"I think we left him behind!" Raphi stammered. The spot where his shoulder hit the tree had stopped bleeding, but it still hurt nevertheless. He ignored the stinging pain and rather concentrated on the icy slide and Glace in front of him, trying not to crash into her. I hope she's alright…
She seemed to have a hard time to constantly keep up the Ice Beam, yet she didn't let on about it.
The path continued to lead down the mountain, a profound abyss on the left and an escarpment with many boulders and a few trees on the right.
"At this rate, we'll arrive in Snowlake Village in no time!" He grinned, being very content of his dazzling escape plan. However, his confidence shattered into little pieces when he looked back.
Weavile was hot on their trail with a wicked expression on his face. He caught up to them using the claws on his feet like ice skates. "You won't get away this time!" The smug undertone in his voice was gone – it was replaced by a caw of pure hate instead.
Raphi thought about the situation while Weavile was coming closer. If they stopped, the dark-ice-type would have the upper hand again due to his incredible speed and the battle would be over instantly. If they would sustain their current tactic, he would catch up to them eventually. There was only one option: Raphi had to fight Weavile on the slide and finish him off before they reached the bottom of the mountain.
"Glace, just ignore everything that's going on behind you! And please try to form the slide more like a half pipe so I don't have to worry about steering!" He shouted and turned to face his opponent.
"Do you really think you're strong enough to defeat ME?! Either way, you'll soon find out!" He raised his arms, his claws glowing light blue.
To avoid the X-Scissor, Raphi tried to leap backwards. Instead, he slipped and fell on his nose, evading the attack in the process nonetheless. Shoot! That was way too close! I didn't account for that – I'll have to consider the curve radius too… But it's hard to see what's behind me without eyes on my back!
"I pity you. There you are, approximately two days into this world and already losing to your first opponent. And I thought you were special… I guess you can't be right all the time!" His voice switched to a darker and more serious tone: "This fight was over before it began. Surrender now and I'll make it quick and painless. I might even spare your new friend! What do you say?" He grinned victoriously with his hands on his hips.
Raphi's eyes slowly filled with tears. His plan failed, Glace was starting to reach her limits and - worst of all - there was no way of escape. Is this really the end for me? If I don't sacrifice myself, I could endanger Glace more and more – and she already did everything she could to help me… But this is exactly what he wants me to do! And I won't let that happen!
"No!" Glace told me that she can watch out for herself. As for me… He stared his adversary directly into his eyes. "…I'll never give up, no matter what! And I'll show you just how much determination I have in store!" He gritted his teeth and buried his front claws in the ground on both sides of the slide, slowing him down rapidly.
Weavile yelped in surprise as he decelerated and tried not to slither into Leafeon.
Due to the enemy's confusion and the shorter distance between them, Raphi was able to use the situation to his advantage and unleashed a devastating Quick Attack with his right paw that hit Weavile across the face, imprinting a scar on him. You didn't think I'd recycle my previous tactic, didn't you?! Raphi thought as the dirt on his claws got into Weavile's eyes once again, causing him to rub them furiously and fall on his back.
"Y- You will pay for this! Just you wait!" he screamed in pain. His speed decreased steadily as he lashed about in every direction, hitting the surrounding terrain every now and then.
"I don't think so." He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for his opponent, who slowly but surely slithered further away from them, desperately trying to clean his swollen eyes. I have to do something to keep him from following us, but I don't want to kill him or anything…
Raphi collected his thoughts, quickly coming to a conclusion. There is one attack I haven't used yet!
The question mark-shaped leaf on his forehead began to glow in a lush green colour. He felt a mysterious energy flow through his whole body as he prepared his attack. The power of a Pokémon is awesome! I could do this all day!
He aimed at one of the giant rocks on the escarpments and fired a salvo of razor-sharp leaves at it. The impact loosened the ground under the boulder, inducing a rock slide that trembled the earth.
"Yes! It worked!" His delighted expression turned into regret as soon as the boulder struck another obstacle and then hit Weavile directly instead of simply blocking the path in front of him. He got smashed to the side and fell down the precipice. No, that wasn't supposed to happen! he screamed internally.
"I'll get you for this, and if it's the last thing I do!" he screamed on top of his lungs before he disappeared in the treetops beneath him.
Raphi had no time to think about him when suddenly his ride came to an abrupt halt as he collided with his unconscious friend. Their victory had been none too soon: Being too tired to stand, Glace had collapsed and fainted, ending the icy slide.
No wonder she's tired, maintaining an Ice Beam this long must be energy-sapping! He looked anxiously at the sky: sundown was already over and the moon arose.
I better hurry to get her to a safer place, because I'm pretty sure the trees softened Weavile's fall and he probably heard that we were talking about Snowlake Village, so it wouldn't be wise to head into this direction… The woods are the best option for now!
He looked at his friend on the ground and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here." Raphi crawled underneath her stomach and positioned her carefully on his back. He stood up slowly, staggering from the weight and his own fatigue.
With Glace resting on his spine, Raphi collected his remaining strength and walked resolutely towards the gloomy forest.
