At first, Brandon stood frozen, shocked at the sudden turn of events.

Then, he leaned back and inhaled deeply. Then he smiled. Only losers want it easy.

Brandon wasn't a loser.

"Awesome work Sceptile. Thanks a lot." Sceptile disappeared into the capture device and Brandon wasted no time in selecting his next Pokemon.

"Noivern, let's do it!" The Sound Wave Pokemon came out screaming, the crowd tried to plug their ears.

"Weird, I feel like Brandon has more obvious counters for a Psychic-type," Gary thought. Alakazam rematerialized his spoons.

"Well that weird-looking piece of shit can fly, so I won't be able to twist the ground with Psychic again."

"Alakazam, I told you to stop cussing during telepathy. Can't you do the same thing with the air?"

"No, it's harder to control and be sneaky about. Flying-types are sensitive. And fuck you."

"…."

"Noivern vs. Alakazam, battle begin!"

"Noivern, Air Slash!"

"Alakazam, Dazzling Gleam into the sky!"

Noivern fired an Air Slash, clipping Alakazam's shoulder, but immediately dipped low, dodging the Dazzling Gleam completely.

"That's some instinct. Go for some Psychic variations."

"Already on it."

Alakazam flung boulders and tried to swing the air currents, but Noivern sailed around it all, as if taunting the dual-spooned Pokemon.

"Hurricane!" Brandon shouted.

"Alakazam ground yourself with Psychic!"

As Alakazam did so and braced for the incoming Hurricane, but it never came. Noivern blitzed straight into Alakazam, turning its Draco Meteor into a point-blank physical attack. Alakazam flew back and crashed into wall, just about to faint.

"Alakazam, what's going on?" Gary asked.

"I can't believe I didn't notice. That asshole is telepathic." Alakazam fainted peacefully.

"Alakazam is unable to battle, this exhibition is tied up!" The referee shouted.

"Alakazam, return. Nice work." Gary turned to Brandon.

"That's one powerful gimmick you have going." Brandon nodded.

"I could say the same. I didn't expect telepathic commands." Gary reached for the fifth Pokeball in his belt.

"Umbreon!" The Moonlight Pokemon cooed gently towards the sky, then turned towards Noivern.

"Battle begin!"

Seeing Umbreon come out, Ash got up from his seat. No point in watching anymore.

"Where are you going?" Dawn asked.

"Just a walk, wanna come?"

"I wanna see how Gary pulls this one out." Ash smiled at her high expectations, knowing that Gary would completely fulfill them.

"He has a crazy Umbreon, I'll be back soon."

Ash walked through the stadium underground, reminiscing about earlier battles. The intimidating size of the concrete walls and the height of the ceiling always helped him put his battles into perspective. His opponents were generally smaller than this hallway. Except for Randall. That guy was huge. Ash took a sigh and closed his eyes. Oh, the days when he used to be nervous.

The ceiling vibrated suddenly; Gary must have won. Ash turned to walk back aboveground when he was stopped by a person dressed in all black.

"Ash Ketchum?" A female voice.

"Yeah. Catwoman?" The person continued unfazed.

"My name is Rica. I'm an agent of the Sinnoh police force." Ash slowly raised his hands. The woman's neck twitched. "Stop that." He chuckled lazily.

"What do you need officer?"

"I've heard a lot about you. You're a very talented trainer."

"Then you haven't heard enough. Also, there are tons of great trainers here, what do you want with me?"

"You're close to a person of interest in a large case we're working on."

"Victim or aggressor?"

"We can't say yet. However, if you agree to work with us, we'll loop you in. Adding someone of your caliber to our team would be advantageous." Ash pretended to think about it.

"Ehhhhh I think I'll be fine." He readjusted his cap and looked up as if he could see the battlefield.

"But think about—" Ash calmly shook his head.

"The only person's objectives I trust are my own. And if you're right and someone close to me is involved, then all the better that I take care of it myself. At least I know that I want to keep them safe." The figure in black stood still.

"That's regrettable. We hope you won't run interference on us." The figure ran off into the concrete maze. Ash sighed and turned back.

"Haven't I already done that?"