Chapter Ten – The Question
Evelina
"This official Gym battle between the challenger Evelina Joy of Cherrygrove City and the Gym Leader Bugsy of the Azalea Town Gym is about to commence! Each trainer will use three pokémon and only the challenger may make substitutions! A Hive Badge is at stake!"
Ok, Eve. Mind in the battle now. Late afternoon was turning to evening, and her shadow streamed out long and black, turned into a distorted giant by the setting sun. Ledyba – Lyra – had been unusually active near sunset these past few days when she'd normally be lethargic and sleepy. She wondered whether Bugsy would try and capitalise on the time of day by using a crepuscular or nocturnal pokémon … a venonat, maybe.
"And - begin!"
"Ok Miss Joy, let's see what you can do! Go, Beedrill!"
Left jacket pocket, Poké Ball, not Fast Ball. Pokédex, back jeans pocket. "Lyra! You have the honour!"
Lyra materialised in mid-air, jabbing with each of her little fists in turn. [C'mon, c'mon, I ain't scared of you, stripy!] she buzzed, eager as always.
Eve wasted no time in making the first move. "Mach Punch!" she ordered, and Lyra shot forward, crossing the field in less than a second. She landed a blow square between Beedrill's eyes and immediately whirled round to present her armoured back. Beedrill's retaliatory Twineedle scored a thin line across her carapace. Lyra spun, fists flying, but she just wasn't quick enough – Beedrill smoothly parried away the Comet Punches.
Wrong pokémon. What was I thinking? "Ledyba, good. Come back!" Eve said, and recalled Lyra. What she needed now was raw ferocity. Right jacket pocket … I've got to get some belt clasps or something when all this is over.
"It's your turn Meowth!" she shouted. His claws glinted as he leapt yowling from his Poké Ball. Using Hone Claws as soon as he was released was a sneaky trick that Meowth had taught himself. Ragged whiskers held flat against his face, he shifted into his favourite pouncing position.
"Change your pokémon all you like, I'll still be ready for you," said Bugsy. "Go Beedrill, attack stance! All-out attack!"
With a piping buzz, Beedrill took to the air, hovering cautiously for a moment before diving on Meowth, tail stinger first. It had deliberately chosen to attack from vertical as it had with Bulbasaur, this time to make counter-attacks awkward to execute. Meowth stood his ground, waiting while the vicious stinger plummeted towards his neck until -
"Double Team!" Eve called. Beedrill stung only dirt, having impaled a shadowy copy that vanished as soon as it was struck. Suddenly it was surrounded by leaping, hissing, scratching cats. Charms and claws flashed in the chaos. Eve was irritated to see Beedrill patiently slash through the copies, winnowing away the fakes in an attempt to find the real Meowth.
The real Meowth slunk round behind his opponent, pounced and delivered a powerful Cut right across its thorax, ripping through a hind wing with a sound like tearing paper. Meowth landed, rolled, and used Double Team again to cover his escape.
"Fly, Beedrill," Bugsy ordered. "Find the real one, you can do it!"
Eve gave no orders of her own – she knew she could trust Meowth to press the attack. Bugsy's pokémon took to the air, Fury Cutting at the Double Team. Eve kept her eye on Meowth as he approached from below, waited, leapt with claws outstretched …
But Beedrill twisted its tail and stung Meowth hard, sending him thumping into the dirt. Josh let out a sympathetic groan of dismay. Meowth lay crumpled on the battlefield. He's not hurt that badly. The referee moved forward for a closer look, as did Beedrill. For a moment it might have looked as if it was all over, until Meowth suddenly raked Beedrill across the face.
"Beedrill!" Bugsy cried out as Meowth became an angry ball of howling fur and claws. Fury Swipes almost seemed too tame a name for the attack – Meowth scratched and slashed as fast as he possibly could. Buzzing in distress, Beedrill tried and failed to take flight. A faint yellowish-green glow played about its stingers.
"Quick! Twineedle attack!" Bugsy called. With some effort, his pokémon held off the furious meowth with one arm while drawing the other back. It thrust with its stinger as hard as it could, stabbing Meowth full in the chest, pitching him bouncing and skidding down the length of the field.
"No way!" Eve shouted in complete disbelief.
[Oof. I'm alright boss, just winded me,] Meowth wheezed, struggling painfully slowly to his feet.
The referee disagreed. "Meowth is unable to battle. Beedrill wins!" he declared with a flourish of the red flag. Eve bit back a curse as she recalled Meowth.
"It's not your fault," she told him through the Poké Ball. From the sidelines, Josh gave her an encouraging smile. Eve was damned if she was going to lose this battle in front of him. She selected what she hoped would be the right Ball, "You and me, we're in this together," she told it. "Pidgeotto! You have the honour!"
Pidgeotto burst from the Fast Ball like a comet, soaring over Eve's head as she re-materialised. It looked like Aunt Immey was right about Pidgeotto. After a few sparring matches during the afternoon she seemed to have picked up the concept of following orders in battle - something that might have a lot to do with her interacting with Meowth and Lyra. Or maybe it was talking to her through the Poké Ball that helped. Oh well, here goes …
"So, Pidgeotto is your new pokémon? Flying-type or no Flying-type, we're not backing down!" said Bugsy. "Use your Toxic Spikes Beedrill!"
Beedrill spun like a top, throwing out a cloud of what looked like purple caltrops that glistened suspiciously. Eve scanned the attack with her Pokédex.
"Toxic Spikes, a Poison-type attack. Classified as an entry hazard, Toxic Spikes inflict the Poison status on any enemy pokémon entering the field."
"Flying will only save you for so long. Once your pokémon touches the ground, the Toxic Spikes are activated," Bugsy continued. "So what do you do now, Miss Joy?"
An idea began to form in the back of Eve's mind. The Toxic Spikes were likely insurance against Lyra, but maybe she didn't have to worry about them ... she decided to let the idea sit and mature for a while."Pidgeotto! Finish it with one Tackle!"
Pidgeotto climbed sharply, rising up to the ceiling before rolling into a dive, just like she had when battling Lyra. Talons swung forward ready for impact -
"Use your Agility, then Twineedle!" Bugsy called. The duel happened so fast that Eve couldn't follow it. There was a nasty crunch as Pidgeotto's talons thumped home, then suddenly Beedrill was lying unconscious on the dirt while Pidgeotto soared overhead, with a thin scratch on her flank. Bugsy seemed almost resigned to the defeat as he recalled Beedrill.
"Your Pidgeotto's fast," he said, smiling. "Lucky for me I have a pokémon who's just as fast. I choose you Yanma!"
Yanma was about the same size as Pidgeotto, with a certain prehistoric sleekness to its long, red body. Its four filmy wings beat in a complex forward-and-back pattern as it hovered in place, legs held up tight against its thorax. It looks fragile … and the type match up is still lousy. Why use it at all? Eve brought her Pokédex up just in case.
"Yanma, the Clear Wing Pokémon. Yanma has a 360-degree field of vision. It is a great flier that is adept at making sudden stops and turns."
Ah-ha! That's why. Ok, I know how I'm gonna play this.
"Start this off with Silver Wind!" Bugsy ordered, taking the first move. Yanma loomed over Pidgeotto and beat its wings till they blurred. A cylinder of gusting winds and whirling silver-grey scales blasted down. Pidgeotto dodged to the right and Eve shouted for a Tackle. The Silver Wind fountained back off the dirt in a billowing cloud, filling the air with a silvery haze as Yanma chased Pidgeotto with its relentless attack. Swerving round the Silver Wind, Pidgeotto inverted and grabbed at Yanma with her talons, forcing it to break off the attack and dodge.
"Quick Attack!" Eve yelled.
"Quick Attack!" Bugsy countered.
Both pokémon attacked, and both missed because they were trying to attack and dodge at the same time. Silver Wind residue churned and billowed as the combatants dodged and swooped. Pidgeotto seemed to be steadily slowing while Yanma got faster and faster. Eve had to squint to make out Yanma whirl round and slam Pidgeotto with its abdomen. Hold on, I can use that!
"Pidgeotto, Sand Attack!"
Arcing round to put some distance between Yanma and herself, Pidgeotto hovered close to the ground, beating her powerful wings hard and throwing up dust from the dry battlefield. The ochre dust mingled with Yanma's Silver Wind, effectively blinding both Yanma and Bugsy.
"Now!" she ordered with a smile and a snap of her fingers. "Quick Attack!"
"Detect!"
"What!" Eve yelled. She could feel her cheeks flushing red with fury.
"Now use Light Screen!" Bugsy ordered, taking advantage of the lull. Hundreds of translucent yellow diamonds appeared around Yanma, slotting themselves together so that they formed a tessellated box before flashing briefly and disappearing. It was a clever move, one that would shut down any Gusts that Pidgeotto might try and leave her with no choice but to switch to Lyra. Not sodding likely.
"Get up high for a Tackle!" she ordered, and Pidgeotto eagerly swept up towards the ceiling.
"That's a bad decision. As soon as you see Pidgeotto, Quick Attack!"
Pidgeotto reached the apex of her flight. Barely a foot of space lay between her and the ceiling, and she let out a long call as if to say 'I'm ready, give the order!'
Eve snapped her fingers, and smiled. That is, she showed her teeth. "Defog!"
Almost leisurely, Pidgeotto swept her wings down, washing the battlefield in a gentle but persistent breeze. Dust and silver-grey scales melted away at its touch, the hidden Toxic Spikes in the dirt were picked up and dissolved into nothing. Yanma's Light Screen flashed back into existence, the myriad diamond panes whirling away like confetti.
"Give it a Gust, the strongest Gust you have!" Eve ordered, not wanting to give Bugsy even a moment's respite. The Gust caught Yanma in its teeth and sent it spinning end over end towards the ground. Straining to right itself, Yanma's wings beat so hard they sent shock waves crashing into the dirt. Josh was shouting something, his voice drowned out by the sound of wind and wings.
"Hang in there, Yanma!" Bugsy shouted.
"Tackle, make it count!"
Down came Pidgeotto with her wings swept back, sleek and swift as she had been when Eve first saw her flying above the bistro. Yanma managed to regain control of its flight, but the momentary loss of concentration was all the chance Pidgeotto needed. With a wide barrel roll she intercepted Yanma mid-dodge and bore her opponent to the ground.
"Pidgeooo!" she cried, exhausted in victory. "Pidgeot-TOOO!"
As the referee formally announced the result, Bugsy called back his pokémon. He said something encouraging to it before he pocketed the Ball. Pidgeotto fluttered off to perch on a tree branch to catch her breath.
"As a Gym Leader it's my duty to push challengers hard. That's why I always save my best pokémon for last," Bugsy declared, "the Bug pokémon warrior - I choose you Scyther!"
The scyther that took to the field was everything a scyther should be - fierce, barbaric, intimidating. He stood proudly in front of his trainer and raised his scythes to the sky, shouting a challenge as he did so. The evening sun shone a harsh gold on the blades. But it was the eyes that were the truly frightening – sharp, intense eyes, eyes that looked at you first as an adversary.
Eve thought fast, and decided to keep on battling with Pidgeotto. For all the exertion of the battle so far, she hadn't yet taken much damage and she would need her speed to counter Scyther's inevitable physical strength. Seize the initiative.
"Pidgeotto, Gust, nice and strong!" she ordered. Pidgeotto leapt from her perch and threw out a powerful Gust. Despite being half Scyther's size she managed to force him to lose his footing, the same strong muscles that powered her flight lending strength to the Gust. Apparently sensing that Pidgeotto could keep him pinned this way, Scyther took flight, darting rapidly under the cone of the Gust.
"Quick, but not quick enough," Eve said, snapping her fingers at Bugsy. "Quick Attack!"
"Oh, Scyther doesn't need to fly faster," Bugsy answered as Pidgeotto closed in. "Aerial Ace!"
Fierce eyes fixed on Pidgeotto, Scyther swept his blade down in a savage diagonal arc. At the last moment Pidgeotto swerved out of the way, but spinning through nearly 360 degrees Scyther turned lightning-fast, intercepting perfectly on the upswing. Pidgeotto screeched in pain and alarm, collapsing onto the battlefield with an undignified roll.
Eve gasped in shock – there was a long cut across Pidgeotto's chest that was beginning to bleed freely. She didn't wait for the referee's inevitable ruling, instead recalling Pidgeotto immediately. The Fast Ball would effectively halt the bleeding and accelerate Pidgeotto's natural healing. "You did great," she told her, "and I'm very proud."
Even so, how was it that Scyther knocked Pidgeotto out with one strike? Either Scyther was much stronger than she had originally suspected or … Twineedle. That Twineedle must have poisoned Pidgeotto. She drew Lyra's Poké Ball from her pocket. Adrenaline made her heart thump almost painfully against her chest. Pitting a ledyba against a healthy scyther was not the sort of position she wanted to be backed into, even with a ledyba as feisty as her Lyra.
"You're my last hope," she murmured to her through the Poké Ball. "Lyra! You have the honour!"
Lyra materialised punching at the air again, undaunted by the prospect of facing a scyther. [Let's do this, Eve! C'mon guy, I ain't scared of you! Whaaaat?] she taunted.
"That's a pretty nice ledyba you've got there, Miss Joy," said Bugsy. "No way she's faster than my Scyther. Quick Attack, now!"
Scyther pushed off the ground, holding his right blade out in front of him like a cavalryman's sabre.
"Reflect!" Eve ordered. A small hexagonal pane appeared in front of Lyra, translucent blue like tinted glass. Others appeared around it, rapidly locking themselves together until they formed a hexagonal shield big enough for Lyra to hide behind. She had barely finished constructing the Reflect when Scyther's blade crashed through it, shattering a couple of the hexes as it did so.
If Scyther knows Brick Break it's all over. "Mach Punch, then get out of there!" Eve called. Lyra promptly punched Scyther in the eye and curled away under the reach of his blades to make her escape.
"Chase her down with Pursuit!" Bugsy called. Scyther had lost sight of Lyra, but Pursuit gave him instinctive knowledge of where she was. With a twist of the body and a burst of speed from the wings, Scyther tackled Lyra hard. The attack seemed to startle Lyra badly – she spun and threw a volley of Comet Punches, striking at the head and the arm joints below the blade. Still smart, even when her Rattled ability activates, Eve thought proudly.
"Finish this with Aerial Ace!" Bugsy ordered confidently.
"Protect!" Eve countered. She couldn't afford to let even one Aerial Ace land. The attack screeched off the shimmering green Protect.
"You can't Protect forever! Fury Cutter!" Bugsy refused to give Eve any breathing space. Down the Fury Cutters rained, green afterimages whirling in the wake of flashing blades. Reflect hexagons smashed and flew, cracks and rents opened up everywhere on Lyra's carapace. She showed no mercy herself, punching and jabbing whenever Scyther left an opening to exploit, but Eve could see that it just wasn't going to be enough. The one saving grace was that every time Fury Cutter hit, it also activated Lyra's Rattled ability. Lyra kept getting faster, fast enough to break Scyther's hitting streak and stop Fury Cutter from building power.
[No quarter! No giving up! Take this!] Lyra yelled, and threw another Comet Punch volley. Scyther drew a blade back, ready for an attack. Too late Eve recognised what it was about to do.
"Protect!" she yelled desperately. Nooo, too late! Scyther's blade flashed twice, and Lyra was sent flying into the branches of a cypress. She slipped to the ground through the evergreen leaves.
[No giving up … we can win this Eve!] she insisted, wings buzzing as she made her way slowly into the air. Eve blinked back tears, mixed adrenaline and fury blotting out her thoughts.
[What the?]
There was a curious snapping, zapping sound, soft but strangely distinctive. And Lyra started to glow a pure white. Evolution …
Like most people, Eve had seen evolution before, watching pokémon battles on TV. Most people knew how it worked on at least a basic level – through caring for pokémon, Eve had picked up some knowledge of the complexities. But it was nothing compared to seeing it happen right before your eyes … the transformation was beautiful, wondrous. A pulse of light burst from Lyra's glowing silhouette. Her body began to change shape, becoming sleeker, more streamlined. Her third pair of arms migrated down and developed proper feet, her four remaining arms grew longer. Her wings grew larger and took on a swept delta shape.
The glow faded, and Lyra was no longer a ledyba, but a ledian.
[Yea-heh-heh-eeeah!] she exulted, [I have evolved! Hey, pointy!] she called down at Scyther standing on the field below. [Guess what?]
Lyra flicked her wings inward, and an invisible blade carved its way through the battlefield. Scyther cried out in surprise as he was knocked off his feet. Lyra just laughed and attacked again, chasing Scyther with her new move.
"Air Cutter, a Flying-type attack. Classified as a Special attack, Air Cutter has a propensity for dealing unusually high damage."
Air Cutter … Eve laughed along with her feisty, loyal ledian. We might just win this after all.
"Get it together, Scyther!" Bugsy shouted. "Use Fury Cutter!"
"Reflect! You can do it Lyra!"
The two pokémon met in the middle of the battlefield, spurred on by the orders and encouragement of their trainers. Scyther chopped and cut with savage skill, smashing hexes out of Lyra's Reflect almost as fast as she could renew it. Whenever he tried an Aerial Ace, Lyra blocked it with Protect and struck back with new, strong fists. Possibly no other ledian had ever fought him half as hard as Lyra did, Eve thought as she watched Lyra blast an Air Cutter across Scyther at point-blank range.
Shaving more hexes off Lyra's Reflect as it did so, Scyther laid down a flurry of Fury Cutters into Lyra's left side. His right blade swung up to a ready position; both Lyra and Eve spotted what was coming at the same time. Fury Cutter was a feint! Nice try, Scyther.
"Protect!" she shouted, and Scyther's blade scraped violently clear of the Protect-bubble, throwing his arm out and opening up his guard. Lyra wasted no time, spinning round and throwing Mach Punches with both of her right fists. There was a sharp crack, like a pistol shot, and Scyther let out a deafening shriek. His blade was badly cracked, a large chip missing where the force of the blow had smashed the edge away.
"Stop!" Bugsy shouted. "That's enough. I concede defeat."
"What?" Eve said. Then she spotted Scyther trying to cradle his injured arm. "Oh ..."
"Scyther, return. We'll get that blade fixed up soon," Bugsy ordered. He crossed over the field, smiling regretfully, while Eve's heart thudded with the adrenaline still running through her system.
"I don't need to tell you, of all challengers, that it would be irresponsible of me to have Scyther fight on with an injury like that. Congratulations, Miss Joy. You have a new ledian. And you have earned this," Bugsy said, holding out a bright new Hive Badge.
Take it, you fool. Eve took the Badge and squeezed it in her hand.
"Lyra! Lyra! We did it, we won the Badge!" she wrapped her arms around her laughing pokémon, dancing a little victory-dance. She looked up at the sound of applause, and there was Josh, clapping and looking at her with – what? Was that admiration?
Eve raised her hand invitingly. Moments like this called for a high-five. And because life is never quite that neat, they almost missed.
They were the last two people to walk down Old Village high street that evening. A golden afternoon had given way to a warm evening as the sun set in splendour. Thousands of azalea blossoms, magenta, orange and white, nodded in the late breeze that twitched and tugged at bright little lamppost banners.
"The way you dealt with Yanma was incredible," Josh enthused as they ambled their way down the street. "I was starting to think nothing would work then you won in three moves! And you got rid of Light Screen and Toxic Spikes in doing so! Clever tactics, Eve."
"You're sweet to say so, but I told you, I don't plan these moves," Eve replied, smiling a little sheepishly. In the aftermath of her Gym Battle, with the Hive Badge pinned temporarily to her jacket, she was as happy as she'd ever been. Right now even the imminent prospect of the Pokémon Centre - with an aunt and two teenage cousins in the full flowering of their bitchiness – even that couldn't annoy her. Still, there was a nagging voice in her head that she couldn't quite ignore, a voice that had been quietly chirping away all afternoon -
"We should celebrate our Badges," she said. "I say we split a bottle of red."
"A bottle of red!" Josh cried in mock outrage. "Eve, Azalea Town is no Longwater but it's still cider country."
"You can't celebrate with cider! Ok, ok, how about brandy? A nice slow evening in that pub we saw yesterday."
"I'll have to grab my maps then. I still don't really know where I'm going next … Violet City, maybe."
There it was. The moment Eve had been trying to put off all day. Had Josh forgotten what that meant? Did he care?
Tell him you don't want to part ways!
I don't even know that he likes me all that much!
The guy just spent the best part of three days in your company. Take a sodding guess!
"Eve? Something wrong?" Josh asked. Eve realised she'd stopped dead to have an argument with herself. Josh was looking at her with a kind of puzzled concern.
"Oh, erm, no!" she said reflexively. He didn't look convinced, head cocked to one side as if he was trying to see her from a different angle. Are you twelve or twenty-three? Ask him!
"Come with me!" Eve blurted.
"... what?"
No going back now. "Come with me," she repeated. "On my journey. Our journey. I've really enjoyed spending time with you and I don't want to leave."
"Yes."
"I mean it's ok if you don't want to but - what?"
"I don't want to leave either. I've really enjoyed your company, it's been … it's been. Er."
There was an awkward silence. Neither of them could quite look the other in the eye. A flock of pidgey went fluttering by, heading back to their roost for the evening.
"I feel like we should do something," Josh said tentatively.
"Handshake?" Eve suggested.
"Too formal."
"High five?"
"Clichéd."
"Um …"
"Oh, to hell with it," Josh said, and in one smooth movement pulled her into a hug. Eve squeezed him back, and made a contented little growling noise. She felt Josh breathe a long, relaxed sigh, swinging her from side to side a little before they broke apart.
Eve couldn't help but break the silence. "Come with me, the time is right! There's no better teeeam!" she sang at him.
"Shut up!" he laughed, giving her a playful shove.
"Arm in arm, we'll win the fight, it's always been our dreeeam!" she continued with exaggerated passion, slipping her arm round his.
Later, Eve would remember it as a perfect moment.