Yo!
Nothing to say, other than that DA:V has come out, and I am playing too much of it.
Chapter 45
The tournament was, in a word, coming close to hitting its climax.
Over the course of the next two weeks, the best trainer in the world would be determined. Each day, one round of the tournament would be undertaken, with a break the next day. The round of 32 would be happening today, then 16 in two days, then eight two days from that, then four…
And then, finally, two.
Bianca swallowed. Even though she knew she shouldn't be thinking so far ahead, she had the desire to still be there on that final day. It felt like an impossibility, but…
"You good, Bianca?"
She turned to see Barry waving over at her.
"I'm good. Just… thinking, I guess."
"About?"
"The next few rounds."
"Wow, you really are cocky if you're thinking ahead that far."
"H-Hey!"
"I'm joking," Barry chuckled. "Seriously, though, you seem concerned."
"I guess… I've realized more and more recently that I want to do well. But… I don't just want to do well, I want to win, and I'm struggling with the fact that that's probably impossible."
"Why?"
She turned to him with some surprise. "Well, y'know…"
"I actually don't know."
"I just…"
"Hm?"
"I'm not as good as everyone else!"
Barry hummed out. "And what gives you that impression, exactly?"
"I don't know. Years of self-doubt?"
The man snorted. "Well, at least you're honest. But seriously, we've had this discussion, haven't we?"
"We have."
"Then don't make me repeat myself. The only person holding you back is you. The amount of time you put in training, the amount of effort you put forth each and every day. Those things are the only things truly gating how far you can go. If you believe in yourself, and your Pokémon believe in you, then you've got no limits. Believe me."
She smiled at that, knowing that no one on the planet was quite as good a friend as Barry was. Well, Cynthia was a bit better, but they were also a bit more than friends.
Still, Bianca had a question on the brain. Something that had just suddenly come to her, that she wanted to ask about.
"Have you ever won a tournament, Barry?"
The man's eyes widened, before a smile bloomed onto his face. "Two times. Nothing quite this big, but I've won tournaments that had other Gym Leaders in attendance. Dawn was even at one; we got matched up in the finals."
"I didn't know that."
"It was a little thing, to be fair. Sinnoh only. Not really broadcast too far out, and Cynthia couldn't attend herself, either, so no one really cared. It felt like a foregone conclusion that one of us would win it – me or Dawn – and in the end, it was me."
"How do you normally fare against Dawn?"
"Poorly." The man admitted, and at Bianca's laugh, he continued, "But sometimes I have stretches. I'm kind of streaky. If I'm doing well, I tend to keep doing well. If I'm doing badly…"
"You keep doing badly?"
"Ye-ep." Barry popped the 'p'. "It's a bit frustrating, but eh, it's how I am."
There was silence between them for a while.
"How did you feel? The first time you won a tournament, I mean."
Barry thought about it for a moment, before his lips split into a smile, and he shook his head. "Hah. I can't describe it. Ecstatic, maybe? But that almost feels too little. It felt like… like everything I'd ever done had led up to that. It was a sixty-four-person invitational. I got in because Dawn wasn't going to be able to compete, and so she vouched for me as a substitute. The event organizers didn't look down on me, but they clearly didn't think I had what it took to win the whole thing."
"And you did?"
"And I did." Barry smiled, still proud. "I proved them wrong. I think a bit of that was why it felt so good, but ultimately… I think I made myself proud."
Bianca's eyes widened, then, as Barry turned back towards her, an honest smile on his face.
"Irrespective of the outcome, if you can be proud of the work that you put in, I think that that's all that matters. Sure, winning's nice, but I've entered a lot of tournaments. Maybe… forty or so? And I've won two. But I've definitely left a lot of those same tournaments, those I lost, feeling like I did well. In the end, what matters is how you look at it. Your perspective."
Bianca nodded her head. She didn't disagree. Not at all.
If anything, she was right there with him.
"Are you proud of how you performed here, Barry?"
"Hm, that's a tough one…" He muttered. "Honestly? I wanted to go a lot further. I wanted to face off against Dawn, and you, and Cynthia. But, well… you beat me." Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "You beat me pretty bad, too. It didn't feel like I could do anything. So, I guess… no. I'm not satisfied."
Bianca looked down at the floor below her, and muttered,
"Neither am I."
/
"We're here for the thirteenth matchup in the round of 32! If you're just joining us, here are a few highlights from the dy!"
"Another of the top ten falls in a matchup of champions; Geeta and Lance faced off against one another in a tense battle, but one that ended with the Dragon Master claiming victory!"
"Meanwhile, on the other side of the bracket, both Leon and Cynthia take convincing wins against their opponents. It feels like there's a fated clash between two titans coming up on the docket!"
"Just nineteen competitors remain, and only sixteen will still be present at the end of the day. Who will emerge victorious in this thirteenth matchup, between Bianca, the rising star of Unova, and Iris, its former champion! Find out right here, on the Poké-News Network!"
/
"Salamence, call down a Draco Meteor!"
Her Pokémon roared its approval, and from the sky came into existence a plethora of meteors, which rained down on Iris' side of the field. Her Haxorus couldn't withstand the onslaught, and fell just moments later.
The audience, much as Salamence had just moments prior, roared their approval.
Things were coming down to the wire in terms of this particular match. Bianca had two Pokémon remaining, and Iris just the one.
She was winning.
More than that, she was winning fairly comfortably, holding a Salamence that still had a good deal of health remaining, alongside her Milotic in the rear, the linchpin of her strategy, to be able to deal with any dragons that Iris might be able to bring out that Salamence couldn't handle.
She hadn't just used dragons, however. She'd relied on many Pokémon, including a few that she wouldn't have expected. Still, her final Pokémon seemed to be one that Iris was pinning all her hopes on.
She couldn't hear what it was that Iris whispered into the Pokéball she held up to her face, but when she threw it out, Bianca's eyes widened.
It was a Legendary Pokémon; Regidrago
There had yet to be any Legendary Pokémon present at this event, and yet, Bianca knew for a fact that some species were owned by trainers present here. At one time, May had possessed both Groudon and Kyogre, whereas Dawn had the Legendary Regigigas. Neither had brought those Pokémon to the tournament, mostly because as Legendaries, they had more important jobs to be doing than participating in what was, essentially, a sporting event.
Regidrago, on the other hand, was a species with multiple individuals. Not a ton, but a few. One of them could afford to be on Iris' team.
Bianca was a bit salty about it, but it could be afforded.
"Alright, Salamence," She called out to her Pokémon. "We can do this!"
Regidrago was a tanky Pokémon. It had a massive HP stat, and could tank hits for days. On the other hand, its attacking stats were decent, but not particularly noteworthy. Salamence was likely the stronger Pokémon.
She just needed to bring it home.
"Regidrago, use Dragon Energy!"
A heavy-hitting move that would do damage based on how much health Regidrago had remaining. In truth, Salamence had already utilized a lot of its power with Draco Meteor. Trying to keep it on the field to battle it out with a Pokémon that was, objectively, in a much better position was foolish.
Better to let Salamence unleash all that it had left.
"Salamence, Draco Meteor!"
Her Pokémon called down yet another collection of meteors, albeit this time there were far less, and they were far smaller. Just as the Dragon Energy hit her own Pokémon, the Draco Meteor struck Regidrago.
Salamence was down, but Regidrago was injured along with it.
Importantly, its Dragon Energy couldn't be used again at that same level of power. Milotic could clean up from here. That, Bianca believed.
"Come on out, Milotic!"
Her Pokémon hit the field with a boisterous cry, and Bianca took a breath. It was… odd how calm she was. It felt as if she'd grown entirely used to the bellowing crowds, the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
All her doubts fell away when the thrill of battle began to course through her. How odd, she'd never anticipated she'd be that kind of trainer, or even that kind of person. She hadn't been in the past, to be fair.
But perhaps facing off against Dialga, against the literal end of the world with everything on the line, had her realizing that a tournament, win or lose, wasn't too big a deal. After all, she'd already accomplished so much. She'd already done more than enough to prove to herself that she was different. That she'd been changed.
And because of that, she played without fear.
"Milotic, fire off an Ice Beam!"
Her Pokémon acquiesced, blasting the opponent at range. Regidrago limped back, before making a beeping noise, and standing back up.
It was tanky; hugely so.
But it couldn't close the distance.
"Dragon Energy!"
Regidrago unleashed yet another Dragon Energy, just as Iris had asked, which was likely the only move it possessed that could strike at longer ranges. It emitted out from the Pokémon in a wave of force, but when it struck Milotic, it did so at nowhere near the force it had before.
And Milotic was in prime position to finish things.
Call her boring, or conventional, but she wasn't going to close the distance between the two Pokémon.
"Ice Beam, Milotic!"
"Get in close, Regidrago!"
Milotic fired off Ice Beam after Ice Beam. A few missed, but most struck their marks, slowly but steadily bringing Regidrago to its knees – metaphorically, of course; the Pokémon did not possess knees.
It was closing the distance, but not at all fast enough. It got right up on Milotic, but by that point, it was hanging on by a hair's breadth.
And Milotic could finish it.
"Blizzard, Milotic!"
Her Pokémon unleashed the wave of icy energy upon Regidrago, and when the cloud of white cleared, it was to find the Pokémon frozen solid.
But also, importantly, out for the count.
"REGIDRAGO IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! THE WINNER IS… BIANCAAAAA!"
The crowds went wild, as they always did, and she lifted her arm in the air to embrace that feeling. She never really got tired of winning while she was up here. It was almost indescribable.
Across from her, she saw Iris recall her Pokémon back into its Pokéball, looking down with a sad sort of smile. She made her way across the arena, and Bianca met her halfway.
They embraced in the center, and as they broke apart, Iris smiled up at her.
"Well done." She whispered. "Look how far you've come."
Bianca chuckled below her breath. "Thank you. And well done to you as well."
"Hah." Iris shook her head. "Well, I suppose today, you were just the better trainer. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."
She smiled, even as she ran a hand down the back of her neck. No matter how much she was beginning to believe that things people told her, she would never be very good at taking compliments.
They continued to talk on and off as they made their way off the stage. To her credit, Iris bounced back very quickly. She was really only broken up about the loss for a few more minutes, but after that, she was all about Bianca's continued run in the tournament.
"But still, the round of 16!" Iris laughed. "You've made it to the big leagues, now! Only the best of the best advance past here."
"Yeah. You're right." Bianca swallowed. "No more easy draws for me."
"Excuse me, young lady," Iris placed her hands on her hips, and got up in Bianca's face. "Is that to imply that I was an easy draw!?"
"Er…"
Iris rolled her eyes with a little giggle. "The nerve of some people, sheesh!"
"I meant–"
"I know," Iris cut her off before she could feel too bad. "You just meant that from here on out, it's champions, basically."
She nodded her head, swallowing on nothing as she realized that on her side of the bracket, there were only seven other trainers.
Among them were Lance, May, Selene, and Caitlin!
None of them could be called easy matchups. In fact, all of them would likely push Bianca far harder than anyone else ever had.
And yet, if she wanted to be standing at the very end of this victorious, she was going to have to win.
So, that was just what she would do.
"But still… She was right."
"Huh?" Bianca looked back up to see Iris smiling coyly over at her. "What did you say?"
Iris chuckled below her breath, even as she turned around, and made her way back towards the tunnel. "I said she was right about you."
"Hilda, I mean."
/
The day ended with the presumed favorites all winning their bouts. On the left side of the bracket were Selene, May, Lance, Caitlin, Bianca, and a few other gym leaders. On the right were Cynthia, Leon, Wallace, and a couple more gym leaders.
And at this point, Bianca was just waiting to see who it was she drew for the next round.
When the ping came on her phone, she dug it out of her pocket in a hurry, and looked down at the bracket. She saw who she would be facing with a nervous anticipation hanging about her form, because…
Bianca vs. Caitlin
That was not going to be easy.
Some of the other matchups included Lance vs Selene, and Cynthia facing off against Wallace. There were others, but those were the marquee matchups.
She looked up Caitlin's team, wanting to get an idea of what she was going to be up against in two days' time. What she found was perhaps what she might've expected.
It was a lineup somewhat similar to the one that Bianca had once faced in the Unovan Elite Four, albeit with some heavy modifications. Her Reuniclus, for instance, was still present, as were her Metagross – with a mega stone – and Gothitelle. On the other hand, she'd rounded out her team rather well with some more out-of-the-box picks, such as Hariyama, of all Pokémon, Hisuian Typhlosion, and a Gallade of her own.
It was a team that was still focused on Caitlin's main type, that being psychic, whilst still having some room for flexibility.
And it was Bianca's turn to find a way to break it.
She made her way back towards her shared hotel room with Cynthia, and entered in to find it empty. Clearly Cynthia had other things to be doing, and Bianca didn't at all begrudge her that.
She wasn't exactly going to be the pinnacle of conversation that evening, what with the fact that she was going to be planning for her matchup with Caitlin.
And what an interesting matchup it was.
The obvious answer to her team that she'd come up with on the walk over was Chandelure. Its ghost typing would allow it to super effectively hit four of the five members of Caitlin's team – albeit Typhlosion's own ghost-typing would protect it somewhat from Chandelure completely sweeping, given it would have room for something like Shadow Sneak.
Chandelure was frail. If she could set it up properly, she could completely annihilate the back half of Caitlin's team.
She just had to execute.
And that required a plan.
/
Cynthia found her in the exact same spot, in nearly the exact same position, around three hours later when she arrived back to their shared space. She entered with a smile, gave Bianca a kiss, and then ordered dinner for them.
It was nice. Domestic.
Domestic was nice.
Her thoughts were very intricate when she was this tired.
"Bianca, sweetie?"
She looked up blearily, not realizing that she'd been staring at a notes document, blinking maybe once a minute, for the last half an hour.
"Huh?"
Cynthia giggled. "I was going to ask if you wanted Pizza, or Galarian?"
"Uh… Pizza. Keep things simple."
"Alright."
That arrived what felt like five seconds later, but Bianca supposed she got in her own head a bit when she was planning things like this. She took bites out of her pepperoni slices as she studied over her own plan, trying to find faults.
It was funny, then, how five minutes later, Cynthia came over, took one look at her plan, and said, "You're going to hit a snag trying to deal with Typhlosion with Rampardos."
"Hm?"
"Unless you're setting Trick Room, you're going to be outsped, and that means that Typhlosion will be able to get off an Earthquake. That or Focus Blast. It has middling accuracy, but you can never count on a move missing when it could very well hit, and likely will. Focus Blast is a one-hit, Earthquake knocks out in two."
Bianca looked up at Cynthia with wide eyes. "You… know that off the top of your head?"
Cynthia seemed to realize just how ridiculous what Bianca had just implied was, and laughed. "Not explicitly. It's more a feeling. I have a general sense of how hard certain Pokémon hit, and how frail others are. I get the feeling that Rampardos isn't going to be able to take a hit from Typhlosion. Plus, even if it can, you're running into the same issues that you yourself have been abusing this tournament; range."
When she thought of it like that, she realized that her plan to handle the Typhlosion had been a good plan in a vacuum, but not at all for a larger field, just as Cynthia was saying.
"How would you handle it, given my team?"
"Hm…"
Cynthia sat down beside her, and then began shuffling things around.
"Well, the obvious angle is Milotic, but I think you rightly decided that it was obvious enough that Caitlin would be expecting it. She'll have something; likely an Electric move – prepared to handle Milotic. She probably won't expect your Rampardos. But Rampardos doesn't really have priority. As basic as it is to say it, you're likely going to want to use Milotic."
"Could I try just outmuscling it with Salamence?"
"You could. I'm not entirely opposed to that. Ultimately, it's your call."
"Hm… I don't know, honestly." She mumbled. "It feels like Typhlosion's really the only thing preventing me from taking her out via Chandelure."
"I do agree, but a trainer as good as Caitlin will be packing something to prevent that. She sees the angle as well as you do, I'm positive. Don't let her play you."
"I don't intend to."
"Well, you never intend to let someone play you," Cynthia teased, and Bianca rolled her eyes. "Here, take a break from thinking on your match, and help me with mine."
"Huh?"
"I've got to face Wallace in two days as well." Cynthia stated, smiling over at her. "How about we trade notes on our next opponents?"
"That…" Bianca chuckled.
"That sounds great."
That occupied them for many, many hours, well into the night. By the time they finally went to bed, they'd already resolved that they wouldn't be getting up to much of anything the next day.
That was fine. They had a day off for a reason.
Still, as they laid down to rest that night, together, Bianca couldn't help thinking about the fact that, a week and a half from now, roughly, the tournament would be over.
…
She couldn't wait.
End Chapter 45
Alright, that's Chapter 45!
I think there's about 6 or 7 chapters to the end? It's really hard to say tbh. I'm currently writing 48, and I think 50 will wrap up the tournament, with a chapter or two for epilogue. But we'll see!
If you want to support me, and get access to the next few chapters of this story right now, far sooner than they'll release on FF or AO3, then consider checking out my Patron! There's an e in there after the r and before the o. I assume you know what I'm talking about, but FF and AO3 don't like me typing that. It's just website dot com /Deferonz!
Want to support me without signing up for a monthly payment? Check out my Kofi! just website dot com /Deferonz
I'm currently taking Drawing commissions, and am available for one-shot writing commissions! Feel free to send a dm to this account, a review or comment on this story, or reach out to me through other means! You could also add me on Discord if you wanted to talk commissions, since ff dm's are being very unreliable for me at the moment. I'm still just Deferonz!