Chapter 14: The True Power of Polarna Vatra!
After another day of training, Thursday soon arrived, the day on which team Polarna Vatra would take on the bet. Somehow Aurora still felt a little cheated, as the team itself had not even been given a say in whether they even wanted to take the bet or not. On the other hand, the two did not want to disappoint Aurorus and at the same time get one over on his team partner. And thanks to some new techniques that Aurora had learned in the meantime, which she could now use due to her evolution, and their complete type advantage, both team members felt very confident. As long as they did not make any major mistakes, it would be almost impossible for their opponents to win. There was only one possibility that could cause problems, and that was the chance that Team Slash had given them misinformation so that they would fail.

As the sun was already setting, however, the team found themselves on the level on which this battle was to take place. To be honest, Aurora almost felt guilty because she and Marshadow were worlds ahead of their opponents physically. But this was the dark side of the Lower League. No matter how strong a team really was, as long as it was new, it fought here. In return, strong teams naturally rose quickly to the Upper League, and weaker candidates had room to breathe again. However, the opponents of Team Polarna vatra were not to get this room today. When the two Pokemon that Zoroark had announced actually arrived shortly after Aurora and Marshadow, the Ninetales felt very safe. It would be her first league fight after evolving, but she had brought a lot of training with her from fights with her teammate. Aurora and Marshadow had also worked out many of the trump cards of both Pokemon, but they wanted to save these for more important duels in the future. For example, Epsilon.

The looks that Lillipup was giving Team Polarna vatra said a lot about the mentality of their opponents. Both sides expected that this duel would not be a challenge for Polarna vatra. Tyrantrum and Aurorus both were present for this duel.

"So, Team Polarna vatra, Team Katsuretsu, you see your opponents for today. Team Polarna vatra, this is your second league battle, for you other two..."

Monargoras looked disdainfully at the two small Pokemon.

"I did as most people did and stopped counting. So, Team Polarna vatra, the bet still stands. Your task should be to win this duel without needing a third round. You know the reasons, the rest don't have to know them yet. So, are both teams ready? Then choose your first fighters."

Thanks to Zoroark's explanations, no debate was necessary for Aurora's team. It was therefore likely that Snivy would enter the battlefield first, which is why both had long since planned for Aurora to face off first due to the type advantage, even if it would likely not be needed. And their opponents didn't say a word to each other either, much to Tyrantrum's surprise.

"What now? Nobody wants to coordinate here?"
"No need. We have our strategy."
"Your problem. Then step into the ring."

/Music: Neffex - Dream on (this is a basic one that can be used for every regular league battle)/

This time too, the explanations provided by Team Slash were correct. Aurora was now facing Snivy, who seemed quite confident despite his clear disadvantage. But he was probably just too self-confident, Aurora thought. And so the battle began. Before she even thought about attacking her opponent, she first tried to level the battlefield for herself. Within seconds, icy lines were spread all over the ground and spikes of ice rose up from the ground to block Snivy's path. The grass-type himself didn't really do much except watch Aurora in confusion and try to do something with singular razor blades. None of them hit their target, as Aurora knew how to use the slippery ice to glide across the battlefield, now with an even clearer advantage. The two league founders watched the action from the sidelines. Aurorus seemed quite interested while Tyrantrum was simply annoyed by Snivy's performance. He already realized that he had greatly underestimated Aurora and Marshadow.

While Aurora was now simply using her specially created battlefield to completely disorient Snivy, she was already firing off a few attacks. The most powerful one she had in this specially created environment was Icy Wind. This was well suited to moving enemies anyway, even if it didn't do much damage. On a slippery surface, this effect was multiplied many times over. It would be possible to talk about this fight for a long time, but nothing special happened. Aurora remained in complete control throughout and enjoyed watching Tyrantrum suffer on the sidelines. She was only hit by two single razor blades, which did nothing except cause tiny scratches.

The end of the duel was the only notable part. Because a situation arose that Aurora didn't even know could happen. Tyrantrum rose from his chair and pressed a button on the edge of the room. Immediately, all the ice on the battlefield dissolved and a beep sounded.

"End the round, damn it!"

Tyrantrum's mood had clearly become even worse after this first duel than it almost always was anyway.

"Mercy rule!"

He replied annoyed to the questioning looks.

"For idiots, if I press that button, the round ends because the winner is basically decided, even if no one leaves the ring. Do you want to torture me, Aurora, or why don't you just end this torture and claim your victory?"

Confident, the Ninetales stepped out of the ring.

"After you made us do this bet in the first place, yes I want to lengthen your enjoyment. It's about getting the message across."

Annoyed, the fossil turned away, while Aurorus seemed to be trying not to giggle.

"You can go to hell too. So, Marshadow, Lillipup, get it over with!"

Aurora sat down at the edge, calm and satisfied. Their fight had not been close at all. Tyrantrum obviously already realized his miscalculation and the probability that Marshadow would win his fight was pretty much 100%. Although he could not redesign the battlefield like Aurora could, it was quite obvious that Snivy was the stronger of their two opponents, while Marshadow was not inferior to Aurora. In addition, Lillipup did not seem particularly motivated, while Aurora's teammate seemed very relaxed. It was almost too easy for Team Polarna vatra.

"Get this over with, now!"

Unlike Aurora, who had taken all the time in the world, Marshadow had no intention of letting the fight go on for long. He immediately disappeared into the ground and Lillipup didn't seem to understand what was happening to him. Completely unprepared, he didn't even pay attention to the shadow that was moving along the ground, directly towards him. Panicked, the dog Pokemon tried to flee from something, without even knowing what from. But it was in vain, as Marshadow emerged from the ground, directly beneath his opponent, and sent him flying with a powerful blow. Aurora noticed out of the corner of her eye how both Snivy and Tyrantrum seemed to feel the blow themselves.

When Lillipup returned to the ground, he was astonished. He had fully expected Marshadow to use the opportunity for a powerful combo. But instead he quickly realized what had really happened. As soon as he looked around, he saw Marshadow to his right. Twice. And behind him too. And to his left. A total of seven Marshadows were on the battlefield, all of them acting completely independently of one another. Lillipup also knew that only one of them was real. But... which one? Suddenly, however, he saw a Marshadow behind him preparing an Aura Sphere and, before his opponent could react, jumped at Marshadow with a bite. And the opponent... simply dissolved into nothingness, because it was but a copy. Marshadow took advantage of Lillipup's moment of shock right next to the destroyed copy to land another blow that sent the dog flying.

Aurora was very surprised when the weak-looking Pokemon still fought back and avoided the Dark Pulse of one of the Marshadow with a skillful maneuver in the air. What he hadn't expected, however, was that Marshadow's double team was a stronger technique than many others. Because even though there was only one real Marshadow, the copies could still fire off real attacks. Aurora had known this for a few days. According to his own statement, Marshadow had learned the technique shortly after his first defeat against Kel and Aurora, in order to be ready for the next time.

This fact was also the reason why it was so important to Marshadow to create all the copies as early as possible without being disturbed. Lillipup's maneuver saved him from a Dark Pulse, but he did not see the combo that hit him afterwards coming. An Aura Sphere from a copy hit him critically, immediately throwing him back into the air. This time another Marshadow was already waiting there, who kicked his opponent back to the ground, where another Marshadow rose from the shadows and waited with a charged Thunder Punch. The hit left Lillipup paralyzed and initially unable to move. At that moment, a Marshadow, the real one, raised his hand and all the copies dissolved and gathered as shadow energy in his clenched fist. Yorkleff could do nothing but watch as the shadow fist hit with all its might and smashed him to the outer edge of the danger zone.

Marshadow seemed a little disconcerted for a moment, as he had fully expected to win the fight with his attack. Lillipup took advantage of this to rush to his opponent and try a direct attack. But Marshadow reacted quickly enough, disappeared into the shadows to avoid the Body Slam, and with Lillipup now close to the danger zone and off balance, the final blow was delivered and Marshadow won his fight too.

/Music ends/

While he left the ring and rejoiced with Aurora over her victory, Tyrantrum seemed completely stunned. Aurorus seemed equally surprised when Snivy called him over briefly. Aurora only heard the conversation peripherally, but what she heard amused her.

"I know, but that's how the Lower League is. You should know best. We can't always make all the fights be fair."

Afterwards, both members of Team Fossil gathered around the winners of the fight.

"Well, what we saw today was a truly exceptional performance. Tyrantrum, I think that the big issue has now been resolved. Aurora, Marshadow, get on with it, got it? I've never seen anything like it in a second bttle. Of course, there's still room for improvement, but your potential is more than obvious! In my opinion, you two could be in the Top 30 if you give it some time!"

For once, Tyrantrum didn't even seem to want to contradict his teammate.

"I'm enough of a man to admit my mistakes. You two are much more capable than I had imagined. I can only congratulate you."

The next moment, however, his suspicions seemed to flare up again.

"But stay down to earth, you two, alright? If you aim too high, you'll fall far. You may be good, but you're nowhere near the best! So don't let this win get to your heads!"

Aurora had no plans to do anything like that anyway. Nevertheless, she was of course happy about her team's dominant victory.

"Well, then let's talk about the project again for a moment."

Both teams went to the league leaders' office to talk there undisturbed. Aurorus started explaining.

"Well, the search will take place in a week from now. We will only announce it in the morning of the event itself so as not to give theoretical supporters of Epsilon any time to counteract. You two will then be entrusted with guarding the tower and generator, should you agree to this, of course."

The idea of searching for Epsilon and challenging him again was somewhat appealing, but Aurora did not want to take on too much for now. They were too weak for this enemy. Either way, it would be better if she didn't run into the self-proclaimed Plot Emperor again. And guarding the tower was perfect for that. Plus, she and Marshadow would have the whole day and the whole building, the perfect opportunity to develop and train new trump cards.

"We will be ready! A week from today, yes?"

"Exactly. But I really don't expect anything significant to happen on your watch. Apart from Team Nordika, Team Slash, you and us, nobody knows anything. Epsilon won't get wind of the operation before it's too late for him!"