Finally! I'm finally able to upload and continue! Sorry about the wait, folks. First I had some writer's block, then the site wouldn't let me upload it once I was ready. I'll try to update sooner next time.
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"Insight, start with Double Team!"
The Eevee leapt forward and seemed to be cloned.
"Clefable, use Metronome."
Clefable began to dance around, waving its fingers in the air. Chira frowned as she felt its affect on her.
"Metronome, that's tricky. And it's Confusion, too. Insight, keep focused!" She fell back to muttering. "Why is it so strong? That pokemon isn't strong enough for me to feel the affects so much. It's like I'm getting the attack head on…"
"Keep it up, Clefable! Once that Eevee's confused, let it have it!" The girl seemed to delight in the fact that Insight kept running into things, though she was fighting the attack. "Haha! I told you your pokemon were weaklings. Haha!"
"Chira, there's more than one Clefable!" Insight cried just before tripping over her paws.
Something snapped in Chira. Her opponent wasn't even taking the opening she had to end the battle. She was having fun watching Insight hurt herself.
The edges of Chira's vision started to turn white, but she didn't notice. "Insight, use Bite!"
The Eevee's head snapped around, and she lunged perfectly for the Clefable, her teeth glowing a brilliant white. The Clefable didn't stand a chance. It hit the ground hard.
Both Chira and Insight were panting hard. Chira's vision returned to normal, and the last effects of the Confusion Metronome wore off from Insight. Neither were sure what had just happened. Insight had been on the ground seeing multiples of her foe, then she could clearly see and was attacking.
Chira shook it off as her opponent called Ivysaur to the field.
"Ivysaur is my strongest pokemon, there's no way you'll win against it."
"Your strongest, huh? Well, then that warrants my strongest pokemon as well. Come back, Insight. And go, Cami!"
The fire horse appeared and the crowd drew in many collective gasps and murmurs. Cami nickered.
"You're going to make this interesting, are you? Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf!"
A blast of razor sharp leaves flew at Cami.
"Cami, use Fire Spin!" Flames surrounded the horse, and Chira had a sense of Déjà vu when she remembered her battle with Trey. Cami burst out of her surrounding protection, wisps of fire clinging onto her as she Tackled Ivysaur, damaging it more than a regular tackle would. Chira smiled. "And that is a Fire Tackle," she said softly.
"Ivysaur's not done yet," the girl smiled. "Use Leech Seed!"
The bud on Ivysaur's back glowed for a moment before shooting out a seed. The seed hit Cami, trapping her in the vines that grew from it. Chira bit her lip as her friend struggled to get out of her prison.
"C'mon, Cami, Fire Spin again!"
The fire pokemon's eyes glowed red for a moment before she was once again surrounded in a tornado of fire. The imprisoning vines dissipated in the flames, freeing her. With a snort, she rushed out of the flames, performing Fire Tackle at the same time she finished with Fire Blast. Ivysaur hit the ground with a thud.
Chira clutched her head, dizzy. "Well, Cami, we won. Come on back." A red light shot out of the pokeball, calling the fire horse back in.
She approached her opponent. "Good fight," she said, extending her hand.
"Whatever," the girl said, turning away.
Chira stood there for a moment, too stunned to react. Once she recovered, she simply shrugged and turned to leave.
"Boss, we've found one," a young man in the back of the crowd said into the cellphone in his hand. "And she has no idea."
"Good," came the answer. "Don't try anything, though. Let's just keep an eye on her."
"Roger. Will do."
Cami snorted when Chira let her out just outside of town. "That Ivysaur was pathetic."
"Yeah, it was, but…" Chira leaned against a tree, still holding her head. "Do you mind if we take it slow on the way to Cerulean? My head is really bothering me."
"Of course not. I understand perfectly."
"Oh, good."
They had to camp out that night, making it into Cerulean about noon the next day. Chira's head was still bothering her, but not as much as before. It was down to a dull throb.
"Well, this is it. The Cerulean Gym, home to the Cerulean sisters. I wonder which one we're going to end up fighting." Chira absently stroked Insight's ears, running her fingers through the soft fur.
"Who are you going to use?" Insight asked between appreciative murmurs.
"Probably Morrie. I haven't used him yet, and from what I've heard the arena is a water arena. I wouldn't dare use Cami, and you don't know how to swim yet, so…"
"Yet?" the eevee questioned apprehensively.
Chira smiled. "Yes, yet. I want to teach you how to swim so you can fight in these types of arenas."
"Hey! Chira!" She turned to spot Trey running up behind her. "Are you getting ready for a Gym battle?" he asked. "May I watch?"
"Sure, why not?" They entered, Chira somewhat surprised at the layout. "I forgot, Cerulean Gym has a lot of water shows as well as Gym Battles."
"Yeah, the Cerulean sister's are famous around the world." They passed a glass window looking out into a vast 'fish' tank. A wide selection of water pokemon were swimming around. Chira caught a glimpse of a Gyarados, a Dewgong, a Seaking, and more. "So what pokemon are you going to use?" Trey broke into her thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, right, which pokemon. Morrie." Then at the blank look, "Gyarados."
"You have a Gyarados?" he asked, brows raised. "Impressive."
"Well, you know," Chira shrugged, blushing.
The sound of a crowd reached their ears, and they followed it, coming out at the top of some bleacher's overlooking a gigantic swimming pool. Three women and three pokemon, Dewgong, Lapras, and Goldeen, were doing a water dance. Chira couldn't help it. She had to smother the laugh that bubbled up inside her. Insight was experiencing the same turmoil. Trey watched the two, a puzzled expression fleeting across his face.
"I'm sorry," Chira managed, before turning and running down the hall. Once at a safe distance, she burst out laughing.
Trey found her sometime later browsing through the Cerulean Gym gift shop. He leaned against a display of water pokemon books. "Care to explain that little performance earlier?" he asked.
Chira shook her head. "An inside joke," she said.
"With who? Your eevee?"
"No, not quite…" Her thoughts drifted to the past.
She was lying at the top of a hill with Cami, simply watching the clouds drift by.
"What do you suppose our trainer's journey will be like?" she asked the horse.
"I don't know. What do you think our opponents will be like?" the fire pokemon responded, turning the question back to her friend.
"I don't know. I hope we don't have to fight any sissies, though. That would be too weird."
Cami snorted. "Maybe they'll even be dancing during the battle."
The two laughed.
"Chira? The performance is done now; do you want to battle now or wait?"
Chira's eyes lit with the flame of battle. "Now, most definitely."
Ten minutes later she stood on a floating platform in a different pool facing the oldest Cerulean Sister, Daisy. Her hand tightened its grip on Morrie's pokeball. She was more than ready.
She barely heard what Lily was saying for the requirements. She knew that however many pokemon the Gym Leader was going to use, Morrie would be her only choice.
The droning seemed to go on forever, but she was too excited to listen. Finally, it seemed to be done. Her opponent released a Seaking.
"Go, Morrie!" she cried, throwing the pokeball deep into the clear water. The form of the water-snake appeared for a moment glowing red, then faded into his real colors: blue, tan, and white. Her opponent stared.
"I thought you wanted to fight at the Cascade level!" she said. "But if you have a Gyarados, then there's no way you're only there."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I only caught Morrie here recently. I am at the Cascade level. Now let's go!"
"Okay, if that's the way you want it. Seaking, use Horn Attack!" Daisy called.
"Oh, yeah?" she challenged. "Morrie, counter with…" Her mind blanked. She didn't know what attacks Morrie knew. "Oh, no," she moaned softly.
The Seaking flew out of the water, its fins flapping uselessly. It landed back in the pool with a splash. Chira blinked. Morrie had just done something, but she had completely missed what it was. She fished in her pocket for her pokedex. She quickly scrolled through until she pulled up a picture of a Gyarados.
"Okay, so he probably knows Tackle, what about Water Gun?"
"Chira!" Trey called from the stands. "Concentrate!"
She looked up just in time to see Morrie taking a beating. "No!" she cried.
"Seaking, finish it with Surf!" her opponent cried.
A massive wave swiftly formed and, gathering strength rapidly, traveled down the length of the pool and hit Chira full force. She was shoved off the platform, Insight with her. Dimly, as she sunk, she was aware of the spectators' reaction. One of the sisters was frantically asking Trey if she could swim. He didn't have a clue, though. They could only watch and wait for her to surface.
But she didn't. She couldn't seem to move. She was vaguely aware of her pokedex slipping out of her grasp and sinking to the bottom of the pool. She knew she would need to surface soon, but for the present she was content in this world of silence and freedom. A fleeting thought caused her to look around for Insight, and, upon finding her, swim over to her. She gripped her canine friend in a hug, air bubbles escaping from both of them. She gazed up at the surface, which was rapidly growing farther away. Her breath was almost gone.
A movement below her drew her attention, and she found Morrie rising up beneath her. Her hair floated in front of her face, quickly taking a gravitational pull when he began pushing her to the surface.
When they surfaced, she was kneeling on his massive head. Quickly she caught her breath. She felt like her battle spirit was renewed. "Morrie," she said softly. "Drop us off on a platform and finish it with Bite."