The battle between myself, Jasmine, Charlee and Will was quite possibly one of the most emotionally fraught and electrifying I had ever participated in all my life. Even the sheer sight of Charlee and Will on the opposite end of the battlefield before the battle even began made my heart beat rapidly and a cold sweat break out all over me.

Aurora was my first Pokemon and even she seemed to pick up on the seriousness of the situation as her normally cheerful and carefree expression was replaced with one of steely determination, her little face twisted in concentration as she studied her two opponents. Charlee had released a Crobat that hovered ominously overhead, its fangs dripping with venomous saliva as it stared eagerly down at my Sealeo. I stared at Will expectantly. He took his time in motioning for the Spiritomb he had by his side to enter the fray.

I stared at the two Pokemon. Spiritomb, a Ghost type, and Crobat, a Poison type. Both particularly nasty opponents, I realised with horror. I bit my lip. They had a wealth of crippling incapacitating moves at their disposal, and although the Crobat wasn't all that powerful, I knew it was wickedly fast. The Spiritomb was a different matter, however. I wasn't too sure of where its strengths lay, but only a fool would underestimate a Ghost type, particularly one that looked that malevolent and menacing.

Charlee seemed to interpret my moment to study my opponent as something completely different. A devious smile touched on her face and she took a confident step forward. "Rather intimidating, isn't it?" she jeered as her Crobat screeched overhead, making me wince at the high-pitched tone.

"What is?" I asked.

"Our combination. My Pokemon focus on speed, Will's on offensive attack." She suddenly grinned. "Will meant what he said when he called us a 'package deal'. You don't get one without the other. We do everything together, especially battle. So, after years of working together, we came up with teams that complement each other perfectly. I focus on speed, Will on power. And together we decimate any opponents foolish enough to get in our way."

Jasmine was biting her lip furiously. She looked uncharacteristically frightened in the face of the Crobat and Spiritomb double-team. Part of me couldn't blame her. It wasn't the Crobat and Spiritomb themselves that worried me. Yes, they worried me, of course, but that wasn't the most pressing issue. These were rogue trainers. They didn't have the normal six Pokemon. They could have seven or eight or even more for all I knew. Another pressing concern was what Charlee had said. If she and Will really did battle together all the time, they'd likely know each other's styles off by heart, be able to compensate and cover for the other's weakness. Jasmine and I had battled together loads of times, but we were nowhere near as in sync as Will and Charlee were likely to be. I grimaced, my mind starting to tick over. If I wanted any chance of beating them, I'd have to stick to my original plan. Conduct this double battle separately and keep Will and Charlee from co-operating.

I glanced at Jasmine and muttered her name. She turned a pale face to me. "Jazz… you have to stop Charlee from interfering." I murmured as softly as I could. "Keep her attention and keep her away. Don't let her interfere with my battle with Will. Cos if those two get to work together… we won't stand a chance."

"Didn't your mother not tell you that it's rude to whisper?" Charlee suddenly intercepted.

"And didn't your mother not tell you that it's rude to interrupt?" I hissed back as venomously as I could, before glancing at Jasmine. "Can you do that?"

Jasmine nodded. "I'll try."

"Don't worry, we can do this," I reassured her softly, before turning back to look at Will and Charlee again. I took in a deep, cleansing breath, feeling a peculiar air of calm encompass me. I steadied my nerves. "You know…" I said softly "Maybe you two do have the 'perfect team'. Maybe you are a really great double act. Maybe you do have more Pokemon than us. And maybe you do have stronger Pokemon than us. But there's one thing we have that you two don't…"

"Oh really…?" Charlee snarled. "And what's that?"

I found myself smirking. A short laugh escaped me.

"What's funny?" Charlee demanded, her voice harsh.

It made me snicker all the more. "It's funny because it's something you'll never have." I said, feeling my voice grow with more power and confidence as I spoke, my words tumbling out without me even having to think about them. "I know you'll never have it. Because Meloi had it, and you couldn't deal with it," I shot Will an accusing look. "An iron will. Determination. And the knowledge that no matter how much the odds seem to be stacked against us that we'll never give up! You know what they call that?"

Will and Charlee were simply staring back at me now. Neither of them were saying anything.

"They call it 'spirit'!" I cried, before whistling, calling Aurora to my attention. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. This was it. "Aurora! Let's go!"

Roused by what I said, I saw Jasmine lunge for a Pokeball too, letting it fly without a moment's hesitation "Sulphur! Let's burn it up!"

As Sulphur the Quilava burst out of the Pokeball, a surge of adrenaline hit me. This battle was going to be intense. White hot excitement coursed through my veins, fuelling my tired and weary body. I suddenly felt energised, like I could run a marathon. I ordered Aurora forward. Our Water and Fire tag team against Will and Charlee's Spiritomb and Crobat. In light of everything I had just said, Charlee looked a little bemused, but Will's face was slowly twisting.

"A stirring battle speech, I will admit." He said, his voice low. "It's clear you can talk the talk… but it remains to be seen if you walk the walk. Spiritomb," he said, his Pokemon immediately standing to order. "Start off with Hypnosis."

Instinct took over and I was shouting out an order before I even realised what I was doing. "Aurora, don't let it! Water Pulse!"

Aurora let out a roar and Spiritomb was immediately buffeted with a powerful blast of water. The water powered straight into the Spiritomb, knocking it backwards and continuously barraging it. The Ghost type flailed uselessly against the torrent of water, and when Aurora eventually relented, a confused, glazed look spread across the Spiritomb's usually malevolent features.

"Confusion!" Will hissed angrily, before glaring at me, looking furious. "That was nothing more than a lucky shot!"

"Lucky shot? More like pure skill," I quipped back.

Will growled angrily, now fixing his glare on his confused Spiritomb that was now turning slowly itself in circles, completely ignoring anything that was said to it by its trainer. Will then turned expectantly to Charlee, and a confident grin spread across her face.

"You think that was skill? Please! If you want to see skill, try this on for size! Crobat! Use Supersonic!"

"Jasmine!" I cried out in fright as the Crobat suddenly swooped down.

But Jasmine was just as fast as Charlee's Crobat. "Sulphur!" she called her Pokemon to attention. "Trap it with a Flame Wheel!"

The scorching wheel of flame spiralled forward; radiating such extreme heat and power I instinctively threw up my arms to protect my face. I heard frightened and indignant hollers from the other rogue trainers, accusations of trying to burn the place down being thrown around. But as I glanced up, the flames flickered away; the only thing that was revealed to have been burned was Charlee's Crobat. The Pokemon flopped to the ground, its body bloodied and blistered, undoubtedly unconscious. Charlee immediately stepped forward, rescued her Pokemon, barked for a Burn Heal to be brought to her before treating her Pokemon quickly and efficiently and recalling it. Will's Spiritomb was still suffering from the effects of confusion and was currently lying face down on the ground, doing nothing.

"Sulphur's getting good." I remarked to Jasmine, thoroughly impressed.

A smile curled onto her face. "Isn't he just?"

The noises of Pokeballs opening and closing distracted me, and I looked up in time to see Will wordlessly recalling his Spiritomb, replacing it with a Granbull, and a Floatzel emerging in front of Charlee. I heard Jasmine murmur something under her breath as she stared at the two new opponents.

Will was saying nothing, his face betraying no emotion whatsoever. Charlee on the other hand was looking smug, as she patted her Floatzel's head, her eyes never leaving me and Jasmine. "You pair got lucky once." She said icily. "Don't dare think you'll get lucky again."

I could hear Sulphur growling angrily in the face of its Floatzel opponent. The Floatzel was sneering back. I couldn't help but grimace. On paper, this didn't look good. A Fire type normally stood no chance against a Water type; however, I knew that Sulphur wasn't just any old Fire type. He was exceptionally skilled, and so was Jasmine. Not to mention the two were stubborn as a Tauros, exactly I like I was. They wouldn't give up just because of a type disadvantage.

"Floatzal, Aqua Jet! Charlee ordered.

"Gah!" I heard Jasmine curse. "Sulphur, quickly! Smokescreen! Use that to dodge!"

In a move of sheer brilliance, Sulphur leapt backwards, releasing a plume of charcoal black smoke as he did so and disappearing within its depths. The Floatzel propelled by jets of water, hurtled forward with no hope of stopping and flew straight into the billowing plumes of smoke. As the smoke spread like wildfire, I heard an almighty thud sound from within its inky depths and a squeal of pain. I glanced frantically at Jasmine, but she wasn't even looking at me. As the smoke eventually cleared, causing coughing fits among all the trainers, myself, Will and Charlee included, I saw Charlee's Floatzel groggily get to its feet. It teetered amongst fallen boxes that I had a suspicion it had collided with, looking like it had just had a mountain fall on it.

Jasmine suddenly had snapped back into action. "Quickly, Sulphur! Swift!"

Sulphur barked obediently and released the attack. The barrage of star shaped energy formations flew into the dazed Floatzel and the Pokemon squealed in pain as soon as they hit, flailing uselessly against the relentless attack. I mentally fist-pumped as the Pokemon was then hit with Sulphur's Quick Attack, knocking it to the ground and knocking it out. It didn't get up again.

Both Charlee and Will were looking stunned. The emotionless look on Will's face was slowly slipping away, his face knotting into a frown.

"A Fire type taking out a Water type…" he said solemnly. "That's not something you see every day." He then turned an accusing eye upon Charlee. "You're slipping," he imparted, ominously.

Charlee recoiled sharply, like a cat expecting a blow. "Like hell I am!" she yelled, recalling her injured Floatzel and replacing the ball angrily on her belt. She seized another Pokeball, squeezing it so hard I had visions of it cracking under the immense pressure it was under. "I'm only just getting started! Xatu! You're up!"

I saw Jasmine bite her lip nervously at the sight of the dual Psychic and Flying type as it floated serenely into the makeshift battlefield. I didn't get a chance to see their battle unfold as all of a sudden Will was ordering his massive Granbull into attack! The huge Pokemon rampaged towards Aurora, but I clenched my fists and stood my ground, ordering an Aurora Beam, her signature move. Aurora reacted flawlessly. The rainbow hued beam met the Granbull dead on and the Pokemon, unable to stop, veered off course from its thunderous charge, almost mowing down another rogue trainer in its path. It somehow stopped itself from crashing through another pile of boxes and another trainer just in side and it stood, swaying from foot-to-foot, completely reeling from the assault. While it stood there, trying to recover, I commanded Aurora to use Water Pulse. The attack caught the stunned, lumbering Pokemon off guard and judging by the roar of pain it let out, had caused a lot of damage. I dared to glance at Will. He was once again looking furious.

Despite Will's best efforts, the Granbull simply couldn't stand up to Aurora. Will ordered the gigantic bull-like Pokemon to use Crunch, but the attack fell short and surprisingly weak, barely impacting Aurora's thick, blubbery body. I had her retaliate with another Aurora Beam which, when it hit, was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. The giant Pokemon slumped to the ground, sending a violent tremor through the floor. Will was beginning to look enraged as he recalled the Granbull.

Courage and triumph were bubbling up inside me and I was finding it increasingly difficult to squash it down. I had already beaten two of Will's Pokemon in straight matches. A smile tugged at my lips. I was doing this. I was winning!

However, my winning streak was simply obliterated in the next round. Will released a Luxray, a vicious Electric type that knocked out poor Aurora with one simple Shock Wave attack. At the same time, Jasmine's Sulphur was finally knocked out by Charlee's Xatu, a shockingly strong Psychic taking out the Fire type. I grimaced as I recalled Aurora, my heart thudding as I whispered an apology into the Pokeball and stowed it away. Although the battle had initially gone in our favour, there was no denying these rogue trainers were tough. We'd knocked out Charlee's Crobat and Floatzel, and Will's Spiritomb and Granbull. But I had no idea just how many other Pokemon they owned, or how powerful they were. Even worse, Xatu and Luxray were tough opponents.

Jasmine took a long, tense moment to eventually decide what Pokemon to use next. I knew that the majority of Jasmine's team wasn't geared up for taking on a dual Flying/Psychic type, so she simply called for Azumarill. Azumarill had bulk and power, and she needed that to take on something like Xatu. I too found it difficult to decide what Pokemon to send in against something like Luxray. I dithered between my choices for a long time, but eventually decided on Kiba.

With new Pokemon chosen, the battle raged on. I sensed a noticeable change in the atmosphere as the next stage of the battle got underway. Will and Charlee weren't fooling around any longer. Will's Luxray was a complete powerhouse with incredible strength and speed, and Kiba fell victim to paralysis early on, severely impacting his ability to move. The Luxray darted around my poor incapacitated Kiba, snapping at his heels and unleashing vicious Crunch attacks, scoring huge and relentless damage. I had Kiba fight back as best as he could, and give him credit, he did well; even lowering the Luxray's guard with a Leer then, in a sheer stroke of luck, used Ember to inflict a burn on the Electric type. However no sooner had the Luxray been burned, it seemed to become ever more aggressive and lunged at Kiba with a Thunder Fang, electrifying my poor Growlithe and knocking him out almost instantly.

With Kiba and Aurora now unconscious, I was starting to get worried. I'd lost two of my most offensively powerful Pokemon, leaving me with only four Pokemon to take on however many more Will had in his arsenal. I swallowed deeply before looking back at Indigo, motioning her to take a battle stance. Next to me, Charlee's Xatu suddenly fell to a particularly nasty Aqua Jet courtesy of Jasmine's Azumarill. I swore under my breath. Jasmine seemed to be doing so much better than me in her battles…

As Charlee released a Yanmega to replace her Xatu, I clenched my fists, tried to forget about what Jasmine was doing and focus on what was going on in front of me.

I knew instantly what to do. "Come on, Indigo! Let's focus! Set up a Future Sight!"

Starting off with a Future Sight was a technique that I always relied on when I used Indigo in battle. She had frail defences, and although had a decent amount of attacking power and speed, one strong hit was enough to cause her considerable damage. Using Future Sight secured me at least some damage, regardless of how successful or unsuccessful I was in the battle. As Indigo brayed and readied the attack, I saw Will's face change. I knew he knew what I was doing and what Future Sight could spell for his Luxray which was already starting to tire.

"Quickly, Luxray!" Will's voice, which had remained oddly flat and blunt during the course of the battle, despite his angered facial expressions, was finally beginning to show emotion. It sounded oddly urgent as he gave a command. "Spark!"

"Dodge it, Indigo!" I begged.

Thankfully, Indigo didn't let me down. She bounded forward on her strong limbs, effortlessly clearing the Luxray and the sparkling electricity, landing safely a good distance behind her opponent. As she landed, she pivoted on her heels and on my order, shot the Luxray from behind with a Psybeam. The Luxray screeched in pain, wavered uncertainly on its huge paws and crashed to the ground.

Will now seemed to totally disregard his, albeit futile, efforts to appear calm and composed. Now he was displaying a look of unmitigated fury on his face as he recalled his Luxray. "I won't deny you're pretty good," he said coldly. "Not a lot of people can reduce me to my final four Pokemon—"

My heart leapt. "Four Pokemon? He only has four Pokemon left!"

"—but you won't stand a chance against this one! He'll freeze you solid! Abomasnow! Let's go!"

"Oh my God!" I cried, backing away instinctively as the giant white creature emerged from the Pokeball, letting out such an ear-splitting roar that I saw Jasmine's Azumarill and Charlee's Yanmega stop in their tracks. Even Indigo looked worried at the new Pokemon, letting out a nervous whinny in the face of her massive opponent.

"Come on, Sienna!" I told myself violently as the Abomasnow roared once more; sending a terrified chill down my spine and making goosebumps spring over my exposed skin. "You can do this! This guy deserves to be beaten. And you can do it! You have to do it! For Meloi!"

I heard a vicious cry and repeated swearing as Azumarill suddenly was knocked out. Jasmine replaced her immediately with Skittle, her Delcatty, before getting straight back into her battle. I glanced at Indigo. "Come on, Indigo! Agility, quickly!"

"Abomasnow, stop it with a Razor Leaf!"

Indigo shrieked as the sharpened leaves flew towards her, taking her totally by surprise. She had to duck to the ground to avoid the leaves as they soared over her head, the edges sharpened like the blades of swords. She whipped her head up just in time to see the Abomasnow under Will's orders, lunge at her with an attack he called Wood Hammer. The Abomasnow nailed her viciously with the attack, swinging its massive fist straight into her frail body. As my poor Girafarig struggled to get to her feet, overwhelmed by the powerful physical move, what valiant courage I had held onto suddenly dissipated in front of me, and I stood there, simply dumbfounded.

"Abomasnow! Blizzard!"

I gasped. Blizzard was a horrifying powerful move, potentially devastating to my Pokemon. "Indigo! Please dodge it!" I hollered.

But Indigo could barely move…

My heart gave a painful twist. "Indigo!"

I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut, totally avoid watching the inevitable attack that would befall my helpless Indigo, but I found I couldn't. Like an onlooker witnessing a car crash, I just couldn't help myself, despite the gore and horror I knew was about to unfold. But just as the Abomasnow was about to unleash the attack, I caught sight of a cream and purple blur at the edge of my peripheral vision. I whipped my head around just in time to see Skittle, Jasmine's Delcatty bound away from an unconscious Yanmega and bodily tackle the gigantic Abomasnow, knocking it back slightly and making it roar madly, distracting it from unleashing the attack. I glanced at Jasmine who flashed me a wide, beaming smile.

"Looks like you could have used a little help," she grinned as Skittle ran back to her side again.

"I thought I told you not to interfere…" I said, but I couldn't help a weak smile spread across my face.

"When have I ever listened to you, though?" she asked with a cheeky wink.

I had to laugh. "Well that's true…"

A vicious roar suddenly ripped through me, making me whip around in surprise. I let out a instinctive cry when I saw that the Abomasnow had recovered and was looking at Skittle and my weakened Indigo with pure anger, its eyes narrowed and flashing dangerously. The thing looked so fierce and furious that my legs automatically wanted to run, somehow carry me away from the danger. But Jasmine grinned quickly, looking nowhere near as intimidated as I felt. "Alright, Skittle! Sing!" She then turned back to me. "Better cover your ears."

Initially I hesitated, but as Skittle opened his mouth and emitted a strange melodic tune, I quickly got to my senses and slammed my hands over my ears. I saw Will, Charlee and the other rogue trainers do the same. The Abomasnow however was not so lucky and I saw its giant eyes slowly begin lidding. A drowsy look came over its face and it began to sway ominously. Then as Skittle's song ended, it fell back and hit the ground, making what felt like an earthquake ricochet through the entire of the tiny building.

And then, a strange, tranquil peace suddenly descended on the room. I glanced up just in time to see a massive ball of energy suddenly power towards the unconscious Abomasnow, hitting it square in the gut, sending it flying! My heart stopped. It was Indigo's Future Sight attack! The rogue trainers yelled in fright as the Abomasnow sailed towards them. It collided with a pile of discarded boxes, the horrible, ear-splitting sounds of splintering wood screeching and invading my ears. It didn't move again…

Will recalled the unconscious Abomasnow without a word. He looked furious, the side of his mouth twitching and his eyes ablaze with anger.

"Three Pokemon left…" I told myself. I changed a glance at Charlee, who had just released an Electrode. "I don't know how many more she has left… but Will only has three. I still have Monty, Cairo and Meloi. The playing field is pretty even right now." I reasoned, before I looked down at Indigo. "Indigo's done, though. She can't battle any more. She's done well, but she can't battle any more."

"Indigo, come back." I said, raising her Pokeball and recalling her. "You did well, girl. Good job," I whispered into the spherical capsule before stowing it away again. I looked up to meet Will in the eye. A deep-set frown was eroding his face, his grey eyes narrowed and flashing with murderous intent.

"You're better than I thought." He said stiffly.

I found myself replying without even considering what I was going to say. "So are you." I admitted, truthfully.

"You won't beat this next one, though." A grin spread across Will's face as he held up his next Pokeball. "This one is a particular favourite. Ever been to the Unova region?"

I had to shake my head.

"They have a ton of strong Pokemon over in Unova. I picked this one up there," Will said, grinning deviously. "Packs quite a punch. Rare, to boot. Let's go, Darmanitan!"

The Pokemon he released was something I had never seen before. It was small, squat and a vibrant red in colour. A peculiar thought occurred to me… it looked almost like a tiny ape.

"What the hell is that…?" I murmured as the Pokemon screeched angrily at being released.

With no way of knowing what kind of Pokemon it even was, I decided to go neutral, releasing Monty. Monty was fast enough to compensate for defences that weren't fantastic, and he had a decent amount of attacking power behind him with Faint Attack and Power Gem. I had to admit, I was confident as I sent him in…

But that confidence was dashed within minutes of the battle starting. As my Persian padded into the battlefield, he began growling viciously at the new opponent, but the Pokemon barely flinched in reaction. I tried to ignore the blasts of electricity that danced across the edge of my peripheral vision, which I could only assume were coming from the battle between Charlee and Jasmine and refocused myself on the battle.

"Come on, Monty! Start this off with a Faint Attack!"

Monty flew towards the Pokemon known as Darmanitan, disappearing for a brief moment and reappearing behind it and nailing it with an attack. But to my abject horror, the Darmanitan barely reacted! It staggered for a few moments after the initial contact, but then it retaliated viciously! The Pokemon threw itself bodily at Monty, enveloped in burning flames! I let out a scream of terror as Monty was thrown backwards, screeching in pain. He hit the ground, rolled over for a good few feet, his fur bristling from the heat before eventually he slowed and stilled. I saw him raise his head up weakly, but then it flopped back down again. He heaved a deep sigh before he slipped into unconscious.

I was trembling. Just like that, that Darmanitan had taken Monty out. One hit. That was all it had taken. One hit, and Monty was out. "Oh my God…" I whispered, my voice cracking. "That's… that's… impossibly powerful."

A callous grin spread across Will's face. "I told you won't beat this one."

My voice trembled when I tried to speak, any words to contradict Will dissipating in front of my very eyes. Instead, I forgot about trying to speak and decided to let my actions speak for me. After a brief consideration between the two Pokemon I had left, I decided to send in Cairo. This time, the battle went considerably better in my favour, despite the Darmanitan shooting massive plumes of flame at Cairo, making him have to fly around in a frenzied panic to avoid the crackling flames.

As the Darmanitan paused from its barrage of flames to take a breath, I quickly seized my chance. I ordered a Dragonbreath, which blasted into the Darmanitan and making it shriek in pain. As it recovered from the attack, Will shouting angered orders at it the whole time, I saw a glimmer of an opportunity that could get me the win if I caught it right.

"Supersonic!"

In a stroke of rare good luck, Cairo swooped down, emitting a high pitched noise that made me want to slam my hands over my ears. As it passed over the Darmanitan, a glazed look appeared on its face and it began to stagger helplessly around the makeshift battlefield. A grin and a surge of excitement encompassed me, and I opened my mouth to give another order.

But then I saw the look on Will Brennan's face. His fists were clenched, his face was marred and twisted and his eyes were furious. There was something about that look he was displaying that frightened me horribly. And then…

It was like an explosion of pure temper.

"You stupid Pokemon!" Will suddenly raged, his voice suddenly taking on a rough and horrifying edge. Even I flinched away as he approached his Darmanitan, his fists suddenly raised. "You good-for-nothing Pokemon! Why do I even bother keeping you around if you get confused after five minutes of battle? You're usleless!"

And then I saw him bring up his leg like he was going to kick the Darmanitan. Icy cold fear burst over me like ice crystals, and my entire body seemed to freeze in horror. Only my mouth seemed to work and I let out a shriek. "Will, no!"

Before I could squeeze my eyes shut as my first instinct told me to do, I saw Will suddenly get knocked to the ground by a massive green blur! I whipped my head around to see Jasmine, her hand held up in the shadow of an instruction, her face twisted in sheer anger. I heard Will shout and yell angrily, suddenly bound up and restrained by thick vines courtesy of Jasmine's Ivysaur, Heather.

With Will safely restrained, his still confused Darmanitan oblivious and safe from the fate it had almost sustained, I found myself able to process what was going on. My hands were trembling so violently, my limbs so weak and my mind so full of conflicting and powerful emotions that I just snapped. Rage encompassed me. He had almost done it again! He had almost abused his own Pokemon right in front of me! Me, of all people! He had almost abused another Pokemon in front of me! Me! The one who had taken in the last Pokemon he had abused!

I simply just couldn't believe it. White hot anger fuelled my veins and I found myself screaming until my throat was raw and searing with pain. "You sick bastard!" I screamed. "You monster! How dare you? How dare you try and attack your own Pokemon? In front of me? How dare you?"

But Will was barely listening. Entangled in the vines from Heather, he was so focused on struggling to escape it was like he didn't even know I was there. Angry tears suddenly formed in my eyes, but as I opened my mouth to scream again, Will suddenly began thrashing around ever more violently in his vine whip restraints.

"Let me go, you little bitch!" he yelled, spitting with anger as he struggled to release himself from Heather's binds.

"Never!" Jasmine snarled. "What kind of a coward attacks his own Pokemon?"

"Will Brennan is not a coward!" Will suddenly yelled, eventually releasing one of his arms and grabbing his Darmanitan's Pokeball. He recalled his confused Darmanitan, still looking furious. "But I don't waste time on useless Pokemon!"

He aimed a kick at Ivysaur's vulnerable underbelly, making the Pokemon screech in pain and recoil, the vines uselessly falling away around his body. Freed from his restraints, he marched forward while Jasmine ran to her injured Pokemon's side. Will ripped a Pokeball from his belt and hurled it forward with such force it could probably have seriously injured someone had it hit them.

"Sharpedo! Let's go!"

And just like that, the battle was on again. Blinded by rage and upset, I couldn't focus. Flustered and angry, I couldn't react in time to Will's orders and I went to pieces. Cairo did the best he could, valiantly fighting back against the vicious Sharpedo, even scoring some decent damage with his Dragonbreath. In the end however, it ultimately proved useless. Sharpedo lunged for Cairo, bringing him down to the ground, trapping him in its massive jaws, and I had no choice but to recall him, suddenly terrified of my poor Vibrava being ripped to shreds right in front of my eyes.

My breath was shaky as I readied myself for the final bout. With only Meloi left now to deal with the Sharpedo and the final Pokemon Will had, whose identity still remained a mystery to me, my nerves had gone beyond being controllable. My breath caught painfully in my chest with every inhale and exhale, my hands shook so badly they made my whole body tremble and my eyes could not leave the sight of Will Brennan. He still looked furious, haggard frustration twisting over his face, his Sharpedo growling angrily as I glanced at Meloi and gave her the order to step up.

My nerves were so bad at this point I could barely even speak to give orders. Thankfully, Meloi never let me down. She was a powerful battler and she was fiercely independent as well, able to battle competently on her own without so much as a word from me. I let her take control, only calling for an order when I felt it necessary. And she performed brilliantly. She was a complete tour de force, almost like she wanted to prove her worth to Will as much as I did. She swept the Sharpedo with a series of wicked electric attacks, frying the Water type within minutes.

And when Will, looking like he wanted to disregard everything he knew about Pokemon training and attack me with his bare hands, released his final Pokemon, Meloi still didn't waver. Even when the Weezing that Will released belched out plumes of toxic smoke and gas, she didn't falter, letting loose attack after attack to try and break down the Weezing's massive bulky guard.

As Meloi and Weezing exchanged blows, electricity and poison sludge flying all around the confined space, I dared to glance to my left. As I did, I saw Charlee cry out in frustration as a Weavile collapsed in front of her, and Jasmine confidently commanding a… Noctowl?

"Jazz!" I cried, despite myself as I glanced up at the Noctowl flapping freely above Jasmine's head. "When did you—!"

"Oh yeah! I meant to tell you Albus evolved!" she called back, looking gleeful.

I simply gawped in disbelief. Damn Jasmine and her secretive nature about her Pokemon! I couldn't pay attention though as I was distracted by a ball of sludge that sailed past me, only just missing me. I cried out in surprise, snapped back into my sense and quickly refocused myself back on the battle.

But then, only a few moments later, I heard someone shrieking and all of a sudden, the atmosphere changed. The tense, heavy and downright oppressive atmosphere suddenly began fraught, panicked and urgent. I darted my head to the side. Charlee was backing off away from Jasmine, her Rapidash crumpling to the ground, looking horrified and holding her hands up like

"Will, I'm done!" she cried out, her eyes wide and terrified, suddenly looking like a scared little girl. "She's beaten me! I don't have any more Pokemon!"

Will stopped dead in his tracks and turned a thunderous face to Charlee. "WHAT?"

While he was distracted, I took my chance.

"Meloi, quickly! Thundershock!"

Meloi let out a determined cry and shot the bolt of electricity forward. It crackled, hissing and sparking violently and hit the Weezing dead on. The electricity surrounded the Weezing and fried it viciously.

And just like that, it was over. The Weezing was out. It flopped to the ground, completely defeated. As Will's face suddenly twisted into a look of abject horror, his mouth hanging open in sheer disbelief, something stirred in me. Triumph. I'd done it. I'd done it! I'd defeated him. I had defeated Will Brennan! And Meloi had proved him wrong!

"Meloi!" I yelled, summoning her to my side. She darted towards me immediately and together, we approached Will, who was still looking staggered. He didn't even look angry, he simply looked like he'd been hit with a brick. As I approached him, he backed away. Suddenly, I felt empowered. With every step I took forward, he took one back. I looked across at Will, taking in every detail on his face. His steely grey eyes, normally narrowed in anger were now wide in fear. My mouth opened of its own accord and words began spilling forward. "Didn't I say I'd prove you wrong, Will? Didn't I tell you that Meloi was worth more than what you thought of her?"

As I spoke, Meloi began crackling with angry electricity, bolts shooting out all around her, making the atmosphere fizzle and crackle like a vicious thunderstorm. I heard Charlee scream, suddenly run away from her position opposite Jasmine and throw herself into Will's arms. He held her close as she buried her face into him.

I caught a glance of her face before she hid it, and it made my heart stop, just momentarily.

She looked frightened…

I heard shouts, and as I turned my head in the direction of them, I saw the other trainers begin to jostle around and gesticulate angrily. Then suddenly, they were seizing Pokeballs! I swore repeatedly. Jasmine and I had worked so hard to beat Will and Charlee, I wasn't about to have it spoiled by them interfering!

I turned to Meloi. "Meloi! Thunder Wave!"

Meloi responded straight away in letting loose the bolts of weak electricity. The other rogue trainers were stopped straight in their tracks by the Thunder Wave, paralysed and unable to move. The paralysis hit Charlee and Will too, binding them firmly into place. As I looked upon the trainers, struggling to move, yelling angrily, a strange feeling of crackling energy was encompassing me, hurtling through my veins like the biggest adrenaline high I had ever felt. I slowly walked towards Will and Charlee, feeling my rage at Will grow with every step I took.

He'd been the one who had hurt my Meloi. And now here he was, cowering under her intimidating shadow.

I felt my lips curl into a smirk. Ironic, isn't it? How things work out sometime…

As Meloi towered angrily above a cornered Charlee and Will, I saw a look of sheer panic rapidly spread across Will's face. I heard the shouts and protests of the other rogue trainers, bound in place by Thunder Wave and completely incapable of moving. I could hear Jasmine shouting, but above Meloi's growling and the cackling of electricity, I couldn't make out what she was saying. But as I looked down into the faces of Will and Charlee, I saw Charlee turn her head away from me, her eyes squeezed shut, like she was resigning herself. Will's mouth opened in a vague protest. I heard one word.

"Please…"

I didn't want to hear it. It was the last word I ever wanted to hear being said. It hit me like a slap in the face. With that one word, it was like my whole world came crashing down around me. Everything just became numb.

I took in a deep inhale, feeling a peculiar feeling of calm was over me with the cleansing breath. But I didn't want it. I didn't want to feel calm! Despite what I wanted, it came anyway… I exhaled quickly and sharply, and then my hands rose up to meet my face.

"What am I doing…?" I thought bitterly in to the sieve of my hands. I pulled my head up again, and as I looked down once more at the two rogue trainers cowering in fright and panic only a few feet away from me, a thought occurred to me. "If I do this… I'm no better than he is."

I breathed in deeply again, my whole body trembling. I knew what I had to do. And most importantly, I knew what was right. I knew what was right, but that didn't stop me from hating the fact that what was right and what I wanted were two things that were never going to coincide.

So I opened my mouth and pushed forth the two hardest words I felt I had ever had to say in the whole seventeen years of my life.

"Meloi, stop."

Author's Note

Oh my God, this chapter is long! O_o

And it was originally meant to be a lot longer, but after I worked some more on the battle trying really hard to make it big and exciting and suspenseful, I must have gotten a little carried away…

Anyway! Here's the chapter… only one day late… I'll get better with these deadlines, I promise.

Thanks to my reviewers Shadow Serenity 57, ArchXDeath, twisted diction, WildCroconaw, TwewyReaperGirl and WarriorSwift. Once these chapters start shortening again, I'll start doing personal notes in the author's note again.

So, until next time! Please drop a review!