Firebending Training

Shelly stood a few yards away from Quinci. Bell and Ravisu were at her left, eating popcorn and sour patches on a picnic blanket, under Bell's umbrella.

Shelly, she knew, that her abilities would be weak against Quinci's. She would have to act defense, and be smart with her strategy. However, while her powers were weak toward Quinci's, her skill was greater. She understood more of her element, and the way to wield it.

"And..." Bell waited for the tension to set in, "GO!" Quinci immediately lit her hands and threw fire at Shelly. It wasn't very much, so Shelly easily dodged it. Quinci once again threw fire, and Shelly dodged it. Quinci grumbled in annoyance, and Shelly realized something. Quinci was getting annoyed. Very annoyed. Suddenly, she realized the way to beat her.

Shelly continued to dodge the attacks. Quinci grinded her teeth. What was this shell doing? Her annoyance grew and she sent another fireball, but this time, much larger. Shell grinned. Finally. Just as the fire reached her, she slid downward onto the grass, the fire not touching her at all. However, as she gasped, and pushed herself up slowly and painfully, it appeared that the fire had burned her.

Quinci smiled. Yes! She had hit her! Ha! Silly shell! Quinci created more fire, and ran towards Shell. Shelly, seeing this, widened her eyes, at this event. Quinci was closing in; and if she got near enough Shelly would have to fight. Up until now, she hadn't even used her abilities yet, knowing that she would be at a disadvantage.

Quinci drew closer... she was a few feet away... now only three... two feet... When she was only one foot away, Shelly jumped to the right, and before Quinci could react, she froze the water in the grass beneath Quinci's feet. Now, with the grass frozen, Shelly raised her arms, and the razor sharp grass sliced up.

Quinci let loose a ring of fire, which destroyed most of the grass before fading. However, a few blades dodged the ring, and sliced at her face, leaving paper cuts.

"Go Shell!" Ravisu cheered.

"Go Quinci!" Bell shouted.

The grass was still in the air, and at this point, Shelly knew that if this was in a death battle, she could scratch Quinci's eyes, rendering her blind for a few seconds. In those seconds she, possibly, could've killed her. But, of course, they were still friends, and so she didn't.

Quinci, on the other hand, was getting more annoyed, spurred on by the stinging on her cheeks. She raised her hands and the grass at her feet began to smolder. They caught fire, ignited from Quinci's anger. And those few blades spread the fire. The flames grew, like a crazed monster. Soon, Quinci had (accidentally), lit most of the field on fire. Flames danced in a fiesta, and ashes fell like confetti. Bell and Ravisu, who had been reasonably far away, had ran toward the lake with all the birds.

However, Shelly, who had not been far away, was in the flames. But she had simply cupped her hands around her mouth, and let loose a breath of cold air. The ground at her feet had frosted, the temperature around her dropped. Then, Shelly simply sat down on the ground, and looked at Quinci expectantly. When Quinci stared back at her, still shocked, Shell sighed.

"Well," she said. "Here's a good exercise. Get rid of this wacko fire you made."

"WHAT?" Quinci yelled, and the flames grew higher. She, unlike her friends, was immune to burns (only literal ones, not like the "Ohhhh! You just got BURNED!" kinds). Shelly sighed, and released another cold breath to protect herself.

"Come on! This is perfect! Just get rid of the fire!" Shelly urged. "Though, you did really harm the ecosystem. Maybe next time we should practice somewhere else..."

"How?" Quinci asked, and Shelly rolled her eyes. "Duh! Just calm down!"

Quinci looked at Shelly, thinking she was crazy. Crazy shell, crazy battle, crazy fire! But, one thing remained fixed: she had to get rid of this fire.

Quinci exhaled, imagining her anger disappearing with her breath. The heat around her died. Quinci opened her eyes, scared, but calmed herself down. You have to stay calm, she told herself.

Bell and Ravisu walked back to the heirs, their feet leaving trails in the ash. The ash sifted across the ground like ghosts were drifting over them. The sky was blank overhead. Quinci gripped her jacket. What had she done? Shell, noticing her expression, said, "It's okay, Quinci. I knew this would happen."

"Jeez," Quinci muttered, "Thanks." Shelly rolled her eyes, and took out a packet, and ripped the top off. She pulled out a handful of seeds, and threw the seeds across the field. Nothing happened. Obviously.

"Great," Ravisu rolled her eyes, "Now we just have to cross our fingers, and hope no one notices that this field is a field of ASH instead of GRASS for a month or something." Bell said nothing to this, and, putting the empty packet back in her pocket, she pulled out a blue pouch, with a silver drawstring.

"Wazzat?" Quinci asked.

"THE BELL AUTHOR HAS OFFERED TO FIX THIS."

I fixed the grass - Bell

"Seriously, Quinci," Ravisu shook her head. "You HAVE to learn to control your powers! You, like totally destroyed an ecosystem!"

"I know," Quinci replied, apologetically, "It's just harder since Moltres isn't here to help me."

"Yeah," Shelly agreed wistfully. "I wish Articuno was here..."

"The point is," Ravisu interrupted. "You need to go to another teacher. Like seriously."

"Who?" Quinci asked.

"Maybe your mom," Bell suggested.


Quinci walked back from the park to her house. Her mom was there, waiting for her.

"So," she asked. "How'd it go?"

"Terrible. Dreadful. Downright awful," Quinci replied. "I just can't get the hang of it."

"Hm," Candela wondered out loud. "You should go to Cor about this kinda stuff. He knows more about this."

"Who's Cor?..."

"He's the team leader of Protego."

"WAIT WHAT? YOU MEAN THERE'S A FOURTH TEAM?!"

"Yes, duh. Pichu's the heir to be leader."

"YOU MEAN RAICHU'S SISTER?"

"How else would she have been able to summon Lugia back at the war?"

"SHE DID THAT?"

So, Candela explained everything to Quinci; how Protego only emerged when there was conflict between the teams, about Pichu being Cor's successor, about their leader's abilities (they had the ability to summon Lugia, but did not share Lugia's pokemon powers), and then finishing off by explaining Cor.

"...a little more Valor, but very balanced. Wow, you have no idea how many fights he settled between me and Blanche back in elementary. Whew, it must've at least been at least a thousand."

Quinci was speechless.

"Anyways," Candela held up her head with a fist. "What was it? Oh yeah. You should go visit Cor and ask him about all this stuff. He knows a LOT about how to fix crazy situations. Like a war, and who gets the last piece of candy, and who's tallest, and also other fights and stuff."

"Um," Quinci said, still shocked at the news of a fourth team, "Okay then..."

"Hmmm," Candela said, taking out her phone, "I'll ask Blanche to drop you guys off at the Protego base tomorrow..."