Great Magnemite's Tri-Attack came rocketing toward Golbat.
Golbat tilted slightly in mid-air, and the Tri-Attack—three energy bolts in red, yellow, and blue—streaked past its belly. In slow motion, you could see the red bolt passing within a finger's width of Golbat's body.
"Golbat, Supersonic!"
"Great Magnemite, Wide Guard!"
Golbat's Supersonic rang out through the air, and the examiner was decisive. Great Magnemite's speed meant there was no dodging Supersonic—the only option was to block it with Wide Guard. Otherwise, if Great Magnemite fell into confusion, momentum would slip away entirely.
The outcome of the match could hinge on this.
Auron smiled faintly. He couldn't hear the examiner's thoughts—but he'd have said: "Exactly right."
After the Supersonic wave dispersed, Golbat immediately capitalized on Great Magnemite's Wide Guard stance and used Swords Dance again.
"Next—our turn!"
Auron and Golbat's mouths curved upward in unison. The moment Auron raised a finger, Golbat unleashed its newest move.
"Golbat—Heat Wave!"
Golbat's wings swept wide, and a visible red-and-orange gale rolled toward Great Magnemite.
Great Magnemite had just used Wide Guard—there was no time to bring it up again. Wide Guard required a moment to activate. Supersonic was slow enough to block. But Heat Wave was fast—far too fast to react to.
"Rock Blast!"
With no Wide Guard available, Great Magnemite had to find another way. A wall of rock materialized in front of it, filling the space between the Pokémon and the incoming storm.
But a +4 Special Attack Heat Wave wasn't going to be stopped by a few rocks.
The gale blew through. The rocks shattered. And the full force of the Heat Wave connected with Great Magnemite.
"Great Magnemite!"
The examiner couldn't help calling out. When Great Magnemite staggered to its feet rather than falling, he allowed himself a small exhale of relief.
"Great Magnemite, Rock Blast!"
The order came through on pure reflex. Great Magnemite was already gathering its own rock energy to fire back.
But the Rock Blast had barely launched—the first stone still forming—when the second Heat Wave came sweeping in and blew it back mid-flight.
Golbat had immediately followed up the first one with a second strike. Great Magnemite was still recovering from the first hit, still trying to stand.
Rock and Steel-type Great Magnemite took neutral damage from Fire—Steel resisted Fire, but Rock was weak to it, canceling out to regular effectiveness. Factor in Great Magnemite's natural bulk, and Auron had known from the start it wouldn't go down in one hit.
But two Heat Waves was a different story.
The second blast hit. Great Magnemite was launched backward, spinning as it fell, its eyes spiraling into the trademark circles of a KO'd Pokémon.
The examiner shrugged at the referee and recalled Great Magnemite.
Truthfully, the moment he'd seen Golbat set up a second Swords Dance, he knew the match was already lost. A Golbat at +4 Special Attack could grind down even the bulkiest opponent through sheer attrition.
But as an examiner, you had to keep going until the very end.
"Great Magnemite is unable to battle. Examinee wins!"
The referee raised the flag and called the result.
Auron recalled Golbat, then was led by a staff member to a different room. Once inside, the staff member left.
"Hello. I'll be your examiner for this round. Please select your Pokémon."
An older man sat across the room, expressionless, gesturing toward the screen beside him. One hundred Poké Balls swirled in a random pattern on the display.
After a moment, the first shuffle finished, and four options appeared.
"Up"
"Down"
"Left"
"Right"
Auron tapped Up at random. The top five rows of Poké Balls vanished, and the remaining ones resumed their random dance.
Next, a ten-by-five grid appeared with numbers one through ten—one representing the first column, two the second, and so on.
Auron tapped six at random.
The sixth column stayed visible. All other Poké Balls appeared frozen, their labels revealed.
Five Poké Balls arranged in a row, contents exposed:
Magikarp.
Beedrill.
Heracros.
Slaking.
Blastoise.
Auron made his selections with quick, confident taps on the last three choices.
Heracros was an easy call—at least among Bug-types, Heracros was clearly superior to Beedrill, which had no Mega Evolution and limited ceiling.
Slaking, meanwhile, had a terrible ability, but its stats were monstrous. That alone made it worth picking.
For the last slot, it was between Magikarp and Blastoise. Both were Water-types, but Magikarp had nothing else over Blastoise besides an Electric immunity—and that Electric immunity came with a quadruple weakness to Grass. The less obvious the weaknesses, the easier to manage in an unknown matchup. Blastoise won.
The examiner watched Auron make his selections with a slight start, then a hint of a smile crossed his face as he made his own rapid inputs on the neighboring screen.
Hatches opened below both screens. A conveyor belt delivered three Poké Balls to each side.
Auron picked up Heracros's ball. He and the examiner raised their Poké Balls in unison.
He was gambling. He couldn't see what was inside any of the examiner's three balls. But if Heracros had the Swarm ability, there was a real chance he could sweep—and for exam purposes, a sweep would be a massive boost.
Both Pokémon materialized. Auron stared at what the examiner had sent out.
"What the hell?! This has to be rigged!"
(End of chapter)