A woman dressed in a black robe walked through a forest, accompanied only by a small, blue turtle-like creature. Having been moving for hours and seeing the sun being close to setting, they felt understandably tired and stopped to make camp.

"Well, Squirtle, looks like we should make a stop here. Let's see if we can find some dry wood to start a fire" said the woman, dumping her self-made knapsack in the ground and sitting down for a moment to rest her legs.

"Squirt, squirt" answered the other, emulating her.

After a few minutes of rest, they both got up and began piling up sticks. Suddenly, the woman sheard a sound and moved to the side, dropping her load, and summoning her Wind tome. She had only barely managed to see an arrow speed by her, followed by the sound of it hitting a tree nearby. Without thinking twice, she fired a projectile from her Thunder tome towards the direction the arrow had come from. However, she could tell by the sound that she had missed.

From that interaction, the woman was able to gather three things:

1. Her attacker wasn't an expert archer (as they took too long to shoot, and they wouldn't have missed otherwise).

2. They were an experienced warrior (as they were able to dodge his shot of Thunder and move quickly afterwards)

3. They weren't trying to kill her, just neutralize and (most likely) capture her, as the arrow was aiming at a non-lethal part of her body.

Looking around, she spotted a shadow moving from that direction. While she could tell that it was using the surrounding shrubbery to its advantage in a smart way, it wasn't skilled in stealth enough to be subtle.

Summoning her bronze sword and quickly charging her Thunder tome, she charged there, beckoning her partner to come with her, quietly but attentively.

When she reached the place, she saw nobody there. With all her senses keenly scanning for any activity that might betray his assailant's position, she was just able to avoid another arrow, coming from her left side.

This time. However, she was prepared: she immediately used a charge of Thoron, but not in the direction the arrow had come from, but to its immediate right, knocking out several trees that were in its way, catching her opponent by surprise and cutting out one of their escape routes. "Strategy two, do you remember it?" she told her companion.

Squirt! – the Pokémon responded, withdrawing into his shell and taking off.

Thank the gods he does. "Water Gun" or "Skull Bash" isn't subtle.

Unsurprisingly, they were quickly able to recover quickly and get back on their feet. However, before they could react, they got struck in the chest by a quick and hard object, getting the wind knocked out of them and forced them to a defensive position.

Using this opportunity, the mage caught up.

Seeing her coming, the attacker pulled out another weapon: a sword. However, instead of lunging towards their opponent, they extended it and used this increased length to strike from where they were standing.

Not expecting this, the strategist was unable to react in time and got struck in the left side.

Squirtle, seeing his (temporary) trainer arrive and get hurt, she ran towards her not only to check if she was all right, but also to receive the next order.

Dazed but still able to fight, the magic user stood up, hoping to finally get to see who her attacker was and make a better strategy around that information. Several things stood out about her: his bright blue hair (the color of which reminded her of her closest friend and leader).

Next, she focused on his weapon, of a rusty golden color and had a rather unique design. The most notable part, however, was the fact that it was now retracting and forming the shape of a sword. The additional utility of such a long-ranged weapon is something she immediately took notice of and started working on countermeasures.

With all of that in mind, she recognized his opponent as Byleth, the male counterpart. He and his female twin came as newcomers to the tournament.

What puzzles me is the reason why he's attacking me – thought the mage, trying to get a grasp at her current situation.

While we were never close, I can't remember doing anything to earn his animosity.

Maybe I could talk to him and try to figure out what's going on? At least I could stall for a moment to gather my bearings and think of some way to defeat him if need be.

"You!" she exclaimed "Your name is Byleth isn't it? Why are you attacking me?"

"…"- was his answer.

Looks like I'm not going to get much of a response from him. Maybe if –

But before she could finish that train of thought, Byleth once again extended his sword and attacked her.

Once again reacting quickly, she was able to dodge the strike by rolling to her right, purposefully delaying her response. Her companion did the same on the opposite direction. He's going to use his weapon's speed and range to keep me from using my own.

Rapidly getting up, she came up with an improvised idea that should work against her opponent. Swiftly she dodged another lash. This time, however, the attack had landed much closer than before. He's already adapting to my previous movement! Looking to her left, she said to his companion: "Squirtle! Strategy three!"

"Squirt!" he answered.

Not waiting to see if she had done as previously instructed, the mage dashed forward towards her opponent. There's an opening after his attack, when he needs to retract his sword in order to extend it again. It's clear that he's used to having support while he's exposed like this. I can use this to my advantage!

Taking out her bronze sword, she reached his opponent's position and attempted to land a slash on his side. However, as expected, Byleth was able to block it with his now retracted sword, push her back and send a swing of his own. Hastily, the mage blocked it, but not without difficulty.

He's clearly trying hard to defeat me. I need to be careful!

Taking several steps back, she tried to gain more ground and reposition herself, but his opponent was oppressive. He struck again and again, trying to incapacitate her.

Again, and again, she stepped back, until –

Splash! She felt her footwear grow wet. Realizing what this meant, the strategist by trade stopped holding back and, using the first opening she saw to strike back against the swordsman. Catching him off-guard, Byleth stepped back. Using this opportunity, the mage dropped the sword she was currently using and pulled out her other, more powerful one: the Levin Sword.

He rapidly blocked the oncoming strike from her opponent, who had quickly recovered from the surprise and was once again on the offensive.

Finding another (albeit smaller) opening, the mage threw out a strong vertical swing. Byleth stepped back to avoid it.

However, this wasn't the strategist's plan. Striking the ground as hard as she could muster, she electrocuted the entire area around her, and, thanks to the large puddle of water that they were standing on, it spread out on a much wider radius, shocking Byleth and bringing him to his knees.

Yet, this wasn't enough to defeat him. Having inferred this beforehand, the mage shouted: "Squirtle! Strategy two again!"

Squirtle immediately stopped using his Water Gun directed at the ground and retreated into his shell.

Rushing forward, he struck Byleth in the chest as he was trying to stand back up, making him drop back down.

Using this opportunity, the mage rushed forward and struck him in the side with the Levin Sword, making the swordsman drop on all fours. Hitting him one last time, this time in the back, the mage, known to her friends and acquaintances as Robin finally defeated Byleth.

Staring at Squirtle and dropping down to catch her breath, she said: "Well? What do we do now?"