I clenched my fist in faux frustration as the Noctowl floated down and set a foot on Ielle’s side.

  The telltale glow of Psychic type energy surrounded both the owl Pokemon and my Mawile. Dreameater was working.

  Winona’s Noctowl was literally eating Ielle’s dreams, however that was supposed to work. It was an attack that would not only hurt her, but would somehow heal the Noctowl in return. Whatever damage we’d achieved by combining Fairy Wind with Misty Terrain in our last attack would probably be undone completely in a minute or so. That is if things stayed like this.

  “That’s a good strategy,” I praised Winona. It was simple but effective, the worst kind of strategy to have to find a counter for. There was me thinking it was just going to try using Psychic at a distance.

  “Thanks. It often catches people by surprise when I bring Noctowl out. He’s a far different fighter than my other Pokemon. The last Mossdeep Gym Leader helped train him.”

  I nodded in understanding, putting the thought of Gym Leaders helping each other train their Pokemon to the side for the time being. Leah could probably benefit from some advice about using the Psychic side of her abilities and I was sure I could leverage my own knowledge and advice for some benefits with the other Gym Leaders too.

  Then what I’d been waiting for happened. Despite being much diminished by Ielle’s use of Fairy Wind to disperse much of it, the Misty Terrain drifted back into place across the arena.

  And as soon as enough of it built up, Mawile woke up and I could stop pretending to be worried.

  “Iron Head!”

  Winona’s eyes went wide with surprise as Mawile’s eyes opened and she swung her jaws, even as they turned to steel and the Noctowl went flying to the side.

  “Get it Ielle, Play Rough!”

  Ielle ran through the mist, but she wasn’t fast enough to stop the Noctowl from getting up and quickly flying away.

  “What happened?!” Winona demanded to know. “How did she wake up so quickly?”

  “Misty Terrain prevents status conditions,” I explained to my opponent, my lips twitching as I watched my Mawile pull another face at her opponent.

  “Damnit,” Winona cursed mildly.

  She had her Pokeball ready to withdraw the Noctowl who it seemed had been completely countered so far. But then she hesitated.

  “That Misty Terrain isn’t going to last much longer, get ready Noctowl!”

  She was right. The Misty Terrain was much diminished, too low now to fully hide my Mawile.

  “Misty Terrain Ielle, top it off!”

  “I don’t think so!” Winona shouted triumphantly. “Grab it Noctowl!”

  My mouth dropped open as I realised the trick. My Mawile was busy activating the move and she was too slow to react as the Noctowl swooped down again.

  I’d expected maybe another attempt at Psychic, but not this.

  The Fairy Terrain orb was shot up, just as Noctowl burst through it and it caught Ielle under her arms.

  “Wiiiii!” Ielle shouted in panic as she was lifted into the air. Despite being a part Steel type she was surprisingly light, only ten or level kilograms. The Noctowl struggled slightly, but not enough to stop it being able to lift my Pokemon up and out of the Misty Terrain.

  “Hypnosis!” Winona shouted, although her Pokemon was already using the move. It meant that my counter order to use Iron Head again was too late.

  Noctowl hovered several feet above the Misty Terrain and suddenly we were back where we were a minute ago.

  “That Misty Terrain won't work if your Pokemon doesn’t touch it,” Winona observed smartly, clearly proud of what she’d thought up.

  I had to give it to her. It was smart thinking. Trust the Flying type expert to think of altitude as a counter to Misty Terrain.

  But this was no time to congratulate my opponent. I needed to do something.

  I reached for Ielle’s Pokeball,considering whether or not to recall her but hesitated.

  If I withdrew her now then Ielle wouldn’t just wake up. With her Steel typing, Ielle was resistant to Psychic attacks which would at least let her last longer against the steady damage the Noctowl was doing with Dream Eater. Being put to sleep as a status condition didn’t wear off in the same way a Pokemon simply sleeping normally could wake up inside their Pokeball.

  The Noctowl was still a bit battered but soon it would heal back up to full. It was tempting to save a substitution and hope Ielle could wake up before she was beaten while the Noctowl tired itself out having to stay in the air carrying my Pokemon like that. It would be spending a lot of endurance that wouldn’t be restored by the Dream Eater the same way actual damage would be. But that strategy would rely on me being able to do something different after Ielle woke up. She was kind of a one trick pony and that trick had been countered.

  “Come on Ielle. Wake up!” I called out in vain.

  Of course I got no response from the Pokemon in question as she hung there in the Noctowl’s grip. There was nothing I could do except wait, or switch out.

  “Come back Ielle,” I said as I withdrew her from midair, quickly pulling out the Pokeball of one of my next Pokemon. It was a relief that the Noctowl wasn’t using some move that could prevent switchouts.

  Hopefully this next strategy would work, in more ways than one.

  The Noctowl quickly took to the air again, ready for whatever Pokemon I was about to send out.

  “And come on out Robin!”

  “Ribuuu!” My Ribombee called, appearing in midair on our side of the arena.

  His eyes lit upon the Noctowl, his opponent for this match and despite the obviously disadvantageous type matchup I knew this was the right call.

  It was time to show my opponent that while she’d outdone my Mawile’s tricks that I could counter her strategies too.

  ***

  “Robin use Sweet Veil, quickly!” Harry ordered while at the same time Winona had her Pokemon go in to try and put this one to sleep too.

  “Careful Noctowl, don’t let them catch you by surprise. Get in with Hypnosis again!”

  That was Harry’s second substitution, but probably a necessary one too. Moore watched with interest, wondering what his strategy was this time. The Ribombee wasn’t going down into the Misty Terrain which would have saved it from Hypnosis. So what was this new trick?

  The Noctowl did approach again, going to fly right in front of the Ribombee with glowing eyes.

  A bit too cocky on Winona’s part there, Moore thought.

  The Bug Pokemon spun around in place a few times. Moore could see how as it did so it was dispersing dust like a Stun Spore attack from its wings. Only this ability wasn’t aimed at the Noctowl. The dust was going everywhere around the Ribombee and covering itself in the process.

  The Noctowl made contact with the other Pokemon, eyes glowing again with the signature colour of a Hypnosis attack. Robin the Ribombee’s eyes trembled for a moment as the attack took hold.

  Noctowl used Hypnosis.

  But nothing happened.

  “Silver Tornado!”

  “Get back Noctowl!”

  The Noctowl propelled itself back with powerful wing beats as the Ribombee’s gaze turned hard.

  It spun around again, only this time instead of dispersing pollen or spores the distinctly glowing silver energy of the Bug attack surrounded the Pokemon.

  Moore’s eyes widened. He’d seen this Pokemon coming out in the battle against Flannery and it had been quickly defeated by her Arcanine.

  Only this time the Ribombee had been given enough time to do what Harry had trained it for and now it had had the chance to set itself up for success.

  The Ribombee spun around several more times and the Noctowl wisely flew further away and out of the reach of the new attack.

  Before, the Whimsicott had created a tornado using Hurricane around itself rather than as a forward attack. Now the Ribombee was doing much the same with itself as the centre point and a Bug type move.

  It seemed Harry Hemming had adapted the same strategy for both of the normally very fragile Pokemon. As long as they could avoid hits then it didn’t matter how easily beaten they might be and he’d used a strategy with a similar bent on the Mawile. Harry’s strategy was overall a mixed bag. He tried to mix offense and defence where he could and it clearly worked for him.

  “Wind style attacks are supposed to be for Flying type trainers!” Winona complained. “Noctowl, use Air Cutter!”

  “Dodge it and keep powering up Robin!”

  Powering up? Moore recognised the attack now. Silver Tornado, as opposed to Silver Wind, the Bug type move.

  The Flying type attack cut through the Silver Wind surrounding the Ribombee, probably countering the Bug type energy, but the Bug Pokemon was too small and nimble for it to actually hit it. The Ribombee easily dodged first one, then several more Air Cutters as the Noctowl kept firing off attacks.

  But while it was staying outside of the general range of the Silver Wind tornado, this wasn’t a stalemate. The Noctowl wasn’t completely safe.

  The Silver Tornado was spreading out from the Ribombee at its centre. It became weaker as it got further away from it but the Pokemon kept spinning around regularly. Moore surmised that it was effectively recharging and adding to the collective power of the already existing attack and it was getting bigger with every repetition.

  And what’s more, the Misty Terrain was being picked up in the gentle winds, giving them a slightly pink sheen. Moore had no idea what that meant, but it had empowered the Mawile’s Fairy Wind and Moroe doubted that the same wouldn’t apply here too.

  “Silver Wind sometimes makes its user stronger when you use it. If Winona doesn’t do anything then that Ribombee could make itself strong enough to win the rest of the match all on it’s own,” Liza said with interest, her brother nodding silently.

  Both kids were leaning forward in their seats. To be fair, so was Moore.

  That was the real value of Silver Wind. It wasn’t just an attacking move. It was also a buffing move, potentially increasing the power, speed and defences of the user by a small amount whenever it was used.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  But what if instead of attacking directly with it like any other wind based attack, your Pokemon just sat in it?

  Moore watched as the Ribombee dodged the Noctowl’s retaliatory Air Cutters a bit faster as it’s buff grew stronger. On top of that, the cyclone of Silver Wind was actually growing bigger and more powerful as the creator of it grew stronger too!

  It wasn’t exponential. Pokemon studies had shown that the buffing effects of certain moves could only make them so much more powerful. Still, that Ribombee was going to reach peak performance in no time.

  The pink tint from the Misty Terrain became too faint to see as the Silver Wind grew bigger and bigger before their eyes and it wound up covering a massive portion of the arena. It was almost calm in a sense. The winds weren’t like the Hurricane created by the Whimsicott before, Silver Wind was at least partly an ethereal attack so it lacked some kind of physicality other attacks might have had.

  With its’s defensive and offensive strategy in full effect, Robin was now following the Noctowl slowly, maintaining control of the attack that would normally be simply let loose in the direction of the opponent.

  Because the Silver Tornado was so big there was less room to maneuvre even in the confines of the large arena and the Noctowl started to struggle in the air as the edge of the Silver Tornado hit home and started to build up some damage.

  The Noctowl’s trainer ordered it to stop attacking as that was clearly only going to tire her Pokemon out faster. All the Noctowl could do was try and maintain its distance from its opponent and the strong Silver Tornado while Winona had to figure out a counter.

  But it was clear from her expression that Winona just didn’t have an answer to this.

  “That has to be tiring it out,” Wattson said with admiration. “I saw this back in my Gym. I didn’t think that Pokemon had been holding back so much.”

  “But that Noctowl won’t be able to outlast it. So the question now is how will Winona try and counter it,” Moore stated. Her main strategy with that Noctowl was clearly to put other Pokemon to sleep. So what was she going to do?

  Moore didn’t expect an answer from the other Gym Leaders, the obvious next attempt hadn’t been tried yet. The Flying type trainer had two options that he could see, but he was worried that Winona was going to take the worse of the two options first. He also knew exactly how that could go wrong too and he was about to be proven right.

  “Use Psychic, Noctowl!”

  It was a last ditch effort. Psychic was much harder to dodge than the scythe blades of Air Cutter, so at least Winona could get some damage in before losing her Pokemon.

  The Owl Pokemon went to hover a safe distance away, quite a bit higher in the stadium to avoid a bit more of the Silver Wind brushing over it and give it the opportunity to use its attack.

  And then the obvious happened.

  “Dazzling Gleam!”

  Between the tiny hands of the Ribombee a glowing pink ball of energy formed.

  The Noctowl used its attack, the glowing energy of Psychic surrounding the Bug type and Moore didn’t doubt it was doing damage, but in the process the Noctowl had left itself wide open.

  The Silver Wind exploded outwards as the Ribombee’s control over it broke, a powerful gust of energy spreading out in all directions but primarily heading straight for the Noctowl. The Silver Wind pressed forwards towards the Noctowl, while at the same time a beam of Pink energy shot out in its direction glowing with the same Fairy type energy Moore remembered from Flannery’s match against Harry before.

  Unlike last time, this attack was just bigger, but even more concentrated. Perhaps even stronger than what Moore had seen of Harry’s Gardevoir back in Lavaridge. It was probably the result of all the buffing effects of the Silver Wind but damn was it impressive.

  Moore had to shield his eyes with his hand, but the Fire type trainer was well used to bright lights with his profession and he could see as the attack struck home on the Noctowl which shouted in surprise and pain for several seconds as the attack washed over it.

  The attack died down a moment later and the end result was the bird Pokemon falling down to the ground, unconscious after being dealt a powerful blow.

  And so the first actual knockout went to Harry Hemming’s Ribombee.

  “Good job Robin!” Harry praised as his Pokemon floated back down closer to the arena.

  Winona returned her fallen Pokemon.

  “I can see it now, your connection with your Pokemon is fantastic. You definitely have what it takes to be a Gym Leader,” she praised warmly.

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Harry replied jovially, but from his tone Moore could see from the fire in his eyes that despite having achieved what he set out to with this Pokemon battle, he wasn’t done with this yet.

  “Shall we continue the battle?”

  “Absolutely!” Winona replied, just as eager as her opponent. She was already reaching for another Pokeball which she held up.

  “Your Ribombee’s taken me by surprise. We really aren’t used to trainers using Bug Pokemon at the top level against us. Now I’m going to show you why that’s for a good reason!”

  The ball was thrown forward to reveal the last of the Pokemon she would be using for this battle.

  The Skarmory screeched as it appeared in the arena.

  Moore nodded, having expected this Pokemon to appear. This was what Winona should have done from the start once Harry’s strategy became apparent against her Noctowl. Now that Ribombee had gotten going it might be tough to beat it even with the advantages that Skarmory would have Winona had only made everything harder for herself.

  “Okay Skarmory, start us off with Agility!”

  “Quickly, use Dazzling Gleam Robin!”

  The Skarmory’s silver form began to hum as it accelerated. The speed boosting move making it significantly faster.

  It tried to dodge the Ribombee’s attack, but still got clipped by the powerful Fairy type move.

  “Again!” Both trainers shouted at the same time.

  The Skarmory avoided the attack a second time around. Already with two uses of the speed buffing move it was fast enough to avoid the aim of the Ribombee, at least while maintaining it’s distance.

  Then Harry changed tactics.

  “Double Team Robin, then set us up for Silver Tornado again!”

  The Ribombee spun around, both starting off with the beginnings of another Silver Tornado and also creating a dozen duplicates of itself.

  “Agility again Skarmory!”

  The Silver Tornado was growing stronger but Winona didn’t seem to be worried. Likewise Harry’s unsure expression revealed that he too knew he was suddenly on the back foot. A Skarmory had both Flying and Steel typings, making it nigh impervious to Bug type moves like Silver Wind. And the move, especially being used like this where it wasn’t being directly aimed at the other Pokemon, wasn't going to do the job fast enough.

  Which was why he’d decided to switch tactics and try using Double Team. A defensive dodge based strategy was probably the only way he could see his Pokemon outlasting the Skarmory.

  But it was all for naught.

  “Alright Skarmory, now use Aerial Ace!”

  “Oh no!” Tate gasped out.

  Moore winced and he could see resignation appear on Harry’s face. He’d probably anticipated the Skarmory knowing that move but he’d still hoped for the best.

  Because with Aerial Ace allowing the Skarmory to easily hit the original, the Ribombee’s fate was more or less sealed with the use of that move.

  The Skarmory’s incredible speed using the attack was only enhanced by its Agility buffs and in seconds it had shot through the Silver Winds surrounding the Bug/Fairy Pokemon, taking very little damage in the process and striking almost all the Double Team clones.

  Then the Ribombee was revealed as it was knocked back with a cry of surprise.

  “Dazzling Gleam Robin!” Harry shouted in desperation, trying to at least land one more hit on the Steel type bird Pokemon before his second Pokemon fainted.

  The Ribombee tried, firing off a quick blast that struck the Skarmory as it came back around. But the Skarmory only powered through the attack, striking the Ribombee with its powerful and solid steel wings and rendering it unconscious.

  “Damn,” Harry said, withdrawing his Pokemon before it could hit the ground. “That’s an impressive specimen of a Skarmory.”

  “Skarmory has been with me for a long time,” Winona said proudly.

  Harry seemed unsure as he reached for his Pokeballs but then nodded to himself.

  “Come on out Ielle!”

  “Wait, but isn’t she still asleep?” Asked Liza with surprise in her tone. “The Misty Terrain’s all gone so it won’t be able to wake up straight away now.”

  The Mawile appeared on the arena floor. She was still asleep but then to everyone’s surprise she suddenly sneezed.

  “Maaa!” the now awake Pokemon complained, rubbing her nose in irritation.

  “That Sweet Veil,” Wattson stated. “There must’ve been enough of that pollen left behind from the Ribombee to help wake it back up once it got back inside the arena.”

  “A smart move,” Moore agreed, impressed with Harry’s forward thinking. When he’d sent out the Ribombee he’d managed to counter the Noctowl’s primary strategy and also set himself up for undoing the ongoing Sleep status on the Mawile later.

  “Use Misty Terrain Ielle, quickly!”

  “Not so fast. Let’s see how easy it is for your Pokemon to hide with Spikes!”

  “Ha!” Wattson said with interest. “She’s got him there!”

  The pink mist once again covered the arena, but at the same time the Skarmory was flying overhead, dropping dozens, if not hundreds of caltrop like spikes from amongst its wings.

  “Be careful Ielle!” Harry called as the speedy Skarmory sailed back up in the air.

  “What’re you going to do now?” Winona asked. “I figure your Mawile isn’t suited for long range fighting and she’ll need to get close to catch my Skarmory.”

  “You’ll need to get in close too!” Harry replied back archly. “Use Fairy Wind!”

  “And counter that Fairy Wind with Whirlwind!”

  The Skarmory landed on the ground and began to flap its wings powerfully. Almost immediately a powerful force of wind shot forward towards the incoming Fairy Wind.

  The Pink mist of the Fairy Wind was blown back, although the Fairy type move still continued on, informing Moore that there was also a less physical component to the attack, like with Silver Wind. Exactly how much damage the diminished Fairy Wind had dealt Moore wasn’t sure but it couldn’t be much.

  It’d only taken some glancing hits from the Ribombee which had been at full strength but the Pokemon still looked to be in good enough shape to keep going.

  The Skarmory’s Whirlwind attack was immediately proven to be useful beyond helping to minimise the strength of Ielle’s Fairy Wind. It was also disabling Harry’s strategy with the Misty Terrain as all the mist surrounding the arena was dispersed.

  Not only that, many of the spikes that the Skarmory had dispersed only a second ago were blown right in the direction of the suddenly revealed Mawile.

  “Oh no Ielle!” Harry called in worry. “Use Iron Head to block those spikes!”

  The order came in just the nick of time, but Moore and the other observers could see that Winona had already given her Pokemon another command.

  “Steel Wing!”

  The Skarmory shot forward immediately. The Mawile wasn’t out of things yet though and with its large jaws still gleaming with Steel type energy it swung them around and the Steel Wing collided hard against the Iron Head with a massive clang!

  The onlookers cringed away from the powerful noise, the Mawile being knocked down by the collision and the Skarmory losing control of its flight. It was sent tumbling to the ground where it dug a furrow in the packed dirt.

  “Damn. They’re lucky either of them came out of that one in one piece,” Wattson said, cringing at the sight of the two Pokemon both slowly recovering and getting back up.

  The Mawile stumbled, reaching for her larger, hair-like jaws and rubbing them while wincing. The Skarmory likewise was inspecting its wing, which had a noticeable dent in it where it had struck the Mawile’s jaws. That was despite the two limbs having been reinforced with Steel type energy.

  Being a Steel type that wouldn’t really be a big problem for either of them. Both injuries would heal fairly quickly in Moore’s opinion but it spoke well of how powerful those two attacks had been to leave that kind of mark.

  “Skarmory if you can still fly then try for an Aerial Ace!” Winona shouted, clearly not willing to give up the initiative.

  The Flying/Steel Pokemon ruffled its steel feathers and obeyed the command. It took to the air again before circling around and going for the Mawile once more.

  “Sucker Punch Ielle!” Harry shouted.

  Just as the Skarmory came around to deliver a smack with its undamaged wing, the Mawile jumped up and struck it right in the side of its head with a tiny fist covered in Dark type energy.

  The attacks both hit, but it was clear in the aftermath that the Mawile had come out worse for wear with the Mawile lying on the ground, swirls in its eyes to indicate it had been knocked out.

  “Another to you,” Harry said as he withdrew his Pokemon.

  The Skarmory was on its last legs this time and struggled to get back into the air before Harry had sent out his Whimsicott, his last Pokemon.

  The Whimsicott didn’t look too tired, but the Skarmory was going to go down in just one more hit.

  “That’s enough. Return, Skarmory,” Winona said, using her second and probably last substitution for the battle. There was no way she was going to bring her Skarmory back out again unless she had to.

  Harry nodded in understanding and so did Moore.

  It was a fair choice, the Whimsicott was still fairly fresh and wasn’t going to struggle to take out the Skarmory at this point. It was smarter to withdraw it and at least have more Pokemon out on paper.

  And so, they were back to the beginning.

  “It’s just you and that Whimsicott now, Swellow!” Winona shouted as she summoned her last remaining Pokemon.

  “Swwwellow!” The Swellow declared, reappearing on the arena floor. It took off again a second later, ready and eager for the battle to continue between it and the Whimsicott.

  “Use Hurricane Bud!”

  Winona clearly wasn’t going to let Harry take the initiative again after last time these two Pokemon had clashed.

  “Don’t let it set up. Power through it Swellow with Aerial Ace!”

  The Swellow cried out it’s name and soared in the direction of the Whimsicott. The powerful winds only slowed it down, the speed of Aerial Ace allowing the Flying type Pokemon to push through the gale.

  “Use Cotton Guard!” Harry called out in a panic.

  The Whimsicott activated the move but the Swellow was already closing.

  The Cotton Guard wasn’t the same as last time. Perhaps it was just that the Whimsicott was too tired but it didn’t produce any decoy balls like before and Winona clearly noticed that.

  “You can do it. Use Brave Bird and end this!”

  The Swellow swerved around, moving even quicker this time as it activated the powerful attack. Harry’s call to use Hurricane again was too late. The Swellow powered through the defensive ball of cotton it struck home on the Whimsicott.

  The Cotton burst apart again, revealing Bud unconscious on the ground. But at the same time the Swellow fell from the air, skidding to a stop. The recoil from Brave bird had taken its toll, knocking out the other Pokemon.

  It had been a three versus three. Harry had no more Pokemon, but Winona’s Skarmory was still conscious, albeit barely. It was only thanks to that that Winona had won the battle.