- N - = Nicky's part
- J - = my part
Chapter 018 - A nice strategy!
- N -
Brown psyched herself up for another round of battling. She'd never had two fights so close to each other before, and the fatigue was starting to take its toll on her – nevertheless, the excitement another fight with Amy promised kept her heart racing.
"I could use some pancakes after this," She muttered, earning an approving nod from Rodent.
She listened intently to Amy's explain the rules:
"You're free to use whichever of the items I've given to you. You can even give Rodent a boll of Iron, to see its effect."
"Alright," She unscrewed the cap off the bottle and gingerly tipped its contents into Rodent's waiting open mouth. The Raticate chewed enthusiastically.
"Feeling any different?" Brown bit her lip.
"RATICATE!" Rodent flexed his rat biceps with as much maschismo he could muster, which served to send his trainer into a fit of giggles.
"You big fat dummy," The blonde laughed, "they don't work that fast! You gotta level up and stuff, first,"
"Ticate…" Rodent drooped his ears, annoyed and dismayed.
"And that's why we're training," She touched noses with the Raticate. "C'mon, let's see you war face – ARRGH." She ground her teeth together fiercely.
"RAAARRGH," Rodent mimicked her. "Raaarrticate!"
"That's my boy, let's go kick come ass!"
Riley couldn't help but smile at the both of them. Carefully, he took his place next to Amethyst on the battlefield. The chestnut-haired woman had been making notes in a diary and he waited for her to look up.
"I'll just tell Toge to attack Rodent with different moves, and we'll see how you manage to keep your defense up."
From across the room, Brown gave her a thumbs-up as her Raticate assumed a fighting stance.
"Toge! Use aerial ace!"
Instinctively, the Raticate began to run in a bid to dodge the attack, but found the Togekiss manoeuvring with much more agility than he had – when he turned, Toge turned, when he jumped, so did Toge – not surprisingly, the move hit, sending the Raticate sprawling across the floor.
"Aerial Ace is move that never misses, Stephanie," he called. "It's just like Shock Wave – you'd be daft to try and dodge it. Try bearing it, and hitting back!"
The blonde trainer nodded across the room.
Rodent pulled himself to his feet with surprising ease, Riley noticed. "It seemed those Iron pills are starting to kick in," He mused.
Stephanie tossed the X-Defense shaker to Rodent, who stuffed it into his mouth quickly, just before a bright blue sphere hit him. The Raticate grunted, but kept his ground.
"That's it," Brown nodded. "Bear it and hit back,"
The chubby Raticate chuffed in affirmation.
"Now, Rodent! Give it all you got! Flame Wheel!"
The Raticate set his fur on fire and began to roll, aiming himself at the now glowing Togekiss. The Flame Wheel hit it squarely, knocking it slightly off course. The Sky Attack grazed Rodent's side mercifully – reducing the damage if just by a bit.
"Rodent! Eat this, now!" She called out, tossing the blue Sitrus to her rat. Rodent jumped in the air, gobbling the berry as he did – by the time he landed, it was nothing but a core. The Raticate shook himself as some of his superficial cuts began to weave themselves together and heal.
"This. This is awesome." Stephanie's mouth was tiny with pressurized glee.
"Rodent, Bite!"
The Raticate snapped open its jaws, bringing them together, vicelike, on the Togekiss' tail. The resulting jerking cause him to drop, bouncing off the floor on his padded bottom as he did.
"Hurry, boy! Quick Attack!"
The Raticate glowed before running towards Toge, his body a furry brown bullet.
Riley didn't see if it hit, instead he turned to Amethyst:
"She learns fast," He noted, a smile playing across his chiselled features. "You're quite the teacher, Amethyst,"
He took off his hat, running the back of his hand across his sweating forehead. "It's hot down here," The air was pressurised, thin and stifling. He wondered how Serena could handle staying here all night with her Zoroark friend.
Discreetly, he pulled off his jacket and laid it against a rock, just next to where Laelaps had taken to sitting. The Lucario glanced at the garment with detached interest, then turned his attention back to the battle.
He felt curiously exposed with nothing but his sweater on. The velvet clung to the curves of his body, held there with moisture and what musculature he had. He wondered whether the suit he'd be fitted for that afternoon would be slightly more breezy.
"Which reminds me, Amethyst," He murmured, "do you know what you want to wear for tomorrow night?"
- J -
Now that Stephanie'd used X-Defense, Rodent's defense was notoriously high. The air slash move, despite hitting the target, had barely made some damage.
"Now, Rodent! Give it all you got! Flame Wheel!"
"She's using her strongest move now?" Amethyst asked, surprised. "Already? Mmmh, I wonder what's she up to."
"Toge!" Toge exclaimed, when Rodent collided with him in the air.
The sky attack barely touched the rat, all due to its low accuracy. It was like... an attack exchange: they hit each other at the same time, Amethyst thought, amused.
"Toge! Roost!" Amethyst ordered.
Her Togekiss landed and stayed on the ground for a few minutes, while Rodent ate the sitrus berry.
"Kiss..." Toge said, relieved.
He didn't get all his energies back, but it was enough to not be tired.
Amethyst couldn't help but laugh when she saw Stephanie so surprised at the berry's effect. However, she didn't have much time to laugh, because Rodent was ready to attack again.
"Be prepared, Toge!" Amethyst exclaimed.
Suddenly, Rodent bit Toge's large tail. It was totally unexpected, definitely. And Toge wasn't amused.
"To! Toge!" Toge screamed, starting to fly still with Rodent biting his tail. "Toge! Togekiss!"
Toge threw Rodent to the ground. The rat, undaunted and tireless attacked again using a quick attack.
So quick that Toge couldn't even see where Rodent was coming from. Toge got hit; however, his defense was pretty high as well.
"My turn!" Amethyst exclaimed. "Double edge!"
If Rodent had increased his defense, then that meant that she could afford to use stronger moves, after all.
Toge collided brutally with Rodent and then started to fly high again.
"She learns fast. You're quite the teacher, Amethyst."
Amethyst looked at the man near her. Just when had he positioned himself there?The purple-eyed female blushed.
"Oh... Thank you, Riley." She said. "You're right, Ms. Brown learns very fast. And she's putting into use her items very well to be her first time!"
The woman's chest swelled with pride. Not only Stephanie was enjoying a training Amethyst had planned herself, but also Riley had complimented her! Suddenly, everything seemed so pretty...
...that she didn't notice Rodent attacking Toge with another quick attack. Stephanie sure knew how to take advantage of quick moves!
"Oops! Toge, use metronome!" Amethyst ordered.
While Toge prepared his next attack, the chestnut-head gave Riley a sidelong glance. He was still near her, his hat in his hand while he swiped the sweat out off his forehead.
"It's hot down here."
He was right. Amethyst looked back at the battlefield. The resulting attack of the metronome was a simple vine whip.
It shouldn't be a challenge for Rodent, Amethyst thought, while she took her brown jacket off. Come to think of it, she hadn't taken it off even last night when sleeping! With her tiny shoulders and her scrawny arms released, Amethyst felt way lighter.
There was a reason why she always used jackets that were somewhat big for her: they hid her skinny, small body. Maybe she wasn't so different from her brother as people believed...
"Now use double edge again, Toge!" Amethyst ordered, waving her right arm on the air.
Toge flew high to take a run before nosediving at full speed towards Rodent. Amethyst kept watching carefully to see if he managed to hit the target, when she got distracted by the rustling of clothes behind her.
She was used to see Riley without his coat back in Iron Island, specially when they went to sleep, wasn't she? Then, why did she get so nervous when she saw him without the coat after all those years? Well, truth to be told, he had grown slightly more muscular, maybe due to all his travelling, or that was what she could tell thanks to Riley's tight sweater.
"Which reminds me, Amethyst, do you know what you want to wear for tomorrow night?"
"E-eh? Mmmh." The purple-eyed woman stuttered, blushing. "I-I don't know... Just a simple dress... Purple, pink or black... Something simple, really."
Amethyst shook her head with the hope to sound less dreamy.
"Anyway," She added. "why are you talking about that now? First... I must... finish this battle."
- N -
Rodent shrieked as the double-Edge attack sent him flying; twisting in the air like a cat, he barely managed to meet the ground with his feet. His breathing was laboured, and Stephanie quickly pulled out her pokedex.
"You're running low on health again," She gulped. "Come on, take that last Sitrus before you faint,"
She tossed the final blue fruit into the air for her Raticate, who caught it with a practiced flip. While the berry healed him out of the red, the pokedex displayed his health bar as a foreboding orange. This wasn't going to be easy.
Toge clicked his wings back and forth – tick tock, tick tock – after remembering the last disastrous Metronome outcome, Brown ground her teeth. Rodent seemed equally worried, he hunkered down close to the floor, afraid but assured…
…As thin little green vines reached out to slap feebly at him.
Brown laughed, clutching her stomach. What a blessed relief!
"Vine Whip!" She chortled, now with the buttocks on the floor. "Pbbbbbttttthhh!"
While Rodent took some damage from the occasional abnormally-persistent vine, he easily stomped the unruly green shoots away with his feet. Satisfied the vines were done with their attack, he focused his attention back to the Togekiss in the air above him.
Sometime when they hadn't quite noticed, Toge had healed himself with a Roost attack. They were both out of healing-items, but Toge had an unending supply of natural healing talent – so long as he didn't run out of pp. It definitely put her and Rodent at a disadvantage, but Brown wasn't too fond of losing twice.
"Bite him again, Rodent!" She called out, as Rodent jumped up and latched himself with all the muscles in his face to the Togekiss' dangling foot.
to the ground, rolling into a ball and bouncing on the rocky floor to break his fall. He uncurled himself and stood on twos, watching his handiwork. "Ririri…?"
Toge was doing something else, flying higher than before, and sharply turning his beak down towards the Raticate.
"Raticate!" Rodent cried out as he dropped back
"That's Double-Edge, Rodent! Be careful!"
Stephanie checked her pokedex – a Double-Edge would certainly be the end of Rodent – the Raticate just didn't have the energy left to survive an attack that strong…
…Unless, of course, he had a Focus Sash.
"Do it like we practised, Rodent, keep your attack prepared first, and then bide your time!"
The Raticate gripped his hold item tightly, his tiny teeth grinding together as the impact shocked his entire body, knocking him off his feet and sending him bouncing across the cavern floor. Brown checked the pokedex and – mercy of mercies – Rodent still had a single hit point left.
"YES! NOW RODENT! ENDEAVOUR!"
Using every last ounce of his strength, Rodent limped to his feet and shoved hard against the Togekiss' body. The force was enough to knock the large bird out of the air and onto the ground, lifting a magnificent cloud of dust.
Brown coughed, wheezing asthmatically before the air settled. Rodent was breathing heavily, his sides heaving with the effort… and his opponent pinned down between his forepaws.
"Endeavour?" Riley's brow furrowed. "Doesn't that move bring an opponent's HP down to match its user's? Rodent only has a single hit point left thanks to his focus sash…"
"That leaves Toge with only one HP too," Brown explained. "And leaves us free to do this: RODENT! QUICK ATTACK!"
Taking advantage of his natural speed, Rodent moved first, finishing off the Togekiss with a Quick Attack.
As Toge fainted, Rodent turned back to his trainer, triumph glittering in his red eyes.
"Raticate!" He dusted off his paws.
"YOU DID IT!" Brown was at his side in a second, her knees kneeling on the ground and her arms wrapping him in hugs. "OMIGOSH! WE WON! WE WON! YOU ARE THE GREATEST RAT IN THE WHOLE WURRRLD!"
"Ticate," Rodent shrugged, as if to say 'Of course.'
He nuzzled his trainer, touching his nose to hers, before wiggling out of her grasp and to Toge, offering the Togekiss a paw to help him up.
"Raticate,"
"Good game, Stephanie," Riley clapped his velvet-gloved hands. "I definitely didn't see that coming,"
"Well I can't take all the credit," Brown bit her lip, blushing, as she strode across the cavern and to the two trainers. "Emerald taught me that, actually."
She looked at Amy without her jacket – she seemed so much smaller without it, and suddenly the family resemblance became slightly uncanny. Both Amy and her brother were built like children, skinny and short. Brown had never noticed before.
"I like your outfit, Miss Amy," She beamed, looking at the petite older trainer. "I couldn't see it very well under your jacket – you should just go without it, you look nicer like this,"
"I agree," Riley smiled, seeing Amethyst surprisingly vulnerable reminded him of her younger days at Iron Island. It made him instinctively want to drape an arm around her shoulders – however, he held himself back. No point in making her uncomfortable.
Stephanie hadn't taken off her own jacket. Being naturally Jhotoain, the heat was something she quite enjoyed – it felt like a welcome change from Sinnoh's constant frigidity.
Riley himself, Brown noticed, wasn't wearing his jacket – exposing a neat set of muscles that his velvet shirt did little to hide. While he was no means as well-built as Roark, he was an impressive sight. His build matched his statuesque face and, for a brief moment, Brown thought of renaissance sculptures and chiselled marble Michelangelo Davids.
The Statue of David placed his hat back on his cobalt-blue hair, and suddenly Brown remembered Riley was still very much alive.
"Would either of you wonderful ladies care for a drink?" He smiled. Laelaps had gotten to his feet, indicating his eagerness to leave. "I think we're quite done with this cavern."
- J -
Amethyst grinned as she saw how the wine whip move wasn't a match for Rodent.
"This is the good side... and the bad side, at the same time, of metronome." Amethyst explained. "It can give you a powerful attack... or an useless attack. Now you understand why I call it a 'rely-on-luck' move."
"Bite him again, Rodent!"
Toge did nothing to hide his worry at the idea of getting bitten again. He shook his wings fast to escape, but Rodent reached him.
"Togetoo!" Toge screamed in pain.
Well, at least he hadn't bitten his tail again. Amethyst smiled with sorrow, noticing how tired Toge was. She hadn't healed him after the first match, after all.
When she commanded Toge to use double-edge again, Amethyst noticed a thin item between Rodent's paws. It seemed like... a red band, or something like that.
"He endured it!" Amethyst exclaimed, surprised when seeing Rodent not faint after the attack. "That only means... that it's the focus sash!"
Certainly, she didn't see that coming...
"I had read about that item somewhere; it's an 'only-one-use item'." Amethyst thought. "But I believed the pokémon had to have its full HP to use that item... Well, this totally shows that books don't teach everything."
For a moment, she felt like Platina Berlitz. Even Amethyst, the Item Especialist amongst the old Dexholders, had still way to learn.
It was Stephanie's turn again. When Rodent used endeavour, Amethyst was as surprised (if not more) as Riley. That, along the focus sash, was quite an ace up the sleeve!
"Incredible!" Amethyst exclaimed, open-mouthed.
"...And leaves us free to do this: RODENT! QUICK ATTACK!"
The young woman hadn't been sure if Toge would have attacked first that turn, but they didn't have to worry about it anymore.
Quick attack seemed like a weak attack, specially when its power was so low. But it was a move that assured you to attack first, and if your opponent only had one HP left, it was definitely a clever move.
"Kiss..." Toge muttered, as he fell onto the ground with a thud.
There was something oddly pleasant about seeing Stephanie and Rodent dance in joy. The chestnut-head felt even happier when she saw Rodent offer Toge a paw.
"Toge, kiss..." Toge said, too tired to stand up.
However, he gave Rodent his right wing, as if handshaking. Amethyst squatted near Toge and patted his head.
"You've been awesome, Toge." She told him. "You deserve a long rest."
Amethyst took Toge back into his pokéball and then brushed Rodent's fur happily.
"And you've been even more awesome!" She exclaimed, and planted another kiss on his forehead. "You really deserve a prize!"
"Well I can't take all the credit, Emerald taught me that, actually."
The chestnut-head stood up.
"Yeah, it definitely looked like one of his strategies." Amethyst nodded. "I don't know how I didn't see that coming... Then again, my brother has used so many strategies that I can't remember them all..."
"I like your outfit, Miss Amy, I couldn't see it very well under your jacket – you should just go without it, you look nicer like this."
"Oh, thank you." Amethyst said. "I love long dresses, they're so comfortable! But I look too childish without a big jacket, I'm afraid-"
She blushed when she heard Rily agreeing with the teenager. She never got compliments about her clothes, or her tiny figure.
"Would either of you wonderful ladies care for a drink? I think we're quite done with this cavern."
"Oh! Yes!" Amethyst exclaimed, totally loving the idea of leaving the mines. "I fancy a very cold lemonade!"
The purple-eyed woman's steps were fast as they walked throughout the cave corridors and caverns. Fresh air. That was what she needed.
"I must admit that I've had fun training with you, Ms. Brown." Amethyst said as they walked. "Passing my knowledge to an apprentice is very pleasant!"
"Now I know how you felt when you trained Diamond." The woman smiled at Riley.
Once out of the mines, Amethyst stretched and took a deep breath. Then, she patted Laelap's head. It made her wonder if he would get angry at her the same way he did to Roark, though.
"Poor Laelaps, he seems so bored." Amethyst said. "I say we buy a chocolate shake for him! And a super-giant drink for Rodent!"
She took a look at her pokégear.
"It's still 12.30." She said. "We could go have some drinks and then go to buy some items for Ms. Brown. And we could go to the same café we went yesterday! Does that sound like a plan?"
"By the way," Amethyst added. "after shopping, it would be a good time to have lunch... Are we having lunch at Roark's or are we going anywhere?"