“Let’s have a little chat, darling daughter,” O’Nare said out of the blue one day. The fact that Billy was there too was surprising. Curious, I agreed, taking my seat across from them in the living room. Don’t sense any nervousness or anger - and can’t think of anything I’ve done recently that would have annoyed them - but this feels more serious than a random chat.

  They did that sometimes, which surprised me at first, but I got it was just their way of trying to check in on me and my sister and connect with us, which I appreciated. “So, we wanted to have a little talk about what we discussed during that week we journeyed with you,” Mom began.

  “Ah, what a marvelous journey that was!” Dad exclaimed. “We learned and grew so much together!”

  I chuckled at his antics but couldn’t deny his words. “Yeah, we really did. So is it something about Tandemaus or Drampa?”

  “No dear, it actually had to do with the question of your finances you brought up back then. We wanted to clear a few misconceptions.”

  “Okay…” I responded tentatively.

  “You had some concerns about taking ‘too much’ money from us for your Trainer career, and we wanted to set those fears at ease. For starters, the money was always what we’d planned to give to you in the first place, and if we can give it to you now to bolster your Trainer career, the more the better.” Mom said, and I begrudgingly nodded my head. I did say I’d use every advantage at my disposal for my team. As much as it is an unfair advantage over other Trainers.

  Billy had his Rotom Phone float up beside him, which expanded to tablet form to show me a spreadsheet with a bunch of different numbers on it. “Uhhh…” I began, trying to take it all in.

  “Basically, you haven’t hurt our finances like that. And if you look at columns F, G, and Y, us giving you this money now saves plenty on taxes that we would be paying later to give you the same amount as inheritance.”

  “To say nothing of how your victories have added to our portfolio,” Mom added brightly.

  “I mean, okay, I get that. But- Cyan’s still getting just as much as me too, right?” My parents both gave me bright, dazzlingly sympathetic smiles.

  “Ah, what Glitterati compassion flows through your veins! Such wonderful sisterly care,” Dad said with great joy while Mom hugged me tight.

  “You need not worry; we’ve made sure that Cyan has just as much put away for her as you have, including anything you’ve taken for your trainer career. And don't worry about the cost on our end - if anything we've made tons more money with the boost you gave our stocks.” They know me well enough to know that I wouldn't be upset about Cyan potentially ‘getting more than me’ at all. Wait, but why did my victory boost their stocks?

  I asked as much, and Billy and O’Nare looked a little guilty? No, more awkward than guilty. “You might already know this,” Mom began slowly, “But the Champion of any region has significant influence on its policies.”

  “Yeah, but only ones related to Pokemon, and for Paldea, which has multiple Champion-rank Trainers, only the Top Champion has any influence,” I pointed out.

  “Indeed! And you just defeated the El Primero, so many suspect that you will, in the near future at least, become the Top Champion,” Dad said. “And Pokemon influence so much of our lives, but particularly in our businesses. My Rotom Phone Company is obvious, but the real estate industry relies almost as heavily on Pokemon for surveying the land and construction. Investors watching your victory and assumed new position as well as your family ties…”

  “Suspect that I’ll change regulations to help you. But I wouldn’t do that! I’m not going to- to- abuse any position I might have just to help you.”

  “Of course not, dear; your Glitterati pride shines too brightly for that!” Mom reassured me before continuing. “However, that doesn’t stop people from thinking what they will, or us from taking advantage of it.” The grin she gave me there reminded me of happy Sharpedos, and I shivered.

  “Ok, that’s… good to hear. Thanks for telling me about all that. I guess I was worried over nothing back on Glaseado Mountain, huh?” They gushed over my ‘Glitterati spirit’ for a moment before I waved them off.

  “With people paying more attention to me,” I began. Too much attention, waaaaay too much for a nine-year-old girl. “Then I guess I should be looking more into my music stuff, shouldn’t I?”

  Billy clapped his hands together. “Your manager has mentioned to me that he’d be interested in working out another album once or twice.” So he’s been pestering Dad a hundred times every day, at least.

  Despite everything they had told me, I did still feel a little guilty about the music stuff. To me, it was just a vanity project, something I did because I wanted to bring in some songs from my previous life here, nothing like my career as a Trainer which at least helped with dealing with potential threats to Paldea.

  My parents might have used some tricks so it wasn’t quite as costly as it could have been, but I still felt like they had invested a fair amount into that. And looking at the numbers… yeah, they definitely did.

  Passing the Rotom Phone back to my dad, I nodded. “Alright, let’s set up a day to work out the details at the studio.”

  ***

  “There’s our star, shining so bright, you make me glad I’m wearing shades!” Mr. Smiley said as I entered. After travelling around so much, the trip to Mesagoza to Smiley’s studio feels pretty quick and easy. It had been raining hard, but only relative to how hard it could get in the South Province of Paldea, nowhere near as bad as the bone-chilling storms that sometimes hit the Northwest.

  The studio was fairly nice, though mostly similar to what I had at home (which was less a sign of how professional Smiley’s studio was and more indicative of yet again how much money my parents had to fuel my passion projects). Above the recording room was his office, where we were at the moment, and I took a seat, slinging my jacket on a coat rack. Around the walls were pictures of stars he had worked with and gold-plated record discs, marking the albums he’d helped make that had sold well.

  “Thank you, Mr. Smiley. You’re looking well yourself,” I commented. The man was slightly portly, with his yellow hair beginning to go bald up top, but he had well earned the nickname of ‘Mr. Smiley,’ beaming broadly at me. He was wearing a casual dress shirt and pair of slacks that each probably cost at least as much as the gold rings on his fingers. “I heard you wanted to make some music?”

  “Yes! You’re the hottest thing right now; the whole town's talking about you. Let’s strike while the Steel Type is hot. A tour of Paldea to promote your old album while giving a sneak peek at your next one. I’m thinking ‘Victory Road’ for the title, or maybe ‘Champion Tunes.’” He said eagerly before stopping as I shook my head.

  “Even an album would be… a lot, especially before I go to Blueberry. I don’t even have any songs ready,” I try, but he shakes his head, that persistent grin stuck on his face.

  “I’ve kept my eye on you. I heard a couple songs during your Gym run and Gauntlet that weren’t on The First Step,” he said, dropping the name of my first album.

  “I have some ideas and a few half-recorded tunes in my personal studio,” I argued for a moment before sighing. “I can do a song or two, but I really don’t have time for a full album and definitely not for a tour.”

  “Gotta ask, why do you have to go to school? You’ve got a great music career lined up here. We can even copy Diantha a bit and still focus on training while doing so.” He looks serious here. I could just say that I promised my friends I would go, but realistically, it’s more like they promised to follow me to Blueberry.

  “I feel like there’s so much more I still have to discover and learn about the world. Besides, Blueberry is known for their Trainers too, so I won't miss out there. I do like my music, a lot, but…” He shook his head, understanding what I was getting at.

  “Too much wanderlust, a common affliction amongst you Champion Types, I hear. Don’t know how you can handle all the travel.” I shrugged, and he continued. “Enough of that; let’s work out what you’re doing. Two songs before you have to go to school, maybe a teaser for one you can work on there?” The man offered.

  “Ehh, I don’t really want to make promises to the fans if I don’t know that I can keep them. We’ll see how the workload is there before deciding anything.” He looked like he wanted to argue but relented. Wow, people really must be eager for my music. Smiley was so much more laid-back the first time we worked together.

  “How difficult would it be to make a music video for one of the songs I had in mind?” I asked, and he thought it over.

  “Depends on what you’re looking for. If it needs a bunch of dancers or actors, we’d be looking at a couple months of planning and choreography.” I shook my head vehemently. Technically I do have a little over two months before Blueberry, but I still need to study for and pass the early admittance exam before then.

  “No, I think it should be fine. Just some special effects and stages. ‘Reach for the Stars’ is one of the songs I’ve been toying with, and I thought it might be cool if it looked like I was soaring through space with it. Wait!” I shouted as a new idea hit me.

  “What about an animated music video as the official video for one of the songs?”

  He tilted his head from side to side. “I'm definitely up for getting more of your music out there, but animated videos usually only get so much engagement. I'd need to look up artists to help produce it too.”

  “I've already got the artist in mind for this one,” I declared, holding out my phone with the portrait Cyan had drawn of my team.

  “Ooh, tell me more,” Smiley said, flipping out a notebook and jotting down ideas that we traded back and forth. As our vision got bigger, with more thoughts on what kinds of Pokemon could be used for the special effects and to show up in the video, I realized it would still be a bit much to try and make before I went to school.

  “Darn. Though, I’ve heard about some Pokemon within the Terarium that would be great to add to the video…” I trailed off wistfully. Okay, now I’m kinda hooked on the idea. This is sounding really cool! Though I should double-check that they actually have Minior in the Terarium beforehand.

  “If you can get permission from the school to film there, that would be great. Though it might take a while to get the film crews fully vetted,” Smiley admitted. Oh right, as much as the Academy posts plenty of their own pictures from students and the like, the Terarium isn’t exactly a place any old Trainer can stroll into.

  My research on the matter showed that you needed an invite to get there, usually only offered to students from Blueberry’s ‘sister’ school, Uva, or given to famous Ace Trainers. The kinds of people Blueberry staff felt would have the knowledge and training to both handle themselves and the Pokemon in the Terarium environment safely.

  “We might want to try a different idea then. Maybe we do one with my team first? It’d be a bit generic but-”

  “A good place to start for your first music video. I’ve got some Contest Trainers I could call in that could really help make your Moves pop on the screen.” Hadn’t thought of that before, but just like Gym Trainers might take on odd jobs that leverage the personal strength of their team, Contest Trainers must have things like this to help show off Pokemon in cool or cute ways.

  Mr. Smiley pushed the idea of a new album a few more times 'just for the future,' and I tossed out a few songs I had in my head back. Describing them and singing a few lines as we tried to figure out which one would be a good fit for the proposed music video and before I knew it 'Victory Road' was being workshoped as the name of my new album.

  "Six songs feels a bit light for an album though, doesn't it?" I pointed out as Mr. Smiley settled on New Genesis, from that One Piece movie I really liked, as the one for a live-action music video. Not that Smiley knows my motivation; he must be thinking of it more as a reference to my victory over the Paldean Gauntlet. Which does make it feel a tad egotistical, but, eh, still fitting for Uta.

  My manager just gave me a broad grin, indicating what I could do to change that, and I groaned, even as some ideas were percolating in my mind. “We'll see how it goes, but even with a potential new album, it'll take time to finish. We might want something to pump up the hype till then,” my manager said.

  “What, aren’t I the hottest thing right now?” I said with a slightly smug grin. He laughed, waving a finger in front of me.

  “For now. News cycles move fast, though, so keeping up that hype is important. Some sort of teaser or-”

  “Another interview with Iono?” I offered, and his face lit up.

  “Yes! That would work great; Iono’s really popular with girls in your age range,” he explained, and I looked blankly. Yeah… I probably would have no clue who she was if Iono wasn’t also a Gym Leader. Still, it will be nice to see her again. Things ended on a good note between us, but hopefully the entirety of the next meeting will go well.

  There were still more details to hash out, but after a productive meeting I headed out, my lazy post-victory schedule feeling full to bursting. While it left me feeling a little crunched for time, I was also energized in the way only a deadline could make me feel.

  ***

  “Whozat? Whatzit? It’s Nemona!” Iono declared loudly, waving to me on the street, and I resisted the urge to turn away from all the attention. C’mon, if I can’t handle the average street traffic outside Levincia, how can I handle a stream that will be watched by hundreds of thousands if not millions?

  Obviously there was a very real difference between a screen and a bunch of real-life people staring me down, but I managed to trick myself to not think about it like that as I strode over to the Gym Leader. “Iono, great to see you too.”

  “You’re not in your champion outfit,” Iono pouted for a second upon recognizing I was in my ordinary Trainer attire.

  “It’s not really practical for everyday stuff. You mentioned wanting to go over some things first before the stream?” I asked, and she bobbed her head up and down vigorously.

  “Yuppers. Let’s chat about the deets in my office,” she said, motioning to the Gym Building with one floppy sleeve. I followed her inside and settled down once more in her office.

  “Firstly, I wanna thank you for the collab offer. I know we talked about it before, but ya beat me to the punch! You must be getting tons of offers these days, Miss Champion,” she said with a shark-like grin. Well, I'm not really sure. I know there are probably a lot of people reaching out to me, but I let Miles handle that sort of stuff. With it being open knowledge that I was going to Blueberry soon, I didn’t get many serious, interesting offers.

  She continued. “Secondly, you mentioned doing a proper interview before. That’s… shocking considering what happened last time.” Iono stopped, giving a small giggle at the pun she just realized she made before getting serious again. “I know I kinda ambushed you before. I’d heard about how cool you were from Hassel, and he’s a Dragon Trainer Elite; that’s like the Legendary standard for cool! But a bunch of haters online were-”

  I put my hand out. “It’s fine. I get that you were trying to help, and, well, it was supposed to be a challenge. At least it helped with dealing with the reporters that swarmed my house before.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Iono grimaced. “Ugh, they’re the worst. I get tryin’ ta get a good story, but they can feel like they’re just waiting for someone to slip up. I love streaming, but I don’t wanna have my ‘streamer face’ be on all the time, ya know?” I get that, yeah. I’ve gotten better at dealing with the press, but it still feels nerve-wracking, knowing I’m not just going to be pressed with tough questions but that my answers will be examined with a microscope days after I’ve said them.

  “Indeed, which is why I was glad that you mentioned possibly going over the questions ahead of time.”

  “Course. Your message also included some stuff about some songs you wanted to promote?”

  “If I could.” She laughed at the slight guilt that showed on my face.

  “Don’t sweat it; that’s what these collabs are all about! I get to boost my channel like it’s got Huge Power, so you should get something out of it too.” Iono reassured me.

  “Heh, true. Sounds like you’ve been studying your battle skills as well, name-dropping Abilities like that.”

  “You betcha!” She exclaimed energetically. “You might have beat me to the punch, but my team is all charged up!”

  “That’s good to hear,” I said, somewhat distractedly, as I read the list of questions she had prepared for today. “These look good, thanks.” Nothing quite as aggressive as some of the stuff last time, and even then it wasn’t so bad last time; I just… was caught off guard by it all. “Except for the questions about Phantasm and Radiance. I’m not going to go into more details about how I found them.”

  She gave me a ‘well, I tried’ kind of shrug. “If the rest are good though, let’s get to rolling! You wanna start now?”

  “Hmm, actually, looking these over, I think we might combine them and the demonstration…” I outlined my idea, and Iono eagerly agreed.

  ***

  “Your eyeballs are MINE—caught in my Electroweb! Whosawhatsit? Gym Leader Iono here! 'Ello, 'ello, hola! Ciao and bonjour!" Iono began dramatically, waving to her fans, both on the other side of the streaming lens and to the ones gathered in person on the circular ring around the arena in the center of Levincia.

  “Joining us today is our youngest Champion-ranked Trainer, back again on the IonoZone. It’s Nemona Glitterati!” She declared, waving a floppy sleeve towards me, standing a few meters away from her. I waved politely back.

  “Paldea, no, the whole world is buzzing about Nemona, so I thought we’d ask her some questions her fans are dying to know before we show off some of our Training techniques. And we’ve got a special surprise saved for the end!”

  After waiting a moment to let the excited responses flood in, Iono began the interview. “You’ve already talked a bit before, but why did you decide to become a Champion? I know I’ve amped up my game since we last talked, but Training up to eight hours a day?” She let out a soft whistle.

  “I knew I wanted to be a battler from the moment I laid eyes on Dun, possibly even before that day. So when I told him on the beach that I was going to make him the strongest Dunsparce in the world, my- no, our goal was set. This was just a natural step on that path.”

  “Very cool. And how does the rest of your team feel? Are they looking to be the best of their species too?”

  “The rest of my team have slightly different goals, but pretty much all of them are eager for battle as well.” Anya less so than the others, but even she accepts it and is willing to put in the work. Plus, I think I’ve seen her practicing her telekinesis around the house, possibly in an attempt to push even harder… or just because she’s too lazy to walk over to the remote to pick it up when she wants to change the channel.

  She chuckled. “We saw tons o’ spirit out there fightin’ the Elite Four and all. Pa-pow! Blam!” She accentuated, waving her arms about. “But your journey was a big ol’ mystery box. Plenty a folks here commented they wanted to see you out and about, but you were practically as hard to keep an eye on as a Marshadow! Was that on purpose?”

  I paused. “Not exactly on purpose, no. Just a side effect, really. We wanted to push hard to reach our goals and become a Champion-ranked Trainer soon, so I had us training tons in the wilderness in between Gyms, not spending much time at any town. It was hard work, but good, and pretty fun too. Most of the time, at least.”

  Iono caught onto that and with a sharp grin asked, “Oh? Sounds like a story or two behind that!” Then she stiffened up. “Umm, if you feel like sharing, that is.”

  I waved her off. “It’s fine. I… had a run-in with a small group of poachers early on. I think I mentioned something about that in our last interview?”

  “Yuupers! You got all ‘grr’ and scary about that.” I frowned at her impersonation of me but didn’t otherwise respond to that. It’s fine; I was pretty on edge back then.

  “I caught wind of how they had captured a Dragonair and her pod of Dratinis, as well as their plan to ambush me. I countered it, defeating them and bringing them in to the authorities. It turned out fine in the end, for the most part, but it was still off-putting at the time.” And now, honestly.

  There were more stories of my journey I could tell, about Raifort, my encounter with the Dragon Tamers, Turo, etc., but I kept quiet about all of those. The poacher incident alone will fuel the rumor mill plenty, and I don’t really want to talk about it all that much.

  The streamer seemed to get that as she switched topics. “Alrighty, then. That musta been some crazy clash, but the biggest part of a journey is training as a battler. So what was the toughest part of being a Trainer for you?”

  I chuckled. “You might not believe this, but throwing Pokeballs.”

  “Whaaaaaaaa? Throwing Pokeballs is what stumped our newest Champion?” She asked in that exaggerated bearing of hers.

  “Well, ‘stumped’ might not be the best word for it since I have gotten better at it. Just took me a lot more work than most anything else. I’ve always made friends with my Pokemon before catching them, so it’s not that big a deal, but Trainers do have to use that skill a bunch when battling,” I explained, ruefully rolling my wrist.

  “What a scoop! I ‘unnoa about the rest of you, but I wanna find out more about what she’s been cookin’! Mind giving us the deets on your Training style?”

  “I can talk a bit more in-depth about what I do, though again, I have to stress that each person will have their own styles, and you’ll need to find what works for you. Something like Gravity Training, which I don’t like, might work for you.”

  “Ooh? What’z this disdain my sound catchers are picking up? Also, what’s the deal with Gravity Training?” Iono pressed, going slightly off script. I don’t really mind, but the explanation is a bit lengthy.

  “Alright, so to begin, Gravity is a Move that increases the force of Gravity in an area for a brief period. It’s used in battles to ground fliers for the most part. But somewhere along the way, someone had the bright idea to use it as an extra level of resistance for their Pokemon to train against and get stronger. It’s not a bad method, but there are some issues. Let’s take your Kilowatrel, for instance.”

  Iono took my words literally, as she released the large yellow bird out onto the field, who cawed loudly, doing a funny wave to the camera. Right, I guess most of her Pokemon probably love streaming as much as Iono does.

  “Yeah, so if we used Gravity on Kilowatrel, they’d find themselves pinned to the ground, unable to fly and barely able to move.” The bird in question gave me an affronted look, shaking their head. “Just pushing through it isn’t really great on the wing joints, and even if you did manage that, flying under those conditions isn’t the greatest representation of how a normal in-flight battle goes, so they might neglect agility or flexibility in place of pure strength.” Which is very important. There are Pokemon with pretty low speed ‘stats’ in the previous world’s Pokedex that are actually pretty darn fast here; what they tend to lack, though, is maneuverability.

  The Magnemites attached to Iono’s head swirled around excitedly. “And over half of your team can fly!”

  “That’s correct. Most of the Pokemon on my team happen to have some form of flight or floating. It also works best at training a Pokemon to be physically faster and stronger, which isn’t where you always want to focus training for a particular Pokemon. Becoming faster usually doesn’t hurt, admittedly, but the extra pressure from Gravity will tire them out faster. Because of all that, and the fact that Gravity Training necessitates one Pokemon on the team to focus at least in part on a status Move that sees little competitive use, I didn’t find it the best for me.” Though if anyone watching thinks they can take advantage here by using Gravity against me, they’ll have another thing coming. I wouldn’t call Notch’s use of the Move ‘battle-ready,’ but especially with the power jump from becoming a Diancie, we’ve been able to make sure that everyone can handle the Move for at least short periods of time.

  “Wowzah, that’s a lot to take in! Guess we shoulda expected it from a Champ! But now that we know what you don’t do, why dontcha you run us through what you do?”

  Taking Dun’s Pokeball, I sent him on the field. He looked much like he normally did, but many large green braces connected by steel bands were fitted around his segments. “This is one of the tools I rely on, though I have to admit that it’s a bit more cost dependent than some. Behold, the Macho Brace.”

  While relatively cheap in the games, Macho Braces were slightly more pricey here. Hardly ludicrously expensive, but getting them fitted to each Pokemon did cost a bit more than the average kid might have to spare. The ones I used were also far more advanced than the basic models.

  “Hey Dun, mind going for a quick lap around the arena?” I suggested and he let out a short ‘Dun” before doing so, squirming away quickly.

  “So as you might be able to tell based off of his last big fight, Dun’s not moving as fast as he usually does.” Salamence would have torn him to pieces if he was only moving this fast in their fight. “The Macho Brace slows him down, applying a level of resistance so he has to force his body to work harder. This version lets me adjust the settings to focus more or less on certain areas.” Basically letting it act like the Power Anklets, Bracers, etc. did in the games. Of course, it’s not as static as that, with no real cap on how strong a Pokemon can become.

  “Thanks fer the breakdown. Now howsabout you give us budget Trainers a tip too?”

  “No worries, there are plenty of methods to train just using the world around you. Punching and lifting boulders is a good standby for physical attacks, and for Types that would generally resist it, it can be good training to push the limits of your special attacks too. Uhh, you can also start smaller than boulders as well,” I hastily added.

  Continuing, I said, “Whether using water to train the explosive power of your Fire Blast or whatever techniques you come up with, make sure that you take care of the land around you. Pokemon inhabit everywhere, so be careful and try to work with any wild Pokemon nearby. They can also serve as good training partners to spar with too, if you know them well enough.”

  “Solid advice. Now let me show you what I’ve been working with!” Iono declared grandly, tossing a hand out at a generator we’d lugged into the arena. Since Kilowatrel was already out, she commanded them to use Thunder to power it up. Not bad. Not on Miles’ level even without the Life Orb, but still, those are powerful shots, and I know Kilowatrel is hardly her strongest Pokemon.

  We continued, with both of us showing off some of our Pokemon and the different training strategies we used. I got to show off some of the team-based drills I used, getting some Pokemon to show how they’d teach Moves and refinements to others on the team, like Notch showing Anya how to use Psychic. There were other drills I touched on, like training Bahamut to be even faster.

  For her part, Iono demonstrated her own style, which, in my personal opinion, was a bit showy. Still, I suspect that flashiness can be good at distracting her foes from her real plans. “What do you do outside of Gym Leading and streaming?”

  “Ha, I thought I was the one asking questions here,” she laughed. Despite all the training and explanation, Iono had skillfully woven in a bunch of questions throughout our Pokemon showing off their stuff. Beyond the ones about my music (which let me show off/preview the upcoming songs with Miles’ help), most of them were just refinements of the questions the reporters had asked me before, about my interests or my life at home. Honestly, despite living in a mansion, it feels kinda normal? Though I’m not sure if that’s just me getting used to being a Glitterati over the years.

  “It’s just hanging out or chilling, for the most part. I like to read when I get the chance. Don’t look so surprised!... though it’s mostly fanfics.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “No, I get it. Fanfiction is easy to get into. A lot of stories have a great premise but an execution you don’t agree with, or a ton of worldbuilding that makes for an easy entry point.” Plus, it’s pretty easy to just have a bunch of tabs on your phone and check them when you have a free moment between stuff.

  “Sounds like you know what you’re talking about. Got anything to share with our lovely Iono Zoners?” The streamer said with an eyebrow waggle.

  “Sorry, not really. Most of my time is taken up these days by training or battling, if not one of my other hobbies. Speaking of which,” I said, stretching as I strode towards her. “Why don’t we cap this stream off with a battle?” That part of the stream had been outlined in the plan I read before but was a request I was more than happy to oblige.

  “All righty, let’s give our fans an electrifying battle!” She cheered, waving happily to the citizens cheering loudly from the ring above us.

  We took our places on opposite ends of the arena, raising our Pokeballs. “This’ll be a one-on-one. We’ve been training hard for this, so come and shine, Bellibolt! We’ll show her Radiance who's… who…” Iono's voice trailed off as she and the green frog-esque Pokemon stopped to stare at Miles on my end, in their Boombox Form. At least I think Bellibolt is looking at us; those big eye-looking bumps distract from their actual eyes, which are pretty flat and all one color.

  I noticed also that the cheers from above had died down as they looked on confused. “Uhh…” I began awkwardly.

  “Haha, looks like we got our wires crossed, folks!” Iono smoothly recovered before sidling up to me. “Sorry, guess I didn’t specify which Electric Type I wanted to show off. Just thought it was obvious,” she said in an undertone. Here I thought people were excited to see Miles.

  “It’s not a problem, bzzt,” Miles cut in. “I know I’m not as exciting as a new Pokemon like Radiance is. Bzzt, though I think the confusion stemmed from the fact that they aren’t an Electric Type.”

  “What’s this!?” Iono exclaimed, looking shocked (though I noticed the Magnemite attached to her head looked surprised before she did). “Even with all those electrifying attacks against Enamorus?”

  “It’s true, Radiance simply has an affinity for Electric Moves, not the Typing,” I explained. Even then, there are some of those Moves that have been difficult for Radiance to learn. Magnet Rise, in particular, has been slow going.

  Then to Miles I added, “Are you sure? I know you don’t like the spotlight as much, but I really wanted to show off how strong you are.” One-on-one battles like this can help capture that better for the wider world than even a Championship match could. Miles fought hard in the Gauntlet and had been instrumental in how we managed to finish, but with how they played out, Miles wasn’t ever really seen as the ‘star’ of any match.

  They buzzed, confirming they were indeed fine with it, and I recalled them. “Alright then, let’s take it from the top, shall we?” I said as we took our places back on opposite sides, and I tossed Radiance’s Pokeball onto the field, releasing the Paradox Pokemon. Their entrance earned many ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ from the crowd gathered and a few yelps of surprise. Even from that distance, Radiance’s heat was palpable. It quickly died down, Radiance more than capable of controlling it, but they liked making a big intimidating show each time they were on the stage.

  “Looks like they’re bringing the heat, but we can crank it up a notch too, right, Bellibolt?” The green blob-like Pokemon gave a throaty sound and slapped his own belly in response, the black hemisphere sticking out on him lighting up at the impact.

  We waited as the announcement system counted us in before shouting our first orders of the fight. “Fiery Dance! Take it and Discharge!”

  My command took place first, not the least of which was due to the capsule clicking into place and sending a current running through Radiance that sped them up even more. Like a burning blur, their wings sliced into Bellibolt before they raced off. Despite Bellibolt getting ready to release the Discharge as the Iron Moth approached him, he only caught them with the tail end of the attack as they sped off.

  “Yowzers! They’re fast. But can you outrace lightning? Belli, let’s bring the Thunder!” Dark clouds gathered overhead before the bolts struck down. “You like that?” She crowed as a shot glanced off of one of Radiance’s wings. “Bellibolt gets stronger the more you hit him!”

  “Neat, but Radiance has something similar,” I said over the crashing thunder that echoed all around as my Pokemon dodged between the bolts, striking into Bellibolt once more with a Fiery Dance. The heat in the arena cranked up, Radiance’s wings burning brightly as they spun around the Paradox Pokemon. “That is, they get stronger the more they hit you too. And you’ve got no choice but to sit there and take it!”

  “Urk! We’ll be losin’ fans if we don’t switch this stream up! Go and hose 'em down, Muddy Water!” Bellibolt conjured a large puddle in front of himself before belly flopping into it, sending a crashing, dirt-speckled wave across the arena.

  Radiance proved quick enough to dodge all but a sprinkle of water from the attack before striking in with another Fiery Dance. This time though, I noticed how the flames seemed far dimmer than before. Did that attack before serve as a cover to weaken Radiance somehow?

  “We’ve got some high voltage coming your way!” Iono shouted as she pulled her Tera Orb out, tossing it over Bellibolt. “Discharge!” She ordered as she Terastalized her Bellibolt, a light bulb Tera ‘hat’ jewel appearing above his head. The bolts let loose struck hard into Radiance, my Pokemon convulsing from the powerful shock.

  Just Terastalizing shouldn’t have been enough to do that much damage there- oh. She turned them into a Water Type with that Muddy Water; it must have had a Soak mixed in. Of course, Radiance is good at tanking special attacks like that. Indeed, I caught Iono gulp slightly at seeing my Pokemon shake off the shock, their crosshair eyes narrowing in on Bellibolt. And more to the point, she’s not the only one who can change up Types.

  “That was good, but now? It’s our turn!” My bold declaration was accompanied by me pulling out my Tera Orb and tossing it over Radiance. It shattered, encasing them in a large crystal for a brief moment before shattering to reveal the flower Tera ‘hat’ above Radiance’s head. “Energy Ball, blast him away!”

  The Paradox Pokemon eagerly conjured not one, not two, but three glowing green orbs in front of their wings, waving them forward where they pelted into Bellibolt. “And the effects of Soak are completely gone now that we’ve Terastalized, so go and fire up another Fiery Dance too!”

  That’s more for the audience than Iono; she already gets how much trouble she’s in. Indeed, she was looking quite nervous. “Oh noes, this ain’t looking good!” She cried as Radiance struck with their wings, the heat rising once again as they cut into Bellibolt.

  Iono dropped the nervous facade after the hit landed, however. “Psych! Didja forget that Bellibolt gets stronger the more you hit him? Blast them with an Electromorphosis Discharge!”

  “Overheat,” I said calmly, even as the hairs on my arms stuck up at the electricity gathering within the arena. Bellibolt was on the brink of releasing it before they were hit by a wall of heat, the force of Radiance’s Move shoving them all the way to the other end of the arena. There, they crashed into the edge of the barrier, releasing a brilliant shock wave around the arena before the Bellibolt gave a loud croak and fell over.

  “Aww,” Iono moaned as she recalled her unconscious Pokemon. “Welp, guess that’s what I get for challenging a trainer as flashy as a ten-million volt Thunderbolt!” She said, walking over to shake my hand.

  “Thank you, that was good. You’ve really upped your game since last time.” Despite being beaten easier, that’s more just a sign of how strong Radiance is, rather than a weakness on her part. The Type change was a tricky idea, and she tried to play to Bellibolt’s strengths, taking hits to power up Electromorphosis.

  “No no, thank you; with this, my stream numbers will go through the roof! Plus,” she added after a moment, “it’ll hopefully get people charged up to challenge the Gym.” It’s good to hear that she’s not just taking her Gym Leader duties seriously but actually seems enthused about them.

  “Might even need to recruit a few fans to help out with running the place if the Trainer numbers are anything like my stream’s numbers,” Iono said with good cheer.

  “Won’t you have enough Gym Trainers to handle that already?”

  She shook her head. “We’ve got a few, but the League doesn’t have a big enough budget to handle a whole bunch of new Trainers.” I didn’t say anything there but mentally made a note of it and promised myself that I’d look into the situation. But that’s for later. For now, let’s copy Radiance and bask in the praise of a battle well done.

  Discord. Thank you, and I hope you have a great day.

  -'Dun' (Dudunsparce, Male, Normal Type, Starter)

  - Tera Type: Normal

  - Held Item: Expert Belt

  - Abilities: Run Away, Serene Grace

  - Moves known:

  - 'Miles' (Rotom, Genderless, Electric/Form dependent Type)

  - Tera Type: Electric

  - Held Item: Life Orb

  - Ability: Levitate

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Nightwing' (Gliscor, Female, Flying/Ground Type)

  - Tera Type: Water

  - Held Item: Toxic Orb

  - Ability: Hyper Cutter, Poison Heal

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Notch' (Diancie, Mega-Evolvable, Genderless, Rock/Fairy Type)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Light Clay

  - Ability: Clear Body

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Phantasm' (Hisuian Zoroark, Female, Normal/Ghost)

  - Tera Type: Ghost

  - Held Item: Lax Incense

  - Ability: Illusion

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Athena' (Lucario, Mega-Evolveable, Female, Fighting/Steel)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Clear Amulet

  - Ability: Steadfast

  - Moves Known:

  -'Bahamut' (Haxorus, Male, Shiny, Dragon)

  - Tera Type: Dragon

  - Held Item: Dragon Fang

  - Ability: Mold Breaker

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Radiance' (Iron Moth, Genderless, Fire/Poison)

  - Tera Type: Poison

  - Held Item: Booster Energy

  - Ability: Quark Drive

  - Moves Known:

  -'Anya' (Gothorita, Female, Psychic)

  - Tera Type: Psychic

  - Held Item: None

  - Ability: Shadow Tag

  - Moves Known:

  *Custom Moves