The Gym Leaders and their Pokemon were watching from the stands.

  “Voir, voir,” my Gardevoir said, reaching up and patting me on the head. Then she teleported away, joining the Gym leaders and taking a seat in the stands to watch the battle.

  She’d figured out that I probably wasn’t going to be using her in this match, so it seemed my starter had decided instead that she might as well get a good view of the action.

  “Swwwwellow!” cried the bird that was basically a cross between a falcon and a swallow.

  Bud seemed excited about the battle, jumping up and floating down slowly to the ground as she spoke to the other Pokemon.

  “I usually let my challengers have the first move,” Winona offered.

  I inclined my head politely in response. I certainly wasn’t going to turn down the advantage.

  “Alright then. Bud, start off with Cotton Guard!”

  The Whimsicott sharted to shake herself vigorously. It made her mane of cotton like hair start to come away. Several large clumps drifted off but plenty stayed attached to my Pokemon who had a frizzy mess of hair forming all around her and making my Pokemon look like she’d suddenly developed a massive white afro everywhere that pretty much prevented us from seeing her ordinary brown body.

  It was even slightly bigger than her feet, leaning my Pokemon raised slightly off the ground on account of all the fluffy cotton.

  “Whiiii!” My Pokemon called out, bouncing up and down off the ground gently in her new protective covering.

  Meanwhile the Swellow had already taken to the air. The Pokemon soaring well above my Pokemon and looking kind of bemused at my Pokemon’s antics.

  “That’s an impressive looking Cotton Guard, but don’t think it’ll help you against our type advantage!” Winona said firmly. “Swellow, use Brave Bird!”

  My eyes widened as Winona opted for the strongest physical Flying type move.

  “Swelooooooow!” Cried the Flying type as it flew around in a circle, reorientating itself towards my fluff covered Whimsicott and almost immediately a corona of energy formed around it. Brave Bird was a powerful move and I wouldn’t be surprised if it beat my Whimsocott in one hit, despite her added defenses courtesy of the Cotton Guard.

  “Alright Bud, you know what to do!” I shouted. We’d encountered powerful moves like this before.

  “Whimsicott!” Shouted Bud, partly muffled by the cotton. The ball of fluff trembled, prepared for what was about to happen.

  “Don’t stop, but be careful Swellow!” Winona called, ready for whatever I was planning.

  The bird Pokemon continued flying forwards and it closed the distance in moments.

  There wasn’t any more time to give orders and the Swellow collided straight with my Pokemon.

  Bam!

  The Swellow burst through the cotton, it’s eyes going wide with surprise as there had been nothing there to hit!

  Righting itself after underestimating its momentum, the Pokemon went to soar up into the air. It was hampered now as its wings and body were covered in the fluffy specks of Cotton Spore.

  “Let’s show them a real Flying type move!” I said, channelling my Whimsicott’s cheekiness. “Use Hurricane!”

  “Whim-siii-cooooooot!”

  From one of the forgotten balls of fluff my Whimsicott emerged, uncurling to reveal she’d been hiding as one of the larger bundles of cotton that had been disregarded before.

  The Swellow was completely caught off guard as my Pokemon initiated the attack and the powerful winds battered it.

  But this was no ordinary Pokemon. This was one trained in the strong winds and stormy weather that could be found in the highlands around Fortree. The Swellow maintained control of its flight, flying up and out of the path of Bud’s strongest attack. It was battered, but not out of the battle yet.

  The two Pokemon settled back after disengaging and if anything after that the bird Pokemon looked eager to continue the battle.

  ***

  “Wow!” The twins shouted in unison. “That was really clever.”

  Not being able to read someone’s mind probably made things more interesting for them,” Wattson thought. Not many trainers had that sort of ability except those who needed them.

  Exactly what those mental defences were however the man seemed genuinely to be in the dark about. At a guess it seemed they were related to his type specialty. Stronger Dark type trainers were invisible to psychics like their Pokemon and Fairy as a type was one of the supernatural ones so it did make sense for there to be something passive going on there.

  Moore would probably know more however, but Wattson would save asking the man for his opinion until they were alone later. Right now the other man’s attention was split between the battle and the psychic twins.

  “Yes, tricking the Swellow into overextending and landing a Cotton Spore on it at the same time. Swellow’s main advantages are in their speed and maneuverability and Harry’s massively hobbled it already with just that one move.”

  Moore’s analysis was on point. Wattson wasn’t sure he could easily pull off the same trick with one of his Ampharos on account of how large they were, but it might be worth exploring for another Pokemon. He had a Flaaffy that still knew Cotton Spore and it was developing to be a strong battler so maybe he could try training it to use Cotton Guard too once it got stronger and then try out this strategy in his own way.

  It was considered a bit rude to copy someone else’s tricks wholesale however. He’d have to think of something nice to do for the new Gym Leader.

  And he certainly was going to be a new Gym Leader if Wattson had anything to say about it!

  “Sneaky!” Winona complimented. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone fake which of those moves they were using before.”

  “Just a little trick we figured out a long time ago,” Harry replied demurely from across the arena.

  He seemed almost bashful about it, Wattson thought with amusement, seeing the man’s expression. Maybe there was a story there.

  “Well it certainly worked,” Wattson said to the other observers who were watching the byplay. “He’s a tricky sort though isn’t he. Is this how your trainer always battles?” he asked, looking towards Leah the Gardevoir.

  The Pokemon was watching the battle with interest but turned her attention to Wattson. She gave a faint shrug in reply with a faint smile on her face before looking back at the battle. The entire gesture left Wattson not entirely sure which way the Gardevoir was answering the question. Wattson huffed in amusement. It seemed the Pokemon was going to keep her trainer’s secrets close to the chest.

  Ha! It was going to be fun to see what his Gym was like. He had to speak to Coil later. The man would no doubt be frothing at the mouth to make some Fairy Pokemon themed traps for Harry’s Gym.

  “We won’t fall for the same trick twice!” Winona shouted, redrawing Wattson’s attention to the battle. “Use Aerial Ace!”

  The Swellow disappeared in a flash to appear behind the Whimsicott, landing a handful of good blows with it’s wings on the Whmsicott’s side.

  “Push it off you with an actual Cotton Guard, Bud!”

  The Pokemon this time actually used the move, covering itself in Cotton although it looked practically the same as it had the last time they’d used the attack.

  It also had the advantage of forcing the already fluffy looking Swellow away before it was completely submerged in the fluffy balls which spread out around the now completely covered arena which was starting to look more like a white carpet than bare, compressed dirt.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  They’d reached a stalemate. Wattson couldn’t tell how much damage the Whimsicott had taken from that brief exchange, but it had to have been a decent amount. But the Swellow had taken damage from the Hurricane before too.

  “Don’t stop, get back in there and cut your way through with Steel Wing!”

  “No! Keep it away and send all those cotton balls flying with Hurricane!” Harry ordered.

  The Swellow was closing back in, but had to back to the side as a small tornado picked up around the Whimsicott.

  It was using the move differently this time. Instead of a directed wind like a much more powerful Gust attack, the Whimsicott was keeping the wind around itself.

  The improvised tornado burst out around the Whimsicott who remained in the eye of the storm only for a few moments before it took off itself, carried by the winds on its Cotton Guard defences. The Swellow who had been about to close the distance was forced to veer off by the wind.

  “Incredible,” Wattson murmured.

  Along with the Whimsicott all of the surrounding cotton balls were taken into the air too. The blue bird Pokemon was now really panicking as it got caught up in the sudden mini tornado.

  “Woah!” the kids cheered from beside him. Wattson could feel the displaced wind blast over his skin. That was just the tail end of the cyclone that Whimsicott had just rustled up!

  The kids had to brace themselves a little against the strong winds but they wouldn’t be quite enough to send anyone flying. Moore’s Typhlosion was ducking down around his trainer protectively, not that Moore really needed the help.

  The only one that needed help right now was that Swellow.

  Now the blue Pokemon was trapped in the vortex. It could still fly and maneuvre about and it was using Steel Wing to try and cut up the cotton balls that came its way. But there were too many of them and it didn’t last long as no matter how hard the Swellow tried it was overwhelmed as several of the larger Cotton Spore blobs caught in the wind caught ti from multiple angles. The Swellow squawked in indignation as it became almost completely covered in the Cotton Spore attack and seemed to completely lose the ability to direct its own flight.

  “Oh no Swellow!” Winona shouted in dismay, seeing her Pokemon still conscious but clearly beaten if this was allowed to continue. Harry’s Pokemon was completely disabling her Pokemon’s ability to fly and with theHurricane attack doing steady damage it wouldn’t be long until this first match was over.

  “Return Swellow!” Winona suddenly shouted, holding up a Pokeball to withdraw her Pokemon from the field. Wattson was momentarily surprised but then remembered that the Flying type trainer had specified a few substitutions for this matchup. Lucky for her it seemed Substituting out her Pokemon was the only thing she could do in that situation.

  Without an opponent, the Whinsicott’s attack petered out as it stopped feeding the Hurricane. The little Pokemon was visibly pouting as it came back into view, floating back down to the ground with its Cotton Guard mostly shorn away. It looked fairly worn down by now. Wattson was sure it wouldn’t outlast whatever Pokemon Winona had left.

  The Flying type Gym Leader meanwhile had a look of chagrin on her face.

  “I didn’t think I’d be the first to sub out,” she said ruefully.

  Harry only shrugged.

  “It doesn’t matter if you substitute, you’re gonna have to find a counter to my strategy,” he challenged the woman.

  “Whim whimmsicott!” The Pokemon declared in agreement and pulled a face at the Gym Leader.

  Winona shot the Whimsicott an annoyed look as if to say “really?”

  “Let’s see how you handle this then!” She shouted, throwing another Pokeball out.

  Her Noctowl appeared, already flying in midair as it called its name and took in the arena.

  There were several cotton balls floating down to the ground but vastly fewer than there had been. The Swellow had cut through plenty of them and a few others had been broken up in the Whimsicott’s wind.

  “Oh yeah I remember this Pokemon from when we were little,” Tate said. “Grandma helped Winona train it to use Psychic powers. Winona’s probably going to try and keep her distance and knock that Whimsicott out at range.”

  Seeing the Noctowl on the field, it seemed Harry agreed with the assessment. Noctowl were known for being able to use Psychic type moves which meant the Noctowl could stay far away from the other Pokemon and still attack as long as they could see each other, so he probably didn’t like his chances.

  “Come back Bud,” Harry said, withdrawing his Pokemon too and in short order his next Pokemon took to the arena.

  “Maaaawile!” The tiny yellow and black Pokemon declared her name.

  “Ah, I was wondering if he’d bring that one out,” Moore stated. “I didn’t get to see it in Lavaridge.”

  “We’ve never seen a Mawile before either,” Liza said. “It’s so cute.”

  Wattson was left bemused, wondering what exactly the girl found “cute” in the Pokemon. Sure it was small, but those teeth.

  “Not many people use Mawile,” Wattson agreed. “They’re not considered to be strong Pokemon, but obviously this one ought to be an exception.”

  Apparently hearing the commentary the Mawile turned to the stands looking at them. She put a hand on her hip and cocked it to the side and with her other hand gave a v for victory sign.

  “Awesome,” Liza breathed out, which made Leah the Gardevoir chuckle.

  “Garde Gardevoir!” She shouted, gesturing at the Mawile, who preened and jumped up and down in delight.

  “Ielle, we have a battle to fight,” Harry called out exasperatedly.

  The Mawile pouted as she turned back to her trainer. Harry silently gestured in the direction of the Noctowl and the Mawile finally turned her attention to her opponent.

  The Noctowl had landed while Harry brought out his next Pokemon but flared its wings upon seeing it finally had the Mawile’s attention.

  “Hooooool!” The owl called out grandly, inspecting its smaller opponent that was at most half its height.

  The Mawile looked her opponent up and down before turning her head to the side, throwing her larger rear jaws to the side like they were a ponytail.

  “Maa?” She asked before waving dismissively at her opponent and then turning to look back at Harry.

  It seemed she wasn’t entirely impressed with the Noctowl.

  “Yes, that’s your opponent,” Harry said, apparently understanding the question in the way trainers often could understand their Pokemon.

  The Mawile’s face twisted in disbelief.

  “Ma,” she said waving her hand again in the general direction of the other Pokemon.

  “They’re not terribly well behaved Pokemon, are they?” Moore said with dry amusement into Wattson’s ear.

  First the Whimsicott being a bit rude and then the Mawile acting like this. Wattson couldn’t help but agree.

  “As long as they’ll actually battle,” he murmured back. “Plus, look at the Noctowl. I’m not entirely convinced this isn’t psychological warfare on the Mawile’s part.”

  The Gardevoir covering her mouth and chuckling demurely probably corroborated that theory.

  “Oh enough of this!” Winona called out in exasperation. “Use Hypnosis!”

  “”Misty Terrain Ielle, now!”

  The Noctowl had taken off into the sky immediately heading towards the Mawile. The Mawile in response showed that she wasn’t completely ignoring her opponent and very quickly shot up a big ball of pink clouds into the air above her.

  The Noctowl’s glowing eyes lost their target as Ielle disappeared into the Misty Terrain, the clouds covering her before it could get close enough to put her to sleep.

  “Close call,” Moore observed. The mist settled down around the arena, tall enough to completely obscure the Mawile from everyone’s sight.

  “Indeed,” Wattson agreed. If the Noctowl had managed to put the Mawile to sleep then that might have been the end of things.

  Having missed its quarry, the night predator adjusted its flight and soared high up and out of range of any retaliation. The arena was covered in pink mist, preventing anyone from seeing either hide or hair of the Mawile.

  “I see what your strategy is now but don’t think that’ll stop us! We’re used to hunting things that don’t want to be found, aren’t we Noctowl?” Winona said. That little speech was only a prelude to her next command.

  “Use Air Cutter and cut through that mist!”

  Instead of the traditional Gust or other attack someone might normally expect the Air Cutter was a crescent of white glowing energy.

  The Air Cutter spread out and cut through the Misty Terrain, parting it and leaving furrows in the densely packed dirt arena. But even after several salvos the Mawile wasn’t anywhere to be found.

  “You’ll have to do better than that!” Harry called across to his opponent.

  Winona grimaced, but then she had an idea.

  “Okay, instead of Air Cutter, use Psychic to disperse that mist!”

  The Noctowl still maintained a safe altitude and beat its wings more calmly as its eyes glowed again.

  The Noctowl’s attack seemed to work, creating a circle of clear space in the centre of the arena but it only lasted a few seconds before the Noctowl finished. It shook its head, clearly disorientated somehow.

  “Noctowl, are you okay!?” Winona asked with concern.

  The Noctowl hooted loudly to say it was and tried again at the attack.

  “Now Ielle! Use Fairy Wind!” Harry called.

  The Noctowl was concentrating on using Psychic to part the Misty Terrain, so it was slow to reach when suddenly a big chunk of the Misty Terrain started to blow in its direction.

  The Noctowl was buffeted back, crying out in surprise as its concentration was broken for a moment.

  But then it rallied. The Fairy Wind had dispersed, becoming thinner on the ground so when it continued its Psychic attack this time a big chunk of the Misty Terrain was parted, revealing the Mawile in the process.

  “Yes! Go on Noctowl, get in there with Hypnosis!”

  The Noctowl dove, calling its name as the Mawile froze in sudden surprise at being found.

  “Iron Head Ielle!” Harry shouted in worry.

  The Mawile Brought her jaws around, shining with the telltale sheen of a Steel type move, but then as she swung it around to meet the oncoming Noctowl the bird Pokemon suddenly spread its wings and arrested all of its momentum in an instant.

  The Iron head went wide and the Mawile was sent even more off balance, spinning around only to come back to face the right way, facing the Noctowl’s Hypnosis head on.

  The Mawile stumbled for a moment but the Hypnosis had already taken hold and a second later Ielle fell onto her butt, eyes closed and fast asleep.

  The Noctowl landed on the ground, closing its wings and it strode imperiously over to the unconscious Pokemon.

  “Alright Noctowl,” Winona cheered. “Use Dream Eater!”