Silas slid the Pokédex back into his pocket and recalled Sharpedo for a moment, then released it again.
"Sharpedo — one more push!" he urged.
A sleek, brutal shark-phoenix of a Pokémon slammed onto the field, teeth bared and water spraying in its wake.
"Shaaarp-e-dooo!" the crowd chorused.
Roxanne didn't hesitate. "Nosepass use Discharge!"
Nosepass's stony form crackled as blue bolts danced along its surface. The ground under its feet hummed with electricity, then it lunged forward - a sudden, aggressive charge aimed straight at the speeding Sharpedo.
Silas had expected as much. Nosepass was a rock type, but Roxanne had trained it to use shock moves - Discharge, Thunder, and even the fearsome Zap Cannon she'd been saving. Against two Water/Dark Pokémon the matchup would not be a simple Water > Rock advantage; electricity changed the balance.
"Sharpedo dodge with Aqua Jet, speed up!" Silas ordered.
Sharpedo answered like a missile, jetting forward on a torrent of water. Even with only a torpedo-like body and no tail, its Speed was terrifying now as air hissed behind it.
Nosepass's Discharge flashed harmlessly through the space Sharpedo had vacated.
Roxanne narrowed her eyes. "Nosepass charge the Zap Cannon!"
The stone Pokémon's nose shimmered; energy coalesced into a crackling cannon of raw electricity. Even with the low hit rate such a move typically had, Roxanne trusted the sensorwork built into Nosepass's nose - it could lock onto magnetic signatures and pick out targets even in chaos.
"Keep it moving -Sharpedo, crunch now!" Silas barked.
A strange pink phantom coalesced from Sharpedo's maw and lunged -crunch seared into Nosepass, staggering it. The Zap Cannon still hummed, half-charged.
Sharpedo blurred in answer, a blue streak with a long wake of seawater. Roxanne gave a soft, confident cry: "Zap Cannon - fire!"
For a breathless second everyone expected Sharpedo to slip out of range again then the Zap Cannon slammed home with a thunderous boom.
Silas stared, incredulous. How did it land? The Zap Cannon's accuracy was notoriously low, and Sharpedo had been moving at near impossible speed.
Roxanne's voice came calm and low. "Nosepass can sense magnetic fields. It isn't just raw power -it reads where its foe moves. That's why it can pick a target even when everything else fails."
Silas's jaw tightened, then he bowed his head, a quick, silent nod in acknowledgement. "Understood. Thank you."
He'd learned something valuable. If this was the sort of trick Roxanne used, matches would be chess games -not just brute force.
White light flashed. Silas sent out his other ace.
"Crawdaunt - go!" he called.
The crustacean exploded onto the field, claws gleaming. It flexed once, a low growl rolling from its throat like sharpened iron.
"Crawdaunt Crabhammer!" Silas ordered.
"Craaaaw-daauuunt!" The pincers arced down in a single, brutal strike - a shell-blade of a hit that cleaved through the charged air. Nosepass, still reeling from the Zap Cannon's recoil and already drained from channeling energy, took the blow full on.
The impact landed true. Nosepass crumpled, its rocky body collapsing into unconsciousness. For a moment the arena went utterly silent; then the students erupted.
"How—? Nosepass is known for defense! How could it go down in one hit?" someone shouted.
Felton the arrogant boy who'd mocked Silas earlier gaped, his face a mix of disbelief and a grudging, stinging envy. Silas only smiled, calm and contained. He noticed Felton's expression and stored the grievance away like a small, private promise.
It wasn't magic. Crawdaunt's strike was the product of three things: the crushing force of Crabhammer, the sharpened synergy of Adaptability (Crawdaunt's fierce ability), and the Mystic Water pendant Silas had given the crustacean earlier. All combined to make a single, decisive hit.
Roxanne drew a breath and moved to soothe the stunned spectators. "Silas congratulations on the win. Your team… you fight very well for your age." Her voice was sincere; the edges of disappointment in losing the match softened into respect.
She retrieved Nosepass with a practiced motion and placed a small, gray-brown badge on her palm. "This is the stone Badge," she announced, presenting it like a prize carved from two staggered mineral triangles — a symbol of tenacity and steady strength.
Silas accepted it with the quiet gravity of someone for whom each step forward mattered. He had come for more than badges: knowledge, growth, and the slow, stubborn building of a name. But today, in front of this crowd, he had taken another small step.
Outside the arena, the late afternoon sun threw long shadows across the training grounds. Students whispered and replayed the match in their heads; some gaped, some cheered. Roxanne watched Silas for a beat longer, then gave him a small, approving nod. "Keep training. The League will be harder."
Silas tucked the badge into his bag and looked up at the sky, already thinking of the next city, the next battle, the next lesson.
"Goodbye, Roxanne. Thank you." He bowed once more, and walked away with Crawdaunt and Sharpedo at his side, the Stone Badge warm against his chest - a new notch on a traveling trainer's map and another promise to himself.
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(End of chapter]