John's Team

Tyrant - Slaking

Vordt - Ursaluna

Smough - Snorlax

Klee - Blissey

Port - Mantine

Zephyr - Pidgeot

Klaus - Wyrdeer

Luna - Clefable

Pixel - Porygon2

Euphie - Sylveon

Ornstein - Obstagoon

Wraith - H-Zoroark

The New Normal – 10-15 – The Other Battles

Unfortunately, my celebrations with Roxanne about our mutual victory was interrupted by the sounds of children sniffling as Agatha and the twins approached us.

The twins were 'unhappy' about their defeat.

"…Look at what you've done, John." Agatha scowled at me as she took out a handkerchief to wipe down the snot from their noses, "You just had to win with your Ursaluna. You couldn't have used a weaker Pokémon and allowed these two nice, adorable children to make it to the Top 3, could you?"

Roxanne frowned guiltily, but I was less affected since I was very used to what Agatha was like. Still, even though this was just Agatha being Agatha, I knew that there was no chance I was winning an argument when there were crying children involved, so instead I moved to change the topic.

However, Roxanne moved first as she kneeled down next to Tate and Liza with a smile on her face, "Hey, you guys did very well. You really are prodigies if you made it this far while being so young. Your parents must be so happy for you."

She was really drawing on all of her experience as a teacher right now.

Liza sniffed, "They are. They came to watch all our matches."

Roxanne leaned in closer, "Do you know how bad of a trainer I was at your age? The fact that you already have such a powerful Claydol and Solrock is very impressive."

"But they went down so quickly to John's Pokémon." Tate mumbled, and I felt the dirty look that Agatha was giving me.

"John is a very good trainer, and so is Agatha. He knew that he needed to take you out before he could focus his efforts on Agatha. It doesn't mean you're weak." She said soothingly, "In fact, it means that you were enough of a threat so that John couldn't just ignore you as he fought Agatha's Pokémon."

She gently patted them on the head, "So don't worry. You're strong. Right, John?"

"Yes they are." I agreed, quickly following on from her words, "Tate, Liza, both of you have the potential to become one of the strongest trainers in the world. You both have such incredible potential as Psychic trainers – I can't wait to see how strong you'll get when you both grow up. You will certainly be a force to be reckoned with."

Both our words seemed to be getting through to them, and they began to cheer up a little bit. Agatha spoke up as well, "If you have anyone to blame for losing, then blame it on me." She said, to my and Roxanne's surprise, "I should have done more to protect your Pokémon and warned you against the illusion trap from John's Zoroark. Your defeat was due to my complacency, not your own fault."

The twins immediately looked like they were about to protest her words, but Agatha quickly shushed them, "You don't need to say more. This loss is my fault, okay?"

The twins stared at each other for a moment before they both nodded hesitantly.

"Good. Then you don't need to blame yourself." Agatha stated, tapping her cane on the ground for emphasis, "Come now, your parents are waiting for you. I will bring you there."

She gave one last brief nod to the both of us before she escorted the twins out of the arena, leaving only Roxanne and I there.

Roxanne's frown returned as we watched them leave, "…I know I haven't done anything wrong, yet why do I feel guilty for winning?"

I sighed, "Because it feels like we just took candy from a baby?"

She snapped her fingers, "Yeah, that's probably it."

"Nothing we can do about it." I shook my head, "It was either us or them, and we at least won fairly. Take solace in that, at least. Plus, even if they fought a different team that wasn't us, there's no guarantee they'd win either."

A League official began waving at us to get off the stage so that they could prepare for the next match, so the two of us started walking out of the arena.

"At the end of the day, this is a tournament. There will always be a winner and a loser." I stated. Then, wanting to change the mood, I gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder, "Let's not focus on that anymore. Congratulations, Roxanne. You made it to the Top 3."

"You mean we made it to the Top 3." She grinned at me, "Don't be humble. We both know I could have never have gotten this far without you. You definitely carried me in that last fight – I was next to useless against Agatha."

"No, you did what was needed of you." I denied, "Otherwise, Agatha would have been a far more frustrating opponent without your help. Your Probopass impressed me with its endurance." It really did. Without it surprising Gengar and tripping it up, Vordt would not have knocked it down so easily.

She smiled at my praise, "Thank you. It's good to know that my efforts training my Probopass weren't for naught."

"Anyways, do you have any plan for taking on the Champions?" She asked, "Fighting all three of them at once, even with six Pokémon on our side, won't be an easy fight. I probably will be relegated to a support role again – there's no chance I'd be able to stand and fight against those monsters."

"Actually, it might not be a 3v6 fight." I whispered.

She looked shocked, but she kept her voice down, "Wait, why?"

I looked around to make sure no one could overhear me, "Listen, keep this a secret, okay? But Lance and I actually have a plan to duel each other. We've been planning this for quite a while, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. Now that I've made it to the Top 3, I'm almost certain our duel can go ahead."

Roxanne's eyes widened, "…Ah, I see. So it's going to be a 2v5 instead?"

"I think so." I confirmed, "…I should probably reach out to Lance and confirm that our duel is happening."

"Knowing Wallace, he wouldn't say no." She said, "This is the kind of dramatic battle that he loves so dearly. And knowing you, you'd actually be able to match Lance's Emperor. I've seen videos of your Slaking fighting. If you actually used it against our Tournament opponents, you wouldn't even need me. You could have won by yourself."

"And that's exactly why I didn't want to use him." I replied, "This Tournament was an excellent opportunity for me to get some battle experience on my weaker Pokémon. Relying purely on my starter would go against that. Plus, could you imagine how bad of a look it would be if I just fought without caring for you? Since the Tournament is all about international cooperation, the public would skin me alive!"

"Yeah, you're right. It wouldn't be a good look." She agreed, "Anyways, you have anything planned for later? Or should we have a celebratory lunch together? We haven't eaten together since we paired up."

"Absolutely." I smiled, "Oh, before you say anything, it's my treat. I insist."

She frowned, "Absolutely not. You did all the hard work, at least let me pay for it."

"No, Roxanne. It was you that went above and beyond in those fights." I insisted, "And you should be rewarded for that effort. Let me pay."

The bickering continued all the way to the restaurant, and it was only paused as we both decided to stop arguing as we enjoyed our victory meal together.

However, I got the last laugh. As she slipped away to the bathroom, I paid for the bill.

Suck it.

Since our match was the first of the Final Rounds, I still had some time before the fight against Lance would take place. I had already called Lance to confirm that the match would take place, and Lance told me that Wallace had easily given his approval.

"I'll make the announcement once all of the Top 3 have been decided." He said to me over the phone, "Then we'll have our fight."

Otherwise, I didn't have much to do until then. My parents and friends hadn't arrived from Indigo yet, and Cynthia was unfortunately unavailable and was only able to congratulate me over the phone. Apparently, she was wrapping up a few things with the financial investigations so couldn't spend time with me for the moment.

Since I had nothing better to do, and I really didn't want to throw myself back into training when I had just finished a difficult fight, I decided to spectate the other matches.

I was actually a little disappointed at the matchups; I was hoping for Drake's and Giovanni's teams to avoid each other, since I was rooting for them to make it to the Top 3. However, they ended up against each other, and that was why I was watching their match right now.

And sadly for Giovanni, Drake's Pokémon were expectedly dominant in this fight, just like they had been in every fight before that.

"Hydro Pump, Blastoise! Dominate them!"

That Blastoise of his was pummelling both Giovanni's Swampert and Norman's Kangaskhan with a full-powered Hydro Pump. Swampert may not be weak to Water types attacks, but that still didn't stop it from being absolutely blasted back from the sheer force of the torrent of water smashing into its face. The Ground type made a valiant attempt to endure and fight back, but its desperate struggles were repeatedly proving to be futile in the face of Blastoise's overwhelming attack.

Knowing that Swampert was a physical attacker, I recognised that Giovanni was trying his best to close the distance against Blastoise, since there was no way it could compete against Blastoise's tremendous firepower with its poor Special Attack. However, Swampert's attempts to Dig were quickly punished by a powerful Earthquake from Blastoise, nor could it force its way through the Hydro Pump with its own Waterfall. It was stuck being on the defensive.

In the meanwhile, Misty's Golduck had free reign to set up the Rain before firing off a Grass Knot towards Swampert, which was barely interrupted in time by a last-second Stone Edge from Kangaskhan.

That Stone Edge saved Swampert.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop the unrelenting cannon fire of Hydro Pumps being fired off by Drake's Blastoise, especially now that it was further boosted by the falling Rain. Nor did it stop the fact that Golduck was still free to move around, constantly trying to find an angle as it threw out Hypnosis after Hypnosis towards both Kangaskhan and Swampert.

Kangaskhan did its best to try to throw off Golduck, but with its Swift Swim activated in the Rain, Golduck was simply too fast for the lumbering Normal type to catch up with as it easily dodged past Kangaskhan's Stone Edges and Double Edges.

Worse, Golduck applied just enough pressure with its volley of Hypnosis that it denied Kangaskhan from being able to change the weather with a Sandstorm.

Eventually, the massive speed difference between Golduck and Kangaskhan allowed the Water type to dive past another Stone Edge and finally land a single Hypnosis that put the Kangaskhan fast asleep.

And with Kangaskhan snoozing away, Swampert was no longer protected from Golduck's Grass Knots. Of course Swampert was aware of this, but there was little it could do when it was being constantly suppressed by the unending barrage of Hydro Pumps.

"Ice Punch, Swampert! You need to avoid that Grass Knot!"

Realising the incredible danger that it was in, Swampert desperately swung around its ice-covered fists, doing its best to avoid Blastoise's Hydro Pump while also cutting away at the small tendrils of Grass before Golduck could trip it up.

However, it only took one moment where Swampert was distracted, one instance where it had flinched for a little too long as it was blasted by another Hydro Pump, for Golduck to finally connect with a quadruply supereffective Grass Knot.

The Grass Knot forced Swampert to face-plant into the ground as its legs were constricted by a deceptively powerful tendril of grass. As soon as Swampert tripped up, Blastoise and Golduck wasted no time as they blasted it with a double whammy of both Psychic and Hydro Pump, overwhelming the hasty Protect shield that was set up and sending it tumbling backwards.

That spelled the defeat for Giovanni's first Pokémon, which was very bad for him. As far as I was aware, Swampert was Giovanni's only Pokémon that wasn't weak to Water types.

Of course, with Swampert's defeat, Kangaskhan was promptly given a very painful wake-up call as it became its turn to be bombarded by Blastoise's Hydro Pump. But Giovanni made his switch quickly, sending out his Nidoking that instantly released an Earth Power – catching Golduck while it was distracted and knocking the Water type into the air with its explosive tremors.

Kangaskhan tried to follow up with a Stone Edge, but another Hydro Pump quickly interrupted its efforts as it was forced to throw up a Protect shield. That was fine, as Nidoking unleashed his own Sludge Wave that drowned Golduck in a wave of deadly poison.

Seeing his partner now in trouble, Blastoise tried to reposition its Hydro Pump towards Nidoking, yet Kangaskhan refused to give it the opportunity. As soon as it was given a moment to breathe, Kangaskhan let out a determined roar as it charged forwards in a last-ditch Giga Impact, knowingly sacrificing itself so that its partner could secure the knockout on Golduck.

Drake grimaced at this, and ultimately decided to keep Blastoise's focus on the charging Kangaskhan; evidently trying to avoid his Blastoise taking a powerful Giga Impact. This left Nidoking free to spear the stunned Golduck through with a critical Thunderbolt, finishing off the Water type.

In the meanwhile, Kangaskhan had made use of the slight hesitation to power through the Hydro Pump and ram straight into the Blastoise, colliding into it with the full force of its Giga Impact. Yet that was far from enough to bring down the tanky Blastoise, and a point-blank Focus Blast finished off the injured Kangaskhan as it was too exhausted to keep up the offensive.

It was a one for one trade.

Starmie was sent out as Golduck's replacement, but my attention was on Norman's replacement. His Slaking was finally here.

"Get the Blastoise, Slaking! Thunder Punch!"

Slaking instantly took point, launching itself towards Blastoise before it could turn its Hydro Pump towards the new threat. Slaking barrelled into the Water type, and slammed a Thunder Punch right into its gut. But Blastoise didn't just roll over, and retaliated with a hard-hitting Skull Bash of its own. Slaking stumbled, but maintained the offensive as the two Pokémon began beating down on each other in a violent brawl.

Nidoking tried to support its ally, but Starmie intercepted it with repeated blasts of Psychics that forced a response from it. Using its faster speed to its advantage, Starmie kept a safe and evasive distance from Nidoking while constantly trading attacks with it, allowing Slaking and Blastoise to brawl uninterrupted.

I noticed that while Starmie didn't hit nearly hard enough to actually bring down Nidoking, it was still able to serve as an effective distraction thanks to its speed.

Of course, most of my attention was on the Slaking, as I was curious to see how it would compare to Tyrant. Ironically, I saw that Slaking was fighting with a familiar aggressive battling style as it tried to savage its opponent with a brutal series of haymakers in order to keep Blastoise disoriented and unable to fight back.

…That was exactly how Tyrant fought; it seemed like Norman had borrowed a trick or two from me.

However, as the brawl between Slaking and Blastoiste continued, the difference in strength between Tyrant and Norman's Slaking became pretty noticeable. His hits weren't as shattering as Tyrant's, his fists came slower than ours, and his technique wasn't as refined. There were a few times where Tyrant could have landed a counterattack that Slaking was too slow to capitalise on.

Yet, as the brawl continued, Slaking proved strong enough to finally be able to bring down Blastoise. For all of its defensiveness, Blastoise's ability to fight at close range was not its forte, especially against a brawler that could take a lot of hits. So as the two continued to trade blows, it was clear that Slaking was getting the better of every exchange.

And it was this difference that eventually caused its defeat as a final Thunder Punch crashed down on the dome of its head, causing the Water type to crumble to the ground.

But Drake just laughed as he withdrew his fallen Blastoise, "Phew! That's the second time I've been taken down by a Slaking! You haven't disappointed me so far, Norman, so show me your strength!"

"Come, Gyarados! Ravage them!"

His Gyarados emerged onto the field, making its presence known as it radiated such sheer explosive anger that immediately caught everyone's attention. Then the beast of rage locked eyes with Slaking, and without any commands from its trainer, instantly pounced towards Slaking with its fangs bared menacingly.

Slaking let out a pained grunt as Gyarados bit down hard on its shoulder, and the retaliating Thunder Punch surprisingly failed to dislodge the raging Water type. As punishment, another Aqua Tail came slamming into Slaking's stomach, causing it to double over before an Iron Head caused it to flinch.

I winced at the beatdown that Gyarados was delivering onto Slaking, as the tables were turned from Slaking's earlier brawl against Blastoise. I was well aware of Gyarados' capabilities, having fought it myself with Smough all that time ago. And I was nearly certain that Norman's Slaking simply could not replicate Smough's feat, not when it was already tired out by fighting Blastoise.

The only chance that Giovanni and Norman might have had of beating Drake's Gyarados was if they teamed up on it in a 2v1 situation, like if Slaking distracted the Gyarados while Nidoking rained down powerful Thunderbolts from a safe distance.

However, the Waterflower's Starmie stifled these plans as it continued to be a constant annoyance for Nidoking, constantly denying any attempt for Nidoking to support his ally with a barrage of Thunderbolts by threatening him with Psychics and Confuse Rays.

A cracking snap caught my attention as I watched Slaking be slammed into one of the psychic barriers by a powerful hit from a Rain-boosted Aqua Tail. Before Slaking could recover, Gyarados rushed into it with a ferocious Waterfall, driving itself painfully into Slaking's gut. Slaking tried to counter with a Thunder Punch, but Gyarados merely let out an enraged snarl as it tanked the attack and hammered into Slaking's side with another brutal Aqua Tail.

At this moment, Gyarados didn't care about the damage it was taking, all that mattered was unleashing its furious, unyielding, and brutal might against Slaking.

I thought there were a few moments where Slaking might have had an opportunity to break through Gyarados' assault, but Gyarados simply never let up. Despite getting hit by repeated Thunder Punches, Gyarados refused to flinch, and the Rain made it hit all the more painfully.

Unfortunately, despite the valiant attempt to throw off Gyarados, there were no heroic displays from Norman's Slaking this time. Gyarados had more than matched Slaking in both strength and speed, and his Slaking simply didn't have the endurance to withstand against such a savage assault. Eventually, despite the ramping injuries on Gyarados, all that remained of the target of Gyarados' wrath was a fallen Slaking that had collapsed limply to the ground.

With Slaking defeated, Gyarados was free to change the target of its rage towards Giovanni's Nidoking. Needless to say, it didn't take very long before the Ground type found itself falling to the ground as well.

Drake and the Waterflower sisters had won, and the massive F-bomb that Drake dropped in celebration (which was broadcasted to practically the whole world) clearly made that known.

I turned away from their cries of victory as I looked at Norman and Giovanni. While there was an unmistakable look of disappointment on their faces, I didn't think they were upset. Perhaps they had already accepted the possibility of their defeat.

A part of me wanted to wait around to congratulate them, but they were busy exchanging words to each other. I thought about waiting for them, but seeing a Slaking lose had sparked something from within me, and I had already stood up and began walking away before I knew it.

Even if it probably wouldn't make a difference, I needed to check up on Tyrant and get some last-minute training done.

One Slaking had already shown itself to be lacking in strength in this Tournament. I would not be the next.

(Cynthia POV)

"I thought you'd be preparing for our match." Her fellow Champion said to her, "I know Lance sure is."

"Lance has a different battle to prepare for; his is more intense." She replied, "And besides, it wouldn't do for a Champion of Sinnoh to neglect a battle between two Sinnoh Gym Leaders." She pointed to the match where Volkner and Jasmine were about to fight against Pryce and Candice.

She admitted that was a little annoyed that Volkner and Candice, the two representatives from Sinnoh, would be fighting against each other. Although, that did mean that it didn't matter who won – a member of Sinnoh would make it to Top 3 regardless. Therefore, she kept that slight bit of grumbling to herself.

"Ah, true." Wallace nodded, "Well I shall leave you to it. I need to make sure my Pokémon are properly warmed up for our battle ahead. We have to ensure that our performance is unrivalled. I should probably speak to Lance to make sure that he's ready for his battle – it wouldn't do for him to slip up against John."

She inwardly smirked at his words, doing her best to hold back her desire to boast about John's capabilities. Agatha had put up a good fight, but John's Ursaluna had proven dominant. She was most impressed with that trick that he did with his new Zoroark – it made her hope that her own Kleavor could match it in the future.

Speaking of John, she had hoped that they could watch this match together since she was no longer busy, but he had absconded himself to some last-minute training after watching Norman's defeat. That was more than understandable, so she let him be.

Regardless, Wallace headed off after that, leaving her alone to spectate the match between the final members of the Top 6, who had just taken the positions on the battlefield.

Truth be told, she was rooting for Candice, but only because she was her friend. Candice had improved by leaps and bounds in this Tournament, and she hoped that her friend could see her efforts properly rewarded.

The fight quickly began with Volkner and Jasmine releasing a Jolteon and Magnezone respectively, while Pryce and Candice released an Abomasnow and Froslass.

She knew immediately that the battle would come down to whoever had better weather control.

But with Abomasnow instantly setting up the Snow with its Snow Warning, the advantage immediately swung to the Ice specialists' favour. Jolteon tried to make use of its speed to set up a Rain Dance, but Froslass proved no slower as it shut down that attempt with a Taunt.

A Flash Cannon shot out from Magnezone, but Abomasnow had already set up an Aurora Veil before it managed to hit, forming a shimmering protective screen in front of both their Ice types that blocked most of the damage.

Volkner then tapped Jasmine on the shoulder, and this time her Magnezone stopped and tried to set up the Rain while Jolteon distracted Froslass by blasting it with a barrage of powerful Thunders. Yet Abomasnow wasn't idling around either, and a huge Blizzard blanketed the battlefield in a wave of ice. Frost crystals rapidly spread around Magnezone's metallic exterior as it rapidly froze over, but it managed to complete the weather change in time.

…Only to be immediately struck by a supereffective Brick Break from Abomasnow, who proved that it could move and channel a Blizzard at the same time. Leech Seeds were also implanted into Magnezone, slowly draining it of its health before another Brick Break sent it crashing into the ground. Magnezone tried retaliating with a Flash Cannon, but Abomasnow brushed it off with its Aurora Veil as it continued its pummelling.

On the other hand, Froslass, now deprived of its Snow Cloak with the lack of Snow, was on the backfoot against the speedier Jolteon and had been struck by a few Thunder Fangs. Froslass continued to retreat while firing off Ice Beams that failed to hit their target, but there was only so much it could evade.

Only luck kept it from being paralysed.

Eventually, Jolteon's superior speed managed to back Froslass into a corner, and it looked like it was about to get hit by a powerful Wild Charge…until suddenly, Jolteon let out a pained yelp as it was thrown into the air as the ground erupted from below it.

Cynthia's eyes instantly snapped to Abomasnow, and realised that Pryce had the battlefield awareness to support his teammate with an Earth Power and create a crucial opening for them.

"Set up the Snow again!" Pryce shouted at Candice, who was surprised but scrambled to obey.

The heavy Snow began to fall again, and the tables began to turn once more. Now, with Froslass' evasion boosted by Snow Cloak, Jolteon was no longer able to suppress it with its greater speed. At the same time, Magnezone was being completely dominated by Abomasnow, who had mercilessly exploited Magnezone's lack of close range options to continue pummelling it to the ground. To make things worse, Magnezone was constantly on the edge of being frozen, thanks to Abomasnow infusing Ice into every attack.

Jasmine's relative lack of training was really punishing them right now.

'…Why isn't she Exploding?' Cynthia wondered to herself, knowing that it was probably Magnezone's best move available, 'Unless...she can't?...Did Pryce deliberately deny Magnezone the opportunity to Explode by freezing it over and over again?' If that was true, then Magnezone was in a hopeless position unless Jolteon rescued it.

Explosion was a move that, unless extremely well-trained, had a small wind-up process while your Pokémon gathered up all of its energies to detonate. But as Magnezone was always being on the edge of being frozen, it never got the opportunity to gather up that energy.

Worse, there would be no rescue attempts today. With instruction from Pryce, Froslass had formed a wall of ice to separate the two Electric types, and denied any opportunity for assistance. Therefore, Magnezone fell unceremoniously, without being able to charge up for a final Explosion.

With Magnezone going down, Jasmine sent out her Steelix as her final Pokémon. Yet as soon as she did so, Pryce unexpectedly swapped out his Abomasnow.

"Come out, Weavile."

His Weavile completely ignored the Steelix as it rushed out of its Pokéball, charging straight towards Jolteon. Knowing that there was no way that Jolteon could handle a 2v1, Steelix tried to intercept, but it was far too slow. Its Stone Edge's were effortlessly dodged by the incredibly fast Weavile, and the Earthquake was simply leaped over.

Cynthia immediately understood why Pryce had made the swap. Against the defensive Steelix, an Abomasnow would not be the best Pokémon against it. However, Weavile was more than able to exploit Steelix's slow speed, and was now abusing it to rush down Jolteon.

And the plan worked. Jolteon had just managed to dodge out of the way of an Ice Shard from Froslass before Weavile dashed up to it with an Ice Punch to the face. Jolteon slid backwards, and an Ice Beam from Froslass quickly froze it over.

Now helplessly frozen, Jolteon was subsequently finished off by a decisive Night Slash from Weavile.

…Pryce had really calculated this well. This must be his experience showing.

With Jolteon knocked out, Volkner sent out his last Pokémon, to the surprise of many – his new Electivire. Cynthia was willing to bet that many in the crowd would not even recognise what this was – the Electirizer and the Protector had only just been released, after all.

However, despite being momentarily shocked by the new arrival, Weavile had too much discipline to be unnerved by it, and continued to charge down at this new arrival, rushing it down with an Ice Punch that Electivire expertly parried to the side before it countered with its own Brick Break that narrowly missed thanks to Weavile's incredible speed.

Froslass also moved to join it, but this time Steelix was able to intercept it as a Rock Slide cut off its path.

Normally, a Froslass would have no problem outmanoeuvring a slow Steelix. But Froslass was slowed from its past injuries, and Steelix had clearly not wasted its time as it had boosted its speed with a Rock Polish. So it was to Candice's surprise when an Iron Tail came crashing into Froslass quicker than she expected, sending her frail Ice type tumbling to the ground.

"Destiny Bond, Froslass!"

Froslass' eyes flashed purple as in a last ditch attempt to take down Steelix alongside her, but the Steel type didn't fall for it and patiently waited for the effect to expire before an Iron Tail finished Froslass off.

She immediately set out her Glaceon as her final Pokémon. And with Glaceon's much higher Special Attack and Snow Cloak, it really was the perfect counter to Steelix. Yet instead of focusing all of its efforts on Steelix, another tap on the shoulder from Pryce had Glaceon fire off Icy Winds to slow down both Steelix AND Electivire.

Electivire and Weavile had been thus far entangled in a very even brawl, with Electivire proving that it was more than a match for Weavile as the two exchanged a plethora of blows against each other. In fact, Electivire even held the advantage as it fired off a Discharge in between one of its attacks and managed to land a crucial paralysis against Weavile, cutting its speed in half.

With Weavile now slowed down, Electivire began to dominate the fight, and Weavile was only barely able to narrowly dodge past a Brick Break, which managed to land a glancing blow against it. Yet that was already enough to cause Weavile to stumble – its quadruple frailty against Fighting type moves really starting to prove crippling.

As Weavile stumbled backwards, a Brick Break was about to smash it right in the face when Weavile was saved in the nick of time from the Icy Wind from Glaceon, which vitally slowed down the Electivire, buying Weavile just enough time to scramble away.

If the fight had continued to be between Weavile and Electivire, then there was no telling who would eventually come out on top. Electivire had more than proven that it was a massive step up from a mere Electabuzz, and it was a proving a serious threat to even Pryce's veteran Weavile.

However, this wasn't a 1v1. Steelix had tried to stop Glaceon with a Rock Slide, but the Snow Cloak Glaceon proved too elusive to be hit while it summoned a huge Blizzard that ripped apart the battlefield, causing a howling vortex of frost to freeze over both non-Ice types. Steelix was now once again slowed to a crawl, allowing Glaceon to easily keep its distance and slowly wear it down from a distance.

"Fire Fang, Steelix! Then Rock Polish!"

Jasmine tried desperately to repair Steelix's slowed speed by melting away the encroaching frost and buffing its speed, but that was like lighting a candle to warm up in a snowstorm. It wasn't very effective.

Ultimately, Steelix's lack of manoeuvrability doomed it, leaving it to be easy pickings for the Glaceon.

That just left Electivire, who was still holding even against Weavile. The two had adapted to their new speeds, and both Pokémon were sneaking in Discharges or Ice Shards respectively in-between their attacks to disrupt the other's counterattacks. But in Cynthia's eyes, Electivire actually held the advantage – it being bulkier meant that it only needed one good hit to take out Weavile while Weavile would need several.

However, now that Electivire's partner was knocked out, it was now in a horrible 2v1 position. And Volkner knew it.

"Thunderbolt, Elecitvire! Disrupt that Glaceon!"

A huge barrage of Thunderbolts came crashing down around Glaceon, keeping it separated from Weavile and interrupting its Ice Beam to buy Electivire a few crucial seconds to take out Weavile. This was its final gambit to even out the fight here.

Unfortunately, it didn't pay off. Weavile, even while paralysed, proved too nimble for the Electric Type to land a decisive knockout blow. And as the Thunderbolts dispersed, Glaceon was now given free reign to bombard Electivire from a safe distance with a volley of Ice Beams and Icy Winds that rapidly froze the Electric type over. All the while, Weavile constantly hounded it so that it didn't get a chance to fight back against Glaceon.

Yet, in a moment of pure luck, Weavile either got arrogant or its muscles had suddenly locked up from the paralysis. Either way, it moved a hint too slow and Electivire smashed a Brick Break right through Weavile's face.

Weavile instantly collapsed to the ground, but before Electivire could turn and face Glaceon, another Ice Beam finally froze over its legs, rooting Electivire on the spot. Leaving it wide open for the resulting Blizzard to shred through what little remained of its health.

Volkner had come close, but his Electivire had finally fallen.

With the last of the battles concluding, that meant that Pryce and Candice would be entering the Top 3. Therefore, her opponents in the Champion battle would be against Pryce, Candice, Drake, the Waterflower sisters, and Roxanne.

Cynthia clapped enthusiastically as she watched her friend celebrate. She felt a little bad for Volkner and Jasmine; even though she supported Candice, she still acknowledged the effort that went into making it this far. They had done very well for themselves; more than surpassing everyone's expectations.

However, Pryce and Candice had ruthlessly exploited the natural weaknesses of the Steel type in their slowness and forced Volkner and Jasmine into unfavourable engagements while also denying the vital Rain for Volkner.

It was a shame; there was honestly little to complain about with Volkner and Jasmine's strategy. Pryce and Candice just outmatched them.

Still, she hoped that Volkner wouldn't be too displeased. For whatever it's worth, that was one powerful demonstration for his Electivire. It's not every day that a Gym Leader's Pokémon is able to fend off a Pokémon from a still-respected Ex-Champion. So she didn't think it was much of a loss for Volkner.

And besides, from all the rumours she was hearing and the way that Volkner and Jasmine were currently hugging each other – she didn't think he lost at all.

(John POV)

"…So, you're telling me that we're going to be fighting in a 2v5?" Drake questioned aloud as the Top 3 had gathered together after the Final Rounds was over.

Pryce snorted, "Of course it's the Blackthorn making their own plans. I'm honestly impressed you had the consideration to inform us, last-minute as it was."

Yes, Pryce and Candice ended up beating Volkner and Jasmine, to little surprise for most. Even though I was personally rooting for the budding couple, I knew full well that Pryce and Candice was the far more powerful team. They managed to maintain the Snow for most of their fight, which ended up securing their victory.

Lance ignored Pryce's words, "Yes, and I have already gotten agreement from the other Champions." He gestured to his colleagues, "Once this meeting is over, Wallace will be making a public announcement."

"Why not have John fight Lance, then both of you come back to fight in 3v6?" Roxanne asked.

"That would be less exciting." Wallace spoke up, "Think of it from the public's perspective. You just had an amazing fight between the starters of the two most powerful Trainers in the world. And right after that, you have them fight again but in a team situation." He shook his head, "That would cheapen the experience of both fights."

"Oh, okay." Roxanne said easily enough, wisely deciding not to challenge Wallace's many, many years of contest experience.

"Not to interrupt, but you guys do realise you've made the fight easier for us, right?" Daisy Waterflower spoke up.

Cynthia let out a snort, "And if we feared such a challenge then we wouldn't be Champions at all."

"What we should really be concerned about is whether these two hotheads are actually capable of giving us a good fight." Candice said, "Sorry, John. All I really know about you is that you're friends with Cynthia. Are you sure you are ready for this? You must know the fates of the many hopefuls who had just challenged our Champion only to fall embarrassingly short. It wouldn't look good if the same happened to you."

I smiled, "Thank you for the concern – but I assure you that I'm fully aware for what's about to happen. Even if I lose, I promise you that you will be getting a good fight."

"What about you, fellow Dragon Master?" Drake grinned, "Are you prepared for the consequences if you lose? Friendly match or not, losing as a Champion isn't a good look."

"And if it was anyone other than John then I wouldn't have agreed to fight like this." Lance countered, "But John's strength is widely acknowledged in Indigo, to the point where he's publicly known as my second-in-command. Even if I were to lose, the consequences would not be as detrimental as you fear. I have done the research."

"Everyone already suspects that John's Pokémon are at the level of a Champion anyways." Cynthia gave me a subtle look, "This is just confirmation."

"Then I think there's no need to waste anymore fucking time." Drake declared, as he stood up, "All the best to you, John. But I've got a match to fight, and two Champions to beat."

He patted me on the shoulder, "Show the world why you managed to beat me. The stage is all yours, kid."

"Make them remember you."

A.N. One more setup chapter before the big fight! This was a LOOONG chapter, and it was actually meant to be two chapters before I combined them into one. I figured that you guys would probably enjoy it more than having two chapters on fights not related to John.

Still, I felt that was important to highlight what the other fights were like with the other contestants. Something I wanted to particularly emphasise was how important weather was for both fights. I hope you liked them.

Unfortunately, both Norman/Giovanni and Volkner/Jasmine weren't able to make it to the Top 3. The teams that they faced up against were just stronger, but I hoped that you liked the pairings who DID make it to the end!

And to anyone who wants to support me, please check out my p atreon at CartecTNN where you can read 8 advanced chapters! Thanks to those who have supported me already!