Like No One Ever Was

When we got to the central battle court, the atmosphere was different. People were tired from cheering throughout the rest of the day, but there was a buzz of excitement as we neared the last few rounds. The crowd was also larger than before, spilling out down the stairs and streets that led to the arena. Some of these people are just interested in the conclusion of this tournament, so they weren’t watching before.

The path cleared up as we walked through, people pointing at me as I passed, whispering. Part of me wanted to listen in and hear what they were saying about me, but I knew it wasn’t important and would just be distracting.

The crowd gathered around the rainbow mosaic arena, all standing outside the large ring that encircled the battlefield. The ring itself was made of colorful tiles, each one with the color and symbol representing one of the 18 Types. I saw Cyan, Arven, and Turo standing near the Steel tile. No sign of O’Nare or Billy, figures.

I ran over to my friend and sister, suppressing a shiver from a cold breeze that passed. “Did you guys see all my matches?”

“Yes! You were amazing, sis!”

“Dunsparce is so strong! So, uh, you surely don’t need to train against Maschiff anymore, right?”

“Haha, thank you. And no way you guys are getting out of training that easily,” I told Arven, the young boy wilting.

The Professor loomed over our little huddle. “You’ve done well. You surpassed my expectations for you.”

“... Thanks?” The sad thing is, I think this is him trying to be supportive.

With the ‘pleasantries’ out of the way, he began grilling me. “I noticed you didn’t use the Tera Orb. Why?”

“Uhh, well Dun’s Terra Type is Normal, so it wouldn’t have been helpful against Dhelmise, and I gauged that I wouldn’t need it against the Bronzor. The rest weren’t really much of a challenge,” I admitted. That sounds harsh, but it is true. “There aren’t any recharge centers nearby and I wouldn’t want to give away my trump card so early on.” I’m looking to impress Tulip, after all. Using it this early would have been a huge misplay, can’t believe I almost did that.

“Huh? But I thought Terastalization made Pokemon super strong, wouldn't that have helped against Dhelmise at least?” Cyan asked. Arven looked confused as well, and Turo at least was curious as to my answer.

Clearing my throat I began a mini-lecture on the subject. “Terastalization isn't like Gigantamax or Mega Evolution, it doesn't make a Pokemon inherently stronger, it just gives them an additional Type, replacing their old ones.”

“But aren't wild Terastalized Pokemon super strong?” Arven interrupted.

“That has nothing to do with them being Terastalized. Though it is commonly co-related to strength in the wild; perhaps the relationship flows the other way? Power drawing in the natural Terastalization?” I muttered part of that mostly to myself, but from the sympathetic smile Friede had, I knew they had heard me too.

“Anyways! Terastalization doesn't make a Pokemon inherently stronger, and Dun’s Tera Type would be just as ineffectual against Dhelmise’s ghostly immunity.

“That's a shame, sounds like Tera Orbs won't be that helpful,” Friede said with a sly look at Turo.

The older Professor didn't change his facial expression, but from how he roughly grabbed and adjusted the lapels of his lab coat, I knew he was ruffled by Friede’s jab.

If it were just the two of them I'd let them verbally duke it out, but… Arven’s little face looked so worried, I couldn't help myself. Taking a deep breath, I said:

“Actually, it's possibly more impactful for competitive battling than any of the other Power Up methods. While it might not make the Pokemon stronger, their Moves are greatly impacted. Terastalization replaces your base Type or Types with whatever your Pokemon's Tera Type is. But those base Types can still enhance the Moves your Pokemon uses. So an Ice Tera Haxorus could use Ice Fangs as well as any Ice Type while Terastalized, but could also use Outrage as strong as any Dragon Type. By stacking up Types, like Dun’s Normal base Type with his Normal Tera type, his Normal Moves can become much stronger than they would be before.”

“Okay, so it can still be strong,” The young man said, waving off Turo. “But that doesn’t explain why you feel they're more impactful than a well-timed Z-Move or a powerful Gigantamax,” Friede pressed.

“That's because of how they can change things up defensively. Offense is very strong but pretty straightforward. With Pokemon that have different Tera Types, or even just matching one-half of their dual base Types, their Weaknesses, Immunities, and Resistances all change drastically. It flips entire battle strategies on their heads! And that's to say nothing about Abilities interacting weirdly with new Typings; Mismagius’ Levitation isn't a big deal regularly but on a Tera Electric Pokemon?” I shivered. Iono is definitely a wake-up call boss in the games.

Turo was distracted for a moment, greeting his fellow professor when Cyan said “Hey, Tulip is already here! I was just talking to her.” She pointed out at the crowd.

Turning to follow her finger, I spotted Dendra and Tulip standing on the other side of the battlefield, a more incongruous pair you couldn’t find. Dendra was dressed in a martial arts gi while Tulip was wearing a dress that looked like it could (and maybe actually had), just come off a runway with a Vivillion hairclip adorning her head. The former caught my gaze and started yelling loudly, waving at us. Tulip looked embarrassed at her friend’s enthusiasm but gave me a calm wave as well.

“I’m gonna go talk to Tulip and Dendra now,” I told the others, and without waiting for them to respond, walked off, my sister following close behind. As I crossed the arena, I noticed a few people staring and pointing at me.

“That was awesome! You’ve got some real fighting spirit, little lady!” Dendra exclaimed, ignoring or not noticing the newfound attention we were getting.

“You guys saw my previous matches?” I asked.

“We only arrived recently, but they’ve been replaying some highlights and you’ve shown up often,” Tulip adds. She had a small frown on her face like she was sorry about that, but I got her being busy. I’m asking her to offer a lot, without having shown how good I am yet.

“Osu! Nemona was awesome! She was all like wow, pow, waacham!” Tulip and I shared a look, and I understood how she could be embarrassed and endeared to her friend all at once. Dendra didn’t stop there though, actually having some insight into my matches. “I never knew a Dunsparce could learn Moves like those!”

“Dunsparce have a really wide range of Moves they can learn, a lot of people don’t realize. That, and we trained really hard to master those Technical Machine Moves.”

“Why would you need to do that? Doesn’t the machine give your Pokemon all the information they need?” Cyan asked. Tulip looked curious as well, waiting for my response. There’s no way a future gym leader doesn’t know this, right? This might be a test then, to see how much I know. Of course, I could be overthinking it too. She was too composed for me to read anything, so I figured I’d just explain my reasoning anyway.

“The Technical Machine teaches them the basics of how to perform the Move, yes. The Type energy they need to channel and how much but-” I shook my head, having trouble explaining it in those terms until a glance at Dendra’s gi gave me an idea.

“Ok, see, it’s like throwing a punch.” I demonstrated, throwing a quick jab in the air, using my mixed martial arts knowledge from my first life. “If you just show someone untrained that punch, they might try to copy it and get it all wrong.”

Again I threw out a jab, but this time I purposefully did it wrong. No pivot of my feet or lean of my shoulder for extra reach, wrist held not straight, elbow bent, and thumb in my fist. It was so improper that Dendra twitched painfully at the sight. “Ah, sorry about that. Uh, so the Technical Machine walks them through all the steps they need to do the Move right.” I demonstrated, using my other hand to push and adjust all the parts into place. Dendra let out a sigh of relief.

“Just like a punch though, you need to practice a Move thousands of times to make it muscle memory. So it comes out sharp! Clean! Powerful! And Fast! Every time.” With each yell, I threw another punch in the air.

The two of them were silent, Dendra’s face was unreadable and Tulip’s was contemplative. I hope that impressed her a bit. Obviously, I plan on winning this too, but showing my knowledge here will help with convincing her as well.

Dendra spoke up first, turning to her friend, and then in a dead serious voice said: “We need to adopt her.”

“Wha- Dendra, no!”

“Dendra YES!” She countered, a maniacal gleam in her eyes.

“Who’s this ‘we’ you’re talking about?” Tulip said, hands on her hips. “I’m not taking her in, and you shouldn’t either. You’re fifteen! Also, what about her parents and sister?”

The martial arts enthusiast completely ignored the latter points and focused on the first ones.

“So, you’re just gonna leave me to be a single teenage mother?!”

“What- I- gaaaaah!” The model cried out, embarrassment and frustration taking over as she clutched at her head, a light dusting of red covering her cheeks and for once it wasn’t well-applied makeup. Dendra had not been quiet, and people were whispering and snickering at the incident.

Personally, I couldn’t help but laugh at the comedy routine, it was hilarious! What caught my eye though was the way Tulip’s hair clip ornament flapped its wings repeatedly as she got flustered. There was no wind, and her body motions shouldn’t have been violent enough to cause that. Aura. That mystical power I want to learn.

Luckily, Arven, Turo, Friede, and Leah followed after me, foiling any attempted kidnapping Dendra was planning. “Greetings, I am Leah, charged with keeping Young Miss Nemona safe from harm. Who might you be?” The maid asked the older girls.

“Dendra, and this is Tulip. I gave Nemona the idea to compete here, but wow! Osu! Even I didn’t realize she’d be this good.” The enthusiastic girl replied while Cyan was busy pestering the elegant girl beside her.

“We met them at the fashion show Cyan and I went to,” I explained to Leah before a booming voice cut over all the chatter in the area.

“Welcome, friends and fans, to the final few fights on the eve of our 27th Junior Mesagozan Tournament!” All eyes turned to a middle-aged man in the center of the arena dressed in a striking red suit, microphone in hand. “I’m Larry Goldsworth, and I’ll be your announcer for this evening.” Evening it was indeed, with the sun just starting to set now. “Our contestants are all here, so without further ado, I’ll call them forward. Gary Rickroll, Nemona Glitterati, Frederick van Grough…” Hearing my name, I jumped. Why was I surprised at that, I knew this was coming. Argh, nerves. Just focus, we’re almost done.

I joined the others forming a line in the center of the arena, to give everyone a good look at us. Cameras were flashing and the crowd cheered us on. It was hard to focus on any one person out there, especially with Freddrick, sneering down at me. Clearly, he had remembered our previous encounter and still wasn’t impressed with me.

Admittedly, my stature was a bit less impressive than the others here, everyone else was a teenager. I held myself with pride regardless. If anyone wants to look down on me, then they’ll just get to see what I’m made of.

“... Let’s begin the first match of the quarter-finals, Iris Canin vs. Nemona Glitterati!” The others dispersed, and we took our places at either end of the arena. Iris had short pink hair, matching the bubblegum she was chewing, blowing out, and popping loudly. I was surprised at her name, but it’s not that uncommon. A lot of kids get named after champions. There are tons of Lances and Alders out there, a ridiculous amount of Cynthias… She looks like she’s projecting confidence, and she is but, she’s slightly nervous underneath too. The bubblegum popping is just a bit forced.

“Alright kid, give me all ya got!” She yelled out, as much for the crowd as it was for me. I just nodded, no great pre-battle banter coming to mind and I didn’t want to embarrass myself by trying something off the cuff.

On the signal from the referee, we both raised our Pokeballs, ready to battle. The referee for these matches was a League Official. She was a tall woman with deep blue eyes and long black hair with a few golden streaks in it. Her Espartha was creating a powerful barrier around the multicolor arena. She looks familiar, but I can’t quite place her…

On the command to release, we both did so and I snapped my focus back to the battle. Dun flapped his little wings eagerly, eyeing his opponent, a Floragato. It was a green bipedal cat-like

Pokemon, with a pink spinning disk in one of its hands. A lot of people had starters here, many of them being students of Uva Academy, but none of the previous contestants I had seen had evolved them.

“Trainers ready?” The referee asked, lifting her hand in the air.

“Yes,” we called out in unison, and the noise from the crowd died down. Or maybe it didn’t, and I just ignored it, my focus solely focused in front of me.

She brought her hand down as if to chop through the tension between us. “Begin!”

“Floragato, Magical Leaf!” Iris yelled, and her feline-esque Pokemon waved his yo-yo thing around, a vine acting like a string to wind it out into the air and from it, conjure up a plethora of leaves all around. Dunsparce was charging ahead, and I encouraged him.

“There’s no dodging, just plow through, Body Slam!”

“What?!” Iris was surprised by my tactic, and while several leaves hit and cut into Dun, it was less than would have hit him if he’d tried to dodge in the center of the maelstrom. Floragato was sent tumbling through the air from the impact.

After the leaves cleared I saw a few minor cuts on Dun, but nothing deep, while our opponent was shakily getting back on his feet. “Slam it again!”

Dunsparce raced after the injured Floragato but even hurt, the cat was much faster, dodging around Dun’s pursuit.

“Hone Claws, get ready!” Iris called out, her bubble gum blowing forgotten about as she was pushed back. Floragato began waving his claws around, dark energy sharpening them, even as he weaved around the Body Slams aimed his way.

Damn, can’t let them set up! “Glare!” With a killer stare, Floragato froze up mid-way through his Move, early tripping over his own feet. Cat-like grace was enough to avoid falling, but not to avoid Dun’s follow-up Body Slam.

This time, Dun landed right beside Floragato, so I shouted “Poison Jab, now!!” His tail darted out fast, driving into Floragato’s side. The Grass Type gave a cry so pained that I winced a little, and from the way there was a slow purple tint spreading throughout his fur, I guessed that he had been Poisoned by the attack as well.

Floragato gave a quick Scratch and retreated away from Dun. I held up a hand, indicating for Dun to wait and see what Iris’ next move would be. Rather than call out any desperate, last-ditch attack, she drew her Pokeball and recalled her starter. “I forfeit.”

There were gasps from the crowd as they heard that and the referee called the match, but I understood where she was coming from. Floragato had been swaying on his feet from the Poison and hits, and his muscles were still clenching from the Paralysis. By that point, they didn’t really have a chance.

“There we have it folks, our first winner of the quarter-finals and the youngest competitor to ever make it to the Semi-Finals, Nemona Glitterati!” Larry called out and the crowd burst into cheers.

Walking up to the center of the arena, I waved to all of them alongside Dun (well, I waved, Dun just sort of bobbed his head around to the same effect). We stopped waving as Iris walked up to us, extending out a hand to shake.

I took it, and the crowd gave renewed cheers and applause for the good sportsmanship. “Hah. You did good, kid. Where did you learn to be that strong?”

“Just trained hard near my home,” I replied with a small shrug. It was technically true if leaving out relevant bits like my reincarnation which helped out a bit. Can’t even be sure that’s the only thing though. I feel like I can react faster in this world, and think better under pressure. Is that just part of living in this world, or part of being Nemona?

“Well, good luck kid, you’ll need it.” The warning sounded earnest, not petty, but I didn’t get what it referred to until I saw the next battle.

Freddrick van Grough was up against Helios Denver. Helios had short magenta hair and wore the Uva Academy uniform as well. His Pokemon was a large Lechonk, while Freddrick released…

“Oh my,” Leah said beside me, summing up my thoughts entirely as we saw the arrogant boy reveal a gigantic bird. Its wingspan was over five meters across, and those wings were covered with literally iron-sharp feathers. It towered over the Lechonk, glaring down with beady red eyes that made me want to fall on my knees, despite not even directing its attention towards me.

To still somehow stand up to the Corviknight, Helios and his Lechonk were very brave. And very stupid. The battle began, and Corviknight furiously pecked at the Lechonk, interrupting any attempt to tackle it. Then the bird picked it up in its claws and lifted the little pig Pokemon in the air, before hurling it to the ground.

The only order Freddrick gave out was at the end. “Hurricane.” Up high, the Corviknight flapped its wings hard, whipping up a heavy gust that turned into a terrifying storm. The winds lifted Lechonk off the ground and around through the air, spinning them several times until they were flung into the barrier and collapsed, defeated.

Luckily, the referee’s Espartha caught the fallen pig with its psychic powers and gently lowered it to the ground. Ah, right, Iris came from the same battlefield as him. And I have to face that in my next round. Oh boy.