The next morning, I message Vanessa and we schedule a meeting over lunch the same day at a cafe in between where we all live. After me introducing Trixie and Vanessa to each other and Trixie going a bit fan girl (a bit embarrassing to be honest), we start our discussion of how myself and Vanessa can team together and increase each other in popularity.

"I'm gonna be completely honest Vanessa, I have like zero social media presence other than Discord, so gaining widespread popularity like what we're aiming for is a bit out of my realm of expertise." I gesture towards her phone sitting on the table for emphasis.

"That's perfectly fine, I didn't expect you to be an expert right outta the box like that anyways. I take it you've heard the phrase "Shock and Awe" right?"

"Of course, who hasn't?"

"Good, because to get a strong start that's exactly what we're gonna do. We'll make a short video of you pushing your body and powers to the limit, and do it with flair too. Maybe put in some special effects and background music for dramatic effect as well for an extra kick. Given how you lifted an entire church I'd say you'll have no problem showing off some power." She smirks at her last words.

For a moment I'm silent, contemplating this plan. It does sound like it would work, but I'm concerned as to just how far my abilities can go before I reach my limit. After all, lifting the church felt like nothing, the hard part was setting it back down safely. As for the flair, what could we possibly do?

Trixie speaks up. "Why don't we have a sparring match of sorts? The both of you going all out on each other? Nothing grabs people's attention quite like a fight."

Vanessa's eyes sparkle in response. "That's an amazing idea! And for dramatic effect we can do it by the old church you lifted Will!"

I can tell the idea of going back to the church makes Trixie uncomfortable, as she's told me before she has no intention of going back there ever, as well as her eyes darting somewhat and her squirming in her seat slightly.

"I like the idea of a sparring match Vanessa, but I think I should discuss with Trixie about the location. She's very intent on not going back there." Trixie lets out a soft and quiet sigh of relief as I say this.

"Yeah, I'm not very comfortable going there, or at least near the building itself. Last time I went inside I almost died."

Vanessa let's out a sound mixed with shock, intrigue, and apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you in that kind of position, I had no idea. I'm sure we could find an empty field or something that would work!"

Trixie smiles. "Thank you for understanding. I'll definitely help look for a place since it was my idea."

I smile in return. "Thank you, and I'm glad we got the issue of what and where we're doing sorted out. Now for the when! I'm off of work a lot of days since I'm still in training, so I'm open a lot."

We discuss more details, Trixie not having work so she's available whenever, and Vanessa free on weekends.

Just as we're about to leave Vanessa adds something. "Oh! We need to agree on a point on when to stop! I'd imagine whenever either of us is pinned down and can't escape would be a logical stop."

I get several ideas for strategies almost immediately, but keep a straight face so as not to look too eager. "Sounds good, and I think like five seconds would be plenty enough time to escape if we can."

"Definitely. See you Saturday!"

The following few days before then Trixie and myself spent a lot of our free time preparing for the mock battle. I myself busy with memorizing Espeon's move pool and coming up with ludicrous, over the top strategies that would put even Ash Ketchum's (numerous) lucky breaks to shame based on the moves available to me (and of course practicing the moves necessary), and Trixie coordinating with Vanessa to find a suitable location. Eventually, everything is sorted out; having found a mostly empty field (save from a tree or two and a small pond) that was on unowned property, and my brain overclocked having come up and memorized so many attack combos.

Vanessa sets up her camera, then myself and her move just so to where we're about 15 yards apart with the camera having a dramatic angle of the battle to come. Trixie stands behind the camera, and is monitoring the camera to ensure it stays recording and doesn't fall over.

I begin to pace in circles, unable to hold in my energy and excitement as my twin-headed tail flickers behind me. "I hope you're ready Vanessa! You won't believe your eyes for what I have in store for you!"

Vanessa seems incredibly mild-tempered in comparison to myself, as she's sitting completely motionless with a smile that could only be seen as sinister, and as she speaks her voice is just the same, sending chills down my spine. "We'll see about that..."

Trixie yells out from behind the camera, and I can tell in her voice she was just as unsettled about Vanessa's voice as I was. "Get in position you two, and remember, don't hurt each other two badly! This is a SPARRING match afterall!"

We both nod, staring deeply into each other's eyes. I don't need anyone to tell me that my eyes are full of a competitive fire... no, inferno... that refuses to be put out, and I see nothing but the same coldness in Vanessa's eyes that lie in her smile and voice, practically staring at me as if she was a lion and I was a wounded deer. Trixie hits the record button, and she gives a pre-scripted introduction for the viewers, explaining what the video was about as well as the rules. "Match... BEGIN!"

I immediately use the move Teleport, sending myself several yards into the air in an attempt to give myself a small window to prepare a devastating flurry of attacks as I begin free falling from the sky. First, I use Sunny Day to blind Vanessa should she look up and spot me, making it harder to actually aim at me. I follow up with Double Team, creating illusions of myself all around me, and use Swift, sending down a horde of spectral stars down at Vanessa as I yell out in effort

To me, this seemed to happen over the span of several minutes thanks to my hyperactive brain altering my perception of time. To Vanessa and Trixie however, it happened in less than five seconds, and Vanessa looks up with just enough time to let out a surprised and somewhat fearful shriek and use the move Protect, effectively deleting any damage I would have done with my attack.

Vanessa lowers the shield with an annoyed growl as the last star lands. "So that's how you wanna play it huh?" Her retaliation begins with her using Psychic on the ground below her, making a floating platform for her to stand and fly around on, and continues to use Psychic to pull out rocks of various sizes from the surrounding area and sending them towards myself and my illusions created by Double Team, each illusion fading out of existence as they were struck. As the last illusion dissipates, Vanessa smiles cruelly as she stares up at me. "Gotcha!"

She pulls out a small boulder from the earth just larger than either of us, and sends it careening towards me. I try to alter my path downwards in an attempt to dodge, but instead Vanessa just alters the path of the boulder to match, hitting me directly as I yelp in pain from the impact, and I'm left winded and sent back up along with the boulder.

Clinging to the boulder for dear life, I feel it reach the apex of its ascent, and the resumption of my freefall back to earth. After a moment I recover, using Psychic to shatter the boulder and use the rubble to send it back to Vanessa in attack. She clearly was unprepared for this, as all she does is hold up her tail to swat away any that would have hit her eyes, and several small bruises immediately form all over her body. Still having the high ground (or rather air), I use psychic again to shape the wind around me, creating a miniature tornado and use it to suspend myself in the air, while also pulling Vanessa off her platform and leaving her vulnerable as she spins out of control around me.

"WHOOOAAAAAH! I"M GONNA BE SIIIIIICK!" She clearly isn't exaggerating, as I can see her face turn more pale by the second. I then alter the winds once more as I send both of us back to earth with unnatural speed, and slowing us perfectly so to avoid us being hurt, myself landing gracefully on my feet but Vanessa landing on her back, her paws in the air.

Before she has time to recover, I use psychic once more to grab all of the small rocks and pebbles we sent at each other, encasing Vanessa in a suit of stone leaving only her face exposed, still pale from the tornado. This time its me with a cruel smile as I hold the stone in place, preventing Vanessa from moving an inch as the five seconds run down, counting down each second as my own sinister glee intensifies and Vanessa attempts to escape with rising panic.

The five seconds pass, and Vanessa fails to escape. I release her and she plops down to the ground, still pale, shaking, and both of us panting from exertion. "That... wasn't quite... how I imagined it going down..." I help Vanessa back on her feet, and give her a light pat on the back.

"Heh, quite honestly me neither, I was hoping to beat you with that first attack!"

Trixie suddenly tackles me and knocks me over, screaming from excitement. "That was amazing! it felt like I was watching a fight out of a anime show!"

Vanessa lets out a soft chuckle, her breath shaky. "I bet. Let's go get the video and touch it up before we post it."

The rest of the night is comprised almost entirely over the three of us going over the video, cropping out any unnecessary parts and creating an animated intro. As we're going over the clip I notice something strange. Vanessa's jewel radiates light whenever she uses her psychic abilities, as it should, but my jewel instead seems to absorb light, creating a shroud of darkness and shadow around me.

"That's... interesting."