I'm back in a surprisingly quick fashion. Believe it or not, I managed to write 7K words in less than two days. I don't know how much time other writers spend in their works; but for me that's pretty much a record.

Before I talk about the actual chapter, I'd like to take a minute to thank all the reviewers and use this space here to answer them. I won't be singling out any reviews as it could feel invasive for some, so bear with me here:

I'm happy people appreciate the effort I'm doing to develop and flesh out characters, it's something I think I do well, and to see that this is being recognized by the readers is extremely pleasing. Some people may have noticed it already, but Peter takes a lot of inspiration from Attack on Titan's Eren Yeager, not only in the looks department, but also in his whole pursuit of freedom narrative. But I guarantee that there are other inspirations here, mixed with some of my own personal experiences in life; I think this is what makes my characters look a bit more fleshed and developed, a thing that I made sure to focus early on. Incorporating other unexplored elements, like sports, was the plan from day one; I mean gym leaders and even some champions have other occupations, so limiting characters to being just pokémon trainers sounds a bit of a waste of potential for me. I plan to develop this even further in the next chapters, and I guarantee that it will play an enormous role in the whole plot.

Writing this chapter was extremely easy, which I truly hope that didn't turn in complacency in the process. It also foreshadows several things that have yet to come. Like I said above I even sprinkled some real experiences I had in my life into it, so I hope it feel as real to you as it felt to me. This chapter also brings back Marlon to the spotlight, and I'm not sure how well I portrayed him. At the games he speaks in a surfer like informal speech, which I'm reluctant about applying here, as it can feel forced or aesthetically unpleasant.

Now, employing a bit of self-criticism, I still feel that my battle scenes aren't good enough. I guess the lack of visual feedback that we have here makes hard to not be either boring in the description of the events, or simplistic to the point it sounds childish. I'll probably read some top-rated fictions in the meantime to see how they portray combat and how I can use that knowledge here.

Finally, I truly hope you guys have as much fun as I had writing this.

"Life is always at some turning point." – Irwin Edman

Chapter Seven: Turning Point

I felt three pairs of blue eyes trained at me when I stepped into the rooftop for the first time in a while. They were different in shades and expressions; the lighter one looked at me reassuringly; the darker ones glanced at me in wariness. I had planned what to say beforehand, but this was harder than I've thought. I hardly ever apologized for anything.

If I were to guess, this came from my less than stellar upbringing, where I quickly learned that admitting your mistakes to the others would expose your own weaknesses, which would surely be used against you at some point. To put it shortly my mentality was that rather than attempting to patch things up, one would always be better off dealing with the aftermath of his mistakes without ever admitting that you indeed were wrong.

Apologizing to Elesa was easier, back then the scene of the (so far) unknown and hostile girl with tears threatening to spill from her eyes was enough to usher me into action. It was a split time decision, one taken so quickly that I had no time to reconsider.

This was totally different from where I found myself now.

Elesa apparently sensed my distress, but before she could move to help, I steeled my resolve and glanced straight into the eyes of the other two people in the rooftop.

"I'm suck at apologies, so please bear with me." I admitted. "I've been in this school for almost two months and I've met lots of different people. Most of them were grade A assholes, but there were a few exceptions, like you guys. I said some bad things to Elesa."

At this point the blonde once again attempted to speak, but I cut fer off again, it was high time I admitted my mistakes.

"And I turned my back onto you guys." I said locking eyes at the duo. "Who had been nothing but helpful ever since I set my foot in this school. I already apologized to Elesa, but for me that's not enough." I felt my cheeks redden and at that point I swore to never make any sort of mistake once again, apologizing was dreadful. "So, I apologize for anything that may have offended you two."

Before I could continue, Skyla stepped forward and hugged me. It felt…warm. "How can I say no to such beautiful words?" she muttered into my chest as I patted her back, returning the hug.

Marlon came up next and glared at me. I prepared for the worse, but he then smiled and offered me a fist bump. "We only wanted to talk, bro. You didn't' had to go all emotional on us, dude."

I bumped fists with my roommate, then glanced at the trio. "I must admit that I thought that this was going to be harder, so I didn't put all my cards on the table. Still, I already have them with me, so I'll give it to you." I then frowned for a second quickly realizing that maybe I said more than I should.

"You brought us gifts?" Marlon inquired

I nodded. "Well, what you're waitin' for? Show us the goods. Gimme it."

I deadpanned. "Gimme? Do you realize that every time you open your mouth, you're slowly but steady killing the English language?"

"Er…" the older teen scratched his neck.

"Just for that I'm giving yours last."

I ignored Marlon's cries of protest and instead signalled for Skyla and Elesa to come forward.

"Elesa will already know about this, but some time ago I got some gems. I kept some for personal use, but decided to sell the rest of them to a jeweller. But apparently the man had no money to pay for the gems, so rather than keeping some items that I wouldn't really use, I accepted the deal he offered me. In exchange for the gems he would craft three pieces of jewellery for me." I explained, causing the girls to widen their eyes in expectation.

I actually asked the crafter for hints of what to commission. He asked me about how the girls looked like, dressed and about her personalities. In the end he made a golden steel bracelet for Elesa with a huge lightning bolt pattern made of the yellow coloured Electric gem and a pair of discrete, wing pattern earrings for Skyla with the pale blue Flying gem.

I handled the respective boxes to the girls, and enjoyed their reaction as they unveiled the pieces for the first time. Their reaction was totally worth it, and I found myself receiving a double hug from the girls.

A supermodel blonde and a curvy redhead hugging me from each side; a man can definitively get used to it.

"You said you got three pieces." Elesa said causing me to nod. The blonde then smirked. "Peter, did you buy asked for jewellery for Marlon too?" the smirk on her face and the playful tone of her voice told me that she was having the time of her life asking me this.

I shook my head and pulled down my shirt's collar, revealing a black necklace in a chain pattern wrapped around my neck. "Made from the Dark gem. Looks stylish as fuck."

I then turned to Marlon, who was extending his hands expectantly for his gift.

"Marlon, I won't give you jewellery. That would be simply gay." Quickly realizing that what I said could be offensive, I glanced at the man. "Please tell me you're not gay."

He shook his head negatively, making me let out a sigh of relief. I then took a small package from my bag and handled him. Marlon eagerly opened it, revealing a special pokéball with blue colour instead of the usual red and web patterns atop it.

"Dude, that's a Net Ball!" he exclaimed. "I always wanted one."

I nodded. "I got it with a hefty discount." Which was my way of saying that I purchased it from a shady establishment.

Marlon smiled "Thanks man, I'm going fishing right away." He said as he went off.

I turned to the girls. "How long do you think it's going to take for him to realize that he can't fish at school?"

The meetup place was definitively fancy. The restaurant's entire mobiliary and floor are made of high-quality darkened wood, the fancy chandeliers illuminated the place extremely well; and the chairs, I confirmed as I sat down in front of the man who waited for me, are probably the comfiest ones I've ever seen.

"Fancy place." I remarked as I glanced at Mr. Stu

"I'm glad you like it, now let's talk business." He said bluntly, looking at me expectantly. "What did you think of my movie script?" he asked

I took a sip of the water glass that was conveniently placed in front of me. "Before I start, I must stress that this is my own opinion, and that you should really look for second, and third opinions."

The man's gaze was unrelenting.

I gulped, but proceeded anyway. "There's nothing wrong with the movie per se, but I feel like it's a bit cliché."

"How so?" the usually carefree and exuberant man was dead serious.

"It's repetitive nowadays you know? The same perfect Super-Hero with an equally perfect sidekicks and supporting cast, facing off against a super evil villain. No offense, but I felt like it was pretty much the same plot of the entire Spinarakman franchise."

"But this is what sells." He protested, causing me to nod. "People usually set for the known, but I personally don't like that mindset. You offered to pay me for my honest, blunt opinion, and that's what I'm giving you."

The director looked a bit demotivated. "Look" I said, attempting to sound sympathetic "it's not a bad script, besides it also adds a few new concepts. But I feel like those concepts are going to be out shadowed by the well-known tropes you employ. Once again, it's not a bad movie, and I'm pretty sure you're capable of making it work."

The writer nodded. "I did promise to pay you for your opinion." The man said, handing me the hefty sum of cash. "But now, could you tell me more about the script, what you would do differently?"

He did pay me a lot, so I nodded. "I'm not a common guy. In my mind…there's some real dark shit going on deep down there; maybe that's why the whole idealistic approach didn't appeal to me."

"What you would do, if you were to produce a movie?" he asked

"Look, I don't know nothing about filmmaking. But if I were to do something, whether it's a movie, or anything really, I'd do something innovative, something new. Even if this means being criticised at first; the payoff you get from setting a new bar is too good to be turned down."

The man took a sip of his wine. "But there has to be a balance between tradition and innovation; otherwise the final product will be something so different that it will be unrecognized by the others."

"Fair point." I conceded. "But if I had to choose one, I'd still pick innovation. When we're gone, we're immediately forgotten; and being honest this scares me to death. Living a life without leaving any kind of mark or effect on the world…in my opinion this can't even be called living. So, I'd take risks, even if they fail, I'll be remembered. As a failure, but also as someone who stood on his own."

The writer looked interested. "You plan on majoring in Philosophy?"

I chuckled. "I probably won't go to college."

"But you still didn't answer my question fully. If you were writing this movie, what you would change?" he inquired

I paused for a few seconds, thinking about how my movie would be like. "I think I'd probably write the story of a villain. But don't make it in a way he's evil right out of the bat. It's that quote from Crobatman: 'You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.'"

"I never thought of that… but you really think people would like things to turn out like this?" he inquired

"Probably no, but they won't expect it."

"Fair point, what else?"

"I'd change the setting too, as nice as it is, Castelia has enough of the spotlight already, maybe make it on a different setting."

Stu nodded. "That may work. Anything else."

"I don't know, maybe put a bit of betrayal?"

"But that's cliché." He argued.

"It's not cliché if you use it in a new way."

Stu glanced at the table, and then at me. "I'll admit that it was a bit shocking to hear these things about my script. But it was something new as you said. I won't give up on my convictions, and I promise my movie will be a blockbuster."

I got up, staring at the writer. "You have the will, it's already a great start to any story."

The red wearing opponents surrounded me, one in the front, two coming from the back. Yet I did not flinch, instead I raised my head, scanning the pitch for the best option. I spotted it driving into the right wing. At this point of the game, the opponent was really getting stuck in, and one could not fault any player that decided to shy away from contact in order to prevent an injury. I was not like that however, whether 3-0 up or 3-0 down at the stoppage time, I'd always leave everything I have in the pitch for the ninety minutes plus added time. I felt the contact at my knee, attempting to force me to the ground, but I only went down after slicing their defence open with the through ball.

As soon as I fell, I got back up, heading towards the goal, two of the three opposing players still chasing me around. Edwards, the right back reached the end of the goal line and made a low cross towards the entrance of the area. With the opponents still hot on my trail, I decided to be a team player. I adjusted my body for the finish, only that it never came; instead I did a feint, letting the ball pass through my legs, beating the defenders.

Jones, one of the midfielders attacked the space left by one of the opponents that went man-marking me. With a clear resounding strike, he sent the ball towards the net, defeating the keeper.

I glanced at the scoreboard: Institute of Unova 4 - 0 Driftveil High. The perfect season continues.

As I left the dressing room, I once again came face to face with the shady man from before, he even wore the same clothes.

"If you fucking rate my game a fucking six again, I swear I'm assaulting you."

The man chuckled. "You did well today Peter, I'd say you were a nine today."

I nodded. "Anyway, who are you? You simply drop by at random games and rates players like that?"

"I'm someone who loves football."

"And?"

"And despite that I still feel like you can do better, play some defence for god's sake."

"HEY!" I yelled

The man apparently ignored my outburst. "Last time we meet you said that victory trumps teamwork, what made you change your mind?"

I shook my head. "I didn't change my mind. When it goes down, I'm still someone who's all about individual skill. But" I said remembering my friends "I feel like sometimes I can create chances for the others, maybe let them shoulder the weight a little bit."

One of the reasons I truly loved football was because I could truly express who I really was. The Peter of two months ago was just as truthful as I am right now. Back then it was all about me, I couldn't bring myself to trust anyone. That statement was correct both for my personal life and my footballing approach. Now I became different, with my new style of play reflecting the changes I went through. I am still an individualist, but I'd risk saying that I'm less selfish than before. I'd prefer to do things on my own, but those actions would also benefit the others; wither in real life or in football. Last time I stated that victory trumps all; now I maintain that statement, but I also add a new one: Individual brilliance creates collective opportunities.

The man nodded seemingly satisfied with my reasoning. "My name is Michael Gallagher, I'm a scout. I look forward to seeing your development. Maybe we'll see each other soon."

"Hey you're a scout!?" I asked in surprise. "For which team? Hey don't leave like that."

"You're talking with alone?" the voice from behind me asked

I turned to see Elesa glancing at me.

"You came to see my match?"

The girl nodded. "We have a bye week at the battling team, then I decided to see if you were everything people kept saying."

"So?" I asked confidently

"I'm impressed." The girl admitted. "But some guys besides me said that you can't play defence to save your own life."

Unbelievable.

Despite being in talking terms with the battle team trio once again, I still liked to enjoy a bit of solitude once in a while. As nice as they were, my revenge was still what kept me moving forward. With that in mind I decided to head into the library once again.

Much to my surprise, the place was filled to the brim. I spotted Skyla sitting alongside Elesa, motioning for me to join them.

I sat down at the circular table, and looked around. "So, why everyone is here?"

"The exams of course." Elesa responded.

I nodded, since this year I actually was putting in effort at school, I already knew that exams were starting the next week. A far cry from last year, where I learned that exams were up two days before their start.

"Marlon isn't here?"

"He's studying with some other seniors; they are taking those even more seriously than us." Skyla explained

I nodded, it made sense. Marlon hanged out so much with us that I almost forgot that he's a year above us and studying for college entrance exams.

"But why everyone's here?" Seeing Elesa's 'are you dumb?' look I further elaborated. "I mean it wouldn't be more productive to study at home?"

"I guess they prefer to study together, it makes things easier to learn when it's explained in a way that you actually understand."

I nodded grimly, sometime I felt like the teachers were speaking in a foreign language considering how much they liked to complicate things.

"Well, let's study then. What you're studying?"

"Self-inflicted conditions for Battle Strategy class." Elesa said.

"What about it?"

"Everything that we need to know." Skyla added.

I didn't study that particular subject at depth, as it wouldn't benefit any of my pokémon, but I felt that I could help. "There are different ways to inflict a status condition to your own pokémon, the most common ones are by using Rest, which puts your own pokémon to sleep, or by using a Flare or Toxic orb or having a non-poison type holding Black Sludge." I paused to see the girls taking notes diligently. If at the start of the term someone told me that I was going to find myself teaching others for no personal gain I'd immediately call bullshit on that, but here I am now.

"Why they do so?" Skyla inquired

"Several reasons. Rest effectively heals any other condition to cause sleep, which can be a good thing if the pokémon is burned or badly poisoned. Besides, it has a whole niche of moves to go alongside it. Self-inflicted burns are usually associated with pokémon with the Guts ability, as it increases their attack rather than decreasing it. Likewise, poison can trigger several stat boosting abilities such as Guts, but most notably triggering Poison Heal, which heals it rather than causing damage. But I think the most important use is to prevent your opponent from using their preferred status ailments on you."

The duo nodded. "The professor said of other unconventional uses of it. Do you know any?" Elesa asked.

I frowned, before glancing at the duo affirmatively. "If you self-inflict a status condition you can use Psycho Shift to heal your pokémon, and inflict the foe with it instead."

"But don't those items status condition items activate constantly? You'd be getting rid of it just for it to happen again the next turn." Skyla asked

"That's a brilliant question Skyla." I praised causing the girl to beam at me. "But to answer you, this may work in some highly situational scenarios. For instance, a burn can be passed down to a physical attacker by a special attacker. It would hinder the physical attacker a lot more than the other. Besides, you could always get rid of the item using Switcheroo or Fling." I reasoned

"Peter." I turned to see Elesa eyeing me. "I risk saying that you are a genius."

I smirked making a dramatic curtsy. "I aim to please."

For the rest of the week, I helped the girls to prepare. I often heard that you would learn the most by explaining subjects to the others. I personally disagreed with that, as I felt that my learning pace was faster than the others; although one thing that teaching other does is making your mind clearer on the subject. I will admittedly have an easier time writing down answers at the exams now that I already dissected the subject with the girls.

The exams were rumoured to be so hard that the school gave all the teams, whether they be sports or pokémon, a week off. Despite the whole dreaded aura that they sold us; I was pretty confident. I did my duty, and most of this 'fear' that they instilled was a form of psychological warfare, whether they did it purposefully or not. However, I know that this not a walk on the park either. Pretty much like the entrance exams, the most important thing, besides knowledge of course, will be endurance, as doing two three-hour long exams for five straight days is extremely tiresome for anyone. I glanced at Elesa and Skyla, pretty much like me, they looked confident; a far cry from the rest of the class. I felt satisfied, they are going to do fine.

Two days later their confidence was totally gone, and pretty much everyone besides me looked worse for wear. Elesa, who had been pretty much the definition of beauty looked dishevelled, her hair uncombed and spotting bags under her eyes. Skyla, had totally abandoned her bubbly and friendly personality, instead her eyes were devoid of any emotion and were staring intently at the textbook. Despite that, they looked to be the most 'normal' ones, as yesterday I girl actually puked at the middle of one of the exams; and people didn't seem to be that much surprised.

Still, I felt the need to do something, I freely admit that I care about them, so I couldn't simply let things be. I practically dragged the girls to the rooftop, only to stop at the closed sign at the stairway.

"A few years ago, a boy had a mental breakdown and threatened to jump off the roof." Skyla explained.

"That's some dark shit." I commented warily.

I motioned for the girls to sit at the stairs instead, they relented but complied.

"Peter, right now isn't the time to…" Elesa attempted to say, but I promptly cut her off.

"For a very long time, I hated my mother."

The duo quickly quieted down immediately, understandably so as I rarely talked about my past.

"She always was the premier example of how caring about the other never was always the best thing to do. I know she loves me, and that she wanted what's best for me, but for a very long time she was overbearing and controlling. Because of her, I missed a good part of my childhood."

I saw the sympathetic looks on her faces, but attempted to show no emotion; after all this was still a sore subject for me.

"She had a belief that any kind of action was better than lack of action. She would often be right about this subject, but due to her refusal to let things be on her own she kept pushing me. If I did bad, she would lock me and force me to study. If I did well, she would still push me, saying that I was only here because of her. She planned my entire life, and obviously never consulted me about anything."

I closed my eyes, recalling that day vividly; after all, it was the day I got my first pokémon.

"I had some important math exams, and she would nag me, cut my privileges and force me to sit down and study. Pretty standard bad parenting; but I was fourteen, and at that point I already had a mind of my own. So, when she shoved a book on my face, I knocked it down and said: 'Fuck it, I'm going to play football'"

The girl's eyes bulged. "You actually said it?"

I nodded and then smirked. "She was livid. Kept saying that if I was gone, I'd better not come back, that she'd ground me for a year…. And then she broke down crying. I had my hand on the doorknob when she did it, and I almost turned back and comforted her. But I realized that if I did that, I'd never break free from her grasp; she would always have a say in my life, that I'd never be truly free."

I felt their eyes looking at me, but I couldn't glance back at them. Let others' eyes hate and curse me, but never feel sympathy and pity. I glared at the closed rooftop door instead.

"I played a few matches, and on the way back I met a stray Nickit, which would later become my first pokémon."

I felt like this was as far as I'd open for them, so I decided to change the subject.

"The funniest thing was that I actually aced that exam; but that's not the point here. What I'm really trying to say is that, at some point in our lives, we must stop whatever we're doing and take a deep breath. Look back and then forward. Ask if you're doing this for yourself or for the others? I had enough about pressure and expectations, so I took the reins of my life; life punished me for this, but I don't regret anything."

This time I had to make eye contact to get my message across the board

"Elesa, Skyla, I will ask it once and then let the matter drop forever; are you here because you want or because you're forced? The expectations, are yours or from others?"

The girls kept quiet and suddenly very interested in the ground as they couldn't bring their eyes up.

I was surprised myself; this was unlike me. Showing emotions, talking about the past, caring about the others… Was this the new me embracing my new life? Or it was simply another mask I wore?

Still I felt I did the right thing; I was from a family of nobodies and had lots of expectations put on my shoulders. Elesa came from a family that has two gym leaders and some influential people; and Skyla's father was from the military. Mostly likely they have even more weight threatening to crush them. Rather than helping the carry the load I simply felt like asking if they should indeed be carrying said load.

Without waiting for their reactions, I left.

The remaining exams went on a bit less tensely than in the first days. Skyla and Elesa looked a bit more relaxed, but only came back to acting like themselves once the week ended.

Right now, I was leisurely staring at the sky from the rooftop. Even after reconciliating with the trio I still was the quietest of the group. I'd sit down and listen to the others, talk about different subjects. From Skyla's love of airplanes, Elesa's modelling gigs and Marlon's expectations of his senior year. I'd usually not open up, but I felt happy by having them besides me, and they apparently felt the same.

"IT'S OUT." A random student called from the door before running off in a hurry.

Almost immediately my friends got up, with Marlon quickly excusing himself.

"It's the moment of truth." Skyla said

Elesa kicked me in the ribs. "Get up, exams results are out."

I nodded tiredly, and trailed behind them.

As soon as we reached the bulletin board where the student's grades were being displayed, feeling everyone looking and whispering between themselves. I'm pretty sure I heard my name being mentioned once or twice, but due to the whole rumour mill debacle, that was something to be expected.

As I got to the board, I searched my name in the listings, but to no avail Instead I found out Skyla ranked 9th and Elesa ranked 12th, considering these rankings encompassed the entire crop of juniors, totalling about three hundred students, their result was outstanding.

I turned to congratulate the girls, and attempted to get their attention, but to no avail. Their eyes were glued to the top spot; curiosity got the best of me and I looked up.

1st – Peter Thornham

Hoo Boy.

The next days were strange to say the least. I knew reputation and results were extremely important in this setting, but I only found out how much after I personally experienced it. People seemingly forget that I was 'The Cheater' and seemingly started to speak with me again. Being honest I disliked it, they weren't my friends, they were simply opportunistic. Even the teachers praised me, calling me the year's brightest student.

Girls would seemingly pop out of nowhere and flirt with me and I found myself being invited to lots of parties and events. I refused them all in a polite way, but it still baffled me.

There were guys who were jealous of me, and attempted to challenge me to battles, but I refused them too. Some called me wimp, but I paid no mind to it; I've been called much worse.

Still, I found myself surprised once again when I met Marlon outside of my class.

"Come again?" I asked, still surprised

"I'm challenging you to a pokémon battle." He replied, confidently.

"But why?" And most importantly why do so publicly when he could ask me in private.

Go along, he mouthed me as the whispers increased.

I sighed, but nodded nonetheless. "I accept your challenge."

"Rules?" he inquired

It was common courtesy for the challenger to allow the challenged to define the rules beforehand.

"Two on two; single battle."

"Anything else?"

"No call-backs."

"Then meet me in the Practice Arena 4 tomorrow after class."

"What the fuck mate?" I demanded as I met Marlon back in the dorm room

"Can I explain?" he asked calmly

I glared at him "You better."

"The guys were gettin' interested in you, some of other seniors wanted to challenge you too. It was either me or one of them."

"I could refuse them too." I pointed out

"That would destroy your rep."

"Until three days ago, my rep was of a cheater."

"Look man, trust me in this." Marlon pleaded. "Rep here plays a big role. I've been here more time than you; no good would come from constantly rejectin' challenges."

"But I already accepted yours, doesn't this mean that more guys will feel like they are owed a challenge?"

"No. If I win, you'll no longer be the center of attention. If, and that's a very big if, you win people will see that you're the real deal and will stop bothering you."

"I see your point, but you could've warned me though."

"If I hadn't approached you at the time someone else would; and they would probably have baited you in accepting."

"How so?" I asked amusedly "I can properly control my…"

"Hulbury Football Club always has been the best team in Galar. Motostoke United is not even the best team in Motostoke."

"NOW LISTEN HERE, YOU LITTLE HERECTICAL PIECE OF SHIT…" I yelled in religious fervour

"See?" he asked with a smirk

I scratched my head sheepishly "I guess you're right."

I glanced around the battlefield, ignoring the cheers of the crowd. Apparently having the best junior in the school battle against the best senior in the school was some kind of big deal, and the stands were packed. Nothing of this mattered to me though. Instead I glanced at the dirt field and frowned; I may have the terrain advantage but Marlon is probably the strongest opponent I've ever faced.

The referee stepped forward. "This will be a two on two battle single battle between Peter Thornham from Motostoke City and Marlon North from Humilau City. Trainers aren't allowed to recall their pokémon and the battle will be over when the one of the trainer's two pokémon are knocked out. You may send out you pokémon now."

"Braviary, battle stance."

"Frillish, flow freely."

Marlon's first pokémon is a jellyfish like pokémon, with an average sized body and red eyes. Its blue body marked its gender as male.

"Battle start, now." The referee called

A bit taken aback by Marlon's choice for the delicate looking pokémon I decided to take the lead.

"Braviary, get close and use Peck."

The valiant pokémon quickly took flight, gaining attitude before belly diving towards Marlon's pokémon.

"Frillish, use Acid Armor."

The blue's pokémon body liquified, before recomposing itself and glowing red, signalling an increase in its defence.

Braviary's attack connected, but apparently did little to no damage at the opponent.

Frowning I quickly recomposed myself. "Braviary, use Wing Attack."

The half flying type pokémon, unfazed by the first failure, took off this time connecting a full hit to the slow pokémon and making a bit of damage.

"Use Acid Armor once again." Marlon commanded.

Knowing that letting him build his defences like that would prove to be troublesome in the long run, I quickly ordered a repeat of the previous move.

This time however, not only Frillish properly managed to defend itself, but also triggered something at the contact, as Marlon's pokémon body glowed with dark blue hue.

My eyes widened as I realized that this was Frillish's Cursed Body ability, which sometimes disables a move on contact.

This was definitively not good, most of Braviary's other attacks were normal types, which would be unable to damage the opponent due to its ghost typing.

"Frillish use Scald."

"Get out of here Braviary!"

The water/ghost type pokémon released a stream of boiling water, which barely missed Braviary.

"Keep it up, use Poison Sting."

Frillish let out a barrage of poisoned needles aimed at Braviary, who once again dodged, but looked a bit tired. Flying at extremely high-speeds would do that to a pokémon.

Things were dire for us; Sky Attack was our go to move, but would need some time to charge; time in which Frillish could easily spam Scald attacks, potentially burning Braviary and effectively crippling him offensively.

I could use the new move, but it could be risky, as I still hadn't employed it in a real battle. Still, sometimes a man must gamble.

"Please work." I muttered to myself, as Frillish let loose yet another stream of hot water. "Braviary, use U-Turn."

The flying type seemed a bit displeased with the command, but complied nonetheless. Flying at record speed and landing a strike that seemed to do no damage to Frillish. A moment later, Braviary became enveloped by a red light and was sucked back into his pokéball, and Eevee was called into the field in his place.

Marlon whistled. "Using U-Turn to get around the no switching rule; smart move." He praised.

I glanced at the evolution pokémon, planning my next steps. "Eevee, use Bite."

The small normal type quickly dashed forward, taking advantage of his superior speed, as Marlon replied. "Frillish, use Acid Armor once again."

The floating pokémon prepared to liquify his body once again, but soon was interrupted by Eevee jumping straight at him in a burst of speed. One of the things I worked with Eevee was the concept of quickly shifting gears, so opponent's predictions of trajectory and timing would be less accurate. It worked like a charm here, as that final burst put Eevee on the right window of time to attack.

The bite connected, and despite the pokémon's small size I could personally attest that it hurt like hell. "Do not let go." I commanded.

"Two can play this game. Marlon yelled. "Frillish use Constrict." The bluish ghost pokémon then wrapped its jelly-like arms around Eevee.

Seeing that Marlon was settling for a clinch of sorts I was quick to react. "Eevee, use Iron Tail to further damage him."

The fight from this point turned into an ugly affair, with the pokémon clinched together and uncapable of causing that much damage; Eevee due to how increased Frillish's defences are and Frillish due to the low base power of his move.

"I admit that this is clever strategy." Marlon called from out across the field. "But it ends now; originally, I planned to reserve this to Braviary, but your Eevee showed his value. Frillish, use Shock Wave."

Electricity flowed through the jellyfish's body, before being unleashed in a circular motion, hitting Eevee in the process.

Despite that, my pokémon didn't let go, and because of that a wicked idea came into my mind.

"Shock Wave once again." Marlon commanded.

As I saw electricity coursing through Frillish I made eye contact with Eevee, nodding at him. "Trust me."

The attack was once again launched from point blank range but at the final second I made my play. "Eevee, use Iron Tail to redirect the electricity at his body."

The next few seconds following the electrical attack were of pure magic for me, and pure terror for Marlon, as Eevee, despite being badly damaged by the attack was nowhere as damaged as Frillish who was unconscious at the ground.

A few cheers resonated as the referee pointed his flag at my side. "Frillish is unable to battle."

Marlon recalled his pokémon before glancing at me. "Dude, it would have been epic if it wasn't against me." He chuckled. "Congratulations though. But it is far from over. Meet my ace: Mantine."

Marlon's ace is a huge manta-ray pokémon, capable of flying, hence his dual typing with water and flying. It has white scales covering its inner bely and dark blue scales on its back.

"The battle may continue." The judge called

Taking advantage of Eevee's previous injuries, Marlon was quick to attack. "Use Scald."

"Quick Attack to dodge." I ordered

Eevee did its best but I could see it was on the verge of a collapse. I considered forfeiting him but decided to fight alongside it until the end.

"Mantine, use Wing Attack." In an intelligent use of the battlefield, Mantine glided through the wet paths created by the constant use of Scald, quickly closing in at Eevee.

"You did well Eevee." I praised as the attack neared him. "Let's be sore losers, use Shadow Ball."

Eevee's Shadow Ball came out weaker than the usual, but that was to be expected given how drained he was from the earlier match and how he had to speed up the release. But I could tell it surprised Marlon and Mantine. It collided at the manta pokémon, causing some small damage, before the gliding Wing Attack connected, knocking Eevee out.

I silently recalled Eevee and sent out Braviary once again, ignoring the crowd and referee.

"Final battle, begin."

"Wing Attack."

"Wing Attack."

The two similar attacks collided in the centre of the field as Braviary and Mantine crossed their glowing wings against each other. The friction between the two caused a small explosion which sent the two tumbling down.

Yet the flying duo was quick to recover, going back into the air in an instant.

"Psybeam." Marlon called out, his ace flaring a magenta ray of particles and waves towards Braviary.

"Use U-Turn to get through it."

The valiant pokémon was surrounded by a blue tint and advanced towards Mantine, dispersing the ray due to the type effectiveness bug type attacks held over psychic ones.

Still it lost speed and power, and when it reached the opponent at least I was nothing more than a tap.

"Let's level the field, Mantine, use Agility."

The kite pokémon attempted to build up momentum, but I was keen on maintaining our speed advantage. "Braviary, do no let him get faster than you, intercept it with Peck."

Peck was way weaker than Wing Attack when it came to brute damage, but in this particular moment it was just what we needed, as it didn't rely on the use of the wings which were used to catch up with the opponent. Braviary closed out, still faster than Mantine and swiftly pecked the opposing pokémon's back, enough to send it crashing towards the ground.

"Wing Attack." I called out, eager to finish this battle.

"Bubble Beam." Marlon commanded

Mantine fired from below and Braviary used the power of his wings to carve his patch through the attack. When it looked like Braviary was going to deliver the final blow, several of the dispelled bubbles covered its wings in a soapy substance, causing him to lose speed and buying Mantine enough time to take flight once again.

I frowned at Marlon's expression of triumph. "Good move." I praised. It was indeed, rather than increasing his pokémon speed he decided to level the field with a decrease of Braviary's stats.

"Thanks."

Still, I know a thing Marlon doesn't. I looked up at the stands and made a quick eye contact with Skyla, who smiled at me in return.

I could faintly see the glowing red aura surrounding Braviary, I just needed the perfect bait.

"Now, freeze him with Ice Beam."

A quick look from me told Braviary to stay put. The beam of ice connected, causing me to wince; it was a risky plan after all. Soon enough, Braviary was frozen solid.

"I recommend you to forfeit." Marlon said.

"NEVER!" I yelled, patting myself in the back for my acting skills

"Very well then, Mantine, use Psybeam."

The manta pokémon unleashed the psychic type attack from its mouth, hitting the ice which encompassed Braviary. It was a clever move, break the ice a little so the shards inside would dig into Braviary, hurting him into the process.

"Prepare." I muttered

"Now, let's finish this with Body Press." Marlon commanded.

That was definitively a new one. It made sense to use this move though, as it overcomes Mantine's less than stellar attack with his defence. Besides it would not only put even weight on Braviary and consequently crash a bit more of ice shards.

Mantine leapt forward, attempting to use his weight to crush the ice

"NOW!" I yelled. "Sky Attack."

The ice immediately thwarted and the leaping Mantine was surprised by Braviary's glaring face. Like the first time I used it back in Mistralton, Braviary was enveloped by a bright crimson red light. The powerful boosted attack connected from almost point-blank range and did spectacular damage, sending Mantine crashing at the wall unconscious. I let out a huge sigh of relief; if my plan failed the match would have been lost.

"Winner is Peter Thornham from Motostoke City."

I ignored the referee and went towards Braviary, who appeared to be extremely happy with his performance and victory. I ruffled its head. "That was amazing, take a well-deserved rest. You're becoming stronger." The pokémon nodded before being sucked at the pokéball.

"Peter." I turned to see Marlon approaching me. "Care to explain the last few moves?"

I nodded. "When you reduced Braviary's speed with Bubble Beam you also triggered its ability: Defiant, which sharply increases its attack whenever the opponent reduces on of his stats. I needed one clear hit, which would be troublesome now that Braviary was slower, so I decided to lure you." I explained, earning some understanding nods from Marlon.

"Before you used the Ice Beam to freeze him, I had quietly motioned for Braviary to prepare his Sky Attack. The moment it was frozen, Braviary already had the charge; when you lowered your guard, it was the clue I needed to unleash Sky Attack."

"I'm upset I lost, but you were the better trainer today." Marlon admitted

I offered to shake hands with him but instead he surprised me by grabbing my hand and raising it up in the air, earning thunderous cheers from the crowd.

I frowned as my mobile phone displayed the caller's ID.

Still I answered it.

"Peter?" the male voice asked

"Mr. Deeoh." I acknowledged from the other side of the line.

"I know this is very sudden, but could you come to Virbank City? I'm afraid I'm going to ask for your help once again."

It ends with a bit of a cliff-hanger but nothing major. Next chapter will feature Peter visiting Virbank, and will probably be a more story focused chapter. If things go as I plan, this has the potential to be this story's best chapter yet.

Now, as usual at this point, please leave a review telling me what you think of this chapter and follow/fav the story if you hadn't.