Episode 52: Love is a battlefield

"Well…" Kukui said as the battle was about to get started. "This should interesting."

"The finalists are in a relationship, right?" Hau asked. Kukui turned to the Champion and nodded. "That must be a first, at least for Alola."

"There are a lot of firsts for a young conference. But you're right. It is a first. Excited to have a challenger soon?"

"They have to beat the Elite 4 first," Hau said, turning to Molayne, who nodded.

"If they can beat me, Olivia, Acerola, and Kahili, then they deserve to challenge Hau."

Just then, the door opened, revealing a panting black-haired man with a Pikachu on his shoulder. Seeing this, Kukui jumped out of his chair to greet their guest.

"Ash! Good to see you, cousin," he said, embracing the trainer. Ash was wearing jeans, a black t-shirt, and a red and white denim coat. "We've got quite a pair of finalists this time."

"Yeah? Who is it?" Ash asked.

"Niko from Pallet Town and Charlotte from Castelia City."

"…Niko?" Ash asked. "The same Niko who won the Lumiose Conference?" Kukui nodded. "Geez. That kid…"

"Might make it to Hau," Kukui said, finishing the younger trainer's sentence. "He's impressive. And better yet, he's dating his opponent in the finals."

"Woah!" Ash exclaimed. "That's…new. Can't quite say I've ever experienced that."

"Well, your wife doesn't battle, does she?" Hau asked, looking up at Ash. The taller trainer nodded. "Exactly."

"You alright, Hau?" Ash inquired. He turned to Kukui for elaboration, but the professor shrugged.

"I haven't been sleeping as much recently."

"Oh, right. Worried about Alola's safety?"

Hau nodded. "I think we're in the clear, but it's still my job to have as much certainty as possible. I talked to Clemont, by the way. He's certain Kalos is safe."

"Yeah, Greninja hasn't sensed any problems yet," Ash replied, looking out the window of the box to see the audience making their way into the stands.

"What are you doing about this," Hau asked. "World Champion?"

"I've been in contact with Champions from other regions, just as you have. I'm also monitoring the situation. It might not look like it, but I'm well aware of the dangers we could be facing soon."

"Have you found a possible culprit behind the problems Sinnoh was recently having?" Kukui wondered.

"No. Cynthia is looking further into it, but we haven't managed to track down anyone associated with what might be happening. She recently sent an expedition to the top of Mt. Coronet to check for any…oddities up there."

"Why up there? Wouldn't Dialga and Palkia make sure the place is safe?"

"They're not as attached to their environment as the Guardian Deities are to Alola," Ash explained. "But the top of Mt. Coronet is supposedly also the location of the Hall of Origin, where Arceus is said to live."

"Arceus lives in Sinnoh?" Hau asked.

"No, but that's the only place we can access the Hall of Origin. As far as I'm concerned, that's essentially heaven for Pokémon."

The Elite 4, Kahunas, Hau, and Kukui all went silent. Minutes later, they'd have to begin the final match of the conference.


"Welcome, one and all to the Lanakila Conference! I'm your host, Kukui, and today we have the final two competitors in the conference! On one end, we have Niko from Pallet Town, and Charlotte from Castelia City!"

The two trainers stood opposite one another. Niko had difficulty looking over at his girlfriend. This wasn't exactly how he envisioned winning another conference title. What also bothered him was how even the match was. To be sure, he wanted it to be fair, but he also believed Charlotte's Alola team was far stronger than his was. It was certainly more balanced.

This made it difficult for him to win. However, nothing significant was attained easily, and Niko knew that.

His conflicted feelings left him in a confused state going into this battle. He only hoped that he could get over it quickly enough to focus on the present. The here and now, not the future.

Before he realized it, the battle was beginning.

"Noivern, I choose you!" Charlotte shouted, summoning the Sound Wave Pokémon.

"Drampa, you're up!" Niko said, sending out the Placid Pokémon.

"Use dragon pulse!" they shouted simultaneously. Both dragons created a transparent aura around them and fired pulsating blasts of energy at the same time. The resulting explosion took nearly a minute to dissipate. When it did, Niko and Drampa saw Noivern shoot through the remaining smoke and use acrobatics.

"Dragonbreath!" Niko shouted. Drampa released purple and orange flames from his mouth, downing Noivern before following up with extrasensory, in which he threw his opponent backwards. "Now, dragon pulse again!"

"Noivern, dodge with acrobatics," Charlotte said. This time, The Sound Wave Pokémon moved quicker, ultimately slamming into her opponent and following up with a close-range air slash. Drampa roared out—now pissed off, as Niko expected—and fired a dragon pulse directly at Noivern's face, rocketing the Sound Wave Pokémon back across the grass-covered battlefield. Niko could briefly see Charlotte smirk. She had something up her sleeve.

"Drampa, use dragonbreath!" Niko shouted. "And get closer!"

Drampa took flight, slowly but surely getting into the air and flying towards his opponent. Once he was close enough, he fired purple and orange flames in an attempt to douse his opponent in them.

But the attack missed. Niko looked up to see Noivern flying above Drampa.

"Noivern, boomburst!" Charlotte commanded.

Noivern's body became surrounded by a thin light-blue aura, with the inside of her ears glowing light blue. Suddenly, a blue static appeared on both sides of the ears. She then fired swirly supersonic waves of light blue aura towards the opponent, which increased in size and strength as they hit Drampa, catching the Placid Pokémon by surprise and knocking him backwards.

"Now use dragon pulse!" Charlotte yelled, thrusting her hand forward, as Noivern took advantage of Drampa's and Niko's surprise by following up with a pulsating wave of dragon energy, hitting Drampa and decisively defeating him.

"Drampa is unable to battle, Noivern is the winner! Niko will now send out his second Pokémon!" the judge declared.

"Return. You did well, buddy. We definitely did a number on that Noivern that will help whoever's next defeat her," Niko looked up at Charlotte. She wasn't pulling punches here. She was serious. He needed to step up, too. "Incineroar, I choose you!"

"Already…?" Warren asked. "Doesn't Niko save his aces for later?"

"Not always," JJ said, with Jake and Brittany nodding. "I think he wants to reset the tone of the battle. Charlotte tried to by catching him off guard with boomburst and defeating his first Pokémon without question. He wants to change that in his favor, so he's going to go with the strongest choice."

"Noivern, boomburst!" Charlotte commanded.

"Darkest Lariat!" Niko roared. The Heel Pokémon whipped himself into a frenzy, his entire body catching on fire and spinning around until he got through the boomburst—surprisingly enough. Incineroar cancelled the move and stopped, looking directly up at Noivern, who was now preparing to use dragon pulse. "Block it with flamethrower!"

Incineroar shouted as he streamed a jet of fire from his waist belt, striking Noivern before she could use dragon pulse and disrupting the move. The Sound Wave Pokémon crashed into the ground, giving Niko and Incineroar the opportunity they were looking for.

"Darkest lariat again!" Niko shouted. Incineroar spun around once more, creating a tornado of fire around him. He crashed into Noivern as she stood back up and dragged her across the battlefield before breaking out of his spin and slamming the side of his foot into Noivern's chest, rocketing her backwards with double kick. "Well done!"

"Noivern, can you keep going?" Charlotte asked. Noivern started to stand up, but clearly felt a pain in her chest and collapsed forward in defeat.

"Noivern is unable to battle, Incineroar is the winner! Charlotte will now send out her second Pokémon!"

"See?" JJ said. "Setting the tone."

"Ampharos, I choose you!" Charlotte shouted, summoning the star of her most recent battle with Kaila. "Use electro ball!"

"Incineroar, flamethrower!" Niko shouted. The Heel Pokémon blocked the electrified ball of energy by covering it in fire, prematurely exploding from a safe distance. "Now, use double kick!"

Incineroar charged at Ampharos, running at a brisk enough pace to quickly get to his destination. However, the Light Pokémon interrupted his advances with power gem, knocking the Heel Pokémon onto his back from the thrust of the pink gems. He slowly got back up as an electro ball came hurtling towards him.

"Darkest lariat!" Niko said quickly. Incineroar spun around, using the energy from his attack to minimize the impact of the electro ball. Once the attack hit, Incineroar stopped, and was recalled to his pokéball. "Return. I might need you for later," Niko said. "Aurorus, I choose you!"

"Ah, that's the reserve you chose. Nice choice," Charlotte said with a smile. "This should be fun."

"Luckily Wulfric was around to send her to me," Niko explained. "Aurorus, let's begin! Use ice beam!"

"Ampharos, block it with electro ball!" Charlotte shouted. The Light Pokémon spun around, firing a sphere containing electrical energy, and repelled the stream of ice before spinning back again and using power gem.

"Use avalanche!" Niko shouted. Aurorus summoned a curtain of ice and rocks that, for the most part, blocked the pink gems from striking her. "Now, use ancientpower!" And through the aftermath of the avalanche came large chunks of rock from the Tundra Pokémon, which managed to successfully hit Ampharos, who attempted to block some of them with thunderpunch and electro ball.

"Power gem again!" Charlotte commanded. Ampharos took a step forward on the grass and fired off another round of pink gems, nearly a dozen in total. Aurorus used ancientpower once more, this time more defensively by controlling where the rocks went. She then fired an ice beam at Ampharos, knocking the Light Pokémon backwards.

"Avalanche!" Niko shouted, seeing an opportunity. Aurorus roared loudly, her rainbow sail glowing brightly as she covered her opponent in rocks and ice.

Moments later, Niko saw Ampharos arising out of the pile of snow he was under. He had used thunderpunch to break some of the rocks, ignoring the reaction of ice to electricity. The Light Pokémon was certainly exhausted by now—panting heavily from using as much electric energy as he had, versus Incineroar and now Aurorus.

"Aurorus, use ice beam!" Niko commanded.

"Block it with electro ball!" Charlotte shouted. Ampharos slowly conjured another electro ball and fired it at Aurorus, missing the ice beam but still managing to hit his intended target. In turn he took the ice beam, collapsing towards his trainer and landing on his knees in the wet grass. "You can keep going. I believe in you."

Ampharos nodded, slowly standing back up. He turned, and was met with an avalanche to the face, quickly burying him in defeat.

"Ampharos is unable to battle, Aurorus is the winner! Charlotte will now use her third Pokémon!" the judge declared.

"Return, Ampharos. Well done. Decidueye, I choose you!" she shouted, summoning her green owl. "Use leaf blade!"

"Aurorus, ice beam!" Niko commanded. The Tundra Pokémon swiftly fired a stream of ice, her sail flaring up again. Just as quickly, Decidueye opened his wings and shot forward, spinning around the ice beam and, just before he got to his opponent, closed his wing. As soon as he was upon Aurorus, he re-opened it, revealing a long, leafy sword that he used to slash at the Tundra Pokémon's side.

"Well done!" Charlotte shouted as Decidueye made his way back around the field. "Now use spirit shackle!"

"Aurorus, thunder wave!" Niko commanded. The Tundra Pokémon released a wave of electricity in all directions. However, Decidueye flew above this and quickly and decisively shot a purple arrow, tipped with spectral energy, and shot Aurorus in the side with it. The Tundra Pokémon wailed loudly, gritting her teeth as she reflexively shot an ice beam at Decidueye, who once again evaded the attack.

"Leaf blade again!" Charlotte commanded. Decidueye shot towards the ground flying only a foot or so above, before getting close to Aurorus and using leaf blade. In exchange, Aurorus used thunder wave as soon it was hit by leaf blade, causing the Tundra Pokémon to collapse to her side, and Decidueye to rocket to the opposite side, now unable to move.

"Aurorus is unable to battle, Decidueye is the winner!" the judge declared as Aurorus couldn't seem to get back up on her own. "Niko will now use his fourth Pokémon!"

"Ribombee, I choose you!" Niko shouted.

"Decidueye, return," Charlotte said, expectedly. "Nice move, Niko. I expected ice beam instead. Mudsdale, I choose you!" she shouted, summoning the massive Draft Horse Pokémon to take on the incredibly tiny Ribombee. "Use heavy slam!"

"Ribombee, wait for it," Niko said calmly. "We know how to handle this," he said, referencing his battle against Hapu's Mudsdale, in this Ribombee lost because he couldn't get out quickly enough. The massive horse charged at the Bee Fly Pokémon before leaping high into the air, his body glowing a bright gray color before he began his descent. "Now!"

Ribombee dodged the move, spun around, and fired an energy ball from his hands at Mudsdale, which seemed to seriously injure the Draft Horse. It turned, angrily, and charged at Ribombee with high horsepower. This time, Ribombee did get hit, pummeled in fact, by the fast-moving, powerfully built horse. He was flung into the grass, feeling pain coursing through his entire body.

"Mudsdale, use high horsepower again!" Charlotte commanded. Mudsdale once more charged at Ribombee, who managed to react fast enough by using dazzling gleam, which temporarily blinded the horse and caused him to veer to the side on accident.

"Energy ball!" Niko shouted. Ribombee fired a sphere of pure energy at Mudsdale while he was still in a daze, but it didn't last long. The Draft Horse Pokémon turned back to the Bee Fly Pokémon before charging at him a third time. "Dodge it and use dazzling gleam!"

Ribombee quickly moved out of the way once again before releasing a blinding light from his body. The light hit Mudsdale in the side, causing him to wince. He looked angry now, turning sharply towards his opponent and leaping high into the air.

"Heavy slam again," Niko said. Ribombee turned to his trainer and nodded. Niko didn't know what it meant, but he went along with it. The Bee Fly Pokémon then released a stun spore into the air, paralyzing Mudsdale and causing him to fall quicker. This time Ribombee managed to get out of the way, but barely. The shockwaves erupting from the heavy slam, however, were enough to knock Ribombee out, sending him hurtling into the grass in defeat. "What the—?"

"Ribombee is unable to battle, Mudsdale is the winner! Niko will now use his fifth Pokémon!"

"Return…Ribombee," Niko said. What the hell was he trying to do? "Vaporeon, I choose you!" Niko shouted, summoning the Bubble Jet Pokémon. "Use water pulse, now!"

"Mudsdale, bide!" Charlotte commanded. Even though he was paralyzed, bide became the perfect move for the Draft Horse Pokémon to use. He took the water pulse, and the subsequent aurora beam, and then another water pulse, all the while creating a transparent aura around himself. Then, unexpectedly, Mudsdale was released from the paralysis and stood back up, now filled with energy. "NOW!" Charlotte screamed.

"Vaporeon, block it!" Niko shouted. The Bubble Jet Pokémon panicked briefly before trying to use water pulse. Instead, she got hit by the massively thick stream of energy, engulfing her entire body and rocketing her backwards. "No!"

"Mudsdale, high horsepower!" Charlotte commanded, thrusting a hand out. Mudsdale charged down the battlefield, stomping heavily on the grass until he reached his opponent. Once he did so, he felt a high-pressured burst of water strike his face.

Vaporeon learned a new move.

Mudsdale stepped backwards, buffeted by the attack. Shaking his muddy mane, he looked down at the Vaporeon. Their eyes locked for a moment, as if accepting one another as a worthy opponent of the other.

In the stands, JJ and his Umbreon were watching closely, observing how the Pokémon's daughter was fighting, and fighting well enough.

Vaporeon then took a battle stance, ready to continue. Mudsdale did the same.

"Heavy slam!" Charlotte commanded. The Draft Horse Pokémon jumped into the air, shaking the ground as he did so. He began to descend when Niko ordered Vaporeon to fire a hydro pump at the underbelly.

Vaporeon did so, crying out loudly as she opened her mouth and fired a strong jet of water at Mudsdale's stomach. The attack severely slowed him down, causing him to crash into the ground just in front of her as she leapt back to protect herself.

"Finish him off with aqua tail!" Niko commanded. Vaporeon leapt into the air, flipping, and landing a bright blue tail on her opponent's head, defeating the Draft Horse.

"Mudsdale is unable to battle, Vaporeon is the winner! Charlotte will now send out her fifth Pokémon!" the judge declared.

"Salazzle, I choose you!" Charlotte shouted in an oddly unconventional choice. Niko tilted his head in confusion. What was she planning to do?

Their friends in the stands were equally stumped by this, especially Warren, who was yelling at Charlotte to use Decidueye instead.

"Do you want her to win?" Jake asked.

"W-well, I don't really know who I want to win," Warren explained. "Just that they make the right choices."

"Maybe it is the right one?" Jake asked, which made Warren think hard about it.

"Salazzle, eh?" Niko asked. "This'll be interesting. Vaporeon, use hydro pump!"

"Dodge it!" Charlotte commanded. Salazzle slithered to the right, evading the high-pressured blast of water before releasing a venoshock of her own, spraying Vaporeon with liquid poison. The Bubble Jet Pokémon cringed, trying to conceal her pain as much as possible, before conjuring a water pulse out of anger and thrusting it at Salazzle, successfully hitting the Toxic Lizard Pokémon. "Now, use toxic!"

Salazzle hissed at Vaporeon—her friend, but temporarily her opponent—before creating a circle of poisonous material around the water type. Vaporeon, still hurting from the venoshock, tried to escape but couldn't when the toxic burst, enveloping all around her and successful poisoning her. Vaporeon stumbled to the ground, trying to stay in the battle.

"You can do this, Vaporeon," Niko said. "JJ's watching…Umbreon's watching. Just remember who you are."

Vaporeon nodded without looking at Niko and stood up. She leered at Salazzle before charging, with all of her might, towards the poison type. She leapt high into the air, spun forward, and slammed her tail down on Salazzle's head before using the power from aqua tail to lurch herself forward and onto the ground behind her opponent.

Both Salazzle and Vaporeon spun around to face one another, with the latter firing a hydro pump and the former using flamethrower. Both attacks collided in the space between them, creating a heavy cloud of steam that quickly engulfed the field.

"Water pulse!" Niko shouted.

"Venoshock!" Charlotte commanded. They heard small explosions and roars of pain within the steam cloud before Salazzle and Vaporeon rocketed backwards out of it. Once the steam cleared, the two simply lay there, both in defeat.

"Vaporeon and Salazzle are unable to battle! Charlotte and Niko will use their next Pokémon!" the judge declared.

"Lapras, I choose you!" Charlotte said, summoning the Transport Pokémon.

"Toucannon, you're up!" Niko shouted, sending out the large toucan-like Pokémon. "Use echoed voice!"

"Ice beam!" Charlotte shouted. Lapras fired off a steady stream of ice that nearly struck Toucannon, who managed to evade at the moment before, hollering loudly as he did so. "Now ice shard!"

"Block it with drill peck!" Niko shouted. Toucannon thrust his wings outwards to the sides before charging at his opponent. His beak started glowing a bright white color as he shattered shards of ice in varying shapes and sizes before striking at Lapras' chest, causing the Transport Pokémon to wail out. "And rock smash!"

Toucannon slammed his talon on top of Lapras' head with incredible force, thrusting the entire Pokémon forward and into the grass. He then followed up with echoed voice, which only irritated Lapras. The water and ice type then raised her head back up and fired an ice beam that finally struck Toucannon in the wing, freezing it and causing him to crash-land into the grass.

"Water pulse now!" Charlotte commanded. Lapras raised her head and, like Vaporeon does, fired the pulsating orb of water at her target. Toucannon lifted the frozen wing, intending for the attack to hit it. It succeeded but ended up thrusting Toucannon onto his back and into the ground. "Follow up with ice beam again!"

"Toucannon, beak blast!" Niko shouted. The flying type rolled to the side to dodge the ice beam, all while his beak started to heat up. He then thrust his beak forward, firing a heated collection of energy at Lapras, which was enough to distract her while he charged forward and struck her in the chest with rock smash, followed up by a drill peck.

Charlotte didn't know what to do. Toucannon was far faster and far more versatile than Lapras—he didn't have mobility issues. This is why Niko sent Toucannon out—and not just because his only other option was Incineroar. He knew that the way to beat Lapras would be to have a Pokémon fast enough to attack from any angle.

This is why he's strong, she thought. "Lapras, use rain dance!" she shouted in hopes of slowing down the toucan. "And use water pulse!"

"Toucannon, rock smash again!" Niko commanded. The flying type spun around the water pulse and slammed his beak into Lapras this time. The Transport Pokémon roared out loud before angrily firing an ice beam down on him. Toucannon took the hit and crashed onto his back. "Beak blast!" he shouted. Just before Lapras was about to use ice beam in hopes of finishing him off, Toucannon successfully hit Lapras in the face with beak blast. Seeing the massive Transport Pokémon falling forward in defeat, Toucannon roll to the left and out of the way.

"Lapras is unable to battle, Toucannon is the winner!" the judge declared. "Charlotte will now use her final Pokémon!"

"Decidueye, I choose you!" she shouted, summoning a still-paralyzed Arrow Quill Pokémon. "Try and use leaf blade!"

"Toucannon, drill peck!" Niko commanded. The Toucan Pokémon charged back down towards his new opponent, beak glowing white. However, the sparks crackling around Decidueye disappeared, and Toucannon's attack missed when the Arrow Quill Pokémon seemingly disappeared. "What…?"

"Now!" Charlotte shouted and, like a ninja, Decidueye appeared behind Toucannon, striking at him in the back with leaf blade. Toucannon crashed face-first into the ground with enough force to lodge his large, curved beak into the grass battlefield. "And finish it off with pluck!"

Swiftly, Decidueye finished what Lapras started. His beak glowing light blue, he slashed at Toucannon's back, knocking the flying type out.

"Toucannon is unable to battle, Decidueye is the winner!" the judge declared. "Now Niko will use his final Pokémon!"

"It's down to the wire, folks!" Kukui shouted. "Once of these two trainers is the next Lanakila Conference Champion!"

"Today is just full of surprises," Warren huffed. "Nothing makes sense anymore. A flying type beating an ice type? A grass type beating a flying type?"

"Incineroar, I choose you!" Niko shouted. "It's down to you and Decidueye, buddy. Think we can do this?" The Heel Pokémon turned to Niko with a teasing look that suggested "are you kidding me?"

"Decidueye, use spirit shackle!" Charlotte commanded.

"Block it with darkest lariat!" Niko shouted. His paws lighting on fire, Incineroar spun around aggressively, burning up the quickly-fired arrow. "Now, flamethrower!"

"Ominous wind!" Charlotte said. Decidueye flapped his wings, whipping up a chilling air that managed to mitigate some of the strength from flamethrower, ultimately merely burning him. "Now, use pluck!"

"Fire fang!" Niko commanded. Decidueye rocketed down from midair and charged at Incineroar, his beak lighting up a light-blue color and expanding outwards. He struck powerfully at Incineroar, who retaliated by grabbing onto Decidueye's wing with his hand and thrusting his teeth onto it, lighting the grass type on fire. "Darkest Lariat!"

Incineroar spun around again, rocketing Decidueye backwards towards his trainer. He got back onto his feet, now exhausted from his fight with Aurorus and now with Incineroar. But Charlotte noticed he wasn't about to give up. Not when he was the last one. Not against Incineroar.

Charlotte noticed how her starter Pokémon interacted with Niko's. During much of their journey through Poni Island, the Arrow Quill Pokémon ignored Incineroar, likely due to his childish nature and erratic behavior at times. It seemed to disgust Decidueye, who used to have a high respect for him as a Litten and Torracat. Now, Decidueye seemed to only view Incineroar as a fighter and, in this battle, as an obstacle to victory. He wasn't giving up.

Charlotte then looked at Niko, noticing him look back. The mere fact that she had gotten this far in a battle against him was a testament to her progress—one that she could truly be proud of. Alola had taught her how to take a loss better, while Niko taught her how to attain a goal. She wouldn't reach her goal today, and she knew it—Charlotte wasn't stupid. But she had gotten closer than she would've expected so many months ago when she declared to herself that she would defeat her boyfriend in a Pokémon battle.

Niko was surprised he got so close in this match with Charlotte. He knew his chances of losing were small this point, but he was convinced he got to this point partly on skill, and partly on luck. It was apparent in this battle with his Toucannon managed to defeat Lapras, and that he would have Incineroar at the end against a Pokémon he could easily defeat. However, he didn't quite know how to feel about it. Was beating Charlotte the right thing? Would she be mad at him? Would she break up with him for it?

I don't know what's going to happen after this…

I got further than I ever thought…

They both thought. Charlotte raised her Z-ring, displaying the Decidium-Z, just as Niko held up Incinium-Z.

Niko…

Charlotte…

I love you.

"Sinister Arrow Raid!"

"Malicious Moonsault!"

Both attacks happened simultaneously, with Incineroar crashing into Decidueye just as he fired several massive ghostly arrows at him. A large explosion resulted from the two moves essentially colliding with one another.

Once the dust settled, Incineroar slowly got back up, standing up to his full height as he stood over his defeated opponent, Decidueye.

"Decidueye is unable to battle, Incineroar is the winner! The victory goes to Niko from Pallet Town!"

"Our new Conference Champion, everyone!" Kukui shouted happily.

For once, I'm not about to faint…Niko observed, looking around at the audience clapping and cheering for him.


"WOW!" Warren shouted, running up to hug Niko. "You did excellent out there! Two league wins in a row, too!"

"Thanks, Warren," Niko said nervously. "Anyone seen Charlotte?" None of them seemed to know. "I'm going to go look for her. I'll…meet you guys in the dining hall, alright?"

The group nodded, waving to Niko as he ran off to find his girlfriend. "I wonder how Charlotte's taking it," JJ observed.

"Probably better than we think," Brittany added. "Coming in second isn't anything to scoff at, even in a smaller tournament like this one."

"Both of them deserved to win that battle," Jake observed. "Both of them pulled off things that they shouldn't have, but they did anyways. It's clear that they learned from one another, too. At least, that's what I've noticed."

No one seemed to argue with him.


"Charlotte!"

The brunette turned to see her boyfriend running towards her, dodging press and supporters yelling his name for a variety of reasons. The two quickly embraced.

"Hey, Niko…" she said.

"I love you."

"What?" Charlotte said as they disengaged from the hug.

"I. Love. You."

"I…I do too," she said. "Were you…?"

"Thinking it? Yes."

Without thinking any further, Charlotte reached up and, now in an audience, kissed Niko.

"That was a great battle, by the way," Niko said.

"It really was. We knew how to end it dramatically," Charlotte added.

"Oh absolutely. Simultaneous Z-moves always makes for an interesting battle. C'mon," he grabbed her hand. "Let's go eat something with everyone. They want to congratulate you, too."

Charlotte nodded, allowing herself to be taken by Niko. Even though she lost, she still felt like a winner.


Author's Note. To be honest, the reason this episode is ending as abruptly as it is is because i'm really tired. The next episode will include a little more dialogue about the aftermath of the finals. Next episode-the Elite 4, Part 1!

A close friend of mine is in the middle of writing a Fantasy story on the sister site to this one. If you're at all interested in fantasy stories, I highly recommend it. It's incomplete, but the author is looking for feedback to help them continue. The story is called FireHeart, and here is the link for the author's page:

u/1107346/BlitzGirl

Enjoy!