Chapter 56:  Personal Battles (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

Elsewhere, Scott walked alongside his ‘opponent’ to the arena.  
“Look, I know we’ll be battling each other, but I don’t want that to change the 
way we feel about each other...” spoke Carrie.  
“Of course it won’t.” replied Scott.  
“Then why do you look so worried?”  
Scott was thinking about his sister, losing was not an option for him, no 
matter how close he was to his opponents, he had to walk over them and reach 
for the top.  
If he wanted, he could have mentioned this to Carrie, she’d not known about his 
quest even though Scott had spent a whole evening and a day with her, talking 
about their lives.  
“No offence Scott, but my sister’s gonna bust your Pokémon up, she’s gonna be 
famous.”  
“Eve, quiet.” said Carrie softly, “Scott stands just as much of chance as I 
do.”  
“But-”  
“Unless you’ve anything nice to say which won’t affect Scott, I suggest you run 
along and get a seat in the arena in order to cheer your big sister on.”  
“Oh right.” figured Eve, swiftly leaving shortly afterwards.  
“You know what Scott? I’ve known you for like a week now and I don’t know 
anything about your family. So tell.”  
This could have been Scott’s moment to explain his quest and affect Carrie’s 
battling performance, or get her to quit the match entirely, but Scott liked 
Carrie, and didn’t want to her to feel like he’d emotionally blackmailed her 
like that, he liked her, a lot.  
To him, Carrie was the sort of girl that came along once in a lifetime, and he 
rarely managed to find a girl who wanted him in her company.  
“Shouldn’t we be getting to the stadium to prepare?” asked Scott suddenly.  
“Don’t change the subject Scott, you owe me an answer.”  
“Well technically it was more of a comment.”  
“I don’t care, the point is-”  
“Carrie, I have to go, but I promise I’ll explain... after our match.” called 
Scott, running away and leaving Carrie in a confused state.  

I sat in the Indigo Stadium lobby, my battle still far away from taking place, 
I’d needed some solitude to help me confront my fears, and I didn’t want my 
friends to see me so worried.  
Emily’s and Abby’s battles had gone by before I’d planted myself here, and 
provided I avoided Scott and Carrie as they arrived and left, I could be alone 
for a while.  
I’d continued to think when I felt a thump behind me, I’d been sitting on a set 
of seats, connected but facing opposite directions, and just a peep made it 
clear who was behind me, I didn’t want to look at him and I’m sure he was 
embarrassed talking to me at all.  
“Capture, perhaps I wasn’t making myself clear.  I can’t battle both of those 
fools, I would if I could but I hadn’t realised they were even competing until 
today.”  
“I Will win Bryan, but not for you nor revenge.  But for me.” I replied.  
“In my opinion, that’s not enough motive, you got some small share of revenge 
after getting them expelled, and robbed me of the chance to make them suffer.”  
“I don’t believe that solves anything Bryan, you’re deserving of punishment but 
I wouldn’t break my kind-hearted character to do it despite how much you’ve 
tried to ruin my life.”  
“Wise up ‘Capture, you, Erin and Brandon led me to take the path I took, and I 
promise each of you suffering for that.”  
“For your information, my Pokémon are sorted and I’ve been focussing on the 
battle ahead, but I don’t get one thing, what does it matter if I win or lose, 
if Erin won, either you or someone else would probably beat her, why’s it so 
important to you that I win?” I questioned.  
“... Erin and Brandon lack talent, I hate them because they practically 
tortured me, you I hate because you used to best me, but I’ll soon beat you 
where it hurts, in public.”  
“Its a twisted sense, but I think I understand, you want me to win so you can 
beat me yourself, but I still think your logic is messed up.  Erin and Brandon 
are more to blame for your ways than I, and even they don’t deserve to be 
punished, you only have yourself to blame Bryan, you made the choice to change 
your personality along with your look, you were the one who virtually replaced 
Erin and Brandon as bullies, you were the one that led your friends to 
expulsion, not me, and someday you’ll realise this and not like the face you 
see in the mirror.”  
Bryan stood abruptly from his seat, “You and your foolish logic ‘Capture, you 
and your petty good will, being nice will get you nowhere in this world, you’re 
weak ‘Capture, and That, is why I stopped being your friend, you really don’t 
understand how the world works...”  
Bryan stomped away, and now both our minds were fairly troubled.  

Scott and Carrie’s match was soon in motion, Scott’s Onix and Carrie’s Tangela 
were out first, a strong Solar Beam started the match, Shard dug away, 
surprised the small Pokémon, and attempted to bind it in its tail, but a Mega 
Drain at that close range was a guaranteed success.  
Messy the Tangela didn’t get to savour this small victory as Shard’s tail 
upturned a chunk of the arena floor and crashed it down upon Messy.  
It burst out and used Sleep powder which although hit the Onix and put it to 
sleep, didn’t last, as the strong rocky head of the snake fell on the rubble on 
the field and awakened it early.  
A Toxic attack was fired, which Shard easily dodged by leaning to one side, but 
Messy followed up immediately with another Solar Beam, this one hit home, but 
Messy didn’t see the next attack until too late, as Shard’s tail smashed the 
ground so hard, a cutting tremor tore through the arena and the blast wiped out 
all of Messy’s health in one go.  
Carrie’s Kingler, nicknamed Crustacean, appeared next and smashed into the Onix 
with Crab Hammer attack (a Water based move), that did some heavy damage, and 
the Body Slam to the area of weakened armour didn’t bode well for Scott 
either.  
In defense, the Onix wailed a horrid sound and then tightened its tail around 
the Kingler to keep it from using its claws.  
It didn’t need them, a Bubblebeam shot out of its mouth and pounded into Shard, 
Scott would normally switch out, but doing that could leave the next Pokémon 
open for an attack, possibly a one hit knockout move such as Guillotine (or 
Fissure as Shard had used), Carrie was a talented trainer, Scott knew that, and 
it was best not to underestimate her.  
Shard dashed Crustacean to the ground and flicked its tail across the rubble to 
fling some upon the crab, a claw punched its way out, and revealed a Hyper Beam 
in the process, there was no time to dodge, especially for such a large Pokémon 
like Shard.  
“Bide!” shouted Scott, Shard took a defensive stance to draw in the energy.  
The beam pounded hot forceful energy and yet Shard stayed as strong as it 
could.  
The Hyper Beam dissipated and Shard threw his tail forward, glowing with a 
white light to indicate the added power, this attack doubling a Hyper Beam’s 
strength would surely defeat the enemy.  
Shard’s tail slammed the ground and tore another hole in the arena (but it 
wasn’t that big a deal, League attendants had ways, and Pokémon, to fix broken 
arenas of different sorts), smoke rushed up afterwards and blocked the results, 
until the Kingler revealed itself having avoided the hit and leapt forward to 
blast Shard with an Ice Beam.  
The rock snake Pokémon fell and the ice around it shattered, it was down.  
“Shard, I’m proud of you, you stood up to a type advantage and did your part 
for Casey.  Now get out there Raichi, remember she needs for us to win.”  
Carrie overheard with a questionable look on her face, “Casey?...  He’s 
fighting for... another girl...  Does that mean...”  
“RAAAIII!!!”  
“Bubblebeam!” Carrie quickly shouted, but the Raichu rolled to the side and 
tossed a Thunder Wave sphere, the enemy also dodged sideways, only, the Kingler 
crawled that way quickly because it was a crab and used to the movement.  
It leapt over the slow moving spiralling wave of bubbles to stomp its weight 
down on Raichi, but it used Double Team and multiplied into many fakes, making 
the Kingler miss the original.  
The ring of Raichus spun in a circle around the Kingler, the true one preparing 
to attack, but Carrie was aware of the Double Team strategy and how to deal 
with it.  
“Strength!”  
“KOKEE!!!” it roared, ploughing its larger claw into the arena floor and 
hurling a boulder-sized piece of it into the path of the Raichus, the real one 
tripped over it and the fakes disappeared.  
Carrie immediately ordered an Ice Beam while Scott had Raichi sprint out of 
harm’s way with Agility and then raise its arms and tail into the air for a 
Thunder attack, but the Kingler pounded it hard with Crab Hammer attack and 
distracted it, its tail contacted with its body as lightning rained down and 
charged it and Raichi ended up shocking himself.  
“Hyper Beam!” called Carrie and Scott, though Carrie’s was slightly earlier.  
The Kingler unleashed a golden ray of energy slightly earlier than Raichi, but 
both collided and fought against each other rather than the Kingler hitting 
Raichi first.  
The beams fired for seemed like a full half minute, one shooting out of the 
Kingler’s claw, the other out of Raichi’s tail, both beams seemed to dissipate, 
but Raichi and Crustacean couldn’t see past the splashing energy of both beams 
pressing against each other.  
Raichi swiftly looked up to see the Kingler, its Hyper Beam over before his, 
leaping over the remnants of the beam and throwing its claw directly down.  
“Guillotine!” shouted Scott, “Raichi Return!”  
The Raichu was hit by the recall laser and transformed into energy moments 
before the claw cut into the ground, the hole between the claws leaving enough 
space for the remaining energy to move away from and into the Pokéball.  
“Only one other Pokémon left, but I have to choose wisely, Bob would be useless 
if that Kingler used Guillotine against it, and Squirt’s too small, Out of 
Lancer and Kindle, I think I’ll have to go with the Magmar!”  
“MAG!!!” roared Kindle as it appeared, he and its fellow Sandslash were weak 
against Water and so had to work quickly, fatigue only now kicked in for the 
Kingler.  
It pulled itself together and launched another Crab Hammer attack, but it was 
ill-prepared, and Kindle swerved to one side, used Mega Punch to hit it hard 
and then lifted up the Kingler and hurled it upwards.  
Its last attack was to throw its weight directly down for a last ditch Stomp 
attack but Kindle activated a secret technique and used Psychic to catch it in 
mid-air, crush it with invisible force, and then fling it to the floor.  
“Return.” sighed Carrie, “Whoever Casey is, Scott’s Pokémon obviously adore 
her, but am I right in thinking that Scott’s already got a woman in his 
life?...  The thought of that angers me, I won’t lose if that’s the case.  Go 
Slurp!”  
“Licki!” cheered the Lickitung, its long tongue extending out, it swiftly laid 
its tongue on the floor a small distance from it and lifted its body out of the 
way of an Ember attack almost like a pole vaulter.  
It landed and wailed a horrid sound before using Disable to freeze the Magmar 
in place, after that it pole vaulted again and threw all its weight down on the 
Magmar.  
As it stepped back, a Fire Blast was unleashed, the Lickitung released one of 
its own and quickly burst through the flames to Body Slam Kindle.  
It put up a Counter attack and repelled the Lickitung, but as it was blasted 
back by the forcefield, it slammed the floor and caused an Earthquake attack 
that hit the Fire-type hard.  
The Lickitung spat out a small Water Gun attack and then slammed all its weight 
on Kindle to end the match.  
“Damn...  She’s better than I imagined.” said Scott, “She’s just as good as me, 
but I have a mission and won’t fail!”  
Raichi was called out again and launched an immediate Quick Attack, the 
Lickitung ducked down and used Defense Curl and Raichi was repelled as it hit 
the Lickitung for minimum damage.  
The Lickitung leapt at Raichi for another Slam attack but was hit first by 
Thunderbolt and crashed down, Raichi continued to shock the Lickitung until it 
was able to unleash a Supersonic attack in an attempt to confuse the Raichu, it 
held its ground but the pulse waves were weakening its attack, the Lickitung 
unleashed a Thunderbolt of its own, the two attacks built up and exploded.  
The Raichu dived through the sparkling electricity, lifted up the heavy 
opponent and threw it, but it attempted another landing Earthquake attack to 
take advantage of Raichi’s only type weakness.  
The ground shook and shockwaves tore towards the Raichu, who escaped at the 
last moment with Agility and was soon upon the Lickitung with its Slam attack.  
“Slurp! Finish it! Lick to paralyse!”  
“Licki-TUNG!” it wailed, its tongue extending to a surprising distance at an 
alarming rate.  
“Dive and Thunder!” shouted Scott at the last moment.  
As the tongue descended fast, Raichi dived under it, and called for 
thunderclouds to rain lightning down.  
Again, instead of hitting the Raichu so it could direct the attack, it hit 
whatever was above it, in this case, the long tongue.  
It conducted and went all the way back to Slurp, who was shocked halfway to 
submission, Raichi filled in for the other half, using the attack Submission to 
spin itself into the Lickitung and smash into it hard, Raichi landed, barely 
able to stand but hanging in there, while the Lickitung crashed down hard.  
“Scott Wins! He takes another step up the ladder of champions!”  
Carrie stared ahead, a little shocked, and fell to her knees, “I lost...”  
Scott recalled his Pokémon and ran past the blackened and shaking Lickitung to 
Carrie, when he offered his hand, she rejected it and slapped it aside.  
“Carrie, what’s wrong? I’m sorry you lost but-”  
“Save it Scott! Who’s Casey?! Another girl?! I thought you were honest when you 
said all those nice things about me, how many girls Are there in your life?!” 
she accused.  
“Carrie you don’t understand.  Casey is my sister.” explained Scott.  
“You’re fighting for your sister? Oh god, Scott I’m so sorry...  Its just-”  
“I didn’t tell you about her.” finished Scott, “I understand.  Its why I’m in 
this League, to win the prize money needed for a life saving operation, I 
didn’t tell you because...”  
“Because it would have affected our battle, I wouldn’t have been able to fight 
you if I knew how badly you needed to win.” finished Carrie.  
“Even with a righteous cause, I thought you might hate me if you lost without 
giving the match your all, if I emotionally blackmailed you into losing.”  
“Scott...  Its okay, you’re forgiven.  And I lost fair and square.” smiled 
Carrie, wiping a couple of tears aside, recalling her Lickitung and taking 
Scott’s hand, “Let’s get something to eat, but you’re telling me everything 
about your family.”  
“For you Carrie, I’ll do anything you want...”  
The two walked out hand in hand, leading some of the audience to express their 
affection for the moment, “Awwww...”  

Shortly afterwards, my battle was in action, the first battle was made up of 
powerful projectiles being flung about, a few explosions, a couple of status 
ailments, and a build up of two forces that resulted in a blast capable of 
taking my Alakazam out of the match, luckily, Erin’s Gengar also fell to the 
same blast.  
“Five years at Pokémon Tech and this is the best you have to offer?!” laughed 
Erin, “I’m glad you got me and Brandon kicked out! Go Primeape! Kick his 
butt!!!”  
“Go Whirlwind! Take the type advantage by storm!” I shouted back.  
Whirlwind shot by the Primeape, dealing it a heavy Wing Attack, but it was 
faster than expected and got in a quick Mega Punch that threw the rest of its 
flight pattern off course.  
Whirlwind smashed into the side of the arena and flapped furiously to turn 
around.  
“I knew you would go with type advantage, but don’t think that’ll work with me, 
my Pokémon are strong enough to shrug off your little type advantage moves.”  
“Fine.” I thought, “Then we’ll have to go with power...  Mirror Move!!!”  
“Pidgeeeot!!!” Whirlwind squealed, flapping both its wings forward, a blue 
transparent fist shot towards and smacked the Primeape hard, simulating its 
last attack.  
“Not bad...” smirked Erin, “Primeape! Rock Slide!”  
“PRRRRMMMAPE...” it growled, running forward and at the last moment, ploughing 
its hands into the arena floor to lift up a hill of rocks as if it were a 
carpet, Whirlwind was caught in a rain of rubble, and weakening.  
“Razor Wind!” I shouted, he’d already started on this which was why he hadn’t 
attempted a dodge, after the hits, a huge wind of sharp air tore into the 
Primeape, while that was happening, my Pidgeot charged up a Sky Attack.  
The Primeape shielded itself, probably making a mistake most trainers made, 
though it looked it, Razor Wind was not a Flying-type move, it was of the 
normal variety, this attack though...  
“Pidgeeeot!!!” screamed Whirlwind, flying forward with a fiery aura, it drove 
itself into the Primeape and pushed it back with the intention of making it hit 
one of the walls, but it resisted, finally managed to grab the Pidgeot, and 
flung it to the other side of the arena, making it crash into another wall.  
“Oh I know that didn’t do very much.  But This will...” grinned Erin darkly, 
her Primeape charging up something.  
A ray of yellow shot forward with a familiar buzzing and humming sound, the 
Primeape was using Thunderbolt, Whirlwind rose up but was caught in the feet by 
a fraction of the attack, it flapped to gain altitude and then dived down on 
the enemy with Fly attack.  
Its beak hit the foe head on, but the rest of it was held back by the strong 
Primeape, and then forced back enough inches for the Primeape to start punching 
away with Thrash, it wouldn’t stop and my Pidgeot was helpless to get away.  
“Return...” I swiftly called, and my Pokéball did the rest, snatching my 
Pokémon out of the battle.  
“Only one Pokémon left, and I get to choose which...” I pondered, I still 
hadn’t seen Erin’s final Pokémon, and type advantage wasn’t exactly working out 
anyway, I needed power, “Go Shockwave!!!”  
“BUZZ!” Shockwave growled, he quickly noticed the Primeape was concentrating 
with Focus Energy since the moment my Electabuzz appeared, so he used 
initiative and shocked it.  
I smiled for a moment, before covering my ears as the Primeape let out a horrid 
scream, and then dived, its body spinning, its fists out, and soon dealing a 
powerful Submission attack.  
Both Pokémon fell but the Primeape was up first and diving at my Electabuzz, 
good thing I’d taught it the next attack recently, “Psychic!”  
The Primeape froze in mid-air and was blasted by an invisible force, it fell 
but immediately burrowed a hole as it landed.  
“It knows Dig.” I noted, “Shockwave, move! That’s a Ground attack!”  
He nodded, aware this wouldn’t go well for him if it hit, Ground attacks were 
an Electric-type’s only real weakness, he ran, jumping to one side 
occasionally, and yet, the noticeable leverage trail fast approaching caught up 
and rose with an explosion of rubble.  
The hit was dealt, but Shockwave returned it with a Seismic Toss, the Primeape 
dropped but burrowed under again.  
“At this rate we’ll fall before It does...  Shockwave, listen carefully and do 
what I say.”  
He nodded, and stood still as the Primeape’s position was revealed, closing in 
fast.  
At the last moment, I yelled “Jump! And Thunder!”  
Shockwave leapt moments before the Primeape did directly below, chunks of earth 
flying up with it to smash into my Electabuzz, before it happened, a huge blast 
of voltage shot down like a gigantic laser beam and threw the Primeape down, 
crashing into the rocks and bouncing off each one like a pinball, after that, 
the rocks simply dropped, Shockwave was charged up in all this, and while 
descending, fired everything he had upon the enemy.  
A blackened and quivering Primeape hit the floor and couldn’t even attempt to 
stand.  
“If you thought nearly drowning was the lowest point in your life, just think 
how your Pokémon is gonna feel!” yelled Erin as her last Pokémon appeared, a 
Tentacruel.  
“Thunderbolt!” I called, and Shockwave fired, but the Tentacruel fired 
Bubblebeam, and surprisingly the individual bubbles blocked off the attack and 
left the Tentacruel unharmed.  
“Okay, Psychic!” I shouted, remembering an alternate weakness to exploit.  
The Tentacruel let out expanding rings that hurt both our heads, the Psychic 
attack dissipated without concentration, and Shockwave was on the floor shaking 
his head due to confusion.  
The Tentacruel was free to do what it wanted, it first used Poison Sting and 
sent immediate results into Shockwave’s body, and then drenched it in burning 
acid.  
To top it off, Shockwave was helpless as several tentacles wrapped it up, rose 
it into the air, and squeezed.  
“Thunder Wave!” I called and my Electabuzz let out a small charge that stunned 
the opponent long enough for him to free himself and punch the Tentacruel in 
the face.  
As it landed, green spheres were sucked out of his back, its energy leaving 
with them, Shockwave growled and slammed his weight into the Tentacruel so as 
not to absorb what was just taken from him, and then leapt back and 
preemptively raised a Light Screen shield to protect against the heavy Water 
Gun.  
The Tentacruel was ordered to use its sharp claws to cut through and shatter 
the Light Screen, as soon as it did, Shockwave slammed its fists into the enemy 
and sent out another charge, but couldn’t stop the glowing beam in front of the 
Tentacruel from firing and freezing him.  
As my Electabuzz fell, the Tentacruel’s sharp claw was thrown downwards.  
“Submission!” I shouted, and my Electabuzz stretched out, shattered the ice, 
touched the ground with one foot and propelled itself up, around the opponent’s 
claw and hitting the Tentacruel hard enough to cause significant damage to 
himself.  
“HYDRO PUMP!!!” shouted Erin, “Give in Tetsubo, you can’t win!”  
The force and range of the attack was better than most I’d ever seen, the force 
hit Shockwave but a huge remainder of the attack hit me, and things went hazy.  

Moments before, while Emily had been watching, she noticed a familiar face 
standing at the front row and staring at the battle with a confident gaze.  
But Chad was dressed differently, in black and purple clothing that covered his 
whole body, it was strange how quiet he was being, probably because this battle 
was a difficult one for me.  
Emily called once to Chad but he obviously didn’t hear her, his eyes were 
focussed on the battle, Emily was about to go over there when she heard the 
splash, and my being overwhelmed by water and pushed against the wall by it.  
“Oh my god...  Tetsubo!”  

In my mind, the battle had blanked out, instead I regressed back to Pokémon 
Tech, when I was held under the surface in the cold swimming pool by Erin’s 
hand, though slightly altered, in that nothing held me down, I was simply 
frozen in place under the water.  
“Promise not to tell on us...  And I’ll let you out...” the voice of Erin 
echoed around me, “Give in!...  Don’t be stupid!...”  
And then for some reason, insults she’d said throughout our first match, plus 
ones I’d never heard her say flowed around me, “You’re no match for me...  Just 
give it up now and spare yourself some embarrassment...  You’re just as 
pathetic as Bryan...  Nobody cares for you!...  Weak...  Spineless...  
Loser...”  
My air left me and water filled me a little, I’d forgotten all about the battle 
and become trapped here, the feelings of loneliness in Pokémon Tech hit me, the 
fears of my old friend changing for the worse, and the utter helplessness as my 
life once drained away, except there was no one to get me out.  
“Tetsubo...” said another voice, “You don’t have to go through things alone...  
Not this time...”  
“Em...  Emily?...”  
“Share your problems with me...  We’ll overcome them... together!”  
In my mind, I saw a hand reach down, giving me the strength to break free and 
rise up to grab it, a bright light filled my vision and overwhelmed me...  

“Stop the match!” Emily screamed, “He’s drowning in there!”  
“Red Trainer, you are hereby ordered to halt your attack!” called the referee 
firmly.  
Erin frowned, and called out to her Tentacruel with an annoyed sigh, “Its not 
my fault Tetsubo’s such a wimp when it comes to water...”  
My body fell to the floor, causing a gasp to escape Emily’s lips, moments 
passed where I simply lay, but then I coughed, spat out a mouthful of water, 
and slowly stood up.  
“Green Trainer, do you wish for us to disqualify the Red Trainer for that act 
of neglect?” whispered the same referee.  
I think Erin knew what was being said, and the look she gave pretty much 
spelled out her annoyance, history would almost repeat itself like how my near-
death experience got her and her friend expelled, but if I did that, then she 
would have something over me, I’d been haunted by this once, and if I didn’t 
prove myself to her, those nightmares might return to me.  
“No.” I said decisively, “We’re finishing this.”  
“If... you say so...” stuttered the man, “Let the match continue!”  
“I guess you’re not as weak as I thought, I was sure you’d take the easy option 
and rat me out like you did before.”  
“You deserve to be for your lack of concern, and for once turning a friend 
against me, don’t get me wrong.  But if I did that, then I wouldn’t be able to 
prove to you just how far I’ve come since the little kid you tried to scare 
into silence.  Shockwave!...”  
“BUZZ!!!” he roared, electricity quickly blasting the Tentacruel in the eyes, 
I could see a lot of rage forming within my Electabuzz, eager to take 
vengeance of Erin for her heartlessness.  
“I was lonely once, once felt I had little friends to depend on...” I 
whispered, “But those days are gone, I have lots of friends and Pokémon that I 
can trust, that mean the world to me, I’m gonna prove to Erin that their and my 
Pokémon’s strength are great enough to take me far!”  
The Thunderbolt ran out of power and Shockwave fired another one, but this time 
the Tentacruel was prepared, and was instructed to use Hyper Beam.  
The Thunderbolt was lost in it and Shockwave couldn’t escape, he was hit and 
the Tentacruel changed its aim to keep him trapped, but the blast ran short due 
to paralysis finally kicking in.  
“Attack!” I called, my Electabuzz leapt forward for one last hit, but it was 
struck with poison that stole the last of its strength, he collapsed before 
getting close.  
“Too bad...” mocked Erin.  
“For you.” I added, “Go Whirlwind! You can finish this!”  
My Pidgeot started flying as soon as it appeared, the Tentacruel fired a shot 
of Toxic, but with Agility, Whirlwind spiralled around it and got close enough 
to fire a storm of air blasts at the Tentacruel, it struck back with Cut 
attack, leaving a harsh mark on Whirlwind’s chest.  
I quickly had my Pidgeot use Egg Bomb to rain explosive spheres upon the enemy, 
but still it wasn’t powerful enough to finish it.  
“Hyper Beam!!!” screamed Erin, the Tentacruel swiftly moved its claws to the 
sides and charged particles of gold around its claws, I had little time to 
react, but something came to mind.  
“Sand Attack!” I shouted, and my Pidgeot swiftly swung a wing across the floor 
and sent dust splatting into the Tentacruel’s eyes, even if it wanted to cancel 
its attack to remove the dust, it couldn’t wipe its eyes with its complex claws 
and tentacles.  
The Tentacruel fired the beam upwards, but my Pidgeot swiftly arced under it, 
the Tentacruel was working with hearing alone and adjusted to the positions it 
could hear the flapping of Whirlwind’s wings, but it was fairly easy to dodge 
for my agile bird.  
Eventually, the bright beam’s energy ran low and finally stopped, and my 
Pidgeot lowered itself down to the Tentacruel’s level, still keeping itself 
just above ground.  
“Mirror Move!!!” I yelled, this was as powerful as it got, but if it wasn’t 
enough, then Whirlwind would be too tired to avoid the next attack.  
The fatigued Tentacruel was blasted by the replicated Hyper Beam, it was 
pummelled and affected everywhere, and Whirlwind stayed strong to deal 
everything he could to the enemy.  
The Hyper Beam eventually ran out, and the aura and smoke slowly cleared away.  
The Tentacruel was inches away from Whirlwind, its claw raised, making myself 
and many people gasp.  

Above, Emily turned to our common friend still standing quietly, a smile formed 
on his face, just before the final loss of energy hit the Tentacruel suddenly, 
and forced it to fall, the claw missing Whirlwind completely as it collapsed.  
Emily turned to me, “Phew...  I was worried...  But Chad must have known all 
along that Tetsubo would pull through...”  
I could see her and offered a proud smile, it was her that got me out of that 
trap, more than anyone else, I knew I could rely on Emily to give me strength.  
Emily almost cried in happiness, she turned back to Chad, but he had seemingly 
vanished...  

With my battle over, everyone still in the League that I knew of had finished 
up also, of course, Bryan had won, but he’d apparently traded strong and 
inappropriate words with his enemy, and then laughed in his face upon winning.  
I’d overcome one enemy that had once changed my life for the worse, and now I 
only had one last person that needed to be ejected from the League, one I had 
once called my friend...  
I found my friends at Central Point, after going through the day without them, 
it was really great to see them again.  
“Are you okay Tetsubo?” asked Abby, “I heard what happened...”  
“I’m fine, I briefly regressed to a worser time and became trapped there, but I 
found the strength to break free...” I smiled, glancing at Emily.  
“I knew you could beat that nasty girl, me and Chad both.” she smiled.  
“You and me both what?” inquired Chad, joining the conversation, but in his 
regular clothes.  
“We both knew Tetsubo could win.” she repeated.  
“Oh that, of course I did.” he replied with a little hesitation in his voice.  
“Now that the final battles are over, would the winning trainers please report 
to Central Point, we apologise for not being able to display the match set-ups 
of this round on the previous day but this was due to technical problems.  The 
matches and times of the next line of battles is now available to see by the 
trainers competing.”  
Within minutes, all of the remaining trainers were at Central Point, we were 
directed to a different screen than the usual one, it was larger than the usual 
one, and high up.  
I’d noticed Giselle was present, and so must have beaten Bert, of course Scott, 
Abby and Rick were also in the crowd, as was the ex-Rocket girl, Bryan, and one 
trainer I’d never seen before.  
On the screen, the trainers’ names and snapshots were randomly shuffled 
throughout eight boxes below, separated into four groups with one box next to 
another to symbolise a match.  
It stopped and confirmed all matches almost at once and all eyes navigated 
around quickly, “Bryan and Giselle, Rick and 'Violet', Scott and that guy, 
and-” my mind raced, right before a small shock bolted through me, and I 
turned to Abby with a nervous look on my face.  
“That’s it then.” said Abby, “You know what I’m battling for, and that I won’t 
hold back even on you.  I guess your stay in the League is to be cut short.”  

End of Chapter 56B  

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