I step onto the Virbank City gym battlefield for one last time. All the spotlights shine down on us. On me. And on Roxie standing at the other end of the field. The referee steps up to the middle of the field.

He says, "Ladies and gentlemen! I hope you're all enjoying your evening. Well, its about to get even better! Tonight's match will feature two ladies who need no introduction, come on, most of you have been here the past two nights. Now, ladies, are we ready?"

Roxie says, "Ready."

"I'm ready," I say.

"Let the third rematch begin!"

"Go, Koffing!"

"Go! Riolu!"

"Koffing, Smoke Screen!"

"Okay, sense it. Seek it out."

Riolu stays in place, surround by dark mist.

"Poison Gas."

Koffing opens its mouth and unleashes its gaseous venom. Riolu cries out, but not from being poisoned.

"Huh…?" Roxie stares into the smoke.

"There! Use Force Palm!"

Riolu strikes Koffing, pushing it out of the cloud.

"Quick Attack!"

Riolu strikes it again.

"Koffing, Smoke Screen!"

"There's no hiding. Seek it out, Riolu! In the meantime, power up your aura!"

"It's only been a few minutes, but this match is already sizzling!"

Koffing cries out as a way of letting Roxie know its located Riolu.

This is our cue. "Use Force Palm!"

"Poison Gas!"

Koffing unloads another cloud of poisonous gas at Riolu, but Riolu is unfazed.

"Ugh," Roxie says, "I can't even see. Didja get 'em?"

Riolu hits Koffing with a powerful Force Palm and knocks it out of the cloud once again. The force fans away most of the smoke.

"Koffing!"

Koffing still levitates, but its been paralysed.

"What is going on? I'm sure that I saw Riolu being hit by Koffing's Poison Gas twice! What sort of trickery does Catheri have going on?"

"Quick Attack!"

"Tackle!" Roxie says desperately.

But, Koffing doesn't move. Riolu rushes up to the weakened Koffing and strikes it down.

"Uh…Ah! Koffing is unable to battle! Riolu made quick work of it this time round!"

"Koffing, return!"

"Riolu, return."

Roxie takes out her Grimer. I take out Servine.

"Minimise!"

"Okay, Servine. Growth!"

Grimer compresses and becomes smaller. Serving meanwhile becomes slightly bigger.

"Again! Minimise!"

"Growth!"

Both pokémon do their respective moves once more.

"Now, Servine. Use Tackle!"

Servine body slams onto Grimer.

"Hit it with Sludge!"

"Take hold of it with Wrap!"

Grimer drenches Servine in toxic Sludge as it draws near and coil around it. The toxic liquid slides off Servine's body like water.

"Sludge!"

Grimer upchucks another shot of Sludge.

"Why is it still healthy?" Roxie says. "Why isn't it poisoned?"

"My questions exactly Roxie! Servine seems to be temporarily immune to poison!"

"Hm," I smile, "have you figured it out? We ate Pecha berries before coming here! Poison won't work on us for a while! As long as the berry is in my pokémon's digestive system!"

"That's," Roxie says.

The referee finishes the sentence by saying, "Ingenious! That's incredible! What a strategy I've never even heard of!"

I say, "I got the idea from an old treatment from my hometown."

Roxie laughs. She says, "Glorious. Absolutely glorious. We'll just have to tire you out then! Grimer! Disable!"

Servine has no choice but to let Grimer go.

"Servine, use Leaf Tornado!"

Servine whips of a twister of sharp leaves.

"Grimer, Harden!"

Grimer is struck by the vortex.

"Vine Whip!"

"Harden!"

Grimer tenses its body as Servine hits it with its vines.

"Servine, return! Go, Riolu!"

"That was a quick switch worthy of a gunslinger!"

"Riolu, power up!"

"Grimer, Minimise!"

"Force Palm! Full power!"

Riolu rushes in and stands tall above the tiny Grimer.

"Sludge!"

Grimer shoots out, upwards, a shot of toxic sludge, drenching Riolu. Riolu strikes its paw downwards, splat onto Grimer.

"Harden!"

"Power up!"

"Harden!"

Dripping toxic sludge off its body, Riolu smacks down Grimer once more.

As the dust cloud clears, the referee says, "Grimer is unable to battle! Catheri is unstoppable and scary!"

Roxie widens her eyes. She grits her teeth.

"Grr, Whirlipede! Come on out!"

Whirlipede cries out its screeching cry.

"You wanna play rough? Okay. Whirlipede! Rollout!"

"Riolu, hold."

Whirlipede closes in.

"Endure!"

Riolu takes the brunt of the attack.

"Counter!"

"Protect!"

"Feint!"

Whirlipede stops one fist, but the other connects. Whirlipede rolls backwards.

"Poison Tail!"

"Dodge!"

Riolu dives out of the way. There are still stains of sludge on it, but most of it is gone.

"Poison Sting!"

"Dodge!"

But it still hits even after attempting to dodge. The poison needle sticks into Riolu's shoulder. It still looks healthy. The effect of the Pecha berries is still active.

Roxie says, "Lets see how long you can last. I suspect not much."

"Riolu, Quick Attack!"

"Protect!"

"Feint!"

"Argh!" Roxie sounds like a pirate.

"Quick Attack!"

Riolu strikes it a second time.

"Poison Tail and Rollout!"

The four horns on Whirlipede begin to seep poison. It readies itself to start rolling.

"Riolu, retreat!"

Riolu runs as Whirlipede mercilessly dogs it down.

"Dodge!"

One of the poisoned steeped horns manages to brush one of Riolu's feet. It takes damage.

"Power up!"

"Poison Tail!"

Whirlipede readies its attack.

"Force Palm!"

They strike each other at the same time. Whirlipede's horn grazes Riolu's chest while Riolu's Force Palm knocks Whirlipede backwards.

"Poison Tail, again!"

Whirlipede doesn't move.

"Oh, no!" Roxie says.

"Whirlipede's been paralysed!" the ref says.

"Riolu!"

Riolu stumbles around and falls to its knees. It collapses and faints.

"Riolu is unable to battle! Catheri still has Servine left! I can't believe it! She might have a chance at winning it this time!"

I look at the referee with a face that reads, 'Really? You didn't believe in me?'

"She's looking my way like she wants me to shut up!"

Please do.

I switch out Riolu for Servine.

"Servine, we're still in this! Use Growth!"

"Come on, Whirlipede. Please move."

"Growth!"

Servine enlarges.

"Come on…come on."

Whirlipede rolls forward.

"Yes! Okay, Poison Tail Rollout combo! Go!"

Poison seeps out from tips of the four horns. Whirlipede lines up, eyes on Servine.

"Servine, on my call, spring up."

Roxie raises a brow. Whirlipede speeds up. Servine prepares itself with its tail on the ground. Whirlipede closes in.

"Now!"

Servine springs upwards into the air, completely dodging Whirlipede's attack.

"It's open! Hit it with Poison Sting!"

"Servine! Wrap!"

Servine coils up into a ball as the poison needle misses by millimeters.

"Poison Sting!"

Whirlipede fires another needle.

"Tackle!"

Servine unfurls and dives head on, taking the poison needle shot, and slamming its body right onto Whirlipede. Servine knocks Whirlipede on its side and stands on top.

"Vine Whip!"

Servine attacks it with vines. Whirlipede closes its eye from the attack.

"Whirlipede, Protect!"

It stops one oncoming attack.

"Vine Whip!"

Servine carries on.

"Protect!"

It doesn't work as Servine lands another hit.

"Shake it off! Spin using Rollout!

Whirlipede begins to spin in place. Servine falls off as if Whirlipede were a carousel. Servine stumbles around a bit.

"Ahah!" Roxie says. "Looks like the effect of the Pecha berries has worn off!"

"Servine, Growth!"

Servine enlarges slightly once more.

"Use Tackle!"

"P-Poison Sting!"

Servine takes another shot of the poison needle, but it also lands another hit onto Whirlipede. Whirlipede is visibly tired.

"Use Vine Whip!"

"Protect!"

Whirlipede stops the hit.

"Wrap!"

"Ugh!" Roxie exclaims.

"Use Leer!"

Holding tightly onto Whirlipede, Servine stares into of of its eyes as its own eyes glow red.

"Whirlipede!"

Its guard drops.

"Use Rollout to shake it off!"

"Hit it with Vine Whip!"

Whirlipede takes a hit.

"Protect!"

It stops another one.

"Servine, let go!"

Servine does so.

"Use Leaf Tornado!"

Roxie stands by, speechless. A twister begins to form around Whirlipede.

"Protect!"

But it doesn't work. Whirlipede becomes trapped in a vortex of sharp leaves and takes massive damage.

Looks like the Pecha berries have worn off. Servine's breathing is laboured. We've got to end this quick!

I hold a hand out and yell, "Servine! Tackle!"

Servine rushes towards Whirlipede.

"Poison Tail!"

But Servine is faster than Whirlipede. Servine comes at it like a freight train. It pushes Whirlipede back so hard, the ground underneath grates. Poison Tail missed. Whirlipede falls to one side, kicking up dust as it does.

A silence fills the venue. And then, out of the speakers, the referee says, "That…That was a choice match! This is what we came here to see!" The crowd erupts into raptures. Cheers from all sides rain down on us. This time, I think some of them might be for me.

I did it. I finally did it. Fourth time's the charm. As the realisation hits me, I exclaim, "Yes!" I take Servine up in my arms and celebrate with it. It cries excitedly.

After returning her pokémon, Roxie comes up and says, "You did it, kid. That was some battle."

"Thanks."

"Here," she fiddles with something in her hair, "take it. You've earned it."

It's the Toxic Badge. She was using it as a hair clip. Very Roxie.

"Well, the only was is up. You should hype yourself for the next battle with Burgh."

"Burgh?"

"He's in Castelia. Which reminds me, you'll be going with my dad on the ferry across the inlet. He's a ship captain."

"The stubborn and hardheaded one, right?"

"Yeah, the one and only."

"Thank you very much, again, for everything you did."

"You're very welcome," she says with a smile closing both eyes.

Outside, back at street level, Roxie and her bandmates see me off.

Roxie says, "The ferry boat has set times when it departs and arrives back at the harbour. You should check the schedule, times it leaves, etcetera. If you're gonna wait, in the meantime, you should visit Pokéstar Studios. It's a great place with stars and starlets and."

The drummer says, "Aren't you gonna finish the sentence?"

"Look," says Roxie, "it's just an all round great place to spend some time. It's a place where dreams become real and magic is performed all in the name of great film."

My mind stays fixated on 'magic is performed' as I imagine a magician of sorts waving a wand about.

"I'll check it out before I leave for Castelia," I say.

"Mhm, do it. You won't regret it. And, Catheri?"

"Yeah?"

"See ya."

I smile. "See ya."

I walk down the street, headed for the pokémon centre for much needed rest.