"..." Beedrill remained silent. Though already a Pokémon of few words who valued action over speech, Beedrill was even more quiet and subdued now.
Dian continued to watch it all calmly, waiting for the final outcome.
The spectators were also puzzled. Aside from a handful of matches, almost none of them had ever seen Beedrill battle.
When they thought back carefully, they realized that, beyond their tendency to swarm, they knew almost nothing about Beedrill as a species.
"Heat Wave and Brave Bird barely did anything, or...?" Anna closed her eyes in thought...
"Crobat, use X-Scissor." After a moment's consideration, she gave her command.
A faint smile appeared on her lips. Winning had never been her goal. No, it would be more accurate to say she had no goal at all. She had simply come.
So the outcome wasn't up to her, but to the Pokémon on the field...
"Crobaa!!" Crobat closed those eyes, gradually gathering strength from every part of that body...
"X-Scissor? A Bug-type move?" Brock was first startled, then puzzled. He realized he couldn't make sense of this battle at all.
Heat Wave and Brave Bird had come first, and those choices were understandable. Both Fire-type and Flying-type moves were super effective against Beedrill. Yet now she had chosen a Bug-type move with unremarkable effectiveness. "What exactly are they thinking?"
Brock wasn't the only one confused. The other Trainers felt the same. Beedrill's behavior had been strange enough already, and now the battle was even harder to fathom.
And yet, the battle continued.
Facing the Zubat charging forward cloaked in green light, Beedrill finally moved. A faint flutter of wings sent nine Pin Missiles shooting out to intercept...
"Pin Missile? It's exactly the same." A faint smile touched Dian's lips at the sight. Back when Beedrill had