The New Normal - A Pokémon Elite 4 SI by CartecFF

Chapter 56: 218-220

The New Normal – 10-12 – Interlude – The Losers

(Sidney POV)

"...Are you feeling any better, Brock?" He spoke softly to his partner, making sure that his voice remained calm and gentle. The young lad hadn't taken the loss very well, which was only to be expected.

It was a little soul crushing to be given a second chance by the public, winning the public vote after they lost in the first round, only for it to not matter in the end.

"I think so." Was Brock's response, but Sidney knew he was lying.

"You don't have to lie. I'm not going to judge you for feeling bad." He said soothingly, "It was just some bad luck that we were against difficult opponents. If we had gotten an easier pairing, then we might have done better."

It was like Arceus had cursed them with their matchups. They had to go against both Lucian and Surge, then Pryce and Candice! Both were ridiculously difficult matchups, and unfortunately they were not able to overcome them.

Still, he didn't let any of that regret show on his face as he patted Brock on the shoulder, "Don't think it's your fault. You did well. Very well for your age."

"Roxanne did better." Brock sulked, pointing to the screen where they were playing a highlight reel of John and Roxanne's battle, "You saw her Steelix – mine could never compare."

"She did surprise me – I hadn't thought she could put up such a dominating performance." He allowed, "But let's not forget that she had John's Clefable supporting her every step of the way. Without his Light Screens, Life Dews, and Helping Hands – there was no way she could have made such a strong showing."

"If anything, you weren't at fault for our loss." He continued, "It was mine for not being able to stop them from setting up the Snow. I slipped up, and we lost the fight from there."

"If only I was stronger..." Brock began to say, only for Sidney to quickly interrupt him.

"And as I've been saying many times this Tournament, you are plenty strong enough." He advised, "Remember, no one expects you to be a match for anyone here. Everyone in this Tournament are all Gym Leaders or Elite Four, while you are still an underaged future Gym Leader. The fact that you held your ground as well as you did is good enough. Don't forget that."

Then he was reminded of someone important in Brock's life, "Why don't you give Karen a call? I'm sure she'll be all too happy to congratulate you on your performance."

He nodded slowly and went to do so. Sidney stepped away as Brock spoke on the phone; not wanting to eavesdrop on their conversation. By the time they were done, Brock seemed a little happier.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"Slightly." Brock nodded, before bowing, "Thank you for being my partner in the Tournament and for being so patient with me."

"There is certainly no need to thank me." He replied, "Working with you has been a pleasure."

He extended out his hand, "Brock, you are a bright young man, and I foresee a bright future ahead for you. Throughout this entire Tournament, you have remained steadfast, willing to learn, and incredibly determined. It has been an honour to be your partner. If you are ever in Hoenn, or if you just need someone else to speak to, I would be happy to take your call."

His words caused a smile – the first one in a while – to break out on Brock's face, "Thank you, Sidney. I promise to call." They shook hands for the final time, signalling the end of their partnership in the Tournament.

Yet also marking the beginnings of a new friendship.

===============

?(Lorelei POV)

She let out a sigh as soon as she saw who was calling. Even though she had expected this call, that doesn't mean she was enthusiastic about it.

But she decided to pick up anyways.

"So you lost." Her uncle's voice filtered through the phone, "I thought you were better than this."

"If you're here to just complain, then I'm hanging up." She bit out.

"Calm yourself – I know full well you'll just ignore a verbal lashing, so I'll reserve that for when you get home." Thanks, uncle. "Instead, let me ask you a question. Why did you not set up the Snow for yourself?"

She winced; she knew this question was coming.

"You don't need to answer that." His uncle continued before she could say anything, "Whatever your reasons were, they were wrong. You should have set up the Snow, damn whatever that Gym Leader partner of yours wanted."

"Remember, Lorelei, there are times when you must stamp down your authority." Her uncle reminded, "This was one of them. When your partner is making a mistake, it is your job to call them out on it. The fact that you didn't cost you the fight."

"...Wake was a little too enthusiastic." She tried, remembering how insistent that Wake was that he could overcome his Electric weakness, "He wasn't the best of listeners. He's quite headstrong and gets a little too lost in the excitement of a battle."

Wake wasn't a bad person – far from it. But he had no limits on his enthusiasm.

"Hmph. Well, I suppose the fault isn't entirely on you, but you ought to learn to reel in your partners." Her uncle stated, "You do not need to have an equal partnership. You could always take the lead and be the one giving out orders and setting strategy. Look at the other pairings, like Drake and John's – they clearly are the ones who are in charge of their partnership. And so am I."

"And how's that working out with you and Candice?" She shot back, "Doesn't she hate your guts?"

"And so what?" He fired back easily, "In fights, we work together and she listens, as do I if she says something intelligent. I do not care for her feelings towards me, only that we are effective in battle."

She closed her mouth and thought through his words. Was he right?

"Now, I have my own battle to prepare for. But think about that, oh niece of mine." Pryce said, "Try not to lose again."

He hung up before she could tell him to fuck off.

==========

?(Lucian POV)

It was a little amusing, in a dark humour kind of way, that he found himself on the ship back to Sinnoh with his fellow Elite Four member. They hadn't planned it out like this, but they had both lost in the second round. So now they were on their way back to Sinnoh.

"So you were knocked out too." Bertha walked up to him as he leaned on the rails of the ship, staring idly to the sea, "You know that means the entirety of the Sinnoh Elite Four has been knocked out of the Tournament."

"Yes, I do." He sighed, "And that means we're the only region to have all of our Elite Four knocked out."

Hoenn still had Drake, who looked poised to make it to the Top 3. While Indigo still had John and Agatha, who were both most certainly making it to the Top 3 unless they faced off against each other. Actually, barring some serious unfortunate matchups, it looks like at least one Elite Four from both Hoenn and Indigo would make it to the top 3.

But none from Sinnoh.

"I hope Cynthia's a forgiving sort." Bertha chuckled bitterly, "This doesn't look great."

While he didn't disagree, and he was not usually one to vent his frustrations, he couldn't help but lament their respective partners. Surge was undoubtedly a strong partner, and at first he had been pleased by their partnership. Until he had to spend time around the man.

His stubbornness reminded him way too much of the unpleasantness of his first meeting with Pryce when he was still Champion. That didn't mean Surge wasn't professional – he was, and despite his obvious nationalism they were cordial with each other, but even his fighting style was stubborn. The man fought one way, and one way only. It was difficult to come up with creative strategies to work around that.

And the less to say about Lewis, that old and frail Gym Leader of Goldenrod that was Bertha's partner, the better.

He couldn't help but think that perhaps they could have gone farther had they gotten a better roll of the dice in their partners—no, he shouldn't think like that. There were more he could have done. He couldn't just blame Surge; that would be unfair.

Surge was a respectable Gym Leader – they just didn't mesh well together.

"At least we have some promising Gym Leaders who look to make it far." He tried, shaking himself out of his previous thoughts, "Volkner and Candice look like they can make it to the Top 3."

If Volkner was the teasing type, then Flint was never going to hear the end of it since he lost in the first round. That being said, Flint was definitely going to fire back with his own round of teasing. There was no way anyone could miss the closeness between Volkner and Jasmine.

"Let's just hope we have one person from Sinnoh that's in the Top 3." Bertha said, "It'd look really bad if not a single one of us made it to the end."

He winced; let's hope it didn't come to that. He really had hoped that he would have done better in this Tournament.

The New Normal – 10-13 – To the Finals

Browsing through the Pokenet a few hours after our match made me realize that we had gotten on a few headlines for making it into the Final Rounds. Like I had hoped, Roxanne got her share of the spotlight, even if that spotlight was split between encouragement and criticism.

There were some that supported and cheered for Roxanne for being able to make it to the Finals and for keeping up with an Elite Four member. On the other hand, there were some that criticised her for letting me doing all the work and simply being there to 'deal the final blow'. Those same people claimed that she had been carried all the way to the Finals.

I asked Roxanne if she would like me to make a public statement going against these claims, but she said that it wasn't necessary. She didn't want to make a drama out of it and she was happy enough with the recognition that she was getting.

"Stirring up drama at this point wouldn't do anyone any good." She had told me, "Better to let them vent off their steam and focus on winning our next battles."

"Agreed. We still have a battle to win." I nodded, "But if you ever want me to speak up for you, just let me know. I'll be happy to do so."

I was also amused to find that there was a sizeable legal and illegal betting pool that had been set up for the Tournament. Out of curiosity, and certainly not because I wanted to see who had the best odds, I went to take a peek at the numbers.

Funnily enough, Roxanne and I did not have the best odds to making it to the Top 3, though we were near the top. That honour belonged to the pair of Agatha and the Psychic twins. We actually weren't even second, because Pryce and Candice took that spot.

Interesting.

One last thing that I noticed was that there was finally some interest being shown to my new Obstagoon evolution, especially in the science forums. They were speculating as to why an alternate form of Linoone would have an evolution when the original form was proven to not have one. That led to further speculation if there were other Pokémon with alternate forms that also had an evolution that had been previously undiscovered.

Some were even trying to test if their original assumption that a standard Linoone didn't have an evolution was false, and if there was a way of triggering a normal Linoone into evolving into an Obstagoon.

Fortunately for me, they kept their discussions to the forums and never pestered me with interviews. The last thing I wanted was a horde of scientists trying to inspect Ornstein's new form.

Of course, reading through articles and looking at gambling odds about us wasn't the only thing I did. I also made sure to watch and study all our other matches, just in case one of them would be picked as our opponents. I knew that we were in the home stretch now, and that there would be very few breaks between the remaining matches.

Time had really flown by for this Tournament.

The Final Rounds were going to take place tomorrow, and the match against the Champions shortly after that. So I might as well make use of whatever time we had to prepare; I had no doubts that we were up for a challenging fight ahead. None of our remaining opponents were going to be easy.

With the Second Round concluding, the pairings that made it to the Final Rounds were: myself and Roxanne, Pryce and Candice, Drake and the Waterflower sisters, Agatha and the Psychic twins, Volkner and Jasmine, and Norman and Giovanni. We made up the Top 6.

And it was late at night, where Roxanne and I had reconvened at her office, that we discovered who our next and final opponents were going to be. Amongst the Top 6, there were a few pairs that I hoped we would get, as I was far more confident about securing my victory against them. However, my gut told me that we wouldn't get lucky this time. And my suspicions were quickly proven correct as our final opponent was revealed.

We were going to be fighting against Agatha and the Psychic twins.

A frown instantly appeared on my face – one that Roxanne shared.

"...Do you have a plan for this, John?" She turned to me, uncertainty evident in her voice. I was glad that she trusted my opinion so highly, but I was drawing a blank at the moment. This was not going to be an easy fight by any stretch of the imagination.

Nothing needed to be said about Agatha's strength; I had watched her previous battles and had heard enough from Karen to be wary of her. Her Ghost types basically matched Karen's in terms of trickery, or even surpassed them in some cases, and I was nearly certain that I wouldn't be able to lock them down with a Taunt. Not like I did with my previous opponents.

Unless..."Roxanne, do you have a Pokémon that knows Helping Hand?"

"...My Sudowoodo knows it." She said after a moment to think, "Am I going to be taking up a supportive role this time?"

I nodded, "I think you have to. I don't think this is a fight we can manage with our previous set up."

"Does your Sudowoodo know Taunt as well?" I asked, a plan starting to form in my mind.

"It does, but it's not very proficient at it." She admitted, "I neglected training it because I didn't think it was a very useful move for my Rock types to have. But after seeing Karen and Sidney's fight, I had been reconsidering but didn't have time to properly master it."

"Do you have anyone else on your team that knows both Helping Hand and Taunt?" I had to check. My whole plan was reliant on this.

"Yes, my starter Probopass knows those moves too." She confirmed.

"Good, then we'll be using your Sudowoodo and Probopass in the fight." I informed her, "Yes, you will be taking up a supportive role this time. Taunt is going to be the most important move for our next fight, or else the fight is going to spiral out of our control."

I watched as she took out a notepad and starting jotting down notes. I gave her a moment to finish writing before continuing, "But for you specifically, as crude as this might sound, your role might just revolve around distracting Agatha for as long as possible and firing off the occasional Taunt against the twins."

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She nodded, not at all offended by my plan, "Then what about Agatha? Should I try to Taunt her too?"

"No, don't even bother." I shook my head, "Agatha trained up the best Dark specialist I know. You won't catch her like that. Focus on keeping your Pokémon in the fight and supporting mine."

"I understand. Then I'll have to leave it to you." She nodded again as she stared at me with determined eyes.

Hearing the trust that she had in me was good for my ego, but it also meant that I now had to live up to her high expectations. Still, I didn't let that get to me. Agatha was a formidable opponent, and her Ghost types were as dangerously agile and as deadly as ever. From the few matches I watched of her performance in this Tournament alone, I knew that old age hadn't caused her to lose out on her skill as a trainer.

And that wasn't even taking the twins to account, who could be a really disruptive nuisance for me.

So there would be no more sandbagging for me. I would choose my Pokémon based on what would work best to secure a victory. This was going to be a difficult battle, and deserved an appropriate response from me.

My bruisers were going to need to prepare themselves.

That was how, as the night ticked away, Roxanne and I got together and began forming a plan for how we were going to deal with our final opponent.

I would not lose here. Not when my match against Lance was oh so close.

==========

?(Giovanni POV)

"Did you think we would have made it this far when the pairings were first announced?" His fellow Gym Leader and teammate asked him as they walked to his house.

Norman had invited him over for dinner. It was something that he had initially wanted to politely turn down, but Ariana had already given her acceptance before he could decline. She was all too happy to learn more about parenting from them.

Or perhaps it was just an excuse to gossip.

"...Admittedly, I did not." He shook his other thoughts aside as he responded to Norman's question, "I didn't know much about you, except that you were a Normal specialist."

"And you didn't look down on me for that?" Norman asked, "Normal specialists aren't known for being the strongest, after all."

His head shook, "Of course not. John's been making far too many waves, and securing many victories, for me to underestimate the power of Normal types. Plus, the both of you share the same starter."

"I know. We battled against each other – starter vs starter – quite a long time ago." Norman revealed to his surprise. "I lost, obviously. My Slaking wasn't a match for his."

"Well that's not anything to be upset about." He chuckled, "I can count on one hand the number of trainers that I believe could beat his Slaking, and even then a part of me still thinks he'll be able to narrowly beat them all anyway."

The conversation stopped there as they finally arrived at Norman's place. Giovanni was surprised at how humble it was; Littleroot Town was not where you would expect a Gym Leader to live. But he kept those thoughts to himself as he entered into his house, immediately spotting his partner chatting expressively with Norman's wife.

The latter lit up as soon as she saw him.

"Oh, my apologies for not getting the door." Norman's wife said as she stood up and rushed over, "It's nice to meet you, Gym Leader Giovanni. My name's Caroline. It's a pleasure to have you over."

"Nonsense. It is me who should be thankful to you for hosting Ariana and I." He said smoothly, "And I'm sure Ariana has been pestering you with many questions. I appreciate your patience in entertaining her."

"It's nothing." Caroline giggled over the glare that Ariana shot him, "Mothers like to talk, you know how it is. She was just telling me about Silver."

"More like I was praising May and Max." Ariana corrected, "Like I said, if Silver was a fraction as well-behaved, it'd be a miracle."

"You know we could invite him over to play with them, right?" Norman spoke up, "I think the kids would appreciate having a new friend – and potentially a pen pal."

Giovanni considered it for a moment before nodding; yes, that was something that could work. Silver really did need more friends. It wasn't good to rely solely on Whitney's friendliness.

Nonetheless, that was for the future him to think about. For the time being, he allowed himself to relax and enjoy himself as they all dug into Caroline's wonderful cooking. Both their kids had joined them at one point and, just like Ariana described, were both extremely well behaved at the dinner table.

Of course, that didn't mean they didn't ask him questions.

"What do you think of the Ground types from Hoenn, Gym Leader Giovanni?" May had asked him, "Which ones do you recommend for a beginner trainer?"

He liked that she emphasised the 'easy to train' part. A lot of young trainers only focused on power and little else, not realising how difficult it would be for that Pokémon to reach that power. There was a reason why powerful Pokémon weren't just handed out to newbie trainers.

After thinking it over, he answered, "I would recommend Claydol."

"Not Flygon?" Max interrupted to ask.

He shook his head, "No. Remember, your sister asked for a Pokémon that was suitable for beginners. Flygon are powerful, but a Trapinch is incredibly weak before it evolves into a Vibrava. It's both slow and frail, and doesn't offer anything beyond your generic Ground type moves. Then, as a Flygon, I guarantee that you won't be able to properly control and instil discipline in it unless you are also an experienced trainer."

"But a Baltoy, and later Claydol, are powerful choices for beginners. Especially for their Psychic typing." He explained, "It has both ranged and close-range attacks, and can Levitate, which gives it a huge advantage against purely grounded attackers. It's also not as slow as a Camerupt, which makes it easier to use for inexperienced trainers. Plus, you can teach it Teleport, and it'll become a huge convenience in your lives."

The two children nodded understandingly at his answer with a thoughtful expression on their face, before they both expressed their thanks for his detailed explanation.

The dinner continued on similarly peaceful lines like that, with him and Norman in charge of answering the children's endless questions, while Ariana and Caroline gossip as they were wont to do.

However, after dinner was over and the children retired upstairs, it was time for him and Norman to return to more serious topics as their next opponents were about to be revealed.

"Volkner and Jasmine...Pryce and Candice...John and Roxanne...Agatha and the twins...Drake and the Waterflower sisters...that's quite the lineup that we have in the Top 6." Norman said to him as they sat down on the couch, "Almost intimidatingly so."

"They are all very formidable." He agreed, "We are most certainly the underdog here."

And what an odd feeling it was, being the underdog. It's been some time since he felt this way.

"Indeed. I know I said I was pleasantly surprised that we got too far, but honestly I'm just being realistic when I say that our chances don't look great." Norman exclaimed as he leaned back, "Our winning streak might end here."

They had secured their previous victories by keeping it very simple. Both he and Norman's Pokémon were tough and strong, so they played to their strengths by forcing close range engagements and worked together to pummel their opponents with their stronger Pokémon. It was especially effective when their opponents were either weaker than them in a direct engagement, or they had some weak link they could exploit.

It was a very brute force method of winning, but it worked out.

However, while he wasn't one to be defeatist, seeing who they were potentially up against, he had to agree with Norman, "I see a few pairings that I am certain we would lose to. I know full well how strong John and Agatha are, and if they decide to take us seriously then I can say for certain that we won't be winning against them."

Since their strategy relied on combined brute force rather than any fancy tricks or creative displays of teamwork, he knew that they didn't stand a chance against any team that could endure and overcome their offensive momentum.

That being said, he would rather die than lose to Pryce. But he kept that bit to himself.

Norman nodded, "Can't disagree with that. Let's hope to avoid them. I would prefer if we fought Volkner and Jasmine, if only because we seem to have the strongest Type matchup against them, but admittedly I don't know much about them."

"Me neither." He said, "I only know that Jasmine is also a new Gym Leader. I would have thought she would be weaker because of that, but her and Volkner make for a stronger pair than I expected. They worked impressively well together."

"You don't need to be so doom and gloom." Caroline suddenly spoke up from the side, "You know that the twins would be happy that you even made it this far. Treat winning as a bonus, not an obligation."

Ariana wasn't far behind, "Likewise, Gio. You've already proven enough by making it to the Finals. Don't stress about losing here."

Their wives' words (because Ariana was his wife in all but name) had allowed a sense of calm to settle over the both of them. They were right; he hadn't expected to make it to the Top 3 in the first place, so there was really no need to stress too much about losing.

They would still strive for victory, but they wouldn't agonize over it.

And this reminder came just in time, as the announcement about who their next opponents were going to be was revealed.

They were against Drake and the Waterflower sisters. That was not ideal.

"...That's going to be an uphill battle." Norman mumbled, and he agreed. Drake might not be at the level of John or Agatha in his mind, as he saw Drake as a lesser Lance, but he didn't underestimate the man.

Still, they needed to come up with a plan. "My first thought is that we avoid Drake's Pokémon at all cost. Focus down the Waterflower's Pokémon to secure a quick 2v1 scenario. Like we've done before."

"Won't be easy." Norman disagreed, "We aren't the only pair to think of that – others have tried it before us to little success. Drake knows how to cover his partner. His Hydro Pumps hit very hard."

Norman then stared at him, "How confident are you in your Ground types to be able to tank those Water attacks?"

"...Not very." He admitted, "At least not Drake's. His Pokémon will blast through mine."

"Remember boys, relax. Losing isn't the end of the world." Carolina reminded the two of them again, "And don't forget that you're both getting on in years. Try not to add to your stress lines." And with those final parting words, the two ladies left their husbands alone to ponder over their strategy.

The two of them exchanged a wry look and a small chuckle before they returned their efforts to the battle ahead.

The planning went long into the night.

===========

?(Volkner POV)

Flint could never find about this, or he would never hear the end of it.

Yes, he was having a dinner with Jasmine. No, he did not know whether this would be considered a date, but a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Flint was telling him that it was.

"...Are you feeling alright?" Jasmine asked from across him as she took a bite out of her dinner, "Do you have something on your mind?"

He quickly threw his errand thoughts to the back of his mind as he shook his head, "No, sorry. I was just distracted. Were you saying something?"

Volkner, you stupid idiot. Why would you admit that?

Luckily, Jasmine only chuckled at his words, "I get it. I'm nervous about the next battle too."

That wasn't what he was thinking about, but he wasn't going to correct her, "Mhm. Our next opponents prove fearsome."

"I thought that's what you wanted." She giggled, "Didn't you tell me you were excited to have all these powerful trainers to fight against?"

Yes, he did say that. He still remembered those being one of his first words to her, how he told her to not slow him down – stupid words that he now dearly hoped he could have taken back. Before the pairings were announced, his singular goal in the Tournament was to fight through to the top 3 for the opportunity to fight against the Champions. He hadn't forgotten his battle against Cynthia, and he was all too eager to try to reexperience it.

But now, with Jasmine as his partner, his reasons for winning had changed. Now, he wanted to win together, because he wanted to help her with her reputation as a Gym Leader.

...He swore to himself that there was no other reason, no matter how much Flint had teased him that he was trying to impress her.

Oh shit, he was distracted again. "I was, but you know I've always wanted to fight the Champions. Now that the opportunity is so close, I have some concerns about whether we can cross this final hurdle."

"Ah, that makes sense." Jasmine nodded, "Truthfully, I'm happy enough to get this far already. I don't have the...ambition that you have, and I've already seen how much more popular I've gotten for making it to the Final Rounds."

"Still, I know I wouldn't be able to get this far without you, so I'll do my best to support you!" She pumped a fist, and Volkner forced his face to remain steady before he grinned like an idiot at that cute gesture of hers.

The conversation carried on like that for a few more minutes, and just as they were about to wrap up their meals, his phone alarm went off. The announcement had come – their next opponents had just been revealed.

And it turned out to be Pryce and Candice.

"...Another weather team." He muttered, "I almost would have preferred Drake and the Waterflower sisters. At least we could take advantage of their Rain in that case."

"Well they're fighting Norman and Giovanni." Jasmine said, "At least we didn't get John and Roxanne. Or Agatha and the twins."

"Yes...we got 'lucky' there." He agreed, "Hm...Pryce and Candice...you know more about Pryce than I do. How strong is he?"

Jasmine tilted her head cutely as she thought over his question, "Hm...that depends on how much he's let his team go since his retirement. He used to be very strong – he was Champion for a reason, but his defeat to Lance exposed his weakness and complacency. I've heard a few reliable rumours that he's not as complacent as he used to be, but I doubt he's training up as hard as he could be."

"Stronger than Lorelei?" He asked.

"I would expect them to be equal in strength." Jasmine confirmed, "But don't look down on his Mamoswine. It matched up to Lance's Emperor very well, and most Pokémon just aren't able to do that. That should tell you all you need to know about its strength."

"I know, I know." He said with a frown. Damn Ground types, he still hadn't trained up his Octillery to be able to deal with those yet. That was still someways into the future.

Still, there was one thing that was of paramount importance in the fight, "We must be able to take control of the weather in our fight. We cannot win if the Snow is allowed to remain, and I doubt that Pryce will make the same mistake as Lorelei did."

He was used to fighting for control over the weather during his many, many battles against Flint, so this should prove no different.

Jasmine agreed as he continued, "You also have the Type advantage against his Ice types. I know we've primarily made use of your Electric moves in the past, but you're going to have to demonstrate why you're a Steel type specialist now."

"I'll do my best." She nodded firmly, "And I think my Pokémon are strong enough to take down Candice's in a few good hits. I'll try to prioritise that."

And so, the two of them continued discussing their plans for the upcoming battle deep into the night. As they talked, his heart pumped with both excitement and concern, as it always did when he was about to fight a difficult battle.

This was just the final hurdle before he won his chance to face off against the Champions.

However, deep into the back of his mind – so far back that he didn't even realise he was thinking it, he knew that, win or lose, he had already won something more valuable than the Tournament.

After all, he had made another friend. Or...perhaps more than that.

========

?(Candice POV)

"...You know, I really regret my earlier optimism." She said to her friend over the phone.

Cynthia laughed, "I did warn you that Pryce was going to be a pain to work with. Still, you've been winning, right? That has to count for something."

"I think winning is the only redeeming factor about this partnership." She grumbled, "We've made it to the Final Rounds, and Pryce is still impossible to work with."

"Really? You've been doing fine in battles, though." Cynthia remarked curiously, "That must be because of your cooperation."

"...Well, maybe." She couldn't deny that, for all of Pryce's faults – and there were many – he was a good battler and planner when he got his head out of his ass, "It helps that we fight so similarly. If it wasn't for the fact that I was also an Ice specialist, I don't think we would have made it this far."

"Well let's not think of what-ifs." Cynthia stated, "I thought you would be discussing things with Pryce about your next opponents. You know how strong Volkner is."

She rolled her eyes, "I would be, if Pryce was here to begin with. He's gone off to do who knows what, so I'm stuck here making my own plans."

"So you do know how to get angry." A very familiar and unpleasant voice suddenly appeared from behind her, and Candice turned around to see Pryce walking up to her, "I thought you only knew how to smile and be jolly."

She quickly hung up the phone and scowled at her partner, "Congratulations. You broke through my joy. I demand compensation."

"I'll compensate you by granting you another victory." Pryce said dryly, causing her scowl to deepen, "Nevertheless, you can moan about it later. We have a battle to win."

"Huh. I didn't think you would be so enthusiastic." She said sarcastically.

"Well my niece ended up losing, so it's up to me to carry the mantle." Pryce explained, "Not only that, but I realised that we could be the only non-Elite Four pair to make it to the Top 3 if we won – if the others don't win." Pryce explained, "After all, I still have a reputation to uphold as a former Champion. I will prove that I am more than their match."

"And yet we're fighting against two Gym Leaders – one of them is even new." She shot back, "Not much of a 'grand victory' there, ex-Champion."

She usually wasn't this sarcastic, but Pryce made it really easy for her to want to snap at him.

Especially since he brushed off her words dismissively, "You can spare your insults. Just know that I'm not about to lose to two Gym Leaders, especially not against another weather team." Then he gestured for her to follow him, "Come on, let's find a place to sit and discuss things through. I can already guess their strategy, and there are a few pointers I want to give about your Froslass so you don't make a mess in our battle. Maintaining the Snow is paramount, and I want to make sure that your Froslass can achieve that simple task. If so, then victory will be ours."

Candice wanted to explode at him for his condescending attitude, but she ultimately swallowed her anger and followed after him. What infuriated her more was that Pryce actually gave good advice, he was just a complete ass over it. She knew that his tutelage had actually helped her, which made her even more frustrated.

It would've been easier if she could just hate him.

========

?(Drake POV)

"So, kiddos. Looks like we're against ol' Norman and Giovanni." He smiled down at the sisters, "How're you feeling about our chances?"

He always liked asking the sisters such questions, as he found that it helped with their confidence if they could express their chances of victory out loud. He knew that the sisters had the potential to become great Gym Leaders, so he was doing his best to nurture it. And the most important thing was to grow their confidence.

"We hold the advantage." They all nodded, "We win in terms of brute force, so it would be better for us to keep things simple and just blast them with powerful Water attacks."

"Too bad Petrel isn't here." Lily added, "We could have asked him about Giovanni's strengths and weaknesses."

"I don't think he'd tell us." Violet disagreed, "You know he's grown immune to our pleading eyes. And he's still holds Giovanni in very high regard."

"But we don't need his advice anyways." Daisy finished their tangent, "We know how they both fight. They like getting in close and pummelling their opponent. We just need to break that. Drake should be able to completely overwhelm Giovanni, so we just need to distract Norman before he can interrupt Drake."

"Good." He grinned, "You got to the heart of the matter. That's very likely what they will end up doing." And he was very good in fights like this.

Then he lowered himself so that he was at their eye level, "Look here kids. You've done very well. We've just got one hurdle to beat, and we're in the Top 3 and placed to fight the Champions. But there's no need to be nervous."

In truth, he was completely fucking ecstatic to be so close to having the opportunity to face off against the Champions, to the point that he was already looking past this upcoming battle. But he forced himself to control his excitement in front of the kids. They needed him calm right now.

"We got lucky this time with our matchup, so take it easy." He said gently, more gentle than he'd been in some time, "You already know how we can beat them. You have strong Water types; I know because I helped you train them. Stay confident in your team. After all, haven't we fu– crushed everyone that was in our way?!"

The girls all nodded, causing a wide grin to break out on his face, "That's the spirit. So just calm yourselves, get some good rest, and settle your minds. And if you ever get nervous, then just remember that I will always be right next to you, fighting alongside you."

"So come on, we have a battle to win!"

The girls' cheers were all that he needed to hear.

========

?(Agatha POV)

"...I'm surprised you haven't thrown a fight just to get out of the Tournament early." Her student said sarcastically over the phone, "I didn't think you would be so invested to win. Did the twins manage to hit your soft spot?"

She didn't bother answering that question as she just hung up the phone, cutting off whatever Karen was about to say. Instead, she turned to the two little twins next to her, who had been running around excitedly as they heard who their opponent was going to be.

They really had far too much energy. She wasn't nearly as invested into this Tournament as they were.

"Agatha, Agatha, do you think we can win against John and Roxanne? I heard John's strong." The twins said one after another.

She smirked at their question. She knew that John was making use of his weaker Pokémon in this Tournament to test them out. And while she approved of this long-term thinking, it also gave her an opportunity to really put him on his toes.

She cackled in her mind; if he did that in his next fight, then she was really going to throw a wrench into his plans.

"Not to worry, all you need to do is what you've been doing already. No need to change anything." She smiled down at the twins, holding back her cackles, "John might be strong, but so am I. I'll make sure to remind him of that, if he forgets."

He better take her seriously, or she was going to overturn those big plans of his.

The New Normal – 10-14 – Ghostly Finale

Our planning almost went deep into the night, but we eventually called it quits so that we and our Pokémon could get a good night's sleep before the upcoming battle. We were going to need it.

Besides, there was nothing more that we could really plan for. We had a decent understanding of what our opponents were capable of, having studied their past matches and all, but having things planned on paper and actually dealing with them for real were two different things entirely.

Still, I felt like we were as prepared as we were going to be going into this match. And luckily, depending how you thought about it, we were the first match of the day.

Karen, Cynthia, and Whitney had all sent texts over as soon as they heard the announcement of our upcoming match. While they all wished me well, Karen told me to kick Agatha's ass for her.

I told her I was going to do my best.

As an additional piece of encouragement(?), Karen and Whitney both told me that they were going to be coming over to watch my match against the Champions. Not only that, but both my parents were coming too, as they had to oversee the initial opening of the Mauville Branch of our family's business, so they would be coming to see my match against the Champions as well. They wouldn't arrive in time for the Finals, though.

That meant that it would really suck to lose now and not give the match that they wanted. That just meant I couldn't let them down now.

As we were the first match of the day, the rest of the morning flew by until it was already time for our showdown against Agatha and the twins. Roxanne and I stepped onto the stage to the roaring of the crowd. The cheers were considerably louder when Agatha took to the field though, perhaps due to her storied and more experienced reputation, and many more cheered for her victory.

It had been a long time since I was seen as the underdog, but I would prove to the crowd that they were wrong to think so.

"You look tense, John. Why? Scared of a few Ghosts?" Agatha taunted to me as soon as she approached. "Oh I can feel your mind whirring as you try to figure me out, but you really don't need to think so hard. You'll just burn yourself out. I promise we won't be so easy to deal with compared to Winona and Samson, so maybe you could surrender right here and now and save this old lady the trouble."

I just snorted in response.

"And little Roxanne is here too." She smiled, but there was no kindness in it, "I'm surprised. I thought you would be sitting it out so that it would be John against the both of us. Or is John going to have to carry you through this match too?"

The twins, who stood next to Agatha, were oddly silent at her mocking words. I would have thought that they would have spoken up to stop her, or at least say something rather than just keeping silent. That seemed very unusual for them.

And then it clicked for me. Agatha had told them to stay silent so that she could get the opportunity to unnerve us, because she knew Tate and Lisa would undermine her efforts.

Luckily for me, I had already warned Roxanne in advance to expect this kind of mockery from Agatha, so I hoped she could ignore it.

In the meanwhile, I grinned back at Agatha, "I said it before, but you being paired with the twins makes all of you look like one big family. It's nice to see that the youth of today to be so caring for the elderly."

"Bah, I'm not old and infirm just yet." She scoffed, "And I can see that you trained your dear partner to ignore my words. You're no fun at all."

"And I can see that you told the children to stay quiet while you tried to rile us up." I countered, "How naughty of you. You should let the kids talk. Who knows? They might have something more intelligent to say than the mockery that was spewing from your mouth."

She rolled her eyes, "And when they do start talking, they never shut up." Both of the twins smiled cheekily at her words, "I just wanted the peace and quiet."

I ignored her and just smiled at the twins, "Do you like working with Agatha?"

They both nodded with big smiles, though they still didn't say anything, "Well that's good. Make sure she doesn't fall over during the match. It's not good for someone her age to exert herself like this."

"And it's not good for kids like you to get so mouthy to your elders." She shot back, though the kids were already giggling. Even Roxanne had a small smile on her face, "Bah, the disrespect from you."

She was cut off by the referee making their appearance known with a standard announcement speech. Realizing that the time for talk was over, we all shared one final nod before we took our positions and got ready for the fight ahead.

This was going to be the final hurdle, but if Agatha was hoping to unnerve me then she had failed miserably. Victory would be mine.

"TRAINERS! ARE YOU READY?!" All five of us nodded.

"Three!...TWO!...ONE!...FIGHT!"

Luna and Sudowoodo came out on our side while a Gengar and Claydol came out on theirs. Luna immediately began setting up with what looked like a Calm Mind, while Claydol did the same as it began setting up both a Reflect and Light Screen before that was shut down by a Taunt from Sudowoodo.

It was a weak Taunt, and wouldn't hold for very long, but it did its job.

Of course, that left Gengar unchecked, and with a cackle, the Ghost had already blinked behind Sudowoodo and blasted it with a powerful volley of Energy Balls. Sudowoodo stumbled from the impact and tried to retaliate with a Rock Throw, but Gengar proved much too quick for it as it vanished once again – only to reappear on the right of Sudowoodo again and shot it with another barrage of Shadow Balls.

And these Shadow Balls weren't normal, as they left lingering wisps of spectral embers that managed to Burn the Rock type. Sudowoodo continued trying to fend off Gengar's unrelenting assault, to little success. The Ghost type was running circles around the slower Sudowoodo. Yet Roxanne had been well-aware of how outmatched she was, and she knew her duty was to stall for as much time as possible.

In the meanwhile, Luna was still setting up with Calm Minds. Seeing the opportunity in front of it, Claydol aggressively Teleported next to my Fairy type, causing a surprised expression to break out on Luna's face.

"Gyro Ball, Claydol! Punish it!"

"Shadow Claw."

"WAIT, STOP! YOU FOOL!"

Agatha's shouts of alarm came too late. Claydol had already begun spinning towards Luna, but instead of the look of surprise that it was expecting, Luna merely stood there with a sadistic grin on its face.

Then Luna pounced.

And Claydol was ripped apart by a single Shadow Claw, instantly cutting it down where it stood.

Claydol collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut just in time for Wraith's illusion to fade – revealing his viciously grinning figure standing victoriously over his fallen opponent.

It was a one-hit KO, just as I planned.

This entire time, 'Luna' had not been setting up with Calm Minds. Instead, Wraith was setting up with Swords Dance meant to look like Calm Minds. Therefore, with his Attack greatly boosted, a supereffective Shadow Claw would annihilate any Pokémon weak to it.

I had obviously hoped to catch Agatha off-guard with this trick, but I wasn't betting on it. She knew of Wraith's capabilities, and was always a cautious fighter.

Surprised and shocked by their sudden defeat, the twins looked unsteady as they instantly threw out their next Pokémon, a Solrock. Judging by the sudden frown on Agatha's face, that must not have been the plan. The twins likely jumped the gun.

And I wasted no time ordering Wraith to rush it down.

"Dark Pulse it, Gengar! Intercept!"

"Overheat, Solrock! Stop it!"

Agatha must have known that Solrock would not be able to fend off Wraith's assault by itself, especially not with his boosts. So Gengar abandoned Sudowoodo to its pitiful amount of remaining health and quickly reappeared next to Wraith, unleashing a Dark Pulse to try to stop his advance. But Wraith was able to block that with his own Dark Pulse, before forcing Gengar to dodge out of the way with a Shadow Claw – giving him a clear line towards Solrock.

However, that was when a scorching wave of flames erupted out from Solrock. I was about to order Wraith to put up a Protect shield, but suddenly a wall of rocks shot up from below the ground, blocking the wave of fire.

"Helping Hand, Sudowoodo!"

With the last of its energies, Sudowoodo clapped its rocky hands together as Wraith surged forwards with a Shadow Sneak, sinking quickly into the ground as he went under the flames only to burst out from in front of Solrock. Solrock was not even able to fire off a weak Psychic before it was mercilessly eviscerated with a boosted Shadow Claw.

Yet Gengar hadn't been standing there idle. Punishing Wraith's choice to ignore it, it let out another cackle as a vicious Curse set into Wraith, putting him on a timer as the unnatural and malicious energies began to rip through his body from the inside out.

But Wraith powered through the pain as he remained locked onto his target. Still stumbling from its injuries, and visibly panicking, the twins desperately ordered Solrock to Teleport away from there, only for it to be immediately shut down by a Taunt.

Wraith quickly followed that up by unleashing a point-blank Dark Pulse, blasting Solrock with the full intensity of its Dark power while also managing to block the incoming Dark Pulse from Gengar. Then, with the vicious and ruthless savageness that I've come to expect from him, Wraith tore Solrock apart as he violently shredded through the Psychic type with a flurry of Shadow Claws like the spectre of vengeance that he was.

Realising that rescuing Solrock was a lost cause, Gengar pragmatically abandoned its teammate as it blinked towards the tired Sudowoodo, bringing it down with a few Energy Balls that the Rock type barely had the energy to resist.

I thought that we had just secured an incredible lead, up until a violent Psychic Explosion abruptly detonated.

Solrock had just Exploded, sending out wave after wave of ruinous Psychic energy that flooded the arena. The arena was instantly turned into a ruin, with a spiderweb of glowing cracks now littering the arena from the resulting shockwaves of the detonation. And in the epicentre, I could barely make out a small crater that had formed which pulsed with glowing pink energy.

That clearly was no normal Explosion.

I frowned; there was no chance that Wraith could have survived that blast when he was hit by it face-first, not when he was also Cursed. He wasn't Smough.

As the dust began to fade, I had already accepted Wraith's defeat as I turned to Roxanne, "It's going to a 2v1 against both of Agatha's Gengars. Send out your best, stay defensive, and support me."

She nodded, accepting her role. We both knew that just because we had knocked the twins out of the fight, as I had planned, didn't mean that our victory was secured. In fact, it was far from it, as the battle was still a 2v2 – just that Agatha could only use one Pokémon at a time.

And there was no way Agatha was going to make things easy for us.

Then, with visibility now returning, I saw what I had expected. Both Wraith and Solrock were knocked out, but Gengar had evidently managed to avoid the blast with its shadowy tricks.

I gave Roxanne a nod and we both sent out our final Pokémon.

"Probopass, stay strong!"

"Vordt, go!"

Even though Probopass was Roxanne's starter, it was Vordt's presence that dominated the battlefield as he landed on the ground with an audible thump. I was initially tempted to make use of Smough, but knowing how slow both him and Probopass were, I feared Agatha's nimble and agile Gengar could run circles around the both of us.

So I wasn't taking risks. Wraith had done very well for himself this Tournament, and had really shown how useful he could be with his Illusions, but now was time for the big guns.

Now was the time for strength.

"URSA!!!!" My second most powerful Pokémon roared in a display of dominance, wasting no time as rocks began shooting out from the ground, immediately putting Gengar on the defensive. Frail as Gengar was, a single hit from any of these rocks might be enough to bring it down.

For the first time during this fight, Gengar was actually the one being pressured, as it found itself completely surrounded and overwhelmed by the sheer landslide of rocks shooting its way. It tried to make more space for itself by firing off its own Shadow Balls, but there was no chance that it could match the sheer volume of attacks from Vordt.

Gengar tried to sneak in a few Energy Balls towards Vordt, but they were quickly shredded in the air by his endless Rock Slide.

In the meanwhile, Probopass whipped up a Sandstorm that covered the whole arena, giving it a much needed Special Defense boost against the barrage of Special Attacks that was bound to come its way. Then, Probopass' eyes narrowed in concentration as it began trying to Lock-On to the Gengar, which Gengar failed to notice as it was too busy trying to fend off Vordt.

Vordt continued pressuring Gengar, never letting up with his Rock Slides to buy time for Probopass. Then, as soon as the Lock-On could be properly targeted, Probopass buzzed as it gave the signal.

"ZAP CANNON!"

A single orb of crackling electricity burst out from the Probopass, rocketing through the air with incredible speed. Caught off-guard, Gengar didn't have any chance to block it and was suddenly struck by a crippling wave of paralysis, causing the Ghost type to momentarily fall out of the air.

"Headlong Rush!"

Seeing the opportunity, Vordt moved. He let out a bellowing roar as he tore a deep trench through the arena with his charge and savagely smashed right into the paralysed Gengar, headbutting it with the entirety of his incredible might.

Gengar was sent flying uncontrollably through the air like it was nothing more than a crash dummy. It shattered against the psychic shields of the arena; the sheer force of Vordt's assault decimating the frail Ghost type in an instant.

This was the difference between fighting 1v1 and 2v1. Even though Probopass would be utterly outclassed in a 1v1 duel, and Vordt would have difficulty landing a decisive blow as he just did, the fact that Gengar had to deal with both Vordt AND Probopass simultaneously was a completely different story. It had no space to make use of its usual ghostly tricks.

In high-level battles like this, it only takes one mistake for you to lose a fight, and having one more opponent to deal with only makes it more likely that you make that mistake. Hence why I prioritised knocking out the twins as quickly as possible.

However, despite her Gengar's defeat, that didn't rub the smirk off Agatha's face, "Oh? Did I unnerve you? Don't you know you're supposed to take it easy on the elderly – you shouldn't be using one of your strongest Pokémon against frail old me."

I snorted, "Yeah, and the moment I take it easy on you would be the moment you knock me out of the Tournament. Come on now, don't pretend like you're intimidated by my Ursaluna. We both know you can match him."

"Is that a challenge that I hear?" She grinned, "Well, you seem pretty eager to make it to the Top 3. But I don't think getting there should be too easy for you. I think it's better if I make you work for it."

With that said, she sent out her final Pokémon. It was another Gengar.

But this Gengar was different to the one that she just sent out. I didn't know what it was – since it looked identical to the previous one – but there was just this aura that it gave off that betrayed the immense spectral strength that lied beneath its small stature.

And Agatha immediately proved my suspicions right as she began giving out orders.

"Shadow Ball."

Vordt immediately repositioned his rocks to form a wall between him and Probopass and Agatha's Gengar, ready to block the incoming volley of spectral orbs. However, instead of shooting out from Gengar in a straight line, the Shadow Balls instead disappeared into small shadowy portals that were created by Gengar before they suddenly shot out from behind Probopass as a portal had formed in its own shadow.

Despite its impressive defences, Probopass still let out a buzz of pain as ghostly embers began spreading across its metallic frame. In retaliation, Vordt let out a stomp as an enormous artillery of giant rock spears shot towards Gengar, but this time, instead of dodging, Gengar threw up a huge wall of shadow that blocked the incoming Stone Edge.

The wall wasn't able to block everything – Vordt's geokinesis was too powerful for that – but it blocked enough so that Gengar's natural evasiveness could handle the rest.

Then a maniacal cackle echoed throughout the arena as Gengar released two vengeful Curses against both of our Pokémon, immediately putting us both on a timer. I knew we had to take out this Gengar quickly.

I tapped Roxanne on the shoulder, miming a clapping gesture that she quickly understood.

"Helping Hand, Probopass!"

"TAUNT!"

In an unconventional use of Helping Hand, instead of boosting a direct attacking move, I had it boost up a Taunt. The boosted Taunt created a bolt of Dark energy that speared right through a surprised Gengar, and I watched as its eyes rapidly filled with rage.

The surprise wasn't just limited to Gengar though, as Agatha's face also betrayed her shock.

This was another specific move combination that I had planned with Roxanne. Knowing Agatha trained Karen, I knew a standard Taunt would likely be ineffective. But a Helping Hand boosted Taunt was a completely different story.

And now, with the Taunt setting in, I knew I had a small window where Gengar would be deprived of its usual arsenal of disruptive moves, and I had to take full advantage of it.

However, despite being enraged, Gengar didn't move in aggressively like most other Pokémon would. Instead, it maintained enough rationality to keep its distance and not allow itself to lose itself to the Taunt-induced anger.

Then Gengar moved, using its incredible speed as it charged and practically reappeared next to Probopass. Probopass fired off its Zap Cannon, only for it to be deflected by a perfectly aimed Focus Blast.

Vordt tried to intercept with a Stone Edge, but Gengar proved too nimble as it danced around the sharp rocks before blasting Probopass with another point-blank, quadruple effective Focus Blast.

But, to mine and Agatha's surprise, Probopass didn't stumble. Instead, it Endured the attack with its impressive defences before it rammed itself forwards, crashing into the unprepared Gengar with an Iron Head. Probopass immediately tried to follow up with a Thunder Wave, but Gengar wasn't on Agatha's team for nothing as it recovered quickly enough to dodge out of the way.

Gengar reappeared behind Probopass already being surrounded by a defensive circle of Shadow Balls – which correctly predicted and dispersed my attempt to ambush it with a Stone Edge. Then, before Probopass could react to what was happening, another volley of devastating Focus Blasts came smashing into its back.

This time, powerful defences or not, Probopass let out a pained whirl as it nearly collapsed face-first into the ground – tanking through back-to-back 4x supereffective moves proving too much for it. Coupled with the earlier Curse, and I knew Probopass was moments away from fainting.

In the meanwhile, Vordt had set himself on fire to activate his Guts and had charged towards Gengar, hoping to take advantage of Gengar's decision to focus on Probopass. I could see the taunting grin on the Ghost's face as it prepared to dodge away, only for that grin to turn into a surprised gasp as it suddenly stumbled backwards as a single rock shot out from the ground.

In one final act of defiance, Roxanne's starter forcefully endured through its injuries one last time and mustered up the last of its energies to trip Gengar up with a weak Stone Edge, but it came just as the perfect time to trip up Gengar for long enough for Vordt to come crashing into it.

Probopass managed to let out one final buzz of content before it fell unconscious. But it had more than done its job.

However, just before Vordt smashed into Gengar, a group of shadowy tendrils suddenly burst out of the ground that wrapped around the charging Vordt as it tried to hold my raging Ground type back. The spectral tendrils pulled against Vordt, restraining him to the ground while Gengar prepared to leap away into safety while preparing a Focus Blast.

Had it been a weaker Pokémon that was ensnared, Agatha's sudden surprise move would have saved her Gengar. But not against Vordt. Not against his unstoppable charge. Not against his strength.

"URSA!!!" And so, with a roar of utter defiance, Vordt slammed a paw into the ground, releasing a powerful shockwave of tectonic energies that tore apart the ghostly tendrils holding him back like they were little more than paper. Then he rocketed forwards in a brown blur as he ferociously slammed straight into Gengar with his full, uncompromising strength before it could escape – clamping down his paws around Gengar in an iron grip as he sent it skidding across the ground.

To its credit, Gengar only cackled at the pain – as if it was amused by it – before trying to force Vordt off with another Focus Blast. But that was quickly silenced as Vordt smashed down with a savage, Guts-boosted Payback.

The ground shattered from the impact of the blow, as Gengar's face was practically shoved into the ground. Then the ground erupted once more as Vordt unleashed a mighty Earthquake, sending wave after wave of powerful seismic energy through Gengar and into the ground. The resulting tremors detonated from underneath Gengar, launching the Ghost type into the air before a final Sucker Punch sent it crashing limply into the ground.

As much training as it had gone through, a frail Gengar was not able to withstand tanking through back-to-back blows from Vordt's overwhelming strength, especially after being boosted with Guts.

The fight was over.

Seeing Gengar faint, I was half-expecting Vordt to go down too from a Destiny Bond. Yet, it never happened; it looks like the Helping-Hand boosted Taunt from earlier lasted long enough.

I breathed a sigh of relief; I did not want to refight Agatha, though I had already made plans to just use both Vordt and Tyrant if I had really had to.

A sudden cheer from my right broke me out of my thoughts.

"WE DID IT, JOHN!" Roxanne cried out happily.

"WE WON!"