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Arven and Miraidon followed Kenji to the concrete battlefield. They and he stood across from one another. Lightning seemed to flash between them, but then Kenji stretched his pokéball in front of him.
He placed his other hand on his hip and said, “All right, Arven, since I know you’re not the best at Pokémon battles, we’re going to start with a one-on-one and see how you do.” There was a Pokémon he secretly wished in the back of his head for Arven to use.
Slightly offended by Kenji’s words, Arven sarcastically retorted, “Thanks.” Did Kenji have to rub that in his face?
Kenji gave him a quick wink. “You’re welcome.” He kissed his pokéball and tossed it forward in an underhand fashion. “Go, Iron Bundle!”
Within seconds, his small, robotic bird appeared and flapped its little wings. It hobbled to the center of the battlefield and waited patiently.
Okay, so the first thing Arven had to take into consideration was Iron Bundle’s type. What was it? It would have been so much easier if Arven had the Violet book, but he didn’t. He only owned the Scarlet one, which he carried around in his knapsack.
Scarlet, Penny, and Celebi made their way to the bottom of the staircase, but Nemona remained in her place. She still grieved and cried.
Celebi left Scarlet and Penny and soared across the battlefield to Arven. It held one of its three fingers up to him and said, “Bi,” before it pointed at Miraidon.
“Miraidon?” Arven questioned, slightly bewildered. “What about Miraidon?”
In his head, Celebi explained, “Fight with him and make it fair. Iron Bundle is an Ice/Water-type and Miraidon is an Electric/Dragon. Both of y’all have a weakness against each other, as well as an advantage.”
That was true, but Arven still wasn’t a huge fan of Miraidon. However, he recalled that he cared for Sada and Meowscarada just as much as him. Miraidon was just as torn up as he was over losing them. He, Sada, and Arven were a family, and there was no changing it.
“Miraidon,” Arven said, closing his eyes, “while I’ll never forget what you did to my mom, I know that what happened was an accident. And I also know that you care for AI Sada and Meowscarada just as much as I do.” He clipped Mabosstiff’s pokéball back onto his belt.
Miraidon stepped in front of him and swished his tail back and forth. He peered into Arven’s face. “Gias.”
“So please,” Arven added, “do me this one favor.”
“Gias,” Miraidon said again, and he nudged Arven, who opened his eyes. “Just this once, Arven.”
A warm, fuzzy feeling passed through the Pokémon and Arven, and they cracked small smiles.
Arven patted Miraidon’s head. “You big lump,” he giggled. With those words, he stood tall and held his hand out to the center of the battlefield. “All right, Miraidon, I choose you!”
At his command, Miraidon glowed up and hurried onto the field. He lifted into the sky and twirled a few times. When the glow faded, he reappeared in his battle form in front of Iron Bundle. His rockets gave off a blast of energy, and he roared.
“Yes!” Penny cheered from the sideline. She had been waiting for this day—for Arven and Miraidon to accept each other. She and Scarlet clapped for the newborn team.
Even Nemona looked up from her knees.
Yes, Arven went with Miraidon! That was just what Kenji wanted. “Iron Bundle,” he ordered, “let’s start this battle off with Drill Peck!”
Iron Bundle’s beak shimmered like Tera crystals and rotated in a drill-like fashion.
Arven remembered Sada’s words from before. “Speed, Miraidon,” he said. “Use Agility!” He listened to Celebi who plopped down on his head and told him Miraidon’s moves.
As if he were a ninja, Miraidon disappeared from the field and reappeared in different spots. Iron Bundle missed him every single time. From out of nowhere, Miraidon appeared behind it.
“Miraidon,” Arven called from the other side of the battlefield, “hit it with Electro Drift and aim for the ground!”
“Agias!” Miraidon’s eyes lit up, and he curled into a ball. Electricity coursed through his body. He rolled into Iron Bundle and slammed it into the battlefield.
“Yeah!” Nemona was the one who yelled that. She had finally joined Penny and Scarlet.
A pokéball flashed open on Scarlet’s belt, and Koraidon appeared. “Agias?” he asked when he saw Miraidon battling with Arven.
Iron Bundle used the cannonball-like feature on its tail to suck in some of Miraidon’s attack.
“While you’re down there, Iron Bundle,” said Kenji, “use Flip Turn!”
Iron Bundle hit Miraidon’s chest with its tail and back flipped away from him. It fell to one of its wings but pushed itself to its feet.
“All right, now use Ice Beam!” Kenji ordered.
A cold, icy beam left Iron Bundle’s beak and headed for Miraidon like an oncoming blizzard.
“We’ve got this, Miraidon!” Arven said to his partner. “Ice is weak to Rock, so use Power Gem!”
Miraidon attacked with a ray of light that took the appearance of gemstones. They crashed into Iron Bundle’s Ice Beam and shattered it to pieces. Rocks rained down on its head.
“Now finish it with one more Electro Drift!” Arven announced.
“Giga Impact, Iron Bundle!” Kenji shouted right after him.
Miraidon and Iron Bundle came within reach of each other, decked out in their moves. Their attacks collided, causing an explosion that shook the battlefield and Levincia. They almost took out the moving walkway in the area.
Arven, Kenji, and Arven’s friends closed their eyes against a great blast of dust and wind.
The dust settled to reveal Miraidon and Iron Bundle facing each other. Both Pokémon were out of breath and shook on their feet. They sneezed and coughed through the last specks of dust, and then they glared again. Iron Bundle tightened its wing like a fist, and Miraidon did the same with his claws.
After another minute of intense staring, the Pokémon could do no more, and they tumbled backward. Iron Bundle landed on its spine and Miraidon his side after he returned to his low-power mode.
“Miraidon!” Arven shouted. While he made his way to the Pokémon, Celebi bounced on his head. Arven kneeled to Miraidon and asked, “Are you okay, bud?”
“Gias,” Miraidon, a little disappointed, said. He lifted his head and met Arven’s eyes again. His tummy rumbled for sandwiches.
“Hey, don’t give me that look,” Arven chuckled. “You put up a fantastic fight, Miraidon.” A hand on his shoulder told him that the others had come to comfort them, too.
“Well done, Arven,” Scarlet said. She was the one who held him.
“Wow, Miraidon, you rocked!” Nemona hopped up and down and clapped her hands together. “The way you used Electro Drift and threw Iron Bundle into the ground blew me away! Not to mention that amazing finale! It was like I was watching a New Year’s fireworks show!” It was nice to see her almost back to her normal self.
Koraidon sauntered to Miraidon and bopped him on the head with his chin. He sat down next to him and wagged his tail.
Laughter off to the side startled Arven’s crowd. Kenji clapped his own hands and said, “Wow! That was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I wasn’t wrong about you, Arven. You have your mother’s blood and everything. You’re just as tough as her.” He picked up Iron Bundle and held it in his arms. “You put up an amazing fight yourself, Iron Bundle. Now take a nice, long rest.” With that, he returned his Pokémon to its pokéball.
“So, now what?” Arven inquired. “The battle ended in a draw, Kenji.”
For the second time, Kenji hooted. “I was actually kind of hoping for that, which is to say that I think with Miraidon, Koraidon, and your friends by your side, we’re going to have no issues in Kenji’s Lab.”
“Really?” Arven looked like he was about to cry, but for once, they weren’t tears of sadness.
“Absolutely,” Kenji said. “What do you say, team?” He glanced at each person and Pokémon and clenched his fist. “Let’s go rescue Sada and Meowscarada.”
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