I lost count of how many days I let pass me by after just one. I supposed I could have taken how many events I played through in The Goddesses Above (which I had kept track of) and multiplied it by the event lifespan of seven days, but didn't care to. Every time I went into the cyber café and logged into the game, I had more fun the whole day than any moment in my journey.

I had until next June, when this coming school year ended, to get eight gym badges. A whole eleven months, about. It would be fine.

Though, my beef wasn't really about pokémon or my journey. It was with that horrible experience in Bulk Up Fitness that lasted about five minutes. Refusing to look back on it lest I wallowed in my own patheticness, I just didn't think about it at all. The Goddesses Above, baby, and nothing more was on my mind. That was all that I really cared about.

Battling wasn't even that fun, anyway.

Once I finally got a rare drop from an enemy in the game and upgraded my weapon, I logged out and stood up. I timed it perfectly, too; I exited my computer station just in time for my paid session to expire. 8:43, so said my watch seven minutes fast.

I stepped outside the building and let the cool evening air surround me. Well, as cool as midsummer air got in the city; it's late-ish July right now. For some reason, the street outside the café sparsely had passersby at night, I observed over the past few weeks.

The streetlight flickered above me at the intersection just as the pedestrian light turned red. Feeling uneasy at just that, I sent Rose out and helped her carry her log. That had been the way things went every time I returned to the poké center at night. Rose seemed the most bodyguard-esque pokémon in my party. She complied without issue, so I assumed she was fine with it.

With a grunt, the timburr tried lifting the log on her own again. Maybe I should have taken an hour each day to bring her to her gym as a thank-you, but my pride wouldn't allow me to step through that door again.

"Green light." I took one end of the log and pulled her gently to move along. Just as I stopped to let Rose jump off the sidewalk ledge, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around and came face-to-face with a guy with a blue and brown dog by his feet. That dog… I immediately didn't like it. Looked too much like that stoutland that wreaked havoc on Rose and my sanity.

I stepped back out of instinct, almost causing Rose to fall down given the death grip she had on her log. What did this guy want so late at night? And yes, 9-ish PM was late at night.

I waited for him to talk first. Hopefully Rose would act out if he tried anything. The guy flashed his Xtransceiver at me and said, "When trainers' eyes meet, battle starts. That's the rule of the road!"

He had to be kidding me. Said who? Wasn't that just a phrase fed to beginning trainers to ease them into battles? Anyway, he wasn't joking. He stood there, pointing at his Xtransceiver, waiting for me to respond. Seriously? I didn't even look him in the eye. I purposely kept my gaze on the sidewalk to avoid eye contact all the time.

"Uh, well…" Man, I barely talked at all since I started going to that cyber café regularly. My voice probably sounded mangled as all hell.

"Let's go!" Why did he have so much energy?

On one hand, I didn't care about battling. On the other hand, I was tired. But, on another hand, Rose beckoned the guy's dog toward her, and it couldn't have hurt to win money off this jerk. "Sure…" Instant regret for no reason at all commenced.

"Alright." We registered on Spar Star and stood opposite each other along the sidewalk. But seriously, the sidewalk? Could we have picked any more of an inconvenient place to do our stupid little battle?

The guy, Frankie, wanted a one-on-one. Rather than wasting energy contemplating someone, I picked Rose, who jumped out on the ready. Frankie's dog, a herdier, was our opponent.

"Rose, let's make this quick."

"Use takedown!" Way to give me a chance. The guy's herdier charged at Rose with reckless abandon.

"Uh, uh…" I forgot what moves Rose knew for a second. "Low kick."

The timburr took a sidestep and stuck her leg out. Once the herdier came close enough, she swung it up, hard, causing him to stop, lift into the air a few inches, then fall to the ground. As Rose brought her leg back down, she struck the dog again on the head before resuming her battle stance.

"Get up and bite, Jack!"

The dog came in hot again, this time with his fangs bared. Not knowing whether or not it would work, I banked on Rose's apparent brute strength and said, "Pound."

She punched Jack right in the face. More like he ran straight into it. Either way, the herdier got sent back and panted heavily.

"Oh, no. Are you alright? Maybe we should sto-"

A loud growl sounded out; Jack cut his trainer off and barked at him. More like scolded? That's what it looked like. "If you're sure." But he was the guy who proposed the battle! "Then roar, and breathe for a second."

Is he feral or something? I thought once he gave the command. Roar? Jack's wailing brought me out of my thoughts. He leaned close to the ground and barked with all he had. My heart pounded the instant the noise penetrated my ears. Were they trying to wake the neighborhood?

Rose got blown back a step, but held her ground. Probably due to the weight of her log, I assumed. That was, until she broke into a scowl of madness and ran back to me, then wailed on my bag until I fumbled her poké ball out. Once done, she jumped and returned herself. The fuck? On her way back in, I felt another poké ball wiggle. I knew that roar's frequency screwed with poké ball tech somehow, but didn't care to remember what.

"Huh?" The next thing I knew, Gummy stood where Rose once did. He turned around and looked at me expectantly. Oh, boy. "Later. If you win." I knew what he wanted.

Suddenly, Gummy was at the ready for battle. I looked back to Jack, who already caught his breath during the little surprise. Well, Rose had the type advantage, but how bad could Gummy be? Seeing as though we never battled together, and when I caught him, he threw the battle…

"Surprised?" Frankie lifted his baseball cap to smooth over his hair. "Oh, well. Takedown again."

"Uh…" I quickly flipped open to Stat Star and checked what moves Gummy knew. Only three. "String shot."

As I expected, he shot out a sticky string at Jack, wrapping him tight. What I didn't expect was Gummy jumping into the air once his move landed. Although the string shot seemed to slow Jack down, the dog didn't stop charging ahead. So, Gummy got pulled along with him like the string shot was a lasso.

"What the?" Frankie said. That was my line. Yee-haw, cowboy.

"What are you doing?" I said just as Jack stopped his takedown. Since he wasn't being pulled along anymore, Gummy dropped straight down. And landed on Jack's back somehow. "Oh my god, what a miracle. Was that on purpose?" I actually wanted to laugh.

Gummy turned around to smile at me. No, he couldn't be going above and beyond just because I promised him it if he won. Yes, it.

"Oh, uh, bug bite!" Back on the road of predictability. Gummy chomped down on the herdier's tail and gnawed like crazy, practically chewing it.

Jack shook himself, then dropped and rolled on the ground. He flung the sewaddle off like a pest and rubbed his tail against the concrete sidewalk like he was scratching it, all the while whimpering.

"Don't worry, he's off of you," Frankie called to no avail. Jack kept whipping his tail against the sidewalk.

So that bug bite was more of a nuisance than a pain? Good to know. "Try razor leaf?" The leaf cape behind Gummy's head glowed bright green before he sent three copies of it flying at Jack. I didn't bother trying to figure out how that worked.

"Oh, no!" Because Jack was occupied with scratching himself, he was an easy target. All three leaves managed to strike his back. Upon impact, each burst into a cloud of green dust. At least it was pretty. I saw the string shot around Jack get severed from the move.

Once the green dust died down, I looked to see Jack on the ground, not trying to get up. His trainer ran and hugged the dog before passing him a sitrus berry. I stood awkwardly waiting for him to finish up. Meanwhile, Gummy tapped my shoe and looked poised to climb up my leg.

"Okay, fine. Just get off me." I bent down and, as discreetly as I could, slipped him a stick of gum. He chewed like a madman and hummed in what seemed like bliss.

After three minutes of Frankie coddling Jack, I walked up to them and hesitated before saying, "He alright?"

"Yeah, it's good." Frankie let go of his herdier and stood up. His dog then followed and sniffed at Gummy, who stood on my shoe for some reason or another. Man, was he heavy, too. Still chewed on his gum, though.

"Cool." How was I supposed to give Gummy the boot? My foot became numb in a matter of seconds. Staring at Gummy, I noticed a glimmering silver string around Jack's back legs in my peripherals. "He's still got a little string shot on him." I pointed in case he couldn't hear me

"Oh, thanks." Frankie bent down and ripped the string off with care. "Anyway, good battle. I thought we'd win after using roar, but I guess we gotta work on that strategy."

"Yeah, it was a close one." Just go along with pleasantries.

"Anyway, you won." Frankie tapped his Xtransceiver, prompting me to do the same.

"Alright." My win ratio went higher, and I had to admit, it felt kind of nice. Not the battle aspect of it or anything. That would always be a draining experience. No, I meant winning.

As in being better than someone. I didn't care about what that said about me since I would never say that aloud.

"Not so fast!" I looked to the source of noise to see another guy running to Frankie. "You lost?"

"Yeah, man."

"Oh. Then let me battle you!" The second guy held his fist up and smiled. I wasn't sure if those two gestures went together.

"Uh, I…"

"I'm even stronger than Frankie. Come on." Even more of a reason not to accept his challenge. But, feeling pressure as the two guys stared at me, I reluctantly lifted my Xtransceiver and let that speak for itself.

And so, I now faced this George guy. How and why this happened, I wished I knew. I just wanted to go back and sleep.

"Go, Gus!" George sent out some mushroom with a poké ball motif on its head. Frankie stood next to him, holding his herdier in his hands.

I scanned the pokémon, a foongus, and sent my choice out accordingly. To type advantage, that is, not preference. "Tempest." Regret, regret. I should have chosen Pepper. Yeah, why did I pick Tempest over Pepper? I assumed it would be in bad taste to send someone else out, though.

"Toxic!" Gus's poké ball cap glowed purple. He cast out scary purple spores that drifted to Tempest. The sheer amount that he sent out made it very unlikely to dodge it.

"Uh, Tem-"

A loud chirp cut me off. Not waiting for me, Tempest flapped her wings and cast gust, causing the toxic to disperse in every direction except hers.

"I don't get you, Tempest." Sometimes she was as dumb as a board, other times sassy or quick on her feet. "Then air cutter." One, two. Of course we were back to the repetition game. "Air cutter."

"Gus, use mega drain."

"Air cutter!" Damn it all. At least Tempest hit hard when she wanted to. She let it rip once I gave the word, just as Gus started charging his move. From three clean hits, Gus fell back and didn't rise.

And he was stronger than Jack? Well, maybe if toxic hit, probably.

"Ah, man." George picked his foongus up and cradled him in his arms. We finalized our battle results and went on our separate ways. No need to linger on two random dudes that challenged me in the middle of the street at night to battle.

I stumbled to the poké center with a slightly elated heart. Tonight, I was better than those two guys. I wanted to ride that high for as long as I could.

~X~

Early next morning, I set out to go to the cyber café again. Except once I stepped out the front door of the poké center, I came face-to-face with a bisharp wearing a choker similar to Pawn's like an armband on his right arm. He held his arms out and blocked me from going forward.

That feeling I got, the sound of this guy's breathing, that we perfectly stood literally eye-to-eye… He was Miles! On cue, right after my little epiphany, the bisharp jabbed his arms at me, faking stabs. "No, what? Please stop."

"What the hell are you still doing here?" rang a familiar voice. I looked to my left to see Joel coming towards us. How long had it been since we last met in-person? "It's been a month."

"Why are you here?" I countered with. A weak counter.

"You haven't given a badge update in forever. I guessed you were still in Castelia, and I came at the right time to see I was right." Despite his low volume, I felt the frustration radiating from him. "I'll ask again. What are you doing here?"

"I-"

"Did you beat Burgh yet?'

"No-"

"Did you lose?"

"Hold-"

"Well then? Why haven't you left Castelia yet?"

Only then did he give me ample time to answer. But what was I supposed to say? The truth? How shameful. After flapping my mouth open and closed a bunch with no sound coming out, I finally said, "Gym."

"It was the gym, huh? Because you lost, you've been farting around here for a whole month?" He grabbed my sleeve and dragged me back into the poké center and out to the battlefields, Miles blocking off any chance of escape.

"No, the gym-"

"Then come at me. Come on. Miles."

"What?" The bisharp brushed past me, purposely nudging my arm on the way to stand in front of his trainer on the side of the battlefield opposite where Joel left me.

"Use everyone you have. Try to knock Miles."

Oh, was that impossible. Why was this happening? He didn't even let me give a full answer before he forced this on me. Did he assume I meant the pokémon gym? I meant Bulk Up Fitness! Even so, why did he care so much that he even hunted me down to do this?

"Uh…"

"We're not moving until you try. At least try. You can do that much, right?" How insulting.

"But-"

"I'm waiting." Wow, would I have never guessed that we would be in this position in a million years.

Knowing he was true to his word, I reluctantly sent out Pepper. Good God, did this have a predictable outcome.

"Your move first." So Miles was going to attack too? We were screwed.

"Ember…" Cute as she was, Pepper still only knew ember and tackle. With all her might, she let go of a long breath of fire bits straight at her opponent.

Joel didn't say anything, and Miles didn't move a millimeter. The flame shot out and hit the bisharp on the chest. When the fire died out, Miles was completely unaffected. Like, not even a little black dust on his metal or anything.

"Night slash. Do it lightly." In a flash, Miles appeared in front of Pepper and tapped her on the head with a blade glowing purple. The tepig flinched away and groaned. I couldn't tell if it really hurt or not. What the hell was lightly supposed to mean?

"She's out. Next." Joel stood with his arms crossed. Miles returned to his starting position without instruction as Pepper and I were left wondering what happened.

"Uh…" So one hit outs? "Tempest."

Might as well use her now. Pepper trotted back to stand by my feet as Tempest landed on the field, clueless as she usually was in these situations. "Air cutter." One, two. "Air cut-"

"Iron head." Wasn't even going to let us charge up? Miles dashed up to the pidove and gave her a headbutt out of the air. "Next."

"Oh come on!" Even I knew this wasn't fair. At my brother's command, Tempest retreated to perch on Pepper's back. At least she wasn't really hurt. "Gummy."

"Goddamn, I can't believe he's Gummy."

Hardy har har. "Razor leaf."

"Sucker punch." Miles decimated the leaves with a glowing uppercut and knocked Gummy's head with it. "Next "

"What is this?" Seriously, there was no way in Hell this was happening. Gummy scuttled back to me and hung his head. I threw a stick of gum his way anyway. "Rose." The timburr made a come at me motion with her hand. At least she was raring to go. Couldn't say the same for me.

"Drop the log if you want even a ghost of a chance of lasting more than a minute." She actually complied.

"Brick break." Miles lunged forward with his hand poised for chopping, aiming extremely low to reach his opponent. Surprisingly fast for a guy his size and make. Rose took a stance that read like she wanted to take the move head-on.

"What are you doing? Oh my god, dodge it somehow." She seriously thought she could take it.

Next thing I knew, Rose squatted down and tuck-and-rolled through Miles's legs. By some miracle, his brick break created a wide-enough opening for the timburr to slip through unharmed. However, there had to be a catch.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Miles!" I was so enamored by Rose's sick dodge that I ignored the main problem: to collect himself after missing his strike, Miles bounced up after his arm struck the ground and pushed himself forward to land nicely.

Except, I was in his way. He was going to slam himself into me. All of his sharp, metal-ish appendages? Boy, would that hurt. In my shock, neither flight nor fight activated within me. What a cruel turn of events. Did bad things always have to happen? Sure happened more often than not at all.

Miles snapped his head at me and swung an arm out and stabbed his hand into the dirt. In an instant, he veered to his right and tumbled behind me. At the end of his painful-looking detour, the bisharp landed on his back only to flip onto his feet in no time. He let out a cool, sharp breath.

Miles sauntered back to his position in front of Joel while Rose and I watched him in awe. Impressive, I would admit. Not knowing whether or not it would be appropriate to shout a move out, I waited on my brother.

"Night slash."

"Low kick." Low volume, too. On my part, at least. Rose squatted again and braced herself, faintly glowing as she waited for Miles to attack her. "Bide at a time like this?"

Miles jet to Rose before coming to a dead stop in front of her. Only then did he thump her head with his move. That just made it more embarrassing.

"That's all you've got?" Joel approached Miles and they stood in front of me in sync, both crossing their arms and looking down on me. Looking down only because I bent down to pass Rose her log.

"I didn't say I wanted to battle." Tempest and Gummy sat on opposite ends of Rose's log as she tried (failed) to lift it while she grumbled to herself.

"Now what are you going to do? Quit?" Miles pushed me on the shoulders for added effect.

"What? No."

"Then what's the problem if you're not fazed by losing?" Joel took my hand and tapped my Xtransceiver through to Spar Star, specifically my win-loss ratio. The loss value was a searing eyesore, but it wasn't like it was something I could change.

"I said the problem was the gym."

"Burgh's not an asshole. What do you mean the problem is the gym?" How did he know Burgh so well? Eh, actually, if a gym leader were an asshole, they probably would be fired sooner or later.

"I meant the, the gym!" The name of it eluded me for a second.

"Which gym?"

"The gym." I flailed my arm out to point in the general direction of what I was talking about.

"Which gym?"

"The gym!" Goddamn, how many gyms were in Castelia City?

"Which gym?" He almost blew my ears out. I probably almost did the same to him. Luckily, no one was around at the moment. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The, the gym!" Fuck, man. I dug through my bag and pulled out my wallet. From there, I took out Rose's gym card. "Bulk Up Fitness!"

Joel snatched it from my hands and wheezed as he read through it. "Bulk Up Fitness, huh?"

"Yes." Finally.

"What the fuck about Bulk Up Fitness?" There we went again. He threw the card back at me, which I barely caught. "It's a good gym!"

"Stop saying Bulk Up Fitness!" Such a clunky name.

"Then what the hell's the problem?"

Only then did I get a window to answer. Man, had I been a spectator to our little conversation, I would probably be laughing my ass off. With my head focused on the absurdity of our situation, I forgot about the shame from Bulk Up Fitness. "I… I went to sign Rose up."

"Yes, she has a membership card, yes." Gee, the end, I guessed.

"But…" I took a deep breath and calmed myself down. The memory wasn't exactly the end if the world. A close second, though. "The worker thought I wanted to sign up myself. She really tried to sell me on it. Then I didn't want to do anything anymore, and kept going out to play The Goddesses Above."

Hopefully he could parse my bad explanation himself. He also played the game, and we sometimes went co-op. He stayed silent for a moment before sighing. "Did you even try challenging Burgh?"

Could he not guess? That wasn't even the issue. "No. What does that-"

"Then forget about Bulk Up Fitness. Beat Burgh, go to Nimbasa—No, Asperita Town. Go to that Bulk Up Fitness and beat that gym, and don't come back to Castelia, then." His tone was really condescending. In theory, that sounded like a plan. However, at this point, it was more like I was too lazy than I was so emotionally scarred by that experience to keep going.

"But I'm lazy." I had no qualms admitting that to Joel.

"Then that's too bad. You're challenging the gym now." He went around me and poked my back. "Go. Go on. Miles didn't actually hurt them."

I checked each of my pokémon out before I returned them. Indeed, it appeared as though the only damage dealt was to pride. At least, no one cried bloody murder. Except maybe a bitter Rose. "Owie."

Joel poked my shoulder especially hard. Miles did the same. Oh no. To avoid any more unnecessary pain, I started walking. Out the poké center and through the streets, to Castelia Gym we went. What a mess. Rather than walking, Joel more pushed me there. Like Pawn, except more forceful. At the door, he entered first with Miles behind me making sure I didn't get lost. Did this constitute as bullying?

Again, once inside the gym, I was blinded by a bright light. After my vision adjusted, I looked around the place to see a completely white room with what looked like silk and webs everywhere. Suspended in the air, connected by silk paths were several little hives made out of the same material. Yeah, this was the bug-type gym, alright. I felt itchy just looking at it.

"Welcome. How can I help you, Joel?" the man that pointed me to Castelia Studio weeks ago asked. At least, I thought it was the same guy. Either way, how did he know Joel?

"She's a challenger." My brother shoved me forward. "We're going straight up."

"Alright then, champ. Burgh's at the top of this gym." The man pointed up at the largest web hive. "Good luck."

Good luck? That was all I got? Even if he did say something else over his shoulder, Joel pushed me again into one of the hives on the ground floor, the one farthest to the left and back, so I didn't catch it. Inside, a narrow and long path led out and up at the exit.

Still with a knife to my back, I trudged along the road and sighed. This specific path went all the way to the top if I was seeing it right. However, it coiled around the walls of the gym in a spiral to the peak cocoon. I would have rathered stairs than this strange incline that was more akin to a slide than a bridge.

"Don't fall." That was the advice Joel gave me? Like I wanted to.

Beneath my feet, the silk bounced as I stepped and stuck to my shoes. Was this really safe? As we went up, I looked to the middle of the room and only then realized its intricacy. So artsy and complex. Each cocoon room must have been made with purpose, and it was all such a pure silverish-white.

Did the gym leader really have that much time on his hands? Or did he just have boatloads of money to throw at interior designers? Either way, it didn't help make the trek to the gym leader's chamber any easier.

I kept my head down as we walked, trying my best to ignore Miles and Joel poking me. How did Miles not break and fall through the webs? That would be a sight to behold.

A long while later, I took the last step leading to the top cacoon, not yet entering. I needed to catch my breath. And on the inside waited the gym leader? Hold on. We were moving way too fast. What did I even have to do?

Not letting me panic over this situation to my fullest extent, Joel and Miles gave me one final push into the room. Once inside, I stumbled and corrected myself in time to not have anybody see me fall flat on my face literally.

The floor? Oh, the floor. It was rainbow. That was the only word to describe it. At the back of the room, a man stood before an easel, a color palette in his hand with a paint brush in the other. He looked fashionable, I guessed, whatever that meant. Tall? Whatever, he was a dude all the same.

"Hm? Oh, Joel! Good to see you again. Here for another bout?" He set his paints to the side and strode up to my brother with his hand stuck out.

"Nice to see you again, Burgh. But no, not today. Maybe later." Joel shook the hand offered. How familiar were they? Battle buddies? But Burgh was a gym leader. I saw Joel discreetly rub the hand he shook with on his pants, a small orange stain forming as a result.

"Oh? Then what brings you today?" Burgh wiped a smidgen of green paint that marred his face. However, an orange one took its place. My brother didn't say anything about it, and neither did I. The gym leader then took out a handkerchief and properly cleaned himself.

"My sister will battle you." No, not a request, but a statement. Way to put me on the spot.

"You have a sister, do you?" Burgh offered me his now-clean hand. "How do you do? I am Burgh, leader of Castelia Gym."

I shook it and nodded with the most polite smile I could muster. His hand was surprisingly cold. "Eloise."

"How do you stack up to Joel?" He had to compare us right off the bat?

"Not well." I gave a dry laugh.

"She's a beginner." Way to not mince words.

"Then no gym badges yet, I would assume?" Burgh walked back to his painting station and opened a drawer from a small table to the side, retrieving a tray full of poké balls.

"No," Joel answered for me again.

"Alrighty, then." Burgh pulled out three of the capsules. He attached them to a small belt he wore that already had three poké balls on it. Did that mean he picked a baby team for me to battle against?

So we were doing this. It was too late to chicken out, if Joel would even let me. I was against the bug-type gym leader of Unova. So Pepper and Tempest. And I guessed Rose? I barely practiced with Gummy.

"Shall we begin?" Burgh tossed a poké ball and out came a swadloon. I only knew the species because I looked into Gummy when I caught him. "A three-on-three single battle it is!"

He might as well not have asked that. I stepped up and reluctantly grasped Pepper's poké ball. To go in guns blazing or to not, that was the question. If the gods or whatever above smiled down upon me and gifted me with infinite luck, I could breeze through this with Pepper alone. Sadly, that would never be reality. All I could do was send my little tepig out.

With a squeal, she looked around until she realized the situation we were in. Pepper then snorted out a small flame from her nose and bent her legs like she was going to jump forward. Well, at least she was happy. Couldn't say as much for me. I stayed quiet as I tried to set myself at ease in the weird position I found myself in. For some reason, Burgh waited on me to start.

"Er, ember." What, were you expecting tackle?

"Jump and use struggle bug, Bud." He said it so coolly, I thought I was doing something wrong. And jump? That thing with no legs?

I stood corrected as Bud sprung into the air to hover above Pepper. Before anything else happened: Bud? As in, plant bud? Anyway, the swadloon fell down and landed on top of Pepper. He then proceeded to wiggle and flail on top of her, leaping off once she snorted some fire from her nose out of instinct.

"What?" Did that do anything? I got my answer as some green energy bound Pepper like a net. It didn't seem to do lasting damage on top of the actual hit, at least at the moment, but it had to have had some detriment to her. What it was, I would figure that out soon enough. So sue me for not knowing bug types that well. "Try ember again."

Pepper took a deep breath and shot fire out once more. But this time, the flame seemed less potent than it had before. Instead of a full jet of fire, it was a hose spray of it. Like, instead of a bullet from a gun, it was a paint ball? Whatever, the point was that it seemed a bit weaker. Probably due to whatever effect struggle bug had.

"Don't be afraid to play with fire here, Eloise. The paint on the floor and walls is fire retardant." As Burgh said this, Bud dodged on his own. "After the disaster of… Never mind."

The hell? Don't leave me hanging, man. Tell the story. I wouldn't mind if we put the battle on hold for storytime. Of course, that wouldn't happen, so I needed to figure something out.

I would admit, I liked puzzles and brain teasers and all that stuff, but only when I knew the answer or could look it up without consequence. So this little gym battle didn't bode well with me if I had to find a way to not just beat Bud, but all of Burgh's pokémon without too many losses on my part.

Unpredictability was a sin. Anyone that thought otherwise would be wrong.

Apparently gym leaders fueled trainers' passion about battling through some means? I sure didn't feel a thing except stress at the moment. Adding insult to injury, Joel watched my every fumble in real time.

Ember wouldn't work on it's own. That was obvious. At least we only had one other option to work with. "Pepper, try tackle."

She blew smoke out her nostrils and dragged a hoof on the ground like a raging bull would. The next instant, she shot forward and threw herself against Bud, pushing them both back enough that they almost hit Burgh.

"Fast," Burgh noted. Yeah, I said the same thing before. Pepper was damn fast.

"Ember, go, go." I panicked, but managed to get the key word out. Pepper jumped off of Bud and stood just inches away from him. Then came the fire. From point-blank, she roasted the swadloon for a good few seconds with just one breath, after which she retreated to our half of the battlefield. That had to have done something.

"String shot, up above." Burgh snapped his fingers and waited for Bud. So Pepper didn't do that much damage? It was super, super effective against him, though.

The little bug rose and spit out string just like Gummy did toward the ceiling. By gyrating his body, Bud managed to make a thick lasso out of string shot falling down to surround Pepper. Damn, and I though only Gummy would use it that way. Guess no one ever really was unique in this world.

"Down!" Burgh made a dropping motion with his hand, prompting Bud to throw his face down, in turn making the string lasso fall.

Pepper glanced back at me. I wasn't sure if relying on me would be the smartest choice she ever made. "Ember. Set fire to it." It was just string, right? Gummy's string got cut by his own razor leaf, so fire would be even better, right?

Pepper breathed ember onto the string lasso. In seconds, the small flames she speckled onto the material grew and spread along the thread.

"Impressive." Oh? Do pray tell, sir. How the hell on Earth was that impressive? Fire plus flammable object equals big fire, right? How many times must he have seen this strategy? "I didn't expect that small ember to do that. Wait, Bud?"

At that last remark, I looked to the swadloon to see him desperately biting down on the string shot still in his mouth. I followed the string to see imminent danger: the fire spread to all stretches of the string shot, including down the strand leading directly to Bud's mouth.

"No, no, that's not good. Use razor leaf to sever it instead!" Wow, did the fire get pretty big. Flame retardant didn't mean completely immune to fire, though, huh? So, this cocoon could possibly catch on fire with all of us inside?

"Pepper, I gotta hand it to you." I couldn't not keep complimenting Pepper's wildfire. Mainly because of this: it spread so quickly that Bud couldn't help himself. He aimed his razor leaf at a section of the string shot still not on fire, but by the time the leaves came anywhere close to the string, it was already burning. So, the razor leaf became cinders upon impact, leaving the fire to jump all the way to Bud.

The fire engulfed the poor little swadloon. It blazed for only a few seconds before dying down. Once everything was done, Bud lay on the ground, making no effort to get back up.

"Bud's out," Joel announced.

"Indeed." Burgh walked up to his little partner and helped him stand. "You did great," he said as he returned Bud. He then tucked the ball into a small machine in the corner of the room, probably a healing pad.

That victory felt, I don't know, kind of bad? Like it was only due to luck that we burned Bud out of commission? Even so, Pepper dashed to my feet and yipped, glee clearly evident.

"I admit, that was very interesting. Nicely done." Did he really mean that? How many fire-types must he have seen in his lifetime as a bug-type gym leader? I didn't bother trying to read his face as I occupied my thoughts by looking at the char marks left on the floor from the burnt string shot lasso when it fell. Would I have to pay for that? "Are you ready for my next pokémon?"

No, not really. Of course I didn't say that. On a side note, it really only then hit me: was Burgh going easy on me? He seemed well acquainted with Joel, so there was a possibility. But my brother wasn't one to make life easier for me, I would tell you that for free. I wasn't one for honor or pride, but it would be pretty embarrassing if Burgh wasn't giving his all since I still struggled.

"Enkori, let's have fun." As in encore? Burgh sent out an orange hermit crab under a hefty rock. A dwebble, apparently. They couldn't learn encore, though, right? It had to just be a pleasant sounding name. But really, I've met a Bud, Jack, Gus, Miles… Well, I was partners with a Gummy, so never mind.

"Fun, he says," I said under my breath. Enkori posed a threat to Pepper as a rock type. But it wasn't like I had any better choices of my four. My tepig already had a battle, so she probably could have used a break, no matter how short. I immediately removed Tempest from the equation and got left with Rose and Gummy. And of the two, only one stood a chance against Enkori in theory.

I sent Rose out without tossing her ball. I just wasn't in the mood to. As expected on my part, two thumps resonated throughout the room, one being Rose and the other, of course, her log. This song and dance sure got old. We had to find another Bulk Up Fitness to go to. Not like I had the balls to go and cancel her membership now that everything was said and done. Even still, I held my breath and waited to see what would happen next.

~X~

From the ashes formed from self-destruction

rises a phoenix most undeserving

of a second chance that she threw away.

It's better to not try and not fail than to try and fail at all,

so I clipped the bird's wings from the start.

Yet she keeps trying to fly.

The sky stretches eternal, yet she keeps trying to fly.

She learns much too late the satisfaction of success

and jumps and falls and hurts herself in her endeavors,

but holds her tongue and catches a breeze of hope.

On it, her wings are freed, but she knows not how to use them.

So she falls again, but gets back up to keep trying

until finally, she breaks through the cage I put her in.

She immediately plunges herself into deep, unknown waters,

yet doesn't waver in the slightest while radiating a brilliant glow.


Author's note: After this and the next chapter, I'll try to steer clear of too many battle-heavy chapters. Even still, let's see how Eloise deals with this.