Chapter 6

WOOSH!

Riolu froze in surprise.

No matter what happened, whenever she attacked with this first Quick Attack, it always hit, even if the enemy saw it or not.

Oshawott flung his head back, his bulging eyes watching the paw swing a few centimetres in front of his face.

"Osha!" His posture forced him back, trying not to fall on his rear.

'Holy shit, I said it once, I'll say it again,' Hilbert thought, gripping the pokéball in his hand, 'his dodging is something else,'

"Huh? What's wrong, Roxy?" Daniel asked, "It just slipped, go after it,"

Roxy the Riolu nodded, even though her doubts were beginning to blossom.

'He's right, I'm just...feeling off today,' She thought, dashing forward, 'I must kill the beast while it still sleeps,'

"Gah!" Hilbert gasped, "Oshawott, Water Gun,"

The water type stood still, shaking. When he heard Hilbert's fast order, Oshawott opened his mouth.

He shut it right back up when Roxy appeared with a kick.

Then a striking paw.

Afterwards, another kick.

They may be all different, but one thing stood out similarly with all these attacks.

None of them landed on Oshawott.

Like an acrobat, Oshawott weaved, dodged and flung his body around, his face more or less the same.

'No, this is not working,' Roxy thought, sending out more bullet-like punches and thundering kicks, 'my intuition was correct, this is not an opponent to play around with,'

Within the barrage of attacks, the crowd watching cheered on.

"Don't fool around, Daniel!"

"This Oshawott only knows how to dodge!"

Daniel frowned, "Roxy, just hit him already!"

The Riolu tried, but nothing came of it.

On the other side, Hilbert calmed down, witnessing this spectacle.

'That's right, Oshawott has not attacked yet, but he is panicking, and is busy dodging,' He breathed in, "Oshawott, try and Tackle!"

By this time, the water type had become used to the attacks.

In fact, the face of Riolu didn't scare him that much.

His eyes widened. He remembered that Pawniard. This will never be as scary as that attack.

So, Roxy the Riolu fired a punch towards Oshawott's face.

With a head slip, the opening revealed itself.

"Osha!" Only thinking about the attack, the water type kicked the ground, barreling forward into the fighting type's chest.

'Shoot!'

Roxy immediately leapt back, sliding a bit before stopping.

Her stomach was braced for the impact, but this infected her mind.

'What...what was that!?' Slowly, she began to panic, 'Was that the jaws of that slumbering monster I'm disturbing? I don't understand...'

Meanwhile, there were murmurs amongst the crowd.

Daniel, however, nodded his head.

"We need to scale it up," He looked down at Roxy, "Plan B, Roxy,"

"Rio!?" Roxy gasped, surprised at what she heard.

"I need to take risks if I want to become the champion and beat everyone," He said, "So, show them that move, Roxy!"

"Oshawott, while he is speaking, use Water Gun,"

Hilbert ordered, to which Oshawott nodded.

He also noticed how much calmer the water type became.

'This is good,' Hilbert thought, looking at the Riolu, 'if she can dodge this attack, the only way is with Tackle,'

While he thought this, Oshawort opened his mouth.

There, a rotating ball formed.

Soon, it became a powerful torrent, swishing and morphing the ball.

A moment later, the compact object blew out into a tremendous beam of swirling water.

Like a large tsunami, it crashed down upon Roxy, who closed her eyes.

BOOM!

Another explosion.

Like last time, Roxy could be seen running.

Around her, a whitish-grey hue encased the fighting type as she ran next to the stream of water.

Daniel raised an eyebrow.

'A bit overkill to use Inner Focus,' He thought, yawning, 'it's only an Oshawott and a trainer with a dream that I will destroy,'

That instant, Hilbert caught sight of the dashing fighting type.

'Is that some type of Ultra Instinct?' He shook his head, "Oshawott, time for the Tackle,"

"Oshawott!" The water type knew this.

This wasn't and will never be as scary as his previous encounter.

With a slightly quivering posture, Oshawott kicked the ground, a small crack appearing where his foot was.

Like a cannonball, the water type fired directly into the oncoming Riolu.

'Daniel's right,' Roxy the Riolu thought, reading her left paw as she neared Oshawott, 'I must not be fearful of the beast's fangs if I have my own blades,'

She stared intently at Oshawott.

'Come and face me!'

When Oshawott dashed into the range of Roxy, he was surprised to find that her punch with that opening, her dangerous left, stayed by her face.

She even watched him barrel towards her chest as if inviting him to do so.

He didn't think much and did it anyway.

At that moment, Hilbert gritted his teeth.

'Counter,' He thought, 'this may be bad,'

The crowd grew quiet as they intensely watched this exchange.

Daniel stayed silent as well.

'Come on,' Roxy thought, clenching her teeth, 'must...'

'Endure!'

BOOM!

She did.

CRACK!

PLSSH!

The impact sent a wave as Oshawott buried himself into the fighting type's chest.

However, her face contorted into one of agony as she was hit with something reminiscent of a hammer.

Her very flesh and bones shook from the impact.

Roxy's entire frame was pushed back by Oshawott's momentum.

As she stopped once again, Roxy knelt over from the excruciating pain.

Her chest burned. When she moved, pain shot into her nerves.

'I can't move...' She thought, staring at Oshawott, '...the beast has awakened,'

Through sheer grit, she stood tall.

PILSH!

Then groaned.

'Why, am I feeling so drowsy?' Her body leaned, and she tried to stop it, 'What's going on?'

As her vision tilted, Roxy noticed a strange thing that left her bewildered.

Oshawott's face.

His cheeks had a light shade of pink on them. The water type's mouth was in a weird smile.

'...W...What?' Her eyes began to close, 'He only showed fear, now...'

'Why do I only sense pleasure and joy!?'

As Roxy lost her balance, she thought of one thing.

She really did awaken a monster.

THUD!

For a split second, only Roxy's unconscious body was heard as it hit the ground.

Soon after, an applause erupted.

"Daniel has been defeated!"

"The Sinnoh pokémon is down!"

"That's what you deserved!"

Hilbert released a sigh of relief.

'I've never been that anxious for a long time,' He walked to the standing Oshawott, 'better congratulate him,'

Hilbert knelt and spoke.

"Oshawott,"

The water type got out of this trance, shook his head, and turned to look at Hilbert.

"You did it," Hilbert smiled.

"Osha!"

Oshawott surprised him by running and jumping, landing on his chest in a hug.

"Ugh..." Hilbert was taken aback by this.

'Maybe? Just maybe...'

Slowly, he raised a hand and planted it on Oshawott's head.

The reaction from the water type was rubbing into the hand.

Hilbert smiled.

With an arm holding Oshawott, he returned the hug, feeling the comfortable fur of the water type.

'This was so, so, worth it!' Hilbert nearly shed a tear, 'I can die a happy man!'

That's right.

Hilbert finally became a winner.

There was a warm feeling rising within Hilbert.

'I've won,' He began to smile, 'I won!'

However, Hilbert saw Daniel.

"Crap! Roxy!" He shouted, picking up the Riolu, "How? How!?"

Daniel locked eyes with Hilbert.

When this happened, there was something that he realised when seeing Daniel.

The job was half done.

"How is your Oshawott so strong?" He demanded, holding the Riolu, "It's not possible,"

Hilbert frowned.

"Wake up to reality," He replied, making sure Daniel heard every word, "that dream of yours, to crush other dreams? The one you call your reality?"

On that note, Hilbert turned his back on Daniel.

"That reality is my hobby,"

He walked away, leaving Daniel quiet.

A moment later, a wave of cringe fell on Hilbert.

'What the fuck is wrong with me!?' He looked up to the sky with a frown, 'Who do I think I am, Madara?'

Hilbert paused.

Oshawott, now following him, looked at him with a confused glare.

"I found a name for you, Oshawott," Hilbert said, taking out his pokéball.

"Osha?" The water type shivered, though he was excited.

Hilbert took a deep breath in.

"You showed them power," He said, placing a hand on Oshawott's shoulder, "power that was not of their creation,"

"So, I name you..." Aiming the ball at Oshawott, Hilbert smiled,

"Madara," He said, returning Oshawott to his pokéball, 'the Ghost of the Uchiha,'

He placed the ball in the system inventory and began to walk.

However, a tear ran down Hilbert's cheek.

'I'm going to cry from the cringe,'