A little later, still at camp, I decided to craft a shield. I still had that wood I purchased from Grama. So I sat down on one of the chairs, and began to carve out one of the large blocks of wood. It was my first time, so I had to keep it basic. I wanted to make it in a circular shape, then plonk a handle onto the shield. Simple, right?

Well, no.

It was harder than I thought, really. It was tough to get the shape just right, and it was really time-consuming. And by the time I finally finished carving, it came out as a sort of jagged octagon. Of course I wouldn't get it on my first try. I had no experience, anyway. But I tucked that away in my bag to work on it later. If I couldn't craft, then I decided to get stronger myself.

Of course, that meant battling.

So, I decided to go look for an opponent. Maybe a wild Pokemon? Nah. Maybe it wouldn't be right to jump some unsuspecting Pokemon. That meant fighting a trainer. So who should I fight? Ash? Actually, he and Pikachu might be a little too hard to beat. In fact, they weren't even there. Maybe they were training somewhere else, maybe with Robert or Lynn, since they weren't around, too. So, I decided to fight...

"Allison," I say. "Could you please battle me?"

"Battle you? Why?" She replies.

"I wanna get stronger. Shizen was tough, but I get the feeling that the Floji Gym Leader's gonna be even tougher. So that's why I want to battle you!"

"Well, that might be true... Ready, Chloe?" She pats her friend on the head.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" She happily replies. Smiling, I turn around and start walking away to take my position, then turn around again and draw my sword.

"Just make sure you don't go easy on me!" I warn them. "Cause I won't!"

"That's our kind of battle," Allison counters. "Alright, Chloe! Use Quick Attack!"

Before I can even react, Chloe rushes at me at such a speed she's almost invisible, and the attack hits. So I decide to counterattack by using magic. Hmm... What would be a good choice? Frizz? Crack? Woosh? I decide to try a Frizz and see how that goes. The fireball hits and does some below-borderline damage. Maybe I could do better. I cast Crack, and it does better hurt to Chloe. But would Woosh be better?

"Are you alright, Chloe?!" Allison shrieks.

"I'm fine," She replies. "What next?"

"Use Life Dew!"

Chloe uses her healing move, the same one that she used during our most recent encounter with Team Rocket, and it heals her up. Shoot, I totally forgot she had that ability! I'd have to find some way around that... I cast Woosh, hoping for a good hit. But it does just as good as Crack, to my disappointment. Looks like casting Crack was my best bet, since Woosh costed more magic.

"Hmm..." Allison thinks for a moment. "This seems a little tough... Ooh! I know! Chloe, use Fairy Wind!"

Chloe focuses her power for a moment, then releases it towards me. I put my arms up to guard, but it turns out I didn't need to. The attack barely does anything to me. Looked like it wasn't very effective...

"Oh..." Allison gulped.

I decided to change tactics. If I kept using magical attacks, I'd run out of energy sooner or later. So I decided to go in for a basic attack. But she barely even flinches. Looked like I had a choice: Either go for broke and cast magic, or slash her over and over and slowly chip away at her stamina. Actually, wait! I had Falcon Slash at my disposal. So I dashed at her again, and slashed twice quickly. Nice! Now I had an idea on what to do. Just a few more Falcon Slashes and-

"Life Dew, again!"

Chloe quickly heals herself, and heals most of the wounds I gave her. This was a real problem. She could heal herself, and I couldn't, not to mention I had a limit to how much I could use magic attacks. So if I was gonna take her out, I would need to take her out in one hit by amplifying my magic somehow... but how? I realized amplifying my magic would also take up more energy, so I pulled a Leppa Berry from my bag and ate it to restore my magic.

"C'mon, Chloe!" Allison rallies. "You've got this! Take him out!"

Chloe gets pumped up by Allison's cheers, and she walks towards me, which was kind of disconcerting. If she was pumped up already, wouldn't she attack me by now? To my surprise, she even walks past me.

"What're you doing, Chloe?!" Allison yells at her.

"Well, looks like I w- GAH!" Chloe had landed an attack from behind. It was so surprising I didn't have time to react.

"How's that?" She says slyly. "What did you think of that Fake Out?"

"Fake Out?" Allison repeats. "Did you just learn a new move?" Chloe nods in response. "Alright, then! Follow up with a Quick Attack!"

Chloe jumps backward quite a long distance, then she charges at me for a Quick Attack. I was still smarting from the surprise attack, and I couldn't react. Only when her attack landed did I come to my senses.

If I was gonna one-hit her, I'd have to use a spell. I prepare a Frizz... then stop. How was this going to work? I shake off my thoughts and throw the fireball at Chloe, and it connects. But she retaliates and lands a Quick Attack. I grab her and throw her in such a way she lands directly in front of Allison. I quickly jump away backwards.

I decided it was all or nothing. I prepare another Frizz... and focus more magic into it. I raise my hand slightly higher. The fireball begins to shine... and then it splits into two, intertwined fireballs!

"What's that?" Chloe gasps.

"Did he improve his Frizz spell?" Allison asks. It was crystal-clear to me. It wasn't just a new spell. The Frizz turned into something different.

"Seems like it," I respond. "Alright, then! Have a taste of my magical might! FRIZZLE!"

I sweep my arm horizontally, and the fireballs go flying. They're so fast Chloe doesn't have time to react as the fireballs connect and trigger an explosion that hides her from our sight. When the dust settles, Chloe's down but not out.

"Chloe!" Allison shrieks.

"C-can't... go on," Chloe chokes. "That's... some power...!"

"Use Life Dew!"

But she doesn't use the healing move. She's just been hit by a brutal fire spell, and she's too stunned to do anything. This was my chance! I run in there, clenching my sword as hard as I could... and dealt the final blow. And just like that, Chloe was unable to battle. YES! I won! And with a new spell, to boot!

"Ch-Chloe?" Allison stammers in shock.

"I-I'm fine," Chloe stutters. "D-Don't w-worry about m-me."

"You guys fought well," I say. "Thanks for the fight! That was awesome! Here you go, Chloe." I give her some Sitrus Berries to replenish her strength and pet her.

"Well," Allison replies, "We may have lost. But at least Chloe learned a new move, just like you did!"

"Heh. Good for you, kiddo. Okay, I'll go find Ash and the others, and then we'll keep going."

The one in which David learns an upgraded version of Frizz, and David wins his first friendly battle.

FYI, I made a mistake in the previous chapter. Chloe's healing move is supposed to be Life Dew, not Heal Pulse. I'll fix that later.