Drakloak writhed at Sam’s side. Her nerves were practically overtaking her—she did not like the stakes of this fight.

  “It’ll be fine,” Sam said as quietly as he could as he walked toward the field. “Trust in Trevenant. He’s been training to outlast his opponents for a long time.”

  Except, when Sam spoke, it was to reassure her as much as it was to reassure himself. They could not afford to lose, not with both Dreepy and the New Pokédex at stake.

  Honestly, he was inwardly berating himself for making this bet in the first place. He already knew Preston wasn’t just any six-star trainer, but Preston was a six-star trainer actively trying to earn his seventh Gym badge. While there was a difference in strength, it wasn’t too large, and that meant a numbers disadvantage was a major hurdle to overcome.

  He just had to believe that Trevenant could pull through, and he did his best to push any worries to the side. It helped that, as selfish as Preston was, Sam knew the other boy wouldn’t go back on his promise to keep the New Pokédex secret. It sounded dumb, but Preston’s Pokémon liked him. Trainers willing to go back on their word rarely had that same level of connection with their Pokémon.

  But the stakes of this battle were still impossibly high, and it didn’t help that Preston carried nothing but confidence.

  “Do we need a ref?” Preston called out. His tone was far too casual for the sheer amount of money he stood to lose.

  He was grinning, too. After all, he was the one to propose this lopsided match. Sam might have challenged Preston to battle, but Preston had rigged that battle in his favor.

  “No, we’re both competent trainers. We don’t need a ref,” Sam answered. “We have enough experience to know how to handle this, but if something goes wrong...”

  Sam sent a glance to where Annihilape crouched at the side of the battlefield. He had the strength to interrupt the match if anything truly went wrong. More importantly, bringing up that intimidating Pokémon caused Preston to lose his grin.

  Drakloak let out a bit of hissing laughter at Preston’s faltering reaction. Almost mollified by that, she darted over to wait in the air by Annihilape’s side.

  “Three-on-one. No switches,” Sam said in the trainer box on his side of the field. “You release Dreepy if I win. And if you win—”

  “You give me that neat book of yours,” Preston finished.

  Sam sent Preston a grim nod and glanced over at Trevenant, who was waiting in the center of the field. However, Trevenant wasn’t looking at him. He was only looking at his would-be foe.

  ...Unfortunately, as nice as Trevenant’s declaration of intent had been, it carried the problem of revealing Sam’s choice right away. Preston eyed the tree Pokémon up and down as he palmed a few Pokéballs, likely going over potential strategies in his head and choosing his team members with the best chance to win.

  “Alright,” Preston said. “We’ll start three seconds after I release my Pokémon.”

  “Agreed,” Sam replied.

  Preston tossed a ball high into the air, and a certain Haunter was released. This Haunter was the same Haunter that Sam had seen only a few days ago, and it was the same Haunter that had lured Dreepy over to use Hypnosis on him and put him to sleep.

  With its appearance, Drakloak let out a venomous hiss once more. Silently, the seconds counted down. Both trainers looked out over the field with the battle soon to begin.

  Three.

  Three Pokémon Trevenant would have to defeat.

  Two.

  Two Dragon Types relying on the outcome of this match.

  One.

  Only a single Pokémon at Sam’s disposal. Yet, no matter what, Sam knew Trevenant would give it his all to make sure they’d win.

  “Now, Haunter!” Preston shouted. “Start off with Sludge Bomb—and then focus on escape!”

  Preston’s Haunter reared back to inhale and inflate itself with the use of its move. Trevenant snapped out an arm to fling seeds through the air. His Leech Seed was his best way to start this match, as it inflicted an ongoing, damaging effect while also letting him heal.

  The Sludge Bomb, however, was a move common to Hoenn that Preston likely had to research to discover. Honestly, it was slightly unfortunate for him because all that time spent teaching it to his Haunter meant nothing against Jasmine’s otherwise immune Steel Types. Here, however, it was a decent choice against Trevenant, whose Grass and Ghost Type combined to make it a neutral move. More importantly, as it crashed through several of the tossed seeds to knock them to the side, Trevenant was only able to block most of its damage by slicing it with his claws, and it still burst to splatter him with sludge.

  “Perfect. Now flee!” Preston yelled.

  His Haunter darted away.

  So his plan is to poison us and stall. He’s stealing our strategy! At least while poison isn’t great, it could be worse. Leech Seed should negate the damage, and the sludge isn’t sinking in like a Toxic to become worse over time.

  While Leech Seed could counteract the damage caused by poison, being poisoned would sicken Trevenant and make him more prone to exhaustion. Preston didn’t need to rely on the status’s ongoing damage. He just needed Trevenant to grow weary and become more prone to making mistakes.

  He was already playing the long game. Sam wasn’t a fan of that.

  “Be quick, Trevenant. Different strategy than usual: Heal, but don’t stall,” Sam ordered quickly.

  Ingrain could lock Trevenant in place and give him another form of ongoing healing alongside Leech Seed, but he couldn’t afford to limit his mobility right now.

  So instead, Trevenant hurried forward.

  Travenant wasn’t the fastest Pokémon, but his roots still brought him over the battlefield’s dirt floor faster than Sam could run. He was slower than Preston’s Haunter, but he had a presence to him that made it feel as though he occupied more space than he actually did. Preston’s command saw his Haunter dart away, and Trevenant’s dash saw the poison course through him and already begin to exhaust.

  But if there was one thing Trevenant excelled at, it was watching. So many times in the past, he had observed Haunter and the Gastly’s training, and through that experience, he knew exactly how a member of this Ghost Type line would move.

  Preston’s Haunter fled, but the field was only so large. Although Trevenant could not keep up, he could stay toward the center of the field, minimizing the distance he’d need to lunge for when his opponent inevitably tried to slip by. Soon enough, Preston’s Ghost Type backed itself into the corner, and Preston tried his best to give it a command.

  “Confuse Ray!”

  But Sam had a counter.

  “Confuse Ray!”

  Confuse Ray required a form of eye contact, and neither Pokémon could risk allowing themselves to be trapped by illusions.

  Both battlers stopped their attempt to look away.

  Preston’s Haunter then tried to use that split-second delay to dart around Trevenant’s side while he wasn’t paying attention. It clearly intended to race to the other side of the field, but Trevenant had already placed himself carefully.

  When it lunged, so did Trevenant. Yet, Trevenant’s claws were just barely out of reach.

  But it was enough. Shadowy energy extended out of his fingers to pierce into the Haunter’s side. The lengthened Shadow Claw stabbed into the Haunter’s body, and Trevenant used that grip to slam it to the floor.

  “Hmph. Return.” Preston didn’t sound happy about how quickly his Pokémon fainted, but a Haunter was in no way a physically defensive Pokémon. A super effective attack from Trevenant was going to faint it no matter what. However, it had at least poisoned him in exchange—and it had achieved something else, too.

  “Good. You’re on my side of the field now,” Preston taunted.

  Instead of waiting to send out his next Pokémon like Sam would have expected, Preston was quick to jump onto the sluggishness that came from Trevenant’s poison. Trevenant was practically right in front of him with how he had chased the Haunter, and when Preston sent out his next team member, it appeared behind Trevenant. He was now as cornered as the Haunter had been before him.

  “Houndoom! Flamethrower!”

  Preston’s bone-striped hound didn’t wait to exhale its flames, and it had no hesitation to attack even with its trainer so close to its move. There was no overseer for this match, so there was no protective psychic screen. The waves of wind created by the heat caused Preston’s clothes to ripple from its effects.

  As the flames raced toward Trevenant, his single red eye shrunk. The size of the expanding fire likely stirred up bad memories.

  “Trevenant! Remember the plan! Don’t forget you aren’t alone or why you’re here—the flames are just a move!”

  But Flamethrower was fast, and Sam’s speech wasn’t quick. Before he could react to Sam’s words, Trevenant was already consumed by the flames. The super-effective Fire Type move drowned him in its glow and hid him from any prying eyes.

  Worse, the Houndoom’s Flamethrower lasted a long time. With Trevenant cornered, the Fire Type didn’t exactly need to move or dodge. It only needed to exhale. Sam knew the super-effective flames were likely eating away at Trevenant’s Grass Type body. He was extremely vulnerable to the attack, especially since fire ate away at the air around him.

  But the Houndoom had to breathe in eventually. When it finally stopped its attack, a slight yelp left its throat. A seed bonked off its forehead, and vines wrapped around it.

  As fire faded away, Trevenant became visible once more. Ash coated his body, and it was clear he’d been burned on top of his poison. Yet, though scorched, he stayed standing. Several of his leaves had been utterly burned away, but a crunch still managed to echo through the air.

  Trevenant’s wooden jaw tore through a Sitrus Berry, his bite allowing him to swallow the fruit, seeds and all. The berry’s healing juices dribbled down his bark, and his leaves already began to regain a bright green.

  “Burn off the Leech Seed, quick! Before it can heal!” Preston shouted.

  Houndoom began to heat up, its body gaining a slight glow, but Sam already had a counter prepared for exactly this. Typhlosion had removed a Leech Seed in a similar way before, and thus, Sam knew how to minimize this effect.

  “Forest’s Curse! Protect it!”

  Trevenant didn’t lunge so much as he plunged his hands into the ground. As the vines from Leech Seed began to wither from the heat, roots suddenly left the field to latch around Houndoom and squeeze. Sure, the flames barely affected Houndoom, but the Forest’s Curse meant it wasn’t the Leech Seed being burned. The roots were lit aflame, but they served as a protection to make sure the draining move remained untouched beneath.

  “Ingrain! Into Growth!” Sam shouted.

  “Fine! Ignore the damage! Just do as much as you can!” Preston yelled.

  Trevenant willingly immobilized himself just to gain that extra healing. Mobility wasn’t important anyway; he needed that extra health when it came to dealing with Fire Type moves.

  Any energy left over after treating his burns was then recycled into new leaves. Each leaf was a bright green, containing plenty of energy from Growth that could be used to fuel future attacks.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  But with his lack of mobility, the fire hit again, and Trevenant was consumed once more. Thanks to his Harvest ability allowing him to grow more fruit, another crunch from another Sitrus Berry let him withstand the heat, and he looked almost as healthy as he had before the move was used.

  “If flames won’t work... Whatever! Get in close, stun it with Bite, and do whatever it takes to stop it from healing!”

  Crunch would have been a better choice, in Sam’s opinion. Crunch could quite literally “crunch” through a Pokémon’s defense to open it up to further attacks in the future. Bite, however, carried a low chance of causing a flinch if it landed in just the right way. Preston seemed to want to rely on that to stop Trevenant from healing via berries.

  Except, eating a Sitrus Berry wasn’t a move. It was an ability. A held item, technically. And Trevenant was also maintaining his health through the passive restoration of both Leech Seed and Ingrain. Continued uses of Flamethrower would have been the best choice overall since Trevenant was losing more than he was regaining, but Preston didn’t seem to fully understand Harvest. He just wanted to stop whatever it was that was letting Trevenant last and wanted to ensure his final Pokémon could finish the match.

  Honestly, he probably thought Trevenant was using Recycle to regain his held item, which made his call for Bite make more sense in retrospect.

  But he’s being impatient. As much as Preston is trying to stall, he’s also trying to end this match quickly. That’s... well, yeah. That’s probably why he can’t get through Jasmine’s Gym. He just doesn’t have the patience to wear her Steel Types down.

  “Strike,” Sam said.

  He suddenly felt a lot more confident about his match.

  Unlike when Trevenant used Shadow Claw previously, he didn’t solely rely on the shaped energy of his attack. He put his entire arm into it, swinging at Houndoom with the force of a heavy tree branch. Preston’s Pokémon ran up and chomped down on his other arm, failing to get through the bark, and then a claw came swinging down from above to smash into its vulnerable head.

  “Again!” Preston shouted.

  Despite it not being the best choice, Bite was still a super effective Dark Type move. It wasn’t a Flamethrower, but it was still perfectly effective at wearing down Trevenant to eventually end the battle.

  “Slash it.”

  However, while Houndoom resisted Trevenant’s attacks, it was also taking damage. It tried to squeeze even tighter with its Bite, and though Trevenant did wince from the pain, he didn’t flinch. He had withstood much worse in the past. If he could last as long as he did against Annihilape when Annihilape had been trying to evolve, then he could easily handle the much weaker Houndoom here.

  His Shadow Claw hit again.

  In the end, it was the Leech Seed that took the Houndoom out. There was no big, final hit. Houndoom simply ran out of energy.

  But it had done its job, and it had lasted for several attacks past those two swings. Honestly, Preston never intended to win with it, anyway. Trevenant, as he stood, was now burned, poisoned, and incredibly tired. While the match had honestly not lasted that long at all, Trevenant had already spent so much of his reserves on healing.

  He swayed in place.

  Trevenant might have had his health, but he was severely low on energy. This was the side effect of over-relying on Harvest—focus too much on it, and the constant regrowth of berries would leave him feeling drained.

  “Imagine,” Preston said as he pulled out a third Pokéball. “If I could combine that book’s information with all that reward money...”

  “It’s not over yet. Send out your last Pokémon,” Sam snapped.

  Preston just laughed. He might have let his previous two Pokémon faint easily enough, but he was more than just confident. He was absolutely sure he’d win.

  Drakloak didn’t like that. Her glare was downright hostile. Sam could tell that even if he lost, she planned to do something. It also didn’t seem that Annihilape planned to stop her even though he was crouched less than a foot away.

  But it won’t come to that. We still have a final trick. We just need to hope that Preston doesn’t send out a Pokémon that can float or relies on special attacks.

  Still smiling, Preston released his final Pokémon. Like the Houndoom, it appeared close to the center of the field to make sure Trevenant remained trapped.

  He obviously planned to make use of Trevenant’s Ingrain and his current lack of mobility.

  “Absol, keep your distance,” Preston ordered. “Focus on pure defense. You don’t need to do anything—just let its poison and burn finish it off, and then we’ll win.”

  The white-furred Pokémon hopped far back, moving with grace and agility. It landed silently right in front of Sam, the positions of the two trainers’ Pokémon having been effectively reversed.

  From this range, Trevenant didn’t have many attacks. They’d been working on using Ghost Type energy, but he hadn’t managed to create anything resembling a Shadow Ball yet.

  But that didn’t mean he was helpless.

  In fact, Preston had made a critical mistake.

  “You’ve lost,” Sam announced.

  “What?” Preston looked bewildered. It was less that he believed Sam’s words and more that he could not understand how Sam reached that conclusion. “We... haven’t? Your Trevenant is about to faint. Even with whatever that berry-making move is, it’s not going to take out Absol.”

  “You’re wrong,” Sam countered. “One of the very first things I learned about being a trainer was that status moves aren’t enough, and that’s your mistake. You can’t only rely on them to win a fight. You always need to use other moves in support.”

  Preston shrugged. Sam’s Pokémon was stuck in place due to Ingrain. He looked unconvinced as the two Pokémon faced each other on the field.

  “I’m pretty sure you’re just stalling, but it doesn’t matter. Trevenant can’t attack. Its Ingrain is preventing it from using its claw moves.”

  For any other Pokémon, Preston might have been right, but just because Trevenant couldn’t use Shadow Ball, it didn’t mean he couldn’t use a different Ghost Type move.

  Sam stayed quiet for just a moment longer to finally let Trevenant finish growing his last berry. He didn’t quite have the energy to continue relying on Harvest past that, but it was enough to give him the last bit of fuel to finish this fight.

  One final crunch echoed out, and Trevenant’s fiery eye dimmed as he fought through the pain.

  “You’re still wrong,” Sam said, the confidence in his voice growing. “Ingrain locks a Pokémon in place, but that’s only true for most Pokémon. You’re forgetting a crucial fact about the Ghost Type.”

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “Ghost Types can’t be trapped,” Sam replied, his grin matching Preston’s own. “In fact, you should know that they can’t even be trapped by their own moves.”

  He quietly thanked Morty for the information once again, and Trevenant disappeared from where he stood.

  Shadows consumed him, and then those shadows disappeared. Despite his roots having been firmly plunged into the ground, only six, thick holes remained.

  Preston’s eyes immediately went as wide as they could go, and he desperately searched the field but failed to find Trevenant. What he didn’t realize was that this was less of a trip through shadows as it was a step into somewhere else. Honestly, with how much Haunter and the Gastly relied on a similar technique, it was no surprise to Sam that Trevenant had managed to figure out this attack while traveling through the previous routes.

  “Phantom Force,” Sam ordered.

  The Absol at least detected Trevenant before he could reappear, as the Absol’s species was adept at sensing would-be sources of danger. Behind it, Trevenant returned to being from a shadow that rose out of the ground. Unfortunately, Trevenant wasn’t in a place to dodge its attack.

  A sharp horn dug into his side, but Trevenant lunged toward his opponent regardless of the damage. His movement was more like the felling of a tree in a forest more than anything else. Using the momentum, he grabbed the Absol’s body with his claws before it could jump away, and it squirmed within his grip as he began to drain its energy through a continued use of Horn Leech.

  “It’s over,” Sam said.

  As much as Absol struggled in defiance, it could not escape Trevenant’s wooden grasp. It used what Dark Type moves it could, and a Knock Off even removed some half-grown berries, but Sam’s earlier call for Growth had been purposeful.

  Enhancing Trevenant’s attack also meant enhancing his healing. Every bit of damage Trevenant inflicted also saw him heal. Throughout all of that, he was still under the effects of his Ingrain, as well. Phantom Force had simply moved him instead of stopping any beneficial effects. With Horn Leech, the Absol withered just as much as Trevenant had under Houndoom’s flames.

  With everything combined, there wasn’t much the Absol could do. With this single surprise, before too long, that was it.

  The battle ended.

  “Told you,” Sam said with almost a sing-song voice.

  Overall, the match was short. Trevenant was utterly exhausted, but he had won. On the side of the field, Drakloak looked as though she wanted to rush Preston now before he did anything else, but Annihilape stopped her by holding out an arm. She sent him an indignant look, but she accepted the threat for what it was and chose to stay back.

  But it wasn’t like she needed to move forward, anyway. Preston wasn’t in a state to do anything currently. He looked dizzy. He glanced around the room as if he couldn’t process what he just witnessed. For some reason, his face suddenly became extremely pale.

  “I... What?” His voice was quiet. “We lost? I lost? No, no we didn’t. We still... We can still get that reward, right?”

  This was someone who was hit with more than just the loss of a single battle. This was someone who had just had his entire plan for the future pulled out from under him.

  He wouldn’t be getting the New Pokédex. He wouldn’t be getting the reward for Dreepy. He would be getting nothing, and all his plans to keep going until the Conference had disappeared in an instant.

  “The deal?” Sam asked.

  Preston blinked and looked at him. His mouth opened and closed like someone trying to recover from a punch to the stomach.

  “Y-yeah,” Preston said.

  He returned his Absol first. Sam couldn’t blame him.

  But he did release Dreepy. Even with the immense reward that would have come from turning in that Dragon Type, Preston kept his word. He didn’t try to run. He sent out Dreepy, as promised, and the Pokémon appeared on the floor.

  Finally, Drakloak could wait no longer. She pushed past Annihilape’s arm to rush her sleeping brother, who was softly snoring on the floor. If it wasn’t for the Haunter’s Hypnosis, Dreepy would have been able to escape. He was a Ghost Type, after all, but it wasn’t like he could have done anything while unconscious and asleep.

  The second Drakloak reached him, she slowed to bring her head down to her brother. She inspected him before nudging him softly, carefully waking him up.

  Dreepy was slow to come to, but as if he was simply waking up from a late afternoon nap, he yawned and then groggily climbed back to his proper position on top of Drakloak’s head.

  “I... This is for the best,” Preston mumbled, still mildly dazed. “Yeah. I was staking my team’s entire future on the fate of another Pokémon. It wouldn’t have been right.”

  Drakloak sent him a disdainful look. On her head, Dreepy smacked his lips, and then he fell back asleep now he was in his rightful place.

  Surprisingly, Preston laughed. Despite everything, a small smile forced his way onto his face.

  “Yeah. Yeah! What else should I have expected? Us, winning? There wasn’t any other outcome. This was for the best,” he said, though his ‘cheery’ emotions were clearly fake. “I think... Once the high of that much money set in, the reality of what we did would have hit me. Yeah. I would have been guilty for the rest of my life.”

  He stared at the floor.

  “I would have been guilty for the rest of my life,” he repeated, speaking as if trying to convince himself.

  “What Gyms do you have left? Other than just Jasmine?” Sam asked.

  Preston looked up, surprised at suddenly being acknowledged.

  “Clair,” he answered, “and her Dragon Types.”

  Preston didn’t even blink at Sam’s wince.

  “Yeah, yeah. I know.” Preston let out a sigh. “I have to get past the wall that is Jasmine’s Gym, and then I have to get through a bunch of fully evolved Dragon Types, too. I guess it might have been better for me to face Clair first, but she’s just so far out of the way that it didn’t make sense at the time. And... it’s not like my odds of getting through Jasmine’s eighth-badge team would have been any better if I can’t even get past her seventh.”

  With that conclusion, he let his head fall back and stared at the ceiling.

  While Preston was having his moment, Sam finally returned Trevenant. The tree Pokémon had been staring at him, patiently waiting for Sam to bring him back. The stasis-like function of the Pokéball would put his conditions on hold, but Sam knew he’d want to have Trevenant be healed here instead of the more distant Pokémon Center. With his level of exhaustion, it would be cruel to wait.

  “Okay, look,” Sam said, “I know this wasn’t part of the bet, but if you really want some helpful information—”

  “No. Keep it,” Preston interrupted. He shook his head in a rather self-deprecating way. “I don’t want something I didn’t earn. I was just trying to take the easy way out and look for a shortcut, but if I really want to win...”

  A strange look entered his eye.

  “Then I guess I just have to keep training. With a month left, we might be able to do it with hard work.”

  Despite whatever newfound confidence he seemed to gain after this loss, there was still a sway to Preston’s steps when he finally left his trainer box. He hadn’t expected to lose, and missing out on such a ridiculous sum was not something anyone could recover from this quickly. All of this was just him trying to force a more positive reaction, but at least his words felt right.

  He still shook Sam’s hand, and then he was out of the room. Sam had a feeling that Preston needed to be anywhere but here.

  And his sudden absence left Sam alone. The only Pokémon still out were the two Dragon Types and Annihilape to the side.

  “...I know he was trying to catch Dreepy, but I tried to do the same thing. He’s a Pokémon trainer. It’s what Pokémon trainers do. I just... I guess I hope he can find a way to win on his own.”

  Drakloak replied with a scoff. She couldn’t care less about what happened to Preston.

  With Dreepy still dozing on her head, she took this chance to begin to leave, slowly drifting towards the room’s side to not wake her brother by moving faster. However, before she could phase through the wall, Sam hurried to call out.

  She actually stopped to listen to what he had to say.

  “Wait! Hold on!” he said, and Drakloak paused, still facing the wall. “Look, I really meant what I said earlier. If you want, I can bring you to a nurse who will make sure you’re brought home.”

  For a while, Drakloak did nothing. Sam couldn’t see her face or any of her reactions with how she was facing away. Her tail, however, flicked back and forth in annoyance, and then a squeak came from atop her head.

  Actually, many squeaks came from atop her head. Sam’s shout woke up Dreepy.

  Having heard Sam’s offer, Dreepy wasn’t going to let things be. He ranted and ranted at his sister and pounded on her head to try to draw out a response. Hisses left his throat; he was annoyed. And, despite the difference in evolutionary stage, Drakloak did listen.

  Finally, she had enough, and a sharp sound from Drakloak’s throat saw Dreepy go quiet. Turning around, she looked annoyed but did her best to share her thoughts. While she wasn’t accepting his offer to be brought back to Galar, from what Sam could tell, she did come to a decision:

  If her brother was going to be so obstinate, the least Drakloak could do was tag along for a bit, she supposed.

  Dragon Types were proud Pokémon. They were fiercely independent, too. Not every Dragon Type was as goofy as Redi’s Dragonair. It was rare for a Dragon Type to have the willingness to go up to a trainer and outright ask to be caught.

  But, if they just happen to be around someone for a while, and if they just happen to stop by once or twice for a bit of training, then maybe they could also help out in a battle or two. And then at that point, it might just be easier for everyone involved for them to be carried along in a Pokéball. And then at that point, they might as well listen to the trainer’s commands.

  When Haunter returned from passing over the Druddigon, he also returned carrying the empty Ultra Ball, which Sam made sure to keep in his pack—just in case. He also made sure to heal Trevenant at the central Pokémon Center, and then he left to return to that side Pokémon Center to give the nurse his final report.

  All along the way, Drakloak and Dreepy were nowhere to be found. However, Haunter informed Sam that, yes, those two were nearby, but, no, they weren’t interested in returning to Galar. For now, at least, they planned to stick around. They might not be approaching right away, but Drakloak promised her brother she’d tag along for a little bit, so they’d be following and keeping watch from a distance.

  Likely, for longer than just the period Sam was in Olivine.

  Probably, for more than his stop in the next town.

  Honestly, Drakloak and Dreepy would be nearby for at least the rest of the season.

  And Sam wasn’t sure what to think about that, so he just focused on his visit back to the Pokémon Center, instead.

  “So, you have more Dragon Types to pass on?” the nurse asked when Sam finally returned to her counter.

  “No. I don’t think there are any Dragon Types left to catch,” Sam said. “We’ve scoured the city as much as possible. If there are any still around, they’ve already been caught or are far too good at hiding for my Pokémon to find.”

  She nodded.

  “I understand. You’ve done a great service. I’ve talked with the local ranger force, too. They’ve already managed to secure boats to their home regions to send all of them back.”

  He breathed out in relief.

  “I’m glad.”

  “I am too!” the nurse replied. “But—with all this work, you deserve a reward, hm?”

  She looked happy to be giving Sam something in return, but the idea of profiting off of poached Pokémon didn’t feel right. It left a sour feeling in his mouth; he had gone out to help them instead of going out to benefit from them. Even though whatever the nurse gave him wouldn’t be anywhere near as much as what the Blackthorn Clan offered, he couldn’t stomach the idea of taking a payment for this.

  He cursed himself, but he had to go with his gut.

  “Sorry. I have to turn that down. I didn’t do this to get paid.”

  “And that’s exactly why you deserve at least something!” the nurse said. “The League requires us to give out a reward due to this exact kind of reaction!”

  Sam just grimaced, but the nurse looked so hopeful in exchange.

  It wasn’t like receiving a reward here would reduce the rewards others could potentially get. The League had an entire percentage of its budget reserved just to “pay” for actions like this. They wanted to encourage trainers to go out and do good deeds, so rewards were practically mandated whenever a trainer “performed a great deed.” And getting paid here would make Sam’s life a lot easier over the rest of the month, too.

  But he just. Couldn’t. Not with everything that had gone on. Not when his actions had prevented so many other trainers from being paid, as well.

  But the League demanded that he receive something, and he genuinely wasn’t allowed to say no. He just didn’t want it to be something so material—but at least he already knew from his past experiences that rewards didn’t explicitly need a monetary value.

  “Alright, fine,” he started. “How about this? I do want something, but it might be a difficult reward.”

  “Oh? I’m sure I can help,” the nurse said.

  Sam breathed in.

  “There’s still one more thing I want to do in Olivine, but my schedule is pretty tight,” he said, and the nurse raised her brow curiously. “I don't suppose you could call Olivine’s Gym for me? See, Jasmine’s been busy recently, but there's this match I want to have...”

  If you want clarification on what's going on with Dreepy and Drakloak (contains mild spoilers):

  In the games, Ingrain usually prevents a Pokémon from being switched out, but Ghost Types have a special interaction with it. They can’t be forcibly switched out, but they can still be willingly recalled. Trevenant’s use of Phantom Force was a reference to that niche interaction, but it’s not like Ingrain stops a Pokémon from using attacks, anyway.

  Sam’s Team:

  Badges Earned: 7 (Mineral, Fog, Plain, Hive, Zephyr, Rising, Glacier)

  Approximate Team Strength: 7 Stars

  (Fire / Ghost Type, Female, Timid Nature +Spe/-Atk)

  Abilities: Blaze

  Held Item: Charcoal

  Moves: Tackle, Leer, Smokescreen, Ember, Flame Wheel, Curse, Will-O-Wisp, Incinerate, Detect, Quick Attack, Swift, Flame Charge, Flamethrower, Double Team, Infernal Parade, Confuse Ray, Hex, Shadow Ball, Night Shade, Shadow Claw, Agility, ???

  (Fighting / Ghost Type, Male, Impish Nature +Def/-SpA)

  Abilities: Vital Spirit

  Moves: Scratch, Leer, Low Kick, Karate Chop, Fury Swipes, Assurance, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Cross Chop, Curse, Brick Break, Rock Smash, Rock Slide, Bulk Up, Rage, Rage Fist, Close Combat

  Haunter (Ghost / Poison Type, Male, Naive Nature +Spe/-SpD)

  Abilities: Levitate

  Moves: Hypnosis, Lick, Confuse Ray, Spite, Mean Look, Hex, Shadow Punch, Night Shade, Acid Spray, Ominous Wind, Shadow Ball, Dream Eater, Nightmare

  (Ghost Type, Female, Hasty Nature +Spe/-Def)

  Pokéball: Friend Ball

  Abilities: Levitate

  Moves: Growl, Psywave, Astonish, Confusion, Confuse Ray, Mean Look, Night Shade, Shadow Sneak, Shadow Ball, Nasty Plot, Psybeam, Will-O-Wisp, Psychic, Hex, Power Gem

  Trevenant (Ghost / Grass Type, Male, Quiet Nature +SpA/-Spe)

  Pokéball: Moon Ball

  Abilities: Harvest, Frisk (Developing)

  Held Item: Sitrus Berry

  Moves: Horn Leech, Tackle, Confuse Ray, Astonish, Growth, Ingrain, Leech Seed, Forest’s Curse, Shadow Claw, Phantom Force

  Auxiliary Pokémon: A decent number of wild (only increasing)

  At Home (non-battlers): ,

  At Carl’s Ranch: (more than twenty), (Annihilape’s brother)

  Redi’s Team (at last sighting):

  Badges Earned: 7 (Mineral, Plain, Hive, Zephyr, Rising, Glacier, Fog)

  Approximate Team Strength: 6 Stars

  (Normal Type, Male, Adamant Nature +Atk/-SpA)

  Abilities: Guts, Quick Feet

  Moves: Scratch, Fury Swipes, Fire Punch, Baby-Doll Eyes, Slash, Ice Punch, Focus Energy, Thunder Punch, Hyper Beam, Rock Slide, Swords Dance, Giga Impact, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk

  Porygon (Normal Type, Genderless, Quirky Nature +-n/a)

  Abilities: n/a

  Moves: Tackle, Sharpen, Conversion, Psybeam, Thunder Shock, Charge Beam, Discharge, Tri-Attack, Charge, Teleport, Recover, Thunder Wave, Magnet Rise, Lock-On, Zap Cannon

  (Dragon Type, Female, Rash Nature +SpA/-SpD)

  Abilities: Shed Skin

  Moves: Wrap, Leer, Thunder Wave, Twister, Slam, Agility, Aqua Tail, Dragon Rush

  Auxiliary Pokémon: x2 (Tibia and Fibula)

  Pokémon included in this chapter:

  Absol

  /

  huge thank you to everyone reading! Your support keeps this story going.