Hello all! Sorry for the inconsistent uploads. Been super busy. _

Anyway, before we continue with Carson's first ILPT tournament match, I'd like to link you guys to a YouTube video, where the intro to this story is read by my friend, Lumosat. If you want, you can check out his other stuff, too. The video link is here: watch?v=aupaKGduAJI

Now then. Let's get started.

Round two. PPE vs. Venasaur.

"Skinner!" I call. Jeff Skinner is a player for the Carolina Hurricanes. The combo is to put the opponent to sleep, then use dream eater. I named it that way because the Hurricanes games put me to sleep (ha!).

Pedro also shouted a command in Spanish. PPE used Hypnosis before Venasaur could register the command, but even then it wasn't effective. Venasaur quickly started to charge for solarbeam. "Again!" I call. The second time, it works, and Venasaur is asleep before his solarbeam can fire. Pedro tried desperately to wake him up, but it was to no avail, and PPE quickly started draining his life. I get excited, but in the back of my mind I know that no match is ever won that easily. Almost on cue, Venasaur woke up. He was weak and close to fainting, but still up. "PPE! Gretzky!" I call. If I have to explain who Wayne Gretzky is, I'll kill myself. The tactic was to dodge any attacks while charging a powerful Shadow Ball. Once PPE sees an opening, he'll fire it. I'm not sure, but I think that'll push Venasaur over the edge. I see Venasaur getting ready for an attack, and as PPE started to charge up, Venasaur shot a Razor Leaf. PPE dodged expertly, but was still hit with a couple leaves. He was damaged, but his Shadow Ball didn't stop charging. Pedro shouted another command, and PPE saw his opportunity. He fired the ball at Venasaur, who was caught off guard and fell to the ground. He tried to get up, but struggled and eventually fell back, fainted. I pumped my fist as Pedro returned Venasaur. An announcement was made again over the intercom in Japanese, Spanish, and English. "Carson's Gengar has defeated Pedro's Venasaur. The match is now tied at one. Prepare for game three."

Round three pit Ty against Vaporeon. That match was decided quickly with a water gun after Toxic drained Ty's energy. Pedro 2-1. Round four was Wolf against Sceptile. That one was a close match, but Wolf just outlasted Sceptile. Tie, 2-2. Round five put Lux against Arbok. Lux was quick, but Arbok bound him tight in his Wrap, and slowly drained his life.

"Pedro's Arbok has defeated Carson's Luxaray." The loudspeaker boomed in Japanese, "The record is now 3-2 in favor of Pedro. Prepare for the sixth and final game."

I pulled out the ball holding Raven. I thought for a second that I should send Lugia, but decided against it. She'd have her chance, and Pedro was probably expecting that. Holding Raven in one hand, I watched the countdown.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

I threw my ball, and Raven appeared from it. Pedro's selection was Muk. I had to think of a good combo to use against it, and during that split second Pedro called his attack. When I realized this, I called for Doan, which if you remember from my practice match, meant agility and dodging. Muk let loose a sludge bomb, which Raven flew up to avoid. That gave me time to think. Muk is mostly sludge, so physical attacks will only come at a detriment to me. Raven doesn't know many non-physical moves, so I had to remember a combo which used the air-based attacks he did know. Then I got it.

"Raven! Sedin!". The combo was Wing Attack right above him, repeatedly. That way, if they fired a projectile attack, Raven could dodge and it would just come back and hit them. It only worked with slow Pokemon, which Muk is especially. It seemed to be working as the wind rippled the sludge on his body. Muk tossed up a sludge ball, which Raven pushed back down with the wind. It came right back down and landed on him, but didn't do much damage. Pedro called another command, which I couldn't hear over the roar of the wind, but Muk could. He used Giga Drain on Raven, forcing me to change tactics. "Raven! Lundqvist!"

Lundqvist was a combo using Sand Attack to blind them, then quick attacks from all sides. I only have to hope that Muk isn't what my first impression was. Raven flies out of the way of Muk's Giga Drain and lands in front of him, then tosses sand in his eyes to blind him. It seems to work, and when Muk is blind, Raven follows with lightning-fast strikes. After a while, Muk gets the sand out of his eyes and targets Raven again. Once he notices this, he throws more sand at him, while flying past him so fast he can't even register it's coming. Before Muk can get that sand out of his eyes, he's fainted.

"Yes!" I call as Pedro returns Muk. I call Raven back as the announcement is played. "Carson's Staraptor has defeated Pedro's Muk. The final score is a 3-3 tie. The next battle will begin in ten minutes."

I walk across the field and shake Pedro's hand. "Good game." I say. He smiles and responds with "Thank you" in a heavy accent. We both step out of the arena and into the trainer rooms.