Chapter 15: An Ongoing Feud

"Stop licking me Skitty. That tickles…" Lyla trailed off, half asleep. She had finally fallen asleep at about three in the morning, without even noticing. Something tiny and moist continued to stroke the side of her cheek so she turned her head away from it.

"Vuii," something said happily. Lyla could feel its soft fur brushing against her forehead as it nuzzled her and she started to pet it.

"Five more minutes, I promise," she mumbled.

"Eeee," it said. Lyla cracked her eyes open slightly and noticed four little white paws resting on the desk in front of her. For a moment, she wondered if Skitty had bleached her paws but then she remembered that she had been trying to revive the egg the night before. Then she realized that this Pokémon was standing where the egg had been sitting.

"YOU HATCHED!" Lyla exclaimed, sitting up and wide awake now.

"EEVEE!" it exclaimed in agreement.

Lyla took out her Pokédex to identify the Pokémon.

"Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon: due to its irregular genetic makeup, Eevee can quickly adapt to different environments by taking on different evolutionary forms," the Dex informed.

She cocked her head for a moment, studying the image on the screen. The Eevee displayed on her Pokédex was all brown with brownish white fluff around its neck and at the tip of its tail. Her Eevee was completely off-white with snow white fluff around its neck and at the tip of its tail. Baffled, she turned to the beds where Aiden and Eziray were still sleeping.

"A-Aiden?" she asked.

"Mmm…"

"What color was Espeon before she evolved?"

"…Brown?"

"Not white?"

"…No?"

"Are Eevee white when they hatch?"

"No, Eevee are always brown, Lyla. Why?"

"I think mine's broken…"

"What?"

Aiden sat up, rubbing his eyes, and saw the Eevee sitting on the desk in front of her, cocking its head.

"Woah…" he whispered.

"Maybe the cold water did this to her?"

"Maybe…"

"Eee," the oddly-colored Eevee said sweetly as it rubbed its body against Lyla's neck.

"She's so cute…" Lyla trailed off. "I'm going to start training her for my next contest right away!"

"Decided that quickly huh?" Aiden asked with a chuckle.

"She's perfect!"

"You do know that she's technically a wild Pokémon and you have to catch her right?"

"Really? I guess I didn't think about that…It's okay, I've got just the thing!"

She took out the beautiful Pokéball that Mudkip had brought to her and tapped the Eevee on the forehead with it.

"A fancy Pokéball for a fancy Pokémon!" she exclaimed as the center of it flashed red a few times and faded. "We're gonna feel like superstars at the next contest!"

Lyla was so excited that she was ready in five minutes flat, but it actually wasn't that surprising since she was already dressed from having slept in her clothes the night before. Then she gathered up Skitty and her bag and headed out the door and to the beach where she let Mudkip and Eevee out of their Pokéballs.

"Alright, now let's see what you can do," she said, scanning Eevee with her Pokédex once more. "Let's see…Tackle, Double Team, and Dig. Never seen Double Team before, so let's see it!"

"Vuii," Eevee said as two identical copies of herself appeared on each side of her.

"Wow, you can multiply?" Lyla asked excitedly. "Now let's see Dig!"

All three of the Eevee quickly burrowed into the sand until they were completely out of sight and then they popped back out of the group, moments later, flipping into the air.

"Awesome! Now let's try some sparring. Skitty? Mudkip? You guys are a team! You guys work together and I'll command Eevee okay?"

"Mya!"

"Kip!"

"Ready Eevee?"

"Eh!"

"Alright, then use Tackle on Mudkip!"

Eevee bolted forward with as much power as she could but Mudkip blasted her away with Water Gun before she could even get close. She kept trying until she managed to hit him but then he hit her back three times harder.

The training went on for about an hour and the Pokémon were getting tired but Lyla wasn't prepared to end it yet. Unfortunately, it was about to be interrupted anyway.

"Heeeelp! Someone! Please!"

"What the hell?" Lyla asked as a little boy raced towards them.

"Excuse me, miss, are you a trainer?" he asked, out of breath and on the verge of tears.

"Yeah?"

"YOU'VE GOT TO HELP ME! THEY TOOK MY NINCADA!"

"Who took your Nincada?"

"He did!"

The boy turned around to face the direction where he came from and a Team Magma grunt was fast-approaching. Lyla's heart suddenly dropped.

"Trainer?" the boy asked. Lyla didn't respond. She remained frozen for some reason, staring as the man came towards them. "TRAINER!"

The grunt was too close for comfort now so the boy abandoned the idea of Lyla saving him and he fled, running up the beach towards the town. As the grunt raced past Lyla, she seemed to snap out of her daze.

"What do we do?" she asked, suddenly in a panic. "Aiden and Eziray aren't here! I can't take this guy by myself! We're not strong enough!"

She looked down and only Mudkip and Eevee were at her side.

"Skitty?" she asked, looking around desperately. "Skitty, where are you?"

"LET ME GO!" the boy shouted. The grunt had caught up to him and had him slung over his shoulder at this point.

"She remembers…and she's scared too…but where could she be hiding?" Lyla thought to herself.

"Pipe down, kid. We're not going to hurt you. We just need to make sure you don't go yappin' your trap in town. As soon as our operation is complete, we'll let you carry on with that silly little base of yours," the grunt said, locking his sights on Lyla. "And as for you, you may as well just come quietly. You're a witness too."

"No-no, I'm not looking for trouble, really!" Lyla exclaimed with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, well I'm sure you're not," he said, taking hold of her wrist. "But I must insist, so call your Pokémon back now and come with me."

"O-okay…" Lyla stuttered.

Back in the hotel room, Eziray was scolding Aiden for something as she got ready to leave the hotel and meet up with Lyla. Aiden was sitting at the desk, trying to ignore her.

"You could have woken me up, Aiden!" Eziray shouted, rushing to get her bag ready.

"I would have if Lyla didn't bust out of here so quickly! She's really excited, Ez," Aiden replied.

"But I wanted to see the new baby!" Eziray whined as she raced out of the room.

Aiden sighed and locked the door behind them. He didn't catch up to Eziray until they were in the front lobby of the hotel. The only reason why she stopped was because Noah was at the front desk, checking in.

"NOAH!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Hey! How's it going? Got that Knuckle Badge yet?" he asked with a grin.

"Eh…not exactly. I wanted to train yesterday and some guy named Deblan wants to battle him today…"

"I think that's Declan, Eziray," Aiden said as he arrived.

"Oh yeah, that's right, Declan! Thanks Aiden!"

"Hey, Aiden, where's Lyla?" Noah asked.

"She's on the beach training her newly hatched white Eevee, apparently," Eziray said as she shot Aiden an angry glare.

"What?" Aiden demanded. "I already told you she left in a hurry!"

"MYAA!" Skitty shouted as she busted in through the front door.

"Skitty? Is something wrong?" Aiden asked.

Skitty nodded and ran back outside so the others followed her and she led them to the beach. They saw the grunt in the distance with a small boy slung over his shoulder and Lyla tagging along at his side.

"Lyla!" Eziray shouted.

"AIDEN, EZIRAY, NOAH!" Lyla called back.

"We're coming, don't worry!" Eziray assured as the three raced towards the grunt.

"What now…" he muttered as he reached into his pocket.

"Bayleaf, use Vine Whip!" Noah exclaimed, throwing a Pokéball into the air. Vines extended from the buds around the Bayleaf's neck and wrapped around the grunt before he could throw the Pokéball, allowing the kid to break free and Lyla to leave his side.

"You okay?" Eziray asked.

"Yeah," Lyla said quietly.

"NO!" the boy shouted. "What's wrong with you? You said you were a trainer so why didn't you battle him?"

"I don't know. Why didn't you?" Lyla muttered.

"Because he stole my Nincada! I told you that! So why didn't you help me? You just stood there, all scared and stuff."

"He has a point, Lyla. You're shaking like a leaf," Aiden said. "That's unlike you. You weren't like this when we encountered these gangs before."

"Myaaaaa…" Skitty trailed off, looking up at her trainer sympathetically as if she understood why.

"Skitty says that Lyla can't be alone with them," Espeon translated to just Aiden. He had sent her out at about the same time that Noah had sent Bayleaf out but he wasn't as quick on the draw.

"But why?" Aiden thought.

Espeon turned towards Skitty and expressed Aiden's question telepathically. Skitty looked up at Aiden and meowed something quietly.

"She doesn't want to talk about it. She says that Lyla would want to tell you herself," Espeon told Aiden.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" a man demanded via the grunt's walky-talky.

"Oh great," the grunt said, looking down at his pocket.

"Team Aqua just showed up and we need your help. They may turn out to be a threat to our mission so you better get here quick before a major battle commences. Are you listening to me?"

"Alright kids, I'll tell you what. You let me go, and I'll forget that there were any witnesses at all."

"Why would we just let you go?" Eziray demanded.

"Do it…" Lyla said.

"WHAT?" Eziray questioned.

"Just do what he says…"

"Why?"

"If we let him go, he'll forget about us. If we don't, the entire gang will come after us."

"Smart girl. I knew this one would cooperate," the grunt said with a slight chuckle.

"Release him, Bayleaf," Lyla said quietly.

"But Lyla," Eziray began.

"Bayleaf, it's okay. You can release him now," Noah said with a smile.

"NOAH!" Eziray shouted angrily.

"Baaay…" the Bayleaf trailed off, reluctantly letting the grunt go.

Without saying anything, the grunt fled towards the hills in the distance and the little boy put his hands on his hips.

"You really are a cruddy trainer, aren't you? And why'd you listen to her?" he demanded.

Noah ignored the boy and began walking towards the hills with his hands in his pockets.

"YEAH!" Eziray cheered.

"Hey! I could have told you where the rest of em were!" the boy shouted as he followed Noah and Eziray towards the hills.

"Great," Aiden muttered, following after them as well.

"Guys! We just avoided trouble. Why would we go jumping back in, head-first?" Lyla demanded as Mudkip popped out of his ball.

"Mudkip!" he grunted.

"What are you mad about?" she asked. He looked up at her with a stern look and raced after the others.

Realizing that her friends and strongest Pokémon were no longer with her to protect her, she decided to catch up and bolted after them. The group all reunited at the base of the hills. There was a rather large cavern just off the shore and the boy told them that it was his secret base and the villains were inside.

"What's a 'secret base?'" Eziray wondered out loud before they proceeded.

"What, you don't know?" Lyla asked, cocking her head.

"They're only like all the rage in Hoenn right now! It's like a trainer's very own secret hideaway where they can relax and decorate it with all the cool stuff they have! There's secret bases scattered all throughout Hoenn! How can you not know about them?" the boy explained with great frustration.

"Well, we're from Kanto!" Eziray exclaimed.

"The man on the walky-talky said that Team Aqua is here too. I don't know how much space is in there but I'm sure it's too small for both teams to fit…" Aiden said, completely ignoring the explanation and trying to get the others to focus on the issue at hand.

"MY BASE!" the boy cried, rushing towards it, suddenly worried about what had become of it.

The others cautiously entered and found the boy sitting on the ground amongst complete destruction. His bookshelves were knocked over, decorations were shattered on the floor, furniture was ripped apart and ruined, and there was a huge gaping hole in the back, on the floor.

"It looks like a big drill came in through here," Noah said, following tire tracks to the hole which led into complete darkness.

"Who knows where that goes…" Aiden said, peering down into the darkness.

"YAHOO!" Eziray exclaimed, running forward and leaping into the hole so she could slip down it like a slide.

"MUUUD!" Mudkip cried happily, mimicking her.

"DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM, EZIRAY!" Lyla called down the hole.

"Will you all be quiet?" Aiden demanded. "We don't want them to know we're here, remember?"

Noah smiled and he and his Bayleaf followed Eziray and Mudkip down the hole as well.

"Aiden, please, no, don't. Don't leave me and go down there too," Lyla pleaded, heart sinking again.

"It's okay, don't worry. I just want to go see what's going on."

"Aiden!"

"You can come too. Espeon will protect us!"

"But Espeon doesn't like me!"

"Sure, she does! Come on, I'll hold your hand."

Lyla hesitated but eventually scooped up Skitty with one arm and clutched Aiden's hand with the other. Then they all slid down together.

The tunnel brought them to a large cavern with a lake and a large rock quarry. In between the two was a huge shrine of some sort with a pedestal where an executive from each group were standing, staring each other down, but there wasn't a grunt to be seen. Noah and Eziray were hiding behind a large boulder, watching the two, so Aiden and Lyla joined them.

The commander from Team Aqua's side was female. She had piercing ruby eyes and long, curly auburn hair. The commander from Team Magma's side was the same one that the group had encountered before. Suddenly, their silence was broken as the red-headed woman spoke.

"We'll be handling this operation now, Team Magma. I'm sure you have bigger assignments to carry out and we'd just like to finish ours without any unnecessary quarreling. Our time is too valuable for that."

"I have no clue what you mean. The power we seek is what's here. The power you seek is elsewhere," the Magma commander said with a sly grin.

"And I could just as easily say the same to you. But regardless of who here is successful in their search, we'll be the ones who are able to control the power once we find it."

"Does that mean that the Red Orb is in your possession?"

"Perhaps…"

The two became silent again as they stared each other down for a few seconds. The Aqua commander closed her eyes and nodded as if she suddenly understood something.

"I see," she said. "And you have the Blue Orb in your possession…How reckless of your leader. You're not fit to handle such responsibility."

"We'll just see about that," the Magma commander growled under his breath as the Mightyena at his side snarled viciously. A Carvanha sensed the tension and surfaced the water, awaiting orders from its master.

"I can't quite wrap my head around why you would seek the power of the land, Commander Tabitha, when it's the power of the ocean that controls all things…"

"Then you clearly underestimate the power of the land. Although, I wouldn't expect someone like you to fully understand the matter, Commander Shelly."

"This is Flame Two, to Flame one!" a voice said, coming from the headset hidden under Tabitha's hood. "Our search of the entire shrine has been completed and there is no sign of G anywhere!"

"Roger that. All units move out immediately!" Tabitha ordered.

"I told you it wasn't here," Shelly said with a satisfied smile as a square device on her shoulder began to blink.

"Stream B to Stream A, we have finished our search and no K-signals were detected. It appears that this is not the Cave of Origin, but merely some shrine of worship built by ancient people," a voice said.

"I understand. Let's move out!"

The grunts from both sides emerged from the shrine and took their positions at their proper commander's side, withdrawing a Pokéball and preparing for battle. There were twelve people total, staring each other down and contemplating whether or not it was worth it to battle here and now.

"Looks like they're going to take each other out, bummer…" Noah whispered.

"Awww, I wanted to battle them," Eziray added.

"You two are crazy, absolutely crazy! They'd tear us apart!" Lyla shot back.

"We don't have time to waste here. We must find the power we seek. In the water, now!" Shelly barked. Her grunts dove into the water and made their way towards a submarine parked in the corner.

"Troops, it's time to evacuate. We have no business here any longer!" Tabitha ordered, signaling to the Mightyena at his side who then blasted the roof of the cavern with a dark purple orb. A red helicopter started to make its way down, hovering close to the ground as the grunts climbed up the rope ladder. Tabitha took a hold of it and glared at Shelly as the helicopter slowly rose. Shelly stood her ground and glared back until the helicopter was out of sight. Then she dove into the water and the submarine sunk down and disappeared as soon as she had boarded it.

Eziray looked at Aiden with a puzzled expression and he shrugged, equally confused. Noah turned to Lyla.

"So…you're a native, right? Mind filling us in on these guys? Or do you not know?"

"Well…both groups sprang up fairly recently, although I'm sure they have been plotting for a long time. Both groups believe that the world needs to be changed in some way, but they disagree with each other on how the world should be changed. Team Magma believes that the land should be expanded and the ocean needs to shrink, and Team Aqua believes that it's the ocean that needs to they're both crazy! You can't shrink or expand the land or the ocean. All they've managed to do so far is destroy historical landmarks and terrorize innocent people who are completely satisfied with things just the way they are now. Many Hoenns fear them and no one has been strong enough to stand up against them. Those who can are either too busy or can't track the groups to stop them. All anyone can do is just stay out of their way," Lyla explained.

"And these horror stories you've heard on the news about these gangs are what made you so scared of them all of a sudden?" Aiden asked, trying to understand why Lyla was acting so differently that day. She was silent for a moment and nodded.

"Don't worry! We won't let anything happen to you!" Eziray exclaimed. Aiden nodded but he had the feeling that Lyla was holding something back from them.

The trainers wound up finding a tunnel that led them out of the cavern and when they got outside, the little boy from before was standing on the beach with his Nincada at his side. He turned to the trainers and smiled.

"I guess they didn't take Nincada after all! Or maybe they just let him go. Either way, I'm just happy to have him back. I can relocate and rebuild my secret base but I don't know what I would do if I never got to see Nincada again. Thank you, you three, for going down there to face those bullies. They all took off, so good for you!"

"Hey, uh, you know there are four of us, right?" Lyla asked, rubbing the back of her head.

"Yeah, but you didn't really do anything…"

"Well neither did anyone else! The two feuding teams chased each other away! They didn't even know we were there," Lyla muttered.

"Hey, Noah!" Eziray exclaimed suddenly. He looked up at her and cocked his head slightly. "Since your Chikorita evolved, I'm assuming that you've gotten a lot stronger. How about you and me have a battle!"

"I'd say we're up for it. Three-on-three this time?"

"You bet!"

The two positioned themselves on the beach and Eziray sent out Charo as Noah sent out a Croconaw.

"Did his Totodile evolve too?" Lyla asked, holding up her Pokédex.

"Croconaw, the Big Jaw Pokémon: once it bites down, it won't release until it loses its fangs. If any of its forty-eight fangs are lost, new ones quickly grow back in their place," the Dex informed.

"Yes!" Eziray exclaimed, excited to be putting Charo up to such a challenge. "Let's start this off with Flamethrower!"

"How bold of you. Croconaw, use Ice Fang!"

As Charo's fiery blast neared the Water-type, it was countered with two bright beams of ice that shot off from Croconaw's fangs. The attack was frozen solid and fell to the ground, shattering.

"Fire Fang!"

Charo had already made his way to Croconaw and then he sunk his fiery fangs into Croconaw's shoulder.

"Water Gun!"

Croconaw turned his head and blasted a heaping mouthful of water at Charo who released in time to avoid it.

"Now use Metal Claw!"

Charo's claws began to glow brightly and he reached out to slash his opponent but Croconaw snapped it's large jaw down on Charo's arm, halting his attack with Bite.

"Nicely done, Croconaw! Now use Ice Fang!"

Without releasing, the Water-type used Ice Fang to encase over half of Charo's body in ice. When Croconaw released, Charo began to struggle but couldn't break free of the icy prison.

"Now finish it up with Water Gun!"

Croconaw blasted Charo with a powerful stream of water but all it managed to do was free Charo from the ice. The Fire-type stood and shook the water off but seemed pretty okay otherwise.

"Woah," Noah said, absolutely speechless.

"You seemed surprised, Noah! Don't you know that training a Pokémon against their type-disadvantages build their resistance towards it? Charo's had lots of water training! Now Charo, the first one was just a practice shot so let's show him how powerful your Flamethrower really is!"

Charo opened his mouth a breathed out the biggest, most powerful Flamethrower he possibly could. Noah ordered Croconaw to counter it with Water Gun, but to both he and Croconaw's surprise, Charo's Flamethrower completely over-powered it and even did some pretty decent damage on Croconaw.

"Nice!" Noah exclaimed. "But we're not discouraged! Croconaw, use Bite!"

Croconaw charged towards Charo who simply zipped out of the way, switching positions with Croconaw so that Croconaw was standing between him and the shoreline.

"Perfect! Use Ice Fang now!"

Croconaw grinned and blasted Charo's feet with two icy beams from its fangs. Charo's feet became surrounded by icy chunks and he was no longer able to lift his feet from the ground because the ice was too heavy. Then Croconaw calmly made his way back around so that Charo was between him and the shoreline instead.

"So you know what I was planning then? Alright then do it! Use Water Gun!"

"That's harsh," Aiden said as Croconaw blasted Charo into the ocean with Water Gun.

"He's never been completely submerged before!" Eziray screamed, rushing towards the water. Before she reached it, Charo surfaced but he looked unconscious. Then he rose out of the water and revealed that he was being carried by a Mudkip with a Team Aqua bandana wrapped around his head.

"Is that…?" Aiden began.

"Yup," Lyla said, realizing that Mudkip's ball was empty.

"Where'd he get the bandana?" Eziray asked, cocking her head. Mudkip brought Charo back to the shore and laid him out in the sand. Charo was unconscious but looked like he was going to be okay. Eziray called him back with a sigh and then took out Gracie's Pokéball.

"Wasn't expecting that!" she exclaimed, sending Gracie out. Noah called Croconaw back to its ball and then sent out a Quilava. Eziray cocked her head and then realized that his Cyndaquil must have evolved too.

"Someone sure has been working hard," Eziray said. "You've evolved all three of them already?"

"Yep! When Chikorita and Cyndaquil evolved, I decided to wait on Totodile until he did too. Certainly didn't take as long as I thought though!"

"Well let's see if you're as strong as your teammate, Quilava," Eziray said with a smile, bending down slightly to talk to the Fire-type. The Quilava grinned and the flames on his body extended as he pumped himself up for battle.

"Quilava, let's start this off with Flame Wheel!" Noah exclaimed. Quilava rolled forward, completely surrounded by flames and rolled towards Gracie who teleported away and appeared behind the Fire-type.

"Awesome, Gracie! Now use Confusion to stop him in his tracks!"

Gracie lifted her arms and blue energy began to emit from both Pokémon's bodies as Quilava came to a sudden halt. Then she thrust her arms forward, sending the Fire-type skidding through the sand.

"Quilava, use Smokescreen! She won't be able to catch you if she can't see you!"

Quilava extinguished its flames and then breathed in, held it for a moment, and blasted a thick dark smoke out of the holes on its back. The smoke drifted through the area, making it completely impossible to see either Pokémon.

"Keep using Teleport, Gracie! He won't be able to find and attack you either!" Eziray ordered. Gracie obviously got the message because moments later, Quilava was blasted out of the puff of smoke with a mass of swirling sand that Gracie had whipped up with Confusion. Gracie then cleared all of the smoke with Confusion as she giggled wildly for all to hear.

"She likes battling," Noah said with a chuckle. "That's good! Hey Quilava, get ahold of yourself and use Dig!"

Quilava shook off all the sand before burrowing deep into the ground.

"Hm…that was cool what you did with the sand, Gracie. Can you move the water too?"

"I SURE CAN, EZ!" Gracie cheered, using Confusion to create a large tidal wave that crashed against the shore and flooded into the hole that Quilava had dug. The Fire-type then blasted out of the ground immediately, out cold.

"YAAAAAY!" Gracie exclaimed. "ONE-ONE! Win one more, mkay, Ezzie?"

"Will do, Gracie!" Eziray exclaimed, calling Gracie back as Noah called his Quilava back.

"Alright, Bayleaf, you're the strongest so I've been saving you for the end," Noah said, looking down at his Bayleaf. She nodded and raced forward.

"I think I'm gonna go with Speedy!" Eziray said, tossing her Treecko's Pokéball into air.

Speedy popped out and the two Grass-types stared each other down.

"I guess I'll go first again, then! Bayleaf, use Vine Whip!"

Vines extended from the buds around Bayleaf's neck, but Speedy was much too quick for them. He dodged the vines for quite some time and then appeared out of nowhere, slamming into Bayleaf's side.

"I guess she calls you Speedy for a reason then!" Noah exclaimed.

"Mhm! Now use Pound, Speedy!"

Speedy zipped around once more and then whipped its tail back and flung it forward towards the other Grass-type.

"Vine Whip again!"

Bayleaf wrapped her vines around Speedy's tail and tossed him into the ground.

"Darnit!" Eziray growled as Speedy stood and brushed the sand off his shoulders.

"Now use Slam!"

Before Speedy could react, Bayleaf slammed her body over him with great force. Then she stood and backed up, awaiting another order.

"Razor Leaf!"

"Detect!"

Bayleaf shook the leaf on her head, sending hundreds of smaller ones at Speedy who was kneeling on one knee at this point. He threw up his right hand, creating a blue energy around his body and causing the leaves to come to a complete stop and fall gently to the ground.

"Body Slam again!"

As soon as the Detect wore off, Bayleaf slammed Speedy against the ground once more.

"Absorb!"

Bayleaf stood but immediately began to cringe as Speedy sent two red beams straight up into her belly. Her health slowly began to degrade as Speedy began to feel stronger. Finally, Bayleaf managed to break free and stood, panting heavily as she stared Speedy down.

"Synthesis!"

Bayleaf smiled and looked up at the sun as she began to glow bright, sparkly yellow.

"Pretty," Lyla thought to herself, drifting away into a daydream.

When the glowing faded, Bayleaf's breathing was back to normal and she seemed much healthier.

"Now use Poison Powder!"

Bayleaf shook her leaf once more and a thick, purple powder was released and blown towards Speedy.

"Quick Attack!"

Speedy began to race back and forth, in a tight zigzag motion, creating a breeze that was strong enough to blow the poisonous dust back into Bayleaf's face. She breathed it in and then began to shake her head violently, trying to get it back out of her system, but it was too late. She sneezed once and then began to cough. The more she coughed, the harder it became to stop, and she was soon caught in a coughing fit and no longer focused on the battle.

"Bayleaf!" Noah called.

"Alright Treecko, let's finish this up with a Quick Attack-Pound combo!"

Treecko dashed forward as fast as he could, flipped up into the air to gain momentum, and then came down like a ton of bricks, slamming into Bayleaf's face with his tail. Bayleaf then fell over and was unable to get back up.

"Nicely done," Noah said, calling Bayleaf back to her ball. "I knew that would be fulfilling. Now we know what we need to work on before we go up against Brawly. Hey, speaking of which, mind if we sit in on your gym battle tomorrow?"

"Not at all!" Eziray said excitedly. The two trainers shook hands and thanked each other for such a good battle.

"Isn't it wonderful, Lyla?" Aiden asked.

"Huh?" she asked, looking up at him.

"That Eziray won! Against all those evolved Pokémon!"

"Oh! She won? Yeah, that's great!"

Aiden didn't say anything but he sensed that something was wrong and at this point, he really wanted to know what was going on inside of Lyla's head. He figured he shouldn't push it, however, and he hoped that someday Lyla would feel comfortable enough to tell him.

Author Notes:

For some reason, there are some pretty significant inconsistencies with the anime and the game for this particular chapter. In the anime, the two commanders from this scene are known as Isabel and Harland but I went with the game names (Tabitha and Shelly) so you all might understand who I'm talking about better because most people just play the games. In addition to that, the two orbs were referred to as the Rose Orb and the Indigo Orb, but I stuck with the Red and Blue Orb because that's how they're called in the game. The Magma-Aqua scene in the cavern is very similar to the one in the anime otherwise. Be sure to leave a review if you liked (or didn't like) it!