632 CH13 (627), Battles Galore (4)

Visibility was restored and Fortuna/Togekiss as well as Weezing became visible once more. Fortuna looked quite banged up. She was not even flying, but wobbly standing on the ground, and I was pretty sure that she would be unable to continue to battle for more than a minute or so if it had been necessary.

In that vein, Kiara's kamikaze strategy did somewhat work, even if Fortuna had won since Weezing was, just as I had expected, lying out cold not far from her. Nonetheless, Fortuna had done her part, and I recalled her as soon as the referee declared her the winner. Kiara similarly recalled her Weezing, and we both waited, PokeBall in hand, for the referee to give the signal.

"It's up to you," Kiara said as she released her final Pokemon, and her Manectric released a mighty Howl as soon as it appeared on the field. "Finish this Swiftly, Bruce," I said my own opening line as I released my Crobat onto the field, and he released a barrage of stars at Manectric the moment he came out.

Meanwhile, the crowd once more cheered loudly when our Pokemon made their appearance, and I could have sworn I heard someone yell "It really has legs. Unbelievable." Nonetheless, I did hear excited chatter relating to Bruce/Crobat and my many unusual Pokemon, though that was merely what I heard due to my enhanced senses. I did not pay any real attention to the crowd since we had a battle to win.

"Shock Wave, destroy those stars, then Charge," Kiara ordered and Manectric released a 360-degree electric pulse that managed to destroy Bruce's Swift. It did not stop at that but still kept spreading out after that, at least in the areas where the stars had not used up the electricity. I naturally did not just watch but gave my own string of orders.

"Dodge, then Haze followed by Riddler and Sandman," I shot out and Bruce, flew into the gap caused by his Swift to dodge the Shock Wave before releasing Haze, covering the battlefield in a black mist that not only obscured Bruce from everyone's sight but also reset Manectric's Howl-given boost.

"Odor, then Discharge," Kiara quickly reacted to the change, but I had confidence in Bruce's ability to dodge the attack and execute the rest of my instruction. It seemed that Bruce at least managed to succeed with Supersonic since Manectric released a Howl before charging through the black mist while releasing electricity. I did not think Manectric would have used Wild Charge in this circumstance if it had not been confused.

Still, I was hoping that Bruce would be able to use Hypnosis on the reckless doggo. "MANE, SNAP OUT OF IT," Kiara shouted full of authority, and seeing Manectric still running around, I decided to adjust my order. "Bruce, if Sandman does not work then use Joker," I calmly order, realizing that the running dog made it hard for Bruce to use Hypnosis on it.

By this point, the Haze had started to lift and we got to see Bruce releasing Toxic at Manectric. "MANE, DODGE," Kiara shouted and Manectric's head snapped in her direction. Now that it could actually see her, Manectric visibly calmed down and actually listened to her, or rather tried to do so. Unfortunately, at least for them, it was already too late to dodge the Toxic, and Manectric ended up being badly poisoned.

I saw Kiara grit her teeth at that, but that didn't stop her from sending a follower up command. "Discharge, while it's close," she ordered, and Manectric aimed a large electric torrent at Bruce. "Protect," I ordered as soon as I heard Kiara say the first syllable, and Bruce erected the shield just in time for the Discharge to hit it instead of him. The shield flickered but held on.

"Venoshock," I ordered while Bruce weathered the Discharge, and as soon as Manectric's attack petered out, Bruce counterattacked successfully landing the dangerous move, causing a severe reaction due to Manectric's badly poisoned state. I honestly thought that would have managed to take it down, but Manectric managed to hold on, even if it was doing so on wobbly feet.

It actually released a threatening growl in Bruce's direction, but that got cut in half when Kiara raised her PokeBall and recalled her Pokemon before raising her arm and declaring that she was withdrawing him from the battle. With that, Bruce was declared the winner, which made me the victor of the battle. Kiara and I vacated the battlefield, and I went up to her to thank her for the good fight.

"It was a good fight," she returned before giving me a once-over. "Say, this might be a bit rude, but it's hard to miss that you have a lot of pretty unique Pokemon. People have a hard time getting just one of them and you are showing off more than one. How did you get so many of those? Are you some super-rich heir or something?" Kiara inquired and I had to raise an eyebrow at the last one.

I was surprised that she did not know who I was. I had made no attempts at hiding my name and I had thought that at least by now people would have managed to connect me/my name with, well, my name. As in my public identity as a Junior Professor with a considerable team of Pokemon, neither of which was a secret and could easily be found if one looked my name up on the net. Heck, there was a picture of me there, so there was no way to not match my face to my public identity.

"I'm not an heir or anything like that," I refuted with a shake of my head. "I got all my Pokemon through my own merit. I just happen to be rather lucky, which allowed me to add a few rather interesting Pokemon to my family," I finished my reply, which had Kiara release an amused snort. "That's some luck alright," she teased, before putting on a serious face.

"Sadly, in this case, you not being part of a rich or influential family is actually to your detriment. The way you freely showed off all those rare Pokemon is going to attract a lot of attention since this will spread, I can promise you that much, and that will result in a lot of attention from people interested in rare Pokemon. Unfortunately, that includes people who will be interested in taking hold of your Pokemon, one way or another," she said in a somber tone, and by now I was certain that Kiara had not recognized me for who I was. Still, the fact that was giving me this warning spoke well of her character.

"Thank you for the warning, but I believe that my Pokemon will be able to keep me safe. Besides, while I do not have some influential family to rely on, I do have the backing of the alliance due to being a Junior Professor," I told her and a look of realization appeared on her face. I heard her mumble idiot to herself before giving me an awkward smile.

"I can't believe that I did not recognize you. I'm actually saving up for the Arctic Heart you've helped develop," she said with slight excitement and I was happy to see with my own eyes that people were interested in the item I had created. Thinking back to her well-meaning advice just now and the good showing on her part during our battle, I decided to help her out a bit.

"Here you go," I said after I pulled out one of the Arctic Hearts I had stored inside Utopia, though I made sure to make it look like I pulled it out from my bag. Kiara gave me a wide-eyed look when she saw me holding out an Arctic Heart to her. "Go ahead, take it," I encouraged her, and she hesitantly reached out.

"Are you sure that's fine?" she asked as she grabbed onto the Heart, and I waved her off. "It's fine. I have a bunch of them stored away in case they come in handy, which they did now," I assured her, which earned me a grateful smile. "Could you give me your bank details, please?" Kiara requested. "I'd like to pay you for the Arctic Heart," she added, but I gave her a smile and shook my head.

"No need, it's my gift to you. Think of it as an investment from me to a promising and nice trainer. I believe that it's important that helpful people like you keep getting stronger, and as long as you keep looking out for your fellow trainers I'll be happy," I refused her request before explaining why I gave her the Arctic Heart in the first place.

She looked hesitant at that before putting away the Arctic Heart. "I feel a bit bad about simply accepting this without giving anything in return, so I'd like to share something with you professor," Kiara said in an unexpectedly polite and respectful manner. "You really don't," I tried to assure her, but she shook her head. "I do, or I won't be able to accept your gift in good conscience," Kiara disagreed.

"This relates to a trip of mine to Sunburst Island in the Orange Archipelago five years ago. I visited the island for the glassware that they are famous for, and spent two weeks there. During that time, I explored the wild of the island, and during one such trip, I stumbled upon something quite rare in one of the caves leading deep into the mountain," Kiara recounted and I could not help but wonder if she had stumbled upon the Crystal Onix that Ash and his gang discovered on that island in the anime.

"I came across a Pokemon I had not seen before but I was unable to get closer because it moved deeper into the cave system when it noticed me and I could not follow since the Pokemon I started to come upon were too strong for my team. There were quite a few gold stage Pokemon and I even saw a dark gold stage one, so I had no choice but to retreat. After returning to the inn, I began to look up the Pokemon I saw and it turned out to be a Carbink," Kiara revealed and I could not help but be surprised.

Both because it was not the Crystal Onix after all, and that she had managed to come across a Carbink in the Orange Archipelago of all things. Kiara seemed to have noticed my surprise since she nodded before speaking up again.

"I was surprised as well when I learned what kind of Pokemon Carbink were," she let out. "I've always planned to go back there for that Carbink once my Pokemon got strong enough, but that's going to take a few more years. I have no idea if Carbink will still be there by then, or if it is still there right now. However, you can pay the island a visit if you want. If you open a map, I can mark down the area from where I entered the cave," Kiara offered and I gave her a serious look.

"Are you sure you want to share that with me? Haven't you been preparing for that Carbink for 5 years already?" I inquired and she nodded before she shook her head. "I did but that is something still ways off and I have no guarantee that I'll be able to find the Carbink again. On the other hand, you've helped me right now, and this is the only thing I can think of that is worthy of the gift you've bestowed on me," she said with a smile.

"Just leave me a Carbink if there is more than one, will you," she joked, though I was sure that request was genuine even if it was presented in a joking manner. "Will do," I promised her before pulling out my phone and opening up a public map of Sunburst Island so that she could point out where the cave in question was located.

Afterward, we went our separate ways and I went to the onboard restaurant for lunch. I was going to watch the other semi-final battle while eating. On the way there I made a mental note to visit Sunburst Island after I was done in Hoenn. Not only could I try to get my hands on that Carbink, but I could also spend some time there trying to find the Crystal Onix if it did exist that is.

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