The last time I had been staring down Crasher Wake's Gyarados, it had been with Carlita. I had also been tied up, but that seemed very much beside the point. Now I had a static-y Luxio next to me, trading growls and hisses with the massive water Pokemon.
The Gyarados went down with three Shock Waves. Ike hadn't taken a single hit, though he'd nearly fallen into the water. Crasher Wake nodded in appreciation, and took a moment before he called out his second Pokemon. He ended up calling out the orange Pokemon he'd been jogging with that morning, a Floatzel. It flexed and grinned at us both. Ike grinned back at it. His teeth were considerably sharper.
I had a strange feeling in my heart right about then. Carlita hadn't lasted this far. Ike had. Did that mean something?
"Ike… Shock Wave."
"Aqua Jet!" Wake called. His Floatzel barked an affirmative and dove into the water. It splashed into Ike's side before he could even begin to dodge. The tradeoff was that the Floatzel couldn't get away from the Shock Wave, especially not at that range, and having contact with a soaked Luxio only increased the power.
"Shock Wave!"
"Aqua Jet again!"
It continued like that. Both Pokemon took damage with each move and showed signs of wear. Ike was panting now, and had to keep up a constant electric charge in his fur because the Floatzel attacked so frequently and quickly.
The match ended when the Floatzel went in for one last Aqua Jet and Ike decided to take some initiative. He released a Shock Wave just as the orange weasel hit him, and while it was stunned and trying to get away from him again, he pursued it and used a Bite on the back of its neck. The Floatzel finally fainted. Ike was declared the winner again, though he was barely standing and was clearly very tired.
"Good show! But now it's up to you, Quagsire!"
My heart sank. I knew Quagsire had to be the part ground type that Nick had mentioned. Ike couldn't use his advantage then. And even if he could Bite and Tackle it into submission, he was barely conscious as it was. He wouldn't last more than a move or two, especially if the Quagsire decided to use a ground move. Ike glanced back at me once, eyes narrowed.
I sighed. I would not sacrifice Ike in the name of putting a dent in the last Gym Pokemon. I wouldn't do it to Des, I wouldn't do it to Ike. I'd have to give up. "Ike--"
"Bre!"
My heart must have stopped. I slowly turned to look, but instead, the Breloom hopped onto the scene, tail waving behind her as she tried to keep her balance on the inflatable raft. She trotted nonchalantly into the center of the stage and dismissed Ike with a wave of her clawed paw.
I whirled around to see Nick helping Celia across the rafts. They were being escorted by Konstantin.
"Well, well, what's this?" Crasher Wake asked in evident amusement. "Are you going to substitute your Luxio for your Breloom?"
My Breloom. Carlita, my Breloom. "Yes." My voice shook, but I wasn't about to cry. Really. I was just happy, that was all. I had no idea what was going on, but as long as I could have Carlita again and we could make an awesome comeback and finally beat Crasher Wake and have a happily ever after, I'd be fine.
"Mud Shot!"
"Seed Bomb!"
The Quagsire went down.
I gaped at the fallen blue lump. Was it really not moving? It hadn't even gotten the chance to fire off its own attack before Carlita had lobbed the Seed Bomb at its face. Carlita stood on the tips of her toes to look down at the Quagsire. Nick, Celia and Konstantin arrived on Wake's platform about then, a little surprised to see that the final battle was already over.
"…Well aren't you a talented young trainer! Ahaha! It's been awhile since I've seen that sort of talent! And here you were holding out on me, kid!" Crasher Wake exclaimed at last, laughing heartily as he recalled the Quagsire. Carlita turned and grinned at me, clapping.
"Now that was a flawless victory," Nick remarked.
"Carlita… Wow," Celia breathed.
"Loom!" she exclaimed, leaping over. She danced from foot to foot excitedly, all smiles for her amazing, if unexpected, win. I knelt down beside her and threw my arms around her neck, holding her still enough to get in a hug. She whined and wiggled, but eventually gave up and wrapped her arms around me back. I definitely wasn't crying; I was just happy.
-.-.-
Nick steepled his fingers. He closed his eyes and exhaled out his nose. "…What are we going to do with you?"
I smiled sheepishly, arms still around Carlita. I had hardly let her go since her triumphant return to me. It seemed as if she was really back, too. Celia had been tracked down by either Konstantin or Nick (or both), and was somehow convinced that Carlita should come back to me.
I don't know how they did it. All I got was the abbreviated explanation: Celia had a change of heart. She just smiled and hugged both Carlita and I, and then left after a murmured "I'm sorry". I saw that she had rather red eyes, but didn't say anything about it. Just moments before I got the okay, yeah, Carlita's mine again, I was about ready to fight for her. I knew what it was like to lose the Breloom, which was why I wasn't going to go through it again. I had only lost her for a brief period of time, but I knew that I wasn't going to forget it easily.
Nick and Konstantin didn't answer me when I asked about what they said or did. I wasn't completely sure I wanted to know, either. It seemed like something I was better off not knowing for some reason; I got the impression that it wasn't completely innocent. That was strange, too. Konstantin might've resorted to such things, but Nick never would, and he never would have condoned any action like that, either.
I just had that feeling.
"I… I got my seventh badge?" I tried hopefully. Crasher Wake hadn't been able to detach me from my Breloom long enough to hand over the Fen badge and accompanying TM, so Nick still had them.
He held it up against the light of the Center. "No, I have your seventh badge. Which means I have nine."
"No--you have two of the same."
"You were going to completely break down, weren't you?" he asked shrewdly, palming the badge once more. I looked away and instead studied Carlita's hat-like protuberance. "What would you have done if Carlita hadn't come back to you at that point?"
"I had been planning on giving up the battle. I… I wouldn't have let Ike faint, if that's what you're--"
"No, it's not." He was angry now. He was trying not to be, but he still was. I knew him too well. I just couldn't figure out why he was mad, though, and that sort of scared me. I had just won against Crasher Wake, my nemesis and nightmare. I had seven badges. I had my Carlita back. So what was wrong?
"Nick…" I mumbled uncertainly.
"Do you remember when I told you about those three greater tragedies of training?" He looked away, expression darkening. I still didn't understand where this was coming from. I could only nod. "You remember that first one?"
"I don't remember what order they were in."
"It is when a trainer… breaks."
Carlita and I stayed silent, still in each other's arms.
Nick kept his gaze fixed on the far wall. "It can be fixed. But only sometimes. Sometimes, something happens that just makes a trainer shut down. They stop training. Forever. The rest of their team is released or kept around as pets or given away to friends or family or even strangers. And it's such a sad thing. It always is. The causes vary, but… Oh damn it, you were so close to that. You were the most pitiful, sad thing I have ever seen. You would have lost Carlita, and then you would have lost against Crasher Wake, and you probably would have given up after that, wouldn't you have?" He turned back to me, eyes unreadable.
I swallowed. "I don't know." It was a lie as soon as the words left my mouth. As soon as he had spoken it, I knew that was what would have happened. The Electabuzz was the prepping move; Carlita would have been the coup de grâce.
"Oh jeez…" Nick tilted his head back and ran a hand through his black hair. He seemed so old. Not white hair, crotchety old man old, but more like he had been through too much. Like he had seen something he shouldn't have until he was older. "You're impossible."
"Why?"
"What are you going to do when one of them dies?" he asked without sugarcoating it. I flinched and tightened my hold on Carlita. "It will happen. Hopefully not soon, hopefully many, many years from now. But not many Pokemon have a human's lifespan. Eventually… You'll lose one for good."
"Don't remind me of that."
"Will you quit after that?"
"…No."
"Really?"
"I don't know. Don't make me think about this yet."
"…Fine." Nick relented, pushed back his chair, and got to his feet. He extended a hand downward to Carlita and me. "Let's talk about better things, then. Since I am not spoiling you with another dinner. You're winning too much lately and I'm running out of money."
"You don't have to buy--!"
"I know, I was kidding." He tried smiling, trying to erase the seriousness of minutes before. I gratefully latched onto the faux happiness. I didn't want to think about losing any of my team, especially not to death.
We ended up camping out in the Center lobby, since we let out our teams and they were getting rather large. Chase and Des alone took up a corner. Nurse Joy let us have popcorn, and we spent the evening throwing it at each other, trying to eat it, watching Carlita make it into necklaces with Kamala, and promising we'd clean up after ourselves. There was some movie on the TV, but we ignored it in favor of talking. Nice talking, too. Talking that I missed.
"So, seven badges now. Only one left, you realize that?"
"Oh yeah. You kidding me? I'm awesome and I'm catching up to you. What if I become the Champion before you do?"
"Oh no, not happening. Not even in your dreams." Nick threw a handful of popcorn at me. I responded in kind. "Did you ever imagine yourself getting this far? Not many trainers make it, you know. Especially not your age."
"Well, I am pretty much pro at speed training. It also helps that all of the wild Pokemon in the area swarm to attack me, too. Lots of training." I tossed pieces of popcorn to Carlita, who caught them in her mouth. She was pretty good at it, too. I couldn't imagine having this without her.
"Did you ever want to be anything but a trainer?" he asked curiously, trying the same trick with Chase. The dragon snorted at the move and ignored him, causing several of the Pokemon to laugh.
"I wanted to be a doctor once. But that was when I was, like, five or something. I've wanted to be a trainer for a long time now," I told him, craning my head back to try to catch the popcorn Carlita was throwing at me. I wasn't nearly as good at it as she was. I was further upstaged when Ike sat up and caught two pieces effortlessly.
"Oh, cool. I love that song." I rolled my eyes; I had heard the line before in school. "…Going to ask me?"
"Huh? Uh--what about you, Nick?" I asked with an exaggerated air of casualness.
"I wanted to work in a circus," he announced with a roguish grin. I blinked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm serious! My uncle and his Pokemon were performers, and I always wanted to be like him. When I was ten and got Chase the Gible, we just followed him around the circus instead of training."
"Really? Learn anything cool?"
"Oh yeah. You've seen the fire trick, right? My parents were furious when they found out he taught an eleven-year-old that one. And, let's see… I can juggle, and do gymnastic things, and walk a tightrope pretty well, and he tried to teach me how to throw knives once. Chase can still walk a tightrope and balance on a ball, too." To demonstrate, Nick had us clear a path of Pokemon and popcorn. He bent forward and stood on his hands, walking easily across the space. We clapped in appreciation. I had actually never seen a circus or a circus performer, so it was sort of cool to see it firsthand now. Even if it was just Nick showing off. "It's pretty handy to know some of that stuff, too, let me tell you. When you don't have a bike and want to get across one of those little bike paths to the item on the other side, it's a lot easier to walk than try and take a half hour crawling. Or if you're low on money, you can always perform."
"Can you teach me something?" I asked eagerly. He looked at me, snapping back to reality. He seemed a little unsure about it. "Please? Anything?"
"…Well. Maybe sometime when Nurse Joy won't kill me for it, okay?" I couldn't hide my disappointment, even if I got a vague promise for a later date. Nick sat down beside me and clapped me on the back. "Cheer up. I'll teach you how to breathe fire to match Des."
I couldn't fight a grin. Des made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh, though. "Okay, deal!"
And so the night wore on.
Soon, the popcorn was gone and the Pokemon started dropping off to sleep. Ike was the first one out, having been exhausted after the battle. Harlan the Smeargle had drifted off pretty early on, too, and Kamala was sprawled out on one of the couches, apparently dozing. I felt pretty tired, too. Nick was perfectly awake and was trying to coerce Chase into juggling three of the empty pokeballs to prove he could do it, however.
As my eyelids were finally drooping, I heard Nick say, "I'm proud of you."
He probably hadn't meant for me to hear it. I did, though. I smiled against Carlita's hat and nestled into Des' side. I had my team back. I had my best friend and his team. In my mind, we would never be broken up again.
It was my last happy sleep for a long, long time.
