I realized why Grusha had told me to take the trial despite there still being a few hours before my challenge, and it wasn’t just him being overeager. Can’t believe Grusha hasn’t installed a lift or anything here yet. Does he expect everyone to march up?

  Apparently, or maybe there were special Flying Taxis you could order to take you up such a small distance, but I hadn’t checked for anything like that. Despite my internal complaints, if pressed, I would admit I enjoyed the exercise. Plus, it gave me time to plan out my match against Grusha.

  Not sure what sort of strategies he’ll use. The remoteness of the Gym and his newness as a Leader mean there have been no videos about him yet. From the online discussion, the few people who have faced him have said he’s ‘strong,’ but that’s a hard thing to judge without evidence. I know plenty of challenges the average Paldean Trainer would find tough, but I’d think were a breeze.

  As I reached the top of the hill, I walked over to the arena. Nobody was here yet, not even my parents, but I sent them a quick message on my phone with shaking fingers. Ah, so much easier when I have Miles possessing this. But they’re waiting in a more battle-ready body.

  Entering the arena, a wave of warmth washed over me. Or rather, a wave of ‘room-temperature-ness’ washed over me, but it felt like warmth compared to the cold out there. The arena technology is really incredible. The temperature controls are fine-tuned enough to stop the regular elements from interfering, but not a Move-assisted change in the weather.

  Waddling up to the opposite end, a Cetoddle lumbered onto the field. The white, round Pokemon turned to face me, eyes widening. “Ceto?”

  “Ah, I see. Finally… a challenger worthy of my skill,” I began, likely to the confusion of Grusha, who I could barely catch out of the corner of my eye.

  “Toddle? Cetoddle!” The Pokemon said, opening their mouth wide. I couldn’t tell if they were trying to correct me or if they understood me at all. Not that it matters for this bit.

  “I have climbed the highest mountain of Paldea to face you, and I will not be stopped. Come at me with all your might, Gym Leader Cetoddle!” The few spectators that had gathered were looking on in shock, whispers passing around them. Only Billy and O’Nare, used to my antics, laughed quietly at what I was doing.

  Grusha, who had quickly increased his stride at whispers of ‘Grusha stepping down?’ and ‘I didn’t know a Gym Leader could be a Pokemon,’ arrived at the arena. “Nemona-” he began, before I waved him off.

  “In a minute, Grusha, I have to prepare for my fight with Cetoddle. Our battle will be legendary!”

  “Would you knock it off!” I (and Cetoddle) turned, shocked, as Grusha actually snapped at me. “Battles are like an icy cliff; you need to take them seriously.” I paused as Grusha marched on ahead, Cetoddle waddling off to the side as he took his spot.

  The dude seems a little embarrassed about the outburst now, but I can tell he meant those words. That’s… not exactly the kind of lesson I meant to teach him when I told him about how great battling was almost a year and a half ago.

  “Sorry about that, didn’t mean to upset you,” I said, scratching the back of my head. Man, a couple of months on the road and my hair has really gotten unruly. Might need to tie it back up in a ponytail again. I shook my head, pushing aside those irrelevant thoughts.

  “Don’t let your other victories get to your head,” he warned me. “It’s when riding high that everything can come tumbling down. You can’t underestimate the challenge before you.” I gave him a sincere smile back.

  “Oh, I will,” I promised. Before he could say anything sarcastic or harsh about my joking around, I explained. “I like to make jokes and have fun off the field, because to me, Pokemon battles should be all about fun. They’re great! But that doesn’t mean I won’t take them seriously. Part of what I find fun is being able to go all out and show just how strong I can be. So don’t worry; I’ll face you with every ounce of strength I have.”

  I finished my words by holding Dun’s Pokeball out in front of me and staring Grusha dead in the eyes. A sharp wind cut the air between us, and the Gym Leader averted his gaze first, shivering.

  “I’ll hold you to that,” he muttered as the barrier popped up and an attendant announced the rules.

  “Each contestant will be allowed the use of four Pokemon in this match, with two switches. Terastalization will be allowed by each Trainer once during the battle. Understood?” We both affirmed that we did. “Trainers, ready your Pokemon.”

  I put Dun’s ball back, holding up a different one. Don’t worry, buddy, you’ll get your chance to shine. I just need to set the stage first.

  All of my Pokeballs were Premier Balls, to match Dun’s. He really liked his first ball, so he kept it, and having the others match ensured that it would be harder for anyone to figure out what Pokemon I was bringing out to start a fight with.

  At the referee’s words, we released our Pokemon, Grusha revealing a beautiful, large, white, moth-like Pokemon. Her body was rather large for a moth and actually looked fairly similar in shape to my Pokemon, Notch.

  Grusha didn’t give much away, but there was a slight tightness to his gaze, which indicated he was frustrated by my Pokemon. Understandable, really. Notch is pretty much the worst Pokemon for him to face with a Frosmoth. Not that I had planned on that when I sent them out. Hmm, now I have to decide between my first plan or going for a quick victory against Frosmoth…

  “Trainers, are you ready?”

  “Yes,” we both answered.

  “Then the match begins in three, two, one… begin!”

  “Tailwind/Barrage!” Grusha and I called out at once. Frosmoth began flapping her large, diaphanous wings hard, kicking up the wind, while Notch terrakinetically ripped up large chunks of stone out from the ground at the Bug Type.

  Frosmoth tried to fly out of the way, but a few rocks clipped her before she could dodge, our opponent slower than Notch before the buff was set up. Even getting clipped caused heavy damage with her quadruple weakness to the Rock Type attack, and after she had the speed and vertical advantage to avoid the rocks, Notch pulled out another trick.

  Smashing the Stone Edges against each other, rather than at Frosmoth, caused them to split apart, scattering rocks everywhere across the air. And more importantly, across the field. I wasn’t sure it was quite as effective as that signature Move Kleavor had, but it was an effective method of hiding Stealth Rocks around the arena.

  Frosmoth was busy as well, flapping her damaged wings hard, but this time calling snow alongside the winds that bolstered her. Looks like he’s doing set-up as well. But I think we can do more.

  “Screens up,” I called out, and Notch began rapidly conjuring a Light Screen and Reflect around themself.

  “Blizzard!” Grusha called out over the howling wind, which made me blink. No Quiver Dance? Ah, she must not be strong enough for that. Quiver Dance was a powerful setup Move, but one that took most Bug Types a long time to master.

  The icy storm that barraged my Pokemon was impressive enough in its own right, but I had every faith in Notch’s ability to weather that storm. “Trick Room,” I announced casually, and Grusha stiffened.

  “Aurora Veil,” was his response. Hmm, that will make it a lot tougher to hurt his Pokemon; Aurora Veil is like Reflect and Light Screen all wrapped up in one, and it stacks with the natural boost Snowscape gives to an Ice Type’s Defense.

  The gentle light settled on the field just before the twisted dimensions snapped in place. “Dodge, continue setting up.” Notch dutifully did just that, tanking or avoiding Frosmoth’s now glacially slow assault, spreading Spikes all over the field.

  I heard Grusha’s teeth grinding under that scarf of his for a few seconds before he finally called out, “Switch!” Just as the second layer of Spikes covered the field. Not bad, but I’ve already got the Stealth Rocks set up, so this is going to hurt more than you think.

  “Go, Cetitan!” Grusha called out as he returned his Frosmoth and sent out his next Pokemon. The Cetitan landed with a heavy thud, looking much like his pre-evolved Cetoddle form, only with more spikes and some grey splotches on his fur, alongside the predominant white body with pink highlights.

  His landing was also answered by a vast amount of stones rising out of the snow-covered ground and pelting him hard, entirely bypassing the field effects that would otherwise lessen the impact of harmful Moves. Arena hazards don’t care for stuff like Aurora Veil or Snowscape.

  This was definitely problematic for him, because his first command was, “Ice Spinner!” Ice Spinner… does that remove hazards like Rapid Spin? No, not innately; it’s for Terrain removal, but I can’t count it out as his goal.

  “Body Press, stop him from moving.” Notch flew over quite quickly under Trick Room, landing directly above Cetitan just as he was starting to build up speed for his spin. The mystical effects of the Aurora Veil and Snowscape both served to lessen the impact, but given Notch’s incredibly dense body and the super effective Move, they still landed with a heavy ‘crack’ upon Cetitan.

  “Shake em off, Avalanche!” Reaching his arms above him, Cetitan called down a pile of snow and ice on Notch, dislodging them. Despite the fact that the Move hit Cetitan too, it did little damage, his bulk shrugging it off.

  “Switch,” I called out, returning Notch before the fight could continue. They’ve done well and could probably win the fight if it continued, but the cost would be high, and I need them for later plans. Plus, I want to give someone else experience.

  “Bahamut, you’re up!” Fraxure took to the field with a proud roar, undercut almost immediately by him coughing and shivering as the cold hit him.

  “Focus! Swords Dance!” He shook off the unpleasantness and began dancing, waving his tusks about to bolster his strength. Thankfully, while the motions were elegant, none of them had the sinuous twists that would indicate he was using Dragon Dance to some degree. We really don’t need the speed boost right now.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Grusha wasn’t going to wait for us to finish up, ordering again, “Ice Spinner.” As Cetitan made his approach, the Gym Leader added, “Really, a Dragon in this weather? If you get overwhelmed, don’t blame me.”

  “We’ve got a few tricks left. Bahamut, jump over it!” With a powerful leap on his stocky legs, Fraxure soared over Cetitan before the spinning Ice Type could hit him.

  Unworried, Grusha told his Pokemon, “Reverse course, hit him as he lands.” Without stopping his rotations, Cetitan cut a path back, one perfectly lined up to smack into my Fraxure as he landed down. Unfortunately for our opponents, they hadn’t kept track of all the Moves they had used, not like I had.

  Perhaps I have an edge on measuring the wind due to my Aura, though, I thought as the Tailwind died down. With the speed boost gone, Cetitan rocketed ahead, Trick Room inverting the sudden slowdown and causing him to overshoot.

  As he stopped spinning, the Ice Type paused, confused for a moment, right as Bahamut landed down behind him. “Iron Tail!” I cried loudly, and my Fraxure swung his tail with all his might, crashing into Cetitan. Despite his incredible bulk, my Pokemon had the strength to send even Cetitan sprawling backward.

  “Fraxure!” He cried enthusiastically as Cetitan got back to his feet, wincing. The snow around us was fading away as the Move ended. Not much time left in Trick Room either, but too soon to use Dragon Dance. Eh, we’ve buffed enough; best to press the advantage.

  “Iron Head,” I ordered, not wanting to risk a less reliable (albeit stronger) Move like Iron Tail if Cetitan wouldn’t be caught off guard.

  “Ice Shard, then Ice Spinner!” Grusha spat out, clearly unhappy with how far we’d pushed him back with even my newest Pokemon. Unfortunately for me, his fast Ice attack slowed Bahamut down a tad and hurt him, and although he met the Ice Spinner without fear and landed a powerful blow against Cetitan, my Pokemon clearly came out worse for the exchange.

  Guess we gotta try something else if we’re to win this, though at least the Aurora Veil has finally faded. “Draco Meteor,” I mentioned in a calm tone, as if talking about the weather. Snowy, with a high chance of draconic-powered rocks falling from the sky.

  “I won’t let things heat up. Time to bring the deep freeze,” Grusha declared defiantly, staring up at the glowing purple rocks my Fraxure had conjured, which were about to rain down upon the field. Looking the wrong direction. As he ordered Cetitan to meet the powerful-looking attack with a Blizzard, Bahamut was rushing ahead, closing in on Grusha’s Pokemon.

  He noticed almost too late the ice and meteors exploding into tiny, dazzling slivers above our Pokemon’s heads. “Ice Shard!” Without any other warning, a dozen Ice Shards struck into Bahamut. The move would have been enough to take him out - he likely would have been knocked out before that even - if the Reflect Notch setup wasn’t protecting him.

  With it, Bahamut pushed through, headbutting Cetitan hard with a Steel Type covered head. The mighty Cetitan took a few steps backward before collapsing, defeated. Grusha sighed before recalling his Pokemon.

  “I’m recalling Bahamut from the fight,” I announced before Grusha could put his Pokemon forth. “You did great, pal,” I told him as I returned him to his ball. I want to keep my last switch, and I’d rather end Bahamut’s first Gym Battle on a high note rather than just letting him get taken out by Grusha’s next Pokemon.

  “Get back in there, Notch.” Grusha’s face screwed up intensely as he saw what I had done. Theoretically, it was a mistake to retire Bahamut before seeing what Grusha would send out. Now the advantage is his. But I’ve got a pretty good idea of what the rest of his team comp is. I’ve seen (and already hurt) Frosmoth, and Altaria, his ace, is a laughably poor matchup against Notch. Which only leaves…

  “Beartic,” Grusha announced in a frustrated voice, sending his powerful Polar Bear-like Pokemon on the field. He roared and began loping across the field towards Notch almost instantly - though not as instantly as the Stealth Rocks and Spikes, which buried painfully into him upon his landing before scattering back once more across the field.

  “Power Gem, outrange, then Room.” Notch methodically blasted the Ice Type with several beams of Rock Type energy, doing significant damage, but not enough to stop their foe. Especially not when, under Grusha’s command, he burst forward on an Aqua Jet, slamming into Notch and chipping their body slightly.

  One clawed hand reached up and grabbed onto Notch, stopping them from ascending away from the angry Beartic. Faced with that position, my Pokemon simply shifted to conjuring the Trick Room.

  For his part, the Beartic attempted to savage into my Carbink, but their diamond-hard defenses let them endure getting thrashed about on Aqua Jets and then pressed against the ground for a point-blank Earthquake. The screens helped with that too, and they just ran out.

  “Reflect,” I called out, giving Notch a grim smile. They waved an ear at me, still stuck in the grip, but with the twisted dimensions around the Pokemon, was able to place that barrier up before finally being struck down by Beartic.

  “Challenger Nemona’s Pokemon has fainted! Please send out your next Pokemon,” the referee directed me as I recalled Notch. Not wasting a moment of the Trick Room now in place, I sent Dun onto the field.

  “Curse,” I called out, and I saw a slight twitch from Grusha, the Gym Leader likely recalling my fight with Katy. That moment of hesitation was enough for him to see that the Curse was affecting solely my Pokemon and not laying down a Curse on his own. That time meant that by the time Beartic had lumbered forward, shooting icicles from his paws at Dun, my land snake was able to slither around the attack.

  “Once more, let’s really stack this up,” I decided, seeing that even with the speed drop, Dun was still only just as fast as Beartic within the Trick Room, if that. Beartic whirled around and Thrashed into Dun, even as the shades tormented him. No orange-ish glow. Does he not know any Fighting Type attacks? That’s a serious oversight on Grusha’s part.

  Not that it would have helped too much; even a super effective attack would do much less after two Curses used to bolster his Defense. “Hyper Drill,” I ordered, and Dun got to show off the offensive side of his boosts, ripping rapidly into the Beartic, eliciting howls of pain as he attacked.

  Grusha’s eyes widened, and in a panic, he shouted, “Switch!” He paused for a moment afterwards, and I wondered if he was trying to stall me out before realizing he was just second-guessing himself. Beartic was his best answer to Dun right now, but Grusha overreacted. As hurt as he was, the damage Dun was dealing wasn’t critical, and now he has to use Frosmoth or Altaria, and neither one is tough enough to win this.

  I gave him a sad smile, sympathetic to the position he was in. It might not seem like that on my public record, but I’ve felt it too. Facing off against Kotetsu and Hassel, they both vastly outclassed and outplayed me. Never say never and all, but sometimes you reach the point where it really is too late for a feasible comeback.

  Grusha recognized the sentiment I was expressing, but it only seemed to get his hackles up, reigniting the fire in his veins. “The mountain in winter might seem calm and still, but that can change in an instant! Go, Altaria!” He shouted, surprising me. The blue, cloud-wing Dragon emerged over the arena with a piercing cry that chilled me to the bone. Already sending out his Ace. Smart. She flies above the field and won’t trigger the hazards.

  She still had to deal with Dun, however. “Body Slam!” Dun charged through the air, crushing down upon Grusha’s strongest Pokemon. She fired off a Moonblast as he smacked her into the ground, but the Altaria took the worst of that exchange, her left wing held awkwardly after that. The true advantage of my combination. Within Trick Room, Curse acts more like Victory Dance in how much it can boost Dun.

  Of course, the downside to that was the limited time I had. Trick Room would soon be ending, and I didn’t have a way to set it back up, at which point the speed advantage would be firmly tilted against me. As I saw Altaria speed up, zipping back into the air, I realized that it would be slightly easier to fight without than I thought, as she must have been Paralyzed by Dun’s attack but was valiantly fighting through it for the moment.

  “Dragon Pulse!” Grusha cried, and an idea popped into my mind. I wonder how far I can push him with this?

  “Ice Spinner!” I called back with equal vigor, sweeping an arm out in front of me. Dun charged through the purple pulse of Dragon energy. Standing up high on his tail, he spun rapidly towards Altaria, a vortex of ice whirling around him.

  Without any way for her to dodge in the twisted space, Grusha pulled out his Tera Orb and tossed it over his Ace. “Let it freeze. Let it snow. Let it chill the whole world, Terastalize!” The crystals surrounding Altaria shattered as Dun plowed through them, but with her new icy blue snowflake Tera ‘hat’ above her head, the damage she would have taken was drastically reduced.

  The Trick Room faded away with a minor flash, and Grusha made his counterattack. “You’re just one step away from devastation… The cold will leave you trembling, Ice Beam!” Altaria reared her head back, an almost pure white orb gathering in front of her beak.

  “Like we practiced, Tri Attack!” At my command, Dun curled himself around, making his body like an inverted ‘C’ shape. Gathering Fire Energy in front of his mouth, Electric Energy at the tip of his tail, and Ice Energy in the center where his wings drew somewhat close together, Dun fired the energies together. They met at a point of empty space in front of him, the different elementally charged energies, built from modified versions of Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, and Ice Beam Moves he had learned from TMs, melding together to become a Normal Type attack.

  The combined beam met Altaria’s above, clashing in a dramatic struggle before exploding violently, leaving neither side damaged but both more tired than they had been before. I’d bet on Dun in a stamina contest if we had the time. As we don’t, though…

  “Switch!” I announced, returning Dun to his Pokeball. Only about two seconds too soon, as before I could even grab and release my next Pokemon, Altaria gave a cry and fell, her Terastalization shattering.

  “...How did you know?” Grusha asked in a low tone, recalling his Pokemon.

  I tapped my ears in response. “Perish Song has a very distinctive tune, and I have great ears. It was a good trick, though; I hadn’t expected it from an Altaria.” Releasing Miles, they whirled above the battlefield, spinning around to show off their new Rotom Form.

  Surrounded in the same yellow plasmic field that coated their Fan Form, now they were possessing a red drone body. Hovering above the field with their eight propellers spinning about, Miles showcased their great maneuverability within that Form.

  Took a while for the R&D team to get this one down. I hadn’t realized that there already were drone Rotoms, but those ones aren’t battle capable bodies for a Rotom to possess, used mostly for photography and taking videos. This one was bulkier and far larger than those, with plating almost like armor on the sides. It also had more propellers than the standard drones had. Thankfully, we didn’t need to add any weapons or bombs before it really clicked as an alternative Form.

  “Go, Frosmoth,” Grusha said, his voice unable to keep the bitter edge out of it. His attitude brightened slightly when only a few Spikes rose up to stab into his Bug Type. Guess we finally caused too much damage for all the hazards to remain.

  “Discharge.” Miles unleashed waves of lightning over the air, which Frosmoth couldn’t hope to dodge. In response, she fired a Bug Buzz off at him, aiming to both hurt and weaken him.

  “Volt Switch, evade it.” Turning themself temporarily into a ring of electricity, Miles curved around the damaging green sonic waves rushing towards them and cut a path into Frosmoth. The Bug Type stumbled back in the air, having trouble keeping up with the damage Miles could put out, as well as all the damage she had already sustained.

  “Blizzard!” At Grusha’s order, Frosmoth gathered herself up for one final, powerful attack.

  “Roost,” I called out, revealing Miles’ new Move, signature to Drone Form. Dropping straight down to the arena floor, they lost their Flying Typing and began regaining the energy they had lost to Life Orb thus far. The ice washed over them, causing Miles to shiver slightly, but without the Flying Type, the Move wasn’t nearly as effective.

  Shooting up as fast as they had gone down, Miles unleashed a point-blank Shadow Ball into Frosmoth’s face, knocking her straight out. The Gym Leader sighed as he recalled her. By now, it was obvious that he couldn’t win this, but what choice did a Gym Leader have but to continue a fight? Well, a more experienced or less proud Gym Leader might know there’s no shame in calling it quits at this point, but I don’t see Grusha doing that. He’ll fight to the bitter end; I just hope that isn’t too literal.

  “Beartic, finish this.” His Pokemon landed with a heavy thud, and despite even more time passing between Frosmoth and Beartic’s entrance, the heavier Pokemon drew even more Spikes upon entering than she had.

  “Jet ahead.” Beartic shot forward, but injured, and against my fastest Pokemon, Miles had plenty of time to dodge. Splitting off a Substitute from themself, Beartic passed right through the space between Miles and the decoy.

  Beartic whipped around after missing, only to be met with a “Confuse Wisp.” The oddly colored fire flew directly into his face, upon which the Polar Bear Pokemon stumbled around, swinging his arms wildly before collapsing onto the snow-covered arena.

  “Gym Leader Grusha has no Pokemon left and is unable to battle! Challenger Nemona is the winner!” The referee announced, to much cheering (mostly from my parents, admittedly). I’m glad they’re so happy, for now at least. I shook those thoughts away, not letting my worries cloud my victory, and deciding to just bask in the moment while I could.

  New Rotom Form dropped! I know I’d been hinting at this one for a while, sorry it takes so long (big team makes it tough to give everyone a chance to shine), but here we are. Drone (military) Form.

  It’s pretty similar to Fan Form, but instead of getting Hurricane (which I changed from Air Slash on that Form because I felt fit the form better), Drone Form gets Roost. This gives it a pretty huge defensive option, as dropping the Flying Type to heal while keeping Levitate and Electric gives them no weaknesses during that Move. As always, if you want to talk more about this and my other stories, feel free to check out my . Thank you, and I hope you have a great day.

  Nemona's Current Team:

  -'Dun' (Dudunsparce, Male, Normal Type, Starter)

  - Tera Type: Normal

  - Held Item: Expert Belt

  - Abilities: Run Away, Serene Grace

  - Moves known:

  - 'Miles' (Rotom, Genderless, Electric/Form dependent Type)

  - Tera Type: Electric

  - Held Item: Life Orb

  - Ability: Levitate

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Nightwing' (Gliscor, Female, Flying/Ground Type)

  - Tera Type: Water

  - Held Item: Toxic Orb

  - Ability: Hyper Cutter, Poison Heal

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Notch' (Carbink, Genderless, Rock/Fairy Type)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Light Clay

  - Ability: Clear Body

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Phantasm' (Hisuian Zoroark, Female, Normal/Ghost)

  - Tera Type: Ghost

  - Held Item: Lax Incense

  - Ability: Illusion

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Athena' (Lucario, Female, Fighting/Steel)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Clear Amulet

  - Ability: Steadfast

  - Moves Known:

  -'Bahamut' (Fraxure, Male, Dragon)

  - Tera Type: Dragon

  - Held Item: Dragon Fang

  - Ability: Mold Breaker

  - Moves Known:

  *Custom Moves