Rafe and Wes are fighting each other! But Wes, who's normally so serious, is quite thrown off by Rafe's eccentric fighting style! It's pretty difficult to be in his situation, I imagine, without knowing how to deal with someone who fights like a complete fool! But then, this is rather enjoyable in its own way, in my opinion. Time to see what he's capable of! Remember to review!

KedharS: Yes, it's good for some much-needed levity in my opinion.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1085

Wes didn't have time to get caught in Rafe's flow. He reminded himself that this was just a casual match and there wasn't any need to take it seriously, regaining focus.

"Solaris," he called to his Espeon, "use reflect!"

He'd stuck with light screen while his pokemon were fighting against the Delphox, knowing that she was a special attacker. But with the physically offensive Medicham in play as well, he would need both screens up to protect his pokemon.

"Espeon!" Solaris nodded, her ruby flashing red. She created a large barrier in front of her, protecting Wes's side of the field.

If Rafe had any concern about the fact that the barrier was put into place, he didn't show it. He didn't even look up from his magazine.

"Umbre…" Lunet rose to his feet, panting. That focus punch had taken a lot out of him, but due to his incredibly high defenses, he wasn't down yet. He focused his power and the rings on his body began to glow, restoring his health with moonlight.

"Medicham!" Charon charged at the recovering Umbreon, focusing his power into his fist. Wes could already tell what was going to happen, and was eager to prevent it.

"Solaris, use shadow ball," he ordered. Solaris turned towards Charon and fired an orb of ghostly energy at the approaching pokemon, but Charon was fast. He easily ducked under the attack, pulled back his fist, and punched with everything he had.

Charon's brick break smashed through both layers of protection Solaris put up to deal devastating damage to his opponent.

Lunet cried out in pain but he endured, thanks to the glut of health he had recovered from his moonlight. And Solaris had his back. She dashed towards Charon with her eyes glowing red, focusing her psychic powers.

A beam of psychic energy fired at the Medicham, and there was no way to avoid it. Charon winced as the attack struck, but the psybeam failed to confuse the pokemon, who turned towards his opponent just as a wave of fire burned around her.

"Delphox," Elfuria murmured, holding up her wand. Mystical flames danced around her as she directed her attacks towards the duo. But a wave of darkness smothered them.

"Umbreon!" Lunet howled. He was done with this. He'd taken a beating from these pokemon, and was using his full power with a dark pulse that hurt like hell. Elfuria cried out as the shockwave slammed into her but she kept her grip on her wand, directing more flames his way. But they had no effect against the glowing walls that Solaris conjured into being.

"Medicham!" Charon, seeing another opportunity, charged with a brick break at the ready. Wes had to applaud Rafe; for whatever else he was, his pokemon were very well-trained. They would have to be, to be a match for him without any input from their trainer.

"Lunet, use confuse ray!" Was ordered.

Lunet narrowed his eyes and the rings on his body flashed gold. An orb of glowing gold light zigzagged across the battlefield, flying erratically towards Charon. The eerie glow of the confuse ray disoriented him, and he stumbled back, unable to attack properly.

"Delphox!" Elfuria called to her partner, but her voice fell on deaf ears. Charon couldn't see anything through the blinding light.

"Charon!"

Wes snapped around to see Rafe standing nearby, magazine discarded in the grass. He had a serious expression on his face, and was posed right next to Solaris.

"Over here!" Rafe shouted, clapping his hands. "Mind reader!"

Charon snapped to attention and turned in the direction of Rafe's voice, concentrating on him. As he did, his body relaxed.

I see! Wes realized what Rafe had done. While the trainer had no ability to directly communicate with his pokemon, the Medicham was using mind reader not to tell what his opponent was planning, but his trainer!

Charon leapt forward, following orders that went unheard by Wes. They needed to be on guard. The Medicham could attack either pokemon. But if he had to guess, chances were he would direct his energies towards Lunet. The Dark type pokemon's immunity to Psychic type moves was a major disadvantage for the Psychic type trainer.

That was when Wes realized he was smiling. How odd. He seldom smiled in situations like this. But he was actually enjoying himself.

It's the first time I've fought such an enigmatic opponent. He's completely unpredictable. At times, he'll be right there beside his pokemon, fighting with everything he has. And then he'll hold back and let them fight their own battles. Or he'll even leap into the fray himself! This boy, Rafe, he's really the sort of person who goes at his own pace!

A shiver went down Wes's spine. This was supposed to be a casual match to pass the time, but he could feel his passion as a trainer burning inside of him. He wanted to win so badly he could taste it! Alright… I'll meet your challenge!

"Lunet!" Wes called. "Use foul play!"

"Umbreon!" Lunet shot forward at top speed, charging straight at the approaching Medicham. He leapt up with his hind legs reared, preparing to deliver a devastating kick to the pokemon's jaw. But he didn't have a chance, because Charon turned and ran right past him. Solaris was his target instead!

"Medicham!" Electricity surged through Charon's fist and he swung a thunder punch at Solaris… only for it to bounce right off the reflect she'd set up, startling everyone.

"…Whoops! Completely forgot about the brick break I was going to use!" Rafe laughed, rubbing his head sheepishly. "I guess that's what happens when my mind wanders."

He walked over and patted Charon on the shoulder. "It's okay bud. We'll get 'em next time."

"Medicham," Charon nodded. That was when Wes realized that his Medicham had snapped out of confusion.

"Solaris! Quickly, use your shadow ball!" Wes ordered, startling Solaris. Using shadow ball with Rafe right there?

Wes was confident, however, and Solaris trusted him implicitly. Her trainer wouldn't give an order if he didn't expect it to matter, and she gathered together her power and fired a burst of ghostly energy at the Medicham, and the human trainer right beside him.

Rafe glanced at the incoming attack. "Not good," he said, turning to his pokemon. "I hope you've got a plan here."

"Medicham," Charon shrugged.

In the seconds it took the ball to cross the distance between the two pokemon, Wes could feel his heart stop beating. But he couldn't back down. He wanted to believe that Rafe wasn't the kind of person who would throw himself into danger in order to discourage his opponents from attacking; it had happened before, but this time…

No, there was no way. Rafe was going to get out of the way. This was just a ploy.

These thoughts occurred to Wes in the fraction of a second. And low and behold, an instant before the shadow ball collided with trainer and pokemon, both effortlessly stepped out of the way.

"Great use of detect," Rafe applauded his Medicham, saying nothing of how easily he himself had evaded the attack. Before Wes could respond, Elfuria stepped in, firing a burst of flames at Lunet, which bounced off the light screen.

"…Next time, though, break through the screens. Sound good?" Rafe asked, turning and patting his pokemon on the shoulder.

"Medi," Charon nodded in agreement. Rafe turned and walked back to his section of the field, while Charon charged in.

Wes grinned. This was really going somewhere!

"Lunet! Moonlight!" He ordered, then turned to Solaris. She'd taken significantly less damage than her compatriot. "Solaris, as for you… well, you know what to do."

Solaris nodded, knowing full well what her trainer expected of her. She turned towards the approaching Medicham and narrowed her eyes. This time, Charon was aiming right for Lunet with his brick break, and that wasn't all.

"Delphox!" While Charon was drawing focus, Elfuria held back and was gathering her concentration, using calm mind to boost her stats. It was just about what Wes expected.

Charon swung his fist, shattering through the double screens. But it wasn't Charon he struck. His fist smashed into Solaris's fist, sending her flying backwards.

"Oh!" Rafe raised his eyebrow. "Ally switch. Not a bad move."

Solaris was far more fragile than Lunet, but she had a resistance to the Medicham's Fighting type brick break, and a lot more health left. Meanwhile, Lunet was recovering his health already, preparing to strike back against the two pokemon once his strength recovered.

"Umbreon!" And now was the perfect opportunity. Before using ally switch, Solaris had been running around the battlefield, looking for the perfect place for Lunet to launch his counterattack. The dark pokemon fired off a power dark pulse right at Charon, who raised his arms to protect himself from the attack.

"Espeon!" Solaris' ruby glowed red and she focused her concentration powers, directing them towards Elfuria. The pokemon had already increased her speed with flame charge, and now had boosted her special stats with calm mind.

That was something Solaris wanted to take advantage of. Using psych up, she copied her opponent's stat boosts, preparing herself for more devastating attacks down the road while Lunet kept up his own attack.

"Alright you two! Both, use helping hand!" Wes barked. Lunet and Solaris nodded at each other, dashing forward on their swift legs, running circles around Rafe's pokemon. They began to glow, increasing the strength of their partner in preparation for the counter attack.

Rafe was prepared. "Elfuria," he called. "Use your heat wave!"

"Delphox!" Elfuria raised her wand and spun it in a circle, sending a curtain of hot air radiating out from around her and Charon, hoping to hit both of the pokemon. But with Solaris's pumped stats, the heat wave had no chance of breaking through the light screen that she put up. With Solaris on one side and Lunet on the other, it was like both of Rafe's pokemon were trapped in a cage.

"My, this is tricky… tricky, tricky, tricky…" Rafe mused, tapping his chin. Then he brightened. "Oh! That's it!"

He held up his hands and made a "T" sign. "Time out!"

Wes' jaw dropped. "Time… out?" He stammered in confusion.

"Yeah, just a quick break. We need to formulate a strategy," Rafe explained, jogging over to his pokemon. He pulled them into a huddle and began whispering.

Solaris and Lunet both looked back at Wes, wondering what they should do. Their trainer just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. He just had no idea at this point.

"Okay! That's the plan!" Rafe clapped his hands. "Get to it, you two!" He turned and jogged back off the field as Elfuria and Charon turned their focus back to the pokemon battle.

"Are we done with the interruptions?" Wes asked, trying very, very hard not to lose his temper. "Great. Now, Lunet, use-"

"Delphox!" Elfuria twirled her want, bringing it down sharply. She struck the tip of her wand in the ground and a field of glowing fire spread up around her, expanding with her as the center until it covered the entire battlefield.

"This is-!" Wes gasped in realization.

"Psychic terrain," Rafe said. There was a sharpness in his voice that Wes hadn't heard before, and it put him on guard. It was like he was getting a peak at the real Rafe. But no. The real Rafe was the one he'd been fighting up until now. This was just Rafe when he decided to fight.

"With psychic terrain in place," he explained, "all Psychic type moves get a boost in power. And not only that, but no pokemon can use a priority move. What do you think? Pretty good, right?"

"I'd say it's impressive," Wes admitted. "…What are you doing?"

Rafe had set his backpack on the ground and taken out a bag of marshmallows. He was roasting them over the spectral flames of the psychic terrain.

The blonde stared at Wes like he was talking crazy talk. "…Marshmallows," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The fire from psychic terrain really gives them a pepperminty flavor, did you know?"

No. Wes did not know that.

"Want some?" He offered, to Wes' continued disbelief. Getting no response, Wes turned to Elfuria. "Elfuria? What about you? You can stick 'em right on your wand!"

The Delphox shook her head and sighed incredulously. Rafe just shrugged, unfazed. Back to the battle it was.

Wes rolled his eyes and refocused again. This kid was really breaking his rhythm. "Lunet, use dark pulse!"

"Umbreon!" Lunet opened his mouth, firing a blast of dark energy at Elfuria.

"Elfuria, use your light screen!" Rafe ordered.

Elfuria twirled her wand, creating a barrier that glowed pink and orange. The dark pulse smashed into it and scattered, leaving the two Psychic type pokemon unharmed.

"Excellently done!" Rafe complimented his Delphox. "Now, fire blast!"

"Delphox!" Elfuria flung the tip of her wand forward, and summoned a massive star of flame. The burning attack flew across the battlefield towards Lunet, smashing into Solaris' light screen, shattering it to pieces and hitting the Umbreon directly.

"Now Charon, go, use brick break to smash the reflect, next!" Rafe ordered. Charon followed on the heels of the attack with his fist raised, ready to continue his assault on the Umbreon, but Solaris dashed forward to intercept.

"Solaris, copy cat!" Wes ordered. The ruby on Solaris' forehead flashed and she opened her mouth, firing a blast of flames at Charon that burned as intensely as the one Elfuria had released. The fire blast flew across the battlefield and smashed into the barrier, shattering Elfuria's as well. Charon veered off his attack and raised his arms to shield himself as the flames engulfed him.

"Charon, watch out!" Rafe shouted.

Charon rolled out of the flames, just in time to see Solaris bearing down on him with a shadow ball, hitting the Medicham in the face.

"Delphox!" Elfuria rushed to her comrade's aid, wand glowing. She fired a shadow ball of her own at the Espeon, hitting her directly.

"Es!" Solaris shook off the shadow ball and turned her attention to Elfuria, her eyes glowing red with power. She concentrated her psychic energy and her ruby began to glow, an aura of red light appearing around Elfuria's wand as it was ripped from her hand.

"Without your wand, I doubt you can use your powers so easily," Wes said as the red aura spread further across Elfuria, engulfing her completely. The Delphox was lifted into the air by Solaris' psychic abilities.

"Delphox!" Elfuria gasped, struggling against the psychic aura. But with the boost from psychic terrain, the move was stronger than ever. She wasn't taking much damage due to her typing and buffs, but she was still restrained.

"Medicham!" Charon hopped to his feet and raised his fist, charging at Solaris. Flames began to burn through his hand.

"Umbreon!" Lunet dashed forward, the rings on his fur glowing yellow. He opened his mouth, firing a shadow ball at Charon, hitting him in the stomach and causing him to double over in pain. Then Lunet leapt into the air, pulling back his hind legs and delivered a kick to Charon's jaw, knocking him over. He stumbled back, coughing.

"Sorry Charon! Keep going!" Rafe cheered him on. The Medicham stood up, rubbing his jaw, and kicked at Lunet to drive the Umbreon back.

"Elfuria," Rafe said, turning to his immobilized Delphox. "Use your psychic power."

"Delphox!" Elfuria struggled to break free, but she couldn't. What she could do though was focus her psychic powers on her wand, pulling it back to her. That gave her enough strength to amplify her psychic powers even further, which broke her free of the aura.

"Now, use your psychic!" Rafe ordered. Elfuria concentrated her psychic powers on the startled Solaris next, lifting the Espeon into the air, and flinging her at the Umbreon. The two pokemon collided, flying backwards.

Neither was down for long, though, and both pokemon quickly hopped to their feet, snarling at the Delphox and Medicham.

Elfuria raised her wand, panting, while Charon took up another fighting stance. Wes realized he was sweating, and the faintest of smiles spread across his lips.

This really is something. It's just a match for fun, yet I feel like I'm being pressured, he thought, realizing he was actually enjoying himself.

Before he could give another order, Rafe recalled both his pokemon to their pokeballs.

"…What the hell?!" Hearing the normally-taciturn Wes make an outburst like that was unheard of, but then so was what just happened.

"I think that's enough battling for now!" Rafe chirped. "We really enjoyed ourselves, getting to work off some steam like that, but I think my pokemon deserve a nice rest, don't you?"

"But… but that's…" Wes didn't know how to explain how wrong that seemed, but it did. His pokemon were just as shocked as he was. As the adult, though, he knew better than to press the matter. And besides, he had a pretty good feeling that it wouldn't make a difference anyway. He sighed and shook his head, recalling Solaris and Lunet.

"Ah, that was quite refreshing!" Rafe said, and stretched. He walked over to the grass to go take a nap.

And so, Rafe's battle with Wes ended quite anticlimactically, but I think it made a good enough point about the way Rafe fights. And not just fights, the way he interacts with anything. He's very much the kind of person to go at his own pace. It's easy to see why Callie is often frustrated by her big brother's antics.