Chapter Twenty Five – Evelina's Anvil
Joshua
The first defeat of the Quarter Finals had been a near-complete rout. The beautiful, indolent Casey Lynwood and her friend Morgan had been unlucky enough to face off against Lovelace and Winters; Josh had listened to the battle as it broadcast live on the radio, trying to revise strategy and take notes on the battle at the same time. Morgan's shock and awe tactics had fizzled, mercilessly dissected and destroyed. Good. Such wooden-headed, brutal tactics ought to fail, Josh felt.
Now he was waiting with Eve in the trainer's tunnel at Bywater Amphitheatre, waiting to start their battle against Sister Ginnie and Sister Mara. The double doors in front of them would soon open onto the Amphitheatre battlefield; the dull roar of muffled crowd noise filtered through. Josh took a calming breath, though he didn't really need to. He was actually feeling quite calm, about the imminent battle at least. Battles were straightforward. Being Melissa, on the other hand – he arched his back, almost automatically. These damn tits … He was finding himself resenting them more and more. The weight of them on his chest felt subtly wrong, somehow.
Josh discreetly observed Eve out the corner of his eye. She'd been unusually quiet all morning.
"You ready for this?" he asked casually – carefully, unsure what kind of mood she was in.
It seemed to take a moment for his question to sink in. "What? Er. I'm always ready!" she declared with a false hearty laugh.
"Eevee," Josh said gently.
"Um," Eve said, haltingly. She glanced away as if embarrassed. "A bit scared."
Hmm. That was a difficult admission for Eve. Now that he stopped to think about it, he'd never seen Eve nervous about anything. Except, perhaps, that one time in Azalea Town. Perhaps that was by design – wanting to be seen as the strong, cool-headed Joy, focused and determined while her male battle-companion tried to quash his nerves. Perhaps that was a matter of pride, unconsciously trying to prove something to her mother. Well, he understood something about that kind of pride. That blasted Glasswater fiasco …
That was a lot of "perhaps". He took another calming breath. He couldn't let her down, not in this.
"That's rather how I feel whenever I battle you," he said, matter-of-factly.
Eve gave him a strange look, blended surprise and disbelief. If she intended to reply she was immediately distracted by a reserved peal of chimes.
The tunnel doors were opening.
The ebullient mood in the Amphitheatre seemed to press down on Josh's head like the muggy heat before a thunderstorm. The elliptic sweep of the stands encompassed the empty expanse of the battlefield that lay a flat and featureless two hundred feet in front. All around the cheers and claps and chatter of the crowd showered down onto the oval field, all attention focused on the four Tigerlilies. Brandished Tigerlily flags in orange-and-white rippled and flapped. At the top of the stands the glass-walled commentator's box was full of radio technicians and assorted sports pundits.
Josh scanned the crowd from beneath the brim of his cloche, looking for the more august spectators. There was Whitney with her bubbly consoeurs. On the centre-right near to the front was Victoria Pemberton, her expression difficult to read. Next to her was the Sinnoh Champion, wearing her signature fur choker. Josh anxiously tugged and fussed at his sweater dress, hoping ardently that he looked convincing. For a lightning-stroke of a moment he didn't dare take another step – but then the sight of Eve out the corner of his eye reminded him of why he was there at all.
Ruthless. Calculating. Indomitable as a glacier. That crowd shall not daunt me. Lorelei never let any crowd daunt her, and neither would he, not now, not in this tournament. He forced himself to settle into that focused pre-battle calm, systematically tuning out all extraneous sensations. The crowd became a dull roar of white noise; he dropped his gaze to their opponents and away from the two champions. Sister Mara looked even more waif-like in daylight. Ginnie – Ginnie's clothes were rather tight for a nun. Hm. Just the sort of observation that Eve would love, but not at all useful for the battle. He touched the Poké Balls clipped to his bag in sequence, Ivysaur, Screwball, Fionn. They were going to lead with their respective aces, Josh with Ivysaur, Eve with Lyra.
The referee stepped forward into the centre of field, red and green flags in hand. Her assistants headed to either end of the field, checked to confirm that the Tigerlilies were ready, and took up stations on the sidelines. The referee flicked a flag into the air and strode from the field again.
"Here it comes!" Eve said in a taut voice, grabbing his hand.
"Mmhm," Josh said, squeezing her hand absently.
A faint shudder ran beneath their feet. There was a sharp clank, and the surface of the battlefield dropped down a few feet into the floor. Splitting in half, it smoothly retracted out of the way. A new field rumbled up from the void and locked into place with a final clank.
They'd drawn the Rock field. Black crags of cruelly sharp-edged basalt rose up from abrasive, sandy soil, terminating in jagged pinnacles. Patches of bloody-minded weeds clung to the coarse dirt. The field had a rather dry, stony smell, like old bone. A second, more critical, glance revealed that the apparently random topography was effectively symmetrical. The quadrant on their left was relatively flat and plain, rising to a dense range of rock on the right, an arrangement that was reversed on the opposite side of the field.
"With your permission, Lady Champion!" the referee announced, her voice boosted by the microphone around her neck. The noise of the crowd ebbed in response. "This Quarter Finals battle between the teams of Evelina Joy and Melissa Evans, Sister Guinevere and Sister Mara is about to begin -"
There were a lot of places to hide among the crags of rock, Josh noticed. Tough rock, not easily shattered.
"- simultaneous release! Ready your pokémon … and begin!"
Four opening Poké Balls clattered out a staccato rhythm – Ivysaur manifested in the shelter of the rock, keeping line of sight with his trainer. Sister Mara released a typically dour weezing, leaking wisps of brownish smog. Josh only faintly recognised Ginnie's first pokémon. It looked like a large gear, with two smaller gears fixed to the front face, in a sun-and-planet arrangement. The whole pokémon slowly rotated with itself, the sun-and-planet gears turning with each other. Eve scanned it with her Pokédex.
"Klang, the Gear Pokémon. The speed and direction of its rotation changes in relation to its intentions."
"It's a Steel-type," Eve said.
"Havoc?" Josh suggested. That was one of their strategic code words: Eve on the offence, Josh on the defence.
"Anvil," Eve insisted. Both of them on the defence.
"Weezing, Psybeam at Ivysaur!" a strident voice cried – Josh realised it belonged to the waif-like Sister Mara.
"Shock Wave!" Sister Ginnie yelled.
The smaller of Weezing's heads launched a pulse of psychic energy down at Ivysaur, but the angle was bad and the attack drilled harmlessly into the rock. Twin tentacles of electricity sizzled out from Klang, actively hunting after their targets – Lyra buzzed shrilly in pain and dropped into the dirt.
"Pull yourself together, girl!" Eve said. "Reflect!"
Type match up could be better for Anvil, Josh thought. He had Ivysaur fire off a Scatterseed to seize an extra moment of breathing space, the attack clumsily dodged by Weezing while he quickly recalled Ivysaur in favour of Screwball. Their opponents had dedicated supporters in the crowd – he could hear their strident chants rising above the general hubbub.
"Come on back, Klang!" Ginnie called. The recall beam's touch turned Klang red and translucent. Possibly no-one else noticed it, but Screwball's magnets snapped forward in response. Klang lingered as a coherent red silhouette tethered to Ginnie's Poké Ball. The recall beam wavered, and faded completely.
"I've got Klang," Eve said. Josh just nodded, signalling Screwball to loose a series of Eerie Impulses in support of Lyra.
"Drain Punch!" Eve yelled, pointing aggressively at Klang. Lyra's wings blasted up a cloud of sand; she paused at the zenith of her ascent and dropped into a steep dive. Another Shock Wave snaked out from Klang – Screwball hardly noticed the shock, while Lyra blocked it with a quick Protect. Streamers of light unravelled from her charging Drain Punch until a glob of flying Sludge neatly plucked her out the air.
I forgot about that weezing, Josh thought with a burst of irritation at himself. He'd allowed himself to get fixated on half the battle.
"Yo', go: Maaara! Yo' go Mara! Yo' go Mara!" her fans hollered. Right. Refocus.
"Weezing, return!" Mara ordered. She didn't hesitate at all in selecting her next pokémon. "Take the field Lampent!"
"Havoc, havoc!" Josh frantically chanted. "Return, Screwball!"
"Ok, ok," Eve said, "cover him, Lyra! Air Cutter!"
Lyra hastily snapped off a barrage of Air Cutters, dividing her attack randomly between Lampent and Klang. A thick cloud of oily smoke erupted from Lampent, completely hiding it from view. Josh gracelessly flung Fionn's Love Ball at the field. Both pokémon attacked Lyra while Fionn was still materialising – a Shock Wave from Klang, Flame Burst from Lampent crashing over a Protect bubble raised at the very last minute.
Eve punched him on the arm, apparently to get his attention. "Checkmate!"
Checkmate. Both on the offence. "Wait, wait, what's the plan -"
"Just trust me," Eve brusquely interrupted.
A pulse of shadow burst from the Smokescreen, thudding into Fionn like a Sonic Boom – she squeaked in alarm and seemed to flinch away.
"Yo', go: Guinevere, yo' go Guinevere!"
"Er, Ominous Wind: Lampent!" Josh guessed, the chant interfering with his concentration.
The Smokescreen reluctantly dispersed as Fionn hosed Ominous Wind through it. Mara's pokémon gradually emerged through the thick murk, phasing in and out and leaving lingering phantom images behind. Strands of Ominous Wind curled, billowed and mingled in the smoke.
"Hey, cover Lyra," Eve said. "I'll knock out Klang."
Josh resisted the urge to scowl at Lampent, staring malignly through the scraps of its Smokescreen. It was an inner-city subspecies, taking the form of a decrepit black desk lamp. Its broken, half-folded armature and conical shade gave it a hunched, brooding appearance. Alright Eevee, I'm trusting you, he thought doubtfully.
"Fionn, dérangez Lampent avec toutes les façons possibles. Ne utilisez pas Prescience!"
"Wait for your chance and sock that Klang with Drain Punch!" Eve yelled.
"Time to Shift Gear!" Ginnie responded. Fionn quietly faded away.
"No escape. Fire Spin!" Mara practically snapped.
Lampent's face beneath its shade glowed a baleful red – a Psywave attacked from thin air, forcing it to try to dodge and loose Fire Spin at the same time. Lyra jinked aside from the wildly oscillating lance of flame and fell on Klang like a bullet. A feeble crackle of electricity sizzled out, critically weakened by Eerie Impulse. Somehow Klang managed to turn aside from Lyra's attack – she overshot -
"Gear Grind!"
- there was a grating crunch. Flashing scarlet chitin shards flew, torn off by the whirring cogteeth. Lyra almost dropped out of the sky, catching herself just before she hit the dirt, ascending again with her usual bloody-mindedness, Drain Punch charged and blazing.
Wham. A swarm of green bubbles billowed out from Klang as it spun uncontrollably in mid-air. Lyra rose triumphantly above it, drawing the bubbles into herself. Exploding fireballs suddenly blossomed like marigolds and peppered the field below with smoking gledes. Fionn phased away from one explosion right into the fires of another, shrieking incoherently; Lyra fared a little better, swerving away from the worst of the Flame Bursts. Josh flinched inwardly – tightening the cross of his arms a little – more acutely aware than ever that Fire was the bane of their combined team.
"Lyra, return!" Eve called unexpectedly. "Gail, you have the honour!"
"Hold on, Eve, what's the strategy here?" Josh murmured urgently.
"Strategy? Uh – Twister!" Eve ordered, interrupting herself.
A nimbus of hot frustration flared somewhere in the region of his navel. Lampent seemed to sense his black mood, fixing him in its blank yellow stare. The strategic position was so precarious – One stray Fire Spin. One accurate Flame Burst, that's all it would take. Well, with Eve running loose cannon he wasn't going to be prising a strategy out of her, damn her. And damn synergy – that lampent needed squashing. Right, options? Ivysaur's attacks would be too easily countered. Screwball could zap it right back to the Ball, but it was too risky in the face of Special Fire-type attacks.
Undeterred, the Sisters' fans were still lustily yelling their chants. "Burn, burn! Burn it to the win!"
"Fionn!" Josh called, to get her attention. Ominous Wind: Lampent, he signed curtly. For once Fionn skipped the games and simply attacked. Lampent gasped from the shock of it, struggling to maintain its position in the teeth of the ghostly wind.
"Um, forget Checkmate … Anvil," Eve said.
"Why?"
"Just trust me!" Eve replied tartly.
"What? -"
Gail swooped joyfully past, her scarlet and yellow feathers shining in the amphitheatre lights. On the orders of its trainer Klang zapped her with Shock Wave, concentrating the entire attack on her. Sister Ginnie's triumphant whooping was short-lived – Gail didn't even flinch, quickly accelerating as Motor Drive kicked in. Lampent loosed a Fire Spin at the ground, the flames roaring greedily up to grab her. She promptly escaped through the eye of the vortex, zapped repeatedly by Shock Waves. Mara was ruthless. The Flame Bursts blossomed without pause, Lampent volleying fireballs with no sign of tiring.
The Sisters seemed to have completely forgotten about Fionn lurking restlessly in the shadow of a stone pinnacle, her gleaming eyes flickering constantly to her trainer.
"Anvil," Josh growled, wondering how the hell he was supposed to carry that out with Fionn's moveset. Future Sight, he signed for want of a better idea.
Gail looped up into the air to dodge a viciously spinning Gear Grind, apparently dragging fire in her wake, soaring in a tight arc around Lampent and back between her assailants. She swept close to Klang – a frustrated Lampent flung a careless volley -
Fireballs slammed into Klang, boiling and bursting so violently that the Gear Pokémon disappeared from sight. There was an intense metallic smell, like burning tin.
"Halt, halt!" Mara yelled over Ginnie's howls of dismay. Klang dropped out of the air, bouncing unceremoniously off the rocks. It was glowing red, the sandy soil around it scorching brown.
"Klang is unable to battle!" the referee ruled.
"How did you know that was going to happen?" Josh hissed accusingly.
"Didn't," Eve replied simply. "It was bound to happen sooner or later, don't you think?"
The Sisters were now conferencing animatedly. Josh took a deep breath. "Right," he said, remastering his voice. "Now we do it my way. Checkmate, and get rid of that damn lampent."
Ginnie pulled out and expanded an Ultra Ball with a flourish. "Ariados! Take over!"
The fat-bellied spider ran to the middle of the field with a manic flurry of angular legs, then halted, motionless. It was one of the asticus subspecies – they had them in Mulberry Town as well – so dark red it was almost black, unmarked except for its sickly pale underside.
"Begin!"
"Ariados, Sticky Web!" Ginnie instantly ordered.
"Lampent, lay low the pidgeotto," Mara said darkly.
Ariados spat a translucent stream of silk directly at them – Josh ducked automatically – the silk struck an invisible wall and exploded into a huge orb web, the glassy glimmering threads hardly visible. Mara's lampent withdrew behind a Smokescreen, only the staring eyes gleaming through the smoke. There was something in the intense look it gave Gail that made Josh deeply uncomfortable, giving him an irrational urge to flinch. Gail herself didn't seem to care, sweeping Lampent away with a quick Gust.
"Get moving, girl!" he told Fionn, who phased away in a flash of Will O' Wisp. Before she could attack again Gail started as if struck and dropped to the dirt.
"Flame Burst that pidgeotto!" Mara ordered. Future Sight struck Lampent in a zig-zag flash of multi-coloured light – there was the thin red flash of a recall beam as Eve recalled Gail.
"Meowth, you have the honour!"
Fionn reappeared in front of Lampent and unleashed her Ominous Wind. Suddenly a String Shot from Ariados grabbed her by the hair and reeled her in, Fionn screaming out Astonish as Ariados attempted to subdue her.
"Douse that lampent, you moggy!" Eve yelled. "Water Pulse!"
The water disc burst over Lampent with a wet slap and a hiss of spraying water. It loosed a harsh, lingering telepathic scream, fires dimmed and smoking.
"Lampent is unable to battle!" the referee ruled.
"Let go of Misdreavus, Ariados buddy," Ginnie called dutifully. Fionn kept on bitching and swearing, bits of spider silk clinging to her hair.
"Whew! That was a lucky escape, don't you think?" Eve commented. Josh said nothing, in no mood to be cheerful about it.
"Alright, you're up!" Mara called, re-releasing her weezing.
"You ought to focus on that," Eve said. "Meowth won't be able to scratch it."
"And begin!" the referee shouted.
Almost immediately Mara tried to blind Fionn with a Smokescreen. Up groped a questing String Shot – Fionn had been warily watching out for that and dodged it handily. Ominous Wind: Weezing, Josh signed to start off the attrition game, Fionn pulling a face at the banality of the order. Battle was joined on the other side of the field with a hiss of String Shot and a skitter of feline claws, Ariados struggling to poison Meowth as he raked at its extremities.
"Finish that misdreavus with Sludge," Mara snapped. The first coughed-up wad missed by inches and splatted into the rock. Fionn giggled happily, deliberately jinking away from each glob of Sludge at the very last minute. The more frustrated Weezing got at Fionn's taunting, the more she laughed and blasted it with gusts of Ominous Wind.
"Meowth, enough, enough!" Eve yelled "Gail, you have the honour! Defog!"
"Ohhh!" Ginnie screamed in frustration as Gail destroyed her Sticky Web. "Ariados, come back! Deal with it, Croconaw!"
Her croconaw stomped on the dirt a couple of times and gaped menacingly, displaying a mismatched array of yellowed teeth. He had his species' usual deceptively stout appearance, his back heavily armoured with thick, leathery scutes. Getting impatient, are we Sister? Josh thought dryly. Pokémon number five revealed. That left one unknown pokémon – if Croconaw could be removed quickly …
"Scalpel, my dear J-Mel. I'll keep Weezing busy," Eve said, smiling. Josh allowed himself a discreet smile of his own. The lovely Eevee is thinking what I'm thinking.
"Dragon Dance, Croconaw!"
"Go for the weezing, Gail!"
With an eager screech Gail fell upon Weezing in a tornado of feather, beak and talon, attacking it furiously from every direction. Weezing groaned and whined in distress, hardly more than scratched but half-blinded by Gail's flailing wings. It vented gouts of gas, momentarily driving Gail off before she closed in again. Recalling Fionn would be the obvious move, too obvious, maybe. There was an opportunity here … if he set up Future Sight at Weezing now -
A Water Gun chopped across Josh's vision – so fast! - smacking into Fionn with such force that she lost coherency and collapsed into an amorphous mass. She wailed pitifully, locks of hair, pearls and eyeballs randomly forming and dissolving as she literally tried to pull herself together.
"Fionn, return," Josh said, unwilling to let her struggle on any longer. "You did very well," he told her quietly.
"Misdreavus is unable to battle!" the referee called as the remaining combatants disengaged from one another. Weezing floated to a defensive position close to the ground, putting its back against a flat scarp of granite.
Damnit! Damnit. Spent too long thinking, Josh thought, shifting his weight from foot-to-foot. He reached down to his bag and slowly unsnapped the clasp holding Ivysaur's Poké Ball. No more playing games. Time to unleash the ace.
"Ivysaur, battle's on." Ivysaur dispassionately took in the battlefield, critically eyeing up Croconaw opposite.
"Begin!"
"Force-Nature: Weezing!" Josh practically gabbled out. Earth Power detonated beneath it, sending a ripple of vibrations rumbling up through the soles of Josh's boots, a fierce cloud of fire flashing in the erupting soil as a billow of Smog ignited. Sensing distraction, Croconaw dashed forward, scrabbled across a boulder and clumsily evaded the Vine Whip sharply snapping down in his path. He jumped back out of range, angrily hissing at Ivysaur's quartet of vines blocking his advance.
"Don't think this'll be so easy, yo!" Ginnie yelled. "Croconaw, level the field with Rain Dance!"
Croconaw started a barbarous war chant, stomping rhythmically and brandishing his teeth. A blue glow steadily brightened in his throat, the chant culminating in a savage roar – Croconaw launched a thunderous black globe twenty feet into the air, where it unrolled into a rectangular blanket of cloud. The rain began to fall, a light shower that quickly thickened into a downpour.
"Try using powder moves now!" Ginnie taunted. "Water Gun!"
The Water Gun struck Ivysaur's flower and thrust it backwards, hauling violently at the stem where it rooted to his back. Ivysaur let out a howl of pain and involuntarily retracted his vines. Croconaw seized his chance to close the distance, charging across the increasingly marshy battlefield -
"Give it a Bite!"
- a large globule of mud detached itself from the ground and exploded in front of Croconaw like a landmine, hurling him flat on his back with an eyeful of clinging mud. Down slammed the Vine Whips, throwing up a shivering wave of rainwater, Ivysaur needing no new orders to press his attack.
Sister Mara sounded like she was changing tactics – Josh spared a glance-worth of attention for the other half of the battle where Gail was harassing Weezing.
"Wait for it …" Mara called. "Vent, vent!"
Rust-brown Smog blasted form every fumarole. Gail veered off too late, wings thrashing wildly at the chemical fog, screeched and spiralled haphazardly into a landing. A glob of Sludge smacked her from her perch into the mud.
"Weezing, good," Mara said, recalling it. "Take the field now!"
Her murkrow slipped through the rain like an oily shadow, its outline indistinct against the dark clouds. "Wing Attack!"
If Mara thought Gail would be incapacitated by the Smog she was wrong – somehow the tough little bird managed to launch herself into the air and dogfight. At the same time Croconaw made a second attempt at closing up with Dragon Dance, slipping and stumbling in the thick mud.
Eye, eye. Hoisted on his own petard. He gave Croconaw's injuries a critical look, wondering if Torrent was imminent. Nice try, Sister, I'm not giving you the chance.
There was the whine of a recall beam. Eve had removed Gail from the battle. "That's enough, girl."
"Alright, Pidgeotto is unable to battle!" the referee agreed.
Josh gently took his friend's wrist before she could release her next pokémon. "Wait."
There were no unknowns left. If we eliminate Croconaw then that leaves Ariados and Murkrow/Weezing. Worst case scenario, Screwball in reserve can deal with Murkrow and Ariados. That leaves Weezing as the last slag in the steel.
"Go with Lyra," he concluded. "Mara'll think you've made a mistake and ignore Ivysaur. That leaves Croconaw vulnerable."
"Alright, let's do it," Eve shrugged. Josh hastily signed Offensively, Nature Power, Vine Whip: Croconaw.
"Begin!"
"Featherdance at Ledian," Mara ordered. Out of the corner of his eye Josh saw Lyra buzz out from beneath a shower of inky black feathers, but his attention was on the right-hand side of the field. Croconaw spotted Ivysaur's Mud Bomb as it emerged, tried to outrun it – and failed, the Bomb exploding behind his head in a flash of steam and boiling mud. Ivysaur gave him no quarter, and beat him bloody.
"Arrêtez-vous," Josh commanded as soon as Croconaw stopped trying to dodge. Ivysaur respectfully retracted his whips, his expression wooden. Sister Ginnie was strangely quiet, apparently shocked, one hand over her mouth. Hoisted on his own petard, Josh thought again. If she hadn't ruined the field surface that wouldn't have been anything like as easy.
The referee gave Croconaw an especially close examination. "Croconaw is unable to battle," she announced redundantly. "Evans, watch the use of force."
"Cunning girl," Eve said teasingly. "Maybe I should let you be in charge more often. We're nearly there, I can feel it."
Rents were beginning to open up in the artificial clouds, the rain steadily subsiding in response. Sister Ginnie re-released her scuffed and scratched Ariados into the rocks while Murkrow silently wheeled overhead.
"Checkmate?" Eve said.
"Checkmate," Josh replied.
"Begin!"
Air Cutters from Lyra flew past – Mara switched out for Weezing – forcing Ariados to take cover, squeezing itself through the crags of black basalt like something born in Dungortheb, bristly legs pumping like pistons. There was the rushing noise of Weezing Stockpiling defences. Stalling. Better dealt with sooner than late.
"Avancez patiemment. Utilisez de la Poudre Dodo sur Migalos, après Vampigraine: Smogogo," Josh ordered after a moment to think. Ivysaur didn't answer, advancing resolutely through the mud and simultaneously keeping watch on Ariados. It scuttled purposefully towards him, like it had seen an especially crunchy insect. Ivysaur watched it expressionlessly, paused, and pitched a gust of Sleep Powder over the rocks; but Ariados scuttled on regardless as if the glittering blue powder weren't there.
"Insomnia," Eve explained. "Lyra, Thunderpunch! Pound that spider into the rock!"
Lyra crashed into Ariados with a shrill battle cry and a double-blast of electricity discharging from two fists – Ariados hissed and recoiled, legs thrashing convulsively. Its assailant pressed her attack with showers of Comet Punch, weaving around or fending off increasingly desperate attempts to poison her. Ivysaur glanced from Ariados to Weezing uncertainly -
"Allez!" Josh called – with some difficulty Ivysaur loped towards the middle of the field.
[Scatterseed?]
"Yes."
"Weezing, Stockpile!" Mara called.
The Leech Seeds fired off with a dry crackle like splitting wood – Ivysaur stippled Weezing thoroughly, a dozen or so seeds germinating and greedily binding themselves tight against its cratered skin. Josh glanced at Ariados occupied by Lyra's fists -
"Sleep Powder," he ordered almost as an afterthought. Halfway through Stockpile Weezing accidentally sucked in most of the glittering blue powder, groaned dolefully, and instantly fell into a deep sleep.
"Ariados is unable to battle!" the referee suddenly announced. Lyra was hovering triumphantly over the limp and unconscious body of Ariados.
"Ohhh, bummer!" Ginnie said, with feeling. "I'm sorry Sister, I should have stalled or something -"
Sister Mara waved her into silence, her pale face creased in concentration.
"Time to bow out, Sister," Eve called confidently. "You've got a murkrow and a sleeping weezing covered in Leech Seeds. Maybe you can stall out my ace, but what are you going to do about Melissa's magnemite?"
"No, Mara, come on, you can do it! I've seen you make great comebacks!" Ginnie protested. Her partner said something inaudible, her usual shyness returning.
"If you're sure, buddy," Ginnie said with a dash of reluctance. "We admit defeat!"
"Very well," called the referee, "then I declare this Quarter Finals battle over! The victory goes to the team of Evelina Joy and Melissa Evans!"
The white noise of the crowd seemed to increase as Josh slowly realised the battle really was over. The Amphitheatre was applauding. Ten thousand pairs of hands were clapping, though for who, Josh didn't know. The Sisters were giving one another a commiseration hug – Eve was thoroughly enjoying the congratulations, grinning like a pumpkin with her fist belligerently upraised, joined enthusiastically by Lyra.
[The nurse is certainly getting her money's worth,] Ivysaur said. He stretched out each muddy limb in turn.
"Less of the 'nurse', alright?" Josh answered. "Anyway, let them watch the hammer, it's all coal to me."
[That would make you the anvil, then,] he said. [Her opponents break apart on you.]
"Good evening Sunshine City, this is the Goldenrod Desk of Sport on Metro FM, and I'm here for the next hour with Oswin Jeffries with the summary of the day's action at the Tigerlily Tourney. It's been a fierce day of Quarter Finals – Ozzy, what's your impression of the day?"
"Well, it's been a day of surprises, really, Casey Lynwood and Morgan Harwich, favourites to win on the strength of a brutally effective Heats, efficiently knocked out by the Unovan team of Lovelace and Winters -"
"Misdreavus," Fionn mumbled.
"I know, hinny, shush now," Josh warbled, giving her a mollifying squeeze. He was sitting cross-legged on Eve's bunk again, a thoroughly tired misdreavus in his arms. He stroked her hair absently, the insubstantial locks weirdly soft against his hand. Eve was lying back, crunching her way through a packet of Love Hearts while she half-listened to the radio.
"'Hot Lips', that one's obviously referring to me," she commented. Crunch, crunch. "'Take a Selfie', I say take a hike." Crunch, crunch. "'Fuck Me.' Well, you heard the candy, jump to it."
"You know those things are made of bone meal, right?" Josh said dryly, pretending to ignore that last remark.
"Oooh, 'Cuddle Me', redeeming that one right now!"
"Wait your turn, you," he insisted, idly trying to tease out a knot that was only corporeal some of the time. Fionn managed to find the energy to pull a smug face at Eve.
"Say what you like about synergy over versatility, they haven't been boxed in yet," the radio continued.
"Interesting perspective: Ozzy, a final word."
"We've not seen the last of that leavanny."
"Moving on to the second Quarter Finals match, Evelina Joy and Melissa Evans defeated Sisters Guinevere and Mara. Ozzy, what's your analysis?"
"On paper this is a battle the Sisters should have won – the closest thing constituting a threat to Mara's lampent would have been Joy's meowth. Yeah, there was misdreavus, but we all know how risky countering a Ghost with a Ghost can be."
"Ozzy, some of our listeners will be thinking: isn't ending on a forfeit unusual?"
"Not that unusual, there's an argument for saying that when one trainer is knocked out of the battle it's very hard for the remaining partner to win. In this case I think Mara made the right decision. Evans still had a fresh magnemite waiting in the wings, that's just too big a challenge for a weezing and a murkrow."
"What are your thoughts on the winners? Both are relative newcomers, Evelina has two Badges to her name, Melissa seems to be new to competitive battling."
"Yes, well, both have some talent, I don't think that's in any question – just look at their Heats performance – whether they can get through the Semis, hm, I don't know. They have a real problem with Fire, for a start. And more importantly, they're not really working together."
"He's got a point, you know," Josh said.
"'Be Mine' - anodyne." Crunch, crunch. "About the Fire weakness? We already knew that."
"About teamwork. Eevee, you left me guessing today."
"Yeah, but -"
"I want you to win but I can't help you if you won't talk to me," he interrupted.
Eve gave him a sharp, nail-you-to-the-wall look. "Did we or did we not win the battle today?"
"We won't get away with it twice," he countered firmly.
She went quiet for a while, listening to the analysis of their battle, Fionn eyeing up the last of the Love Hearts.
"- the first Semi Finals battle will be Evelina Joy and Melissa Evans, versus Libby Berkowicz and Emily Warbeck, we'll have live coverage of that -"
"You can't possibly be this relaxed" Josh said.
"How can I be nervous? I have my anvil," Eve said, with a lazy wink.