Monday, March 12th, 2018

With exactly a week to go until my match with John, I finally got a text letting me know the format for our battle. The 'specialness' hadn't been undersold since it was a four on four doubles match with held items and no substitutions, making it by far the most complex battle I'd participated in so far. John and I had both only made one change to our rosters so I'd been thinking that our second match wouldn't be too different from the first. Whoever organized the match must have come to the same conclusion since with these modifiers, it was suddenly guaranteed to be very different.

I'd already had one held item match in the Brawl and had discovered that the format only existed within the amateur league. In the advanced and masters leagues, held items were always allowed, but trainers had to bring their own instead of using the cache of items that the Brawl provided.

I'd been a bit lazy about it in my previous items match in that I'd simply given my Pokemon items that improved their primary attacks. Blitz with a Sharp Beak and Scout with a Magnet had torn through my opponent's team, while Shadow made her second Brawl appearance using a Twisted Spoon. I'd never thought she needed to redeem herself after losing her debut match, but Shadow did it all the same with how she'd wrapped up that match.

I had a feeling that I wouldn't have nearly as much success with lackadaisical choices against John. The fact that it was a double battle meant that there were all sorts of other considerations to be made. I ultimately decided to forgo our usual training session and instead spend the day in my room with my team, brainstorming what we would do for the battle. I wasn't sure if trainers usually involved their Pokemon in their planning sessions, but I wanted to make sure that they had the full picture so we could maximize the remainder of our training time.

Blitz was by far the easiest to select an item for, though it didn't mean much since he was the one most likely to sit out the match. As usual, Blitz protested his benching until I pointed out that the only one of John's Pokemon that he had a good matchup against was Swinub, and he didn't even have that big of an advantage there. With that in mind, Weakness Policy was the perfect item to give him on the off-chance that he did end up participating.

For Scout, I floated the idea of giving her an Air Balloon to deal with her only weakness but quickly discarded it. I was fairly sure that John's Pokemon didn't know very many ground moves and they couldn't be used indiscriminately in a double battle anyway. Plus, I was pretty sure that an Air Balloon would hamper Scout's mobility more than it would help. Ultimately, I decided to go with an item that was practically tailor-made for the move that I'd been teaching her over the previous few weeks. The timing was good enough that I was almost glad that we had run into a wall with Follow Me and decided to switch tracks.

With the type advantage that he had over John's team, an Expert Belt was the obvious choice for Peren. In fact, the only one of my friend's Pokemon that he didn't have an advantage against was Nidorino and I was confident that Shadow could take care of him. With that being her primary role on the team, giving her a Twisted Spoon again was the most logical choice.

Nin was last and he was a much tougher nut to crack for what item I should give him since I wasn't able to think of any items that synergized with his moveset, typing, or ability. Eventually, I decided to simply give him a Wide Lens since making his Glares more effective was always useful. The other main item in the running was Silk Scarf, but I didn't want to go with four items that purely increased offensive potential.

While it was still barely lunchtime when we'd finished deciding on items for everyone, I opted to stick with my original plan and skip our usual training for the day since I knew that we'd be putting in extra item training over the next week. There were still a few finishing touches that we needed to do on some of their moves and I also wanted to get some practice with their items since four of them would be using items that were new to them.

I spent most of the day in the living room with Peren, Scout, and Shadow, either watching Pokemon documentaries on the tv or reading my current book aloud to the three of them. With it being a rare cloudless winter day, Nin spent most of it in my bedroom, basking in the sunlight that came through the open blinds. Blitz had built a second nest in the living room a few weeks prior and he spent the full day sitting in that one, feigning disinterest in what the rest of us were doing. That said, even he didn't complain a single time about the day off, making me certain that I'd made the correct decision.


Monday, March 19th, 2018

"Welcome one and all to our second Tommie-Johnnie match! The first match between Thomas Fitzgerald and John Zimmerman was a real nail-biter and I'm certain that this one will top it! In the few months since that first battle, both of our trainers have promoted into the amateur league, added a new Pokemon to their rosters, and come into their own as trainers right here at the Blizzard Brawl!

"Thomas' roster primarily focuses on status moves and conditions to turn the battle in their favor. The one exception is his ace, a Fletchinder known for his quick and powerful maneuvers to knock out his opponents with ease. But how will he fare against John's rock-solid lineup? Like most type specialists, each of John's Pokemon have their own niches within the team, but all of them have a ground type's sturdiness. Will that be enough to overcome the tricks that Thomas is sure to have up his sleeves? We'll soon have the answers to those questions in this very special Blizzard Brawl match brought to you by Boltund Bikes! They're electric fast!"

I was barely able to hold back a snort when the announcer said the company's cheesy slogan. I hoped that no one noticed since I was well aware that I shouldn't mock the organization that I was attempting to get a sponsorship from.

"Hey, good luck," John's voice came over the comms that we were both wearing. "You're going to need it."

I didn't even try to stop myself from chuckling at that one. "Hey, right back at you."

At that point, the two of us had been in more than enough Brawl matches, so we were both already holding our Pokeballs when the referee told us to get ready. After a short countdown, we released the Pokemon within, revealing the match's starting lineups. On my side was Shadow and Scout, with Shadow having a Twisted Spoon attached to her front while Scout's cheeks were protruding due to the item in her mouth. John had sent out Nidorino, who was predictably wearing Safety Goggles, and Drilbur, who had a pink orb strapped to his chest.

John's lead Pokemon were more or less what I expected, so I barely took a second to consider before calling out, "Confusion Nidorino and Electric Terrain!" John gave his first commands as quickly as I had, though he seemed a bit surprised by my choices. I wasn't able to hear his orders from across the field since he had muted his mic and I moved to do the same.

The previously calm battlefield erupted into chaos in a moment as all four Pokemon began to act. Shadow started running across the field to be closer to maximize the potential of her attack. Her target stood completely still for a moment, then violently shook his back, making purple caltrops fly across the stadium and scatter around my side of the field. Drilbur started spinning in place, sending turf flying as he dug into the grassy field. The dirt that he was digging into started to form a vortex, which quickly expanded to cover the entire field with a Sandstorm.

Scout was the last to act since she had to build up a good amount of electricity for her move. When she was ready, she dumped the charge directly into the ground, making sparks crackle across the field as the entire stage became electrified. After her move was finished, Scout paused for a moment longer in order to swallow the seed that I had given her. "Great job! Now go help Shadow," I called to Scout, a little louder than usual so that I could be heard over the muffling effect of Sandstorm. While John gave another round of commands to his Pokemon, Scout ran through the Sandstorm, being sure to avoid the Toxic Spikes in her path while also building up another electric charge.

Even after his newest orders, John's Pokemon didn't move from the spots where they'd been sent out. I was fairly sure that Drilbur was using Hone Claws, but I couldn't tell what Nidorino was doing through the sand. Whatever it was, the move was quickly interrupted when a soft pink aura surrounded him. He violently shook his head in an attempt to fight off the Confusion, but Shadow's attack didn't waver.

Drilbur suddenly charged her with speed that was only a little slower than what I was used to seeing from Blitz. Before I could call out a warning, he ran right into Shadow, swiping at her with his claws. I felt a sharp pain in my head as Shadow loudly whinnied and Nidorino was freed from Confusion. While the psychic feedback that I'd been hit by left no doubts about Drilbur's strength, I would have known that he'd hit hard since it was rare for Shadow to make noise even in battles.

"Switch targets!" I shouted since it was looking like Drilbur was a larger threat than I'd expected. I'd been hoping for a quick and easy knockout on Nidorino because of our type advantage, but that wasn't a possibility given Drilbur's power and speed. Nidorino was still recovering from Confusion when he got hit by a Thunder Shock from Scout before she started to run directly at Drilbur.

Shadow tried to use another Confusion to stop Drilbur from attacking her again, but her concentration was broken by another swipe of Drilbur's claws. This time there wasn't nearly as much feedback over our connection, allowing me to notice that Drilbur had actually winced after his own attack. I'd been fairly sure that Drilbur's item was a Life Orb and the confirmation made me even more certain that he needed to be dealt with first.

As if he was determined to prove me correct about how much of a threat he was, Drilbur continued his assault with another Metal Claw, but the attack went wide when Scout barreled into him. Shadow jumped on the opening and Tackled Drilbur back, putting some much-needed space between the two Pokemon. Oddly, Drilbur seemed fine with the turn of events and backed off some more. Scout started to chase after him, but with the Sandstorm, she was much slower and couldn't keep up.

Shadow attempted to use another Confusion to slow Drilbur down, but her concentration was once again broken, this time by a flurry of Poison Sting darts from Nidorino. A pink and blue aurora started to form around Shadow moments later as Pastel Veil activated and instantly cured any trace of the poison she'd been inflicted with. The other benefit was that we wouldn't have to worry about the Toxic Spikes as long as Shadow was on the field.

Now backed up by his partner, Drilbur suddenly switched directions and dashed back toward Shadow. Scout managed to intercept him and tried to block his path with Protect, but it only momentarily slowed down the other Pokemon since he wasn't affected by the barrier's electricity. In fact, the altercation turned out better for John than me since Scout was dazed for a moment from the hit before she was able to resume chasing after Drilbur. While she was a stationary target, Scout was hit by a few Poison Stings from Nidorino, but they weren't particularly dangerous between Pastel Veil and the defensive boost she'd gotten from Electric Seed.

As Drillbur got closer, I did my best to send Shadow a mental image of her Tackling her attacker. I wasn't confident in giving commands that way since it was still something that we were working on, but it seemed to work since she jumped forward to meet Drilbur. Granted, she might have just figured out to use Tackle on her own, but I counted it as a win regardless. Drilbur started swinging his claws at Shadow, and while he was able to score a few more hits, he couldn't keep attacking when she knocked him to the ground. Drilbur started to get up, but that was the same moment that Scout jumped on him and Bit down on his long nose, making him lose his balance again.

Oddly, Nidorino stayed at range, continuing to fire Poison Sting darts at Scout and Shadow instead of coming in close to help his ally. John must have wanted to keep him away from Shadow, but that decision allowed my Pokemon to focus their full attention on Drilbur. While they occasionally winced from being buffeted by sand or hit by a Poison Sting, Scout and Shadow were able to prevent Drilbur from regaining his footing by keeping him down with Bite and Confusion attacks. Eventually, Drilbur slumped back down to the ground and stopped attempting to get up.

John returned Drilbur and replaced him with Rockruff, sending her out so that she was standing between my Pokemon and Nidorino. I noticed that he'd had a similar idea to me and that his starter also had an Expert Belt wreathed around her neck like a scarf. A Howl filled the stadium as Rockruff materialized and a moment later she started charging for my Pokemon.

"Stop her!" I called. While Scout hit Rockruff with a Thunder Shock, she didn't even slow down on her way to Shadow, who must have been more badly hurt than I'd thought since she didn't even get a Confusion off. One Bite later and the battle was once again even, with the blue and pink aurora dissipating as I returned Shadow. I sent Peren out closer to my side of the field, and he winced as he stepped on one of Nidorino's Toxic Spikes. Since Peren had the perfect moves to deal with the battle situation, I quickly rattled off his commands. "Aromatherapy, Sunny Day, Camouflage!"

With Peren set for the time being, I was able to give my full attention to Scout, who was being targeted by both of John's Pokemon. Like I'd hoped, it didn't look like John's Pokemon had learned any ground moves yet since Rockruff was trying to hit Scout with Rock Throw or trap her with Rock Tomb, while Nidorino kept up his barrage of Poison Stings. I would have preferred to have Scout stall with Protect but unfortunately, the move still didn't have a tight enough lattice to be effective against ranged moves. Scout was already doing a good job of avoiding the pair's attacks, but I decided to give her commands anyway. "Focus on dodging, but Thunder Shock Rockruff if you get the chance!"

As I'd hoped, John's physically offensive lineup didn't do him any favors with the defensive boost that Scout had received from Electric Seed. With her putting all of her efforts into dodging, she was able to avoid most of the attacks being sent her way and shrug off the few glancing blows she did take. After ten seconds, her efforts became much easier as the Sandstorm slowly died down and was replaced by a small orange glowing ball floating above the field. Peren still had a lot of work to do on perfecting Sunny Day, but it was enough to cancel out John's preferred weather and that's all I cared about.

I couldn't help but grin once I had a clear sight of the stage and saw that John was obviously frustrated with the way the battle was going. Even with his mic muted, I could clearly hear him tell his Pokemon to forget about Scout and focus on Peren. Nidorino immediately pivoted towards Peren and fired off a salvo of Poison Stings while Rockruff began running towards him with her fangs ignited.

The target change didn't even go in John's favor since right before the darts hit Peren, he flashed white as Camouflage finally went off. He flinched slightly as the attack made contact, but when the light faded, his fur was bright yellow courtesy of Scout's Electric Terrain. With all of his non-damaging moves finished, Peren was finally able to start attacking by shooting a line of Bullet Seeds at Rockruff as she approached with Scout hot on her heels. Peren couldn't move much while using Bullet Seed, meaning he was open to Poison Sting, but that seemed like an acceptable tradeoff.

Peren hit Rockruff with a few Bullet Seeds and decided to keep attacking in an attempt to force her back instead of backing away. Even though she was badly hurt from the seeds, Rockruff pressed forward and chomped down on one of Peren's legs with flames shooting out from her teeth at the moment of impact. Peren recoiled more violently than I'd expected and tried to kick Rockruff with his other front leg in order to force her off. Rather than stick around to be hit, Rockruff jumped back, leaving behind a bright red spot on Peren's leg.

"Double Kick and Aromatherapy," I called, cursing our bad luck with the burn. Almost all of Peren's moves were physical so I couldn't let it go untreated, but he also couldn't use Bullet Seed at the same time as Aromatherapy since both moves came from his flower. Clearly favoring his injured leg, Peren began to chase after Rockruff, but he didn't get more than a few feet before he was interrupted by his target.

At a command from John, Rockruff had halted in her tracks and turned around to face Peren with her eyes narrowed. After a second, she slammed her front paws into the field and four large slabs shot out of the ground, completely surrounding Peren. I couldn't see inside of the Rock Tomb, but judging from how close they were together, I doubted that Peren would easily be able to get the leverage to free himself from the trap. Unfortunately, Scout didn't have the strength to help free him so I called out the only advice I could think of. "Try using Double Kick with your back legs!"

With Peren once again effectively removed from the battle, I returned my attention to Scout, who had hit Rockruff with another Thunder Shock while she'd been concentrating. The Thunder Shock used up the last of the electricity covering the field from her Electric Terrain, but I decided to not have her renew it. It had already achieved its primary purpose and I doubted that she would have a free moment while in a one versus two.

John apparently had other ideas and still thought Peren was the bigger threat since rather than attacking Scout, Rockruff began to use Rock Throw to lob stones over the thin stone slabs and presumably right on top of Peren. Scout gave Rockruff another Thunder Shock, but this one was largely ignored as it was visibly weaker without the boost from Electric Terrain. Meanwhile, Nidorino had finally closed in and while he was still using ranged Poison Stings, his new closeness meant that he was landing more than previously.

I was starting to get worried as purple ooze began dripping down Scout's fur and Rockruff lobbed her third set of Rock Throws into Peren's prison. The first half of the battle had gone almost exactly as I'd hoped, but I could tell that things were slipping away from my control. As if to alleviate some of my growing concern, one of the walls of the Rock Tomb suddenly burst outward with some of the shards flying into Rockruff and stunning her. Scout hit Rockruff with another Thunder Shock as a battered-looking Peren charged out and slammed his hooves into Rockruff, knocking her out.

John grimaced as he returned Rockruff and sent Swinub out as his final Pokemon. With Peren freed from the Rock Tomb, Scout looked a bit better as his ongoing Aromatherapy helped with her poisoning. With Swinub immune to electric attacks, I called out, "Scout, switch back to Nidorino! Peren, keep at it and Double Kick Swinub!"

The battle turned into two simultaneous one on ones as Scout and Nidorino resumed attacking each other while Peren ran toward Swinub. He was still moving slower than usual, which meant that Swinub had plenty of warning to counterattack. When Peren got close, she hopped up and mud erupted out when she hit the ground, making Peren shudder when the mud splattered over him. I considered having Peren back off and switch back to being a normal type, but I was pretty sure that Swinub would simply interrupt the move with Ice Shards.

Despite his latest injury, Peren pressed on and kicked down on Swinub's back. John's Pokemon winced at the hit, but then recovered much faster than I expected. She did a second short hop, creating another wave of mud that hit Peren at close range.

"Keep it up!" I called encouragingly, though I doubted that matchup would go in our favor. I'd been hoping that with his Expert Belt, it would only take Peren a couple of Double Kicks to deal with Swinub, but it was quickly looking like that wasn't the case. I suspected that John had given Swinub an Eviolite, which I was a tad annoyed about. With most of our Pokemon still able to evolve, simply sticking an Eviolite on all of them probably would have been the best call, but it hadn't seemed like it was in the spirit of the battle. I at least consoled myself with the knowledge that John had only given the item to one of his Pokemon.

While Peren put up a valiant effort by landing two more kicks on Swinub, the expected outcome came and he was knocked out by a fourth Mud Slap attack. Before I had even finished recalling Peren, Swinub began shaking and started whipping up a new Sandstorm. I grimaced and automatically started to reach for Nin's Pokeball when I had a realization. With Rockruff and the newly evolved Quagsire out of the picture, Blitz suddenly became a valid choice for my last Pokemon. I considered for another second, then smiled and sent out the Pokemon that the announcer had called my ace.

"Peck Nidorino! Thunder Shock Blitz!" I called and Blitz streaked toward Scout and Nidorino as he finished materializing. Blitz continued picking up speed as Scout turned toward him and fired a weak electric arc. I was suddenly extra thankful for Peren's Aromatherapy training since Blitz didn't even try to alter his course and flew right into Scout's attack. Blitz shuddered as he was hit by the electricity, but more important was the flash of white light as the paper that he was holding in his talons disappeared.

The downside of our maneuver was that Nidorino took full advantage of Scout's distraction and jabbed at her with another round of Poison Stings, finally knocking her out. Blitz was quick to return the favor and hit Nidorino square in the back with two ranged Pecks, making Nidorino's legs give out from underneath him. John and I returned our Pokemon simultaneously, then turned back to the matchup that would decide the battle.

"Get in close with Flame Charge!" I told Blitz, once again having to speak louder in order to be heard over the reformed Sandstorm. Blitz dutifully created fire around his body and started swooping toward John's side of the field, but his flames were almost instantly buffeted by the sand. To make his approach more difficult, he also had to constantly change directions in order to avoid the Ice Shards that Swinub was firing his way. Normally the speed boost that Blitz got from Flame Charge was at least comparable to Quick Attack and Gale Wings, but since it was clear that wasn't the case in these conditions, I gave up on the super-effective move. "Nevermind! Quick Attack!"

The rest of Blitz's flames extinguished as he put on extra speed and fought through the Sandstorm to get closer to Swinub. Blitz had almost reached the other Pokemon when a white Mist began to spew out of Swinub's nostrils and she was completely hidden from sight within seconds. The upside was that Swinub could no longer attack Blitz with Ice Shards, but that didn't necessarily matter since a stalemate would eventually go in John's favor given the weather.

Without Whirlwind or Defog, we didn't have a good way to deal with the Mist. "Stay above and fire Pecks down into it," I called, hoping we could get at least a few lucky hits in while I thought of a better plan. After Blitz had sent his third Peck into the Mist cloud, snow started flying out from the top. While most of the Powdered Snow was carried away from Blitz by the Sandstorm, there was still enough of it that got through that he was forced to dodge more and attack less. I hated to do it, but I finally decided that we had to go for one final risky attack and hope that Peren had done enough damage earlier. And when it came to a single powerful attack, we had one clear option.

"Acrobatics!" I shouted, and Blitz rapidly gained height so that he was well above the range of Swinub's snow, though the same couldn't be said for the sand since it filled the entire arena. When he'd reached the top of the psychic barrier, Blitz began to fly to circles and loops, slowly building up more and more speed. After a few seconds, Swinub returned to her previous strategy of trying to knock Blitz out of the sky with Ice Shards, but none of the icicles came close to hitting Blitz due to his evasive maneuvers.

Blitz suddenly dove down, heading straight for the Mist cloud that had started to thin slightly when Swinub switched moves. With the speed that he'd built up, it only took a second for Blitz to disappear into the Mist as well. With both Pokemon out of sight, I nervously held my breath.

The tense situation lasted for a few seconds until Swinub came flying out of the cloud, bouncing slightly as she hit the ground. A moment later, Blitz burst out of the Mist following her and firing two more Pecks into her back before she could recover. He regained some of his height and was starting to come around for another pass when the Sandstorm abruptly vanished. With the battlefield once again clear, I spotted a Golduck standing on the sidelines and a moment later, the psychic barrier around the field disappeared.

A grin slowly grew on my face as I realized that we had won. In contrast, Blitz looked a bit annoyed that it was already over, so I was quick to tell him good job and return him before he made a scene. John had already returned Swinub and I joined him in making our way to the center of the field. I was vaguely aware of the announcer and the noise of the crowd as we moved to meet in the middle, but I had already been in more than enough battles to be used to ignoring them.

Like we did after our last battle, John and I solemnly shook hands before switching it to a bro-hug. "Dude, that was great!" John said with a genuine smile as we separated, clearly not taking his loss personally. "You were just shutting down everything I was doing!"

"Yeah, well what was up with all those statuses? I thought that was supposed to be my thing," I replied with a laugh and then gestured towards the side of the stage. He nodded with a laugh and the two of us started to make our way back to the southern tunnel.

We were still complimenting each other and our Pokemon as we entered the tunnel. It took my eyes a second to adjust to the much dimmer light, but once I could see again, I saw that there was a man wearing a Boltund Bikes t-shirt waiting for us. "That was a great battle you two," he said with a smile that seemed more polite than genuine. "If you could both follow me, we can get the final details of the sponsorship squared away."

"Both of us? He's the one that won," John said and the man nodded in reply. John and I shared a confused glance but shrugged and followed him as he started walking further down the tunnel. Rather than continuing to head straight and go back to the stadium's public section, he took a right at one of the forks, heading to a section beneath the stadium that I hadn't been to before. A couple of minutes later, we arrived at a small conference room where a woman was waiting inside.

She looked up from some papers as we entered and gave us a much warmer smile than what we'd gotten from the man that led us there. "Hello boys. I'm Penelope, the head of PR and advertising for Boltund Bikes. That was an excellent showing from both of you; you really did an outstanding job showcasing your skills."

"Thanks," I replied and John echoed me a second later.

Penelope picked up two of the printouts that she had in front of her and held out one to each of us. "Those are your bike vouchers. Just go to any one of our locations across the cities and they'll find the perfect bike along with getting you set up with the rest of the details for your sponsorship."

I took the page offered to me and John followed me with a bit of hesitation. After staring at the page for a second, he looked back up. "Wait, we both got the sponsorship? I thought it was only the winner."

Penelope winked at him. "That's just what we say to make our contenders give it their all. We're more than willing to sponsor two upcoming trainers, but why not add a bit of an incentive in order to make it the best battle possible?"

John and I glanced at each other and simultaneously burst out laughing. "Well, you succeeded there," I told Penelope with a wry smile. "We've both been training for this almost non-stop for the last month."

"And it really showed! Now, I don't want to take up any more of your time so I'll just say congratulations and let you be on your way."

We thanked her again before leaving the conference room and made our way back to the main tunnel. John kept glancing down at the sheet in his hand as if to make sure it wasn't a trick and I slowly realized that getting the sponsorship had more importance to him than what I'd put on it, which was simply a continuation of our friendly rivalry.

When we exited the tunnel a couple of minutes later, I wasn't surprised to see Cait waiting for us in the stadium hallway. "Guess what?" John immediately asked with excitement as soon as he saw her. "We both-"

"Got the sponsorship," Cait interrupted with a light smile.

John deflated slightly that he hadn't been able to make the reveal, but his expression quickly turned confused. "Wait, how did you know?"

Cait rolled her eyes with familiar exasperation. "Because they do this every year John. They always put on one of these matches and unless it's horribly lopsided, both trainers get the sponsorship. I didn't expect Thomas to know about it, but honestly, you don't have much of an excuse."

"I never paid much attention to the Brawl before this," John weakly defended himself.

"Why didn't you just tell us?" I asked. "It must have been obvious that neither of us knew."

"It was extremely obvious," Cait said, then shrugged. "But I mostly didn't want to ruin your fun. Even if the constant banter got annoying after a while."

I smiled ruefully. "Sorry about that then."

Cait shrugged again and there was a brief moment of silence before John's smile returned. "Well, either way. We should celebrate!"

"How about we get our Pokemon healed up and then go back to my room to hang out?" I asked and the other two readily agreed. After getting our Pokemon taken care of, we spent the rest of the day in my room, talking about the match and eating pizza. After a month of preparing for a single battle, I was more than happy to take some time to relax with my Pokemon and friends.


A/N: Thanks to Star (quarknova on this site) for betaing. This chapter finally wraps up the Winter arc so next up is Chapter 29: Spring Fever