Chapter 29

The bright morning sun washed over Maple as she stood on the stadium field. She took her time looking around the arena. She almost couldn't believe that she was standing there, ready for her fight. And Mark was right behind her.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes," she smiled and nodded. She looked across the field at her opponent. Cleo was in the middle of the field, sneering at Maple, ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Maple waved to her.

"You finally ready to take this seriously?" Tristan's voice crackled next to Mark.

"If you didn't notice, you've lost one already," Mark pointed out.

"I don't need him," Tristan replied without sympathy, "he was weak to lose to just regular Pokémon."

Tristan didn't care one bit. His Pokémon were tools, nothing more. Mark found it baffling. Why would they want to evolve for such a person? Were they just like him? Was the power all that mattered?

Mark looked down at Maple, on the field. She was rocking back and forth on her heels and humming. He smiled, even though her back was turned. She was about to fight two very tough opponents. She would undoubtedly get hurt and even with all of the preparation, she could still lose. But she trusted him to guide her to a win.

It was that trust that gave Mark strength. He didn't use fear or intimidation to gain Maple's trust. He didn't feel like he used anything. They trusted one another for reasons that neither of them fully understood.

Did he love Maple? Probably…well, maybe. Honestly, he still didn't know for sure. But he did know that he cared about her. This fight would show him what that meant.

He felt sorry for Tristan's allies. They weren't really allies to him. Mark had witnessed him beating them into obedience. Tristan didn't treat them like humans. He didn't even treat them like animals. Apollo, Cleo and Cerberus were less than that to him.

Mark had also seen how twisted the three of them had become under Tristan's command. All of them were dangerous and violent. They were strong, but what price had they paid to achieve it? Could their lives have turned out differently if they never had to suffer under Tristan?

But those were questions that he couldn't answer. Every human Pokémon was different. He could only guess what drove them all into a life like theirs. And if there was a way to help them, Mark didn't know what it was.

"We're ready when you are," Mark said.

"Good," Tristan called back, "Aerial Ace."

Mark's eyes widened at the unexpected choice.

Cleo dashed forward and bounded into the air. Screeching a battle cry, she put her claws out in front of her as if to pounce directly on top of Maple.

Maple blinked once and the Red State was hers to command.

But it wasn't enough. The fast and carefully aimed Aerial Ace was an ability usually reserved for flying Pokémon. Slashing downward and then upward, Maple was knocked back as Cleo's claws dug into her. But without the traits of a flying Pokémon to aid her, Cleo would always be incapable of fully mastering the attack. Despite the pain that ached in Maple's body, no wound appeared on her.

"Maple, Swords Dance," Mark said. Surprised as he was by Cleo's ability, there was no time to rethink his strategy. Maple would be okay. She was tougher than that, after all.

Bounding backwards to put some extra distance between herself and Cleo, Maple concentrated for the Swords Dance. She closed her eyes and a ring of ten phantom swords appeared in a circle around her. After a moment, they began to rotate rapidly around her. Maple opened her eyes and grabbed two of the swords. She struck them together over her head and again close to the ground, sparks flew off as she did so. Then, she released her grip and the swords all vanished simultaneously.

More of a ritual than an attack, Swords Dance was an ability used to heighten the offensive capabilities of the Pokémon using it. It sharpened the senses, honed abilities and mentally focused the user. With it added to the Red state, Maple would easily be able to defeat Cleo in a single attack.

Ultimately, it wasn't Cleo that Mark was worried about. Cerberus, the human Houndoom, still posed the greatest threat. With his fire-type nature, he possessed a natural advantage over Maple. That meant that Mark and Maple needed to use any advantages of their own in order to win. The best way to proceed was to use the time they had carefully.

"Close in and Slash!" Tristan showed no mercy and Cleo darted forward. The Swords Dance had barely ended when the human Persian was already on top of Maple. Unable to dodge in time, Maple held up her arm to ward away the attack.

Cleo's claws ripped into Maple. Blood squirted out and Maple shrieked as four slash marks appeared on her arm.

"Die, you bitch!" Cleo hissed, grinning that she had finally gotten the girl to spill blood. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Maple withdrew her arm and jumped over Cleo's head to dodge the next Slash.

"After her! Aerial Ace!" Tristan's voice pulsed with excitement. Victory was close enough to taste. This was supposed to be this boy's strongest and she hadn't even attacked yet! He wasn't even going to give her the opportunity.

"Maple, Synthesis!" Mark called. This was bad. Maple needed to put some distance between herself and Cleo, otherwise she could just press the attack and wait for Maple to just run out of energy.

Closing her eyes and folding her hands together, Maple concentrated. Her body began to glow with a pale green light. The sun beamed down on her and filled her with its warmth. It spread through her body, easing her pain. The wounds on her arm closed up as the grass-based healing technique repaired the damage done.

But Cleo's claws raked into her again. Knocking her to the ground, Cleo stood over the girl, grinning. A new set of bloody claw marks had appeared on Maple's right shoulder.

"Dammit…" Mark cursed. Synthesis had been a waste of time. Maple couldn't dodge and heal at the same time, it would be asking too much. As powerful as the Red state was, it couldn't help in situations like that. Then there was no other choice. They would have to go on. Maple would have to fight through the pain.

"We don't have any other choice, Leaf Blade!" Mark called out.

Cleo never even saw Maple move.

The last she remembered, the girl was still on the ground, vaguely clutching at her wounded shoulder. Then pain exploded in Cleo's chest and a deep slash mark ran from her left shoulder down to her right hip. Blood sprayed out and she crumpled to the ground. She looked up to see the Leafeon-girl standing over her, the sun shining behind her. She flicked her tail to get the blood off of it.

"Sorry," Maple apologized.

"Bitch," Cleo cursed and then passed out.

The crowd gasped in awe of Maple's power. Never before had a human Pokemon displayed such power without the guidance of one of the Four. The Leafeon-girl and her trainer were really something special.

A few cheers sounded throughout the stadium. A trainer with a single human Pokémon was taking on the entire tournament and was winning. The skill of the trainer combined with the strength of his Pokémon. That was what a Pokémon battle was all about. And they were watching one of the strongest pairs in existence.

"Cerberus!" the intimidating presence of the human Houndoom filled the stadium. He flashed his sharp, canine grin, more than happy that it was his task to finish Maple. Looking her up and down; he eyed her as if she were a rare piece of steak.

"Awesome," he chuckled, "miss me?"

Maple's big, brown eyes widened and she took a few involuntary steps back. Could she really beat him? Was she ready for this?

"Maple," Mark's calm voice steadied her immediately, "I'm here. We can do this. Just stay focused and it'll be over soon." Maple smiled and nodded, before turning back to face her opponent.

"When you're ready, Tristan," Mark said, lowering his head to the speaker. There was no more room for worry. Everything they needed was in place. Either it would work and they would win, or it wouldn't and they would fail. It would all come down to this moment.

Just please let it work, Mark thought.

"Flamethrower," Tristan commanded. Cerberus opened his mouth and spat a stream of red and orange flames directly at Maple. She rolled out of the way as it shot past her and dissipated. There was just enough time to look up and see Cerberus's canine-grin before he shot another stream of fire and Maple rolled back again.

"I love that spunk of yours," Cerberus chuckled at Maple and he began to stride forward, "I bet you're a screamer, aren't you?"

Dammit, Mark cursed in his head, he's not in her range yet! Come on, you pompous bastard! Come here!

"Why follow that little bitch around?" Cerberus jerked his head at Mark, "he's nothing special. Come on, I'll treat you nice." Another Flamethrower shot from his mouth.

Dodging was quickly becoming more difficult as the distance between Maple and Cerberus lessened. The Red state made it all possible. Without the power boost it gave her she would've been scorched by the flames long ago. Also, Cerberus needed hardly any recharge time. He could fire Flamethrowers within just a few seconds of each other. He was strong and he was fast. Maple was having trouble keeping ahead of him.

But Mark had explained the plan very carefully. They had to wait until the perfect moment. If they didn't use surprise then they might not get a second chance. Cerberus and Tristan were not going to forgive any mistakes that they made. No matter what, Maple had to wait until Cerberus was within her range. She couldn't run or even back up very much. Just a few more yards…

"See, I thought you'd put up more of a fight than this," Cerberus shook his head, but continued walking forward, "why don't you just roll over and give up? I'll be gentle, I promise. Well, sorta." He grinned again before opening his mouth for another attack.

"Maple, now!" Mark screamed, "DIG!"

"Huh?" Cerberus stopped mid-attack and realized what was coming.

Maple jumped into the air and put her hands in front of her, as if to dive into the earth. A moment later, it appeared as though she had done exactly that. A single hole in the ground marked the spot where she had been standing only moments before. But she was already moving through the ground. Moving straight towards her target.

"The hell?" Cerberus swore, anger and frustration welled up as his confidence left him, "where'd you go, you stupid little bitch?" His glowing orange-red eyes darted everywhere, looking for any sign of the girl.

Mark held his breath. Afraid to jinx their victory, he refused to congratulate himself. Everything had gone according to plan, but something could still go wrong. If Tristan or Cerberus realized what had happened and Cerberus could evade or, worse yet, use a technique as simple as Protect, the fight would turn around very quickly. If that happened, Mark didn't think they would be the victors this day.

The few seconds where Maple was underground and out of sight felt like hours, even days. His heart pounded in his chest as he waited.

"Shit," Tristan's horrified voice came across the speaker, "CERBERUS! GET-"

But it was over, Mark and Maple had won.

Maple burst from the ground, directly beneath Cerberus's feet. Double-fisted, she punched him squarely in the jaw, lifting him upward another five meters. He landed in a heap, battered and coughing up blood. Maple landed lightly by his side.

"Damn you…" Cerberus struggled to stand, but it was no use. The pain was far too intense and the world was quickly losing focus.

Maple panted as he looked down at him. Even battered and hurt on the ground, he still scared her. It had been a good hit. The sensation running through her as she did it confirmed that. Still, this had been the most dangerous opponent she had ever faced. Even in his defeat he scared her.

Cerberus blinked a few times. He struggled to stay awake. He couldn't lose to a little girl like her. He had suffered through too much. But it wasn't enough. And he realized that he didn't care. Just before the world went dark, he grinned and snorted laughter, "I think I like you more, now."

He passed out and the battle was over.

"An unbelievable upset!" the announcer's voice echoed throughout the stadium, "Mark Diamond, the only trainer to enter with a single human Pokémon has just claimed his first victory!"

Cerberus faded from the field, leaving Maple alone. Although she was out of breath and her shoulder still ached and bled, she stared at the spot where Cerberus had fallen. A smile spread across her face. It was over, they had won.

She folded her hands again, and let Synthesis ease her pain. The wound on her shoulder closed up, leaving only red streaks behind. When she finished, she looked back and saw Mark racing towards her.

The two held each other in the center of the stadium and the world melted away until they were the only two left. They had won. Through everything that they had fought and endured, they had won.

Mark pulled back so he could see Maple's face. Tears of joy were welling up in her big, gentle, brown eyes. Mark ran his hand through her hair, temporarily smoothing back the tuft of green hair, but it sprang back the instant his hand was gone.

That was when he realized something strange was happening.

All around them, the stadium had erupted into cheering.

"What the…?" Mark gaped at the crowd. Were they cheering for him and Maple? How could that be true?

He noticed that Ian, Billow, Kim, Volt and Flurry were running towards them. Ian beat the others and began recounting the battle, complete with overdramatic hand-motions and sound effects. Billow was next and she did more of the same. The two small voices clashed creating a whirlwind of excited chatter that didn't make any sense.

"So, how does it feel to be a celebrity?" Kim smirked and Mark could barely hear her over the crowd and the two kids.

"A celebrity?" Mark asked.

"You never realized it?" Kim's grin widened, "think about it. Most of the people in those stands are exactly like you. Most of them have one human Pokémon, if that. You just took down three impossibly hard opponents with nothing more than five normal Pokémon and just one human Pokémon. Pretty inspiring stuff, if you ask me."

Mark looked around the stadium, again. Disbelief marked his face.

"I didn't realize that's what I was doing…" he said, "I just did it for Maple." He looked back at the girl in his arms and she beamed at him.

"Hey, cut that out," Kim teased, "you're too damned cute."

AN: another extreme happiness chapter! yay!

so, that's Maple's full move-set: Leaf Blade, Synthesis, Swords Dance and Dig. i thought about giving her Razor Leaf for a distance attack, but i definitely didn't want her to have two grass attacking moves and Dig fit the bill for a wildcard move to make the fight more interesting.

hope you've enjoyed the ride so far, and thanks for reading!