Chapter 12 is out! Before we begin I just wanna say that I apologize for posting this chapter late. Nearly 10 weeks late. I've just entered a new school so the adjusting process was something that had to take a front seat for me, but now I'm back and ready for this battle! This chapter is going to be a bit clunky because I'm still in the process of readjusting to writing after the break so bear with me here. Now let's get ready for the star City Exhibition match!

2027 - Unova - Star City Retsuko's Apartment

The night before Star Fest, Retsuko gathered Kyu and Via into his living room.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before opening them and lowering his brows at Kyu and Via, who sat on the couch in anticipation.

"I have something to tell you guys. Something important." He said weakly.

Kyu stared at him blankly while Via kept her same fixated expression.

"It better be pretty damn important for you to be tripping out on us lately." Kyu said.

"When I was young, I was diagnosed with… issues." Retsuko awkwardly began.

Via's expression remained, and Kyu's changed to a more serious tone.

"I. I have- I'm not even sure how to have this conversation…" Retsuko trailed.

"Are you like… A psychopath?"

"Can it." Via scolded as she jabbed Kyu in the stomach, who clutched his lower body in response.

Retsuko took a deep breath again before Kyu or Via could say anything else.

"I have a lot of disorders and general mental issues. O.C.D., Alexithymia, S.E.A., Scopophobia, Tourettes, just to name a few."

"Why didn't you tell us any of this?" Via questioned. "We've been best friends for almost eight years, your mom took me in as her own daughter and nobody thought to mention it to us?!" She continued, slowly getting frustrated.

"I asked everyone who knew not to say anything. You of all people know I got bullied a lot back at the Pokemon School. It might have been because of the way I look, or the way I acted, but I just never fitted in." Retsuko replied.

"Why tell us now? After 7 years of us not knowing, why now?" Kyu asked.

"When I first met Kuu, he was the first one to ever protect me from those kids who messed with me. Then I met you. Before I had no friends and seeing pictures of the others being happy it felt off. When I was in pictures it felt off. That on top of being born into one of the most famous families in the world didn't do me very well. I was happier when I finally had two friends that enjoyed me for who I am. As I got older the symptoms died down so I never brought it up. But they're coming back."

"I'm not too knowledgeable about all of this stuff but could it be because of the Orakuru?" Kyu asked.

"No, it's not that. It's just… everything." Retsuko replied.

Kyu raised his eyebrow.

"Everything?"

"Being the champion, being in the spotlight 24/7, the battles, all of my duties, how It's been for two years managing all of this by myself without having you guys there. I had to put up this act. 'Retsuko Kourada, the arrogant asshole champion of Unova.' People have this false idea of who I am because someone in charge wants to make everything a stupid reality Tv Drama. It's overwhelming honestly. Knowing that I'm constantly being looked down upon, constantly being harassed, constantly hearing my name. I don't know what to feel. All I know is that the Orakuru are making people feel the exact way I felt. And I wanna stop them."

2027 - Unova, Vertress City Star Fest

Kion and Kyu walked in the direction of the food stands briefly, but Kion slowed his momentum, falling behind Kyu.

Seeing an opportunity, Kion grabbed Kyu by the collar and pulled him into an alleyway, closed off from the rest of the festival.

"What the hell..? Kion, fuck off!" Kyu resisted.

He shoved Kion off of him with extreme difficulty.

"We need to talk." Kion said Seriously.

"Then do it civilly you fucking bastard!" Kyu said, catching his breath and dusting himself off.

"I need answers and I'm tired of waiting. What the hell is up with you and that damn Mimikyu? What happened at the league? I know that you were working with Shino Akaba, so don't bullshit me." Kion demanded.

Kyu sneered.

"You don't need to pressure me with this shit. Literally." He said, scoffing.

"Answers. Right the fuck now." Kion repeated.

"I have a one of a kind case of DID that is a literal physical manifestation of my negative emotions. His name is Moé. Ironic choice but it works." Kyu said.

Kion backed off of him.

"Who else knows?"

"What's with all the damn questions? Do you know something that I don't?" Kyu retorted.

"Yes." Kion said, sighing as he leaned against the alley wall.

"Everyone is on edge right now. But you need to calm your ass down." Kyu said, as Kion looked down at the ground.

"Fine." Kion replied.

"Why are you always so pressed about something? You're acting just like you were during the Team Plasma attack!" Kyu said.

"Because you don't understand the gravity of what we're dealing with! If the Orakuru are connected to Team Plasma, then the same man who tortured you and caused your 'condition' is roaming this city rent free!" Kion snapped.

"Holy shit. Here we go again with the goddamn mystery man. Honestly Kion, what the fuck is your obession with that guy!?"

Kion scoffed and rolled his eyes, turning around and leaving the alley.

"Oh so no response?!" Kyu shouted at him.

Kyu readjusted his scarf and looked back to where Kion had left from.

"Asshole."

Retsuko and Kaz stood side by side on their elevated platform, waiting to be introduced for the battle.

Retsuko worriedly turned to Kaz.

"Are you sure about this? Carmen I'm not so worried about; she's as powerful as a gym leader at best. Gill on the other hand... Let's just say that aside from Kyu and Kion and their Pokemon, Gill, and Spike are the most powerful team that I've had the honor of having as a rival." Retsuko warned.

Kaz looked into her paw in contemplation.

After reaffirming herself that she was ready she looked back up to Retsuko.

"I'll win for you, Master." She said confidently.

Retsuko turned away from her awkwardly.

"Y'know, you don't have to call me master... It sounds so formal..." Retsuko said bashfully. He paused in thought. "Wait, do all of my pokemon call me master?" He questioned.

Kaz didn't answer him but kept her determined expression.

"Last night I told my friends the truth about my disorders. Knowing that I have that off my chest gives me the motivation to fight with my all." Retsuko thought.

The platform began to rise up like an elevator, moving at a linear pace up towards the stadium.

Kaz took a deep but shaky breath while Retsuko remained indifferent.

In all of his battles defending his title as Champion or doing a friendly match, he'd never struggled and usually defeated his opponents effortlessly.

Retsuko hadn't fought Kion since their battle after the League, and his only loss in two years was to Ascent.

This was a rebound.

The elevated platform stopped and Retsuko and Kaz stood in front of a massive battlefield, with Kion and Khan being raised up next to him.

Across the massive field were Gill and Carmen, standing side by side.

The crowd of what had to be at least a million roared and the seats were beyond full.

Kaz wimpered and ducked behind Retsuko, completely afraid of the excited people and Pokemon ready to watch her fight.

Retsuko took a deep breath and looked at the audience in front of him.

"Let's do this." Retsuko said, looking down at Kaz.

Kaz nervously perked up, walking forward and standing beside Khan on the battlefield.

Kion took a deep breath and absorbed his surroundings.

"Let it go, Kion. Let it go." He thought to himself.

He shook himself off and thrusted his fist into the air with Gill doing the same.

"

A portable rotom monitor above them voiced a line of text shown on the screen.

"Unova Star Fest Exhibiton Match: Battle Begin!" The electronic voice ordered.

Gill smiled widely, so wide that his appearance was almost menacing.

He proceeded to do a wide array of stretches, each one more exaggerated than the next.

After finishing the series of stretches, Spike sprouted from Gill's head and jumped onto the battlefield.

"Hehe. I'm so hyped for this!" He said eagerly.

Carmen rolled her eyes threw two Pokeballs into the air, releasing a Male and a Female Meowstic.

"Let's get this over with." She said.

"Ikou Ze, Kaz!" Retsuko shouted.

Kaz got into a fighting stance and prepared herself while Neptune unsheathed his two Seamitars.

Neptune and Kaz rushed forward at blinding speed and Spike did the same.

Neptune's Seamitars clashed with Spike's tail and the sheer force blew Kaz backwards into a wall of the stadium.

"Bulk up!" Retsuko ordered.

Kaz rebounded off of the wall, using her legs to pump more energy into her muscles. She bounced off of it and off of another wall, targeting Carmen's Meowstic.

"Alright Kaz. Spike and Neptune are on a completely different league than you so far, so I don't want you to get caught up with them. Carmen's strong herself, but she's a psychic type specialist so it's better for you to focus on the pokemon that you aren't weak to." Kion said.

"The strat is lightwork. All ya gotta do is use Bulk Up to increase your offensive and defensive capabilities to a level where you'd be able to do enough damage to Spike, pair it with your speed and you've got yourself a win." Kyu added, smiling with a wink.

Kaz jumped up and charged a sphere of water that immediately froze into ice in her left paw.

"Ice Punch!" Retsuko added.

Carmen's Meowstic Duo used psychic to ascend into the air out of Kaz's reach, and pushed her back.

Kaz flipped herself over using her tails to avoid being knocked off balance, and narrowly avoided a stray bolt of lightning from Spike.

"Ow! The electricity… It hurts so much." Kaz noted.

She jumped up and avoided a swing from Neptune, who was flinging his blade around in hopes of hitting the small and powerful dedenne.

"Dani, use Light Screen, and Das, use Reflect!" Carmen ordered.

Kaz flipped onto Neptune's back and used bulk up again, jumping into the two meowstic with a Brick Break, nullifying the barriers that they tried to create.

"Well that's just annoying." Carmen pouted.

Neptune and Spike continued to clash with each other, before Spike jumped back onto one of Neptune's seamitars.

"Iron Tail!" Gill shouted as Spike backflipped, slamming his tail into Neptune's chin in a devastating uppercut.

"Now for the fun part! Discharge em!" Gill added.

Spike used Neptune's fall to launch himself upwards and release a powerful outburst of electricity on the entire field.

Kaz jumped, attempting to avoid it but the AoE based attack proved too much for her to avoid with just speed.

Kaz shrieked in pain, pushing off against the wall.

"Bulk up again Kaz!" Retsuko called out.

Neptune used his seamitar to block the discharge from hitting him, and threw his seamitar into the air.

It spun around like a boomerang, nearly hitting Carmen's Meowstic, while Kaz surrounded herself with orange energy and powered herself up

"Let's try this again. Lightscreen, Reflect, and top it off with Psychic!" Carmen ordered.

Carmen's meowstic quickly put up the two barriers and together, used psychic to reverse the momentum of the seamitar back at neptune.

Neptune caught the large blade and threw it again, along with his second one and Kaz used bulk up again and jumped off of Neptune's back.

She attempted to hit Carmen's male Meowstic with another brick break but spike appeared from behind her and smacked her back into the ground.

Spike prepared to Shock both Kaz and Neptune again with a super effective thunderbolt, but out of nowhere, Neptune's seamitar came spiraling back at Spike, knocking him into the stadium wall.

Kaz jumped back twice and Neptune caught both of his Seamitars, retreating to her side.

"Kaz." Neptune said, placing his paw in front of her.

"Follow my every move. I'll carry us both to a victory."

Spike shot another lightning bolt and Neptune held up his blade, turning it to the broad side to deflect the attack.

"Dani!" Carmen shouted.

Carmen's female Meowstic used psychic to redirect the lightning at Kaz, but Neptune defected it by throwing his Seamitar.

Kaz flipped over Neptune and charged up Ice Punch, socking Dani in the face and knocking her back.

Carmen's male meowstic, Das rushed at Neptune in response, hitting him with a Confuse Ray before getting slammed into a wall by Kaz's Brick Break.

"The Key here is Kaz's overwhelming speed. As long as she can increase her attack power to it's limit and we can line up the perfect shot, even a powerful electric type like Spike wouldn't be able to tank a STAB boosted liquidation of such force." Retsuko thought.

"Incapacitate them with sing!" He ordered.

While the two pokemon were pinned, Kaz rushed forward yet again, preparing to form her hypnotic melody, but Neptune turned around and slammed her straight in the neck with a megahorn attack.

Kaz was sent flying into Spike's direction, who landed an iron tail on her that forced her body further into the ground.

"Shit, he's confused!" Kion shouted out.

Retsuko looked at the indent in the battlefield worriedly. "Kaz…" He mumbled.

Kaz miraculously pushed herself up off the ground, having used Bulk Up again to absorb most of the blow.

"Let's go, Kaz!" Kyu shouted from the audience.

Kaz went back up and began to throw out a barrage of attacks, targeting Carmen's Meowstic.

Neptune, shaking off the effects of confusion, rushed up to assist her in the assault.

Neptune swiped upward and Kaz used his blade to jump up with an Ice Uppercut. She then turned her body around and slammed Dani into the stadium wall by using a brick break with her tail.

"Using sing isn't an option anymore, and one out of Kaz's two reliable offensive moves isn't effective on psychic types. We're at a major disadvantage here." Kion thought.

"Let's switch our tactics. Water Pledge!" Kion ordered.

Neptune shook himself off and slammed his paws into the ground, creating pillars of water that shot up and covered the battlefield.

"Oh I get it… Kaz, Faux Aqua Jet!" Retsuko added.

Kaz enveloped herself in the water and jumped into the pillars, swapping from pillar to pillar by propelling herself with her tail and masking herself in the water with camouflague to create a technique similar to the move aqua Jet.

"As if! Discharge it!" Gill shouted to spike, who released another burst of electricity that exploded into the battlefield.

"Not gonna let you!" Kion retorted as Neptune appeared in front of the electricity and batted it back at Spike.

Das and Dani prepared for another combo attack but Kaz jumped out of the water pillars and slapped them out of the sky with her twin tails.

Neptune caught his second Seamitar and rushed at the two of them with Razor shell.

Kaz jumped back into the water and proceeded to jump from pillar to pillar, building up speed again.

She bounced off of the wall to redirect herself.

Then off of the stadium floor.

With every rebound she grew stronger and stronger, building up more and more speed.

Spike used Zing Zap to catch up with Kaz again and tried to catch her mid-jump but she ducked out of the way and into another pillar as Spike fell into a megahorn attack from Neptune that knocked him into the center.

Neptune got into position and swayed his paws in order to make the water Pledge pillars move in closer, surrounding spike, Dani, and das.

Kaz began to circle the massive tidal pillar, building up more and more speed with each full rotation.

Neptune threw his first Seamitar at the three Pokemon trapped in the pillars, knocking them into the air.

Spike climbed the blade and prepared to jump up but Kaz rushed out of the water above him.

"Now's your chance, Kaz!" Kyu and Via shouted together.

"I'll do it. Right here. Right now!" Kaz said.

She dashed forth right as Spike was flipped over and in his weak spot, right in perfect position so that she could take out all 3 of her opponents at once.

She got in a kata position, prepared to unshealth th e blade and end their battle.

She stepped backwards, water flowing from inside of her body to her paw, and surging upwards in the form of a blade.

"Do it! Liquidation!" Retsuko yelled.

In an instant, Kaz drew the water blade and went in for a devastating slash.

One second went by.

Two seconds.

Three.

The water around them dispersed and Spike appeared above Kaz, Liquidation having completely failed again.

Spike dissapeared with his speed, moving using the edge of the stadium to build up energy like Kaz had before.

"End it with Zing Zap!" Gill shouted, raising both of his index fingers into the air.

Kaz's eyes widened as the electricity neared her.

Her chance to prove herself to Retsuko was gone.

One hit from the electric attack would leave her unable to battle indefinitely.

She'd failed.

Kaz found herself floating in the pond in Eterna forest where she had grown up in.

The young buizel opened her eyes to find her mom singing on the rock in the center of the pond, extending her paw out to guide her view.

She blinked and opened her eyes to see nothing but water surrounding her, an endless pool of memories.

First she saw a tall male, with blue and black hair resembling Retsuko, but older and more mascukine. He was curled up in a ball as if he was in some sort of emotional pain. He shared Retsuko's skin tone, hair color, and had a beauty mark on the right side of his face.

Kaz muttered a name but before she could finish, the vision of the him faded away as the image of another boy appeared in front of him.

Then a series of other humans flashed into her mind.

Another person resembling Retsuko, with a feminine face. Their skin was slightly lighter than his, and they had long hair.

A beautiful young woman with a dark red blend of hair and a delicate face.

A boy with cyan hair and sparkly silver eyes.

Another person with long brown hair, and green eyes.

The visions of two people faded into Kaz's mind, both shadowy, and she could barely make them out.

The first one was what seemed to be a girl with shiny yellow eyes.

The second was of a short boy with glowing eyes.

Another of a happy-looking boy with crimson eyes.

The visions faded away slowly as the final one came into Kaz's view

Last was the image of a young girl. She had light brownish skin and a face with soft features. Her long multi-colored hair flowed back and forth as if the wind was blowing against it. She wore a dress that was the same colors as her hair; Cyan and Magenta.

Like a cosmic flower.

Kaz urged desperately as she extended her paw out to reach the girl.

Kaz woke up with a newfound will to fight.

A line from the voice of her mother rang in her head.

"Are you really going to give up now?" She asked.

Kaz breathed in and exhaled deeply, her expression tightening.

"No. I can't fail here. I have to put everything I have into this to win. For Retsuko!" She thought.

Using everything she could, Kaz inhaled deeply and enlarged her flotation sack, filling it as much as she could.

"I remember now… Bigger. I need to make myself bigger!" She said, pulling in more and more air.

"Kaz!" Neptune shouted, attempting to rush over to assist but Das and Dani kept him restrained with the last of their combined psychic energy.

"Bigger!" Kaz repeated, sucking in more and more hair.

In less than a second, Kaz had inflated her sac many times it's size, covering a third of the battlefield.

Spike collided with Kaz's body and a massive shockwave bursted out from the collision, sending gusts at everyone in the arena.

"She used the rubberlike flotation sac to absorb most of the damage! Way to go, Kaz!" Kyu shouted happily.

"It hurts… But I can handle this pain. I won't let this chance go to waste!" Kaz said.

She released the air in a burst, knocking Spike back into the center next to Das and Dani.

Neptune's blade that was still spiraling in the air fell back down and bounced off of the stadium wall.

"Liquidation as it stands won't work. So I'll put everything… Into this!" Kaz yelled, jumping up and catching the seamitar.

"What?!" Kion questioned, he and Neptune's eyes widening at the same time.

She landed got into kata position again, prepared to unshealth the blade from her side.

She stepped backwards, water flowing from inside of her body to her paw, and surging upwards into Neptune's seamitar, shattering it into pieces from the hilt up.

Retsuko watched in awe.

A wide smirk crept onto his face, as the thrill of a Pokemon battle, a real challenge returned to him after two years.

"IKKOU ZE! KAZ!" Retsuko shouted.

"Kourada Family Style: Liquidation - Horizontal Pass!"

Kaz 'unsheathed' the blade from the side of her body and sliced all 3 of the opposing pokemon at once.

The attack sent the three of them flying back, as water plulsed through their bodies, disrupting their internal systems.

One second went by.

Two seconds.

Three.

Das, Dani, and Spike dropped to the stadium floor unconscious.

The battle was over.

Kaz stood victorious.

Gill and Carmen have officially been defeated! Was her display enough to entertain the Gijinka teacher? We'll have to wait to see. Only 3 more chapters till this arc is finished!