At 11:00 PM, the final Contest Battle of the Group A audition round at last entered its preparation stage.
The packed schedule had been a serious test of endurance for Aresdra and her partners.
Since Aresdra only had Torchic and Riolu available for battle, the two of them had been going almost non-stop. A Contest Battle only lasted five minutes, but because they had won their way through each round, they had barely any time to rest between matches. On top of that, the wear from each battle had added up, and both Pokemon were running dangerously low on stamina.
Torchic had it the worst. Unlike the tough, hardened Riolu, who carried himself like a seasoned athlete, Torchic was still a little chick that needed looking after. It had also been carrying the bulk of the damage output through the previous five battles. Now, Torchic sat slumped at the edge of the table, struggling to keep its eyes open.
If this were a game, Torchic would have completely run out of PP.
"Chic... tor..." it muttered weakly, as if to say it could not even manage a single Ember anymore.
But reality gave Aresdra no room to feel sorry for it. Her next opponent had a full lineup of eight Pokemon, every one of them at strength well above Elite Trainer level. Even if she called Nova over and they faced Thelma together, they would still have a hard time pulling through.
Even Nova's strongest partners, Nidoking and Corviknight, could only barely keep up with the core of Thelma's team. His younger Pokemon, still in their early stages, stood no chance whatsoever.
Thelma entering a competition at this level was nothing short of bullying. She could easily win every single match with just one Pokemon, knocking out opponents the moment they stepped onto the field, spending almost no stamina at all. And she had eight Pokemon of that caliber to choose from.
Aresdra looked at Torchic dozing off at the table and Riolu sitting quietly against the chair, eyes closed, squeezing out every last bit of rest it could get. Then, slowly, very reluctantly, she turned her gaze to the Poke Ball sitting beside her. Inside it was that goofy-looking Psyduck.
Today had already been a disaster.
She had barely spent any time with the Psyduck before this. She had heard from Nova about its long history of causing trouble, but she had not truly grasped just how much chaos the thing could bring until she saw it for herself.
Still, she did not blame it. Psyduck was, by nature, a big airhead. There was no point in getting upset over that.
It was also, right now, her most important partner.
Aresdra pressed her forehead gently against the Poke Ball and spoke in a voice so quiet it could only be heard by the Pokemon inside.
"DIO, can I trust you?"
"Psyyy?"
The Psyduck tilted its head inside the ball. That was probably the best answer she was going to get.
Aresdra let out a slow breath.
"Fine. If it goes badly, it goes badly. I've already made a fool of myself once today anyway."
She looked one more time at the worn-out Torchic. Then she made her decision.
The host's voice rang out across the stage. Both contestants were being called to take their positions.
With a look in her eyes like someone who had already accepted the worst, Aresdra picked up Psyduck's Poke Ball and walked forward.
The two contestants took their places on their respective command platforms on either side of the stage. The live broadcast equipment was still being set up, so the official battle had not yet begun.
Aresdra leaned back against the wall of her platform, eyes down, thinking quietly to herself. Then she heard a small round of applause coming from the other side of the stage.
It was Thelma.
Aresdra looked up, puzzled.
Thelma smiled, looking perfectly composed and more than a little pleased with herself. "I'm clapping because your stage performances were genuinely wonderful. The most beautiful ones I've seen all year."
Aresdra was not entirely sure where Thelma was going with this, but she smiled and thanked her anyway.
Then came Thelma's real point.
"That said, I'll be honest. After watching my previous battles, the fact that you still have the nerve to stand across from me... I do think that takes some courage."
Aresdra understood now. Thelma was trying to get into her head before the match started.
The trouble was, Thelma had grown up under the careful watch of her father, a Gym Leader, and it showed. Her character was too gentle for trash talk. What she had just said sounded more like a polite compliment than an intimidating remark.
Who was honestly going to feel shaken by that?
The small knot of nerves Aresdra had been carrying eased almost immediately. She even found herself thinking that if Thelma ever ran into Nova, she would be teased without mercy.
The corners of Aresdra's mouth turned up before she could stop them.
Thelma, seeing that her opponent was not only unfazed but actually smiling, felt her composure slip. She opened her mouth to say something sharper, but something about the other girl's expression stopped her cold.
It was familiar. Too familiar.
That was the exact same look Nova put on before every battle with her. Three parts amusement, three parts mockery, and then underneath it all, something that felt uncomfortably like the fondness of an older sibling looking at a younger one.
"How dare you!" Thelma thought, bristling. "Don't look down on me!"
"You and that moron Nova both deserve a good thrashing from my Vine Whip!"
In fairness to Aresdra, she had not meant to look down on Thelma at all. She had simply spent enough time around Nova that some of his attitude had quietly rubbed off on her without her noticing.
Either way, the result was that Thelma, who had come in planning to rattle her opponent, was now the one rattled. She made a firm decision: no mercy in this final.
The match officially began.
Thelma did not bother thinking about what Pokemon her opponent might send out. She went straight for her strongest pair.
"I'm counting on you both! Sceptile! Meganium!"
The two Grass-type Pokemon leapt onto the field.
Then Thelma saw what she was up against.
Riolu. And a Psyduck with a nearly featherless backside.
For a moment, she looked ready to lose her mind on the spot.
"You're just making fun of me, aren't you!"
The Psyduck stood in the middle of the field with a completely blank expression, as if it had no idea where it was or what was happening. A ripple of laughter ran through the crowd.
"I genuinely cannot stop laughing every time I see this duck."
"Contestant Aresdra probably figured she couldn't win anyway, so she decided to at least give everyone a good show."
"What if the Psyduck is actually her ace?"
"Actually... you might be onto something. Maybe the reason she didn't use it before had nothing to do with it being hopeless."
Up on a mountain somewhere, watching the livestream on his Rotom Phone, Nova had already covered his eyes with one hand.
Of all the people in the venue, the one who looked the most anxious about this final was not either contestant standing on the stage. It was a sixteen-year-old boy sitting alone on a mountainside, watching through a small screen and absolutely dreading what came next.