Ch.29
Training
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All eyes were on Maris and Luka as the two fighting types were locked in mortal combat with one another while each of their respective trainers knew that this wasn't a mere sparring match; this match would tip the balance of power into their trainer's favor so while both Maris and Luka conceded that Delia still reigned supreme over both of their teams, they still fought with everything they had to not only see who was the stronger of the two, but see which of their two trainer's would be the second strongest in their group. Maris was fighting tooth and nail to keep Dmitri in second while Luka was fighting like a pokemon possessed to bump up Catherine while their teammates cheered them on ecstatically.
"(C'mon sensei, show that girl whose boss!)" Floatzel cheered Luka on as the jackal pokemon was too wrapped up in the battle to notice what her teammate was saying while Kricketune let out an uplifting tune that sounded like soldiers bravely charging into the heat of the final battle.
"(Luka, you can do it! Show this girl how strong you've become!)" Graveler yelled in support of his team's ace causing Sparkplug to narrow her eyes as she tried to think of something to spur Maris on while Kiera never averted her eyes off the battle for a second as excited yips and clicks escaped her lips.
"(Maris, don't you dare lose!)" Sparkplug shouted passionately as Maris locked eyes with her first teammate and smirked confidently at her before returning her gaze back to the battle as she narrowly avoided being clipped in the face by a savage left cross.
Dmitri knew that Delia knew these kinds of battles all too well since she was surrounded by dragons that were constantly fighting for dominance amongst each other and he remembered Delia describing them as "sword fighting competitions." Delia had wandered off somewhere to do special training for Buneary to get her strong enough to at least give some of the pokemon on her team a good fight, but he knew she could feel the battle from wherever she was and she was undoubtedly cheering Maris on.
"Dmitri, whoever wins, let's not make this affect our friendship," Catherine stated softly causing Dmitri to look at her with a confused look before simply nodding as he watched Maris take a strong blow to the gut, but the martial arts pokemon had simultaneously struck Luka across the face with a heavy, powerful cross that sent tingles up the aura pokemon's body.
"Damn it, I knew Luka had gotten stronger, but to this extent?" Dmitri thought concernedly as Luka and Maris interlocked paws and glowered determinedly as they both tried to overpower the other and it seemed Luka had a slight advantage as she was slowly forcing Maris to lean back while Maris strained mightily to push back to no avail.
Maris suddenly threw her head forward in order to break the stand-off, but Luka matched this by throwing her own head forward and the two foreheads collided with sickening crack, but both pokemon ignored the pain as they glared darkly at one another and threw their heads forward once more. Neither backed down as their skulls crashed together again and again to the point where blood began to drip down onto the grass and it seemed it would go on like this for a while until Maris suddenly fell onto her back and dragged her surprised foe with her. Maris drew her legs back and then shot them forward straight into Luka's belly causing the jackal pokemon to grunt as she was sent flying backwards from the blow until she righted herself and flipped onto her feet just in time to weave to the side to avoid a furry whip that nearly struck her across the face. Luka gasped as she barely reacted to a second whip that almost struck across the abdomen, but Maris's attack grazed her skin causing a thin, red line to form on her gut.
Luka glared at Maris who simply glared back at her while swinging her whips around and making them go straight toward the alert Lucario who skillfully jumped, dived, and leaned to dodge the whip like appendages from her foe until she grabbed one out of mid-air and stomped down on the other causing Maris to struggle to pull them free, but it was all for naught. Luka then used her free paw to quickly fire a large, powerful orb that radiated power at her trapped foe who let out a war cry and punt kicked it into the air, but Luka used this moment to blur out of existence and ram her shoulder straight into Maris's gut causing the martial arts pokemon to let out a pained gasp as the wind was knocked out of her sails.
Maris crashed into the ground harshly clutching her belly as she tried to catch her breathe only for Luka to mount her and sit on her chest which trapped Maris's arms until Luka moved up and sat on her neck and brought her legs closer together to prevent Maris from moving her head. Maris stared up at Luka in shock as the aura pokemon looked down at her with a blank expression briefly and then hit Maris with a brutal straight punch which caused Maris to howl in pain before another savage punch cut of her cries as a storm of titan like punches rained downed upon the helpless pokemon again and again causing Dmitri to grit his teeth and clench his fists as he wanted to stop the fight, but also wanted to acknowledge that this was Maris's fight.
Maris's body twitched with every blow and it did not help that she was still trying to catch her breath as one of her eyes was swollen shut from the blows and had blood flowing down from it like a raindrop on the window while various nasty bruises began to form on her cheek. Her other eye had since turned black from the excessive blows which Luka started targeting causing Maris to hiss as each strike made it feel like it was going to make it pop out of its socket and Maris, in spite of the blows, finally managed to regain her breathe and placed her paws on Luka's thighs as her foe's strikes became more numerous as Luka knew Maris had something in mind, but the stubborn mienshao paid the blows no heed as she used the leverage to bring one leg and thrust it backward. Maris's knee collided with Luka's back with a sickening crack the force of which caused the aura pokemon to be thrown forward onto the grass where she lay on her belly painfully clutching her spine as Maris rolled onto her belly and placed one of her paws on her wrist to brace her paw as a vibrant, pulsating orb of an angry red the size of a beach ball formed on it.
Taking careful aim, Maris fired the sphere of energy straight at her prone foe which caused Luka to let out an agonizing scream as the powerful blast enveloped her and the pokemon watching were nearly knocked over from the shockwaves as Sparkplug had to dig her feet in to prevent from being blown away while Kiera used her bulk to keep Dmitri and Catherine from flying back. When the dust settled, they saw Maris was sitting on the back of Luka's neck with both of the aura pokemon's arms pinned between her thighs and calves as Maris then brought down a torrent of heavy blows upon her opponent eliciting a sharp cry each time her green aura encased paws slammed into the sides of Luka's head and face which not only caused damage to Luka, but slowly healed Maris's injuries as her swollen eye suddenly opened again and left only a minor bruise. Her other eye once surrounded in black faded and only left a small bruise behind while the other bruises and cuts on her face faded away causing Luka, who had felt Maris's aura revitalize, charged up chi in one of her paws and tightly gripped Maris's leg and fired her attack.
Maris howled in pain as she gripped her injured leg and collapsed on her side causing Luka to roll out from under her and nipped up to her feet just as Maris regained her bearings and stood up on her feet. Both fighting types glared at one another with fierce intensity while their trainers leaned forward and stared at them intently, watching to see what would happen, and to their surprise Maris and Luka smiled brightly at one another. Maris and Luka bowed to each other with their same sunny grins before returning to their intense, focused gazes as Dmitri clenched his fists anxiously while Catherine tightly gripped her pant leg.
"(So, this is what happens when an unstoppable force…)" Maris vigorously shouted as she slammed her foot into the ground forcefully and settled into a fighting stance as her fiery, defiant magenta aura flared up and encased her body getting her blood flowing and her adrenaline pumping.
"(Meets an immovable object,)" Luka finished calmly as she slowly adopted a fighting stance as well as her calm, precise dark blue aura radiated and surrounded her body in it's essence causing Luka to feel invigorated by the sensation flowing through her being.
Maris and Luka began slowly circling each other like predators trying to find an opening, flaw, or any sort of weakness to exploit as both aces never took their eyes off the other and they both silently acknowledged that this battle had taken its toll on both of them. Maris and Luka's entire body were riddled with large, purple bruises and long, nasty cuts that made it impossible to believe that they were still able to stand, let alone fight, but this didn't bother the two rivals in the slightest as they continued moving around as if their bodies weren't in horrible condition.
"(Luka and I are equally matched and we both don't know who's going to win this time…and I wouldn't have it any other way,)" Maris thought to herself excitedly as she continued eying Luka warily.
"(We're dead even; neither can conquer the other right now which makes it all the more fun,)" Luka mused as she fixated her eyes on her foe and charged forward with Maris letting out a ferocious cry and stormed towards Luka with her fist cocked back.
The two clashed in the middle with both of their fists crashing into each other's faces with the force of a meteor colliding with the earth, but neither moved an inch as they continued to lay into one another with punches to the face, knees to the ribs, elbows to the nose, and kicks to the head, but neither one seemed fazed by the blows. The two were in savage bloodlust with the only thing being able to satiate their thirst was their battered foe lying limp at their feet as Maris struck out with a roundhouse kick straight to her foe's ribcage, but Luka caught her leg and twisted it violently causing Maris to cry out in pain, but she put on a determined face and used her other leg to knee Luka in the gut causing the aura pokemon to grimace and slacken her hold allowing Maris to put one of her paws on Luka's head and jumped up with her knee drawn back. Luka managed to bring her paw up at the last second, but her arm was forced back into her face from the strong knee strike causing her to hiss as her head snapped back, but she managed to wrap her arms around Maris's midsection and squeezed.
Maris shouted and roared, trying to free herself, but seeing she could not break free, she wrapped her arms around Luka's neck and put her into a guillotine which then began the game of who would give out first. Luka, feeling her breathes becoming heavier and her strength fading, put immense pressure onto her foe's midsection into which elicited a cry of agony from Maris who in turn contorted Luka's neck as hard as her arms would allow it while Dmitri and Catherine intently watched on. Luka suddenly freed one of her arms and attempted to blast Maris point-blank with an aura sphere, but her opponent slugged her across the face causing the aura pokemon to stumble to the side while gripping her cheek while Maris placed one paw on her belly and painfully sucked in some air.
"(Luka extends her arms to0 wide when she prepares to fire off an aura sphere or focus blast and if I can force her into a corner she'll have no choice but to use it to attempt to create some distance. I need to hit her with everything I've got at that moment and if I miss it's all over,)" Maris strategized as she turned to face Luka and brought her paws up in front of her while Luka composed herself and brought forth her paws as well and clenched them into fists with a loud crack.
"(Sis briefly leaves her face exposed when she tries to hit me with a knockout blow so if I can make her believe that I'm vulnerable I can use that moment to hit back…hard. It's my only chance,)" Luka planned as both foes started circling each other and then closed the distance with one another as Maris pressed the attack and forced Luka backwards with a flurry of jabs and kicks which the aura pokemon managed to block, but realized she was being driven back.
Luka retaliated with a combination of blows when the opportunity presented itself, but it did little to stem the tide as she continued to be driven backwards and when her back made contact with a tree, she realized that she needed to create some space. Ducking under another blow that snapped the tree into two, she thrusted her open palm straight into Maris's stomach causing Maris to grunt, but she didn't budge as she held her ground and saw that Luka was charging an orb of powerful chi causing her to cock her fist back.
"(THERE!)" Maris and Luka shouted determinedly as Luka fired off her attack at point blank range only for Maris to weave her body to the side and simultaneously attempted to hammer Luka straight in her nose only for Luka bob her head and sneakily released an uppercut from underneath Maris's arm which nailed her straight in the chin causing Maris's head to snap back while releasing a surprised yelp of pain.
Luka, however, had let her guard down by thinking the battle was over and didn't react fast enough to the foot that snapped upwards and collided with her chin causing Luka to feel like her teeth were going to pop out of place causing her to harshly collapse on her back just as Maris landed right on top of her causing the aura pokemon to wheeze.
"(Sis, get off me!)" Luka grunted as she wiggled her body to try to make Maris roll off of her, but she didn't budge.
"(Can't move, deal with it,)" Maris mumbled tiredly as she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep while Luka continued to struggle weakly underneath her.
"(Call it a draw?)" Luka whispered to Maris who let out a tired, battered chuckle and shifted her head so it lay on Luka's shoulder.
"(Duh, neither of us won,)" Maris murmured tiredly causing Luka to weakly nod in response and lay her head on the ground to try to get some sleep as well until Catherine's loud, cheery laughter caused her to turn her head with herculean effort and glare at Catherine who just smirked and waggled a finger at her.
"Uh uh, honey; this is payback for when you pinned me down on the bed and essentially forced me to take a nap so you don't get to be mad," Catherine chided her girlfriend whose glare darkened at her response, but rolled her eyes in simple annoyance after a moment.
"(Could you at least get sis off me?)" Luka breathed out causing Maris to smirk and wrap her arms around Luka's waist as if protesting the inevitable separation of the two causing Luka to grunt and weakly wriggle around underneath Maris.
"C'mon Maris, let's get you fixed up," Dmitri chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her midsection and attempted to help her to her feet only for Maris to make an exaggerated whine in protest as she continued to hold Luka close to her.
"(No, Luka's mah best fwend!)" Maris protested in a childish tone causing Catherine and Dmitri to laugh softly at the display while Luka flushed red and gritted her teeth while lowering her head into Maris's chest so as to avoid the gaze of her girlfriend who would laugh like a cackling mightyena at her sheepish expression.
Dmitri attempted to help Maris up once more, but she waved him off and rolled off of Luka who she struggled to her feet just as Maris got to hers and they both put an arm around each other's necks. Supporting one another, they limped over to where Dmitri and Catherine had set down their supplies and sat down next to one each other where they turned to each other and gave respectful smiles and nods. Maris held out her fist toward Luka who stared at it with fake confusion before she addressed Maris.
"(I do not understand this gesture,)" Luka teased Maris causing Maris to snicker and lightly punch her in the shoulder which in turn caused Luka to break out into a small grin and fist bump Maris just as Delia returned from her training looking in pretty much the same condition as Maris and Luka as her clothes were torn to shreds and she had multiple bruises and gashes running down her body.
Delia's team trailed behind her looking just as battered as she was while she rummaged through her backpack and found a spare change of clothes she bought at the store all the while Dmitri and Catherine looked concernedly at her.
"Delia, what happened?" Dmitri pressed anxiously as Buneary, who looked just as bruised and beaten Delia, jumped on top of her trainer's head with a sunny smile as if the wounds she sustained didn't exist.
"I continued my training on using the powers I possess and I suggested that I spar against Haxorus, Hydreigon, Dragonite, and Druddigon and as you may have guessed they didn't take it easy on me," Delia answered casually as she went about cleaning and disinfecting her wounds while Catherine narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips while Dmitri cleaned some of her wounds.
"Delia, you shouldn't be pushing yourself too hard when you've only just started learning how to use your draconic powers," Dmitri chided Delia who rolled her eyes, but sighed and nodded while Catherine kneeled down and gestured to the injuries on Buneary.
"Buneary wanted to go through the same training the others did so I allowed it; she was beaten into the dirt, but she kept on trying and trying and she's gotten much stronger because of it," Delia replied simply causing Buneary to blush and rub the back of her head while Catherine grunted and flicked Delia in the forehead for taking it too hard in training.
"So, I'm assuming that Buneary is going to be your go-to-gal for the next gym battle?" Catherine questioned the dragon tamer who nodded and began changing out of her destroyed clothes right in front of her friends causing Catherine to blush furiously and turn her head away shocking the young dragon tamer.
"What's wrong Catherine?" Delia concernedly asked her friend who continued to look away as Delia took off her torn pants and replaced them with comfortable shorts that stretched down to her knees and despite the hot weather bearing down on her skin, wearing this caused the dragon tamer no discomfort in the blistering heat.
"You essentially started stripping in front of me Delia so I was trying to be courteous by not looking!" Catherine shouted sheepishly at Delia who raised a brow at her friend's statement and pondered about it.
"I change into my gym clothes in front of guys and girls during gym class all the time and Dmitri and I use to change in front of one another when we went swimming or other stuff," Delia answered confusedly causing Catherine to groan loudly and pace around a bit before staring straight at Delia with a heavy blush on her face.
"This…this is different!" Catherine screeched wildly, but this did not help to prove her point as she threw her arms up in defeat and sauntered off with her head down while Delia continued to have a perplexed expression on her face.
"Guys, are you ready to go?" Dmitri called to his human companions who nodded and began to follow him down the trail that lead to Veilstone while Maris and Luka took their usual positions beside their trainers while Buneary happily hummed a tune atop the dragon tamer's head.
"So guys, I've been thinking that since Veilstone City is essentially the place to go for fighting enthusiasts in Sinnoh, how about we all learn a fighting style with our pokemon and then go challenge the gym leader?" Dmitri suggested causing his group of friends to mumble amongst each other before voicing their affirmation for his suggestion.
"My team could use some work on their combat skills, especially you Buneary, so I see nothing wrong with perfecting our fighting skills," Delia added causing the pokeballs on her belt to rumble, but she paid them no mind.
"Since Luka's the only true fighter and martial artist on my team, it would be a good idea for the rest of my team to learn a fighting discipline," Catherine said logically as Luka, whose body was covered with bandages, nodded in agreement as she thought it would be wise for everyone on her team to know how to fight.
"(Dmitri, I'm down for learning a new fighting style, but we have to make sure that it's suitable for Sparkplug and Kiera too,)" Maris informed her boyfriend who sighed and ran a hand through his hair, mentally berating himself for not accounting his two other friends who were quadrupeds and couldn't exactly perform the same moves as Maris, a biped.
When they got to Veilstone City, the group immediately headed towards the pokemon center where Delia, since she was the adult of the group, made reservations for separate room for herself and her friends while Luka and Maris noticed that people seemed to be staring at them which caused the Unova native pokemon to raise a brow.
"(Any reason as to why these people are gawking at us?)" Maris irritably asked Luka through aura who maintained a stoic gaze on the outside while folding her arms under her chest spike.
"(It's probably because we look like we've been tortured and forced to fight for days on end. Some of these fighting specialists, who have strong virtues of honor and justice, don't take kindly to people they consider to be slave drivers,)" Luka answered warily as she scooted closer to Catherine just in case trouble came up spurring Maris to move to the side of Dmitri and watch for potential aggressors.
"Here you are the keys to your rooms Mrs. Shiina and my goodness, did you get attacked by a wild ursaring?! Do you want me to look over your injuries?" Nurse Joy concernedly asked the dragon tamer as she scampered from behind the counter and checked over the young adult's injuries just as a few chanseys and blisseys arrived on the scene ready to offer their aid.
"Yes please; would you mind attending to my team and my friend's team as well?" Delia questioned the prestigious doctor who gave a light-hearted wave which summoned a legion of chanseys and blisseys that surrounded Luka, Catherine, Dmitri, and Maris causing the battle ace and the former heiress to nervously grin.
Handing their pokeballs to the pokemon, they watched as the horde of pink pokemon disappeared into the back room while Maris and Luka were being gently escorted into the back room while Delia and was being led by Nurse Joy, a blissey, and a chansey leaving Dmitri and Catherine alone in the waiting room. Sitting down onto some chairs, the two aspiring trainers waited for their team to be healed patiently as Catherine passed the time by shifting her gaze in every direction, trying to find something interesting to observe, while Dmitri stared up at the ceiling and watched the lights flicker erratically before turning his gaze at the back room.
"So, what fighting styles are you going to have your team learn?" Dmitri questioned Catherine who tapped her chin and then shrugged with a sheepish smile on her face.
"I honestly don't know, but maybe after Luka and I discuss what we need to strengthen our team then we'll find a style to learn. How about you? It's going to be hard for Sparkplug and Kiera to learn considering they're not exactly able to stand up on two feet without some difficulty," Catherine explained causing Dmitri to sigh and lean back in his chair, contemplating what fighting style to learn, until a rude, haughty laugh interrupted him from his thoughts.
"No school in Veilstone is going to take you bullies in," a voice sharply remarked at the duo causing Catherine to snort and lean back in her chair.
"Oh, some definitely will because they're not stupid enough to believe some false rumors, but some will reject us because they're as stupid as you to believe the lies of a petty teenager," Catherine retorted causing the person who said the rude remark to get up from their chair and storm towards the duo which in turn caused Dmitri and Catherine stand up from their chairs not, trusting the person to stand over them while they sat down.
The person in question turned out to be girl with short blue hair who had a lean, yet muscular build and she was wearing standard athletic attire that Dmitri assumed was for the mixed martial arts craze that was sweeping around the regions.
"I've heard about you boy; you're the guy who battled that kid with a rattata and defeated him by using a foreign pokemon no one has seen before and supposedly you're the son of a former champion who was actually nice and fair to everyone. Your mother would be ashamed to hear how much of a bully you've become," the girl disdainfully said to the battle ace who closed his eyes and took a deep breathe in, trying his best to keep his cool, and as calmly as he could, addressed the girl with a cool, indignant tone.
"You shouldn't jump to judgements about someone when you don't even know them and Maris defeated the rattata by just shaking it off of her ankle which shows that neither I nor Maris are the big bad thugs you think us to be and no, my mother wouldn't be ashamed of me as she know those rumors to be a lie and would be proud of the progress I'm making as a trainer," Dmitri rebutted causing the girl to sneer rudely as she took a step closer to Dmitri so that they were standing chest-to-chest.
"How about a battle then? If you can beat me then I'll believe you, but if you don't then I'll know you're lying," the girl challenged him causing Dmitri to narrow his eyes and clench his fists tightly while taking loud, heavy breathes.
"Your logic is flawed; you're saying that you'll only believe someone if they're strong which is wrong as you're refusing to come to conclusions on your own through reasoning and research," Dmitri replied sharply as his once calm tone was gone and his cool posture took on an aggressive change as he stood up to his full height with his muscles tensed.
"If you're willing to prove you're right about not being a bully then you should fight and defeat me to prove me wrong. Or are you going just going to talk out of battles like your father?" the girl taunted Dmitri haughtily causing the battle ace's eyes to widen and make him take step back, processing what she said to him as his eyes of shock turned to a hurt, agonizing stare as if he had been told that one of his loved ones had died.
"Keep your cool, don't lose control."
"Calm down Dmitri, there's no need to explode over this."
"Calm down, CALM DOWN DMITRI!"
Alas, no matter how much he repeated these phrases in his head, he could no longer keep down years of pent up rage and aggression from being taunted, bullied, and put down and this girl, who knew nothing about him, lit up a primal, dormant fire within him. His hurt stare turned into one of pure, white hot rage as he balled one of his hands into a fist so tightly that his knuckles turned as white as a ghost and with his rage driving him, swung his fist forward. A loud, echoing crack resonated throughout the pokemon center as everyone watching in the exchange went silent, not a sound was made, as Dmitri's fist was firmly planted into the wall mere inches away from the girl's face who wore a face of shock as Dmitri, despite being of average build with skinny, twig like arms, managed to make spider web cracks in the wall with the force of his punch.
Dmitri's was hunched over, taking deep, agonizing breathes which caused his body to tremble violently with each breathe that he took, while Catherine concernedly rushed forward and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder while the other one reached forward to remove his fist from the destroyed wall which she noticed was dripping blood onto the floor.
"Go away; you've done enough," Catherine barked at the girl who glanced at Dmitri and back to the former heiress before turning around and slowly walking away with a regretful look on her face as she seemed to mouth an apology before exiting the pokemon center.
"(Geez, what the flip happened?)" Maris asked incredulously as she along with Luka and Delia only saw the part where Dmitri nearly hit the girl causing Delia to take step forward and gingerly placed one of her hands on Dmitri's stiff fist.
"Dmitri, let's remove-"
Dmitri shrugged off the hands placed onto him which knocked Delia and Catherine a few steps back as they watched Dmitri sprint out of the pokemon center to parts unknown while his friends chased after him in concern as Maris quickly closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist which stopped him in his tracks, but he didn't struggle or put up a fight, he just hung his head down in defeat. Seeing a big tree with plenty of shade, she carried him over to it and laid her back against the trunk and wrapped her legs around Dmitri's waist, preventing him from escaping. Delia sat one side cross-legged with Buneary sitting next to her while Catherine sat on her haunches on the other side with Luka sitting cross-legged next to her which effectively boxed Dmitri in.
"(Talk to us when you're ready okay? In the meantime, why don't we fix up that hand of yours?)" Maris suggested in a soft tone which didn't get a response out of him as he continued to hold his head down causing Maris to frown sadly while Catherine and Delia went about cleaning his injured hand and Luka used her aura to heal Dmitri's mangled hand alongside the medicine being applied.
"Okay, that should do it," Catherine stated as she finished wrapping Dmitri's hand in gauze as she resumed sitting down and watched her friend worriedly while Luka frowned as she realized Maris was dangerously close to tears, no doubt having used aura to sense his feelings in order to better understand what happened.
Luka grimly thought back to the times when she used aura to get a better read on Catherine and using this power, she felt like she was Catherine experiencing the exact same pain and strife Catherine felt in these moments and had she not been strong willed she would have been driven to madness long ago.
Delia leaned forward and enveloped Dmitri into a tight, affectionate hug which he returned as Delia rested her head against while shutting her eyes tightly and just relaxing with him, no words needing to be spoken between the two. Catherine, Luka, and Buneary joined in as they all comforted him as best they could, but Maris was having the tougher time. Using what Luka had taught her, she extended her aura towards him which gradually restored his aura back to the warmth and happiness she commonly sensed from him, but darkness still remained so she kept her aura flowing towards him.
After a while, the hug broke off and Dmitri profusely thanked his friends for what they did which caused Maris to release her grip and allowing Dmitri to stand up while Delia looked to Catherine with a curious gaze causing the former heiress to nod and opened her mouth to speak.
"This girl was harassing us and she said something about Dmitri's dad," Catherine told the dragon tamer who looked worriedly at Dmitri who locked eyes with a sorrowful gaze and before hanging his head down once again.
"What you did Dmitri…wow; I'm pretty sure I can speak for all of us that we all would have probably broke that girl's jaw if she talked about someone we loved like that," Catherine praised Dmitri who slowly raised his head up and grinned slightly as she pulled him into a hug and placed her head on his shoulder.
"I wanted to hit her, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It would be wrong to hit anyone just because I'm mad," Dmitri murmured to Catherine who patted him on the back to ease some of the tension he still felt until she broke off the hug and put her hands on his shoulders tenderly.
"Let's go back to the pokemon center to get your hand looked at okay?" Catherine said softly as she began leading him back to the healing center while Maris, Delia, and Luka walked at either side of him with faces of relief that were glad that he was gradually returning back to his happy, cheerful self.