Dreams are amazing things.

The word itself has multiple meanings, of course. There are dreams, the things we experience whilst sleeping or otherwise inactive. Then there are dreams, which are more accurately described as goals or hopes.

As for the first kind of dream, they are nonsensical most of the time, and there are many theories on what these dreams actually are. Some believe that dreams are premonitions and warnings of things to come, and perhaps this is true when those with psychic powers are involved in some way. Others claim that dreams are latent desires expressing themselves – although this falls apart when some people have that awful dream where their teeth fall out, something I'm sure nobody wants. The current running theory is that dreams are random bits of information that your brain is sorting through, come to the surface when it has nothing else to do. Nightmares, in this event, are just the unpleasant memories and information taking precedent.

The second type of dream, those lofty goals we aspire to but can only rarely reach, are what drives some of the most amazing people on this planet. These ideals that few can ever hope to achieve are the power behind the world's heroes. Every champion began as a child with a dream. Red Ketchum, Blue Oak, Ethan Gold, May Maple, Dawn Berlitz, Hilbert Blaire, Serena Yvonne, and countless others all began as little more than a trainer with a single pokémon and a dream. All of them rose to champion-rank, all of them have documented interactions with legendary pokémon, and then most of them vanished shortly afterwards. There are quite substantial rumors that these individuals are exploring the untamed wildernesses of our world – after all, who is more qualified to do so than a former champion with legendary ties? Regardless of the conditions of their disappearances, only Red has thus far returned, and the legendary trainer never spoke to the press.

I personally began my adventures in this way. A kid with one pokémon and a dream.

I've come a long way since then.

Finn sat up suddenly, looking around the campsite. The wide open field he had found for the night was right on the edge of the forest, which meant that the sparse trees let in enough moonlight to illuminate the whole clearing. It was also quite well-traveled, with a pre-existing fire pit and everything. He had set up his tent and taken care of his pokémon before he turned in for the night. His team was free to do as they wished for the night, as per usual, although Crai had revealed that at some point he had stuffed another tent into Finn's bag for himself. It was kind of funny, honestly, and it didn't take up enough of the bag's processing power to be an annoyance. Jitters had spun up a web nearby, and Nyx was probably still awake at this hour.

Finn turned a little bit, catching glimpse of his tent behind him. Which was odd, since the last thing he remembered for the night was climbing in and falling asleep.

Now that he looked around, he saw several other anomalies. Jitters' spiderweb was absent. The trees didn't seem to have anything beyond them, just impossibly thick shadows. The grass waved in a nonexistent wind, sometimes in the wrong way.

Which clearly meant that this was a dream.

Finn looked up at the moon, hanging alone in a starless sky. A moment later an innumerable amount of twinkling lights appeared, all identical.

And then, a moment later, a ragged black shape appeared. Its white hair flowing in nonexistent wind. Darkrai's single visible eye practically glowed in the gloom.

"Why the field, and not some nightmarescape?" Finn asked.

"I'm a little bit preoccupied, Finnegan." Darkrai's voice was strained, like he was focusing on something else. "It was the most easily available memory. I'm currently having to deal with your boyfriend trying to murder me."

"What?" Finn furrowed his brow.

"Not important. The point is, I… have a couple of things that I need to tell you." Darkrai floated down directly in front of Finn. "You have two major choices within the coming month. The first is this."

Darkrai extended one hand, a long thin spike held within. It was made of a stygian metal, inscribed with crimson runes along its length. The head of the spike had a simplified vortex carved into it, a sinister ring of red spikes jutting out around it.

"This is the emblem of my power, an artifact that humans are permitted to have and use," Darkrai said. "The Terror Spike. It is a weapon reserved only for the worst of the worst, and for good reason. It damages the victim's mind, inflicting terrible nightmares upon them for the rest of their lives. The intended use is to inspire so much guilt and fear that the victim is incapacitated forever."

Darkrai paused, his attention wavering. "Sorry, that was a moonblast."

"Why are you showing me a divine superweapon?" Finn asked, crossing his arms.

"Because if you don't take it, you will have to kill someone."

Finn blinked, swallowing as nervousness came over him. "What are you talking about?"

"You heard me." Darkrai's other hand extended, and a bloody knife appeared above it. "I am offering you an opportunity to spare someone that would otherwise need to die. There are attached obligations, but that's the most important part."

"I'm… not sure I want to accept a weapon with 'attached obligations'." Finn slowly leaned away, unfolding his arms.

"Fine, I'll lay it all out for you."

Darkrai floated upwards, its form becoming all-encompassing as it overrode the scene with its power. The world around Finn darkened, terror striking him without source. The nightmare began to rip apart at the edges, endless writhing tendrils peeking through the tears in Finn's mind. The legendary pokémon warped and rippled, its body growing extra arms, eyes, and mouths at seemingly random points. Darkrai asserted itself as it truly was: a deity of nightmares and darkness. It spoke, its voice deepening into a thunderous boom with a thousand whispers just beneath the surface of the noise.

[Finnegan Ferris, accursed by darkness, I offer to thee a pact. The terms are thus:

[Thou shalt darken thy soul, to match mine own darkness.

[Thou shalt be as mine emissary in the world of mortals.

[Thou shalt become a pariah, as the emissary of nightmares is not meant to mingle with the common mortals.

[In return, the Terror Spike shall be bestowed upon thee, that thou may wield it against the most dangerous mortal of your time. Thou shalt become my claimed, protected from other divines under mine authority. Thusly thou canst achieve thy goals.

[Dost thou agree to these terms?]

Finn stared into the unending blackness. His heart was pounding in his chest as sweat rolled down his brow. It hurt to look at Darkrai. Hurt even to think. He lifted one finger and swallowed to clear his throat.

"Unless I'm mistaken, most of the terms are met by just having a dark aura?"

[Yes.]

"And I don't have to use the spike?"

[It is not a requirement, no.]

"And becoming your emissary…?"

[A symbolic exchange, moreso than anything else. You act in my interests for the rest of your life, which should be fairly simple for you. I have had barely any influence over your choices so far, and you already do enough to qualify.]

"Then… I accept."

[Then my power is yours, just as your fate is mine. The pact is sealed.]

There was a flash – although that was probably the wrong word – of darkness, and the dream returned to how it had been before. Darkrai floating in front of Finn, the field around them. The only reminder Finn had for his experience was his rapid heartbeat and the sweat trickling down his neck. That, and the spike now held in his left hand.

"With that out of the way," Darkrai said as he brushed himself off. "Important info part two: you're going to need to choose between yourself and the fate of the planet."

Finn swallowed to try and clear the dryness in his mouth. "What are you talking about?"

"Within the next month – well, I think it's a month. The timetable is a little rough – within the next month or so, you're going to be offered a choice. If you take it, you'll be the savior of the world. If you don't, you'll be able to live a lot longer. The Alpha only knows what else will happen, though," Darkrai said, a touch of apprehension in his voice.

"I'll…" Finn blinked a couple of times. "How much longer?"

"I don't know. It's… better not to look into futures you don't want to make real." Darkrai averted his gaze.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Finn's voice was barely a whisper.

"…If I had my way, I wouldn't have told you at all." Darkrai returned his gaze to Finn, that piercing blue eye locking on to Finn. "Because letting you know that there even is a choice might lead to you turning it down. You might doubt your course of action. You might agonize over your choices and wonder 'what if I chose the other path'. Because the world as you know it is at stake."

"So why tell me?"

"Because Cresselia is softer than I am. She would not forgive me if I did not tell you," Darkrai answered. "And she's right. It would be wrong to leave you without knowing your options. It might leave us with more security in the fate of the world, but would it be worth it? I don't know."

The field flickered, replaced by a void for a moment before it returned, and Darkrai winced.

"It's getting more difficult to keep avoiding your pokémon, Finnegan. You trained them well, I'll say that much. When you wake, you'll find the spike in your bag. Along with your phone and pokédex."

"Thank you." Finn blinked in surprise. "I wasn't expecting to get those back."

"Don't thank me, I didn't do it." Darkrai waved him off. "Now I'm leaving. Go become the champion. The fate of the world depends on it. We'll talk again when all this is over. One way or the other."

O-O-O

Finn understood why his pokémon didn't trust Darkrai. He had a reputation for cruelty, although it was dubious how earned it was. Crai had, at some point, recruited every single one of Finn's pokémon aside from Athena to help try and drive off Darkrai. That was the reason why Finn neglected to tell them that not only had they failed to prevent Darkrai from infiltrating Finn's mind, but that the legendary pokémon had made a pact with him. The spike remained in his bag, where hopefully he could leave it forever.

That day was spent traveling towards Victory Road, and was fortunately uneventful. As per usual, there were no encounters with wild pokémon. They avoided him, and that was fine. Finn had a full team, and catching any more pokémon would be both pointless and unkind to the pokémon he caught. He wouldn't have time to tend to and train any pokémon beyond his team of six. He already felt bad not being able to spend much time with Harvest.

He set up camp at a large pre-established trainer's camping site. This base camp served as a home for the ace trainers that lived on Victory Road, and while it had a sort of leadership who kept the place regulated and maintained there was no real owner of the camp. Anyone was more or less allowed to set up in the camp, so long as they and their team didn't cause any trouble. There was even a PC and makeshift pokémon center in the camp, which Finn used to make sure that Athena was okay after the head smash.

He got a lot of weird looks from the ace trainers, although a couple of them recognized him as a gym challenger – or possibly they recognized who he was specifically – and gave him a few pointers for surviving on Victory Road. Most of it was stuff he already knew – bring a lot of water, always keep a pokémon out, don't even try to fly – but one tip he found especially interesting had to do with the network of tunnels that honeycombed the mountain. Apparently if a cave was too much warmer than the air outside, it was a good idea to leave as quickly as possible. Trainers went into those places and rarely returned. Rumors of volcarona were passed around at the mention of the warmer caves, but nobody knew anything concrete.

Finn didn't intend to go very far into the caves, so it wasn't a tip that really applied to him. If things went as planned, he wouldn't enter a cave at all.

One of the ace trainers challenged Finn to a pokémon battle that evening, a rock type specialist named Petrus. Finn won handily, though the ace trainer's ace - a fossil pokémon known as an archeops – proved to be more challenging than expected. That victory had earned Finn quite a bit of reputation with the ace trainers, as Petrus was one of the few of them to have gotten to the second member of the elite four.

Apparently another trainer on the gym circuit had come through a couple days ago too. If all went well, that trainer would be reaching the League HQ at the same time Finn reached the camp. Nobody had caught the trainer's name, but he had been accompanied by a machamp that had single-handedly destroyed Petrus' team. That in itself was impressive, and gave Finn an idea as to who the mystery trainer was.

Aside from that, things were good. It was interesting, hanging out with others who had completed the gym circuit. Everyone had their own stories about their experiences. The most common stories from the other trainers were about Finn's mother, and it amused him to no end to hear how much trouble they had with the steel type gym. There was a universal sentiment of frustration with Trinity's bullshit, shared laughs at the odd things that everyone had encountered, and a general sense of camaraderie that Finn hadn't felt… ever. It was nice.

When morning rolled around, Finn left the ace trainer base camp. He made it to the checkpoint at the base of the mountain, where a league guard asked for his badges. After he showed both his badge case and his pokédex to the guard, the guard opened the gate. The center of the massive metal doors, a circular lens with an opalescent rainbow sheen, began to spin rapidly. The lock pulled eight differently colored lenses from that central mechanism, four for each door. When all eight of the lenses were disengaged, the doors slid open.

Once inside, Finn looked up at the mountain above him. It was a long-dead volcano, according to some rumors that Finn had heard. But, again, that didn't matter.

Once Finn was out of eyeshot of the gate, he set down his bag and pulled out the old magnetic sheath mount. Athena didn't have a sheath anymore, but she was still magnetic. This was an important part of the plan. There were apparently platforms that could be attached to an aegislash to allow a human to ride them, and they used them in Galar for sporting events, but flying was illegal, of course.

Finn released Athena, and she attached herself to the sheath mount without a word. She already knew what was coming, of course.

Then Finn released Belle, making sure to disengage her flame orb quickly and put it into the protective casing that had come with the item. With the flame orb and its harness safely tucked away, he gave Belle a great big smile.

"How do you feel about mountain climbing?" He asked.

Belle's eyebrows went up. "I mean… I can? It wouldn't be too hard. Why?"

"Follow up question, do you think I could ride on your back without hindering you too much?"

"Hmm." Belle put a hand to her chin, looking Finn up and down. "Probably. I'd be worried about you getting hurt, though."

"Well, the point is to get to the top with minimal confrontation." Finn shrugged. "Climbing the normal routes could be dangerous – they go near several known dragon nests – and flying is out of the question. If we go straight up the side, we should have an easier time than otherwise and get there before this evening."

Belle nodded. "Okay. I can manage that. I guess Athena's going to be providing ranged support?"

"And some lifting if necessary," Finn added.

"Alright." Belle cracked her knuckles. She did a few basic stretches before crouching down, her lower arms tucked into loops. "Hop on and let's go."

Finn climbed onto Belle's back, tucking his knees under her armpits. He wrapped his arms around her neck, clinging loosely – not that he would be able to hurt her unless he tried. She held tight to his knees and stood up, carrying him piggyback.

Without warning, Belle started scaling the cliff face near the trail. She made large, leaping movements in order to properly ascend the wall, jumping from handhold to handhold.

Finn had seen people riding doduo and dodrio before, and the giant birds had an odd loping gait that seemed to bounce the rider around like crazy. He hadn't experienced it himself – the birds would never allow him near enough – but he imagined that this is what it felt like. Lurching quickly from one position to the next.

They made it to the top of the first cliff when Finn heard someone shouting from below.

"Hey!" It was the guard from the gate, probably having noticed Belle climbing the cliff. "You're supposed to stay on the path!"

"Don't worry! We're not going to fly!" Finn shouted back.

"But… You... The path!" The guard sputtered. He probably had never had to deal with something like this.

"It's not illegal! I checked!" Finn shouted, tapping Belle to signal her to continue. She started off.

"…The path…" The guard's voice trailed off as Finn and Belle got further away, sounding dejected and lost.

Finn snickered to himself as Belle made distance between them and the gate.

The craggy slope of the mountain posed little obstacle to her, as she was more than strong enough to suspend herself from a single one of her upper arms. Her grip was sure, and the few times she did grab a hold that couldn't support her weight she was able to quickly recover. She was leaping over crevasses, dodging sinkholes, and avoiding the openings of caves in her rapid ascent. All Finn had to do was hold on tight and try to be aerodynamic.

Belle cleared the sparse tree line quickly, rising into the more dangerous territory above. Finn wasn't expecting this to be safe or easy, so when a thunderous roar echoed across the mountainside he wasn't exactly surprised. He turned his head towards the source of the sound, eyes widening as he saw a huge haxorus barreling out of a cave towards him and Belle.

"Any chance it's just warning us off?" Finn asked rhetorically.

"She's defending her nest, so no," Athena answered, unfolding her sashes in preparation.

"Alright, try not to hurt her too much." Finn glanced back towards the haxorus, then tapped Belle on the shoulder. "Start with scary face, then get running."

Belle obliged, turning to face the dragon as she concentrated her energy. Finn couldn't see her face from where he was but it apparently had some effect as the haxorus stumbled for a moment. Its momentum faltering. Belle then immediately swiveled and started climbing again, going as quickly as she could.

Athena used the opportunity to drop a cloud of spite right between them and the haxorus. It slowed the dragon only a little bit, but a little bit was enough to gain some distance.

The haxorus reared its head back, launching a rippling beam of blue draconic energy at Belle. Athena erected a king's shield just in time, but the force of the attack still knocked Belle off balance. She came to a rocky overhang at the edge of a ravine, leaping with all of her might.

At the same time, Athena lobbed a shadow ball at the dragon's feet.

Belle grabbed the edge of the other side of the ravine, dangling from the edge for just a moment. The haxorus fired off another dragon pulse, blocked again by Athena's king' shield. The dragon stomped up to the edge of the ravine, standing on the overhang.

Finn closed his eyes and concentrated, his shadow reaching across the ravine to the unstable earth beneath the overhang. He tugged, and the overhang crumbled into the ravine.

The haxorus backed up, her path no longer viable. She roared furiously at Finn and his pokémon as Belle pulled herself up. Belle started off again, continuing her ascent up the mountain. Finn looked over his shoulder as the haxorus' roars died down, and the mother dragon turned around to stomp back to her nest.

Finn wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. Not only was adrenalin pumping in his veins, the exertion of reaching his shadow that far so quickly was quite a lot, and he didn't think he would be doing that again any time soon.

The rest of the climb was far calmer than that. The route directly up the side of the mountain must have only been home to the haxorus. That was itself quite fortunate. If it had been a hydreigon or some other flying dragon, the ravine wouldn't have stopped it from chasing.

It was close to a plateau that Belle's route intersected with Victory Road once more. The league HQ wasn't at the peak, but at a flat part of the mountain that was several hundred feet lower in elevation than the peak. The true peak of the mountain was off-limits to trainers, regardless of gym badges or other achievement. The ace trainers in the camp at the base of the mountain had numerous rumors as to why, ranging from ancient alien technology to government conspiracy to the hiding spot of a legendary pokémon.

When they reached the top of the plateau, Finn dropped off of Belle's back and pat her on the shoulder. "Well done."

"Quite a climb." Belle wiped her brow, nodding.

"Take a break, you've earned it," Finn said. He looked at the Pokémon League HQ before him, a smile growing on his face.

The HQ was built into the side of the mountain, the main bulk of the building surrounded by stone. In front of the league was a large field designed for trainers to practice before they challenged the elite four, with benches spaced evenly along the edges. The front of the building itself was a grandiose affair, made of steel and glass with the pokéball logo proudly displayed above the entrance. The massive metal doors were massively oversized and probably not even meant to be used, seeing as there were smaller, automatic people-sized doors directly next to them. The sight of the League HQ made Finn feel accomplished, moreso than almost anything else he had done on his journey. He had reached the peak of his adventure, the highest point most trainers ever reached. Finn had reached the elite four. All that was left was to challenge them.

Finn set down his bag, allowing Athena to disengage from the magnetic sheath mount. He put the sheath mount in his bag, then sat down on a bench. Belle joined him, letting out a deep breath as she did.

He'd made it farther than so many people. Ninety-five percent of trainers in Toreta didn't complete the gym circuit. An additional four percent never even attempted the elite four. Of the remaining one percent, none of them had successfully defeated the elite four, much less the champion. Some had gotten past one, maybe two, and rarely a third of the elite four. There was no guarantee that Finn could do any better, but he had a feeling that his odds were better than most.

Finn leaned back and closed his eyes, just appreciating the sun on his face for a while.

It was only now that he realized how much trouble he was having with just breathing. The air was thinner this high up, and he had ascended too quickly to adjust. He was sure he'd be fine in an hour or two, and his pokémon would be fine much faster, but he was tired right now.

Finn didn't even realize that he had fallen asleep when he suddenly sat up, blinking sleep out of his eyes. At some point someone had put a blanket over him – one of the ones he had packed, he realized. As he looked around, Finn saw that someone had also let out the rest of his team. They were doing basic training exercises in the field, acclimating themselves to the new altitude.

And on the other side of the field was a familiar – and very welcome – face. Anthony was running his own machamp through a series of rapid punching exercises. The rest of his team was absent for the moment, though.

Finn folded up the blanket and stood up, grabbing a water bottle from his bag as he did. The blanket went into the bottomless bag, and Finn downed half the bottle in one go. He walked out across the field, drawing the attention of his team as he did so. They stopped their practice, all turning to look at him as they did.

Anthony noticed Finn's approach quickly, and pat his machamp on the shoulder to signal a stop for their training. He gave Finn a big smile and walked over.

"Heya Finn! I wasn't expecting to see you again – although thinking about it I probably should have. We would both wind up here eventually, and there's no way I'm giving up before I beat the champion." Anthony laughed. "How have you been, man?"

"It's been… weird." Finn shrugged. "I didn't run into you in Oplens, so I guess you got out of there more than a week ago?"

"Oh yeah, I fought Dracul and left the city quickly. I don't like to think I'm superstitious, but I do have a mismagius, and even she had bad vibes with that place. Something about the dark types." Anthony shrugged. "I wasn't very happy with the gym challenge either. 'Fought' is a bit of a misleading statement when it's just one zoroark."

"I enjoyed it, but loopholes and technicalities are my bread and butter," Finn said. "Did you already challenge the elite four?"

"Yeah, managed to beat Tyson and Aelius, but Nik surprised me with a really weird-," Anthony cut himself off, scratching his chin. "Actually, you'll see it for yourself. The surprise is the best part, right?"

"I mean, knowing ahead of time would be nice…" Finn grinned. "But yeah, I'd rather be surprised." Finn looked around at his time, smiling as he caught sight of them. "You know, it's been a while since my team had an actual pokémon battle, as opposed to a gimmick fight or just fighting for survival. You up for a battle?"

"Wait, fighting for survival?" Anthony asked with a concerned expression.

"I've been a thorn in Team Plasma's side for about a year now. Taking down bases, mostly. They, uh, don't like that." Finn scratched the back of his head. "And when you piss off a terrorist organization…"

"They send people to remove you." Anthony nodded, his expression turning grim. "I had a couple of run-ins with those guys with the pirate get-up too. I've been working out, so I was able to give them the smack-down, but if I hadn't they'd have stolen a bunch of medical supplies and some science equipment from the factory in Inducity."

"Really? I never went to Inducity, so I had no idea they were active there." Finn rubbed his chin.

"They aren't. It was just like four guys and their pokemon. All dark types, so Ares and Poseidon took care of them easily," Anthony said. "Still, it makes me kind of nervous. What did they want with that stuff?"

Finn could make a couple guesses, but was hesitant to share. "I… I don't know. I went into a couple of bases and there was some crazy stuff in there, but I don't think any of it was functional."

"Hmm." Anthony looked down with a grimace. "I feel bad, not doing anything about it. Inducity's mayor payed me a lot for helping, and then basically told me that I should avoid getting into any more confrontations like that ever again. I even passed a couple of Plasma outposts while travelling, but they had guns. I… I felt like a coward for not doing anything, especially since you just said you've taken those places down. But I didn't want my pokémon to get shot…"

"Hey, don't feel bad about not wanting to engage armed terrorists," Finn said, furrowing his brow. "I felt fine doing it because it was just me and Athena, and she's basically bulletproof. That was stupid, though. I could have died, or gotten hurt so badly that I wished I was dead. Worse, they might have captured me and done some of those messed up experiments. There's a reason caution is a human instinct, and most of the time you should listen to it. I'm just reckless."

"Thanks Finn." Anthony gave him a weak smile. "I just… I just want to help people."

"And you can. You've got a full team of pokémon, you're strong, and you've got a good heart," Finn assured. "But fighting isn't always the best way to do that. I fight because it's what I'm good at, but I'm going to be honest, I'd be pretty much useless in any job other than pokémon battler." He gave a grin. "I've got next to no life skills, most people just hate me, and I can barely take care of myself at the best of times. I don't really have enough time to learn any of those essential skills either, but you've got your whole life ahead of you if being a pokémon trainer doesn't work out. You've got time to make a difference."

"Thank you. That means a lot to me." Anthony took a deep breath, and a puzzled expression came over his face. "What do you mean you don't have enough time? You're not much older than me."

"I don't want to talk about it." Finn's grin faded. He shook his head. "How about that pokémon battle?"

Anthony gave him a look, one that said he wasn't buying the misdirection, then shrugged. "Any particular rules?"

"Six on six, items, free substitutions?" Finn suggested.

"Sure, one minute."

Anthony recalled Ares, his machamp, and made his way to one end of the field. He turned his back to Finn to equip his team, and Finn respected him by turning away and walking to the opposite end of the field. He reached into his bag and pulled out the case with the flame orb in it and the rub of black sludge. The flame orb harness he gave to Belle to put on, and as soon as she did he recalled her to save her some pain. He applied the black sludge to Bastion's tentacles with the paddle it came with, then recalled him too. Finn put one of the flying gems into Nyx's necklace, handed Crai his light clay, put Jitters' wide lens on his head, and clipped the weakness policy onto Athena's shield before he recalled the rest of his team. Now ready, he turned to look at Anthony.

The other trainer turned around at the same time, tossing one pokéball up and down as he did. "Ready?"

"Ready." Finn took Bastion's pokéball.

"On three. One."

Finn's grip tightened.

"Two."

He tensed.

"Three."

"Bastion!"

"Hermes!"

Bastion appeared on Finn's side of the field, while on the other side of the field a metal bird that Finn recognized emerged from the pokéball. The skarmory immediately drifted upwards, riding on the air currents.

Skarmory wasn't particularly fast, though it would easily out speed Bastion. Neither was it an offensively viable pokemon – it could pack a punch but most of its attacking options required it to interrupt its flight, and if it could be knocked out of the air it was basically doomed. Skarmory were more effective as a defensive pokémon. The most impactful thing a defensive pokémon could do – as Bastion demonstrated – was to inflict a lasting obstacle. Therefore…

"Hermes, start setting up spikes."

"Bastion, magic coat."

Anthony's eyes widened in surprise as Bastion extended a shimmering pink barrier across his body. Hermes was too late to stop throwing the metal spikes, and all it could do was fly upwards to avoid their trajectory as they landed.

"I didn't know Toxapex could learn magic coat," Anthony said, scratching his head.

"They usually don't, but I visited a move tutor while I was in Bluebell. I had to pay a lot since I didn't have any shards, but I think it was well worth it," Finn replied.

"Hmm. I'll have to check that out at some point." Anthony looked over the battlefield. "Hermes, defog."

"Bastion return." Finn extended Bastion's pokéball and grabbed another from his belt. As soon as Bastion was enveloped in the red light, he threw the other. "Jitters, you're up."

As the skarmory flapped its wings – a rare event in the wild but necessary for the move – Jitters appeared on the battlefield. The spikes were blown to one side, where they disappeared once the energy composing them faded.

"Jitters, Thunder."

"Spikes now, this one can't throw them back!"

Jitters was far, far faster than Hermes; which was ironic, considering the bird's namesake. He unleashed a massive bolt of lightning straight up, followed shortly by a similar lightning bolt slamming into the skarmory from the sky. Despite the sheer power behind the move, the skarmory stayed in the air. That meant its ability was sturdy, preventing it from being downed in one go. That gave it an opportunity to create more caltrops and hurl them, laying spikes on Finn's side of the field. Finn knew from watching his mother's gym battles that even the smallest hazards could have disastrous effects. He couldn't let those stay. But first he needed to take care of their source.

"Jitters, volt switch."

A spinning disk of electricity hurtled towards the bird, and at the same time Jitters vanished back into the pokéball. Finn sent out Bastion again as Anthony recalled Hermes.

"Hecate, you're in."

The mismagius entered the field, her face splitting into a malicious grin as she did.

"Bastion, toxic spikes."

"Hecate, ruination."

Finn furrowed his brow. What could ruination mean? Bastion's spikes began to glow purple just before Finn got his answer.

The mismagius did something he hadn't expected of her – she used three moves simultaneously. The first was a spiraling ball of light, dancing around Bastion to daze his vision. The second was a trio of purple flames, which flew directly into Bastion and arced flames across his body. The third – and most devastating – was a spectral nail manifesting in the air and slamming itself into Hecate's body. The ghost type winced, but the unearthly light that floating into Bastion was far more worrying. She had laid a curse on Bastion.

But that was three moves. Three devastating moves, but that meant she only had one more.

In his confusion, Bastion's energy exploded and hurt him. He was rapidly losing vitality, and Finn wasn't sure he wanted to keep the water type in. Finn had Bastion try another toxic spikes, the toxapex only managing to avoid hurting himself and failing to deploy the spikes. Finn recalled him, then sent out Jitters.

"Now, pain split," Anthony ordered.

As soon as Jitters was a valid target the ghost type extended a tether of energy into him. Energy flowed from Jitters into Hecate, restoring the mismagius' vitality while draining it from the galvantula. Jitters charged up another thunder when Finn noticed something odd.

Around Hecate's neck was a necklace holding a pristine white claw. Finn rapidly racked his mind to think of what it could be, up until it activated.

The claw flashed white, and Hecate used curse instantly. There was no wind-up, no warning, the quick claw just allowed her to use the move in the blink of an eye.

Jitters' attack hit, taking down the ghost in a single blow, yet he was left with his own energy rapidly draining due to the curse.

"I wasn't expecting a quick claw," Finn commented.

"Sometimes you just need to put a curse on the opponent's sweeper," Anthony answered as he recalled Hecate. "Poseidon, you're up!"

A hulking creature emerged from the pokéball, its body covered in white chitin. It stood on a pair of one-toed legs, its incredibly top-heavy form looming above Jitters. It had two huge arms, ending in two claws each, with four smaller arms attached to its torso. Two red antennae sprouted above its multifaceted black eyes. As it emerged into the sunlight, its form shone for just a brief moment. There was a silk bag attached to a silver chain hanging from its hunched form. Finn had no idea what he was looking at.

"Jitters, sticky-,"

Before he could finish the command, the massive creature had blitzed across the battlefield and slammed both of its oversized claws into Jitters' back. In an instant, Jitters was down for the count.

"Sorry Finn, I'm not going to let you set up any hazards while the only pokémon I have that can remove them is out." Anthony shrugged. On the battlefield his bug-type chittered, shifting its huge weight. It was looking warily at Finn.

"Did you teach it to do that as soon as it exited its pokéball?" Finn asked.

"Kind of? Golisopod are naturally very aggressive, and their signature move first impression lets them go ridiculously fast for a little bit, but it loses all effect if the target sees it coming. It also stuns the target, so even if Jitters had survived he wouldn't have put up the webs. Weird stuff." Anthony scratched the back of his head. "It took a lot of work to get him calm enough to spend time with me without anything getting absolutely destroyed. I think it was worth it."

Then it clicked. "Oh my god, I just realized. Golisopod evolves from wimpod, right?"

"Yep. Golisopod are notoriously dangerous catches in the wild, but I caught Poseidon while he was a wimpod. They don't fight, they just run," Anthony said. "Imagine my surprise when he turned out to be shiny, too!"

"I recognize that pokémon!" Finn put one hand on his head in surprise. "I nearly tripped over it while I was heading into Skolar!"

"That's right where I caught him!" Anthony laughed. "No way!"

"Small world," Finn said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I'm just… shocked. What an amazing coincidence. Sorry. Let's get back to the battle."

Finn picked his next pokémon carefully. He needed to get rid of this thing quickly, especially after that display of raw power. He wanted to save Belle for something else, like Anthony's own machamp. She was raring to go against him. Plus, Poseidon was a bug type, and they resisted fighting. Better, then, to send out Nyx to hopefully down it with one acrobatics.

"Nyx, acrobatics!"

"Aqua jet it!"

The golisopod encased itself in water, rocketing towards Nyx. Its blow sent her flying backwards into the air, but failed to knock her out. She flipped in the air, using the momentum to circle back around and slam her tail into the golisopod. The gem on her necklace flashed, and Nyx hooked her tail under the bug type's arm and did a front flip, slamming it into the dirt hard.

And the golisopod got back up.

It glared directly at Finn, then turned into red energy and recalled itself.

"In case you're confused, golisopod's ability is the same as its previous evolution, except someone decided that 'wimp out' wasn't a fitting name for such a big pokémon." Anthony explained at Finn's confused look. "It's called exit strategy, and it's… okay, I guess? It does refresh first impression though."

"Oh. Great." Finn grimaced. He wasn't looking forwards to the second iteration of that massive blow.

"Anyways, Hades!" Anthony sent out his fourth pokémon.

A canine form coalesced from the flash of light, its bone white horns arcing backwards. The houndoom howled as it entered the battlefield. It had a pair of yellow glasses with red lenses on its face, taped onto the sides of its head. It would have been rather funny, if Finn didn't recognize the glasses as a pair of choice specs.

"Nyx, bulldoze it!"

"Hades, jump the bulldoze then flamethrower!" Anthony commanded.

Nyx slammed the ground, a shockwave of raised earth rippling out in a concentrated wave towards the houndoom. The fire type leaped over the ripple of earth, fire licking at its jaws. It opened its mouth and a concentrated stream of flames erupted forth. The attack struck Nyx in the chest, and she was down in seconds.

"Nyx, return." Finn rolled her pokéball in his hand for a moment, then swapped it for the oldest ball on his belt. "Athena, you're in."

Athena entered the battlefield with a triumphant flourish. She assessed the situation and immediately knew what Finn wanted. This was going to be interesting.

"Hades, you know the drill."

Finn didn't even bother giving a command. He didn't need to. Athena knew what he wanted. So she took the flamethrower head-on, blocking most of it with her shield. Her weakness policy flashed, energy flooding over her whole body as it reacted to her taking damage from the flames. Then she unsheathed, lunging forwards with blue energy glowing along the edge of her blade. The sacred sword slammed into the dark type and knocked it out instantly, sending the houndoom skidding across the dirt.

"Is that a weakness policy?" Anthony asked as he recalled his houndoom.

"Yep." Finn nodded.

"That's genius, actually. Aegislash being so slow would let its opponent almost always hit with a super effective move." Anthony gave an appreciative nod. "Alright, Janus! Sweeper protocol!"

Anthony's girafarig appeared on the battlefield, pawing at the dirt. It had a reddish sash around its neck, and Finn wasn't quite sure what it was.

Athena put both of her sashes in front of herself and concentrated, bending light into a single concentrated point that then fired off in a single beam towards the girafarig. The girafarig, in response, reared back and sent a pulse of blue energy at Athena. It hit the aegislash squarely, then returned with a charge of red energy flowing around it. Only then did the flash cannon hit, slamming into the girafarig with enough force to send it skidding across the arena.

Finn was sure that the psychic type was down for the count, except that then it got back up. The sash on its neck had bleached of color, and Finn realized that it had been a focus sash. Designed specifically for this purpose.

The girafarig flipped its head back, tossing a crimson cylinder made of concentrated energy into the air. The psychic type recalled itself, replaced immediately with Poseidon the golisopod. The bug caught the cylinder and absorbed it, then hurtled across the battlefield before Athena could react. Its claw slammed into her blade and she crashed to the ground.

Finn recalled Athena and shook his head. "Was that power swap?"

"Yessiree!" Anthony tucked his thumbs into his pockets and grinned widely. "Normally useless, but one of the most common strategies I'd seen people use was to throw a bunch of power increases on one pokémon and then use just that pokémon. At the very least, Janus can steal their buffs and then lose them when they goes down, and if we're lucky they can baton pass those buffs to someone else. I'm proud of that one."

Finn nodded. He was impressed. He hadn't thought moves like power swap were useful, but clearly they had a use he hadn't anticipated. "Alrighty then. Bastion!"

He sent the toxapex back onto the field. His wounds had sealed somewhat, though he was still burned from that will-o-wisp earlier. The curse had faded, though, and he had snapped out of his confusion whilst in the pokéball. Bastion opened the back of his dome and spoke to Finn. The golisopod didn't seem to notice, just rushing down Bastion with its claws glowing. It was much slower when it wasn't using first impression.

"Yo, a golisopod? These things are so stupid. Like, attack anything that moves stupid," Bastion commented.

"Bastion, baneful bunker," Finn said pointedly.

"Oh, right." The toxapex slammed his tentacles closed, purple energy radiating off of him. When Poseidon's attack scraped off, he opened his back again. "I could beat this thing with my eyes closed."

"Then poison jab it," Finn said, pointing.

"Yep, yep."

Bastion reared back to strike, only for the golisopod to swing its claws under his dome and strike directly at his head. Bastion hissed in pain, but closed his tentacles around the golisopod's arm instead of recoiling. Two tentacles reared back, then slammed into the bug's face with all the might a toxapex could muster.

Poseidon went down, while Bastion – despite his burns – was still standing.

"See?" Bastion said, his voice strained. "Piece of cake."

"Return." Anthony recalled his pokémon. "I only have Janus and Ares left, and Janus wouldn't take much more than a light breeze to down. I'm not giving up yet, though. Ares, it's down to you!"

"Bastion, return." Finn also recalled his pokémon. "Belle, your turn!"

Both machamps arrived on the field and warily sized each other up. Ares puffed himself up to seem bigger, while Belle tucked her arms in to make a smaller target. He saw immediately what Ares' item was: a black belt to boost fighting type moves. Expected, but not a bad choice at all.

"Ares, like we practiced!"

Ares dropped into a tight stance, ready for what was coming.

Ready he needed to be, as Belle launched forwards with a power-up punch. They had practiced too, and the go-to strategy Finn had decided on was to use power-up punch as a default, then transition into something else as the battle progressed.

And yet every attack missed. It was like Ares was just a second ahead each time.

Finn furrowed his brow. There had to be a reason that Anthony had avoided calling out an actual move. Some subterfuge he had pulled. Finn just needed to figure it out.

Now that he was watching, he saw that some blows actually did hit. In between bouts of incredible dodging, Ares would attempt to throw a punch or two. Well, not so much attempt as land. They always hit. And when Finn looked closer, he saw the swirling energy around the other machamp's fists. Dynamic punch. Belle couldn't take too much of this. It was already miraculous that she hadn't done something to hurt herself in confusion.

It was the unerring accuracy of Ares' blows that clued Finn in to Anthony's plan. It was surprisingly simple, once you knew what to look for.

"Belle, he's no guard. Use mega kick!" Finn cried out across the arena.

Belle shoved herself away from the other machamp and jumped into the air. She raised one leg and slammed it down in an axe kick, driving it down on Ares' head. Or she would have, if he hadn't slipped out of the way just beforehand. His eyes flashed green for just an instant when he dodged, which was what had given the strategy away.

"And again!"

Belle jumped again, slamming both of her feet into Ares with all her might. The force of the drop kick sent the other machamp stumbling backwards, where he stood for a moment with a confused look on his face. Confusion slowly turned to respect, and then he hit the ground in an unconscious heap.

Anthony sighed, recalling Ares. "What gave it away?"

"The flashes in his eyes," Finn said, walking across the battlefield. He unclipped Belle's harness, putting it in the container as he pulled a burn heal out of his bag. "You should probably give him sunglasses, to hide the use of detect better."

"That's a good idea." Anthony nodded. He sighed. "Looks like I've got a ways to go to match up to you. You didn't even send out your sixth pokémon, and you still had three ready to fight."

"Hey, you did great. I was genuinely caught off-guard by a lot of the tricks you pulled," Finn said. He sprayed the burn heal on Belle's burns. The wounds slowly soothed from the angry red of a burn, but they didn't quite heal. "Why weren't you using mega kick for damage once you saw that Belle wasn't affected by the confusion?"

"Don't have the TM." Anthony shrugged, walking across the field to Finn. "It's expensive and I just don't have the kind of money I need for that."

"Well then…" Finn reached into his bag and pulled out a plastic case with a disc inside. He offered it to Anthony. "You can have mine. I don't need it anymore"

"I…" Anthony took the disc reverentially. "Thank you."

"It's nothing." Finn waved him off. "I wasn't going to use it, and I don't need the money from selling it."

"Hmm…" Anthony turned the disc over then quickly ran over to his own bag. He pulled out a sash with an orange and red gradient coloration, then ran back over to Finn. "Here. It's not much, but I figure I gotta give you something in return. You did win, after all."

"A focus sash…" Finn took the sash. Truth be told he could have gotten one himself when he went shopping, he just hadn't considered it a priority. "You have a spare?"

"Yeah. I got two in case Poseidon would need one to activate his ability, but it turns out golisopods are incredibly durable. Like, absurdly hard to hurt." Anthony shrugged. "Silver powder works better, since it boosts the damage first impression does. I'd go for a life orb, but those are insanely expensive and I'm not sure Poseidon would like it much. He gets spooked easily, and if he started hurting out of nowhere that could seriously scare him."

"Huh. I guess wimpod doesn't get much braver when it evolves. It just changes its reaction." Finn tucked the focus sash in his bag, then extended his hand. "Good battle, Anthony."

"Good battle." Anthony took his hand and shook.

It was at this point that applause interrupted them, and a deep voice spoke across the field.

"Bravo! Bravo! That was an amazing battle! Very clever strategy on both sides!"

Finn and Anthony both turned to see a man walking towards them from the League HQ. He was tall, and wiry, but in that incredibly strong way that many martial artists had. He was wearing a simple outfit, composed of a loose short-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. His hair was black with streaks of gray, cut short. The man's face was obscured by a mask that covered everything but the mouth, the top and sides of the mask spiking out and upwards. Spiraling red patterns danced up the left side of the mask while gently flowing blues climbed the right side. Where the two patterns met was a circular gem with a rainbow of colors, a black double-helix floating in the center of the stone.

Finn recognized that voice. He recognized the mask.

That was the champion.

"What amazing young trainers we have these days!" The champion exclaimed as he walked closer. He was only a bit taller than Anthony, and taller than Finn by a bit more than that. "Tell me, what are your names?"

"Anthony Nelson, sir." Anthony stood up straight, his eyes sparkling. "It's an honor to meet you, Champion Tanner."

"Finnegan Ferris," Finn introduced himself, waving. "You probably already knew that, though."

"Indeed I did. Athena's boy has been making waves in the League, and we're quite excited to see what he can muster." The champion smiled. "And you, Anthony, are the one who challenged the elite four earlier today, yes?"

"Yes sir." Anthony nodded. "I didn't get as far as I wanted, though."

"Nik's newest acquisition, right?" The champion asked rhetorically. "I wasn't able to watch, but I did hear Nik's excited retelling. They've been quite excited to see it in battle. What did you think?"

"I think it's better to leave it as a surprise for Finn." Anthony shot a sidelong glance and a cheeky grin at Finn.

"An excellent idea," The champion said. "I must apologize for spoiling myself when it comes to your teams – I heard that there were two ace trainers battling outside and I simply had to see for myself. Believe me, I was not disappointed."

"I'm glad we could entertain," Finn said. Something about the champion was familiar, moreso than just as the champion. He had heard that voice in person. Many times, in fact. "I'll be challenging the elite four tomorrow, and I've got a few more tricks up my sleeves than I used here."

"I hope so!" the champion laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Here's hoping you make it all the way."

And with that, Champion Tanner turned and walked back into the Pokémon League HQ.

"I really look up to that man," Anthony confided. "I can't believe I got to-," His voice cracked. "Sorry, I'm just excited. I got to talk to the champion!"

"I understand." Finn nodded, smiling. "I'm going to battle him tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Anthony asked. "It won't be easy getting past the elite four."

"I know." Finn shrugged, patting Belle on the shoulder. "But I've got a good feeling about it."

A/N:

At last, we arrive at Victory Road. The pinnacle of a trainer's career. It's been a long time in the works, but we're finally here.

Anthony is back, showing his mettle as a rival. He's come a long way since we first met him, and he'll climb even further before his career is over. Anthony stands as a good counterpoint to Darrell - both have lost just about every battle with Finn, and they've both got a reason to battle him at every turn. But while Darrell became bitter, Anthony saw it as a reason to better himself. No spoilers here, but Anthony will have more presence in the coming chapters than he has in the story so far.

The strategy Anthony's machamp uses is inspired/directly stolen from Borne of Caution, which is really good and if you're on this site you've probably already read it and know where it comes from. I do feel like adding in the ability no guard changes it enough to make it mine, but your opinion may differ.

As far as names go, Petrus is named after the Latin word petra, which means stone. Fitting name for a rock specialist. He's not a major character, but I figured I might as well share. The last names of all of those famous characters at the top of the chapter are from either their names in other media or fanon.

Anthony's last two team members are Poseidon and Hades, named after the Greek gods of the sea and the underworld respectively. I actually planned for that shiny wimpod from chapter 19 to wind up in Anthony's possession since I introduced it, although I wouldn't blame you if you doubt that given that it's been literally years since I wrote that chapter.

I know it's a bit late to introduce a character as important as the champion but there's a reason for that: I had no idea who I wanted the champion to be back when I wrote the first thirty chapters of the story.

Next chapter is the elite four and the champion. It also contains the last full-on pokémon battle I have planned for the series. There will be battles, but none of them will be League regulated.