Chapter 3: A Battle and a Bet
"You're joking, right?" Dee shot a look towards Bea as the cousins sat in a café in Motostoke.
"No, really, you should battle him!" Bea replied, smiling.
"I don't know, Bea. I only brought three Pokemon with me." Dee shrugged and sipped her drink.
"Gym team?"
"No, I didn't bring the little ones. I brought my Lucario, my Hitmonchan, and…..my dad's Machamp…." Dee sighed and sat her glass on the table.
"Luca was a good man, Dee. I know you miss him." Bea placed a hand on her cousin's shoulder. "Maybe a battle will help keep your mind off things? I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine, Bea. A battle sounds fine….but only if Milo wants to, you know I don't like forcing people into things."
Bea nodded, then pulled out her phone and called for a flying taxi to take the two of them to Turffield in an hour, before finishing up lunch.
One Hour Later
"I can't believe this….." Dee groaned as she and Bea began walking to Turffield stadium.
"Nervous?" Bea nudged her with an elbow, only to be swatted away.
"No! Well, maybe a little. Grass type Pokemon can be tricky to deal with." Dee sighed, peeking through the doors and seeing Milo talking to some of the others that help with his gym challenge. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to do…."
"Just go and ask him to battle you! I'll tell you what…" Bea pulled Dee aside, just slightly outside of the stadium doors. "…if you win, I'll buy you lunch for the rest of the week until you have to return to Devia."
Dee thought for a moment, then hesitantly nodded. "What if I lose?"
Bea grinned. "You have to kiss him."
"No. NO. Nononononononono, HELL no!" Dee turned to walk away, but Bea grabbed her wrist.
"Oh, come on! Just this once, like when we'd make those ridiculous bets as kids. For fun."
Dee sighed. "…..you owe me for this, even if I lose…."
Bea let go with a smile and the two entered Turffield stadium, Bea walking ever so slightly behind Dee and giving her a gentle push towards Milo.
"Hey, girls!" Milo turned to face the two cousins as his previous conversation was over.
Dee thought her heart stopped for a moment as when she saw his smile, and looked down at her feet to hide the blush creeping up on her face. "You, uh….you're not busy, are you?"
"Not at the moment, things are still pretty slow. Do you need something?" Milo looked at Dee specifically, since she was the one who asked the question.
"I…..was just wondering if you'd be interested in a battle. You know, just something to do since I heard there haven't been any trainers for a while….." Dee started nervously fidgeting with the sleeves of her jacket. "B-but it's fine if you don't want to! I mean-"
"I don't mind, Dee! Might as well spend time having fun before you have to go back home, right?" Milo held out a hand, and Dee took it, then began leading to the battlefield.
Dee looked over her shoulder to Bea, who waved before disappearing to the audience seating, leaving the flustered brunette to walk hand-in-hand with the sweet farmer.
"I'm gonna get her for this…" Dee thought as she avoided looking at Milo for most of the walk, feeling a little nervous about the battle and actually noting their height difference during this brief time.
"Well, here we are." Milo led Dee to where the challenging trainer would usually stand, letting go of her hand before going to his position. "How do you want to do this?"
It took her a moment to register what was going on, then Dee responded. "Would three-on-three be okay?"
Milo nodded with a pokeball in hand. "Ladies first, Dee."
Blushing, Dee grabbed a pokeball from her belt and activated it before tossing it to send out her first Pokemon. "Go, Hitmonchan!"
The mentioned Pokemon appeared on the field and stood proudly before it's trainer, and both watched as Milo sent out Shiftry.
The battle began as Dee's Hitmonchan charged forward to use its Close Combat attack, which Shiftry barely dodged before landing a Throat Chop and catching the opposing fighting type off guard. As Hitmonchan was regaining itself, Shiftry went in for a Body Slam but was tripped as Hitmonchan used Low Sweep.
Dee grinned as she watched the Shiftry skid across the ground before nodding to her Hitmonchan who, in response, began charging towards the Shiftry as it was getting up…..and landed a successful Fire Punch.
Shiftry was down and out, so Milo recalled it back to its pokeball. "I honestly should've seen that coming, you managed to catch me by surprise."
Milo then sent out his next Pokemon, Tsareena, which followed the command to use Trop Kick on the Hitmonchan that seemed temporarily captivated by the grass-type Pokemon.
The kick landed and Hitmonchan was knocked backwards, the Tsareena stood over the downed fighting type, before delivering the final blow with Zen Headbutt.
"A psychic type move….and it seemed that Hitmonchan had taken a liking to your Tsareena." Dee tilted her head slightly as she recalled her Pokemon, then hesitated as she had to quickly decide which Pokemon to send out next.
With a sigh and a sad expression that she quickly shook off, Dee sent out her dad's Machamp. The Pokemon looked back towards its trainer before turning attention back to the battle, barely crossing its arms in front of its face to block a Trop Kick. It then grabbed the Tsareena by the legs and performed a Seismic Toss, indenting the poor grass type into the ground.
Both gym leaders on the field thought the Tsareena was down, but it hopped back up and went for High Jump Kick which managed to knock Machamp backwards a bit and only deal a small amount of damage. Tsareena, visibly frustrated, went in for another Trop Kick but was met with a Poison Jab to the midsection.
Tsareena landed on it's feet and recoiled from damage, Machamp took the chance to go in for a second Poison Jab, but the tricky Tsareena yelled angrily and delivered a point-blank Zen Headbutt…..and down went Machamp.
Dee sighed and recalled her father's Pokemon, and Milo noticed the way she was looking at the pokeball.
"Dee? Everything alright?" Milo asked with a bit of concern in his voice.
"I'm fine…." Dee replied as she put the pokeball back into her belt, then reached into her pocket and pulled out the ball that contained the Pokemon that was always with her. "My last Pokemon….she's like my best friend, always been by my side ever since I was a kid. She was rescued from poachers as an egg, thanks to my parents….and I was the one who bonded with her." The look of determination returned to Dee's eyes as she activated the pokeball. "Lulu never lets me down! And we'll take all you throw at us!"
Bea watched from her seat in the audience, along with a few gym assistants, as Dee sent out her prized Lucario.
The Lucario, or Lulu as Dee called it, donned a sky blue bow tied around the left ear. It was a bit confusing as to why Lulu had this bow, and someone sitting next to Bea wondered about it out loud.
Bea turned to the gym assistant that asked about it. "It's how Dee and Lulu show their bond, as well as showing that Lulu is actually a female. The two are closer than siblings, and Dee is able to communicate with Lulu thanks to an ability she inherited from an ancestor."
Bea simply turned her attention back to the battle, just to see Lulu and Tsareena circling one another…..sizing the other up, waiting for the other to make a move. But, right when Dee was about to command Lulu to attack, Tsareena visibly shuddered and fell to the ground fainted from the lingering poison damage dealt by Machamp in the previous round.
"Finally down to one-on-one! I hope you're prepared, Dee." Milo returned Tsareena to its pokeball and readied his last Pokemon.
"Oh, we're ready….right, Lulu?" Dee smirked, looking at her prized Lucario who mimicked her trainer's facial expression with a nod.
Milo sent out Flapple, and Bea immediately knew what was going to happen.
"Well, I won this bet…better get my phone out to record this." Bea thought as she pulled out her phone and began leaving the stands as the battle went on, preparing to record the result of her end of the bet.
The final round of the battle kicked off with Flapple attacking with Dragon Rush, making Lulu flinch, which gave the opportunity to use Grav Apple…which was a move Dee had never seen since an abnormally large apple collided with Lulu's head. Lulu knocked the Flapple away with Force Palm to get some breathing room and prepared to use Aura Sphere, but Flapple used Acrobatics to dodge. Lulu looked to Dee, who gave the command for Dragon Pulse. The attack landed and did a great deal of damage, but Milo returned Flapple to it's pokeball.
It was then Dee noticed the Dynamax band Milo was wearing, just like the one Bea had. She only blinked and there was suddenly a completely different ENORMOUS Flapple emerging from a huge pokeball.
Dee and Lulu stared up at the 'maxed Pokemon, the looks on their faces showed they had no idea this was going to happen. "Holy mother of Arceus….what the-"
A loud, booming roar from the giant Flapple interrupted what Dee was saying as it was preparing an attack. Not sure what to do, Dee could only watch as Lulu tried to brace herself against a Max Airstream attack….only to be blown back and knocked out, giving Milo the victory.
Defeated, Dee returned Lulu back into her pokeball as Bea walked over. The cousins stood facing one another, Bea pretended to be texting someone with a smile on her face as she was secretly recording. "I won, Dee. You know what you need to do~"
"….fine…." Dee groaned and turned to see that Milo's Flapple had returned to normal size and was following Milo over to the cousins.
"I think I got a little carried away…..sorry, Dee."
"It's alright, Milo. It was fun." Dee smiled, still holding Lulu's pokeball. The Lucario let herself out and stood by Dee, glaring protectively at Flapple. Dee looked at her Pokemon and noticed her bow was crooked, so she fixed it, which actually calmed down Lulu a bit.
Flapple actually ducked behind Milo the best it could before it was returned to its pokeball.
"We, since you won the battle….I, uh….have something for you…" Dee said, nervously fidgeting with her jacket sleeves as she stepped closer to Milo.
Without waiting for an response, Dee stood on her tiptoes and placed a hand on Milo's chest to steady herself…then gave him a quick, gentle kiss on the cheek. She quickly took a few steps away, but both of them were blushing bright pink.
"I….have to go…." Dee turned and ran out of the stadium with Lulu, Bea close behind after recording the moment, leaving Milo standing alone and a little confused about what had just happened.
A short moment later, Sonia walked into Turffield stadium. "Is everything alright in here? First I get a reading that Dynamax energy was being used, then I see Bea and her cousin running away on my way over…." She stopped in front of Milo and looked at him. "and your face is almost as pink as your hair! What happened?"
Milo was quiet for a moment, then raised a hand to his cheek. "…..she kissed me…."
Sonia was confused. "Kissed you? Who kissed you?"
"Dee…we battled, I won, and then she kissed me."
"Ooooohhhh, okay…." Sonia crossed her arms. "….then everything here is fine, then?"
Milo nodded, keeping his hand where Dee had kissed him, and walked with Sonia out of the stadium.
Back with the cousins….
Dee had finally returned Lulu back into her pokeball, the two cousins now at the Inn. "That…was….EMBARRASSING. You owe me for that…."
Bea shrugged. "Hey, you agreed to the bet and I won. Besides, you know you wanted to kiss him."
"What?! No!"
"Dee, I saw the way you were looking at him. You LIKE HIM. Admit it!"
Dee wasn't sure how to answer, so she just huffed and put her hands in the pockets of her jeans. Without a word, she turned and headed to her room, leaving Bea in the lobby with a smug grin on her face.
"My plan's working out great. Now…." She turned and left the Inn, sending the video from before to the others in the chat with an accompanying message. "….we need to get the two to go on some sort of date, but just have them think they're just hanging out."
Piers was the first to respond to the chat this time. "Aren't you pushing this a little bit? Just let them figure things out on their own, don't force them together."
Raihan replied "Calm down, Piers, let the girl try to help them along."
Sonia responded next "You two better not start arguing…."
"Besides, without any help, Milo isn't going to figure out what's going on even if he DOES actually have feelings for her." Nessa added.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing!" Bea replied. "I have a feeling that Dee is starting to figure out I've planned this, but I think it's going to be fine."