Chapter 13: The Power of Fire
"Wow, it's so big!" Shelly stared at Castelia City with wide eyes as she and the others walked across a long bridge to reach it.
"Castelia City is the hub of business and economic activity in Unova," Gary commented as he walked behind with Gogoat.
"You're so smart, Gary!"
He rubbed his neck and gave her a slight smile. "I just read the guidebook."
"I was reading it too," Dani said. She had her left arm around her egg while she tried to read a small book in her right hand. "This place is famous for their ice cream called Casteliacones! We should get some!"
"Yes, ice cream!" Gabri said with a grin.
"Later," Shelly said. "I have to register for the contest and then train. It's only two days away!"
Gabri frowned. "Aww..."
"The contest hall should be right around the corner," Gary said.
Sure enough, a big, beautiful building soon came into sight. Shelly grinned as she raced towards it. The others were slow to follow. As the pink-haired girl reached for the doo, it suddenly opened and hit her in the face. Gary, Dani, and Gabri let out gasps of shock.
Drew stood there on the other side of the door. He stared at Shelly and blinked. "Oh, sorry."
Shelly rubbed her face to ease the pain, and then she gave Drew a sheepish smile. "I guess I got a little excited."
Drew smirked. "I hope that excitement doesn't turn into overconfidence. You'll have to beat me if you want another ribbon."
"Oh. How many ribbons do you have, Drew?"
He folded his arms. "That's none of your business."
"That's not very nice," Gary said as he and the other girls finally reached the door.
"Well, then I won't tell you how many I have," Shelly huffed.
"Probably none," Drew said, flipping his hair before walking off.
"I have a ribbon!" she shouted after him.
"Just ignore him," Dani said with a roll of the eyes. "He's looking for that reaction."
"And this is why you are getting him and May together."
Dani blinked. "Right." She was still not sure how she was going to do that, but she had promised her sister. The only thing she could think to do now was to become his friend, which was easier said than done.
After Shelly signed up for the contest, she and her friends had a quick lunch and then reserved a room at the Pokémon Center. Shelly ran off to practice for the contest, Gary and Gabri left to shop for supplies and buy ice cream, and Dani decided to stay behind and see if she could find Drew.
The eldest girl did not have to look far, for the green0haired boy was behind the Pokémon Center practicing combinations with his Masquerain. Dani smiled as she jogged over to him. "Hi, Drew!"
The boy paused to glance at her. "Oh, hi, Dani."
"How are you doing?"
"Fine. Just getting ready for the contest."
"Do you want to take a break and go get some Casteliacones?"
"That would be a waste of my time."
She frowned. "Oh, then do you want to talk?"
"Still not interested."
She was starting to get frustrated, so she went with her last idea: "Well, then how about I help you practice with a Pokémon battle? I need to practice for my gym battle against the Castelia City gym leader."
"The Castelia gym leader specializes in bug types. Your fire Pokémon should do well against him."
"Yes, but gym leaders always have tricks up their sleeves. Come on, it'll be fun."
Drew shrugged. "Fine. Masquerain return." He put the Pokeball away and took out a different one. "Absol, you're up!"
Dani admired the dark Pokémon with fluffy white fur. Now it was her turn. "Ok, come on out, Luke!" She threw a Pokeball in the air, and her Charmeleon appeared before her. "You can have the first move."
"Fine by me. Absol, use Water Pulse!"
"Dodge that and use Fire Fang!"
"Iron Tail!"
Absol shot out a ball of water from his mouth. Luke dodged the water by running forward diagonally. He then changed directions to come at the dark type with a glowing fang. Absol leapt into the air and came crashing town on the Charmeleon with his now-silver tail.
Dani knew this was no time to worry. "Ok, use Dragon Rage."
"Razor Wind!"
While Luke gathered up his dragon power, Absol whipped sharp wind at him. He cringed in pain, but he held his ground and continued his attack. A blast of dark dragon power was thrust forward by his claws and hit his opponent, knocking him to the ground.
"Good job," Dani said. "Now Smokescreen!"
"Use Flash," said Drew.
Luke opened his mouth and released a thick, black smoke that covered the field. Absol was not dismayed. A bright light shone out of his forehead, and he used this light to locate the Charmeleon.
Drew smirked. "Water Pulse."
"Get out of the way!"
As soon as the light shone on him, Luke darted to the left, narrowly avoiding the Water Pulse attack. Both Pokémon were now hidden once again.
"Ok, now use Flame Burst!" said Dani.
"Listen for it and then use Water Pulse."
Luke gathered a large fireball from his mouth and then spat it in the direction of the Absol. The dark type heard the attack coming and countered it with his Water Pulse. The two attacks hit, resulting in an explosion of steam, which helped to dissipate the smoke in the air.
Dani could see that this battle was going to be tough. The two Pokemon seemed evenly match, and she needed to come up with a good strategy in order to win. "Alright, use Fire Fang!"
"Water Pulse, once more!"
The Charmeleon raced towards the dark type. At the last second, he leapt in the air to come crashing down on him with his glowing fang. At the same time, Absol sent a ball of water straight at him. Both attacks hit their mark, causing the Pokemon to fall to the ground. Luke appeared to be struggling to get up while Absol stood easily.
Drew smirked. "It's time to finish this. One last Water Pulse, Absol!"
"Luke, get up!" Dani cried in a panic. If that water hit...
Just as Absol readied his attack, Luke started to glow. Dani and Drew stared with wide eyes as he suddenly grew big, and wings sprouted out of his body. Then a mighty Charizard stood where the Charmeleon had once been. He let out a might roar before jumping into the air to avoid the Water Pulse.
A wide grin spread across Dani's face. "Awesome! Luke evolved! Let's see if he knows any new moves..." She pulled out her Pokedex and searched through it. "Ok... Luke, use Wing Attack!"
"Razor Wind, Absol!" Drew cried.
Luke swooped down near Absol. He glided out of the way of the Razor Wind before knocking his opponent off his feet with his right wing. He then turned and landed in front of his trainer.
Drew clenched his teeth in frustration. "Water Pulse!"
"Dodge and use Flame Burst," said Dani.
Absol shot out a ball of water from his mouth, but Luke flew up to dodge this. The Charizard then spat out flames, which hit Absol and caused him to slump to the ground, no longer moving.
"Luke, you did it!" Dani exclaimed as she raced forward and flung her arms around the Charizard's stomach. "You were amazing."
"Quil!" Mo said from his spot on the ground next to the Eevee egg.
Luke roared in approval.
"Good job, Absol," Drew said as he returned him to his Pokeball. Then he gazed at Dani with a small smile. "Not bad. Your Charmeleon evolved just in time."
"Yeah. We've been training hard for him to evolve, so thanks for the help."
He nodded. "It was great training for me as well." He paused. "What are you going to do now?"
Dani flashed him a grin. "I'm going to ride him!"
Drew blinked in surprise. "Ride him?"
"Of course. Watch my egg for me, will you? Come on, Mo." The Cyndaquil ran over to her and climbed up her leg to reach her shoulder. She took a deep breath before climbing onto Luke's back. Truthfully, she was nervous about flying, but she was not going to let Drew see that. "Ok, let's go."
Luke suddenly jumped off the ground and started flying straight up. Dani had to hold his neck tightly to keep from falling off. The feeling was frightening yet exhilarating. When they were high above the trees, he started flying level to the ground. The girl opened her eyes and dared to look down. "Hey, this is actually kind of cool."
Luke grunted in agreement.
Her fear slowly evaporated, and she began to enjoy herself. After awhile, though, she knew she best get back to Drew. "Alright, it's time to go back." Luke seemed to be disappointed, but he obediently started his descent.
Soon, they were back on the ground, facing Drew, who looked worried and fascinated at the same time. "How was it?" he asked, trying to sound casual.
"It was great!" Dani said as she slid off the Charizard's back. "Come fly with me!"
His eyes widened. "What?"
Dani picked up Mo from her shoulder and placed him on the ground near her egg. Then she grabbed Drew's wrist and pulled him over to Luke. "Come on; it'll be fun. You're not scared, are you?"
"O-of course not!" He reluctantly followed Dani onto the Charizard's back. He wrapped his arms around her securely. "Ok. I'm ready."
"Luke, let's go," Dani said. Once again, the Charizard took off in the air. Drew let out a small gasp and held onto Dani tighter. "Are you alright?"
"I - I'm fine." Just like Dani, it took Drew few minutes before he was able to relax and look down. "This isn't so bad."
"It's kind of freeing, isn't it? Like all of your worries are being washed away."
A smile lay on Drew's lips as he gazed down at the city below. "Yeah. It's amazing."
On the way back to the Pokemon center after shopping in the city, Gabri and Gary came across Shelly practicing in a park. Gabri decided to help her train while Gary carried their supplies to their room. Before the sisters could start practicing, a shadow came over them that caused them to look up.
"Hey, it's a Charizard!" Gabri exclaimed.
Shelly squinted her eyes to examine the Pokemon better. "Isn't that Dani and Drew?"
The younger girl squinted her eyes as well. "I think it is. Luke must have evolved!"
A small frown crossed Shelly's face as she glanced at her sister. "Why is she with Drew? She's supposed to be getting him together with May, not flirting with him herself."
"I don't think she's trying to flirt with him, just like she's trying not to flirt with Gary or Paul. She just likes being friends with guys."
"Maybe you're right. The problem with that is that she may start to actually like one of them without even realizing it. I think Paul is the best one for her at the moment, so why not push her in that direction if she'll end up falling for one of them eventually?"
Gabri seemed to consider this for a moment. "Well, maybe you have a point... Fine, I'll try to bring up Paul in that light. I still won't be a matchmaker, though." She was no good at that stuff.
Shelly smiled at her. "Thanks. Now, have a practice battle with me?" She took out a Pokeball.
"Of course!" She could use the practice as well.
After returning to the ground, Drew agreed to go into town and have a Casteliacone with Dani. The two of them were now licking their cones as they walked around the city. Dani had an egg in one arm and her cone in the other while Mo sat on her shoulder. "There sure is a lot going on in this city," she commented. She didn't know what to think about it just yet.
"I think it's overrated," Drew commented.
"Where is your hometown?" Dani asked curiously. She knew he was form Hoenn, but she was not sure about the specific city.
"I'm from LaRousse City," Drew replied. "It's a big city like this, but technology has been incorporated into everything." He shrugged. "It's ok, I guess."
"When is the last time you've been back there?"
"Since I left to start my journey."
Dani's eyes widened in surprise. "What? Don't you have family you want to visit?"
"Not in particular. My parents could care less if I visit." His eyes shone with indifference.
She frowned. "Do you have any siblings?"
He looked away. "No."
Dani thought she could detect a hint of sadness in his voice, but she could have just been imagining it. "Oh. I love traveling, but I miss my family. That's why I'm glad I can travel with both of my sisters now."
"Siblings are great," Drew murmured. "They're friends who will never leave you." He paused. "Or so I've heard."
She smiled. "Yeah. Have you made many friends on your journey?"
Drew seemed to lighten slightly at this question. "I've met many people, but only a handful I would call close friends. I don't waste my time talking to people who have nothing to offer me. I only choose to be friends with those who have something special about them."
A smile twitched on Dani's face. "Does that mean you think there's something special about me?" He was taking the time to talk to her, after all. That had to mean he thought it was worth being her friend.
Drew smiled while staring straight ahead. "You could look at it that way. You're not a waste of my time."
Dani smirked. "Thanks." She had licked all of the ice cream at the top of the cone, so she bit into the cone. "These are pretty good."
"Yes, they are quite enjoyable." He bit into his as well. "Do you want to head back to the Pokemon Center? I do not like to be in the center of a city for long."
"Sure."
Dani and Drew returned to the Pokemon Center in time to see Shelly and Gabri approaching from the opposite direction. Remembering her news, the oldest girl ran up to her sisters. "Guess what?" she said excitedly. "Luke evolved!"
"We know!" Gabri said with a grin. "We saw you flying with Drew!"
Shelly smiled slightly. "Yeah. Weren't you scared?"
"I wasn't scared," Drew said haughtily as he approached the girls.
Dani smirked. "Sure you weren't." She turned back to her sisters. "Do you guys want to try?" She pulled out a Pokeball.
Shelly and Gabri exchanged looks. "We can try," said the youngest.
"Ok, come on out, Luke!" She pressed the button on the ball and released the Charizard. The other girls looked at him in awe.
"Hey, is that a Charizard?"
Dani turned to see Gary exiting the Pokemon Center. "Yeah, Luke evolved!" she said.
"Dani is going to give us rides," Gabri said.
"Do you want a ride?" Shelly asked.
Gary smiled. "Sounds like fun."
Luke spat out fire towards the sky to show his agreement.
