The final round was upon them.
The organizers granted Kashiwagi's Pokémon a thirty-minute rest period.
He released Mawile and Chansey, carefully checking their condition and using Leppa Juice to replenish the elemental energy they had expended.
Next came the incense and a quick massage. He needed to settle their nerves and let the lingering heat of battle fade.
In the games, Leppa Berries restore PP; in reality, they accelerate the recovery of elemental energy—perfect for a back-to-back matches.
The semi-finals had gone smoothly, largely thanks to Mawile's surprise-factor and type advantage. Her explosive speed left the opponent's Gigalith unable to mount a defense. Considering it took an Iron Head followed by a Power-Up Punch to finish it off, that Gigalith was certainly no low-level pushover.
Donphan had been impressive too, dodging Mawile's pre-aimed Ice Storm and countering with Giga Impact. If it weren't for the massive attack boosts from Swords Dance and Power-Up Punch, that win wouldn't have come so easily.
As for Crustle... well, it was just another victim of Chansey's Telekinesis. Still, seeing it use Shell Smash to try and break free showed that Telekinesis wasn't an absolute lock. If it had used Shell Smash again, it might have actually broken out.
Unfortunately, it had simply been scared witless.
Strictly speaking, Telekinesis has its flaws. Without Chansey's continuous output, it only makes the target float.
This means any Pokémon capable of aerial movement isn't particularly bothered by it—it's far less effective against Bird Pokémon.
Of course, Chansey isn't stupid. If she faces a bird, she'll use Gravity. Deprived of flight, most birds just become "grounded chickens."
...
As Kashiwagi finished his routine, the exhaustion on Mawile's face noticeably vanished. Clashing with Donphan's Giga Impact had taken a toll; the shockwaves of such a powerful move were a heavy burden to bear.
Noticing Kashiwagi's expression, Mawile suddenly became alert. "Maw-wile?"
"I'm not swapping you out, I'm not swapping you out," he quickly reassured her. "Just rest easy."
He had indeed entertained a brief thought of swapping her for Steelix. He didn't realize it showed on his face.
Was he really that transparent? Mawile didn't seem like the type to read facial expressions so closely...
Kashiwagi pondered. It was likely a sign of their increasing Friendship. They had reached a level where a single furrow of the brow told the other exactly what was on their mind.
Would they eventually develop Telepathy?
Probably not. Ash and Pikachu only shared visions like that in near-death experiences—and that was in the movies. Pikachu's sudden line, "Because I always want to be with you," was as shocking as it was heart-wrenching.
He recalled Mawile to her Poké Ball and rubbed Chansey's fluffy head, praising her performance.
"I didn't expect you to handle a whole process by yourself already. Not bad at all."
Kashiwagi knew that the walls of the heart aren't easily broken.
The fact that Chansey won a battle using Toxic without his direct command meant she was close to using offensive moves of her own volition.
It wasn't that he lacked her combat power or refused to let her move to a support role; but if she wanted to overcome her own mental weaknesses, he, as her Trainer, would support her to the end.
Besides, she had been quite bummed about missing the last three Gym challenges. Kashiwagi had been forced to "dangle the carrot" of future appearances just to cheer her up.
"Lucky~!" Chansey beamed, the curly tufts on the sides of her head quivering happily.
...
Kashiwagi recalled her as well. Looking at his surroundings, he began moving the coffee table and sofa. It took some effort, but he managed to clear a space large enough for Aggron to feel comfortable.
The ceiling was a bit low... but he couldn't be too picky.
He released Aggron, checked his vitals, and gave him a pre-match pep talk.
"One last match. Don't feel pressured. Just stay calm. Honestly, just having you learn Stone Edge during this tournament means we've already come out ahead."
He patted the giant steel head.
"Gurooon~" Aggron wagged his tail, indicating he was relaxed and ready.
They were here for fun and the Pokémon Egg.
Getting the egg would be great, but if they lost, it just meant fate didn't intend for them to have it. The real priority was training their independent combat instincts.
So far, they were doing great. Mawile was a bit "meat-headed," but she hadn't made any major blunders, and she was quickly making up for her lack of tactical knowledge.
Kashiwagi actually felt a bit of sadistic glee imagining Mawile's frustrated face when she'd eventually have to sit down and learn to read.
...
Soon after...
The finals began.
After confirming Mawile was ready, Kashiwagi placed the three Poké Balls on the transport device. Based on the semi-finals, these opponents would be formidable.
Should I lead with a new strategy? Let Chansey go first?
While Toxic is easily countered by healing moves, she also had Sing, Thunder Wave, Light Screen, Telekinesis, Gravity, and Skill Swap. Plus, there was Stealth Rock. He wasn't leading with Aggron because the big guy still hadn't mastered Magnet Rise—a crucial move for a Pokémon with a 4x weakness to Ground and low mobility.
He made his choice. The battlefield appeared on the screen: Basic Flat Terrain.
Is the arena choice influenced by Chansey? Kashiwagi wondered.
The machines hummed, and the Pokémon were released.
Chansey hit the ground running, moving in an irregular zigzag. Her opponent appeared: a particularly mean-looking Tauros.
"Mooo—!!" It let out a long, intimidating bellow. The old Chansey might have been terrified, but now? She barely felt a prickle of nerves.
Intimidate ability, the "knowledgeable" Chansey diagnosed. But Intimidate was useless against her—she didn't use physical attacks... well unless you counted Pound, which she mostly used for kneading dough.
"Lucky..."
Chansey didn't charge. She knew Tauros would come to her.
But just as Tauros prepared to charge, the overhead machine suddenly recalled it.
Chansey: "???"
A switch on the first turn?
She wasn't about to waste the opening. She raised her tiny hands, gathering dust and sand from the air and earth, condensing them into glowing, floating stones.
Stealth Rock. The stones vanished, waiting for an unlucky guest. They didn't have to wait long.
"Swellow!"
A Swellow with black feathers and a crimson chest let out a piercing cry, soaring through the air—right into the invisible trap.
BOOM!
The rocks detonated, peppering the bird with sharp fragments.
"Swellow!!" It shrieked in pain. Stealth Rock deals double damage to those weak to Rock-types.
But the nightmare was just beginning.
Back in the room, Kashiwagi smirked. The opponent had switched because they knew Tauros couldn't handle Telekinesis. But they didn't know Chansey had a trump card, Gravity.
"Lucky!"
While Swellow was still reeling from pain of being bombarded by rocks, Chansey threw her hands up. An invisible wave distorted the air.
A terrifyingly strong Gravity, like a high wall pressing down from the sky, directly slammed down dragging the soaring bird straight into the dirt!
Thud!
Swellow was bewildered. It hadn't even made a move yet, and it had been bombed, crushed to the ground, and pinned. It couldn't even spread its wings. Even with its relatively quick reflexes, it was momentarily stunned.
Meanwhile, its trainer, watching the scene through the machine, stared wide-eyed. They never expected that after telekinesis, Chansey had also mastered gravity. They had even gone out to watch the match specifically to better assess their opponent's strength.
Should they switch? In this situation, switching was the only option, right?
But what if they brought in a new Pokémon, only to have it telekinetically controlled and suspended in mid-air again?
While the opponent hesitated, and the bird was little stunned, Chansey "cheerfully" waddled over and, while Swellow was stunned, daintily delivered a drop of Toxic right onto its beak.
"Swe-llow!?" The bird panicked, flapping wildly until it finally managed to stand. It looked at Chansey, who had already backed away to a safe distance. Although it was puzzled as to why the other hadn't continued to attack, at least it had stood up—
Pfff!
Swellow coughed up a bit of purple fluid. The venom was hitting harder than expected, but it triggered its ability: Guts.
If it could still fly, it would have torn Chansey apart.
~However, in the current state...?
The Swellow pondered for a moment and began to try to move using its claws, just like a Dodrio, and attempted to attack Chansey.
"Swe-llow!"
It refused to give up!
The Swellow stared intently at Chansey, but unexpectedly, Chansey just gave it a "You can do it!" look of encouragement.
That was the last straw. Swellow charged, wings flapping furiously.
In an instant, countless white wind blades whistled forward!
Air Slash!
"Lucky~"
Chansey twisted her body, easily dodging the uncoordinated blades of wind. Without the height of flight, Swellow's accuracy was garbage.
With attacks that were practically inaccurate, it could dodge them no matter how many came.
On the other side,
Swellow was desperately trying to learn how to walk on its claws. It could definitely walk, but it couldn't walk fast, and it had virtually no chance of getting close to the agile Chansey.
What should it do…?
It anxiously tried to find a way, but couldn't help spitting out purple bubbles.
It was slow, desperate, and the poison was worsening. In a "Toxic" state, the damage scales over time. Even Roost wouldn't save it for long.
Desperate, Swellow decided to go down swinging for its teammates.
Since it couldn't defeat its opponent, it could only increase its teammate's chances of winning, just like its trainer had taught it.
"Swellow!!"
It beat its wings, creating a violent gale that instantly swept across the entire area.
Defog!
The invisible rocks shattered into harmless light. Chansey watched in shock. Even as a "good student," she hadn't seen that coming.
But Swellow wasn't done. Ignoring the purple bubbles at its beak, it flapped even harder, summoning a gentle, golden breeze.
Tailwind!
Another move?
No way!
Chansey panicked but could only watch. She didn't have the moves to stop it. Gravity blocked her Telekinesis, and she couldn't use Sing or Thunder Wave on an already-poisoned target.
Her lack of move-pool knowledge was showing.
Fortunately, the effort was too much. The poison ticked one last time, and Swellow collapsed.
"Swe...llow..."
It collapsed to the ground, its claws twitching.
It had cleared the hazards and boosted its team's speed.
Having successfully defeated its first opponent, Chansey couldn't be happy at all; her anxiety about Swellow's hidden tricks outweighed the joy of victory.
Something had undoubtedly changed in the arena.
Chansey looked around and could clearly see a milky-white aura swirling around the arena, as if stirring something.
"Lucky!"
She looked somewhat anxiously at the machine that had retrieved Swellow.
...
Inside the room.
Kashiwagi saw Chansey's distress and recalled her immediately. "It's okay, you did great."
He knew she couldn't hear him, but he said it anyway.
Hehad to admit that in the final moments of the battle, Chansey had panicked slightly when faced with unfamiliar moves, and since it didn't have any effective counters, it created an opening for its opponent.
A Defog/Tailwind combo was a standard competitive play—nothing to panic about.
There was no reason for Kashiwagi to be perfect, constantly dominating the opponent. Chansey's panic was due to excessive pressure; in a normal fight, Kashiwagi didn't believe Chansey couldn't control the Swellow with its mental strength.
He believed that once Chansey calmed down, it wouldn't have any more problems.
So, who should he send in now?
After a brief hesitation, Kashiwagi sent out Mawile.
Seeing Chansey recalled, the opponent immediately replaced the Pokémon they had planned to release with a powerful Tauros.
The opponent sent Tauros back in.
"Mooo!!"
It bellowed, trying to Intimidate Mawile.
"Maw-ile?"
Mawile narrowed her eyes, unimpressed. She noticed the purple puddles and the Tailwind breeze. She also noticed she couldn't use Magnet Rise because Gravity was still in effect.
Was it Chansey's gravity?!
She wasn't so bad as to not recognize her companion's moves, but this was troublesome. Her high-speed mobility relied mainly on Magnet Rise, and her actual running speed on the ground wasn't very fast.
No flying for me, then.
What to do? Should it use
Swords Dance followed by a Baton Pass to bring Aggron up?
Just as Mawile was about to do so, Tauros on the opposite side was already exhaling white breath from its nostrils, frantically whipping its rear end with its three tails to boost its fighting spirit as it charged forward.
With the Tailwind at its back, it became a golden blur.
"Mooo!" It tucked its head for a high-speed Giga Impact!
"Tsk-tsk!"
So fast!
Mawile's face hardened; she knew there was no time to hesitate. Facing the charging Tauros, she slightly raised her fists, her feet nimbly leaping in place, she went back to basics: Boxing.
As the bull-like streak of light arrived, Mawile didn't run. She shifted her weight, danced to the right, and launched a fist glowing with dark energy.
Sucker Punch!
CRACK!
The punch caught Tauros square in the jaw. The bull stumbled but held its footing. Before it could recover, Mawile leaped onto its back, grabbing its mane like a rodeo star.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
She rained down Power-Up Punch after Power-Up Punch. With every hit, her strength grew.
"Moo!"
Tauros groaned in pain again, its ferocity ignited by Mawile's attack. It shook and used Thrash violently, its tail lashing out at Mawile, its body glowing with a blinding white light as it tried to shake him off with a rampage.
Unfortunately, Mawile clung to it more firmly than it had imagined, relentlessly attacking from its back, relentlessly pounding its head with punches!
Thud! Thud!
Two muffled thuds followed, each punch more powerful than the last.
Tauros was starting to struggle; its eyes bloodshot, it rammed into the wall at the edge of the arena!
But just before it hit the wall, Mawile, using its back as a springboard, suddenly leaped backward, avoiding a collision with the wall.
When Tauros staggered to his feet, he was dizzy and disoriented, unable to see Mawile.
The chaos from his Thrash left him confused, and he began to rage wildly around the arena.
The machine in mid-air attempted to retrieve Tauros, but its movements were too agile, and the machine's accuracy was poor; several retrieval beams missed their mark.
Seeing this, Mawile immediately moved far away from Tauros, first checking if Magnet Rise still worked. Finding the gravity effect hadn't ended, it silently used Iron Defense and Swords Dance.
Three Power-Up Punches followed by Swords Dance, then Iron Defense.
This was her gift to Aggron; she refused to believe that under these amplified conditions, the latter couldn't easily defeat his final opponent.
Not far away,
Tauros finally finished its rampage, exhausting its last stamina.
Mawile watched her opponent as it moo'ed and collapsed, then be retrieved by the machine. She didn't underestimate this bull-like creature; the surprise attack and three consecutive Power-Up Punches showed its incredible endurance.
If a trainer had been in command, who knows how much power it could unleash.
Unfortunately, there were no "ifs."
She raised its fist and used Baton Pass to send herself back into its Poké Ball.
"Maw-ile!"
The chance to shine is yours!
...
Inside the room, Kashiwagi, who had seen through Mawile's thoughts, he laughed and sent Aggron out.
Pop!
"Aggrooon!"
The gleaming silver beast landed, glowing with the transferred power of Mawile's boosts. He looked like a literal god of iron.
His opponent: Zangoose.
"Gurooo!" Aggron didn't wait. He slammed his fist into the ground.
Stone Edge!
Massive pillars of blue stone erupted from the earth, racing toward the cat-ferret.
"Zaang-oo!" Zangoose shrieked, its claws glowing red as it shredded the rising rocks with Crush Claw.
Blood-red light swirled around Zangoose's claws. Seeing the rocks shattered into a million pieces, the white ferret Pokémon let out a small breath of relief. If it had taken that Rock Tomb head-on, things would have ended badly.
Not far away, Aggron's gaze remained calm, though it felt a twinge of regret that it hadn't secured a one-hit knockout. It was also slightly surprised that the rocks had been pulverized so easily.
As expected. I have to settle this in close quarters!
"GGroooon!"
Aggron charged at Zangoose, his massive frame exploding with an atypical burst of speed. Zangoose, seeing the giant close in, didn't panic; instead, it looked pleased.
"Zaaaang!!"
Zangoose had extensive experience fighting Pokémon like Aggron, and it knew exactly what their fatal flaw was: Fighting-type moves!
Close Combat.
In an instant, brownish-red currents of energy swirled between Zangoose's claws. Facing the oncoming Aggron, it unleashed a tempest of strikes, its claws shredding against Aggron's iron armor.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The crisp sound of metal striking metal echoed as sparks flew wherever claw met plate. With every strike, Aggron was forced a step back. The relentless, storm-like offensive pushed the titan into a continuous retreat.
Finally—
"Zaaang-oooos!!"
Zangoose shrieked as it delivered the final claw. Aggron's body lit up with a concentrated burst of brownish-red energy—as if all the damage from the previous strikes had accumulated and detonated at once. A thick shroud of smoke instantly swallowed the Iron Armor Pokémon!
"ROAR"!
Hearing Aggron's roar as it stumbled back, Zangoose's eyes lit up. It prepared to lunge through the smoke to deliver the finishing blow to this "overgrown wall."
But as it pierced the thick haze, it found itself staring directly into Aggron's cold, calculating eyes—and a silver sphere of energy that had been compressed to its limit, causing the air around it to vibrate violently.
Metal Burst!
"Nya—"
BOOM!!
Zangoose's cry was drowned out by a deafening explosion. Amidst the silver flashes and fiery sparks, its body was sent flying through the air along with the rising smoke.
But before the smoke could settle, a massive shadow gave chase. The swirling dust was parted as if by a giant hand, revealing Aggron lunging toward the airborne Zangoose.
It raised its claws high, shrouded in a brownish-red glow that turned them into a heavy sledgehammer, and slammed them ruthlessly into the ground right where Zangoose was about to land!
THOOM!!
The shockwave of the exploding energy flipped Zangoose into the air once more. The sheer brute force gouged a hideous crater into the earth, sending spider-web cracks rippling across the arena.
Zangoose slammed into the wall and slumped to the ground, its eyes replaced by swirls.
Without a doubt, Aggron had ended its final opponent with a display of pure, unadulterated power.
"GUROOOO—!!" Aggron's roar shook the stadium.
...
...
In the room, Kashiwagi pumped his fist.
"We won! Clean sweep!"
He had been a bit nervous before the match, wondering if the opponents would be too much to handle. But his "three trusted generals" —Aggron, Mawile, and Chansey—had brought him the victory he craved. His heart hammered with excitement.
Outside the Battle Tent, the crowd was buzzing as they watched the replay on the monitors.
"He took a Close Combat head-on and didn't even flinch? That thing is a tank!"
"This Aggron is way too strong!"
"Could it be one of Steven Stone's? Doesn't the Champion have a team of powerful Aggron?"
"You're dreaming. Why would the Champion come to a backwater town for a minor tournament like this?"
As they gossiped, everyone was dying to know: Who is this Aggron's trainer?
In a dark corner behind the Battle Tent, a figure carrying two large cloth bags emerged, looking up at the screen thoughtfully.
"He has an Aggron and a Mawile this strong? We might as well steal those too."
"I think we can market them. We'll sell them under the name 'Raised by Steven Stone'!"
"Ho! You're getting smarter, aren't you?"
"Hehehe!"
"Good. To avoid any trouble, we move tonight. There are more and more police officers patrolling the streets lately."
"Yeah, yeah."
The two figures were enveloped in a puff of smoke and vanished into the shadows.
...
...
Kashiwagi, who should have been smiling, was currently wearing a deep frown.
"Stolen? All of the Pokémon Eggs?"
"Y-yes..."
The manager of the Battle Tent wiped sweat from his brow, bowing repeatedly in apology.
"We are terribly sorry! We never expected a theft of this magnitude. Please rest assured, we will provide a satisfactory answer! In the meantime, please return to your hotel. We will provide appropriate compensation..."
"No need for compensation; it's not like you let it happen on purpose."
Kashiwagi waved him off, his expression softening. Seeing that the Battle Tent officials were willing to take full responsibility, he didn't see the point in being aggressive.
"Thank you so much! Thank you!" The manager bowed even lower.
Leaving the Battle Tent, Kashiwagi looked concerned. He had assumed the thieves had already left town, but they were bold enough to strike again. Officer Jenny and her team were clearly struggling to keep up.
I should stay on high alert.
While the odds of them targeting him directly were low, Kashiwagi's cautious nature dictated that he always keep a "back door" open.
"The Pokémon Egg I was looking forward to is gone... I wonder if they'll replace it with one of the same species, or maybe a rare one as an apology?" he mused silently.
...
...