Might as well start off strong! I thought as I sent out Coral. If any of my teammates could take a lot of damage and still remain standing, it was my Lapras. Nate let out Soul and the battle commenced.

   "Soul, use Energy Ball!"

   "Coral, Ice Beam!" Soul looked as if he was going to attack first, but the sharp claw Coral wore around her neck glowed bright white, giving her a momentary speed boost and allowing her to attack. I had picked up that Quick Claw at a Poké Mart weeks ago, and this was the first time it had activated. Coral shot at line of ice at Psychic-type, knocking it back. Dang it, it didn't freeze him! "Now use Water Pulse!"

   "Use Energy Ball again, and make it connect!" Nate ordered.

   It's not like I wanted it to miss! Soul argued. He summoned a light green ball of energy and split it in two, launching them at Coral right afterwards. Coral spat a vertical disc of water that spread out into several smaller rings that trailed behind the first. The Water Pulse intercepted the first Energy Ball but was unable to stop the second. The light sailed over Coral's attack and hit her, shoving her backwards. I frowned when Coral's body emitted a brief blue glow, meaning that her Special Defense was lowered.

   "Coral, be careful and try using Blizzard," I said. It was a risky move, but if it hit, it would pay off in the long run.

   "Soul, use Psychic!"

   Because Soul was naturally faster than Coral, he got his attack in first. He held out his arms and Coral was surrounded by a pink aura. To my shock, Coral was lifted high off the ground and suspended in midair. Soul then quickly spread his arms wide and Coral fell to the ground, slamming into the hard-packed dirt and sending dust flying. The dust cleared, and I saw that Coral had fainted.

   "You did a good job, Coral, return." I sent out a Pokémon that I knew was faster than Soul. "Nightwing, you can do this!" my Unfezant emerged from her ball and landed lightly on the ground. Her eyes narrowed, and she squawked loudly when she saw Soul. "Okay, Nightwing. Try to finish him off with an Air Slash!"

   "Soul, Psyshock!"

   Nightwing took off into the air at a nearly blinding speed, dodging Soul's attack before it could anywhere near her. She tucked in her wings and dove straight at Soul, pulling up at the last possible second and raking him with her talons. Soul was knocked out and replaced with Surge. To say that Nightwing was shocked by Surge's entrance would be no exaggeration. I recalled my fainted Unfezant and replaced her with Citrine. If anything, Citrine's Brick Break could do a decent amount of damage. Surge and Citrine battled it out for a few turns before knocking each other out. Citrine's High Jump Kick mostly missed and the recoil damage finished him off while the bit of damage he did knocked out Surge. Next up were Lilith and Tesla.

   "Use Thunder Punch, Tesla!"

   "Retaliate!" Lilith raced towards Tesla, trailing red-stained cherry blossom petals behind her as Tesla charged up a volt of electricity in his left arm. Lilith struck Tesla right as he swung his clenched fist and the two took damage at the same time. Tesla took advantage of being shoved back and began generating electricity between his wires. Lilith ran at him, ready to use Crunch and Tesla struck her with another Thunder Punch.

   "Lilith, use Surf!"

   "Wait a second, Tesla!" My Electivire obediently stopped in his tracks. He trusted my judgment and waited to see what I would do. Lilith drew the vapor out of the air and it gathered in a dripping, amorphous blob above her head. Much of the water spilled out of the blob and onto Lilith.

   "Okay, now use Thunderbolt!" Tesla let loose a bolt of lightning, and it struck Lilith. The stray strands electrified the Surf and caused it to break apart, soaking the already shocked Stoutland with countless drops of electrified water. Lilith was knocked out as a result and Nate swapped her with Thorn. I switched Tesla with Flaris, and a Flamethrower finished off the Ferrothorn in a single turn. Tesla returned to the battlefield, and Nate sent out the mistress of mayhem herself: August. I needed to be extra careful with how I dealt with her.

   "August, use Dig!" The Ninetales furiously dug a hole in the ground and dove into it, vanishing from view.

   "Tesla, send a Thunderbolt down the hole!" I commanded. Tesla carried out the order and fired a huge bolt of lightning underground. I felt bad for August when I heard her howling in pain from inside the hole. That all changed when the ground under Tesla ruptured and he was thrown skyward by an angry August. As expected, the Ground move made him faint.

   "Okay, Pandora, you can do this!" I exclaimed as I threw my Absol's Poké Ball. The two canine Pokémon faced one other, claws out and fangs showing.

   "Pandora, Night Slash!"

   "August Wil-o-wisp!" August spat a small purple flame at Pandora and it inflicted her with the Burn status, making her Physical Night Slash do less damage. I now couldn't depend on her Attack stat to take down August. The one Special move she knew that might do enough damage was Razor Wind. The only downside to it was that it took some time to charge up. I had to give it a shot.

   "Pandora, ready a Razor Wind!" Pandora's horn lit up and she swung her head around. The light became several dozen clear blades that began swarming in the air above her.

   "August, use Facade!"

   And there it was, the move I was worried about. August ran at Pandora, her eyes glinting mischievously. Pandora braced herself for the attack and stopped when August tilted her head curiously. She then dove at Pandora and the two tussled on the ground in a storm of claws. It ended with August pinning Pandora down under her paws, waiting to see if she would try to move. Pandora lay there, not moving a muscle, and I was sure she had fainted. Then Pandora's snapped open and the flurry of white blades descended down on the pair. August was hit by blade after blade, covering her in scratches. And when the onslaught stopped, August was the one to have fainted. Pandora had defeated the "immortal" August.

   "August, return!" Nate said in a daze as he recalled his Ninetales. He looked as surprised as I was when he saw that August had fainted. "You can do this, Saber!" He sent out his starter. I wasn't too shocked when Pandora was hit by an Aqua Jet and fainted as a result. It was now Flaris against Saber, starter against starter. But unbeknownst to Nate, Flaris had learned a certain TM move.

   "Start charging a Solar Beam!"

   Nate briefly panicked. "Solar Beam?! Um, Saber, use Water Pulse!" Saber shot a repeat of Coral's move as Flaris began gathering power for the potentially devastating Grass-type move. Flaris took the attack and was able to finish charging.

   "Come on, Flaris. Make this count. Use Solar Beam!" I commanded. Flaris unleased a blinding beam of telluric light at Saber. Saber was engulfed by the beam and was thrown against the wall of the League Pokémon Center.

   "Hey, watch it!" the guard yelled.

   "Sorry about that," I apologized. Saber fell out of the indent he'd created and weakly struggled to his feet. I knew I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help but get my hopes up. Flaris only had to do a little more damage, then Saber would faint. "Flaris, use Arm Thrust!"

   "Saber, Hydro Pump!"

   And with that move, the battle was over. Saber hit Flaris with a torrent of water, and Flaris fainted before he even hit the ground. I lost the battle. I stood there, my mind blanking. I didn't feel sad, angry, or any other negative emotion associated with losing a battle this important. "We... we lost," I said. I walked over to Flaris and crouched down next to him. He weakly looked up at me with a saddened look on his face. "It's okay, Flaris. You did your best, and that's all that matters," I said with a smile. Flaris brightened and gave me the goofy grin he always did back when he was a Pignite. "You can rest now." I held up his ball and returned him to it. I stood up to see Nate approaching me, Rosa at his side.

   "Hey, Hugh. Sorry you lost," he said somberly.

   "Why are you sorry? When it comes to battling, there always has to be a loser. And it was a great battle. I'm not mad or anything," I replied.

   "You aren't? That's good then." Nate looked relieved.

   "I made it all the way out here in the first place. That means something, right?" I said.

   "I guess it does." Nate looked away from me. He looked genuinely guilty that he had beaten me. For once, I decided to be the one to lighten the mood.

   "What are you waiting for? You have an Elite Four to challenge!" I said happily. "You can sulk about this later after you beat them."

    "You really think I can defeat them?"

   "When haven't you won a battle yet?" Rosa asked.

   "Well... I can name a few times..." Nate said, rolling his eyes.

   "That doesn't matter. As long as you win these battles, you'll be fine!" I said. "And don't you dare lose any of them!"

   "Hugh knows you can, and so do I. Like he said, you'll be fine," Rosa said.

   "Thanks, I appreciate it, I really do," Nate said. After healing his team at the Center, Nate went over to the guard. "I'll be challenging the Elite Four first," he said.

   "That's fine. You can battle them in any order you like, so long as you defeat them all. If at any time you are defeated, you will be kicked out and will have to start over. Once you enter, you cannot leave. You either defeat, or be defeated, understood?"

   "Yes, sir," Nate said.

   "Okay, you may enter." The guard stepped to the side and the gates he previously blocked swung open.

   "Good luck!" I called to him. I know you can do it! I know you can win!

   "You can do it!" Rosa added.

   "I will! I won't leave until I win, I promise!" Nate responded confidently. He then entered the League building. He turned to wave at us one last time, and the gates closed behind him.