as so often, they were only accessible to trainers that had completed a number of Gym challenges. I think for most technical machines, you needed eight or ten badges, with some requiring even more due to their rarity and complexity to make them.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I snuggled up to Charm a little, playing with one of his claws. They appeared to be so vicious, capable of shredding flesh and other Pokémon with ease and yet, the being they were attached to was incredibly gentle.

After moping and thinking for a while I decided to rejoin the festival. There’d be more time to consider how to increase coverage and deal with unfavourable match-ups in the future. On the other hand, I had no idea when or where I’d visit the next festival.

When I got back to the fighting area, I soon ran into Jeff and Emily. Noticing their linked hands, I wanted to remain away as much as possible so I wouldn’t disturb what looked very much like a date, but Emily had other plans, dragging Jeff towards me.

“So, looking forward to the finale?” she asked, a grin on her face.

“Not really.” I shrugged, “I lost and I know why I lost. Now, I just need to make sure that I won’t lose the next time.”

“Well, I lost as well. As did Jeff, he got kicked out by your companion, Claire,” she told me, waving away my argument.

“How did she fare in the quarter-finals?” I asked, suddenly feeling a little guilty about disappearing and not trying to give Claire at least some warning about Henri and his Mawile.

“She lost. That Mawile is one mean fighter.” Jeff quietly explained, and I could only nod. “Though their opponent isn’t an easy one either. A local, pretty old, I think she works at the power plant.” he continued, making me raise an eyebrow in interest.

“I didn’t see too much, but she’s using a Magneton and it looks quite strong. Maybe because it’s usually part of the power-generation set-up,” he explained and I began to feel a bit of enthusiasm. Not too much, but a bit.

Walking over to the arena, I was quickly spotted by Claire who quickly came over.

“Hey.” She greeted me, giving me a brief hug. “We lost.”

“We did. Sorry that I didn’t warn you.” I apologised, getting a shrug in response.

“I doubt it would have changed a thing. The Mawile was faster than Twiggy and packs a really nasty bite. Pretty sure it’s a lot higher level than either of our partners.” she shrugged again.

Our exchange was brought to an end by the announcement that the finale was about to start. Henri and a middle-aged woman, with some grey colouring her hair stepped up taking position on either side of the field.

“Now, for the finale of our tournament. Henri of Canalave City against our own Marcia. Contestants, please send out your partners.” Kendra up on stage announced. Moments later, two red lights flashed and Pokémon were deposited. On one side, the Mawile, still as scary as before, on the other side the triangular form of a Magneton appeared, hovering about a metre above the ground.

“On my mark… Ready…” she paused for a moment, before calling out, “Go!”

Immediately, the Mawile shot forward, trying to sucker punch the Magneton, just like it had done with Vio. The attack connected, pushing the magnetic trio to the side, but at the same time, an audible crackle of electricity overwhelmed the sound of clashing metal.

The Mawile stumbled, arcs of lightning springing between the metallic teeth of its jaw, while the Magneton didn’t appear to have suffered too badly.

Looking at Marcia, I could see a faint smile on her face, as she called out to her Magneton. “Blast it away.”

At her command, the Magneton rotated, the poles of its magnets forming a triangle, causing electric arcs to gather and form into a sphere. The Mawile tried to move aside but its jerky, faltering steps were just too slow to dodge when the sphere was shot out from those magnets, striking the Mawile dead on. It got tossed back, rolling across the ground from the force but managed to get back up before the next attack could hit.

“Distract it,” Marcia commanded, just as Henri told his Mawile to focus. Both Pokémon emitted a white glow, a high-pitched sound coming from the Magneton while the Mawile seemed to steady itself, no longer shaking as badly.

“Now, Crunch down,” he ordered and the Mawile moved forward, its speed greatly reduced. The Magneton shot out another Electro Ball, but this time, the Mawile managed to dodge, stumbling out of the way. On the next step, it burst out with sudden speed, crossing the distance with a leap.

The Magneton tried to dodge the approaching jaws and there was a shrill screech of metal against metal, as the teeth tried to find purchase while the Magneton tried to escape. Arcs of electricity spread around the area when the Mawile hit the ground, the Magneton securely held in its jaws. A faint, dark light spread from its jaws, merging into the while glow and tainting it. The Magneton tried to escape, but with the crunching jaws around it, it was grounded.

The situation seemingly remained in a stalemate, the jaws grinding down while the Magneton tried to force it away with increasingly blinding arcs of electricity. Finally, the electric arcs faded away and I had to blink a couple of times, trying to clear the flash spots in my eyes. The Mawile was still upright, though it had been forced to its knees, using its jaw to support itself. The Magneton, on the other hand, was on the ground, no longer levitating or showing any signs of activity.

“And we have a winner!” Kendra called out, as applause spread all over the arena. I applauded along, feeling somewhat vindicated. At least, the person who had defeated me hadn’t lost to anyone. I would have to push myself and my partners so that I’d be able to win when we met again.

“Congratulations, Henri. I hope all participants enjoyed their battles and you, the audience, were entertained,” she added, before inviting everyone to attend the dance later in the evening. More cheering and applause, as some people moved forward to congratulate the two finalists. Claire and I were among them, partially to congratulate our former opponent on his victory.