I spun the greatball in my grasp. It was a nervous tick. I knew it, and so did anyone who spent enough time with me. That didn’t stop me from doing it. It was a soothing rhythm. A motion that allowed me to centre myself with the memetic action that was practically muscle memory at this point.

Obviously, it didn’t transfer to the pokemon within. Otherwise, during my first circuit people would have thought my pokemon were drunk with how disoriented they’d have been upon emergence.

The inner workings of the pokeball were vaguely understood. The broad strokes of how they worked were taught to the masses, but the small details were far too technical to understand without at least two degrees. It sort of reminded me of how people on Earth understood that phones sent signals, but had no idea how to make them. It was a poor metaphor considering that pokeballs had ancient equivalents with apricorns. Johto liked to claim that they were the traditional ‘home’ of pokeballs but too many other places also knew of the methods for me to believe that.

The history of the apricorn was actually fascinating to learn about. The ability to catch pokemon with apricorn balls had caused a huge cultural shift along with raising the carvers guilds high with prestige and money. Then being able to grant something to help you hold your pokemon close at hand, while lessening the strain of feeding your pokemon to a tenth of what you previously had thanks to the stasis effect? Game-changing.

While technology did play a huge role in those early models, most of their capabilities were powered by aura in the end. Old techniques handed down from masters to apprentices.

I spun the greatball in my hand and felt the aura that connected me to the ball.

Most wouldn’t understand that all methods of capture used by trainers allowed for a bond to form using your aura. The only pokeballs I had heard of that didn’t have this feature were the illegal balls used by criminal organisations. It tended to make the pokemon wilder. This helped criminal organisations control their minions. You couldn’t simply steal the pokeballs as it would instantly flag you as a criminal to any authorities, thus forcing people to double-down, so to speak, with their organisation. The pokemon didn't have loyalty to their “trainers” and typically were more useful to simply point towards a target and release.

It also made it so that they didn’t register on the pokemon league’s network.

A network that automatically registered and recorded which pokemon you owned in real time. This had been a new development as of last year.

Lance would have to know who my starter was. As the Champion he would have access to my listings that even ordinary trainers, Police, and even Rangers were restricted from seeing. You didn’t just give out top tier trainers' best pokemon to the wider public. As a Gym Trainer, mine was more well known but that was something of my own choice. I had created a system that challenged trainers for an appropriate level, but also helped keep me and my pokemon strong.

I stopped spinning the Great Ball and enlarged it with a press of a button. I refocused with a quick breath, in and out.

The momentum I’d had prior to this match was gone. Double knockouts late into the match did that. It was not ideal. I would have liked to have had the Stealth rock remain in play the entire match, but this was the situation now. I had to deal with that and adjust.

Regardless, I still had Lance in a tight spot. That was a big plus. Things had mostly worked out how I wanted them to. Ideally, Charizard would have been taken out with Explosion, but maybe that was asking too much. Shin and Don had done great. Sanchez had performed up to my hopes for him. Bertha had done exceptionally well in her first match against the Dragonite. Then she’d backed up her performance against a huge type and speed disadvantage that should have seen her fall without the counterpunch.

Now it all came down to this. I had two pokemon left to face Lance’s most elite Dragonite.

I tightened my grip on the Great Ball and imagined how this was going to play out. I knew I had another option. I had trained to give myself more options in fact. I didn’t ever want to allow myself only one course of action in a battle. Battles were often won or lost by giving yourself as many options while denying your opponent.

I thought of it as Game theory. A term I had encountered in my previous life with various games or high-end analysis. It wasn’t something yet discussed openly and I was the only person so far to talk about it. Until proven otherwise, I considered it something discussed behind closed doors between Gym Leaders and their trainers. You needed to know what choices had been displayed, play odds, and lean into information. In truth, Game theory was simply a dramatic way of referring to targeted strategy.

I was allowing myself to be distracted. I needed to centre myself. At this level of competition, mental acuity was just as important as the pokemon battling.

I ran through the reasons I had to push for this. The reasons I had to win.

I had ponied up a lot of money for this. Ten million wasn’t something to scoff at, I had worked hard for that with my questing for pokemon along with investing in and challenging notable pokemon trainers when I could in the early days.

That was a good enough reason, certainly, but not enough to have me grinding my teeth and keeping me up at night. It wasn’t the reason I had trained with my pokemon an extra hour at least each day on top of my usual training.

Lance had cast doubt on my capabilities and competency. A dangerous thing to do at the Gym Leader level. Citizens looked to their gym leaders as icons and leaders of their respective towns. We were multifaceted; part political figures, part criminal deterrent, part superstars. Having the certifiable biggest and baddest man in Indigo, the king of the hill, say what he did? That was going to cause me issues and I had to react in some way. People in this world were culturally set to rise to challenges; they got glints in their eyes and set their feet more often than not. With my previous life’s experience, I was very different from the norm.

I always liked to live and let live. I’d been annoyed by Lance’s claims but I could work through it. My pride wasn’t worth this trouble.

But Lance had made my family sad. He’d taken away their smiles and their confidence.

…

I had climbed mountains to allow them that.

I cooked, cleaned, and cared for them. I was a shoulder to cry on when that ache of abandonment reared its ugly head, the guide to look to when they felt lost. I tried to give them enough love to heal over any scabs from our parents ditching us. All in the hopes that they could smile, joyfully and without reserve.

I knew I couldn’t always make things happy. A teacher I once had mentioned it being important that he didn’t want his son to ‘always be happy’. One emotion was not a harmonious mental state and simply chasing happiness would have meant them missing out on so many other feelings. But still… It had been gut-wrenching seeing them act so subdued. In truth it was like spending hours making a nice sandcastle and showing it to your siblings only to have the big beach bully come and kick it over.

But that was all metaphorically. My ‘castle’ hadn't been damaged, and really it was laughable.

It still pissed me off. I couldn’t let them just take this on the cheek and turn the other way. I couldn’t let my siblings think that it was alright to simply take that behaviour. Pride to most was a dirty word, but sometimes pride is what got you up in the morning. What made you look after yourself, made you demand more from yourself. Made you put in effort even if no one was watching. There was no one who was going to hand out a medal at the end of all of this and tell me I’d done something right or wrong or grade my work.

I wanted a lot of things. I wanted to be a good brother. I wanted them to be proud of me. I wanted to make things right and make the world bright and wonderful for them.

I wanted to win.

I opened my eyes and the world seemed to grow hyper-detailed to me. The crowd shifted forward once more as the Machoke’s finished laying out the last adjustment to the wrecked arena floor.

I stood, sensing that the time was now. I knew now was the moment, so I stood.

I was right when a moment later, the announcers called out. “LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, THE STAGE IS SET, GET READY CAUSE THERE’S GOING TO BE NO MORE BREAKS! NO MORE DELAYS! THE FINAL MOMENT OF THIS EPIC SHOWDOWN IS NOW!” I started to move towards the exit.

“You got this!” shouted Celia as she watched me walk out of the bunker. I shot her a look. I knew Celia and June had been kind of freaked out at how quiet I’d been for the last few minutes.

“Thanks,” I gave a nod. It was a small gesture but it made them grin. I’d thank them later for letting me work through my thoughts more earnestly, but I knew that they understood what I’d needed at the time was for calm and quiet.

I marched forward feeling each moment stretch out me as the crowd began to chant Lance and my names. I met his gaze and smirked.

Lance’s aura washed over me and I strode on. The flood of howling, snarling energy parting to my steadfast mountain.

I was only ten metres out of the bunker, but the crowd was already the loudest it had been all night. Cameras were flashing out across the stadium, but they went ignored.

Across from me, Lance held my eyes as we each approached our podiums before being lifted up. The crowd began to chant the name Dragonite like that of a heavyweight world champion.

They’d wanted me to do well, but now they wanted to see the devastation. They wanted to see a beast unleashed and power incarnate. Lance’s previous pokemon were strong. Lance’s previous pokemon had more endurance than most, if not all, of their species.

Not one of them held a candle to the creature Lance was about to unleash.

“Drag-o-nite! Drag-o-nite! DRAG-O-NITE!”

Someone started to stomp their feet and clap creating a stomp-stomp-clap that I recognised as the easiest action to get a crowd behind. I reached toward the podium and tapped my fingers to the rhythm, ignoring how they chanted for another pokemon as I played out the ‘we will rock you’ opening beat in my head.

Part of me found it deeply amusing that they called for the Dragon while channelling a Rock song.

Lance drew back his arm. For a second I considered simply letting him take the field first but the demand to match him surged within and I matched him. I drew back my own arm into the classical pitcher position.

Both of our arms whipped forward, our voices roaring out our choice over a suddenly quiet arena as both Great Balls rocketed forwards.

“DRAGONITE COME FORTH!!” “TITAN! GO!!”

Twin forms emerged from radiant light. People rose from their seats in excitement as they coalesced into the towering forms of two pokemon.

Then they were knocked back into their seats as both Dragonite and Titan took to the field. It would be tough for someone who’s never experienced it before, having a powerful pokemon in front of you ready and willing to do battle. Intimidate was a trait pokemon could have as a singular ability in the games but here, in reality, most powerful pokemon simply exude that as naturally as breathing.

If you’ve ever stared into the eyes of an apex predator not confined by a cage and known they were coming for you, you’d have perhaps a hundredth of an understanding of the chills that went down the crowd’s spines. That was what having a pseudo-legendary stare you down was like.

Having two lock eyes? The crowd had not slunk back voluntarily; they’d done it in shock. They hadn’t been expecting me to field a Tyranitar.

The instant both pokemon had appeared they’d only had eyes for their opponent. From there, instinct had kicked in and they’d unleashed their auras.

Both pokemon’s energies clashed for a moment as they took the measure of the other.

I felt the world crack as energies most couldn’t comprehend came to the forefront.

Dragonite’s draconic aura exploded out as he leaned in and keened a battlecry. His wings flapped and gale force winds billowed out as dust was blown about.

Titan’s landing onto the arena floor had sent tremors throughout the entire stricture. Then he’d taken a step forward and everyone had felt the simple mass of him as the earth rumbled at his movement. His tail scraped against the ground and caused deep gouges, more from its natural movement rather than any intent.

Around him, dirt began to rise and swirl in eddies of wind that started small and began to grow. His dark eyes remained locked onto Dragonite and vice versa even as their mere presence on the battlefield caused the environment to shift.

If the proverb regarding two trainers was something to be mindful of, two pokemon on this level that had come expecting a fight locking eyes was many times as powerful.

Titan inhaled and then lowered his head, mouth opening as he did so to unleash a roar that sounded more like a Godzilla than a medium dinosaur. This was no mere pokemon's cry, but something far more primal.

Dragonite didn’t back down and instead landed to impress his own weight onto the field before leaning in and growling. A thick purple aura emerged and billowed out unconsciously as it worked itself up.

Titan matched it. Dark brown energy spiralling up and shooting upwards to stake a claim. They were more like natural forces now than physical pokemon. Their aura impacted and a strain occurred at the junction point. A creaking, groaning noise emerged like glass being scratched by a rock. It was a brittle sound of reality shuddering as two powerhouse pokemon squared off.

Lance and I became mere extensions of our pokemon as we both allowed ourselves to simply be.

We ignored the gale-force winds and the small rocks that it hurled. Around us, the arena’s damage absorbers activated due to the emergence of our pokemon. I knew the league officials were probably screaming into phones to adjust and I could feel a thrum as the backup generators started up in preparation.

In front of Lance and I, the shielding spluttered but neither of us cared. You didn’t train pokemon like this and sweat the small stuff. If an attack was sent our way we would have to be capable of dodging or dealing with it.

You didn’t stand on stages like this without being able to handle the heat after all.

Titan and Dragonite stopped roaring and the world took in a breath as neither pokemon immediately lunged for the other.

Lance and I looked at each other before waiting. The referee proved to be up to the task as flags were raised.

“T-trainers!” he said with a slightly high-pitched tone. “Ar-a-are you ready?”

We both nodded our heads.

“Fight!” his flags dropped. Lance and I acted instantly.

“Dragonite Steel Wing!” “Stone Edge Titan!”

Dragonite blitzed straight at Titan only for jagged rocks to punch up into him causing him to stagger and slow. He almost reached Titan. Almost being the operative word. “Giga impact!”

Lance’s eyes widened. “Break!” instead of attempting to continue, Dragonite planted his legs and kicked upwards while his wings swept downwards. Titan merely held his position and chuffed a laugh. I shared a smile with him. I’d trained Titan to not react to that particular command. It was a wonderful way of making other trainers freak out and also test their reactions.

Lance scowled at me. “Hyper Beam!” he shouted back as his response.

I set my feet and braced for the blowout effects of what was about to come. A gigantic energy ball built up within Dragonite’s maw before he jutted his chin forward unleashing a huge orange beam straight at Titan.

The crowd watched it descend and again as one drew in a breath.

“Protect!” I ordered moments before it hit.

Around Titan hexagons of energy formed up a sphere and the beam impacted.

The air didn’t so much blow outward as it did explode outward in a shockwave. It carried with it rock and dirt that once more stopped any sandstorm that had naturally been forming.

Earth and small rocks impacted the barriers in front of both Lance and I and once more they flickered. Turning yellow to dark orange as the pressure wave that Dragonite had unleashed caused the barriers to come under strain. I held my stance even as the beam of energy continued to slam home against Titan’s shell of hexagons. Wind buffeted me and rocks flew around the barrier to graze me but I didn’t mind them. I’d had worse from Geodudes.

When the beam finally died out a dust cloud blew upward and dirt began to track back in as visibility dropped away. It wasn’t so bad however that you couldn’t see the still standing form of Titan glowering upwards as his Hexagon shell fell away.

Titan took a step forward to roar his defiance straight at Lance’s pokemon. “Stone Edge again!” With Dragonite’s energy spent I made my move while it was still weakened from the ‘two turn move’.

Much like other aspects of my life these days however, the games didn’t hold up to how things actually worked. Dragonite flapped his wings and began to weave at its higher altitude as Titan began to blast rocks the size of menhirs upwards. Towering pillars of stone flew upwards and exploded like flak shells trying to blow an aeroplane out of the sky as the dragon weaved expertly through the onslaught.

I held on. This was not like with Shin. This Dragonite was stronger and would endure more damage, it was easily as fast as any of the other Dragonites that had come before it. Everyone could see that.

But that didn’t mean Titan couldn’t knock him out of the skies with continued effort. Unlike Shin, Titan was the powerhouse of my team and that meant he had the endurance to keep firing off more and more rocks. He led shots and staggered rocks to make it all the harder for Dragonite to evade.

Like a leaf on the wind, it soared, wings flapping or cutting out to allow it to drop. It’s form darting and flitting about like a pokemon a quarter its size. It had to take some hits, but it was extremely selective in what it tanked through and what it dodged.

The longer it was in the sky however the longer Titan was able to build up his sandstorm.

“Dragonite! Hurricane!” Lance’s order saw his pokemon going into a tightly controlled spin that had it facing straight down. A vortex grew around the pokemon before an outright hurricane formed up, sucking any attacks I launched straight into the vortex and making it impossible to target the Dragonite in the centre.

Huge rocks were tossed about randomly and once more the damage absorbers of the arena activated. The crowd must have gotten quite the shock to see rocks hurtling towards them. Thankfully no one was going to get injured today.

I considered my options as I watched the hurricane disrupt the sandstorm once more. Lance wasn’t going to let this turn into an attrition fight. Or if he was, it was going to be on his terms.

“Step into the hurricane and knuckle down!” With the wind roaring through the arena my words were carried off, but that didn’t stop Titan from following them. I was vaguely aware of people standing up once again as my pokemon strode straight into the storm.

Most of the audience probably thought I was making a mistake. Those would be the people that forgot that the eye of the storm is the quietest place to be. Also, as a Tyranitar, Titan was damn heavy. He could take a little bad weather easily enough.

It was better to meet the storm head-on than try to dodge. He wasn’t quick enough for that and a simple protect wouldn’t dissipate the attack. I had to do something else.

Titan continued on straight into the hurricane, shrugging off the rocks that swung around to hit him. The winds swallowed him completely and for a moment all anyone could see was the raging hurricane. I couldn’t see much with the hurricane in the middle of us. This was an obvious set up from Lance to deny me some options. I couldn’t even see if he was directing his pokemon from where he was behind the hurricane.

“OH! HAS BROC—?!” I merely smiled as the words were heard only to be torn away as the wind picked up.

I couldn’t see him but I believed in him. He’d know what I was planning even if he couldn’t hear me.

For a long moment all anyone could see was the hurricane. Then, from the base of the hurricane a dark light shone forth. Like darkness swallowing light at dusk, it raced outward and devoured the space around it causing the hurricane to detonate outward right at the vortex’s base. It instantly destabilised the hurricane and the winds shot outwards.

I barely even felt the wind buffet me and Lance appeared on our sides of the arena as the hurricane vanished. Behind him, his cape flapped like a flag in the wind. Both of us ignored the wind and rocks that blew around us.

I looked and found Titan rising from a crater and scowling upwards as Dragonite floated above him. The rapidly vanishing sheen of metallic energy informed me of a trap I’d unknowingly stepped into.

“You had your Dragonite waiting in the eye of the storm as well with a steel wing… I can destroy the storm and take a hit or ignore it and be round down eh?” I said to myself.

Lance must have set the move knowing I’d either have to endure it or negate it. Either outcome played into his hands. I considered that and began to run through options of what to do if he— “Again!” Lance commanded.

If Lance was going to play that game I’d have to try something else. I clenched my toes and grasped the railing in front of me before calling out my move as the winds began to build up once more.

“Fissure!” Unlike with Bertha, the organisers recognised the move for what it was and a thrum ran through the stadiums as more and more barriers lit up to protect the crowd. They hadn’t been able to prevent Bertha’s Impact Driver from causing a shakeup previously, but they knew to expect it this time.

They likely couldn’t let all these attacks through. So far just the collateral damage was proving worse with the area already gouged and cratered in sections.

Titan raised a claw and his feet slid slightly apart as we’d practised. Within him, his energy roared to get out. The trick wasn’t to let it out straight away but to focus it to a point. His claw swung down.

Then, the instant before impact, he spiked his energy into the very tip of the claw that was going to make impact. Titan hit the ground and the earth split like the ocean in the bible for Moses. Everyone became aware of the metal that held the actual training field as it became visible. It groaned hideously but only buckled slightly as the earth around it folded.

The earth on either side lifted upwards like two slices of bread between the hands of an invisible being. They rose slightly and then clapped together over the head of Titan with Dragonite right in the middle. The sound was more like a deafening bang than a clap and I had to shake my head afterwards as the two slices of earth crumbled before falling back to the ground in pieces.

I looked up and felt a grin slowly building on my face. “Was that…” The resulting dust made it difficult to see, but the arena once more proved it had accounted for this as small fans rose and gently began to shift the air to let the crowd see.

First, they saw Titan holding his stance but looking up with narrowed eyes.

The crowd held their tongues as more and more dust shifted. Eyes searched the debris field for where the Dragonite was only to find nothing. Worried murmuring filled the crowd but I spoke over them.

“Titan! Get ready to keep fighting!”

That made people redouble their efforts and a few seconds later it was revealed to them what I had seen and Titan had no doubt sensed.

A sphere of perfectly round hexagons surrounding a tucked-up Dragonite right in the middle of where the two slices of earth would have met with the most force. I clicked my tongue but nodded. I had hoped he hadn’t had that move and the earlier bait and switch had me thinking he didn’t. I hummed thoughtfully. He’d tried to bait me with that play by making it seem he didn’t. Maybe then I’d commit with an all-or-nothing play and miss.

Instead, I had thrown down something that had forced him to reveal his hand.

“Ooooh? OH! OH MY SWEET PIKACHU! THE CHAMPION EMERGES UNSCATHED FROM WHAT HAS TO HAVE BEEN A DIRECT HIT FROM AN OUT AND OUT ONE HIT K.O! BROCK ROLLED THE DICE HARD AND CAME UP ALL SEVENS! ONLY FOR THE CHAMPION TO HAVE AN ACE UP HIS SLEEVE! OH! WHAT A MATCH-UP!”

The crowd found new life and began to chant names. “BROCK!” and “TITAN!” being called out just as much as “LANCE!” and “DRAG-O-NITE!” People called out cheers and jeers that mixed into a roar that was equal to the earlier showing by our two pokemon.

Titan and Dragonite eyed each other off before nodding their heads in respect. This only stirred the crowd up more when Lance and I smirked at each other. In some small way, we understood each other more from what was occurring before us. Both pokemon highlighted the dedication and style ingrained within their very being. It was strange to find that… we weren't all that different.

“I don’t think you can do that move again!” Lance shouted to me. “Press the advantage Dragonite, Hurricane!”

I was tempted to call out that he underestimated Titan and I, but I knew his pokemon had the high ground and that was just begging for Murphy to step in. Instead, I merely gestured a hand. “Stone Edge, but don’t hold back!”

Titan leered up at the hurricane that howled before him. Every bit a pokemon staring down something that seemed like a natural disaster. A rock formed up from in front of him, but then more joined it as more energy was pushed into the attack.

The crowd gasped as a difference was immediately noticed. Where before Titan was throwing maybe three menhir-sized rocks up at Dragonite, now he launched up to ten at a time. Titan became his own missile launcher.

“OH! IT SEEMS THE TYRANITAR WAS SANDBAGGING?!” I grinned at the altogether incorrect assessment.

Lance frowned, his eyes darting around the rocky field before biting back a curse when he saw my pleased expression. It might have stopped me from using another Fissure, but by breaking the field up I had made it easier for Titan to hurl sections of the ground straight into the hurricane at speed. Now Lance’s defence became a target.

Instead of ordering his pokemon futilely, Lance plugged his thumb and forefinger into his mouth and whistled sharply. Dragonite instantly stopped the Hurricane. With a wave of Lance’s hand it began to weave around the onrushing rocks deftly, speeding up as much as it could.

“Fill the sky! Force. It. Down!” I commanded. Titan followed through with rocks hurtling into the air, only leaving the area low to the ground safe for Dragonite to hover.

I watched the pokemon as it searched the sky for space to escape into should Titan turn his focus on not denying movement. On both pokemon, marks of damage had built up from the attacks they’d used, but I could tell Dragonite had taken a heavier toll. I needed to keep pushing though. I could feel the victory just within reach. I could win this. I could drag it out with Titan using Stone Edge after Stone Edge. Failing that I had another pokemon that was ready to float out and slay a Dragon if I needed her to. Both of these methods would work but it would take a long time and perhaps be rife with potential errors on both of Lance and I’s parts.

Regardless, this was the most logical and surefire approach. But a part of me, the me that had been raised within the Pokemon world, disliked ending this battle that way. This was supposed to be a moment to prove myself without question.

I clicked my tongue as I decided to throw down once more. I wanted there to be no doubt in people’s minds. I slashed my hand. Instantly Titan stopped his Stone edge. I waited until the final rock had fallen with a heavy crash. Lance eyed me as I put my arms across my body into my pose. Part of me noted that I had a number of tears across my very new sweater but couldn’t for the life of me remember being hit by anything. I’d been too focussed on the fight for mere rocks to bother me.

“I think I know you well enough now to know you’ll never surrender, yeah?” I called out with a grin.

“Of course!” snorted Lance.

I looked around at the crowd. “Want to do this the old samurai way? One strike that we each won’t block. Think you can handle it?”

Lance looked over my pokemon before looking over the arena which didn’t need to be any more in my favour. Even if he knocked out Titan, the field wouldn’t reset. He was fighting uphill with the field easier for Rock-type moves. I had the high ground and had no trouble throwing boulders down at him if he decided to go that route.

He knew I could take him out by whittling him if I wanted and indeed I had just the pokemon for that in Selene.

Instead, I was offering a salve to his pride. Something that would potentially let him turn the tide perhaps. He huffed, “Let’s see your best shot then Brock.” He swept his hand out and his cape went wide as he called out his best shot. “Hyper beam!”

I grinned. My mind screamed that I should just protect and blast him with Stone Edge to finish it. It was a valid move and perfectly suitable to win the match. But that was what villains do, and I didn’t want to be a villain. I wanted people to remember this fight for all the right reasons.

“Titan! Go!” I cast my own hand forth, a grin stretching my face as I shouted.

In the face of Dragonite’s hyper beam, Titan strode forward. Like a mountain beginning to move it started slow. First a step, like a pebble preceding the boulders. Then, with the boulders came the soil before eventually, the entire cliff face gave out as an avalanche began in force.

Titan continued to pick up momentum, and each step caused the arena to quake as he sped up. A quarter of the way across the field Lance’s Dragonite unleashed his hyper beam and Titan lowered his head to take the hit square on. He took two more steps as he did so and a corona of energy built up around his body.

The Hyper beam punched squarely into Titan and he was briefly stopped in his tracks.

The crowd was off their feet having felt the blow such was its power.

Despite that, it didn’t stop Titan from advancing.

Slowly, millimetre by millimetre, he began to lean forward. Around him the corona of energy flickered before solidifying. He leaned further forward millimetres turning into inches as he refused to break here and now.

A roar of frustration escaped him as he struggled to put another foot forward.

But he did.

Then another.

And another.

And before people could rise from being knocked back into their seats Titan began to charge through the beam. He took each step, slowly building back up as the hyper beam tried to hold him off. From within Titan a glowing orange energy built like an inferno that grew stronger under the pressure. The steps became easier and soon Titan was outright sprinting straight into the beam of energy towards his foe, a roar escaping his jaws as he closed on his target.

The beam gave out just as Titan reached Dragonite and with a sudden boom Titan unleashed the Giga impact he had been building straight into Dragonite.

Dragonite rocketed back from the hit straight into the arena wall. Around it the damage absorbers flickered a bright red as their maximum threshold was reached.

Dragonite lay in the crater, its chest working like great bellows. It stood with a piteous cry of pain, staggering forward to get back onto the arena. With the flickering absorbers, I didn’t dare order another attack.Titan raised an arm to me, instructing me instead to hold back. I trusted in him, knowing that he had seen something or understood something that I had missed.

The other Pseudo legendary staggered back onto the field and shuddered before locking eyes with Titan. Then it looked to Lance as its wings flapped weakly. Its body shook with tremors and its lungs heaved in breath after breath.

The act was done weakly, but I couldn’t help but be touched. Despite being so worn down it still held on and looked to its trainer. This was a pokemon that if his trainer asked he would continue to fight.

Even if it killed him.

Lance smiled and shook his head. “You've done enough today old friend. We’ll be ready next time.” He raised his Great Ball and called back his pokemon.

The arena held its breath, not daring to believe.

Titan nodded as his foe vanished into red light. When it was gone he threw back his head and roared his triumph. And like that the referee raised his flags up before dropping Lance’s down while raising mine higher.

“The champion’s pokemon is unable to battle! Brock is the winner!!”