AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! I'm sorry for the hiatus and the short chapter here, but I've been very busy lately and etc.! Anyway, I hope you will enjoy the battle between Garret and Rowan (spoiler alert: !sniw terraG)! I hope to write the next chatper soon, but my school and book priorities come first, and it's 11:25 PM (school day) right now (because I'm insane to be staying up)!

The fanfiction view increased to 34 (as of this writing) so that's great! Keep it up guys! :D


It was early morning when I awoke. The sun flooded through the open window, and I laughed when I saw William sitting on my desk, mesmerized at the Goldenfield skyline. He had probably figured out how to open the window blinds, and someone had released him from his pokeball.

"Hey, William," I greeted him, rubbing my eyes sleepily. William simply nodded and went back to staring at the view of the city while I stumbled towards my bathroom, which was wedged by my small closet, already messy due to me searching for my spare pairs of socks and school uniforms.

The restroom itself, however, was quite clean and tidy, which wasn't a surprise since William had taken to the habit of cleaning it out daily. I smiled as I imagined an absurd William dressed like a janitor, mopping the cold, tiled floor. In reality, though, he used a small wet rag and a bucket of soapy water, which my mother supplied him with.

Brushing my teeth, combing my shiny black hair (which, no matter what I tried, remained untidy), and washing my face, I was about done with my morning routines when I decided I should take a shower, even though I would probably stay inside today. Still, I was too tired to bathe in the evening, and I was supposed to do it once a day, so I undressed and turned on the hot water in the bathtub.

Fifteen minutes later, I had changed into new clothes (still casual, as I didn't plan to wear my school uniform until the day before the semester started), tried one last, futile time to comb my hair, and walked out of the bathroom, shutting the light and closing the door behind me. William had left, and I guessed he was at breakfast. My stomach rumbled slightly, and suddenly, I felt very hungry. I pulled open the door to my room and stepped out into the hallway, which seemed cooler and more comfortable than my usually warm room.

Annie's bedroom was across the hall, and there was a large storage closet at the end of the corridor. Towards the other side, there was a massive, rectangular staircase that descended four floors to the living room, kitchen, and dining room.

I began to walk down the stairs urgently, and I reached the bottom just in time to see Annie finish her breakfast. "You're awake," she observed, and walked past me and up the stairs. Looking around for William, I saw him eating several Pokeblocks. He, unlike some prinplups, didn't seem the least bit ashamed at taking food from people. In fact, he almost seemed to enjoy the attention.

I poured myself some Corrn Berry Flakes and filled my bowl with Moomoo Milk. There was a platter of the sweet poffin-bread, and I took some. The Corrn Berry Flakes tasted dry and crunchy, and I decided that the sweet poffin-bread was better. Drinking the last drops of the Moomoo Milk, I carried the bowl to the sink, where my mother was washing them with the aid of Petal.

"I'm going out," I told her. I decided that I didn't want to spend the day locked up inside the townhouse. She nodded, but replied, "Don't get into any fights. Don't get yourself hurt. Don't be reckless. Don't get lost. Make sure you keep an eye on William and your sister. Oh and, Annie wants to come, if you don't mind-"

"I get it, mom. I've heard it a million times."

"Of course you do," she said, and turned back to washing the dishes. Meanwhile, Annie skipped down from the stairs, dressed in her usual skirt and 'I heart Piplup' shirt. Sighing, I walked out of the door with William and her following me. What I really wanted was to have a few quiet hours with William, but apparently, that wasn't going to happen with Annie by our side.

"Let's go to the park," I suggested, and Annie nodded. "I can go see the Poliwag again!" she seemed excited as we crossed the street and began the long walk to the park.

The Goldenfield Park was misty and foggy, and dew clung to the chilly morning grass and leaves. The gravel was damp as it crunched softly under my feet. I was walking aimlessly around, thinking of the new school year at Winterhill. William and Annie had went over to the ponds to play with the pokemon who lived there, so I was alone.

Spotting a bench, I was about to sit on it when I realized that it was covered in dew, and I didn't want to make my pants wet. Sighing, I continued onwards, brushing my way past a low tree branch that was blocking the path.

I pictured myself, dressed in my school uniform and walking to my classes in the Winterhill Academy of Pokemon Studies. I knew I would spend the majority of time in the school, and that we would have very little chance to go outside (except on field days, where we were assigned tasks in the wilderness). I would look forward to the every-two-weekend trips to visit my mother back in Goldenfield, though I wasn't required to go. I would worry about my homework and battle performance. I might even like someone, though I don't know who yet. I remembered what the Goldenfield student had said yesterday. Blushing at the thought of going out with Victoria (seriously, like I would ever do THAT?), I was glad nobody was around.


Ten minutes later, I heard footsteps. Looking up from where I had been staring at the gravel, I saw Annie approaching with William by her side. "Rowan!" she called, and I saw Garret following her. "Garret wants to battle you!"

Getting up, I approached the three of them. "Want to battle?" Garret asked me, and I saw Howl's pokeball in his hand. Nodding, I beckoned William over to me and I recaptured him, even though I would be releasing him soon for the fight, anyway.

Garret and I walked side by side, heading for the open, tree-less hill part of the park where trainers often battled their pokemon. Annie followed behind us, while other kids occasionally passed by. The path was bright with morning sunlight, and the trees provided some shade, allowing patches of sunlight to shine on the gravel trail.

Reaching the clearing, Grant and I shook hands (it was customary for Arena Contestants to do so before the match) and we turned around and walked to the edges of the clearing. Then, we faced each other and took out our pokeballs, releasing our pokemon at the same time.

"Turn-based or Freestyle?" Garret asked me, and I replied, "Freestyle!" In arenas, there were two main kinds of battles: turn-based or freestyle. In a turn-based battle, one pokemon attacks another, and the pokemon being attacked has to dodge the hit or take damage. It isn't allowed to attack the other pokemon or use moves until its turn. But in a freestyle, the pokemon can attack each other as many times as they want, whenever they want. I liked freestyle better, since it was more interesting.

"Three...two...one..." Garret and I said in unison across the field. Then, we both shouted, "GO!" and began to instruct our pokemon. Howl charged across the field, using Flame Wheel, which wasn't very effective against William, who retaliated with Bubble Beam. Howl dodged the stream of bubbles, and made a small circle, rounding back on William. Both Garret and I were concentrating, and as William continued to dodge the Flame Wheel.

Then, as Howl passed close to William, I saw the growlithe reach out and bite the prinplup on the flipper. "Metal Claw!" I yelled, and William proceeded to slash Howl in the face before he could get away. Both of them howled in pain, and William continued to try to hit Howl with Bubble Beam while the growlithe spun around in a wheel of fire, coming precariously close to William in an attempt to burn him.

Finally, Howl seemed to run out of energy. Coming to a stop, he panted for a few seconds and was rewarded with a blast of bubbles from William. It was super effective, and Howl whimpered for a second before gathering his energy and roaring at William. Since neither of us had another pokemon, and it was a trainer battle, the move had no effect. Still, William was always distracted by roaring, and Howl was able to hit him with Bite twice before he could reorient himself.

Both Howl and William had signs of injury, but neither of them wanted to stop. They snapped and snarled at each other, circling around and glaring at the other in the eye. They moved in a circular motion, almost like a dance, as they rapidly shot bubbles and bursts of fire at each other. Their moves seemed to collide and disintegrate, and neither could successfully hit the other pokemon.

That was when I heard Annie say, "Look! Victoria's here! Alice too!" Howl turned around, distracted by the appearance of Alice. Garret lost his focus as well, but William and I were more disciplined-we often had to train while Annie was calling out things, and we were used to it. William took the opportunity to use Peck on Howl for what seemed like five times before he realized what was going on.

It seemed like I would win. Howl was shuddering with pain and anguish, and he seemed close to fainting. Still, there was a look in his eye, and in Garret's too, as if they had some sort of secret weapon they could use.

"Howl! Reversal!"

It was over. William was thrown into the air by the powerful move. It was brilliant. Reversal got stronger and stronger as the pokemon's HP went down. Howl was close to losing all of his HP, so the move would be at its maximum strength. William feebly tried to get up, but he collapsed back onto the hilly field.

I took out my pokeball and recaptured him.

Garret came across the field, ecstatic at his victory. "That was great!" I told him, and he nodded agreeably. "Howl and I have been practicing it all summer on Cassandra's gardevoir." Cassandra was his older sister, who was in her final year in the Winterhill Academy of Pokemon Studies, and had a summer job at the Goldenfield Pokemon Center.

Victoria walked over with Alice at her side. Garret absentmindedly clicked Howl's pokeball and recaptured him. "That was a great battle, guys," she said, and Garret chuckled. "You didn't even see all of it. What would you know?"

Looking up, I saw that the day had progressed a little. Even though it had only been thirty minutes, it felt like a much, much longer time. Looking at William's pokeball, I told everyone, "Let's go to the Pokemon Center." Grant nodded eagerly, while Alice looked thrilled. "I can see Cassy again!" she said, referring to Cassandra, whom she deeply admired.

Setting off at a brisk pace, Garret, Victoria, Alice and I reached the end of the large park in five minutes. The street was normally busy, and cars made their way past the bustling pedestrians. Unlike the other regions, where cars were almost nonexistant (despite the abundance of streets), Oceanview had quite an unusually large number of vehicles, which often resulted in little kids and pokemon being hit by cars and trucks.

I could see the Pokemon Center a little down the road, and we proceeded to cross the street as the light turned red. It had been a great battle, and I was glad I learned that Garret's growlithe knew Reversal before I went back to Winterhill Academy for another year. It would have been horribly humiliating to be beaten by your best friend in front of all of the other Arena Contestants.