A young man walked into the clearing, freezing when he saw her. Neither side moved until a growlithe followed him through the bushes. Chira blinked, forcing a smile.
"Hi," she said, her voice cracking almost imperceptibly. Cami's ears pricked forward.
"Hi," the boy replied, eyeing her. "Sorry if I scared you. I was just passing through. Would you happen to know how to get to the nearest town?"
"Sure. Go due East, and you'll hit a path. Follow it, and you'll get to the town of Morningside in no time. And I wasn't scared. We just don't get too many pokemon trainers around here."
He smiled. "Then what are you?"
Chira glanced at Cami, not sure how to answer.
He actually saved her from having to answer. "How about a battle?" He pulled out a pokeball. "My bellossom against your ponyta."
Chira looked at Cami. "Why not? I'm game if you are."
Cami nickered. "Of course. You know me. I never back down from a challenge."
She smiled. "Great." She turned back to him and nodded. "Alright, you're on."
His growlithe snorted. "This will be a piece of cake."
She glared at him as Cami moved into position, and the boy released his bellossom. "I'm Chira, by the way," she said, turning back to him.
She sucked in a breath when she saw his bellossom. That sucker's level was high. Quite a bit higher than Cami's. She almost didn't catch his answer.
"Trey. Alright, Bellossom, you know the drill."
Bellossom nodded. "Right." Chira had to remind herself that all he heard was "Bel."
"Cam, be careful. We're going to have to win this by strategy. And we will win!" We don't have a choice. Chira thought. Dad will kill me if I have to take her to the pokecenter.
"Bellossom, use stun spore!" Trey immediately jumped into the fray.
"Cam, dodge it! Use Agility!" The bellossom let loose a cloud of brown-red spores that tried to envelop Cami. She darted to the side, doubled back, and used Quick Attack on the bellossom, sending it flying.
Trey laughed. "Is that the best you can do? My bellossom was barely scratched." Sure enough, it bounced back up, the light of battle in its eyes.
Chira swallowed, thinking fast. She knew Cami was thinking as well. We just need to Fire Blast her from behind.
Bellossom started to charge up a Solar Beam on Trey's order. "I have an idea," Ponyta nickered.
"Go for it," Chira nodded.
Bellossom released the Solar Beam, and Chira bit her lip, watching it get closer and closer to an unmoving Cami. At the last possible moment, she dodged and, jumping, richeted off a tree, and landed behind Bellossom, immediately releasing a Fire Blast. The bellossom was knocked back several feet, but remained conscious. She was smoking as she wobbly stood up.
It still has a lot of HP! Will this thing never quit?
"Bellossom, use Hyper Beam!" A blast of energy rammed into Cami, who barely managed to remain standing. Chira could see her gritting her teeth from where she stood.
No! We have to do something, and fast!
"Bellossom, Petal Dance!" Bellossom sent out a spinning cloud of pink flower petals.
"Cami! Counter with Fire Spin!" A circle of fire surrounded Cami, effectively halting the petals. The last petal disintegrated, and Cami immediately burst out of the flames. She ran into Bellossom, wisps of flame still hanging onto her. Bellossom was thrown back. It's now or never. "Cami," she said softly. "Finish it."
The pony pokemon opened it's mouth and let loose with another great blast of fire, knocking the bellossom out.
Both humans stared at the unconscious bellossom. Finally, Trey reluctantly returned it. Chira let out a whoop. "We did it, Cami! Our first trainer battle and we won!"
"Amazing," Trey said. "That's the fastest anyone has ever downed her with such a big level difference. And with such finesse. That was amazing how your ponyta jumped off that tree like that."
Chira had straightened defiantly. "So you only challenged me because of Cami being at such a low level? That's cheap, really cheap! Being a pokemon trainer isn't about winning every battle, it's about being the best you can be! Come on Cami, let's go home." She swung onto Cami's back as Trey protested profusely.
"That's not what I meant! Hey, come back! I meant it as a compliment!" She disappeared from view, and his shoulders slumped. "A prodigy trainer and I alienate myself," he told Growlithe. "Great."
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How is it so far? Making sense? I'm having fun writing it. Can't wait to get to some of the later parts.
Note: Due to author's imagination building on everything, fic is based at different points on anime, game, and manga.
Cheerio!