IMPORTANT NOTICE:

I accidentally posted this chapter as the last one without realising it. The previous chapter has been updated to the correct one. If you haven't read it, feel free to go back and read the new chapter 12 so this chapter makes more sense. Sorry for the confusion everybody!


"Vespiquen is unable to battle!" The referee declares, pointing a green flag towards Casey and Duncan, "And that means that the winners are Dratini and Pidgeot!"

"And that's the first battle of the C Block all wrapped up! Casey and Duncan will proceed to the second round matchups tomorrow!"

We did it!

Casey turns to Duncan and gives him a victorious hi-five as the crowd cheers vigorously, clearly impressed by the battle action they've just witnessed. Casey's rather pleased with both their and their opponents performance in battle as well, though she knows not to become too overconfident. They've still got a long way to go if they want to win this.


Casey shivers slightly as she walks around outside, the cool nighttime air causing such chills. It's not exactly freezing out, but the temperature has significantly dropped from what it was during the day. Monferno, who is walking by her side, seems to notice her shivering, as he ignites the tail on his flame a bit more in order to help her warm up.

She smiles down gratefully at her partner Pokemon, "Thanks, pal."

"Staravia, Aerial Ace!"

Casey ears perk up when she hears a familiar voice nearby, Monferno's ears doing just the same. The reason she left the Pokemon Center in the first place was to find a particular person who seemingly slipped away without anybody else noticing, and Casey reckons that she might've just found him.

"Ash!"

Casey and Monferno rush towards Ash just as his Pokemon finish up one of their battle manoeuvres, Ash praising his Pokemon before turning to face Casey and Monferno. He seems surprised to see them.

"Oh, hey, Casey!" He says, "What are you doing here?"

"I came out here to find you." Casey replies honestly. She looks over at Ash's Pokemon before shifting her eyes back over to him, "So you're training, huh?"

"Right! We've got to be ready to go for tomorrow if we want to win this!"

Casey smirks, "I don't know, Ash. I think Duncan and I have got a fair shot at this competition for sure."

Ash looks as if he's going to argue back in his usual Ash manner, but he seems to stop himself at the last second. That sure is a good thing. Ash and Casey would've argued for hours over it, only to end up laughing about it in the end.

"Where is Duncan, anyway?" Ash asks, looking around and noticing the absence of Casey's tag team partner.

"He went home. He wanted to make sure that his Pokemon were well rested for tomorrow." Casey explains, "You know, now that he actually understands his Pokemon, he's a really confident and skilled trainer."

Ash looks as if he's going to say something, but he abruptly stops when both him and Casey spot an intense ray of fire rise about the trees in the distance, lighting up the night sky briefly before disappearing.

"Huh!?" Ash gasps, "What's that?!"

"It looks like a Flameth-." Casey says, pausing abruptly when Monferno begins to rush off towards where the fire rose above the trees, "Hey, Monferno! Wait up!"

It doesn't take long for Casey to race after her partner; Ash returns his Pokemon, excluding Pikachu of course, to their Pokeballs before following along as well, both the two trainers and Pikachu following Monferno towards the nearby forest.

It takes them a few minutes to reach the forest, and a few more minutes after that to traverse the forest itself. Thankfully, Monferno seems to know his way through the forest somehow. Casey's certain that without Monferno, she and Ash would be lost in this forest for sure. Monferno eventually finds the source of the fire, and what Casey and Ash find surprises them to say the least.

It's Paul, and he seems to be running some kind of training exercise. All of his other Pokemon are stood around Chimchar and are firing attacks at it consecutively, the Chimp Pokemon struggling to defend itself against the onslaught of attacks.

Casey finds it all rather horrifying.

"Hey, Paul!" Casey snaps, "Cut it out!"

Paul, being Paul, flat out ignores Casey and instead gives another command to one of his Pokemon coldly, "Ursaring, use Focus Blast."

I'm not letting him get away with this!

Casey's about to order Monferno to stand in and defend Chimchar, but her partner Pokemon seems to have the exact same viewpoint on the situation as she does, as he stands in front of Chimchar without even being told to do so. He deflects the Focus Blast right back at Paul's Ursaring with ease, the super effective attack hitting the Hibernator Pokemon right in the chest and sending it stumbling back.

"Mon! Monferno!"

Casey glances over at Paul and sees that he is looking at Monferno with a scowl, but also with a hint of surprise on his face. He probably isn't used to anybody standing up to him. Ursaring sure isn't, as the Hibernator Pokemon is snarling angrily and glaring down at Monferno, who is standing his ground in protecting Chimchar.

"What's going on, Paul?!" Ash asks angrily, looking over at Paul agitatedly, "Why is Chimchar the only one you put through such intense special training?!"

"It's none of your business!"

"Why did you even enter this competition, Paul?!" Casey snaps, already on her last nerve when it comes to how Paul is acting, "You clearly don't care about being a part of a team, so what gives?!"

"It's a good chance to get my Pokemon used to some real combat." He replies bluntly, as if what he's saying is the most obvious thing in the world.

"What do you mean?!"

Casey jumps in surprise when she hears Dawn speak up out of nowhere. She sounds just as angry as Ash and Casey, making the latter wonder just how much of the conversation the bluenette has heard. Regardless of how much she's heard, she sure isn't afraid to voice her opinions on it all.

"Don't you think that you're being rude to the other trainers and Pokemon in the tag battle?!" Dawn shouts, glaring intensely over at Paul.

Paul ignores Dawn and instead looks over at Ash, "I needed Chimchar to be struck by that Surf in our match today, get it?"

Casey looks at Paul in disgust for his comment. Casey watched Ash and Paul's first match earlier in the day, and she was absolutely horrified when Paul commanded not to move as the opponents Rhydon used Surf. If it wasn't for Pikachu, then Chimchar would've been done for.

"And what if Chimchar would've lost?!"

What Paul says next completely and utterly disgusts Casey; her anger towards the purple-haired trainer only grows even more as he says it.

"Then Chimchar would be useless!"

"Mon! Monferno!"

Monferno yells angrily at Paul, who simply scoffs and looks away, "Get up, Chimchar! We're not done yet!"

Chimchar, clearly absolutely terrified of its trainer, does its best to try and get up, only to falter soon after. It stumbles and falls back down to the ground, this time passed out from complete and utter exhaustion. Dawn and Ash both instantly rush over to Chimchar, clearly concerned for the Chimp Pokemon's wellbeing, whilst Casey remains where she's stood, her disgusted eyes fixed on Paul. He doesn't even seem fazed that his Pokemon has just passed out before his eyes! It makes Casey's blood boil, that's for sure.

"That's it, Paul!" Ash shouts angrily as he lifts Chimchar up into his arms, glaring intensely over at Paul as he does so, "I'm taking Chimchar to the Pokemon Center right now!"

"Be my guest!"


Casey glances back with a sigh at Monferno. Her partner Pokemon is currently stood by the glass window looking into Chimchar's recovery room inside of the Pokemon Center, concern settling across his face in waves. Brock's already treated Chimchar and has explained that the Chimp Pokemon will be perfectly fine after a lot of rest, but that didn't seem to settle Monferno's nerves. The Playful Pokemon's seemingly grown rather protective of Chimchar in the short time that he's known it. Casey would be surprised if it wasn't for the fact that she understands how compassionate Monferno can be. He really does care for others more than he does himself.

Casey is mildly aware that Brock is talking to Paul, and for most of the conversation she zones out of it completely. She has no interest in what Paul has to say. After everything that he's done, why should she? However, he does manage to catch her attention when he abruptly stands up from his seat, making quite the commotion whilst he's at it.

"I need to push Chimchar past the limit! If we could just recapture that power, Chimchar would be the strongest of all my Fire-Type Pokemon!"

Casey can't help but scoff at that. He doesn't need to push Chimchar past the limit to unlock its true power, at least not in the way that he does. If he could connect with his Pokemon then he'd be able to unlock their true power in an easier and much less cruel way.

Paul doesn't seem to hear her scoff and instead chooses to make his way towards the door of the Pokemon Center, clearly not interested in talking to them any longer. Casey's not exactly complaining about it. In fact, she wouldn't have payed Paul any attention, that's if it wasn't for the fact that Monferno suddenly began rushing over to the leaving trainer. Before she can even process what's going on, the Playful Pokemon fires a powerful Flamethrower right at Paul, making the purple-haired boy pause abruptly when it just about skims past his face.

Casey knows that she should get up from where she's sat, rush over to Monferno and pull him away from Paul whilst apologizing profusely for her Pokemon's actions, but she finds herself instead watching curiously as Monferno stares down Paul, who has now turned around to face the Playful Pokemon himself.

He looks at Monferno stoically, but Casey can hear something in his voice that she's never heard from him before. She can hear curiosity, "What do you want?"

Monferno responds by yelling over at Paul angrily, punching his fists into the air as he stares Paul down. It takes a moment for Casey to figure out what Monferno is trying to say, and it's at that moment in time when Paul figures it out as well. She expects Paul to simply scoff and turn away, but he catches Casey off guard when he turns towards her, his face still stoic and his eyes steeled.

"One on one. Outside in five minutes. Make this worth my time." He says bluntly before turning around again and walking right out of the Pokemon Center, the automatic doors closing promptly behind him.

Everybody is silent for a few moments, none of them really sure how to react. In fact, it's Holly, Brock's tag battle partner, that speaks up first on the matter, voicing what practically all of them are thinking.

"What was that about?"

"He wants a battle." Casey says as she stands up from her seat, crossing the space between herself and Monferno and kneeling down to his level, "You wanna give it a shot, pal?"

Casey already knows what Monferno's answer will be, but she feels that it's right to ask regardless. Still, she can't help but smile when he jumps about enthusiastically, all the while maintaining his serious manner in his cries of determination.

"That's what I was hoping for."


"The battle between Casey and Paul is about to begin!" Brock announces as he stands on the sidelines of the battlefield.

Casey and Monferno are stood at one end, the latter of the two bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation for the battle to begin. He's really pumped up to battle, though Casey isn't entirely sure why. Her best bet is because he thinks that by taking on Paul he's defending Chimchar. After all, he has grown rather protective of the Chimp Pokemon in such a small amount of time.

Paul is stood at the other end of the battlefield, his usual stoic expression still apparent on his face. Ash, Dawn, Holly and Conway are all sat on benches at the side of the battlefield, ready to watch the battle unfold. Dawn and Holly both look rather calm whilst the boys seem far more attentive, likely eager for the battle to start.

"Each side will use one Pokemon, and the battle will be over when one of the Pokemon is unable to battle! Paul, please choose your battling Pokemon."

Paul wastes no time in sending his chose Pokemon out onto the battlefield, sending it out seconds after Brock declares that the battle has begun, "Murkrow! Stand by for battle!"

"Mur! Mur-krow!" Murkrow caws as it emerges from its Pokeball in a flash of bright light, flapping its wing as it hovers above the battlefield.

Casey gets what Paul's trying to do. He's trying to gain an edge on her by having the type advantage. Unfortunately for him, she isn't going to let something as simple as type advantage stop her. There's ways around that kind of thing, after all. It's just the matter of figuring out those ways.

"Now, let the battle begin!"

Paul wastes no time in starting out the battle, barking out an order to Murkrow almost immediately, "Use Haze!"

Murkrow opens its mouth and spews out thick, black smoke upon command. The smoke is quick to cover the entire battlefield, Monferno becoming lost amongst its dark facade. Casey fully understands what Paul's trying to do. She's seen this kind of strategy before and so has Monferno. They know exactly what to do.

"Now use Sky Attack!"

Casey watches calmly as Murkrow flies up even higher, presumably so it can build up more speed when coming back down to attack. She knows that Sky Attack is a powerful move, but at the same time she also knows just how to counter it. She just needs to wait for the right moment, and she trusts that Monferno understands that. He always manages to understand her.

Murkrow, now at a reasonably high altitude after just a few seconds, begins to come rushing back towards the ground. A white aura glows around it as it approaches. Casey can't tell if Paul is satisfied with the move from his usual stoic expression, but from where she's standing it sure does look powerful. Still, she keeps a calm expression on her face as Murkrow gets closer and closer to the ground, only reacting when it is mere inches from the haze cloud surrounding the battlefield.

"Here it comes!" She calls, "You know what to do, Monferno!"

Murkrow disappears into the haze as a smirk begins to form on Paul's face. Casey almost feels bad for him. That smirk is about to vanish for sure.

"Mon-ferno!"

Monferno yells loudly as he rises up high above the smoke, remaining suspended high up into the air for a few moments. Paul lets out a noise that sounds like a mixture of a frustrated groan and a surprised gasp as the smoke begins to fade away, revealing the not so good state of his Murkrow. The Darkness Pokemon must've not had enough time to correct itself when Monferno dodged its powerful attack, and as of such it crashed right into the battlefield, where it is lying weakly whilst struggling to get up.

"Get up!" Paul orders harshly, "You're being pathetic!"

Casey scowls at Paul for his comment, but she ultimately manages to keep her mouth shut as Monferno lands back on the ground in front of her, poised and ready to attack when commanded to do so. Murkrow manages to get up, albeit after some struggle, and moves back to its original position just above the battlefield. Paul chooses not to waste any more time as he calls his next attack.

"Use Shadow Ball!"

"Counter with Flamethrower!"

The dark, purple orb of Murkrow's Shadow Ball and the fiery red stream of Monferno's Flamethrower speed towards each other and collide with great force in mid-air, erupting into a small explosion almost immediately upon contact.

"Now use Aerial Ace!"

Casey understands what Paul's trying to do: he's trying to knock her down with sheer power. It's evident to her as Murkrow begins to rush down towards Monferno. Thankfully, she knows just how to counter this.

"Block it, Monferno!"

Monferno tenses his body and moves into his defensive stance just as Murkrow crashes into him. He staggers back initially from the force of the attack, but he quickly manages to recompose himself and successfully block off Murkrow's super effective attack without much damage, much to Paul's surprise.

"Now use Flame Wheel!" Casey calls. Monferno obeys, his body quickly becoming surrounded in hot flames. Murkrow, being in such a close proximity to Monferno, becomes engulfed in the flames itself; it cries out in pain as it remains ensnared in the fires burning grip.

Still, they aren't done just yet.

"Do it, Monferno!"

Monferno yells ferociously as he begins to spin faster and faster, Murkrow trapped inside the intense fiery vortex. Monferno surges forward with great speed and drags Murkrow along with him, leaving a trail of flames in his wake. He spins right towards the edge of the battlefield before stopping abruptly, the sudden shift in speed sending Murkrow spiralling out of the fiery vortex and into a nearby tree.

"What?!" Paul snaps. Monferno's Flame Wheel dissipates and the Playful Pokemon moves back over to his side of the battlefield, his chest heaving as he catches his breath. Casey can see the state that Murkrow's in, and she doesn't need to wait for Brock to know what the outcome of the battle is.

"Murkrow is unable to battle!" Brock declares, "The match goes to Casey and Monferno!"

"Yes!" Casey cheers triumphantly, shooting a smile over in Monferno's direction, "We did it, pal!"

Monferno looks over at Casey cheerfully, clearly happy about the outcome of the battle. As she and Monferno celebrate, Casey takes note of just what Paul is doing. He's stood over Murkrow with a Pokeball in his hands and Casey assumes that he'll return the Darkness Pokemon to its Pokeball, though he manages to find the time to insult the unconscious Pokemon for its performance in battle.

"That was pathetic! You're just a disappointment!"

Casey should really bite her tongue her, but this time around she can't stop herself. She storms over to Paul with fire in her eyes, glaring at the cruel boy as he returns Murkrow to its Pokeball, "You need to back off, Paul!"

Paul pockets Murkrow's Pokeball and begins to walk away from Casey, presumably off to the Pokemon Center. At least, Casey hopes that he's heading for the Pokemon Center.

"What do you care?" He replies coldly, "You won."

"What does that matter?! Just because Murkrow lost, it doesn't give the right to be so harsh!"

"It does if Murkrow should've won."

Casey's glare turns murderous at that, "You might want to take that back, Paul!"

"It's pathetic!" He responds adamantly, turning around to look at Casey with a cold stare, "You're pathetic! You and him are one in the same!"

Casey glances over in the direction where Paul is looking and sees Ash. He's still with the others, though now they're stood up and are watching the scene unfold in front of them with both curiosity and concern. Well, Brock looks more analytical than concerned, but that's just Brock's nature.

"You think that trust and friendship is what gives you strength, but it's all nonsense! What's the point in trusting a Pokemon that's weak?!" Paul scoffs. Casey looks back to him, glare still as intense as before; she can't fault his adamance. As much as she doesn't agree with his ideals, she can clearly see that he's strong in his convictions.

"Murkrow isn't weak just because it lost a battle! You need to realise that, Paul! You can't just-!"

"Enough!"

Casey stops abruptly when Brock's loud voice cuts over her own, the sternest of it making her flinch. She turns around and looks at Brock as he approaches; she notices that the others are still stood where they were before as they watch the scene unfold before them. Brock reaches Casey and Paul just seconds later.

"The battle is over." He says bluntly, directing his attention towards Paul, "It's done. All that's left is to head to the Pokemon Center so that Nurse Joy can care for the Pokemon. Do you understand?"

Paul waits for a few seconds before giving Brock a slight nod. The rude trainer doesn't even acknowledge Casey again before he turns around and begins to walk off without another word. Casey watches as Paul walks off with anger plastered across her face; she doesn't even realise that she has her fists clenched to the point where her knuckles are turning white until Brock points it out to her. She sighs as she unclenches her fists, turning and looking over at Brock apologetically.

"I didn't mean to start on him." She sighs, "I just don't get him."

Brock replies with a simple nod of understanding, the small action conveying more than any words possibly could in that moment. Brock seems to have that gift: the ability to convey so many different thoughts and feelings just through his actions rather than his words. Casey can't help but admire that about Brock.

"Mon-ferno!"

Casey looks over at Monferno with a fond smile as the Playful Pokemon rushes over to her, a mixture of concern and intrigue written across his face. He's clearly confused about her exchange with Paul, so she figures that she should try her best to reassure him.

"It's all good, pal." She smiles as she kneels down to Monferno's eye level, "I need you to bring that kind of power out again in the finals. Do you reckon you can do that, pal?"

"He won't need to."

Casey looks up when she hears Conway speak up and she finds that he, along with the others who are stood just behind him, have made their way over from the side of the battlefield to where she and Brock are stood now.

Conway smirks confidently, tipping the edge of his glasses as he peers down at Casey, "Because in order to get to the finals, you'll have to defeat Dawn and I, and I'd expect a trainer as intelligent as you, Casey, to realise that's not going to happen."

Casey laughs, a mischievous glint flickering in her eyes as she stands up to face Conway, "Don't count us out just yet, Conway. Duncan and I have got this competition on lock!"

"Don't forget about Brock and I!"

"Or me!" Ash chimes in shortly after Holly, his usual eagerness evident on his face, "It may be a challenge, but don't count me out!"

Casey smiles back at her friends, any angry or hateful thoughts forgotten by the promise of new challenges, "You're on!"


Hey everybody! I'm back with another chapter! Sorry I haven't been updating a lot recently. I've been super busy!

I know it sounds ridiculous, but a huge motivator for writing is reviews. I didn't get any on the previous chapter :(. Of course writers aren't entitled to reviews, but receiving one can really make the world of a difference when it comes to writing. So, please, if you have a few seconds spare, leave a review after reading this chapter. It really would mean the world to me!

Thanks again and I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! I'm rather proud of it :)!