I enter one of the smaller prepared battlefields and see my friends waiting for me in the stands. Other than them, no one except the ref, judge, and a gym trainer are here because of both how te it is. Few people want to watch every single battle no matter the level. Most trainers seemed pick up a crowd their fourth badge from what I witnessed on the waiting screens. I wouldn't watch their battles either if I wasn't waiting around anyways for my own. 3 and below was for the normies and youngsters.

  I twitched as I looked at the gym trainer. Like most of them, she was older than a normal trainer, around 20. She wore a pink hanfu that had flowers on it(Chinese dress) in a y shaped format. She was waiting for me to make it to my stand, eyes wide awake despite the te hour. The field has flowers and grass, a small pool in each corner of the field and has a couple patches of dirt from past battles.

  When I walked up the three steps to my ptform, the ref started announcing the rules "This will be a two-on-two double battle in contest format. The honorable judge Ann Gaither will operate and deduct points from each trainer until either 5 minutes are up or one of you runs out of points. Impress her and she will deduct your opponent's points. Finally, the standard rules, a Pokémon must be called back when knocked unconscious and no attacks may nd purposefully on a knocked-out Pokémon. The gym trainer has the right to use any two Pokémon of their choosing after the challenger shows their Pokémon but will lose upon a tie. The trainers may each have one handicap, assisting, or watching Pokémon standing with them outside of the psychic barrier but they may not do anything to interrupt the battle by maniputing anything within the battlefield. Any deviations from these rules or direct disobedience from the challenger will result in an expulsion from the circuit and a fine of minimum 1000 pokedolrs. Does the challenger have any questions?"

  I shook my head and released my Pokemon. I did not have any 'handicap, assisting, or watching' Pokemon to help with any hidden signals so it was just us. I felt as Puff started her tailwind to slow fall, the ref narrowed his slim eyebrows but didn’t say anything about it. I could almost feel the energy in the air but it was just a passing feeling, Ian, my partner bound by oath, and Puff, a tweeting dragon I expected great things from, were about to have their practice tested. Had they worked hard enough or had I failed them?

  The gym trainer announced herself, something Chu but I wasn't focusing on her. She sent out two Pokemon as well, a Jigglypuff with a long set of hair and looking feral and a Carbink. The first was what worried me because I hadn't the faintest idea what it was except that it was a fairy type. Not starting off very well I tried to start the show but was cut off by the ref "Barrier up" a slight purple screen tinted the field, using psychic energy to power the shield. "Battle begin!"

  "Mist and hide" I said, just like I pnned.

  "Scary face" the weird Jigglypuff raised its hair up somehow and a painting of a ghost's face appeared, it terrified both me and Puff. Ian stood strong though, not because it was a normal type move but because of his general ck of fear since he was...you know...a sword.

  Puff floated around slower as if weighed down by fear but kept making mist. I heard the gym trainer give other orders and the scary face turned into different images, making them into art rather than a nightmare. The thing was making more fake faces around the arena and moved quickly. Carbink was starting to glow but I wasn't too worried about it just yet. I lost 8 of my 100 points but it would be fine.

  Now with a sizable cloud of mist I started my pn "Swords dances and hyper voice!"

  From within the haze I saw fshing white figures in the shape of Ian, lighting up more fake Ians with their light. Quicker than before a loud voice bsted sound waves randomly out of the mist and nded near the feral one. "To the left" I called out, some nded some didn't but it kept the despicable thing moving and stopped those faces from appearing. And lost her 4 points while I was at it.

  As the cloud grew and the spooky dances crept ever closer my opponent lost 15 points. The hyper voices made lines in the mist which revealed Puff for a short while but they never took advantage of it as she kept changing positions. I had to move to the far corner of my podium to see around the tallness of the cloud. With another order I didn't hear over the screeches I saw Carbink move towards the mist. It tackled a fake Ian before rushing into the cloud. "Carbink's in there with you, slice him up Ian with furry cutter!"

  Another 5 points were deducted from my opponent for some reason before the cloud lit up like a bedsheet with a fshlight on it. I couldn't see Carbink but Ian and Puff's real positions were revealed. It tainted the cloud pink with sparkles and I lost 25 points. "Find and stop it!" I demand, although I haven't the faintest idea how they are to do that. "Make the cloud into a Florges!" I may not have an idea on how to find the Carbink but I could turn this to my advantage. The expansion of the mist stopped and some faded away as the garden Pokemon took shape. My opponent was deducted 12 points and I had 3 minutes left. With a twist of her own I saw Puff move towards the mouth of the Florges and began singing. That lost the gym trainer another 17 points so she must have done something right.

  Without hyper voices pinning it down the feral Pokemon howled to cover up Puff’s voice until she stopped and I lost 9 points. "Umm, Ian autonomize after that thing and stop it from doing that again!" At this point I had run out of material but was in the lead. I had the tools to win this challenge but I needed to stop her from deducting my points "Defog and then help Ian out."

  The giant Florges starts disintegrating from the top where Puff is until I see her get thrown out of the mist. The floating rock is in hot pursuit "Get away from Carbink, run!" I yell.

  For the first time since the start of the match I hear another command "Fire fang and scary face once more." This time a demon appears with horns and a fiery mouth as Ian approaches, deducting me 9 points. He builds up a furry cutter and swings forward into the awaiting jaws of the other Pokemon.

  In a moment of genius I call out "Small pokes instead, like you're fencing!" to the far away Ian before his hit nds. He escapes the burning maw and cuts its lip. The maw tries to tch on once more but the sharp poking maneuvers along with sometimes holding his bde up and away from the fire fang nullifies this attempt. She loses another 4 points for her failures and the clock ticks down to the st minute.

  I hear a cry and see a glowing Carbink knock Puff out of the sky. I lose 5 points as I watch Puff fall, she rights herself with agility, scary face long forgotten and flies to support Ian while preparing a hyper voice. Her moves leak TE, showing a purplish trail that may or may not be intentional as she flew. Either way my opponent lost another 2 points, very stingy with that one.

  Turning back to Ian, I saw him nd more hits, the darn thing was wobbling and all cut up with bigger and bigger gashes. In a st ditch effort, it's eyes glow and Ian hits it without using furry cutter. I get deducted 1 point, so petty. "What's wrong, keep using furry cutter!" Ian tries slicing again but nothing comes of it. Maybe disable or imprison? Not the time to think about it so I switch tactics "Swords dance and dodge!"

  Slowed, it shes out with its hair thing but keeps missing. When it does hit it just passes through Ian, probably pound but that's a weird choice for the Pokemon. It must be young to forget about something like that. "Stop, use fire fang instead!"

  Switching now is almost useless as she keeps making a fool of her Pokemon with each miss, deducting 4 points from her. Carbink catches up to Puff somehow and pinned her to the ground, drilling into the top of her head and knocking her out while it fshes pink light that I can't look at. I get deducted 10 points and Puff goes down as I ball her. "Uppercut it and combo hits!" Ian does the uppercut, throwing the pink Pokemon in the air but the transtion was lost upon him. Instead of keeping her up he smacks her around sideways from one part of the field to the other.

  It gets knocked out against the barrier though the KO only nets me 3 points. With only three seconds left I scrape out a st sentence "Wide guard a smiley" in the second to st second a small inch tall rock wall springs up and gets my opponent at loss of 4 points. I didn't think it looks that great but I'll take it. I look up at the scoreboard and see the st second run out with a score of 33-30. I won!

  After the barrier deactivated, I run out to Ian and picked up his sheathe from the ground, left behind with autonomize. I handed it to him and held him up by the hilt towards Zac and Hannah. They cheered their loudest in that small set of seats. Another 3 people had wandered in to watch, one of them a grandma in a feathery neck dress while the others were in their 20s in regur clothes. The grandma sat with one of them while the other gave me a bnk look.

  Zac tried jumping over the ledge but ran into an invisible barrier that was meant to prevent fans from rushing onto a battlefield that could be dangerous. "Nice job, Max was it? You have earned the fashion badge and may head to the rewards counter down the hall. I wish you the best in your journey if you don't have any questions of me."

  I turned to the gym trainer and asked her what I had been wondering the whole battle: her feral Pokemon and the move that stopped Ian and she answered that she was a Scream Tail and a paradox Pokemon from a specific part of Verk known as Portal Land to the east of here. Originally discovered in Paldea, the Verk government used stolen equipment to set up an area full of psychic energy that cracked open portals to other times. Pokemon leaked out of these portals and made an area that copied Paldea's Area Zero.

  Taking the badge that looked like a scarf, I walked off. She evidently was looking for a handshake or something, but I was too high off my win to care. I'm still only 14 you know, let me have my moment!

  I took a right to go to the rewards counter to see what I could get. I balled Ian and saw a man working the counter. He was taking care of a familiar trainer who was buying a silver berry and a ticket, the one who gave me the middle finger.

  I grinned despite the company as I saw all the expensive stuff in this store. I felt like I had won the lottery and daddy needed a new pair of shoes!