Drapion knew that his opponent would be tough. He'd watched as this Beartic pounded Houndoom into the ground in two moves. But he'd also watched Houndoom land a few good hits, and he could see Beartic grimacing in pain from the Dark Surge, could see him favoring his left leg from the Flame Jaws.

And so Drapion felt reasonably confident. Especially since his Battle Armor and Block would do wonders at halting Beartic's attacks.

Drapion let out a challenging snarl as soon as he hit the field, one which Beartic returned. Beartic was no fool; Drapion could tell he was recognizing his own vulnerability and trying to gauge what Drapion could throw at him.

"Pin Missile, then rush him!" Marcus cried.

Drapion obeyed. "Pierce!" Half a dozen spikes flew from his claws. Beartic was quick to react, though. "Swift Swim!" He morphed into Water energy again, slipping in and out of the rain that still pelted the arena, rematerializing several feet to Drapion's left as the spikes of Bug energy soared past him. Drapion lunged, following the second part of Marcus's orders, changing direction towards the reformed Beartic.

"Rip!"

"Swift Swim!"

Again Beartic morphed into water and slid to the side to avoid Drapion's attack. Drapion caught sight of Beartic reforming to his right. "Slam!" Drapion cried, swinging his tail sideways at the rematerializing Beartic, and was rewarded with a meaty thud as Beartic staggered under the swift and brutal blow.

"Aqua Jets!" Wulfric ordered.

Beartic planted his feet on the ground. "Slush Barrage!" he bellowed, opening fire with several jets of Water energy. "Battle Armor!" Drapion retorted, bringing up his reserves of chitin to shield himself from the blasts. The rain strengthened the blasts as they neared, and so Drapion felt their impacts as they slammed into his body, but the Battle Armor protected him from the worst of it.

"No Escape!" Try Swift Swimming away from this, Drapion thought as he fired the Dark-type rays from his maw.

As expected, Beartic morphed into Water energy again. At once the No Escape swiveled and leaped after his vague outline as he swam through the rain. Drapion saw what was likely Beartic's eyes swivel to see the attack coming after him.

"Icicle Crash!" Wulfric ordered.

"Now, hit him!" Marcus cried.

Drapion lunged forwards just as Beartic materialized, eyes glancing between Drapion and the oncoming rays. "Snow Barrage!" he snarled, unleashing a wave of Ice energy towards both of them. "Block!" Drapion retorted, raising a Protect in time to block the Ice energy aimed at him. The Dark-type rays, however, were destroyed by the Ice energy Beartic sent at them.

"Take this!" Beartic hauled back and threw a brutal punch that Drapion responded to with one of his massive arms. Claws met claws and both Pokemon held. Drapion flung his other arm forwards only to meet Beartic's other arm in kind. The two Pokemon threw all their weight into the lock, straining to overcome each other's strength.

"No Escape!"

Beartic could not react in time to avoid taking a face full of Dark energy. He snarled in pain, staggering, breaking the lock. Drapion lunged, slamming one of his arms right into Beartic's gut and doubling him over, then let out a triumphant roar as he raised his other arm over his head and sent it arcing towards Beartic's face. "Battle Armor!"

"Block it!"

But Wulfric's cry galvanized Beartic into action. Beartic raised both arms to block Drapion's arm even as Battle Armor transformed it into more of a club. Though he staggered backwards from the impact, the arms managed to absorb most of the impact. "Swift Swim!" Beartic snarled, dematerializing into the rain yet again.

Beartic had spent the entire battle playing defensive, feeling out Drapion's moves. Now, from the look in his eyes and the wrathful expression on his face, he was going fully on the offensive, attempting to repeat his success with Houndoom.

Not on my watch.

"Slush Slash!"

"Block!"

Drapion caught movement out of the corner of his eye and raised a Protect just in time to deflect the wicked claw-strike Beartic aimed at him. "Swift Swim!" Beartic snarled again. "Slush Jet!"

"Battle Armor!" Drapion raised a barrier of chitin to deflect the rain-boosted blast of Water energy that came at his other side. "No Escape!" he snarled, sending another burst of seeking rays at Beartic as he dematerialized yet again.

"Burrow!"

Drapion lunged underground, hearing a snarl of "Snow Barrage!" as he did so. Likely his rays were the target. Drapion cast his sense out, searching by hearing alone, listening for the pounding feet of his adversary.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Beartic was not being subtle. His great feet slammed to the ground as he stepped across the arena, scanning the battlefield for Drapion.

Drapion grinned as an impact came right above him. Now was his chance.

Drapion hurled himself upwards, cannoning into Beartic's injured leg as he burst through the floor. Beartic howled in agony as Drapion's claws closed around his injury. The two large Pokemon fell, Drapion on top. Beartic gasped in pain as Drapion slammed his other arm straight into his throat, choking him.

He knew Beartic could get away via Swift Swim. He just had to deal as much damage as he could before that happened.

"Pierce!"

As a flurry of jagged spikes embedded themselves in Beartic's body, Beartic snarled and lunged upwards, destabilizing Drapion for a moment. One burly clawed fist came straight for Drapion's face. "Battle Armor!" Drapion snarled, and the fist struck hard chitin and recoiled in pain. But the sheer force of the impact was enough to send Drapion stumbling, and in that moment Beartic dissolved into Swift Swim.

He reappeared in front of Wulfric, breathing hard as Drapion spun to face him. He was clearly limping, covered in bruises, and didn't look like he'd last much longer, but the wrathful snarl emblazoned on his face made it clear that Beartic wasn't done yet.

"Superpower," Wulfric urged his tired Beartic.

Beartic let out an animalistic howl. "Swift Swim!" he bellowed. "Full Strength!"

Drapion gulped. No way he was getting hit by that attack. "Block!" he cried as Beartic materialized in front of him, swinging a fist that bounced off Drapion's Protect. Then another, and another, each one releasing an impact that Drapion could outright feel.

Beartic had given way to his wildest tendencies, unleashing an all-or-nothing attack aimed at causing as much damage to Drapion as possible before he went down. From the power of the punches that Drapion could feel hammering at his Block, Battle Armor would help, but it wouldn't be able to deflect the punches unless he gathered it all in one place, something he didn't want to do because Swift Swim could just get Beartic to a part of Drapion's body where Battle Armor wasn't protecting him.

Wait a minute.

An idea came to Drapion's mind; risky, but any strategy was risky when fighting this fully-powered Beartic. "Battle Armor!" he snarled, bringing all of his reserves of chitin to his arms, fashioning them into chitin-covered clubs. Gritting his teeth, he dropped his Block and swung. "Slam!"

"Block right!" Wulfric cried.

Beartic raised his arms to block the club once more, and this time he managed to catch the club and throw it back. Quickly, Drapion spun and swung his other club at Drapion's other side just as Beartic lunged forwards, focusing on offense in his enraged state.

"Block left!" Wulfric ordered.

But Beartic was too committed to his lunge. Just as Beartic's icy claws slammed into Drapion's skin, Drapion's second clublike arm slammed into his head with a resounding crack.

Beartic crumpled to the ground. Wulfric recalled him immediately as the rain finally stopped falling and the clouds Beartic had generated receded. Drapion turned and stepped back towards Marcus, wincing at the pain that clawed at his sides. He had not been fast enough to avoid Beartic's final hit, something that had earned him a fairly brutal wound that Drapion knew would hamper him against Wulfric's next Pokemon.

But he had beaten Beartic, and he drank in Marcus's praise on that front even as he steeled himself for the fight ahead.

"Avalugg, you're up!" Wulfric called, releasing a Pokemon even larger than Beartic had been. This new Pokemon looked like a full-blown iceberg with a jagged, pointed face, four thick trunklike legs, and two beady yellow eyes that flickered with anger.

"You're not gonna be able to Toxic this one," Wulfric warned. "Avalanche, then charge!"

Avalugg spoke, his voice rough and grinding as he summoned a surge of Ice energy around himself. "Iceslide," he growled, unleashing it at Drapion, who raised a Block to deflect the storm of Ice energy that came down on him.

"Pierce," Drapion retorted, but Avalugg took the spikes that he fired from his claws without even flinching as he lumbered forwards. Avalugg's stride shook the ground as he charged Drapion. "Iceberg Slam."

"Battle Armor!" Drapion snarled, gathering his chitin around his claws again and bracing himself to catch Avalugg's charge. But Avalugg slammed into Drapion far harder than Drapion had expected. Pain ripped through Drapion's arms even through Battle Armor, and Drapion felt himself sliding backwards under Avalugg's weight.

"Icebreath!" Avalugg snarled, opening his fearsome-looking maw wide. A flurry of Ice energy began to collect in it. "Block!" Drapion retorted, raising his chitin barrier just in time to deflect the tornado of frost that burst out of Avalugg's mouth.

Avalugg let out a surprised growl as the Icebreath flew back into his face, temporarily blinding him. Quickly, Drapion withdrew his left arm, still covered in Battle Armor. "Slam!" he snarled, sending it forwards straight into Avalugg's right cheek.

Avalugg staggered. Drapion stepped forwards, following his blow up with another from his right arm. Then he raised both arms over his head and brought them down with a crack on Avalugg's head.

Avalugg stood still for a moment. Then, slowly, he glanced up at Drapion with a wicked grin. "Iceberg Slam."

Drapion's eyes widened as Avalugg cannoned forwards, hurling his full body into Drapion's. Drapion flew backwards, landing hard on the ground as his chest exploded in pain from the brutal hit.

"With my Sturdy Ability, I can increase my density as necessary," Avalugg growled. "I may be made of ice, but right now, I'm as hard to break as steel. If that's all you can do to try and break me, then this battle is already over."

Drapion rose to his feet, fury filling him. One of the strongest attacks he had, and Avalugg had just shrugged it off without a scratch?

No defense was unbreakable. Avalugg had broken Drapion's, after all. It was time to figure out how to break Avalugg's.

"Drapion, Infestation!"

Or Marcus could come up with a solution. Drapion stifled a grin; Grasp and its gradual damage would be perfect to deal with Avalugg. No amount of increased density could help against that.

"Grasp!" he snarled, firing the burst of Bug energy from his jaws.

"Icy Wind!" Wulfric ordered.

"Icewind!" Avalugg growled. A wave of Ice energy emanated from his mouth, flowing forwards and blowing the incoming Grasp away. Drapion easily blocked the Icewind itself with an application of Battle Armor, but Grasp dissipated, the Icewind too much for it.

Of course it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Iceberg Stomp!" Avalugg growled, slamming one foot down on the ground. A jagged towering spike of Rock and Ice energy flew forth, aimed straight at Drapion. Avalugg didn't wait for Drapion to raise a Block before hurling himself forwards. "Iceberg Slam!"

"Battle Armor!" Drapion winced in anticipation as he flung himself forwards to meet Avalugg's charge, chitin-covered arms outstretched. Indeed, the impact sent a wave of pain through his body once again. Drapion gritted his teeth and pressed both his arms forwards, opening his maw as he did so. "Grasp!"

"Icewind!"

Bug and Ice energy exploded against each other and Drapion skidded backwards. Out of the explosion came Avalugg, hurling an Iceslide straight at Drapion. Drapion barely managed to raise his Battle Armor-enhanced arms to block it, and even then he was sent sliding backwards again as a fresh wave of pain coursed through him.

"Drapion! Don't face him head-on!" Marcus called as Avalugg, attempting to maintain his offensive, charged yet again with an Iceberg Slam.

This time, though, Drapion did not use Block or activate Battle Armor. Instead, he lunged out of the way, allowing Avalugg to charge past him. Avalugg skidded to a halt, but his large size and momentum worked against him and it took him a good few seconds to even slow down.

"Now!" Marcus cried.

"Grasp!" Drapion snarled, unleashing a wave of Bug energy right into Avalugg's side. Avalugg's furious and pained roar told Drapion that, as expected, Sturdy could do nothing against Grasp. Drapion grinned. "Yer move," he growled.

"Icestorm!" Avalugg bellowed, rounding on Drapion. A massive blast of Ice energy flew from his maw, widening and widening as it neared Drapion.

"Dig!" Marcus ordered.

With a cry of "Burrow!", Drapion threw himself into the ground, avoiding the Icestorm as it blasted through where he had been a second ago.

"Earthquake!" Wulfric ordered.

"Drapion, get out of there!" Marcus cried.

But Marcus's voice was drowned out by Avalugg's roar of "Iceberg Shatter!" Drapion was only halfway back to the surface when the ground erupted around him. Pain lanced through his entire body as the earth itself rose up under him, throwing him bodily into the air. Drapion flew, flailing wildly and uncontrollably, and as he flew he saw Avalugg lunging straight for him yet again.

"No Escape!" he snarled as he landed, unleashing a final wave of attacks into Avalugg just as the massive iceberg-like Pokemon rammed into him, doubling Drapion over around Avalugg's hard, Sturdy-enhanced head.

Drapion gasped as all the breath was stolen from his body, and for a few moments he could do nothing but choke helplessly. In those moments, Avalugg snarled, "Icestorm!", and emptied a massive burst of Ice energy straight into Drapion's stomach.

The feeling of bitter, unending cold and agony was the last thing Drapion felt before unconsciousness took him.

"That Infestation was huge," said James. "Medicham won't have to try too hard to finish off that Avalugg. How Marcus does in this fight depends on whether Avalugg manages to land a hit or two before going down."

"Shame about that Earthquake," Serena opined. "Drapion could definitely have stalled for a while longer if Avalugg hadn't had that."

"The way Drapion took down that Beartic was really impressive, though," said Sarah. "He really put in some work there."

"Marcus's entire team are fighters," said James. "Let's just hope it's enough to pull him through."

Silently, Seeker-Of-Endings agreed.

Medicham hated Ice-types.

She'd hated them from the moment she'd first seen them assault the Geodudes and Digletts of the forest. Even if she knew that entire life had been manipulated now, it didn't change the fact that those Ice-types had, of their own free will, sought to claim the territory that rightfully belonged to the forest Pokemon as their own.

Every Ice-type had its annoyances. Sneasels were fast, brutal, and knew Dark-type attacks to heavily damage her. Smoochums had Psychic abilities to make fighting them that much more of a chore. Delibirds were ridiculously unpredictable. Snovers were jacks-of-all-trades, capable of offense and defense in equal measure.

Bergmites were every bit as annoying, if not more. Easily the most defensive of the Ice-types, they could withstand strong moves that would fell other Ice-types with ease, and that survivability gave them more opportunities to fire off their moves. Other Ice-types could be plowed through easily if one managed to counter their moves. Bergmites always managed at least one attack before going down due to their bulk.

Medicham knew Bergmite evolved into Avalugg. The Bergmites loved to boast about how unbreakable they were and would be upon evolving, and had namedropped their evolution more than once. So she knew it would be a difficult fight.

But not too difficult. She knew Drapion had nailed Avalugg with a Grasp, and as such Avalugg would grow weaker the longer the fight went on. And her Psychic-type moves had always had a decent effect on the Bergmites. She suspected they were more susceptible to mental attacks than they were to physical ones.

As Marcus recalled Drapion and sent her out in his place, Medicham steeled herself for the upcoming fight.

Wulfric grunted as Medicham materialized. "Now I get why you used your Houndoom so early. He wasn't your real ace, was he?"

Marcus smirked in response. Wulfric chuckled. "Fine, then. Let's see what your Medicham can do. Avalugg, Blizzard!"

"Icestorm!" Avalugg snarled, unleashing another widening blast of Ice energy at Medicham.

Medicham hurled herself sideways. "Aura Avoidance!" she cried, tapping into her Aura to jerk her out of the way of the Icestorm. "Psychic Blast!"

Avalugg groaned as the blast of Psychic energy struck him. As expected, his Sturdy Ability didn't matter much when faced with mental attacks. Wulfric's eyes narrowed. "Toxic!" he ordered. "Then Earthquake!"

Avalugg reared back - "Iceberg Splash!" - and spat a glob of Poison energy from his maw. Medicham's response was another Psychic Blast, dissipating the Toxic in midair. "Iceberg Shatter!" Avalugg bellowed, slamming both front feet back down to the ground. A wave of Ice and Ground energy rippled outwards from Avalugg's body.

"Aura Avoidance!" Medicham cried, hurling herself into the air with her muscular legs to avoid the wave of energy, drawing upon her Aura to jump even higher. She landed in a crouch just in time to see Avalugg charging straight towards her.

"Psychic Blast!" Medicham called. Avalugg snarled in rage and agony but kept running. Another staggered him briefly, but still Avalugg came. "Icestorm!" he roared, releasing a massive wave of Ice energy that Medicham instantly knew she would not be able to dodge, not at this range.

But she did not need to.

"Pure Power!" she cried, tapping fully into her Aura. "Aura Blast!"

She raised her hands in front of her, fingertip to fingertip, and threw them outwards, unleashing a blast of Aura that broke the Icestorm before her. The remnants flew off to either side, delivering a small chill to her arms but nothing more. Avalugg let out an enraged roar and hurled himself forwards. "Iceberg Slam!"

"Aura Avoidance!" Once more Medicham leaped upwards, flying high into the air via her own muscles mixed with Aura. Medicham looked down to see Avalugg standing below her, head upturned. "Icebreath!" he snarled.

Medicham grinned. "Pure Power: Aura Finisher!"

She dropped, one leg outstretched and flaring with Aura. Avalugg's Icebreath broke beneath her Aura as she fell. Avalugg realized what was happening a few seconds before it did; his eyes widened and he spat, "Sturdy!"

It didn't matter.

The crack as Medicham's foot slammed into Avalugg's back was echoing. Avalugg howled under the impact even as pain shot through Medicham's leg from kicking such a dense Pokemon at such high speeds. Only her Aura kept the momentary agony from being any worse.

Avalugg sank to the ground, heavily injured and barely conscious, as Medicham sprang off him, landing back on the Gym floor in a crouch as Wulfric recalled his second-to-last Pokemon. Medicham clenched her fists and waited. She was all but fresh, ready for Wulfric's final Pokemon.

Cheers erupted from the stands at Medicham's display even as Wulfric released his final Pokemon: a portly Abomasnow that held a fairly vindictive glint in its eyes.

Of course it had to be an Abomasnow. Medicham remembered all too well the Abomasnow who led the Ice-types of the mountains, the mastermind behind all of their attempted takeovers. This Abomasnow looked better groomed, a little larger, and less bestial, but even so Medicham had to remind herself that this wasn't the same Abomasnow.

"Medicham, you've got this," Marcus encouraged. "Get in there and hit him with Fire Punch!"

Medicham clenched her fists, summoning Fire energy to her knuckles, and braced herself for a charge.

Abomasnow raised its arms. "Snow Warning!" he bellowed.

Above them, clouds began to muster yet again. This time, instead of rain, small pellets of hail began to fall, striking at Medicham's skin hard enough for her to feel them. She winced at the impacts, but retained concentration on her Fire energy.

"Fire Strike!" she cried, hurling herself at Abomasnow with her flaming fist drawn back. Abomasnow raised one green arm. "Snow Warning: Hailblast!" he shouted, and at his command a surge of hailstones flew over his shoulder and right at Medicham.

"Aura Avoidance!" Medicham retorted, spinning out of the way of the oncoming hailstones and resuming her charge without missing a beat. She nearly missed Wulfric's order of "Mist!", but her ears managed to catch it even through the whistling and clattering of the hailstones, and so she was ready when Abomasnow cried, "Icy Mist!" and released a cloud of mist in Medicham's path.

"Psychic Blast!" Medicham cried, abandoning her charge in favor of aiming a jolt of Psychic energy at the mist, seeking to blast it away. But, though the Psychic Blast slammed into the mist and sent it rolling backwards, more came to take its place and Abomasnow remained under the mist's cover.

His voice boomed from the other side of the mist. "Snow Warning: Hailstorm!"

The mist scattered as a blast of Ice energy and hailstones shot at Medicham, a blast that Medicham barely managed to avoid with an Aura Dodge, and even then she felt a couple hailstones nick her left arm. Her eyes locked on Abomasnow as he raised another arm, ready to repeat the attack.

Medicham hurled herself forwards, tired of this Abomasnow stalling her. "Aura Avoidance!" she cried just as Abomasnow snarled, "Snow Warning: Hailstorm!". Medicham twisted out of the way of the blast of Ice energy and leaped straight for Abomasnow's gut. "Fire Strike!"

"Icy Barrier!" Abomasnow bellowed.

"Piercing Strike!" Medicham retorted.

Wulfric's eyes widened and Abomasnow gaped as Medicham drove her flaming fist straight through his upraised Protect. Abomasnow screamed in pain as flames burst from Medicham's fist and leaped up and down his body, ravanging it. He stumbled, desperately flinging another Hailblast forwards which Medicham easily dodged. "Pure Power: Aura Blast!" she cried, sending Abomasnow onto his back to cheers from the audience.

Yet even as those cheers came, Medicham knew this battle was not done yet. Even though Abomasnow looked nearly unconscious already, some part of her knew that it had been far too easy for the final Pokemon of the final Gym Leader. Abomasnow fought like a cross between Beartic and Avalugg. Beartic had been an impressively maneuverable Pokemon with a skillset primarily aimed at beating Fire-types, while Avalugg had been an insanely bulky defensive wall. Abomasnow seemed to be trying to meet those two in the middle, combining the bulk of Avalugg with the power of Beartic, but the result was a Pokemon that seemed subpar at both.

Medicham knew this wasn't it.

And her suspicions were confirmed as Wulfric grinned. "All right, Abomasnow, we've given them enough free shots. Let's show them what we can really do!"

Abomasnow pushed himself onto hands and feet, glaring up at Medicham. "I call upon…the power of…Mega Evolution!"

A gleaming light suddenly shone on Abomasnow's back a second before Wulfric's final Pokemon was engulfed in a wave of light and energy. Medicham knew by now to shield her eyes, and to withdraw her hand only when the light had faded. When she did so, Abomasnow had shifted; he was still on all fours, but now he was larger, his fur was far shaggier, and two gleaming blue crystals protruded from his shoulders.

Medicham had faced one Mega Evolution in combat before; that had been Hellhound, and the simple act of entering his Mega Form had enabled him to easily finish off both her and Drapion, or at least it would have if Blastoise hadn't shown up. She'd never truly faced a Mega Evolution in actual battle, but she knew Abomasnow's Mega Form would be a much tougher nut to crack than his base form.

"Snow Warning," Abomasnow uttered, his voice deeper than before. "Hailstorm."

Abomasnow's two shoulder crystals glowed blue with power as a titanic blast of hail and Ice energy flew from his maw. "Pure Power: Aura Sphere!" Medicham cried, summoning the same massive sphere of Aura that had rendered Hellhound vulnerable to her final Aura Finisher. She flung it forth to meet the Hailstorm; Aura and Ice energy exploded, the power boost from Abomasnow's Mega Evolution sufficient to cancel out the inherent type advantage the Aura held against the Ice energy.

"Grassy Slice," Abomasnow rumbled, firing a barrage of Grass energy-formed blades from his fur. "Aura Avoidance!" Medicham cried, lunging forwards, flinging herself between the slashing blades without a scratch.

"Grassy Hammer."

Medicham rose in time to see one of Abomasnow's massive arms swinging towards her. "Pure Power: Aura Strike!" she cried, reaching out an Aura-enhanced fist to hold it back.

But while she held it back, the Grass energy-enhanced arm, similarly to Beartic's failures against Drapion's Battle Armor-formed club, sent her staggering from the sheer force of the blow even through the Aura. "Icy Hammer," Abomasnow rumbled. Caught off balance, Medicham had no defense; she had barely started calling "Aura Avoidance!" before Abomasnow's Ice energy-enhanced fist slammed into her gut like a massive hailstone.

Medicham felt her feet leave the ground as she tumbled head over heels, landing hard on her left side and skidding to a halt. She lay there for a few seconds as falling hail continued to pelt her, thinking madly of how she could overcome this Mega Evolved Abomasnow.

He's strong, stronger than I am. But he's slow. I have to fight him on my terms, not his.

Slowly, Medicham fought back the pain and forced herself to rise, staring down Abomasnow once more. Abomasnow let out a low growl as he saw that she was still up.

"Earthquake!" Wulfric ordered.

Medicham was already moving even as Abomasnow raised his front legs, preparing to stomp down. "Pure Power: Aura Blast!" she cried just as Abomasnow roared, "Ground Slam!" The ground rippled and cracked as Medicham leaped upwards, flinging an Aura Blast at Abomasnow just as Abomasnow let fly with his Ground Slam.

Abomasnow staggered, groaning, as Medicham landed in the wake of the Ground Slam, already readying her next attack. "Pure Power: Aura Barrage!" she cried.

"Grassy Slice!" Abomasnow's response was another flurry of Grass energy-created blades that slammed into the barrage of Aura Blasts that Medicham flung. Explosions littered the area between the two battling Pokemon, explosions that again obscured Abomasnow from Medicham's view. Remembering what had happened last time, Medicham tapped into Psychic Avoidance, readying to dodge the instant an attack came flying out of the explosions.

"Snow Warning: Hailblast!"

So it was that, even with little warning, Medicham managed to dive out of the way of the blast of hail that streamed through the space where her head had been a second ago. She opened her eyes to see the last of the explosions fading, revealing Abomasnow in all his Mega Evolved glory.

"Icy Barrage!" Abomasnow roared frustratedly. Out of his fur flew dozens and dozens of icicles, similar to Cloyster's barrages, and about as large even though Abomasnow didn't even have Skill Link.

"Aura Avoidance!" Medicham's mind protested at two uses of Detect in a row, but she pushed through and was rewarded with a swift twist to avoid the Icy Barrage. Medicham now lunged forwards, raising a fiery fist once again. "Fire Strike!"

"Grassy Hammer!" Abomasnow again raised his thick arm, intending to repeat his earlier success, but Medicham was already preparing to dodge instead of block. She could see it now; Abomasnow would miss, leaving himself open to a flaming fist that, Mega Evolution or no, would cause massive damage.

"Grass Knot!"

But then Wulfric's voice galvanized Abomasnow, and a vine suddenly shot up from the floor and wrapped tightly around Medicham's ankle. Medicham tumbled to the ground, the flames around her fist dissipating.

But she'd faced this exact technique from Phantump, and later Trevenant, in their frequent sparring matches. So Medicham quickly relaxed even as her body screamed at her to yank her foot free, knowing that yanking would be fruitless. The vine slackened and she pulled her foot free.

"Icy Hammer!"

That left Abomasnow, seeking to take advantage of Medicham being prone. Swiftly, Medicham rolled sideways, hearing Abomasnow's foot slam into the ground just behind her, and leaped to her feet. Abomasnow rounded on her. "Snow Warning: Hailstorm!" he bellowed, but Medicham was ready with an Aura Avoidance, and the attack flew past her once again.

"Pure Power: Aura Sphere!" she cried.

"Snow Warning: Hail Sphere!" Abomasnow retorted, his crystals glowing blue again as hail, drawn towards his maw, began to coalesce into a similar sphere to the one Medicham was fashioning.

The two fired at the same time, and the spheres slammed into each other and broke. Ice shattered and Aura dissipated as Abomasnow and Medicham watched. Their eyes narrowed.

Looks like we're evenly matched. Hopefully he doesn't have any more tricks he can pull out to get an edge, because that would be-

"Shadow Ball!" Wulfric commanded.

"Oh, come on!" Medicham cried as she hurled herself to the ground to avoid Abomasnow - "Ghost Sphere!" - fired a blast of Ghost energy over her head. "Pure Power: Aura Blast!" she cried as she rolled to her feet, but Abomasnow answered with another Ghost Sphere that dissipated the Aura Blast and kept going, necessitating a swift Aura Avoidance to dodge.

"Snow Warning: Hailblast!"

Which left her wide open to Abomasnow's next attack. A burst of Ice energy and hail slammed into Medicham's side, knocking her back to the ground with a cry of pain.

Again, she lay there for a few seconds as hail bounced off her body, pain threatening to overwhelm her. She was faster, sure, but that didn't seem to matter when Abomasnow had such an absurdly variable roster of attacks to draw upon. Every move Medicham made, Abomasnow seemed to be able to pull out a counter for.

Wait…

There was one thing she hadn't tried. One move she hadn't used in quite some time, hadn't even bothered with for so long because of the drain it had on her energy. But that move might be her only remaining option.

"Medicham, get up!" Marcus cried desperately.

"Finish it," Wulfric ordered.

Medicham put one hand on the ground, then the other, and slowly rose to face Abomasnow as the Mega Evolved Pokemon began to gather more Ice energy into his maw. His shoulder crystals glowed brighter and brighter until they blazed with light. "Snow Warning: Hail Bombardment."

"Medicham, I need you to-"

Medicham gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and looked back at Marcus. "No," she said telepathically. "There's only one way I'm going to win this."

Marcus stared at Medicham uncomprehendingly.

Medicham sighed. "Trust me."

"…okay," Marcus said at last.

Medicham turned back towards Abomasnow as the sphere forming before him split into a half-dozen spheres, each glowing with bright blue and white light. Abomasnow flung them forwards with all his strength, all of them arcing straight towards Medicham with astonishing speed considering their size.

Medicham planted her feet and stared at the incoming attack. This…this was going to hurt.

"Psychic Endurance," she whispered.

The spheres hit.

"Medicham!" Marcus cried, cries that were echoed by the audience in the stands as Medicham felt indescribable pain overtake her entire body. Ice energy swirled around her, ripping into her skin, pounding at her body, trying to force her to submit. But her mind refused, and her body still stood.

It only lasted for a few seconds, but at the end of those few seconds, as the energy dissipated, Medicham felt as if she'd been through a lifetime of pain.

Abomasnow's eyes widened. "How are you still standing?"

Medicham smirked as her body began to glow with energy. "Just an old trick," she said.

She was somewhat surprised when Wulfric's eyes flared with horrified recognition, though she had to admit that at this level one would probably at least have a passing understanding of this technique. "She's using Bide!" Wulfric cried. "Ice Shard, now, before she-"

But even as Wulfric let out his cry, even as Marcus grinned, finally recognizing Medicham's intent, and even as Abomasnow raised one massive arm to fire a jagged icicle right at Medicham, the glow around her intensified until it was almost blinding even to her. Medicham raised one hand towards Abomasnow. "Psychic Retribution."

The energy flew, ripping through Abomasnow's desperate Ice Shard and slamming straight into Abomasnow's body. The howl Abomasnow let out was ghastly, absolutely chilling, even though it only lasted for a couple seconds. Abomasnow's strongest attack, reflected right back at him, was too much even for his Mega Form, especially after the damage he'd taken before even activating the form.

Psychic Retribution faded and Medicham fell to her knees as her mind exploded in protest. Yes, there was a reason Medicham had ceased use of that technique. Until she got to a Pokemon Center, her head would not allow her a moment of peace. And her body ached all over from taking that brutal last attack Abomasnow had thrown.

But the sound of Abomasnow being recalled into his Pokeball and the sound of euphoric cheers from the stands as the audience realized just what had happened was worth every bit of that pain.

Wulfric was grinning like a madman. "Bide? Bide? I fell for Bide of all things? Boy, that was an outstanding performance! That team is gonna take you far!"

"Thank you, Gym Leader Wulfric." Marcus was trying and failing to hold back a ridiculous grin himself. He turned to his parents and Serena in the stands, and his smile grew even wider. He held up a hand and waved to them.

"You…might want to recall your Medicham," Wulfric reminded.

"Oh!" Marcus cried. "Right. Sorry, Medicham." Medicham felt a sting of gratitude for Wulfric's reminder as Marcus recalled her into her Luxury Ball.

Medicham allowed the noise, Wulfric's further words, and the cheering to fade as she felt the warming gel ooze around her. Slowly, she closed her eyes, allowing sleep to take her away from the pain that still wracked her body and her mind.

Medicham sat down on the grass with an exhausted sigh. Even after her nap, her body still felt tired, though at least the pain had stopped.

The rest of the team had been eager to hear how the rest of the battle had gone. Trevenant had seen the entire thing from inside their Pokeball, and so they aided Medicham in telling the full story. Kriesh, understandably, had been rather irritated at her failure to take down even one of Wulfric's Pokemon, but had been comforted by the fact that they'd won anyway. Cloyster especially received praise; though the entire team save for Kriesh had seen his battle with Wulfric's Cloyster, they also had not had the opportunity to congratulate him on unlocking his Ability.

After that, Trevenant relayed what had happened after the battle's end. Of note, Serena's battle would be happening tomorrow, Wulfric had given Marcus TMs for Ice Punch and Ice Fang, and Cloyster had managed to communicate nonverbally his flat refusal to learn Shell Smash, which Wulfric had been surprised by but understanding of.

As Trevenant was finishing his story, Medicham saw Marcus stepping into view from behind a nearby building, his parents, Scamper, and Puffball behind him.

"…staying for Serena's battle," he said. "She'll probably really appreciate it."

"It's no trouble," said Sarah. "Besides, the Tournament's not for another few weeks. We've got plenty of time to get ready to head to the Kalos Pokemon League."

Medicham caught Scamper's eye. Immediately her mind flew back to the question he had posed to her when they'd met again only yesterday.

Was it worth it?

"No…" she whispered, pushing the thought out of her head. The Kalos Pokemon League Tournament was coming. She would not allow such thoughts to interfere.

All her unanswered questions, all her trauma, all her rage at and fear of the Heralds, it could all take a backseat. All that mattered at the Tournament was doing well in battle.

She had not disappointed Marcus in this Gym. She would not disappoint Marcus at the Tournament. She would forget her trauma for the moment, and she would fight as hard as she could for him.

"…amazing! They all performed brilliantly. You have a fantastic team, Marcus. I'm proud of how well you've raised them."

Medicham realized that she'd probably missed several sentences of Marcus's conversation with his parents. She sighed and looked back at Scamper, who was staring at her with his usual indifferent expression, but the glinting of his eyes belied that indifference.

"Why are you staring at me?" she asked him telepathically.

To his credit, the Delcatty barely flinched. "Because I find you curious," he responded in the same way.

"How so?"

"You claim that you don't know whether being a Trained Pokemon is worth the pain," he explained. "And yet you battle as if you care about Marcus like nothing else. Like Marcus is everything to you. You willingly took what looked like an extremely painful attack head-on just to get a win for him. So answer me this: was that victory worth that pain?"

"Yes," said Medicham.

"Then aren't all the other ones worth it as well?" Scamper asked.

Medicham sighed. "Scamper…it's just more complicated than that. I'm sorry, but…you just don't understand."

"Very well," Scamper responded. The Delcatty turned away from Medicham and stepped over to the rest of the team.

Medicham was left alone once again as a fresh wave of thoughts clung to the edges of her mind, intrusive, traumatic thoughts that she now had to push back. And, privately, Medicham couldn't help but wonder how long those thoughts would be pushed back for.

She couldn't help but wonder how long she could avoid reckoning with her regained memories.