Mount Coronet was a lot easier to get through than Iron Island, and, for that, I was thankful. As promised, I brought Carbink with me to travel through the mountain together. They took the lead while I followed, purposely straying just off the main path to explore. Sure, doing so wouldn't be as safe, but I trusted Carbink and the rest of my team to step in if anything happened. My team wouldn't get stronger if we only ever took the safest routes.

I got the sense that in Mount Coronet, the Pokémon here were a lot stronger but also rather unaggressive. Zubat swarms would flitter overhead, barely paying Carbink and I half a mind, while Geodude and Graveler would eye us carefully but never move in.

The most interesting event to happen was when a haunting melody started to faintly echo through the cave. It was a beautiful choir of bells and chimes that created a reverberating, melancholic tune that drifted all around us.

Carbink and I paused just to listen in. The music was faint—too far away to find its source—but we could hear it just fine in the silent caverns of Mount Coronet.

The only time we experienced anything that even remotely resembled danger (that we were aware of) was when a lone Machoke tried to challenge Carbink to a fight. The purple Fighting Type sauntered up, its massive pectoral muscles rippling under each movement. With a cocky grin, it raised up a hand and gestured for Carbink to come forward.

For this fight, Carbink had recently learned Psychic from a TM, so they actually had the advantage. Even so, they didn’t rely on that Type advantage immediately, choosing instead to rely on their more familiar Ancient Power.

Stones levitated into the air and were flung forward. Machoke easily broke them apart with its fists before one last, larger chunk sailed right at it in the air.

Machoke pulled back an arm, readying a final punch to destroy the last bit of the attack.

Nothing happened. The fist clanged against a silent barrier. Carbink conjured a Reflect just barely fast enough to prevent that attack from landing. The Ancient Power struck Machoke in the stomach.

The impact forced Machoke to bend over as the forceful Rock Type attack had knocked the wind out of it. Seeing an easy opportunity, Carbink unleashed their Psychic attack.

Psychic wasn't a quick move, especially since Carbink wasn't a Psychic Type nor did they have especially powerful attacks. Instead, Machoke was basically held in the air with no way to escape as Carbink dealt as much damage as they could.

Machoke, realizing it couldn't escape the super effective move, called out its name in surrender. Carbink dropped the effect to let Machoke fall to the floor, panting on its hands and knees.

At that, Carbink floated their way over to speak to Machoke.

“Car bink,” they said. “Carbink, car, car, bink. Carbink. Car.”

Machoke, not fully unconscious, but definitely fully beaten, hung its head in shame. With one last tilt of their body, Carbink returned to my side and we were off.

“That was an incredibly clever use of Reflect,” I said. “I hadn't considered using it to make openings like that, only to trap enemies and defend yourself. Great job thinking outside of the box, Carbink."

The fluff on the top of Carbink's body puffed up with pride. I couldn't see their mouth, but with the humming noises they were making, they were definitely happy.

There was a short route outside the exit of Mount Coronet that led to the edge of Eterna City. I’d need to go back this way to head northwards once I was done here, but for now, it only took a few hours to reach the city once we were out.

Eterna City was an old town with modern buildings, if that made any sense. The layout wasnt that planned, and the streets were worn stone. The buildings themselves were clearly kept up to date, however, but I didn't pay attention to them right away.

Instead, the very first thing I encountered in the town that kept my attention was a massive bronze statue located right in a plaza near Eterna's edge. The statue was the size of a three story building and was made out of pure metal. Even more, it was extremely confusing to look at.

On one hand, it could have been an artist’s rendition of Dialga, but on the other hand, it could have been an artist’s rendition of Palkia. I couldn’t tell if it was rearing up on its hind legs or if it normally stood bipedally. Large fins stretched out on its back from its base, mimicking both Palkia’s wings and Dialga’s tail fan. It should have been identifiable through the gems on its chest or shoulders. It had neither.

The inscription on its base called it "Sinnoh." Genuinely, I was unsure what it meant.

After spending a few minutes just staring at the chunk of metal, a passing conversation caught my attention.

"So who are you rooting for in the Contest tomorrow? I'm hoping Jenna will make an appearance."

"Really? But I thought she already competed in one, here."

"No, you're thinking of Caroline. See..."

My eyes widened upon realization.

I had planned to take on the town's Gym first, but it seemed my delay in Mount Coronet had pushed me off schedule. With the need to take part in the final show battle in Snowpoint, I couldn't afford to spend too much time here.

It seemed I'd need to take on the local Contest first, especially if it was scheduled to take part tomorrow. The Grand Festival was soon approaching. We needed to win.

However, despite that pressure, this Contest would be special. After all, Mawile would be the only Pokémon competing.

“And for our last contestant, we have Robin, the winner of the Wallace Cup!”

As I, Robin, strode out onto the stage in my split-colored mask and outfit, the audience cheered surprisingly fervently. I smiled at such a brilliant reception, knowing Mawile would appreciate the support.

We were at a disadvantage, however. As I had mistimed everything and signed up late, Robin was the last contestant. That meant Mawile would be following up every other act. If one was too impressive or too similar, we'd obviously suffer slightly in our chances to continue.

Though, I had faith in my Pokémon. Before, the only Contest Mawile had competed in was the Wallace Cup itself. Even then, she had only battled, not performed. What Mawile planned to do today was something she'd been working on for ages. Ever since I first asked her if she was interested in Contests, she had been planning this.

She was motivated when I recalled her to her Heavy Ball beforehand. I was nervous, but my mask helped to hide that.

Once the cheering was done, with the flick of my wrist, Mawile's Heavy Ball appeared in my hand and I casually tossed it forward with complete confidence. Some smoke stickers hid her immediate appearance with conjured smoke, Mawile choosing to use this brief obscuration to use her first move of the show: Stone Edge.

This Stone Edge was used slightly differently than she normally used it. Most of the time, she used Rock Type energy to "grow" shards of stone on her mouth and flick them forward at her enemies. Here, however, she used Rock Type energy to conjure a big chunk of rock that spiked up from the ground.

The mist faded to reveal Mawile standing next to the stone, her hands clenched into balls and her face locked into an expression of determination. She turned around, and her wide jaws struck true.

She used Vice Grip to clamp down on the rock.

Honestly, it looked somewhat strange at first because Mawile just stood there with her mouth around a chunk of stone. However, her jaws were the strongest part of her body. She used this to show them off.

A horrid cracking noise echoed out. With a clench, the conjured rock was compressed inwards, her jaws leaving quite the dent in them.

Then, they opened up, shot forwards, and clamped down again.

This time, she used Fire Fang, not Vice Grip.

Once this section was done, she did it again with Thunder Fang, then Ice Fang, then Psychic Fangs, then Crunch.

Since this was just a normal Contest, the performance round only last half a minute. Mawile had only that long to finish was she was doing. Being able to demonstrate such a wide variety of biting moves was extremely impressive, and even though most of them were TM-taught, she'd been practicing with them long enough to make them her own.

By the time there was only ten seconds left, Mawile had turned a rough, jagged piece of stone into a surprisingly regular spike. That was impressive enough, but then she clamped down on it one last time to rip it out of the ground and hold it in her jaws.

She took a few steps forwards, then from behind, chucked it straight up in the air.

It was a deadly spike. A terrible weapon clearly meant for impaling. With how Mawile threw it, it was likely to land on herself.

She didn't move. A few members of the audience shouted for her to get out of the way. Instead, she simple raised her jaws up and used Iron Defense.

The stone spear struck true. Mawile braced for the impact as the sharpened point hit her jaws dead on. With Iron Defense up, there was exactly zero reaction.

There was only a moment left. I finally did my one contribution to her performance.

I snapped.

Mawile used Dark Pulse.

Right before the buzzer rang, the stone burst with a wave of night sent out of Mawile from all directions. A cloud of stone dust emanated outwards while her familiarity with Dark Type moves became evident.

With the cloud of dust and darkness surrounding her, her white teeth glinting off the stage lights above made her look like a dangerous predator ready to strike. Yet, the rest of her body stuck out and looked the opposite: completely unassuming.

It was that image that would be stuck in everyone's minds with our performance over. Mawile walked over to me, and I scooped her up into my arms.

"That was amazing," I whispered once we were in the hallway.

Mawile groaned uncomfortably.

"Just a bit shorter. We're almost there."

The moment I entered a private space, Rapidash immediately released himself right next to us and placed his glowing horn on Mawile's jaws. The injury the spike inflicted glowed then faded with Heal Pulse as Mawile let out a comfortable sigh.

I found a stool to place her in and took off my mask to speak normally.

"Are you really sure you want to continue as you are?" I asked nervously.

Mawile gave me a firm nod. I rubbed the side of my head.

"Just know that there's no pressure. If you get too tired, I can always have someone else battle instead. Rapidash is up for it, Altaria, too. Heck, you don't even need to ask for Ninetales's permission!"

Mawile frowned and crossed her arms at my lack of faith in her. I sighed.

"I get it. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to imply you weren't strong enough, I just didn't want to see you suffer under too much pressure. Putting so much on one Pokémon—"

Mawile said her name at me, interrupting my worried speech. She gave me a reassuring smile that I couldn't help but to return back.

I chuckled.

"Alright, Mawile. I trust you. All the battles, completely up to you. Even if you're tired, you'll go in. No one else on the team has won a Contest all on their own. It'll be amazing once you do it."

She looked smug as Rapidash let out an amused whinny. With us being the last pair to perform, it didn't take long to find out if she had moved on.

Of course, she had.

"Sucker Punch," I ordered.

Mawile's opponent, a Forretress, had used quite the interesting strategy for its battle. Its attacks hadn't been that damaging, but it would purposefully set up entry hazards then use Rapid Spin to remove them. Normally, doing such a thing with moves like Spikes and Stealth Rocks would be meaningless, but when that frenzied spinning sucked them up and launched them at your foe, it was a harrowing experience.

Mawile had only barely got in close enough for Sucker Punch to land. The only reason she had done so was thanks to Iron Defense letting her withstand the barrage to get in close, and Sucker Punch had thrown off Forretress's Rapid Spin to provide the perfect opening for Mawile.

"Payback!" our opposing Coordinator yelled out.

I replied with a confident "Fire Fang."

We'd been forced to not rely on attacking moves up to this point as Forretress was simply far too defensive to have those attacks do anything but cost us points. With Fire Fang, however, Forretress had the unfortunate weakness of having a vulnerability to Fire Type moves twice over, meaning it just couldn't withstand the attack.

The Fire Fang heated up its metal shell and turned its interior into a raging blaze. Credit to the Pokémon, it didn't faint right away, but the super effective attack was so debilitating that the last bit of their points were shaved away. It didn't even get the chance to use its ordered move.

Mawile immediately stopped when the timer rang out. Her bite slackened as she switched to channeling Ice Type energy instead, trying to use Ice Fang in the least damaging way to help Forretress cool down.

The glow on its body faded as the two visible eyes closed in relief. Its trainer returned the Pokémon while I returned Mawile.

With an exchanged nod of respect, we both left the stage.

In all actuality, that was Mawile's second match. The first had been against a Grass Type trainer that fell to her more powerful and more experienced attacks.

Mawile's Ice Fang and Fire Fang proved useful to sneak in super effective damage while she could, all the while a mixture of Stone Edge and Shadow Ball harried her opponent from a distance.

In a real battle, such frequent use of weak special moves would have cost us. Here, though, Mawile purposefully kept them weak but frequent to prevent her opponent from moving around more than necessary

Despite normally being a grounded Pokémon, Mawile had proved she could narrow the distance at range. Tropius's points ticked down, but at a cost.

Mawile was panting. Rapidash was trying his best to support her with his healing while Togepi was doing her best to keep Mawile motivated. With how close Mawile and Rapidash were, Togepi had somehow latched onto Mawile just as tightly, and she was now sitting in Mawile's lap and chattering on about nothing at all.

Mawile smiled and let one of her hands rest on Togepi's head. I quickly moved in to pat Togepi on the side to distract her before she finished using Metronome.

"Are you ready for the final round, Mawile?" I asked.

She glanced up at me to nod once. Her eyes looked somewhat sunken, and her shoulders were sagging. With how much energy she'd expended in the past two matches, she was tired. However, I was confident she could continue. I had faith in my Pokémon.

After a few more moments to rest, someone banged on the door to the room.

"Robin, the final round is about to start."

I flung on my mask.

"One moment," I said.

I locked eyes with Mawile one last time before returning everyone. I myself took a deep breath to recover my nerves before heading back out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's Robin versus Lepi! Put your hands together for our two wonderful contestants!"

I walked onto the stage while my opponent lightly acknowledged me with a wave. His face was also obscured, but only with a simple domino mask.

He looked confident. More than just smug. For me, my surprised expression was hidden. I recognized him from the Hearthome Contest.

His Mothim and Beautifly performed together quite marvelously. We never had a chance to battle, as I had lost rather thoroughly.

This wouldn't be a double battle, but it would still be won in the performance.

"Good luck to you, Robin!" my opponent called out.

I bowed my head slightly.

"And you as well, Le—"

"You'll need it," he interrupted.

The audience let loose a series of "Ooh!"'s and gasps. I chose to not respond to his attempt at trash talk, as Robin wouldn't stoop to it.

Both he and I both clutched our respective Pokéballs as the announcer called out for us to begin.

I sent out Mawile. He sent out a Mothim.

"Quiver Dance!" our opponent yelled.

Quiver Dance was a powerful move that drastically increased a Pokémon's maneuverability and attack power. Unfortunately for it, Lepi had started his previous two rounds the same way, and Mawile's Taunt had already come out.

Mothim, rather than using its boosting move, flew forward aggressively. For being caught in such a trap, our opponent lost a third of his points right then and there.

That was the first time Mawile used Taunt in this Contest, as we kept it hidden specifically to use it in such a manner. It wasn't completely on him to have been caught out like that.

"Fine, then! Air Slash!"

Annoyed from Taunt, Mothim swerved in the air to let its wings carve translucent lines with its flight pattern that were sent forward right at Mawile. A quick Iron Defense blocked the attacks, but the force of them pushed the relatively small Steel Type back.

I expected our defense to save our points. We lost them instead.

"Great! Now String Shot!"

"Let it hit."

At first I was confused Mothim could use String Shot under Taunt, but with how aggressively it was sending out the move, the Pokémon seemed to consider it an attack.

My command, however, clearly confused Mawile, but she still did as I said. The sticky string was shot out of Mothim's lower body to slam into Mawile's chest. The move would cause her movements to require more effort on her part to get past the stickiness, slowing her down, but that only mattered if I wanted Mawile to move.

Staying in one place let Mawile rest. She needed it, as she was already panting.

Known only to me and her, she continued to subtly use a move we had discussed before the battle.

"Now, Confusion!" Lepi called out.

"Let it hit," I said.

Our opponent frowned as the move hit Mawile once more. Her body glowed as the Psychic Type move caused that surface layer of reality to twist painfully around her.

Mawile stood strong and stared off at her opponent. It was honestly starting to slow down.

Our points were at half at this point. We'd lost a decent chunk from the attacks Mawile had taken, but not as much as if she had tried to dodge and fail. She was breathing heavily but still ready to move in at a moments notice.

Our opponent waited for us to do anything. I stayed silent. He smiled in response.

"Not sure what you're planning, but this ain't it. Mothim, take it out with Aerial Ace."

When he said that, Mothim almost looked more excited than needed. If its eyes weren't so bug-like, its pupils would have definitely enlarged.

After curving around in the air to build up speed, Mothim shot forward, moving far faster than necessary.

I smiled. It seemed this bug was far more motivated by a Sweet Scent than expected. Mawile didn't even need my command, but I said it anyway to be dramatic.

"Dark Pulse."

With its willingness to avoid Mawile thrown off by the sugary scent she was subtly emanating, Mothim wasn't prepared to dodge the burst that left Mawile's body. It was flung way off to the side and hit the ground hard. Lepi's points were chipped away but not finished off.

"Don't let this be it! Confusion!"

"Shadow Ball."

Mawile didn't need to move. I didn't want Mawile to move.

Under the effects of String Shot, she was forced to heave her jaws over like she was planting a heavy machine gun. Mothim's eyes glowed to surround Mawile in the same effect. Unfortunately for it, Mawile was just barely able to push through.

In her mouth, a sphere of shadow formed under the vibrations and grew to excessive size. Mothim attempted to flap its wings to take to the air, but it seemed that one wing had been damaged when the Pokémon hit the ground.

The Shadow Ball was sent out, easily hitting its nearby target. Mothim's points fizzled away. The buzzer marked the end of the match.

For a brief moment, Mawile genuinely couldn't process what just happened. She was ready to keep going, ready to keep fighting, but Mothim didn't attack, and its trainer stayed silent too.

Then, the announcer spoke up over the cheers of the audience.

"And the victory goes to Robin and their wonderful Mawile! Give them a hand, everyone!"

The entire room burst into cheers. I clapped as well. Lepi returned his Pokémon and clapped softly as well as Mawile looked around in shock.

I personally took some extra pleasure in the fact that Mawile won the final round without using any physical moves. I remembered spending so long trying to work out a solution to her overreliance on them that I'd have never thought this day would come.

I walked over to Mawile and placed a hand on her head.

"You did a good job," I said quietly. "First on the team to win a Contest by yourself. Be proud."

Mawile puffed up her chest in pride. Later, when we were handed Eterna City's forest green ribbon, I made sure to pin it in Mawile's hair.

She looked really happy.

“You two are okay with this?” I asked the pair.

Rapidash and Togepi both nodded, and with a final look, I returned the pair to their Pokéballs. Using the Pokémon Center’s public computers, they were quickly sent off. In exchange, my team had been almost completely switched around.

Following up the promise with Rapidash back in Solaceon town, Kirlia was now protecting my mind in his place. It had taken a bit of time to prepare for this moment, but it had been good practice, especially since it gave Kirlia the chance to develop his Telepathy ability by doing so.

While Kirlia would never be able to read other's minds, he would at least be able to read the very edge of my surface thoughts. If I thought hard enough (which was surprisingly difficult to do), I could send him quiet signals.

It almost felt empty with Rapidash gone. However, this was due to happen sooner or later. I’d miss him along with Togepi, but this was only a temporary circumstance. Together, they’d explore Sycamore’s ranch while the Pokémon on me took on the Gym. I made sure Florges was there to help the pair acclimate themselves to the moderately unfamiliar environment. Rapidash had only visited back when we were both in Kalos, and Togepi had never been there even once.

With me now were Ninetales, Azumarill, Carbink, Whimsicott, and Mawile, all alongside Kirlia, of course. My goal was to have them abuse Gardenia’s tendency to use the sun, although both Rapidash and Florges could have been good options, too. I felt allowing them to spend time in Sycamore's ranch was more important, however.

I walked to the gym, feeling prepared to fight, when I was interrupted by the front doors suddenly opening.

A man bumped into me in the doorway.

“Excuse me,” he said apologetically.

Stunned, I stepped to the side and let him pass. Without paying any more attention to me, he soon turned past a distant street corner, his long red cloak disappearing from view. My eyes lingered on the point he left my vision.

That was Tobias. Tobias, as in the man who won this year’s Lily of the Valley Conference in the anime. Ash was the only trainer present who beat his Darkrai, but that just meant Ash lost to Tobias’s Latios instead.

He was a man with at least two Legendary Pokémon. If he had just exited the Eterna Gym...

With a sinking feeling in my chest, I walked inside.

In the Gym, a nervous, blonde Gym Trainer stopped suddenly just a few feet away, clearly having been moving to the door when I stepped in.

“Are you a challenger?” she asked.

Her eyes flicked about around me. I nodded silently.

She gained a sorrowful frown.

“Sorry. I have to close the Gym for the rest of the day.”

"What?"

"Gardenia... She can't... Sorry. She needs a break."

I couldn't think of a way to react. I simply took a few steps back to exit the building as she locked the doors in front of me.

A few moments later, the Gym’s lights went dark. I wouldn't be taking it on today.

I let out a breath. I knew the Conference was coming up soon, but it hadn’t settled in just how soon it’d be.

There were only a few months left. If my team needed to beat multiple Legendary Pokémon, we needed to start preparing.