I marched after the Princess as she quickly paced toward the Gym. Anticipation fell over me as my palms began to sweat toward my fingertips. I never once thought I would get another opportunity like this from her for a while, so I was nervous that she would find any time, especially right now, to fight it out for me at this very minute.

But I did ask for this; I wanted to be there. To prove to Erika that I meant it and would fight to my very last breath to save this region and the Pokémon world with it.

"Let's get started," she declared with a sovereign tone.

As we both marched to our ends of the battlefield, we eyed each other carefully, and Red watched on from the sidelines as we were about to resume our battle. He also carefully analyzed our behavior for any moves that would prove helpful in his training.

"The trial that I'll be putting you through will test your skills as a Trainer, but most importantly where you stand in this conflict. Show me that you are capable of winning against the threats that are about to befall our region. Leaf, you go first."

I nodded and followed her instruction by pulling out the Poké Ball nearest my bag's handle. The magnet swiftly unclipped as I curled my hand around it. I knew who deserved to be out on the field for this count.

"Lucy, it's your turn."

I tossed the ball as far as I could into the grassy field and out fluttered my Butterfree as she cheerfully danced with powdery wings.

"Tangela, come forth!" She declared as the ball bounced vigorously across the knoll. A bipedal creature appeared from before me with blue vines that seemed to wrap around this Pokémon's visage. It seemed to obscure the Pokémon's face as all you could see peeking through were his round eyes, and his feet seemed to be colored red like that of a turnip's roots as you pulled them out of the ground.

The Pokémon moved and danced joyously, awaiting any order from her master.

Tangela was certainly a newer species of Grass-Type Pokémon that I had never seen before, and since it was a Pokémon that I never had the privilege of witnessing when I first battled her. It was concerning whether or not this Tangela would have moves that I was unprepared to face.

"Confusion!" I shouted to my Pokémon in action.

"Fweee!" She nodded in retrospect and fluttered closer toward her enemy.

Her antennae twitched from above her forehead and sent powerful vibrational signals that seemed to slam directly toward the Pokémon. His body bounced and was pushed back significantly from the hit, and he did his best to try to regain his footing, but no matter how far back the vibrational frequency emitted. The weight of that move caused him to roll onto his back, which only caused further damage.

"Ah! Tangela are you alright?"

"Diiersh!" He nodded and recovered to face his opponent once again.

"Constrict." She commanded her Pokémon in combat.

The little vine Pokémon inched forward and summoned multiple tentacles that shot extensively across the battlefield. I watched in astonishment as this move quickly wrapped around my Butterfree, limiting her mobility by curling and pulling her soft wings around her back.

"Fight it Butterfree you can do it!"

My Pokémon struggled to get free, but the move wasn't enough as it continued pulling, weakening, and sapping the Pokémon of energy.

"Continue to hold the Pokémon in place for as long as you can Tangela."

And he did so, but after the Pokémon had a great hold on her, she loudly cried after using her strength and energy to free herself from his vice.

"What the?..." Queried Erika with a raised brow of astonishment.

After smiling from witnessing Lucy's bewildering action, I raised my Pokémon for the same command.

"Confusion again Lucy!" I declared.

She smiled and immediately obeyed without question as a loud squeal fronted her opponent with conflicting disorientation knocking Tangela off balance and throwing him tens of feet across the grassy knoll below. The Pokémon battered and skidded to a halt as the earth became upended by the literal faculty exuded from Lucy's Psychic ability.

"Unbelievable, your Pokémon has shown incredible endurance from Tangela' s Constrict move. Most trainers have a bit of a harder time getting free from his bind."

"I'm assuming you noticed my Pokémon's strength due to my training. Do you trust that I at least cared enough for them to get to this point?" I asked after watching her recoil from my query as swiftly as I delivered it.

"We'll just have to see as the battle continues." She seethed by recalling her Pokémon within her capsule.

After going through the switch-out process, Erika pulled out another Poké Ball from her belt line along her kimono and released Vileplume for another round of pummeling. This time as she tossed the ball along the element of her field, Vileplume looked even more primed for the battle than previous. This time she was exhibiting great strength and defense.

"What Pokémon are you going to bring out next, Black Clover?"

My eyes furrowed from that taunting name.

Is she trying to get a rise out of me?

I am not going to fall for it this time around. I've got to stay focused.

"Leaf, you be careful, once I faced her she used stalling tactics and healing abilities."

I nodded in response to my friends desperate plea and turned to face back at my opponent.

She's also got Poison-Type moves based on what I've experienced in owning Grass-Types.

I can keep Lucy out on the field and wait for another tactic, but I think I can train up Luna. If I bring her out, maybe I can let her shine on her beefy opponent before she brings out her Victreebel.

I then reached down into my bag pocket and pulled out the sphere, and tossed it out onto the field while at the same time retrieving Lucy within by tossing her ball towards her.

Once the power of the capsule sparked to life, the energy from within Luna's ball protruded with her form and exuded a loud growl from her small canine jaw. She seemed primed for a fight this time, whereas the last time, she didn't seem like she was all that well prepared.

I think the experience from that last one helped her get prepared and psyched.

Okay, I think I can do this.

I slapped my cheeks together to help calm my nerves and focus and raised my Pokémon at the ready for an attack.

"Luna, Ember!"

Once she heard the name of her roster, she pounced her paws forward and raised her six tails in a striking pose. As the power absorbed along her esophageal neckline, you could visibly notice heat building up between her neck and chest, and as the heat boiled over, Luna dispelled fire from her canines. Flying towards Vileplume in a flurry, there seemed to be about seven or eight different balls of fire bellowing toward her direction; if I counted correctly, they all seemed to miss Vileplume as she appeared to be doing an excellent job avoiding the moves with her impressive agility.

All except one that seemed to sear along her flower bud above her plump body. Luna had burnt the field on fire as grass singed and flared about her. The move seemed to have successfully caused a burn as ash fell from the fire conjured to Vileplume, adding the extra damage to the fire she absorbed from the Fire-Type attack.

"A super effective move and a status infliction," breathed Erika with shocked worry. "It seems you have been training for quite some time. Red and Blue both exhibited the same amount of strength and strategy that you have. But are you ready for a terrible combination from me as well? You seem to forget Leaf, even if I took you out the first time, you will go down a second time and I won't go as easily as I did before our last battle."

It was after she declared those words she raised her Pokemon to command. Vileplume sensed her movement and launched herself forward with a terrifying gaze of determination and strength.

"Vileplume give this trainer a taste of the power of our flower arrangement, Sleep Powder!"

That move. I raised with astonishment. I know what Erika is going to do. She's going to blanket the field before I can even react.

Just as soon as my thought had finished, Vileplume had excreted the powder from between her flower stem, and as soon as the powder had collected from above her head, the move immediately spread towards my Pokémon. What made the activity so dangerous and what made it so easy the last time I used it on Brock was that the powder itself was close to microscopic in nature, meaning that it doesn't matter how Vulpix evaded; this powder will eventually put her to sleep no matter how elusive her speed was.

Sure enough, as the powder had blanketed the field around me, Luna fell to the ground and fell asleep.

"Leaf, she's gonna use her next healing move," warned Red to my right from across the field as he watched with nervous excitement from the sidelines.

"I-I know that but what healing move would she use to take advantage of Sleep?"

"This move, Mega Drain."

What?

Once Mega Drain was declared, the Pokémon was taking hits from the burned embers of the field, but what happened afterward gave me such a fright. She used that move to trap Vulpix within her roots from the ground. The vines folded so rapidly that the roots beneath Vileplume's feet gained energy from within and as she pulled energy from the ground to heal herself. The status infliction she incurred from Luna's Ember proved useless.

She's sapping the energy of my Pokémon!

Not everyone, like me, understood that Erika would be such a powerful opponent; this time, she meant what she said. She wants me to lose, and she does not wish the grace of Victreebel so quick to forgive a trainer like me. But it was of no consequence whether I won or lost. I only wanted to battle Victreebel so that I could tell him how I really feel, but Erika was only stalling for time.

I needed to get Vileplume out of the way and quickly.

I am coming, Victreebel; hold on for a little longer. You and I will heal very soon.