At sunrise, Ryan awoke to the sound of an egg cracking. It was mounted on a plush magenta pillow on a blanket on top of the dresser, nudged up against the window, from which the morning's rays were spilling out, yellow and brittle. The aqua egg with the cream-colored splotches was cracked down the center, and fissures of new fault lines were spreading like an earthquake. Before Ryan could shout for Alakazam to get the camera, the egg exploded, and there hunched a light blue Pokémon, as small as a beached eel. Yawning, Ryan grabbed for his Poké Dex on the side table and said:

"Yo, Dex. Tell me all about this new guy!" He pointed the device at the freshly-hatched Pokémon.

"There is no information…" the Poké Dex said plainly. "No Pokémon in range."

"No, there is," Ryan insisted. "Open your eyes, you robotic dummy!"

"Sorry master, but there is no species of Pokémon native to Kanto in range."

"Huh? Trash!" he said carelessly, flinging the Poké Dex across the room daintily. So either it's not a Pokémon, or it's from a different region…

"Logan, get up, it hatched!" Ryan declared very formally. He only said it the once, enough to wake up Logan, but he was not too overbearing, and indeed, by the time the other boy rolled out of his cot, Logan had forgot why they were awake at this hour of this here yonder morn.

A few moments later, Logan came sidling over. "What is it?" he said softly.

"I don't know, some kind of frog thing," Ryan replied, holding up his new Pokémon meekly in his hands. Indeed, it looked like a frog - it was blue and small and had large eyes. It wore a cape-scarf of bubbles, it appeared, and it looked exceptionally regal for a being of its age.

"Oh, that's the Frogface Special!" Logan said, his eyes widening in remembrance. "I learned his name yesterday like you wanted me to, I forgot to tell you! Clefairy fairy fairy fairy Clef fairy!"

Ryan was rubbing the dust from his eyes, sitting on the end of his bed. He sounded exhausted. "I thought you only spoke Clefable."

"I can speak Clefairy too. You know, they all go together… the Clefable and the Clefairy. Clefairy evolves into Clefable, and…"

"Yeah, I know," Ryan sighed. "Alright, that's enough. I have to go train my Pokémon some more."

"But aren't you going to get breakfast?"

"Froooooaa?!" the baby frog Pokémon chirped.

"Fro?" Ryan repeated, confused.

"Fro," Logan agreed.

"Froaaaah!" the beast shrieked again, like a banshee on helium.

"Alright alright, we get it!" Ryan shouted, his hands over his ears. "Fro… dobo? Frodo dobo?" He asked the baby Pokémon. "Are you the big mercedes dobo, Frodo too?"

"Frooaah!" it screeched again before falling over on the fancy magenta pillow, sound asleep. It snored quite loudly. I wonder if it's really the fabled Frodo dobo Pokémon monster. That'd be sweet if it was. But Ryan couldn't think about that right now. The most important Pokémon match of his life was going to happen today, and he had to make sure he was fully prepared for it. "So, uh," he said, looking over to Logan again, "yeah, I'll be out training with my Pokémon."

"Later."

Logan shrugged and waved Ryan away. "Alright, see ya."

With that Logan jumped into the bed, even as Ryan was pulling on his shoes. Wow, he has no respect. This is an outrage. I can't believe that jive turkey would do such a thing. Rahul would never suffer Alex being so insubordinate. But he didn't say anything because he didn't want to start conflict. Not on this day. Ryan was too overcome with anxiety to care about petty interactions and social etiquette. Julia was speaking to a swarm of reporters, and Ryan made sure to not get too close to them, lest they recognize him. I don't want to have to answer all their stupid questions.

He was out there all morning, until all of his Pokémon had used up multiple potions and were too tired to go on. They need the Poké Center. I wonder if I can go out and train with them again after they're healed up, or if there won't be enough time until the fight… He was mid-thought, his six Pokémon limping behind him, when Ryan came around a corner and discovered Julia, with all six of her own Pokémon. A silence fell. The morning chill-winds were rising.

"Oh," she said, her face flushed pink, though Ryan suspected that was from the cold. "I didn't expect to find you here, Ryan."

She had a Rhydon and an Exeggutor and a Jolteon and a Starmie and a Ninetails and a Tauros. He had never seen half of these Pokémon before, but now that he had, Ryan found them to be monstrously gargantuan and quite mean. They looked agile and tenacious and supremely confident. His own tired lot paled in comparison.

"Training before the battle, huh?" he observed.

"I see you are as well."

Ryan nodded. "Nice Pokémon."

"Thanks!" He couldn't tell if she was blushing. "Yours aren't so bad either. I'm sure we're going to have a great battle this evening. What do you think, should we put on a show for everyone?"

"Uh, sure. Whatever you say. I just wanna win, really."

"Do you know how many of my Pokémon have been knocked out by opponents?" There was a nagging, whiny sound in her voice.

Everyone does. "Zero," Ryan said smartly, "but I think by the time this thing's over, your new number will be six."

She laughed for two heartbeats and turned her back to Ryan. "Well, I'll see you tonight, Ryan. Good luck with the training."

It was a short run to the nearest Poké Center. Not many people were out. Ryan ordered a cold sandwitch and tried to warm himself up by the heater. The televisions around were buzzing with the Indigo League news program documenting the lives of both Julia and Ryan; Ryan already knew about this, for he had given the local news station some information about himself a few days ago… and there would also be some stuff about whatever his friends and family had told the reporters. I was never going to watch it. It's so dumb. I don't want to watch that jive nonsense!

But watch it he did, because Ryan was cold and bored and there was nowhere else to sit. He learned that Julia had been an orphan, raised by a rich foster family who had sent her to Poké Tech as a young girl. She had passed that school's final exam four years ago, earning her a place in the Indigo League, but had decided to also go from gym to gym collecting all eight badges. She had collected badges every year since. Of course, the news people also brought up the fact that in all seven of her matches this year, an opponent had not yet managed to KO a single one of Julia's Pokémon. She swept the first five matches, and worked some magic against Rahul and her other full team opponent to not lose anyone. She'll have to try real hard against me. I'll put up the biggest fight of all. I'm not going down without giving it everything I got.

Ryan stayed there, half-paying attention to the reporters on TV, and half-thinking about what his strategy would be in the upcoming match. He knew he would have to make some predictions with moves - Julia would surely do a lot of switching now that the rules allowed her to. She wouldn't leave a Pokémon in if it was in a bad matchup. I have to be like that too. I have to know when to switch, and make her pay for switching.

He heard on the television that Rahul had lost in the third round match earlier that day to Awabi the Sundance child (Arceus bless his poor lil heart), 6-3. Apparently the Charizard sweep hadn't worked against that pale fool. I guess it shows how much better I am than Rahul, too. I beat Awabi 6-4. He beat Rahul 6-3. That means I'm way better than Rahul. I should have a better chance against Julia than him… or anyone else, for that matter…

He was there for another hour and a half until Nurse Joy dinged him for his Pokémon. It was only 1 pm. That was good - he still had time. It was strange though, Ryan thought as he ran out of the Poké Center, that he hadn't seen Julia bring her Pokémon in. She's still out there. I bet she's using potions. Her family's rich, so I bet she has a lot of them. Ryan was as poor as a Sunday Pidgey. He had only a few potions left, and he didn't want to use them all up just training, because those were reserved for emergencies… and they were very expensive. There was no replacing them, at least not in the near future.

Even so, Ryan once again released his six Pokémon and began working all of them simultaneosly against the wild Pokémon around the Indigo League Plateau village. It was around 5 pm when they were all too worn out to go on. Ryan returned them to their Poké Balls, checked his watch, grimaced in shock (how time flies, indeed), and sprinted all the way back to the Poké Center. Julia wasn't there, as he expected.

"Nurse Joy, Nurse Joy, I got a quick one for ya!" he panted, spilling his Poké Balls onto the counter. The pink-haired nurse gasped in suprise and reached for them as they spilled over the counter towards her, catching them in her arms as if she were holding two or three more limes than she optimally could. "Please, I need these guys healed up all the way before the match starts at 7! Please hurry!"

Nurse Joy's surprise turned to determination. "Hmph! You got it, contestant Ryan!" she said pedantically. "Your Pokémon will be ready in one hour!" She's the most beautiful Joy of all.

And so they were; Ryan had never seen a batch of Pokébuddies get healed so fast, it brought a tear to his eye. Once he had his Pokémon back, he rushed home. He was only ambushed five times by reporters, and he only gave seven interviews. Once he was done, he headed up to his room, locked the door, and opened the curtains to the great window that looked out over the rest of the village. He had maybe thirty minutes.

Alakazam materialized at Ryan's side. "Hey buddy. You're a genius now, so tell me what to do," the boy said melancholically. "Do you think we have a chance?"

"Zam."

"That sounded pretty pessimistic, Alakazam."

"Alakazam, alakazam!" Alakazam exclaimed.

Ryan put his hands on his knees, leaning forward. The sky outside was a deep blue, with a hint of indigo night creeping in on the edge of sight. It was colder out in the sky, with stark white clouds stretched out across the endless blue. Ryan wondered whether Kelly would show. Everyone else is already there, waiting for me. I'm sure Julia's probably doing about ten interview inside the stadium. He exhaled forcefully and tried to clear his mind, but it was no good. He watched wild Pidgey and Spearow spin through the sky in arrowhead formations. The Spearow groups were a little larger and a little wider; Pidgey arrowheads were thinner, sleeker, faster, more uncommon. He wondered why that was. Ryan reached for Alakazam's Poké Ball. His hand was shaking. He wiped the sweat from his palms and downed a glass of water nervously. He tried to clear his mind, but found nothing behind his eyes left to wipe away.

This is the biggest moment of my life. And as he sat there worrying, in his last moments of freedom, Ryan turned to his oldest buddy, the Pokémon with whom he had started this journey. There was Alakazam leaning up against the bed sound asleep, a piece of cracked egg on his shoulder.

I don't know if I envy him or pity him.

The referee was balancing on a giant red-and-white striped ball, a cane in his hand, a top hat upon his head. "And on this side, we have Ryan… from Acapulco!" the man bellowed, nearly slipping off his ball. The whole endeavor was so needlessly dangerous. "He's a wonderful trainer with wonderful Pokémon!"

He sounds like mom, Ryan thought, glancing back at his friends and family sitting at the bench behind him. She couldn't get over my Dragonite. Dad didn't have anything to say about that. He stole another glance at them. Alex was buried in his 3DS; Rahul was chilling and sipping Skittle-flavored orange juice shots; Logan was holding Frodo dobo and giving Ryan a thumb's up. When the teal-haired boy noticed Logan, he thought he saw a Clefairy at the other boy's feet, but when he blinked, it vanished.

No Kelly, he thought glumly. She didn't show after all.

"And Julia, oh me, oh my! I once had a Magikarp named Julia, she would play a little game with meeeeee…!" the referee trailed off, slipping off his ball and landing hard on the edge of the stage. At once, a mad siren started blaring and a couple of Chansey came running out with a stretcher. In the blink of an eye, they were running off again, the unconscious referee in tow.

"Apologies everyone for that wanton display," an old man said pleasantly over the loudspeakers. "Anyways, let's start the show!" The crowd screamed with energy. "Contestants Julia and Ryan, take your marks!" Ryan drew his Poké Ball. Please start us off good, Spectre. "3… 2… 1… begin!" the old man from the loudspeakers bellowed.

This is it. Ryan took a deep breath. Spectre burst out of his ball to face Julia's Ninetails. Her Ninetails already? But isn't that her best Pokémon? "Hypnosis, Spectre!" he shouted as loud as he could over the incessant thrumming of the crowd. It's just a Pokémon battle, he thought, annoyed. Why are they acting like this is the end of the world?

"Confuse Ray!" Julia ordered her Pokémon. She looked pretty - her blonde hair was done up, and she wore a sparkling red dress and high heels. Behind her, her bench was packed with well-dressed men and women. She has more friends than me.

Spectre was faster - he was a veritable wind demon, unlike anything seen in the Indigo League yet. He drifted up to the Ninetails, who was preparing its Confuse Ray, grinned, and plucked out his favorite pendulum swinging thing he used for Hypnosis. I wonder which pocket he was keeping that in. After that, it was just a probability game. Sleep moves were notoriously inaccurate. Sometimes Spectre would lose his pendulum or try to put the sky to sleep. It was really weird how bad he was at aiming the sleep attack. But this time, his aim was true, and he hit the Ninetails immediately with his sleep rays. The Fox Pokémon yawned loudly before collapsing onto the ground.

"Yes!" Ryan punched the sky. "Great work, Spectre! Return!"

He recalled his Gengar quickly and readied another ball. Gotta go on the offensive now. "Aegon, it's your turn!"

His Charizard spun from his Poké Ball like a fire cyclone, landing in front of the sleeping Ninetails with great spirit. On the other side of the stage, Julia similarly took the hint. She recalled her Ninetails and brought out her Exeggutor. That palm tree beat Rahul's Charizard 1v1. I gotta be careful.

"Fire Blast, Aegon!"

"Sleep Powder!" Julia called.

The crowd inhaled. Ryan blinked. Aegon's swirling flames went sailing past Exeggutor, burning up in the air just to the right of his foe. The Sleep Powder drifted across the air, landing on Aegon's face. The Charizard collapsed, asleep, much to the amusement of the crowd. Okay, I see how it is. He'd poked Julia, made her mad. And she poked me back. Well, he'd play the game just as she had with her Ninetails.

"Aegon, return!"

"Thurnax time," Alex shouted from behind. "Agility first!"

"Right," Ryan breathed. "Okay, Thurnax, go!"

They did the usual fawning over his Dragonite. The boy was too nervous to care. The orange Dragon Pokémon was indeed a rare sight - but even rarer was one who ran the setup that Ryan's did. If this works, he thought, they'll see something they've never see before. "Agility!" he commanded her.

Thurnax barked in response and was hit by the incoming Psychic from Exeggutor. She weathed the attack decently. Ryan thought she could take another hit or two from a non-ice move. She built up her speed as she had done before, soaring around the stadium, making the crowd fall in love with her. As this was going on, Ryan realized that Julia had recalled her Exeggutor and brought out Jolteon. She's switching Pokémon way more than I thought she would… He had never fought against such an opponent. This was different, but not in a bad way.

"With Agility, Thurnax should be faster!" Alex noted. "Wrap!"

"You heard him, Thurnax!" Ryan shouted. "Wrap up that Jolteon!"

And so Thurnax did as she was commanded. I hope Derceyes is in the crowd, or at least watching this at home, Ryan thought as he watched his Dragonite Wrap the opposing Jolteon once, and then twice, and then three times. Each time she wrapped up the Jolteon, Jolteon struggled and eventually broke free, but there was no time for it to try to attack - the Lightning Pokémon was not fast enough. It couldn't get away. Thurnax must've wrapped it a dozen times (those Wraps kept continuing and continuing) before Julia recalled the Pokémon that had felled Alabaster Jene's own Dragonite. Jolteon escaped, if only just. It probably had around 15% health left. I was so close. Ryan bit his lip. I nearly KO'd her first Pokémon…

Then came Exeggutor again, the old pineapple head. The spectators loved it; they threw food and whooped in delight seeing Julia's worst Pokémon again. It was great. It absorbed the Surf attack that Thurnax had sent to end Jolteon. That meager water attack did very little damage to Exeggutor.

Fine, so that's how she wants to be. I'll Wrap-trap this one instead. "Wrap that bad boy up!" Ryan ordered Thurnax.

"Heeeieieaiaaah!" Thurnax agreed.

The female dragon shot forward with incredible speed. With Agility, she's even faster than Spectre, Ryan noted. Jeez… she's insane! Thurnax came to the dumb-looking Exeggutor and wrapped her tail around it, squeezing and squeezing.

"Explosion!" Julia shouted. She's playing really aggressive, wow.

"Don't let it, Thurnax!" Ryan ordered. "Keep wrapping it up!"

And so Thurnax did. She never missed a Wrap, never let up, and each Wrap continued on for several turns, stalling out Exeggutor and its ability to attack back. Every time Exeggutor broke free from a Wrap, the Dragonite shot forward and continued her assault. It was only when Exeggutor looked really beat up that Ryan shouted, "Hyper Beam!"

It was a bit of a risk - Hyper Beam wasn't 100% accurate, but then again, neither was Wrap.

"Explosion!" Julia's voice was more forceful this time.

Silly Julia, don't you know that Exeggutor's too slow? The white beam of light materialized around the Dragonite's mouth. She flew in circles above the stadium, like a ravenous raven. Exeggutor was glowing below, preparing to light things up. And then Thurnax fell towards the earth like a bullet. The crowd was cheering her on. She was flying as fast as a missile; she spit the energy from her mouth as she dipped down to the ground, nearly crashing. Thurnax sailed high into the sky. Her energy flew on towards the slow, living tree, and it washed over Exeggutor with a rush of blinding fire. When the light cleared, the dragon circled overhead, and the Exeggutor crumbled to the ground, covered in ash and dust.

"Exeggutor is unable to battle!" the old referee from the booth declared.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeesss!" Ryan shouted, falling to his knees. "I did it, I did it! I KO'd one of her Pokémon!"

"Nice work, Ryan!" Rahul shouted in jubiliation. He wondered how the other boy was in such high spirits after what had happened to him these past two days.

"Stay focused, keep Wrapping until you miss!" Alex counseled. "If she's smart, she'll use Tauros now…"

"And Julia has chosen Tauros as her next Pokémon!" the referee was saying.

"Wrap!"

"Blizzard!"

Thurnax flew at the Tauros, her tail wiggling in anticipation of a nice squeeze. But the Tauros ran out of the way and Thurnax crashed into the far end of the stage, left to skid across the concrete ground until she slammed against the base of Julia's trainer platform. Before the Dragonite could get up, though, Tauros' Blizzard was upon her, and that nasty 4x weakness to ice brought her to her knees.

The first red dot beneath Ryan's digital portrait faded. His heart was beating irregularly. He swallowed, trying to slow his breathing.

Dang it. I really wanted her to take out at least one more… "Myrrah's your best bet," Alex said. He was standing now, the 3DS nowhere to be seen. "Blizzard."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Myrrah, give this bully a nice frosting!"

"Cloyster!" his Cloyster muttered, sailing through the air before landing in front of Tauros. Just like that, it was even again. She's so aggressive, Ryan thought. I can hardly keep up.

Myrrah was hit by a Body Slam that sent her flying back, but her protective shell seemed to shield her from the brunt of the attack, and she came out of that scuffle relatively unharmed. The ensuing hailstorm of icicles and other bits of cold ravaged Tauros, washing him over with such intensity that Ryan knew it had to be a crit. Finally you're doing something useful in this tournament, he thought.

"Hyper Beam!" Julia's voice came high and authoritative. Her Tauros stamped its foot and rushed Cloyster, mustering up a massive Hyper Beam. That's got enough energy to cook her up. "Myrrah, get out of the way! Don't let that Hyper Beam hit you! Take Tauros out with one last Blizzard!"

"Cloy!" Myrrah shot into the air like the snot-rock she was. Ryan was so glad he had found her on the southern shores of Pallet Town.

Tauros snorted and released his massive Hyper Beam. Cloyster looked like she was a sitting duck. But as she shot through the air, she gained speed, and by the time the Hyper Beam reached her, Myrrah turned sharply in midair and dodged left. The crowd gasped. Julia's hand was covering her mouth. Ryan felt his ears go warm with euphoria.

Myrrah landed in front of the Tauros and blasted him with a punch of ice wind and other assorted cold things. The Bull Pokémon shook violently and collapsed. Julia's second dot faded from below her portrait on the overhead scoreboard. She's not invincible, he told himself. She can be beaten. I will beat her.

"Clean it up, Jolteon!" Julia shouted, returning her wounded Lightning Pokémon to the stage.

Uh oh. That's not a good matchup for Myrrah. Indeed, Jolteon could probably OHKO Myrrah, if Ryan remembered correctly, so he recalled his Pokémon and sent forth Spectre again. "Beat this little spikey dog thing, and you'll never have to work another day of your life!" Ryan shouted madly after his Ghost Pokémon.

"Gengar, geng!" the Gengar cackled. Then he got a face full of Thunderbolt and went rolling backwards, screaming. Come on boy, don't embarrass me. I caught you to win me my Marsh Badge. Come on, show the world just how good you are!

"Thunder Wave!"

"Mega Drain!"

Both attacks hit; Jolteon was faster. Its electric attack paralyzed Gengar good, jolting him back into the 1950s like a toaster in the bathtub. Though he keeled over as yellow bolts of lightning cascaded up and down his body, he did not give up. The Gengar shot his Mega Drain attack, which was a little seed that wrapped itself around Jolteon, sucking out some power and restoring it to the damaged Spectre. Jolteon moaned and nearly fell over. It has to be close to fainting. Thurnax hurt it real bad already.

Things were looking good… until the next Thunderbolt ravaged Gengar, hitting him with a critical punch. The attack nearly made the Gengar collapse. "Thunderbolt, Spectre. Come on, just a little more, I know you can do it! Don't give up!"

"Gengaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!" Spectre roared. He trembled, standing as electric raced across his body still. Conjuring up a bit of electricty himself, he threw a bolt at the deft little Jolteon, hitting it in the face and sending it to the ground. The crowd erupted with glee. The referee reminded everyone that Julia was down to three Pokémon. Okay, okay. That's good. Jolteon was one of my biggest fears. Now that it's out of the way, I should be okay… just gotta be careful. I have the advantage.

He was smiling broadly. I've taken out three of Julia's Pokémon. It's not a fluke. I'm a good Pokémon trainer.

Shaking Ryan from his thoughts was the Rhydon who thence entered the stage.

"Rock Slide!" Julia said.

"Explosion." Looks like our roles have been reversed.

And so too had their fates been, for in the next turn, Rhydon moved faster than the paralyzed Gengar, trapping it in a mess of rocks. Spectre didn't even get the chance to Explode. This was worse than that night on Cinnabar Island. So close, Ryan thought miserably.

"Cloyster?" Ryan asked Alex, the most trustworthy and useful of the randos who followed him around.

Alex nodded.

"Take 'em out, Myrrah! Blizzard!"

"Rock Slide!"

The ice winds came first, ravaging Rhydon so severely, it almost looked like it wasn't going to get up (the referees were quite generous when they ruled that Rhydon was still able to battle, in Ryan's estimation). The air smelled of cotton candy. Ryan swallowed and dug his fingernails into his palms when the Rhydon eventually stood up. They were shouting, all of them. It was such a civilized chaos, this. The wind touched his cheeks at least, and Ryan realized he was sweating. He leaned forward on the railing and exhaled deeply.

Rhydon flung its avalanche of rocks Myrrah's way, but somehow the slow-as-heck Pokémon managed to dodge the attack. How is she dodging so many attacks? She's slow. I've never seen her this quick before… And yet, this was real life. Myrrah did dodge the attack; her next Blizzard was sent to silence Rhydon.

Julia recalled her Rock Pokémon. Curse you and such. That's ridiculous. Just let me KO them. She had two near-fainted Pokémon, and another who was asleep. She couldn't hide them for much longer. They'll have to come out sooner or later. It was sooner, apparently, for Ninetails, who then appeared to face the Cloyster. The Fox Pokémon was still asleep. The Blizzard covered it in super cold energy, lowering the Ninetails' health considerably. Afterwards, the prim-and-proper fox remained fast asleep, as if nothing had happened. Heavy sleeper, Ryan thought. I can't believe it didn't wake up after that.

"Clamp!" Ryan ordered Myrrah.

The sleeping Fire Pokémon was easy pickings for Myrrah, especially with her favorite water move. The super effective damage ravaged Ninetails with each continuing Clamp; after the third one, the hurt Fire Pokémon finally awoke, doing a frontflip in confusion and barking madly. Looking around for its master, Ninetails tried to get a bearing on its surroundings… and then Myrrah came in for the fourth and final Clamp, and Ninetails hit the ground, unconscious.

We can do this. I can do this. He had not thought he could win this match. Coming into it, he had expected to lose. Ryan was always hopeful, but he was a realist too, and from what he had seen of Julia, she seemed to be way out of his league. And yet here he was fighting her, not backing down… and he was winning. She had two Pokémon left. He had four.

The wounded Rhydon returned, and Myrrah re-united the Drill Pokémon with her Blizzard attack. It was chilled to the stony bone, and when Rhydon collapsed and that fifth dot faded, the crowd's energy grew palpable. They were waiting for Ryan to win. Now I got fans, he thought cynically. Now that it looks like I'm going to win…

Julia stood there on the other trainer platform, her head bowed, her last Poké Ball pressed against her forehead. This means so much to her. She's going to give it everything she has.

"In a stunning turn of events, the girl who had never lost a Pokémon before today now finds herself with only one Pokémon remaining!" the booth referee said passionately over the microphone. "Can she do it? What does everyone think?"

The stadium shook. Julia took a deep breath and released her Starmie. This was it. Everyone was chanting for her or Ryan; it was now or never. It's time my legend was born.

"Explosion, Myrrah!" I'm not going to be stupid. Explosion will do tremendous damage, even if it doesn't take out Starmie.

"Thunderbolt!"

Ryan's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "Oh crap, I forgot her Starmie has Thunderbolt!"

"Ouch," Alex replied. "That's some bad luck. Although, I guess you deserve it, since Julia's had some pretty bad luck all game long…"

"Hey, stop that!" Ryan was none too pleased with that latest sass comment from the small Chinese boy. "I've had plenty of bad luck too, and if we count the previous matches…"

"A critical hit, wow!" the referee bellowed. "Down goes Cloyster! What a move from Starmie!"

Indeed it was. Myrrah had fainted from a single Thunderbolt. Yeah, she had been damaged, but not that much. That critical was insane. "How's that for bad luck, Alex?" he grumbled at the other boy. "I bet there was like a 1/100 chance for her Starmie to OHKO my Cloyster like that."

Alex shrugged apathetically.

"Alright, Aegon, go!" Ryan said, returning his sleeping Charizard to the field. In hindsight, that probably wasn't the best move. All it took was two Thunderbolts, and Aegon fainted. He never even woke up.

Now the crowd was murmuring tensely. Their energy was shifting. Ryan felt himself losing them, losing this match. Everything was spiraling out of control. Stay in control, he told himself. Don't get distracted, Ryan. "NaVorro, finish this match!" the boy shouted, releasing his Tauros into Indigo Stadium.

"Blizzard!" Julia's voice was angry and confident.

"Blizzard?" Ryan repeated, dumbfounded. "Dang, her Starmie really has great moves!"

"Rrrrieieeahah!" NaVorro retorted. He raced off towards the Starmie, as if he had received an order.

"Huh?" Ryan was confused.

"Ryan, you just told NaVorro to do a Blizzard attack!"

"Oh no!" Ryan cried in dread, pulling at his hair. "But that's like the weakest move he could have used against Starmie!"

"Exactly."

It was horrible. The crowd was too rambunctious. His Tauros was too far away. Ryan's voice couldn't carry that far. So all the boy could do was watch in horror as the easy KO slipped from between his fingers. Starmie shot a Blizzard, damaging NaVorro significantly; NaVorro returned the favor with a blast of ice, but his attack didn't do nearly as much to the Starmie.

Starmie's damaged, he noticed. That Blizzard didn't do too much, but it did some… A thought burst into his mind, and Ryan couldn't resist it. Not here, not now. They were cheering for him. They wanted the big finale. They wanted him to win. This was his best shot. "Hyper Beam!" he screamed to NaVorro.

"No!" Alex shouted. "Starmie's not damaged enough!"

"It is!" spoke Ryan in a most reckless tone. "I know it is! NaVorro's gonna win this match for me!"

The next Blizzard did more damage than the last one. It was another crit. I don't want to hear a word about her having bad luck. This is ridiculous! NaVorro collapsed onto his back two feet, breathing hard. His fur was covered in ice. His breathing came erratic. The crowd begged lustily for blood. They sensed a Julia comeback now. Everyone was with her. Ryan gasped, wiping away the heat on his cheeks. A single lonesome Pidgey flew through cloud-streaked sky above, cawing soundlessly. The white light took to the air and hit Starmie, knocking the Mysterious Pokémon over. The crowd gasped. A line judge went running over to the collapsed Starmie and shook his head, stepping back. The people in the stands began clapping wildly, chanting 'Starmie!' 'Starmie!' 'Get up Starmie!'. And so it did. It looked worse for wear, but it wasn't fainted yet. Not by a longshot.

"Recover, Starmie!" Julia said coolly. Starmie did a little dance and recovered half of its health.

"Oh come on, that's unbelievable! I call hacks!" Ryan said like this was his first trip to the DMV. "How can it just bring its health back like that?"

"Alakazam has that same move," Alex reminded him.

Yeah, yeah, but dad gave him that move, not me. NaVorro was done; as he was slower than Starmie, that meant Starmie got two free turns (on account of Hyper Beam needing to recharge). After recovering half of its health, the Starmie mercilessly finished off Ryan's Bull Pokémon with another Blizzard.

And so, it was one versus one again.

"That's it, folks!" the referee boomed. "Julia has just performed a miraculous comeback, taking out three of Ryan's Pokémon with her mighty Starmie! Will it be enough for her to stage perhaps the greatest comeback in Indigo League history? Let's find out!"

Please no, Ryan thought. Not against me. Not like this. He took out Alakazam's Poké Ball. I've been saving you, buddy, he thought. I haven't used you since you evolved. Heck, I haven't used you at all in the finals. No one's seen my Alakazam in battle… not until now. I only hope dad won't get too mad. He glanced back towards the bench behind him, getting a brief look at the dour figure of his father. I have no other choice.

Alakazam's ball sailed through the air before landing in front of Starmie. Out from it came Ryan's oldest buddy in the whole Pokéworld. "Zam…" Alakazam yawned to the cheers of the spectators.

The referee went into hysterics describing how beautiful Ryan's Pokémon was. "Last time we saw this 'mon, he was a weak little Abra who evolved into a Kadabra to win Ryan a place in the top 16! Wow, look at how things have changed, he's evolved again!"

How things have changed, indeed, the boy thought dejectedly. "Alright, Alakazam!" Ryan yelled, trying to raise his spirits. "Let's win this thing, you and me!"

"Alakazam!"

"I don't think that's going to happen!" Julia shouted from across the stage. "I'm winning this match! The Indigo League is mine!"

Every spectator was on their feet, shouting and clapping and crying for their contestants. They wanted to see a grand finale, a dramatic end to this year's tournament. We'll see, Ryan thought. He exchanged a look with his Alakazam, his last Pokémon left in this tournament; then, Alakazam scampered off towards the Starmie. I told her she would leave this tournament with six of her Pokémon KO'd. I'm not about to break my promise. I can't give up now. I've worked so hard to get to this point.

Heat was rising in his chest, giving the boy a lightheaded feeling. Ryan forgot his fear, forgot his pain. Mentally, he let everything go - this wasn't a conscious decision, it just happened. He took a deep breath and pointed at the Starmie, screaming out the name of the move he wanted Alakazam to use.

But under the roar of the eager crowd, Ryan couldn't hear his own voice.