I got up this morning at my normal time. Caleb was still asleep and will be until noon. Our championship battle is at 2. I took my shower, brushed my teeth, and proceeded to get breakfast as I have everyday during this tournament.

The only difference between today and the other days was that more people noticed me and as a result I had to deal with talking to a lot of people. It was nice to be notice, yet strange to be so noticed that it became annoying to have to talk to so many people. While I appreciate the kind words I don't exactly want today to feel too much differently than others.

I popped into the main circle of the island where the people were bustling around trying to get to every gift shop they can. I came across a betting vendor when I heard the guy running it say that Caleb is the "hands-down favorite."

That bothered me. No doubt Caleb is the favorite, but have I not proven myself? Have I not proven that I can win this? I've proven it to myself.

After waking up Caleb we went about the early afternoon trying to act as normal as possible. However, as the clock ticked closer to 2 PM the tension grew. At 1:15 we made our way to the stadium together. We were greeted by hundreds of people on the main road to the stadium.

At first the cheering and commotion made me feel more tense but I watched as Caleb smiled and waved to everybody.

I took a deep breath and thought to myself, "I need to enjoy this moment."

I slipped my hand in Caleb's and gripped his tightly. He looked at me and smiled. Together we took in the admiration people had for us until we approached the stadium. We were met by security and brought into separate rooms to get ready for the battle.

"You nervous?" Carl asked me.

I shrugged. "A little, but not as much as I thought."

"Do you plan on using Sceptile?"

The idea of using my dad's Sceptile is still a viable possibility, but to do so now against Caleb would be wrong. Instead I took Sceptile's Pokeball out of my bag and released him.

"I was thinking he could watch the battle in my box instead," I said tossing Carl the Pokeball. "I'm not going to use my dad's Sceptile today."

Carl nodded.

A security guard opened the door and said that it was time.

Before I left Carl grabbed my arm and said, "Kick his ass, Cam."

I looked into his eyes for a moment and nodded.

The atmosphere in the stadium was raucous. It was much different than my previous battles. As the announcer ran through his typical monologue before every battle I started to contemplate what Pokemon Caleb would send out. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths when the announcer said, "Let the battle begin!"

I took one final deep breath and opened my eyes to Caleb smiling, holding a Pokeball in his hand. I reached to my side and grabbed a Pokeball. Both Caleb and I sent out our Pokemon at the same time.

Caleb sent out his Alolan Persian, which is exactly what I was hoping when I chose Alolan Muk. Caleb had a tendency for sending out his best Pokemon in the early rounds in previous matches. I had to bet he knew I would know that and expect it.

I came out aggressive trying to litter the battlefield with Muk's gunk and slime. Within minutes I had succeeded as Caleb tried to stop my Muk by having his Persian lay a few shots on my Pokemon.

Caleb surprised me when he recalled his Persian. He surprised me further when he sent out his Incineroar.

"Muk, get out of the slime now!" I yelled as Caleb ordered Incineroar to use Flamethrower.

Muk was able to get away when the flamethrower lit up the slime and gunk creating a stench that made me and nearly everyone else nauseous.

When the fire ended I made a desperate attempt to hurt Incineroar.

"Poison Gas and then Poison Fang."

Caleb had his Pokemon use Flamethrower again to knock down the gas, but he didn't expect Muk to move as fast as it did. Muk hopped onto Incineroar and successfully used Poison Fang. However, Incineroar responded by tossing Muk into the ground and then thrashed about critically hurting Muk.

Incineroar's next Flamethrower attack connected with Muk and finished it.

However, as I recalled my fainted Pokemon Incineroar winced in pain and fell to one knee. It was poisoned.

Caleb sighed but didn't recall Incineroar. My next Pokemon was simple even though the Pokemon was complex.

"Go Toxapex!" I tried to be confident with this pick considering the type match-up is in my favor. However, it's Toxapex.

Toxapex follows my first order and uses Rain Dance. For a brief moment the clouds opened up. However, the rain ended when Incineroar used Sunny Day.

Caleb went for the knock out immediately after having Incineroar use Outrage. Toxapex followed my 2nd order and dodged successfully. However, when I told it to use Liquidation it proceeded to use Spike Cannon.

I shook my head in annoyance.

I hoped the next order I gave would followed by I was woefully wrong. Incineroar came back at Toxapex with an Outrage attack. Instead of dodging, Toxapex used Liquidation and launched itself in a wall of water.

The attack successfully took down Incineroar, but Toxapex also had fainted from the two powerful attacks connecting in the way they did.

Right off the bat I was 2 Pokemon down to Caleb's one.

I needed to make this closer, so I sent out Decidueye. Caleb sent out Tsareena.

The type match-up was clearly on my side. Besides grass type moves Tsareena knows normal type attacks which won't impact Decidueye one bit. On top of that one of Tsareena's most powerful attack is High Jump Kick. Fighting attack don't impact Decidueye either.

I also know for a fact that my Decidueye is faster than Tsareena. I had Decidueye use Double Team and peck away at Tsareena. Caleb grew frustrated and for a moment I thought he would recall his Tsareena.

Before I let him do it I decided to stop playing around.

"Spirit Shackle! Then use Shadow Ball!"

The two attacks finished off Tsareena leaving the battle even. Caleb smiled.

I was so sure he was going to send out his Alolan Persian but I was wrong.

"Go Kommo-o!"

The regal Pokemon stood tall looking down at Decidueye who was licking it's wing. When Decidueye finally looked up a Kommo-o it yawned.

Meanwhile, the crowd got louder. Decidueye and Kommo-o are our best Pokemon and instead of us saving them for the end we are using them in the very middle of our battle.

Both Pokemon traded blow for blow. I had Decidueye use his speed to get out of trouble only to nit and pick away at Kommo-o. However, Caleb kept trying to go for the knock out punch.

"Dragon Tail!" Caleb yelled as Decidueye approached Kommo-o. The attack connected before Decidueye could use Leaf Blade. Caleb attempted to keep the pressure up by ordering Kommo-o to use Dragon Claw.

"Shadow Ball!"

Decidueye is able to get it's Shadow Ball attack off sending Kommo-o sliding back before it was able to attack. Kommo-o, clearly rattled, shook it's head.

It was vulnerable. However, I figured Decidueye wouldn't be able to finish Kommo-o. That along with Decidueye's increasing fatigue and my desire to want it for later on caused me to change my tactics.

"U-turn!" I yelled. Decidueye quickly tagged Kommo-o and returned to it's Pokeball.

Caleb looked stunned. He was even more stunned when I sent out Passimian.

I allowed Kommo-o to recover, which no doubt confused Caleb even further. As I watched him blink a few times and breathe heavily I gained a new found wave of confidence.

Caleb was unsure of what to do as I saw him calculate in his mind. He shook his head as if he was emptying everything he was thinking and called for Kommo-o to use Outrage.

Kommo-o viciously charged at Passimian but I was not concerned.

"Jump!" I yelled as Kommo-o got close. Passimian was able to jump over Kommo-o before being hit. When he came around to try again I told Passimian to jump once more.

After missing twice, Kommo-o became more enraged. It charged one more time, but this time, just as I tell Passimian to dodge to the side, Caleb told Kommo-o to jump in the air thinking I would have my Passimian jump for a third time.

Caleb's jaw dropped as he realized he guessed wrong and left his Pokemon vulnerable. It was over for Kommo-o and he knew it once I told Passimian to use Acrobatics.

With his two best Pokemon finished Caleb looked down at the ground. He gripped the pendant that hung around his neck and took a deep breath. The crowd, once roaring, had been quieted by being unsure of what was happening.

Caleb finally looked up and smiled at me.

"Is this everything you had hoped this to be?" he asked me.

I looked at my box where my mom, brother and Carl stood. Sceptile was also there picking his death with a stick. I looked down at my feet where Skitty was, sleeping of course.

"Yes."

Caleb's smile grew. "Same. You ready to continue?"

"Only if you are," I respond back.

Caleb nodded and grabbed a Pokeball. The battle was in my favor and we were starting the second half of it. My heart pulsated with the orchestrated clapping of the crowd. When the clapping ended they let out a huge roar.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I heard Caleb send out his Oranguru, I whispered to myself. "Let's go."