A/N: Once again this chapter has a very tiny bit of Lemon in it much like the previous chapter did so here's another friendly heads up.
Tyler: ...
DrPhill26: You know what a Lemon is this time Tyler?
Tyler: ...
DrPhill26: I get the feeling you don't want to talk to me right now.
Tyler: ...
DrPhill26: Should I shut up?
Tyler: ...
DrPhill26: I'll take silence as a yes so I'll just leave you alone now and get started.
The elevator doors opened and Tyler and his escorting group of guys stepped out onto the Mirage's battle deck. There were quite a few trainers on the deck using the area as training grounds for their Pokémon. Tyler walked past a trainer who was shadow boxing with his Machoke while another nearby trainer was watching her Buizel practice its Water Pulse move. A pair of Flying type Pokémon seemed to be having a race above the deck as their respective trainers cheered on. But Tyler paid no attention to any of them as he mindlessly followed his escorting group towards the center arena on the deck. He was living in his own isolated world until one of the staff members snapped his fingers to get Tyler's attention before speaking to him.
"Okay, you're here. We radioed ahead and reserved the arena for you and your uh… friend. So uh, go ahead and take your spot." Tyler offered no response. In an effort to take his mind off everything that had happened so far today, he had devoted all conscious thought to focusing on the battle he was about to have. He grabbed his three Poké balls and threw them over the field, releasing his Pokémon simultaneously. Trainer and Pokémon took their spot on the right of the arena from the elevators. Tyler knelt down besides his three best friends unsure of what else to do.
"You gonna be alright mate?" The same staffer asked. Tyler nodded still kneeling. "Look, I can tell you've been through a lot today, so we'll let what happened today with the door slide. Try not to do it again. Oh and sorry about Mike. Everyone here hates him as much as you do. Prick only got the job here because his dad is on the cruise line's board of directors and he pulled some strings. It's about time someone took him down a peg, although I think you may have taken him off the board completely. Nice job."
"Thank you for your concern." Tyler said somberly as his escorting staff made their way back to the elevators. At the same time, the second elevator opened revealing the other half of their whole group including Wendy and Pulse. Looking her over, Tyler noticed that Wendy's expression had changed yet again since last time he'd seen her. Instead of being on the verge of tears like she was below deck, now she was confidently walking out with a grin on her face. Meanwhile Tyler was wandering back and forth through frustration, anger, confusion and too many other emotions to count.
"Lava?" Magnus expressed concern pawing gently at his trainer's knee.
"Thanks buddy. I needed that." Tyler said rubbing his eyes for a moment. He wanted to say something to his Pokémon about what had happened, but where do you begin talking about what he'd just seen? The words just weren't coming to him, no matter how he wanted to start. His eyes wandered to Wendy again as she was now talking to her escorting group and even laughing with them. How he was jealous of her ability to compose herself. Tyler looked back at his Pokémon again, took a deep breath and decided to just tell them how he felt.
"Look you guys… I want you to know that I'm not quite myself right now. Something happened today, that I never expected to see… well ever for that matter. And it really shook me up. I just want you to know how much you guys mean to me. We've been through so much together since we all first met. We're all friends, no… we're family, and I want you to know I'd never do anything to ever make you uncomfortable or hurt you. You guys mean the world to me, and I love you." Tears began rolling down his face as Tyler's Pokémon looked up at him. They too shared the same feelings he did for them. Each one stood next to their trainer so he could give them a group hug.
"You… you really care about your Pokémon. Don't you?" Wendy's voice drifted into the somber moment.
"Yeah, I do." Tyler said standing up and facing the woman and her Lucario.
"Look, before we start this, I just want to say I'm sorry." Wendy began, fidgeting anxiously as she spoke. "I know you're going through a lot right now, and you probably have a million questions you want to ask. But I wanted to start with that much. Tyler wasn't ready to say anything to her; the way his arm shook and how he clenched his fist when he saw Pulse standing behind her said as much. But he did at least offer a nod of understanding showing he was at the very least thankful for her concern. "Let's go Pulse." Wendy turned around beginning to walk to her spot on the opposite side of the arena.
"If I win…" Tyler started, catching Wendy midstride. "If I win you're going to tell me everything. You answer every single question I have about you, about Pulse and about what I just saw." Wendy didn't turn around, hiding the soft grin on her face from Tyler's view.
"I suppose that's fair." She said taking her place in the block opposite Tyler on the arena. Turning around she added. "But if I win, you have to do something for me instead."
"And what would that be?" Tyler asked with his hands cocked on his hips.
"You'll find out when you lose." Wendy's lips curled as she spoke earning a growl from Tyler. "I assume a two-on-two battle is okay with you?"
"That's fine with me. You ready Caelum?" The bird Pokémon took flight above the arena with a caw.
"I choose you Tess!" Wendy took a Poké ball off her belt releasing her Ampharos in a shower of silver sparks. The Ampharos let out a cry on its arrival showing off some of its electric capabilities, surrounding itself in a cloud of small sparks of yellow lightning that made the jewels on its head and tail sparkle. Tess definitely looked like she'd be a tough customer to handle for Tyler and Caelum.
"Let's start off fast Caelum! Tailwind!" Tyler knew that if he was going to stand a chance against the electric type he was going to need to rely on Caelum's speed. The bird flapped his wings repeatedly, generating a whirlwind above the arena. As the Staraptor flew around the field he let out an intimidating caw staring directly at his opponent showing he wasn't backing down despite his disadvantage.
"Tess, use Thunder Wave!" Ampharos spread her arms outward releasing, thin bolts of electricity in multiple directions towards her target.
"Dodge it!" Using the boost from the air currents above the arena combined with his Tailwind, Caelum was able to effortlessly glide through the sky dodging the strands of lightning.
"Amp it up, use Thunderbolt!" Sparks crackled around Tess's ears before she shot off a bright yellow bolt of lightning towards Caelum. The increased power of the attack also upped its speed as Caelum was only barely able to dodge the attack this time even with the boost from Tailwind.
"We can't afford to get hit by that." Tyler thought to himself. He didn't want to admit it but his first impression of Wendy was a strong one. Starting with an advantageous type match up and going for the paralysis early to neutralize her speed disadvantage was a very solid strategy. Equally worrying was the fact that Caelum's move pool was almost completely ineffective against the electric typing that Ampharos had going for it. But that never stopped him from giving it his all before and today was no exception.
"Caelum, use Double Team!" Multiple shadowy copies of Staraptor took to the sky surrounding the light Pokémon. Tyler's plan at the moment was to sit back and wait for an opportunity to present itself to him. Wendy only smirked.
"Tess, use Discharge!" Instead of the yellow sparks from before, Ampharos' ears sparked blue before discharging blue bolts of electricity from her body in every direction. Most of the Double Team clones were unable to dodge, and faded from sight leaving only two other birds besides the real Caelum.
"Now use Thunder Punch." Ampharos' attack continued as she charged at a high speed towards the three remaining birds with electricity crackling around her fist.
"Climb high to dodge it." All three birds took off dodging the attack and flying in a tight circular pattern above the battlefield. "Okay guys let's fly! Use Aerial Ace!" The three birds stayed in formation, each one surrounded in its own contrails, creating a glowing white ring in the sky before they finally broke formation and dove towards their target in a straight line.
"Tess, wait for the last one and use Thunder Punch when it arrives." The light Pokémon's fist crackled in electric energy once more as the trio of birds descended upon the waiting target. The first bird to arrive was a copy and dissipated harmlessly on impact with Ampharos' body. Tess stared down the second bird as it charged towards her. Her target was the one after that one… but it was a mistake. The real Caelum was the second arrival and his impact with the Ampharos sent her backwards, discharging the gathered energy into the last clone as it flew by.
"Nice job Caelum!" Tyler's fist was raised emphatically as Caelum cawed a response before returning to his default flying pattern within the Tailwinds he'd made earlier.
"Not bad Tyler." Wendy admitted, but her Pokémon had taken the hit well, and showed little sign of damage. "Now it's our turn. Use Cotton Spore and send it into their Tailwind." Fluffy white puff balls were discharged into the air around the arena and quickly were swept up into the air currents Caelum had created earlier. Now the puffs were in orbit chasing after the bird Pokémon who found himself unable to dodge them. As the puffs attached themselves to Caelum's body, the drag they created forced him to slow down considerably.
"Turn around Caelum. Fly into the Tailwind to blow off the spores!" The Staraptor cawed as he swiftly did a half loop and roll flying directly into the wind that had been boosting him earlier. Most of the puffballs began detaching and flew harmlessly away over the side of the ship. But in fighting against the wind, Caelum was practically flying in place and highly susceptible to attack. Just like Wendy had wanted.
"Right into our trap, Tess use Thunderbolt!" Another yellow bolt of electricity was fired in Caelum's direction. There was no chance for him to dodge with the remaining cotton puffs still stuck to his wings. It was a massive hit as Caelum was shocked to a near crisp before he helplessly fell to the arena floor.
"Dammit! Caelum, are you okay?" Tyler certainly was concerned after watching the hit. Caelum may not have been out from the blast of electricity, but he'd taken a ton of damage in the process. His body struggled against its weight as he tried to stand on his talons.
"Get ready to end this Tess! Hyper Beam!" Ampharos' mouth opened wide as her whole body became motionless. In her mouth a tiny orange ball began forming, gradually increasing in size.
"Use Roost!" Tyler called out. Caelum shook himself to alertness and began staring intently at Ampharos as the outline of his body began glowing in a soft white hue. Tyler was once again in a bad position; he was already taking quite a gamble exposing his Pokémon to this attack but it was necessary to give him time to think. The Tailwind was starting to dwindle which would further hamper Caelum's ability to fly away quickly. He could call Caelum back for Magnus which would make her electric attacks less damaging, but he didn't like the idea. Tyler wanted Magnus at full strength for Wendy's Lucario, those two had unfinished business between them that needed settling. Tyler had to trust Caelum here.
"Okay Tess, fire!" The ball in Ampharos' mouth became a beam and flew outwards straight at Tyler's Pokémon. It was the moment of truth for Staraptor.
"Dodge it!" Staraptor flew up and away from the beam initially dodging it, but the attack wasn't finished. Tess' beam followed Caelum as he continued to weave through the sky. He saw the Tailwind vortex before him and both Tyler and his Pokémon knew that was their only chance to dodge as the attack lay just behind his tail feathers. Staraptor reached the vortex and got the boost he needed, only for it to fade a second after he received it leaving him stranded in the sky.
"It's over." Wendy said emphatically as her Ampharos' victory seemed apparent.
"Caelum use Aerial Ace!" The attack was pure desperation on Tyler's part but Caelum responded to his trainer's call. He rolled underneath and to the left of the attack as the glowing white contrails surrounded him and Staraptor began his descent. Tess' attack followed him but still couldn't connect, and soon Caelum was inches above the arena floor. His talons scraped along the floor as he shot out towards the Ampharos, only just grazing her as he flew past her and over the crowd. Tess' attempts to keep up finally ran out as her attack impacted with the battlefield before her and exploded in a cloud of dust.
"Great job Caelum!" Tyler shot the bird a triumphant thumbs-up at his successful efforts. Not only did he dodge what would certainly have been a KO causing blow, but now he had a perfect chance for his best trump card. "Now take the fight to her with Close Combat!" Caelum pulled back once again and rolled out making a beeline for Ampharos who was drained from having just used Hyper Beam. The dust cloud faded allowing the action to be seen by all, as Caelum relentlessly slashed at Ampharos with his talons, wings and beak striking his opponent repeatedly. Tess took significant damage from this assault and once Caelum had broken off his attack, the light Pokémon appeared to hardly be able to stand.
"Tess, are you okay?" Wendy asked with a worried tone.
"Ampha – ros." The Pokémon's speech was staggered and her body was covered in marks but she showed no intention of letting her trainer down just yet.
"If you're good to go, then so am I. Use Charge." Ampharos' entire body became shrouded in yellow sparks like when she'd first arrived from her Poké ball earlier.
"If you're just going to sit there, then that's fine by me." Tyler said smugly. "Aerial Ace again!" Staraptor climbed high again then looped back down towards the stationary Ampharos. The white glowing contrails returned once again as Caelum's speed increased for the attack. Adrenaline kicked in for the bird at this point as he took on an even sharper descent than last time for his attack intending to end this fight with authority. The whitish glow of his attack then began enveloping his body and flickers of blue and black joined his descent. Tyler's eyes widened as he remembered the last time this happened when he almost crashed into the ocean, only this time it was too late to call off the attack. Wendy noticed Tyler's dilemma and took action to capitalize on it.
"Hit him with Thunder Punch!" Ampharos' localized the electric energy to her fist and jumped up towards the descending bird Pokémon. The two combatants met midair with Ampharos' punch connecting with the Staraptor's left wing. However the speed that Caelum had already built up was too much for his charge to be canceled out completely, and the bird's excess momentum rolled him off of Tess's fist and directly into her chest. The two Pokémon both fell to the arena below them, their crash sending up another dust cloud with electricity arcing throughout it. Once it had settled, all the onlookers could see that Caelum was completely motionless. He lay on top of Tess's chest, who despite delivering a finishing blow herself, lay completely sprawled out on the ground as well. Neither Pokémon was able to respond to their trainer's calls resulting in a double KO.
It was only after a crowd of onlookers cheered in approval that both Tyler and Wendy even noticed that they were generating a lot of attention from the other trainers on the battle deck. There was a thick ring of people standing by the field, and some pressed up against the dividing fence with the pool deck cheering for more. Another thing Tyler had failed to notice it in the heat of the moment was that he was actually feeling pretty damn good right now. His blood was boiling again, but out of excitement instead of frustration. The state of euphoria of being in a good battle was washing over him. He could feel his heart pounding in every inch of his chest. His fingers danced with excitement as he grabbed Caelum's Poké ball and called the unconscious bird back to his ball. Wendy did the same with her Ampharos, and once both fainted Pokémon were in their balls, silence descended over the battle deck.
It felt straight out of a classic spaghetti western at high noon, where the hero and villain would duel it out with life and death on the line. The two trainer's eyes met, passionate fire burned in Tyler's eyes, a tempest roared in Wendy's. Mirror images of the other, their hands hovered over their trainer belts, waiting for the opponent to make a move. Magnus stood by his trainer's side and was trying to contain his excitement. But his back had already sparked a soft flame, the embers of which had caught the breeze and drifted gently across the field like orange lanterns. Pulse's eyes were closed as the stoic Pokémon meditated besides his trainer. The breeze continued to carry the embers across the field, dancing in simplistic beauty closer and closer to Wendy and her Pokémon. Suspended with whimsy, the tiny embers drifted besides Pulse, brushing past the black fur on his cheek. His eyes opened in a flash, glassy with a purplish tint as the Lucario leapt into the air flipping once before landing on the ground, kneeling in a knightly pose. Slowly he raised his body extending his paw towards Tyler and Magnus, his purplish aura momentarily visible, ready for a fight. Not to be outdone, Magnus too leapt into the air intensifying his flames as he flipped through the air, cloaking himself in a burning ring of embers when he landed.
"May I have this dance, my lady?" Tyler asked half bowing with his right arm bent over his chest in a v-shape. He didn't know what possessed him to do this, especially given the western vibe he'd felt earlier. But it felt appropriate after the poetic display their Pokémon had just given them.
"Yes, let us dance." Wendy said half curtseying, playing along with Tyler's silliness. "Pulse, start with Bone Rush!" Lucario clapped his paws together, extending them away from each other slowly, like he was unsheathing a katana of the finest quality. A thin, light green beam of energy grew along with the gap until Lucario threw his hands far apart. The beam took on rounded, bone shaped protrusions at the end as Pulse grabbed the energy beam, twirling it in his hands and around his body briefly before rushing towards Magnus.
"Dodge it buddy." Pulse's attack was fast and he covered the gap between him and Magnus quickly, swinging the energy beam down in a blur. Magnus was able to side step the attack hopping to his right.
"Don't stop till you hit him!" Lucario's attack continued, pivoting to his right swinging the beam around his body towards Magnus. It was harder to dodge this time but Magnus did so stepping back as the aura Pokémon's attack continued on, repeatedly swinging the club in varying patterns to try and break Magnus' focus. Pulse stabbed, swung and spun while Magnus ducked, dove and dodged in rapid succession from the blows.
"Aim for his feet, use Ember!" As Magnus still tried to dodge blows, he opened his mouth spitting red hot embers out into the ground by Lucario's feet. Pulse saw the attack coming and flipped backwards creating some distance from him and the smoldering ash.
"Now use Flamethrower!" The scattered storm of embers solidified as Magnus upped the power of his attack. A column of fire roared across the arena straight towards Lucario.
"Spin the club to counter it!" Pulse's eyes glowed purple as he twirled the energy beam around in his hands rapidly spinning it faster as the pillar of fire arrived at its target. The Flamethrower made impact with his spinning guard, spreading the attack off in multiple directions. Lucario stood defiantly in the front of the fiery vortex he had created. The purple glow around his body became more intense as he began outpouring more of his aura into the club he'd created, further extending its length and radiance. Then in a swift movement, Pulse spun to his left letting the flames pass before swinging the club in a wide arc through the pillar slicing it in two. The aura infused attack startled Magnus who had to jump up over the club to dodge it. Fortunately for him, the excess energy input had made the staff unstable in Pulse's hands and it receded from sight. The crowd of onlookers cheered loudly as the second wave of action had begun heating up to a very satisfying beginning.
"Use Metal Claw Pulse!" The spikes on the back of Lucario's paw glowed white before morphing into hand guards with two spikes on the end of them. Seeing the shape they'd taken, Tyler couldn't help but be reminded of an assassin, but he had no time to be impressed as the Pokémon resumed his pursuit.
"Magnus use Swift!" The yellow star shaped projectiles quickly darted towards Lucario. The first few projectiles made contact but appeared to glance off Pulse as he continued his charge. Lucario weaved his way through the shooting stars, slashing at ones that got too close with the claws before reaching striking distance. Pulse raised the claws and brought them down across Magnus' body, sending the Quilava back a good distance and kicking up a small cloud of dust.
"We need to regroup Magnus, use Smokescreen!" A cloud of black smoke quickly cut off Lucario's view of his opponent.
"You should know that won't work on us! Did you forget Pulse can sense the auras of other Pokémon?" Wendy smugly chastised Tyler's lapse in judgment. Lucario seemed to be on the same wavelength as his trainer as he charged straight into the Smokescreen finding the surprised Quilava almost immediately and struck him repeatedly with another round of his Metal Claw. Tyler needed to think of something quickly or he'd be in serious trouble.
"Use Quick Attack to get away."
"Keep up the attack; use your Quick Attack too." Both Pokémon emerged from the cloud followed by white trails as they darted back and forth through the battle field in blurs. Magnus was desperately trying to get away from Pulse's attacks, but was not having much success as the aura Pokémon could read his movements and catch up to him quickly.
"Dammit nothing is working!" Tyler thought as he watched the white blurs racing across the arena. He knew he needed to get back on the offensive but Lucario's pursuit was relentless. He also knew that Magnus would eventually get tired and have to take a hit if they kept going at it with speed. How was he going to get back into this fight?
"What happened to all that bravado from before Ty?" Wendy's question was laced with attitude. "I thought you said you were better than this." His expression changed into an irritated look as he gritted his teeth, trying to think of a strategy to use against Lucario. In the meantime, Pulse had managed to catch up to Magnus once again lunging forward with another Metal Claw attack that caught Magnus' from below, lifting him up off the ground and throwing him into the air.
"Magnus!" Tyler could only watch as his Pokémon flipped through the air helplessly.
"Finish this with Force Palm!" Lucario stopped on a dime and jumped with arrow like speed and grace at the flailing fire type. The same green tinted energy from his bone club now surrounded Pulse's hand as he prepared to strike.
"Hang on… haven't I seen something like this before?" Tyler thought for a moment with a sense of déjà vu. His eyes sparkled as he remembered Justy's Cacnea taking the spinning momentum and turning it into a pin missile attack in their battle at the Pre Center.
"Spin faster Magnus! Use the momentum for a Flame Wheel!" Fire quickly cloaked the Quilava's body as he continued to spin in the air. It was awkward looking, but effective as the rapidly increased spin speed formed the trademark wheel of the attack. Magnus tucked his legs in to increase his rotation speed further as Lucario made contact with him. Lucario became surrounded in fire like Magnus as both moves reached their intended targets. Both Pokémon took some damage from the exchange and landed less than gracefully on the battlefield.
"Not bad Ty, not bad. But that was nothing more than a lucky hit." Wendy's verbal assault continued again.
"Luck had nothing to do with it. Flame Wheel again!" Quilava jumped into the wheel once again and sped off towards Pulse with a cry.
"You can dodge that Pulse! Detect!" Lucario's eyes sparked purple with his aura, allowing him to analyze Magnus' charge and dodge the first attack with effortless ease. The spunky fire type wasn't finished just yet and charged again, but was dodged a second time. Frustration set in Tyler's face. He knew Magnus was pretty fast, but Pulse was just dodging his attacks effortlessly, as if he was seeing everything in slow motion.
"Bone Rush once more!" The green energy club returned once again to Pulse's hands as he leapt into the air above Magnus after another miss, swinging the club down across Magnus' back. The swinging pattern continued with a second spinning hit to his side, a third hit from beneath him and a fourth hit sending him flying back towards his trainer's feet.
It'd been a while since Tyler saw Magnus struggle this much in a battle. His Pokémon lay before him, drenched in sweat and covered in welts. Magnus was struggling to catch his breath, his legs were wobbly and it appeared hard to stand. The most telling sign of his Pokémon's distress was his efforts to maintain the fire on his back. The normally intense display of power that showed on his back was fading into almost nonexistence. Lucario was really strong; possibly even the strongest Pokémon that he'd ever faced. Even with the Fire on Steel type match up he had going for him. Lucario's combination of power, tenacity and cleverness, coupled with Wendy's guidance was beginning to seem impossible to overcome.
"Can you still go Magnus?" Tyler asked concerned. The Fire type looked at his master, one eye half closed and nodded in response, but it didn't convince him any.
"You gonna give up Tyler?" Wendy asked resuming her taunting from before.
"Like hell I am! Magnus, use Smokescreen!"
"Well if all you're going to do is hide behind clouds you may as well give in." Wendy sighed running her hand through her hair as the Smokescreen began blocking her view. "A good trainer should always care about the safety of their Pokémon, and not drag out a losing battle like this one."
"Don't patronize me! Of course I care about my Pokémon's well beings." Tyler roared back with anger filling his voice once more. "My Pokémon are just like family to me. I'd never do anything to hurt them!"
"And that's good. Every trainer knows that it's important to share a strong bond with your Pokémon." Wendy said rather matter-of-factly. Tyler's thoughts immediately returned to the scene with Wendy and her Lucario earlier and he became unable to restrain his rage any more.
"Oh so that makes it okay then? Because you have a strong bond with your Pokémon you can justify what you did today?" The crowd of people watching the battle started murmuring as they speculated at what Tyler was talking about. "I don't know what I saw today, but whatever it was isn't right! I can't accept that! It's just wrong dammit!"
"Look Tyler, I know you're angry right now, I get that…" Wendy started with a more soothing tone of voice than before. As she continued to speak, Pulse lowered his guard and the aura staff in his hands faded. "I also know you have a lot of questions without answers right now over what you saw. But Pulse and I have answers and we want to help you. So why don't we just call this battle off and I can give you and your Pokémon a proper introduction to it. I just need you to take a few deep breaths and calm down, okay?"
Try as she like Wendy's words fell on deaf ears. Tyler's overwhelmed system had fallen into shock, and his body shut down like he'd been paralyzed. His legs buckled beneath him and he fell to his knees as the combined weight of the day's events hit him like a freight train. The days' events played out over and over in his head, agonizingly drawing out every single detail. Once again there was Tyler standing outside the room with his foot crashing into the door, entering into the room only to see Wendy's lips wrapped tightly around her Pokémon's cock. Her mouth slowly sliding up and down Pulse's shaft, drowning him in bliss until Tyler was spotted.
"But if I win, you have to do something for me instead." Wendy's response to his demand of an explanation for what happened rang in his mind. "I can give you and your Pokémon a proper introduction to it." The thought continued connecting the two pieces together, and his heart felt like it stopped.
"That's what she meant…" Tyler thought as his mind quickly filled with images of Wendy doing the same unspeakable acts he'd seen today with his Pokémon. The realization made Tyler's stomach churn, and as the thoughts persisted, he dry heaved on the arena, coughing up spit and phlegm. The world around him began to blur into a distorted mess of colors and sounds. Nothing was making sense anymore. Despite the thousands of people onboard the ship around him, never before had Tyler felt this alone.
A pair of gentle touches on his knees pierced the blacken void Tyler saw himself in. He moved his hands from his face and saw the world around him still blurred, but two things before him were not. Eevee and Magnus had placed sympathetic paws on his legs and looked up at their trainer with nothing but sadness plainly written on their faces. Both of them looked to be on the verge of tears as they both spoke to Tyler in Pokéspeak. Of course he couldn't understand a word they said, but his heart heard their cries of concern for his well being and their pleas for him to get better. And knowing they were here before him with this much caring brought a smile to Tyler's face.
"And she says we don't have a bond…" Tyler couldn't tell if he thought the words or maybe he was whispering them, but when the words left his mind his Pokémon stopped speaking and looked at him. "I'm really lucky to have friends like you two and Caelum. I know I can always count on you guys to be my guiding lights when the world darkens around me. Thanks for always being there for me."
"Lava! Quil Quilava-va Quil!" Magnus said interrupting Tyler's speech and motioning back towards the arena behind him.
"Right, we can save the mushy crap till later." Tyler said looking up at Pulse and his trainer through the smokescreen. "This battle's not over yet."
"Quil." Magnus smiled at his trainer before turning around and taking a battle stance on the arena with confidence.
"And Eevee, I'm sorry I made you worry about me." He said scratching her beneath the chin, to which she proceeded to nibble on his finger. He didn't mind the small prick of her teeth on his finger, Tyler was just happy that Eevee was back to herself. And she must have been happy if she was nibbling on his finger again.
"Vee-Eevee!" His little princess smiled at him once she let go, before merrily trotting back to her spot besides him and nuzzling his other hand with her head. From his kneeling position Tyler looked back at his opponents who still stood with a less than confrontational pose.
"Did you see that Wendy?" Tyler asked while cracking his neck and teasing Eevee's ears with his hand. "Is this the kind of loving bond with your Pokémon that you were referring to?" He noticed Wendy twitch in place a moment as she watched Eevee getting pet, making him laugh internally. Pulse looked back at his trainer and growled, getting her to snap out of the cute-induced trance.
"Okay, I admit your Pokémon definitely care about you a lot." She said nodding her head. "But that still won't help you win this fight. Your Quilava's too badly hurt from before. And no offense, but you're in no shape to keep going yourself. Face it Ty, Pulse and I have already won.
"You might be right Wendy. I'll admit it, you and Pulse are quite possibly the strongest team we've ever faced." Tyler said pushing off the ground with authority and taking an aggressive combat stance. "But that's exactly why me and Magnus aren't backing down, not without a fight. We've been together long enough that I know we both have a fire burning inside of us that drives us in battle. That flame is a roaring inferno that burns at its hottest when we stare right into the face of defeat and tell it that we will not lose."
"Lava-va!" Resonating with his trainer's words the flames reignited along Magnus' back in a furious display of power. Soon, a massive fireball surrounded the erupting volcano Pokémon blowing away what little trace of the smokescreen was left. The intense heat radiating off of Magnus' glowing red body was enough to leave Pulse and Wendy stunned and the audience of onlookers took a step back to avoid being burnt by the awe-inspiring display before them. Only Tyler remained unfazed before the firestorm, knowing full well that his Quilava's Blaze ability had just kicked in when they needed it most.
"And as you can see, that fire now burns hotter than the fires of hell itself. Now let's show these two our true power Magnus, use Flare Blitz!" Not even Pulse could react fast enough before the Quilava exploded out of his stance leaving a massive trail of red-orange fire in his wake. In an instant the massive fireball and Magnus collided with the Lucario's body and sent him flying across the arena landing on his back with a sickening thud, rolling over twice before he came to a stop. Magnus let out another powerful cry as the flames burned along his back taking some recoil from the impact, but he shook it off in an instant.
"Pulse, are you okay?" Wendy asked hoping her Pokémon could get up. Her Lucario struggled to get up, grimacing from pain and placing a paw on his knee.
"Don't let up for a second Magnus. Give him a Flamethrower!" Fire surrounded his mane as Magnus spat out a vicious column of crimson fire at the still downed Lucario.
"Get out of there!" Wendy cried panicking at her opponent's new found strength. Pulse responded by rolling away along the ground into a running stance and leapt back and forth in an effort to dodge the attack. But Magnus was able to keep up with him this time and the flames lapped at Lucario's heels whenever he landed, just narrowly missing a direct hit each time.
"Launch an Aura Sphere from above!" Pulse leapt up higher into the air than before with his arms cocked behind his torso like they had been earlier today. A bluish sphere formed between them, rapidly intensifying in its own display of power. Another Flamethrower from Magnus shot upwards aiming at Lucario as he charged his attack. With a cry, Pulse threw the blue sphere towards the oncoming fiery assault. The attacks collided in the center of the arena, fighting against each other for a moment before canceling out in an explosion. The dust settled quickly and both Pokémon could be seen trying to catch their breath. The crowd had gotten back into their fight as they roared their approval, having apparently forgotten Tyler's little meltdown just a moment earlier.
"That's it Magnus, keep it up! I know you can do it!" Tyler said declaring his victory. Magnus agreed, continuing his fiery display of power.
"Stop him with Bone Rush!" The green hued staff returned for the third time this fight as Pulse twirled it ready for a fight.
"Just try and stop us! Use Flame Wheel!" Quilava jumped into the air rapidly rotating his body into the namesake attack, racing towards his opponent and setting the ground ablaze behind him. Lucario used the club to help brace the impact as Magnus continued to spin. The fire radiating from Magnus soon engulfed both Pokémon as they fought each other to a standstill with their attacks. Through gritted teeth, Pulse slid his body to the side, allowing Magnus' attack to roll through him, pushing him to the other side of the arena.
"Now's your chance Pulse!" Wendy cried out as Pulse charged towards his opponent, energy club in hand, smashing it into Magnus' side twice. The first hit stopped the Quilava's charge again while the second broke the wheel shaped attack completely. Pulse twirled the staff around again aiming to finish the fight here with these next few hits. The third attack came in from below as Magnus was picking himself up from the first two… only it didn't. The Lucario bent down to a knee using the staff as a crutch to brace his stance unable to finish his attack.
"What's wrong?" Wendy asked in shock as Tyler looked equally surprised while both of them stared at the aura Pokémon. That's when Tyler saw it, a black scorch mark across one of the Lucario's knees. It was the same knee that he'd covered up in the exchange with Magnus' Flare Blitz earlier. He must have gotten a burn across his knee back then that prevented him from continuing his attack past the second blow. Tyler knew that this was probably the last chance he was going to get to win this battle and had to capitalize now.
"Let's win this Magnus! Flamethrower, and give it everything you've got!" His back arched as the Blaze ability erupted once again. Magnus' entire body became surrounded in fire as he shot out his most ferocious looking Flamethrower yet towards his injured opponent.
"Block it with Aura Sphere!" Wendy said with a pleading look in her eyes. Another intense ball of aura began developing in his palms as Lucario poured as much of his aura into the attack as he could manage. The now supersized sphere was then placed in between Pulse and the oncoming Flamethrower, which impacted against it sending flames off in whip like wisps in every direction. Both Magnus and Pulse knew this was the last attack and neither one of them was willing to give an inch as Pulse gritted his teeth and Magnus dug into the arena with his claws.
The intensity reached its climax in a moment as Pulse's burn acted up again sending him to a knee once more. The pain from the burn conflicted with his ability to maintain the supersized sphere, causing his attack to destabilize before fading completely. Tyler cheered as the Lucario was incinerated in the fierce attack letting out a painful cry as fire swallowed him whole. When Magnus finally ceased his attack, Pulse lay on his stomach, sprawled out with his eyes shut. He'd received an emphatic KO. Silence surrounded the combatants for a moment before the crowd of onlookers happily cheered over the exciting finish.
"You did it Magnus! That was incredible!" Tyler ran out onto the field, scooping up his Pokémon in his arms and twirling him around in a victory celebration. "I knew you could do it buddy!" The childish grin and expressions that usually accompanied Tyler's battles had returned to both him and his Pokémon. Nothing cheered them up faster than emerging victorious from a hard fought battle like the one they'd just had. Wendy jogged out towards her defeated Pokémon, who was already trying to pick himself up, shaking soot off his body but grimacing in pain as he did.
"Hey, take it easy Pulse. You did great today." She said kneeling down next to her Lucario. His signature purplish glaze returned to his eyes before they both looked at Tyler, who was now including Eevee in his celebration. "Do you think he's okay now?" The aura Pokémon slowly extended a paw outward towards the victorious Tyler as the Pokémon's whole body became shrouded in the soft purple glow.
"You will be pleased to hear Sir Tyler's aura is much easier to read this time. I cannot sense the anger that was inside him before our battle. Instead it has been replaced with happiness, joy and love for his Pokémon…" After a moment he added, "I believe he is ready to talk with us about what happened earlier."
"That's great news, thank you Pulse." Wendy said with a smile as she briefly hugged her Pokémon before helping him to his feet. Together the two of them walked over to the victorious Tyler who was still celebrating with his Quilava in his arms. When he saw the two of them, he froze up, recomposed himself and calmly walked out to the center of the arena where they stood. "That was quite a finish there Ty. You weren't kidding when you said you weren't a virgin battler when we first met."
"Already with the jokes again, I like that about you." Tyler admitted with a chuckle as he set Magnus back down on the ground. For the first time, Tyler had gotten Wendy to blush, but he didn't see it. "Yeah, that was one hell of a battle. You're pretty good yourself. By the way, is your Lucario alright? Those last few attacks he took even scared me a bit. I can only imagine how badly he's beat up."
"Oh don't worry about Pulse. He's a real tough guy and I've got enough medicine to get him back on his feet in no time." Wendy stated watching her Lucario stretch his burnt knee as she spoke. "Well, like I promised earlier. I'll come over later tonight, let's say midnight, and tell you everything you want to know about what happened today." Wendy said with a smile.
"Hey, speaking about that um…. Remember when you said that if you won you were going to take something of mine?" Wendy nodded but raised an eyebrow from confusion; she didn't remember going that far with her taunting. "You – you didn't mean you would take my Eevee if you won did you?" Wendy's eyes went wide with surprise for a moment before an understanding expression slid over her face.
"So that's why he freaked out in our fight."Wendy thought looking first at Eevee and then at her Lucario. "Did you know that Pulse?" She asked him through their mental link.
"I figured it out during the battle. The primary reason he was angry this whole time was out of fear that you might forcibly take his Pokémon and then have sex with them.
"Oh my God, no wonder he freaked out like that." Wendy shifted her look from Pulse to Tyler and placed a hand on his shoulder before she spoke to him.
"Of course not Tyler, I would never dream of doing anything that would make a cutie like your Eevee sad. And especially not take her away from you." Eevee happily mewed at Wendy and wagged her tail, knowing she was being talked about. Wendy knelt down to her level and extended a hand towards her.
"Hi Eevee, my name is Wendy. I'm very sorry I hurt your trainer earlier. Can you please forgive me?" Eevee looked at Wendy a moment, then at her hand. A smile came to the puffball's face as she called her name and placed one of her paws in Wendy's hand, getting her to shiver excitedly.
"Look at that, she likes you." Tyler said kneeling down to her level as well and scratching her chin. "You know, Eevee doesn't normally show affection towards people, especially those she just met. Heck she's even kind of prissy with me most of the time." Right on cue, Eevee looked up at Tyler and she began nibbling his finger again. "Ow! See what I mean?"
"She's so cute…" Wendy happily sighed before Pulse put a paw on her shoulder and broke her from her state of whimsy. "Uh, right, back on topic… Tyler, if I had won our fight, all that I would have done was invite myself over to talk about what had happened today anyway. Pulse and I could see how much anger you'd built up over what you saw, and we wanted to get as much of it out of you as possible before we talked about it. That's also kind of why I was being a jerk in our fight. We were trying to get you to burn a lot of that anger off, and you and your Quilava quite literally did just that." Both Tyler and Wendy got a brief laugh at the simple joke as Magnus smiled up at the trainers happily calling his name.
"So I just want to say it again. Tyler, Pulse and I are sorry for what happened today. We didn't mean for any of this to happen to the level that it did and certainly didn't want to come across as threatening to you and your Pokémon. I'm also very sorry for the way I acted the way I in our battle. That's not me at all. And even though I intended it as a way to help you, I think it may have done more harm than good. I get the feeling you aren't willing to forgive us just yet, but we honestly do feel horrible about everything that happened today. I just hope that one day you might be able to forgive us." She turned to leave but this time Tyler placed his hand on her shoulder stopping her.
"And just where do you think you're going? We're not done here."
"What do you mean?"
"I accept your apology. And it's my turn to apologize to you." Tyler admitted to Wendy's and Pulse's surprised expressions. "I did some thinking before we had our battle and, well to put it bluntly, I overreacted."
"I'll say. You kicked in my door."
"Well that was because I thought that… You know what, that part isn't important."
"I think it is, considering that you literally breaking into my room started all this in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you've accepted our apology, but none of this would have happened without you kicking in my door."
"You don't need to say it three times, I heard you the first time… Do you promise not to laugh?"
"If you put it like that then I probably will…" Wendy thought internally while nodding her head. Tyler looked down at his feet while he spoke out of embarrassment over what he was about to say.
"Well, when Eevee and I got to your room we heard these weird noises coming from behind the door. Which we now know in hindsight were you… well… you know…" Wendy blushed rather embarrassedly before Tyler continued. "And when I heard those noises, I just jumped to a conclusion that you were held hostage and being robbed or kidnapped or something. So I got Eevee to stand guard while I broke in the door to… to try and rescue you." When Tyler finally looked up at Wendy he could see her trying desperately to stifle laughter behind a hand raised to her lips. "You said you weren't going to laugh."
"No I didn't." Wendy was chuckling through her speech. "I didn't say anything, right Pulse?" The Lucario looked at Wendy and shook his head. "See."
"Whatever. Just get it out of your system; I need to finish my apology." Tyler sighed.
"I actually think it's kind of cute." Tyler erupted in blush at the surprise response. "You thought I was in trouble and tried to save me, like my own personal knight in shining armor. Then again, knights usually have enough courtesy to knock first before they break down someone's door."
"Like I was saying earlier…" Tyler growled these first words in response to Wendy's dig before continuing. "I'm sorry that I overreacted to everything today, and jumped to such a stupid conclusion. As a result, I acted irresponsibly and let my anger get a hold of me when I shouldn't have. My dad taught me never to judge someone until I've heard both sides of the story, and I didn't even give you a chance to properly explain what happened before I lashed out at you. That and I can't really say I blame you for 'experimenting' because even I've thought about… I uh… well…" Tyler was going to continue but he stopped himself as he felt himself getting even redder in the face if that was even possible.
"You thought about what Tyler?" Wendy's playfully inquisitive stare crept closer to Tyler's face.
"That's not important now." Tyler said nervously turning from her gaze getting a giggle from Wendy as he recomposed himself yet again. "Look this isn't the place to talk about stuff like this, especially not in front of all these people. So before you go let me just say again, I'm sorry for blowing everything today completely out of control and letting all this happen in the first place. You're absolutely right, if I'd actually used the brain in my head, none of this would…" Wendy put a finger to Tyler's mouth getting a response from the on looking crowd as she did.
"I thought I was the one doing all the blowing, remember?" Wendy whispered into his ear. "And if I recall, you said I was doing a pretty controlled job of it." She couldn't help but laugh at her throwing Tyler's words from earlier back in his face, and in the heat of the moment he found it equally hilarious. "I'll see you later tonight Ty." Wendy said before turning back and leaving with an arm around Pulse helping him walk while Tyler stood there with an amused smile on his face.
With the adrenaline completely spent from his body Tyler sat down where he stood and stared up at the clouds with his Pokémon lying beside him. A lot of the watching trainers quickly surrounded him in a flurry of words wanting to know what happened during his meltdown or asking to challenge him to a battle. He tried to ignore them as best he could but their persistence ate away at him and he decided to head back to his room. He returned Eevee and Magnus to their balls and stood up rather sluggishly making his way to the elevators in the back while still declining challenges or offers to talk. Eventually he made his way inside his cabin and with the last ounces of energy he had left threw himself onto the bed and passed out.
A/N: There we go, seven chapters in the books. I think that's pretty awesome don't you Tyler?
Tyler: Zzz
DrPhill26: Right, you're sleeping... well this is awkward.
Wendy: Um, hello.
DrPhill26: Oh hey Wendy! How nice of you to finally join us post chapter.
Wendy: Yeah thanks, so how's Tyler doing?
Tyler: Zzz
DrPhill26: That's how he's doing.
Wendy: I see... Is this how it always is?
DrPhill26: Well normally Tyler and I kind of joke around at the end of the chapter but as you can see Tyler's sleeping.
Tyler: *loud snore* Zzz
Wendy: Well this isn't exactly fun... You want to go get a drink instead?
DrPhill26: Strawberry Sunrise right? Come on, I'll buy.
Wendy: Yes please.
DrPhill26: This is DrPhill26 signing out and I hope to see you next time.