Chapter 13: 2nd Battle Commences…did they lose already?
"Did they lose already?" A little girl in the audience uttered.
"I…I can't tell. Those Ice Shards sure did a number on Bulbasaur." Her father whispered back.
"It's only their second battle, can he already be out?" Another man spoke. There was a large amount of smoke and dust surrounding the field, preventing anyone from seeing what was going on in battle. It was only Skylark's second battle, but it seemed as though the enemy had finally beaten him.
Rewinding about ten minutes, Skylark was sitting in the rec room with Celia, watching the battle going on outside. Someone's Butterfree was having a major problem taking down someone else's Poochyena, and the battle was finally coming to a close. The Poochyena went in for a bite, and it finally did the Butterfree in.
"Congrats, Rick and his Poochyena! They will move on to the 3rd battle, right before the semi-finals!" The announcer said, walking up from the rec room and back onto the floor. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, Skylark Declan and his Bulbasaur are entering their second battle against a trainer well known by you all. Her name is…" For a minute, Skylark thought it was him and Celia, and his stomach turned and burned. "Grace, and she will be using her well known Lapras!" Skylark exhaled, deeply relieved he wasn't facing Celia. Not only that, but the enemy was a water type, easy for Bulbasaur to battle.
He and Bulbasaur got up from their seat and eagerly ran out onto the gym floor, waving at his fans. As he made his way to the floor, Grace made her way onto the floor. She was a pretty blonde, dressed in a light blue coat and jeans. Lapras followed behind, and they were both serious.
"Alright, are we ready to begin the battle?" The announcer asked. Skylark and Grace nodded. "Alright then, let us battle! Fight!"
"You can go first." Skylark said, thinking that the worst that Grace had was something like a water gun.
"Lapras, let's use Ice Shard!" Lapras opened its mouth and shot out a wild blaze of ice, sharp and aiming at Bulbasaur.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Dodge Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur quickly realized the danger and whipped at the Ice Shards, and quickly hopped out of the way of the other ones. "Why can Lapras shoot ice!?" Grace dropped her serious look and actually started looking rather friendly. Skylark's innocence just brought forth a sympathetic smile.
"Don't you know? Lapras is a dual-type, being both water and ice." Grace replied. "Bulbasaur, being easily open to ice attacks, is in trouble now, isn't she?" Skylark grit his teeth and finally decided to make his move.
"Bulbasaur, use your Bullet Seed!" Bulbasaur's bulb opened and shot out multiple seeds, all aiming for Lapras. Lapras attempted to dodge, but the seeds were just too fast. They hit Lapras, causing a major hit and some damage, but the Lapras still stood strong.
"Alright, Lapras! Confuse Ray!" Grace called out. Lapras shot from its mouth a Confuse Ray, hitting Bulbasaur directly. Bulbasaur suddenly became dizzy, wandering around and tripping.
"Bulbasaur! Can you hear me?" Bulbasaur stood up, faced the wall and nodded, thinking she was facing Skylark. "Come on Bulbasaur, snap out of it!" Bulbasaur nodded and then used her Vine Whip. "Bulbasaur!"
"Come on Skylark, you've still got your move to make." Grace taunted. "I want this battle to end soon."
"Bulbasaur!" Skylark yelled again. Bulbasaur gained some balance and actually managed to face the enemy for once. "Hm. If she can't do the attack I call out, then I should call out the attack I don't want, and she'll do an attack I may want!" Skylark reasoned with himself. "Bulbasaur! Tackle!" Bulbasaur nodded and immediately sprang into action. Skylark's jaw dropped as Bulbasaur executed the best tackle he'd ever seen. But it didn't bug the Lapras, who just shrugged it off.
"Alright, now's my chance. Lapras! Ice Shard!" Lapras made a noise of agreement and shot off shards of ice, aimed directly at the confused Bulbasaur.
"Bulbasaur!" Skylark shouted as dozens of shards pierced Bulbasaur and the surrounding area, leaving Bulbasaur surrounded by dust and small ice shards.
Back to the present…
"Did they lose already?" A little girl in the audience uttered.
"I…I can't tell. Those Ice Shards sure did a number on Bulbasaur." Her father whispered back.
"It's only their second battle, can he already be out?" Another man spoke. There was a large amount of smoke and dust surrounding the field, preventing anyone from seeing what was going on in battle. It was only Skylark's second battle, but it seemed as though the enemy had finally beaten him.
Skylark stood there, his stomach a deep pit. His heart started to ache. He wouldn't be able to impress Celia after his grass type lost to a water type. Tears started to swell in his eye. But, almost as if it was a divine intervention, the smoke cleared and Bulbasaur stood there perfectly fine. Around her lay several seeds and broken ice shards. Bulbasaur, as confused as she was, heard Vine Whip from Skylark when he yelled for Bulbasaur. She tried to use her whips, but instead shot dozens of small seeds out at the ice. Most were hit head on and shattered into small fragments, having no major effect on Bulbasaur. However, three shards did hit Bulbasaur and she took some damage, but it was nothing compared to what the Ice Shards would have done.
"No way…" Grace, impressed, commented. The crowd roared with excitement as they realized what had happened and how Bulbasaur survived.
"Bulbasaur…?" Skylark asked. Bulbasaur turned around and snapped out of her confusion. Quickly she turned around and faced Grace and Lapras. "Uh…Vine Whip, Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur nodded and immediately brought out her whips. Already being close to the Lapras, she didn't need to move at all. Her whips shot forward, hitting Lapras and causing a critical hit. The speed of the whips, the lack of distance between the two and Lapras' weakness to grass definitely contributed.
Lapras nearly fainted, and Grace suddenly was on edge. "Uh, Lapras! Ice Shards!" Lapras nodded and shot forward multiple shards. Bulbasaur instinctively dodged, but still was hit with a few shards. The battle became apparent from that point.
"Bulbasaur! Bullet Seed!" Bulbasaur shot forward dozens of bullets, all of which hit the damaged Lapras. Lapras fainted, and Skylark had won the battle. For the odds being in Skylark's favor, he definitely had a hard time taking down the opponent.
"There you have it folks! The winner of this round goes to Skylark!" Skylark waved as the crowd grew even wilder. Back in the rec room, Bulbasaur went to be healed and Skylark went to relax on the bench. He expected to see Celia and he wanted to brag about his win, but she was gone and out playing on the gym floor. Within a few minutes though, Grace wandered into the room. She walked over to Skylark and sat down next to him.
"You know," she began, "my goal was to go to Kanto and win the prize money. That way I could travel all over the world with my Pokémon."
"I'm really sorry…but I have my own ambition I had to follow." Skylark replied. He felt bad about destroying her goal, but he had to make it to Kanto to prove to Celia he had changed.
"I guess yours just outweighed mine." Grace was obviously upset, but she didn't talk about it. "So, why exactly do you try so hard to win?" Skylark hadn't really explained this to anyone, not even his mom. But seeing how upset Grace was, he decided to let her in on his goal of winning the tournament and then traveling the world, going to all of the regions and becoming the Pokémon Master. She was wide-eyed, amazed at such a vast goal.
"Wow!" Escaping from her mouth, she let loose many praises. "That's so cool! Do you have any idea on who you are taking to Kanto with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the winner of this tournament can take their parents and at most two guests. Do you have any friends to come along with you?" She asked. Skylark shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and explained to her that he didn't really have friends. Unexpectedly, she hugged him and started talking to him about a lot of stuff too. She was once depressed like him after the loss of her mother, but Lapras and her second Pokémon, an Eevee, kept her comfort and allowed her to be happy. Right then and there, Skylark made a new friend.
They talked for a while, and Skylark even forgot about the battle Celia was in. After about fifteen minutes, however, Celia won and came back inside. Grace was called out and told to leave the stadium now that she had lost, and she reluctantly agreed. "Well, Skylark, if you ever need help getting anywhere on your journey, feel free to ask for help!" She hugged him, and soon she was gone.
While Skylark was still in love with Celia, he was on a whole new level of happiness. He had been rather lonely with only Bulbasaur to comfort him, but now he had an actual breathing human friend. He was excited and in a whole new realm of happiness. However, after half an hour had passed, he snapped out of it as his name was called out for the third battle of the night. He was now more determined than ever to win. Not to prove someone wrong, but to make his new friend proud.
To be continued…
Author Note: How would guys feel about having a "Next Chapter Sneak Peek" at the end of each chapter? Maybe just like a paragraph or two. It's probably pointless but it'd give it more of a tv like feel, which is what I'm aiming for.