I have no idea how long I stayed in that tiny bathroom cubicle, just crying my eyes out, sobbing for all the wrong and bitterness in the world. It felt like hours, but at the same time, it felt like only mere seconds had passed before I heard the noise of the door to the bathrooms creaking open and the noise of light footfalls.

"Sienna?"

My heart sunk when I heard Nikki's voice. I immediately shut up, trying to catch my sobs, but I couldn't. I only ended up hiccoughing and spluttering. Even after that disaster, I still tried desperately to keep quiet. But my body betrayed me and I ended up gasping and wheezing. Not a good way to keep a low profile, that was for sure…

"Sienna?"

"Please go away," I willed, thudding my head helplessly into my arms.

But my hopes of Nikki just turning around and leaving were immediately dashed. No sooner had I put my head down, I heard the noise of a Pokeball opening. "Magby, go look for Sienna, okay?"

I inwardly cursed as I heard the pitter-patter of tiny feet across the bathroom floor. I prayed to every God in existence that the Pokemon wouldn't be able to notice me, but once again, I had no such luck. After only a few seconds of the Pokemon running up and down past the stalls, a tiny head popped under the gap of the door. "Mag! Magby!"

I blinked at the face now looking at me. "Go away!" I hissed, trying to bat him away. "Go away!"

"Mag! Magby!" Magby said indignantly, before squeezing himself underneath the gap and approaching me. "Magby! Magby!"

I tried to shut him up, but it was useless. A shadow darkened the floor just outside the door seconds later and I grimaced. "Magby, have you found her?"

"Mag!"

"Gee, thanks…" I glared at the Pokemon for betraying me, while sniffing violently and rubbing my eyes. I still made no move to get up or unlock the door.

"Sienna?" Nikki began rapping gently on the cubicle door. "Are you okay?"

I remained stubbornly silent. Magby nudged me, narrowing his eyes angrily as if trying to will me to answer the demands of his trainer. I just glared back and sunk my head into my hands once again. I had made up my mind that I wasn't coming out.

A few minutes passed. There was a slight sigh at the other end of the door. I could feel questions that Nikki was no doubt itching to ask lie heavy in the air, but I certainly wasn't going to instigate any form of conversation. Right now, after everything that had just gone on, with everything I was feeling, I was quite happy to sit in this tiny cubicle for the rest of my life.

"You're… you're missing out on some good battles out there…"

I blinked, and slowly raised my head. That was certainly the last thing I was expecting her to say, and for some reason, it implored me to speak. I cleared my throat, trying to dislodge the lump that had formed there. "R…really…?" I eventually choked out.

"Yeah," Nikki's tone was light, almost conversational, and for some reason, I immediately trusted it. "Scott beat Alicia for one. It was a really great battle, and Scott actually used a Pokemon that wasn't his Quagsire."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he used his Marowak against Alicia's Zoruark. Oh, but then Alicia used Milotic, so you can guess what happened there."

"It beat Scott's Marowak…?"

"Yeah," Nikki sounded initially a little sad, but then seemed to brighten up a bit. "But then Scott brought out Pidgeot to take on the Milotic, and he won! It was an amazing battle, really! I was really proud of him! You'd have loved it!"

"Really…?" I nodded, slowly. Nikki sounded so enthusiastic and ecstatic that it was hard for me to not take an interest in what she was saying. I also found myself almost wanting to know more about the battle…

"Yeah! And Elliot's fighting Crow now!"

This one made me sit up and pay attention straight away. "He is?"

"Yeah, and Elliot's winning! Isn't that great?"

I felt a peculiar pang of emotion at this statement. I was rooting for Elliot, of course I was, but still, I felt bad for Crow. I liked the guy. He was one of those rare decent young men out there, and I would have liked to have seen him go further. It was just a shame he had to battle Elliot… Because even with as good as a trainer I knew Crow to be, I knew deep down that Elliot would prove the superior trainer… Elliot really was just that good.

"Y-yeah… I guess it is," I said, reaching out my hand absent-mindedly to pat Magby on the head. Nikki's Magby always had been the over-affectionate type, forever clamouring for attention and this time was no different, as he was now currently trying to clamber onto my lap. "What Pokemon is he using?"

"When I left he was using his Umbreon against Crow's Umbreon!" Nikki sounded rather excited as she relayed the details of the battle. "It was neck and neck when I left, like I honestly don't know which Umbreon is gonna win!"

"Wow, battle of the Umbreons, huh?"

"Yeah!" she said enthusiastically. "But of course, he'd already won the previous round, using Umbreon against Crow's Breloom,"

"I see," I murmured. "So, Elliot's still likely to win though…?"

"I think so," Nikki said lightly, but then she paused for a little while. She cleared her throat a few seconds later. "After Elliot and Crow, the next battle is between Celeste and Natsuki. They're saying it's gonna be a real exciting battle. You should really come out and watch it, you know…?"

"Mmm," I murmured noncommittally. "I don't really feel like it right now…"

"Why...?" she asked, and I sensed her leaning her weight against the cubicle door. When she spoke again, her voice was notably softer. Soft enough that I seriously had to strain my ears to make out exactly what it was she was saying. "Is it about what happened earlier? When you lost…?"

I knew the question was coming, but it still didn't stop me from balking at it. I stuttered and stammered, not sure what to say. What could I say, really? In the end, I settled for just murmuring incoherently, hoping she'd change the subject. Of course, again, I had no such luck.

"Sienna, you went to pieces out there…" Nikki's voice was rising now, and cracking ominously. "I've never seen you look so… so…"

As she trailed off, I couldn't help but ask "What? So what…?"

"I don't know, that's the thing!" Nikki suddenly cried and I found myself wincing at the high pitch it suddenly adopted. "You just looked like you weren't even there! Like… almost like the world was going on without you…"

Nikki's words hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks and I slowly felt my heart sink to somewhere in the pits of my stomach. I wrapped my arms around myself until I ended up squeezing myself so hard I felt pain. Even Magby seemed to pick up on my mood change and let out a low murmur, before butting his head into my arm.

I let out a deep exhale. "I felt that way…"

I heard Nikki gasp. "You did…?"

"Y-yeah…"

"But why?" Nikki pressed me. "Was it because of Grey? Were you scared of the battle? His Pokemon? Did you just freak out, like what happened with Bugsy? Come on, Sienna, you have to talk to me here… I just wanna help… What happened?"

Nikki's questioning continued in similar stead for quite some time, while I sat there, beginning to feel tenser and tenser with each question she relentlessly fired at me. My hands clasped tighter and tighter together until eventually the questions got too much for me and I felt something snap. "Nikki! Enough!"

Nikki let out a squeak. "S-sorry!"

I instantly felt bad at the outburst, and I let out a deep sigh, before restraining myself. "N-no, I'm sorry…" I said, and I meant it too, feeling very ashamed at myself for snapping. "It wasn't anything to do with Grey… I mean, yeah, he was a fantastic battler, but that's not the reason I just… I just…"

"Fell apart?"

"Yeah, we'll go with that," I said, failing to feel a stab of embarrassment at Nikki's choice of words.

"So, if that's not the reason you just broke down like that, what was?"

I hesitated at this point. I really wasn't sure if I wanted to tell Nikki. The first overwhelming impulse I had was not to say anything. Dad had said that what he had told me might all blow over within a couple days and simply amount to nothing. I knew this, but at the same time, there was another nagging, persistent worry demanding my attention. What if it didn't? The thought filled me with such a deep, ingrained fear that I wanted to do nothing more than curl up in a ball on the floor and cry. If something like this had even the slightest possibility of being true, didn't my friends deserve to know? I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. I had to tell her. I just had to…

Besides, it wasn't like I could come up with a lie convincing enough to hide the truth anyway…

"I got a phone call from my dad…" I began slowly, before launching into the whole sorry story. I couldn't see Nikki, of course, but judging from the awed gasps and murmured 'no's' she constantly uttered as I recounted everything my dad had told me, she wasn't taking the news well. I couldn't blame her. Even Magby was oddly quiet and subdued, not making a sound, barely even moving.

When I was eventually finished speaking, exhausted by pouring out the entire unbelievable story, my worries and fears to Nikki, there was a long silence. For a moment, I was suddenly inexplicably afraid that she wasn't even there, that she had slipped out without my even noticing. But then she murmured something softly that I couldn't quite catch. I had her repeat herself, and when she spoke, her voice was wavering dangerously. It almost sounded like she was close to tears herself.

"I… I can't believe this…"

"I know," I murmured, finally finding the courage to reach out, unlock the door and emerge from the bathroom stall. Magby trotted along merrily in my wake.

Nikki was standing by the mirrors now, staring deep into her reflection like it held the answers to every question she ever wanted to know. Not even Magby hopping up onto the sink next to her and pulling at her dress seemed enough to snap her out of it. I stood there for a few moments, not sure what to say or do.

"It might not happen the way we think it will, right?" she suddenly said, turning around to look at me, eyes wide and panicked.

"I… I don't... know…" I said truthfully. "Dad said there might not be any reason to worry, but… if there's even the slightest possibility that it could happen I want… I want to be prepared, you know…?"

"Sienna…" Nikki's voice was trembling. "I don't want anything like what happened two years ago to ever happen again… That was terrifying… For so long, we didn't know what was going on, what was truth, what was lies… We didn't even know if you were alive sometimes…"

My heart gave a painful twist. "Oh, Nikki…"

"When you left us that time, I honestly believed we'd never find you…" Nikki's shoulders were shaking. "I honestly thought we'd never find you and that one day, months later, we'd get a call saying you'd… you'd turned up dead somewhere…"

I let out an involuntary murmur, suddenly feeling horribly sad. I wanted to go up to Nikki, put my arms around her, anything to comfort her, but for some reason, I just couldn't. My feet remained stubbornly rooted to the spot and I just couldn't move.

"I don't want that to ever happen again…" she said, turning her dark eyes towards me that, I was shocked to see, were now glittering with unshed tears. "You have no idea how worried and scared I was… how Jasmine was… about our families, about our friends, about you… I don't ever want to have to go through that again…"

"I know, Nik, I know…" I whispered. "But we have to consider the possibility… from what Dad said, this Helene woman is dangerous. Really dangerous. If there's even the slightest chance it could happen, I need to make sure I'm prepared…"

"But I don't want it to happen!" Nikki insisted, shaking her head furiously.

"Neither do I," I said, hanging my head in return. "I'm not even sure what to think, you know? I want to think that this could never happen… But look at what happened with Nathan. None of us ever thought that could happen… It's more like the stuff out of comic books or kids' TV shows… We have to be prepared, that's all… just in case."

At this point, tears began to slip down Nikki's face and my heart gave a painful twist. "I don't want that to ever happen again, Sienna… I don't want that life… I don't want to be fighting for my life against the 'forces of evil' like some glorified super-hero… I don't want to be trapped in some weird… almost fantasy land where madmen like Nathan are allowed to run free and cause chaos. I don't want to see Legendary Pokemon summoned and exploited like they were nothing… I don't want to spend every waking moment of my life worrying about the safety of all the people I love…"

"Nikki, I know you don't…" I found myself saying. "You think I don't want that? I never want anything like what happened two years ago to ever happen again… But it's stupid to just brush it away and pretend like it's never going to happen when there's even the slightest possibility that it could…"

Nikki sniffed, and wiped her eyes fiercely. "So… so what do we do…?"

"I don't know," I said truthfully. "But for now, I guess we just carry on with our lives. I know that's not easy!" I added hastily as Nikki turned a shocked face towards me. "But we just have to keep going. There's no use in letting this take over our lives…"

"Easier said than done…" Nikki said with a solemn sigh.

"I know…" I said, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "But come on… we can do this, right? We've just got to be strong and keep our heads up."

"Yeah…"

"Admittedly, I'm not looking forward to telling the others about this…" I sighed, bringing my hand back down to my side. "They're going to just go to pieces…"

"I know," Nikki murmured. "It's just—"

We were suddenly cut off when the door to the bathroom suddenly swung open and banged loudly against the wall. In an almost undetectable blur, Jasmine sped in, coming to a halt just in front of us, only just missing out on knocking the two of us over. "The hell is taking you guys so long?"

"Jazz!" I cried, taking a step back in shock. "What are you—?"

"No time for any of that now!" Jasmine said impatiently, shooting Nikki a look that made her noticeably flinch. "I sent Nikki down here because I know she's much better at all this stuff about making people feel better than I ever will be, but I didn't think you'd take this long!"

"I'm sorry…" Nikki apologised meekly. "It's just—"

"No apologies!" Jasmine cried. "This is serious, you guys! The final battle is just about to start!"

"Wait, what!" I gasped, looking at Nikki in shock. "We… were in here that long?"

"Yes!" Jasmine cried, exasperated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The semi-finals are over! It's down to the last two challengers!"

"Well, who are they…?" I asked, feeling my heart twist ominously.

Jasmine's face immediately hardened. "Elliot…"

My heart leapt. Elliot was in the final?

"… and Scott…"

And with that one word, my heart plummeted back down to somewhere in my stomach.

"What?" Nikki cried in shock. "Elliot and Scott?"

"Yeah…" Jasmine said, looking from both of us in turn. "And it's probably going to be hard enough on those two already! I think they'd really appreciate you two being there!"

"Y-yeah," I stuttered, shooting Nikki a bewildered look. "C-come on, then!"

Without even a second glance, the three of us bolted from the women's bathrooms and out into the rest area again. Without even bothering to think if we were even allowed to do this, we sprinted straight past the other knocked-out competitors and out onto the battlefield, completely ignoring Bailey's cries after us. Sneaking past onto the battlefield was surprisingly easier than I thought and we weren't caught as we somehow ascended the stairs and snagged some empty front row seats. But to my surprise, the battleground was completely and utterly deserted apart from the proctor and announcer.

"Where are they?" I hissed to Nikki and Jasmine.

"Getting ready, I think…" Nikki whispered back.

Even as Nikki said this, a sudden screeching noise cut through her like a knife and the announcer was hollering into the microphone. "And now! Yes! And now, this is the moment you've all been waiting for! This is the final battle, yes the final battle!"

I tensed. Next to me, Nikki also stiffened. Her hands were clenched tightly.

"This battle will be between, yes, between Elliot Wood of Pallet Town and Scott Harper of Fuchsia City! Please, welcome, yes, please welcome them to the battlefield!"

At this, against the triumphant and pounding beat of a rock song that sprang up no sooner had the words left the announcers lips, the doors to the dugouts on either ends of the battlefield opened and both Elliot and Scott emerged. Smoke and confetti began bursting out behind either trainer as they walked. Cameras zoomed in to them as they walked to take their places. Elliot looked almost mildly embarrassed at all the attention, whereas Scott just looked bored, absent-mindedly flicking a piece of red confetti from his hair.

The booming music and over-the-top spectacle died down as soon as both of them took their places, sending the entire stadium into a hushed, venerable silence, almost like the kind of silence one would expect in church or at a funeral. Nikki's hand suddenly found mine and she squeezed it. I caught her eye.

"This is going to kill whoever loses, isn't it…?" she whispered.

"I think so…" I murmured.

"Now, yes, now!" the announcer was shouting into the microphone. "Now begins, yes, now begins the final battle! Between Elliot Wood of Pallet Town and Scott Harper of Fuchsia City!"

"He's already said that…" Jasmine murmured vehemently under her breath.

"This battle, yes, in this battle, things will be very different, yes, very different! For one, this will be a six-on-six, ho holds barred battle! We have also, yes, we have also allowed each trainer to shuffle their Pokemon teams completely! That means, yes, that means they can pick an entirely new team if they so wish! Now, I can report that challengers Elliot and Scott both chose to shuffle their teams, am I correct?"

The cameras zoomed in on both Elliot and Scott, and overhead on the giant TV screens, I saw them both give a decisive nod. At their nod, the largest TV screen, the one in the centre of the stadium suddenly lit up, showing pictures of both Elliot and Scott, one to either side. Six empty slots next to their names suddenly began lighting up with images of Pokemon.

"However, yes, however! As a condition for being allowed to shuffle their team, their teams will be shown to both the audience and the opposing trainer!"

Elliot's team was the first to light up fully. It showed pictures of a Venusaur, Umbreon, Tropius, Shiftry, Absol and Cacturne. I was surprised, particularly by the reveal of the Shiftry and Absol. Both were Pokemon I knew Elliot owned, and even if I didn't know he owned them specifically, I could easily have guessed they were the sort of Pokemon he'd use. He did exclusively train Grass, Dark and dual Grass/Dark types, of course. However, they weren't Pokemon I saw him switch in and out of his main roster all that often. Nikki and Jasmine were also looking at me in confusion, almost as if looking for an explanation. All I could do in return was shrug, and hope that the blatant feeling of confusion I was feeling was showing up enough on my face to answer them. As the team lit up, I saw Scott carefully consulting the screen, his gaze never wavering.

Scott's team was the next to light up, revealing a Marowak, Pidgeot, Gabite, Quagsire, Torkoal and Tauros. I blinked in surprise at the addition of the Torkoal and Tauros, two Pokemon I had never even heard him reference let alone even use. His Marowak I knew to be his starter Pokemon, his Pidgeot and Quagsire were two of his most trusted battlers, and his Gabite I also knew was a force to be reckoned with, having taken out Bugsy's two Pokemon without so much as a backward glance. The Torkoal and Tauros sounded intimidating enough on paper, but knowing they were under Scott's tutelage immediately made me get nervous. A Torkoal, properly trained, could be potentially devastating for the Grass types Elliot favoured. And as I caught sight of the cool, calm, collected look Scott was now displaying, I got the feeling it was by no accident he had added that particular Pokemon to his team. Scott wasn't stupid. He meant business. I knew he had wanted to battle Elliot from the moment he had first seen him, all the way back on that ferry ride to Hoenn. Seeing Elliot there at the Elite Four stronghold had sparked something in that cocky young 12 year old and ever since then he had been fixated on battling him. Specifically him. He had never told us the reason why he yearned so much to battle Elliot, and none of us could even attempt at guessing why, not even Elliot himself or even Nikki, his own sister. It remained a stubborn mystery, as did most of what made Scott tick did…

"I can't believe it's come down to this… Elliot and Scott…" Jasmine muttered.

"Me neither…" I said.

"Type advantages dictates that Scott's going to win here," Jasmine then said, singling out the images of Pidgeot and Torkoal with her finger. "I mean, Elliot's team is almost all Grass apart from Umbreon and Absol. He can't really expect to hold out the whole way with just those two!"

"Yeah, but guys… it's Elliot, come on!"

"Sienna," Jasmine gave me a firm look. "It's Scott. Look at what he's showed us he can do. He's beaten all the Kanto Gym Leaders; he's practically bulldozed his way through this competition—"

"So has Elliot!" I argued back. "Elliot's beaten way more Gym Leaders than Scott has! And he's had hardly any problems with the tournament either! And he made it to the Elite Four!"

"But Sienna—!"

Jasmine didn't get a chance to rebuke me as suddenly the noise of what sounded suspiciously like a starting pistol echoed through the stadium, signalling the beginning of the battle. Before I could even comprehend what was going on, the battle was underway. Scott hurled a Pokeball straight into the arena with such force I had bizarre mental images of the Pokeball travelling too far and ending up smacking some innocent spectator in the face. Thankfully, the Pokeball came to a safe halt midway across the arena, before releasing his rather dopey looking Quagsire. No sooner had it been released, the camera zoomed straight in on Elliot's face. He looked a little bemused. I didn't blame him…

"Why is Scott leading off with Quagsire?" I asked slowly. "That's an instant disadvantage, considering most of Elliot's Pokemon are Grass types."

"Oh, you know Scott." Nikki piped up next to me. "He's just like Elliot. He doesn't care about type advantages or disadvantages…"

"True…" I said with a low groan, sinking my head into my hands. I was really starting to get worried. At this stage, I really didn't know what was going to happen here. I didn't know what I was going to see. I didn't know what to expect, what not to expect, and I certainly didn't have so much as even half a notion as to who the eventual victor was going to be. My hands clenched into fists and my teeth gritted of their own accord. I knew deep inside me that this had been waiting to happen for a long time. It was inevitable really… But it still hadn't prepared me for it actually happening. And I can honestly say, I had no idea what was going to happen…

Part of me didn't want to find out, either…

The crowd once again descended into silence as Elliot slowly picked out a Pokeball and tossed it, almost casually, and wordlessly into the arena. I wasn't surprised to see the figure of Cacturne appear into the arena. The Cacturne focused itself immediately on the dopey figure of Quagsire, its menacing yellow eyes glinting underneath its dark green and spiky tipped hat.

"This first match will be between Elliot Wood's Cacturne and Scott Harper's Quagsire! You may not use items, but you may substitute Pokemon freely as you wish. And… begin!"

"Cacturne, use Spikes!" Elliot bellowed the second the word 'begin' left the announcer's mouth.

But Scott was just as fast. "Quagsire, Amnesia!"

I sat there, my mouth hanging open at the strange moves that Elliot and Scott had just used. Elliot's Cacturne jumped back, suddenly launched itself into the air and began to spin very rapidly. Frowning deeply, I turned to Nikki, but she looked just as stunned as I was. I had only just diverted my attention back to the still spinning Cacturne when all of a sudden, white glowing spikes began shooting out all over the battlefield! While I instantly anticipated this to be some kind of damaging move, the spikes fell short of hitting the Quagsire and instead seemed to litter itself around the battlefield, not even coming close to hitting the Quagsire. On Scott's side, the Quagsire stayed perfectly still. The only thing that seemed to happen was a slightly dopier expression playing over the Quagsire's face. Then both Pokemon became still.

"What the hell happened…?" I said, looking to Jasmine for enlightenment.

"Spikes…" Jasmine was saying slowly over and over, until eventually her face lit up with realisation. "Oh, I get it… Elliot must have thought Scott would switch out his Quagsire as soon as he saw him using a Grass type…"

"What does Spikes even do?"

"It sets out spikes that cause damage to any Pokemon that are switched or replaced."

"Oh…" I said with a decisive nod, finally understanding.

"Yeah," Jasmine continued, indicating the spikes littering the battlefield. "So, every time Scott switches in a Pokemon, they'll get damage."

"Nice strategy," I commented, realising just how clever that really was. "But what about what Scott did?"

"Amnesia," Jasmine explained. "The Pokemon ends up forgetting something, I'm not quite sure what though, and somehow forgetting ends up raising its defence… Don't ask me how, it just happens…"

"Oh…" I murmured, wincing at the explanation Jasmine had just given me. The move Amnesia somehow allowed the Pokemon to raise its defence? Quagsire already had a high enough defence! It didn't need any more help! Its defences were rock solid already, practically impenetrable!

However, while I was inwardly panicking at what was going on, Elliot didn't look too bothered by the fact Scott's Quagsire had just increased its defence. In, fact, it only seemed to steel his resolve, and a renewed look of determination shadowed his face. He glanced to the side, caught his Cacturne's eye and immediately shouted out his next order. "All right, Cacturne! Leech Seed now!"

At this point, the camera pulled in on Scott, and the entire stadium saw a mild look of panic cross his face at Elliot's order. But it was only momentary as he quickly righted himself and also ordered an attack. "Quagsire, Mud Shot, quickly!"

Elliot's Quagsire somehow proved faster than the Cacturne, shooting a blast of mud straight towards the cactus Pokemon with frightening speed that I honestly didn't think the Quagsire capable of. It hit Elliot's Cacturne square in the eyes, making it recoil, crying out in pain. It was completely blinded! It couldn't attack, and this time a look of panic on Elliot's face was quickly broadcast to the whole arena. My heart plummeted.

"Quagsire, pull up a Mist, now!"

Within seconds of his master's command, a thick white cloud of sparkling mist came from nowhere and suddenly descended on the battlefield. A definite chill went through the air and I shuddered as the temperature suddenly dropped. Goosebumps erupted all over my bare skin and my teeth began to chatter. As the mist continued to roll in, thicker and thicker it became so thick and hazy that it very quickly became impossible to see the trainers, let alone the Pokemon on the battlefield.

"What is Scott doing?" I cried, standing up, trying to get a better look at the arena.

"I don't know!" Nikki called shrilly behind me.

It was practically impossible to make out what was going on in the battlefield, but the silence in the arena made sure that we could at least hear something. "Cacturne!" I heard Elliot shout. "Can you see, buddy? Don't panic! Set up an Ingrain now, okay?"

Obviously the mist was so thick on the battlefield that I couldn't see what was going on, but there was no mistaking what Elliot had said. Thankfully, I knew what Ingrain was. It was a move that helped restore health. Realisation hit me and I found worry bubbling up inside me again. Elliot must have been worried about what was going to happen if he was setting that up as a pre-emptive strike…

Scott's voice suddenly rose out again. "Quagsire! Muddy Water, now!"

"Shoot!" I heard Elliot cry out as soon as Scott gave the order. "Come on, Cacturne! Try and dodge it!"

Even through the thick, low-hanging mist it was still impossible to miss the giant wall of water that suddenly rose from the left hand side of the stadium, courtesy of Scott's Quagsire. It swept straight across the battlefield, roaring and rushing so strongly that it reminded me of the powerful waves in the middle of a squall at sea. I heard screaming as the wave forcefully collided with the other end of the stadium, splashing and soaking the spectators. No sooner had it died away, the arena now thick with gloopy mud, I desperately searched the battlefield, looking for any sign of Elliot or Cacturne. The mist was thinning out now and it was finally easier to see. I finally spotted Cacturne, lying in a heap at the edge of the battlefield, completely covered in mud.

"Oh God…"

After some encouragement from Elliot, it rose to its feet, albeit a bit wobbly. Elliot managed to get it to finally inflict some damage, taking advantage of a Faint Attack to get behind Quagsire, before nailing it with a close-contact Needle Arm. Unfortunately that was the last damage it was able to make on the dual Water/Ground type. Scott had his Pokemon, still remarkably healthy after the close-range Needle Arm, get in with another Mud Shot, catching the Pokemon off guard, before blasting it with an Ice Beam. He then sealed the deal with a vicious Slam that seemed to send a reverberation throughout the entire stadium; so much force did the Pokemon put behind it.

Seeing Elliot lose the first bout made me want to cry out, but Elliot himself didn't seem too disappointed in his loss. The next Pokemon he sent in was his Shiftry, a Pokemon I had rarely seen him use before, who he normally reserved for battles he needed heavy hitters for. While I initially anticipated Scott's Quagsire to keep giving Elliot problems, Elliot swept the battlefield with Shiftry in what I could only assume was a frustratingly short time for Scott. While Scott immediately responded with some heavy physical attacks, trying to use Earthquake to shake the new opponent, quite literally, off its guard, Shiftry was simply too quick, utilising an incredible Leaf Storm Within seconds, the battlefield was awash with spirals and cyclones of glowing green leaves that spun like a tornado towards the gormless looking Quagsire. The dual Water and Ground type simply couldn't stand up to such a viciously powerful Grass type attack and collapsed before the leaves had even all hit the ground.

With one win and one loss apiece, both trainers took a moment to stare each other out. Shiftry brought itself up to its full height, as if it was trying to intimidate Scott, whatever Pokemon he ended up bringing out, and the entire of the stadium. Scott's hand hovered for a few seconds over the Pokeballs he had strapped to his belt, evidently taking his time about making a decision. Eventually, he made up his mind, pulled out a Pokeball and revealed his Pidgeot.

I saw Elliot's face drop no sooner did the giant bird Pokemon soar into the air above his Shiftry. Even the Shiftry backed away, its menacing looks suddenly diminishing as it brought its leafy hands up to its face, almost like it was protecting itself.

"Scott's taking this seriously now…" I heard Nikki whisper under her breath.

"What?" I turned around to look at her. "You mean he wasn't before this?"

"No," she shook her head. "Remember what I said earlier? Scott normally doesn't care about type advantages and disadvantages. He's just like Elliot like that… When he starts to use Pokemon that are the type advantages, especially so early on, we know he's taking the battle seriously. He's worried. He's not sure he can beat Elliot…"

I nodded slowly.

"He wants to finish this battle as soon as possible," Nikki eventually surmised, her eyes slowly travelling over the two trainers and two Pokemon still standing solitary at either end of the battlefield.

I found myself swallowing hard. "I really don't know who's going to win…"

"Me neither…" Nikki said, suddenly seeming to withdraw into herself. "I guess it's out of our hands. Just gotta let them get on with it…"

"Yeah," I nodded, before sitting back in my seat and trying to relax. "One thing's for sure, though… this is gonna be one hell of a battle…"

And as I passed my eyes over Scott and Elliot, standing like mighty pillars at either end of the battlefield, a little tremor ran down my spine. Anticipation was bubbling in my body and I was finding it difficult to sit still. My legs were bouncing up and down, and a jittery feeling had completely taken me over. I didn't know what to do, what to think or even what to expect. I kept shooting nervous glances at Nikki and Jasmine, but they seemed totally transfixed by the arena. I steadied myself and refocused on the battle.

"Good luck, guys…" I thought, before letting out a deep sigh.

This was going to be the battle to end all battles…

Author's Note

Hi guys! Another update for you. Well, next chapter officially ends the battle tournament arc! Yay!

Following on from that arc, we will see some very exciting gym battles and a revelation into Meloi's backstory, which I'm really looking forward to writing :D

Special thanks again go to MasterFreezeman, my boyfriend, for keeping me sane as I was writing this and to my reviewers:

WarriorSwift: Yes, I'm back and updating again! Glad to think you like the sound of Helene, she's definitely going to be a fun character to write!

GentleBlossom: Aww, thank you so much :) And as for the OCs appearing in future chapters, I'm not entirely sure, to be honest... Maybe, maybe not, it depends if I can work it in somehow.

Shadow of Eckhart: I do agree that the battles were a little bit lacking in the description, but I didn't want chapters that were just battle scene after battle scene, to be honest.

Shadow Serenity 57: Thank you, I'm really hoping the plot will pick up and be interesting to follow :)

ArchXDeath: I'm so happy you still review me, you know? And I will catch up with your story too, I feel like such a bad friend for not keeping up O.O Thank you :D

TwewyReaperGirl: I'm not ready to work hard either! I'm too good at procrastinating :P

One more thing, guys. A very good friend of mine is publishing on this site now. His penname is Nayfan_Dickson and he's publishing a really funny original trainer story that is certainly very unique, so please do check it out. It's in my favourite stories, so please take some time ;)

Whoa, long author's note. OceanSpiral out!

Please leave a review if you can :D