I hope you readers have been keeping well. It's difficult right now, though I'm sure that slowly, but surely: things will go back to normal.

For now, enjoy the first part of the second round!


Styles was surprisingly calm as he headed over to the stadium. The calm blue skies of the morning were dotted with a few clouds, maybe it would rain later in the evening? The young trainer wasn't exactly sure and he chose not to distract himself right before his next battle. While he kept his cool externally, there was no way he could stop the adrenaline pumping through his face and the confidence he felt about his upcoming battle, the he tried not to let that confidence turn into overconfidence.

As he set foot onto the battlefield, he was able to study the field; it was a crystal cavern field. He'd seen it before but he hadn't battled on the field until now.

"Welcome back to the Indigo League! If you're just joining us then we're just about to begin the second round of the Indigo Tournament; we're currently left with our top thirty-two trainers and by tomorrow that number will be down to just half of that as we approach our quarter-final round very soon after! Joining me today on commentary is Corey Ronallo and I am Mauro Graves."

"And it's good to keep this pokeball rolling!" Corey added. "Starting things off today we have Styles who impressed everyone with a strong victory in the previous round up against Dakota, who dominated against his last opponent."

"Now we'll be starting today's battles on the Crystal Cavern field. We've seen this field previously but with trainers as skilled as these two, we may finally get the chance to see the true potential of this field and just how a battle can change in the blink of an eye!" Mauro explained. "And it looks like the battle is about to begin! Remember, it's a five on five battle with both trainers allowed to make substitutions so truly anything can happen!"

The two trainers looked each other in the eyes and reached for their pokeballs.

"I suppose I should let you know that I have no intention of losing." Styles said calmly.

"Neither do I." Dakota replied. "Too much is at stake..."

Styles Couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Dakota's statement. But any questions Styles had would have to wait until laterbas the two sent out their first Pokemon. On Styles' side, he used a Reuniclus up against Dakota's Spiritomb.

Normally, Styles would have reacted negatively to the type disadvantage he had, but after taking the time to study the type of arena they were battling in, Styles had a plan that he felt would work.

"Spiritomb, use Shadow Ball!"

"Reuniclus, Protect."

The Forbidden pokemon let out a battle cry, its ectoplasmic body swirling around its face rapidly as it charged up its attack.

Once it was fully charged, Spiritomb blasted it at its target, letting out what almost sounded like a person laughing sinisterly.

As the attack drew close, the Multiplying pokemon raised it's hands in front of itself and released a green sphere in front of it to block the attack. All the while, Reuniclus did not even blink as it continued to have a smile on its face.

"A little bit of scouting to start off this match." Corey announced. "Gonna need it too, Spiritomb has a big advantage right out of the gate!"

"I wouldn't be so sure, the battle has jist begun and we haven't gotten the opportunity to see the true potential of not just these two trainers, but the field they're battling on as well." Mauro retorted, adjusting his red tie.

"Well as long as it looks cool."

"You know you can't use Protect forever."

"I don't intend to, all I needed to do was check to see what your first move would be. Now that I know, I can make my move! Reuniclus, Hidden Power!" Styles commanded.

The Psychic pokemon clapped its hands together as its facial exlression finally changed to one of confidence as a grin formed on its face. As its hands spread apart, a brown orb was created. The orbed resembled a Shadow Ball, though it seemed more stavle in its shape as opposed to the pulsating ghostly orb.

With a forcefull push of its arms, Reuniclus sent out the attack, it didn't move too fast at first but once it passed by the various crystals, everyone stared in awe at what occured: the orb and crystals flashed an assortment of colors that matched those of the crysyals. Red, Blue, Green, and Purple; the Hidden Power and gems fluctuated between those colors in that order before all of them were permanently changed to red. With the change in color now complete, the attack flew towards Spiritomb and bombarded it faster than either Spiritomb or Dakota could react, leaving sparks of flame dancing around the Ghost Pokemon. The gems then turned back into the four colors they were naturally.

"Amazing, Styles has really done his homework on this field!" Corey praised.

"Watch yourself, you said you'd stop with the favoritism." Mauro warned.

"It's not favoritism, it's giving credit where credit is due!"

Dakota thought deeply about the attack he just saw: the gems only changed when the Hidden Power passed by them.

'Does it do this for just Hidden Power?' He thought. 'No... the last time there was a battle with this field a similar thing happened to moves that were Rock type. I guess that means that that Hidden Power must be a Rock type attack. Then there were flanes that came out after Spiritomb was hit, so if the gems turn red then the attack turns into a fire move. Shadow Ball didn't seem to have any effect on this field and Reuniclus will probably block any attack I use. There's got to be something else I can try.'

As Dakota planned his next move, Styles was doing the same.

'The battle just started and I'm already at a heavy disadvantage. I knew this guy specializes in Ghosts and Dragons but I was hoping he'd open with something Reuniclus could handle! The rest of my team doesn't exactly want to take whatever move that Spiritomb can use and the ones that can would take damage that they really shouldn't be taking this early on. Only choice I have is to stick to the offensive and not give him a chance to fight back. Too bad the only attack that can do damage to Spiritomb is Hidden Power. Why did I have to go with having Reuniclus learn Pain Split instead of Dazzling Gleam?!'

"Spiritomb, Dark Pulse!"

"Protect!"

The Ghost took up its stance to launch another attack, this time it was in the form of a dark purple beam that warped its way over to its target.

As the attack sped towards the Multiplying Pokemon, Dakota noticed that the crystals began to dim in color as the attack passed by them.

As Reuniclus blocked the attack again, Dakota got an idea. Before he could make his next move though, Styles went on the offensive.

"Don't give them an inch, use Trick Room!"

With one more clap of it's hands, Reuniclus created a cubic area within the arena with both pokemon inside.

"Oh a Trick Room!" Corey announced. "Don't blink because this battle might just get a lot quicker!"

Dakota was surprised at the strategic play, or at least the attempt of one as his surprise faded into a smug grin.

"Nice try, but I trained my Spiritomb just for situations like this! Use Dark Pulse, again!"

With a cackle that could shake the nerves of everyone watching, Spiritomb sent out another wave of energy, but with the effect of Trick Room, the attack moved faster than almost anyone was able to see properly.

The dark energy if the attack also affected the crystals, corrupting their colors from the vibrant assortment they once were to an empty and cold black. The ground and walls of the cavern changed into a pale white.

Styles' Renuiclus used one of its arms tonstand itself back upwards, gasping for breath in both pain and terror at the change in the arena.

"Now this is a surprise!" Mauro stated. "Dakota's attack has changed the field from a Crystal Cavern into a Dark Crystal Cavern!"

"Now Spiritomb doesn't just hage the type advantage, but now the terrain advantage too! That ghostly body it has coupled with the shadows this field creates, it can only mean bad things for Styles!"

'Dang it, I screwed myself over with that move. I might be able to come back from this but I'll have to sacrifice Reuniclus to do it.'

"Use Trick Room again to cancel it!"

"Hmph, then I'll gladly take the lead!" Dakota snickered. "Spiritomb, finish Reuniclus off with Shadow Ball!"

Using what little strength it had left, Reuniclus cancelled the Trick Room with a clap of its hands as the Shadow Ball attack was launched by its foe. The Ghost attack swallowed some of the dark energy being emitted by the field and crystals, empowering it as it exploded onto the Multiplying Pokemon, knocking it out...

"And there's the first down!" Mauro said. "Can Styles be able to bounce back?"

"I hope so because I already like where this battle is going!" Corey added.

"You still have a chance to give up." Dakota proclaimed, a sly smirk plastered on his face.

"Not a chance!" Styles shot back with an unwavering sense of determination. "You're not the only one who can mess use the field to get the advantage!"

With a confident toss of a Dive Ball, Styles sent out his second Pokemon: Greninja.

"Trick Room was removed too, so my Greninja has the speed advantage! Greninja, Dark Pulse!"

With a swift dash forward and its eyes changing to a dark grey color, the Ninja Pokemon quickly reached Spiritomb and crossed its arms, the darkness gathering around Greninja and enveloped it for about one second before Greninja spread its arms out. The energy that had been stored exploded outwards in a burst of pure darkness that made the battlefield pitch black for just a few seconds until the darkness faded. Greninja stood before Spiritomb, the latter looking to be in a daze, its eyes looking hazy.

"Now finish him off with Water Shuriken!"

Greninja's eyes changed to a deep blue as it created a shuriken shaped mass of water out of what seemed like nowhere. With a swift toss, Greninja hit the Forbidden Pokemon dead on with the attack, then again, and again, until the Ghost could take no more and spun around in pain before retreating back into the Keystone its body came from. The stone itself toppled over onto its side.

"Not bad!" Corey announced. "That combo was just enough to even things up!"

Dakota didn't hesitste when he sent out his second Pokemon: Haxorus.

'Haxorus... if I'm not careful then it could boost it's attack power and speed If it does that then I can kiss my chances of winning goodbye.'

"Greninja, don't give that Haxorus a chance to act! Dark Pulse!"

Greninja's eyes changed again as it dashed towards the Axe Jaw Pokemon, its arms crossed as it gsthered more dark energy.

"Not again!" Dakota shouted in defiance. "Haxorus, use Dragon Tail!"

Haxorus charged towards Greninja, turning its body around as the two neared each other. Just as Greninja was about to release its built up energy, the massive tail of the Dragon Pokemon slammed into it.

The burst of darkness once again obscured everyone's view, when the darkness once again dissipated the sight of Greninja being flung towards Styles was the first thing to be noticed. Haxorus took a moderate amount if damage but it still looked ready for battle as the Ninja Pokemon's body turned bright blue and was sent back to its pokeball.

"Wow! Dakota has just stopped Styles' plan right in his tracks!" Corey praised.

"True, though now Styles is able to send out another Pokemon that may have the type advantage against Haxorus."

'Glaceon is the best choice, but he's probably going to have at least one more Dragon Pokemon waiting. I can't risk letting Glaceon take too much damage too early.'

"Alright Electivire, it's up to you!"

The Thunderbolt pokemon almost leaped out of its pokeball with an eager expression on its face and a roar of excitement bellowing out from within it.

"And Styles' third Pokemon is an Electivire! An odd choice at first glance, considering Electric attacks are ineffective against Dragons." Mauro noted.

"Ah, but a lot of Electric pokemon learn moves that are super effective against Dragons!" Corey added.

'Spiritomb's Dark and Ghost attacks were powered up in this field. Even if Haxorus doesn't have those types of moves, I need to change this terrain!'

"Electivire, lets get a change of scenery with Earthquake!"

"We've gotta power through this! Use Dragon Dance, Haxorus!"

Haxorus gave out a low growl as red energy began to swirl and charge around it, its opponent gave a mighty stomp that cracked the ground around it and rattled the entire battlefield, allowing light to seep through the cracks and eventually engulf the field in a bright flash that faded rather quickly.

In the aftermath of the light, the dark crystals had shattered and the arena was now a simple cave-like field with rocks scattered everywhere.

"And out arena has changed again!" Mauro exclaimed. "Now the crystals decorating the field have all been completely destroyed!"

"Not just that, but some moves that get a power boost in the crystal fields either don't get that same boost or get a completely different one!" Corey added with an annoyed look. "Honestly I can't stand this field."

"Bad experiences?" Mauro asked with a sly grin.

"Don't you get cheeky with me..."

Haxorus began to breathe deeply, though it still stood tall.

"You alright there, Haxorus?" Dakota asked, to which his partner turned back and nodded. "Alright, then let's hit 'em with Rock Slide!"

The Axe Jaw pokemon roared as it dug its claws into the ground and pulled out boulder after boulder that it launched at Electivire.

"Break those boulders with Thunder Punch!" Styles ordered.

Electivire gave off a sound that seemed like a mix of a growl and a chortle as it's fists crackled with electricity. The Thunderbolt Pokemon began firing punches that destroyed the boulders, leaving then as smoldering pebbles at its feet.

However, Haxorus continued its assault faster than Electivire could react to as the Electric pokemon began taking laboured breaths and its punches slowed down. One boulder slammed into Electivire before more and more hit their target, leaving it in a daze.

"It's weak, finish Electivire off with Dragon Claw!"

Despite its large size, Haxorus leaped forward as if it was a tiny Axew, its right claw enveloped in a dark pink aura. With one mighty slash, Electivire was brought downwith a thud.

"And Electivire goes down!" Corey called out. "Is it just me or do a lot of the battles in this tournament go this way? All the interesting ones at least..."

'Well Electivire managed to change the terrain but now I have exactly what I was worrying about. I have no other choice.'

"Glaceon, it's up to you!"

"And there she is folks! The ace of Styles' team, Glaceon!" Mauro announced.

"Finally going with the type advantage?" Dakota asked. "It still won't help you! Haxorus, Rock Slide, again!"

"Glaceon, get ready to dodge and get a little closer. I'll let you know when to attack."

Glaceon turned to face her trainer and looked at him with trusting eyes before preparing to dodge the incoming boulders.

Just as anticipated, Haxorus slammed its tail onto the ground, causing boulders to form from all around the Dragon. With one powerful swing of its tail, Haxorus sent the rocks hurtling towards the Fresh Snow Pokemon.

"Now!" Styles commanded. Glaceon leaped onto the first boulder that almost hit before jumping onto the next, all the while inching closer and closer to Haxorus.

"What is he planning?" Dakota asked himself quietly. "Keep up the Rock Slide, Haxorus!"

Following its trainer's orders, Haxorus continued the assault. Glaceon continued to dodge as best as she could, all the while closing the distance between the two Pokemon. With one last jump off of a boulder that narrowly missed Glaceon and more than to knock it out, Styles' eues widened in focus.

"Now Glaceon! Blizzard!"

Haxorus had gone back to using its arms to dig for more boulders, with one arm in the ground and the other holding a boulder, it was unable to block the attack, especially one at such a close distance.

The heavy winds and snow swirled around Haxorus and throughout the entire field. Once the attack finally ended, the arena changed once again; this time the cave was now completely frozen solid. The walls tinted blue with ice and icicles dotting the walls.

The Dragon Pokemon covered in snow and ice lay face down in an unconscious heap.

"And with an emphatic Blizzard attack from Styles and his Glaceon, the numbers are even again!"

"Not only that, but the terrain has changed yet again! I'm one for a change of pace but this is ridiculous!"

"One has to wonder, Corey, if Dakota can somehow take back the advantage since we've seen that he has a preference for Dragon and Ghost Pokemon. The former of which most definitely do not like this field."

Just as the commentators mentioned, Dakota was deep in thought again, a bead of sweat ran down his cheek, allowing the now low temperature of the field to send a chill his way.

'What can I do now?' He thought. 'I brought my Mega Garchomp but it can't take an Ice type attack on this field, it struggles against Ice attacks normally! Even if I did bring Sableye instead, I raised it to be more defensive, it might be able to stall this guy's team for a while but it cant last forever or hit back much... No, no, what am I thinking?! I can't let nerves get the better of me. The battle isn't anywhere near over yet!'

"Dusknoir, come on out!"

The Gripper Pokemon appeared out of its pokeball with an aura that made Glaceon gulp in a bit of fear. The Phantom hovered ominously over the smaller pokemon with the mouth on its abdomen opening slightly.

"Scare tactics won't work on us!" Styles called out.

'While I'd like to say that was completely true, Glaceon looks unsettled. Besides, if that Dusknoir knows a strong Fighting tyoe attack, it'll hurt Glaceon badly and I need Glaceon for any more Dragons that Dakota almost certainly has. It'll be risky but I don't have many other options right now.'

"Glaceon, this isn't your fight." Styles said, recalling his Pokemon. "Greninja, come on back!"

"While you're making the swap, we have time to fight back! Dusknoir, Brick Break!"

As the Ninja Pokemon was sent out of its ball, Dusknoir charged forward with its right fist orepared to strike.

"Greninja, Scald, quickly!"

As the Gripper drew nearer, Greninja moved its long tongue slightly and spat out a stream of boiling water at the Ghost. The ice cold terrain seemed to slightly cool down the heat of the attack however. While the Scald hit its mark, steam bellowed off of Dusknoir, red bits of flame being visible within the steam.

When the steam faded, Greninja was revealed to have been strick in the head with Dusknoir's attack, though it was able to somehow catch Dusknoir's hand and prevent it from moving.

"Nice going! Now Greninja, Ice Beam!"

With a bit of a chuckle, Greninja blasted Dusknoir at point blank range with the frozen attack, now given a boost in power from the terrain.

Despite the extreme cold of the attack and the agonizing burns, Dusknoir refused to fall.

"Nice defense, Dusknoir!" Dakota praised. "If you're hurting them make them feel it! Pain Split!"

With its free hand, Dusknoir grabbed Greninja and pulled it into a bear hug, sapping the Ninja's energy and restoring as much of its own as it could.

"Now that I have your Greninja in a tight squeeze, I gotta ask, why didn't you have your Greninja use Ice Beam against my Haxorus?" Dakota asked.

Styles grimaced but decided to answer.

"I wanted to use it as a surprise attack against one of your Dragons. But since this field boosts Ice attacks and Dusknoir is very bulky, I figured now would be the best time." Styles explained.

"Hmm, seems like our combatants are taking a break from the action to discuss past moves." Mauro studied.

"Ugh, don't stop the action! Booooring!" Corey groaned.

"Not bad. But you're not the only who can use this terrain! Dusknoir, Ice Punch!"

Despite its arms burning, Dusknoir managed to deliver a freezing Punch to Greninja's face, freezing it completely solid. The Ninja pokemon stood in place, twitching slightly as Styles began to sweat.

"Brick Break!"

"Break out of that ice, use Scald, Greninja!"

The ice surrounding Greninja's head melted dur to the heat of the ice attack, though was not able to melt the ice fast enough to prevent Dusknour from smashing the Ninja Pokemon face.

The fatigue of battle Greninja had gone through and the amount of damage Dusknoir had taken caused both Pokemon to take laboured and pained breaths. The steam created from their exhaled breaths almost seemed to glimmer in conjunction with the ice.

"Greninja!" "Dusknoir!"

"Ice Beam!" "Ice Punch!"

The two Pokemon leaped at each other as their attacks formed. As they collided, a burst of frozen wins engulfed the entire arena, even those sitting in the stands could feel the chill.

"Wooo! Talk about giving the cold shoulder!" Mauro shivered.

"Don't... just don't." Corey replied. "Leave the lame puns to Dallas over at the other arena."

As the air finally settled down, both pokemon were revealed to be blacked out.

'We're both down to two pokemon left, but if I can make sure I keep the terrain advantage, I might make it out of this match with a victory!' Styles thought.

'Crap... I have only Dragons left. They both know attacks that can handle Ice types but in this terrain, Fire moves seem like they're weakened. I have no idea what his last pokemon is either, but if I can overpower whatever he uses next then I can win!'

Dakota looked at the pokeball of the next Pokemon he would use intensely.

'You were the reason I was able to beat the last gym leader. She never battled a pokemon from the region your species is native from and you're one of the strongest pokemon from there. Let's put that power to the test!'

"Alright. Scizor, you're up!"

"Dragapult, show them no mercy!"

The two Pokemon landed onto the field, or in Dragapult's case, floated. A lot of the audience, and even the announcers, were surprised to see the pseudo-legendary Pokemon of the Galar region.

"Wow! I don't recall ever seeing a Pokemon from the Galar region in this tournament so far!" Mauro said gleefully.

"One of the best from that region too!" Corey added.

"Dragapult..." Styles said to himself as he scanned it with his pokedex.

'Dragapult: the Stealth Pokemon. When it isn't battling, it keeps Dreepy in the holes on its horns. Once a fight starts, it launches Dreepy like supersonic missiles.'

"If it's strong then I can't let it get the first strike! Scizor, use Bullet Punch!"

Scizor soed towards the phantom Dragon, gracefully skating along the ice gaining speed and momentum.

"Dragapult, Fire Blast!"

The Stealth Pokemon exhaled the intense flame, though with the terrain's effect, tue power of the attack faded slightly as steam trailed in its wake.

"Dodge it!" Styles ordered.

With a spin to its left, Scizor avoided the attack effortlessly, not even losing the momentum it had built up as it delivered a barrage of iron hard punches to Dragapult before skating away.

"Keep up the Fire Blasts!"

"Keep dodging it and use Bullet Punch again!"

The Galarian Dragon continued its fiery assault against Scizor, but no matter how many times it tried attacking, none of them hit their target. All the while, Scizor used hit and run tactics to chip at Dragapult's health.

"Ahaha, looks like Scizor is dancing all over Dragapult!" Corey laughed, wiping a tear from his eye.

"But it needs to." Mauro replied. "Even if Fire type attacks are weakened, Scizor still doesn't want to take a strong attack like that."

Dakota continued to order Dragapult to attack, though it still could not land an attack due to Scizor's evasive maneuvers.

"Now let's go for some damage! Iron Head!"

'This is my chance!'

Scizor skated over towards Dragapult, the dragon breathing a bit heavily after the rapid-fire barrage.

"Dragapult, get ready to attack." Dakota ordered in a hushed tone.

Scizor drew in close enough to Dragapult to use its metallic claw to grab its left horn. Drawing back its head, Scizor's head took on a chrome coloration before headbutting Dragapult square in the face.

"Now, counterattack with Fire Blast!" Dakota commanded.

Dragapult reared it's head back before lurching forward and delivering a point blank fire attack to Scizor. While the cold did weaken the attack, the close distance coupled with Scizor's natural heavy weakness to fire caused the Mantis Pokemon immense pain.

As it bounced upon the ice and skid several yards away from Dragapult, Scizor gasped for breath as patches of soot dotted the Bug Pokemon marked where it had bounced.

Despite its pain, Scizor slowly rose back onto its feet. The two Pokemon locked eyes, seemingly knowing that they were on their last legs. There would only be one last move made by those two Pokemon and both they and their trainers knew this as they both waited for the moment to make their move.

"Dragon Darts!" "Dual Wingbeat!"

Acting quickly, Dragapult fired two rods of energy that resembled its primary stage at Scizor. The Pincer Pokemon charged forward, power sliding under the Dragon Darts and just barely being able to avoid the attack before rising upwards just as it was underneath its opponent.

With a quick turn, Scizor slammed Dragapult with its wings, throwing the Dragon for a loop before it was struck by Scizor's wings again. The consecutive attack proved to be too much for the Dragon, knocking it unconscious as its phantom body landed onto the ice.

"Amazing! That final encounter looked like it came straight out of PokeStar Studios!" Mauro proclaimed.

"And those are the money shots we're looking for!" Corey agreed. "But Dakota's lookin' a little unsteady there, down to only one pokemon left. Styles' Scizor may not last much longer but his Glaceon pretty much has a full tank left so this could still be anyone's game! It all depends on what Dakota's last pokemon is."

"It's down to you, it'll be tough but we've beaten Ice Pokemon before. Give it all you've got, Garchomp!"

With a roar of power, the Land Shark Pokemon stood upon the field. It looked displeased at the terrain but tried its best to ignore it.

"Ready Scizor? I just need you to do one thing for me." Styles assured.

"You won't get the chance to try that Bullet Punch tactic again! We'll stop you before you can even get close!"

"That wasn't the plan! Scizor, use U-Turn!"

Just as Greninja did before, Scizor lunged forward using the ice to skate at high speeds. With a dropkick that was almost too fast for Dakots to react to, Scizor's body turned completely red as it was sent back to its pokeball, with Styles sending out Glaceon to do the real battling.

"Don't hold back! We can't let that Glaceon attack! Use Dragon Rush with all your power!" Dakota commanded as he activated his Mega Ring.

Garchomp leaped upwards and towards Glaceon, the energy of Mega Evolution enveloping it doing nothing to slow down the powerhouse of a Pokemon.

"Wait for it..." Styles said, allowing the Mega Garchomp to get closer.

"Now! Dodge it!"

With a graceful leap backwards, Glaceon was able to avoid Garchomp, its scythe arms smashing into the ice where Glaceon once stood.

"Blizzard!"

With a deep breath, Glaceon neaely turned the field completely white with its empowered assault. In what could only be described as a miracle for those supporting Dakota, Garchomp stood tall after the super effective attack. It was covered in snow amd had patches of ice on it, despite the Dragon also shivering and with a look of horror and exhaustion on its face; it still stood.

"Garchomp, you're incredible!" Dakota praised. "Now let's hit them back twice as hard with Stone Edge!"

With a mighty stomp of its right foot, Garchomp unleashed an array of dagger-like stones from the cave, the ice breaking off of them completely before they were launched at the Ice Pokemon like tiny missiles.

"Use Ice Shard!"

With a soft exhale, Glaceon created just as many ice crystals as Garchomp made stones. Glaceon let out a battle cry and the Ice Shards flew forward, colliding with the Stone Edge attack and destroying both, leaving tiny bits of ice and oebbles in their wake.

Once the attacks had both been completed, Glaceon was revealed to be missing, surprising Garchomp.

"Garchomp, look down!" Dakota called put in horror. The Land Shark looked down tl see Glaceon with a smile on its face.

"End this battle with Ice Beam!"

Glaceon jumled up to meet Garchomp's face and with one last Ice Beam at point blank, the Mega Evolved Pokemon collapsed with a resounding thud before reverting back to its normal form.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Styles is our winner!" Mauro announced. The audience cheered and applauded the two trainers for the battle that they felt had them on the edge of their seats the entire time.

Dakota's heart sank. He knew what was to come and he had no idea what the boss was going to say.

"Hey, Dakota."

The Dark Star grunt looked up to see Styles smiling at him.

"That was intense, you're tough."

Despite his fear, Dakota put on a fake smile.

"Thanks, I guess you prepared better than I did."

"Maybe. I hope you'll stick around, I'd like to battle you again."

"Sure." Dakota said before walking away, once he was sure nobody could see his face, his expression changed into what he actually felt.

Styles watched Dakota go, his own friendly smile changed to a mixture of concern and wonder.


It was coming.

Dakota lingered in the locker room of the arena expecting Singularity or one of the admins to call about how they would handle his loss. Typhoon assured him that him winning or losing wouldn't matter but he wanted to play it safe and win anyway, it would have been a personal goal and a good way to get on the boss' good side in his point of view.

He knew he wasn't allowed to stay in the room too long though, the next battle wpuld start soon. So with a grim look on his face and his heart feeling heavy, he left the room.

Despite the energy of everyone around him, some even congratulating him on the battle despite his loss, Dakota couldn't share their sentiment.

"Excuse me, may I talk to you for a moment?"

Dakota's blood ran colder than the ice on the battlefield when he had heard that voice, he recognized it but was shocked that nobody else did.

The woman wore a long blue dress and had platinum blonde hair under a sun hat. She also wore a pair of sunglasses that covered her eyes.

"Y-you're...!"

"Oh, please don't blow my cover!" She said, urging him to stay quiet. "I won't be able to get any peace or spend time with my daughter or nieces if there's any attention on me!"

Dakota stayed quiet, still in awe at who he was talking to.

"I noticed your battle earlier and despite losing, you fought fair and I could tell both you and your Pokemon put everything they had into it while enjoying yourselves. That to me was a sign that you habe the makings of a great trainer. So while you lost, there's no need to look so down on yourself, just keep moving forward!"

A brown haired girl that looked about a year or two younger than Dakota ran up towards the two. She wore a blue shirt with a bit of white at the bottom and black pants with pink sneakers.

"Mom, hurry! Julia's battle is about to start!"

"Oh, I must be going, please excuse me!"

After a quick apology by the girl, she and her mother headed off towards the other arena. Dakota still held in the breath that he felt he couldn't dare let out. Despite the positive message he just received, he couldn't help but feel as though he would have a heart attack.

The Sinnoh League Champion unknowingly tried to motivate a member of Team Dark Star. Dakota hurried over back to his room in the hotel and collapsed onto his bed.

There was nothing else to do now but either wait to see what his superiors said... or contact them directly about his loss.

Both we're options he was dreading...


While Dakota went through his current crisis, the next battle of the tournament was about to begin as the two trainers made their final preparations.

Snow took another look at the Pokemon she had decided on using, especially at the pokeball her Blastoise was in.

She had decided long before the tournament began that she would win. It had certainly been tough but there was no way she would lose without a fight.

With a deep breath the young lady stepped onto the battlefield and looked around to see what type of field the battle would be on.

The field was a bit strange looking; the ground resembled some sort of pressure plate that was connected to a machine that resembled a High Striker carnival game with different markings: 'Weak', 'Ok', 'Nice', 'Powerful!', and 'Over 9000!' in that order. The machine stood tall to the left of the center of the field, almost like the referee's seat in a tennis match. The sides of the field looked almost like a cage, but the bars had been replaced to what looked like a cloth with a stereotypical circus tent design.

"Now we move on to the second match of the day." Corey began. "After an impressive victory in the first round match, Weiss battles against Hisako from Cianwood City."

"Weiss is her name, though she prefers to be called 'Snow'." Mauro corrected. "Also why did you mention where Hisako was from? We did that in her last battle?"

Corey simply shrugged with a casual look on his face. "Well semantics aside, our next battle will be taking place on one of our more unique field types. This field is known as the Big Top field, or you can call it the Circus field, both are fine. Just like with our other fields, the Big Top arena can boost the power of certain moves and some can even activate the High Striker there in the middle of the battlefield. That little marvel has the power to change the amount of force behind certain attacks based on how the attack power of the Pokemon that attacks but it's mostly random."

"Keep in mind, Corey mentioned that it was mostly random. If a Pokemon doesn't put much force into an attack or has its attack power weakened, it may end up hitting the Striker and getting a weak result, which can weaken the attack even more!"

"That still isn't the end of it!" Corey proclaimed. "If theh manage to hit the bell, then the attack that was used gets a massive power boost. It might even be enough to knock out a Pokemon in one hit! Also, certain Pokemon actually have abilities that can influence the effect of the High Striker like Huge Power or Guts!"

"This may be a bit difficult to take in but if we see any of this happening during the battle, you'll be able to watch the effects of the field. That is, if these two young ladies have Pokemon than can influence the field at all."

Snow looked at the trainer she had to face, it was a girl that was about the same age as her. She wore a basic school uniform that almost seemed to match her amber colored eyes and hair.

"Glad I finally have your attention." Hisako laughed, her voice sounded playful but uet also as serious as possible in a tournament match. "This field looks pretty weird but I suppose we're about to see what it can do."

The two sent out their first Pokemon: Snow's Blastoise up against Hisako's Rhydon. Snow was able to notice a small purple scale that seemed to be tied around Rhydon's neck.

"Well that's a good sign..." Hisako sighed in a sarcastic tone before regaining a confident look. "But that's alright, let's try to do what we can! Rhydon, use Horn Drill!"

'Horn Drill right off the bat?' Snow thought. 'She must be trying to use some kind of field effect!'

"Blastoise, dodge it and use Ice Beam!"

Rhydon charged at the Shellfish pokemon with it's horn spiraling at an intense speed. However, Blastoise was able to easily step to its left and avoid the straightforward attack and fire the frozen beam out of its shoulder cannon at the Drill Pokemon.

While the attack did deal super effective damage, Rhydon looked as though it was hardly damaged at all by it.

"Wow! That Rhydon must have been trained specifically to deal with attacks like that if Hisako is confident enough to start off with a Horn Drill attack!" Corey stated. Mauro shook his head and took a closer look at Rhydon.

"Not exactly." He said. "Take a close look at what Rhydon is holding."

"That's an Eviolite isn't it?" Snow asked.

"Of course! With it, Rhydon becomes incredibly defensive while also having a respectable offense!" Hisako answered confidently. "And since the Horn Drill failed, I can do this! Rhydon, use Stomping Tantrum!"

With its veins popping in frustration and a heavy exhale through its nose, Rhydon began to stomp and ravage the ground underneath its feet. In the process it also activated the High Striker and causing the puck to zip up into the 'Nice' setting. both the machine and Rhydon began to glow bright orange as both Blastoise and Snow could physically feel the shockwaves of the attack.

With one mighty leap, Rhydon crashed on top of Blastoise With the Stomping Tantrum's power amplified by the field's effect, the Shellfish Pokemon audibly cried out in anguish.

"Yeowch! That's gotta hurt!" Corey called. "Stomping Tantrum already doubles in power when the user's previous move fails, and that attack activated the High Striker, this time getting a 'Nice', which boosts the power of the move by fifty percent more power!"

Despite getting hit by the attack that almost rivaled Self-Destruct in terms of raw power, Blastoise growled as it rose back onto its feet. With the water Pokemon alpearing as though it still had plenty of energy left in the tank.

Rhydon stepped back a bit, a bit shocked over the fact it managed to do so much in one move.

"That was intense...!" Snow admitted, gulping as she tried to steady herself. She looked over at Hisako, who was trembling after the shockwave.

"W-w-wow, so that's the power of this field!"

Snow couldn't tell if her opponent was trembling out of fear lr adrenaline, but she wasn't going to waste time wondering!

"You're not the only one who can hit hard! Blastoise, let's take Rhydon out before it can do that again! Hydro Pump!"

"Stomping Tantrum, again!"

Rhydon leaped forward to trample Blastoise again, though the water Pokemon had no intentions of letting itself get hit like that again. Going on all fours for leverage, Blastoise aimed its cannons at the Drill Pokemon and fired the high pressured bursts of water at it, hitting it directly.

"Gah! Rhydon!"

"You probably shouldn't have made it go for a full-frontal attack." Snow said firmly.

Despite its Eviolite, the super effective attack proved to be too much for Rhydon to handle as it had been blasted right towards Hisako, skidding to a halt in front of her.

"And the first down goes to Snow." Mauro exclaimed. "Will she able to-"

"Don't even bother asking, we know it'll end up even again!" Corey interrupted, earning a glare from his colleague.

"You're right..." Hisako sighed as she controlled her shaking. "I think I got overly excited by this field. It's like a circus, and circuses make people excited, but maybe it's ghe crowd and everyone else watching who should feel that way."

Snow couldn't help but smile, she felt almost the same way. This terrain was definitely something she wasn't expecting but it only made things more interesting for the two of them.

"Alright, well since the circus is where people go to be entertained, let's make this show electrifying! Manectric, it's showtime!"

"Oh geez, more puns." Corey sighed. "Dallas would love to watch the matches we've had so far..."

With a snarl and a focused battle stance, the Discharge Pokemon was clearly ready tk fight. Snow, however, went on the defensive.

"This isn't a fight you should be in, return, Blastoise. Now it's your time, Clefable!"

Snow tossed out a Moon Ball, which showed the area around Clefable with tiny crescent moons as the Fairy Pokemon was sent into the battle.

"Clefable has good defenses but we'll bust right through them! Manectric, use Thunderbolt!"

With a howl, Manectric sent out the sparking electric attack at Clefable. Snow looked confident that Clefable would be fine, as she allowed the attack to connect. Clefable grimaced a little bit when the electricity began coursing through it.

"That's nothing, Clefable, I know you can brush that off!"

With a flex and its grimace changing inti a confident pout, Clefable shook off the Thunderbolt and looked right at Manectric.

"Now use Hidden Power!"

Clefable wagged its right index finger, creating light brown spheres around its body. With a snap of its fingers, the spheres turned into mini lasers that zoomed at Manectric and left muddy spots on the Pokemon and the ground around it. Hisako gasped at the sight of the attack before turning to Snow.

"That's a Ground type Hidden Power, isn't it?"

"Mhmm." Snow nodded. "Clefable needs some sort of defense against Steel and Poison Pokemon, having it be useful now just proves how effective it can be."

Hisako looked at Snow, not in anger or frustration, but whatever expression was on her face was one that Snow could not properly describe.

"Flamethrower!"

The sudden attack took Snow by surprise but she quickly regained herself and called for her Clefable to counterattack.

"Use Moonblast!"

As Manectric's fiery breath rushed towards the Fairy Pokemon, Clefable closed its eyes and took on a calm expression. Spreading its hands in front of itself, Clefable almost sounded as though it were chanting as a light pink ball of energy formed in front of its hands.

With one soft push, the Moonblast quickly met the Flamethrower in the center of the field. The Moonblast was quickly enveloped and appeared as a bulge withij the flames that were still heading towards Clefable. However, the Fairy's attack was also hurtling towards Manectric's mouth, still open and exhuming the intense flames.

As both attacks connected, Clefable was released from the burning flames, a but charred but otherwise ready to continue battling. Manectric however, was blasted back several feet and knocked out with smoke coming out of its mouth.

"And Snow increased her lead on Hisako! What was that you were saying about Hisako keeping up with Snow, Corey?" Mauro snidely remarked.

"Oh shut it Mauro, I thought you wanted us to act impartial!"

As the announcers bickered, Snow noticed that look on Hisako's face again. It looked like her expression was one of an ever increasing level of doubt. But with a shake of her head, Hisako changed her expression to one of defiant confidence as she sent out her next Pokemon.

"Wow, another Galarian Pokemon right after the last match! At least we're getting to see some very unique Pokemon in this tournament!"

Snow recognized the Pokemon as a Centiskorch, she had never seen one in person but rather in a magazine article regarding Flannery, the former Gym Leader of Lavaridge Town over in the Hoenn region. She scanned the Galarian Pokemon with her pokedex with a look of fascination.

'Centiskorch, the Radiator Pokemon; When it heats up, its body temperature reaches about 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. It lashes its body like a whip and launches itself at enemies.'

"Don't give them a chance to fight back! Use Fire Lash, Centiskorch!"

"Clefable, Teleport!"

Centiskorch charged forward as fast as its hundred legs could allow it too, the upper half of its slender body began to glow bright red until it ignited. Clefable gave a friendly wave to the charging Bug Pokemon as its body became cloaked in a pink and purple ring of energy that suddenly disappeared along with Clefable.

"Now it's your turn, Noivern!"

The Sound Wave Pokemon let out a loud screech and spread its wings wide as it arrived onto the battlefield.

Centiskorch's Fire Lash was still active, and it didn't hesitate to take the opportunity to get sone damage in on its new foe.

With a jump, Centiskorch whipped Noivern with its body, the field flashed red for just a moment. The flames enveloping the Radiator Pokemon intensified from the power of the field and when the attack struck, a visible bright orange sonicboom sparked from the impact point.

Despite the attack being not very effective on Noivern, it still gave the wyvern visible burn marks that stung it.

"Hmm, makes sense that a whipping move would get powered up in this field." Snow mused. "But a circus also has acrobats! Noivern, use Acrobatics!"

Noivern shrieked as it began to glide upward at a 45 degree angle, gaining speed as it climbed. The sound of cheering permeated throughout the field, these cheers sounded artificial somehow, even though the actual crowd were clearly enjoying the battle and were expressing it, these cheers just sounded off in a way that neither girl could quite put their finger on.

With a back flip and a spinning dive, Noivern dove into Centiskorch and battered it. The Radiator Pokémon was caught in the talons of its opponent and was being dragged around the arena's flooring before the two Pokemon rose into the air.

"Hehe, looks like these two young ladies truly are getting the hang of this field!" Corey chuckled. "Too bad Centiskorch is about to experience a really harsh landing, courtesy of an Acrobatics attack that gets powered up. Normally if you want to boost the power of that move, you'd have to use it while the user is not holding an item, but this Big Top Field makes it so it'll pack a serious punch regardless!"

"Oh man, Centiskorch can't do anything in the air!" Hisako cried out. "C-Centiskorch, use Leech Life!"

"Don't give them a chance to hit you! Use Boomburst!"

In a desperate attempt to land a hit, Centiskorch tried to lash out and bite Noivern, but the Sound Wave Pokémon took a deep breath and released an ear splitting blast of sound at the Bug Type, the noise amplified by the artificial crowd. Centiskorch was rocketed back onto the ground, no longer able to battle.

"Oh man, Snow is dominant right now! Not even losing a single Pokémon!" Corey called out.

"Needless to say a battle is never over until it's over." Mauro acknowledged. "But it looks like Hisako is looking a bit less confident in herself..."

Just as Mauro said, Hisako's unsure look only appeared to worsen as her third Pokémon fainted. She wordlessly sent out her fourth Pokémon: Froslass.

"Ice Beam." She said emotionlessly.

"Dodge it and use U-Turn."

Froslass raised its hand in front of it and released the icy blast at the Dragon. Noivern was able to do an aileron roll and avoid the attack before hitting the Snow Land Pokémon with its wing before circling back and getting recalled to its pokeball.

"Clefable, it's your turn again!"

The Fairy Pokémon beamed brightly and stretched a little bit before readying itself to continue battling. Hisako looked resigned as she made her next move.

"Shadow Ball."

Froslass quickly sent out the attack without a word, looking back at her trainer after launching it with a bit of concern. Snow actually allowed the attack to connect, Clefable appeared to take a bit of a heavy blow as it began to take more exasperated breaths but it still looked as though it could battle.

"Use Soft-Boiled!"

An egg shaped dome of yellow energy began to form over Clefable, the 'egg' began to crack until it ultimately broke, releasing a green aura that healed Clefable's injuries. The Fairy Pokémon gave off a happy squeal as it finished healing and it took on a confident look.

"That Clefable can heal itself too?" Hisako asked herself, as if unable to believe what she had just seen. "Alright, I guess that's it then."

With a sad smile, Hisako recalled Froslass into her pokeball and tossed a white cloth forward.

"Is... is she giving up?" Corey asked.

"It appears so." Mauro answered. "Well there's no shame in that, sometimes you're up against an opponent you're simply unable to beat. Plus this field seemed to be very much in her opponent's favor."

Snow was shocked to say the least, she had never faced someone who had surrendered. Hisako smiled at her however, in a way that looked much more relaxed and genuine.

"You win." She said. "You were better prepared and the field just favored your Pokémon more. I thought you would use more Ice types though."

"W-well I do really like Ice Pokémon, but it's better to have a varied team. Don't sell yourself short though, your Pokémon are tough!"

"Thanks, but they just weren't tough enough in this case. I'll be rooting for you though!" Hisako chimed as she walked away. Snow smiled back at her before allowing the reality of her victory set in. Then she couldn't help but squeal in excitement.


Snow stepped out of the arena and came face to face with Styles, who she was admittedly surprised to see.

"Congrats on winning." He said.

"Thanks, is there something that you wanted to talk about?" Snow asked.

"You realize we're going to be going up against each other in the next round, right?"

Snow's eyes went wide, she had completely forgotten Styles battled right before she did, and now that they had both been victorious in their respective battles...

"It did slip my mind." Snow admitted. "But don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because we're friends."

"I don't want you to. But you need to understand that I don't intend to go easy on you either. Starting in the next round, every battle is supposed to be a full six against six battle, so bring your best because I want you to know that I will definitely be bringing mine."

Styles couldn't help but notice that Snow was trembling a little bit at what he was saying.

"Am... am I scaring you? I wasn't trying to sound intimidating!" He assured.

"Hehe, n-no I'm fine. But you're right, we're in the top sixteen and we're going to go all out when it's our turn to battle!"

The two trainers smiled confidently at each other as they went their separate ways.


About ten minutes later, Shade was approaching one of the entrances to the arena. His facial expression was that of both confidence and a bit of frustration.

Just before he went to the arena, he ran into Celeste, his traveling companion and biggest rival...

"Hey, so it looks like we're up next." She said, giving the boy a smile. Shade gave one back but his seemed a little less genuine...

"Yeah... We are..." He tried to walk away but Celeste stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.

"Whatever happens, we're still going to be friends, right?"

"Of course!" Shade was sincere when he said that, but he still felt his stomach tighten a bit.

As Shade sat in the locker room of the arena, he remembered every single battle he had had with Celeste ever since they started their journey. Each one had ended in his loss. Those losses weighed heavily on him, whether he wanted to admit it or not. As he stepped onto the battlefield, he told himself one thing...

"Not this time. I won't lose to her again!"


Thank you all again for being so patient. I'll do my best to make the next chapter both action packed and emotional! Until then!