Hard Enough - Chapter 121 - Karen's challenge (Patreon)

“Intermission!” roared the announcers.

They did it before Charles Goodshow could raise his flags but he merely gave a good-natured laugh and waved for Karen and Steven to take a break.

Karen remained where she was while Steven moved back to his bunker. There, a number of people in suits awaited him; he was given a drink, a towel, and a clipboard while they talked with him.

“Urgh! Intermissions are the worst!” said Tommy as he kicked his feet up. “Why do we have them in these matches at all? No one likes them!”

I gestured at the screen where a series of commercials for ‘Extreme pokeblock! - Ultra nutrients and ultra electrolytes for your pokemon!’ was being advertised. “That’s why.”

“Pokeblock?!” Tommy said taking me literally.

I shot him a look. “What? No, it's companies wanting to sell their products. There’s not really a need beyond companies getting advertising options and the League being able to sell the rights for the match. They make a fair bit of money off exhibition matches like these.”

Flint coughed. “It actually also helps reduce tensions and injury occurrences with pokemon.”

I considered that before conceding that he might be right. Yolanda shot us both happy looks, and I rolled my eyes at her.

Tommy vibrated in his seat. “I still don’t like them! No one likes the intermissions!” he stood and threw his hands up, and in doing so, threw his food over the room.

Munchlax leapt into the air and devoured half of it before it hit the ground. Then he raced to hoover up all the other loose bits of food.

“Munchlax no!” Tommy said. When he made to raise his fist, I raised a finger.

“No hitting, and also remember the rule,” I said before pointing at the rule we’d put on the wall a few weeks ago.

Tommy slumped. “The five-second rule doesn’t count for Munchlax…” He shot me a tearful look. “Can I have some more snacks?”

“Nope!” I said as I tossed some popcorn into my mouth. Tommy spent the next few minutes grumbling and trying his odds with everyone else. The girls didn’t even bat an eye at his attempts, instead ignoring him and watching the commentators denounce and praise Karen for her methods of getting two pokemon out of Steven so quickly.

Charles Goodshow then cut through the arguments by announcing the resumption of the fight. “Champion Steven! Please return to the podium!” The camera panned from Goodshow to catch Steven in discussion with one of his attendants. He didn’t seem to be aware that the fight had resumed as he continued to talk with her without making a move to the podium.

“Champion Stone!” prompted Mr Goodshow once more.

This time Steven looked up and nodded before saying something else to the aide. Then he handed back the notepad before marching back out. He looked fresh like he’d just stepped out of a salon rather than lost two of his pokemon against Karen.

“Urgh! I can’t stand that he has aides like that! Isn’t that illegal?” said Cindy.

Yolanda shook her head. “No, it’s not. Even Brock was allowed to have people in his bunker. It’s just that you don’t really see them used this way.”

I rubbed my chin “It might cause a trend, and I can’t say I’m a fan of it. Supporters for moral support is fine, but it feels like he has an entire analysis team in there going over what happened and what it means going forward. Karen might not just be fighting Steven.”

“Not just Steven?” Suzie asked with a cute tilt of her head.

“If you fight someone, you have to think up how you’re doing it. Most of the time on the fly. It's why exhibition matches really shouldn’t be taken so seriously. You get given way too much time to think things through. That creates different pressures, but it doesn’t make everything as on the fly as a straight championship match can be.” I pointed at the aides that were already setting themselves up behind Steven to catch anything Karen did.

“In a way, Steven has it easier with other people spotting tells or small cues that can be lost in the middle of a fight. Some of the equipment might even allow patterns of movement to be built up. That can make a huge difference at the Elite level.”

Any further discussion was ended when Steven stood on his podium and Charles raised his flags. “Trainers ready?” he shouted. Both of them nodded and Charles dropped his flags. “Release and fight!”

“Go Honchkrow, stay in the sky!” Karen said as she released her pokemon up high into the air.

“Go Aggron!” barked Steven.

I whistled and leaned forward. “Now here’s a pokemon I want to see.”

I took in Steven’s Aggron. In a word, beastly. The pokemon had thick metal plates that clunked rather than rang when they struck each other. The pokemon was obviously well fed with how large it was, but despite that, there was a bounce to the step. I rubbed my chin.

“It’s had a very controlled diet… the metal that makes up its body is both strong and light which is incredible.” I grimaced. “Can’t have been tasty for it though, and it would have taken a lot of sitting on him to make him eat it.”

“He’d need to continue eating at least a portion of it as well, otherwise the metal shell would become slowly compromised.” Flint chimed in. He was also leaning in and scrutinising the powerful pokemon on display.

I pointed at the Aggron’s head. “The helmet is also slightly different… I think it’s been worked on or molded to protect the eyes a little more.”

“What else can you spot?” Salvadore said excitedly as his pen blurred over his notepad. I shot him an amused look, and he grinned. “The kids in my class will love hearing this sort of analysis! The only way it could be better was if I was interviewing Professor Oak!”

Flint and I snorted.  “We know more about rock types than him!” we said together.

Flint and I shared a look as Yolanda giggled. I held in a shiver. Urgh, that was… weird. Yeah, weird. I refocused as the Aggron started grabbing up rocks around it and hurled them into the air.

The Honchkrow dodged the rocks as quickly as it could while blowing away the Spikes on the ground. Steven wasn’t letting that go uncontested, however, and two Ancient Powers hit. Honchkrow hit the ground only to flap about as though in great pain.

Steven relaxed only to blink as he seemed to recall a similar event. His expression hardened as he gave the next order, “Finish it off Aggron.”

The call instantly caused a number of boos and gasps to ring out from the crowd. Karen merely clicked her tongue, and her pokemon stopped acting and slammed its wing into the ground. “Foul Play!” Karen ordered as her pokemon flipped up and closed the gap with the Aggron.

Aggron had already started channelling Ancient Power though and both pokemon slammed attacks home into each other. Aggron stumbled backwards while Honchkrow was launched backwards.

Charles Goodhsow and the crowd leaned forward to inspect Honchkrow.

“Honchkrow is unable to battle!” announced Charles Goodshow as Honchkrow remained unmoved.

The announcers were quick to set up a replay and point out some key points in how Steven had set himself up for victory with this match up. Karen returned her pokemon, and I rubbed my chin in thought as the announcer continued talking up Steven’s plan.

“It’s a bit deeper than that." I rubbed my chin, as on-screen Karen considered Steven. “Aggron is a beast for Steven and it seems he’s baiting her to bring out her Houndoom.”

Yolanda shot me a look. “What makes you think that?”

“Because her Houndoom is Karen’s strongest. I don’t have any doubt she’d be able to beat him.”

“What about the fact that with its typing, Houndoom is Dark-Fire? Doesn’t that allow an advantage as well?” Salvadore asked.

I wobbled my hand back and forth. “Aggron, if it was only a Steel would be weak due to that but its the issue of Aggron also being Rock type. Karen needs fighting, water, or ground. Moves that she’s limited with due to her pokemon roster,” I said while privately thinking about all the options she’d have in the future. “If they know most of Karen’s team, then they will be pushing her, with a ‘best’ choice being her most powerful. He is trying to entrap her. Wear her best down.”

“Urgh come on Karen!” said Cindy as her head whipped back to the tv.

I rubbed my chin as I watched Karen run her hand across her pokebelt only for her to smirk.

“Go Vileplume!” she cried out as she threw her pokeball right up as close to Aggron as she could. I tilted my head. A Vileplume? That was an interesting choice, and the announcers said as much.

The flags dropped and Karen’s smirk didn’t drop as Steven ordered his pokemon in close. “Metal Claw! Shred it!”

“DP~,” sing songed Karen as her pokemon drew back a fist that glowed. The Aggron’s claws swept forward that clipped Vilplume and tore through the delicate petals atop its head. Vileplume didn’t flinch from the hit though, and instead shot forward into Aggron’s guard. Then the fist rocketed forward and straight into Aggron’s stomach.

Aggron rang like a gong as it slid backward, crumbling over the point of impact. It shuddered before shaking itself and standing tall. The punch from Vileplume had left a small dent in the plate around its chest. The petals atop Vileplume’s head healed as the pokemon leaned back and flexed its hands in a ‘come get me’ gesture while smirking.

“Aggron, tighten up your stance and shift to more controlled hits! Metal Claw!” Steven said seemingly unphased at his pokemon taking such a hit. Aggron shook its head and slid forward instead of striding.

“SS!” chimed Karen when Aggron was in close. From Vileplume’s crown a cloud of golden dust drifted straight at the Aggron.

“Resist it!” shouted Steven as his pokemon swept its claws through the cloud and the Stun Spore latched onto the pokemon. It twitched and struggled through the effects only to fight through its own body fighting itself. Then it swept another claw into the Vileplume.

“DP again!” ordered Karen as she realised Aggron was going to fight through being paralysed. Vileplume fired off another punch just as the claws swept down. Aggron was tossed back once more but this time it buckled down to one knee.

“Sunny Day,” said Karen as Aggron struggled to get up onto its feet.

“Solar Beam!” shouted Steven causing everyone to flinch in surprise. I leaned forward. His Aggron knew Solar Beam? That was an interesting choice.

His Aggron opened its mouth only to shudder as its body was racked by tremors. Karen relaxed slightly, and I chuckled. Heh, she’d been worried that had backfired on her for a second there.

“Solar Beam Vileplume,” she said haughtily.

This time the attack went off without a hitch and Aggron took it. Instead of being blasted back, the Aggron dug in its claws and endured the hit, roaring as it did so, striding in with hate in its eyes only to stumble and be knocked back onto its haunches before collapsing onto its side as the Solar Beam finished.

“A-Aggron is unable to battle!?” Charles said like he wasn’t sure. The Aggron vanished in a burst of light, as Steven put it beyond question. He looked at the Vileplume with a curious expression before his hand drifted down to another pokeball instantly.

Without waiting for a pause he hurled out his solution. “Go Blaziken!” he said with a pleased smirk.

I cursed. That wasn’t a pokemon he was canonically known for, but I couldn’t help but think that it made a lot of sense with how he was known to later gift them to trainers that had proven themselves in the games. Also, hadn’t Agatha mentioned something about him owning all the Hoenn starters as a power flex?

“Fight!” shouted Charles Goodshow, only for Steven to punch straight ahead of himself and his Blaziken to explode into action.

“Blaze!” it crowed when it slammed a fiery fist into the Vileplume. Vileplume shrieked as it was hurled back. Karen had to draw it back straight away and concede the pokemon.

Charles threw up his flag. “Vileplume is unable to battle! There will be an intermission now!” This time neither Karen nor Steven retreated to their bunkers. Karen stared across at Steven while he locked eyes with her. Then he looked past her and smiled at something behind her. The cameras panned to reveal Blaine in the stands, looking murderous.

“Oh, that’s a bit cheeky,” I said.

Flint stared slack-jawed at the tv. “Cheeky? That’s downright suicidal! What does he think he’s doing, taunting Blaine like that.”

I considered the implicaitons before connecting the dots. Right, Blaine had been suing Steven hadn’t he? Blaine the fire type Gym Leader of Kanto, and here Steven was using Blaziken. “You don’t think it’s just a good pick?” i said, more to make conversation than actually beleiving it.

“It’s that, but the look he shot Blaine? He knows what he’s doing and is leaning into it.” Flint shook his head.

Yolanda shifted. “What about Karen? What does this mean for her?”

“Nothing good. Blaziken... that's a tough matchup for her because Blaziken is a powerful pokemon with a type advantage over most of her pokemon.”

Suzie nudged Salvadore, and Salvadore whispered “Fighting-fire” to her.

“But that doesn’t mean she can’t beat him right?” Cindy said.

I wavered a hand once more. “I think it’s keeping her on her toes. Steven has assumed control of this match up.”

Tommy decided to stand up and make for the kitchen. Without looking I called out, “Only fruit now remember!”

“Urgh! Brock!” cried Tommy, only for me to ignore his whines. “Dad can I have ice cream? I didn’t have any yesterday!”

"Hmmmmmmm," Flint thought as his eyes flicked to me, coughing as he took in my less-than-amused expression. “That was then, and this is now. No more snacks tonight, apart from fruit Tommy!”

I huffed. Great,  the kids were trying to play us off against each other. Urgh! Way to make this feel more like a divorce rather than a dad that ran off and then came back! I grumbled and shot Tommy a less-than-amused look when he trundled back in with a number of berries in his hands.

“Let’s restart the fight!” announced Charles, causing everyone to perk up. Charles glanced at Karen and she nodded, lifting a pokeball and hurling it out.

“Go Umbreon!” she shouted. The Umbreon that appeared was glossy black with eyes like gems. It wasn’t larger than any other of its kind; it was simply the most well cared for that I had seen. There was something about Umbreon that I was struggling to recall; what was it?

“Fire Punch!” ordered Steven, and once more his pokemon rocketed forward. Only this time the Umbreon ducked under the attack.

“CF!” shouted Karen as the punch swung past her Umbreon.

“Get room!” shouted Steven as his pokemon leapt back to create space as a purple energy radiated out of Umbreon’s body. “Bulk Up!” As he said this, the Sunny Day that Karen had used earlier winked out, causing the fires around Blaziken’s fists to dim, only for it to use its move and regain strength. I had to tip my hat to Steven. That had been an impressive display of time awareness.

“Copycat!” Karen replied, making her pokemon tense up as muscles flexed before relaxing. The Umbreon actually looked fluffier rather than bulked out due to the move. Steven clicked his tongue at the move before twirling his hand about.

“Special case, Double Kick!” Blaziken nodded before hopping up slightly. Then its legs blurred as it kicked both feet at once before once more closing the distance between itself and Umberon.

Umbreon was already in motion. The large eyes had been locked onto Blaziken, and when it moved, so did Umbreon. It almost reminded me of a flinch response with how quick it was, but it was too controlled and too directed. This pokemon had been trained to dodge specifically.

It did so, forcing the Blaziken to miss by the barest of margins. Then once more, purple energy radiated out from it, causing Blaziken to stumble.

“Get out of there Blaziken!” ordered Steven, only for the Blaziken to ignore him and kick out. Umbreon wasn’t able to dodge a kick from this distance and was launched back, only to land on all fours with a smirk as Blaziken continued to kick around itself.

“Nice one Umbreon!” shouted Karen. “Now use Rest!” Umbreon shut its eyes and curled up, much to the confusion of everyone in the crowd. Blaziken continued to kick and shake around before it locked onto the slumbering Umbreon and snarled.

“Use the aggression, Blaziken! Use Close Combat!” Blaziken nodded and sprinted forward. This time, the movement was visible. So the trick of using its legs to kick off the ground must not have been possible here. Instead, it closed in with furious intent.

“Sleep Talk~!” singsonged Karen causing one of Umbreon’s eyes to shoot open and lock on the charging Blaziken. It shut its eye and it looked like the move had failed as a second later Blaziken was ontop of it about to deliver a brutal beat down only for Umbreon to suddenly slam its head into Blaziken’s midriff while its front paws began to thrash into the much larger pokemon.

“Nice!” cheered Karen. “He got off a Copycat!”

Both pokemon threw everything they had against the other with headbutts, claws, fangs and limbs flying. With Close Combat being used for both of them, they brutalised each other.

Steven frowned. “You’re going to have to withdraw your pokemon Karen! There’s no way it can last against my Blaziken!”

“Says you! My Umbreon is a beasty boy that can give as good as he gets!” she sang back as the brawl continued. Blaziken tried to lock Umbreon down in a headlock only for Umbreon to twist and bite down hard on Blaziken’s arm, causing blood to flow.

Blaziken held on and slammed a fist into the other pokemon while Umbreon matched him with bites and kicks with his hind limbs.

I leaned in. This was a very savage fight, and I was amazed that Umbreon was still able to. The fighting type should have laid it out, but Karen’s claim was holding up with Umbreon giving as good as he got.

“Oh, Umbreon are defensive monsters,” I said aloud, finally recalling the stray fact that had been teasing at my mind. Yolanda nodded, unable to talk as she stared at the TV, willing Umbreon to victory.

Blaziken finally threw itself into the ground to shake Umbreon off. Umbreon landed on all fours no longer as shiny, but its eyes glinted defiantly. Blaziken nursed the bleeding arm, and a number of its feathers were ruffled. Both pokemon huffed and puffed, but neither backed down.

“Flamethrower,” Steven ordered instead of having his pokemon close in. This swept over Umbreon and at my side, the girls cried out in fear. When the flames withdrew, Umbreon was still standing, glaring defiantly.

“Rest,” ordered Karen.

“Bulk Up,” said Steven before pointing forward, “Close Combat once again!”

“Oh, need to get close? I’m game, Sleep Talk!” Once again, Karen rolled the dice and this time a purple energy radiated off the sleeping Umbreon. Blaziken was able to push through and still land a few brutal hits before sweeping Umbreon out of the ring where it landed and tried to get up.

Karen raised her pokeball. “That’s enough, Umbreon. No one doubts your resolve to keep fighting; rest for now.” Her pokemon returned, and the crowd exhaled in relief, glad that she wasn’t going to push things. Then they stood and applauded her.

I had to nod; that had been an impressive display of defensive skill. Her pokemon could certainly stand with the strongest and trip up a number of carefully laid plans.

The announcers were eating it up. “And now ladies and gentlemen, it comes down to the final two pokemon for Karen! What will she bring forth?”

“Go Absol!” shouted Karen whipping her arm forward to release said pokemon.

“Oh! Pretty!” said Cindy and Suzie together.

“An Absol?” Salvadore said. “Who’s that pokemon?”

“It’s a pokemon thought in times past to herald calamity. Typically, they are thought to appear either before, or after, great events of upheaval. There are some historical texts that cite them and a number of Johto plays even use them as a foreshadowing of something that is about to go very bad for the main character of the play,” I said to Salvadore as I looked over the pokemon.

I didn’t want to buy into the whole calamity myth, but then again, in a pokemon world it was important to keep an open mind.

“Double Kick!” said Steven to start things off and apparently finish them quickly.

“Detect!” barked Karen causing her Absol to dodge quickly. Blaziken skidded past as it turned, and Karen slashed her hand down. “Psycho Cut!” The horn atop Absol’s head glowed before being swept forward, causing a pink crescent slash to cut straight towards Blaziken.

“Protect!” shouted Steven causing his pokemon to cross its arms in front of itself and absorb the blow.

“Close in and do it again!” ordered Karen and her Absol raced in.

Steven chuckled as his pokemon endured another blow behind the Protect’s shell. “Now you’re getting close to me, no? Blaziken drop the shell and go into Close Combat!”

“PC! Cut him up Absol!” growled Karen as her pokemon’s horned glowed once more. This time Blazekin didn’t block the attack and instead leapt into it with his feet glowing white hot. Both pokemon struck each other, and an explosion of force detonated from the two attacks impacting each other.

Absol emerged skidding backward but still on its feet. Blaziken stumbled backwards before tripping over itself and collapsing. “Blaziken is unable to battle! The match is now four to four!” shouted Charles Goodshow.

Steven inclined his head and tugged the ultraball from his belt. “You’ve earned the right to face my best I should think Karen!” he said before tossing out the ultraball. From within, a four-armed metal crab landed on the ground.

“Metagross!” cried out Steven’s starter.

“Heh! I’m not interested in just that! I’m going beyond!” shouted Karen. “Absol Perish Song!”

“Hyper Beam!” came the immediate reply from Steven. Before Absol could get more than a note of its song off Metagross fired off a gigantic beam of energy that wiped Absol off the battlefield. It slammed into the barriers and it took a second before the beam stopped.

I had to whistle. That had been strong, easily as strong, if not stronger than the Hyper Beam Lance’s Dragonite had used against Titan and I.

When the dust lifted it revealed a shuddering pokemon that Karen instantly recalled. When she lifted her head to glower at Steven, he merely raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Play games like that with me and I’ll play them in turn with you.” He then turned his back on her and marched back to his bunker, leaving his Metagross on the field as the announcers called for the final intermission.

“Urgh! I hate these!” repeated Tommy. I nodded and sighed before looking over to Flint.

Only to find that he wasn’t in the room anymore. “Hey where’d Flint go?” I asked.

“Oh, he left to go to the bathroom when Umbreon and Blaziken started rolling around!” said Timmy innocently. I blinked and considered that before nodding slowly.

“Oh, alright then.” I turned back to the tv. “He timed that Hyper Beam well enough. I doubt he was just using it then because of Karen pulling Perish Song.”

Yolanda nodded. “He gets to let his pokemon rest and recharge with the intermission, doesn’t he?”

“Yup!” I said with a pop.

Flint leaned into the room from out of the hallway, his eyes flicked over us before looking to the tv. “Oh, Umbreon lost?”

“Yeah! You missed it! Blaziken and Umbreon had this super rough brawl with kicking and biting and—” Tommy said like it was the best thing ever. Flint turned a shade of green, and I realised he wasn’t comfortable.

“Hey, Tommy, settle down alright?” I said while watching Flint. I hummed. “Hey, Flint want to help me make some hot chocolate for the kids?”

“Hot chocolate?” he tilted his head. “Don’t you mean warm cocoa?”

I waved it off and led him into the kitchen to make up the many drinks. “Feeling alright?” I asked.

“...” Flint ran a hand over his face and scrunched it into his beard. “No… I can’t say I am. I never really liked bloody pokemon battles.”

“No problem. It’s really not a good sign that it's reaching that level with Karen and Steven honestly. That Blaziken was a beast, and so was the Umbreon. Neither of them wanted to back down, but yeah, if you’re not comfortable, then yeah, get out of the room.”

Flint stared down at the tub of cocoa mix. “You must think I’m weak for not being able to handle that. I was Gym Leader once.”

I considred him for a moment. Part of me wanted to snub him, but that was a dark, weak, cruel part of me. I shook my head and bumped him with my elbow. “I’ll never look down on you for not liking blood.”

“...thanks,” Flint said before coughing. “Let’s get these to—” Flint was startled as he lifted a tray, only to find Yolanda standing there watching us. “Oh! You scared me Yolanda.”

"Sorry, dad,” she said before giving him a hug. “I don’t think you’re weak for not liking when it gets too violent either,” she said into his side. Flint sniffed and patted her head awkwardly. Yolanda then broke off the hug and accepted her mug.

When we returned, the kids all accepted their drinks. Eevee shared with Munchlax who begrudgingly allowed it. When Yolanda allowed Terra a sip the baby Larvitar wiggled and squealed happily.

On the TV, the match wasn’t featuring the various advertisements but instead showed the crowd, who were on their feet chanting.

“Meta-gross! Meta-gross!” to Steven who was watching them with some amusement. Karen stood opposite him with a scowl on her features as he smiled and waved upon his return to the podium, once more he was immaculately cared for.

He smiled at Karen before raising his hands and tamping down on the crowd. He toyed with the sleeve of his suit. “I must admit I’m somewhat tempted by this chance you’ve given me Miss Karen… but I think I shall have to deny the world my latest secret, although I’m tempted, I have to admit. Karen, you’ve put up a great showcase here with your pokemon. See if you can earn it!” he said as he pointed at her.

I winched at that as she narrowed her eyes. She grit her teeth, her eyes noting how his sleeve was being played with. Was Steven Stone going to Mega evolve against her and reveal it to the world? It would certainly be a way to announce himself, wouldn’t it? My eyes raked over Metagross’ frame, and I noted a small band with a glittering jewel on the front right leg.

Hmmm he had all the right parts for it, now the question would be if he pulled the trigger.

When Charles Goodshow gestured to Karen she raised a Greatball and hurled it out. “Go! Houndoom! Let’s show this Rich boy what we’re made of!”

The girls leaned forward as Houndoom landed and flames burst from its maw. It raised its horned head and locked eyes with Metagross before huffing out a flame.

“Draw in breath!” Karen ordered, causing her pokemon to take an almighty breath and for flames and darkness to build up around it. “Now release with Flamethrower!” From Houndoom’s maw, a giant gout of flame was unleashed onto the field. The flame roared towards Metagross who stood against it without batting an eye.

“Metagross take control of it with Psychic!” said Steven with a clench of his fist.

Metagross lifted up slightly as blue psychic energy built before the onrushing flame was clasped and held. Steven grinned before pointing back at Karen. “Return it!”

The fire was blown back upon Karen and she stared it down. The camera caught her smile turn into an outright grin that stretched her face. “Take it head on Houndoom!”

The flames slammed into Houndoom and the cameras lost sight of it for a moment as the field around it burned and blacked. Throughout it all Karen grinned.

“What’s going on?” Suzie said, obviously aware that something was up with Karen’s strange reaction.

“Shhh, just watch for now,” I said, leaning forward as the flames started to die off. From within them Houndoom was revealed with an evil glint in its eye as it stared down Metagross. From around its mouth, flame licked out like it was trying to escape, only to be loosely controlled.

Steven had all of a moment for his eyes to widen in understanding before Karen punched straight at him. “Flamethrower!”

This time the flame that roared forth was not like a wave but like a beam. It glowed with the intensity of the heat it was releasing and as it passed the ground blackened. Steven’s hand twitched to his sleeve before he aborted the action.

“Hyper Beam!” Steven ordered suddenly not having much time and having to force the issue. His Metagross once again unleashed a powerful beam that caused the fires to stop their headlong rush at his pokemon only to clash with the energy beam.

Having seen how powerful the Hyper Beam had been only minutes ago it was clear that this Flamethrower was something else with how it held the Beam from advancing at all. But the Flamethrower attack was stalled.

When both attacks broke off Metagross was revealed to be heaving from the effort. Houndoom merely huffed once. It had lost the built-up flames that it had moments ago, but it was still raring to go.

“Close on it with Fire Fang!” shouted Karen. Houndoom leapt into action and closed in with Metagross.

“You’re going to regret not playing all your cards now Rich Boy!” taunted Karen as her pokemon leapt onto Metagross. The metal crab tried to scurry away, but it was much too tired to evade quickly.

Steven merely shrugged. “I trust in my decision. I also trust in my pokemon to handle what you can do to it.” He watched as Houndoom closed its fangs over one of Metagross’ legs only for the crab to stoically endure it.

“Earthquake,” he said calmly.

“DP!” snarled Karen and from her pokemon darkness erupted just as the ground broke underneath both pokemon. Metagross staggered while Houndoom clung to the leg it had in its fangs, snarling and releasing yet another burst of dark energy.

“Hammer Arm,” Steven said, causing another of Metagross’ arms to swing around and club Houndoom off its limb before it could inflict any more damage. As Houndoom landed it was already inhaling.

“Flamethrower!” barked Karen.

“Earthquake again! Buckle the land underneath you and make it miss!” shouted Steven as his Metagross slammed into the ground and caused the arena to quake once more. Houndoom staggered at the hit while the Flamethrower missed thanks to Steven’s maneuver.

“Use Psychic on the broken earth!” Steven said, following up quickly to hurl small boulders.

They wouldn’t contain the right sort of energy to really punish Houndoom, but the speed and size would still made them felt.

“Hop pattern!” Karen knew this and ordered  Houndoom to leap and evade the new dangers. The rocks also broke up the field and offered Metagross and Steven more control over the battle.

And just like that Steven edged Karen back with directed Psyhic attacks while breaking up the field again and again. Karen could either dodge or use Flamethrower to stand her ground but she couldn’t attack Metagross from her position anymore. Metagross had made itself a little bunker that it was using well.

“Leap up and use Flamethrower!” Houndoom flexed before throwing itself into the sky. It inhaled and at its zenith, the move looked like it would be Karen’s answer.

Steven grinned. “Hyper Beam!”

Metagross swung its arms forward and fired a third and final Hyper Beam that ended the fight as Houndoom was nailed in the air and sent careening out of the battlefield.

I sighed. “Damn, that had been closer than I thought,” I admitted. Karen had almost gotten Steven to Mega evolve at one point; I was sure of it, or, at the very least, consider it.

Tommy and the boys nodded, with Tommy turning to Cindy. “Alright she’s not bad! You can like her, and I won’t tease you!”

“I was going to do that anyway! I don’t need your permission!” snapped Cindy.

Flint raised a hand and indicated he’d take care of it. I watched the post-match interview, and while everyone had been entertained, all of the hosts had noticed Steven alluding to having somehting up his sleeve. They speculated it was a new Ace on his team. A pokemon strong enough to surplant his Metagross. Some even wondered if he’d caught himself a Legendary.

When the cameras got in front of Steven they were quick to ask just that.

He smiled affably and shook his head. “Oh, I couldn’t say without giving it away. A reveal needs to be done properly, after all. Perhaps I’ll get a strong challenger in the future, one worth showing my new ace in the hole for.”

Karen got some screen time and was rather smug with her ability to make Steven Stone sweat. Right up until they pointed out he had a pokemon left that many were suggesting was a Legendary. That got Karen to snort loudly but I could see she was annoyed by that line of questioning, especially when one reporter mentioned that Karen had been deemed ‘not strong enough to make me use my ace in the hole’. That got her gritting her teeth and shooting Steven Stone a furious look.

Eventually some clever reporter got a microphone in front of Blaine of all people.

“What did you think of the match tonight Gym Leader Blaine?” the reporter said eagerly.

“Feh! It was nothing but a school yard scuffle!” Blaine said derisively.

He glared towards Steven who still had a throng of reporters waiting to get to him. “If I had been allowed to fight Steven Stone there wouldn’t be any question of his needing to use his Ace in the hole! Feh! Such drama! And empty pomp! I’ve fought those types of trainers before and I know how to handle them. If it is anything worth a damn? Well, I have a few answers for such special pokemon,” he said playing with the pokeball on his necklace.

The reporter chuckled. “I’m sure your Magmar would have done wonderfully!” he said with a tone of one actually saying, ‘Sure gramps,’.

“Yes… My Magmar,” said Blaine with an amused lilt to his words.

I paused in getting the kids to bed. Had he just hinted at having evolved his Magmar into Magmortar? That… that would be a very powerful upgrade. Blaine’s Magmar was known to be one of the most powerful fire types around… if he’d been able to evolve it… how strong had he gotten?

Karen was shown approaching, and Blaine nodded once to her at the end of the interview. “Keep working on your pokemon’s fire attacks, lass; you’ve got a lot further to go than just a simple Flamethrower!” he said as he marched off.

“Heh, gotta keep some things up my sleeve for when I take my Champion run old timer!” she called after him.

I chuckled as the girls preened that their new role model was apparently going to go all the way. Cindy tugged on my sleeve. “Can you get her autograph for me? You know her, right?”

I sighed. Urgh, one of my many weak points. An earnest request from my little siblings. This was going to make Karen unbearable for months, if not years.

An idea formed in my mind, and I turned to Suzie. “Do you want me to get you Sabrina—”

“I already have it!” she said producing a picture of herself and Sabrina. Both of them I noted had signed under their own images. Suzie’s was naturally a mess of scribbles.

I chuckled. Excellent. This would curtail some of Karen’s… Karenness.

I sent the kids to bed and laid down. I only had one more day to rest and relax before resuming the grind of the Gym circuit, and I was going to make the most of it by doing little beyond planning out the week to come.

With Karen’s match against Steven Stone done, I knew a lot of attention would be turning my way.

The media would probably run with Karen and Steven’s fight for the next few days until the next big issue.

For pokemon Ace trainer fights, that meant Will and I would be the hot topic.

Next weekend couldn’t come fast enough for me.

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A.N. Thanks to all my Patreons.

This is currently unbeta’d. Sorry for any errors that seem obvious!