ALANA

"Any way I could just, you know, not battle right now?" I asked, just to make sure.

"Nope," Cail said. "Gardevoir, Granbull, I choose you!" He tossed a pair of Pokéballs into the air. Two fairy-types emerged, a slender somewhat humanoid psychic and a big pink canine with massive pink teeth that finely protruded from its mouth.

"Double battle, huh?" I asked. "Guess you can take the rogue out of Pyrite but you can't take the Pyrite out of the rogue. Dawn, Sir X, let's go!"

My own fairy-type, Dawn, flew in front of Cail's Pokémon and started jingling her keys in what was probably supposed to be menacing. Sir X followed and floated just beside her.

"Gardevoir, use Fire Punch, and Granbull, use Shadow Ball!" Those were actually really smart moves. I grabbed Sir X's Pokéball and quickly recalled him. Gardevoir's Fire Punch still collided with Dawn, however.

"Herb, looks like this is your time. Let's go! Use Surf. And Dawn, use Mirror Shot!"

Herb scooted into the battlefield and stared intensely at it. "Biiiii-baaaaarel!" Then he unleashed a barrage of water from who knows where that blasted onto Gardevoir, Granbull, and Dawn.

Dawn fired a mirror shot at Cail's Gardevoir. Gardevoir collapsed to the ground. Cail recalled it and took out a third Pokéball. "Oh, yeah? Let's see how you handle this! Go, Shiftry!"

"A Shiftry? Really? I know it resists Herb's Surf attack, but still. Okay, Dawn, come back. Picasso, let's do this! Use Spore on Granbull!"

Picasso painted the same pictures that he'd made at the Lake of Rage. Too late, I remembered that Picasso didn't actually have battle moves right now, since I'd replaced them with moves like Mean Look for the sake of getting Suicune. Spore, at least, would be useful.

Granbull struggled to stay awake before collapsing. Herb proceeded to Tackle the sleeping Granbull multiple times.

Cail took a Pokéball out and recalled Granbull. "You did great. Now, come on out, Houndoom!"

A Houndoom? Yeah, there was no way I was sending Sir X back into this battle.

Okay, so both of Cail's Pokémon were dark-types, which gave them weaknesses to fighting, fairy, and bug. The only fairy-type I had with me was Dawn, but there was no way she'd last long considering the damage she'd taken from the Fire Punch and the Surf. My sole bug-type was Sir X, who did know Fury Cutter but couldn't take a hit from either of Cail's Pokémon. Why didn't I take a little time to teach Picasso Follow Me just in case I needed Sir X's help in a battle? That just left fighting-type, and the only fighting-type move any of the Pokémon with me knew were Meg's Counter and Olivia's Focus Punch. I couldn't bring in Olivia; I needed her Hypnosis to keep Suicune asleep. So…

"Herb, use Waterfall on Houndoom. Picasso, use Spore on Shiftry."

"Shiftry, Sunny Day! Houndoom, use Flamethrower!"

The ceiling of the warehouse filled with light, almost as if the sun was shining right through it. Houndoom and Herb both formed their attacks, a burst of flame from Houndoom aimed at Picasso and powered by the light, a downpour of water that Herb released from the sky until it landed on Houndoom. Picasso painted one last Spore to put Shiftry to sleep before the fire took him down.

"You were great," I said as I recalled Picasso. Cail said the same thing while recalling Houndoom. "Now, come on out Meg!"

"Wobb-buh!" Meg exclaimed as she entered the battlefield.

"A Wobbuffet, huh?" Cail groaned. "I know the deal with them. They're just counter-attackers, so a Pokémon's always safe if they don't attack it. But… Mirror Coat is a psychic-type move, and Shiftry's immune to those. So if I just use special attacks on your Wobbuffet you have no defense. Shiftry, Solar Beam!"

Shiftry released a blast of the sun's energy at Meg. Exactly what I figured he'd do.

"You say I have no defense if you use special attacks?" I repeated. "What you don't know is that I've had Meg since she was a Wynaut. And that has certain benefits. Meg, use Encore." Meg emitted a psychic wave, enveloping Shiftry.

"Now you're stuck using Solar Beam repeatedly. So, while you're doing that, time for my defense. Herb, come back." Herb returned to me and I sent out Sir X. Alright, Sir X, that Shiftry won't be able to use its Shadow Ball or Aerial Ace for a while. So, use Fury Cutter!"

"Shed… inja…" Sir X muttered. It struck Shiftry with the Fury Cutter move repeatedly. Being grass-type and dark-type meant it had a pretty severe weakness to bug-type attacks.

Cail recalled his Shiftry. "You win this time. But I will beat you next time."

He left the building and I relaxed. "Fine," I told my informant. "I'll see what I can do with Lugia and the other beasts. Just first let me get Dawn, Herb, and Picasso to a Pokémon center. And no more of that Tauros with sending trainers here.