He’d grown up with the school of hard knocks, quite literally—and it wasn’t in this region either. It was far away, across the ocean—among the narrow alleyways and canals where gondolas sailed on the water and people yelled at each other in another language.

“It was nothing much. We were there at the right place and the right time,” he remarked, sending out his Metagross first. Ro hit the ground with a thudding noise, light sheening off his silver frame.

He was debating on whether or not to start the show a little early and go strong out of the gate, or to assess the situation—

But knowing Ro, there was no way he was going to allow to go in guns blazing.

“Get out of the way!”

It was going to be a risky move, but one he was going to take—with a sudden burst of Telekinetic power to aid the hulking silver frame to get out of the way.

---

Metagross used Telekinesis to dodge!

"Is that Clear Body I see?" Mickey adjusted his glasses, noticing something shimmering around the silvery body of his opponent's Metagross. "That brings back memories! I wrote one of my first dissertations about the practical applications of Clear Body to the ancient peoples of Hoenn."

A groan went up from the stands as the man warmed to his topic, hoping part of his lecture might passively sink into his students' heads. Much as he enjoyed Clear Body, it had been around when he and Michi were kids, and it had an integral role in Hoenn's history already. Lars wouldn't be receiving any points for its use. 

But Mickey didn't mind. It was great to see contrast on the field. If both of them only used new moves and abilities, how could they see how far Pokemon Battling had come?

Telekinesis, however, had a very positive reaction from the onlookers. Students cheered in the stands as the Metagross used its psychic abilities to maneuver itself away from the deadly first strike. "1 point, challenger!" called the announcer.

The leaderboard on the far side of the game ticked to 1 for Lars. There was a round of applause.

Applause and lectures didn't stop battles, however, and Rui continued to pursue his opponent. His small,  beady black eyes darted back and forth, trying to read the Metagross's unnatural, psychic-powered movements.

Where was he going next?

Rui closed his eyes, reaching out with his senses towards the floating titan. He used MIND READER.

There was a loud slap as the grass-type's tail hit the ground, catapulting him into the air. Ro had avoided him before by floating into the air-- but not even the sky was unbreakable.

One fist charging with the light of SKY UPPERCUT, Rui launched himself towards Metagross's shiny steel belly.

He could hear the collective groaning from the stands, and but back a smile—apparently the gathered students who were here to watch this madness chaos were bracing themselves for the inevitable poetic waxing that was to come.

However, the earlier move was a well-timed distraction.

“Turn!” was the only thing he would say. To say that the Metagross knew how Lars’s brain was thinking at the time was—well, they’d been together ever since, so little needed to be exchanged as the two knew how each other thought outside of the box.

There was another humming of ‘white noise’ from the Metagross as one of the two red eyes looked skyward—and using the propulsion from earlier, moved to one side thanks to its Agility boost, before suddenly, sharply turning around to return his attention on the Breloom.

Another classic move in the form of a Psychic burst emerged, the rainbow-colored orb of energy headed straight at the Breloom.

---

Metagross used Agility as a dodge; before belting out a classic Psychic attack!

Outperformed, the Breloom realized too late that the movement had been a feint as the Metagross's Agility carried it out of range. He twisted in the air, trying to keep sight of the shiny chrome creature, only to find the Metagross at his back already readying a deadly Psychic attack.

The crowd roared in excitement as pink energy surrounded the fighting-type, rendering his physical fitness irrelevant. "Mind over matter!" Mickey called, mustache bristling. "Psychic is a strong move, and keeps Rui here at range away from your Metagross!" It was a classic strategy, but unfortunately, this challenge was about showcasing new moves and abilities. Still, one couldn't argue it was ineffective.

Rui slammed into the gym floor, his spores rising in a dull cloud around his body. It was becoming clear it would be difficult to catch the Metagross in physical contact. Limping, the Breloom picked himself off the floor, earning a round of applause from the college students, and braced himself.

Near the ceiling of the gym, a circle of rotating, fist-sized seeds materialized, perhaps escaping immediate notice until they marshalled themselves and rained down like firebombs from a flowery air raid. 

Pheeeew.... BANG!

"That's a Seed Bomb attack!" Mickey trumpeted, seeing his Pokemon's strategy, "First coined and captured in Sinnoh! Fill the air, Rui, let's see if he's agile enough to dodge all of them at once!"

A second concentric ring of spinning seeds rained from above like meteors, exploding on contact in bursts of shrapnel like popping popcorn. 

Crap, he was trapped—

He’d have to close the distance to actually inflict some damage; however there were two successive attacks coming in—

And he had a choice.

One of them would have to hit, which was sad. Moving to the side via Agility, the first attack ended up striking thin air, but the second attack would strike the side of the Metagross’s legs, which meant that there was a hit scored on the other.

“Not yet, Ro. Not yet!” he called out.

For there was a plan… hopefully the other would survive long enough to make it to the next round.

---

Dodged the first hit with Agility but tanked the second.

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