The Minty Five-Star Adventure
By: Minty-Fivestar

Part Nine: Flaming Friendship

"Not good," I whisper, eyeing Mewtwo with his regained strength. "Bluewave…"

"Toise-blastoise blastoise. (I'm ready for him.)" Bluewave replied. "Blast-blastoise toise blastoise. (I'll try not to let you down.)"

I was touched. My Pokémon didn't have any real obligation to fight for me like this. Heishin had been a feisty Nidoran I'd encountered and captured on Route 3. Bluewave had once been a Squirtle who had caused lots of mischief in Vermillion City in retaliation for the way his former trainer had cruelly treated him. Firestorm had been a Charmander who I'd saved from Team Rocket for his first trainer (and who had given me Firestorm as thanks). And Joey… Joey was once a Pikachu who had tried to fry me to a crisp because he thought I'd stolen his little sister-egg. None of the Pokémon had initially liked me.

Why, then, did they decide to stick with me? Helping me in any and every way possible?

Joey's words came back to me: You're my best friend; could I live with myself if you were hurt? I realized then that my Pokémon stuck with me through thick and thin, whether we won or lost… because they loved me. And I loved them. Because we were friends.

And suddenly, I realized Mewtwo could never truly beat us. He may have had power on his side, but we had friendship and love. Something Mewtwo didn't seem to want to understand.

And that something would help us to beat him.


Still in agony from the Toxic that her Nidoking had inflicted on me, I glared at the pitiful scene before me. The Blastoise told the girl that he was ready for me, and he wouldn't let her down.

I was prepared to prove him wrong.

"Bluewave, whatever happens here, just know that all I want from you is your best!" she called. "We'll be friends no matter if we win or lose. Right?"

"Blastoise!" the Water-type replied.

"Now, let's show Mewtwo what we can do!"

"Toise!" Now Blastoise faced me with confidence. A strange glint was in his eyes, as if no matter if I defeated him or not, he still would win…

"Hydro Pump, now!" the girl commanded.

As Blastoise's attack came straight for me, I held out my paw, forming a Reflect attack with my psychic powers, which blocked Hydro Pump. Then, before my opponent could react, I blasted the Water-type with Psychic. I sensed I'd succeeded in a critical hit, for the damage given was obviously greater than normal.

"Ice Beam!"

The girl's next attack command came quickly, and I was surprised to see it carried out just as quickly. I was hit with a freezing-cold beam of light that sent me flying backwards. Pain shot through my body from both it and the Toxic, but I bit down hard on it. I couldn't let her see my pain. My weakness…

No. I had no weakness.

"Ice Beam again!"

I barely had time to turn before another Ice Beam came at me, but I reacted with greater speed this time. I caught the attack with Psychic and sent it straight back at the Blastoise. To my surprise (and the girl's as well), the reflected-Ice Beam froze Blastoise solid. Now I faced a Blastoise encased in a block of ice, helpless to do a thing.

"Bluewave!" the girl cried.

I smiled inwardly. What luck. But before I could form an attack to use against the immobile Pokémon, he suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.

"Bluewave, return!" the girl said, recalling him into a Pokéball. She placed it on her belt, looking up at me as she did so. I didn't say anything. I wasn't sure what I could say without degrading me in her eyes any further.

But… why did I care what she thought of me?

"Not bad," she said softly. "But I'm still not giving up."

[It would be the better for you if you did,] I responded gently. For some strange reason, her sadness was rubbing off on me. Just as when I had knocked out Nidoking, I felt bitter disappointment instead of proud victory. What was happening? Why did I feel this way?

"As long as we have strength to battle, we'll fight on," she insisted. "There's always hope. You don't give up until the fight is over!"

There's always hope…? For a moment, I forgot all about the battle. I thought of myself. Should I not be so… absolute in my feelings? Should I just… hope for something better, and try harder to find happiness…?

My thoughts were interrupted by the girl's voice. "Firestorm, go!" Out from the Pokéball she tossed sprang a Charizard, who roared angrily. Unlike me, he was pumped and ready for battle.

Suddenly, I wondered: what did I need to hope for more? Me winning this battle, or me finding a better life? Both seemed so important, and yet…

I sensed that whether I won the battle or not, the answer to this had something to do with this girl.


I giggled happily as I tossed the ball back to Justin. I was getting the hang of this! This was great! I could play here all day; I was having so much fun.

Before Justin could throw the ball back, however, he suddenly gasped at the sight of something behind me. The ball fell from his fingers to the ground. I was puzzled. What was the matter? I turned around-and gasped also. Because leaning across the fence, staring straight at me…

… was a scary-looking man!

Instantly, I disappeared from sight, and floated away from him. I was so frightened that my tail was shivering. When had he come? I must have been having so much fun playing, I didn't sense him. He had mean-looking eyes, and was dressed in all black. There was a strange symbol on his shirt… It was the human letter R, in red for all to see. I felt so scared. I wasn't supposed to let anyone see me!

"Hey, kid," the man growled, pointing at Justin. "Where's that Pokémon?"

Justin looked frightened, and I suddenly wondered if this scary man was dangerous. "I… I don't know what you're talking about," he stammered in reply.

"Don't lie to me! That pink Pokémon! Where is it?" the man yelled. He reached for a Pokéball on his belt.

Oh no! I knew what would happen now! If Justin didn't tell him where I was, the man would threaten him with his Pokémon! But I wouldn't let him hurt my friend!

"Go, Arbok!" the man shouted, tossing his Pokéball. "Wrap that kid! He's coming with us!"

"Cha-bok!" hissed the big, scary snake Pokémon that appeared, leaping at Justin.

I had to act fast! Still invisible, I flew at Arbok and smashed into it with a Psychic force field. Arbok flew backwards and fell on the grass, unconscious. The man's mouth fell open, and I had to cover my mouth to keep from giggling. He looked funny… like a Magikarp!

I was startled suddenly by Justin's loud shout from behind me. "Officer Jenny! Officer Jenny! Help!" he screamed. Officer Jenny? Who was that? It must have been someone scary, for the man immediately looked frightened.

"Arbok, return!" he said, recalling his Pokémon. He then glared meanly at Justin. "Just wait, kid, I'm gonna get that Pokémon whether you like it or not!" He turned around and ran.

Whew… He was gone. I didn't really think he could catch me, like he had said. After all, I was a Legendary Pokémon! I floated down to Justin, and nuzzled him comfortingly. Even though he couldn't see me, he smiled and petted my head.

"Thanks, Mew."


If Mewtwo thought Heishin and Bluewave were pretty tough, he hadn't seen anything yet. For Firestorm was my fiercest Pokémon. One little command from me to start him off… and he's on fire.

No pun intended. Ok, maybe a little.

"Firestorm, Flamethrower!" I yelled, watching as my Fire/Flying-type sent a huge stream of flames at Mewtwo. Mewtwo tried to throw up a defensive Reflect wall, but Flamethrower was too intense. Our attack ended up being only partly blocked, so Mewtwo was scorched.

"Fire Spin!" I commanded next, but Firestorm was already initiating the attack on his own. He swung his flaming tail around, engulfing my Psychic-type opponent in its vortex.

[Not… bad…] Mewtwo told me, his telepathic voice sounding as strained as his face looked. [This is quite a formidable Charizard.]

"Thanks," I replied, as Firestorm used Flamethrower again. But Mewtwo managed to dodge, and hit Firestorm with a Swift attack. Fortunately, it only seemed to do minimal damage.

I felt… perky. I was, at last, in my element. I've always admired Fire-types. Supposedly I am an "Affinity of Fire," a trainer who has a special talent and affinity for Fire-types. There are lots of trainers with affinities supposedly, though they don't always know it. I don't own a lot of Fire-types, but I get a kick out of training them more than any other type. And you can see the evidence of my love for the element. Firestorm's not your ordinary Charizard with Flamethrower on his side. He's a Charizard raised to use all his Fire-type power at maximum strength.

Besides, I'm Samantha McPhoenix. Phoenixes are divine when it comes to fire, right?

Which I'm hoping will make this match the best one yet…