Chapter 2

Deception

The place was indeed a Pokemon fight club. Trainers brought their Pokemon here and fought for cash. There were no rules. Ella wondered if this sort of thing could be dangerous. One of the boys from her school that was standing close by confirmed it. Only a week ago, a Venamoth had been run through by a Heracross and killed instantly.

And yet something about the thought of it thrilled her. She'd never been permitted to use her powers outside of the house. Granted she did anyway, but she couldn't find anything really productive to use them on aside cheating off of tests. But here, she could finally do what she'd dreamed of doing: fighting.

Ella returned a week later. Matches were only held once a week and at varying locations. This prevented suspicion about noise and where the teens were going. This time it was in an abandoned factory.

This time, she was able to get closer and just watched the matches. One was particularly brutal. A Machamp was brawling against a Snorlax. Neither Pokemon was willing to give an inch and they both took hit after hit after hit until both were bruised and bleeding. A heavy Body Slam had even broken one of Machamp's arms and it hung at a sickening angle.

The girl somehow found herself getting caught up in the action. She couldn't help but cheer when one side landed a powerful hit. When the match was over, she cheered even louder.

On her way out the door, she spotted a table off to the side of the room. A sign hanging from the front read "Sign-Ups." Without a second thought, she forced her way through the crowd and scribbled down her name. The attendant gave her a slip of paper that told her she'd be fighting the fourth fight next Tuesday.

Ella heart jumped. Something about this seemed so wrong, but she couldn't resist the chance to finally feel the sheer thrill of battle.

Over the course of the week, she managed to slip away most of the nights and train. Her morphing ability surpassed her mother's by far, but Ella was still too young to know the more advanced moves. And unlike her mother, she couldn't micro-morph, which let the woman use attacks in human form and create crosses of Pokemon.

But when she looked at the big picture, even her basic morphing would give her a huge advantage over anyone else she could face. So she practiced every night she could getting her morphing to blend with her attacks. In her mind, she could see the challengers falling before her.

This was going to be fun.

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Sarah and Luke sat in their living room Tuesday evening. Luke was reading a book while Sarah was busy typing up a paper for her clinic's next newsletter. But she couldn't seem to keep her mind straight. Every time she got back into the groove, her attention slipped. "I'm worried about Ella," she said allowed.

"Why?" Luke asked without looking up from his book. "Her grades are up, she hasn't gotten into trouble…"

"But she's snuck out every night this past week."

He looked up. "She's upstairs sleeping right now. I went and said goodnight not fifteen minutes ago."

Sarah shook her head. "It's a Substitute. sigh Where did she even learn how to do a Substitute?"

Luke set his book down and walked over to her, sitting down on the chair's armrest. "Well, whatever she's doing, we'll just have to trust that it's nothing bad. We raised our girl better than that."

Sarah shook her head. "I hope you're right. But I've got a bad feeling."

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Even as her parents conversed, Ella watched a Pokemon fight. A Tediursa was battling a Mr. Mime. Neither of them was particularly strong, so the crowd wasn't really into it. But watching the fight still set a slight worry in Ella's spirit. She was next.

Jasmine, her closest friend from school, stood behind her. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked just over the noise.

Ella looked back at her and nodded.

The match on the raised wooden platform finished and the Pokemon were escorted away. An older boy, probably in his mid twenties, jogged up. Raising his voice so it echoed around the chamber, he called out, "Next match is sure to be a show. Two newcomers: John Parker…" He motioned to one side and a boy stepped up to the stage, bringing a cheer from the crowd.

Ella shrugged off her jacket, leaving her in her dark purple Morph Skin.

"Against Ella Adams!"

She walked up to the stage and the crowd cheered. It was no secret that she could change into Pokemon—she used every opportunity she could to make it known—and the thought of witnessing such a battle thrilled everyone.

As both trainers stepped up, the announcer jumped down.

John reached to his belt, removed a pokeball, and threw it. "Come on out, Wartortle." The pokeball released a flash of light and the turtle Pokemon materialized on the stage.

Ella quickly sized it up. It looked strong, but she could see that its leg muscles weren't as built as its arms; that could be exploited. But the biggest thing she noted was the belt running around the creature's shell. It was black leather and held an array of metal knuckles, small clubs, even two knives.

Her heart skipped a beat. This guy was really packing, and that made things even more dangerous for her than they already were. She wondered if maybe she should drop out of the match. But no, if she dropped out, everyone would know her as a coward and she'd never be allowed entrance to the fights again.

She doubled her resolve. If she ended the match quickly, he may not get a chance to use any weapons at all. She let her body melt and reform into that of a large Raichu. Secretly, it was just for show. She didn't have any powerful attacks that a Pikachu wouldn't, but they didn't have to know that.

And the trick worked. She could see John gulped. Without waiting for a "Go," she let a Thunderbolt streak across the arena.

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Sarah paused and looked out the window. Try as she might, her heart wouldn't release the sense that something was not right.

A/N: Before you actually say it, yes, it is going by pretty fast. But not anymore. From here, things will start to slow down and get more substantial.