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"Look out!" Helena shouted to get Loki's attention.

Loki's eyes opened to respond to the barrage with a Charge Beam. If the first Magnet Bomb wasn't set off by the attack, Loki would teleport. If it was, Loki would respond to the rest of the bombs in the same way, trying to prematurely set them all off.

In the first scenario, where Loki teleported, it would outside of the Magnet Bomb range, but not too close to Magneton like before. It would still be on Clemont's side of the arena, where Loki would move to Calm Mind.

In the second scenario, Loki would end the counter barrage by closing his eyes to be calm once more. He would once more draw from his power.

New strategy. Deal with everything he has, then blow him to pieces once the time is right. Helena couldn't create a strategy to head right for the king. She'd have to take out Clemont's pawns, bishops, knights, rooks and his queen first.

Loki wasn't going down so easily. Not because of he himself, but because the Kadabra had an ally watching over him.

"Teleport!" Helena said and Loki complied. He felt the energy move through him thanks to his powered up self from the Charge Beams. He barely escaped the Thunder, and couldn't get every bomb thanks to Magneton's counter. Still, he didn't teleport too far. Instead, he'd teleported to a different side of the arena.

If one regarded Helena as on the east side, and Clemont on the west side, Loki would now reside on the south edge.

Here he'd try to deal with the remaining bombs before Magneton could make another move.

((I'ma go with 5. Four charge, one calm mind.))

Loki was not helpless. Every action Clemont and Magneton made in response to one of Loki and Helena's, was one more trick that would never work by itself again. This time Loki aimed to either counter the Thunder, or destroy the cloud before it could target Loki.

Charge Beam, with Loki's increases in power, would allow his Charge Beam to match Magneton's Thunder. However, making up the difference in power didn't change any of the other statistics. Even if Loki won here, he'd still have to contend with an opponent that could utilize Agility, and to even get there, Loki would have to overcome Magneton's far superior defenses.

The Thunderbolt would be met with a Psybeam, to blow up both blasts midway. In the wake of this, Loki would ignore the remaining Magnet Bombs unless they targeted him, and he'd prepare to use the next Calm Mind.

Helena wasn't comfortable taking a passive tone now that she'd acknowledged Clemont as a powerful trainer. However, she knew it was necessary to stand a chance. It was very possible that Tyrant could take down the Emolga, but she couldn't rely on it.

Loki was her best shot at victory. All she needed to do was wait for him to make the right move, and then she'd tear him apart. It was almost time for the second part of her strategy. Even if she had to change how to do it, it didn't mean that she intended to change what it was completely.

Next is Disable.

Cyllage City Gym - The Arena

The dust in the way wasn't something Benedict was glad to see. Bad enough Essence was against this gym leader's pokemon, now she was on her own as far as information. "Autopilot!"

The force of gravity was, indeed, dangerous. Light as she was, Essence wasn't likely to be too damaged, but upon seeing the zone that was the trap, she pushed forward, and came down farther from the center than the Lunatone might have expected. As she came down, a magical leaf went out, towards the ceiling, when she saw where her mega drain had been deflected to. When they fell, the stalactites would be deflected as well, and fall safely away.

From her intended path, anyway.

The moment she landed, growth went out. It would increase her size without increasing her weight too much. Her strength as well. Her speed wouldn't grow, no, but that wasn't relevant. It was the power she used to move forward that would need to be strengthened, not how quickly she reasonably could.

Of course, stalactites would still fall towards the circle, and if Grant wasn't paying enough attention, or needed his eyes checked and didn't actually get them checked because glasses weren't cool, he might not notice that they'd be falling just outside of it. Which meant, if he wasn't careful, she'd be using another Growth while he was waiting for her health to drop on the screen.

Cyllage City Pokémon Center

In the hallway where he had last seen Salieri, Matheson paced back and forth while his Vespiquen, Rhea, hovered in place in front of the broom closet. The longer he waited for Sal, the more he worried that her injuries were worse than he had initially believed. “Should I go look for her?”

Rhea shook her head. “Yeah, I’ll just stay here…why wouldn’t she call a hospital? Instead she called me…that’s a good sign, right?” Rhea shrugged, not caring about human romance but desiring the best for her trainer.

After what felt like an eon, Salieri turned the corner. Math lit up at the sight of her, and the two of them sighed in relief. “Found you,” Sal said as she approached the sponsored trainer.

Math’s joy faded when he got a better look at Sal’s injuries. “The hell, Sal? What were you hunting, a woodchipper?” he asked while rummaging through his pocket for the Magic Door Key.
“Not exactly,” she replied sheepishly. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
“Good, cause it looks bad. So were you the hunter, or the hunted?”
“Both,” Sal said, unable to hide her grin. Math retrieved the key and paused.

“…Sal, tell me you didn’t…did you-“ He looked over his shoulder, then continued. “Did you go after Faust?”

Her silence was all the answer he needed. Math shook his head as he put the key into the broom closet door. Rhea was already lifting up Sal’s arms, using her medical knowledge to assess the wounds. The cuts were mostly shallow, save for a huge one on her back that would need stitches. The bruising on the leg also needed to be taken care of.

“Wow, okay, um…how am I supposed to tell the guys-“
Sal grabbed his arm. “You don’t.”
“Yeah? What am I supposed to say?”

Sal was surprised Matheson had the foresight to consider this issue. She was slightly more surprised that she didn’t. With no answer from Sal, Math twisted the doorknob. “Then here goes nothing.”

Coumarine City – Coumarine Hotel

An exclusive resort area made popular thanks to its clear skies and mild atmosphere, Coumarine was especially popular at this time of year due to the Pokémon League and the weather being at it’s best. In addition to the usual vacationers, Coumarine Hotel was full of trainers staying to battle the Gym Leader and relax.

In one of the suites, three nobles sat on a couch together in front of a TV and a table covered in snacks. Jace, the cocky noble with a Napoleon complex that Sal had punched in the face the morning before, sat in the middle. Doran, a lanky quiet stoner noble, and Silas, a chubby jolly noble, were on the couch’s sides. The three of them were on the edge of their seats, watching the Unovan football game on TV with glued interest.

“He’s gonna miss it. Paladins are about to get the first touchdown, and he’s gonna miss it,” Jace mumbled, eyes never leaving the screen.
“It’s not like they won’t replay it three times after,” Silas mumbled back. “And besides-“

Jace’s prediction came true. The quarterback for the Paladins chucked the ball clear across the field to a teammate who took it smoothly into the endzone. The three nobles whooped and hollered, lifting up their beers to drink together.

The door to the apartment burst open, and Math ran in as a whirlwind of energy. “What did I miss?!”
“Paladins just got to the endzone,” Doran said through a mouthful of beer.
Matheson narrowed his eyes at the score, then slammed his hands onto the back of the couch. “******** YES!”

The cheering died down when the couch bound nobles saw what Matheson had brought with him. Standing behind Math was Salieri, Rhea hovering besides her still examining the damage.

Sal hadn’t expected the den of the nobles to look so…ordinary. Or for Matheson’s friends to look like a bunch of nerds. One of them, the noble in the middle who seemed very angry, looked familiar to Sal.

That’s when Jace jumped off the couch and released an Azumarill. “Douse this fool!” he yelled.

In response, Salieri released Biz right in front of Doran, who leaned back silently in an effort to make this none of his concern. “Trash this sucka!”

Matheson jumped onto the couch where Jace had just been sitting, holding out his arms to stop the showdown. “Whoa whoa whoa, time out! What’s the matter, Jace?”

“Are you kidding me?” Jace was red with rage. “She’s the one who knocked me out yesterday!”

This previously established connection had been glossed over by Math when he had accepted Sal's request, and he was now realizing this wasn’t one of his best ideas. Salieri must have also forgotten, because the next thing she blurted was an indignant, “What? No I didn’t! Do I even know you?”
“You sucker punched me, stole my jacket and my card key!”

Everyone looked to Sal, and Jace’s features became recognizable to the girl. “Oh. Right.” The only reason she had punched Jace was because the noble had been talking trash about her brother. A flimsy excuse, not one worth sharing. Salieri recalled Biz Marquis as an act of negotiation. “Err…Math gave you your stuff back, right?”

Jace held up his card key as his answer. “Now where’s my jacket?”
“Buried under some rubble in Ambrette Town, probably.”
“You were in Ambrette Town, during the stampede?” Silas chimed in.
Jace shushed him. “You think you can just waltz in here like I forgive you?”

All eyes were on Salieri again. She looked to Math for help, but all the Leroux boy could do was give her a shrug and mouth the word, ‘Apologize’.

“I’m, uh…I’m errrr…my bad, dude.”
Jace’s jaw was practically on the floor. “My bad?”
“Is it cool if I use your shower?” Sal asked Math, desperate to escape this situation yet also desiring to stay, for reasons unclear even to her.
“Around the corner,” Math said with a nod. “Try not to open up your cuts-“

Salieri stopped paying attention when her eyes wandered to the TV. The Strikers had just intercepted a pass and were taking the ball to the other endzone. “Merde.” Everyone else but Jace looked at the TV, building up silence until the Strikers got the touchdown. Doran and Silas moaned and hung their heads.

Matheson punched the wall and Sal stomped her foot. “********!” they yelled angrily at the same time. Surprised, they turned to reach other.
“You’re a Paladins fan?” he asked her.
“No, but I hate the Strikers.”
“Same,” said Math. They smiled, feeling a connection that made them both feel sweetly vulnerable until Jace interrupted the moment with a clearing of his throat.

“We were in the middle of something.”
“Right,” said Sal. “The shower. Thanks.” Quickly she ducked out of the room and into the hall. Nobody said a word until they heard the bathroom door close. Jace gave Matheson the dirtiest look he could.

“Well.” Silas leaned back in his worn in seat, getting comfy. “She seems nice.”

Cyllage City Gym - The Arena

Confusion and Magical Leaf collided! The telekinetic power stopped entirely against the leaf, which crumbled into a ball and dropped to the floor.

The second Essence stepped out of the Black Circle, Lunatone deactivated it, the trap being useless there if the Roselia wasn’t in it. With the previous Rock Polish the shining flying crescent was now faster, but maintained the same pace as Essence from a distance to hide its top speed. Essence was much bigger now due to Growth, meaning those super effective attacks would be much more devastating. Speed was Lunatone’s current advantage as they raced across the arena.

Grant threw a hand out to the side as Lunatone destroyed another Magical Leaf with a new Black Circle, which crushed the leaf into the ground mid flight. It was time to finish this, before he got shown up for the third time in a row. “Finish it, Lunatone! Gravity!”

As they had practiced, The White Circle appeared in Essence’s path, just a few of steps ahead. The Black Circle disappeared, but when one circle was in place the twin could appear at any time. If Essence ended up over the circle at all she’d end up in the trap, getting flung into the air and making evasion nigh impossible similar to a basic Telekinesis. Lunatone would then launch a barrage of Confusion until Essence was done for.

However, Grant did not anticipate that Essence wouldn’t be able to stop. The Roselia had proven dexterous and nimble so far. He expected her to either change her course to around the White Circle, or stop entirely. Which was why the White Circle was only bait to allow for a Black Circle trap.

Assuming Grant was right, Lunatone’s red eyes would glow. The ground underneath Essence’s feet would swell, seconds from rupturing with a forceful explosion of Earth Power that would end the match. The swelling effect would spread twice as large as the White Circle was, then blow up.

Outrunning the Earth Power expanding directly under her wouldn’t be likely for the Roselia, though with her current physical power she'd probably have a high enough jump to avoid it. However, Lunatone still had the Black Circle, and if Essence jumped the Meteorite Pokémon would summon the twin above Essence in an attempt to fling her back down to the Earth Power

((See, class? This is why doing your homework pays off))

Cyllage City Gym - The Arena

Because Essence had opted to spring for the White Circle, Earth Power never occurred. The overgrown Roselia’s momentum was pushed upwards by the circle, flinging her forward high into the air.

The plan was to take shots at Essence while she was airborne, but Lunatone had to deal with the Magical Leaf first. It shot out a Psywave, the attack flowing out and engulfing many of the incoming leaves. Some of them had gone rogue, diverting around the wave to close in on Lunatone. There was no way to destroy the leaves and hit Essence in this vulnerable state.

First Grant had lost to Sal, something he considered a fluke. But then he lost to Grant. When Grant battled Grant, Grant had felt a compounding sense of loss in the face of Grant’s confidence in his own skills. Now Grant felt he had something to prove not just to himself, but to the image of Grant in his mind’s eye.

“Take the shot!”

Lunatone revealed its true speed and sped up, the stray leaves trailing behind her and catching up fast. As fast as it could, Lunatone shot bolts of Confusion at the falling Roselia, her bigger size and relative helplessness in the air making her an easier target. The Rock type was following the falling trajectory not only to aim its Confusion, but to plan where to summon the Black Circle. When Roselia got close enough to the ground, the Black Circle would emerge as her predicted landing pad.

All this focus on offense left Lunatone vulnerable. The Meteorite Pokémon would take some leaves, taking a portion of the attack for super effective damage. That wasn’t the worst part: one of the Worry Seeds had latched on.

Lunatone would fall and grind to the ground, halting all movement. Grant would fold his arms, taking on a stony expression befitting his specialization. Worry Seed was nearly crippling.

Nearly.