I've been asked to explain the quote from the end of the prologue. Actually, I was asked about this back when I first released the story, but recently I've received more questions about it, so it's probably about time I explained it! It's a quote from a Japanese Pokémon song, "Atarashii Tomodachi" ("New Friend"). It's a short song from the single "Pikapika Massaichuu" (the Japanese ending theme to Pikachu's Vacation). If you listen to the song, you may recognise the tune; an instrumental version of it is sometimes used in the anime as background music. Anyway, as for the quote itself, it translates to "Beneath the sunset, we make a promise: we'll play together again tomorrow, won't we?". I'll leave it up to you to decide why I chose that quote. )

If you'd like to listen to the song, or read the rest of its lyrics, you can do so at the Pilot Light web site (click on my "homepage" on my profile).

Chapter Twenty-Five – Round Two, Sandstorm

After our battle with Fleur, we went to the temporary pokémon centre to have Taylor and Elsie healed. I had to be amazed at how advanced pokémon healing technology had become; it took no more than a few minutes for them both to be completely healed. It was a shock to see Elsie passed out one minute and completely healthy the next, but I had to get used to this kind of thing. After all, the more I battled, the more likely it was to happen to me someday.

Once the healing was finished, we went and sat with Mrs Taylor in the audience. She congratulated us on our battle, then we turned our attention to William's match, which had started a few minutes ago. I was shocked to see him using a vibrava. I hadn't expected him to use any pokémon other than the ones I knew he had. Then I belatedly remembered that Vibrava was the evolved form of Trapinch; they looked so different that it had slipped my mind. His trapinch must have evolved.

In his new form, Vibrava took down a shuckle and a slowpoke, then a treecko knocked Vibrava out, and William switched to his bellsprout to beat it. Like us, he'd managed to win the battle with just two pokémon. Was his third pokémon Connor? It suddenly dawned on me that maybe William wouldn't even have Connor with him. I knew the prince didn't like battling. What if William had decided to switch him for another pokémon? I remembered how proud he'd been about having a white vulpix, but what if . . . what if he'd even traded him away? This plan had seemed perfect before, but we'd left so much up to chance. We should have been more prepared.

But there was nothing we could do now other than go ahead with what we had planned. All we could do was wait until it was our turn to battle William, and then do what we could from there.

It was about an hour and a half later that our battle began. This was it. Our chance to save Connor. We had to do this right, then once this was over with, we could concentrate on winning that Rainbow Wing.

So I walked into the arena, determined. His vibrava could be tough; he'd been strong enough as a trapinch. But I was pretty sure we could handle his bellsprout. Like the bulbasaur from the previous round, bellsprouts were a dual-type of grass and poison. Both Taylor and Elsie had super-effective moves against them.

As the announcer opened the battle, I noticed William staring over at me and the pokémon beside me.

'Aren't you that girl we saw at the national park?' he asked. I couldn't help smiling at the memory of Katashi asking me if I'd seen his vulpix.

'Yeah,' I said. 'Did your friend ever find his vulpix?'

William sighed, then narrowed his eyes at me. 'Hey, that's none of your business!' He looked at Taylor, Elsie and Cam. 'It can't just be a coincidence that you've got a ninetales, espeon and kecleon . . . did you catch them at the vulpix pack in the Genesis Bushland?'

I laughed. 'Maybe. Does it really matter? We're meant to be having a battle here.'

'You're right. Battle first, ask questions later. Bellsprout, I choose you!'

He threw his pokéball and the small plant pokémon appeared. She swayed from side to side on the thin stem that was her body, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She looked so weak. Taylor or Elsie would knock her out easily.

'This should be easy,' said Taylor, stepping out on to the field. I ground my teeth. Was he going to do this every battle? Just go out into the battle without waiting for my orders?

'Ninetales, use Flamethrower!' I called.

'Since I'm already faster than her and she doesn't look too strong, you may have actually made the right decision,' said Taylor, then opened his mouth and breathed out a blast of flames. I smiled. It was about time he listened to me.

Bellsprout cried out as her small body was engulfed in flames, and when they cleared she was charred and shaky, but still standing.

'Bellsprout, Sleep Powder!' William called.

Bellsprout giggled in spite of her injuries. 'I love this move!'

She shook her body rapidly, and a cloud of blue powder seeped out from the leaves that substituted for her arms. The powder wafted through the air towards Taylor, and he lowered his head, covering his nose with a paw. But within a few seconds he was coughing, and then his body swayed, his eyes drooped, and he fell to the ground.

'What!?' I exclaimed. 'You fell asleep!?'

'That's what Sleep Powder does,' smiled William.

Bellsprout laughed hysterically. 'He fell asleep! The big strong ninetales fell asleep!'

If we were in any other situation, maybe I would have found Taylor falling to a little bellsprout just as funny as she did. But not when we were in this to save Connor and win the Rainbow Wing. No, now I was just angry.

'You stupid weakling!' I yelled. 'How can you let a little bellsprout beat you!? Wake up!'

'Bellsprout, Ingrain!'

I glanced over at Bellsprout to see her digging her roots into the ground. Whatever that was supposed to do, at least she wasn't attacking. I yelled at Taylor again, but still he made no response.

'Now, use Acid!'

Bellsprout opened her wide round mouth and spat out a strange purple goo. When it hit Taylor, it seeped through his fur and into his skin. I could see it draining his energy, but somehow it didn't wake him. Was he the heaviest sleeper in the world or what?

'Kit,' said Elsie. 'I'd better take over. The effect caused by moves like Sleep Powder is different to natural sleep. He'll sleep right through her attacks. It's better to get him out of there before she does too much damage, and before Ingrain can restore too much of her health.'

I paused, looking over at Bellsprout. She was looking noticeably more healthy than when I'd last looked at her. So that was what Ingrain did, it let her restore energy through her roots. Maybe Elsie was right. It was better to get that idiot out of there and send in a more reliable battler.

'OK,' I said. 'Ninetales, return.'

I then realised how difficult it was going to be to make Taylor return while he was asleep and I didn't have a pokéball. I ground my teeth and walked over to him, grabbed one of his tails and began dragging him back.

'Kit!' Elsie exclaimed. 'Don't you know that pulling a ninetales's tail can result in a ten-thousand-year curse?'

'I think I'm already cursed enough,' I muttered. 'What's one more curse gonna change?' I dumped Taylor beside Elsie and took a deep breath. The moment he woke up, I'd make him pay for making me drag his heavy body around!

Elsie looked at Taylor uncertainly, then went and stepped into the arena.

'Kit,' she said. 'I know you like offensive moves, but I really think it would be best if I use Calm Mind. I sense that this bellsprout isn't very strong. I should be able to take one of her attacks and still knock her out. I need the stat boost to be able to defeat his vibrava.'

I paused, remembering the time she'd battled that pokémon before he'd evolved. One Faint Attack and one Crunch had been enough to knock her out. During my research I'd learnt that they were both super-effective attacks. Vibrava had the type advantage over her, but she had the type advantage over Bellsprout. Maybe using a stat-boosting move now could help when William sent out Vibrava . . .

But it still seemed so pointless to me. Why waste a turn building yourself up when you could be attacking? I glanced down at Taylor, who was still fast asleep. He may have managed to get a good attack in, but he was now out of the battle due to Bellsprout's strategy. Offensive attacks were useless when you couldn't even use them.

Elsie was a much more experienced battler than me, and I didn't want to admit it, but maybe she was right. It wouldn't hurt to at least try, would it?

'Fine,' I said. 'Use Calm Mind.'

Elsie nodded, then closed her eyes and stood still, concentrating her energy.

'Bellsprout, Sleep Powder!' William called. His pokémon rustled her leaves and a puff of blue powder appeared. My expression dropped. After all that thought about how Calm Mind might be useful, Bellsprout was going to send Elsie to sleep! If only she'd attacked, she could have knocked Bellsprout out and be ready to fight Vibrava! But no, now she was going to be fast asleep with no chance of ever–

I opened my eyes wide as the Sleep Powder drifted off to the side, completely missing Elsie and settling in the dirt.

'It missed!?' I exclaimed.

Elsie nodded. 'Powder moves rely on the air to direct them to the opponent. But I can read the air currents, I knew that her attack would miss me.'

Read the air currents? I remembered reading something about espeons being able to do that. But she could have reminded me earlier! I'd been really worried there for a moment.

'Whatever,' I shrugged, not wanting to show her my distress. 'Use Psychic!'

Elsie stared at the bellsprout, until the little plant grabbed at her head with her leaves, moaning with pain. She stumbled back a few steps, then fell over.

'Kit has defeated William's first pokémon! But will she be able to take down the remaining two with her ninetales fast asleep? Let's find out!'

William recalled his bellsprout, then took out his next pokéball.

'You just got lucky,' he said. 'My next pokémon is really tough. There's no way you can beat it.'

'If you're so confident about it, why don't we make a bet?' I smiled. This was our chance.

'Bet?' William asked.

'Yeah. If you beat me, you can have one of my pokémon. But if I beat you, I can have one of yours.'

William paused. 'But if I beat you, that means your pokémon are weak, so why would I want them?'

'My ninetales is asleep,' I gestured to Taylor. 'If he was awake, he'd be really powerful. As long as you're not fighting someone with a sleep move, he'll win.'

As disturbing as it felt to be talking about how strong Taylor was, I just had to do it if I was going to convince this guy that this was a good idea. I had to be grateful that Taylor wasn't awake to hear me complimenting him!

'Hmm . . ..'

'What's the matter? Are you worried you can't win?'

William glared at me. 'No way! You've got yourself a bet!'

I smiled. 'Great.' I knew it was risky. With Taylor fast asleep, I had to rely on Elsie to beat Vibrava by herself. If she couldn't, we'd be in big trouble. I didn't want to send Cam out against that thing, so if Elsie lost . . . but it was OK. It wasn't like William would take away anyone important. If he won, he'd just take Taylor, and that'd only do me more good than harm!

'Vibrava, I choose you!' William tossed his pokéball and his bug-like dragon appeared. When the pokémon caught sight of Elsie, his big green eyes blinked.

'It's that espeon from the vulpix pack!' he exclaimed.

'Yes,' said Elsie.

'How do you like my new form, huh? I beat you bad enough as a trapinch, imagine how much I'm gonna hurt you now that I've evolved!' Elsie stayed silent, and Vibrava laughed. 'What's the matter, meowth got your tongue? I guess you're just embarrassed that an evolved pokémon like you couldn't even beat a trapinch. You obviously can't handle the power of being evolved, either that or evolution must be worthless in your species, ha ha!'

I didn't think I could take much more of this taunting, and he wasn't even speaking to me. How could Elsie just stand there and put up with this? Why didn't she blast him with Psychic, show him how strong her evolution had really made her?

I was about to yell out to her to show that vibrava no mercy, but when I looked down at her, something stopped me from saying anything. Her eyes closed softly, she was standing with her head down, her ears slightly drooping, her tail between her legs. What was wrong with her? Why didn't she stand up for herself, fight back and tell them how wrong he was, instead of just standing there and taking his insults?

I could hardly believe that I felt sorry for her. When I saw people who let themselves get bullied around, it normally angered me, because I just couldn't see how it was anything but their own fault. They didn't have to put up with it. They could fight back if they really wanted, and even if they were weaker, at least they'd have tried, not just given up and let themselves get taken advantage of.

But for some reason, I couldn't feel that way about Elsie. There was something about the calm yet hurt expression on her face that made me feel like there was something more to it.

'Vibrava, Sandstorm!'

My thoughts were cut short as William ordered his attack. I didn't have time to get caught up in contemplation; I had a battle to win! And no matter what Elsie's problem was, she couldn't afford to let it get in her way. She had to concentrate on this battle.

I watched as Vibrava beat his diamond-shaped wings, creating a gust of wind that blew the dirt from the ground up into the air. Within a few seconds, the arena was filled with a dust storm, and I had to hold my arm in front of my face to keep the sand out of my eyes. When I managed to get a better view of the field, I saw Elsie cringing as the dirt hit her body. Fortunately, though, it hardly seemed to do any damage. What a pathetic attack!

'Use Psychic!' I called, and Elsie did as I said, narrowing her eyes and concentrating her psychic energy. Vibrava was thrown back, but quickly got back on his feet. This pokémon was gonna be tough to take down, but I knew that Elsie wouldn't give up without a fight, especially when we were in this to save Connor.

'Vibrava, use Dig!' William commanded. His pokémon began shovelling at the ground with his feelers and little legs, and before long he'd disappeared underground.

'Psychic attack!' I called, and Elsie turned to me.

'Kit, my attack can't hit him while he's underground,' she said.

'What kind of psychic are you!?' I exclaimed. 'OK, maybe if you were using Flamethrower I'd understand, but why can't Psychic hit him while he's underground!?'

'The soil blocks telekinetic powers,' said Elsie calmly. 'Using Psychic now would only be a waste.'

I ground my teeth. How stupid was that! That annoying vibrava had stopped Elsie from attacking. What a cowardly technique, hiding under the ground like that! Now we were just gonna have to sit here and wait for him to reappear . . . but how could we just do that? Surely there had to be something we could do. OK, so attacking Vibrava wouldn't work, but . . .

'Fine them, use Calm Mind,' I said.

'Good idea,' nodded Elsie, and I smiled. She may not have been able to attack Vibrava, but that didn't mean she couldn't use other moves. Now with the stat boost from Calm Mind, her next Psychic would be even stronger! Maybe I was getting more of a hang of battling now.

But before I could gloat too much, Elsie gasped as the sandstorm wrapped itself around her, trapping her in the dust and sapping her energy. I bit my lip. No wonder that attack had seemed so weak; it was a multi-turn attack. As long as that sand was blowing around the field, Elsie would continue to be hit by it.

'OK Vibrava, come out!'

At his trainer's command, Vibrava burst out from the ground beneath Elsie, not only covering her with dirt but also knocking her back.

'Blast him with Psychic!' I called. Elsie quickly leapt back to her feet and focussed her energy on Vibrava. A purple glow surrounded the dragon, and he was lifted into the air, then thrown back to the other side of the arena.

The moment Elsie's attack ended, she was hit by the sandstorm again. This was so unfair! The damage she was receiving from the sand may have been a lot less than from other moves, but it was still like receiving two hits in one turn. If it stayed like this for much longer, not even the boost from two Calm Minds would be enough to knock out Vibrava before he knocked her out first. Elsie was losing too much power too quickly. We had to find a way out of this!

'Isn't there a way to get rid of that sandstorm?' Cam asked. 'It seems awfully unfair . . ..'

'There are two ways to get rid of it,' said Elsie, then took a deep breath, steadying herself. 'One is to use another climate-changing move, but I haven't learnt any. The other is to wait, and I'm afraid that's all we can do.'

'Vibrava, Faint Attack!'

I watched as Vibrava seemed to split himself up into multiple copies of himself, and they all charged at Elsie. Not knowing which one to dodge, Elsie was forced to take the attack as the copies faded and the real Vibrava slammed into her, pinning her to the ground. She winced as the super-effective attack drained her energy.

'Psychic attack!' I called. I could see that she was hurt, but she had to keep fighting. I was relying on Elsie to win this. Taylor was even more useless than normal at the moment, and I didn't want to risk sending Cam out against Vibrava. After seeing how badly he'd hurt Elsie as a trapinch, I couldn't even imagine what his new form would do to a weaker pokémon like Cam. Elsie just had to find a way to beat him.

Her psychic attack lifted Vibrava off her back and threw him over to his trainer. Although I could see that Vibrava was starting to weaken, Elsie's own weakness certainly wasn't getting any better. She tried to get to her feet, but then the sandstorm hit her and knocked her back down. This was looking bad. Much more of that and she'd be knocked out for good.

'Kit, maybe I should go in . . .' Cam ventured.

'No way,' I shook my head. 'Elsie can do this somehow.'

'There is a move that can help me . . .' Elsie said weakly. 'But it's almost useless while this sandstorm's blocking out the sun . . ..'

The sun? Was she trying to tell me that she knew Solar Beam? I'd never heard of an espeon using that, but that didn't mean it was impossible. Solar Beam was really powerful. Maybe it would be enough to knock Vibrava out. I grinned. All we had to do was wait for the sandstorm to clear, and we could win this!

'Faint Attack!'

Vibrava repeated his unavoidable attack, once again morphing into multiple copies of himself and attacking. Elsie cried out in pain. She couldn't take too much more of this. Even with her boosted special defence, those super-effective attacks were too much.

'Kit, I should go in now . . .' Cam looked up at me. 'I know Elsie's strong, but this is too much.'

'No,' Elsie forced herself to her feet, but her body was still shaking. 'Kit doesn't want you to get hurt. I just need to keep it up until the sandstorm subsides . . ..'

Vibrava laughed. 'You haven't got a chance! Even when my sandstorm stops hitting you, you'll never survive another attack!'

'I will,' said Elsie. 'I will, for Connor, for Cam and for Kit.'

I swallowed. Although part of me was telling myself that she was just being dramatic, just acting, and that she didn't really mean that, the rest of me refused to believe it. I'd been hostile to Elsie in the past because she'd been friends with Taylor, but I didn't really have any reason to dislike her. She had strength and determination, and I had to admire that. She was smart and perceptive, and she was also benevolent and brave. She was forcing herself to keep battling a tough opponent, one she'd lost to before, all in order to save Connor, to protect Cam, and to respect my wishes as the trainer and decision-maker in this tournament.

It was strange, but I suddenly felt like Elsie was my friend. And the moment I felt that way, the thought of her having to keep battling this opponent seemed so selfish. Why should I put one friend in danger to protect another?

'Elsie, return!' I called. The espeon turned to me, and I expected her face to be full of shock, but instead it was quite calm and expressionless.

'I knew it!' Vibrava exclaimed. 'I knew you wouldn't be able to handle my evolved form! You've been evolved for way longer than me, and you can't even beat a newly-evolved pokémon! What a waste of your evolved power! You don't even know how to use it!'

As Vibrava spoke, my eyes were on Elsie. The more he said, the more her ears and tail drooped. He was really getting to her. I wasn't going to let her stand for that. Maybe she thought it was OK to just stand there and take his insults, but I wouldn't allow it.

'Change of plans!' I called out. 'Elsie, you're staying in to knock that stuck-up vibrava out with Psychic!'

'I'll do my best . . .' Elsie said softly, turning to face Vibrava.

'You bet you will!' I yelled. 'And your best will be the best darn Psychic anyone's ever seen! Show that bug how strong you really are!'

Elsie unleashed her attack, sending Vibrava flying. When he crashed down on the ground in front of his trainer, he struggled to pull himself to his feet. Not quite knocked out, but definitely damaged a lot. Calm Mind was good enough in its own right, but what Elsie really needed to boost her power was some confidence.

I expected to see the sandstorm hit Elsie again, but instead what I saw was the swirling subsiding, and the dirt settling on the ground. The sandstorm was over.

'I just need to survive his next attack,' said Elsie, panting. 'Then I should be able to beat him.'

'All right,' I nodded. 'Just hang in there, Elsie.'

Elsie nodded, and I smiled. I was sure she could get through this attack, just as long as she was sure of it too.

'Vibrava, finish it off! Use Dragonbreath!'

'Time to say goodbye,' smiled Vibrava. He opened his mouth and puffed out a powdery beam that spread over Elsie's body. She cringed, and I could see her legs giving way, but she stood strong, holding herself up.

'What!?' William exclaimed. 'How could it survive that?'

'Easy, she's got something worth fighting for,' I said. 'Her friends.'

'Wh-what do you mean?'

'I wouldn't expect you to understand. Maybe if you teach that stuck-up vibrava some respect, you might start to get an idea.' I turned to Elsie. 'Come on, let's win this.'

Elsie nodded. 'My next move is called Morning Sun.'

'What? Not Solarbeam?' I couldn't remember what sort of move Morning Sun was, but it didn't sound very powerful. Was this really gonna be the move that could beat Vibrava? Why not just use Psychic? That was a powerful move! If I knew a move like that, I'd use it to blast that vibrava right out the arena! That'd show him who--

I suddenly realised what I was doing. I was getting ahead of myself, thinking only about the most powerful moves, and worst of all, I wasn't listening to my friends. I had to stop being so hot-headed, I had to remind myself that Elsie did know what she was doing. I could tell her to do something else and she'd listen to me, but then I'd be lowering her confidence. I may have been acting as the trainer, but a trainer wasn't only there to make decisions, she was there to encourage her pokémon and give them strength.

'OK,' I said. 'Elsie, use Morning Sun!'

Elsie closed her eyes and lifted her head up to the sun, and her body soaked in the golden rays. I watched as her body seemed to transform before my eyes, her ruffled fur smoothing out, her bruises healing, and her stance becoming firm and strong.

I remembered now what Morning Sun did. It absorbed energy from the sun to rejuvenate the body and recover battle wounds. Now while Vibrava stayed weakened, Elsie was strong again.

'What!?' William exclaimed. 'Oh no! This looks bad, Vibrava!'

I grinned. Of course it did. Now Vibrava was in trouble, and Elsie was ready to cause him even more trouble.

'Vibrava, you'd better use Faint Attack, and make it a good one!' William shouted.

'Oh, I will,' said Vibrava. 'I don't care if she's recovered some HP, I'll still knock her out!'

With that, he launched into another Faint Attack, knocking Elsie down and draining her energy. I could see that the attack had been powerful, but with her health recovered, she'd handled it easily. Vibrava, on the other hand, was panting and shaking to keep his body stable. This battle had gone on for too long.

'Psychic attack!' I called.

For the final time, Elsie's eyes began to glow, and Vibrava was telekinetically lifted into the air and thrown away. He tried to get up, but his attempt lasted no more than a second, after which he collapsed, defeated.

'Wow folks, looks like Kit's espeon has managed to take down William's second pokémon!' the announcer called. 'Will it be able to handle his third pokémon too or will she need to switch in her kecleon or her sleeping ninetales?'

I'd been so caught up in trying to beat Vibrava that I'd almost forgotten that he was only William's second pokémon. We still had another one to beat, but that was OK, because if everything went according to plan, we knew who that pokémon was.

William was silent as he recalled Vibrava and took out his next pokéball. Then he looked over at me solemnly.

'I didn't want to have to do this,' he said. 'But I guess I've got no choice. I'll have to use my secret weapon.'

He tossed his pokéball into the arena. The flash of light that appeared seemed to take forever to disperse, and when it finally did, I found myself looking at a small white pokémon with six tails.

Connor looked around frantically for a moment, and when he spotted Elsie, his pink eyes opened wide.

The announcer said something about what a rare and amazing pokémon William had just used, but I wasn't listening. This was it. Connor was here. We were really gonna get him back.

'Prince Connor,' said Elsie softly. 'Do you remember me? I'm Elsie.'

'Yes,' Connor nodded. 'I remember you clearly, as well as Cam and Taylor over there . . . but what are you doing here? Or more importantly, where is here? Where has that human brought me?'

'We're here to take you back,' said Elsie. 'This is a battle, so we can't waste time talking or they'll get suspicious. This may sound strange, but we need you to pretend to faint. Kit made a deal with that human. If we win the battle, we can take you back.'

'Kit?' Connor asked, and looked over at me. 'I see. So that's Kit's human form?'

'That's right,' nodded Elsie. 'She's acting as a trainer, so quick, I'm going to pretend to use a psychic attack, and you need to pretend to faint. Just trust me.'

'If that's what needs to be done.' Connor nodded.

'OK,' I said. 'Elsie, use Psychic!'

Elsie's eyes glowed softly, and she nodded to Connor. The white vulpix lay down on his side and closed his eyes, in what was possibly the worst display of acting I'd ever seen. How was anyone going to fall for that? It was so obvious that he'd done it on purpose!

'Uh . . . Vulpix?' William asked uncertainly.

'Some secret weapon!' I called. Maybe some acting of my own could help us out. 'He faints after one Psychic attack? That's pretty pathetic!'

'Well folks . . .' The announcer didn't sound too certain either. 'It looks like William's vulpix has given up! Just to be sure that this can be counted as a defeat, we'll give it thirty seconds to get up! If it stays down, Kit will be declared the winner.'

'Vulpix!' William called desperately. 'Vulpix, c'mon, you can't do this to me! Get up, please!'

'Connor,' said Elsie calmly. 'Whatever you do, don't move.'

William continued to shout pleas at the vulpix, but Connor stayed down. It felt like the longest thirty seconds of my life, but finally the time was up.

'That's it, folks! William's vulpix is officially out of the battle! The victory goes to Kit Tanguy!'

There was a cheer from the crowd, but it was much less enthusiastic than it had been in my first battle, and it was no wonder; that hadn't exactly been a spectacular finish. But that didn't matter. What was important was that we'd beaten William, and now we could get Connor back.

After we'd left the battlefield, I ran up to William and tapped him on the back.

'Don't think you're getting away that easily,' I said. 'A deal's a deal. I'll be taking your vulpix now.'

'My vulpix!?' William exclaimed. 'You can't take my white vulpix! What about my bellsprout? Its Sleep Powder is really useful!' I folded my arms, unimpressed, and William sighed. 'Well, OK. You can take my vibrava.'

I narrowed my eyes. What kind of trainer was this guy? He was ready to give away the pokémon he'd been training for a long time to keep one he'd only just caught, just because it was an unusual colour? His pokémon were so willing to obey his every command and battle for him, and what did he give them in return? Appreciation? Respect? Friendship? He didn't care about them at all, no, to him they were just possessions, and ones too common to be worth keeping. So much for the trainers' ideals of forming bonds with pokémon.

'It I could, I'd take all three of them, to free them from a selfish trainer like you who doesn't care about them,' I said. 'But that wasn't our deal. I'm taking the vulpix, because unlike you, I actually understand what he's going through.'

'Whatever, I'm not gonna listen to your insults!' William unclipped a pokéball from his belt and shoved it at me. 'Just take it. It's brought me nothing but bad luck anyway! So much for black meowths, it's white vulpixes that really bring bad luck!'

I took the pokéball from him. 'So you blame your own inability to understand your pokémon on luck? Worse still, you blame luck on a pokémon? Wake up to yourself. You don't know what it means to be a trainer.'

'I said I don't have time for your insults! Don't you have a third round battle to get ready for!?'

He spun around and stormed off, leaving me with that bitter remark. Though he'd said it in spite, he was right. We'd only completed half of what we were here to do. Connor may have been safe, but we still had that Rainbow Wing to win.