Elementary
"Well, darling, what do you think?" Candela stood up first, easily as ever, as the red tinge faded from her hair and eyes. The smell of burning faded, too, becoming more like a lingering aftertaste.
"You're not too bad, you know," she said, eying the bruises and cuts on her arms. "I thought you wouldn't be able to give me even a scratch-beginners usually can't." One side of her face was bruised quite badly due to a well-aimed hit, and she moved her face noticeably less when she spoke. She flexed her arms gingerly, seeming pleased when she succeeded. "But no, you came right at me and basically smashed me to a pulp. Even though I did beat you, I mean. We can still say that it was quite a difficult fight. Which is rare for me nowadays."
"Yeah, because you're so good at fighting." This was accompanied by a sharp hiss as Blanche stood up, leaning heavily on the wall.
"Precisely," Candela replied proudly. "Glad you noticed, darling."
"This wasn't supposed to happen!" Blanche burst out. "My plan was foolproof, it was perfect. I covered everything!" They licked their cut lips, a stinging reminder in more ways than one that victory could have been theirs - could have been -
"Not everything, obviously. There's one thing you missed out." At this, Blanche frowned heavily, disliking how the brunette carelessly insulted their well thought-out plan. Didn't she know how long they'd spent, calculating and recalculating all the possibilities?
"You're scared of Articuno." This statement was delivered with a sort of blunt confidence, as though Candela had no doubt at all that they were scared of the Ice Titan.
"I am not -"
"You are, I've seen it. You're scared of what Articuno will do to you, because you've seen Moltres and Zapdos take our human forms. That's why you didn't win. You, on your own, could never win anyone in a fight. But you won't let Articuno in."
Blanche shook their head resolutely. They weren't afraid of Articuno. And especially not because they'd seen Moltres and Zapdos spar. They were afraid of what they could do with Articuno's help because they'd seen what Candela and Spark could do.
"I can help you with that," Candela continued, "if you don't mind standing for a while more."
"What are you going to do?" Blanche asked, gesturing to Candela and immediately regretting it. They'd used the same arm that Candela had used to yank them clean off their feet, and the movement sent a sharp pain through their arm.
Candela quirked an eyebrow at their wince, but didn't stop. "I'm going to show you how to use your full potential."
She strode to the centre of the large room, which had a high ceiling and was normally used for Pokemon battles. Without her exerting any visible effort, a wisp of smoke escaped her lips. The Bond mark on her thigh glowed, though not as strongly as before, and her eyes and hair were also a few shades less red. She pulled back her arm, preparing to punch, and Blanche saw something change behind her eyes. Something wild stirred in their depths, and her lips curved upwards into a savage smile. Somehow, they could hardly sense Moltres. Most of this wildness came from Candela herself, from the very depths of her soul.
She lunged forward to strike an imaginary target, and Blanche could see the trail of flames that her fist made as it flew through the air. Her bare feet(the high heels had been abandoned for the fight)made scorched footprints on the ground. The same burning smell filled the air again, making Blanche's nose itch and their eyes water.
"There. You've really got to chill, darling. In many ways." Candela stepped out of the chalked box marking the bounds of the arena, grinning at Blanche's expression of disgust.
"That was an extremely lame pun," they stated flatly, stepping carefully over the chalk. They removed a small silver medallion from their pocket, which was engraved with the symbol of Team Mystic. Holding it out before them, they closed their eyes and concentrated.
Breathe, they told themself. In, out. In, out.
They tried to find Articuno in their mindscape, all the while steadying their breathing. They hadn't found Articuno yet, but the Bond mark on their upper left arm tingled, and they knew it was glowing bright blue. A rush of power spread through them, making their whole body shiver. With it came a sudden dread, like a grim reminder of what this power could do - what they could do with it.
In, out, in, out.
"Focus, Blanche," Candela was saying with gritted teeth.
They tried to follow her advice, convincing themself that this could not harm anyone, would not harm anyone, because they were in control of it and not the other way round. They grappled with their thoughts for a while, and finally succeeded. And in that moment, the dread fell away. In its place was an electrifying feeling - hope, happiness, peace - and they stood there for a moment, relishing in it. Then, with more calm than they had thought would be possible, they focused their mind, directing the energy towards the medallion in their palm. There was a loud cracking noise.
A cry of "You've done it!" made them open their eyes and look around. The medallion was covered with a thick layer of ice. Their eyes lit up in wonder, head seeking with all the newfound possibilities, but mostly just replaying Candela's triumphant shout over and over again.
"How did that happen?"
Candela smiled at them, this childlike amazement such a stark contrast from their usual stuck-up demeanour. The smile gave way to a cheeky grin as she figured out how to answer them.
"Elementary, my dear Blanche."