"Can Misty actually win?" Violet murmured doubtfully, uncertain of her younger sister's battle prowess.
"I doubt it! That Kazuki guy looks like he really knows how to train his Pokémon!" Lily added, unconvinced that Misty stood a chance.
"But Kazuki's Pikachu can't battle! Without the type advantage, Misty should still have a shot," Daisy said, holding onto a sliver of hope for her sister.
Meanwhile, Kazuki, seeing that Misty had walked right into the trap, continued with his plan.
"Come on out, Clefairy!"
He decided to use his freshly caught Clefairy to test her strength—and to play into the mission's "defeat" condition.
"Clefairy?" ×3
The three sisters on the stands all widened their eyes in unison.
"What kind of Pokémon is that? It's so cute!" Lily and Violet, not being too familiar with Pokémon knowledge, were instantly taken in by Clefairy's charm.
"That's a super rare Pokémon!" Daisy explained, stepping in to enlighten them.
"They often appear alongside valuable Moon Stones."
"They have incredibly strong psychic powers. If they don't acknowledge their Trainer, they won't be captured—even in a weakened state!"
"Oh my gosh! I can't believe Misty's opponent has such a powerhouse on his team!" Violet and Lily instantly looked at Kazuki with new admiration.
"Ugh—Kazuki, you're cheating! How can you use such an adorable Pokémon against me? I don't even want to attack it now!" Misty groaned. She was completely caught off guard by how cute Clefairy was.
Kazuki grinned and added a little taunt to push her over the edge: "If you're scared you can't win, I'll understand if you want to surrender."
"Who says I can't win?!" Misty put her hands on her hips and shot back, "Sorry, Clefairy—if I beat you, I'll treat you to something tasty afterward!"
"Alright, let's go, Staryu! Use Tackle!"
Fired up, Misty went all-in from the start—just what Kazuki had hoped for.
"Clefairy, dodge and use Sweet Kiss!"
Pi~!
Despite its round and squishy look, Clefairy moved nimbly across the floating platform.
Staryu, hit by the Sweet Kiss, began staggering around—confused and wobbling unsteadily on the platform.
"Clefairy, use Pound!"
With Staryu in disarray, Clefairy landed a clean hit.
"Jump into the water, quick!" Misty called. She knew Clefairy would be much weaker underwater.
Sure enough, Staryu dove in to stall for time, letting the confusion effect wear off.
"Yes! You held out! Now, use Water Gun!"
Underwater, Staryu was far more agile and began firing Water Guns at Clefairy from multiple directions.
To be honest, Clefairy didn't have many options against Water-types.
If they were on land, Clefairy could use Gravity to shift the battlefield to her advantage. But here on a floating arena, buoyancy rendered Gravity far less effective.
Luckily, Clefairy's evasiveness was impressive. Using the platforms and occasional dips into the water to dodge, she avoided most of the attacks.
After a few missed Water Guns, Staryu stopped firing and slipped silently beneath the surface.
The arena grew quiet—Clefairy couldn't see where Staryu had gone.
Suddenly, Staryu shot up from behind!
"Now's our chance! Staryu, use Tackle!" Misty cheered, hopping with excitement.
But Kazuki just smiled calmly. "Clefairy, Water Gun."
Pi~!
Clefairy turned and fired point-blank, blasting Staryu straight back into the water.
"What?!"
Not just Misty—even her three sisters on the stands were floored.
"That's impossible! Clefairy isn't a Water-type—how can it use Water Gun?!"
Misty shook her head, wondering if she'd just seen things.
Since this was more of a sparring match than a badge challenge, Kazuki decided to enlighten his harem-in-progress: "That's Clefairy's move—Copycat. It can copy the last move your Pokémon used!"
"Copycat?" Misty scrunched her nose. "Fake moves will never beat the original! Staryu, Water Gun, again!"
And so, what began as tactical combat quickly devolved into a brainless beam struggle.
As the saying goes—"In beam wars, the left side always loses."
Though... who's to say which side was the left?
Ultimately, Staryu's superior stamina in the Water-type arena gave it the edge, and Clefairy's Water Gun lost out by a narrow margin.
"Yes! I won! I won!!" Misty bounced up and down in triumph.
"M-Misty actually beat that super rare Clefairy…?" Violet and Lily were stunned on the stands.
Misty's battle command had clearly surpassed theirs—and maybe even Daisy's.
Daisy, smiling softly, let out a sigh of relief. "She's improved so much… I really can entrust the Gym to her now."
"Which means we can finally focus on just being beautiful again!"
"Right? Right?! Finally, we're free from gym duty!" Violet and Lily joined in the celebration.
…
"If this were a land battlefield, that Water Gun exchange might've gone differently," Kazuki added, staying fully in character and pretending to be a sore loser.
"Still counts! The Gym's primary battlefield is water—it's totally within the rules. Hehehe, this was a legit win!" Misty giggled, swaying happily.
"Misty!" The three sisters, their views changed after seeing her battle, raced down from the stands in excitement.
Halfway across, though, the entire Gym suddenly trembled with a violent quake—knocking the three sisters onto the stairs.
Everyone turned toward the source of the rumbling.