Chương 181: Chapter 174

Sam was on his final Pokémon, but Victor still had two. This entire battle had been a slog of back-to-back knock-outs, with one Pokémon tiring itself to knock out another just to be knocked out in return by whatever healthy opponent was sent out next. Victor had come out of the gate swinging, catching Sam off guard by proving that Ghost Types could still be trapped. As a Fire Type, his Houndoom was immune to burns, and its Flash Fire ability meant all Fire Type moves would only ever be absorbed.

It locked Typhlosion in place due to a Dark Type Crunch that held her down. She then fainted to a Pursuit when Sam decided to risk bringing her back to her Pokéball, and then it was all quick exchanges from there. Gengar knocked out the Houndoom by confusing it into taking a Shadow Ball. In return, an Umbreon chased him down and took him out with an overwhelming Dark Pulse.

That Umbreon then fell to Trevenant's immense sustain, but Trevenant fell to a Toxic from a Vileplume, and that Vileplume fell to a persistent assault from Annihilape. Unfortunately, Annihilape came out of that fight suffering from a Toxic just like Trevenant before him, and that removed the energy he needed to fight back against a Weavile. Finally, Dragapult practically shattered that Weavile with a powerful blow from Dreepy, but the Weavile's ice slowed her just enough for a Crobat to secure a faint.

Now, Sam only had Mismagius left, and she was facing that Crobat, which unfortunately outmatched her speed. The problem with her opponent was the Crobat's flight and maneuverability. It flew circles around her—literally—and it battered her with its winds. For all of the energy she had over it, she needed to break this ongoing pattern. She needed to take out this Crobat and whatever was sent out next. Otherwise, Sam was going to lose.

"Mean Look, Night Shade!" he shouted, the exhaustion building.

"Defend, and keep boosting yourself with Nasty Plot!" The constant back-and-forth wasn't even the worst part of this match—that was Victor himself. It wasn't that the Dark Type trainer was sending Sam any taunts; it was that he was remaining completely and utterly silent and never responded to anything Sam said.

"Aerial Ace," Victor ordered, speaking with a neutral, straightforward confidence. His Crobat had been flying above Mismagius, but upon hearing its orders, all four of its wings snapped downward to rocket it into the sky. Upon reaching the peak of that launch, it allowed itself to fall, and then it accelerated to impossible speeds with the intention of bringing all of that straight into Mismagius. Sam held his breath; Aerial Ace's speed meant it was impossible to dodge.

But, all of this build-up was giving Mismagius more and more time to enhance herself with Nasty Plot. If she could get a quick knockout here, then she could get a quick knockout against her next foe. That was their path forward, and that was their path to victory. But, right before the Crobat hit the floor, it pulled upwards, and all of its downwards momentum shifted into a horizontal launch that pierced straight into Mismagius's Night Shade. She let out a horrible cry, but her darkness did not fall.

Just like Typhlosion and Annihilape before her, Mismagius refused to fall here.

"YES!" Sam roared.

"NOW, GRAB IT AND USE PSYCHIC!" Victor called for another Aerial Ace—he clearly did not want to deal with any nonsense of Mismagius dodging. This time around, the Crobat tried to open a path by sending out blades of wind first. With every flap of its wings, a blade from Air Cutter rushed her, but Mismagius tore all of them apart with a thunderous Psybeam. Crobat tried to slip in under that attack.

Given that she was responding to a previous move, Psybeam should have opened her up to Crobat's attack, but Mismagius was prepared. Her Night Shade exploded outwards, briefly blinding Crobat, and right before it reached her, the Flying Type abruptly stopped. Her Psychic locked it in place, inches away, freezing it in front of her mid-air.

"There," Sam breathed.

"That's it." The Crobat screeched out of both frustration and pain. Its Poison Type made it vulnerable to this Psychic Type move, and Mismagius's Nasty Plot let her lean into that. Dark Type energy did swirl around Crobat's teeth in an attempt to break out and use Crunch for a final lunge, but Mismagius never let that happen. She squeezed with Psychic, and that was it. The Crobat crumpled to the ground.

"Now Victor only has one Pokémon left, but Mismagius has Nasty Plot up," Sam said as the referee announced Crobat's faint.

"To win, we'll only need to land one solid attack." However, as Sam watched his opponent, he saw the worst reaction possible: For all Victor had been trying to stay serious during this fight, a smile had crept onto his face.

"Murkrow," he named. Sam had taken notes on every Pokémon Victor had, and while he had been hoping for a different Dark Type of his, he knew what this Murkrow could do. With its appearance, both trainers knew this battle was about to end.

"Mystical Fire," Sam ordered quickly. In response, Victor's Murkrow conjured a Tailwind that doubled its speed. Flames washed out. Murkrow avoided them all. Its eyes flashed for a Detect, and it banked to avoid a wave of fire that rushed it from below.

"Keep it up!" Sam called out.

"And keep an eye on the shadows, too!" Mismagius almost immediately caught on to his meaning, and she sent him a look over her shoulder. When they made eye contact, he sent her a nod. And to that, her cackle pierced through the air. The exchange continued. Mismagius maintained her Mystical Fire, but Victor seemed content to wait. His Murkrow focused on defense and defense alone, and its small size and incredible speed let it avoid all parts of Mismagius's attack.

But at a certain point, Victor saw it: a small opening that'd safely bring his Murkrow straight to Sam's Pokémon.

"Sucker Punch!" he shouted. For the briefest of moments, his smile widened. Mismagius didn't stop her Mystical Fire, and she looked tired. From his perspective, he had just won. Murkrow dove straight into that opening through the flood of fire to reach Mismagius, managing to slip in right under her defense. In the momentary build-up of her next attack, it was in the perfect position to jab with its beak before she could set up a guard.

But what neither it nor Victor noticed was Sam's trick: both the Murkrow's and Mismagius's shadows had connected. This was the end. Sam let out a sigh. He had predicted this outcome. But at least with this strategy, Mismagius would not fall on her own.

"Murkrow knows Taunt," Sam spoke as Mismagius's cackles echoed, and she brought up her arms.

"If we focused on using status moves, you would have called for that, and then Mismagius would have been forced to use attacks that'd just give Murkrow the freedom for a Sucker Punch.

"Alternatively, if we only used attacks, we could avoid that Taunt, but then we'd just be skipping straight to the end," Sam continued.

"Murkrow could just slip in and use Sucker Punch anyway. But without a Taunt up—" This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it"You would have one last chance for a status move," Victor said solemnly for him. Mismagius's flames made it look as though she was on fire, and she leaned into that darkened jab to her chest. As the Sucker Punch attack pierced right through her defense, she threw herself into it, and she embraced the Murkrow before she fell.

With Destiny Bond up, the Murkrow fainted alongside her. Truthfully, Sam didn't have any other answers to this. No matter what, Murkrow's Sucker Punch meant it would always faint Mismagius here. Sucker Punch would always let it move before any of her attacks, and as Sam had trained Mismagius as a special attacker, she didn't have any useful status moves to shut down whatever the Murkrow used. Destiny Bond had been their only answer. It was the only way to ensure this Murkrow fell.

But the rules of the League had already established the outcome for this kind of match. Though both trainers had lost their final Pokémon, this was not a tie.

"Both Mismagius and Murkrow are unable to battle!" the referee called out.

"But we do have a winner! As Trainer Samuel has secured this knock-out by fainting his own Pokémon, his Pokémon is considered to have fainted first! Thus, according to the rules of the Pokémon League, Trainer Samuel is out of usable Pokémon first. So, I can announce this: Trainer Victor is the winner!" To that, cheers exploded out from the crowd. This was an upset. No one expected Victor to win. The audience clapped, but Sam did as well. As much as it stung, it was a good battle.

He had at least fainted every member of his opponent's team. But as he shook Victor's hand, the truth settled in: Sam's season in Johto had ended. With this defeat, his time in the Conference was over. It wasn't just Sam's presence in the Conference that was over. The Conference itself was over. Somehow, Victor didn't just win against Sam.

He and his team of Dark Types pulled off a victory in the semifinals, and then, in an incredible turn, he managed to win against an aspiring Ace Trainer and their very scary Electivire. When Sam watched that final battle, he was silent the whole time. Seeing the threat that Victor's final opponent posed, he had no idea how his team could have won in Victor's place.

In the end, only a third of the competing trainers were still around to stand in rows during the concluding ceremony, and the audience was thrown into an ecstatic uproar at that dark horse victory. The Conference concluded with Victor at the top platform, clutching a trophy while tears poured out of his eyes. When given a microphone, he was practically inconsolable. So filled with joy, he could barely speak, but he managed to say the one thing that practically tore all attention off of him.

"This is all thanks to Miss Karen!" he shouted through his tears. And then, everyone wanted to know who this "Karen" was. Everyone wanted to know about the mysterious person who had tutored a newbie trainer so well that the newbie had won the Conference overall. Victor had his share of focus, but all conversations shifted in an instant.

Although Sam, Redi, and so many others had had their time in the limelight, with this unexpected finish, no one was talking about them, their Pokémon, or any of their team's reveals any longer. Days passed. Sam said his goodbyes. Redi gave him an open invitation to visit her home in Kanto, and Xavier disappeared to spend the break between seasons over in Sinnoh. Silver Town became empty of its guests and visitors, but Sam chose to remain.

"This place?" he asked as he approached one building at the end of a street, and Typhlosion stared at the ramshackle structure before slowly nodding her head. Sam checked the paths around them, but no one was nearby. Though Silver Town was a populated city, it was quiet. With the Conference being over, its hustle and bustle had all but faded away.

"Head in," Sam said to his Pokémon.

"I'll stay out here to keep watch. I believe in you. I'll make sure you aren't bothered, and I'll... take this time to rest." Sending him a soft smile, Typhlosion pressed her head against his chest. Chuckling, Sam hugged her back. Then, she tore away the boards that sealed the building's front door and stepped into the darkness. So far, this was the third place Typhlosion had found. Now that the city was no longer so overpopulated with life, it was easier to sense wayward spirits.

As much as Sam had the potential to return home, he didn't, and he stayed here with Typhlosion to let her search for and help any long-forgotten ghosts. And doing so gave him the chance to think.

"Top eight," Sam mumbled to himself. Honestly, he wasn't really keeping watch. He hadn't seen any patrolling Ace Trainers since the end of the Conference, and even if someone called him out, he could point to the little ghost-mark on his Trainer ID as proof of his team's role. So he just became lost in thought, instead. He thought about everything that had happened and what his team had managed to achieve.

Anything past the first round was impressive for a first-year trainer, and getting to the top eight would be impressive for anyone. This was a victory for Sam. But losing still hurt. Watching every battle after his, Sam had seen no way forward. Any other opponent would have been just as tough as Victor, and his team had already started to flag. Even if Sam had made it to the next round, his team would have been too tired to continue, and then they would have just been stuck in two back-to-back matches.

He would have lost once, and then he would have been forced into another battle the next day, fighting on the Conference's final day to see who would place third. He could at least take a slight bit of comfort in that. Losing had helped his reputation. He had lost to the one person who had won overall—inspiring questions about where he would have placed if he had continued— and he had managed to knock out Victor's entire team. For that, he had his reward.

Not wanting to dwell on negative thoughts, Sam reached into his backpack to pull out a certain packet for what felt like the thousandth time in the past few days. It was heavy in his hands, and there were enough pages within it to be bound into an entire book.

"Now, what do I do now?" he whispered. It felt as though every organization in Indigo had sent him an offer, and he had even received offers from people outside of both Johto and Kanto. He had requests to meet him, offers for sponsorships, proposed deals for advertisements in all forms, and he even had a decent number of researchers reaching out to him with requests to meet his "newly discovered" Pokémon. Even Mr. Pokémon had sent him a letter.

The man had offered him a very generous proposal, likely inspired by his current deal with Redi. Not just him—Agatha had once again presented Sam with an apprenticeship offer, and even Morty was trying to recruit him as a member of his Gym. The League itself wanted to hire Sam as an Ace Trainer, and though they paid less than other offers, their deal presented the most overall benefits. Still, that wasn't an easy choice; Sam had received four different offers from the League.

He could choose to be an Ace Trainer in Hoenn, Kanto, Johto, or even Sinnoh. Even more than that, he was surprised to see that Professor Carolina from the Sinjoh Ruins had reached out to him. She wanted to temporarily bring him on as a research assistant over in Sinnoh. Similarly, Spencer Hale had reached out with an offer, but given that man's obsession with Unown, Sam had a feeling that his offer was more of just a way to pay respects. And then, there was also... one other offer contained in this packet.

But it was just a letter. There was no deal. No money. No benefits. Just a personal message containing an invitation, an address, and a chance to talk. So flush with options, Sam didn't know what to do. This was everything he wanted, and even more past that. Honestly, it was overwhelming. As much as he had wanted to win overall, his true goal was to secure his team the support they deserved, and that was something he could pick himself from the flood of options before him. But he just didn't know what to choose.

"Sam," a soft voice suddenly said. Hearing his name, Sam snapped his head up from the papers and tried to scramble to close the packet. However, he froze when he saw just who was standing there, and he could barely stop his jaw from dropping open.

"Mom?" he said.

"But we said goodbye! I thought you already went home!" To that, she smiled kindly, and she let out a soft laugh.

"And leave you here? Alone? Abandon you while you're stuck like this? I had to head to the airport to cancel my flight, but I came back here to find you," she said.

"Don't take me for a fool, sweetie. I was never going to force you to do this on your own."

"I'm not on my own. I'm with my team."

"Yes, but I suppose you wouldn't mind some help from someone familiar with this kind of work, hm?" He felt the heat rush to his face, and his mother tittered before joining him on the stairs. Though the house was silent behind him, he could feel a soft, comfortable cold that told him that Typhlosion was succeeding with what she set out to do.

"So," his mother started.

"What offers have you been considering?"

"All of them," Sam answered with a grumble.

"I don't know which to pick."

"Do you have any preferences for what you want?" she asked.

"Money. Ranching options for the Mankey. Maybe some new ways to meet Ghost Types."

"Then take out all of the offers that don't give those to you." Sam tried to think of what he'd take out, but he still felt frozen. Honestly, he couldn't think of even a single offer that he'd want to eliminate.

"I see," his mother said, nodding.

"Choice paralysis. You don't want to give up what might turn out to be the best deal, even if it seems worse than the others at first glance."

"Yeah," Sam sighed, "and it also feels... Ugh. I don't know. Am I even in a place to turn any of these down? And do I even want to accept any of these offers? I'd be tying myself to them, but I'd be getting everything I wanted. It feels weird to make a choice, and it also feels weird to accept any of them since..." Since I lost. He stared at the stack of papers, and his grip crinkled its sides. His mother watched him, and after a few short seconds, she let out a brief laugh.

When Sam brought his head up at the noise, he found that she was smiling.

"Ah," she said.

"You're in a funk." She spoke as if happy to have recognized that.

"Am not," Sam countered.

"Are too," she replied. He glared at her, but his glare only lasted until she poked him on the nose, leaving him reeling back and stuttering.

"Okay, Sam. I want you to remember that no matter what you choose, you won't be alone. Nothing is going to change between you and your friends, and nothing is going to change between you and anyone you turn down. What matters right now is selecting the option that'll make you the most well-off and happy. And, your loss isn't important. The only thing people are focusing on is your incredible success."

"So?" he grumbled.

"So, be proud of yourself!" his mother cheered.

"You deserve this. Accept your achievements, and look through the packet with that approach. Think positively while choosing what you want, and narrow down which option best fits with your team."

"But I—""Still need to get your mind off of it," his mother mumbled, tapping her chin in thought.

"Then... Hm. I wanted to wait until we got home, but I do think that I have an offer of my own." As he watched her suspiciously, Sam saw a glint enter her eyes. It felt as though his mother didn't have an offer in the classic sense, but she still seemed excited for what she had to say. There was an energy to her, and that energy saw her practically hop off the stairs. Shifting her stance, she stopped looking like a bookstore owner.

With a pair of Pokéballs at her waist, Sam realized that she now looked like a proper Pokémon trainer.

"I know it hurts to lose," his mother said.

"I know it hurts to have something you so desperately desire only for it to be taken away. I know that it hurts to have something so suddenly snatched from you—"But I also know that not everything deserves that kind of attention, and this is not one of those situations," she said to him.

"You've achieved something incredible, so let's break you out of this funk!"

"What are you planning?" he asked, eyes narrowing. His mother just smiled.

"Samuel Greyson!" she shouted, her voice booming, the sound echoing.

"Right now, don't think of me as your mother! Think of me as an opponent! I have Delcatty! I have Sableye! I have experience! So, I have all of the requirements needed to present you with this:" She paused for dramatic effect.

"I, Amanda Greyson, challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" And, before Sam realized what he was doing, the words had already left his mouth.

"Alright," he said.

"I accept."