"Go, Mightyena! Dark Pulse!" Selena Clark called to her Pokémon as she pointed at the opposing trainer's Pidgeotto.
The brisling Dark Pokémon stepped forward towards the Pidgeotto, his mouth already open and glowing from the charge of energy. With a snarl, he shot the blast directly at the Flying-type, hitting it squarely on the chest.
The Pidgeotto let out a startled squawk, flittering its wings to keep its body aloft.
The other trainer, a red-haired boy around seventeen, let out a low curse. "Wing Attack!" he ordered.
The foe Pidgeotto let out a twittering call as it flew low over Mightyena's head, its wings spread and poised to launch a whirling tempest at Mightyena.
Just a little closer, Selena thought, her eyes narrowed in concentration.
The Flying-type let out a trilling, "Pidgeooo!" as it pulled its wings back to gather wind.
"Now, Mightyena!" Selena cried. "Use Bite!"
At once, Mightyena sprang into the air and sank his teeth into the Pidgeotto's thick, tawny feathers. The Pidgeotto shrieked in surprise and spun out, losing the air from beneath its wings and falling awkwardly to its side. Mightyena padded up and placed his paws on either wing, pinning the enemy Pokémon to the hard ground.
"Enough!" the boy called, rushing up and knocking Mightyena off of the bird. He scooped the injured Pidgeotto into his arms and back up. "You win, Selena," he said wearily.
Selena grinned. "I always do, Aiden," she retorted. "No one can beat us, huh, Mightyena?"
Mightyena turned his face towards her and let out a happy grumble. Selena ruffled the fur in between his ears like she knew he loved. Mightyena closed his eyes and let out an appreciative growl.
"Selena Clark!" a voice called angrily.
Selena sighed and turned to face the familiar voice. "Hello, Mr. Adams," she said coolly. "How are you today?"
"You know you aren't supposed to be having battles, Miss Clark," Mr. Adams said, completely ignoring Selena's comment. He glanced over at Aiden and the knocked-out Pidgeotto, running a hand through his graying hair. "This is the second time this week!"
"Well, he wanted a rematch," Selena pointed out, trying hard to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. "He's the one that asked for it—me and Mightyena only delivered."
Mightyena gave a grunted affirmative and leaned into Selena's leg, watching the exchange with wide red eyes. He curled his lip just a bit, but it was enough to expose his sharp teeth.
Mr. Adams saw this with unfazed eyes. "Call it back," he ordered.
Selena stifled the urge to roll her eyes, reaching into her back pocket to pull out a handful of walnut-sized Pokéballs. She selected one that had a dark cloud sticker on the front, pressing the small white button in the center of the ball. Immediately, the Pokéball expanded into the normal size. Pointing it at Mightyena, Selena said, "Return!" The familiar beam of red light surrounded Mightyena in a glowing halo, receding quickly as Mightyena entered the Pokéball.
Mr. Adams watched with crossed arms and a tapping toe. "If I catch you battling on school grounds again…" He let the threat hang in the air.
"Okay." She did her best to sound contrite, hanging her head and avoiding eye contact, all the while snickering softly to herself. "You won't catch me again."
Obviously not hearing the double meaning in her words, Mr. Adams nodded stiffly and walked away back towards the school building.
Selena turned immediately when he left and faced Aiden. "Well, kid? You want to go another round?"
Aiden glared at her with dark blue eyes. "No," he grumbled through gritted teeth. "You've wiped out my team again."
Selena laughed, running a hand through her curly, dark brown hair. "Again, for sure, and yet, you still come back and try to challenge me." She narrowed her eyes at him. "So, kid?"
"Don't call me 'kid'," he snapped. "You're the same age as me!" He pulled out a Pokéball and sent Pidgeotto inside.
Selena shrugged, lifting her hands in the air in a mock-placating gesture. "Sure, sure," she chuckled. "I wouldn't want to upset you." She reached into her pocket and pulled out Mightyena's storm cloud Pokéball. She flipped it into the air and released him.
Mightyena shook out his black fur and padded up to Selena, letting out a crooning growl. She rested her hand on his head and murmured, "You did well today, bud."
Aiden looked at her with incredulous eyes. "Don't you know the meaning of 'school rules?'" he demanded.
Selena looked up, surprised. "What are you getting at?" she hedged. "Teacher-man is gone, kid. Mightyena doesn't like to be in his Pokéball." Mightyena barked out an affirmative.
Aiden looked at them incredulously. "Well, I have to go," he said, rudely shoving past her and out onto the street.
Mightyena snarled low in his throat and crouched down to give chase, but Selena put her hand on his shoulders. "No point, bud," she said gently to him. "He's done for today—we'll have to find you some new game."
Mightyena let out a depressed sigh, and Selena laughed and hugged his neck.
"Come on, then. Let's go get a snack!"
With Mightyena padding alongside her, Selena dropped her hands into her jacket pockets and flung her hair behind her, keeping a carefully-composed blank face. She knew that people would give her strange looks with such a fierce-looking Pokémon walking with her, but she didn't care. Selena liked to appear tough, which was why she loved to train strong Pokémon and raise them to be the most powerful they could be.
She cast her dark green eyes around Hearthome City as she walked to her favorite small park. A cluster of girls were squealing excitedly over a new Contest dress that one of them had—swooning over the pink satin and watching the girl hold it up to herself with envious eyes.
"Pathetic," she spat to herself. "Fawning over that lame dress like total idiots." She shook her head, clucking her tongue in disgust. "We'll stick to battles any day, huh, Mightyena?"
Mightyena looked up with bright red eyes. He let out his familiar crooning growl at Selena's words.
Looking back at the girls, Selena saw the dress's owner pull out a Pokéball and send out a fluffy pink Clefairy. The girl squealed again and scooped up the little Pokémon, comparing the color of its fur with the color of the ruffled dress.
"Pathetic," Selena repeated as she turned away. "Who would want a Clefairy when they could have a Charizard, or a Salamence, or—"
Mightyena let out a sharp growl.
Selena looked down at him softly. "Or a Mightyena," she added.
Mightyena closed his eyes, pleased.
Selena chuckled and reached into her backpack, shifting aside the piles of loose papers to grab an apple from the very bottom. She plucked scraps of paper off of it, and sat down on a nearby bench to relax and enjoy the taste of the apple. "Here, bud, you want a piece of—"
"Hey, you!"
Selena ignored the voice, presuming the bubble-headed girls were talking to someone else. She dug her fingernails into the skin of the apple and tried to pry it in half.
"Hey, you with the Mightyena!"
Selena turned and saw the trio of girls glaring at her—even the Clefairy was sneering. "What?" she demanded.
The girl with the dress—a dark-haired girl with pale eyes—was obviously the leader of the group. "Where you laughing at my dress?" she demanded, the other two coming up to flank her in bristling line of beribboned toadies.
"No," Selena said coldly, turning away from them and adjusting the collar of her black jacket.
"I saw her," one of the toadies stage-whispered. "That's why I pointed it out to you, Jessica."
The first girl, Jessica, turned back to Selena. "I asked you if you laughed at my dress. Well? Did you?"
Selena turned to face them for the first time. "I didn't laugh at your stupid dress," she snapped. "Leave me alone!" Mightyena snarled at her feet, accenting her words with a more dangerous threat.
Jessica looked down at him with narrowed eyes. "Is your little doggie there ever in any Contests?" The toadies twittered in the background, covering their faces with pink-polished fingernails.
Selena turned away again with a soft laugh. "Leave me alone," she repeated. "I wouldn't allow my Pokémon to take place in a contest. How humiliating." She chuckled.
The bubble-heads gasped. "You can't talk to Jessica like that," one of them hissed. "She's the Contest Queen!"
"Good for her." Selena stood up, feeling irritated at the interruption to her relaxation. "Now if you'll excuse me…" She sidestepped the trio of girls and began to walk towards the park again.
"Hey! Let's settle this!"
Selena turned around and saw Jessica motioning her Clefairy forward, its little face pinched with malice. "My Clefairy against whatever one you decide."
"Are you serious?" Selena felt like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. "You want to battle me?" Was she going crazy, or did this poor bubble-head really think could beat Selena?
"One-on-one," Jessica practically snarled. "If you win, I'll let this slide. But if I win…" She trailed off, a mean smile on her face.
"You don't even have to think about what happens if you win," Selena hissed, reaching into her back pocket for a Pokéball. "'Cause I'm going to crush you!"
"Ooh," the toadies squealed again. "Tough words."
Selena ignored them, looking carefully at the Pokéballs and selecting one with a volcano sticker on the front of it. She expanded it and held it ready.
"What is that? You're not going to use your doggie?" Jessica sniped, but her eyes were worried.
"He actually just battled another real trainer." Selena laid thick emphasis on the words. "He deserves a break." She twisted her head to look at him. "You don't mind, do you, bud?"
Mightyena let out a short growl and sat back on his haunches to watch.
Selena turned back and brushed a hand across the face of the gleaming red-and-white Pokéball. Then with a flick of her wrist, she threw it into the air, calling, "Go!"
With a snapping sound, the Pokéball burst open and released a jet of red light. Selena caught the ball when it bounced back on the rebound, a smug smile on her face when the bubble-headed girls saw the newly-released Pokémon.
Houndoom shook his head, fluffing out his short black fur, curling his lip as he looked at the Clefairy in front of him. He snorted, letting out a jet of fire that seared the short grass at his paws.
"Ready?" Selena asked Jessica, mock-sweetly.
Jessica tore her eyes from the Fire-type and yelled, "Clefairy, Double Slap!"
The pink Pokémon lunged forward, connecting its front paw with Houndoom's face, eliciting a loud smack that resounded against the brick wall behind the battle.
Houndoom looked shocked as the Clefairy struck again, slapping Houndoom's other cheek before leaping back. He let out a grunt of surprise and shook his head, flinging his curved horns and flicking his triangle-tipped tail. He looked at Selena with astonishment.
"Houndoom, use Ember!" Selena pointed at the Clefairy—no bigger than a soccer ball to Houndoom's massive frame.
Houndoom looked confusedly from Selena to the foe Pokémon.
Selena pressed her palm against her forehead as Houndoom stared back and forth. Why did I use him? she wondered angrily. He's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. "Houndoom, Ember!"
Houndoom let out a startled grunt and faced the Clefairy again, opening his mouth and aiming a short breath of flames towards the pink Normal-type. The fire singed right through the short pink fur, making Clefairy squeak in pain.
"Good!" Selena was pumped now—the thrill of battle sent the adrenaline pumping through her veins like nothing else. "Now grab it with Bite!"
Houndoom whirled on the Clefairy, which was too distracted by cinders on its fur to notice him, snapping at its fluffy tail. Houndoom lifted the pink Pokémon in the air, twisting his head to whip it around his head like a lasso, before finally releasing it and sending Clefairy soaring into the brick wall. It crumpled down the wall with a dizzy mutter.
"How could you?" Jessica raced towards her defeated Pokémon, picking up the mumbling Clefairy with a look of rage on her face. "Cheater!"
Selena ignored her, running her fingers over the rib-like protrusions on Houndoom's back. "You did a great job, buddy," she whispered, leaning in to hug him. "You really trashed that little pink rat."
"Don't talk about him like that!" the trio of girls wailed as they clustered around the downed Clefairy. They shot Selena and Houndoom dirty looks.
Suitably happy, Selena readjusted her jacket and picked her bag back up. She dusted off the front of her jeans and plucked her apple out of the pack again. "You want a piece, Houndoom?"
Houndoom let out a happy howl, leaning up to sniff the apple. Suddenly he drew back, his nose twitching. He heaved in a breath, then paused.
"Oh no," Selena muttered, wincing and pulling away but it was too late.
Houndoom let out an enormous sneeze, sending the apple whirling out of her hand and onto the grass, where it smoldered weakly. Houndoom looked up at her with apologetic red eyes.
"Just what I wanted," Selena chuckled. "A flaming apple." She shook her head, pulling out Houndoom's Pokéball and clicking it open. "Return, Houndoom."
Houndoom's silly, dog-like grin was still on his face as he dissolved into red light.
"This isn't over!" Jessica called shrilly as Selena moved away, Mightyena at her side. "We'll beat you next time."
"Sure, sure," Selena laughed softly. "That's what they all say."