After finishing the meal and resting for a bit, Lena's match was about to begin.
"Not bad—Arena 41. Not too far."
"True enough. Let's head over. This should be our last match for today, right?"
"Yeah, the rest will be tomorrow's."
Everyone accompanied Lena toward the arena, laughing and chatting along the way. Not a shred of nervousness in sight.
"Both sides, send out your Pokémon."
"Go, Mismagius."
"Go, Tundra Bear."
The moment Auron saw the two Pokémon on the field, his eyes lit up. He turned to Jace. "Want to make a bet? On who wins?"
Jace took a look at the field, then gave Auron a dismissive glance. "I'll bet on Lena winning."
Auron sighed helplessly. "If you bet like that, there's no fun in it."
"Well, what else am I supposed to say? That Tundra Bear wins, and then lose the bet to you?"
Auron smiled. "How about this—I'll bet that Lena sweeps clean. What do you say?"
Tim perked up the instant he heard "clean sweep." "No way, right? Tundra Bear doesn't look weak to me at all. At the very least it should be at mid-tier Pokémon strength."
"So are you betting or not?" Auron turned to him the moment he spotted Tim's interest.
Jace threw fuel on the fire from the side. "Go for it. What are you afraid of?"
"Fine, I'm in!"
The moment he heard this, Auron flashed a satisfied grin, then turned his attention back to the field, thinking to himself:
Lena... if she still can't learn and apply on the fly at this point, she really is hopeless.
Pokémon: Tundra Bear
Gender: Male
Type: Ice
Ability: Snow Rush (In Hail weather, own speed doubles)
Aptitude: Orange
Basic Moves: Ice Pillar Strike, Sweet Talk, Endure, Fury Swipes, Fine Snow, Hail, Water Jet, Icy Wind...
Inherited Moves: Dark Snipe, True Qi Punch, Kick Down, Yearning
"Tundra Bear, Hail!"
Tundra Bear's trainer activated the weather move right at the very start of the battle.
After seeing the opponent's opening, Lena paused for a beat, then a smile crept across her face.
"Mismagius, Nasty Plot."
"Tundra Bear, Dark Snipe."
After both sides finished their setup moves and gave their respective Pokémon a boost, they finally moved to engage.
Watching Tundra Bear's suddenly quickened movements, Lena felt even more certain about her plan.
"Mismagius, Skill Swap."
Under Skill Swap, Mismagius acquired the Snow Rush ability, while Tundra Bear received Levitate in return.
After the ability swap, Mismagius slipped into his vanishing state. Having lost Snow Rush, Tundra Bear's speed dropped sharply—nowhere near fast enough to reach Mismagius.
The rest of the battle held little suspense. Mismagius's already-decent base speed, now doubled, made him blindingly quick.
Each time Mismagius emerged from invisibility, he appeared right behind Tundra Bear and landed Mystical Fire point-blank.
Though Tundra Bear's body proved surprisingly sturdy—he managed to tank Mismagius's Nasty Plot-boosted Mystical Fire head-on.
Seeing that Tundra Bear had survived, Lena's eyes suddenly darted to the side. A grin spread across her face.
"Mismagius, Nasty Plot."
She'd thought of Auron's battle style. In a two-on-two, if you could afford to be greedy, why not go for it?
Sure, the Hail weather was chipping away at Mismagius every few seconds, but that damage was practically negligible compared to the power Nasty Plot would bring.
Tundra Bear's trainer watched Mismagius casually drift off to a quiet corner of the arena and set up another boost. His blood pressure shot through the roof.
"Tundra Bear, Water Jet!"
Tundra Bear surged forward with a furious roar, body wrapped in a rushing torrent of water, barreling toward Mismagius.
But without Snow Rush's boost, even riding the momentum of Water Jet, Tundra Bear simply wasn't fast enough.
By the time he reached where Mismagius had been standing, the Ghost type had already finished his second setup. He blinked at Tundra Bear once, then vanished without a trace.
"Mystical Fire!"
Just as Tundra Bear was frantically searching for a target, glancing around in every direction, a Mystical Fire came blazing in from behind.
"Tundra Bear has lost the ability to battle. Trainer, please send out your next Pokémon."
Tundra Bear's trainer's expression fell. He knew—this match was already slipping away from him. But he sent out his next Pokémon anyway.
There's still a chance if I can pull it off. Frost Scale ability, plus Aurora Veil—it might not be impossible to win this round.
Lena's opponent psyched himself up internally. As long as Aurora Veil went up successfully, there was still something to fight for.
"Go, Snow Moth!"
"Snow Moth, Aurora Veil!"
The instant Snow Moth touched down, it moved to release Aurora Veil.
A dazzling aurora cascaded down from the sky, enveloping Snow Moth. The Pokémon looked incredibly beautiful in its shimmering light—truly stunning.
"Snow Moth is so pretty! I want one too!" Serena's eyes went wide watching from below.
The words had barely left Serena's mouth when she spotted Mismagius materialize right behind Snow Moth.
A single Mystical Fire sent Snow Moth—still not fully wrapped in Aurora Veil—flying off the field.
"Snow Moth!"
"Snow Moth has lost the ability to battle. Mismagius wins. The victor of this match is Lena Greaves."
Lena's lips curled up ever so slightly. After recalling Mismagius, she stepped off the field.
"Yay!"
Only after she was off the field did Lena finally let herself loose—she let out a triumphant cheer and threw herself into Simon's arms.
"Emmm..."
This sent everyone—who had been about to congratulate her on the clean sweep—into an awkward freeze.
"Sigh, let's go, let's go. Let the lovebirds have their moment here. We'll find somewhere else." Tim dramatically covered his eyes and herded everyone away as quickly as possible.
"Come on, let's give them some space to show off their romance in broad daylight. All non-combat personnel, evacuate immediately." Jace played along perfectly, making a show of announcing this loudly as he walked away.
"Tch, you're all just jealous!"
Lena emerged from Simon's arms with slightly flushed cheeks and shot everyone a look of disdain.
The instant Jace heard this, he took offense. "Me? Jealous of you?"
He swept his arm around Tim beside him in one swift motion.
"What's up? I can't hug guys? Not only can I hug this guy—I can hug others too. Hey?"
With that, Jace released Tim—who was wearing a self-satisfied expression—and spun around looking for Auron.
But Auron, having already clocked Jace's move coming, had put a very comfortable distance between them.
With no other option, Jace settled for the nearest available target and swept Peter up into his arms instead.
"See? I can hug other guys too. Me being jealous of you? Don't make me laugh."
Jace's little stunt got everyone laughing without fail.
"Okay, okay—you're not jealous. Not jealous at all. Are we good now?" Lena laughed so hard she was gasping for breath.
Nobody could figure out how Jace's brain managed to twist things around like that. But somehow, it worked.
"Alright, let's head back."
After the laughter subsided, Serena finally stepped in to take charge. She still had something she needed to say to everyone.
"Oh—to Auron's place!"
"Let's go!"