It came down to the exact same trap as before: her perspective was too narrow.
She thought she had solved the puzzle, when in truth she had only brushed against the surface, never truly grasping the core.
March had believed she was finally breaking free from rigid formulas, yet she had merely stepped into another cage—the obsession with being flashy.
Even if she wasn't commanding her Pokémon like clockwork figures anymore, she was still chasing spectacle for the sake of spectacle.
On the judges' scorecards, a dazzling display might earn favor, but in the crucible of a high-level duel, artificial elegance was at best a decoration, and at worst a fatal distraction.
Summoning snow could naturally amplify the visual grace of her ice techniques, but did an attack lack impact without a winter backdrop? Far from it.
A battle of true distinction didn't manufacture its flair through scripted pageantry.
A trainer's duty wasn't to choreograph rigid routines, but to cultivate the natural presence of their partners.
The flair belonged to the Pokémon, leaving the trainer free to command the war on the field.
Trying to balance calculated battle lines and hollow theatricality at the same time guaranteed that, no matter how quick your instincts were, you would always remain half a step behind a dedicated combatant.
Her earlier clash against Guinaifen had leaned far too heavily on fortune.
Looking back on it now, a cold chill ran down March's spine.
She shook her head vigorously, casting away the lingering doubt to lock her focus entirely on the ring.
In a championship round, a single second of hesitation meant defeat.
"Articuno, Brave Bird!"
"Beautifly, ride Articuno's draft!"
Compared to the legendary bird, Beautifly lacked raw velocity. Only by latching onto Articuno's slipstream could the two maintain synchronized pressure.
"Milotic, Hydro Pump, cut them off!"
"Roselia, scatter Stun Spore!"
Argenti caught the subtle shift in March's demeanor immediately. With no time to ponder the change, he snapped off defensive commands.
"Beautifly, Silver Wind!"
March had originally envisioned weaving this gust through Articuno's frost techniques.
Yet the current clash called for something else entirely, inspired by a defensive concept she had watched Welt demonstrate during their drills.
There was no margin to call out an intricate sequence. The tactical choice had to come from Beautifly itself.
Breath held in her throat, March pinned her hopes on the butterfly.
"Freee!"
Tuning into her intent, Beautifly beat its patterned wings, weaving shimmering currents of Silver Wind directly ahead of Articuno's vanguard vector to form a spinning barrier of compressed air.
The heavy Hydro Pump slammed into the front of the vortex, its kinetic punch dispersed across the spiraling current. The dense cloud of Stun Spore that followed was swept harmlessly to the flanks by the revolving slipstream, never touching Articuno's plumage.
Cloaked in the blazing aura of Brave Bird, Articuno sliced straight through the diluted water column, slamming directly into Milotic before Argenti could adjust his line.
Had Argenti not ordered Roselia to conjure a sudden screen of Petal Blizzard to break the collision, the pair would have absorbed a devastating follow-up strike on the spot.
"Articuno, Hurricane!"
"Beautifly, lace it with Air Slash!"
March cast aside the mindset of a performer entirely, stepping forward as a true battlefield commander focused solely on taking the initiative.
If the opponent held water-based resistance against frost, she would batter them with pure Flying-type gale force.
As for visual harmony and the fusion of their moves, so long as she avoided elementary blunders—like blowing away Beautifly's scales with a friendly storm—she trusted her partners to carry the technique through.
Thank you, Uncle Yang!
March realized her newfound poise was anchored in the fundamental drills Welt had driven into her.
The howling cyclone swallowed the crescent blades of vacuum, feeding their cutting edges until the winds took on a razor-sharp, visible silver contour, dramatically elevating both its raw destructive power and its imposing visual presence.
An uncharacteristic knot of pressure tightened in Argenti's chest. He called out:
"Milotic, Whirlpool!"
"Roselia, Leaf Storm!"
Pressed by the incoming tempest, Argenti played his heavy card.
Leaf Storm carried a harsh recoil, draining Roselia's internal stamina with every discharge.
The spiraling water funnel merged with the cascading vortex of sharp leaves, transforming what was meant to be a restraining hold into a grinding maelstrom of liquid blades, wielding terrifying slicing power.
CRASH!
The opposing squalls detonated against each other at center stage, releasing a massive shockwave that rippled out in every direction. The sudden gale pressure was fierce enough to force both trainers to lean forward against the wind, while the Pokémon fought to hold their ground on the churning tiles.
"Beautifly, anchor our position with Silver Wind!"
Airborne Pokémon were inherently vulnerable to erratic crosswinds, and the turbulent wake threatened to scatter March's formation.
Seeing Articuno's wings catch a treacherous draft, March called out a defensive correction without hesitation.
Fighting a gale of this scale was precarious; the slightest slip could trigger another runaway cyclone.
"Freee!"
Beautifly unfurled its wings, spinning a localized cone of wind that wrapped around itself and Articuno. Acting like a dynamic wedge, the boundary deflected the turbulent draft smoothly to either flank.
Just as they had redirected Argenti's advances earlier.
Within the eye of the buffer, both fliers stabilized their flight paths, completely freed from the turbulence.
"Articuno, Brave Bird!"
"Beautifly, sustain the Silver Wind buffer!"
Presented with an open lane, March refused to let it slip, driving her offensive straight at Argenti's side while his partners were still regaining their footing amidst the howling wind.
"Milotic, cast Whirlpool inward!"
"Roselia, circle yourself with Leaf Storm!"
Shielding his eyes against the wind with his gauntlet, Argenti made an emergency call after a split-second calculation.
He didn't mean targeting his own Pokémon with friendly fire, but rather pulling the elements tight around their position to form a dense, layered bulwark against the incoming assault and the surrounding pressure.
"Beautifly, charge Solar Beam!"
Sensing the defensive turtle, Beautifly gathered solar energy the instant it broke through the headwind, aiming directly at the enclosed barrier.
Argenti was backed into a corner. If he maintained the defensive cocoon, the concentrated solar blast would punch straight through the stationary target, leaving his Pokémon wide open to Articuno's dive. If he lowered the barrier, they would take the full force of the aerial charge head-on.
Time ran thin. Argenti chose to drop the wall. Having eyes on the enemy offered a fighting chance; staying blind behind a crumbling shield meant certain ruin.
The moment the barrier dropped, March called an audible, canceling the Solar Beam charge into an immediate, disorienting wave of Bug Buzz.
Caught on the back foot, Argenti scrambled to mount a counter, but March's relentless assault gave him no room to breathe.
The sustained barrage chipped away at his contest points with every passing second.
Meanwhile, March's score surged, closing the initial gap and edging past Argenti's tally for the lead.
The storm triggered by the center collision began to dissipate, but the battlefield momentum March had seized remained firmly in her grasp.
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