The next morning, Auron got up early. After his usual morning routine, he called Charizard, Snorlax, and the others to wake up.
After grooming Snorlax's and Charizard's fur, he gave Elekid and Clawitzer massages to help them loosen up and relax.
"How's that? My technique isn't bad, right? I listened very carefully in massage class these past few days."
Auron said with a self-satisfied air, looking at Charizard's back.
"Graow..."
Charizard looked conflicted, unsure how to express himself.
Saying it was good... well, it was a tiny bit better. But only just a tiny bit.
Charizard gazed helplessly over at Snorlax.
Snorlax smiled warmly and spread his paws, offering him an expression of total helplessness.
Then Charizard looked toward Crobat, the eldest among them. But Crobat quietly turned his body to the side.
Emmm... every man for himself.
Charizard glanced at Clawitzer next. Never mind—all that armor. Must be nice.
Hm? Wait. This Elekid seems... really excited?
Charizard's eyes darted around. He instantly escaped Auron's clutches, then faced the confused Auron and pointed at the Elekid beside him.
"Graow!"
(He wants to try! Go find him!)
Auron blinked, then smiled at Elekid.
"You want to give it a try? Come on over."
Elekid came bounding up with a bright, eager expression and sat down in front of Auron, mimicking the way Charizard had been sitting.
(Let's go! I can hardly wait!)
Charizard watched as this big fool took his place and nodded with satisfaction. Then, with confident strides, he headed outside, spread his wings, and soared into the sky.
"Charizard! Don't fly too far!"
"Graow!"
After giving Charizard that reminder, Auron finally began working on Elekid.
The moment Auron's hands started moving on him, Elekid's face contorted into a truly bizarre expression.
(But Charizard looked like he was enjoying it just now! Why does it feel like this?!)
Snorlax glanced at Elekid, smiled pleasantly, and took a sip of his honey water.
(Kid's still too young. If he actually enjoyed it, why would he have bolted so fast?)
Elekid was on the verge of tears. He had no idea what to do—should he just run now, or wait a bit and then run?
He turned his head and scanned the room. No one was meeting his eyes.
(Self-rescue. Better to rely on yourself than on others!)
Elekid subtly shifted his head, took a quick glance at Auron, and then—while he wasn't paying attention—secretly released a tiny current of electricity.
"Ow! Numb, numb numb—everything's going numb."
The current passed through Auron's hand and sank into his body. Auron instantly fell into a state of Paralysis.
Elekid seized the chance and quickly fled from Auron's grasp.
All the Pokémon stared at Elekid in surprise. They hadn't expected that in order to escape, he'd actually pulled off something like this.
Elekid looked a bit sheepish under their collective gaze.
(I held back.)
After a while, Auron finally shook off the Paralysis. He checked the time and realized the freshman battle tournament was about to start.
With no other option, he could only glare at Elekid. "Hmph. Tonight at lunch, your favorite Sichuan pepper cake? Gone."
Elekid looked like he wanted to cry. (No! Please!)
"La la la la~"
After making a face at Elekid, Auron headed upstairs in high spirits.
He needed to go grab Dratini. After all, he couldn't just leave her home alone.
When he stepped into the room, he found Dratini was still fast asleep. But just as before, she had drifted in her sleep over to the culture medium housing the Deoxys energy core.
It had been like this lately. Sometimes Auron had early morning classes, so he wouldn't bring Dratini along. When he came back, he'd find her asleep on top of—or right beside—the culture medium.
But every night, Dratini slept right next to Auron. And when morning came, she was still there. It was only that every time Auron left the room and returned, Dratini would have quietly shifted positions.
"Dratini, time to get up. We're heading out."
"Myu..."
Dratini sleepily opened her eyes. Seeing it was Auron, she wiggled her body in a coy little stretch and blinked up at him with big, drowsy eyes.
(Want a hug~)
Seeing Dratini open her eyes, Auron's lips curved into a smile. He happily scooped her up into his arms.
"Let's go. Something important is happening today."
"Myu~"
"Deoxys, keep it up. Work hard and try to be born as soon as you can."
Before stepping out the door, Auron didn't forget to say a word to the Deoxys energy core.
The culture medium for Deoxys had been demanding more and more frequent nutrient solution changes lately. Previously it had been once every three days.
Now it had become a nightly affair—Auron had to swap it out before bed each evening, or else by the next afternoon the solution would have thinned down to plain water.
But even so, Auron was genuinely happy about it. It meant Deoxys could absorb energy. And if it could absorb energy, didn't that mean it was getting closer to being born?
Just after Auron closed the door behind him, the Deoxys energy core gave a belated flicker. Twice.
"So many people."
Auron arrived at the main campus grounds, weaving through the dense crowds and following the location pin shared on the messaging app to find his friends.
"Well, well. This is rare—you're actually later than me this time."
Jace's eyes lit up the moment he spotted Auron, and he immediately teased him. For once, Auron had shown up after him.
Auron smiled. "Has the chancellor arrived yet?"
Tim glanced at the time. "Should be soon. Probably another two minutes or so. He's always right on time."
"OK. So, how are you all feeling?"
"A little nervous, honestly."
The instant Serena said this, everyone turned to stare at her with blank expressions.
"Um, did I say something wrong?" Serena asked weakly, shrinking under their gazes.
"You spent the entire training period beating the rest of us around, and now you're saying you're nervous?"
Serena locked eyes with Jace and immediately straightened up with full confidence. "But all of you have Pokémon that are at least somewhat countered by mine! Plenty of Pokémon out there counter mine too! What's wrong with being a little nervous?"
Everyone sighed in resigned unison. It was true—each of their Pokémon was, to one degree or another, at a disadvantage against Milotic.
Tim went without saying. Jace's Fire type dealt halved damage against Water and took extra pain on the receiving end. Simon and Lena's Ghost-type Pokémon relied mostly on Special Attacks, and the moment Milotic activated Mystic Guard, as long as no status conditions could stick, neither Haunter nor Mismagius could grind her down no matter how long they tried.
Peter's situation was even more hopeless. Drilbur against Milotic was just pure punishment—completely without recourse. Every time, Peter couldn't help but lament: why wasn't Drilbur female? Then at least he wouldn't have to endure the humiliation of being hit by Milotic's Attract.
Auron was in the same boat. Clawitzer's Water type met Water in mutual resistance. Charizard's Fire was resisted just the same. Against Milotic's toxic stalling strategy, there was simply nothing to be done.
"Hey, have you guys heard? Apparently for the finals, the school has invited some Elite Four members to come and watch."
Peter quickly steered the conversation elsewhere. There was no way around it—it really was embarrassing. And they really, truly couldn't beat her.