Casey laughs, a mischievous glint flickering in her eyes as she stands up to face Conway, "Don't count us out just yet, Conway. Duncan and I have got this competition on lock!"

"Don't forget about Brock and I!"

"Or me!" Ash chimes in shortly after Holly, his usual eagerness evident on his face, "It may be a challenge, but don't count me out!"

Casey smiles back at her friends, any angry or hateful thoughts forgotten by the promise of new challenges, "You're on!"


"I still can't believe that we won."

Casey looks over at Duncan out of the corner of her eye, surprised by his sudden admission. It's early evening and the two of them are just walking out of the stadium in search of Ash and the others, the cool evening breeze and setting sun relaxing the both of them, which is just what they need after the intense battle they experienced just a couple of hours prior.

They were up against a Mantyke and a Shelgon. It was a close battle, but Casey's Electabuzz and Duncan's Tyranitar just about managed to pull out a win, albeit just barely. Now they're set to face off against Conway and Dawn tomorrow and Casey knows that the battle will be far from easy. She knows just how skilled Dawn is, and from what she's gathered Conway has strategies to spare. It explains why they've made it so far in the competition.

"We actually won!" Duncan smiles enthusiastically, his voice full of excitement and pride, "This is totally awesome! You know, I think we can win this! We might actually win this!"

"Might?" Casey asks.

"Well, yeah." Duncan says sheepishly, "I mean, from what I've seen, our opponents in the next round are really strong."

"I'm not denying that. They are strong and smart, but we can't let that stop us. We just have to be stronger and smarter." Casey replies, "If we can outsmart Conway's strategies, we can win this battle easily."

"How do you know all of this, Casey?"

"Because I've competed in two League conferences." Casey answers, a wistful smile coming to her face as she thinks about it.

"Did you win either of them?"

"I got to the finals in both but I didn't win." Casey sighs longingly. She was so close both times, but she just fell short when it mattered the most. Still, she did manage to take at least some positive things from her losses.

"I'm sorry."

Casey can sense the awkwardness in his voice a mile off. Knowing his discomfort, she comes to a sudden stop and puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder, the sudden gesture making him pause and look at her in confusion. She smiles at him when he turns to her, "Don't sweat it, Duncan. Sure I lost, but I still learnt from it. It's what makes me stronger, you know?"

The tension leaves his face and he smiles, nodding in understanding right back at her, "Right."

"It looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

Casey quickly turns her sights towards the evening sky when she hears a familiar sound, just catching a glimpse of three figures disappearing into the distant sky. Duncan's completely and utterly baffled by it all, but it doesn't take Casey long to connect the dots, her eyes going wide when she figures out what's happened.

She reaches out and grabs Duncan's arm, rushing off in the general direction that the figures blasted off in and pulling him with her, "Come on!"

"What's going on?!" He shouts back, clearly surprised and flustered by all of the sudden movement.

Casey doesn't give him a response as she's too focused on trying to get to her friends. He seems to understand what her lack of response means as he begins to run on his own accord, making it easier for her to run as she no longer has to pull him along with her. He follows her silently as they rush at top speed; Casey stops breathlessly when her friends come into sight.

They look to her and she looks back at them, relief flooding her face at the mere sight of them. Her shaky voice shows just how breathless she is as she speaks to them in a concerned voice, "I-I saw Team Rocket...a-are you guys okay?"

"We're fine." Dawn nods, "No need to worry!"

Casey can't help but laugh at Dawn's laid-back response. She finds it rather funny that she allowed herself to become so panicked, yet Dawn and the others are completely fine.

"Hey, Ash! I didn't know that you had a Chimchar!"

Casey's eyes flicker over to Duncan briefly before looking over at Ash, surprised to find that he is holding a Chimchar in his arms. Just from looking at this Pokemon, Casey recognises just what Chimchar it is. It's Paul's.

"Ash." She looks at him in confusion, "What's going on?"

"Chimchar's coming along with us now." He looks down at the Chimp Pokemon in his arms with a confident, "Ain't that right, Chimchar?"

"Char!"

"Monferno will be happy about that." She smiles. She knows that there's more to the story, and knowing Paul it can't be a very good reason as to why Chimchar's now in Ash's care. Something must've gone wrong and as much as she wants to know what that 'something' is, she knows that for now it can wait. She can get her answer at another time.


"We've made it folks! Now is the time for the first semi-final battle of the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition! Are you all ready?!"

The crowd erupts into applause and cheers of excitement, the very sound of it making adrenaline coarse through Casey's veins. She's ready to win this, especially with the cheering crowd supplying her with more than enough motivation. It's just like the Pokemon League, except the stakes are nowhere near as high. Still, Casey intends to win this competition no matter what the stakes are.

"Let's see which Pokemon are battling today!" Enta declares as the crowd's cheers begin to die down, "Trainers, please choose your Pokemon!"

Conway and Dawn react first, both of them reaching for one of the minimized Pokeballs in their pockets almost instantly. They enlarge the Pokeballs before tossing them out in front of them, calling out their respective Pokemon's name as they do.

"Go, Slowking!"

"Buneary, spotlight!"

Slowing and Buneary both emerge from their Pokeballs in bright flashes of light, the latter of the two cheering happily as it faces the crowd. Casey figures that it's Buneary's contest nature that's making it so happy to be in front of the crowd. Slowking, much like Conway, is stood there with a calm expression on its face, though Casey hasn't seen the Royal Pokemon act any differently throughout the entire competition so she's not surprised.

Casey looks away from their opponents and over to Duncan, who is already looking back at her. She gives him a reassuring smile, which he returns with a nod of confidence.

Let's show them what we've got!

She turns back to the battlefield with a look of fiery determination in her eyes, throwing her Pokeball out in front of her with gusto whilst Duncan does the same.

"Shellos, get fired up!"

"Let's go, Tyranitar!"

Shellos and Tyranitar both let out battle cries as soon as they appear from their capsules, though Tyranitar's deafeningly loud roar easily sounds over Shellos' small battle cry. It's almost kinda funny to see Shellos and Tyranitar next to each other, fighting side by side for one goal. Their contrasts in type, size and everything in between makes them quite the unlikely pairing, but at the same time that's what makes them work as a duo.

"Now that our tag teams have selected their Pokemon, we are ready to commence the first semi-final matchup!" Enta declares, "Let the battle begin!"

Conway wastes no time in making the first move, a confident smirk falling upon his face as he gives his order, "Slowking, use Water Pulse on Tyranitar."

"Buneary, use Dizzy Punch on Shellos!"

They're going on offense then? Time to throw them off of their game.

Casey quickly glances over at Duncan for reassurance, her partner nodding in understanding without even a second thought. He knows exactly what they need to do next.

"Tyranitar, throw Shellos up into the air!"

Tyranitar obeys its trainers command, reaching down to grab Shellos before tossing her high into the air, much to their opponents surprise. That's good. Casey wants them to be surprised. It's all part of their plan.

Now to deal with that Water Pulse.

"Shellos, use Mud Bomb on Slowking's Water Pulse!"

Shellos opens her mouth and fires off multiple balls of thick, brown mud right at Slowking's attack, cancelling it out before it can even get close to Tyranitar.

"Now use Water Pulse on Slowking!"

"Block it using Protect!"

Perfect.

Casey watches with a smirk as Slowking uses Protect to block off Shellos' Water Pulse, the Sea Slug Pokemon landing back on the battlefield as it does so. Casey chooses to waste no time in making her next move.

"Keep using Water Pulse, Shellos!" She calls out to Shellos, who calls back to her in confidence before firing an onslaught of Water Pulses right at their defending opponent. She speaks to Duncan quietly, but keeps her eyes fixed on the space in front of her, "Deal with Buneary. We'll keep on distracting Slowking."

"Got it." Duncan replies, "Alright, Tyranitar! Use Thrash on Buneary!"

Tyranitar listens to its trainers command immediately, rushing towards the small Rabbit Pokemon with speed that's surprising for a Pokemon of its size. Dawn calls out to Buneary to dodge the attack, but Tyranitar catches up to Buneary before it can even fully react to what's going on. The Amor Pokemon deals several devastating blows that send the Rabbit Pokemon flying back, that one attack alone knocking Buneary and Dawn out of the battle.

"No!"

"And Buneary is down!" Enta declares, the crowd roaring in excitement at the new revelation, "It's all down to Conway and Slowking now! Can they pull through and win this for their team?!"

Not if we have anything to say about it!

Dawn calls Buneary back to its Pokeball whilst Casey calls Shellos back over to their side of the battlefield, giving the Sea Slug Pokemon a much needed rest after the onslaught of attacks she just fired off. Sure, none of them actually hit Slowking, but the attacks still served an important purpose. They kept Conway distracted so that Duncan could knock Dawn out of the battle, which is just what they intended to do right from the start.

Okay, we can win this. We've just got to break Conway down and we're all set. Tyranitar can finish it off in one hit if we can catch Conway at the right time.

"Slowking, use Psychic."

Oh, no!

Casey stands there in panic as Slowking uses Psychic, its eyes glowing a bright blue as it extends its hands out in front of it. Shellos becomes surrounded in a blue aura that is of a similar colour to that of Slowking's glowing eyes as she are lifted up into the air, Shellos completely immobilized and under the control of Slowking.

Casey watches in frustration as Slowking uses its control on Shellos to throw her to the ground, the Sea Slug Pokemon taking a substantial amount of damage upon impact.

Conway laughs cockily from the other side of the battlefield, readjusting his glasses with a confident look in his eyes, "Not so easy now, is it?"

Casey glares back at Conway. He's right: this sure isn't as easy as she thought it would be. Yet, whilst Conway has got numerous concise and complex strategies, Casey and Duncan have got one advantage over him that he can't possibly access. There's two of them and only one of him. They need to use that fact to their advantage.

"Shellos, use Body Slam!" Casey calls out without, admittedly, much thought. She watches as Shellos surges towards Slowking at a steady speed before leaping up into the air, ready to attack the Royal Pokemon in an instant. But, of course, Conway has a counter for that.

"Stop it with Psychic!"

Shellos is stopped in mid air, once again surrounded by a bright blue aura. Casey remains stood there for a few moments, once again unsure of what to do. She only snaps out of her stupor when she hears Duncan yell out abruptly.

"Tyranitar, use Dark Pulse!"

Casey looks over at Tyranitar as the Armor Pokemon opens its mouth and generates a dark purple orb of energy, launching the powerful dark aura directly at an unsuspecting Slowking. The Royal Pokemon's sent flying backwards immediately after the super effective attack hits it; its Psychic wears off as soon as it's hit and Shellos is released from its control. The Sea Slug Pokemon falls back down to the battlefield, thankfully landing with ease beside Tyranitar as Slowking struggles to get up.

"Use Dark Pulse again, Tyranitar!"

Casey follows Duncan's lead there by giving Shellos yet another command, "Shellos, you use Water Pulse!"

Both Pokemon follow their trainers commands once again and fire off the requested attacks, the two powerful moves merging into one terrifyingly strong attack that rushes towards Slowking at top speed.

"Slowking, use Protect!" Conway yells. It's clear that he's trying to hide the desperation in his voice, an attempt at which he's failing.

Slowking attempts to use Protect and at first it looks to be working, but the Royal Pokemon soon falters. Casey figures that it's due to its weak state, but the Royal Pokemon only manages to keep up its defensive shield for a matter of seconds before it disappears, leaving Slowking completely exposed to the oncoming attack.

The combined attack makes a direct hit moments later, the sheer force of it sending Slowking flying backwards, a small cloud of dust forming around the Royal Pokemon as it crashes down onto the dusty battlefield.

"Slowking, no!"

The dust clears away moments later, revealing the state of Slowking after the devastating attack, "And Slowking is unable to battle! The match goes to Shellos and Tyranitar, which means that Casey and Duncan are our first tag-battle team to advance to the finals!"

The crowd erupts into cheers once again at the proclamation.

"Shell!" The Sea Slug Pokemon cheers happily, turning around and rushing towards Casey at top speed.

Shellos jumps up high into the air before landing comfortably on Casey's shoulder, cooing at her trainer as she jumps gleefully on her shoulder.

"Good job, Shellos!" Casey laughs as Shellos continues to jump about, "You were awesome!"

Duncan praises Tyranitar for its performance before returning it to its Pokeball, pocketing the device and looking over at Casey with a smile. She smiles back at him before turning her attention towards Conway. The strategic trainer is kneeling down in front of Slowking. He doesn't exactly look sad or happy...more wistful. Dawn is stood behind him, likely trying to cheer him up with one of her 'no need to worry' lines.

Casey makes her way across the battlefield with Shellos still sat comfortably on her left shoulder, stopping when she reaches her opponents. She looks over at Dawn first, offering a warm smile to the bluenette, "Great job, Dawn! You and Buneary were awesome!"

"Really?"

Casey nods, "For sure! With Buneary's moves and Conway's strategies, you guys sure had me and Duncan worried!"

Dawn thanks Casey for her compliments, a wide smile coming to her face at such praise. Her response makes Casey smile at the same time; it's nice to keep smiling after a battle, especially in a competition like this. This competition is all about forging new bonds and experiencing new things, after all.

"Slowking, return."

Casey looks to Conway as the tactical trainer returns his Pokemon to its Pokeball, pocketing the capsule device moments later. He rises up from the ground and looks over at Casey, fixing up the edge of his glasses with a small laugh.

"Well, well, well. It seems I underestimated you, Casey. The outcome of our battle sure has surprised me." He chuckles lightly, extending his right hand out to her confidently, "I'm looking forward to our next battle."

Casey glances down at Conway's hand, reaching out and shaking it without a slither of hesitation in her mind. She smiles warmly at her newfound rival, replying to him with full certainty in her voice.

"Same here, Conway. I can't wait."


"Folks, in just five minutes, the final battle of our tag-battle competition will commence! Our tag-teams will be making their way out onto the battlefield within the next couple of minutes, so make sure you show them some love when they come out to fight!"

Enta's voice sounds out loudly from within the heart of the stadium, roaring applause from the waiting crowd there to accompany it. Casey looks down at Monferno with a smile, the Playful Pokemon looking back at her curiously.

"You hear that, pal?" She smiles, "They sound excited."

"Mon-ferno!"

She can hear the crowd even where she and Monferno are stood. They aren't stood in the heart of the stadium but are instead are stood near one of the entrance tunnels for the battlefield itself, ready to head inside when Duncan arrives. He needed to go to the bathroom or something like that, so Monferno and Casey are currently waiting for him to return. Once he arrives they'll be ready to head in for the final battle.

"We're about to go up against Ash and Paul, bud." Casey says, her voice shifting to a more serious and determined tone, "This isn't going to be an easy battle. We know how strong they both are."

"Mon-ferno! Mon! Mon-ferno!"

Casey can't help but smile, "I thought you might say that."

"You know what he said?"

Casey turns around at the sound of a familiar voice, smiling when she sees Duncan approaching with Pidgeot. She shrugs back at him, "Yeah. I kinda just...understand him. It just happens after knowing a Pokemon for a while."

"It hasn't happened to me."

"Yeah, but you only just found out what moves your Pokemon can use. It'll happen eventually." Casey chuckles. She nods her head towards the tunnel, the cheers of the crowd still sounding out from the other side, "You ready to go?"

"We sure are!" Duncan replies confidently as he glances over at Pidgeot, "Ain't that right, Pidgeot?"

"Pidgoo!" Pidgeot caws excitedly, showing the two trainers just how excited it is to battle.

"And here comes our first tag team! Please welcome Ash and Paul!"

The crowds cheers intensify mere moments later, signifying that Ash and Paul have walked out onto the battlefield from the tunnel on the opposite side. Casey looks over at the tunnel before looking back to Duncan, sending a reassuring smile over in his direction.

"Lets go and win this thing."

That's when they decide to walk out onto the battlefield. Together, alongside their Pokemon, they walk through the dimly lit tunnel and out onto the battlefield, both of them instantly taken aback by the roaring crowd. Sure, they've been cheering throughout the entire competition, but not once have they cheered as loud as they are right now. It's kinda scary, in a terrifyingly awesome way.

"And here's our second tag team competing in the final battle of our competition! Give it up for Casey and Duncan!"

The crowd offers up another round of cheers and applause as Casey and Duncan take their places at their side of the battlefield, Monferno and Pidgeot standing in front of their trainers ready to battle.

"Now that all of our trainers are here, we can really get this battle underway!" Enta declares, much to the crowd's delight, "May I ask Ash and Paul to send out their Pokemon ready for battle!"

Casey's eyes shift over to Ash and Paul. She's eager to see just what Pokemon they choose to battle with, though she already has her presumptions.

"Alright, there's only one Pokemon I want to get this job done!"

Casey's not overly surprised to see Chimchar emerge from the Pokeball that Ash throws out onto the battlefield. She half expected her friend to use the Fire-Type, especially considering that he only just caught it. He probably wants to see how he and Chimchar operate as a duo, which is completely understandable from Casey's perspective. She has no doubt that Ash will be able to bring out the best in Chimchar, which is something that Paul never had a shot at achieving with his brutal training tactics.

"Elekid, stand by for battle!"

Paul throws out his Pokeball next and Elekid emerges from it in a bright flash of light, a determined and steeled expression crossing its face almost instantly. It's ready to battle, that's for sure.

"Alright! Battle begin!"

"Elekid, use Thunder!" Paul orders quickly, showing no hesitation in commencing the battle.

"Chimchar, use Flame Wheel!"

Casey glances over at Duncan, the two of them coming to a decision as to what to do just by looking at each other. Duncan smiles confidently back at her before turning back to the battlefield, quickly calling out a command to Pidgeot as Elekid's attack approaches, "Pidgeot, block that Thunder using Protect! Lets go!"

That deals with Elekid's Thunder. Now to deal with Chimchar.

"Lets show them how it's done, Monferno!" Casey calls out, "Use Flame Wheel on Chimchar!"

Ash seems taken aback by her order. Monferno's obeys her command and charges up his Flame Wheel, rushing right into Chimchar as the Chimp Pokemon continues to surge towards him. The two strong Flame Wheels collide, but Monferno's ultimately overpowers Chimchar's and sends the small Fire-Type flying backwards.

"No! Chimchar!"

Great start! We've got to keep this up!

"Alright, Pidgeot! Use Wing Attack on Chimchar!"

"Quick, dodge it using Dig!"

Pidgeot rushes towards Chimchar at top speed but, as ordered, the Chimp Pokemon easily dodges the attempted attack by digging deep underground, an action which makes Casey groan in frustration. However, she chooses not to dwell on the failed attack and instead directs her attention towards Elekid.

"Use Mach Punch on Elekid!"

Monferno's fist shines brightly as the Playful Pokemon charges up his power, his fist glowing brighter the closer he gets to his opponent. It's going to be a powerful hit, that's for sure...but, of course, Paul has a counter strike in reserve.

"Use Protect!"

Oh, great!

Elekid sets up its protective shield, which stops Monferno's powerful attack right in its path and prevents the Electric Pokemon from taking any damage, much to Casey's frustration.

"Pidgeot, fly up high!" Duncan orders suddenly. Pidgeot listens to him once again and flies up high into the sky, clearly out of range from any possible attack. At first Casey's confused by his sudden command, but it all becomes clear to her when he says four simple words. He smirks at her, "Light it up, Casey."

Of course! That's perfect!

Her eyes shift back to the battlefield, a confident gleam in her eyes as she looks over at her opponents, "Alright, Monferno! Use Dig!"

Monferno instantly obeys and digs himself deep underneath the battlefield, joining Chimchar in the underbelly of the field. Unluckily for Chimchar, he won't be safe from their next move even if he's underground.

"Now, Monferno! Use Flamethrower and give it all you've got!"

Panic strikes Ash's face as he realises exactly what's going on. He calls out to Chimchar to get out of the way, but he should know by now that his attempts are futile. Mere moments later, Chimchar comes flying up from underneath the ground, yelling out in pain as the battlefield heats up. Elekid feels some of the heat too as the Electric Pokemon grunts and flinches backwards, though it takes nowhere near as much damage as Chimchar does. The Chimp Pokemon looks as if one more attack will knock it right out of the competition.

"Oh, no! Chimchar!" Ash calls out to his Pokemon as it lands in a heap just in front of him, struggling with all of its strength to push itself up off of the ground. Paul doesn't show any concern for Elekid, but that doesn't exactly surprise Casey. Paul's always like that.

"Use Thunder on Pidgeot!"

Casey snaps back into action at Paul's sudden command, the abruptness of it even catching Duncan off guard. He doesn't have enough time to give a command to Pidgeot and, as a result, the super effective attack makes a direct hit.

"No, Pidgeot!"

Electricity continues to crackle around Pidgeot's body as the attack finishes off, the Bird Pokemon visibly weakened from the super effective move. One more super effective attack will knock Pidgeot right out of the battle. Casey can't let that happen.

"Go for Chimchar." Casey says, keeping her eyes fixed on the scene in front of her, "We'll deal with Elekid."

Duncan replies with a simple 'okay', instantly giving Pidgeot the order of attacking Chimchar, "Now use Wing Attack again!"

Pidgeot rushes towards Chimchar, although admittedly at a slower pace than before due to the damage that its sustained. However, it seems that Chimchar has taken far more damage that Pidgeot, as the Chimp Pokemon is too weak to dodge the attack and ends up getting hit directly, sending it flying into the air before back down to the ground.

"No! Chimchar!"

"And Chimchar is down!" Enta declares, the crowd roaring in excitement at the revelation, "It's now up to Paul! Can him and Elekid pull through for their team?!"

Casey looks over at her opponents, watching sympathetically as Ash returns Chimchar to its Pokeball with a sad look on his face. He probably expected to be in the battle for a little while longer; in typical Ash style, that frown on his face soon turns into a smile. Trust Ash to look on the bright side of things. Paul, on the other hand, is just stood there stoically, completely and utterly unaffected by the loss of his teammate. That doesn't surprise Casey one bit. Paul's sense of self preservation is on a whole other level compared to anything she's ever seen before.

Still, he is still a contender in this competition, and it's her job (and Duncan's) to stop that as soon as possible.

Now to deal with Elekid!

"Monferno, use Mach Punch!" She orders. Monferno obeys and begins rushing towards Elekid, his fist glowing brightly once again as he charges up his power.

"Counter it with Thunder Punch!"

Elekid rushes towards Monferno as its left fist crackles with electricity, ready to collide head on with Monferno's Mach Punch. The two Pokemon rush right at each other and meet in the middle of the battlefield, their fists colliding in a brief flash of bright light that forces Casey to look away to protect her eyes. She flinches back briefly but looks back just in time to see Monferno force Elekid backwards, his punching attack overpowering his opponents.

Monferno lands in front of Casey and flinches backwards slightly, clearly having taken some form of damage from his confrontation with Elekid, "Monferno, are you-?"

Casey suddenly stops when she notices that a bright shroud of light has surrounded Paul's Elekid on the other side of the battlefield. Paul's smirking at his Pokemon as it glows, and just at a glance Casey can tell exactly why he's smirking. Elekid's evolving into Electabuzz.

"So this is where it all starts!"

The whole stadium watches in awe as Elekid evolves. It's limbs grow longer, it's head gets larger; by the time the bright aura surrounding it fades away, its transformed into a whole new Pokemon entirely. It's now an Electabuzz.

"And just like that, Paul's Elekid has evolved into Electabuzz right before our very eyes!" Enta calls out to the crowd as they erupt into cheers, "This sure is a sight to behold, folks! Can Paul and Electabuzz turn this battle around?!"

Not if we have anything to say about it! We've got to act fast!

"Pidgeot, use Quick Attack!"

Duncan seems to read Casey's mind as he orders Pidgeot to attack rather hastily. At first Casey thinks that it's perfect, but of course it couldn't be that simple. At first Paul doesn't react at all, but that all just seemed to be an act, as he suddenly barks out an order when Pidgeot is in a close range to Electabuzz, "Use Thunder!"

Uh oh.

She figures that she should've seen it coming. This is Paul, after all. He always has a counter strike in play. This particular counter strike makes a direct and super effective hit, resulting in Pidgeot going flying backwards and landing in a heap just beside Monferno; just as Casey predicted, this second super effective hit has knocked Pidgeot right out of the battle.

"And Pidgeot is unable to battle! This battle is really heating up, folks! It's now down to a one on one battle between Monferno and Electabuzz! The question is: who will come out on top?!"

"I'm sorry, Casey." Duncan sighs. He returns Pidgeot to its Pokeball and looks over at her apologetically, clearly embarrassed about being knocked out of the battle, "I was just trying to help."

Casey gives him a reassuring smile, "Don't worry about it, Duncan. You and Pidgeot were awesome! Besides, this battle isn't over just yet."

Casey can still see the sadness in his eyes, but her words have seemingly managed to make him feel a bit better as he musters up a smile. He nods back at her, "Right! You and Monferno can win this!"

Casey thanks him for his words of encouragement before turning back to the battlefield, her eyes fixing on her opponents. Paul still isn't showing any form of emotion so it's hard to tell how he's feeling about the battle, but Casey knows that she hasn't got the time to dwell on that. It's up to her and Monferno now.

"Now, Monferno! Use Flame Wheel and give it all you've got!"

"Stop it with Thunder!"

This is it!

Casey watches as Monferno speeds towards Electabuzz within his fiery vortex whilst Electabuzz charges up its electrical power, ready to fire off an attack at any moment. Most trainers would have their Pokemon back out of this situation, have them retreat in order to avoid taking damage, but not Casey. No. She knows that if they play this right, they can use Electabuzz power against Paul. She just hopes that it works.

Electabuzz finally fires off its Thunder attack, the intense power of it even surprising Casey. It's clear that Monferno is struggling to deal with its power as the Playful Pokemon has stopped dead in his tracks, though the fiery vortex is still surrounding it. He's just spinning in place as he tries to fight against the attack.

If he can break through this, it's all over!

"Come on, Monferno!" Casey calls out to him in a determined voice, "You can do this! Fight through it!"

"Mon! Mon-ferno!"

Casey smirks as Monferno lets out a loud battle cry and his Flame Wheel intensifies. In that moment, Casey knows that they've won the battle. Monferno fights back against Electabuzz's Thunder and surges right into the newly evolved Electric Pokemon, dealing a heavy amount of damage in just one hit. Electabuzz roars in pain as it goes flying backwards, landing knocked out at Paul's feet as Monferno's Flame Wheel fades away.

"And that's it, folks!" Enta declares, the crowd cheering wilder than ever, "The match goes to Monferno and Pidgeot, meaning that our winning tag-team this year is Casey and Duncan! Congratulations!"

"We won?" Duncan murmurs beside her, shock apparent in her voice. She glances over at him, a warm and genuine smile coming to her face when she realises just how excited he is, "We did it! We won!"

Casey gives Duncan another smile before crossing the battlefield over to Monferno. She kneels down beside her tired partner, giving him a proud smile as he looks over at her breathlessly, "Great job, pal! You rock!"

"Mon! Monferno!" Monferno replies cheerfully, though Casey can clearly hear the tired tone in his voice. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out Monferno's Pokeball, thanking her tired partner Pokemon once again before returning him to his capsule for some much needed rest.

"Hey, Casey."

Casey glances up after pocketing Monferno's Pokeball to find Ash stood over her with a smile on his face, complete with Pikachu perched on his shoulder. She stands up and smiles over at her two friends, "Hey, guys. Thanks for that battle. Chimchar was awesome!"

"So was Monferno!" Ash compliments, "It sure was getting intense at the end there! Monferno rocked!"

"Pika-pi!"

Casey beams at the two of them for their approval, though as she smiles at them, she can't help but notice Paul at the other side of the battlefield. She watches as he returns Electabuzz to its Pokeball, the first sign of emotion on his face visible since the battle began. He looks angry.

She feels as if she should go over there and at least try and talk to him, but she loses her chance to when Duncan walks over to her and Ash, a broad smile plastered across his face, "That was so much fun!"

Casey tears her eyes away from Paul and looks over at her friends, a smile coming to her face when she sees just how happy they are, "It sure was!"

And she's not lying there. The competition sure has been a blast, though she must admit that Paul is still an enigma to her despite the fact that she's had the opportunity to battle him. Still, she knows that she'll see him again eventually. After all, they are technically rivals after all.