With how simple the arrangement of the dojo, or Pokémon gym, was, it was almost calming to look around at the decorations. Almost. Espir hoped that Alexis wouldn't become blinded by her desire to win, like she had in the last gym. She appeared slightly out of touch, the event near the meteorites clearly having an effect on her. Espir knew that he had an edge on Fighting type Pokémon with how they couldn't land many hits against his ghostly form. He knew that Alexis knew this too. Her team, including him, was more than capable of dispatching a swift victory over Maylene's squad. Espir, however, could feel Alexis' emotions. He didn't like the feeling he got, nor the sense of foreboding he felt as Alexis watched the battle arena keenly- something was going to go wrong, he just knew it.
Alexis, by sending out Letos first, looked like she was saving Staravia for when Maylene threw out a particularly powerful Pokémon. Espir hoped she wouldn't send Staravia out too late into the battle, if this was her technique.
Espir hated this part of fights. Knowing the pain Pokémon had to go through during battles, yet not being allowed to stop it. Hell, many of the Pokémon would just as readily attack him for attempting to stop a battle, than they would be to stop fighting.
The two Pokémon that were first to go through the bout of pain, were similar colors. Alexis had Letos out and ready to fight. Espir had yet to truly see Letos in battle since his evolution, so he was at least mildly curious to see what the larger Pokémon was capable of. On the other side of the battle arena, a Lucario emerged from the red glow, bouncing on the balls of its feet, ready to fight.
The Lucario stood tall, taller than Letos and much taller than Espir. He had cream colored fur over his torso, with a spike protruding from his chest. Two similar spikes came out of the backs of his fists. The rest of his fur was a mixed pattern of black and dark blue. Two long blue ears poked upwards and he had a pointed snout. What looked like almost a hairstyle choice ran down to shoulder-length and he had blood red eyes, staring directly for the Prinplup.
"Letos, use Water Gun!" Alexis called out, once both trainers could see what Pokémon the other had produced.
"Lucario, use Metal Claw!" Maylene shouted at the same time.
Both Pokémon sprang into action. Letos tried shooting out at the Lucario immediately, but the Lucario was a fast Pokémon and dodged to the side before pivoting and closing in on Letos. Letos tried to get one last Water Gun blast off, but the Lucario punched right through it, splitting the water spout and raking its metal-spiked fist across Letos' face.
Blood sprayed across the training mat as the Lucario jumped back to a safe distance to await their trainer's next instruction. Espir watched in awe at the discipline of the Lucario. It was so well-trained, so precise in its movements. Most of Alexis' Pokémon moved on instinct and, eventually, desperation, so it was almost refreshing seeing Pokémon that were regimented in their approach to battle. Refreshing and chilling.
Espir looked up and could already see Alexis beginning to panic. She hadn't gone into this battle with any preparation and definitely not in the right frame of mind. She had gone in to avoid what they had both seen outside those very doors.
Letos wasn't looking back at them, but both Alexis and Espir could see the blood dripping onto the carpet. He wasn't doing good and it had only been the opening burst of moves.
"Letos, try a Peck," Alexis urged, "this is a fighting type gym. Hang in there, buddy!"
Letos didn't look back, likely to spare Alexis from having to look at his face. He nodded to show that he had heard the command and that left a larger blood drop to smack against the mat.
Maylene gave Lucario a command but neither Alexis nor Espir could hear it. It was likely that she deliberately spoke too softly so that only Lucario could just barely hear the instruction, and it wouldn't give the game away to the other Pokémon.
Letos started to run towards the Lucario, but Espir could already see it was a futile effort. The other Pokémon was larger and faster than Letos. As Letos leaned back in preparation to lurch forwards for the Peck, the Lucario dodged to the side, deliberately accepting the hit so as to get a better grip on the bird and slam it into the ground with Counter. Lucario looked serious hurt by Letos' beak ramming into him, but he delivered a far worse punishment by thrusting that same beaked, broken face right into the ground. Espir was certain he heard a crunching sound that could possibly have been Letos' beak breaking on impact with the ground. Letos didn't stand back up.
"Oh no," Alexis mumbled to herself, her panic continuing to set in further.
She held out the Pokéball and took Letos back in, like with every other battle he had been a part of. Espir felt bad for the guy. No wonder the bird was so angry, he never got a win, never managed to celebrate a victory. That would make anyone bitter after a while.
"Your turn, Staravia," Alexis called out, releasing the large bird in hopes that this one would have better luck against the devastating Lucario. "Come on Alexis. Flying against Fighting. Use your brain. Get it together. Staravia! Use Wing Attack!"
"Lucario, Quick Attack, now!" Maylene shouted out. Espir figured she must know that the Counter attempt would be more obvious if she refused to shout for two times in a row. Perhaps she just wanted to see what this next Pokémon was capable of.
Staravia flapped its wings and pushed into the air, though there wasn't a whole lot of room, what with them battling indoors. Espir guessed that it was likely a deliberate choice, in order to hamper the effect of flying type Pokémon on the gym's staple type.
Lucario rushed across the mat, much faster than Staravia had anticipated, and leaped into the air, punching the bird before landing neatly. Staravia was dizzied by the hit, so quickly after being let out into the battle.
Staravia spotted the patches of blood, left by Letos, and Espir felt a pang of fear hit the bird as it looked back at Alexis. Alexis nodded to Staravia, likely trying to urge it to do the Wing Attack she had requested.
The Staravia looked down at Lucario and pushed off through the air, darting like a bullet down at the larger Pokémon. As Lucario raised an arm to block the attack, Staravia spiraled in the air and planted its other wing into Lucario's torso, underneath his attempt at blocking.
Espir heard a crack and could feel the pain that Lucario was feeling. The larger Pokémon most definitely had some cracked ribs after that hit. Staravia stayed in the air, eyeing Lucario fiercely.
"Again, Staravia!" Alexis shouted, seeing just how much pain the bird Pokémon had inflicted on the Lucario. It hadn't been as flashy of an injury as Letos' face being clawed up, but the Lucario looked sincerely hurt.
Staravia took a quick lap of the arena to pick up speed and then started darting in for another Wing Attack, when Maylene cried out.
"Counter, Lucario, use Counter!"
The Lucario attempted to duck out of the way of the Wing Attack, in order to hurt Staravia, but its ribs had slowed it down somewhat and Staravia crashed into it again with another sickening impact, sending the Lucario skidding across the mat towards Maylene, unconscious.
"Nice one, Staravia," Espir said, trying to give the bird some positive reinforcement as Maylene was retracting Lucario and considering which Pokémon to bring out next.
Maylene held out her next Pokéball and released a Meditite onto the battlefield.
The Meditite was the same size as Staravia. While Lucario had been larger and more physical in its presence, Meditite instead appeared to be more contemplative. It floated a little ways off of the ground, levitating in the air. It's head shape reminded Espir of an onion, or a dumpling. It was white and pointed, with two curly buns to the sides of its head, like headphones. Meditite also had a thin pink strip underneath both of its large eyes. The main body of the Meditite, save for two thin white armbands, its white feet and white waist, was a standard pale blue color. It was a calming Pokémon just to look at, although Espir knew that, normally, it would be a brutal Pokémon to fight, if not for Staravia being the right type to beat it.
"You know the drill, Staravia," Alexis called out, "Wing Attack as much as you can. Give it no chance to fight back!"
"Use Confusion, Meditite," Maylene said, "let's get this bird on the back foot."
Staravia, as it had with Lucario, managed to slam into the opposing Pokémon before Meditite managed to land anything on it. The Meditite took the brunt of the attack, spinning through the air and bouncing off of the ground, but staying airborne for the most part. Then, Espir saw the air almost shimmer slightly and Staravia's flying pattern became erratic to say the least.
Espir knew instinctively that it was the effects of the Confusion at work, but he still found it fascinating that this was what it looked like in real life. No funny little spinning symbols, just pure, unrestrained panic.
"Use Force Palm, Meditite," Maylene said, smiling now. "Let's see if we can't get this bird gone before it does any more damage."
The Meditite nodded, floating up and extending a hand, that shimmered in the same way to the air a moment before. As Staravia was still panicking Meditite slammed the hand down, smacking the bird violently and then floated away, just as Staravia attempted to land another Wing Attack, but flew up and crashed into one of the rafters of the ceiling.
Staravia crashed back down and hit the ground hard, but was still awake. Dazed and still confused, it was trying to shake its head to get its thoughts in order, though it was clearly not capable of that just yet.
The Meditite floated towards it and smacked it again with another Force Palm, bouncing the Staravia's head off of the training mat. The Staravia flew up into the air after it had recovered from the ringing its head had just taken. It was still flapping in an odd way, still clearly confused, and flew down to where it guessed the Meditite was floating, another hopeful Wing Attack attempt.
This time, however, the Wing Attack hit its mark. Staravia smacked into Meditite, sending them both skidding and bouncing roughly across the training mat. Only one Pokémon rose from the resulting impact. Slow and unsteady, but with its head clear once more, the Staravia had somehow taken down its second foe. Meditite lay facedown on the ground, unmoving.
Maylene withdrew Meditite as the Staravia flew back towards Alexis to get some distance.
"It would be good to get a potion right about now," Staravia said, barely able to get the words out. Espir could see that, while they were still able to fly, Staravia's consistent slams with Wing Attack as well as the injuries sustained by Meditite, had shaved feathers off of its wings and Espir could see at least one rogue bone poking out of the skin. Staravia wasn't wrong when it said it needed a potion. It was barely hanging in.
Espir tried to get Alexis' attention to motion for a potion for Staravia, but Alexis was refusing to look down at him.
"For Pete's sake, look at them!" Espir shouted at Alexis, but she was deliberately ignoring him. She likely didn't know what either of the Pokémon were trying to convey, but Espir was at a loss with what to do. "At least trade me in so that I can keep them occupied while you heal her up. This stubbornness isn't fair on anyone. You're going to get her killed. For what? Your pride? The principle of it all? Put me in the damn battle!"
Alexis just continued her steely stare over the field, ignoring everything Espir was saying. Espir got the sense she even understood the essence of what he was trying to say.
"It's okay," Staravia said to Espir as the red glow lit up the room once again, "I've got this."
The red glow continued to grow, until it dwarfed Staravia's form, revealing an overly muscled Machoke, over twice the size of Staravia. He had light grey skin, with pink ridges lining his arms. A belt adorned his waist like a champion wrestler and his muscles made it believable as if he'd won a game or two in the arena.
"Alright, Machoke," Maylene said, "it's just you and me. That bird is barely standing. Kick it into submission!"
The Machoke nodded and frowned at the Staravia, with deep red eyes, before charging towards it. Espir couldn't help but take a step back as the hulking being ran towards them, but Staravia flew up into the air again to try and avoid any attacks by the larger Pokémon.
"More Wing Attacks," Alexis called out, "you know you've got it in you!"
"But she can't take much more of that," Espir argued, "she's going to seriously hurt herself if she keeps it up."
"You know I don't know what you're saying, so zip it," Alexis mumbled, "this is going to work. It has to work."
"She's had enough, take her out or heal her up!"
"I said be quiet," Alexis snapped, staring daggers at Espir, who gave her just as severe a stare down.
"You're going to get her seriously, permanently, injured," Espir hissed. "Put me in, or you and I are done."
While the two of them were bickering, Staravia was doing her best to avoid the swipes and kicks of the Machoke. Staravia landed Wing Attack after Wing Attack and was doing visible damage to the Machoke, but not enough to put him down. She was barely able to make the Low Sweep miss. Machoke followed it up with a Low Kick, which also missed.
Finally, Staravia struck a Wing Attack in the dead center of the Machoke's chest, but the battered Machoke was waiting for just that moment to grab hold of the Staravia.
"Vital Throw, now!" Maylene called out, her eyes glistening with the prospect of a victory. The Machoke gripped the smaller bird, holding one wing in each hand, and spiked Staravia into the ground with a brutal thud.
Maylene cheered, expecting Staravia to be unconscious, but- somehow- the Staravia shifted slightly, proving that it was still going. The Machoke and Maylene were too busy celebrating when Alexis turned to see what they were cheering for and saw the Staravia struggling to move.
"Quick Attack, Staravia!" Alexis shouted.
"Don't you know when to quit?" Espir said, "she's clearly too hurt to-"
Espir's words died in his throat as he was filled with a deep respect for the Staravia.
The Machoke turned to see why everyone else was still shouting, right as the Staravia, with its last dregs of energy, used a Quick Attack and planted its beak right under the Machoke's exposed jaw.
The impact was a critical hit and, with the Machoke's other minor injuries, was enough to send the shocked Pokémon reeling, falling over- unconscious.
Alexis cheered in excitement and instinctively looked to Espir, but was only met with a frosty glare. She ran over to the limping Staravia and returned her to her Pokéball to rest up as much as she could.
Maylene returned Machoke to his Pokéball too and then began to walk over to Alexis to congratulate her on her victory.
"I really thought I had it there," Maylene said with a sigh, "I'll take this into consideration for my future fights. Press the victory until it is assured. All but assured is no longer good enough. Thank you for this lesson. In repayment, I offer you this- the Cobble Badge. Congratulations."
Alexis shook the hand of Maylene and accepted the badge, looking at it fondly as Espir looked on. He was furious and concerned. This was yet another instance of Alexis showing that she cared more about her own quest than the health of her allies.
Despite all that she had done for him, Espir worried that it was now time to leave her and go his own way. Espir started to walk towards the door, but Maylene pointed out his movements to Alexis.
Espir didn't blame the pink-haired girl, as his actions would seem weird to anyone that didn't understand his situation. Alexis, however, had clearly forgotten her role in his life.
"Hey!" Alexis called out, starting to walk quickly after him. She threw a quick apology and farewell towards Maylene and then began to pick up her pace to try and catch up to Espir. "I didn't dismiss you, Marshadow. Get back here at once!"
"Get stuffed!" Espir shouted back as he ran out of the dojo, back towards those meteorites. He had forgotten how quick Alexis was as she gave chase and before either of them knew it, they were standing before the area of the meteorites once again.
Only, the meteorites were nowhere to be seen.
"Mind explaining what the hell that was about?" Alexis demanded, trying to push Espir to get him to turn and look at her.
"You're selfish," Espir spat back, slapping her hand away. "Your pursuit of your silly little badges is going to get Pokémon killed at this rate and you clearly don't care. Why don't you take your entire little mission and shove it where only Mew can find it."
"You'd better not be back chatting me, Marshadow," Alexis warned.
"The hell would happen if I was?" Espir laughed back derisively.
"I'm your trainer, you should obey me!"
"You're not my trainer any more than you're the trainer of that rock," Espir said, continuing to laugh.
Alexis' posture and expression shifted as Espir laughed and he wondered if she had finally snapped and was going to attempt to put him in a pokéball against his will. Then he felt a breeze on his back.
Espir didn't realize how close he'd been standing to where the old meteorites stood. The same rift as earlier had cracked open and Espir turned to look through it. He suddenly got the urge to continue his escape attempt. Alexis would never chase him through there.
Espir leapt at the rift, the opening accepting him through. However, he felt a grip around his ankle. He was wrong, Alexis had lunged after him. Her attempt to stop him jumping had instead caught her up in the portal transportation, too.
Their momentum continued to carry them as the rift to their world closed behind them. They were at the mercy of the universes now.
