"What will you do then? Personally send Hakuya to the Elite Four's seat?" Cynthia asked casually, her golden eyes never leaving the screen.
In the broadcast, Kirlia gracefully floated above the battlefield using her psychic powers. This trick, borrowed from Espurr, allowed her to maintain her balance despite the swampy terrain.
The Rain Dance that Marill had performed earlier had turned the ground into a quagmire; moving across it conventionally would have been nearly impossible.
Cynthia's lips curled ever so slightly at the sight, and she nodded in approval.
Beside her, Bertha lifted her teacup and took a slow, measured sip before speaking. "The role of the old is to pave the way for the young. If stepping aside helps someone adapt to their new path more smoothly, why wouldn't I?"
Cynthia smirked. "Just like you did for me back then?"
Bertha glanced at her reflection in the tea's surface. A faint smile tugged at her lips. "Back then, many questioned me. They asked if Cynthia really had the qualifications to become Champion. They asked if she was worth the personal examination and if breaking precedent for her was justified."
Her voice softened with memory. "I told them I saw a rising star. I said she was someone destined to shine so brightly that she would define her era. Compared to her, all I had was experience. The future would belong to her."
She paused and flipped open the photo album at her side until she reached a familiar page.
The picture showed Cynthia's final battle before her coronation as Champion. Both trainers and their Pokémon were covered in scratches, bruises, and dust. Exhausted yet unyielding.
At the League's request, both sides had posed together after the battle; that moment was etched in time.
In the photo, Cynthia clutched her Garchomp in elation while Bertha leaned against her Hippowdon, weary yet content. Behind them loomed an ocean of faces—an audience that had witnessed the birth of a new legend.
Bertha traced the edge of the photo with her thumb. "They say Cynthia's legend began when she defeated the last three members of the Elite Four. But no, it began that day: The day I entrusted everything to her. That was when she ushered in a new era, and I stepped into the shadows."
Her gaze shifted back to the screen, where Hakuya's Dunsparce wriggled across the sodden battlefield. "Hakuya is my gift to the Sinnoh League. He is unlike you: He is shy, quiet, and reserved. He battles not for ambition or glory, but to respond to the feelings of his Pokémon. And yet, he has taken each step to reach this point."
She folded her hands together. "No, he will never become Champion. But that isn't his role. He will give courage to those who doubt themselves: To those who shrink from the world. He will give hope to the broken, the overlooked, and the imperfect. In him, they will see hope."
Down on the battlefield, Kirlia's Psychic collided with Dunsparce's Shadow Ball repeatedly, with each collision creating an explosion of mud and smoke.
Dunsparce, however, looked utterly at home. The drenched ground delighted him. He burrowed rapidly through the swampy soil and popped up from hidden tunnels. Every time Kirlia closed in, Dunsparce slithered into another escape route and vanished just as quickly as he appeared.
It was the same maddening tactic Luther had once used when Marill hounded Kangaskhan by darting in and out of reach. Now, the tables had turned. Dunsparce was the one weaving through the battlefield, tormenting Kirlia from below.
Kirlia could sense the faint vibrations whenever Dunsparce tunneled underground. However, Hakuya had commanded Dunsparce to carve a web of tunnels across the swampy field. Even when Kirlia predicted his path, her attack would only tear through empty air as Dunsparce slipped away into the next burrow.
Staring at the elusive serpent, Luther made his decision.
"Trick Room!"
A pulse of invisible force spread across the arena. The air thickened and reality itself twisted as the natural flow of time reversed. Dunsparce's movements faltered as if unseen chains had coiled around him. For the first time, his rhythm was broken.
Hakuya's brows knitted.
Trick Room was a cruel and simple reality where the slower Pokémon ran faster, struck harder, and struck first.
Dunsparce emerged from the muck, confused by the sudden shift. His instincts screamed that something fundamental had changed. Guided by Hakuya's harmonica, Dunsparce steadied himself and lashed out with an Air Slash.
But Kirlia, now terrifyingly quick under Trick Room's distortion, unleashed a Psychic attack before Dunsparce could finish his movement. The psychic blast hit squarely, throwing the plump serpent across the sodden ground.
Bertha's sharp voice cut through the commentary box. "A smart adjustment! The terrain favors Dunsparce far too much. Removing the speed advantage was the only realistic solution. But the real question is, how long can Luther keep this up?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Kirlia is floating with psychic force to stay out of reach, but, unlike Espurr, she has a heavier frame. That strain accelerates fatigue. Every second she hovers, she burns through her stamina."
Luther also knew it. Trick Room had given him breathing room and the chance to strike first, but Hakuya's Dunsparce was absurdly resilient.
The serpent had already absorbed multiple Psychic blasts and suffered lowered defenses from repeated strikes, yet he still stood firm, refusing to waver. His arsenal was staggering, and his versatility was terrifying.
Flying-type: Air Slash.
Ground-type: Dig.
Ice-type: Ice Beam.
Electric-type: Thunderbolt.
Dark-type: Bite.
Water-type: Water Pulse.
Psychic-type: Zen Headbutt.
Steel-type: Iron Tail.
Rock-type: Rock Slide.
He has nine different attack types, not including his own Normal typing.
Yet, despite his arsenal, Dunsparce showed no hesitation. His moves chained together seamlessly; not a hint of fatigue showed on his chubby body.
A fresh Rock Slide thundered down. Accelerated by Trick Room, Kirlia caught the falling shards midair with her psychic grip. She added stones torn from the battlefield itself, compressed the rubble into a jagged mass, and hurled it back at her enemy.
Dunsparce flicked his gleaming tail upward. His Iron Tail cut through the flying boulder, smashing it to gravel. Then, as smoothly as ever, he slipped back beneath the mud.
Luther clenched his teeth. He knew perfectly well what Hakuya was doing. That vast movepool and seamless flow burned stamina, so Dunsparce retreated after each exchange. He caught brief rests in his tunnels before reemerging refreshed.
Luther understood it all. Yet, he had no way to stop it. Sending Kirlia underground would be suicide.
The earth stirred again, and Dunsparce popped up and spat mud that splattered against Kirlia.
Mud Slap!
But, once again, Trick Room gave Kirlia the initiative. Her Psychic attack struck first, hammering Dunsparce back into the ground.
Luther was conserving what little stamina he had left. Every movement drained Kirlia faster. Unlike Dunsparce, who could recover energy in his burrows, she was overexerting herself just to stay aloft. A heavier move now could shatter her endurance altogether.
If he wanted to break through, he'd need something more. He needed that move.
Then, like a clock snapping back into place, Trick Room collapsed. The oppressive distortion of reality vanished, and Dunsparce's movements quickened once more.
The field was his again.
"Looks like Luther still hasn't found a way to deal with all those burrows," Bertha sighed. Yet, even in her words of concern, admiration slipped through. Luther's resilience and willingness to adapt could not be denied.
He was standing against Hakuya, a trainer who, with just a little more polish, could one day stand among the Elite Four. The path would still demand that he surpass the rest of the core Gym Leaders, but even now, his strength was unmistakably above Luther's.
And yet, here they were. The battle showed no sign of being one-sided.
If Cynthia's words rang true, and Luther grew stronger every single time she crossed paths with him...
Then who was sharpening whom today?
Was Luther the whetstone against which Hakuya honed his edge? Or was Hakuya the grindstone carving Luther into something sharper?
No, perhaps it wasn't either.
Perhaps these two were not blade and whetstone at all. Perhaps they were both blades, clashing with everything they had, desperate to prove their cut was deeper, their steel was truer.
(End of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395