I was humming to myself, serenely, as the heated battle of wits and Pokemon began.
Misty stood at one side of a pool of water, chest out in confidence. She knew in her heart that she was going to beat down anybody that stood in her path. I wondered if her heart's feeling was the truth.
Drew had a similar stance, though his expression wasn't of quite the same magnitude. That might have had something to do with the fact that one of Misty's sisters pushed him in the pool before the battle began. Apparently, he called her a "bimbo" and it didn't go over well. I almost peed myself laughing. His clothes were still sopping wet and his hair plastered his face like a helmet. It wouldn't flip the way it usually did.
Even still, he grabbed a pokeball from his waist and clutched at it like he would a soda. He was so nonchalant when he battled. It was like it was no big deal to him. I knew I was the opposite of that. Oftentimes, I was a nervous wreck when I battled, and our contrast was unbelievable.
Misty clutched at her pokeball that she drew from her belt like it was her own newborn child. She treated pokemon more like her own offspring, while Drew treated his as his partners in crime.
Me? My Pokemon treated me like they were my master. It was best, after all, they probably could instruct themselves better than I could them. It was only on the days that clicked especially well that I could order and they would do exactly as I said. And of about twenty percent of those days, the things I ordered actually worked...
Anyway, back to the battle.
Drew brought his arm back gracefully as he yelled, "Let's go Roserade!" and out exploded that ladylike flower Pokemon, twirling her arms and sparkling with shimmering powder that surrounded her like a veil. She was the definition of a mixture of confidence and beauty with badass hidden somewhere underneath.
Misty laughed into the heel of her hand. Clearly, this choice was obvious to her. She was still chuckling ever so slightly as she called out, "Starmie, into the water. Let's go."
The star shaped Pokemon with the jewel encrusted into it's center leaped into the pool without a second to lose.
Drew was smiling like he had won the lottery. "Starmie? That lame little thing?" he mumbled to himself, though loud enough that I could overhear, "Not a problem."
Misty picked up on his sudden, new found arrogance and looked more confident in her abilities than she had before. Placing a hand upon her narrow waist, she pointed to the Roserade and cried, "Starmie, psybeam now!"
A beam of light and visible color shot from the red jewel of the Starmie. It struck Roserade before Drew could say anything, and the Roserade staggered back, clutching her head.
"A psybeam?" Drew mumbled, but then added more loudly, "We'll take down it's clear weakness. Roserade, giga drain. Take him down!"
Green spores shot out from Roserade's small, powerful body, and, though Starmie dodged away from some of them, most of the spores latched themselves onto the damp body of the starfish.
Starmie, spun in the air to try to rip the parasites off himself, but failed to do so. Shaking, the Starmie threw itself into the water, thrashing about.
Drew looked ecstatic. "That's good, Rose, now, use your poisonpowder."
Now, purple spores launched from the Roserade and danced through the air, all aimed straight for the Starmie that launched itself back out of the water in a failed attempt at freeing itself from the giga drain. As the purple spores met the starfish's body, the green spores disappeared. Starmie landed back on the ground, but struggled to stay upright.
"C'mon Starmie! Stay up, you can do it! Fight through it. Try your psychic attack!" Misty yelped at her Starmie, looking a bit distraught, but concerned at her Pokemon's health. She knew Drew had poisoned Starmie very badly.
Starmie jerked and an invisible but forceful energy passed through the median of the open air above the pool and before Roserade could figure out what was happening, was hit hard. She fell upon her back, the shimmering ceasing as its producer lost focus.
"Rose!" screamed the Roserade who struggled to get back on her feet.
"Roserade! One more giga drain. Do it!" Drew yelled at his flower Pokemon, looking slightly unnerved and sweaty.
Roserade obeyed her master almost immediately and sent the green spores out from her body once again.
The Starmie was not quick on his feet as he was still feeling the effects of poisoning. Every spore hit him full on and he was on his back, struggling for a while, but then still. Starmie has fainted.
Drew won the match. It had all happened so quickly that it seemed not to register in Misty's brain right away.
"Starmie! R-Return..." she said, holding a pokeball out as to give her battered Pokemon a well-deserved rest.
"Drew! You did it!" I heard myself exclaim from the stands. Somehow, a part of me knew what was going on, but the rest of me lingered on Drew's face. Shock at first, but then the face broke into utter joy.
"Roserade, return," Drew said, grinning. A beam of red light spilled out around the Roserade and then she was there no more.
Misty pulled a small package from her pocket. "What a match!" she said, swaying slightly. "It was definitely exciting. Here's commemoration for your achievement."
"Yay, Drew!" I cheered.
Drew smiled at me sheepishly and turned back to Misty.
"Basically," Misty said, "it means you kicked my ass. Congrats."
She laughed and Drew and I joined in, though slightly uneasily. Despite losing, she could still laugh at herself. I could definitely learn from this girl.
"Thank you," Drew and I told Misty, who just shrugged it off.
"Being nice to people is in my job description. If it wasn't for my love of battling I'd get out of this place as soon as I could."
"Really? You're terrific at the water show," I burst out.
"Yeah, but there's a small problem with that. Seeing as I can't stand any of my sisters, it doesn't always end well."
"What have they done to you?" Drew asked, curiously.
"They always accuse me of being Ash's girlfriend," Misty replied, looking nothing but disgusted.
"Oh..." Drew and I said in unison and then left it at that. We didn't want to torture the poor girl.
We turned to say our goodbyes and leave, but Misty stopped us. "Hold on a second, Drew, May..." she said. "Don't be offended if I'm wrong, but, are you a couple?"
"Yeah, we are," Drew said, crossing his arms and looking down, "Are we that obvious?"
Misty looked uncomfortable. "Well, kind of. I don't know, but I hear I'm good at picking up on that kind of thing..."
I felt myself blush a little bit and Misty regained her calm.
"Anyway, we need to get back before Solidad has a heart attack like she did yesterday," Drew said, giving Misty an apologetic look.
"Thanks so much fro putting up with us. It was nice to see you again," I added.
"No problem. Tell me when and where you see Ash or Brock so I can whip them into shape. I haven't seen them for a while," she said with a wink, and we both complied.
We walked back to the Pokemon center, our intertwined fingers swinging back and forth.
"Solidad's going to be furious with us," Drew said, sounding a little bit hesitant to return.
"Well, what can we do about that? You're closer to beating the champion now, who, by the way, isn't Steven."
"What?"
"Steven used to champion in Hoenn and then Kanto for a while, but now it's some kid named Oak. Gary, I think. I've met him before."
"Gary Oak? Sounds familiar."
"That's because Ash and Gary want to rip each other's faces to shreds," I explained, demonstrating the ripping on an invisible person in front of me.
"Oh, well, than that would make sense. Anyway, let's walk just a little faster. If Solidad wants to, quote-unquote, 'rip our faces to shreds,' I'd prefer having a little bit of face left so I can eat and see."
"Agreed."
With that, we power-walked our way back to the Pokemon Center with all due speed. After all, we still had traveling to do and I was dead tired.