The first round went by fast. Ellen won her round by defeating Pitt's pokemon, Snivy and Zigzagoon, in a short battle, only using her Pikachu. She advanced to the Second Round. The third matchup is between Pitt's twin brother, Holly, against a short, overconfident brat, named Will. Holly, with his Chameleon, defeated all three of Will's pokemon in one shot, advancing to the second round. The fourth matchup was won by the terrified girl, Lila, with her Cherubi, advancing to the second round. Four other matches was finished along with four other trainers advancing.
Now that all the matches for the first round is finished, it's time for the second round. The matchups had been made: Elias versus Grant, Ellen versus Lila, Holly versus Keir, Cici versus Faith.
***
The energy in the competitor's lounge had shifted. The wide-eyed nervousness of the first round was gone, replaced by a sharper, more focused tension. Sixteen had become eight. The easy matches, the lucky draws, were over. Everyone left had proven they could win.
Elias sat in his usual corner, cleaning a smudge of dust from Krokorok's pokeball. He'd reviewed the minimal data on his next opponent, Grant. A trainer who favored rock and ground types, who had won his first match with a relentless, straightforward Geodude. On paper, it was a favorable matchup for Krokorok, especially if Grant led with another rock type. But "on paper" had almost gotten Staravia skewered by a Hawlucha. He would not make the same assumption twice.
The door to the arena tunnels hissed open, and a stadium attendant in a bright vest leaned in.
"Elias? Grant? You're up. Follow me."
Elias stood, clipping the pokeball back to his belt. Across the room, a tall trainer with close-cropped red hair stood as well. Grant. He met Elias's gaze with confidence.
They followed the attendant towards the tunnel where they went on separate ways with Elias going to the left, and Grant to the right.
"And now, kicking off our second round of the Novice Clash! On the left side of the field, a trainer who demonstrated devastating aerial tactics in his first match, Elias!"
Elias walked to his box, his eyes scanning the field.
"And on the right side... the trainer who destroyed his opponent without breaking a sweat, Grant!"
Grant stood across from him, already holding a pokeball, his jaw set.
The referee gave the standard instructions.
"One-on-one match. Begin on my signal. Ready?"
Both trainers nodded.
"BEGIN!"
"Go! Geodude!"
"Krokorok."
The two pokemon hit the field. Grant's Geodude was solid, its rocky fists already clenched. Elias's Krokorok landed in a ready crouch, its gaze fixed.
"Start with Brick Break, Krokorok." Elias commanded, not wasting a second.
Krokorok's arm glowed with a sharp, white energy as it lunged forward, aiming to shatter the Geodude's defenses from the outset.
Grant's eyes widened slightly.
"Geodude, Rock Throw!"
Geodude scooped up a chunk of the ground, forming a jagged rock, and hurled it at the charging Krokorok. The rock met the glowing fist mid-air.
CRACK!
The rock exploded into harmless dust, the force barely slowing Krokorok's charge. It closed the distance, its empowered fist swinging down toward Geodude's core.
"Not so fast! Mega Punch, now!" Grant barked, a desperate counter.
Geodude's own fist glowed with a powerful light and shot forward to meet Krokorok's head-on.
Instead of completing, Krokorok altered its trajectory at the last millisecond. Its glowing fist opened and grabbed. Krokorok's claws clamped around Geodude's fist, catching the blow in a shower of sparking energy. The two pokemon stood locked, straining against each other, Krokorok holding the powerful punch at bay.
The crowd gasped at the sheer audacity and control.
"Sand Tomb." Elias said, his voice cool.
Still holding Geodude's fist, Krokorok opened its jaws and unleashed a whirlpool of grinding sand point-blank into its face and body.
Geodude cried out, blinded and scoured, its struggle weakening as the sand ground at its stony hide.
"That's not gonna work!" Grant yelled. He raised a second pokeball. "Go, Sandslash! Use Rapid Spin!"
In a flash of red light, the Geodude vanished. In its place, a Sandslash materialized already in motion. It curled into a spiky ball and revolved with incredible speed, becoming a buzzing, whirling sawblade. The Rapid Spin ripped through the lingering Sand Tomb, dissipating it, and shot directly towards the still-grounded Krokorok.
Krokorok's eyes widened slightly and its opened its arms wide. Sandslash's whirling, spiked form slammed into Krokorok's chest, trying to bore through. Krokorok skidded back several feet, its claws digging deep gouges into the ground to halt the momentum.
With a guttural roar of effort, Krokorok heaved.
It redirected the spin, using the Sandslash's own momentum. It pivoted its entire body and hurled the whirling pokemon back across the field.
Sandslash uncurled mid-air, landing in a skid, its Rapid Spin broken. It shook its head, momentarily disoriented by the sudden change.
A space opened between them. The air was thick with dust and tension.
Krokorok straightened up. It planted its feet firmly. Then, slowly, it raised one clawed hand. Not in a fist, but with its palm open, facing the Sandslash. It curled its fingers inward twice in a clear, unmistakable "come here" gesture. The gesture was crude, almost mocking. And then, a wide, toothy grin split its jaws—a grin that held no joy, only a challenge.
The crowd's murmur swelled into a roar of mixed shock and delight.
Elias watched, his own expression unchanging, but his mind whirred. Krokorok's bond, its understanding of battle, was evolving beyond simple obedience. It was reading the opponent, understanding the psychology of the fight. It was trying to provoke the faster, more agile Sandslash into a reckless charge.
Across the field, Grant's face flushed with anger.
"Don't let it mock you! Sandslash, use Slash! Show it who's faster!"
Elias formed a small smile on his lips. He doesn't why, but that mock of Krokorok made him feel... excitement?
"Don't get angry now. Krokorok, Dragon Claw!"
The commands clashed in the charged air. Grant's Sandslash shot forward in a blur, its claws elongated and gleaming with the white energy of Slash. It moved with furious speed, aiming to carve Krokorok apart in a series of rapid, slicing strikes.
Krokorok planted its back foot, bracing itself. Its own claws erupted with purple aura that lengthened into shimmering, sickle-like projections.
The first slash came in high. Krokorok raised its claw, meeting it with a ringing screech of energy on energy, blocking the strike.
The second slash came low, aiming for the legs. Krokorok pivoted, bringing its other claw down in a sweeping parry, deflecting the blow with another shower of sparks.
And soon, It became a violent, breathtaking dance. Sandslash was a whirlwind of motion, its attacks coming from all angles. Krokorok movements was slower, but immensely powerful, each claw swing a crushing barrier.
The crowd was on its feet, roaring with each collision.
With each parry, Krokorok was studying the rhythm with a grin. It took a shallow cut across its shoulder, another along its thigh, but its expression never wavered.
"Faster! Don't let up, Sandslash! Fury Swipes!"
Sandslash redoubled its efforts, its claws becoming a blur of white, attacking with wild, repetitive fury.
And that was the mistake.
The Fury Swipes came in a set pattern: high, low, high, center. Krokorok, reading the rhythm, took the third high swipe on its raised forearm, letting the claws scrape against its scales. Then, as Sandslash committed to the center thrust…
"Now. Finish it." Elias said, his voice a flat line of certainty.
Krokorok didn't parry. It grabbed. Its Dragon Claw-wreathed hand shot forward to seize. It clamped around Sandslash's wrist mid-thrust, halting the Fury Swipes dead.
For a split second, the two pokemon were frozen, locked together, Krokorok's crushing grip containing Sandslash's frantic energy.
Then, Krokorok's other Dragon Claw swung in a brutal, horizontal arc.
THWUMP-CRACK!
The empowered claw struck Sandslash squarely in the side. Sandslash was lifted clean off its feet, a choked cry escaping it as it was smashed sideways, tumbling across the turf in a heap.
It tried to push itself up, its body trembling, but its limbs gave out. It collapsed, eyes swirling.
Grant recalled Sandslash and brings out Geodude's pokeball once more for the final showdown.
"Geodude! Finish this!"
The red light coalesced back into the familiar, rocky form of the Geodude. It landed with a solid thump, its stony fists raised, ready to brawl.
But there was no final showdown.
Because Krokorok was already moving.
The moment the Geodude's form solidified, a dark shape blurred across the space.
SWOOSH!
It covered the ground in two thunderous strides. By the time Geodude's brain registered the threat, Krokorok was already there, looming over it.
That savage, toothy grin was back, wider than ever, filled with the knowledge of absolute superiority. Geodude's eyes widened in pure terror.
Krokorok's claw, still shimmering with the residual energy of the Dragon Claw, didn't need to wind up. It was already in motion from the charge. It swung in a short, devastating arc.
KR-SHUNK!!!
Krokorok's claw hit Geodude's rocky torso, sending it flying across the field. It landed in front of its trainer. Its eyes swirling.
The stadium, which had been roaring moments before, fell into a silence so profound Elias could hear the hum of the stadium lights.
The fight was over.
The referee stared, blinked, then slowly raised her flag.
"Geodude is unable to battle... Grant has no more usable pokemon. The winner, and advancing to the third round, is Elias."
The announcement broke the silence, and the crowd erupted in cheers.
Elias recalled Krokorok. The pokeball was hot to the touch, vibrating with a fierce, satisfied energy. He looked across the field. Grant was on his knees, staring blankly at his fallen Geodude, all confidence and defiance utterly crushed.
Turning his back on the spectacle, Elias walked into the tunnel. The noise of the crowd faded, replaced by the sound of his own footsteps and the low thrum of victory in his veins.
The third round is next. His next opponent would be tougher. He needed to check his pokemon recovery, review the bracket—
He turned a corner and stopped.
Ellen stood directly in his path, blocking the way to the lounge. She was staring right at him, and the bright, performative energy she'd carried since the Pokemon Center was utterly gone. Her expression was dark, serious, her jaw set.
Her Pikachu was on her shoulder, not cheerfully waving its tail, but tense, its cheeks sparking faintly with electricity.
They stood in silence for a long moment, the distant cheer of the crowd was the only sound between them.
"I know I don't have the right to ask this, but... who were you talking to in that corridor last night?" Ellen finally spoke. Her voice was low, and it trembled slightly with suppressed emotion.
Elias met her gaze, his own face its usual blank slate. He said nothing.
Ellen took a step closer. The fear in her eyes was now mixed with a desperate need to understand.
"I heard her. That woman. She called you by name. She talked about a 'Boss'. About a 'mission'. About a 'Bell Tower'." Her voice dropped to a harsh whisper. "She told you to win."
She took another step, now just an arm's length away. Her Pikachu let out a low warning chirp.
"Your aura... it was different from any other trainers. It's easy to approach you, but it's hard to understand you. When I first met you in Talroc City, I tried to intrude in your space. And you let me in easily. That's not the attitude of someone working for evil." She swallowed hard, her own eyes searching his for any flicker of the person she'd tried to befriend. "Elias... who are you?"
The question landed differently this time. It wasn't "Are you part of something evil?" It was a deeper, more personal probe. It bypassed the organization, the mission, and went straight to the core of the blank slate Martin had found in the ashes.
And for the first time, Elias's expression flickered. His blankness cracked, not with anger or fear, but with genuine surprise. His brows drew together slightly, a faint, perplexed line appearing between them.
He realized that he had no prepared response for this.
Who are you?