The Seven Islands sat scattered across the southern waters off Kanto — also the home turf of Lorelei, one of Kanto's Elite Four and its resident Ice-type specialist.
Deep inside the Freezing Waterfall Cave on Freezing Island, a Lapras let out a booming cry. A beam of pale blue light swept sideways across the roaring waterfall, freezing everything it touched solid.
Crack—
Massive shards of ice broke away and crashed down, the waterfall resuming its flow with a chorus of echoing splashes.
A tall, striking woman with red hair — heels, sheer black stockings, a skirt cut to her hips, plain glasses perched low on her nose — patted Lapras's hard shell fondly. "Good work, Lapras."
"Ee-yoo~!" Lapras nuzzled affectionately against her pale cheek.
Deep in the dim cave, a soft blue light blinked to life — her communicator, ringing.
"This is Lorelei."
A bright, girlish voice crackled through. "Lorelei! Go check YouTube, I just sent you something!"
"Ah, Misty." Lorelei crossed her arms, phone braced against her shoulder, smiling. "Another one of your shows?"
"No, it's a tutorial — Perish Song tactics!"
Lorelei paused. "Perish Song?"
"I thought the same thing at first! Figured it was a gimmick, but there's real substance in it!"
Lorelei let out a tired little laugh. "What substance? I don't even risk that strategy in Master Rank matches anymore."
"It's not built around Lapras this time — it's Gengar!"
That caught her off guard. Gengar, running Perish Song? With a body that fragile, could it actually survive long enough to break an opponent's will?
Curiosity won out. She recalled Lapras and headed back to her place on Freezing Island — the so-called "Fourth Island."
Lorelei's room, against every expectation, leaned distinctly girlish — pink wallpaper, a plush carpet buried under stuffed animals and throw pillows, movie star posters covering the walls. Icy exterior aside, she and Misty were close in age and shared plenty of common ground, right down to the same shojo manga and idol dramas.
She opened her laptop and clicked the link Misty had sent.
"Teacher Luke Teaches You Pokémon Battling #05: Perish Song."
"A Trainer from the Orient region?" Lorelei blinked, mildly surprised. Nothing in her memory of the region's Trainers stood out for Perish Song work — even Windmere City's Ghost-type Gym Leader over there only really specialized in Destiny Bond setups.
But the moment the footage started playing, her attention locked in completely. Gengar versus Garchomp — both common enough picks at Master Rank. Both Trainers clearly experienced, commanding with real precision.
Then something in the Garchomp's movement caught her eye — familiar, unmistakably familiar.
Her pupils narrowed slightly. "...Cynthia?"
The longer the exchange went, the more certain she became. She'd faced Cynthia in Master Rank battles more than once, and that particular blend of raw ferocity and precision — sharp in a way that felt almost unfair — had stuck with her every time. That exact fighting style, from that exact Garchomp, was unmistakable.
What genuinely floored her, though, came next: it was Gengar dictating the pace of the entire match, over and over, against Cynthia.
Who is this Trainer, that they can hold their own against the Champion herself?
She thought it over, eyes bright, adjusting her glasses. "...Ah. I see it now."
Sacrifice offense entirely in the opening exchange, bait the opponent into overcommitting, then ride Protect through the counterattack — and if the opponent's calling slips even slightly, Perish Song closes the match outright. The real battle wasn't happening on the field at all. It was happening in the opponent's head.
If that had been anyone but Cynthia across the table, they'd have cracked and misplayed long before it got this far.
Lorelei's mouth curved upward. "Now that's an interesting Trainer."
Cynthia hadn't slipped, technically — though the game's mechanics had kept her from ever unleashing her actual full strength. In the footage, her attempt to recall Garchomp got shut down cold by Gengar's Mean Look, and that was where the "Shadow Tag Perish Song" combo finally closed the match out. No live proof of it working against a real, unscripted opponent — a little disappointing, sure — but there was more than enough here to work with regardless.
"Usable in real combat, technically," Lorelei murmured, leaning back lazily against her desk. "But the setup conditions are brutal."
"Probably some genius with way too much free time cooked this up." A beat. "...Also, this is a genuinely filthy strategy."
______________________________
The video had blown up on YouTube — though given the specific Pokémon required, most viewers couldn't actually replicate it themselves and were left turning to other Ghost-type specialists for their take.
Lorelei liked the video and scrolled through the comments, curious.
"That's Teacher Luke's THIRD tactical breakdown now!"
"Why is it always in-game though? When do we get a real battle?"
"Real matches involve Trainer privacy stuff, probably can't release that footage"
"@Morty, come bless us with the details, big man!"
Morty — Ecruteak City's Ghost-type Gym Leader back in Johto, and a longtime Perish Song devotee himself. Lorelei had met him once in passing, though the strategy had never really been her wheelhouse; her own pride sat squarely with her Ice-type mastery.
Morty: Genuinely excellent tutorial, using the game format and commentary to make this accessible to a wider audience. I've refined the approach a bit further myself — a "Gengar + Gothitelle" double-battle combo works beautifully. Anyone interested, come find me at this year's Type Masters Tournament.
"filthy. absolutely filthy."
"is it just something about Ghost-type mains specifically??"
"wait wasn't Teacher Luke a Grass/Poison specialist? how'd he become Ghost-type too??"
"master of all types confirmed, I'm actually impressed"
Lorelei laughed quietly to herself, genuine curiosity building for this "Teacher Luke." Suspicious as the whole setup was, the fact that this Trainer had gone toe-to-toe with Cynthia herself was well beyond what she'd expected.
She clicked into his profile page, which conveniently listed how fans from various regions could join his group chat. Without a second thought, she joined using her main, verified account — which promptly brought the whole chat to a standstill.
"...fake account?"
"does anyone actually believe an Elite Four member is a fan of Teacher Luke"
"Kanto's Ice-type Elite Four? yeah no, way too obviously fake"
Lorelei blinked, adjusting her glasses. Is there an issue here?
[Admin "Fighter" has invited you to join "Master Trainer Chat"]
[Accept / Decline]
"Red?" She smiled. "Of course he's involved. He's always wherever things get interesting."
[New message]
[User "Ice-type Elite Four Lorelei" has joined the chat!]