PoV:
1: Rhea Everhart (Startin’ us off!)
2: Gables (Mallory’s smooth Froakie)
3: Rhea Everhart (To finish up the day!)
I loosely follow this map as a visual guide; the creator made it in paint?!?! It’s insane! Some errors here and there, but I follow its design for the most part. Areas can be further apart, some cities are in the wrong places or not listed, and the regions aren’t nearly so close. The best map I’ve found, though!
Recap:
Rhea was able to learn a bit more about Amira and caught some of her grandfather’s Gym Battles with the new influx of out-of-region Trainers … dominating them.
They talked about their path going forward with Amira laying out a good travel plan, and sadly, the Wooloo Girls said they should probably split ways once they reached the half-way point. They were slowing them down, but that didn’t mean they were going to take it easy; they’d do their best to make it as far as possible!
Rhea connected her PikaBook with them and … they were a bit floored by her family reveal before she went on a rant about the Champions she knew. Yeah … Rhea has trouble with social skills, which can make her cute and awkward xD
She chatted with her family and posted some new pictures, but now they have to worry about battles as they come to the checkpoint. What awaits them?!
I’d like to thank my patrons for continuing to support me:
Yandron, Florent Baril, William Gillis, MasterDX, Michael McLeod, Van, Li1 Mainy, and my other Patrons!
5:58 P.M. June 12, Saturday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event)
Events: The second to last day of battles for the First Preliminary Match Week in preparation for the Kanto & Johto Summer Indigo Cup. Many tourists are traveling through Pallet and Viridian to arrive at Silver City for the big tournament while also supporting the Summer Bronze League kick-off.
They returned to Route 1’s well-traveled grassy fields after passing across the bridge, the new area occasionally dotted with trees. People were mostly progressing in small groups across the path, but Rhea sometimes caught sight of a solo Trainer.
The popular Routes were heavily utilized by the population, and after centuries of use, the wild Pokémon adapted to the areas. Weaker Pokémon tended to gather around them in hopes new Trainers would bond with them; it also provided a safer environment to relax in, and with the mandatory Bronze Journey for young Trainers in each region, it wasn’t all that uncommon for these types of Pokémon to find a binding partner.
Pallet’s Route 1 grasslands wound through the hilly city-state’s territory in a serpentine pattern, rising in a gradual slope to Viridian before falling back down to sea-level. Just off the hardened dirt path grew the tall grass, where shy Pokémon would gather.
Human activity frequently spread quickly across Pallet Forest through Flying Pokémon, making high-traffic hours filled with groups of low-level amiable Pokémon, waiting to show their stuff with the hopes of finding a good Trainer to travel the world with and get stronger.
Rhea, Amira, and Mallory talked to the three other girls about wanting to catch Pokémon that were more aggressive and off the beaten path since it was an easy indicator that a Pokémon was somewhat competent on their own.
Amira even complimented their Pokémon for having the guts to take on a swarm, saying they had potential; however, she cautioned them to also be practical and not jump into something that could get their Trainers hurt, and the nighttime incursion rode that line.
Rhea took pictures of the other girls and the wild Pokémon along their trip back to the lowlands. She commented on a few of Jason’s posts, many of which were just random shops, popular attractions, and the massive skyscrapers of Viridian.
Amira promised to show them around Viridian when they arrived; Rhea was bouncing with anticipation, hoping she’d bring them to the best spots since it was her hometown.
As they drew nearer to the checkpoint, Rhea’s gaze turned to the village’s scenery, mirroring the overgrown ivy facility’s aesthetic the place was inspired by; the roads were well-maintained since the Xanadu Nursery Foundation and its partner stores capitalized on the popular route’s tourist traffic.
According to Amira, a lot of the area around the Pallet public road and route was owned by the Xanadu Nursery Foundation, and the buildings around them were actually leased by businesses during different times of the year; most were transient stores from start-up businesses.
A few of the establishments were open year-round. The plant nursery had contracts with Pallet and the Indigo League for various things, one of which was a Center License, which allowed them to tap into the League and city-state tax budget to offer their herbal treatments on the public dime.
According to Amira, the establishment’s profit on that front came from tax cuts, but that wasn’t an issue since it provided a way station between cities, attracting Trainers that would buy their private healing products at a bit of a price hike compared to Pallet and Viridian.
One of the staple facilities was the Xanadu Inn, a large group of buildings to the left side of the trail, situated by the small Pallet Police Branch that patrolled the city’s route.
Rhea found it a bit funny when Amira mentioned city-hired Gold-tier Trainers were rarely assigned to route duty, and the lower-wage task was typically given to Silver-tier with a Gold-tier Supervising Officer that had stepped on someone’s toes.
Pallet’s road system was restricted for walking use since it was the city’s heart-blood, only allowing vehicles and mountable Pokémon; even a small block in traffic carried with it a hefty fine. Rhea didn’t know all the laws regarding it but figured it was left to common sense for the most part.
The road and trail grew closer to each other near Xanadu, pavement running along the right side of the village with Xanadu’s charging station for the electric vehicles; Silph still had the majority of the market share in the Car Industry.
The village had two main roads, one for hikers on the left and one with noise barriers for cars on the right; businesses ran down the center and on either side of the traversable areas with walkways for tourists. A bridge was constructed to allow traffic to continue unimpeded.
To the right of the road was an offramp, leading to a parking lot, a pathway to the Xanadu Nursery, and the Xanadu Family Mansion. The path from the inn went straight by the center and under the highway to the nursery.
Rhea’s gut tightened when arriving at the center of the village; just as Amira feared, there were clusters of foreign Trainers that seemed intent on staying for the night, eyeing potential battle candidates to increase their elo and experience. Mallory sang and taught Gables different dance moves on the way, which Rhea took note of with amusement.
Gables and Amber had returned to their pokéballs once they’d made it to the public path to not draw more notice. Most of the people they passed hadn’t paid much attention to them since they had their sunglasses and caps on, giving them a passable mask that hid their features at first glance. It seemed several boys’ eyes were pulled by their looks.
However, they couldn’t hide from the Trainers ahead of them, phones open, app open, and scanning for match candidates in range.
Who’s gonna jump on us first?
They tried to ignore the groups of Trainers as they continued through the village, Amira talking in low tones on their way. “I want to grab another potion here; they should have a decent stock since they sell the excess product to Rocket facilities in Pallet and Viridian.”
Mallory leaned in with a small grin. “What we thinkin’; two vs. three, you and me, Amira? Gables wants to show off a bit. Amber’s been gettin’ all the hype lately.”
“Umm … yeah, that’s fine; we just need to make them rescind a Triple Battle request by baiting them into a handicap match.”
“I got ya.”
Rhea smiled at Sam, Hannah, and Jade, drawing attention from them by their nervous fidgets; their Pokémon might have been in a battle last night, but they hadn’t experienced it themselves. “How are ya feeling?”
“Hehe, nervous,” Sam chuckled, arms folded under her chest. “Hector’s saying we’ll be fine, but … yeah, what if I mess him up?”
Hannah nodded, vision darting to Amira from time to time before swiftly averting her gaze to focus on anything else. “… I’m nervous … how do you guys do it … you know, the big stadium and everything?”
“Honestly?” Rhea hummed, glaring at the dirt. “I wasn’t really focused on any of that … I just wanted to help Amira. I guess I just tuned them all out after it started … I couldn’t really concentrate on anything else but my Pokémon once it started.”
“Huh … I didn’t really think about that,” Jade mumbled. “That doesn’t seem so bad. You just get caught up in the match.”
“Yeah … something like that,” Rhea chuckled; they still didn’t know why her Pokémon weren’t out or why Amira and Lori were concerned about a Triple Battle challenge.
They stopped as a few phones gave a sharp musical note, unique to their own personal settings that indicated they’d been challenged. Rhea’s brow furrowed while glancing to her left at Sam, Hannah, and Jade; their faces drained of color.
“Huh,” Lori’s lips shifted to the right with the small packs of people moved around them along the wide trail, most heading to Viridian. “Didn’t expect y’all to get the first request.”
Amira breathed a long sigh, vision darting to three tan-skinned boys with confident smiles as they walked their way. “Honestly, I should have expected it … they’re unranked while we are, and then they need to work up the nerve to challenge us.”
A lump dropped down Hannah’s throat. “So … they think we’re easy targets?”
“Yeah, something … great…” Amira trailed off, holding up her chiming phone, playing a cute electric remix song.
Rhea studied her own phone.
Battle Requests: 2 Pending … 3 Pending … 4 Pending.
At least we have options.
The first to challenge them had priority, and they could order the next pending requests, which would be significant; there was a three daily request cap that allowed Trainers to decline without penalty, but it also had some exceptions and a grace period of an hour given after the end of each battle.
After three daily matches, a Trainer could put on a decline status, and now that Rhea thought about it, she could have her friends challenge her, but on second thought, that wouldn’t be fair to them.
Many city districts were also Battle Issue Restricted Zones, and when a Trainer’s Pokémon was at a certain stamina level, monitored by the Battle App through the pokéball’s integrated technology, they would be exempt from challenges.
She tapped on the request, identifying their first opponents.
Triple Battle Challenge:
Lisette Vigouroux – 3W:0L
Battle Tier: Bronze 1
Kanto Battle Rating: 547
Kanto Battle Rank: 22,184,223
Region: Kalos
Daily Battles: 2
Distance: 15 Meters
Bet: 200 Credits
Aude Auger – 2W – 0L
Battle Tier: Bronze 1
Kanto Battle Rating: 532
Kanto Battle Rank: 22,393,223
Region: Kalos
Daily Battles: 1
Distance: 15 Meters
Bet: 200 Credits
Clotilde Dupuy – 3W – 0L
Battle Tier: Bronze 1
Kanto Battle Rating: 546
Kanto Battle Rank: 22,193,223
Region: Kalos
Daily Battles: 2
Distance: 16 Meters
Bet: 200 Credits
Rhea’s own team’s Battle Rating was 516 since they’d all won one match against someone near their own elo. Elo started at 500 with a 32 maximum change rate, and a Trainer couldn’t drop below 100. It was weighted, so the increase would get smaller per victory and lose more points when defeated.
The current elo only counted the year’s battle data unless set to view the previous years’ ratings, and your rank was determined based on Trainers that participated in at least one official battle this year inside Kanto. If you didn’t battle throughout a year, your elo would remain the same but not be counted for the new season. A record was kept of each rank at the end of each year.
Based on the data, Lisette and Aude battled someone that already won a match, coming out victorious, while Clotilde only went against unranked Trainers.
Rhea glanced around after checking her phone for the distance; the group of girls to their right seemed to be the ones standing beside the Xanadu Treatment Center. They were all shades of blonde, wearing knee-length skirts and shirts of various colors.
Amira and Mallory moved toward them to work out a 2 vs. 3; Rhea lingered with Nova trying not to release longing emotions to participate. Mya was sound asleep.
“Hey, you’ll do fine!” Rhea encouraged, holding her hands behind her back as the boys approached. “Just do your best, and once you’re done, we’ll meet you at one of the inns.”
“Thanks,” Jade mumbled, trying not to look nervous.
Rhea’s smile brightened. “Oh, actually, no, we’ll meet you at the treatment center! I’m sure we’ll all need to go there anyway, right? Maybe Amira and Lori will do some unofficial sparing after.”
“Hehe,” Hannah rubbed her left arm, “I bet Lori and Amira … hey, uh … so, you want to battle?” She asked with a light laugh, greeting the boys.
A black-haired boy in the center engaged. “Aloha! We just saw that ya three haven’t battled yet, and wondered if ya wanted to give it a shot? Oh, my name’s Akanahe, by the way.”
“From Alola, I assume?” Sam asked, hiding her hands and phone behind her back.
“That’s right!” The brown-haired boy beside him jumped in. “Kanto’s so much bigger than I thought.”
Rhea waved them off. “Okay, well, good luck, guys! Catch ya after.”
“Yeah, thanks … see you guys when we’re done,” Jade replied.
She got four steps before Akanahe stopped her. “Wait … aren’t you Rhea, one of the Kanto Master picks?”
“Uh … yeah. Nice to meet you, but I should probably get over to my team.”
The boys each gave each other an unsure glance before eyeing Sam, Hannah, and Jade; Rhea realized that they might be thinking they put their feet in their mouths, thinking the girls were an easy target, but if they’re friends with her, then there could be more to them.
It put a smile on her lips while jogging to the street side, dodging around the busy crowds. After hearing her exchange with the Alolan boy, several people were pausing, curious to see if she’d be in a match.
“… You seriously think we’re that weak?” The shortest of the girls growled. “We’re undefeated.”
“Oh, scared we’ll make you look bad?” Mallory snickered.
“Fine, yeah, whatever,” the tallest mumbled, not looking thrilled about the outcome. “So, which of you are ducking out?”
“Oh, that’d be me!” Rhea replied with a forced chuckle, ducking around the last group to join them.
“Wait … you’re the one with the Mawile and Eevee?” The shortest asked.
“Mhm … oh, which are you … ah … there’s your pictures…” Rhea mumbled, eyeing each of the photos on the challenge app. “Umm, yeah, so where are you guys going to take it?”
Clotilde was the smallest of the bunch, barely 5’ tall, and had the shortest cut hair, ending just above her shoulders. Lisette had shoulder-length hair and was the tallest, while Aude had the longest, reaching halfway down her back.
“Why are you not joining?” Clotilde asked suspiciously. “We wanted to go for the Triple Battle prize pool…”
“No, no, it’s fine, Clotilde,” Lisette chucked, pulling back her hair before giving Rhea a fake smile. “Maybe she’ll decide to join later … you know, the new challenger rules.”
Rhea’s left eyebrow lifted, and she adjusted her cap.
Was that supposed to be some kind of off-handed insult? Maybe it was a joke, and I just don’t get it because it’s Kalos humor?
Amira’s red irises slid to the left, barely visible beyond her rosy glasses, and a small smirk lifted her lips. “I highly doubt she’ll need to.”
The girls glared at her.
“Fine, Rocket girl,” Clotilde huffed. “We can use one of the battlefields down the road.”
“Oh, they have battlefields here?” Rhea asked with a bright smile. “That’ll make things easy.”
They moved to follow the girls, and a small crowd was already tailing them.
Aude hummed thoughtfully, glancing back at her while fingering her studded earring. “Wouldn’t you know … since you’re from this region?”
Rhea just shrugged. “ Uh … I’ve never been here before.”
“Uh-huh,” Lisette rolled her eyes.
Aude’s lips curved into a smirk while eyeing Rhea. “Maybe you should get a new belt in Viridian; the white just doesn’t go with the sailor look.”
“Mmh, I’d just go without a belt, honestly,” Clotilde commented. “Well, maybe just get a smaller belt; that giant thing just looks weird. Why don’t you want to battle us? Too good?”
Rhea’s back stiffened at the dreaded word; if there was one thing she didn’t want, it was to be the weird girl, but Amira swiftly butted into the tag-team, eyeing the three with pursed lips.
“Hmm, did you get those skirts in Kanto?”
“This?” Clotilde asked with confusion, slowing a bit while plucking at the yellow hem. “No. Why?”
“Mhm … figured,” Amira replied dismissively, brushing past her to take the lead.
Clotilde’s cheeks reddened, but she didn’t respond, increasing her pace to keep up. The other two were also glaring at Amira’s bouncing, thick red ponytail that fell to her lower back.
Okay, there’s a lot of passive-aggressive tensions flying around…
Her focus darted right as Mallory giggled, nudging her with a small smile before whispering just loud enough for the girls ahead of them to hear. “Look at the yellow skirt … the back hem.”
Vision falling to the weaving fabric, she saw what the other two had noticed; there was a small tear in the material, barely noticeable, but it would probably increase.
“My guess,” Lori went on, making Rhea’s gut churn as the three foreigners began to catch on, “they’re aiming for the prize money to get new clothes … see why? Maybe we should just donate a bit to them a little later. Shh … don’t you feel a bit bad for them?”
Rhea winced as the girls’ faces burned, especially Clotilde, hands flying behind her butt to try and pull attention away from her skirt with her bright blue phone.
C’mon, Lori! You don’t need to keep rubbing it in … or is it just a dirty pre-battle tactic to throw them off their game … Grimsley was her step-dad … worse, they can’t really say anything back, or it’ll look like they’re just trying to save face. Amira spotted it and drew attention to the spot, but Mallory zeroed in like a Sharpedo!
Oh, no … people are looking at them now…
The rest of the walk there was held in silence, but the mumbles from the groups surrounding them only drew Rhea’s mind into a spiral of paranoia, fearing the criticism of the girl’s skirt was spreading and expected they were having the same thoughts. It wouldn’t be bad enough to make her cry, but her mind would be anything but clear for a battle.
Nova actually seemed to be taking notes from the encounter.
Hey … don’t be too mean to other Pokémon. We want to be nice girls … unless they’re not nice, which … I don’t know, maybe Amira and Mallory started it to get them angry to do a two versus three battle … gah … it’s just so uncomfortable!
Her little Eevee actually tried comforting her, following her previous line of thought that this was all a part of the plan.
She stopped on the sidelines of the field Amira guided them to, and a crowd of onlookers gathered around her, making her feel a little boxed in when the arena was massive.
Amira and Mallory released their Pokémon first; it didn’t matter since they all had one Pokémon. Rhea tried to ignore the whispers about why she wasn’t participating and people nudging each other, hyping up their buddies to ask her about her Pokémon. Surprisingly, Nova was focused on the fight, watching through her.
Clotilde glared at the shiny Froakie and Fennekin, possibly angry they were using Pokémon most commonly found in her region. The fox was sitting on her butt, tail fire licking off its tip, waiting for the opposing Pokémon to make an appearance while the frog stretched out, much like his Trainer was always doing.
“Don’t think this will be so easy,” Clotilde growled. “I guess it’s easy credits.”
“Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, sweetie,” Amira smirked behind her tinted glasses, left hand on her hip. “Did you watch our match?”
The three didn’t respond, lips tight while glancing around at the crowd they were attracting as word spread; someone was going after the Starter bounty.
“Yeah, okay,” Aude huffed, tossing her pokéball up and down three times before releasing her Pokémon with the others. Without an official referee, it would go on until the Battle App signified a knockout or one side gave up.
Rhea was a little surprised upon seeing Clotilde’s Spritzee. Next came Lisette’s Roggenrola, and finally, a Sentret for Aude. The Pokémon greeted each other with chirps, and Gables started doing some kind of strange dance, shuffling left and right as if low-key jamming to a song, and if Rhea didn’t know any better, he was singing.
Mallory giggled, clapping her hands, singing the song he must have been copying; it seemed to be one of the dozens of tracks they’d practiced in their tent or on the trail.
The girls gave each other strange looks, and Amira just gave her a questioning glance, but Mallory didn’t seem bothered in the least as the frog continued to bust moves to the laughter of the crowd; a few even started jumping in.
After several seconds, the Kalos girls hesitantly marked that they were ready to start, and her teammates did the same. Gables did a backflip while pointing at the Roggenrola before blending into his environment. The battle had begun.
* * *
Gables popped out of his pokéball, releasing a low yawn.
Amber was nearby, giving him a charming smile. “Finally, ready to get involved?”
“Oh, girl, I was born ready! Oof … just gotta stretch out a bit … yeah, that’s the burn!”
The flaming fox giggled. “By the way, what was all that stuff you were doing with your Trainer?”
“To the left … to the right … eh, you’ll have to be a bit more specific than that.”
“The whole singing bit? I’ve seen humans do it, but not any Pokémon,” she hummed with interest.
Their attention momentarily shifted to their opponents, and Gables zeroed in on the stubby Rock Pokémon as Mallory sent excited instructions through his link with her.
“Oh! He’s weak to your Bubbles. Watch out for that bird-looking one, though; I’m pretty sure Spritzee has some decent Moves. It’s probably a long-range attacker. Rock-dude is slow as dirt. Sentret … eh, probably not much of a threat. Amber will probably focus on the Spritzee. You can take out that Roggenrola easy-peasy. We got it in the bag! You two probably stomp their speed, too.”
The female Spritzee chortled as Lori privately broke down his opponents; its allies surrounded her. “You two ready to get creamed?”
“You’re right, Klisi! Their Trainers are so stupid!” The female Sentret snickered. “They are, too, apparently.”
The Roggenrola shifted a little bashfully while looking at Amber. Gables couldn’t disagree with the shy behavior; she was quite the looker, but more friend material for him, personally. With a bit more exposure, he thought she’d be fun to hang around.
The pink bird smirked at them. “We’ve got so much more experience than both of you.”
“Look, Gables,” Amber mused with a small smile, “the poor things are delusional.”
Gables smiled; their comments reminded him of a song Lori showed him on her new phone while getting ready for bed. “Yo, Amber.”
“Mmh?” Her head tilted, shifting a little to focus on him.
“Check it, Lori showed me this song…” Trying to mimic the moves he’d seen the human do in the video, Gables sang it while Amber chuckled at the lyrics; he pointed at their opponents and Amber during key parts.
“Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me;
“I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed…”
The three Pokémon seemed baffled by his sudden performance, but the two girls were soon glaring at him as he continued.
“She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb
“In the shape of an “L” on her forehead.
“Well, the years start comin’, and they don’t stop comin’,
“Fed to the rules, and I hit the ground runnin’.
“Didn’t make sense not to live for fun,
“Your brain gets smart, but your head gets dumb.”
Klisi puffed up as he continued to sing, and the humans began chanting with him. “Are … are you calling us dumb?”
“What’s he saying, Klisi?” The Sentret mumbled.
“He’s making fun of us … get ready, Nuca, Lukimi! We’re gonna own these fools.”
Gables giggled with Amber as their Trainers told them the battle started, and he did a quick backflip, sucking in the energy Lori sent him to swiftly use Camouflage.
Their opponents paused, expressions turning from confusion to panic, heads darting right and left to try and spot him, and even going so far as to flip around to check if he’d gotten behind them.
Amber giggled at the Pokémon, seemingly taking the opportunity to build up energy for a large attack, but the other three weren’t far behind, recovering to face her.
Gables figured the Fennekin was preparing a Heat Wave, looking to end the battle quickly. He hoped they’d provide more entertainment than that; he hadn’t been able to show off his skills, but Amber had a lot of power behind her.
He swiftly judged what his best course of action was, big eyes darting between Amber and the other group, keeping close while charging their own Moves after the momentary hesitation. They’d be too slow to stop her at this point.
Not wanting to get caught in the heat, Gables moved closer to Amber for the intercept when they inevitably charged. He was actually a bit bored, continuing to utilize his internal force to stay camouflaged; it was second-nature since the Move was a part of his genetics.
He glanced over at the pretty fox beside him; she had a lot to prove after the fight with Cobalt, and he figured prolonging a battle for fun wasn’t much in her nature, but there was a bit of a playful side to the Fennekin he’d seen over the last few days.
She’d tried to flirt with him at first to get him flustered, but when that didn’t work, they’d just kind of become more friends. The Fennekin had a particular taste of teasing, and she was very aware of her looks, which prompted her to play with other Pokémon that were smitten by her, which Nuca certainly was.
The Roggenrolla had been trying to come to terms with the attraction for a bit now, which caused what should have probably been a pretty short charge-up Move to be much longer. However, Lukimi, the Sentret, surprised him.
The furry Pokémon’s serious expression turned to horror. “… Nuca, Klisi, scatter; she’s using that big Move!”
Oh? Some kind of detection Move? No, probably just her Trainer watching the Starter match … if she’s going to dodge that way … perfect.
He began charging his own attack, swiftly crawling across the ground toward the scattering Pokémon; his target had been acquired.
The Spritzee darted right as the Sentret took to the left, leaving Nuca in a bit of a stupor since he was too slow for such movements.
Amber opened her glowing mouth, clearly a bit frustrated that they’d predicted her most powerful Move. A gust of blazing heat sprayed out of her jaws, spreading out in a cone to engulf the space in front of the Fennekin, widening to a two-meter area just behind where the three had been standing.
Roggentolla surprised Gables by sending out a Sand Attack to dampen the effects, but it only slightly mitigated the Stab Heat Wave’s initial blast, sending the sand back into his face with the sheer pressure.
The stone battlefield was left with a blackened imprint from the heat as Nuca’s body steamed after the fire infused wind passed, forcing the girls and some of the crowd to cover their faces and step back a bit; these arenas didn’t appear designed for that powerful of a Move, even if from a low-level Pokémon.
Klisi appeared to be releasing some kind of faint pink mist from her glowing body, keeping her distance as Amber shot an Ember at her. The Fairy Pokémon had plenty of space to dodge the attack, even if it was faster, and stronger Pokémon from other Trainers were coming out to block any attack that tried to exit the arena.
Nuca was still recovering after being blown back a few feet. He took a decent amount of damage but didn’t seem burned.
The Sentret was shockingly fast while running from the attack, gaining a short burst of speed; she’d run right into Gables’ trap, and Lori’s instruction and energy continued to feed through his connection to her.
Pop-out of camo before attacking for Type advantage!
Lukimi’s mouth dropped open with shock, eyes widening as the frog appeared in front of her with a bright smile, the energy returning to Fighting-type after releasing Camouflage.
Power rushed through Gables’ body, infusing it like a drug while condensing orange and yellow light gathered around his hand. “Tag!”
His fist smashed into Lukimi’s stunned face, generating a concussive burst of force that instantly changed her course as her body tried following its previous momentum. Lukimi was sent flying into the sky with a sharp wheeze. The orange-tint of Power-Up Punch continued accelerating her ascent before dissipating to allow the kinetic energy to take over.
The human’s gasps could be heard around the field with the blazing ball flames that shot out of the corner of Gables’ vision, exploding against the defenseless Sentret and forcing Lukimi to soar over her Trainer’s head, out of the field; the girl followed her Pokémon’s descent with a horrified expression, and Mallory’s confirmation came soon after.
She’s super done! Double-time, double-time!
Gables was a little disappointed at how easy it was, but his attention swiftly shifted to Amber as the pink haze Klisi released earlier was catching up to her. She’d been easily keeping the slow Rock Pokémon at a distance while trading Embers with the Spritzee’s Fairy Winds; both were dodging fairly proficiently or having their Moves cancel each other out, but Amber was far more elegant in her movements.
Klisi and Nuca both cried out their fallen companion’s name after witnessing the powerful combo. The Roggenrola appeared to have gotten over his flustered feelings as he shined, causing Mallory to send a giggle through their connection; apparently, that was a lousy Move to use.
He sent a Bubble at Klisi to try and distract her before preparing Camouflage again.
Nuca was so easy to kite; in fact, he didn’t seem to have any long distance attacks. His slow Tackles were somewhat laughable, and once figuring out Amber was too nimble for him, he decided to change targets.
Gables knew he could end the Rock-type’s advance with a Bubble or two but debated if he really wanted to end it that quickly. However, he grew distracted by Amber suddenly tripping and falling on her face to tumble across the field, landing in a heap.
Huh?
The pink mist must have been the cause because the proud Fennekin appeared somewhat loopy while trying to make it back to her feet.
Gables’ eyes sparked with light, canceling his building Camouflage to utilize the Move to read Klisi’s mind.
He simply danced around the Roggenrola, making him look like a fool while doing aerial acrobatics over him. Nuca tried to use Sand Attack to catch him, but he was far too slow to offer any kind of real threat. The rock attempted to jump and time his attacks, but Gables was just too nimble and fast.
“Amber, jump as high as you can to the right!” Gables yelled, “She’s trying to confuse you; dodge the pink!”
A few heart shapes were sent from the Spritzee while Amber recovered, but she managed to follow either his or Amira’s instructions. The haze clouding Amber’s mind from the mist vanished shortly with it, and the back and forth continued, lobbing insults at each other.
Gables figured she had it and more than likely didn’t want his help with how personal the two seemed to be attacking one another with words and attacks; he turned his attention to Nuca with a small smile.
“So … how are you doin’?”
“Grrr … why won’t you just stay still and attack!”
“Like this?” Gables asked, landing behind him to slam his glowing fists against the Roggenrola’s back. “Oof, yeah, you’re pretty tough, my little dude.”
Numa hopped around to face him, body glowing as he jumped to tackle him. “Just … stay still!”
Gables just started singing, absently flipping around Numa to watch Amber and Klisi do their ranged battle; Mallory giggled with the crowd as he casually led the frustrated Rock Pokémon around the edge of the field.
The Fennekin was much more restrictive on her Ember shots, taunting Klisi while prancing at the edge of her light mist and dodging her Fairy Wind cyclones with elegant grace.
“Was that aimed at me?” Amber giggled before sending an Ember at her, floating high above the field; the flames brushed past the Spritzee’s wing, dangerously close to its detonation radius.
Klisi was so focused on Amber that she hadn’t even seemed to notice the Roggenrola’s troubles. “Like you can talk!” She spat, but her voice quivered a little. She’d been trying to drape the Fennekin with the sparkling pink dust, but the veil dispersed far too quickly to close in the vexing vixen below. “You can’t even hit me from up here.”
Gables noticed the failing tactic pretty soon after Amber dodged the first attempt; sadly, with all the energy the Spritzee was spending on her confusion strategy, she appeared to be slowing down and hovering lower than she probably anticipated. It wouldn’t be that much longer, and other Trainers and Pokémon around the field had noticed it, too.
He didn’t think the pink mist and multiple heart attacks were that bad of a play, but Amber wasn’t going to get caught in the same trap twice; it would have probably beaten most opponents.
The plan was straightforward; disorient them to land a confusion attack, then stomp them with a few Fairy Winds, but if you avoided the first two attacks, the strategy fell apart, and Amber was far quicker on her feet than the Spritzee was in the air.
