The long-awaited Academy Battle Tournament finally arrived. Over the last five days, besides their regular training, Auron pushed extra practice with both Zubat and Munchlax.
Auron asked Ashen's Umbreon to teach Zubat new moves: Swift, Confuse Ray, Shadow Ball, and Taunt.
But with only five days to cram, Zubat's hard work only paid off with her managing to master Confuse Ray and Swift.
Munchlax was a different story. High potential meant fast learning—thanks to the lure of Auron's special PokéBlocks, Munchlax not only mastered the Farmer's Three Punches within a week, but Dragalisk even managed to teach him Mega Punch as a bonus.
On Thursday after school, when Auron went to pick up Munchlax from Kommo-o's care, Kommo-o patted Munchlax's shoulder with his massive clawed hand, giving Auron a thumbs-up—as if to say, "This kid's got it."
Auron could only laugh, especially when Kommo-o then demonstrated Bulk Up and waved at Munchlax, implying, "He hasn't quite got that one yet."
Auron glanced down at Munchlax, who hung his head with both hands clasped behind his back, obviously nervous. Auron walked over and gently ruffled his hair.
"You've done amazing already! You learned so much in just a week. I'm really proud of you, buddy."
Munchlax's eyes sparkled, and he immediately pulled out a box of PokéBlocks from his backpack and ate the whole thing on the spot—emotion getting the best of him.
The night passed in a flash.
Early the next morning, Auron was up and ready, grabbing his bag and both Poké Balls before heading out to school.
He waited for Jace at the corner, then the two walked together.
"All right, everyone, are you ready? The drawing is about to begin!"
After each class lined up, the year director stood on the podium, shouting with infectious excitement.
The tournament's first round opponents were all drawn by random numbers. That year, Vantora High had 560 seniors, which meant 280 pairs and 20 battle stages—each round's winners drew again for the next stage.
Lots of people complained about the luck factor, but the principal was famously blunt: "Luck is part of strength. First place is first place, no matter what."
Soon, Auron's number flashed on the big screen—he was up second on Stage 2, facing a guy from Class Four.
They'd go after the first pair finished. Jace and Serena's numbers came up soon after—Jace was eleventh on Stage 5, Serena was first on Stage 7. Lucky for them, none of the trio would be facing each other in the first round.
"Let's go for it—see you in the finals!"
Auron held out his fist, and the others bumped theirs in, grinning.
"Finals, here we come!"
"Finals!"
After that, everyone split up for their respective battle zones. Each stage would run until only one winner remained—that would make up the top 20, then the tournament would narrow it down to the top ten, top five, top three, and finally the champion.
Auron's match hadn't started yet, so he wandered over to watch Serena's first. Her opponent sent out a Shroomish with the Effect Spore ability. If it had been Jace's Growlithe, things might have been tricky. But against Serena's Feebas, the ability was practically useless.
Sure enough, Serena's Stage 7 battle was the fastest to finish. Two perfect Ice Beams knocked Shroomish out in seconds. All the people in the stands who'd doubted her Feebas suddenly fell silent. No one expected that ugly little fish to be so powerful.
"I'm done! How'd I do?"
Serena hopped off the stage and beamed at Auron.
"Not bad. Your opponent was too green—didn't even know how to dodge."
Auron gave her a serious critique, not noticing Serena rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'll go get ready for the next one—it's almost your turn!"
With another eye roll, Serena skipped off.
Auron shook his head. "What's with her today?"
"Stage 2, next pair—please get ready!"
At that moment, the announcer called for Auron's match. He stepped up, his opponent from Class Four already waiting.
"Trainers, release your Pokémon!"
They tossed out their Poké Balls in sync—Auron's was Zubat, his opponent's was a Doduo, a bird Pokémon that, ironically, couldn't even fly.
Pokémon: Doduo
Gender: Female
Type: Normal, Flying
Ability: Early Bird (Wakes up from sleep twice as fast)
Potential: Blue
Basic Moves: Peck, Growl, Quick Attack, Leer, Fury Attack
Egg Moves: Haze, Thrash
"Begin!"
The referee dropped the flag as soon as both Pokémon appeared—no time for trash talk.
"Zubat—Swift!"
"Doduo—Growl!"
Zubat's Swift landed before Doduo could even open its beak. Her attack got interrupted.
"Gah! Quick Attack, then use Peck!"
"Zubat, go higher—Confuse Ray!"
Auron noticed his opponent getting flustered and had Zubat pull up before firing Confuse Ray, just to mess with the guy's confidence.
Doduo's Quick Attack was fast, but not fast enough—Zubat was already out of reach. Then Confuse Ray hit, and Doduo started running around the stage in circles, dazed and aimless.
"Zubat—Air Slash, finish it!"
With two sharp Air Slashes from above, Doduo went down, eyes spinning.
"Doduo is unable to battle. Zubat wins!"
"Come back, Zubat!"
Auron called her back to her ball and left the stage, ignoring the loser's cries about "dirty tactics."
The rest of Stage 2's first round wrapped up quickly. Auron was too far away to watch Jace's match, but with Torkoal's firepower, he wasn't worried.
Jace had actually chosen to battle with Torkoal for his first match, since Growlithe's lack of ranged moves made her a sitting duck against fliers like Zubat.
In his own second round, Auron was matched against a Taillow—the classic speedy bird from Hoenn. Since both were fliers, his usual "fly high and avoid" tactics were useless.
Pokémon: Taillow
Gender: Female
Type: Normal, Flying
Ability: Guts (Attack rises when statused)
Potential: Blue
Basic Moves: Peck, Growl, Focus Energy, Quick Attack
Egg Moves: Boomburst
Auron eyed his opponent's move set warily. Basic moves, whatever—but Boomburst as an inherited move could be a real problem. If Taillow got close, Boomburst would hit hard.
"Zubat—Swift!"
"Taillow—Growl!"
Once again, Swift cut Taillow off mid-Growl. Someone in the stands from Class Four sniffled, "Finally, I'm not the only one getting destroyed by this guy."
"Tch. Taillow, Focus Energy!"
"Going for buffs in my face? Zubat—Air Slash!"
The stage was small—Auron couldn't believe the guy was trying to set up right in Zubat's range. Sure enough, Air Slash hit right after Focus Energy finished. After two hits, Taillow was looking shaky.
"Zubat—Air Slash again!"
"Taillow, Quick Attack to dodge, then Peck!"
Taillow swooped in a slick arc, dodging Air Slash and coming at Zubat with a glowing beak.
"Zubat—Poison Fang!"
Zubat's fangs flashed purple as she bit into Taillow—taking a Peck in return, but infecting her foe with poison. Taillow was unlucky—before she could even activate her Guts ability, the poison took her out.
"Taillow is unable to battle. Zubat wins!"
"Come back, Zubat."
Auron caught Taillow as she dropped from the air and handed her back to his opponent.
"Why didn't you use Boomburst after Quick Attack?"
"Boomburst? What's that?"
The boy looked totally lost.
Auron blinked. All that time worrying, and it turned out the guy didn't even know Taillow could learn Boomburst. He'd risked an exchange, all for nothing.
"Oh, never mind. I just thought you'd go for Boomburst—Taillow can inherit it pretty easily. Guess not. See you around."
Auron walked off, mentally facepalming. "Damn, what a waste. If I'd known he didn't have Boomburst, I'd have just kept dodging with Air Slash. No need to risk trading blows. Dumb move."
As Auron finished up, Serena's next match was starting. Her opponent sent out a Pichu—a nightmare matchup for Feebas, since Electric-types hit hard and Feebas could barely move on land. Two Thunder Shocks could have ended it right there.
But Serena's Feebas took the first hit and fired off Hypnosis—landing it by sheer luck. A couple of Dragon Breaths later, and Pichu was down for the count.
Serena came bounding over, all smiles, fishing for praise.
"How about that Hypnosis, huh?"
"Not bad. But both of you made mistakes. He was too confident—if you'd gone for Confuse Ray instead, you'd have been safer. Hypnosis is too slow. If he hadn't just used Thunder Shock, you would've missed."
"True, but how was he overconfident?"
Serena's big eyes sparkled as she asked.
"He assumed two Thunder Shocks would be enough to take you out. Since he thought you had no other options, he went straight for it. But if he'd used Nuzzle to paralyze you, then kept his distance, he could have avoided Hypnosis completely."
"But how would he know my Feebas could use Hypnosis? I didn't show that in round one."
Serena blinked, genuinely puzzled.
"Fair point. His plan wasn't totally off."
Auron nodded, feeling a little bad for the Pichu's trainer. Anyone using Pichu against Feebas probably thought it'd be an easy win. Who'd expect an ugly fish to bust out Hypnosis and Dragon Breath?
"All right, the third round is about to start. Go get ready!"
"On it!"
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