Gray laughs until the beginning of tears begin to form. Ash was too shameless.

  The exchange causes the icy silence of the gym to thaw. Murmurs began, until seemingly everyone had some sort of opinion.

  “Golem is unable to battle. Azumarill wins.”

  Brock unclenches and recalls his fallen Golem. He’s back to his unmovable persona, calmly examining the Azumarill on the field.

  Inside though, the first wisps of uncertainties rise. How in Arceus’ name did this tiny creature manage to take down his Golem in one hit?! He’d fought his fair share of Marills. Beginner trainers tended to bring counters to his rock pokemon, so the occasional Marill was unavoidable. From his experience, they were a decent species, but nothing like the monster in front of him today. Surely a single evolution wasn’t to blame for such a stark change.

  Now was not the time to panic, though. The gym leader reasoned within himself that Golem’s four times weakness to water was to blame. He chastised himself a bit for underestimating the fairy’s move, he should have instructed Golem to Protect instead of taking the move head on.

  He takes out another pokeball and expands it, eyes drifting to his opponent. Gray Oak. He shouldn’t have underestimated the man in front of him today. His blood and roots shone through, this trainer was a legacy to two powerful trainers, Brock had to be careful.

  He throws the ball straight out, revealing Kabutops who announces his presence with a roar.

  “Iron Defense!” The fossil pokemon crossed his scythe-like arms in front of his body, his skin adopting a metallic sheen.

  Gray chooses to let his opponent make his preparations, curious how much of a difference buffing would make.

  Brock couldn’t decide whether to be happy or insulted at how much Gray let him get away with. He grit his teeth and commanded, “Rock Polish!”.

  Kabutops began to scrape his blades all over his body, sharpening and sanding to decrease drag and make his body move faster.

  Still, Azumarill remained unmoving. He gave his opponent an unimpressed look, committed to fighting an opponent at best or not at all.

  Setting up finished, Kabutops wasted no time in rushing at his opponent. With his scythes retracted, he was able to move much more swiftly than expected. Upon reaching striking distance, his sharp scythes retracted back into place. He immediately Slashed at the fairy with one limb, the other already coated with Dark type energy in a Night Slash primed to move after Azumarill’s first dodge.

  Azumarill hopped backwards. In the slight moment he was midair, Kabutops Night Slashed at him, hitting him square in the stomach and causing him to fly back.

  Inwardly, Brock breathed a sigh of relief. Seems that the previous match was more of a fluke than anything.

  Unfortunately, before Azumarill could even land on the ground, he twisted his body while using Aqua Tail, the increase in weight providing enough leverage to right himself in the air. He gingerly landed back on the ground, unfazed as if Kabutops’ Night Slash was a mere love tap.

  He smirked at Kabutops for good measure, yawning a little bit. Enraged, Kabutops rushed him again, this time coated in the waters of Aqua Jet. When his scythes returned, both limbs were coated in dark energy. He Night Slashed at Azumarill continuously, a deadly dance of flying blades slashing again and again.

  Kabutops moved efficiently, a well-trained set of movements that minimized the interval between each hit. He was economic, not wasting even a precious moment, increasing his unpredictability and deadliness.

  Despite it all, Azumarill remained unbothered, just more careful in his choice of movements, limiting moments of stillness so Kabutops had no opportunities to exploit.

  Kabutops finally managed to create an opportunity for himself after a particularly complicated set of footwork, his and Brock’s eyes gleamed in victory. Finally!

  It was short-lived, because Azumarill coated his arms in pink fairy energy to absorb the blow. Taking advantage of his opponents’ surprise, he coated the other arm similarly and began his counterattack.

  Azumarill’s Play Rough was one of his most-practiced moves, a favorite for the power he could infuse within his tiny body.

  Whenever he could, he would take blows at Kabutops that left his opponent reeling. Credit to the rock type, he would shake it off quickly enough that their traded fists could continue.

  His pokemon’s resilience failed to reassure Brock because of a simple fact: Azumarill landed hits while Kabutops had yet to land another after his first.

  Kabutops began to slow as their bout continued, too winded and injured after each occasional hit. He made a clumsy error, overextending after one slash, allowing Azumarill more than ample time to retaliate with a blow.

  He resigned himself to tanking the hit, a bit more used to taking them now. He even readied himself with a quick Harden, unable to fully take the time to reduce damage taken significantly but doing just enough to make the ordeal easier.

  Azumarill, with more time, managed a more complicated move. Like before his hand was coated with Play Rough. But this time around, he concentrated as much fairy energy into one point of his hand. When he made contact with Kabutops, he immediately released all the heavy energy in a quick burst.

  Joy always flashed within him whenever he successfully pulls this off. It had been an ordeal requiring repeated failure on his part. Gray had challenged Azumarill to this after he mastered Play Rough initially, the extra training helping to further improve his mastery of the move.

  Azumarill was proud to be the first in his team to do so, and he had been smug with pride when Gray deemed his mastery sufficient to instruct the rest of his family. He took the win with little grace, gloating at the rest of them who had to be subservient to him for their own training. Gray saw no need to curb his pride, letting Azumarill have his way as long as he never took it too far.

  So today, when Azumarill struck, the expertly manipulated energy had the Play Rough landing with strength that could only be described as monstrous. Kabutops’ body snapped, his stomach taking the hit flying outward first while the rest of him reluctantly followed through due to the inertia.

  Before anyone could blink, he slammed against the walls of the gym, far away from the designated battlefield. The section of the audience situated above the wall had to brace themselves from the rumbling Kabutops caused.

  Brock’s heart sank when the dust cleared to reveal Kabutops, completely unconscious, worrying cracks on his outer shell. The portion of wall he landed on was now concaved, his unconscious body an epicenter of destruction.

  “Kabutops is unable to battle. Azumarill wins.”

  Azumarill felt pleased. He had done it! Gray would be particularly happy with this, he could tell. The first time he had managed to do something similar, his trainer had been giddy with excitement, repeatedly muttering ‘Cherry Blossom Impact’ for a long time after. With Kabutops a perfect replica of that moment, he felt confident.

  “Azu-marill-marill,” he announced. The first time he had said this, his team had groaned at him for repeating their trainer’s excited muttering. Sucks for them, Gray had been fully supportive.

  Sure enough, Gray was beaming from ear to ear. He particularly enjoyed the jaws hanging all around the stadium, disbelief at the power Azumarill held in his tiny, mousy body.

  While Azumarill as a species had power in spades thanks to Huge Power, the addition of carefully concentrating energy and releasing it all at once upon impact added a significant level of destruction. When he had first envisioned this, he believed that the sharp contrast between his fairy’s unassuming appearance to the monstrous strengths would be amusing. Reality proved sweeter than any imagination.

  He would have happily continued with the match in a stellar mood, if he hadn’t noticed Brock frozen in position, cradling the pokeball Kabutops was just recalled in.

  The gym leader seemed out of it and a bit rattled, like he was no longer beholden to gravity. He stood in his position, face stony and incomprehensible.

  “Gym Leader Brock, please send out your next pokemon.” said the announcer after the gym leader had remained frozen for about half a minute.

  The announcer’s reminder shifted everyone’s attention back to Brock. Faces that were previously gleeful and unworried were now marred by concerned frowns. Whispers began anew at the predicament the gym leader was now facing.

  Gray expected himself to gloat a bit at how wrong footed he had caused his opponent to be. After all, the brief moment he had spent as a challenger in this gym had seen him and his team disrespected and belittled. It was not overtly blatant, but Gray had been dismissed right from the get go. Perhaps if he had been booed outright he would have made an insufferable winner.

  Instead, he couldn’t but feel a bit of concern at Brock’s showing thus far. Gray had entered this match confident in his win, faith and belief in his pokemon unshakeable. He had severely overestimated Brock’s capabilities, however, and being one shot by Azumarill painted the gym leader in a horrible light.

  The man seemed to place too much confidence in his pokemon’s inherent sturdiness. Both pokemon he had used thus far were known for their defensive capabilities, only struggling to tank hits from the special side of things. Had they faced another opponent, they would have been fine receiving physical moves head on; Brock’s pokemon were obviously trained, evident from how skillfully they moved and the chips on their body.

  They were like sturdy sea walls, able to withstand the nonstop currents waves pelted them with. Unfortunately, Azumarill hit like a tsunami. Brock obviously had little to no experience in getting hit by overwhelming power. Like his Kantonian counterparts, he had likely grown up to believe that power enough to overcome another’s was a valid way to go about battling, so he had trained to increase his own power levels.

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  Now, the rug had been swept from under Brock’s feet and he found himself unmoored, beholden to the fierce waves of Gray and Azumarill.

  He mechanically released an Omastar, who barely took a second to analyze the situation before bunkering down with Iron Defense.

  Azumarill had glanced at his trainer for instruction but received nothing, so he patiently remained crouched and ready.

  Omastar quickly set up a field of Toxic Spikes, her yellowed eyes narrowed and distortion world-bent in revenge. When the area around her was entirely trapped, barely any space left to move, she growled, loud and defiant, “Oma!”

  The determination in his pokemon snapped Brock out of his stupor, so he hurriedly commanded her.

  “Haze!”

  Omastar released streams of icy mists from her mouth, enveloping the battlefield in hazy white wisps. The Haze swept through the arena, rendering all buffs obsolete. Crucially, Azumarill’s Belly Drum powerups were now gone.

  The fairy had recognized the move and had been about to leap at his opponent to stop it, but he could feel no urgency from Gray. Trusting that his trainer had his reasons, he held back and let the Haze douse him.

  Brock breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that he had been able to do that. He hoped that it would be enough to stop the curbstomp he had been steadily heading towards. Still, he couldn’t fathom why his opponent would let him do it. Yes, Omastar’s actions were quick, but it had been clear that had Gray wanted to, Azumarill could have done more to prevent the move.

  Omastar fidgeted on the field, uncomfortable in her current state. Brock wondered for a moment before he realized. “Iron Defense!”

  Omastar immediately re-applied her move that had disappeared with her own Haze, the metallic sheen her entire body adopted giving her a sense of comfort.

  Gray who had been silently watching internally winced at them both. It was sloppy on both their parts, showing an obvious disconnect between Trainer and Pokemon. Brock had been too rattled by how the battle had gone so far. His pokemon adored and respected him, judging from Omastar's defiance and reluctance to succumb to the inevitable.

  Unfortunately, there were others in the audience who had noticed also noticed. As Pewter locals, they hardly verbalised their worries and disappointment, but it was enough for it to feel palpable.

  Brock had received an extreme level of support from the Pewter community, and it was a city-wide effort to support Brock where they could. The boy was respectful and responsible, choosing to shoulder the burden of raising his siblings after their parents’ cruel abandonment.

  It was fortunate that Brock had had a cool head on his shoulders and the talent to back himself up, so the burden of representing Pewter and protecting them was something he could manage. Citizens had figured that should the very worst occur, retired wartime veterans in Pewter could take up arms when the need arose.

  Brock, who had the support of his community, was now floundering in front of them, beaten slowly by a nobody trainer from Pallet Town.

  In his mind’s eye, Gray could see himself standing in Brock’s shoes just years ago.

  While Gray could not empathize fully with the gym leader, he had also been well-supported by the Pallet community. The grandpas and grandmas had adored him as a child, as he was the only next-generation Oak that had spent considerable time with them. Blue had been too busy running about with Red, so Gray had been the one sitting under their eaves and listening with rapt attention.

  It had been humiliating to miss the mark on the regional stage, nevermind that his achievements were respectable enough for the average Joe.

  Instead of Golem and Kabutops fighting titans they could not concur, it had been Eevee, his unenvolved starter who could barely use any moves to defend himself. Harnessing Fairy energy and unlocking the secrets to evolution was a time consuming process that Gray had to go through on his own.

  With nothing but memories from a past life to guide him, Gray had to take a try and see approach for his training, leaving Eevee and his other pokemon to flounder in the eyes of many. There simply wasn’t enough time to figure out an appropriate training method that would allow them to manipulate Fairy energy, so they had haphazard techniques Gray could scrunch up in the little time they had.

  It was not surprising that despite his talents as a trainer and his pokemon’s determination, they barely scraped by with a Top 125 finish for the conference. Ordinarily, this would have been an impressive achievement; there were thousands of trainers competing every season, and to finish amongst the Top 125 was commendable.

  Unfortunately, compared to his older brother and his best friend, it was laughably pitiful and downright embarrassing.

  As an older soul reborn, it should have been easy to brush off. Gray was trying to revolutionise Fairy types through trial and error — it was understandable that he could not produce results in a measly year.

  The majority of Kanto and Indigo, not privy to the details of what Gray was trying to accomplish, held a differing opinion on the matter, and the collective sneers and dismissal on his worth as a trainer had gotten too much for his still developing brain.

  The silence and careful treatment from the elderly in Pallet Town played a part too. They had repeatedly reassured Gray that they had no unreasonable expectations of the boy and were content to watch and support him regardless, but to Gray’s prepubescent brain it was damning all the same.

  Now, as Gray Oak stood opposite Brock, he couldn’t help but feel pity.

  It was likely that the Pewter community would remain supportive of the young man, but to lose face in front of their very eyes was an experience Gray wouldn’t wish upon anyone.

  Gray silently contemplated his next steps, idly watching Omastar try valiantly to pelt Azumarill with longrange Water Pulses, Scalds and Ancient Powers.

  Azumarill, sensing the depth of his trainer’s thoughts, contented himself with dodging as best as he could. Despite the Toxic Spikes on the field and the rapid firing moves Omastar lobbed at him, he had barely broken a sweat, too agile to be hit.

  Compared to Gardevoir and Hatterene’s simultaneous petty hits when their frustrations ran high, this amount of effort was barely enough to make him worry. Still, he had to play close attention to remain unscathed and was thus unable to retaliate meaningfully, creating a stalemate on the battlefield.

  Brock grit his teeth, in disbelief at the Azumarill dodging perfectly in front of him. Omastar was trained specifically for her Special Attacks, Brock training her to ensure good accuracy and power behind each move. It was thus disconcerting to watch all their hard work rendered futile by a tiny blue and white mouse who maintained a nonchalant air whilst thwarting everything they threw at him.

  Brock and Omastar knew they could not let up for a moment. Azumarill had proven his ability to take advantage of brief moments of stillness to launch counterattacks. They could not stop their assault for fear of a quick retaliation.

  Perhaps Jirachi heard the desperation in their wishes, because Azumarill had managed to twist himself into a situation where he could no longer dodge as quickly. He had tried to fake a turn right, only to pivot back to the left to gain more room to dodge. He failed to account for a tiny Toxic Spike where his feet were about to step on, so he had no choice but to somersault higher in the air, giving Omastar ample time to launch an Ancient Power at him.

  Brock’s breath stilled as he anticipated a move finally landing. Omastar was the same as she readied a concentrated Hydro Pump to follow up.

  The Ancient Power was about to hit Azumarill just as he landed on the ground. Keeping his cool, he summoned Fairy type energy to one fist and punched the approaching boulder, releasing all the energy in a cone-like concentrated burst. Instead of shattering upon impact, Azumarill's skillful release of energy caused the purple-infused boulder to hurl back to its owner, flying at a pace faster than it was initially launched.

  Panicking, Omastar had to fire the readied Hydro Pump at her own move, finally causing the Ancient Power boulder to shatter. Both trainer and pokemon had readied themselves for the counterattack on Azumarill’s part, so they were surprised to find him still rooted in place. Azumarill kept his own black eyes on his opponent, gleeful that even the possibility of an attack had the duo tensing in anticipation.

  “Azu-marill!” he laughed merrily at them, one hand cocked on his hip as he tittered.

  Immediately, Omastar and Brock felt the embers of their hope extinguish. Azumarill, even without the boosts from his Belly Drum, was still strong enough to maintain his monstrous strength. Unbeknownst to them, while Belly Drum proved invaluable boosts in the power Azumarill was able summon and will as his own, Azumarill’s inherent Huge Power was nothing to scoff at either.

  Gray and Azumarill could have contented themselves with reliance on the boosts both move and ability gave, but their aversion to feeling powerless after their first Indigo conference had them hungry for more. It was hunger, the drive for not settling for less, that had pushed Azumarill to master energy manipulation to the extent he wielded it now, inspired from Gray’s previous life.

  “Bubble Field,”

  At Gray’s command, Azumarill’s playful expression rapidly shifted to one of intense focus and seriousness. He used Bounce to launch himself in the air and spun in place while releasing a torrent of bubbles. Soon, the entire battlefield was ominously covered in bubbles floating all around.

  Omastar felt wariness rise in her as she took in the changes to the battlefield. She used Iron Defense again for good measure, just to prepare herself for any attacks Azumarill would launch. Brock felt helpless at the challenger’s change in direction. He couldn’t fathom why Azumarill would go out of his way to do this, so he had little choice but to forge ahead blindly.

  “Shoot him down Omastar!”

  Dutifully following her trainer’s instructions, Omastar began to try pelting at Azumarill again, launching a series of Water Pulses, Scalds and Ancient Powers at her opponent. She tried her best to play around with the space around Azumarill, creatively manipulating her moves to come at her opponent’s blindsides and at trickier angles.

  To her shock, Azumarill seemed to anticipate her moves better than before, dodging jets of water and bunches of rocks before even seeing where they were coming from. Azumarill’s ear would twitch at every bubble popped and cleanly angle his body to avoid getting hit by the oncoming move.

  Frustration and indignance coursed through Omastar at the ease Azumarill’s handled her best, she began interweaving Hydro Pumps into her moves, praying for the stronger move to land on the water type and disrupt his rhythm.

  Azumarill slowly got used to the different moves being thrown at him, spraying bubblebeams on occasion to maintain the dense surrounding of floating bubbles all around him. When he felt more comfortable with keeping himself safe, he carefully waited for an opportunity to strike.

  He danced on the field, twisting and turning in tight moves so beautifully that it took an almost hypnotic quality. The audience held in breaths as they reluctantly marvelled at the impressive show of technique and flair.

  Thus, they were shaken out of their trance when Azumarill disrupted the flow he had created by launching his entire body towards Omastar suddenly.

  The Hydro Pump that was heading his way was cleanly dodged by a mid air half-turn, the powerful blast of water brushing past the flying Azumarill and missing him barely by a few inches.

  When Azumarill landed, closer to Omastar than ever before, he released a burst of energy with his feet to Bounce towards the rock type. Omastar scrambled to stop the pokemon honing on her with a humongous Ancient Power, but Azumarill was able to shrug off the move by blasting through it with his Bounce.

  Azumarill hovered up in the air, the flying type energy he had around him dissipating with a flourish. Up high, the stage lights gleamed against his lithe, round body. They reflected beautifully off his skin, showcasing his well-maintained and athletic body. Omastar had to squint her eyes as the glare reflected on her.

  Gray dramatically raised a hand in the air, fingers splayed out. “Water —” he folded four of his fingers to point directly upwards. “—fall!” he commanded as he swiped his pointer finger in a downward motion, pointing directly at Omastar on the ground.

  As soon as his trainer opened his mouth, before he could even utter a single sound, Azumarill had already surrounded himself with a thick layer of water and concentrated water type energy. Unlike his Aqua Jet that was streamlined to reduce drag, thus increasing speed, this layer of water was so dense and heavy that it would actively slow Azumarill down.

  Still, up in the air he had gravity to assist him. Just as his trainer commanded, Azumarill fell like a shooting star hurling back down to the ground.

  Omastar fired a Water Pulse in desperation, but the move sizzled out uselessly when it hit the falling fairy. She had no choice but to brace herself as Azumarill landed on her with a loud explosion of water.

  “Omastar!” Brock shouted in horror. Before he could give a command, Gray’s stern voice interrupted him.

  “Play Rough!”

  Azumarill didn’t content himself with the Waterfall. As soon as he could regather himself back on earth’s embrace, he launched himself again at Omastar. He pelted her with punches and kicks, a rough housing that didn’t give Omastar a single moment of breath.

  Summoning concentrated fairy energy in a fist, he struck at her with one final, devastating blow.

  Omastar flew and bashed against the wall, an eerily familiar sight to her teammate the match prior. Instead of to her trainer’s right, she was punched to Brock’s left, creating a parallel hole of devastation on her trainer’s other side.

  The crash rendered her unconscious, causing her to lay on the ground in a dead faint.

  “Omastar is unable to battle. Azumarill wins.” said the announcement for the third time in a row.