After finishing lunch together, the trio and their five Pokémon rested for a bit. Soon enough, the contact Jace had called arrived, bringing the item Auron needed.
"So, how are you two feeling about the finals?" Auron asked as he lounged on Snorlax Jr.'s belly. Well, it was still just a Munchlax, so the belly wasn't nearly as soft as a real Snorlax, but it wasn't bad.
Jace, full of confidence, replied, "I'll be fine as long as I don't have to fight you. The others don't seem that tough."
A sly grin crept onto Serena's face. "Oh? So you're saying I'm not much of a challenge, huh?" she teased, showing her sharp little canines.
Jace tilted his head back, putting on an air of superiority. "Please, your Feebas is one Earthquake away from losing. Don't test me."
"Fine! Just hope you don't run into me, or you'll regret it!"
"Hmph, so dramatic."
"Jace! You want a fight?"
Serena looked about ready to explode, so Auron quickly stepped in to keep them from going at each other.
"Alright, break it up, you two," he said, chuckling. "Jace, weren't you saying there's a Vaporeon on Table Seventeen? Isn't that the one you said you can't beat?"
Jace immediately sobered up, looking a little troubled. "Yeah, that Vaporeon's weird. I don't know what the trainer was thinking, evolving it so early with a Water Stone. It just came out of the egg and already got forced into evolution. It's supposed to give it a boost, but in reality, it hurts its potential—and the Pokémon itself. It's just not worth it."
Jace listed off the moves he'd heard the Vaporeon knew: "Water Gun, Baby-Doll Eyes, Growl, Tackle, Bite, Swift, and Double Kick. I bet he's hiding Water Pulse too. Vaporeon's quick, and my Torkoal would basically be target practice—plus it has the type disadvantage. I really wouldn't stand a chance against it."
Serena sidled closer with a teasing smile. "Poor Jace, if you call me 'big sis,' I'll beat it for you."
He rolled his eyes. "My Torkoal would just be a sitting duck. But so would your Feebas! At least mine doesn't have the type disadvantage."
"Hah! At least I'm still better than you!"
Auron cut in before they could bicker any further. "Okay, what about the other tough opponents?"
Jace turned thoughtful. "Well, aside from the Dratini, there's that fat electric mouse, Togedemaru. Either of you run into that and it's gonna be tough. It's Electric and Steel, so Flying moves do almost nothing, plus it's resistant to Poison, Ice, and Dragon, and takes normal damage from Water. Add in Nuzzle for paralysis, Charge, a powerful Spark, and Wish for healing... Honestly, it'd be hard for either of you. I'd have a slightly easier time."
Auron's face turned serious, considering the possibilities. If that Togedemaru also had moves like Fake Out or Charm from breeding, it'd be even worse.
"Well, let's just see what the draw gives us," he said at last, exhaling deeply. "Come on, it's starting."
They all stood, returned their Pokémon, and walked together toward the tournament venue.
Unlike the earlier rounds, the finals weren't held on a small stage—they were in the school's main stadium, a real arena built just for the annual tournament. There were commentator stands, big screens, and spectator seats. The battlefields were much larger too.
The principal himself was on stage, beaming as he shook up a box and began drawing the order for the matches.
"First match: Class 2's Tim Wynn versus Class 7's Ivan Colby!"
Jace did his best sports announcer impression, narrating in Auron's ear. "Tim's the rich kid, the one with Dratini. His dad's Vantora's wealthiest businessman. The guy's obsessed with raising a champion, so he bought a top-tier Dratini egg at a crazy price."
"And his opponent has a Geodude—super high defense, Rollout, Defense Curl, and a bred move, Heavy Slam. That's the champ from Table 12. Still, against Dratini, I don't like his odds."
Auron glanced at the screen. Dratini's info popped up:
Pokémon: Dratini
Gender: Male
Type: Dragon
Ability: Shed Skin (sometimes heals status conditions)
Potential: Red
Moves: Wrap, Leer, Twister, Thunder Wave, Dragon Tail, Substitute, Dragon Dance
Egg Moves: Dragon Breath, Aqua Jet, Mist, Water Pulse, Haze
Auron took a deep breath. "Yikes, that's a seriously deep movepool."
Sure enough, the battle was over quickly—Geodude tried to Rollout, but Dratini finished it with a single Water Pulse.
"See? Told you. That Dratini's a monster," Jace said with a resigned shrug.
Serena's eyes sparkled as she watched the Dratini. "Wow, I wish I had a Dratini. They're so pretty."
She thought for a moment, then sighed. "Too bad it evolves into Dragonite. Kinda... chubby, right?"
Jace grinned. "Dragonite's cute too!"
"Yeah, but it loses all that elegant, cool energy that Dragonair has. Dragonite's adorable, but it doesn't fit my whole 'ice queen' vibe. Dragonair would, though."
Auron just smiled and shook his head.
Second Match: Class 1's Serena Elm versus Class 2's Mark Linette
Auron gave Serena a thumbs-up. "Your turn. Good luck!"
"Thanks!" she replied, full of confidence, and skipped off toward the stage.
As she walked out, the crowd in the stands went wild—turns out the school idol was even more popular than the "pseudo-legendary" Dratini.
Mark's partner was a rare starter—Rowlet.
Pokémon: Rowlet
Gender: Male
Type: Grass/Flying
Ability: Overgrow (boosts Grass moves when HP is low)
Potential: Blue
Moves: Growl, Tackle, Leafage, Astonish, Peck, Shadow Sneak
Egg Moves: Knock Off, Defog
Apparently, Mark had done his homework and knew Feebas had Ice Beam (after seeing it in the quarterfinals against a Pidgey). Without hesitating, he told the judge he was forfeiting.
So Serena won her first finals match without even battling. She jumped down, grinning from ear to ear.
Auron teased, "Not very 'ice queen' of you to look so happy right now."
"So what? I'm allowed to be happy!" she replied, shaking her head cutely.
Third Match: Class 1's Jason Knox versus Class 9's Ben Quinn
Jason's Pidove led off with Taunt to lock down Geodude's support moves, then just kept using Gust to chip away at it until he won.
Their homeroom teacher was nearly jumping for joy. Four of his students had made it to the finals, and two were already in the top ten—his year-end bonus was practically guaranteed.
Fourth Match: Class 5 vs. Class 8—Class 5 wins.
Sixth Match: Class 6 vs. Class 10—Class 10 wins.
Seventh Match: Class 1's Jace vs. Class 2's Ethan
Ethan's Pokémon was a Tirtouga, a Rock/Water type, giving Jace's Torkoal a hard time—Fire-type attacks were only a quarter effective.
Jace opened with Smokescreen to lower accuracy, then mixed in Haze. Tirtouga's Water Gun only landed once out of four tries, and it didn't inflict Poison.
Frustrated, Ethan had Tirtouga waddle right up and try another Water Gun at point-blank. He figured Jace's Torkoal was even slower than his own, so he could hit it easily.
But just as Tirtouga got close, Jace seized his chance—Earthquake, and the battle was over.
Ethan stood there, completely bewildered.
The judge called it: "Tirtouga is unable to battle. Torkoal wins!"
Jace strutted off the field, smug as could be. "Not bad, right? That was top-tier battle sense."
"Yeah, yeah, very impressive," Auron replied, trying not to laugh.
Eighth Match: Class 1's Auron Vale vs. Class 3's Tiger Bram
Finally, it was Auron's turn. He could barely wait as he ran up to the stage.
"Release your Pokémon!"
He sent out Zubat, and his opponent released Vaporeon—the Table Seventeen champ Jace had warned him about earlier.
Pokémon: Vaporeon
Gender: Female
Type: Water
Ability: Water Absorb (recovers HP when hit by Water moves)
Potential: Green (damaged)
Moves: Water Gun, Baby-Doll Eyes, Growl, Tackle, Bite, Swift
Egg Moves: Double Kick
Auron was taken aback. "Potential... damaged?"
He'd never seen a Pokémon with damaged potential before—probably a result of evolving too soon.
"Jace, your prediction was off—no Water Pulse, she just never learned it."
The flag dropped. "Battle start!"
"Zubat—Supersonic!"
"Vaporeon—Swift!"
Both attacked at once. Vaporeon took the confusion from Supersonic, but Zubat ate a Swift.
"Don't let it get to you, Vaporeon!" shouted Tiger, gritting his teeth.
"Zubat, Air Slash!"
Vaporeon tried to dodge, leaping up just in time to avoid the Air Slash... only to dive headfirst into the ground and knock itself out.
"Vaporeon is unable to battle. Zubat wins!"
The judge quickly checked Vaporeon and declared Auron the winner.
The crowd burst out laughing. Tiger had just become a legend—for all the wrong reasons.
Even the principal and other administrators on the podium were struggling to keep straight faces. The only person not laughing was the Class 3 teacher, who tried to disappear into his shirt.
So Auron's first finals battle ended in the most dramatic (and hilarious) way possible.
Ninth Match: Class 3's Forest Fenner vs. Class 2's Sean Cheng—Forest wins.
Tenth Match: Class 7's Drake Talbot vs. Class 5's Cyrus Miro —Cyrus wins.
Cyrus Miro , as Jace had warned, was the one with Togedemaru. After paralyzing his opponent with Nuzzle, he slowly wore them down with Charge, Spark, and Wish for healing.
With the top twenty narrowed down to ten, the next round—ten to five—was about to begin.
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