I touched the pokeball to my lips and clicked it open, Junior crashing out onto the field. Appearing on the far end, in another telltale pokeball flash was a Mr. Mime. It was the third round, and I was that close to gaining Elaine’s acknowledgement.

  The woman I was up against seemed to be around Ducky’s age. She held herself with a confidence I hadn’t faced before, at least in a tournament. It was the stance of someone who had made a career out of training, and was at least successful enough to get by.

  I tore my attention away from her and to her Pokémon. Some part of me always tried to like what others seemed to dislike, it was some form of defiant impulse to go against the norm, but something about Mr. Mime’s toothless grin was too close to creepy for me to feel at ease with. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with many of the more humanoid Pokémon out there, (with the exception, especially after meeting Baltazar, of Gallade and Gardevoir; they were too elegant to be uncanny), and Mr. Mime dialled the disquieting sensation all the way up to eleven.

  Banishing the useless thoughts that cropped up, I focused on what mattered. It was a bad match-up for Junior. She should get out of there as quickly as possible. It was a three on three, so we were allowed one substitution that I could use in case U-turn or Volt Switch failed me. If things went well, I wouldn’t need to.

  Junior was faster than Mr. Mime, and reaching the same conclusion I did, she went in directly with U-Turn. She didn’t get a chance to connect. A Protect materialised between them, and Junior was pushed back. The barrier was swiftly followed by two others, Reflect and Light Screen I guessed from their particular reflective shimmers. Junior attacked again, but had little success against Protect, It was far above what any of my Pokémon had ever produced. Things were already looking grim.

  A moment later, they took a turn for the worse. A holographic cube appeared in Mr. Mime’s hands which suddenly expanded to encompass the field. On Junior’s next assault, she never even reached Protect as Psychic grabbed her and flung her across the field. That had probably been Trick Room, he had used previously. It wasn’t all that noticeable, both Mr. Mime’s and Junior’s speeds were close enough that it was hard to tell what changed, but it was obviously enough to give Mr. Mime the edge.

  “Junior!” I yelled, unconsciously bringing her pokeball up to recall her. Leaping back to her feet, she snorted and charged at her opponent again. She still wanted to fight. With the way Mr. Mime was set up, it probably wasn’t the best decision, but I didn’t want to us my substitution so early either.

  “Go in with Brick Break,” I told her, hoping break through the barriers. Again, she never made it that far and Psychic threw her back to where she started.

  Apart from creating distance, Mr. Mime didn’t follow through on his attacks. It didn’t mean he was idle. It could be hard to tell when a Pokémon used status moves. The slightest of gestures could be the only sign they were being used. From the tilt of Mr. Mime’s head, I had to assume he was using Calm Mind. Possibly others too, if I was right.

  “Junior, stop. Use Taunt, and follow up with Swagger,” I said. I had to break Mr. Mime out of setting the pace.

  It worked. At least, it stopped him from setting up any more, but now we had a confused and enraged psychic-type to deal with.

  His trainer, Isa, her name was, grimaced. She hadn’t given any orders the entire fight so far, and from her reaction as soon as Mr. Mime became confused, she was probably communicating telepathically. It should have been our chance to turn the tables, instead, Mr. Mime began lashing out with Psychic, invisible energies throwing Junior around like a rag doll.

  “Alright, enough. Return,” I said, withdrawing Junior. I should have done that since the beginning.

  “Calla uses her substitution,” said the arbiter. “Please send out your next Pokémon.”

  Picking Flaaffy’s pokeball, I sent her out on the field. Even with Flaaffy, it was going to be difficult. I had no super-effective moves against Mr. Mime, and no way to break barriers without Brick Break. I did have one glimmer of hope, though. Trick Room was still in effect, and Flaaffy had the right move to use for it.

  “Use Electro Ball,” I said.

  Moving with a swiftness that seemed entirely unnatural for her, she dodged a Psychic lash from Mr. Mime, who was still out of control, and fired off a pulsing orb of pure electricity at him. He staggered backwards and she launched a second and a third at him. With all of the defences he had prepared, they didn’t do as much damage as I’d hoped. Worse, they were enough to snap him out of confusion

  Aligning with my thoughts that we had to keep him off balance if we wanted any chance of winning this thing, Flaaffy switched to Confuse Ray without me needing to tell her. I said the move out loud anyway, because entertainment was entertainment, after all.

  The rays hit Mr. Mime as a short, glowing stick appeared in his hands. He disappeared from the field, and a Vileplume took his place, catching the baton. As soon as he landed, a cloud of spores disseminated into the air around him and I recalled the brief conversation I’d had with Luca not too long ago. My teeth clenched tight as I tried to think of the best way to deal with him. Junior with Fire Punch would be perfect if it didn’t mean having to get close and potentially getting crippling status effects. Flaaffy would be able to attack from a distance, but she had no coverage moves, and firing electric moves at a Light Screened grass-type was sure to be an exercise in futility. My mind made up, I told Flaaffy to use Volt Switch.

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  Isa yelled for Vileplume to use Protect, but he didn’t. Instead, the spore cloud increased to greater and greater sizes, which did nothing to stop the shock that headed for him, or disrupt Flaaffy from switching out. I narrowed my eyes, Isa was too good of a trainer for her Pokémon to be ignoring her. I puzzled over it in the brief instance my Pokémon were switching when I had the thought that Mr. Mime was, in fact, hit by Confuse Ray, and the confusion must have passed on with Baton Pass. It was something I didn’t know happened, and I was looking forwards to reading all about it after the battle. It was pretty lucky for us. Junior was very beat up from taking multiple Psychics, only barely hanging in, but if she could get a few hits in on Vileplume, she’s have done enough.

  “Junior, use Brick Break into Fire Punch,” I said.

  A confused Vileplume, dangerous as he was, did not have the same capability as Mr. Mime to stop Junior, and Brick Break finally shattered the opposing team’s Light Screen and Reflect. It wasn’t without cost. She had to dive into the spores, and a chill flicked down my spine as she rapidly grew unhealthier, wheezing and poisoned in a way that brought up the most horrifying memories of the Parasect in the Greenforest. But Junior was tough and she powered through, a Fire Punch knocking Vileplume back. Junior hit two more times before Isa had enough.

  “Vileplume, return. Go Mr. Mime,” she said.

  The arbiter blew the whistle and the match resumed.

  “Taunt!” I shouted, even before the whistle finished. During the exchange with Vileplume, I’d noticed Trick Room had faded, which meant Junior should have the edge on speed again. I was wrong, of the status effects Vileplume had inflicted on her, paralysis must have been among them. It hardly mattered. Perhaps expecting an all out attack, or maybe because it was a strategy they relied on, Mr. Mime had gone for Protect, which did nothing against Taunt.

  “Now U-Turn,” I said.

  Psychic got her one more time before she could. I don’t know how she stood up again, she must have been barely conscious, but she did. She stood up and with a roar of berserker rage, she launched herself at Mr. Mime. He tried to get her with Psychic again. This time, however, he wasn’t using U-Turn. A purplish mist enveloped her fist which shattered Mr. Mime’s attack and struck him in the chest. I frowned. The move looked like a weird version of Shadow Punch, but Junior didn’t know that move. I didn’t even know Primeape could learn shadow punch at all. In any case, it flattened Mr. Mime, and with the last remaining bit of sanity left in her, Junior used U-Turn to finally knock out Mr. Mime, and switch with Flaaffy.

  “Mr. Mime is unable to battle. Isa Palewing, please choose your next Pokémon.”

  Isa looked at me and Flaaffy. She was shaken by Mr. Mime’s loss, but didn’t hesitate to send Vileplume back out. She was down one Pokémon, but Junior was as good as out too. At least, as far as she knew.

  The battle resumed, and I told Flaaffy to immediately use Volt Switch.

  “Grassy Terrain and Growth,” said Isa.

  Volt Switch hit, but did little, as expected. Then, for the first time in a tournament battle, Comfey made her debut. Isa didn’t look all that impressed, but I was already feeling giddy, anticipating what we’d come up with. Comfey might refuse to inflict damage on others, but she was far from useless. First, though, she had to survive.

  Vileplume had done the first step in our strategy for us. Grassy Terrain had turned the battleground into a lush field with knee-high grass. Comfey was quickly lost from sight within it. If things were right, she would be using Double Team and Substitute to make her night impossible to hit. Hopefully.

  Isa didn’t rush, Vileplume stacked on more time on Growth, and once more, built a cloud of spores around him.

  Proving that Comfey was somewhat keeping to plan, the glow of Synthesis rose above the grass stalks in multiple spots in the field. Synthesis wasn’t strictly necessary, but Comfey got cranky if she didn’t use it straight after Substitute.

  I saw Isa tense, the uncertainty of what I was planning getting to her. That was good. If she was unsettled, it was a good sign. She didn’t do nothing, though. She commanded Vileplume to begin spreading his spores out, and like a slow tidal wave, they began encroaching on the field.

  “Comfey, do your thing,” I said. I wasn’t trying to remain mysterious at all, and definitely not enjoying the feeling far too much. But to break secrecy, her thing was a combination of a bunch of moves, to achieve the effect of one. What I wanted was to use Grassy Terrain to bind Floral Healing to delay its effect. In essence, the healing petals of Floral Healing were grown on a stem produced by an extremely concentrated Grassy Terrain so that another Pokémon could come later and release its healing properties. Early experiments had shown promise, but the construct was too unstable and only lasted seconds before dissolving in a burst of petals. The solution had come with Pollen Puff, the move synergising well with the other two and increasing their stability. Finally, because she was a show off, Comfey had shown she could imbue Aromatherapy into the heavily petally-polleny flowers to also heal most status effects. She had come up with the last bit herself.

  The trouble was, it took time to create. Not all that long i the grand scheme of things, but in a battle, it may as well be forever. It was why all the evasive manoeuvrers were essential. My dream was to have Comfey as a reliable pivot Pokémon that could greatly heal the one to take her place, inspired by the way some trainers used moves like Wish or Healing Wish. It was a tenuous strategy, relying heavily on Comfey’s ability to not be hit, but I believed in her. And against opponents like Isa and Vileplume, who preferred caution and preparation to wild attacks, it was working beautifully.

  None of this was obvious to an outside observer. If anyone noticed something a bit strange with one of the grasses of Grassy Terrain, it was easy to dismiss as the peculiarities of a specific Pokémon. All anyone knew was that Comfey was hiding.

  The time it took for Comfey to complete her construct was made eternal by the tension and the softly approaching spores I wasn’t too worried of her being inflicted with status effects, she was more than capable of curing herself, but if it gave away her position, the whole thing could be ruined. Before that could happen, I heard the pleased cry of a successful Comfey. It was time for the final step of the combination. Everything previous to it was useless if Comfey couldn’t bring another Pokémon onto the field. The simple solution – teaching her U-Turn – was complicated by the fact that she refused to deal damage. With a lot of experimenting and practice, we discovered that it was possible to leave out the attacking part of the move, the downside being that without the bounce from the collision, it took much, much longer to activate. As long as she was hidden, it would be fine.

  The thought had barely crossed my mind when, because Comfey was Comfey, she had to make a show of herself. I don’t know if she had a sudden craving for attention or what, but she leapt above the grass, thankfully still Double Teamed, and taunted Vileplume. Like a trigger, Acid Spray shot out of the centre of Vileplume’s flower and mowed down Comfey’s doubles in an instant. This shook Comfey enough that she used U-Turn, but by then it was too late. Two Sludge Bombs, one for the substitute and one for the real thing were enough to knock Comfey unconscious before the move could activate.