In our last episode, Aaron took the lead after being the first and only person to defeat the first gym so far. But with the other teams reaching the other settlements, it's only a matter of time before the competition gets heated!


It was eight in the morning and Seth was bouncing towards the gym, his team lagging behind as they followed him, half asleep.

"Come on guys! You can't hold me up, I have a gym to get to!" shouted Seth, startling many half-awake pedestrians around him.

"Maybe you should when until we're actually fake," said Connor, too tired to speak properly.

"I agree, your Pokémon would probably be sleepy as well. Isabelle and Peter are tired," said Theo.

Seth paused for a moment, thoughtful. "Hmm, you're right. I know, nothing like a good jog to wake anybody up!"

He sent out Champ and Arianna. Champ gave him a sleepy look and settled down to sleep while Arianna seemed to have less than infinite.

"Okay guys, we're going to jog to the gym. Our, flop to the gym if you have flippers."

His team as well as Champ groaned. Seth clapped his hands and set off at a brisk jog. His teammates shook themselves and hurried off after him.

Five minutes later

By the time Seth and his teammates were wide awake and a bit exhausted. Seth took a moment to breathe before looking up at the grand gym stadium.

"Here we are! The dark type gym!" declared Seth.

"Shouldn't you train your Pokémon before going to the gym?" asked Theo.

"Naw, we shouldn't train too much, especially before a gym battle. I wouldn't want to tire them out before the big moment. That's why we trained a lot yesterday."

"So you're sure you're steady?" asked Connor.

"If you mean ready then of course! Let's go!"

They walked into the gym and immediately found themselves in a small, empty room save for a statue with a button and a door.

Seth walked over to the statue and pushed the button. Nothing happened, so he waited for a few moments. When nothing further happened, he shrugged and walked over to the door.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?" boomed a loud voice.

Seth jumped and turned around, he looked at the statue and realized it was the one who spoke.

"This is the dark type gym, there will be a gym challenge before you get to the gym leader. This one is simple, you have to traverse the next room in the dark. And the room is a maze. There will be three different switches in the next room, each one turns on a small light in that part of the room. Switch on all three lights and you can traverse to the gym room. Any questions?"

"Nope, let's do this!"

"Also, your Pokémon cannot be outside their pokéballs."

"They're not mine, they're just traveling alongside us as friends."

"I see, but they cannot be in the gym challenge with you. They'll be taken directly to the gym room."

The two Phantumps nodded and stayed behind as Seth and his friends went on into the gym challenge.

When they entered the room, Seth looked around.

"The statue wasn't kidding. It's pitch black in here. I'm guessing we'll have to feel our way around here."

Theo scoffed. "I imagine at any moment someone will walk directly into a wall."

"Most likely. Someone could talk in here with their eyes closed band there should be so difference," said Connor with a nervous laugh.

"You're stumbling over your words a lot," said Seth, noting the faint outline of Connor's hands fidgeting. "Are you nervous?"

"Course no! Hime ever scared of the bark!" said Connor indignantly.

Theo turned to Seth with an eyebrow raised. Of course, Seth couldn't see his doubtful expression.

"In any case, let's get going."

"R-right. The sooner I-we're pout, the sooner you fan battle the gym leader," said Connor nervously.

Theo clapped a hand on Connor's shoulder to make him feel better, but it turned out to be a mistake. Connor started forward like a frightened Deerling. He ended up running into a wall with a painful groan.

"I guess he can't deny not being scared anymore," said Theo.

"And it seems we have identified where the first turn is," said Seth with a wise nod of his head.

Twenty minutes later

After a few minor run-ins with a wall, Seth felt the path straighten out. As he slowly traversed the dark maze, feeling around the place. He wondered how the people watching would see him stumbling around as if he was blind, but he figured Pokéstar had special night vision cameras.

He reached a wall in front of him and groaned, thinking it was a dead end. He felt around the wall and felt a switch. Gasping with renewed hope, he flicked the switch and felt his eyes sear at the sudden burst of light after total darkness.

He heard his team groan at the burst of light as well. Seth rubbed his eyes and looked around him.

He realized that the space he was in was actually pretty big. It was a wide open space and could practically be a gym stadium compared to the small, cramped hallways they had to traverse.

A wall panel slid open and a trainer walked out. Seth turned in surprise and noticed the large pokéball painted on the floor and the gym uniform the girl was wearing.

"Oh, so you're a gym trainer huh? Well then, I'm ready to battle!" said Seth immediately.

"Such energy and excitement," noted the girl. "I like that."

She stood on one end of the circle and Seth stood at the other.

"Alright, I choose you, Shade Walker!"

"Go, Arianna!"

Shade Walker had turned out to be a Sableye. Seth smiled at the fact he thought Shade Walker was a pretty cool name, and that Arianna's Disarming Voice would be super effective rather than Champ's Double Kick.

"Alright Arianna, use Disarming Voice!"

"Shade Walker, use Protect!"

A barrier formed around the Sableye, blocking the sound waves from hitting him and instead caused them to bounce off and hit the surrounding area.

"Use Shadow Sneak!"

"Watch out! Aqua Jet!"

Arianna sped away towards Shade Walker as an evil looking shadow appeared behind her. The Sableye seemed to teleport as she neared it, but Seth knew it was simply swapping places with its shadow.

"Water Gun!"

Arianna whipped around and sprayed Shade Walker with a spray of water. The Pokémon simply raised a barrier and blocked the attack.

"Night Daze!"

A projection of the Sableye flew forward in a ghostly haze. Unable to move out of the way in time, the attack hit Arianna head on.

"Don't let that faze you! Aqua Jet!"

"Shadow Sneak!"

Seth however, expected the same dodging tatic and thought of a counter move. He saw Arianna fly past the shadow and knew it was time to act.

"Water Gun! Behind you!"

"Protect!"

"Disarming Voice!"

The first attack, Water Gun, hit the shield and caused a mountain of spray as it rebounded off. But Seth knew that using the water spray, he could cause Disarming Voice to be a tad bit bigger and stronger.

His plan was successful, the Disarming Voice had just enough reach to slam into the Sableye at full force and result in a critical hit.

Seth cheered as Shade Walker was momentarily stunned. Seeing her trainer's joy, Arianna felt happy herself and did a little flip before clapping her hands.

"Don't celebrate too early! Shade Walker, use Night Daze!"

"Aqua Jet!"

Arianna dodged the ghostly projection and charged straight at the Sableye. The Sableye immediately readied Shadow Sneak. Seth knew he wasn't going to get anywhere if he thought the trainer was going to do the same maneuver for the third time, but he couldn't risk any wild guesses, even if this wasn't the actual gym leader.

"Arianna, go in a circle!"

Arianna raced around in a circle, leaving both the opposing trainer and her Pokémon confused on when they should attack, or when Arianna will attack. But then Seth noticed the trainer following Arianna's movements.

"Reverse direction!"

In order to switch directions, Arianna would have to slow down, everyone in the room knew it. So Seth was very sure the trainer would command Shade Walker to attack. He saw the trainer's lips begin to move and sprung to action.

"Now Arianna. Attack!"

"Shadow- no wait! Protect!"

But it was too late, Arianna had slowed down considerably and was able to turn to meet the Sableye easily. She rammed into the Pokémon and sent him flying.

"Now finish him off with Disarming Voice!"

Arianna sang to her heart's content as pink sound waves surrounded Shade Walker. His original momentum plus the momentum from him being hit by Disarming Voice sent him flying into the ceiling. He fell to the ground and layed there, unmoving.

The trainer sent him back into his pokéball. "You got what it takes, kid. Good luck in the gym battle," she said as she slid open the wall panel she came from.

"Thanks, I won't disappoint." Seth turned to Connor. "How long has it been since we started?"

"Almost thirty minutes."

Seth groaned. "We're going to be here for a while aren't we?"

"And two more switches to have us seeing sun spots for years," remarked Theo.

Zeke's Group

Zeke was jogging back to the Water type gym with his Pokémon, Carolina at his side and Cyrus lagging behind.

"Why do we have to jog for so long?" complained Cyrus.

"We should train before entering the gym," answered Zeke.

"Couldn't you have done it super early before anyone else woke up? Mostly me?" persisted Cyrus.

"I wanted to make sure my Pokémon were fully awake. Or else they wouldn't be able to perform their best in training and in the gym. Building stamina is very important."

Cyrus stopped jogging and crossed his arms. "Where are your sources?"

Carolina spoke up. "I used to be an exercise physiologist. And what Zeke said is right."

Cyrus gave her a disbelieving look. "If you were an exercise physiologist, then why would you work here?"

"It was too stressful. I prefer adventure."

Zeke laughed. "Everyone takes a break from their normal life for some adventure."

"I didn't break from a normal life for a running adventure," muttered Cyrus.

"You're not running. You're jogging. If you want to run we can."

Zeke returned his Pokémon and clapped his hands. "Double time!"

He and Carolina took off, leaving Cyrus to eat their dust as he struggled to catch up.

Ten minutes later

Zeke and Carolina waited as Cyrus finally walked in. He gave all a glare and sat down on the floor.

"Don't be so surly. We waited for you," said Carolina with a hint of a smile.

Zeke laughed as Cyrus gave them dark looks. He walked up to the statue and pressed the button. He frowned for a moment as nothing happened and pressed it again.

"This thing isn't working," said Zeke.

Cyrus strode past him. "This is how you make it work."

He pushed the button at rapid speeds, the noise of clicking filled the entire room like a swarm of gnawing Raticates.

"WOULD YOU STOP! YOU'RE GIVING ME A HEADACHE!" shouted the statue suddenly.

Zeke, Carolina, and Cyrus all leaped back in fear. The statue's eye slits suddenly glowed red as the statue turned to face them.

"Everytime you press that dang button a stupid pager starts buzzing in my office! And then you guys decide to start pressing the button like a crazy five year old! Don't you know that I'm just a person behind the statue!"

"Well- I mean- I" stammered Cyrus.

"Well- I mean- I thought you were just a statue didn't you mister?" asked the statue with an accusatory tone. "Well I'll inform you that I have a job as a radio host, a wife, and two children. I am a perfectly normal human being like you! Is that clear?"

Cyrus nodded meekly, never expecting to be reprimanded by a statue.

"Seriously. Young people these days have no sense of patience. Anyways, this gym challenge is water based. On a shelf in the corner of the room are paddleboards, and we have a special area off to the side where you can change into swimsuits. You'll be paddleboarding to different islands in a large pool. On those islands, you'll have to open flood gates to proceed. Everyone know how to paddle board? It's pretty simple."

Zeke smiled. "I come from Alola, if you don't know how to do any water sport, you're not a true Alolan person."

"That seems a bit harsh," said Cyrus.

"That's only because you've never been there. Come on, let's change."

Ten minutes later

Zeke, Carolina, and Cyrus stepped into the gym challenge area. All of them were wearing full body swimsuits and holding paddle boards and paddles.

Cyrus was wearing one because he said he couldn't survive so far only to freeze to death, Carolina because she didn't want to be revealing her arms and legs to millions of people, and Zeke wore one simply because everyone else did.

They put their paddle boards in the water. Zeke got on his and put his paddle in the water as he stood. Up. Carolina and Cyrus watched in awe as he did the movements flawlessly.

"You weren't kidding," said Cyrus.

Carolina went next. She slowly got on and was pretty shaky. So she decided to use the paddle board while kneeling since that was an option.

Cyrus went last and struggled onto the paddle board. He didn't manage to properly sit on it and went tumbling into the water. After three more attempts, he finally managed to seat himself firmly, but he was drenched.

"I know I'm going to hate this," he muttered.

They started paddling out to the first island which was about twenty five meters away. Zeke started out easily and effortlessly, clearing the distance between him and the island quickly as he made quick and easy strokes.

Carolina didn't have nearly the same amount of success Zeke did, but she knew how to kayak, so she simply applied those skills to paddle boarding and slowly made her way.

By the time Carolina made it to where Zeke was, Zeke was already relaxing on the small island.

"Have you seen Cyrus?" he asked when she pulled her board to shore.

She turned around and looked at Cyrus, who was turning circles. He'd barely made any distance towards the island.

"Just turn the valve and open the gate."

Zeke shrugged and turned it. A low wall that stretched across the pool slowly sank into the water. A gym trainer on the other side appeared on top of a paddle board.

"Great job! But now, can you do a good job battling me?"

"Oh I'm ready alright," said Zeke.

"Then clear the island for it is the entire battlefield!"

Zeke jumped back onto his paddle board and Carolina got onto hers. Zeke maneuvered his paddle board so that he faced the battlefield. He saw the trainer did the same.

"Are you prepared?" asked the trainer.

"I've prepared."

"Alright then! Go, Buizel!"

"Out, Abba!"

As both Pokémon landed on the island. Zeke couldn't help but grin at Abba's beautiful pom-pom form. The trainer looked at the Oricorio warily, aware of the type disadvantage.

"You see. During my training, I found a nice flower shop off the side of the settlement that had all sorts of flowers. Including the flowers that allow Oricorio to transform into her four different forms. Seeing as this is a water gym, I simply chose the yellow flower, giving her the electric typing. Abba, use Revelation Dance!"

Abba did her little dance, sending out a huge volt of electricity. On the small battlefield, the Buziel wasn't going to be able to dodge it, and Zeke knew that.

Until it did something unexpected. The Buizel leaped into the water, tail spinning. The Revelation Dance missed the Pokémon entirely, leaving Zeke shocked.

"Hmm, I didn't expect the water surrounding the island to be counted as part of the battlefield. If Abba stays in the middle of the field, the Buizel will have to jump out to attack, unless it has ranged moves. I can't electrocute the water either because that would hurt a lot of people and damage the gym. He's got me here. Abba, get to the middle!"

Abba ran to the middle of the island, turning carefully as she scanned the water. Zeke knew the only way to defeat the Buizel was to get it out of the water, which would be a problem.

A movement in the water startled him, and he realized it was the Buziel. He saw how fast it moved using only its tail.

"If I could just get it out of the water momentarily. Abba, use Air Cutter!"

She sent out sharp blades of air, splashing the water around the Buizel, exposing its body. It dove down deeper into the water, completely avoiding the attack.

"No matter how sharp and swift the attacks are, they can't move that far underwater!"

"Exactly," said the trainer. "Buizel, use Water Gun!"

"Ready an Air Cutter Abba!"

The Buizel peeped out of the water and readied a Water Gun. It blasted the water at Abba, who sliced through the stream with Air Cutter. Before the cutters hit the Buizel, it sank back under water.

"Argh, I see this is how you want to battle."

They continued the same attacks twice, both sides going into a stalemate time and time again. Both sides knew this wasn't going to work.

"He knows that using Water Gun isn't working. Seeing as this is a Buizel, it'll only have physical moves that will put him in range of Revelation Dance. But he can't stretch out the battle forever, so I'll wait for him to make a move! Abba, get ready on standby!"

Abba remained where she was at, tense and ready. Zeke could see the frustration building on the trainer's face.

"Use Aqua Jet! Circle the Oricorio!"

Zeke understood the tactic, he stayed quiet and waited for the Buizel to spring out.

"Abba may be light on her feet, but at the Buizel's speed, it could attack from anywhere and she wouldn't be able to counterattack! Unless…"

The trainer saw his chance. Zeke seemed to be lost in thought and his Buizel, who'd sank into the water beyond sight, was behind Abba without her knowing.

"Now!"

"Abba, Revelation Dance, all around you!"

Zeke didn't have any idea where the Buizel was going to spring out from, so he decided this was a test to see how fast Abba could execute Revelation Dance, and if she could use it constantly.

Abba's arms and legs moved in a blur as she danced. Sparks of electricity flew off her as a wave of electricity spread around her..

The Buizel tried twisting around to head back into the water, but it was too late. The waves of electricity struck the Pokémon. It got to its feet and rushed to the water.

"Oh no you don't. Abba, block it off with Air Cutter!"

The sharp blades of air were lashed out in front of the fleeing Pokémon. It tried stopping by digging its feet into the ground, but he simply launched himself into the attack's path.

"Now finish it with Revelation Dance!"

In a flash of electricity, the Buizel fainted.

Zeke pumped his fists and almost jumped in delight before realizing he was on a paddle board. This led to him making an awkward half jump that sent his tumbling into the water as he waved his arms around. On the island, Abba whirled her own arms before falling onto the sand. Causing everyone to laugh.

"That was an intense battle," said Zeke as he dragged himself onto the island.

The trainer raised an eyebrow. "Really, well you're only halfway through the gym challenge."

Seth's Group

"Alright Champ! Finish it with a Double Kick!"

Seth's Nidoran raced forward and delivered two powerful kicks to an opposing Houndour. The Pokémon fainted at the force of the attacks and crumpled.

The trainer returned his Pokémon and walked up to Seth, his hand outstretched.

"Good job. You've defeated all three trainers and turned on all three lights. Good luck with the gym leader."

"Oh I won't need luck. Let's go guys!"

In the now fully brightened room, Seth and his team made their way to the front of the room. Three green lights now glowed at the top of the door, signifying they'd pressed all three switches.

"Are you ready?" asked Connor.

"I'm so ready. Let's do this."

Seth confidently pushed open the door and walked down the long gym hallway. His breath was taken away as he entered a large stadium with a substantial crowd. Seth felt himself wishing there were more people, but then remembered that the Insulae Region was the least populated region in the entire world.

He saw Peter and Isabelle in the crowd, and he also saw Connor, Theo, and their cameraman Darreth go up to meet them. Seth figured Darreth wouldn't need to be recording due to the two Roto Drones flying about.

Across the field, Seth saw a man walking towards him. He had dark skin, bright green eyes, black hair, and wore a black cap. Underneath the cape, he wore what looked to be a tunic from the olden days, and tough boots.

They met each other in the middle of the battlefield in a large pokéball shaped circle. The man extended his hand and Seth shook it.

"I'm Robert. I'm a twenty-four year old who is still a big fan of the olden days and the legend of the Original Dragon."

"I'm Seth, a big fan of battling and a nineteen year old who is about to mop the floor with you."

Robert gave a big laugh. "I see you got spunk. But do you have more bark or bite?"

"Let's see." With that, Seth and Robert walked back to their respective places on each side of the pokéball.

A referee came running up between them with two different colored flags. ONe was white, the other was black.

"White, black!" shouted the referee, pointing at Seth and Robert respectively.

"The rules are simple, this is a two versus two! Each trainer is allowed one switch! First trainer to lose both Pokémon loses! Are we ready?"

Both trainers nodded. Seth quickly selected his first pokéball as Robert did the same.

"Ready, begin!"

"Go, Arianna!"

"Out, Purrloin!"

The two Pokémon appeared facing each other. Seth could already hear commentary being rattled out by the announcer, but that was of little concern to him. He quickly studied the battlefield. He knew the Purrloin would have the advantage on land, unless Arianna was using Aqua Jet. but he needed to make sure he was using Disarming Voice to exploit Purrloin's fairy type weakness.

"Purrloin, use Pursuit!"

"Attack with Water Gun!"

Arianna sprayed a stream of water at the Purrloin as it got closer to her. The Pokémon yelped and leaped to the side before using Quick Attack, rushing straight at Arianna.

"Quick, use Aqua Jet to dodge!"

Arianna tilted off to the side and narrowly avoided the Purrloin. It sprang back and attacked from the right, causing Arianna to veer to the left. But then, the Purrloin suddenly sprang to the right, hitting Arianna straight on.

"Do you like it? My Pokémon are masters of acting without command and with vague commands. Can you keep up? Now Purrloin!"

Now Purrloin could mean anything. Seth realized what he was up against and knew he should react quickly.

"Disarming Voice!"

The "now" command turned out to be Thunder Wave. As the Purrloin prepared to use it, sparks dancing on its whiskers, Arianna sang a wave of pink sound. The Purrloin quit its attack and dodged the move.

"It seems this Pokémon relies on speed. I guess we'll have to outmatch it, Aqua Jet!"

Arianna raced around the room in a torrent of water. Robert simply snapped his fingers and his Purrloin took off after Arianna with Quick Attack.

As the Purrloin drew nearer, Seth knew it was time to change tactics.

"Arianna, Disarming Voice!"

Arianna flipped around and sang. The pink waves blasted into Purrloin and stunned her. Arianna dove straight at the Purrloin and slammed into it. Knocking it back a few feet.

"Impressive, I didn't expect your Popplio to be capable of using two moves at once."

"Oh don't you worry, you haven't been amazed yet. Arianna, Water Gun!"

"Purrloin, use Feint Attack!"

Seth tensed, he knew that the fient could come from anywhere. But then he realized if Robert's Pokémon were masters of acting without command, why would he command them to do a move that would have worked better without a command?

"Arianna, get ready for a feint!"

As the Purrloin drew nearer, Seth noticed a small burst of speed as its first foot hit the ground. He immediately recognized the move as Quick Attack.

"It's going for Quick Attack! Use a widespread Disarming Voice!"

Arianna sang at a high pitched tone. The Purrloin wasn't able to correct its false attack in time and ran right into the waves of sound, it was knocked back a greater distance and started to get up.

"Oh no you don't! We're finishing this! Aqua Jet!"

Arianna rushed forward and slammed into the Purrloin. She blasted it with Water Gun from underneath, causing it to rise up into the air from the force of the water. Before it could even touch the ground. Arianna sang her loudest Disarming Voice, the pink waves that poured out of her mouth were big and very visible. The waves slammed into the Purrloin and fainted it.

"Purrloin is unable to fight! Send out your last Pokémon!" he shouted, pointing his black flag at Robert.

"How's that for mastering acting without command?" asked Seth.

"I must say it was good," said Robert as he returned his Pokémon. "But noe, it is time for my ace! Go, Arthur!"

Robert sent out a Pawniard. The small Pokémon clanged its blades menacingly.

"A Pawniard? I would exactly call it a king," said Seth with a smirk on his face. He seriously hoped the people watching got a good laugh out of that. Like in actual televised gym battles, contestants usually wore microphones so viewers could hear what moves they were telling their Pokémon to use.

"Laugh all you want, but you won't be laughing when I take your Pokémon down!"

"Not unless I do this. Return Arianna. Go, Champ!"

As Arianna returned to her pokéball. The referee pointed the white flag at Seth.

"Seth has returned his Pokémon and is switching! He is out of switches for the rest of this match!"

Robert raised an eyebrow at Seth's choice. "A poison type? I thought you knew a lot about battling."

"It doesn't matter whether or not Champ is a poison type since your Pawniard can't learn any ground or psychic type moves at its level. What matters is that I have Double Kick! Use it Champ!"

Seth's Nidoran charged forward, ready to spring. The Pawniard took a step back and raised its blades.

"Metal Claw!"

"Watch out! Dodge it!"

Champ stopped his rush and leaped to the side. The Pawniard rushed at Champ who dodged again, but the Pawniard had switched his attack to Feint Attack. It saw Champ's movement and countereacted. Its blades glowing as it powered up Metal Claw.

"Horn Attack!"

Champ blocked the slash with his horn but still was knocked back. He got to his feet and snorted, shaking his head.

"Alright Arthur! Use Fury Cutter!"

Arthur charged at Champ. His blades glowing. Champ rushed at Arthur, his horn poised to strike.

The two Pokémon clashed, and clashed again. Seth then remembered Fury Cutter's special property.

"Champ, dodge instead of blocking!"

That turned out to be the right choice. Champ leaned back to avoid the next Fury Cutter, which was extremely powerful compared to the first three.

"Alright, Double Kick!"

"Feint Attack!"

Champ rushed at the Pawniard. Seth expected the Pawniard to fake the Feint Attack again. So when Champ was about to dodge an attack from the left, Seth was ready.

"Keep going! It's not a real Feint Attack!"

Unfortunately, Seth was wrong in this case. The Pawniard did use Feint Attack and hit Champ on the side.

"Dang it! There has to be some sort of hand motion or signal he gives to his Pokémon! But it doesn't seem like the Pawniard is watching his trainer! Is it pure chance? Or does the Pokémon make decisions completely on its own?"

"Arthur, use Metal Claw!"

Seth watched the Pawniard closely. It raised its blades and rushed at Champ. Seth could see a faint, dark aura around its blades.

"It's using Feint Attack! Dodge in the direction it's attacking!"

Right as he said that, he saw the Pawniard tilt its blade slightly, a metallic glint shone off its blade.

"It's using Metal Claw! Other direction!"

Champ dug his feet into the ground and leaped away right as the Pawniard struck. The crowd gasped at the near miss and Robert looked stricken.

"You've figured it out haven't you? Arthur, use Fury Cutter!"

Seth made sure to pay attention to the Pawniard. As he closed in on Champ, he saw the slight light green aura around the Pokémon's blades.

"Try to get the upper hand on him! Fury Attack!"

Champ rushed at the Pawniard and attacked. The attacked each other, with Champ letting out a fury of blows against Arthur's singular blows.

"That's enough! Dodge the next hit!"

Champ leapt back at the strong Fury Cutter. The Pawniard flipped around and Seth saw the metal aura around it.

"Dodge it again!"

Champ dodged the Metal Claw, and then dodge another. Seth read a Feint Attack and had Champ dodged it as well.

Even with all the dodging, Champ wasn't able to land a blow on the Pawniard. The Pawniard kept up its rapid series of attacks, and Champ was quickly tiring.

"Don't give up Champ, we can still win this!"

Champ snorted in affirmation, but still couldn't get a single hit in. He dodged attack after attack. Seth couldn't believe the stamina of the Pawniard.

"He's tiring Arthur! Use Metal Claw!"

Arthur leapt forward in an act of desperation, swinging his blades like a blender. Champ was too slow and exhausted to dodge it and was sent flying as the attack resulted in a critical hit.

Seth was worried, he hadn't switched to Arianna because he knew she'd be too slow. He saw Champ move and knew he should switch out.

"Champ, that's enough."

He was about to switch him out when Champ shook his head derisively. He slowly rose to his feet and stared down the Pawniard.

"Champ, you can't-"

Champ charged forward, he leapt into the air as he started shimmering. The entire crowd gasped as Champ's form started to shift.

Arthur took an involuntary step back as Champ evolved into a Nidorino. He slammed his horn into Arthur's body. The Pawniard went flying and hit the ground painfully.

"Finish it! Double Kick!"

Champ rushed forward and delivered two powerful kicks into the Pawniard. The force of the attacks, the Pawniard's fatigue, and the double super effective damage caused it to faint immediately.

"Purrloin is unable to fight! Seth is the winner!" he shouted, pointing his black flag at Robert.

Seth punched the air and cheered. Champ walked up to him and gave him a smug look. Seth rubbed his head and smiled.

"You my friend. Have a lot of determination."

Zeke's Group

Zeke walked through the gym hallway, ready. He crossed the gym stadium, eyes fixed on the person approaching him.

The person was a girl with blondish orangish hair and a yellow crop top. Zeke immediately recognized her as Misty.

They met each other in the middle and shook hands.

"You probably know who I am, so I'll keep this brief. I'm Misty."

"Zeke Enator."

"Well then Zeke, good luck."

They walked to their places in the field as the referee came.

"White, blue!" shouted the referee, pointing at Zeke and Misty respectively.

"The rules are simple, this is a two versus two! Each trainer is allowed one switch! First trainer to lose both Pokémon loses! Are we ready?"

Zeke gave a thumbs up as he chose Ga'hoole's pokéball.

The referee waved her flags excitedly. "Then let the battle, begin!"


And that is the end of the episode! Of course, this wouldn't be me if I didn't leave things on a cliffhanger. I'll be sure to speed up the posting of my chapters and episodes to end this cliffhanger!