Driftveil Arc: Decided Matter
"Let's go. Sandstorm!" Clay shouted, and Mari held her hand in front of her eyes as a fierce sand vortex erupted. "Oof, that makes it harder to see anything... Well, it's how it is. We shall deal with it. Shadow Ball, Gardevoir!" Mari commanded. Gardevoir fired, but the attack went nowhere as Sandslash dodged. "It's so fast..." Mari muttered. "That must be the effect of its ability, huh... I just can't point out yet whether it is Sand Veil or Sand Rush... They're so similar..." Gardevoir's eyes lit up as it used Psychic to seize control of the Shadow Ball it had fired off and make it chase Sandslash. "Pfft, hahahaha! Is that it?" Clay asked. Sandslash turned its back on the attack and it smashed against its spikes without it taking any damage. Mari growled. "Crap... Dazzling Gleam, Gardevoir!" Gardevoir raised his arms and shot beams of light through the sandstorm.
"Gyro Ball!" Clay commanded, and Sandslash curled up so that it was a spiky ball hurtling toward Gardevoir, right through the beams. Gardevoir teleported out of the path of the shot. "Shadow Ball!" It fired off another attack. "Crush Claw!" Clay commanded, and Sandslash unfurled again before it destroyed the Shadow Ball with its claws.
"Hm... definitely Sand Veil", Mari deducted. "Using Gyro Ball wouldn't make any logical sense if one raised their own speed using Sand Rush in a sandstorm... Since Gyro Ball makes more damage the slower the user is compared to their target... Gardevoir, Dazzling Gleam!",
"Sand Tomb!" Sandslash made the sand condense to a pillar around Gardevoir, making it barely able to move.
"Teleport out of there! Quick!" Gardevoir gasped and disappeared. The sand collapsed in on itself. Gardevoir had already lost some strength from the sandstorm as it re-appeared somewhere else. It raised its arms and gathered energy for another Dazzling Gleam attack, but instead of sending off several beams of light, it gathered the light as a giant ball, which it shot at Sandslash. It rolled right through with Gyro Ball, but not without taking damage. "What was that?" Mari asked as Gardevoir dodged Sandslash's attack. She pulled out her Pokédex. "... Huh... Huh?" She noticed a change in Gardevoir's move set. The Pokédex showed her a message. "...Moon Blast..." she muttered. "Uh-huh... A fairy-type move...",
"One of the strongest the fairy-type has in store!" Jacky exclaimed to her. "That's amazing!", "Hm..." Mari put the Pokédex away again. "Okay... Let's get this show on the road! We're on it, Gardevoir! Focus Blast!" Gardevoir gathered a ball of energy and sent it hurtling toward Sandslash. Sandslash dodged it nimbly and it crashed into the wall. An ensuing blast wave brought down almost the entire mine. "Holy...!" Mari held her arms in front of her face. Sandslash was knocked off its feet. Gardevoir's eyes glowed and it lifted its opponent into the air with Psychic. When the dust had settled, Mari wiped over her mouth and then stretched out her arm. "That was a force to behold! Do it again! Moon Blast!" Gardevoir raised its arms and clenched a ball of light in front of it, which it hurled at its opponent with high speed. Sandslash was hit in the stomach area and spun high through the air.
It landed on its back and straightened up, panting. "Focus Blast!" Guardevoir launched the next attack, which hit Sandslash again, knocking it to the ground so hard that a crater appeared beneath it. "Is it over...?" Mari asked, who could barely see through the kicked-up dust and all the sand. The sandstorm slowly subsided. Sandslash lay in the pit and made no sign of getting up again. It was over. Mari breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew..." Clay withdrew his Sandslash. Then, he came stomping in with the badge. "Moon Blast isn't just some fairy attack. It is, as your friend already said, one of the strongest the fairy type has in store. And that's saying something." He stopped in front of her. "Whether luck was on your side or it was my fault for biting the rock now, that's debatable. You've got a long way to go, youngster. Both of you. But for this, I don't begrudge you both the victory." He handed Mari the badge with his rough hand and she accepted it with a smile. "Thank you.",
"You should especially appreciate this one. Not everyone has managed to defeat the old stager among the gym leaders. It takes a lot of talent. And you both have talent.",
"I'm honored. I do have one question, though... I guess you should know best. Does the Junior Cup tournament in the PWT have any special requirements?",
"The tournament, huh. Right, that was a thing. Eherm. There is a minimum of 4 badges that you should have obtained", Clay replied. "There is no limit to the number of Pokémon you can bring, however, there is a limit to how many Pokémon you can use in a round. Everyone should know that the tournament will not be easy. It takes place once a year and all the junior trainers who think they are fit enough will be there. There are naturals and idiots who overestimate themselves, but only the best will make the short list. The tournament requires experience, cleverness and assertiveness. Sixteen participants will be able to even get into the tournament, so it's the early birds who are lucky enough to get a spot in the fray.", "Hmm... I see. Thank you for the info. At least, we know what we're getting into." Mari put the badge away and withdrew Gardevoir. "Goodbye, Clay." He gave only a brief wave before the two took the elevator back up.
"Do you think he'll be there?" Jacky asked.
"Who?",
"The silver-haired boy. Do you think he's going to be in the tournament?"
Mari rolled her eyes. "My gosh, do you have a crush on him or something? You know him for maybe 5 minutes, why are you thinking about him all the time?",
"Well, Burgh said he has talent. And the way his Grovyle fought... It was impressive, in a way. He knows his stuff. I'm just wondering about that because... Uhm... I don't know...",
"Jeeeeeez..." Mari sighed. "You got hit really bad there. I have no idea if he'll be in the tournament or not. Why don't you just let it surprise you? You can always idolize him afterwards.",
"I don't idolize him at all!",
"Then don't act like it."
Jacky gave her a scowl. "I'm just curious!",
"Well, you should be more concerned about getting the second badge in the near future", Mari countered. "Now that you could possibly fly... Virbank isn't far from Driftveil by air.", "Fly? What do you mean... Oh..." Jacky narrowed her eyes. "I don't know... My fear of heights...",
"Gee, I had to deal with my Entomophobia, too. Now, it's your turn. Unless you want to traipse all the way back through the desert, et cetera. But then, you can do that on your own. I'm not going through there again.",
"Ugh... but... b-but... I could fall off Noivern, or other flying-type Pokémon could attack us, or even worse, a storm could come up!",
"Stop making up excuses.",
"Excuses...?",
"Noivern can catch you and fight other Pokémon if it comes to that, and before a storm comes up, you can tell by the color of the sky. Storms never appear just outta nowhere.",
"I'm scared to death of flying, okay? When Skarmory carried me, I panicked!",
"I've flown on Skarmory before. It's smaller than Noivern and its steel armor isn't the ideal thing to hold onto, but I still didn't fall off.",
"Mhhmpf..." Jacky grumbled dejectedly.
Mari stretched her arms behind her head. "There are still five days left until the tournament. We can use that time for training. Besides, it's time for us to sign up.",
"Ah... right." Jacky nodded. "Best we do it now!" Mari nodded in agreement and they hit the road south. They walked under an archway and arrived at a large boulevard where a gigantic building stood. They stopped in front of it. "Here we are. The stadium", Mari said. "Indoor. Huge.",
"Awesome. That's even bigger there than the stadium in Nimbasa!",
"Indeed." Mari nodded. "Shall we?"
Jacky nodded and they entered the building. They walked forward to the front desk and Mari approached the woman. "Good afternoon.",
"Hi. How can I help you?",
"Can we already sign up for the Junior Cup tournament in 5 days?",
"You can." She nodded politely. "The sign-up period always starts one week before the tournament takes place. Since you ask like that, I assume you want to participate in the tournament?"
Mari nodded. "Yes, and so does my friend." Jacky next to her nodded. "Right.",
"Alright. May I see your badge counts?" Both girls nodded and showed her their badges. The woman nodded. "Okay, you've already reached the required number." The woman pulled open a drawer and pulled out two forms. "I would need your names, ages and a signature you acknowledged the rules and codes of conduct." She slid the sheets of paper to the two. They nodded and filled them out. The woman signed them again herself and then stapled them in a folder. "Good, you are now eligible to participate. The tournament will start here on Saturday at noon. Be on time. If you are not, you will be disqualified from the tournament and your spots will be given to those who remain on the waiting list.",
"Okay... sounds harsh, but fair. Thanks." Mari smiled. "Then... have a nice day!",
"Goodbye." The woman nodded at them and they left the building.