-1
Candice was at home, where no referees could hear, and ranting to her Pokemon.
"What if he talks to me?" she said. "Or if he and Gardenia are acting all romantic-like?"
Sneasel and Abomasnow watched their trainer with mild amusement, while Snover and Medicham listened and tried helping her out of it.
"Snover!" the Ice/Grass combination said. (TRANSLATION: "They won't!") Of course, she wasn't sure, but she was close enough.
Candice sighed. "The truth is…I don't think Roark and I will be able to ever fully recover from this…he was too shy, he missed Gardenia, and I was too slow and…"
"Sneasel!" ("Stop it!")
Sneasel jumped down from her post and started talking some sense into her trainer(unlike Roark's Pokemon, she did not have to enlist backup in the form of the gym leader's parent). Candice only seemed to be half-listening as she started daydreaming.
(Oreburgh)
"Rampardos! Use headbutt!" Roark called.
The challenger flinched. "Piplup, get out of the way!"
His blue penguin jumped to the side and barely avoided it.
"Now try Bubblebeam!"
"Head Smash!"
Rampardos took the hit with very little damage at all. It rammed into Piplup and sent the small Pokemon flying.
"Piplup is unable to battle! Roark is the winner!"
Well, Byron was right. A good battle could take your mind off things.
(later)
Volkner had just returned to Sunyshore, thinking of various ways to kill his best friend(it was Flint's fault for threatening Volkner/Gardenia blackmail) and not get arrested, when the gym referee announced that he had two challengers waiting.
"They've been waiting all day," the referee explained. The Gym Leader made an impatient noise and prepared for the first battle.
Arceus, this was going to be easy.