Chapter 4

The Ground Pounder

A/N: Thank you to all who have read this far and are repeatedly reviewing. Now you shall be rewarded with the first real battle. Enjoy.

Sarah dug through Ella's bottom dresser drawer, found nothing, and moved up to the next.

Luke passed the slightly open door, but stopped and took a step back when he saw Sarah inside. He nudged the door open, a cup of ice cream in his hands. "What are you doing?"

Sarah took a look over her shoulder, but then went back to her search. "Looking."

"Looking for what?"

"I don't know…something." She closed the drawer and went for the next. "Something's wrong, Luke. I don't know what it is, but she's hiding something from us."

He sighed. "Sarah, I know you care about your daughter. But don't you think you're just being a little paranoid?"

She closed the drawer and leaned against the dresser. "Maybe I am. I just… It's like I don't even know her anymore."

He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her, putting the bowl on the top of the dresser. "I know, sweetie. But she's growing up. She's starting to make her own choices, and we have to trust that they're the best."

Sarah nodded sullenly before giving his a kiss.

He smiled. "Atta girl." He picked up his bowl. "Come on. Let's watch a movie."

"Go ahead. I'll be right there."

He put a spoonful of the dessert into his mouth as he left. Sarah picked up a few loose pairs of panties from Sarah's bed and opened the top drawer to put them away. When her gaze fell into the drawer, she stopped and the panties fell from her limp fingers. "Luke?"

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The Ground Pounder was quite a figure to behold. Rumor had it that he spent three hours in the gym every day. From the looks of his muscles, that rumor was greatly underrating him. His arms must have been as big as his head!

But of course, this match wasn't about the trainers. But Sarah actually wished she'd been facing the man instead. All of the Pounder's Pokemon were top-notch Fighting and Ground type. She'd seen his last fight where his Hitmonlee had taken down a Kadabra.

She didn't know what Pokemon he'd choose, but she was fairly certain she wouldn't like it.

"Huh, I'm going to look forward to this," the Pounder said from across the battlefield. "You've made this look too easy. And it will be my pleasure to teach you a lesson."

Sarah gulped. Oh, how desperately she wanted to run. But she forced herself to take several deep breaths. The calmer her mind was, the easier it was to morph. And she'd have to be at full strength for this fight.

The Pounder pulled out a Pokeball and threw it. A flash of light, and a Marowak jumped onto the field, its heavy club leaning on its shoulder.

"Marowak. Fast with a very strong club attack." She started to look at her options. Marowak were Ground Pokemon, but she knew not to go on that alone. Either way, it was a good place to start.

Before she could start to morph, the Marowak charged, its club held back. Ella looked up. The Pounder was just standing casually. He hadn't told it to attack. The Marowak was attacking on its own.

Reacting quickly, she jumped forward, changing into a Haunter and fazing out. The Marowak passed straight through her. Once it had, she changed to a Hitmonchan and spun into a Mach Punch that connected the dog on the back of its skull. It tumbled forward and rolled to the edge of the stage.

It stood strongly to its feet, seemingly completely unhurt by the attack. Ella grimaced. She'd hoped that attack would do more.

It bull-rushed her and its head began to glow. It was using a Head Butt, and with that skull it would do some damage.

Ella's mind rushed. What was a Ground weak to? And how could she make the attack stronger? The only thing she could think of was water, but the only water attacks she could use were Water Gun and Bubble Beam. She hadn't practiced her water attacks much.

And all the while, the Marowak was getting closer. She had to do something. She changed quickly into the first thing that came to mind, a Kadabra. Stretching her hand out, her body and the Marowak's became surrounded by a blue light. The Marowak slowly began to lose speed.

Ella pushed against the creature with her all of her mental strength, bringing sweat to her forehead. The creature continued to slow as it neared her until it stopped an inch from her hand. It saw that it had stopped and began to flail in an attempt to break its hold on her.

With a motion, Ella sent the creature up into the air. And that's when an idea formed in her mind. She raised it just a little higher and shifted into a Pidgeotto. The Marowak began to fall. The fall itself could have been enough to defeat it, but she wanted to be sure.

Moving quickly, she began to do circles in the air, moving faster and faster. A current of air grew around her that spread up and downward, creating a whirlwind on the spot. The Marowak, directly at the center, got caught in the winds and became suspended in midair.

Ella dropped to the ground, already a Wartortle. She opened her mouth and shot out a stream of water along the ground. On contact with the wind, the water rose into the airstream. Soon, the entire whirlwind had transformed into a tall whirlpool, with Marowak struggling to swim at its center.

She stopped her Water Gun and smiled. It would take several seconds for the attack to die down, by which point the creature would be out from lack of oxygen. Even if it wasn't, the fall would knock it out for sure.

A sudden rush of air came from her side and something smashed across her head with a crack. She spun, her head suddenly throbbing. She collapsed to her knees as she changed back to human form. The world seemed to spin around her. She put a hand up to her head, which she could feel pulsating. But when her hand touched skin, it was wet and sticky and painful. Her hand fell and she confirmed her suspicion. Her head was bleeding badly. A bone with one bloodied end lay a few feet from her.

The rush of wind died down and the water began to fall. Ella tucked her shoulder as the wall of liquid rushed over her. She wanted to scream as it seemed to pull at her torn skull, but she held her breath. At least it would clean it out.

When the water passed, she looked at the center of the arena. The Marowak lay at the very center, completely still. Ella thought for a moment it was dead, but then it sputtered and spit up water, coughed several times, and began to push itself up and gasp for air.

She looked around. The guy wasn't stopping that match? She thought she had it with that one. Should she just end like she'd won? No, if she didn't finish it, it would finish her.

She stood to her feet, her vision still swirling slightly. With a quick lean, she went into a jog and then a run, trusting her forward momentum to keep her upright. The Marowak was still trying to get up. Midstride, she morphed into a Hitmonchan and brought a fist into the side of the Marowak's face.

Its head seemed to twist to an impossible angle and it flew across the field all the way to the trainer's feet. There was no way it was getting up from that.

She changed back and held a hand to her aching skull. Several people rushed over to the Marowak, checking its injuries. From what she could hear, it seemed it would live, but it would have a bad neck for a while. Another person ran up to her as she walked from the stage, the announcer taking her place.

The crowd roared as she was led from the stage, the money handed to her as she passed. She stuffed it into her pocket without looking at it. The crowd around her only served to make her headache even worse, so she slowly walked through the crowd and outside. Somewhere along the way, the person trying to help her just gave up and left.

Outside, the sky was clear and the stars bright. Ella took a step and started to fall, so she put a hand against the wall for support.

Jasmine rushed out of the door. "Ella!" She rushed over, giving her friend support. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine once my head stops spinning. How's my head look?"

Jasmine made her look down. "The bleeding is started to stop. But you'll have one bad scar."

Ella gave a laugh. "Is that all?" Then she cringed a bit as it flared again from a passing wind. "Looks like I'll be for a week."

"A week? How can you even think about coming back after what just happened to you?"

Ella smiled. "How could I think of not coming back?"

A/N: sigh Will she ever learn? Now drop that review, everyone!