Chapter 25: Triumph
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
POKÉMON
Please read.
Dear audience,
I feel that I should warn you about this sooner rather than later as I have made a very important decision regarding this story. I will begin by saying that this story will not be yaoi under any circumstances and it will not have anything that will cause it to be rated M.
However, I have made the decision to possibly have a homosexual character or to have a character come out as being homosexual in later chapters. I haven't quite decided yet, but I feel that I should let you all know that it will be a possibility. As an aromantic individual who doesn't completely understand romantic relationships, I hope you'll stick with me and not be too hard on me if I don't portray some of the scenes correctly.
Thank you for reading,
EagleTsubasa
POKÉMON
"… Battle…?" Misaki asked quietly, almost as if she was verifying what Tomoko was suggesting. When Tomoko nodded, Misaki continued. "… How will that help…?"
"Haven't you been listening?" Tomoko sighed. "If you aren't strong enough to protect your Pokémon right now, become strong. Don't do it on your own, though. Become stronger alongside them. A battle is the perfect way to do it, so… battle me!"
"That sounds like a good idea," Nurse Joy smiled as she approached the two girls. "Your Pokémon would probably enjoy that. From what I've seen of them, they love you very much and would want to battle alongside you. You should take your friend's offer!"
"You need to perk up," Tomoko grinned as Nurse Joy began to walk away to check on her patients. "Otherwise, how are you going to beat the Gym Leader?"
At the mention of the Gym Leader, Misaki raised her head slightly. The Gym Leader had told her to become stronger, but could she really do that? Whether she could become stronger or not, though, didn't she owe it to the Gym Leader who saved her and told her to get stronger to at least try?
"Seedot! See!"
"Wing! Wingull!"
Misaki's head shot up as two voices spoke up from beside her. Staring down at the floor, she saw her too Pokémon staring at her with determined expressions on their faces as they stared up and into her eyes.
"… You… want to fight…?" Misaki asked incredulously as she stared down at her Pokémon. She began to smile softly as her Pokémon only nodded at her in determination.
Nurse Joy spoke as she came up behind them. "See? They want to fight with you."
"… I think I understand…" Misaki finally stated, standing up. "… If that's what you want, I'll do my best, too."
Meanwhile…
"Team Gene, huh? I've had enough of them…" Daichi muttered as he and Mason headed out the door of the Ranger Base.
"Have they been active a lot lately?" Mason inquired with a frown.
Daichi nodded. "We've been working with the police elsewhere in order to track them down, but we haven't had much luck. They've been stealing Pokémon, robbing buildings and stores, committing assault and battery… You name it…"
"A whole host of offences, then… I'm surprised none of them have been sent to Gearia…" Mason remarked, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"They haven't been caught yet… Not a single one of them…" Daichi muttered.
"Really? Not even a Grunt or two?" Mason asked, his expression changing to one of shock.
"No. They protect their members incredibly well. There's always some method of escape ready for them," Daichi explained.
"So, they always escape, then. That was the case with the ones who attacked Misaki," Mason stated.
Daichi suddenly let out a laugh. "You know, I thought we'd seen the end of you lot!"
Mason smiled to himself. "Sorry about that…"
"Not a problem," Daichi chuckled. "That Misaki of yours gets into a lot of trouble, though."
A blush quickly spread across Mason's face. "M-my Misaki?!" he stammered in alarm.
Daichi began to howl with laughter, the Sandslash by his side joining in. "Sorry! Sorry! I worded that wrong!"
Mason turned away, grumbling, the blush on his face subsiding slightly as they continued to walk down the street. Unaware of what was occurring at the Pokémon Center at that very moment, they headed to their destination.
Meanwhile…
Misaki and Tomoko stood on either side of the field, the four Pokémon on the field in front of them. Seedot, Wingull, Solosis and Purrloin all fidgeted anxiously in front of their Trainers, waiting for the battle to begin.
Tomoko was the first to make a move. "Solosis! Use Psywave on Wingull! Use Scratch on Seedot, Purrloin!" she ordered.
The Pokémon were quick to comply. Within seconds, Solosis had fired off its familiar multi-coloured blast of energy which shimmered brightly as it shot through the air towards its target. Purrloin followed suit, its claws extending as it charged forwards.
Misaki burst into action. "Seedot! Dodge it and use Bullet Seed!"
Just before Purrloin's attack could land, Seedot leapt out of the way, leaving Purrloin's paws to slice through thin air. Turning its head to the side in shock, neither Tomoko nor Purrloin were able to react as, with a cry, Seedot fired off a barrage of seeds at close range, hitting Purrloin with what could be nothing less than a critical hit.
Meanwhile, Wingull – who had been struck with a powerful Psywave – turned to Misaki as it heard its Trainer's voice ring out. "Wingull! Use Water Gun on Solosis!"
Wingull, righting itself in mid-air, turned towards its opponent. "Wing… gull!" the seagull-like Pokémon shouted as it let off a large stream of water. The water hurtled towards Solosis, hitting the cell-like Pokémon and knocking it to the ground.
Tomoko, however, was quick to counter as Solosis floated upwards again, ready to fight. "Solosis! Use Reflect! Then, follow it up with Psywave on Wingull!" She then turned towards Purrloin. "Purrloin! Use Growl and then use Scratch on Seedot!"
"Sol!" Solosis shouted as it surrounded itself in a spherical barrier which closed in around itself and disappeared, raising its Defence. It was shortly followed by another Psywave. As the attack hurtled forwards, Misaki barked out a command.
"Dodge it, Wingull!" she ordered.
Tomoko slowly shook her head as Wingull made an attempt to dodge the attack. "Sorry, Misaki. Psywave can't be dodged."
Misaki could only watch as the multi-coloured psychic energy slammed into Wingull, knocking it out of the sky with a squawk. Meanwhile, though, Purrloin had already gone on the offensive, beginning to act upon the orders that it was given
"Purr…" the purple cat-like Pokémon growled, its voice cute and disarming. Seedot immediately became visibly apprehensive, unsure about whether to attack or not.
Within seconds, though, Purrloin had begun to attack, its claws extended, prepared to strike the acorn-like Pokémon before it. Seeing that Seedot was in no position to dodge due to its proximity with Purrloin and due to the fact that it still felt apprehensive from the Growl, Misaki decided to take a different plan of attack.
"Seedot! Use Harden and then follow it up with Bide!" she commanded.
Seedot complied. "See!" it shouted in a high-pitched voice as it took a battle stance, hardening itself and raising its Defence before following up with a Bide, its body glowing with a soft light as Purrloin descended on Seedot, its claws striking it furiously. Seedot, however, held its ground.
Tomoko, having seen the strategy before, burst into action. "Get out of there before it unleashes its attack, Purrloin!" she called out. "You too, Solosis!"
However, as Purrloin and Solosis were making an escape and Wingull instinctively flew upwards to get out of the range of the attack, Bide's energy was unleashed, hitting Purrloin and Solosis and knocking them to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
It was immediately obvious by the power behind the move, though, that, due to Purrloin pulling back before more damage could be sustained, the attack had not been charged too much. Therefore, critical damage hadn't been delivered, but that didn't stop Solosis and Purrloin from becoming even more tired, the damaged that they'd sustained having accumulated.
As Solosis and Purrloin slowly got up again, Misaki continued, keeping up her momentum as she noticed a chance to take out one of the opposing Pokémon. "Wingull! Use Water Gun on Purrloin! Use Bullet Seed on Purrloin too, Seedot!"
"Dodge it, Purrloin!" Tomoko ordered as Misaki's Pokémon prepared to attack.
"Purr…" the tired cat-like Pokémon muttered.
Purrloin slowly and shakily stood up, clearly in no position to dodge as Seedot unleashed its barrage of seeds and Wingull let loose a blast of water, both of which headed straight for the purple Pokémon. The attacks quickly hit Purrloin, kicking up a cloud of dust. By the time the dust cleared, it was certain that Purrloin was no longer able to battle as it lay unconscious on the ground.
Tomoko grunted in annoyance as she removed her Poké Ball from her belt and recalled her Pokémon. "You did well, Purrloin," she assured it, staring at the capsule in her hand. "Take a nice long rest."
Placing the Poké Ball back on her belt, Tomoko's attention returned to the battle at hand, noting that one of Misaki's Pokémon was in the same position that her Purrloin was as the seagull-like Pokémon landed on the ground, panting and obviously at its limits.
"Solosis! Use Psywave on Wingull!" Tomoko commanded.
"Sol!" Solosis cried, letting loose a wave of multi-coloured psychic energy.
Wingull immediately tried to escape despite the fact that the attack would certainly hit and the Pokémon was sent to the ground with a squawk of pain. It was knocked unconscious upon impact with the ground.
Withdrawing her Pokémon, Misaki looked down at the Poké Ball in her hand. "Good job, Wingull! You did well! I'm proud of you!"
As she placed the Poké Ball back on her belt, Misaki took note of the Pokémon on the battlefield. Both were weakened and tired. Dodging wasn't likely anymore. She'd just have to hope that Seedot could hold up.
"Seedot! Use Bullet Seed!" Misaki ordered.
"Seedot!" the Pokémon cried out as it immediately let loose a barrage of seeds. The seeds shot towards Solosis, hitting it and knocking it backwards.
"Use Psywave, Solosis!" Tomoko called out as Solosis picked itself up again.
"Solosis!" the cell-like Pokémon shouted as it sent the familiar blast of multi-coloured energy forwards. The attack hit home, knocking Seedot to the ground. The Pokémon, however, still managed to pull itself up, despite the large amount of damage that it had taken.
"Seedot! Use Bullet Seed!" Misaki commanded.
Before, Solosis or Tomoko could react, the volley of seeds was already upon Solosis. The hard seeds knocked into the cell-like Pokémon, knocking it back with a cry of pain. Solosis fell to the ground, unconscious, leaving Misaki to come to realise that she had just scored her first victory over her friend.
"… I… I won!"