Sheer Cold

They begin to notice.

The power that protected them before no longer exists.

It is now as it was back then.

After telling everyone that they wanted to talk to Oliver about his Smeargle, Hannah and Kyle stepped outside of Kyle's box. Some of their friends seemed troubled that they were apparently investigating him, but they also gave the pair some support. Jordan wanted to go with them, but he and Fireball were busy preparing for their upcoming match.

Hannah and Kyle had some time before Jordan and Thomas began their match to talk to Oliver about what Hannah had discovered. Hannah didn't know exactly where Oliver was, but it shouldn't have been too hard to find him. She led Kyle through the halls of the stadium and considered taking him by the wrist. He was moving sluggishly.

"You should be more excited," Hannah said, prodding him. "We're about to expose the guy that beat us. Who knows? If it turns out he did cheat, we might get spots back in the tournament."

"Even if that happens, there's no way the CPP can afford to make all those changes," Kyle said. "At most, he'll just be disqualified."

Hannah sighed. "I have to say, I really hate this side of you. You were so optimistic and friendly when Jordan introduced me to you and everyone else."

"Yeah, you said something along those lines already. Can we just get this done?"

Hannah breathed deeply. It's alright. He'll be back to normal once this is all over. Then I won't have to worry about accidentally kicking him.

They checked Oliver's box, but he wasn't there, only his family. They told the two of them that Oliver had gone to talk to some other contenders. Hannah and Kyle roamed the many floors of the stadium, searching. They focused on checking all of the food areas first, then moved on to some of the more open areas where large groups could talk.

Eventually, they found him on the balcony on the top floor, chatting with a cluster of other trainers. Hannah recognized them all, as they were all participants in the tournament. Only one of them, not including Oliver, was still in the running.

Oliver was the first to see them. He raised his head and waved, causing Kyle to shrink back a bit. Hannah snorted and discreetly motioned for him to keep walking.

The others in the group turned to face them. Hannah confidently stepped over, keeping her eyes straight ahead, trained on Oliver.

Oliver stopped talking with his friends and tilted his head as she approached.

"Hey," he said. "Need something?"

Hannah went straight to the point. "Hey, you remember us?"

Oliver smirked. "Yeah, you're both people I beat, right? I hope you're not . . . uh . . . upset. You're not here for revenge, are you?"

A few people snickered. Kyle shrank a little more.

"Oh, no," Hannah said. "Don't worry."

"So, are you here for an autograph? Or maybe a number?"

Oh, this guy. Hannah had never put so much effort into preventing herself from rolling her eyes.

"I'd like to see your Smeargle, if that's all right," Hannah said.

Oliver's eyes twitched. "We're not allowed to release Pokemon here, remember? Sorry."

"It'll only be for a quick second, and there's nobody else up here," Hannah said. She avoided talking about the paintbrush. If it really was different from a normal Smeargle's paintbrush, Oliver would want to try and hide it if he knew Hannah was suspicious. She needed Oliver to release his Pokemon.

"Sorry, I don't think Monet wants to come out right now," Oliver said.

Hannah stifled a sigh. So, he was already suspicious. She hadn't played it careful enough. She tried to think of a new approach that might convince Oliver to show off his Smeargle, but while she was deep in thought, Kyle stepped forward.

"She needs to measure it," Kyle said. "She's a bit of a Pokemon obsessor. One of the things she wants to do is make a record of all the largest and smallest Pokemon from every species."

Hannah paused and hid a small grin. So, he was curious, too, after all?

Oliver loosened his shoulders. "Oh. Well, uh, there's still a rule. . ."

"Please?" Hannah asked. "I don't see security up here often. You'll be fine."

Oliver sighed heavily. "Fine."

A few of the others starting talking and chuckling amongst each other. They began walking back inside the building.

"Hey, Oliver, we'll be going downstairs for food," one said. He beckoned toward Kyle and dropped his voice slightly. "Hey, kid, come with us. Let's leave them alone, yeah?"

Hannah clenched a fist. They knew how to support their friend, she could give them that. Jordan, who usually made it clear that Hannah was taken, wasn't around, but Kyle's presence should've at least been able to prevent them from believing Hannah was available for Oliver. It was infuriating.

"No thanks," Kyle said. "I have somewhere else to be."

The other trainer narrowed his eyes as the group disappeared inside the stadium, leaving Hannah, Kyle, and Oliver outside in the bright sun.

"You have a tape measure or something?" Oliver asked as he brought out his Poke ball.

"I have a good eye," Hannah said.

Oliver pressed his thumb against the center button on the Poke ball, releasing Monet onto the balcony. The Pokemon materialized crouched on the ground, then rose, brandishing its paintbrush. Hannah fought the urge to smile as she saw that its brush didn't look like it should, as she'd suspected. Its tail, which should've been its brush, was swishing behind it.

The brush it was holding looked almost . . . mechanical. It shone a dark silver in the sunlight.

"Its brush looks a little strange," Hannah said, trying to appear oblivious as she kneeled beside the Smeargle.

"It's not its normal one," Oliver said. "It's a special item, like that harness your Eevee has." He gestured to Kyle.

"What's it do?" Hannah asked.

"Nothing, really. Monet actually doesn't like using its tail for attacks," Oliver said with a light laugh. "It's just an alternative that has the same use as its tail."

It had gotten through security, too. Hannah could feel Kyle staring at the back of her head, but she wasn't going to give up just yet. There had to be more to it, something Oliver wasn't telling them.

"I was wondering something," Hannah asked while she pretended to appraise Monet's height.

"What's that?" Oliver asked.

"How much special attack power does Monet have?"

Oliver snorted. "You're wondering about Blizzard?"

"Yeah."

"I've trained it pretty well, modestly speaking," Oliver said. "I don't know the exact stat, but it's definitely up there."

That just couldn't be right. Hannah gritted her teeth and kept asking questions.

"Why doesn't your Smeargle like to use its tail?" she asked.

"Have you looked at Monet enough?" Oliver asked dryly.

"Could you answer my question?"

"Okay, that's enough," Kyle said. He faced Oliver. "Sorry for bothering you. Come on, Hannah."

"What's going on here?" Oliver asked angrily, returning his Smeargle to its Poke ball.

"She thought you might've cheated, so she wanted to check and make sure nothing suspicious was going on," Kyle said. "I humored her, but as I told her, nothing's wrong."

Hannah shot a glare at Kyle, then turned back to Oliver. "It's just not possible. No move can make a Pokemon faint with just one hit."

"Monet must be much higher than everyone's Pokemons' levels, then," Oliver said with a shrug. "It's not the move itself that has anything to do with it."

"We get it," Kyle said. "We'll leave you alone." He turned to leave.

Hannah had one last method she could try. It was a bit childish and underhanded, but it might do the trick.

"We'll just have to ask the CPP to take a look into it," Hannah said.

Oliver scoffed. "You really think they'll listen to you?"

"He works for them," Hannah said, pointing at Kyle. "And do you think people won't complain once you've won the tournament by defeating every opponent you faced with one attack?"

Oliver hesitated and averted his gaze. Kyle took notice and paused.

Got him.

"You didn't think about that, did you?" Hannah asked.

Oliver caught himself and shrugged again. "I'll just use an attack that won't defeat my opponent in one hit."

Hannah grinned. "Why would you actively try to avoid rousing suspicion if you had nothing to worry about?" she asked.

Kyle had turned back around and was staring at Oliver as the trainer fumbled with his words, trying to recover.

"I don't have anything to worry about," Oliver insisted. But it would be nice if people didn't get on my back because I crushed the competition so badly."

"Either way, if enough people like me think you're cheating, the CPP will step in," Hannah said.

"They won't find anything."

"Oh? Then I guess you really do have nothing to worry about." She turned back towards the stadium and began walking. Kyle followed her.

Oliver ran forward and placed himself between them and the entrance, his brow furrowed.

"I can't let you tell them," he said.

Hannah glanced at Kyle. His gaze had become more and more determined as Oliver had started revealing too much. The look on his face was serious, unlike the lazy expression he'd been holding a few minutes earlier. Hannah must've convinced him by now.

"What can you do about it?" Hannah asked Oliver. "If you've cheated, that's it. You're through. Maybe you should've thought about it before trying."

"Please, you just can't."

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "Why not?"

"I. . ." Oliver paused. "I might get arrested."

Hannah and Kyle were both speechless for several moments.

"Arrested?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah," Oliver said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Don't worry about the details, alright? Just don't tell–"

"You were a part of Team Dominion," Kyle said.

Oliver stopped dead mid-sentence. Hannah turned to Kyle, her mouth hanging open.

"How did you–" Oliver began.

"What other Pokemon-related crime could get you arrested?" Kyle asked. "So, it's true, then? You were one of them?"

Oliver gritted his teeth. "Don't put it like that. It isn't as if I supported them."

"So you just bought their products because . . ?"

Oliver sighed. "I wasn't asking for much when the CPP sent out the first wave of Pokemon," he said. "I would've taken something like a Spearow or a Bidoof. But I got a Smeargle. You've never heard of a trainer who wins a lot of battles using a Smeargle, have you?"

"Your strength relies almost entirely on the Pokemon you fight," Kyle said. "You'd only have one move to use for a long time, and if you Sketch a poor one, it'll be even harder to make an opportunity to Sketch the next one."

"Exactly," Oliver said. "Monet couldn't gain experience as fast as everyone else's Pokemon. By the time it had learned a second Sketch, it didn't have a shot of surviving our opponent's first move."

"Don't you have friends?" Hannah asked. "Couldn't you have gotten someone else to let you Sketch their move?"

"None of my friends received Pokemon," Oliver said. "And yeah, I asked some, but I guess they too insecure to give me a good move and a fighting chance. So I made some new friends."

"Team Dominion was a group led by a fanatic that actively tried to find a way for Pokemon to hurt humans," Hannah said.

"I know, and I'm glad they were stopped and captured before they could go too far," Oliver assured them. "However, they were offering a chance that I could use to get a new Pokemon. I don't care if they were criminals. If they're offering something like that, I won't refuse."

Kyle chuckled. "You just made fun of some other people for being insecure, yet you joined a criminal organization so you could beat others in a friendly competition."

Oliver narrowed his eyes. "You, along with the rest of the world, should know by now that this whole thing is more than just a game. Pokemon have rewritten the course of humankind. Soon, the only thing that will matter is how strong your partner is."

Hannah wasn't sure about that last part, but she had to agree that Pokemon battling was transcending beyond the friendly competition. She knew for a fact that Kyle thought the same, too.

"So, what happened, then?" Hannah asked. "You still have Monet. Did you never get a chance to use a Dominance Ball?"

"I never got one," Oliver said. "They were too high in demand."

Kyle cocked his head. Hannah remembered how his story of infiltration had gone. While going undercover, Kyle had joined Team Dominion and received a Dominance Ball almost immediately. Perhaps it boiled down to pure luck, then, or maybe location. Regardless, it explained why Oliver still used his Smeragle.

"What was it that you got from them, then?" Hannah asked. "Was it that brush Monet holds?"

"That and a special TM," Oliver said. "Since they couldn't get me a Dominance ball, I talked to someone working for them, and I managed to persuade him to cut a deal. If I couldn't get a stronger Pokemon, I'd find a way to make Monet stronger. It worked out well, in the end, after all the Dominance balls started failing.

"The TM was called Sheer Cold. It's a move that can make Pokemon faint with one hit. It's very inaccurate, though, but this brush is special. It can guarantee that every move Monet uses hits its target."

With that, Hannah completely understood everything that had confused her about Monet's odd power.

"You son of a bitch," Hannah said. "You actually had the guts to enter a tournament like this with those things? Are you kidding me?"

"Look, I'll forfeit, alright?" Oliver said, holding up his hands. "I'm sorry. Just stay quiet about all this.

Hannah mulled it over. Were they going to get him arrested? He'd done a few bad things, sure, but Team Dominion was gone, and he hadn't done anything as bad as using a trans-attack. She didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble, and Oliver said he would forfeit. If he didn't, Hannah and Kyle could just let the CPP know of Oliver's cheating at any time.

She was content with letting him go. She turned to Kyle to ask if he thought the same, but one look at him told her that he was going down a vastly different line of thinking.

"No," Kyle said.

Oliver paused. "What?"

"No, I'm not going to let you get away that easily. I know what it feels like to get less than what you thought you were getting, but you intended to steal someone else's Pokemon. Then, you came to this tournament that's been advertised around the country and decided to use the illegal items you wrongfully received. No, I'm not going to let you just forfeit. I don't care if you get arrested. I'm still going to tell people what you've done. You'll get what you deserve, and the people who worked hard to get here only to be swept by you will get the satisfaction they deserve."

There's that sense of justice, Hannah thought with a smile. His words and intentions might've been a bit much for her, but she hadn't seen him this energized in almost a week. It was refreshing.

Oliver scowled. "Why can't you just let it go?" he asked.

Kyle started walking forward, looking past Oliver toward the door leading inside. Oliver snarled and reached inside his pocket for his Poke ball before releasing Monet.

"Sheer Cold!" he shouted.

Without hesitation, Monet pointed its mechanical brush at Kyle and unleashed a wave of freezing air. Hannah wasn't worried, but as she watched, Kyle's skin began to freeze over. Kyle's eyes opened wide with panic as he jumped to the side to escape the cloud. He stumbled and lost his balance, falling onto the floor, shivering.

Hannah stood still, shocked. She glanced at Oliver, who, peculiarly, seemed just as surprised as she was.

Once she regained her state of mind, Hannah rushed over to Kyle. He was taking shaky breaths while he curled up, rubbing his arms with his hands. Flakes of ice stuck to his skin.

"What did you do?" Hannah shouted at Oliver.

Oliver's jaw hung open. He closed it, thought for a moment, then said, "Monet, Sheer Cold again."

Hannah froze. What was he thinking?

Monet raised its brush once again, pointing it at Hannah. Before it could send out the attack, Hannah heard a clang beside her. It was Eve's Poke ball. The Eevee sprung from captivity and rushed toward the Smeargle, striking it with Double Kick before it could manage to fire off another blast of Sheer Cold.

Eve appeared to have also been affected by the Sheer Cold that had hit Kyle. Patches of ice were in its fur, and it was moving slightly slower than normal, but it was still standing and ready to fight. Hannah sent out Oscara to support it. The Eevee and the Blissey stood side by side before Monet, prepared to protect their trainers.

Jordan looked over his shoulder one last time as he stepped out onto the center battlefield, Thomas entering from across the room. Hannah hadn't come to see him off like she usually did. Maybe the thing she had to do with Kyle was taking a bit longer than she'd thought it would.

Oh, well. He hoped she would at least make it in time to see him take his revenge. He grinned at Thomas, who smiled back as he slipped his headphones over his ears.