Anabel was confused.
She quickly looked back at the shadow on the far right. Her first instinct told her that one was wrong.
But then she saw that it had also disappeared under the first Psychic attack.
What?
That only shocked Anabel even more.
Had she guessed wrong again?
She really could not understand it. She was sure she had seen it clearly.
So how had she guessed wrong both times?
But she had no time to lose focus.
While she was still trying to understand what happened, the other four shadows were already right in front of Espeon.
At that point, it was too late to escape.
Espeon had no choice but to follow instinct and attack the two shadows in the center.
But just like its Trainer, it guessed wrong again.
Out of six shadows, they had already missed four times in a row.
The situation had become extremely dangerous.
Anabel and Espeon both knew the truth.
If Scizor got close, escaping would be almost impossible.
And if the battle turned into a direct clash at close range, they had no real chance of winning.
All the advantages they had relied on before would be erased immediately.
But even knowing that, what could they do?
They had already wasted too much time trying to stop Scizor's approach.
If they had guessed right, they would have been safe.
But they guessed wrong.
Now they had to pay the price.
And the price was severe.
Out of the final two shadows, the Scizor on the left reached Espeon first.
It raised its pincers and struck with X-Scissor.
"Espeon, dodge!"
Anabel shouted the order in her mind.
But Espeon did not know Teleport, and it was already too close to make full use of its speed.
There was no way to avoid it.
The Bug-type attack hit directly.
Now everyone knew which Scizor had been real.
But knowing that now did not matter.
It was already too late.
Anabel's Espeon could fight up close better than most Psychic-types.
It could use moves like Iron Tail, Quick Attack, and Take Down to pressure enemies that got too close.
That was one of the reasons it had been so hard to deal with.
But those moves did not work against Natsui's Scizor.
And on top of that, it had a terrible type disadvantage.
Under Scizor's relentless attacks, Espeon's stamina dropped quickly.
In the end, it collapsed to the floor and could not get back up.
"Espeon is unable to battle! The winner is the challenger, Natsui!"
The green-haired referee raised his hand without hesitation, even though he clearly felt sorry for Anabel.
Natsui had won the match with a commanding lead.
Only the second round had ended in a draw.
For Anabel, that was a heavy blow.
The battle was over.
She recalled Espeon and immediately walked toward Natsui.
Her steps were quick, and her expression was urgent.
But the first thing she did was not congratulate him.
Instead, she asked about the doubt still stuck in her mind.
"Natsui, how exactly did you do that just now?"
"I could clearly see the shadows, so why did I guess wrong so many times?"
That question had been bothering her from the moment she lost.
She had lost control of the battle because she had misread the clones.
And that loss of control had led directly to her defeat.
Natsui glanced to the side.
May had already walked over too, and she also looked curious.
Natsui smiled and gave them an answer without making them wait.
"It's actually very simple."
Scizor came back to his side.
Natsui patted its shoulder, then explained.
"Just now, I had Scizor use a double Double Team."
"A double Double Team?"
May and Anabel were both stunned.
"That's right."
Natsui nodded.
"At the exact moment you thought you had seen through the first set of clones, I had Scizor use Double Team again."
"It overlapped the first set and changed its position a second time."
"Eh? You can even do that!?"
May was shocked.
Anabel also fell silent for a long moment.
Now she finally understood why she had guessed wrong twice in a row.
So that was the trick.
But even after understanding it, she knew it only sounded simple on the surface.
A Pokémon needed extraordinary control over Double Team to do that without exposing a flaw.
She had already felt that something was strange during the battle.
She just had not considered that angle.
And from another perspective, that also showed how terrifying Natsui's Scizor really was.
Still...
There was something else that surprised her.
Natsui had just explained the secret behind that move so casually.
Was he really not worried about revealing it?
But then Anabel immediately understood.
Knowing the idea was one thing.
Actually using it in a battle the way Natsui had done was another matter entirely.
Even if an ordinary Trainer learned about it, it would be useless.
A Pokémon could only pull it off with enough training, perfect timing, and enough control to keep the fake bodies believable.
And the Trainer also had to be good enough to choose the exact right moment.
If it happened too early or too late, the illusion would be obvious.
That meant the real difficulty was not in the idea itself.
It was in the execution.
Anabel looked at Natsui again.
The more she understood, the more mysterious and powerful he felt.
"This was a wonderful match."
Anabel stopped thinking about the trick and looked straight at him.
There was no sadness in her voice.
Instead, there was only excitement.
"I've never met a Trainer as strong as you."
"I'm frustrated that I lost, but I also learned a lot from this battle."
"If there's ever another chance, I really want to fight you again."
Her mindset was excellent.
Natsui nodded inwardly after hearing that.
Even after losing so badly, she was not crushed.
If anything, she looked even more determined than before.
Anabel really was not someone who gave up easily.
He was about to answer, but Anabel asked another question first.
"Um, Natsui, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?" Natsui asked.
Anabel hesitated for a brief moment.
Then she asked, "Have we met somewhere before?"
"You always seem... a little familiar to me."
For an instant, Natsui was genuinely startled.
Had she noticed something?
But that should have been impossible.
He had not told May anything.
He had not acted like he knew Anabel.
He had been careful not to show anything unusual.
So how had she noticed?
Was it that strange sensitivity of hers?
This was exactly why Natsui disliked dealing with powerful Psychic- and Ghost-type Trainers.
The strongest ones often had unusually sharp instincts.
If he made even one mistake, they might notice something they were never supposed to know.
That had to be the reason she thought he seemed familiar.
The Anabel here and the Anabel from the International Police were the same person.
But right now, they had no shared memories.
So where was that feeling coming from?
Natsui was still trying to think of an answer when May suddenly laughed.
"That's normal."
She spoke before Natsui could say anything.
"Natsui won the Indigo Plateau Conference before."
"You probably saw him on TV, so that's why he looks familiar."
May had no idea what Natsui had been thinking.
But her words helped him immediately.
"The Indigo Plateau Conference Champion!?"
Anabel looked surprised.
So that was why his face had seemed familiar.
She had probably seen him on television before.
That explanation made enough sense.
"No wonder... So that's it."
She accepted the answer, though a faint trace of doubt still lingered in her heart.
Still, she did not press the issue any further.
Instead, she took a golden Symbol from her pocket and handed it to Natsui.
"Natsui, this is my Ability Symbol."
"It is proof that you defeated me. Please accept it."
Natsui took the Ability Symbol.
Then he carefully placed it into his case.
Anabel noticed the other Symbols inside.
"So you've already collected six Symbols."
"That means you'll be challenging Brandon soon."
Brandon was the Frontier Brain of the final facility, the Battle Pyramid.
To challenge him, a Trainer first had to collect the other six Symbols.
And Brandon was widely regarded as the strongest Frontier Brain.
"Yes, time really flies," Natsui said.
Then he asked, "So, are you going to tell me where the Battle Pyramid is, or do I have to find Scott?"
"Scott will be the one to tell you," Anabel replied with a smile.
"Even if I wanted to tell you, I don't know the exact location."
"We Frontier Brains know of each other, but we each manage our own facilities."
"We don't often interact, and the Battle Pyramid is especially hard to track."
Anabel was mostly right.
The Frontier Brains did not all keep in close contact, though some of them clearly knew about one another.
After leaving the forest, Natsui and May headed to a Pokémon Center.
Nurse Joy healed their Pokémon, and then the two of them went to eat.
While they were waiting for dinner, Natsui called Scott.
Scott answered almost immediately.
"Natsui, calling me now... I'm guessing you've already collected all six Symbols?"
"That's right," Natsui said.
"I've collected them all, so I'm calling to ask for the location of the final facility."
Scott let out a long sigh.
"That was fast."
"I still remember when we first met. I really didn't expect you to get through them this quickly."
"I've already sent the information to your phone. Check it."
Natsui thanked him and ended the call.
Then he looked down at the message on his phone.
May had been watching him the whole time.
"What is it?" Natsui asked.
"Do I have something on my face?"
May shook her head.
"Natsui, I don't get it."
"Why does everyone have to ask Scott for the Battle Pyramid's location after collecting the six Symbols?"
"Isn't it supposed to stay in one place?"
"You're right to wonder about that," Natsui said with a smile.
"But the Battle Pyramid is different."
"Just like its name says, it's a pyramid-shaped facility."
"But unlike the others, it doesn't stay fixed in one location."
"It moves."
"It moves?" May repeated in surprise.
"Like... does it have wheels under it or something?"
"Or is it on the sea?"
"Neither."
Natsui pointed upward.
May stared at him, then suddenly understood.
"Wait... are you saying it flies?"
"Exactly."
Natsui showed her the message on his phone as he explained.
"The Battle Pyramid is mobile."
"That's why Scott has to tell challengers where it is each time."
"It can change locations, so its position is kept secret from anyone who hasn't earned the right to challenge it."
He turned the screen so May could read it better.
"Look. Right now it's near Pewter City."
"But by tomorrow, it could already be somewhere else."
"Pewter City..."
May let out a helpless sigh.
"So that means we have to hurry back there?"
"That's such a long trip."
"We're all the way out on the eastern side of Kanto right now. Getting back there will take forever."
"Isn't that perfect?" Natsui asked.
He put his phone away and nudged the food toward her.
"You still need one more Ribbon to qualify for the Grand Festival."
"And the next Contest we need is on the way back anyway."
"So we can take care of both things at once."
He smiled.
"And besides, just like I said, the Battle Pyramid moves around."
"Who knows?"
"By the time we finish the Grand Festival, it might end up appearing right in front of us."