Maya's POV
I'm worried about how Riley's Gym Battle is going to go. If Fennekin won't listen to her, things could go badly, fast. I am kind of proud of how I used Froakie's Frubbles to keep him from sliding on the ice, even if it meant he couldn't dodge Vivilion's Solar Beam. And Skitty did great avoiding the left over Frubbles. I'm proud of both of my Pokémon.
Viola takes her Pokémon to the Pokémon Center so they can rest while we eat lunch. Then we head back to the gym for Riley's battle.
Since my battle, Riley has been quiet. She's probably nervous. Though I tried not to show it, I was a bit nervous before my battle. I think I did a pretty good job of hiding it, too. But I guess it didn't rub off on Riley, because she's shaking a lot as she pulls out Fennekin's Pokeball. She takes a deep breath and lets her out.
"Okay, Fennekin," she says nervously. "This is our first gym battle. Will you please listen to me?"
Fennekin shrugs. "Fennekin," she says. Riley glares at her.
"Okay, Surskit!" Viola says, letting Surskit out of its Pokeball. I let Froakie out to watch. He hops on my head.
"Fennekin, use Ember!" Riley commands. I smile. She knows that Fennekin won't listen to her. So if she tells it to use an attack that won't do much damage to a Water Type like Surskit, then Fennekin will use an attack that will do more damage! I give Riley two thumbs up. She smiles.
Fennekin runs up to Surskit and scratches it.
"Surskit, use Bubble Beam!" Viola yells. Surskit shoots bubbles out of its mouth. Fennekin dodges it by jumping out of the way. She's pretty fast.
"Fennekin, Ember!"
Fennekin turns around and wags her tail cutely. "Tail Whip!" Riley mutters. Fennekin hears her and shoots little embers of fire at Surskit. They hit, but of course, they don't do much damage. I fight the urge to go out there and strangle Fennekin. But if looks could kill. . . ooh, Fennekin would be so dead. . .
"Surskit, use Bubble Beam again!" This time, Fennekin can't dodge. Now she's weakened and soaking wet.
"Fennekin, return!" Riley yells. "Take a break, Flabébé can handle this for now!" She returns Fennekin to her Pokeball.
I see what she's doing. Flabébé can float, so if she can defeat Surskit before it uses Ice Beam on the field, if Flabébé is defeated by Vivilon, Fennekin can go back out and not lose her balance.
"Am I rubbing off on you?" I ask Riley. She smiles.
"Flabébé, use Fairy Wind!" she commands. Flabébé whips up a wind, blowing Surskit back and doing a lot of damage. Surskit is already weakened. I look at it, and it has swirls in its eyes. It fainted.
Viola returns it to its Pokeball and lets out Vivilon. "Vivilon, use Solar Beam!" she yells.
"Quick, Flabébé, use Vine Whip!" Flabébé whips Vivilon with her vines. Vivilon is weakened a little bit. It finishes charging Solar Beam and unleashes it.
"Dodge it, Flabébé!" Riley commands. Flabébé easily dodges it. "Now use Tackle!"
The attack sends Vivilon flying back. It hits a wall, sliding down and hitting the ground.
Riley's eyes widen and she looks at me.
"Now's your chance," I whisper. "Finish it."
Riley grins. "Okay, Flabébé. Finish it off with Fairy Wind!"
The battle is over. Even with Fennekin not listening, Riley still won. Good thing Flabébé listens to her.
Viola gives Riley a Bug Badge and tells her something about Fennekin not listening, but I don't think Riley is listening. She just smiles and nods. That's my Riley.
We say goodbye to Viola and go back through Route 4. I figure we'll be back in Lumiose City by the time the sun sets.
The bushes rustle, and something comes out of it. A Pokémon and it looks like some sort of Bud. It's pretty cute. I don't even bother taking out my Pokédex. I'm going to catch it. I send out Skitty.
I could describe the whole battle to you, but I won't, because Skitty just uses Fury Swipes, and I easily catch it. Turns out he's a Budew, a grass type. A great new addition to my team.
"Did you really just catch that?" Riley asks me. "You don't have to catch every Pokémon we run into."
"So? What if I want to catch it?" I ask her. She shrugs. "That's what I thought."
"Look, a Ladybug!" Riley points out. She's right. There is a ladybug-like Pokémon sitting on top of a bush. Skitty gets a little exited. She runs at it, using Tackle.
"Ledyba?" The Pokémon says. That must be her name. She's really pretty.
I watch Skitty fight it, laughing. I through a Pokeball at it.
One shake.
Two shakes.
Three shakes.
Ping!
"Yes!" I yell. Riley laughs.
"Are you going to waste all of your Pokeballs?" she asks me.
"If I do, I can always buy more," I tell her.
"True, true."
I'm about to return Skitty to her Pokeball when I hear a strange sound. I turn to see another Skitty. She walks over to my Skitty, and they start to play. But there's something different about the wild Skitty. The colors. . . My Skitty has pink fur. But the wild one's fur looks more orange than pink.
I look at Riley, whose eyes widen. She grabs a Pokeball from her purse and lets Fennekin out of it.
"Fennekin, use Tail Whip," she commands. Fennekin sits down and yawns. If looks could kill, Fennekin would have been dead a long time ago.
The wild Skitty stares at Riley. She sniffs Fennekin, who uses Ember on her.
Taking out a Pokeball, Riley moves closer to the Skitty. Fennekin gets in her way, and within seconds, Riley is on the ground. She drops the Pokeball and it rolls toward the odd colored Skitty. Skitty nudges it with her nose and hops into it. It shakes once, then 'Ping!'
Riley looks furious. She stands up and glares at Fennekin. "Fennekin!" she yells. "Am I your trainer or not? Because if you're gonna treat me like this, then maybe I should just. . . just. . . release you!"
She's close to tears now. Fennekin backs away, eyes wide.
"Fennekin. . ." she says softly before disappearing into the bushes.
Riley is shaking. She watches Fennekin go, tears streaming down her face.
"Riley. . ." I say. "Go after her." Riley nods.
"Wait, Fennekin, I didn't mean that!" she yells.
She runs into the maze after Fennekin. I return Skitty to her Pokeball, grab the Pokeball with Riley's Skitty in it, and follow her.
Before you ask, yes, the Skitty was Shiny.
