A New Day

by The Crystal Brick

"When quarantine was announced and we had to stay home, I thought nothing of it. When the pokemon were rounded up to the ranches, I thought of rainy days and long nights. When the pokemon started fighting back, I thought it was a crazy dream. When the pokemon overthrew us and ruled us, I didn't know what to think anymore." Today's a new day. A new day for all of us.

23. Chapter 23: A New Battle

Chapter 23: A New Battle

"Spout! Water Shuriken twelve o'clock!"

"Fire Charge that blue Kermit, Blaze! Get a move on!"

Amber and Salder gave their respective orders. The flaming horse sprinted faster than a bullet towards the frog. Spout himself did his best to form the watery star between his webbed fingers. He never got the chance to use it. The guy narrowly missed getting headbutted by the equine.

"Buck kick with Poison Jab!"

Blaze roared his rear legs back, giving Spout a nice hoof sandwich. One of the horse's legs glowed a distinct bright purple hue before the hit landed. Spout became disoriented but quickly got on his feet. Without a provocation from Amber, a long watery sword formed in his hands and slashed his opponent. The horse whined, the impact of the blow made him flip over on it's back.

"Spout goes down, but oh–oh! He's back up, and bringing out the knives! Blaze got hit! Blaze got hit!" The announcer was making commentary as the fight went on. I remember back then they used to have commentary back in the day, but… man, he is talking way too much… every second he's pointing there and shouting here, it was very easy to miss what he was saying if you're not paying attention.

The crowd didn't seem to mind, the fight took precedence after all. Still, pretty good job on Spout taking the initiative–

"Blaze! Use Bubble Beam!"

On Salder's orders, Blaze took a sharp intake of breath at the approaching Spout, the amount of bubbles coming out of his mouth was more than enough to knock the frog off his legs, giving the horse enough time to stand on his

…What?

WHAT?!

Was that a water… that a water-type move! How can a fire type learn water? Water is their literal weakness! How–

Amber said Fire Spin. After getting close to his opponent, the greninja went on his tippy toes and spun in the air. Flames sparked around his body, burning with intensity as he dive bombed into the horse.

I jumped in my seat, so I wasn't just imagining it… fire can use water and water can use fire… this… this doesn't make any sense. How are they doing that… they don't like weird or anything like that. How–

"Dude, can you stop elbowing me. It's getting annoying." Darkness quipped on her right. Damn, had I been bumping into her this entire time? I sheepishly retracted my arm.

"Um… sorry about that was just… I didn't expect the fight to be… weird."

She looked at me incredulously. "Weird?"

"It's just that… well I know that things have changed and I still need to get in the hang of things… ah screw it, why are they using moves of their opposite elements? That literally breaks the rules of pokemon types!"

"Nah, not really if you think about it. They just didn't know about typing back then."

I turned to where Swirl and Poseidon were, the cone was showing interest in our conversation while her brother eyed me with a frown. I could only let out a whisper in response.

"...What?"

"Yeah, they totally figured it out. You didn't know?"

"No, this is the first I heard about it." I admitted. A loud wave of cheers came ringing around the stadium. I gave a long glance; the horse was taken out of commission. Blaze lay there unconscious as Spout himself stood high and mighty for the crowd. The frog gave a quick bow as he took a few steps back.

"Blaze has finally burned out! From a fire move no less, oh we gotta love that irony don't we folks!" The announcer jokes, getting several hundred or two in the crowd to laugh.

"Hmph! Blaze, return!" Salder reached behind her back, pulling out a pokeball. The one she held looked the same as a normal pokeball, but the ball was mostly white and the release button was red. After Blaze was sucked up, the snubbull came next.

"Go Fetch! Show them your rough side!"

Ew. Tasteless pun.

After shrugging what Salder had to say, I turned to Swirl once again. "No, I mean, I think we were going to learn new typing stuff in White Fang but then I got pulled out. What do you mean they… discovered it?"

"The Institute of Higher Learning? It's sort of a global research organization." Swirl paused, gesturing me to respond. She must have guessed I didn't know squat or what she was babbling about, so she continued. "Eh, long story short, during the war the pokemon were researching their types."

"It started during the war?"

"Yep. When the war ended, those people who did the research formed groups to better their research. The most successful was the Institute, or I.H.L if you want to get technical about it. Their job is to basically research types and post their findings to the dojos and schools. That's the summary of their history. I'm surprised you never heard about them. They're well known as sliced bread."

"I'm still trying to get in the ropes of things. I'm… still learning."

"Still?" Poseidon chuckled to himself, giving me a sly look. "Good to know you're a slow learner."

"Hey! I have been on my own for a long time. I am just now picking up the pieces. Give me some slack–"

"Oh no, folks! Looks like Spout's washed out!"

Another pun. Great.

As I conversed with Swirl, I kept my eye on the fight. Spout's energy was expended in the first round, and he wasn't faring much better against that snubbull.

"No! Spout! Mat Block!"

"Go for the kill, Fetch. Blast his face with a blast of sunshine!"

The blast of sunshine happened to be a well-coordinated Solar Beam. Spout didn't get the mat up in time and came face to face (literally) with the bean. Spout cried in shock as the force pushed him against the floor. He practically skidded in the dirt all the way to a displeased Amber. She sighed as she casually bounced the pokeball on the floor and sucked in the frog inside.

"Had enough yet?" Shouted the mienshao.

"Don't get cocky just yet, darling. You still have three more to go. Dewey-"

"I'm on it!"

"Now Mr. Dewey is entering the fray! Can Fetch survive, let's find out!"

Ignoring the announcer, the sceptile sprinted to the snubbull. Amber ordered the plant type to fire razor leaf after razor leaf at the bulldog. Fetch himself chose to dodge and get as close to Dewey as possible. His fist turned into steel and threw a flurry of punches, doing his best to land a shot. That's Bullet Punch, a steel move. I'm pretty sure I learned somewhere that snubbull are weak to steel.

Back to the question.

"How did they figure out the typing thing though? Overcoming the type weakness I mean?"

"They haven't gotten rid of type weakness, they just found a way for pokemon to harness moves that their species can't normally learn.' Swirl explained. "It's too complex to explain on the fly but basically they introduce you in an environment where that pokemon will be face to face with the element of that type. Weak to ice, throw them in a freezer. Water? A pool. Fire? A furnace and so on."

"That seems a bit dangerous."' I pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe to you." Poseidon leaned into his chair, it was very clear to me he just wanted to go home. "We pokemon are not as fragile, and even then they have safety precautions and whatever. The real challenge is actually learning how to do it. There's only so much TM's can do."

"Pokemon still use TM's?" I asked.

"Shh, it's getting towards the good part." Burger whispered to no one in particular. He and Shell's eyes were glued to the fight. The mienshao has a aura of confidence while the infernape was visibly getting impatient

The mienshao pointed down to the ground. "Ghost Tongue on his leg, trip him!"

Fetch extended his mouth. A large, purple and transparent tongue slapped Dewey in the snout before twisting around and wrapping around his right leg. Dewey cringe in disgust as he pulled and pulled away to no success.

"Looks like Fetch's got Dewey in a hold! It looks like a very sticky situation!"

"God, why does Ghost Tongue have to be a thing! Ew! Just use Pound, dude." Amber huffed. Dewey used his free leg to stomp the ground; the shockwave was enough to get the snubbull off him. As the dog bounced on the dirt, the sceptile still came after him.

"So about the TM's-"

"They're still used, mostly in schools or online. They regulate the more powerful stuff when it comes to the web so in-person classes are usually the way to go. Well… actually if you think about it, you don't even need a class for TM's; your brain takes care of the rest. Instant learning is a godsend. Shame it only applies to moves, I have so many better things to do than going to school."

That I have to agree with him on. I'm already getting sick of school.

"And dojos I guess are… actual dojos? Like karate?"

"Pfft. As if." Darkness Chipped in.

"They're kind of are if you think about it." Said Swirl. "I mean they operate like one. I know for a fact they have two different dojos for the average joe and the guild ones. They feel more intense than those karate movies Leafy showed me though. I'm still trying to learn fire."

"Wait… you're part of a dojo?"

"You bet! My bro and Leafy go to the same dojo as me. We do it for fun and we all have memberships. Darkness doesn't though, she thinks it's too lame."

"I didn't say that. I only said it's kind of unnecessary. The TM's are more than enough for me." Darkness interjected.

Membership? I always wondered how the pokemon handled managing their moves ever since the war. I know a lot of stuff comes natural for them but this whole overcoming natural typing thing is certainly something out of left field.

"Use Ground Pound!"

Following Salders advice, Fetch raised one leg up high, high enough to reach above his head and slammed it into the floor. The hardened soil cracked under the amount of force given out.

"Jump over it and Drain Punch the smug off his face!"

Dewey smirked and ran full sprint at the dog. He timed his jump so he would jump over the shockwave. He was still moving towards his opponent, with a big huff he delivered a nasty punch to the little guy's face.

It didn't seem like the move was leeching energy off him, but it didn't matter. If I had to guess, he must have hit the right spot because Fetch was knocked out instantly. The dog rolled over a couple of times before lying there on the grass with a silly look on his sleeping face. The crowd went ballistic. Salder frown as she sucked up another one of his teammates.

"AND FETCH IS DOWN! LOOK AT THAT PUNCH! THAT WAS ONE HECK OF A KO!"

"Good job, Dewey! Remind me to get you some extra pizza when this is done!" Amber shouted. Dewey answered with a tired nod.

"Boulder! It's all up to you now! Give them hell!" Salder eyed the nidoking, visibly shaking her hand as her finger went stiff pointing at the sceptile. The nidoking nodded and stepped forward without uttering a single word.

"NOW HERE IS THE MUSCLE, BOULDER HAS ENTERED THE RING! WILL DEWEY BE ABLE TO SURVIVE? LET'S FIND OUT!"

I saw Dewey gulped on the jumbotron. Did he fear he was going to lose that badly?

"Calvin?" Darkness tapped me on the shoulder.

I snapped my head. "Sorry, distracted. As I was saying… you guys overcome your type weaknesses?" I asked.

"Nope." Said Swirl

"Too hard at the moment." Poseidon clarified. "Only Leafy managed to get the hang of it. He uses fire."

That peaked my interest. "Really? Leafy, is that true?"

"Wow, Amber is looking pretty nice today. Sweet." Leafy muttered.

"Leafy?" The monkey snapped out of it and looked at me bug-eyed.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry. What? I was just trying to watch the fight… yeah… yeah."

Okay… I'm going to ignore that… for now. "Leafy, can you use fire type moves?"

He relaxed and waved it off. "For sure man, I got pretty far in training. It was pretty weird when I first tried, I couldn't get over the feeling of heartburn but boy was it worth it! I can now start fires whenever I want! It's awesome."

Swirl blinked slowly, then narrowed her eyes like a monkey. "Leafy–"

"Just joking, Swirl. I'm not that crazy." Leafy chuckled and shrugged it off, preferring to focus his attention to the arena. "I don't really use it that much, really. At most I do it to keep myself warm or just to toast bread. Pretty handy."

"That's all you use it for? You spent all that hard work just to toast bread?" Poseidon recoiled in disbelief before facepalming. "Leafy. I swear to Arceus the more I spend time around you the less you make sense."

"My mom and dad don't like me getting into fights, and when that involves moves, you can bet crazy stuff will go down. Besides, I don't like throwing the first punch. You know how the adults freak out about public battles. It's just so different now."

"Public battles? What are you talking about?"

"You know… like battles… but in public. The adults don't like it because they think it's dangerous."

"Dangerous? What are you talking about? Pokemon have battled against each other for centuries. I have plenty of memories of pokemon duking it out in public square. What's the big deal here?"

"Cal, remember when I said the Institute was focused on types? Well apparently they found ways to make… the moves a tad bit stronger."

"Stronger? How?"

"Um… mainly meditations and supplements. The moves of back then are nowhere near as strong as the moves of today. I know some moves that were once considered weak were buffed to the point they would be able to level a house."

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"They're always worried about property damage." Poseidon lamented. "It always comes down to money."

"It's not just money, Poseidon!" Swirl retorted. "Pokemon society is much more structured nowadays, and since moves get buffed up there's a good deal that someone will get hurt."

"Moves have been regulated enough, Swirl." Poseidon argued. "You think damping moves to the point where they become nothing more than party tricks or cheap entertainment is the best option? It's unnatural!"

"No, it's not. It's common sense. You know of the Black Typing Markets! How the criminals strive to get stronger and more powerful. We have technology that can accomplish the stuff we can do but more reliably and safer!"

"The tech is not even out yet! You expect the criminals to listen? No they won't! They'll just try to get stronger. Seriously, why–"

"Arceus, can you two let that issue go for once?" Darkness muttered, her expression was that of frustration. "We're supposed to have a good time here."

"Kids, what's with all the racket? Did something happen?" Shell was directing her attention to us now. It was hard to see due to the lighting but I was certain she had an eyebrow raised. Burger was also looking our way. "Why were you yelling?"

Swirl rubbed the back of her frosty head with a sheepish grin. Poseidon frowned, folded his arms and continued to watch the fight. The ice cream cone stammered.

"W-Well you see-"

"AND DEWEY IS OUT OF THE COMPETITION! WHAT A BLOW BY THE BOULDER!"

My head snapped back to the fight. Inside a small crater, laid an unconscious Dewey. I can practically see the swirls in his eyes, so many bruises and cuts on his body. Amber snarled then sucked in the sceptile in her ball. The nidoking had a couple of scratches and only one bruise… god she is not even panting! How strong is this chick?

"Well, well, well!" Spoke the mienshao. She playfully pulled out a pirate doubloon and flicked it in the air, smirking ever so slightly with each flip. "This should be interesting. Hit me with your best shot!"

Amber clenched her teeth, snapping her head to Blister. Blister gulped and nodded. Nidoking smiled, I could have sworn I saw her laugh.

---

Despite Blister's best efforts, he couldn't defeat the massive hulk of fine-tone flesh. He definitely got the worst of the beatings, and he didn't really last that long compared to his teammates. Amber, with stiff movements, lifted up her ball once more to take in her last pokemon.

Although Blister went down, he still got a good amount of hits in. I can see the nidoking was panting, but only slightly so. Salder flipped her coin at a quicken pace, she darted her eyes between the cheering crowd and a frustrated Amber. She smirked once before then cleared her throat in an exaggerated manner.

"AND BLISTER IS DOWN. I REPEAT, BLISTER IS DOWN!"

As I tried to ignore the deafening roars of the crowd, I scooted close off the edge of my seat, Amber lowered her head down. I couldn't see her eyes do the positioning of the lights. A splotch of darkness covered her face like a mask. She didn't say anything as Salder continued to flip that oh so shiny coin.

"It's two against one, dear. Just give up, Miss Amber! We all know where this will lead to–"

"How about you shut up and bark your orders to your dog." Amber looked at a nearby aid and nodded. The aid, a wigglytuff, ran to Amber's side. The simian handed her all of her pokeballs. She then slowly strided to the field, both arms extended outwards. "It's not over till it's over! Am I right everybody!"

The crowd seemed to agree if it's any indication. Still wished they would learn to calm down though.

"THIS IS QUITE A NIGHT. MISS AMBER IS IN THE DANGER ZONE! CAN SHE WIN DESPITE THE ODDS–"

"Yeah we get it." Amber commented. Getting a small laugh from the crowd.

"Hmpt. So be it. Okay, Boulder do your thing. It's about time we wrapped this up anyways. Don't. Hold. Back." Salder pocketed the doubloon. Boulder only gave a nod, and cracked her fingers. She took a few steps forward, then tried to take Amber for a loop by suddenly sprinting forward. Full steam ahead.

Time slowed as the titan came within a hair's breadth of her. I adjusted my cap and squinted. She sidestepped to the left of Boulder and winded up her arm. The positioning of her head came in contact with the light. That's when it dawned on me.

She was smiling.

Frost circled her fist before it hardened to ice, a thick and hefty punch to the ribs threw Boulder off-balance and tumbled to the ground. Salder's eyes widened, the dubloon she held on nearly fell from her grasp. Boulder quickly got up and stared daggers at her. Amber didn't say anything and took a fighting stance.

"Last chance to forfeit, Boulder. Don't make me turn your rawhide to pebbles."

The nidoking leaped at her and prepared a bodyslam. Amber rolled under her before she fell and slapped her back with her tail, which transformed into a thick club of ice. It was like this for a moment or two. Nidoking tries to land a hit only for Amber to dodge and land a nice icy sucker punch.

Boulder may have the strength of a bear, but Amber has the wings of a butterfly and the stinger of a bee.

"So Amber can use ice? Nice to know." I commented.

"Not surprising, that girl is tough as nails. I hear she trains everyday for this stuff and that her friends have trouble keeping up."

"Have you seen her train?" I asked.

"Once." Darkness answered. I saw her jump and sit in a kiddie pool full of ice once. Stay there until the ice melted; didn't get so much as a cold.

My eyes widened, and the crowd yet signified that another contestant had fallen. A quick glance confirmed my suspicions. Amber stood over the unconscious titan with a bright smile. With one foot on the floor and one on the beast, she gave the crowd a quick wave then directed her attention to Salder.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT FOLKS! THE BOULDER IS DOWN! I REPEAT, THE BOULDER IS DOWN!"

The lone pirate teeth chattered with anger as she finally sucked in her last partner. Another aid rushed to her side and took her balls. Salder rolled up the sleeves of her uniform. "It was always going to come down to this wasn't it?"

"Only a matter of time." Amber's fists froze over until they were nothing more than rudimentary boxing gloves. "Ready to wrap up the grand finale, pegleg"

Salder cracked her necks and took up a martial fighting pose. She was standing on one foot… not her toes but her balance didn't even falter. Both of her fists were surrounded by water; it was Aqua Punch. "Gladly."

The infernape ran at Salder at high speed, delivering a flurry of punches to her face. Sadly for her, the mienshao prepared and ducked and sidestepped. Salder kicked the ground, getting dust in Amber's eyes. She stammered back for a second, but a second was all Salder need to get a nice watery kick to the side of Amber's head.

Amber massaged her temple but her opponent kept going with her assault with more Aqua Punches, wrapping it up with Fury Swipes. The monkey blocked most of the attacks but was still gaining damage from each swing of the arms. Amber slowly guided her tail behind the mienshao and wrapped it around her neck. Salder screamed in surprise as Amber lifted her opponent to her eye level. She smiled as she cracked her knuckles with glee and began to deliver Ice Punch after Ice Punch. She was literally using her as a punch bag. Wow.

The announcer was getting tired at this point. He was shouting so loud for so long I could see him struggling to keep up with the fight. As the wigglytuff rushed to hand the man a water bottle, I became mesmerized by the sheer insanity taking place on stage. I thought these girls' rivalry was a joke?

Salder in a fit of panic let go of her neck and form a large ball of aura in her palms, Aura Sphere. Then she projected the aura into Amber's face, causing her to let go and skid across the floor. I cringed.

"Arceus, they're really out for blood aren't they?' I asked.

"Calvin, this sport makes soccer people pale in comparison when it comes to crazy. Darkness added. "I mean some of the fans here in other countries riot when their team doesn't win. It's ridiculous."

"Don't soccer fans do that too?" Leafy said.

"Yeah, but they were always like that. Pokemon fans used to be level-headed, but nowadays people are losing their head over a damn game. It's pretty sad. I swear these people act like children more than anything else.

"Try not to let them hear you say that." Poseidon commented. "Oh, I think this match is just about over."

"What makes you say that?"

He answered and gestured to the field. "Take a look."

I turned and saw Amber and Salder still duking it out with their fists. At this point, bruises were appearing all over their chests and faces. Both were visibly exhausted and were a bit sluggish in their movements. Salder tried to swing a punch but was too slow. Her inaction allowed Amber to swoop in behind her and put the mienshao in a headlock. By the looks of it, Amber's arms were wrapped pretty tightly around her opponent.

The announcer got close to the two and crouched. He raised a hand and began slapping the ground. "10!"... "9!"... "8!"

The mienshao swung her arms back to smack Amber in the face, but her extremities were not long enough to quite reach her. Amber smiled.

"7!"... "6!"... "5!"

Salder's movement were slowing down. The crowd joined in with the chant.

"4!"... "3!"... "2!"

Salder stopped moving at this point. My friends, Burger, Shell joined in with the chant. I shrugged my shoulders and counted along. When in Rome right?

"1!"... "0!"... "GAME! WE HAVE A WINNER! EVERYONE GIVE IT UP FOR MISS AMBER!"

Amber let go of Salder, who slumped onto the floor in unconsciousness. The announcer roused the crowd with his theatrics and everyone was happy to take the bait. As the aids sucked in Salder in her pokeball, the spotlights focused on her and her likeness soon appeared on the jumbotron.

Amber took note of the screen and waved back to the crowd, bowing. If I didn't go deaf before I certainly would now, all I heard was cheering and shouting. I can see some of the people were getting too rowdy and had to be escorted by security guards. Guess Darkness wasn't kidding. Still I took it in good stride and joined the fun.

Amber stopped moving, she was looking at our direction and finally noticed us, noticed me. The infernape gave a sly smile and waved back to us, giving us a slow wink to boot. I swore Leafy would have fainted if she kept it up.

Still, it was a fun fight.

---

After that battle, Amber was awarded a large trophy and she gave a nice victory speech before heading off from the arena. After that there were multiple other pokemon battles, and some acts from the nearby circus before the show came to a close. We were heading out to the parking lot, dead tired but satisfied over the kickass battles we just watched.

"Did you see that?!" Leafy cried, as he punched the air and made 'whooshing' noises with his lips. "When Amber went pow with the ice fists and put the pirate in her place. She didn't even break a sweat!"

"I told you Amber is strong." Darkness replied. "I can't think of anyone that can compare to her strength."

"I'm still amazed that she managed to learn her opposite types. I need to ask her one of these days how. Maybe she could help me teach a thing or two."

Yeah I have to agree with that sentiment. That fight was indeed incredible, but there was something that kept bothering me about it. "It was pretty cool, but I'm kind of confused why Spark didn't show. You would think that since this is their big break he would be there."

"Spark has been known to flake out in a battle on occasion. He doesn't explain why though." Swirl acknowledged. "Although he seems to be doing that more recently–"

"Spark is just a busy guy, Swirl. Being a pokemon trainer is hard work." Burger quickly interrupted, I could have sworn I saw him gulp. Why did he gulp? Wait, did I just see his eyes dart from side to side– "Plus, he has work outside of training. It's a lot to keep track of."

Darkness raised an eyebrow. "Why would he need to find work outside of being a trainer? A job like that will pay the bills."

"Sweetie, Spark doesn't live in our neighborhood. The house he lives in is more expensive than ours." Shell's explanation satisfied Darkness, as she shrugged. Eventually, the car came into sight.

"There it is. Finally, It's past my bedtime. I can't wait to get a good night's sleep." Poseidon yawned, looking at the car with such longing. It was then I saw another car a couple of meters to the left of us. It was Amber, she still carried her pokeballs on her belt and she was with… Hoffman? They were crowding around the car, whispering to each other.

Maybe I should go say goodbye to them? It's worth it. I tapped Shell on the shoulder, she whispered to me. "Yes, Cal?"

"Can I go say goodbye to Amber before she leaves? I hadn't gotten the chance to congratulate her yet since the fight ended." I pointed to the van where she was at. Shell bit her lip in contemplation before nodding.

"Alright, bud. But make it quick."

With her approval, I crossed the road, being mindful of any cars coming. I was honestly planning to say hi before we went on the road. But that's when I heard their whispers.

"-ome on, Amber! He's been in the hospital for the fifth time this year. We both know that is not a good sign."

"Hoff, will you please chill out? Spark is a fighter, a simple cough is not going to put him down."

"What he has is more than a cough, girl! I'm worried about–"

"The money problem I know, but dude, you're overreacting man. The money we get from the battles combined with your job at that food joint will cover more than enough of the cost. We still have money left over too."

"Granted, but Spark is the leader here, Amber. Spark and I are supposed to come up with the strategies together. If–"

"Dude, keep your voice down. Let's just take it to the car before someone hears us."

"Too late." Hoffman tilted his head to the side and remained silent. Amber in turn twisted around intake a sharp breath. I remained motionless, darting my eyes between the two.

Hospital? Spark couldn't come because he was in the hospital? Why is that, the dude looks perfectly healthy on TV… then yet again things don't always appear what they seem. Wait, did Hofffman say he was working with Spark?

"...Hi Calvin." Said Amber.

It was awkward to respond, but staying silent was worse. "Hi Amber… It was a nice fight back there. I wanted to congratulate you."

"Yeah… I saw you and your friends in the audience. I, um… appreciate it… Calvin?"

"Yeah?"

"How much of that did you hear?"

"Just about the parts of Hoffman working with you and the hospital. What's wrong with Spark?"

Amber stepped back in panic, visibly sweating. Hoffman, still dressed in his work uniform gave a soft sigh.

"Nothing's wrong with Spark! You see um… we were just… yeah that's it! We were just roleplaying." Amber said with exaggerated confidence.

I couldn't resist giving a deadpan expression. "Roleplay? You decided to roleplay in a parking lot? What are you roleplaying as?"

"Well, you see–"

"Amber, stop the kid already knows the gist." Hoffman sighed once more and leaned against Amber's van. "You heard that right. Spark's in the hospital."

"Hoff." Amber spoke with disbelief. Hoffman raised a hand.

"Amber, Calvin is smart and he's not the type to babble secrets to the paparazzi. You're not going to tell anyone is that right, Calvin."

"Hoffman, that's not–"

"Absolutely." I firmly answered. "I won't tell anyone I just… just surprised he didn't show up. What's wrong with Spark? Is he sick?"

Amber huffed and folded her arms. I think she was planning what to say next… or was she embarrassed? "It's just… look. I don't want to speak on Spark's behalf because this is his thing you know?"

"Got it?"

"He's just… come down with something and it's really been hard on him. We didn't want people to know just yet because… the media always sensantialize this sort of thing. It's a private matter and he's a private so you see what I'm trying to say here?"

Totally. Even though we're in the new world, I have my doubts about the media. They're always chasing for a good story. "Don't worry. I promise not to tell. I just wanna know if he's alright. So…?"

Her expression immediately relaxed. "Oh, he's fine. He'll get over it."

"Amber-"

"He'll be fine, Hoffman. Give it a rest."

"Speaking of Hoffman… hoff… why are you and Spark working together? Didn't you say you were working on… strategies?

Hoffman opened the van door and sat on the edge of the interior of the van. I could see his eyes, they were baggy and he frequently rubbed his eyes. I wonder how tired he really was–he looked like he was gonna fall asleep any minute.

"I mean... You don't have to tell me if you don't want to… if… Hoff?"

"You're very good at connecting the dots.,, what do you think I'm doing exactly?"

"You're a trainer… alongside… Spark?" I whispered. Amber looked from side to side nervously. Hoffman took a bottle of water from the car and began drinking it. "I thought you were a cashier?"

"Only part-time. This is my real job. I… Spark needed help and found me. I thought the idea was crazy but… he convinced me to join. And it snow-balled from there."

"...Does anyone else know?"

"Beside the rest of the team and you… no." Hoffman took a deep breath and gazed at the stars. A small sad smile came on his face. "I… we didn't want to take the heat. And we're far too far in to back out now. I just.. If people knew…"

It would cause an uproar. That's what he is trying to convey. It's not illegal for humans to enter the tournaments but I definitely know it's a strong cultural taboo to a lot of pokemon. Especially the anti-human crowd. I don't know if they would be barred from battling, but… it would bring them attention. Whether it'll be good or bad at the end of the day is anyone's guess. But… it's not like they're cheating. They're still playing by the rules. And if Hoffman is an integral part of the team and if his friends are okay with it…

"I think it's cool." I said.

"Huh?" choked Amber.

"Hm?" Hoffman piped up.

"I know I promised to not tell, but even if your secret got out, if people make a ruckus about it. I still think you're cool. I actually think what you're doing is brave. I… just want to put that out there."

Hoffman's smile turned into a genuine one. "Thanks little man. I–"

"Calvin! It's time to go! Calvin?" Shell hollered from across the parking lot. Amber chuckled.

"I think that's your cue, dude. Like to stay and chat but I have to drop the rest of these guys to the nearest center." Amber said, showcasing her teams' pokeballs

"Yeah, I have to go, it's getting pretty late. Have a good night you two. Chao!"

I waved them goodbye as they entered the van. I came to Shell's car and took my seat. As we drove off I kept looking at the stars, for some reason, they looked a lot brighter.