Ch.31
Eternal Spite
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The very next day, Dmitri's party met up and agreed to travel separately to search for any martial art schools and agreed to meet up at the pokemon center later on when they had finished their first day of training.
"(Dmitri, how are you feeling?)" Maris inquired curiously causing her boyfriend to sigh and run a hand through his hair before staring at Maris neutrally.
"I'm doing better, but what she said brought up great memories that I had with my dad and it made me wish…made me wish he was still with us. If Lance had just accepted the offer of opening up a minor school in the Kanto and Johto region prior, maybe he'd still be alive," Dmitri mused causing Maris to sympathetically gaze at him and put a paw on his shoulder as she took in every emotion that he was feeling at the moment.
"(Do you blame Lance for your father's death?)" Maris asked of him calmly causing Dmitri to sorrowfully look down at the ground before giving a slow, hesitant nod which caused Maris to tighten her grip on his shoulder.
"I know dad would say not to blame Lance, but it's hard not to you know? I know why my dad was always exhausted and grumpy whenever he came home from those business trips to the Kanto and Johto region and it's because of Lance's stubbornness and cantankerous attitude to those from the Unova region," Dmitri admitted causing Maris to nod understandably and transferred some of her aura to Dmitri which caused him to smile gratefully at his girlfriend as his grim mood was slowly going away thanks to her.
"Do you think it's wrong of me to blame Lance?" Dmitri asked Maris who without hesitation vigorously shook her head and folded her arms and narrowed her red, piercing eyes at him.
"(Hell no; you have every right to blame him because he indirectly caused your father's death and left your mother to raise you by yourself when you were still a juvenile,)" Maris passionately replied causing Dmitri to furrow his brow and rub his chin contemplatively, thinking about what his girlfriend said, before nodding slowly.
"Okay then; let's go find a school to join okay?" Dmitri chirped cheerfully causing Maris to crack a small grin and give him a thumbs-up causing him to chuckle and give her one in return as the martial arts pokemon walked at his side and put her paws behind her head and enjoyed the walk around town.
With Delia
Delia and Lopunny walked in complete silence, neither speaking to other, as Delia had her arms folded with a blank, stoic look plastered on her face while Lopunny had small, yet happy grin on her face as she amazedly stared at all the buildings and bright signs that Veilstone City had. The two would occasionally look at one another which would cause Delia to give her the two finger salute while Lopunny would cheerfully wave at her with her large, floppy ears. At one of those times, Lopunny narrowed her eyes and saw thin, long scars along her palm causing the bunny pokemon to wrap one of her floppy ears around Delia's arm and gently pull her towards her.
"(Delia, how did you get those scars on your hand?)" Lopunny demanded causing Delia to run a hand through her hair and stare at her with a grim, solemn expression that showed she had stared into the abyss.
"When Dmitri's dad died, he was at his lowest point; Dmitri started harming himself and even though Mrs. Long and Stephanie did their best to monitor him, he managed to find ways to conceal this destructive behavior from them, but not me. Instead of telling on him, I started to harm myself as well to show him that he wasn't alone and that there was someone who would shoulder this burden with him," Delia responded causing Lopunny to grunt, but she didn't ease her grip on Delia's arm.
"(How did your parents feel about this?)" Lopunny asked her causing Delia to snort and put her hand on her hip.
"They weren't happy about it; they demanded to know why I was engaging in this sort of behavior and when I told them that I was just doing it to support a friend I cared about, they tried to make me stop seeing him for my "protection," Delia remarked with a bit of anger in her tone causing Lopunny to pull Delia closer to her and hug her with her other large, floppy ear.
"It's okay Lopunny; he eventually stopped and I did to so-PWAH!" Delia shrieked in surprise as a flyer smacked her right in the face causing Delia to snatch it off her face angrily and just as she was about to crumple it, she suddenly became more relaxed and focused on what the flyer was saying.
Whipping out her pokegear, she calmly held it to her ear while holding the flyer up while Lopunny curiously leaned forward to see what the flyer said.
"Hey Dmitri, how about we put finding martial art disciplines on hold for now; I think I found something that will be much more beneficial to us and our team."
Later
"Okay Mrs. Shiina, you're all set and we wish you the best of luck in the Hearthome Tag Battle Competition!" the receptionist merrily chirped to the dragon tamer causing Delia to give a slight nod in response and walked towards her friends who were standing off to the side conversing amongst each other.
"I got number 5, what about you guys?" Delia asked them causing Catherine to flash her card to Delia, but the dragon tamer chuckled softly when she saw that it was upside down causing the former heiress to blush and flip it over allowing Delia to see that it was 22 while Dmitri showed his card to Delia which read number 32.
"I know the numbers don't really matter, but what are the odds that I would get the last possible card for this competition?" Dmitri whined as Maris raised a brow and shrugged her shoulders while Luka narrowed her eyes in focus before calmly placing her paws on her hips.
"(The odds of you drawing the last possible card is 1/32 with one being the favorable outcome while 32 is the number of possible outcomes,)" Luka answered intellectually causing Maris to grin and lightly punch the aura pokemon in the shoulder.
"(Thanks for the info geek,)" Maris playfully quipped causing Luka to snicker and fold her arms as she gave Maris a smug look that oozed confidence.
"(Don't mention it meathead,)" Luka light-heartedly remarked causing both of the fighting types to break out into a brief gale of laughter before composing themselves.
"It sucks that we had to give up our rooms at the Pokemon Center in Veilstone," Catherine lamented causing Delia to shrug at her and cock her head to the side.
"Well, Nurse Joy saw no need to reserve our rooms when they were other trainers who needed them and since we got to Heathome a little late, we're going to have to camp outside since all the rooms at the Pokemon Center we're already taken," Delia casually informed her companions causing Catherine to moan miserably and hunch over while Luka rolled her eyes, but comforted her girlfriend by rubbing her back.
"Guys, it looks like the competition is about to start," Dmitri analyzed as he saw the other competitors converging to the center of the battlefield causing the three friends to follow them as Delia took a look around the battlefield to size up her competition and frowned slightly when she saw Ash, Dawn, and Brock amongst the crowd.
After the long monologue by the host of the competition and hearing the melodic tune of the soothe bell, the other competitors walked around to find their partners, but Delia, Lopunny, Catherine, and Luka stayed together, agreeing to separate once they found their partners.
"Number 4, I'm looking for number 4!" Dmitri shouted at the top of his lungs while Maris held up the card as high as her arms would allow it and shifted it in all directions for all to see, but everyone just keep passing by them.
"Oh, you are number 32?" a gruff, surprised voice stated from behind him causing Dmitri to turn around to face whoever said this and his heart sunk when he saw who it was; the same blue haired girl who had insulted his father.
"(Apologize to him, now!)" Maris ordered fiercely causing the girl to indignantly put her hands on her hips and glare at Maris, but the martial arts pokemon fired up her magenta aura which took on a darker, demonic shade and glowered at the girl as her eyes became blank like a feral zombie causing the girl to cringe and unconsciously take a step back in fear before composing herself and staring calmly at Dmitri.
"Look, I said something I shouldn't have and I guess I should have checked if the rumors were true or not; I got carried away. It was my bad," the girl humbly conceded as she held out one of her hands towards Dmitri who warily looked at it before extending one of his, but brought it back when he realized it was his broken one.
"Geez, was that the hand you nearly broke my face with?" the girl nervously stated causing Dmitri to sheepishly rub the back of his head and extend his other hand toward her causing her to grip it as they both shook hands with one another.
"Since we haven't formally met, my name is Alex and I aspire to be the greatest fighting type specialist in the world; it's nice to make your acquaintance," Alex greeted Dmitri with a bashful wave causing Dmitri to crack a small smile as he hooked his hand into his pocket.
"My name is Dmitri and I hope by traveling around the Sinnoh region that I will be able to learn more about myself and my friends in order to become a better trainer," Dmitri informed his tag team partner causing her to nod in respect for that goal and put her hands on her hips.
"Do you want to talk strategy since everyone else is still scrambling to find their partners?" Alex suggested causing Dmitri to nod in response as the two tag team partners walked to separate area to begin strategizing for the competition while Delia and Catherine were still searching for their partners.
"Hello, I'm looking for number five!" a familiar voice shouted which caused Delia to growl and narrow her eyes that turned into bright, furious shade of crimson as knew full well who that voice belonged to causing her to take a deep breathe in before letting it back out.
"Are you going to be okay Delia?" Catherine concernedly asked her friend who gritted her teeth tightly, but gave a curt nod in response to her question as the dragon tamer gave the former heiress a salute and walked over to her partner causing Catherine to sigh and overlook the massive crowd of people.
"Look behind you," Delia tersely stated with an edge to her voice causing the person in question to turn around and briefly widened his eyes in shock as the dragon tamer held up her card, revealing it to be number five, as Ash determinedly stared at the dragon tamer who was icily glaring at the winner of the Orange League and Battle Frontier while Pikachu and Lopunny just curiously stared at one another.
"You don't like me, and I'm not very fond of you, your flawed training style, or your mistaken views on how a pokemon trainer should act, but if we are to win, I am willing to put aside our differences and work together," Delia said as every word felt like sulfuric acid going down her throat as her tag team partner narrowed his eyes at her, warily sizing her up and considering her offer, before giving a slow nod and extending his hand to her.
"Alright Delia, you've got yourself a deal; for now, we're partners," Ash said calmly as Delia gripped his hand and gave it a quick shake while Lopunny and Pikachu took this moment to get to know one another as Lopunny extended one of her floppy ears towards Pikachu who gripped it with his tiny paws and gave a cheerful cry causing Lopunny to grin warmly in response.
"NUMBER 9! IS ANYONE HERE NUMBER 9?! WHO HERE IS NUMBER 9?!" Catherine shrieked at the top of her lungs while wildly flailing her registration card in the air in all directions while sitting on Luka's shoulders as Luka's eye twitched angrily at her girlfriend's behavior, but knew that this would get the other contestant's attention with one of them maybe being their partner.
"Of course you had to be number 22," a rude, curt voice called out to Catherine causing Luka to wheel around and face whoever said this and glowered when she saw it was none other than Paul.
"I have no choice so you better just stay out of my way!" Paul yelled at her as Luka gently set her girlfriend on the ground while Catherine grunted and raised one of her brows, amused by his attempts of intimidation.
"Oh please Paul, like it or not, we're partners so stop being a child because that's in no way going to help us win this competition," Catherine retorted causing Paul to grunt and saunter off while Luka folded her arms and regarded Catherine with a tense, worried gaze.
"(I don't like this; Paul will most likely try to harm us during the match so he can win on his own,)" Luka concernedly stated causing Catherine to narrow her eyes, knowing what her girlfriend said was true.
"I intend to get as far as I can in this tournament, but I will inform Floatzel, Graveler, and Kricketune about this so they'll be aware about what kind of "teammate" we're paired up with," Catherine assured her causing Luka to sigh in relief and give a grateful hug to her partner who gladly returned it as Dmitri and Alex approached them causing Catherine to coldly glare at the girl while Luka fired up her dark blue aura and aggressively stormed towards the girl, but Dmitri protectively stepped in front of Alex causing Luka to halt.
"Luka its fine; she said she was sorry and we made up," Dmitri assured the aura pokemon who glared at Alex once more before sighing and folding her arms calmly while never taking her eyes off of the girl
"(I am fully aware that she apologized to you and know that you're on better terms with her, but I will not forgive her for contemptuously mocking the deceased of one of my friends,)" Luka coolly stated through her aura so Alex could understand her causing the battle girl to hang her head down in shame before looking up and staring at Luka determinedly.
"I know I messed up, but I'm trying to make up for what I did-"
"(If that's true then I trust you won't hurt him again right?)" Luka coolly said to the girl who nodded at her causing the aura pokemon to snarl and walk back to Catherine with her same stoic gaze that Dmitri's party was used to.
"I guess I can let what you said slide, but I got my eye on you," Catherine warned Alex who nodded, expecting this, causing the former heiress to nod in return and glance at Dmitri evenly and put her hands on her hips.
"May the best team win," Catherine said to the duo determinedly as she smirked and clenched her fists causing Dmitri to smirk in return and fold his arms.
"I agree; let's make this a tournament to remember," Dmitri replied enthusiastically causing the former heiress to chuckle while Luka and Maris stared each other down with narrowed eyes before gripping each other's forearms and giving one another a respectful nod.
Later
"Kricketune, time to go!"
"Chimchar, stand by!"
Kricketune materialized onto the field with a calm, yet excited expression as he took this moment to formally bow to his opponents across the field which took them by surprise, but they returned this gesture with curt nods while Chimchar determinedly stared down his foes that similarly looked back at him.
"This is bad; Kricketune is weak to both Rhydon and Magmar while Chimchar's fire type attacks won't have much effect on either of them," Brock observed causing Delia to inwardly sigh, but she remained emotionless on the outside as she folded her arms while Dawn's partner chuckled eerily and fiddled with his glasses.
"A tactical error on both of their parts; Paul clearly has better pokemon to use in this situation and this Catherine should have used her Lucario as it at least could have taken down Rhydon before focusing its attention on Magmar," Dawn's partner added causing Delia to grit her teeth and clench her fists, but she calmed down once Lopunny soothingly rubbed her back which the dragon tamer responded to by giving her partner a grateful nod.
"(Lopunny?)" Maris called out all of a sudden causing the bunny pokemon to turn to her and cock her head to the side with a curious expression on her face as the martial arts pokemon sighed and placed a paw on Lopunny's shoulder.
"(Be careful out there okay? You seem nice enough and I wouldn't want someone Delia trusts so much to get hurt during her first official battle,)" Maris concernedly stated causing Lopunny to blush a light shade of red, but nodded in thanks causing Maris to grin slightly before returning to the battle at hand just as a pokeball on Dmitri's belt vibrated and then opened revealing Sparkplug who waddled over to Dmitri's leg and sat on her haunches, intently staring at Chimchar.
"(You want to see if you can sway him to leave his trainer right?)" Maris assumed causing the powerful big cat to solemnly nod in response which caused Dmitri to lean down to pet her head causing her to let out a grunt from the contact.
"Sparkplug, I promise you if we do go up against Paul and Catherine, then you can try to convince Chimchar to leave his trainer and seek out a better one," Dmitri promised her causing Sparkplug to gratefully grin at her trainer and rub his leg with her head as a low purr escaping her lips.
"Kricketune, growl followed by focus energy," Catherine calmly commanded causing the bug type to out an ear piercing howl that startled his foes across the field and then took a deep breathe in and focused his beady eyes on his fast approaching foes, but both Catherine and Kricketune remained unfazed.
"Hang back for now," Catherine ordered causing Kricketune to chirp excitedly and hold his thin appendages out in front of him defensively as Catherine had noticed that Paul hadn't given Chimchar any commands.
"Trying to use me as bait?" Catherine spat causing Paul to snort derisively and look in the opposite direction in an attempt to ignore her causing Luka to harden her features, but Catherine calmed her down by gently rubbing her back.
"Yes, I am; since you're using a weak pokemon it might as well be useful by providing a distraction," Paul replied bluntly causing Catherine to growl, but calmed herself and focused on the battle at hand.
"Rhydon and Magmar are getting dangerously close," Catherine analyzed and came to the conclusion that if Paul wouldn't act, then she would.
"Rhydon, hammer arm!"
"Magmar, fire punch!"
"Kricketune, screech followed by brick break!" Catherine shouted causing her brave bug to let out a bone chilling wail that shook his foes to the core and made them falter in their stride giving Kricketune the opportunity to close the distance and wind back his blade like arms which emanated a bright, vibrant yellow.
Kricketune, without missing a beat, swung both of his thin arms like a lumberjack chopping a tall, mighty tree at Rhydon's neck with a powerful, stiff blow causing the dual type to gag and stumble backwards while clutching its neck and Kricketune, out of the corner of his eye, saw Magmar's flame engulfed fist flying straight towards him. Kricketune gracefully stepped to the side and passed it through causing Magmar to stagger forward awkwardly before wheeling around and facing his opponent with a wary expression.
"Magmar, lava plume!" the opposing trainer shouted causing Catherine to grit her teeth while Kricketune seeing his trainer's unease, prepared himself while Paul finally took an interest onto what was going on and narrowed his eyes at the opposing fire type.
With a mighty yell, Magmar expelled a plume of hazy, black smoke that blanketed Magmar's side and was quickly approaching Kricketune and Chimchar like a raging avalanche.
"Even if Chimchar's a fire type, he's still going to take some heavy damage if he gets hit by this," Catherine pondered as Kricketune turned to her with an anxious face causing Catherine to nod at her partner.
Kricketune leaped in front of his partner and summoned a green dome of energy around him as he intended to act as a shield for his partner causing Catherine to inwardly sigh in relief, but didn't let down her guard as she waited for the attack to subside.
"Chimchar, go!" Paul yelled causing Chimchar to look back him with a confused look before steeling his resolve and jumping over the barrier which caused many in the audience and even the opposing trainers to have their jaws agape in shock, yet Catherine and Luka darkly glanced at Paul before returning their attention back to the battle.
Chimchar winced and clenched his teeth so hard that if felt like they were going to break as he was engulfed by the black, searing plume of smoke, but forced down his pain just as Paul gave him a command.
"Chimchar, flamethrower!" Paul shouted causing Chimchar to glare at Rhydon and unleash a mighty stream of flames from his mouth straight at Rhydon causing Catherine to roll her eyes and point at Rhydon and Magmar causing Kricketune to sprint towards them to aid his partner.
"You hypocrite; you say that Kricketune is useless yet you order Chimchar to use a move that you know wouldn't be effective against either Rhydon or Magmar," Catherine snarled causing Paul to contemptuously glower at her before returning his attention back to the battle.
"Be quiet; no one wants to hear anything from a disowned spoiled brat or her rabid attack dog," Paul scathingly replied causing Catherine to growl and clench her fists while Luka subtly encased one of her paws in aura, but Catherine put a hand on her arm and shook her head causing the aura pokemon to growl and fold her arms in defeat.
"Rhydon, hammer arm!" one of the opposing trainers shouted causing the Rhydon to cross its arms in an x and block the oncoming stream of fire causing Chimchar to widen his eyes in shock as Rhydon cancelled out the attack by thrusting its arms outward with a powerful roar.
Rhydon charged at Chimchar with one of its arms cocked back and struck forward while Chimchar could only watch it come towards him with his face frozen in fear, but luckily Kricketune got in front of him and met the attack head on with a stiff, firm chop with both of his thin arms and for a moment both Rhydon and Kricketune struggled against each other, but the bug type soon realized that he would be overpowered if this continued on. Shifting his body, Kricketune redirected the attack downwards causing Rhydon to fall forward as he was knocked off balance only to be cracked across the face with a strong, mighty chop that knocked the dual type off its feet and back to his partner's side where he angrily punched the ground and climbed back to its feet; furiously staring at the insect.
"Jeez, even though Kricketune is a bug type it's still really tough," one of the trainers said in both respect and fear while the other nodded in agreement and looked to his partner who narrowed his eyes and nodded back.
"Magmar, use protect!"
"Rhydon, use surf!"
"Oh balls," Catherine muttered as a massive tidal wave flooded the arena as Kricketune and Chimchar's eyes went as wide as saucers as the humongous flood of water was hurtling straight towards them at a rapid pace causing Kricketune to leap out of harm's way and thought his partner followed him only to see that he was still standing there awaiting orders.
Kricketune was perplexed by this behavior; dodging shouldn't have to be ordered from a trainer so what was he waiting for?
"Chimchar, flame wheel!" Paul ordered causing Catherine and Luka to growl furiously under their breath and turned to face him with angered gazes that the he ignored causing Catherine to whistle to Kricketune and gesture to Chimchar, but it was too late as Chimchar engulfed his body in flames and spun in place causing the fire to resemble a pinwheel.
With a war cry, Chimchar charged towards the unstoppable wave of water with reckless abandon while Kricketune had in vain rushed back and had attempted to shield his teammate only for the fire monkey to barrel towards the tidal wave the moment he reached him. Kricketune, however, leaped into the air and as gently as he could, struck Chimchar causing not only his attack to dissipate, but also knocked him away which saved him from the foolhardy move, but now Kricketune was helpless as the wave swallowed him up causing Catherine to grit her teeth. The waves mercilessly pounded against the stadium walls for a moment before subsiding which left puddles of water around the battlefield and one in particular had Kricketune lying motionless on one causing Catherine to worriedly stare at her teammate before he subtly opened one of his eyes and winked at her. Rhydon cautiously approached his downed opponent and leaned down to nudge him, but Kricketune took this moment to quickly rise and chop Rhydon across the face forcefully which left a little chip in his horn while Kricketune quickly struck him once more with his other arm which made Rhydon's vision become blurry.
Rhydon staggered around drunkenly as his trainer concernedly watched on causing the bug type to deliver the final blow which came in a gentle nudge that knocked the beast onto his back where he lay still. Kricketune, upon seeing that his foe was indeed defeated, jumped back to Catherine with his arms held up, but his arms moved up and down sluggishly with his labored breathing. Composing himself, Kricketune hummed a brooding, solemn tune that unnerved Magmar who suddenly felt like something was reaching inside of its being and slowly sapping its life force causing Luka to purse her lips and nod in respect for her teammate.
"(You have the advantage now since Magmar must take the offensive or perish,)" Luka pointed out causing Catherine to nod in response and look towards Kricketune with narrowed eyes.
"Hang back," Catherine called out causing Kricketune to nod and take knee as he began breathing properly to slowly restore his stamina while Paul scoffed and shook his head in disdain for his "partner's" strategy.
"Call back you're useless bug-"
"Stop being a hypocrite Paul and just end this battle so we can go our separate ways," Catherine interrupted bitingly causing the Veilstone native to be taken aback briefly before snorting and ordering Chimchar to use dig which the fire monkey complied with.
"Magmar, try to feel out where Chimchar is and then attack," the opposing trainer desperately cried out as his companion frantically searched the ground for any signs of his opponent to no avail as Chimchar sprang up from the ground behind him and clobbered the back of his head like a sledgehammer crushing a stone into tiny pieces causing Magmar to let out a pained cry before falling forward onto his belly where he laid motionless on the ground.
Upon seeing his final opponent defeated, Kricketune fell harshly onto one knee where he let out exhausted wheezes and coughs until he felt himself be revitalized causing him to look over his shoulder and found Luka releasing a warm, soothing wave of aura towards him causing the bug type to click excitedly which in turn caused Luka to grin and nod.
"Kricketune, you did a great job considering this was first ever battle now get some rest," Catherine said happily to her teammate who hummed cheerfully, yet tiredly from the praise as Luka finished healing him allowing Catherine to tap his forehead and return him to his pokeball which the bug type didn't protest to.
Both Paul and Catherine walked past each other without acknowledging the other's presence as Catherine continued to walk towards her friends while Paul was exiting the stadium, undoubtedly going to do some more training while Sparkplug glared hatefully at the back of Paul's head with barred fangs as electricity dangerously sparked and exploded around her causing Dmitri to kneel down and place a calm hand on her back only to receive an unintentional painful jolt, but he paid it no mind.
"(He's so much like Alice,)" Sparkplug growled spitefully as Dmitri continued to gently stroke her back while wincing when he received unintentional painful shocks from time to time until the big cat finally calmed down once again and sat on her haunches.
"Something wrong with your Luxray?" Alex inquired concernedly causing Dmitri to sigh and look at her with a solemn, mournful look.
"Sparkplug use to work with an abusive trainer so seeing how Paul treats Chimchar brought back some painful memories," Dmitri answered causing Alex to sympathetically stare at the electric lioness who was staring off into the distance with a thoughtful, forlorn look while Maris was sitting down next to her cross-legged and suddenly Kiera materialized out of her pokeball and plopped down onto her belly and rested her head against Sparkplug's.
"(Sparkplug, if anyone can convince Chimchar to leave that bastard, I know it's you.)"
"(I hope so, but…but what if it's too late?)"