On the Road Again: Bonnie's Kalos Adventures

by Darren1138

[Story REBOOTED as Bonnie's Odyssey: Kanto] Bonnie was once a little girl, travelling and learning about the wonders of the Pokemon world with her brother and friends. Now, three years have past, and Bonnie, now ten years old, embarks on her own Pokemon journey! RATED K FOR NOW

5. A Boy's Courage

Chapter 5: A Boy's Courage

A/N~ Internship's almost coming to an end, but that won't mean less weight on my schedule. So I apologize again for the delay, but I have already got four more fanfics in the works. I know some of the better writers always tend to focus on one or two stories at once, but I really want these ideas to be shared out to the public.

Anyways, the next chapter is here! Time to get to work!

---

Route 3,

Kalos,

3 AFC,

"Come on, Raymond!" A couple of cries of excitement and snobby joy sounded off from within the forest. They came from the same group of boys who messed around with poor Todd and Deerling, who were now gathered around at their new prize.

"Will you two just shut it?" The bigger boy snapped, clearly irritated by his cohorts' repeating pleas. Once the scene was now at peace, Raymond proceeded to boast about his new possession and pondered about the many Pokemon he would choose to catch either one of them with. "Now, what shall we catch today?"

"How about a Graveller?" suggested one of the boys.

"Or a Gurdurr?" added the other.

"I dunno about you, boys." Raymond proudly said as he put his hands to his hips. "But whatever strong Pokemon is out there, I will be sure to use this Great Ball to get me a winner!"

"Or maybe you should give it back to its rightful owner!" Right as they continued fantasizing, the three boys were alerted to the solemn call of an older girl coming from behind them.

At once, they all turned to see the pair of Bonnie, Dedenne, Todd and his Deerling, standing there. They looked at the troublesome trio with intent on doing some justice for their mischief.

Their own expressions towards the boys were quite mixed, despite the mutual goal of reuniting the stolen Great Ball to its real owner. While Bonnie was ever ready to stare down on the boys like she was the one doing the battling, Todd was still shaking to the bone. Inside, he was still reluctant to fight the bullies, and it certainly didn't help that all three of them were now staring at him. He was like a little Rattata in the gazes of an Ursaring and two Purugly.

"So, you came back to get your Great Ball?" Raymond tossed the Great Ball up and down, smirking wildly at the two. "Ooohhh, I'm scared." He bluffed his fears, joined in by snickers by the two other boys behind him.

Todd shivered at their unwavering attitudes, unsure if this little plan of Bonnie's would work.

"You… will give me back my Great Ball." He tried to sound brave at the faces of his bullies, but his nervousness was still quite obvious enough for them to pull off more insults.

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do? Cry me to death?" The boys continued to mock the little boy. With their ongoing laughter, Todd had to heighten his game.

He could not stand around like some dummy being tossed around by these bigger bullies. It was time to put his lessons to the test.

"I'm not kidding, Raymond." Todd gave the most serious face to the boys. It did surprise them a little, making Todd declare his stance. "I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"

They just laughed. Todd tried to put up a show but they were not shaken one bit. Standing up to these guys was going to take a lot more fight than he liked.

"So, you wanna get beaten up again, huh?" threatened Raymond. Todd decided to remain as composed as he could, standing his ground.

"You're going to give back my Great Ball and leave me alone." he told Raymond again.

"So, you're serious?" Raymond squinted his eyes. Now, he realized that Todd meant business, watching the smaller boy stand up to him. "Well, if you really want to get beaten that badly, then I'll be happy to give you a taste of reality!" The cruel boy took out his Poke Ball.

Everyone knew what was Raymond's choice of Pokemon. He proved their guesses when he tossed his Poke Ball and summoned his slimy partner, Grimer.

"GRIMER!" The slime Pokemon grunted viciously at his would-be opponents.

Todd and Deerling shook back from the sight of the Pokemon who gave Deerling a lot of pain. Deerling may had been healed, but it could still feel the disgust of the slime oozing around her body and the memories of the poison draining her strength while stinging her from the inside were etched in her mind.

Despite the fear that Pokemon gave her, Deerling had to remain strong for her Trainer.

Todd, in turn, had to prove that he was going to become a worthy Trainer for Deerling. She was his Pokemon, whether he was a real Trainer or not, and he would do his best to watch over her and help her become stronger.

"Come on, Deerling. Let's get to work." Deerling nodded, walking forward to face her opponent.

"Well, look at this, guys." Raymond sneered at Todd. "The little baby wants to fight." The trio laughed out again.

Todd ignored the teasing, eager to getting his Great Ball back. He stood up and was ready to fight Raymond's Grimer no matter what it took. He was worried that Deerling would not be able to come out of this battle thanks to the type-advantage Grimer posed. Regardless, he had to fight to prove that he was able to battle against these boys.

This would be a fair battle between Todd and Raymond; Deerling against Grimer.

However, Raymond had other ideas.

"Okay, boys! Let your Pokemon out!"

The two underlings followed his command, taking out their Poke Balls and throwing them out. Two more Pokemon; a Loudred and a Sandile. Both menacing Pokemon put up an equally arrogant show of force, roaring fiercely at Todd and Deerling.

The boys all smirked and laughed wickedly at Todd, extremely satisfied by the fearful expression the boy was now having. Bonnie fumed in frustration, watching these three kids becoming all overpowered with their scheming attitude.

These kids were really asking for it now.

"Hah! Now try and take us on, little weenie! YEAH! We rule!" The gang cheered for themselves like they'd already win by a mile.

Todd was now beyond scared. He was now faced with three Pokemon to fight with. Was this even fair? He could not believe that Raymond would call on his friends to gang up on him like that.

"Hey! No fair!" screamed Bonnie. "You're taking on Todd three to one?! How is that fair?"

"Dedenne!" Her Pokemon sparked in anger as well.

"So what?" Raymond shrugged coolly, as if nothing was wrong with beating Todd in an unfair fight. "We teach losers on how battling really works!"

"Yeah! Back off, girl!" cried one of the boys, showing off his arrogance. "You can't tell us what to do 'cos you're a girl!"

"Sheesh, really mature…" Bonnie shook her head, huffing out while watching these boys act like a bunch of little kids.

Wait… They are little kids.

"So, you going to fight, loser?!" Raymond cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled at Todd, scaring the boy even more.

Realizing that they've gone too far, Bonnie needed to reduce the weight off from Todd so he could fight Raymond without the cheating brats getting in the way. She saw Todd slowly losing his confidence while Deerling just looked at his Trainer worringly. They were starting to become even less prepared for the battle they needed to have.

Flicking the rim of her hat, she stood alongside Todd, slightly surprising him and the gang in front of her, and clenched her fist.

"If you want really want to prove that girls can't fight, then you two will have to battle me!" She pointed her finger fiercely at the two boys standing at Raymond's sides.

While they were initially taken aback, their snarky attitudes took over again, laughing hard at Bonnie for even challenging them to a battle.

"Bonnie?" Todd muttered under his breath, still frightened to fight Raymond on his own while also touched by Bonnie's offer to help.

"You have to face Raymond fair and square. So, if these bozos really think that overpowering you is going to teach you a lesson, they're wrong." She looked down at Todd with full support for his upcoming battle. "And I'm going to show them a thing or two."

"But… I dunno if I can…" Todd stuttered.

Bonnie held Todd's shoulder, assuring him that he had what it took to fight Raymond while she stalled for time.

"Trust me, Todd." she told the boy. "You're ready." She gave him her signature toothy grin and a thumbs up to send him off to the battle.

Todd nodded. Finally, he was able to muster enough courage for himself and Deerling to face their opponents.

The three bullies were making sulky and mooching faces at the two the whole time, laughing again once Bonnie and Todd turned over to face them.

"Oh great! We can beat this girl and be even better!" The two boys simultaneously cheered, causing Bonnie to cringe in annoyance.

"So, you really think you'll come out like a bunch of men?" Bonnie taunted. "You boys would pass for wimps!"

For the first time, the boys were now feeling insulted by Bonnie's own taunt. Frowning angrily at her, they were really riled up to prove their point.

"Why that little…" Even with their frustration fueled, Bonnie kept on teasing them, hoping to make sure that they would face her while Todd and Deerling faced off against Raymond and his Grimer.

"Come on, boys. I'm waiting for my battle." One more taunt and the boys were now sure to had taken the bait.

"We'll show you a battle!" The overconfident boys shouted in a wild cry. Bonnie grinned at their acceptance to battle her. Raymond, on the other hand, did not care less. She could go get humiliated all she wanted. He had his own victim to deal with.

Bonnie and the two boys soon left, following the girl to another location. Bonnie gave Todd a supportive nod and smile to wish him luck. Todd smiled back.

As Bonnie, the boys and their Pokemon disappeared into the forest, that left Todd and Raymond to themselves, facing each other. Raymond still grinned victoriously, confident that he was going to win. Todd, now full of spirit, was as ready as he would ever be.

For his Great Ball, he would do his best to win it back and make sure Raymond would never bother him again.

---

Meanwhile, Bonnie was already on the offensive, ready to battle the other boys. All the time she was walking, they had constantly thrown insults at her from behind her. She did not respond, but she was really ready to show them wat it really meant to be the strongest.

Facing them from the other side, she picked through her pocket and pulled out her Poke Ball. Since it was obvious that the two were not going to fight fairly, they would go for having both of their Pokemon fight together. It was natural that she would have to use her only other Pokemon to fight the Loudred and Sandile present as her obstacles.

"Come on, girl!" The first boy smack-talked at her.

"Yeah! Or why don't you go back home and do some girly stuff!" the other boy teased.

That was it. Bonnie was now beyond disgusted by how immature these two sounded like. Well, it was time to show them how much they had to learn about girls.

She looked at Pidgey's Poke Ball, wondering if she would be able to best the Loudred and Sandile with her own team. She analysed the selection of her opponents' Pokemon. She then took out her PokeDex for some more details on them. The device read out the data as she read them up, oblivious to the two boys' complete irritancy of her studious action.

"Loudred, the Big Voice Pokemon. Loudred shouts while stamping its feet. After it finishes shouting, this Pokémon becomes incapable of hearing anything for a while. This is considered to be a weak point."

"Sandile, the Desert Croc Pokemon. It moves along below the sand's surface, except for its nose and eyes. A dark membrane shields its eyes from the sun."

From the analysis, she memorized the details. She was facing both a Normal-type and a Ground-and-Dark type. Her Dedenne would fare very badly against Sandile, but her Pidgey could have the advantage for its ease of avoiding Ground-Type moves.

The Loudred was probably a more general threat, considering its Normal-type status, but its loudmouth could mean some very strong moves.

Overall, these two Pokemon seemed quite formidable, with attitudes to match.

Bonnie, however, remained undeterred. If there's one thing she knew about battling, it didn't matter what type would have the advantage, but it would be the pure determination and bond between Trainer and Pokemon which would take you much further.

"Okay, Pidgey." She flicked her ponytail before facing her opponents again. She then swung her arm forward and summoned her Pidgey. "Come on out!"

The bird Pokemon emerged from the bolt of light and appeared all ready for battle. Dedenne followed suit and jumped alongside it to face their enemy.

The boys laughed at Bonnie's choices of battlers while their Pokemon looked very eager to do harm to these midgets of Pokemon.

"What a girl!" The first boy laughed out loud. "Choosing wee little Pokemon to battle us."

"Time to clobber them down, Carl!" The other boy slammed his fist together with his palm. Their Pokemon growled to show the little tykes at their opposite that they were going to hunt them down like the rats they are.

Dedenne and Pidgey were not afraid, just like their Trainer. Her last battle with a Trainer did not go so well, but then again, that was her own brother. Of course she had to lose to him because he was an experienced Gym Leader.

These two boys. They were going down.

"Sandile! Use Bite on Dedenne!"

"DILE!" The first move went to Sandile. The crocodile Pokemon charged right for Dedenne as ordered, catching Bonnie and her Pokemon by surprise. Luckily, Bonnie called for Dedenne to move just in time.

"Dodge it!" Bonnie cried out, prompting Dedenne to leap out of the way before the Sandile clamped its jaws shut, barely missing him. Bonnie shot back at the two Trainers with anger boiling inside; cheeks flushing red and pouting out.

"Hey! Haven't you heard of ladies first?!" she screamed.

"Ladies first my foot, girly!" ranted the first boy named Carl. "Loudred, Echoed Voice!"

The loud Pokemon thrust its arms backwards as it let out an ear-shattering roar which sent massive soundwaves emitting from out of its mouth and ears. The extremely loud calls roared all across the battlefield, directed at Dedenne and Pidgey. The two were instantly pinned by the incredibly disorientating attack while also feeling their bodies feeling a sudden spike of pain which propelled them back.

Bonnie also had her ears shut, but she was appalled to see that her Pokemon were being hurt by the attack.

While the two Pokemon were down, Bonnie had to quickly respond. As soon as the Echoed Voice died down, she called out to Dedenne first.

"Dedenne, use your Thundershock on Loudred!" She then turned to Pidgey. "And Pidgey, hit Sandile with a Tackle!"

Dedenne charged up his whiskers and fired up a strong electric strike at the Loudred while Pidgey followed up with the flapping of its wings before rushing forward in a swift swoop towards Sandile.

Dedenne's Thundershock was able to hit Loudred head on. Pidgey was then within striking distance before lowering its head to bash Sandile back. The crocodile Pokemon flipped back and landed safely while Loudred took the electric shock head on like a tank, unfazed by the attack.

"Hah! That's it?!" Carl called out. "Loudred, counter with Pound on Pidgey!"

"You too, Sandile!" Conner, the other boy, ordered his Sandile to assist Loudred. "Bite that Dedenne up!"

The two Pokemon simultaneously launched themselves forward to attack Bonnie's Pokemon. Loudred jumped high in the air with incredible ease, almost right above the bird Pokemon itself! Sandile crept low and forward, surging fast towards Dedenne and opening up its jaws.

Unfortuantely, Bonnie could not react on time. Pidgey was soon caught beneath the heavy feet of the Loudred and was then stomped onto the ground with such driving force. Dedenne was also caught in the jaws of the Sandile, clamping down hard on him.

"Oh no!" Bonnie called out to her Pokemon, but was unable to get them back into shape. This was starting to get really ugly. For Bonnie, it would suck to lose not only her second Trainer battle and her first Double Battle, but also to a bunch of immature punks.

"Hehehe! Look at that!" Speaking of the two boys, Carl completely let his joy out by laughing hard. "Just as a girl would fight like!"

"What a loser! I bet Magikarp fight better than her!" Conner added.

Then, deep within Bonnie, her fire was starting to heat up again. She was really determined to get the win she needed against these boys. She just needed to know how. Dedenne was being bitten down by a Ground-Type Pokemon, so his Electric attacks were of no use. Pidgey on the other hand was a lightweight compared to the heavier Loudred. Getting it off of him was going to take a miracle.

She had to think… and fast. There was no telling how much longer her Pokemon could take in being clamped up in or stomped on by her opponents.

"Come on, Bonnie. What would Ash do?" She thought hard and quickly, thinking of a way for her Pokemon to break free.

Then, she looked at Dedenne, who was still getting hurt from the jaws crushing him. She had something to try. It was risky, but it might just work.

"Dedenne!" She reached her voice out to Dedenne. The little Pokemon did his best to listen amidst the pain. "I know this sounds weird, but I need you to use Nuzzle!"

Dedenne listened to his Trainer. He then tried to rub himself against the jaws of Sandile and emitted a shocking effect on Sandile. However, being a Ground-Type, the crocodile Pokemon was left unaffected by the attack, still shutting its jaws onto Dedenne.

Conner watched in delightfully at the futile attempt by Dedenne to attack Sandile. He could not believe what Bonnie was trying to do in what he thought was pure desperation.

That was when he was wrong…

Apparently, Dedenne was still using Nuzzle on and on that, little did they know, Sandile was starting to feel very strange. Suddenly, the Pokemon could feel the roof of his mouth tensing up in a ticklish feeling. The fur of Dedenne rubbed against the sensitive roof that Sandile couldn't but itch uncontrollably. Eventually, he had no choice but to spit Dedenne out.

The mouse Pokemon was thrown into the air like a ping pong ball and landed safely on the ground, much to Bonnie's delight.

"What the?!" Conner could not believe his eyes. The little critter did not use Nuzzle to shock Sandile, but to tickle him from inside his mouth?! That was foul, even for him! He watched as Sandile coughed up the small strands of fur stuck in its mouth while scratching the roof of its mouth with its tongue.

Bonnie then turned her attention towards her Pidgey, who was free from Loudred's bone-crushing weight. It was still flat on the ground, with its body feeling pressed down. The bird Pokemon slowly picked up from its feet and looked at the Loudred about to strike again.

"Loudred!" shouted Carl. "Stomp it down again!"

"Pidgey, fly out of there!"

As Loudred came close to jumping up and squashing Pidgey again, the bird Pokemon did its best to rise up from its condition. It flapped its wings with all its might, withstanding the pain and flew clumsily away from the two thick feet, barely escaping the tons of Loudred muscle that came crashing into the ground to form a crater after striking the same place twice.

Pidgey returned to Bonnie and gathered with Dedenne to recuperate. Bonnie gritted her teeth and crossed her arms together in a crossed expression. She looked at the opposing Pokemon again, who returned to their Trainers too. Bonnie pondered on with her fingers twitching and her mind itching for a new strategy.

She had to break through with these clowns somehow, even if her Pokemon had been struck hard.

A toothy grin formed, showing off her resolve to gain one for the road; a victory against two Pokemon Trainers at once, no matter the superior strengths of their Pokemon.

"You boys can keep this up all you want!" She folded her arm and balled a fist at the two boys. "We can do this all day! Right, guys?"

Bonnie's Pokemon looked back at her. They may had taken some punch from their opponents, shaking slightly from their pain. It was their inner fire, however, that still burned brightly and helping them to ignore the sharp bruises and aching muscles they had suffered.

"Dene!"

"Pidge!"

"That's right! Happy Bonnie's ready to go!" the girl cheered, using her old signature nickname.

'Happy Bonnie'. She has not been using that catchphrase since her younger days, although this time, she now expressed with pure burning passion instead of the cutesy skipping jumps of joy, replacing that with a thrown fist into the air.

She tried using other names before to see if they could take the word 'Happy' away. None of them seemed to work, though, as they did not feel… definitive for her. Thus, she ended up sticking to the word that defined her personality.

"Whatever, girly!" scoffed Carl.

"You're going down!" added Conner, leering at Bonnie with overconfidence. Bonnie caught on with their smug looks and acted to one them up. She nodded to her two Pokemon and they were ready for more.

"Dedenne, Pidgey. Let's roll!"

---

The battle between Todd and Raymond was under way. The two boys stared each other down. Todd was still in a state of anxiety, having to face the ruffian who stole the gift his brother gave him.

He loved his brother so dearly. All the memories they shared, all the fun times they had. He would not trade them for the world. That Great Ball, in someone else's hands, was the one treasure he would never give away to anyone.

Now that his brother was on his own Pokemon journey in a faraway land, Todd would cherish that Great Ball as the one thing he could remember his brother by. And he was going to get it back today!

Raymond was looking down at Todd like some Machamp over a Tyrogue, anticipating an easy win from the younger boy who was not even a Trainer in the first place. He was going to make this little punk wish he didn't challenge him. There was no way he could lose to a little kid. The odds of losing were not even implanted in his mind at all.

His Pokemon could not feel any more different from its Trainer. Grimer was just as arrogant as its Trainer was. A Deerling would be no match for a powerful Poison-Type such as itself.

Todd had to reclaim his gift of his brother's love, while Raymond was sure that he would have nothing to lose simply because he wouldn't.

Two different people with different motives, battling for the same prize.

"Deerling, use Tackle!"

The battle began with the Season Pokemon running towards Grimer with all of its strength. Putting into mind what she had learnt from her training with Dedenne, Deerling took its posture into form, running in a straight line while aiming its sights on Grimer.

"Pfft!" Raymond wiped his mouth smugly. "Grimer, throw Sludge at Deerling! Show them what it means to mess with us twice!"

There was just no remorse in his command. No regrets on threatening Deerling. Grimer, like its Trainer, was just as merciless in obeying Raymond's command without question. In fact, it also felt satisfaction in punishing Deerling with its poisonous attacks.

The slimy Pokemon let a huge blob of its goo slowly drop from its arm until it was big enough to be thrown. It then swung the blob like a trebuchet and catapulted the projectile in a long swing of its arm.

The incoming slime was about to hit Deerling and Raymond was sure this battle was as good as done. Deerling would have to face the repercussions again.

Then, without warning, Deerling saw the blob coming her way and sidestepped as she ran, allowing the Sludge to fly through her without as much as a stain on her elegant fur.

She then came into contact with Grimer and finished up with the strongest amount of retaliation she could give it, slamming the Pokemon head on and sending him dragging back to its Trainer.

The move surprised the boys. Todd, for one, was quite astonished by how much power Deerling had in that single strike. Raymond, on the other hand, just could not believe the Deerling managed to hurt Grimer; as in, hitting it physically, like she was actually able to do it. He was so sure that he would end the battle just like that. Turned out, he had a nasty taste of loss to snap him out of his arrogance for a while.

Deerling leapt back to her friend. She had a few spots of Grimer's sludge on her fur from the impact of the Tackle, but it was nothing too harmful. Though right now, it could use a bath after this battle.

For the first time since coming across these bullies, Todd could finally smile. He watched as Deerling huffed out with her nose, showing her Trainer that she was ready to go again. Todd faced Raymond with a slightly more confident stare. Now, he was going to try out some more and he would do his best to guide Deerling with what little knowledge he had from Bonnie.

Raymond remained firm. Okay, so one strike was what he got in the end, but Deerling was going to get lucky the second time.

"Grimer! Use Mud-Slap!"

Like with Sludge before, Grimer collected enough slime in its arm until it was strong enough to be swung at. But instead of a throw, Grimer used that slime by creeping towards Deerling and attempting to hit her with a repulsive slap to the face.

Deerling saw this one coming as well, but had to wait on Todd to deliver the next command.

"Uh…" Todd thought hard again, but could not think of a move fast enough. "Dodge it!" In the end, Deerling had to jump away. Luckily, Grimer's attack missed her with the deer Pokemon skipping away again.

"Again!" Raymond ordered Grimer to repeat its attack. It swung, but Deerling dodged the move again. Then, Grimer moved to strike again, and again. It went on for a few round while Deerling hopped about avoiding each contact with the arm.

Suddenly, there was not enough for it to move past one strike. Having been tired out, Deerling stumbled and allowed one slap to hit her in the face, throwing her off.

"Deerling!" Todd screamed in horror as his Pokemon was once again met with a dirty move by the Grimer.

Raymond snickered from afar, enjoying the scene with no mercy. He smiled, just watching Deerling take the hit he always wanted her to be knocked out from. However, another surprise forced him to wait a little longer.

Deerling was flung back by the slap, but miraculously, she saved herself from falling to her side and landed roughly on her feet, slightly dragging across the grass as she came to a stop.

She managed to land safely, giving Todd some time to breathe some relief out. However, she had sustained a lot of damage from that one strike. It began to feel weak like she did before; more slime staining on her fur and the attack taking a toll on her strength.

For Todd, she had to get back up and fight on. The pain still strained her muscles and the dirt making her fur get tangled up uncomfortably. Nevertheless, she still wanted to do more and she was standing by for Todd's next command.

Todd readied up for another run, but he was caught off guard by another run by Raymond and his Grimer.

"Grimer! Acid!" shouted Raymond. The Pokemon then spat a lime green spit ball which headed straight for Deerling.

"Deerling! Dodge!" Deerling rushed out of the way just as called for. The acid bombs landed right where Deerling was standing and splashed all over the dirt. Deerling moved out of the way to watch the acid burn through the dirt to form a bubbly crater until the fluid melted away, leaving off a sizzling sound with a very thin trail of smoke from the burning.

Todd had to play on the defence, as Bonnie once instructed him to do.

"Deerling, try out a Sand-Attack!" Todd called out to Deerling. The Season Pokemon turned her rear to face Grimer. Then, with her hind legs, she kicked up a blinding gush of sand at the Pokemon. Small, fine bits of sand and dirt hit the Pokemon's eyes, hindering its ability to see properly.

Todd hoped that the Sand Attack bought him more time to stay on the battlefield a bit more, even if it was just for a little bit.

The bully at the other side didn't really care if there was a deduction to his Grimer's accuracy. He was still going to pulverize this kid and his little Pokemon, and keep the Great Ball all to himself.

"Grimer! One more Sludge!" Grimer fired another sludge ball at Deerling. Deerling jumped out of the way easily, but it would not find it that way for long.

"Keep doing it 'till that Deerling's down!" Out of a sense of mischief, Raymond decided to bend the rules of the game and rapidly suppress Deerling by having Grimer throw more sludge balls., not giving Deerling any time or space to make her own move.

Deerling locked on to the numerous blobs coming her way and sprung up and down, side to side, avoiding them as best as she could.

Grimer flung more Sludge, ball after ball, all towards Deerling. She was now faced with countless slime balls raging right for her, and all she could do was jump around without being able to strike back herself. They came so fast that she could not find the right moment to break away and attack.

Todd's fists gripped harder and harder, getting anxious from his Deerling's troubling situation and wanting to do something to break her free from the ongoing attacks.

Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed when a lone Sludge ball finally did its job and hit Deerling and sent the poor Pokemon down to the ground.

"Deerling!" Todd cried out, tears falling out from seeing Deerling in pain again. The Pokemon was lying on the ground and now slimed on by an attack that was highly effective against her, which meant a lot of hurt.

More smirks came from the devilish duo who were now laughing at the young pair. They were weak and completely worthless to them. They could be easily beaten down by such awesome moves and they did not think it was overkill. It was superiority.

Deerling stood up, much weaker than she was before, but still defiant to help her Trainer defeat these bunch of irritating bullies and win back his brother's gift. She understood the love between the two siblings, even if she hadn't met the older one.

She would what it took to help Todd win and become a great Trainer in the future.

Todd saw his Pokemon just rising up even if she was under agonizing stress and harm. There was no way she would give up for him, so he had to believe in himself to help her get stronger too.

"You sure you can go on, Deerling?"

"Deer!" A firm nod by the Pokemon was all Todd needed to carry on the fight. They faced their opponents, ready to battle again.

"You kids don't learn!" Raymond shouted at the resilient duo. With Todd insisting on fighting, it kept getting better and better for him. He thought Todd was crazy to battle him one on one, but he had to admit, he had the guts to get back up and still do it without any intentions on giving up. Maybe he needed a little more punishment to make this kid really scared. Perhaps more bite from Grimer would do the trick.

---

Bonnie was watching her Dedenne and Pidgey fight it out against the Sandile and Loudred. Dedenne was jumping around, narrowly slipping through the jaws of the hungry Sandile, while Pidgey was soaring over and under Loudred's nauseating soundwaves.

Carl and Conner were simply enjoying watching Bonnie's Pokemon dodge all of their attacks without a single move against them.

They would think that Bonnie was about to break down, as any girl would. It was a delight to see her stuck and at a loss, leaving their Pokemon to eventually finish them off once they were tired out.

However, Bonnie was far from giving up. She was standing there, finger to her chin and pondering about the battle and how she would have to do to gain an advantage over the opponent.

Other than just using moves on them, there had to be another way to even the odds. She thought back to what the PokeDex read about Sandile and Loudred, finding any info that could be useful in breaking the attack pattern from the Pokemon attacking hers.

The words spoken by the PokeDex echoed in her head, helping her to remember the biographic details of the species, and what might be of use against them.

"Okay." She began recollecting. "Sandile's a crocodile Pokemon who digs underneath the sand and has a shady patch…" She shook her head after the last bit once she decided that that was out of the question. "And then, there's Loudred, who yells and yells. Obviously…"

Then, just as she was diving deeper into her thought, she was on to something. An idea came to mind when further information was envisioned in her head. The desperate and frantic feeling inside of her was gone. There was only…

Excitement and a chance for victory!

~Loudred can't hear anything if it shouts. So, if I can make it yell to the fullest, then I can deafen it up long enough for my Pokemon to make a strike! ~ Luckily, what she said was only in her head, or the boys would had definitely catch up to her.

She set her sights on Loudred and saw that it was no longer shouting out attacks at Pidgey, simply staring at it and possibly building up power for its next attack.

This was the chance Bonnie was waiting for. If Loudred would be unable to attack while its hearing was out, it would be smooth sailing from there.

There was only one problem.

Sandile.

While it had no known weaknesses she could exploit, Bonnie had to find some way to hold that Pokemon from assisting its partner. Maybe she would have to assign one of Pokemon to distract it while the other would take on Loudred and make it unable to hear anything.

She hoped for Dedenne to perform this move with extreme caution. It has to be exactly right. One wrong move and it was over for the little mouse.

Bonnie had to remain quiet, though. She did not want those two boys to overhear anything that she had in mind, so she had to act quickly while letting her plans go discreet from them.

"Pidgey!" She began her plan, calling her bird Pokemon who, after dashing away from a strike from Loudred's fat fist, turned its head at its Trainer. "Keep Sandile distracted with your Tackle attacks. Make sure it doesn't get Dedenne."

Pidgey raised an eyebrow, unsure what scheme its Trainer was cooking up. Nonetheless, it had to trust her. She helped him out once before, so a second time could be just as successful. It made a move and flew away from Loudred, changing its focus on the ground Pokemon.

Sandile was busy trying to get Dedenne clamped within its jaws and chew him up, but the nimble Pokemon proved to be a difficult meal. Dedenne did not forget the blistering pain he felt when caught in Sandile's gripping teeth and so made sure he did not have to go through the ordeal a second time. He jumped away and slid right through the gaping jaws of the Sandile. However, time was running out as he was starting to lose energy to dodge more.

Thankfully, help was on the way when Pidgey flew by and knocked Sandile off. The crocodile Pokemon rolled to its side from the impact of the Tackle attack, leaving just enough time for Dedenne to catch his breath and thank Pidgey for the assistance.

"Okay, Dedenne!" Bonnie called for her faithful starter next. "You have to make Loudred shout all the way at you." Dedenne blinked confusedly upon hearing Bonnie's command. Why would she want her opponent to keep attacking him? Especially with such painful screams that could blow up anyone's ears? "Just trust me. You must dodge its shouting attacks until I give the word to stop."

Dedenne nodded, choosing to listen to Bonnie's command. He looked to Sandile and saw that Pidgey was already engaged in combat with it. He was now sure that his partner had the situation under control and was safe to pursue Loudred, going with Bonnie's plan to force Loudred to unleash its full force of yelling.

Carl saw the little mouse running towards his Pokemon. As soon as Dedenne faced it, he thought this was going to be another easy round, and perhaps the final blow. He did hear that Bonnie switch up the Pokemon, but simply passed it off as another useless move of utter desperation.

Loudred gave an intimidating growl at Dedenne once it came into conflict with him. And that gave Dedenne enough reason to provoke it as planned, sticking out his tongue and pulling down his lower eyelid. The trick worked. Loudred soon began roaring in anger, eager to clobber Dedenne for his insulting behaviour.

"Pound that rat, Loudred!"

The Big Voice Pokemon jumped up in the air and dropped down on top of Dedenne. The mouse panicked and jumped out of the way, safely avoiding the thrashing titan of a Pokemon from squashing him down.

When he got out of the way, Dedenne panted in relief, but with the odds stacked against him, there was not much of a chance that he could take much more.

"Come on, Dedenne! You can do it! Get him to yell!" Bonnie thought that at this point that her plan would be quite obvious by now. Luckily, those boys just didn't do anything to act against her. For now, all she could hope for was that Loudred would unleash its powerful voice until it could shout or even hear no more.

While Loudred went on with its rampage, Bonnie returned her attention to her Pidgey. The bird Pokemon was under attack by multiple Bites as Sandile tried to munch it up and win. Being a Flying-type definitely had its advantages. Pidgey was high enough to avoid the Ground-type's moves, easily hovering above and watching Sandile miss every single bite while also making sure that when the crocodile Pokemon was high enough, it had to fly a little higher to dodge.

"Pidgey! Use Peck!" Once Sandile landed on the ground, Pidgey acted immediately and swooped down to give its opponent a nice peck on the head, pinning it down before flying back up. Sandile fell on its belly for a little while, its head reeling in pain from the strike.

"Ugh!" Conner gasped as his Pokemon took the blow. "Get back up and use Leer!"

Sandile looked up in the air and glared a powerful stare that caused its eyes to glow red. When Pidgey saw this, it felt its nerves tense up tremendously into a cold scare. The bird was stunned by the immense chill in its body and began to fall a little bit to the ground. It managed to pick himself up and narrowly saved itself from crashing.

The Leer attack still proved effective in weakening Pidgey's defence, slightly spooked at the appearance of Sandile.

"Don't let up, Pidgey! Just keep that Sandile at bay while Dedenne handles Loudred!" Bonnie was putting in all her faith in her Pokemon to carry out her plan. By doing so, she hoped to make this work.

Pidgey was struggling to maintain its course, flying slower than usual due to the stress it had suffered so far, along with the intimidating glare Sandile threw at it. There was no stopping its determination, however. Bonnie had proven herself capable of training it so far, so it could let her take charge and give her strategy a shot, moving to relentlessly keep Sandile distracted from Dedenne.

Back to Dedenne, Bonnie watched as Loudred kept bouncing up and down, hoping to flatten the scurrying Dedenne down to size. She would need a little boost to tempt her opponent into giving it all it could. She could try and poke fun at its Trainer to coax him into ordering it, but she knew that, at least for now, it would not make herself any better than the bullies she was fighting for Todd.

So instead, she had another idea.

"Dedenne! Use Thundershock on Loudred. Full power!"

At his Trainer's command, Dedenne let the electricity in his body charge up all the way before letting loose a Thundershock powerful enough to knock Loudred back. The shock hit it right in the face, causing some hurt. Loudred closed its eyes from the blinding flash of the attack while also withstanding the painful shock.

The sudden strike to its face was enough to agitate the Pokemon. Its teeth gritted hard from its growing anger and it roared furiously, shocking everyone, even its own Trainer.

Carl then grinned with satisfaction. The little mouse was done for now.

"Oh, you're in for it now, girlie!" Carl snickered before he thrust his index finger straight towards Loudred to give his Pokemon the attack that should end the match with a bang.

A very loud one.

"Loudred! Full ECHOED VOICE!"

"Gotcha!" At the right moment Bonnie hoped for, Loudred could not agree more with its Trainer and let loose a powerful yell that shattered the ground around him. The powerful soundwave came Dedenne's way, causing him to jump away from the blast.

Loudred kept on yelling as Dedenne repeatedly ran and leapt away from the continuous power of Loudred's yelling. The power of the shouts was felt with rage doubled thanks to his sneaky little taunt. Dedenne did not know what Bonnie was thinking when she wanted Loudred to let out its voice to the fullest, but he had to put his trust in her and proceeded to dodge the attacks for as long as he could.

The loud-mouthed Pokemon saw Dedenne shifting away, causing it to turn around while shouting. The soundwaves moved following the fleeing mouse Pokemon as he ran for his dear life. When he could not run anymore, he took a slight catch of breath before resuming, barely missing the incoming soundwaves.

The process kept on repeating itself for a while; Loudred still screamed at the top of its lungs while Dedenne dodged the incoming blasts. The event was so deafening that the Trainers, and the other two Pokemon, were forced to shield their ears from the extremely loud screams.

With poor timing, however, Dedenne was starting to lose speed from fatigue by too much running. The soundwaves got louder and stronger as they came closer to him. Dedenne was cursing mentally, wishing that he did not agree to do this.

"Huh?"

But then, just when he thought it would be over, he felt… almost nothing. He opened his eyes and found that, after such a tiring run, he was still in one piece. There was still some force left, but it only blew at his face. He turned his head from side to side, wondering what the heck had happened.

He then looked towards the Loudred who nearly blasted him for good. It was now panting heavily from such an outburst. Dedenne could have sworn that he saw some sweat drops on his head, but its worn out expression as more than enough to prove its own fatigue.

Carl sighed in pity for his Pokemon. Maybe he went a little too excessive with his orders and now he had to wait for his Loudred to recover a bit. Conner volunteered to take over for his teammate.

"Pidgey, use Peck on Sandile!" But before anything could be done, Bonnie acted first, ordering Pidgey to knock Sandile with its beak with the same amount of damage done earlier. With Sandile distracted, Bonnie was left with one thing on her mind.

Now, her eyes were all on Dedenne. This was the time for her strategy to be put to the test. She put all her hopes on her beloved Pokemon and he did his job. Now, only time would tell whether she pulled it off.

"Time to see if my plan worked. Dedenne! Use Thundershock on Loudred."

"DEDE NNEEE!" The mouse shot another bolt of electricity at Loudred. The jolting energy stream zapped its way to and hit its forehead in an unpleasant shock. After that, Loudred was already steaming inside from another hit to the head, enticing it to fuel itself up with anger.

"Hah! That's it? That all you got?!" Carl laughed out cockily. "Loudred, show 'em a Pound attack!"

Carl watched in glee, casting a smirk on his face. The thought of Loudred going savage again was all he needed to let out another command to end this fight.

"Grrr…"

There was nothing. Not a single move from Loudred other than a menacing stare at Dedenne. Carl was now at a state of confusion. He did call out to him in a very clear voice, not to mention loud too. Why was nothing done?

"Loudred! Use Pound!" He called out to Loudred again, but there was still no response from the Pokemon. Now, this was far from confusing. It was getting really annoying. He stomped his foot to the ground. Although he did it to try and get his Pokemon's attention, there was obviously some anger that needed to come out.

Yet still, even that was not enough to stir its Pokemon out of its ignorant state.

Bonnie could see from Loudred's lack of response and Carl's building anger from her side of the field. Immediately, she couldn't help herself but jumped for joy. Not only did her plan work, but how it was done was just perfect. She could not be any happier that a plan of hers had worked out, especially since she was mostly cut off from any planning during her previous journey with her brother because of her 'immature' behaviour. And now, she got to it on her own and she was successful, earning the Trainer satisfaction in her attempt.

She could just win this battle. Now, all she had to do was follow up while Loudred had to go through a few moments of silence. It was really time to hit home.

"Dedenne! Help out Pidgey!"

Dedenne acknowledged and followed Bonnie's order. He was sure that he could finally feel good about this fight, considering now that he had Loudred temporarily out of order for a while, and with Pidgey by his side, Sandile would be a breeze.

"Loudred!" Carl was still trying to call his Pokemon to do something. however, all that Loudred did was look back at its Trainer with a baffled face, considering how long it had been since its last order. Its irresponsive mishap made Carl fall a lot more impatient each passing second.

"Dude! What's up with your Loudred?" Conner called from his side, briefly taking his time off from Sandile to get his partner back in the game.

"I don't know!" Carl winced in frustration. "It's not doing anything."

"Then, get it to do something! Those two pipsqueaks are at my Sandile!" Conner pointed out towards the field furiously.

"Okay, Pidgey! Use Peck again!"

The two boys looked to the battlefield where Sandile was now struggling to beat back two Pokemon at the same time. Meanwhile, Loudred was still immobile, unsure of what to do at this point. Should it keep waiting for its Trainer to do something, or should it just help Sandile out regardless?

"I'm trying!" Even so, Carl was at a loss. His Loudred was just standing idly away from the battle, unavailable to do anything and Sandile was currently being beaten back.

Then, Sandile was being knocked back by a striking Peck to its belly by Pidgey. Conner had to act quickly. This battle was starting to become a mess and the boys were feeling the anxiety overwhelming them, especially when they realized that they were being beaten by a girl.

"Let's get this over with!" Bonnie cried with joy. "Pidgey, Dedenne. Both of you charge at him with a Tackle and Pound combo!"

"Quick, Sandile! Bite them!" ordered Conner in a hurried tone.

The three Pokemon all took in their Trainers' commands and charged right for each other; Dedenne running across the ground and Pidgey darting from the air against Sandile running towards them with its jaws opened up for the feast.

When they came into contact, Sandile prepared to bite down on its opponents together. Unfortunately, the odds were easily against it. Pidgey struck first, head-butting the crocodile Pokemon on its own stomach. And to top it off, Dedenne also followed up with one bash of its back towards the stomach.

The combined force of Pidgey and Dedenne caused a series of crushing pain, throwing Sandile away to the ground to lie on its back. All of its limbs, tail and head eventually slumped to the ground. It laid there, bruised and battered, unable to get up.

However, it was still not out of the fight, since its eyes were closed shut rather than the swirly patterns that would signal its fainted condition. It was still hurt pretty bad, though.

Conner watched in utter disbelief as he saw his Pokemon get double-teamed by two low-levelled Pokemon, grabbing his hair with intent on pulling it all out from pure rage.

Carl was just as baffled after seeing his partner defeated in battle by a girl of all people. He was now at a loss with Conner's Sandile down on the ground and his Loudred still unable to do anything.

Bonnie snuck a small grin watching the boys struggle to comprehend what had happened. This is what happens when you underestimate a Pokemon Trainer, no matter what they look like, what Pokemon they have or even what they are. You can never be sure what kind of surprises could be in store for your competition, and Bonnie took it on with confidence and support for her Pokemon.

"And now for the finish." She collected herself from Sandile and focused on Loudred. The Pokemon appeared to still be handicapped by its inability to hear its Trainer. Carl stomped his foot in frustration from what was happening in front of him, and Bonnie could not help but a tad bit sorry for him. Then again, he was being a jerk, so karma was an evil menace right now.

"Loudred, just… do something!" The boy could not take it anymore, shouting out in desperation again. Alas, nothing was working with the confused Loudred now feeling a little fearful of its Trainer's mood swing.

With her hand balled into a fist, the blonde Trainer punched right out to give the last word to end the battle.

"Pidgey, give one last Peck attack!"

Pidgey complied, aiming its beak at the confused Loudred and swooped down towards its target. With one powerful thrust, the bird Pokemon poked the loud mouth with full force, sending it thrown back all the way. It then landed towards one very unfortunate crocodile. Sandile could hardly move as it saw its partner being tossed at it until it was too late to even move a muscle.

The larger Pokemon crashed into Sandile, pinning both Pokemon down and making them more unfit to fight anymore.

"Dedenne. Wrap it up with a Thundershock!"

No matter what, a Pokemon battle had to be finished fair and square, just as Bonie hoped to show these arrogant boys.

Dedenne nodded, charging himself up for that last attack. Finally, he unleashed another burst of electricity that went straight for Loudred. Before both Pokemon and Trainer could react, the pileup of Loudred and Sandile took the hit and both were simultaneously zapped into a frenzy of powerful shockwaves vigorously vibrating throughout their bodies.

When all was said and done, an explosion from the blast roared throughout the field, echoing into the forest while scaring off a few bird Pokemon.

From the smoke, the outcome was already clear. The two Pokemon's eyes were now swirling as they both fainted. It was finally over for them.

"We did it." Bonnie muttered silently to herself, but when excitement of her victory came, she couldn't help but jump for joy, fists rising in the air. "We did it!"

The girl leapt up and down a few times before seeing that her Pokemon were just as jubilant about the victory. They both felt very accomplished with their battle as they helped Bonnie take her very first win.

She bent down to hug both Pokemon, but in their own excitement, they simply ran or flew for Bonnie and crashed into her. They were enveloped in a joyous embrace, with the Pokemon snuggling up to their Trainer proud and satisfied. Fortunately, Dedenne only rubbed his forehead against Bonnie, causing no such spark that could trigger a very shocking sensation.

"I knew you could do it." Bonnie buried her face in between the two Pokemon's bodies as they too returned her hug.

Once they separated, they looked over to see the stunned faces of the two boys she just defeated. She could see the rejected looks on their faces, mouths and eyes wide open and their gazes fixed on the fallen Pokemon.

"Wh- What?" Carl could barely utter a word, devastated beyond belief. Conner was no better. Both boys could feel the humiliation seep right in; their pride apparently washed away by the outcome. All was going so well, or so they thought, but of all the people in the world to beat them, it was a girl. A girl!

"How… did we lose… to her?!" Conner finally yelled out in a state of loss and denial, refusing to believe that Bonnie defeated him in battle.

Bonnie stood back up after hugging her Pokemon. She knew she had to teach them a lesson and finally show them that you could never underestimate a Pokemon Trainer, no matter who or what they are. However, before she could say anything, the two boys quickly withdrew their Pokemon back into their Pokeballs, stuffing them in their pockets. They gave Bonnie one deadly glare each on her. Bonnie and her Pokemon were slightly spooked by their stares, inching back to prepare for what they would do.

"You're going to pay for this!" Carl bawled at the girl.

"Yeah! Who knew girls could cheat too?!" Conner followed up with a very insulting yell.

They both turned around and made a run for it. It looked to Bonnie that the boys had been ashamed by their loss to her, making them more of jerks to her than before. They weren't so tough, after all, she thought. But she could not help but feel offended by their sore loser attitudes through their insulting calls at her.

"Ugh! What a bunch of losers." She shook her head, tensing her body in annoyance after their rude exits. Nevertheless, all that mattered was that she won her first Trainer Battle, and she did so showing those boys what a girl like her could do.

With the boys were out of her sights, Bonnie could finally relax after the thrill of her battle with the so-called tough boys. She took her Poke Ball from her pocket and pointed it at Pidgey, giving the Pokemon a well-earned rest.

"Pidgey, return!" The ball zapped forward in a red bolt and sucked Pidgey back inside. The Pokemon was now inside the capsule which Bonnie turned to look at it, thanking Pidgey for the fun battle. "You did awesome, Pidgey. Get some rest."

She put the Poke Ball back in her pocket. Now, there was a new worry for Bonnie. With the two boys defeated, there was just one more to deal with. All concerns were now on the young boy who was battling the bully.

"Come on, Dedenne." Bonnie prepared to move, calling Dedenne so that the little Pokemon could return to the top of her fedora. After Dedenne did hop on top, the blonde girl was well on her way to check on their inexperienced friend. "We gotta get to Todd. I hope he's doing okay."

"Dene."

---

Deerling was battling all she could. Her devotion to helping Todd had pushed her this far into battling a Pokemon with a type advantage over her.

The slimy Grimer, however, did not give a darn about her perseverance. It shared its Trainer's lust for victory over those weaker than it. It made two more slime balls and after Raymond gave the order, Grimer flung the gooey slime at Deerling yet again.

Deerling managed to dodge the slime balls again, hopping over each one with growing ease.

Todd could feel the satisfaction of watching his Pokemon dramatically getting the experience of fighting every minute of taking on Grimer. The boy too felt like he was learning something new from every successful move and dodge. The pair, young and inexperienced in the world of Pokemon battling, were actually starting to become competent in their first pre-emptive battle.

Conversely, Raymond's temper was starting to reach its boiling point, frustrated that a mere Deerling was able to last this long on the field of battle. He wanted to put this kid in his place, and he really wanted to do it swiftly.

"Grimer! Get in close!" Raymond decided to unleash his one trick that could really bring the pain.

Todd and Deerling watched as Grimer slimed its way as fast as it could. It rushed in a zig-zag path, shifting positions here and there. Deerling had to turn her head from side to side and the motion was so fast that she could not find time to react to its arrival.

"Shoot out a Poison Gas attack!"

Grimer breathed in as much as it could and with one blow of its breath. From out of its mouth, a purple cloud of smog fumed out. It came with such fast speed that Deerling was unable to avoid the toxic catastrophe.

The cloud shrouded around her like a phantom in the night, surrounding her whole body in a thick smog. Todd could barely see Deerling slightly opaque within that cloud. And that was when the trouble was about to begin.

The hazardous gas was already entering Deerling's nose. The smell was so nauseous and revolting that Deerling could just faint instantly from it. She naturally choked up from the irritating itching in her throat. The trouble, though, was only beginning…

Then, it happened. When the fog faded, Deerling started to feel numb on the inside. Her legs began to shake weakly and she was losing all feeling on them as well. Without any control of her legs, she stumbled around clumsily. Soon, the worst came once she felt a nasty pain in her body. The poison in her body did its job in weakening and hurting her as time went by.

"Deerling?" Todd was watching it all over again. Deerling was once again in a state of agony and unsettling pain all courtesy of the Grimer who took pleasure on making her suffer as it did before. "Oh no!" Todd saw in horror that Deerling was slowly losing her will to fight as the poison once again took its toll on her body.

Raymond let out a smirk with satisfaction and no remorse in his heart. He had what he wanted; Deerling hit and now being weakened by the same dreadful poison it had suffered from before. Thus, he was able to gain his victory against the seemingly useless kid opposite of him.

The kid won't be needing his Great Ball anymore. He could use it all he wanted and no crybaby was going to beg for it anymore.

"You're done for now, Todd." bragged Raymond. "You're such an idiot if you think that little Deerling of yours can beat my Grimer!"

Todd could not stand to watch anymore; his fears becoming even more real than before. This was why he did not want to battle in the first place. He was now helpless to do anything about his Pokemon's pain as the rules dictated. So, heartbreak was all that he could take as Deerling stumbled.

"No…" His heart sank to sadness; tears were beginning to flow from his eyes as he faced the ground. The boy was hitting himself inside harder and harder, hoping to break away from the sorrow of seeing his Pokemon hurt to her greatest.

He was on the verge of giving up, wanting to end this fight and help his Pokemon. There was no point prolonging her suffering by staying there defenseless. He could always forfeit and allow the Great Ball to be in the hands of Raymond. No prize was worth getting when his friend was in trouble.

"Deer…" Todd looked up at the faint and weak sound of Deerling's cry.

The Pokemon was still shaking from the pain it had sustained. Her legs were about to give way and her body was getting closer to the ground looking ready to pass out. She was in a very sorry state. Close to fainting, she would probably end up fainting at any moment, ending her battle to the more powerful Grimer. She would have to accept a second loss to a Pokemon that clearly had the advantage over her.

That was all what Todd thought; that Deerling would have to stop the fight.

However, that was when he realized that Deerling, despite her struggle to stand up, refused to go down at all. Todd could see it in her eyes. Her resolve to keep on going, no matter how much it hurts, was present in her endurance of the agonizing poison. Was she really that determined to help him all the way, even at such a low state of health? Was she willing to do whatever it took to see that her Trainer, her friend, had achieved his goal?

Todd took it all in. He was now seeing Deerling in a new light. She was not just any cute Grass-Type Pokemon who loved to frolic about in the beauty of nature. She was a fighter, eager to listen to her Trainer all the way and making sure the battles they face were fought hard and with victories they could be happy with.

And as her Trainer, he felt that he must do his best to train his Pokemon to be the very best, even if he wasn't officially a Trainer at all. He needed to be at her side as she did him. It was the Pokemon-Trainer bond Bonnie had always told him about.

This was it. The faith between Trainer and Pokemon. The spirit to battle and become stronger than ever before.

The drive… to keep moving forward.

"No." He silently spoke from under his breath. Raymond heard the boy say it, expecting it to be a sign of despair. He made sure to sneak a grin at Todd's apparent sadness. This victory was as good as his.

But that was not to be the case.

"We can't give up. I won't give up!" Suddenly, in an unexpected twist, Todd stomped his foot down and gave a loud confident yell at Raymond. The bully only put up a look less than surprised, but caught off guard by the youngster's yell.

Todd's determination came out like a burning fire, with his sad frown turned into a defiant one. His eye brows furrowed the other way, now looking very serious with the situation. He was not about to just give up now.

"Deerling, if you're sure you can fight on, then I will too!" he called.

Deerling nodded, still trembling, but surely willing to continue the fight. She did her best to stand up and face Grimer on.

Raymond and the Grimer were both not so amused, seeing Deerling rising up as a sign of delusion and hopelessness. Todd was just being another lousy excuse for a battler. And he said Raymond was the bad kid. Just look at what he's doing to his own Pokemon.

Deerling prepared herself to make another move. When she did, she let her energy course through, ignoring the stinging and nauseous feeling in her body. She still looked quite weak from the poison in her body, eyes slightly squinting and limbs shaking.

She then closed her eyes, calmly letting herself be at peace. She stayed that way until eventually, she could feel the rays of the sun heat up her body, shining brightly down on the ground around her.

"Wha-?" Then, as Todd watched on, he then noticed something going on with Deerling.

He stared in awe as a green light began to surround her. The gleaming aura shone all around her with sparkles blinking here and there, particles of green light entering her body.

After some time, the light continued to seep into Deerling. In a miraculous turn of events, Deerling was no longer shaking from the pain from her condition. Instead, she rose back up straight, feeling all better! As she shook her head to get rid of the nausea, she turned to face her opponent again.

Raymond and Grimer could not believe their eyes. They thought that had this in the bag, that they had already sealed the Pokemon's fate. Nope. She just stood back up and looked as if she was never hit at all.

Of course, the one person who was beyond jubilant was none other than Todd. His heart now raced with renewed hope and excitement. His Pokemon was now all better and once again ready to fight, bringing more cheers to the boy. Now, he had a chance to turn things around. maybe this battle wasn't lost after all!

"Deerling! You're okay!" Todd felt like he could just run over and give Deerling a big hug. He had been that worried about her health and was about to give it his all even during times of pain. He

"I guess you underestimated me, Raymond." Todd looked back at his opponent, with a smile of confidence now back. The bully was unfazed by this lucky break in Todd's part, but Todd's sudden quirkiness was getting very annoying to him. It did not matter to him if Todd was back in full shape. He was only delaying the inevitable. It was only a matter of time before he would end up the same way.

Todd took the words Bonnie lectured him with to heart, remembering how important it was for a bond between Trainer and Pokemon could take it to new levels. Deerling certainly felt stronger, and now, so did Todd.

He wished he said a few courageous words against Raymond right now, but he could not think of anything. Hey, he was only a little kid, not some experienced war veteran. He did have the heart of one, though.

Enough was enough. This bullying had to stop. He was going to get his Great Ball back.

"You thought I was about to lose it all. But not this time!" Todd clenched his fists and Deerling bent down ready for her Trainer's command.

"Deerling! Let's give it all we got!" The Pokemon nodded firmly in agreement. "Give Grimer one more taste of your Tackle attack!"

With new fire in her heart, Deerling raced forward and charged towards Grimer in full speed.

"Grimer! Use your Sludge Attack!" Raymond panicked at the sight of the speeding Season Pokemon running towards his own. The slimy Pokemon made another disgusting blob of goo in its hand and slung it at Deerling.

With her regained strength, she dodged the attack with minimal effort. She zigzagged as each Sludge thrown at her was ditched aside each second passed. Once she got close, she gave the Poison-type a nice bash of the head to its chest, sending it splattered away back. Deerling hopped back fast enough before more of the icky slime all over Grimer's body would affect her again.

She dragged backwards towards Todd. Grimer stopped reeling as well, with both Pokemon staring down on each other again.

Deerling's Trainer was getting anxious again. Despite his burst of confidence, he knew that a battle against a Poison-type was going to end up in terrible consequences. The move Deerling did to recover her health was beyond his understanding.

Worse still, he saw that Deerling, even when back at full strength, was still being stung from the inside. The poison she had taken from Grimer was still inside her body and was affecting her progressively, slowly weakening her bit by bit.

Todd knew he had to finish this battle. So, he looked around, finding a way to change things up a bit.

Through his eyes, a patch of bushes was seen on his right. Thinking a bit more, he had something in mind.

"Deerling, blind Grimer with another Sand-Attack." he ordered.

Deerling heeded her Trainer's call and kicked up more sand at the Pokemon, blinding it again. While Grimer was unable to see, flailing about in a panic, Todd saw his chance. he wasn't a hundred percent sure this would work, but it was worth a try.

"Okay, Deerling. I want you to go hide in that bush." He cupped his hand to his mouth to make sure he called out to Deerling without Raymond hearing him out since he was distracted by his Grimer being blinded.

He then pointed out to the very bush he saw earlier. Deerling looked and complied. She made her move and ran for the vegetation and hide there.

During her rush, Raymond quickly saw Deerling moving away. Thinking that this was another Tackle run, he turned to his Grimer and gave the word, even while the Pokemon was still having sand in its eyes.

"Grimer!" He ignorantly called upon his Pokemon. "Deerling's running off! Use Sludge again!"

Unfortunately, Grimer was still too hindered to even have a good sight on Deerling. Soon, the thought of being blindsided by its opponent forced the Pokemon to aimlessly obey its Trainer's command without even looking. It clumsily threw sludge balls here and there, culminating in a shower of stray blobs which flew all over the place.

Deerling spotted a few of them coming around at her in all places. She did her best to speed through the barrage, avoiding each one with graceful endurance.

Todd and Raymond were both in a pickle as well, shifting from side to side dodging the slimy projectiles. Raymond, in particular, was getting very frustrated by his Pokemon's apparent clumsiness. He was getting brash by thinking the sand would easily ooze away from a Grimer's eyes, but it was not that simple.

"Grimer! TCH!" He called out in an ill-tempered tone, barely avoiding a slime ball. "Hit that stupid Deerling! Not me!" Grimer still wouldn't listen. Its loss of sight was getting the better of its focus as it continued to fling Sludge balls everywhere. "You worthless-! DRGH!"

If only Todd wasn't so busy avoiding the Sludge, he could have heard the lack of faith Raymond had in his Pokemon. He would have been disgusted by how the bully was treating his Pokemon like some tool not worth using.

Like how he treated him…

It wasn't long before Raymond cursed out some insulting words at Grimer. Lucky for Todd, he couldn't hear some of the words that were too… vulgar.

Eventually, the bully got what he deserved.

BLAWK!

A large slime ball came right from above and splattered all over his face, sending him crashing down on the ground in a muffled groan.

Finally, a minute had passed. Grimer had managed to run out of energy after its flurries of Sludge balls. Soon, it regained its vision, able to see the big mess it had made. It then turned to face its Trainer, much to its utter shock when it saw the strict look on the boy's face, along with a few stains of gunk on his body and clothes.

"Grimer! Look what you did!" screamed Raymond. Grimer hid its face away after looking at the Trainer's unfortunate mud bath, fearing retaliation from the rude boy. "You got your slime all over me!"

It appeared Raymond was so busy dodging the slime and cursing out so much; not to mention the icky slime hitting his face, that he forgot about Deerling. Now, the Season Pokemon was nowhere to be seen.

Raymond and Grimer checked the whole area, desperately searching for that lousy Pokemon. Little did they know that during Grimer's state of panic, the Pokemon had successfully hidden herself in the bush Todd told her to hide in.

Then, Todd saw his moment. He bided his time before Grimer eventually turned away from the bush and left itself vulnerable to any form of attack coming from behind it. He thought that a strike from behind could give Deerling the edge to score a more critical hit on the Pokemon, and hoped that if successful would be enough to end this fight for good.

It's now or never… It was time to get his brother's present back!

"Now, Deerling!" From out of nowhere, Deerling emerged from the bush and leapt in the air. Grimer and Raymond shot their heads up to see the deer Pokemon high above them, but when Grimer did so, it was blasted by the flashing light of the burning Sun behind Deerling, silhouetting her whole body with the rays of the bright Sun shining right into the Poison-type's eyes.

"Let's do it. Tackle!" With his command, Deerling dived right for Grimer, aiming her two front feet at the alarmed Pokemon and coming down like a bomb threatening to destroy its target. It looked more like a Body Slam than any Tackle as she fell sharply towards Grimer.

"Quick, Grimer!" Raymond yelled. "Stop it with a Sludge! Do it, you stupid Pokemon!"

Grimer wanted to react, but the light was too bright for it to look for Deerling. There was nothing else it could possibly do with the Sun burning its eyes; add that with the bits of sand still stuck in them and Grimer was more than handicapped at this point.

It was just what Deerling needed to rain down hard on the Pokemon without worrying about the disgusting slime it poised to throw at her. With the blitzing path to plummeting Grimer down being unopposed, Deerling made no stop, going all the way to make sure her two feet strike the sliming filth who tried to do her in.

She let out a mighty cry, charging down and crashed down on the Grimer with as much force as she could use. The two disappeared in a cloud of dust after Deerling slammed into Grimer, which blew upwards and completely enveloping the two into the blackish brown cloud.

The two Trainers watched from their respective sides, eagerly waiting for the results of their uphill battle. They stared into the dust with different feelings from one another. Todd clasped his hands together, holding onto his hopes for Deerling's condition for dear life and worried for whatever might had happened to her. Raymond, on the other hand, was greatly anticipating his Grimer's victory over the defence against Deerling's weak attack. Despite the brief moment of tense moments by Todd and his Deerling against Grimer, he was still very sure that Grimer was strong enough to withstand such a meagre force of power by a tiny Pokemon. Both weighed in heavily on this one blow, with either side hoping to see either one of the Pokemon still standing.

Finally, as the cloud of dust cleared off, the outcome of the battle was revealed.

"Oh my gosh…" Todd had his mouth wide open from what he saw from his Deerling. He couldn't keep his eyes away from spectacle that he was gazing at which astounded him immensely. What happened was truly extraordinary to him; something he couldn't believe had happened.

Deerling was standing on all four legs, bending forward at Grimer. The Poison Pokemon was all melted down with a pair of swirly eyes and mouth agape.

"I… won?" Todd was still stunned by his unexpected victory. Then, after a few seconds, the boy felt a sudden surge of excitement and joy coming upwards through his body. The excitement was more than enough to make him jump up in the air, filled with much cheer and accomplishment.

He had won his very first Pokemon battle!

"I won! Yeah!" He punched up as he leapt from the ground. Hearing her Trainer's voice, Deerling turned around from her opponent and ran towards Todd with a big smile on her face.

Both friends embraced each other in a big hug; Todd grabbing Deerling around the neck in the gentle exchange while they both rubbed each other's heads.

"I can't believe we did it." Todd's voice was muffled underneath Deerling's fur.

"Deerling!" The Pokemon affectionately stroked her Trainer's head with her own.

Meanwhile, the defeated Trainer on the other side was feeling the exact opposite of what Todd and Deerling were.

Raymond slumped down. Anger and humiliation were all that he had in his heart. He was up against a little kid, smaller and weaker than him, who used a Pokemon that was so vulnerable to his own Grimer. He thought… No. He knew he was going to win.

That confidence was all for naught. His shame fueled his disbelief as he punched the ground in total fury. He lost to a stupid kid and his stupid Pokemon. That was all he could think off, just the fact he lost this battle to Todd and his Deerling.

Without any thought, he silently returned his Grimer back, mentally cursing at it for its failure of dealing with a Pokemon that was supposed to be weaker than it. His fists squeezed tightly as his frustration built up. Disbelief was still high in his mind from the impossible outcome he had to face.

He looked at the happy duo of victors who shouldn't have won the battle at all. Of all the people he's battled, he had to lose… to him! A little kid. No one dared to take him on like that and won, and all of a sudden there's a boy tinier than him who won with a Deerling of all Pokemon. Just imagine how his friends would think of him that he was defeated by Todd.

Todd did not deserve this win. Raymond had to teach him the reality of how things don't work that way. He had to slap some sense to him…

Literally…

"You punk!" Todd and Deerling stopped their loving exchange to find a crossed Raymond stomping towards them, crackling his fists. Todd was instantly terrified by this approach, covering himself with his arms. Deerling stepped out at front, willing to defend Todd, no matter what happened. Raymond was crossing the line by threatening to hurt both of them on his own.

BZZT!

Suddenly, a lightning bolt fazed through and hit the ground between Raymond and the two youngsters, stopping the bully and spooking out the rest.

"Stop right there, Raymond!" The confrontation was joined in by another duo of victorious battlers who decided to stop Raymond from doing any harm. Raymond gritted his teeth, further angered by the timely intervention of Bonnie and Dedenne coming from the trees. He even groaned from seeing that the boys he sent to beat her were nowhere to be found.

Once Bonnie got everyone's attention, she came over to tend to Todd and Deerling, backing them up even if she knew from afar that Deerling had beaten Grimer. She was indeed proud of them for handling their first battle in a hard-earned victory and went over to pat the boy at the back for a job well done. Dedenne also congratulated Deerling for her persistent performance against a Pokemon that was strong against her and won. Facing Raymond, Bonnie crossed her arms and put up a victorious grin at Raymond.

"Your boys have left. And they thought they could beat a girl like me." She then twiddled her index finger while her smile grew wider. "They were wrong."

"Dene!"

Bonnie then frowned at Raymond with a serious gaze, making sure that she had Todd's side should Raymond try anything stupid. Dedenne had the same idea, scurrying over to assist Deerling in defending the young kid.

"You see, Raymond?" Bonnie called out to the stunned bully. "No matter how big or small, strong or weak, or boy or girl, you shouldn't underestimate the bond between a Pokemon and its Trainer."

Raymond viewed Bonnie's words like some ridiculous childish nonsense, as if Bonnie had not stopped watching those lousy kids shows on TV.

"That's stupid stuff! What does friendship have to do with getting stronger?" urged the bully, sticking out a tongue in disgust and voice filled with sarcasm. "You don't get strong through feelings and love~ BLECH!"

There was nothing he wanted to do. He had to face the facts; he was all alone now. His only Pokemon was knocked out and fighting against two energized Pokemon was going to get him nowhere.

But there was one little thing he could get away with. In his pocket was the little trinket he managed to snatch away from Todd. The Great Ball was something he would at least walk away with from his humiliating battle with the boy.

However, he was not really willing to keep it a secret, clearly sour from his loss when he attempted a very taunting gesture at Todd. He grabbed the Great Ball from his pocket and started teasing the boy with such childish insults.

"And just for that, I'm keeping your little Great Ball! 'Cos you're still too young and you don't deserve, pipsqueak!"

The evil smirk on Raymond's face was really starting to hurt Todd, like a knife stabbed right to the heart. Raymond could have the right mind to respectfully surrender the item back to him. Unfortunately, Raymond appeared to be even more of a jerk than he let on.

However, among all of them, one was getting very, very irritated by the immature act.

"Dedenne…" A very crossed Bonnie, one eye twitching, called her Pokemon over. "Do 'enlighten' him of the errors of his ways…"

Getting Bonnie's hint, Dedenne charged up his whiskers and gave Raymond a nasty surprise to teach him a lesson.

"DE DEDENE!"

BBZZZTT!

"WARRGHHH!"

A raging thunderbolt, at least as far as Dedenne could muster, struck Raymond and made the boy dance in a blitzing frenzy of jolting shock. The electricity surged all around him, making his body shake like crazy. Unable to withstand the power of the shock, Raymond dropped the Great Ball on the ground, letting the shock continue until there was no more.

Raymond was left with a burnt body all around, soot covering almost everywhere on him. The boy was now out of words to even retaliate. There was just too much pain and shame inside of him to even bother. It was not worth fighting back.

"Just take it! I don't need this stupid thing anyway!" he bellowed in anger.

And just like that, he darted off into the distance, too ashamed to even look back. The Great Ball rolled away towards the group behind.

As he disappeared, the gang left behind took the opportunity to grab hold of Todd's prized possession. The boy inched closer to the Great Ball and picked it back up.

He took another glance at the one thing he treasured the most and was so close on losing it forever to the wrong hands. He was so delighted to be reunited with his brother's gift that he could just hug the capsule for hours, not wanting to separate himself from it ever again.

Deerling felt very happy for her Trainer's joy. She came over and stroked her head against his hip, causing the boy to share the happiness with her and hugging her back.

"I dunno how the fight really went, but you must have been awesome, Todd!" Bonnie complimented the young boy. She was indeed amazed by how Todd was able to win a battle even with his inexperience being his prime handicap. She started to wonder if she too would have been just as great in battle during her younger days. Why didn't she like ask Ash to help her with some small pint-sized training sessions like she did with Todd? But knowing it was for the best, she didn't really complain. At least she was now officially a Pokemon Trainer, and that's what mattered. "So, do you mind telling me how you pulled it off?"

"I…d-dunno." A confused Todd answered, unsure of what to make of his miraculous comeback with Deerling. "I just stood there, encouraging myself to pull through… and then all of a sudden, Deerling just made some light all over her. Then, she was actually feeling better! That was so cool!"

Bonnie nodded in understanding. wanting to know more about Deerling's new ability as well.

"Really?" she asked. "How is that?"

"Maybe it's a new move?" suggested Todd. "All I know is that she did it under the sunlight."

"Hmmm…" Bonnie soon pulled out her PokeDex to scroll for any healing moves of Todd's description. There were several, but there had to be one that hit the mark, but based on what Todd said about sunlight being the factor, she found her answer. "Wait! Here it is!"

"Synthesis is a move which allows a Pokemon to heal itself based on time and weather of day. At bright sunlight, it can be healed with half of its strength."

"Todd." "Your Deerling just did… Synthesis." That was it! A healing move which Deerling could somehow use to regain its strength after a nasty fall. And since it was a nice, sunny day, Deerling was able to heal up to almost perfect shape. That would have also explained why Deerling could not have known how to use Growl as what the PokeDex told her.

"She did?" Todd stared in awe at his Pokemon, awed by the amazing ability Deerling was able to use. "She did!" Just one thing…

"Uh… what is Synthesis?" the boy asked.

"It's a move when a Pokemon restores its health based on the weather. And since it's bright today, the Sun helped heal her up to its greatest extent." Bonnie explained while Todd understood what was taught to him. However, the girl could not fathom about a little detail she found quite nonsensical. "But that's… impossible."

"What do you mean?" Todd clearly had to ask again, wondering made Bonnie so baffled by Deerling's healing power. She was actually looking more of this Synthesis move from Deerling's move list.

"Deerling can't learn Synthesis." Much to her confusion, the move was not listed among all possible moves, making the discovery all the more puzzling.

"Seriously?" Todd was surprised. If Deerling can't learn the move, then how the heck did she used the Sun as a means to recover from such a terrible attack?

"At least, according to the PokeDex." There had to be a reasonable explanation behind Deerling's ability to use Synthesis. Bonnie had to dig deeper into the mystery. "Hang on." She pressed more of the buttons on the PokeDex, bringing together how one could teach a Deerling how to use this otherwise unteachable move.

She once again found an answer to the case.

"Deerling can learn Synthesis when one hatches from an Egg and must be under the care of a Trainer to learn the move. It is one of Deerling's Egg Moves."

"Egg Moves, huh?" Bonnie looked on in awe, fascinated by what she learned from the device. She definitely had a lot more to learn than what she originally thought she did before.

Suddenly, the happy mood was shifted when Deerling was seen stumbling down on the ground, winching in apparent pain. Everyone rushed to help her from her fall, worried for her health.

"Deerling!" Todd held her up, calmly wrapping his arms around her. "Are you alright?"

"Deer~" The Pokemon weakly replied.

"Your Deerling just needs some more medical treatment." Bonnie could see the purple blush on Deerling's snout, instantly telling her of the problem. She went to grab her backpack, zipping it open and pulling out something of use. "Ah! Another Antidote."

She took the potion with her and handed it over to Todd and let him do the healing this time. Perhaps it would be one way to further strengthen their bond if the Trainer himself did the treatment himself and cure the sick Pokemon with a much deserved Antidote.

"Here you go, Deerling!" Todd proceeded to spray the antidote on all over Deerling's body. The Pokemon felt the soothing spritzing of the potion pour down on her fur and wait for the peaceful moments when she would finally be rid of the poison in her body.

"Geez, Clemont." Bonnie placed her hand to her hip while she said to herself, thinking of the brother who could never be too prepared. "You really outdid yourself, didn't you?"

---

After the battle was over, the group of friends decided it was time to head back to Todd's home. It was by time the boy returned home before his mother could swoon in a panic so he could have a nice little dinner and give Deerling something sweet as a reward for her victory.

Bonnie, on the other hand, had to be the bearer of bad news. Her journey was still calling out to her and it was by time she had to head to Santalune City to participate in her first Gym Battle against Viola.

That meant the two groups had to part ways. It was sad that Bonnie had to go, since Todd had learnt so much in just a few hours, but he understood that she had a dream to fulfil.

They arrived in front of Todd's house, which was a lone cabin in the middle of the forest, indicating a simple life in the country for the boy and his Pokemon. On the way back, Bonnie began telling her story of how she also began to understand the works of Pokemon training from her brother.

"When I was your age, I only cared for Dedenne. He was actually my brother's Pokemon. But once I was ready to venture out, Dedenne automatically became my starter."

Todd felt like he was looking at a professional, even if Bonnie had only just begun. Not only was she an early learner with an earlier head start, her brother also happened to be a Gym Leader too. She was certainly an individual worth respecting.

"Cool…" Todd gasp in amazement. Once they looked towards the cabin, Todd knew he had to walk right in before his mother would start to get extremely worried.

"I guess I should head home now." He rubbed the back of his head. as he announced. "Mom must be worried about us right now."

"Deerling!" agreed Deerling, excitedly barking for her upcoming dinner.

Bonnie nodded, acknowledging that the two had to go inside so she could move on with her next step towards her first Pokemon Gym battle. The two extended their hands forward towards each other, joining them together in a handshake.

"In that case…" cheered Bonnie. "Bonnie wishes you all the best in the future!"

"Dedenne!" added Dedenne on top of Bonnie's hat.

"You too, Bonnie." said Todd. Once they were done talking, the boy brought with him his Deerling and walked towards the house. Then, Todd turned around to face Bonnie with one final goodbye. "Someday, I'm going to be just like you!"

"Mmhmm!" A flush of red tinted on Bonnie's cheeks, holding onto her face. It felt so good being admired like an idol, and she would love to hear more from others. The more people cheering her on, the more of a Master she would feel like. "I'm flattered!"

Finally, time to go for Bonnie and Dedenne. The pair turned away from the house and walked on, resuming their path to becoming a Pokemon Master. "Goodbye, Todd! Deerling!" She waved back at Todd and Deerling, bidding goodbye.

"Dene!" Dedenne waved both of his arms at the duo.

"Bye! Thanks for your help!" thanked Todd.

"Deerling!" Deerling jumped once with a bark back to the blonde girl's Pokemon. They waved on until the older pair disappeared from their sights. Afterwards, the boy stroked his Deerling on the head before calling her to come with him into the house, ending the rough but fruitful day.

He would always remember to value Bonnie's training and put his skills to use as he would continue to train Deerling until he was at the right age to finally venture off on his own. It was going to be another few years before that happened, but the wait would be worth it.

---

Bonnie went on from Todd's place, walking back to the path that would lead her to Santalune City. The time training Todd had been a very precious moment in her first days as a Trainer. Only two days in since she left Lumiose City and she was already a mentor to someone else. Who knew she would be given the role so early when she was only just a beginner?

Other than that, her own experience through her own battle against bullies was also one to remember as a personal achievement. Not only was it her very first win against a Trainer, but it was against two of them in a Double Battle. It was a huge victory for her in addition to her successful capture of Pidgey, almost making her forget the defeat she had taken from her brother a few days ago.

Almost ten minutes had passed since she left Todd and Deerling and Bonnie was soon back to planning for her upcoming battle against Viola in Santalune City. Last she left off, she had to call it a break from training, choosing to finding another Pokemon to help even the odds.

But then, there was a change of plans.

"You know what, Dedenne?" she called to her slightly drowsy Pokemon taking a nap on top of her fedora. "I think we'll be just find with the two of you guys."

"Dene?" The Pokemon sleepily listened to his Trainer. For sure, he thought Bonnie would had needed another member of the team to improve her chances. Now, she had decided to only use the two of them?

"I mean, it would be great to have another Pokemon join us, but after what I've seen just now during our battle, I wanna see what you guys can do to the fullest." explained Bonnie. "It'll be easier for me to train the two of you to do your absolute best, instead of juggling around with more Pokemon. Not yet, anyway."

Dedenne simply nodded, understanding Bonnie's point about doing his utmost best in battling against Viola's bug brawlers. Or perhaps he just wanted to get through with his nap time to rest up.

Either way, Bonnie was willing to see if she could try out her battle strategy against Viola. She would need to work on a little more tactics to add taste to her battling style, but she was confident that her Pokemon would be able to realize their strength in battle.

"It's for the best! Until we beat Viola, I'll need to become stronger too! Then we'll have room for new Pokemon and new badges."

Over the hill, she walked on to see what was over the other side. Right there, just as she remembered, she was at last able to see civilization again. A large city, slightly smaller than her own, was already in sight.

This was it. Bonnie was finally at her destination, where she would be ready to take on her first Gym Battle.

Santalune City.

"Pokemon Master, here we come!"

---

Reviewing the review, here we go!

Rickymon Gaming: I know man, but what can you do when you're already in a pickle with internship and other classes. Hopefully, I can update faster for every other story 'cos I too am becoming quite impatient with myself XD