Hello again!
So...White is still oblivious to the events of last chapter...
She still isn't sure N is in Kanto...
Moving on! I present you with...chapter! Here!
I stared outside the window to Layla's room. Fall was approaching, and even in the city, the surroundings looked beautiful. Lampposts at the end of every street stood proudly by the trees growing on their support. Leaves cluttered the patches of grass, in reds, oranges, and yellows.
"White?" I didn't turn from where I was sitting, but I motioned to Layla with my hands that I was listening. "White, what are you doing?"
"What do you mean?" I turned this time. Layla looked concerned.
"Well, you've been sitting here for some time. A couple hours, in fact. And you've been doing this for quite a few days now. Is something on your mind?"
"Not really," I lied. Sure, I could honestly told Layla about how I missed N, or how Rosa never told me about starring in a movie, but either one would probably lead Layla to be upset about her own sister.
"Well, do you want to come down? My mom made soup and Sabrina is supposed to come home in an hour or so."
"Really?" I stood up. "Well, I am hungry. Let's go."
Layla's mom, as I had learned over the days I had spent here, was one of the best cooks I'd ever met. Second only to my mother, I'd wager. Even if I was full, I'm sure I would have room if Layla's mother asked anyone to try out her newest creation. The soup she made was no exception. The warm soup was ideal in terms of the cold autumn outside.
After helping Layla with the dishes, I heard the doorbell ring. Repeatedly. Layla grinned.
"No one but Sabrina would frantically jam the doorbell," she said, running for the door.
I watched from the kitchen as Layla turned the doorknob, and greeted the woman who walked in.
So this was Sabrina. Well, she definitely was Layla's sister. She looked like the older form of Layla, only without the curls. She smiled when greeted by Layla's hugs, but her smile didn't seem half as joyful as the personality of Layla.
"So," Sabrina said, walking over to me, "You're White? And you've been giving Layla advice and support throughout her journey?" She smiled. "Thanks."
"No problem," I replied, shaking the hand thrust towards me. "And you've been acting in a movie with my sister?"
Sabrina blinked. "Rosa's your sister? Well, you two look a little familiar, I guess. I liked Rosa. She was a cute, happy kid. A lot like Layla."
"I noticed that as well."
"Well, White, I hear you're looking for a gym battle. And from the looks of it, for a while. I'm sorry I inconvenienced you. But I'm ready now!...That is, after I give Layla her battle. She's seems very ambitious to get it started."
I laughed. "I've been with her this whole time. I think I've got an idea of her excitement."
"Are you two talking about me?" Layla bounced over. "Sabrina, don't bore her. I want that badge, and I want it now!"
Sabrina led us to the gym, which she unlocked and entered. There was no battle field, just a glowing yellow circle on the floor. I was confused. How could we have a battle here?
Layla ran over, and hopped onto the circle. To my horror, she disappeared right before us.
"Layla!" I cried in surprise. Sabrina laughed loudly.
"She's fine. She's been teleported to the battlefield. Now it's your turn." Before I could protest, Sabrina pushed me into the circle. The light flashed brightly around me. When the lights disappeared, my surroundings changed. I was no longer in that small entrance room; now I was in a much larger one with a battlefield.
"Cool," I breathed. Layla ran over to the challenger side of the field, and Sabrina, who teleported right after me, took her place on the challenged side. As for me, I walked over to the bleachers.
"And now, the battle you've all been waiting for! The battle of the sisters!" a voice called. Out of nowhere people rushed to fill the seats and cheered the to-be battle on. Before I knew it, I was crowded.
"Blastoise! I choose you!" Layla cried, sending her partner pokemon out into battle. Blastoise burst from his pokéball and, as if to excite the crowd, sent blasts of water flying in the air through the cannon's on it's back.
"Kadabra! Let's end this before it can even start!"
Kadabra. I had been so close to catching one before. It was a very powerful pokemon, as was it's evolution, Alakazam.
"Surf!" Layla cried. Blastoise hurled a massive wave of water. It would be impossible for Kadabra to avoid that attack, comparing the range Surf had.
"Teleport!"
Sabrina was pretty smart. Kadabra disappeared and reappeared once the Surf subsided.
Layla didn't bat an eye. I'm sure she expected this, Sabrina was her sister after all.
"Psychic!" Kadabra levitated in place, and with extreme focus released a ray of psychic power towards Blastoise. Blastoise seemed to be worried, but Layla was confident.
"Reflect!" Layla cried. The psychic attack rebounded towards Kadabra. I realized what Layla was aiming for. Kadabra had used all it's power into the attack, and couldn't issue another action until the Psychic had hit a target. So it couldn't teleport or defend itself. Helplessly, the Kadabra turned to it's trainer, who was just as lost. Within seconds, the attack hit the pokemon, who fell down to the ground grasping it's head.
"Surf again!" Blastoise was ready this time. Releasing the attack, Blastoise's mouth seemed to widen. Was it…smiling?
"Kadabra is unable to battle!" the announcer cried.
Gritting her teeth, Sabrina called back her pokemon. Pulling out another pokéball, she lost the angry face and smiled.
"Nice try, Layla. But my next pokemon is prepared for anything you can use against it. Mr. Mime! Let's go!"
Layla smiled. "Blastoise, we can do this, can't we?" Blastoise looked back at Layla, and bobbed it's head up and down as though nodding.
"Alright! Surf!"
"Protect!" Mr. Mime created a barrier around it, and the attack bounced back.
"Surf!" I was taken aback. Why use the move twice? It didn't work the first time!
"Protect!" Sabrina cried again. Mr. Mime prepared to reinforce the barrier. The battlefield was now flooded.
Now I was understanding Laylas plan. Sabrina couldn't attack while protecting. And flooding the field gave Blastoise homefield advantage.
"Confusion!" Sabrina ordered. Mr. Mime did so, losing it's barrier. Immediately it began to flail about in the water. As a result, the attack misfired.
"Blastoise, swim through the water and torpedo into !"
Blastoise did just that. Poor Mr. Mime was helpless. The attack sent the psychic-type shooting for the wall. Mr. Mime fell to the ground, clearly in pain.
"Mr. Mime is unable to battle!"
Sabrina's eyes widened. She was being destroyed by her little sister just like that!
"Alakazam, I believe in you. Layla, I'm not giving up just yet!" Sabrina yelled.
"Good! Otherwise this would be a boring battle!" Layla cried back.
Wow. She was pumped. Layla must have been preparing for this one battle for ages.
Alakazam took the field, which by now was drained. Sabrina smiled.
"You'll meddle no longer, Layla. I'll take out your precious Blastoise by saying a few magic words. And those words would be….THUNDERBOLT!"
Alakazam put it's hands together, pulling enough energy to fire a bolt of electricity at Blastoise. Layla's mouth formed an "o" shape. She clearly had not expected this.
Blastoise was out the moment the attack fired. Layla looked crestfallen as she pulled out the pokéball that belonged to her friend. I felt sorry for her. This was the first time I could remember that her Blastoise had lost.
"Haunter, we've been waiting for this! Avenge Blastoise! I believe in you!" Layla shouted as she pulled out the other pokéball. Everyone in the crowd craned in to see this battle up close. I joined them. This was truly a hot battle.
Sabrina laughed. "I see you decided to use type-advantage. But you'll learn quickly that types don't determine the battle when up against Alakazam. Psychic!"
Haunter took damage, but not enough to take him out. Layla focused. "Shadow Ball!" Haunter fired the attack towards Alakazam.
"Block it," Sabrina ordered.
"You can block one attack, but can you block more? Haunter, another Shadow ball!"
Alakazam seemed furious. It was almost juggling the two attacks.
"Reflect them."
"Shadow ball."
I was impressed with the two shadow balls, but the third one took the cake. With the three attacks aiming for each other, I would have been impressed if either pokemon survived. The combined attack fired out towards the entire field, and both pokemon fell down.
"Both Haunter and Alakazam are unable to battle. But since Sabrina has no more pokemon, the win goes to Layla!"
The crowd erupted in cheers, myself included. Layla jumped in the air. Sabrina looked upset for a moment, but when seeing her sister's thrill, couldn't help but laugh.
…
"Alakazam is unable to battle. The winner is White!"
My battle hadn't been half so exciting as Layla's, but it was something. I smiled proudly as Sabrina handed me the Marsh badge.
"Two losses in one day. I've never done so bad. Maybe, thought, it just means my opponents are getting harder. My team would never slack off." Sabrina said. I ran over to Layla, who cheered loudly.
"White! We did it! We beat Sabrina!" Layla cried. I smiled.
"I know! You did great!"
"So did you!"
"Well," I paused. "What now? Cinnabar is no more, so how're we going to battle the next gym leader?"
"Um," Layla pondered the thought. "we could always visit the island. I think by now the workers will have left at we should be free to access it."
With no better plan, we flew off once our pokemon had been healed.
Okay, for the sake of the future, I want to clarify something. In this chapter I mentioned that Fall was approaching, and in a couple chapters, I'll say that winter isn't for months. It didn't seem right to me, so let's just say it's August or something during this story...yeah...
Thanks for reading!