Hard Enough - Chapter 174 - Ace battle! Fields of green! (Patreon)

I arrived at the field for the proposed ace match with a small entourage of Rachel, Missy, A.J, and Dennis.

Tori had her own entourage with them, having arrived with the Plains and Meadows Co. It was amusing that an entire business sector revolved around providing battlefields for pokemon trainers.

I glanced over to the cameramen, who had a small rig set up to allow them to float thanks to a trio of Magneton that each cameraman had. Another pair of Magneton held cameras and seemed to act like drones would in the future.

“Welcome battlers!” said the Plains and Meadows representative.

She offered a bow to Tori and me with a wide smile. “Thank you for choosing our humble facility for your match today!” she said. “I understand that you have both agreed on a specific region of our meadow battlefield today?” she said, indicating the area around herself.

Tori nodded quickly but I had to tilt my head. Something about what she had just said.

“Is that not how it’s usually done?” I asked.

Tori coughed and looked away while the representative blinked. “Well, there’s not a true method, but the norm that most trainers using our facilities is to do a shared matching first.”

At a gesture from me, she kept talking. “We would meet in the office on Route Eight where you would each select five sites. If any sites matched they would be put up on offer, if no sites were matching you could then select a randomised battlefield or narrow down options and try to match once more.”

The representative made a sweeping gesture. “It is not an issue at all though, as long as you both agree to the site and are willing to go ahead.” She then coughed something quickly that sounded like “a small fee will still be required to pay due to our terms and conditions,” but I couldn’t be certain of that.

I scratched the back of my head. “Huh, looks like my understanding was off, but then again I’ve not been a regular on the Ace scene till this year so I suppose there is bound to be some information I’m not aware of.” I glanced at Tori who seemed to have relaxed now that it was obvious that I wasn’t annoyed by this.

“We’re still doing the specific selection first though right?” I said, checking that my information wasn’t entirely out of date.

Tori nodded seriously, and I hummed before turning and giving the meadow around us a serious look.

Tori’s group broke apart and a number of them started jabbing poles into the ground that lit up with green, blue, or red lights.

A.J. squinted after them. “What are they doing?” he asked suspiciously.

“They’re checking the nutrition of the soil,” I said casually, waving for them to jog along with me in a lopping run.

“So they’re going to be setting up for Grass types then?” he said after a few minutes, jumping straight to the heart of the matter.

I nodded. “Yup, one thing to consider with matches like this is if you start testing for things too obviously you make it very clear what you’re aiming for. The gadgets? You don’t really need that if you have a good eye for soil.”

“And you do!” said Missy with glee.

I snorted. “Nope! But I’ve been to Erika’s Gym enough times to know what excellent soil quality looks and feels like,” I said, signalling a pause to push my fingers into the ground before waving them on. A.J. and Missy hurried to copy me and I rattled off what was and wasn’t good, to feel in soil. Then I started taking large bounding strides where I began landing heavily and trying to skid every ten metres or so.

"The ground's a bit rubbery, soft, and nutrient-rich here,” I commented over one particular patch, making a mental note of where it was.

When I got into some long grass, I paused and glanced around to see what the viewing angles into and out would be like. Then I led my group over to the single tree on the field that was included in our space.

I ran a circuit and then doubled back, taking in the lay of the land, where it was low, where it offered good vantage points, and where it would hide certain details from an opponent.

I nodded to myself eventually and clapped my hands together. “Well, she’s gotten herself a good site,” I said nodding my head towards Tori.

Missy frowned. “But you only dug your hands into like five spots?” she asked, confused by my cavalier statement.

A.J. snorted. “Yeah, but her group have stabbed those sticks everywhere, right?”

I pointed at him and nodded. “Good instincts and eyes there A.J.” I said, pleased that he’d picked up on things. I then made sure to clarify to Missy so she wasn’t left out of the loop.

“If the other group is openly testing for something like that, you don’t need to waste your time doing so yourself. You can look for other things that suit you. This entire meadow suits Tori, she’s just being a perfectionist and looking for the best site. Not unless they were faking us out, but that was what I’d actually been checking those five areas for originally,” I said, causing both my protege trainers to make noises of understanding.

“So she’s going to be relying heavily on her Grass type pokemon, isn’t she?” A.J. said.

“Yup!” I said, making sure to pop the p. “Should make for a fun fight. Now, run over there for me, will you please?” I waved for him to sprint up to the other side of the meadow and back before pointing in another direction for Missy to do the same. They both didn’t question it and when they got back I nodded my head.

“Slight downhill from this point,” I said, glancing at the tree off to the side. I clicked my tongue a little and then nodded. “Let’s see what we can get.” I waved to Tori and indicated I had my selection ready which caused her group to begin hurrying up.

One thing that I had brushed over quickly during my recent lesson was that you only had fifteen minutes total to look over the area. As soon as one person indicated they were good to go, the other side had to wrap up their own tests within a minute to keep things moving along.

I watched her team hurriedly dash up to her and give their assessment with a furious whisper. A few of them eyed me and my group before gesturing at where we’d run and where I was positioned at the moment.

Tori quickly wrapped things up and joined me near the representative.

“I have observed your assessment; is everything to your liking?” the representative said with a placid smile. When we both nodded she pointed to our transceivers.

“You have each received a link to set out the battlefield where you desire. Please make your selections and we will do our best to include your area. If a discrepancy occurs, the average of each site will be used instead,” said the representative.

I raised up my transceiver and selected the area I wanted straight away.

Tori and the representative stared at me. “You… Gym Leader Brock you understand you have another few minutes to separate and make your selection, don’t you?” said the representative.

I paused. I hadn’t known that, and what she said made a lot of sense.

I decided to fall back on audacity. “Ah, sorry, I just… don’t mind?” I said with a playful shrug.

Tori narrowed her eyes and glanced at her own map. She could probably see where I’d selected, but now she could skew the field if she wanted.

She swallowed, glanced at her own, waiting entourage and then straightened her spine. “This is my own selection,” she said. She then picked an area almost identical to mine that saw us both on opposite sides of a small gully with the tree to one side of the field.

I smiled and nodded like that was what I’d planned for all along. The representative sent us on our way to confer one last time with our groups.

Missy tilted her head. “So where are you going to…” she blinked at me as I rubbed my head sheepishly. “Oh, you already made the selection, didn’t you?”

I nodded and everyone blinked at me. Dennis coughed but it sounded more like a repressed laugh to me. I shot him a look and he wouldn’t meet my eyes.

A.J. shifted from foot to foot. “What’re you talking about?” he said, and Missy filled him in on how things were supposed to go.

Rachel shot me an amused look upon hearing this. “Going to have to make sure you’re up to date on that one when you teach it, aren’t you?” she said teasingly.

I huffed. “If I had been teaching it I think I would have done better. I would have researched it more.”

Rachel raised an eyebrow as if to say and you didn’t for today? I could only grimace. I’d done a cursory look into how things worked but there was obviously a lot more to this than I’d assumed.

This was a mistake that I was going to get away with by playing confident. It felt… well it felt a little good to be able to get away with the mistake, but I would personally rather have been in the position that never needed to bluff like that.

It was a bit of a wake-up call that there was more to fighting Ace battles, than I had assumed.

“So, about your match tomorrow,” Rachel said leadingly.

“I’ll review the facilities to make sure they’re not too different tonight.” I shot a glance toward Tori. “Our analysis for her and her team still holds up, however,” I said, refocusing. As we spoke, I noticed that the cameramen had taken themselves for a walk before shooting into position to hover on one side, while another hovered up into the air behind where Tori would be. They created a small white boxed outline that would be for where either I or Tori would stand during the match.

The representative clapped her hands. “It is time dear combatants! I shall be your referee, please have your entourages withdraw to the viewing rooms in our base facilities,” she said. A pair of Hypno appeared with a flash of Teleport and the two groups soon departed, leaving me and Tori to face off.

“Flip for call?” Tori asked waving a hand to either starting point. I glanced between them, not seeing a huge difference beyond orientation.

I shrugged. “Lady’s choice,” I said, deciding to be magnanimous.

She stared at me for a long moment and I got the feeling I’d made another faux pas without meaning to.

“Hmmm so you’re that confident then?” Her eyes narrowed and she waved to one position while I scratched my head sheepishly before turning to my own group and marching over.

From my spot, the tree that I’d been eying was to my left and just within the field of play.

Otherwise, there were no huge differences or points to worry about beyond the slope. The grass wasn’t long enough here to offer any blindspots but that didn’t mean a dedicated grass type couldn’t boost the growth and see the field become much more difficult for me.

“Trainers! Are you ready?” called the referee.

I glanced over Tori and she had her chin slightly raised in defiance. There was also a slight smirk on her lips like she knew something I didn’t.

I merely smiled back and palmed my first choice for today.

“Release!” shouted the referee and I hurled out my first pokemon in time with Tori.

“Go Zephyr!” I called.

“Brelo—” Tori started to say only for some very unladylike words to escape her mouth as her Breloom appeared. “Fuck nuggets!” she said as she spotted Zephyr, my Noctowl, taking to the sky.

I cocked an eyebrow. She was expecting something else, wasn’t she?

“Zephyr use—” I started to say only for Tori to not hesitate. Instead of trying to match her grass-fighting against my normal-flying type, she went for something else with a quick recall.

I twitched in surprise at the speed of her reaction before readjusting the order I’d been giving. “—CM!” I ordered.

Zephyr flapped his wings serenely and a glow formed around him as he performed Calm Mind.

Tori narrowed her eyes as she popped out another pokemon. “Let’s try this out! Go Jolteon!” she shouted, sending out a much more favourable match-up for her.

I hummed, considered it and then stabbed my hand forward. “Hypno!” I called, deciding that I would commit instead of trading out Zephyr. I’d been expecting her Raichu as an answer to Zephyr, but this would still work for me.

“Blast them!” shouted Tori. Her Jolteon flashed with a powerful burst of lightning that shot up only to come down a moment later.

“Dip into AA!” I barked. Zephyr tucked a wing and flew to the left allowing himself to fall just into the canopy of the tree as Jolteon’s Thunder descended.

The tree exploded. Branches flew every which way and shrapnel flew freely. With the sawdust of the tree’s destruction hiding Zephyr’s fate Tori could only lean forward in anticipation.

A moment later, she gasped in surprise as Zephyr appeared in a burst of speed directly behind Jolteon. Zephyr slammed himself into Jolteon and then held him down with a large claw, forcing Jolteon to lock gazes.

Zephyr’s eyes glowed and pulsed with Hypnosis.

“Jolteon! Discharge!” Tori screamed only for her pokemon to weakly twitch and slump as sleep claimed it.

“Ah damn it!” she said only to grin. “Sleep talk!” she said with a grin as her asleep pokemon out of nowhere sparked up and unleashed a powerful blast of lightning.

“Win—” I tried to order Zephyr to plant his wings with Steel Wing but was nowhere near quick enough forcing Zephyr to tank a super effective attack.

When the lightning died away Zephyr was revealed, ruffled and twitching in pain but still standing tall. “Dream Eater,” I said, making as much of Jolteon’s state as I could.

“Sleep Talk again!” said Tori deciding to back her pokemon.

We both leaned forward as Zephyr created a link of energy between himself and Jolteon energy coursing its way into him.

Jolteon twitched and a gleam of energy built up around him and I exhaled in relief. Agility, her pokemon had ended up using Agility instead of frying my pokemon.

Tori clicked her tongue and whipped up her pokeball. “I withdraw Jolteon from the match!” she declared quickly.

I had to mentally applaud her for acting decisively. She would allow me a free move, yes, but she wouldn’t allow Zephyr back to full health with another Dream Eater.

Zephyr could only glower as Jolteon was removed from the field with the referee declaring that I’d gone one up.

I looked Zephyr over. He still looked very rough and I would have to pull him out for the moment. He wasn’t in a good condition to be fighting against something fresh. It was better to save him.

I raised his pokeball. “Return Zephyr,” I said.

Tori grimaced and let her hands glide across her pokebelt in thought. With her pulling her pokemon out first, I would have a small buffer to send out my next pokemon in response to her choice.

She clicked her tongue and sent out a green and white pokemon that I barely got a glimpse of before it dashed into the tallest grass it could. It wasn’t tall enough and my earlier decision to force Tori to wrap up her assessment of the field was paying dividends.

If she’d moved the field off, away from the tree, she would have gotten some longer grass that she could hide pokemon in.

“Go Don,” I said, happy to match an Aerodactyl against a Shifty that, despite its speed, was easily visible thanks to being too tall to hide in the grass.

Tori sighed and set her jaw. “Of course you brought that brute!” she called out to me.

I shrugged, pleased that our read on her team was good. She’d been trying to game me with a number of grass types due to my reliance on rock-water pokemon.

Sadly for her, I had the answer for that with two of my pokemon and another few answers if she tried to use a fighting type against me.

“Icy Wind!” called Tori to start things off.

“Trips D!” I shouted and Don responded by plummeting.

Just before he hit the ground, his wings snapped open and he swept back up with a rush to arc his way out of danger from the Icy Wind where he could perform his Dragon Dance uninterrupted.

Tori locked eyes with me glaring her defiance. “One more time!” she said, stabbing her hands forward.

“Fly high Don!” I called.

Don slammed his wings into the ground and practically bounced into the sky.

I was taken by surprise when Shiftry didn’t unleash another Icy Wind but instead held an arm aloft where an orb of bright light started to form.

Ah, she’d tricked me into a fake order. It was something that she must have practised.

That hadn’t been something our scouting had picked up, I thought to myself. I’d have to make sure to start looking out for such tactics.

I had no doubt that my own ‘Go’ order was well known by now throughout the Ace rankings. I would need to learn some of the tricks of the other higher-ranked Ace trainers if I wanted to keep advancing. I gave Tori a smile and a nod, acknowledging her tactic.

With Don up high and Shiftry empowered I found myself at a bit of a standoff. Closing would be a challenge. Especially if Shiftry had Chlorophyll as its special ability.

I held a hand and whistled. I clenched me fist, holding it up high to give Don the his order instead of shouting. Chances were he’d be able to hear me, but I could stall out Tori by obsurcing the command

Don got off another Dragon Dance, and I grinned as Tori scowled.

She shot her hand up and Shifty didn’t hesitate as she gave her next command. “Blast them!” she said, her eyes narrowed on the still high-flying Don. Shifty raised its hands and unleashed a powerful beam of grass enegy that lit up the field.

“Hard drop,” I shouted even as the Solar Beam soared upwards.

Don stared down the oncoming beam nd I felt a trickle of fear. Was he going to stare it down and play chicken with it?

Moments before it slammed into him he tucked a wing and this time locked himself into as small a profile as possible. Solar Beam blew past him and I exhaled while Tori cursed.

A shrill whistle rang out as Don dove straight down. Tori flinched at the surprising noise.

Don couldn’t usually pull off such a fast drop, but thanks to two applications of Dragon Dance he was incredibly fast. Shifty had enough time to drop the Solar Beam only for Don to sweep in with his wings snapping out wide.

Shifty kicked off the ground to lessen the damage but Don wouldn’t be denied as he swept past Shiftry, his wing slamming into his foe's body and buckling the grass type with a super-effective move.

Shiftry dropped to his knees and gasped in shock only to collapse onto its face. Tori swore. “Shit! What are you feeding these pokemon? Shiftry shouldn’t be going down like that! He’s one of my strongest pokemon.”

I nodded, knowing that Don wasn’t even one of the top six strongest for me these days. He offered me a lot of versatility, however and with his showing now, he was in a much stronger position. “As is Don,” I replied.

She blinked. “I mean… I guess? But this strong?” she said as she returned her pokemon.

I smiled. “I’ve been pushing my pokemon for a good while. Often the Elite pokemon in my roster have to face off against an entire team.” I shrugged. “It’s not all the time and not often, but my earlier creation of a prestige badge? It’s given my pokemon results to keep up their training. Don there? He has a lot of pride. He trains hard so he can keep sweeping trainers. That might not be the case this year though. There’s a lot more attention coming our way.”

Don screeched his disagreement and a glint entered his eyes that let me know he would be working twice as hard at the next few training sessions. He glared at Tori and the girl stepped back before stiffening her resolve.

The referee coughed politely. “The score is zero to two in Brock’s favour,” she said, prompting a response from Tori.

Tori rolled her shoulders and slapped her cheecks with her hands makin gthe glow red. “Alright, time to dig deep,” she said, selecting her next pokemon.

I leaned forward feeling my anticipation building. She’d pressured me a few times now so I had to keep my guard up. What else was she going to bring to the fight?

“Go Starmie!” she barked, throwing out the water-psychic pokemon.

It appeared with a flash and a quick gleam but I wasn’t too worried about the type advantage, not with Don being buffed like he was.

“Bubblebeam!” ordered Tori. Her pokemon spun and from around it, a wall of bubbles formed that began to waft outward.

Hmmm, this was a new spin on the use of bubbles on the battlefield. It was rather well-controlled as well…

“Don! Spin to win!” I said, twisting my hands as I did so.

Don grinned evilly as he swept his wings out wide and began to rotate in the air. Around him, a torrent of wind began to build until there was soon a sizeable Hurricane that pushed back all the bubbles.

Don surged forward sweeping the Hurricane through where Starmie had been.

Interestingly I didn’t see Starmie anywhere once the wall of bubbles was cleared from the field.

I narrowed my eyes. There must have been a quick set-up there. What had she done? Substituted? Mirage? Or…

I clicked my tongue in annoyance as I saw something tiny shift before I lost track of it.

She’d used Minimize.

I swept my gaze about the field only to not see anything that gave away if Don’s Hurricane had impacted Tori’s Starmie. Damn, it apparently hadn’t been big enough.

Well, I had options for that. “Return for now Don! Let’s go Shin!” I said quickly pulling Don out of there for someone with a few wider attacks.

As Shin took to the stage I kept a sharp eye out for a flicker of energy, a twitch of the grass. Something to reveal where Tori was hiding her pokemon.

“Hydro Pump!” shouted Tori as Shin formed. From the grass that I’d dismissed earlier, a huge torrent of water shot forward.

“Jet out of there!” I barked, sweeping my hand wide. Shin responded by instantly launching himself out of danger. I locked my gaze on the grassy patch and stabbed a hand at it.

“Bubblebeam again! Move around Starmie!” shouted Tori, suddenly seeming like she had a lot more control of this match than she’d had moments ago.

I frowned. So she was going to play keep away was she?

“Aqua Jet with your blades out!” I said making a zigzagging pattern. Shin swept forward, blades out to cut through the grass with his passing, leaving it well-trimmed and scattered behind him with each sweep.

Shin dodged once again and I was forced to grind my teeth. Come on, think, think! What could I do to disrupt this without putting my stronger pokemon in danger? Minimize caused some moves to hit with double damage, but that was only if they hit! I needed something big.

“Surf,” I ordered, deciding to go for a full field effect that Starmie would be caught up in or have to deny. I leaned forward ready for any response only to be surprised as the Surf swept forward faster than I had anticipated.

Ah, that would be the slight gulley we’re standing on, wouldn’t it? The wave surged down and then straight into the other side where it splashed down heavily.

That… had been rather impressive; I hadn’t considered the physics of Surf but that had rather played into my favour just now.

Tori scowled. “Thunder!” she barked and from the splash zone a bolt of lightning shot up and then back down to Shin.

“Metal Claw,” I responded.

Shin stabbed his claws into the earth to avoid the worst of the powerful electric attack. Shin endured it and emerged from the powerful attack still smoking.

“Aqua Jet to the other side!” I barked, realising that I could really make use of the terrain here, especially if Tori hadn’t moved her pokemon.

Tori stiffened as Shin bolted in close to her, only to turn .She was already starting to understanding what I wanted.

“Surf!” I roared. Shin wept his claws out behind him a wave rising up as he did so bearing him up high.

“Thunder!” responded Tori.

From both our pokemon, powerful attacks swept forward only to clash with water sweeping forward as lightning wracked Shin and hurled him from the wave.

The wave still crashed home and I now had a good idea where Starmie must be.

Shin fell to the ground  with a defeated sigh and I bowed my head. His matchup had been a horrorible exchange, but thanks to his efforts, no other pokemon were going to fall to this trick.

I returned him and hurled out my next pokemon without waiting.

I didn’t want Tori to have a second to shift her pokemon out from where the wave would have pushed it on the field.

Sanchez hit the ground with his hands raised to the sky. “Go Go Lem!” he shouted, only to blink when there was no response from an opposing pokemon. “Lem?” he said uncertainly.

“No time for that! Discharge!” I barked, and he responded with a powerful wave of lightning that swept over the area around him, only to catch out Starmie.

“Yes!” I shouted, pumping my fist.

I hadn’t been able to pick where it had been during the earlier exchanges but by pushing Starmie into my side of the field, I’d denied Tori any chance to escape from an area of attack move.

“Again!” I said, deciding to make sure of it. Sanchez exploded with lightning again and I saw a spark flash onto a certain area.

I pointed and was about to order another attack only for Tori to raise her pokeball and return the now-revealed Starmie. “I withdraw Starmie!” she shouted.

I settled back and exhaled my tension. Yes, that had been more like it!

“Go… go?” said Sanchez with an oddly withdrawn tone. I blinked and glanced down to find him looking about with a lost expression. What was he… I blinked as I realised what he was doing.

“Sanchez! We’re fighting in a specialised field! We’re being broadcast through the cameras! Wave to your fans!” I said pointing to the two cameramen.

Sanchez instantly perked up and I had to laugh incredulously. I should have realised not having a crowd to hype him up might have impacted him. It was an interesting point to take note of, but Sanchez did feed off a crowd.

“Go Breloom!” shouted Tori. I shook off my idle thoughts and got myself back in the fight. Fighting grass against rock-electric? Alright, this I could do.

“Stealth Rock,” I said, sweeping my hand and surprising Tori by going defensive.

“Close in!” ordered Tori and her Breloom bounced forward with its fists and legs primed to punish Don.

“Dig dip!” I barked right before Breloom could get close enough to actually injure Sanchez. Sanchez rolled himself to the side only to fall to the ground where he vanished into a quickly closing tunnel behind himself.

He then popped back up close behind Breloom. “Go lem!” said Sanchez with the air of a professional Tauros fighter.

Breloom didn’t bother turning but merely kicked back, launching itself back towards Sanchez.

In mid-air, the Breloom flipped and led with its foot slamming into Sanchez’s face.

I winced. That had been a good play, I’d not been expecting that from the mushroom kangaroo.

Sanchez flew back from the strike before getting to his feet while adjusting his moustache. “Golem!” he said with a grin.

Breloom twitched and swept its tail from side to side.

I considered the match-up and what Sanchez had for moves. I considered raising his pokeball before my eyes fell upon the Stealth Rocks.

Hmm, that could work for an advantage. “Stealth Rock,” I said, amused that the power of Breloom’s kick was now working against it.

“Seed Bomb!” shouted Tori, chopping her hand towards Sanchez.

Sanchez got off another Stealth rock before diving into the earth to evade the super-effective attack. When he emerged he did so with one of his knees buckling, revealing that the explosion of grass energy had still gotten him, even if slightly.

I quickly raised my pokemon and returned him. “I withdraw him!” I said, deciding to give Tori the respect she was owed. She’d taken down two of my pokemon now.

I grabbed Don’s pokeball and flicked it out. He re-emerged with a glower that soon turned vindictive when his eyes alighted on Breloom.

Tori considered returning her pokemon but I could see she had doubts with Stealth Rock on the field now. I grinned. I had her right where I wanted her now.

It had been a while, but Stealth Rock set-up was still a strong play. I’d have to keep that in mind going forward.

“Don, soar up high!” I said and once again Don rose up to glare at the Breloom.

Breloom got off a quick buff that I didn’t recognise. I wasn’t too worried. I dropped my hand and once more Don tucked his wings and streamlined himself.

Once again, the wind screamed as he tore through it like a bullet. Before Tori or Breloom could react Don slammed into his target and Breloom was hurled away.

The referee raised a flag straight away when Breloom failed to so much as twitch. “Breloom is unable to battle! The match is now four to two!”

Tori gritted her teeth and shot a glare towards the Stealth Rocks on the field along with Don as he beat his wings in anticipation. “Screeeeh!” he said in challenge.

Tori palmed another pokeball and I found myself nodding as she sent out her next pokemon to face me.

It didn’t last long as I went for no mercy. As soon as the pokemon was out the Stealth Rocks slammed into the Machoke. Don then slammed into it with a Wing Attack to topple it.

Tori inhaled sharply and shut her eyes. She then shook her head and returned her pokemon before calling out her last pokemon.

“Go! Nidoqueen!” she said, releasing what we’d identified as her starter pokemon.

I felt a speck of pity for her as the Stealth Rocks closed in on her pokemon. She shrugged them off admirably, but she wasn’t able to shrug off Don’s follow-up attack.

I merely punched my fist forward while Nidoqueen was distracted. “Go!” I said with an air of finality.

Tori had a second to realise what was coming only to be unable to react as Don unleashed a powerful Hyper Beam upon Nidoqueen.

When the dust cleared it revealed a downed pokemon and Don announced his victory with a high-pitched screech.

I grinned. That had been a much harder fight than a good deal of other matches I’d had of late, some of that was due to my own mistakes, but it also revealed a level of tactics that I would need to be careful of. That Minimize could have been troublesome to deal with.

It was a good thing I was learning about this now and not during a tournament where I might be more restricted.

I glanced over the torn-up field.

I’d need to do a lengthy review after this.

My pokemon had stood up well, better than well honestly. Zephyr and Shin had outlasted some moves that should have put them in the ground. It seemed the training was paying off with them being a cut above.

I just needed to make sure I made the most of their strength. I had made more than a few mistakes this match and Tori had exposed a possible weakness with my pokemon. I needed ways to deal with Minimize better than I had. That, or I’d have to take a pokemon dropping each time.  It was worth thinking about. As much as a perfect sweep was a great thing to have, it wasn’t the end goal, victory was.

I marched forward to clap hands with Tori for the good match.

“Good match,” I said.

“You too,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’m surprised there’s such a gap in our pokemon. Guess having lots of pattles really can make a difference,” she said.

“You had some good strategies that had me scrambling and a good read on which pokemon to use. I just anticipated what you were doing.” I nodded at the torn up field. “You made it kind of obvious you were going for a Grass heavy team,” I said.

Tori stared at me. “You realise I might challenge you again right?”

“Yeah? And?” I said, tilting my head to the side.

Tori sighed. “This isn’t like the Gym circuit Brock, giving hints to people, especially in the higher ranks is going to bite you in the backside eventually.”

I laughed sheepishly. “Well we’re both learning something then!” I said, causing her to snort in amusement before bowing and waving off. I met up with my own team, chatting idly about how the match had gone, but not really giving it the attention it was due.

Most of my attention was turned towards tomorrow’s match.

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A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for their continued support.

It also goes to Twmmy for betaing this chapter and offering some helpful additions.