Aaron waited for Nicholas to finish treating his harem and move on before turning his eyes to the unconscious swarm in the arena. As he gazed at the burnt and broken bodies he lifted his wrist to his mouth. "Hope you all got a good look at that. Bertha. Your turn."

An amused female voice responded. "Don't fret over me, young man. You should know I didn't miss a thing."

"Flint. That Infernape of his is going to be a problem."

Flint replied with a chuckle. "She always was going to be. She's an Infernape. Crafty little things, each and every one."

"Right. I'm going to clean up down here." Aaron lowered his wrist but paused before he completely dropped it. "Good luck."

.

.

Nicholas was reaching for the next door when it opened on its own, causing him to curl his fingers back slightly before lowering his arm and stepping into the next room. Just like Aaron's before it the moment his foot crossed the threshold he forgot that he was inside a building.

However, unlike Aaron's there was no arena to be seen, at least not at first. Nicholas had stepped into what seemed to be a river canyon and slowly made his way forwards, ignoring the paths curling out of sight and trusting that the large main valley was the right way. As he walked he had to stop a few times, eyes darting around the scenery. The desert trees here… didn't look quite right. He swore he saw one move.

He was rewarded by finding a battle arena. An older woman was squatting on the other side and she smiled when he stepped into view. "I told Aaron he would have a better chance with a normal fight. That swarm of his only has strength in numbers. Against two Fire-types? That kind of spread power was going to win any day."

"We didn't win by much," Nicholas replied.

"Oh, but you really did," the woman murmured. "Tell me. Seeing how it went, how would you have handled the battle differently? Tell me what you observed, challenger Topolski."

Nicholas gazed at her for a bit. "It was a mistake to send out everyone all at once. I should have sent out Sohn or Sammy, maybe both, but only them, and let them thin the swarm with their spread attacks. They couldn't fire at first for fear of hitting Zisela and Quinn. Once the swarm was thinned down those two could have actually put in work instead of getting overwhelmed."

The woman let out a satisfied sigh. "Oh, excellent. You truly are not just for show, challenger." She slowly got to her feet. "My name is Bertha. I'm sure you're curious as to what… 'special' battle you will be receiving from me today."

"A bit."

"This arena," Bertha said, tapping her foot, "will not be our battlefield, challenger. No. This entire room will be our stage. Find my harem. Defeat them. As long as you do not miss, they will let you have the first strike."

Nicholas glanced around at the canyon walls. "I thought something felt off."

"You may not be able to see them, but pokegirls are hiding all around us. Even right under our feet!" Bertha laughed when the floor in front of her cracked open and a dark chocolate colored girl poked her head into the open. Nicholas smirked when he recognized the Dugtrio and returned his eyes to Bertha with a flourish.

"A Ground-type specialist. It's been a long time since I've faced one of you. The last one I met claimed to be the strongest tamer in Indigo."

"I would never dare claim to be the strongest," Bertha replied as the Dugtrio burrowed again. "That honor belongs to my Champion."

Nicholas' smirk firmed. He hadn't missed Bertha's veiled taunt. "We will see."

"We will, won't we?" Bertha asked softly. "Go on then. I will tell you this – five members of my harem are waiting for you. All are in plain sight."

Nicholas pulled Zisela's pokeball from his belt. "And they'll let us take the first hit?" He grinned when the Garchomp materialized. "Did your Champion ever tell you how she can sense the energy of living things?"

"She also told me you can do the same." Nicholas' grin slipped when Bertha leaned forwards with a sneer. "It won't help you here."

Nicholas took a moment before pushing Bertha's taunting expression from his mind and casting out. He felt Zisela, he felt Bertha, he felt the Dugtrio, or another pokegirl, burrowing through the dirt, he felt…

His eyes slowly opened. He could expand his awareness all the way to Aaron back in the last room, or Flint, who he could feel waiting ahead, but besides the Dugtrio and Bertha he felt only one unknown aura source nearby. An extremely potent one at that. "I assume the Dugtrio wasn't meant to be one of the ones we find, considering she's digging."

"And neither is my Alpha, who you felt on the cliffs above," Bertha goaded. "We train with Champion Cynthia. You don't think we've learned how to counter her?" Bertha raised a hand and her voice. "I hope your powers of observation are up to the task. WE BEGIN!"

Nicholas shielded his eyes. At Bertha's call a gust of wind had exploded through the canyon and the loose sand was filling the air, lowering visibility immediately until he could only just make out the woman at all. Most of the canyon walls were invisible. Next to him Zisela growled softly as her head slowly turned, systematically and deliberately taking in everything around here. After a minute she spoke. "I feel the earth, Weyrleader. I will remember our path so we aren't lost in the storm."

"Then I don't want you exposed," Nicholas muttered back. "What happens if you go down? I lose my navigator." He raised his voice to the shadow he could barely see in front of them. "Bertha! Aaron said I could fight by any means necessary. Is that something you're offering me as well?"

"Of course," the woman called back. "This is not a competitive battle with rules. It is a test. Just be warned – if you turn your back on my harem, they will not hesitate to remind you of that fact."

Nicholas exhaled. He got it. This entire room emulated a wild environment and he was meant to be the Tamer hunting wild pokegirls. In that case…

"Zisela. Stay close to me." Nicholas' hand hovered over the other pokeballs on his belt as he thought. Ground-type specialist, so leave Sohn in reserve. With the sandstorm a constant irritant as well as an obstacle Quinn should stay in her pokeball where she could remain fresh, though if she had been a Gardevoir instead of a Gallade he'd have her out in a heartbeat. Morgana was a powerful empath and psychic who would have combined with Zisela's natural senses to trivialize this test. As it was, Quinn had a very limited ability that she seemed only able to use in duels. He wasn't sure if she could handle multiple hidden targets like this.

Sammy appeared with a hiss as the sand began driving into her ectoplasm. "Master?"

"You're up, Sammy. We're searching for five hidden opponents who have been instructed to ambush us if we don't spot them first. Ground-types, probably. Can you take your water form?"

Sammy's eyes flicked. "Ah… Right now?"

Nicholas raised an eyebrow. "Preferably. Yes."

Zisela glanced at the Rotom as both pokegirls calculated their next words carefully. "I… really spent a lot of energy against all those bugs," Sammy tried to say first. "Plus the air here is super dry. Where would I get the water?"

"Don't make excuses. Explain," Zisela growled quietly. "Treat him as he treats us."

Sammy's eyes slid shut and she took a shaky breath. "Right. Sorry, Alpha." When she opened her eyes again she gazed directly into Nicholas' without flinching. "I… told you, before, Master. I'm still trying- still working on getting stronger so I can hold those transformations for longer. To make multiple transformations back-to-back. But… It's hard. Harder than anything I've ever done." She shook her head. "I can't modify myself or my energy like Sasha can. I've found this incredible way to mimic her but I'm still so limited. And one of the main ways is that I need raw materials. I can't make things myself. All I can do… is what is natural to me. I can't create water. I light myself on fire in order to wield it." She shivered. "Not to mention how draining doing all that is. I'm still exhausted."

"Zisela?" Nicholas asked. "How about you? How are you feeling after that last battle."

Zisela's eyes flashed. "I'm. Fine. We are discussing Sammy. She may need a break."

"We can't. The entire point of this final gauntlet, against the Elite Four and potentially the Champion, is to act as a test of endurance as well as whatever else is thrown at the challenger. We delay too long and they'll kick us out."

Zisela's face set. "Then there is no choice, is there Weyrleader." She turned to fully face Sammy. "Do what you can. What about the smaller form? Would that use less energy?"

"It emulates the Grass-type, right?" Nicholas mused. "That might work."

"…It would still take more energy than I may have to hold it," Sammy replied nervously. "To form my metal into the blades…"

"Well, there's no water around here. You're not going to light yourself on fire again, not for this battle. Unless you've got some other elements you're comfortable with that would work better I say try the sporty tomboy form," Nicholas said. "Sharp metal leaves or no, it'll be a better form than your regular battle one against a bunch of Ground-types."

"…Okay. Okay, I'll do it." Sammy's body rippled as she activated her battle form and a few seconds later she was compressing down into her Grass-type one.

Nicholas turned to address Zisela while the Rotom focused. "Pick a side. We'll start with the first passage and work our way from there." He watched her for a few moments as the Garchomp's eyes drilled into the storm. "Zisela. What's up?"

Zisela slowly exhaled through her nose. "I should not have lost to those insects."

Nicholas shrugged. "You were outnumbered at least thirty to one."

"That would only have been true if they were each equal to me," Zisela growled under her breath. "I was stupid. I ignored them as if they were not a threat. Individually, they were not. Together, they matched my strength." She slowly turned to the left. "But this… place." She stared off into the storm for a minute before her lips drew back and she snarled. "SAMMY! Stay with the Weyrleader. THIS IS MY DOMAIN!"

"Hey! Zisela!" Nicholas cursed when the Garchomp dove into the blowing sand. "Sammy, come on! ZISELA! YOU CAN'T LET YOUR ANGER CONTROL YOU!"

A figure flashed past and Nicholas whirled but it was only Zisela and she stopped in front of him for just long enough to speak. "I do not, Weyrleader," she murmured, eyes drilling through him. "This sandstorm is not the realm of a dragon, after all." She seemed to be melting into the blowing sands as her voice trailed off with a hiss. "But it is mine."

A shark of the earth, Nicholas had described the Garchomp he'd seen in that grotto on the day he'd first met Zisela. Dragons, yes. But in tune with the ground much like how Victoria, as a Gyarados, was in tune with the water. Zisela did not fly, not like nearly every other dragon in his harem, but was instead the 'true' form of Lili, commanding the earth while the Tyranitar wielded it. She commanded it now. Like a wraith her massive body slid through the sand as she honed in on something that her probing tremors said did not belong.

Nicholas ran through the storm to emerge in a quaint little oasis. Zisela had come to a halt in the center of a copse of strange trees and along one wall of this hidden sanctuary, safe from the driving winds that blew through the canyon behind them, was a crystal-clear pool fed by a trickling stream.

Nicholas slowly looked around. Zisela was locked in on one of the trees and he carefully raised his voice to call to her. "What's up?"

Zisela jerked her chin towards where she was looking. "It looks the same, Weyrleader. But it has no roots."

Nicholas turned to look at the trees, finally realizing what was so odd about them. Each tree twisted, no trunk rising straight from the ground, and each was bulbous, oddly shaped… but the shapes were all perfectly defined. Legs. Breasts. Butts. Heads, nestled between branching arms. Each and every tree in this clearing had a clearly feminine shape.

"Five pokegirls, all in plain sight," Nicholas murmured. "You're sure you feel that one of those trees is different from the rest?"

Zisela's eyes narrowed. "Positive."

"Knock her down."

Sammy had caught up by now and stood next to Nicholas while Zisela planted her feet. The tree in front of the Garchomp remained motionless. Indistinguishable from all the others around her. But she knew. She charged.

As Zisela impacted she had led with her shoulder, expecting a soft body and crunching bones. What she hit instead was completely solid. A tree of rock, and Zisela paled when she felt her shoulder give. She hadn't gathered any of her energy into her shoulder, trusting her body's natural resiliency, and now she was about to pay the price for her lack of preparation… and yet another opponent who she had dismissed out of hand.

The pokegirl's eyes were cracking open to gaze over at the slowly panicking Garchomp. It was within that instant, as Zisela's mind flashed through a dozen thoughts, as her shoulder buckled, as her own words just minutes ago rang through her head, that her eyes caught the smug pair beginning to gaze at her.

Suddenly the pokegirl flew back, not falling but instead skidding across the ground while still standing as Zisela's energy surged to reinforce her shoulder. A trail of mud streaked behind the pair and Zisela's lips drew back to bare her teeth when she felt the joint pop back into place and the pain vanish. Now which of them would break.

Just as quickly as the pokegirl's slide had started it slammed to a halt. This time Zisela kept going and the disguised opponent crumpled over her back before her feet kicked up, finally breaking the pose she'd held as she came to life. Zisela roared, torquing her body and launching the girl away before throwing up her arms to protect her face from a hail of stone that blasted back in the girl's wake.

Nicholas barely glanced at the long streak of mud. Zisela's doing, obviously. The Garchomp line's main trick was liquefying the ground around them. "You've got a target. Kalmiya, what is she?"

"Scans indicate she is a Sudowoodo, Master," Kalmiya replied as the opposing pokegirl smashed to the ground hard enough that she raised a cloud of dust which obscured her tumbling body. "Known for imitating trees, as you may have guessed."

"She won't have been alone." Nicholas glanced around. Ignored the other trees. "Zisela said that was the only fake tree but there's no way she was here alone. Sammy, keep up your guard."

Zisela lunged into the dust and swept her leg at the lump she could make out. Her shin slammed into solid rock and she flexed her power for just a moment to test what she'd actually hit before dodging back when the stone deformed. Just in time, as another missile barrage blasted through the dust in front of her.

Sammy was fretfully turning in place while Nicholas more methodically took in the clearing. He trusted Zisela. Now more than ever. Kumu's question in Sunyshore had been… nice to hear. With René's words back at the resort, and Cynthia's confirmation, he'd been shown that the secretive techniques the Stones had first introduced to him weren't quite as secret as they claimed. Ever since he had been thinking of that power more actively. The conversation in Snowpoint, between him and his harem, but primarily between him and Miru, had intertwined with those thoughts and birthed many new ones. It had brought him to thinking about mega evolution, and the concept of what a pokegirl truly was, and how in many ways he himself was just like them. He, too, had been a sort of… 'balloon' that held no pressure. Not until he had accepted that invitation from Samuel Oak all those years ago. As the pressure grew, his dragon's blood, the balloon had stretched, his humanity, but he had felt it stretching thin. Threatening to tear. Until Ho-oh's blessing had blanketed him. Held him together. Given his balloon structure until he could untie the knots and grow. That, he had come to realize, was an excellent analogy for mega evolution. Only instead of Ho-oh's power, it was his that provided a new structure for his pokegirls. Gave the power stretching their balloons a new shape to fill, something beyond what they may have been meant for.

And now there was another presence around him. Or perhaps it was a presence that had changed his balloon itself a long time ago – only making itself known now. Arceus.

The man he was today was not the man he had once been meant to be. And that… was okay. This man had another purpose. One which aligned with the abilities he now held. It was those abilities that let him turn his attention completely from Zisela to survey the room. Because those abilities saw the threads sprouting from his soul like dozens of shimmering lights. If he'd wanted, with enough focus, he had a feeling he could call to any of them, even here. But he didn't need to. He only needed to watch the ones in front of him. The blazing thread he had first witnessed in that battle against Volkner was even brighter now. Zisela would be fine. He was almost disappointed that he couldn't make their bond more literal, like he could with Elaine, or Morgana. His soul resonated with Zisela's just as theirs.

Right now, in this moment, he needed to give this latest Alpha of his what she deserved. His full trust. So he did.

His eyes gazed over the sparkling water when he returned his full attention to the room again. He'd turned past it at least twice, so why was he still looking at it now?

"Sammy." The Rotom whirled at Nicholas' quiet call while behind them chunks of stone and earth shook the canyon walls. "You remember Pastoria?"

Sammy's eyes darted to the small lake and she drifted closer to him, away from the water. "I… I do, Master."

"The Quagsire, I think she was." Nicholas stared into the pool. The clear waters revealed nothing. It seemed as if the water was empty. "That showed us a Water and Ground-type pokegirl can exist. Why would there be a water feature here if there wasn't one lying in wait?"

"Should I shock the water?" Sammy asked.

"What would that accomplish?" Nicholas murmured. "You couldn't shock that Quagsire. Kalmiya, how many Water-types are there that are also Ground-types?"

"Quite a few, Master," Kalmiya replied. "Two that are native to this region."

"Quagsire?"

"No, Master. A fish-based pokegirl called Whiscash, and one you have met. Cynthia's Gastrodon."

Nicholas nodded. "While I don't doubt Cynthia's harem, Sable didn't seem like much of a fighter. Probably a defensive pokegirl. Not an ambush predator."

"Whiscash then, Master?"

"It would make sense. I'd assume Bertha's harem is from Sinnoh."

"Records do suggest Whiscash primarily hunt by waiting for their prey to come to them, and are highly territorial," Kalmiya mused.

"Well, Sammy?" Nicholas glanced at the Rotom with a slight smile. "Ready to get in her territory?"

Sammy let out a sigh before nodding and stepping towards the water's edge, still without the cloud of metal that she would normally be maintaining in this form.

Nicholas watched her carefully. He didn't have any good benchmarks for the Rotom, not like the others. Sure, she'd absolutely showed him how far she'd come from the self-deprecating and scared pokegirl that he'd first come across in Eterna Forest, but this ability of hers – it was something truly unique to her. Rotom simply didn't do what Sammy could do. Whether that was because of him or something else he didn't know, but he could clearly tell how hard it was for her to maintain. She'd talked about… what had it been? On the boat to Snowpoint. Here today. How she… had to consume herself to fuel these transformations. That's what she'd said. Instead of consuming a man-made appliance she was forced to use her own body as fuel. No wonder she couldn't maintain them for very long. She probably needed to replenish herself, didn't she? She'd just been burning through what she'd gathered in Veilstone. He needed to take care of her better than this.

He just hoped she still had enough in her to handle the Whiscash that no doubt lurked in the pool.

Sammy stopped at the water's edge. Everything she could see was empty. The bottom of the pool was rocky, jagged, but there were no hints of anything that might be an underwater cave, no mud for something to conceal itself, no vegetation to hide a pokegirl. Except… near the wall. The waterfall disturbed the surface, the only spot in the entire pool where she couldn't see. As she stared at the splashing waters she felt a strange sensation run down her back. Something she had never felt before, almost like her electricity had skipped. She didn't like it. Master had said there was a pokegirl here. Where else could she be? Was she watching now?

Even if she'd been at full power the falling water would have fouled her aim. She couldn't just throw metal leaves in there and expect to score a knockout. She didn't want to get in the water, either. She could absorb some, try to take her water form, but she barely felt as if she could hold this condensed grass one. Making another shift might be too much. Besides, this was the body she'd used to defeat the Quagsire. It was a good choice here too.

The other human had said… Slowly a smile grew across Sammy's lips.

"MASTER!" Nicholas blinked. Sammy had turned, still standing at the water's edge, and was waving cheerfully at him. "Pool's completely clear! Nobody here!"

"There has to be," Nicholas called back as the Sudowoodo flew from the dust to smash against a cliff wall. Still struggling but the battle was just about over as Zisela burst into view and began closing in. "Don't turn your back like that! She's going to jump you!"

"Nah, it's completely clear. See?" Sammy threw out her arms and struck a goofy pose. "I'm fine! Nothing attacking me!"

Nicholas took a step forward as a shadow detached from beneath the waterfall and began slowly drifting across the pool. "Sammy, get away from there! I'm telling you, she's there! The only reason she didn't attack yet is because we're allowed the first hit if we find them!"

"Oh, I know!" Sammy replied brightly. Nicholas couldn't see the shadow but it was twisting through the rocks lining the pool now. Getting closer to the Rotom. Too close. It was just a few feet away when Sammy brought her hand to her mouth and shouted cheerfully at the worried man. "I just needed to get her out from behind the waterfall!"

The shadow froze, but it was too late. She'd fallen completely for Sammy's trap. Before she could react her eyes, a moment ago staring up at the Rotom's back, locked on Sammy's cheery and wild expression. As she so loved to do Sammy's back had become her front, revealing that the Rotom had been tracking her stalker the entire time.

With a yell Sammy ripped her hands down her torso, strips of metal flinging themselves free behind each of her fingers as blades sliced down into the pool and peppered the Whiscash. The girl contorted, bubbles roiling the surface as she screamed and writhed in pain until she breached, body thrashing and sending blood spattering across the ground.

Nicholas stumbled when the Whiscash's tail swung around and slammed against the bank to send a shockwave through the ground, but Sammy didn't even flinch. She just raised her hand, drawing her metal back before bringing her other hand back into play and mixing up a whirlwind of sparkling dust that she lunged forwards with, splashing into the pool with a shout and slamming both palms into the Whiscash's face. While not as defined as the razor-sharp metal leaves she'd formed against the Quagsire the metal sand did the trick, lacerating the Whiscash's skin and sending the girl back under the water with her body going limp.

Zisela likewise had finished off her opponent and was moving past Nicholas to check on Sammy, meeting the Rotom at the water's edge and helping her climb back onto dry land. "Well done," she murmured quietly.

Sammy dropped her gaze to look at her hand, which clenched into a fist after a few moments while her metal slowly made its way back into her body. Even less of it than before. "I… did what I could, Alpha."

Zisela squeezed her shoulder and stepped back before raising her voice. "Two down, Weyrleader. Are there any more here?"

Nicholas watched recall beams pick off the unconscious pokegirls from somewhere above them. Bertha's Alpha, he could easily sense her. "Probably not. What do you sense?"

Zisela's body language relaxed as she cast out using her senses before nodding. "I agree. And this is a dead end. We must return to the storm." Her eyes opened and lips drew back from glinting fangs. "I wonder. What kind of a pokegirl conjures this sand to hide from us?"

"She doesn't do it to hide from you. She does it to gain an advantage over you," Nicholas replied. He gave Zisela's back a grim look when she stiffened. "Breathe, Alpha. You're scattered."

"I am NOT!" Zisela spun back at him with her face twisted in an angry snarl. "I am still as powerful as you demand I be, Weyrleader. Let me prove it to you!"

Nicholas blinked. "Zisela…"

He shifted in surprise when a pokeball on his belt activated and Sohn materialized. Before he could do much more than raise an eyebrow at the Infernape she was reaching out and gently turning him away from where Zisela bristled. "Sammy? Would you look after our Alpha?"

"We are in the middle of-" Zisela started to bark when Sohn let go of Nicholas and swiveled to her.

"I will distract him," Sohn murmured, standing just inches away as she had covered the distance between the two pokegirls in an instant. Her eyes were soft as she held out a hand slightly to indicate the approaching Rotom. "Nicholas needs her, and right now, she needs you."

Zisela's eyes darted past her to where Nicholas stood, still confused, before grunting and turning away while gesturing Sammy to join her.

The interaction had taken just seconds and so Nicholas had barely opened his mouth to ask what was going on when Sohn was back in front of him and pulling him underneath one of the real trees. She smiled slightly when his mouth closed and his eyes focused on her before it opened again. "Sohn. Why'd you come out? We're in the middle of something here."

"You're not sure what's wrong with Zisela. Are you."

Nicholas blinked at her. "I'm not… What? Where'd that come from?"

"Are you?" Sohn pressed.

Nicholas' brow furrowed. "Because I said she was scattered? She is. She's kicking herself over going down to that Combee swarm."

"Really?" Sohn asked with a small smile. "That's all it is? She's frustrated over losing a battle?"

"She's- Yes, I do think she's frustrated over losing a battle. You were pretty frustrated with yourself too."

Sohn's smile firmed. "But there is a difference between us, Nicholas. I'm just a pokegirl. She is something much more special, isn't she. She is our Alpha. A dragon. But most importantly, she is your dragon."

"I'm not following."

"Your dragon. You are something special, Nicholas. Whatever you want to call it, the fact is that you are more than just 'a human', like I just called myself 'a pokegirl'. You're more." She poked his chest. "I know what you can do. What I never will be able to. But she hasn't accepted that yet."

Nicholas stared at Sohn. "You're talking about Zisela?"

"If you're more than just 'a human', what does Zisela have to be to honor you?" Sohn asked softly.

Slowly Nicholas brought his attention to the pair standing on the other side of the oasis. Zisela mostly had her back to him, but she was talking to Sammy, and… Zisela's face was relaxed. She seemed to even be smiling. Kindly?

"She'd have to be…" Nicholas trailed off. After a few seconds his eyes returned to Sohn. "Are you saying – am I seeing – that Zisela's been putting on a mask for me?"

"It hadn't been a problem until now," Sohn replied gently. "In front of you, in battle, she strives to be the dragon you deserve. Whatever that means to her. There's nothing wrong with that, is there? But," she said, lowering her voice to make sure Zisela couldn't overhear, "ever since my Alpha evolved, she has slowly begun changing." Sohn's eyes drifted for a few moments before they refocused and turned to his. "She spoke to me in confidence, but this is not something to hide anymore. Zisela, Zisela… Zisela has followed you, and sworn herself to you, wishing only to be something worthy of you. But after she evolved, the two of you grew closer. Close enough that what Zisela once thought has been challenged." She smiled. "She no longer sees her mother as the kind of dragon you wish to have at your side."

Nicholas slowly took in what Sohn was telling him. "What does Zisela wish to be, then."

"Our Alpha," Sohn replied simply. "Our teacher. Our mentor. Our mother, the mother she never had."

"But… she's still a snarling dragon in front of me," Nicholas mused. "Because… what, she's embarrassed that she doesn't want to be nothing more than a ball of anger anymore?"

"I can't tell you what my Alpha is thinking," Sohn replied quietly. "All I can do, Nicholas, is bring this to my Master's attention now that the issue has interfered with his harem. Our harem."

Nicholas snorted. "Right. Zisela named you as her Beta. Why haven't you brought this up sooner, then? Zisela obviously wouldn't talk about it, but that's the entire POINT of a Beta. You're supposed to handle things the Alpha can't."

Sohn's lips drew back in a grin. "What do you call this?"

"From what you're saying Zisela's been putting on this mask for months now. Ever since Pastoria," Nicholas retorted. "Why did it take you this long?"

"Because it was none of your business until now," Sohn countered haughtily. "What our Alpha does among her harem is harem business, not tamer business. She's incredible. Always there and giving each of us everything she has to grow." Sohn's eyes lowered. "A Beta… A Beta's job is to step in and help her Alpha. Not go around her. I'm only stepping in now because Sammy needs her Alpha and Zisela can't be that for her if you're watching."

Nicholas sighed in exasperation. "Why not? It sounds like Zisela's doing great as your leader. I'd love to watch her in action."

"Because you're not just any human." Sohn gently jabbed her finger into his chest again. "I may not be like her, and I may not be able to manipulate that aura stuff, but I'm not a fool. I was there in Indigo. I saw what kind of tamer you are, what kind of… human you are." She lowered her hand and her voice until she was barely whispering. "Miru talked about what us regular old pokegirls would feel, witnessing the eternal ones you keep at your side. What kind of a human would you be, Nicholas? To stand alongside them? What kind of dragon must Zisela then be, to stand as yours?"

Nicholas gazed at her for a few seconds. "She's still petrified of that old idea. When I was a dragon and she was not." He sighed when Sohn gave him a sad smile. "Kindness would be weakness, huh. That's why she wears the mask around me. Even though she knows I would never demean her for it."

"Yeah. It's not about what you think of her – it's always about what she thinks of herself."

Nicholas took a few moments to think. Eventually he nodded. "She talked to you in confidence. I'll do my best to honor that when I start working on this with her." He glanced at Sohn, a smile spreading across his face. "She made the right choice. You're a good Beta, Sohn."

Sohn cracked a smile back and kissed him. "I've learned so much from you since we first met. We all have, and we're here in this place to prove it."

Nicholas nodded. "Do you think we can continue? If I recall you Zisela will definitely clam up again."

Sohn glanced over her shoulder before nodding back. "They're just talking. Sammy looks relaxed." She turned slightly to bring her smile back into view. "Let's go, Nicholas."

Nicholas recalled her and raised his voice. "Sammy, Zisela! Are we ready to head back into the storm?"

Zisela's body shifted back into a combative stance as she turned to look at him. "We're ready, Weyrleader," she growled. "Sammy. As we discussed."

Sammy nodded quickly and just about ran over to Nicholas. "Right. Master?"

Nicholas nodded. "What's up?"

"I… I'm going to try something a bit different," Sammy explained. "I'm going to have to be with my Alpha to make it work. Will you be alright on your own?"

Nicholas smiled at her. "I'll be ready to release Quinn if necessary, and Sohn's here too. I'll be fine. Do whatever you need to do."

Sammy's happy grin split her face and she zipped back to Zisela's side, reaching the Garchomp just in time to join her as the two pokegirls sprinted back towards the main canyon.

Nicholas followed at a strong jog and shielded his eyes when he emerged back into the blowing sand. He couldn't see them, but he felt the two ahead of him. Sammy was orbiting Zisela as the Garchomp felt out the main area.

A few minutes passed before they were in the next branching path, but this one held nothing for them and so they returned to the storm. Another path, more disappointment. Nicholas could tell Zisela was growing more irritated every time they entered the blowing sand and as he followed her out of the third empty valley he was surprised to run smack into the pair right at the edge of the storm.

"Why are we stopping?"

Zisela was glaring out into the sand. "She's taunting me."

Nicholas sidled up next to her. "Whoever is making the storm?"

"We've covered it all." Zisela's teeth glinted as she snarled at nothing in particular. "I searched every inch of the area. There's nothing. Just empty sand."

"Maybe you should stop looking for the source." Nicholas shrugged when Zisela glanced at him. "You found that fake tree by looking at the environment, not looking for a pokegirl. If there is nothing but sand out there, then there's only one place a pokegirl could be."

Zisela stared at him for a few seconds before her eyes narrowed. "Under it."

"How're your senses on loose sand?"

"Terrible." Zisela's lips drew back in a wicked grin. "So I'll just wipe it away."

Zisela turned to the storm, stepping forwards until her feet sank into the zone where the hard earth of the valleys descended into the loose desert sand of the main arena. As soon as they did she tensed, crouching down and digging her fingers into the sand before beginning to growl.

VOOM!

Nicholas had to cover his face as an explosion of sand spewed from where Zisela had just been. She wasn't using a hint of her power here. It was entirely her body that dug into the loose sand and sent grains flying to either side of her excavation. Already there was a clear trench where the loose surface sand had been blasted away and Nicholas hopped down into it, brushing himself off as he realized the sandstorm only raged overhead and wasn't dropping down more than a few grains.

Sammy slid down next to him with wide eyes. "Does she know where to look?"

"I don't think she cares," Nicholas replied. Zisela was completely out of sight, having reached the far end of the area and turning to begin digging at a ninety-degree angle. "She's going to find whoever is making this storm."

"So we've found two," Sammy mused, counting on her fingers, "and the lady said… how many, Master?"

"Five."

"So three to go?"

A frown flickered over Nicholas' face. "That's right. Even counting the one making the storm there's still… two more."

"But all the side paths we've been checking have been empty. And Zisela said there was nobody in the main area," Sammy whined.

"Hm." Nicholas rubbed his chin. "They're all supposed to be in plain sight. Obviously the one in the storm is cheating by decreasing visibility, but what about the others?"

"…Maybe that blocked off path we passed?" Sammy asked helpfully.

"That big rockslide? There wasn't any way through…" Nicholas trailed off. The fake tree. Was a fake rock really out of the question? "Shit. Wait, what if one of the boulders was a pokegirl? We could barely see because of the sand." He stiffened. "SHIT! Zisela's approaching that area now!"

Sammy whirled in a panic. "Master!"

"We- We can't get to her in the storm. My aura sight is still limited to actual living things, I can't use it to see terrain." Nicholas gritted his teeth. "We were there. Bertha said we only get one free shot. If Zisela passes a disguised pokegirl again-!"

A hundred feet away, Zisela plowed through the sand, sending tons of it spraying over the rubble piled up at the cliff edges. A boulder, half hidden in the rocks around it, was buried. Then it moved.

Zisela had covered another dozen feet when she felt a vibration behind her. Something incredibly heavy had just dropped into her dig.

She was halfway turned when the shockwave ripped through her. The walls of loose material around her blasted apart, the sand showcasing the waves of energy radiating from a nearly featureless figure. It took another step, knocking Zisela to the ground – with the sand cleared away, the compacted earth was giving this pokegirl an easy medium for her attacks.

Nicholas hissed when he felt the weak tremor pass by. "She's found something. Or something found her."

"We have to help her!" Sammy cried.

Nicholas started to agree when something made him pause. His conversation with Sohn echoed back to him and after a minute he cracked a smile. "No."

"NO?" Sammy gasped.

"No. I think… I think Zisela would benefit from fighting on her own," Nicholas replied. "Without me hovering over her. I think it would do her some good."

"Then- Then what are we going to do?" Sammy stammered.

"There's still another one out there, not including the one making the storm," Nicholas replied. "We've seen a fake tree, probably a fake rock, hiding under water, hiding under sand…" As he listed off all the different pokegirls a chill ran down his spine. "We've covered everywhere a Ground-type might be, except…"

Sammy blinked at him. "Except…?"

He didn't want to look. There was only one place left a pokegirl could be hiding, and none of them had even given it a glance. "Sammy."

Sammy blinked again. "Master?"

"Keep looking at me, but are you ready to fight?"

Sammy shivered at the earnest tone Nicholas had adopted. "I… I am. I have a plan."

"Okay." Nicholas considered releasing Quinn but Sammy said she had this. He wanted to give her a chance first. "The last place we haven't looked for a hiding pokegirl. Somewhere you'd never expect to find a Ground-type." He lifted his eyes. "The sky."

At first he didn't see anything and for a moment he wondered if he was wrong. Then a shadow moved. With a warning shout Nicholas flung himself backwards, drawing Sammy's attention to a form detaching itself from the cliffside above them and beginning to drop.

She stared at it. The world around her slowed.

Immediately she could see that the pokegirl diving towards them was not like the last, the Whiscash. While both were looking to ambush her the Whiscash had been larger, looking to leverage her mass rather than any martial skill and probably drag her victims underwater. The one above her now… was sleek. Streamlined. Dangerous. She'd seen a few others like this girl in her Master's harem. Sohn was close, and Quinn shared some characteristics, but it was the pokegirls like Ryuko, the Scizor, that matched the profile of the pokegirl on approach.

If she tried to fire blades the pokegirl would just dodge. If any hit, they'd be glancing blows. Letting them get close wasn't an option either. This enemy wanted to be close. She would never be able to match up to a pokegirl designed for close-quarters combat, especially not as drained as she was.

She needed… She needed something new. What had it been her Alpha said?

Zisela's fingers squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "You've grown so much," the Garchomp's words whispered to her, "and all of this from just two parts of yourself. There's nothing to be ashamed of in finding their limits. The only shame will be if you stop growing by refusing to use what you have left. What you've avoided for so long."

Two parts. Her electricity was the obvious first. Her ability to possess electrical devices, which she had improved into an ability to shape her body using the metals dissolved in her ectoplasm, had to be the second. Electricity… and electricity. Both parts, both aspects of her self that she had focused on, were related to her electricity. There was another aspect that she had not focused on. That she had avoided, for so, so long.

She… still wasn't sure if she was ready to really focus on that yet. To truly embrace her Ghost-type would be to embrace the emptiness at her core. She didn't want to.

But just as she had shaped her body using an ability related to her electricity, what was stopping her from taking the first step in the other direction? To manipulate her body… in a more ghostly way?

What was stopping her, except her own fear?

As the pokegirl dove, and Nicholas stared on, the void hidden within Sammy's sporty Grass-type form began to bleed back through.

Or, rather, the ectoplasm that had been condensed into this form was beginning to thin. As it did the green glow coloration thinned as well, bleeding away to a pale transparent white, and Sammy's form slimmed even further. Her body grew petite, her arms spindly, face becoming so gaunt it was almost the grinning skull within her base battle form. As Sammy's feet vanished, her legs becoming no more than a pair of needly limbs, the Rotom exhaled, casting a glittering mist into the air.

Lightning crackled across her limbs as Sammy opened her eyes. The approaching pokegirl was all but upon her now. Close enough that Nicholas had a great view. This girl looked like some kind of cross between Sera and Ryuko, a bat-like figure covered in a hard purple exoskeleton with massive claws tipping her wings, which did not extend behind her as Sera's did but rather stretched from arms to thighs, designed more for this kind of swooping attack than actual flight. Along with a segmented scorpion's tail tipped in grasping pinchers.

Sammy's lips moved, but if she spoke, Nicholas didn't hear it. Her hand was coming up, the lightning zipping around and around but electricity wouldn't work here, it couldn't – this would be a Ground-type, despite her preferred avenue of attack.

But Sammy wasn't preparing to fire the lightning at her opponent. It had just escaped to the surface of her body because the inside could no longer support that power. Sammy's core, the void that was her true self, had been exposed directly to her ectoplasm and it had greedily consumed whatever it could find. As the ectoplasm was sucked into the emptiness it had tried to fill the space, expanding and forced to vaporize within the low-pressure environment. In doing so it had drawn Sammy's body heat with it. Stealing away even the warmth her crackling electricity created until Sammy's ectoplasm began to freeze. As Sammy finished lifting her hand to the diving pokegirl her entire body had turned to ice.

The ball lightning that flashed in front of Sammy's fingers was just a focusing point for the frigid beam that blasted out afterwards. The diving pokegirl tried to duck but this was an energy attack and it was much faster than she was. With a piercing scream she spiraled, blown off course by Sammy's attacks until she slammed into the sand dunes and plowed a few feet before grinding to a halt. Ice froze her wings solid. The girl did not make another sound.

Nicholas took a cautious step forwards. Sammy was perfectly still. Still staring at where the Gliscor had fallen from the sky. Slowly, as slow as the ice she had become, her head turned ever so slightly to look at him.

"…"

Nicholas frowned. Sammy's lips had moved again, he was sure of it, but once again he hadn't heard a word. With how little she'd turned to face him all he could see was the corner of her mouth and maybe the hint of one of her eyes, not nearly enough to infer what she was saying. "Sorry, I didn't hear what you said."

Now a sound came from the transformed Rotom, but it wasn't a word. It was a sigh. Cold mist blew from Sammy's mouth as she exhaled and sent miniature flurries of ice to dance with the sand still blowing overhead. Then, finally, Nicholas heard her speak.

"I'm… tired, Master," her voice whispered to him. A voice that, if it hadn't been so subdued, he might have described as scathing. "I'm cold."

Sammy melted into his touch when he embraced her from behind. She was cold. Frozen, actually, not just in appearance. She was even colder than Miyuki like this. "You've already done so much," he whispered to her. "Will you rest now? For me?"

Sammy's eyes closed as she let out one final sigh. "…Yes."

As she disappeared back into her pokeball Nicholas had to scrub his arms to bring warmth back into them. There had been something fundamentally different about that newest transformation of hers. He'd make sure to ask her about it later.

A red beam picked off the Gliscor and caused him to glance at where the opposing pokegirl had fallen. That made thr-

His eyes widened right before he felt another tremor shake the earth underneath him. Zisela!

He'd taken two steps down the path she'd dug when he heard a noise rising above the storm. Muted at first, but growing ever louder, until Zisela's roar battered his ears.

Nicholas threw his arms in front of his face when the sand next to him blasted apart and the battling pokegirls smashed through. The one Zisela was grappling looked almost like a moving boulder, her limbs barely distinguishable due to her entire body looking to be made of living stone. She flew through the air and sank into the sand on the other side of the trench, beginning to raise an arm when the Garchomp slammed into her again. Zisela was gone. Now in the open she used her opponent's position and drew her fist back, smashing it into the pokegirl's face and sending chips of stone splintering everywhere. All she had left was her roar. Again, and again, and again. Zisela's fists bludgeoned her defeated foe, her skin lacerated, blood streaking her naked body. Until the pokegirl's Alpha saved them from this one, the recall beam slipping through as Zisela's broken and bloodied fist sank into the sand in front of her.

Zisela still swung again, though her body was slowing as she came to understand that her opponent was gone. She made one last strike, this one barely tapping the dune, before her knees failed and she dropped to the ground, gasping for air while her roar petered out.

Nicholas remained perfectly still. Zisela hadn't noticed where she was yet. His mind was racing as he worked on what the best way to approach her would be.

He realized right as Zisela twitched, seeming to start to come back to her senses. This was an opportunity. What he had just witnessed was the opening to confront Zisela without having to reveal that Sohn had broken her confidence.

Zisela felt the footsteps and whirled, raising her arm before freezing when she saw Nicholas. Her jaw dropped, mouth opening as her eyes widened slightly in panic. "Weyrleader-?!"

"Now that," Nicholas growled softly, "was the fury of my dragon." He reached her and squatted down, taking her raised hand and pushing his fingers between hers even though that covered his hand in her blood. "The righteous fury of my dragon – of one of my Alphas. That fury could only come from one place, and that is a deep instinct. A fury that no ordinary dragon could ever hold, for they fight only for themselves." He closed his grip on her hand and squeezed slightly. "You are no ordinary dragon, Zisela. You fight with the fury of your harem behind you. A harem that would do anything for you, because you will do anything for them."

Zisela's wide eyes flicked over his calm and steady gaze. "I- Weyrleader-"

"Once, I named you drakaina. That was wrong. You are pure, Zisela. You are a dragon. And over the past weeks you have discovered what it means to be mine." He pulled her up, holding her steady until her legs stopped trembling. "You can never go back, you know."

Zisela blinked at him, only replying after a few long seconds as her thoughts struggled to catch up. "Go… back?"

"To where you were born. Your mother would have no choice but to fight you as a threat to her authority." He smiled slightly. "I know that, despite what you have become, she is not someone you wish to kill."

Zisela blanched. "Kill?"

"There would be no other outcome," Nicholas replied gently. "She would never stop once she learned of you. You know it's true."

"But I- I could never kill my mother," Zisela babbled.

"Would she say the same for you?"

Zisela went quiet with her mouth still partially open. Her eyes, still held wide, were lost in his until finally they blinked and she returned to the world around her. Slowly her mouth closed. "No," she breathed.

"What was that?"

"I said 'No, she would not'," Zisela said quietly.

"Did you get a chance to meet Aria, back in Indigo?" Nicholas asked.

Zisela shrugged slightly. "I observed the others in your weyr. She was the bird."

"Would you like me to call you a shark?"

"Is that what I am?"

"Is Aria a bird?"

Zisela gave him a disgruntled look. "Would you have known who I was talking about if I called her 'the dragon'?"

"That is why we have names."

Zisela glanced away sullenly. "Yes. I know Aria."

"I once said something to her. Something I believe you may recognize." Nicholas took her by the cheek and gently pulled her face back around. "Once, she was bewildered, unable to understand how I could show her mercy after she betrayed me. If our positions had been reversed, she said, she would have killed me." Nicholas smiled, making sure to bare his teeth the same way Zisela would bare her fangs. "Yet I would not. Because I was better than she was. Because I was stronger, I could afford to grant mercy. Just as you believe you could grant your mother mercy, Zisela." He leaned in close to the silent Garchomp, looking deep into her eyes. "Before me, Aria was weak. Before you, your mother is weak. But tell me. If you, one day, managed to best me. Could you afford to show me that same mercy?"

Zisela's eyes burned. He could feel her aura rising as her lips drew back and mirrored his challenging smile. "I would not make that choice."

"And why would you say that is, my dragon?"

"Because," Zisela whispered, with nothing but a deep joy in her eyes, "we are each better than any of them."

"Because I, am more, than 'a dragon'," Nicholas whispered back.

Zisela's broken hand squeezed down on his, their fingers still intertwined, as she drew him closer and pressed against his face. "Because I… am more… than 'a dragon'," she breathed back. Her lips relaxed, brushing over his skin before she released a trembling breath and spoke again. "I… am… your dragon."

"My dragon, and my Alpha," Nicholas murmured. "That is what you are. What you will always be. No matter what comes."

Zisela's eyes slid shut. After a few moments they opened again with a quiet resolve. "I am sorry, Weyrleader. In my arrogance I have risked my harem's health. All in a misguided attempt to be something I am not." She stepped back, still holding his hand, but pulling free from the one on her cheek. "I would like to be better now, if you will let me."

Nicholas frowned. "If you're talking about right now, this battle, you're barely standing. You can rest."

"I am. I cannot." Zisela smiled calmly. "There is no other within my harem who can reveal our final foe. To sacrifice myself, to give them the chance they need, is only right."

"You would give everything just to give them a chance?"

Zisela's eyes smoldered. "I would give far more for far less."

Nicholas let go of her hand and drew back with a grin pulling at his face. "I know you would."

His thoughts ran backwards. To so long ago, when he had stood in an arena on Cinnabar Island. When he had faced Blaine, and his Alpha then, Dahlia, had given everything to grant her harem a chance at victory. This harem, this challenge, it was truly so much like that first one had been.

Zisela stepped away from him and turned to the sand. She didn't have the strength to excavate it all, but she had an idea.

Nicholas watched the Garchomp sink to her knees again. She landed with her palms pressed to the earth and she remained there for a few seconds, staring at the ground, before her fingertips dug in.

The sand dampened everything she tried. She could not feel through it. She could not swim through it. It simply collapsed around her, made her flounder. Her enemy used it to hide from her. From them.

Zisela's muscles bulged as she began to pull. She felt the earth under her hands. She felt it all. The sand above did not obey her… but the earth would.

Nicholas was knocked to the ground when the ground shifted, Zisela's voice beginning to rise in a wordless roar. Splintering cracks raced from her hands and radiated outwards to vanish beneath the dunes, tearing wider and wider as Zisela emptied everything she had left into this final act. Sand poured into the widening chasms as the surface quickly began to deform. Nearly half of the sand around them had vanished when Nicholas felt Zisela's consciousness blank and he scrambled to find her pokeball before the unconscious Garchomp could fall into the gaping rift below her.

He slowly looked around. On the surface, not much could be seen. The smooth desert had just become textured with thousands of small dunes. But one look at the sides of the area revealed the truth. Well over a foot of sand had been drained away, and he glanced into the rift where Zisela had been kneeling to see the sand trickling in.

"That would certainly hurt this pokegirl's ability to hide," he whispered to himself. After a moment he got to his feet and as he stood he realized his head and upper body was now exposed to the sandstorm.

He took a moment to review this… test. Sammy had exhausted herself. Zisela as well. Unless he wanted to expose Sohn to a losing matchup he had one final pokegirl to handle this.

It was good that he'd been saving her in reserve.

Quinn materialized and Nicholas didn't need to say a word. The Gallade was already gazing at him solemnly. "We would do for her what we would for you."

Nicholas nodded slightly. "I know."

Quinn turned her head to gaze out over the depleted sands. "So there's someone out there, is there?" She drew her fist back, covering it with her other hand as the blowing sand began to swirl around her fist and white flashes sliced through the air between her fingers. "I'll finish what my Alpha started."

The punch Quinn threw exploded into a swarm of white cuts that blasted through the sand and scattered the dunes to the wind. Since her first strike didn't reveal anything Quinn shifted slightly, charging another blast and firing it down a new path, each carving wide furrows through the desert. It didn't take long for one of her attacks to slice into a sandy hump that bled.

Quinn was on the enemy instantly. Even before the large girl had ripped herself free of the dune she'd been under the Gallade was on top of the sand and charging in with a battle cry. Thankfully the sand that had limited Zisela limited this final opponent too and no tremors could stop Quinn from closing in. That didn't mean the pokegirl just let her. She shoved her arms back under the sand before bellowing and throwing them into the air, spewing jagged shards of fused sand at the approaching Gallade that Quinn had no choice but answer.

Quinn's blades flashed as she cut her way through the missiles but each one she bisected exploded back into loose sand, blinding her and threatening to choke her as she forced her way through the expanding cloud. Even still, she persevered, and the girl was forced to block when the Gallade burst from the blinding sand with a screaming cry.

"Kalmiya! What is she, does Quinn need backup?"

"Scans indicate… Hippowdon, Master. A…" Kalmiya's voice grew tense. "…A pokegirl breed known for being physical juggernauts. Much like Nessa."

"In other words, yes," Nicholas hissed. "We'd need Sammy to properly fight her. SOHN!" He released the Infernape and pointed. "I don't know if Quinn can handle this on her own. Let's not test her."

Sohn nodded and vaulted onto the sand, sliding under a few of the sand missiles that the Hippowdon had thrown at Quinn in a second salvo before popping back to her feet and beginning to run. With every step her feet dug into the sand harder and harder until the flames spewing from her feet flashed the compressed sand to glass. Sohn left a glittering trail of footprints as she sped into the battle and rocketed past Quinn to drive her shin into the Hippowdon's face.

The girl roared in pain as Sohn flipped past, sliding through the sand as she fought to find purchase, and was beginning to turn to the Infernape when something wet and razor-sharp carved a streak across her back.

Another roar of pain as the Hippowdon craned her neck to see Quinn jumping into action, the space around her devoid of sand thanks to the glowing blades on her arms that tore the air apart.

"There may not be much in the air but don't think I can't find it anyways," Quinn hissed, pursing her lips and launching a mouthful of spit that her blades quickly turned to vapor and sent slicing through the sand to cut lines across the Hippowdon's body.

Sohn had found her footing now and was racing back, intent on repeating the back and forth she was maintaining with Quinn, when in a flash the Hippowdon had twirled. Sohn's eyes widened when the girl's jaw unhinged and the fist that had been meant for her head sank into the back of her throat instead.

Instantly the Hippowdon's mouth snapped shut and Sohn screamed as powerful jaws crushed her arm. Her desperate attempt at blasting the inside of the Hippowdon's mouth with flame just made smoke puff out the girl's nostrils and Sohn was brought to the ground by the pain as her arm twisted and cracked.

"LET GO OF HERRRR!"

Sohn's eyes rolled back and she fainted when a glowing fist found the target she had been trying to hit in the first place. The Hippowdon's head snapped to her chest, still with the Infernape's arm clutched between her teeth, completely mangling the limb and tearing Sohn's skin apart in the process.

Quinn didn't care for her blades when she got this close. It was all her fists as she pummeled the Hippowdon until Sohn was flung from her grasp and recalled. Finally showing damage the Hippowdon shook her head in an attempt to clear it and opened her mouth again, but Quinn was ready. The Hippowdon's eyes bugged, slowly staggering back with a glowing blade sprouting from her mouth.

Quinn yanked her blade free as the Hippowdown stumbled and crashed to the sand with a shocked look across her face. She remained there, sitting upright, for nearly a minute before slowly falling backwards and slamming to the ground to lay unmoving.

With her gone the storm died, sand skittering across the desert until the whole room was still. Only then did Quinn force herself back to her feet, eyes settling on the old woman standing nearby, watching.

"Well, well." Bertha smiled. "I must say, that was most impressive. Your pokegirls believed in you and did their best to win. I liked how you and they worked together – it was not a tamer and his harem within my room today, but rather one collective team of five that worked towards the same goal. I'd thought to outnumber you and yet all I managed was to give you a fair fight." Her smile grew when a figure leapt from the top of the room and slammed down into the sand, her weight sending an explosion of grains blasting across everything in sight. The pokegirl slowly straightened, standing in front of her tamer as she gazed neutrally at Quinn and Nicholas.

"The next time we meet," the hulking girl said, her voice low and gravelly, "I will fight."

Nicholas took in the figure. The craggy skin, the heavy stature, the huge twisted horn protruding from her forehead, there was only one Ground-type that this could be. "I wasn't aware Rhydon evolved."

Bertha chuckled. "Now you are. She'll get her hands on you next time, Topolski."

Nicholas glanced at the hands in question. Thick and consumed in muscle, while further up the girl's bulging arm strange structures protruded from her elbows, perfectly in line with her lower arm. Just like Quinn's blades, but these weren't blades. They looked more like pistons and he had a good idea as to what they might do. "If you don't mind, I think we'll try to avoid that."

Bertha burst out laughing and her Rhyperior cracked a wicked grin. "You will. Try."

"Go on then, Topolski," Bertha said and stepped aside. "You already know the man waiting for you now."

Nicholas nodded. Recalling Quinn he moved past Bertha but stopped before exiting the room.

"Kalmiya?"

"Yes, Master?"

"They're all exhausted. Aren't they."

A pause. "Their wounds can be healed. But… yes. They are."

"Four pokegirls against an Elite Four. I'm asking them each to do as much as one and a half of my others did. Will they make it?"

Sparks, and then Kalmiya was rising in front of him, her eyes firm. "They are not four. We are five. I cannot fight – but I can give them the strength to."

Nicholas watched Kalmiya take his belt from him and begin connecting the pokeballs to his pokedex. As she finished attaching Sammy's her face flickered, but then her resolve returned and she handed him everything before dematerializing. Soon energy was flowing down the cables in a mimicry of a healing machine's and one by one the pokeballs beeped.

Or… three of them did. Nicholas frowned when he saw Sammy's still charging. "Kalmiya?" No response from the Porygon. "Kalmiya. KALMIYA!"

"She had nothing left," Kalmiya's voice whispered in his ear. "I'm sorry, Master. Seems I'm just good for feeding her after all."

"KALMIYA!" The ball finally chimed and Nicholas ripped them from their cords. "Damn you, speak to me."

All he got in return was his pokedex screen lighting up. A red and blue orb blinked twice before little cartoony Z's began floating up from it and, after a few seconds of this, the screen went dark.

With a sigh Nicholas replaced the device on his belt along with the pokeballs. She was such a pain in his ass. Going to sleep in the middle of such an important chain of battles. How would he make it without his tactician?

His fingers came to rest on the other four's pokeballs. He'd make do. They'd make do. Because of Kalmiya's sacrifice they could continue. Just a few more battles to go.

.

.

POKEDEX UPDATED

Tamer: Nicholas Topolski

Badges:

Mine Badge

Forest Badge

Coal Badge

Relic Badge

Cobble Badge

Fen Badge

Beacon Badge

Icicle Badge

Harem:

Zisela, Garchomp (Alpha) – Level 60

Sohn, Infernape – Level 59

Sammy, Rotom – Level 58

Quinn, Gallade – Level 58

Miruko, Lopunny – Level 65

Non-Com Harem:

Kalmiya, Porygon-Z – Level 30