Epilogue, Part 5: Ice and Fire

I raised an eyebrow, "Come again? I mean, I get that dat's a low thing ta do, but ya wanna pick a fight wit' 'im just cuz o' dat?"

Cathy glared at me, "Don't you 'just because of that' me!" I took a step back in surprise at how angry she was. She went on, "I want to defeat him myself! This is a personal matter."

I was about to say that she shouldn't let her emotions mess up her judgment, but Rose tapped me on the shoulder and shook her head. I sighed, "Alright Cathy, if ya really wanna fight dis one, 's your call."

Cathy nodded and then stepped forward with her Icy Collar. With it, sometimes, attacking enemies are frozen.

From where I was sitting, I whispered to Rose, "Soooo, is there somethin' I'm missin' here…?"

She leaned down and whispered back, "A few months ago, she told me the real reason she pushed for me to tell Hogan my feelings, regardless of whether or not he accepted them. Back when she was in Mystifying Forest, she was friends with another Eevee; close friends. She wanted to be ma- er, ahem, more than friends. One day, she confessed her feelings to him. She never got an answer, and she never saw him again."

I winced, "Ouch. Okay, now I get why she was so set on this." I mean, I was flat out rejected by mine, but at least she didn't leave me hangin'. An' dis was how long ago…?

As the two stared each other down, the Umbreon started getting nervous and looked away. Looks like he recognizes Cathy too.

"Cathy vs. Wilfred. Begin."

Wilfred cleared his throat, "Uh, listen, about-"

"Shut up!" Cathy glowed blue and clouds started forming above the battlefield. Fog started coming in as snow and hail started coming down. Still glaring, Cathy disappeared in the snow storm. (AN: Snow Cloak: raises evasiveness in hail weather.)

I nodded. Clever. Wilfred can't get very much moonlight if there're clouds in da sky an' it gives her an edge.

Cathy had explained it to the rest of us once. She can disappear or make mirages in a snow or hail storm by bending and refracting the light with the ice in her fur and the ice crystals in the air.

Wilfred called out, "Listen! I didn't ask to be recruited! They made me!"

"Untrue!" Levi called out, "He's trying to trick you, Cathy. I was there when he asked us. He's trying to use your emotions against you!"

The Umbreon glared at Levi. I shook my head. 'Kay, now I'm all for Cathy beatin' dis guy up. He's worse dan those guys on da soap operas.

"I wasn't going to listen anyway," Cathy said, her voice getting louder with each sentence that followed. "That's a pathetic excuse of a reason! Did he come to visit? No! Did he send a damn note? No!"

Wilfred looked around, seeming a bit panicked, "But I do love you!"

"Even if you meant that, you're two years too late!" An Ice Beam shot out of nowhere in the snowstorm, and hit Wilfred full force. Frost started spreading on his side, but he shook it off and looked around, trying to track down Cathy.

Looks like he's outta luck. 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned', after all. Wonder if dis'll make Rio tink harder 'bout what he gives as his answer ta Medicham… If she fought him as hard as she did cuz she liked him, imagine what she'd do if she were mad.

While Wilfred continued to look around frantically for Cathy, a shadow appeared behind him. He turned and used Bite on it, but it disappeared. It was only a mirage.

The snowstorm seemed to get thicker and blew at Umbreon, becoming a Blizzard. When I looked at the other side of the field, I saw that it was coming from Cathy's mouth.

After the Blizzard thinned back into a regular snowstorm again, Wilfred was completely frozen in a block of ice.

Cathy turned to Fenrir, "Is he out, or do I have to keep slapping him around?"

Fenrir growled and said, "Wilfred is unable to battle. Cathy is the winner."

There was almost no time between the announcement and Pyro stepping forward. He had a bag wrapped around his neck, and his tail twirled and hardened before he used Iron Tail to break the ice block. After Wilfred fell out, Pyro hefted him by the scruff of his neck, and then tossed him out of the arena. Nobody on the other side bothered to catch him, and he fell to the ground, still unconscious.

Cathy was still semi-transparent from the snowstorm, but she was tensed up and ready to move.

"Cathy vs. Pyro. Begin."

Cathy opened her mouth and started charging a Water Pulse, but Houndoom howled at the sky, and his horns glowed. The clouds broke apart, and the sunlight started shining brighter. Cathy fired the Water Pulse, but it started steaming along the way, and was much smaller before it hit. And worse, Cathy was completely out in the open.

Pyro took a deep breath and shot a Flamethrower, sweeping across the entire area that Cathy was in.

When the fires started dying down, we saw that Cathy had a Barrier around her. It didn't do much good, but she got away with only a few burns. (AN: Anime difference: Barrier can dampen almost all types of attacks, but only as long as it's up.)

After her Barrier disappeared, Pyro moved closer, "Miss, it would be better for you if you just surrender. You're not going to win here, and I'd prefer to avoid harming a lady."

Cathy didn't say anything and just threw sand in his face with Sand Attack.

Spitting the sand out and glaring with a half-open eye, Pyro said, "Very well…" He dashed forward, and Cathy used Quick Attack to hit him first, and then dodged a Fire Fang. She got caught by Pyro's Crunch, but bit him back with Ice Fang. After the two of them broke apart, Pyro was breathing a little hard, but Cathy was in way worse shape.

Pyro chuckled, "You're through. You've reached your limit. You can't-"

Cathy dashed forward, using Last Resort, covered in stars. She hit Pyro head on, saying, "You talk too much."

He was sent skidding back several feet, but he was still standing, "You- You…!" He shot a Flamethrower and Cathy was too tired to dodge or put up a Barrier. She was knocked out and had several burns all over her.

"Cathy is unable to battle. Pyro is the winner."

Pyro was muttering curses, and took out a Sitrus Berry. He ate it and restored his energy. Rose teleported Cathy back to our side and got to work on using a Wish to heal her burns. Siltram volunteered to go next.

He turned to me, "Since Penny's out, I'm the only one besides you, Boss, that has a good move against that Houndoom. And it's too soon to use Hogan or Savage."

I nodded, "Alright, good luck out there, Siltram." Siltram nodded back and hung the bag containing his Sitrus Berry over his shoulder before growing to full size (He had still been in his chatting size.), getting ready for battle.

After Siltram slithered into the arena, Fenrir called out, "Siltram vs. Pyro. Begin."

Pyro shot a Flamethrower, but Siltram turned into a puddle, dodging it, and then spread out, becoming three puddles, one each going left and right, and the middle one going straight.

Pyro kept his eyes on the middle one heading straight for him, but the one on the left rose up and became Siltram again, but a bit smaller, and he shot Poison Gas at Pyro. The Houndoom was left coughing from the gas, and Siltram took the chance to stretch his arms and pull back his slime from the other two puddles, growing back to full size.

The gas went away after a while, but Pyro was poisoned. Growling, he jumped at Siltram with Fire Fang, but Siltram stretched outward and opened a hole in his gut. Pyro went straight through and then Siltram's face disappeared and reappeared on his back, his arms twisting to face forward behind him as the hole closed up. He shot a Mud Bomb while Pyro was still unaware. Pyro was knocked to the ground, but got up again, even though he still looked worse for wear from the poison.

The fight lasted for a few more seconds before Siltram knocked Pyro out with a Pound attack with almost no damage from the fight.

"Pyro is unable to battle. Siltram is the winner."

After a few seconds, Pyro shakily got up and started walking off. Siltram reached after him, "Wait, you need a Pecha Berry!"

Pyro shook his head, not looking back, "Much obliged, but I cannot accept. Good luck from here on out; I was the last combatant that had any illusion of mercy."

After he left, the Weavile ran forward into the arena immediately. She had a red spell tag with blue writing on her chest. (AN: Vile Tag, raises attack and special attack.) On the side, I noticed that the sunlight had also stopped being so bright.

"Siltram vs. Icicle. Begin."

Icicle sped forward in a blur and used Night Slash on Siltram before he could even do anything. His arm was cut off, but he managed to get the sludge back and make a new one. He held out his hand and shot pieces of himself around the arena, becoming smaller, but the puddles started moving around and trying to box Icicle in.

It didn't work. When one of them got close, it reached out with slime tentacles, but Icicle shot a Blizzard from her hands and then broke the frozen sludge with a swipe of her claws. Siltram cried out, and then had all of the puddles come back to him, but he was still a little smaller than full size without the other part.

He shrank down, becoming denser with Minimize and started shooting Sludge Bombs. But Icicle dodged around them and forced Siltram into trying to keep her away with Pound. He was starting to get tired, and she slapped him with Assurance, and then jumped away.

Siltram only had time to look surprised as Icicle shot him with another Blizzard, freezing his body to the spot. She smugly walked over and made an X slash in the ice, like it was some kind of calling card.

She turned around to Fenrir, "What are you waiting for? This battle is over."

There was a loud cracking sound as Fenrir pointedly glared at Icicle. He said, "Fool. I determine when the fight is over.

Siltram's sludge shot out of the X that Icicle made like a fountain, and hit her, making her teeter as it piled up on her. She was still standing, but Siltram's face appeared on the sludge that was wrapped around her, and his arms tightened around her in a bind. He was big again, but even smaller than before he had used Minimize. He must've separated from some of his sludge in that ice to break free.

He glared down at Icicle as he clung to her upper body, "That Blizzard was weak. You only froze an inch deep. Thanks for making a hole for me, though."

Growling, Icicle said, "No matter, at such a close range, I'll freeze you solid this time, and then shatter you."

"Ha, you're not getting a second chance. I'm getting tired, and there's only one way I'll win this. I learned it on the sly, and for in case something like this happened. Try this on for size, frosty."

I didn't like the final tone that Siltram was using. I called out, "Siltram… What're ya talkin' about?"

He smiled, "Don't worry, Boss. It'll be fine; I'm gonna have a blast!"

As frost spread across his body, a small blob of sludge shot out of his head and away from him and Icicle, and his eyes went blank as his body flared white, rays of energy shooting out.

No, nonononono! He can't have learned…!

The light became blinding for a moment before a huge explosion covered the entire arena.

Everyone in the team was totally quiet. He couldn't have…? He can't have… He was our very first recruit, he can't be…

Before the smoke even cleared, Fenrir called out, "Icicle is unable to battle. Siltram is the winner."

We heard a tiny grunting noise and, when the smoke cleared, we saw a tiny Siltram trying to pull his item bag off of his old frozen shell, which had half-crumbled from the blast. Icicle was unconscious and covered in dirt and burns about ten yards away.

I gaped, "Wh-what…?" How'd he… Wait, dat blob that shot off! Siltram must've abandoned ship 'fore using Explosion! But… if he had a safe way ta use it, why didn't he tell us he learned it?

Next to me, Rio started stomping forward, looking very, very pissed off. Oh… yeah, dat's why…

"SIIIIIIIILTRAAAAAAM!" Rio stomped up to Siltram and pulled him off of the frozen shell, item bag included.

As Rio shouted at Siltram about being irresponsible and worrying the entire team (especially him), and only getting angrier when Siltram said that he had tested it before, Dash let out a whistle, "He wasn't even this angry when I ran off at Sky Peak…"

I whispered back, "Deep down, he knew ya'd be fine. He just wanted to make sure ya didn't do somethin' like dat again."

After Rio was done yelling at Siltram, he put him down and walked back to the rest of the team. Everybody made sure to give him a little space. Nobody thought he was wrong to shout at Siltram. Nearly gave us a heart attack.

Siltram shook the bag open and ate a Sitrus Berry. After that, he started taking frozen pieces of his sludge from the old shell and absorbing them to try and get bigger. The result wasn't much. He was barely bigger than your average Grimer, and he had frozen pieces jutting out of his body. The sun was slowly helping to thaw them out, but he didn't look all that ready to fight.

I called out and asked if he wanted to pull out. He shook his head, "I've gotta try, bosses. I might be able to soften them up for the next fighter."

Rio just crossed his arms, still mad at Siltram for the stunt he pulled, and I nodded. When we looked to the other side, Icicle was gone, and the Shiftry, Zane, was already standing there with his arms crossed, glaring at us. He had a white and green belt tied around his waist.

"Are you quite finished with your over-emotional interactions?" He dropped into a ready stance, and Siltram got ready too, even though he had to pick up a bit of frosted sludge that fell off.

Fenrir called out through grit teeth, "Siltram vs. Zane. Begin." He must be ticked off cuz we're ahead now.

Zane dashed forward, and Siltram spat out a cloud of Poison Gas, but it was blown away with a Whirlwind from one swipe of Zane's leaf-hand.

Zane's eyes glowed gold, and a gold beam of energy shot from his mouth. (AN: Extrasensory) Siltram tried to dodge it, but it hit his arm and blew up in a bright burst. After it cleared, Siltram had a huge chunk blown out of his side, and had to use sludge from the rest of his body to fix it, becoming smaller because of it.

Zane pretty much towered over Siltram now, and Siltram shook, "I… I surrender. I'm sorry bosses. I don't have enough left in me…"

"Siltram has surrendered. Zane is the winner."

He moved away from the arena and back to our group. I said, "S'okay Siltram. Ya took down two of 'em. An' even wit' your energy back, you're used ta havin' more sludge ta work wit'. Ya tried your best an' dat's all that matters. Will you be alright?"

He nodded, "I'll be fine. I can always find some mud later to absorb."

Vlad stepped up, "Now, who's going next?"

"I say it's my turn," Savage said. "I'm f***ing sick of sitting on my ass. I need action!"

Cathy turned to him, "Just because the fire one's gone doesn't mean you can charge in with your fists swinging."

"Besides," Levi said, looking over at Zane, "He's wearing a Shiftry Belt. No Bug-type attacks will be getting through with him wearing that. And even if he wasn't wearing it, all the same, we need to keep our best combatants for later in the fight."

Savage growled, but sat back down.

Hogan crossed his arms, "Our best bets seem to be Damus, Levi or Rose."

Levi raised his wing, "I'll do it. I can take him now, and I always hated how he'd lord his evolved form over me."

Rose nodded and said, "Be careful, he might have something to use against you."

"I don't plan on losing here, so I'm planning for the next round." He reached into the Treasure Bag and pulled out his Honch-Cape, a maroon cape with black trim that had straps for his wings to go through so it wouldn't fall off while he was flying. It soaks up electricity like a lightning rod, and changes it to energy for Levi.

After he put on the cape, he flew off to the arena and landed on the opposite side of Zane.