Before Serena could say anything, Peter spoke up first.
"No need to wonder. Last round, 305 people advanced. Add her bye, and that makes 306 total—so there are no bye slots this round."
Lena smiled and looped an arm around Serena's waist. "I was really hoping you'd get another bye this time. If you had, I'd definitely worship you."
"Oh, stop it. Why would you worship me?"
"Because your luck is incredible."
When Lena said this, everyone nodded in agreement. She was absolutely right!
Especially Auron. With his ability to see Pokémon information, he had an even deeper appreciation for just how extraordinary Serena's luck truly was.
Setting aside the constant byes—the very first time, her starter Pokémon had been the one egg Auron hadn't checked, which just happened to be a red-aptitude Feebas.
The second time was even more outrageous. She'd casually mentioned that among Ice types, Cloyster would be a good fit—and if it had the Skill Link ability, even better.
Not even two days later, she went out for a casual stroll and just ran into one. Not only did it have Skill Link, but it had also inherited Rock Blast—a move it couldn't learn on its own? With luck like that, calling her Togetic reincarnated wasn't even a stretch.
As the two girls played and teased each other, the matches began.
Jace and Simon were both in round 1, so they headed straight to their battle arenas.
Lena and Serena were in round 2, Tim in round 3—and only Auron was in round 4.
Once the most energetic member of the group had left, Auron finally settled in to enjoy the quiet.
In the shade beneath the big tree, a gentle breeze blew—it was pure bliss.
Cradling Dratini in his arms, Auron soon drifted peacefully off to sleep in the cool breeze.
When Serena noticed Auron had fallen asleep, she quickly quieted down as well. When Jace came bounding back, she made sure he kept his voice down so as not to disturb him.
In his dream, Auron saw Victini flying through the air looking utterly forlorn. The big bag of small round cookies he'd given Victini was gone—all that remained was an empty bag. The poor thing looked absolutely pitiful.
"Auron? Auron? Your match is starting."
Auron heard someone calling him in a daze, but he felt like he was still out at sea, so he didn't respond.
"That's not going to work. Let me try."
Jace nudged Serena aside, leaned right up against Auron's ear, and shouted:
"Look—a shiny Beldum!"
"Where?! Where?!"
Auron jolted awake in an instant, frantically scanning the area for any trace of the shiny Beldum.
"Huh? Where'd it go? Did it fly away?"
"Get lost." Watching Jace pretend to look around with him, Auron couldn't help but laugh in exasperation. "Where exactly is this shiny Beldum you're talking about?"
Jace smiled and nodded at Auron. "I can tell you—but your match is about to start. Are you sure you want to hear it right now?"
Auron glanced at his phone. Sure enough, the match notification had come through a while ago.
He quickly got to his feet, scooped up the still-drowsy Dratini, and bolted toward the arena indicated on his phone.
"Both sides, release your Pokémon."
"Go, Clawitzer!"
"Go, Trevenant!"
Pokémon: Trevenant
Gender: Female
Type: Grass / Ghost
Ability: Natural Cure (When this Pokémon is switched out, status conditions are automatically cured. When a Pokémon gains this ability and is switched out, status conditions are cured. If this Pokémon loses its ability, status conditions are not cured.)
Aptitude: Red
Basic Moves: Shadow Claw, Tackle, Astonish, Branch Pierce, Leech Seed, Confuse Ray, Will-O-Wisp, Hex, Growth, Wood Horn, Curse, Phantom Force, Psycho Cut, Cross Scissors, Solar Beam, Blazing Sun
Inherited Moves: Disable, Grudge, Bestow, Imprison
Seeing Trevenant's move pool, something sparked in Auron's mind.
"Swish!"
The flag dropped. The battle began.
"Trevenant, Blazing Sun!"
"Return, Clawitzer. Go, Charizard."
Auron immediately chose to swap out his Pokémon, bringing in Charizard—who had the type advantage.
The moment the opponent saw Auron switch to Charizard, his expression darkened considerably.
"Trevenant, Solar Beam!"
"Dodge it—Flamethrower!"
"Fwoosh!"
Charizard nimbly sidestepped Trevenant's Solar Beam, then quickly closed the distance and unleashed a Flamethrower right in her face.
But the opponent wasn't going to just take it lying down. He immediately commanded Trevenant to use Phantom Force and slip into another dimension.
Just as Charizard on the field looked momentarily uncertain, Auron quietly calculated the timing in his head.
"Now—Charizard, use Flamethrower behind you!"
Charizard didn't even think twice. He spun around and blasted a torrent of flame into the empty space behind him.
No sooner had the flames erupted than Trevenant materialized right in the middle of them, grinning wickedly as she swung her claws toward Charizard.
Before her claws could even land, Trevenant had already been taken out by the damage from Charizard's Flamethrower.
"Trevenant has lost the ability to battle. Trainer, send out your next Pokémon. Failure to do so within the time limit results in a forfeit."
Trevenant's trainer recalled her with an expression full of frustration. He knew—this match was already over. Because his next Pokémon was a—
"Go, Walrein!"
Pokémon: Walrein
Gender: Female
Type: Ice / Water
Ability: Oblivious (This Pokémon cannot fall into the Attract or Taunt states. If a Pokémon afflicted by these states gains this ability, the conditions are removed. This ability is unaffected by Intimidate.)
Aptitude: Orange
Basic Moves: Swagger, Crunch, Ice Fang, Rollout, Defense Curl, Fine Snow, Rest, Snore, Brine, Aurora Beam, Encore, Icicle Spear, Ice Beam, Sleep Talk
Inherited Moves: Curse, Fissure, Stockpile, Swallow
When Auron saw Walrein's information panel, he couldn't help but smile. No wonder the trainer hadn't switched out when Auron brought in Charizard.
It was a Walrein that hadn't learned Rain Dance or Hail, and didn't even have Thick Fat as an ability.
Amused as he was, Auron still issued his command swiftly.
"Charizard, Flamethrower."
The battle ended quickly. Though Walrein managed to block the damage twice with Brine, on this kind of terrain, she was simply too slow and cumbersome.
Even after Blazing Sun wore off, Charizard still finished the match with a combination of Belly Drum and Thunder Punch.
If there was one thing Auron's Pokémon had down pat, it was the elemental punches. Every single one of them had mastered the trio.
Tracing it back to the source, all credit went to Dad's Kommo-o.
Kommo-o had taught Snorlax, and then Snorlax taught the younger ones.
Now even Elekid had the elemental punches down to a science. So Snorlax had moved on to teaching them Mega Punch and Mega Kick.
After stepping off the field, Auron thought cheerfully to himself: Mm, Snorlax really is a great big brother. I'll give him an extra helping when we get back.
In his good mood, Auron completely forgot about the poor, pitiful Victini from his dream.