Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon!
CHAPTER 46: DRAMATIC DOUBLE DUELLING
May and Brendan were aghast.
"Shine? Can you hear me?" May called out, preparing to rush over at a moment's notice. "Talk to me Shine, say something!"
Brendan had started to yell, as well. "Shade! Try to move! Can you hear me? Shade?"
Back on the bench, Razor shook his head and stood up. "You two didn't cooperate enough! A couple's supposed to listen to each other y'know!" he explained, before hesitating. "At least, that's what the therapy guy told us, and-"
"What this guy is trying to say here," Nina called out, silencing Razor with a bag of popcorn before taking over his speech, "Is that you need to stop being egocentrical and start being sensible. I'm sure you two would put up a better fight if you'd at least listen to each other."
"That's what-" Liza stated, her brother joining in to finish "We do."
"Cooperating," said Tate, "That is." Liza spoke.
Shine groaned, and tried to get up. All he managed to achieve, however, was rolling onto his side. Shade still hadn't moved.
"I-" Brendan began, turning towards his so-called partner, but still staring down at the ground. They had been beaten, and it was his fault. He had kept attacking, not paying any attention to May's moves.
"...I'm sorry, May." he spoke quietly.
"No, I'm sorry." May instantly answered, not wanting Brendan to take the blame. She had been the one who only focussed on the opponent, without any regard for-
"I said I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry."
May was also staring down at the ground.
"Idiot." she whispered, blinking furiously. "You're the one who told me to stop apologizing last night!"
– – – – –
Back at the tribune, Wally suddenly started choking on the straw of his coke, spewing half of is mouth's content all over Razor's face. "Last night? What happened last night?" he cried. Some granny told him to be quiet.
– – – – –
Brendan bit his lip. "...well, that was different. A completely different situation, with different reasons for apologizing."
May started to sniff. "And why was it so different?" she asked.
"...well I didn't have my pants on..." Brendan muttered, looking away.
– – – – –
"...pants." Wally whispered, cradling his chest before passing out. Razor only barely managed to catch the green-haired Trainer and haul him back into his seat. "Hey, you all right? You still with us? Hey!"
– – – – –
Shade coughed once, it's one eye moving upwards in a vain attempt to get himself airbourne again. But he couldn't get up, he hadn't recovered from the last blow.
"Stop talking like that!" May told Brendan, "This is completely- This is- You're telling me to stop, and I- I'm- I'm sorry." she whispered, looking down as something wet trailed down her cheek.
Shine whimpered, but couldn't even get to move his head up. That last attack had injured him far greater than all of the attacks directed at Shade throughout the entire battle.
"No it's not!" Brendan argued, "It's my fault for not listening to you!" he declared, looking up to reveal that there were tears in his eyes, as well.
– – – – –
Nina produced a handkerchief from nowhere, and blew her nose with it.
"...so touching..." she sniffed, before turning to her boyfriend. "Razor, hold me tight!"
"Who, me? Sorry, I'm occupied with greenhead at the moment!"
– – – – –
"You're wrong!" May partially yelled, partially sobbed. "If I had been a better strategist, Shine and Shade wouldn't...wouldn't have-"
"N-No! May, you were doing great! I'm the one to blame for- it's not your fault!"
By now, tears from the two Trainers had started to drip down onto the floor. Both Gym Leaders and spectators kept quiet as the drama unfolded.
May's legs gave away, and she fell down to her knees, using both hands to try and keep her tears in tow. "Shine, Shine is-!"
Completely at a loss what to do, Brendan took a few steps forward and got down to his knees, as well. With a vision blurred by tears, he embraced May.
"...sorry."
May returned the hug, burying her face into Brendan's shoulder. The white-haired Trainer did likewise, burying his head in May's neck.
"...sorry."
"...sorry."
– – – – –
Nina squeeled, and almost strangled Razor as she continued to hug him by the neck.
"Like, soooo cute!" she exclaimed. "I wanna take them home!"
Wally opened his eyes, he was coming by. Unfortunately for him, the first thing he happened to see was Brendan and may embracing each other tightly.
Wally fainted again.
– – – – –
As the two Trainers continued to comfort each other, wipe off their tears and pat each other on the back, the sobbing slowly subsided. Brendan backed off a bit, and looked into May's eyes. May looked back into his'.
"...May, I'm sorry."
May brushed away a lone tear. "I told you to stop saying that. Next time, we'll-"
"Team up and win? Brendan finished for her.
"Yeah. Next time." May nodded.
"Next time."
Both Brendan and May looked up with surprised faces and exclaimed "What?"
The male Gym Leader sighed. "I mean, your Lairon might be near fainting, but your Duskull is still good to go." the female Gym Leader explained, her brother joining in to add "The dirty cheater."
The two Trainers looked at their Pokemon. On top of wheezing Shine sat Shade, a yellow blurry mark right underneath his skull mask, just about where his mouth should be. Out of nowhere, with a mouth that shouldn't even exist, Shade produced a foul grin.
Earlier on, Shade had used Thief to steal Solrock's Sitrus berry, held onto it, and had now eaten it. Somehow.
In other words, the match wasn't over yet. Brendan's jaw dropped to the floor, May's joining him seconds thereafter.
"So...it's not over yet?" May concluded.
"...and you were just waiting there for us to finish?" Brendan added.
"Sort of." Liza answered, while Tate spoke "Kind of."
The twins cast odd glances at each other for a second.
Razor raised his hands to his mouth, and shouted "Get on with the battle already!"
Silence.
A dustbowl passed by.
Then, both May and Brendan's faces lit up bright red like stars going supernova. Did they just cry and go dramatic over this? They were 17-years olds, for cripes' sake! The battle wasn't over yet!
By now, the crowd had started to clap their hands and shout "We want more! We want more!"
Blushing like they had never blushed before, the two young Trainers stood up. They ignored the extreme embarassment, since there was something more important going on now. They had to win.
Both Trainers took a step away, only to find something pulling their arms. They were still holding hands. Judging from her facial expression, Brendan concluded that May didn't mind. Brendan found himself unable to let go of May's hand, as well.
Both of them stared at their entangled hands for a moment, unsure what to do. May looked up at Brendan with a flustered look, blushing. Brendan returned the look.
"...just a little bit longer, okay?"
"Okay."
"Let's finish this!" Brendan then announced loudly, facing the Gym Leaders and boldly taking a step forward. At the exact same time, May took a step forward, as well.
"Brendan, I hope you know what you're doing." May hissed under her breath.
"I do! Shade, Pain Split on Shine!" Brendan ordered, the Duskull sitting on top of the badly injured Lairon glowing for a moment as he shared some of his hit points with Shine. Letting out a loud grunt, the Lairon shook his neck, and got up. Both Pokemon, however, were still nowhere near peak performance.
"We've only got one chance." Brendan whispered.
"Let's make it count." May answered with a smile.
Shade's eye was now shifting from one opponent to the other, as an eerie glow started to envelop his body. Shine snorted, stamped his foot, and prepared to charge.
"Together." May and Brendan spoke, more like an acknowledgement than a proposal.
The twins on the opposite side of the field both bursted into wide grins.
"Yes, let's finish this. Solrock-"
"-Lunatone, Cosmic Power!"
Cheering on the side benches increased in volume. Nina and Razor were now waving 'LOVE & PEACE' banners, while the rest of the crowd screamed for Liza and Tate's victory.
Brendan and May both bent forward a bit, and glared at each other. For a moment, they argued about who was going first, but luckily for them and everyone else inside of the Gym, they soon settled this argument with the word "Together."
"We'll go first!" Liza suddenly cried, "Lunatone, Psybeam!"
"Solrock, Assist!"
Both Psychic-Types charged as they launched huge purple beams of energy at Shine and Shade.
"Shine, Protect!" May ordered, pointing one arm forward, still holding Brendan's with the other. The Lairon projected a large barrier of light from his mouth, while Shade hurried to get behind his partner.
May's lips moved. Brendan nodded. "Shade, Payback!"
Shade the Duskull turned etherical for a moment, passing straight through Shine as he charged at Solrock. Raising up one of his tiny hands in a punching motion, he lunged at the Psychic-Type.
Tate was quick to give his Pokemon the order to dodge by moving backwards, but in doing so, he forgot to pay attention to the other opponent.
"Shine, Metal Claw!"
Letting out a bloodthirsty roar, Shine suddenly came charging through Shade, who had acted as a mere distraction. Having passed through his ally, the Lairon then changed his forepaws into sharp, metal cutting tools and jumped right on top of the unsuspecting Solrock.
Who got slammed onto the floor, with Shine right on top of him. Solrock tried to get away by levitating himself again.
"Don't give him the opportunity! Shine, Headbutt!"
Solrock got slammed righ tback into the floor when a rock-hard head bashed itself into his face.
"Liza, help me out!" Tate cried as his Pokemon got trashed. "Hurry!"
Liza gasped, and tried to come up with an agreeable solution. "Lunatone, um, Lunatone, Psybeam!"
"Brendan!" May urged, seeing how her Lairon was wide open.
"I'm on it!" he replied, also raising up his unoccupied arm. Their fingers entangled even more. "Shade, stop Lunatone with Confuse Ray!"
As fast as he could, Shade moved in between Lunatone and it's target, a surprisingly large wave of Psychic force appearing and being fired in his direction.
Shade's one eye began to glow, and as Shine continued to rend Solrock with his teeth, Lunatone's vision suddenly went blurry and, as a result, the Psywave went wildly off course, plasting a hole into the ground a few meters away from it's intended target.
As the Lunatone continued to spin around wildly while trying to find his balance, Solrock was struggling to get that Lairon off his back.
"Solrock, use Psychic to get him off!" Tate shouted.
"Follow Me!" Brendan cried in an attempt to buy May some more time. Shade took the mind blast head-on. Literally, since an attack to the psyche always hit you in the head. The Duskull came crashing down onto the floor, his one eye ceasing to glow.
This move, however, gave May all the time she needed to finish things off.
"Shine, Earthquake!" she ordered, now holding hands with Brendan in a different pose. Namimgnly, with their backs against each other, both hands still down and entangled, like a badly imitated Power Ranger duo.
Anyway, she ordered Shine to use Earthquake. Which was exactly what he did, breaking apart the foundations he was standing on with a massive ground-stomp which made the building shake heavily. The thing Shine had been stomping upon happened to be Solrock.
After the smoke whipped up by Solrock's demise had cleared up, Shine was just standing there, breathing heavily while laying flat on top of the now unconcious Solrock. He was near fainting, as well.
"Good job, Shine!" May cheered, but soon after saying that, she got silenced by a second burst of light coming from Lunatone. The Confuse Ray had worn off, it seemed.
Tate started to grin. "You two put up a pretty good fight...but I'm afraid we've got to finish things up now. Liza, if you'd please...?"
"Psycho Boost, Lunatone!"
Brendan turned to May, a frightened look on his face. May returned the look.
"Shine can't take another hit!"
"What should we do?"
"What can we do?"
"...well something, at least!"
"Oooi! You two lovebirds! Hurry up and use your secret technique already!" Razor cried from the sideline. He and Nina were still waving their banner.
"Wonder if they'll manage to pull it off." Nina uttered, holding up her half of the banner. "It'll depend on the cuteness factor."
Brendan and May faced each other, and let their eyes do the talking for a few seconds. Their hands were still linked. Then, something sparked in both Trainers' eyes. Stepping closer to each other, they both extended one linked arm forward, while the two wrapped their other arm around the other's waist, as if they were a tango-dancing couple.
"Shine!" both Trainers them exclaimed, adressing the Lairon. They inhaled, and tried to bring up the courage to shout the following words. They tried switching poses a few times.
While doing so, a faint, heart-shaped light began to shine behind the two of them. The crowd held it's breath. Child, parent and grandparent alike, they all kept quiet and, with high expectations, waited for 'it' to happen.
– – – – –
"They're actually going to do 'it'." Razor mumbled, his mouth wide open.
Nina pushed Razor's jaw back up into his mouth again to prevent the popcorn from falling out.
Wally opened his eyes.
– – – – –
"Psycho Boost!" the twins Liza and Tate cried, already entangled in an unfamiliar pose.
Lunatone let out a bizarre roar, and then fired a huge ball of energy at it's two opponents.
"SHINE, ATTACK!" Brendan and May cried simultaneously while waving their arms, a pink light eminating from them.
The two Trainers were now standing right next to each other, legs spread wide, each with one entangled arm pointing straight forward, the other one raised over their heads, also with fingers entwined. Like this, they resembled a pair of horrible Power Ranger imitators.
"ATTACK!" they roared, a pink heart-shaped light impacting on Shine and enveloping it with a similarly pink aura. The Lairon roared, and sped forward.
"Attack!" Lunatone heard someone yell, and seconds afterwards, his immensively powerfull attack got brushed aside as a bright pink Lairon came charging straight through the Psychic attack. Adorned with a pink hide, sharp pink teeth and dangerously pink claws, Shine threw himself onto Lunatone.
The two Gym leaders cried out their Pokemon's name, but to no avail.
Lunatone's world went all pink and fluffy.
The following explosion would have hurled Brendan and May backwards if they hadn't been holding on to each other like that.
When the smoke had cleared, Lunatone was laying flat on the ground, in the middle of a huge heart-shaped crater. He had been knocked out cold by the initial impact.
"Did we win?" May whispered. She managed to make out Lunatone's unconcious form in the middle of the crater. "...we did it! We did it, Brendan!"
"YEAH!" both of them cried, punching fists into the air.
They had won, they had won, they had won!
And they had done it together.
– – – – –
"My my, that was one heck of a show!" Nina grinned, getting up and walking over to the exit with one hand wrapped around Razor's. "Good job girl, you rocked!"
"Love and peace!" Razor cried, still waving a flag around with one hand before Nina dragged him out of the Gym.
– – – – –
May and Brendan kept holding hands as they conversed:
"Thanks."
"Thanks?"
"Yeah. For what you did. It's al thanks to you that we won."
"Me? You worked just as hard!"
"But..."
Both Trainers chuckled, then looked in each other's eyes.
The crowd drew a long, deep breath as the Trainers' faces moved closer to each other.
Wally went out cold.
– – – – –
I might be pushing my luck here, buuuuuut...please review!
And thanks in advance!
